escordvi | closed 🌠⚡ it's far too easy to miss the beauty in the simple things

[He's also impressed... And a little amused.]

And... The "leash"?

[The mermaid makes a sound of realization before she turns around and opens a drawer to pull out a long ribbon. She explains that this can attach to the bubble and will even act as signal of sorts if she somehow gets pulled away.

After examining everything, Eustace looks at Tifa.]

I guess this is our best chance... Try and see if you can get in and out.

[She winces at that word. Is it really a "leash" so much as it is just a magical ribbon that attaches to a bubble that just so happens to be carrying her? But okay...

...

She crawls up and out of the shell, her head sticking all the way out, and the mermaid giggles. "Oh, she's a cute little seabunny, isn't she?"

Tifa gives her a weary look that she can't see, and with a hard push of herself off the edge of the shell, she drifts up into the water in front of Eustace...

...

...And starts to "crawl" towards the bubble, bum squishing to her front, and then stretching, and then squishing, and then—]

A little help...

[...

His lips twitch for a moment before he clears his throat and holds her closer to the bubble so she can just kind of...just smoosh herself right up to it. But if he has to actually pull her out and push her in he will.]

[Tifa swims right into the bubble with his help—]

Don't laugh!

[—but bumps into it and gently careens off of it like a little ping pong ball.

The mermaid, meanwhile, bursts into laughter.]

[HE'S TRYING VERY HARD...]

Need some help?

[Trying so much as he catches her so she's not flying off too far.]

Maybe a little.

[Her squeaky voice is not helping matters, and her head turns between Eustace and the mermaid, both of whom are not trying very hard at all not to laugh!!!

And she'll drift closer to the bubble, spinning helplessly through the water before Eustace catches her.]

[It's so hard, she's so cute!!! Not wanting to risk actually laughing, he'll just quietly and gently push her to the bubble until she's right up against it. And when she pushes and still struggles, he'll apply a little firm pressure to...help shove her through.]

[Her face scrunches as he presses her to the bubble, and then it feels like her entire body is being pulled in one direction, all in the blink of an eye, and she pops through the bubble, twirling and turning over and over inside before she is finally able to stop herself with the furious flapping of her ears.

The mermaid arches a brow and leans over the counter. "Well? How does it feel?"]

A little weird going in, but otherwise, feels mostly normal. A bit heavy, but... I assume that's normal?

[She nods. "Yeah, it is a bubble, after all." She gestures to Eustace. "And now you've got a cute balloon."]

[He just clears his throat in a desperate attempt to not laugh before he tries to poke it. Although the bubbles warps with his finger, it does not pop! He doubts it could withstand something sharp, but hopefully she's never near something like that...

So pulling his hand back in satisfaction to hold the bubble in his hand, he glances at the mermaid.]

And you said she should be able to get out herself?

[The mermaid nods.

"She should. But if you ever have any problems you can bring her back here or use a knife to pop it. It's sturdy, but not indestructible after all."]

[Poking it definitely does send her into a bit of a spin, the water inside the bubble reacting to his touch, and she hopes that he can feel the pouting glare that she is giving him right now!!!]

I'm sure I can get out myself.

[There's a slight indignation to her voice, but as soon as she realizes how thankless she sounds, she flaps her ears to face the mermaid.]

But thank you. We'll get those ingredients to you right away.

[The mermaids just smiles and waves it off.

"No worries! I'm sorry I couldn't be anymore help."]

You're giving us a solution, so it's better than nothing. We'll be back soon.

[He'll continue to carry Tifa in his hand at first, feeling...awkward to have her out like balloon first.

"Just follow the main road to the market, can't miss it! Oh and if you have trouble, just tell them you're shopping for Sandra!"

Hearing that, Eustace nods before they exit through the door, a low breath escaping him before he looks at her.]

...You all right?

[Oh, this is definitely going to take some getting used to, as she bobs around helplessly inside the bubble as he carries her out of there by the end of the string...]

A good thing I don't get horrible motion sickness, but yeah.

[Her sigh echoes very loudly and shrilly off the walls of the bubble.]

I'll be fine. Better than risking getting thrown out of the shell by a strong current, yeah? Just... make sure you don't let go.

I won't.

[He shows the ribbon he's tied around his wrist.]

But if you do feel like you need...stretch, we can always stop somewhere so you can have some time out of the bubble.

When you say it like that...

[She drifts down so that she is resting at the bottom, her body curving with the shape of it.]

It does make it sound really strange.

...Sorry.

[He tries to reach out to pet her, but... Well. The bubble.]

Let's quickly get the ingredients so we can change you back sooner.

What!? No...

[She shimmies to the edge, closer to where his finger is.]

It's not your fault. It's just that being inside a bubble really is as weird as it sounds.

[A sheepish, apologetic laugh.]

I should be thanking you for taking such good care of me.

Still... I know this isn't comfortable for you.

[He'll press his finger to the bubble where she is...]

Edited 2025-05-28 05:47 (UTC)

... I'll get used to it.

[She moves to press her nose up against his finger on the other side, and it wiggles up and down.]

So, what exactly do we need to get anyway?

[He still looks at her a little concerned before he holds up the list so she can see.]

A few different shells, some kind of seaweed, urchins, fish scales, coral... She even circled the ones that we should be able to find in the market.

[So basically anything that they can find on the sea floor...]

Well, at least those things are easy to find.

[As she has to crane her whole self to look at the list in its entirety. Everything feels so big...]

[His poor little girlfriend...]

Let's just hope they will be willing to sell, even when using her name.

[A pensive frown at that, but then he looks at her.]

If you see anything, though, let me know and we can take a look around.

[She nods at him.]

I'll be sure to give them my cutest, most irresistible smile if they don't.

[A quiet laugh as he continued to slowly swim down the street towards the market place.]

Let's just hope there aren't any more of those... She called you a seabunny, didn't she? Fitting.

She did, yeah... I definitely look like some kind of weird bunny, though I probably look a lot different to you than I do to myself.

[She can see her reflection in the bubble and at least she can see her own eyes as those pinprick red dots, but she does wonder if he can.]

Wish I was a little bigger though, I was really looking forward to shopping in the markets...

We can always come back after you change back. Nothing is stopping us from doing so.

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