#freaky food selection | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

moonstruckbirdie · 6 months ago

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OK SO first of all, I know I have been like super duper late in reblogging these AMAZING WORKS, DESPITE DEVOURING THEM IN THEIR ENTIRETY ATLEAST TWICE

P.S- This gif seemed the most sincere among the selection lot. @wildestdreamsblog

Coming back to my apology, I was going oh I will read this, and then reblog, and then when I read, legit couldn't contain my excitement, like AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, so I couldn't do it justice with a simple reblog, a paragraph had to be written, and I procrastinated, clearly A HELL LOT.

so the post on your blog about disappointing engagement on the app was just the wake up call I needed, I was like hell no I am contributing to this.

so here we are

TO BEGIN WITH, why are you such a brilliant writer, your stuff, and my favourite food, and some kdramas on my watchlist that I actually get into are the three top amazing, entertaining things in life, ok songs too, but you get it

So lets begin, first of all, why are these seven so fucking relentless, like guys, space please, and Seokjin no, jumping two feet away ain't the space I want, I half-expected, him or sassy Yoongi to go, oh you need space, lets buy you an astronaut suit, but i digress, I should start from the beginning, see this is what happens when the writer is super brilliant, your thoughts are just all over the place.

First of all Seokjin drank from the tumbler knowing full well it probably wasn't his, he is man of high taste, so dude should have known it wasn't his, quite sus if you ask me. then he gave it to the others toooooo,

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Sir, you are suspicious AF. and then they all drank too, without questions, no sarcastic remarks, no eyebrow raises, no quips, noleg pulling from JK, sus sus and more sus

And then to top it off, these 7 dumbasses, ok hella hot dumbasses, but OH WELL, start laying so THICK, that I myself was like, should I enjoy this vicariously or be concerned, but then I was like, fuck it lets enjoy. First bus, then cafe, then cabin, then cafeteria, then lift, then her freaking home, and you dare wonder why we asked for space, ALSO not to forget she is in their TURF now, see I relate coz, if in some freaky shit happens, space-time continuum fortunately works in my favour and find guys like these or them obsessed with me.

My first thought would be hmmmm, ok so this is happening, when are we leaving, despite knowing full well that I need my space, and a lot of it. But yeah the home is comfortable, plus uffffffffff, see I digressed again.

OK coming back, the biggest traitor here is the CAT, how dare youuuuuuuuuuu betray me for material comforts, and treats, you dumbass, I got you from the streets [I hope she adopted], and this is the thanks I get, what about loyalty, familiarity, should have gotten a dog, but not a golden retriever or a husky, coz the former is ball of fluff, and huskies are part cats only , a doberman should have been better.

The nerve, the audacity, the gall of the cat, ok moving on, Taehyung buddy don't be so dramatic, and please hug but keep your arms a bit loose, like I know you don't smell, but suffocation is a thing yeah.

Also, can i just say that the first time I read that elevator scene with Namjoon, I imagined his eyes opening and him caging her so well in my head [like i imagined myself] but I was like hot damn, I need a minute, like un momento por favor, like I kid you not, some smut on AO3 and here on tumblr doesn't have that chokehold power, which that scene had. So naturally, I re-read on the downlow A FREAKING LOT. next the Samsung stocks scene with Yoongi, hilarious.

P.S- I didn't know until 2 years back that Samsung, hyundai and LG are South Korean brands, and its embarrassing coz

a. I am an econ student, I should know this shit

b. we have been using their stuff since I was a wee little baby

c. I also googled after reading it, is it based in reality, and then realised ohhhhhh shit, no wonder he uses a Samsung phone, talk about living under a rock

Moving on, again, Taehyung is literally DEDICATED, dude woke up early morning to empty cars of gas , and all of them. Now I have the mental image, of a very sleep, floofy-haired, grey sweatpants [YES I went there], Taetae going into the garage to empty gas , but what did he use, like a knife slash or diligently loosened the cap thingy on the engine, who knows. [dude I am dumb, I blame my dad for it, he didn't teach me this, but its ok]

Then JK with his bike, let a girl breathe guys, let ME BREATHE,

Also I am still 50-50 to smack the bff, or give her a big hug, and send her a care package.

P.S- I am writing this from my office [I am just an intern] and literally no work today. so yeah

But then when RM confessed he shipped them off to Antarctica, dude may be businessman, and cold and sly and whatever, but he can be dumb AF too, love that. Seriously, you thought, they wont come back, and SO DAMN EXTRA TOO, bro behave like adults, who am I telling, he won't.

Plus, I can't with Tae being whiny and dramatic, don't know whether to pull his cheeks or smack him upside the head. will probably toss a coin.

I love how subtle the glimpses into their dark side is till now, just an eyebrow raise her, jaw clench there, muscle twitch here, and then comes Hoseok, dude scares me at times ngl. Like he gives the vibe of being a really friendly chummy guy as a friend, but the moment you see him in the professional sphere, you realise just why and how he is so successful. Immensely attractive tbh.

So I successfully rambled like 1000 words, wow [ I was curious so I, you know what doesn't matter]

What did I miss, what did I miss- oh yeah, she forgot to ask Yoongi one important thing, am I allowed to sell the Samsung stocks, like no offence, but share market is a finicky thing man, how stable are these stocks, he will probably hate that question i think, also Seokjin is so sweet and so fucking diabolical, man cooked a whole lunch how sweet, but won't give space; pros and cons lol.

Oh haan, she is so right for being concerned that what will people say, coz there might be some vultures and idle prattlers ready to fucking pounce. Also we have established running away is impossible coz

a. NO POINT THESE GUYS CAN, AND WILL FIND ME IN AN HOUR, and as a true crime podcast listener, don't run if you are sure to be found

b. THE TRAITOR OF A CAT WILL PROBABLY STAY WITH THEM, AND I WON'T GIVE UP ON HIM, HE'S A TRAITOR BUT HE'S MINE

By the ways, the scene where JK clutched his unnecessary and non-existent pearls, peak comedy imo.

Before I forget, THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU for this , and sorry for the long ass essay you have to deal with thrice today [coz I am going to comment on the full masterlist of Latibule, right fucking now, wait like 10 minutes.],

Also I forgot, and then remembered again, when they add her to the group chat and were trying to use those cheesy ass pick up lines, I found it so damn funny, especially RM's line. Also when JK asked her birth year, I heard 19xx, and was like, at least I am older than one of them here, he he .

P.S- no more edit, I am done

LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU

HAVE A GREAT DAY

Might as well be drunk in love: 1 of 3

Pairing: OT7 x Reader (CEO AU)

Summary: In which your friend thought it would be funny to give you a love potion, and in which seven CEOs accidentally drank it.

Warnings: Love Potion, Yandere behavior, Obsessiveness, Possessiveness, Manipulative behavior, Violence, Mention of death, Disability, If you’re not 18+ please, PLEASE, do not interact. Be mindful of the warnings. Let me know if I miss anything.

A/N: This idea came to me when I went to the mountain and saw a love potion wine thingy being sold there. I think it's just the name of the wine, anyway! I really, really tried so hard to finish this in one post but it's already almost 8kish and we aren't even near the end sksks Happy New Year, my loves! I hope you'll like my gift for you <3

“Am I that hopeless?”

“What?” your friend asked in faux innocence, blinking her eyes owlishly at you. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, sweetie-“

You glared at her as you pointed in an exaggerated manner at the expensive pink tumbler she handed you mere seconds ago. The tumbler was too fancy, something that you wouldn’t buy for yourself and something that a certain handsome but infuriating CEO of yours was fond of carrying around.

However, what was insulting was the content of the said tumbler.

“I just gifted you that because you mentioned that it was beautiful-“

“Do you really think I’d end up alone?!”

“I don’t understand-“

“You literally just said that you put the love potion you bought in the mountains here!” you hissed lowly, keeping your eyes around the conference room as your department waited for the seven CEOs to arrive. You attempted to smile which more or less came out as a grimace at one of your colleagues who looked at you weirdly because of your mini-outburst. You weren’t exactly meek in nature, nor were you shy. However, you weren’t really keen on letting anyone overhear that your close friend bought you a love potion just because she thought you would end up alone.

That was embarrassing, even for you. So nope, you would for sure keep this under wraps.

Her brows furrowed harmlessly, although you could see a hint of smile on her lips, “You’re welcome?”

“I’m not thanking you-“

Just then, all the seven CEOs walked in the conference room, their presence commanding and silence reigned through the whole room. The first to enter was Min Yoongi. He was strolling in the room with his hands in his pocket. He was said to be the ace of the group who could smell bullshit despite it being miles away. He honestly looked like he would rather be anywhere else than here right now, though. It was the complete opposite of Jung Hoseok, also known as the sunshine of the group. He was smiling widely as he greeted the department and some employees by their names, yet you weren’t fooled by his beautiful smile. He was the strictest of them all. He was perfectionist down to the core and he was the last to forgive any mistake. The last of the hyung line to enter was the Kim Seokjin, the most beautiful man you have ever seen. It was like the room literally lightened up when he stepped in, like the birds sang melodically the moment he opened his eyes. His tall form and his movement were precise as he confidently sauntered to his seat which just so happened to be beside yours. He placed his pink tumbler on the table, so eerily similar to yours sans the engraved of his name on his tumbler. The beautiful asshole didn’t even spare you a glance. Your back unconsciously straightened when the lead CEO, Kim Namjoon, locked eyes with you for a moment when he entered the room. He was said to be one of the most intelligent man in the whole country. You didn’t even doubt it one bit. He was capable, and his leadership was on another level. Should he decide to run for a political seat, you would undoubtedly vote for him. He had what it took, you thought. He was charismatic, calm and he knew when to listen.

The CEOs were dubbed by the employees to be divided by two: the Maknae and the Hyung line.

Finally, the maknae line entered. The three of them could always be found together. Park Jimin, the eldest of the line, who had one of the most beautiful smiles you ever saw. In fact, you once overheard your colleague that he interacted with her once and it left her thinking of what they really were. He was followed by Kim Taehyung and also labelled as his soulmate. He was expressionless as he entered, only cracking a smile when he turned to Jimin. You always thought that he could be a model or an actor if he wanted to. He definitely had the looks for it. Last to enter was the muscular Jeon Jungkook, also known as the golden maknae of the group. There were no contracts, mergers or acquisitions that he couldn’t convince the other party of signing. Not only was he capable of everything, but he excelled in everything. Thus, his nickname. However, despite the way he held himself during the negotiations, you observed him to be shy and highly reserved. All of a sudden, he looked up from his seat as though he could feel your eyes on him, his doe eyes curious as he took you in. He held your eyes for a moment until he blinked owlishly and looked down at his hands in curiosity.

Kim Namjoon sat in the middle, the others sitting beside him as they regarded the room with a powerful look.

“Shall we begin?” Kim Seokjin asked, his eyes focused on the slides reflecting in the projector.

Several headaches, passive aggressiveness from Namjoon, Hoseok and Jimin, disappointed sighs from Jin and Yoongi, difficult revisions ‘suggested’ by Taehyung, and corrections of miniscule errors of calculations by Jungkook later, the meeting finally ended.

You were weary as you trudged out of the conference room the CEOs were still in. They dismissed the department, expecting revisions within the day after tomorrow before discussing among themselves. It was honestly not a lot of time and you could already feel the lack of sleep you and the department would further experience under their tyranny. You willed yourself not to fall asleep as you walked to your desk, your close friend who was equally tired as you sat down on her seat beside your desk.

“I’m so tired. It’s like my soul and all the happiness I was able to experience in my young life were sucked out of me,” she lamented, her head resting on her desk. “If only the pay isn’t so greaaaat. ”

You nodded at what she said, already likening the CEOs to dementors in Harry Potter. Interacting with them made you aged several years. Additionally, meetings with them made you reconsider whether you needed a roof over your head, whether you needed to eat at least twice a day, whether you needed to drink clean water-

Speaking of…this wasn’t your tumbler.

The horrifying realization made you stood up abruptly. You lifted the pink tumbler to your widening eyes, and by that name there was no denying that this wasn’t yours. Your sudden movement awoke your friend from her own misery, yet you didn’t have the time to explain. Without any further thought, you ran back to the conference room, screaming and crying about how you were definitely going to get fired.

Of course, the elevator was under maintenance.

Of course, you had to run numerous flights of stairs.

Of course, it was just your luck that you ran into your manager just when you reached their floor.

And of course, the moment you opened the door, there they were, innocently drinking from a glass, the tumbler emptied as it sat in the middle of the table.

“Don’t drink that!”

Taehyung was the first to turn to you, his dark expressionless eyes meeting yours with intense stubbornness. He kept his eyes on yours as gulped the contents wholeheartedly.

Oh heavens, no.

He put the glass down with a resounding thud which felt like a nail to your coffin. You turned to look at the other CEOs with shaky eyes and it was apparent that they definitely drank their fair share of whatever was in the tumbler. You, on the other hand, weren’t sure if it was really safe for consumption. You were going to kill your friend for her prank!

Their eyes were focused on you. You couldn’t even blame them. You shouted at them all while looking like a lunatic with your disheveled hair and huffing breaths like you did a marathon. Oh wait, yes you probably did by the amount of running you did today. They were probably thinking that you were mentally unfit for this job and oh my God you were going to lose your job.

“May we help you, Ms. Y/N?” Hoseok asked you politely, his eyes never wavering from yours which was…unusual. Despite him being the image of kindness and approachability, he never looked at his employees for longer than necessary. He was a man that possessed such discipline when it came to his time. This… was absolutely an unnecessary length of time for eye contact.

“T-that’s my drink,” you finally said after tearing your eyes from Hoseok’s. You pointedly looked at the empty pink tumbler, not minding the intense look Namjoon was giving you.

“We apologize, little one,” Namjoon broke the silence, his deep voice awakening you from your stupor. “Yours looked like hyung’s.”

Little one???

Jimin smirked before running his hand through his blonde locks. His eyes were on yours as he looked up at you. “Yours undeniably taste better, though.”

Before you could even blink, Yoongi pointed at you with a rare smile on his lips. “You looked thirsty. Would you like to go to my office and drink with me?”

Was that…an invitation?!

You felt a hand tugged your sleeve. You turned, only to find beautiful doe eyes looking up at you from his seated form. “Hi! What year were you born?”

“199x-,“ you answered absentmindedly, you eyes roaming around the room when he tugged your sleeve again for your attention.

“You’re older than me!” he gasped; his excitement palpable as he stood up. He towered over you, his grin pleasant and you thought at that moment that he looked a lot like a bunny, or a kangaroo with the way his chest muscles were bulging over his office clothes. “Then you’re my noona! I can call you ‘noona’, right? Come on, take a seat here!”

He pulled the chair closer and tapped on it eagerly.

This was wrong, you thought. Was that thing really effective?! You dreaded to think that it was and you had a certain someone to torture once you get out of this room.

You were shaking your head before he could even pull you and you watched as his expression fell. Suddenly, he looked like a child that lost his toy with the way he was pouting. And nope, you couldn’t deal with that today. You looked at the man who hadn’t spoken one bit before smiling sheepishly at him. You placed his pink tumbler in front of him.

“I apologize. I must have switched yours with mine-“

His jaw tightened as he leaned in. Heavens, he was even more handsome this close. Kim Seokjin looked up at you with his ethereal eyes before resting his chin on his hand. “I’ve been drinking yours since the meeting, my love. It’s absolutely not your fault. Mine was coffee. This-“ he lifted the empty tumbler, “-is, I presume, a juice.”

Confusion further painted on your face, “You knew? Then why did you keep on drinking-“

He shrugged his broad shoulders, “It’s…addicting.”

“O-okay, then I’ll just leave yours here-“

“Tell me, my love. Do you like your job?”

Welp, here it was. You were so going to get fired. Oh my God, how were you going to feed your cat? He had such an expensive taste!

“I-“

“Because there’s an opening in my office. Would you like to be my secretary-“

“But hyung, you already have one-“

“Shut up, Taehyung,” he hissed at the now pouting man before turning to smile at you as though he didn’t berate his co-CEO in front of you. Chaos ensued as the boys fought and bickered for who would be your direct boss as you inched closer to the door.

“I’m just gonna go,” you whispered and before you could even reach the door, Taehyung looked up at you with his sharp eyes.

“Where are you going!”

“I-I have to finish the report this week, right?”

Namjoon stood up before declaring that he would finish it for you. And when you shook your head, “I am officially moving the deadline to next month! No need to stress, my little love!”

You blinked owlishly before doing what was best for you and your sanity- you ran away.

“So, they drank it?”

“Are you even listening to me?!” you shrieked over the phone, walking back in forth in front of your cat that was now looking at you as though he wanted to be adopted by a sane person and not you. “I just told you. They all drank it. All seven of them!”

You could hear the laughter in her voice which was not helping your panic, “I thought you didn’t believe love potions?”

“I-I didn’t! You didn’t see how they were acting! It was so peculiar!”

“Well, honey, how did they act?”

“Kindly! And it’s so weird!”

She paused, her silence making your heart beat faster. “Holy shit. It’s definitely effective. I need to go back there and buy another one for myself-“

“Focus! Is there an antidote or anything?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my grandmother that lives there. I’ll let you know, but for the meantime, hold on very tight, okay?”

“What do you mean?!”

“Uhm. She said it’s very potent? I thought she was kidding. We’ll observe them tomorrow, okay? I’ll fix this.“

You were only able to sleep for two hours last night for two reasons: your work that you accomplished at eleven in the evening, leaving you six ample hours to sleep, and second, them.

Your phone didn’t stop ringing last night. You didn’t know how they obtained your number, and you dreaded to think that they used their position to direct the Human Resources department to give your personal number (yup, they definitely did).

You were about to fall asleep when your phone wouldn’t stop, and when you opened your eyes, you wished to all that was holy that you threw away the tumbler as soon as she handed it to you. Or that you didn’t choose the sit next to Seokjin.

You wished to God that your phone wasn’t blowing up now, but it certainly was.

Kookie: Hi, noona! Welcome to the Bangtan groupchat!

You squinted your eyes as the glaring screen illuminated with several messages from them.

Jwehope: Darling, are you a sprite? Because you've got the right amount of fizz to make my heart pop!

Jiminie: That’s so corny. I, for one, think that little one is a magician.

Jiminie: Because everytime I look at her, everyone just disappears.

V: Do you want to disappear, Jimin? Because I can arrange that.

Joonie: Ms. Y/N-shi, do you have a moment? I asked because I would like to discuss something.

At that, your trepidation grew. Among five, the lead CEO definitely held a serious tone. Did they find it as weird as you did that they were paying you attention? Did they trace it to that drink? Were you now in an even bigger mess than you initially thought?

You replied tensely: Yes, I am available, Kim Daepyonim.

WWH Jin: Why are you still awake? Beauty sleep is essential, my love!

Joonie: Great! I’d like to discuss the exponential growth of my feelings for you.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Suga: You’re all so hopeless. My Y/N would never fall for that.

Suga: On the other hand, would you like some Samsung stocks?

And that was why you never got to sleep peacefully last night. You sighed as you got on the bus. You opted to leave at an earlier hour because you wanted some time to think without the noise of the world and the buzzling movement of people commuting. You could feel a headache coming, but you prayed that it wouldn’t come through.

You should have known your prayers were seldom heard.

A vacant seat on the backside of the bus greeted you, and you were only too elated to finally sit throughout your commute. Peace, finally, you thought. You had barely settled in, barely breathed a sigh of relief when the once empty chair beside you was filled in by none other than him

“Fancy running to you here!” Taehyung noted in a deep voice as though this was not part of his plan, as though he didn’t wake up at a godforsaken hour just to ‘run’ to you.

You blinked, astonished by his presence. This was the last place you expected him to be. Hell, you didn’t even sure he ever experienced riding a bus! What the fuck was he doing here? Where was now your peace?!

“You-You’re here…” you trailed off, your eyes widening in shock as your brows furrowed in disbelief. You had foolishly thought that maybe, once they slept it off, then it would slowly be flushed out of their system. Oh, how wrong could you be. “Why?”

Taehyung smirked at you, his dark eyes taking you in. His dark hair was gelled up, his suit impeccable and without any crease in sight. He was somehow manspreading and you weren’t stoic enough not to notice the way his thick thigh was touching the side of yours. “I wanted to see you.”

“You’re so…honest.”

He didn’t even look embarrassed by his honesty. It didn’t displace him; what did was the annoying pain in his heart as the hours passed by and you weren’t in his arms nor his sight. He hated it. It felt wrong!

The other boys weren’t fairing any better but oh well, to each of his own. He may or may have also drained their cars of gas so they couldn’t leave. He thought that no one needed you as much as he did.

“I surmised that you wouldn’t believe if I say I frequent this path just for the hell of it, correct?”

You nodded dumbfoundedly as speech eluded you. His candor was definitely out of this world, and he seemed to not care as he only stared right at you.

“Now,” he whispered before tucking your hair behind your ear. “Now I feel at peace. The annoying pain finally stops.”

What pain?!

Before you could even ask him to elaborate, his head leaned on your shoulder.

“Daepyonim Kim-“

“Just stay like this for a while. I didn’t get to sleep, my love,” he answered in his hoarse voice, his eyes already closed as he dozed off. You didn’t know why you let him. It absolutely was not due to the fact that you felt your heart skipped a beat when he laid his head on your shoulder. Nope.

You managed to run away from Taehyung once the two of you arrived at the company, simply by practicing your non-existent ninja moves and awkwardly slipping out of the elevator just as the doors closed, his face an image of betrayal and panic. You breathed a sigh of relief before running out of the building. You still had an hour before you were needed, you for sure wouldn’t spend it inside that establishment or you would end up crying.

You were focused on your phone as you read real life stories of love potions. The sharing of stories kept on increasingly became more serious and scarier. You had yet to find a post about antidote. You weren’t 100% set on it being real, but the way Taehyung acted today was not right.

For heaven’s sake, the man barely said any word to you for the whole year you worked in their company. He had only looked at you before, and now he was outright going to you. But maybe, the other CEOs weren’t affected?

It was a hopeful thought, and you felt yourself smile a little- which of course vanished just as quickly when you looked up from your seat in the coffee shop to see Park Jimin sitting in front of you. You didn’t even know how he moved so smoothly and quietly. He was smiling at you, his head tilted to the side. His blonde hair stood out as the sunlight hit his hair perfectly.

“Good morning, beautiful!”

“Daepyonim Park,” you gasped both at shock and well, his beauty. His smile turned wider before he tried to hide it as he sipped from his coffee cup.

“Just Jimin, little one. I presume Taehyung- the bastard who will soon be six feet underground for what he did, by the way- already went to see you?”

You nodded, “He did…”

He scrunched his nose before resting his chin on his hand as he leaned into you. His pouty lips were protruding even more as he looked over his long lashes to you. My God, this man was so charming and his movements seemed so sensual. You didn’t know what it was about him, but you finally, finally understood your coworker who had a major crush on him for years based on one interaction.

“He’s so bad, my love. Did he tell you that he drained all our cars’ gas tank at two in the morning?” he asked in a conversational manner as though it didn’t faze him. His other hand reached to yours, slowly entangling them together and giggling a little at the slight size difference. He found them perfect and cute.

God, you were so endearing, he thought to himself.

“He did what?!”

He nodded slightly, holding your hand up to inspect further before quietly taking a picture of your clasped hands. You were so out of it that you just let it be.

“What Taehyung failed to account for was the existence of taxis. He only managed to anger six men, so good luck to him today. But enough about him,” he stated before looking into your eyes. Being the sole focus of Jimin was just too much, you thought. He was bigger than life, and his inherent appeal was palpable that even girls around the coffee shop kept on stealing glances on him. “I miss you so much today that my heart and head hurt so much, yeobo. I thought that I was going to die if I don’t see you.”

Your brows furrowed in concern before pulling your hand from him and you could have sworn you heard him whimpered. You laid the back of your hand on his forehead, trying to see whether he had fever today. He felt fine, you concluded, as you looked closer to see if he looked sick.

Maybe the ‘love potion’ caused these symptoms? Taehyung did mention experiencing pain.

You managed to escape from Park Jimin when he insisted on buying you pastries, and you in turn ran to the exit like your life depended on it. And perhaps, it did because you were running late. You only had fifteen minutes and the coffee shop you went to was not fifteen-minute away from the office. You were running like a lunatic, waving at the taxi that finally took pity on you. You were about to open the door when a large and tattooed hand slammed it shut.

You looked up in anger, ready to berate the man who did such a rude gesture when you recognized who it was.

Right then and there, and despite it being barely eight in the morning, you already met the entirety of maknae line. Jeon Jungkook looked like a badass with his all-black getup, his hands wrapped in motorcycle gloves, and his hair carelessly falling around his face. Despite all that, he looked innocent with the way he grinned at you, his nose all scrunched up when he greeted you.

“I’ll give you a ride, noona. Come on,” he stated as he gestured at the black motorcycle haphazardly parked on the side. You had never ridden one, and you didn’t want to start now. On the other hand, the taxi was already driving away and you could only look at it with longing.

You decided that you could afford being late just this once instead of riding with him. You were shaking your head.

“But you’re going to be late. I’m going there, too, so it’s no bother if that’s what you’re thinking-“

“No it’s just… I like to walk during the mornings…really.”

He frowned at you as he removed his gloves, “Didn’t you read the memo about tardiness, Y/N?”

“What memo?”

He was typing rapidly on his phone, “About how there would be 50% deduction of the salary should there be any tardiness this month…didn’t you know?” he asked innocently as he finished typing, his doe eyes trained on yours. Coincidentally, the moment he pocketed his phone was the moment your phone dinged.

“I don’t think that’s legal, though. I haven’t received the memo-“

You looked down at your phone, and there it was, an email about that. How could it only reach you now?!

You looked up in panic, and he looked at you with a hint of satisfaction before covering it with an innocent smile. “Shall we? I promise I don’t bite.” Yet.

He drove like a lunatic and you thought that you would really rather be late than experience a thrill such as this. Of course, it was only natural that you didn’t want to put your arms around him. You technically didn’t know him at a personal level and Jungkook did know that.

So, of course, like the intelligent man that he was, he only did the thing that made sense. He sped up, and he chuckled as your adorable screams reached his ears. Your equally lovely arms were now wrapped around him as they should always be and for once since yesterday, the ache in his heart eased. He felt at peace.

He giggled when you finally realized that this was not the path to the office, but in his mind, his other hyungs already got to spend time with you. Shouldn’t he too?

Jungkook helped you get off his bike, his eyes closely watching your expressions as you took the scenery around you. It was quiet despite the busy world below. The overlooking garden he brought you to was enchanting and it remained untouched by the quick-pacing world below. Jungkook couldn’t help but mirror your smile.

“It’s even more beautiful at night, noona. I come here when things get quite overwhelming.”

You turned to him as the two of you sat down. He had laid his leather jacket for you to sat on, a true gentleman you would think if only you weren’t aware that he drank the potion. “The golden maknae gets overwhelmed, too?”

He scrunched his nose at you before softly pinching your nose, “Of course, I do. I’m only human. I was trained when I was only thirteen…it gets too much sometimes. But it’s okay. I like it, and I like the hyungs, too. That’s why I cannot get mad at Tae.”

“He didn’t just empty the gas tank, but he also hid the keys. For added measure, he deflated my tire. He only did that to me. Should I be mad, little one?” he asked with the perpetual charming and shy smile on his face. “Ahh, but I cannot stay mad at him. I do understand him.”

“You do?”

He nodded eagerly, “I would have done the same thing if only he didn’t do it first. You do make us crazy, little one. Why is that?”

It was an eventful morning, and you weren’t foolish enough to think that the rest of your day would be any different. You friend was still yet to be found as she was preoccupied with researching for further information about that potion, which she should have done before giving it to you!

You sighed for the million time as you stared at your food. You were sitting alone in the company’s cafeteria as you were eating your late lunch. The workload was just too much today despite Kim Namjoon’s departmentwide directive that the revision would be presented the following month. Your superiors did find it peculiar and thought that the head CEO was simply playing with them and that he would cruelly demand the output the next day. See, even his reputation preceded him, you thought. It wasn’t in his nature to be lenient when it came to deadlines.

The sudden gentle thud of food a lunch box made you jumped from your seat, your eyes widening as you saw that it was none other than the eldest of the CEOs, Kim Seokjin. Disbelief held you captive. It was an unexpected sight – the CEO, whose tailored suits and polished demeanor spoke of boardroom authority, now standing before you with a container of something that smelled absolutely delicious.

He smiled at you as he took the empty seat in front of you. He busied himself with laying and opening the numerous food containers in front of you. Your eyes widened at all the homecooked meals in front of you.

“I got up at four in the morning to prepare all these. I still don’t know what your favorites are, but we’ll figure it out as we go, right?” he asked, busying himself with putting food on your plate. “Always eat on time, little one. It’s bad to skip meals.”

“W-why did you cook all these?”

He blinked owlishly at your question; surprise written on his face. “Well, my love, I couldn’t sleep and I felt this stabbing pain by the mere thought that you weren’t eating enough.”

“You don’t have to do that-“

“So from now on, I decided that I’ll always cook for you,” he declared strongly before lifting his chopsticks with vegetables to your mouth. Suddenly, you felt eyes on you.

How could you forget that you were in the company?! Your head turned, looking at the employees who were all watching your interaction with the unobtainable CEO. They were whispering and you knew by the end of the hour, everyone in the company would know of this. How could you live once they had the antidote? You could already hear the rumors about how you were just for their entertainment once they tossed you aside.

You were about to stand up when Seokjin gently gripped your chin. He turned you to him, his beautiful eyes willing you to listen to him. “Don’t mind them, little love. Pay attention to me only. Nothing and no one matter outside us, okay?”

It wasn’t okay because none of this was real. On the other hand, the meal tasted heavenly…

---

If they weren’t going to get sick, you definitely would. You felt like you would collapse any moment.

The amount of stress was taking a toll on you. You felt like you needed to be on your guard, lest another CEO would ambush you. You were just human! And they all looked like they stepped out of a photoshoot, or that they were ethereal beings that decided to go down on the mortal realms. The way they were showering you with attention and declaring their attraction to you and the way they said that not being with you felt like a stabbing pain in their hearts were all getting to you, damn it!

You were just a girl.

And once this all ended, you were dreading to think of what would be left of you now that you saw them on a closer and more personal level. You wanted to think that this couldn’t get any worse, but it did as you read the most elusive of the CEOs’ email to you.

Hi, my little one,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to request your presence at a meeting in my office to discuss my growing feelings for you today at 2:00 pm. Your insights and expertise on this matter would be highly valuable to the discussion, and I believe your input will contribute significantly to our objectives of being together forever and ever.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation, and I look forward to our discussion.

Best regards,

CEO Min Yoongi

He had this faraway look on his face when you were led by his secretary in his office. His hands were in his pocket as he looked at the bustling city from his floor to ceiling window. His black long hair was sleeked back, revealing his stoic face. The dark suit he was wearing did nothing but compliment his form. You had never noticed how broad his shoulders were until now.

He looked like he was not paying attention, yet he turned around the moment that the door closed behind you. Min Yoongi looked at you for a moment too long that you started to shift uncomfortably. His attention was just too much, and you couldn’t act like you were no longer affected by any of it.

And from the looks of it, the moment you blushed was the exact moment his face softened. He gestured for you to take the seat in front of his desk. He mirrored your movement, now sitting on his expensive swivel chair. He clasped his hands and rested them on the mahogany table.

“Daepyonim Min-“

He held his finger up, asking for your silence before spilling what you thought to be both outrageous and the most beautiful and heartfelt thing anyone had ever said to you in this life. “You’re beautiful, and not just in the way that you look. No. You’re beautiful in the way that the sun finally shines after a month of storms; you’re beautiful in the way that the waves keep on going back to the shore even after they were pushed away in the desire to kiss the sand; you’re beautiful in the way that flowers bloom after the unforgiving winter coldness. And that is why I’m giving you Samsung stocks.”

Confusion settled over you like a fog. You had almost melted from what felt like a poetry when he once again brought up his stocks idea from last night.

“I-I really don’t need Samsung stocks, Daepyonim Min…”

He looked aghast at your statement, before reaching over the table and holding your hand in his particularly large ones. “Call me Yoongi, my love. Or better yet, call me your other half,” he implored you and he only let go when you nodded in confusion.

“Also, nonsense! Everyone needs that stock, little one. Besides, nothing speaks more about my love for you than giving you all my Samsung stocks. And above and beyond, it filled me with this immense pain knowing that you’re just out there not owning any of their stocks. I couldn’t breathe with the mere thought of you going without.”

“Excuse me?”

And with a stoic face, he said, “Congratulations, little one. You’re now a millionaire."

At six in the evening, the head CEO finally made an appearance. You did find it peculiar that you had a fairly quiet afternoon after meeting with Yoongi. Your brows were pinched together as you were lost in thought when the elevator opened, revealing the head CEO. He had yet to notice you, his large and imposing form leaning against the side of the elevator. His eyes were close. You noticed that his white sleeves were already folded, his tie already loosened as his black suit laid on his thick forearms.

Kim Namjoon was the image of weariness, and you thought he looked quite pale. Your growing concern for him was what made you stepped inside the lift rather than running away yet again. The sound of your heels as you stepped in was the only sound in the elevator. You pressed for the ground floor and you saw that the floor for basement three was already pressed. Perhaps, the head CEO was going home now. Now that you were standing almost next to him, you only further affirmed how small you were next to him. He was already larger than life, and the way he always held himself exuded confidence made him more striking…and manly in your eyes.

The ride was fairly quiet, and through it all, he had his eyes closed. You kept on stealing glances, thinking that maybe among the other CEOs, he took in the least amount of potion. You felt lighter with that thought. At least you only had five men you needed to find the antidote for. Come to think of it, you hadn’t seen the sunshine of the group, Jung Hoseok yet.

The elevator dinged, signifying your floor. You had taken merely a step when you felt a large hand completely encircling your wrist, effectively stopping you from leaving. You automatically turned, startled to find him with his eyes trained on you. He looked way too alert for someone who had his eyes closed for the past minute. You gasped when he pulled you closer to him as he pressed the close button.

“Daepyonim Kim,” you called him as you craned your neck to look at his draconic eyes.

“Leaving so soon?" he asked, his deep voice carrying a subtle mix of amusement and curiosity.

You hesitated, the words tumbling out of your mouth as he caught you off guard. “I... uh, yes. I was heading to the lobby. I’m about to leave for the night," you stammered, attempting to regain composure.

A playful smile curved his lips as he completely blocked the exit. leaned against the elevator frame, effectively blocking your exit, which sounded successful as the door closed. “I missed you,” he breathed as he took you in, his thumb gently running over the inside of your wrist as though touching you brought him immense comfort. “A lot. It was hell without seeing you the whole day.”

You blinked owlishly and you wanted nothing but to hide your face from the intensity of his gaze, but he wouldn’t let you. Instead, he smiled so gently at you, the dents on his cheeks making an appearance which made him more charismatic that you couldn’t say no when he told you that he would take you home.

But he didn’t exactly say which home because you ended up in what turned out to be the CEOs’ huge ass mansion. Your eyes roamed around the mansion, the high ceilings and the fancy marble flooring all screamed wealth that you didn’t even dare of dreaming to have. He confidently led you to what appeared to be a grand dining room. The room bathed in the soft, flickering glow of candlelight, casting a warm and intimate ambiance. The delicate flames danced gracefully, creating patterns of light and shadow that played across the table. The air carried the subtle fragrance of the candles, a mix of vanilla and subtle hints of lavender.

The dining table was adorned with crisp, white linen, and the flickering candles were nestled in elegant holders, their glow reflecting off polished silverware and crystal glasses. Each flame seemed to dance in harmony with the gentle melody playing in the background, creating a soothing symphony that enveloped the space.

He pulled a chair for you, and instead of sitting across from you, he sat beside you. He chuckled lowly when he caught your questioning eyes, “I have been apart from you for so long today, little one. I need this to feel alive.”

You straightened up in vigilance that the other CEOs would show up. “Are the others here, too?”

He looked at you like you said something funny. The chef he hired today gently laid all the dishes he made, explaining about each dish before wishing the two of you an enjoyable night. Namjoon told you that he wouldn’t feed you any of the food he made unless he enrolled himself in a culinary school first, hence the chef. He waited for the chef to leave before turning his full attention to you.

“I shipped them off to Antartica.”

“You what?!”

“I simply said we were flying to Japan for a quick meeting. They believed. I lied. End of. So anyway, how many children do you think we should have?”

My God, you wanted so bad to lay on your bed and sleep the whole night. You though about filing for sick leave tomorrow, you were long overdue for a leave, anyway. Kim Namjoon was kind enough to drop you off. However, it was only after you promised him that you would talk about possible schools for your future children that he let you go.

On the other hand, your friend finally called and you were sorely disappointed to know more about what she gathered today. Her grandmother had to ask the other folks that lived in the mountain about your situation and it somehow appalled you that you weren’t the first to experience this.

It was, at the same time, sad to see people resort to this from loneliness.

Was an artificial, forced love and companionship better than being alone?

There were both an instant and quite a long-term effect of the potion, she said. The instant was mostly upon ingesting the liquid. Once they locked eyes with the owner of the potion which so happened to be you since she technically gifted it to you, then the immense attraction would start. You thought that this explained why the seven of them all acted that way in the conference room.

The long-term effects were what caused you to groan all the way up to your apartment. And right then and there, you saw what the long-term effects were. As you trudged up to your apartment, you felt the exhaustion to your very bones. You were looking forward to a hot shower in an effort to wash away the problems that stemmed from a simple prank when you saw who was leaning against your front door.

The last of the CEO, Jung Hoseok, was leaning against the door, his head bowed down as he clutched his heart. He looked like he was in unfathomable pain, his lips almost the shade of white. And your friend’s words echoed in your mind.

‘Prolonged non-contact with the object of their desires will cause them to be physically ill.’

You hurried up to him, holding his shoulders as you looked at him. You were crouched down in front of him, peeking up at his pained face.

“S-sir, are you okay?”

His chest tightened, his face contorted, a mask of agony etched with lines of distress. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, evidence of the intense effort to draw in even the smallest amount of air. The hallway fell silent, save for the raspy, labored breaths that escaped him.

‘They may try to fight the unexplainable feelings they have, and this will only cause them harm. In fact, if they go without you for a long period of time, their body will suffer for a long time.’

“Hoseok? Can you hear me? I’ll call for help, okay?” you tried to make yourself sound calm for his sake, but seeing him struggling, desperate to gasp for air was making you panic. Your negligence did this, you thought. You should have made sure that you were holding the right tumbler that day.

You were about to turn to call for help when you felt a hand pulled you closer, and before you knew it, he had his arms around you. He was still breathing hard, but you noticed that the shallow breathings were farther and apart as though he could finally breath. The moment you touched him, the moment you looked into his eyes was the exact moment that a wave of relief swept over him as the oppressive grip on his chest began to loosen. The moment that you called his name was the moment that the torment that had shackled his every breath gradually lifted, replaced by the sweet release of a deep, calming respiration.

“Don’t leave me.”

‘However, every interaction with you would only make their attraction grow further.’

You placed a glass of water in front of the man who now looked perfectly fine as though he wasn’t fighting for his very life outside your apartment. He was offering you reassuring smiles as he gently watched you. He was surrounded by sacks of expensive cat food, toys, and vitamins. And of course, your cat was only too happy with them, evident by the excessive purring he was emitting as he climbed on the CEO’s lap.

“I did hear that you have an adorable son int the form of a cat,” he started as he petted your spoiled cat. “As his future daddy, I would like to provide for him as early as now.”

You didn’t pay attention to whatever he was saying, and instead, you sat next to him to see if he was really fine. The paleness was now exchanged by a healthy look on skin. It was as though that didn’t happen.

“Hoseok, listen…the reason that you are all acting this way to me, the girl you didn’t even notice before this, was because-“

“Because of that drink, right?” he interrupted you, wearing a soft smile that conveyed he harbored no anger.

“Y-you know…”

He nodded before tilting his head, “I do. It’s weird, as you said. The thing is, all of us suspects the same thing. You, little one, only confirmed it.”

“I didn’t mean for any of these to happen-“

The soft look he had was now dropped, revealing the strict CEO that everyone knew him to be. “Regardless, little one. You need to take responsibility over your actions.”

“H-how?”

“You’re going to live with us until all of this fades. You’re going to take responsibility over us, my love.”

Part 2 sneakpeak, Part 2

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fashionmedschoollife · 1 year ago

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I crave this desire for free time where I can do absolutely nothing and sit at home. but it is kind of freaky when I am alone and its so silent that I can just hear the air moving around me.

The new year is coming up so since i have this random free time I might as well make some resolutions.

Eat clean. I am going to try to make food at home more (less eating out)

Work out at least 3-4 times per week

Focus on myself and hopefully find a man/find a partner that makes me happy. I really need to stop taking other peoples opinions in as much. I have learned that the more you do the more people crave and it is never enough. This birthday was a true awakening. I dropped $1000s of dollars on, put love and effort on others bday and no one really cared for mine. which is fine but Ive learned that I need to be selective on what I go to and who/what I put my energy in. Ive already signed up for raj's bday and some of these events are of the past but I am truly burning out. I am not about this insane money spending crazy paced life. I think i'm more about few events here and there that make me happy. Also the fact that if someone cares for me its a mockery. I really need to re-evaluate friendships. It is ok to be alone and you find yourself. You need to find your self and love yourself to love others. I think residency I lived this crazy fast paced life where I didnt have a chance to even think. But no more.

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julietvstheworld · 3 years ago

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ok so i read yyour eyeless jack fanfic (loved it btw :)) but i dont understand what the mansion is supposed to be. no hate just genuinely curious! the way you write about it is interesting.

thank you so much for asking! now i have an excuse to talk abouty it.

( slenderman mansion and the proxies ) world building

sfw - general world-building

╰┈➤ mentions of murder, mentions of manipulation, mentions of torture

General Idea

The Slenderman Mansion is run by the titular man himself, typically referred to as ‘the boss’. There are many other, similar mansions (I might talk about those one day) that all follow the same rules.

1. Do what your boss asks.

2. Don’t cause harm to your other proxies.

Proxy is the term that refers to the followers/people who carry out the orders of Slenderman, or in this case, people who carry out the orders of their assigned boss.

On the surface, the mansion is meant to be a place where serial killers are able to live happily in return for some work for the boss. The proxies are provided with food, water, a home, and resources to do whatever freaky shit they want. However, it becomes obvious that the boss has different intentions that are never made clear.

Selection Process & The Contract

Although the different owners of the mansion have different processes for how they chose their proxies, Slenderman typically prefers those that come from harsh backgrounds. He believes that they are more susceptible to manipulation and more willing to help him (with a few exceptions). He then somehow forces the killer into his woods, usually somehow getting the cops to push them into the forest.

He offers them a contract to sign, appearing as a saving grace to them. He promises that you’ll live a long life and you can do whatever you want. Although, it’s best to read the fine print before signing away your soul (figuratively and slightly literally).

The contract is basically all reasonable until the last paragraph. There it details that you are to 'serve until death'. While in the woods, time is frozen. Although people and animals are able to move freely, none of these things age. The boss makes sure that he recruits his proxies when they are in peak form since that’s the same form they will maintain until he decides to dispose of them.

The Members and Their Roles

Slenderman: The Boss

Slenderman is clever and ruthless. He says very little directly to his underlings, but when he does, he keeps it brief and impactful. A misanthropist that hides behind the guise of empathy for extremely broken people to then easily control their actions.

Masky: The Right-Hand Man

Timothy Wright is organized and lonely. Being the first proxy to Slenderman, he has the most contact with him. He acts as a leader, giving assignments out to everyone. He’s not very well-liked, putting the boss’s orders over everything.

Hoodie: The Ace

Brian Thomas is reliable and manipulative. He’s the man that softens Masky’s harshness. He often checks up on the others, typically filling in the role of a helper. He is versatile in all positions, medic, leader, support, etc. He acts friendly, but due to the boss’s orders.

Ticci Toby: The Scout

Tobias Rogers is loyal and emotional. He almost always is asked to be on the lookout for new recruits and keep track of victims. His strengths are in stealthiness rather than killing. He always protects his allies, adamant that they are a ‘family’.

Ben Drowned: The Brains

Benjamin Lawman is observant and listless. He’s the one who creates the plans to get missions done as fast and efficiently as possible. He knows the most about the situation he and the other proxies are in, accepting the hopeless situation.

Eyeless Jack: The Medic

Jack Nichols is selfless and gloomy. He is deeply caring for his companions, never hesitating to drop everything to stitch someone up. He has given up on his own happiness, never taking care of himself but always yearning for more.

X-Virus: The Motivator

Cody Anderson is optimistic and persistent. Serves as support for field missions, and has the ability to push himself and others to get the job done. The most oblivious to the situation at hand, always messing around with people who are obviously annoyed.

Jeff the Killer: The Brute

Jeffery Woods is confident and impulsive. He is always tasked with killing either a crowd of people or unneeded witnesses. Typically ends up with a mess that is cleaned up by the poor sucker he’s partnered up with at the time. Replies on his ‘talent’ as much as possible.

Jane the Killer: The Assassin

Jane Arkansas is responsible and overbearing. She is always tasked with killing high-value targets. She remembers to kill clean as possible. She is openly furious about being forced to kill innocent but takes care of the other proxies as much as she can.

Nina the Killer: The Thief

Nina Hopkins is empathetic and uninhibited. She deals mostly with gathering resources for the group. She has the most growth when coming to the mansion, going from delusional to self-aware. She is the first person to help out newcomers.

Homicidal Liu and Sully: The Bodyguard

Liu Woods and Sully are protective and unpredictable. They are typically tasked with aiding whoever is carrying out whoever is the leader in the mission. They’re great with defense, but not offense. They will protect whoever they are assigned to by any means.

Bloody Painter: The Bait

Helen Otis is charming and egotistical. He is easily able to control targets to get them to come with him. Despite his charisma, the other proxies are not easily fooled, finding him annoying. He has a hard time caring for others but still craves human connection.

Clockwork: The Interrogator

Natalie Ouellette is honest and cruel. She has little to no care for humans, taking sick pleasure in torturing them. Although, she has deep affection for every proxy. She feels a kinship with them for going through similar trauma, caring for them over everything.

#ben drowned #jeff the killer #eyeless jack #masky #hoodie #jane the killer #nina the killer #clockwork #bloody painter #ticci toby #slenderman #x-virus #homicidal liu #creepypasta #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta x reader

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blurredcolour · 2 years ago

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"Heya, Kid" | Part Two - Stranded

"Heya, Kid" Masterlist

Summary: Austin remains protective of you during your last day on set and when a winter storm threatens to ruin his Thanksgiving, you think of a way to express your gratitude.

Pairing: Austin Butler x Female Reader

Warnings: Language, Insults, Threats of Violence, Tense Situations, Discussion of Death and Gore, Cats, Mature/Explicit Themes [Indecent Exposure, Dirty Talk, Discussion of Wet Dreams, Fingering, Unprotected Sex, Penetrative Sex, Premature Ejaculation, Oral - F receiving, Cum Play (if you squint)} - +18 Only

Author's Note: In editing this I realized the cat feeding schedule might confuse people?! My cat eats many small meals around the clock, so it's not a mistake, just my weirdness projected into this story.

Word Count: 7288

Your alarm startled you awake early the next morning, and you sat up sharply, taking a moment to regain your bearings. Odd…your cat was not sleeping on the end of the bed as she usually was…You sighed deeply and slid out from under the warmth of your blankets to get ready in the washroom. You stumbled to a stop in the doorway to the living room as your eyes fell on Austin and your cat happily sleeping away on the couch.

“Traitor…” You whispered fondly and received a dramatic feline yawn in reply.

Laying your hand on his shoulder, you spoke his name softly.

“Austin…It’s time to get up…”

His hand shot out to grab your wrist, as he had in the car that first night, only this time you had to press your lips together to smother your yelp at the pain of it. His eyes, which had only opened a crack, shot wide and he pulled his hand back as quickly as if you had burned him. The cat leapt from the couch, trotting over to her bowl expectantly awaiting breakfast.

“Shit, sorry. Ugh...” he groaned a little as he sat up, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. “How long was I asleep?” He asked, rubbing the fabric of the blanket between his fingers.

“All night” You smiled softly. “Do you want the bathroom first or second?”

“You go ahead, I’m still pulling myself back together here…” A jaw-cracking yawn seized him suddenly and you tried not to laugh.

“Ok but I’m turning on the light, so you don’t fall back asleep.” You closed your own eyes as you flicked it on, blinking them to adjust, before continuing to the bathroom.

You finished your morning routine within ten minutes, stepping back into the living room and sighing as his eyes were closed, his head leaning on the back of the couch.

“I’m awake!” He quickly said, springing to his feet and you laughed brightly.

“If you say so…” You made some hummus toast and hot beverages, sitting at the island to eat while listening to the morning radio show on your favourite station.

Austin joined you, devouring the food sleepily.

“I’ll just get dressed and we’ll drive over.” You nodded and you two were on your way shortly thereafter.

“Parking spot 354 is assigned to my room number, you can park underground for free.” He smiled, more awake now as the grey, pale light of early dawn flowed over the city.

“Thanks, Austin.” You smiled in return and wound your way down beneath the building to park in his space.

You took the elevator to the main floor as he selected the floor his room was on.

“See you in a bit.” He smiled softly as you headed out to go through your extensive post-explosion makeup for that day.

It was both fascinating and gruesome, the way they marred your skin with debris and gore before giving you the grey/green pallor of death.

“Freaky!” One of your scene mates squealed and you laughed a little.

They had been a bit cold at first that morning, and you could not blame them considering your behaviour yesterday. Unprovoked, one of the wardrobe techs had started telling a story about a very angry, and still in costume, Connor in the hotel bar the evening before, both warning the four of you of his impending hangover and making it very clear that you had not spent much time in his room at all. It had helped dispel their coolness towards you, for which you were deeply grateful.

The set you walked into upstairs was dressed with debris, but the rest of the effects would be added in post, since they could not destroy a real hotel room. The assistant director helped place the four of you about the room, bodies akimbo as though you had been thrown by the blast. You were pleased to see that Connor’s character was placed a bit further from you, flat on his back on the bed, having been somewhat shielded by the bodies of the women crawling all over him when the bomb went off.

You shuddered a little at the memory of that but otherwise remained still as final approval was given by the director. You could hear conversation happening between a number of voices behind you, including Austin’s, as they blocked his movement through the debris for a rather complex scene from the strains of their discussion that reached your ears. You saw a collection of shoes come to rest in your eyeline and heard Austin’s sharp intake of breath.

“Fuck, make-up did a good job, though.” He crouched down and frowned as he looked you over.

“’Tis but a scratch.” You mimicked a line from Monty Python’s Holy Grail and grinned as Austin cracked up. It was nice to make the others laugh as well, but he had looked so concerned at your state, it was especially lovely to see him relax.

Connor’s voice drifted into the room from the hallway, making you tense and Austin’s head snap in the direction of it. He stood to his full height and subtly shifted to block you from view behind his lanky legs as he continued his conversation with the director. Your heart throbbed a little as he stayed anchored to that spot, turning to speak to the others as they moved about the room, but never leaving his protective position. It was a good thing he was no longer facing you otherwise he would see the intense adoration you felt for him all over your face.

You were quite relieved to overhear that Connor would only be there for a few hours; the majority of the shots would be done with his stunt double. Each take had Austin moving back to the door, hurrying in to cry out for the foot soldiers to call for ambulances, as though the explosion had just happened. All the while looking quite pleased with the effectiveness of his weapon. There was a monologue he delivered to the corpse of the despicable mob boss played by Connor before he finished with a moment of remorse over your crumpled body.

And there he would remain, standing over you until the very last moment of the reset, until the assistant director shouted for ‘places!’. No one questioned it, but he was terribly effective at shielding you. As the crew broke for lunch you looked up as he held your robe out to you. You stood and slid it on carefully, turning to thank him. You blinked as he was frowning again. Clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth again.

“What’s wrong?” You asked quickly.

“I don’t suppose they put any bruising on your back?” He asked softly and you shook your head quickly before the memory of Connor slamming you back into the wall flashed before your eyes.

“Oh…” You frowned as well.

“I’ll get your sister to take a look at it.” He nodded and headed out carefully, not wanting to attract any more attention as everyone started to make their way to the lunchroom.

Your sister was waiting in the hall and took your arm, leading you down to her hotel room where she helped you get a good look at the marks on your back.

“You’d have grounds to…” She muttered and you sighed, shaking your head.

“Austin stopped anything truly unspeakable from happening…Not that I like the idea of him doing this to someone else…it’s just a very thin case…”

“I’ll get makeup to leak something, how about that?” She tilted her head and grinned broadly as you nodded your acquiescence. “You know, I’ve never seen him so angry as he was this morning. Ranting about tearing Connor limb from limb while also railing that it would ruin his career. So, we’ll let rumours take care it.”

There was a knock on the door before you could reply and your sister opened it to reveal Austin carrying three lunches. It was a nice, quiet meal. Well, aside from the two of them constantly mocking your deceased visage.

“Look, I’ll be alive again in a few hours, ok?!” You laughed softly and spent the rest of the break relaxing away from the bustle of the rest of the crew, pondering your sister’s comments about Austin’s rage.

After lunch, they lined up the close-ups for Connor and Austin and realized that the four of you were not needed so they excused you to wait in the sitting room of the suite on chairs that were covered with plastic to prevent any of the gore on your bodies transferring to the furniture. You had honestly never been in the position of counting down the minutes on set before, but as the end of the day approached, you grew increasingly relieved.

Make-up came and did some more touch-ups on you all before you were called back into the room. You were about to cross the threshold when Connor was suddenly blocking your way, making you stumble to a stop as your blood ran cold.

“Move it, tease.” He snarled and raised his hand to shove you out of the way until Austin’s tanned, elegant fingers wrapped around his wrist from behind.

“Just give her a moment, pretty sure she wants nothing more to do with you.” He ground out lowly and you turned, pressing back against the wall to allow him to pass.

While you were unable to see Austin’s face, you could see his muscled forearm exposed by the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt. Could see the way those muscles were bunched, the veins bulged. The way Austin’s grip on Connor was so tight it drove the blood from his fingertips, turning them white. Your wrist ached sympathetically, but you felt no pity for Connor himself.

Only once you were out of the way did Austin release his hand. Connor made a big show of yanking his hand free as soon as he felt the grip loosen, before storming off down the hall. You looked to Austin nervously, but he simply smiled and waived the four of you into the room, followed by Connor’s stunt double. There were whispers and murmurs but the assistant director commanded order once more and the director was able to capture all the footage they wanted of the scene.

There were ‘good job’s and farewells as the four of you were escorted off set and scrubbed clean before sliding back into your own clothing. Once you had your phone back, you texted your sister, asking her to thank Austin for you again. Your phone buzzed as you walked home, and you blinked as the number was unknown. You pulled it up hesitantly but smiled softly to see it was Austin.

– Hey, it’s Austin. Got your number from your sister, she swears you won’t mind, but if you do it’s her fault. I’m glad you were able to finish the role without too much bullshit from Connor. Let me know if you need anything else, ok? –

Swiping your key fob, you headed into your building and up to your apartment. As you opened the door, you raised your eyebrows as the cat was not immediately there to greet you on arrival. Unusual. You peered around the corner into the living room and clapped your hand over your mouth to smother your laugh. She was curled up tightly in a ball on the blanket that undoubtedly still smelled of Austin. You took a photo as quickly and quietly as possible before calling her name.

She gave you a sweet little trilling sound in greeting, trotting over to rub against your legs as you sent the photo to Austin.

– She really likes you. –

– I should come see her again – He replied.

– We would both like that. – You chewed on your lip as you sent that, hoping it was not too forward.

– So would I –

His reply made you smile with a sigh of relief.

It was nice to get back to your normal life the next day, waking up at your usual time and following a regular routine. Arriving home with fresh groceries you were startled to find Austin in the lobby, just about to buzz your phone.

“Hey, I uh…” He smiled at you sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Checking in for cat adoration duty?”

Laughter bubbled up from your chest as you unlocked the door, holding it open for him. While you had not expected him to show up quite so soon, you were admittedly delighted.

“She’ll be thrilled to see you.”

Indeed, she was, meowing loudly and throwing herself down on the hardwood to expose her belly to him eagerly. Sidling past him as he knelt to indulge her, you stepped into the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter to unpack the groceries. The radio was playing in the background, something you left on to ‘keep the cat company.’ But the discussion of a potential winter storm next week caught your attention.

Austin came to stand beside you, cradling the cat in his arms as she enthusiastically rubbed her cheeks against his jawline. Envy of a cat was a new experience for you, but acutely felt.

“Damn…” He murmured and you looked up to him curiously. “Supposed to fly home for Thanksgiving after filming on Wednesday…if that forecast is accurate...”

You frowned softly and pulled up your weather app on your phone, making a bit of a face.

“80% chance six days out…But it could always change.” You tacked on, trying to be reassuring.

Your efforts were rewarded with a smile before he looked over your groceries.

“Can we cook?” He asked hopefully and you happily agreed.

Forty-five minutes later, you sat down together at the island counter to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

“Can we finish that movie? I’m off tomorrow.” He looked at you with adorably pleading eyes and you laughed warmly, bowing your head shyly to focus on breathing like a functional adult.

“Of course we can. You don’t have to keep asking permission, either.” You collected the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, settling in to finish the movie.

Well, you tried. Austin made it about forty-two minutes before he was once again passed out. You crept into your room, putting on fresh pillowcases before you woke him gently, hand on his shoulder.

This time, he did not grasp your wrist. No. He sighed your name, blanking your mind out completely before you processed the fact that he was blinking up at you defenselessly.

“You get the bed tonight…” You said gently to his groggy, bewildered face.

Using his fatigued state to your advantage, you took his hands and tugged him to his feet, walking backwards as you led him into your room. You tucked him into your bed with your cat, setting up some pillows and blankets to sleep on the couch yourself. You did not have the most comfortable sleep, but it was Friday today, as well as your work-from-home day.

Your cat made a brief appearance for breakfast, but immediately returned to bed with Austin as you settled in to work at your desk in the living room. You grew somewhat concerned as noon approached and neither of them had emerged from the bedroom. Peering into the room through the cracked door you had to smother your giggle with your hand.

Austin was curled up on his side with your cat nestled against his chest. She was laying on her back, one paw stretched towards the heavens, purring loudly. There was that envy again. You managed to sneak a photo before knocking on the door gently.

There was a sharp inhale of breath and some flailing before he sat up, once again groggy and bewildered.

“Holy fuck what time is it?” He mumbled, squinting into the daylight.

You pressed your lips together to smother your chuckle and cleared your throat.

“Almost lunch. Any requests?”

He shook his head, scrubbing his hands over his face, trying to wake himself up fully.

“I’ll think of something then. You’re welcome to shower or whatever. I’m, obviously, working from home today so…” You realized you were rambling, so you trailed off with a smile before heading to the kitchen to throw something brunch-like together.

He shuffled by to the washroom before emerging, eyes brighter and looking rested for the first time since he had arrived. You offered him a plate of food and took your break with him on the couch, eating happily. He left you to the rest of your workday, walking back to the hotel. You found yourself gazing off several times that afternoon with a soft grin on your face. No, you were decidedly not over your crush on this man at all.

As the days passed, the forecast for the winter storm became more severe and more likely. By Monday, all the flights out of the city were fully booked, if not over booked. The only reason you knew this was because you and Austin had begun a regular text correspondence. The director had reworked the schedule to the very limit, freeing him up for a departure around noon on Wednesday, but it was all for naught. Even if he drove south to Washington state or west to Calgary it was no good. There was not a flight to be found.

He seemed quite upset about missing the important family holiday, and you tried to distract him with cat pictures and videos as you stewed on an idea that had popped into your head. Tuesday morning you swung by the hotel to surprise your sister with some Starbucks and a brief walk along the waterfront before work.

“It all seems so peaceful and warm now…” She muttered and shook her head. “The calm before the storm!” She finished dramatically and you laughed brightly.

“Well…it’s kind of why I’m here…About how many stranded Americans do you think are here?”

She eyed you thoughtfully, footsteps halting as she made a mental tally.

“I’d say twenty? Twenty that can’t just drive home to Seattle…why?” She tilted her head suspiciously.

“You know how huge mom and dad’s house is and…well I have some holidays to use up before year end. I was thinking of throwing together a very ad hoc Thanksgiving-esque experience? Don’t look at me like that, why are you staring?!” You pointed at the stunned facial expression that bloomed on her face.

“I just…wow, that’s an awesome idea!”

You relaxed slightly at her exclamation.

“Would you…be open to inviting the people? I’ll get turkey, potatoes, and pre-made pies. We just need people to bring sides and stuff to stay over because…well it’s going to be impossible to travel for a few days.”

“I get the master bedroom then!” She grinned and took your arm as you shook your head, laughing ruefully as you walked back towards the hotel.

You parted ways there, heading into the office to request the rest of the week off. Your boss was hesitant but eventually agreed. With the storm on the horizon, it was doubtful that much work would be getting done anyway. At the end of the day, you headed to the grocery store and stocked up on turkey, potatoes, and pie for twenty, taking it over to your parents’ house. You spent the night at home before packing up your cat and moving her into the carriage house in their backyard. They had renovated it into a one-bedroom guest suite with kitchenette shortly after Austin had come into your lives.

Small and secluded, she would be comfortable with you there no matter how raucous the main house became. You made up beds and found air mattresses and sleeping bags. Let it never be said your mother was unprepared for anything. The turkey went into the oven around noon before you moved to set up the tables. You extended both the dining and kitchen tables as long as possible, lining them up to stretch into the living room as one long table.

You were in the middle of battling with a remarkably long tablecloth when you heard your sister call out from the front hall.

“Help has arrived!!” She cried, hustling into the kitchen with several bags of dinner rolls. Austin was hot on her heels with a few salads.

“Here let me help with that.” He smiled to you warmly and set down his armload before grabbing the end of the tablecloth to help you drape it across the two tables. “This is incredible, thank you so much for making this happen.” His eyes met yours, glowing with earnest warmth.

You looked down quickly, overwhelmed by the intensity of his gratitude, smoothing your hair nervously.

“My pleasure…really…” You swallowed nervously and looked over to your sister as she spoke.

“So, we’ve got twenty-five including you and I.” She began digging out serving platters from the top levels of the cupboards. “Does mom still have that ridiculous turkey centerpiece?”

You giggled and nodded, knowing exactly which one she meant.

“She sure does, it’s in the holiday cupboard upstairs.” She quickly headed up to locate it while you and Austin worked at setting out chairs. “Looks like four of us will have to eat at the island…but we should all fit.”

“Thank you.” He repeated again softly and pulled you into a tight hug, bodies flush against one another. “If I can’t be with my real family at least I get to be with you two.”

Swallowing roughly, you slid your arms around his slender waist, squeezing him in return.

“I definitely owe you, I’m very happy to do it.” You murmured against his chest shyly.

“Found it!” You heard your sister’s triumphant cry as she stampeded down the stairs and the pair of you pulled apart quickly, looking busy when she carried in the cartoonish, ceramic turkey and plonked it down in the centre of the table. “Now, it’s Thanksgiving.” She declared, sending you all into a fit of laughter.

Working together, you peeled and quartered potatoes, getting several pots boiling just as the snow started to fall. Thankfully, Austin was there to help with mashing them all, switching out with you or your sister when your arms started to burn. Guests began arriving around five o’clock, just as the turkey came to temperature.

“Austin, could I bother you to help me pull this beast out of the oven? It’s thirty pounds and I barely got it in there.”

His eyes widened in awe before he excitedly pulled on oven mitts and lifted the damn thing by himself, setting it on the counter to rest before it would be carved. The sides that arrived were a mishmash of whatever could be found at the grocery store as the storm began to ramp up outside. Some brilliant soul had brought enough eggs to feed an army – breakfast for tomorrow.

All flights were canceled, as predicted, but the stranded Americans had a feast of a meal crammed around the tables. You had meant to sit at the counter, but someone had declared that you, Austin, and your sister were not allowed to work anymore, and your trio was seated on the backside of the table, unable to get up even if you wanted to.

Food was demolished, conversation flowed, and the storm outside raged on. You found yourself taking a pause, leaning back in your chair and just soaking it all in.

“Best Thanksgiving of my life.” Austin whispered against your ear, sending the thrill of a shiver through you.

“Me too…” You glanced at him shyly as you nodded in agreement.

Four pies disappeared before the crowd finally declared they were sated, and they broke off into smaller groups. Some went to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in the family room downstairs, while others went out to the hot tub, and a dedicated group stayed to wash dishes and clean up. You decided to leave the table set up as-is for breakfast in the morning before your sister went off to watch the movie as well. Austin looked to you curiously.

“What are you thinking?” He tilted his head, and you bit your lip in thought.

“Hot tub?” You asked hesitantly.

“Oh, I didn’t bring a suit...damnit…”

“Well, my dad has some… you could borrow one? If you are ok with that, I know it might be a bit weird but,”

“Yes, perfect.” He cut you off and seized your hand. He pulled you upstairs to dig through your father’s closet, producing a few options.

He took the plain, black swim trunks and nodded. You grabbed some towels and a pair of tuques.

“Where are you sleeping tonight?” He asked as you headed back down the hall.

“I’ve set myself up with the cat in the carriage house. There’s a sofa bed out there too if you haven’t claimed anywhere yet?”

“That’s perfect, I was wondering if she was here.” He grabbed his bag and slid on his shoes, running out through the snow with you to the carriage house.

You left him snuggling the cat as you headed into the bedroom to pull on your swimsuit and one of the tuques to keep you warm despite the driving snow.

“Am I ok to come out?” You asked through the door and waited as you heard a bit of struggle.

“Uh, yup!” He finally declared and you stepped out, mouth suddenly, violently dry at the vision of him in the slightly-too-large trunks barely clinging to his hips. The definition of his Adonis belt was enough to fell any person.

You tore your eyes from his physique and only then noticed his own were busily tracing the lines of your swimsuit, making heat rush through you.

“Here.” You abruptly held the tuque out to him, and he looked it over skeptically.

“I don’t think I can go out there wearing a Vancouver Canucks beanie…” He crinkled his nose.

“It’s a tuque and yes you can, or you’ll get cold.” You grinned a little, drunk on good food and excellent company, and stepped forward, pulling it onto his head firmly.

He playfully tried to thrash away, making you both unsteady on your feet. His warm palms quickly cupped your elbows, long fingers stretching up your biceps as he steadied you. The feel of his skin on yours made goosebumps race up your arms and pulled your nipples to stiff peaks against the lycra of your swimsuit.

“Thanks.” He smirked, hat partially pulled down over one eye and you laughed breathlessly.

He was so very close and smelled incredible…like whiskey and pumpkin pie and sandalwood. Your eyes were threatening to flutter shut, but thankfully your cat let out a mournful meow by her food dish.

“Oh, my goodness, yes darling it’s well past dinner, please forgive me.” You quickly went about feeding her before turning back to Austin. “Ready, sorry.”

“No apologies necessary.” He grinned, having been watching the two of you fondly. He pulled open the door and led you out through the now ankle-deep snow to join the others in the hot tub.

It was a tight squeeze, but you managed to slide into the warm water, Austin pressed fully against your side. Chatting and laughing for nearly an hour, eventually the rest of the group drifted inside to bed, leaving you and Austin as the last brave souls outside. Both your tuques were now plastered white with the thickly falling snow, and despite the excess of room, neither of you had made a move to put an inch of space between your bodies.

You leaned your head back to catch some snow on your tongue, brimming with satisfaction at how well your plan had gone.

“You know why I started calling you kid?” Austin said suddenly into the muffled silence of the night.

There was a quality to his voice, one that you had never heard before, that made it deeper and somewhat rougher. You turned to look at him curiously, surprisingly no longer angry to hear that term on his lips. You raised your eyebrows in silent prompting to continue.

“To remind myself that you were off limits…because I was so damned attracted to you, but it was definitely not legal…” You watched his lips form the words, a sort of ringing in your ears as it felt as though your heart briefly stopped.

“Wh…what?” You breathed shakily.

“I liked you from the moment I saw you, your parents’ pool is not that great…” He chuckled and looked down reflectively. “You’ve always been such a lovely person and now you’re an incredible woman…I could barely process it when I saw you in the foyer, so I just kept saying ‘kid.’” He sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows his knees, looking back at you over his shoulder as his fingers ran along his jaw contemplatively. “And…well I just wanted you to know that I am still so very sorry that my own internal oddness hurt you so much…”

You had completely lost the ability to speak, to control your tongue, to form words. So, you reached out a hand, setting it on his cheek gently. You let out a soft noise of awe mixed with desperation as he pressed into your touch. His eyes snapped to yours and his tongue dragged along his generous lips before he began to turn toward you, to lean in. You surged forward to meet him, lips colliding with his in an explosion of thirteen years of pent-up attraction.

He lifted his hands from the water to cup your cheeks, scattering droplets across your heated skin. Your lips dragged along his, pressed against his, awakening a delicious buzz in the million nerve endings there. You tried to swallow back your mewl of delight, but you felt him smirk into the kiss and knew he had most assuredly heard it. Seeking anchorage, your hands gripped the sinewy muscle of his flanks under the water, thumbs sweeping up and down the ridge of his obliques. It was your turn to smirk as you felt, more than heard, his hum of delight. Tilting his head, he began to place open-mouthed kisses against your lips, sucking at your lower lip until your mouth parted for him.

As his tongue glided along yours, your grip on his sides tightened, fingers digging into his skin as you shifted closer. One of his hands dropped to your lower back, closing all distance between your torsos as he pressed tightly into you. The other shifted to grip the sides of your chin, controlling and guiding the angle of your head so his tongue could better reach every corner of your mouth. As your lungs began to ache, begging for air, you pulled back a fraction from his demanding kiss, panting heavily as your arms wound fully around him, hands pressing into his back. You looked up at him through your lashes in wonderment, not entirely convinced this was reality.

He kissed your nose gently, eyes reflecting a similar emotion.

“We should get you out of the water, prune fingers.” He grinned and you laughed brightly at the unexpected comment.

“Come on then…” You murmured thickly, voice roughened by arousal, and unwound yourself from his body.

Your arms felt instantly and mournfully empty, but you were not given much time to reflect on it as he slid to his feet. Those oversized trunks were yanked down by the swirl of the water around his hips, and you were treated to sight of his semi-hard, lengthy cock before he quickly yanked the fabric back up.

“Shit” He muttered, a rosy, pink blush blooming across his cheeks.

You were on your feet in a matter of moments, grabbing his hand and pulling him from the hot tub. You barely remembered to throw the cover back on it before shoving your feet into your shoes and shuffling through the deepening snow, the cold flakes sparking against your sweltering skin. His fingers laced through yours, following closely behind as you headed straight into the bedroom of the carriage house, turning to shut the door so the cat did not mistakenly think she was invited.

Glancing around the room, he spotted the ensuite and tugged you in there, releasing his grip on the trunks and letting them slide to tile floor with a wet splat. Reaching up to tug off his damp tuque covered in rapidly melting snow, you tossed it into the sink before sliding your fingers into his hair and pulling his lips down to yours once again.

Eagerly resuming his thorough tasting of your mouth, his own hands removed your tuque as well before they fell to cup your butt, pulling you close against him as he pushed you back against the vanity. Feeling his length sandwiched between your bodies, you rolled your hips forward to rub the fabric of your swimsuit along him teasingly. He shuddered against you, moaning slightly as his hands trailed up your sides to cup your breasts, drawing a reciprocal moan from you as they engulfed your sensitive flesh hotly. He manipulated the fabric of your swimsuit to drag the lining along your tender nubs, making you tremble against him as your fingers wove tighter into his sandy blonde hair.

Wanting him even closer, you backed up to sit on the counter, parting your legs to pull his hips flush to yours. Breaking your kiss, the pair of you groaned eagerly before he hungrily kissed along your jaw to attack the column of your throat. His hands busied themselves with the straps of your bathing suit and you dropped your arms to assist him in stripping you to your waist so that he might seal his mouth around the first nipple he could reach.

Arching and bucking against him, you clung to his shoulders as your head fell back with a soft cry of his name. Somehow, he managed to surge even closer to you at that sound and you gasped it again.

“Austin!” You bucked against him needily as he circled and tugged your other nipple with his fingers.

He groaned raggedly and started working your swimsuit the rest of the way off. You lifted your hips to help before your suit joined his on the floor with a wet splat of its own. Wrapping your legs around his waist, he hoisted you with a firm grim on your butt and carried you over to the bed. Gasping in surprise, you gripped his shoulders to try and hold yourself up, to assist him. He chuckled and shook his head before laying you down, standing between your legs at the foot of the bed to gaze down at you deliriously.

“Fuck, you’re even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.” He ground out, tongue painting his kiss-swollen lips with a fresh coat of glossy saliva.

You bit your lip savagely, eyes staring up at him, frozen at the intensity of his statement. He smiled fondly and leaned down over you to kiss you warmly, whispering against your lips.

“God, I wish I had a condom…but I’m gonna make you feel so good anyway. Can I? Please?”

Looking up into his deep blue eyes you huffed a little in frustration. You had been hoping for this for over a decade and you were not going to let anything hold you back.

“I want you.” You stated boldly. “All of you. I am on birth control, and I want that gorgeous cock inside me.” You gulped a little as you had definitely said that aloud, your impetuousness shining through, but all your cards were now on the table.

He slammed the heel of his palm between his eyebrows, abdominal muscles tensing and flexing as precum began to leak from the tip of his length.

“You are countless wet dreams come to life.” His voice had a hint of a whine to it as he took slow, deep breaths.

You clenched around nothing at the flood of mental images that statement provided. Feeling slightly guilty, you stayed very, very still until he seemed to regain control of his body. He crawled over you, hand sliding to the middle of your back to guide you to shuffle with him up to the pillows before he caught your lips in a searing kiss. Hand cupping between your thighs, his elegant fingers traced along your heated folds before parting them to coat his fingertips with your arousal, circling your entrance. Panting eagerly against his lips, you gripped at his biceps, nails biting slightly at his skin. His warm breath caressed your face as he chuckled at the way you squirmed for him before he shifted to nibble at your lower lip.

When, at last, his fingers began to circle your clitoris, your nails dug into his skin almost painfully. He pulled back to look over your face, watching the way your eyes clenched shut and your lips parted to form soft curses.

“Oh, my pretty girl, do you need me as much as I need you?”

“Uh huh!” You whimpered and grazed your teeth along his jaw needily.

He pressed his lips to yours, briefly, hotly, before they trailed down your throat once more. As his forefinger began to sink into you, he sucked the tender flesh just below the hinge of your jaw between his lips. The combined sensations had you arching off the bed eagerly, scratching at his biceps as you cried out raggedly. A deep hum of approval reverberated against your throat as his middle finger joined his forefinger, thrusting into, and massaging, your walls rhythmically as his thumb took over the stimulation of your clitoris. Hooking his fingers forward, he searched until he felt that spongey spot deep inside you.

You gasped sharply and gripped his forearm bruisingly to keep him right there.

“Ohfuckyes…. please Austin…” You panted, chest heaving as he obliged, massaging insistently, making your eyes roll back in your head.

As you writhed beneath him, the soft flesh of your thigh brushed against the weeping tip of his cock. You had just enough mental capacity to focus on repeating that motion, wanting to give him just a taste of the pleasure he was giving you. His lips fell back from the throbbing spot on your throat with a shuddering gasp, and you were quite certain he had marked you. He ran his the flat of his tongue up the side of your neck, tasting your pulse as your heart crashed against your ribs. Your body was arching tighter and tighter, muscles tensing to rigidity until your orgasm pulled you under, drowning you in ecstasy, the tension ebbing from you as you gasped for breath.

“I’m going to make you do that again…” He groaned needily and caught your lips in a kiss without finesse. A kiss of pure desperation that had your hand reaching between your bodies to seek his length. Wrapping your fingers around his cock, your stroked along him, making his breath stutter against your lips and his hips buck towards your hand.

“I’m…you gotta…if you want me inside you, do it now…” He gritted out, brows knitted together in the effort of restraint. “Want you so bad I can barely hold on…”

You moaned softly at the impact of his words before shifting and lifting your hips, guiding him into your still quivering heat. He buried his face in the crook of your shoulder, groaning in agony at how well you two fit together. Once he was seated inside you completely, you wrapped your legs around his hips, rocking up against him, trying to encourage him to move.

“Oh fuck…” He hissed and rocked against you in return before sliding his hips back, only to push back into you eagerly.

He shifted back a little, fingers gripping at the headboard, settling onto his knees to thrust in earnest, skin slapping against skin as his near-black eyes bore down into yours with a mind-melting intensity. Your jaw hung open as he held you captive with that gaze, cock dragging along your walls, every vein providing a delicious friction that had the tension in your muscles quickly building again.

It felt so right and justified every fantasy you had ever had. He moaned your name, and you clenched around him involuntarily, sending him into a faster pace as he spat a string of curses, clenching his eyes shut. His hips stuttered, losing their rhythm, before his eyes shot wide.

“Fuckfuckfuck…” He yelped before slamming his hips to yours, filling you with his hot, and obviously unexpected, release.

You chewed on your lip savagely as you drank in the vision of his climax, a feeling of pride blooming beneath your breastbone at driving him to an orgasm like that. He barely gave himself enough time to catch his breath before he was sliding down your body, lips latching onto your clitoris, fingers plunging into your cum-filled heat. Your head thrashed to the side as he did not allow you to lose an inch of ground, easily finding your g-spot once more and silently demanding you climax again with his determined fingers.

Wrenching at the duvet cover, you ground against his mouth before succumbing to his adamant ministrations. A painful howl ripped from your throat as you climaxed for him again, sinking into the bedding bonelessly. He stretched out alongside you, body glistening with sweat, as he gasped for breath from the combined effort of his orgasm and yours.

Fluttering your eyes open, you reached out an arm that felt shockingly heavier than normal and cupped his cheek.

“Austin…” You sighed reverently and he dragged himself forward to kiss you sweetly. So sweetly it made your heart ache.

“When…we…can walk…we need a shower…” He grinned lopsidedly and you laughed breathlessly. The room definitely smelt of chlorine and sex.

“In…case it wasn’t…abundantly obvious…. I’ve been so very attracted to you…since we met…as well.” You panted and pressed a warm kiss to his brow.

After a succession of lazy and adoring kisses, you both felt strong enough to make it to the ensuite and cleaned each other up tenderly. You pressed apologetic kisses to the scratches you’d left on his arms, but he just eyed them proudly. Drying off and tidying the bed, you then slid on your pajamas, and he opened the door to grab his bag from the living room. You both laughed as the cat streaked into the room, obviously put out at her exclusion.

“Sorry darling let’s get you fed again” You kissed her fuzzy head as you picked her up and carried her to the kitchenette.

Once everyone was fed and dressed, the three of you curled up in the cozy bed as the snow continued to fall outside, sleeping deeply and peacefully. As soon as you heard the first few seconds of your alarm the next morning, you flung yourself at your phone to turn it off. Austin looked up at you blearily.

“Sorry I forgot to turn it off.” You set your phone down and slid out of bed to feed the cat, opening the door to take stock of the yard as she dug in. You did not notice Austin waiting for you in the doorway to the bedroom, leaning against the doorframe sleepily.

You gasped as the snow was mid-calf in depth, a record amount for this time of year.

“Shit we really should have brought a shovel with us…” You muttered to yourself and blinked as Austin grabbed your hand, pulling you back towards the bed.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait until someone rescues us.” He grinned broadly and tumbled into the bed with you.

"Heya, Kid" Masterlist

Post-Script: I just wanted to clarify that this was written over the course of the past two weeks. I read the delicious Smutty Sunday by @mrsniallhoran505 this morning and saw that they have also written about premature ejaculation. It's such a hot theme that I was excited to see another author wrote it. Definitely give it a read if this awakened something in you!

#austin butler x reader #austin butler x you #austin butler x y/n #austin butler x fem!reader #reader #y/n #austin butler fic #austin butler imagine #austin butler smut #austin butler #thanksgivingfic #blurredcolour

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peacockxprince · 3 months ago

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Gaining favor with all four members of the Dark Court would prove beneficial in his goals. He originally thought having a strong connection with Károlos was enough, but that may not be the case. Luckily, charisma was his strong suit and Henri knew how to create rapport with others easily. Whether or not his appeal works on actual gods, he was determined to find out. If Κόρινθος was as every bit as bloodthirsty and savage as the rumors say, the child of the queen realized he needed to step his brutality up a bit to compete. Henri had the right motivation. Now he simply must put it into action.

It was no wonder so many people were punished for gluttony. Over consumption of food and drink damaged the body over time but was a luxury only a select few could afford. Here in Eden, they seem to encourage everyone to partake in a sin or two. Henri was delighted to oblige, especially after being completely void of human hunger for so many years in the Underworld. Sinking his teeth into succulent meat and fatty starches was a delicious treat he took for granted until now. So, finishing his plate in only a matter of minutes hardly came as a surprise. He reclined with a satisfied sigh and set his utensils down. “Believe me when I say I’m typically more proper during dinner. Alas, I’m making up for the last five years I spent in the fields of Asphodel,” Henri explained and wiped his lips clean of any residue left from the meal with a napkin.

He blinked in mild shock as Zai plucked one of his shopping bags. Henri didn’t show any irritation, simply surprise as a few polo shirts, a couple pairs of denim jeans, and colorful underwear landed on the table. “I don’t think we’re the same size, darling,” the shorter blonde teased, grinning in amusement. “If you need to borrow a jockstrap, I could simply take you shopping to the fun store I discovered. Call it my treat for the pleasure of your company.” He moved a leg to defend his other purchases should Zai pull the same trick twice.

The legendary stories of the Olympians didn’t reach every corner of the world, it would seem. He was baffled Zai knew not of the beautiful Aphrodite and the historic bloodshed she caused. Then again, perhaps his divine parentage kept him within the close circles and watchful eyes of the Egyptian gods only. “Nevermind. I simply ask you not to underestimate your opponents,” Henri remarked and allowed the same server to whisk his dishes away. “Even those with baby faces,” he added and shot a wink over in Zai’s direction. Sure, Henri wasn’t the most intimidating compared to the other acolytes. But that fact alone came with its own set of dangers.

Was Henri going to refuse free information about his competition? Absolutely not. He leaned in as Zainub mentioned the name of an acolyte who supposedly showed a penchant for fangs and other freaky shenanigans. So, Ronin’s a bit of a masochist. Duly noted. “I’ll have to say hello at some point. Perhaps he can demonstrate how to properly kiss you without cutting my lips on your teeth.” As a prince in his own right, Henri admitted enjoying a thorough pampering from his lovers as opposed to a rougher treatment. “I had a feeling you were neither. It’s a good thing I’m rather durable.”

For all Zai could say about the Dark Knight, there still wasn't much. The God was a mystery like all the others. It was a good thing he could be patient. Whatever came next from the Dark Court had to be big. The demigod before him seemed to assume his special introduction was some advantage. Zai was content keeping it that way and shot him a cheeky smirk to close the matter.

Food arrived at an ideal interval. Zai wiped both palms together, ridding of any fried foods dust before shoving his hands into jacket pockets. His guise of glowing cheerfulness muted for the moment as he listened and studied the other. While Henri spoke of his supposed envy and ordinary appearance, all of which sounded disingenuous for a man who went to hell for a superiority complex, he wondered what filled those large shopping bags. Perhaps a crown or a monster costume.

Hearing of the other's appreciation for the food did warm the delinquents heart a bit. He went to bed hungry quite often throughout his life. Food wasn't something to take for granted. "Yeah, greatness and destiny... and whatever." Zai set the wholesome thought aside and reached out toward the bags with his tail. His slight of hand served him well and the nearest bag was plucked up by his tails end, brought to his lap, and unceremoniously dumped of it's contents on the table.

"Aw, baby face," Zainab attempted a silly swoon in return. "'far as I'm concerned... we're inseparable now." But Henri was right, he shouldn't have expected generosity from the competition--or a brash criminal with a devilish grin. Zai preoccupied himself by piecing through the bags contents. "Aphro-whatta?" Admittedly, he wasn't schooled in, well, much of anything. Least of all Greek mythos. More a street smarts or a fake it till you make it type.

At the surprising query, Zainab saw an opportunity. To have a bit of fun at another's expense. "You want tips?" He gently smirked, vampire-like fangs evident behind those smooth lips. "Ask the acolyte named Ronin. ... Freaky what a natural he was, but I think you gotta be part-masochist to really enjoy."

He looked at Henri, carefully, and spoke in an intimate, but warning tone. Differing from his obnoxious persona so far. "I'm not generous... or gentle... if that's your thing."

#( ♛ ) zainab01;#( ♛ ) interactions;

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bogleech · 4 years ago

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Someone asked some weeks ago if I had graphomania after something I said and I didn’t think I did because it’s defined psychiatrically as a “morbid” urge to write to the point of writing long, rambling, confused statements that mean nothing. But, I do have an urge to compile lists? I don’t mean fun and exciting lists necessarily. When I was younger I’d just list hundreds of animals or fictional creatures or characters from media, on paper, organized in different ways, and then something would change and instead of editing the list - because that meant erasing something, and that looked bad! - I’d write it all over again. Once I got a computer and could do these things digitally I’d sit down for hours tinkering with stupid list files. I shared part of that list of animal pets I had in mind for a Mortasheen game but there also exist lists of the clothing a Mortasheen player character could have purchased, organized by the zone they’d take up on the hypothetical CG model or sprite, and it’s literally dozens of types of ordinary hats and socks and pants with some weird or interesting ones thrown in sparingly. Deliberately sparingly, even, because a “real” game would have a whole lot of boring clothes and the list needed to feel “authentic.” There’s food lists and weapon lists and even furniture lists because I also wanted home decorating mechanics. For every concept I’ve ever made I have 50 more, I make up another 10-30 monsters every single day that I jot down and never use. In conversations with people what I type “gets ahead” of what I’m actually thinking or want to say and I kind of assumed that was a common experience? Writing something before you finish considering whether it’s what you actually want to communicate? And writing paragraphs upon paragraphs or dozens of little messages when it’s not even a subject I’m passionate about, then people think I’m in some freaky worked-up state or something because sometimes they’ll say “calm down” and I am literally in the calmest most casual mental state I even have, that’s precisely when I ramble more. The less I even “care” about the subject at hand the more likely I’m going to make an essay because then I’m not carefully pruning and picking every word. :( This very post is probably going to be five paragraphs longer while I sit and write it but then just before I post it I’m probably going to cut half of it or more, then I’m probably going to edit it nine more times to fix the “flow” or “feel” of just a couple select sentences if not completely redo it.

I don’t know, I kinda thought this was something most people experienced and that was how we managed to create the internet and keep it packed with so much nonsense as it is.

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thecandywrites · 3 years ago

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Plain Pain In My Ass

Ah, for Mermay of 2022, I wanted to go all out and get freaky with some good ol’ fashioned tentacle smut. So micro-octo-mermaid and merman it is! Featuring the very venomous blue ringed octopus and the traditional tentacle porn with a splash of pegging for good measure. Also some cum inflation, and knotting because why the fuck not. If you go here, imagine his cock is number 17. But instead of it being an egg layer- it’s just a normal cock that shoots sperm but that tip is perfect for getting past the top of the vaginal canal and into a uterus. But number 17 is the shape that spoke to me the most, which you’ll see I referenced in the story quite a bit.

So top left corner- is our girl- and reader- Zhanna. Top right corner- Pilane aka Plain Pain In My Ass. And their initial meeting did not go as planned where thus, Pilane gets that nickname by our leading lady.

Also crab right under Zhanna is Winnie’s face (Isn’t she ADORABLE?! I mean just look at her precious big blue eyes and wittle claws!) And her body is to the left of Zhanna. She’s a red faced, porcilin crab which are technically false crabs because they have a set of feather like fins that catch debris and then thier second set of arms are pinchers or claws.

Enjoy!

Plain Pain in My Ass

Zhanna and Pilane.

“Hello Gorgeous!” The boys hollered and whistled lowly as they were put into the mating tank with all the girls.

All the girls, including yourself- had already been put into this tank yesterday morning to become more comfortable in the space. And this tank was special. Because this was the micro-mermaid blue ring octopus variety. And while most tanks had lots of play areas- micro-mermaid octopus’ of all varieties liked to have a cave per female since octopus’ felt most comfortable in a cave. Usually.

However after each one had selected a cave and had settled in, all of you had been fed a varitable feast of every prey item imaginable and ate until you were stuffed. All of you got a taste of everything. Even special foods like scallops, clams, fish, whelks, snails, more kinds of crabs than you had ever seen before, and of course a mackerel to sit around and feast on while you talked and befriended each other. And for dessert, each of you were given a whole strand bunch of delectable super sweet seagrapes. Which was a very sweet varity of umibudo as a special treat. Most of you had only had this last when you were getting microchipped. So to have it again was exciting. And then after a to digest all the food you ate- a party was thrown in the tank. Special speakers in the water pumped music to dance to into the water as even the humans outside of the tank danced with you and recorded all of you dancing together and talking and laughing and then special seagrapes were put in that had started to ferment, as the sugars in the seagrapes had turned to alcohol which gave you all a buzz and it was supposed to be the second best night of your lives and something of a bachelorette party because the next day, the boys were going to be put into the tank to mate up with you even though the boys were in another tank, having their own party.

A blacklight bulb had been turned on over the tank which caused special stones and sand in the bottom of the tank to light up in beautiful colors and even yourselves. All of you had strobed your blue rings in the dark to the beat of the music and danced the night away while making friends to soothe over any hurt feelings and bruised egos that had been done that morning.

Because yesterday morning- immediately upon being put into the mating tank- almost all of the girls had practically fought for the “best” caves in the tank that were in the middle island of the tank instead of out on the sides and in the corners. The largest and strongest females fought pretty fiercely with each other trying to get them. Because the bigger and better the cave, the bigger and better the male would be trying to get with the female who had it.

But once each one had the cave she either wanted or settled for- she got pieces of soft coral and other items to decorate the caves and make each one her own and as comfortable as she wanted it. And usually immediately upon settling in a cave, she spun a curtain over the window and a blanket for her bed. And that usually indicated whether the cave was occupied or not. Most females knitted their names into the curtains themselves so that both the other females would know them and the boys would know the name of the female they were calling on.

But right now- it was time for the boys to come in and try their luck. The bigger and better specimens competed to get their faces into the windows of the caves the girls were in the middle caves in the island of caves in the middle of the tank.

You however- had not fought with the others yesterday because your mother had taught you and your sisters that there was a difference between what most considered “the best” caves that were in the middle island of the tank- and what really counted in this process- was getting the smartest caves. Not the biggest, not the “best”, not the most prominent. But the safest, most secure and fortified. Where you couldn’t just see potential mates only from a window where they would eagerly shove their face in. But caves that required more effort, and little tricks and actual brains and intellect to get into. You and your sisters had left the most prominent caves in the middle of the tank for those who wanted to fight over them. But you and your sisters- got- what was in reality the true best caves that were in the corners. Where you had two glass walls behind you and you could scope out potential mates as they swam around and could observe them before they would approach you.

You had gotten- what was in your opinion. The greatest cave of all. Right in the middle- and right in the back corner. Your sisters in the caves above and below you. You could see your other sisters in the next corners in either direction- eagerly and a little anxiously- awaiting to be approached. Your brothers swam around to the corners first to check up on you to make sure to know where all their sisters were. Then your brothers tried their luck with the others in nearby caves with great success.

You waited, and waited and waited as the other boys seemed to focus on the middle section of caves and then fan out from there. You watched as some of them outright refused to even try to talk to any girl who wasn’t in the main section of caves, despite some of their own sisters taking up the majority of them. Which made you frown and roll your eyes as you looked over and above you and shared a meaningful look of annoyance with your sisters who seemed to be thinking the same things.

Which left two classes of males left- the ones with low self esteem or the cold and calculating who seemed to just appear to aimlessly swim around the tank and take it all in before deciding to choose a mate- almost at random.

“Hi, hi, I’m Hyva.” You heard a nervous potential mate greet your sister above you as another approached your sister under you.

“Hi, I’m Oran. You’re smart. You got the best and safest most secure cave in the tank. Bottom, in the corner- away from the fray and at the bottom where you’re protected on three sides with only a small but ideal window where you can observe everyone else. Very smart. So what’s your name?” He offered as he reached his hand into her cave and shook her hand.

You looked out and saw that your other sisters were being approached as you realized- the more insecure males approached the top ones and the cold and calculating, but confident and direct were going after the bottom ones. You just hoped that whoever would approach you would be kind of in the middle.

Then you noticed a group of males gather just in front of your corner as they talked amongst themselves rather than approach a female as you noticed that there was a male who was actually very handsome and looked practically wild in coloring and pattern. He was a beautiful bright beige like perfectly clean pristine sand with the darker but brighter and more magnificent blues of his rings which he didn’t even have on! Oh when he would turn them on and pulse he would be so handsome and striking. Which got you to perk up and hoping that he would call on you.

And while he could see you looking at him hopefully, he gave you a small but polite smile as he turned his attention back to the other males. Which made you frown as you could see him pointing and gesturing to all the caves around the tank as you actually came halfway out of your cave's window to listen to what he was telling the others and see if you could at least beckon him over to you. He also had a foreign accent. Which meant he must have come from either an Aquarium or another breeder. There was a human woman checking up on him in particular and you could read the badge she was wearing. She was a Dr. of Marine Biology from the Sydney Aquarium from Sydney, Australia. And when she talked to the other humans, her accent matched his. So he had an Australian accent. Which meant his tank was in Australia. You must have not been the only one to be excited about him as other females, your sisters included started calling out to him- calling him “Aussie”. But he reacted to them the same way he had reacted to you- a polite smile but then turning his attention to the other males and talking with them.

Was he homosexual? Was he not interested in a female mate? He must have been because he continued to talk to the other males rather than approach any female. It was disappointing and you quickly gave up on any fantasy of going on an adventure to the other side of the world with him and refocused on the other males. Hoping they would start to approach you. But the Aussie had practically half the males in his group! What was he greedy? Was he wanting to go through all of them and hand pick his favorite? Why was he holding up half of the males released into the tank?!

So you openned the door to your cave and pretended to fix your curtain in the window from the outside and inclined your ear and heard their conversation-

“See my mother told me that if we make the middle ones wait- they’ll be so desperate for a mate, they’ll accept the first one that approaches them because they’d rather be paired with anyone than left alone.” The Aussie insisted to the others as you turned your head to look at him over your shoulder and narrowed your eyes dangerously at him and those in his group. Then you went back into your cave, shut and locked the door and sat down on the soft coral that you had arranged into a seat and pushed it deeper into the cave so that you were mostly hidden as your brother swam by to check on you.

“Hey Zhanna.” Allu greeted as he noticed his sisters above and below you were already halfway through the courting process with their prospective mates.

“Hey Allu. Do me a favor- do see this group of males right there? I just heard the ring leader, the Aussie- tell everyone with him to wait to approach a female until everything settles down so that it makes those of us who haven’t paired up yet- desperate to take the first one that approaches us. Go over and ask why they’re not approaching the females. And if they confirm it, tell me and then make sure that none of them pairs with anyone in our brood. I don’t know who they think they are, or where the rest of them have come from, but I don’t want anyone from our brood to fall for it. At first I thought he was just a homosexual like our brother Killie. But it’s not that at all. Something is up because there are males whose sisters are in the middle who won’t even venture out here to the corners. I don’t know if it’s them wanting to make sure their sisters get paired before they do or if they too- are too good for us. And if it’s the latter- Make sure none of them get with anyone in our brood either. All of us can afford to wait for another breeding cycle for good and proper mates, not ones who think they can play us with their mind games or snub us because they think they’re too good for us.” You urged him.

“Will do.” Allu nodded before he went and talked to the group that was between the main section of caves and the outer walls and corners. You watched as he talked with them. They beckoned him to join him but he excused himself as already having a mate but was just checking up on his sisters and wished them luck with their plan. Then he went to the other males who seemed to be hanging around their sisters and ask them why they weren’t trying to pair up. And once he got his answers he came back to you.

“You’re right in both instances. That group wants to make unmated females wait and get desperate and the males in the middle both want to make sure that their sisters get matched before they find a match and also were hoping to match to a center cave female because they think those are the best females and want the best for themselves too.” Allu reported as you narrowed your eyes and scowled.

“Then make sure none of them get with the rest of our sisters in our brood.” You urged him as he nodded and hurriedly went to your remaining sisters and warned them about it. And urged them to hurry up and get a mate before that group could make them desperate. Then he made sure to get his other brothers mated up too before he went back to his mate and helped her block the window before starting the next stage of courting-sexual compatibility.

By nightfall you had not been approached once. And you could only glare at the pile of micro-octo-mermen in a sleep pile only a few jets of water away from your cave. Especially the Aussie who was sleeping the middle of them. This was all his fault. Shame on him for fucking up a perfectly orchestrated mating ritual. This method had been used by Ethel and others for countless generations with great success. And because his stupid Australian Ass was here and spreading that horrible fish shit of a mind game. Over half of the females in the tank were still unmatched and you could hear so many of the females around the tank cry themselves to sleep becasue of it. And instead of being sad, it just made you angrier. Oh you were going to expose that piece of a shit tomorrow and you were going to turn the tank on him for this. No one fucks with an Ethel Micro. No one. Not even ones from Australlia.

You looked over to see that the brothers of the unmated girls in the center take refuge in their sister’s caves for the night as their sisters came to the largest cave to soothe and comfort each other as they all tried to squeeze into the largest caves to do so. Once it was clear everyone in the middle island of caves was asleep, you poked your head out of your cave to see your sisters that had also been in the middle caves in the corners were unmatched too. Then you took a chance and left your cave and quickly swam to your sisters caves to see how they were doing.

“Why aren’t we matched yet? We got the smartest caves in the tank! We should have been matched this morning.” Your sister Mali sniffled and whimpered before you took their hands and led them back to your cave where all four of you could watch the sleep pile.

“That’s why. That guy right there in the middle. The Aussie. He’s the ring leader of that group. He talked all the other males around him into holding off so that it would make us un-mated girls desperate to take any male that approaches. Take a good look at them and know thier faces. Tomorrow- when the lights are on- refuse them and don’t play their stupid mind game. All the males who stayed in the middle instead of at least trying to come out and meet us were either worried about their sisters or felt we weren't good enough. And those guys want to make us desperate- and the others that thought they’re too good for us. Ethel must have gotten these males from other breeders because they are not behaving like Ethel Micros. They can go back to whatever stupid breeder they came from. Steer clear of all of them. We don’t have to pair up right now. We can afford to wait for males who will appreciate our intellect and integrity and we won’t put up with his fish-shit.” You insisted.

“Agreed.” They all agreed before they left and quickly swam back to their caves as the Aussie had cracked an eye open and overheard your conversation with your sisters and even watched to see what caves you and your sisters had come out of as he grinned before he fell back asleep.

The next day you awoke to the sound of someone eating right outside your cave and the smells of a very juicy crab’s innards wafted into the cave.

“Good’day Shiela.” The Aussie of the group offered as he was sitting outside of your cave with one of each of the food items offered for the tank- was in each of his tentacles.

“First of all, my name isn’t Shiela, it’s Zhanna Visla Atwood. Second, is this your idea of trying to court? Eating the perspective offering instead of actually offering it?” You leveled against him in irritation as you pointed to your name on your curtain. All Ethel Micros had two last names, the last name chosen to differentiate them from others and Ethel’s last name to signify that they were an Ethel Micro.

“No. In Australia, Shiela is what we call all the females that we don’t have the names for and I didn’t want to assume to call you your full name, just in case you had a nickname you preferred. Plus this is how I make a friend. You were up late last night. I wanted you to get as much sleep as possible before a barrage of courters came flooding into your window.” He answered between bites.

“But now that you're up, what would you like for breakfast?” He asked before he showed you the still wriggling prey in his tentacles that he was keeping restrained but not otherwise unharmed since octopus’ micros liked living prey to eat.

“Absolutely nothing if it comes from you.” You tossed back defiantly.

“Why? You don’t even know my name, let alone anything about me.” He pointed out.

“Oh I know plenty. I know you came in yesterday. And judging by your accent, you’re from Australia and judging by the Australian Doctor that keeps checking up on you- you’re obviously from an aquarium in Australia. And judging based on your coloring and pattern, either one of your parents or grandparents must have been from the wild.” You leveled.

“Well you got that right.” He nodded with a too charming grin.

“And I know that all of either your brothers or your friends, or possibly a mixture of both, decided to not go after any girl in particular yesterday, despite several showing an interest in you. Even girls in the best caves in the tank did but you politely refused all of them. At first I thought you must have been gay, which is fine, I have a few brothers who are gay themselves and are perfectly happy.” You continued.

“Oh but that’s where you’re wrong Zhanna, I’m not gay.” He countered.

“I know you’re not. That’s why I said, “that’s what I thought at first”, I know better now.” You corrected, your anger and irritation coloring your tone as your blue rings got wider and started to pulse- betraying just how angry and upset you were as he saw that and frowned, wondering what you were so upset about. He thought you would have been happy and flattered that he was the first one to call on you. Especially when so many others had expressed an interest. He was singling you out. You shouldn’t be angry about that.

“But instead I overheard you tell everyone in your little clique to avoid the girls all together to make them desperate. So that when they do finally decide to approach a female, she’ll readily accept him. That’s dangerous and extremely manipulative and it shifts the power from being balanced between the male and the female to much more on the males side. This is the mating tank where most of the ones in here will mate for life. And these precious first few days impact the rest of our lives and you and all those who agreed to your plan have just fucked yourselves over. I hope you and every single one who was stupid enough to listen to you- die alone. Now- if you’ll fuck off- I can get my own breakfast.” You insisted as you outright pushed him off the perch in front of your cave and swam and gathered up what you could before you returned to see him still nearby and watching you closely. But all the food items in his tentacles were gone. The stupid seapig must have eaten them already. Then you came back into your cave to see all the creatures he had previously in his tentacles were now bound by little strands of seasilk at the bottom of the cave. You looked at them and then back at him as he just grinned smugly and swam away to gather more.

You huffed out of your nose and decided to cut their ties free and set them loose out of the doorway of your cave.

“Go- be free, try to hide before you get eaten by another.” You sweetly urged each one as you gently let them go out the mouth of the cave before you shut the door and ate what you had captured yourself. Then one of the little crabs decided to take refuge in your cave with you. It was a red faced porcilin crab. It was the cutest little crab you had ever seen! Then it seemed to look hopefully at the half eaten shrimp in your hand before you sighed and gave it the legs of the shrimp as the little crab happily let the legs it wasn’t eating, rest in it’s feather fanned like legs and took them and contentedly munched on them before it took up a space next to the window before you reached out to pet it and it seemed to lean into your touch.

“Yeah, I always wanted a pet.” You giggled as you finished with the meat of the shrimp before you handed it the tail of the shrimp as it happily took that and ate it as you injected the small fish in your other tentacles with your venom as it wriggled for a moment before the venom paralized it for easy eating. Fish were hard to catch and it was the only offering from the Aussie, that you didn’t set free.

Then you started eating that too- offering the fins to your new little pet to eat before you laid back on the soft coral that you had rearranged from a bed formation to a chair formation to wait and see who else would come. You inspected the seasilk that the offereings had been tied in. Micro-octopus-seasilk was extremely precious and this seasilk- despite coming from the Aussie- was actually very fine. It was thin but extremely tough, to the point you had to use your own venom spike to break it. And it seemed to shimmer and glow too almost like lure line. He must have learned how to make this from a wild ancestor because domesticated octo-micro mermaids simply pounced on thier prey. So you took the pieces and used your own seasilk gland to reconnect it all into one large rope before you coiled it up and simply hung it up nearby to use as you needed to.

“So? Are you a boy or a girl?” You asked the crab before it showed you it’s bottom, showing that it was a female.

“Good girl. I’m going to call you…Winnie. Do you like that name?” You asked as the crab wiggled its eyes happily. Then it came over and laid on your lap and continued to eat the shrimp tail as you ate the fish before you offered it the skull and the intestines of the fish so you could eat the rest as it was happy to do so. You savored the eyeballs, heart and the liver of the fish since those were the fattiest and most prized pieces of it. Once you were both done, Winnie used her fine feather-like fan legs to clean off its mouth and your hands and even your face as you giggled when the fans tickled but you appreciated being cleaned nonetheless.

“Thank you Winnie, such a good little crab you are.” You cooed to it as you pet it affectionately as it laid down in your lap with it’s legs out wide so that the point of it’s legs weren’t digging into your sensitive and soft flesh. Which you appreciated as you pet it affectionately.

The Aussie was impressed by your attitude and spunk and defiance and your intellect and your compassion. He realized you preferred shrimp and fish to crab since you obviously just adopted a crab as a pet. He was actually undeterred and even more driven to think of something else he could do to impress you and court you. But before he could try again, others came by to try to offer food to you.

“Hey, I think I recognize you from that group that slept in the sand pit over there. What’s the guy’s name who was in the middle? The one who corralled you all there? The Aussie from Australia?” You asked your next caller as you ate the head of the little shrimp he offered you first since the head was where all the fats and nutrients were before you offered the face and mouth of the shrimp to Winnie to eat as Winnie was happy to scarf down more food in the bottom of the cave so that it wouldn’t be seen and preyed on by others.

“Oh that’s Pilane. He’s from the Sydney Aquarium, he flew all the way here with his caregiver just to be mated with an Ethel micro female. He’s guy who actually offered you all that stuff that you immediately set free and refused. Must not like the idea of travelling so far away from home and living an national aquarium huh?” He answered.

“Pilane? More like Plain Pain in My Ass.” You muttered which got him to snicker a laugh.

“Yeah. At first I thought he was a bit crazy but so far it’s worked.” He offered.

“Has it?” You asked as you raised a curious and critical brow.

“Well you took my offering and you’re talking to me instead of immediately dismissing me because of my weird pattern. So yeah.” He nodded as you realized all the guys who Pilane had gathered together were the oddballs and not so handsome ones who seemed to naturally be a little low in self esteem. You appreciated the fact that he tried to help them but you hated how he chose to do so.

“Oh by Triton’s Throne and Aquaman Arthur’s Trident.” You groaned before you stuck your torso out and grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head to bring his head to you as you stared poisoned daggers into him. Your coloring changed to a very vibrant yellow while your blue rings pulsed dangerously.

“First off- no it didn’t work because 1. I only took your offering to get that piece of fish-shit’s name. Second. You aren’t successfully courting me because I will happily die alone before I mate with someone who is stupid enough to listen to Plain Pain in My Ass’s stupid ideas. And 3. All you’re really doing- is forcing girls who have fought hard for good caves to second guess themselves and pushing them to be so desperate to find a mate. Now they’ll take anyone whether there is natural affection or not. And finding a mate should be about finding a mate who is not only compatible but one that you’re drawn to and have natural affection for. And that shifts the balance of power- from equally between the partners and puts it all on the male’s side. And that’s no match for any self respecting mermaid no matter the kind. So go ahead and try again with someone else because those nasty little mind games aren’t going to work on me. And shame on you for listening to them and forcing good and confident mermaids into becoming desperate. I don’t know who bred you or who raised you. But frankly such an attitude makes me sick. You and all those who listened to that Plain Pain in My Ass’s stupid logic deserve to die alone. And you’re a disgrace to Ethel’s legacy. She’s worked for countless generations to raise micros who are better than this mind game manipulation fish-shit. And frankly you and all those in your group don’t deserve to breathe the same water as an Ethel micro. So, go back to your stupid little friends and go back to whatever inbred sewage basement water tank you spawned from and leave me alone! Because I swear to Triton’s thone I would rather die than be mated to the likes of you!” You growled before you stuffed the half eaten shrimp in his mouth and slapped him and shoved him away, the way you had Pilane.

Then Winnie came out and gathered the half eaten shrimp and pinched his hectocotylus tentacle, which was in effect his penis tentacle and another one with both pincers. He yipped, crumpled up in pain and floated down the floor of the tank as he held the pinched tentacles to his body. His color shifted to yellow and his rings of blue began to pulse because of the extreme pain he was in.

“And anyone else who was stupid enough to think that Pilane’s ideas were good ideas can fuck right off! I hope you all die alone for listening to such nonsense and think it’s a good idea. All of you bring shame to Ethel and her legacy! And if she knew that this was what you were resorting to- she’d pull you out of this tank so fast and dump you back into wherever she got you from!” You hollered as loud as you could before everyone looked at Pilane since you were pointing at him.

“Wait? What?! What did he say?” The others asked you as they came out of their caves to look at you.

“I heard him yesterday telling all his little friends that if they waited and held off from approaching any female yesterday- so that today if any female grew so desperate for a mate- she’d pick the first one that approached her! Whether there was natural affection or not! He fucked up our entire mating ritual and tradition!” You hollered out as there was a collective gasp among everyone else as your brothers chimed in that they had heard him say that too.

“You what?! Do you have any idea how hard my sisters had to fight for these caves? These were supposed to be the best caves in the tank! So that the best males in the batches would want them first. And half of them didn’t even match yesterday! And this morning they’re all freaking out thinking that something is wrong with them! When nothing was wrong with them at all! It was you being a piece of fish shit!” The brothers of the girls in the center caves all corralled around Pilane and those who had been in his group.

Suddenly, the blink of an eye- those who had been in Pilane’s group suddenly turned on him too. To see the whole tank turned on them just by association had them terrified that they were about to be either beaten to a pulp or killed off. The group suddenly denied having listened to Pilane and his stupid idea. And they all apologized profusely to the girls in the center caves and tried catching every prey item they could just as apology offerings. And while the girls accepted their apologies. They wouldn’t hear of any courting with them as Pilane's group tried to go around to the other girls in the other caves and instead of being welcomed- they were all turned away. Before they turned on Pilane for fucking them over.

“I knew this was a bad idea! I never should have let you talk me into going along with this idea!” Pilane’s previous friends spat at him before they avoided him altogether so that Pilane went from being Mr. Popular to the most hated merman in the tank. You sat in your cave and simply smirked and pet Winnie affectionately at how he was all alone now before he tried looking for an unoccupied cave to hide in from the others.

Serves him right.

“Don’t even think about it.” You warned as he swam around your cave looking for another.

“Are you happy now?” He asked.

“That you got what you deserved for being a piece of fish shit for putting such foolishness into the minds of young and naive merpeople? Yes.” You grinned.

“It wasn’t…it wasn’t foolishness.” Pilane growled.

“Really? Because it looked like it just blew up in your face like a puffer fish.” You hummed with a smug smile on your face.

“It wasn’t foolishness, it was brilliant!” He insisted.

“Stupid mind games are never brilliant.” You argued.

“It wasn’t stupid! It worked perfectly!” He bellowed.

“No it didn’t! Half the tank is still unmated on day two of the mating cycle when at least 80-90% of us should have been mated already by the end of day 1! You have brothers still in defensive mode over their sisters- instead of trying to find a mate themselves. And all your friends are now your enemies. Is that how the plan was supposed to work?” You asked rather rhetorically as you gestured around the tank as all his previous friends gravelled to everyone else and were desperately trying to at least befriend others as they all swore off all association with Pilane and apologized profusely.

“What the plan was supposed to do is differentiate the stupid from the clever and the weak from the truly strong!” He barked back.

“That was already decided before you ever came into the tank! The strongest females all have the center caves and the smart ones have the corner caves and everything in the middle is already somewhere in the middle. All it would take is some sense to see that! Or do they not have any sense to give micros from the Sydney Aquarium?” You snapped snidely at him.

“Not strong physically, strong mentally. Just because a female is strong enough to beat off others for a cave that appears ideal- isn't necessarily strong where it counts, and that’s mental fortitude. Strong females both in mental fortitude and cleverness see that the fight for the center caves is pointless. And is better than to fall for the “stupid mind game”. Because she would already be confident enough in herself and her self worth to fall for it.” He insisted as he came to your window held fast to the window pane and smacked Winnie in the face when she tried to approach and pinch his hands as the two of you stared each other down.

“Pinch me and I’ll eat you.” He pointed at Winne before she shrunk back.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand or a tentacle on my Winnie or talk to her like that! She’s defending me from the biggest moron in the tank!” You yelled as you took Winnie into your arms and soothed her face where he hand smacked her to make sure he hadn’t really hurt her before you kissed where he had smacked her and then gently put her behind you before you met Pilane face to face.

“Now go away! You Big Plain Pain In My Ass!” You ordered as you pointed away from you.

“Oh you want me to be a pain in your ass? I’ll be the biggest one ever!” He roared back angrily.

“Oh big talk for a little micro from half way around the world, all alone in a big tank full of other micros who hate you! You wouldn’t know how to even befriend a female, let alone how to please her or appeal to her with anything other than your accent and wild coloring. You may look all big and bad but you’re just a stupid micro that should have stayed in the wild rather than corrupt good micros and fuck up an entire mating process! You have nothing to offer anyone! And you may be a pain in my ass but I’ll gladly take it if it means that you can’t be a pain in anyone else’s and pass on your stupid genetics to anyone else! Why’d you come all the way out here to the U.S? Needed to infect Ethel Micros’ with your stupidity? Was the Great Barrier Reef not big enough to contain it?” You taunted him.

“Oh that’s rich coming from you. Especially when you just proved me right.” Pilane taunted right back as he smiled smugly.

“Excuse me?!” You asked as you came out of that window and stared daggers at him as your rings were pulsing brighter than the lights in the tank as others were watching you with interest because it looked like you were about to kick his ass into the gravel.

“You just proved that you’re the best female in the tank. You’re the most clever and the strongest both in body and more importantly mind.” Pilane said as he folded his arms over his chest and didn’t bother to puff up or pulse himself but just smiled wider as you just stood there and stared in angry confusion at him.

“First of all, I’m not the only one who feels and thinks this way. Second of all. Don’t you ever put others down to raise others up, not even me. And third…” You began before you smiled back at him dangerously and just as smugly as your pulsing began to die down and stop.

“Third?” He asked.

“You should really watch where you put your tentacles.” You almost purred to him before Winnie clamped her pinchers down on his penis tentacle and another as you immediately picked Winnie up as she let go and water-jetted her and yourself back to your cave and put a piece of coral in the window to keep him from coming after you or Winne.

Pilane screamed in agonizing pain and crumpled up just like the first guy did. Others in the tank cheered and applauded you before chanting Winnie’s name and your name. Pilane just groaned and fell back, clutching his two pinched and bruised tentacles in his hands and against his chest before he just laid in the sea grass and glared up at everyone before the chanting stopped and everyone dissolved into giggles before going on with their lives.

Then Pilane- out of spite, went around and collected pieces of the tank and made his own cave right on the face of the glass, using his own seasilk to secure and anchor it all in place which was unfortunately right outside your own cave. You realized he wasn’t going to come after you and pulled the piece of coral down and put it back as the headrest for your chair of soft bubble coral.

Then you got approached by the other males that had slept with in their unmated sister’s caves. But everything they tried to say- Pilane seemed to loudly interrupt them and “translate” what their true intentions were. And what faults each one had. Which really embarrassed them and you grew more and more irritated with each intrusion. He reminded any and every male that you officially had food for a pet who you had “trained” to snip penis tentacles and ‘if they wanted their penis tentacles snipped off, to keep approaching you and talking to you’. He was fucking up your own mating ritual.

“You should have snipped it clean off.” You grumbled to Winnie as no other male would then approach you. Mostly out of fear of Pilane ripping them apart verbally, or fear of Winnie actually doing what she had already done to two others- to them. Everyone else soon was matched up- leaving just you and Pilane still unmatched.

“That bastard.” You grumped as you moved the coral around in your cave to make a bed again for the second night. You could see Pilane working on another contraption in his cave as you laid back and watched out of the little crevice that afforded you a clear line of sight from your cave to his.

“What is he working on?” You whispered to Winnie as the two of you laid on the bed and you continued to pet her affectionately as you rolled over and laid on your stomach with your chin resting on your folded forearm under your head as you tilted your head one way and then another as you watched him work, wondering what he was working on.

The lights were shut off but he managed to keep a few rings on one of his arms glowing to illuminate his cave so he could keep working.

Your curiosity got the better of you.

Before you knew it, you had left Winnie to sleep on your bed. You quietly got out of your cave and silently ventured over to his cave as you peeked in from above to see what he was working on. It looked like a weapon of some sort. With a strand of seasilk tied on both ends to the curved but springy cartilage like rib bones of a fish. He had pulled the string taut so that the bone curved even more but didn’t break. And once he was done, he was going through the straight but sharp teeth of another fish and the striaght dorsal spine bones of a fish as he attached the teeth to the bones. He seemed to separate his collection of teeth and he made a pile of specific ones that were not just straight but who’s attachment to the jaw had ended in a notched nub. Then he spun and weaved a special silk string to the end of each one attached to a straight dorsal spine bone. Before looping the the silk into a coil of varying lengths.

His fingers were moving at almost dizzying speeds as he seemed to spin the silk around his fingers. Like using his own fingers to weave and knit a pattern you could barely make out because of how fast his fingers were moving. Then he hung each one up. But just as you were clinging to the outside of his makeshift cave- one of the fanned sea worms was tripped off by your presence, and in a rush- retreated. Which made you gasp softly in surprise and jet off to your cave again just as he paused when he heard the sounds and looked up before he stuck his head out of his cave just in time to see the tips of your tentacles retreat back into your cave which made him grin triumphantly again.

The next morning you awoke to the sounds of Pilane using his weapon to strike down a fish as he notched the end of the dorsal spine bone into the string of his weapon. He pulled it and the string back, aiming the tooth and bone- at his target and letting go as the tooth tipped spine bone took off as if it was harpoon and stabbed his pray before he injected his venom into the string itself and like a jellyfish- the string suddenly grew spikes just like a jellyfish tentacle when it’s cnidocytes deployed their nematocysts like little harpoon shaped needles. You gasped in astonishment. That was brilliant! How had he made his seasilk to be like that? Ok, so he wasn’t completely dumb. That weapon was awesome.

“How did you do that?” You asked him as he seemed to suck the venom out and spit it out into the water, making the spikes retreat into the line of seasilk as he pulled in his fish and the other fish nearby that had been struck by the spikes in the line.

“I thought I had ‘nothing but stupid ideas’,?” He posed as his tentacles took up the fish that paralyzed by the toxin from the harpoon like spikes on the string before he got his true victim into his hands and pulled the tooth from the fish with a smug grin as you just stood there slack jawed and frowned at him.

“Ugh, yes, your ideas about emotionally manipulating the others and playing mind games with the others is stupid. But this is brilliant. How did you make this weapon?” You clarified as you gestured to it.

“It’s a simple bow and arrow. Isn’t it obvious? Or are you not that clever enough to understand it?” He asked as he wiggled the bow in one tentacle and the arrow in another as he spoke and sat down and started eating his well caught breakfast as you scuffed at his remarks.

“Bow and arrow huh? You obviously used a flexible rib bone as your bow. It has enough bone in the center to be rigid yet enough cartilage to be flexible and not break. You pulled the seasilk strand on both ends to build tension on the string. And then for the arrows, you took a straight tooth with a notched end to attach to the straight dorsal spine bones of a fish and then attached a spiked cord out of seasilk to the end so that you could not only kill your target, but kill everything from you to it in one strike. Ance you applied the notched dorsal spine bone to the bow’s string you can aim the whole arrow at your target and kill them faster than you can approach it in person. I understand the bow and arrows and thier basic mechanics. What I don’t understand and want to know is how you made your seasilk to mimic a jellyfish’s cnidocytes when they deploy their nematocysts like spikes with just the injection of a bit of your own venom.” You clarified as you gestured to the string he had coiled up on his shoulder.

“Wow, such big words for such a cute little dirty mouth.” He grinned.

“Don’t be condescending.” You chastised him.

“Here, if you’re so smart, you figure it out.” He urged you as he put the tooth and the spine and it’s cord- into your lap. As he continued to sit and eat, pulling more rib bones and dorsal spine bones out of his kills to make future bows and arrows with with as you felt the string and felt little finger length like sections before you actually pushed your finger into it and the pressure made another one push out.

“You made a pressurized cord. It’s not just one single strand of seasilk. It’s several, all woven together to form a cord. And different sections have been very carefully spun in a spike pattern onto the cord itself. How long did it take you to make this?” You asked as you hooked your finger to pull the spike towards the surface of the cord as the pressure pulled the second one back into place.

“The first time my parents showed me how to make one? It took me a few days, now? I can make one in just a couple of hours.” He answered proudly. Happy that he finally found something to impress you and bring you in to him.

“So you grew up with parents who taught you how to make weapons and effectively hunt beyond your own physical limitations.” You gathered.

“Yup because physical limitations are just that- limiting. But the mind, that’s the most lethal weapon anyone can have. Because the mind only knows the limits you set in it yourself. If you don’t put limits on your own intelligence, then it doesn’t have to have any limits at all.” He explained before other couples woke up and left their caves to hunt their breakfast in pairs.

“Here, now you try.” He offered as he put a fish’s rib into your lap as you were still inspecting the cord.

“...ok.” You hesitantly and reluctantly agreed as you put the cord down and got the rib and tested it to see where it was the most stiff vs. the most flexible. Before you found it’s true center point and point of balance and used your ink gland to mark a section that was in the middle and where you should attach the string to either end.

“Don’t, he’s fine.” You urged Winnie who had started to carefully creep over to you and was pointing her pinchers towards Pilane. Before you used your other tentacles to pick her up and put her under your webbing that connected all your tentacled arms together and gave her your leftovers to eat while you worked on your own bow.

Pilane just sat next to you and grinned widely to see you work so intently and impressed by your immediate aptitude. Although he wished you hadn’t torpedoed him already. Because despite everything, he was practically smitten. But he knew if he expressed any further interest, you’d shoot him down. Which was why he had to shoot down every other suitor you had.

“What are you doing?” Your sister Mali asked.

“I’m making a bow.” You answered.

“Why?” She asked before you took the now finished bow and the provided arrow from Pilane and fired it at your target, the force and speed of the tooth hitting the shell of another crab clean through which caused everyone to gasp and freeze.

“That’s why.” You answered as you reeled your catch back in before you split it it up and gave Pilane the other half and his little arrow back.

“Triton help any tank either one of you gets put into.” Mali offered before she and her mate and the others swam away. Which got you to smile and duck your head bashfully in to keep yourself from laughing gleefully at the unintended praise. Then Pilane handed you the arrow and it’s line back to you.

“Why are you giving this back to me?” You questioned him.

“So you can use it as a prototype to make yourself some. Or even improve it. That’s just the basic design. You can reinvent it and improve it as you see fit.” He offered.

“As a friend?” You questioned narrowing your eyes a little suspiciously at him.

“As a friend.” He nodded as a way to placate you.

“Thank you.” You immediately smiled before you took the base of it and realized it had a bit of a cap to it with a single opening meant for a poison barb to be injected into it. Then you carefully untied it and opened it up to see the amazing design of how it was weaved on the inside and how one tube connected each of the spikes in a spiral all together.

“So did you weave this the way it looks or did you weave it inside out and then pull it right side in like a sleeve over an arm or a tentacle?” You asked as you looked it over.

“Why don’t you try making one both ways and see which way works best for you?” He suggested.

“Ok.” You nodded before you sat down next to him. You made a little harness for Winnie to wear around so that others would know she was your pet and not a food item. And then a leash to keep her close but let her have some freedom of movement, so she could at least filter feed the water around her and sift some sand while you worked.

Pilane went and got you more supplies, the perfect teeth to make the arrow heads out of. and spine bones to make the arrow shafts out of. Mostly from the teeth of mackerel put in the tank that morning as he pulled both cheek pieces from the head and hunks neck of the belly meat since that was the fattest pieces too. Then he offered you one of the cheek meat pieces and half of th belly piece he took off to eat between working on the chord. And kept you distracted as pairs were taken out of the tank as you were too focused on making the cord to notice.

“And I see you found a mate after all Pilane. Good job Mate!” Ashley smiled happily as she put the net in the tank for you and him to swim into.

“Wait. What?!” You looked up and noticed that it was now almost deathly quiet in the tank as a quick look around and noticed you two were the only two left in the tank.

“But…but…but…” You stuttered as you looked around in bewilderment before you looked at Pilane and scowled again.

“You tricked me! You distracted me! You kept me from pairing up and mating with any other just to keep me to yourself? Even when we hated each other and are barely friends?! How could you?!” You demanded angrily as your coloring changed yet again to show how angry you were as you walked on the sand and shoved him in the chest to get him away from you.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been completely honest with you. You’re right. I did trick you and distract you. And I’m sorry. I’m not an Ethel micro and I shouldn’t have used the others to accomplish my mission.” Pilane began as he slowly raised his hands in a submissive posture.

“Mission? What mission?!” You demanded.

“So Ethel and my owner Dr. Ashley Miles here- have been working on the surrogate re-introduction program. And it was my job to find the right mate to help me. My father was an Ethel Micro and my mother was wild caught. And she was injured and my father nursed her back to health since she was protecting a clutch of eggs all alone. So she got sent to Dr. Ashley at the Sydney Aquarium and my father was chosen to be her mate because he was highly capable and the most patient. And so myself and my siblings have had the best of both worlds, both from the wild and from an Aquarium geared towards re-introduction. I needed a mate who was not just intelligent, but creative, protective and had a lot of fighting spirit while also tempering that with a willingness to help, adopt, and teach others which you demonstrated very well with Winnie.” He confessed as he gestured to her and kept himself and especially his tentacles out of her pincher’s reach.

“And you were honestly my first and only choice. I purposefully singled you out and specifically all those in the corners out on purpose. I wanted to test to see whether or not you could withstand less than ideal circumstances and fight fire with fire so to speak. And your response was exactly what I was looking for. Because not every micro has had the luxury of being an Ethel Micro and not every micro will have the luxury of good owners. And frankly we need more individuals in the wild that will have your tenacity. ” Pilane added.

“You Plain Pain in My Ass, why didn’t you lead with that yesterday?! Why didn’t you start off with that yesterday?! Why didn’t you use that as your excuse to explain what you were doing and why you were doing it? Or better yet do all of that on the first day?!” You asked.

“Because I didn’t want you to be scared off by the potential assignment.” He answered sheepishly.

“So you purposefully gave me something to focus on and distract me until you made yourself the only possible mate for me? Is this why you kept any other from trying to court me?” You asked, hurt and heart broken and betrayed as your big blue eyes welled with tears.

“Yeah. I’m sorry Zhanna.” He admitted.

“Oh by Triton’s beard, you idiot!” You cried as you finally stopped pulsing in anger and just sat on the seafloor and pulled your tentacles up around you and started crying.

“Look, you don’t have to mate and pair bond with me if you really hate me. And if you do- I get that, I unintentionally hurt your family and threw off an entire mating process just to single you out. And I’m sorry I tricked you, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. I should have been honest and upfront with you. I’m so sorry. Please, let me try to make it up to you. If you hate me, at least give my other brother brothers a chance.” He admitted as he came over and sat on the seafloor with you and tried to speak with you but you had your webbing up over your head like a skirt.

“So you have brothers?” You asked him between sobs.

“Twenty of them. But only 5 are unmated and the other 4 went to other places to get matched but if they had the same luck as I did, then you will have your pick between us.” He answered.

“Zhanna, please, I’m really sorry.” Pilane apologized as you just turned away from him.

“Zhanna, if you would prefer to wait for another mate here, you can do that too. You can stay in this tank for the week that it will take them to mature enough to be put in here and try again then. And you can use that week to stake a claim on any cave in here, and get the very best one in the middle if you want to. Now granted you’ll have a week on them but it’s an option too. You don’t have to come with us. But I need your decision becauase we need to leave for the airport soon.” Dr. Ashley offered.

“Ok, fine, let me get my stuff, let me at least meet your brothers.” You caved in defeat.

“Come on Winnie, we’re going on a trip.” You beckoned her as you picked her up via her harness and swam back to your cave and got the previous length of rope and your blanket and your curtain that you used as a scarf.

Pilane got his other weapons from his own cave as he used sign to tell Ashley that it didn’t work with him and you but that you agreed to the program before you both to the net as you put Winnie between him and you and the net as Pilane sighed and hung his head in defeat as he was put into a special bag with you. Each of you taking opposite corners before you had to be vaccinated and tagged for the trip as you were given a few bunches of sweet seagrapes to eat for your journey while Pilane was only given one bunch as you were more heartbroken and resigned to your fate to even bother to feel the needles prick.

"Zhanna, if you truly do not like Pilane or any of his brothers or any of the other surrogates, welll try to find you a mate who you do like ok?" Ashley tried to assure you as you just stared at her but rolled over away from her as her hopeful smile faded as she looked at Pilane who looked just as downcast as you did.

"Maybe it's the sixth's time that's the charm." Ashley tried to say encouraging to Pilane who nodded but continued to sulk as neither of you were eating as you used your curtain and your blanket to cover yourself up to keep yourself hidden.

You laid down on the bottom of the bag and used Winnie as your pillow as you laid down and idly spun more of the chord, not really paying attention to how you were doing it, just staring out of the bag before the bag was filled with super rich oxygenated air and then tied off and put into a special carrier.

"So I take it I'm your fifth attempt to find a mate for the program? if she just told you that ‘the sixth time is the charm’." You finally murmured quietly.

"Yup." Pilane admitted.

"What happened to the previous 4? Did you trick all of them too?” You asked.

"No. The first time I matched with a girl and actually got to mate with her before she found out and she immediately ejaculated all of my sperm before she could use it and fled into the arms of the closest male." He admitted as you hummed in response as you refused to look at him and just kept idling spinning a chord, just to keep your hands busy as you started to feel more and more numb and stupid for being the fifth victim of this half wild plain pain in your ass.

"And the second time, when it was announced who I was and what I was there for-I was immediately shunned and not even the most desperate female would even talk to me. Third time there was a willing mate but she was dumber than a sea cucumber. And she couldn’t even catch her own food, she had to have her siblings do it for her. Any child of hers would get eaten the first two seconds they would get released into the ocean. And the forth time, the perfect candidate was taken by another before I could get to her. So this time I purposefully tried to make sure that the most ideal candidates wouldn’t be taken by another before I could locate them and try again. I didn’t mean to throw the whole match process off for an entire generation but I was really hoping that because you were so interested in me the first day that you would give me a chance to explain myself and my situation before you shot me down. And then you kept shooting me down before I could tell you. If you’re mad at me for ruining your own matching process, I understand that. I was…I was just hoping for a different outcome this time.” He admitted as you took time to think that over.

“Me too.” You whispered as you wiped a tear from your eye.

“So are we going to the Sydney Aquarium then?” You asked.

“Yes.” Pilane answered.

“Great, other side of the world. Then we have a long flight ahead of us. We should conserve our strength and energy and get some sleep while we can.” You urged him before you used what bit you had spun to make yourself a pillow before you rolled over and got comfortable and tried to take your own advice as he did the same.

Within just an hour- you could feel the bag being carried as you got used to the sloshing of Ashley's steps as she walked before the bag was opened and you were lifted out and shown to airport security. Then Dr. Ashley put you back in and was still disappointed to see you and Pilane still on opposite ends of the bag and not really talking as you had already fallen asleep and had taken a nap and woke up briefly when the lights from the airport got shown into the bag.

Then once you placed back in- the noise from the ruckus of the airport woke you back up as rolled to lay on your back and glared up into the loud darkness around you as you huffed.

“The noise bothering you?” Pilane asked when he heard your irritated huff.

“Yes. I’m…I’m not used to it. It’s humans in their environment. It’s so loud. I don’t understand how they aren’t all deaf.” You muttered in irritation.

“Well then you’d hate the ocean. It’s always loud, all the time. But there’s a bit of rhythm to it at least. But you also learn to drown certain sounds out while being alert and always listening to others.” He appraised.

“I take it your mom had a hard time adapting to the calm and quiet of a tank compared to the ocean.” You gathered.

“She did. Instead of feeling safe, she was always on high alert at first because the only time it was ever that quiet on the reef was when there were predators out. But she couldn’t be released back into the wild because of her injuries, that and my father didn’t feel up to the task of living in the wild either. And it wasn’t until my father actually went with her to inspect every bit of that tank- that she knew she was safe. But then to realize that there was glass and that she couldn’t just flee to another part of the reef- then she felt trapped.” He admitted.

“I know exactly how that feels.” You muttered which only made Pilane’s head drop farther down. Here he worked so hard to impress you and try to befriend you despite pissing you off and leaving the worst first impression and you still hated him. He felt so hopeless, and helpless too. Like he was never going to get this right.

“I’m sorry.” Pilane apologized again.

“Me too. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself so you didn’t feel you had to trick me and trap me against my will. It sucks being betrayed. And it sucks being paired up with a mate who you had no other choice from. Which is I’m sure how your mother felt when humans took her from the wild and being put with your father too. I take it she didn’t choose him, but he was chosen for her right?” You ventured.

“He was.” Pilane admitted lowly as he could now see and understand how rather poetic the irony was. The very circumstances that made his mother so unhappy were the same circumstances he just unwittingly coerced onto you and it made him feel like a idiotic monster for doing it. You had every right to hate him. In fact, looking at it like that. He would think something was wrong if you didn’t hate him.

“So it wasn’t a surprise when she got really depressed. And while she was a voracious eater in the beginning, her appetite eventually waned. At first she ate every food item put into the enclosure- because in the wild, you have to take advantage of every opportunity to eat because you never know when another will come around. But once she realized that no matter how much she ate or didn’t eat- food was always going to be provided. Then she felt cheated and defeated. Because what use was it to become a good hunter when the prospect of being fed all the time was always there? And while she appreciated having challenging prey and the thrill of the hunt. Having true hunger or the desperation of starving to death- or having your own brood starve to death if you weren’t successful- not be a motivator made the victory of a kill more hollow for her. Like preying on a crab just to find it’s only the molted shell of one.” He explained.

“And by the time she was healed as much as she could be, to be denied of going back into the wild and not having a partner with the same hopes and goals. Threw her into an even deeper depression. And it didn’t matter what food my father brought to her, how big and how much like the wild the tank could try to immitate. She was never happy. Once she was healed though, Ashely tried to pair her with other specimans from the wild, but because of her injuries and deformities from them, no male from the wild wanted her either. And it took everything my father had to convince her not to kill herself. To just hold on long enough for the eggs to hatch so that she could at least teach them all the lessons she had learned from the wild so that even if she couldn’t go back, maybe they could and she could find a measure of happiness and contentment if they did. And Ashley swore that any and all of her offspring who wanted to go back, would be released into the wild. And that was the only thing that my mother lived for.” Pilane explained with a sniffle as he cried in his corner at the memories.

“What’s your mother’s name?” You asked him.

“She didn’t have one when she was on the reef. And it was hard for her to call my father anything other than “mate”.” He answered.

“So what did your dad end up calling her? Or did he just stick with Mate and call that enough?” You asked.

“He ended up calling her Sydney. Because that was the name of the city and also the name of the Aquaium. And he was the one who ended up naming us when we hatched. And while my mother liked us having names to tell us apart. My mother taught us how to live in the ocean and how to stake out good caves or make caves if we were in an area where good caves were either non existent or weren’t naturally occurring. She taught us how to make weapons and hunt and survive and that in the wild, there is no such silly things as affection for a mate- that you took whichever mate was the biggest and strongest because that meant that they were good hunters enough to feed themselves successfully. And that if the mate didn’t provide for the other well or was selfish and didn’t share their food, or were too rough in mating or forced mating…” He began.

“A rapist and abusive and all around bad mate.” You supplied.

“Yeah, if they were those things, then you should never put up with that and find a better mate.” Pilane continued.

“So what did you learn from your dad?” You asked as you sat up and leaned back into the corner, facing him as your own special night vision allowed you to make him out in the darkness which was helped by his own ring glowing to illuminate the space which you appreciated as he seemed to continued to weave a bigger blanket for himself too.

“My dad tried to teach us how to live contentedly in a tank. How to care for a mate, even one as wild and even unwilling and depressed as my mother still is. How to be a good parent and mate. How to be patient. How to be kind. How to help others, even at the cost of your own wants, desires and dreams.” Pilane answered.

“Like any good Ethel Micro should. But I take it your mother didn’t agree with those lessons.” You ventured.

“At first, no she didn’t. She was solely focused on teaching us how to survive and then thrive in the wild. Because while she couldn’t be released back into the wild. She always hoped her children would be. So my mother taught us all how to live on our own. My father taught us how life can be better when it’s shared with someone else and how to take being confined to a tank well.” Pilane murmured softly.

“Some of my siblings couldn’t take- living in a tank. They did everything they could to escape and actually succeeded a few times and when they couldn’t, they outright destroyed the tank and nearly killed the aquarium staff because every time the lid was opened, they outright attacked the hands of the caretakers trying to bite and sting and invenomate them. So they got released into the wild. I have no idea if they’re still alive, I hope so. My parents tried to live in the wild on the reef. But my father couldn’t take it and was super stressed out the whole time and after a week, when Ashley came back to check on them, he swam right to her and tried to get into her wet suit with her so she would take him back to the home tank and my mother- without my father- couldn’t survive without him so she reluactantly came back too. There’s only thirteen of us that decided to stay. Five of my brothers wanted to pair with other potential surrogates and only three of my sisters did. Everyone else decided to try to rehabilitate others that were found injured in the wild in the hopes of reintroducing the mated pairs into the wild instead of just individuals and hopefully they’ve been successful.” Pilane revealed.

“So is the hope that either most, if not all of your future children would be versatile?” You ventured.

“How do you mean?” Pilane asked.

“That they could be surrogates, or help rehabilitate the injured, or could even be re-introduced out in the wild?” You specified.

“That was the plan.” Pilane answered.

“Ashley was hoping that I would either be housed into the huge aquarium that mimics the wild the closest. So that the brood could be taught what creatures could be predators, which ones could be prey. But because it’s the big aquarium, it would mean that there would be tourists constantly during the day and then the staff and watchmen and of course we would have neighbors because there are already clownfish micros and other kinds of mated micro pairs among the other fish too.” Pilane explained.

“Ah, I see. So you were looking for a mate that could both be territorial but still play nicely with others while being on display.” You concluded.

“Yup.” Pilane nodded before Dr. Ashley lifted the bag and began walking again.

“She must be boarding the plane.” Pilane ventured, judging by the way she was standing and then taking a step and waiting and then taking another step and then waiting again.

“She’s in the line to board the plane.” Pilane explained as you held your stomach because you weren’t used to the stop and go movement.

“You ok?” Pilane asked as you clamped your hand over your mouth.

“I’m getting sick.” You admitted.

“Here, you feel it the most if you’re on the bottom or hanging onto the sides of the bag, if you suspend yourself in the middle, it’ll feel like a current in a tank.” Pilane urged you as he gently reached out his hand towards you as you took as the two of you did your best to float in place, occasionally and softly getting up to the top and then floating back down.

“Better?” Pilane asked as he noticed you pull your hand away from your mouth as you took a few calming breaths.

“Yeah.” You nodded as you kept holding onto his hand for balance as the two of you synced your movements.

“It’ll come in real handy when the plane takes off and lands or especially if there’s turbulence.” Pilane offered.

“Turbulence?” You asked.

“I’ve done this a few times already, this is my fourth flight. The first time I threw up everything in my stomach and then I just kept throwing up when the vomit soon consumed every bit of water. So do your best not to throw up.” He urged you.

“Yup, don’t throw up, got it.” You nodded.

“Have you been to the big tank at the aquarium?” You asked.

“Yes. It’s wonderful. But if you like peace and quiet, you’d probably hate it.” He answered with a soft chuckle.

“Well this is my first…everything. So let’s wait to see how I like anything until I get there.” You offered before you felt the bag swing back and forth as Ashely must have been trying to carry it in front of her as she got into her seat which made you giggle as you watched Winnie struggle to stay standing on the bottom as she slid along the bag’s bottom.

“Don’t throw up Winnie!” You laughed before you went down and picked her up so she didn’t have to struggle and wouldn’t chance accidentally popping the bag with her spiked feet.

“I gotcha Winnie. It’s ok. Just rest.” You urged her as you wrapped your arms under the shell of her head and her legs. She folded her legs in on herself.

“Although Winnie wouldn’t probably last two seconds in the big tank.” Pilane admitted.

“And any who would hunt her can get a taste of my venom.” You frowned at him and turned your back on him to use your body to shield Winnie from his sight to keep him from getting any other ideas.

“Why do you love that crab so much?” Pilane asked.

“Because she chose me and my company over all others. So I will repay that loyalty in kind. I know, I know, loyalty doesn’t make any sense at all in the wild. But I don’t give a fuck about what is natural in the wild. Too many micros have been lost because of the humans sticking to the scientific method of not intervening. I know nature is cruel and mother nature doesn’t fuck around or care if you live or die. Because of the survival of the fittest and all that. But shouldn’t you and I be grateful that Ethel raised micros who are above that and give nurture a chance over nature? Because if it was completely up to nature, you would have died in the egg in the ocean and would have been another’s lunch and so would your mother. But maybe it’s the humanity in us that makes us keep trying and keep getting back up when life beats us down. So yes, I have a pet and yes she may be a crab, but she’s mine. And if you pose a threat to her, I take that as you posing a threat to me. And I will use whatever force necessary to keep her safe.” You insisted.

“I don’t mean her any harm, it was just a question. I’m not going to eat her or anything. I was just curious.” Pilane excused.

“Oh.” You frowned.

“Are you just used to having pets?” Pilane asked when he realized you were really defensive about the subject.

“Yes I am. In my tank, my parents had pet algae eater snails.” You answered.

“Snails?” He asked with a curious brow raised.

“Yes, snails. Big dumb delicious things in a spiral shell. About as dumb as the algae they eat, maybe a peg higher. But they kept the tank clean and picking them up and breaking their own seal so you can set them down in a spot that really needed cleaning was important. My mother trained them to respond to a series of taps on their shells so they would release on their own so she could move them easier. At least Winnie is smarter than a snail and much more responsive and actually shows intelligence, and empathy and a measure of protectiveness.” You defended.

“Delicious? Like how delicious? Like mackerel delicious? Scallop delicious? How delicious are snails?” Pilane asked curiously.

“Well snails and whelks and things like that have a peculiar taste that doesn’t really compare to any of that. Similar to clams or mussels or something like that, because they’re all mollusks. Not quite sea slug, or sea worm, much more dense. Once I got to try a little baby one, it was all over. You have no idea how hard it was to not hunt and eat those suckers, even as big as they were. But their eggs? Ooh, man were they delicious. My parents let us eat the baby ones and the eggs to keep the population of them under control. Because each snail is both a male and a female and they fertilize each other’s eggs and will lay hundreds and up to thousands of eggs if given long enough and in good conditions.” You admitted as you slowly turned to face him and talk to him again.

He made mental notes of what and how you responded to different approaches and tones and implications. His wild instincts were screaming at him to eat the damn little crab. And then the other more “domesticated” side, that sounded a lot like his father’s voice in his head, told him that if he wanted a chance to at least befirend you and hopefully, one day, someday- mate with you, he would have to grow to like what you liked. And if befriending a little crab was what it took, he would have to do so. As he looked at Winnie and repeated ‘friend not food’ over and over in his head. That and your scent in the water was also trying to kick his other instincts to go ahead and mate with you, becoming stronger by the minute the more you jet yourself in the water, trying to remain stationary.

“Really?” Pilane noted and grinned lopsidedly.

“Oh yeah. Now for snails, you have to pierce their shells just the right spot on the spiral to get them out. Or just smash them on a rock depending on how small they are and how thin their shells are. But the eggs? Oh they were like fatty, meaty seagrapes once you get through the goo they are laid in. Now granted you had to climb out of the water to get at them because the eggs are laid in a cluster of goo that floats to the surface or some snails will climb out of the water to lay the clusters outside the water and the goo itself is sticky and tastes horrible. But if you also have cleaner fish or shrimp, they’ll clean it off of you. Because they were laid on the underside of the lids. And you had to get strong enough to move your body in the air because your weight in the water is much less than it is in the air. But once you were strong enough to climb out of the water and your suckers were strong enough to hold your weight out of the water. And hold you upside down, you could just grab and eat as many- as fast- as you could because you can only hold your breath of water for so long. But by Aquaman’s trident, was it worth it every time.” You recalled with a fond smile that Pilane found rather enchanting.

“Huh, I’ve never had snails or their eggs. The most um, well, “domestic” thing i’m used to eating is krill cubes.” Pilane admitted.

“Oh those are good. Really cold because the humans keep them in the freezer. Which if the tank is a little too warm, is a nice treat. But if you ever see the snail eggs, just do yourself a favor and just try to get an egg and eat just one. Depending on when it was laid- the flavor and consistency changes. But the freshest laid eggs are just pure fatty liquid. The farther along the egg in development- the bigger the snail embryo and chewy they get.” You dictated before the bag stopped moving.

“Oh good, she’s sitting down now. It’ll be a while before the plane starts to take off.” Pilane informed you before you let yourself float down to the bottom in the middle as you pet Winnie and let Pilane sit close.

“Can I pet Winnie?” Pilane asked before you looked to Winnie who wiggled her eyes before you set her down and she hesitantly crawled from your lap to Pilane’s.

“Hi Winnie, don’t pinch me ok?” He requested before he hesitantly started to pet her which made her melt and lean into his touch that was now much more tender. Then she laid flat in his lap so her feet weren’t poking at his webbing or tentacles. Then she used her fan legs to clean his hands

“Thank you.” You thanked her graciously.

“See? Isn’t it nice to be clean?” You cooed as you reached out and pet Winnie yourself before you felt the water in the bag swirl.

“The plane is getting ready to take off, here, lay on this side of the bag.” Pilane directed before you both laid back, side by side on the bag of the bag with Winnie between your lap and his.

“Now when the plane takes off it’s going to feel bumpy but the gravity will be much more intense. On my first flight, I smacked face first into the side of the bag during take off and had to be that way for the whole thing and it lasts several minutes.” He explained.

“Ok.” You nodded.

You heard the engines outside of the plane begin to roar to life as you nervously yet excitedly reached out and held his hand while the other kept Winnie in place as he squeezed back reassuringly as you took a few deep breaths. But the more you did so, the more you could taste Pilane in the water. And damn your body’s reaction to him. Because your tentacles seemed to reach out and twist around his before the suckers stuck to the side and bottom of the bag for support. And the more you did that, the more his own did the same. And it was almost like hugging him and his body even tasted good from the sensitive feelers on the suckers of your tentacles. And before you knew it, the force of the plane racing down the runway seemed to glue you both to the back of the bag as you couldn’t help but squeal and giggle in delight at the new sensation and you could hear Pilane’s laughter mingle with your own in your ears as you laughed even harder as the sensation became even more intense before the roughness fell away.

“And lift-off!” Pilane crooned before you felt both glued to the back of the bag and just a touch weightless before the feeling subsided the higher the plane climbed into the air before the sensation of you being glued to the bag subsided completely and the weightlessness returned and was even more poignant now than ever before. You let go of Pilane to roll and twist in the water, almost drunk and overwhelmed by the sensation as you just continued to laugh and enjoy it.

“Is flying always this fun?” You asked.

“Usually no. But I think I’ve been doing it wrong.” Pilane answered.

“How can you do it wrong? By riding the bag face first?” You asked with another giggle at the mental image as Winne floated down the bottom and wedged herself in the corner to feel a semblance of being anchored as Pilane and yourself continued to roll and twist in the water and around each other, savoring the weightlessness as the plane did little arcs in the air, providing extra bounce in the water.

“Because I was doing it all alone.” He answered.

“This is the first flight that’s been fun. And I think it has everything to do with the company.” He ventured.

“Aww, likewise. If I didn’t have you giving me heads up about what was about to happen and how to ride it out, I would be too stressed to enjoy it myself.” You ventured.

“So thank you for that.” You thanked him graciously.

“You’re welcome.” He offered before you grabbed him and hugged him before there was a bit of turbulence and both of you got pushed to the bottom of the bag with you on top of him.

At the first sign of the turbulence, Pilane seemed to wrap all his tentacles around yours to that his own tried to smooth and bundle together to curl as much of himself around you to protect you and shield you from it.

“Oof.” You both huffed as the feeling of being pushed into each other as he held you tighter.

“Turbulence?” You guessed as you used your hands, braced on either side of his ribcage to sit up just enough to look him in the face as his arms loosened their hold around you just enough to let you do so as his arms went down to still hook around your waist.

“Turbulence.” He nodded before there was more and you let yourself curl around him even more. You head nuzzled into his chest as your arms wrapped around him tightly to keep yourself tightly anchored to him.

“Is it scary?” Pilane asked you worriedly as he started to pet your head and your hair which you found you liked quite a bit.

“No, just different. Will the whole ride be like this?” You asked.

“No, it should even out.” Pilane answered before it did but neither of you let go of the other as both of you were content to just lay on the bottom of the bag, holding each other before there was more turbulence and it shook you violently in the bag as you couldn’t help but yelp and cling to him harder before you slammed into his corner and one of the teeth from his arrows poked your back as you cried out in pain.

Pilane immediately used all of his strength to pull both of you away from the corner as he then twisted you so that he was between you and the weapons in his corner.

“Zhanna!” Pilane called out as his rings began to glow and pulse but more out of worry and alarm rather than anger.

“One of your arrows poked me in the back, I’m bleeding.” You cried and whimpered as you reached down to feel the wound on your back.

“Shit. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I thought the bag I put them in would have…” Pilane began to excuse before both of you heard the unmistakable sound of water running.

“Oh shit!” You both exclaimed as you both rushed to the corner to see that the arrow heads and poked multiple holes into the corner before Pilane didn’t think, but stuffed the tips of his tentacles into the holes to stop them up and took the sack gave it to you and then used his own webbing to try to seal off the corner but he didn’t have enough tentacles to stop up all the holes.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck!” Pilane cursed as his tentacles, in a panic- tried to find the biggest holes and stop them up with his tentacles as both of you were glowing and pulsing in anxiety.

“What do we do?” You asked.

“There’s more holes than I can stop up, I can feel the water slipping around my tentacles.” Pilane answered

“But if your tentacles dry out you could lose them!” You pointed out.

“But without water to breathe we die! I can regrow all of them if I have to.” Pilane insisted.

“Then we’ll regrow them together.” You insisted as you stuffed your own tentacles past his as you felt the water leaving and every hole you found that Pilane wasn’t plugging up himself and stuffed your own tentacles into the holes as another leg counted how many holes there were.

“There’s ten holes. Each of us should get five of them.” You urged him as three of your tentacles were pulling at his own to get them out of the holes to stuff the holes with your own tentacles.

“No! My weapons put the holes in the bag, it’s my tentacles that should cover the holes.” Pilane shook his head no.

“And how many months will it take for you to regrow all of them? If you share half of the holes with me, each of us will only have to regrow five. And instead of me only regrowing two and you regrowing all of yours. We are in this together now, for better or for worse. I got into this bag with you and I’ll leave it with you. Now get your tentacles out of the holes. Especially this one. Cause you’re gonna need it.” You urged as your tentacle wrapped around his cock tentacle and pulled it out of it’s hole and stuffed it with your own before he could reinsert it.

“But you’re already injured!” Pilane argued.

“Winnie! I need you to clean a wound on my back!” You called out as Winnie quickly scurried over to you as you laid down on the bag aso that Winnie could use her father like arms to clean the wound of your back.

“My mom always used her seasilk to cover wounds. Get a handful of seasilk but cover the gland with your hand so that it doesn’t touch the water and get firm or hard. And then when you have a handful of gooey seasilk, once Winnie cleans the wound, smear it with your silk. It’ll keep me from bleeding any more.” You instructed Pilane as Winnie used her delicate fan legs to clean the wound as best she could as you felt whatever was on those teeth that Pilane used as arrows had started to infect the wound as you couldn’t help but chuckle softly at how ticklish Winnie’s feathered fan arms were on the rest of your skin. But also at the irony of it all.

“Does her fan arms tickle?” Pilane asked worriedly as he worked on doing what you had instructed him to do.

“It does, but I’m also laughing because I told one of the other males who had listened to you at first that ‘I would rather die than be mated to the likes of him’ and everyone else who listened to your bad ideas. I swore on Triton’s throne. He must have been listening and is holding me to it.” You laughed a little harder at the absurdity of it before you hissed in pain as Winnie backed away so that Pilane could apply the seasilk to the wound as you grunted and clenched your jaw and tried not to cry when it stung a little.

“I’m sorry, this must hurt like hell.” Pilane whimpered as he covered your wound with his seasilk but was amazed when it stuck to your skin and sealed off the wound.

“Not nearly as much as my pride has been hurting. It’s ok. I’ve gotten scraped and banged up worse. Losing five tentacles will hurt though, probably be one of the most painful experiences we’ll have.” You said.

“I’m so sorry Zhanna, I should have wrapped them in thicker seasilk.” Pilane apologized profusely as you could tell he was starting to cry.

“Pilane?” You asked as he pulled his hand back and cried into his hands as you turned and faced him.

“It’s ok. It was an accident. It wouldn’t have punctured the bag if it didn’t have the weight of both of us pushing on it. I just got poked and scratched a little. Once we land, I’m sure Ashely can give me some antibiotics if the wound gets infected. And with us stopping up the holes, we’ll be ok. It’s not like they’re huge gushing holes and the water is falling out faster than we can stop it up. We’ll have to keep an eye on the water level but we’ll be ok.” You soothed as you pulled his hands away from his face and held his face in your hands.

“But I put you in danger and I never wanted to…” He began to cry before you shook your head and kissed him to keep him from spiraling.

“I know you didn’t want to put me in danger or see me get hurt. Which is good, mates are supposed to feel that way about each other. That’s what affection is all about. But I have an idea. If we can try to stop up the holes with wet gooey seasilk. Maybe we won’t lose any tentacles at all. Let’s try ok?” You urged him.

“But you’re not my…” Pilane shook his head before you kissed him again, much deeper this time and smiled into the kiss as he fisted his hand into your hair and clung to you as his hand that had covered the wound was splayed over it protectively. He kissed you like a micromerman starved before you broke apart to breathe again as your instincts were screaming to screw the holes, use your last minutes to fuck like crazy. But your intellect won out. If you could stop up the holes, you could mate as much as you wanted once the threat on your lives was lifted.

“We might as well be. If we can get through this flight, I’ll bet you anything, we’ll find a way to get through anything and everything else. We just need to work together ok?” You encouraged him as he nodded and then kissed you again before you the bag was openned up and the bright light made you both pull away and shield your eyes as you adjusted to the light.

“Shit!” Ashley screamed in horror to see multiple holes with both Pilane’s tentacles and your own sticking out, trying to keep the water in.

When there was turbulence and she felt her lap get wet and ripped open her backpack to find her worst fears realized as stewardesses rushed over to her.

“Help! I need help!” Ashley cried out as everyone on the plane turned to her and gasped to see what she was holding and the bag that was leaking water. Multiple people immediately started to record the incident on their phones.

“If they run out of water they’ll die! The bag popped in the turbulence! Please! I need help saving them!” Ashley pleaded with the stewardesses as everyone looked to you and Pilane in the bag in the corner since both of you were still pulsing and glowing out of fear and anxiety and pain.

“Oh gods! What do you need? How can we help?” The stewardesses asked.

“I need the largest bottle of water possible! And salt! We need to make more salt water for them!” Ashley insisted as she got out of her seat and she and the stewardesses rushed to the front of the plane before a stewardess got on the speaker.

“Ladies and gentlemen we have an emergency on board! Anyone who has large bottles of water and any who have salt packets please raise them above your head so they can be collected. Dr. Ashley Miles is transporting micro-octo-mermaids for the Sydney Aquarium and they have somehow punctured their transportation bag and if we can not replicate salt water they will die. Please!” The stewardess announced over the intercom before half the passengers immediately held up bottles of water and salt packets they had collected from their food. They held them up as the stewardesses took a fresh trash bag and quickly took up a collection as others in first class, began recording the scene unfolding in front of them.

“How much salt do we need?”

“35 grams of salt for every 975 grams of water making a total weight of 1000 grams.” Ashley replied, recalling that ratio from her studies.

“Ok, I have a liter bottle of Figi water, so how much salt do I need?” A stewardess asked as she got the bottle out of what was collected.

“Oh gosh a liter is um….” Dr. Ashley’s brain drew a break as she watched Pilane sign what had happened to her.

“The weapons that they made themselves, that’s what poked the holes. Right now both are filling the holes with their legs but if the legs dry out, they will lose the legs. Oh gods this is a disaster!” Dr. Ashley cried.

“A liter is 33.814 fluid ounces. And 35 grams, according to my conversion calculator is 1.2 ounces and 975 grams of water is 34.4 ounces. So if a liter is 33.8 grams. How much salt is in the salt packets?” A kid asked as he had his school math book that had a conversion table on it as he was finishing his homework on the way to his vacation before he grabbed a salt packet and found that each packet was roughly three quarters of a gram.

“So if each salt packet is .75 grams, and we need to salinate 33.814 fluid ounces of water in a liter, that means we need…..” A quickly calculated it as another stewardess was using a white board to do the same match equation to make sure that it was accurate.

“We need 26 salt packets!” He announced.

“Yup, 26 salt packets! Ok! Get the lid off and lets get the salt in the water.” The other stewardess quickly grabbed the handful of salt packets as they quickly counted 26 of them as everyone was in in the aisle and coming up and zooming in on their cameras, getting the best angle on both you and Pilane.

“Is this what being in an aquarium is like? Humans all around you?” You asked Pilane as you laid on the bottom of the bag where Ashley’s hand was as you were grateful for her warmth at least.

“No, not nearly as stressful or life threatening.” Pilane answered.

“Well, that’s good.” You nodded as you looked up and saw the water level drop by the minute.

“So what kind of micro’s are they?” Another passenger asked.

“These are blue ringed octopus micro’s they’re part of the surrogate program. The male- his name is Pilane and his mother was rescued from the wild, she was guarding her clutch of eggs and had already lost a few arms and half of her jets on her webbing. Her male had abandoned her or been eaten, we don’t know. But we took her in and rehabilitated her at the aquarium and gave her another male to help heal her and help nurse her back to health. His father Sebastian was a special micro from Dr. Ethel Atwood. Who breeds especially caring and nurturing micros. And Sebastian succeeded. He kept her from dying, he helped her heal and regrow her missing tentacles just in time to hatch her brood. And this male is special because he’s had a really hard time finding a mate. This was his fifth time to find a mate. And I had to go back to Dr. Ethel Atwood who is the premiere micro breeder in the world and she had this beautiful beauty. Her name is Zhanna and see how she’s filling half the holes with her own tentacles? And that crab in there? That’s what separates an Ethel micro from any other. That crab is her pet and her name is…Winnie. And she told him that…” Ashley began as she deciphered what Pilane was using sign to tell her.

“They were in this together and that if they entered that bag together they were going to leave together.” Ashley smiled through her tears as Pilane and yourself held hands.

“What’s your name?” Ashley asked the kid.

“Blake.” He answered.

“Thank you so much for your help Blake, I’ll have this pair name a kid after you.” She thanked him as he and the stewardess were emptying the salt into the bottle before they put the cap on it and shook the bottle vigorously to get all the salt to dissolve. Pilane and yourself watched as the water level continue to lower as water continued to overflow Ashley’s hand.

Blake laughed in delight at the thought of an octo-micro-merman being named after him but kept working diligently. Ashely held the pair in her hand in the bucket that they usually had just for ice to keep the water from making a huge mess on the floor.

“You’re welcome.” He answered as he shook the bottle has hard as he could to make sure the salt dissolved.

“Ok, there.” He said just as the water was pretty low in the bag.

“Ok, I’m pouring you guys in, get your things.” Ashley insisted before Pilane and yourself pulled your tentacles out of the holes, as Pilane grabbed his bag and yours and your blanket and his as you grabbed Winnie and both of you slid down the plastic into the bottle as Pilane shoved his bag of weapons down in first and then your things and then you pushed Winnie into the bottle, happy she was still small enough to fit in the mouth of the bottle before you squeezed yourself through the mouth of the bottle, which was harder to do because your eggs were still developing, making you thicker than usual as Pilane helped you squeeze through and held his breath to make sure all of you got into the bottle and once you were through, you turned around and used your suction on the inside of the bottle to reach out and grab Pilane’s hand and pull him in. And the bottle overflowed from the displacement of your body and Pilane’s. But he squeezed through the mouth much easier. And once both of you were in, Ashley screwed the cap back on.

“Is the water ok?” Ashley signed to Pilane who used his sign language to sign that it wasn’t perfect but it would do as you and him both clung to the sides of the bottle and caught your breath as Winnie and your things were on the bottom of the bottle.

“Are they going to be ok?” Blake and the other stewardesses asked hopefully.

“Yeah, they’re going to be just fine.” Ashley smiled as she wiped away the last of her tears.

“Ladies and gentleman, we just wanted to say thank you so much for all your help. Thanks to your generous donations of water and salt we were able to turn a bottle of Figi water into salt water to save Pilane and Zhanna the blue ring octopus micro mermaids for the Sydney Aquarium! And a special thank you to Blake for doing the math and conversion to make sure that we put enough salt into the water to replicate salt water!” The stewardess announced over the intercom as everyone on board cheered.

Ashely came back to her seat and showed Pilane and yourself off to all who wanted to see you and talk about the conservation effort. You both smiled and waved to the people she showed you off to. Especially the little kids on board who were eager to see you as you put your hands to the bottle where people would put their fingertips as so many people were moved to tears that you two were saved from a potentially life threatening situation. And Dr. Ashley got to talk all about Dr. Ethel Atwood who was the Jane Goodall of micro mermaids and about the aquarium and it’s conservation program.

Once everyone on board got to see and meet Pilane and yourself, Ashley returned to her seat and carefully put you back into her bag so that Pilane and yourself could get some privacy.

“Oh thank Aquaman’s trident.” You breathed in relief once Pilane and yourself were given some privacy as you went to the bottom and wrapped the bags of weapons into the blankets Pilane and you had made before you secured it into the corner as Winnie was happy to snuggle into another corner which left the other two on the other side for Pilane and yourself.

And you didn’t know if it was the brush with death or what but the moment neither of you were on display- Pilane and yourself couldn’t keep your hands or your tentacles, much less your mouths off of each other. Pilane had you pushed up into the opposite corner that Winnie was inhabiting as his third tentacle, his hectocotylus, his cock tentacle unsheathed itself.

And the really wonderful thing was that while it looked and acted like a normal tentacle. It hid a delightful surprise. Because sheathed within was the cock of your dreams. The head was large and bulbous and ribbed. And it was big enough to make you feel perfectly stuffed yet not so big that it was an uncomfortable stretch but when it moved in and out of you, at the base was not just another bulbous bulge. But a whole knot that was trying it’s hardest to seat into you. And another flap that was a flange that was like a ribbed tongue that massaged your clit. You wrapped your arms around Pilane’s neck and shoulders as he suckled at your breasts. While his hands were firmly grasping your hips and pulling you down onto him while his own hips were hiking up into yours. Thanks to his other tentacles were suctioned up beside you so that his whole lower half would hike up into you while he had your own other tentacles suctioned to the bottom of the bottle so that it was a stretch and really anchored you down and only added that much more power into the strokes.

“Oh gods!” You keened as that knot was starting to ease into you as your canal opened up in excited anticipation to take it. You were so close to your sexual release, you could literally taste it since there were so much pheramones in the water being released from both of you and it was literally intoxicating and you wanted his cock fully seated and in you and filling you fully and stuffed to the brim.

“Come on, stuff me full of that amazing, wild seed of yours.” You purred as you kissed him and bit his lip just hard enough to make him whine and groan before he grabbed your hips so hard you thought he was going to bruise them, before he pushed that bulbous knot at the base into you and the feeling of that knot seating itself into you and then to feel that tapered head breach the base of your womb and the ridges on the head locked it into place at the top of your canal while the tip filled your womb with seed. Your womb fluttered, coating all the eggs that were lining it in the sperm as your orgasm filled every fiber of your being.

The water was practically a pheromone soup by now. There was wonderful, heady haze overwhelming your senses and his. His whole body tensed as you could feel that tentacle pulse as his sperm pumped down the channel of his cock tentacle. He must have been saving it for a very long time because your belly started to bulge even more as your womb was stuffed with almost as much of his cum as it was your eggs. You rested your head in the crux of his neck and shoulder as you clung to him as you both rode out the rest of your orgasms before both of you seemed to go lax as he let go with his suckers of the tentacles above you as he moved you down so that you were both sitting down in the bottom corner.

“You still with me?” Pilane asked.

“Oh I’m never leaving you.” You insisted as you nuzzled your head into his chest as he started to pet your hair and comb though your silken tresses with his fingertips, marveling at the fact that the most fiercely loyal, brilliant, defiant and beautiful micro mermaid he had ever met in his life was happily sated and at peace in his arms and hopefully didn’t hate his guts still.

“Likewise.” He grinned before the knot began to deflate and the ridges also laid down and the tip exited your womb as the base of the womb closed tightly once it had left, keeping every drop of sperm in your womb as you got after shocks as he gradually pulled out of you.

“Wait, no come back.” You complained as you reached for it with another tentacle to wrap around it to keep it from resheathing itself in the tentacled arm before trying to guide it back to your center.

“You wanna go again?” Pilane asked in pleasantly surprised amusement.

“Do you not want to go again?” You returned. As you teased the head of the cock by swirling it around in your entrance as his eyes got dark and filled with lust again.

“No I do, I just didn’t think, that um that you liked me enough to go again. Cause I thought I was a ‘Plain Pain in Your Ass’?” Pilane admitted.

“Pilane, look at me. I like you. I have great affection for you that will grow into a love that will burn as bright as the sun one day. I’m genuinely attracted to you. You are everything I never knew I always wanted. You’re brilliant and clever and tenacious and have honor and were willing to dry out and lose all of your tentacles, including your cock just to keep me safe. Why wouldn’t I love and adore you for trying to sacrifice yourself like that? Even when I made your life miserable, and even when you gave me a taste of my own medicine. Which I needed. Ethel Micros have been told for countless generations that we’re the best micros in the world. And it gives us egos that are too big. So thank you for popping it, otherwise I never would have been able to get into this bottle.” You teased with an easy smile that made him chuckle.

“Well in that case you’re welcome.” Pilane offered.

“See, if you had been more forthcoming and told me all about you and your situation on day one, we would have been doing this on day one. And then you never would have felt the need to test me out and single me out and pissing me off by interrupting the marital bliss of my sisters. And honestly, if you had told more girls the truth about you, discretely of course. There would have been a fight over you that I gladly would have competed in. You’re a wild type, remember? And we will happily give our children the best of both worlds. Both the wild instincts coupled with almost countless generations of breeding for nurture instead of pure nature. And our children will have an overabundance of choices for what they get to do with their lives. And that’s the best thing a parent can provide for a child, a choice and intelligence and instincts to choose the best path for themselves. All of that might as well have been super sweet seagrapes to a youngling at the rate I would have eaten it up if you had just been more forthcoming with me. I’m sorry you had bad experiences in the past when you were honest and it backfired on you and it led you to believe that no one would love you or want you because of your circumstances. Because nothing could be farther than the truth. And frankly, while I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time in the past, it just means that you’ve gained more experience for the future. I’m really happy and relieved it didn’t work out the four times before you could meet me though. Because now that I have you, I’m never letting go. I’m much too stubborn for that. Which I’m sure you’ve gathered by now.” You reassured him as you held his handsome face in your hands again.

“You may have given that impression, yes.” He shrugged with a lopsided grin.

“Yeah, so I don’t know about you but it might as well be pheromone soup in here and we have several more hours of flight left right? Isn’t it a long flight to Australia?” You prodded.

“It is.” He nodded.

“Then let's not waste another moment. Besides, let's see just how big of a pain you could be in my ass if you’re keen on trying.” You offered.

“Oh you mean like this?” Pilane offered before he stroked down your sides, held your hips in his hands and canted your pelvis before he sheathed his cock into your womanly canal while another tentacle prodded your anal pucker once the flap that covered both was relaxed and flipped backwards.

“Oh yeah, just like that.” You moaned before the other tentacle finally wriggled deeper into you as you laid back onto your own back tentacles while your forward ones wrapped around his waist in turn.

“Do it to me.” Pilane pleaded as he laid over you.

“Gladly.” You giggled before three of your tentacles reached under his webbing and poked at his own anus with your own tentacles. He shivered and shuddered before you managed to squeeze the tip of one tentacle into it and then another and then used your purchase to spread it wide before stuffing it with the third.

“Oh gods!” Pilane whimpered and shuddered and started to pant as he held you even tighter.

And you then reached up and anchored the suckers at the tip of the tentacle deep inside and then used that suction to shove the rest of the arm into him and he keened and cried out in ecstasy. Then he mirrored you before he put two tentacles into your rear and between his already very large cock in your womanhood and the the other two in the rear, you were overwhelmed and stretched to the limit. As an octo-micro- you were used to squishing and squeezing yourself to get into tight spaces but this was stretching you to your body’s limit. Then you seemed to sync up your movements with his so that you were fucking each other in tandem.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck.” Pilane panted, keened and moaned as he rested his head on your upper chest before nuzzling with both of your breasts as his arms wrapped around you to hold you close as you threaded your fingers in his hair to hold his head there. Your breasts started to grow larger and heavier immediately upon insemination as your body was already preparing to become a mother and to nurse your brood that was becoming fertilized inside you.

You swirled the tentacle inside of him and he nearly came undone before you added a second to the mix. Both tentacles twisting together like a corkscrew as Pilane pounded into you so hard, the knot squeezed and popped in and out of you with more ease than it had the first time as you body welcomed his.

“Pilane!” You keened as your body reached it’s climax but it seemed Pilane wasn’t done and continued his onslaught as your body was just over the edge of being overstimulated and overwhelmed in pleasure and ecstacy.

There was nothing outside of you and him in this bottle. You surrendered yourself completely to him while your tentacles continued to stroke into him before a third joined in and finally Pilane slammed his cock and his other tentacles into you. He was overstuffing your womb with his old seed seeping out, past the ridged head and past the glorious knot at the base to make room for new seed to be pumped with as much force as your jets over your webbing of your waist and lower body. All while your fingertips clawed at the muscle of his back and shoulders, trying to get as much of his body touching yours as possible.

“I didn’t think…I hadn’t realized…I couldn’t have imagined…oh gods, that was epic and awesome. I had no idea that was…a thing.” Pilane panted as he clung to you as he tried to catch his breath as you did the same.

“Yeah, one of my older brothers from a previous batch prefers to have a male for a mate and together they’re in the surrogate program and look after clutches where the female didn’t make it through the incubation process. And they’re in the tank right next to my parents. And that’s how they mate and it looked sexy and I was hoping for a mate who was into at least trying it to see if it felt as good as it looked.” You admitted.

“I see, yeah, it felt, gods, it still feels amazing.” Pilane admitted.

“So you’d be up to trying it again?” You asked hopefully.

“Oh I’ll gladly be the biggest pain in your ass that you can stand.” Pilane teased which got you both to laugh.

“Only if I can be just as big of one- in yours.” You grinned cheekily.

“Yes Ma’am.” Pilane nodded before he kissed you softly before the kiss morphed quickly from sweet to needy and wanting again before you went several more rounds until both of you had completely exhausted each other.

And by the time the plane landed and Ashley got off and went through customs, when she opened the bag and pulled out the bottle to see Pilane and yourself practically tied yourselves into one big knot but sleeping blissfully away in the bottom, she smiled happily as she realized your belly looked way bigger and the water was cloudy from all the sperm and pheramones in the water that was rising up to the top and had a film of milky white at the surface.

“Wow, you two have been busy.” Ashley giggled. Then she got her passport stamped and once she was through customs and picked up the rest of her luggage, she went straight to the Aquarium to put Pilane and yourself into quarantine and had to cut the mouth of the bottle off so you could get out of the bottle. But once Winnie and your things were in the quarantine tank. She fed you both a meal fit for a king which you both hungrily devoured most of it as Winnie was happy to eat all of the leftovers and you had barely enough time before you needed to lay your eggs in the nest provided to you. Pilane and yourself methodically pierced each egg with your venom spikes so that the babies had both your strain of venom and his as they would grow and develop.

The eggs were in the middle of incubation by the time you got to go into the big tank after quarintine that Pilane had told you about. Pilane, yourself and Winnie went around the tank to meet your neighbors so to speak. And even his parents. His father was so happy especially to meet you and happy to know that Ethel was still alive and still doing her thing. Ethel even came to see you both moved into the tank. And meeting his mother was something else. And you could see so much of her in Pilane but you could feel so much of his adopted father in him too. Sydney was actually delighted that you had effectively stood sucker to sucker up to Pilane and had fought with him and didn’t go down without a fight. And that you had made your own weapons and even made your own new style of “killer cord” that you had spun into a pillow. But once it was undone, had twice as many spikes as Pilane’s and two lines for venom to go into. She loved the fact that an “Ethel Micro” was as “wild” as you seemed in personality. And was very proud of Pilane for holding off to find the perfect mate for himself. And to see your eggs made her cry tears of joy that she had held on long enough to see them and thank her husband for helping her stay along long enough to see it with her own eyes. And especially to hear that you were going to be teaching them everyting they would need to know to either be surrogates, re-habilitators or even go back into the wild made her unbelievably happy.

And of course it made Pilane so happy to see his mom so happy for one of the few times in his life. And from that day on, she never seemed to be unhappy. She had her son and his mate and their brood incubating so close to her. Just like they would be in the wild since family members tended to stick close together in the wild and form tight knit communities as opposed to the solitary lives the blue ring octopus’ did in the wild. And to have you be her latest pupil of learning how to live in the wild on a reef and even off of a reef made her so happy, especially since she knew you were about to be repeating such lessons to your children soon. You introduced snail eggs to her and Pilane as his father had almost forgotten how good they could be as you helped keep the snail population in check and in balance in the big tank.

And while Sydney didn’t necessarily understand your relationship with Winnie, she respected you enough to respect Winnie as your pet and went around with you as you visited your other neighbors and requested for none of your neighbors to eat her. But considering you were one of the deadliest and most lethal of all the other micros, your request was of course accepted. Because most of them didn’t want to piss off the lethal new neighbors with the potentially violent mother in law. You made sure that through every molt Winnie had, you made her a new harness that served to identify her as yours.

And before you knew it, your children hatched from their eggs about the same time other micro’s children were hatching too and Sydney of course was overjoyed to be a grandmother, almost as much as Pilane was happy to finally be a father and his father to be a grandfather. And of course, introducing your brood to the others in the tank, to make sure that specifically your children would not accidentally invenomate their playmates and neighbors was a big responsibility.

And to see so many tourists come just to get pictures of you and Pilane and your brood and his parents. Especially since the video of the two of you almost dying on the plane went viral and got put on so many ‘restore faith in humanity’ video compilations and even made the news. It caused quite the sensation.

And the Aquarium saw a spike in visitors just to see Pilane and you and your kids. Especially as you both played with them and taught them how to live on a reef, how to surrogate, how to cohabitate with others, how to rehabilitate, how to live in a private tank and, if possible, live on a reef in the wild. Because you wanted each and every single one to be armed with knowledge about how to live in any and every condition and circumstance and to adjust and to be happy and content with those circumstances and choices that they would have the chance to make. Choices you could only dream of and dreams that had never truly died in Sydney either. Who was happy and content to live vicariously through her children and grandchildren.

But yet Pilane had already given you more than you had ever imagined possible for yourself. You were happy to call this huge tank with all kinds of neighbors home, because it was where Pilane called home. And while you could get used to the noise and the tourists and the general background noise that this huge tank always offered both day and night. You were still very happy, with your Plain Pain in Your Ass for your mate. Who only made life that much richer and that much more fun and interesting. Because your life never had another dull moment.

Because just as one brood had grown up and were ready to become a mate to someone else, and start families of thier own, you were happy to start the process all over again with Pilane. Over and over again, for as long as the two of you lived.

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