when the curse begins to break and the truth of their world starts to come to light, there are two things he is at least sure of: he is probably not human in his other life, and he is definitely way stronger than he originally thought.
this strength is illustrated perfectly by the scene playing out right now: joseph, now shirtless and barefoot on the wide, sandy expanse, is holding what appears to be a large, dead tree with one hand, carrying it with so little effort that it's as if he were holding a twig. as he walks back to the place where he woke up hours ago, a smile forms on his lips, followed by an excited giggle as he picks up his pace.
" hey! look, i found some wood! " joseph shouts, as if he just found the key to their escape from this beach. and hey, maybe he did? they have good wood, and good boats are usually made with good wood—and good boats are perfect for escaping an unknown island.
that's what they're doing right now, yeah? they're trying to escape. because they're certainly not anywhere near connecticut, and he really wants to go home. " okay, so, this wood is good and sturdy, and we should have enough for a small boat that can carry the two of us. and lucky you, i'm a great carpenter. now, pass me the hammer ... you do have a hammer, right? "
the scene in front of him had matai pleasantry surprised that the little college athlete with a heart of gold had still made his way to the island as well. “ uhh, joseph. were you always this strong? ” it surprised him immensely to see him like a dog with a bone dragging branches far larger than he was as though they were twigs.
“ wait. ” a hand was raised as though to give them both of a moment to think and figure out what actually needed to be done. was pellar still even an option? matai doubted it but he didn't want to crush the boy's dreams so soon when he was feeling inspired to help. “ we can probably find some carving tools. ” looking back up towards the castle after already being down near the shore where they could've worked in peace. “ are you trying to get back to pellar? you're not interested in where you were before then? ” emphasis on the words to help the barefoot and shirtless youth that matai had always loved to meet and see throughout town but never seeing how attractive joseph had been. it was a welcomed distraction from a certain demigod, that was for sure.
“ we can figure it out, but like… what do you want, joe? ” matai would start there and hope joe knew what he wanted to do and if not, they could figure all that out together.
even though he could taste the sarcasm laced in matai's words, there was some sense of truth behind them. there had to be. so, there was a small smile that formed on the pirate's face as his chest puffed out a little bit. “ finally, you've come to your senses. i guess i can help you. as long as you keep remembering who you're speaking to. ” this might not have been his land, but he was surely acting like it. as he got the confirmation of how many people would come with them, he started to look for a vessel that was big enough for them.
“ there's no one that i need from my side. my crew knows what to do, but i haven't seen them around yet. you should bring makoa. you're going to need someone familiar with what i'm about to put you through. ” he spotted a ship that would do and started to inspect it from the outside. then, he walked up to it and felt it from the outside. sturdy material, good. “ unless you're going to bicker like an old married couple and not focus. ” if there was one thing that lisandro took seriously, it was sailing across the open sea. he could be a hard ass for those that tried to mess with that.
lisandro was a clever man — he'd been someone that always felt a little dangerous too matai and that piqued interest but also had matai wanting to push and test limits. “ you tell me. ” stopping in his tracks and giving the other a stare as though to emphasis the point. “ no idea who you are outside of pellar, hook man. so i think it'd be very prudent for a little honesty, don't you think? ” there was no way the man would be honest with the past, which just meant matai wouldn't feel obligated to share anything more about him other than how badly he had wanted to secure passage across the sea.
“ i'm familiar enough. ” a quick retort back, ensuring that he was a wayfarer and could voyage these seas with only boat, a nighttime sky, and a few birds in the sky. “ if you want makoa so badly, would you like to find him? " he still had been weighting his options and wasn't set one way or another but matai was curious why lisandro had felt to push for the man. “ why, do you know who he was before pellar? ” another little trap, another shove of his own domination in the face of lisandro's crafty ways.
truthfully, maui felt matai's angry presence before he heard him. he was exploring the nearby depths for divine signs, looking for a portal to get under the world proper, figure out what was really going on from someone who knew. but he kept losing his breath, frustrating him more each time he had to come up from air and lose his place combing the ocean floor. not that he was even getting that deep to begin with.
his ears caught the voice coming from behind the patio doors of the castle as he passed it, frustration and anger turned to annoyance as maui realized he was definitely taking the long route here. cool, someone who definitely doesn't know what's really going on. but he couldn't get down anyways, so maui accepted his fate and strolled toward the clear panes he could see matai through.
"you know, it really hurts my feelings when you talk about me like this and i'm not even around to defend myself." he tapped loud on the glass with a blunt finger. "why's it always fuck me?" a bit of cognitive dissonance as he identified makoa as me, but he rode it out, needing to focus on his righteousness in this moment.
Despite how angry Matai had been at Makoa (Maui), whatever he was supposed to call him, there was still that feeling of relief and ease like calm waters after a storm that the man felt when Makoa materialized out of nowhere. The tapping on the glass hadn't thrown him off but a stare that looked like Matai could kill Makoa — figuratively, of course. Makoa was a stupid immortal God who didn't care about consequences.
“ Feelings? ” A look of disgust and surprise was given over to him as Matai moved over to give Makoa an unexpected hug, nestling into the man's strong frame just fo recenter and ground him in something familiar. The smell of ocean spray mixed into Makoa's hair and skin had always been grounding back in Pellar and now all those weird coincidences were making so much sense. “ Did you know who we were back in Pellar? ” That's the question Matai wanted answered first — he needed to know if Makoa had been fucking with him for fun and simply because he could. A thought he would've never had in a million years in Tirulia became muddled and now he had to deal with the complicated aftermath.
He's been wandering around the strange city, trying to find people he knows. The more people he does find, the more worried he's getting about the people he doesn't. It's got his senses going haywire. Sometimes getting overwhelmed by everything he can sense, and then it's almost like he's walking around half asleep, he can barely sense anything.
He's walking through a town square when he suddenly gets a whiff of something, no, someone familiar.
He follows it down a street until he sees familiar dark curls and a strong build.
"Matai!"
He runs up and tackles the man in a hug, sending them rolling a bit but he doesn't care. A friend.
Being back in Tirulia felt like something he had been trying to come to terms with since realizing that Matai's last memory of his real life had been a few weeks of being properly referred to as a demigod and Maui being his mentor. It all felt so blurry, was what they had even real? Taking a moment through explore the dilapitated cityscape, the town square seemed to have some people returning and trying to return back to some sense of true normalcy.
A voice cut through as Matai took a look and immediately had been sent to the floor and tumbling with another's body tangled within his own. It had taken a moment before realizing it had been Conan — a friend from Pillar, but not someone he knew from Tirulia. “ Conan, you're insane. ” A light chuckle as he offered a big hug in knowing there was someone he knew he could trust in the tendrils of all the unknowingness. Pushing himself back up to his feet and offering a hand to help Conan up as hell. “ How are you faring? ”
“ now wait a damn minute. being in my forties does not mean that i'm decrepit. ” he puffed out his chest, almost forgetting how quick - witted matai could be. “ alright, whatever, you're grown. are you happy now ? ” if he new that sleeping with someone that seemed to like fishing would have gotten here then maybe, nah, he probably still would have done it. one thing that lisandro and hook had in common was that they weren't against having some fun. in those moments, they were that fun for him. so there was nothing that he was going to regret. perhaps he could use that to his advantage.
“ who said that this place is unknown to me ? even if it is, i've gotten the lay of the land quickly. ” which meant that he knew where the castle was. that was pretty much it. “ yeah, so i'd be careful how you talk to me. ” he waved the hook up in the air, still something that he was getting used to again. he didn't have to know all of the ins and outs to know how to stab someone. “ aw, you actually really do like me and you're acknowledging i'm one of the only capable people you know. that's sweet. i guess i can steer your ship to wherever you want to go. are you sure no one else is comign ? ” that would determine how big of a vessel they needed in the first place.
a cheeky little smile is all that had grown on matai's face seeing how lisandro had backed himself into a weird corner — what a silly little sexy hot man, enjoying that they could have this effervescent quality to one another for the moment while their whole world had quite literally been shattered and they were left to pick up the pieces. “ i'm soooooo sorry lisandro, you're so big and strong and brave. please help me return to my homeland. ” a little flutter of his eyelids and he figured that the man would know that he was fucking with him big time, but the words were there to butter up mr. hook hand.
“ you know what, you would know better than me, right? get us whatever boat you think would work. i probably want at least to get makoa, maybe two-three other people. anyone you want me to grab for you? ” the memories flooded back of makoa and matai could only feel a little rage in his mind and heart for that sexy fucking asshole ex-boyfriend turned mentor. they hadn't had beefed in their off-and-on back in pillar but now it all felt so messy and confusing. “ actually, maybe just two other people. ” deciding for himself that perhaps he wasn't ready to deal with makoa just yet.
he wouldn't say he knew the man well, they certainly weren't the best friends type with matching friendship bracelets or drunken matching tattoos, but bowen was at least familiar enough with matai that when he stumbled upon the other man-- on the island motunui, or whatever sam had told him it was called-- bowen ran up to him and pulled him into a hug without a moment of hesitation.
“oh my gosh, matai, i'm so happy to see you.” the man delivered him his mail, at home and when he was working at town hall, and while they talked almost every day-- and bowen had failed at plenty of attempts to flirt with him-- he was just happy to see someone that brought him comfort; even if, at the back of his mind, he was wondering who he was since he had no memories of the man from back home; only from pellar's town.
“if you're here too that means, well assuming you're dealing with the same headache i am-- that means you're not from there; home. i guess it's not home though. pellar's town, i mean. that means you're from somewhere else too? you are someone else? honestly, i don't care. i'm just so happy to see someone i know. i was beginning to think i went crazy, especially after i turned into a deer-- that's a thing i can do by the way, that's actually who i am-- but it was weird.”
he rambled, arms still tight around matai, as he just… unloaded on him.
“and then i ran into sam-- samuel. you know, he's like the big real estate guy back home-- i mean, in pellar's town. but he's here too and that's how i realized it wasn't just me, and that this wasn't some weird nightmare, which was comforting but also not comforting--” he finally remembered people had personal space as he peeled himself off the other man and offered him a sheepish smile and a soft apology under his breath. “sorry-- uh-- a bit of an overload there, huh. you… you okay?”
as the strange man had rushed matai into arms for an embrace, the Polynesian man offered a hug back simply because the other man seemed like it was what he needed and also why he didn't stop the monologue of who he was and what had been happening to him — a story that seemed like it had to have been coming from someone who wasn't all there in the mind. “ i'm sorry, but who are you? ” a glazed over look made it clear that matai wasn't sure what was going on or what this bowen fellow was going on about.
he let it linger for about ten seconds before he smacked the man on the shoulder playfully. “ just kidding, but you should've seen your face. ” now that he had made it properly back over to motonui, matai was feeling more settled and grounded, despite how many questions he had about what had happened to all of them. the man had let bowen stay close as matai pulled him in closer. “ you're in my home, bowen. my dad's the chief! ” a smile beaming as matai spun out of the embrace and brought up his hands as though to welcome him to motonui. “ this is where i'm from, motonui. and wanna hear something else that's crazy? i'm pretty sure i'm a freaking demigod. ” matai didn't often have dork energy but he was beaming like crazy as the tattoos against his arm had reappeared that he was given after his trip with maui. “ i'm still matai, i don't think my name changes but… yeah, i think we're all trying to figure out who is who and what. ”
gesturing the man to climb the hill to where his home was, matai's steps were wide as the palm trees and ocean spray settled deep inside of matai's house. “ i can at least get us some drinks and we can sit down and figure things out, maybe you can meet my little sibling and family. ”
throughout his life, he had apparently manned several different boats. small ones that barely fit two people, larger ones that crossed borders, and then mid-sized mundane ones that were equipped for fishing. now, the world was his oyster yet again. the feeling of itching to get away from pellar's town and explore all made sense. which wouldn't come to a surprise if someone found out that he had been looking around for a boat to steal. casually, of course, to not raise any suspicion from the others.
“ kids these days, they can be so sensitive. who said i was playing ? ” he was in the process of looking out to this mentioned home when he started to be tugged around. “ i think in some worlds, this would still be considered adult-napping. ” lisandro tested the grip of his heels against the dock, but found them slipping a little bit as matai dragged him along. he'd have to find a way to fix that. scuff them up a bit. “ are you bringing me along because you know i'm capable of getting you there and manning a ship, or because i'm the first person you saw and you're overly eager ? ”
“ just because you're decrepit, doesn't mean i'm a kid. “ matai was quick to retort back. ” besides, if that was the case then it means you fuck kids and i'm sure you don't want that rumor spreading. ” that was a check mate, he was sure of it with a little smirk over to lisandro in the memories of them on the boat or cabinside just enjoying each other's company. matai was certain that he hadn't any idea who he was and it would be easier to decide not to worry about it than dig deeper. he knew lisandro enough through their time in pillar to hopefully mean that he wouldn't fuck him over greatly — but only time would be able to tell that story.
“ i'm taking you from one unknown place to another, you'll survive, lis. ” so dramatic with his bougie outerwear and oh, shit… was that a hook? “ uhhh, that's new. ” pointing at the hand that matai was certain he had a prosthetic where now there was a metal hook. “ and i'm taking you because we're friends and also, you're the only person near and i'll need help with the sail and you can sail these stupid ships with all of its gizmos and gadgets. ” which meant that lisandro was correct in his assumption, but matai wouldn't give him the satisfaction of saying it aloud.
STATUS: CLOSED STARTER FOR @thankmaui.
LOCATION: PRINCE ERIC'S CASTLE IN TIRULIA.
TIME: EVENING.
emotions and memories overflowed as matai's connection to the oceans that raised, befriended, and honored him came flooding back like a surge of salt water. he hadn't realized how much he longed for his home and how he had truly been at the precipice of transformation when his second life had began.
what that all meant was that makoa was a fucking piece of shit and matai had a suspected feeling that he had something to do with all of it.
the man who he had dated on and off his entire time back in pillar, the demigod makoa himself who had been a mentor and someone he revered turned into a fuck boy who would drive matai absolutely mad. it was cruel to know him as both, a sickening feeling of reverie and disgust for someone whose left felt so closely entangled and enmeshed. “ fucking makoa. ” the turbulent waves of matai's being raged in anger and hurt. “ where the hell are you. ” all of prince eric's castle would be searched until he found him while those he wrangled into helping would be in search of a proper boat for navigating. despite being after this man for hours, matai's insistence perservered as he had now made it to the last area that he hadn't searched feeling like he had to be here if the man had also landed near and not elsewhere in tirulia.
✎ status: open
✎ location: tirulia, docks near eric's castle
✎ estimated time: 15:30
with everything rushing back to him, captain hook was starting to get angsty. he was pacing up and down the docks, heeled boots echoing along the platform. his memories of operating with a hook were still rushing back to him. so he was trying to get used to it. pick things up, stab other things, which meant he was already being a menace by the water. then, he heard someone else near him and a playful grin played across his face. “ going for a dip? it's the perfect weather for that. ” not to mention that aside from his chest poking out of his red button down, he wasn't showing much skin. so he clearly wasn't going in for a dip. “ leave your valuables with me. i'll keep them safe while you enjoy the open waters. ” he wouldn't, but it was worth a shot.
the memories of a life from before flooded matai's mind and being across the water of where he wanted to be pained his heart madly. near the water, the man had been attempting to comandeer a boat to get him back to motunui but all of the fancy boats with oars hadn't been the type of vessel he was accustomed to navigating. the well-dressed lisandro had come into his purview while matai huffed his way over and shot the man an ugly look while he prodded over as though he wasn't clearly upset.
“ lisandro, i'll shove you into the water. stop playing. ” the words were terse but still wasn't entirely serious with how much matai was reminded that he had gone fishing many of times on the other man's boat. “ my home is across the water… i just need to figure out how the hell to get over there. ” now it wasn't visible, but matai had navigating in the before times to the castle after weeks of journeying it was possible. “ and you're going to come with me. ” grabbing onto lisandro's hand and pulling him along to search for a boat, matai was not taking no for an answer.
jordi webber, homosexual, gendergluid + he+they → isn’t that matai kealoha? the story claims that they're moana from moana. i hear they’re twenty-eight years old. in the cursed town they’re a mail man, but back in tirulia they were a goods trader by ship & ocean conservationist. they seem to be determined & resourceful, but also stubborn & unsettled. their aesthetics include wayfinding, poly dolly energy, and ancestral responsibility.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒
𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄. matai kealoha.
𝐀𝐊𝐀. moana.
𝐀𝐆𝐄. 28.
𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 & 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒. gender fluid + he / they.
𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. bisexual demiromantic.
𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒. demigod.
𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. mail man [ wayfinding master & ocean conservationist ]
𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒. tbd on main’s decision.
𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. vers bottom.
𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄
𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑. naturally black [ occasionally dyed blonde. ]
𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒. green.
𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. 5'9.
𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃. toned.
𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒. couple scars along his hands from severe rope burn.
𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐒. moko on his right leg from his waist to his ankle.
𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. ears.
𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌. jordi webber.
𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘
𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓. chaotic good.
𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒. determined & resourceful.
𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒. stubborn & unsettled.
𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒. collecting sea shells, sailing the ocean, and general side quest adventuring.
𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃
𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋. general anxiety, delusions of self-confidence.
𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋. great condition.
𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀𝐒. being completely landlocked.
𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. great.
𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃. right.
𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆 𝐔𝐒𝐄. only weed.
𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐇𝐎𝐋 𝐔𝐒𝐄. no; kava.
𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐓. pretty healthy but loves a good rack of lambs, yellowfun tuna, and a lobster boil.
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃
𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄. motunui.
𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒. sina [ mother ] & chief tui [ father ]
𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. little brother.
𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐒. none.
𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. motunui village school.
𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒. swimming, wayfinding, and persisting.
𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘
the eldest son to the chief of motunui, matai has known the mantle of what his family was expected. to do for the sake of their village. growing up only ever on motunui, at eighteen years old — matai returned his people to the water and wayfinding by restoring the heart of te fiti with makoa's support.
years later at 22, matai and makoa had returned to the ocean to settle nalo's rage and connected motunui to the other island nations within tirulia. being granted demigod status, chiron had offered support to matai who was about to force makoa to help him grow. a month later the curse hit and all these memories were locked away.
𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒
it has been so blurry for matai who longed for the sea and lived in a cabin near the lake as a mail man with unsettled feelings of something more. the mail man who smiled his way through it all, matai had known most of those in time because of his chipper disposition while doing his job and how much he loved to adventure and take road trips and camping during his free time. matai was also a pretty good cook and was fond of fishing whether it be shore or on a boat.
paul mescal, pansexual, cis male + he+his → isn’t that reginald 'reggie’ olsen? i’ve seen them hanging out with the demigods. i hear they’re thirty-two, but they’ve only been in new york for ten years. in that time, they’ve risen up the ranks to become co-owner of hustled muscle. they seem to be keen & brazen, but also wild & reckless. it’s cool that their parent is fenrir!
basics:
full name: answer
nicknames: answer
gender: answer
pronouns: here
sexuality: answer
aesthetics: answer (here’s my written aesthetics tag for inspiration)
age: answer
date of birth: answer
zodiac sign: answer
residence: answer (where does your muse live? an apartment, a condo, a house, etc. do they live with anyone else?)
occupation: answer
species: human? witch? werewolf? vampire? etc etc
main verse: slice of life? horror? supernatural? etc etc
appearance:
faceclaim: answer
voice claim: answer
height: answer
build: answer
eyes: answer (describe the colour/s, shape, etc)
hair: answer (describe the colour, length, texture, etc)
piercings: answer
tattoos: answer
other distinguishing features: answer
style: answer
personality:
traits: answer
labels / tropes: answer
mental health: answer
physical health: answer
likes: answer
dislikes answer
fears: answer
phobias: answer
hobbies: answer
skills: answer
quirks: answer
pet peeves: answer
faves:
ice cream flavour: answer
time of the day / night: answer
weather: answer
breakfast food: answer
dinner food: answer
colours: answer
songs: answer
other random stuff:
a cherished item: answer
first love: answer
usual mood: answer (i.e happy, bored, etc)
1 thing they want to do / experience before they die: answer
prguitarman
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
yousharknotpass
