[Closed] @eidxiety🧜‍♀️🔬

[winterbolt]

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[dyn4m0]

Haha...you still trying to talk?

[Add watches as Ain plops himself nearby, careful to let him stay where he is without touching too much. There's a sort of unspoken but also kindof spoken rule that they shouldn't get too close and comfortable with the Sirens. They are, after all, to be released back into the wild someday...and they can't do that if they all become attached. Ain...may already be a lost cause actually, but that isn't priority right now. Research and rehabilitation is, and maybe that means he just has to become an ambassador for his species. Who even knows.

Anyway, hm. Maybe he can teach him more words? He thinks for a moment, then spots a rock sitting on the platform next to him that got accidentally dragged to the surface. He picks it up and holds it out in his palm.]

"Rock".

[eidxiety]

[Why is humanspeak so full of words with too many hard sounds! What the fuck! Ain stares at the rock in dismay, wishing he could communicate how frustrating this language is to Add properly. Soft sounds! Soft clicks! Thank you!!!]

Rrrraw... khhhhch. Rrrrawch.

["Ch" is much easier than that hard K sound, apparently. That's why sustake happened. And his Rs he has the tendency to growl out, almost threateningly, but he hopes Add isn't scared of him anyway.]

Rrawwkuh.

[dyn4m0]

[Honestly Add thinks it's cool when Ain growls like a wild animal, so rip. There might be something wrong with him.]

That's it. Rrrrock.

[His own growling sounds...like a human person growling, so dumb. But he mimics it anyway.

Is there something nearby that's a less harsh word he can teach? Uhh.

Add looks around for a moment...then realizes he HAS something. He pulls it out of his pocket and holds it up.]

"Pen".

[eidxiety]

[!!! THE ART STICK]

Pennh!! Pennh!! [This word is EASY this is a word for little BABIES. Ain fluffs up all his fins and wiggles in a way that suggests he really wants it, like he does whenever he Really Wants Something.] Pennh!!! Penhh pen penhhn pehnn penh pen!!!

[Some attempts at the word comes out a bit breathy, but it's the clearest he's been other than "no" and "please (police)" so.]

[dyn4m0]

You like this, don't you?

[Ain likes things that he can draw with, he's noticed. Letting Ain draw on his bare skin with an ink pen isn't incredibly safe, so he won't be able to give it to him, but he wonders if there's something they can do...

Hmm. He has an idea, actually. He needs to leave for a bit for it though, prompting him to stand up and carefully replace the grate over the top of the tank.]

I need to check on something. Be a good boy for me until I get back.

[He knows Ain isn't going to understand why he's leaving suddenly, but it's for good reason. He just has to be patient for a half hour or so while he pulls a few strings. "It's for science", he'll say.]

[eidxiety]

Guude boyhh?

[Oh goodbye... Add is leaving and shutting the tank grate. Well, Ain will just go be productive and

just kidding he's flat in the sand now. FF14 play dead emote in the dirt. Facedown in sand. He has been abandoned he is unloved he is detested and will be alone for the rest of his life—]

[dyn4m0]

[Well fortunately for Ain, Add isn't going to be gone for an entire weekend this time. He's back before he knows it, even if it does mean Add returns to poor Ain face down in the sand...rip in rest.

If Ain manages to drag himself up though, he'll see that Add is laying out a bunch of waterproof tarp in the middle of the office, setting up what look to be large square panels on wooden sticks...

?????

On the floor, he places a couple of large paper plates and fills them up with non-toxic child safe paint of all colors of the rainbow, then once he's satisfied with his work, he'll return to the tank and open up the top for Ain to come to the surface again.]

Come on out. I have something for you to play with.

[eidxiety]

[Ain unflattens when Add comes back, yeah. It's very pathetic. He needs to socialize or he'll DIE though!!

He'll watch the scientist prop all these things up, confused, and when Add opens the grate and says "out" Ain at least understands that set of syllables to mean he has to leave the tank. He clambers to the top of the landing and shakes himself dry as he grows his leggies again, then follows Add down (on all fours again, because stairs) and stands there awkwardly in front of the paint and canvasses.

He has no idea what to make of this. He looks at Add before pointing at the colourful mud and squeaking out:]

Aaa?

[This is how he's going to ask questions now, apparently.]

[dyn4m0]

[He figured Ain wouldn't know what the fuck this even was, so he'll walk over to the tarp, using one finger to dip into the blue paint so he can mark one of the canvases with it.]

It's paint. "Pay-nt". Here-

[If Ain will let him, Add will take his hand and press it into some green paint, guiding it over to the same canvas to place said hand onto the white surface. It comes away to reveal...well not really a handprint because he has webbing, but you get the idea.]

[eidxiety]

Paaaayent.

[Close enough!

Ain thinks the colourful mud is very cold, but he starts chirping out happy notes when he realises what he can do. Oh, so it's like the art stick! But more! Oh, he knows what he wants to draw with it! He could show Add things that Add can't see because Add has legs and can't survive underwater!!

...

Anyway Ain puts his thumb in his mouth and licks the paint and immediately goes BLEH about it because it doesn't taste good, so he's solved that issue. He will now paint for several hours with both hands, and although one can't call these museum-famous pieces... they're at least coherent. A late middle, early high school level of art if an average had to be stated here. The first thing Ain paints, using his handprint as a baseline, is a coral reef and brightly-illuminated ocean waters, with colourful blobs resembling various fish. The fish aren't too detailed since he's made them by pressing his thumbs onto the canvas, but they are quite clearly fish, and perhaps that's all that matters.

The second canvas, though, gets a darker palette, depicting what looks to be a crashed ship deep underwater with a hole in the port side, a rock jutting into the bottom of it and the sails torn. In the background of it, Ain paints a horrifying creature the size of the ship itself, with a humanoid torso and too many legs to even be called an octopus-Siren, looking more like something out of a creatively-designed horror film than something that could be real.

After those few hours pass, he — covered in paint because he's used his thighs to sometimes wipe the extra off when switching colours — points to the canvasses and looks at Add like he didn't just make "Windows 7 Wallpaper" and "Horrors Beyond Mankind's Comprehension".]

Guude boyyhh?

[dyn4m0]

[This is several hours worth of enrichment for both Ain and Add it seems, because Add is just gleefully over here observing and noting everything Ain does. This hasn't been recorded before- this kind of art making in the form of painting, anyway- so he's just excited to be the first to get to do it. Hah, take that, Bill who likes to loudly brag about how many Sirens he tagged last week in the break room-

The first picture is a lovely piece by the standards of a creature who has never had access to these sorts of tools before, and Add can absolutely tell it's some sort of underwater scape Ain's likely seen. He recognizes the coral, and the colorful fish, and everything...

But the second....one? Is uh....it's um.


Uhhhhhh.

He's trying very hard not to let his concern-etched intrigue show in his expression as he smiles at Ain, though his eyes say "oh god".]

Y-yeah...good boy. You did a great job. These are...pictures of what you've seen, huh?

[What the fuck is that thing]

[eidxiety]

[Ain has seen these things :) He looks very happy to explain all of this to Add, but unfortunately he cannot explain with words, so... he points to the fish painting and clicks in a certain pattern that means "fish", and maybe if Add's been listening enough he might pick up on the subtle way Ain's tongue forms that word without really forming it. Then, he remembers, shakes his head, and says:]

Puh-leese.

[God no they're "fish" baby, they're fish.

He ambles over to Add and points to the shipwreck piece, at the ship specifically, and clicks out a specific pattern that means "boat" but in Siren language is closer to "wooden human carrier".]

[dyn4m0]

[>Add is stressed, again, what the fuck is that thing-

Urgh, he's realizing his mistake with the "fish" in real time, though. He shakes his head and sort of...bows it slightly in an apologetic gesture he isn't sure will come across as he points to the fish and says:]

No, "Fish". Fuh-ih-sh.

[Ain is about to be so confused but maybe eventually he'll catch on to the fact that "Please" means something totally different. Either way...

Add steps over to the shipwreck piece and takes a closer look, holding a hand near his chest as his eyes scan the image of the unknown creature. It looks like it could be a Siren, but...it's not. Not exactly. A completely different species? Uknown to the world, that's for sure...

He points to it questioningly.]

What...is that?

[eidxiety]

Fuhh...iysh?? [Points to the yellow fish he's drawn amidst the corals.] Nouuu puh-leese?? Fiysh??

[Why did you lie to him... Or are these called different things? Hm. Much to discover here.

Anyway, he doesn't understand the question entirely, but Add points to the creature and Ain at least recognizes his tone as a question. He's not sure how to explain this thing he saw, though. She was not a Siren. She was too huge, and she wouldn't let any of his pod near the shipwreck. Honestly they call her a scylla but she's missing some heads because Ain couldn't figure out how to draw them.

He clicks. Makes swimming motions with his hands like how a serpent would cut through water, and then waves his tentacles about and hisses with his hands in front of his face and his claws out.

Scary :( she was scary and hostile, he's trying to say.]

[dyn4m0]

No please. These are fish. Please means something different. Which...I'll figure out some other way to explain it.

[We'll just stick to pointing out names of things for now, because more complex concepts just aren't going to work until they can communicate better.

For now, Add frowns as Ain continues to do his best to explain the creature to him, and it...honestly just concerns him more. This is clearly a hostile being that lives so deep down that it remains undiscovered. He's going to have to report this. Like, why would Ain lie?

The paintings are still wet, so he'll leave them where they are for now. What he will do is make his way over to the examination tank and reach in to turn on the faucet, filling it with water as he would if he were giving Ain an exam.]

I'll worry about that later...come here, Bluhen. I need to wash the paint off you.

[eidxiety]

[He wishes he understood a single word you're saying. He's starting to recognize Bluhen as like, his pet name, which is fine but he wishes he had a way to communicate to Add that he has a name and his name is Ain and it's very easy to say in clicks! AAA!

Anyway, he big steppies over to Add and looks with trepidation at the exam tank. Oh no.]

Chhhehk uphh?

[ :( ]

[dyn4m0]

No, no check up.

[Add, whose hand is wet from testing the water temperature, comes over to use that wet hand to wipe some of the dried paint off Ain's scales to show him what he means.]

"Wash". Wa-sh.

[See, Add? You can teach him concepts over things, just not complex concepts like the idea of saying "Please" when you want something.]

[eidxiety]

Waaashhh.

[Oh, so, paint doesn't stay on? Okay. That makes sense. It didn't taste very good, so Ain won't want to lick it off later, but this is a strange way of washing.

...oh, so, what he does in the mornings is what they call "wash". Okay. Got it. Ain's fat tail wiggles, and the bobbins slap Add in the calf gently. Sorry.]

Wasshh.

[Thank god Ain knows how to wash himself, but he keeps looking back at his tank like... how is he supposed to remove this without mud?]

[dyn4m0]

[Well good news, Ain! You're about to find out how humans wash when they don't have access to fish oil.

Add knows regular soap and shampoo may not necessarily be safe for Ain's scales, so he's going to use something specially formulated to be gentle for his skin. It will wash the paint off, and that's really what matters. He'll wait at least for Ain to climb into the tub, and before Ain can look at him questioningly, he's putting on a pair of latex gloves again, only this time it's so he can squirt some soap into his palms and start gently rubbing it over the painted parts of his skin and scales.]

Hold still. You got this shit all over you...

[eidxiety]

Washhe?

[Wash... he doesn't know what this soap is, though. It smells quite sharp to him, even if it's the unscented medial lab variant, and he sniffs the air a few times. After holding his hands out so Add can wash those too, he quickly snatches one away and licks the bubbles off of his hands.

...

He immediately makes a horrified, disgusted noise and dunks his hand under the water, smacking his lips several times.

Do NOT like soap.]

[dyn4m0]

[See you’re who Nintendo makes the switch cartridge taste bad for. Sirens and children.

Add snorts when Ain eats the soap and immediately gets his karma for doing so, returning to washing his front which is a rainbow for as much paint as he managed to get on himself.]

Yeah, you don’t eat the soap, dumbass. Lucky for you it’s non toxic just like the paint.

[Thank god this shit doesn’t taste nice or else he’d have a problem. Okay thighs now, which. Hm.

Anyway just gonna wash those real quick-]

[eidxiety]

[Luckily most of it is on his sides and not between his legs? Thank god?? Enjoy those fat fucking thighs though. They're only gonna get bigger when he discovers candy.]

Payynnnt.

[He's knowing. The colourful mud is paint. He points to the soap Add has.]

Aaa?

[dyn4m0]

Hmm? Oh, yeah. That’s “soap”. Soh-puh.

[Yeah uh what are your thighs so fucking fat for, you don’t usually walk around that much!!! Is it because your tail is fat?

He’s just not going to dwell on it and try to get that part washed as fast as possible thanks.]

[eidxiety]

[The body fat has to go somewhere when he transforms! Half of his normal tail fat goes into the shorter tail he gets when he's in human form, and the other half goes to his thighs and ass. It has nowhere else to go.]

Sohhpuh. Sohhpuh washhuh.

[He understands. It's not oil and mud, but it does the same thing. Although, his hair feels like it's losing some of its softness, so when Add is done de-painting him, he points to his hair.]

Washuhhh?

[dyn4m0]

[Add looks sidelong at Ain just as he's about to pull his gloves off, putting two-and-two together when the Siren points to his own hair.]

You want to wash your hair?

[He's learning so much about Siren hygiene today. But okay, they do at least have something for that as well.

Add bends over and rummages in the container he pulled over until he finds some shampoo that they use on penguins and seals and the like to get their fur de-greased, so it's as strong as it is gentle. And since he doesn't trust Ain to not grab the bottle and start chugging, he'll squeeze some of it into his gloved palm and start washing his hair for him.]