[Open/Marekh] Trouble After Trouble

[[OOC note: This is an introduction post, so it's going to be lengthier than my average posts. Please don't be intimidated by it nor take it as an indication of how long your own posts should be.]]

"I said STOP!"

Like that brat was going to listen. Marekh had a second to inwardly scold himself for even being stupid enough to think words would work with that street rat. All he could do was keep giving chase.

He had just finished thinking that wasn't a bad day, managing to make a decent amount of money for a change, enough to ensure himself enough food for the week... But just as he had been leaving the front yard of the house of his customer a street urching had jumped out of .... he didn't even know, somewhere... and had snatched the satchel with his hard-earned silver coins, running straight into the ever-busy bustle of the marketplace. The centaur had enough space for a two gallop strides before he had to slow down and alternate his orders to the boy to continuous apologies for bumping that cart of trampling over this other person. The further he proceeded, the stronger the yelling behind him got... Forester have mercy.

And just when the busy part of the district had finally subsided to the residential area, the human had outsmarted him yet again, deciding to climb over a pile of crates, then a part of a yard's wall, and onto the roof of the house. And now there he was, jumping from tile to tile like a damn cricket, trying to get away from him as the tinkerer kept hunting him down from below. He HAD to get down at some point, right? Humans couldn't fly, of that he was sure, though that brat's jumps right now seemed to contradict his thoughts right now.

He kept giving chase, his hooves clattering on the cobbled street, giving him unpleasant vibrations up his legs. He still refused to wear horse shoes, since he didn't really spend much time over hard surfaces like that normally (and ask any shoed centaur, getting sand stuck between the metal and the nail out was the worst hassle in the world), but right now he very much regretted that decision. He kept strafing along the houses of the area, keeping his ears and eyes sharp to follow the movements of the thief above. And suddenly the sound of footsteps on the tiles had stopped. He stopped as well, looking up.

He was confused only for a few seconds and then he understood. The boy had reached a potential dead end. The only option left for him was to either come down, or try for an enormous leap to the next house past the canal of the merfolk. It was a damn huge jump... even him would have had some difficulty to do so himself from where he was. But maybe that's what the boy was thinking as well... past the canal he would've been safe from him and able to get away. Shit, he was really going to try it!? Marekh panicked and yelled up at him, "Don't you even DARE to think---"

And there came the sound of running bare footsteps on the tiles, and then something different, tiles were running over other tiles. Marekh had barely the time to half-mutter a curse that he had to violently strafe away to avoid being hit by the falling tiles. He had to look away for a moment, but the shadow moving over him told him that despite the slip the boy had still dumbly tried to jump... and it was going to end miserably. The centaur had barely a split second to realize that the human would've certainly hit the road and probably broken his neck. His four legs flexed slightly to take momentum and he rushed to the edge of the canal, skidding to a stop on the cobbles which made his read slip sideways and nearly make him fall over on his side as he caught the young boy with his arms, in a rather ungentle and precarious position.

"NOW I got you--- NO!!!!" A most unmanly, almost whinny-like whimper escaped his throat when he saw the pouch slip off of the boy's hand and fall STRAIGHT into the canal just next to them. The leather pouch opened and sank to the bottom, which was visible thanks to clear water... it stopped down there, with several coins scattered around it.

The two stared at that result with very different expressions... a somewhat annoyed one on the boy's face, and an outright shocked and dismayed one on the centaur's. With an angry grunt, Marekh planted the boy down and kept a hold of his arm, ignoring his protesting yelp. He pointed a finger at the pouch underwater. "GO and take that out of there!"

"Let me go!"

"I'll let you go when I have my money back, you troublesome runt!" Roared the centaur. That was all the money he had, there was no way he'd let it be there. He took a moment to rein in his temper and snored loudly through his nostrils, taking an extreme decision to make ends meet. "Look, if you bring it back to me, I'll give you a little."

"I could get it and swim on the other side if I wanted, you stupid cow!" The boy jerked away from his grip and just scowled at him. "Like hell I'm going there. The merfolks would eat me!"

The black-haired horseman rolled his eyes. "The merfolk haven't eaten anyone in centuries."

"Uh huh, that's not what I -heard- happened last week when that girl disappeared!" The boy stuck his tongue out and turned to run away. "Whatever, I don't need the money of the ass-fucker's brother anyway! See ya!"

"Watch your mouth, you little---!" Marekh reared a little and almost gave chase, but he stopped abrutly when he saw a passing merman swimming by his pouch. "HEY! Don't touch that! That's mine! Go away!!"

The merman looked at him with an annoyed expression and then swam past with a strong, irritated wave of his fish tail, which caused more silver coins to briefly float out of the poach and spread more on the floor. At that sight, Marekh stomped on the cobbled ground angrily. Damn it! He couldn't retrieve it and he couldn't even go after the boy who had caused him so much trouble! Whatever was next?

It had been a while since she last went to town; the academy was a perfect place for her to stay at most of the time. A familiar place filled with people who knew her and were generally friendly toward her, her own private salty pond that was easy to access even with her tub thanks to a sort of small ramp, and generally a lot of interesting things to do in between her work and the very nice library there.

But once in a while it felt a little cramped and one needed to spend their pay on something; sometimes it meant she'd take the stream that led to the river and then to the ocean to visit relatives and shop amongst her people, sometimes it meant she'd go to town. This time it was the later.

As usual her choice had been to take smaller streets where not a lot of people went, since she took a bit of space and people usually bumped into her or gave her odd looks given her... unusual means of transportation. She just couldn't leave something she relied on so heavily in her dailylife somewhere it could be stolen. Besides, she was a bit of a liability in more crowded canals because of her venomous nature, so these were out of the question for her. The last thing she wanted was to get in trouble for unvoluntarily assault.

She heard some commotion- yelling, something falling...? in a sort of small crash, and then more yelling, not far from where she was. The jellyfish hesitated a little; would it be better to just ignore it and go back to her shopping? She still needed to get a few things after all, and this could be some very bad situation since there were bad people lurking in the backstreets and alleys she took, even if it was a better part of town than others usually.

Then again if there were sounds like that someone could have been injured... It would be better if she checked it out to ensure they were safe right?
It had absolutely nothing to do with her love of gossips and huge amount of curiosity. Nope, nothing to do with wanting to know what was happening to have a story to tell.

She carefully wheeled herself toward the noise, turning a road with some difficulty since it was kind of hard to go slow and silent on the kind of ground she was on, craning her neck to see what was going on. A lone Centaur glaring at the water for some reasons. The noise he made with his stomping was kind of intimidating, as he was a pretty big dude for someone more or less sitting down, but well.

Once she was on his level, she looked down at what he was staring at, then made a small "Oooh!" sound, kind of understanding the problem now. It was kind of funny to see him angrily stomping around, but it felt like it would be a bad idea to laugh at him so she did her best to keep the amused smile off her face.

"Hello! Do you need help maybe...?"

Lyne stared at him with interest now; they didn't have many centaurs around the school and this one's mane was so pretty. The mermaid reached out to try and grab his tail since it looked so nice and soft- but stopped herself when she realised it probably would be kind of rude to start petting a stranger. Not to mention potentially dangerous given he was already in a pissy mood and very much in a position where he could easily hurt her. She slowly dropped her hand back to her side, trying not to look too suspicious doing it, giving him a friendly smile instead. Humans fell easily for these after all, so why not a centaur? Might as well use it to her advantage to try and calm him down a tiny bit- or at least avoid making all the more angry about the attempted touching.

The Centaur's muscular body could be seen tensing and jolting as she suddenly spoke to him. He strafed one stride away, while turning around at the same time to look at her.

What in the world was he looking at? Marekh's expression of initial shock shifted to one of utter confusion, as his dark eyes ran up and down the woman's figure several times with obvious skepticism, his frown deepending more with each time he did so. It took him a few seconds to put all pieces together, or at least try to.

His tail swung to whip the left and right side of his rear as he slowly spoke, initially disregarding her question (it probably hadn't even registered yet, so startled as he had been), to instead express his astonishment. "....I knew some people would put fish inside boxes to keep them fresh until it was time for them to be eaten, but the Gods take me if I've ever heard of fish put in giant mugs with wheels."

He looked back at the canal then, making sure he didn't lose sight of his satchel and coins still at the bottom. He'd rather lose a leg before he let a fishback steal from him.

How rude. She almost felt like getting out of said box to make a snack out of him- but horse meat was not something she wanted to try and that'd be a big problem since there were still rumors of anthropophage merfolks going around. Still the thought of stinging him some with her tentacles did make her feel a bit better, even if it was petty and just her imagination.

She was giving him a very nasty look at that, one that was something in between being offended and a warning glare. Though she eventually stopped to sigh a bit, looking back at the satchel. Time to get back at him with a less violent and mean approach.

"Ah, what a shame. Here I was, thinking I could help a poor man out, only for him to insult me. I guess I'll have to leave you alone with your predicament. Maybe an apology would make me change my mind..."

There. Either he bent to her will or she'd leave him to deal with his problem. She did feel like maybe she could dive in for a quick swim now there weren't too many merfolks swiming in the canal... She wheeled herself closer, making sure she looked very much like she was considering diving in to go get it for herself. Not that she would; this was really not worth it considering the comfortable life she had thanks to the academy. Being provided with meals and a room and granted a bit of money for extra expenses made it very hard to really care for the small amount in the canal. But others would be much more interested she was sure- and the centaur had no ideas she had no need for it either.

"An apology for what? I was just stating the truth of what I saw. Unless you mean to say that you got yourself in there by your own wi-- Hey!" He initially rushed back in her direction, only to strafe back away with a look of suspicion and distrust.

For being so big and muscular, the Centaur was rather skittish when it came to strangers... it wasn't too uncommon in his species though, especially among those that grew in the wild. He had not been growing in complete wilderness, but the farmlands were still more dangerous than what the city walls offered, what with bandits and mercenaries coming and going at their leisure.

Still though, he wanted his money. Keeping a distance, he pointed a hand in her direction, intimating a halt. "That does not belong to you, mermaid. And I do not remember mentioning I needed your help, either." That last part was said out of pride, which had been wounded severely enough that day, what with a human boy outsmarting him in many ways. It was not uncommon either. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed, either...

Okay so this officially was getting fun to her. He looked so annoyed yet skittish, it was honestly funny to mess with him. And she rarely got to mess with people since her students relied on her and she wasn't allowed to make fun of them or play around and all... True, the poor dude was in a predicament, but he was a bit of an ass. Well, a horse, but same idea.

"I heard horse meat was a delicacy in some part of the world, yet you don't see me talk about putting you in boxes to keep your meat fresh. I also do not appreciate being called a fish; I'm a jellyfish and a mermaid, you may call me Miss, but not that kind of belittling names. Besides, what proof do I have it's yours? For all I know it could be someone else's and you stole it. I think it'd be safer if I retrieved it and brought it to the authorities."


Maybe she was being evil. Maybe she shouldn't be teasing him. But then she also didn't have anything very urgent to do; her shopping could be pushed back some, and this was entertaining... She leaned to look at the Canal some, preparing herself to get in there to her best ability. If she removed the cover... She could hoist herself out using her arms... then drop inside the water easily if she parked parallel to it. And then she probably could climb back on the side of the canal and push herself up in her tub if she made sure to block the wheels well... Right. She was definitely starting to work on going in the water now, pushing at the leathery and wooden bits covering her deadly bits.

After all, she wasn't a bad person at her core, and while she was enjoying making fun of him to make him pay for his insult, she still felt kind of sorry for the dude. His pride getting a blow from being helped by a lowly 'fish' like her was only added benefits.

"Fish, jellyfish, I see little difference in that. You have more fish than jelly to be sure." He folded his arms defensively, swatting his tail between his legs once and stomping a hoof, as though he was chasing off flies. But there were no flies, not at that time anyway. He was one who liked to keep clean despite the appearances, and several among his kin had accused him of narcissism before, but he did not care.

What he cared about was his money, and the fact that the mermaid was getting very ready to get out of her contraption worried him. Nothing could stop her from taking his silver and dashing through the canal up to the sea if she wanted.. and then it'd be all lost.

And now she was accusing him of stealing!? The nerves with that fishback! He gave her a very obvious stink eye when she mentioned calling the authorities. "That silver was honestly earned, fi-- Miss...." He grumbled, scowling towards the road for a second. Of course, with the reputation he had, and being a lower class, he could easily guess who the guards would have believed between the two of them. The little cute mermaid with a melodic voice, of course. Those sneaky creatures were known for their beguiling skills. "I've repaired the doghouse of a family by the entrance of the market district, I don't go about stealing money to others!"

More fish than jelly... That was a new one. He was a bit dumb huh... No wonder she didn't know him, he probably never set foot near the academy. Or a school for that matter, if he was that clueless about the world. Then again, she was biased; she'd grown up in the sea so knowing all sort of fishes was natural to her, and it didn't occur to her she knew very little on horses and probably would be bad at distinguising different type of centaurs if asked. They were just horses right?

In the meantime she'd successfully gotten her lower half exposed now, showing just how gelatinous it looked- she did look much more jelly than fish to be honest.

"There, you're learning! Good, it seems I'm still a decent teacher even when it comes to manners. I'm glad you're earning your money honestly."

That said she gave him a bit of a warning glance as she put her hands on the sides to start propping herself up.

"Right, you better stay back right now, it's fun to mess with you but I'd rather not injure you."

She turned her attention back on what she was doing, painfully lifting herself up and swinging the tentacly bits over the side before sliding in the canal. Which felt nice. Flowing, clean water always felt nice compared to her old lukewarm unmoving one in her tub. She stretched her tentacles a little after making sure nobody was coming, before slowly letting herself float down next to the pouch. It was just so enjoyable and refreshing to be entirely immersed she couldn't help take her time.

Marekh didn't really need to be told to keep a distance. He had backed away as soon as she had begun to pull herself out, both annoyed at the splashes from the tub and wary of the tentacles as soon as he had spotted them. By the Gods, he'd never get used to merfolk, even less seeing their fish halves.

He remained there, staring at her wih that skeptical and attentive look of his, observing her every movement. Was she really going to help him, or was she just playing around to mess with him? She was not one of his own, so he was rightfully suspicious. Strangers could be able to do anything out of the blue and take off-guard is overall small mind, throwing his inner environment into chaos with their anthics and exotic habits. Who knows what this one was up to?

Marekh continued to stare, growing impatient now. "If you came just to frolick in the water you may as well do that away from my silver, hmph!" He snorted through his nose. Maybe he should try find a pole or something to prepare to hit her should she try to swim away with his money.

But frolicking in the water was so much fun. Not that he'd know, but well. She huffed a bit, which obviously couldn't be heard or really seen up there- apart from perhaps a few bubbles escaping her as she emptied her lungs of surface air to rely on her other back up underwater breathing.

Humming a small tune that she was the only one to hear as it probably was impossible to hear it above the water, she started to gather the coins that had fallen out to put them back in the satchel once she had a hold of it. She took her time doing so- not so much to annoy him as to make sure she didn't miss a coin, running her hands over the bottom to really be completely sure nothing was missing and going around the general area twice, before quickly swimming back to the top, dropping the bag on the side of the canal, though she didn't get out just yet.

"There should be everything, but if you want to count it before I get out in case I missed anything, it'll be faster for me to get down and search. Less troublesome too than getting out only to dive back in."

She made sure to tuck her tentacles closer to herself when another mermaid passed by, making sure to go slowly and leave a lot of space between them- muttering something about being careful when you were so dangerous and not going in the canals. There was a bit of a hierarchy in how the mermaids perceived themselves too... Sharks and Jellyfishes weren't the most liked. Not that she seemed to care as she still looked up at the centaur expectantly.

Marekh did not really pay attention to the behavior between the two merfolk, not interested in the business or feuds between them. The ones going on the land were already enough to make his head ache most of the time just thinking about it.

He very deliberately looked both left and right before approaching the pouch in the road, expecting that street rat to come out of nowhere and try to snatch it again... getting help from a jellyfish woman was quite the unusual event for someone like him, and he wouldn't have discarded the possibility that she was all part of a big ploy to trick him, along with that brat. His eyes and ears detected no suspicious activity though, so that was a good, albeit odd, surprise to him.

The Centaur finally approached the pouch and leaned down to pick it up, spreading his fore legs apart a little so he could reach down without having to kneel... the cobblestone path was really painful to his joints and he tried to avoid touching it with anything but the hooves if he could help it.

He looked into the pouch, and turned it upside down against his palm to let most of the water drop out of the leather, before putting it back up straight and making it bounce in his hand a little. It felt more or less the same weight as before, for what he could remember at least.

Finally for the first time since he had crossed path with that mermaid, his features softened a little and he let out a sigh. "I'll have to trust you... this is more than I can count." He remembered his costumer had spoken a number, but even knowing it, he didn't know what that number amounted to. He had been taught some basic counting, but it didn't go very far. Just what he needed to work. He cleared his throat, shaking his head briefly. "...I should thank you, jellyfish. No, Miss? Miss Jellyfish."

He did not consider manners that useful of a skill, but she had just helped him, so if that was what she wanted, he'd give her all the manners she wanted.

Once he seemed satisfied enough with the content of his pouch she started the tedious task of getting back on the side of the canal and inside her own tub, kind of glad her arms had some muscles in them from all the wheeling herself around she did all day. Having her jellyfish parts on the dry land really was not the most enjoyable sensation, and she winced a little before pulling herself up again- this time inside the tub, ensuring the wheels were locked in place. Finally after gathering her tentacles she sighed happily as she was back in her element and much more comfortable.

"It was nothing, you're welcome. And thanks for making the effort of calling me Miss too."

She could recognize it was nice after all. She gave him a quick smile before focusing on strapping everything back in carefully as it should be.

"My name is Lyne Pelagia Noctiluna, by the way. If we cross path again just Lyne is fine."

She paused a little in her constant fiddling with her tub to look at him, thinking a little. Well, it was an odd request and maybe not very polite but he didn't seem very keen on manners to begin with... So it was worth a try.

"Before I go, can I touch your tail? It looks really soft so I'd like to feel it, if you don't mind."

Crossing paths again? Just how much time did that jellyfish spend out of the sea? The Centaur stared at her and the way she climbed back into that strange wagon of sorts by her own will, something that he hadn't quite expected at the first glance, genuinely thinking someone had put her in there as some sort of strange joke.

While a part of him was definitely curious to know, and also interested, or at least curious -- he was a craftsman of sorts whether he liked to admit it or not -- to know more about that thing and why she insisted on using it, when she had shown to be much more swift and comfortable in the naturally flowing water next to them, Marekh decided to not pry.

Or even if he had meant to, the thought of doing it had been completely derailed the moment she had asked for permission to touch his tail. What an extremely odd thing to ask... who or what was that jellyfish to be so bold and intrigued to touch other people's parts like that?

By the Forester, what if she was thinking to eat him?!

"Why would you go and ask for something like that? Surely I did not ask to touch your dangling bits, myself." He grumbled, shifting a step to the side. He wanted to leave, but he also felt that he had to repay her in some form, but letting her feel him? That was just weird. "You make strange requests, Miss Jellyfish." What had she said her name was, again? He had been distracted by that odd demand and now didn't remember.