Under The Sea~ [Nikolai/Open]

It was the same old, same old scenario it seemed, every day, at the same time and same place. The consistency of it all was rather irritating, but once after the first few times, the domestic shifter started to adapt. He watched as the ceiling fan turned slowly once after he had shut it off, waiting and allowing his grey eyes to observe the blades rotate in circles as they gradually decreased its speed. The Inu play comfortably on his bed whilst chewing the strings of his sweatshirt, all the while using his arms behind his head as an adjusted pillow of sorts. Birds chirped happily out his window, and a mangy squirrel always seemed to come around to agitated him even more than he already was. It was unfortunate to know he had not gotten that much sleep the night before, but he would manage, he always did. Work was at its reasonable, and with the new addition, the lovely Haedyn at his side, business ran smoothly and tips were being received like candy. His hand ruffled his thick hair and tugged it slightly up as he began to shut his eyes, yet again, there was that chattering again. Perhaps the squirrel he attempted to bark at yesterday from his bedside window against the tree in his backyard, or maybe it was just a trick played on his thoughts to get up him so he could be tired later for work. Nikolai stretched his arms and yawned, rubbing his stubbled cheek as he slowly made his way to his feet. He discovered the chattering he heard was not in fact a squirrel, or any animal at all actually, it was his stove. He had remembered to get it fixed, but could never find the time. Shrugging it off, he pulled on his jacket and began to look for his keys to his small beat up truck outside. It wasn't much, but he could hope soon that he would be able to pay for a newer car with how much of a raise he was getting at bar-tending. As he grabbed them off the counter, the Great Dane walked out, shut the door and locked it, and got into his car to head downtown. While he was in town, he picked up some supplies to fix the stove, asking for advice on how he should repair the contraption from townsmen and women and then once he was satisfied he would simply head back to his car and drop his stuff off.

Leaving it behind, he wagged his tail and pinned back his ears as he smelt the air before him, the female from the borders was near, he concluded. As he followed her scent, he whistled casually and stuffed his hands into his sweatshirt's pockets. He wore a plain grey tee underneath and some tattered jeans for his legs, as well as a comfortable pair of black high top shoes. The knitted black and white collar still held around his neck. He found his else to be lost as he went down into the tunnels that were usually meant for tourists, carefully watching out for anything as his tail slowly curled against his hip. Nikolai looked around, only to be occupied with a wonderful view before him. It looked as if it were the ocean, filled with a rainbow of fish on the other side of the glass wall. He tilted his smile at it, scratching behind one of his ears before shooing the image off to follow what he intended to originally find. As he came to a halt, a flying wad of paper was thrown into his direction. He blocked it by taking a quick step back, only to look around the corner as to whom or what it had been thrown by. It was Sapphire, the woman of the scent he had been walking after, she seemed almost frustrated, perhaps it wasn't the time. Nikolai safely stepped over and picked up the paper, uncrumpling it to loo at the display upon the page. It was him, a few minor scribbles, but he knew exactly the person behind this portrait. His lips mouthed a word in awe as he made a chuckled smile, only to hold it and slowly move over behind to where she was positioned. His stormy eyes peered at her over her shoulder, looking at her reflection in the glass with the same boyish smile, "I'm sorry to mistaken you, miss.." He laughed once and gave her the paper back, "but I am not a trash can. Nor an art museum."

Finnlay blinked open his eyes and stretched his arms high above his head, groaning as he did so, his muscles being relieved of their idle cramps and a popping noise being released all along his spine. Slowly he relaxed his body again and lowered his hands to rub his sleepy eyes. Only once he opened his green-grey eyes did he realise that he had fallen asleep sitting on the couch and the television was still on but the volume was turned down low. He sighed softly and hung his head back to lay against the back of the couch, closing his eyes once more. Lazily he let his head and body slip sideways to lay down on the couch, rolling also to rest on his stomach and tuck his feet up onto the soft material of the seat that he now utilised as a bed. "Today I don't feel like doing aaanythiinng. I just wanna lay in my beeed!", the inu male sang out loud, ironically whilst yawning, reciting lyrics from an old song, though it probably sounded nothing like the song what with yawning through it and his Irish accent. The song honestly described how he felt at that moment, but when he woke up properly he knew he would go out into the world and try to find something to do, people to see. He didn't much like doing nothing.

Half an hour later he had dragged himself off the couch, switched off the television and gotten a quick shower. He stood in his boxers in front of his mirror, ruffling the towel over his hair to dry it as much as possible. When that was done he pulled a pair of dark jeans and a simple white T-shirt over his large body, followed by socks on his feet and a grey beanie on his head. Humming as he went, he sprayed some musky cologne over his chest and then walked downstairs to his hallway at the entrance of his cottage, slipping his toes into the pair of laced shoes that were placed on a mat by the door and shrugging on a blue hooded jacket. Suddenly he remembered he hadn't eaten anything, so he dashed to the kitchen and fixed himself up a ham sandwich, taking a big bite into the bread and meat as he moved back through his house towards the front door. As his long legs went he gazed around the interior of his home, admiring his favourite feature; the old wooden beams. It made the house very comfy and gave a warm feel. With that thought he plucked his keys from surface of the oak cabinet in the hall and stepped out of his house, locking the door behind him. Now that he was outside it dawned on him that he had no idea where he was going or even what time it was. He hadn't looked at the time at all and didn't know how long he had slept. Regardless, he kept chewing pieces of his sandwich and strolled along quietly, looking around him. All that mattered was that he was going somewhere rather than being alone and bored.

After what seemed to be a good deal of walking and looking around, the Wolfhound reached some place on the quieter side of town. It was somewhere he had not been before, but it was pleasant. As he turned a corner on the street he saw a sign for an 'Undersea Pass' and arrows pointing to where you could find it. If it was what he thought it was, it would be very interesting to find out what he would see beneath the ocean. He followed the direction that the sign had indicated, rubbing his palms together like one would do when trying to warm up their cold hands, to get rid of the crumbs and flour that still remained from the bread but also it showed his excitement. Soon Finn came to a tunnel. At first it was dark, and quite difficult to see. He decided to shift and use his nose and ears to help him navigate the dark passages. After a certain distance the tunnel was now made of glass and allowed a wonderful view of the dark blue sea. He hadn't even known the Mora lived so close to the coast. Considering it was so far underwater it was clear and reasonably light. His furry brows raised as he watched a school of fish dart by, but really he wanted to see something he hadn't seen before, like a turtle or a shark. A slight smile surfaced on his shaggy maw as he watched the small lifeforms swim past, and he began singing to himself while padding along, his voice echoing down the tunnel. "Under the sea, under the sea! Darlin' it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me! Up on the shore they work all day, out in the sun they slave away, while we devotin' full time to floatin'...Under the sea!" He pranced along on his paws as he sang despite looking clumsy with his large size and imagined the little lobster from the old Disney classic and the clams that sounded like steel drums and began laughing. Even as a mutt he had a good singing voice. The dog was so caught up with observing the water on the other side of the glass and his own entertainment that he was taken by surprise as he heard someone hiss "Don't move!". He shut his mouth with a click and looked around quickly, wary of what he might find. But he saw them, a man and a woman who appeared to be sketching the male. It made sense, she didn't want him to move so that the perspective didn't change because if it did she might not be able to draw that exact pose unless she could see it. He wasn't sure if they'd seen him yet, but they probably knew he was there if they'd heard his singing. How embarrassing. He quietly morphed back into his human-like form and tried on a smile, a slightly apologetic one for disturbing them and raised his eyebrows with his guilty look as he tilted his head slightly, lifting one hand to pull nervously on his ear lobe beneath his beanie and the other to sheepishly wave at them as he was rather embarrassed. "Hey..."

As slowly lowered to sit nearest to her, he crossed his legs into an indian-like fashion, placing his arms casually over his knees as he watched the display of fish before him. There were aquatic animals ranging in all sorts of colors, both bright and some not as much, different sizes and then some. A gentle twitch of a smile crept over the corner of his lips as a question rolled off the maiden's tongue. He found joy in the sound of her voice to a point he could find himself lost the longer she spoke her thoughts aloud to him. His attention would most likely not allow him to think clearly enough as it may seem, the disease in his head did not so much as allow him to pay that much awareness to his surroundings for very long, especially with social conversing. The Inu shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, never to confess the fact he enjoyed being called 'Mister Nikolai' rather than his own true calling. "Guess not.. Just a coincidence, but I will not deny the fact I followed your scent as soon as I had come upon this place here.." As another curiosity rose beneath the female's knowing, his brows arched upwards and he shook his head once more before answering. "Not at all actually. I haven't been her much longer than you, maybe a month if I can remember.. Haven't had a lot of time being able to explore with both of my jobs in way. Bartending and photography on the side with a pinch of a social, adventuring life is not the easiest to keep up with..." And again, he shrugged, never to keep a large amount a care as he knew it was only that of a form of life. Nikolai had learned the hard way as to how it was in the real world, but it was not a time for him to look back on that memory. This was a time for gathering and time with friends, or, the process of making friends rather than providing them a reason to find him odd and run away. He watched a small fish had become lost from his school of brothers, searching vigorously back and forth in spite of finding them amongst the large, wildly colorful crowd of swimmers. Nikolai felt the loneliness from the other side of the glass and slowly guided the fish in finding his siblings with the tip of his finger. Once the fish rejoiced with the others, he smiled and put his finger back down before shifting in his position to get a bit more comfortable.

His body then came to a halt, freezing immediately by a simple command to which was possessed by his canine-like instinct. Ears perked to a point and tail stiff against his side, he looked at her to the side with the widest pair of stormy grey eyes. The muscles in his chest tightened as they were forced to remain as still as a cement statue. Nikolai fought himself to sit still as he attempted to find a way to see as to what she was doing, all the while using what he could from his peripheral vision in order to watch, yet it as no use. His ear was then caressed by a gentle hand, causing him to shiver at its touch and close his eyes before she commented on the texture of his fur and retraced her steps. "Is soft a bad thing..?" He wondered, tilting his head slightly until he returned position as he remembered he was to stay still. A defeated sigh rolled off the tip of his tongue. It was until now that he realized her ears were not cropped like his, or like most Dobermans. This bothered him, but he did not speak a word of it for it might offend her in some way. He thought Dobermans and Danes looked cleaner with fresh cut ears. Dismissing the imperfection of hers, his attention was turned to a scent reaching their presence, looking to source to find another Inu in their wake. He was male, reasonable tall and a bit furry despite his ears and tail. Nikolai's thin tail wagged in welcome before his ears pinned back and he sheepishly returned position. He mumbled, "Sup." as best he could without moving for the lady, all the while watching from the corner of his eyes to see as to what he was doing, "I'm Nikolai, call me what ya like. You new?"

{OOC: o.o... I thought I'd never stop typing... o.o}

OOC - I think it's Finnlay's turn.. Is this continuing? o.o

(Oh dear. Sorry, I forgot about this.)

Stood there with his fingers clutching his earlobe as he waited awkwardly for someone to notice his presence, he almost wished that his other form could so happen to be a Chihuahua so that he could shift into such a tiny creature and dash away without being noticed, he was that embarrassed. However he dismissed that thought, knowing that embarrassment was just a part of his life with being as carefree and clumsy as he was, and that his great Wolfhound form served him far better purpose in his role as a Maston anyhow. Besides, the situation for the fellow male Inu was likely just as awkward with being sketched and trying to remain still. Furthermore, Finnlay realised he had nothing much to worry about after all and this was reinforced with the fact that the two others greeted him so normally and not as if he was some silly clown who had been singing a song from an ancient children's movie. With this he let his nervousness slip away and be replaced with his usual confident, jolly demeanour, allowing his shoulders to relax and his arms to drop, tucking his left hand into a rear pocket of his jeans. "Hiya Nikolai." He said with a bright smile, raising his other hand in greeting. "I'm new to this place, yeah, but I've been livin' in the kingdom for ages now. Never seen ye before though." The Irishman added with a small shrug as his smile slowly faded and he looked to the lady as she finally finished drawing and now acknowledged the extra company. The smile on her lips was so endearing and with her added invitation in her warm voice he could not decline the opportunity of joining them. "Sure." Finn replied simply with a tilted smile and moved closer to sit himself beside the female, once she had made space for him to park his big body, since she had been the one to ask him and he didn't know if the guy would be so willing for him to sit there. He stayed quiet as the other two reviewed how they thought her sketch had turned out, trying not to be nosey by looking at it for himself, and let his gaze wander to watch the sea creatures go by, only returning his attention to the ones on his side of the glass as he heard the feminine tone speak her name. He offered a smile and raised his brows a tad. "That's a lovely name for a lovely lady like yourself. It suits ya too. I'm Finnlay, but call me Finn if ye want. Everyone else does." His smile grew into a cheeky grin, though it was equally charming and genuine to match his words that he felt were true. Anything to make the woman smile. "Oh, sure. Sketch me all ya want." Chuckling, he adjusted his position into a pose where he was leant back against the glass, one leg straight on the ground in front of him and the other propped up so he could rest his arm over his knee. He rested his head on the cool glass and fixed his gaze on the clear roof of the tunnel, seemingly lost in staring at the water and what was within it on the opposite side of the glass.

Finnlay remained in this position for a short while, actually quite enjoying just being quiet and watching what was essentially another world around him as it went by doing its own thing. As he came back to reality he heard the grinding noise of pencils being sharpened and suddenly realised that Sapphire had been doing that activity for some minutes now, instead of actually using the stationary equipment to draw with. As much as he didn't want to, he broke his pose and turned his head to look at her and was quietly worried by what he saw. She was clearly lost in thought and her previous smile had completely disappeared, in its place there was just a sad, blank expression. Not knowing what to say he took a quick glance towards Nikolai and mouthed as he scratched his stubbled chin, 'What's wrong?' and waited to see if Nikolai knew what he was talking about and if he would know the answer or even reply. Staying silent, when he then looked back to the young woman he saw the wet streaks of tears down her pale cheeks, the sight of which saddened him to the point of almost whining. His heart started racing as he tried to think of something to say or do to make her feel better. Eventually though she was released from whatever memory she had been reliving and wiped the tears away before closing her notebook. He watched as her eyes turned upwards and she played with a lock of her hair, and despite the sorrow that glistened in her eyes he could not help but think how pretty she was, the kind of girl that looked beautiful in all her simple glory without fancy clothes and makeup. He blinked and turned his gaze to follow hers and noticed a shark, his eyes widening as his lips quietly formed the word 'Woah' though it couldn't be heard. But before either himself or she could let their minds delve into curiosity and memories once again he cleared his throat and leaned forward to reach out his hand to her notebook, flipping through a chunk of several pages at once to reach a clean page without looking at the drawn images so as to respect her privacy. He made the decision not to wipe her cheeks with his sleeve or thumb as he might otherwise have done so as to not bring attention to the fact that he was aware that she had been crying. Once he turned to a fresh, crisp page, he shifted form and nudged the paper with his canine nose, offering a little grin solely to her. "So c'mon, ya gonna draw me or not?" He tilted his large, scruffy head with the question and wagged his thin tail slightly, hoping to at least cheer Sapphire up a little, and maybe, just maybe, manage to bring back her smile.

The inu boy, or dog as it may be better to describe him, grinned as he was stroked on the head and tried his hardest to stay still as the lady began to draw him. He felt slightly like a child being made to stay still for a medical examination or something, but was happy to be drawn and cheer up Sapphire at the same time regardless, as the smile returned to her lips. Finnlay was surprised at how fast her hands moved over the paper and wondered if sketching or art was a passion of hers and if it was involved in her work. From looking at her he honestly couldn't tell what occupation she held, but he didn't doubt that it would be something interesting, maybe something totally unexpected. There was a mysterious quality to the mora female, as she was quiet but not too shy. As he watched her busy hands he began to tilt his head out of curiosity and intrigue at how infatuated and focused she seemed to be on her pencils and more importantly on using them to replicate the image of the dog before her onto the page beneath her fingers, expertly shading to bring to life the drawing as it was in reality. While he studied the paper he saw some of his features and was glad that she was able to draw him well. Watching her hands, he realised her left hand was the one sketching and so came to the conclusion that she was left-handed, and so she was part of a minority of the population like himself who were left-handed. He looked up quickly and wagged his tail slightly as she spoke to him again. "Aye, I am one hundred per cent Irish, Miss Sapphire. Being an Irish Wolfhound as well, I think that makes me more Irish than an Irish human." The scruffy maw of the dog grinned wide and he looked between the other two. "What about you guys?" He asked, wondering where they had come from and what their ancestry was. Most, he assumed, had probably lived in or around the land of Lunari for their whole lives, whereas he had lived a while in London as well as his homeland until finally coming to this area of the world. All the time he met different, unique people, and these two would probably add to that list.

Finnlay noticed the lady looking to her watch and noted the time for himself, as he had failed to do so this morning and had no idea what time it was. But he didn't have anywhere to be that day or anything to do. Once the two other Moras had gone to do their own things and he was alone again, he'd probably just go around town or something. His eyes peered around the tunnel again, watching as some fish with a very big mouth moved near to the glass. It looked like it was frowning and it swam slowly, seeming as if it was grumpy. He chuckled and continued to watch the creature as he heard Sapphire start humming. The song he knew of course, as he had been singing a song by the same singer that very morning. "You like Bruno Mars?" He didn't expect anyone else to be interested in the older music like he was, but he took it as a good thing. Music these days was going downhill and he didn't enjoy it. Celtic and folk music were also some of his favourites, but very little of it was heard these days, especially in Lunari. Perhaps Finnlay would have to find a way to introduce it here, like hosting a theme night once a week or something of the sort. If only he knew someone who had contacts in bars. "I wish there was somewhere that played the good ol' music but I haven't found a place that does around here. I might have to start something up." After that he stayed quiet for a moment before a thought suddenly came to mind and he glanced to Nikolai, muttering and seeming to forget about keeping still, but Sapphire had probably finished drawing him now anyway and was instead sketching the background. "Is Sapphire your... girlfriend?" It hadn't occurred to him earlier but now that he thought about the man and woman being there together before he had arrived it was a viable explanation.