"Several," Shadow replied, ducking underwater briefly after he spoke and surfacing, running his fingers through his azure hair. "I sincerely wish we could all agree on a place to go to while we're here...something we can all do together in public for a change. But I'm not sure what there is around here..."

He began to head back towards shore slowly. Léan and Kratos were usually the ones who gave him hell when he brought up doing something fun together in public.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Léan fixed him with a flat but curious stare, a single blonde eyebrow arched slightly. He spoke like he was annoyed, but his tone was laced with something akin to uncertainty...intrigue. He tended to shy away whenever his looks or anything even close to them was complimented.

Hebs whistled. That was going to take a while then if there were indeed several souvenir shops. Blinking when he'd heard what Shadow had said, he chuckled as he patted his back on the way and swam on ahead - faster. "That's for us to find out," he called out to Shadow before he got up to the shore, walked throughout the way dripping wet and grabbed the towels he'd brought for he and Shadow with that unused blanket mat.

He waited 'til Shadow was out of the waters to toss him his towel.

"It fits you," he told him, his gaze meeting Léan's own, "Makes you look more beautiful." Kratos seemed nonchalant when he'd said that and he'd turned his gaze back to the horizon. From where he was, he squinted but he could see the forms of Hebs and Shadow from the sea. "Do you not get compliments often?"

Shadow drifted lazily out of the water after Hebs and caught the towel that was thrown at him. He tried to dry off as quickly and subtly as he could, but he was already attracting stares from the people swimming closest to them...a small group of high school-aged girls. Shadow hated teenage girls. At shows, many teenage girls would flock towards him and very openly try to flirt. He preferred men in the first place, much more than women, so he just found this annoying...

Léan let out a huff of breath and folded his arms across his chest, staring off moodily to the side. "Often? Try every time we have a show..." he corrected, recalling a few unsatisfactory memories of what customers had said to him during shows in the past. "...Thank you for the compliments, I guess." The merman didn't care for being complimented on his looks. That could only bring more unsatisfying behavior forth from people he didn't want such behavior from.

The fact that he thanked Kratos meant he wasn't annoyed, no matter how annoyed he was trying to make himself look.

Hebs saw the looks the group of high school-aged girls were giving Shadow and he snickered in amusement. Reaching out to take the human's hand into his own, he threw the blanket over Shadow and led him back to their condominium. He had, of course, blatantly ignored the despising looks sent his way by the teenaged girls and he laughed as he slung his towel over his shoulder while he held the sunscreen with his other hand.

Kratos smiled at the other's gratitude. "You're welcome." He leaned the side of his head on the arm of the wheelchair and let out a deep breath as he touched the grass in front of him. It followed the form of his hand and turned brown under his fingers and he silently stared at it while he pulled his hand away. "Have you ever wanted to go around and see the world?" he asked as he looked at his palm and pursed his lips a little. His past wasn't well-known to anyone in the freak family.

Perhaps, not even Shadow since he tended to not have his mind flitter by his past so openly when he was around the guy. If there was one thing he hated, it was having his past known to anyone else but him.

Shadow grinned sheepishly once the girls were out of sight, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "...I figured I was going to attract some unwanted attention to myself sooner or later," he admitted, somewhat mournfully. "I'll wear my glasses on our walk..." He paused for a moment and then patted Hebs on the shoulder while he pulled the blanket more around him. "I'm going to go change, quickly..."

Léan watched the grass wither and die with ease underneath Kratos' fingers. There was a bit of concern on his face, and without thinking he stated simply, "You should ask Shadow to help you learn how to fully control that power of yours. Learn how to turn it on and off, in a way." He fell silent and pondered the other man's question. He hated traveling on land...and traveling in the ocean for a merman who had been captive for so long such as himself was an impossible dream...

"I don't like traveling. But I would like to see what's out there," he murmured, thoughtfully.

Hebs nodded at the pat on his shoulder and those words. "Could say the same for myself." He smiled and headed off to his room by the time they got back to their place and changed his clothes - one that was definitely going to cover almost all of him from head to toe: a hoodie, pants, shoes and a mouth and nose mask. He'd rather not have to answer the questions regarding face mask or some sort of shooting and he was some snake man. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, he yawned inside the mask and watched the humans swimming in the ocean from the porch, from where he was standing.

Kratos turned to look at Léan and he smiled. "I can control them," he told him, "I just wanted to see it." He wanted to see life dissipating from him as he touched them. When he'd heard his reply about traveling, he chuckled lightly. "That's conflicting."

Shadow had donned his glasses again. The clothing he had chosen, however, would attract a little bit of attention to him anyway. He was wearing a black tank top that had a deep V neckline, a pair of simple jeans, and his old black Converse sneakers. The shirt was what would be attracting stares...frankly, Shadow didn't care if people stared at something that wasn't his face. As long as all they did was stare, and they didn't try to touch...

Léan seemed to think that wasn't a very kind thing to do to the grass. But he didn't comment on it. Instead, he stretched himself out more in the chair, the fins on the sides of his head flaring out as he did so. "I guess it is."

He was running out of things to say. Mind you, he wasn't normally social...so it was to be expected. If he was willing to talk about it, his past would make for interesting conversation...but one had to walk on eggshells while trying to talk about it with him.

Gian had stirred awake by a faint shout from what he knew was a little girl. He groaned quietly and snuggled closer to Alfie while he let out another deep breath. It felt nice having to sleep someone. He'd missed this a lot.

It did attract Hebs. Sexually, too. That was bad. He made a face when he saw Shadow and he sighed as he pointed to the man's shirt. "Does it really have to go that deep?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows and looked at the other with his yellow-slitted pupils.

Neither was Kratos a normally social being. He looked back at Léan and raised his eyebrows a little. "Do you want to go back?" he asked, "It might be hotter later on."


[[ Wooo... short. -.- Sorry. x___x ]]

((It's fine!))

Alfie didn't wake up. But he did unconsciously cuddle closer to the human beside him, making a soft sighing sound in his sleep. His tail uncoiled slightly from around them both and went limp...a sign that he would be waking up in the next ten minutes.

Shadow chuckled, deeply. "I happen to like this shirt," he informed Hebs, matter-of-factly. "It's comfortable. I don't care how deep the neckline is..." He was noticing the look on Hebs' face...perhaps he was a little more attracted to him than was normal? Shadow was no stranger to attraction...he had had many lovers in the past. He was, however, flighty when it came to real feelings that came with attraction...as he'd said, he'd only ever loved once.

Léan blinked, glancing at him. He chewed on his lip and then sighed. "I suppose we could. I don't mind staying out longer...but we can go back."

Gian didn't want to wake up yet. He just stayed where he was. Though, after a few minutes had passed, he had opened his eyes to look at Alfie and smile at his sleeping face. That wasn't a stranger at least. He took his hand from around Alfie's waist to brush a few strands off from the other's hair before he'd looked at the tail of the other's around them. It really was strange but fascinating to realize that he had, indeed, just went further than a touch with a mutated naga. But, he wasn't sure if that fascination was with real feelings.

Hebs facepalmed. His cheeks were colored but he didn't berate Shadow for it. He was a big boy and he can take care of himself. "I'm not taking care of you if you get abducted and I find your clothes tattered." He gave a little laugh and shoved his hand back into his hoodie's pocket. "Come on." Shadow was a cool guy and Hebs saw a human side of him that he liked. As for real feelings, he'll just let time play its part. Though, on a side note, he's never really fallen in love with anyone.

Kratos saw him chewing his lip and he blinked a little. "No," he said with a smile, "We can continue staying out." Putting his hands on the ground behind him and leaning back, he enjoyed the cool, fresh air that passed by them again. He let silence play it's part again.

Alfie didn't mind 'friends with benefits,' or so he called it. Even though he had gone no farther than kisses with anyone, he'd kissed plenty of people with no strings attached. He didn't mind the idea of having someone to share his bed even if he was not in love with this person. As long as they cared for each other and were good friends he was fine with it. If there were feelings in the mix, he would let them evolve.

He stirred slightly when his hair was touched and cracked one of his eyes open. He looked very sleepy. "...Mm..."

Shadow grinned. "If I get abducted, there likely won't be a struggle...on my part, anyway." He let that mysterious statement hang in the air for only a second. "Let's go, then..." He made his way towards the door, waiting for Hebs to follow him. He was hoping to get some shopping done. Shopping was one of his guilty pleasures.

"As you wish." For the first time in quite a while, Léan seemed uncomfortable with the silence that was steadily growing between them. He usually preferred to keep his mouth shut and for others to keep their mouths shut...but this was different, and he didn't know why. That frustrated him, just a bit. Finally, he worked up the gall to say something.

"...You look like there's something you need to talk about with me," he said, flatly. He and Kratos tended to be nonchalant towards each other, whereas they both fought with the other members of their family. But he had never suggested going out together like this. So, he suspected something was on his mind.

Blinking at Alfie cracking an eye open, he grinned sheepishly and let it slide shut with his hand. "Go back to sleep," he mumbled, his cheeks coloring a tad. He actually thought Alfie looked good while he was watching him sleep. That was an eerie thought. He sounded like a stalker of the sorts. Slinging his arm again around Alfie, he shifted to rest the side of his head on the mutated naga's chest while he let his eyes slide shut, listening to the other's heartbeat while his hand slid down to Alfie's scaled hip to stroke it lightly with his thumb.

Hebs shook his head. "You really know how to turn me off," he said as he'd sprinted off after the tall man and pulled the mask down a bit to breathe over it. Looking around and noticing a few eyes specifically on Shadow, he internally grunted and took a few steps away from him while his eyes widened and sparkled at a few condiments' shop he saw along the way. He should go visit them without Shadow next time. Maybe, he could pick up some more of those baking ingredients he could use to experiment on desserts.

Kratos blinked again. "Is there?" he asked, not quite sure what the other meant. When he'd noted that what he did wasn't quite normal, he decided to break it off and sigh. "Well, there is one thing." The male was silent for a few minutes before he'd went on and asked:

"We don't have much to talk, do we?" If the answer there was no, Kratos wouldn't be sure how to approach the merman. After all, he wasn't sociable either. What's even stranger is that he's going out of his room to do this with the merman, which is greatly unusual.

"But I'm already up...and I'm hungry..." Alfie complained, though his eyelids drifted closed again. He reached an arm up and brought it heavily down upon the back of Gian's head to rest on it, sniffing slightly as he rested. He didn't mind the close contact between them--not at all. After all, he would often cuddle with Shadow when he wanted someone to cuddle with...

Shadow wrinkled his nose at him and made a 'hmph' sound. While they walked he ignored the eyes on him and paid attention to the shops they passed, as well as Hebs. He noticed his eyes lighting up but didn't catch what store he'd seen. He did perk up, however, when they passed a large souvenir shop. "How about this one?"

Léan's head-fins were still flared out...a sign he was taking caution. "...Do we have something to talk about?" he asked, biting the offered bait. He couldn't think of anything important that had come up between them lately...except perhaps those little touches--Kratos brushing his hair out of his face.

Gian chuckled at Alfie's complaint. "You're always hungry," he started before he'd smiled and shifted a little to rest his upper body against Alfie's own. "Maybe that's why Hebs like you when you're asleep the whole day. He says it saves money."

Hebs turned to look at the large souvenir shop and his eyes brightened. Literally. Like a child's. "Nice eyes, Shadow," he commended the man as he patted his back and took his hand to look left and right to cross the street. It was a habit he got taking care of Gian. Once they had crossed the road, he let go of Shadow's hand to get into the store and pulled up his mask again. His hair was still a mess over his eyes so it was fine that only some part of his skin could be seen.

"This is big," he mumbled under his breath as he started at the corner where the smaller stuffs were.

Kratos looked again at Léan. "That's why I'm asking. You... don't seem like you want me quiet." The man smiled slightly and he kept his gaze on the merman. "Do you have questions for me?"

"Like we have a lack of money..." Whenever their communal funds ran out, more money mysteriously appeared in it. Shadow was most likely the culprit. The man had been alive for so long that he had probably amassed a massive fortune. He didn't want to share it, though, because he wanted to keep it safe in case of emergency.

Alfie purred softly and lifted his head a bit to place a friendly kiss on Gian's cheek. "I don't feel like getting up yet...but I am hungry..."

Shadow didn't mind it when Hebs took his hand. In fact, he was a little disappointed when the younger male let it go. When they entered the store his eyes went immediately to the shells on sale. He didn't care for artificial shells, but he would often buy pretty real ones for Léan to use. Léan liked making jewelry.

"Shall we split up? I can find you if I need you..."

Léan's cheeks colored a slight pink and the frustration suddenly became evident in his expression. "...I don't even know," he grunted, wrapping his arms around himself. "You're the one who suggested we go out somewhere together. I assumed you had something to say."

Gian smiled at the kiss and he leaned in to press a kiss on Alfie's lips. "Let's get you something to eat then when you're ready to get up." Propping himself up on his elbow, he let his fingers thread through Alfie's hair and played with them. Alfie's hair was really... nice compared to his own.

Hebs turned to look over at Shadow and he let out a short, "Go ahead," and smiled. "Make sure to get pretty shells." Not that he needed to be reminded. This wouldn't be the first time Shadow would buy ones for Léan. Walking over to the corner, he started to look around, inspecting one and the other.

Kratos blinked again at the sight of that slight pink cheeks of Léan's. He hadn't expected it at all and he found himself laughing lightly. It was an oddly merry sound. Light but still merry. This was probably the first time Kratos had laughed. "Your tank," he started, "It must be boring staying in all the time so I thought why not we go out."

Alfie sighed and let his head rest on the pillow, still. He was feeling weary, still...those touches Gian was bestowing upon him weren't helping. His stomach was fighting with his laziness, and they were both powerful forces. After a while, his laziness won and he curled back up against Gian, yawning. "My hunger can wait..."

"I shall." Shadow flitted around the store and found only one shell that he knew would meet the merman's standards. He checked it out the moment he found it and then sought out Hebs, hoping to have company while they shopped now that he'd found what he was looking for. The shell was a pretty black scallop shell...a big one.

Léan was startled by the laughter coming from Kratos. It was rare to hear the other male laughing...it was a nice sound, he concluded quickly. He wouldn't mind hearing it again...certainly not. "...Oh. I see," he murmured, glancing back out over the ocean. A little part of him was nagging at him...but for what, he didn't know. He just felt there was something they needed to talk about...but for the life of him he didn't know what.

Gian chuckled at Alfie curling up against him and he stretched out his arm before he'd held his head to prop himself up. He continued playing with Alfie's hair and smiled. "You can be cute sometimes," he told him, leaning down just a bit as he watched him with a rather soft gaze.

Hebs blinked when Shadow had come back. He had also just picked out a few keychains and shell bracelets. They obviously looked fake but they were cheap, at least. He also found a couple of amusing toys that continued to jiggle for a few minutes after you jiggled it, a string that bounces back and forth, forward and back and one that gave a mirage of one being under the sea when one looked through it. Hebs could be a kid sometimes. "That's a pretty shell all right," he said when he'd seen what Shadow was holding and looked up at him, "There's no other real shells?"

Kratos nodded at the words the merman had murmured and he brought up a hand to rest on the side of his head. "Sorry." He was talking about him laughing so suddenly. He wasn't used to it and it made his jaw hurt. A lot.

((I need to go to bed--I'm falling asleep. Night!))

"Why, thanks...I try my best," Alfie teased, his gaze half-asleep and still hazy. He wasn't completely awake just yet. When Alfie was half-awake, he tended to let things slip that he wouldn't normally let slip. But he was doing a good job this time around...

Shadow smiled at Hebs, noting what he had chosen. He found it difficult to find people who could act like children and do so gracefully...Hebs was one of them. "There are others. But Léan is picky...so this is probably the only shell he will want to bother with..." He studied all that Hebs had. "Do you need money? I can pay for what you have..."

Léan blinked. "...About what? Laughing? You should laugh more often..." Léan was one to talk...he laughed, but his laughs were usually cold and sarcastic ones. It was rare to hear him actually laugh about something...

Gian hummed thoughtfully at the other's teasing words and he'd continued running his fingers through the other's soft hair. "Hey, do you have any secrets?" he asked as he tilted his head a bit and stroked Alfie's jaw with his thumb. He was just curious. He wasn't necessarily prying or anything.

"Ah, yeah," he said as he smiled up at Shadow, "I've got more than enough. These things are pretty cheap." Hebs would have had offered to pay for the shell, too, but he doubted it'd fit his budget and he'd hate having to take his word back. That, and Shadow was already kind enough to offer to pay what he'd gotten. The man went off to pay for what he'd gotten and he still had enough to get another thing, he got what looked like a dark scarf that would fit perfectly with Shadow. He had everything packed up but the dark scarf and he'd put this on around Shadow's neck and shoulders. "It's a souvenirs shop. Take it." His cheeks were a little colored as his eyes stuck to the scarf while he fixed it. The v-necked still bothered him.

"It'll keep you warm." Pausing for a second or two, he looked off to the side. "I'll wait for you outside." With that said and his cheeks still burning from the embarrasment for having to make excuses, he put the handle of the plastic bag around his arm and tucked his hands into his pockets.

Kratos was very much surprised but he'd overcome that surprise with a smile. "I'd like to hear you laugh, too... some time." He looked off to the horizon again, letting silence cut in between them for the umpteenth time. When it looked like he wasn't going to speak again, he asked a rather surprising question:

"What do you think of me, Léan?"

Alfie raised an eyebrow in Gian's direction at his rather strange question. "...Besides the fact that I have quite a few underlying fetishes? Nah, not really. It's kind of impossible to have secrets in this family because of Shadow, you know...?" Shadow knew all about most of Alfie's big fetishes, for example...he pried like it was his job to do so.

Shadow watched Hebs walk off to pay for what he'd chosen, a bemused smile on his face. He had a soft spot for Hebs, considering that out of their entire family he was actually the most 'normal,' in terms of how he behaved. Even Gian was a tad bit stranger than him personality-wise. When he noticed Hebs was returning with the scarf he'd purchased, he suddenly realized that he must have bought it for him. His suspicions were proved true when Hebs wrapped that scarf around his neck and shoulders...he didn't miss the other's embarrassed blush.

As Hebs left, Shadow smiled at him, even though he couldn't see it. He browsed around the store for a few more minutes and, finding nothing of value, he stepped outside to rejoin Hebs.

"I don't think it's possible for me to laugh anymore." It was a dark statement, and mostly true. Léan, to the knowledge of everyone here but Shadow, was a very cold and humorless person. The new spell of silence that dragged on frustrated the merman even more than it had the past few times. Of course, this frustration drove him insane. He couldn't figure out why he didn't want the silence to continue--he loved it when it was quiet.

His raging, sour thoughts were abruptly interrupted by what Kratos asked him. His head snapped around so that he was facing him--he looked quite like a startled fawn. That vulnerability, which was rare to see in the merman, was quickly replaced with a mock-offended look. "...You don't annoy me," he said, simply. His tone was strained...he had more to say, obviously--he wasn't even fooling himself.

Gian hummed thoughtfully but he still looked curious. "What are your fetishes, Alfie?" He didn't exactly have one so to hear that someone else had one made him wonder. Did the other freaks have fetishes, too? Somehow, it was wrong to think of that for Kratos and Léan...

Hebs was trying to calm his cheeks while he was out and he watched a few people who passed by and gave him an odd stare. He didn't pay it any mind and waited for Shadow to come out. When he did, he noted Shadow looked a lot more like an actor of the sorts and he couldn't help but snicker. "You should try out for an actor," he said as he nudged him a little at the side with his elbow to walk on ahead at a slow pace.

Léan's tone seemed strained but he didn't question him. In fact, he remained quiet as he thought about his past answer. Not possible to laugh anymore? Preposterous. Even those with the worst of pasts can still laugh. At least, Kratos will try to have that happen.

"Well, if you must know...I have a thing for being tied up. I also have a thing for being roughed up. Kind of like...someone pretending to rape me or somethin'. There's more, but those are the two strongest ones. I've got a sick mind, haha..." Alfie chuckled, curling his tail more around Gian to tug him closer. He liked to snuggle...

Shadow caught up with Hebs at once. He still had the remnants of that wild blush on his cheeks... "I can act. But I'd rather not put myself in the spotlight. It is not wise to do that when you're a being such as myself, hmm? After all, humans are not immortal..." If he grew famous and years passed where he just didn't age...people would grow highly suspicious of him.

Léan was once again very frustrated with the silence occurring between them. It was apparent on his face, even. Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He gripped the arm-rests of the wheelchair and muttered, lowly, "...I will mirror your question. What...what do you think of me?" he asked, having to practically force it out of his throat.

Gian quirked a brow and snickered as he snuggled the other, his arms wrapping around the other as he laid back down on the bed. He mumbled a short, "Maybe, when you're up for it, we can do your fetishes on of these days." He was just putting that out. There is a possibility of them experiencing things together, isn't there?

Hebs stopped for a moment and let out a grunt. "Well, if you weren't inhuman... what are you anyway?" he asked as he moved closer to Shadow when an old couple had passed by. He had also pulled the mask up a bit higher as he moved his gaze away from their curious looks.

Kratos was surprised the merman had even asked that question. He blinked, wide-eyed at Léan. "I... you're beautiful," he started, a small smile gracing his lips, "And, you're not annoying either." Kratos' smile disappeared, though, as he moved his gaze out back to the horizon. "I like your company better than any of the freaks amongst us."

"I'd like that. However, if you're going to try that second fetish...it'd be best to catch me completely off-guard. Just jump me or something, heh. Even if I do protest, it's not real protest..." Alfie was totally ready to just fall back asleep again despite the complaining of his stomach. He was quite comfortable just laying here, all tangled up with Gian.

Shadow wrapped an arm around Hebs' shoulder, in a friendly manner, as they walked. He had slightly cool skin. "...I should not tell you. Not in public, anyway," he admitted, glancing around warily as if he thought someone might be listening in. "I'm not human, of course. Not at all. I am indeed something else...something not of this world. But I will tell you later, when we're alone and not surrounded by people."

Léan's tail, though it was tied up, began to twitch and lightly struggle against its bindings. It was aching to swish back and forth like it always did when he was angry, upset, or very anxious. The beautiful comment he had been expecting...merpeople were enchantingly beautiful to start with, anyway. He wasn't expecting his last two comments.

"...How am I not irritating?" he asked, nonplussed. "I'm the epitome of a bitter old man. I'm antisocial. My words are very cutting..."