Taras Koval

@taras-koval

150| Merman | Slave | Bottom

865 posts

Vitaly was aware of Taras. He was one of those people that had been in the castle for so long, Vitaly didn't even ask why he was skulking about. Picking up a bin of meds, he handed it to the other. "If you don't be at least soft spoken, I knock out. You can spend night in infirmary with big boo boo. Sort, please. By name." He muttered as he went back to the shelves. "Is chaos in here. Absolutely annoying." The thick accent laced with irritation as he went back to the sorting he was now hell bent on finishing.

"Sort, by name, got it!" The merman gave a quick salute and began looking around for what he was meant to be sorting. What he wanted was to be useful so he didn't have to go back to the cells. "How'd it become so chaotic?" he asked, unable to just silently do his work. He wanted to know things.

"Ah, Taras, pleasure to finally meet the real you," Khion said, grinning wider now that he could properly place a face to the name of the man he'd met during Spring Mischief. "I probably should've guessed that considering you're the only one hanging out in a fountain. How's your night going?"

"Nice to meet you too. With my real face." For him, nothing had changed, but he wanted to acknowledge their first real meeting. Being someone else was hard. "I don't know why more people don't come here. It's really fun, but if no one else is in the fountain, there's more room for me." He thought for a moment, drawing his finger along the surface of the water. "It's been good. I've been trying to splash people."

He would be advocating, heavily for the spot of head doctor back. Vitaly wasn't exactly kind and didn't have the best bedside manner but the stock room looked like hell. Banging could be heard from it as he began rearranging the items to best suit his need. He'd gone only to become a better doctor, to improve his techniques. A small tour of the mayo clinic's specialty burn unit. When he returned, informed his position had been taken over, he wasn't hurt. But he sure as hell wasn't thrilled he'd have to answer to someone else. Chucking out useless items into a tote to take to the village later, Vitaly muttered under his breath. He heard steps approach the door and turned, still mildly irritated. "Da? You need help? We have nurses for reason. Go see one of them. This may take time." Though he wore a white coat, his gaze, tattoos, and demeanors left no room to debate that Vitaly wasn't feeling welcoming.

@krovscastlestarters

Taras wasn't really sure what he was doing or why, but he wanted to sneak around and see if he could avoid the guards for a little while longer. "Can I stay in here?" he asked, poking his head in. "I'll be helpful and quiet, I promise. Okay, not I won't be quiet, but I can definitely be helpful!"

Hovering near the door, he waited a moment, then slipped inside, looking around the room.

"Ah, Taras, pleasure to finally meet the real you," Khion said, grinning wider now that he could properly place a face to the name of the man he'd met during Spring Mischief. "I probably should've guessed that considering you're the only one hanging out in a fountain. How's your night going?"

The merman waved again, pleased. "I like being in my own body. I know how this one works." Well, more or less. He didn't think he would ever get used to legs. "No idea why more people don't hang out here. It's a good place! You should come in and swim with me! My night would go much better."

"Maybe..." Khion said slowly, still racking his impaired memory and not getting very far with the alcohol and drugs currently affecting him. "What'd you say your name was?"

"Taras," the merman beamed, "we can try the whole introduction thing again now that I actually look like myself." Being someone else had been fun, but he liked his own body much more, probably because he was used to it.

buryyourboness-deactivated20260

Holland laughed, watching Taras with a spark of excitement in his eyes as he listened. “A bigger pool would be amazing! Just imagine the laps you could do! I bet the masters have something huge, probably with waterfalls or fancy fountains. But we just get to see the inside of the same four walls most of the time. Doesn’t seem fair, right?” He sighed, looking wistfully at the water, his fingers skimming the surface. "I’d give anything for a chance to just run around until I’m too tired to think."

“Cards, though? I’ve only ever tried, you know, shuffling a bit. Not much else. But I’d be up for learning tricks!” His ears perked at the idea of going to town. “I didn’t know we could do that. I thought we were, I dunno, stuck here forever. Working sounds… kinda freeing, actually.” His gaze softened, an almost dreamy look passing over his face before he shrugged it off.

He swished his hand through the water absentmindedly. "But, yeah, swimming… maybe I could give it a go with you. I’m not too great with patterns," he chuckled, "but I can try. It's kind of like running..." He paused, glancing over his shoulder, half-expecting a guard to tell them to stop daydreaming. "Maybe I’ll stop feeling like I’m sinking every time I try." Holland said with a grin, wading in a little deeper. “Think I’ll be as fast as you someday?” He tilted his head, his hand flicking up a playful spray of water as he added, “Maybe I’ll even beat you in a race one day!”

"They probably do," the merman grinned, "but we're never going to see it so we just have to pretend this pool is way bigger than it is!" He was pretty good at imagination, in his opinion anyway. Thinking about what he didn't have was just sad, but he could pretend for a while and make himself happier. "Seems like they're the ones in charge," he shrugged, "people at the top always get the best stuff."

"Working is really fun!" Maybe some people thought jobs were boring, but when the choice was sitting in a cell all day or going out and talking to people, Taras would take the second option anytime. "I bet you could find someone in town willing to hire you. Just be friendly and one of the masters or villagers might ask you to help out."

He giggled as the spray of water, sending a big splash right back. "I can try to help you learn to swim. It's hard without a tail, though not too bad." His grin turned mischievous. "No one can beat a merman in the water, but you can try."

Khion raised a brow at the sound of his name, looking around for whoever it might. He saw someone... in a fountain? Waving at him. In the middle of town. Odd. He slung the bat as part of his Harley Quinn costume over his shoulder, curiosity daring the pamola to approach the other slave. "I don't think that water is meant for swimming there, my dude," he said, grinning crookedly. "Do I know you?"

What was the other talking about? Of course they knew one another! Hm... Taras shrugged, then ducked down under the water. After a few moments, he jumped back up, laughing. "It's a big amount of water and therefore, it's a big place for swimming." He paused, thinking. "Oh! I looked different before. I think I was someone else last time we met." Did that make sense?

@icebird-khion

Being in town for a little while was great! He wasn't really sure about the costume, but whatever. As long as he got to be outside, he would wear whatever the castle wanted him to. Still, he wasn't really sure what dragons had to do with donkeys... Oh well.

Popping out of the water for the fourth or fifth time, he looked around those mingling and spotted a familiar face. Immediately, he began waving. "Khion! Khion!"

Taras' assigned halloween costume

Taras: They said because I was a donkey last year, I have to be a dragon this year. I don't get it...

#krovscastleevent

"Not quite." Adrasia did snort out a laugh at that not entirely unpredictable question. "It's... difficult to explain. Nowhere I could show you on a map. My home is not really of this earth, much like the fae and their realm." Closed forever now. How much of a conception did the mer have of the other species, in their vast kingdoms below the water? The celestial had no idea. Taras' optimism about his situation seemed firmly fixed in place regardless and Adrasia was warmed by that. "I'll look forward to seeing it, then. There is a certain beauty in the snow."

The merman's head tilted in confusion. What did any of that mean? Oh! Like the fae! Taras knew very little about them, but that made sense. "I learned a bit about them, not much. They didn't come down into the water very often." Thinking about it, mermen were a rather solitary species. Under water, it was just them and the various sea creatures. And submarines. "There's usually a big festival here around that time. I don't know if we'll be let out for that, but usually we can participate a bit."

Adrasia stalled a bit, making a noncommittal noise as he weighed his words, not exactly sure how much he could really explain about home. "Above," He said eventually with a sheepish shrug, which wasn't even totally correct and nowhere close to enough for a real explanation, "Very different from here. 'Weather', in general, was a bit of an abstract concept..." Taras' excitement at the mention of snow did get a laugh from the celestial, "Do you? I might have assumed the opposite, but I wager cold is no issue for you now that I think of it."

Above? For the merman, land had once been 'above', now, he guessed, maybe that meant the sky? Had Adrasia come from the sky?! "Do you live on top of clouds? Is that why the weather is different?" Cold wasn't really a problem. Most of the ocean was extremely cold, being so far away from the sun. "Winter is nice. When I go outside, I like making snow-rays, no, um, snow angels!" Thinking of his arms as 'wings' still confused the merman. To Taras, they looked more like the flaps of a sting ray.

"You'd be surprised what you might get just by asking for it. At least, if you choose the right person." Adrasia couldn't help but smile faintly, thinking of that first interaction with Manny when the guard had offered so genuinely to fetch water or blankets or another small comfort for a slave. "Some of the staff here could nearly be called generous." The second question brought a brief pause, the celestial flicking through very, very old memories. "I didn't even know to seek shelter," Adrasia said finally, his own laugh sheepish, "I thought that was simply how things would be, for days, maybe weeks. Imagine my surprise when less than an hour passed before the sun reappeared." He paused for a moment, smile growing, "It was a warm, summer rain. I didn't realize there was any other kind for a long while. Then -- snow."

Hm...he paused, thinking about how he might get one of the masters or guards to give him some sunglasses. If he was cute enough, he might be able to sweet talk his way into a pair or maybe he could be fast enough to grab them without anyone noticing. "You didn't?!" he gasped. "Where were you before that you'd never had to hide from the weather?" Under the water, he knew to stay away from the surface when the currents were too strong and he guessed that was similar to land creatures knowing to hide from the rain. "Snow is amazing! I love it!"

"Should be easy enough to find in a place like this," Adrasia said agreeably, "The undead certainly don't find the sun a friend any more than you do, even with their magical baubles." He leaned back against the couch with a smile small as Taras grew more passionate about the topic, just happy for the moment to take this conversation for the harmless distraction that it was, "Just as the ocean does, hm?" The celestial teased, "Though I catch your point. I was shocked by my first storm, how ferociously it could come on and then leave utter peace behind. Only the wetness of the earth would tell you anything had happened at all."

"You think I could grab some without getting in trouble?" he asked, tilting his head. Hm, maybe not. The masters and guards were really protective of their stuff and he didn't want to lose his pool time. "Ocean does?" The merman blinked, confused for a moment, then laughed as he remembered that others found the ocean unpredictable. "Mermen know where to be when things look like they're going to go wrong. What was your first storm like? When the rain came for the first time, I wondered where all the water went after it stopped."

buryyourboness-deactivated20260

Holland tilted his head, considering Taras' question about swimming. "I can swim a bit," he admitted, his voice casual, though his posture stiffened slightly. "Not as much as you, I bet." He tried to shrug off the discomfort, the thought of water conjuring up memories of freedom, cool streams, and ponds where he used to run and splash. "Do I not like water?" He laughed softly. "I don't mind it. It's just… different now, you know? I don't think about swimming as much these days." The strain in his joints often made the idea of diving into water more of a challenge than a joy, though he didn't share that.

Holland caught the sadness in the other slave's eyes, and something stirred inside him—empathy. "I get it," he murmured, his gaze softening as he imagined the wide-open sea. "I miss the open spaces too. It’s not the same here, all cooped up." He murmured, looking around them. An indoor pool paled in comparison to any large body of water he had seen.

He chuckled at the eleven-day remark. "Eleven days, huh? I’ll hold you to that. But, maybe I'm just a slow learner?" His smile was teasing, though there was a hint of truth beneath it. His ears perked up at Taras' question, his brow knitting as he tried to picture the two playing cards. "Just don't seem like the type. Usually it's old, rich, two-leggeds that play that..." His nose twitched, curiosity taking over. "That's allowed?" His puzzlement returned, though it was laced with a touch of wariness. "I'm sorry that happened..." He murmured softly, recalling that is what two-leggeds said in these moments. Brightening after a moment he bit his lip, pale eyes looking at the merman curiously. "I would swim better if I knew how to move in this body. You make it look easy."

"Well, yea, not as much as me," Taras laughed, "mermen are the best swimmers! But it's okay. I can't walk very fast." Even after being on land for so long, he had issues staying upright for long periods of time. His time working in Emerson's shop had certainly helped, but he had spent small chunks of time leaning against the counter when there was no one in the store. "Why not? Swimming is great! More people should do it!" That would give him more people to play with, although the guards probably wouldn't let it happen. Taras needed the water or he would be useless to the vampires. Other species didn't have the problem.

"Right, they keep us all in such small places. I wouldn't mind as much if we got to run around. They need to put in a bigger pool. Do you think the masters have a giant one? I bet they do and we're just not allowed to use it." His cheeks puffed up in a pout and he rolled his eyes before ducking under the water for a few seconds.

"Cards are fun if you stack them up or do tricks," he hummed as he broke the surface. The merman nodded. "If someone claims you, you can go work in the town for them. It's not the same as buying and I'm not really sure of the difference, but yea, you can go work."

"I can teach you if you want. It's not too hard, mostly just a pattern of doing the same movements again and again, like walking, I guess. Once you know the pattern, you stop thinking about it."

"It's not so bad," Adrasia replied mildly, trying not to titter at the merman's genuine indignation, "Most people up here would find the idea of swimming everywhere exhausting." He certainly had no rebuttal to the matter of light, but perhaps a celestial of all creatures was not the one to act like everyone should be as capable as he of simply enduring it. "The weather was the strangest part for me. Rain turning to sun to wind to rain again in barely any time at all -- not to even speak of how quickly seasons come on."

"It's not so tiring when you're built for it. Humans think walking is easy, but it's so hard!" He rolled his eyes, cheeks puffing out as he kicked his legs under the table. "Maybe I can find some sunglasses to solve the problem..." he mused, trailing off as he thought about where he would get some sunglasses. "It's so random!" His eyes widened as he began to talk about the weather. "The clouds just do what they want whenever they want!"

#convo adrasia #sorry gifs are being rude

buryyourboness-deactivated20260

The collie shivered as the cool water hit his skin, but the sensation was oddly refreshing. He waded in awkwardly, trying to find balance as his arms splashed about, sending little ripples across the surface. His lips curled into a sheepish smile when he saw Taras’ delight. "Water’s fun for you, maybe," he joked lightly, his tone still laced with apprehension. As his body adjusted to the coolness of the pool, Holland found himself relaxing.

"Better than sitting around, sure. But still… not my natural habitat." Holland muttered, relaxing slightly as he watched the merman float nearby. His joints ached a little, but the water seemed to ease some of the tension, and that alone made him more grateful to be in here than sitting alone on the edge. "Get used to it?" He mused, cocking his head. That statement was hard to believe.

Holland’s brows raised at the mention of Adrasia. “Card tricks? Huh, didn’t think he’d be the type for that,” he mused aloud, the mental image of Adrasia shuffling cards bringing a soft chuckle to his lips. His gaze drifted toward Taras as he pouted, sensing the mischief hiding beneath the surface. “Exploring sounds like fun. But what’s stopping you from going to the village now?”

"Can you swim? At all?" Water was the best thing in the world, especially when there was lots of it. As long as he could swim, he was happy, even it was only for a little while. "Do you not like water? I always want to swim." The merman knew he was babbling but didn't care.

For a moment, a slight hint of sadness crept into his eyes. If he thought too hard, he truly did miss the ocean and the wide open space that came with it. A pool or fountain, even a lake, wasn't the same as having the entire world to explore. "Yea. I heard a long time ago that it takes eleven days to get used to something so if you've been here for a few, you've probably got less than a week."

"Really? Why? He came into the common room and we talked a bit." Seeing the pout, his grin grew wider. "Well, I used to work there, but I haven't seen the shop owner in a long time so I got dumped back in the castle."

Adrasia smiled back a bit at that, amused and unsure all at once of how to take it but nevertheless heartened, always, to think some kind of life was going on untouched by the madness that surrounded them. By that answer though, did that make Taras' exploits more or less in line with other merpeople? The celestial remained not totally certain what to think. "I can hardly imagine how different life here must seem to you. I found human habits strange enough myself at first, and I didn't even need to adapt to leaving a whole ocean behind."

"Yea... I can tell you walking is absolutely awful. How do you land things do it?! It's so much work. One foot, other foot, one foot, other foot. You have to think about every step!" Having one tail was definitely easier. Even after so long above the waves, Taras still sometimes tripped over his feet. "It's dark too, if you go deep enough. Really dark. The light up here hurts sometimes."

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