A Sea of Discord (open to all)

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

"W-will that be all, ma'am?"

A thin, pasty man stood behind the checkout counter, his fingers anxiously hovering over the keys of the machine. Braced teeth bit a shaky lip as he halfway attempted to back away from the counter. The room seemed to get smaller to him as his fear of his current customer grew. This creature... It was inhuman. It was an animal. It was... Discord itself. Slowly, as if he was attempting to diffuse a bomb, his hand reached towards a jar full of assorted candy. Ever so carefully he placed his hand upon the tin lid, almost jumping out of his pants when another 'hand' had whipped out in a split second and enveloped his. It was pale silver, rubbery, webbed, and peppered by a few scales. Accompanied by the hand a head slowly rose from the depths of the ground. The head was covered in copper colored tentacles, accumulating in a mass of squirming life. They only cleared enough room to reveal a forehead and black almond eyes that came far enough above the counter to make it look like they were half-suns setting over the ocean.

"More lollipops."

The voice; slithery, cool, resonating the sound of foaming ocean waves, sounded from the crouched figure in front of the counter. The creature was a female and had an absolutely indistinguishable accent. The man shivered at this sound and slowly opened the lid. Out he dumped a few swirly and fluorescent lollipops onto the counter, backing away from the counter.

In a single, spry motion, the creature leaped up and landed on splayed fins to claim her sugary purchase. This creature was truly outlandish. Though she did possess a somewhat busty, curvy and girlish figure, she was inhuman all the same. Rubbery shark fins jutted out from her calf muscles and from her back to accent the monster inside her. After snatching up the candy she stood up slowly to reveal herself. The same copper in her hair appeared in patches around her body, shimmering in the sunlight pouring in. Her nose, though pressed against her face and deemed inhuman, did come with a delicate and elvish built that was, in a grotesque sort of way, somewhat attractive. On her exposed sides were gills concealed by what looked like a transparent belly wrap filled with water. The gills underneath danced sporadically in excitement as the oxygen being taken in was doing so in excited bursts. Fins sheathed and unsheathed from her elbows, turning from pointed blades into majestic sails.

Oh, and she was stark naked as well.

She raised the sweets to her eye level and examined them carefully. After a few seconds of careful observation she began to vibrate up an down. The cashier attempted to turn and run away but was caught under no avail. In yet another inhumanly fast motion the creature snatched the man's head by his ears while she crouched again to meet eye level. With enough forced to knock him out she slammed his face into his where she proceeded to run their faces together at an almost blistering rate. Her nose constantly knocked with his nose, but for him it didn't matter since her was now unconscious. In a shrill, deafening, animalistic screech she screamed one thing loud enough to probably alert the surrounding area.

THAAAAAAAANK YOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!"

As soon as that was over the creature threw the man to the ground unintentionally yet ignorantly and went to immediately shove all six large lollipops into her gaping maw. Through now razor sharp teeth she obliterated the candy into fine powder in a few seconds time. During this she collapsed to her back while on the counter, grabbed her ankles and proceeded to rock back and forth, all the while making a mutated purring noise.

The beast, after annihilating some of the shop, had been satisfied.

[/font]

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

Moments before entering the shop, Hikaru swore that he'd heard the screeching of an angry toddler. To his ears, it could've been anything from a shrill demand or a temper tantrum. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary about that, especially near a candy shop. In fact, the only clue that should've alerted the blindfolded boy was that his guide dog, Clifford, grew skittish.

"Ding!"

A cane swept the floor in front of him, searching for"landmarks" or obstacles that would help him navigate. Clifford would steer him away from stairs, uneven flooring, cars, and cats. The dog also had memorized most of the neighborhood and could guide Hikaru quickly, thus keeping up with the raven-haired boy's "go-go" pace of life.

This place was a little...quiet. Kinda creepy. Then again, this was a small town. Without noticing, Hikaru gripped Clifford's harness a little tighter as they approached the counter. He heard a buzz - No! A purr! Somebody was humming off key perhaps? Was it the buzz of a machine? Hikaru shook his head, figuring it was his imagination.

"Hello, do you sell drinks here?"

No response.

"Excuse me?" he said, "Could I have some help, please?"

Silence. Hikaru couldn't see the unconscious man behind the counter, nor the curled up Siren a few paces away from him. "How rude!" he huffed, a little louder than necessary. Gee, what did a blind guy need to do to get service around here? Hikaru waited a moment, expecting a cashier to come out of the back apologizing and offering to read the menu for him...but nobody came.

"Are they closed?" he muttered, "The door was open..." Hikaru veered off to the side, searching for a table so he could rest his legs until service found him.

"Squish."

His brow furrowed. Hikaru tapped his cane against the object harder, trying to figure out what the squishy thing was. Hikaru nudged the object with his foot too, for good measure. "What the heck is this?"

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

Though her mind succumbed to the sweet reward that was decimated inside her mouth, she still kept her mind somewhat conscious for danger. After the last of the powder had been swallowed up, the creature's fin wrapped around the bushel of sticks and tossed them relatively neatly into the aluminum garbage bin behind the counter. With a swipe of her oddly colored and shaped tongue she made sure her mouth was clean. Before she had the chance to curl up and take a nap, she felt the poking of a stick and much more clarified words of a man.

It had been obvious he had been speaking before yet he paid no attention. With a tilt of her head and a quiver of her alien eyes she looked at the man before her in wonder. Oh! He wanted something! That must be why he came into the shop in the first place! The man's stick made her giggle. Why did he have a stick? Despite her growing knowledge of the human world she had yet to meet a blind person. This would be interesting.

"Hehe, human! That tickles!" A voice as carefree as a babbling brook rang out, feminine in sound yet far from a normal girl's. Her vinyl skin absorbed the gentle impact of the stick in a squishy fashion. The creature sat up and kicked her legs gently, revealing her uncovered form to the poor unsuspecting man. "The man behind the counter is out cold. Well, he's not cold. At least I don't think so. He's warm, like most humans are. His face felt nice." She explained simply to him. With the newcomer and the fresh wave a sugar her tentacles showed her elation by beginning to writhe again. "That's a very cool stick you have there. It's shiny. I like it. You have a nice dog." Well, there goes her mind once more. He had a stick and a dog? He must be a really interesting human! "What's your name? What's your favorite color? Do you have a favorite food? What's your favorite holiday? I think Easter is really fun. I like eggs." She just kept blathering questions like there was no tomorrow. In a smooth, effortless swing, she pivoted to her knees and clutched to the edge of the counter to face the man a few inches before his blinded face.

"You are warm."

[/font]

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

“Did she call me...human? Well, I might die in a second,” he thought. Assuming they were the only two in the shop, Hikaru knew that if he wasn't careful he'd also end up “out cold” like the poor cashier. There was no way for him to see what kind of creature he was up against and with her odd voice, it was impossible for him to judge any malice behind it. For all he knew, the monster could've been licking her lips and sizing him up for a snack. Then again, the creature seemed to have the attention span of a squirrel.

Hikaru smiled sweetly and didn't budge, even if he could feel the breath of the woman on his face...even if all he could smell was dry fish. “Thank you, but I'm also very delicate. You have to give me lots of space.” he said gently, “No touching or I could break.” If that didn't get the creature to back off, Hikaru could always peel off his bandages and have his ability finish her off if she tried anything. But for the most part, Hikaru felt that his gift was unnecessary here.

“Hikaru. White. Lemon cake. Christmas. And I like eggs too.” Did he hit all of her questions?

Clifford was getting skittish with the siren being so close. The poor dog was caught between his “flight” response taking place and his years of guide dog training that instructed him to stay until Hikaru told him where he wanted to go. Slowly, Hikaru gave Clifford a comforting pat on the head and held the harness closer to his side.

“Where are you from?” he asked just as quickly, “What's your name?” Then, so the creature wouldn't feel as though he were interrogating her, he added: “What's your favorite place? What's your favorite animal? What's your favorite song? Do you like dancing? Or parties?”

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

As soon as Hikaru requested her to back away, the creature removed herself to a crisscross position almost immediately. Even if she was a person who lived by no laws of personal space it was obvious that there was some truth in his delicate nature. She certainly didn't want to shatter her new acquaintance, would she? "Kay-O." She complied in a sing-songy voice, twirling a webbed finger into one of her tentacles.

She had almost lost her attention watching some strings fly from their connection to a wire-frame protected desk fan, though this fact was abruptly discontinued when Hikaru started to answer his questions. Now, this may or may not had been a good choice. This is due to the fact that no one ever had answered her questions before. They all just looked at her crazy or simply told her to shut the hell up. It wasn't her fault she wanted to learn more about the land species somewhat similar to hers. With this she began to squeal-giggle, actually sounding much like a chattering dolphin. "Hikaru! I like that name! It's fun to say! Hikaru Hikaru Hikaru." The hard K sound was incidentally one of her favorite consonants. "It's really nice to meet you, Hikaru. I'm very super-duper happy that you like eggs too. They're all squishy on the inside." With her stimulated rambling she began to bob up and down, the fins on her back and calves now wobbling to an elated beat.

When Hikaru started to gush out questions, the creature was almost shocked. She'd never really had a 20 (or rather 2000) questions guy to talk to, so now was her chance to utterly dispose of the trillions of thoughts on her brain. "Wellllllllll...." She began, tapping on her rubbery chin. "I was born in the Gulf of Mexico.... At the bottom of the sea... In a little bubble-like egg..." Oh boy, this was going to be interesting. "Oh! And, well, I don't have a real name. My parents never gave me one. So when I surfaced from the ocean and came here I flipped through a baby-naming dictionary I read at the library, soooooooo my name is Tallulah Kai Samaras! That's a mouthful I know, so it's nice that humans usually go by the first of their three names, so in short I'm Tallulah." It was hard to understand what she was saying due to the fact that she was talking a mile a minute. She couldn't help it, her bliss was being revved up by adrenaline.

Well, maybe she didn't have to ramble to much on about herself. That wouldn't leave enough time to find out more about Hikaru. "I love any sort of body of water. Well, preferably salty. I can't breathe in freshwater, my gills don't like it." At this point, she had toned down somewhat to give poor Hikaru the benefit of the doubt. "Animals? Gosh, I have so many! Do humans count? I think they do. They're mammals, which is under the kingdom Animalia. So yes, humans are my favorite animals. Maybe. Snails are really cute too. What about you?" Despite her obviously ditzy mind, it was clear that there was some science prevalent in that skull of hers. All of her 'smart' talk dissipated with the question of whether or not she liked parties. Well...

"PARTIES? I-I... I've never been to one! I really more than anything want to go to one though! I love so much music here I just can't decide! Wh-What about you?! Do YOU like parties? Do you like dancing? What's your favorite song? Are they fun like everyone says?" At this point Tallulah was about to jump out of her non-existent clothes. The water inside her water pouch sloshed around enough for it to start to foam, which could create problems with her breathing if she wasn't careful. On pure, accidental instinct she placed her rubbery/scaly/spiny fin-hands on each side of his face. Though the action was rushed and not given a second thought she knew she had to be careful. "We have to go to one!" Just immediately following her touch she swiftly drew back her hands and wrapped them around her sides out of semi-self consciousness.

"Oops! Sorry, I forgot."

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

“If you like my first name, you'll definitely get a kick out of my last,” said Hikaru, “My last name is Minamino. Try saying that five times fast!” For the first time in awhile, Hikaru could feel himself loosening up; maybe some of Tallulah's energy was seeping into his own attitude! Now that it was pretty obvious that the siren was as harmless as a sugar-high toddler, Hikaru didn't have to worry about fighting to the death or fending himself. “Why did you want to come here?' he asked curiously, “Did you not like the ocean?”

Okay, what creatures came from underwater? Mermaids? But...the girl in front of him probably had legs, right? How else would she walk on land? She could've been some sort of water spirit. Or Ponyo. She could've been Ponyo. Hikaru racked his brain, trying to think of more creatures of “myth”. There were the greek gods and goddesses, but Poseidon was a man. Were there any girl patrons of the sea? What else could there be?

“My favorite animal? Well, I never really thought about that. I think...I think the raccoon is my favorite,” he said, doing his best to keep up with the questions, “I don't like parties too much – they're too chaotic. But I guess every now and then they're nice. Uh. Uh...Um...Not really, since I can't see where I'm going. And I guess it'd be “Love” by Jaejoong – it's a song from one of my favorite movies, Heaven's Postman.”

Was she getting tired yet? Hikaru was already feeling a little winded from all the questions. He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdness of it all. What had he gotten himself into?

Then of course, she touched him.

There was no way for Hikaru to see the touch coming, so it was all the more shocking. He flinched, went silent, and his fingers had made it to the back of the bandages by the time Tallulah pulled her hand – or fin? - away. “That's okay, there was no harm done,” he said softly. Hikaru even gave her a small smile. Geez, what had gotten into him? How come he was mister nice guy all of the sudden? “Just be careful.”

When he'd reached for the bandages, he'd dropped his cane. Now, he carefully lowered himself to the ground and swept his hand just above the floor in an effort to find it.

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

Tallulah's soul revved up with excitement as Hikaru seemingly grew an interest towards her. She did try to contain herself however, in the sense that she didn't want the blind man to walk away from her. She rocked on her bottom as she held both of her crossed knees, her shark-like teeth poking out playfully. She giggled at his challenge, taking a deep breath before zipping out a "Minaminominaminominaminominaminomeeniemino- Agh! Almost had it!". She laughed again, the noise almost contagious. "Ya know, I've heard a lot of last names since I've been here... Like Smith's, Black's, Jones'.... You have a really really cool last name, so does that mean you're not from here? Where are you from? I have a lotta countries in my head... Like the United States, Guatemala, Lithuania..." She trailed of as she went through the thoughts in her mind, but ultimately kept her focus and attention on Hikaru. At his question directed towards her, she grinned brightly once more and grew in delight to answer his question. "Oh no! I love the ocean. It's just a little dark and cold at the bottom of it is all. But anyway, the reason why I came here is because how much I love my home! Our species was threatened by the nasty greater sirens- oh yeah! I forgot to tell you! I'm a siren! Well, not exactly the sirens you humans know. We're more fishy than others. They just have tails like fish, and we're like all sorts of things! Like a bowl of jellybeans!" Her mind got sidetracked once more to one of her favorite human snacks. Her mind snapped out of it however rather quick. "Oh, silly me! I keep sidetracking... Anyway, I'm from a subspecies of the siren. We can still sing like the others, but since those mean ol' mermaid looking ones thought we were ugly, they banished us to the bottom of the ocean and always bullied us! We didn't mind too much, cuz we were more interested in learning about humans rather than hurting them like they were. So we had all these archives and research from whatever we had the chance to find. After centuries of work and stuff alllllll of our hard work was erased because of a war the greater sirens started on us because of their anger that people no longer believed or sought after them. So, since I was daughter of the royal family... I think you humans call that a 'princess'... Anyway, since I was a 'princess' my job was to fulfill my rights of passage and complete as much research as possible, and since I never ever forget anything, I've been having a blast doing it!" She then threw her hands up in the air excitedly and laughed giddily. "Sorry for the long story, but I guess now you know a lot about me now!" She pretty much had told him the majority of her history without a care in the world. Did he mind? She had no intentions of being self centered, maybe he would be interested in her little tale. She hoped so.

Of course, his answers and more details about him were always welcome. She was quite honestly fascinated by all of this. His responses were enough to garner her entire attention with wide-eyes enchantment. Raccoons were awesome, parties were okay on occasion, and his favorite song from a movie... Wait, he could watch movies? Did that mean he was always blind? Did he just listen to him? Figuring the topic of his disability was sensitive, she decided to save those questions for another time or not at all. Maybe that was for the best. "Hehe, raccoons are really cute... They're all fuzzy..." Whew, all these questions were enough to make her tired herself! "Oh... Well, are formal parties better than? Those ones look nice too... I wonder if I could wear a fancy dress... Aw, but then I can't run around... I guess that's the point though!" She concluded with a humored tone. "That song must be really good! Maybe one day I'll find it somewhere... Then I'll think of you!"

Unfortunately, just after Tallulah bursted with excitement, her touch had caused poor Hikaru to drop his cane. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry... Here, I'll get it for you! Don't you worry yourself any!" In quite the contradiction to her normal sporadic movements, Tallulah fastidiously slid down and picked it up for him. She stood back up slowly and carefully took his hand, placing the cane in it, closing it in a surprisingly delicate manner. She didn't want to be too hyper all the time, especially when she was trying to help someone. Sometimes slow and steady was the best way to do things. "See? All better!"

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

Instead of gathering intel, Hikaru found himself genuinely enjoying the conversation. After all, when was the last time someone had talked to him with such energy? The young man was used to being isolated by himself, so Tallulah's fascination with him was a pleasant surprise. “There's this country in the Pacific Ocean, just to the east of China, called Japan,” he explained, “It's actually an archipelago – um, that just means it's made up of lots of islands.” Hikaru figured that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to start a geography lesson with a fish that babbled a mile a minute.

“It's got a nickname as 'The Land of the Rising Sun', though I personally think that's a silly name,” he added, “But anyway, it's a really nice place to live. I'm sure that you'd like it there. Then again, I'm probably biased for being born there.” Even though he couldn't see from underneath his bandages, Hikaru tried to illustrate his homeland with a sweep of his left hand. That was Hikaru alright – detailed and accurate with a flourish at the end.

When Tallulah called her race 'ugly', Hikaru raised an eyebrow. “I always thought vanity was a human thing,” he admitted. The dark-haired boy tucked away that tid-bit about aquatic social hierarchy into the back of his mind, deciding it'd be worth mentioning in future reports. Imagine that! Entire races were banished to the bottom of the ocean for the sake of 'beauty'!

Slowly, Hikaru sat down on the floor besides Tallulah. On one hand, he wanted to inquire more about the tensions between the siren species. On the other hand, he...well, what guy wouldn't feel bad when a girl called herself ugly? It didn't matter if she was a fish or not, she was still a young woman. Apparently, she was also a princess. Now, Hikaru normally didn't like going out of his way to do people favors...but he'd never been the type who could handle injustice or bullying.

Hikaru set the cane on the floor with a light clatter, but made sure he was always aware of its location. Clifford the guide dog settled down without needing to be told, and didn't budge as Hikaru adjusted his grip on the harness. “Can I see?” he asked, “If I touch your face, I'll know what you look like.”

He smiled softly, albeit in the wrong direction. Besides little quirks such as staring at off-angles during conversation, one would find it hard that Hikaru wasn't cheating and somehow able to peek under his bandages; the young man was highly aware of his surroundings and very self-capable.

Hikaru's hand hovered in the air, his long, piano-player fingers relaxed and gentle looking. “Just take my hand,” he said. He did his best to sound more encouraging than bossy, but there was a hint of Mr. Know-It-All in his voice. Hikaru mentally scolded himself for his tone and tried again, extra gentle for the sake of this creature. “It tickles just a little bit,” he said.

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

There was an odd sort of... Personality shift whenever someone started to tell a bit of a real geography lesson. Her inability to shut up had completely dissipated and her mind became attentive to listen. Onyx colored, alien-esque eyes blinked slowly as she grasped her ankles and leaned a bit forward. The words Hikaru was speaking were fairly familiar to her. Japan... She read about it somewhere in a book! What was it like there? Tallulah sighed dreamily at the thoughts. Countless picture books she had stumbled across in the library showed forests of pretty cherry blossom trees and beautiful architecture. Not only was anthropology a study of interest to her, but geography as well. All her life she had spent miles under cold, dark water. Now, she had the chance to see everything the world had to offer. No doubt she would take the time to listen in awe to even the most unfamiliar of people.

"It sounds like a wonderful place to live, Hikaru..." Soon enough however the sea monster snapped out of her daydreams and back into reality. The relentless energy seeped back into her as she readjusted her position to sit criss crossed. She was rather fidgety, though she tried her best not to be so around the seemingly gentle man.

The statement regarding the pride and lust found to her evolutionary superiors made Tallulah sigh just a bit. The siren was not at all ashamed to have been born the way she was. She loved being a siren, even if her archenemy saw her as inferior. It just got a little... Old battling the same enemy with a ridiculous cause. "Nope, the only reason why they saw us superior to us was because they were blessed to be given such praise by humans and mythology. They knew they were the pretty creatures of legend that lured sailors to their deaths, and we were the exact opposite! We are just different, but apparently that gives those meanies a reason to outcast us..."" Appearance wise, those 'greater' sirens looked not far off from humans. They were gorgeous mermaids, often dreamed up by young girls and idolized by classical painters.

Yet, they were the most heartless.

Tallulah wasn't one to get sad all that easily, but she did frown slightly after telling him about herself. "I mean, in recent years neither of us have really asked a human what they believed of their species. Which is a problem, cuz we're just stories and legends now. The only people that think we exist are those in this circus, and that's all cuzza me!" She smiled slightly at this fact, as she felt she was doing her species good. Would they be proud of her? That she was finding humans that accepted who she was? Well, the moment following would actually decide that.

Tallulah watched in wonder as Hikaru stuck his hand out in offer to her. He wanted... To see her? By touch? The sea creature felt a hotness form in her cheeks, akin to the sensation of blushing. What was that feeling? With a shake of her tentacle-covered head she pushed it off. She'd probably find out later. "Oh... Alrighty..." Slowly, Tallulah lifted her 'hand'. In all reality, it was truly a fin. Rubbery webbing was in between every 'finger', though even that was a stretch on the word. A few scales scattered themselves in patches on them; which was a major difference between her and the dainty hands of her 'greater' siren counterpart. Silently, she placed the fin inside Hikaru's hand. It felt so... Warm. Tallulah gulped silently.

"Okie dokie, wanna feel my face now?" She asked with a tilt of her head. What would he feel? Her vinyl-like face? Her elvish features? Her abnormally sized eye shape? "Just be careful if you're gonna feel around- My teeth are super pointy!" Her pearly-silver cheeks sustained a wide grin, the sunlight pouring in from the outside refracting off of them. Despite her brimming confidence, there seemed to be a sort of doubt associated with this motion. Would he accept her? Or would he confirm her relative hideousness? Tallulah's smile wavered.

[/font]

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

Normally, Hikaru wouldn't ask to touch someone's face in order to 'see'. At most, he would ask a friend to describe what someone in the room looked like. The young man usually came to recognize people by the sound of their voices, but this was a new species. Even if Tallulah described herself, Hikaru felt like he wouldn't be getting the full picture.

“It figures that humans would mess things up for you guys,” sighed Hikaru, “Oh!” A shiver went down his spine as he took hold of Tallulah's hand, her webbed fingers slipping through his palm. He felt guilty for imagining her to look more humanoid, like the depictions of sirens in paintings. Briefly, he wondered whether supernatural creatures had stereotypes of humans; what would a human man look like in a fairytale book for mermaids and sirens? Did they even have an equivalent?

His gentle touch grazed the siren's eyelid, followed the shape of her nose, and lightly moved over her lips. Hikaru was careful not to make the situation more awkward than it already was, but he was curious. Sometimes he'd move his fingers over the same place twice – completely captivated by the odd texture of siren's skin or some alien-like feature.

“I see what the problem is.” Hikaru's fingers followed the curve of Tallulah's cheek, and completed the mental image of the siren's skull. They lingered on her jawline for a moment, then moved up so he could cup the side of her face into his palm. “Hn, it's actually really clear in my mind,” he murmured, “I completely understand what the sirens were thinking.”

The young man's voice was contemplative, yet had a professional tone to it. He sounded as casual as a doctor examining a patient, rather than a 'blind' human trying to create to imagine the appearance of a siren. The more his fingers traced the lines and angles of Tallulah's face, the more defined his vision of her grew. To Hikaru, it was as though he were molding an image out of clay; he was precise, gentle, and picky about detail.

Finally, he folded his hands in his lap. “I understand why they'd say such things,” he said “They must have be extremely jealous. You seem awfully pretty to me.”

And he smiled.

Hikaru wasn't even smiling in the right direction, but his smile was meant for her.

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

The moment of truth had come. The hyperactivity of just a few minutes prior seemed to dissipate as Tallulah forced herself to sit down and be quiet. With nervous breath she closed her eyes softly to prevent Hikaru from accidentally poking her. She fidgeted slightly when his warm hands touched hers, and looked slightly concerned with the alarmed 'Oh!'. Was that bad? Was that good? Why all the sudden was as nervous? By nature, Tallulah possessed no decorum in the opinions of others. Like her or hate her, Tallulah usually would have possessed a mutual carefree yet pleasant attitude for everyone she met. But Hikaru... Why was he so different? She couldn't quite place her finger... Er, fin on it.

The warmth on any case was quite pleasant against her cold blood. She opened her oversized almond shaped eyes halfway, as to observe his curious expression carefully while he searched her face. Delicate fingers had traced over her elvish jawlin; her small, flat nose unlike anything seen on a human girl; her smooth scales and her rubbery cheeks. She didn't move at all as he did. If she did, the siren would inadvertently screwed up the pleasant feeling she was receiving from him. Living at the bottom of the ocean made her touch extremely sensitive- she had evolved to feel shifts in temperature in currents. Though cold feelings were her speciality, she had to admit that a warm touch was... Nice, to say the least.

"What is it Hikaru?" She mused in an inhuman accent, tilting her head like a curious child. She was sure that the odd appendages that made up her hair had brushed against Hikaru several times. Tallulah wondered whether or not that would scare him. Would he think she was a mons- no. She wasn't. That was negative talk. Her species had no merit on that sort of thing, right?

Once he came to a conclusion, she leaned it slightly. Curiosity piqued itself as her anticipation sky rocketed. Then, the answer came to her.

Pretty.

Huh.

She leaned back, her fins wobbling as she placed her arms behind her for support. No one had called her... Pretty before. Tallulah's fin retraced the areas where Hikaru touched as if she wanted to 'see' what he 'saw'. "Oh..." She smiled sheepishly with shark teeth once he pleasantly smiled to her. How would she respond?

Well, of course, in a usual Tallulah fashion.

"Oh! Okie dokie! Thanks! You're... You're pretty too!" Was that how that worked? Hopefully. She giggled slightly, the sound akin to a dolphin click. "Now those stupid sirens have a human to tell them that they're wrong! Wait till they see the looks on their faces!" Suddenly, her tone quieted slightly. Hikaru had a pretty amazing gift. She leaned in once more, her head tilted again. "Hey Hikaru, how do you know I'm pretty?" What kind of question was that? "Well... I mean you can see me... Without seeing me... Hikaru that's pretty amazing." Her voice had a hint of awe to it. She seemed captivated by his ability, like a child to a some sort of phenomena.

"Hehe, your hands are warm." Spontaneity at its finest.

[/font]

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

To be honest, Hikaru might've been slightly freaked as scales and rubber-like skin passed under his fingertips. Tallulah wasn't ugly, but simply unlike any girl – human or otherwise – he'd ever encountered before. Perhaps through a human's perspective, the siren would be a 'freak' or a 'monster'. But through Hikaru's eyes, she was unique and special. And kinda cute.

“Th-thanks,” said Hikaru, “I guess you could say that...That's the first time I've been called pretty.” He laughed softly and rubbed his cheek, now wondering what he looked like compared to male sirens – if there even were male sirens. It wasn't because he was jealous or anything though. Nope. He was just...just researching for the sake of science.

“Do you know how sculpting works? When the artist takes clay and molds it into a shape?” he asked, “It's like that...only, I sculpt an image in my head instead of through clay. There are some parts of you that I can't see, even through touch. I don't know what color eyes you have, or what skintone you have...” He trailed off for a moment, as his mind added splashes of color to the image of Tallulah inside his head. “I don't know what your body looks like either...Oh, but, um, that would be kinda weird for me to touch! Very inappropriate!”

His cheeks were burning.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.

“Ahem...Um...” he stammered, now thoroughly flustered, “Y-you could describe yourself, if you'd like. I'm not actually blind, so I know what colors look like – not to mention it helps me 'see' clearer. I just can't take off my blindfolds, so I live like I'm blind. I need to use my cane and--”

A snort from Clifford the guide dog interrupted Hikaru's nervous explanation, and caused the young man to laugh. “Oh, this is Clifford,” he said, giving the dog a pat on the head, “I don't know when to cross a street or where the top of the stairs are, so Clifford tells me when it's safe to move. It's not very difficult, not being able to see. I just...have to do things differently.”

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

A soft giggle came from Tallulah the moment Hikaru laughed as well. She couldn't help it, laughter was contagious to her. From the counter beside her the siren saw one last cookie in the jar. Paying little attention to the still-unconscious man one of her longer tentacles had unscrewed the jar and pulled out the chocolate sweet. As to not make a mess this time he took small nibbles as if she were a bunny instead of a deep sea creature. She wouldn't let herself chew loud, as she didn't want to miss anything Hikaru had to say.

"Mhm!" Tallulah answered, nodding hard enough to send her tentacles in a disarray. She had read about artists in the books she saw at the library, and watched some oddity carve a sculpture when he was in her schoolhouse. Though her concept of the human world was growing her knowledge was becoming pretty stable. She knew the basics of culture, math, English and science.

Unfortunately, it was her sense of dignity that was just a bit lackluster.

Tallulah tilted her head in curiosity as Hikaru started to act funny. Embarrassment? Fortunately for the 'blind' man she hadn't the slightest clue about what was appropriate/inappropriate. Not from what she hadn't been scolded for, at least. She even had allowed the drunken Ko to get a little to acquainted with her chest when she was none the wiser. A little awkwardly phrased comment? Psh, it was nothing to her.

"Hehe, you're acting silly." Tallulah chuckled with a shark-toothed smile. But she did make a note of that word. Inappropriate. How many times had she heard that before? A lot, actually. And it was every time she did something wrong. Alright. No touching. Unless he asked her. Which he didn't. Right? Right. Luckily she didn't have to learn the hard way.

Casually, Tallulah changed to his designated subject. "Welllll, for the most part my skin is silver... Like, a pear-ly kind of silver. But that's just my skin. My scales are all a shiny copper color, like new pennies! And my hair-well, they're like octopus tentacles-they're also copper but also tipped with this gold color!" She explained happily with a proud smile. "I got fins everywhere too... And I have a squishy water pack on my gills, which are on my sides. That's about it!" Her 'finger' went to poke the water pack repeatedly, making sure the salty water wasn't leaking out. Once cleared, she began to hum

Her melodious humming faltered for a moment once the dog beside Hikaru barked. She smiled brightly at the dog, though was hesitant to pet it. "Hello Clifford!" Tallulah chirped while looking at the dog. She knew he didn't understand her, but it was nice to see the animal that helped Hikaru out. But... Didn't he say he wasn't really blind?

"If you don't mind telling me, why can't you take off your blindfolds?"

[/font]

[HIKARU MINAMINO]

“It's nothing to be worried about,” he said, “But it's very, very important that I never take them off.” Hikaru knew that Tallulah was intelligent, but he'd also noticed her impulsiveness. And for that reason, he emphasized the importance of keeping his blindfolds on at all times. “I have a very dangerous...ability,” he explained, “This is the only way to keep everyone safe.”

Well, besides having his eyes surgically removed and replaced with glass replicas.

Hikaru wasn't at a stage where he could give away much more detail comfortably, so he smiled and prayed that his vague explanation would be enough for the siren. If it'd been the other way around, Hikaru knew that he would never had been satisfied with such a nondescript explanation. It scared him to not know the details, just like it scared him to live in a world of so much uncertainty.

“How about me?” he asked curiously, “Do I look like what sirens think a 'human' looks like?” Besides the obvious blindfold, Hikaru wondered what the supernatural thought of humans. It was a bad case of 'foreigner's curiosity'; it was the reason American tourists like to ask natives of other countries what they thought of America.

“Oh, I do have another question!” he added, “What do your clothes look like?”

[/size]

[TALLULAH SAMARAS]

Great, his answer had grasped her curiosity even more. Despite her instincts Tallulah knew what was serious and what wasn't. Hikaru's eyes... Dangerous. She had to keep that in mind. Questions that began with why, how, and what came through her head but she quickly pushed that aside. It would probably be better for the both of them if she didn't test fate. "Okie dokie Hikaru. I won't touch your bandages, never ever." She reassured him with a small nod, which was full of genuine sincerity. Hopefully the tone of her voice could convey the motion he was unable to see.

As questions were her among favorite things, especially if it pertained to her culture, Tallulah perked up once more. "Oh! Hehe, well, you actually look exactly the way we imagined you guys to be... Though no two humans really look the same!" She remarked matter-of-factly. "But, I guess I could have never imagined just how warm you are! I had sorta expected it, but... Wow! It's soooo cool to find out in person. Same with hair! Yours looks so soft!" Though it was difficult to tell due to the absence of whites, her eyes were eagerly looking at both the human and the room. Sometimes, she just found it so hard to believe that she was actually on land, living the life her culture had revered for eons.

With the second question Tallulah merely laughed. Clothes were a complete option to her. She hadn't gotten quite used to using anything fashioned from humans, her assimilation with behavior was unsteady. "I'm not wearing any right now, silly!" Way to go, Tallulah. Freely tell the blind man about your nudity. "Clothes get in the way of our swimming! Sometimes we used to wear stuff on ceremonies, but really it wasn't necessary!" Suddenly, she tilted her head. He worse clothes... The shop keeper wore clothes... Everyone wore clothes. Uh oh.

"Oh, um... Should I though?"

[/font]