One unenthusiastic video under sea [13/??? artefacts collected]

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Philip's face is looking perfectly normal (if a little crabby in the strictly mood-related sense of the word). Shoulders, arms, no problem there. His chest, not currently covered by any sort of clothing, is looking just a tad more blueish and... transparent than it should

Comments

[dashboardlite]

[Dean doesn't like heights. Water, he's okay with. He likes to swim. He likes the heat of the beach, and the sharp, salty tang of the ocean. He occasionally has dreams where he's fishing on the edge of a lake.

But being half tiger shark tends to put things in perspective.

Bad-ass perspective.]

...dude.

[He snorts, squinting through the camera and grinning stupidly.]

You're all see-through. S'kinda cool.

[dashboardlite]

[Dean resists the urge to laugh when Phil sort of scoots into view, and suppresses a smile. That only took...a while. Way to go, slowpoke.]

No clue. For all I know, they're written on seaweed.

[He nudges one of the doors open slowly, sliding inside and looking around.]

...this is all creepier underwater.

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Philip hurriedly pushes himself past Dean to inspect the library's new design.

The layout is the same, but the décor is a catastrophy! Algae-encrusted shelves, seaweed growing in the aisles and tattered and dissolving pages everywhe--

...No. No, not everywhere! Philip swims closer and inspects one of the shelves. Some... no, many books are entirely encased in plastic, page by page, safe (at least temporarily) from the water and ready to be read.

He breathes-- pardon, "breathes" a sigh of relief. ]

What did you say you wanted again? Shark... something, right?

[dashboardlite]

Yeah, somethin' on sharks.

[Dean mumbles idly, trailing his fingers through the algae on one shelf with a grimace. It's slimy and pretty grotesque.] Different types, so I can figure out what I am, y'know?

[He sort of glides over to another bookshelf, frowning at the contents.]

How the Hell are these organized? It's not even the Dewey-Decimal-whatever.

[sadfreezingbrit]

{Galeocerdo cuvier. Make a note, so you can be impressed later. }

It's more...

[ He moves along the aisle, searching it for clues. ]

...intuitive? There are sections sometimes, but it tends to...

[Philip raises his eyebrows and takes a book from the shelf, apparently putting it aside for later. ]

...know what you want. Like the closets, only not always quite as cooperat-- ah, there we go.

[ He reaches for another book and pushes himself back to Dean. ]

You can start with this.

[ A Field Guide to Sharks of the World ]

[dashboardlite]

[Dean turns from his perusal of a shelf bearing a series of books on mollusks and accepts the book from Phil. Sharks of the World, huh? Damn, he might actually learn something today.]

Thanks, dude.

[Floating there - he can't sink to the bottom, he's noticed, without going completely immobile - Dean flips through the plastic-coated pages and tries to match up the markings on his "tail".]

...I think I'm a...Galeocerdo cuvi- What the fuck is...? Oh. A tiger shark. Cool.

[Distractedly flipping through the description, he calls over to Phil.]

So what the Hell kinda jelly-thing are you?

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Philip rolls his eyes at the shark's scientific name. ]

{ What? No applause? Not even a little? See, you're a stingy bastard after all! }

I could be...

[ He flips through the pages of A Beginner's Guide for Maintaining Healthy Jellyfish ]

It's a little hard to tell, but... [ Flip. ]

Moon jellyfish, maybe? [ He shows Dean the picture for inspection. ]

[dashboardlite]

[Dean cranes over, squinting at the pages. Moon jellyfish, moon jellyfi- Oh, there it is.

...it's not very impressive.]

You only have a lifespan of around six months. [Dean observes, amused, and claps Philip on the back.] But hey, you get to eat all the plankton you want!

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ I hope Dean likes this look, because it's all he's going to get. ]

[dashboardlite]

...oh come on, grow a funny bone. At least you can sorta sting people, right?

[Here. Look. He will suffer to make you feel better, you sonuvabitch. Rolling his eyes, Dean sinks a little and pokes one of the wavy tentacles, wincing.

...okay, so it didn't hurt that badly, but still.]

You sting. Congratulations. You could have been a guppy.

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Philip flinches. ]

I sting people. How is that a good thing?

[ He does the floating equivalent of taking a step away from Dean. ]

[dashboardlite]

...it's a self-defense thing for jellyfish, Phil.

[Dean looks...confused. Why wouldn't someone want to be able to defend themselves?]

Y'know, it keeps away predators. And stuff.

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Okay, calm down. Dean probably meant well and Philip has developed an unfortunate tendency to react a bit too strongly to a handful of subjects. He sighs and gives Dean an apologetic look, attempting to explain. ]

But it's going to work whether somebody's a predator or not. And I'd rather go without stinging everybody I bump into.

[ Speaking of which he carefully sidles closer again and attempts to peek at Dean's hand. ]

...Does it hurt much?

[dashboardlite]

Yeah, 'cause you bump into people all the time, you budding socialite, you.

[Dean cracks a grin, flexing the fingers of his left hand and feeling the skin tighten over the stripes of red. There's only a few of them, all parallel, running across the backs of his knuckles. The book said moon jellyfish weren't all that poisonous, so he's not going to die.

At least, not from this.

Dean gives Philip an Are you serious? look, snorting his laughter.]

Dude, I've been strong-armed by the Operator. A little sting ain't gonna hurt. [He holds his hand out, clenching it into a fist again and making a face.] Burns a little, though. Numbing toxins, I think.

[sadfreezingbrit]

[ Philip crosses his arms. ]

What do you mean by that?

[ The budding socialite comment, in case that wasn't evident from his immediate and indignant interruption. ]

[dashboardlite]

[It takes Dean a moment to re-organize his thought process - which has long-since moved onto other things - and go back to whatever Philip is referring to. What, the- Oh. Oh, the socialite thing. Right.

Dean shrugs. His reply isn't probing or insulting - He's just stating fact.]

I dunno, I never really see you around. You sorta keep to yourself.