lost in you - - nita

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

She didn't hate Keto, up until he pissed her off. But then again, he had never been one to listen to anything she said. Nita leaned her head against the door, hearing both the muffled sounds outside and Keto's bickering inside. She was ready to lash out at both sides, but thought better of it. She honestly had no opinion of Keto anymore and truly didn't care what became of him. If he wanted to rip out his stitches, she was in no position to stop him. If he wanted to kill himself, she'd only feel obligated to assist him. He meant nothing to her anymore and that was a shame.

Up until that point, she had been rather fond of Keto. She put up with his overbearing personality, harsh words and even occasional violent acts. They had done this back and forth dance long enough, but no more. What had she gotten out of it besides a broken heart (he didn't need to know that) and a few broken limbs on occasion? She hadn't gotten anything at all. She didn't feel safer when he was around her. In fact, she always felt worse. He never said anything nice about her. The only time he did so was when they first met and that was an eternity ago.

Her hand was unconsciously on the doorknob, her only reasoning for not turning it and leaving was what would great her once she did. Had the people not been out there, curiously wondering why they were shouting at each other, she would have left as soon as she reached the door. Over her shoulder, she watched him and her disgust for him grew by the minute. He was actually pulling out the stitches. She wanted to kill him. Sure, she had said it several times to his face, but this was the first time that she...felt that urge. She was sure their feelings towards one another were finally mutual.

Nita hadn't never really been shy about her relationship, or lack thereof, with Keto. He spurned her advances at every turn, yet that hadn't stopped her. She secretly had hoped that over time he'd grow to have some sort of feelings for her, but time and again she realized that he didn't. If he did, he never showed or told her. It was frustrating and she honestly couldn't understand what she didn't have that he wanted. Perhaps that was the problem: she couldn't offer him anything he couldn't get on his own.

So Nita looked at him and realized she didn't know him at all. He was a stranger to her all over again, a monster. She didn't like what she saw. Maybe she was still fond of him, but at that moment, all she wanted was to see him dead. He hadn't cared about her, why should she continue to care about him? Clearly he wasn't appreciative of her efforts. Someone knocked on the door and Nita, on instinct, took a small step back. She didn't pay Keto any attention. That's what he wanted.

"Miss...is everything all right?" She heard someone ask. Nita sighed and replied in a monotone voice, "Yes." It was true in a way, as no longer had any desire to stay with him and he clearly didn't want her near him. The voices eventually faded into the distance and Nita sighed with relief. She turned to Keto and gave him a look, a snarl on her face as she watched him stupidly remove the work that healer did. Apart of her probably could have stopped him, but she just watched.

"You're so pathetic. Do you think I care if you fuck your body up?Are you trying to spite me? Good riddance warrior." She shook her head and opened the door and walked out. He was on his own, as he only had the room for the night. He had just burned his only bridge in Nita. He couldn't read and he was incredibly vulnerable, but she didn't care. If that's what he wanted, than that was what he was going to get. She thought she could change him, but she realized that it was never going to happen unless he wanted to change himself. Keto was far more stubborn than she realized and it hurt her more than she'd ever let on.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

Old ways, stubbornness, the slight fear that the humans would try and do something to damage him- those were all reason that honestly had been going through his mind at that moment. He hated humans with quite a passion and really did not trust a single soul that came with a human’s blood. Ever since he had been born he had been reminded of the horrors and wastefulness of the humans and who arrogant and foolish they all were. Also at how greedy they could be since they did not carry the traits of many of the creatures populating Reena. The reason some creatures were disappearing was because of the foolish humans! It was built into him that he should never trust a human and he should never accept the help of one because of the bad taste one had left in- no, because they were not to be trusted, that was all. Most of all though (he could not deny it to himself much longer) was that he wanted to spite Nita. She had drug him into this mess and he wanted to prove to her that she really didn’t need to go through any of the trouble to do so. She was just so infuriating sometimes that he just- he just had to do something to her to show his disdain! He was also weary of the humans’ ways and not willing to suffer anymore because of the stitching. It was only slight paranoia…

He wasn’t really listening to her. He was busy tearing the last of the bloody stitches out of his side and disposing of them at the bedside. His cheeks were slightly red as he held back the urges to grunt in pain at every little sting and his stomach was contracted tightly whenever his fingers poked at the exposed tissue. So, really, listening to Nita just wasn’t going to happen very easily. He couldn’t when he was busy trying to do what he thought suitable for his own personal health. Okay, so he wasn’t really concerned with his health. He just refused to have the help of a human. It wasn’t really Nita it was more- no, it could be both for now since she was really starting to get onto his bad side.

Keto wasn’t one to hold much of a grudge. He could get over most things. He would be mad- no furious as Nita right now but be completely alright with her all over again if she let it happen. She was Nita, after all. Keto wasn’t going to hate her forever. Just for now while she was being a stupid bitch.

As he pulled at the last of the stitches he took in a deep breath and fell back toward the mattress, catching his weight with his elbows. He continued to let his head fall back lazily though, allowing his throat to stretch and his chest to expand to let in more air. His eyes were squeezed shut, blocking out any pains that were trying to bend his body forward again. He needed to feel the stretch and needed to take in the air. Being curled up was also a sign of defeat. He wasn’t going to be doing that even after he was dead. If he died tonight then so be it but he was not going to curl up to do it. That would be the last position that he would ever be found dead in: the fetal position. The position that was just shouting that he needed his mommy. Hah- his mommy was the last mommy he would ever want to come to his rescue. She’d probably help kill him faster. A waste of space, she’d say. She’d probably say it even now if she were still alive. Keto wouldn’t blame her either. Like this he really was just a waste of space. You were better off dead if you’re useless and can’t take care of yourself. That was what he had learned. Oh, and to never accept others help because it was possible that they were a threat. And who didn’t want to kill the violent Keto Vellamo? Even humans who knew of him hated him.

She was gone. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that either. She had bid him farewell long before he leaned back. Nita was through with him for today but he was sure that she would get over this just as well as he would. In fact (despite his heavy breathing and discomfort), Keto was already letting it go. He was still mad but it wasn’t like he would show it off as bluntly as he had been a few moments ago. She would be tolerable again. But maybe he only felt that way since her angry presence had finally left the room.

Shit. That stupid mermaid.

Keto breathed in a long sigh, wincing a bit at the very tender feeling he had all throughout his stomach now. He didn’t dare touch his face again, in fear that he would touch the bruising that was sure to be going on there.

Why did she do this to him? She helped him but she said she hated him. She told him she didn’t care and left. She was complicated as most females were. No creature was exempt from that either. All females were complicated and strange. They were all spitfires in their own special ways. Nita more so than others. She really knew how to get under a man’s skin. Worse yet, she really knew how to get under Keto’s skin and leave a nasty impression whenever he did something wrong. Maybe after all the years of knowing her he had some kind of fondness for the girl and that was why he held certain feelings for her when she was like this. A bit of regret perhaps, but never enough to coax him to chase after her. Keto wasn’t one to chase after unless he was counting on killing you. And no matter how upset he was with her he wasn’t going to kill her. He doubted… he knew that he would never be able to do that. He was obviously very good at hurting here though. Probably mentally and physically at times. Mostly mentally… he was good at that.

The merman grunted lightly as he turned onto his left side and looked up toward the window. He supposed he should maybe… explain. But only because she was being such a bitch about things. No other reason… Keto didn’t want her knowing things about him. He would rather be a mystery since that left him to be a blank slate. People got to call him whatever they wanted and he didn’t need to bother since they didn’t really know. He could care less.

Eventually he had pushed himself up. He wasn’t so sure how far along Nita had gotten but he would go ahead and do what he was set out to do. He tucked in his shirt a bit and relocated the sash to put it around his waist. He didn’t want anyone to spot the blood. He still was walking a little awkwardly though. Actually, he could hardly stand without leaning on something. Never the less, he hurried out the door, clinging to the wall as he hurried to the main part of the building searching for Nita. A few people tried to ask him for help or simply shouted at him for accidentally bumping into them but he ignored them. Completely. He was focused on Nita so that was just what he kept his eyes on: the woman in the yellow dress. He hurried up to her, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder and wiping around in front of her. He wasn’t standing his full height so found he was looking directly at her eyes for once. Kind of weird… in any case, he gave her a stern look to explain.

“I must speak with you.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: one-thousand three-hundred thirty-two
notes: i think he's bipolar

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

Nita didn't want to admit it, but she was heartbroken. She'd probably spend the rest of the day depressed and moping about. She wasn't even hungry, which was saying something as she almost always was hungry. When she said she was done she meant it. There was nothing he could do or say to make her feel any different. She had had enough. Maybe she wasn't as strong as she thought she was. Whatever he did or said to her in that room was the final straw. Moving on would be painful, but it was also necessary.

She was walking rather slow, bumping into various things and people and mumbling apologizes to any and everyone. Her eyes weren't really in focus anymore as they were starting to blur. He had made her cry! She felt more ashamed that she let him affect her this way, but trying to hold it in would only make matters worse. She'd lash out at innocent bystanders and probably do more harm than good. No one would see her, as her hair was covering her face and she was refusing to make eye contact with everyone. The crying was helping.

How had she let herself get so wound up in him? Why had she let him control her the way he did? She was so blind to many of his faults that she let it happen without really caring. She wasn't as tough as she led herself to believe. Had she been able to accomplish anything on her own without him being there? Just thinking about it made her heart drop even more. She was as useless as people told her. It made her hate him that much more. Nita sighed to herself, trying to head for the exit as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. A hand placed itself on her shoulder, stopping her and a voice, the last voice she wanted to hear, was talking to her. At first, she didn't turn out. She did, however, remove his hand from her shoulder. She didn't want him touching her. He disgusted her and was probably bloodied and smelly. There were still tears streaming down her face and if he saw her like that, he would have known he won. She didn't want him to see her upset like this. She didn't want to see him at all. Didn't he understand that?

He then whipped himself in front of her anyway and she turned her head to the side, wanting him to leave her be. Didn't he just lash out at her for caring too much. Now he was here, trying to get her attention. It was simply too little, too late. "Leave me alone. I don't care what you have to say. Go...away." All of a sudden, every feeling she had for him (and there were plenty) seem to come to ahead. She seemed to succumb to her own emotions and found a chair and leaned her body against it for support.

There were a few onlookers. Nita didn't have to see them to know they were there. He was more than likely bleeding and she was crying. In their minds, something was going on. Why couldn't he just leave her be like he wanted her to do to him? Now he was making a scene in front of everyone insuring that she'd never be allowed in here again. She continued crying, but now it wasn't because she was sad.

Nita started hyperventilating and a few concerned patrons tried to console her, completely ignoring Keto altogether. After a few more minutes, she seemed to calm down, but the sobbing continued. Was she upset? Yes. Did she blame Keto? Of course. Did she really want him to leave her alone and never talk to her again? Most definitely. Was he going to do that? Probably not. "...I'm fine, thank you..." She croaked to a woman who was patting her back and looking disapprovingly at Keto before rising up and muttering something to other people.

She had thought, or wished, that he had left and when she looked up to see him still standing there with that indifferent look on his face, she spat out, "What do you want?" Maybe he didn't really understand her the way he thought. This wasn't like those other times. She wasn't going to just pretend like it didn't happen. No, he had hurt her and it stung. He had never been when she would call a friend, but she hadn't ever considered him an enemy...until now. There really wasn't anything he could say to make her feel differently.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

His efforts seemed suddenly futile. Keto knew that Nita could be just as stubborn as he was if she really wanted to be. He was also finding that she was more upset than he had bargained for and was somewhat surprised that she was still this worked up over it. Keto had managed to sort of forgive and forget. He was mad only for a few minutes and then could move on with things. Ah, well, he was still upset but he wasn’t going to go around flaunting it to anyone around here as Nita seemed to be doing. All that he wanted was a little bit of her attention so that he could maybe explain a few things to her. He didn’t even really want to explain anything to her and she should have felt practically honored that he was coming after her because he wanted to tell her something. Couldn’t she just get over it and listen to him? Obviously it wasn’t that easy for her and it was making him recall those angry feelings for her. But Keto held back in hopes that maybe she would turn the other cheek and just stop this nonsense so that he could talk with her. Chances of that seemed to slim to none, unfortunately.

She was crying too, that was just brilliant. Because he needed her to be a little more emotional right now didn’t he? Keto didn’t even notice anyone else watching or paying attention to them. He was only watching her but she didn’t seem to care that he was or want to really deal with it. She wanted him to leave. That was basically the only thing that she wanted to say to him. She must have known by now that Keto didn’t stop until he got what he wanted. Not always, anyways. Telling him to leave her alone was not going to work. No matter how much she cried and no matter how much attention came their way Keto was not going to leave until he said what needed to be said! She had to give him that opportunity!

There were dirty looks coming all around the place just for him to have. But Keto blocked out all of that. Like he wasn’t used to someone looking down their nose at him. Who did they think he was? He was Keto Aysu Vellamo. A merman known for things that were rather cruel and wild. He was known for a lot of things. There were even things that he was unaware of but he didn’t let it get to him. But that wasn’t the point! These people hadn’t the slightest clue of who he was as far as he knew. And neither did Nita. No matter how many years she had known him she really didn’t know anything about him. Keto had intentionally kept himself a mystery to her. He never really showed her all of his true colors. She just got a taste of what everyone else got. Heck, she even got some special treatment compared to others. She probably thought otherwise, of course. She was crying and all.

“I want you to listen to me,” he murmured while he watched her. She had leaned her weight onto a chair by now and already seemed to have plenty of people who were willing to back her up. Keto was easily outnumbered but would that stop him? Of course it wouldn’t. The last thing he would do was fear these pathetic humans. He ignored them and the looks; only Nita had his attention. But she didn’t care about his attention.

The secret merman took a few steps toward her and gave a half frown. His brows were still furrowed with annoyance but the grimace was sincere as he really wasn’t making any face on purpose. For a long moment he just looked at her, holding a perfect gaze without even blinking. He was trying to think of some way to get this through to her without… freaking her out more than she already seemed to be. He didn’t want her to start crying even more or snapping at him. All he wanted now was for her to listen to him. She was always talking anyways. It was his turn to say something and this time he wasn’t getting pushed back and being forced into something he didn’t want. Now he was able to think more clearly than he had been. All he wanted was for her to trust him. Just this once.

Finally he licked his bottom lip and narrowed his eyes at her, coming to a conclusion.

“I’ll leave if you really want me to,” he said finally. “If you don’t care what I have to say to you then I’ll go. But I can’t promise I won’t seek you out again to tell you. If you listen to me now you will never have to see me again.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: eight-hundred twenty-three
notes: compromise?

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

The crying hadn't subsided just yet, but she was feeling better now that she was sitting down. She appreciated the random strangers efforts, but she didn't need them. Soon, most of the people, when they felt Nita could take care of herself, left her and before long, she was left in the lobby area with just Keto. She didn't want to be anywhere near him right now. He was probably only there to remind her how much he hated, or how terrible of a mermaid she was. She really didn't need the negativity right now.

She suddenly felt foolish letting him see her this weak. Nita had spent a long time trying to convince him of her own strength. And now here she was, crying and allowing everything he ever did to her affect her. She looked at him plainly; he didn't seem affected by anything at all. Then again, why should she have been surprised? He was Keto, supreme sea warrior who wasn't afraid of anything. She finally stopped crying to allow herself to chuckle softly. It must have looked comical to him, since he didn't have a heart.

She repeated his phrase, mocking him slightly, "You want me to listen to you?" Nita shook her head in disbelief at his words. When he wanted something, she had to stop whatever it was that she was doing to cater to him, yet he couldn't do anything for her. Not even allow someone to take care of him. In order to control herself, she held her hands together tightly. She wanted to get up and slap him, yell in his face and strangle him. That's what she wanted to do. However, she wasn't going to resort to violence. Especially not around humans.

Eventually, she cooled down slightly, finding nearby tissue paper (a peculiar object that she had grown rather fond of) to wipe her face dry. It was probably red and she was sure that she had lost all her charm and sexiness for the time being. Naturally, her appearance was the last thing on her mind. She hadn't been able to impress Keto when she looked her best. She highly doubted he'd care now. He probably wanted to gloat. She was rather surprised he hadn't already. It seemed...out of character.

He stepped towards her and she tensed visibly. She wasn't sure what he wanted. In fact, she wasn't even sure why she was actually allowing him to say whatever it was that he wanted to say. He hadn't appreciated anything she ever did. Why should she pay attention to him? She turned her head towards the door, wondering if she were to run out would follow. She knew the answer to that question before she even asked. He wouldn't follow her, but he'd find a way to bump into her and still try and get his point across, whatever that may be.

Nita decided, she'd let him speak his mind, but that was it. They were done. "I do want you to leave, but you won't. So, say whatever you have to say and then go away." Her voice didn't have its usual luster, but she had been crying violently a few minutes prior. She didn't care how he felt, she wasn't buying the look on his face. He really had no idea what he had did to her in that room. Truly and completely ignorant was Keto, that it almost made her laugh out loud.

Surely he had to have seen this coming? They had known each other for years. She took his hits and never complained. Everything he did and said to her, she took because she truly wanted to believe that he had cared or it was his way of showing her some kind of affection. She honestly was naive enough to believe such a thing, which in turn, had been her whole reasoning for wanting to help him earlier. Had she known how despicable he'd behave, she'd never have bothered with him to begin with.

He liked to pride himself on being intelligent, but he wasn't clearly. For the first time in a very long time, she knew she was smarter than he was. He had needed her; she didn't need him. He wanted her attention; she didn't want his. She didn't need Keto around her; she didn't want him around either. She looked up at him again and scratched her chin. He wasn't really anything to her, she realized. He wasn't a friend, a lover, he hadn't really been an enemy. He was just...there.

She knew now that she could never tell him how she had felt about him. He couldn't ever know. He'd never understand one way or another. She'd keep her feelings and secrets to herself. She had finally learned her lesson. He was the last she'd ever try and save. She didn't have anything else left to give to anyone. Every time she tried, a piece of her heart was ripped apart. She gave up on trying. Nita sat there, no longer looking up at him, but just off into space. "I ask you again...what do you want to tell me?"

Maybe she was being too harsh on him, but he deserved it. She wanted him to know what it felt like. She wanted so desperately to hurt him the way he had hurt her, but it was probably a lost cause. Keto was much tougher than she was emotionally, that was for sure. He didn't allow himself to get attached to anyone or anything. She, on the other hand, loved to spread her love around to anyone willing to reciprocate. Unfortunately, Keto never returned her affections. But then again, he probably hadn't any idea how she really felt about him.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

Alright, she didn’t want to listen but she wasn’t shoving him away from her either. Keto would go ahead and take this opportunity no matter what the circumstances were. Like he had decided earlier on; he supposed that this girl deserved some kind of explanation from him. After all she had put up with years and years of his odd behaviors and mannerisms. Keto had never really been trained how to communicate with people and it seemed to affect certain matters quite dearly. He often didn’t think about such things since it wasn’t something that was stressed throughout his life but- oh good Reena, what the hell was going on in his head? Keto wasn’t supposed to care about these sorts of things and what he was making her feel. Those weren’t things that he was supposed to worry about. The only thing that he was supposed to be concerned with was how to keep on surviving. Oh, right, he was having some difficulty with that motivation so there was a possibility that his brain was simply softening up out desperation or something like that. Ugh, maybe he would have been better off rotting in the sea because of this wound. Surely he would have been better off there then he was here now.

He wasn’t sure how long he had remained silent and even though he was watching Nita his eyes seemed to be lost in space as he thought. His teeth were nibbling mindlessly at his lower lip and his brows had furrowed considerably as he stood there before her. It didn’t really look like he was even looking at her. It looked like there was supposed to be some grand painting or something between the two of them that he found completely amazing and beautiful. His thoughts were loosing him too though when she spoke again.

Keto blinked once, keeping his eyes shut a moment while gathering up his thoughts. He wasn’t one to back out of his word and he was not about to start now even though he hardly had the slightest idea of how to explain any of this to her. All he knew was that he wanted to explain something to her. But what was it exactly? He was much more complicated than he gave himself credit for it seemed. If he couldn’t even fully figure himself out then who could? Maybe three hundred years of ignoring your feelings and other silly little hopes wasn’t a very good idea. But how could you not ignore them when they were something that you really couldn’t comprehend? He didn’t know how to utilize those sorts of things. They were silly. That was what he had been told and what he had firmly believed in. It was hard getting out of old habits if not impossible. His were proving to stick around but their hold on him was weakening as his age begin to add up to higher numbers. He was really too old to care. But was not caring killing him now?

A sigh that almost sounded as though he had been defeated came from his slightly parted lips as he dropped his gaze from her. He then took a few steps forward until he was right in front of her. Then he dropped down slowly to his knees returning his gaze as he did so. His expression had softened and relaxed now as he pulled his confidence back up from the pit of his stomach. He rested his palms on his legs, trying to ignore the pain in his side. Then he finally spoke to her quietly.

“I cannot do that,” he mumbled softly to her. His cold blue eyes stared up at her, trying to get her on the same page as he was, trying to send some of the emotion he felt her way. But he was sure she already had enough to handle on her own. “I can’t trust them. They did this. I know you… don’t understand me. I can’t make you understand me. Even if you wanted to understand… I don’t think you could.” He wasn’t really sure what else to say. Oh, but he did have one thing he knew that he had to say to her.

“I’m sorry. I truly am. Even if you have no desire to believe that, I just wanted you to know it.”

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tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: seven-hundred thirty
notes: he's trying xP

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

Everything was finally slowing down and coming together. She could think and breathe again. Nothing was as bad as it appeared just a few seconds ago and she was only glad now that she had decided to sit down. It really helped. Nita ignored Keto altogether for several minutes. She didn't care what he had to say or what he was doing. It didn't matter. She needed to control her thoughts and take deep breaths. She didn't want to make any rash decisions. She was known, for better or worse, for doing and saying things without thinking.

That made her wonder if she had meant everything she said to him or if she had just got caught up in the moment. At that moment, she honestly wasn't sure where he stood in her life. She didn't really have an answer for that. Nita really wanted to hate him, he had deserved it, yet she was now unsure if she could. Well, she could dislike him and try and avoid talking to him after this day. That seemed more plausible to her. She wasn't sure if she could downright hate him, however. She could grow annoyed at his stubborn ways.

Even though she was finding herself softening her feelings towards him, she still couldn't forgive him for his actions earlier. Why had he taken the stitches out? Why couldn't he just allow himself to loosen up? She frowned, not at him specifically, but at everything. She had tried so hard to make him like her, to make him happy. Yet, she failed miserably and epically. Nita was defeated, she couldn't lie about that anymore. It did hurt knowing officially that she couldn't have the one thing she wanted. What she wanted was Keto.

He walked closer towards her and she quietly groaned. She didn't want him anywhere near her. She didn't want to look at that wound. She didn't want to be reminded of how badly he had fucked up. She just wanted him to stay away. He knelt down and she looked almost appalled for a fleeting minute. Nita looked around, wishing he wasn't doing this here. For a moment, she half-heartedly hoped he was doing one of those human male customs of asking to be life partners. Unfortunately, he had opened his mouth and what she had wanted him to say, he didn't.

Nita merely shrugged. He hadn't said anything worth listening to. She assumed that he was going to actually explain something to her. All he did was further alienate her from him. "What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice rising slightly. "If you want to explain something to me...just fucking do it! I mean, you do realize that I have no desire to ever talk to you again right? I would think you would actually start explaining things to me instead of reminding me how much I don't know. I don't need to be repeated of that."

She shook her head violently, rising up from the chair. Now she was towering over him and for a moment, she was tempted to squash him like an insect. However, she didn't feel anger when she looked at him. She felt sorry for him. She wanted to leave him there on his knees but that would go against everything she believed in. She had been abandoned once and had made a personal vow never to do it to anyone else, regardless. This was her test. She knew instantly she wasn't going to leave him like that. She cursed to herself.

Nita gently rested a hand on his shoulder, before kneeling down likewise. It was a rather uncomfortable position, but she didn't like the idea of him down there alone for whatever reason. She looked him hard in the eye and sighed. "I wish...I wish I could tell you how I feel about you, but..." She started off saying and instantly regretting having done so. Then again, she figured if it was their last time talking, she might as well get everything off her chest.

"Keto, I only wanted to help you because I care. And, not as a friend or an acquaintance. I really cared. The human healers, most of them are better...and smarter. I've been waiting for you to say something, anything nice about me for a long time. I just can't be around you anymore. I can't be around someone who doesn't value my opinions or appreciate me. I've tried so hard to get you to...like me. I'm not doing it anymore. You don't like me, you've made that pretty clear and you never will. I can't offer you anything. I'm more sorry for you. You've spent your whole life filled with abandonment, violence and hate. We could have made a good team if you allowed me in. I think you can read between the lines of what I'm saying..."

She let go of his shoulder and slowly rose again. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to stay long enough to see his expression, but maybe he would actually explain something to her like he said he would. If he didn't, she would leave him for good.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

The merman shook his head gently as she spoke to him. Not completely out of disagreement but also out of some slight anxiousness that he was beginning to feel rise in his stomach. He wasn’t a blind idiot. He knew that she cared but he also knew that what she tried to do in showing this whole caring thing really wasn’t the way to go about with Keto. Nobody forced him into anything. Not even a former princess who thought that what she was doing was best for him. However, when he took another moment, he tried to put himself in her position. Had she been the one with the gaping wound in her side that was threatening to take her life would he have given in and taken her to come human healer. Now he really did take a moment to think about this. And when he had finally come to a conclusion he frowned to himself slightly. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he would have. No, he probably wouldn’t have let any human beings lay a finger on her. They were some of the last creatures that he would allow near her in such a state. So what exactly would he do? He supposed that he would have to one day be in that situation to find out. If given the opportunity, of course. A very large portion of him hoped that he would not have to be in that kind of situation. Keto did not want anyone’s life resting in his hands when it was someone that he actually cared about.

For a moment his eyes dropped. He could very obviously understand where she was going with this. He was pretty sure that he was supposed to feel neutral about the whole thing considering she had merely been a part of a bargain he had made many, many years ago. What was it, close to ninety years ago now? He really wasn’t sure but even that wasn’t all that long to you when you were far past one hundred years old. He didn’t feel so neutral on this though. No, he actually did have some kind of feelings toward it and it wasn’t exactly good. It was something closer to discontent and disappointment. His facial features didn’t highlight those feelings though and instead continued to take on the very disengaged sort of look. It probably appeared like he either didn’t care or was just perfectly accepting of what she wanted to do. He supposed that he was alright with it for the most part. Just not completely at the moment. He was sure it was something that would take a bit of time getting used to but Keto could adapt. Besides, she had already said his life had been full of hate and violence and what not. What was a little bit more of abandonment going to do to him? It wasn’t even really that, was it… they were never exactly anything so if she left it would just be like it always had been. He would still be alone yet surrounded by so many. That didn’t even make sense.

Finally Keto rose from his spot on the floor as well. He winced slightly as he tried to straighten our and ended up sucking in his stomach. He then turned his eyes back down toward hers and gave her a little nod and a rather well played grin. “Well then,” he started indifferent sounding. “I suppose this is goodbye. Perhaps in another life we’ll meet, love. I’ve got my fin half in the grave anyways.” It was all said very lighthearted, almost as if he were joking around with her. He supposed that he was but at the same time it was the truth. It was a goodbye and he was pretty old, right? He hadn’t met too many others who had lived as long as he or who were older. Maybe her father but he surely looked it. Keto’s young features still lingered almost proving that he had no intentions of finding his grave just yet. Sad or broken or whatever other aliment fell upon him, Keto was not going to succumb to it so easily. Even if he wanted to it seemed his body wasn’t letting him die off.

With those words Keto leaned toward her and held her chin delicately with only the tips of his fingers. He briefly closed his eyes and put his lips against her own. As their very first had been, this one was just as soft if not softer. His lips were obviously touching hers but he would not allow any tastes to linger. Not at first anyways. He did recall her advice, you know and decided to go ahead and take it. Hah- this was probably the last thing that she expected. It would surely be the last thing that she received from him.

He finally did deepen the kiss, pushing his lips firmly against hers but taking it no further than that. He parted them a moment later, his eyes opening up again to look at her. Then with a bit of a smirk he said, “Don’t get into any trouble. I won’t be able to see you get out of it anymore.”

Keto dropped his hand back to his side and tore his eyes away from hers. Then he stepped passed her deciding to go ahead and keep the room that he was offered. He would take care of himself and rest for the night. Then he would be on his way in the morning, back to where he belonged and far from Nita’s sight. He didn’t give her any last looks. He simply walked by, back through the hall, and back into the room, closing the door gently behind him. Then he sat at the edge of the bed and dropped his head while pursing his lips together.

This, very possibly, was going to turn itself into a long night.

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: nine-hundred ninety-five
notes: -plays parting music-

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

At that point, Nita wasn't really sure what to do or say. She felt as if she had gotten everything off her chest, but then he spoke and she was finding it difficult to leave him. And she had so desperately wanted to leave him. Instead, Nita was left standing there in confusion. She wasn't sure what to do or say at that point. He hadn't made this easy. She thought for sure she'd be able to say whatever she wanted and leave, but now that seemed nearly impossible. Nearly. She could still go if she truly wanted.

Of course Nita wasn't sure if that was what she wanted anymore. She watched as he came closer to her and at first, she was almost positive he was going to hit her. She really had to stop assuming he'd become violent with her. After all, the few times he had lashed out her in that way, he quickly apologized. Many of the other males wouldn't have done that much she figured. Then he leaned in and did the unthinkable: he kissed her. She was reminded of their first kiss so long ago, yet this one was much different.

Why he had chosen now, of all the times, to want to show her some sort of affection was beyond her but she didn't seem to complain too much. Sure, she was thoroughly confused, yet she allowed him to kiss her. She returned the favor, her eyes closed and the last remnants of would-be tears falling from her eyes. She wrapped an arm lazily around him as they briefly embraced, but it was fleeting to say the least. As soon as it happened, it was over. Nita had to blink several times. Keto had never showed her that much attention in their twenty or so years of knowing each other.

He left her with parting words and she just stood there, speechless. Nita unconsciously licked her lips, as if to taste him one last time. She didn't want to leave him like that. "Keto..." She whispered, watching silently as he slowly walked away from her. She looked around, her feet rooted on the ground. There was the door on her left and him, heading further away from her on her right. She wasn't sure what to do. Her mind was telling her to leave him be, but her heart was telling her to go for it. The heart wants what the heart wants.

She took in a deep breath and decided to follow him, one last time. She knew she might end up regretting it, but she'd at least rather try than not have tried at all. She could never live with herself, knowing that she walked away from him like that. Granted, a few minutes ago, it was what she wanted, yet now, she wasn't sure. She walked slowly, paying the few people standing around no attention. She didn't want to hear what they had to say. She didn't want their opinions. She just wanted Keto.

No one would ever be able to understand her. She was absolutely insane for wanting someone who hadn't shown her any interest whatsoever. She wasn't even sure if that kiss was to be taken seriously, but she wanted for once to believe that he cared. He wouldn't have kissed her like that if he didn't. It was that thought and feeling that she was holding on to. He had already walked into the room and closed the door. She knocked gently and realized he left it unlocked. Stupid Keto.

She slowly turned the knob until she the door opened half-way. Nita looked at Keto sitting there on the bed and tilted her head in sideways. Without asking, she re-entered, closed and locked the door behind her. She didn't say anything, but she didn't think she really had to at that moment. Nita, instead, silently sat next to him on the edge of the bed and looked down at the ground, unable for some reason to meet his gaze, not that he was looking at her.

With her eyes still on the ground, she started speaking, "Keto, I'm sorry. I meant most of what I said, I won't apologize for that, but someone has to care about you. No one else does besides me. I don't even think you care about yourself sometimes. I should have told you how I felt years ago, I suppose. Maybe this wouldn't have happened." She hoped he knew what she was referring to. She really didn't want to mention the wound again. She finally picked her head up and lazily glanced at him and frowned slightly.

"I don't know...I guess, I like having you around too much. The thought of you not being around...scared me a little bit. It's amazing...after all these years, you're still the best kisser." She gave him something of a half-hearted smile before shrugging. "What are we going to do now? You took the stitches out, I gave you a room only for a night, and you and I are at a crossroads. The odds are against us my friend." She sat straight up and folded her arms, not really having any plan formulated. The last plan she had imploded on her.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

She had followed him. For once, Keto really did not even go off and wonder whether she would have followed him or not. Actually, he had already somewhat confirmed in the back of his mind that Nita would not be following back to the room. The two of them had basically said their goodbyes and it was time to part ways. Nita wasn’t ready to part ways apparently. She had come back after him and sat alongside him at the end of the bed. She didn’t even say anything to him at first. All that she did was sit and stare down at the floor. Keto never did look up at her. He could see her perfectly clear from the corner of his eye and he could simply feel her entering the room. The smell of the sea was with her so it was no doubt as to who it was. Why would she follow him now? Oh well, he couldn’t really deny that he was kind of glad that she had followed him back here. Keto had already known that he didn’t want to say goodbye for good anyways. It was rather comforting knowing that she wasn’t ready to get rid of him so easily. Even if she had said all of those things out there… she still wanted him. Even if it was just for the moment.

There she went with talking a whole lot again. Nita did that a lot and he wasn’t sure if she noticed it. She always said things like he didn’t listen or whatever but that was probably because he couldn’t keep up with all of her talking half of the time. He did listen to her. Right now he didn’t really want to listen to her though. Right now he just wanted… her to close mouth. He already knew what she was going to say. Well, he had guessed that he had known what she was going to say. Finally she was ending her talking and peeking over at him with a small grin. Keto just rolled his eyes at her.

“Aye, knew that already, doll, now why don’t you just shut up and kiss me again?” he said with a devilish grin wrapping up onto his lips. He pushed himself over in her direction and pushed her shoulders back into the bed. He put but knees on either side of her waist and held himself up over her with his arms. The wound in his side was still being held in with the sash and he could ignore the pain. He also managed to ignore the pain rushing to his eyes that wanted to bruise up still from that shoe toss. “We can just… save tonight, you know? Our crossroads don’t have to come till the morning,” he spoke smoothly, leaning down toward her. He nuzzled his mouth toward her neck and breathed in the saltiness of her long hair. “The odds have never been with me.”

He rested his head against her shoulder and looked up toward her. His eyes were calmed and shimmered a light blue in what light that the pair had in the room. His shoulders were still raised up as he was still on his elbows, awaiting some kind of approval or any kind of reaction from the young mermaid. He gave her a soft smile.

“Let’s delay our misery.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: five-hundred sixty-four
notes: oh la la

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

As much as she wanted Keto, nothing could prepare her for his mini-onslaught. Before she knew it, he had pushed her on the bed. Several thoughts were rushing to her head, yet she didn't really have any time to assess any of them. What had come over him? Surely he was still in a great deal of pain. Her green eyes darted in several different directions, yet they found themselves staring back at his blue orbs. Her breathing had gotten heavier and she bit her lip in slight nervousness. Whenever he showed this much emotion, she had to grow a little concerned.

"Keto...what's gotten into you...?" She asked breathlessly, not really wanting or expecting an answer. Truth of the matter, she honestly didn't care. What she was surprised about was the fact that he wanted her like this, in human form, in a human inn, in a human city. It was all very un-Keto like. Then again, him showing her any attention was very uncharacteristic for him. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not, but she wasn't going to disagree with the way he was handling it all.

Instead, Nita smirked, now suddenly glad the door was locked. She knew how much he hated her talking, so instead she pushed herself up, using her elbows for support and obliged him with a kiss. It was short, needless to say, as she couldn't help but be concerned. She had a reputation for being rather...wild and since he was injured, not once but twice, she wasn't sure how much of her he could honestly take. Instead, she fell back onto the bed pushing herself away from him gently, a smile still on her face.

Nita slid off the bed. Her back was to him. She desperately wanted to ask him a few things, but he'd only moan and grow frustrated. She couldn't help herself; she was a natural rambler. She looked at him over her shoulder and then turned around to face him. "I'm surprised you'd have me...looking like this..." She smirked and gestured down to her legs. Nita made a motion to unbutton her dress, suddenly wishing that they were in water. She could be quite the clumsy person when it came to human clothes. She still hadn't perfected it the way she wanted.

Of course, she was almost certain that he wouldn't care one way or another. She had learned the art of the human undergarment, having covered up what she had been told was "indecent". Once she slipped her dress off, she was left in nothing but a bra (such an odd word) and panties (that just sounded wrong). She wanted to laugh but instead just casually took her footwear off and walked back over to the bed before climbing atop him and smiling. She had various tattoos over her sides and a few on her legs. The leg tattoos had been received on one of the first transformations she had ever done.

She wasn't even sure if he had seen her up close like this. Then again, if he had been following her around, she was rather positive that her naked body was nothing new to him. She took his shirt off, though it was already half-way off and tossed it on the ground. Nita spread his arms away and smiled before saying, "I'm not known for being gentle..." She nodded towards his wound, though left it rather ambiguous as to what she really meant.

She didn't wait for him to respond, instead kissing him like he had kissed her out there in the lobby. She wasn't going to let him go as easily as she had back there, however and she let his arms go and wrapped hers gently around his neck. After they had parted, Nita rested her head on his chest and blinked her eyes, her breathing slowly coinciding with his. She looked at him and replied to his previous question lazily, "If you want." She didn't really care. She'd be content to just lay in bed with him if he wanted.

Nita was always "in the mood", but in all honesty, Keto was special to her, for some odd reason. She hated that he seemed more eager than she did, not to mention that he had picked an odd time to show her any interest. She didn't look her best and she sure didn't feel it either. Needless to say, she was self-conscious about everything at the moment. She also hated how he hated the fact that she liked to talk. She was trying her hardest not to say anything, but eventually gave in and said softly, "That's what I thought too...until you kissed me." She gave him a lazily grin. The fingers of her left hand tracing his lips.

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

What had gotten into him? Oh just a little bit of passion he supposed but it wasn’t like he was a completely heartless creature like she had pegged him to be so many years ago. No, Keto did actually have a heart buried deep beneath his chest and no matter the size of it or lack of compassion it usually showed he still had one and still was capable of every single emotion known to mankind and his kind alike. His sudden burst of sweet feelings was probably fueled by a moment of grief and simply being upset by her choices. Now that she was actually being what Keto could consider agreeable, he felt himself loosen up a good deal. He wasn’t going to answer her. Why would she ever expect him too anyways when she sounded so carried away and surprised by his actions. If anything, Keto would rather continue to surprise her with actions than words. He was better with acting on things, not saying them. He had already proven that both his words and actions could cut deep though. No wonder she was always so mad at him. Oh well, that had nothing to do with right now. Right now he would go ahead and forget all of that anger. Right now was a time to get lost. Just for the night.

His sudden show of affections had award him with a brief kiss on his lips. After that short lived graze of the lips, Nita seemed to be trying to get out from underneath him. It wasn’t hurried so he doubted that she had been freaked out by any of this. He quirked his head to the side a slight bit and tresses of brown hair fell beyond his shoulder to dangle before him. He continued to only watch her as she moved away from him and eventually had gotten herself off of the bed. He watched her turn and only smirked at the words that she spoke, his eyes finally turning down toward the bed while he raised his brows. There were no words coming from him though; there wasn’t any way that he would be weaseled into explaining any kind of physical attractions to her. She didn’t need to have any answers. It was enough that he was taking her the way she was, wasn’t it? With those silly human legs and such. Yes, she should have just been pleased with him for that.

Keto lowered his stomach to the bed, the muscles in his arms defining themselves out of sight beneath the fabric of the human clothing that he wore. He kept up on his elbows but allowed his middle to sag onto the bed and his head turned to face her once again. By the time he had looked back over toward her Nita had already busied herself and gotten that baggy thing of material off of her and allowed it to fall to the ground. Obviously she looked much better baring her skin rather than those ridiculous looking human clothes. Keto would always prefer how his race dressed as opposed to the rest of the creatures of Reena. Didn’t any of them realize all of the beauty they were missing out on? Oh, he supposed they were all much uglier than mermaids so they weren’t missing out on their ugly human girls, were they? The thought made him smirk to himself as Nita walked back over toward him and the bed that he was now laying upon. This time he was the one who ended up on the bottom and for once he was more than happy to allow it to happen.

Hmm, there had many times that Keto had seen Nita. He’d seen her bare, he’d seen her clad with clothing, he’d seen her all decorated like a little doll. He had basically seen her in just about everything and nothing. So seeing her with so little on was really nothing that he was surprised about. He was a bit surprised that she would present him with this much but nothing on his features showed this surprise or even hinted at it. He still kept his composure while he laid beneath her on his back, brows raised slightly at her. Even though he had seen her he knew that up close and in this dimming light she looked almost perfect. He still had to get used to seeing legs on her, after all. If it had not been for that distracting feature she would have been perfect. Alright, so she even wore those pretty perfect. Okay, so maybe she did look perfect in this light… in this place… right now. Maybe she was perfect.

For once Keto did have a response to her and for once she didn’t give him an opportunity to give her an answer. Again she had caught him in a kiss. Her hands released his arms to find his neck and his hands rose up to find her cheeks while he pressed his lips back against her own. Being this close was making him feel rather dizzy. The scent of the ocean was strong now but so was her own unique smell that she carried with herself. It was comforting and familiar to him.

When they parted his rested his hands at his sides again and allowed her to rest against him.

“What do you want from me, Nita? What have I failed to give you all these years?”

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: nine-hundred thirteen
notes: (:

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

This had turned into one strange day. In fact, it was so bizarre, she had to smile to herself. Their breathing was in almost perfect unison. That, more than anything else, made her happy. Perhaps, after all these years, they were finally on the same page. He wasn't yelling at her, she wasn't yelling at him. They were both calm and peaceful. She felt guilty for what she had put him through today and bit her lip in remorse as she thought about it. She threw a show at him in the hopes of knocking him out, forced a human healer upon him and then proceeded to call him some not-so-nice words.

They were both quiet for once and she was happy. Happiness around Keto? That seemed highly unlikely, yet she had no reason to complain, she had nothing to say to him in a negative connotation. No, she was truly and honestly happy with herself and with him. He finally seemed to care about her and that was all that she really wanted. She didn't want anything else from him but his attention and his love. Nita could have had any man she wanted, but the one man she wanted, hadn't wanted her.

What had changed his mind? She wasn't entirely sure. Did she wanted to know? Of course. Would she go through the trouble of asking him? Probably not. He wouldn't answer her and it would only irritate him. She was learning a few things about him, things she might have ignored a day ago. She wanted so desperately to make him happy. If that meant changing and being less talkative, she was willing to do it. He was the only male she'd ever change for. She felt and believed, for whatever reason, that he was worth it all.

Nita couldn't honestly begin to describe what had attracted her to Keto. Sure, he looked good, but besides that, she wasn't really sure. She had always found him interesting and always took pleasure in flirting with him whenever she could, yet she couldn't quite shake him from her mind. Even when she was in the arms of another, he was on her mind constantly. For better or worse, she felt a natural attachment to him. Her father, a long time ago, had warned of her loner mermen, but what did she care?

Her mind, for once, seemed blank. She wanted to know what he had been thinking, but she didn't really want to know. Apart of her didn't want to be disappointed. She was afraid for tomorrow. Everything seemed to change in the matter of an hour. She didn't want things to go back to how they had been, not when they were finally getting so close. She wasn't asking questions, and he was berating her. To many, it might not have seemed like progress, but to Nita, it was more than that. It was like she had conquered the world!

She wasn't even sure of what she was doing, but her fingers had taken to dancing over his chest and eventually made their way up to his hair, gently pulling the tips for fun. She was able to ignore the smell of his wound, instead focusing her attention and senses on his more...redeeming qualities. He reminded her of home, of her little beachy area where they'd talk on occasion. How could she possibly return to the shores alone? Or what if he accompanied her? Surely everyone would find such a pairing inappropriate. She was still her father's daughter, after all.

Nita smiled. She hadn't even given her status much thought. She was just as much an outcast as he had been. Perhaps it was time to make it official. Her green eyes looked up at him dreamily. Even like this, considerable pain coming from all over, he still was intimidating. She liked it. Then he spoke to her softly and she quickly got out of her dream-like state and thought about what he had asked her. It was a very serious question he posed. She wasn't sure what to say exactly.

For the next five minutes, she didn't respond. Then finally, she spoke. "Well, maybe you didn't fail me at all. Maybe it was I who failed you." She embraced him affectionately and continued, "The only thing I ever wanted was your approval, that's all. I grew up believing I wasn't good enough. I got myself banished by those same people and I wanted someone, anyone to tell me that I could do it all on my own. When I met you, I had hoped you would have done so. I guess I didn't really need you to. I already knew."

She bit her lip and ended, "You deserve so much better. I can't offer you anything you can't get on your own, but I will look out and care for you. The only thing I want from you...is you. Just you, as you are. Keto, the warrior." She gave him a weak smile and pushed herself up and kissed him once again. "I told you, everyone needs someone."

[KETO AYSU VELLAMO]

SOMEHOW I FOUND
a way to get lost in you!

let me inside
LET ME GET CLOSE TO YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND

-----------------------------------------------------------

The room seemed to be doused in silence for a long period of time. Silence: this was something that Keto had grown rather accustom to having around him. All of his life he had been mostly by himself and even when he was around others his presence usually managed to keep them quiet so long as he kept up with an air of a violent temperament coming along with him. When he had been young he had not really been around anyone aside from his own mother and she was obviously not one to talk to or try to start any kind of conversation with. In all honesty, he had no idea what insane merman had decided to go and impregnate such a bitter, coldhearted creature such as his mother. There was no possible way that someone had ever loved that creature. Although, being spawned from someone like her did help explain Keto’s ignorance toward emotional beings. Ones like Nita, for example. He couldn’t understand her ups and downs or hurt feelings very well. And it was on a rare occasion that he ever faced his own feelings that were foreign to him to deal with. The only things that he had seen and learned were things like hate, annoyance, and stubbornness. Things of that nature, at least. Sometimes he wished that Nita would know that. He was sure she got the idea that he wasn’t really raised with the same ideals as most creatures but sometimes he wished that she could just understand why he felt the way he did about certain things. Understanding could make things so much easier. But Keto wasn’t all that open. He couldn’t tell her those things that were so far away from him now. They were private and only for his heart to echo through his head every now and again. They were his secrets.

His mind was getting lost. He was begging to give in to the effects that he was suffering from both the wound in his side and the soothing feeling of another warm body up close to his. Even though the second one was not a familiar feeling he had decided that it wasn’t a bad one. It was more like a forgotten one that he had pushed away so many years ago so he would not have to deal with the memories that came with it. They were very few. Tonight he would be able to add another memory of having someone close beside him though. It was one more to add to his tiny collection. Hopefully he would not have to hide this one away as abruptly and deeply as the last memories. Maybe he would be able to remember tonight forever without feeling anything bitter. Anything was possible, right? He knew he could make anything happen that he wanted to happen. But sometimes his emotions were harder to control than he liked them to be.

Finally she answered him. His eyes fell shut now as he listened to her words. His head tilted toward his left shoulder and it almost had appeared that he had gone ahead and tried to sleep on her. He was only a professional at looking relaxed though that was all. He was far from ignoring her. Like usual he just made it seem like he could care less. This time it was not on purpose though.

You deserve so much better. Hmm, that was funny coming from a princess. Well, an ex-princess but still a princess nonetheless. It was also rather strange coming from a girl who had tried so hard to make sure that she knew she loathed him a few moments before they had reentered this room. But life was funny like that and he knew just as well as the next three hundred and one year old that people said things that they did not mean and those things were even more vicious when they were saying it to something that they truly did care for. And Nita truly did care for him. He knew that and he also knew that he took it for granted a lot of the time. Taking any kind of love for granted seemed like it was a bad, hurtful idea. For a merman just over three hundred, he was still understanding this. As sad as it may have seemed, he was still learning the ropes to compassion and feelings and returning them.

He was momentarily broken away from his thoughts when Nita once again placed a kiss on the surface of his lips. This time he did very little to return the favor as he was still thinking and just opening up his eyes again. He didn’t look up toward her and instead gazed over toward the window. The light that had once been radiating outside beyond the glass was now fading away into a deep purple hue mixed with pinks and reds. The room was growing cooler as the stone and wood was surrounding by darkness rather than the daylight. Everything in the room began to cast deep, dark shadows. The night was coming. Oh, he never was a fan of these winter nights on land.

“I made a deal with your father. That is why I am here,” he suddenly told her quietly and rather grimly. “It was many years ago. You were hardly born. He told me to watch over you. It was his one simple request in return for helping a band of misfits. I think he had actually grown to like me a bit. I broke one promise I made him, after that I vowed to myself not to break the other.” He smiled bitterly to himself. “Even so, my reputation was already set in stone. Oh to be young.”

He sighed, closing his eyes, reminiscing briefly about the years that were long put behind him. The years before Nita’s clan had even come into his life. The years before he had aimless wanders following his tail and asking his help. The years before he had been considered a violent, insolent, fiend. Once upon a time, he had been young and somewhat careless. He had dreamt of things beyond the floors of the oceans and dreamed of being more than what he was really worth. He had hoped to be more than the little child that drifted after a thing that didn’t even like to be called mother. It was a time when he could remember feeling unconditional love toward someone that seemed like they hated him. It had hurt.

His eyes opened up again and he gazed up toward Nita from the corner of his stare. Had he made her feel that way? He couldn’t help his irrational feelings of rage toward the humans. It was something that seemed to be out of his hands. Unspeakable thoughts washed over him when he had to deal with them and she had crossed that line. But that hadn’t meant that he had felt those things toward her. Nor had he felt them when they had first met or ever after that. There was more to it then just a simple promise that he was keeping to an old merman. Couldn’t she see that he was showing her the extent of his caring by following her and making sure she wasn’t hurt? Even so, his goal had never been to make her feel like she had not been good enough. The feeling had been known too well to him when he was young. She didn’t want to turn out old and mean like him did she?

“You are more to me than a promise, Nita.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

tagged: nita isis larene
song: lost in you by three days grace
words: one-thousand two-hundred seventy-six
notes: i suppose he isn't bad to the bone

[NITA ISIS LARENE]

His face was starting to lose its glow, but she figured it was to do with the loss of sunlight. Nita turned her head awkwardly to look out the window. She had to admit, the humans could be downright inventive when they wanted to be. They were always good for creating little whimsical objects like towels and windows. She loved every minute or it really. They were just...fascinating characters. She really wished she had the time and energy to study them. They were far more complex than her own kind. Her people were simple and straight-forward. She knew what she was getting most of the time.

She loved how quiet everything had become, yet she was starting to grow rather chilly. She hadn't spent many nights in Reena like this, where she was in a situation where she couldn't warm up instantly. The waters had a different effect entirely and she felt her mermaid self could handle the cold waters better than her half-human self on land. She had never really been fond of Reena at night. When the sun wasn't up, she felt more miserable than ever. It was why she preferred making her journeys to land in the daytime.

She didn't really feel like talking, for what was probably the first time in her life. Nita had a reputation for talking, even at the worst possible times in her life. For once, she honestly had nothing to say and even stranger, didn't want to say anything. She was in a place in her life momentarily when words didn't really mean anything. She felt like taking a page out of his book and just remaining silent, pretending like she wasn't listening. That had been one of the things that had annoyed her most about it ironically.

Finally, he spoke and what he had to say, she already assumed. Still, it was nice to have him finally admit to it. She had deduced that her father had something to do a lot of things. He was a smart merman, of that she knew. Sure, he was old as time, but there was a reason he hadn't died yet. He was smart. Nita knew she'd never live as long as her father. In fact, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She didn't even know how old he was truly and quite frankly, she didn't really care.

She had enough brothers and sisters and half-brothers and sisters to make her crazy. Most of her clan were related in some odd way. So her being banished actually had been something of a blessing for her. Even thinking of the formidable Mahina clan made her cringe. She was constantly reminded of her mother, a striking, if not overbearing and dignified mermaid. The constant disapproval and unwarranted comparisons to her siblings. It was what drove Nita to humans. She knew it now. They, the lesser race, had always been kind to her. Then again, they were far weaker than she was.

He had finished speaking and all she could do was smile. Tomorrow was another day. Would they go their separate ways? Nita wasn't really sure. She wanted to believe that he'd allow her to accompany him. After all, they had never been as close as they were. She didn't want to lose that feeling. It had taken them so long to get to this point. She'd hate to screw it up now by saying or doing something stupid as she was often prone to do. No, Nita liked to think that she had matured enough to know better.

"Darling Keto...I understand." She said simply, no longer needing any sort of clarification on his part. She understood what he meant, how he felt and what he was going through. She understood this because she was going through it all too. She gently touched his check in an affectionate way. "I don't hate you and I hope you don't hate me. You know, neither one of us, in the bigger scheme if things is as young as we once were. You've just gotten a bigger head start. My father's probably one of the oldest in the sea! I hope...after tonight, that you'd let me go back with you. I don't have anything waiting for me or anywhere else to go."

She gave him another smile and gently removed herself from his chest and stretched. How long they had been lying there, she wasn't sure. She had never been really good with the concept of time, a purely human obsession. Nita stood up slowly, still in her lingerie, but was shivering. She walked over to the fireplace but looked utterly lost and confused. This was the first time she had seen one not...working. She looked over at Keto and said, "I haven't any idea how to make it work. The human males always did it for me. We won't last long...like this in the night."

She frowned and started poking the logs as if that would make something happen. After a few more minutes, Nita gave up and found the dress she had been wearing and hastily put it back on. Sure, she wanted Keto, but not like this and not here. He wasn't human and neither was she. If they were really to do anything sexual together, she would have much preferred it to be in their natural form in their natural habitat. Not to mention, she wasn't entirely sure Keto knew what to do with that human body of his. Instead, she just said, "Sorry about the eye..."