Taunting Tides [Queen of the Paddling Pool/Irvine]

"Hey!" She'd exclaim as she swam towards the guy, an annoyed yet for now still playful look on her face. "My namez Lunairllie. Orz Luna for shortz. Addrezz me az such!" The act of being called anything other than what she wanted people to call her had always annoyed Luna, and she was aware some stupid mortals took that to their advantage, she hated those mortals. Often she didn't give as much of a chance at redemption as she was here, though this guy seemed more playful than actually trying to flat out insult her. For now at least, and again Zako seemed to know him in one way or another so. She'd grin defiantly. "Don'tz worry. I wontz let you getz me next timez!"

As the shark like creature approached too, he'd push his board in Luna's direction so that she had a place to sit to before hefting his way up onto the side of the disc where the guy had patted with a rather sheepish look. "Heh. Thanks." Zako would look between the guy and Luna then back again a few times. There was no doubt he looked at least a little worried that this interaction wasn't going to go well. Though sometimes simply the best way to keep Luna calm about someone was to show he trusted them first, so, instead of letting an argument break out as would usually happen he'd try to change the subject as soon as possible. "So, uh, explain again. Cause it was kinda hard to hear you with the wave and the wind up there before. How were you managing to make all that happen? It's a pretty awesome thing to be able to do, can't say I'm not a little jealous."

"Sure, suuure. Whatever you say, Lunes." Irvine rolls his eyes. This one had quite the opinion of herself, didn't she? Bossy little thing. It'd be absolutely infuriating if it wasn't for the fact he just imagined a small child whenever she spoke.
Maybe keep that one to himself, for now.
Irvine sends a grin Luna's way. "Cocky, aren't you! Don't worry, I won't make it easy for you. You wouldn't be much of a Queen if a little effort was all it took to deal with you!"

Oh? It seemed Zako there was still confused.
Beautiful.
He wasn't surprised, he never said anything outright, but waiting for the moment where they figured things out by themselves was half the fun! Would be any good to just tell him. He just had to keep dropping hints and making allusions. "Told you! Got some friends to help. Look, there's one there, and there, and there, and there..." He'd point out in seemingly random directions, to things he could see but that Zako was never going to have any chance to. "Hell, one of them's sitting right next to you."
It was that moment a light gust blew into Zako's ear, like a breath from someone leaning in close.
He'd not see anything if he looked, though.

"Tss." Luna would hiss towards the guy, a defiant grin on her face as her eyes seemed to light up at the offer of a challenge. "Aha! Worryz not, the Great Dragonz of the Sea will showz you exactly whyz she is the Sea Queen. Though you bestz not be lying neitherz. Alwayz such a shamez when someone promisez me a good fightz just to be smushed into the sandz like little antz." The dragon would add, rocking back and forth on the board she was sitting on excitedly, first hand she'd seen some of the strange things the guy could do. It would be interesting to see them further, and to shove his words down his stupid throat!

"Uhh...?" Zako would look in the directions his surfing buddy was pointing, unsure if the guy was crazy or if he was just missing something really obvious. "Is, uh... Are they like, gh-GAHH!" The shark would freak out and fall off of the disc backwards as some unknown presence blew on his ear. He'd resurface after a moment with a displeased look on his face as Luna burst out laughing, almost falling off her board herself. "Yhmm, yeah, yeah. Very funny. That's real creepy you know, are... Are they actual ghosts or are you just pulling my tail here?" The purple scaled creature would ask, unsure if he actually wanted to pull himself back up onto the disc or not.

"You better. I'm going to be very disappointed if I can get away with doing the same thing over and over until the guys get tired." He laughs. "Wouldn't THAT be a disappointment, if you couldn't get past something you'd seen a thousand times?"
Ohhh, she had spirit. But it wasn't going to do her any good if she couldn't adapt. Even if he got blasted at the end of it all, it'd be his win if he actually did that.

Irvine snickers as Zako tumbles off of the disk, only to grin wide at his following question.


"Give the guy a prize, he finally got it! Took you long enough, buddy!" Spectral laughter erupts from around Irvine, unheard by the shark's ears. "Yuuuup. Real deal. I swear, it was weird getting used to the fact you don't have spirits everywhere doing stuff when I got here. Really not much of a spectral presence here. And it gets boring for them with so little to do."
He shrugs. "Might be creepy for you, but this has been my life since I was born. I'd appreciate it if you didn't call them that, though. They might not understand a word you're saying, but I damn well can, and they understand me."

"Woah, that's... Kinda insane if you are telling the truth. Honestly, never really knew if such things existed. Well, beyond the strange life that Junction brings about. Though those ones you can see. More so meant the ones that, ya know, hide in plain sight." The shark would continue to swim over towards his board and join Luna sitting atop it. Not really trying to be disrespectful, or ya know, wasn't like he was scared of the guy or anything. Don't be ridiculous, he just felt, uh, like he should be in a better position to look after Luna better. Y-yeah. We'll go with that.

Luna on the other hand would raise her head upwards and listen closely, as faint as it was she could of sworn she heard something else around as the others were talking. Though she wasn't paying full attention to it at the time to be completely sure. Strange. "Of course ghostz exist, whatz you think happenz to the mortalz after their bodiez frizzle out and diez? You joinz the immortal realmz! Though, cause they only hadz puny mortal soulz, they can't interact with the real worldz anymore. Not likez I can." The dragon would gloat, lightly punching Zako in the arm as she teased him. "Yet if what thiz man sayz is true. No mortal eyez should be able to see the spiritz that linger... So whatz are you? What even was thiz guys name again?"

"They're not hiding just because you can't see 'em, you know. It help if you get to see one?" He stands up on the the disc and gestures to an empty section. "Say hello to Montgomery!"
For all the theatrics, nothing seems to...
No. Wait.
There's a skeleton coming out.
A skeleton made of stone.
The disc thins a little as its body is use to build the body of 'Montgomery', who then proceeds to sit up and wave with bony fingers as he pulls himself out of the disc. One hand reaches inside the stone again...and he pulls out a top hat to put on.
Irvine grins wide, eagerly awaiting the reaction from Zako. "Please direct any and all questions through me first, since he still can't hear you."

He points to Luna with a flourish as she confirms what he was saying. "Attagirl! Looks like someone gets it!" He turns her way, putting his hands in his pocket.


"Can't say anything about an immortal realm, back home people just stuck around like Montgomery here-" He nods sideways to the skeleton, who was currently working on a mask with which to pull faces at Zako. "-to help out around the place. Guess it helps that they do more than most spirits outside Charnel can do without a body."
Irvine smirks. "As for me, well...don't know what you'd call it..." A black haze emanates out from Irvine as the black on his left hand starts to crawl and expand over his skin, creating a black silhoutte behind him that was sort of shaped like him, only better shaped for cruel things. "...but I'm more spirited than most people back home. Had to be to keep in contact with these guys."

He leans forward, shadow moving with him, harsh yellow eyes fixed solidly on Luna. "I'm Irvine. Back home a Manesite, link between live and dead, and here one of the owners of the best damn restaurant you'll have the pleasure of eating at." There's a strange glint to his eye. "And how about you...? You're an interesting one, aren't you? Fancy yourself an immortal soul?"

"Well isn't that amusing?"

"What say you little dragon, prideful and arrogant?"

"Can you hear our voices?"

With a nervous chuckle, Zako would fidget in his seat uncomfortably as he'd slowly inch his way closer towards Luna. "H-hey...?" The shark would say timidly, raising one hand to give a small wave that was accompanied by a forced smile. M-man, here he was trying to protect Luna and keep her from going off and now he was the one trying to use her as cover for something instead...

"Montgomery?" The dragon would question, raising an eye at the strange thing that had appeared out of the guys disc. "Whatz a skeleton needz a top hatz for. Also whyz he made of stonez? Iz your skeleton madez of stonez? Thaz weird." Luna would think it over for a moment before shrugging, all the people around here were weird, and if this really was some ghost that probably wasn't his own body anyway. This guy could clearly do stuff with ghosts in some way or another, somehow.

"Yez, an immortal realmz. Technically any place couldz be an immortal realmz, the realm iz just an alternate version of realityz. Whatz I'm saying iz that most people get lostz in the immortalz realm foreverz. Only very special peoplez getz to live on in the realm ofz the living truly." The red scaled reptile would continue, kicking her feet in the water as she talked, creating small splashes as she started to become restless. "So youz are in betweenz a guy withz a body and a spiritz? That mean you died beforez? Orz you just possessed? Unlezz thaz just what you're peoplez were like."

Not intimidated by the guy leaning closer towards her, Luna would return the stare, the green shine of her iris seemingly overlapping the red of the rest of her eye for a moment. Zako on the other hand would look away nervously. "Hmph. Seenz plenty of dead soulz before Iz found Junction. Most werez pathetic and just moanz all the time, so I tendz to tune them out when they were aroundz." The dragon would smirk, the sun reflecting strangely off of her eyes as she unblinkingly kept her gaze locked to Irvine. "I saidz before. I'm Lunairllie, Iz was reborn in the immortal realmz as a Great Dragon. My body iz one that waz forged by my soul, itz not normal flesh and thereforez. I do not decay like stupid mortalz. So yez. I would." Luna's gaze would be suddenly broken as she snapped her sight upwards towards where she thought she heard a voice come from. "HEY! Which onez of you calling mez arrogantz!?"

Irvine tuts and shakes his head, laying the mock disappointment on thick as he spoke. "Come on, Zako, this is just embarrassing. There's nothing to be afraid of. I thought you were better than that." Just as quickly, he breaks out into a manic grin, pointing out at Luna palm-up as he looks at her side on. "As for you, Luna! Guy likes the top hat, so he wears one! That's all the reason he needs, and that's everything you need to know!"

As he listens to Luna, vicious shadow lurking behind him and a strange shift in his expression, all Irvine does is shrug. "Just born like this. May as well ask why water is wet, the ground is earthy, or there's even such a thing as a soul in the first place."

During the stare-down, the look in his eyes coalesces into a sort of strange leer. The playfulness and good humour isn't gone...but there's something not quite right about the look in his eye as well. "Goodie for you. Well, whatever you say, and whatever you found before Junction, tha-" Irvine stops short, snickering at Luna's outburst before breaking down into raucous laughter, the shadow and the creeping dark on his skin retreating. "HAHAHAHAHAHAAA...hah...hah...HAHAHAHAAAA!  Well, hoooolyyyyy shit. You really are the real thing! You remember how it felt dying the first time, or what? I love a good death story."

"Bet she slipped and banged her head."


"Alright, alright guys, come on. Don't poke her too much." He claps and rubs his hands together. "Right! I think this has been a long enough diversion, so I best get moving." He points over to the skeleton. "Montgomery! Say goodbye!"
The skeleton waves, tipping his hat.
"Guys! Get ready!"
The water starts to ripple.
"And I will see you two later!"

With that, the disc ejects itself from its spot on the water, sailing through the air and into the distance as Irvine stands and poses atop it. As he passes by, Montgomery's hat sails down from on high, landing surprisingly gently atop Zako's head. Funnily enough, it's not even that heavy. Smooth, too.
Tucked into a band on the hat - that wasn't there before, actually - is a couple of well made cards, promising a Troublemaker Special on redemption at High Spirits, completely with address.
Didn't even come with any stupid small print.

The shark would raise one hand into the air and open his mouth to say something, before not being able to find any words to argue back with and sighing. "I've just... Never seen something like this before. I'm sorry, but its not really a natural thing for me to see. Heh. I'm sure I'd be used to it after five minutes though." Zako would shake his head and sit back up right the best he could, the guy was right, he was acting like a coward and... Well. There wasn't really any reason for him to, it wasn't like they were trying to hurt him or anything. Just, he'd always been creeped out by ghosts since he was a kid... Too many horror movies.

Luna on the other hand would start scratching her head absent mindedly, it wasn't even the fact that the conversation was about something that boring. She just had way too much energy this early in the morning and hated siting around like this for too long just chatting. "Hm. Bornz part dead or alreadyz dead yet reborn." The dragon would mumble to herself after clocking on to what Irvine was rambling on about. Though her absentmindedness quickly turned quite stern as the guy just decided to laugh at her when those things began being rude.

"No." She'd begin bluntly, hissing under her breath lightly. "Iz only remember thiz life. Nothingz before, I just knowz I died beforez because of where I hadz to live for over a thousand yearz." She'd spit. Closing her eyes in clear agitation as the invisible pricks kept on, her right eye visibly twitching in annoyance and her fists clenching tightly. She'd begin taking in deep breaths as a puff of steam escaped her nostrils just as Zako grabbed her arm. Twitching a few more times, she'd release the grip of her hands and reopen her eyes, staring at Irvine again as he proposed the fact he'd best be off. "Tss."

Unlike Luna who seemed more ready to just set off, Zako would bow respectfully towards Irvine and Montgomery, trying his hardest to not look like he was still a little worried when doing so for the top hat wearing skeleton. He wasn't entirely sure why Luna had become so agitated all of a sudden, though he had an inkling of a guess. "It was nice meeting you, thanks for the cool arse wave earlier. It was a lot of fun whilst it lasted." The shark would stand and wave off the guy from his board, before purposefully falling backwards into the ocean, swimming a circle around the board and pulling himself back up onto it feeling more refreshed. "Heh. You ready to head off too?"