starmark | IC Inbox

[...Is he talking to himself —

Oh my god, he's talking to his own reflection what is happening

Why is it that every time things get hot between them lately he always ends up wanting to laugh himself breathless instead — ]

You're gorgeous.

[That's "what is it". But it's a different character than his usual, less reserved than his usual romantic overtures, more eager and boyish — like he's talking about marine biology instead of about love, because in this case, well, he kind of is.]

What are you doing to the mirror?

[ "You're gorgeous" and "What are you doing" are a one-two punch of things he would expect Jotaro to say. Their romantic follies aside... The transition is smooth as butter, leaving Rohan processing one and answering another: ]

I don't know what I'm doing. I haven't left my room in two days and whenever I look in the mirror, it pisses me off. [ More than usual when it becomes semi-sentient and starts sassing him about a blemish or a chipped scale that won't grow back in until after he sheds again.

With it in his peripheral, he keeps wanting to turn back around again and begin trying to cram his face through it. Somehow, he refrains. ]

I need water. Like, now.

[ he's thirsty please give him a break. ]

It pisses you off?

[He frowns slightly, still fixated intently on Rohan and his lovely flowing — fins? Wait a minute...

He's changed forms again. He's got legs instead of his snake tail. He's adorned with fins. And he's getting furious at something to do with the surface of the mirror...

— Marine biologist wonder powers, activate.]

...You're a betta. Betta splendens, in the Gourami family. They're naturally aggressive, especially around other males. Even when those males are their own reflection.

[He takes another step or two closer, ignoring the request for water for the moment; he's betting that's about 90% aggression and 10% actual need, which means it can go on hold for a bit while he investigates this more fully.]

Come over here, away from it. Look at me instead. What do you feel like doing when you see me?

[ oh goddammit this isn't the time???

Rohan huff-puffs loudly to the point where his gills end up fluttering and ruin the actual display of being DISGRUNTLED. He is pretty sure he might be dying, but no. Jotaro has to nerd out about it first.

His eyes narrow but he just follows directions since looking at Jotaro is the only alternative with no real drawbacks. ]

This isn't the time to be Kingdom-Phylum'ing me. [ He should know better than to stop this kind of thing... ]

I feel the same way I always do when I look at you!

[ The lingering aggression aside, his fines fluff back up when he steps forward. His gill make the attempt to turn themselves inside out the best that they can in a little ruffled collar deal. EVERYTHING'S GOTTA TRY LOOKING BIGGER.

It's I THINK YOU'RE CUTE in the angry fish language of love. ]

Why does it matter??

Not really. For one thing, you're being a lot more tsundere than usual, and that's saying something.

[Aha, but there it is — the presenting of his fins, which he immediately recognizes for what it is and instantly finds a heaping helping of humor in the fact that Rohan probably won't.]

You're fluffing your fins. You must think I'm an optimal mate.

[HE IS LOVING THIS]

[ did he really just get called tsundere he sure did. ]

This isn't funny! [ Jotaro doesn't even NEED to laugh or smile or do anything to know that he's being JUDGED. ]

Oh yes. [ Rohan slaps a hand to his own cheek, faux-swooning over the phrase 'optimal mate'. Fin flutter. ] You've caught me. I can't believe it took so long for me to give myself away.

[ This is the part where he'd grab something and throw it at Jotaro's head but he's too distracted. ]

And here I wanted to keep it a secret.

Don't you mean I caught you "hook, line, and sinker"?

[And so it begins. Jotaro Kujo's boyfriend is a fish and at last he's getting to utilize every single terrible fish joke he's ever stored up in all seventeen — nearly eighteen — years of his life.]

Supposedly your legs will fuse together and turn into a fin when you're submerged. We should put you in the bathtub and see what happens. That's sort of like getting you some water, right?

[ Rohan thinks that he has seen every bad snake joke in the book, but fish are Jotaro's area of specialty and he isn't even sure if he's prepared for it.

Bathtub though. ]

Worry about jokes later. Give me water now. [ Rohan wastes no time bumping right past Jotaro in a rush. If his legs fuse together, he doesn't really care at this point??? It's the least of his worries as he scrambles to the bathroom and hastily runs the water a quickly as he can in that silly clawfoot bathtub he uses for shedding.

It will be KIND of warm but he isn't looking to boil. While Jotaro isn't in the room, he (carefully) rips off every piece of clothing he has on without tearing at his fins. The holes in his pants thing worked out for the most part. Upon jumping in, he sinks in up to his neck...

And he waits. ]

I've done this only once so I haven't gauged how long it takes. Don't oggle me like a schoolboy either because you haven't seen me naked yet.

[ the important things to worry about apparently ]

The only thing I'm going to be ogling is your biology.

[He says, following Rohan in and regarding him fondly from the doorway before approaching. The movement is sort of gradual, like he's watching for a sign from Rohan to tell him when he needs to stop and when he doesn't, but eventually he'll find his way to a half-crouched, half-kneeling position, eyes fixed on Rohan's fins like a theater-goer waiting for the title credits to roll.]

...You know, this is kind of the best of both worlds, isn't it? You have your legs back, but you're still not...defenseless. You're still...

[Hmm. His phrasing isn't seeming to come out the way he's been hoping it would come out.]

There's no part of you I like "better" or "worse". But I like this one a lot.

[ So many things pop up for the ogling of biology bit.

Gross.

Jotaro, please stop talking. ]

I know you're trying really hard to not mangle your turn of phrase here. I appreciate that-- [ His gangly legs with their floaty little fins were already spilling over the edge of the tub. With a rush of water chattering about his neck, the newly-granted mer-fellow twiiiists at the hip uncomfortably to drag them back in.

The process is more inconvenient than it is painful, as Rohan's face just twists and contorts not far beyond furrows of his eyebrows and tightening of his lips. Small tub, tall guy trying to let his legs fuse together. It's not a fun combination. Give it a good two minutes of discomfort and Rohan slips further down into the tub to haul his bottom half out at the knees.

The presentation is... Different. That sure is a tail alright-- still shiny and white --with layers of it being fleshy dress-like tiers that puts the term mermaid train to a literal form. It flops comfortably, but not without splashing water everywhere first. Poor Rohan pushes his head back up from under the water in a gasp which sends a shiver from shoulder to tail.

Frilly as his gills and his arms. There is one nice dress in this tub.

That sucks, this sucks, he needs a bigger body of water for this shit. ]

Okay, Cousteau. What do you think?

[In fairness, ogling his biology is pretty much what Jotaro ends up doing, ultimately, so it's at least an apt descriptor along with being an all hells of awkward one.

The instant Rohan starts changing, it's as though his gaze is drawn to his tail like a magnet; even when the water splashes, he just lets it hit him rather than trying to get out of the way of the wave, and almost immediately thereafter the sound of sizzling begins to hiss through the room as the water starts evaporating off of his scales and skin.

He's never seen anything like this before. Quite frankly it's amazing, how the water makes his biology change — how legs morph into something much more suited to the water, gaining attributes and appendages to make it evolutionarily adapted to best suit its environment. And besides that, the white is just — beautiful, so different from the heavy coiled weight of a snake's tail, but still just as powerful in its own right.

Right. He needs to say something. Sitting here gawking isn't enough, not by a long shot.]

...Jesus.

[Which isn't to say he's going to come up with anything particularly eloquent even when he does speak, but you know, there you go.]

That's amazing...

[ Don't get him wrong, Rohan thinks it's cool too. Just inconvenient when it comes to being a land creature. The change in Jotaro's face is worth the awkward tingling of no longer being able to feel his toes.

It's the snakebutt feel without the reality. ]

Go ahead and touch it if you want. [ The fins flutter all fish out of water style, hanging there limp and still wet from the water. The sizzling earn him a laugh. ] Do whatever you want. I know this is... Your thing.

I want to watch. Maybe we can go swimming for real soon.

[ He... ] I would like that.

Maybe I should see if she'll do this for me, too, sometime. So we could swim together.

[He's not one to pass up the opportunity to investigate those scales, though, and so gingerly he moves to rest a hand on Rohan's tail much the same way he usually touches Snakebutt, paying careful attention to the direction of the scales and the delicate filmy structure of each of the fins.]

Wow...just like that, the bones in your legs have probably — and then they'd have to fan out to support the — wow...

[He's nerding out so hard he's forgetting to finish his sentences. Good grief.]

I wonder what effect that would have on your swimming, since humans are oriented upright but fish tend to have their structures and organs oriented on the horizontal...

[ Aw, he wanted to be a mer too. That was awkwardly endearing. Jotaro would say one thing, not complete the thought, and then hop to another. He was skipping over the stepping stones that would answer his questions outright.

He'd skimp along back to them of his own accord. All Rohan could do was watch and quirk his lips. ]

I don't know. I haven't figured out a place to go so I can... Stretch my fins. [ HM. That sounded better in his head. Being dropped into water might not be as fun in practice as it is in theory. ] I DO know that if you mess with some of the ruffly bits there, I have the actual fins. The rest is all... fluff. I think.

[ Wiggling where his toes had once been, Rohan tail-floof flutters. He does have a real split in his tail under there. Just gotta know where to look. ]

This all must look better in the water.

Well, yeah. In the water it's got more ability to drift out and float suspended with the water itself supporting it. In the air there's less to hold it up so gravity takes control.

[Somehow, impressively, he manages to tear his attention away from the tail long enough to seek out Rohan's face.]

We could always go to the beach again. Next fog or something.

[ Blah, blah, blaaaaaaaahhhhh... ]

I liked our last Fog Time day at the beach. Even when my skin did the burny thing because She wanted to bless me right at that exact moment. [ The Fog God was the ultimate cockblock. ]

You still like to swim, don't you? [ Rohan chuckles and shows off his rows of razor sharp teeth that have taken up residence in his mouth instead of his fangs. ] Think about it: No sideline-sitting, no making sure you don't drown yourself because you turned into a rock... Name off the positives for me, will you?

[ Because while Rohan loves to hear himself talk, he also loves to hear people say GOOD things to him. Or what they want from him. ]

I might drown myself anyway, watching you swim. Might forget to breathe, or something.

[He tugs lightly on the brim of his hat, a classic tell of vague embarrassment, but this one manages to escape being mortified and stays more in the realm of just sheepish. No point in trying to pretend like he isn't a gigantic fish nerd.]

No problems with the sand being too unsteady for you to move around on. No limits to your dive, for you — with these gills, you could probably explore underwater for hours. See what's down there on the bottom. Reproduce it for me on the surface so I can see it too...

[ Jotaro can pretend that he isn't a giant fish nerd but here he is. He sets his elbow on the ledge of the tub and his chin touches the top of his curled fingers. ]

When would you like to go on that date, Jotaro? There's plenty of time and a lot you seem like you want to do. You be the boss this time.

Leaving it up to me, huh? Sounds a little dangerous to me, but okay.

[That actually gets flickers of a smile out of him, though, which he hides by turning his attention back to Rohan's fins as opposed to trying to disguise it beneath his hand and hat.]

Next fog, maybe? I'm not sure. How long do you think you'll stay this way for? It was a month the last time, right?

Supposedly a month is what I paid for. BUT... If I like it enough, I might go for one more.

[ He isn't sure if he WILL like it but the idea is nice. ]

The next fog sounds perfect. I should be adjusted by then. [ Rohan's fingers play at his gills for some preening. If he still had feet, he would flick Jotaro's nose with his toe or summat to tease him away. ] I look forward to it, I do.

Until then, let's call it a day. I may be aquatic now but I don't want to get pruney.

I'm just not sure how to get OUT now.

Upper body strength, probably. Or I could lift you.

[Or Star Platinum could lift him, which is really probably what he means, but there's no real need to clarify that when either one of them could manage it if they really set to trying.]

Maybe I ought to just lift you, so you don't turn this whole room into a lake from the splashing.

I'm not really feeling the fish out of water thing today, no.

[ Cue Rohan lifting his arms in a mock grabby-hands gesture. ] Pick me up and dry me off so I don't get pruny. Hop to it...

I'll pick you up, but drying you off is kind of asking a lot, isn't it?

[No. No, it's really not, and in fact it's a perfect excuse to get to have physical contact with him that much more, which as far as Jotaro is concerned is as good of an excuse as any to do pretty much anything.

He gets up and braces himself for a lift, then reaches into the water and soaks his arms above the elbows, reaching easily beneath Rohan and hoisting him up and out of the bath in one fluid, easy movement.]

Don't kick or splash, I'm wet enough already.

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