songerein | [open] under the sea darling it's better down where it's wetter

Entry tags:

[open] under the sea darling it's better down where it's wetter

Who: Anyone!
Which: Interactive Dream
Where: Sora's dream of Disney's Atlantica
What: It's May and Sora is dreaming of an under the sea oasis. Turn into mer-creature and explore the Kingdom of Atlantica!
Warnings: Finny Fun

Dreaming of underwater oceans and deep dark depths of the sea could be anyone's dream. But the dream that opens here is one that is uniquely vibrant and full of magnificent colours and glowing corals. Playful schools of fish and seahorses that swirl around while singing songs. Crabs and lobsters clack away to a beat of a song and whales fill the waters with long sweet notes. Dolphins kick and play and push for others to join in. Jellyfish gloop about and nest in hair and whisper secrets. And devoted sharks prowl and patrol around a large standing castle in the distance.

You might find yourself in this dream surrounded by a school of baby guppies that poke and prod at your new form. Half of your body seems to have changed to help you with your new underwater situation. Perhaps you have a powerful dolphin's tail or several long octopus-like tentacles in lieu of where your legs were. Or perhaps you've gained gills and water-cutting fins on your forearms or flippers for feet. Maybe your hair has been littered with starfish and your eyes glow with the ability to see through the darkness in the water. No matter what happens to your body here it seems you're now referred to as Merfolk.

A. Forest of Seaweed. Upon arrival you may find yourself lost in a forest of long strips of green and blue seaweed. The green is almost dizzying as you try to navigate through the wispy plants with your new body. The seaweed seems to easily attach to you or wrap around a limb if you're not careful. Perhaps you need to find a weapon or sharp piece of broken coral to get yourself through it? Or can you adapt quickly to your new fins and are able to dodge your way through the forest?

B. Singing Seahorses. Once free of the slippery pieces of seaweed the ocean opens to a deep and beautiful chasm of glowing rocks, crystals and plants. Schools of fish swim by and all of them seem to be heading towards that beautifully lit castle in the distance. But before you can proceed several dragon seahorses swarm up to you and demand to know your name. They kiss at your cheeks and forehead as if trying to coax information out of you. Asking you all sorts of personal questions like what is your favourite food or asking you to sing them a song or tell them what the real use of a Dinglehopper is. They won't leave you alone until you indulge them!

C. Emotional Seashells. Along the seabed there are several glowing seashells that can catch your eye. If they are picked up they tend to glow a certain colour to reflect your mood or personality. They will look very nice in your water-swept hair! But be careful because if a broken or chipped seashell is picked up and worn it might induce the wrong or opposite emotion into you.

D. Sharky Noctaere. A dream isn't complete without the presence of noctaere. Make a wrong turn and you might find yourself face to face with a noctaere in the shape of a very strange looking shark. These huge beefy sharkmen are not happy to see you and look like they might make a snack out of you if they can get their hands on you. Swim or fight!

E. Atlantica Castle. Upon swimming into the castle grounds you will be greeted by a plethora of merfolk happy to bring you into the castle. They will make sure you are fed with all sorts of underwater treats like fresh scallops, crab bits or kelp cookies. They will shower you with bits of gold jewellery and pearl bracelets as welcoming gifts. There seems to be an entire festival of some sort going on to welcome in all the dreamers. There is a big hustle and bustle about a music performance coming up and they are missing some key players to sing, dance or play instruments. And they want you to do it. A pretty mermaid might try to pull you to her as a dancer or a merman may hand you a set of handheld drums or a coral horn.

"Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play now it's very easy, come on in! Just take a chance and shake a fin!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[How dare her hair block him! Then again, after what he did it to it it's probably karmic justice. So there's just a small chuckle as he watches her hair float between them, spilling out like ink that drifts and sways with the current before he reaches up to pull it away and push it back.]

I did....

[Of course the puppy eyes would work on him. But last ditch (not very serious) effort—]

But you could always change your mind.

[This time he's the one who pulls himself closer to her, face so close that only the thinnest veils of water remains between them. He's staring down at her, gaze deep yet hiding a little bit of mischief there. The hair that had been swirled wildly about is now being captured by his other hand, pulling it back behind her as he draws ever closer.]

[Well, this isn't fair. He knows all the ways to get to her, and Tifa can already feel her face growing red and hot under the intensity of his gaze and her hair coiling around his fingers. He makes a fair point, and who is she to argue it...?

There's a bubble that passes her lips when she sighs, floating up between them, although she never meant to, but she always did melt this way.]

I guess I could wait a little longer... but not too long...!

[Her hand lets go of the seaweed and it flutters away in the current, and she boops him on the nose with the end of her finger.]

I don't wanna wake up before we get the chance.

[Because whoever's dreamscape this is, it's not like she'll want to go searching for them to ask to do it again just so she could see the castle for herself...]

[There's a gleam of satisfaction before it softens and he presses his lips to her forehead.]

Not long, I promise.

[How could he deny such a cute request?]

I just wanted to take a few moments to relax while we're here.

[After all that intense swimming and chasing each other around, it really would be nice to unwind a little and enjoy the oceanic view before throwing themselves into all the noise. Please he can now finally fix her hair properly, which he will do with his fingers lightly threading through her hair as he straightens it out and pulls it lightly back. Should he put it in a simple ponytail? Or should he try braiding it... ...Not like he really knows much more than that.]

[A braid might be better suited for the water, and he might find a way to tuck the seashells in between them, too. But she hums in response, quietly but contentedly, when his fingers brush through her hair, pulling it loose from that awful pyramid he'd set it in earlier. It's almost freeing, in a way—she's never felt quite so light before that it makes a giddy laugh bubble up inside of her.]

In that case...

[Tifa takes him by one of his hands and gestures with a look up towards the open sea again.]

Let's move back up. Get out of this seaweed.

[Because she very much cannot let herself relax while they're in this. It might not be as dense here, but they still run the risk of getting themselves tangled up in it again.]

I promise I won't swim away.

Hmm... All right. I saw a little cove not far from here with some coral we can use.

[A nice little perch for them to rest on that would be out of the way but open enough to still enjoy the scenery around them. So with a gentle squeeze of her hand, he'll slowly float up and guide her out.]

[If the sun could shine below water, it would be Tifa with the way not just her face, but her entire being seems to light up at the suggestion. A cove, some coral... This is straight out of those books about mermaid princesses, and she has her prince to boot.

So, when he leads her out of the seaweed, in her excitement, she accidentally bumps into him from below, flapping her tail a little too hard that she reels forward. Not hard enough that it would knock either of them off course, but enough that she shrinks back a little.]

Sorry...! I'm good now.

[Lead the way!

And whenever they arrive at said cove, her eyes only widen further at the sight. The coral is colourful—bright pinks and reds and blues mixed with the greens of the seaweed billowing listlessly around them. On the sea floor, there are clams that open as if to greet them, bubbles flowing from beneath their shells as they reveal the massive pearls embedded in their middles. Schools of fish swim and spiral through on their way to the castle.]

That one.

[She points to a red coral at the other end that has a perfect view of the castle.]

[Like he would ever mind her bumping into him, but he just smiles and continues to help guide and support her out. Letting go of her hand? Never.

Once they reach their desired location, he takes a moment to admire the view. Really, this is a lot of detail for someone's dream. That in itself is impressive in its own right. Though he also wonders if others imaginations are feeding and adding to it? Well not that it matters too much...seeing Tifa smiling and excited is enough for him. And so they'll swim over to the large red coral, its top flattened as if deliberately designed to serve as a seat.

When they're settled in and sitting alongside each other, Eustace once again marvels at the view.]

...Don't think I could ever create something as expansive as this.

[She takes a seat next to him, floating down onto the coral and wrapping her tail around his as they dangle over the edge, and she looks out to the castle in front of them, and the wide, sprawling backdrop of the sea around it. It's like she's in a dream, she thinks, before she remembers that she is.]

Me neither...

[Whoever this is either remembers it all very well or has an incredible imagination.]

Even if I wanted to dream up a place like this, I don't think I could. It's almost as big as Zidane's dream I walked into. [A small giggle as she drops her head to rest on his shoulder.] There was a castle there, too.

Mm... Lindblum? Was that the one?

Come to think of it it's been a while since I've been bothered by him.

Alexandria. This was a while back, but he gave me a whole tour of the castle there. Was five times bigger than this, but it's still impressive anyway.

[Though he is right, it has been a little while since she's him. The flower festival, if memory serves her right. He's probably off causing trouble somewhere. Or maybe he's around here.]

I'm sure he'll turn up sooner or later. When we least expect it.

[She hopes so anyway. That's how it tends to be with him.]

You think this dream was a happy accident?

[Hmmm.]

Not sure if I saw that one.

[But he's not surprised if Zidane had multiple dreams.]

But hard to say... It seems more deliberate.

You think so?

[She wonders what makes it seem that way, although she remembers the experience that was their own accidental dreamscapes, and they didn't feel quite as stable as this one. Although that could just be them and not whoever's dreamt this one up.]

Makes you wonder if this is a real place in their world, then. A place they've been, or just somewhere they'd like to go.

Not sure which would be more impressive. The former would imply impeccable memory, the latter immense creativity.

[A low hum as he starts working on her hair again.]

Should we try making something on our own? Reminds me I owe you that dream...

[Either way, it's still one of the most impressive feats she's seen being done in this world. Between all of the magic, these recreations are without a doubt the most magical.

She readjusts herself so he has easier access to her hair, turning so that her back is to him all while resisting the urge to simply fall back into him.]

You do. [She hasn't forgotten! Mostly because she wants to see his world for herself in the only way she knows she can.] You think we could do something like that together? Making a dream world?

[It would be different from when he accidentally filled roles in her dream, or when others had substituted her missing memories with their own...]

Mmm... I don't see why not. It would be a good exercise for us.

[And if course he ends up looking at it from a practical view.

Slowly he begins threading her hair before working it into a braid. Hm but what to tie it together with... Maybe some if this kelp? Should he add some seashells...]

[There are probably seashells scattered all around, and that one that was on top of her head is still there. And if he really needed to, he could likely secure it with her own hair—it's thick enough that a few wrap arounds should do the trick!

Tifa combs back the hair that's fluttered into her face and tips her head back towards him.]

What do you think it should be?

[If it's something they're going to do together... then she'd like to have a part in it, too.]

[He will totally be figuring that out on his own, yep yep—nah he'll be asking for her suggestions while they continue to converse about their imaginary dreamscape.]

...Not sure. Somewhere peaceful and quiet.

Maybe like... a cottage in the clearing of a forest. With a little pond or creek nearby?

[They probably have spots like that here, minus the cottage, but that sounds like the kind of place she could see him settling down. She could see them settling down. Someplace out in the country with lots of space for the dogs to run through the trees or jump into the water to cool off on a hot day.

The fact that her mind's even gone there at all has her face turning bright red, though, the heat in her cheeks spreading to her ears. It's a good thing he probably can't see her face, but the tiny bubbles that come off her might be telling enough on their own.]

[At first he doesn't think too much about her suggestion, but when he notices her face turning red and those bubbles...he starts to think more about it and starts wondering a bit.]

...What would be inside the cottage?

Inside?

[She has to think about that for a moment, because her imagination hadn't gone quite that far by the time she'd blurted it out, but it doesn't take her long to come up with an answer.]

I don't know. It wouldn't be very big. There would be a place to sit and read, maybe a TV so we could watch whatever we wanted on it? [Because in a dream, they can do whatever they want!] Oh, but a big kitchen with lots of counter space and windows! Maybe a little ledge where I could grow my own herbs for cooking.

[She mulls it over for a moment longer.]

And a big huge feather bed with a hundred pillows and thick, fluffy blankets.

[...]

And... fruit trees outside!

[Her eyes go wide and she gives the tiniest of gasps when she realizes—]

Oh... I-is that too much...?

[This was supposed to be a place they dreamt up together!!! And she just thought of the entire thing!]

[There's just a light chuckle behind her as he listens to her ideas.]

Maybe the hundred pillows. What would you do with that many? I'd also veto the feather bed—they might sound nice, but they can get uncomfortable if they start poking through the fabric.

Really?

[She’s genuinely surprised to hear that, and she mumbles under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear—]

They always make them sound so comfy in books...

[Yes, those books.]

[Another small snort of laughter.]

Maybe a luxury bed.

[And now he's finished with the braid and his arms slip around her waist to pull her back against him.]

And? What else would you want in this dream cottage of ours?

[She scoots back, breaching whatever distance there was left, and her head falls against his shoulder as she looks out to the castle in the distance.]

Mmm, I don't know.

[She's trying to imagine the kinds of things she would have wanted in her apartment back when she lived in it. Tifa had always wanted to decorate, but never had the chance to, but if she had the opportunity to go all out?]

Lots of pictures. Of us, the dogs, our friends on the fridge... maybe some nice paintings, too. And a piano, of course.

[She'll turn a little to look at him.]

But what about you?

Mmm...

[He ponders a moment.]

I've never really needed much... A nice place to sit in the sun for reading, I suppose. An area for the dogs.

[...Really, there's not much he would want. Just... ...]

As long as you're there, it doesn't matter.

[open] under the sea darling it's better down where it's wetter

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