Rooftops, dirty thoughts all I got is twenty bucks

[mooninthewater]

Who: Mizuki
What: Bad ideas (aka releasing Seaborn into the River lmao-)
When: Like, idk, a day before the family meeting.
Where: the river
Warnings: mild body horror on the third prompt—

I. Nights so breezy, make it look easy

[ Whether you catch the glint of the luminescent lanterns in Mizuki's arms tentacles, or just notice the little guy walking through the Grove, or happen to see him him kneeling by the river and putting the crate down next to him as he takes a seat, he seems too focused to greet you. Rather, the very first thing he does when he takes a seat is start speaking directly to the river. ]

Excuse me, River Guardian? I hope it's not too much trouble, but I have some injured kin here, and We were hoping We could stay in these waters to rest and heal? Would that be alright with you? We won't disrupt anything.

[ He'll wait patiently for a response for the moment, and he'll start pulling out the lanterns one by one afterwards. He pulls open the top off of the lanterns that seems to take a while. They're incredibly sturdy, after all, meant to…??? Keep something inside, it looks like. These lanterns have a soft glow to them, but also seem to have something like black and blue goo or glue-y substance around the inside of it?

…Is there something moving inside them?

Actually, that question is answered fast, as Mizuki opens the first lantern and carefully pulls out a creature from inside. It glows faintly in some areas that also appear to be bleeding, and the creature seems to be some sort of inky black slug with tentacles. This one looks like that, anyway. Peering into the other lanterns you'll see they come in various amorphous blob-y shapes, some with tentacles, some without. Some with shells that mostly cracked and broken.

He carefully runs his hand over the creature, frowning a bit as he wishes desperately he knew how to use moon magic to heal things properly, before lowering them into the water for them to swim off into the current before he reaches for another lantern to repeat the process. ]

II. Knuckle cuts, pizza crust, leave a message on the bus

Mizuki here.

If anyone could make use of a couple dozen empty lanterns, let me know. I have a bunch I don't have any use for.

Also, if anyone fishes up something from the river that isn't fish like, please put it back in the water. Thank you!

[ There's a bunch of cute jellyfish stickers around the page. ]

III. Full moon howling, let's go prowling

[ And if you're not there for the Unboxing Loot Crate of the Seaborn, you may very well be there for supper time. Mizuki knows there's plenty of fish, but he both doesn't want to entirely disrupt the ecosystem here, and also is well aware that some of his kin here are much too hurt to actually hunt for anything on their own. Thus, Mizuki comes prepared, with… a knife and a cutting board? Hm.

If not approached beforehand, Mizuki will simply reveal one of his many tentacles from its camouflage and without flinching or any hesitation, he plants it on the cutting board and slams the knife down to cut it cleanly off. Afterwards, he makes sure to cut it into little bits. Like clockwork, the Seaborn critters in the water huddle closer to Mizuki, just below the surface of the water, and swarm the bits of flesh as he chucks them into the water. ]

Comments

[mooninthewater]

[ Honestly, he didn't expect anyone to come talk to him. Not that he was trying to be secretive or anything like that, but he's pretty sure at this point he's just left to his own devices of "doing weird shit" a lot. He's happy to turn around and see Sesa, though. So much as happened lately it almost feels like it's been a whole month instead of just a few days that he's talked to him. ]

Oh, hey, Sesa. What're you doing out? [ He turns back to the lantern and continues to try to open it. He doesn't want to risk breaking the glass and hurting the creature inside, but… ugh, these things are a hassle to open. ] I got these from Miss Ydalir. They're young Seaborn — I was thinking the river would make for a suitable resting grounds. Would you like to help?

[sesa]

I saw you from my window. I wanted to make sure everything was alright.

[You know. Considering!!!

He crouches down at the water's edge, eyeing the lantern that Mizuki is currently struggling with. Hm...

Well, he has claws. Maybe he could use those to more easily pry them open?]

Ah...yes, of course! Here, let me...

[Sesa will hold his palms out carefully to take the lantern, frowning at the strange light coming from within.]

So they are...inside, I assume?

[mooninthewater]

Mmh, the glass is very sturdy and thick, as to prevent them from escaping. More than that, though, it's likely if the glass does break, it's going to shatter into the container and kill the vessel inside…

So, um, I know the top is on pretty good, but please try to take it off that way.

[ And Mizuki pops the top off himself, tilting it to let what looks more slug-like then anything else. It leaves behind luminescent blue blood as it crawls onto Mizuki's hand, and just sits there for a moment before he lowers it into the water and lets it swim away. ]

[sesa]

[Sesa watches intently as Mizuki explains, not wanting to do it incorrectly and accidentally hurt the creatures inside. What he sees when Mizuki helps one out, though...his expression shifts from vague curiosity to something far more concerned.

To that end, he's quick to reach for the top of the lantern he'd been holding, using the tips of his claws to get underneath it so he can get it off as seamless as possible. Unlike others, who might be hesitant to touch a Seaborn such as this, Sesa carefully tips the lantern so the little slug inside can come out into his palm.]

They're hurt...

[Is what he ends up murmuring, observing the poor thing as it squirms slowly against his fingers until he, too, gently lowers it into the river current.]

Should we not do something?

[mooninthewater]

[ The creature that schlorps into Sesa’s hand is a little more tentacle-y, and it clearly had a shell at one point but all that falls out are shattered remains of the calcium fortification.

It’s hard to say if it has an eye, but it’s head certainly attempts to look up at him. There’s a noise that sounds very akin to a baby crocodile, and it hangs off his hand for just a moment longer before it lets itself go into the current. ]

Hm? This is something. [ Beat. ] We are not human, Sesa. We have very quick regeneration. We just need to be outside of these little containers and we’ll be okay.

[sesa]

I understand that. It is just...

[He frowns as the little creature vocalizes weakly at him, clearly trying to look up at its savior before he lets it free into the current. He'll be more quick about getting the next lantern open, though he's still trying to be careful so as not to jostle the occupant inside too much.]

Upsetting. Seeing them like this.

[Yet, he recognizes this lantern. All of them. It turns an already sour taste in his mouth practically rancid.]

[mooninthewater]

Ehe… you're a very kind person, Sesa. There's no need to be sad, though. We'll be okay.

[ Sesa's claws are certainly more useful to getting these off than Mizuki's tentacles and fingers. He's doing his best, but these were technically made to be sealed shut and never opened again. Once the critter inside died, they just threw these away… ]

It's really not the Inquisition's fault, either. War makes you do awful things, even if you're a good person. We've seen a lot of that, though.

[sesa]

[Once more, he'll gently scoop one of the little Seaborn from its lantern prison. He takes another moment to look them over for injuries (there are a lot) before gently releasing them into the current.]

I know...we have. I suppose though that having them live here is better than what they might be facing back on Terra. Is that why you decided to ask for them?

[mooninthewater]

[ Sesa's so much better at this than he is, he's still trying to pull the lid off his own. Fortunately, there's no real time sensitivity here. Being around Mizuki has soothed them all enough to not feel obligated to smash themselves into the sides of the glass to get out. They're all just resting in their containers and patiently waiting to be freed. ]

Hmm… I suppose that probably has something to do with it, yes. But it's harder to say whether or not this place is better than Terra personally, but I feel as though the creature won't find any interest in Us.

Rather, the Us that aren't "Mizuki".

I simply asked for them because it felt like something I should do. There's been so much bad stuff happening lately, I wanted to do something that felt… good.

[sesa]

This is a very good thing, I believe.

[He remarks softly as they continue to work, looking down into the slowly rushing river as it passes them by.]

And it does feel good to be helping them. Is there anything else we should do once we've released them into the water? Or do they typically take care of themselves?