#Obviously I went straight to the pools to look for crabs

[horusmenhosetix]

I would like everybody to look at this dramatic photo of two crabs mating

Thank you and have a nice day

[adventurebeforedementia]

The west coast and beyond…..

We have travelled up and down the Isle of Skye visiting the landmarks and historic sites in the south and north of the island from our base at Portree. Portree is the most picturesque of the towns and villages on this island with its harbour and brightly coloured houses and shops.

We climbed to meet the Old Man of Storr - a rock formation which has an old man’s face which you might be able to see on the right hand side of our photo. Then it was further north to see Kilt Rock and the Mealtfalls.

Travelling south, we visited the Fairy Pools, a collection of waterfalls - tributaries from the River Brittle - that flow down the side of the hill into crystal clear pools.

Leaving Skye, we called into Eilean Donan Castle which sits on a tiny tidal island, where three sea lochs meet, on the Kyle of Lochalsh peninsula. It’s reputed to be the best castle in Britain and one of the most iconic images of Scotland, surrounded by stunning scenery, so deserved to be visited.

It was a wet and cold day - more reminiscent of November then July - so I wasn’t looking forward to crossing the concrete causeway to a freezing historic relic which has its origins in the 6th Century. Alex insisted, however, that I had to leave the warmth of Big Boy and venture out. I was so glad I did when we walked through the front entrance into a magnificent room with a roaring fire and a lovely guy dressed in full Scottish regalia who gave us the best welcome. Quite tempting as it was to stay there, I managed to push on and complete the visit.

Our journey took us on to Oban where we had the best crab sandwiches from a seafood shack on the seafront. No better place to eat seafood than the west coast of Scotland where it comes straight from the trawlers and obviously costs a fraction of the usual price.

Alex’s brother, his wife and son flew in from America at this point to stay for a few days in Glasgow before moving onto Edinburgh for their eldest son’s wedding. So we headed over to the city to spend a couple of days with them.

The weather has been glorious, so we took the Hop On Hop Off bus to visit the major tourist attractions including one of the city’s four cathedrals which includes the tomb of Saint Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow. We also discovered an impressive mural of a modern day interpretation of the saint. This is just one of many interesting murals that have been painted across this city.

We dropped into Strathclyde University where Alex, his brother and his wife all studied for their degrees. This nostalgic trip down memory lane after 40 years made them realise very quickly that it was never going to be as they remembered it. But at least they went back and could talk about the good old days when they were carefree students in this city and where his brother and his wife met all those years ago.

A visit to the Botanic Gardens and various pub stops for food, beer, Guinness, of course, and wine completed our short stay. There’s so much to see in Glasgow and, even though this was our third visit since Alex left there all those years ago, I know we will be back to visit it again.

Now we are in Edinburgh for a week as we countdown to the grand reunion of this branch of the Innes clan at the three day wedding. Alex’s oldest brother and his daughter fly in tomorrow and it’s the first time the brothers will have all been together for 10 years. I would imagine there will be much whisky drinking and story sharing over the coming week.

[calypsoff]

Ninety Three. Part 3

That talk with Mel is something I needed, I needed to speak to someone that knows Robyn as much as they do. Mel is relying on me to bring her back, I mean I feel I can do it but then again I feel like Robyn is very much adamant in telling me to fuck off, several times too. Mel said I need to be on her level, I can’t be trying to tell her she can’t do something when she is like this. I really wish Robyn told me this, told me how she is feeling so I could help her get through it. I think Robyn felt alone, like you can have a room full of people but still feel alone and I think she felt that because I was being an idiot. I wasn’t thinking straight, I never do but that video of Robyn. I need to look at it actually, I just had a shower and got some clothes on. I am praying and hoping she is where I think she will be, I am assuming she will be in the casino and if she is with other men, I need to not bite because she is going to do everything in her power to make me get annoyed. TMZ loaded up and the first thing I see is Robyn, they are are saying she attacked me, and I don’t like that because it was never that, my wife isn’t violent. Tapping on the article, this is very much defamation of name because that is not it. Tapping on the video and waited for it to load, I am not happy that this is happening. She doesn’t deserve this; she isn’t a bad person. Watching the video and seeing that she did hit my shoulder or whatever, but she was angry that I said her dad and it kind of works out, it’s bullshit. I don’t want to tell her that this was said. She doesn’t need it, but I need to stay by my wife, she means the world to me. I have let her down, I have always known she was vulnerable when it comes to men in general and her dad, it’s crazy how much it’s affected her.

Sitting atop of the pool table, I want to address the situation because it seems like in the article it states that she was with other men, looks like I was jealous of that and we argued, that didn’t happen. It’s crazy to see what they put but I want to shut down these rumours, it’s spreading thanks to that toxic ass page. Pressing record on my phone, fixing my Snapback “what’s up, I don’t like to get involved in these kind of scenarios or politics to do with things that go on, my life or whatever but I don’t. It’s come up on that wack ass blog TMZ a video of me and my wife, lies are being told. We were talking and she did hit my arm or whatever, but it was playful, she was a little tipsy whatever. But it’s all lies, we are good in our marriage. My daughter is just better, and we don’t need to see that kind of shit, or those rumours being said, we come to Vegas to have fun. Our marriage is fine, we are good. God bless that my daughter is good so yeah, I just want to address that we are fine and that my wife isn’t the vicious person y’all making her out to be, I was fully aware she was speaking to men so there was no issues or arguments about that” shaking my head “we good over here” stopping the recording and adding it onto Instagram, adding a caption ‘y’all need to leave me and mines, I don’t fuck with the shit y’all be saying’ pressing send on the post, I will protect my wife on god, I will fuck up anyone for her, that’s my girl. Now I need to find that wife of mine, I want to call her but then I don’t think she will pick up because of my name being shown, if I don’t find her I’m gonna be panicking. I am worried for her, she is drinking and smoking so much too, like smoking excessively. I need to do this, I need to control my mouth and be there for her, she needs me, and I wasn’t even seeing it.

I put on a shirt and made my way down to reception, I need to know where my wife is and they will know, obviously they will. They see everything and they knew she was here earlier, I huffed out making my way to the reception. The lady looked at me and she was going to say hi, but I just cut her off “my wife, Rihanna? Where is she?” I sound abrupt but I am not the mood for all the nice talk, I just need to see my wife and see how she is “I can show you” why is it everyone knows where she is, is my wife making that much of an issue, this is concerning to know actually “right this way sir” walking behind her, she seems so kind about it but I am wondering if Robyn is causing a scene “is everything ok?” I have to ask; I am nervous. Robyn is so sly and is running off constantly, she isn’t just nobody either “not at all, just she was getting harassed by a barrage of people and we had to bring in extra security but please, it’s not bother” oh god, I am nervous now. Walking into the casino I can see where she is, the group is gathered and it’s not a show. I just need to not kick off either, I get very protective of my wife too “that way sir” she gestured, nodding my head walking off towards the crowd. She is on the slots machine and is being stared at by people, I dislike that because she doesn’t need all eyes on her either. Looking around and seeing phones out “watch out!” I spat, people started to move to the side and then recording me “don’t push sir” I will knock this nigga out, he better let me through right now before I cause a scene in this place, I do not care for anyone “let him though, that’s Chris” another security guy came forward, he let an oh “sorry” he let me through, nodding my head walking by him. Robyn clapped her hands together “I won again” Robyn looked at me, she is wearing my snapback “I can see” moving the snapback back a little, kissing her forehead “I can see you are winning, as you do” pulling the snapback down, looking around us, there is so many cameras around us, they have literally blocked off the whole section because of Robyn, she really doesn’t care, she is staying here and having fun “what you doing” Robyn is searching my pockets, then she dug her hand in my pocket “these” she grabbed my cigarettes “ok” I mumbled, my phone started ringing in my pocket “you good yeah?” I asked, Robyn nodded her head smiling at me. Looking down at my phone, Robyn wrapped her arm around my torso “what’s up?” I asked, it’s Mel “she is in the casino, they are tagging her on Insta” Mel is spying from afar “yeah I am here with her now, thanks. I will update soon” I don’t know what to do, there is so many people here. So many prying eyes too.

Robyn is playing Crabs, I say play she is trying her best and the whole crowd is cheering but I am so protective of her, I am just thinking on what to do. She hasn’t said much to me at all “I done good?” Robyn asked, nodding my head “always” nuzzling the top of her head, licking my lips looking around. I just hate this, it’s so compact like everyone is just here and I feel judged. I feel our marriage is being judged; I hate this. I want this to just stop but I can’t make it stop, I need to take action. I am so protective of Robyn, I feel like she is vulnerable, and I didn’t see it at first but I do now, she is so vulnerable “Rihanna, you good at playing Crabs” someone shouted, I smiled looking over at the person “I am good at a lot” Robyn said, her voice is husky as hell, all that smoking is getting to her “what that mouth do?” my eyebrows knitted together, looking at whoever said that “ask my husband, I just sucked him off in the penthouse suite” I had to do a doubletake at Robyn, the whole crowd just busted out laughing “don’t be speaking on my mouth nigga, go ask ya father” Robyn added “don’t come for me nigga, don’t do it!” everyone cheered, Robyn is being called volatile and she is being recorded shouting this, I just feel stuck on what to do “shall we go to the suite?” I said in her ear “you can get me a blunt, make me one” she turned to me, taking in a deep breath and then sighed out.

Robyn turned away from the Crabs table with the blunt in hand and her cocktail “I want to go now” when she moved the whole crowd moved with her “where you going?” moving back from the Crabs table “let’s go to the club” licking my top lip “erm” I paused, I don’t even know what to say. Nodding my head and leaning down to Robyn hugging her “how about we go to the suite, you can do your hair and stuff. Look all cute for the club” pressing a kiss to her cheek moving back, Robyn nodded her head too “you right, ok let’s go then” following behind Robyn, we can finally go to the bedroom and just talk, I don’t know how to even bring the questions up about everything. I caught some arm that reached forward trying to grab Robyn’ shoulder “the hell” pushing it away, the security is rushing us out and I just moved to the side of Robyn. She is so calm about everything; she doesn’t even care that we are getting mobbed. She doesn’t even know what is being said about her, I am here trying to save her. I just want to protect my girl, she is going through a lot and I want her to be happy, I think I haven’t helped with her at all. I am so bad, I am a bad husband to her, but she needs me to be there for her, I can only love her.

We got to the bedroom and Robyn went straight to the room, she wants to get dressed for the club. The club I don’t really want to go too, I don’t even know where to start at all. Answering the call from Mel, she has been so supportive right now. She has been ringing to check “hey” I answered “just thought I would ask how you are? You seem very nervous about this; you seem a little scared. Robyn is just closed off Chris, don’t mind her. She will break that mask; I just know her” she is so confident “can you come?” I don’t know “no, you need to be the one to do it. She do what you need to do, anyways. I got Rylee actually, she is doing so well. I am so glad to see her in high spirits” I miss her so much “thanks for checking on me, I just feel so stuck. Robyn hasn’t really let go of Rihanna; I can tell. I will go upstairs and see to her, thanks” disconnecting the call, I appreciate Mel for this. I understand what she means by she wants me to do it but I just feel like she would do a better job, I do feel bad because I know that Robyn be there for me to build me up so can’t I do this for her, how useless am I to even think someone else should do this. I don’t mean it in a bad way but it’s hard, I don’t know how to approach the situation.

Walking into the room and all I can hear is Robyn’ phone going off, like it’s been none stop but all she is doing is getting ready. She is really ignoring everything “you good?” I asked what I asked before, I can’t help but say the same thing “are you? I was the one that left you in bed” she sniggered, knowing full well what she did but I won’t make it an issue “erm yeah I am” the phone started ringing again, making my way to the phone, looking down and seeing Jay Brown name. Rejecting the call, picking the phone off to turn it off “I am fine, it’s been a while you know” the phone switched off, placing it down “you remember that time when my dad took us to go and watch Space Jam?” Robyn looked up at me “I do, why?” she is miserable “it just made me laugh because erm, that time I wanted to sit with you, and you ended up letting my dad sit in the middle? Like what, but the bonus of it all is that my dad paid but then you were sick after the hot dog” Robyn groaned out “oh yeah, that was bad” she nodded her head and froze “and your dad was holding my hair back, yeah. He is so sweet to me” she agreed “yeah he was, I’ve always wanted to be like him. Like my dad, just a good man. But I don’t think I actually am, I think I am not the person he bought up, you know. You said I am just like your dad, and at first I was so caught up on it thinking it was a bad thing but me and your dad have something in common. We both hurt you and let you do, and I apologise for that. I do a lot without thinking and what I did and how I have been acting was bad, I will forever be sorry for that” putting my head down “men are trash” I expected that “I don’t blame you for that Robyn” looking up at her “you say we should talk; I enjoy our talks. At night” stuffing my hands in my pockets “talking to me about me, asking me how I am, asking me what I am doing, telling me what I need to do. You have asked me how I am, how I am doing. I have my own issues and you have been there for me to console me but I haven’t thought of you, I can’t say I understand how that feels, to be abandoned by a parent” Robyn doesn’t like it “I don’t want to hear it” she got up from the seat “but I do, I am not Monica where I will say you know what your dad should be like, I want to hear you Robyn. What happened to Rylee was never your fault, I know these words won’t heal you, but it wasn’t” she stared at me “Rylee needs you” I said in a whisper “the same girl that sleeps only when you sing to her, I bet she is wondering where her mommy is, you know she is because her eyes light up seeing you, she needs you more then me Robyn, I know that. Rylee adores you” Robyn put her head down, she was quick to run to the bathroom, maybe I can keep pushing her to break and she will talk to me.

[lampmeeting]

If you still need a toki/mags prompt, can I suggest 40 or 42? (I made this for you / is this ok?) I'd love to see anything anyone else picks instead too so don't worry about this one if there are others!

ohh thank you!! “is this ok?” grabbed at me immediately :O

this one gets a bit lewd and a little sad........sorry...(but it’s sweet!)

also post-doomstar, but maybe like 3 or 4 months after the other fic (sorry it’s mostly in magnus’ apartment again haha, the poor man doesn’t get out much)

=+=

A kiss on his way out the door became a regular occurrence. A quick press of lips, a soft sigh, a softer smile, and then Toki would head home. Magnus didn’t know what the fuck it meant, hadn’t really felt up to analyzing it yet. He just knew he liked it when it happened, and obviously it was something Toki wanted to do since he initiated every single time. Even so, once Magnus was left alone in his apartment, there would come that not-so-small voice in the back of his head screaming doubts at him, as it liked it do.

After what you’ve done, you don’t deserve this. Especially not from him.

The next time Toki flew over, Magnus had promised to take him to that really nice aquarium over in Scottsdale. Toki had been talking about it for weeks and texting him pictures from their website. “They gots the movings stairs with a fish tanks all arounds you!” And he was right, they did, and Toki dragged Magnus up and down that escalator at least a dozen times.

Well, maybe dragged was a strong word. Aggressively encouraged, perhaps. Magnus wasn’t really a fish guy, but he had to admit his heart swelled with affection as Toki stared up at the curved glass of the tunnel, pointing out fish as he saw them and tugging at Magnus’ arm.

“Looks at that ones! Oh oh! That ones! And those ones! Oh, wowee!”

The touch pools were Toki’s favorite, though. He flinched with a squeak each time he poked a grippy sea anemone, and he gazed with wonder at the scuttling underside of a horseshoe crab as one of the handlers showed it off to him and a bunch of gathered kids. He tried to get Magnus to pet the stringrays but every time one started to glide close Magnus lost his nerve and popped his hand out of the water to a chorus of children’s laughter. He really wasn’t a fish guy. Still, the brief humiliation seemed worth it if only to hear Toki’s laughter like music over the other voices.

After a visit to the gift shop, they rode the bus back to the Home for Wayward Musicians where Magnus was still set up. Things were...better, he supposed. The job was good. He wouldn’t say rewarding exactly, but it was whatever. And he wasn’t being kept tabs on so strictly anymore, had more freedoms. Still didn’t have a car, but Toki had convinced Offdensen to have a proper lock installed in the door and to remove the security cameras. Dude wasn’t even their manager anymore and he was still taking care of shit. Magnus understood that inability to walk away.

Once inside, Toki took a running dive onto the sofa, hugging his new stuffed whale, sprawled out on his back. “This was the best days evers!”

Magnus peered down at him, resting elbows on the back cushions, exhausted and achy in his chest, but content. “Glad you had fun, buddy.”

“And you hads fun, toos?”

He did, actually. “Yeah.”

Toki smiled, smooshing his cheek into the fuzzy whale. “That’s good to hears.”

Magnus realized he was smiling back and cleared his throat, ears warm. “You wanna get a pizza or something? I dunno about you, but that jellyfish funnel cake in the food court didn’t really do it for me.”

Toki’s eyes twinkled. “Yes please! Ooo!” He sat straight up. “Cans we gets that place whats has the reallies good, um, tir--tirs--um, tirmas--”

“Tiramisu? You mean Parlor?”

“Yeps!” Just as Magnus was about to fret about the cost, Toki added, “I wants to pays for it, toos.”

“What? No way, you’re visiting me. You’re not paying for dinner.” That hurt to say because Parlor was fucking expensive as hell, but it was the principle of the damn thing. He was trying to be a less shitty person, after all. And besides, Toki was only able to come see him every couple weeks, so in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t too terrible.

“But you pays for the aquariums,” Toki said. “And the bus. Ands my whale.”

Magnus felt like he was arguing over the check at the end of a date. No, no, honey, of course you’re not paying. Put your wallet away, this is my treat.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re my guest and I wasn’t raised in a fucking barn. I’ve got this, so don’t you even--uh, what’re you doing?” He almost laughed. “Are you texting right in the middle of me fucking talking to you?”

Toki was on his phone, tapping away with his thumbs, the whale nestled in his arms. His tongue poked out and Magnus fell silent, watching it play across his wet lips. Oh, that was...oh.

After a moment, Toki held up his screen with a smug grin. “Ha! Reads it and weeps!”

Magnus blinked hard to clear the daze from his head and squinted. Order Completed - Thank You! Oh, that crafty bastard had ordered the pizza online! “Hey, not cool, man. You can’t just do that!”

Toki sat there and giggled up at him. “But I dids it!”

The pizza came (Toki had picked Magnus’ favorite, the margherita, damn him) and they ate and watched Dirty Harry and had a few beers. Magnus was still feeling a little gripey about Toki getting the upper hand, but about halfway through the movie Toki finished off the last bite of his tiramisu and reclined into Magnus’ shoulder, and that improved his mood more than he wanted to admit.

“I likes this movie.”

“It’s a classic for a reason,” Magnus said, casually throwing his arm around the guy. Couch cuddles were a normal thing for them now--just something else he refused to think about too hard. It was enough to just enjoy it.

As he settled in a little closer, Toki made a small, relaxed sound in the back of his throat that could’ve easily doubled as a moan, and Magnus’ heart throbbed with a weird skip. His breath caught for a second and heat pooled heavy in his hips. Fuck, he was not doing this right now. He was too old to get hot and bothered just from the sound of someone’s voice. And it didn’t help that Toki kept shifting and rubbing up on him.

Thoughts racing, he traced fingers up and down Toki’s arm and tried to keep his breathing steady for the rest of the movie, barely noticing when Toki snickered at the tits in the topless bar or gasped as Harry dodged bullets fired through the roof of the school bus. When it ended Toki yawned into his whale and announced that he should probably have the jet brought around and start the long flight back home.

Magnus suddenly realized he didn’t want Toki to go at all. Sometimes he had thoughts like that, but never this strong. He wanted to hold Toki snug to him and tell him to call the jet off. He wanted to watch another movie. Play a fucking game. Talk. Anything to keep him in the apartment. But he didn’t say anything, just let Toki get up from his arms and stretch until his fit stomach peeked out between shirt and pants.

He averted his eyes, saw the whale still left on the couch. “You taking this guy?”

“Nopes, he can lives with you. He keeps you company whiles I’m gone so you don’ts gets lonely, okay?"

Magnus’ throat tightened just a bit. “Okay.”

They walked to the door and Toki grabbed him around the middle in a loose hug, grinning up at him. “It was goods to sees you, Magnus. You ams doins, um, reallies great, and I’ms, um.” The grin twitched a little and he went kinda pink high up on his cheekbones. “I’ms prouds of you. S-Sorries, that sounds silly, I thinks...”

“No,” Magnus said quickly, “it’s, uh. It’s fine. That’s good to hear, actually. You, uh--” He swallowed. “--you make it easier, y’know.”

Toki’s eyes went wide and round and looked like two twin aquariums in his head. “Toki...helps?”

“Well...yeah, of course you do, buddy. Of course you do.”

“Oh.” Toki trembled against him. “Ohh, wowee.” Then he craned his neck up and pushed his lips to Magnus’, kissing him firmly. He was delicious, tasting of rich coffee and sugary marscapone. Magnus savored it and waited for him to pull away like he usually did, but Toki twisted fingers in his shirt and moaned and didn’t let him go.

Holy shit, this was new.

And Magnus wanted it.

He reached to cup Toki’s jaw delicately with one hand, his other sliding down to hold him at the small of his back. Toki shuddered and his mouth fell open, deepening the kiss, and he forced Magnus backwards until they thudded into the wall.

“Oof--”

“Sorries.”

“S’fine.”

They continued their crushing kiss and Magnus drew Toki’s hips against his own. Toki gasped, rocked into him, and fuck the guy was already hard. All right, so this was certainly a thing that was happening.

Magnus slipped his hands under the hem of Toki’s shirt to grip at his waist, marveling as core muscles flexed and moved beneath his fingers. How was he in such good shape? What did he do? Magnus tried to think back to when he was that young, all the energy in the world, could get his dick up at the drop of a hat. Better times, man. Could’ve done without the raging smack habit, but, y’know, live and learn.

Fuck, Toki wasn’t slowing down. His breath was fast and needful as Magnus raked hands over him everywhere he could touch. “Magnus--” The kiss broke for a second, long enough for Toki’s pleas to leak out. “More--”

Magnus brushed lips teasingly along Toki’s jaw, his earlobe, down the length of his neck, earning a shaky “oh, fucks”. The earthy smell of the day’s sweat filled his nose, but also the distant scent of strawberries. God damn, was that his shampoo? It made his mouth water and his senses swoon. As he reached the base of his throat, Toki let his head tip back into Magnus’ waiting hand, surrendering to him with a shivering groan.

All right, now was Magnus was hard. He could get off just listening to this. But as he took a moment to adjust himself in his jeans, reality, unfortunately, caught up to him. Every doubt he’d been stuffing down, every nagging feeling that lingered in the wake of Toki’s goodbye kisses, they crowded in on him now and demanded to be dealt with. He pulled back and Toki rubbed bleary eyes, obviously confused.

“What’s wrongs?”

Magnus tried to steady his breath. He didn’t know how to explain himself. “Just, uh. I dunno, Toki. Is this...okay?”

Toki seemed to sober a bit at the question. “Is whats okay?”

“What we’re doing.”

“Magnus.” Toki heaved a frustrated sigh. “Is totallies normal for two mens to kiss each others and be--”

“I know that,” Magnus said, and he couldn’t help the slight laugh that huffed out of him. “I know that very well, trust me. No, I meant, like, us specifically. Is this okay for us.”

“I thinks sos. Why wouldn’ts it?”

“Because of, well--” Over Toki’s shirt, he pressed a palm to his back where he knew the knife scar still marked his skin. “This.”

Toki had shown him the scar a few months ago, was almost excited to. He’d said the lights had made him heal faster and better than he should’ve, and the scar was only barely raised and felt smooth to the touch. Magnus still didn’t know what he thought about lights and gods and prophecies. It all felt so far away from him, and when he thought about what he had seen that night, the star and the bolts of white electricity, Toki felt far away too, even moreso than he was already.

“Oh,” said Toki. “Right. That.”

“Yeah.”

“I know we don’ts...talks about it very much,” Toki said, looking down and fiddling with the buttons on Magnus’ shirt. They really should talk about it more, Magnus resolved. It would be good for both of them. “But, um. Evens though you hurt me and dids bad things, ams givins you the second chance. I know you wasn’ts my friends before, but you ams my friends now. And you makes me happy, and I cares about you, so I’ms not gonna gives up on you.”

Magnus’ heart beat in his throat. That just might’ve been the kindest thing anyone had ever said to him. “I...care about you, too.” He tried to squeeze out more words, like thank you for one, but there was an honest to god possibility he’d start to choke up.

Toki seemed to understand his difficulty and smiled as he brought Magnus’ hand back to the curve of his cheek. “Kiss me agains.”

“If youre sure it’s okay.”

“Is more than okays.”

This time it was tender and unhurried, still just as heated but without the frantic urgency, very unlike any kiss Magnus has ever experienced. There was a love in it, something gentle, something that made him ache so sweetly inside and at the same time catch fire.

“I don’ts wants to go,” Toki sighed into his mouth.

“Then don’t go,” Magnus said, burning, their foreheads touching. “I’m so fucking tired of missing you when you’re gone. Stay with me tonight? Please?” To say please, to ask for such a thing aloud so blatantly, it was like cracking his chest open all over again, exposing his heart.

Toki nodded, rubbing their noses together, and he took Magnus by the wrists and drew him away from the door. “Lets me takes you to bed.”

“Toki...”

“Lets me takes care of you.”

Magnus allowed himself to be led. And in the comforting darkness of the bedroom, with his arms curled over Toki’s strong shoulders, he allowed himself to be loved.

[theskyeandsea]

The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea || Monty & Skylar

Timing: May 9th, 2020

Location: Upstream of the Whye River

Tagging: @therealdeville

Notes: Desperate to end the silence, Skylar goes to the Whye River in the hopes that it will help her regain her voice. Montgomery seizes the opportunity.

Unhooking her hearing aids from her ears, Skylar stowed them away in the glove box of her car, along with her veneers. She was parked out alongside the river, as close as she dared to drive in her small Honda Civic. The closer her hearing aids were to her, the better, but she couldn’t risk getting them wet. So, inside the car they stayed. Taking a steadying breath, she opened her mouth, as though to say something. But, nothing came out. She was still silenced. After going to the Scribe Headquarters with Rio yesterday and coming back with nothing... She couldn’t help but wonder if she had been right from the start. Maybe it was all because she’d turned in the pool, the chemicals mingling with the strange magic that turned her into a seal… taking away her voice. Maybe changing in the river would fix her. She needed her voice, she had to have it back. And nothing she’d tried had fixed it yet. So, she’d take matters into her own hands. Exiting the vehicle, Skylar picked her way towards the river, the seal skin bundled in her hands like a picnic blanket. If she could just… get into the river, maybe things would be better. Tramping through the reeds and mud that filled the river bank, she was keenly aware of how little she could hear, how uncomfortably silent the world was around her. She just wanted to have her voice again.

It had been a long watch. Keeping a careful eye on their prey, learning everything that they could about her. Over their observations they’d learned about her hobbies (she seemed to like anime at least), the food she ate, the company she kept, the hours she worked and even the how much sleep she was probably getting. Obviously there were other priorities but for Montgomery a side project like this was important in it’s own way. It required a singular attention. She’d seemed distressed lately and Montgomery had noticed that she hadn’t spoken for a while. They wondered if the two were related. It made no matter however because she was isolating herself. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Their fence had a number of potential buyers who would be interested in a piece of this singular… quality. Montgomery wished that he had had more time to prepare for this, but her decision had swung on an apparent whim and Montgomery knew that as she pulled her hearing aids from her ears and began heading through the forest that this would be the best chance they got for a while now. It was time to strike. They’d parked a few hundred meters away and followed her quietly, with a practiced ease.

The mud squished under her feet, a sound she would normally be able to hear, but Skylar could only feel it through the soles of her shoes. The silence was uncanny, in a way that never failed to make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It never felt safe to be without her hearing aids, but here she was. She had to do this, had to take this risk. Otherwise, she might spend her whole life without a voice. And what would she do then? Everything she’d ever worked for relied on her being able to talk, to understand. What would she do without it? As she walked closer to the river, she kicked her shoes off, setting them out of reach from the water’s edge. A shiver ran down her spine as she stared at the gently rushing water in front of her. Lips pressing together into a thin line, Skylar pulled her shirt over her head and slid out of her shorts to reveal her bathing suit. As much as she wanted to make this right, she wasn’t going to go fully naked into a public river. She let out a long sigh and unrolled the skin in her arms, letting it fall limp before her. She just... had to do this.

The hearing aids missing from the selkie’s ears were a blessing to Montgomery and as they strode through the forest they realised that they wouldn’t need the equipment that they had brought with them. Hunting selkies in the water was hard because as soon as they got going they got away from all but the fastest water vehicles. They were slippery. Crafty. Quick. Montgomery offset this in a simple way, they didn’t allow them that luxury or they brought a very fast boat. But harpoons and a bow that fired specially modified arrows were amongst the hunting rifle, revolver and knife that they’d brought with them. As they watched her prepare to enter the water, Montgomery knew that it was time to strike. Stepping forward they pressed the end of the barrel of their gun to the back of Skylar’s head and reaching out, tugged at it a little to indicate it was time for her to turn around. “Don’t move,” he signed at her with his free hand, “I don’t want to hurt you anymore then necessary.”

The second Skylar felt the cold metal press against the back of her head, her entire body froze. She went still, so still her heart seemed to stop. Who was there? She hadn’t-- of course, she hadn’t heard them coming. She hadn’t heard anything, her hearing aids weren’t any help when they were back in her car. The hand on her shoulder was rough, demanding, and she turned slowly to face the man. And then she saw the gun. The gun, trained on her. As the man signed, all she could focus on was the gun, pointed at her. The circular barrel staring straight at her, the man’s finger poised on the trigger, ready to fire. He was… He wanted to kill her. He was going to kill her. And she couldn’t-- she couldn’t do anything. Petrified, too scared to move, she obeyed his signed command. But, her hands were shaking, tears she didn’t realize had risen to her eyes, they poured down her face. She was going to die. She was going to die, before she’d even really lived. The skin in her hands slipped through trembling fingers, falling into the mud between them. 

Montgomery had seen tears before. They’d seen them a thousand times. Cried some of their own. Everyone had pain. Everyone had loss. Montgomery was a doctor, he had seen it a thousand times. He had seen worse. This was perhaps dispassionate but there wasn’t anything in Montgomery that stirred. Swallowing calmly, he looked down at the skin. It was just laying there. Montgomery could just take it and leave. But that was cruel. She wouldn’t last more then a month, if that without her skin. It would be a painful way to go, like the most extreme withdrawal symptoms. Montgomery had read an account of it once, fascinating. Maybe they would take it and just watch, see her degrade before selling it on. The observations alone were more then worth it. Signing once more, Montgomery indicated for her to kick it over to him, and then step back away.

Tears still streaming down her face, Skylar watched the way they didn’t care. There was no hint of emotion in their eyes, no compassion there. This man was… a hunter. Not in the way that Rio was, or even the way that Nic was. They both cared. They both drew lines. But, he didn’t care that she was in her human form, he didn’t care that she was staring at him, that she understood everything that was going on. As the man began to sign at her, she couldn’t help but close her eyes. She hated it. She hated that he knew sign, she hated that he was making her sign her death warrant in the language that she loved. And she hated herself for doing what she had to. Skylar did as he told her, kicking her skin out towards him. The seal skin flopped in the mud, the coat smeared and streaked with brown as it rolled to his feet.

Montgomery looked at her somewhat dispassionately. It was sad really. In an almost pathetic way Montgomery felt incredibly sorry for her. She had been born into a world that she really didn’t stand a chance in. Her own species didn’t seem to care enough to teach her how to live safely. She was just unlucky really. Maybe Montgomery was just really lucky. Without taking their eyes off of Skylar, Montgomery crab walked carefully to the side of the skin, crouching down carefully they realised that they weren’t really as lucky as they thought that they were. A loose branch, a stone, he didn’t know what it was but it sent them sprawling as they snatched for the skin, their fingers wrapping clumsily around it, a poor grip as they sprawled onto the forest floor. His old bones creaked and he felt his body groan in pain. He was getting old. 

Skylar’s eyes were trained on the man the entire time he walked towards her, the way he crouched in the ground, grasping at her skin. He was really going to take it. And if he took it… the pain, the depression, everything that came with losing her skin would come back. And she would die. She would die, just as surely as she would if he fired that gun. The pain would overtake her, the agony would overwhelm her, the oppressive absence of her skin would win. And she would be dead. But, she didn’t want to die.

The thought sent a jolt through her. She didn’t want to die. It wasn’t something she’d ever verbalized, something she’d ever put together. But… It was true. As hard as this life was, as difficult as it was to try and figure out who she was and what she was, it was her life. And she wasn’t going to let him take her life. Not him, not anyone. Not without a fight. When she saw him fall, foot catching on some foliage amongst the weeds, she knew that she had to act. Call it fate, call it God, call it a lucky break. Skylar wasn’t going to lose it. Rushing towards the man, she lunged forwards, her mouth wide open. Her curved, wicked sharp teeth clamped down on his wrist, her jaws flexing hard. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she felt her teeth cut through flesh and she almost gagged. But, she wasn’t done yet. Yanking her mouth free, her teeth dragged across flesh, tearing at, as she reached with her hands and grabbed her pelt back. Skylar scrambled away, hoping to be free of him.

Montgomery howled in pain. Being bitten by a wild animal was tough. Always painful. They were wild things for a reason and they had the jaw strength to tear through and rend flesh as if it were nothing more then a warm knife moving through butter. He felt the teeth slice through muscle in his forearm and blood spurted across his skin and she pulled her pelt away from them along with a chunk of flesh. As she’d bitten them, Montgomery had lost grip of their revolver, but as Skylar scuttled away heading towards the river, Montgomery couldn’t help but grin. “At least you’ve got some fight left in you,” he hollered at her, not that it really occurred to them in that visceral moment of pain and agony that this was probably not something she could hear, “I’m not going to let you get away though.” With his hand that was less maimed then the one that she had bitten, Montgomery scooped up his gun and aimed down the iron sights, but then Skylar dipped behind a tree in her rush to get to the river and Montgomery swore. Sprinting after her, he tried to get a good shot, but a combination of firing with his bad hand, the extreme pain he was currently experiencing (not to mention the blood gushing from the wound) and the moving target. Squeezing the trigger, Montgomery knew that they hadn’t hit her where he wanted, he wasn’t even sure he’d hit her. But he kept moving, his prey wouldn’t escape him. 

The taste of blood was overwhelming in her mouth, making Skylar gag as she ran away through the trees along the shoreline. If she could just make it to the river, if she could just get to the water, she would be safe. She would be free. And, for a brilliant moment, as the water rushed along the shoreline, lapping at the smooth river rock-- it seemed as though she’d made it. But, she couldn’t hear the way the hunter was yelling at her, she couldn’t make out the subtle sounds of the gun being cocked. But, the gunshot cut through the rapid pounding of her heart. The sound, then the pain-- instant, searing pain that seared up her leg. She fell to the ground, her pelt dropping with her. The iron-rich scent of blood filled the air and Skylar let out a shuddering gasp as she glanced down before immediately wishing she hadn’t. It looked as though someone had taken a long, thin scoop of her flesh from her calf. And the blood. The blood was thick and viscous and pouring from the wound. Gritting her teeth together, she crawled to the water’s edge, draping her pelt clumsily over her. Rocks scraped her stomach and mud slathered against her skin, but she continued, forcing her body to turn. She had to turn. She had to change. She had to, if she wanted to live.

Montgomery was not above making mistakes. Clearly. Just look at this situation that he found himself in. He had allowed his prey the chance to escape and of course a creature would always take the opportunity to scarper down it’s proverbial rabbit hole. In this case, the girl, as skinny and slight as she was, well she was bolting. Her rabbit hole was a river where Montgomery knew that he would not be able to follow her. After all he was in his element right now and as such he was in control, but once she returned to her element then she would once more gain the upper hand. Pain wracked his body as he staggered through the underbrush, his arm looked bad, the flesh was ragged and torn where her fangs had shredded through muscle, flesh and skin, but pain was temporary. The pleasure that this would bring him would be permanent and Montgomery was wondering just how well they could incorporate a stuffed selkie into their collection of trophies. After all, they weren’t someone to make a fool of. “There’s nowhere to go girl,” he grunted in his south african drawl, “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, even if you get into the river, I know you live in town, I’ll find you again. Better to just end this now.” Montgomery would never underestimate the power of hopelessness. It had the potential to really take away from someone’s confidence in their ability to simply survive. 

The water was a cool relief against her burning flesh and Skylar forced herself deeper into the river. As she slid into the dark water, grit and small pebbles pressed against her open wound, eliciting a gasp of pain. Her blood stained the water around her, a circle of red that grew as she tried to slip into the seal pelt that was pressed against her. But, at the man’s words, she froze. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to go. He knew that she lived in town and he was… he was threatening everything, everyone. When she swallowed, the taste of blood hung with a cloying bitterness in her mouth. Anger, fear, it all roared in the back of her mind. She wished she was stronger, braver. So that she could say words that promised revenge. But, as she looked at him, all she could see was an angry, broken man. A man with bags under his eyes, a ruined arm at his side, and bright white hair. He was angry and he was cruel. And he’d tried to kill her, promised to kill her. But, she couldn’t help but pity him. What had made him this way? Staring at him with blue eyes the color of the sea, the words bubbled from her lips, the first words she’d said in nearly a week.

“I forgive you.” She said before slipping into her skin and diving to the depths of the river.

[henry-booers]

DIVE

DIVE

(Gender Neutral Reader)

A/N: This idea came to me kind of like how Lady in the Water worked. It’s one of my favorite childhood movies. So I basically wanted to write something for the boys in a fantasy sense and what do I like the most in fantasy?? Mermaids of course so I said ‘why not?’ and here we are.

This is based in the modern world but in a world where things like mermaids are known about but a rare thing to see. You meet a rebel group of mermen and help them out.

Living so close to the coast brings a lot of benefits, from fresh amazing food to wonderful creatures like dolphins or whales on a nice stroll. It's always been a nice life out here, your parents are not the healthiest to be around so the walks on the beach were everything you needed in order to get your mind out of the mud. You would take pictures of whale sightings, when you went out for lunch you would meet the same three dolphins near a dock restaurant. Every day was very repetitive but somehow seemed to stay new.

This time around though wasn't what you entirely expected. You had a little spot for yourself on a nearby beach where it was a very shallow and nice waterhole in the times of the day were low tide approaches. It's a nice place to wade in and just cool down or sit down and enjoy the day.  This was a day where your parents were having a very cranky and loud day, so you decided to just step out and walk to your spot. This was supposed to be a ‘sit down and relax because its still cold outside’ but what you saw wasn't what you entirely expected.

Four Mermaids waded in the center fo the shallow pool, obviously annoyed by the sound of their voices. You couldn't make out what they were saying but you could tell this was not a planned stranding.

You remember that it would be possible to meet a few mermaids here and there but they rarely came to the shore to see others. Most of them kept to themselves because of how dirty the shores could be. These Mermaids were in fact Mermen, hair decorated with simple things like stringed seashells and weeds, along with colorful ocean plants. Their tails were very vibrant, ranging from sunsets to night stars. They were very beautiful.

You didn't want to disrupt them but seeing the scene before you started to make sense why they didn't leave before the tide lowered. The bigger one out of all of them, in size he was huge, maybe a merman correlating with a larger aquamarine species. He was at the bottom of the pool, while the more limber and smaller ones were atop their figurative thrones, seeing here there was a problem.

The leader was annoyed, and you could tell he was from his tone of voice and the way he held himself. The one next to him was cocky, a smile on his face laughing at the struggle. While the third smaller one was with the largest of the group, trying to calm him down. The tail did seem heavy and you understood it must be a struggle to even lift it to settle down on a sunbathing rock.

You noticed the one smiling caught your eye contact, holding it for a bit of time as his smile faded. He leaned over to the leader and mumbled something in his ear. With this you were met with two pairs of eyes on your form, standing comfortably on the opposite side of the pool, starting at the steep hill you usually climbed down to settle on a smooth rock. This attracted the other two to see you, and you saw the stress and embarrassment on their faces. This awkward eye contact went for some time before you spoke to break the stressed silence.

“Do you all need help?”

This question lingered in the air, waiting to be caught by one of them before the dark haired one snickered out,

“What do you think Henry? Do we need help?”

“I’m not sure Patrick,” He paused before breaking his gaze from you, and slowly turned his head to the ones below, “Do you need help, Reggie?”

“Don't fucking patronize me, Bowers.” The large one responded, this wasn't a solid answer for you but you knew when someone was under a lot of stress and needed a little help.

Your feet carefully follow the steps you know so well, sliding down smoothly to the bottom of the pool and jumping on a couple rocks before noticing you may have to get a little wet….and cold.

“Can you get to the edge so I can lift you from a higher rock?”

“I didn't say I needed help”

“You obviously need help.”

‘Reggie’ stayed quiet after that comment, bouncing himself over to the edge as requested, following close behind was the one merman you didn't catch the name of, blonde, skinny. You hop up onto a higher rock with a grunt, followed by the blonde. You thought to yourself as you grabbed under the arms of Reggie, that blonde wasn't very natural, he must get some sort of bleach hair dye from someone on the shores. Maybe he comes here frequently. You pulled with all of your might, yes this man was very heavy but you didn't blame him for his breed must be naturally this heavy. With the help of the other, it was a little more bearable but the first heave up onto that rock had your neck and arms aching.

Looking to the two above you, watching you all with sharp and wondering eyes. You gave them a slight glare, seeing as just sitting upon the highest tip of rocks wasn't very helpful. They caught this and Henry returned the look while Patrick decided to give you a sharp tooth smile.

“Snapjaw.” You mumbled to yourself, now thinking of all of the species and breed with teeth from sharks to piranhas.

While your thoughts raced you went and went for another couple of rocks, at least Reggie tried to make it easier for you by heaving himself up with his tail, you could tell his tail was a very strong one. Once you got to a good point where he could easily climb over and into the water, you stood up straight and stretched out your muscles. You were definitely going to be sore tomorrow.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, looking away from you and hopping himself down into the water, leaving the others behind. Patrick followed, and the blonde one followed after as well. You were not that strong but the bit of help was nice so you gave him a quick thanks, and you got a nod in return.

Henry stayed behind and eyes you carefully, in which you returned the gaze but focused more on his face than anything else.

Then without saying anything, the sunset scaled boy hopped off himself, without saying anything.

‘What an interesting group.’ you thought

‘Cool that I met some mermaids, much prettier in person than I expected.’

You were about to back off and step back to climb down before you noticed a shell, a curved one twisted into a clean point. A shell that a hermit crab could wear. You haven't seen one this pretty and shiny before, so it wasn't from around here.

You carefully pick it up and inspect the fragile thing, maybe this was left behind from one from one of them as a wordless thanks, or maybe they just dropped it on the way down. Either way, you made sure to keep it safe on the way home. The house was quiet and in a better atmosphere than when you left.

You set the shell down on your nightstand, inspecting it in a better light.

‘This would make a beautiful necklace.’

[littlenomo]

Sun, Sex and Sus-fish-ous Flores

We were struck straight away by the beauty of Labuan Bajo, the town we visited on the island of Flores. Still by the sea, but this time a harbour town with pretty twinkling boats scattered in the bay and little green pointed islands sticking out of the sea everywhere you looked. It reminded me of Halong Bay. The main excitement here (and indeed the main reason we chose to visit) was the diving! We had 2 days diving, 5 dives in total. Obviously the main event was swimming with Mantas. It was every bit as magical as I'd imagined and a bucket list item for me ever since I'd heard about them in Fiji three years ago. We dived twice at Manta Point, and the two dives couldn't have been more different! We did our first real current diving here and the first time at Manta Point was under an extremely strong current, like a blizzard under water! This made it very tiring and a bit scary at times as we clung on to the rocks on the bottom while the current tried to drag us away from our Manta watching. The mantas themselves weren't fazed at all, just waving their huge wings gently and somehow staying fixed to the spot with seemingly minimal effort. I wish I could think of another less used word for them, but majestic really is the best way to describe these 4/5m wide creatures. One swimming directly over Alex was a particular highlight and when we sat and watched another for a while I'll admit a little tear came to my eye; I couldn't believe I was there. The second time we had almost no current and it was much more relaxed. Our group also just consisted of Alex and I with our guide so each moment felt like it was only for us. Having said all this, my favourite dives were the ones we did on the underbelly of some of the little islands I mentioned earlier. They were a haven for the sea life and we were surrounded by a real life fishy metropolis consisting of hundreds of fish, slopes of spectacular coral and all sorts of weird and wonderful sea life. There's no way I could mention (or remember!) everything we saw, but here's an attempt: huge (over 100 year old) turtles, fish with leopard spots, zebra stripes, giraffe print, and fork pronged tails; puffer fish, lion fish, chubby fish with black and white stripes on top, fat spots underneath and dip dyed yellow fins; little yellow fish with pink Mohicans, an octopus hiding in its hole, a big pregnant trigger fish attacking our guide, a shark, big schools of silver fish with a red racing stripe, coral camouflage fish, electric blue lanky starfish, furry little crabs, jazzy sea slugs, and a striped sea snake. And then there was the coral. It was every shape, colour and texture you can imagine. Some that looked like brains, some that looked like a heart, some that had feathery fingers (we even saw some black feathers swimming to a new location!), some so colourful it would make you double take, some that was sharp and uninviting, some squidgy and soft like Nemo's home. The whole thing made me feel a bit "Disney", when you looked up at the sloping colours and shapes and the sun shining through at the surface of the water. My inner Ariel felt very much at home in those moments and I thought I could look at it all forever. As you can probably tell, we loved it! The whole thing was like a fashion stylist or interior designers dream; anything you've seen on land has already been done (and probably all the more stylishly) in the underwater world. On our second dive day we also squeezed in a quick visit to Rinca (reen-che) island to see the Komodo Dragons. They were pretty terrifying!! The whole tour they kept telling us how you never know when they'll attack, how fast they were and how they single out the weakest people. Knowing that I was definitely the weakest in our group I was keen to keep my distance as the others edged only around 2m away from them! They are surprisingly big (up to 3.5m), dinosaur-esque cannibals who poison their prey with bacteria living in their mouths and follow them while they die slowly over a matter of weeks... you can see why they're called dragons. It's mad that so many locals live with them on the island, especially considering that one of the dragons (who they've marked in white paint) is notorious for attacking humans and it took three men to pull him off the guy he bit just two weeks previously!! We were so glad we'd seen them though, it was all very fascinating, if a little disconcerting! With all the great diving available, we found that Flores was again busy enough to meet people and we had a few social afternoons / evenings. We met the brilliant Loxley and Jamie from Glastonbury at our great hostel (Dragon Dive Komodo). We bonded immediately with this adventurous couple who were our age, had been together for over ten years and were in the thick of some brilliant travelling and working in Asia and Australia. We had a really nice afternoon with them and a few others at the beach just 15 minutes north of the city. We did some snorkelling (you could actually swim over to the next island as it was so close!) and again saw loads. We then had some tasty local food and beers with everyone, finishing up with a discussion on the legalisation of marijuana! Loxley and Jamie also dove with us on the last day and afterwards we went for dinner at what turned out to be a favourite haunt of ours, "Le Pirate", a rooftop bar with an amazing sunset view and little pool to cool off and sip cocktails in. We splashed out a little for our last two beach side nights with a hotel room that's door opened almost directly on to the sand and had a pool from which you could watch the sunset over the shore. Aside from some a few extreme-heat-induced stressful moments, we absolutely loved Flores and the people (and fish!) we met there. It'll be funny to be back in cities again now. First up Yogyakarta (Y pronounced like a J) and only 8 days to go til home!!

[guksthighs]

Part Of Your World

Parts: one | two | three | four | end 

Group: BTS

Pairing: J HOPE X READER

Requested: Anonymous said:  omg I love your writing!!! Can I request a j hope au where he is a merman and he tries to get you to go and live in the sea with him thanks

Excerpt:  ‘never trust a mermaid because they could be a siren in disguise’

Genre: fantasy, mermaid au

Length: 1.5k

A/N: there will be a part two.. and a three and a four and a five.

“Never trust a mermaid,” your large eyes turned to your mother, “they could be a siren just waiting to lure you to your death.”

The slow sound of waves crashing on the shore brought these words to your mind as you looked out to the horizon. You had always been drawn to the ocean; from a young child, those words had been repeated to you daily as you often swam off chasing mermaids. Your poor mother tried to interest you in mundane activities, building intricate sandcastles or running around the shore to collect shells. But nothing was as interesting, as enrapturing as chasing mermaids; wading into the water as you stuck your head under and opened your eyes even with the sharp burn stinging sensation enhancing the wide grin on your face.

These days you were less inclined to run all over the beach shouting for a mermaid. You let a heavy sigh before you pushed yourself off the porch, picking up the black bin bag and beginning your usual routine of picking up broken beer bottle and plastic bags. There was so much rubbish flying around the beach and these days you found the only thing you were running around the beach was to clean it.

Choosing to be a marine biologist hadn’t been a choice, more like a duty. You were increasingly concerned about the wildlife on your beach, turtles turning up dead with their heads sealed in plastic wrapping.

Usually, you would wear headphones, the heavy bass of a song making what you were doing less upsetting and making it more a job, a duty to the beach you had grown up on.

But this morning your headphones were so hopelessly tangled you had decided to go without and enjoy the water rippling against the shore, seagulls screeching in the distance before there was silence. Then you heard it, a voice drifting in the morning mist singing a haunting tune. You dropped the half-empty beer bottle into the bag as your body froze, vision blurring slightly as your eyes began to blur with tears. Slowly the lyrics began to find their way into your ears, words that spoke to your love of the beach, of the sea, of nature.

You began to walk towards the sea, your body was numb and you were out of control with each thud of your bare feet hitting the sand. It was only the sharp pain of glass as it entered you in the foot that awoke you from the daze, pain making your thoughts come rushing back. You looked around, confused and intrigued as you stared off into the distance, the sudden silence being broken by a splash on the horizon.

At first, the water had chilled your skin, you felt as though it were hostile towards you. But as you kicked away from the beach, bright yellow fish swam around you, the pastel colours of coral looked healthy as the only thing you could hear was your slightly laboured breathing through your snorkel. The water was crystal clear to your delight, as you watched the silver bellies of minnows flashing as they moved within their shoal. The grin on your mouth widened as bubbles escaped your mouth in a laugh; it was so refreshing to remind yourself that not all was lost until a glint caught your eye.

You took a huge gulp of air, before releasing it all and diving down hands brushing slightly against the coral as you went to yank the glass free but as a piece of coral seemed dangerously close to breaking off, a hand snaked around your ankle. A cold, almost slimy hand that was pulling you up so fast that your head felt light; all oxygen having left your lungs until you resurfaced, yanking off your mask to gulp in large gulps of air.

Your head whipped around, looking for whatever had touched you. As it was not a fish or a turtle brushing past you but a human hand; you were sure of it. But it was hard to not think about your childish self, chanting about mermaids as you ran around and yet it seemed the only current possibility.

These mysterious incidences that all pointed towards mermaids continued to stack up from you finding scaled lodged on a rock too large for a fish. Until it all came to a head on the day you were lifeguarding for a friend, the beach was bustling as you sat in the chair trying to turn a blind eye to the littering as you watched the shore for any possible problems.

That’s when you saw it, someone floundering in the distance one of the deepest places where the coral just dropped away; you blinked hard and leapt up. The run across the beach was quick before you leapt into the water, your arms and legs working as hard as they could to reach the person in time.

The splashing was obviously weaker than before as you wrapped your arms around his torso pulling him up as you managed to turn the boy around, wet blonde hair covered his forehead and his lips were tinged blue. You wrapped your arms around his back, before squeezing him forward to rid his lungs of any ingested water. As you bent your ear to his mouth to see if he was still breathing, your legs began to cramp, unable to continue treading water to keep the two of you up.

Suddenly, there was a nip at your ear and you jolted back, dropping the boy’s body. But he was afloat, his body snapping straight up as he looked you dead in the eye as infectious laughter erupted from his mouth, “You’re prettier up close!”

You desperately tried to figure out what was happening until something seaweed-like brushed against your leg, you looked him in the eyes as he sent you another grin before it happened again. This time you looked down and let out a gasp as your legs stopped treading water completely as you went into shock and a bad case of cramp, leading to you sinking like a rock meaning you saw his tail even better.

He had a tail, a fish tail. A beautiful green scaled tail that swished from side to side as he stayed afloat, you let out a gasp as all the air left your lungs and watched him dive down with a flick of his tail as his arms now looped under your arms as he pulled you back to the surface, pulling you over his shoulder as he patted your back, causing you to splutter water over his shoulder.

“I’m Jung Hoseok by the way,” he seemed to be finding the entire situation hysterical

“You’re a merman?” you’re vision was blurry with sea salt and you let your muscles relax as you held onto his shoulders, gripping at the lean muscle as you tried to understand what was happening.

The following day started as usual, with the crash of waves but this morning you leapt out of bed. You frantically pulled on a jumper and a pair of shorts before grabbing a can of tuna from the cupboard and running out with a jump in your step that hasn’t been there since it had been declared it was illegal to bring dogs to your local beaches.

You ran to the rock pools, opening the tin of tuna you left it next to you and began to run your hand through the water. You stroked the backs of small crabs and dug your fingers into the sand bringing it to your face as you looked at the small pink shells in your hand.

But as you leant backwards to stretch your back, hearing a satisfying click you felt two hands grab your shoulders as you were pulled off the ledge and into the sea. Hoseok’s laughter filled your ears and you whipped around as fast as you could to meet his eyes as you glared. He was now sitting on the rock, hands digging into the tuna as he smiled down at you, hair matted and in your face grasping onto a rock so you were no longer being dragged own.

“Y/N, thanks for the meal!” he grinned before giving you a hand to help pull you back onto the rock, watching as you began to shiver in the early morning wind, he placed an arm over your shoulder bringing you into his chest and planting a kiss on your wet hair.

And your mother’s words echoed in your head ‘never trust a mermaid because they could be a siren in disguise’. They will sing you a lullaby of salt, that calls your every fibre to go to the sea and you won’t be able to fight because sirens are like the sea’s angels or worse, its demons.

NEXT PART >>

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[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

15th September 2017

We woke up around 0730. Well, I did but I woke Steve up trying to get out of the bed. I woke up starving because we had our "dinner" at lunch time. I had my muesli straight away outside on the bench in the courtyard area. Steve eventually joined me but he didn't have breakfast. He's not a breakfast person really. I was still having a pitty party. Why did this happen to us? Why couldn't it happen 3 months down the line. I needed to get out of my state of mind. The problem isn't that the farm shut down, really. We didn't want our second year and that's what farm work is actually for. We were going to keep the second year but just as a back up plan, in case we wanted it for a few years down the line. I like having options. We wanted the experience and we got it. Now that we've lost it, we're going to miss it, I'm sure. The actual problem is that I don't like unexpected change that I didn't create for myself. This wasn't my choice therefore I don't like it. I like to be in control and there was nothing I could do about it. I sat on the bed and completed the Seafarm application form. Steve did his after mine. I went to the office to collect the van keys so I could drive there and drop the forms off. I asked Cait if she wanted to come with us, but she hadn't done hers yet. I told Hugo and Donald that we were leaving and they jumped in the van with us. I had only been to the seafarm once yesterday but I have an excellent sense of direction and managed to get us there without any help. I was shocked when I managed to get us to Coles last week which is a 45 minute drive away, I had no Satnav or anything then either. That was by memory. I definitely don't get that from my Mum. We handed the forms in and the lady said it'll be about 6 weeks. Funny that. When I first rang, the guy said 3-4 weeks. Yesterday when we picked them up, the lady said 4-5 weeks and now it's 6 weeks. I don't think they know what's happening. The Seafarm will probably make Steve and I so miserable. It's 6 days a week, 14 hour days with 1 half an hour break. The only reason we want it, is because the money is brilliant. We'd save up what we'd need for the East Coast in 4 weeks... (The money is only good because we're there for 90% of the 4 weeks). We got back and I found an application form for the Banana Farm in Tully. I done my application and then Steve's, and sent them off. Tully is 40-60 minutes away so we'd be able to probably stay in Cardwell and drive there. I'm trying my hardest to stay here because we're so comfortable. I love our room, I love the area (as much as you can love being in the middle of nowhere with nothing). I love the pool and just how chilled out it is. I panic having to start again somewhere new. It started to rain. Like we needed any more reasons to be down around here. I got myself showered and chilled in the room. I started to get my blogs done. Steve came into the room after chatting away to Danny outside. He said that Danny and Fraser were going to walk down to the Aboriginal Museum if we wanted to join. We weren't doing anything else so we said yeah - why not. I put jeans on because I get cold easily. One bit of aircon and I've got goosebumps for the entire time. We walked the 10 minutes down to the 'museum'. It was a museum, but it was tiny. I'm not sure what I was expecting to be fair. We're in the tiny town of Cardwell after all. It was basically a house with two big rooms. One room had items from Aboriginal past with loads of information and the other had gifts and art you could buy. We stayed there reading all the facts, looking at the things they made from hand. It was really interesting, especially because it was mainly about Cardwell Aboriginals. There were photos displayed of their groups in 1940. We went outside and walked around their mini botanical garden before I found the weirdest looking spider we've ever come across. It was medium size, nothing all that big. It was the shape of an X with 4 legs. It's spiders web went in an X shape too but if you looked closely, they were in zig-zag form. It was beyond weird. I took a photo. We walked back after spending the best part of 45 minutes walking around. We got back to the hostel and I was sweating. It was cloudy and raining earlier but now it was blue skies and sunny. I wish the weather would make it's mind up. I got out of my jeans as soon as possible. I spent the next hour trying to catch up on my blogs. I went outside to see what everyone was doing and I found Steve, Danny and Fraser on the floor playing giant snakes and ladders. Men are so easily pleased I love it. I let them continue and hid back in my little den, right where the aircon was. I uploaded my GoPro photos and videos to my laptop, then continued with the pile up of blogs I had. Around 1500, I heard a knock at the door. I answered it and it was Lisa and Hugo. They said they were going to go fishing on the jetty and asked whether we wanted to go. Of course, big ears did so we put the laptop away and went outside into the courtyard. I stood around waiting for the boys to find the fishing rods and spoke to Mitch and Cait. The boys sorted themselves out and then we turned around to find Vicki behind us. I went over and gave her a cuddle. She was here to say goodbye to Cait and Mitch and pick up some books they were giving her. We stood there for 45 minutes chatting to her. We were able to get some photos together which was nice. Vicki said she'd spent the whole day crying. She woke up thinking it was a dream but it wasn't. Luckily, she has good links to other farms and one of them in Innisvale rang her. The guy said to her that he has no idea why he's ringing her because he literally has nothing to offer at the moment but, he knows... That's so lovely. She said hopefully something comes up in a month and he said that he should have something by then. Hopefully Vicki will be alright. She said that she'd never stepped foot off of the Australian ground so we said that she should 100% go to England, and other places obviously. She'd have so many people that would let her stay with them too. We had to say goodbye and she started to cry again. She said that it was a good job that the farm has closed because she couldn't keep doing this. See gets attached to the backpackers she hires and then her heart breaks when they leave her. I really hope she, and her family will be okay. Steve and I walked down to the jetty because the others had already left. I didn't want to leave mid-conversation with Vicki so I gave them the van keys. It was really windy out. We got to the end of the jetty and the two lads Donald and Hugo were fishing, or so what they called 'fishing'. I sat down and watch Steve get involved with a crab line or something like that. After a good, long, boring 10 minutes. I decided that it was time to go back... It was windy and very unenjoyable. Lexi joined us on the way home from work, so I drove her, myself and Steve back to the hostel. I said I'd pick the others up later when they wanted. Around 1900, I had my dinner which was cereal. We weren't that hungry so cereal would do the trick. I sat outside with Lexi who was having a meltdown about farm work. She said that she was running out of time to get her 3 months in to secure her second year which she really wants. This is the standard situation for the majority of backpackers. Although, you only have to do 3 months (88 days), backpackers spend roughly 6 months of their year getting these signed off. Waiting lists are ridiculously long and farmers take the p*ss because they know they can. Some aren't legitimate which is scary. I would only go to a farm that I know is safe because someone has already stayed here. Hence why we're here and we're happy. Thanks Emma! There are about 4 options a backpacker can have when it comes to farm work. 1) Do the farm work, if you're lucky enough to find a great farm. 2) Don't do the farm work and find a farmer to pay to lie for you about completing the 3 months. Usually will cost $300. The visa itself costs $440. 3) Try your hardest, work at stupid farms and then give up on the idea of a second year because you are hating on Australia so much (in the moment feel). 4) Lie about doing your farm work, apply for the visa and hope for the best. Only 1/5 visas get investigated. You put the application in, lie about your days, pay for it and wait. If it gets accepted, you're a lucky son of a mother. If not, you can just cancel your application so the investigation doesn't go ahead. Lexi said that she was thinking about just applying for it but she said she was scared. I said go for it because the only thing she has to lose is the money for the visa... That way, she'll know what to do with the rest of her first year. Naughty, but hey ho. Thousands do it. She came into my room and borrowed my laptop. The form took around 30 minutes to complete and she parted with the $440. Here's hoping... Lexi said she wanted to watch a DVD. I was sad that our room didn't have one - only some did. I remembered that Katie had one in her room and I was hoping it was still in there. Steve went and broke into the room and found it. BTW, we live in a tin can and you can get into anyone’s room with ease. It's not really breaking in. He took the DVD player and wires and put them into our TV. The TV then had a weird line across the front of it. He then decided to change our TV over so he went breaking in again... He's such a crimmie. We went to the office and it was shut with the lights on. Leonie was just sitting there. She's devastated that she's losing her backpackers because of the farm shutting. I feel so, so sorry for her and Rod. I don't really like Rod as a person, he's not very nice to English people. But still, it's not their fault and they give us as much as they can. We picked our DVD's and left. They have loads to rent for us which is great. We got into bed and ended up falling asleep without even putting a film on...

[papersandkeyboards]

5/2-8 (1): Beach Trip; Softball Senior Night

32nd WEEK, MAY 2-8, 2016.

See this?

This is the scariest thing I’ve seen this week.

Or maybe this month.

Or maybe in a long time.

And what makes it scarier is the fact that it will keep going earlier and earlier until summer solstice.

I looked it up. On Ramadan, which will start around June 6-7, average time for Fajr will be around 3. Which means I will have to wake up at 2 to eat suhoor (a pre-dawn meal you eat before you fast for the whole day).

And the next scariest thing would be the fact that sunset on Ramadan will be at like 9pm. So... roughly 18 hours of fasting.

I was totally not prepared for this.

(kebanyakan dosa)

Ehm.

On another note, this week has been okay, although not quite same-old-same-old.

On Monday and Tuesday, the IB students had IB testing for Language and Literature. Since seniors have to take IB Lang and Lit, we all had to take the IB Exam. (unless you’re like me and some other people—who weren’t registered on IB website for IB testing because you enrolled to the school late) (but Mrs. Shaw said even if we’re not registered we still had to take the exam as our grades) (which made me complained to Mr. Pierce—the man in charge—on how unfair the world is because he let Gretar and Abdulmalik and Raffy not to take the test for some reasons but not me)

But the test went on from the beginning of school day to around 10.30ish, so if that means I can skip second period, I’m not complaining no more.

The first day wasn’t so stressful. We had to pick one of two provided texts and just analyze the hell out of it to the very core. You know, basic English class stuff. Everything happens for a reason. Why is the size of the text like this. Why does the author put this part before this part. What does this picture mean. Why is the person in this picture wearing a dress.

Subhanallah. Suka-suka aja deh.

And on the second day, we had to answer one out of six provided questions about the books we’ve read over the year. Some students had to do “The Things They Carried” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” because they’ve been in the class since the beginning of the year, and for the students who had just enrolled to the school this past semester had to do “Othello” and “Things Fall Apart”. That’s for standard level class students. Higher level class students had to do three texts instead of two.

To be honest, it’s not that dreadful. (or maybe because English has been a fav subject for me) and to be honest, it feels good to skip first and second and third period. Haha.

Oceanography class keeps getting better and better. Mrs. Wong has this target to take her Oceanography class to three field trip this year. So far we’ve done one, the Salish Sea one, and here’s our second one: we went to Alki Beach in West Seattle to go tidepooling!

The day we went—Friday, May 6—was one of the days where the tide was really low, probably among the lowest for the month. So when the tide is low, we will see things that is usually below the water surface. What you will see during a low tide is there’re gonna be little pools of ‘leftover water’ from when the tide was high, and inside those little pools are usually multiple organisms you won’t see during the high tide. Tidepooling is like that—looking for (and at) organisms in those little pools during low tide.

Our class is a small class to start with, so, with two people not joining us, there were me, Sadia, Mikhel, Azhanae, Makayla, and Gretar. And Mrs. Wong and Mr. Henderson. We took the school van (that “looks like a rapist van,” Mikhel said) to Alki Beach.

The weather was so nice. It was hot but windy. The beach was pretty too (if you’re thinking about sandy beaches, then you’re wrong. The sandy part of Alki Beach is man-made, the natural beach of most of the Pacific Northwest is rocky—plus, most of organisms we were looking for for tidepooling live off rocks). We found some cool creatures. Small crabs, hermit crabs, moon snails, flatworms, green-pink anemones, and at one point we found a big purple sea star.

It was exciting to see creatures you don’t see very often and you mostly see on the internet.

We were split into two groups. There were me, Sadia, and Makayla in my group. Each group had to come up with an idea of an experiment. We were given hand-outs about the experiment that had been done by previous students, and we were to come up with an experiment quite similar to that one but not exactly the same. My group came up with the experiment of correlation between intertidal zones and size of anemones, while the other group, I think, tried to find out the correlation between intertidal zones and amount of crabs.

Mrs. Wong brought two hula-hoops as a transect, which is like a ‘frame’ that marked the area that we were doing our experiment on. Say that you put a hula hoop on any random place in intertidal zone 1. That means we, in this case, my group, were only allowed to observe anemones within the area inside the hoop ring. This helps the consistency of the experiment, so that we’re not making mistake doing our experiment in different sizes of areas.

After fooling around with the hoop (Sadia was pretty amusing with her hoop skills—and I apparently rediscovered my childhood spirit and did the longest hula-hoop session in my entire life), we sat and filled our papers with background information and procedure. We’re going to do the experiment after lunch.

At lunch, we walked along Alki Beach and tried to find some good place to have lunch. Initially, Sadia had spoken for the entire class that we should have fish and chips at a place called Ivar’s, but much to her disappointment, Ivar’s doesn’t exist in West Seattle. Downtown, probably.

So we ended up splitting up for lunch. Mrs. Wong tried to console Sadia by suggesting some other fish and chips place, but the girl wouldn’t budge, so she stopped at Subway instead, Mikhel later followed. Azhanae and Gretar decided to eat in this place called Fatburger. So Makayla, Mrs. Wong, Mr. Henderson, and I walked some more and found this place called Spuds that sells fish and chips.

It was satisfying. Then we walked back as a group to the beach where we did our experiment. Now we got to use the hoop for collecting data. What we did was we identified intertidal zone 1, 2, and 3. Then we walked to Zone 1 and dropped the hoop on a random spot in Zone 1. As for my group, we measured the diameter of 5 randomly selected anemones within the hoop. As for the other group, they counted the number of crabs within the hoop. Then we moved to Zone 2, making an imaginary straight line outward from the shore as we walked. Then we did the same for Zone 2 and 3. Then we calculated the average and made a claim.

Mrs. Wong is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had—the reason I said this, aside from she really is a good teacher and a nice person to talk to, is because by the time we finished out experiment, we still have 45 minutes of free time if we were to come back to school right when the end-of-school bell rings. Our faces told Mrs. Wong that we didn’t want to go to class, so she gave us that 45 minutes for chilling—strolling along Alki man-made sandy beach. Enjoying the strong wind. Immersing feet into the warm sand. Seeing people laying all over the beach, trying to get tan (while this tropical-born person was trying with all her might not to get sun ray on her skin). Some women doing yoga or some sort. Kids playing with the sand.

Aah.

We went back to school with a happy state of mind. We got to school just around 10 minutes before school ended. If I had nothing to do, I could’ve taken the light rail or the bus straight to downtown to watch the movie I’ve been waiting—Captain America: Civil War, since it was its premier that day. But that’s the thing: I had things to do. Well—one big thing, to be precise.

Friday was our last home game (and last game overall) for softball this year. We were going against Ingraham High School from North Seattle. The first time we were against them was the preceding Wednesday, I think. First thing to know about our softball team: we are so used to losing, and it’s the truth. But for some reason the game left me kind of upset. One big reason why, maybe, was because they deliberately gave themselves three consective outs so that we would have the chance to bat. The same thing Cleveland did. I started to question if this ‘walking off base out of pity’ thing is some kind of secret code of ethics that all schools had but ours.

Oh, and Kira was injured at the very last moment of the game. She was, at first, safe at second base, but then, according to the view from our dugout, she was shoved off by the second baseman, then she fell off the base, then the second baseman had the ball, then she’s out. The girls (of our team) were furious. If you’re from Ingraham High School softball team and reading this, I’m sorry, but some of us did talk shit about you for a while.

But, this last game means it’s our senior night. Senior night just means a little celebration after the game for the seniors who, obviously, will not be playing next year.

(...and exchange students. Well, I am a senior, but Kira is a junior. But we did a celebration for her anyway)

Again, I repeat, it’s our last game. So I won’t let this game make me upset, I’m just gonna have fun. Because, with these guys, I know that we don’t need to win to have fun.

The seniors in our team were me, Imi, Mikhel, Tina (who preferred her name to be written as Teenaah), and Martina. Before the game, the non-seniors (excluding Kira) came with big folded posters. I didn’t know what those were, until they put it along the outfield fence.

Those were posters with the seniors’ (and Kira’s) name on it and their jersey numbers (except me, apparently). Imi’s says ‘Captain Imi’, Tina’s says ‘Teenaah, outfield’, Kira’s says ‘Wir Lieben Kira’ (‘we love Kira’), Mikhel’s says ‘Mikhel, right field’, and Martina’s says something punny about her being a catcher and a get-well-soon wish (since she’s injured a week before our last game).

That did enough to make my mood before the game started.

Nonetheless, the game turned out to be fun. I said it’s fun and I’m pretty happy with it because this time, we were actually better than how we did at our previous game with Ingraham. Our fielding was good and our batting was definitely better than last time (not for me, though, I still suck at batting). I felt so comfy in my inital position as second baseman—although at the last inning I was moved to right field.

Ingraham still won by a lot. But this time, we had points that we acquired ourselves, we gave them outs without them deliberately taking. It was, indeed, a good game.

After the game ended, we gather around a circle as usual. Some girls were fooling around with water from the water dispenser, then secretly tipped it over Tomchick so that the ice-cold water splashed on his back—basically all over his body (I, who was standing next to him, got a bit splashed too—it felt nice, actually, since it’d been hot). Kira and Martenus got a game ball. After the talk, Tomchick took out this plastic bag which apparently had been there all along. Inside it were long necklaces of candies. (iya, kalung permen.) Tomchick gave them to each of the seniors and Kira. Then Coach Beavers gave us a free softball shirt that she made. Then Kira kindly asked for a last group picture since I wasn’t there when they took the official team picture for the yearbook (aww).

Ah. What a good way to end the season.

The week didn’t stop there. Fun things mostly happen at the weekend.

.

-continues

[rissaroundtheworld]

“"Where We’re Going, We Don't Need Roads” - A Memoir of My First Month at Sea

Ahoy beloved friends and readers! I write to you from the back of my new home, a 38 foot catamaran, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. This area is solely inhabited and governed by the native indigenous people, the Kunas, several of which have become my boyfriends. The most useful, Apio (spanish for celery, so you know he's the real deal) just motored up to this boat on a tiny wooden kayak (called a Cayuca) to ask me if I would like him to deliver me a few cases of beer tomorrow. Obviously, I said "si."

In case that last sentence didn't make it clear, life is a little different here. And by a little, I mean it couldn't possibly be more of a 180 from my previous life OR my backpacking life. Who knew I could take the life I knew, chew it up, and spit it back out twice in less than a year!?! With that being said, this new adventure has been amazing. I am learning new things, seeing new places, meeting new people, and I might be the most tan I've ever been (which, I've been told, is still not very impressive.) Still, its been a wild ride getting here, and it took me some time to adjust. Here's my best recap on the last month or so:

Originally, the plan was for me to fly into Panama City and meet the boat in San Blas, where we are spending the foreseeable future. However, I'm learning that unexpected and sometimes seemingly disastrous boat problems are to be expected anytime, anywhere, and such problems occurred while the boat was still in Bocas del Toro, where I began my international solo travel 9 months ago. Since I was the mule for crucial boat parts, my new-new life started right where my old-new life began. To be honest, being back was a bit of a head trip and I was happy to get out. Thankfully, we made a fast escape after about 48 hours of boat and food provisioning related insanity. There were two crew members on board, Liz and Tomas, and we picked up a third, Daria, thanks to the glorious gift of Tinder. This online dating-friendly crew would make up my social circle for the next few weeks and I couldn't have been luckier! Tomas was a professional chef and made us AMAZING food for every meal, every day, while Liz, Daria, and I spent most of our free time floating naked in the Caribbean drinking gin. I brought down an inflatable flamingo, whom we named Domingo, and most days were spent jumping off the boat onto Domingo and seeing who did a better job (Generally Liz). We listened to music, made jewelry, played board games, and mostly just didn't wear clothes. Seriously... I saw a lot of bums.

With that being said, we did do actual work and we definitely did actual sailing. My sailing experience previously consisted of taking a bedsheet and tucking it into my rollerblades during a hurricane as a teenager, so it should go without saying that the learning curve was a bit steep. Luckily, my rock climbing background set me up as a great rope coiler, and the knowledgeable crew helped me out a lot. Now I sort of know how to avoid crashing into reefs, and I can help let out anchor chain like a champ. Since Tomas is now gone (I miss you everyday amigo!) I am also the resident chef, and I prepare all meals wearing a pirate apron. I still don't know how to cook fish, which is a small problem when you live on a boat in the middle of nowhere with a spearfisherman, but... we're working on it. And luckily, everyone likes sushi.

A few major things have happened in this time period. Thing one was my first open ocean sail! After leaving Bocas, we did a few "test" sails, which involved staying relatively close to the marina in case anything went wrong and basically gliding over calm waters. I was, at this time, not aware that this not "real" sailing. I thought "hey! This is great, I can do this!" We coasted along, drank some beers, listened to good music, and relaxed. Joke was on me. Once we determined that the boat was in good enough condition to leave, we ACTUALLY sailed... turns out this is very different. I don't remember exactly where our first big sail began or ended, but I do remember how long it was: 28 hours. The beginning was comical - it took the entire 4 member crew to prepare coffee, one person holding the kettle down while the boat was rocking, one person holding the grinder down, then a full support team trying to safely pour boiling hot water into the french press while maintaining three points of contact on the incredibly unstable boat. Needless to say there were a few burns and a LOT of spilled coffee (remember, the next step was getting it into mugs - oooooff!) At first we had fun with it - we had contests to see who could stand on one foot the longest (Liz again), played ukulele, listened to The Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat" far more times than necessary. Sleeping was awful, and we all had to take shifts in the middle of the night to make sure the boat didn't crash (evidently this is something you want to avoid). But, we made it, spent a few days re-provisioning, and then made our final jump. 10 hours, which sounded like nothing compared to the previous 28, but once again... joke was on me. These seas were significantly more rough than before, and about an hour in I noticed myself feeling a little... off. This quickly escalated into 9 straight hours of me curled up in the fetal position on the back deck with a sarong over my face, occasionally experiencing a moment of strength where I would drag myself inside to get as many Ritz crackers as I could hold in one hand. When we finally arrived in San Blas, I couldn't even bring myself to participate in the obligatory "anchor beer" (another boating skill I am quickly adapting to). This was not a fun time.

Luckily, I recovered quickly, and to calm any fears of potential visitors, this is NOT what its like to sail around San Blas. Not even close. Seasickness is entirely not a thing here, even for my apparently delicate self. And with all this time spent not being seasick, we've done a LOT now that we're here! Activities have included:

DIVING If you saw me when I came home in December, you may have noticed (and politely not mentioned) that I put on a few L-Bs since leaving. And if you knew me at any point ever in my life, you know that this is not something I stand for. When I left home the second time (after of course gorging on Christmas cookies) I got my act together - ate better, drank less, worked out more consistently. My primary workouts are running and yoga, which are both relatively easy to do on the road. But now... there are no roads. And very few spacious, flat surfaces which don't threaten to move at any time (only beaches). What's a slightly chubby girl to do? Then I learned (and have since heard over 1000 times) that free diving is the second best cardiovascular exercise in the world, beat only by competitive fast wood chopping. And I now live with a certified free diver. My previous diving experience was... limited. Basically, if I dropped something to the bottom of my reasonably shallow pool, I accepted it as a loss. So free diving lesson day one was a bit scary, but luckily I had a great instructor! Nate walked me through proper breathing techniques, and then pushed me to try deeper depths. I experienced my first (of now many) underwater contractions, which may have made me pee my pants a little - its tough to tell when you're in the ocean. But by day 3, I was diving alone to between 30 and 35 feet! This has been good for both my heath and entertainment- I'm watching my Argentinian Malbec-induced love handles melt away, and I've had the opportunity to explore the reefs around here in a whole new way. They are STUNNING. If I could double capitalize that, I would. STUNNING! There is beautiful coral, colorful fish, anemones, octopi, shellfish, and so much more. My job when we go diving is to hunt lobsters and crabs, but I generally get caught up in all the beauty and forget. I am currently batting a 0.000.

FRIENDS Turns out, you can live on a boat in the middle of nowhere and still have a social life. In fact, at times our social schedule was so packed we had to turn down a few requests - who would have guessed!!? I've already met so many new people of all ages, nationalities, and different walks of life. We've had boatloads of fun (see what I did there?), but again, its... different. For example: We met up with some friends who had heard about a dolphin carcass that washed ashore, and they wanted to take the teeth for jewelry. One asterisk - they heard about this six weeks prior, but had been running charters and thus unable to explore. If, like me, you have no experience in excavating a dolphin carcass that has been on a beach in the tropics for six weeks, let me tell you: they're disgusting. At several points, the brave leader of the excavation team looked like she was going to puke. The smell was unbearable, and we had to use the dolphins scapula to find the bones as no one had thought to bring a shovel. In the end we discovered that, in the six weeks it had been sitting, someone had already stolen the teeth. And this is how my ocean social life began.

WORKING Yep, you read that correctly. I've been doing real, actual work. One day I even worked for nearly 6 straight hours (when we realized this we promptly closed the computers and made cocktails). I came to the boat to help Nate run charters, which I had no experience in and he had only done informally before. Getting this up and running has been a crazy amount of work! We've had to restructure websites and market ourselves online, which is always fun when you're in the middle of nowhere in an underdeveloped country. Our wifi consists of a small device which we put into a backpack and hoist to the top of the mast, where we HOPE we get enough signal to do what we need. Quite advanced technology here. We had to clean the whole boat top to bottom, and reorganize a lot to make sure our guests feel comfortable. We had to reach out to people to set up water taxis, food deliveries, fix boat problems (they really are never ending), and figure out charter-friendly recipes. Then we had to sample said recipes, which meant me making all kinds of treats and Nate getting to eat and critique them. I'm pretty sure he got the better end of the deal here. Somehow, we managed to get it all together and in late April we took on our first ever charter together. I was terrified. When we got the booking I ran around the boat in a full blown panic, and didn't sleep from that moment until our guests arrived (thankfully it was a last minute booking!) What if my sushi rolls fell apart? What if I burnt the eggs? What if I cut my finger and cried into the rice and then the guests unknowingly paid to eat my tears!? Luckily, none of these things happened. In fact, barring an unfortunate lion fish sting (not one of the guests thankfully), the charter went REALLY well. We got along swimmingly (more boat jokes!) with our guests, who were incredibly kind, fun, and easy going people. My meals went well. We got in great diving, fishing, relaxing, and exploring. The guests even spoiled us by cooking dinner one night, which was warmly welcomed since by this point my feet felt like they were entirely on fire. We walked (errr... water taxied) away with new friends. We couldn't have started off on a better note.

So here we are - relaxing before our next guests arrive in a few days. We're hanging with these guys for about a week or so, then heading to do some wheeling and dealing (and obeying stupid new immigration laws) in Colombia before returning for a charter in late July. Theres a trip to the states in the mix, where my goals include not cooking and not cleaning (sorry mom and dad!) I am going to take a real shower (yep, hasn't happened in six weeks). I will eat broccoli and pork and all of the foods that the Kuna veggie boats wont bring me. I will drink real beer, and see all the people I love and haven't seen in nearly six months! But until then, I'll go wash my hair in the ocean, munch on a carrot, and crack open a Balboa. Life's not so bad :)

[candy-corps]

Run on the Beach

Sheoki belongs to @berrys-collection !

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Now, there wasn't much this morning that they'd crossed so far. Dae could report Fawn a crab here and there, clouds, three (maximum four) birds, a bunch of shells and stones and sticks ... but an actual human? That he didn't see in a while. Civilization had them back, it seemed. The woman that chilled on the sand dune however was not what made Dae slow down. That was the object she was wearing. One that was black and round and for sure way more interesting to touch than the couple of pebbles the beach had to offer. "Excusez-moi - !" he called, still in a distance but trotting up as he went on, " - Pourrais-je avoir votre chapeau?" A tall, dark, male, alien looking figure with a baby strapped on his chest like a kidnapper, jogging towards you in the middle of nowhere. Call him a pessimist: Dae deemed their chances low on getting that hat. But for Fawn, he would at least try.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

Sheoki had been peacefully laying on the beach, her sunhat over her face. It was too much of a fuss trying to get her horns through it all the time, especially if she just wanted to lay down. However, that peace was disrupted by the sounds of a strange, foreign language being spoken. The Thief of Doom sat up, lifting her hat from her face to look around the beach, seeing nobody else and thus concluded that she was the subject of the address. "Sorry, can you repeat that again? I'm afraid I don't understand." She apologised as she turned towards the approaching man, who seemed to have some sort of odd, squishy lump strapped to him. At least, Sheoki assumed that the person approaching was a he; she had never seen anyone that looked like that before, and decided to play it safe and not vocalise her assumptions

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Oh, she was not screaming. That was ... generally ... a good sign. "I was saying," Dae said, approaching extra slowly for the last couple of meters, "Excusez-moi. Pourrais-je avoir. Votre. Chapeau. - which means", he translated, " - Excuse me ... may I borrow your hat?" " - please?" he added with a smile, holding Fawn and shifting his weight from one foot to the other to simulate the movement of him still running. It made little sense to have his daughter the beach, so she was resting facing him; only the back of her head and her ears showing towards the other. To be all honest, he was a little surprised that the woman was not indeed human. And had horns, which he was not sure was politically correct to mention. She still had the hat, however, which was the main objective. So. For Fawn, Dae tried to stay focused and corrected his gaze back down to her eyes.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"My hat?" Sheoki raised an eyebrow, looking from Dae down to the hat in her hand, turning it slightly to consider the offer, but also to look at the holes cut in the top. It was strange that somebody would randomly approach her, let alone ask to borrow her hat in some strange - and admittedly disgusting sounding - language.

"What on Skaia do you need to borrow my hat for? It has holes in it, so I doubt it would be any use in protecting your own head." she stated, showing the holes in the top, "Is it for that..." Sheoki looked down to Fawn, still not entirely sure what it was, "Thing on your chest?"

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

"Its not for the blanket" Dae assured without skipping a beat. "It's for Fawn. My perfect daughter" he clarified. Finally, he stopped moving altogether and just shifted the baby instead; not sure how well she'd react from moving to not moving from one moment to the next. She did however notice despite his best efforts that something new happened and curled up while complaining. Dae sped the explanation up a little. " - Um. So, I let her touch interesting things I find on the way. And I think she would like to hold the hat for a bit."

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

Sheoki tilted her head curiously a little as she stood up, coming over to look at Fawn, "How do you know she's yours? There's no way you could trace it through the gene pool." she pointed out, her face almost within Fawn's reach - and her horns dangerously close to Dae's face.  Despite being confused of the lineage, Sheoki stood up straight again and placed the hat on the baby's head, holding it in place in case it fell. "There." she smiled a little, "It's an odd looking wriggler. How come she has arms and legs already?"

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Why did she have ... what ... ? " ... - Told you she's awesome" Dae replied with a long shrug. Then he addressed Fawn: "Hey, what's that - ? Something new - ?" He smiled more than she did. Fawn actually didn't seem convinced just yet. More confused. He untied her so he could lift and watch her properly with her new looks. The hat covered her eyes, but he knew that won't be a bother for her. "Thank you" he said to the other again. "Maybe we should put her down for a second. You'd not mind when she checked if the hat was edible, right - ?" He better ask in advance.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"You can put her on my towel. She won't actually eat my hat, will she? I'm rather partial to it." Sheoki took her hat back for a moment before sitting on one side of her towel, leaving the other for Dae and Fawn. "So, did you steal this one from her Lusus? Or did she simply not get one?" she asked, placing the hat back on Fawn's head

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

"She's not really gonna eat it" Dae promised the other. He sat down next to Fawn once he sat her on the towel and held her back, knowing she had still trouble with sitting. Little Fawns wings were hidden under the jacket, but her tail was showing now, stretching over the towel and giving additional support on keeping her upright. Her small hands reached for the sun hat now, trying to pull that off her head for further inspection. Dae laughed at the womans ideas. "I swear I didn't steal her. I made her with my wife. My ... partner. And now we care for her. Until she's all grown up and she can take care of herself. - I'm Dae, by the way." When he had to go in depth about earth-life reproduction, he'd feel better being on a first-name-basis. He reached a hand out to the woman but had an eye on her movements; going to pull back in case she wasn't familiar with hand shakes, fist bumps or any of the more common gang greetings.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"Sheoki Olikov." the troll replied, at least knowing how to give a simple handshake, "My friend, Rijeph, is swimming in there somewhere." she waved towards the water, watching the waves for a moment to see if she could spot the other troll, "That's rather strange. There's no Imperial Drones to collect the slurry? No mother grub to produce the wigglers, or Lusii to act as guardians? Or is your partner a mother grub, and that's how you've produced young yourselves?"

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Mother grub. Was that a curse word - ? Dae frowned and shook his head eventually, though he was quite obviously unsure. "Jessie is the most fantastic female human being on Earth. And Fawns mother. I have a picture of her hand, when you would like to see - ?" Then Sheoki could judge for herself. Dae pulled his phone from his jacket's pocket, ready to dig for some pictures of Jessie.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ ���̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"A hand? Surely I would need to see her face to judge." Sheoki raised an eyebrow, "And how is... Fawn the offspring of a human? She looks nothing like a human, she's more like you." she pointed out as she glanced down at Fawn, making sure she wasn't causing irreversible damage to her hat

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Dae frowned. First off: "I'm half human, too." But secondly: That ... almost sounded as if ... ... ... " - Don't you want to see a picture of Jessies hand?" he asked disbelievingly, mouth agape as he looked at Sheoki.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"I can't tell whether she's as beautiful as you're insisting from just a picture of her hand. Do you have a picture of her face?" she asked, running a hand through her hair, trying to smooth out the persistent waves within it.

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Dae sighed. "Well. When you'd see her hand ... you'd see that her pointing and ring finger have the exact same length just like its with Fawns hand too." Just so Sheoki knew what she was missing out on. "Anyways ... I do have pictures of her face. Wait." He swiped twice and inched a little closer to Sheoki, so she could see. "See, this is a picture of her nose ... " he started to show Sheoki close ups of parts of Jessies face - every picture from different angles, light conditions and backgrounds. Obviously it was a series, done over time. Fawn in the meantime was happily drooling over the hat; feeling the structure of it with hands and tongue.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

Finally, something sensible. Sheoki had begun to smile a little, only for her face to drop at the segmented pictures. What was this guy's deal? Did he just not know how to take a good picture? Or did he not care to take the time to even get one simple picture of all of this... Jessie. "I'm not good at putting faces together from separate pictures like this. Don't you even have one nice one where you can see all of her as a whole?" Sheoki asked, "I'm sure she would appreciate it far more than a collection of fairly unflattering closeups."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Oh. Was she saying ... ... he was no good photographer? Dae looked from Sheoki back to the display that was currently showing the left one of Jessies ears, and raised his finger to his mouth as he thought that thought trough. Then, after a while: " ... I think she'd like these, even ... when they're imperfect." Which would be his fault, obviously, and not his motive's. " - She's very patient and forgiving and has a good heart." He smiled the smallest smile again. Fawn in the meantime learned that the hat could also rustle.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"If you love her so much, then stop focusing on all the little details. Her hands and nose and eyes don't matter - sure, they can help you to say what bits you like - but if you really do have red feelings for her, then you need to appreciate everything as a whole. As soon as you see her, just take a step back, look at how everything works together, and see the full picture of your matesprit." Sheoki explained, "A cog might be nicely designed, but the real beauty lies in the mechanism as a whole."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Ohhh. See there. "So what when I take a full picture of her?" Dae asked Sheoki as he put the phone away and lay down for now, half across the towel, but mostly the ground. He was too tall. And so was Jessie. " - I still don't have her voice, I still don't have her heartbeat, or the way she breathes, the way she smells, the way she makes me feel ... Isn't every picture you take of your partner just a close-up that doesn't catch the whole ... ... " He made a vague gesture with his hands while Fawn proceeded to think of the hat as something maybe edible again than as a toy. " ... - experience." There. That was the word.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"I suppose that's a fair point, but then again, you can't just appreciate her through photos. Yes, they're helpful in showing others what her visual bonuses are, but you still have the chance to video her and get more aspects through that." she replied then laughed softly, "Listen to me, talking as if I'm a Heart player. I should get you to meet Alex, she could gush about romantics all day to you. But either way, you need to find the balance between capturing moments and living in them. Those are the private things that only you as her matesprit can appreciate."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Dae sat up again and nodded, just as if he had processed anything the other had just been saying to him. "I'm gonna run to her" he decided. All the way to the city. No teleporting and no cheating. He just felt ... motivated enough for that. "Do you hang here regularly?" For that he actually looked at Sheoki again, meddled already with the baby holder though.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"It depends on the day really. I could always give you a way to message me?" Sheoki suggested, pulling out a device that looked like a phone but, knowing Sheoki, was probably fairly different. She held her hand out to Dae, offering to take his phone, "Or you can just be rather dedicated and come here everyday in the hopes that I'm there too."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

She wanted ..... something. Hesitating, Dae took his phone out again and placed it in her hand. However, did not let go straight away. "Will you bring something new for Fawn to chew on tomorrow?" he negotiated.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"I'll see what I can do." Sheoki replied as she took Dae's phone, messing with it slightly so that she could get her foreign messaging system connected to his phone. "There, that should work. But yes, I'll see if I can find something more appropriate for your wiggler to chew on." she smiled a little, handing Dae's phone back, "But I want to see a picture of your matesprit in full."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

Dae looked up as if he had to think about that. "How about you get to see her in full? Hands and all?" he offered instead.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"Oh, you'll bring her along next time?" Sheoki raised an eyebrow, a smirk growing on her face a little, "Well, if you can convince her, then I'd love to see just what you're flushed for."

ßaegels🐦-24.03.2018

"Oh, you'll see" Dae promised, sure of that. He pocketed his phone and took Fawn again; then returned the unharmed - yet drooled on - sunhat back to its rightful owner. He said he'd return it. He never claimed it would be dry. "I don't know if she got time right tomorrow. But I guess that I can ... call you now?" he asked, hopeful.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-24.03.2018

"No, just text-based messaging I'm afraid. It's the only thing that my client supports." Sheoki replied as she dried the edge of her hat off on the towel and put it back on, threading it carefully over her horns, "Hopefully I'll be able to make it tomorrow, whatever time that may be, and hopefully Rijeph will show his face and not be swimming all the time."25. März 2018

ßaegels🐦-25.03.2018

"Your friend?" Dae figured. Swimming? He looked towards the lake as he secured Fawn on him again. She wasn't too happy about the new situation, but he knew she'd calm down once they got moving.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-25.03.2018

Sheoki gave a hum of agreement, "Knowing him, he's probably somewhere near a bottom. He likes deep diving whilst his dancestor prefers the surface." she replied casually

ßaegels🐦-25.03.2018

"What's ... a dancestor?" Sheoki has been throwing a lot of unfamiliar terms around since he met her. Maybe he could make an effort to learn the meaning behind one a day, or so.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-25.03.2018

"Alright, this might get a little confusing; you might want to sit down again." Sheoki replied, "So, the trolls in our group are split into two groups; we'll call them universe A and universe B. I'm a universe A troll, along with Lateem, Aetura, and Shrosa. Kikiyu, Icuras, Rijeph, and Catzii are the universe B trolls." she started and drew two parallel lines in the sand, "Imagine these to be timelines existing at the same time." Sheoki labelled them as A and B, "In universe A, all 8 of us technically existed, but the universe B trolls lived first and their genetic information was passed down and that made us- the universe A trolls. In that respect, the universe B trolls are our ancestors. However. In the universe B timeline, that's flipped; the universe A trolls come first and act as the ancestors of the universe B trolls. So really, I'm an ancestor and a descendant at the same time, hence the term dancestor."

ßaegels🐦-25.03.2018

" ... so it's reversed" Dae summed up. He didn't actually sit down again, but leaned over the drawing Sheoki created. To be true, he has been regretting asking in the first place when it turned out not to be easy, but ... universes ... ? Timelines ... ? - That he could wrap his mind around. Well. Usually. "We should talk about this sometime else. I gotta go. Kiss my wife" he excused himself.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-25.03.2018

"Oh. Well, I'll try and be back here tomorrow for you." Sheoki replied, wiping her diagram away. She hoped that she hadn't put him off with... anything, really. He seemed as if he was nice enough, though she couldn't exactly tell; he talked rather a lot about this Jessie29. März 2018

ßaegels🐦-29.03.2018

He knew she'd understand. Dae smiled. "Tell me when you're here and I'll be there" he promised. He could adjust his route. He never ran the same one twice anyways.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-29.03.2018

"I'll be sure to message you." Sheoki smiled a little and nodded, partly wishing that Dae would stick around and talk to her some more, but if he had to go then he had to go

ßaegels🐦-29.03.2018

Was it just him or ... Dae was about to get going, but hesitated and tilted his head. "Do you like cats?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue. "Like, a lot ... of cats?" He made a gesture with his hands to indicate the 'lot'-ness.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-29.03.2018

"Cats? I've never come across one, so I couldn't say." Sheoki shrugged, "Do you have a picture of one? Or have you got that in separate close ups as well?"

ßaegels🐦-29.03.2018

Blurry ones. But he wouldn't admit that. "How ... about ... we meet up in the afternoon? I have a place that's full with cats. We can just see if you like them or not" he suggested. " - and talk some more."

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-29.03.2018

"You're inviting me around to your place?" Sheoki raised an eyebrow before smiling, "Alright, that sounds good to me. Maybe you can show me your Jessie in full." she agreed, hoping to see both a cat and Jessie30. März 2018

ßaegels🐦-30.03.2018

So she got time. Great. "I text you the address. When you got trouble finding it I pick you up" he offered. It was an easy enough thing to do when you owned a teleporter.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-30.03.2018

"Sounds like a good plan, although I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around." Sheoki smiled, "I'll just have to let Rijeph know when he comes out." she motioned towards the water just as the other troll appeared, the fins on the sides of his face flaring a little before they relaxed. "Speak of the horrorterrors~"

ßaegels🐦-heute um 15:59 Uhr

"You can bring him" Dae allowed, jogging backwards to get away. It was time to get his heartrate back up and more importantly, get to kiss Jessie.

🦑༼∩ •́ ヮ •̀ ༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ🦑-heute um 16:04 Uhr

"Hey, who's your new friend, Sheoki?" Rijeph asked as he walked up the beach, parts of his body flushed a deep violet. "This is Dae, though you'll have to make your introductions quick.  He's too busy trying to run back to his matesprit. Though we're apparently allowed to go and meet this matesprit this afternoon." Sheoki pointed out "Well, I suppose I'll have to wait until this afternoon to get a proper introduction in." Rijeph gave Dae a crooked smile, "Do you want us to come in our formal god tier attire?"

ßaegels🐦-heute um 16:09 Uhr

"Surprise me!" Dae called, waving goodbye at the two as he kept jogging off.

[originaldetectivesheep]

The Thirty and One Nights' Momentary Diversion - In the Track of the Albatross, part II

Le'von, Lew, Hurley, and Allison return from "When John Frum Came Back to Peliwak" (collected in Monsters of the Week), with a new plane, a new employer, and a new wild-goose chase: a German sub missing for near on a hundred years.  As the story continues, they've found a submarine base out at the distant edge of the Bismarck Sea -- but will they find the sub, or the sub drivers?

Part I

In the Track of the Albatross - continued

I gave a tug on the painter, pushing the Zodiac in with my knees to keep it up against the side of the plane's hull.  Whatever Al and Hurley were doing, they weren't doing it fast enough, and if the seas got any higher, I was going to have to start the engine just to keep from drifting away from the plane.  "Coming down."  I looked up and managed to get out of the way just in time as Allison dropped down into the raft, arms crossed up with a rifle and one of our new two-way radios, under a flabby gray poncho that looked for anything like someone had cut up a Zodiac into a tent.  I got the rifle handed to me as Al scrabbled off for the bows, curling up between the blow-up wall and the floor.

I checked over the M-16; loaded, safed, salt-spray cap over the muzzle and one of our discount-ass inch-wide web belts clipped to the sling points.  It wasn't going to go off on its own like that, so I balanced it in by the engine, out of my way for the time being. "Jesus, Al, say something before you drop in like that.  What's with the gun?  And why's it dropped on me?"

Allison gave me a look out of the poncho's scraggly-seamed face hole. "Hurley said.  I've got the radio, and I'm carrying some other science stuff under here.  Sample kits and stuff."

"Well, if Hurley can said, he can also carry his M-16.  We're not going to need it, like – you can see from even back here there's no sub where the pier's supposed to be."

"Well, Hurley might, but I've got my own bit of heavy expensive equipment on a sling, and Le'von, as long as Lew's still up in the cockpit, you're the best shot with that piece.  To each according to his ability, as the enemy used to say back in the Cold War."  I looked up and tugged the rope in again; Hurley was up in the doorframe, waiting for the boat to come back close so that he could swing down.  He'd ditched the dress whites, thankfully, or at least most of them: sandals and knee socks and khaki cargo shorts and a guayabera and an expensive camera with an expensive lens on it around his neck, and only his white peaked dress hat to suggest that he wasn't, like, a Molvanian secret agent dressed up as an Innocent Tourist.  I shook my head and twisted to bring the side of the Zodiac in; Hurley swung in clean, protecting his camera, and sat down cross-legged amidships. At least he wasn't wanting to go in standing up this time – not like he could in seas this high.  I pulled the cord to start the engine, and worked the tiller to get us pointed in at the beach.

As we got closer I could see why someone might want to put a submarine base here.  There was no reef line, no treacherous heads of coral inches below the surface to rip up a Zodiac, let alone a sub with fathoms of draft, so the ocean came straight in at the beach – mostly, except for a cape, a spur out of the long-dead volcano that was the bones of the atoll that protected a cove in one of the sides. Right in there was the timberwork of the pier – a half-collapsed mess of basalt and palm logs that looked a hell of a lot older and more broken-up than something that had a submarine parked next to it a couple months ago.  I made in for the cove, pushing the Zodiac's nose up in on the sand past the far end of the pier.

Allison was the first one out, up the sands and onto the thrown gravel of the high-water mark, radio out to talk back to Lew, tell him we were safe on shore; Al wasn't that good on the water as opposed to good old terra firma, but there was a lot of island to cover here and there wouldn't be any point in staying in the radar coffin back under the tail.  I tipped the motor up to keep the propeller out of the sand and picked up the gun; on the floor of the Zodiac, Hurley slowly unwound himself and stood up.  "Right," he said, checking something in his camera as he took off the lens cap, "division of labor.  Each according to his abilities. There's plenty of dock here for me to shoot, so I'll handle that; Le'von, you and Allison push in and investigate the copra plantation. See if you can find anything, any clue that someone might have thrown away under a coconut shell or the like and forgotten about, and keep an eye out on Al."

I looked around, around at the nothing of the beach, the collapsing dock, and the thin strand of coconut trees between us and the beach on the lagoon side of the atoll.  "Keep an eye on Al?  What for?  Hurley, this place is a rock – it's barely any bigger than Tuganga was.  There's nothing here – it's just us, and this busted-up dock that definitely didn't have a sub tied to it any time this year.  No German navy, no nothing.  There's nothing else alive on this island bigger than a coconut crab, and this here piece is probably the most dangerous thing in five hundred miles."  I hitched up the M-16 on its sling.  "If you really want to be safe, I'll run this back out to the plane and stow it back in its locker."

Hurley gave me a half-smile, already turning away.  "You're probably not wrong," he said, "but we're a long way out, and what if you are?"  He raised an eyebrow, and then finished his turn, heading off for the dock, camera up.  I shook my head and checked the safety again.  Allison was already up in among the trees, poking at fallen shells, and at a minimum I had to at least keep everybody in sight.

The coconuts, at least, had definitely been planted: trees in rows, perfectly spaced, one after the other after another all the way down the atoll, which was a strip of sand that you could spit across like the main part of Majuro over in the Marshalls, a sandbar poking out of the water for as long as the ocean didn't up and decide to wash it away.  Or, it had been before someone planted coconuts over it; the palms were high and heavy with nuts, the ground covered all over in fallen leaves and thrown husks.  Someone had obviously planted this up, the way someone had no-shit put in the dock – but more than that, someone had edged it, making sure that none of the palms were crowding each other for sun, that there weren't little coconut trees growing where a stray nut fell and sprouted.  That was a bigger warning sign than the dock; coconuts were a colonizer tree and would grow tipped over in a damn tidal pool.  Someone kept this plantation cleaned up; someone might be on the island right now making sure it stayed cleaned up, hidden in a spider hole watching us and whispering in German into a radiophone to someone packing a deck gun.  I shifted the M-16 on its sling and made sure my thumb knew where the safety was.

Al was a ways ahead, and it took a while for me to catch up, picking through the straight rows of trees on down to the end of the island. The palms went nearly down to the water line, and Allison was digging around in the roots of one of them, swiping through fallen leaves with a hand.  "Yo, Al," I said, announcing my presence, "I'm right here; safety's still on."

Al nodded, not looking up.  "It's ok.  It's for the best.  It's only just us out here."

"Hurley wasn't sure about that, and I'm not so sure about that, with how well cleaned up these trees are.  Someone cuts or transplants the saplings before they get big."

Allison was still interested in something in the sand.  "Not people – there's no pigs here.  If it was local people, they'd run a few pigs in, like you see on the little islands: they eat rats and crabs and fallen leaves, and the craps fertilize the palms.  And you get something to eat when you come back to dry out the nuts.  No pigs. Whoever planted this plantation doesn't have pigs."

"So you're also on Team Ghost Germans."  It made sense, but it didn't make sense.

Al shrugged, the poncho rumpling.  "Not necessarily.  It could be the Chinese, it could be the Aussies; it could be Indonesian people smugglers.  But it's not anyone who lives in the islands out here and plants copra to grow copra."  Whatever was on the ground was either picked up or not interesting any more, and Al stood up, walking past me into the rows of palms.  "Let's go; there isn't anything interesting around here, and I want to see if I can find any husks buried up where they'd be drying the crop out."  I shrugged and followed after; it wasn't like there was anything else to do or see out here.

When we got back up to the dockside, Hurley was still hunching around taking pictures of the pilings, the half-rotted-out palmwood decks; he wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, so I could stand out here in the sun, watching the tent around Allison scuttle around what looked halfway like a parade ground, poking around where it looked like old brown fibers might be coming through the sand and the dirt.  No doubt about it – this place was weird.  The weird plantation with no watchman's shed, the weird dock with no tool shed by it.  There was everything here for a colony except the colonists – like the people who'd built the dock, planted the forest, had enough space for all of them and all of their stuff somewhere else, just operated out of there, ran the machines to process the dried copra for oil there, and didn't build anything on land that they didn't absolutely have to.  We might've built something like this place, if we could fly the Rachel on coconut oil and were totally cut off from everything – and if we had about five or six times the manpower.  Looking around like this, thinking like that, it was hard to not be on Team Ghost Germans.

I took a look to one side, then the other.  Hurley was in sight, and he could see Allison from where he was.  "Hurley!" I yelled. "You and Al, you can keep each other in view around here, and we've already seen there ain't no wild dogs or wild pigs on this rock.  I'm gonna go check out the west point; it's the only part of the island we ain't been over yet.  Wait for me here; come after me if I ain't back in ten minutes!"  I saw Hurley's white cap nod like he'd gotten it, and I picked up my feet to get to the end of the west point.

This tip of the island, the little spur running the other way from the headland that sheltered the cove, was the only bit that looked faintly wild; the palms here were almost not planted, stacked in on each other like this was where they dumped the half-grown saplings from the plantation, not willing to kill something that might grow a few more coconuts.  Maybe, anywhere else, I would've been sharper about pigs or dogs, but not here; nothing here.  I made my way through the clumps of palm trees down to the shore, the very western end of the island, and looked out into the ocean.  Nothing – nothing but that long blue emptiness, that line in the far distance that almost wasn't there between the blue ocean and the blue sky.  I didn't know what I'd come out here looking for – a German in a spider hole, a tattered Kaiser flag standing up out of a cairn – but I wasn't finding it.  I swung the gun back around onto my back and turned up the beach again.

My foot tore it out of the sand – it was buried well up over the high-water mark, and at first I almost thought it was just some kind of shell.  But shells don't come with holes bores in them for a metal swing cap, aren't spackled with old German blackletter writing over one side. I knelt down and collected it; despite the crazy characters and the weather wear on the enamel, I could still read "STEIGERBRAUEREI Gebr. Trietschke ERFURT" wrapped around and across a beer bottle plug – and any beer plug with that many consonants on it had to be German.  If it had washed in, it had washed in years and years ago, hurricanes after hurricanes to get buried up on the land – the simpler explanation was that some German way back had drunk the bottle it came from up on this beach, had their swing top break, and just let the plug fall where it fell.  All the pieces were lining up – they were lining up in a way that creeped me straight the hell out, but wasn't getting us any closer to our mystery sub.  I stuffed the old block into the pocket of my shorts and headed back on east to the dock again.

As I came out around the last knot of palms, I saw Allison squatted down by the edge of the dock, radio up, talking something over with Lew. Hurley was standing on top of a pile of rocks, hands on his hips, looking out at the plane, and he turned as I came back up.  'Le'von!" he said, like he was surprised.  "So; sink the Bismarck?"

I fished the beer plug out of my pocket and threw it over to him.  "No matter what they say; I ran up against the end of the island, and didn't find nothing but this.  I guess I'm a little more in on your runaway ghost Germans, but we still don't have a submarine.  You find anything over here?" Hurley half-shrugged.  "The dock here was put together by amateurs; the coral is local, the basalt came from somewhere else, and no Japanese ever laid those stones.  It's definitely big enough, and there's not a lot of people who'd build a full-size submarine dock on a lonely island like this if we cross the Japanese off the list.  Your bottlecap helps – but that's still not more than circumstantial evidence."

"Okay, but is it old enough?  The plantation kinda looks like it does and doesn't – those are all mature trees, but I don't think they're a hundred years old."

Hurley spread his hands, palms up.  "No idea.  That's what Al's been digging in the dirt for.  If there's buried husks on this island with C-14 from before the bombs, we'll know.  If not – then, this place at least has been working since 1950."

I looked around.  I could definitely see that, this place being worked, the palm rows cleaned up, coconuts drying in the sun, sometime in the last twenty years.  That felt right.  "Okay.  Anything else that we need, or are we good to go back and go looking for the next place?"

"Lew says he wants some coconuts," Allison said from the ground, still folded up.  "He says that as long as we're here sightseeing and he's sitting out in the plane with his thumb up his butt, he wants to get some fresh coconuts out of the deal."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.  "Shoulda guessed.  At least it's the one thing there's a lot of on this rock.  Here, Al, hold the gun; I'm gonna go up and grab us a couple.  You two can start loading up the raft with whatever you got to take back."

Back in the ship, we had more than a few coconuts to go around; Al headed back to the radar coffin to do whatever kind of analysis we could on the random junk we'd all beachcombed while Lew, Hurley and I went to town on the nuts.  It wasn't the first time that Allison had work to do rather than interacting with people, and I wasn't concerned – I had to make sure that Hurley or Lew didn't haul out a bottle of rum and start pouring shots into the empty shells.  They were just knocking the ends off with Lew's machete and swilling them down; we'd run out, and then they'd get bored, and then maybe we wouldn't get to where we were supposed to be next until tomorrow.

I worked my knife into the dense fibers of the nut, then up to flex off a strip of outer husk, tearing it away from the inner kernel, then shifted up to throw it out the door; Lew and Hurley were both leaned back in their pilot's chairs, out of nuts to drink and about to come on a bad idea.  I put my knife and my coconut down on the jump seat and ducked up into the cockpit, pushing on the interphone button.

"Yo, Al, how's that C-14 test coming?" If I could get them back on mission, I could be sure that they wouldn't get drunk out on mission.

"Crappy." Allison's voice was somehow even flatter and more expressionless when it was coming through a radio.  "One of the husks is from 1932 plus or minus a couple, and the other one I've done is from like 2040.  Something's screwed up if we have coconuts from the future."

"I wouldn't be too concerned," Hurley said, leaning over the interphone mic.  "This part of the Pacific's seen a lot of isotope bombardment; it's not surprising that we might find some coconuts out here with more of the Castle or Ivy fallout in them than the test presets would expect there to be.  Keep going."

"The hell I'm gonna," Lew said, chucking his coconut away behind him, bouncing along the flight deck towards the still-open door.  "The hell you doing – dropping nuclear coconuts on me and don't say nothing.  Let's go – let's find onea these other sub bunkers, and next time let's get them coconuts from there tested for fallout before we go drinking off 'em."  He was flipping switches, bringing the plane back to life, and Hurley fumbled for the checklist clipboard; I jumped to get the door closed and myself strapped back in.

Part III

[rodrigohyde]

Michael Phelps on his Shark Week showdown, his love of the ocean, and why he hasn't slowed down since retirement

It almost sounds like a stunt dreamed up on a playground: What would happen if the fastest swimmer in the world raced a great white shark?

That's exactly the goal with Great Gold vs. Great White, the upcoming Discovery Channel Shark Week special in which Michael Phelps is set to take on one of the deadliest predators in the ocean.

Yes, really.

But the question remains: Why would the greatest U.S. Olympian in history put his reputation on the line against, y'know, an actual fish—let alone one with hundreds of teeth? Men's Fitness sat down with Phelps to find out. Here's his take.

Men's Fitness: Is there any possible preparation you could do before the race?

Michael Phelps: You just watch that animal. It's basically like swimming next to a school bus in the water. I think that kind of got me more intrigued to see what other sharks I can swim with. When I had the opportunity to be on a Shark Week show, it was an absolute no-brainer, and an instant yes from me, just because it was something on my bucket list to do. It was an amazing opportunity for me to learn more about sharks, which I'm already infatuated with.

It was the experience: Coming face-to-face with a 13' hammerhead, or being in a cage and watching multiple great whites just fly around me, and not attack the cage. They would kind of bite at the cage, just what they normally do. I basically had an eight-foot great white almost come nose-to-nose with me in the cage. That was an opportunity and an experience that I never thought I'd have. It was pretty gnarly, and pretty unbelievable, just to see.

You posted on Instagram that you've always wanted to dive with sharks. When did this become an interest of yours?

I mean, this has probably been 15 or 16 years where I've really wanted to do this. I've always been a massive fan of Shark Week, and watched every year. This is something that's always around a major meet for me, so it's something that helps me relax a little bit. Now, being able to experience them in their own habitat actually makes me even hungrier to want to see more. I've only been able to see about 5-10 different species, and we have more than 500 species of sharks in the water, all over the world. I'm kind of just scratching the surface.

Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to see more and free- or scuba dive with a white. If you're in 30'-40' of water, you can actually just lay on the bottom, and take the element out of the surprise attack from a great white, because they always love coming from underneath of you to come straight up. That's why we have all these amazing breach photos that we see all over the world. There are a lot of things I still want to do with sharks. Hopefully, some of the things that I've learned, we can pass along to other people, and help them preserve the wildlife that we have all over the world. There are too many people that are out there killing sharks, and that's something that needs to stop.

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The race will take place around the one-year anniversary of your last competitive race. What have you been doing the past year to stay in shape? Have you taken it easy, or ramped it up in some instances?

During the first couple months, I kind of took off. I raced at about 195, 200 (lbs) at the Olympic games—that was my fighting weight. I'm anywhere between 210 and 215. I was kind of lazy the first couple months and wanted to just enjoy retirement, and live life a little bit. Recently, I've started to realize that health and wellness are very large parts of my life, and it helps me be more productive. For me, it is eating a little better, a little different than I was in the past. I'm not burning as many calories as I did in the pool.

I'm still working out, anywhere between five and six days a week. I've been lifting a little bit more, because when I was swimming I never lifted much for my arms. It was all legs. I was a very leg-driven swimmer, and now I have the chance to do some more, whether it's a bench press, or more with free weights, and stuff that I never had the chance to do.

I saw a workout that [Dwayne] "The Rock" [Johnson] did to get ready for Hercules. Honestly, I did it, and it kicked my ass. It destroyed me—absolutely destroyed me, but it was something that was good, in a way, just because it challenged me to be different, outside of the pool. I've always spent my time in the water, and now I have the opportunity to do different things. I'm in the process, now, of building my own gym, and looking for a space to rent, and kind of have my own escape, almost, really, like what The Rock does. He's able to escape from life for a little bit and get some time in the gym, as we all see. I have an ideal weight that I'd like to hit. If I can stay around 210, but just be a little bit leaner than I am now, that's what I'm really trying to do. Also, I'm just trying to manage time. I have so much going on outside of the pool, and outside of my business life. It's making sure to take time, when I need it, to get a workout in that'll make me more productive, and will make me a better dad, will make me a better husband. Just basically, it's a balancing act, and I think we all go through that.

What would having that gym for yourself mean to you?

It's basically a private little place that, when I do go to the gym and I want to work out, I can. I'd rather go in and get my work done that I need to, and kind of not, potentially, be bothered in between a set of squats, or somebody wants to take a photo. I don't mind taking photos, but when I'm there, I want to lift, and I want to get my job done. I do have goals for myself. That's how I've been able to reach the success that I've had, and, for me, I would like to get around 210 and stay around 210, but I don't want to be as lean as I was last year. I mean, I was at 4.5% body fat last year, and that's so low.

That, for me, is not a healthy spot, not where I'd like to be. I'd like to be shredded. I'd like to have some abs, and have some definition. We have a goal, and it'll obviously take some time. Just getting in the habit of getting up early, before Boomer gets up, and try to get a workout in. It makes it tough, at times, when you're traveling so much. If I have a goal that's big enough, that'll motivate me, that's what'll help me get out of bed. I think that's what I have, right now.

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You've clearly been watching your food more than when you were racing. Is there anything that you've indulged in, post-career?

No, not really. After 2012, I went from 185lbs to 235, with really doing nothing. I, basically, just got out of shape and didn't really care. Then, that led me to not being in a very happy place, and leading me to a dark place. I know what that feels like, and it's something I never want to happen again. It's that challenge and that motivation to always keep me going, on certain things. It's just fun. For me, life is a lot more fun and enjoyable now, than, really, it ever has been. I think part of that is me coming back, and finishing my career in 2016 in Rio, like I did.

Describe what your meals consist of nowadays.

I don't eat much red meat, just because I know it's hard for a body to break it down. I still eat a lot of fish and chicken. My snack days, I think that's probably the biggest and hardest thing is I want to snack, snack, snack. For me, it's all back to my goals. I'm about to eat a chicken Caesar salad. Nothing too exciting, but it's what I want. I eat a lot of salads now, eat a lot of chicken, eat a lot of fish. I had a great meal last night. My mom sent us some Baltimore crabs that we enjoyed last night. It was amazing. We had some crab, some shrimp, some French fries, and it kind of brought me back to my childhood back in Baltimore. Just kind of a nice, summer day. It was amazing that that was something I still enjoy. I still love a hamburger from time to time, but it's not something that I'm eating five days a week.

I always think about it this way: Your body is a high-performance car, and we want to put the best fuel into that car that you possibly can. There are times I want to eat a couple Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but I know that if I do that there could be consequences with it. I do have a sweet tooth, and I am trying to stay on working out as much as I can. We just did a spin class yesterday. Oh my gosh, I was in so much pain afterwards, and I've never sweat that much in my life. It's cool doing things differently now than I ever did when I was training. I don't want to do the same routine that I did for 15-20 years. I want to try different things to see what really excites me. I think that's something that my trainer tried to do over the last couple years of my career, because I got bored. I want this to be enjoyable. I want to have fun doing what I'm doing, and not feel like it's a job.

What was the spin class like for you?

The place was called CycleBar, and it's a place here in Scottsdale, AZ. We took a teacher-run hill class where we'd try and keep certain RPMs. There were 20 people in the room, and it was fun. It was myself, my wife, Nicole, my training partner, Allison Schmitt, and a buddy of mine, Grant, who's been visiting from Australia for a couple of months. We were basically just trying to compete to see who could get the highest score, and, out of the 10 people, we were top four. I guess the competitiveness is still there, when we're fighting to beat each other. It's always good to have friends like that, that we can compete with, especially to push one another. That's something that I've had for so long, and something that I need, at times. It's always good to have a good support team, and a good group of friends to help you out.

Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White airs on July 23 at 8 p.m. on The Discovery Channel.

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