Royal Housecall

November 10, 2014:

Rowan gets some royal visitors.

Rowan's Apartment

A small apartment by the New York Harbor.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Rowan found shortly after he came to the surface that he required 'employment.' Fortunately he was able to find such with a couple of oceanographic research firms. He swims for them mostly, helps them find things of interest. Lots of surfacer junk down there and they spend a preplexing amount of time staring at seamounts. Or fish. Dead fish. Which they then do not eat. Odd.

Consequently, Rowan is well paid and quite well off. He doesn't, however, really know how to spend any of it and so he lives in a rather small apartment down by the Harbor. Mera's been there. He had her over for dinner. He doesn't spend too much time inside, though. He has the ocean and the beach and the city to explor when he isn't swimming for 'work'. Today though he is, once again trying to figure out the mysteries of the 'internet'.

-

Mera had related to her husband the unusual way that Rowan has been pending his time amongst the surfacers, including describing the strange 'apartment' with the artificially flat walls and sharp corners and … carpet. If she were being honest, she'd admit to being curious to visit again. Not to mention the sea urchins that Rowan collects are surprisingly very tasty. Thus, she suggests to Arthur that they visit the Blue, and maybe share some beer.

-

Aquaman is not a big 'drinker' on a whole, a lesson he learned as a teen when he got drunk and stumbled into his father's wall and created a new doorway for them… but the rest of the idea seems like it might be fun. He agrees to come with. Besides, he misses having a place of his own on the surface, there's the cabin by the lighthouse, but he's not been there in years now, and it's always felt empty without his father. And there's always the possibility things could get amussing with Rowan. Someone needs to explain Game of Thrones to him.

-

Rowan answers the door in jeans and a tee. Well okay, he's wearing the same adaptive clothing he always is, but it seems to have decided that 'blending in' in this context means jeans and a tee. There's a smile and then a bow. "Your Majesties. Welcome. I hadn't known you were in the area. Please come in."

The Blue steps away from the door and moves to the kitchen. The entire place, two bedrooms, bath, living area, kitchen, can't be more than eight hundred square feet. Tiny. But Rowan seems to think it's more room than he knows what to do with. "I was just about to get lunch. Urchins and eel sound good? Would you like me to try 'sauteeing' the eel?" By the way he says it the concept is still new though he's had some practice.

On the table there's an open laptop on a search page full of captioned pictures of cats saying things like 'I can haz cheezeburger?'

"Can I offer either of your majesties a drink? Water? Juice? Beer?" By chance, Rowan has some very good beer. Of course, since he doesn't know what it's supposed to taste like, he also by chance has some very bad beer.

-

"I hope we are not interrupting anything. Arthur mentioned something about a game? Involving thrones?" She glances at her husband questioningly. "I think I would like a drink, and thank you. I would like to try that beer again." She glances around the room thinking it's pretty much the same as last time she was here, except for… what ARE those hairy things on the computing device's screen?

Aquaman chuckles at Rowans words and walks inside, taking the trident down off of his back so it doesn't carve holes in the ceiling, "Whatever you like, and juice would be nice. Water I get enough of and beer and me don't mix. There was an incident in my childhood." admitedly, it took a /LOT/ of beer, but still. Lesson learned. He eyes the furniture and picks something that looks sturdy and tests it with a hand before taking a seat. Something else he learned growing up, IKEA doesn't make chairs built for him, but the old hardwood benches and stools hold up remarkably well though steel is best.

Arthur reacts as if he can read Mera's mind, which knowing the pair of them is at least possible, "Cats." he says as she looks, "They're a land mammel that comes in various forms, the most popular of which is a small domesticated version. They are tempermental, annoying, scratch at any and everything, and have developed the evolutionary trait of appearing cute as a defense mechanism, it attacts humans to them and tricks them into keeping them as pets so the species can propogate. Basically they're little furry parasites who's only real controbution is that of something to hug, though that rarely ends well for the person doing hugging. Still," he eyes the screen, "the internet has made small celebrities of them. People spend an inordinate amount of time both creating and sharing images and videos of them. Some are quite funny." Arthur is clearly not a cat fan, "Oh. And they hate wate as general rule. Hate. With violent fervor."

-

"Are they intelligent?" Rowan's seen cats before of course, on Earth 81 but he doesn't know if they're different here. "I was unsure if that was some kind of rudimentary form of communication." That people might actually spend time staring at artificially manipulated pictures of cats is sort of so far out of his worldview that it never occured to him.

The ex-soldier pulls out a couple of beers and hands one off to Mera, along with a tall glass of what turns out to be pineapple juice for Arthur. A few minutes of rattling in the kitchen later he has a large bowl of wild caught urchins, presented like someone might set out a bowl of grapes, and three plates with generous helpings of eel and scallops, both fresh and uncooked.

"I hope that's to your liking. Not a proper feat I know." But soldiers do what soldiers can.

"I've heard of this Game… Game of Throws? Thrones? I'm not certain what kind of game one can play with a throne, much less more than one. Apparently it is a very popular game though, up there with another Game that involves Hunger in some manner." Yeah. He's confused too. He has a TV though. With satellite. Not that he's figured that out yet either. Came with the apartment.

-

Mera accepts the beverages and carries them to where Arthur has settled before choosing to sit on the floor where she can lean against his legs. The pineapple juice got a few curious sniffs, but she didn't try sneaking a sip because the juice had an odd sharpness to its smell. Then when Rowan bring out the 'snacks', she reaches for a scallop to accompany her beer. Odd, she doesn't remember the beer she had before having an oddly dressed surfacer pictured on the label. Oh well.

-

Aquaman shakes his head, "Not as a rule, but there are a few exceptions to my knowledge. They're tied to a few ancient religions an as such has mystical links, they are favored familiars of certain magicians and priests and have been known to be the vessels for other worldly messages and the like, but then so has the crow and the raven and the owl and dolphin, but as a whole I wouldn't denote any of those species as 'intelligent' as we use the word. Well… maybe dolphins. Some of them." he begrudgingly admits. "The messages are posted by people manipulating the images. As I said, the internet has made the animal famous mostly for the use of humor and entertainment."

-

Arthur reaches out to pick up one of the urchins, headless of the poinson spines and cracks it open with a hand idly, "Game of Thrones is a television program," Aquaman states with a grin, enjoying this part of his duties more then he likely should, "it detailes the political events surrounding the throne of a ficticious kingdom. Again for entertainment purposes, giving drama to the lives of those who watch it. You will soon learn that people here on the surface spend a wholey grotesque amount of their resources on entertaining themselves rather then bettering their lives or the lives of others. Their actors, the entertianers in question, are lauded as celebrities and their salaries can be exponentially greater then those they pay to the soldiers and officers of law that they expect to keep them safe. In short, the surface world values it's distractions greater then it's reality." he glances at Rowan, "I did warn you that things up here would be more complicated then they were down in Atlantis." he sips the pineapple juice and grins, "Havn't had this in years… man… that'll take you back…" he shakes off some memory, "They're not bad people, not all of them, most of them are decent enough given half a chance."

-

The concept of spending that much time and resource on entertainmint is mind blowing to a man from a world at continuous war. Rowan's eyebrows go up as he sips his beer and snacks on an urchin himself. "So, the surfacers watch the suffering of… fictional characters because…" He frowns, trying to piece it together. "It's fun? They are an odd people…"

"It is rather more complicated up here. Their economy, their cities. Their society. Even things as simple as food seem to come with a bewildering array of options attached. And then there are their champions. Met a few. They are… quite varied."

-

Mera looks up at Arthur as he explains the thrones reference and frowns faintly. "Very strange. Though I suppose with as complicated as they make their lives, varying forms of escapism would seem very appealing." Then Rowan mentions the surfacer champions and and appears to be intrigued. "Tell us more about these 'champions'." She reaches to pluck another scallop from the food offerings.

-

Aquaman lets out a slow breath, "Fear." he says after a moment, "They are, one and all, afraid. The 'what' is differnt but the cures for are widely accepted, mostly in the form of distraction. It's why I refuse to spend all of my time in Atlantis. People need to know that it's okay to be afraid, it's just not okay to surrender to it." he pulls the meat from the urchin with his teeth, not unlike eating a spiney apple with toxic needles on it. "Atlantis is not so different, though the fear there is only pointed in one direction." he waves a dismissive hand at the world aroudn them meaning 'the surface'.

He eyes Rowan, "Yeah, which ones did you meet Rowan?"

-

"Um, let me see. Other than Simon Williams, I have met a woman who wields blades in armor, another one who turns invisible and creates forcefields, a strange purple 'cat', a man with a hook gun, a woman named 'Cameron' whose mother is… very odd, and someone I later learned was called 'Miss Marvel.'" It's quite a list really when you consider Rowan doesn't really do heroics. He doesn't look for them, doesn't patrol. Just sometimes situations find him.

-

Mera stops in the middle of taking a sip of beer, and indicates the Cheeezburger cats. "One of THOSE is a champion?" She looks up at Arthur again. "I was under the belief that the only sentient surfacers were the humans." She's not looking toward her husband accusingly, rather with more of a questioning expression, as if wondering whether she got some bit of trivia incorrect.

-

Aquaman sighs, "It's complicated. He could be a spirit of an older time, an alien species that bears a striking resembelence to one of the more Earthly animals, extradimensional travel such as out Rowan here, a future version of the species super evolved, or just a member of the Mutant race of humans who suffers from physical mutations not unlike our merfolk. I don't know any purple cat people, sorry, my long repitore of heroes apparently doesn't reach that deeply."

-

"He went by Vorpal." Rowan recalls. "And he was very, er, energetic. Perhaps he had cheeseburger." The blue does at least know what a cheeseburger is. He'll stick to fish thanks.

"Do you ever partake in surfacer entertainments, your Majesty?" Aruther is after all half human. He's a busy man, of course with a kingdom to run… but still.

-

See, now that makes sense to Mera. This purple cat named Vorpal could be any of the options Arthur mentioned and she seems mollified by those entirely reasonable possibilities. Leaning sideways against Arthur's leg again, she makes quick work of the second scallop, then reaches for an urchin. This requires that she set aside the beer as she's in the habit of plucking the urchin's spines before consuming it. "You should try the beer, love. This one is more … intense than the previous variation I sampled."

-

Aquaman chuckles at that, "Yes, yes I have, and quite a bit of it." he admits openly, "When you grow up up here there is a certain amount of it that is required to understand so you can be relivent in social situations. My father however," something in the King softens here, but it's hard to see what, "was very strict about that sort of thing. I had to work before I could watch TV or go to a movie, there was always work to do at the lighthouse, they require a great deal of upkeep and failing to do so can cost men their lives. At the time of course I resented him, but with age comes wisdom or so they say." he places the empty urchin 'shell' on the counter and sips from the juice again thoughtfully, "I will have to take Mera to see a movie at some point, it is surface dweller tradition when one is courting a woman. As are certain foods and beverages whilst there." he seems to enjoy this thought. He reaches out idly to let his fingers slide through some of his queen's hair smiling at her, "Enjoy yourself, though you should know ahead of time any of the drinks up here that contain alcohol will dehydrate you at an exponential rate. The surface dwellers call the side effects of this a headache, but for our people it can be lethal if you are not careful. It also tends to impair their judgement, motor skills, and remove inhibitions, but those are side effects you will not feel. The poisons up here tend not to effect us with only a couple of rare exceptions."

-

Rowan did discover what a 'hangover' was a few weeks back, so he's careful with his 'beer' intake. Fortunately his physiology is closer to human than Mera's so that was the worst of it. "I can run a bath for you, if you require later, Your Majesty." Running water is a definite perk of not having your civilization bombed out repeatedly for decades.

"A movie… I've heard of these. I haven't taken the opportunity yet. They're part of courtship rituals, you say?"

-

Mera smiles briefly as her husband toys idly with her hair, but then remembers something and looks up from the urchin in her hands. "I did feel…" She gestures toward her right temple vaguely as if trying to non-verbally explain a headache. "…the last time I drank some of this beer. But it eased quickly enough when I started back toward home. That is dehydration?" Now she has an idea of what an early warning sign might feel like. She nods as best she can without dislodging Arthur's hand from her hair to Rowan in thanks for the offer of a bath. "The water is … still lifeless?"

-

Aquaman chuckles at that, "Oh I won't need one and I doubt Mera will either now that she's aware of the potential for problems." The toxins that are part of everyday life for ocean dwellers make the poisons found topside mostly… laughable in comparrison. One of the many evolutionary advantages to being Atlantean is not having to be overly worried about food poisoning, the common cold, or a rattle snake bite. Or getting hammered. "The are multipurpose culturally. The most common of these is a 'date night' where in a man, though assuming even that can get you in trouble in this day and age, pays an entrance fee and takes his date into a theatre. Once there he also buys outrageously over priced popcorn, a snack food made from heating kernels of corn to a point they sort of… explode into fluffy white things. Hard to explain. Anyway, a large bucket of these little white crunchy things traditionally doused in melted butter, a small packet of over priced candy, and an enormous soda. The man then attempts to juggle these without spilling any of them while walking down a hall, into a darkened room with stairs, where in her and the woman decide where to sit in the available seating. Then they snack while various commercials for future movies play until the room grows truely dark and the movie that you've come to see plays. For roughly two hours you don't speak to your date, you merely eat the food, enjoy the film while trying very hard not to think to much about it's moral implications or general real feasibility, and when it is done you and hte lady exit the theatre and discuss it in the car on your way to whatever you have planned next." he lets out a slow breath, "This is an American cultural institution mostly, though not uniquely so. Here is it a terrifying part of teenaged life, a rite of passage of sorts, that all young men must go through. Undoubtedly if you are to attend one you will see this ritual I have discussed with you played out before your eyes. Try not to laugh. It's also an acceptable form of 'quality time' spent with large groups of friends who share an interest in a certain type of film, this also happens often. Least often are those who see films alone,"

Aquaman nods to his wife, "Yes, you'll likely never consume enough alcohol that you'll ever feel the effects I mentioned before, dehydration would get you first. A weakness and sudden unexplained heaviness of your limbs is another sign, as is your skin being dry, itchy, and cracking to the point of bleeding. That is very bad." he sounds serious here and his face hardens. He remembers the dessert… that was not a good fight…

-

Most things sound ridiculous if you actually take the time to explain them. Rowan is finding out the truth of this right at this very moment.

"Er… I see…" There are 'courtship rituals' in all cultures of course. The Blue 'date' much as humans do, though lacking 'theatre' they don't often sit in close proximity to their courtship partners and not talk.

"That sounds… very like the surfacers." The soldier chuckles. "If I do end up going to such a place, I shall remember not to laugh at the young people." Or Arthur and Mera. Knowing a little bit about the thing mortals call 'cinema' (mostly knowing that it involves a man narratting odd things in an oddly dramatic voice) he does wonder how the Sea Queen would take to such a thing.

-

Mera listens to Arthur's explanation of 'movie night' while plucking the last few spines from the urchin, but instead of starting in on the delicacy she looks up at him again with an expression of increasing incredulity and possibly revulsion. "That sounds like something I would likely very much not enjoy," she explains with a tone that says she's pretty well made up her mind. "Though… I might be willing to sample the pop? corn." Once she's made that concession to the whole movie date explanation, she takes a decisive bite of the urchin, crunching right through the shell rather than cracking it open to eat.

-

Aquaman grins at her, "Oh I don't know, I think that depends entirely on the movie." he points out, "We'll just have to find something suitable. /Definately/ not Little Mermaid. God that was awful."

-

"And fairly inaccurate too from what I hear." Rowan grins. "Besides, many would try to identify her Majesty with Ariel." He's seen enough on the 'internet' to know that. "Well, I let me see what I have that might be suitable for dessert." Rowan slips into the kitchen, glad for the company even if he doesn't really have anything suitable for royals.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License