The Dressup Game: Chapter 1

The Lua's Love Day celebration blazed through the whole of Aquella like wildfire - every species had their own way of celebrating it, every tribe had their own customs that were unique to them. It was a lovely day, really, making Nerissa's adventurous heart soar, and even her little brother, Eloh, didn't need quite as much coaxing as usual to go with his sister and join the festivities. They got to meet foreigners, even! Another abyssal, the two-headed female who introduced herself as Acacia, came not from the depths of the sea but from the north, the far, icy waters that in all honesty made even Rissa shiver at the thought. She didn't want to imagine what it would be like to live in such cold waters, or how other abyssals could do it.

"Do you have any customs up in the north?" she found herself inquiring. The two-headed aqrion might have been off-putting for some, and indeed, Eloh always positioned himself to have Rissa between himself and Acacia, but Rissa herself didn't mind. Acacia seemed nice enough, giving off a very cheerful and upbeat vibe that attracted Rissa like the light of anglerfish attracted little dumb fish in the deep. She seemed like an adventurous spirit after her own heart.

"Well, those with the ability, physical or magical, carve ice statues to impress their beloved. Usually small ones, trinkets, that can be preserved in the cold water to last for quite a while. Pairs who have been together for really, really long, make very big and elaborate pieces," Acacia recalled with a wistful look on her face.

"If it's so good for you in the north, what are you doing here?" came a cold voice, startling the trio. Turning there, they saw that a skimmer joined them, one with all kinds of golden colors on her body. Nerissa groaned inwardly as she recognized Nubia, though they didn't know each other personally - Nubia came from a family of skimmers who thought they were some kind of royalty, and treated everyone like they were below them. Nubia was young, but the stuck-up tendencies were already very strong in her.

"I wanted to see other cultures, and how they celebrate Lua," Acacia answered, turning to Nubia like the skimmer hadn't talked in a sour manner to her. It seemed to Rissa that Acacia's way of operating was ignoring Nubia's temper, and she wondered if it would work.

Acacia introduced herself and her companions to Nubia, but to that, the skimmer only scoffed.

"I know of you for sure,"she gestured towards Nerissa and Eloh. Eloh shifted uncomfortably, and Nerissa's lip twitched as she longed to show some teeth at Nubia. Maybe even sink them into her royal behind. Not everyone could be so up on the high seahorse, and Rissa never understood why she was looked down on because of her adventures. She was at least original. And singling her little brother out just because he faithfully followed her was outright rude.

"What do you have on you?" Acacia asked, breaking the tension as she positioned herself between Nerissa and Nubia. Indeed, the two young abyssals noticed, the skimmer was wearing flowers, pieces of coral, and rare, colored seaweeds that weren't easy to find. Anyone else would've looked ridiculous, but with her attitude, she pulled it off.

"I have ornamented myself to attract a mate. Something that you better learn in time, little abyssals, or you might stay alone and lonely for the rest of your lives," Nubia told them.

"But aren't you too young to find a mate?" Eloh found himself asking before he thought better of it. Nubia's attention snapped to him, and Nerissa let out a low hiss in warning. She wouldn't shy away from Nubia provoking a fight, but she's rather the skimmer provoked her and not her brother. Eloh wasn't cut out for fighting, he was a nice aqrion, but for some reason everyone tried to pick on him and not on the actual muscle of the two.

"Well, everyone has to start somewhere," Nubia replied, seemingly without having noticed Rissa's preparation for a possible fight. It was peculiar - the skimmer seemed offended at random things, and others that might've been offensive didn't faze her at all.

"It seems to me you already have some experience with this custom - would you mind helping the rest of us get dressed up? I'm sure we could use your help," Acacia, again, dissolved the tension. Rissa didn't like the part where Nubia's help was asked, but the skimmer seemed pleased both by the idea and the praise.

"Well, then. Go find things that have meaning to you, grasses, flowers, pebbles, even shells, and we will go from there," Nubia instructed them. The trio took off while Nubia did whatever she did in the meantime and went to gather whatever struck their fancy, chatting some more on the way. Acacia has talked about her homeland, the ice, the creatures that lived there, and Nerissa told her of their own adventures. Even Eloh warmed up to the other abyssal and joined in on the talk, even going as far as telling some stories himself. Rissa was glad to see her little brother open up to a new aqrion.

At the end of their search, the two females gathered flowers and seaweeds - they couldn't find the rare colored ones, so they had to do with the regular green ones. Eloh came back with a lot of sea urchin spikes and shells, something that Rissa told him off for, but he was insistent that he indeed wanted to wear the spikes all over himself. They went back to Nubia, who seemed to have passed the time by putting together a crown of shells, proudly wearing it on her head.

"Well, these won't be too elaborate, but I guess they will do for you common folk," she approved of their choices, though she did frown at Eloh's collection of spikes and shells, but for some reason left it without a comment. She went on to show how the seaweed could be used to attach the flowers and shells in the easiest way possible so they wouldn't fall off when they swam around or even did acrobatic moves, and by the end of it, the three abyssals were pretty much dressed up.

Acacia had a shell necklace adorned with flowers for each of her heads, and strung some flowers and seaweeds all over her body. Nerissa looked no less adorned or ridiculous. Eloh was similarly dressed up, but instead of flowers he had bits of shells and spikes, and didn't look cuddly at all.

"I hope you look as ridiculous as you feel," Nubia commented at the sight of them and let out a giggle. Acacia gave no mind to the comment, Eloh seemed uncomfortable, and Rissa only glared daggers at the skimmer, figuring that being dressed up nicely wouldn't go well with murder. That, plus she still had a few years to grow before she could comfortably take on anyone. She sincerely hoped Nubia would have the sense to avoid her one she grew bigger than the skimmer.

"It's a lovely custom," Acacia spoke up before Rissa and Nubia had the opportunity to size each other up again. Eloh, now comfortable with Acacia, voiced his agreement with her.

"I'm sure with a few more spikes in a few years I will look good enough for a female!" he mused out loud. Nubia rolled her eyes and now that she finished educating the peasants, said her goodbyes and swam away. The three abyssals looked after her a little while, then decided to focus on the rest of the day and now in their new, pretty garments, joined the other festivities of Lua.