#Emerald Aquarium

[emeraldaquariumxo]

It’s Love Day today! 💚

Please check out my cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and leave a comment in your enjoy it :)

[feeshblr]

Updated tank pics!

I'll be honest I've had a lot going on so haven't done anything but water changes maintenance wise for quite a while.... But my fish don't seem to mind!

I finally cleaned the front glass of nerite eggs but otherwise I kind of enjoy the over grown look, I dunno.

The corys still have 3D printed hides on both back sides as well as plenty of other misc spots and the open space in front.

Shrimp and snails are still reproducing as well, the mystery snail in particular has laid SO many clutches lately

[biteofcherry]

I should've made Dom Ari way richer. I was reading this mafia romance where the mfc loves sparkling shiny things just like Cherie does and her rich af mafia husband (arranged marriage, obv) gifts her with lots of shiny stones for her aquarium and pen holding bowl. Only that when she thinks they are just some shiny marbles it's actually fucking gemstones. She has an aquarium filled with emeralds 😂

[emeraldlabyrinth]

It’s been a while since Sonata has passed. And, some of the others. I have wanted to make a short video for them for a while now. They played such a large part in my life since growing up. And, never fail to make me smile or teach me something new.

If you enjoy Emerald Labyrinth's content. You can check out my site EmeraldLabyrinth.com. There you will find more blogs, and hand-selected books by yours truly.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Steve and Eddie work together in an aquarium, and Eddie is losing his mind. He's in love, he's got the most embarrassing crush, but Steve doesn't even notice him.

They barely interact, and Eddie only knows Steve's first name. He doubts Steve knows he exists, he's just one of many tour guides (but he's amazing with kids and especially teenagers, so he's actually a great tour guide, thank you very much!)

Back to Steve. Steve, with his lean muscles, easy smile, thick hair and beautiful, but somehow sad eyes. That Steve.

The Steve who works in the aquarium as a merman.

Eddie could watch him for hours, floating in the tank with grace Eddie didn't know existed, with his sparkly yellow mermaid tail, flowing hair and chest hair, and that man can hold his breath for so long? Think of the options, the possibilities!

The mermaid show is insanely popular among all the kids and teens, even adults. His best friend Chrissy was the one who recommended Eddie to the aquarium, she's the main mermaid, and god, if Eddie wasn't gay, she'd have him at her feet. She always looks so effortless, twirling underwater in her emerald green mermaid tail, spinning around Steve. They make such a beautiful pair, it makes Eddie want to weep.

Fortunately, she's already in a happy relationship, so Steve is reportedly still single. Chrissy makes Eddie massage her feet in the evenings - he offered, they're cramping from a bad fit of the tail - and graciously answers all Eddie's reasonable questions, such as "how do his hands feel?" ("Wet. We're swimming, remember?").

She keeps telling Eddie to ask Steve out, but Eddie isn't stupid. That man is the god Poseidon himself, and Eddie is but a humble crab in his kingdom. So he admires him from afar, longing, pining and making Chrissy's head hurt.

But Steve's just so good with kids, Eddie can't keep his mouth shut. He always mutters something to Steve as he's ushering the kids away. "Great show, sweetheart," or "I love that smile, Stevie," or "need help getting that tail off?" He's only a man, and no one can hear him.

Except for a nosy tour coordinator listening in through his earpiece, Robin Buckley. She also happens to be Steve's best friend, Chrissy's girlfriend, and a menace to society.

And maybe one day she tells Steve to just smooch the tour guide, maybe she spills a few of the longing whispers and wishful stares, but she's only human too. A human who's had to listen to Steve's ramblings about the cute guy who always pulls the kids' attention like a magnet, who even through the blurry glass tank seems to be having an amazing time. Steve sometimes asks Robin for an extra earpiece and listens to the rest of Eddie's tour after the show. He loves his enthusiasm. Once Eddie even drew a heart on Steve's tank, can you imagine that, Rob?!

Maybe Robin and Chrissy have to work together to give the two idiots what they need, because Eddie considers himself too nerdy and plain for Steve, ans Steve thinks he's too dumb and shallow for Eddie.

Maybe Chrissy fakes slipping into the mermaid tank and drags Eddie with her. Maybe Robin is there and quickly gets Steve to jump after him. Maybe she makes the innocent mistake of insuating that Eddie can't swim.

And maybe, when Steve and Eddie are back on firm ground, confused and wet, Chrissy splashes them with water and asks if pretending that it's mouth to mouth resuscitation would help, or if they can finally kiss and stop pining for each other.

And one more maybe...maybe in a few weeks, when Eddie ushers the children away after the show, he kisses his palm and presses it against the tank, and watches Steve do the same, before he can give him a proper kiss after their shift.

[harmoonix]

✴ꪻꫝꫀ ꪀꪮ᥅ꪻꫝ ᦓꪻꪖ᥅✴

(Astrology Notes)

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🌟 - Aries/Capricorn/Libra/Cancer in big 6 (Sun, Moon, Rising, Venus, Mercury, Mars) = Cardinal energy they bring to beginnings, changes, create new foundations and balances the world

🌟 - Taurus/Leo/Scorpio/Aquarius in big 6 Sun, Moon, Rising, Venus, Mercury, Mars) = Fixed energy, they make it to happen, action, inovation, hardworking, complexity

🌟 - Gemini/Virgo/Sagittarius/Pisces in big 6 Sun, Moon, Rising, Venus, Mercury, Mars) = Mutable energy, they bring the endings, flexible, adaptable, chameloens of the zodiac, old and wise

🌟 - Moon in Gemini Degrees 3°, 15°, 27° really know how to express themselves, they talk so smoothly and with ease, very intelligent as well

🌟Venus in Cancer/Venus in the 4th house loves to give hugs. This is something they adore to do, giving hugs and receiving hugs is like a love sign for them

🌟Sagittarius/Gemini Venus may have multiple love signs because they can't stand to only one loving thing to show their love for their partners

🌟The Degrees you have on your IC can show how you may like to decorate your home

Leo Degrees (5°, 17°, 29°) = Definitely a lot of lights, maybe neon signs aswell, golden hour aesthetics, beige/yellow colors

Scorpio Degrees (8°, 20°) = I see them following the traditional vibes maybe with brown/black/white and even gray, maybe vintage style, dreamcatchers, posters with their favorite singers/celebrities etc

Pisces Degrees (12°, 24°) = Turquoise/Green/Emerald colors, they may have or love tank fish, aquariums, comfortable bed, maybe neon star stickers/moon neon stickers who shine in the dark

Libra/Taurus Degrees (2°, 7°, 14°, 19°, 26°) = White/Pink maybe even purple, flowers/butterfly stickers, maybe quotes stickers, always making sure their room smells good

Virgo Degrees (6°, 18°) = Beige/Gray/Yellow and light brown colors, definitely a lot of photos with aesthete places/sun/forests/lakes maybe even with their friends

Aquarius Degrees (11°, 23°) = Definitely a lot of trendy things in their room, combined/mixed colors, a lot of selfies with them or their friends on walls, organized room, fresh, futuristic, a lot of neon lights

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🌟 - Venus in the 1st/5th/10th/11th and 12th house may like cinematography, the art of the movies, acting, theater etc

🌟 - Uranus aspecting the Sun have an electric beauty, they're very outgoing with their friends and love the way they are

🌟 - Jupiter in the 6th house is one of the luckiest placements to have if you want to improve yourself/your mental health and your work because it will extend those things and give you so many opportunities

🌟 - Chiron in the 1st house natives are so pretty when they'll realize that being insecure about themselves is nothing wrong and is time to start to like yourself because you are very beautiful!!

🌟 - Pluto trine/sextile North Node natives have a high chance to go through some sort of evolution and transformation in their life, mostly developing in childhood

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🌟 - Uranus/Neptune in the 9th house is a very spiritual placement, it makes the native to be more aware of themselves and to explore their curiosity for spirituality

🌟 - Mercury/Gemini/Virgo in the 10th house makes the native to have a powerful voice in the world, their voice can influence others, they are also very Intelligent and strategic

🌟 - Libra/Taurus and Pisces/Scorpio Moons can be attracted to architecture, they will definitely explore the place's style first

🌟 - Moon/Mercury/Venus in Fire Houses (1st, 5th, 9th) are fiercely passionately in love, they can share a beautiful love language, intense, a sharp tongue

🌟 - Moon in the 8th house is one of the most mysterious placements for the moon, the native is fully aware of the things happening in their life and their own evolution

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🌟 - Saturn in the 1st/6th and 12th house can have issues with being organized or keeping themselves healthy, sometimes they can get too tired aswell

🌟 - Asteroid Sirene (1009) in the 6th/12th house house are embodying the Sirene energy in their lives everyday, sometimes even without realizing. This energy is so dangerous yet so pure

🌟 - Asteroid Karma (408) in Libra or in the 7th house can indicate karmic relationships, and karmic partners (meeting partners with the same hobbies/interests/haibts as your exes ?? ya that's a sign)

🌟 - Asteroid Hebe (6) aspecting Venus indicates a young beauty no matter the age, your beauty still shines over the years just like in your Childhood

🌟 - Valentine asteroid (447) in the 6th/8th house have a unique love language, they're very sacrificial in their relationships

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🌟 - Valentine in aspects with Eros (433) makes the native to be erotic in their relationships, they seek for love/romance and want the same from their partners

🌟 - Moon in Air Signs can find themselves liking more music styles/listening to more than one genre, 1 song can be rock and the next one can be pop and so on..

🌟 - A fire Venus will love you with everything they have, fire is represented by passion and power, sometimes they can be too clingy

🌟 - Scorpio Venus/Venus in the 8th house can experience attracting people with the same toxic habits over and over, that's why you'll need standards

🌟 - 5th house ruled by Mercury/Jupiter or Moon will put the communication as an important key in their relationships, without communication you have nothing

🌟 - I can already tell Moon - Pluto aspects people hate endings, they don't like when things don't end (and is worse when they end on bad terms), because their mind keeps thinking about it

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🌟 - I have Uranus quintile Venus and that aspect makes me to be very tranquil about the relationships and the people I'm with. No rush with Uranus

🌟 - North Node aspecting the ascendant (minor aspects included) have the lessons to discover themselves, that's the theme for life. Don't listen to x, don't listen to y..only to yourself

🌟 - I can tell Sagittarius/Leo and Scorpio Mars men like to walk around the house naked 😭💀, always forgetting their damn clothes

🌟 - Mercury aspecting Mars talk really fast when they're mad like they be rapping in the same, I have a 10% chance to understand them taliing when these natives are into a angry mood

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🌟 - Pluto aspecting the south node can indicate being abused in a past life, or bullied. I remember reading about it was something about the finding your own power within yourself in this life time .

🌟 - Ascendant aspecting Venus are so so so likely to be crushed on, just because their energy/aura is so lovely and charming

🌟 - Cancer & Libra Placements mood changes based on the weather/season I swear they can be so depressed in the winter/fall and so happy in the summer/spring

🌟 - Capricorn Sun/Moon/Rising had to get mature from a young age that's why they got the thing with "being wise being sassy" because they work for what they got.

🌟 - This is really serious like 12th house placements really need to prioritize sleep a lot, guys sleeping is actually healing it isn't just going into bed and closing your eyes

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✨ Beautiful space post ✨

✨ I hope you all have a good day today full of light, love and good vibes ✨💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼

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[witherby]

Part 7 of mer!reader?🫣🫣🫣

Of course! I think it's time to get you and Damian back together.

Human!Damian x Mer!Reader Part 7

Masterlist with all parts Here!

Content features upsetting Mer behavior and unsafe diving practices. Wear your protective gear, people!

It takes another month for your routine to settle back into a semblance of normalcy. The specialists Bruce told Damian about had spent three days observing your behaviors and drew up a detailed care plan to help you recover as best as you could, which the facility follows with great enthusiasm.

You wake up and swim to the entrance of the tank to receive breakfast from Jon. Afterwards, he and Clark gently roll you out of the tank to apply weird-smelling salves to the patches on your tail, encouraging it to heal correctly and for new scales to grow. You sit and wait for the salve to absorb, then you get back into the water to play a little, and then it's Attention Time.

You swim all the way to the bottom floor of your tank, where visitors come admire you through the tunnels under your tank for several hours. Sometimes you have the energy to do a trick or two.

Then, it's back up to the top of the tank for dinner, more playtime, and then you get to sleep until tomorrow where you do it all again.

But the lethargy remains. The stinging, empty space in your chest only seems to grow the more you see Damian dispassionately leading tours and refusing to look at you. Of all the people that come to admire you, the one person whose attention you actually want, you cannot get.

Jon, bless him, is trying so hard to keep you happy. He talks to you every day, he gives you tons of treats, he swims with you as long as you want him to, and he's given you so many new toys that they've overtaken your cute rock collection. His effort is why you're doing your best to hide how bad you still feel.

And his company does help! It does. You can comfortably call him a friend, and mean it. But you are so tired. You miss Damian so much. You feel drained, and the urge to remain inside your little hideout gets stronger every passing day.

Every night, in the comforting darkness of your castle spire, the old bricks pressing against your body and shielding you from the rest of the world, you allow your thoughts to drift back to the boy with beautiful, emerald eyes without fail.

You think of the first time you met him, and how he looked at you as just another dumb animal in the aquarium for him to care for. You think of the first time you made him realize you were so much more — how you'd done every trick he commanded with such attitude and even mocked him back that he actually cracked a smile. You think of the first time you pulled him into the water to show him your favorite parts of your habitat, and then how he reassured you it was fine that you almost drowned him by accident because he knew you hadn't meant to. You think of all the times he snuck in after hours to spend just a little more time with you, to play just one more game, to ensure you didn't feel like another part of his job he had to do but someone he genuinely looked forward to seeing.

You think of the pretty blush on his face when you mustered the courage to give him your scales.

You think of all the gifts you left him afterwards, and how you didn't get any back.

You think of his dispassionate expression as he leads another group of visitors into your enclosure, day after day after day.

Your chest burns. You weep into the water and succumb to fitful slumber.

--

"I need a dive team to the Mer tank please! Right now!"

Damian furrows his brow, momentarily pausing his work. He's in the dolphin exhibit currently hand-feeding them when the announcement comes over the speaker system. He wonders what you're doing to have freaked Jon out, but it's not his place to care anymore, so he tries to push the curiosity from his mind and refocus on his task.

One dolphin in particular is pretty bad about taking food from a handler. It's also just food aggressive in general, bullying its pod-mates out of the way to get to the food first. Damian can't help but compare how much smarter you are to these animals. He sighs.

"Doctor Kent to the Mer exhibit!"

Hmm. Did you breach your tank again? Or maybe you bumped your body against the spire you like to sleep inside. Damian tried to tell his father that the rough brick texture could hurt your more vulnerable top half if not careful, but Bruce was certain you'd be alright. He wonders what kind of fuss you're kicking up today, if it's a real issue or if Jon hasn't been around you long enough to realize that sometimes you fake a problem because it's funny.

"All divers to the Mer exhibit please!"

Tim rushes through the door into the dolphin exhibit, startling Damian into dropping the bucket. He quickly backs up with a gasp as the dolphins swarm to the food and start gobbling it up. He faces Tim with a glare.

"Does nobody know how to follow protocol anymore? You're supposed to knock before you —"

"You need to get upstairs," Tim says, holding up an access key to your enclosure, "like right now. Vitals on our mer are really bad, we can't extract them from the spire and —"

Damian doesn't stick around to hear him finish that sentence. He snatches the key and sprints through the aquarium like the devil's on his fucking heels. His heart is racing and not from the exertion. He forgoes the elevator and starts rushing up the stairs three at a time, climbing floor by floor by floor to get to you as fast as he can.

It was a real emergency, then? What had happened? Jon was supposed to be taking care of you now. You were supposed to be recovering. You were supposed to be happier without him, now.

What was wrong with you?

There's no time to head into the locker room and get a wetsuit on. He jams the key into the exhibit door and throws it open, rushing into the room with single-minded focus.

Jon is in a wetsuit and treading water, relaying information to his dad with a worried frown. Clark is kneeling next to the tank and giving him instructions on how to get you to the surface. Dick is sitting on the lip of the tank and wiggling into a suit of his own, very unfamiliar with the gear as he doesn't dive with Mers. Bruce is on the phone and standing by Clark, looking more and more concerned as the situation develops.

When Damian bursts in, Dick startles and looks up at him, fumbling with the clasp on his flipper.

"Dami, go ahead and get a suit on. We need you to — DAMIAN!"

He doesn't think. Doesn't stop to listen to whatever Clark's rambling on about. Doesn't wait for permission before he kicks his shoes off, takes a running start, and dives into the tank in his plainclothes. He pedals his arms and kicks his feet as hard as he can and goes down, down, down, deeper into your vast tank and towards your favorite resting place. The effort is tremendous without the slim, hydrodynamic suit to aid him and a rebreather to allow him to stay down here for long periods of time. He pushes past it all and keeps going. You are in trouble and he is going to help you.

When he makes it to the spire and swims around to the entrance, he immediately sees the issue. Your body is curled into the mer version of fetal position; your arms are locked around your waist in an embrace and your tail is coiled underneath you in a tight spiral, twisted around itself and wedging you deeply into the cramped space. The angle of your body, coupled with the tight spacing of the hideaway, make it nearly impossible to pull you out.

In the wild, a mer found in this position is an almost universal signifier that they are near death.

If there's no intervention, you are going to die today.

Damian climbs into the spire with you, squeezing his body inside with a low grunt. A burst of bubbles escape from his mouth. If he can't pull you out — a dangerous move which would damage your tail and break your fins if they tried — he has to unfold you.

His back scrapes against the bricks and pain rockets down his spine. Another bunch of bubbles fly out. He grits his teeth and starts carefully pushing at you, gingerly moving your upper half, then your lower half, around and around and around to create enough space to safely push you free.

His chest is heaving. Damian is exhausted and quickly running out of breath. He cannot stop. If he stops, you won't make it.

He jerks when something jabs his ankle, arms wrapping protectively around you as his head snaps down to see what happened.

Jon is hovering just by the spire opening, holding a rebreather in his hand and shaking it insistently at him.

Damian reaches around you and makes a few grabs at it, finally curling his fingers around the device and pushing it into his mouth. He clicks the button to turn it on and almost coughs when oxygen starts to flow into his lungs. He slumps against you briefly, taking in your closed eyes and face twisted into agony.

What happened, he thinks. How did this happen to you, Princess?

His ankle is jabbed again. Damian looks back at Jon, who has his hands out in an offer of help. Damian gently starts to maneuver you around again, slowly but steadily unfolding your body, and when Jon catches on, helps do the same thing from your opposite side.

It is painstaking work. Dick eventually gets into the water to join in, but there's no room for him, so he hovers to the side ready to help carry your body to the surface when you're finally free.

It feels like it takes hours, but can't be more than twenty minutes. Twenty minutes too long in Damian's opinion. Eventually, your body is unwound enough to ease you out of the spire without injury, and the three men rush you to the surface where Clark and four other vets are waiting to take you. It becomes a flurry of activity after that.

Damian spits out the rebreather when his feet are back on solid ground. He pants and doubles over, limbs shaking from exertion, and watches the medical team assess your condition and fret over you. You're loaded onto a special stretcher and whisked from the room, and he's about to follow suit when a hand clasps over his wrist.

"No," he rasps, already gearing up the breath to scream at his father, but Bruce just shakes his head and presses a towel into his hands.

"Here," he says, voice soft and knowing. "Here, Tadpole. I just want you to get dry before you follow them into the medical bay. You can't help anybody if you get sick."

Damian clutches it, staring at his father with no small amount of trepidation. Bruce just sighs.

"I'm sorry, Damian. I am. We'll talk about it later, but I won't separate you two again. You have my word." He jerks his head toward the doors. "Go dry off and change in the locker room. I'll call Medical and tell them to let you in when you're done."

Damian throws his arms around Bruce, uncaring about how he's soaking his dad. Evidently Bruce doesn't care either, if the fierceness in which he hugs him back is any indication.

"Thank you," Damian whispers, then pulls away to head to the lockers.

[zvdvdlvr]

Window to the Soul ✰ Silco x Reader

✰. Kind of a character study of Silco? (I guess I shouldn’t say that because I don’t know exactly what a character study is. I just wanted to finally use some of the obscure words on my Notes app.) BOTTOM LINE: straight up waxing poetry about Silco and his eyes and facial expression because I love him your honor!!!

✰. WC: .8k (830words). credits to @strangergraphics for the BEAUTIFUL divider. I love how simple + elegant it is :))

The saying ‘eyes are the window into the soul’- in your opinion- was one of the most truthful statements ever made. At least in regards to Silco.

His beautiful, sharp face paired with his glinting emerald eye and the shocking bright orange in the other eye had you entranced the first time you saw him. He had seen you the very moment you’d looked up- and, surprisingly- Silco had felt a similar jolt in his chest. It was from that moment Silco decided he would be indefatigable in his scheme to earn your heart.

The dance he pulled you into was nothing short of breathtaking: with elegant dips, mesmerizing swirls and twirls, and intoxicating hand placement. But it wasn’t the dance itself you dreamed about during the following nights- it was his eyes.

Silco had held your gaze the entire night, his eyes a perfect blend of vivid green and burning coal of orange. For having only just met, he looked at you like he knew something about you not even you knew. You committed to memory the moment he dipped you for the first time and how his eyebrows relaxed and his pupils widened in his eyes.

He was just as disarming the next time you saw him, those beautiful eyes set between his aquiline nose landing on you once again.

When he took you on a date for the first time, Silco had worn his signature crimson color. It was absolutely stunning and you made sure your accessories matches the color you knew he would wear. He had taken you to a quaint restaurant in Piltover and followed dinner up with the option to stroll along the city street in the crepuscular light or visit the nearby aquarium.

You picked the slow stroll through town, choosing to continue the flowing conversation as much as you would have loved to shower Silco in facts about marine life. Though you took joy in absorbing the sight of all kinds of undulating jellyfish you were more keen on the idea of getting entranced by Silco’s eyes for the numerous time.

Bedroom eyes were a new addition to your list of ways Silco had looked at you. Crude, uncouth, electrifying. Although it was embarrassing to admit, you’d been able to cum just by Silco’s words and eyes. It wasn’t as though he was unaware of your. . . attraction towards him (it was impossible to hide, so sorry to inform you) because he knew the affect he had on you. He didn’t fully understand why you were so attracted to him- his gaze, his face, his soul- but you were. And he knew.

Silco used that to his advantage, consciously communicating with his eyes to you. One such case is the night you were kidnapped. Or rather, when Silco found you and was negotiating with the asinine kidnapper. The only reason he hadn’t immediately commanded his snipers to shoot him was because there was a gun pressed to your temple.

You hadn’t looked away from him when he walked into the warehouse. He captured attention and turned heads with his svelte and dangerous form, but seeing him saunter into the building had pushed oxygen into your lungs and scattered away the fear gripping your body like darkness fled from a flame. He was there. To save you.

The are you hurt, darling? was shown with a barely visible quirking of an eyebrow. When you raised both brows and tilted your chin down in a short nod you saw him relax.

When Silco had you in a tight embrace the very night, he was only mildly surprised at your answer to his statement/question sentance. “Many in your position would have been shaking and crying and begging to go,” he had murmured detachedly. You knew he was blaming himself: Silco being unnecessarily cruel to himself for an unnecessary reason. “Why weren’t you?”

“Your eyes,” you replied, raking your fingers through his hair the way you knew Silco liked. “I can tell how you feel when I look at your eyes, and. . . It’s stupid, but,” you paused to sigh and mentally prepare yourself for the cringe that was to spout from your mouth. “I feel like I know what you’re feeling whenever I look at you.“

Silco’s eyes locked onto yours, eyebrows knitted endearingly. “That’s not stupid.”

You smile. “You’re so expressive, Sil. I see it here,” you trail a fingertip along his brow bone and lightly circle his parted lips. “Here, too.” You stop your finger extremely close to the edge of Silco’s outer eye. “Your eye twitches if you’re mad or stressed enough.”

Silco pulls your hand down and laces his fingers with yours after your coos soften the anger he still held against himself. “You can read me like a book.”

“People don’t say ‘eyes are the window into the soul’ for nothing, my love,” you say sweetly, letting Silco press himself into you and let his tired eyes close.

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Oscar: Someone got kicked out of the aquarium for fighting the fish!

Emerald: *Soaked in water* Maybe the Fish were being dick!

Octopus will sometimes punch fish for seemingly no reason.

~~~~~

Ciel: Good morning Penny. *Kisses*

Penny: Good morning Ciel!

Ciel: Good morning Jaune. *Kisses*

Jaune: 'morning Honey!

Ciel: And a good morning to you, Weiss. *Kisses*

Weiss: Good Morning dear, I made Coffee just how you like it.

Ciel: *Smiling* Thank you Weiss~

Harbor seals are thought to engage in polygamous mating habits and rituals.

~~~~~

Jaune: FUCK MY LIVER-

Orcas will hunt sharks specifically for their livers and leave the rest

~~~~~

Yang: *Punches Jaune in the nose*

Jaune: *Tanks it*

Yang: *Punches Jaune in the side*

Jaune: *Doubles over*

Punching a shark in the nose is not nearly as effective as punching it in the eyes or gills

~~~~~

Neo: *Preparing food at 4 A.M, using groceries she stole from someone*

Lionfish are skilled hunters, certain species preferring to hunt in the morning.

[feeshblr]

There she is! The girl who started this whole obsession 😅

I saved Java from a half gallon tank full of other dead fish and tons of waste, she's around 7 years old I think!

She's since made a loving family and has a single surviving child who happened to be the only one deformed... Funny coincidence he survived lol.

Java and her 5 year old son, Zig Zag 🥰

[crusherthedoctor]

My pick, of course, is Wave Ocean.

[withahappyrefrain]

Omg I’m obsessed with that list!

I loveeeeee “a hand (or both) placed gently on their cheeks!!!”

I’m picturing Jake cupping her cheek, just smirking at her as she tries to hide her gaze. He leans in. *swoon* 🫠

(If you’re still taking requests)

This SCREAMS Jake!

You don't want to enjoy it. You're not supposed to. You're only here with him to prove a point, to put an end to his nagging, his begging.

The bouquet of flowers he showed up with was all an act, nothing more. Considering the green, shapeless flight suit he wore everyday, of course he would look good in jeans and a button up. A damn button up was not going to make you weak in the knees.

Not for Jake Seresin.

And none of those things did make you weak in the knees.

Instead, it was the amount of thought he put into planning the date. The way his attention to every detail revealed that Jake had been paying attention to you, picking up on things even when you thought he wasn't listening.

"You wanna go see the penguins now? I know they're your favorite," he gently squeezed your hand, enabling you to still look at the manatees swimming around in the aquarium.

"How do you-"

"Your call sign. That's where it's from, isn't it?"

You bit your bottom lip, trying not to appear flustered. Only your original squad knew that you got your callsign from an obsession with an old Christmas claymation film, featuring a penguin named Topper.

A large hand gently placed itself on one of your heated cheeks. Jake's thumb curved around your chin, forcing you to look up.

Normally the sight of that smirk irritated you.

But now it made your heart flutter. Now you found yourself memorized by his emerald eyes, by his pink lips, his dimples.

"Isn't it?" Jake asks again, his voice softer.

"Y-yeah. How did you...." Your voice trailed off, too distracted by how his lips were mere inches away from yours.

"You're my favorite girl, of course I knew." His words made your knees weak, always did. That nickname he bestowed after a week of knowing you. That nickname you always tried to brush off.

"Bet you say that to everyone," the words leaving your mouth were soft, a soft smile adorning your face instead of it's usually forced scowl.

"Just you babydoll." This time when he leans in, you don't step away. This time, you enjoy the scent of sandalwood, how soft his blonde hair felt against your forehead.

This time you enjoyed it when his lips brushed against yours, tilting your head up to better access his mouth, your hands finding themselves on his broad shoulders.

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus)

(Photo from Georgia Aquarium)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- South America

Size (Weight/Length)- 2 m

Diet- Small rodents; Small marsupials; Bats; Lizards

Cool Facts- Emerald tree boas are made for a life in the trees. Their coloration helps them function as an ambush predator that is the nightmare of any climbing rodent or marsupial. The Emerald tree boa strikes and bites into prey with abnormally long front fangs, the longest of any non-venomous snake. Once the prey is properly suffocated, the boa enjoys its meal head first. All of this is done 50 meters off the ground along a tree branch. Luckily for small critters, emerald tree boas have slow metabolism and only eat once every few months.

Rating- 13/10 (A snake hammock.)

[crispys-records]

i love the idea of travis meticulously planning out every date, every outing, practicing what to say and when, where to go, what to wear.

zane, on the other hand, never plans a single thing. he has a basic idea in his head: they're going to a restaurant, or the arcade, or anywhere, and that's it.

their dates are always alerted to a day ahead, because both need ample time to decide on outfits. travis likes to dress in his nicest shirts, his cleanest hoodies or blazers, his hottest ripped jeans when casual. he spends hours in the mirror, making sure his hair falls in such a way that frames his face perfectly, making sure zane can see his face from every angle, because he knows how handsome he is. zane's closet is black, but over the months and years they've known each other, zane finds himself gravitating towards green jewelry. just the little things that remind him of travis's eyes. the little pops of sparkley emeralds peaking from underneath his hair always seem to get travis to stare with his most lovesick expression. zane likes that.

on a Travis date™️, they always go to a movie or an aquarium of some kind. places where travis can put the moves on zane without zane expecting it. places where he can wrap his arm around zane's shoulder, where he can discretely intertwine his fingers in zane's loose hand, where he can whisper pick up lines, compliments, and other sweet nothings to zane who, despite having gone countless of these dates before, still get flustered because he doesn't know when they will happen. travis plans each date so that zane will never expect the next bout of affection from his boyfriend. and its always enough to leave zane wanting more by the time they get home.

on a Zane date™️, they're always out for dinner, or at an arcade, or at a place where they can focus on each other in an isolated setting. places where zane can listen to travis yap for hours, where he can watch travis blush at every casual compliment, where he can tell travis jokes and caresses his hand. he always pays. whether it be for the claw machine at an arcade so he can get one stupid little plushie that travis simply cannot get (it took him almost an hour whilst it takes zane about 4 minutes), or its dinner at a restaurant, hes always the first to bring his wallet out. travis will offer to split the bill, but zane would rather commit some kind of felony then let travis pay for everything. its fine, travis pays when its his dates.

zane is like boyfriend material and travis is like a trophy husband in my eyes. but they have their moments: sometimes travis will hold the door open for zane and initiate kisses. sometimes zane will lean against travis's shoulder and look pretty. its all fair game when it comes to zanvis bc they r both pathetic and beautiful and handsome and coolguy core all at the same time (zane is a little more so)

[fortheloveofmundanity]

tagged by @theresa-of-liechtenstein ❤️

tagging @emerald-point @hellooobees @malcolm-f-tucker @constellation-crow @veryspacecowboy @mousedetective @skeletonsweatpants @cherryfull @fckin-around-findin-out

[psalacanthea]

Chapter 1

this doesn't have a title yet but this is the first chapter that is complete (first draft, unedited!) which I am sharing because I am having a lot of fun and enjoying building this story! its thesis statement might be about the philosophy of the necessity of privacy but thesis statements sort of just happen on their own when I write and then later I figure out what I'm saying! But! also it is about drama, backstabbing, excess, shiny things, and hating your parents.

this is 4.4k (yay i kept it industry standard chapter size!) and it'd mean a lot to me if you read it! the genre is kinda YA (it's a prequel to something else I wrote so I de-aged them and that's just how it ended up). i guess it's like if cyberpunk had UBI

The Del Reyes Ballroom sparkled with carefully manufactured grandeur, like all of the Singapore subcology.

Gilt and crystal flashed, hand-carved pillars of actual grown wood had live plants spilling down their sinuous forms, and everywhere you looked were jungles of riotous flowers and aviary cages of twittering birds. The floors were clear and under-lit, showing the luminescent, bio-engineered fish that swam in the vast aquarium beneath their feet. Clusters of iridescent bubble lights washed the room in rosy dawn hues, a classy nod to Phoenix Corp's orange red and white colors.

The ceiling was hidden by draping vines and foliage, keeping banality at bay. The sculpting of décor left plenty of nooks and crannies. Lots of places to plot revenge, seductions, cold-blooded friendships, and get caught half-naked for the gossip feed. The gossip feed loved a corp celeb birthday.

It was the youth partisan tonight.

Last time they'd been here for an event sans-parents, someone had let out the birds and one had shit on that spoiled whiner Parminder Bhakta's head. Merissa was hoping someone might do it again. She had a few other good targets in mind, one of whom she was watching right now. A half-head taller than everyone in the room, her crown of twisted jet braids gleamed in the light, dozens of tiny plaits intricately woven together and decorated with fresh flowers, simple but perfectly preserved at their peak.

Picking up her oyster fork in two fingers, with a clatter of empty shells, Meri idly spun it. “See that genetic throwback out of corp colors?”

Her lifelong companion and best friend, Eluned Alwar, looked up from their wrist, amused emerald eyes scanning the new arrivals. “In the pink princess dress? They're not that tall.”

“I'm just saying, if she isn't done growing she's going to need shortening surgery- if she doesn't want to be a sore-neck freak.” Reaching over, she stabbed her fork into the remains of Eluned's abandoned cake, leaving it there sticking upright. The food was fine, she supposed, but everyone always twittered about how special they were for eating real food. Subsistence tasted fine to her. “Ugh, why is everyone but me a snob?”

“Tall is in season, she's striking right now, and you are the snobbiest snob to ever snob,” El laughed, not sounding remotely upset.

Some of them hadn't had any choice in being 'unnatural', so why should she get a pass just because her parent was poor?

Not that Merissa would say something like that out loud; she was being petulant, not stupid.

El half turned to face her head on, casting glittering rainbows of color across the tablecloth, the subtle glow of their collar perfectly highlighting every angle of their face. “Don't bully her, I mean it. It's classless, she's no one to you.”

“Hmph. Her au pair should have done more testing before releasing her into open ocean.” Offended, Meri leaned back and stared up at El, raising one eyebrow. Did they really think she was that arbitrary? “I'm being genuine. Mitera always says showing up out of corp colors is a statement, and you'd better have something worth saying. If I showed up out of navy and gold-” she gestured with a hand to her own perfectly-tailored suit, and continued- “it'd be okay, because everyone in this room knows who I am. But it's rude to show up to a party and act like you're important when you're not. She just wants people to go 'ooh, who's that?' and tiptoe around her because they don't know where she is in the food chain. Pathetic.”

“Usually you have a better reason than that to bully someone.”

“Haven't bullied anyone. This shift.”

“You will. What's this really about? Drop the apex predator line, you sound like your Mother.”

Highly offended, Merissa scowled, turning her gaze away deliberately from the pack of twittering idiots, scanning the room. It was easy to tell who was in the know, and who was out. Jia had changed the party last minute, and those who couldn't afford a brand new outfit were still in the more ornate gowns and suits that would have suited the previous occasion. It made them stand out.

The conceit of the flashy people in the room being the poorer ones was a hilarious unintended consequence of Meri's meddling.

Idly sipping at her glass, she wondered if this would start tilting fashion back towards austere; she'd have to see what El's father put out next before deciding to change her own style. Her off-shift wardrobe would be fine. Granted, she still needed to go shopping, but for electronic warfare, not heels.

Across the way Jia Koh, heir of Singapore and Phoenix Corp and titular celebratee, was holding court, their eyes locking briefly in their mutual examination of the crowd. Jia inclined her head with a sway of her glossy blue-black hair before a person walked between them and snapped the connection. That was probably all their interaction for the night, apart from the proper birthday wishes. Jia had a very small group of friends, and wisely didn't trust anyone out of it.

Same as Meri.

“I don't know the throwback's name, but I recognize her,” Merissa finally admitted, when the weight of El's expectant sidelong glances became too heavy.

They laughed. “Have you been stalking people again?”

“I was invited to the group. It's not my fault they backstab each other,” Merissa said, feeling rather attacked at the moment. “Though I could hack if I wanted. Why are you being cruel?”

“That's not the question. The question is, why are you?” El countered with a smirk. Leaning forward, they plopped their elbow on the table rudely, waist-length rich brown hair swinging as they leaned in close. “Did someone covet your property again?”

Caught out, Meri immediately averted her eyes. Not that she was embarrassed. She hadn't even done anything, after all, just a little light plotting. “It's just a gossip group with a bunch of the lower-ranked corp spawn.”

“Mhmm, and with bitch filter off, tall princess dress is...?”

“Adele-somebody, her father's new Prez of R&D in Warsaw.” Ugh, did she really have to admit this? Well, at least it was just El, who might scold her but never betray her. “One of her group alerted me that she'd been talking too much, and invited me in to witness. She may have a gigantic, embarrassing, and very public crush on Dem-”

Eluned rolled their head to the side, strands of hair gleaming as they slid through their manicured fingers. “Desi, yes. That was blindingly obvious. If you keep pitching a fit when people covet him, people are going to assume you're in a relationship. Which you said you don't want.”

“I don't pitch!”

“You can't blame other people for hunting him when you're not marking your claim. He's valuable prey.”

“He'd never be interested in someone like that. She should have hung up her crush once she was elevated. It makes her look trash-”

El pinched her earlobe and gave it a twist. Not enough to hurt, just a little tug that was as much punishment as it was a beckon. “This is why my father says I should find other friends. You're so mean. Just admit you're jealous and stop sounding like the classist bastard everyone thinks you are. You know I'll just get angry.”

Simmering with annoyance, Meri settled, leaning into El's side. They draped an arm over the back of her chair, gleaming emerald-manicured fingers tapping against her shoulder. Feeling particularly trapped and pathetic, Meri heaved a sigh, regretting it when her molded corset dug into her ribcage. Ow.

“I'm still not bullying her.” Meri couldn't help one last irritated argument, trying to win a little ground. “The ones who set her up to be made a fool of are the ones she should be worried about.”

Eluned sighed, conceding her the point with an arm around her side and a kiss on top of her head. A peace offering. “Where is our boy?”

“Maximilian is making him arrive last because he's mad at the Kohs,” Meri said gloomily, giving the ballroom another resentful stare just to make anyone watching her uncomfortable. “Meanwhile Mother forces me to show up early, because it 'shows good training'.”

“Did your therapist talk to her?”

Merissa snorted, finding the very idea laughable. And the reality... “She fired my therapist and got me a new one for daring to agree with me that I'm a person and not a fucking product.” Lifting a hand, she examined her delicately tapered, reflective gold nails contemplatively. Too yellow. Her fault for not getting a new mani when she changed outfits.

“Well, that's what you said would happen.”

A burst of laughter across the room rang out, edged with just a hint of mockery.

Someone was probably being bullied; not her problem.

Meri idly watched the lower-tier celebs across the room clustered together like reef fish. “Yes. I-”

“Oh, just tell me what's going to happen.”

“The bottom-feeders convinced her that they'd help her talk to him.”

El winced, empathetic as always. “You think she believes them?”

“Don't care. I've already destroyed their little op,” Merissa said, fighting the urge to fold her arms. It'd ruin the lines, as Mitera always told her. Ugh, maybe she should have worn a dress; they were less fussy than a three-piece. “They had a whole little plot woven for the occasion, so I...changed the occasion. No more dancing,” Smiling at Eluned's disbelieving look, she flashed a wink. “Or did you forget this was going to be a masque?”

“You made Jia change the theme of her own birthday party?” El asked, too loud and too high. When Meri immediately shushed them, they burst into laughter, eyes slitting closed as they slapped a hand on their forehead.

“Stop!”

“You're so vicious!”

Hardly. “It's called negotiation. I just told her I didn't really feel like going to another masque, that was all. And she was advised that me not attending would hurt her gossip feed numbers, which she values more than some stupid party theme. Jia doesn't give a glittery fuck about these events,” Merissa said, not bothering to hide the boredom and disgust that leeched into her voice. It was all so stupid. If they didn't want her to fuck with them, why did everyone hop to the moment she opened her mouth?

“I don't know her that well, she doesn't talk to us few non-corp,” El said with mocking relish. “If it wasn't for you and Desi no one would ever speak a word to me unless they wanted my father to design something for them. I'm like an assistant. A convenience.”

Ugh, now Meri wanted to be here even less. Making El feel bad always made her feel like dreck. “Let's slip the party and go find a lounge. It'll be hilarious when Demi shows up and we're not here,” she said, thinking longingly of how annoyed he would be. Watching vids of him storming out of the party, leaving behind a hundred disappointed debutantes would be the highlight of her night. Just looking at the irritatingly imperfect girl across the room, standing above the crowd, made her want to leave and ruin the night for everyone.

How dare she think Demi would be in any way interested in her?

Merissa might not be able to even hold his hand in public, but damned if she'd let anyone think they had a real chance with him while she was living.

Desmond Arden belonged to her.

“I am not dealing with a night of his tantrums because you won't play with him,” Eluned said, a hint of playful disgust in their voice. “Your relationship is so twisted.”

“Gee, I wonder how that happened,” Merissa deadpanned, and then heaved a long, tired sigh. The worst part of it was, their parents were right. Their relationship was a problem.

The system as-was worked.

It had to.

“Only four days, Isa. Only four days.”

“I can't wait for the fucking off-shift,” Meri sighed, watching the crowd with deepening ennui. “Every month it seems like it takes longer and longer to get here.”

El gave her a sidelong look, but their response was silenced by a sudden change in the crowd. Conversations picked up, bodies turned, attention shifting in to a singular point. Ah. He was here.

Desmond Arden had arrived.

“The gossip feed says you're Adelaide. That's like...a city, right? A dead city?”

Awkwardly she looked up from her wrist, a flick of her fingers banishing the soft pink glow of the holo, scattering words into meaningless tendrils before they faded away. Forcing her attention to the half-circle of people encroaching on her, Adelaide forced a smile. It likely looked forced. The person examining her like a line of bad code was wearing a sharp suit in the electric blue and black of New Delhi, their cropped hair carefully colored to match. It was a slick look, cohesive from head to toe- a bright blue stripe starting at the top of their head and ending at their toes, matching their glowing artificial eyes.

They even had a bio-luminescent graphic liner injected into their skin to match, glowing variegated dots that followed the curve of their eyelid crease.

It must have been expensive.

Dad said she looked beautiful, but Ada was starting to feel more and more out of place by the second. She figured natural eyes were in- all the tower heirs had them- but no one on her 'level' seemed to. This was way more complicated than her corp etiquette teacher made it seem. “It- yes, it was near Canberra,” she said quietly, wishing her cohort would find her. “On Old Earth.”

“And their color was pink in Adelaide?” emex asked innocently. “Sorry, I just don't know a lot about your culture. Baby pink is really a unique corp-color!”

From every direction in the vibrantly hued crowd around them, Ada heard gossipy giggles, her stomach falling even further. “No, I um, I'm not from- my father's the head of R&D for Oracle. I ah- someone said that we didn't have to wear corp-colors.”

They tapped nails against their cheek, the mani-tips flashing in a different color with every impact. “Oh! So you're just more special than us. Unique. Unique Adelaide. That's slick, I like that.”

“I-” Stop saying um. She was more socially savvy than this! “No, I just don't look good in Warsaw orange,” she admitted, in hopes that self-deprecation would get them to leave her alone.

“Oh wo-ow.” The word was drawn out slowly. “That must be rough. I really don't know, I've never had that problem.”

Yes, she was definitely being bullied again.

“Did you hear that? 'I don't look good in orange'? Change yourself, deficient,” she heard someone whispering, nasty laughter in the words.

“She's been poor for a long time, don't be rude,” someone else muttered.

Her father had been second-in-command for Warsaw's research and development for a decade, did they really think she was- yes, she was literally standing in a room with her idols, but it wasn't like Father had gone from unemployed straight to Head of Research and Development! She hadn't worn corporate-provided subsistence since she was ten and they'd left the Blocks for Downtown. This wasn't her first time in custom clothing! But she supposed to people like these, everyone below them looked the same.

No.

It wasn't worth the fight; she couldn't afford to upset anyone.

With a smile and a quick farewell to cover her confused seething, Adelaide tried to slip away. Yes, she knew that it made her look weak, but that was life here. Make enemies and die. Socially, at least. She paced away at a clip, ignoring farewell mockery behind her. Scanning the room in search of support, Ada twisted her hands in the skirts of her heavy, voluminous dress, gems glittering in the rosy light emanating from silvery monofilament lace. It was hard not to stare at her shimmering gown when it moved. She'd never worn anything so in-fashion before.

Ugh. Where should she go? Hiding would be easiest, but father said it was vital to their future that she make friends.

That was how you got the good partnerships and even promotions- making friends with other corporate heirs.

Ada couldn't say she'd struggled making friends before joining this group, but there was an overwhelming history between every single one of the maybe two hundred people in this enormous room that made fitting in almost impossible. Even just in her own group of first gen, lower corporate heirs it was all cliques. And the higher you got in power and prestige, the longer they'd known each other. And at the top of them all...

Desmond Arden.

Through the wilderness of pillars and tables, she saw a quiet alcove of filigree cages and massive scarlet flowers with strange, alien shapes. There was no one there. At a quick, but discreet angle, she made for it. Her eyes stayed on the move, but she knew in her heart of hearts she wasn't looking for her 'friends', but the brilliant royal blue and white of Ardent Technology, Desmond's company.

Well, his father Maximilian's company.

Washington Subcology dome was the oldest, biggest, and most important of all. They controlled food production, and rehydration and flavoring technology, with very little competition. But even more than that- they made seawater filters.

Without a steady supply of seawater filters, the whole world would die.

Weaving between bodies, Adelaide hastily turned her gaze aside from a coupling, leaving the shelter of the shaded recesses of the ballroom back into the clearing where the top predators roamed. When it came to things like that, better not to see. Secrets were dangerous. Being noticed snooping, even more so.

It'd been a rough road to learning that, even though she'd entered lower corp society in Warsaw only a few years later than most.

Before dad had gotten that management job in Warsaw they'd lived in the Washington Blocks, up against the arcology walls. Everyone complained about the crowded, utilitarian blocks, but she'd loved it. Her favorite had always been the huge elevators that went up the vertical streets, looking out over the Downtown as they rose higher and higher above it, the artificial sun beaming down from the top of the dome. Sometimes she took a train from Warsaw to Washington just to ride them again.

But she wasn't a worker any more, dad was in the real corporate hierarchy now, and she needed to start acting like it.

It was just hard to give up her love for Washington when it belonged to him.

Her hiding place wasn't a great one. The proliferation of birds trapped in ornate aviaries all started squawking at her the moment she plopped down at the unoccupied table. Both miserably embarrassed and angry at the rudeness of it all, Adelaide dropped her eyes to her wrist, fiddling with it. The private feed was humming.

She sent her location, hopefully, and then lifted her eyes to scan what of the completely overdone ballroom she could see. Ada was still dressed for a masque, without the mask, and so were plenty of the others. But the mood was entirely different.

And without the excuse of dancing, how could she muster up the bravery to talk to Desmond?

Leaving the safety of her social strata felt incredibly dangerous.

The hierarchy was strictly enforced, often by bullying like she'd dealt with earlier. Top of the food chain was of course the tower corp celebs: those set to inherit ownership of the thirty one subcologies that were all that remained of the drowned world. Each subcology had a tower in the center that housed the corporation that had built or hostilely taken over the city, beneath a vast dome that kept the ocean at bay. At the top of each tower the heirs lived sentinel over their cities.

They were the future leaders of the world, each being educated and groomed to take over their parents' position. Certainly, someone else could be made CEO, but it was unlikely. After all, they'd been made for the jobs. Every single one of them had been crafted by science before they'd even entered the womb, and some of them hadn't even seen a womb at all- she knew Desmond had been mechanically gestated.

His father was proud of that fact, which had always struck her as a bit odd.

The tier below were the heirs of smaller companies, those who existed as a subsidiary of the main corps. The big fish. Their position in the room could vary, depending on how big the company and where they were.

Then were the presidents, and big board execs' heirs, the people who probably owned actual homes in the Downtown. And at the bottom, people like Ada. They were the children of important department heads, vice presidents, or unique individuals like artists or vid stars, important researchers. Musicians. The kind of people that were there to be with someone.

The kind of people who were hunting.

Finally her plea bore fruit, and a cluster of brightly-colored corp debutantes found and surrounded her. The lowest of the low- her cohort. They gathered immediately to commiserate with her, lamenting the change in party that had ruined all their plans. Adelaide stood among them, feeling at sea about all of this and wondering why she'd let herself get swept up in their planning at all.

All she wanted was to find her place before reaching for sky.

Luckily someone else was rapidly slighted, and her plight was pushed aside.

A new place should have been a fresh start, but for some reason people had been digging into her past and had uncovered that she'd been running Desmond's gossip feed until Father had been promoted. Yes, she was not only a fan, but the fan, and yes, obviously she was going to do what she could to meet him, but what had once been her claim to fame was now her embarrassment.

If only they'd let her past be.

She wasn't the only one being encouraged to step out of her comfort zone, of course. Advancement was necessary for them all. Every low-ranked corp celeb was here with a mission in mind, venturing out briefly from safety to make their own overtures. There was nothing for Ada to do but follow the group, serve her purpose in encouragement and commiseration, and hope she'd be otherwise unnoticed. The last thing she needed was one of these erstwhile friends blabbing about her past hobbies in front of someone more important.

But of course, the instant the ballroom started humming with those flickers of interest and attention that spoke of an important arrival, Ada's partisan immediately turned back to her. He must be arriving at last. It made sense. No one was above timing their entrance to make a splash; not even Desmond could escape that bit of theatricality.

Hundreds of eyes in every color imaginable turned towards the entry, locking onto the man himself as he arrived, alone if one ignored the pair of security guards that followed behind him.

Being this close took her breath away; Desmond Arden was the most striking man she'd ever seen in her life.

His eyes were a brilliant, saturated blue that stood out sharply against the deep olive of his skin, his naturally platinum hair kept short and carefully styled. It was very dead-world, his style, from the sharp suit always in corporate colors to the strict masc presentation. No matter how fashions changed, and people tried to copy him, he still managed to be the most intimidating presence in the room.

He was dedicated, reserved, dignified, and often cold.

But Adelaide knew it was his pride and high expectations that made him seem so untouchable. Everyone had a public persona, after all. As someone who had grown up beside him, eyes always on his feed, she understood him even deeper than that. She saw every single one of his private moments that had been captured on vid, the different smiles he had.

What he looked like when he was truly happy.

The crowd moved away from him natural, close enough to hopefully be noticed, but not enough to impede his path. He, of course, went immediately to Jia Koh's table, making the appropriate greetings. One of her coterie whispered a discreet 'go' and shoved at her back, sending distracted Ada stumbling forward. Spinning around, she fixed him with a cold, irritable look.

With a jolt of fear, she realized her mistake, but luckily it didn't matter. As Desmond began crossing the floor to his inevitable destination, all the gawking celebs turned back to their own groups. She still watched him out of the corner of his eye as he greeted his friends, but Desmond was unapproachable now.

He was with Merissa Medina, and the undeniable queen bastard of the tower heirs.

Everyone knew to stay away from her unless you wanted to be verbally eviscerated.

Always on high alert, Merissa surveyed the room with eyes so amber they were nearly gold, lifting a hand to flick Desmond's off her shoulder- like he was nothing more than an inconvenience. Instead of being angry, he laughed once with a lopsided smile, leaning down to whisper something into her ear. So close. Even though she knew it was so their sec-tech could hide their conversation, but the sour jealousy in the pit of her stomach rose immediately.

“Don't worry. He won't stay there all night,” someone said sympathetically. “She can't guard him all night.”

“I don't even know what to say now. No dancing.”

“You could tell him you're his biggest fan,” someone else suggested, sympathy less believable, the edge of a smirk creeping out.

Adelaide knew they weren't going to let it go. No, no chance at a fresh start another night, another party when her plans hadn't been ruined. It had to be tonight. This wasn't about the people swarming around her like predators testing her for weaknesses. This was about her.

And while Adelaide was afraid of everyone else in the room, she wasn't afraid at all of Desmond.

After all, she knew him.