Craving Music

[seaphonic]

Who: Dean Winchester & Syrena
When: May 15th.
Where:The docks.
Summary: You haven't lived until you've heard Zeppelin.
Warning: Tsundere mermaid? Other than that none.

Perhaps, Syrena thought, this morning would be an interesting and entertaining one. Many people had sung and played music for her, soothing her initial displeasure as she'd combed her hair off shore on one of her favourite rocks. A man had promised her music, and although she did not know his name, the desire to hear this 'Zepplin' was enough to have her agree to have him meet her. He did not seem dangerous or harmful. If he was, well...she'd just do what she had to unruly fishermen that had tried to catch her in their nets just before dusk.

Nothing quite tasted like human flesh did. It certainly was a delicacy like no other.

Syrena already had had her fill of fish thus far, nor would she attack or eat someone who wasn't really asking for it. Thus she was in a decent mood as she swam her way over to where the docks were, waiting off to the side, just below the murky surface to wait for Dean to show up. She'd spot or hear him before he'd see her, surely.

Comments

it does! And I'm glad ;w;/

[seaphonic]

"But I do eat meat." And there's a confused look then which settles on her face. "Fish, squid, birds, crabs, lobster...they have flesh and flesh is meat, is it not?"

She didn't bother to correct him on the second part. Sure, Syrena didn't eat men like Dean, but that didn't mean she hadn't made a meal of men who had attacked her in the port. They had tasted great too, not that she'd say that. She's no idiot, after all.

good orz

[mulletrock]

"I didn't mean it like that," Dean takes a moment to roll his neck on his shoulders and relieve some tension in his back. "You're just a far cry from a blood thirsty monster. You're a lot like someone I worked with a few years ago. Sam brought her on board. Haven't really seen her since."

=u= /pat

[seaphonic]

She lets the word monster sink in for a moment.

"Of course I am not a monster. A monster is a creature without judgement. Without emotion. I am neither of these things."

Was it a common misconception to think of anything that wasn't human as either property or wild, thoughtless creatures? Philip had been the first to show her that not all humans were so ignorant, that she was an individual with a mind and feelings of her own.

"What was she like?"

[mulletrock]

"A lot of the things I deal with don't have either," he shrugs. He's heard the we're people too line before but if those people were slaughtering other people they still deserved to be on death row.

They weren't special. He just handled it because no one else would. That was his job.

"She was, uh... different." She had an attitude problem. A lot like hers. "Made the truce with my brother first. I was ready to come in swingin' but she saved our asses in the end so we kinda owe her our lives."

[seaphonic]

Different. Just like Syrena was 'different'. There was a little sigh as a sharp nail was lightly raked against the wood of the dock. "You are both indebted to her then." It was a strange feeling to be indebted to an individual of another species. Syrena herself was still indebted to Philip, after all. He had saved her more than once. He'd given her her freedom back at the price of his life. Thankfully, she'd been able to save him, but even so...

"To be indebted to someone...it is a strange thing. The feeling that accompanies it is one I have not felt often. I am not indebted to many. Back home, I owe Philip my life. Here, I am indebted to Mary for saving me from the oil spill and Castiel for returning me to the sea from the hospital. There are others...but they have left or died."

[mulletrock]

"You'd be surprised how many people I owe things to," he rolls his eyes. He had so many allies and frenemies that it was hard to know where to draw the line.

The bit aboout Cas and his Mom makes him stop short though. He's not surprised. Siren's Port has six degrees of separation and he learned it the hard way his first month here.

"That's my Mom," in case she didn't know. Dean cracks a grin and rests an arm over his knee. "And Cas is a friend of mine too. This place is crawling with people from home."

[seaphonic]

"Mary is your mother?" It's surprising enough news that it causes Syrena to turn and face Dean completely, scrutinizing every little feature visible to her as she compares what she sees to what she remembers of Mary. Her expression softens then when she speaks again. "I am fond of her. Of Mary."

It was hard not to be. Mary was genuinely a good person, in a similar way that Philip had been. Mary had a kind heart and had helped Syrena because of it. "Has she ever washed your hair before? She is really good at it."

Weird to say? Syrena didn't think so.

"Castiel is your friend?" Didn't see that one coming. "He is also kind." In his own sort of way, at least. Syrena certainly didn't have a problem with him.

[mulletrock]

Dean's definitely not expecting the evaluation, he shifts uncomfortably under her gaze. He's used to people not believing he was really her son because of how young she was when she died. That's the last thing he thinks about. Instead he sets his elbows on his legs and sits up straighter.

"Yeah, she washed my hair," he doesn't really remember any of it though. "She used to bathe me every night, comes with the territory."

He reaches up and scrubs a hand down his face. The sun is higher in the sky now casting golden strips of sunlight over Syrena's skin. It's nice and he takes the sight in for half a second before glancing back toward the Port.

"Cas is like a brother to me," Dean looks back at her with a grin. "Yeah, everyone around me's just walkin' on sunshine." It's not clear he's being sarcastic but he is. Sometimes it felt like the only bad company they kept was him and Sam but then he remembered how messed up they all were. Like some backwards Brady Bunch shoved together in Canada for some freak social experiment.

[seaphonic]

"Baths are strange." And that's all she'll say on the subject. They weren't just strange, but being stuck in one was also incredibly uncomfortable. Never again, that much Syrena was certain of.

There's a small nod of understanding at the notion of brothers. While Syrena nor any mermaid knew what it was like to have a brother, they were all sisters when it came down to it all. Family bonds were important. Kinship was important. It determined where you were placed on the social ladder of things. It determined the color of your scales, of your hair and eyes. It was everything.

The next sentence however causes her to look at Dean in awe. He might be sarcastic, but she doesn't get it. "People can walk on the sun?" How did one even get up there in the first place?! "It would be hot, would it not?"

Speaking of hot, Astrid can already feel her skin starting to dry out from the sun's rays and without thinking, flicks her tail up out of the water to spray some up her back and shoulders. Unfortunately for Dean, a bit of it might just splash him too.

[mulletrock]

"You try walkin' around the Port for a day and goin' without," he's joking again but this time it's more obvious. Dean's enjoying her company which is weird but he's trying not to think about it too much. There's a fine line between good and evil and killing in self defense isn't really evil. He learned that one the hard way.

"It's a... phrase. Kinda means they're full of life and optimism, y'know, like you said. They're nice. I was being sarcastic." He's never had to explain to anyone that he was being a dick. So that's new.

He goes to make eye contact right when the water from Syrena's tail jets up and hits him. It gets all over his jacket and wets some of his hair. It's not a lot, but it's enough to irritate him. He wipes some of it off of his sleeves. Older than him by years. The jacket actually meant something to him. "Be more careful with your fins, this is leather water'll make it stain."

[seaphonic]

Oh. Whoops. Things had started to become more relaxed and she'd made him upset by accidentally splashing him. The eye contact Dean made with her was broken as she hung limply off the dock for a moment, shoulders sagging. Could mermaids look ashamed? Apparently so.

"I did not mean to. I apologize."

After all, she didn't even know what leather was exactly, but it seemed you couldn't get it wet.

[mulletrock]

Realizing how gay he just sounded Dean reevaluates pretty damn quick. He shifts his shoulders and gets over it just like anything else. He doesn't focus too much on the negative, and with a mermaid babe to distract him it's a hell of a lot easier.

"S'not a big deal, this jacket's just older than I am." He looks uncomfortable even going into it with a stranger. The fact that his dad was a huge factor in the things he loved and why he loved them. "My dad gave it to me."

[seaphonic]

Clearly fathers were big things in human societies and clearly, Dean's father meant a lot to him. She doesn't need him to go into any more detail if he doesn't want to. The emotion and significance connected to the jacket are obvious.

"I never had a father."

Well, technically she did once...but not for very long. Her mother would have eaten him soon after she'd indulged in the primitive act of making little mermaids.

"He was important to you. I will be careful."

[mulletrock]

Dean's not sure what to say. Since most people would either make fun of him or shrug it off completely. So when he finally does get around to replying there's the hint of a genuine smile on his lips.

"Thanks," it's simple and she probably doesn't know how much it means coming from someone like Dean but there it is.

[seaphonic]

Smile are one of those things that are hard not to imitate when they're presented to you. This holds true even for mermaids and so when the faint smile is directed her way, she can't help the sides of her own lips from curling upward ever so slightly - it's only natural.

"I have a question. About families." Because she genuinely wanted to know. "What are human families like?"

[mulletrock]

He likes the smile on her. She almost looks like a normal chick, but he's not really paying attention to the fin. From the belly button up she might as well be a hottie he's getting to spend time with.

"They're, uh," he pauses. Trying to figure out how to word it. Because his family definitely wasn't normal. "It's not somethin' I can really explain. They're all different."

Dean scratches the side of his cheek right next to his ear and blows some air out of his lips.

"The best way t'put it would be that no matter how much you can't stand each other sometimes... you're always there. It's a support system. Families have each other's backs where it counts." There's a slow shrug of his shoulders. "Most of 'em anyway."

[seaphonic]

"A support system."

She mulled over the words, brushing a few stray strands of dark brown hair out of her face. Her own familial pod, for lack of a better description, was also loyal to one another, but it wasn't anything past a sense of duty and survival. If one was left behind, as she had been, there was no second thought about leaving the unfortunate to die. Survival of the fittest ruled those who lived in the sea. There was no room for kindness in the ocean's waters, most of the time.

"Is there kindness, in a family?"

[mulletrock]

Dean figures she's ralking to herself and brings his other foot up onto the dock while she thinks it over. It's getting pretty late. He feels like he's been here all morning just talking to her. Which isn't really a bad way to spend time but he needs to get back to Ben and he knows it.

"Yeah, plenty, it's not always fun and they can be a pain in the ass but there's a lot more good than there is bad." He's speaking from experience. Sam had his back when it counted the most, but that went both ways in a big way.

[seaphonic]

She nodded, moving her gaze back to the worn wood of the dock. "There is no kindness in what I would call my family. I did not know of kindness until I met Philip."

She looked back then, at Dean, somewhat curiously. "How interesting it must be, to know of kindness throughout your life."

[mulletrock]

That's sweet, and at first Dean's not sure how to react to it. He knows better than to ask about Philip. He heard enough today about the guy to know it was something intimate. On some level. Or at least guess. He wasn't going down that road.

"You've got plenty of opportunity here." He doesn't mention for that as much good as he's seen the bad always tripled it. She doesn't need to hear that. "You just gotta get more people to come down here and show you it's out there."

[seaphonic]

"I do not know how to do so." It wasn't really her fault either. Gaining a mermaid's trust was a hard thing to do, especially when it came to trusting humans. "You can understand my wariness toward most, can you not?"

After all, who wouldn't love to catch a mermaid? Who wouldn't want to pluck all her scales from her tail or collect her tears? Who wouldn't dry her out in the sun and leave her to burn to death and suffocate?

Not many, at least in her mind. Even so, she had met a few individuals whom she'd grown to trust. Unfortunately, most of those individuals had left.

[mulletrock]

Maybe he could help. He doesn't voice it though. He's pretty quick to lean forward, just a little closer, not quite in her personal space but enough that he's able to lower his voice to help get his playful point across. The cheeriness despite the words is obvious. It's clear he's just joking.

"Then don't bitch about bein' alone."

[seaphonic]

It is a good thing that the playfulness is undeniable. Anything less would've earned Dean a soft hiss from the back of her throat, but she's simply silent as she stares at him with her large, dark eyes. She didn't know what 'bitching' was, but apparently she was doing it.

"You are strange."

There was an urge then, to put seaweed in the man's hair, but Syrena figured that wouldn't be taken too well, even if it would simply be her way of teasing retaliation.

"Are you able to swim?"

[mulletrock]

"Wish I could," that was a bold faced lie but she didn't need to know that. "But I have t'head back. I've got an eight year old to take care of and he doesn't do sittin' on his hands well."

Which was true. Ben turned to mischief when he get bored.

"But I'll be back, I promise," as he says it he's hopping to his feet. "I'm good for my word." Any excuse to get away and spend time with a topless chick was a good one.

[seaphonic]

Her face fell, but only slightly as she took that as her cue to slip from the dock and fall back into the water with a splash. It only took her a moment to surface once again. Dean had promised he would return and if he was true to his word then he would return. Hopefully with pie.

"I will keep you to your word. See to it that you do not go back on it."