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palettepainter · 2 days ago

Text

To Love and Be Loved

@muletia merformers content grabbed my artblock by the throat and launched it into space. This AU is driving me crazy

I've never been the type to be consistent with AU's when making them just cuz I'm really bad at posting frequently for them, or I loose interest in continuing them, so I've only ever been invested in a few AU's online. Merformers?? I don't know WHAT it is about this concept, but it scratches an itch in my brain, so I wrote a drabble based off a scenario muletia's answered on their blog!

I'm still fairly new to character x reader content soooo please be nice,,,I actually had a lot of fun writing this, might write more! Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors

The AU belongs to muletia. I tried not to go into too much detail concerning readers appearance, but for backstory sake I made them a fisherman

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Sunlight burns behind your eyelids, even when you stubbornly clamp them tighter with a whine. You would have thrown your arm over your face to block it entirely, if everything didn’t feel like it weighed triple what it was, and if everything didn’t ache

A curious, painful numbness weighed heavily in every limb, as if your very bones themselves had turned to cement blocks. You whine again, attempting with what little reserve of energy you possessed to move

You didn’t move much, and you know you probably didn’t look very graceful doing so, but with effort, you roll onto your side

The familiar, yet undeniably unwelcome sensation of sand sticking to the skin of your cheek pulls yet another discomforted whine from you, but the very thought of trying to manoeuvre yourself so you can wipe it off - and the following realisation of how much energy it would take to do so - you abide to lay there and sulk in your uncomfortable misery instead

And then a crab walked sideways into your line of vision, about an inch away from your nose

A pity really, that you were stranded upon this island alone, scientists around the world would have been amazed at the speed in which you all but catapult yourself away with

That same startled movement however, causes you to instantly double over with a hiss and clutch desperately at your leg when an unexpected, angry flare of pain shoots up your limb. You suppress the urge to yelp, sucking air through your clenched teeth, it’s only after a few seconds that your eyes start to mist up pathetically, and you have to blink in a futile attempt to restore your vision

‘What the hell?!-’

You don’t care to glance up to see if the crab has retreated, or rub your face into your shoulder to brush off the sand that you can feel is still stubbornly glueing itself to your skin, everything else was distant, unimportant: the concern for why you were in such unexpected, such worrying pain, greatly outweighed anything else

Thanks to your clumsy flurry to get away from the crab you are at least partially sitting, so you have an easy view of your left leg from where the pain was originating from

At a glance, you are doused in immediate relief when you see your leg clearly isn’t broken. To confirm the theory, you give the limb an experimental roll and bend the knee. It was sore, but not totally painful. You practically deflate like a balloon, hand covering your heart, a broken leg would be just your luck

You can also see no visible sign of blood, which is promising

You’re no medical experiment by any means, but getting an open wound on a island you still have no idea how to truly navigate or live off of and contracting something, or having it become infected, is really not something you want to worry about

Still, if there is no sign of blood and there is no apparent bone sticking out at an awkward angle, then maybe you pulled something??

Leaving the unexplained pain only to have it come back and bite you later for not trying to soothe it is out of the question, so you reach down to peel back your absolutely sodden trousers

They’re as soaked as they are uncomfortable, exposing your cold skin to the merciless open air that has goosebumps prickling your skin in nanoseconds. Despite the clothing on the rest of your body, you feel the wind's icy hand invade up the back of your shirt and scratch at your spine, the hairs on your neck standing on end

You force yourself to ignore it, hiking your trouser further upward until it rests above your knee

There, you see your problem

Sickly yellow swirls around the lip of your boot and up your calf, it’s as unpleasant to look at as it feels

Removing your boot only further reveals the extent of the damage: the bruise is heaviest at your ankle, the flesh swollen and sore, specks of dingy purple dotting the area above the bone which is almost completely swallowed by the swelling

That...wasn’t good

Bracing yourself for the worst, for what you already know is going to be the case, you cradle your ankle and press oh so gently onto the tender skin. Each poke, even feather light, causes little shocks of agitation to flare through your muscles and draws a wince from you each time without fail

‘This is…really not good’

“Shit...” you mumble, because there was no other word appropriate to describe your situation

Quietly, you can silently concede that the situation could have been more dire, you would have been royally screwed if you had a broken leg. Heavy bruising was at least managable, annoying yes, but manageable

You’d survive at least, that was comforting, you really didn’t want swollen ankle and heavy bruising to be the cause of death carved on your tombstone

All things considered, you conclude you got very, very lucky (that or some kind of deity must have been feeling particularly merciful), of all the injuries you could have sustained, not to mention literally drowning, surviving an ocean storm with a sore leg was a blessing-

Eyes snapping open, alert and awake, everything comes rushing back to you at an overwhelming pace: the storm, the rain and wind, the pathway along the coastline, the loose rock, losing your balance, falling, water - water everywhere - all around you, in your eyes, in your mouth, suffocating you

You were going to drown, you were certain that was it

You remember being pulled under, wave after wave throttling you, hurling your small, frail body under its currents, kicking and flailing. Disorientation had scrambled your brain, and the pressure constricted your ribcage, a burning sensation climbing higher in your throat and behind your eyes

Light fading, the surface getting further and further away, you were sure you were drowning- you had been drowning! You were going to die, and yet…you’re here

Still reeling, you turn your head unhurriedly to survey your surroundings. The breeze is light and soft, just barely tussling your raggedy hair, a far cry from the ferocity of the tempest that had been set on devouring the island and its inhabitants hours ago

You were sitting on the outskirts of a lagoon, not one you recognised, you must have been washed up on an unexplored part of the island. If the circumstances which had brought you here had been anything less morbid, you think you would have found the surroundings quite peaceful

The lagoon is calm, a sanctuary held between two platforms of rock that curve around to isolate it from the rest of the sea, the only entrance in and out is a single gap in the rock formation opposite the section of beach you were resting on

Now though, in your delirious, near paralysed from fear state, the unfamiliar environment only feeds your unease

You want nothing more then to rot into the sand, to surrender to the heaviness that weighs on your shoulders and pleads for you to collapse and recharge, but if it’s the surge of adrenaline from realising you narrowly escaped sharing a handshake with the grim reaper not twenty four hours ago, or the pain in your leg the forbids you to forget it’s presence, you refuse

Inhaling a breath to gather yourself, you swallow past the lump lodged in your throat despite how painful it is to do so, and brace your hands on the sand “Okay- Okay…easy does it. One…two…three!-” not without grunting, you manage to heave yourself onto your feet unsteadily

Okay. You’re standing. That’s good. Good.

After a thorough examination of yourself, and patting around your head to check for any bumps or dried blood, you reprocess again that you got very, very, VERY lucky!

There are no weird bumps on your head and the only thing you do feel that's out of place is the odd bit of reed caught in your hair or sand stuck on your scalp, the worst of the damage is a few new tears in your t-shirt, but none that would render it ruined (not that fashion was even in your priorities)

You sigh, if you ever get off this island you were so buying a lottery ticket

“Alright then…now for the fun part” you say dismally, casting a nervous glance down to your bruised leg

With every bit of caution one would use when stepping on cracked ice, you first take a step forward on your non injured leg. One step forward, simple. Then, you brace to carefully take the next step with your bruised one, easier said than done you think

Tenderly, you lift your foot from the miniature crater the sole of your boot had left in the sand, deciding to only move it forward a few inches before you let your boot rest again on the ground

No agitated pain came to smite you, only the general soreness persisted, which was gradually becoming tolerable now that you were up and had your bearings

‘So far so good..’

Still with care, you begin to unhurriedly shift your weight from your right foot to your left in preparation for your next step-

Pain. Just- Pain. A lot of it.

Your shriek is half muffled by the sand rushing up to greet you, where you barely manage to catch yourself on shaking arms before too much splats into your mouth. You fall, and you fall hard, and in your attempt to jerk and recorrect your balance, you only manage to infuriate your bruised leg further

For several, uninterrupted beats, you lay there, defeated in a crater of your own making, content to do so until you shrivel up like a raisin in the sun and die.

However, it seems you’re not out of stubborn grit yet, because despite every blaring alarm in your head that begs you to not move because that was way more painful then you thought it would be!- you roll onto your back

You’re crying, both from pain, and the fact that now is simply the time to cry. You don’t bother to wipe the tears away, knowing more will just spill in their place

Every breath wheezes as you greedily inhale, one hand mindlessly rubbing at your leg in some weak attempt to alleviate some of the agony, it’s as successful as you imagined it would be

“Ow..” you whimper, your voice small and weak, like someone had stepped on it

“That…r-really hurt” you speak your thoughts aloud, because it’s better to focus on doing that then the aching sensation that you know now has rendered your leg near useless

You sniffle, attempting to steady your breathing by taking rhythmic inhales and exhales as you had done many times before, it was the only method you had that was somewhat keeping you from losing your goddamn mind

“So, walking is gunna suck..” you state, and you can feel your resolve fracturing as a particularly strong jolt of pain from your leg reinforces the statement “Maybe…I could fashion a walking stick out of a branch??” you continue to speak aloud “Maybe a splint? Finding a branch shouldn’t be too hard”

A pause settles, the only sound that drifts over to you is the sound of waves gently lapping at the edge of the rocks that surround the lagoon

“Hm…I should get up” you don’t move

“...I shouldn’t be putting pressure on my leg if it’s hurt, but I need to find food and water” you had managed to survive living off the land and sea, though trying to catch fish and deducing what plants looked safe enough to eat was not easy

It’d be much easier if you had your fishing rod, but after more than a week of being washed up on the island without a trace of your boat or gear washing up on shore, you had come to accept the glum fate that your beloved boat and expensive gear were long gone.

You’d never been overly fond of that boat anyway, you’d gotten it second hand for a price way too high for a vessel that had awkward steering, but if you saw that crooked old boat again you’d kiss

The only gear you had left on hand was your craft knife, which had been your saving grace when sawing through branches to construct your first shelter, gutting fish, starting a fire-....you feverishly patted your pocket

You frowned

You no longer had your knife

“UUUGH!!..”

As you begin to curse the world for your rotten luck, battling the temptation to start crying again because you know crying like a three year old isn’t going to solve your problems, much less aid you, the sound of rippling water is not lost to the sound of your own laboured breathing

You go to turn your head to investigate the sound- only to startle upward for the second time that day when something begins rising out of the water

With your busted leg you only managed to pitifully crawl yourself backwards and away from where the water meets the sand by your arms, eyes not once leaving the mass that steadily grows bigger as it comes upwards to the surface

Your nerves are shot, your heart is threatening to erupt from your chest, and you are in no condition to be running away from potential threats

If the storm didn’t kill you, you’re sure whatever creature is approaching the shallows surely will

You’re going to die alone on this forsaken island and the only acknowledgement of your death will probably be years from now on some unsolved murders podcast

If the worst is to end you then and there you don’t wish to see it, so, you throw up your arms in a measly shield, hoping that whatever creature has pulled itself up from the depths is feeling generous and puts you out of your misery swiftly

As the moment stretches on at a painful pace, breathing hard through your nose with your head ducked into your shoulders like a terrified turtle, the sound of sloshing water draws to a sudden stop, and a pitched, single chirp breaks through the silent air

Still, you can’t bring yourself to open your eyes and lower your arms, sitting stiff as a statue to the point your muscles start aching

You nearly jump out of your skin when a careful pressure nudges against your forearm, slick and cold from the water but warm all the same. It’s barely a sliver of a touch, almost hesitant in its precise delicacy

Still, you don’t move. You remain locked steadily in place, terrified that if you so much as breathe incorrectly this beast will tear out your jugular

The pressure leaves your skin, and a….pitiful churr sounds from the creature

Not threatened, not angry, not territorial, just…sad, dispirited

An expanse of your terror that sits heavily in the centre of your chest breaks away, and further chunks begin to crumble and vanish the longer you sit there unharmed, despite knowing you are well within the range of biting distance

…You cautiously peel away your arms from your face, just enough to cast a clear glance towards your unexpected company

You hoped to gain an observing glance undetected, and yet the moment your arms have moved enough for you to see, you meet a heavy stare from a pair of electric blue eyes that sit well within your bubble of personal space

They instantly widen upon noticing your revealed face, a ghost of anticipation flooding the features of their expression as you ever so slowly continue to remove your arms from your face. The blue eyes twinkle, something elated glinting in them which further settles the anxious coil that felt like it had been constricting your windpipe

The creature sinks, or at least, you’re pretty sure they do, and you’re almost certain something like relief settles on their expression once your arms have fully lowered

The baby blue eyes are familiar, combined with a complexion composed of deep navy and ruby that cuts through your paranoia, a warm wave of relief flooding in to occupy the space it had been hogging in your chest

“Optimus!..” you breath breathlessly, almost dizzy from the drop in your stress levels that his presence brings

The mer continues to stare at you unblinkingly, yet you’re too joyed at the discovery of the creature being only Optimus, a mer who had founded a curious, unexplained interest in you, that you don’t notice the way he practically glowed at the sound of your voice, physically perking, fins and all

“God- you scared me for a second! I thought you-” You don’t get to finish your sentence

Strong, solid arms wrap around your middle with such speed you almost topple backwards into the sand again. His forearms alone cover the expanse of your back, his face practically covering the length of your stomach and chest, leaving you unintentionally pinned in an embrace, which on any other occasion, you would have not minded

This time however-

“Owowow-LeglegLEG!! GET OFF MY LEG-”

To his credit, Optimus doesn’t miss a beat at the sound of the evident distress in your voice, promptly tearing himself away from you with a string of worried chirps

He doesn’t whimper or give any acknowledgment to the assault of panicked slaps you had landed to the back of his head in your haste to have him remove himself, and instead his concerned eyes flicker over your body at an alarming speed

All in all, it takes him about two seconds to process the tight lines of pain that have carved themselves into your face, the tension that hangs on your jawline, your lips which have peeled back over pearl white teeth in an obvious show of great discomfort, which pains him greatly

As you busy yourself trying to calm the roaring sensation of hot fire pain that bristles up your lower leg, Optimus’s eyes follow the line of your arms which clutch desperately at the sides of your limb, a grip which he concludes is no doubt leaving crescent moon dents in your skin

Whatever surge of delight he had felt at seeing you at last awake is instantly snuffed upon the sight of the discolouration bleeding across the skin of your calf

Once you’ve eased your breathing, blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear the tears from your eyes before they fall, do you take note of the mournful slump that has overtaken Optimus’s shoulders

He wilts into the sand, his grand fins that stretch along his back and down the length of his tail that stretches into the water behind him drooping, eyes not once lifting from your injured leg, and he lets out a lone, terribly gloomy churr

His hand hovers, and without meaning to you tense at the prospect of someone prodding your very much newly formed, sore bruise. As miniscule as the action is, Optimus somehow still catches it, and withdraws his webbed hand from you

It’s both amazing and intriguing to see such raw emotions displayed on his face, knowing that such depictions of emotions had never been shown in illustrations of mermaids or sirens in the many safety handbooks you’d read

But when Optimus looks to you, in a way not too different from a worried companion would, and then back to your leg, do you see the display for what it is

He’s concerned

With an expression that gradually grows more troubled the longer he flickers his gaze between your face and your leg, your expression shifts to something more gentler: “H-Hey hey, Optimus, I’m fine! It’s just a bruise”

It’s not just a bruise, the miniature version of yourself in your brain corrects, you have most definitely sprained your ankle in some capacity and not only is that going to greatly hinder your mobility, but it’s going to take more then a week to at least be semi healed, it adds

In that moment though, you decide that’s not information that Optimus needs to know, but it seems your mermaid friend does not believe you regardless when he remeets your gaze with clear doubt in his eyes.

He casts another upset look to your leg, and you watch as his fingers dig into the sad in displeasure at the sight, the fins on the side of his head that act as ears pinning downward, only further showing how troubling he finds the situation

“Really, I’m okay!” you insist with a bat of your hand, the mermaid does not shift his focus from your leg, looking to be in deep thought if the way his brows have started to mildly scrunch together is any indication

You’re not sure what to focus your attention on more: his clear worry for your well being, or the way he quietly contemplates something you can’t pinpoint

Still, even with his worry, your legs are starting to grow uncomfortably numb from the cold sand beneath you, and you need to either get back to your current shelter or find some way of crafting a new one without the help of your knife. Perhaps you’d get lucky and find somewhere sheltered further inland, but you weren’t going to get any progress done sitting

So, against what every medical professional would tell you, you stagger to your feet.

Lightning quick, Optimus watches your movements with the sharpness of a hawk, though you feel no terror under his observant stare. You’ve known the mer for the majority of your time stranded, and have come to learn that despite what you have read, he hasn’t shown even a flicker of aggression towards you once

At first, it unnerved you, thinking that he was trying to lull you into lowering your guard. You’d read that mermaids were scarily intelligent. But that hadn’t happened, and the fear you’d felt towards his presence had gradually faded with time

Standing to your full height, you hope it isn’t obvious how little pressure you’re putting on your hurt leg “See? Totally fine!~” to emphasis, you flash him the biggest reassuring smile you can muster

It’s not very effective

Optimus remains half out of the water, his upper half resting in the sand propped up by his arms until he ‘stands’ at eye level with you. His tail twitches in the water behind him, casting ripples across it’s otherwise crystal clear surface while his mouth sets into an uncertain frown

He produces a chirp, head slightly cocked, then a few more

The language barrier does make communicating a bit difficult, but you’re fairly certain based on his expression and general feel for the sounds he just made that he doesn’t hold a lot of hope in spite of your words

You know very well that in order to demolish whatever doubts he has for good, you’re going to have to walk, the thought alone makes you nervous, let alone the idea of acting upon it. Still, with Optimus not looking anywhere close to dropping his concern, you didn’t have much of a choice…

“Welp!” you awkwardly stuff your hands into the pockets of your trousers because you’re not sure what else to do with them “It was uh…nice to see you!” you say with a nod. In your mind there is no way your laid back, casual act comes across as convincing, yet you press on

You half turn away, and Optimus’s eyes still bore attentive holes into your form “I’ll see you later I guess..” you bid farewell, throwing in a small wave over your shoulder as you take your first step forward on your good food, and then follow with your left with more caution

Now knowing what to expect you actually manage to take a step forward without falling, albeit a wobbly one which makes you bite the inside of your cheek, but you’ll count it as a win

With a bit more ease you smile, and unconsciously, you begin the movement needed to take the next step-

Three things happen in the span of two seconds: a bolt of excruciating pain slices up your calf with all the subtleness of a snapping bear trap. A yelp rips from your throat before you have a hope of muffling it, and before you can brace to make contact with the sand, there is a rapid flurry of splashes behind you accompanied by a startled trill before something abruptly stops your fall

A soaked, webbed appendage securely supports your head, the other you can feel pressing into your stomach, holding your body up from the sand. In a potent mix of fear and utter embarrassment you dare not move as you feel a surge of heat explode across your face

Optimus had stopped your fall

From somewhere behind you, you can clearly hear the sound of Optimus’s calculated, deep breathing, and you don’t need to crane your head back to look at him to know that his eyes are no doubt as wide as saucers. He doesn’t move, and neither do you

The very tips of his clawed fingers press just enough into the plush flesh of your covered stomach that you can feel them pinching the surface of your skin through your t-shirt, and so, you shove aside your immense mortification and force yourself to find your voice

“Uhm…meant to do that”

Suddenly, you’re being moved with all the grace and care one would use to handle a helpless infant. As he meticulously lowers your form to the sand, the hand on your face shifting to rest on the side of your neck do you wonder if it’s at all possible for Optimus to hear how hard your heart is thundering with his close proximity

His hands hover and then gradually pull away from you once he is sure you are steady on the floor and not going to keel over just from sitting upright

You don’t want to look at him, scared of what expression he might be wearing and dreading the thought of him seeing your own. Your own cherry red face that you know is as obvious as it feels

You want nothing more than for a sinkhole to open up in the sand right beneath you and swallow you into darkness, but alas, that pity isn’t granted

You can hear sand shifting behind you, most likely Optimus trying to move higher up the sand to be near you, the mer had a strange obsession with being as close to you as possible when he could. His form settles besides you in the corner of your peripheral vision, his shadow bathing you in temporary shade that only further confirms how close he is

A troubled chirp and a gentle nudge to your shoulder, followed by a puff of hot air hitting the shell of your ear caused your breathing to involuntarily still, and then, his troubled face is ducking down and moving into your field of vision

He doesn't look angry, or disappointed, or judgemental at all, you find nothing in his gaze to feel ashamed about

He just looks worried, a worry of such caring magnitudes it renders you speechless for a moment, totally lost on how to respond, and curiously, has the temperature in your cheeks rising higher

When you do respond, your voice is low, head still ducked as you fiddle with your fingers anxiously “Okay…maybe I’m not totally okay..”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It’s been a day since you woke up at the lagoon, and Optimus has been at your beck and call for that entire duration

He rarely leaves you, which in fairness you suppose you can’t blame him for doing, given how you told him you were totally fine and then nearly face planted the floor seconds later. You try to cut him some slack, despite how overbearing he can be

You’re certain it’s because he just wants to make sure you’re okay, but there have been times where you’ve quite literally had to swat him away with your own hand

When he does leave, either willingly or by you demanding him to - to which you swear you can hear him whimper like a kicked puppy - it’s only ever for what feels like an hour at most (you lost your phone when you first arrived at the island, so you really had no clue how long he was actually gone for at a time), and everytime he comes back he always brings you a fish

You have a small collection of fish gathered on a palm tree leaf tucked away under a small gap in the rocks, concealed from the view of any wandering birds that may have been looking for an easy meal

And of course, you’re grateful for Optimus’s attempts to help, but you can’t eat the fish without firewood, and you can’t gut the fish without your knife

The firewood part was an easy fix at least, and technically you could still eat the fish without gutting them first, but still, losing your only tool and means of general protection was pretty frustrating

It made you feel all the more smaller and helpless in the incredibly vast, uncharted territory you were stuck in

Still, even without your knife and even with Optimus’s generous aid, you didn’t want to sit back helplessly while your dear friend did all the work, so, after Optimus’s form disappears beneath the surface of the water and you watch his red and blue rippled shape swim out of the lagoon, you climb to your feet

Learning that walking was a no go, you opt to instead hop on your good leg while dragging your other. Was it the most efficient means of moving around?? Not a chance. Was it a hell of a lot less painful then if you tried walking?? Absoloutly

When you reach the treeline, where the sand gradually climbs upward and becomes obscured by a layer of dried, fallen leaves and other masses of vegetation, you begin your search for a big branch to act as a walking aid

A splint probably would have been better, but given how you have no material to secure it to your leg, a walking stick will have to do. And thankfully, with the recent storm, there are a plethora of waiting branches littering the ground for you to pick from

It only takes around ten minutes of you scavenging before you come across a branch that looks decent enough, which surprises you as it does please you

With a grunt, you haul the thing up and hold it outwards to give it a once over. It wasn’t a particularly thick branch and was easy enough to hold with just one hand, it’s shape like that of a capital Y, forming the perfect perch for you to rest your arm over

The only downside you could really label was the fact it didn’t look the smoothest, but you were sure you could find a leaf somewhere and attempt to smooth it down for convenience. Though you doubted you’d even notice the pain of a splinter over your leg

“Please don’t snap, please don’t snap, PLEASE don’t snap!..” you chant under your breath as you begin to settle the branch at your side and fold your arm over the top where it rests beneath your armpit

You stand, processing the feel, and with a final prayer, you begin to lean your weight onto the branch

It holds. Doesn’t so much as snap a creak of exertion at supporting you. Hopeful results, but you need to know for sure it’ll work

You take a step forward, then repeat with your injured leg, using the stick to carry the brunt of your weight as you use it to propel yourself forward a few inches. Again, the branch doesn’t utter a single groan of complaint

You sigh, a small blessing of good luck

“Firewood..” you mutter to yourself, already using your new crutch to turn back to the trees where you focus to gather as many small pieces of wood you can find to construct a fire

Though you know starting one will be no easy feat with the loss of your knife

You didn’t have the standard fishing knife when you’d first started your career, you didn’t see a need to purchase one at the time when you already had an old camping knife that could cut fishing line, cut bait, and prepare fish just as well

The thing had been sitting on your kitchen shelf for god knows how long until then, so it was nice to finally get some use out of it

But what you really, really missed about it the most right now, was the flint fire starter it came with

You didn’t even know it came with the feature when you’d first brought it, but man what you would give to have that knife back. Starting a fire was certainly going to be a lot more interesting without, it wouldn’t be impossible, but the difficulty had certainly amped up

And you couldn’t just simply not have a fire, it would get cold when the sun went down, and even if you hadn’t come across any dangerous predators on the land just yet, you’re not terribly keen on the idea of sitting terrified in the freezing darkness

Plus, you’re not so desperately hungry that you’ll resort to eating raw fish yet

Starting a fire with two twigs can’t possibly be that hard

After you’ve gathered as much firewood in your arm that isn’t holding your clutch as you can do you turn and begin to hobble back down in the direction of the lagoon, where you drop your supply into a pile in the sand a little ways up from the water.

It’s not much, you’ll definitely have to do a few more trips of gathering small sticks, but it was a start

“Hope the tide doesn’t come too far in..” you say as you raise your eyes to the shifting mass of blue beyond the safeguard of the lagoon's edge. The thought is instantly followed up by where you’re going to sleep tonight, since you doubt you could easily craft a shelter with a busted leg and without your knife

You consider the idea of a cave, you’d seen a handful along the parts of the island you’d explored, but you hurriedly brush away the idea, probably not wise to sleep in a cave when there was a possibility of the tide coming in

“I’ll deal with that problem later” you conclude, settling yourself into the sand with your legs either side of your pile of firewood. You look at it dejectedly, bracing yourself for whatever frustration you’re about to willing subject yourself to

“Okay!...let's give this a shot”

With a stick in each hand you begin what you are sure is going to be a laborious task that is going to eat up possibly the next few hours of your time, you don’t know, you’d never made a fire by rubbing sticks before

It's not six minutes later that your shoulders begin to cry from the repetitive motion, the ache building and building until it forces you to stop and you heave for breath, not realising you’d been holding it

There isn’t so much as a dent in your sticks, and your firewood looks no closer to being lit then it did when you gathered it

You hang your head “Nnnngh…”

The process of rubbing your two sticks furiously together, only to then stop to grant your arms some mercy, followed by repeating the process went on for several minutes, and both your sticks and firewood continue to mock your efforts

If it’s the heat from the sun, the amount of effort you’re forcing your body to produce with rubbing the sticks, or a mix of both, but you can feel a thin veil of sweat on your forehead and an annoying heat spreading on your back where the sun hits you

No fire, no knife, no shelter, no good pair of legs because the storm had to fuck up one of them!-

“UGH!”

The frustration boils over, and in a blind moment of pure annoyance, you pick up the largest chunk of your firewood and proceed to lob it as far as you’re able to into the lagoon, just in time for Optimus to move into the calm shallows where his body breached the surface

His delighted chirp of greeting is cut off as the twig bounced harmlessly off his head and then plonked into the water beside him. He blinked confused eyes, turning to watch the wood sink till it came to gently rest in the sand

He blinked again, then, turned back to you

Mortified is an understatement for how you feel

“Oh my god!- I am SO so so sorry!! I-I swear I wasn’t aiming for you!! I just-” there is no possible explanation that exists on earth nor jupiter that you can conjure up to explain your childness display of annoyance, so instead you simply sigh, for what feels like the umpteenth time that day

“I…yeah I got nothing, that was just stupid of me” you admit while rubbing the back of your neck

Though you feel your apology and flimsy excuse aren’t substantial, Optimus didn’t appear offended in the slightest, he appeared just as happy to see you as he did shortly after you had woken up

As you had come to expect, in his hand he holds a fish, one you cannot name a species too, but it is one Optimus has gifted to you before so you’re comforted with the knowledge it’s safe to eat

‘Safe to eat when it’s cooked at least’

“Thanks buddy, can you put it with the others?” you ask, waving your stick in the general direct of the current fish hoard he’s gathered for you before you resume your fire making efforts

Optimus does as you ask without complaint, as you have learnt he often does, why he is so ready to accept your requests for literally anything you still don’t fully understand…or at least, you think you don’t

An answer had begun to trickle into the back of your mind, one which fills you with an endless, overflowing surge of anxiety that thinking about it for too long has you zoning out. Has something uncomfortable clutching your heart, a crawl racking up your spine that has you shivering

A feeling that is always accompanied by a longing yearnsome stare of adoration that feels a bit too domestic for your comfort, a tender brush of knuckles on the side of your head that easily hooks your hair behind your ear and out of your face, an action that shouldn’t make your heart rate pulse the way it does

Because being friends with someone shouldn’t come with confusing, fluffy feelings you’re too scared to unpack

“Maybe he’s just trying to be accommodating” was the excuse you’d told yourself when those unexplained little bubbly feelings began to become a bit too common for you to easily brush aside, and everytime you try to pair an explanation to his nurturing, near worshipful behaviour, you believe yourself a little less

Even so, you refuse to let yourself believe for a second that Optimus is doing any of this because of some…crush on you

You were entirely different species! It wouldn’t be in his nature to pursue someone of a different biology. On the very rare chance he did see more than a friend in you (of which you heavily doubt), what on earth would he see in you that he wouldn’t find in another mer??

You couldn’t even breathe underwater for crying out loud! You had no characteristics that made you look anything remotely like a mermaid, so no, there was no way Optimus was doing any of these gestures in an attempt to impress you, to show he could be reliable, protective, loyal

Optimus was your dear friend, nothing more

He needed to be with his own kind, someone like him, someone who could thrive in the water and not tie him down to navigating only the shorelines. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you, but especially him

So no, Optimus did not have a crush on you. It made no sense for him to hold such feelings. He was intelligent, far more than yourself, surely he would see the fault in chasing after you. He was of the sea, and you the land, you weren’t compatible

Diving into those thoughts, you hadn’t even clocked how you’d fallen quiet, how your fire starting efforts had gradually slowed to a stop, leaving you to stare blankly off into the distance with an unreadable expression - but Optimus had noticed

He tilted his head, confused, assuming you were collecting your thoughts. But when a large enough space of time had passed and you still hadn’t so much as twitched, he chirped. No response

Easily sliding closer his fins lower in worry on instinct at the way you don’t even seem to notice his presence, another concerned chirp goes unacknowledged by you. It doesn’t take him long before he decides to nudge you

You straighten, blinking hard with a shake of your head as Optimus pulls you out from the corners of your mind and plonks you back there on the sand of the lagoon

Turning, you’re ashamed at the still very present look of worry on his face, worry that you’ve caused, tilting his head like a curious dog trying to figure you out

You give him a sheepish smile “Ah- Sorry! Spacing out” you assure, though Optimus only raises a brow at you

You don’t need to be a marine biologist to understand he doesn’t fully believe you, confirmed when he turns around and easily scoops up one of the fish from your pile and offers it to you encouragingly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he churrs a soothing purr to you

The salty waft from the fish reminds you of how hungry of you, and while Optimus’s gesture is heartwarming, you’re not eating a fish raw, thankfully, you’re not that desperate to quench the miniature ache that’s building in your stomach

You push his hand aside with the back of your own, still smiling “Thanks buddy but, I can’t eat that” before his face can morph to unhappy you’re already explaining your reasoning

“I need to get this fire going if I wanna cook any of them, not that that's gonna happen anytime soon, unfortunately..” you say with a huff and a not so pleased scowl down to your pile of kindling. Even with your explanation, Optimus only continued to look puzzled, and so, you resume venting your frustrations

“Just had to loose my stupid knife in that stupid storm..” you grumble, not even trying to hide how annoyed you feel. You’re not sure if Optimus ever really understands your human speak when you try to communicate with him, but regardless, he’s an ear to listen if he can translate you or not

And man do you crave some kind of interaction, aside from when you talk to yourself to keep boredom at bay

“I could have lost my jacket, or my own shoe, but nooo I had to lose my knife!” you reshuffle the kindling into a neater pile between your legs, brows gathered like angry thunder heads and face as welcoming as broken glass

“As if hurting my leg wasn’t bad enough, losing my knife is just the cherry on top of the shitty sundae” just barely, you catch Optimus’s fin ears perking at that particular sentence, and a tiny voice in the back of your head snickered at the idea of him understanding what a swear word was

That same voice is quickly smothered underneath your frustrations however

“Can’t start a fire, can’t make a shelter, can’t gut fish..” you rant, the volume in your voice decreasing further and further as your own words reinforce just how helpless you’ve become with the loss of your blade

Even if you have no knowledge on how to survive being stranded, you’d managed, and your knife gave you a somewhat feeling of protection in the large, intimidating environment you’d been marooned on

A miniscule feeling of safety, gone just like that, all of a sudden you were back to the place you where when you’d first woken up on that island, and you hated it

Silently, Optimus regards you and your curled up posture. You can’t easily curl your injured leg up to your chest, so you set on simply hugging one leg to your chest and hiding your face in your folded arms, sighing with all the tiredness and weariness in the world

Seemed you were more tired than you thought

You can feel a building heat growing behind your eyes, and dreading the thought of crying infront of Optimus and making a fool of yourself, you refuse to look anywhere in his general direction, even when he lets out a series of soothing chirps that you know are his way of urging you to look at him

You shift your head in your arms, turning further away from him

“I-I’m okay Optimus, I’m okay!..” your voice sounds more watery then you would have liked, dammit

God you were so pathetic!

Here Optimus was, going out of his way to provide for you while you recovered, and all you can do is focus on the negatives. You have no doubt in your heart that if Optimus hadn’t chosen to be kind to you, you would be in a far dire situation, maybe even dead. You were continuously fumbling and falling, and Optimus, without fail, would always show to help you without you ever asking him to

He just would, as if doing so was as simple as breathing

Optimus truly was the best

Attempting to compose yourself, you inhale a deep breath through your nose, chest rising as your lungs inflate to their fullest, then deflate as you exhale slowly through your mouth. When you reopen your eyes again, you feel better grounded and spare Optimus a glance, and notice how the mer has turned his focus to the water

There’s a considering detail to his face, contemplative, as if he was weighing the pros and cons of something

Admittedly, the expression causes your grief to take a back seat as you hum curiously to yourself, wondering what thought could warrant such a heavy level of pondering

“You good?” you ask

The only way you’re sure he heard you was the twitch in his fin on the side of his head, like the way a cat's ear would swivel to attention

He continued to study the surface of the water that glittered beneath the golden rays of sun that reflect of it, before he then turns his focus to you

The pensive quality to his face doesn’t waver, even when he temporarily looks off to the side and his brows gather by a smidge in the centre of his forehead. You try to not grow worried, you really try, whatever it is he’s thinking about you’re sure it’s nothing serious

But to see such an intense expression upon the otherwise social mer you’d come to warm up to was…concerning

“You okay??..” you repeat your earlier inquiry, which causes Optimus to return his eyes back to you

He still looked serious, but there was something more relaxed about him, leaving you to assume that whatever debate he was having he must have come to a conclusion too. Whatever a mermaid of his size has to worry about you have zero clue, honestly you’re not entirely sure if knowing would just make you more nervous

If you wanted to know or not however, you learn that Optimus wasn’t planning to try and share

With another chirp he moved the fish into your hand, softly closing your fingers around it before you can utter a word. Then, he leaned forward until his forehead gently connected with your own. His skin was cold as it was smooth, pleasant to the touch, his rumbling churr travelling from his body to yours like a comforting hug

There's something intimate and personal about the gesture that you simply don’t have the heart to turn down, he does it every time he has to leave you, the only answer you can make is that it’s some mermaid equivalent of saying goodbye

It was oddly comforting, like a wave, passing through your body, soothing and surprisingly powerful that struck down the knot of negativity and doubt festering within you

When he’d first tried to do it, you’d thought he was going to eat you and had jumped, but now, you welcomed the gesture gratefully

He pulled away moments later, smiling down at you when your eyes fluttered back open. He offered one last chirp before he gradually began to drag himself back to the water, soon moving with graceful ease once deep enough, his grand body sliding out from the lagoon

You blinked after him, brow climbing up into your hairline

It’s only ten minutes after Optimus leaves do you throw in the towel in your fire starting efforts, all you’ve managed to create is a cramp in your shoulder

Sitting there in the sand sulking is the first thing you debate on doing, considering how done you are with just about everything, but in the end, you decide to exercise your injured leg instead

You try to keep pressure off it as much as you can, but seeing how you and your crutch are going to be spending a lot of time together as you heal, the sooner you get used to moving around with it the better. Plus, it gave you a nice excuse to explore the rest of the lagoon

Now that your earlier anxiety had worn away, you can appreciate how serene your surroundings are. Despite the storm, the lagoon seemed pretty well off all things considered. If you didn’t count the littering debris of tree branches you’d have thought the place was untouched entirely!

Walking along the rock formation that forms one half of the wall that snuggly cradles the lagoon off in a corner is much easier to walk along then the sand owning to the sturdier surface, and as you meander along, you frequently stop to admire the many smaller rock pools that had formed into the structure and the little worlds flourishing with them:

So far you’ve found starfish, shrimp, hermit crabs, regular crabs, small fish and even a jellyfish the size of your pinky. As you cross the halfway mark along the wall you stumble across a particular sizeable upturned seashell, must have been tossed there by a wave, you think

Kneeling to pick it up you’re marvelled at how gorgeous it looks, scarlet stripes painting across its shell with little darker speckles that have you thinking of the red scales of Optimus’s shoulders and back

As you think of the mer, you can’t help but also remember that he’s been gone a suspiciously long amount of time..

You hum pensively as you cast your eyes over to the sea, wondering when a blue and cool grey face with an unmistakable pair of turquoise eyes will appear

You really have no way of telling how much time has passed exactly, but the sun was high up when he was last here, and now it’s lowering. If you had to wager a rough guess, evening couldn’t be more than a few hours away

But this was definitely the longest period he had left you alone for in a while

Had you upset him earlier?

He’d been trying to comfort you, and all you’d really done was vent

Just as quickly as the theory enters your head do you dismiss it, if Optimus had really been annoyed then surely he wouldn’t have done his whole forehead goodbye thingy he was so fond of, why would he have smiled and chirped at you if your behaviour had irked him??

“Maybe..he’s out hunting??” you suggest to yourself “He’s been bringing me a lot of fish and I never see him eat any of them”

The idea of Optimus pushing away his own hunger in favour of making sure you had plenty both filled you with immense gratitude for the mer and sadness at the same time, you didn’t want him to neglect his needs for your sake. You make a mental note to discuss it with him whenever he returns, because you know he will, a gut instinct, you just don’t know when

Hopefully before it’s dark..

Reaching the end of the rock platform you carefully lower yourself to sit, legs dangling over the ledge but not so much you risk falling in. Even if the water looked peaceful, you don’t fancy a dip with a hurt leg, considering how you were only just starting to nail walking with a crutch

With nothing to do and no mermaid to occupy your attention, you let your good leg sway and your fingers brush over the rough, textured surface of your seashell. For a brief moment, everything felt still and right

Your situation still wasn’t the best, you’re still stuck on an island with no other human life, but for now, everything felt okay

With one hand holding your shell, thumb idly stroking back and forth across it, your other hand holds your face, your reflection on the water below staring right back

The water looked especially refreshing, a part of you does long to throw haste to the wind and jump in for a swim, but the more mature part of you knows that’ll only put needless stress on your leg trying to keep yourself afloat

Sometimes, if you sit still enough, a small fish will dart out from its hiding spot under the rocks before zipping away from sight, it’s like your own personal aquarium, and even better, it’s free!

A particularly large fish caught your attention as it swam along with it’s belly against the smooth sand that made the bed of the lagoon, it paused some ways directly below you where you feet dangle, giving you a nice view of it’s spotty scales that likely make it blend in well amongst the underwater reeds

Seconds later, it decides it’s done resting and shoots off towards the exit of the, swimming over the ridge of sand before it dived into the vast sea beyond its sheltered walls

You hadn’t noticed earlier, given how this was the first time you’d gotten so close to the exit and entrance of the lagoon, but where the gap in the wall had formed, the sand steeps upward into a miniature mound, cultivated through creatures big and small swimming in and out

It dipped sharply downward into the rest of the ocean, merging with the seafloor below and meshing with the rest of the rock and sand beyond

As you stare, you acknowledge again how lucky it was that out of all the places you could have washed up, you washed up in the safety of a quite lagoon….and that you just happened to drift through the only gap that made both the exit and entrance to said lagoon

In fact, it was a miracle you hadn’t sunk to the sea floor before you were carried over to the lagoon. If you’d been drowning any earlier then you might have sunk too low to pass over the small wall of sand

But, looking back, you don’t ever remember seeing this lagoon, even from the line of the coast path you’d been following before falling into the water. You’re sure you would have seen it, because before the storm had suddenly settled the weather had been relatively decent

The waves…couldn’t have carried you that far, could they??

In fact, you’re astonished the waves didn’t end up throwing you over the wall like a sack of potatoes. The walls were high yes, but not immensely so, a giant, powerful wave could have easily washed over them as if they were nothing

Really, what were the chances you’d wash up in a safe lagoon in the middle of a storm??

You can’t remember all the details very clearly, but you know for certain that you didn’t swim into the lagoon yourself, you remember the sea overpowering you, pushing you further under and fighting back against your thrashing legs and arms

You remember the fear, the blood chilling realisation that this is where you were going to meet your grave. At the bottom of the sea

You were drowning, you were going to die, and yet, despite all odds, you’re alive

Surely this couldn’t be dumb luck, it was just too convenient: the idea that the tide just happened to deliver your unconscious body into the lagoon, just happened to make you drift gracefully through the gap in the rocks rather than lobbing you over them, just happened to do all this before you drowned for real

‘Unless…it wasn’t the sea that-!!’

Your seashell numbly fell from your hand

You don’t register it falling into the water with a light splash, nor do you register the large body of colour moving towards the lagoon, not until a body of red, blue, white and soft gray surges upwards from the water and has you wildly falling onto your back

The body of Optimus looms above you, strong arms that are twice the width of your body supporting him, while the end of his tail continues to sway in the water. Your chest heaves, eyes threatening to split your face from how they seemingly bug out of your skull from the sudden closeness

He’s pinned you beneath him on the rock, and your heart does a backflip involuntarily

You forget how to breath

Water cascaded down his body and drips down his chin, splashing onto your face, which seems to be the thing to urge you to do something, aside from lay there with your chest heaving like a petrified rabbit

“Uh…H-Hi” you squeak, barely managing to move your fingers in a tiny wave

If Optimus is at all aware of your fluster he is either oblivious to it, or was doing a very spectacular job of not showing it

His mouth pulled up into a smile at hearing your voice, sharp teeth glinting behind his lips that have your face turning darker, you can practically feel the heat travelling up to the tips of your ears

You shuffle backwards as quickly as you can without infuriating your injury, coughing to find your voice “Heh, you uh..you were uhm, gone for a while” you start, completely unsure if there is even a way to smoothly transition to a conversation

Once you can comfortable sit with your injured leg outstretched, you are shocked again by Optimus when - instead of folding his arms and letting them rest on the rocky outcrop - he instead heaved his long, heavy body out of the water

Making a noise of concern you reach out and place your hand upon the scales of his arm as he settled in front of you “Wha- wait can you be fully out of the water?? Is that safe for you!”

At your touch, you instantly draw a pleased trill from him, the dominant fin that trails down the centre of his back and down his tail shivering happily. He offers you a gentle, assuring smile, before using the end of his tail to easily splash water up onto his body

You get hit by a few drops of water in the process that draws a humoured huff from Optimus, the breath hitting your face and causing loose bits of your hair to be blown back

You however, are far from being amused at his playfulness, your brain still whirling to digest your realisation

It seemed whatever expression you were wearing was signal enough for the mer to gather you had something quite heavy on your mind, and he cocked his head at you, at once his amusement subsiding

When you speak, your voice is quiet “Optimus..” the mer recognises the call of his name, offering you his full, undivided attention as you collect yourself to spit out the rest of your question

“Did you…bring me to the lagoon?”

Who else could have??

Who else would know of such a safe, secure area for you to rest when hurt?? Who else could have easily swam you through the entrance and carefully laid you on the sand far away from the merciless crashing of waves?? Who else would have gone out of there way, in a storm of all things, to ensure your safety??

You’re not sure what type of reaction you were expecting, perhaps for him to give it a nervous second thought before answering? What you do not expect, is for Optimus to respond with a genuine, confident churr

Your eyes widen all over again

Optimus had been the one to bring you to the lagoon

Optimus had SAVED you

“Y-You…You..” you tried, stammering, his churr sounding so true that it threw you through several loops and then some. On the other hand, Optimus appeared unphased, he looked at you with such fond adoration, his smile small but real, that it was almost too much for you to process

You try again to find your words, to say anything in response, but your throat continued to hold any half assembled words you’d strung together hostage, leaving you stuttering and red faced

Did Optimus understand the gravity of the deed he did? Did he know he had actually saved you from drowning?? That if he hadn’t found you, if he had been swimming at any other part of the island, if he’d shown up even a minute later then you might have..

“..Op..Optimus, I-I-”

He outstretched his hand, palm facing the sky, an object sitting there for you

At a glance, you thought it was some kind of weirdly shaped pebble, not the first of its type to be gifted to you by the mer. But when you look at it again, properly, you see the item for what it actually is

There's a tremble to your hands are you take the item slowly from him, being mindful of the bladed end against the fragile skin of your fingers

“M-My…My knife..” you say, then, you whirl your face up to Optimus

He sits in a way an eager child would after they’ve handed someone a present, anticipating your reaction with a jubilant shine in his eye

Meanwhile, yours shine for a different reason

You can’t think, can’t blink, can’t process why Optimus not only saved you, but returned your knife, the knife you had lost in the storm. How did he?!- WHY did he?!-

“You….You..” your voice is quiet, still in disbelief “Y-You went…looking for this?? Is THAT where you’ve been?!”

A collection of pleased chirps and trills is his answer, his fins raising as you clumsily fumble to inspect the handle of your knife

You miss is the first time when you try to grab for the string handle that dangles from the bottom, but you eventually manage to grasp it with your shaking fingers, pulling on it to free the flint striker that slotted into it when not in use

You can…you can start your fire with this. Prepare your fish, make a new shelter if you have to!

All because…Optimus went searching for it

He had no use for a knife, why would he?? His webbed appendages were already naturally sharp and his teeth even more so, why would he need to find a knife?? For you, that’s why

For you

…Small, damp spots form on the material of your now dried trousers as moisture begins to freely fall down your face, your cheeks becoming sleek with them in a matter of seconds

“T-This is…i-its..”

Your voice is devoid of its usually cheery quality that Optimus had come to admire so much, now, you only sound confused, sad, it doesn’t sit right with him at all

Afraid that he is the cause, Optimus ducked his head to try and catch your eye, but he barely gets a glance at your face before a broken sob rips out of your throat, startling him back

You sob, your knife clattering to the rocky surface beneath you as your hands fly up to desperately hide your face and muffle your howling. The sound of Optimus’s panicked chirps as he tries to figure out what has caused you such unexpected distress are drowned out under the sound of your gross sniffling and crying

You hiccuped, choking for air past your sobbing, body trembling. Your rocked with a wail, curling up to bury your face in your palm before Optimus can see

Your heart was flooded with gratitude, overflowing with warmth and approval for the grand mermaid the likes of which you had never felt for any other being before. But alongside it, was a just as immense sense of confusion, of astonishment, of fear

Why? Why was Optimus so-…why would he bother-

“T-This!-..T-This is-” you hiccup, sniffling loudly as you clumsily wipe your eyes “T-This is..t-the nicest thing anyones ever done for me!!” you wail, head still ducked so low that Optimus can’t see your face.

He churrs and chirps non-stop, desperately trying to figure out how he should proceed, you should say something to calm him, to promise him you are the furthest thing from disappointed at his act of kindness, but all you can think to say is:

“W-Why?..” You croak, pulling at the bottom of your shirt as a makeshift rag, wiping it across your face “W-Why are you…y-you being so..” with courage, you shakily raise your head to Optimus, who cowers with a sad whine at the disheartening look on your tear stained face

Your eyes were puffy, red, and you looked so utterly lost and confused that it caught him so off guard he almost slipped off the edge of the rock. With a trembling voice, you manage to finish your query: “Why are you being so…n-nice to me??”

Optimus found himself frozen, like ice had been injected into his being, he had never expected such an intense bout of tears from you from his gift. Was it not to your liking? Had he overstepped?? If only you could simply tell him what was wrong, he would fix it!

It took your sight becoming blurry once again, and a hiccup to escape your throat do you process that you were crying again

You knew you shouldn’t, you knew it would only make Optimus more stressed, but you just couldn’t stop it, you couldn’t stop it from building and overflowing inside you

You hugged yourself, arms tightly wrapping around your body with your head hung low. You must look so tiny to Optimus, so small and dramatic, he must be revolted at your improper reaction to his generous, meaningful gift..

A gentle nudge to the side of your head as Optimus, with all the tenderness he could muster, softly touched the side of your head in a brief nuzzle. He chirped, but you refused to abide to his wordless request, furiously shaking your head

Something woeful fell over his expression, and knowing you were the cause only makes the ache in your chest double

You just didn’t understand, why was Optimus so caring towards you?? Why you?? Why not another mer?? What made you so…special to him??

Carefully, with precise movements, Optimus slowly curled himself around you, circling you protectively with his tail. Still with care, churring sadfully at your sniffling, he laid his chin upon your good leg, staring upward at you

You didn’t want to look at him, you knew it would just cause you to break further, and yet, your head slowly turned without thought, hands moving away from your face until you meet his:

The look on his face, the way he looks at you - you feel your heart simultaneously break and swell

You were uncertain just how much Optimus was able to understand the true extent of your muddled emotions, you weren’t even sure just how much you could make sense of them. But what you were certain of was the weight in your chest, and how looking at Optimus, seeing the honest to goodness care in his eyes made it feel just that bit lighter

All for you, imperfect, messy, unique you

You reached for him, gently cupping either side of his face with your hands that looked dwarfed in comparison. He leaned into the touch, quietly churring. Tears welled back up in your glossy eyes, shivering from the intensity of your emotions

Your voice wobbled as you spoke “T-Thank you”

Without asking, your tone conveying enough, Optimus moved forward. You carefully wrapped your arms around his head, pulling him to your chest where you lowered your head into the crown of his own, sobbing quietly, soft sniffles leaving you ever now and then

An arm gently wrapped around you, his hand reaching for the small of your back where he simply supported you. After a moment, he began to churr again, the calming vibrations reminding you of a large, purring cat

Before you can stop it, you huff out a tired snicker at the amusing comparison

The length of Optimus’s grand tail curls tighter around you, safely cocooning you, you had never felt so safe and grounded then right there, in the centre of his embrace, his head nuzzling into your stomach.

You held him tightly, trying to return even a fraction of the feeling of security you felt by his presence

“Thank you..” you said again, and you meant it

#This was a lot of fun #I have honestly wanted to do x reader content before but I was super shy about it #idk I just think the idea is really sweet and comforting #like writing a drabble with your favourite blorbos interacting with you??#that's fucking adorable!#I still have transformers brainrot too so this was two birds with one stone #Transformers #Merformers #Optimus #Optimus prime #Mer optimus #not my au #fanart #writing #x reader

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