fourside | [3.8★] "Too much water"

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[3.8★] "Too much water" — Yelp Reviewer

THE OCEANARIUM
It's like a fish tank, but bigger.

The sea is a vast expanse of water that covers 70% of our planet Earth. It is also home to various marine life that dwell within the very depths. Then one day, someone decided to bring the ocean to the surface for Reasons. So now everyone gets the chance to see all sorts of seafaring creatures — man-eating sharks, living fossils, and whatever horrors found deep in the ocean trenches all safely confined inside these oversized aquariums.

Somehow, your character got their hands on some tickets. So why not dive right in and spend some of that free time to hang out with the fishes? Learn something about the ocean, pet a cute penguin, or even plot to free a killer whale. It'll be an experience they won't forget.

➤ What is this?

This is just an open RP post with a sandbox-like setting. While there's some scenarios premade for your roleplaying needs, you can mess around with it as much or as little as you want. Feel free to use it for voicetesting, create cross-canon shenanigans, or develop a ship even further. You can carry the story over to your musebox if you'd like too. And you can re-use this post as many times as you'd like (until it hits the comment limit.) So bring your blorbos, your originals, your AUs, your friends and your friends' friends along for the fun!

➤ How to play:

Comment with your character's name and series in the subject.
Follow it up with a starter, and state your preferences too.
Label any warnings when necessary.
Reply to other characters!
Most importantly, just don't worry and have fun!

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Upon arrival, the attendant greets you as she collects your ticket. She hands over a brochure of the park containing a map, and descriptions of each featured exhibit that you can access. Afterwards she explains some guidelines for you to follow while within the park premises:

No smoking.
Don't leave your children unattended.
Don't tap or slam against the glass.
Please keep your valuables with you.
Don't bring food or drinks inside any of the exhibit rooms.
Use of flash photography is strictly prohibited.
Ignore the noises coming from the backrooms.
Keep a safe distance from the pools, otherwise you will get wet.

Once she's done, she slaps a wristband over your arm and gestures to make your way into the main lobby where all of the other visitors are gathered. From here you may begin exploring around the facility on your own, with your partner, or tag along with a tour guide as they show you the way. There's a lot of places to be, and plenty of fish to see!

Scenarios
A Watery Wonderland ✦ Close Encounters of the Penguin Kind ✦ Operation: Free Willy ✦ Submerged in Shadow ✦ Deep Fear ✦ Relaxed, Refreshed & Resurfaced ✦ Wildcard!

❖ A Watery Wonderland

➤ Location: Sea-Through Tunnel

The Sea-Through Tunnel is the main attraction of the Oceanarium, and the highlight in most advertisements you find about this place. And you now understand why after seeing it up-close.

It is a long glass tunnel that passes through the large indoor aquarium, giving you a glimpse of the wonders of the sea. And like an aquarium, the exhibit presents a near-perfect replication of the seabed and the various kinds of marine life found exclusively under the sea. Though it comes with a few bits and bobs you expect from any fish tank like a shipwrecked galleon or a treasure chest. If you peruse through the brochure, you take note of the description of the tunnel as follows:

...The Oceanarium™ has even transplanted seaweed, anemones, giant clams and all from the Pacific and Atlantic depths to really nail in the accuracy of their natural habitat. It's the best place to find sharks, stingrays and other fascinating seafaring creatures from behind the glass without having to dive deep into the ocean itself. So you don't have to worry about that pesky thalassophobia kicking in!

Apparently this exhibit is also popular among families and young couples according to the guide that you overheard. They explained how with the vivid blue water, the colorful coral covering the surface, and an assortment of marine life swimming by, certainly all of these make for a perfect backdrop for any special occasion.

"First meetings, reunions, confessions, wedding proposals, you name it!" the tour guide enthused, "What could be more memorable than having a heartfelt moment or two take place underwater and being surrounded by thousands of fish?"

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❖ Close Encounters of the Penguin Kind

➤ Location: The Cold Spot

Another popular attraction in the Oceanarium is The Cold Spot, showcasing images and dioramas of wildlife that survive within polar habitats. And to really add to the experience, the temperature in the room is a bit lower than usual. So as the name implies, it does get a little chilly inside.

Though what draws people the most is the large penguin enclosure within the exhibit. It's where guests get to see these dapper-looking birds clumsily waddle around on the snow-covered surface or diving gracefully into the waters of the indoor pool. Many of them are seen idling by either at their nests, the fake rocks, or at the edge of the pool with little concern of their spectators standing behind the glass barrier with fascination and glee.

If you're hoping to get a close look of these birds, then lucky for you! For a phenomenally nominal fee, you can feed and pet them at your leisure within the exhibit.* Watch as these little guys will start swarming around you to observe and hope to get some fish out of your hands.

Then you notice some smaller text at the bottom of the Cold Spot's description.

* – The Oceanarium™ will not be held responsible for the animals' behavior, and any injuries or losses gained from them will not be compensated for as per agreement in the terms and conditions written in your waiver. Please take caution when interacting with these animals.

Other than that, if you're not up to paying for meeting penguins, there are a couple of penguin statues and a photo stand-in of a penguin with its face cut-out so you can pretend to be one just for laughs.

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❖ Operation: Free Willy

➤ Location: Aquatheater

Built for family-friendly entertainment, this area is an enriching experience for both you and our finned friends in captivity. The Aquatheater is made to hold more than a hundred guests to view over the stage – a large oval pool where our handlers hold the highly-anticipated marine show featuring our highly trained cetaceans and pinnipeds performing the most captivating acts of acrobatics in and over water.

But as it turns out, there was more to it than meets the eye.

Maybe it's something you caught word of before entering the facility, but you heard rumors that there were plans from the staff behind the scenes about getting rid of one of their poorest performers in the bunch. The Oceanarium has a bit of a seedy reputation regarding the welfare of these seafaring mammals, and have even called into question how they handled them in captivity. You don't know what they'll do to that poor creature, and wouldn't want to think the worst of it to happen. Frankly it's not your business to pry, yet you feel you have to do something if any of that is true.

Now driven to save the creature, you and your partner sneak into the backrooms and make an attempt to set it free.

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❖ Submerged in Shadow

➤ Location: The Abyssal Zone

You figured there's a good reason why this exhibit is called The Abyssal Zone, as it is almost pitch black inside upon entering. This makes it impossible to read the brochure in such darkness. And the only sources of light that you could find are the tiny LED lights embedded on the floor to illuminate your path, and the soft eerie blue glow coming from the fish tanks.

Apparently all of the specimens featured here are mostly found within the deepest trenches of the ocean and are highly sensitive to bright lights. That would explain why the attendant from earlier discouraged you to use flash photography. The tour guide mentions how a handful of them are species that have been around since the prehistoric era. They even proudly boast that the Oceanarium seems to be the only marine park that has the rare "Deep Sea Pucker-Faced Lanternfish" in captivity, thought to have been extinct during the Paleocene era. Seeing how these species of fish managed to survive for over millions of years makes you wonder what else could be lurking beneath the depths.

You then take notice of a few fish that seem to be glowing by themselves. One of them at a distance looked rather... humanoid in shape based on the silhouette. Though maybe you're just seeing things.

"...Oh and did you know?" you hear the guide continue, "Some of these fishes are able to produce their own light naturally – mostly to lure in their prey."

Somehow, you're getting the sense that you're being watched by whatever it is behind the glass.

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❖ Deep Fear

➤ Location: Basement-Level Research Laboratory

⚠️ Content Warning ⚠️
 
Slight body horror.

Something's wrong.

Your body swiftly jumps and aches as your nerves begin to connect to your sudden awareness. It's like you are weighted down with lead for muscles, your limbs are uncooperative at every attempt. Not only that, but there's an odd sensation coming from your hands and feet like they felt stuck together. And for some reason, it's become a chore to breathe through your throat as you rasp loudly. And as you awake, bright lights glare before your eyes and you immediately shield them away with your hand. And that's the first oddity you've discovered – the skin between your digits are stitched together, webbed like fins of a fish. The second is finding yourself atop an operating table.

A sharp chill takes over you completely.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary before you got here. But whatever reason you have for visiting the Oceanarium, someone had their sights on you and knocked you unconscious when no one's watching. And now you've found yourself in a strange yet horrifying predicament. Everything about you has changed, and you dread how your life will be like from this point onwards. It's become certain that you've regretted ever coming to the park in the first place.

There's no time to think about this any further. There's only one goal in mind right now – You have to get out of here. And you can only hope and pray the people running this place don't catch you if you're spotted.

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❖ Relaxed, Refreshed & Resurfaced

➤ Location: Gift Shop & Café

Had enough excitement for today? It sure seems like it.

Well, your time here in the Oceanarium is finally over. Maybe you got to learn a thing or two about the sea, that you found some appreciation towards our fishy friends. Or maybe you've just decided for yourself that you're going to stay far away from the ocean permanently. Either one of these is a valid response really. Just don't let the staff know about the latter part.

But before you leave, the tour guide encourages everyone to stop by at the gift shop and bring home a souvenir or two for you and your friends. There's Oceanarium-themed keychains, fridge magnets, bottle openers, t-shirts, baseball caps, and even plush toys of critters such as penguins, dolphins, octopi, a legally distinct clownfish, or the pucker-faced lanternfish that you can have as a new companion on your way back out.

Alternatively you can sit back, relax, and grab some bubble tea or try out some fish and chips at the indoor café. Of course there's more options you can choose from in the menu, with some food items specially catered towards those who are either vegan, vegetarian, have specific allergies, or just a really picky eater.

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❖ Wildcard!

➤ Location: Anywhere

If you're not feeling any of these prompts, or have some other ideas in mind, then go wild!

You can mix and match scenarios or come up with your own. Swap roles where you play the villain and your partner would be the hero or the other way around. You can even expand the setting with new locations, or AU it up and rebuild it into your own version of the setting if you'd like. There's no limits to what your imagination can create. It's free real estate here, and the world is your oyster! (No pun intended.)

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Seriously...? [Is he supposed to live in the sea now? No way. Even sewers would be better.

Nagiri waits silently, gauging the camera's reach and his distance to it, and lowers his head to make sure he's not caught on camera. Then, as soon as he's close enough, he points at it and forms a long, thin, rapier-like blood blade that stabs right through it... But the blade is more brittle than Nagiri expected, breaking apart as easily as the camera. Nagiri swears under his breath, withdrawing the blade. It wasn't as much damage as he'd like, but at least the camera's clearly not going to work anymore.]

[as he watches, he's reminded a bit of Laura, of Wolverine, as well as the first one. but instead of bone, or steel, it's very very thin and apparently brittle. but can still do enough damage]

Good deal.

Good deal...?

[He repeats in confusion. Is that some kind of slang Nagiri doesn't know about?]

Whatever, just keep going...

[yes, and its a slang the old man here doesn't need to use again, either.

but he nods, and does continue]

You got it.

[Well, he'll grab onto Bucky again and try to be as easy to carry as possible, but with nothing else to do other than that, that slang phrase will keep bothering him. A "good deal"? Was it a good deal to get blood blades as his power, or was it a good deal for Bucky to get Nagiri of all people to carry like a damsel? What did that even mean?

He won't voice any of these thoughts out loud, just lets himself be carried wherever.]

[Bucky would certainly be amused to know Nagiri's thinking about this so hard, and also thinks he's being carried like a damsel (more like a piggyback situation), but they walk through these halls, and it's quiet. Not a soul.

But they're getting closer to the exit of this section, quickly, and into normal patronage]

[Just being carried by someone and not being able to walk on his own makes it a damsel-in-distress situation, in Nagiri's mind!

When his ears pick up the sound of crowds of ordinary people (which is from pretty far away, he's got big ears) Nagiri tenses against Bucky's back. He's not a fan of crowds even normally, and now that he's a mermaid, he's just going to get stared at...]

Its fine. You've got that hood.

[he does sort of worry about nosy people, but if you just ignore them and don't act suspicious people normally lose interest]

[Having this hood does bring comfort, actually. It's basically the only thing he's still got. Still, he scoffs, not all too comforted.]

Don't have pants though... With my luck, I'll get struck with a public indecency charge...

[As if the cops would take "mermaid tail" for an excuse! But he'll try to take Bucky's advice and just ignore people. Maybe he'll be lucky just this once.]

You'd be surprised what the cops don't want to mess with.

[the smart ones who nope out of there when something looks weird. no one seems to be looking, maybe a few curious kids so far]

What, they don't mess with you...?

[Cops who nope out when something looks weird have all probably left Nagiri's hometown ages ago. Anyway, Nagiri avoids eye contact. Get outta here, kids. Nothing to see here.]

I tend to avoid them. [and his reputation isn't the best so...it's more government agents??

anyway, the kids are distracted by sharks or whatever]

Huh... Same. [That's good to know, less of a risk of encountering cops today.

Good, ignore the half-man, half-shark. He's not even swimming. Real sharks are totally more interesting.]

[There's the exit. it seeemmms like they'll get out of here safely--

and no one even jinxed it as they push through the door, fading into the crowd that gathers around the entrance]

That was easy. They don't have a tracker on you, do they?

[Huh, that was easy. Too ea- Nope, not jinxing it, not even in his thoughts.

He hadn't even considered a tracker, and the idea makes a cold chill run down his back.]

They better not...! [Nagiri starts checking himself over, but where would they even put one? He'd already checked his whole body to see the changes when he woke up like this. There was nothing, but... They did surgery on him, so they could've put it inside him...? Those fuckers...! No, but there's no proof there's a tracker, right...? Hands shaking, he grits his teeth, expression darkening.]

If they track me down, they'll regret it...

Well, if they did, we can check. If there's anything raised beneath the skin, that'd be it.

[he doesn't check Nagiri over, obviously, but he easily conveys this info as though he isn't too worried so]

Anyway, where to?

[...That tone of voice does make him calm down a little. The idea still makes him feel itchy and wrong, but he can save checking for later. (He doesn't even register the "we" part of that sentence, too used to dealing with everything alone.)]

Like I said, just drop me in the nearest river, or sewer... I'll figure things out from there.

[Figure out things like how to swim with a mermaid tail. Shouldn't be hard.]

Do you have anyone you can go to? This seems like a lot to deal with alone...

[he is going towards a body of water, but he wants to hear if Nagiri has a plan]

[There are people whose faces pop into Nagiri's mind immediately, but he shakes his head to shake them out of his mind. He can't keep relying on them. And in a body like this, with his legs gone, there's no way that a certain annoying cop wouldn't fuss over him and try to bring him home to look after him... No, it's better if he leaves their life, both for him and them. Even if a certain pathetic mangaka would procrastinate himself out of a job without Nagiri as his assistant, even if a certain round creature might cry- Oh, fuck no! No, he can't risk Roundo crying because he misses Nagiri. That little armadillo is everything that's good in this world.

Nagiri grits his teeth. Fuck it. He'd rather die than get fussed over like a pet, but making Roundo cry is worse than dying.]

Tch... [Nagiri knocks his forehead into Bucky's shoulder lightly, before forcing himself to talk.] Kei Kantarou, a cop that lives in Shin-Yokohama...

[He's going to regret this. He's going to regret this, for sure...]

[Bucky may be ignorant of whatever internal battle Nagiri is having with himself, but he does feel the other sort of tensing, probably cursing himself. He probably shouldn't have rubbed it in, but the new merman shouldn't be alone dealing with mobility issues.]

In Japan? We can do that.

Yeah, alright...

[He should probably say something along the line of thanks right now. Unfortunately, being a fishman, along with everything else, has distracted him from something very important: He's still a vampire, they're outside, and it's not nighttime. Though Nagiri's not the type to turn into ashes in sunlight, he gets sunburned incredibly fast, and he's starting to feel it. Nagiri tenses and swears as he awkwardly pulls his cloak up to try and cover the arms he's got wrapped around Bucky.]

Fucking... sunlight... dammit...!

[But that leaves the end of his tail exposed. At this rate, he's gonna start smelling like grilled fish!]

[oh, Bucky hadn't actually thought of that part. most fish aren't bothered by-- sunlight, unless they're maybe the ones deep in the ocean.

but hearing that, head on a swivel, he hurries a little faster towards a wide awning to a building nearby. in those long strides of his they make it, and he leans against the wall slightly]

That better?

[Being out of direct sunlight is a relief, and Nagiri sighs, relaxing against Bucky's back.]

Yeah...

[But with relief comes dread. His reaction to sunlight was instinctual, but did he just break his cover and reveal he's a vampire? If somebody's this weak to sunlight, anybody would guess they're a vampire, right? (Living in a town with a high vampire population has given him some misconceptions about how used the average human is to interacting with vampires.) Nagiri's sweating, and it's only mostly due to the heat.

Maybe he can just... play it off? Act like a normal human about it?]

Uh... hot day out, huh...?

[Internally, a part of him is screaming at himself. What is he doing?! Small talk?! How is that helping anything? You're humiliating yourself and going to burn at this rate! Just reveal you're a vampire and get some proper defense against the sun! Nagiri hushes that part of himself down by reminding himself that revealing he's a vampire while weakened like this would be stupid when he doesn't know how Bucky feels about vampires. Between sunlight and Bucky, he'd rather face the sunlight.]

[Despite his many years of experience, vampire isn't what his mind goes to immediately. He bets on the merman/shark issues, or maybe some other medical issue first before he even goes there. The teeth aren't a hint, either, though Nagiri is sort of cold against his back. But fish are cold...]

It's pretty warm, yeah. And you've been stuck in the dark for awhile-- or at least under the fluorescents. That's a terrible vacation.

[Was that a joke? Nagiri gives an awkward laugh to try and seem normal. Definitely not mentioning that being in the dark is the usual for him.]

Yeah... Could use an umbrella or, what's it called... Pa, parallel... Para-... Ugh, umbrella for sunlight...

[Is there even a difference, and who even cares...]

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[did not expect him to talk himself into this]

hey its buckys superpower sometimes: being reasonable

[good job, bucky]

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