Loud seal is loud

[stickyflippers]

Who; Caelan and you!
What; Open log
Where; Assorted Locations! (Red Building Common Space, Red Building his Apartment, Market, Gullwings Office, and the Harbour/Shore)
When; Throughout August, vaguely specified on each prompt.
Warnings; No, but I will edit if anything comes up!




Common Space - Early August

The common space was generally one that Caelan frequented since his arrival, a social creature by nature and necessity to keep himself occupied 90% of the time. He saw it as a good opportunity to get to know his neighbours without actively having to seek them out, to watch them moving in and out of the building and go about their days.

Today found the selkie draped comfortably over one of the chairs, a new violin settled comfortably in his hands as he worked at tuning the new instrument to his liking. Occasionally he’d draw the bow across the stings, testing them out before he resumed what he was doing with the odd thoughtful hum, pleased or disappointed depending on the results.

Still, his mood is clearly good today. Caelan is often smiling, often pleasant company and quick to laugh; but today there’s something about it that it feels far more genuine than it has been. He’d been a few weeks without both an instrument or his usual sense of purpose, but things were decidedly starting to look up what with the morning’s surprise left outside his door.

Market - All through the month!

There was one more musician that could be heard in the market these days. Dressed up, all shiny in his usual accessories and finery, hair pulled back into glittering pins.

Caelan had take to joining in the street performers when they didn’t mind his presence, or setting himself up on an empty corner or near the fountain square when the mood struck. The life and the surrounding energy tended to inspire, and people seemed to like the songs he brought with him from home. Some were familiar enough to those who knew the classical world well, while others had a certain life and rough edge that was more the music of the common folk.

If you were lucky, polite, or simply caught his interest, he would even be inspired take requests. “What’ll it be? Ye look to be in the mood for a particular sound, or are ye just going to stand there gawking?” He spoke up with a grin, cheeks lifted in utter delight and relaxed amusement.

Gullwings Office - Early to Mid!

Caelan still wasn’t entirely sure how this had happened (beyond the obvious, of course). This wasn’t his usual gig, nor was it his usual crowd.

Here he was though, meandering around the Gullwings office like he belonged there. Checking out the furnishings (he had to hand it to Yuna, the place was nice), stopping to chat with whoever happened to be there that day, looking at his desk and wondering what on earth he was going to do with it.

That last thing wasn’t entirely difficult, he’d already shoved some blank sheet music in a drawer to amuse himself on slow days when he didn’t have anything to do. There was also the matter of copying and detailing the maps and blueprints that the directory had given him so Yuna could store the originals away for safe keeping.

He was hoping to at least be able to add to them, to include some rough outlines of the sewers paths between their access points as he and Yuna made a trip down to explore them.

Until then, he was quite available to get to know the group a little better. Getting a feel for personalities, trying to glimpse how they operated, and looking for anything to suggest he might not be able to trust someone.

Harbour/Shoreline - For Holly. Let the Spider-Man meme commence! - Anytime in August, probably late evening after all the respectable people have gone home for the day.

There was a lot about the harbour district that disturbed Caelan for obvious reasons, but he had also found there were quite a few things about it to appreciate.

Once the sun had been down for a few hours the amount of people travelling the docks lessened considerably, which meant a little more privacy for him to do one of the things (aside from his music or thieving) that he did best. Fishing. It was going to save him quite a bit of money, unless he felt like eating something at a restaurant in the company of others.

These waters appeared to be very well stocked with fish, so as long as he didn’t go so far as to be near the reefs where some particularly large and nasty creatures dwelt, he could fish to his content. Feed up, and perhaps even bring some fish home for those who had endeared themselves enough to him to bring back a decent sized catch of fish or crustaceans depending on their tastes.

Tonight was no exception, his clothes folded neatly behind some rocks as he donned his more natural attire to enjoy that other half of his soul. So, as the moon rose higher in the sky, there was a form swimming around in the waters. Diving here, coming up there, a soft song carried over the breeze occasionally, and sometimes a splash could be heard as the being caught something in its grasp.


It’s 3AM, oops. - ... Probably all through the month unless someone does something about it. Sorry Red Building.

Caelan had a very irregular sleep schedule, he stayed up late and slept in just as late. Should he get that shifted now that he was in another world and joining a group for exploring and helping out around the city?

Yes, yes he should.

Would he actually do that?

Probably not.

So the selkie tended to keep very odd hours. Thus far that hadn’t really been obvious aside from the later hour that he left his dorm room during the day (Around 11:30 every day like clockwork). Once Caelan had an instrument, that might have been a different story depending on the person and their ability to ignore noise at strange hours.

Sometime around three in the morning, the red building would be treated to the sounds of a violin being played. The piece was strange in tone, energy fluctuating at random, it was honestly the kind of song one might have been warned off of following if it was heard near the caves of their local beach or along the river beds of the forests they lived near. Fae music, intended to be played by theirs ands alone and rarely heard by humans.

Caelan was feeling homesick, whether he’d admit it to anyone or not. On nights where he felt just a touch too disconnected from his life, he could be found playing the music his best friend had taught him or working on his own compositions. Sheet music spread across the table, and a bottle of whiskey sitting open next to that.

If you’re curious enough, or annoyed enough, knock at his door. He’d be happy to have the company, and he’d be happy to share the alcohol.

Wildcard/Other
Is there something I forgot? Did you have something specific in mind? Throw it at me! I’d be delighted!

Comments

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[mobprincess]

It had taken Holly very little time at all to realise that she....did not like her room much.

Okay well, maybe not the place specifically. She just hated being in there by herself. Which was stupid, she wasn't six anymore, she could be alone! Only, here it felt different, and the novelty of being in a strange new place was rapidly starting to wear off. When she was home, she could eat whenever and wherever she wanted, and there were always people around for her to go bother if she didn't feel like being by herself. She missed having Tony and Leo around. She missed her tree house.

She'd gone to Caelan's room to bother him, since he was the only person she knew vaguely well here, but he hadn't been there. So she was sad, kinda stressed, and worst of all?

And she was starving. She'd gotten here with just a couple of blood bags and, to her credit, hadn't resorted to feeding on people yet. But that'd change soon, it'd have to if she didn't wanna literally keel over and die in a week.

So, with her last bag tucked into the inner pocket of her jacket, she left the dorms, and headed out into the evening, eventually finding her way down to the harbour district. Part of her hoped she'd find Caelan there, but when she only found a (seemingly) deserted shoreline, she sighed with a disappointed little scowl, and plopped herself down on the stones.

Honestly, the temptation to give in to the thick, heavy feeling bubbling up from her chest was a great one, but she was hoping having something to eat would make her feel at least a bit better.

So with a curly straw (sharpened a little at the long end, for bag puncturing purposes) in hand, she stabbed her meal perhaps a little too violently, and watched the water as she hugged her knees to her chest. Luckily though, the quiet and the sorry-for-herself feelings were interrupted by a disturbance in the water not too far off. Wiping her eyes with the back of one hand, she sucked up another thoughtful mouthful, and watched the water.

Maybe something would jump out- like a shark? A dolphin?? A weird mutant creature-from-the-black-lagoon type situation??

[stickyflippers]

Holly certainly was going to get her wish to see Caelan at the docks, though not in the way she probably had expected.

The form in the water was hardly the side of a dolphin, and definitely not a shark given how big those bastards near the reefs were. No, this creature was smaller than that and moved about the water with fluid intent. There was the odd splash as a tale splashed the surface as the sea-creatures dove down to perhaps get something.

It resurfaced eventually, a small smooth head with speckles breaking the surface of the small waves. Large eyes reflected the light of the moon as it made what could only be translated to a fussing annoyed sound as if something had eluded it. It was, without a doubt, a seal. Larger than average, smaller than the other creatures Holly had thought of, with eyes that were just a touch too large and expressive.

The pattern continued for a while, clearly it was trying to have its own supper. It hadn’t noticed it had an audience either...

[mobprincess]

The next time she saw the surface break, she sat up a little straighter in the hopes of catching a look at the creature in question - and she did!

It....wasn't a shark. Or anything mutanty-looking. It was hard to really see it properly, but after a few seconds she realised she was looking at a seal. That was cool! She'd only seen seals a few times before and that'd been at the zoo, or when they'd gone on vacation - she wasn't expecting them here though. It was cute though, and for the next little while she was content to just watch it resurface and disappear, trying to guess where he'd pop up next.

She still didn't feel great, but at least she wasn't totally alone anymore.

[stickyflippers]

This continued for a while, the seal unaware that he had an audience as he fished. Popping up here, diving there, sometimes it made that vexed little sound like it was trying to catch something for supper that it hadn’t managed to snag yet.

This only happened a few times, as finally the head that popped out of the water was definitely not a seal. “HA! Thought you’d get away did ya? Weren’t expecting a seal with hands, tricky little devil.” Came a very familiar (and excited) voice with a louder splash this time.

Caelan had finally caught a decent sized salmon for supper, and it wriggled lightly in his hands a bit as he tried to keep a hold of it long enough to chow down. Of course, this was Caelan the selkie. Half seal at the moment, entirely free of glamour enchantments to disguise him. His eyes were larger, reflecting the moon occasionally with eye-shine, a speckled pattern spread across his skin and up his neck, and his fingers (no sixth finger, sorry Holly) showed very noticeable webbing between them as he grasped his meal.

[mobprincess]

And for a while, it was cute to watch!

And then Caelan-

Caelan??

Caelan of all fucking people popped outta the water like he'd been there the whole time and Holly had to squint hard and make sure she wasn't seeing things. But no, no that was definitely the cool shady dude she'd been getting to know. Even with his hair all wet and his eyes all weird and his skin speckly-

did he always have speckles?? She could have swore he was just freckly like her...

For a minute, Holly just blinked, and watched in growing fascination as he tried to get a good grip on the struggling fish in his hands.

And then the minute was up, and she was on her feet, and - using a voice that was definitely not her inside voice;

"CAELAN, WHAT THE SHIT'REYOUDOIN'??"

Gullwings Office

[asthecroweflies]

Jagger wasn't exactly sure how he'd been pegged as the office manager, but the pay Yuna was offering was good, and it gave him something to focus on besides being trapped here and starting to miss the few people back home who mattered to him at all. Syeira offered her own level of confusion and having something concrete was a welcome distraction.

The current distraction being manually labeling file folders for their records retention, because evidently no one else in this organization felt it was necessary to keep their paperwork in order. One notable difference Caelan might notice was he wasn't currently wearing his leather gloves. They were, by contrast, folded neatly at the corner of his desk, out of the way, while he wrote labels on the tops of files.

Caelan's willingness to interact with his coworkers didn't go unnoticed, though he didn't look up as he commented.

"You want to talk, mate, you have a seat and give me a hand. We ought to catalog whatever we've got so far."

[stickyflippers]

Let it be known, Caelan was a team player. He didn’t mind pitching in with the mundane bits of running an operation when it took some of the load off of someone else. Unfortunately, he also couldn’t do so without being a touch dramatic. “Putting me to work on desk duty already? You were more fun down at the docks, Jagger.” He responded with a small exaggerated frown, but he still sat down across from Jagger anyway. It wasn’t as though there were anything more interesting to do right now, and Jagger was absolutely on his list of people to get to know better.

The selkie grabbed a pen and pulling some file folders that were still waiting to be labelled over in front of him. “Do we have that much to sort away already? Or are you just being prepared for the inevitable.” He commented, rolling up his sleeves a bit to avoid getting ink on them as he began filling out the labels with neat, tidy script.

Caelan had noticed the lack of gloves pretty quickly, eyes flitting to where they were neatly folded up with some curiosity. Unlike Jagger, he was still wearing his own loose black gloves like he always did when he was out socializing. Something that had caused a certain young arrival to hypothesize he was hiding an extra finger or something equally interesting.

[asthecroweflies]

Caelan was similarly on Jagger's get-to-know list, and a slight smirk curls his lips as the other man sat down to give him a hand. "Preparing," he responded, as he wrote 'D-002' on the tab of a folder. "Our fearless leader doesn't restrict our services to any one thing, and that could be both busy and problematic fairly quickly."

In kind, Jagger also noted Caelan was still wearing his gloves, and he came to the decision quickly now was as good a time as any to ask his questions.

"You know, I've been thinking, if we're going to run an agency dedicated to assistance, it would be good to know what all its members can do."

[stickyflippers]

Yuna did seem very keen to get started, and he definitely appreciated that. Sorry Jagger, he’d be happy to contribute to the paper work and need for these folders. “One can only hope, it’d get boring otherwise. Besides that, seems like there’s a lot that needs doing around here.”

Finishing one folder, he moves on to the next. He knew he was being watched, but he’s not going to comment on it. Yes, his hands were weird. Glamour was hard enough to keep in place without trying to cover up finger webbing, and the illusion failed if you were supposed to shake hands and suddenly your fingers weren’t right. So gloves for his hands, glamour for everything else.

The question gets a little smile out of him though, “That would be a good idea, something to jot down to make sure the right people get assigned to the right jobs. You should ask everyone.” Yeah, he’s being difficult. More because he finds it amusing than out of a desire to be a problem.

[asthecroweflies]

"Well, they do want us to rebuild the place, or so they say. Still not completely clear just how we're to accomplish that, but one thing at a time, yeah?"

Next to the folders he was labeling, a small, unlined notebook lay, opened, with what looked to be a list jotted down in his tight handwriting. So far, nothing on the list was checked or lined through. He might catch a brief glimpse of a line or two, Set up File Cabinets, Business Cards?, before he flips the page to a blank one.

"I hope you don't mind if I take notes." He was going to either way. "So, I know you know your way around a set of lockpicks, but what about anything...extra? Yuna has her magic and her...dresspheres."

3AM, because he IS your neighbor and all

[skyward_eyes]

Knock at his door? Who needs a damn door. After about the third night of violin music there comes a knock not at his door, but at the damn window. From Nida, sitting on the window ledge and looking into the room. Or as much as he can see if there are curtains and they are drawn.

Someone owes him an explanation as to why Nida has to be awake right now. Not that, you know, he didn't like being nocturnal. But this was getting ridiculous.

He sure is, and for that I apologize

[stickyflippers]

Caelan was in the middle of a piece, bow moving over the strings to play a melody that was light and almost bouncing at times. The selkie was so into what he was doing that he nearly missed the knocking sound coming from his window (nearly but not quite). The music died with a little screech of the bow jarring across the strings in surprise, before he lowered it and put the instrument down carefully on the apartment’s sofa.

He looked at the window curiously for a moment, before glancing in the mirror to check his glamour quickly before walking over to throw it open. “You know most thieves or murderers don’t knock before they come in through a window. Very courteous.” He commented, leaning out a little to see who was out there. Nida? Huh... Weird. Not in a bad way though, the guy was always interesting and Caelan certainly wasn’t opposed to having company.

... Not that he should be happy to have company at this hour. He should be apologizing for possibly waking the guy up.

[skyward_eyes]

Yeah, so funny Caelan. Nida, hearing the words through the now open window, couldn't help but chuckle. If he knew Caelan better he'd have just thrown out there that it would be more accurate to refer to him as a courteous spy and assassin, but really this was too soon in the relationship for that. So the man just chuckled and, with the window open, tilts his head curiously.

"I'm just special like that. Had no clue you were my neighbor, Caelan By-The-Way. Mind if I come in? As nice as the view is, it's a little breezy. And I'm definitely here to judge you for my poor sleep habits."

[stickyflippers]

“Surprise then! It is indeed I that you share a wall with.” He responded with a little wave, a laugh on the edge of his voice as he realized that his ‘last name’ was still sticking. “Well come in and judge away,” A pause, “Have I done something to effect your sleep schedule? Or are thoughts of me and that weird magic of mine keeping you awake at night?” He teased a little before he stood back from the window to give Nida some space to climb in.

Sara, one of his closest friends, would argue that he appeared in many a nightmare.

Caelan had moved back to the couch by that point, picking up his violin again and gesturing lightly with the bow at the bottle of whiskey. “Help yourself if you want, should be another glass around here somewhere.”

[skyward_eyes]

"You've definitely disturbed my sleep schedule, and you do tingle with magical energy again."

Which probably meant Nida could draw from him once more. But he wasn't going to push. Instead, when Caelan steps aside, Nida slips in through the window with all the ease of a gymnast, and starts to look around.

"I... uh... I don't drink. Abuse problems. Turns out I use it to escape from mental and emotional anguish."

Gullwings Office - 8/7-ish

[whereishe]

"Caelan! I'm so glad you're here!" Yuna was standing on the second floor landing that circled the upper walls of Gullwing's office, a wide smile plastered across her face. She'd been setting up various parts of the building and had been running around to get everything in order. That didn't mean there was anything on her desk. In fact, it was as empty as Caelan's but they now had comfortable nooks on the second floor and enough bookshelves for whatever they find.

She jumped and gracefully landed on the area rug in front of Caelan with a soft thud. "I found out more about the sewers to get into the Cemetery. We should go take a look."

Yuna had been discovering bits and pieces of the trail in an attempt to remain safe but now it was time for the two of them to do a final dive. They were going to go until they reached a dead end or until they made it into the cemetery.

"I've been thinking..." Her fingers laced together. "I wanted to leave the city to you but the spirits are restless and-" Her lips twisted in annoyance. "Something is wrong but I need someone to watch my back if I am going to check it out and the maps are almost copied, right? We can take a spare one with us."

[stickyflippers]

“Couldn’t stay away, you’ve set this place up well!” Caelan responded with a little dramatic bow in greeting, arms sweeping out a bit before he straightened. “It’s a nice space; stylish, comfortable but functional for the business. I like it a lot.” He responded pleasantly. He’d probably spend a little more time here than he did at his apartment in all honesty, too much of a social creature to spend his days alone when he wasn’t in the water or exploring the city.

“You know, that actually works out well? I needed to take a proper gander around down there myself.” He responded to the suggestion before he moved away to find one of the copies of the city map that he’d gotten. “The directory didn’t have any sewer maps or blueprints, the saucy thing. So I’m going to have to make us one by following the entrances and noting the routes or dead ends down myself.”

Finding the map he intended to use, and a pencil, he turned back to spread it out for Yuna. “So I’d be happy to watch your back if you’d watch mine, yeah?” Caelan had considered going down on his own, and would have if she hadn’t offered the idea up to him. “We can try to figure out what has the dead stirring up a fuss, and also see about making it easier to get around down there in the future.”

The sewers could be a valuable secondary route should things on the surface get a bit dicey. He’d made use of them often enough in his own world, not knowing what to expect down there in this world was nagging at him.

[whereishe]

"Good. I'm glad." Yuna's smile warmed and softened when she noticed that Caelan had begun to place things in his desk. She hadn't touched hers but she wanted everyone working for the Gullwings to have a place that was their's. Of course, she'll likely give up her desk and take over one of the smaller meeting rooms upstairs if they get many more members.

"I know where there is an entrance to the sewers, we can start there." She was confident that they could figure it out. "And it's good to go in pairs until we know what's down there. I have a feeling we might run into some fiends, so we better be prepared."

Monsters were a way of life for Yuna and she was almost always ready for a fight.

[stickyflippers]

There wasn’t much, aside from maps he knows will come in handy for those looking for them and a sheaf of blank sheet music for slow days when he was attempting to be a little more social. He smiled a little, nodding at the suggestion. “There are several actually, at least according to the city map. I expect you have on in particular in mind though?”

Pairs was definitely smarter, dead ends with no reference of which way to go could be terribly dangerous. Caelan was a risk taking idiot sometimes, but he would be certain to be more cautious with someone else around. “I’ve heard a few rumours around the city, I’m not sure how true they are but it would definitely be smart to be prepared for some unpleasant encounters.”

“Is there anything you need before we check it out?” He knew he had his knives on him already, and his coat pockets were filled with little helpful things he might need at a moments notice. Yuna had her magic of course, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have anything to go and get to be ready for the kind of explorations they were going on.

[whereishe]

"Nope. I have everything I need. I asked the orb at the library, so I know where we are going to enter the sewer but I don't know the way from there. It might take some time but I think we can find our way beneath the cemetery." She smiled. "Let's go."

She turned and headed out of the room, pausing long enough for Caelan to follow before leading the way.

"I can sense the spirits within the cemetery. Something is holding them in or keeping us out. I think we should figure out what that is." It might not be safe.

3am!

[57times]

It was rare Esther was asleep at this time of day, and it was rarer still that she was awake with nothing playing; either her TV was on, her iPod was providing some kind of soundtrack, or she was producing the sound herself on her keyboard or violin.

As it stood now, she couldn't sleep, and up until then, there'd just been...silence. Or something close enough to it. All she'd been able to do was sing to herself, though even as she lay on the couch staring at the ceiling that was gradually becoming familiar to her now, it didn't help much.

The sound of a violin being played, then- that was surprising. Comforting. Had someone been brought here with one? Or was there somewhere here that sold them? She doubted the money she'd been given upon arrival would be enough to buy one for herself...still. That didn't mean she couldn't investigate now.

With her knives sheathed and tucked away safely against her, she left her apartment and followed the music...not too far, as it happened.

For a couple of minutes, she just stood outside, leaning against the wall to listen. She knew whose apartment it was, but she still didn't knock until the piece Caelan was playing lulled into either a close or a pause.

[stickyflippers]

The night Esther had found her way to his door, the violin was quite newly acquired. He had yet to be interrupted by anyone who had found their sleep schedules damaged by his late night playing, so tonight’s piece was quite lively in nature aside from the few lulls that the composition had in a couple segments. It wasn’t one of his own pieces, tonight’s was something he’d learned from a friend. It was a small attempt at comfort for having been an entire month without the familiar faces he’d grown so accustomed to seeing regularly.

Once the otherworldly sounding piece came to an end however, Caelan while stopped to take a sip of his drink, he heard a distinct knock at his door. Which, while not unwanted, was unexpected. Weren’t most humans asleep at this hour?


Yes, yes they were. Hard for them to do that perhaps when someone was making an absolute racket with a violin at strange hours though.

Raising a brow at the door for a moment, he set the glass down and checked to make sure his glamour was in place before he set to investigating who was waiting outside. Ah ha! He thought to himself as he saw who was standing there once he opened the door to greet what he assumed was a fellow night owl. The woman he’d met at that gathering a little while back. He’d known she was living in the same building as him, but had been giving her some space considering the state she’d been in when they met.

Tonight, however, he smiled and opened the door a little wider. “Well good evening, Esther. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Evening? Sir, it’s morning.

[57times]

Some anxious part of her waited until the last second to make her wonder if this was a good idea; she'd done a marvellous job of embarrassing herself the first time they'd met (what a first impression, Christ...) and she couldn't imagine Caelan would enjoy being interuppted by her now.

But then, the door opened, and it was too late to flee back to the safety of her apartment.

"Uh- Hi." She started, gesturing lightly (awkwardly) into the room behind him, "I-I couldn't sleep, and I heard music and thought..- well. You play beautifully, and I play as well, and I suppose it was just...nice to hear something familiar. Not the piece, I don't know that one. It sounded lovely though."

[stickyflippers]

Caelan on the other hand was just delighted to see a semi-familiar face at this hour, he was used to having company around. It was something he’d been having a lot of trouble adjusting to since arriving in this world. This hour was meant for fun and relaxation after a successful job with his friends, so having been alone and without both them or a violin the last few weeks had been rather stressful.

Not that he’d ever admit it. He had a reputation to uphold... or to rebuild in a new world he guessed.

The selkie listened to her explanation, eyes following her awkward gesture for a moment before he smiled sympathetically. Hard to sleep in a strange bed, let alone a strange world. If he weren’t already a night owl (and a wee bit more familiar the idea of magic in the world) he would probably be in a similar state, so he stepped aside and opened the door a little wider with a sweeping gesture, “Come on in then, no point in standing out in the hall.”

Esther certainly wouldn’t be able to miss the wider smile that crossed his face at the compliment, nor the immediate excitement as he realized she said she played as well. A fellow musician was definitely welcome in his apartment, “Thank you though, the piece was composed by my friend. He’s also the one who taught me to play, so he should take some of the credit for what you here I suppose.”

He wandered over to the table where he set down his instrument next to the bottle of whiskey, “Do you have an instrument here with you or?” Caelan had a feeling the answer would be no, if only because he had yet to meet someone not from here that had managed to come with one.

[57times]

There was, predictably, some hesitation in her step before she accepted his invitation to join him inside, though not enough to stop her completely. The continued topic of music helped immensely, as for a second she looked genuinely surprised and appreciative at his reply.

"He wrote that..? He's very talented - do you know how long it took him..?"

That, and he must be a wonderful teacher too. Caelan really did play very well indeed.

The question of whether or not she had her own violin with her had her shaking her head. "No, unfortunately I don't."

Let it be known, she missed Pyotr dearly already, though she was pleased to have some of her weapons at least.