#HE LOVES LITTLE MERMAID AND HE EVEN SAID HIS FAVORITE SONG IS UNDER THE SEA

[halcyone-of-the-sea]

Songs That Sound Like Sea-Foam (II)

AU MASTERLIST || PART III

PAIRING: Fisherman!John Price x F!Mermaid!Reader

WORDCOUNT: 5.7k

WARNINGS: Blood, abduction, violence, intense gore, death, swords & firearms, angst, hurt/comfort, nakedness, etc.

A/N: Guys, whatever you do, don't imagine Price in a white tunic holding Mermaid you in one arm and weilding a sword in the other. I'm frothing at the mouth.

*I do not give others permission to translate and/or re-publish my works on this or any other platform*

You sit on your black rocks once more, the darkening sky warning of an oncoming storm that you can feel seeping into your bones. In your loose grip, you fiddle with John’s necklace. 

He’d given it to you only recently as a gift, seeing as you enjoyed the shininess of it so much, and you’d taken great pleasure in keeping it around your neck. Out of all of your treasures and trinkets, somehow these measly metal discs had become your favorite. The necklace is smooth under your caress, and you look down at it adoringly, eyes soft and lips curved with delicate affection. 

The cove, as always, was quiet above the call of seagulls and the lapping of waves; the whispering ripples from your tail as it sways under the water. You had gotten content with this—the silence. Because you knew it would be filled by the low gravel of an accented voice soon enough; would be swept away by the chuckles you could wring from beard-hidden lips. 

John was something to look forward to, and you loved the way he looked at you. 

Water hits the top of your head. 

Blinking out of your honeyed thoughts you look up to the crying sky as small slaps of droplets slide across your cheeks. Lashes flinch at every motion, and you glance back to the empty cove before lowering the necklace to your scaled lap. 

Confusion slithers in like an eel to your heart as your eyes slide over the growing waves. The yawning mouth of the entrance sits abandoned of any small fishing ship. 

For three, beautiful, sand-covered, months, John had never missed a day to come and see you. Rain or Sun.

A prick of a sharp fish's spine enters your brain. The rain comes down now in sheets. Lightning and thunder fight, and if you look close enough, the remnants of ancient lightning birds battle overhead with a flurry of black wings and their insatiable need for blood. Yet, still, your eyes stay frozen on the cove entrance as the water rises and rises. 

With a thinning of your lips and the violent pushing from the torrent as it swallows your rocks, you clench your hands over John’s necklace and push off your perch with a shove of your palms. 

Water encompasses you, scales dull, and fins limp as the general calmness from the encompassing water holds you in a constant sway. Your brows furrow.

Why wasn’t he here? You ask yourself, sinking among the seaweed and the schools of quick fish. Concern mingles with hurt. Do…do you think he’s alright? 

Human ways were still confusing to you, even if John had been helping you understand them and giving little clam-shells of information. But they seemed…like violent folk. Angry and selfish, from what John had said about their wars and squabbles. The thought of your fisherman potentially being in danger on land was terrifying to you. 

There wouldn’t be anything you could do if that happened.

Your fingers tighten around the strap of his necklace as you stare at the surface, back lightly hitting the bottom of the cove with a puff of sand. Crabs scatter as your tail twitches, your lungs sighing in their own special way. 

John can take care of himself, you reason. He’s just a little late is all. 

John’s never late. Your face creases, but you stuff the thought down, twisting on your side and bridging the piece of jewelry to your lip—kissing it once as sand digs into your skin. Holding the fisherman's property to your pounding heart, you close your eyes and wait as any lonely and loyal Merwoman would; tail held in close and the reverberations of a rabid downpour above you.

—

You wake up to the darkness of night. Blinking, you sigh to yourself and move a slow hand to rub at your eyes. After a moment of fatigued confusion as to why you weren’t in your cave, you realized why you had been out here in the first place.

John. 

Arms pushing you up, your mind fights to wake itself, laced with algae and fatigue. How long have you been asleep? Has the storm stopped? Surely you hadn’t slept the entire day away. You pull the fisherman's necklace over your head as you stare at the sand below you. No fish were slipping past besides one that brushes your tail, which you found odd, but didn’t think much of it. 

Shaking your head, you feel sluggish and put the necklace back on with a huff. You worry what John will think of you perhaps missing his late visit and smile slightly in humor. 

The fish brushes your tail again. 

Scales shimmering, you turn with an annoyed pull to your lips, fins scraping something hard and rough even as it’s saturated by the water of your cove. When you spot it, not only the rope but the shadow of the large hunting ship above you, your body drains of any life that had once lived in your lungs. It wasn’t nighttime. 

Eyes widening at the loop that was parading around your tail, you don’t have time to move before it tightens with a force that leaves your mouth opening in a bubbled scream; ruthlessly jerking your body along the seafloor. 

Desperately, your hands rip along the rocks and weeds of the bottom of the cove, getting torn and shredded in their soft nature as easily as paper. Your body smacks into every little object with a rattling to your bones that makes you sob. Red saturates the water as you’re manhandled in long and steady intervals back and up. 

No amount of rampaging your tail does can break the rope, and with a last-ditch effort as the sandy floor gets farther and farther away, you twist around and tear at the woven cord with sharp nails. Adrenaline pumps, pupils tiny and panicked. 

No! No, not like this! You can imagine the pain of it now—the hooks and the ripping of scales from your supple flesh. Even now the tiny ones under the dig of the vice are peeling away in long strings of red to disappear behind you as you’re thrust upward. They’re delicate, don’t these monsters understand? They’re beautiful and treasured and they’re destroying them!

You scream in pain at the pulling of your spine; a large creaking in your muscles. 

But as you gain a small sense of feral hope when the rope begins to fray from your grip, the iron net squashes any belief of surviving. 

It slams into you as John would cast his own for his prey—but this one is larger and full of cruel, curved, spikes. Is this what your parents endured? What the harpies had meant? The iron sinks far quicker than rope, and it traps you in a dome of hell before you can mutilate yourself out of the maw.

Oh, Gods, it was going to peel your skin away.

True fear pounded in your breast, and with a cry of John’s name from under the water, you watched with horror as the net descended onto you and your bloody wounds.

They drag you above waves and the first thing you do is thrash and wail so loud the seagulls shriek in surprise. There’s crimson staining the waters sloshing at you with combative ease, the violent storm from before now a light slapping at add to your fear. In the wake of open air, the curved spikes dig into your flesh as easily as a unicorn’s horn can penetrate a wyvern’s armor. Skin everywhere is assaulted and peeled to a tautness of bodily torture. 

Oh, and your precious tail. 

It hurt so badly, like nothing you had ever experienced before. 

“John!” You scream as your body strikes the side of the large ship, voice cutting out and leaving a bawling yell behind. Your form was being pulled by steady hoists and barked orders. 

All around you can hear laughing—joking. Loud exclamations of approval. 

You’re sure they’ve dislocated your tail right at the joint, how could they not have? The ream of their strong arms and ruthless greed. Oh, your tail, your precious, beautiful tail.

Long streams of salty tears fly down your dripping face; arms pushing the spikes away from your neck and face with futile action. The net and rope were your earthly graves. 

They slam you to the deck like a fish. 

Jerking and slapping around, your arms hit the wood with a bird-paced heart. The iron rattles and keeps you down like a weight. 

Brokenly gasping through loud cries, the sudden jeering faces from all around leave your fear all-consuming. 

They were ugly—broken teeth and sun-destroyed skin. Eyes that bugged and scars that could be from either a sword or a Strix’s claws. More than likely it was from meager squabbles with crewmates. But you balk back nonetheless, terrified and bleeding profusely. 

They were going to rip you to pieces. 

Inside your chest, your lungs are rising and falling quickly, and the hands that glide along your form make you want to burn your skin off. They grip at you, yanking you around as your hair gets caught in the gaps between the iron. With nail and tooth your bite and claw, but how many were there? Ten? Twenty? 

There’s uproar and more jokes as you fight back; body lifted and spikes torn out of skin as you arch your back and howl in agony. Their hands are not John’s. They don’t caress your smooth skin with reverence or holiness—this is cruelty. This is a sadistic pleasure. 

“Isn’t it our lucky day, Lads?!” A high and grating voice bellows out, and finally free of the net, all you can do is cry and flip your tail uselessly along the polished wood as they throw you down. Your vision blacks and slowly comes back—hair matted and skin slick with more than water.

It hurts to breathe too much. Whimpering, your cheek presses itself into the deck as footsteps take someone closer.

“Holy God, would ya look at that down there, eh? A true maiden of the sea,” A thunderous belt of achievement from everyone leaves you flinching, eyes tight shut to try and focus on anything but the excruciating way your skin throbs and gushes blood. “Though we’d have gotten all of them by now!” 

Haggard laughs and rotted smiles. 

A hand snaps to wrench your face upward, and you yowl and grasp at your head as your delicate strands go tight.

“Now who’s the little beauty we have here?” Whoever this man was, he had no standing on John. On your Fisherman. 

Loose skin and an age-rotted tunic, a belt at his waist holding a scabbard with a gold sword and twin pistols. He had only one eye—brown as a pile of mud—with a black eyepatch over the other. 

Your fluttering lashes took in a cracked-lipped grin of approval; whether at your battered appearance or the nature of your species, you knew not. But you didn’t like the way he was glancing at your tail as if it was made of gold one bit.

“Lords above, did ya have to be so brash, Lads?” Spittle slaps your face and you fight again with the hands in your locks to get away. The man’s hold jerks your face back and forth until you stop with bile building in your throat. “Wrecked her silky skin, you did!”

Being thrown back, your skull slams the deck before you hurl your guts in a sputtering of air and crimson. Many laugh and kick at your already broken scales. You grit your teeth and refuse to cry out.

“Get ‘er tied up and in the Hold for storage. If the scales are good enough, we’ll peel ‘em tomorrow.”

“Peel?!” Your face whips into a twisted glare, and pain leads to fast anger; wrath, even. The men grow gradually silent at your outburst and the leader comes to a slow stop—his back to you. “How dare you?” You gasp out, hands pushing your body slightly backward until the agony makes you stop with a lip-bitten whine. “How dare you do this to me? What have I done to you and your men? You’re nothing but senseless cowards who shy at something that lives its life differently! Am I only a pile of coin for you?!”

Your blood runs over the deck and seeps into the grain. Staining it with your memory and presence like a ghost that’s not yet dead. Loose scales shimmer and drip red. They were damaged and dull—your flesh was mangled. 

The leader turns back and smirks with blackened teeth. “More than a pile, Little Dearie. Far more. And if those hooks had been kinder, the King would have loved a beauty like you in his collection.” A look is slid down your body with a knowing chuckle.

He stalks off and you peel back your lips to say more, but a stained rag is shoved into your mouth instead, shutting up your rageful screeches and any hope of a peep of potent song despite not knowing these devils’ names.

By the time they chuck you in the Hold, body bouncing along the wood, and shut the hatch with a reverberation of wood, you had managed to rip someone’s ear clean off and break another’s arm; but there was only so much you could do. They had bound your hands behind you with a blow to your spine.

Curled up and longing for the sea, for John, you hold the only thing you have left. 

Silver discs on a chain, the metal smooth and the only thing now shining. You feel it hit your breastbone and sob as the headache of blood loss begins to set in. Laughter echoes from above your dark prison.

—

John saw the blood in the water before he saw the scales being pushed back and forth on the beach. Caught in that gentle push and pull now that the storm had ceased beyond a light drizzle—bright and reflecting the misty sun; far more vibrant than a fish or a sea serpent. But the blood. 

Christ, there was blood in the water. 

Blue eyes stare blankly at the sea-foam at the shoreline, red and bubbling, John’s pupils small and the lashes held back even as a salty breeze hits them with a burn. At his sides, his hands slowly close into fists. 

Jumping off the side of his ship, the man lands in thigh-deep water, gritting his teeth before he shoves his way to the sand and black rocks of land. He doesn’t know what drives his actions, or why he’s doing this, but with quick hands, he snatches up what scales he can find and keeps them in his palm; mind on fire. 

Anyone could see the fury in John’s gaze—a growing hatred for what was just beyond sight. When he has all he’s able to carry, he wades back through the water and gets himself back atop his boat easily with one hand. 

Walking quickly and soaked, he pushes aside a small cloth atop a barrel; seeing a gold box hidden under it. He opens it deftly, and while he puts the damaged and torn scales inside, John glances at the expensive and elegant twin cuff bracelets that sit in blue velvet. 

When he had been away buying them for you, he should have already been here. Wasted time.

I left her here alone. Knowing what could happen if I did. A growl bounces under his beard, face going red with anger. The two of you had quickly become enraptured with each other—drunk off flesh and touch like non-sentient animals. 

And something had taken place while he was away. You were gone, the fisherman knew. The water wasn’t as clear, the fish were terrified, and the blood alone proved this—the scales. This wasn’t an accident.

And it had something to do with that ship he’d seen on the horizon with his narrowed eyes not minutes prior. The Captain was slowly re-taking over the man.

“Fuck!” John curses, teeth bared as he spins and readies his sails. With violent pulls at the ropes, letting the mainsail shift down in a flurry of white sheets, he turns the vessel around in no time at all. It was as if Poseidon himself was pushing the ship forward to that small dot on the ocean line, far, far away. 

Deadly purpose bled into his heart, and the early afternoon sun forced him onward with hellfire following at his heels. He re-wraps his gift in the meantime, only taking a single scale from inside and putting it in a small pouch on his belt before walking to another barrel and pausing. This one was older, more sun-bleached. 

John deserted the service years ago, but not long enough to forget how the world of men can be. With a grunt on his thinned lips, the brunette rips the top off and grasps inside. 

With an experienced hand out came a sheathed Cutlass, the leather of the handle worn and indented to his very grip. It found a place on his belt, and John wasted no time in making the Flintlock pistol follow. 

A fisherman he may be, but in his blood John would always be a killer. He knew how to fight dirty and fight well—carve skin and not flinch at the sparks of gunpowder. There was no hesitation as to what he would do to get you back. 

In his chest, there was a weight of rage and concern as he glared at the far-off Hunter’s ship.

“What the hell have you done to her?” He growls, beard back and eyes narrowed. His hands clenched and unclenched with loathing. 

John’s thoughts go to the horror stories he’d heard about Merfolk and them getting caught in the open ocean, when he’d found you he had been surprised. He felt his heart beat faster when you were around, his blood would spike with love and affection. 

It was strange, unheard of, but he can’t stop it now that it’s happened. 

No one touched you with their cruel hands and lived. 

John didn’t like it, but he hung far enough away from the Hunter’s ship so that the cover of night hid him. Dark stars hung at his head, tunic blowing in the chilled breeze when the waves took him close enough—all was silent. Asleep. 

Lantern light slid along the waves, and with deft fingers, John anchored his ship with measured efficiency a small distance away. Looking over the side, the fisherman grunts under his breath and sets his shoulders. Without a single glance in hesitation, he slips silently off the deck into the water. 

Immediately, John kicks his legs and resurfaces with a puff from his nostrils, whipping his head to the side to dispel water. Making no sound, the man swims the distance between vessels, hearing the creak of the still and bulky form of the Hunter’s ship ten times his own sitting above him. 

“Fuckin’ bastards,” he grumbles to himself and thinks of your condition intensely. His heart hammers even in the clutches of the frigid waters. But beyond the insult, no other words needed to be spoken—the prior Captain was a man of action.

Violent Action.

John wades to the side of the wooden structure, the waves threatening to smash him tight into the hull and skin him against the barnacles, but he braces himself and grabs ahold of the knife at his belt, next to his cutlass. In his stupor to get to you quickly, he’d forgotten that his Flintlock would be completely useless now that it had been submerged in water. 

Grunting and trying to remain as quiet as possible, the man sets his blade into the side of the ship into the thin slits available. In his free hand, he takes up his cutlass and does the same. In a feat of impressive upper-body strength that leaves his muscles bunching and tensing—veins visible from the side of his neck—John huffs breaths as he climbs the ship one panel at a time. 

He groans and sends the blades back in at opposite intervals, the firm thunk-plunk, thunk-plunk, bouncing off the dark air as the moon shines bright. But no one awakens.

The Fisherman pulls himself up the side of the ship and swiftly ducts behind a pile of large crates on deck to gather himself, wiping his forehead with his arm.

“C’mon Sweetheart,” he mutters, “hold on just a little longer.” Duel wielding both weapons, narrowed eyes look across the open area—the stain of blood all along the wood. Glimmering in the low light catches John’s fiery gaze. 

Scales. Your scales. Littering the deck and scattered all over. 

If possible, the man becomes even more enraged, knuckles going white over his blades. The man stationed on deck was asleep across the way; leaning back and snoring. John locks eyes on him and hides back a vicious smirk. Quickly sneaking over and staying near the edge of the lantern’s lights, the ragged-looking man awakens to a blade at the base of his throat and a voice in his ear.

“The woman,” John speaks slowly and deeply, accent rolling out. The watchman tenses in his grip, but John grits his teeth and grits out, “Where the fuck is she?” 

“W-woman?” Usually, the brunette could paint himself a patient man, like a flag fluttering in a breeze waiting for the next bout of heavy winds without care or concern. But this was different. 

By God, if these pathetic fortune-seekers had hurt you even in the slightest bit…

John presses the blade harder to the man’s throat, thighs shifting in agitation, glaring at the far-off water beyond this stranger’s shoulder.

“The woman.” Blood falls down the blade edge, crimson. A tiny whimper. “The one that you stole away like an fucking animal.” 

“The fish?” The tone was incredulous but with a snarl the voice continues, whispering pitifully out in fear over the night’s silence. “She’s in the Hold! I swear it, Sir, on God’s green earth I do—”

John slits the man’s throat and takes his leave before the body drops, blood spraying into the air with a garbled cry.

—

You don’t sleep so much as you fall unconscious from the lack of blood. Inside your head, your brain is fuzzy and light—everything swirling like a jewel’s many faces reflected onto a wall. The rocking of the Hunter’s ship, while something you should be used and accustomed to, made you sick at times until only the watery bile that fell from your lips hit the wood. 

At some point, you’d given into the call of nothingness at the lack of seawater and the violent shivering of your shoulders. Your tail had gone completely numb. 

Everyone knew that Merfolk needed the sea to survive—you couldn’t live without feeling its loose arms around you for long periods, pulling you in and filling your airways. 

This was torture. 

But whoever was ripping up cloth at your limp side was muttering you back into the darkness of the Hold. 

“I’m right ‘ere, c’mon, Love. Open your bloody eyes.” Hands pressed to your face, tilting it and hissing before a thumb slid along the swollen skin of a cut. “I’ll rip them to pieces…mark my word. They’ll not live through this.” 

It sounded like…

Gripping at your binds and gag, both items slipped away right before the larger cuts on your body were suddenly packed with strips of rough material. Occasional whispers of words and curses wafted out. 

“...J-John?” Your voice is rough, shattered, but at the same time you manage to force open an eye. 

Tight blue eyes meet yours immediately, and his voice softens to a painful degree as he addresses you. “That’s it, atta girl. Just keep focusing on my voice, then, yeah? Come back to me, Sweetheart.” 

Tears well your ducts, lips quivering. 

John was curled over you and had ripped up the bottom of his tunic to make strips of bandages to try and stop the bleeding. He came for you, gruff voice and large frame, all.

“How are you—” Your voice breaks into body-shaking coughs, but that doesn't deter the man. He carefully puts a hand forward and tilts you into his arms; head resting on his chest. Your ears twitch to the sound of his heartbeat, loud and fast. You cling to it like a lifeline as those calluses graze your skin once more.

How was he here? 

“What have they fucking done?” John’s voice is dark and volatile, his hand stroking your matted hair. “What did they do?” 

He’s not so much asking you as he’s asking himself. You breathe in a wheeze, not noticing the crimson staining John’s clothes—none of it his or yours in the slightest. The other men on the ship weren’t the Fisherman’s priority, only you; always you. But whoever had been in his path had met the unfortunate end of being on the opposite side of his blade. 

When he’d found you like this….it was like his entire chest had fallen still. His eyes wide with horror and fear. 

John had never felt something that visceral before, except when you hadn’t been in your cove. 

“Oh, my Beauty.” Chapped lips press to your forehead, breathing you in as arms curl around you. “Let me bring you home.” 

You shake and cry silently into his neck, weak hands coming to grasp at his neck. 

“They’re going to take my tail.” 

“No,” John’s answer is immediate and firm, pulling you closer until you might slip into his skin. “No, they’re not doing a damn thing to you. I promise, Love, not a single person will ever touch you again, you hear?” 

You burrow into his neck, this fisherman’s flesh soft under your force. Hands keep you to him, and with another kiss on your cheek, they tighten and gently move you into the clutch of his arm. 

John looks down at you with great distress, eyes flickering over every sign of abuse and hurt. The men whose throats he’d slit in their sleep deserved to be awake and see the blade descending for their neck, he thought. 

“I’m going to lift you, Sweetheart, eh?” He grunts to push aside the hatred in his tone, not wanting to scare you. He gazes around the Hold and at the low ceiling—the insistent rocking from the waves just outside. 

You suck down greedy breaths and nod slightly, shaking in his arms. John’s eyes crease in sorrow but has no option but to continue; the both of you can’t be here when the remaining men wake or discover the bodies. 

Your Fisherman frowns but does what he’s able to both quickly and effectively lift you, your tail hanging limp and dripping blood from the fins. When you tense and whine, John shushes you quietly.

“Hush, now, it’s alright. It’ll all be over soon, I’ve got you. I’m taking you back home if it’s the last thing I damn-well do.” Your teeth grit with held-back pain, every movement was agony and to think made it worse. 

Home? Home wasn’t safe anymore. Like taking a knife to the heart, the thought makes the torment all the worse. 

John holds you in one arm, head under his ear and rubbing against his beard as his muscles strain to keep you right to him with his torn tunic and blood-freckled skin. In his free hand, he wields his Cutlass and exits the Hold slowly, eyes surveying the scene. 

The scores of bodies were only a fraction of the men of this ship—only one side of the crew’s quarters that ascended up to the deck. John knew the anatomy of a ship well, certainly one like this. 

His only question was why such an unsavory bunch was living on a King issued hunting vessel in perfect condition. Was the bastard hiring pirates for his extermination game?

“If I ever get my hands on him…” John shuts himself up as someone groans in their sleep from the far wall. 

He glares in the general direction and puts his body between yours and the straight direction that he walks—sword parallel to the ground and knife at his belt as a backup. Ready and wound for a fight. 

“You..you came for me?” You ask softly as John carries on, your blood leaving a crimson trail behind the two of you; your mind is loose to all except the way your Fisherman’s thumbs run circles in your rent scales, fingers gripping under your tail joint which aches and hurts. His bicep is curled at the small of your back. 

John carries you like you weigh nothing.

“‘Course,” the brunette's eyes slide to yours, true honesty and firmness behind his words. You flutter your lashes at the fatigue in your body and his feet speed up, speaking into your scalp and nuzzling his beard into you. “No one messes with my girl.” 

“I’m not a…girl, John,” you remind, softly.

The smirk on your head gives you strength, fear steadily draining like contaminated liquid.

“No,” he whispers, “no, not quite. You’re something far more lovely, aren’t you?”

Your heart swells, tears dripping down your cheeks once more before lips slide them away with brushes of a kiss. He carries you up the stairs quickly, sword at the ready. 

Lantern light makes you squint, hands tightening around John’s neck. 

He hums to you, a small melody that you can latch onto to help focus—it keeps your mind working as everything else falls away. John’s warm flesh and his lungs, the sound of his pulse. 

He came for you. No man would do that besides him—no specimen of any species. No one except John. 

Your Fisherman. 

You’re halfway to freedom, feeling the sea air on your flesh and longing for the depths of untouchable waves. You peek from John’s neck and blink delicately, what little scales still intact shimmering, and fins aching for water. 

“John,” he begins to pick up his pace, but still glances in attentive question. “I need to be in the water. I can’t go long without it.” You already felt a bit stronger by just being by the open sea. The man nods and you smile deeply, face twisted. You kiss his cheek deeply. “You have my thanks, Fisherman.” 

His tight expression gradually loosens with care and love. “Doubted me, then?”

“Perhaps only a little,” he kisses your lips, cheeky smiles peeling his beard. 

“Well, we’ll have to fix that, eh?” The man’s face is lit by lanterns, stars like a crown above his head that illuminate the small scars and the sheen of sweat like a portrait of a good man. 

Perhaps humans were truly more magical than you had been taught to believe, for no mortal man would do this for anybody. 

In the midst of him carrying you over to the edge of the ship, he’s only three feet from the drop when the familiar sound of a Flintlock hammer being clicked back hits his ears. You feel John lock up, and your eyebrows crease in confusion; not common to the model of metal and wood. 

Looking over his shoulder, you strangle down a raspy gasp.

“John—”

“I know, Love.” He whispers, turning slowly with his sword at his hip. The stranger with the eyepatch has his weapon leveled with the brunette’s chest. “Easy, let me handle it. Keep focusing on me.”

“A thief in the night!” The leader calls, and alarm from below deck start to rise in question at the noise. John grits his teeth and his stance widens. “Thought to make off with my prize, did ya? I’ve not seen you before on this ship.”

“Hell,” John grits out, loudly now that he’s caught. You burrow deeper into him and he shields you, voice hot with rage. “Save me the fuckin’ monologue. She isn’t yours—to own or bloody take.” 

As he speaks he points his cutlass in the leader’s general direction, holding it aloft with a strong and pale arm. The leader smirks, and soon the pound of rushing feet enter the deck—men holding weapons and clubs. You make a noise of tension and John tries to shift you farther into his grip even more. 

Your tail hangs and brushes the deck, gaining some feeling back to it gradually. 

The leader laughs. “What that creature is, Mate, is enough gold for a whole moon’s time in rum and pleasure.” His single eye falls on you as the crew gets closer, crowding in and yelling. 

John shuffles back and snarls like a boar, pointing his sword’s tip from one chest to another. 

“Keep your bastard eye off of ‘er, you prick. Find your score elsewhere. She’s coming with me.” So sure he sounds that you yourself believe it. Your chest swims with pride.  

The crew closes in, but jumping at this stage was dangerous. The ones with firearms could aim in the water before you both could get away and John didn’t know if you could swim still. Your fins were torn and tail flinching with damaged nerves.

Eyepatch barks a vile laugh, “...I think he loves the beast!” John’s body winds even farther and your eyes slip to the side of his red face. He grunts stiffly, hair damp. Everyone follows in their amusement, mocking the two of you. “I knew that necklace around her neck meant something.” Your body stills and you glance down at John’s gifted silver. Blue eyes flash to the same, but as if suddenly realizing the nakedness of your top surrounded by such brutes, your Fisherman pushes on the back of your spine to shove your chest into his own with a panicked look. You grunt in surprise, but let him. “No greedy Mermaid would bother with a trinket like that! A piece of rubbish metal. It means something to her—and I’ll bet that something is you, Thief.” 

Me, greedy? Your eyes narrowed into slits. If you knew his name, you’d sing his death song in an instant. Your Fisherman’s face goes stiff, knowing the predicament the two of you were in. There was no way he was giving you up. 

But himself…

Tiny lids narrow on the arrogant leader.

“Do you trust me?” John whispers to you, suddenly, as all sides were surrounded and the water just as dangerous as the deck. 

Face creasing, you say, confused and worried, “Of course.” 

“...Then forgive me.” 

He throws you from the side of the deck, and whirs to run his blade through the nearest man. 

TAGS:

@luuvbuzz, @emerald-valkyrie, @anna-banana27, @blueoorchid, @cryingnotcrying, @writeforfandoms, @homicidal-slvt, @jade-jax, @frazie99, @elmoees, @littlemisstrouble, @alpineswinter, @phoenixhalliwell, @idocarealot, @lavalleon, @facelessmemories, @h-leigh, @20forty9, @glitter-anon-asks, @emily-who-killed-a-man, @neelehksttr, @aeneanc, @escapefromrealitysm, @i-d-1-0-t, @pparcxysm, @hawkscanendme, @caramlizedtomatos, @konigsleftkidney, @sanfransolomitatm, @maelstrom007, @jemandderkeinenusernamenfindet, @pheobees, @glitterypirateduck, @uselsshuman, @fan-of-encouragement, @halfmoth-halfman, @ghostlythunderbird, @I-inkage, @pukbadger, @kopatych11, @0nceinabluem00n, @cocrorapop, @knightofsexyness, @abnormalgeil, @smallseastone, @jacegons, @330bpm-whiplash, @simon-rileys-housewife, @4-atsu, @tiredmetalenthusiast

[watcheraurora]

Siren Song

Had a dream the other night that I got turned into a mermaid. And as a gal who's loved merfolk since I was a kid, I couldn't resist 4.3k words

—

Grian grinned to himself. From his fishing dock, he could hear Gem on her little fishing boat belting sea shanties. She sounded like she was having fun, swinging around her rigging with a sword on her belt. She wasn't the only one who lived on their boat, but she was the only one who took such audible joy in it.

Grian let his feet dangle in the water, his overalls rolled up past his knees, and watched the sea as his lure bobbed. Early morning was one of his favorite times to fish. The quiet—apart from Gem's shanties—the sunrise on the clouds, the watery color of the sky. The calmness of the ocean. It was peaceful, like this. There was nothing else he needed to do but sit and fish. This early in the season, the ocean water was frigid against his bare skin. He didn't care.

"Morning Grian!" Gem called as she spun around a line of the rigging as though it was the hand of a dance partner. She waved from her boat's deck anchored a little farther out in the bay, not attached to a dock or wharf.

"Morning Gem!" Grian replied, raising a hand in response.

Gem beamed and went back to whatever it was she was up to. Grian suspected she was trying to do chores and just decided to have fun instead. She was anchored far enough out that they couldn't easily talk. They had to shout. He tried not to shout this early though. It scared the fish.

The water, near the hull of Gem's ship, moved strangely. A movement Grian was familiar with. Something large not quite breaking the surface tension, sliding just underneath. Large and shimmery.

Grian perked up. That was either the largest cod he'd ever seen—or something else was near.

He pulled his feet out of the water and stood up. Snatching his binoculars from his pack of stuff, he held them up and peered toward where the shape moved.

The murk of the early-morning ocean prevented him from seeing what was under the surface.

"Shoot," he muttered. "What was that? Big fish don't come this shallow often..." He moved the binoculars up and down, looking through them and sweeping his gaze in the same area without the magnification. "Geeem?" he called, as loud as he dared to not scare the fish. "Is your sonar on?"

Gem stopped where she was dramatically stomping on the deck with a mop in hand while chanting her shanty. "No. I'm cleaning," she called back.

"Mind turning it on? There's something big here!"

"Grian, you don't have the equipment for deep sea fishing."

"Humor me," Grian said.

Gem made a face that was unimpressed—even from Grian's distance. "Fiiine," she said, vanishing into the cabin of her boat.

—

Pearl grabbed Scar's wrist as a noise traveled through the water. A sonar that was revving up, but not yet active.

"Hold on," she said. Scar twisted his arm and grabbed her arm in return. They snagged each other's other arms. Pearl built up some momentum with her tail and they shot toward deeper water. Scar's torn caudal fin trailed limply behind him as Pearl sped them both away. The pearlescent white tail for which she got her name glimmered in the weak, pale sunlight that hadn't yet broken over the horizon.

Pearl swam them both for several long moments—until they were most likely out of range of the sonar. Then slowed down. Scar's green eyes were wide. The scar over the bridge of his nose shimmered. "Did we just get caught?"

"Maybe," Pearl said, looking over her shoulder. Her long hair drifted in a cloud around her head. She brushed it aside to look behind her. "I don't think the sonar got turned on quick enough. But I can't say for sure."

Scar looked down at his tail. The base of his caudal fin was bent awkwardly and the fin itself was torn in such a way to render it useless. He couldn't swim. "I'm sorry, Pearl. I didn't mean—"

"Don't apologize, Scar. It's not your fault."

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-but..." Scar put on his pathetic voice that was overdramatic for the sake of comedy. "But I'm the one who got too close to the humans."

"Yeah, and got closer in the hopes that they'd help fix you. We know that human of Jimmy's knows about us and would help. But everyone else? That man on the dock could have very well hooked your tail if you got any closer. We don't know who we can trust."

"How... how do we get Jimmy's human to help fix my tail? We just don't have the materials to splint it underwater."

Pearl made a face. "Well, it was pretty stupid of you to come this close to shore on your own when you can barely swim. You're lucky I got here when I did to get you out before they thought a shark got close to shore."

Scar pouted, sticking his lower lip out.

"Look. I know your tail needs fixing. And Jimmy and Lizzie's humans will help. But we need Jimmy or Lizzie to contact them. How those two both managed to snag humans is beyond me."

"Must be ocean royalty twin charm or something," Scar said sarcastically.

Pearl smirked and bounced her eyebrows. "Must be. C'mon. Let's go ask Jimmy and Lizzie if one of them can ask their human for help."

Scar thought for a moment, then nodded.

—

Grian stood on the end of his dock at the end of the day. The sun had set behind him and the last few rays were starting to filter out.

Soft footsteps approached down the dock. "Whatcha doin'?" Gem asked. Her rowboat bobbed in the water just in front of them both. She had on her light, soft boat shoes.

"Looking to see if that fish came back with the sunset," Grian said, binoculars in hand.

Gem yawned and stretched. "Okay," she said through her yawn. "I'm heading back to the boat. Holler if you need anything."

"Yeah, yeah. Cheers," Grian said.

She hopped nimbly down into her rowboat, untied it, and started to row back to her boat. Grian watched her go, making sure she was safe. They'd both moved to this small fishing town within a year of one another. Gem's grandparents had given her their fishing boat when they passed away and she'd chosen to live on it, and Grian... well. He was running. Always running. A restless soul with people in his past that he needed to be far away from for his own sanity.

He told the good people in his past that he'd found the sea. But it was more like the sea found him. Called him. Beckoned. So here he stayed. In a small flat over a shop—a workshop, to be specific. Three mechanics ran it. And he fished before and after work.

His eyes tracked Gem to where she tied her rowboat to the ladder on the hull of her boat and climbed the rest of the way up before she disappeared inside. Grian was older than Gem by only a few years, and felt a brotherly protectiveness of her. The two who came to the small, sleepy town from the outside.

There was no sign of that large fish he'd seen earlier. The last rays of sunlight were snuffed out by the dark night sky. The orangey glow of streetlamps buzzed to life.

Grian sighed with disappointment. Maybe tomorrow morning...

He turned and moved to stomp back up the dock to go back to his flat—

Before freezing.

A song floated across the surface of the water. The voice a warm baritone. Resonant enough that Grian felt his bones vibrate with the timbre of it, despite the obvious distance it was traveling. He found himself unable to move. Transfixed by the music. Entranced.

Slowly, he pivoted to face the sea again. The rocks that made up the outside barrier that sheltered the marina were dark. Except one spot that had a silvery glow on the far side. Not from moonlight.

Curiosity broke whatever spell he was under. He rushed to make his way around the perimeter of the marina. Toward the glow being cast on the rocks. Stumbling over rough terrain in the darkness.

—

A few tail-lengths down the rocky shore, Tango was crouched, elbows resting on his knees, as he smiled down at Jimmy. Who was on his stomach with his sky-blue tail bent up into the air. Caudal fin drifting up and down. He kept himself upright with his elbows on the ground, resting his chin on his hands as he talked to Tango.

A stone's throw away from those two, Lizzie and Joel were much closer. Joel sitting on the ground with Lizzie fully in his lap, her purplish-blue tail wrapped around him and his fingers lazily playing with her long pink hair.

Pearl and Scar rested as far away as possible. Pearl looked ready to drag him back into the sea at a moment's notice. Jittery and wound up. Scar, for his part, was trying to look relaxed. He was singing to keep himself calm. Tango's good friend and coworker, Etho, was helping splint Scar's tail and stitch his caudal fin back together. He had an intense sort of look to him, but his callused hands were remarkably gentle. Pearl was using what little magic she had to cast enough light for Etho to see and work by. Silvery moonlight from her palm dancing over the rocks where it reflected off the waves.

"You should probably go help Etho," Jimmy remarked to Tango.

"Probably," Tango agreed with a small nod and an unfocused look in his eyes. He didn't move. Didn't stand. Just stayed where he was crouched.

"Thank you for this, by the way," Jimmy said. "I know you would have done it yourself for him but—"

"It's fine. My hands are steady but Etho's are better," Tango remarked. "And he actually knows how to stitch up a wound and make a flexible splint. Or he's creative enough to figure it out. I'm not that creative."

"Sure you are!" Jimmy protested quietly. "You're very creative!"

"I mean, yeah, but not like this. I can make up a game for someone to play, but I can't invent a splint for a merperson's sprained tail. Those are different kinds of creativity and inventiveness." His eyes quickly flicked to the way Jimmy's scales glinted in Pearl's moonlight where scale met skin below his navel and back to Jimmy's eyes. "You're welcome, by the way. It's no problem. Happy to help where we can. For you or people you're close to." Impulsively, he reached out and tugged on the point of Jimmy's caudal fin, causing him to yelp—and dissolve into giggles.

"That tickles!" he protested, his fin sliding out of Tango's grip easily as it lashed back on instinct, clapping against the waves. Tango chuckled. He liked the way Jimmy screwed his eyes shut when he laughed. He liked Jimmy's broad smile. He liked Jimmy's easy personality and warm hazel-brown eyes. He wasn't sure yet what they were—and he hadn't talked to Jimmy about it either—but he wasn't worried. They shared space and conversation easily. He didn't care what they were.

Joel and Lizzie, for their part, didn't even look over at the splash of Jimmy's caudal fin striking the water.

Etho, Scar, and Pearl did. Only briefly.

Had they looked over for a little longer, they might have noticed a dark shadow moving closer, recklessly trampling over loose rocks. But they didn't.

—

Grian peered over the ridge of the rocks. And went stock still.

Etho, Tango, and Joel he recognized. Etho and Tango ran the shop below him with Impulse. Joel ran the small tree nursery up the road and taught painting in the evenings occasionally.

It was the other figures that made Grian freeze where he stood.

The woman in Joel's lap had long pink hair and a fish tail. The blond, athletically-built man staring at Tango like a golden retriever also had a tail. The two by Etho had fish tails as well. The male one, apparently, the source of the song that had drawn Grian around the marina. The female seemed to be the source of the light on the rocks. Etho had flexible metal instruments and some sort of straps that he was using to make some sort of brace at the end of the male's long, green tail flecked with yellows and oranges. There was a long row of stitches down the male's fin.

Grian stared, wide-eyed, his jaw slack. For a long time.

Merpeople?!

Gem was going to freak out, he decided.

A harsh wind blew off the sea. Grian took a step back to maintain his balance.

His heel caught on a loose stone. He careened, his arms pinwheeling.

Splash!

—

Seven heads snapped in the direction of the sound immediately. Pearl curled closer to Scar and bared her teeth in threat. Etho half-stood from his sitting position, looking around. Scar had grabbed Pearl's wrist and just held her there. He'd stopped singing.

Lizzie disappeared off Joel's lap and vanished into the water without so much as a sound.

Jimmy twisted and followed his twin sister into the surf. But instead of lurking in the murky darkness of the ocean at night, he swam around the ridge of the rocks to the back side, where the sound had come from. Tango bolted to his feet, standing upright.

Jimmy saw the human man—young, smaller than Tango somehow (Jimmy was unaware that adult human males could be so small)—appeared to be shocked by the cold of the surf. After a moment, the human began to thrash, fighting to swim back to the surface, obviously struggling with his shoes—as Tango had called them—still on his feet.

Jimmy grabbed the human under his arms and hauled him upwards, breaking the surface and dragging the human onto the rocky shore.

The human coughed as Tango scrambled over the loose, uneven ground to get over to them.

"Holy smokes," Tango said, sliding down the ridge. "Are you okay?" His gaze flicked between Jimmy and the human. Who was facedown but keeping himself up on his elbows as he coughed.

The unknown human coughed again and looked up. His hair was wavy and light brown. His eyebrows scrunched. "Tango?"

Tango gasped and took a step back, nearly losing his balance himself. "Grian?! What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Jimmy asked softly.

"He lives in the apartment above me and Etho's workshop," Tango explained. "He's a friend." Tango dropped to his knees in front of this Grian. "Hey. You okay, G?"

Grian coughed more seawater out of his lungs, but managed a nod. "Fine. Lost my footing." He cleared his throat—hard. "So. Who's going to explain to me what's going on?" He pushed himself to his feet. Drenched and shivering. Tango slid out of his thick bomber jacket and held it out. Grian accepted it and slung it on, shivering. "Tango—"

"Grian, we can explain—" Joel said, scrambling over the top of the ridge.

"I really hope you can," Grian retorted. "Because you were cuddling a mermaid."

Jimmy bristled a little, glowering at the stranger. "Don't talk about my sister like that," he growled.

Grian looked down at where Jimmy was still propped up on the shore. "Uh... sorry?"

"Jimmy," Tango said softly. Almost a warning.

Lizzie's head slid out of the surface, watching with wide eyes.

"Okay... so..." Tango began. "Merfolk exist?"

"Oh, no, really?!" Grian retorted sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed!"

"Listen, Grian. You can't tell anyone," Joel put in. "It's not our secret to share."

"Who would believe me even if I wanted to?" Grian shot back.

"Fair enough," Tango muttered, smirking down at Jimmy, who had not yet relaxed.

"Scar—Scar hold still!" Etho's quiet voice ordered from the other side of the ridge.

"But I wanna seeeeee!" Scar's voice put in.

"Scar," Pearl warned.

Grian peered between Tango and Joel's heads. "That's the voice I heard singing," he said, a touch of wistfulness laced through his voice.

"Oh shrimp," Pearl exclaimed. "Really, Scar? You had to use your siren magic?"

"I didn't mean to!" Scar protested. "I was just trying to distract myself! It's not my fault I'm this handsome and alluring."

The sound of damp skin striking damp skin and Scar yelping in surprise meant Pearl had probably whacked him in the arm. "Not the time to sound arrogant, mate!" she snapped.

Grian slid between Tango and Joel and approached the ridge to peer over it.

Scar shrunk back against Pearl's protective hug as the human got closer. Pearl bared her teeth. The soft moonlight coming from her hand turning from a small orb of light into a sharp-edged dagger. Grian didn't get any closer when he saw it morph.

Etho patted Scar's tail where a human's knee would be. "Go ahead and give that a try. Let me know if it's flexible enough to swim."

Scar looked between Etho, Grian, Tango, and Pearl. Pearl took his hand. The two scooted back into the water and disappeared under the surf.

"Scar!" Pearl said when they were safely deep enough that the others wouldn't hear them. "You can't go using siren magic when we're this close to a human town! You know your songs can be heard farther away than someone else's singing at the same volume. You have to be more careful!"

"I know, I know," Scar replied, looking defeated. "I didn't think anyone would hear."

Pearl sighed. "It's fine. It was just one. You will have to explain to Jimmy and Lizzie's mum what happened, but at least he's friends with the humans who already know." Pearl sunk lower and inspected the brace Etho made. "How's the splint working?"

Scar tested it out, swimming slowly.

—

"Okay," Grian said once the green-tailed male and the white-tailed female had vanished underwater. "So merfolk exist and apparently no one has figured that out yet?" He gave Etho, Tango, and Joel a look.

"We keep ourselves discreet," the pink-haired mermaid who'd been cuddling with Joel said from where she was a few meters out into the water. "Our cities hide from human technology with magic. And that's all you need to know." She spoke with a weight and gravitas to her voice that showed she was used to being obeyed and listened to.

"A few of us find connection with humans, but not many," the broad-shouldered blond merman who'd been making doe eyes at Tango added. "We're not supposed to, but it happens anyway. And you can't tell anyone."

Grian shook his head. "This is a lot to take in. So, wait. Was it one of you I saw earlier today? Near the hull of my friend's boat. I saw a large fish almost break the surface, but not quite."

The blond merman and his pink-haired sister met one another's eyes. "What color did you see?"

"I can't be sure. The sea was murky. Could have been blue, could have been green?"

The pink-haired mermaid sighed. "Scar's being reckless, Jimmy," she said softly to her brother. "He's getting too close."

"You know him, Lizzie. He's curious," the brother said.

"Look," Grian interrupted. "I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm just... startled, I guess? I don't know—"

He was cut off by the green-tailed merman who'd disappeared with the white-tailed mermaid bursting out of the water and doing a flip. "Woohoo!" the man cried as he splashed back in before resurfacing and throwing his hair out of his face.

"Scar!" the white-tailed mermaid protested, her head breaking through the surface. "You have to be quiet!"

"But I can swim on my own again, Pearl! It worked!" He beamed at Etho. In the faint light from the town's streetlights, Grian could see a scar across the bridge of the merman's nose. "Thank you, man!"

Etho shrugged. "Just a little creativity. No big deal."

The white-tailed mermaid raised a brow. "Etho, I don't think you understand how dangerous a sprained tail is," she said. "Without your help, he could have been hunted. We really appreciate it." She pulled herself out of the water and back onto shore. Her eyes were noticeably bright blue and suspicious when they turned on Grian. "You're the one who always has the hooks in the water."

"I just like to fish for the cod."

"Well you've nearly torn Scar's tail! You're lucky he got it caught on something else that wasn't your hook because if that injury had been your fault, no one would have ever found you at the bottom of the sea."

"How is that my fault?!" Grian snapped back. Jimmy and Tango glanced at each other before looking back to Grian—who didn't have time to wonder why they looked so surprised that he was arguing. "If he can't stay away from a fish hook, that's on him. He appears to be a full grown adult and you all have human intelligence so that's not on me!"

The white-tailed mermaid growled.

The pink-haired one muttered, "He's got a point."

"Hey!" the green-tailed merman protested. "It had a shiny thing on the end of it! I wanted to see!"

"That's a lure you tadpole!" Jimmy said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't act like you're the one holding the braincell here, Jim," Joel teased. "Between you and Scar it's a wonder neither of you are in a human zoo."

"Oi!" Jimmy protested at the same time Scar said, "Hey!"

Etho chuckled.

Grian threw his hands up into the air. "I give up! Have a good night. I won't tell anyone. Goodbye. I'm going to bed." He spun, his wader boot heel crunching in the rocky beach, and he stormed off back toward the town.

—

The next morning, Scar surfaced just under the wharf, hidden from prying eyes and quiet. The human from the night before—Grian?— was dangling his feet off the end of the next dock over, fishing line cast out. His fishing rod was held loosely in one hand, the other holding a book he was reading.

Scar could hear the human humming the same siren song Scar had been singing last night in broken pieces.

Smirking, Scar dipped back under the water and pushed himself deep before shoving off the wharf's supporting poles to cross the gap to the human. He looked up at where Grian's bare toes drifted back and forth, kicking idly, and smirked.

Using his arms to swim upward to keep his tail as still as possible while it healed—Etho's brace was great but if he didn't have to use his tail, he didn't want to—Scar got close to the surface.

He snickered to himself and tugged on Grian's toe.

Grian screeched like a startled bird and tore his feet out of the water, scrambling back on the dock.

Scar slid his head out of the water, an easy laugh leaving his throat. "Well, hello there!" he greeted brightly.

"What are you doing?!" Grian hissed. "What was that?!"

"Can't a merman just say hello to a new friend?" Scar asked, pouring bravado into his voice with a smirk.

"Not if you're trying not to draw attention! Not like that, at least!" Grian snapped.

Farther out in the marina, on one of the boats anchored away from the docks and wharfs, a voice called out. "Everything okay, Grian?"

Scar immediately ducked under the dock Grian was on, hiding among the support structures.

"Everything's fine, Gem!" Grian shouted back. "Bit of kelp just brushed my foot."

From the boat, a feminine laugh rang across the water. Scar giggled too, quietly. "Alrighty! Be safe!" Gem called.

After a moment, Grian dropped to his knees at the edge of the dock. "Still here?" he whispered loudly.

Scar popped back out. "Of course!"

"I never caught your name."

"Most people just call me Scar. My full name is too complicated. You're Grian?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Grian, I can't help but notice that you were singing my song." Another smirk.

Grian's expression soured. "You got it stuck in my head."

Scar chuckled. "Well, I mean, if you want," Scar tried to sound confident, but was definitely blustering a little, "you can always meet me in the same place out on those rocks after dark tonight and I'll teach it to you properly. You can meet my cousin Pearl properly too!"

"Was she the scary one with the white tail?"

"That's my Pearlie!"

"Promise she won't try to drown me?"

"She would never!" Scar said, sounding a lot more promising than he felt.

Grian looked skeptical. "Fine. After dark over on the rocks. See you then."

Scar beamed. "See you then!" He moved to dunk back under, and paused. "Also will you tell Tango that Jimmy has a present for him?"

"Sure. Why not. I'll find a time when Impulse isn't there."

"Well, thanks! You have a good day!" He twisted and dove back underwater, heading for open waters.

—

Grian stared at where Scar's long green tail disappeared.

"This is going to be more trouble than it's worth," he muttered. But curiosity was going to get the better of him, he already knew it.

Drawn in by the siren song.

Frustrated, he shook his head and abandoned his fishing for the morning. That would have to wait.

[marinerainbow]

I don't usually make posts like this, but I said I would. So Herr are my thoughts on

The Live Action Little Mermaid

First and foremost: HALLE BAILEY IS AN AMAZING ARIEL!!!!

I never had my doubts about her from what I saw in the trailer. But HOLY HELL she brought the animated mermaid to LIFE with how she played her! Her voice, her expressions, her acting! It all flowed together and I could see Ariel, not someone playing as Ariel. The same goes to the rest of the actors!

And Ariel took more initiative in this film too! She did do a little of that in the original (actively breaking the rules to pursue her passion, taking a leap of faith to try to join the land and have her love, etc) but she seems more involved in the live action film. And not in a way that tries to hammer in the 'girl power' message either (children should have good role models. But when the feminist message starts to take away from the story and becomes that characters' entire personality, that's a bit too much). Ariel here was crafty and wanted to unite the two worlds, but remained her old bubbly and curious self!

Not to mention, Eric! First of all, I loved his performance in the film just as much as Ariel. And they made him more likable too! Like Ariel in the original, Eric was a bit more developed than other prince's in the original film (talking about how he'd not going to go through an arranged marriage, having fun with his love interest instead of just saving her, etc). Though, he was still a kinda bland character. In the live action though, Eric is not just Ariels prince. He feels like he's actually her second half. And the decision to make their goals and backgrounds similar also sheds a new light on Eric and Ariels relationship that the original didn't quite have.

And of course, I can't forget Ursula. I'll admit, I had a slight doubt when I heard they were casting Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Not because I don't like her, I actually love her in her films. But I've never seen Melissa play a fairytale villain, so I wasn't sure how it would go to have a raunchy comedy actress starring as the sea witch. But BOY HOWDY, Melissa quickly dashed my those fears away. She brought her own spin to the character while also being the sassy, intimidating, deal maker we all know and love! And not to mention her singing voice. Holy. Shit. Melissa, you gotta play more characters like Ursula.

And the same applies to all the other characters! From Ariels friends and her family, all the actors and actresses' brought a whole new life to the characters they were casted as! Including the new ones, such as Eric's mother! Honestly, that's pretty much how this whole movie felt. It felt like I was watching a fairy tale brought to life once again, and not an exact repeat of the original nor a butchered version. They kept a lot of the original script and songs, while also adding new things. Eric and Scuttle got their own songs, some locations were changed but they felt like they worked with 2023 Little Mermaid, and the decision to make the film take place on the Caribbean Islands was a very interesting choice that they made work!!

And I CAN NOT finish this post without mentioning the CGI, beautiful visuals, and character design! All if the graphics were just... AHHH! I can't even describe it. The cast felt like they actually were under water with the changed gravity, and the stunning way they animated the animals. Speaking of which! Yes, they did change the characters' designs, and some of them are goofy, such as Flounder. But they are just as cute too!! And they gave the animals E X P R E S S I O N S!!! This isn't a repeat of the live action Lion King. Through body language, eye movement, and voice, these character genuinely feel like they are living!!! My personal favorite thing about the CGI is that they still gave Sebastian the realistic crab eyes, but animated them so you can still see where he's looking and what he's feeling!!

I found only ONE fatal flaw, though... They did not have Sebastians arch nemesis, the Chef (I'm just kidding. I'm a bit disappointed the Chef wasn't in here, but that's a personal thing and not like a 'the movie is ruined' thing)

Conclusion? Go see The Little Mermaid. Please. You WILL NOT REGRET IT.

In all seriousness, I was a little disappointed when there weren't as many vocals/back up singers in the songs 'Under the Sea' or 'Kiss the Girl', but that's not at all a bad thing. That's just my nostalgia being nit-picky XD and they did make those songs work! It was awesome to hear Ariel and Sebastian sing together, and her friends ACTUALLY working together instead of Sebastian carrying the majority of this operation on his shell.

[pianostarinwonderland]

Hot take of the day: Coral Sea event except TWST introduces a new character in the event and it’s not Azul’s parents or the Leech twins’ sketchy family or even Prince Rielle, but TWST Lin Manuel Miranda and he’s just lamenting over the fact that people wouldn’t listen to his music.

[anotherwritersblog]

Title: Would You Believe Me?

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 945

Warnings: alcohol consumption, utter fluff

Author's Note: Congrats again to @happygowriting for your milestone! Prompt is bolded I did have to switch it around for grammatical reasons. I hope you enjoy this little piece and I can’t wait for more challenges to come 💖 Mistakes are my own.

Any and all reblogs/likes/comments are appreciated.

In no way, shape, or form, do you have permission to repost this anywhere.

Divider by @happygowriting 💕

Date nights were always your favorite nights with your boyfriend. Before you moved in together, many a times they were your average ‘movie and dinner’ nights, or maybe competing in mini-golf or getting competitive in bowling. But after a few years, and once the two of you decided to move in together, date nights had to get a little more creative and a little less expensive. Thankfully, social media came to the rescue.

You saw a TikTok once where a couple would do an at-home ‘movie and dinner’, but it was Disney inspired. This means that you two would make a dinner based on whatever movie you would watch that night. Tonight happened to be The Little Mermaid.

Bucky helped with the main dish of salmon and crab.

“RIP Sebastian,” you teared up, while he just rolled his eyes at you. You giggled and got the shrimp appetizer ready and the macaroons finished up. Afterwards, you pulled out your go to bottle of wine and got the glasses ready. You had found a drinking game online earlier in the day, hoping to make the movie more engaging, more so for Bucky than you. You enjoyed Disney movies, but it’s taken some time for him to warm up to them.

But boy, did the game help.

Some of the rules were fairly simple.

‘Take a drink every time Ariel picks up a human item she doesn’t understand.’

‘Take a drink every time Flounder is visibly scared.’

At least it was simple enough until you had to ‘Take a drink every time you hear the phrase “Under the Sea”.’

You didn’t realize that phrase was said nineteen times in the song alone. So to say you were past being tipsy at this point was an understatement.

Bucky, being the responsible one, replaced your glass of wine with a glass of water about when “Kiss the Girl” came on screen, but still enjoyed your commentary throughout the rest of the movie. By the time the credits were rolling, you were going off and speaking your mind not that he ever complained when you did.

“How could she do something so irresponsible like that? She knew the guy for like three days and she couldn’t even talk to him and isn’t she supposed to be like sixteen or something? How could Triton let her get married to some random human? I bet she didn’t even know his favorite color or if he snored at night or his shoe size!” You were pacing back and forth in front of Bucky, while he stifled his laughter. He knew you were going to feel the repercussions in the morning, but he couldn’t help but enjoy your company when you went on rants like this.

“Okay. Hear me out. What if it was love at first sight?” Bucky questioned, taking a sip of his own water.

You stopped in your tracks and glanced back at him. “There’s no way. That’s only a myth. I bet it took you months before you realized how much you actually liked me.” Hands crossed against your chest, you eye the handsome man on your couch.

You noticed the lopsided smile grow on his face, as his hands reached out to you. You made your way to his bubble, pulling you into his lap and wrapping his arms around you.

“Would you believe me if I said that I knew you were the one for me when I first saw your face?” He kissed your cheek, followed by the tip of your nose.

Your brow furrowed as you tried to remember the first time you and Bucky had met.

“Didn’t you first see me when you walked into the bathroom and I was passed out in Nat’s lap at Steve’s birthday bash all those years ago?”

You felt the laughter rumble beneath you as he pulled you in closer. “Is that what she told you happened? If we’re going to get all technical, I first saw you when I walked into his living room and you were cracking jokes with Nat earlier that night. I don’t know what you two were talking about but when I saw you and that beautiful smile of yours, I knew you were the one. You can even ask Steve. I told him later that night after everyone had left. ‘She’s the one.’ I mean. He was kinda skeptical too, and honestly, I thought you and Nat were together at the time because you were inseparable. That’s why it took me so long to make a move on you.”

You threw your head back with a loud laugh, and almost fell backwards into the couch. Thankfully, his arms were tight enough around you to keep you upright. “You thought Nat and I were together? I thought you and Sam were together! That’s why I never made a move on you!” Bucky joined in with his own laughter, filling the room with a joy you never knew until you had met him.

You smiled back at him, lacing your fingers behind his neck. “And to think, we could’ve gotten together a lot sooner if neither one of us thought the other was taken.”

He cupped your face with his metal hand, running his thumb across your cheek. “I believe things happen for a reason, and that they happen when they are supposed to.” You lean your forehead against his and close your eyes, with nothing but the good things he’s brought into your life popping up inside your mind.

“I’m just glad these things did happen, because you make me the happiest I’ve ever been, Bucky, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

[mio-parasite]

❤️ Monsters in Latin America ❤️

Hello very good dear community of monsters lovers how are you? I hope you do well and if not I hope that your day will improve so that everything goes well.

I want to introduce you to some (not all as there are too many) lovely monsters of Latin America, I want to spread a little about my own culture and expand the repertoire of monsters to love, care for... Etc, I hope you like this bit Latin American story any questions you have about these creatures can contact me.

And I want to apologize if my English is very bad

Well without further ado, I introduce you to these lovely monsters from Latin America.

El Athrathrao o Basilisco

It is born in a henhouse, from a small round egg of coarse and rough cascara, of grayish white color, called lloilloy egg or lloe egg, which according to legend is believed to be laid and incubated by a rooster. If this egg is not removed, within a few weeks it will become a basilisco.

In the daytime, the basilisk chilote hides under the house of the owner of the henhouse, and at night he would come out of his hiding place while all the people sleep. At that time he would emit a hypnotic chant similar to cockcrow, which would cause people to stay asleep. After singing, he would go into the rooms to be able to feed himself, absorbing the breath and sucking the saliva of those who sleep. The affected person would lose the desire to eat, so he or she would get thinner and thinner, and his or her face would become pale. With the passage of time, a strong and persistent cough would appear and his breathing becomes more and more difficult, and finally he dies. The same thing happens with every one of the inhabitants of the house.

La Pincoya

She is a mermaid of extraordinary beauty (with a slightly tanned white complexion and blond hair), whose job is to protect the sea, sow it and rescue the castaways.

When the pincoya dances facing the ocean, it is warning that there will be an abundance of fish and shellfish. And when you do it looking toward the coast, there will be shortages.

To be favored by it, one must be content; That is why the fishermen are accompanied by happy friends.

It is also said that if you fish or shellfish a lot in one place, the pincoya gets angry and leaves that area, which then becomes sterile. The pincoya is sometimes accompanied by her husband, the pincoya.

The mermaid lived in a huge cave and used to swim in the lagoon and the puchanquin river. From the rocks, with a whistle, he made emerge from the bottom of the waters a solid trunk of gold, which he climbed to comb his golden hair. Sometimes, during the night, he would sing haunted love songs, which no one could resist.

In addition, many people sought the woman for favors, until she disappeared from the place. It is believed that it was called cuada from the huelde lagoon to bring prosperity and abundance to distant beaches.

Since then, the waters took on the dark color they have today, and although many have tried to imitate the siren's whistle, the golden trunk is still submerged waiting for its owner.

El Muqui / Muki

The muki, or anchancho, is a goblin in the mythology of the central andes in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia; Which is characterized by being a miner and, as such, its existence is limited to the underground space: the muqui lives inside the mine.

Its name comes from the quechua "murik" (" he who asphyxiates "). However, 'muki' also means' humidity ', so it is said to also appear in places where there is water. From puno to cajamarca, passing through pasco and Arequipa, the descriptions of this creature are always the same: it is of small stature, does not exceed half a meter. Their favorite victims are unbaptized children, whom they hide in FIG and banana trees to make one of them.

Piuchén

Piwicheñ is a Mapuche voice that means "to dry people", this mythological creature is better known as Pihuchén, Piuchén or Piguchen.

It generally has the appearance of a flying snake, emitting high-pitched whistles. But also its changing appearance has something of a human, snake, bird, fish, quadruped, frog and bat. It is usually covered with grass, bushes and twisted cylinders, like hooked horns. It produces a substance so irritating that when it is transmitted through the air or water, it causes skin eruptions very similar to scabies.

It has incredible longevity, its wings grow when it has reached its mature age, in old age it transforms into a bird the size of a rooster or a young turkey, equally bloodthirsty. It has such a powerful force that it can topple large trees and raise gigantic waves that wreck ships.

He is used to living in lakes and rivers, where his presence causes panic, those who have the misfortune to contemplate him will soon die. At other times, he petrifies his victims with his intense gaze, and then sucks their blood.

Trentren Vilu y Caicai Vilu

Trentren vilu (terrestrial snake) and caicai vilu (sea snake) are two colossal and powerful snakes that have the ability to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (trentren) and tsunamis and floods (caicai).

Legend has it that one day caicai awoke from his sleep and, seeing how ungrateful men were to the sea that gave them so much resources, unleashed his fury and used his tail to cause tsunamis and flood the earth as punishment. Trentrain, however, came to the aid of the terrestrial creatures and saved those he could on his back to put in the hills, those he could not save he turned into birds, fish and Marine mammals and drowned in sumpall. Caicai, for his part, did not stop and raised the waters even higher, to which he responded by raising the hills even higher.

Seeing this challenge, caicai attacked trentrum, thus beginning a Titanic battle that lasted for a long time until they finally ran out of strength.

By the end of the battle, the geography had changed, resulting in the numerous islands and canals of southern Chile.

Exhausted and defeated, caicai returned to sleep, leaving millalobo as ruler of the seas. For his part, trentrum also went to sleep.

However, with the passage of time, the men became ungrateful again, also causing the displeasure of trentin, who from time to time moves in his sleep causing earthquakes and eruptions, while caicai by moving his tail causes tsunamis.

Yaguareté-Abá

Tiger man or leopard-man, this being is a character known in northeastern Argentina and the great chaco, this arises from the great adoration of a sorcerer towards these animals and is based on the metamorphosis from human to beast, or the reverse.

The transformation of the sorcerer begins with the use of a jaguar leather and a sauma with hen's feathers. And that because of these they were given the power to shed their skins and transform into a creature half jaguar and half human. Later, they go hunting and after eating their prey they return to their human form performing the same procedure.

He is extremely aggressive and only eats human flesh, from mule or cow, he liked to loot ranches and he liked to force young women to clean it. The only way to escape from his escape is to manage to remove his hide and spit in his face because they are blind and vulnerable to attack, after death they return to their human form. This must be accompanied by bullets or machetes that are blessed but this is not all - you must behead him after killing him to make sure he does not come back to life.

La Fiura

She has the appearance of a disgusting woman, with large breasts and tiny stature (40 to 50 cm) and long black hair. Her face has hideous features, with sparkling eyes that are almost hidden behind her huge nose. Her limbs are thin and hooked, and she has the ability to lengthen and twist them in all directions by nervously moving the misshapen fingers of her huge hands. She wears red clothes, and uses to adopt strange postures and hideous grimaces with her face.

It is said that he wanders in the woods and sneaks through the bushes, in search of the fruit of the thorny chauras, which he eats gluttonously; and people can tell that the Fiura has passed through a place by observing the depositions it leaves on the protruding roots of large trees. It is also said that taking great care, it can be observed when she carefully combs her hair with a highly polished crystal or silver comb that shines in the sun's rays, while bathing in small lakes. After bathing, she sits on the moss, and remains naked for hours or goes to dance on the scraps. It is characterized by possessing superhuman strength and by the ability to make use of the stench of its breath to twist or break the limbs of animals or people who observe it; her power being such that she can have her effects at a distance.

Millalobo

The millalobo (golden Wolf) is a creature resembling a newt, with the upper part of a man and the lower part of a sea Wolf. The millalobo was born from the union between a woman and a sea Wolf which saved her from drowning during the mythical battle between trentrain vilu and caicai vilu.

Millalobo is the most powerful being of the seas after caicai, who chose him to rule the seas on his behalf.

According to chilota legend it is said that upon seeing him, caicai decided that he was a creature of his liking and chose him to delegate his power and rest after his battle with trentrain.

Millalobo lives on the seabed and rules with his family, his wife huenchula and their three children; The pincoya, the pincoy, and the mermaid chilota. Various mythological sea creatures are under his command and help him in his tasks, which range from planting and caring for the development of shellfish and fish, to managing the Marine climate; In addition to guiding and caring for the dead produced by the sea.

Millalobo is said to be the creator of the caleuche and the evil creatures of the seas also pay him respect.

[kaeyasstarlight]

Disney Music Tracks And Acting Headcannons(Sk8 The Infinity x Gender Neutral! Reader)

Request:"helloooo hehe yk the drill 😘😘 so this time how about the sk8 characters seeing reader listening to disney tracks and acting :o tysm for writing my requests TT hope you have a nice day/night"

A.N:Hello!! I really like your ideas each time and as a Disney fan I love this one! :D Hope you'll like it!

Genre:Fluff

Warnings:None :)

Characters: Reki Kyan, Langa Hasegawa, Miya Chinen, Kaoru Sakurayashiki(Cherry Blossom), Kojiro Nanjo(Joe) :)

Reki Kyan:

Song used: "Be our guest" from "Beauty and the Beast"

You and Reki were supposed to meet at your house this evening

He was out with Langa so you decided to watch a movie while waiting for him to come back

You decided to watch "Beauty and the Beast"

Then the song "Be our guest" came in

You were a big Disney fan and knew all the lyrics by heart

You stood up from the couch and started singing while doing the same moves as Lumière

We could almost say you were in the movie

Then Reki arrived while you were still singing

He always loved your voice so he approched and watched you

The big smile on your face is all he needs to be happy

When it was Mrs.Pott turn to sing, you heard someone else sing

It was Reki

You danced while he was singing and trying to dance also

The rest of your night was beautiful :)

Langa Hasegawa:

Sond used: Let it go from "Frozen" (I'm sorry if it's too cliche for him 😂)

Your boyfriend wanted to do a movie night with you

He texted you the idea and you gladly accepted

He told you it would be at his house and that he already picked the movie

You said it was totally ok and you would see him later

He had chosen "Frozen"

What he didn't know is that you were a big Disney fan and watched every single Disney movie

You went to his house when the evening came

He had set up all the stuff and snacks in the living room

He putted the movie and when you heared the song of beginning you already knew what it was

He saw that you were very happy and it just made him more happy

You tried to sing the songs in your head not to ruin the ambiance

But, when "Let it go" came you couldn't resist anymore

"I'm sorry for what I'm gonna do"

He didn't quite understand at first, but when he saw you singing and doing all the moves he didn't feel annoyed

He felt even more in love

Your voice and moves were beautiful and gracious just like Elsa

After the song, you saw him clapping his hands with eyes of love and admiration

He asked you to sing and act for the rest of the songs ;)

Miya Chinen:

Song used: "Almost there" from "The princess and the frog"

You were at the skate park with Miya

He was doing his tricks and having fun with his friends so you told him you be on the bench waiting and watching him

He said it was ok and went with his friends

After a while you decided to listen to music

You putted "Almost there" and swayed to the rythm

When the beat goes faster you stand up and start acting and dancing as Tiana(don't worry no one else was there ;))

Miya saw you and caught interest so he went closer to where you were

He could see you singing and acting with a big grin on your face

He watched the movie and knew where this was from

Let's just say he was impressed by your performance

He was in shock and was clapping his hands after your performance :)

Kaoru Sakurayashiki(Cherry Blossom):

Song used: "I'll make a man out of you" from "Mulan"

Cherry told you he heard about the movie "Mulan" and would like to watch it with you

You told him you knew the movie and that it was one of your favorite's so you would be delighted to watch it with him

You both went on the couch and cuddled up to each other

When it was "Reflection" you hummed the song and it caught Cherry's attention

Then came "I'll make a man out of you"

You stood up and started to sing and act as Shang

Cherry was impressed and watched your performance with attention

You did all the martial arts moves and you had all the lyrics perfectly

After your performance, he clapped his hands and told you it was a beautiful performance :)

Kojiro Nanjo(Joe):

Song used: "Under the sea" from "The little mermaid"

You were a musician and owed a music shop near to Joe's restaurant

You were waiting for him to finish his work so you decided to play a song on your instruments

You were a big Disney fan and you decided to play "Under the sea"

You took your instruments and was playing the same instruments they play at each moment of the song while singing

You could almost do every single sea creature from the song

While finishing cleaning, he heard music from your shop and started cleaning even faster to go see you

He took the spare key of your shop you left him and saw you playing and acting as the characters

You guys watched the movie last week and he remembers this scene

When you finished, you saw him impressed by your performance and clapping at you :)

A.N: I hope you liked these headcannons! It was one I had a lot of fun to write and I hope you had fun reading it! Have a nice day or night and remember you all are loved! <3

[arent-you-scared-lil-human]

Bølger (2)

Merman!Kae x Reader.

Words: 3,183

bølger means waves.

Chapter 1.

Merfolk were almost divine to your eyes, living near the coast gave you the blessing of discovering these amazing creatures, well, or the thought of actually seeing them. 

You were 7 when your mother gave your guard to your aunt Betty, your mom grew sick and she wanted to be sure you would be cared for when she passed. But it took her cancer to reach stage 4 to allow you to live with Betty. 

The thing was, your mother hated the coast, the town, and the ocean.

When Betty went to visit you, she would take small cards with fairies, merfolk, werewolves painted on it. She would tell you to believe in magic and accept that we aren't alone on the big blue planet.

Which made your mother mad because she hated the mere idea of mermaids, so much that the little mermaid movie was never allowed. But she had to swallow her revulsion to be sure you would be cared for and not thrown on the orphanage in the end.

So you went to live on Walrey Coast with your aunt. She was a good woman, a bit light-headed but good nonetheless. She taught you how to cook, even though you hated it, taught you how to work in her small restaurant and how to read and love Julio Verne's work. 

The house was small but notably comfy and colorful, each room had a color and somehow it didn't get overwhelming. Your bedroom had fairies painted on the walls, and a lamp with a mermaid painted in gold.

But you never saw a mermaid or a merman in your life.

And since your city was a small place each person ended up knowing another.  You were homeschooled till your 11, but Antony -your aunt friend- told that his nephews were your age and that his sister could teach you too.

Antony's nephews were three, a girl called Hope, and two boys, Archie and Hunter. Hope and Archie were twins, and Hunter was a year younger but their mom taught them the things at the same time so they could always be together if they ever went to a "normal" school.

So, with your 20's and seeing Archie leaving the town to persuade his dream university made you happy, but sad in seeing Carla's tears, after all, she always wanted her kids together.

"C'mon, Y/N, I consider you like a daughter so let us re-form your brother's bedroom..." Carla tried to smile through her tears, Hunter hugged you and Hope rolled her eyes at her brother's trial of reaching your interest, the poor boy has been crushing over you for 6 years already.

You kept your routine of woking at your aunty Betty restaurant, Antony tried to coax you to leave town and go to uni -as every elderly person tries to tell us to-; But something held you in Walrey Coast, maybe it was the trauma of the last time that you left your home was due to a loved one passing, or maybe Betty being abandoned in her big picturesque house... or who knows, perhaps something else, something unseen, or forgotten.

Hope didn't want to go to university, she craved to open an auto-shop, Carla said she didn't mind, but everyone knew deep down she wanted her small girl to be the perfect wife-to-be. And Hunter wanted to become a biologist, the boy adored the sea more than the air he inhaled and after years and years of Antony pulling his ear telling him that the idea of being a professional surfer was as idiotic as his hair, he swallowed down and picked another profession that connected the sea, too.

You loved them, and the town, but you were lonely. You had your first kiss, and even that you studied in "not a homeschool but it was basically one" you knew the other people in town, the men in their 20's that lived near and also the visitors that came and go. And working in the restaurant you saw lots of people, soldiers, biologists, families, even sailors, travelers, wanderers, et cetera. 

So you had your 'first times' but nothing serious, and even that Hunter tried several times to date you, you couldn't see him farther than a brother. He was attractive, smart, polite, liked animals as you do but he was... a brother. Through and through.

So your life was based around this minimalist and simple presence. Waking up, helping Betty at home, go to the restaurant, visit Carla and your dear friends, go back to the restaurant, sit in the pier where Antony lived while you ate your dinner looking at the sea, go home, shower and sleep.

Antony tried to make you go swimming or try to surf with Hunter, but you were terrified of the ocean, you loved it, it was fascinating and very very beautiful, but scary.

Dangerous.

Yet, gazing at it brought you a level of peace that couldn't be accomplished in any other form.

So finishing your meal and making sure to set any trash inside a bag so you could throw in the trashcan later, you stood up and gave one last look at the dark waters and went home.

Deep in the waves, stood Kae, gazing at you leaving your favorite spot in the docks, each day you went there and in each one he approached the surface to make you company, a silent one.

Sometimes you hummed a song, one that of course he had not heard before. And sometimes you would put music to play in a small black device he saw humans carrying around all the time, the music was a mixture, but he enjoyed them, and loved when you sang along.

Merfolk took singing into high consideration, it was important to lull food, to find a good partner, to... well, everything!

And he hummed back with you, but he knew you didn't hear him. You didn't remember him.

It was funny how different worlds that co-existed, should know about another, should collide.

Humans are evil, everyone says. But what Eros did with you wasn't it? Hurting an innocent cub, or better saying: a child, and bringing your unconscious body as a trophy was the most repugnant thing he ever witnessed. After that episode years prior, Kae never glanced at his cousin in the same way, Eros was still family, but he wasn't the good merman Kae thought he was.

And with their adult forms and getting the spot of protectors of the ocean society, the mating season was approaching. 

Jaxi was in love with a mermaid that was from oceans away, they found each other in a hunt for food and after that, they've been planning their wedding ever since. Melin grew to be an insatiable lover, the mating season was an open feast to him, especially since it didn't involve a mandatory loyalty. Eros had the most beautiful sea creatures he could find, he was handsome and strong, but he was a player, which wasn't so shocking.

And Kae had some encounters, had his first sex in his 16's but he didn't like the notion of marrying and being away from the bare soil, away from his little friend that didn't even remember his existence.

He wonders if you still have Eros's nails wounds scarred in your skin, or maybe you healed after he rolled the algae around it? The alkaline water helped sea beings to heal and regenerate their skin, maybe oxygen did it too to humans? And if it hasn't healed, have you ever questioned the origin of it?

Kae didn't see himself as a stalker, he was more of a curious merman. And after leaving you in the waves near the sand, he has been reaching the surface searching for you. Ecthelion realized his peculiar interest in you, so he at least told Kae that his human friend, Antony, has told him that you were alive and well. And that the human's healers said you declared that you floated too deep in the ocean and the waves took you away.

Only that.

And as much that was a relief to hear you didn't remember the evilness Eros committed, Kae was still disappointed that you wouldn't remember him, or Jaxi and Melin that were also very much curious about human's anatomy and helped to save your life.

He wanted to talk to you, to see how different you are, would it be shocking for you to see him? Would you run away seeing his different form? He was very pretty, and one of the most desired young merman between the merfolk, but their physiology are different for various reasons. Maybe you wouldn't think he is pretty, his monster form would push you away. Scare you.

               ...

Hunter lost his mind, inviting you to go surfing? Insane.

"You know I'm afraid of the sea,  Hunter!" You told him and your friend only shrugged.

"Y/N, i know but we can try. There won't be big tides today, and I'm an expert at it."

His sad voice made you feel bad, you loved him dearly but couldn't answer his romantic feelings. "Is just... we are not kids anymore and with our brother away and Hope getting you away for 'girls night i barely have time with you. And i don't want to be an asshole, i swear, but that accident that happened years ago was an accident. You were a kid and now you're all grown."

Yu chuckled and hit his shoulder slightly. "All of this only to convince me to go with you?"

He narrowed his eyes and gave you a shy smile. '"Only if you say it worked."

"It did. But! If the waves get too big or anything we will come back, alright? Don't try to prove a point."

"And which point would that be?" He seemed offended.

"That you know how to suffer."

"Right, I won't do anything stupid."

                       ...

Carrying Hope's board firmly you questioned if the straight material could hurt your palms. "Come on." Hope yelled cheering you up, she agreed with Hunter that it would be good for you to test the waters. Being afraid of it was a dangerous thing.

Hunter extended his hand while his other one was carrying the board under his arm. "Trust me?"

"Yeah, but please if I want to come back help me."

"Don't worry."

You held his hand and walked to the waters, Hope clapped her hands a couple of times yelling "you got it" to give you motivation.

It was a pretty day, the sun was out but it wasn't awfully warm Some seagulls flew through the skies and you admired the blue water touching your skin.

The water wasn't cold, and so far no big waves came and snatched your nor Hunter's life.

"Now in the way we tried back there." Hunter held the surfboard you were firmly grasping and helped you to jump on it. He did the same on his and held your hand looking at you with nothing but honesty.

You laid your chest on the board and moved your arms in the water to push you a bit far from the sand. Hunter was smiling, he adored the ocean and adored you so he was very happy.

A small wave came and you looked at him. "Hunt!"

He didn't tell you to go, he gave you a tiny nod and told you the two of you could swim around until you felt more relaxed.

After some minutes you tried to surf in a tide, it was small, amen for that, and Hunter seemed proud. He went to the bigger ones and even when he fell in the salty water he would emerge smiling and laughing.

Hope entered the water too and swam around, you never swam with your friends before.

Some minutes passed and you lost your fear from the ocean, the salty water, the rays of sun, Hunter's smile and Hope's laugh was a blessing and you wondered why you never gave Hunter a chance when he asked you to surf with him since you two were 12.

A medium-wave came in, and you told them you would try. Hunter has surfed and tides four times bigger so he was secure you wouldn't get hurt.

You moved your arms in the water to push you near the growing wave, you managed to feel it moving the surfboard, and you got on your feet and yelled in euphoria when your body kept firm above it. It was amazing, a sensation of pure joy.

The adrenaline, the beauty on it.

Hope and Hunter were cheering you up, and you smiled at then before noting a big movement near the tide, head got out of the ocean and the creature knocked your breath out of your lungs.

Was it... a mermaid? Well, better saying a merman?

"What?" You lost balance and fell into the water, the string holding the surfboard to your ankle made a pressuring pull and you whimpered at the pressure. You shut your eyes as the salty water burned your eyes but soon your foot was realized from the surfboard-pull.

You opened your eyes terrified that you lost the board because you were being dragged further in, but you saw something, someone. 

The strong features, the gills on his neck, the floating long hair... the tail. 

"Y/N!" Hope yelled. "Where are-", "Y/N!" Hunter yelled too.

He swam to you and leaned in, you got terrified, the water was burning your eyes, the lack of oxygen making you anxious and this creature was placing his hands on your cheeks. The cold hands made you stare at him but he only leaned in to kiss your forehead and then your nose. 

Hope's and Hunter's yells going deaf to your ears. You could only stare at the merman.

Before you could do anything else he smiled and touched your feet pushing you up to find oxygen.

You broke out of the surface and coughed as Hunter pulled your body to his chest. "Jesus Christ! You scared me." He said and kissed your forehead over and over making sure you were alive under his touch.

Hunter's kisses were gentle, urgent, and you enjoyed them, but it wasnt like the creature's touch. 

The monster's touch that could certainly snap your neck in a fraction of seconds, but the same touch that made your heart beat faster a moment prior.

And when he held your feet... you thought he would pull you in, to kill and eat you.

No.

He launched you up, assisting you, freeing you!

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought you." Hunter cried and you leaned in his touch, holding his neck and looking over his shoulder seeing familiar eyes gazing at you miles away in the water.

                       ...

Sitting in Hope's bed and having her blow-drying your hair, you told Hunter for the 45° time that you were okay and wasn't his fault. He gave you a cup of hot chocolate and checked your fingertips again searching for any hint of extremity cyanosis. He was terrified of losing you, shit, he even argued with Hope when he told her he wanted to help you to take a shower. And even if crushing on you, his intentions weren't sexual, he only wanted to be sure you were warmed up.

"It's okay, it was my fault. I thought I saw something. I got distracted."

Hope brushed your dry hair and you held Hunter's big sweater closer to your chest, he was taller than you so his clothes were the most comfortable. "Hope, i'm sorry for-"

"No no, it's okay. The thing was old anyway." She hugged you from behind and assured you it was okay the loss of her surfboard. "But i wonder how the safe-string got out of your ankle."

You remembered the pressure the string was making, remember the relief it was when it was snapped away from you... the merman did it.

"I don't know either." You lied and tried to get up, only to have them push you back in Hope's bed and ordering you to rest.

Hunter called your aunt to tell her it was all okay and that you would have a sleepover.

You fell asleep, dreaming of waves and gentle touches.

                         ...

Waking up you looked at the covers and searched for a clock to see how long you've slept. It was 2 AM and Hope was passed out, you gently got up from the bed and grasped a pair of Hope's boots.

You got off the stairs and unlocked the door discreetly before closing it behind you.

You walked to the docks and sat in your dining-spot. The vision of the water moving slowly under the stars always eased your thoughts. 

Yes, you consumed a bit of seawater but you didn't imagine what you saw. "Hey, uh, thank you for saving me." You spoke, feeling stupid and looking over your shoulders to be sure no one was near to listen to your nonsense.

"I... nearly drowned and if it wasn't you... I... Fuck!" You swore under your breath. The quietness of Walrey Coast at the dark night was comforting, silence was everything, it meant peace.

Holding your legs together and leaning your head on your knee, tears formed in your eyes. You missed Archie, you felt bad for making Hunter so worried, for destroying Hope's surfboard, the silence that engulfed you, and the thought of going crazy.

As tears drop reached the water, Kae got the courage to break out of the surface. He cursed himself so much earlier on, he should have reached you, if you haven't seen him you wouldn’t fall. So saving you was nothing less than his obligation. 

And touching you... well, that's another story. He couldn't help himself, you were so soft, so grown and stunning. Watching you from afar was something, but perceiving you centimeters away was enchanting.

With your eyes closed, you moaned a song that you loved, and even that the music spoke about heartbreak and a lost lover... it was beautiful.

Stopping to hum while you cleaned your nose, you opened your eyes startled when the song kept resounding,

Widening your eyes you looked at the water and placed your hands on your mouth to avoid a scream to leave your mouth.

There he was, the same thing that saved you.

"Hm, hi-hi!" You gagged.

Kae looked down at his torso, he hated how the human guy held you in his arms early on. His chest was free of hard skin, freed of scales, his skin color was near yours... it wasn't pale as his.

"Maybe you don't speak my language, I, uh actually I'm sort of believing i'm dreaming. My name is Y/N."

The smile on your features was all he could see, the previous shriek apparently wasn't from his ugly self. But surprise, or so he hoped.

"I know," His stark tone of voice made you gasp, he spoke! He could speak, and your language! "Hi, little human."

                       🧜🏻‍♂️

[airi-p4]

While it lasts

This was supposed to be kind of a S4 theory about akumatized Luka + a canon-verse Lukanette approach. I guess my hand slipped?  This is similar to my previous fic ‘Betrayer’, in which Juleka was the akumatized one. 

Warning: ANGST.

AO3 _________________________

"Jagged Stone is your father" Anarka had just told her twin children.

Luka's world was shattered into pieces.

Jagged Stone. His favorite musician. His inspiration. His mother's old music partner.

Their father.

One word occupies his mind: abandoned.

And the image of him takes a 180 degree turn. From admiration to despise.

His idol abandoned him. Him and his sister. His mother too.

Why?

He hates it. He hates all of it.

He hates it so much, not even his girlfriend Marinette can calm him down like she usually does. Not even her sympathetic voice or her sweet heart melody can heal him. Neither could her hand pressed on his in comfort.

Juleka's mind had gone blank for some seconds. Memories of how fond Luka was of Jagged Stone occupying her mind. 'Cool', she thinks, and then she focuses on her brother, who is clearly in shock.

In silence. In a trance.

He can't hear anything anymore, she realizes, after noticing how he isn't paying attention to either Marinette's, her mother's or her own calls.

His heart song is strident, loud, noisy- And his eyes lose all his light, all his kindness too.

'Abandoned'

This word keeps spiraling in his mind. On repeat. In an infinite loop.

"Luka!" He hears Marinette's voice call him in alert, finally making him snap out of it and find the strength to fight the akuma that just entered his guitar.

“Marinette… Don’t abandon me…” he begs, holding her while fighting not to lose control and fall under Shadow Moth's control.

“I won’t”, she assures him, clearly supporting him. She keeps encouraging him not to fall into the darkness of the dark butterfly.

Her melody is sincere. So sincere she can’t hide her still unburied feelings for certain blond hair and green eyes that make her heart flutter. And he can see it: the moment that is bound to happen, the moment Marinette will break up with him to go to Adrien. The moment all walls separating them will collapse and they will meet each other in the tangled maze of secrets they’re currently trapped in. The crumble of the castle that allowed him the miracle to have her by his side at this moment.

“You won’t” he whispers, feeling his biggest fear close: Silence- loneliness.

Abandoned.

His arms tighten around her, holding her even closer, impeding her from moving. He pulls her so close he's even hurting her a little. Marinette slightly protests in a cry, but she’s more emotionally affected than physically. "Luka-!"

She's scared.

She wants to assure him she’s honest. She wishes to be able to give him all her love, her existence-

And his newly appeared akuma form is willing to take it all.

His guitar is now a big fish net, his body has grown 3 times bigger and his looks are similar to a sea God. ‘Glaucus’, he calls himself. The name of the God of the fishermen in Greek mythology. His hair is longer, and his belly has become a transparent fish tank, where he plans to keep his loved ones, both safe and close so they don’t abandon him.

Punishment for the ones who abandon, lie and betray.

Protection for the loved ones.

'Justice', he calls it.

He doesn’t even need a big fish tank, because his loved ones are limited. A countable number of individuals is enough for him: Marinette, his mother, his twin sister, the rest of Kitty Section… Mylène too, maybe, since he would feel bad for Ivan if he left her out of it. And he would consider Marinette's family too, since he knows how much she appreciates them.

As for punishment? It's also clear: Jagged Stone comes first, followed by Lila Rossi among others who have dared to hurt his loved ones, such as Chloe Bourgeois and Bob Roth.

Marinette trembles at the vision after he finally lets her go of her to grab his fish catching instrument. A tear escapes her eye, and slides to fall from her chin. And then she runs: because that’s the only way she can help him: run, transform, defeat him and fix the damage she will fight to prevent from happening.

But she's ignoring the most important fact. The fact that that's exactly the action which will lead to her down fall, the sight that frightens Luka the most: Marinette turning her back to him, leaving him all alone.

His song abandoning him.

Rage, pain and despair fills his heart, unable to be contained with his meditation or her music. The music he himself turned into a loud mess, sounding just like nails scraping on a chalkboard, painful to his ears and his soul.

And that’s when he traps her, his net capturing her and turning her into a small, bright pink colored mermaid, he literally swallows to get her inside the fish tank he carries inside his transparent glass made belly.

A relieved sigh leaving his throat: Marinette is now secured. She won't leave his side again. ‘Who’s next…?’ He questions himself, looking at his horrified mother, Anarka as he smirks. He'll soon have all of them in his treasured fish tank.

And what will happen to those who deserve punishment? Fish out of the water- dry fins gasping for oxygen. Dead fish with eyes as cold as their hearts. Or even better- Jagged is going to be abandoned on his own before that- just like he cold-heartedly abandoned him and his sister.

And now that he mentions it… 'Where's Juleka?'

The akuma looks for her, but he doesn't see her around. 'She can wait' he decides, his chants summoning a big sea wave to carry him to his unwanted father's hotel suite.

__________

Jagged Stone can't believe his eyes. An akuma claiming to be his son has just turned Penny into a goldfish, who is now struggling with tiny desperate jumps for oxygen to breathe through her newly acquired fins. Impossible without water. Fang is next to join Jagged's personal assistant, now tiny and convulsing.

"Who are you!? Why are you doing this!? I have no kids!! Don't lie!! Stop this! Turn them to their original forms! They could die!" The rock star angrily begs under Glaucus lashes.

"You're the one who is lying! My mother never lies, so you are the one lying when you say you have no children! You're the one who abandoned us!" He yells as angry as Jagged. "All the admiration and respect I had for you is now hate and disgust! You deserve punishment for the sake of Justice!"

"Stop right there, mermaid boy. Didn't we already make it clear what the difference between revenge and justice was when you were 'Silencer'?" Chat Noir joined the battle, protecting Jagged from being crushed under the akuma's weapon.

The akuma attacks again, but this time he's stopped by someone else. Someone Chat Noir brought along with him- a new superhero.

_______

During the time Marinette was trapped, Tikki, safe and sound, had carried a Miraculous to Juleka, who was watching terrified at how the events developed on TV. She was too focused to notice the kwami, but she clearly noticed the box that fell on her hand out of nowhere. Reaching it, she curiously opened it, and a magical creature appeared in front of her.

"Hi there! I'm Roarr. It's nice to meet you, Juleka!" The little tiger introduced himself.

"What are you? What's going on?" Juleka questioned.

"I'm a kwami. I grant powers! Put on that jewelry and call for the magical words to transform into a superhero"

"Me? A superhero like Ladybug? I don't think I can-" she nervously mumbled, unconfident.

"The guardian chose you for this mission! You want to save your brother, right?" Juleka nodded. "Then say the words: Roarr, transform me"

"Roarr, transform me" Juleka said, and magic surrounded her. Her new appearance was purple with tiger-like orange colored stripes over her body. Her mask was the same colors of the suit, and a pair of tiny ears decorated her now tied hair, her ponytail loose in the wind.

Moments later, she ran towards the hotel, unknowingly followed by Ladybug's kwami.

And the battle started.

________________

"Luka! I know you're hurt, but Jagged is telling the truth! He never abandoned u- you! He never knew he was a father! He probably doesn't even know by now!" The new hero desperately yelled.

"Lies! All lies! He deserves punishment! And you do too!" The akuma points at the heroes and Jagged who is hiding behind them.

"I'll show you the truth!" The tigress announces, calling for her superpower.

Her claws become shiny and with one touch, she marks an ‘X’ on Jagged's forehead, and a purple cloud comes out of his mouth and surrounds them, as if they had just entered his dreamland- except it's, in fact, the rock star’s memories.

Luka is in denial. It is true. Jagged Stone never knew about them. Which means he abandoned them unknowingly. Was he innocent, though?

No, he wasn’t. Because he had indeed abandoned his mother.

_______

Meanwhile, Marinette had been trying to find a way out of the fish tank. She couldn't transform into Ladybug even if Tikki was free, because that would make her identity public. She needed another plan.

That's when she asked Tikki to get Juleka the tiger Miraculous- and it had, once again, been the right choice.

Marinette couldn't just stay still,watching. She fought to find a way out.

Making use of the constant moving water, and with Anarka and Kitty Section's help, she found a way up, arriving to his heart. Or was it the akuma’s heart? It didn’t matter to her as long as she could save him.

The sight was not what she had expected: a vast sea surrounded by colorful stained glass with the people he cared the most portrayed on them. Anarka, Juleka and Kitty Section were there. Big, colorful and shining bright.

Marinette continued swimming in his inner tormented sea of darkness until she found another glass under a cliff: hers. It looked beautiful, but unreachable, since a rose garden guarded and protected it. Untouchable beauty.

Was this Luka's vision of her? A beautiful flower surrounded by thorns, with green stains on paint messing with the almost perfect piece of art’s balance and making it painful to watch?

Marientte felt her heart ache in guilt.

She knew she was the cause of the hurt in his eyes which he sometimes looked at her with. He had always seen through her, despite how much she had been starting to believe her own lies about ‘moving on’ and ‘love’.

Marinette shook her head: no time to waste. Cry later. Focus now.

Her tail brought her to a cliff island with a broken stained glass window next to it. The one that belonged to Jagged Stone, as his name was written on a rock. It most likely broke at the revelation of Jagged being Luka’s father, but now the window was pitch black, with the pieces scattered on the floor. Silent.

She could feel his fears of being abandoned in her own skin, and froze at the realization: his endurance and his strength were only there thanks to music. A music his heart lacked at the moment.

Music.

That's the answer. Music was what healed his heart. This time too, he needed music.

But what could she do without musical knowledge? Or without any instrument to play?

'My voice' she notices. ‘I still have my voice’

Marinette starts singing her own heart song as composed by Luka, while the battle outside continues, now with their visit to Jagged Stone's memories.

Perfect timing.

And clouds appear over Jagged's glass window, the wind carrying some pieces back to its original place- partly reconstructed.

Maybe the mermaid form had another purpose, Marinette wonders. Maybe Luka couldn't completely let go of music, after all, whether he was akumatized or not. Or maybe...

Back to present, Marinette sees a light up that lifts her out of Luka's insides. Next time she blinks, she has recovered her original appearance- clumsy human girl Marinette.

"Run!" Chat Noir commands, and she obeys. As she runs, she gazes back at Luka, who shows her a painfully sad smile.

"Marinette!" Her kwami calls her before she can give it deeper thought. "Tikki! Spots on!"

Moments later, Ladybug makes it to the battle. "Lucky charm!"

____________

The battle ends soon. Too soon, to Ladybug's surprise. ‘Why did he offer no resistance?’

She'll have time to think about this later. First… "Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug rushed to recover Juleka's Miraculous so they could go back to Luka as soon as possible.

"Thank you, Ladybug" Juleka says, running off to hug her brother.

Marinette detransforms next and soon reaches them too. But she hesitates again. Should she be by his side when she hurts him so much?

Luka meets her gaze and smiles softly, apologetically and embarrassed, but clearly welcoming her. And she doesn't hesitate anymore to join their collective hug, melting in love after a swirl of emotions. They part from the hug and they all focus on Jagged Stone who is still processing what happened.

"Wait a second- Are you really my children…? You thought I abandoned you…?” Jagged asks the twins, before turning his head to Anarka. “Why didn't you tell me? Weren't we partners? 'Rock-'n'-roll until the crocodile controls'. Remember?"

"You said you wanted to go solo. You left me behind. Did you really expect me to go back to you after the humiliation I suffered? I gave you my heart and you threw me away as soon as you could!" Anarka yelled.

"I was young and immature, and not the best father figure, I admit it! But I deserved to know! You should have told me!"

"I'm telling you now! They are your children, Luka and Juleka. If you ever want to meet them, you know where we live. Don’t you ever come back if you plan to abandon them later" Anarka says, grabbing her children's shoulders and guiding them to move out of the hotel room with a push.

"I'm sorry…" Luka mumbles to Jagged, before leaving the room.

"I'm the one who is sorry…" Jagged admits to Marinette before she runs to follow the Couffaines and Kitty Section. “I’ll go visit sometime! I promise!”

“Are you ok, Luka?” Marinette asks after leaving through the hotel doors, seeing how Jagged is looking at them from the highest balcony.

“I will be. Eventually…” he returns his gaze down to focus on Marinette, reaching to hold her hand. “I don’t need Jagged’s music as long as I can listen to yours''

Marinette feels her cheeks burn.

________________________

On their way home, Marinette can’t take what she’s seen out of her head. ‘It was Luka's heart, right? And Luka’s true feelings. He truly loves me’, she realized. ‘But why…?’

With an instant of bravery, Marinette pulls Luka's hand to separate themselves from the rest of his family and friends.

"Luka… I- Am I painful to be with? To watch?" She bites her lip a bit and asks in terror. “Am I hurting you?”

"Of course not, Marinette. Never.” Luka assures her with a soft, faint smile. “You're more than I could ever ask for. You're the most beautiful song I've ever heard"

"Even if I have those unbearable to watch green stains...?" she whispers, embarrassed and angry at herself for not being able to make her feelings go according to her wishes.

"It can’t be helped, can it? And even if that’s the case, for me, you’re still the most beautiful despite those colors"

“Is my heart song really enough to cover for that ugliness? I hate it myself…”

“You shouldn’t. Imperfections can enhance beauty. I don’t mind them as long as I can hear your song up close” he answers.

“But-! Are you sure…? Aren’t you afraid I might end up abandoning you?” she finally asks, scared for his answer.

“I am. I’m terrified” he admits. “But how am I supposed to stand in the way of your wishes- your happiness? I can’t and I won’t do that” Luka shrugs, “Aren’t you scared of being abandoned too?”

“I am” she answers, after giving it some thought. “and that’s not the main reason for it, but I want to stay by your side” she realizes, “more than ever”.

Luka squeezes her hand and shows her a soft expression. “Thank you for always saving me. Akumatized or not,” he whispers to her ear. It surprises Marinette to see how his cheeks are pink over his fond smile.

“No-! I- I just sang a song and- It was all thanks to the new her-” she stopped herself. Luka couldn’t possibly remember what happened when he was akumatized. No one told him, no one showed him the news. He couldn’t know he turned her into a mermaid, or how she sang. Yet he thanked her for saving him.

‘Of course he knows’ Marinette understands. ‘Yet he didn’t reveal me to Shadow Moth and he let me go on purpose, too’. Her thoughts deepen. ‘I get it now’ she reaches her conclusion. ‘He wanted me to save him. He wanted me to take him back after he realized he was on the wrong side. It makes sense. He protected me despite being akumatized once again- like when he was Silencer’.

The girl’s feet stop walking for a moment at the revelation, causing Luka to look back at her. Taking one step closer, she raises on her tiptoes and gives Luka a kiss on his lips, surprising both of them.

‘I wonder what kind of music his heart is hearing now,’ she wonders, ‘because I can only hear a grateful and sincere happy tune in my own heart right now’

“Your heartsong is beautiful” she finishes with a smile he reciprocates.

Most likely, both of them knew deep inside that their relationship as it was now was bound to end at some point, sooner or later. Maybe both of them would always be afraid of loneliness and being abandoned, too. But wasn’t it enough to enjoy the music they created in that instant, while it lasts? Isn’t it the same with live concerts? They might end, but the sensations last forever in memories. Is it something to regret? Neither of them felt it was. And perhaps both of them secretly agreed with that logic as they continued walking hand in hand, enjoying each other's company and welcoming their mutual love and support, in whatever form their relationship changes into in the future.

[yourbooksname]

Batfam disney film headcanons

Normal Disney

The Little Mermaid

- Damian finds Eric ‘likeable’ - its because Eric is practically Dick Grayson

- Bruce accidentally reveals that young Dick had a crush on Ariel and the others tease him mercilessly

- “Seriously, Dickhead, every redhead you’ve ever seen?”

- Dick grumbles but has a gleam in his eyes as he stares at the screen during part of your world

- “Is she serious? Surely one who has studied this much knows what feet are-”

- “Demon, shut up”

- They say Grimsby is a knock off alfred

- “Oh, please, knock-off means it bears some resemblance. I surely hope other than the accent you all see no relation of him to me.”

- They all kinda love Ursula, in their own special way

- Steph is dancing around, if you could call it dancing, dragging cass with her (who is smiling the whole time) during under the sea 

- Jason leans back and, with a cruel smile on his face, exclaimes that “this is the best song” during les poissons 

- Which causes an uproar from most of the others

Aladdin

- Everyone tiptoes around it, and then steph makes one joke and suddenly its constant jason jokes

- “Is crime alley this musical?”

- “Would you all shut up? *mumbling* I didn’t even have a monkey”

- “Who’s your Jasmine, aladdin?”

- “Tt, statistically speaking based on time spent together, it’s that buffoon Harper”

- Jason is an inch from killing them but none of them really care at this point

- Once they caught him humming one jump ahead while cooking and they will never ever let him live it down

- “steph I swear if you keep playing the Gilbert Gottfried version of WAP over iago-”

- Rajah appears, and it’s too late for them to turn the movie off before

- “Father, I would like a bengal tiger.”

- Most of them are clearly having a great time during friend like me

- Jason brings up the talent of Robin williams

- and damian says “who”

- Jason turns, bewildered, and decides he’s going to force him to watch every single robin williams movie until he finds one he likes (It’s Jumanji, surprisingly. Dick likes Mrs. Doubtfire, Tim loves Good Will Hunting, Jason loves Dead Poets Society, Bruce is partial to Good Morning Vietnam, Steph loves Aladdin, Cass loves Hook)

- They have a moment of silence at the end for robin williams

Lilo and Stitch

- The family likes to joke Damien is stitch

- “A violent” “but loveable” “little gremlin...”

- “Tt, if we’re assigning roles, then Drake is that contemptuous redheaded girl”

- ‘Listen brat-”

- Duke shuts them up by saying that “this is the most ohana family i’ve ever seen in my life”

- Cass wants to learn how to spit fire

- Steph is fully on board, and so is Jason

- Damian wants to watch

- Alfred is about to have a heart attack

- But Damian does enjoy the movie, as it reminds him of his acceptance among the bats - not that he’d tell them

- Surprisingly, this movie also means a lot to Jason and Dick

- even if they don’t say it out loud

- they watched it together when Jason was young; and the sibling relationship in the movie moves ‘em both - and Jason can enjoy some quality Elvis

- However awkward, they’re nicer to each other after each viewing, and on a bad day they both get emotional during the movie (one more than the other, openly anyway)

- That cannot and will not stop Jason from messing with the bats/breaking the rules the next day on Patrol, and when Dick or Bruce confronts him, yelling “Ohana, bitch” and jumping off the building

A goofy movie

- Similar to Lilo and Stitch in terms of bonding, it brings Bruce closer to the boys

- but especially Jason, because Jason

- is Jason

- and would def. be the one to object the most to a road trip

- They make an uneasy but loving eye contact during ‘Nobody else but you’

-  Dick LOVES powerline, tell me i’m wrong; this bitch knows all the dance moves to both Stand Out and Eye to Eye (and the perfect catch, technically)

- Tim thinks the movie is worth watching just for Bobby (”you would, nerd”)

- Steph insists it has the best looking Pizza in any movie ever

“LOOK AT IT”

“We’re looking steph”

“LOOK HARDER”

Pixar lightning round

- Toy Story

- It’s been banned at Wayne Manor

- Not because they don’t like it

- But because Jason objects to Randy Newman

- And Dick attempts even MORE death-defying stunts on Patrol, claiming he’s “falling with style” 

- A bug’s life

- Dick likes it, it reminds him of the circus, 

- but other than that none of them really care too much about it

- Toy Story 2

- Often referenced whenever a family member breaks their arm (”NOW I CAN’T GO TO COWBOY CAMP”

- Jason says “Hey look, it’s bruce” every time zurg is on screen and Bruce is sick of it

- Once, an argument broke out during ‘When she loved me’

- “Oh, Sarah McLachlan”

- “Who?”

- “The one singing - she does those stupid ASPCA commercials”

- “Stupid? It is advertising to aid animals subjected to cruelty. You’re the stupid one.”

- “Brat, shut up, it’s a commercial.”

- “Do you support animal cruelty?”

- “What?! I-”

- “Go ahead, take it out on me. I am glad Alfred and Titus are not here as I know they would be your primary target, monster.”

- So they’ve stopped watching the movie

- Monsters inc. 

- Jason always wants to watch it

- he used to love watching it with Roy (who, unbeknownst to anyone except Jason and Kori) would cry at the ending thinking of Lian

- It’s also just hilarious

- Finding Nemo

- They think it’ll teach Bruce to be less overprotective

- They were wrong

- He hovers even more 

- Which prompts steph to walk up to a warehouse on a mission yelling “look at me, i’m gonna go touch the butt”

- when Gil came on screen someone said “look, it’s deathstroke” which prompted a chuckle out of everyone

-The Incredibles; 

-They all recognize the irony of a superhero family movie, but enjoy it nonetheless

- Once, Jason pointed out how similar Syndrome’s origin story was to Tim 

- everyone was a little rattled, and were grateful Tim decided to persist to good

-Cars

- “Wow”

- “Wow”

- “WOW”

- “wow”

-Ratatouille

- Tim and Barbara both love it

- They admire the work being done almost methodically

- Jason and Alfred enjoy the cooking in the movie, as they are both avid chefs

- Damian also admires the film, though he called the plot “ludicrous” he likes the music

- They have to force Dick out of the destroyed kitchen as he yells “anyone can cook!” the next day

- Wall-E 

- Cass loves this one - especially as it’s mostly told through body language

-It inspires Tim to start a new ‘Go green’ wayne manor initiative

- Damian will watch the first half but insists the movie loses its quality when the humans arrive

- Up

- Damian wants a talking dog

- Dick’s favorite pixar movie, probably

- He loves the beginning, and the soundtrack, and the house flying, and Ellie

- Once Tim got him a grape soda pin and he wore it for weeks

- Brave; 

-They tease Dick more (redhead)

- The girls love it

- At least one person tries to do a scottish accent with every viewing

- Inside Out

- Dick was sobbing by the end

- Cause this mans does nothing but bottle up all emotions other than joy

- For the people around him

- He gets the support from his family that Riley gets and suddenly everyone’s emotional (as emotional as Bats can be, I suppose)

- Coco

- Jason sings remember me in spanish often when he thinks no one is around

- They watch it on Halloween and Jason laments how young him probably would have gone as Miguel for halloween with the hoodie his mom gave him; however it wouldn’t fit now

- throwing him a Dia De los Muertos celebration (yes Jason is latino fight me)

- He appreciates it, begrudgingly, but gets emotional when he finds a new red hoodie up in his room, not knowing who its from

- It becomes his new favorite pixar movie

______ If you have more movie ideas please let me know because i’m loving doing this

[sheerfreesia007]

Most Magical Birthday On Earth

Title: Most Magical Birthday On Earth

Fandom: Kingsman

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x Reader

Author: @sheerfreesia007​​

Words: 4,054 (Y’all can enjoy that. Haha!)

Warnings: Fluff, just tooth rotting fluff

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711​, @fioccodineveautunnale​, @phoenixhalliwell​, @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​

Author Notes: The International Gang of Mischief is together in fic! I absolutely loved writing this. It was a true labor of love for me. I hope you did you all justice. This was so much fun to write and I think it’s a fitting ending for the day. I don’t even know if this is my longest fic word wise in one shot. All together I know FAIY takes that cake (it’s over 100,000 words!!) but this might be the longest one shot I’ve done if I’m not mistaken. ANYWAY I hope you all enjoyed today! I know I did while writing these. Thank you for celebrating with me today! Too many more birthdays! P.S: The Welsh Dragon is an actual drink at the Rose and Crown Pub and I haven’t tried it yet but when I make it back to Epcot I will drink one in your honor ladies and take pictures of it.

Gif Credit: google

         “Jack is this really necessary?” you asked as you sat on the couch in the Statesman jet. Jack was readjusting the blindfold over your eyes so that you couldn’t see anything. 

         “Yes, it’s necessary I don’t want to spoil your surprise. I and Tequila have been working on it for the better part of three months.” he said on a sigh. You sat there shocked not realizing all the work your boyfriend and best friend put into your birthday vacation. Jack had just told you this morning to pack for a warm climate and for a whole weekend with at least one fancy dress. He had then swept you off in the Statesman jet explaining that Tequila would meet you two there since he had to pick up your first birthday surprise.

But now the jet had landed and Jack had immediately put the blindfold over your eyes so that couldn't see. You felt him lean forward and press a soft kiss to your lips. When he pulled away you smiled lovingly.

"What was that for?" You asked softly and he chuckled lightly.

"It's probably gonna be the last time we kiss until later on tonight. You're gonna be quite busy today sweetheart." He said knowingly before pressing another sweet kiss to your lips. "Couldn't help myself." He explained softly and you laughed delighted. His hands then gripped yours and helped you stand. "C'mon then sweetheart I'm gonna slowly walk you out of the jet."

And he did, once you had stepped out the air conditioned jet the heat and humidity hit your body making sweat immediately bead on your skin. Your feet had finally hit the tarmac and Jack easily guided you along. Your hand was tucked in his elbow and you were pressed to his side looking for reassurance in your steps. You could hear voices not far off and when you stepped closer they all stopped talking making you a little self conscious.

"Oh my goodness it's Whiskey!" Came a soft squeal that you knew immediately. Loud groans were heard as your hand came up quickly to whip the blindfold from your face and your eyes took a moment to focus. 

"Bubbles! You weren't supposed to ruin it!" Hissed Sparkles and the grin that spread across your face was reflected on five other faces standing only a few feet away from you. Lizzard stood in front and quickly held her arms open. Your grin never ceased as you bolted over to them quickly being engulfed in the group of women. Tears pricked your eyes as they greeted you and wished you a happy birthday. You were being passed from first Lizzard then to Flames who's fiery red hair curled in front of your face making you burst out in a watery chuckle. Then it was Scrubs who held you close as she squealed softly and rocked you from side to side. Bubbles was next and you could hear Tequila muttering behind you.

"It's like their twins, just American and British. Whiskey there's two of them!" His words made both you and Bubbles chuckle happily.

You then turned to Sparkles, who you considered to be the leader of the group, and again with tears in your eyes you hugged her tightly.

"I was hoping for a better bloody surprise but it was ruined." She said kindly and you laughed softly before pulling away.

"Best surprise I've ever gotten." You responded before hugging her once again.

"Well be prepared ladies we've got more surprises yet!" Called Tequila. You turned to look at him without leaving Sparkles arms.

"Where are we?" You asked suddenly.

"Florida." Said Flames matter of factly and Tequila groaned loudly before throwing his hands up.

"That's it! Whiskey you're in charge! It was damn chaos goin' and gettin' them from the airport! It's like herding cats with this group. One wants to go this way, the other wants to take a million pictures, and another just wanted to take it all in! They're a fun group but Jesus, Mary and Joseph! They're gonna give me gray hairs!" Tequila burst out in a rant as his hands gestured to different members of your group. You grinned as you watched Lizzard sidle up next to you and slung an arm around your waist.

"Is he always this bloody dramatic?" She asked low enough for just you and Sparkles to hear making the two of you burst out in laughter.

"Sometimes." You said with a shrug that made the two of them laugh. "Wait a minute?! Are we going to Disney?!" You cried out suddenly and both Whiskey and Tequila turned to you with crestfallen looks.

"It was supposed to be a surprise damnit!" Tequila shouted and threw his hands up again. You pulled away from Sparkles and tugged Tequila into a tight hug.

"You know I don't do well with surprises, but I appreciate the effort. If we're going to Disney you're my bestest best friend ever." You said into his shoulder.

"Yes, we're going to Disney." Tequila said kindly as he hugged you back. "Bestest best friend ever." Squealing you bounced on your toes in his arms.

"Oh! Oh! We have to go on Space Mountain and the Haunted house ride!" You began naming excitedly and Tequila laughed as your excitement began to infect the whole group as you all began talking about what you wanted to do first.

         “Alright, alright. Before we start making plans let’s go over a few things.” Whiskey called out over everyone. You all turned to him expectantly and he blinked owlishly at you all. “Okay, so we’ve got dinner reservations at Restaurant Marrakesh at six and I’d like to go get drinks at the Rose and Crown pub beforehand if y’all are alright with that.” You smiled and nodded your head eagerly at him.

         “That gives us plenty of time to get some roller coasters and other rides in before we’d head over to the Rose and Crown.” you said knowledgeably. Just as you had finished talking a large black SUV pulled up alongside Whiskey and he smiled as he opened up the back door.

         “Alright everyone get in we’ve got just enough time to drive to the park before it opens.” he said with a wide smile. You squealed as you broke away from the group and ran for the car. Pecking Jack on the cheek you quickly climbed in and he chuckled at your enthusiasm.

           The drive from the airport wasn’t very long and as you continued to get closer and closer to the park you began to vibrate in your seat in the back. You were sitting up against the window and right next to Scrubs. The whole group of you were figuring out which rides would be best to include everyone so that you all enjoyed yourselves. It was quickly decided that you, Tequila, Lizzard and Flames were the daredevils and would go on at least two roller coasters and then the rest of the rides would be others. You had told them that the must go ons were Pirates of the Carribean, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, the carousel, and Peter Pan’s Flight. Everything else was up in the air. The one that you refused and immediately took off the table was It’s a Small World, that ride would drive you bonkers for days afterwards and you were not a fan of having that dang song stuck in your head for days on end.

         So with that game plan in mind y’all got to the park as early as you possibly could and as you were driving under that all too familiar canopy that led into the park you couldn’t help yourself but grab onto Scrubs in excitement. She grinned over at you and slung her arm around your shoulders.

         “Happy Birthday love.” she said softly and hugged you into her side tightly.

         “Thanks sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re all here.” you said happily and saw a few of the other girls nodding their heads.

         “It was all Whiskey’s idea. He knew it’d be a wonderful surprise for you and got in touch with Sparkles to set it up where we could all come celebrate with you.” Scrubs explained and your eyes darted to the rearview mirror where you saw Whiskey looking back at you. You could feel your cheeks heating up in a blush and saw his wide grin before he winked at you and turned back to the road.

         Not long after entering the park area the SUV was directed towards the preferred parking and you smiled knowing that Whiskey was pulling out all the stops for your birthday. Once the car was finally parked you all piled out and walked to the front turnstiles where you’d be checked into the park and your bags would be checked. 

         You waited patiently as Whiskey picked up all of your tickets and the bands that you all would be wearing while in the park. Once he had gathered them all he began handing them out and you noticed that each band had your favorite princess on it. Smiling you watched as he handed Sparkles her Belle band, Bubbles got Cinderella, Flames was of course Merida, Lizzard was Rapunzel, Scrubs was Jasmine, Tequila was Stitch, Whiskey was Mickey Mouse and you were Minnie Mouse. Once all the girls saw that they all snickered behind their hands and you grinned before sidling up to Whiskey’s side hugging him loosely. He grinned down at you and pressed a soft kiss to your lips while everyone else made obnoxious kissing noises at the two of you. You laughed when you pulled away and grabbed Flames’ hand dragging her towards the Ferry line where everyone followed you. 

         Your whole group gravitated towards the front of the ferry and stood at the railing waiting for the ferry to leave the dock. Other park goers are filling up the ferry and the whole group moves to stay together and you’re all standing in a group at the railing. When the ferry finally takes off the group is just idly chatting about anything that comes to mind and soon you’re standing next to Sparkles when the far off castle comes into view. Your eyes dart to her face and watch as the joy falls over her face at seeing the castle.

         “Oh it’s so pretty.” she says softly and you nod eagerly.

         “Wait til you see it up close.” you respond with a grin. 

         The ferry ride doesn’t take very long to get the actual park and once you’re all out and through the little check in kiosks you’re all gathering in a group as Whiskey grabs a map.

         “So which way are we headed to first?” Whiskey asks as he looks at the map.

         “Well first we have to go get our ears and then we can head to the rides. But we’re going to go left first and make our way around the park.” you said easily and began leading everyone over to the large gift shop where they made the Mickey ear hats. Once inside the store everyone all gazed around in awe at all the different kinds of Mickey ears. But your eyes immediately landed on the ears that had clear Mickey ears with confetti on them, a birthday cake in the middle of the ears, and the words “Best Birthday Ever” on the front. Picking up a pair of them you quickly moved to the register where you asked to have your name stitched on the backside. As you were going to pay another pair of Mickey ears landed on top of yours and you turned to see Whiskey standing next to you. He had picked up a classic Mickey ears.

“ I’d like to add this to the bill please.” he said easily as he fished out his wallet.

         “Whiskey, you don’t have to pay for my ears.” you said softly and he shook his head at you.

         “Nonsense, the birthday girl doesn’t pay for anything this weekend while we’re here.” he responded. You all waited as your names were stitched into each of your hats and you laughed brightly when Whiskey swapped his familiar Stetson for his Mickey ears. His arm swung around your shoulder as you continued to laugh and dragged you close to his body before he pressed a soft kiss to your temple. “I love hearing your laughter. I’m glad you’re having fun already.”

         “Thank you for all of this. It’s absolutely wonderful.” you said softly to him with a wide grin on your lips. He nodded his head and leaned down to slide his nose against yours gently.

         “Alright c’mon you two love birds we’re all done!” called Tequila and you smiled turning to the group waiting by the doors. You watched as each woman had a knowing smirk on their face and you rolled your eyes at them before gripping Whiskey’s hand and pulling him along with you. 

         Your first stop was in Adventureland where all eight of you got onto the Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride. With two to a compartment you wound up next to Scrubs who demanded that you not lift the carpet into the air, you laughed and held your hands up in surrender. As the ride started Scrubs watched as the others’ carpets all rose in the air and she looked over to you, you shook your head and she sighed softly.

         “Only a little bit.” she said and you did as she asked, raising the carpet only a little bit and she smiled widely. Once the ride had stopped Scrubs climbed out and stood close to you. “Thank you.” You smiled happily at her and hooked your arm around hers and began leading the group over to the Pirates’ ride. 

         The hours sped by quickly and as your group walked into Fantasyland you knew it was going to be your last stop here. Y’all had managed to get fast passes for Space Mountain earlier and had already ridden it so Fantasyland was going to truly be your last stop. As you walked into the Princess Fairytale Hall you could see the exhaustion starting to show on their faces. Tequila was as wired as he was when y’all first walked in and his eyes danced around the room as he walked in but everyone else was starting to look like they were going to crash soon. 

         You looked over to Whiskey and saw him smile softly at you and you nodded your head at him before stepping closer.

         “This is gonna be our last stop for the park. Everyone’s looking worn out.” you said softly and he looked down at you worried.

         “Are you sure?” he asked softly and you nodded.

         “Yeah, we’ve gone on everything that we planned to and a few other rides. Plus I think once everyone sees where we’re going for drinks they’ll perk up before dinner and the fireworks.” you say with a kind smile on your face.

         “Did you get to do everything you wanted sweetheart?” he asked softly and you nodded your head as you wrapped your arms around his waist. 

         “I did and so much more.” you responded and he grinned down at you before pressing a soft kiss to your lips. Just then a loud squeal filled the air and the two of you pulled apart to see Bubbles excitedly bouncing on her toes as Cinderella walked into the room.

         The next hour was spent greeting and talking with each princess and taking photos with all of them. You knew the photos would be momentos that each and everyone of you cherished. Whiskey had even gotten in some of the photos with Tequila which had made you all cackle as since all the princesses swooned over him making Tequila jealous. 

         Once you were all done with seeing the princesses you led the group over to the train that went around the whole park and you heard a loud audible appreciative groan come from everyone that made you burst into laughter. They were all tired and were ready for a sit down. The train came not long after you all stood in line and as you were standing next to Lizzard you watched her sway a little and you placed a hand on her back.

         “Almost there sweetheart. Soon we’ll go drinking in a place that should be familiar to y’all.” you said kindly to her and she grinned over at you before you all boarded the train.

         “So this train goes around the whole park?” Flames asked excitedly. 

         “Yeah but the back area is all woods and you don’t see much.” you explained as you turned in your seat to talk to her. You turned back around when you felt a hand fall onto your right thigh and looked over to see Whiskey smiling at you. You rested your head against his shoulder and just watched as the train traveled along its track. 

         Once the train had stopped at the main entrance station it had seemed as if your group was rejuvenated a little. Y’all made your way to the exit gates and easily boarded the monorail that was luckily waiting there. You made sure to get on the one that would bring you to Epcot and you all found seats together so that you wouldn’t be separated. 

           The monorail ride was roughly about half an hour so the group easily caught up with what was their favorite part of the day and the tired smiles slowly began turning into excited happy smiles as everyone was able to rest their tired feet and relax a little bit in the air conditioned rail car. You were sat in between Sparkles and Bubbles as the two of them gazed out of the large windows watching everything that traveled past. When it was time for everyone to leave so that you could enter Epcot everyone got up with an excited energy hanging around the group.

         You all went through the check in gates one more time and Whiskey stepped away for a moment as he made a phone call before he came back to the group. He walked next to you and smoothly held your hand with his. Grinning up at him you happily swung your hands in between each other as you led the group into the park. 

         When you came to stop in front of the Rose and Crown pub you were met with silence before loud squeals filled the air and you were being rushed into the English themed bar and restaurant. You laughed as the whole group of you found a table that would be able to seat you all and everyone grabbed a menu. 

         “Oh that’s a no brainer.” Scrubs said with a smirk and you grinned over at her as your eyes found the drink you would all be getting. When the waitress came over you smiled politely at her before Flames spoke up.

         “Right, all of us ladies are gonna have the Welsh Dragon and Tequila here is gonna Cider and Fireball while Whiskey over there is gonna have Leaping Leprechaun.” she said proudly with a nod of her head. When everyone nodded their heads in agreement the waitress eagerly left to put in your drink orders. 

         “So Siren, having a good birthday?” asked Bubbles from across the table and you smiled nodding your head. 

         “It’s the best.” you said and they all laughed as Whiskey adjusted your Mickey ears on your head so they sat straight on your head. When the drinks came you all continued your conversation and time passed slowly as you all just enjoyed your time together in the loud boisterous busy pub. Whiskey looked down at his watch as he finished the last of his drink and then looked up at all of you.

         “Alright finish your drinks we’ve got to head over to the restaurant for dinner.” he said adamantly and you all easily finished your drinks. 

         You felt the excitement fill you as your group walked through your favorite part of the park. It was back here in the Morocco part of the park that your favorite restaurant sat. And while walking through the area you couldn’t help but to admire the detail that Disney had put into making the area feel authentic. Or as authentic as you believed it to be without ever visiting Morocco. 

         Sitting down at your table you smiled as the dim lighting cast a glow over everyone at the table. You were sitting in between Sparkles and Flames at the head of the table across from Whiskey who sat at the other head of the table. He sent you a wink and you grinned happily. Soon your food and drinks were ordered and everyone was gazing around talking about the decor when you heard the music begin to play. Turning in your seat you watched as a belly dancer came out in the middle of the restaurant and began to dance along to the music. The jingle of the dress around her hips kept in beat with the music and you clapped along as she danced. Everyone was enraptured with her dance moves and when she finished everyone clapped and cheered loudly for her. 

         Not long after the food came out along with a refill of your drinks. Conversation slowed and you were happy to eat and just look around the table full of your loved ones. This truly was a magical birthday and you couldn’t be more grateful for the people around you. 

         Suddenly you heard loud singing coming from behind you and you ducked your head sheepishly as grins appeared on every face around you. The wait staff came by with a plate held up with a small desert and candle stuck in the middle. As the singing ended you laughed and blew out your candle as cheers rang out in the air. You shook your head as a blush heated your skin and your eyes darted over to Whiskey across the table who was grinning at you with happy eyes.

         “Happy Birthday Siren!” cheered out Sparkles as she held her glass up in the air. Everyone followed suit and you clink your glass with everyone.

           Walking out of the restaurant you grabbed onto Whiskey’s wrist and moved it so you could glance at his watch. It read eight thirty. You quickly slipped your fingers in between his and turned to the group.

         “So the fireworks start in half an hour. I'd like to get a good spot and I know others will be already lining up around the railings so let’s all go find a spot to watch them.” you instructed easily and the group quickly moved to see if they could all find a spot large enough for everyone. Luckily you didn’t have to go too far to find a big enough spot to view the fireworks and as your group moved in front of the Japan area you quickly found a spot to gather against the railing. 

         Standing between Lizzard and Tequila you felt arms wrap around your middle and a sturdy chest press to your back. You smiled warmly as you leaned back into Whiskey and he pressed his lips to your ear. 

         “Did you have a good day?” he asked softly into your ear and grinned nodding your head.

         “The best day ever.” you responded as your hands came up to cover his own. 

         “Good I’m glad.” he whispered into your ear. Soon the sky was darkening and a hush came over the park as everyone waited for the fireworks show to begin. When it did begin everyone gasped in awe at the display of pyrotechnics that lit up the sky. You felt Whiskey’s breath graze against your neck and you felt a peacefulness come over you as your eyes watched the fireworks explode in the sky. “I love you sweetheart.” he whispered into your ear as the finale of the display began and you tilted your head back to look up at him and he grinned leaning down to press his lips to yours in a loving kiss.

         “I love you too.” you responded back once you had pulled away as the last firework went off. 

[antiquecompass]

Fic: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

For Xichen Week Day 2 I picked ‘soulmate’ out of the prompts and took a jaunty little stroll back to the Winter King and Wizard Jiang in Journeys ‘verse

“You should consider yourself very lucky,” his mother said. “Few in this world have soulmates, even rarer still is for that mate to be found. And you have found yours in the Winter King.” She turned her eyes from the waters of their home, her fingers clenched around her arms. “And your betrothed is also your soulmate. And you two have a mutual attraction and affection for each other. So what, exactly, causes your hesitation? The Elders asked if you had any reservations. What could they possibly be?”

Jiang Cheng did not want to say it was fear, because it wasn’t. Nor was it caution. He wanted to accept the Winter King’s invitation, to stay and study at the Cloud Recesses for a turn of the sun. To learn more of the Winter Court where he would one day dwell. To learn more of the Sidhe that he--that he--it was still too early to say love. Still too new. Still too unknown.

“I suppose I am nervous,” he admitted.

His mother scoffed. “You are Jiang Cheng. You are born of Wizard and Siren stock. You bow to no one unless you choose to do so and you demand respect with your name and your power. You are the Winter King’s Chosen. To insult you is to insult the Crown of the Winter Court.”

“I don’t care about the Winter Court,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Good,” his mother said.

“I do care about Lan Xichen, and how I could be a disappointment to him, or the image he holds of me in his head. We have been acquaintances. We have been betrothed. We have exchanged letters and elemental messengers. And yet, in so many ways, we are strangers. We don’t know each other as partners. As the people beyond our titles. I don’t want to be a disappointment to him.”

“You will disappoint him if you refuse his invitation,” his mother stated. “And he may take it as a firm rejection.” She cupped his cheek. “You are much like your mother, my sea star, and though your eyes tell of your heart, the rest of you can be far harder to read.”

“I do not reject him,” Jiang Cheng said. He shook his head at the very idea. “Nor would I ever wish to do such a thing, but he’s a king and I am me.”

His mother grasped his chin tight, purple lightning dancing on her fingers, calling his own Siren magic, calling it up, calling it out, until it pulsed awake and alive across his skin.

“You are magnificent. The best that has ever come or will ever come from a Wizard and a Siren. I do not raise mediocre sons. Let the world think you’re nothing but a standard wizard, but we know the truth. The water calls to us, grants us its powers, and it loves you more than any raised outside the Sacred Seas in a very long time.”

Jiang Cheng nodded as his power filled him with the familiar warmth of his magic, a comfort since his youth.

“I will draft the letter of my acceptance tonight,” he said.

“Good,” his mother said, standing back, and finally letting him go. She turned, her magic causing ripples to shiver through the surrounding water.

Jiang Cheng let his power run over his fingers as he thought about their situation. It should’ve made things easier, he supposed, knowing his soulmate. Knowing he was a good, honorable person who genuinely cared about his family and his people. Knowing something and experiencing it were two very different beasts. They weren’t soul-bonded yet. It would take a decade, at the very least, of close contact before they could mindspeak. Knowing Xichen was his soulmate didn’t stop the nerves or the second guessing. 

Sometimes Jiang Cheng wished he didn’t know. That they could just court each other as they wished, damn all the proper traditions and politics and the like. Damn the expectations and the history of other soulmates, other love matches.

Let them just be themselves. To discover each other at their own pace, at their own time, in their own way. 

He couldn’t even respond to Xichen’s invite without having it approved by three different elders. 

Jiang Cheng looked down at his hands and then turned his gaze towards the end of the family pier. Inhuman laughter and splashing told him the mer-folk had come for a visit. He looked down at his hands, at the manifestation of his power, and smiled. 

Damn the rules. 

Even with his worries, Jiang Cheng knew who and what he wanted. And Xichen had addressed the invitation to him before any other in Lotus Pier. He wasn’t going to make him wait any longer. 

It would certainly be an unconventional method of delivering a reply, but his soulmate should know all the eccentrics that came with courting a wizard and siren.

***********

“He’s pacing,” Moira said.

“Yes,” Song Lan agreed.

“He’ll mark up the floor if he doesn’t stop,” Moira said.

“Yes,” Xiao Xingchen agreed.

Lan Xichen paid little attention to his cousins and friends as he waited for an answer. Of course he didn’t expect an immediate response. An official visit of one of the Jiang Wizards to the Winter Court, especially his betrothed, would require deliberation and determination. A debate over good omens. Consultations. Politics.

But part of him had hoped Jiang Cheng would’ve sent word that he’d at least received the invitation.

He felt like they’d made progress, since his surprise visit to Lotus Pier last year. Their correspondence had increased dramatically, and he longed for one of those letters now, containing Jiang Cheng’s loose, slanted handwriting and harsh opinions and tangents about life in Lotus Pier. 

“Perhaps it did not reach him yet,” Wangji said. “It could’ve been intercepted by his mother or one of the councilors or one of his siblings.”

“Or his dogs,” Moira said. “They could’ve eaten it. Or that brother of his. Wouldn’t put it past the Necromancer.” She laughed. “Your face will freeze like that, Wangji. Stop glaring at me. It’s no one's fault but your own that you saw that Master of Destruction and decided, ‘thank you, Fates. I’ll take this one.’  After trying to kill him, of course.”

“I never--” Wangji cleared his throat. “We started off with a misunderstanding that has long since been corrected.”

“Has it?” Song Lan asked. “Because he’s clearly missing the point of every one of your subtle courting attempts.”

“The Winter King is headed back towards his study,” Xingchen said, drawing everyone back to the matter at hand. 

Xichen started walking towards his desk. “Perhaps I should send another invitation. Just in case something did happen. Moira’s right, the dogs do love to scatter his papers. They have to spend most of their time in his office, you know. Poor things aren’t allowed to roam free.” Xichen paused. “Perhaps I should invite the dogs as well.”

“Oh,” Moira said with a shake of her head. “You don’t want to seem too eager, cousin. Give it a day. At the least.”

Xichen was eager, though. But a day. A single day? He could do that, of course. What was a single day in the life of an immortal sidhe?

“I’ll just compose a draft,” Xichen said as he headed towards his desk.

Song Lan gently stopped him with a powdery snowball to the face. 

To lesser kings, more concerned with their power than being a good person, it would’ve been a grave insult. To Xichen, who counted Song Lan as someone he could always trust to treat him like Xichen and not the Winter King, it was a cold, if pointed, reminder to breathe.

“I shall take that under advisement,” Xichen said as he wiped snow from his face. He looked down at his light, spring robes. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to change.”

“He’s going to write another letter,” Moira mumbled.

Xichen would not. Or perhaps he would, but not an invitation. Just a general letter to Jiang Cheng, with the little bit of freedom they were allowed. Xichen was a king and had to be mindful of what he put down in writing, even to Jiang Cheng. Private correspondence remained the source of so many scandals among Sidhe rulers. And yet writing to Jiang Cheng still meant that he got to devote pages to his favorite novels or art or inane things like the weather, the flowers, his brother’s ever-growing collection of rabbits. It wasn’t about land or trade negotiation. And while he did worry that he bore Jiang Cheng with some of his longer letters, Jiang Cheng had assured them that he enjoyed them all.

It made Xichen wish they could’ve known each other as normal lovers and soulmates, rather than the Winter King and his Chosen. 

A loud splash in the small lake besides his quarters drew his attention. He gasped when he spotted a face in the water.

A woman emerged, or at least the face of one, neither old nor young, but beautiful in the unattainable way that came to all Mer-folk. Her skin was a pleasing light blue hue and her eyes a shade of violet Xichen had come to associate with Lotus Pier.

“Are you the Winter King?” she asked in a heavily accented, ancient version of the Common Tongue. 

“I am,” he said.

She studied him for a moment. “You speak true?”

“Yes,” Xichen said as he knelt beside the lake’s edge.

The mermaid dipped her head back in thanks, dipping underwater before resurfacing again.

“I have a message from the Siren’s Son,” she said.

“Jiang Cheng?” he asked.

She smiled at him, her face turning youthful in its joy. “Yes, they were correct. We do like you for him. He has let you know the truth of him, or some of it.” She pulled a satchel from around her neck. “You may keep it all,” she said. “He crafted it just to transport this message.”

There was spellwork around the purple cloth. It smelled of Jiang Cheng and the material was soft, as if made from his own robes, but it was dry as a bone. A handy bit of magic for a wizard so connected to water.

“I feel like I must give you something in return for your journey,” Xichen said. “You are far from home.”

“I offered,” the mermaid said. “It is an honor to aid the Siren’s Son in his pursuit; to bring his voice to his mate. He already gifted me a song in gratitude.”

She hummed a soft tune and Xichen could imagine Jiang Cheng’s deep, smooth voice singing along to it. It soothed him and he felt calm for the first time in hours.

“Still,” he insisted.

She cast her eyes about and pointed at a patch of snowdrops. 

“I will take one of them,” she said.

Xichen nodded as he picked a handful, putting his energy into the ground to re-grow what he had taken and then again to preserve his gift in everlasting ice. 

“You are kind,” she said as she took the gift. “We approve.”

“Thank you,” he said before wishing her well. 

In the privacy of his quarters he was finally able to open the pouch. Inside was a letter, sealed with the symbol lotus blossom pressed into deep purple wax. It was covered in a sort of spellwork Xichen had never encountered before. His fingers pressed over the familiar image on the seal and the letter immediately unfolded in his lap. It was blank inside, but then, as Xichen touched the paper again, a burst of purple light overtook the pages. 

Xichen gasped as Jiang Cheng’s voice sounded in his room. 

“I am not always skilled with words,” Jiang Cheng’s voice told him. “And I felt that if I wrote a reply it would become so practiced and revised so many times that I would make you think it wasn’t even written by my hand. Xichen I am honored to accept your invitation to stay in your realm. I long to see the home that shall one day become mine as well. To learn of it and its people. To learn of you.” He sighed. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that, perhaps it is too much, but I want to know you, everything about you, as the Winter King and as my soulmate. If you’ll still allow me such an honor, of course. The official reply should be there in the morning, but I couldn’t keep you waiting any longer. I know how restless I would be in your place and I hope you would feel the same.”

“I do,” Xichen said, heart full and pounding, smile wide as the purple light of the letter started to flicker. 

“I am eager to see you again,” Jiang Cheng said. “And I send my warmest regards to you, your family, and your realm.”

The light went out then and Xichen was sad the spell was done. He sighed as he picked the paper up again, only for the light to burst across the paper once more, only for Jiang Cheng’s voice to repeat. A message for him from his soulmate, forever captured.

“He is so clever,” Xichen said as he folded the paper, careful to keep his fingers to the outside and not the inside. 

The wax seal redid itself once the ends of the page met. Xichen carefully wrapped it back inside its purple cloth and cradled it to his chest. 

[crosbytoews]

the disney renaissance films, ranked

9) tarzan (1999)

let me get a few things straight: 1) i like this movie! and 2) it has the second best soundtrack of any disney movie

however i’m not sure i even consider this a renaissance film. i think its animation is weak compared to the other renaissance flims. i don’t love the story either. 

what i do find interesting about this movie (other than the excellent soundtrack) is how dark it is. it’s pretty violent for a disney movie, especially when the villain, clayton, accidentally & graphically hangs himself. most other disney films show the villain vaguely falling to their death, but not this one! 

8) aladdin (1992)

okay i feel really bad about ranking this film so low, but it’s just not my favorite. i LOVE the character of the genie. he’s one of disney’s best characters. however i don’t find aladdin himself that likable! and i hate abu! not a fan of jafar either! 

a whole new world is the only standout song on the soundtrack. there’s no standout animation. jasmine deserved better. 

7) pocahontas (1995)

i am pocahontas defense squad. at this point in the list, i truly enjoy all the movies. 

let’s get the obvious out of the way: this movie is problematic. they absolutely should not have based the main character off a real person. but i think overall it’s less problematic than you might think: the movie makes it clear that the english were greedy and stole land. they did not make most of them out to be favorable. the romance between pocahontas and john smith is very... questionable (especially the part where pocahontas magically learns to speak english?) but the fact that john smith sails away at the end makes me feel a little better. 

so now let’s get a few things straight: 1) the animation is BEAUTIFUL 2) there are many standout songs on the soundtrack, including colors of the wind, just around the riverbend, and most importantly, SAVAGES PART 2 3) meeko is genuinely hilarious 

also quick fun fact: this movie came out shortly after the lion king. the walt disney company was expecting pocahontas to be their big movie and devoted most of their resources to this movie instead of the lion king. well let’s just say the lion king outperformed pocahontas at the box office

6) hercules (1997)

this is the first movie i saw in theaters! so here’s what i like about this movie:

a great story! a god living on earth, not knowing he’s a god, presumed dead by his god parents? the drama of it all!

AMAZING soundtrack. the muses add an element to the soundtrack disney hasn’t done before. some of the best music of any disney movie. my favorite is i won’t say i’m in love. 

lots of color in the animation! i love a good colorful movie. 

hades is one of disney’s best villains. disney managed to make him likable but not sympathetic. this is a different approach than many of the other disney movies at this time

5) hunchback of notre dame (1996)

i am OBSESSED with this movie and let me tell you why:

first and foremost, it is so dang dark! the movie starts out with judge claude frollo trying to drown a baby in front of a church. so there’s that. frollo ends up “raising” quasimodo and just emotionally abusing him. quasimodo is like: i’m ugly :( and then frollo burns down paris because he wants to fuck esmeralda. many believe this movie wouldn’t have been made today because it’s so dark. however disney was so successful at this point they were just like *shrug emoji* let’s release a movie about catholic guilt. 

the soundtrack is amazing. it’s so dramatic! hellfire is one of the standout songs just because it is so messed up. this entire movie is so messed up. i love it

4) the little mermaid (1989)

there she is! the movie that started this all! disney was producing straight trash until our man men ron clements and john musker came to save the day and directed this fine film. 

like i said, this is the movie that kicked off the renaissance era. it revived the idea of a disney princess. it revived the idea of an animated movie with a strong soundtrack. it revived the idea of putting effort into producing quality animated films! the importance of this film cannot be stated enough. along with colorful animation it has a great soundtrack. under the sea is one of my favorite songs ever. 

3) mulan (1998)

one of my all time favorite movies. perfection. mulan is such a strong character. probably my favorite main character from any disney movie. her story has such a strong feminist message. 

the animation? beautiful! the villain: legitimately so scary. the animal sidekicks?: i would die for them. 

the songs in the movie are so so beautiful. reflection and i’ll make a man out of you are two of the most iconic disney songs. lea salonga and donny osmond knocked this out of the park. my only gripe is there should be more songs. 

anyway “the greatest gift and honor is having you as a daughter” 

2) beauty and the beast (1991)

honesty hour i like mulan better BUT this movie is just so so important to disney history. this was disney’s time to prove itself. the little mermaid was excellent but could they do it again? turns out they could!

this soundtrack is so special to me. it was the last thing howard ashman composed before dying of complications from aids. he never got to see the final product. every song is perfect. 

the animation is beautiful. the character design!!! the animators did an excellent job with lumiere, cogsworth, and mrs potts. the managed to make gaston so hot. 

now for some fun facts: disney had been thinking about making this movie since the 1930s. they sat on this one for a long time. i’m glad they made it at the time they did, when they had the budget and talent to make it truly special. 

an unfinished version of this movie was shown at the new york film festival. even though the animation wasn’t complete, it got a standing ovation. that’s how great this movie is. 

1) the lion king (1994)

not just my favorite disney movie, but my favorite movie of all time. i love this movie so so much. i watch it like once a month lol

what makes this movie so compelling is the story. simba lived for so long thinking he was responsible for mufasa’s death!!! the amount of tragedy and drama is unparalleled. my favorite scene is when rafiki find simba as an adult and is like “he lives in you” omg the drama

however this movie manages to be humorous as well, thanks to timone and pumba. they aren’t introduced until like 30 minutes into the movie but manage to make the biggest impression. i would die for them

the soundtrack is by far disney’s best. my mans elton john knocked it out of the park. every song is a bop. the instrumental music playing in the background is insane. it’s so dramatic/perfect 

lastly, THE ANIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s unparalleled. it’s so colorful. the animals are drawn beautifully. the backgrounds are jaw dropping. i cannot get over it

***rescuers down under was not included on this list for reasons that should be obvious

[sablesides-writing-corner]

Psst.. The Little Mermaid And Romas?

Roman was a singer, he knew that much, but at heart he was an anthropologist, and that took precedence over concerts any day. This particular evening Roman had decided was as good a time as any to explore the abandoned ship wreck east of the kingdom with his brother.

"There might be sharks! Or a giant squid!" Remus said.

"You're a giant squid," Roman said, nudging him to the side.

"I now! That's why I hope we meet one!" Remus said, spinning ina circle and spreading out his tentacles. Roman rolled his eyes and flicked his tail.

"Come on, we've got a ship to explore," Roman said, shooting through a hole that used to be a window. Remus followed, only for his lower half to get stuck. Roman yanked him the rest of the way through and went on his way exploring.

They had amassed a large summary of items before the rude intrusion of a very large and hungry shark, retreating to the surface in their escape.

"That was close," said Roman.

Remus shook his hair out "Yeah! And it was awesome!" he responded enthusiastically.

"We should check with Patton to see what these are," said Roman.

Patton, a stout man with the wings of a bird, was Roman's only ticket to information about the surface. Thought he wasnt exactly very good at it.

"And this one looks like a dinglehopper!" holding up what, to anyone who knew even the most basic details of human culture, was clearly a fork.

"What's it for?" Roman said, leaning his head on his arms.

"The humans use it to brush their hair!" Patton said, demonstrating on his own.

"Woah," Roman said, Remus merely laughed.

"Well we've gotta get going before dad notices we're missing," Roman said.

"Well come back soon!" Patton said, watching the duo disappear beneath the waves.

"The surface! Of all the places to skip out on a concert for! The surface!" King Romulus was fuming, so much in fact that there were bubbles forming near his head.

"It was only to see Patton! We didnt go near any ships!" Roman tried to explain, but the situation only seemed to worsen.

"That's it, I've had enough of you two and this surface-world nonsense. Virgil! Watch them." a short purple-haired merman swam out from behind the throne.

"Of course, sire-" he said, swimming between the twins. The trio left the throne room, Remus annoyed, and Roman angry and dismayed.

They were distracted momentarily by the appearance of brightly colored flashes of light above the water. Before Remus and Virgil could stop him, Roman was charging towards the source of the light. A large, elaborately designed boat.

"Roman you get back here! Dont even think about going near that boat!" Virgil called. But Roman was already climbing up to an opening at the side of the ship.

The ship was completely full of humans, dancing, singing, and causing general amounts of party related ruckus. But what really caught the young merman's eye was a the man at the center of it all, tall, muscular, with brown hair and eyes. What looked to be a labrador was dancing at his heels, until it noticed Roman's face peaking through the ship. Before he could duck, his face was covered in dog slobber.

"Hey! Hey! Easy girl- easy," the man brought away the dog, and seemed to stall a bit as he examined Roman's face. He was about to open his mouth to speak when a voice called for a man named Thomas, at which he promptly retreated. Roman took the opportunity to retreat back into the water.

"Roman that was stupid! You couldve been killed!" said Virgil.

"Oh but you shouldve seen him! He was so tall and handsome and he looked like he could hoist me into the air with one arm!" Roman said, holding his hands to his heart.

"Oh dont tell us you fell in love with a human!" Remus said, grinning cheekily.

Roman was about to defend himself, when lightning stuck behind them. He whipped around only to see the ship which held his beloved going down in flames. He raced under the water and thrashed around looking for him. He finally located his knight in shining armor and dashed to his side, heaving with all the strength he could muster to get to the surface. He stayed by Thomas'side until he noticed the prince's eyes begin to flutter. The song he'd been singing faltered, and he darted back into the water before he could be noticed. He watched as a taller man with a scar across his face approached his prince, draping a cloak over his shoulders and guiding him to a castle. Roman retreated back into the water, where Remus and Virgil awaited him.

"Of all the ignorant stupid boar-headed things you couldvw done! Why in all of Atlantis would you go after him!" Virgil said.

"Hes in love Virgil let him make stupid decisions if he wants," Remus said, cackling. Roman merely glared at him.

He and Remus finally lost the distressed merman in Roman's favorite hideout, the grotto. Within it was a statue of Roman's prince, a prize won after the storm.

"Sooooo- tell me about him- does he look like he'd taste good cooked over a volcano?" Remus laughed.

"Oh be quiet!" Roman snapped. He went on about the love of his life for several hours before the atmosphere seemed to change.

"A human?" Roman's spine seemed to go rigid.

"H-Hello- father-" he said. Remus' eyes widened. Roman hid behind the statue.

"My own son, in love with a human?" King Romulus' voice seemed to echo, causing different trinkets to fall to the bottom of the cove. There was a flash of light, and Roman's treasures were destroyed. All that was left of the rampage was the face of the statue. Roman stared at his father, shock, fear, and sadness evident on his face. Before his own brother could call out for him he'd left the cove, much to far away to hear their pleas.

He'd been crying against the rocks for who knew how long, when he heard voices.

"Poor thing,"

"Broken heart, he must feel horrible,"

Roman looked up, two mereels were circling above him.

"What do you want?" he said, wiping his face off.

"Oh you poor child, we only want to help you!" said the first.

"And we know just what you need, and just who can do it," said the second. The two held their hands out, Roman hesitated, before reaching his own out.

He was taken to what seemed like the rotting carcass of a whale.

"In here, in here, she wont bite," said the eels.

"Who've you brought me now?" said a gentle voice. Roman swam further into the home, to be met with a woman in front of a mirror, blue and purple hair framing her face.

"A prince!"

"Prince Roman!"

The eels chattered on, the woman turned around. She was small, she looked kind.

"Hestia, a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Now it's my understanding that you're in love with a human yes?" Hestia smiled, the once white lines across her body shifting to an odd shade of pinkish-red.

"Yes but- I havent got any way to pay-" Hestia held a finger to his lips to shut him up.

"Oh the payment wont be much, a token really! All I want from you is. . . your voice," she said, smiling.

"My voice?" Roman replied.

"Only for a little, my brother Remy hasnt one of his own, you'll only have to go three days without it, that is if you get a kiss from your prince before sunset on the third," the lines shifted to a gold color. Roman was barely focussing on that, to busy thinking of the kiss.

"Alright- my voice- I'll do it," Roman said.

Hestia grinned, "Good, Remy! come here darling!" she called. A younger merman with sunglasses and brown hair swam out of the back, twisting a necklace in his hands.

"Now, as for you, sing," Hestia said, pointing at Roman. He did as told, felt something rise in his throat, and then he couldnt breath. He couldn't see or hear, he felt like he was dying. He heard laughter, female laughter. Someone dragged him to the surface, and he let out a sharp inhale.

"Roman! Roman! Stay with me!" Remus said, shaking Roman's head from side to side.

Roman coughed and tried to respond, but nothing came out.

"You signed away your voice you idiot!" Virgil said, as though this wasn't immediately obvious to everyone on the beach. Remus was about to interject when they heard a voice, Thomas' voice. Virgil quickly spun a piece of cloth around Roman's body, and he and Remus fled into the ocean.

"I mean he acts like I'm a child! It's not my fault the ship-" Thomas paused upon noticing Roman, who smiled at him delightedly.

"Well hello there, and who might you be?" Thomas said, helping Roman out of the water. He stumbled a bit and fell forward into Thomas' arms.

He tried to respond, but to no avail, Thomas seemed concerned by this.

"Are you alright? Can you not speak?" Thomas said. Roman nodded, the smile he got in return was enough to make his heart melt.

"Well, let's get you warmed up then, off to the castle we go," Thomas said.

It was a cozy affair his first night at the castle, warm by the fire with Thomas telling him stories. He seemed entranced by how the firelight danced in Roman's eyes.

The next day Thomas took him out into the town, he wished he couldve laughed at all of Thomas' jokes. Late that night they sat in a boat,music playing from all sides, familiar faces popping up every now and again

Roman had barely noticed Thomas' face close to his own until they were thrown out of the boat by a mysterious force.

The third day was by far the worst. Roman had awoken to find Thomas gone, to marry a man he said had saved him from death.Roman had watched as the ship sailed off, until three voices piped up.

"Roman! Roman it's the sea witch's brother! Hes stealing your man!" Remus said. Virgil and Patton nodded along side him. It took a fair bit of planning time before they could reach the boat, but by the time the trick had been realized, Roman felt something in himself change. He felt, again, like he was dying.

"Poor princey, no kisses for you hm?" Hestia's voice came from the water, she rose out of it, a familiar weapon in her hands.

"You like it? It's a birthday present from your father," she said, laughing so loud the ship trembled.

"What do you want from him!" Thomas yelled, dragging Roman closer to himself.

"Dont you talk to me like that! I'm going to rule all seven seas! And the likes of you wont stop me!" Hestia growled, bringing the trident down between the ship, causing it to begin to sink. Lifeboats crashed into the water, Roman fled under as well, attempting to reach the sea witch. He thought he'd snuck past her when he was pinned to the sea floor by the trident, a whirlpool beginning to form.

"Now you get to see what it felt like to be me! Disgraced, a shame to my family! Left for dead in the relentless waves of the ocean!" Hestia snarled. Roman felt static on all sides, and then nothing at all. A large object had fallen in front of him, Hestia, dead. Her brother backing away from the body, holding up what looked to be a broken down shipwreck. Roman popped his head above the water, Thomas was smiling at him.

It took nearly half a day to explain what had happened to King Romulus, and longer still to get him to calm down about Roman and Thomas' idea for marriage. But eventually, he conceded, and Roman was allowed to happily marry his prince charming, and live peacefully with him in their castle by the ocean.

[zedpercyfan]

The Sirens of Cerulean | Part One

A City in the Fog

A thick fog was out one cold late afternoon along the Cerulean coast; it hung and swirled.  One of Cerulean City’s oldest structures, an ancient white lighthouse, stood atop a cliff, standing as a guardian to guide ships away from the perils of the rocks below.

Tracey Sketchit was the lighthouse’s current keeper, the original one having retired some years back, leaving the position open. Tracey had been without much of a consistent job and took it since the pay was so good, plus it came with housing attached.  There was also plenty of Pokémon that passed, and the occasional wandering Trainer that could keep him company or let him draw them and their Pokémon, a favorite pastime of his.

The black-haired man sighed, it was afternoon and he was bored as he finished sipping his tea.  He grabbed his sketchbook, wandered upstairs and went outside to the balcony – the wind rustled his clothes and hair as he stood.  “Right, anything that wants to be drawn…?” he thought aloud.  Some migrating Wingull roosted nearby amongst the usual coast residents of Pidgeys, its evolutions, and the local Corsolas, Poliwags, and others that lived there. Tracey smiled, and began to scribble away as his Marill joined alongside him.

He continued his penmanship until a low, soft, feminine voice was heard, a kind of singing.  Tracey’s hand stopped, and rested the thick book against the wet, rusted railing.  He scratched his chin thoughtfully whilst Marill blinked in wonderment, her mouth agape. He pointed a finger toward the ocean. “Y’know,” said Tracey.  “I really do think that they’re out there.”  Marill looked over, eyebrow raised.  “Well, you know what I mean.”  He leaned in and whispered.  “Come on…I know that you can feel their presence as well…”

He did not get an answer, as Marill was looking out towards the fog covered ocean where the voice could be heard.  Tracey looked down, only to see that down below, the Pokémon looked the exact same way.  The man blinked but said nothing.  He just followed their gaze and remained silent as they all peered into the wispy soup.

OoOoO

Later that afternoon, a young man of about his mid-twenties came slowly trudging along the dirt path from the nearby forest. With a Pikachu resting on his shoulder, the man walked with a carefree nature, his black shirt and pants were simple, but what was most strange of all was that he had a dark blue coat – almost like a cape – on him for warmth.

He seemed to wander aimlessly till he heard a sultry sound, it carried along the breeze.  It was delicate yet packed a pleasant spine chilling evocation with it. “Wow, that’s some voice,” he said, mildly awed.  He looked to his Pikachu.  “What do you say, buddy?  Shall we follow this strange but alluring voice?”

“Pi Pikachu!” squeaked the mouse in agreement. Ash hummed in agreement.

He followed against the sea breeze till he reached the water – his feet stopping as soon as he felt rock beneath him.  He looked out across the rocks where the sea met land.  “So this is Cerulean City?” he said.  “Well, the air is salty enough for it.”  He shivered in the breeze and began to notice that the light was fading.  “Almost nightfall…can’t stay out here. Brr…”  Pikachu whimpered and buried himself in his Master’s cloak.  He looked around and saw the giant lighthouse to his left, behind it stood the city itself.  Slowly and carefully, he began to trudge toward it.

A short walk later he reached the city and found his way to an inn.  A rather shabby looking place built out of grey stone.  The raven haired man wandered in and tapped the bell for service. “Coming!” a voice yelled.  A girl who looked barely past nineteen came sprinting from a room behind the counter before she nearly impaled herself on the wooden desk; her hands saved her as they reached out to stop her from the accident. She had dark blue hair which flowed all over her face from the inertia.

“Careful,” chuckled the traveler.  “It’s not a race.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” said the girl as she pushed her hair back into place behind her ears.  “Right…welcome to the Cerulean Playhouse Inn, I’m your host, Dawn Berlitz!  How may I help you today?”

“Cerulean…P-playhouse…Inn…?  Eh?”

“Pi pika…”

“Cerulean Playhouse Inn,” repeated Dawn.  “This was once the site of an old theater, some of the old framework was used to create this place a hundred years ago.  As a gesture of hospitality, I love to entertain the guests daily with a Pokémon performance.  You know, like a Pokémon Contest.”

“Ah, I see, sounds great,” the man said.

“Good to hear!” chirped Dawn with a sway of her head. “Anyways, what’s your need here?”

“I’d like a room, stay time indeterminate,” he said. “I’m Ash by the way, Ash Ketchum.”

“Ash Ketchum,” repeated Dawn as she scribbled his name down.  “Um, why ‘indeterminate’?”  Ash flinched.

“Just trust me.  I’m a little in the dark on the matter myself.”

“I think I get it…” said Dawn with a nervous chuckle.  They continued the paperwork and Dawn soon finished up.  “Right,” she said, holding a hand out to the doorway on her left, “if you’ll just follow me sir, we’ll be at your room.”

Ash followed her, but just as Dawn began to go up the stairs, a man with blond hair suddenly stomped into view on the upstairs landing and looked down at Ash grimly.  “Hey, what’s the big idea?!” he shouted.  Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

“Barry, he’s a customer, he’s not here to steal your glory as a Pokémon trainer or…”

“Oh yeah!?  Well, if he is after my glory then I’m tripling his fine!”

Ash blinked.  “Triple my fine?  I’m broke enough as it is…”

“Oh no, Mr. Black Hair show off!  You’re not stealing any of my glory.  Me and Empoleon shall crush you, and—”

“Barry!” shouted Dawn.  “As if anything like that has to do with anything!”

“Oh yes it does!” replied Barry with an accusatory finger.  He slammed the railing with both of his hands, fumes practically roaring from his nostrils.  “You listen here, tough guy!  This establishment has tons of trainers staying here overnight every day! They’re in, they’re out.  Take the hint!  We don’t have the room to house some dude who says he doesn’t know how long he’ll be here!  Honestly…!” And he stormed off.

Dawn gritted her teeth.  “Ignore him,” she said as looked back at him.  Ash could only grimace at her unsubtle twitching eyebrow. He could only imagine that what that ‘Barry’ had said wasn’t close to the tip of Dawn’s iceberg.

“R-right…”

Dawn said no more on the matter and lead – with noticeable irritation – Ash into his assigned room.  She was about to leave when…

“Excuse, Dawn?” began Ash.  “But may I ask a question of you?”

“Sure thing – what do you need to know?”

“Well, to start.  How long have you been here?”

“For over half of my life,” replied Dawn.  “My Mother and I moved here from the Sinnoh region to have a fresher start.”

“I see.  Then tell me – what do you know of the Cerulean Sirens?”

Dawn’s originally polite countenance fell to an uncertain one.  “The Sirens…?” she muttered.  “Not sure in all honesty.  But every time a major fog comes rolling in we hear these strange sounds coming from the ocean.  There have been rumors, you see, about how the Sirens use the fog to sneak about and intermingle with us humans once we’ve gone and lost ourselves in the soup.”

“Yeah, it would seem right for them given their descriptions,” said Ash.  “But, tell me, do you believe they exist?”

The bluenette tapped her chin in thought.  “I guess.  Though I’d much rather meet one than go on believing simple fishermen’s tales.”

Ash nodded.  “Just curious,” he added, by way of deflecting any questions about why he had asked.  “Good night.”

“Good night,” said Dawn with a bow.  She turned back and closed his door.  Once Ash was sure she was out of earshot, he walked to the window and opened it.  For the second time that evening, a strange melody filled the air – soft yet powerful, calming yet unnerving.

OoOoO

It won’t lift for anytime soon it seems, thought Tracey as he stared in boredom out of the observation window the tune the only thing keeping him amused – he then blew the foghorn once again before stepping out to the balcony.  When he did he heard strange splashing sounds from below. He scanned the area but saw nothing. Must be a Pokémon…

It was only the fog that covered the mysterious singer…

Beneath the fog and cold waves a few figures swam up to the surface and looked around.  Soon enough they heard the same low song that Ash and Tracey were listening to, they nodded to each other before diving back under the water.

Deep in the water some few miles away from Cerulean they approached a strange civilization made of stone bricks.  The two figures swam towards the largest building, protected by two other figures holding tridents, one of whom gave the scouts a stern look before nodding.  Inside, the scouts approached a brown-haired figure whose tail flicked back and forth, arms crossed in front of his chest in impatience.

“We overheard the enemy singing out again,” said one, “and as usual, it was directed toward the ape primitives.”

The brown hair figure’s frown deepened. “Ever the persistent ones, those harpies,” he sneered.  “I swear, when we’re done we won’t ever have to hear our vocals ever directed at those despicable apes ever again!”

OoOoO

“ ‘Well why shouldn’t we?!’ is what we’re obviously yelling to them,” huffed a pink-haired figure.  She was talking to another one with blue hair, who was sitting next to one with orange hair.  “They deserve it, the bratty troublemakers.”

“It’s all changed since our old ruler passed away,” the orange head said with a sigh.  “Speaking on the topic of ‘why shouldn’t we’ – where’s Daisy?”

“You called?” said the woman in question.  A beautiful blond woman swam elegantly in, her appearance above all else being even more beautiful than her three sisters’. But to call them just humans would be inaccurate – they were Sirens, or to put more simply with terms associated with fantasy, mermaids.

“Yes actually,” put in Lily, the pink-haired one. “We were actually wondering where in you’d gone.”

Daisy swam up the table they were sitting around and grabbed a piece of coral and took a bite out of it.  “Just out singing,” she said nonchalantly.

“Singing where?” asked Violet, the blue-haired one.

“Y’know, out on the ocean,” replied Daisy as she avoided eye contact.  She began chewing more on her food, this time far more aggressively.

“You were out singing for that lighthouse guy, weren’t you?” said Lily finally.  Daisy choked on a piece of the coral fruit.  “Knew it!” she sang victoriously, pumping a fist into the water.

“That’s dangerous, you know,” said Misty, the orange-haired, and youngest of the four sisters.  “You’re lucky the fogs about.  Why do you risk yourself so much just to sing for a guy?”

Daisy recovered from her cough.  “You wouldn’t understand, Misty,” she said.

“I think I understand that we’re in enough hot water as it is with the rest of our kind!”

“But,” said Violet pointedly, “you did join us willingly in our stand against Rudy when he became ruler.”

“Y-yes, I did,” said Misty.  She looked to Daisy.  “I’m just worried about your safety.  Not because of the humans but just in case any of Rudy’s thugs goes and finds you.”

“Ha ha!  Misty, you worry too much,” said Daisy.  “Those silly Sirens wouldn’t go near the human’s settlement unless they were ordered to, and we’re settled too close to them to make threatening us an impossible reality.”

“The pure amount of phobia they have is as sensible as staring into the sun,” Misty muttered.  She then yawned.  “Well, I’m tired, so I’ll be going to sleep.  Come along, Goldeen.  Night all.” Her Pokémon partner opened her eyes and quickly swam after her short-haired mistress.  Daisy watched her disappear into the cave.

“I think,” she said to no one in particularly, “that that girl could do with something new in her life.”

OoOoO

“It’s quite easy, Dawn,” grumbled Barry as they walked through the hallways.  “Just go up to him, say ‘Thank you for your partro-patro…PATRONAGE, at Cerulean Playhouse Inn, but we only do one-night stays, so please have yourself a good stay in this city, and get out!’  It’s easy!”

“Oh cool off,” sneered Dawn.  “What’s the harm in him staying for more than one night?”

“It’s the principle,” said Barry pompously. “We serve travelers, not tourists.”

“Ash is hardly a tourist,” said Dawn evenly.

“Oh, taking his side now are we?”

“Not even close.  I just don’t think that there is any harm in letting him stay. Besides, it’s hardly written down that we only serve for one night here.”

Barry didn’t immediately reply, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned towards another corridor.  He huffed heavily.  “You’re the one defending him.”

“Only because he’s a nice man, unlike you!  Your antagonism to him last night was hardly warranted.”

“Oh just do what you want,” sighed Barry, walking away.

“Honestly,” said Dawn aside before looking in Barry’s direction.  “I swear, I could make a living out of dealing with stubborn men like you!”

Just up above, Ash had finished getting ready for his day, in his hand was a strange book, the condition of its binding suggested it was of elderly age.  With the book safely in his arms, and Pikachu on the opposite shoulder, he arrived at the top of the second floor landing in time to hear the last part of Dawn and Barry’s spat.

“Ugh!” shouted Dawn in frustration.  “Stubborn brat, he should be thankful I even give him as many chances to keep working here as I do!”

“Hah!” said Ash suddenly.  Dawn blinked in surprise and whirled round to see Ash beginning to go down the stairs.  “Tell us how you really feel.”

Dawn sighed.  “He’s only in it for the money, and his work effort is subpar, but he’s a decent hustle in the case of ruffians showing up.”  She paused and noticed the strange book.  “Oh, what’s that about?”

“This?  Ah, just some research I plan on looking into.”

“Is it to do with Sirens?”

“Um – er – well…” Ash slowly crept up to Dawn and leaned in.  “Well, yes, it does actually.”

“Wow!  Really?! Or are you just pulling an elaborate prank because you think of me as someone who’d believe anything?!”

“What?  No, no, no, not at all!” cried Ash in alarm as he stepped back.

Dawn quickly calmed down.  Ash could only marvel at the wonder of a woman’s mood swings. “All right then – prove you’re actually on to something.”

Ash sighed and beckoned her closer.  He then held out a hand and it began to glow in a blue color in a shape that Dawn could only describe as a ball, then, he made it disappear.  Before she could speak, he spoke up.  “I’m an Aura user,” he said in a hushed tone.  “The society I belong to recently has felt some strange spikes and stagnations coming from this area.  However, we really don’t know what’s causing them since those signals are coming from way out on the ocean.  What we suspect is that the rumors going around about the actual existence of the Sirens might just be true.”

“So…they might actually exist?”

“Might is an accurate word for this situation,” he replied.  “The legends spoke of them being able to harness a great power and channel it through various methods with their advanced technology that’s incomparable to our very own.  But…” he added with uncertainty, “again, we just don’t have any confirmation.”

Dawn mulled the situation over, all of the info she got was quite shocking to her and she was struggling to comprehend it all, but he said it all with such conviction that she fully believed it. “So, what you’re saying is, is that there appears to be trouble, but it’s only a theory?”

“Yeah, it’s only an idea.  I have no idea until I finally know what’s happening.”

“Wait though!” said Dawn as realization came to her. “If we’re in danger, shouldn’t the citizens know about it…?”

“Shh!  Shh!” said Ash sharply.  He brought a finger to Dawn’s lips.  “As I said, it’s just an idea.  No one else can know why I’m here, at least not until I know exactly what’s going on here. Dawn,” he added quietly.  “Can I trust you to not say a word about this anyone else?  Extra people knowing what’s happening might cause more trouble than necessary.” Dawn’s eyes widened, Ash didn’t seem to be playing light anymore, his look was extremely serious – whatever it was that he was looking into, it wasn’t a dead end.  She nodded affirmatively.  “Good.” Ash smiled, and then quickly took his leave into the misty city.

OoOoO

“…Wake up!  Wake up!” came a prattling voice on the other end of her seaweed curtain. Misty groaned and got up from the shell that was her bed.

“What do you need, Daisy?” she asked sleepily.

“It’s already eight o’clock actually!” said Daisy cheerily.  “So, like, it’s you who should’ve been up a while ago missy.  Anyways…!”  Daisy then invited herself into her sister’s room.  “I was, like, thinking that you could do with a routine change, so come with me!”

“Go with you where…?”

“Oh, just around the reef.  It’s been too long since we’ve spent time together – you really got to wonder where time flies.”

“That time took flight as a result of you disappearing of somewhere quite regularly recently…” said Misty sarcastically.

“Oh lighten up,” sang Daisy, and swam off with Misty reluctantly following.

Along the waves, Daisy saw a male Siren swimming a few yards away from where she and Misty were travelling.  The male frowned when he saw the two approaching.  “And just where are you two ladies off to at this hour?” he asked cautiously.

“Morning to you too, Sean,” replied Daisy crisply.

“You’ve got some nerve being snippy,” grumbled Sean. “You’re the ones who went and defected – your pitiful resistance group lives pathetically.  Honestly, your opinions are all insane.”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinions at all,” answered Daisy.  “I’ll ask when I want an idiot’s position.”  And she quickly swam off.

“Nicely handled,” praised Misty when they were out of earshot.

“You get used to it when you’re on the defending side,” said Daisy with a smile.  “Anyways, this is your surprise.”  She pointed towards the surface of the ocean, though the light looked more fractured than usual.

“Huh, a storm might be passing by,” observed Misty.

“Yeah, I felt it in the waves,” added Daisy. “But all the same, you’ll really like what I’m about to show you.”  Before Misty could voice an opinion, Daisy grabbed her by the wrist and pull her up to the surface, the area they were was covered with rocks, one of which the blond rested herself against.

“Ugh!  The surface?” coughed Misty.  “What is it from here that you’d want me to see?”

“Take a look.”  The orange head opened her eyes and gazed upwards to what Daisy had been pointing to and gasped.  It was the lighthouse, standing tall and somewhat menacingly over the washed clifftops and swirling fog.

“The lighthouse?!” she spluttered.  “Wait a minute, what are you showing me a human structure for?”

“One – I think it’s beautiful, two – you’ve never seen it yourself before, and three – take a look up there…” said Daisy, whose tone went surprisingly soft on her third statement.

“What am I looking for?”

Her older sister pointed a finger at the male figure with black hair atop the balcony.  “Him,” she said dreamily.  “Oh…what a looker that one is.  His name is Tracey.  I’ve been observing his movements for a while recently.”

“So this is where you’ve been off to all this time?”

“Yeah, it’s quite out of the way from Rudy and his goons, and no one else really passes through here except for Pokémon, so I can observe him in peace.”  Misty blinked, clearly not understanding.  “I think he’s sweet,” went on Daisy.  “You know what he does aside from keeping that light going?  He watches the Pokémon, closely at that, he even draws them in that weird book of his…”

“Draws?”

“Yes.  He talks often to that Marill of his, they seem awfully close.  He calls himself a Pokémon Watcher, which I think has to do with that drawing habit of his.  Whatever drawing means, it seems similar to our photos back home.  So I think it’s just an archaic version of that – even if it does seem like a lot of work for something we could do in seconds.  So primitive!  Although…I wish I could get the chance to see his work up close, just to know what it’s like.”

Misty gulped.  “You wouldn’t risk approaching him, would you?”

“What, are you suddenly as afraid of the humans as the rest of those ‘Magikarp’ we call our kind as well?”

“N-no…” said Misty quietly as she sunk under the water, her sister following.  “I’m just scared for your sakes.”

Daisy smiled gently at her little sister. “Don’t worry, Misty, I’ve been careful, and if my observations are anything to go by, he’s curious about us as well.  Well,” she added with a mischievous snicker, “mostly in me, that is.  I am the one who has been singing for him recently. Ooh!  I know, I could sing right now actually.”  Daisy immediately popped her head out the water.  Misty didn’t know why, but in reflex she dove further down into the water.

She watched as Daisy began to sing.  They were both so preoccupied that failed to notice that Misty’s Goldeen was beginning to panic.  The nearby weeds were swaying furiously, and the Pokémon began to scatter – the girls were oblivious to it.

OoOoO

Ash made his way through the fog, all the areas closest to the water in town was packed with people either at market or fishing. He wanted to begin his search by investigating places where he had heard the strange song being sung the night before. The book told him that often with Sirens the first sign of them being about would be fog.  Deducing from that, he decided to head back to the lighthouse where the fog had first begun to appear and where the voice originated.

He stepped cautiously through before stepping up to the door and rapped loudly.  “Ahoy!  Ahoy, Keeper! Anybody home?!” he yelled.

Tracey was just putting some finishing touches on a drawing of his when Ash’s loud knocks disturbed him, luckily, he didn’t ruin his own work.  “Who the devil could that be?” he said in surprise.

“Marill, mar?”

Tracey didn’t give in a second thought and hurried downstairs where he found Ash.  Tracey couldn’t help but of him as a strange man.

“Ah, hello Keeper,” said Ash as he let himself into the building.  “Hope you don’t mind; could do with getting out of the winds.”

“Mm, those winds are bit fierce,” said Tracey. “But anyways, who are you and what do you want?  Almost no one from Cerulean visits the lighthouse, except Mrs. Meyers to deliver me bread.”

“Well, I’m not from around here, I’m a traveler,” said Ash as he aired out his coat.  “I’m Ash, Ash Ketchum.”

“Sketchit, Tracey Sketchit.”

“A pleasure, Tracey, and sorry for the intrusion but I’ve come to ask something of you.”

Tracey raised an eyebrow.  “About what?”

“Heard any���strange songs lately?”

“Oh, well yes I have,” said Tracey, shocked yet pleased at having someone aside from his Pokémon to talk to about the strange occurrences.  “It happens almost every day actually.  Just…comes randomly, fog or not.  Whoever she is, she has a fantastic voice.”

“I can imagine,” said Ash grinning.  “I overheard the tune when I passed by last night. Tell me, do you think it’s a Siren?”

Tracey was astonished!  “Y-you believe they exist?”

“Well, do you?” asked Ash.  “You’re the one hearing these miraculous songs.”

“I know, and I do believe in them,” answered Tracey confidently.  “Well, see I want to.  Thing is though, I’ve never seen one.”

“Mmm,” muttered Ash in agreement.  Just then the two men both heard a familiar, and spine-chillingly, but calming, female voice – it was the mysterious singer.

“Speak of the Devil…” said Tracey.

“Yeah,” replied Ash.  “Think it’s a Siren?”

Tracey seemed unsure, he shook his head to get the doubt out before a more confident looked came to him.  “What else is there to explain why those songs keep coming from the ocean?” he said

His visitor only shrugged, before a sight from the window caught his eye.  “Well, who knows?  Perhaps it’s just our minds playing tricks on us.  But oh man, look at that.”

Coming in from the sea were huge rolling waves. “Uh oh,” said Tracey, though he sounded calmer than he should have.  “Better keep an eye out – there could be fishermen out on the bay, I only hope they aren’t getting caught in that, or our singer!”  Before Ash could speak, Tracey dashed back upstairs.  Ash grimaced as he heard the waves.

“Come on,” he said to Pikachu, and dashed out the door.  A freak wind passed through, blowing up sea water and tiny pebbles, the waves crashing fiercely against the rocks.  Ash heard a high-pitched scream suddenly and followed it.  “Don’t worry!  I’m coming!”

OoOoO

Misty was panicked as the icy water swirled around her – she couldn’t navigate through all the confusion.  Suddenly, she hit a rock face; she thought for a moment that it was a cliff and that she was safe.  She held Goldeen and breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly a large wave came and Misty shrieked as the force hit her and pushed her up the slick rock, she dragged over the jagged structure, her nerves firing off as the feeling of pain coursed through her.  She landed tail first into the hard rock surface on the other side.  “Ow!” she wailed loudly.

She took in her surroundings as soon as the chaos stopped – there was only enough water to submerge her bottom half, leaving her torso exposed to the earth.  “Oh no,” she gasped.  She had been forced into a tiny cove, the rock she fell in from being too big to climb. Her tail was bruised and she saw it was beginning to swell – she winced at the sight.  She was worried – she was stranded!

Her heart rate began to go up.  She was trapped, alone, in plain sight and with Daisy nowhere in sight.  “Oh Goldeen,” she whispered in fright.  “What if a human finds me…?”  She had heard rumors that humans destroyed what they knew nothing about.

Ash jogged as quickly and as safely as he could over the dangerous terrain, whoever was in trouble needed to get out of the storm and fast.  Wind and rain buffeted him.  He hurried around the stones before halting with a loud screech of his heels.

Splashing before him in a pool of water was a figure that looked like a girl in a swimsuit, her hair orange went only as far as her shoulders.  But most shocking for him of all was…

“A…tail?” he said aloud.  It was large, green, made of scales, and pretty.

Misty squirmed round and stared in fright, any cry for help was lost in her throat like a cornered Pokémon.

Ash found his voice.  “You…” he began.  “You’re a Siren, right?”

[harryandmolly]

Change of Pace - 12 (Summer 2019)

cowritten by @achinglyshawn

summary: Shawn and Maya meet again 10 years after life got in the way of love

warnings: language, NSFW

wc: 8k

---------

Maya is napping. She said it was her big afternoon plan when he texted her earlier, but told him to come over anyway when he finishes at the shop. So that’s what he does. He closes the shop a few hours after lunch, once he’s finished giving an old Gibson a good sanding. He’s still covered in sawdust when he pulls into her driveway, so he peels his clothes off and slips into the outdoor shower to wash off. 

For a moment, he considers letting himself in and going upstairs to slip into bed with her, but he’s not very sleepy and he wants her to rest. So instead, he pulls on his boxers and hauls Lulu out of his Jeep, then plops himself on the pillow-covered daybed on Maya’s deck. 

He settles back, pulling the guitar across his lap. He’s had a melody in his head for a few days now, something he came up with when Maya and he were making s’mores at the beach bonfire the other night. It’s a soft, mellow tune that reminds him of the way Maya drifts out to sea on her board as she waits for the perfect wave to come. 

The Beach Boys beat him to the title Surfer Girl, but that’s what he calls the song in his head, anyway. 

Maya’s face is smashed into her memoryfoam pillow. Her deeply tanned legs are tangled in her white top sheet, her duvet kicked off and forgotten toward the end of her continent-sized bed. The sun reaches her anyway through her slatted blinds. She’s gently soothed awake by the afternoon breeze rattling through the cracked window and the plucking of a guitar whose owner she bets she knows.

Maya turns her face and sighs. She could get used to this.

She cranks her sore, surf-battered body up to sitting and slowly out of bed. The first few weeks back on her board have been a lesson to her -- she may be in killer shape, but the ocean can still beat her ass whenever it wants. And she lets it because it is her mistress.

In boyshort panties and an oversized t-shirt that if she’s honest with herself was probably left behind by one of her few not-so-notable hookups in Manhattan of the last decade, she descends the stairs, admiring her new sparkly turquoise pedicure that makes her feel that much more like a mermaid.

He’s lying on her daybed looking like a daydream. He’s in partial shade and sun. Since he’s been spending so much time with her outside, he’s gently tanned and it makes his eyes look even more golden-chocolatey. She walks through the open screen door and sits beside him, perched on the edge.

“Whatcha playin’?”

His fingers only stutter once when Maya appears, setting herself beside him on the edge of the daybed. He perks up, lifting his head and smiling at her, before glancing down at his jumping fingers. 

He shrugs, gaze finding hers again, “Just a little ditty.” 

He winks, then looks back down at the guitar, flicking the strings with care. He hums a gentle harmony that he can hear in his head, something that mingles well with the guitar. He’s not sure how to tell Maya, It’s a song I wrote for you. The words are heavy on his tongue, as if they carry a serious weight that could push her away from him. 

He swallows them down and focuses on the music. 

Shawn’s curls ruffle in the breeze. She pushes them off his face and pokes the end of his nose gently. She turns her gaze down to his fingers and watches them because she’s never been able to pick up any guitar skills despite how often he’s tried to teach her. He impresses her. She thinks he doesn’t realize that sometimes.

Maya eases off the seat and lowers herself to sit on the deck beside him on the warm wooden floor. She folds her legs beneath her and tilts her head so it’s resting on his thigh below where he holds the guitar to his chest. She gazes up at him, admiring, enjoying.

She lifts a hand to skim her fingernails gently against the skin of his thigh, studying the way his muscle tenses beneath her touch. She turns her face in toward his leg and mouths at him, closing her eyes at the taste of his skin.

Shawn has no fucking clue what she’s doing, or how he manages to focus on his song while she sits on the deck and nuzzles his thigh with her lips and nose. He sucks in a soft breath, closes his eyes as she teases him. He gets himself together after a moment, giving her a crooked smile as he looks at her. 

“What’re you doing down there, Lemon?” 

He keeps playing, fingers slipping into the bridge of the song he made up just this morning, thought of it when he was in Maya’s shower and realized she’d cleared part of her shower-shelf for a bottle of his shampoo and his favorite shower gel. 

Shawn’s torn between watching her and staring out to the beach, a much less distracting view. He can’t look at her for too long, doesn’t trust himself not to drop Lulu on the ground in favor of hoisting her namesake into his lap instead. So he looks out to the beach and hums softly, fingers moving a little slower on the strings. 

Maya lifts her eyes to him and smiles innocently, grazing her teeth against his skin. She pulls her mouth away enough to speak, licking her lips.

“Just having a lil taste,” she murmurs, blinking her wide brown eyes.

She nudges her mouth higher up the outside of his thigh to get to paler, softer flesh. She purrs against his skin, reaching for his other leg, which is bent so his foot is planted on the daybed. Again she grazes her nails down the inside of his thigh, willing him to react to her. 

Maya starts to realize her gentle attentions are becoming not-so-gentle and she’s maybe sorta leaving a hickey on the outside of his thigh, which is certainly one of the weirder places she’s ever marked him. She doesn’t think he’ll mind.

“How was work?” she coos, pressing her nails in just enough for him to be certain that she’s fucking with him. The smirk on her lips also gives it away.

He swallows thickly, pressing his lips together as she licks and sucks at his thigh, her fingernails digging into the other. He finally looks away from the beach and is met with a smirk pulling at Maya’s pretty mouth. She knows exactly what she’s doing to him. 

His brows quirk and he shakes his head. “I don’t think you really care about that, do you?” 

Not that she doesn’t care about his work. Shawn knows she does. But he also knows what she’s like when she’s feeling needy, when she’s trying to play with him and pretend like she’s not. She’s driving him a little nuts, but he’s also willing to play along. He keeps strumming the guitar, humming softly as he looks back out to sea. 

Maya’s not one to give up, and he’s curious to see how far she’ll go sitting on the ground, teasing his thighs. He’s not complaining, and he also wouldn’t complain if she crawled onto the daybed and moved onto his neck and hair.

He settles further back into the pillows and feigns disinterest as his fingers trip across the taut strings of his favorite guitar.

Maya chuckles. She brushes her nose against the mark she’s now satisfied with. His skin is a warm pink color in the shape of a small oval. She licks it playfully and lifts her head. 

“Not at this particular moment,” she replies breezily, moving her wandering hand up the inside of the thigh she was just teasing. She traces her fingertips over the leg of his boxers and up further to graze his clothed cock.

She tips her head to the side innocently. “No, actually right now, the only thing I can think about is sucking your cock.”

She’s blunt and matter-of-fact with her delivery. The corners of her lips curl up just slightly. She raises her chin and waits for his reaction.

“Shit,” he hisses, his fingers dropping from the strings. He looks down at Maya, and the look on her face is all too innocent. He wets his lips slowly as he studies the little smile that starts to tug at her lips. 

Maya giggles. She loves surprising him, especially in a way that makes him go pink from ears to neck. He’s so adorable when he blushes.

“S’that what you really want, sugar?” he asks, his voice low and raspy now that’s he’s got the image of her pretty lips stretched around his cock on his mind. 

Maya nods slowly, fingers walking up to the waistband of his boxers to give them a playful snap. She drags them back down the hardening length of his dick with a contented sigh.

He lifts Lulu from his lap and settles the guitar next to him on the daybed. He looks down at her, reaching carefully to cup her face, pressing his thumb up under her chin to tilt her head back. He smiles a little, a playful smirk that pulls at the corner of his mouth. 

“I can’t say no to that offer, Lu.” 

She looks up at his beckoning. Her teeth nip at the inside of his palm. She soothes it with a warm press of her lips and nudges him with her nose.

“I know you love my mouth, baby,” she hums, standing to climb up on the daybed and perch over his legs. She leans in first with her lips, slotting them against his mouth with a gentle moan. She hasn’t kissed him in almost 24 hours. She’s not sure how she went 12 years without it before. 

He kisses her eagerly, lurching up to press his chest to hers, wrapping one arm around her waist. It feels like forever since they last kissed, but it was really only yesterday. Still. Too long. He spent years not kissing her, and now that he gets to do it again, he doesn’t want to stop. 

He wonders if she can taste the desperation on his tongue. 

Maya feels him surge up to kiss her and she swears she melts right into him. With a soft murmur into his mouth, she eases into his touch and feels so startlingly at home she wants to walk him upstairs and shut the door and never let him leave again. With a shiver down her spine, she wonders if maybe he wouldn’t want to.

Shawn pulls away first, but only to press his forehead to her temple. He mouths lazily at her jaw, kissing up to her ear. He gives her earlobe a soft nip, then murmurs, “Love you, Lu.” 

He doesn’t think twice about it. Usually he bites back the words, doesn’t want to smother her with them when he’s fairly sure she’s still trying to figure this whole thing out for herself. But right now, he can’t help it. He does love her. So fucking much it makes his heart ache. 

He just wants her to know. No matter where they go or what they do or who they meet, he’s gonna love her. Every goddamn day, he’ll love her. 

His words are otherworldly. He says them simply, as though he says them every day, as though they were never really apart. She supposes in a way they weren’t. She fought his memory, even got good at ignoring him altogether, but he was never really gone.

Maya inhales just as a breeze picks up long strands of hair to blow them around her face. The world is still, the moment is hers.

She chokes on it.

Maya doesn’t say it back, but he knew she wouldn’t. He doesn’t mind. He just wants her to know where he is, how he’s feeling. He doesn’t want to overwhelm her with it, but she deserves gentle reminders, every now and then. 

Shawn mercifully spares her a puppy dog look like he’s waiting for a returned sentiment she can’t give yet. He seems to be content just to say it to her. He doesn’t say it for himself, he says it for her. He never fails to astound her. 

She lowers her mouth to his neck and licks a hot stripe over his adam’s apple, starting to wriggle down his body for something to help her shut the fuck up. 

Her hot little tongue finds his throat, licking at him like he’s a sweet ice cream sundae. He grunts softly, falls back into the pillows again as she starts to move down his body. He spreads his thighs as he tucks a hand up into his hair, fingers tangling in his curls. 

He’s not eager to dwell on the moment. He gives himself up to her. She trails her lips up across his sharp jaw, nibbling at it as he speaks. 

“So, what if I was thinking about eating you out?” he asks, quirking a brow. He tilts his head, a facade of genuine curiosity spread across his face. “Are you the only one who’s gonna get what she wants? No fair, Lemon.” 

He pouts at her as he reaches out for her hip, hand slipping under her oversized t-shirt so his fingers can tease along the band of her panties. 

She snorts a giggle into his neck and sits back a little to look at him. “Oh no fair, huh?”

Maya reaches down between his spread thighs to cup his hardening cock. She gives it a squeeze and tilts her head at him again. 

“Poor you.”

She locks eyes with him and alternates pressure in her hand as she massages him through his briefs. Once again feeling starved of his lips, she lowers to kiss him and speaks into his mouth.

“Gonna have to wait your turn, sweetheart.”

Maya’s small hand on his cock is overwhelming, just like always. Her touch starts a fire that burns him from the inside out. He hisses, eyes falling shut and head falling back as he presses his hips up slightly, seeking more friction for his hardening length. 

“Why do we have to take turns at all?” he murmurs against her lips, hand falling from his hair to grip her neglected hip. His fingers slip beneath her panties so he can stroke her soft, bronzed skin. He tugs at the cotton that clings to her, trying to get the fabric down around her thighs. 

She hasn’t sat on his face in twelve years. He misses it, but he also knows Maya’s got determination like no one else. If she wants him to sit back and shut up while she sucks his cock, that’s what he’ll do. But Shawn knows how to tempt her. He drops one needy hand to the inside of her thigh, fingers stroking her gently as he smirks up at her. 

“Don’t you miss sitting on my face while you suck my cock, sugar?” 

Maya wonders why she even tries to pretend not to want to go along with it immediately. The very idea has heat spreading from her pussy all over her body and he has barely touched her. 

But the thing is, she had her plan first, the plan to lie between his knees and make his eyes roll back in his head while she tucked a hand between her thighs to flick at her clit because watching him come always has her gasping for more. So maybe she wants him to convince her. Even if she doesn’t really need convincing. 

Maya pretends to look pensive as she fingers the hem of her shirt. She rises onto her knees and slowly pulls it up and off, flinging it onto the deck behind her. He’s already got her panties pushed down part of the way. She wriggles them down her legs and kicks them off beside her shirt. 

She sighs, chest heaving overdramatically. She grips his cock harder before slipping it out of his briefs. 

He bites his lip as he watches her shed her clothing before him. His gaze drops from her breasts to her soft stomach, to the apex of her thighs where her neatly trimmed hair crowns her pink pussy. He growls, glancing back up at her. 

Maya doesn’t feel the urge to hide from him when he blatantly checks her out, probably because he can feel her getting wet sitting on his thighs so there’s really no point, but also because he’s Shawn and the way he looks at her makes her feel incredible. 

“I do miss it,” she admits, slowly stroking his fully hard length with an affectionate smile, “How bad do you want it, Shawn?” 

“Fuck, baby,” he murmurs, watching her hand glide along the length of his cock from under hooded lids. His tongue darts out, swiping along his lower lip as she smiles at him and acts like she doesn’t want his mouth on her. Shawn reaches for her, curving his hand gently around her neck. He pulls her in for a searing kiss, leaning forward to push his chest against hers. He growls into her mouth, biting at her lip. 

“So fucking bad, Lu. Fucking love it when you sit on me. Love it when you soak my face. Love how hard you come when you ride my tongue.” 

She asks him to beg, in not so many words, and he does it in style, dragging her in for a heated kiss that has her grinding down against his thigh. When he bites her lip, she feels the hair on the back of her sun-kissed neck stand up.

“Oh my god,” she groans, closing her eyes as her body reacts to his words. She knows it’s one of his favorite things, or it used to be. He loved feeling totally surrounded by her, focused only on her pleasure, feeling the hot weight of her against him. But still, his eagerness always gets to her.

“Ok,” she pants, nodding, letting a little desperation slip through, “Yeah, honey, ‘m gonna sit on your face. I’m gonna make you feel so fucking good.”

With his help, she turns around on the daybed and shifts until she’s positioned over him, her little fist around his cock as she guides it to her lips.

Maya goes easily after that. Sometimes all she needs is to hear how absolutely fucked for her he is. Shawn doesn’t mind indulging. 

She keeps her hand on his dick as he lies back while she straddles his face. His hands immediately find her ass, pulling her down until her slick cunt is pressed to his needy mouth. Her thighs hug his face and he can’t help but groan into her heat. 

“Jesus Christ,” he rasps, pressing a wet, messy kiss to her swollen folds. “Fuckin’ missed this so much, Lu.” 

His fingers curl into her ass, his blunt nails digging into her skin as he carefully runs the tip of his tongue along the length of her slit. He follows the same path with his lips, peppering soft, sweet kisses over her pussy without giving her much more. He avoids her clit for now and instead focuses on teasing her pretty lips with his teeth. 

He nibbles his way to the inside of her thigh, giving her a good nip there before soothing the reddening skin with his tongue. 

Shawn lowers her to his face with fervor, moaning at her taste and the feeling of her enclosing around his cheeks. The vibration makes her back arch. She feels her thighs quiver but firmly stays upright.

His attentions are delicate, practiced and strategic. He’s not trying to get her off hard and fast. He wants her mindless, wet and begging above him. It’s why he sucks her lips into his mouth and ignores her clit before passing over to her thigh to leave a mark where even she can’t see.

But Maya can tease too. She can go slow and soft and make him whine until he loses his voice. She’s good at that.

With his lips on the inside of her thigh, Maya leaves a trail of wet kisses down the front side of his cock, flicking out with her tongue while she traces the tip of her finger up the vein on the backside, swirling up over the slit on the head to tease it. She smiles at the way he twitches.

“If you want to take this slow, baby, I could do this all day,” she moans. 

His toes curl as she teases his cock, pressing sweet little kisses along his shaft. He hisses into her pussy, gripping her ass harder when the tip of her finger finds his slit. 

She can see the way she affects him and it only spurs her on. She knows he likes it too, even before he mumbles it into her thigh, this way of fucking her that’s so comfortable it only happens between two people who really know each other. Who really…

… Maya pushes the thought away and sucks the tip of his dick between her lips to lavish it. The noises her mouth makes are wet and obscene because she knows he gets off on them as much as the actual feeling of her mouth. She tongues at his slit and moans at the heady taste of his precome. 

Shawn growls, biting at her neglected thigh.

His voice is muffled when he speaks. “Love taking it slow with you, sugar.” 

His words don’t match his actions. His tongue slips between her folds, pushing into the tight clench of her heat as his palm comes down on her ass with a sharp spank. 

Just as quickly as he pressed into her, he pulls out. His tongue dances over her lips until he reaches the apex where her stiff little clit peeks out. He flicks the nub with little to no pressure— just gets her wet with kitten licks that make her hips wiggle atop him. 

Her eyes fly open when he presses his tongue inside her as deep as he can and spanks the right cheek of her ass. She gasps around the pink head of his cock and her whole body tenses.

“Holy fuck, yes, Shawn!” she cries, arching unconsciously and spreading her legs a little further to press harder into his face.

Her breath escapes in little whimpers, sending shivering vibrations up his length as he toys with her clit.

“Fuck, you feel so fucking good,” she pants, having slipped him out of her mouth to speak. She doubles down, fisting her hand around the base of his cock to reach what her mouth can’t as she starts to bob her head to fuck him in earnest.

Maya sucks him so deep into her hot mouth he almost chokes. The groan that rips from his throat would be embarrassing if he were with anyone else. His mouth falls to her inner thigh, teeth sinking into her skin as he flicks his hips, unable to control himself for a moment. 

When Shawn’s hips buck, his cock sinks deeper down her throat. Her gag reflex kicks in for a second before she relaxes and moans around him, stroking him a little faster. Her fist is wet with the efforts of her mouth. She can feel him getting closer. It’s intoxicating. 

Shawn’s hands fall from her ass to her thighs so he can pull her closer to his mouth. He takes a steadying breath before he licks his way back to her pussy, pressing his tongue flat against her clit. The tip of his tongue curls, flicking lightly over her stiff nub before circling it, giving her more pressure than he has yet. 

I love you I love you I fucking love you

The thought overwhelms him just as her lovely cunt overwhelms his senses. His fingers tighten around her thighs as he pushes his tongue harder against her twitching clit.

Her eyelids flutter when he buries his tongue back where she wants it. She purrs hard and wet against his cock, stilling down with her chin nearly brushing his lower abdomen. She leans more of her weight into his face and lets her hips start to rotate slowly, grinding against his perfect tongue as he works her up. 

“Baby,” she stutters, “Honey, I… baby, I need your fingers. Please.”

She pulls her mouth from his cock to beg, and it almost makes him come. Her needy, rasping voice drives him just as crazy as her lips tight around him do. She grinds against him and Shawn growls into her cunt, his cock throbbing in her hand. 

“Okay, Lu,” he pants, pulling back from her clit to press a kiss to her thigh, “Gonna take care of you, sweetie.” 

He really does take such good care of her.

She inhales sharply at his words, nibbling on her lower lip while she slides her tight fist up over the head of his cock to pulse it gently, then a little tighter and tighter again until he smacks her ass again. It’s playful and sweet, just enough to make it bounce and make Maya hiss a whining “baby” under her breath. 

He gives her ass another light spank, then drops his fingers to her pussy, sinking his middle finger into her tight channel and crooking it so his knuckle grazes her g-spot. He turns his head so he can get his mouth back on her clit, licking around his finger before nibbling on her little peak. 

His finger is thick and warm and satisfying enough to have her body shaking as she holds herself up over his cock. She lowers her wet lips to him again with panting breath and swallows him down, propping her weight into one hand to reach down and massage his balls in the other.

It seems she wants to make him come just as badly as he does her. He’s getting her so close, flirting with her g-spot and teething at her clit in that way that always has her hamstrings jumping in his hands. She moans loud, separating from Shawn’s thick cock again to croak, “So close, honey. Make me come, baby, wanna come all over you.”

Shawn digs his heels into the daybed as Maya’s small, hot hand finds his balls. She’ll have him barreling towards his orgasm before he’s fucking ready if she keeps up like this, her swollen mouth hot and wet around his cock. 

Apparently, he’s more distracting to her than she is to him because she pulls her mouth from his dick and moans loud enough for the neighbors to hear, whining and begging him to make her come. He growls against her pussy, more than willing to oblige. 

“Yeah, sugar, fuck. Gonna make you so come so fucking good, baby.” 

Shawn gets his lips back on her clit, sucking the nub into his mouth and nibbling at it. He tucks a second finger inside of her pussy and starts gliding his knuckles back and forth over her g-spot, his wrist giving quick little flicks so the stimulation is nearly constant. He slides his left hand from her thigh back to her ass, giving her another spank, then another, before gripping her cheek and digging his fingers into her skin. 

Shawn makes sure Maya gets what she wants. She gasps hard, fingers squeezing tight around his cock when he nips at her throbbing clit. He plunges her into pleasure, holding his fingers inside her dripping cunt to massage her g-spot while his lips stay busy. 

Maya hears herself panting and whimpering, muttering “please please please” under her breath even though he’s giving her everything she needs. Her orgasm sweeps her feet out from under her, has her shaking and shattered above him as she grinds hard down into his face and fingers. 

It’s short and hot and twists her up from the inside out. Once she’s untangled, she blinks lazily and loosens her grip on his cock, pressing little teasing kisses around the head like she’s just getting started, like he isn’t rock hard and throbbing for her. 

Her orgasm soaks him, covers his lips and cheeks and chin with her wetness and he couldn’t be more pleased. She writhes atop him, grinding down onto his mouth as she works herself through her climax. He gives her ass another smack, sucking and fucking her through it. 

She hums, swirling her tongue around the head of his dick, brushing her lips against it as she speaks. “Want to come, baby? Tell me you want me to make you come.”

He’s panting when he pulls away from her, fingers slipping from her pussy as she gets her mouth back on the head of his dick. She moves back after a moment, mouth brushing against him with each word that falls from her lips.

“Yeah-- yeah, fuck, Lu, wanna fucking come for you,” he growls, pushing himself up slightly onto his elbow, sliding his hand carefully over her red asscheek. “But I want you to sit on my cock. Wanna feel you around me.” 

Maya smiles. She’s not completely surprised by his words. Given the option, Shawn will pick coming inside her every time. She gets why -- it’s intimate and special and something she’s never shared with anyone other than him, come to think of it. She loves it too.

His hand that had previously been spanking her is now brushing her skin gently, soothingly, where she’s gone flushed and red. She slowly pushes up onto her hands and looks over her shoulder at him. He’s pink-cheeked and panting beneath her. And she doesn’t think of denying him for a second.

“Mmm, baby,” she purrs, easing down his chest and carefully turning so she’s straddling his hips and facing him. She thinks about riding him backwards, reverse cowgirl style, but she misses his face.

Maya doesn’t argue. She knows how much more he likes coming inside of her, rather than in her mouth, so she indulges him easily. Shawn thinks she likes it better, too. She flips around to straddle his thighs and he sucks in a breath. Her face is flushed, lips swollen, and she looks so fucking beautiful he’s not sure what to do with himself. 

“I love it when you come inside me,” she murmurs. He’s heard it from her before.

“I love coming inside of you,” he growls, pushing himself up even further, curling a hand around her hip as she hovers above him. 

She leans forward, strokes his pulsing length a few times before she settles atop him, starting to ease him into her tight channel with a shaky inhale.

Shawn pushes his hips up slightly, sliding his dick into the tight grip of her fist as she strokes him, getting him even more worked up. She’s so good at torturing him in the most delicious way. 

She doesn’t tease him for long, though, and presses his swollen, leaking head to her slick entrance. Her breath hitches and he feels his do the same, a low growl reverberating in his throat as he watches her pink pussy stretch around the thick heft of his cock. 

She loves the way he loses his mind a little when she lets him inside her. It’s one of her favorite things about being with him, watching his chin tilt back, feeling his fingers sink into her skin because he’s worried she’s not even really there and he has to prove it to himself. 

He feels so good. She leans forward more and it feels like sliding into that perfect place on top of him that has them both breathing a little harder. 

She’s not done with him, though. She doesn’t feel like making it easy. 

“Oh, fuck, Maya,” he moans, fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hip, needing to get his bearings for a moment as his needy cock twitches inside of her hot, velvet cunt. “Gonna ride me, sugar? Gonna bounce on my cock?”

Maya wets her lips and pretends to think. “Hmm… I dunno,” She rolls her hips in a slow, grinding circle, burying him as far as he’ll go, “Is that what you want, sweetheart? You want to watch my tits bounce as I fuck you?”

She swings down again, eyes fluttering as she stills deep against him, so full of him she almost can’t breathe. She speaks anyway.

“I’ll give you whatever you want, baby. You just have to know how to ask.” She flashes a sexy smile and grinds against him again, hard and wet.

Shawn fucking loves when Maya gets bossy. Loves when she teases him and doesn’t give him what he wants right away. She knows how to pull the best orgasms from him this way. 

He pushes himself up onto his elbow once again, sucking in a rasping breath as he watches her grind herself on his dick. His toes curl and his head falls to the side as he grunts. 

“Please—“ he knows what she wants to hear, “Please baby, wanna watch you. Wanna see you ride my cock, fuck. Always come so hard when I get to watch you fuck yourself. Please, shit.” 

Maya’s skin prickles with pleasure. She writhes against his cock to reward him for asking so nicely, just the way she wanted. She takes one long, slow, deep breath through a hint of a smile. Then she gets to work.

Maya nudges him back down off his elbow so he’s lying beneath her against the cushion. She pushes his heavy arms up over his head, pinning them beneath her wrists. She leans down until they’re chest to chest to kiss him gently. 

“You said the magic words,” she taunts, lifting back up, keeping his wrists under her meager control. She lifts her hips with a strangled gasp and presses back down hard, squeezing her muscles around him, wringing him out inside her.

“You feel so good, Shawn,” she croaks, shaking her head with an incredulous chuckle, “Every fucking time is better than before. You’re so fucking hard for me, you fill me so well, baby.”

She establishes a quick rhythm that has her body bouncing over his, has their bodies making obscene noises as they react to one another. Maya’s breath shakes slightly. She’s desperate to make him come. 

Her mouth is fucking filthy and Shawn loves it. He groans and lets his head fall back onto the pillows of the daybed when she pins his wrists down. He sinks his teeth into his lip as she finally starts bouncing on his cock. He can feel himself throbbing deep inside of her and he knows it won’t be long before he’s spilling himself in her pussy. 

Shawn digs his heels into the daybed and blinks his eyes open, gazing up at her as she works herself atop him. His hips twitch and he starts fucking up into her, meeting her thrust for thrust as he groans, loud and unabashed. 

“Shit-- shit, sugar, fuck--” he rasps, tongue darting out to wet his lips, “You-- you’re so fucking good, feel so fucking good on my cock. Love-- shit, love fucking you. Love when you fuck me like this.” 

His mouth is totally out of control. He could go dirtier with it, really, but he’s also losing his breath as he pants and gasps for air. He focuses on trying to steady his breathing, anything to stave off his orgasm, at least for a little longer. Maya feels too good to end it all now. 

Shawn stares up at her as he bears down and fucks up hard into her. She nearly loses her balance and clenches her fists harder around his wrists, whining his name under her breath desperately. 

He’s praising her almost incoherently, no filter, just saying exactly what he feels with her right now. It makes her shiver. She can see the way he tries to hold on for her. It makes her want to go forever, but her clit is sensitive from her own orgasm and continuing to fuck his brains out. 

Maya tightens her legs against his hips and drops her grip on his wrists. She instead fists her hands in his hair to focus him. 

“Gonna come in my pussy, Shawn? C’mon, baby, gonna give me what I want? So good for me. You’re so fucking good for me.”

Shawn whines, messy and pathetic, when her hands find his hair. He presses up into her palms as his own hands scramble to grip her thighs. His hips stutter as he fucks up into her tight heat and he nods frantically.

“Yeah— Yeah, Lu— I’m, fuck, I’m so fucking close,” he growls, lurching up as he wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her into him so he can kiss her. It’s wet and messy but he loves it. He loves her. 

His hip go faster, rabbiting up into her thighs as he holds himself up with one palm pressed into the daybed. He grunts into her mouth, sucking at her tongue while his cock throbs inside of her. 

“Shit— shit, baby, oh my fucking—“ he cuts himself off with a groan, head dropping to her shoulders as his balls tighten and he finally comes, spilling deep inside of her. 

His hands on her thighs are heavy and grounding. Every breath out of his chest is ragged and desperate. He wants her so bad. He’s half crazed with it. 

The kiss startles her so she’s got her eyes open for the first few seconds of it. She fades in, tasting his desire for her on his sweet mouth. She’d stay like this, she really would, hold him forever in this place right before the cliff. But instead, he falls. 

She holds her breath, her lips poised just above his when he pulls away to bark into her collarbone. She makes a whimpering noise when she feels him and it’s the most primally intimate feeling in the world. She blinks slowly and eases her hips, working him through it as he begins to come down. 

Maya’s busy pressing warm kisses all over his chest and starting to gently lift her hips away. Under his heavy arm, she tries to wriggle out without disturbing him, but she catches an edge, loses her balance slightly and tips over, right off the side of the chair with a thump. 

She looks up, startled, and starts to laugh. 

Shawn’s coming down from one of the most intense orgasms he’s had when Maya goes crashing to the ground. He was so strung out from his climax that he’d barely noticed her wiggle off of him, but then she’s on the ground, blinking up at him with wide eyes before she breaks, laughter filling the air. 

“Maya, shit-- are you okay?” he scrambles up onto his knees, reaching down for her to pull her back onto the daybed. He doesn’t see any bumps or bruises, and she’s totally cracking up so he figures she’s okay. He grins, starting to laugh along with her. He shakes his head and pushes a hand through her hair, cupping the nape of her neck. 

Shawn helps her up as she’s cracking herself up. She stumbles back onto the daybed and starts to settle, brushing some sand off her legs. 

She coos at the feel of his tender hand on her neck. She feels safe all over again. 

“How are you like, a world class surfer and also the clumsiest person ever?” he teases with a wink, reaching for her wrist as he settles back into the pillows of the daybed. He spreads his thighs and pulls her down between them, stroking the soft hair at the base of her skull with his fingers. 

He teases her and snuggles her down between his legs. She props her head up on his shoulder and feels her body turn heavy and warm all over. 

“It’s your fault, you got me weak in the knees, mister,” she replies smoothly, winking back. 

Shawn snorts. She really is such a dork. He loves her for it. He presses a kiss to her temple as she settles into him, his arms going around her waist. 

“That’s real cheesy, Lu,” he murmurs, kissing down to her cheek. He hums softly, back to reveling in his post-orgasmic bliss. 

“Have any plans tonight?” he asks after a moment, his nose buried in the soft hair at the top of her head. He knows she doesn’t, but he likes asking anyway. He tries to be respectful of her time and space, even if they’ve sort of fallen back into their old Avila habits. He’s got a drawer upstairs in her bedroom, too. 

But still. He doesn’t want to assume with her, doesn’t want to make her feel like he’s overstepping the bounds of this summer romance they’ve got going. 

Maya’s eyes are shut, she’s enjoying the feel of him beneath her and letting herself float on their afterglow cloud. His voice rouses her and she remembers an idea she had. She smiles shyly and smoothes her hand up and down his side from ribs to hip.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that,” she begins, trying not to notice her voice shake, but it does, just a little, “I would like to take you on a date, y’know, if you’re available.”

She almost rolls her eyes at herself. But like, he could have plans. He could be hanging out with Geoff or working late at the shop or…

God, she hopes he doesn’t have plans.

Maya props her head up on his chest to look at him with her big brown eyes in case he needs extra convincing.

She wants to take him on a date. She almost sounds embarrassed to ask. God, he loves her. He thinks maybe she’s teasing when she asks if he’s available, but then he realizes she sounds a little too sincere to be joking. 

He looks down at her, a small smirk tugging at his lips though he tries to feign an apologetic facade. 

“Oh, tonight? I’m sorry, Lemon, but I already have plans with my other girlfriend.” 

It comes out before he can stop it, and he doesn’t let himself waver. They haven’t outlined their relationship in any certain terms but-- well, what else is he supposed to call her? His lady friend? His lover? How stupid. 

She’s his girlfriend, even if only for the summer. 

Maya feels her heart slam into her ribs like it’s reaching for him right through her. She swallows the thickness in her throat and chuckles, running her fingertips up the sensitive spot on his ribs that always makes him squirm and complain about her tickling him. 

Girlfriend. She hasn’t been anyone’s girlfriend in a while. She’s his girlfriend. He’s her boyfriend. The words feel small, like they don’t nearly cover what they really mean to each other, all the history they’ve shared. She’ll take it, though.

“Bring her along, then, smartass,” she teases. 

She laughs at his joke and he’s relieved. He loves when he makes her laugh, even if it’s from teasing her. He grins when she teases him back. Maya was always good at giving barbs just as well as she took them. 

After a few more moments of giggling, she presses her lips to his chest and speaks into his skin. “Do you have a suit?”

Her lips on his chest have him sighing softly, dropping his own lips to her head. 

“Why do I need a suit? Where’re you taking me? I don’t think anywhere in Avila requires a suit.” He sounds skeptical, but he’s kind of excited. Clearly, she’s got a real plan concocted. He’s receptive to the idea. But… he doesn’t have a suit. Well, he does, but it’s at his mum’s house. It’s his wedding suit that she didn’t want to part with, even after he got divorced. He used to keep it in Avila, for anniversaries and whatever, but after the divorce… 

Well, his mum said she’d love to have it as a keepsake. Of what, Shawn’s not sure. All he knows is he had to get rid of it, and he never really bothered trying to get one to replace it. He knows he’ll prefer one Maya picks out for him, anyway.  

Maya’s smug. “Nowhere in Avila requires a suit, that’s true. But perhaps we’re not staying in Avila.”

She’s had this idea for about a week. It’s become her new favorite daydream. She recently remembered that she has enough money to make almost any daydream a reality, so she might as well. 

Maya likes the idea of taking him shopping for a suit. She knows Shawn is secure enough in his masculinity to let her treat him to stuff, and she’s always liked shopping for him. She loves picking out guys’ clothes. And Shawn… well he’s just about the best looking guy on earth, so dressing him is almost as fun as undressing him. 

Shawn is seriously intrigued. Despite her beautiful vacation home, Shawn tends to forget Maya is like, super rich. She doesn’t really act it, but he can tell from the look in her eye right now that her plan is intricate, and if they’re leaving Avila then it’s probably expensive, too. 

Maya lifts her head and crawls up his body with her hands planted beside his head. She grins wildly. “You wanna go shopping with me?”

He blinks up at her, hands going to her hips as she hovers above him.

Shopping. She wants to buy him a suit. Yeah, she’s definitely rich now. He wants to say yes, but he also doesn’t want to like… take her money. He does well enough for himself, but there’s just so much money a one-man workshop can make. That doesn’t mean he’s trying to get hers. 

He does like clothes, though. He’s always been into fashion, and his sister says that makes him metrosexual or something. He’s not sure what that means, but he thinks that maybe letting Maya flatter him with a nice suit wouldn’t be so bad. 

Still.

“What, are you trying to Pretty Woman me or something, Lemon?” 

Maya laughs and blushes a little. “Not unless you’ve been turning tricks in my absence, honey.”

She tilts her head down to brush her lips over his. “Just got a special night planned, that’s all. I have all this stupid money waiting around. I wanted to do something fun with you, something we never could’ve dreamed of doing before.”

Maya lifts a hand and brushes some hair off his forehead. He really is so fucking beautiful. It astounds her sometimes. She kisses him properly this time, lowering her body into his as she luxuriates in it. 

She’s fuckin’ precious when she blushes. He reaches to drag his knuckles across her cheek, feeling the warmth against his skin. A slow grin splits his lips after she kisses him. 

“Okay,” he hums, tipping his head, “I can go with that. I like expensive fun.” 

After nipping teasingly against his lip, she pushes herself up and starts climbing off the daybed. She reaches for his hand. “C’mon,” she urges, “I got an Amex black card burning a hole in my wallet.”

He grunts, goes to chase her lips with his, but then she’s getting up and grabbing at his hand instead. He laughs. 

“What if you pay my workshop bills instead? That’d be a pretty sexy use of all that stupid money.” His brow quirks, but lets himself be pulled along anyway. Maya can pull him anywhere she wants, and he’ll always follow. 

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