#I seriously was in absolute shock after reading this chapter. felt underwater for days

[scribbly-somethings]

@princesskkfish do you feel like crying with me at this fine hour

Firefight Part 1/3

A fanfic of one amazing AU "firefight" Created by the one and only @remedyturtles !! If you'd like to read the fic yourself, please feel free to click on the following link! https://archiveofourown.org/works/52502551/chapters/132816871

[myqueenmarceline]

Siren Song chapter 10: Back into the Deep

Summary: Bonnibel decides to go after Marceline, and make sure she's alright.

Warnings: just some science/tagging fish, nothing graphic

Thank you to @nebula-gaster for beta reading this, as always I appreciate it!

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990040/chapters/58887796

Read it from the beginning: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990040/chapters/45092713

Bonnibel was beginning to get seriously worried. It had been an entire week since she had last seen Marceline, and the school of fish didn't show any signs of being disturbed. Even when she sent Pepp down, Marceline didn’t show up. Bonnibel had seen Finn and Jake’s boat on the horizon a few times, but they hadn’t gotten the chance to speak again.

At a loss for what else to do, Bonnibel had woken up early to prepare herself for diving. Officially, she wanted to check on the fish and potentially try to capture a few more for tagging. Bonnibel prepared the net and kit she needed, trying to focus on that instead of Marceline. This was ludicrous; she was a perfectly capable and independent researcher who couldn’t afford to obsess over Marceline, even if it was just for science.

The waves rolled against the hull with a bit more force than they usually did, but the forecast was supposed to be sunny. Bonnibel double-checked that everything was secure, then got into position. She closed her eyes, curling her knees close as she rolled back and hit the water.

The barbs reacted the same way they always did, swimming away from Bonnibel when she dropped down. Bonnibel slowed down her movements, letting the currents sway her gently as she drifted towards the fish.

They looked the same way they always had, and Bonnibel couldn’t tell if there were any more of them than usual. They seemed a bit less skittish, letting Bonnibel get closer much faster than she had before. If they were acting so calm, then Marceline must not have been feeding off of them for the past few days… Surely Bonnibel’s piece of salmon couldn’t have satisfied her for that long?

She half-heartedly tagged a few barbs, then released the squirming fish back to their brethren. The longer she waited, the more this felt like a stupid idea. Bonnibel had no idea how Marceline’s senses worked underwater, so she had no way of knowing if Marceline even knew she was down here. She couldn’t summon Marceline, so she was stuck waiting here like a jilted lover.

She slowly moved towards the barbs again, deciding to tag one more fish before going back up again. This time the fish scattered before her, and she had to wait for one of them to swim back in her direction. Bonnibel just waited as patiently as she could, firmly pinching one of the fish between her fingers and tagging it quickly.

Bonnibel turned around, and there she was. Marceline almost looked like she was floating, her tail barely moving as she held herself right in front of Bonnibel. Bonnibel just stared at her for a moment, wondering if this was some kind of dream.

Just when Bonnibel thought Marceline couldn’t get even more beautiful, she was proven wrong. She had forgotten just how absolutely hypnotizing Marceline was underwater, with her hair flaring up around her like an anemone. The light filtered through her hair, dancing over her skin and scales. Bonnibel was drawn to a spot of light dancing over Marceline’s shoulder, and she longed to trace it with her lips.

Bonnibel opened her mouth to speak, then gagged as salt water rushed into her mouth. She rushed to fix her breathing tube, air bubbles going up all around her face. She forced herself to swallow the water, and then keep breathing calmly. Hyperventilation would do her no favours, and she didn’t have a partner who could help her if she went into shock.

“Bonnie?” Marceline asked, her voice echoing much more than it had. There was definitely a change to her voice underwater; it was less grounded, and Bonnibel felt like it was coming from all around her, rather than originating from one mermaid’s throat. She would have to note that down later.

Bonnibel kept her focus on breathing, counting to five as she inhaled, then another five for her exhale. She watched Marceline, looking her up and down as subtly as possible. Her scales seemed a bit duller, but Bonnibel couldn’t see anything else wrong with her. There were no signs of flaking or new scarring, and Marceline’s gills were fluttering the same way they always had.

“You can't be here.” Marceline reached out to squeeze Bonnibel’s hands, and Bonnibel wondered if her fingers had always been this cold. “This is dangerous.”

Bonnibel shook her head, feeling a bit angry. She wasn’t some child, she knew what the dangers were. She had chosen to come here on her own, and she wasn’t going to let Marceline stand in the way of her work.

“I didn’t mean—Look, this is a bad time. I’ll come find you later, alright?” Marceline asked, her smile strained. She really did seem stressed, and Bonnibel felt a pang of regret. She didn’t want to be a burden to Marceline.

Bonnibel nodded, wishing she could speak. If they were up on the surface then she could at least ask if Marceline was alright, and maybe even check if she had done something wrong. Was the threat of revealing herself to fishermen so perilous, or was something else going on?

Objectively, it made sense that Marceline wouldn’t tell Bonnibel exactly what was going on. They had only known each other for a few days, and they weren’t even the same species! Still, Bonnibel just wished Marceline would let her in. Even if there wasn’t some way for her to help, she could at least listen to Marceline.

“See you soon.” Marceline leaned in, her hand moving up Bonnibel’s arm to gently squeeze her shoulder.

Before Bonnibel could do anything else, Marceline let go and darted away. She moved with an uncanny speed, the muscles of her tail rippling as she swam. Bonnibel wished she had brought a camera, so she could have captured the moment. She could only hope her memory would be good enough to preserve Marceline’s beauty in a somewhat objective fashion.

The tank on Bonnibel’s back beeped loudly, startling her. She had five minutes of oxygen left, plus another ten if she used her emergency tank. She bit down on the plastic in her mouth, and then began swimming for the surface. She didn’t have any real answers yet, but at least she knew that Marceline was alive.

[youcancallmecirce]

New Story!!  Elemental

I’ve started a new chapter fic, because I don’t already have enough of those. 

It was inspired by this art from @carnalrhythms, for the Fantasy Smutember prompt.  And while this chapter doesn’t contain anything naughty, we will eventually get to the scene depicted in the art that spawned this story.  I just felt that this kind of AU requires some back story, and I just couldn’t dive into the sex without setting it up first. 

Also, and this is very important, this story is a very belated birthday gift to the wonderful, and wonderfully talented, @freedom-shamrock!!  I hope that this story brings you joy, and reminds you that you bring a great deal of joy to others.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAMROCK!!!! 

(Also on AO3, if you prefer to read it there.)

Adrien sat alone on the rocky outcropping, absently twisting the deceptively simple ring on his finger as he berated himself for over-sleeping.  If he’d risen before dawn, as he’d intended, he’d have slipped that silver ring from his finger and taken to the sea for a swim.   Now, though, it was just too risky.  It was too late in the morning, and soon, he would no longer be alone on the beach.  His swim would just have to wait until that night, after everyone else had gone home, and gone to bed.

He glanced at his watch and sighed.  There was too little time before class, and far too much time before it would be safe for him to return.  As much as he loved that ring, and the freedom it brought, there were days that he longed to shed its magic and revert to his true form.  If he went too long on his legs, the longing would turn to an ache, and eventually, the ache to a pain.  He chuckled a bit darkly, thinking again of the dark tale he’d discovered after joining the humans on land.  Andersen hadn’t been too far off the mark, actually.  A mermaid—or in his case, a merman—might not feel as if she were walking on knives when she first left the water, but if she kept her legs indefinitely, it certainly would get to that point.

Fortunately for Adrien, he was nowhere near the point of excruciating pain.  He felt only an irritating ache, and an almost magnetic pull to the sea; he could survive both of those things for another day. ��

After another glance at his watch, he stood and stretched, prepared to make his way back to the house to get ready for class.  He paused, though, when an incongruous movement in the water caught his eye.  He stopped to watch, thinking that it must be dolphins, and frowned in confusion when he realized that it wasn’t a marine animal at all, but a person.

Was it one of his father’s people?  It had to be.  He wasn’t expecting anyone, and it was foolhardy to be so near the humans at such a time, but it couldn’t be anyone else.  Humans had to breathe.

Concerned now, he made his way down from the rocks to the sandy beach, thinking to meet whoever it was in the surf, where they’d be less likely to be recognized for what they were.  Concern turned to absolute shock when he recognized the swimmer, not as someone from his home, but as one of his classmates from the university.

What the hell?

He stopped at the edge of the surf and watched her make her way up to the beach several meters away, stymied.  It was definitely Marinette.   She was an incredibly beautiful young woman, with shoulder-length blue-black hair and arresting blue eyes, and she was very friendly—with everyone but him.  Around him, she became so shy that he still didn’t know her well, in spite of his efforts to become friends.  

He approached her cautiously, unsure of his welcome. “Marinette?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice and stumbled, falling gracelessly to her hands and knees in the wet sand.  “A-Adrien!”  She pushed herself to her feet, blushing, and awkwardly began trying to brush the sand from her legs.  “Um, hi.”

“Hi.”  He crossed over to her with a hesitant smile, scratching uncomfortably at the back of his head as he tried not to notice how incredible she looked in her bikini with rivulets of water streaming down her skin.  “Shoot, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s—it’s alright.  I wasn’t paying attention, and I think you’ve seen before how madly clumsy I am.”  She gave up on the sand, which clung stubbornly to her wet skin, and glanced at him shyly before looking out at the water.  “I guess I just wasn’t expecting to see anyone out here this early.”

“I was kind of thinking the same thing, actually.  I often come out here in the mornings to, uh, to think.”  He eyed her curiously.  “I don’t usually see anyone else.”

“You—you do?”  She looked back at him, her surprise clearly overriding her shyness.  “I do too.  I’m surprised I’ve never seen you out here before.”  She paused thoughtfully, taking in their surroundings before continuing.  “Though I guess that I don’t usually come this far up the beach.  ”

He smiled, pleased that she was finally talking to him the way she usually did with Alya and Nino.  “I don’t usually come this far down the beach.”

“I guess that explains it, then.”  She returned his smile for a moment, then flushed again and retreated once more into shyness.

He sighed at the loss.  Did she just not like him?  

She cleared her throat, and tugged anxiously at one of her earrings as she took a step back.  “I was just heading back.  You know, to get ready for class.”

“Me, too, actually,” he replied gratefully, taking a step back as well.  “I guess I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Y-yeah!  Um, bye!”  She flashed him a smile, waving and skipping backward a few steps, then turning to jog down the beach.

He watched her for a moment, then turned back the other direction with a bemused shake of his head.   He made his way back up to the rocks, and from there to the long boardwalk that would take him back to his father’s beach house, mulling over their strange encounter.  Maybe his original impression had been wrong.  Maybe she’d just been swimming parallel to the shore, rather than swimming in from the ocean, and maybe she hadn’t been spending as much time under the water as he’d thought. After all, humans can’t breathe underwater, and Marinette was human, wasn’t she?

Adrien stopped, staring sightlessly ahead with wide eyes.  What if she wasn’t?  He wasn’t human, and he knew that there were others like him, living anonymously among their human counterparts.  If she were like him…! It would be wonderful, if he could share his secret with someone without fearing their reaction.

He gave his head a shake and continued walking.  He couldn’t assume anything.  But perhaps, he should try again to get to know her better?

Marinette jogged all the way back to the place where she’d left her things, her mind in a whirl.  Of all the people to run into out here, it just had to have been Adrien!  She scooped up her towel with a groan, and dried the last of the water from her skin.

The breeze giggled at her, and she glared toward the sound.  “You would think it was funny, Tikki.” She stuffed her towel into her bag and shook out the loose dress she always wore over her bathing suit for the walk to the beach as the breeze brushed her cheek with another giggle.

“Of course I do!”  A pair of laughing blue eyes materialized out of the air, followed by an impish smile, and the rest of her face, until the little red Air elemental was completely visible.  “You’ve been trying to talk to him for ages, Marinette!  And now you’ve had a whole conversation with him, all on your own!”

Marinette paused in pulling her dress over her body, and smiled dreamily.  “I did, didn’t I?”

Tikki spun happily in the air.  “You did!”

She sighed happily, then groaned with renewed distress and finished pulling her dress down.  “But Tikki, what if he had seen?”

“Oh Marinette, you worry too much.  What if he had?  What could he possibly have thought, other than that you were going for an early morning swim?”

“Well, yeah, but most people have to actually come up for air.  You’re the only reason that I don’t.”  She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked the short distance to where her bike leaned lazily against the fence.  “What if he saw enough to start asking questions?  I can’t have questions, Tikki!”

“It’ll be fine, Marinette.  I promise!”  The little sprite faded back to invisibility with a lingering smile, reminding Marinette as she so often did of the Cheshire Cat.  Then the smile, too, was gone, and the wind swept past Marinette, lifting her drying hair from her face and ruffling her dress encouragingly.

“I know, I know.  I’m going.”  Marinette smiled fondly, knowing that the sprite was still nearby, and walked her bike to the path and began the short trip back to the apartment she shared with Alya, several blocks away.

Once there, she put her bike away and raced upstairs to get showered and changed for school, waving to Alya in the kitchen on the way by.   Twenty minutes later saw both girls on the bus, headed to the main campus of the Aix-Marseille University —Marinette, to go to class, and Alya, to meet her boyfriend before their classes began.

As Marinette sat licking the buttery remnants of a croissant from her fingers, Alya nudged her shoulder with a grin.

“You know, M, I will never get over the fact that you have actually started getting up early every single morning, and you still manage to be running behind every single morning.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, accepting the teasing as a normal part of their morning routine.  “Ha ha, Alya.  You know you wouldn’t know what to do with me if I weren’t late.”

“Probably not,” she laughed.  “You were even later than normal this morning, though, weren’t you?”

Marinette cringed, knowing she was blushing.  “Yeah, a bit,” she hedged, hoping not to get into it.

Alya’s brows rose, and her gaze sharpened.  “I know that look, M.  Spill.”

She sighed.  She really should have known better.   “I kind of…ran into Adrien?”

“What?  Seriously?  Was he alone?”  Marinette nodded helplessly, and Alya hooted in excitement.  “Girl, you were holding out on me!”

“Ugh, Alya, nothing happened!  We just…talked.  A little.  And it was awkward, and maybe a little weird, and then we both left to head home. It was nothing.”

“Girl.  You ‘talked’?  As in a conversation?  That is totally something!”  Her eyes widened, then narrowed suspiciously.  “And you weren’t going to tell me about it, were you?”

“I was,” she protested weakly.  “Eventually.”

“Mm-hmm,”  Alya hummed through pursed lips.  “Sure you were.”

“I was!  Just, not until tonight, when we could sit and talk it over without interruption.”

“Ahh, I see.”  She sat back with a smirk and crossed her arms over her chest.  “You were going to tell me when it was too late for me to corner Adrien on the Green and ask him about your little tête-à-tête.”

“Maybe.”  Marinette ducked her head guiltily, but she was smiling.  “But in my defense, you are kind of a force of nature.”

“I got you, girl, don’t you worry.”

The bus slowed to a stop, causing Marinette to bump gently into Alya, and both girls stood to exit.  “Somehow, Alya, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

Alya followed her off of the bus with a ringing laugh, and the two friends waved to one another as they headed in different directions.

Marinette hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder, and tried not to let herself worry over Alya’s interference.  Alya would be Alya, she had Marinette’s best interests at heart, and the worst she might suffer was a bit of embarrassment.  She could deal with that.

Marinette reached the door to her classroom, and settled herself on the stone bench just outside the door to await her instructor.  With a deliberate effort, Marinette pushed her worries aside, and began to prepare herself mentally for the lesson to come.

She’d ostensibly come to the renowned Aix-Marseille University to study in their Arts program, and she was.  But more importantly, she’d come to participate in their Elemental Master’s program, to hone her inherent Air magic.

Not everyone knew about that particular track of study, of course.  Not everyone was an elemental mage, and those who were made it a point to hide their magic from those who weren’t. The lesson had been very well learned, and reinforced multiple times over the ages.  The Inquisition in Spain, the witch hunts in the States, the persecution of the Celts in Britain…the examples were too numerous to count, and contemporary mages took those lessons to heart.

Of course, not all of them were uptight about it.  For some, it was a game they played, to hide in plain sight.  J.K. Rowling was one such mage, and her Harry Potter series was just as popular among the magical set as it was among the “muggles”.  Perhaps even more so, because it carried the added bonus of being an inside joke for those in the know.

Marinette fell mostly into the second group of magic wielders; she loved things like Harry Potter, and she certainly wasn’t ashamed of her magic, but she was terrified of making a mistake that would expose herself, her family, and even their whole community to the wider world. That fear was, in large part, responsible for her presence at this school.  Her mother was a Fire mage of middling power, and her father was an Air mage with minimal power.  Their power combination was ideal for running a bakery—Tom’s sylphs and sprites ensured that their breads all rose perfectly, and maintained a proper air flow in the ovens, while Sabine’s Fire salamanders kept the ovens at the perfect temperature, ensuring that all of their baked goods came out, well, perfectly.    Combine that with well-loved recipes that had been handed down for generations, and it was easy to see why the Dupain-Cheng store flourished.

Unfortunately, though, Marinette’s Air magic far outstripped her parents’ powers and she’d exhausted what they could teach her by the time she reached lycée.  She had a Master’s power, and she required a Master to teach her.  And so, when she chose her University, she considered attending the Paris ESMOD only briefly before choosing a school for its’ arcane renown rather than its Arts program.  The choice baffled her friends, but her parents supported the choice wholeheartedly and Marinette was far more at peace with her powers, knowing that she would finally be learning to control them fully.

Marinette heard a key turning in the lock, and opened her eyes to greet Mme. Piers warmly.

“Good morning, Marinette,” the woman returned.  “Are you ready?”

She nodded eagerly, and felt Tikki sweep them both in an excited eddy of air.

“All right then,” Mme. Piers said, laughing.  “Come along, both of you.”

Marinette eagerly followed the Air master into the warded workroom, and Tikki blew in behind them, pulling the door closed behind her.