Can't Stop Falling [Liam]

[Lucine]

At last, it was time to close the shop. Another day, another dollar, as the saying went. Lucine stumbled about the tabletops and shelves socked full of antiques on display, locking the door and making sure all the windows were closed. It had been another slow day, but she was fine with that. If the whole shop owning thing didn’t work out, she could always just go back to living in the sea and wander up on land during the day whenever she wished. But that wouldn’t be as fun as being a shop owner and she knew that. Running the little antique shop meant that she would get to meet all kinds of people every day and help make them happy, and Lucine loved to make people happy.

After making sure that her wares were safe and secure, the blonde ran down the hall that led to the back porch that. She’d removed the guard railings in order to get to the water as fast as possible at the end of the day. Still clumsy on legs after so many years, Lucine’s right foot got caught behind her left ankle. The mermaid tumbled into the water with a loud splash. Well, that could have gone better. The moment she was fully submerged, the strand of pearls began to glow and her legs fused to together. Skin was replaced with blue and purple scaled and feet for fins. Smiling, Lucine swam a circle around one of the pillars keeping the porch above the waves.

Surfacing, Lucine stripped off the now soaked sundress she had worn that day and tossed it back on the porch. She could retrieve it and hang it up to dry tomorrow morning before dawn. The pearl string wound around her neck and torso was all she wore in the water at any given time. Tonight was no different. Turning, she dove back beneath the water and made her way to the harbor. It was interesting to watch the piers at night. There weren’t many people out and about, but every once in a while something interesting happened. She’d even made friend with a sea lion on one occasion, although she was fairly certain all it wanted was foods since it kept coming to the back porch around lunch time.

The moonlight cast an eerie tone to the world beneath the waves. The color grey touched everything, and the shadows from the nearby pier looked as though they could hide all sorts of terrible things. The creepy feel of the water beneath the pier was what made Lucine swim closer to the beach than she usually would have. Feeling daring, the mermaid swam as fast as she could and launched herself out of the water in a back flip, appearing out of the water for just a split second before disappearing back under the waves.

Twirling around amongst the disturbed seaweed, Lucine giggled. That was more fun that should be possible. Still grinning, she surfaced once again, swimming to a rockier part of the beach and leaning against it. The moon really was beautiful on this particular night. As Lucine gazed at it, she started to hum softly a tune that she’d heard a long time ago. It seemed appropriate for such a peaceful moment.

[Liam Murphy]

Being broke was one of the many consequences of being a wanderer, just floating by through life. Liam didn't mind the being broke part too much, although tonight it was worse than usual. Everywhere else he had been, Liam had had friends he could depend on; a place to crash for the night, a meal for a day. Only living here for about a month, he had no such friends. Yet. Can't forget the yet.

Counting up his assets, Liam discovered something. He had about sixty-eight cents to his name, and that included everything he had in the bank. It wasn't too much of a surprise when the horrid landlady kicked Liam out; he was three weeks late on the rent and had no money to even think about paying it. Whatever; he got paid in three days, and until he could find a motel to crash at, Liam'd just bum around. No biggie.

Sometime in the evening, Liam found himself at the beach. He always found himself here, gazing at the ocean, being sappy, thinking about home. After watching the sun set and realizing what a sorry position he was in, Liam decided to take a swim, clear his head, cool off. He first strolled on over to the rocky part of the beach and found a suitable hidey-hole for the possessions he had on him. Liam stripped down to his clover-covered boxers, climbed up the rocks, and, shivering, dove into the ocean.

Salty water soon surrounded Liam, he stayed underneath the waves for a few moments and said hello to the fish wandering about. When he surfaced, Liam noticed a rather unusual thing going on near the piers. What appeared to be either a dolphin or a human (perhaps a mermaid, then?) did a straight up backflip out of the water. Liam laughed out loud and swam closer to the rocks; he then pulled himself out of the water and wondered if he'd see it again.

It wasn't long before, gazing at the moon and the stars, Liam began to hear music. Now, sure, he was used to this kind of thing, but it tended to only happen when he was drunk. Sober Liam was quite confused; at least, he was until he noticed a young woman in the water singing. She was, erm, topless, and Liam felt himself blush just a bit. Letting his gaze go other places, Liam saw what looked like a tail in the water. Ooh, was she a mermaid? Was she the back-flipping one? Only one way to find out.

"Hello, there, miss. That's a lovely tune you're singing." Liam didn't look directly at the woman below him, instead choosing to gaze once again at the moon.

//Sorry this took so long for me to reply! Can't wait to have all kinds of sea-creature shenanigans, though!

[Lucine]

Such an old tune, it was. Lucine couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard it sung, but she could only assume that it’d been Nigel singing. She learned a great many songs from him, the better part of them being about far away places. It had been so long yet the words seemed to come to her with ease, like she’d heard it only minutes ago. Hearing footsteps made her pause. Shoot. If there was a human in the area that could make for a predicament. Should she hide under the waves or say hello? Should she obey her mother’s voice in the back of her head nagging her that it’s better to be safe than sorry? Or would it be more worth while to try and make a new friend?

The sound of a voice did startle her a bit. She’d assumed the footsteps to be a bit further off, but apparently this person was just above her on the rocks. Instinct made her jolt and slide quickly underwater, but Lucine turned so she could see who exactly it was. He looked nice enough, and if he’d meant her any harm he likely would have done so without bothering to say hello. She supposed it was safe. Surfacing, the mermaid flicked her tail to propel herself up onto the rocks more. She rested her arms on the rocky shore and smiled up at the newcomer,

“Hello. Sorry about the whole hiding thing, you startled me is all. That tune’s an old sailor song I learned ages ago. I can teach you the words if you’d like!”

Songs were always so much better if sung by two people, so why shouldn’t she teach this nice young man? Something seemed familiar about him though. Lucine didn’t feel as though she met him before, but he had the scent of the sea about him. Then again, she was also still half in the ocean and there was a slight breeze. Perhaps she was imagining it, but wouldn’t that be something if she found another like herself? Oh, but where were her manners? She hadn’t even introduced herself to the newcomer yet. Shifting her weight onto one elbow, Lucine reached a hand out to shake,

“My name is Lucine. What do you call yourself?”

The mermaid always tried to be polite. Most of the time it paid off, unless she was speaking to an absolutely joyless person. Those were no fun, always so prudish and scowly. Lucine blew a stray strand of wet hair out of her face, and her tail waved back and forth beneath the waves. Her scales shone now and then when the moonlight would hit them. She hoped she didn’t seem too bizarre.

//Shenanigans ahoy! >:3

[Liam Murphy]

Liam chuckled when the mermaid (for he could see clearly now, the rain has gone she was in fact a mermaid) dove underwater and hid from him momentarily. Liam didn't think he was all that scary, but he could relate- for some reason, fish had a tendency to swim away from anything startling (Sharks, not so much, but even then, there was that whole away and back away and back). When she resurfaced, Liam finally turned his attention fully to her, away from the beautiful moon.

"Oh, don't let me startle you, lass. From what I remember of merrows, you aren't the best kind of people to sneak up on." Liam smiled warmly, his massive green eyes almost glowing in the moonlight. "As far as the tune, I'd love to learn it. 'M not too bad of a singer, if I say so m'self." The smile turned into a full-fledged grin, showing off those shocking teeth. Behind the first row of teeth, Liam ran his tongue over the hidden second row. It was something he tended to do almost constantly.

"I call myself me, I, myself, but most people who know me tend to call me Liam." The selkie leaned down further to take Lucine's extended hand; he grasped it softly and gave a small kiss to Lucine's knuckles. "Pleasure to meet you, Lucine." Slowly, Liam released her hand and took back his own; he stood and made his way further down the rocks. Now that he knew he was with a fellow water-dweller, he didn't mind the nudity everywhere (being in his boxers? Not as bad as being a shark). He stopped and sat, letting his legs sit in the waves while the rest of his (still slightly wet) body stayed in the chilly air.

"Now what's that you say about an old sailor's tune?"

[Lucine]

Lucine was glad that the young man, now known as Liam, hadn’t been offended by her brief dash into the water. He seemed quite nice so far, and since he wanted to learn the song Lucine would happily teach him. The mermaid giggled a bit as he kissed her hand. Lucine turned herself around so that she was sitting on the rocks, rather than simply leaning. Much more comfortable for her, plus she wouldn’t get her forearms all scraped up. At his inquiring about the tune she’d told him of, she put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment,

“Most that I’ve known call it Spanish Ladies. It’s quite old. I heard it almost every time I was near a harbor for years, but now I don’t hear it as much anymore. A sailor on a cargo ship was singing it the other day, though. It made me so happy to hear it again!”

Truthfully, Lucine had first heard Spanish Ladies sung by a few deckhands on a ship belonging to the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. She’d stayed around the harbor for quite some time in hopes of hearing it again, and hear it she did. The tune was only one of several that she knew, but it was an old favorite. Realizing she’d been staring blankly off into the horizon as she reminisced, the mermaid flicked herself on the forehead,

“Sorry about that. I got caught up in a net of memories. Anyway the first verse goes a little something like this,”

For a moment, Lucine paused. Her voice had a tendency to hypnotize when she sang. Still she began to sing anyway and hoped Liam had some sort of immunity,

“Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain,
For we’ve received orders to sail for old England,
But we hope in a short time to see you again.”