#Storm stories

[a-smol-storm-gt-nomfs-blog]

What lies beneath

An au Roman started, I got interested, so here's something I wrote, might not be au cannon to what they imagine though so don't take my story as true. as per usual nomfs, thoughts of death, hard vore mentions? (Dunno he just thinks he's gonna die) Thalasaphobia

Grian sat at the edge of the tank, his hands shaky, He was between feeding the leviathan and not. On one hand, if he fed him Grian might not be eaten, and maybe it would show goodwill, but on the other hand. It might put the leviathan into a food response. It’s more of a reptilian thing: with gators and snakes expressing it the most. Grian knew nothing about the leviathan, besides he was often fed things Grian’s size and larger, no wonder he ate people. He decided to throw the container of chum in, he hoped the poor leviathan wasn’t being starved, it would explain the people eating too. The vet looked down, watching the shiny fish slowly fall farther into the water. He almost lost sight of the fish parts before he saw a shadow move, swallowing the fish down. It was large, orca-sized at minimum, but Gem, if to believed, said he was larger. Maybe whale-sized, but this didn't feel like a healthy whale-sized tank. That could also explain its aggression. “Do you have more for him?” “What? Why would I do that?’ “Do you want me to be eaten?” “Why would he do that, he's been fed.” “This thing isn’t Mumbo-sized; it's larger. Do you think that's going to fill its stomach? Besides you fed it human hybrids, and it's well, eaten people? Doc sighed. “Yeah fine, give me a bit.” Grian nodded and looked down, the fish disappearing into the dark void below. Lights had been there in the beginning. It's possible it bit the cords due to hunger, or maybe it just didn’t like the light, either one made sense. “Hey- hey, buddy?” Grian said softly into the water with, unsurprisingly, no response. “I- uh, I’m Grian, I’m here to check up on you, and- uh, I know you’ve eaten people before so- I hope you won’t with me? I- I’m sorry if you’ve been treated poorly.” No response. “I’m getting you more food, if you didn’t hear, I hope it's enough, I uh- i-if you want to come up and talk it might make it easier.” Grian thinks he saw the shadow down there, maybe waiting for more food. Grian could or thought he saw him, he could see the shadows giving enough of a color difference, but his outline wasn’t visible. The leviathan was supposably eel-like, Grian couldn’t see any of that. All he could tell was that it was a different shade from the background. “I—Can you not eat me, please? I just want to make sure you feel good, feel happy, and make your body feel happy.” He tried, but maybe the leviathan didn’t know English well. There was some movement. “Uhh, but yeah food in a bit, then I’ll go in okay?’ A bit more movement. “Does anything hurt?” There was no movement at that. “Any wounds? Injuries?” No movement. “Uhhh, guessing that's a no.” He paused for a bit. “Are you hungry?” Movement. “Are you going to eat me?” Grian couldn’t make out if the leviathan was moving in response or not, he hoped it wasn’t The next tub of fish showed up and so Grian got down, taking the tub in his arms he then started back up. It was full of whole fish, which was likely better than sending something bloody down. So Grian dumped the fish in—only two tuna, a cod, and a salmon. This was not what Grian was expecting; he was hoping for more, but the mers weren’t necessarily taken good care of in the first place. The fish disappeared, swallowed by the shadow, literally. Grian watched, getting his suit on to prepare for his journey down. “I’ll get Skizz, he has the arm strength and the ability to help you, don’t go in till he’s here.” “I won't!” Grian shouted back. Grian checked his air canisters, they were back up, if the air tube he had attached to him got bitten, or it was too short he’d be able to switch to his mask.

He could hear the keys shifting as skizz ran over. “Hey G!” he waved up, he looked behind seeing Doc wasn’t there he asked. “You sure? I- uh- I can go down instead, just tell me what to do?”

Grian shook his head no. “I’d hate for you to be injured or worse because of me skizz, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle myself for that.”

“And I’d feel just as bad if you disappeared, not to mention poor Mumbo.”

Grian’s heart sank at the orca mer’s name.

“Oh Mumbo,” Grian said, voice shaking.

He took his goggles off for a bit.

“If… God. If anything happens to me, make sure Mumbo stays sane please?”

“Nothing gonna happen!” Skizz said trying to stay positive.

Grian stayed quiet, he wouldn’t consider himself a pessimist, but this was the most dangerous thing he had done in his life.

The vet fixed his mask back on, his body, his breaths shakier than his body.

Grian stood at the edge, his fingers barely touching the platform under him. He couldn’t get himself to move.

The adrenalin sent his heart and head off, running miles an hour while his body couldn’t move an inch. “G”? Skizz had made his way up the latter. The vet turned to meet his gaze, his terrified eyes shown through the goggles. Skizz’s heart dropping was visible on the security officer's face. “You don’t have to do this, no one would call you a coward for backing out.” “Yeah, but what- what if he's hurt? Malnourished? Starving? We can’t see that from up here, or down there.” Skizz sighed. “I get you’re a vet and all, but- it wouldn’t count as you or gems incompetence if that was the case it would be on Doc, he had a dangerous thing that had been known to kill humans, and sent a vet down that- I- ugh, It’s not sitting right with me.” Grian leaned on Skizz’s arm, it felt comforting being with the officer, his arms were large, but not enough to save him from this. Nothing was big enough to save him from this. If Grian let the leviathan die he’d blame himself for not going in, but if he died, he’d die thinking about his friends he’d be leaving behind. Jimmy, the small scared wyrm, and his giant wyrm ‘boyfriend’ Tango. The two separated were so nervous, but together they had this sense of calm, compassion, and a friendship that would be more. What if Grian wasn’t around to see it grow? Gem and Impulse were teasing. Those two were always trying to scare people with horror stories. Skizz tried to get in on it, but he was bad at it; his expressions gave him away. Speaking of Skizz, He was part mer, small amounts, it showed in his eyes, his teeth, and some small fins behind his ears and on his elbows, but beyond that, he was a normal guy, a caring one. And finally Mumbo, oh Mumbo. When Grian first met him he was on the brink of death, wounds, stress, and likely more had the mer in a terrible position. Grian helped him, spending hours with him, talking to him, he broke down the mers walls, watching him heal. Mumbo was one of the best things Grian had. Not that the others weren’t but the two were like siblings, a pod. Grian put a hand on his face, or well his goggles as his eyes shed his fears. Skizz wrapped an arm around the vet, pulling him into a gentle hug and letting him cry it out.  The guard stayed silent, Grian preferred it that way.

After a bit, Skizz rubbed his back and hummed something.

Grian listed, half there, half out of it, his mind preparing him for his possible death.

He took his goggles off to wipe his face once the waterworks stopped. He took some deep breaths in, calming himself some.

He pulled his head back, and Skizz’s arm released.

Grian looked up meeting Skizz’s worried gaze, he then looked down as he put his mask on, telling wordlessly his decision.

The vet caught the guard’s sad expression out of the corner of his eye.

Skizz came in for one last hug from behind. “You’ll make it,” Skizz said trying to stay positive. “You’re a smart guy.”

Grian let out a huff of appreciation. “Thanks skizz.” He said slipping the breathing tub over his mouth.

The guard backed off as Grian slid into the tank.

Skizz did a check with the current equipment, running some things over with Grian.

The vet gave a thumbs up, everything was okay on his end.

Skizz gave one back, but there was a nervous expression on his face.

Grian went under trying to avoid second-guessing himself now.

He let the weights do most of the work, helping him sink.

The vet, despite the situation, was slow in descending, after 5 minutes he could barely make out skizz, he was just a movement of different colors.

Grian decided it was a good time to turn on his headlamp.

The beam showed through the water, it was bright, but even then all he could make out was water, no walls, no ground, just dark deep water. He swallowed nervously but then let himself sink some, taking in usual breaths, he had to refrain from panicking, but he couldn’t breathe too deep, which would take more oxygen. After a bit Grian paused to to make sure the pressure wouldn't get to him, looking up he could barely make out the surface, he was passed the spot where the fish were grabbed, he supposed that was a positive. The vet glanced around, but couldn’t make out anything besides a possible rock ledge, nothing on it. Grian sank a bit more, he aimed the light down below him and could make out the sparkling of some shells and probably sand. He landed softly, lifting some sand, and he looked around. His light landed on some metal-wrapped cords, he could see scratches, and claws rather than teeth. None looked enough to kill the power till he saw an end of it, the other half wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The vet crouched down, it was likely teeth, and looking up he could make out lights. He wondered how bright they were. If Gem was right about their biology, and to be fair Grian trusted her far more than any other source, they liked it dark. He wondered if the leviathan had injured himself during that process. It wouldn’t be surprising. He hoped it wasn’t shocking, though if it was it didn’t kill it, but that could leave a nasty wound. Why would you even put lights in a tank? That could cause so many electrical problems. Not that the place was run well anyway, it was cheap, barely avoiding any laws. Grian was just counting the days where he could buy the business from Doc. The vet checked along the walls for anything possibly dangerous, the leviathan likely needed some UV, that, or some oranges, but he was not sure how much a giant eel would appreciate orange juice. Grian looked up and jumped back, but he managed to make out Gem, he put a hand on his heart and pressed his head to the tank. He could make out the shapeshifter laughing. Once she looked up Grian flipped her off making her crouch over, hands on her legs as she kept laughing. Grian eventually snickered. “Big fish?” Gem asked with her hands as best she could. Grian shrugged and signaled crossing over his eyes, their way of not seen.

Gem hummed and put a finger to her chin for a little. “How are you?” She asked The human vet gave his best nervous back. He got what he guessed was a “fair.” In response, from reading Gem’s lips. The two snapped-in-half cord. Gem looked at it and nodded at his discovery, before writing it down on her small notepad. Once looking back up, Grian did his best to mention the sun or vitamin D. It was a struggle. Grian at first tried to make a sun with his arms, but when that failed he pointed at himself. Gem was confused. He tried instead pointing at Gem, then her hair, she was called ‘redheaded’ but it was orange. Gem played with her hair, looked at it, then glanced with confusion up at Grian. He spelled out the color, and she clocked it. She hummed as she thought about oranges, then wrote something down on her pad, before showing it to Grian. “Vitamin D?” Grian gave a thumbs up and she nodded, scratching off the question mark. The human hummed, looking down and around him. He thought he heard something from the other vet, and after a bit, he looked up.

Gem started shouting, her arm pointing out behind Grian frantically.

The vet turned around and, as he did, saw the leviathan. It paused, eyes near shut as it adjusted to the bright light. 

After some blinking it opened them slowly. 

Grian locked eyes, but as far as he knew the creature didn't know he had done so.

Grian's chest sped up, thankfully he still had the tube near his face, so his increased heart rate wasn't using up the tanks on his back.

All were still, the leviathan's eyes locked on Grian, Grian still doing much the same.

The human started slowly moving downwards, trying to look small. 

Gem must have made some swift movements behind him. 

It was a poor decision. The leviathan taking it as a sign of aggression,dashing at Grian, mouth wide. It’s teeth slammed into the tank's side, and the beast moved sideways, likely misjudging the strike due to the blinding light coming from Grian's head. 

Thankfully the glass seemed fine, it just took more scratches. The breathing line somehow wedged between two teeth, resting against the upper tooth, close to being sliced. 

Grian's eyes were focused elsewhere though, as his light shown directly down the leviathan's mouth, into its throat. 

The human vet was stuck in shock, watching muscles move. The muscles were green and black colors, which reminded him of an orca with the pattern.

Some tapping from the tongue and pulling on the air tube forced Grian back into his senses. He looked towards the direction of the nozzle and made a mad dash through the open area of the leviathan's mouth, missing the teeth by less than half an inch. 

He also pulled a risky, but successful, move pulling the tube out from the leviathan's teeth as he escaped the jaws. 

He swam up as fast as he could. Behind him, he could hear the leviathan pulling back from the glass. It likely turned to chase him, but Grian kept going. 

There were 2 problems… 

Or… Well, 3. The Leviathan was built for the dark, for swimming in the depths while Grian wasn't. The large eel could also stand the pressure change better than him.

Regardless, Grian fought it, he'd rather take a couple of days off work with a scolding than a death. 

In his panic, though, Grian was late to notice another mistake: he hadn't stuck near to the glass. 

A second, for the fact he had left his weights on. 

For a third, he could feel the headache coming.

Grian looked to the side to see the wall, then up, he could make out the sounds of shouting, and what he likely imagined to be the silhouettes of skizz and gem before jaws came over him and snapped. 

separating the breathing cord from Grian. The vet stayed calm enough to pull off the old mask, letting bubbles out of his mouth while he changed to his air tanks. 

Almost as soon as he did he was splashed around, smacking against some teeth, thankfully his tanks held. Grian groaned looking around he saw something reflective stuck in the leviathan’s gums.

He took his chance, swimming down by the tooth he grabbed onto it, feeling the serrations on his fingertips, then wriggled the shiny piece of mettle side to side soon pulling it out.

He tossed it out through the small gap that appeared between the teeth. Then swam up to the roof of the mouth, before pushing up on the leviathan’s hard pallet.

He wasn’t sure if it worked, but the mouth opened to suck water in sending Grian back some.

He fell back onto his tongue. Grian could feel the bumps from the taste buds through his gloves. That’s gross.

Grian got back up again, not for long, as the tongue pressed him to the roof before a swallow.

The vet slid some, so he attempted to wrap his arms and legs around the muscle.

It was so slippery, the leviathan didn’t even swallow and Grian could feel himself sliding.

The human whimpered and tried to pull himself back up.

It was no use though, the leviathan lifted up and swallowed.

Grian tried desperately to grab onto anything, but it was nearly if not impossible to do such.

He let out panicked words through his mouthpiece and once stopped by the throat muscles shakily tried getting his gloves off.

The vet felt his head smashed up into the roof but no swallow.

Seeing as there was no water or at least a level he removed his mouthpiece.

“Wait, wait, don’t.” Grian panicked. “I—if you eat me, you won't be able to digest my suit, and you’ll get sick.” Grian put the mouth part back over. Almost all the leviathan’s movements halted at his words. The throat relaxed, and the walls came in on the vet, but it wasn't forceful, unlike before. He took the mouthpiece off again to beg. “Please let me up, I- I won’t bother you again.” He heard a deep rumble that echoed through the muscles around him. “Look I- I’m sorry I don’t know what people have done to you, but I- I don’t want to hurt you, please let me out.” Grian’s voice broke, a slightly higher pitch coming out at the end of the sentence. He put the mouthpiece back on after, just in case. There was a noise similar to a sigh.

Then a swallow.

The vet panicked, his hands reaching up and grabbing at the throat uselessly, his body was smushed and shuffled around a little due to the force of the muscles.

Grian’s movements have been stopped again, but his hands still reach up at the throat.

The leviathan seemed annoyed as the throat walls came in, his body waved around a little.

Grian’s eyes shut and he let out a scared “Mmmm.”

After a bit it stopped, the vet panted, possible tears in his eyes, his body shaking horrendously with adrenalin that wouldn’t be able to help.

The leviathan seemed happy with that as Grian felt himself moving down.

The human’s hand curled weakly on the throat, his face doing down behind his second arm.

Grian felt a couple of pauses, and how the throat moved with the breathing, he swore he could still feel air running over him but he didn’t think it possible.

The throat shook as a worried coo sounded.

The vet's eyes half closed at that, feeling a bit depressed now.

He took the mouthpiece off again “Please?” He begged again, his voice so broken.

Something pressed in on his side, Grian fought back a whimper, his hands clutching some of the muscle around him, but soon let go not wanting to pain the leviathan. There was a soft purr from the large beast, the rubbing seeming centered around him. Grian wasn’t confident he was in a stomach, but he supposed he could be. That was until he was pushed down, and another, a 3rd, and finally he slid into a more open area. Something in him snapped as he did, he ran to the sides pressing in on the walls trying to upset his stomach. There was a confused “rrrrrr.” that echoed around Grian then the walls came in and compressed him. Grian struggled more not wanting to be digested. After a bit, he was just dropped. A noise echoed, a bit confused and upset. The vet covered his ears not because it was loud, but because he didn’t exactly want to pity the leviathan. After seemingly no effect he looked around frantically with his light. There wasn’t much he could see that would help him out.

He did find where he fell in, but it was about another half of him higher. Grian wasn’t an athlete, and he knew climbing was impossible. But on the brink of death, you’ll try everything, even if it's stupid to try.

Grian stepped back, his feet in the puddle and he tried to run, but the slippery floor just sent him down.

And for a while Grian lay there, pulling a hand to his face as he looked at it. His mind raced with apologies that he’d never be able to say, especially to his co-workers who had all watched it happen.

He remembered the funny memories with them, just the day before how Gem and him got into a tickle match over Grian putting mac on his tuna sandwich.

The vet laughed, it turned to sniffles, then to cry.

Grian curled up and hugged his knees to his chest as he sobbed.

The leviathan must have heard it because after a while he felt rubbing again.

He wanted to yell at it, but he refrained. Grian sobbed for a while, the leviathan possibly purring at his distress. Once the vet stopped he reached up to grab his mouthpiece out, only to realize he hadn’t put it back in since his last begging. How was he still breathing? Grian looked around again, panicked breaths. There was no stinging, weight on his lungs, or other signs that could tell him he was struggling to breathe. The vet managed to calm down a little, was it possible the leviathan had a brood pouch like the mers? He realized now too that no fish were on the bottom, or well maybe a tail but he supposed it cou;d have gotten stuck. Grian moved over and picked it up. As he lifted his head he saw a black sleeve, which looked like a diving suit. The vet swallowed nervously and reached down, pulling at it. He watched a second throat area open. Grian gasped and fell back, letting go of the sleeve, there was no skeleton, except a finger. The vet swallowed his nerves, and went in, pulling out the bone in case it was irritating, throwing the fish’s tail down as well, then came back up tugging the suit part out, it took a bit but then he was flung back, panicking to get out of the puddle he landed in. Grian tasted some on accident, but it tasted like- salt water like was in the aquarium. There was a purr that shook the walls soon after Grian got up, then they moved in. He panicked as he got smushed, and moved. He was disorientated from stress and wasn’t sure what way he was going. He pushed around, stopping to put his mask on when the water hit his back. Thank god he did as he was thrown out the leviathan's mouth, his half the suit in hand. Grian held himself in the water, mostly in disbelief. Eventually, he looked up at the leviathan, it looked back for a little before turning and swimming away slowly. The vet took no time starting to swim up, he paused and looked down, to make sure his pressure change wasn’t too much. He checked his oxygen too, it looked pretty okay. So Grian slowly made his way up, letting out some startled gasps as he broke the surface. The group had gone, likely thinking Grian had died, to be fair he’d had thought the same for himself. The vet pulled himself up, his mind hazed, he was out of it, but he managed to take off his flippers, before heading down. Once on the ground, Grian removed his air canisters, and goggles, before moving and dragging his feet. He wasn’t sure where to but Grian ended up cleaning his head enough to recognize their grieving voices. Someone shouted his name, and the vet locked eyes with a couple of them. Doc himself was sitting on a table, looking shocked, like he’d seen a ghost. Grian felt something smack into, and hug him. It took him a while to look down, Gem had her arms strongly around him as if he’d disappear. It took a lot longer for Grian to raise his hand to put it against her head as she sobbed. “G what happened?” Scar asked. Grian couldn't find himself to answer, his mind still in that moment. He wasn’t even sure if he was alive himself. “Grian?” Skizz asked, a hand finding its way to the human vet’s shoulder. He blinked a couple of times. “I-.” He started but stopped not sure how to continue, but tears started falling from his eyes as his head fell into Skizz’s chest. Skizz hugged both of them, and Scar hugged Gem, Grian, and Skizz. After a little, their boss, Doc, spoke. “Alright soo, you look as pale as a ghost, and from what I’ve heard you at least were in its mouth.” Grian nodded, wiping his eyes. “I’ll give you 4 days, of paid time off, on me, if you need to extend it to a week, tell me.” Grian blinked in surprise. “I’d normally not do this, but, since you’ve come around the mers seem happy and healthier, so I’ll allow it. Besides, I have a feeling you’d call in sick tomorrow anyway.”

Gem bore her teeth behind Grian, he felt bad for the poor selkie. Doc only did this with Grian because he was human.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Grian said softly. “Would you guys be okay?”

Gem nodded slowly to Grian, Scar, and Skizz joining in soon.

He hugged them tightly. “Thanks.”

[freddieardley]

Above Ullswater, The Lake District.

Photographed by Freddie Ardley

[atoriv-art]

little student

[linaspocket]

Addressing the witherstorm situation

Im giggling

[captainsaturnart]

“….. And so the storm raged on…..”

Wanted to draw the wither storm from Minecraft story mode. I love that monster so much.

[acourtofquestions]

“If you were to ask me what Throne of Glass is about…

I’d say it’s about the epic journey of a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom.

But if you were to ask me on a deeper level, I’d say…

It’s about how small acts of kindness can change the outcome of the world.

Money to a barmaid, waiting an extra minute to shoot, a warning in a competition, a cloak in a cold dungeon, a message on a wall, sharing your lavender soap.”

[s4turnz4rtz]

wdym twitter art trends are only for twitter 🙁

(read txt from left to right, top to bottom :3)

[enbyfrogz]

s1 ep1 be like

[auraisereigh]

"Shadows and sparks"

Oneshot

Xaden Riorson x reader

Request + Blurb: Could I request first year reader constantly getting on Xaden's nerves and pushing his buttons until the reader sees Violet and Xaden making out one night and suddenly reader stops interacting with Xaden, which drives him crazy? wc: 5.7 ☆ NO SPOILERS FOR THE EMPYREAN SERIES. No specific pronous used, i think.

My first request! thank you so, so much lovely! <3

Masterlist ☆ Dragon guide ☆ Star's story ☆ Empyrean guide ☆ Support me

It had been weeks of trying to get my sword swing right. With daggers, I was skilled—extremely skilled—but swords were a different story. They were heavier, harder to handle. So, I’d started asking Xaden for help.

For the last few weeks, Xaden had been working with me, but it never seemed like he actually wanted to. That thought alone filled me with insecurity.

Today, I had one of those rare moments as a first year where I had nothing on my schedule. I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get in some extra training.

But for that, I needed Xaden.

Lucky me, he just happened to be in the training room, his friend Garrick not far off. Both of them were clearly caught up in their own routines.

I hesitated for a moment before slowly making my way over to him, sword in hand. I always doubted myself when asking for his help. Sure, he did help, but it never felt like he actually enjoyed it. Maybe he only did it because I’m a marked one.

“Hey…” I said quietly, my voice barely audible. I swallowed hard, steeling myself before trying again. “Would you mind helping me with that swing? I think I almost have it.” I tried to sound casual, throwing in a touch of friendliness for good measure.

He stopped mid-movement and turned toward me, his cold eyes locking onto mine. Yep, definitely annoyed.

I sucked in a deep breath. “Just a moment…please?” I tried again, my tone softer this time.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair before letting it fall to his side. He dropped his sword. “Just a moment,” he said, his voice as sharp and cutting as the blade in my hand.

Xaden was always the same when he gave instructions—sharp, and to the point. Even after the session ended and he stepped off the mat, he didn’t soften. No goodbye, no comment on what I should work on. It was strange—he always had something to say, some correction to offer for next time.

Not today. Today, I had officially pushed all his buttons and that made me feel horrible.

Later that night, about an hour before curfew, I wandered through the massive halls of the Riders Quadrant. With the freezing months settling in, a nice hot drink seemed like a good idea.

I turned toward the courtyard when I heard voices—two of them. A man and a woman.

“We’ll both regret it,” the man said, his tone low and laced with frustration.

No…wait. That’s Xaden’s voice.

“Naturally,” the woman replied, her voice calm and familiar. Violet Sorrengail.

As quietly as I could, I moved toward the edge of the wall. I peeked around the corner, but I immediately wished I hadn’t.

Violet and Xaden. Kissing.

I bit my lip. No, it wasn’t just kissing—she was practically climbing him.

I stepped back from the wall, sucking in a shaky breath to stop myself from trembling.

I never felt anything romantic for Xaden—or at least that’s what I told myself. He was helpful, even when he never seemed to want to be. But seeing them together…it hurt more than I expected.

It's probably better this way. If i don't talk to him, i won't have to face the humuliation of knowing he chose someone else.

The urge to look again, to confirm what I’d seen, was huge. But I knew what I saw. No need to make it worse.

♤

It had been five days since I last spoke to Xaden—or more accurately, since I started avoiding him. The ache in my chest hadn’t eased, no matter how much I tried to bury it.

I spent most of my free time practicing. Training felt like the only way to get him out of my head, though it never worked completely.

It was nearly dark, the training room clearing out as the hours ticked by. I swung my sword again, harder this time, pouring my frustration into each movement.

“Use that much force, and you’ll cut your own head off.”

I froze at the sharp voice behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face Xaden. You can do this, I told myself.

“I don’t recall asking your opinion,” I said, keeping my tone neutral as I buried my emotions.

He raised a brow, the scarred one. “You asked me to teach you,” he argued, his voice just as sharp.

“Do you think I don’t notice you slipping out of every room I walk into? Avoiding me like I’ve done something wrong?” He steps closer, his voice low and cutting. “Tell me what I did.”

I scoffed and turned back toward my mat, but before I could pick up my sword, his hand wrapped around my wrist.

“Let go,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to pull away.

“No,” he said firmly. “Not until you tell me why you’ve been avoiding me. And don’t lie—we both know you have.”

His grip didn’t loosen, but his tone softened slightly, the sharp edge still unmistakable.

“I don’t get involved in relationship drama,” I replied sarcastically, giving him a pointed look.

His frown deepened. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You and Violet,” I said, raising a brow. “I’m not getting between that mess.”

His grip finally loosened, and he stepped back, confusion flickering across his face.

“Violet and I are not…that is not—we’re not together,” he said sharply.

“She climbed you like a tree five nights ago,” I deadpanned, meeting his gaze head-on.

For a moment, he just stared at me. Then, to my shock, a grin spread across his face—wider than I’d ever seen.

“You’re jealous,” he said, his tone almost teasing.

“Excuse me?” I shot back, taken aback. “I assure you, I am not jealous. I just refuse to be part of a mess.”

He stepped closer, and I instinctively backed into the wall. His hands came up, caging me in.

“I assure you,” he said softly, his voice dropping lower, “there’s nothing between Violet and me. What you saw was her first time experiencing the mating bond between our dragons.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he beat me to it.

“Surprisingly, I only have eyes for you.”

My breath hitched, his words catching me completely off guard. “You don’t show it,” I managed to say after a moment. "All you’ve ever done is push me away.”

His brows furrowed, frustration flickering across his face. “Because I can’t think straight when you’re around. You’re stubborn, infuriating, and you have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

He sighed, the softness in his expression almost foreign. “It’s difficult to teach you when all I want to do is kiss you.”

Excuse me? There is no way that this man just admitted that. The usual cold, emotionless man that I had been stupidly falling for did not just admit to want to kiss me.

"what?" I whisper out, not trusting my voice to talk any louder or say anything else.

One of his hands cup my face and I can feel my cheeks flush. "All I want to do is kiss you." He repeats, his voice is just as confident as before.

I think for a moment before I speak again. "Then why don't you?" The question is soft and I can barely even finish it as his mouth crashes on mine.

The kiss is rough, just as I expected from this man. His hand on my face tightens and his other hand goes to my waist. He squeezes my waist softly as the kiss deepens.

Gods, this man.

After a few more seconds he pulls away, leaving my breathless as I lean against the wall.

"That was..." I start breathless. "Perfect," he finishes for me. A smile creeps up my face, I can feel my body heat up more every second.

"yeah....yeah, it was perfect," I repeat and I lift my eyes to his. He seems to be feeling the heat to.

"we can finish what we started in my room." He proposes and my eyes widen slightly-- not in fear, no, in anticipation.

I nod my face quickly. "Yeah sounds amazing. Sounds perfect." I say with a smile. He gives me a grin.

"Let's go then." He says grabbing my hand.

♤

[chewingbatmanlikeasqueakytoy]

Why doesn't the justice league know about Amity Park?

Okay so it's been a bit sonce I watched the show but one of the things in DpxDC is the anti-ecto acts, which I love, but correct me if I'm wrong, I THINK ??? they only show up in reality trip? SO: What if Danny, when using the gauntlet to undo everything, also got rid of the Anti-Ecto acts? but this is babys first time editing reality so he uh Fucks Up A Lil'. As a result when Danny used the reality gauntlet to wipe the AEA from existence he accidentally wiped Amity Park from perception. A big 'nothing matters over here' jedi mind trick, and now no ones looking at Amity. So, the Justice League actually WERE looking into and monitoring the situation in Amity, but when the perception filter closed them off, all of that suddenly went ignored.

This is noticed when someone (Alfred, Dick, Tim, literally anyone) realises theres just. A BIG dusty pile of case files semi abandoned somewhere in the cave when going through a (time period)ly cave cleaning.

They put it down because it's Not Important.

They come back to finish the cleaning the next day and do the exact same thing, but there's nothing to actually distract them this time and it pings as weird. Because why would case files be not important? They are by definition important, because only things flagged as important go into case files.

They try to get someone else to read it, because as long as they don't read the information in the file, they don't put it down.

That person goes to read it, gets a line in and then says something like 'that isn't important' and goes to leave. Person A pushes it and person B ALSO catches on.

Que the Batfam trying to figure out hey, what the fuck actually?

Meanwhile, how is Amity fairing? Canon compliant everything's going alright? Or have knock on effects to No One Look Here started to show?

[a-smol-storm-gt-nomfs-blog]

3 in 1 special (I'm bad with names) sea speaker

You have your normal tw for soft, safe vore/extreme cuddling.

Grian had left the island with Tango on a raft he’d been building. It wasn't much, but he could sit stand, and walk in a circle on it. The raft itself was mer-powered, for the most part at least. Mer-powered, as in it was mostly pulled around by the mers, but it still gave Grian the freedom of not being shoved in the muscle prison any time he wanted to leave the island. The raft was very simple considering there was no sail and that Grian never learned how to use one. He didn’t want to be blown off to sea, hence the lack. It was mostly logs and sticks tied together giving Grian enough space to walk around a little, and to lay on. This was a second run of it, Grian wanted to test it before the storm came in. So it was stripped bare, nothing comfortable besides a small perch the avian could sit on and keep an eye out.

Tango was with him, as mentioned. Right now the eel was the Mer power as the rope was a comfortable length for him. Everyone knew Scar wanted to do it, but he was a bit big, yet Grian also feared the mer would just swallow him into his crop when away from the others.

The avian knew tango enough that he trusted the mer wouldn't store him without good reason.

Grian reached into the water and stroked the eel’s back, it was weird, mucus coated under his hands made sense, being an eel they hid in rock crevices the mucus protected their skin from infections and cuts.

The mer was watching him, likely a bit confused by the petting, but he definitely liked it.

Grian smiled, keeping it up. He looked up at the clouds, still far enough away, only ever able to make out the rain sheet yet.

The rain didn't help his already messed-up wings. Although waterproof, winds could be horrible, knocking him around.

They'd throw the boat around just as much.

That's part of the reason why Grian didn't want to make a sail yet.

He'd have to eventually. He knew that the mers might not always be around, and if he had to go offshore himself, it was the safest option.

At least until his wings recovered.

That might not happen for a few years though.

Until then it was, for the most part, random kidnappings and crops he'd be put in.

Thankfully it seemed Impulse was keeping an eye out for him.

Ironically for his name, he seemed the least impulsive of the bunch.

False told Grian Scar's energy was from hormones, causing his- impulsive crop storing.

Oh yeah, she said something about those-, they aren't crops, baby pouches, or something.

Why would a baby pouch be internal, though?

He'd need to ask False to translate someone for him so he could ask about it.

He looked down at the eel mer again watching his tail go side to side, the spots creating a hypnotic movement.

Grian leaned closer to it. If he were any normal bird, he might have tried something stupid, thinking it was a small school of fish.

I wonder if that was just normal avian instincts or his fish-hunting instincts.

The eel must have seen him staring, honestly, grian didn't even realize Tango had stopped the boat till he heard a teasing “Hmm?”

Grian blinked a couple of times before looking up at the toothy, playful smile.

Grian turned away, face red with embarrassment.

“I know I'm hot but-.”

Grian splashed, making the mer laugh.

“Your tail h- messed with my brain.”

“You wanna feel it?”

“Shut!” Grian said, embarrassed.

Tango thankfully changed the subject. “Anyways, topic change, but I know with this storm you likely won't get anything to eat, so- Do you want me to go down and get something?”

Grian paused. “I -er that- it sounds nice.”

Tango smiled. “Alright, ‘be back in a bit, then.” Grian watched as the yellow tail vanished down into the dark water.

The avian sighed, he looked back at the clouds, he had maybe half an hour before it hit him. That thought changed quickly as he could feel the waves rocking a bit, he also just realized he might have been moving, was it waves? Maybe a current? He stuck his hands in the water, he could feel the pull, yeah a current, Tango was likely using it to swim faster, then didn’t think about Grian’s raft. So now he was being dragged towards the storm, giving him maybe 5-10 minutes less time before the storm would be on him. That wasn’t great. What made it worse was that when Tango would be back up, he’d likely be unable to find Grian, the mer was smart, but how long would it take him to realize Grian was down current? Would he swim back to the other mers then realize? Would something else find him? Grian heard murmurs of the two sharks, Doc and Ren, who had been stalking the island, looking for him, not sure if that was the old one or the one he was at currently. Maybe he could convince them, but when it comes to the waves, yeah, he wouldn’t be able to talk them out of killing him. The avian let out distressed peeps. Wait, maybe he could try and get to tango, water did carry noise a lot better, but he’d be shocked still if Tango surfaced. “TANGOOOOO!” Grian yelled. He paused, he knew if the mer heard him he wouldn’t be coming up yet but just to make sure. “TANGO HELP I THINK I’M CAUGHT IN A CURRENT!”  After a couple of minutes nothing, the avian got nervous, but not surprised.

And something worse is he made out the fin of a shark, and something perhaps pale.

Please don’t be, please don’t-

He saw a head and surface, but it didn’t seem to have seen him yet, it was the smaller shark. He was looking around, maybe for his pal, he seemed slightly nervous.

In about 30 seconds, he spotted Grian, the perking of the dogfish’s ear fins being obvious.

He went under some and started towards Grian. The kingfisher himself let out loud panicked noises, the shark becoming invisible under the darkness of incoming cloud cover.

He could make out the paleness just before the shark broke the surface, fingers sitting on Grian’s raft, the mer seemed a lot less nervous now.

Grian on the other hand was not, his feathers came up, his trimmed wings too, poofing out as he tried to look bigger.

“Awww aren’t you cuteee.” Ren teased

“Leave me alone.” Grian, well he wasn’t sure if he was begging, or commanding, what he did though was his voice was shaky.

The shark seemed confused. “I dunno about that bud, I don’t think you’ll survive this storm, it’s not pretty.”

Maybe the mer didn’t remember him, he thought he’d be angry.

The shark's expression seemed to shift as he could make out Grian’s body shaking.

“Ah, I-.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Alright, look, I’m guessing you don’t like us chasing you around, but I’d rather you not die in the storm.” He definitely remembered.

“I- I have a mer friend, H-he's near, h-he’ll be back for me soon.”

“You mean Scar?”

Grian almost said no, but then nodded yes, Scar was big, they might not test it.

“Riiiiight, your expression says it all.” Ren said sarcastically, making Grian swallow and shrink some, walking backward on the raft.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be harmed, not unless you do something stupid.”

“Please Don’t,” Grian begged, but he didn’t move, besides his shaking body, when Ren’s hands came up.

“Oh, bud.” Ren cooed softly, his finger Gently brushing Grian’s body. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” The avian’s voice shook as nervous peeps slid out. Ren gently put a hand under Grian's feet and lifted him up.

The avian's breathing and heart sped up, when tens mouth opened he tried to go back but his wings bumped the mers hand making him freeze.

“Please don't eat me,” Grian begged one last time.

Ren paused, his open mouth closing into a frown. “I'm not gonna-.” Ren was cut off by something that threw himself at the shark mer. Ren dropped Grian who let out a small gasp. Hands were quickly around Grian before he could comprehend anything. At first, the Avian squirmed thinking it was the bigger shark.

“Hey Grian, I got you, it's okay.”

That was Tango’s voice. Looking up the avian saw the eel over him, but the mer’s attention shifted to Ren as he recovered.

“Ow! Jeez man- what was that for?”

“For trying to grab our Grian.”

The avian smiled at that, their Grian, he liked the sound of it.

Ren sighed. “Well then careful with him, he was nearly caught in the storm, where were you?”

“Fishing, I wanted to make sure he ate, and something interesting, but I'll take him back, thanks.”

“I mean you can try.”

All 3 heads turned to Doc, and Grian let out a verbal gulp.

“I’d like my bird please.”

Grian started shaking again, but Tango pressed him to his, soaked, chest.

“No, he’s not yours.” “He isn’t yours either.” “He likes us, so I’d say yes, he is ours.” Doc huffed and turned to the shaking bird, he met Grian’s eyes and the avian puffed up again. The larger shark mer chuckled. “So cutee.” Tango lowered his head towards Grian. “Hold on tight, okay?” The eel whispered before putting him on the perch. Grian did as told and felt a yank as Tango started swimming upstream, he could see how hard the mer’s body was fighting it, and the angry yells that came from the two- or well, more like just Doc. Grian watched behind them carefully, Ren seemed to be trying to stop Doc but the larger dove under. “I- I think Doc’s chasing.” Tango’s ears flicked, and he heard Grian. Looking at the direction the mer was heading he could see a lot of rocks that stuck up above the water. The mer was gonna try and lose the bigger mers in it probably. Grian was yanked to the side, he yelped but held, barely. He looked back and saw a snarling Doc, upset he missed. Tango still aimed sharply towards the rocks. The larger shark mer must have seen as he tried to move and cut tango off. He would have too if it wasn't for Ren. The smaller shark mer stopped Doc, saying something not understandable to Grian. It worked for a bit as just after Tango was in the area he could see the shark mer dive in, aiming at the two runners. Once around a couple of rocks Tango surfaced. He did a finger over his lips, which Grian wouldn’t argue against, then took his hands up. It was the trust signal they showed Grian a while back. Grian’s breath held. He turned towards where he heard Doc’s angry shouting, then swiftly turned back and put his hands on Tango’s fingers. The mer, much quicker than he’d ever been cupped his hands around Grian’s feet and back before shoving the avian in his mouth, nearly deepthroating him.  The kingfisher pulled his legs up, one foot grasping it gently around one of Tango’s teeth, the other trying to use the tongue to pull himself up quicker. Tango swallowed, it was strong, crushing the avian, unlike all those from the other mers. Grian wasn’t fighting it, he’d rather be in Tango’s pouch than Doc’s stomach. The eel let out weak coughs, and Grian could feel the walls shift, and push up a bit, but once fixed there was another swallow. The coughing came again, a hand came up and scratched at Grian’s back. What was? Oh, Grian’s wings, the feathers must be itchy. The avian tucked them closer to his body, and the itching changed to a rubbing, thanking Grian silently, before another swallow. The body shifted to a bit of a stiffer area, being moved mostly out of Tango’s throat, and under his chest. The muscles around him moved less from the breathing, the sound of the mer’s heartbeat was there, not loud, but he could make out the distinct sound. He remembered it from Impulse. This was a bit louder, though, and a lot quicker, too. It made sense, as the mer was likely stressed. The avian moved a shaky arm out in front of him, putting a hand gently against the throat walls he rubbed a bit. Tango’s hand, or what he thinks it was, gently pressed in on him. “I’m okay,” Grian said softly. The mer responded with another swallow, another after a bit, Grian could feel it getting tighter, and after a 3rd swallow, even more. The avian squirmed a bit, but then with a 4th push, he gasped and pushed into a slightly more open area, tango’s pouch. Slightly became very cramped. Grian’s hands pushed at opposite walls, it felt more compressed than Tango’s throat, and he hated it. One thing he could tell is that, when pushing at the muscles, they were tense, very tense, likely the reason Grian felt so cramped. The avian tried pushing more but his hands just slipped and got stuck. The kingfisher squirmed, he hated the tight feeling, he hated it so much, he wanted out, he

 wanted out- “Stop!” Tango hissed. Grian’s thoughts and body stilled. It felt like the world paused It felt so still Everything unmoving For just so long nothing Not a word, not a shift in the muscles, the avian could barely recognize his own body moving from breathing. It took Grian so long to realize Tango’s chest wasn’t even moving much, if at all from breathing. ~~ pov change woooooo ~~

Tango put his hands up, asking Grian silently if he trusted him. The avian looked nervous but after hearing some yelling he nearly shoved himself into tango’s head when leaning over and accepting.

Tango picked up Grian’s feet in his hand and put the avian hybrid’s head in his mouth. Grian tasted amazing, but they didn’t have the time for that.

The eel mer pushed the avian in even more, as far as he could before he needed to swallow. He didn’t at first, as he felt the king Grian’s feet pull up, but after a bit understood Grian was just attempting to pull himself in.

So Tango swallowed, It was a strong swallow, something he could feel the avian didn’t enjoy, but Grian didn’t fight, so Tango went again.

He coughed, as quietly as he could, as the avian’s feathers brushed up against his throat. Tango didn’t think that his feathers would be so itchy, it was odd, considering how soft they felt in his hands.

He forced another swallow, more coughing, but then more swallowing. Grian was doing well, but Tango hadn’t noticed they weren’t struggling until the avian got near his brood pouch entrance, it was tighter there so he supposed that made sense.

He swallowed Grian into his pouch. He could feel the avian, every part of him, he could make out his wings, his heart beating ever so swiftly, the small patch of warmth as a breath escaped Grian. And hands pushing out, at first he thought it was Grian trying to rub, maybe get comfy

, but it never lessened, and maybe got worse, using stronger pushes.  Tango hissed at the avian, and Grian stopped, but Tango had to go, he left the raft, the avian could rebuild another, and it would just give him away. The Eel mer used the rocks as a way to hide, soon hearing Doc finding the raft and breaking it. He was glad he left it now. The thing is he has to try and swim back without being spotted. The major problem was he was slow compared to the shark's more sleek build, his best chance was to hope a mer from the group saw the storm and came after them. Once noticing that Doc was distracted again he went for it.

He had gotten halfway to another rock when he turned his head and saw Ren.

The smaller shark mer stayed quiet but was still staring.

“What are you looking at? Ohhh there he iss.”

Tango ‘dashed’ well not really, as his back was slammed into a rock making him let out a gasp of breath.

“Where is he?” Doc growled.

Tango panted, looking the large shark mer in the eyes. ‘Where you can’t reach him.”

“Let me have him.”

“Why?” Tango asked seeming defensive now. “Why do you need him so bad? What has he DONE to you that you feel the need to scare the living daylights out of him every damn second.”

Doc didn’t have a response for a little.

“He spends hours staring at the ocean terrified, he thinks you’ll just show up and eat him!”

“I’m not going to eat him.”

“He doesn't know that!” He felt Grian shivering, every part of the avian’s body was shaking. Tango put a hand on his chest letting the avian know he was there.

“I told him so, back when we first met, besides, he bested me once-.”

“So this is all a dumb challenge to you? He’s so terrified, god he didn’t even understand us for so long, do you know how long it took Scar to calm him down the first time he did that? He only managed to swallow him because he didn’t eat for 3 days beforehand!” Doc stayed silent, but he looked pretty pissed. Tango opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. He ended up saying nothing, not wanting to anger Doc more. The hand pressed harder and he gasped, his own hands pulling at Docs. “Then why is he in you?” “BECAUSE HE TRUSTS ME! He knows NOTHING about you, besides you ate the whole crew, and went after him! What is he supposed to think?” Doc lessened his grip, Tango and the larger shark turned to Ren who was pulling Doc’s arm back. “He was, he was scared of me too when I first saw him. He thought I was going to eat him then too, brute force won’t solve this one.” Tango could feel Grian calm down some at that. “Besides, the storm is coming, just let them go, it isn’t worth it right now.” “But- I- he’s RIGHT here Ren, I can’t just let him go!” “If you do anything to him or me, you’ll have a lot worse to deal with!” Tango well it was a threat, but also a truth. Doc growled. “Or maybe I’ll just scare you into silence.” Tango felt his stomach compressing in on itself a little, not realizing the same was happening with his storge. Grian squirmed a little. “Aww he looks nervous now~.” Tango growled, then he saw a flash of black and white before Doc and Ren were shoved, not far but Tango looked up and saw Gem. Gem was Orca mer, one of the 3 that lived nearby the island, never really interacted with Grian though. “Well well well! Look who’s here.” She said smiling threateningly, teeth showing purposefully.

Doc growled. “We just want the damn bird.” “He’s not JUST a BIRD!” Tango growled. The large shark growled again. Gem turned to Tango, her gaze more neutral but still intimidating. Her arms came out, pulling the eel closer to his face. When her mouth opened Doc dashed at them, but Joel, another Orca, came from out behind the rock and shoved harshly into Doc, earning a grunt. Gem shoved Tango’s head and shoulders into her mouth. Tango could feel the taste buds against his tongue, the muscle moving a little with her breathing. He knew she wouldn’t kill him, but Tango’s breathing stuttered. He watched the tongue lower, showing off Gem’s throat for a bit before it came up for a swallow. He could make out the sounds of arguing, mostly Doc shouting, but Joel shouting even louder, much more aggressively. Once Tango’s belly was swallowed into the orca’s throat he looked back at his chest, thinking about Grian.

The avain had been very quiet, though the silence, and body movements spoke volumes.

Tango only now realized how nervous both himself and Grian had been.

“Grian?” he asked softly. The avian’s shaking lessened, but no verbal response. “G?” tango asked again, still no response, so maneuvering a hand, he pressed it to his pouch.

He could feel a lot of tense muscle, was it Grian or his own? He smushed or tried to smush his chest, but he realized it was likely his own.

Impulse’s words hit Tango like a brick. ‘They like their wing space. Without it avians feel trapped, weak.’ Those words were told to him by Impulse, the day he teased Grian, the first day they met.

Tango almost did the same thing as Doc that day.

No wonder Grian preferred Impulse over everyone, the mer left it up to Grian, never forcing it on him, not like Doc, or Scar would.

Tango wanted to throw up. He heard Grian now- or well felt Grian, he was pushing gently, feeling trapped by the tense muscles. The Eel got more nervous, wanting to calm Grian down. “G-gem I uh- how- I need to calm down how-.” “Tango- Tango.” She said softly, tongue brushing his tail. “Breathe, breathe, deep breaths, in 3 out 5.” The smaller mer nodded. He took in a deep shaky break for 3 seconds, held for one, and then breathed out. 

After 3 of these, his breathing became more normal, 

after 10 Tango realized he couldn’t feel Grian as well, 

after 15 the avian moved slowly, seeming to test the mer, After 20 tango apologized. “G, I- I’m sorry, I’m sorry for before-, and even before that.”

He felt hands press on his pouch, rubbing it. Tango could feel his tenseness when Grian did that, but the avian’s petting helped.

“I’m sorry for Scaring you- like when we first really met-.” He was stopped as Gem swallowed.

“And uh, for yelling earlier-.”

Grian finally spoke, “It’s okay- we were both stressed out I could- really tell-.” Tango guessed his tense stomach told Grian, never mind the hiss Tango let out earlier.

“Do you have my raft?”

“No, I left it tied up to hide, but Doc destroyed it- sorry.”

“It’s fine, I have other things I want to try anyway.”

Tango rubbed at Grian, helping both the avian and himself, also because he had no idea what else to say.

Gem purred gently around them. “Grian- that name familiar.’ She hummed

“He's uh- he's the avian that we’ve been talking to on the island?”

  “OHHHH! Hi! Nice to meet you finally, er- I wish it could have been better than this?” Grian laughed. “It’s okay, I uh, can I ask your name and uh species?” “Names Gem, I’m one of the 3 in the pod that has territory around your island.” “Wait I’ve had Orca mers near my island this whole time?” Gem laughed this time. “Has no one told you?” Grian “N-no- not really? I suppose I never left the island though, at least not without being in someone, today was supposed to be like that, but uh-.” Gem “That's fair, you guys might be in me till the storm passes though, is that alright?” “I’m fine with that,” Tango said. “I-er Grian what do you want?” “I’d un- I guess? I- I mean I’d-.” the avian went quiet, not wanting to sound commanding. Tango rubbed at the avian. “What is it?” “I’d like more wing space.” He said quietly. Tango nodded and did his best to relax, but being in someone else's tight throat, he also pushed back at the eel, likely not helping Grian’s case. “Gem can you- er, continue please?” Gem hummed confused for a second. “Oh yeah!” She continued to swallow, Gem’s hand feeling his lump from the outside. Gem was gentle yet effective. Tango’s biology made him easier to get down, being a bit of a slimy creature himself. It wasn’t long till he was in the orca’s pouch, it was odd, Gem’s multi-colors, like on her tongue, seemed to carry down all her body. Tango could pretty much feel Grian’s relief as the space expanded.  What sucked for the avain though is it still was hugging him, but the kingfisher wasn’t complaining. It occurred to Tango that he could just have been nervous to say, Grian was nervous to ask before, but the fisher wasn’t tense, or fighting it, more relaxed.

“Would you be okay with some rubbing?”

“Me?” Gem asked. “I- I meant Grian, but I could pet you too if you want.” Gem’s belly flushed with embarrassment. “I-I yeah- please.” “I uh- I guess?” Grian responded after the other two quieted down.

Tango took one hand to both of them, his tail curling around his chest, protective of the bird. Grian was still somewhat tense himself Tango could feel that as he rubbed. It was fair, the poor guy was scared he was about to get eaten, was in a smaller space, and still wasn’t totally used to mer’s swallowing him.

Grian himself started rubbing back as well after calming down enough for it.

“How are you feeling G?”

The avian stopped his rubbing. “Nervous- I- not because of you-.”

Tango chuckled. “It’s okay G, You’ve been through a lot in these what- last 15 or so minutes?”

Grian nodded, Tango could feel it. Soon after that, the avian was readjusting himself, the eel’s tail twitched happily at the feeling. The avian ended up lying on his belly, one arm was used to raise the roof a little, the other pushing the wall out a little.

The eel wasn’t sure when, be he had started purring, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was from when Grian was shifting around.

The avian’s hands did some mix of kneading and rubbing, Tango purred more, and his head moved to be laying on his tail. Poor Gem missed out on the petting, but the smaller mer could pretty much hear her teasing, smile.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.” He threatened Gem as if he could do anything.

“And if I do?”

Tango growled, she was right, there wasn’t much, butttttt… “No belly rubs for you then.”

Gem gasped. “Okay okay, I won't I won't.”

Tango “Aww, good girl.”

“Shush, I'll make you into sushi.”

“Not in front of Grian,” he said slightly seriously. “Yeah, I’ll squeeze him out of you first, then turn you into sushi.” “I’m about to get Geminislayed.” “Rip,” Grian said jokingly making Tango burst out laughing. Gem joining him soon after After the laughter died down there was some silence, mostly because everyone's lungs hurt. “What’s your favorite fish?” Grian asked Gem. “Like to eat.” “Ooooooo.” She hummed “Good question uhh, I mean- do sharks count? I like eating the predatory fish a lot, sharks being one of my faves.” “Any shark in particular?” “Not really, I’ve had uhh a couple of each, I can’t say I’ve had them in time to know what the difference is, I just like sharks.” “Have you had whale? Like those whale bodies?” “Oh yeah, I think it's kinda common, More so than most think. We only go for those who died on the shore, if we can help it, we get them back in if alive.” “Oh wow.” Grian paused for a bit. “What's your option on Humans?” “Oh uh, mean, annoying, but we ignore them, unlike the two sharks that attacked you. I think Doc was attacked by humans though, which is why they turned to eating the small boats of them that come through.” “Oh, is that where that scar came from?” “Yeah.” The avian hummed, feeling bad likely for the mer. Tango was a bit shocked by that, surprised Grian would feel bad for the thing hunting him down. “Oh Gem, uh- question, can you drop me off at the reef- the one near the old human island?”

“Oh yeah sure, after the storm or now?”

‘Now please.” “Can do.” She whistles something to her Pod before swimming off. “How big is the pod?” “3 strong, with surprisingly different personalities.” “You say it like it's bad.” “I didn’t mean it to be.” Gem chuckled “How does it work, being an orca mer.” “Well, we have territories, but only against mer’s that eat the same diet. We, like Orcas, have separate diets. We have a pod that crosses territory with us, but their pod eats mostly fish.” She paused for a bit. “But our territory doesn't allow anyone with a similar diet to cross.” “Orcas also eat seals, do you have a pod that does that?” “No, we’re a bit too far out at sea, not many walruses or Seal are out here.” “Ah, now that you mention that I suppose I haven’t seen any of them.” “There’s a pod that lives a bit passed your island, passed the reef too, they dive for deeper prey than us, and they have scars from the squid that they tackle, they’re pretty cool dudes.” “Oh, so almost like- taking over some whale's jobs?” “Yeah, they eat bigger and deeper stuff normally, but there haven't been many sperm whales in the area so they just ended up taking over the Job. They used to be more like us, a couple of generations ago. But our waters don’t go deep enough for that type of diet, hence the lack of overlapping boundaries. If you get lucky you might find one at the reef getting a clean, we don’t mind them here as they don’t attack anything in our land.” “Does anything else have territory?” “I've heard some Mer sharks and whales do. But most go with the flow”  “Whale mers do?”

“Yeah, mostly Sperm whale mers, they eat more than an average sperm whale as they have a warmer body temp, but they tend to be in groups of 5 or more.” “Are they sisters and daughters like your pod?” “Maybe? But I’m with two bachelors.” “OH- sorry, I didn’t mean to assume.” “Nah you’re fine, It's actually what we normally do, but I used to just wonder with Pearl, ended up settling with them here, but never was interested in many babies, not yet at least.” “That's fair, but were you kicked from your pod?” “Nah, but the group was a bit big, I was young, and so decided to go with the guys when they left, split away when I met Pearl, we were moving around together, and as mentioned, found this spot.” “Pearl said she knew you too, when you were younger right?” Tango asked Grian. “Yeah! She was teaching me sea speak, but when the hybrid hunting boats came in her pod forced her to leave, it's why I knew so little.” “Ohhhh, yeah okay, that makes sense.” “How did you recognize her when she showed back up?” “She recognized me, and she had a nickname for me, one word I did know.” “Gabba?” “Yep, that’s me.” “OHH that's you, I’ve heard her call you Gabba, so when ‘Grian’ showed up I wondered if you were like- twin siblings.” Grian snickered. “Awww man that would be a good prank to pull on someone.” Tango laughed. “How’d you do that?” “Dunno, I'll think of something.” “How would that work on Skizz? -if I pretended to be someone else.” “He’d believe you, Zed would figure it out, Impulse might too, but sometimes he just believes it, so I could be wrong.” Grian chuckled. “What's it like, down deep?’ “Dark, big things, the mers down there eat whatever is smaller than them, that includes any mers.” Grian swallowed nervously at that. Tango seemed casual, it was a bedtime story used to keep mers from going down too far, as pressure was a thing. “Do you know anyone who’s been eaten by one?” Grian asked, voice shaky. “No, and rumor is they lack storages too.” Grian peeped nervously. “Andd that's enough of that!” Tango said pretty loudly. Gem was a bit startled by it but seemed to understand. “Do avian’s have storages?” “Kinda, we have crops.” “Huh, what do those do?” “Store food, it's in our throats rather than our chest, and- if I swallow whatever is in there is going down.” Tango let out an understanding “Oooooooo. That's why you get scared with skizz in there yeah?” “Yeah, because I eat fish his size.” “It's a good fear,” Gem said softly. “I know I was worried when it first came to swallowing myself.” “Can I ask where you came from?” “Main-land, on the coast, I ate both salty, estuary, and freshwater fish, I had an avian village, we lived in the trees.”

“Did you get caught in a storm?” “No, watcher boat got me, was going to be sold. Then the boat was attacked by the two sharks that attacked us today.” “Oh, the boat raiders huh, did they take you to Tango and them?” “No, they tried to eat me, I got to an island, Scar found me, stored me, took me here.” “Ah.” “Yeah, wasn’t fun- no offense, I just couldn’t speak like anything, and- er- he just- almost ate me in my eyes?” “Ohhhh Oh wow, yeah that- sorry that that happened.” “It’s okay, I know you- it’s natural for you- not for us?” “That’s fair.” Gem said softly, putting a protective hand on Tango’s back.” There was some silent, calming swimming for a bit, the silence broken by Gem.“I’m nearly there, want out, Tango?” “Yes please.” The orca mer moved downwards, laying in the center she was approached by fish but the mer’s head aimed down, and the noises started. Gem started pushing Tango up, the body pressed into him and pushed. He was used to it, but he could tell it startled Grian as he moved around some.

“It’s okay G, I’m just getting out of Gem.” Tango cooed, petting the bird as best he could.

He heard Grian let out nervous peeps, it made his heart pang a little, poor guy.

Thankfully Gem was fast, and the eel slid out of her mouth casually, like any eel would if it was coming out of some rocks.

“Thanks for saving us- helping me return in one piece.”

Gem laughed at that, the other two were lying down and being cleaned. “You’re welcome

Tango slowly made his way towards the rocky outcrops, he gently traced the sand with his puffed-out belly. He looked down and could make out well even feel where Grian was. The avian’s movements were slow, the darkness making the kingfisher tired. Impulse spotted him first, and dashed over “Tango! Where’s G-?” Tango smiled softly and pressed a hand to his belly. The shark mer cooed in excitement and lay down, looking at Tango’s pouch as if he were a father. “How’d that happen?” The eel looks to the side nervous. “Not the best situation, Doc and Ren showed up while we were out, his uh- his raft was smashed by Doc too.” “Awww, poor G he was so happy with that raft.” “I’d rather it than me.” The avian piped up. Impulse flushed in embarrassment, not expecting Grian to have heard them. “How are you feeling?’ “Tired… comfy.” Tango purred. “Can I lay down, G?” “Yeah.” The avian said softly, Tango swore he could hear a yawn soon after, but he wasn’t sure. The eel looked up at the surface, it was dark, still stormy. “Want to head back to the reef?” “Yeah, be careful with Skizz, he’d want in with G.” Tango snickered. “I had a feeling, not a great idea I don’t think, poor G barely has enough space for himself.” Impulse nodded in agreement. The two chatted, swimming slowly towards the reef. While chatting Grian was moving around in him, the eel mer didn’t pay too much attention, it wasn't an upset struggle, more of a finding a comfy position.

  “Tango! you’re back!” Zed said happily interrupting their thoughts. Impulse- “With a Grian in him too.” “Wait really? Oh my gosh, how’d you do that?” Tango chuckled nervously. “Mutual agreement and stress.” “Ah, yeah I suppose Scar harasses Grian into Impulse all the time, I could see that happening with someone else.” “Not Scar but close enough.” he looked around. “Where’s Skizz?” “Helping someone, he’ll be gone for a bit.” Tango nodded and lay down. Impulse got out part of a fish, offering it to tango. Tango hummed. “I- kinda feel full but- G you hungry?” The avian said nothing. “G?” Tango tried again. Still nothing, so Tango pressed a hand gently before his eyes widened. “G-guys- I- I think he’s sleeping.” The eel whispered-shouted. Impulse’s face lit up, Zed looked excited and they both came close, listening in to the sleepy chirps and breathing.

“Seems like it,” Zed whispered. “It's soooo cute.” Impulse cooed quietly. “I’m glad he can relax during this.”

“More like adrenaline dying down, and the darkness, but I do agree.”

“Yeah, that's fair.”

So the 3 chatted quietly, letting the bird sleep, he needed it.

[whymakedecisions]

[freddieardley]

At the shore of dark skies

Photographed by Freddie Ardley - Instagram

[xadensbiceps2]

I see so many posts, both on here and other sites, claiming that Xaden chose Sgaeyl over Violet, or that he sacrificed his life with Violet when he channeled to save Sgaeyl, but like… are we all just forgetting the bonds?

If Sgaeyl dies, Tairn dies. If Tairn dies, Violet dies.

He’s not choosing Sgaeyl over Violet. He’s choosing Sgaeyl AND Violet over himself. Just like he always has and always will.

[ky-landfill]

[fishareglorious]

kakania numero uno reverse 1999 character on the fact she makes a dig on the sex life of the guy she was dueling with at the moment. while also somewhat kinda maybe implying she fucked his wife