#and then I told the story about how I almost drowned in the ocean but a stranger saved me

[fungusqueen]

I'm only 9 days away from a 1,000 day streak on Duolingo, and I want to do something to celebrate but I'm not sure what. Also, I haven't had Spanish class in two weeks because of the holiday and in those two weeks I've witnessed some really evil shit that I want to learn how to talk about in Spanish so I need to learn some new words I've never had to learn before this, so that I can maybe tell my teacher about it

[ghostsy]

The Other

yandere ! ITADORI YUJI x READER x yandere ! SUKUNA

WARNINGS: yandere, misogyny, nsfw, implied noncon

A/N: A bit different than usual, less story and more imagine, I just had a Thought TM that wouldn't leave me alone.

read at your own discretion.

❈ ◦•≫────≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫────≪•◦ ❈

What about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but it’s 19th century Gothic Yuji and Sukuna obsessing over their cute little lab assistant.

Where Yuji finds himself falling in love with the pretty little thing that turned up one night on his doorstep. How could a gentleman refuse a damsel in distress? She’d had nowhere to go, and a woman on the streets is a woman without dignity. He’d done her a favor taking her in, feeding her, clothing her, teaching her everything he knows. Well, almost everything. 

And it’s not that she’s not grateful, no, she’s always eager to please, pretty doe eyes blinking up at him with only the purest intentions of proving her worth. 

It’s when that voice in his head that he swears isn’t his starts to talk. 

Bend her over and spread her legs.

He’d had years of experience tuning the other inside of him out, and begrudgingly grew used to the snide remarks about the so-called useless pussy on legs. But it’s only when his more ignoble half begins to make suggestions with less than savory intentions that he finds himself wavering. He tries to reason that it isn’t him, not really. He can keep it under control. He always has. 

It’s the small things really, how she bites the tip of her pencil in concentration during his lectures, determined to be of some use to him. Pretty lips parted oh so delicately, hugging the tip to her teeth.

Let me out. I want to see that whore mouth painted white with my cum.

Or when she blinks dumbly at him from under butterfly lashes, a sheepish giggle and warmth on her cheeks because something he said went in one ear, through her ditzy little brain, and out the other.

Dumb little thing would sink down and suck our cock dry if we told her it was in the name of science, wouldn’t she? 

An involuntary twitch of his fingers sends his heart leaping to his throat.

Why don’t you find out?

He drowns it out until the cover of night shields him, locked inside his chambers before giving an inch to the monster. Stroking his cock to the image of her laid out naked and moaning beneath him, legs spread and welcoming. Where the thought of licking the sweat from the skin of her neck has him hurtling off that cliff, and into the resulting ocean of shame.

Little things build up, he finds, and even with her painfully female brain, she begins to notice something off. Though, he finds himself grateful when it isn’t disgust that meets him, but concern. Oh, bless women and their nurturing sensibilities.

She’ll fuss over him like a true lady, mothering but not smothering. Anything he needs to help soothe those pesky migraines. And he’ll finally realize an acceptable way to indulge in his impure thoughts. He’ll make the street urchin he turned lady his wife.

He ignores the rumbling of low laughter that rattles his brain at the thought, deep enough to shake something important but easily forgotten in his bones.

He’ll make all the appropriate preparations for a courtship, determined to woo her as a man would, as a man should. Dress her up, and take her on a promenade through the finest parts of town, introducing her to the finest people at the finest parties.

But he reasons that was his first mistake. Because when he watches her laugh, all airy and bright, intentionally tempting, entirely too close to that brooding dark-haired duke he liked to call brother, white hot fury spills into his veins. That distant familiar desire, heady in all its glory, bloodlust, is his only warning. And the other, who’d been quiet for quite some time, smugly returns. 

A whore is a whore no matter the clothes. You thought she’d choose you?

He’ll down glass after glass of scotch, determined to ignore it, but too focused on the brush of her delicate fingers alongside the Duke’s sleeve. There’s a look in his friend’s eye he’s never quite seen before; it’s soft, warm, and it’s all it takes for him to rush to the water closet and hurl up the contents of his stomach.

Pathetic. A man doesn’t wait to be chosen. A man takes what’s his. There’s only one between us. Let me out. 

A man takes what’s his. It’s a thought that settles too comfortably in his mind, and he resolves to keep her close. No more outings with those snobbish lords and ladies. Just to save her the embarrassment of exposing the unrefined nature of her peasant birth any more than she already had.

It’ll work for a time, but it’s just a little while later that his brother turned traitor starts turning up on the manor’s doorstep with his own intentions of courtship. Excuses of their preoccupation with scientific breakthroughs and studies only keep him at bay for so long.

I’ll do what you can’t. Let me out. 

He begins to wonder whether the beast had been wrong when he catches her wistful stares out the window, too conspicuously asking about the wellbeing of a man that isn’t him. A whore is a whore. When she comes back from town with the excuse of restocking food or supplies, why does she take longer and longer to return each time?

Let Me Out.

He’ll question why it isn’t enough. Why he isn’t enough. He isn’t, not if her attention still turned elsewhere. There’s a beating at the door of his mind that threatens to split at any moment. Finally, mercifully, she’ll relieve the struggle with two words.

He proposed. 

He proposed. He proposed. He proposed. He doesn’t hear anything after that, not as she sputters out empty placations and gratitude. Not when she solidifies her intentions of leaving him.

He just responds in kind with two earth-shattering words of his own.

Come out.

[bucketsofmonsters]

Deep Water - Part 5

cw: the ocean, begrudging kissing done for practical reasons, discussions of drowning, blood, malnourishment, more tags to be added as the story continues

merman x fem reader

Word count: 3k

read on ao3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Simon wretched. He wretched in front of them and it burned his throat and stung his ego as he emptied his stomachs of human food in front of his human and your awful little friend.

Finn had brought him this. Maybe if you'd brought him food it wouldn't make him feel this awful.

Probably not, but maybe.

He didn't like being brought food by this man anyway. It felt too much like courting. 

He would preen at the idea of you bringing him food if he weren't currently emptying his stomachs in uncomfortably shallow water

Shallow water he bore for you. Not for him. Stupid little man.

He hated that he needed him. Needed him to bring him fish and these horrible toxins they’d decided to try. 

“Probably not bread then,” he heard you say and he shook his head

No. No more of this bread. Not if he had anything to say about it, thank you very much.

“Okay,” your stupid little human said, still looking nervous. As he should be. If you hadn’t stood between them, he’d be dead. Even in the state he was in, he could lure him right in past the rocky shore and into deeper waters. 

But he wouldn’t, for reasons he didn’t like to think about, his stomachs turning again as he did. 

The two of you exchanged words once more, ones he hadn’t been paying attention to, before the stupid human left again. 

You sat on the shore beside him and he pulled himself out of the water next to you. 

His gills ached a little as he shifted so frequently from water to air but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lay beside you. 

You stared out at the sea, eyes a little distant and yet still warm. Even when they weren’t looking at him.

He couldn’t bring himself to feel jealous, not when he got to look at you like this. Even if that look wasn't directed at him. 

You spoke softly and contemplatively when you did. “They were together. Finn and Isobel. She was my sister, I don’t know if I ever told you about her.”

He shook his head, wishing he knew more of you. Wishing you’d share more of yourself with him.

But he couldn’t really blame you, what had he told you of himself?

“She’s smart,” he said, contented at the fact that Finn had apparently already been rejected by one of your own. 

“Smart?”

“You said were. He is not a suitable mate.”

You shifted on the rocks, something he’d come to realize you did when you’d been made uncomfortable, usually by him. He could rarely understand why, despite how frequently it happened. This was one of those times and he waited, patiently, for you to make it clear to him what he had done. 

“She never left him. They were together until she died.”

“Oh.” A horrible sense of dread overwhelmed him. “How?”

“She drowned,” you said, picking up a rock and throwing it out into the water. 

He was glad you weren’t looking at him, eyes locked into the horizon as you spoke. He was certain the worry was written across every feature on his face. 

Did he do that? He didn't know. That felt worse almost, that someone so dear to you could have been so insignificant to him that he may have killed her without even knowing

“Simon?” you asked, words fading in past the intense, buzzing panic. 

He wasn't sure how he felt when you called him that. A foreign, half-remembered name. You'd seemed displeased the first time he’d told it to you but you continued to use it so it couldn’t have been that bad. 

He’d caught himself calling himself that in his own mind, of late. It was easy to when your voice was the only thing that filled his head. 

He wished he had a name like you did, one he’d been given at birth so that when you said it it felt as if you were speaking him, like you could pour his essence out of your mouth with the affection he often heard in your voice. 

As he focused once again he saw the horrible human, holding a fish this time. He looked worried too and Simon wanted to snap at him for the look. How dare he pity him, he wasn’t to be pitied. He could swallow him up, could fix this problem easily, all on his own. 

And then your panicked eyes under choppy water filled his vision. 

He lowered his head, violence seeping out of him, sufficiently cowed, and took the fish. 

They’d been dead a while and he took no satisfaction in sinking his teeth into the soft flesh. 

Eating above the water was messy. The blood clung to his jaw, dripping down his face as he tore a chunk out of the creature.

If he weren’t so hungry he might’ve cared. 

A ravenous force took him until all he was left with was stubborn meat stuck on bones. 

Only then did he look at you. You looked disgusted with him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. He shied away from your gaze, tears welling up in his eyes. 

It felt like everything he did was wrong, displeased you and made you look at him like that. 

He slid wordlessly back into the water, not emerging onto the shore until all the blood had seeped into the water.

The concern was back on your face when he returned. 

“Was that okay?” you prompted him gently as he stared up at you. “You feel a little better now?”

He nodded, eyes locked on yours. 

A soft sigh escaped you, lips barely parting to let it leave you. He wanted to feel it, the gentle air passing over his skin, the soft lips he’d felt against his before. 

“Good,” you said, and your smile reached your eyes. 

It didn’t take long for you to depart, leaving to sleep far away from him. 

He did his best to rest and then he did what he’s begun doing most days, he milled about in the water, lonely and near the shore.

He felt an intense panic when he didn’t have eyes on you. If he could get his hands on you, cold and vulnerable in open waters, so could someone else. 

He wondered what he’d do if someone pulled Finn under. He liked to think he’d be noble and protect him, save someone so dear to you. Or at least that he’d turn and choose to let him go, allow him to be dragged under.

He knew that in all likelihood, he would freeze. He found himself doing that a lot lately. It seemed to come alongside the panic more often than not. 

Later, you came to the shore with your soft eyes and he did what he always did. He fought down overwhelming urges to pull you under, to drown you and feast, to protect you as his mate, to beg you to hunt for him as his body became more and more convinced he had lost the ability to do it himself, to do any number of things you’d despise him for wanting. 

He lay on the shore, frozen, until he felt his mind come back to him. 

The fish had helped, he thought. It didn’t take quite as long for the urges to leave him. 

You came bearing more of them. 

Well, you didn’t. Finn did. But he could pretend, think that maybe he was just carrying them to the shore, that really they were from you. 

He knew that they weren’t but he was no stranger to trying to read intention into the things you did. 

It was so easy to slip into, to pretend every action was a secret message of adoration, just like his were for you. 

But they weren’t and when he allowed himself to pretend all he’d done was hurt you, so he needed to be done with that now. 

If you wanted something from him, you’d tell him. 

If you felt something for him, you’d tell him. 

But you hadn’t, and that was fine. He wouldn’t push. 

But he couldn’t quite stop himself from pretending. Surely it was fine, so long as he didn’t act on it. 

Finn dropped the fish on the shore and Simon dove for them. 

It was unseemly but he couldn’t help it. The hunger had left a steady ache inside him and he would take any chance at relief. 

The basket held a few fish, five or six of them strewn inside. 

It was enough to be full. He could’ve cried at the sight. 

But he had more important things to be doing and so instead, he grabbed the basked firmly and slid back into the water, dragging them under. 

He flipped the basket as he immersed himself in the water so the fish wouldn’t escape him and rise to the surface, holding them protectively to his chest. 

He’d wanted to tear into them on the shore but he’d seen your face the last time. He could not see it again, the revulsion that had painted itself there. 

So instead, no longer dissuaded by your presence, he devoured them.

Blood clouded the water as he ate, swallowing mouthfuls of flesh one after the other.

It wasn’t the safest way to eat, could surely attract attention from other hungry creatures, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d done as much caring as he was capable of. 

When he was done, he returned to the two of you. 

Some of the foam lining the gentle waves ran red, stained by remnants of blood washing to shore. 

You both had the decency not to comment on it, though he watched your eyes flick down and then quickly back up. 

He wondered if you’d begrudge him this too. Your food wasn’t quite as messy as his was, was further from the creatures you ate, even when you ate meat just as he did. 

He’d seen it before, basically unrecognizable, no blood pooling or ripping out bones as you ate. A more seemly affair. 

Finn’s eyes lingered longer on the red, something quietly sad in his eyes, before they darted up to Simon. 

As you sat, fawning over Simon and ensuring he had enough to eat, he found it difficult to bask in your attention the way he wanted, that gaze remaining steadily on him. 

He tried not to notice Finn as often as he could. He brought about feelings that were better avoided, especially in front of you. 

Currently, that was difficult, due to the fact that he was staring Simon down, some horrible thought forming behind his eyes. 

“What’s it like?” he blurted out, cutting you off in a way that made Simon want to snarl at him. “Being under the water like that?” He sounded eager.

“Horrible,” you said with a little huff, your words turning bitter. 

He did not begrudge you for the harshness of your words. He would move to land if he could, to prove to you he held no loyalty for the ocean. 

“No,” Finn tried to clarify. “Not just swimming, actually being able to stay down there, to breathe it and live it.”

“I know,” you insisted. “I’ve been down there. It’s awful.”

Finn’s eyes flicked between the two of you like he was trying to decipher something. “How do you… please tell me you're human. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

You reeled back a little at his words, like the thought of you being like him had never occurred to you. He supposed maybe it hadn’t, maybe the possibility of what things would be like if you were the same hadn’t haunted you as it did him. 

“No,” you said with a swift, decisive shake of your head. “Nothing like that. He just does this strange thing where you can breathe underwater. It’s happened a few times now. It’s awful, I don’t recommend it.”

Your unfavorable words did nothing to snuff out the excitement blooming across his face. “Could you do that to me?”

Simon’s nose wrinkled at the thought. “I’d have to kiss you.”

“Oh. Well, it wouldn’t mean anything, it’s just practical.” 

A spike of panic shot through him at the thought that you believed the same about the kiss you had shared with him. That second one that changed his life.

It was practical, he supposed. At least the first one, underwater with panic in your eyes. The second couldn’t be. He couldn’t make sense of it, refused to accept it. 

But this one could be, he supposed.

He turned to you, unsure what he was looking for. 

You seemed just as uncertain as he felt. You spent a while searching for words, mulling them over, before settling on, “It hurts like hell.”

He was quick to reassure you both that it was fine and he didn’t mind. Simon didn’t much care what he minded. 

But then you sighed, slow and resigned, and gave him a look that if he was reading your expression right, which he’d discovered he often wasn’t, was saying ‘please.’

And he couldn’t disappoint you. 

With a huff and a frustrated look directed at you, he grabbed Finn’s hand and began yanking him back into the water. 

Of course, it would have been easier to simply lure him in, but he had a feeling you would not have approved of that.

So instead he yanked him, slowly but surely, into deeper waters. 

The brush of his lips, however brief, revealed rough lips, not like yours, not soft and sweet and so dear to him.

He did his best to lose the touch in the scramble of pulling him into the water. 

He watched the fight that went on in Finn’s eyes as he tried to convince his brain that he was allowed to breathe, saw the moment of panic when his breath could be held no longer and his body forced him to inhale a heavy breath. 

He knew it was wrong to feel a little swell of satisfaction now that he knew that it hurt to suck in water where air should be, and yet he couldn’t quite muster the shame that should follow such a feeling. 

Only as he saw the pain in his eyes did he realize how horrible of a decision this was for Finn. He’d put himself in so much danger, offered himself up to a siren, for what? To be able to see under the waves for a few more minutes? Surely the man could just go for a swim. 

He didn’t know the truth, that he was probably safer with Simon because at least this way, he’d be left alone by other creatures. He didn’t know that his devotion to you kept him from pulling him down and calling it a freak accident. 

All he knew was that he’d put himself in the water with a starving siren. 

Finn left him behind pretty quickly, moving to investigate the floor of the ocean, trying to look at fish before they swiftly swam away, leaving him behind in cloudy water. 

It felt like an uninteresting affair to Simon but Finn seemed to be getting something from it. 

Some amount of time passed, slipping away as Simon distractedly followed the irritating little human around. 

Eventually, after far too long, he appeared to be done. 

Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe Simon pulled him to shore without a signal. It was hard to read body language when one was irritated. 

With another burst of satisfaction, he pulled Finn onto the shore and watched him heave water from his lungs, some of the embarrassment from the human food incident sinking away. 

Strange. He’d never thought it embarrassing when you’d done it. Now, watching Finn deposit ocean water onto the sand with wet hacking noises, he thought that it was a shameful affair. 

“That was incredible,” Finn managed to gasp out after a few minutes of heaving. 

It didn’t feel right, that he’d taken him down there. That his lips had touched Finns.

He turned to look at you, sitting beside him on the shore, a sympathetic grimace on your face as you watched Finn. 

And then he leaned in and kissed you. 

Not a practical kiss, with no intent to put you anywhere near the water, but one born of only affection. 

It was a brief thing and when he pulled away, you looked almost panicked. 

His heart sank at the realization he’d messed it up again, done something strange and wrong and made you afraid of him. 

But then the tension began to fade from your body, panic shifting into confusion.

“Why did you do that? Am I going into the water?”

He shook his head, face still inches from yours. “I just needed to. I’m sorry if I was wrong.”

He heard something from Finn and refused to turn and look at him when you were so close. It sounded almost like a cough, but not the painful, wet coughs of breathing air once more. It was a short stunted thing. 

Simon, without turning, announced in response to this strange noise, “You can leave.”

A fit of laughter escaped you at his words, burying your head in your hands as you giggled.

He hadn’t been joking.

That was fine though. He liked it when you laughed, even if it was at him. It was never cruel, always soft and with nothing but shining amusement in your eyes.

He wished he was better at making jokes.

When he tried you just stood and stared and when he did not you laughed.

But then, he was never the best at knowing when to laugh either. There was a kinship in that, at least.

When he thought he might be laughing out of turn too much, he suppressed it. You didn't. He thought maybe your smile was too bright to keep down, that maybe it would hurt you like keeping in your air did.

His heart sank a little as he remembered.

Hurting you. The horrible realization that he'd hurt them all.

Maybe some of them laughed out of turn too. He'd never know.

Maybe your sister had.

He turned to leave. He couldn't stand to be here any longer.

He should tell you. He knew he should. But his jaw felt locked shut and his body felt like it was being pulled away, out of his control. 

And so, like a coward, he fled, the water drowning out the sounds of laughter that he left behind.

[immajustvibehere]

Amidst a Crashing World (3/5)

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x fem!Reader

Summary: Arthur returns to your cabin after you presumed him dead. The time between your last meetings have lead Arthur to a realisation.

tags for this series: fluff, little bit of angst, no-tb-Arthur, literally your love redemption, maybe smut (but probably not), slow burn (but I mean how slow can a story really burn in five chapters?)

masterlist

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

6000 words

Sooner than expected, you heard of Arthur. Unfortunately, not because he sent you a note or stopped by again. As you rode into Annesburg three days after wishing him luck for the big score he had planned, the paper boys yelled through the town: "Saint Denis robbers still on the run! What happened to the gang of Dutch van der Linde? Find out in today's edition!"

Normally, you weren't too big on reading the newspaper, but this time…you hadn't never snatched it so quickly out of the boy's hand, leaving him to boast with the change you gave him. Hosea, dead. Lenny, dead. No account of any other names. You weren't sure who "a further gang member was arrested and awaits trial" meant. It only took a couple of days until everybody seemed to talk about it. Your main source of income being doing women's hair, you got a fair bit of gossip about the news.

Everything you heard from the ladies, took with a grain of salt. Either way, nobody ever mentioned Arthur by name. Your anxiety reached its peak when a rather well-off woman, not typically your demographic, had visited family in Saint Denis and brought an unsettling theory with her. Apparently, the most important members of the gang, including the leader, could have fled on a boat and drowned in the storm that was raging over the ocean the same night.

The "they have fled the country"-rumours were the most popular. Drowned in the ocean or not, the version varied based on who told you their theory. With every day you didn't hear the contrary and had no word from Arthur, you believed that you'd never see him again.

That was until one morning. You were working in your garden, busy with fixing the fence that had long stood neglected, when you saw a rider approach. Whether it was the hat or the horse you recognized first, you weren’t sure. But unmistakenly, the man on the horse that lazily trotted towards your cabin was Arthur.

You put your tools down and approached him, forcing yourself to walk calmly. The closer you got, the more unfamiliar he appeared. His beard had grown out, looking unkempt and way too long for what you were used to see him wear. Long strands of hair spilled out from under his hat. Arthur’s skin was darker than usual, even the unforgiving desert in the west hadn't left his skin as sunburned as it now appeared. Most of the red had settled into a golden-brown tan, particularly strong around the area where he cuffed his sleeves. For not seeing him for almost a month, this was quite a change.

A faint smile appeared on his lips when you reached him and walked next to his horse, leading it to your cabin.

"I thought I'd never see you again", you blurted out straight up.

Maybe a “Hello” or “Thanks for stopping by” would have been more appropriate, but the thought that had driven you insane the last three to four weeks just slipped out.

"I know. I'm sorry", Arthur jumped off his horse when you had reached your newly fixed gate. He looked at you, trying to take it all in. He had missed you; he had thought of you so much the last days and weeks, having you in front of him was a little overwhelming. But you looked like he remembered you. You weren’t wearing your fine clothes that you had worn when you caught him in your pond, but the worn jeans and shirt that had seen many fences painted and potted many plants looked good on you. It looked homely.

Arthur cleared his throat before he asked, "D'ya still cut hair?"

It was awkward...the ways he pronounced his question, the uncomfortable manner in which he scratched his way too long beard, seemingly unhappy with its new length.

Before you could answer, he added sarcastically: "Tried finding a barber on the Caribbean island but didn't came across someone I wanted to trust with scissors."

"Caribbean island?", you repeated questioningly, leading him into the cabin.

The tension between you felt peculiar. If tension were a tangible thing, you could have thrown a lasso and seemingly strangled it out of the air. But it wasn’t, so you and Arthur only struggled with finding your rhythm again.

"I came as soon as I could after returning...", Arthur explained apologizing, as if he had to rectify not visiting you sooner.

"Arthur. I thought you were dead", in front of your table, you stopped and looked directly at the man.

"'m afraid I have to disappoint", he chuckled, "Instead I'm here, asking ya for a cheap haircut because we lost...ten thousands in the sea."

"Ugh", you groaned, readying a chair for Arthur to sit on right at the table, "You sound so desperate, I might just give ya that haircut for free."

Arthur placed his jacket on a hinge next to the door and his hat on a free spot on the table. Again, it felt like he knew exactly where to place them, just as if he was coming home after a workday.

"Where d'ya want me, miss?", Arthur asked politely as if he had just entered a barber shop and there wasn't only one chair that looked prepared enough to serve as seat for his cut. You pointed at the chair a little absentmindedly, gathering your equipment and laying it out in the table in front of you.

"How short were you thinking?", you asked, walking around the seated man, ruffling his hair a little.

"Whatever you prefer", Arthur answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?", you asked, letting your finger scrape through his hair. His hair was wet at the roots, so you added surprisedly, "Did you just take a bath?"

"Might 've...", Arthur shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"You didn’t have to”, you reassured him, secretly amused by how endearing you found it.

"You wouldn't say that if you’d seen me before the bath. After three days in the Caribbean, killing half of the Pinkerton's agency and moving camp, you would have shot me on sight", Arthur joked, a bitter smile playing on his lips. Your answer was a soft chuckle.

After combing his hair, you repeated you question: "You're sure you don't want me to tell you how you want your hair done?"

"I trust ya", Arthur said.

"Mh, big mistake", you grinned. You caught Arthur's eye for a moment, and you could have sworn it was admiration in his expression. And trust, which honestly, was seldom for this man.

"I'll just cut it a little shorter than you had it when you first came to collect me", you said, waiting for his confirmation.

"...collect you and failed miserably at that", Arthur added.

"I thank the lord every day for that", you said jokingly. It was no laughing matter, though. You knew that as well as Arthur. The list of people the gang had lost in the last two months was long and you not rejoining was probably the only thing that had kept your name off that list.

You started doing Arthur's hair and one minute in, you decided to carefully pose the question of "What the hell happened the last couple weeks?". Arthur couldn't stop talking. He explained the plan of the bank robbery, explained when it went south. When Hosea was mentioned, he digressed a little. You too ended up sharing some anecdotes of the old man. You had loved him and felt a pang of guilt that you hadn't sent word to him that you were indeed fine. Hosea had been so kind to you when you expressed your wish to be on your own for a while, he had wished you the best and you had never even thought about sending a letter.

Then Arthur mentioned escape from Saint Denis. Your mouth went dry when Arthur recounted the storm, how he went overboard, nearly drowning and not knowing how lucky he was that he washed ashore on a beach. It was uncanny how some of the rumours you had heard mirrored the actual story.

Then came Guarma and everything that happened there. The return, the Pinkertons apparently following someone to Lagras and finally the move to Beaver's Hollow. They had been up there for a couple a couple of days now, and so much had already happened.

You listened, occasionally asked a question, but most of the time you were concentrating on not messing up the haircut. You had never heard Arthur talk that much before. Sober, that is. He can be quite a chatty drunk, but it seemed like he just wanted to get everything off his chest.

"How does that look?", you asked when you were done with his hair, holding a little mirror for Arthur to see.

His only response was a nob and a slight smile.

"Okay then", you spoke gently, "your beard's next."

The whole retelling of the last couple of weeks was what Arthur needed, but it killed his mood the same time. At least, that's what you though he was silent for. You cleared a spot on the table for you to sit on. It was way more comfortable sitting in front of Arthur while trimming his beard, but if you sat on a chair, you wouldn't have the height you needed.

You took a seat on the table in front of Arthur and noticed how his eyes immediately fixed on the ground.

"D'ya mind spreading your legs a little?", you asked. Despite the request confusing him a little, Arthur did as he was told and you put your on foot on his chair, so you wouldn't topple forward. Arthur tried his best to stifle the cough that worked its way up as he choked on his own saliva at this move.

"We're not going for a clean shave, are we?", you asked casually, trying to catch Arthur's eyes. He shrugged: "Whatever's easier for you."

You shook your head and began to trim his beard back to what you remembered he had the last time he visited you. Soon after you started, you noticed Arthur's cheeks getting warm and red. You were well aware that your cleavage was on his eye-level, probably the reason why he decided he was better off inspecting the floor. Meanwhile, you enjoyed gently tilting his head the way you needed it, finding no resistance from the man himself.

You talked only little, answering insignificant questions Arthur posed when the blade wasn't near his face, and he could actually move his mouth. You were almost done, only lining up his beard to give it an overall cleaner look, when Arthur said something out of the blue.

"Y'know, I been thinkin' about you. A lot," Arthur croaked, his throat dry all of a sudden.

"Mhm", you answered, not sure which direction that was supposed to go. You stopped shaving off the stubble on his neck when his Adam’s apple bobbed.

"Uh, I mean...", Arthur clears his throat, forcing you to stop the shave and look at him. Finally, his eyes found yours, "We're...uhm...friends, I hope." He forced a little chuckle that didn't sound genuine, especially under your curious gaze. You gave a quiet hum as sign of agreement.

"'s just that I...look, I understand if ya've found someone else. Hell, I took my sweet time and it wasn't fair how I treated you when you...", Arthur cleared his throat again, the words coming difficult to him, "when ya told me about yer feelings."

This was the point when your heartrate picked up and you felt your hands become sweatier. You had to put the blade down for a moment to wipe your hand on your shirt. Your mind was still caught on the line 'I understand if ya've found someone else'...like that had even been an option for you. For months you had tried to get over this man, then he came back waltzing into your life and you put your own ugly bounty poster on the wall as a reminder. And the you fixed the bedframe that he had fixed rather unsatisfyingly. You hadn't told him it broke the very same night he had “repaired” it. Nothing had changes the last year, you were pining as much for this man as ever...and yet, you didn't quite know how to react.

"I really like ya", he finally said, " I know well I don’t deserve it, but if ya wanted to give me another chance…"

"Morgan", you exhaled, "I got my boot between your balls and a blade at your throat...if you want to pull my leg I suggest you-"

"I mean it", and Arthur's gaze was so intense, this time it was you who struggled to watch him in the eye. You knew he wasn't lying. Hell, you hadn't really expected that he was just pulling your leg, you just said it to say something…to lighten up the mood that appeared so heavy again.

"Okay", you mumbled, barely able to disguise the tremor in your voice. Then you took the blade again, carefully turning Arthur's head upwards so you could better reach the hair you still needed to shave. There was this long and uncomfortable silence that neither of you wanted to break. You heard the birds outside, the blade scratching the skin and a heartbeat...if it was yours or Arthur's, you weren't quite sure.

Arthur thought that Guarma had been hell, but he found that your silence and okay was even more tortuous.

Finally, you were done. With a hairdressing brush you got rid of all the loose hair that decorated Arthur’s face. He gave you a slightly annoyed look as you tickled him behind his ears. Then you took the little towel that had prevented hair from falling into his shirt out in the garden to shake it out.  

The moment you stepped into the cabin again, Arthur's eyes caught yours and they were demanding an answer.

"I've never stopped loving you", the words burned as they left your mouth. The towel was thrown over an empty chair. Saying the words out loud…it changed something. Because as long as you had only thought them, there was this slim chance that they weren’t true. But there was no backing-out now, no denying.  

You continued: "But I can't...I won't rejoin the gang. I want to live here."

You said that because you knew that Arthur wouldn’t leave the gang for you, but you wouldn’t rejoin in either.

"Y/n...this thing is pretty much over", Arthur sighed. He was referring to the gang. He had alluded to it when he had recounted the happenings of the past weeks, especially breaking John out of jail and earning Dutch's disapproval. This was the first time he directly admitted it, "I want the Marstons safe...and the women...then it's done."

"Oh, so 'one more big score and then you can leave everything behind", you mimicked Dutch's voice. A tinge of animosity accompanied your words and this certainly wasn’t lost on Arthur. You couldn’t help but feel a bit unfairly placed in this situation.

"C'mere for a second", Arthur beckoned you, his eyes following every one of your movements until you stood in front of him, your hips brushing against the table. Arthur remained seated in his chair. Glancing at the man quickly, you congratulated yourself on having done a good job; his haircut looked sharp.

Then, suddenly, Arthur took your hand. It was such an unusual gesture, it alarmed you immediately. His hands were warm and rough, but not in an unpleasant way. Arthur held your hand lightly, as if he was afraid of hurting you.

"I promise this is the last time. In a week, we're going to hit a train with army pay. Wednesday evening. After that, I'm done", Arthur spoke earnestly.

"I can't-" believe you, you wanted to say, because you knew it had been the same story with Mary. You knew that once an outlaw means always and outlaw. Not even Arthur's word was enough to ensure that those bonds wouldn't bind him to his old life and to the gang.

"Don’t say nothing yet", Arthur interrupted calmly. He stood up and let your hand slide off his, as he walked to his satchel. He pulled out his journal and carefully put it next to you. With no hesitation, he opened and skimmed through it. You couldn't see most of the pages because he flipped through them so quickly.

"It ain't even half-way done", Arthur assessed, showing you the empty pages, "I'll leave that here 'n collect it in a week."

"What?", you questioned, frowning, "What if I decide to read it as a bedtime story?"

"'s nothing in there that yer not allowed to know", Arthur mumbled, "Contrary. Sometimes I think I'm much better expressing my feelings on paper. I've never been a good talker."

Silently, Arthur opened a page in his journal that had a little dog-ear. The left side was empty and only had smudges of pencil on it, on the right side there was this impressively detailed bounty poster. It had the layout of the bounty posters they have hanging all over town, obviously it wasn't printed, but hand drawn. You recognized your name, your 15-dollars-worth and then yourself, staring back at you. You hadn't imagined Arthur to be one to draw people, let alone portrait style. In the brush of his pencil you recognized that he might be more professed in sketching trees and animals, but it was a perfectly decent drawing of you. Hell, it was even flattering, compared to the atrocity they had on your real poster.

Arthur put the journal away, leaving it on top of a pile of books on your nightstand.

"I jus' need t'know if this is a place I'm allowed to return to", Arthur finally asked.

"Always", you replied without hesitation, your gaze still fixed on his journal. Is he trying in tempting you to read it? Because if that's the case, it was definitely working.

"So I won't be greeted with a gun in my face?", Arthur chuckled.

You sighed, taking a brush that stood abandoned in the corner of the room and started to swipe Arthur's hair out of the house. "If you're going to bring that up one more time, I swear I'll give you a reason to fear me", you quipped.

"Oh, I already fear you a great deal", Arthur said sarcastically.

You shot him an intense gaze.

"You staying for dinner?", you asked in between the sound of bristles scratching on wood.

Arthur shrugged, mumbling: "They won't miss me for another day..."

"Good. Then go hunt something", you asserted, gently shoving him outside by brushing against his boots until he took the hint.

"Yes ma'am...", Arthur mumbled, a hint of amusement in his voice. When you had successfully shoved him outside, you closed the door behind him, not without a bit of force. It left him slightly perplexed and wondering.

You had tried your best to hold your feelings together, but it had become a little much. Since Arthur's confession, your hands hadn't stopped shaking and you hastily put the brush aside, sitting down with your back against the door. There were so many feelings inside you that all needed to be addressed, but you struggled to even detangle them.

First and foremost: You had spent months pining for Arthur, only to be rejected in a cruel way and then again wasting months in trying to get over him. Just when you thought you were getting somewhere, he comes back into your life with a request that suggests anything but care for you. So, he leaves, and appears again. Then leaves again, presumed dead or out of country and now he's here again, asking for another chance as if you even had the power to reject him. You didn't know if Arthur would be able to make you happy. In a way, you feared it might be the opposite because there was still one score...one more score. He might die, or he might stay for another score, and another, and so on.

You stifled a sob. Scenarios played out in your mind, and they all converged into two possible outcomes, ending with Arthur dead or disappeared, disappointing you yet and yet again because one can't just stop being an outlaw. The 5000 on his head won't just disappear, presumed or actually dead - it didn't matter much.

"Son of a bitch", you hissed, mad at the situation.

You just wanted to be happy and find some closure for this surge of emotions that had held you hostage for months, if not years.  

"Y/n?", Arthur's voice was so soft when he called out your name, you almost jumped in shock because you thought he had long gone hunting. But his voice came from right in front of the door.

"You okay?", he asked quietly.

"Yeah", you croaked, and it sounded anything but convincing.

"Ya sure?", he wanted you to confirm.

"I just need some time to think...", you whispered, trying hard not to sob.

"I'll stay close", you heard him state, then there were his steps leading away from the house.

For a while, you just sat on the floor. How to proceed?

By the time Arthur returned, the door to your cabin was wide open again, the sun shining inside. You had made your decision.

"I got us a rabbit", Arthur announced, "already skinned it. Figured it ain’t your kinda work."

You responded with an appreciative nod.

"It’s a real beauty”, Arthur grinned, a wisp of humour in his eyes, “or was, anyhow.  I shot it with a small arrow so I reckon the meat-“ before Arthur could put the rabbit down on the table, you had sneaked in for a hug.

"Oh", Arthur stuttered, carefully placing the rabbit down. He lifted his bloody and dirty hands in the air to make sure not to get any dirt on you. Even though you wore clothes that had seen better days and apparently had been demoted to housework, he still didn’t want to get you dirty. Despite his desire to reciprocate the hug.

"Y/n…", he chuckled apologetically, "I need to get washed up."

At that moment, you suddenly looked up to him, your faces mere inches apart. He noticed your gaze drifting between his eyes and lips, then you leaned in, placing a gentle peck on his cheek.

The blush was immediate. Your hands instinctively found their way to his face and tenderly cupped his cheeks. They were just as warm as they had been when you cut his beard.

"I'm really glad you're here", you said, a smile playing on your lips.

"Yeah, I'm-" Arthur began, but you interrupted him with a proper kiss. It was a brief one, testing the waters if Arthur would be fine with that. As you pulled back slightly to assess his reaction, he didn’t hesitate a second, closing the distance between you once more. "I really …don't wanna get ya…dirty", Arthur mumbled between kisses. He could feel the corner of your lips curving into a smile each time you interrupted him. The man struggled to keep his dirty hands in the air.

The kisses quickly became more passionate, and when your hands left his cheeks, one to rest in the hollow between his shoulder and neck, while the other one boldly explored his chest region. It occasionally shifted to grab his arm and squeezing lightly.

Arthur mumbled your name warningly, twice. Then he couldn't help but put his hand in the small of your back, pushing you closer. His bloody hands would surely leave a mark on your clothes, but neither of you cared about that, as his hands became just as active as yours, sometimes cupping your cheek, at other times allowing himself to explore your body a little.

Arthur had just enough control to not place you on the rabbit, when he lifted you up on the table. When both of you became short of breath, Arthur rested his forehead against yours. Your legs had snaked around his, caging him in.

"Haven't done that in a long time", Arthur's voice was raspy as he tried to apologize for the somewhat sloppy make-out session.

"Me neither", you giggled and placed a final kiss on his cheek, "brushed your hair for nothing", you noted, looking up to Arthur's tousled hair. Your fault.

Arthur backed away a little, as much as your legs allowed him: "Christ." He had left signific signs of blood and dirt all over you.

"Mhh…", you hummed amusedly, "Ain't my fault you can't keep your hands to yourself."

"T'way I see it, darling…", Arthur smiled and tried to brush some dirt off your cheek with his thumb, "it's precisely your fault."

Arthur had headed to a keg outside to get cleaned. You decided to get cleaned up only after butchering the rabbit, as this would get your hands dirty again anyways. As the meat sizzled in the in the pan, you decided it was time to wash up as well. While you put the finishing touches on the dish, Arthur sat at the table, leisurely smoking a cigarette and observing you. He had asked if he could help you with anything, but you had declined, insisting that he had already done his part by hunting the rabbit. It was your turn prepare it.

When you plated the meal, it was really nothing too complicated, and yet, Arthur thought, for a free meal, it was perfect. You initiated a conversation; it was more light-hearted than the one you had when you cut his hair. The weightier themes seemed to have lifted from Arthur’s heart, and both of you sought distractions.

You told Arthur more about how you passed your days, gardening, drawing, riding into town. Really most of the money you earned the honest way, cutting hair and doing the odd delivery job for the grocery store.

It was frightening how easy it was to talk to Arthur. Two or three years ago, you would have never imagined, talking so freely to him. Though he'd always been kind, there was an air of unapproachability that had since crumbled completely after the heartfelt conversation you both shared.

The conversation where Arthur poured out his frustrations and regrets concerning Hosea's and Lenny's death, had brought a sense of liberation. It dawned on him how long it had been since he spoke so openly with anyone. Arthur leaned back into his chair. In front of him was his empty plate, opposite of the table, you sat within arm’s reach, chatting about an interesting traveller that came past your cabin a few months back. Arthur listened attentively, his eyes following the movements of your fingers skilfully rolling a cigarette.

Neither of you ran out of stories to tell the other. Arthur talked about people he had met on his travels, a clumsy photographer, a man obsessed with fast horses and racing.

You only realised how long you had been talking when the light in the cabin became sparse, the sun sinking closer to the horizon.

As the visibility waned, limited to the faint glow emitted by the burning tip of the cigarette, you finally rose to your feet to illuminate the cabin with the warm light of lanterns.

"I'll get my bedroll", Arthur announced, standing up with a grunt. He hadn't allowed himself to be this idle in a long time. All he had done today was sitting still for a haircut, killing one rabbit and then indulging in a lavish meal while engaging in easy conversation. His body had finally caught up with the stress of the last few weeks and he didn't know how to feel about how much his body ached. Despite the sun barely disappearing, Arthur would have been ready for bed. Funny, he thought, admitting one’s feeling for a girl could drain his strength that much.

At his announcement, Arthur noticed that you halted and were about to open your mouth as if to suggest something. But you didn't and let him venture outside.

When he took longer than anticipated, you followed him outside, only to find him leaning against the fence, his eyes in the sky. The sky was in this beautiful transition phase, going from hues of purple to a serene shade of blue with the first stars emerging in the east. You observed Arthur’s profile for a while, he didn't protest or showed any signs of being disturbed by your presence.

He was handsome. Something about his stature made you want to lean into him. But you didn't. Instead, you stood there, finding it hard to peel your eyes off him. Your lips quivered under the urge to say what you had thought earlier. After a big breath, you tried to say as casually as you managed: "I know my bed is too small for two people...but I was thinking if I put the mattress on the floor we could-"

"Y/N", Arthur interrupted you gently. He turned to look at you. Caringly, his hand found your shoulder, "It ain't right just yet."

Lying next to each other, cuddling, hugging, maybe stealing another kiss, you craved it badly. You finally had what you had desired for so long, you wanted it all at once. But Arthur knew that it would be unwise. He thought a lot about you, hell he did. And in his mind, he'd be too embarrassed to admit it of course, you had done way more than just kissed. But he knew it'd be wrong. He didn't want to fully commit just yet, and he didn't want to get your hopes up. It was genuine, when he said that the train robbery was the last score he wanted to do with the gang, but one train robbery is enough to get killed and he wouldn't dream about giving you this kind of pain. If he held it vague, if there was no sleeping close to each other, there was also no missing this proximity...if. Always if.

"Fine", you sucked in a little air, "but you take the bed then."

The two of you headed inside, Arthur with his bedroll clamped under his arm.

He shook his head: "It's your house, I can't jus'-"

"Exactly. It's my house, I can sleep in the bed every damn day. Besides, I don't figure you had a proper bed on Guarma, did you?", you teased.

"No, but-"

"Neither do you have one in camp so please- accept it", you looked up at Arthur rather desperately.

"Fine. You don't come complainin' to me if yer back hurts tomorrow", Arthur quipped.

"Oh, I'll definitely complain", you grinned. Arthur gave you his bedroll to spread in the corner where he had slept the last time. Arthur had sat down on the bed and watched you quietly as you readied your sleeping corner. When you glanced back at him, it was evident how weary he was, his eyes barely open, sitting up only out of politeness.

"You don't have to stay awake for me", you smiled, leaning against the table and studying the exhausted man. You noticed how tired he had become during your conversation. He had at least supressed three yawns.

"I jus'...haven't seen ya for so long, I don't want to waste that time with sleeping", Arthur explained. You found it cute he thought that way.

"You're not wasting anything", 'because we'll see each other again in a week, right?' you added in your mind. "I have this book I want to finish anyways, you just rest", you assured him.

You waited until he had settled in, exchanging a couple laughs about how unstable your bedframe was, and then you did the dishes. It didn't take you long, but Arthur was asleep when you had finished. He was turned towards the wall. On the nightstand was his journal. He had put it on top of the book you were currently reading. You took the book and settled on the bedroll.

You woke up to the sound of the bed creaking and blinked at Arthur, the first rays of the sun casting a warm glow on his frame. At some point during the night, he must have woken up and shed his clothes, as he now rested in the room clad only in his unionsuit.

"'m sorry, darlin'. I didn't want to wake ya", he apologized his raspy morning voice.

"It's okay", you yawned, forcing yourself to throw off your blanket to stand up, "I'll make some coffee."

In a couple big steps, Arthur was at your side: "You sleep some more, it's my turn for breakfast." Arthur squatted next to you and tugged you in before you could protest. You forced your tired eyes to stay on his face and not venture further down, pondering what the thin material might reveal.

When Arthur shot you a content smile, seeing you were up for no protest, a wave of panic washed over you.

"You won't just leave, right?", all of a sudden, you were wide awake.

"I won't", Arthur assured you.

"'cause if you do-", you started, a yawn interrupting your threat. Arthur chuckled at how cute and innocent you looked, happy that your yawn cut off before you could destroy that innocence with another gory threat.

"I'm way too scared of what you'd do", and then, to your surprise, he kissed your forehead. You only relaxed when Arthur had stood up again and indeed started to set up coffee. You were soon off to sleep again, only woken when the sizzling of fat in the pan woke you.

Arthur had made eggs. You ate in silence. A couple of times, Arthur tried to start a conversation, but you weren’t in the mood. He’d be gone in a couple of hours and you’d be left wondering if he’d ever return. Arthur knew that this was what was plaguing you, but he didn’t find the right angle to approach you.

You both did the dishes together, you helped Arthur by saddling his horse and then he had mounted it, looking down at you.

“Ya ain’t so happy about the prospect of me returning in a week, ‘s that it?”, Arthur joked.

“No”, you answered dryly, “I ain’t so happy about you leaving for a week.”

Arthur sighed and steered his horse closer to the fence: “Climb up here, I gotta tell ya something.”

Rather unwillingly, you climbed on one of the horizontal planks that kept your fence together. Arthur offered his hand for support and as an excuse to pull you a little closer. He kissed you, gently, on your lips.

“I promised I’ll be back, didn’t I?”, Arthur mumbled. He wasn’t convinced, and neither were you when you whispered a dire “Yeah..”

You didn’t like the good-bye kiss. In fact, you wished he hadn’t done that. It hurt even more, seeing him disappear between the trees in the distance. For a while, you stood there helplessly, wondering what to do next. Minutes passed before you ventured into your cabin, distracting yourself with some cleaning before your eyes fell on Arthur’s journal. You noticed a piece of paper sticking out. Without thinking, you opened the journal and the loose paper floated to the ground. You didn’t even bother picking it up, your eyes caught the first word written on top of the page. It was your name, written in Arthur’s familiar handwriting.

“Hell no”, you kicked the paper under the bed before you could read any further. You weren’t up for some heartfelt “Good-bye, in case I die I want you to know this”-letter. Frustration and anger bubbled within you as you scrambled into your good jeans and crammed your revolver into its back pocket. With a swift motion, you picked up your hunting rifle, mounted your horse and started to follow Arthur’s track.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x

next chapter: here

Shoutout to @little-honeypie who basically wrote the confession scene. I wouldn't have ever finished this if it weren't for them <3

taglist: @photo1030

taglist for this series: @pinkiemme @loveheartarthur @twola @shiokitsune @missredemption @kakashiislut @thewalkingdead1463 @yyiikes @renwai @walk-in-sunshine @rdrlady @ivybeeloved @trinswhimsys @reddedmiller @chiefqueefsosa @sauvignon-velvet @mrsarthurmorgan @readingcoco @pookiesnatcher @gloomdoomraccoon

[sailor-aviator]

Meet Me at the Sea: Chapter Two

Meet Me at the Sea: Chapter Two

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Your best friend, Bob Floyd, had insisted you join him for the summer at his family's home along the Carolina coasts. You had been hesitant at first, but ultimately agreed to his request. Now, here you were in a new town with strange locals who spoke in hushed whispers and cryptic retellings about glistening scales, glowing eyes, and haunting songs that echoed from the sea. You didn't believe them at first, but when you wake up on the beach one morning after having fallen overboard the night before, you can't help but think that maybe you hadn't imagine the strong arms and deep, green eyes of the man that had saved you.

Trigger warnings: Language, Flirty Bradley, Sassy Bob, Talks of the supernatural, Mentions of drowning, An almost fight?, Possessive behavior, Jake Seresin. I think that's it?

Word Count: 3.4k

A/N: So tomorrow I leave town for a couple of days! I don't know how much I'll be able to post until Saturday or Sunday, but I'll do my best! As always, reblogs, comments and likes are greatly appreciated! Asks/requests are always open! 18+ ONLY!! You can find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I also post my updates!

Series Masterlist || Jake "Hangman" Seresin Tag List

You awoke feeling groggy, eyes blinking against the stream of sunlight that filtered through the window. You didn’t remember drinking enough last night to feel this hungover. No, you were sure you’d only had the two whiskey cokes, not nearly enough to make you feel this way. Perhaps it was the drive catching up with you. Yeah, that had to be it.

You slowly sat up, head throbbing as you caught a glimpse of the ocean outside your window. You thought back to the silver tail you had seen disappear beneath the waves.

“What a weird dream,” you muttered, shaking your head. You moved to get up, quickly getting dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts combo before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Bob was already munching away at the plate of bacon Susan had set out, the older woman flipping over a pancake on the stove.

“Robert Floyd, you better save some bacon for everyone else,” she warned without even a glance over her shoulder at him. Bob paused mid-chew to stare wide-eyed at her back before seeing you at the doorway, a grin already on your lips.

“Yeah, Robert,” you giggled, “save some for the rest of us.”

He scowled at you as Susan turned to smile warmly at you.

“Good morning, dear!” She beamed. “How did you sleep?”

You sat down at the island next to Bob just as Susan placed a plate at the same spot.

“I had the craziest dream last night,” you hummed, stealing a piece of bacon off of Bob’s plate, earning yourself an unamused look from said man.

“Oh yeah?” Susan asked. “What about?”

“Well,” you started, chewing on your bite of bacon, “I dreamed that I woke up last night and heard a weird song.”

“What?” Bob laughed, looking over at you. You giggled, continuing.

“Yeah! And it was weird because it sounded like a weird mix between a human and a whale. And when I got up, I went to look out the window, and I saw a giant silver tail disappear into the water!”

Bob’s chewing slowed to a stop as the smile dropped from his face, and Susan stiffened by the stove. Your eyes darted between the two of them.

“Did I say something wrong?” You asked them, unsure as to what had them so tense. Bob shook his head with a reassuring smile.

“No, of course not,” he told you. Susan relaxed her shoulders and turned to you with an apologetic look.

“It seems I’ll have to have a talk with my husband about him and his stories,” she said, a look of annoyance passing over her face.

You shook your head. “Oh, it’s no worries! I’m sure I just drank too much last night. That coupled with the drive here, I’m sure it was nothing.”

Susan looked at you for a beat longer before turning back to her pancakes. Bob huffed a laugh as he took another bite of his breakfast. “Dad is so getting his ass chewed out later.”

“Hey!” Susan barked, whipping back around to point her spatula at him. “Language, mister.”

“Sorry, Mom,” he blushed, ducking his head sheepishly. You laughed at the two of them before bumping your shoulder into his.

“So what’s the plan for today?” You asked. Bob perked up at your question.

“Oh!” He chirped. “I figured we could go hang out with Mickey and Nat today. The others are going to be busy setting up for the festival, so it’ll just be the four of us.”

“Sounds great!” You smiled. “Any specific plans?”

“You should take her to see the different shops!” Susan suggested over her shoulder.

Bob rolled his eyes with a grimace. “The tourist traps?”

“Not all of them are tourist traps, Bobby,” she chided. “Besides, maybe she’ll find something she likes while you’re there. A souvenir for the summer!”

You stared at the porcelain figurine intently. It reminded you of the one sitting on your dresser back home, except this mermaid was mid-song, her red lips parted like she was crooning.

“I told you it was a tourist trap,” Bob muttered beside you. You looked up at him with a grin.

“Nah, it’s cute,” you giggled. “I love mermaids, remember?”

“I know a couple someones who will love to hear that,” Mickey muttered with a smirk, crying out when Nat elbowed him in the rib.

“What do you mean?” You ask, brow furrowing at him. Nat smiled at you, pushing past the scowling man at her side.

“Nothing,” she said. “Have you found anything you like yet?”

You hummed, glancing around the store. “No, not yet. I don’t know if I want a souvenir from a shop, anyway. I think I’d prefer collecting seashells from the beach.”

“Perhaps you’ll get lucky and catch the eye of a handsome merman,” the older shopkeeper said. Your group turned to look at her, her eyes twinkling.

“Oh, yeah?” You giggled. You faltered when you saw the others frowning at the old woman, but she continued on.

“Oh my, yes,” she smiled. “The legend goes that every year the sea people undergo what can only be described as a mating season. They seek out a partner for the summer, satiating their hunger. That’s what the festival celebrates, after all. But every five years, an individual will undergo a much more intense version, seeking out a permanent mate. It’s called the frenzy.”

“Why do they call it that?” You ask her, curiosity getting the better of you.

The old woman chuckled. “Simply put? The sea people will go crazy trying to find and stake claim to their chosen mate. The desire nearly drives them mad, turning them into the monsters the legends claim them to be.”

“What do you mean by mate?”

“Just that, dear child. During the frenzy is when a sea person picks their life partner. It’s an irreversible bond.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Nat frowned, grabbing your elbow. She shot a glare at the old woman before tugging you towards the door. “We need to get going.”

“But I still have questions!” You cried, stumbling out the door after her. The bell above the door rang as the four of you exited onto the sidewalk. All around, people were setting up for the summer long festival. Banners were being hung up over the streets and decorations lined the sidewalks, mermaids covering nearly every surface you looked at.

Nat dropped her grip from your arm, and you scowled at her.

“What was that for?” You grumbled, rubbing at your arm. “It was just getting interesting!”

“Mrs. Cambroni needs to learn when to shut her mouth,” she huffed, glaring back at the door. Bob slung an arm around your shoulder with a small smile.

“They’re just stories, anyway,” he told you, hugging you close. “Besides, you’ll have all summer to learn about the town legends. We’re here to have fun, remember?”

“I thought you said it was impossible to have fun in a small town?” You teased him, anger quickly melting as you all began making your way down the sidewalk. He rolled his eyes playfully at you.

“I did not say that.”

“You definitely implied it.”

“Alright,” he grinned. “You got me there.”

“Do you guys wanna go get ice cream?” Mickey asked, looking over his shoulder from where he walked next to Nat.

You perked up. “Ice cream sounds amazing!”

After securing your double scoop of rocky road, you followed the others back down the street as they argued over what to do next.

“But they have some really good movies out!” Mickey exclaimed, and Nat rolled her eyes at him.

“There are way better things we could do than go see a damn movie,” she snarked.

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“We could take one of the boats out?” Bob suggested.

Nat smiled as Mickey scowled.

“And do what?” The other man huffed.

“Obviously, we would be swimming,” Nat shot back at him. You giggled as the three continued to argue amongst themselves.

“Hey! If it isn’t the three stooges plus y/n!”

All four of you looked up to see Bradley leaning off a ladder holding a banner in his hands. He was grinning widely, shirt nowhere to be seen. Below him, holding the ladder, was the blond man, Jake, from the bar the night before. He was also shirtless, and his green eyes were already on you, and you felt your cheeks heat up. You prayed none of your ice cream had made a home on your face. Javy and Reuben came walking out of the nearest building carrying another banner and also missing their shirts.

“Hey meatheads,” Nat huffed with a roll of her eyes. “Where are your shirts?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed,” Bradley drawled, rolling his eyes back at her, “It’s like a billion degrees out here. A man’s gotta keep cool, ain’t that right, sunshine?”

You giggled as he shot a wink at you, and you noticed as Jake clenched his jaw at the exchange. Bradley hopped off the ladder and strolled over towards the rest of you with the blond right behind him, eyes still trained on you.

“What do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?” Reuben asked. Nat swung an arm around your shoulder.

“We’re gonna teach Skipper here how to drive a boat,” she grinned.

“Skipper?” You questioned, raising your eyebrow. She nodded excitedly, and Bradley hummed, looking at you thoughtfully.

“I like it,” he decided with a nod. “It suits you.”

“Whatever that means,” you mumbled. Mickey put his hands on his hips as he glared at the brunette beside you.

“I thought we were going swimming?” He demanded.

Nat dropped her arm from around your shoulder, crossing her arms in front of her. “We are, but we’re going to teach Skipper how to captain a boat first. Besides, I thought you didn’t want to go?”

You watched as the two began to bicker amongst themselves again. If you hadn’t known any better, you would think the two hated each other. Bob walked off to help Reuben, Bradley, and Javy hang up the other banner a little ways down the street. You felt someone step up beside you, and you turned to see Jake still looking down at you.

“Hi,” he said softly, smirking. “I don’t think we were ever properly introduced. I’m Jake.”

You smiled up at him shyly. “I’m y/n, but I guess it’s Skipper now.”

He let out a chuckle as he leaned in closer to you. You felt your heartbeat quicken, and the way his smirk grew wider made you think that maybe he could hear it. You shook off the thought, putting all of your effort into maintaining some semblance of rationale.

“You know,” he hummed, eyes studying you, “Bradley isn’t right about a lot of things, but he is right about that.”

“What?” You breathed, eyes becoming hooded. You could have sworn you saw the glow in his eyes again as they bore into yours. Your head began to feel lighter the longer you stared at him, a yearning tugging you towards him. His breath fanned over you as he leaned in closer.

“Skipper!”

You jumped, taking a stumbling step back, nearly falling as someone caught you. You thought you heard a growl as your head began to throb. You looked up to see that it was Bob who had his arms around you, keeping you steady. His eyes were trained in a glare past where you stood, and you turned to see Bradley and Javy on either side of Jake. If looks could kill, Bob would be six feet under already. Jake’s jaw was clenched so tight, you wouldn’t be surprised if his teeth were cracked. Green eyes stared intently at Bob, whose gaze didn’t waver from his friends.

“Bob?” You questioned, the bespectacled man looking down at you. “What happened?”

“Uh,” he started, seeming to be unsure as to how to respond.

“Bob bumped into you on accident, and you almost fell,” Natasha smiled, stepping forward to take you out of Bob’s arms. You saw Jake relax a little out of the corner of your eye, but your head was still too fuzzy to pay it much mind.

“Why is everyone so angry?” You asked her, your voice sounding weak and uncertain even to you. She smiled gently down at you as she sat you down on the steps by the sidewalk.

“It’s just a combination of the heat and good old-fashioned testosterone,” she explained, patting your back soothingly. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

“My head,” you trailed off, rubbing at your temples.

“Here,” Reuben smiled at you, offering you a bottle of water. You took it with a grateful smile, taking small sips from the bottle.

“Feeling better?” Mickey asked you, brows pinched in worry. You smiled and gave him a nod.

“Much,” you said, looking around at the group who looked back at you worriedly.

You sighed. “I’m sorry, everyone.”

“What on earth for?” Asked Javy.

Grimacing, you responded, “For making everyone worry about me.”

“There’s no need to apologize, Skipper,” Bradley assured you, smiling at you reassuringly. “The heat gets to the best of us. Isn’t that right, Jake?”

Bradley clapped the blond on the shoulder, giving him a pointed look. Jake frowned, letting out a muttered “yeah” as he looked away.

“Do you wanna call it a day?” Mickey asked you, and you shook your head.

“I’d still like to go swimming if that’s okay.”

“You sure?” Bob asked you, eyes still full of worry. You smiled back at him with a nod.

“Absolutely!”

“You should be careful,” Jake spoke up, and you turned to look at him. The anger was still in his eyes, but it had calmed significantly. An unreadable expression now graced his face. “A storm is coming.”

“How do you know?” You asked him, brow furrowing.

“He’s right,” Javy said as Reuben and Bradley nodded. “A storm is on the way.”

“We’ll be extra careful,” Nat promised them, helping you to your feet. “Scout’s honor!”

Bradley chuckled at her mock salute before shooting you another wink. “Maybe we’ll catch up with you guys later?”

“If not tonight, then we’ll see you at the bonfire tomorrow!” Mickey hollered as you, Nat, and Bob followed him down the sidewalk towards the docks.

“Don’t have too much fun without us!” Reuben called after you all.

“We’ll hold off on teaching Skipper how to drive the boat until you guys can join us!” Nat yelled back.

“Wait, you were serious about that?” You squawked, earning a chorus of laughter from your group.

A couple of hours later, you found yourself sitting on Mickey’s parent’s boat, the rock of the waves sending a wave of nerves up your spine as they became rougher. You didn’t think you’d ever get used to being on a boat. The sun had long been obscured by the grey clouds that seemed to have rolled in out of nowhere, but the others didn’t seem shocked by the sudden turn.

“How did they know it was going to storm?” You asked them, watching as darker clouds began to roll in.

“When you live by the ocean your whole life, you just get a sense for those types of things,” Nat told you as Mickey and Bob scrambled to get the boat ready to leave. You eyed the clouds wearily as Mickey cursed behind you.

“They’re never going to let us hear the end of it if they find out we stayed out this long,” he muttered.

Nat rolled her eyes. “So hurry up and get us back to shore before they do.”

Mickey scowled at her but continued with what he was doing. A couple of minutes later, and the waves were rocking the boat almost violently, and you found yourself gripping your seat anxiously.

“Alright, we’re ready!” Bob called from the side. Mickey started up the boat’s engine, and the vessel jerked as he began to maneuver it back to land. You hit a particularly rough wave, causing Nat to lose her balance and topple into the seats opposite yours.

“Easy, Mickey!” She snapped, glaring at the man.

“I’m taking her as easy as I can!” He hollered back at her, a look of worry flashing across his face as the boat dipped into the waves. A gush of water hit you, and your arms flew up to shield your face. At that same moment, another wave knocked into the boat, causing you to fly over the side as you jerked back from the wall of water to your front.

“Y/n!” You heard someone shout, Bob maybe, but it was too late.

The water swallowed you whole, gripping you in its clutches as you scrambled to get your bearings. The water was dark, and you began to panic as you realized you couldn’t tell which was up and which way was down. Your arms thrashed around you as you fought for air, but it was no use. Your lungs ached and burned from lack of oxygen, and you felt a sense of dread as you realized that you were about to die. You stopped fighting, feeling a sense of acceptance at your fate. Your vision began to darken as you let your mind drift off. You hoped your parents wouldn’t mourn you for too long and hoped desperately that your friends wouldn’t blame themselves.

You were just about to enter unconsciousness when you heard an eerily familiar song. The sound of a human and a whale mixed together pulled at you, getting closer with each passing second. It was strange what the mind came up with to calm itself in its last moments. You felt a pair of strong, muscular arms wrap around you, lifting you up, your bare legs brushing against what felt like scales. Of course your mind would turn to mermaids in the end. Maybe you’d be reborn as one in your next life. You hoped as much, at the very least.

Your head broke the surface, rain pelting your face as small waves of water rushed up to you.

“C’mon, darlin’,” a voice called to you from far off, “stay with me.”

You felt the water rush up out of your lungs as you hacked and coughed, clutching weakly at whoever held you. You groaned, head falling forward, resting on a solid chest. The arms around you gripped you tighter, and you heard the song again, this time sounding much more desperate and sorrowful than last time. It was the last thing you heard before you fell unconscious.

You weren’t sure how long you were out for, but you felt the last few rays of the sun wash over you as you came to. You were vaguely aware of the solid rock underneath you and the gentle fingertips that grazed your forehead. You heard short bursts of the song, this time coming from the person hovering over you. It put you at ease, but you so desperately wanted to see who the song belonged to.

You slowly tried to pry your eyes open, head protesting as it gave a particularly sharp throb. You winced, and the man above you cooed at you. You managed to open your eyes just long enough to catch a glimpse of the glowing green that stared down at you, entrancing you.

“Sleep,” the man sang, and you obediently let your eyes fall closed. The man’s fingertips ran down the side of your face and to your neck. He turned your head to expose more of your neck, lips brushing over the base where it met your shoulder. You let out a whimper at the pleasant feeling, and the man hushed you softly. You were surprised at how good it felt, and you found yourself arching up into his touch.

The man continued to nuzzle at you, and you heard the vague sound of your name coming from off in the distance. You whined for the man, silently begging for more of his touch, and you felt him smirk against you.

“Skipper!”

The voices were louder now, and you heard the man let out an inhuman snarl. You cried out in pain as you felt a prick of what you assumed were teeth pierce your skin. The pain was quickly dulled by the feel of a tongue laving over the small wound. The man pulled away from you, and you reached for him weakly, opening your eyes just enough to see the flash of silver scales disappear back into the sea.

[thewornoutandtired]

Teratophilia: Sirens

As our ship neared the island, the captain warned us to plug our ears. He said he wouldn’t be sending any of his own men to come save us if we didn’t listen. The sirens were dangerous, and would surely bring death to whomever listened to their song.

I had my own theories about the sirens, however, and deemed not to cover my ears. Even if I did wind up stranded, ships passed by this area with rather alarming regularity considering how dangerous it was. I figured that I could survive that long, provided that I wasn’t drowned or eaten alive by the very creatures I was hoping to see.

When we were within range of the song, the effects were immediate. I was out on the deck, leaning on the railing and hoping to spot them through the mist surrounding the island. For a split second, I thought I caught a strange looking shadow in the gloom, but I wasn’t sure enough to call it for what it was.

The song appeared out of nowhere, promising me fame and power if I could only reach them and slay them. While their voices were pleasant, I had no desire to do such a thing, and I was able to resist the compulsion. They sang about the money and wealth that had been amassed on their island next, and that didn’t truly sway me either. It was when their song turned to promises of love, of caring, of being cherished, that I found myself leaping overboard without a second thought.

For someone as afraid of the ocean as I am, there was no fear in my heart as I began to swim through the waves. The sirens’ call seemed to change direction, with me following close behind it. In the still-conscious part of my brain, I took notice that they were leading me away from shipwrecks.

When I reached the sirens, they stopped singing just long enough for me to recognize that they had. The sirens looked precisely as the stories has said, birds with the faces of beautiful women, but with monstrous mouths full of sharp teeth. While I wasn’t upset by their appearance to begin with, as they started to sing again they were suddenly the most beautiful creatures in existence.

Their song changed tone slightly now that I stood before them. They were still singing about wanting to take care of me, but there was an undertone in it that wasn’t there before. Before I could even realize what was happening, I was undressing.

The sirens didn’t seem to have much desire in doing it themselves, instead telling me what they wanted me to do. I was sat down on the rocks in front of them, my legs spread wide in front of them all. In spite of the spell on me, I blushed from the intensity of their stares. It felt like I was being inspected by them, until finally they told me to start touching myself.

I was completely under their control as they treated me like an experiment. They constantly had me change positions, speed, and where I was touching myself. They seemed to enjoy my whining as I got close, as they’d wait until I was almost over the line and then make me completely stop. They did it over and over again, and I could feel myself losing more and more control each time. By the time they mercifully let me finish, I could barely even think strait. As I laid there, trying to remember my own name, I heard them start singing again.

They had me clean myself up, not wasting a single drop, then went about seeing how else they could bring me over the edge again. When they asked me where I was most sensitive, I answered before I could even think about it, like I had been given a truth serum. They seemed thrilled at that aspect of their spell, and proceeded to make me admit even more to them: fantasies, fears, and loves, nothing was off limits.

By the time they finished using the knowledge I had given them against me, I was too exhausted to even move. I was completely spent, and had finished dry several times. Even their song couldn’t rouse movement from me, and their singing changed again. The flow of irresistible orders faded, and a new chorus began.

They sang about making good on their words, how they would take care of me. The cleaned me off before snuggling in against me. I thought they were arguing about which one of them my head would rest on, but I was barely conscious enough to hear them at all. They gave me one last order, which I would have followed even without a spell underlying it.

“Sleep, little one.”

When I woke next, I was in a nest surrounded by bird women. According to them, I had started shivering from the cold night air and the ocean breeze, and they piled onto me to keep me warm. It had worked, and they were every bit as thrilled as I was. They said they would take care of me until the next ship came by, but that I couldn’t stay forever. When I asked them why, they didn’t answer, but that was okay. I told them I was theirs until then.

We lived peacefully for a while. They treated me like a toy at times, like a pet at others. Once they learned that I obeyed orders regardless, they started singing only when they wanted to see me do something for their enjoyment. They’d use me to their own satisfaction, whatever that was, then clean me and put me to bed.

It was a wonderful time, but I had to leave eventually.

The goodbye was tearful, and I told them that I would stop again if I was ever near this place again. They wished me well before commanding me to swim for the passing ship. The captain was shocked to see me, but was kind enough to clothe me and offer me space if I’d work off my debt. By the time we reached landfall, I had written the entirety of my adventure down.

There was a  reason those that survived the sirens claimed they were very kind and nurturing.

[disneyprincemuke]

the best of (instagram) * macky

rockysroads

liked by mattcornett, oscarpiastri and 248,392 others

rockysroads if there’s one thing about me... i’ll always be the passenger princess

view 54,292 comments…

user1 hahahahahaha wait a damn minute

user2 omg???

user3 SINCE WHEN

mattcornett i’m blinking twice someone send the help

rockysroads LMFAOOO shut up

oscarpiastri likely side of the car to find rocky in

lilyzneimer it’s better off that she’s the passenger princess

maxverstappen1 yeah, have you gotten in a car with her as the driver?

mattcornett yes, we almost crashed maxverstappen1

rockysroads not even close btw, i just hit the curb maxverstappen1 mattcornett

sebastianvettel why are you, as a race car driver

logansargeant i’m no longer the victim so i’m ok with that

liamlawson30 lucky :(

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logansargeant don’t live with her LMFAOO mattcornett

rockysroads im fantastic to live with

sabrinacarpenter omg!!! i love u guys!!!

rockysroads omg hehehehe

rockysroads posted on their story!

caption: bro said he knew a place now i’m in the middle of the ocean and i can’t even swim (i'm in actual tears)

mattcornett replied to your story u literally never told me u didnt know how to swim

rockysroads if u rly loved me u wouldve just known

mattcornett wtfff

oscarpiastri replied to your story lmaoo drown

rockysroads shut up

logansargeant replied to your story i hope there’s a shark

rockysroads please literally don’t say that you’ll actually make me cry

mattcornett posted on their story!

caption: thx for the passes

rockysroads replied to your story not even a tag is so disrespectful

mattcornett everyone knows its u

rockysroads it couldve come from ur boyfriend liam please be serious

mattcornett hater

rockysroads posted on their story!

caption: how can i get someone miles away from me to drive me places???

maxverstappen1 replied to your story MILES?? oh my he's turned u american this isn't u mate

rockysroads PLEASEEEE LEAVE ME ALONE

mattcornett replied to your story i would if i could and u know that i'm flying in tmr to do exactly that!!!

rockysroads if u rly cared, u wld be here now

rockysroads

liked by sebastianvettel, logansargeant and 102,493 others

rockysroads calling me is part of the daily todo list

view 10,294 comments...

mattcornett man

mickschumacher stand up mate

rockysroads girl

blythesworld so this is why u never call me anymore

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dalt0ns she's finally not bothering me and i'm happy

rockysroads if u guys missed me, thats all u had to say

oscarpiastri we'll teach him how to say no to you soon

rockysroads WHY?

mattcornett valuable lessons in life

liamlawson30 i got more tricks to teach him

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

[senditcolton]

run for the hills

never gonna ever be more than just something that's fucking me up

series masterlist | playlist | word count: 2.2k a/n: don't worry, this story isn't over. this is the part 3 and a half (?) in the "we're a bad idea" universe. but this is the penultimate 'chapter' of this story so the end is in sight. I'm both sad that this is coming to an end but very excited for you all to read it! warnings: angst and reference to sexual activities but no smut (shocking, i know) Disclaimer: Reading/creating content for married players isn’t for everyone. Please don’t read if you don’t vibe with it, but don’t attack me or others!

You thought that you would be used to emotional turmoil by now.

Having conflicting feelings waging a war inside you wasn’t new. It was how you had operated for months; it was the sensation that came along with holding onto someone you knew was bad for you but not being able to let go, no matter how hard you tried.

But every time you opened your email, you experienced a different juxtaposition. You weren’t sure if you wanted to delete the message after sending your boss a different reply – one that could best be summarized as “ha, just kidding, I changed my mind.” Or if you wanted to print and frame the email, the contents of which acted like a hand pulling you out of a certain pair of ocean blue eyes before you drowned completely.

A promotion. One that came with a transfer to a new office. In another state. On the opposite coast.

One that you accepted a month ago, one that you had already prepared for. You had almost finished packing your apartment, you had told your friends, you had told Scotty. You were ready to go. You were certain of it.

Then why did you feel a sense of hesitation every time you saw the email?

The answer was simple: Matt Martin. You were addicted to him – that was the best word for… whatever you two shared.  He didn’t care about you the way you wanted him to. You were hurting yourself by letting him take up a residency in your heart. But you still craved the way he kissed you, the way he fucked you, the way he could make you fall apart, and the way he could put you back together.

The definition of addiction is ‘continuing to participate in behavior despite the negative consequences.’ And that was exactly what you were doing every time you invited Matt back into your bed.

You sigh, taking another swig of your beer, your nails tapping at the edge of your phone as you look over the email for probably the thousandth time tonight. Your eyes dart up, scanning the dive bar, spying your brother over at the dart board with Brock and Bo, glancing over at the table where Emily sat with some of the other WAGs, and looking towards the bar, debating buying another bottle.

You purposely didn’t look toward the pool tables. You knew exactly what you would see. His eyes had been boring into you for the past 15 minutes, you could feel it. The weight of him was hard to ignore; it constantly burdened you. Even when he was miles away, he managed to haunt the city you called home.

That is why this relocation to the City of Angels should be a blessing, like the name implied. An ascent to heaven from the hell you were trapped in. But it seemed the desire for Matt Martin manipulated itself into a sick sort of guilt over leaving him.

The clink of glass against the table pulls you from your reverie, and you look up to see another bottle of beer set in front of you. You follow the hand holding it upwards to Mat Barzal’s gentle hazel eyes.

“I hear you’re leaving us again,” he says, taking a seat next to you at the high-top table.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Scotty. He mentioned you were moving soon, after the game.”

“In the locker room?” you ask, your heartrate rising. If Marty was there when your departure was revealed, he knew. And he heard it from someone else’s lips, not yours. But if you were being honest…  you weren’t sure if you were ever planning on telling him. Leaving without a word seemed like a valid option.

But the universe might have taken away that choice before you could even decide.

“Yeah, why?” Mat asks, his tone not indicating that he registered your panic. You force yourself to slow the pounding of your heart before answering.

“No reason,” you say with a shrug. “Yeah, I am moving – all the way to Los Angeles. Promotion.”

“Wow, congrats! That’s huge. You’ll miss all of us though,” Mat jokes, playfully jostling you with his elbow and you can’t stop the soft smile that appears on your face.

“More than you know.”

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, Barzy surveying the room the same way you were earlier – although he didn’t avoid the pool tables. Your fingers move to fiddle with the damp paper label wrapped around the glass bottle before stealing a quick glance over at Mat. You take in the way his hair falls over his forehead and his beautiful hazel eyes that always seemed to sparkle. Eyes that glance over to you and you have to stop the heat rising to your cheeks as you turn away.

What you wouldn’t give to hit the restart button and fall into the arms of a Mathew that actually seemed to care about you.

The thought rushes through you before you could stop it but the echoes linger, forcing you to think. It would have been nice but it was far too late for that now. Wasn't it?

“Hey, Mat,” you gently break the silence, looking back to him. “Can I ask you a – kind of weird – question?”

“Yeah, shoot,” Mat replies, turning his attention and body fully towards you. You chew on the inside of your cheek, trying to figure out the exact way you wanted to word this. You quickly decide to go the simple, straightforward route. He deserved that much from you.

“Was there ever a chance? For us?” you ask. The expressions that pass over his face are indecipherable, a hundred different feelings seeming to breeze through him, before his face settles into a gentle smile.

“I think that’s more of a question for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I liked you. I mean, I still do,” he starts to explain, those hazel eyes still soft. “But… I knew that something was stopping you from… committing? From being with me, completely.”

Your mouth opens in the start of a reply, even though you didn’t know if the words were going to be a retort or the truth. But before your could utter a syllable, Mat stops you.

“You don’t have to tell me why. It’s none of my business. Because even though I wanted that – a relationship – I wanted to stay your friend more. That’s why I didn’t push. I knew that if you wanted the same, you would tell me.”

There is a small pause as you let Mat’s words sink in. The genuine care and respect thrumming through them settles into your body. But that realization brings a sense of guilt with it; for potentially throwing away something pure for a cheap thrill.

“Is it?” You hear Mat’s voice and the sound causes your head to lift and reconnect with Mat’s eyes. This time, you can read his emotions clearly: nervousness combined with a twinge of hope. “Something you want?”

The question hangs in the air, waiting for you to either grab a hold of it or let it float away.

A part of you wanted to grip it tight and let Mat, as well as your impending move, pull you into the warmth of being loved for who you were, not just how you made someone feel.

But another part was sick of trying to find a home in other people. And that voice eventually won over.  

“Not right now,” you whisper. You worry that your answer got lost in din of the bar but when you see a beautiful yet sad smile tug at Mat’s lips, you know he heard you.

“That’s okay,” he replies and you know he isn’t lying. That wasn’t who he was. “You still have my number?”

“With all the stupid emojis you put next to your name,” you laugh.

“Good,” Mat says, sharing your laughter. “If you ever need a friend while you’re living it up in LA, you can always call me.”

“Thanks Mat.”

You open your arms in an silent invitation, one that he accepts by sliding off his seat before enveloping you in a hug. You nestle into the soft cotton of his t-shirt, letting your mind memorize how this feels and fantasize about what could have been before you start to pull away. Mat lets you draw back but holds you in place for a moment – long enough to place a gentle kiss against your cheek – before stepping back. He grabs his drink from the tabletop and is about to walk away but he looks over his shoulder to shoot you one last smile.

“Los Angeles doesn’t know how lucky it is to have you.”

He leaves you with those words and you don’t know if the pain in your chest is the sensation of your heart breaking or stitching itself back together.

You sigh, looking at the time on your phone. It was late enough that you could pull an Irish goodbye, simply text Scotty and Emily when you’re in the Uber, and get some rest. After taking the final swig of your beer, you slip from the high-top and make your way towards the bathroom before departing.

You’re still shaking the water off of your hands as you exit, trying to get them as dry as possible, that you don’t notice someone waiting outside until you practically run into them. The apology is poised on your lips but it dies as quickly as it appeared when you realize who was in front of you.

“Hey, sweetheart. You leaving?” Matt asks, his voice low and husky and you once again hate the reaction he manages to pull from you with only a few words and a pet-name.

“For the night,” you reply, your own voice hesitant.

“Just for the night? Not for LA?”

You can’t stop the defeated sigh that escapes from your chest. Your suspicions were confirmed: he knew. So much for ghosting him.

“Why do you care?” you question, the quip coming fast. “Gonna ask for trade?”

“Well, I know how much you like it when I wear black. Almost as much as you like it when I wear nothing,” he replies, taking a step towards you and crowding you back into the wall. Your heart skips a beat when he dips his head down towards you, his breath ghosting over your cheek. “But that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

“You in a Kings jersey or you naked?”

You didn’t know why you were even entertaining this conversation but when that dangerous smirk appears on Matt’s face and that familiar scorching heat floods your body, you realize exactly why you were letting this continue for longer than it ever should.

Addiction was never logical.

“If you want me in your bed, darling, all you have to do is ask.”

The offer was tempting – you would be a fool to deny it. So tempting that you almost take him up on it. The familiar plea is creeping its way up your throat and is about to pry itself free from your lips. Until you hear a raucous laugh echo down the secluded hallway.

Barzy.

The sound of that laughter pulls you out of the haze that you always found yourself floating through when Matt Martin was around; a haze that had become suffocating. It reminded you of someone that saw you as something more than casual. It reminded you that there was something better. Better than this. Better than Matt.

“No. I’m good.”

Your words seem to hit Matt like a splash of ice-cold water, his expression transforming from that cool confidence to utter confusion. You try not to get high off the feeling of the energy shifting in your favor.

“Why? Do you not have enough time tonight? We can be quick. I know that you aren’t opposed to bar bathrooms,” Matt says, his words almost sounding desperate. Desperate to have you or desperate to take back control, you weren’t entirely sure. But you didn’t want to fall into the potential false hope. That was how you got yourself into this situation in the first place.

“No, it’s not that. I just don’t want to,” you explain with a laissez faire shrug, before turning away from him. You take a few steps, preparing to leave but you are halted by Matt’s strong hand gripping your wrist.

“Before you leave New York then.”

It isn’t a question. He is certain that you would invite him back to your bed before you left for LA. And he had every right to be. All the evidence pointed to that being the inevitable conclusion.

And you would. Or at least, you would have. Now…

“We’ll see,” you say, gently shaking free of his grasp before leaving the bar completely. And later, while you’re lying underneath your bedsheets, cardboard boxes surrounding you and the sounds of the city you used to love filtering in through your windows, you finally decide.

You’re going to leave Matt Martin behind. Not just in a hallway in that random Long Island bar. You were going to leave him completely.

You were done with Matt Martin.

This time you meant it.

tagging the babes: @texanstarslove @comphy-and-cozy @smileysvech @laurenairay @dissonannce @barzysunflower @cellythefloshie @m00nlightdelights @tkachvkmatthew

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

VRISKA: What are things that you wish you could do 8ut you're too tall for?

EQUIUS: D --> Skydive

VRISKA: Yeah.

EQUIUS: D --> Scuba dive

VRISKA: You're too tall to scu8a dive?

EQUIUS: D --> Yeah

VRISKA: ...I feel like if you just stand up in the ocean you can reach the 8ottom.

EQUIUS: D --> No but I'm too heavy. Because when you scuba dive they give you WEIGHTS and then when I went down I hit the button but I never came back up

EQUIUS: D --> Almost drowned. But then my instincts kicked in

VRISKA: Then, what'd you do? Just flail until you...?

EQUIUS: D --> I just said the famous word "Eqmu"

VRISKA: Eq-what?

EQUIUS: D --> "Eqmu" like "Shamu"

VRISKA: Oh.

EQUIUS: D --> And then I just did like that [Wiggles] and then I was at the top

VRISKA: Do you ever tell me stories that are real?

EQUIUS: D --> Yeah

VRISKA: Have you ever ridden a horse?

EQUIUS: D --> Yeah he tried to kill me

VRISKA: I can see why. What type of horse did you ride?

EQUIUS: D --> It was a 22-hand Percheron

VRISKA: Is that a really 8ig horse?

EQUIUS: D --> Big horse. But what I didn't know is he was a carriage horse. And then when I tried to get on him he tried to Bronco Billy me

VRISKA: Did you just m8ke this story up right now?

EQUIUS: D --> No ma'am

VRISKA: Were you drunk????????

EQUIUS: D --> No

VRISKA: You just went up to a horse that was holding a carriage and you were gonna jump on it?

EQUIUS: D --> No he was a carriage horse and then another guy owned him and then I bought him from the guy

VRISKA: And then you tried to ride it?

EQUIUS: D --> Yeah. And then we went on HorseFa%. You know how they have CarFa%? We went on HorseFa%

VRISKA: Okay.

EQUIUS: D --> Told me fa% about the horse

VRISKA: And now they have to put that it was damaged 8y you?

EQUIUS: D --> Nope he's in Orlando eating sna%

VRISKA: Oh, good.

[toast-tales]

Cursed Cravings, Chapter 6: Lessons in Futility

In which Christopher gets a talking-to from Sam. Contains: ~1.5k words Chapter 1 | Read this story on A03!

Christopher had retired to his bedroom for the night after his attempt to feed Danny, preferring to sulk in isolation—not that such a thing had ever been hard to come by for him. There had been many times over the years where he might forget that he had someone else in his home at all, if it weren’t for the fact that this awful, grotesque form could smell them so well, even from across the entire house. Even when he tucked himself away upstairs, Danny’s scent was still entwined faintly in his senses.

Thanks to Danny’s friend, he’d done what he had to do this morning to keep the curse at bay, so the pain in his stomach wasn’t so bad yet. It was tolerable—just the gentlest of reminders that he was fucked, instead of the overwhelming ocean of misery it would eventually become. 

He had another week or two, at least, before he drowned again.

The days that immediately followed when he did it were always when his mind felt clearest. And this time, he didn’t have to worry about when he’d find the next person, or if he would at all, and how long he’d have to endure the pain of that infernal magic eating away at his insides and demanding, always demanding more. 

So, in the absence of that usual anxiety, he was left with the much more uncomfortable prospect of the longer term, and the grimness that was his future. Or what was left of it, anyways.

She certainly won’t be the one to end this. 

In the midst of his gloomy rumination, he thought he could hear something downstairs, though he assumed it was just Sam. If there was actually trouble, Sam would alert him. He didn’t particularly want to confront Danny again yet if it wasn’t necessary. There was a chance he could get her to tolerate his presence if he took things slowly—offered her nicer accommodations in return for a more cooperative attitude, perhaps.

Despite his windows being very firmly shut, a breeze blew through the room, raising the hair on his arms slightly. His eyes idly scanned about as he laid back on his bed. “Is there a problem, Sam?” 

“Oh, no, no problem at all. I just thought I’d check on you, let you know I put Danny in the guest room, see if you wanted any tea-”

Christopher sat up in bed immediately, halting Sam’s blatant attempt at skipping past some particularly crucial information. “You what?” 

“Well, you usually like chamomile before bed, so I-”

“No, no. Don’t you try this with me right now,” Christopher muttered darkly, his eyes scanning futilely around the room in search of where his manservant’s voice had come from. Sam’s voice had floated around the room without giving him a place for his eyes to land on, so he chose to glare at a suspiciously sheepish curtain. “You put her in the guest room without asking me first?” 

“You wouldn’t have said yes anyways,” the curtain protested. 

“What if she tries to escape?” Not to mention this throws my whole plan out the window if Sam’s already let her out of that cage. I can only offer so many incentives for her to not actively hate me.

“Dude, it’s still a giant room. She can’t even get off the bed without help. I’m gonna check on her all the time, and I don’t sleep. You know that.” 

Christopher growled, mostly annoyed that Sam was right. Even so, he shook some of the blankets off of him with an irritated jerk of his arm. “I’m going to go put her back.” 

The curtain inflated a little, almost as if it was smug. “No, you aren’t. I locked her door. Give it a rest for tonight, or I’ll lock yours too.” 

“Sam, you’re forgetting your place.” It was hard to muster up any sort of authority, however, when there wasn’t anyone to actually aim his withering gaze at. 

“I am the place, Chris.”

“I told you to stop calling me that.” Christopher sighed, too tired to argue, knowing it wasn’t an argument he would ever win. Not when his manservant was an incorporeal spirit that could slip a rug out from under him or lock him in his own room on a whim. He was just lucky that Sam was usually incredibly loyal to him. 

Sam didn’t respond, leaving Christopher with the conversational equivalent of a brick wall to argue with. He flopped back down onto the bed, defeated. 

The lamp on his nightstand turned itself on, the flame flickering weakly. “You know, you should try being nicer to Danny. I think there’s a real shot of breaking our curse with her. She did technically volunteer to stay here willingly. Plus, she’s actually pretty nice.” 

Christopher gave the lamp a weary, dead-eyed stare. “Did you see the way she talked to me? She wouldn’t even eat the food I made for her earlier. She threw it at me. I don’t have a chance.” He stared blankly at the ceiling, a decade-long weariness settling into his bones. “She didn’t scream, but she still thinks I’m a monster. It’s no different than all the others.” 

A pillow from beside him rose with a vengeance and smacked him square in the face. He sat up again, glaring at the offending, seemingly innocent pillow. “Sam, I swear to god, I will-”

“THAT was your idea of ‘nice’ earlier? Really?” 

Christopher sighed bitterly. “Well then, since you’ve got it all figured out, what would you suggest that we haven’t tried already, a million times before?” 

“Well, I’ve already gotten the first step out of the way for you, giving her a nicer place to stay than a cage. You’re welcome. Maybe you could try, y’know, talking to her? Ask her about her hobbies, her family, whatever. Just try and think about how you’d like to be treated if you were in her place.” 

“That never works anyways,” he said with a grimace. “You know it doesn’t.”

“You have to TRY.” 

Christopher rolled his eyes. “She won’t talk to me, Sam. You’re delusional if you think she’s going to be the one to break my curse.” 

“OUR curse, may I remind you. And may I also remind you that the deadline for that is-”

“I know,” Christopher growled, letting out a bit more irritation than he’d intended. His face fell slightly as he sighed. Time passed so agonizingly slowly and yet, the deadline that Sybil had given him was approaching so soon. A month. That’s all they had left, before he was doomed to be a fucking giant forever. It already seemed like forever, anyways. Ten years of this? He could hardly remember being human, eating real food, laughing with friends and hosting parties—a time before he had to hide a set of grotesque horns with his hair every morning. It was like the distant dreams of a different person entirely, tinged with a hazy light but not entirely real. 

He could almost feel Sam draw back, their voice quieter now as the flame of the lamp died down slightly as well. “Pardon me for saying so, but it doesn’t even feel like you’ve been…trying, anymore. We have this perfect opportunity waltz up to our door right before we reach the deadline, and you’re just going to…give up?” 

“What’s the point?” Christopher whispered. He should have been angrier at Sam for saying something so brazen, but he couldn’t find the words to argue with them. He wasn’t the only one cursed, anyways—Sam had also paid the price for Christopher’s mistake, and had done nothing to deserve it but remain by his side when everyone else had fled. But at least Sam didn’t have to deal with the awful burden he did—and when they were doomed to live with this condition for the rest of their lives, at least Sam would be free of the pain he would have to endure. 

“She might be the last one, you know. Before the deadline. We might not get another chance.” 

Christopher’s lips tightened into a fine line. He said nothing.

“...just try, tomorrow. She might surprise you, you know.”

Christopher felt the room get a little emptier as Sam’s presence left, extinguishing the flame on their way out, and he was left with nothing but darkness and his thoughts. There’s no point. She’s not going to give me permission to eat her, especially when I can’t even MENTION the curse itself. That goddamn witch only gave me that stipulation to make a mockery of me. She just wanted to see me suffer for the rest of my life.

He had a week or two, at most, before he would get hungry enough to be forced to eat Danny. It was, admittedly, more time than he usually had—most humans, like the man from yesterday, only wandered by when he’d long since passed the point of desperation. He still didn’t think there was a chance, even if he managed to improve his relations with her in such a short timespan. Why would he go through the effort of being nice and gaining her trust when he’d just have to eat her anyways? It would only make it harder for him when he reached the end of the limit on his hunger. 

It was better that she hated him. Hatred made him feel less guilty about what he’d have to do eventually. 

It had always been harder when they thought that they could trust him, only to have that trust shattered when they were betrayed by the monster in the end. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Next chapter ->

How will the next day go, I wonder? I guess we'll have to see in Chapter 7, Quest for Answers! Thank you all for reading!

I would have posted earlier, but there was a total eclipse today. I was a bit preoccupied!

Thank you, as always, for reading!

[animeyanderelover]

Tags: @flaming-vulpix because you wanted to be tagged in case I write anything about Free, right? This is the first part, I'll write the second part as soon as possible.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, toxic relationship, stalking, clinginess, obsession, possessive behavior, manipulation, guilt-tripping, murder, abduction

A twisted fairytale: The little merman

"Mommy, mommy! Tell me a story please!"

"Sure, sweetheart. What story do you want to hear tonight?"

"The story of the little mermaid!"

"Again? I thought you were upset about the ending because the princess never found her true love and turned to foam instead? Say, would you be interested in another story instead, one similar to the one of the little mermaid?"

"Which one?"

"Ever heard of the tale of the little merman?"

"No. Does the little merman also get turned into foam even though he saved his love?"

"Now, now my dear. Don't sound so sad. This story is quite a bit different from the one of the mermaid. It tells the story of a young and beautiful merman finding love and ultimately giving in to his dark desires. It's quite a twisted story, perhaps I should tell it to you once you're older."

"Nooo! No, please, I want to know!"

"I thought you'd say that. Alright then. Come here. Once upon a time, deep in the blue sea, there lived a little merman. He was beautiful, with amber eyes, dark teal hair and a fin glittering in gorgeous colours of green and blue. But even if he was blessed with all this beauty, the little merman was also very lonely..."

~~~

His parents had left him as soon as he had been old enough to fight and hunt for himself, after he'd learned all he needed to know. Him and his brother Natsuya still stayed in contact but even he was not very present in Ikuya's life, exploring the oceans around the world. Ikuya hadn't come with him, sceptical and cynical, largely confused by his brother's adventurous streak. The appeal of seeing new things had never quite resonated with him as he preferred the comfortable and familiar surroundings of the coral reef he'd been born into. So, even with a slightly heavy heart, he had said goodbye to his older brother, watching how his fin in the dull colours of green, orange and brown had disappeared in the darkness of the sea. Years of solitude with no one besides the creatures of the sea and the abyssal channel of the sea wizard in the deepest part of the ocean where the light didn't reach the water anymore. Ikuya had done his best to stay away from him though as his parents and his brother had warned him about the twisted man who enjoyed inflicting sorrow and despair on others, even humans which did not belong to their world.

Humans.

Ikuya had never met those beings before, had only heard tales of them from his parents. People not so different from their own kind, only that they had two legs instead of a colourful fin and lived on the solid ground. He'd been mind-blown when he had been told that they couldn't live under water because they would drown otherwise after a while. Apparently they weren't able to breathe under water differently from the mermaids and merman. At that part, Ikuya remembered having almost sympathized with humans as he had experienced the same one time in his life. When he had been small and had swam too close to a beach out of curiosity to hopefully see a human, a particularly strong wave had pushed him out of the water. He could still remember the warm sand clinging to his wet body, the unforgiving sun stinging his exposed and pale skin, the panic as he hadn't been able to move on the solid ground and the tight and contracting feeling in his chest as he had gasped, an aching emptiness inside his lungs. Natsuya had saved him just in time but since then Ikuya had strayed away from leaving the deeper parts of his home.

Curiosity had over time turned into cynical distrust as he had heard from other traveling sea folk about how humans hunted their kind, trapped them in nets, hurt them with spears and tore them away from the water, either letting them die or selling them for money, something quite valuable for their kind and something worth killing for, apparently. Ikuya knew better now, stayed away from beaches and watched the weirdly-shaped forms in which humans apparently traveled across the ocean, hid as soon as they threw their nets in to catch fish, a shared food between his and their kind. The smallest part of him harbored still his child-like curiosity to at least catch a glimpse of a human but his logical, his cynical side knew better.

Until this one terrible storm. Until he could see the surface of the water curling and rippling with movement as the wind picked up and heavy rain started to fall, becoming part of the large body of water. The usually gorgeous bluish-green water turned dark as the sun hid behind mountains of dark storm clouds. He could only imagine how chaotic and loud it must have been up there but under water everything was peaceful and quiet, put his heart at ease. He strongly flapped with his fin as he hurried back to his own cave, deciding to wait until the storm would stop. A dark shadow on the surface stopped him mid-way though and his amber eyes widened when he realized that it was a boat of a human, still out in the water in this weather, far away from the next coast. He watched with an anxious heart as the little form swayed heavily across the strong and feral waves until the inevitable happened. The tiny boat flipped over, swallowed by a large wave.

A white material, the sail as far as Ikuya recalled, floated inside the water, almost reminding him of a very large jellyfish. It still moved, indicating the movements of the water now instead of the movements of the wind, it's actual purpose on boats. It was weirdly fascinating to see the stuff fluttering back and forth but rapid movement besides it quickly became the main focus of Ikuya's attention as he felt his heart stop inside his chest.

A human. A real human.

Their movements were disgraceful and clumsy, their two legs trashing around and their arms flailing around helplessly as they tried to push themselves over the surface. As far as he could tell with his enhanced sight, every time they did, the next wave washed over them and brutally pushed them down again. Their limbs trashed around more and more urgently as he could clearly see panic riddling their thoughts and brain as they thought for their life. His amber eyes were transfixed on their struggling form as he felt a heavy knot inside his chest. The way their limbs hit the water around them, the way their body turned desperately had him recall the day he had stranded onto the beach, threatening to drown and then dry out under the unforgiving sun. His fin moved slightly up as if unconsciously wanting to help but Ikuya stopped quickly, hesitant. All the stories he'd heard spinning around in his mind. What if you'd attack him?

The surface rippled with movement as another wave shot across it, heavier and larger than all the other ones. Your whole body did a summersault as it's weight crashed over you, your head smashing against the mast of your little boat. Just like that, all of your movement suddenly stopped as your body stilled and slowly sank down, your clothes fanning out around you. He saw the swirls of red before he smelled the blood. Raw panic ran in his brain as his heart was racing against his chest, the strong emotion nearly overwhelming him. Instinct took over and before he could remind himself better, he bolted through the water.

Your eyes were closed and your mouth wide open, inhaling the water that was so deadly for your kind yet needed for his own. Arms quickly wrapped themselves around your waist as he swam up, breaking through the surface of his own world. The cold and harsh wind immediately whipped him across his exposed body and smacked his wet hair across his face, the seemingly never-ending rain rebounding from his skin. He could hear the roaring of the sky, thunder as humans called it, his body flinching whenever the loud noise ripped through the air, ringing painfully in his sensitive ears.

Ikuya felt terrified, his body beginning to shake as he was overwhelmed from everything going on outside of the water. Storms were scary, he'd expected it but witnessing one in person was so much more worse than the stories he'd heard from others. If it wouldn't have been for the warmth of your own body against his own, Ikuya was sure he'd have been completely lost to his fear. When he felt a small jolt going through your body though, it was like he was reminded that he had someone to look after, something that forced him to swallow down all of his anxieties and uncertainties. His eyes scanned your face, wet strands clinging onto it as your mouth was half-open and he could hear how you were attempting to breathe troubled.

Why? You were outside the water, you should be able to breathe normally again. For a short moment he felt the same uncomfortable panic of not knowing what to do again before his ears picked up a gurgling sound coming out of your throat. Realization flew over his face before he swung one arm around your torso, pressing it tightly against your stomach whilst bending you slightly down so that our tummy was pressed tightly against his arm. Ikuya would lie if he would have said he knew what he was doing exactly, only aware that there was water in your lungs stopping you from properly breathing. The pressure against your stomach seemed to help though as you hunched over and coughed up a good amount of water that you'd swallowed earlier before sagging in his arms, the back of your head pressed gently against his chest, your eyes still closed. Goosebumps appeared all over your skin, the cold wind and the cool water robbing your body of it's precious warmth.

Unconsciously Ikuya felt how you snuggled closer to the only resource of warmth you still had, his own body. He froze, not used to such intimacy or any touches at all due to his lonely life style. Yet even if it was awkward, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Having another warm body pressed against his own, feeling your own heartbeat against his chest which reassured him that he'd done so far everything right. Amber eyes took a closer inspection over your face, scrutinizing every little feature. You looked innocent cuddled up into him, too innocent for him to align you with any of the brutal stories he'd heard about humans.

He was mesmerized for a while, staring at the first human he'd ever seen in his life. Only when another thunder echoed through the dark sky, searing in his ears, was he pulled out of his trance and reminded that he had to bring you to the coast. Ikuya was careful as he leaned slightly back, his back dipping back into the water. Your head was placed on his chest, above the water so that you could still breathe. He found some slight troubles with your legs as they swayed beneath the water, getting in the way with his fin which slowed him a bit down but eventually he entered the shallow water, feeling the ground whenever he flapped his fin until he felt the sand underneath his back. He knew that he still wasn't close enough but also knew that he couldn't swim properly anymore in such shallow water. Instead he flipped carefully around, holding you with one arm close to his chest whilst using the other one to crawl the last bit.

Little pieces of sand and shells were scratching against his skin, his fin a sudden weight that he wasn't used to and the crawl an exhausting exercise yet his grip on you never wavered, an unknown determination to save you. He only stopped when the waves merely swept meekly across the beach, barely enough to cover him. He wouldn't crawl any further than this, he was too afraid to leave the water completely but hopefully this should be enough. He was slightly panting by now, taking in the same oxygen as you did. It was doable for him for anow but before it could get to the point where he would feel the same tight feeling in his chest, he'd rather leave. He should have left.

But somehow he couldn't.

Ikuya was mesmerized. Mesmerized by the human he'd just saved, breathing quietly and gently beneath him, looking so docile and pure. One of his hands touched locks of your wet hair tentatively, rubbing the strands of hair in between his fingers. He sensed the warmth of your skin, felt it brush against his human upper body when he leaned closer to you. He felt a weird sensation bubbling up inside his chest, his heart still pounding against his chest. But not in the same fearful manner it had done earlier though, each heartbeat pumping a warm and fussy sensation through his body as he gazed down at you, overwhelmed in a new way.

He didn't know how long exactly he spent like this, leaning over you and just staring at you, only noting absent-minded that at one point the rain stopped and rays of sunshine broke through the clouds, gracing the earth after the storm. It shone upon you, caressing your face gently and making your eyes flutter ever so weakly, your body stirring sluggishly beneath him. Only then did Ikuya snap out of his trance and quietly yet quickly made his way back into the waves. He felt a tightness in his chest as he did so, not wanting to leave you yet there was also a weight inside his heart that he couldn't quite put his fingers around. A fear to be seen by you yet not because of anxiety to be attacked and killed. No, it was something else but he didn't know what.

The water embraced his being, welcoming him back as he crawled back into his home, his fin losing all it's previous weight as it started gliding through the water, propelling him forward. In the corner of his eyes he saw your body sitting up slowly as if still not quite there with your mind. The moment your gaze landed on the water, spotting his teal-coloured fin, you stood abruptly up, nearly losing your balance in the process as if dizzy. There it was again. The same fear, only much more intense as you had seen him. He found himself halting, peaking his head out of the water slightly to observe your reaction. You stood there on the beach, probably too far away to see his head poking out of the water but searching for traces of him anyways. He found himself dreading your reaction.

Your hands closed in on your mouth and he saw your chest expanding as you took in a deep breath.

"Thank you!! Thank you so much!!"

Your voice echoed across the ocean and the coast, wavering with excitement and sheer gratitude to still be alive, to have been saved by him. Something hot exploded inside his chest, flodding his veins with the same sensation as it seemed like all negative feelings, his loneliness and fear, melted away in an instant. His fin flapped around excitedly, his body showing physical reactions when hearing those words no one had spoken to him in years, much less a human who'd never met him before. Ikuya continued hiding though, only leaving when you made your way back to the mainland. Even as he swam in the cold water though, the heat blooming across his skin didn't cool down.

~~~

Dread that he'd never see you again soon turned into giddy relief when he one day saw you in the distance on the beach again with a new boat, setting out into the sea. You apparently were a fisher as he soon found out as he followed your boat from underwater, watching as you threw in the net. Eagerness to help you filled him every time he saw you and so he shooed schools of fish close to you, willing to share his food resource with you. Even on days where you weren't on your boat, he could often see you on the beach, although he always kept his safe distance. Sometimes you were drawing, other times you just took a long stroll across the beach, the waves splashing around your feet. You must have lived close to the ocean, as Ikuya started assuming after a while.

He often wondered if you had always spend so much time on the beach and at the ocean or if all if this had been a result of him saving you. He'd never paid close attention to humans before so he had no way of telling but the thought of you doing all of this because of a hope to see him again made his heart speed up a bit.

Even though he could see you as often as he did though, the dull pain still throbbed deep inside his heart, especially when he was all by himself again. Loneliness he had never minded or had ignored well before stretched long whenever night fell and you would head back to your home, leaving him alone with his thoughts and feelings buzzing loudly through his mind.

He wanted to touch you again, wanted to feel your warm touch on his skin, the warmth spreading through his body until it would reach his heart and fill him with the same blissful sensation he'd experienced back then. He didn't know how that should be possible though, still too skittish to reveal himself to you.

~~~

You let out a groan as you heaved the full net out of the ocean, feeling beads of sweat forming on your face and body as you pulled the full catch out of the blue water. You saw all the fish floundering desperately against the net as they were pulled out of their home. You couldn't recall having ever had such big catches before but recently the ocean seemed to be on your side. From being saved by a mermaid/merman and now always catching such a large catch, enough for you to live from whilst selling whatever you knew you couldn't devour in time, earning you the needed money.

You'd never told anyone about what you'd seen that day out of respect for the creature that had saved your life back then. You knew the tales of sirens who lured ships into their end, about the creatures lurking inside the darkest parts of the ocean, waiting to devour all humans unfortunate enough to cross their territory. At the same time you found it ironic how humans were chasing after them, caught them and killed them to show the dead bodies off like prized trophies or keeping them alive to sell them or show them off only for them die in captivity. You had a strong connection with the ocean, had grown up close to it and had filled up your parent's shoes by also becoming a fisher.

If your parents were still alive, they'd be proud of you right now, you were sure of it as you slowly pulled up the heavy catch. It felt like the net would tear apart at any moment with all the weight as you leaned further back, digging the heels of your feet into the wood as you pulled and pulled, the catch only growing heavier as it left the water. When it got dragged over the rim of the boat though, it suddenly got stuck, leaving you with no choice but to leave over and grab the heavy load with your hands. You felt the cold and wet moving bodies under your palms as you lifted the net up, nearly keeling over in the process as your foot slipped and you almost fell into the ocean only to push yourself abruptly back with the other foot, causing you to stumble back, the net clutche against your chest and soaking your shirt.

To your huge shock you saw something slipping out of the pocket of your shirt though, dropping into the ocean. You dropped all the fish, your hand flying to your pocket only to feel emptiness inside.

"Damn it!" you cursed out loudly since no one was around, storming back to lean as far over the boat as you could, eyes searching the water beneath you. You knew it would be useless though and you doubted that you could just dive in and retrieve your pocket watch which you had inherited from your father. Your hands still dove under the surface as deep as they could, feeling around. You chewed your bottom lip frustrated. That watch was one of the few things you had still left of your father. Losing it here would haunt you forever.

You pulled your arms abruptly out of the water when they brushed against something that was moving, images of sharks flashing in front of your eyes. Your movement might have lured them close as they could have mistaken your arms for prey. You'd surely not lose your arm to a shark, you'd heard not so pleasant stories about other fisher and their encounters with a shark. Your eyes were glued to the water as you took a few cautious steps back when noticing the water rippling, stirring with movement. Something emerged tentatively from underneath, a hand holding something inside it's clenched fist.

As quick as you'd stumbled backwards, you stumbled forward again when they opened their fist to reveal your watch inside their palm, holding it out towards you. It was them again, wasn't it? For a few seconds you were stunned, realizing that it was the mermaid/merman again. Had they been following you? When they stretched their arm out a bit further whilst still trying to keep their head underwater, you snapped out of your shock. You carefully took the watch out of their palm, noticing their hand and fingers twitching when feeling your warm touch grazing their skin. Every movement was slow in order to not scare them, even as you pulled away, your watch clutched in your palm.

Your eyes caught onto the way their fingers stretched out when you pulled away as if wanting to grab you only to stop midway as if remembering that they shouldn't do it. Your eyes could actually make out the outline of them, the dark hair and the shape of their fin swaying gently back and forth. Then your gaze wandered back to their outstretched arm, still there as if not knowing what to do now. Your other hand stretched out towards their own, even if you were unsure what you should do. Very slowly you laid your hand into their open palm, not flinching this time as they grasped onto your hand tightly. Their skin was about as warm as yours was, smooth as opposed to your skin that always turned wrinkly when you were for too long in water.

Your other hand stuffed the watch back into your pocket, although your main focus was on this weirdly intimate interaction with someone from the ocean right now. No one was here, only them and you and you knew in that moment for sure that you'd never let anyone know about them. This was your moment with them, your weird bond with them and you wouldn't let anyone interfere.

Your hand touched upon the necklace you were wearing, consisting of a simple string and of a small dolphin you had carved out of wood. Without even thinking about it much, you pulled it over your head, laying it gently down into their palm as now both of your hands embraced their own.

"Thank you again. Here, please take this." you spoke softly before pulling away, unsure if they had even heard you or understood your language to begin with. You watched as they clenched the little present protectively between their fingers before sinking back into the ocean. You watched with wonder and amazement as their body turned around and a part of their gorgeous fin poked out of the water as if to bid you goodbye before the wonderful creature disappeared deep into the world where they belonged.

Ikuya's heart on the other hand was pounding once again rapidly against his chest, the warmth from your hands spreading across his body until he could even feel the tips of his fin tingling with this warm shudder. He clutched the little thing you'd given him close to his chest, admiring it even if he wasn't entirely sure what it was, although he did recognize that it was in the shape of a dolphin. Had you made this? For him? He blushed with the thought, with a dreamy hope, that you'dmade this specifically for him.

~~~

Despite not being aware that it was a necklace, Ikuya still got the right idea of letting it sway on his neck, even if the changed gravity underwater often threatened to swipe his new treasure away from him. The teal-haired male wore your present all the time, never putting it away even once, the little wooden dolphin an object he cherished more than anything else. His hands often touched it as he gazed down at it with longing eyes whenever night fell over earth and water, distancing him from you.

The pain deep inside his chest had only gotten worse since that day, the ache clawing at his poor heart as he pressed the little dolphin close to his chest, praying to see you the next day again. He dreamt of taking you with him underwater, to show you his home, imagined showing you an actual dolphin whilst envisioning your amazed and happy face. Every time his fantasies were shattered though when he recalled that this would never happen. You wouldn't be able to survive underwater. You'd die.

Both of you were part of different worlds and could never survive in the other's home. He could never truly be with you the way he wished to be. The cruel reality of the situation crushed his heart completely, heart-broken sobs and whimpers escaping his lips whenever he remembered and fled back into the confinement of his own cave. There was so much he wanted to show you but it all would never be possible. Not until one night, one of another slow and agonizing nights, he remembered something.

The sea wizard.

~~~

The sea wizard's cave was located in the deepest part of Ikuya's home and the further he swam down, the more he could feel the temperature drop as darkness engulfed him, the light failing to reach those parts of the sea. Only thanks to his heightened senses and the animals down there with their glowing fluorescent bodies could he see at all. The atmosphere was gloomy, spooky and weirdly lonely yet there was it's own serenity and peacefullness. Ikuya recalled vaguely how his parents had used to tell him how only darkness would be found down here with no sign of live, fitting the grim and malicious creature living down here but he found that to not be true as he traveled further along in search of the cave. Giant spider crabs, emitting a dull orange light, countless little cute flapjack octopuses glowing in multiple colours, excitedly flapping around him as if happy about the rare visitor, sea pigs, sea angels, anglerfish and even multiple schools of fluorescent jellyfish, some twice as big as his entire head. Life was flourishing with animals down here too.

A moray eel caught his eye as it moved it's long body through the body, right at him. It's fangs protruded from it's upper and lower lips, long enough to tear his flesh off if it should bite. Instead it just seemed to observe him, it's body glowing in a light purple colour, before it swam away, stopping every few moments and looking back, finally making Ikuya realize that it wanted him to follow. He did exactly that, following the animal through the deep sea-channel, passing all the scary yet weirdly beautiful animals living down here. Eventually the moray eel stopped, right in front of a cave, partially hidden by fluorescent algae drapped over the entrance like a curtain.

A short moment of hesitation, a lump of fear forming at the back of his throat as he hovered right in front of the same creature he'd heard all the nightmarish legends before. Yet he was his only option. He clutched your gift as if to gather courage before his tail propelled him forward, brushing past the glowing plants and entering the cave. He didn't know why but somehow Ikuya had expected the inside of it to be dark and scary yet even in here was a decent amount of light. Fluorescent corals that had grown on the stone walls were lined next to each other, the way they had grown into place looking everything but natural. They lit the way for Ikuya as he slowly traveeled further into the cave, holding tight onto pendant you'd given him, amber eyes searching for any sign of danger.

The narrow halls of the cave soon gave way to a huge interior with multiple ways, all lit up with the same corals. It looked pleasant, far too pleasant if the sea wizard was anything like he'd heard. Which way was he supposed to head now though? He didn't want to look like an intruder out of fear to be punished by the infamous sea monster. Calling out to him seemed like a ludicrous idea yet it seemed to be the easist and politest option.

"Hello! Is someone here?" His shouts were diffident, still very sceptical about this all, even if it had been his idea in the first place. Moments passed by where he heard and saw nothing yet he didn't dare to shout again, anxiously waiting in the hallway of this cave. Nothing happened and it messed with Ikuya's nerves, the tension of anticipation and fear almost unbearable. Just as he decided to head out of here, assuming that no one was here, his ears picked it up. The sounds of someone moving through the water, propelling their body with strong movements into his direction. His eyes turned to the tunnel on the left side, a grotesque form slowly appearing. A part of him really just wanted to run yet he couldn't. He'd come here on his own free will, had called the sea wizard and running away now might just earn him the wrath of this man he had just disturbed.

He was so much taller than Ikuya, not only by meassurements of his upper body but also his lower body which was covered with multiple light-colored grey-purple tentacles. His skin was so pale that Ikuya could see a couple of veins underneath his skin. He had light blond hair and glowing purple eyes, his pupils a thin slit which gave him a predator-like appearance. When the sea wizard parted his mouth slightly, Ikuya saw sharp teeth, easily as sharp, if not sharper, than the ones of the moray eel earlier.

"You called?"

His voice carried confidence and strength, his body language clearly showcasing his strength, a stark contrast in comparison to Ikuya's stiff and skittish gestures. He swallowed, gazing at the unnatural lower body of the sea wizard. He'd never seen anything besides tails with fin, someone having the lower body of an octopus was new and in his eyes strange and scary-looking, from the way his tentacles twitched in the water to the sheer number of them.

He was rendered speechless in front of the sea wizard, something the man noticed.

"I don't have all day. State your purpose or leave my cave." His cold voice broke Ikuya out of his frightened trance, hands instantly flying up to grab the pendant, something the monster's purple eye noticed with slight interest.

"I-I'm here because I need your help."

He raised a pale eyebrow, mustering the young merman who had entered his home, the first visitor in years.

"Sorry kid but I don't offer my service anymore. I've closed that business down a couple of years ago. Go home."

The creature ignored the way Ikuya's eyes widened in shock, a desperate feeling invading his heart as his only hope was crushed nonchalantly by the wizard who had already turned around. "Wait! Why?" He called after the blond man, daring to swim a bit closer before purple eyes met his in a sharp gaze, warning him to not tresspass any further in. "I have my reasons. Nowadays I spent my time with something far more important. I have no interest anymore in catering to the need of your kind only to be met with accusations and ungratefulness. Solve your problems yourself."

"Wait, please! You're the only one who can help me!"

Perhaps it was the desperation that made the sea wizard turn around one more time, cold eyes mustering the little merman in front of him, amber eyes filled with pleas and despair. He pursed his lips.

"What do you need my help for anyways?"

At this question, Ikuya's breath stuttered. How would someone like the sea wizard react to hearing that he was in love with a human? He could only stare at the sea creature, mouth slightly agape and jaw loosely moving yet no sound came out. The sea wizard lost patience soon and turned around again, finally giving Ikuya the push he needed.

"I-I think I'm in love with a human."

The entire build of the half-octopus stopped, only his tentacles still moving gently around in the water, his head turning over his shoulder, releaving his purple eye which now looked at him with newfound intrigue.

"Hmm. Why don't you tell me a bit more? Afterwards I'll decide if this problem is worth wasting my time for."

~~~

He circled around Ikuya much like a predator around pray as soon as Ikuya had finished his story, purple eye glowing with something Ikuya couldn't decipher, a small grin of intrigue on his face.

"I see. Tragic indeed, two lovers of two different worlds. It makes you nearly lose your mind, doesn't it? Knowing that both of you can never be together because neither of you could survive in the world of the other one. Your heart is probably racing, your mind is filled with thoughts of them and them only and your body craves to be close to them. Am I right?"

Ikuya nodded nervously, his own amber-coloured eyes following every movement of the man out of survival instinct, as if the sea wizard would wrap hia tentacles around his slim form at any moment and brutally squeeze him to death.

"So I assume that you want my help because you need something to be able to live on the land."

Ikuya gave him a shocked look. A portion for him to live on land?

The scary man in front of him snickered when seeing his startled look.

"Oh, I see how it is. You thought that I'd make you something to be able to have them diving underwater with you, didn't you? Well, I'd hate to disappoint you but that would be a bit unfair, wouldn't it?"

"Why?"

"Think about it, they already spend so much time at the ocean, nearly drowned in here once too. You on the other hand have only ever known the safe confinements of your home and never explored the land. It is quite selfish from you to demand from me to prepare a potion to take them with you in the surroundings you feel most comfortable with. Also, are you even sure that they feel the same way about you like you do about them?"

Ikuya's hands tightened into fists, one of his hands again secured around the necklace. The sea wizard had hit a sensitive spot in him and judging from the way his smile only grew larger, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, he knew that too.

"However, I wouldn't want to leave you alone with such strong feelings in your heart-" he began, eyes trailing over his shoulders for a moment, his words giving Ikuya some hope, "but I do have some conditions if I'm giving you my help."

"What conditions?" Ikuya asked cautiously.

"First of all, I'm only going to offer you something so you can live up there. Judging from what you've told me, you never once left this place so I'm not helping you if you're not willing to sacrifice something in order to be with the one you love. Second of all, you're not allowed to let them know that you're a merman, especially not the one who saved them. Third of all, I want your necklace as payment."

He pointed one of his clawed fingers to the necklace on Ikuya. Ikuya's hands flew up to it, hiding the wooden dolphin behind his palms. "Why the necklace?" he asked quietly, unhappy with the thought of parting with something you'd gifted him. "I need to take something in exchange for my help after all, don't I? And looking on how much you cherish this pendant, I think it has the right amount of value. Also, why so sad? You're going to be soon with your human anyways, won't you?"

He gave Ikuya a long look, stretching one of his hands out. Moments of Ikuya hesitating passed by before he gave in, aware that he had no other options. He felt a weird tug in his heart as he pulled the necklace off and handed it over to the sea wizard who observed the little dolphin carved out of wood for a while before turning away, satisfied.

"Now we have a deal." he spoke in a far more content tone, searching for something in the little cavities within the stones where he had stoked up a lot of things, presumably for potions. He picked after a while something out, more algae as Ikuya could tell, although it had a suspicious colour of dark blue to it. He handed him those plants.

"That should do it. Take those and you'll be able to become a human just like your love on land. However, you'll transform back into a merman in a couple of months and depending in which place you'll turn back, you might die. That's a risk you have to be willing to take though. Also, a good advice: Take those once you're close to the surface or otherwise you'll drown down here."

Ikuya stared at the bundle of the dark blue plants before giving the sea wizard a confused look. "Why only a couple of months? Why not give me more?"

"That's all you'll get from me. Remember though. You have only a few months to try to make this human fall in love with you. A true love's kiss is all you'll need to stay forever with them."

"But what if they don't fall in love with me?"

"Then that just means that you two aren't meant to be and that you shouldn't see them ever again. Simple as that."

He could see Ikuya's body going slightly rigid, his sharp words getting to him. Nevertheless, he thanked the sea wizard before quickly heading out, eager and hopeful. Purple eyes watched half-amused after his fast form. How that would turn out?

~~~

The gentle night breeze brushed over his bare and wet skin, goosebumps appearing all over his upper body as he heaved himself out of the water as good as he could. He had left the safety and comfort of his home once again, his tail once again gaining a uncomfortable and straining weight he wasn't used to. One of his hands was clutching the algae close to his chest, saggy and slimy clinging to the skin of his palm. No matter what though, he couldn't afford to lose them. Even if the sea wizard had been far more welcoming than Ikuya had ever anticipated, he didn't want to stretch his kindness. This was still a creature far more powerful than him after all.

With a silent "uff" he used his hands to push his body around, his back now facing the copious amount of sand on the beach. No one was here at this time of the night, not even you. In short, it was the perfect time to take the plants.

"You have only a few months to try to make this human fall in love with you."

"Then that just means that you two aren't meant to be and that you shouldn't see them ever again. Simple as that."

The cold words of the sea wizard lingered in his mind, an invisible weight that clung to his heart. He couldn't fathom the idea of never seeing you again.

But what if...?

He shook his head, eyes closed as he tried to get rid of such thoughts. The sea wizard had to be wrong! Ikuya had felt it on the day that he had saved you, the way his body and his heart had called out to you. And you must have felt something too. His heart dropped when he grabbed emptiness before recalling that he had given up his necklace. Forbidding him to tell you who he was was unfair but Ikuya was too scared to go against what the sea wizard had said. Apparently the man had eyes and ears everywhere. He hadn't been wrong when he had said that Ikuya would be able to spend time with the real you after all. A gift far more vulnerable than the necklace and who knew, maybe you'd make him a new one.

With those thoughts in his head, giving him courage, he stuffed all of the seaweed in his mouth at once, chewing it hastily. His face scrunched up when the bitter taste of it infiltrated his mouth, the texture strangy. He was sure that the sea wizard with his own sharp teeth would be able to chew the plants well but Ikuya's set of teeth was comparable to the one of a human and after a few moments his jaw started to hurt.

He was glad once it all had become a blue paste in his mouth as he swallowed it all at once, the bitter aftertaste almost causing him to gag. He forced the gag reflex down though. Ikuya had missed asking the sea wizard what exactly would happen after his consumption of the seaweed which came biting him back as he sat there, skin prickling with anxious anticipation and worries that maybe he'd been tricked or done something wrong.

Relief almost flodded him when he noticed that his tail started tingling and amber eyes watched half-fascinated and half-terrified when the bluish-green fin started parting in the middle, seemingly torn apart yet he couldn't feel anything besides the pricking numbness in his whole lower body. Teal-coloured flakes slowly faded away, giving way for the same pale skin on his upper body as his tail re-shaped itself into two legs. Ankles, thighs and toes formed themselves out of the flesh of what used to be his beautiful fin and Ikuya tentatively reached out to brush across his new limbs. Even after the transformation was done, he sat in the same position, staring at his legs, moving his toes carefully to slowly get a feel for his new body.

Only after moving and stretching his legs for a while, a feeling so foreign to him, he slowly attempted to stand up on wobbly kness, unfamiliar with the gravity outside of water. His steps were slow and cautious, sand and little sharp shells cutting into the ball of his feet. The first few times he fell down after only a few steps, pushing himself up every time with his hands. At least no one was watching him as he continued the entire night like this, learning how to walk on two feet.

~~~

You had caught enough fish for the entire week with your last catch, leaving you with plenty of spare time if you didn't take small jobs in the nearby town to earn some extra cash. Even if you didn't sail out into the ocean though, you still enjoyed strolling across the long coasts on the island. The sea with it's gentle waves, artistic blue colours and refreshing breeze was always a welcoming sight to your senses. Everything looked so peaceful when you gazed across the water in such moments but you knew best that the ocean, like most of nature, always had two faces. Right now you didn't want to think about that though, you had come here after all to enjoy a free day.

A simple and relaxing day. All you could have wanted. Such temporary peace came quickly to an end when you caught something in the distance, sprawled across the sand. You squinted your eyes, taking in the shape of it until your eyes widened slightly shocked. That thing was a human!

"Holy shit!"

Your slow tempo was abandoned as you ran and jumped across the beach, your shoes sometimes sinking deeper into the sand, it's warmth engulfing you but unfortunately you had no time for this.

He was as naked as a freshborn baby, sand clinging to his skin. You quickly bent down, relieved to note that he was still breathing deep and softly. Was he asleep? Where had he even come from? Your eyes darted across the beach, searching for any signs of a shipwreck only to find it as clean and empty as always. Well, besides this new msyterious guest.

Speaking of him, you felt him stirring inside your arms, bleary amber eyes fluttering open, his eyelids heavy because he'd just woken up. His dark hair fell a bit over his eyes which why he maybe took a moment to see your face but the moment he did, his heart did multiple summersaults. You could feel how his whole body stiffened in your hold and tilted your head curiously yet also slightly worried when you saw how his face started to turn red, from his ears to his cheeks.

"Well, hello there. From where exactly did you come from?"

Part 2

[seung-mongmong]

Rogue Waves (A Minsung pirate fic) Chapter Three

Warnings: Brief mention of jumping overboard, some romantic undertones(finally)

Masterlist

This was an awful idea.

Han was simply supposed to help prepare some of the things Felix would be using for breakfast. Now Felix was going to have to change the plans he had due to Han butchering a sizable amount of the vegetables he would have used. Not to mention he still had the grace to let Han stay and even thanked him when they finished up. Han felt awful for the whole mess. He stuck around to help Felix clean, with a side of too many ‘i’m sorry’ s. When the whole kitchen was back to being clean the two sat down, catching their breath. 

Han could see blonde curls bouncing in his peripheral, Felix scooting closer with a bright smile. “You did good today!” felix said, and han rolled his eyes

“If good means ruining everything then yeah, you could say that.” Han responded 

“Don’t say that! You did your best. By the way, the next few days we don’t have very many tasks so I'll ask the Captain to give you a day or two off so you can adjust to sea life, maybe explore the ship!” Felix said, his smile returning. Thank god, Han didn’t need to fuck up a task back to back, he’d look like a complete idiot. He continued the friendly chatting with Felix, the two staying up well into the night. Han didn’t even notice the sun disappear. The two bid their goodnights, shuffling off to the sleeping areas. He felt bad keeping Felix awake late, and he knew it was better to get good rest.

Not that Han could sleep anyways. He had been given some spare clothes to sleep in and told where he could stay, but no matter how he tried he was still wide awake. He rolled off the bed, creeping through the sleeping quarters as quietly as possible. The waves were rocking the boat like a cradle, and the ocean noises drowned out the patter of his feet on the floor.It was eerily quiet on the upper deck. He couldn’t help but feel comforted though, the ocean breeze in his hair as he leaned against a railing. He stared out at the sea, the pitch black blending in with the night sky, only broken up by the moon and its reflection. Out here in the quiet night he could almost pretend nothing was wrong. He could pretend he was still home, left alone about marriage.

Hans' thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice.

“What are you doing out here?” the captain's voice. Han glanced back, spotting him without his coat again. He looked less intimidating in such casual clothes. 

“Just…enjoying some fresh air.” Han said, looking back towards the ocean “i should ask you the same, it must be late.” he added 

“About midnight, judging by where the moon is in the sky.” Minho said, moving to stand next to Han “you aren’t out here to jump overboard are you? You seemed awfully unstable when you begged to stay.” 

Han laughed quietly, letting an arm hang over the rail “no, not this time. Being on this ship is probably the best path I have right now.” he mumbled. He could see MInho’s face, basked in moonlight as he watched Han. His gaze was unwavering, his full attention on Han. He looked curious mainly. Han opened his mouth to try and fill the silence, but the captain cut him off.

“Why?” he asked. Han blinked, trying to understand what he was wanting elaboration on, and Minho continued “Why leave? I get the marriage part, but marrying a stranger and staying wealthy and cushy sounds a lot nicer than risking your life on a pirate ship. Especially one known for being merciless.” 

Han took a breath. “I…I don’t know, I just couldn’t handle the monotony, the expectations, the idea of marrying someone I didn’t know- some woman my parents chose- what they told me terrified me, so I left.” 

“I still don’t see why it's so bad.” Minho raised an eyebrow, drawing a sigh from Han. “Maybe it was different for you, but I grew up with as many stories as I wanted to read. My favorites were the ones where the main character finds their soulmate. Maybe I still want to believe that I can find someone like that. I remember my best friend as a child always told me he believed everyone had a soulmate. He told me he hoped it was fate that I'd find true love one day. Maybe the hope I'm clinging to was enough to push me, make me go.” Han said.

Minho didn’t respond, simply staring down at Han. It was times like these that Han wished he could read minds. He didn’t have a clue what Minho was thinking, emotions swimming behind his brown eyes. Han could feel a shiver run up his spine at the stare. 

“I know, it's childish.” Han started, crossing his arms defensively

“It’s not,” Minho interrupted, “believing in something is nice, I suppose.”

Han went quiet, gazing down at the still water near the boat. With Minho so close he could feel the light brush of his undershirt. He hadn’t expected any mercy from the captain when he arrived, let alone this. It was nice. “Well who knew pirate captains believed in childish dreams.” Han teased, relaxing when Minho chuckled. “Well, you have to dream to lead an interesting life. How else would I come up with Piracy as a career?” Minho said, a teasing tone behind his words

“I suppose you have a point, Captain. Though dreams of piracy aren’t the most spectacular” Han said, a smirk on his face

“And your dreams of running away are so much better?” Minho leaned closer, a smile spreading across his cheeks. Han laughed quietly, lightly hitting Miho on the arm. When Han finally looked up at the captain, their eyes met. He could swear he saw them almost sparkle in the moonlight, his smile crinkling up the corners. His breath almost felt stuck in his throat as he scrambled for something to say. 

“...I should get to bed. I guess…thanks for the chat, Captain.” He said, voice soft. He lifted himself off the railing, slowly padding his way towards the sleeping area. He paused when he heard quiet speaking, the captain not turning to face Han. “Call me Minho.” 

[writers-vlogx]

Yandere namor headcanons

I NEED THIS MAN TO BE POSSESSIVE AND AGGRESSIVE, I NEED HIM TO WANT YOU SO BAD HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP YOU

It doesn't matter how he knows you, doesnt matter who you are, what matters is you catched his attention, and you know better than to attract the attention of a god.

It doesn't matter what drawer him in, what matters is that he has his eyes set on you. And he refuses to have anyone else.

You will be his, you don't have a choice

The first time you ever meet him, or at least you think it's the first time. He comes to you as if he was just like you. An illusion he wished he could believe, to believe he's lived his entire life next to you.

His delusion has not completely blinded him, he knows he should not just show himself to you and risk his life or his peoples life, but hey its not like you'll get very far even if you try.

Meeting him for the first time is certainly a... experience to say the least, this man that has winged feet and pointed ears that seems to be almost floating, but no that can't be true. You must be hallucinating!

Yeah that's right, that's it you must have not drank enough water and now your seeing things!

But as you stand up to leave in confusion and awe assuring yourself it was a lack of water, you feel a hand wrap around your wrist. "Where are you going amor?" ...this wasn't a dream, this man was real..he's standing right in front you me, and as if this couldn't get any worse in your shock you do the only thing that you know.

The legends of your people had taught you well, your grandmother always told you about people from the water that would take careless passerby's and drown them at the bottom of the ocean, she had told you to never go near the water at night.

She had told you that if you ever did and you saw one of them the thing that could save you was...Scream.

But almost as if he had read your mind he covered your mouth before any sound could come out, You looked up at him in fear of the stories you had heard him. Were you going to be drowned like other carless victims? but instead he just stared, seemingly unable to know of what to do. Almost like he hadn’t thought of what to do after covering your screams. 

So he slowly let his palm uncover your mouth and the second his body had stopped making contact you ran, you didn’t know if it would help but it was the only logical thing you were able to think of in that moment. 

And contrary to what you thought he did not chase after you, he only stared as you ran, and in a way you felt kind of bad for him but you couldn’t bring yourself to give it much thought instead you decided to push the strange feeling down. 

The days that followed he had been observing you, following your routine and seeing if you had alerted anyone of the incident, that could have been a good excuse he thought for him to justify him taking you away.

But as faith would have it, you hadn’t. 

The days passed on and he became more and more anxious not having you by his side but the thought of just letting you go didn't sit right with him either

So he planned everything from where you would stay, to how he would take you; he wanted to be gentle with you, he didn't want you to hate him either

So in order to avoid any...problems, he decided to take you when he knew no one would notice as easily, at night when none of the village dared to walk near the sea

You don't know what made you go back to that beach, maybe it was the fact that it had the effect of calming you for so long that now you just had to come here everytime you needed to breath, but unfortunately for you he was waiting just like how you had left him that time amd whether you knew it or not he's not letting you go this time

Everything happened so quick that by the time you had processed everything it was too late, he had you in his grasp; his arms were wrapped around your chest and his face hidden in your neck breathing in your scent

"Please be mine, and rule alongside me"

He tried so hard to make it sound like a question, like he was giving you an option, news flash he wasn't. It was a statement of what you were going to do whether you wanted to or not, after all it's all really your fault darling, you know better than to grab the attention of a god right?

I'm sorry it was shitty, but I've received yalls requests and I'm currently working on them, I just wanted to clean out my drafts finally 😮‍💨

@yoongskook @hausofmamadas

[aaknopf]

A multi-generational saga courses across the pages of Ædnan, by Sámi-Swedish author Linnea Axelsson, translated from the Swedish by Saskia Vogel. The verse epic follows an Indigenous Sámi family who have herded reindeer for generations, as the forces of colonialism and modern development of their ancestral lands threaten their culture and livelihood. The story is told by a small chorus of characters from the 1910s through the current day, and we become especially close to Lise, who left her Sámi family, following her brother Jon-Henrik, to be educated at a residential school for “Nomad” children. This excerpt from Chapter XII takes place in the early 1970s, along the Great Lule River Valley, where the state-owned Vattenfall company was developing hydroelectric resources, and Lise is graduating into a world unimaginable to her parents.

. .

The river climbed silently up the hills

as soon as Vattenfall whistled it came creeping:

–

Streamed backwards up its deep channel and drowned the earth

When the great Suorva Dam for the third time was to be regulated

–

Entreaty

shone from Mama’s eyes

–

She explained clearly to the Swedes 

that the fishing will suffer if the water rises

–

There was probably no one who understood what she was saying

– –

After the social studies lesson I went with the others to sit on the gymnasium floor

–

Almost all of Malmberget’s students had been dismissed from class

– To participate in the miners’ strike meeting

 –

Someone had heard that Olof Palme was coming

that he would travel all the way up here 

–

To the mining company’s and Vattenfall’s world the one that he himself had helped build

–

It is what he is guarding

It is all that he can see

–

The mine boss’s voice

flowed wildly above the crowded hall which was hot with bodies

–

His voice was so robust his conviction so intense

–

I glanced at Anne who was sitting beside me leaning against the wall bars

and she smiled back at me

–

Soon we would be leaving school too 

–

And could start working join the union

–

You took the job you wanted that’s all there was to it 

– 

Switchboard cleaner or cook

with the old folks at the Pioneer or the children in day care

– –

I spend the weekend up at Mama and Papa’s 

–

I stand with Jon-Henrik

 –

Watching the river flow murky across the slope

–

That brushy slope

where he and I used to go it’s underwater now

 –

How are our tracks ever to be heard Among the Swedes’ roads and power stations

–

It’s Jon-Henrik who says this he had also been drawn down to the dam

–

To work for Vattenfall as soon as school was done

 –

I’m surprised when he says

That he’d preferred to have taken up with the reindeer

–

Been elected into the Sámi community

And learned to guide that wandering gray soft ocean across the world of the fells

–

Just as the lot of us were once taught at the Nomad School that this is what the Sámi do

that this is how we all live

–

He laughs and says:

–

Who knows what the spring flood will bring with it

this drowned  earth may yet be fertile

More on this book and author:

Learn more about Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson.

Check out The Rumpus for a conversation between Linnea Axelsson and Susan Devan Harness about Axelsson's Sámi heritage and the decision to write Ædnan in verse. 

Click here to read Linnea Axelsson's op-ed piece for LitHub on Scandinavia’s hidden history of Indigenous oppression.

Visit our Tumblr to peruse poems, audio recordings, and broadsides in the Knopf poem-a-day series.

To share the poem-a-day experience with friends, pass along this link.

[mossyscavern]

Something in the ocean

_____________________

Sam is scared… terrified even, to go on this trip.

As a child he didn’t like the sea much, mostly because it’s the same place where he almost drowned and died. And it’s where his mom died when he was 5.

He made a solid promise to NEVER go in the ocean or on a boat. Ever. And it’s not really a problem, his dad agrees with those statements, his ‘friends’ and Duncan on the other hand… not so much.

His older brother Duncan had tried helping him face that fear himself, but he ended up comforting the redhead when he cried.

So Travis, his friend showed him the rock pools near his dad’s lighthouse, rocky areas where there are pools of water, told Sam he doesn’t have to go into the water, just to observe the scenery, even draw and paint what he sees since Sam draws and paints with water colour.

And Sam, albeit nervous, actually had fun. Even thought it’s near the ocean he generally had fun, he even saw some puffins near the rocky waters.

He told Travis he loved the rock pool areas and preferred to keep it between themselves. They agreed and it became his secret place, away from prying eyes.

It was great… until it wasn’t.

Before he left he decided to stay at least a couple of hours just to see the puffin’s hopping around, which was a big mistake.

Cause there came a huge wave and he got dragged away by the time the wave crashed. To make matters worse? Tides are strong this season.

He couldn’t swim out, he can’t call for help, he couldn’t even call Duncan or Travis. He was helpless and he can’t breathe... and is so tired of trying.

…

Then coughed and sputters, throwing up some sea water before finally catching his breath. Finally being able to breathe he looked up and saw a VERY worried Duncan and a guilty Travis. “Oh thank god.”

Duncan said as he hugged Sam tightly. “I thought I lost you. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry!” He rambled, rocking them back and forth rubbing his back in circles. “W-what happened?” He asked before his confusion is directed at himself.

“And why am I drenched?” He asked.

“You don’t remember?” Duncan asked, watching Sam shake his head in confusion. “Travis found your bag when the tides calmed down… then we both found you drenched and unresponsive.” Duncan said voice shaking.

“I-I’m sorry, from now on I’ll no longer push you to going.” He said, standing up and walked off, Travis followed in pursuit.. not even speaking. Sam was about to do the same before spotting something sparkling near one of the pools.

He got close and his eyes widened. It was an abalone shell necklace in a shape of a tragic mask… but the rope’s looks like it’s been snapped.

‘Duncan said never to pick up random things, but…’

With urban curiosity he picked up the necklace and gently placed it in his hoodie pocket. ‘Maybe he won’t notice.’ He thought before having his name yelled out. “I’m coming.”

He shouted before catching up towards the two taller boys. He has a lot to think about, especially about what happened to himself.

He read in the town’s article that this town is famous for having drowned victims regularly in a month. The town never really investigated the causes, even if they did they’d be just as dead as everyone else. Two times he found himself almost drowning… and he survived.

Like… something or someone is looking out for him. ‘Like that would happen.’ He thought, shaking his head and chuckled to himself how stupid thinking about that was.

If only Sam knew… that he might be more right than he originally thought.

_____________________

I had completely forgotten about mermay.

Just know, I’m not normally up for monthly challenges… but that doesn’t mean I can’t do anything for the month, so I thought I’d bring the mermaid au back, this time where Sam found the abalone shell necklace.

Also the au rightfully belongs to @vinehasnohopeleft mostly because they did fanart of Tom as a mer-boy and Sam staring at him while underwater…

I’d show you the art and the story, but I can’t… at least not yet. I can tell you the title though, it’s called a dream to remember.

[sailor-aviator]

Meet Me at the Sea Teaser

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Your best friend, Bob Floyd, had insisted you join him for the summer at his family's summer home along the Carolina coasts. You had been hesitant at first, but ultimately agreed to his request. Now, here you were in a new town with strange locals who spoke in hushed whispers and cryptic retellings about glistening scales, glowing eyes, and haunting songs that echoed from the sea. You didn't believe them at first, but when you wake up on the beach one morning after having fallen overboard the night before, you can't help but think that maybe you hadn't imagine the strong arms and deep, green eyes of the man that had saved you.

Series CW: Supernatural elements, Siren songs, Death, Accidental drownings, Near death experiences, Swearing, Violence, Mermaid/Sirens, Hypnosis, Attempted murder, Eventual smut, Fluff, Angst, Jake Seresin. Think that's pretty much it. Chapters will have individual warnings.

A/N: As with Fool's Fare, this is the teaser! Some elements of the story are subject to change as I write this, but I wanted to give you guys a sneak peak! As always, reblogs, comments, and likes are greatly appreciated. 18+ ONLY!! You can find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I post all of my updates as well!

"You've heard the stories from the locals."

It was more of a statement than a question. The cool, sea air caressed the warmth of your skin, and you shivered. You could see the lightning off in the distance as the storm rolled in from the sea behind him.

"I have," you replied, arms crossing to maintain some warmth. He watched you, studied you, like you might run away at any moment. His eyes were like sea glass, a frosted green that seemed to shine in the near pitch black of the night. "What about them?"

"What if I told you they weren't just stories?"

You scoffed, shooting him a glare. "You dragged me down here to ask me about those dumb stories about mermaids and sea monsters? You going to tell me that Davy Jones is real next, Jake?"

"I'm serious, Skipper," he frowned. You rolled your eyes at the nickname. He had called you that when you first met out on the docks after the accident, and it had stuck much to your annoyance. "Haven't you been wondering how you made it back to shore without more than a few bumps and scratches? Haven't you been wondering how you survived?"

"Yes," you murmured, feeling a sense of unease. "But I don't-"

"It was me," he stated, eyes clouded with a haze of desperation and desire. You could have sworn his eyes began to glow as he started taking slow, deliberate steps towards you. You felt a warm hum roll through your body as he maintained eye contact with you, seeming to almost pull you in. "I was the one that grabbed you when you fell overboard. I was the one who brought you to shore, watched over you until I knew you were okay. I was the one leaving pearls and seashells on the sides of the ship for you to find."

He was standing in front of you now, hands moving to cup both sides of your face as he stared down at you. You thought you heard shouting from up by the wooden ramp that led off the beach, but all you could focus on was the glowing green of his eyes and gentle caress of his words on your mind.

"Why?" you asked breathlessly. He chuckled, leaning his forehead against yours. The voices grew louder in the distance, and you faintly felt the lapping of the water at your calves. Were you moving deeper into the ocean?

"Because," he whispered, nuzzling his nose against yours. "I want you."