come back home [thoth]

@"Thoth"

They set sail in the morning, Nicolas riding atop his head just as he'd done the night before.

The pace would be slow and steady, so it took more than another night to get there. Two or three nights, in fact, of lazily paddling along. Never once did he stop, but called to his guards to bring Nicolas the supplies he needed to stay alive. Food, fresh water, more blankets to keep him warm with the lack of fire... Who said he wasn't a benevolent king? Nicolas would arrive at his new home alive and well.

The Manta Carlos islands... A new, temporary home.

But he would not be living inland. No, that would be suicide, or insane, or both. As soon as the agreements were signed by both himself and Emma, he had purchased a very unique little property on the water. Literally, on the water.

The house was a unique sort, roped to the pier but essentially floating in the water like a ship would. It provided extremely easy access to the water, and he could bring it with him out to sea if he'd like, just in case. At the time of their arrival, it was lassoed to the boardwalk where most boats were moored, providing a beautiful view of both the coastline and sea.

The head that Nicolas perched on came close enough for him to step onto what was essentially the back porch, decorated with a few potted trees, some deck furniture and a sliding glass door that lead inside.

@"Thoth"

The home was indeed rather plush, with plenty of windows so he didn't feel so trapped inside. Everything about it practically screamed some form of luxury or another, something he was used to at home. Of course, undersea luxury and human luxury were two very different things and he tried to go with the latter to fit in... A floating house, for example.

One of his many heads reared up to the long bay windows on the upper floor, peering in curiously to the bedroom. Cozy looking, not as big as his palace under the waves, but it'd do. A nice, soft bed for humans with plenty of pillows, finely carved wooden furniture, some bookshelves... Not bad at all, even by his standards.

"On the island, right against the island... There really is very little difference." Aside from the fact that he could very swiftly get to safety of it was right on the water. "It has access to land just as any other house does." Just more access the water, that was all.

A few of his other heads peeked just above the surface as if to check the house out, only to sink swiftly below the waves again. Being spotted was always a concern, so it would be wise to change to his more human form now. It proved to be consistently painful, but there was little choice.

"Make yourself comfortable." And with that, the head that brought him there sunk below the waves.

@"Thoth"

Under the waves, there were the sounds of deep rumbling and creaking bones, ligaments snapping and detaching and organs squishing. Nobody would be there to hear it, and the thing that slowly took shape floated closer and closer to the surface the smaller it got. There was a point where it looked even more grotesque than either states, caught in between human and beast.

But once the creature breached the surface, it was a creature no more. In fact, distinctly human, and distinctly male. His long, black hair floated around his shoulders much like tendrils would, his skin pale from prolonged lack of contact with the sun. He looked muscular like a swimmer would be, not overly bulky but streamlined enough to dart around like a fish, but almost lazily paddling himself over to the side of the house that floated closest to the open sea.

Ulrich pulled himself up easily out of the water, naked as the day he was born and uncaring of the fact. He continued to drip saltwater everywhere as he made his way inside, closing the door behind him. Thankfully, the floors were made to accommodate the fact that there would be plenty of water being tracked about.

Now, where had they placed his human clothes?

@"Thoth"

The large, X shaped scar that ran over his temple did nothing to ease his severe looks. He tended to take his physical appearances from the oldest head on his body, as they were cut off and grew back on a fairly semi-regular basis. His mouth was set in a scowl and his brow furrowed as if he'd heard some particularly bad news. It wasn't that he was unhappy, per se... But he definitely wasn't enjoying his time on land already. Everything just felt so... heavy.

He reached for an apple sitting in the fruit bowl, frowning at the weight of it in his hand. He was anything but scrawny; he definitely had the human body of a swimmer, all lean muscle. But the fact that every little thing on earth felt static bothered him; he couldn't move freely, instead he was bound to walk on the ground. Thankfully, he wasn't bothered by the cold in either form or else he would've been grumpy about feeling chilly as well.

The sound of footprints felt foreign to his ears, but he looked over to find Nicolas standing there, gesturing towards the master bedroom. Ah, yes, clothes were likely there. Something that humans needed.

Thankfully, he knew how to walk well enough, and he made his way over to peer into his room. Plush and comfortable, with mainly steely greys and blues. The curtains were pulled open and practically half of the far wall was made of windows, giving him an excellent view of the sea. Nicolas' room was just down the hall, not directly connected to the land but at least closer.

"And how do you like your room?" Ulrich asked almost absently as he went through the closet, not so much picking out clothes as he was just taking whatever caught his eye first. Thankfully it all seemed very similar in colour scheme. Everything from casual to extremely formal.

@"Thoth"

Ulrich brushed some of his hair behind his ear, bent over to pick something up, only to have it fall right back down around his face. It had very little volume to it considering he'd been soaking in salt water for his entire life, and it was rather long, reaching past his shoulders. Eventually he grew tired of it and reached for a conveniently placed container full of hair ties, pulling it back before he even bothered to put pants on.

He didn't mind Nicolas watching him flounce around naked, trying to pick out the proper clothes because they all needed to match, apparently. Thankfully, the ones who put this all together for him had a base understanding of how humans worked and made it easy for him. He'd picked up a shirt and was pulling it over his head when Nicolas asked for the reason he came to the islands.

He paused, contemplating it for a moment before pulling his shirt on the rest of the way.

"You may have to guess." It would be amusing to see what he'd come up with. He didn't think he'd guess correctly, anyways.