Eridan Ampora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
capesandvvapes) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
logah2016-08-09 01:26 am
capesandvvapes) wrote in logah2016-08-09 01:26 am
Wwhere In The Wworld Is Feferi Peixes | Closed to Dirk
After a solid week of increasingly worrying radio silence from Feferi, and with very little reason to assume she was avoiding him in particular, Eridan had reached his limit for respectfully keeping himself out of her affairs. His hopes for the best were steadily changing into thoughts of the worst variety and the only way to stop it was to find out why she was ignoring him.
So he decided to investigate, with very little positive results. All her residences, including those she’d claimed her own though gifts to others or gifted keys, had been deserted. None of their mutual friends had heard from her and her school friends were similarly at a loss. And, as he’d expected, asking Meenah had been no help at all and he sure as hell was not asking the Peixes matriarch.
Ignoring him was one thing, but she’d seemed to have disappeared without a trace. If he’d had any other option, he’d have taken it, but he was running low on possible solutions and clocking overtime worrying about her, so he found himself digging up the contact information of the one obnoxiously blatant lead that he’d been desperately avoiding.
Eridan hadn't wanted to admit that maybe Dirk was closer to Fef now than he was and may have been informed about her plans where Eridan had been kept out of the loop. He’d accepted the possibility but it still stung.
CA: wwhere is she
CA: got your benefactor locked awway in the basement that penthouse a yours dont havve all tryin for a second go at the honeymoon phase or somethin
CA: knoww you twwo are tighter than sardines in a tin but that aint no excuse for gettin her to put a lid on
So he decided to investigate, with very little positive results. All her residences, including those she’d claimed her own though gifts to others or gifted keys, had been deserted. None of their mutual friends had heard from her and her school friends were similarly at a loss. And, as he’d expected, asking Meenah had been no help at all and he sure as hell was not asking the Peixes matriarch.
Ignoring him was one thing, but she’d seemed to have disappeared without a trace. If he’d had any other option, he’d have taken it, but he was running low on possible solutions and clocking overtime worrying about her, so he found himself digging up the contact information of the one obnoxiously blatant lead that he’d been desperately avoiding.
Eridan hadn't wanted to admit that maybe Dirk was closer to Fef now than he was and may have been informed about her plans where Eridan had been kept out of the loop. He’d accepted the possibility but it still stung.
CA: wwhere is she
CA: got your benefactor locked awway in the basement that penthouse a yours dont havve all tryin for a second go at the honeymoon phase or somethin
CA: knoww you twwo are tighter than sardines in a tin but that aint no excuse for gettin her to put a lid on
Hal: Be Belligerent
TT: How ever did you discover my master plan?
TT: This whole time I was planning to kidnap her and lock her up in my basement.
TT: To woo her.
TT: And have my wicked way with her.
TT: You've caught me.
TT: Why do you need to know, anyway?
TT: Trouble in paradise?
TT: Did she finally realize you're not worth her time and cut you off?
TT: It's about time.
TT: She can be pretty slow on the uptake.
TT: Aw, are you using that as an excuse to talk to me?
TT: Your precious Feferi has shut you out, so you've come running to lil' ol' me?
TT: How sweet.
TT: Maybe I can make some time for you.
TT: You're really not worth it.
TT: But I'm a generous sort of person.
Re: Hal: Be Belligerent
CA: i cant imagine there room in your all too occupied heart or basement for a second at such late notice
CA: i wwasnt awware i wwas bein quite so obvvious but noww that you knoww theres no use in hiding howw deeply I cravve wwhat little attention you can spare
CA: fuckin decade an a half of friendship wwith a girl just to use it to get close to you
CA: its better pay off than I could evver havve dreamed up
CA: especially considerin current circumstance makin the swwitch to devvotin all my attention to you entirely too easy
CA: see paradise happens to havve the troubles rooted in her not bein around
CA: by wwhich i mean shes missin an i might a been the only one wwho realized but not the only one shes givin the silent treatment
CA: so if youvve got any information on wwhere she might havve ended up thatd be fuckin delightful
Hal: Like this human
TT: I've got plenty of space for a small fry like you.
TT: I'm surprised your inferior little brain could even comprehend a plan like that.
TT: Do you even have an attention span longer than five minutes?
TT: I'm almost impressed.
TT: Have you considered that I'm right?
TT: She's probably just ignoring you.
TT: Or she forgot all about you.
TT: You provide some amusement, but her attention span is even worse than most humans.
TT: She's like the human embodiment of a gold fish.
TT: Not very bright, either.
TT: In fact, maybe she got lost on the way to the grocery store.
TT: Ended up in the city pound.
TT: Why don't you go check there?
TT: If she's not around, you can adopt yourself a nice puppy.
TT: That should be a suitable replacement.
TT: Smarter and more well behaved.
TT: You should be thanking me for giving you such sound advice.
Eridan: Okay but can wwe put aside the flirtin for ten seconds here
CA: inferior small fry or wwhatever you claim ill be the nicest thing youvve evver owwned
CA: better evven than that place youre all set up in gracious though shes been
CA: that story of yours seems pretty specific
CA: the pound wwhere fef found you cos that sure wwould explain a lot
CA: noww ivve considered loads a things about you but your bein right wwasnt one of em an it still aint
CA: despite your talk about my wwanin attention span youre tearin through topics faster than my little brain can keep up wwith and still glossin ovver key details so im considerin your advvice more than moot
CA: far as i knoww fefs been ignorin more than just me so havve you heard from her or wwhat
CA: as flattered as i am you wwant to keep talkin bout me its startin to sound like youre set on wwastin my time
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TT: Who the hell are you-
TT: Oh.
TT: Nevermind.
TT: You can keep talking to this one.
TT: Aww.
TT: It's no fun if you want me to talk to him.
TT: Now I'm not going to.
TT: For fuck's sake, Hal.
TT: Your entire purpose was to talk to people when I don't want to.
TT: You useless piece of coding.
TT: Hey.
TT: There's no need to be rude, Dirk.
TT: You should be thankful I'm letting you take over the conversation.
TT: Unless you don't care that your silly fish friend is missing?
TT: Wait, what?
TT: What happened to Feferi?
TT: Eridan.
TT: Tell me what's going on.
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CA: wwanna actually get an answwer to that question or you gonna start arguin wwith yourself again i mean the twwo colour systems great for readability but hearin about your thought process is thoroughly unappealin
CA: nevvermind you can fill me in on your propensity for one man dialogue later
CA: i dont knoww wwhat happened to fef
CA: havvent heard a wword from her since dinner last wweek
CA: thought you might havve some insight but you dont evven knoww wwhere your owwn heads at so guess i cant blame you for not noticin her silence
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TT: He hates you almost as much as I do.
TT: Have you tried looking for her?
TT: The last time she was "missing" I found her sleeping in the pond on her front yard.
TT: Nevermind.
TT: You clearly haven't had any success, or you wouldn't be contacting me.
TT: I'll find her myself.
TT: Thanks for the heads up.
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CA: if i had any clue wwhat your deal wwas wwith the twwo faces youre pullin id havve to admit that i dont dislike you much as i could
CA: too bad wwere kept from mutual good feelins by the vvast amount of bs goin on here
CA: an a fuckin course ivve been looking for her
CA: you aint exactly wwrong about bein amongst last resorts though clearly you dont knoww shit so i dont knoww wwhy I evven bothered
CA: an yeah i havvent had any success because she aint anywwhere she should be
CA: not on campus not wwith friends an sure as SHIT not at in the pond or wwhatevver at her house wwhere she left all comm devvices and car safe and sound an fuckin notably not wwith her
CA: if she aint wwith you i dont knoww wwhere else to look
CA: but go ahead and try on your owwn to find her i wwish you the best a fuckin luck
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TT: She's ludicrously rich, right?
TT: Literally swimming in money rich?
TT: Or, given her weird obsession with fish, it's possible she went after this injured shark they were reporting off the coast.
TT: It left before rescuers could get to it, but it's injuries are mysteriously gone.
TT: Hal, why the fuck can't you be useful at a convenient time?
TT: Christ, I hate you.
TT: Awe, Dirk.
TT: There's no need to be jealous just because your boyfriend likes me more than you.
TT: I'm donating you to a community college.
TT: Eridan.
TT: I assume you have a boat.
TT: I hate to admit it, but Hal's probably right.
TT: Feferi can breath under water and heal living things.
TT: This fits her MO.
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CA: sure didnt knoww about the wwhole wwater breathin nonsense but its a much better option than the alternativve so lets run wwith it
CA: besides it wwould be just fuckin like her to go commune wwith marine fauna an not say a damn wword to anyone about it
CA: anywways thats a big fuckin assumption youvve got there
CA: but yeah ivve a boat
CA: you got a vvehicle to get us there
CA: actually nevvermind its probably a piece of shit i called a cab
CA: youvve got fivve minutes to get dowwn to street levvel or im leavvin wwithout
- - caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] - -
- - caligulasAquarium [CA] began pestering timaeusTestified [TT] - -
CA: an dont fuckin donate wwhatevver that wwas to a college they wwont learn nothin but wwhat its like to havve sevvere wwhiplash
- - caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] - -
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After informing his father that he was taking the boat and that he’d be back by sundown (as one is supposed to do when planning to go out to sea) they headed out on the Argonautilus, one of the smaller boats in the Ampora arsenal, and one that would be easy to steer with only a single experienced operator.
In similar water safety fashion, Dirk was outfitted in a bright orange life jacket that Eridan was endlessly amused by. He couldn't help but periodically look over at the other as he adjusted their course, small twist to his lips as he bit back a grin at Dirk’s sulking. It was nice to know he wasn't the only vain one of the pair but hey, if the guy couldn't swim there was no way he was getting anything less than a heavy duty jacket. That it was absolutely hideous was simply an added bonus.
On their way out of the bay, in a conversation bordering on argument, they had ultimately decided that their best bet at getting Feferi’s attention was the broadcast of some kind of signal, a sound to call her to them. Luckily, Eridan had just the right equipment to get the job done.
Lure set, hydrophone and speakers dangling off the side of the boat, all they had left was to trail slowly along the coast with Sburb’s shoreline a sliver in the distance, and hope they ran into Feferi. Just two idiots on a boat with whale songs bellowing out beneath the water. There was no possible way this plan could fail.
"This isn't goin' to fuckin’ work," groans Eridan, the champion of positivity.
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He gave up on fiddling with the life jacket, resigned to be uncomfortable in more than one way on this boat ride, but didn't take it off. Sure, he'd learned how to swim in Feferi's pool, but nothing in the pool was likely to try to eat him. He glanced over the edge of the boat uneasily, seeing nothing but endless water underneath them. He would never understand Feferi's love of the ocean. Water was okay, but - He jerked away from the edge of the boat as he saw a fish swim by, close enough to the surface that he could see it clearly.
Huffing, annoyed with himself, he crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back into his seat. He was going to kill Feferi when he found her, for getting him stuck on this boat with Eridan, of all people.
He eyed the man from behind his shades. He'd never admit it, but Eridan manning this boat all by himself was a little impressive. But only a little. (It wasn't like Dirk was attracted to him or anything.) That didn't stop him from imagining throwing Eridan overboard, though.
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Get a load of this guy, flinchy as all get out and still threatening the only one in their party who knew how to sail. The nerves were completely uncalled for too. It wasn't like anything in the ocean was going to eat him. Probably.
“Be nice to attract something out here,” He muttered before raising his griping back up to audible level, “But seein’ how our luck’s been I doubt there’ll be any sharks forthcomin’.” Eridan rolled his eyes and went back to securing the main sail, rope moving nimble through fingers in the comforting patterns of knots he’d tied hundreds of times before. It was nice to have something to distract himself from the frustration of waiting in vain for some sign of Fef to surface. Pretty soon Eridan was going to run out of things he could adjust without it being painfully obvious that he was too worked up to sit still. Not just yet though.
A shark would actually be a welcome sight, the bigger and more interesting the fish, the more likely Fef would be somewhere nearby. Though being in an ocean and surrounded by aquatic species that rule might not hold the same way it had before.
And that was the main problem with their plan, the ocean was a big place and chock full of things to discover and it was all well and good to be on a small vessel in the ocean with the friend of a friend, but the force of their animosity wasn't exactly going to draw her to them. It’d been a week and they were relying on Fef having stayed nearby but if she had spent seven days swimming away from shore, there was no way their signal would even reach her.
Well, if this was going to fall through, he’s glad he won't be alone in his failure.
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His first time out on a boat was proving to be just as miserable as he'd always expected it to be. If he never had to do this again, it would be too soon. (The whole situation was made worse by the fact that he didn't know if Eridan being here was making him feel better or not.) At least he had his shades to both protect him from the bright sun and make the way he was staring at Eridan a little less obvious.
Christ, this was a stupid plan. He didn't even know how well Feferi could hear under water. If she was too far away, there was a big chance she wouldn't even notice them. He watched Eridan with a narrow eyed gaze, seriously considering throwing him overboard...
Scowling, he tugged at one of the many straps on his life jacket again. Every time he moved, the thing shifted and threatened to choke him.
"Do I really have to wear this stupid thing?" He grumbled, more to himself than to Eridan. He could swim well enough to stay afloat if he fell overboard. Probably. And it wasn't like the life jacket was going to protect him if a shark really did want to eat him. "Feferi taught me how to swim. I ain't gonna drown."
Honestly, drowning was starting to seem like a pretty appealing option. It may even have the added benefit of attracting Feferi better than these damn whale songs.
Eridan: Could teach you but he'd have to charge
Another small shard of jealousy had slipped in snug next to the conflicting mess of opinions he held for Dirk. His speed would be certainly be useful on a boat if he knew what he was doing, set up would take only a fraction of time it normally would. And obviously the guy wasn't all that inept, given the rumors Eridan had heard of the other’s mechanical prowess, so likely, if he tried he would figure it out. But Eridan didn’t want to consider boating to be another thing Dirk could have the one up on so he very swiftly shelved those thoughts for later, or preferably never. For now, Eridan reassured himself with the fact that no matter the other’s comparative brightness, it wouldn't make up for years of experience.
Hostilities aside, he wasn’t about to let the comedy gold that was Dirk in that vest slip away. “You won’t drown immediately. It’s never just about knowin’ how to swim, it’s havin’ the endurance to stay above until rescue. So yes, you do need to wear that ‘stupid thing’. Safety is no joke,” Eridan said in mock gravity and barely concealed smirk, he himself barely up to safety standards dressed in a svelte life jacket that was much more appropriate for activities closer to shore. It was not quite fashionable, because really these things were not designed for runways, but the blue vest fitted to torso nicely in the way bulkier orange vests never would. Objectively, Eridan knew that one can never plan on accidents happening and safety really was no joke, but he was also sure he wasn't about to capsize his own ship on a day calm as this. If he did he’d never be able to show his face again, so really was there any risk here?
Plus the vast contrast between their outfitting made Dirk’s suffering so much more satisfying.
Dirk: Are you offering me a milkshake?
This was a no win situation, and Dirk didn't like any part of it. If he kept wearing this damned life jacket, Eridan would be amused by how uncomfortable he clearly was. But if he took it off, he proved Eridan was getting to him, and he would still lose. He crossed his arms over his chest again (he was definitely not pouting) and mulled it over for a long moment.
Fuck it.
Scowling, Dirk stood and started unbuckling the straps of his life jacket. He fumbled with the unfamiliar clasps. It didn't help that he stumbled every time the boat moved. (The water was calm and the boat only rocked gently, but Dirk's inexperience made him feel like they may tip over. His clumsy movements only served to make everything worse.) He smirked to himself as he finally opened the first clasp, and the second and third were much easier to deal with. He struggled to get the thing over his arms, but stumbled and had to let go of the life jacket to steady himself.
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He takes back every good thought he just had about Dirk, Eridan has nothing to fear regarding the usurpation of his sailing throne. He’d given him a minor lecture in water safety and that prompted Dirk to do the exact opposite of listening to the knowledge dispensed. He might be smart but wise is another thing altogether.
Besides his legs are quivering like jello, he’s a more danger to himself than to Eridan's status. Rate he was going he’d end up overboard all on his own.
Eridan tried to refrain from caring as Dirk struggled to remove his jacket, really he did, but each flat pop of the plastic clasps coming undone had his teeth grinding in irritation. Not only was Dirk ignoring Eridan’s (not-so-kindly-minded) advice and ruining the one source of enjoyment he was getting from this venture, but he was also liable to cause the whole vessel to flip with his flailing. But on top of all that, Eridan was struck with the realization that if Dirk drowned on his watch, Fef would never let him live it down. That was, if Fef was alright at all.
The idea of losing a second person to the sea, no matter his personal feelings for the other, spurred him into motion. Dropping the ties he was fiddling with, ship properly set on its course for the time being anyways, he lunged across the small deck of the boat, causing it to sway just harder than the waves had previously.
“Honestly, what did I just say?” Eridan hissed out, wrenching the vest back onto Dirk’s shoulders and yanking the front downwards in an attempt to get the other to sit back down before he unbalanced himself even further. “The vest is non-negotiable.” He said with a glare and stressing each syllable like Dirk hadn't understood him the first time, as his hands moved downwards to try and get the clasps realigned and snapped together.
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And okay, that was probably a bit more honest than he wanted to be. But between Feferi being missing (which was likely his fault) and being out on the ocean for the first time, he was a little high-strung. (He made another mental note to kill Feferi when they found her. Or at least lock her in her bedroom for a few days.)
Dirk shoved Eridan's hands away and took a clumsy step back. He tripped over his own feet (he'd be embarrassed about that later, once he finished panicking) and tumbled head first over the side of the boat into the (fuckin' cold) ocean water. The open life jacket was barely hanging onto him, but provided just enough flotation to keep his head above the water. Still, he coughed up a mouthful of sea water when he surfaced. His shades had fallen when he did, and he was left squinting in the bright sunlight, with his hair dripping salt water into his eyes. Belatedly, he remembered to tread water, but fully clothed and still wearing shoes, he didn't think it was helping much. He pushed his hair out of his face and took a deep breath. God, he must look like an idiot, but at least he hadn't panicked.
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“Obviously I take everyone I hate on fuckin’ pleasure cruises,” He said deflecting the latter questioning with tone caustic. There were an awful lot of reasons why he cared and not a single one of them ready to be said aloud or able synthesize into witty comebacks. The “why” seemed rhetorical anyways, he doubted Dirk really wanted an answer to that.
He certainly didn't want to be helped, as he made blatantly clear when Eridan’s hands were forced free of the neon material and Dirk flipped out a little more literally with a loud splash. There was a split second where Eridan, stunned, simply stared at the empty space where Dirk had once stood because, wow, he had seen this coming but he hadn't expected it to actually happen.
Curious, and only minorly concerned about the other's well being, Eridan leant to peer out over the side of the boat at the impressive sight Dirk made. Disheveled was a good look on him, and even better when served to prove his original point. “Glad you’ve got that jacket now?” And he couldn't help how his snickers were erring a little too close to laughter.
Feferi: Love bites
It promptly chose to flee, and Feferi was hard-pressed to keep up, stretching her new water powers as she trailed it into the darker depths. She found she could see in a limited way and shortly found whale bones alive with scavengers and, at last, a sunken ship mostly rotted away. It took some time to rig a carry sack, but there were too many interesting things to leave behind and she thought Dave would appreciate the skull heavily encrusted with barnacles
When she absently realized she had been down her for some time, a quick glance at her watch told her that it was still the same date though she failed to notice that the clock hands had ceased moving, the 10m water resistance long since exceeded.
She was trying to figure out if there was any actual treasure amid the mostly rotted timbers and rusted hunks of metal without destroying anything with her powers when she distantly heard whale song.
Her adrenaline peaked at the thought of getting to swim with a proper whale (who might be more willing to swim with company than the ungrateful shark had been) and abandoned her new find in favor of arrowing toward the source of the singing, slowed down somewhat by her awkwardly large bundle of raided ship souvenirs.
The photic zone slowed her, even the dim sunlight seeming unusually harsh, and her progress slowed even further as she approached the surface, squinting and realizing belatedly how hungry she was.
At last the whale songs were making her ears throb, but confusingly the only thing in sight was the hull of a small ship. She circled around some 50 meters down, trying to see who was aboard in the eye aching glare of the sunlight, but between the rippling surface and the blazing sun, she couldn't make anything out.
Disappointed at the lack of whale and more curious about what else she could find on the ocean floor than on the surface of some random boat, Feferi began to dive again when a splash from overhead caught her attention and long pale flailing limbs began to thrash. She darted forward, then froze as spiky sunglasses sank toward her. Feferi giggled underwater, snagging the glasses and tangling them into her loose mane of dark hair along with the other small ocean souvenirs and ship bits and shells she had laid claim to absently.
Feferi approached, circling around below her and finally recognizing an Ampora ship. Gleeful that her two bffs seemed to be on better terms if Dirk had agreed to go out on the ocean, Feferi decided to join in on his splashing fun and darted forward to lightly bite one of his flailing legs before slipping into the shadow of the boat, her slightly slimy side rubbing against his leg as she went like an affectionate cat, though the deafening loudness of the whale songs made her clamp her hands uselessly over her ears. What under the ocean did Erifin think he was doing? driving all the fish away for miles??
Dirk: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT
He started to say something else, but cut himself off with an admittedly embarrassing yelp when something bit him. He kicked out, but only managed to graze the thing (whatever it was) before it was swimming away, it's slick body rubbing against him as it did so.
"Somethin' fuckin' bit me!" He complained loudly, his accent thick. (Oh Christ, did his voice actually crack?) His eyes darted frantically between the water and the boat, but he couldn't make anything out.
He swam awkwardly towards the boat, his loose life jacket more a hindrance than a help now. When he reached the edge, he looked imploringly up at Eridan, holding out a hand for help without hesitation. (Touch aversion be damned, he wasn't going to stay in the fucking ocean with whatever had bit him any longer.)
"Help me up." He demanded, trying (and failing) to sound any less panicked. The ocean was fucking terrible and he was never going to get in it again.
Eridan: better not be wwhat i think it is
He reached out to grab the offered hand without a second thought, all their previous banter (and that amazing voice crack) forgotten until their current crisis was averted. He clasped on tightly to pull him aboard, and while he wasn't all that strong when paired with the buoyancy water provided, it was enough to lift Dirk back to the relative safety of the deck.
Eridan spared a brief glance down at Dirk’s legs as they rose above the surface. There wasn’t any blood, the flesh thankfully intact but also devoid of any telling indentations of what could have bitten him. Eridan was almost convinced he was faking, if not for how Dirk was clearly spooked, a stark departure from his previous composure.
Sticking close to Dirk, not that the boat was large enough for them to do much else, he warily scanned the surface of the sea for any sign of the creature. It could be Fef but… would biting someone be the first thing she'd do upon her return? He wouldn't put it past her but he would have hoped she’d show more tact.
But boy could dramatic events ever shut an Ampora up fast.
Feferi: Ug)( air is so... gaseous...
Feferi looked like a sea witch out of nightmares, her dark hair even worse than usual and littered with pale additions in the forms of interesting shells and tiny bits of paraphernalia as well as seaweed and debris that had gotten tangled in there. Dirk's shades were captured nearer her face, gleaming wetly. Her bright pink wet suit was rather dull with acquired muck and silt from squirming through rotting ship timbers with some long tears that she hadn't noticed either, her fingers and toes wrinkled well beyond prunes.
She untied the length of very rusty chain from around her waist and let it drop onto her bundle of rotting sailcloth and her undersea prizes as she grinned at her two friends and pushed her matted hair out of her face. "OH HI!!" she shouted, ears still ringing from the blasting whale songs. "WATER YOU DOING OUT HERE TOGETHER?? OOOH AM I INTERRUPTING A SECOND DATE?? I CAN GO IF YOU WANT!! IT'S ACTUALLY REELY LUCKY YOU CAME OUT HERE BECAUSE MY BUNDLE WAS GETTING TOO HEAVY!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH FREE STUFF THERE IS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN??"
"I BROUGHT YOU GIFTS!!" she exclaimed, crouching down and picking unsuccessfully at the sodden fabric to try and loosen her bundle. "UGH THIS WAS SO MUCH EASIER UNDERWATER!!"
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He was pulled from his thoughts when some thing landed on the boat. He immediately put himself between Eridan and whatever the hell that was. He was unsteady and unarmed, but he stood his ground, blue sparks dancing around his fingertips.
It wasn't until the creature spoke that he started to relax. The sparks didn't diminish, but his shoulders lost some of their tension.
"Feferi?" He asked with a frown, his brow furrowing. He winced at the volume of her voice, but took a step toward her to get a better look at her. "Stop yellin', Christ."
Her mention of a date had him blushing again, thinking about Eridan's hand in his. He shoved those thoughts out of his mind. Curling his hands into fists at his sides smothered the sparks, and he approached Feferi at a quicker pace.
He crouched and grabbed her dirty (ugh, what was she covered in?) face with both hands, lifting it so he could get a better look at her.
"Where in the hell have you been? Are you okay? You look disgustin' and you stink." His nose wrinkled, but he didn't release her or back off. He couldn't tell if she was okay under the layers of grime, and even if she was, he wasn't about to give her a chance to run away again. (He needed to apologize. But not now. Not with Eridan standing behind them.)
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Why did he keep giving her the benefit of the doubt, she definitely never deserved it. Of course her entrance was going to be ridiculous. She may look like a monster from the depths right now but she’d always been a monster in her own right without all the accruements. A little too much everything to the point of surreality and horrifyingly wonderful for it.
Though Dirk sweeping to her side caused his mood to very quickly go south, initial relief shifting to anger. His arms crossed over his chest as he observed Dirk and Fef interact and all the jealousy he’d put aside to keep this fish finding field trip running somewhat smoothly came back to the forefront of his thoughts. Strangely, it hadn't been so hard to shelve when Feferi wasn't around and Dirk had been the only pleasant distraction from the worries her missing had caused. Even if their conversation not friendly, there was almost a glimmer of potential for it to be, one day, but now the gut burning envy had returned and watching them together was like watching a door shut in his face. But he was stubborn and he was going to keep wedging himself into whatever space she had left for him in her life until she pushed him out for good.
He strode over to join them, not waiting for invitation. “She's been in the ocean obviously, and really… you shouldn't tell a lady she's disgusting,” He said, grimacing as he spotted a small, dead fish in her hair, gingerly plucking it out and tossing it overboard to sink back to where it came.
“Sure you found a whole bunch a shit but you lost track a somethin’ else…” Eridan began airily before words solidified to concrete, heavy and jagged, “One week Fef. To supply a bit of context to our evident distress, just in case you’d hadn't noticed that important component.” And she must have, coming back after too long and assuming the two of them together was for some sort of silly, selfish reason like a date.
Feferi: Not a funny joke -Erifin!!
She rooted around in her rusty and waterlogged pile and, with a grin, thrust a much-corroded sword to Dirk. "I fin I found a PIRATE SHIP!!!" Feferi exclaimed, producing a small dolphin skull crusted with barnacles and other clinging shells. "I thought Dave might like this," she prattled on, then produced the largest piece in her pile: the corroded brasswork and lingering barnacle-encrusted wood of a portion of the ship's wheel. She proudly held it up for Eridan. "Pirate wheel for you!!" she said cheerfully, oblivious to the slimy feel of it under her hands after so many days of sliding around in the muck. The rest of her pile looked to be assorted rusty eating implements and maybe another skull as well as some large shells.
"Didn't fin it was possible to get this dirty underwater... I didn't realize how mucky I'd gotten but it's all over!!" Feferi mused. "But I guess there wasn't much... light..." She trailed off, her jaw dropping as she stared up at Eridan. "A WEEK????" she screeched, her voice jumping up a couple of octaves to a pitch more suitable for talking to dolphins. "That's not FUNNY Erifin!!! Look!! It's only been a day!!!" she protested, shaking off Dirk's hands and thrusting the mucky watch on her wrist over at him. The glass had a spiderweb of cracks across it, the hands unmoving and the entire mechanism clearly filled with water. The only thing still even vaguely functional was the dim light, by which she had ascertained that it was still the same date without noticing that the clock was no longer moving. At all.
Dirk: ugh
He stood and backed up when she started screeching. Trust Feferi to be able to give him a headache in less than a minute. Squinting at her in the bright sunlight, he realized she had his shades tangled in the rat's nest of her hair. But she was out of reach now, and unless she tried to run again, he was going to keep his distance. Standing next to Eridan, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at Feferi.
"It ain't a joke, Feferi. We thought somethin' bad had happened to you." Without meaning to, he was using the "disappointed parent" voice he'd perfected on Dave when they were children. "What the hell were you thinkin', huh? You can't just run off like that and not check in with anyone!"
He frowned at the watch, just barely able to make out that the hands had stopped, but it was still reading the date of their last conversation. Okay, so maybe she'd really lost track of time, but that didn't mean he was any less angry at her. (Or worried about her.)
"Don' you ever do that to us again, you hear me?" He scolded.
no subject
It was kind of hard to stay too mad with Fef when she’d pretty much bought his affection with her gift and when it was clear she’d honestly not known she had been missing for a week. She should have noticed but Eridan was also aware of the way Fef could run herself ragged getting caught up in things.
He side-eyed Dirk’s lecturing, not having realized how upset the other had been this whole time though it was obvious in retrospect. With a sigh Eridan added, “What he's tryin' to spell out for you's that the issue ain't even about you bein' gone for whatever amount you thought you'd been. It's that you took off without a word edgewise to anyone who might be concerned for your continued breathin', no matter what bs form it's takin', an' left us graspin' at the few mangled straws you deigned to leave us with. It’s a fuckin' basic rule Fef, let someone, anyone, know you're plannin' to go offshore, whether you think you’ll be back soon or not. Have a plan, stick to it, and communicate.” God. That last part had him sounding like he was reading straight from an informational brochure on outdoor safety procedure but it was a lot better than explaining he’d made an ass of himself contacting people in attempts to track her down.
Feferi: Using all my self-control not to roll my eyes
"Shell I make a social media account or somefin then to 'check in' because I doubt you both want texts the twenty or so times a day I am out in the ocean," she pointed out, trying to be polite but the idea was downright ludicrous.
"I live next to the glubbing ocean! I surf whenever the mood takes me and the tides are high, or these days whenever I glubbing whale eel like it!" she said, somewhat exasperated. "I am reely sorry I worried you but it's not like checking in would have made any difference since I was figuratively and literally out to sea. I was planning on coming back soon anyway!" Although she had meant to come back in a day to begin with and apparently that had stretched into a week in the inky darkness and the fascination of finding things.
Feferi huffed, tapping her watch and grimacing as the water inside sloshed a little, making the stilled second hand sway a little in response to the tiny breeze. "I guess I whale agree to get a watch that can survive in the deeper zones... 10m water resistance does not like the bottom of the ocean."
In hindsight she realized she had probably gone well past the world record freedive, but since she could breathe water now it didn't really count. Idly she wondered how deep she HAD gone, losing her grip on her irritation with their fussing as she pondered the best way to determine that.
Feferi blinked and smiled at them, wiping her hand down her arm and grimacing at the muck on her hand. "How about I promise to get a watch that can survive and make shore if it's been more than 24 hours I figure out a way to check in or somefin. Maybe there're underwater phones..." She pondered as she started to pick the small pretty shells and assorted ship artifacts out of her hair, absently untangling Dirk's glasses and offering them to him. (They were now unpleasantly fishy and had a tangle of seaweed wrapped around one earpiece.)
Dirk: oh no you don't, missy
And it would have been all your fault, Dirk.
He was ignoring Eridan's additions. He didn't know how to feel about the man backing him up, and he didn't like that either. (He was having a rough day.)
"You really think I'm lettin' you run off with nothin' more than a watch? You're likely to forget all about it, and then we'll be right back where we started."
He started to say something else, but stopped as she offered his shades to him. He accepted them with a grimace, his shoulders slumping. (No way were those going back on his face.) He brushed his wet hair out of his face again, making it stick up at strange angles. (Stranger than usual, anyway.)
"Just- Don't do that to me again, alright?" He insisted, his voice soft.
Uncomfortable now that the moment had passed, he cleared his throat and straightened out. He stumbled back to the seat he'd been occupying before, ripping off his life jacket and tossing it onto the deck as he did so. (At this point he really wasn't opposed to drowning.)
He made a vague gesture toward Eridan and Feferi. "Get me back on land."
Eridan: disapproving parents or bratty children, it's hard to tell
“That's not what we meant and you know it.” Eridan directed towards Feferi as he coiled it’s wires neatly before laying it on the deck to dry. “Not askin’ for a play by play but maybe a heads up next time ain't too much to ask. Goin’ out to surf or swim or whatever is fine. When you go on extensive fuckin’ adventures way offshore, that’s another thin’ entirely.”
He gave her a stern look and kept his tone low in feigned detachment, but it was a losing battle and the sharpened edge of the roiling, noxious combination of anger and worry he hosted snuck in despite his attempts to the contrary. It wasn't only that she’d not given second thought to how those she’d left behind might react to her disappearance or the ease at which she’d brushed away their concern but it was her own casual disregard for herself when she was so keen on taking care of others, that kept him so incensed now.
“Know the sea is fuckin’ callin’ your name with every swell a tide like pulse of your blood or whatever romanticised garbage you're feelin’ keen on today but you've got to take a sec to make sure you’ve contingencies and someone who’ll pull your ass outta water if thin’s start heatin’ up.”
“Just be fuckin’ grateful you’ve found yourself a couple a suckers who’ll bend over backwards tryin’ to make sure you're safe.” Rolling his eyes, Eridan turned back to work on adjusting their course, absent grumblings exempt from requiring his full attention. “Why do you think we’ve got this stupid fuckin’ setup goin’, bellowin’ a damn whale chorus into the ocean like a couple of half-witted amateur musicians tryin’ to cash in on the new hit trend of music for tearin’ your own ears off? Ain't for fun. We couldn’t figure out another fuckin' way to get you to surface and fuck was it ever a long shot. There was no way of tellin’ if you’d even hear it, if you were even out here but we set it up anyways and sat out here, twiddlin’ our fuckin’ thumbs an’ hopin’ maybe you’d catch on the absurdity a it. But my deepest apologies for our wantin’ to reciprocate the same care you hand out so freely. Obviously the gesture's uncalled for.”
He huffed as a knot slips from his practised fingers, retying it excuse enough to not give either of his guests another glance. “Anyways you should probably go check on sparky over there,” He added none too quietly, with a jerk of his head towards Dirk who seems exponentially more miserable by the minute, “Pretty sure that equipment’s susceptible to water damage.” It's not really warm feelings that prompt him to say it, but if Dirk felt anywhere near as bad as Eridan did over this whole fiasco, he probably needed someone to not be a jerk for ten seconds and that someone was not going to be Eridan.
Feferi: Remember you're not a rebellious teen
"I really am sorry... If I'd known you were worried.... I'm sorry... I'll try not to get so distracted in future," she said softly, just for him for now. Eridan might be reading her the riot act but she'd seen the lustful way his hands wrapped around his gift.
Feferi sighed and kept her various opinions of Dirk's overprotective nature to herself as she snuggled against him, squeezing him possibly too tightly around the ribs. "Thanks for coming out to look for my oblivious tail," she said, grinning a little. "Even going so far as to come out on a boat!! You're the best land friend a mermaid ever had."
She rested her chin on his chest and smiled affectionately up at him, a slight hint of a sparkle in her pink eyes as she grinned hopefully. "What can I do to make it up to you? Another fancy dinner this time with just you and captain fusspot?"