#i couldn't leave it alone

[inkoutsidethelines]

@universalfanfic the continuation of the mermaid au, because my brain couldn't let it go. I hope you're happy with yourself.

(Owen belongs to universalfanfic)

“What have you tried feeding her?” Owen asked. 

“Fish,” Alyssa answered with a shrug. “Of multiple varieties, in case it’s picky. Won’t touch any of them.”

Irritation flickered through him at Alyssa’s use of “it” when talking about the mermaid. He didn’t even talk about the animals he worked with like that, and he wasn’t yet convinced that the mermaid was actually on the same level as them. 

He didn’t address it though; Alyssa was the lead on this project, so he couldn’t risk annoying her too much. Yet. 

“Are you sure she eats fish?” he asked. 

“I’m sure,” Alyssa said. “You haven’t seen its teeth yet. It’s got at least two sets; one that looks like what you’d expect to see in a human and a second retractable set that looks a lot more like shark teeth.”

That was decent evidence for her ability to eat fish…but it made trying to classify her more confusing. They’d hired him because they were assuming the mermaid was a mammal, which was his specialty. And he understood the assumption, given her upper body looked human. But mammals weren’t supposed to have scales, or gills, or a second set of retractable teeth. Owen mentally filed the problem away as less pressing. The highest priority, aside from assessing her intelligence for himself, was figuring out how to get her to eat. There was no way to help her if she starved to death. 

She probably can eat fish; so why isn’t she?

Owen glanced around the tank and lab itself; aside from the mermaid, the tank was completely empty. The lab itself, while large and comfortable enough for humans to work in, was completely windowless. The only light came from the overhead fluorescent lighting. If Alyssa was correct in her assessment of the mermaid’s intelligence, he’d guess that just being isolated in such an alien environment would potentially cause enough stress to cause her to quit eating. 

If he was right about her intelligence, the stress of the environment might still play a part but…if he’d been kidnapped by aliens and locked up to be studied, he probably wouldn’t trust any food they gave him either. 

It made his stomach twist to think of the mermaid’s situation from that perspective. 

“How have you tried to feed her?” Owen asked. 

“Just tossed the fish in the tank with her,” Alyssa said. 

Owen glanced at her.  “Whole fish?”

“What else would we give her?”

Owen enjoyed some dishes that involved raw fish, but he wouldn’t find a whole, unprepared fish appetizing either.  What if the mermaid was used to her food being prepared somehow?  Maybe not cooked per se - he wasn’t sure how that would be accomplished underwater. But something other than just a whole fish. 

“I want to try sashimi for her,” Owen decided. 

“Sashimi?” Alyssa repeated, tone incredulous. “We can have the fish cut into chunks if you think that’ll help, but sashimi is ridiculous.”

Owen met her look with a stern one of his own. “Getting her to eat is my job, so we’re going to do it my way. And I’m saying sashimi.”

Irritation flickered over Alyssa’s face before she settled into a more neutral expression. “Fine. I’ll make a call.”

As they waited for the food to come, Alyssa led him over to some computers to brief him on what they did know about the mermaid. She’d been found a couple miles off the coast of South Carolina; that made Owen glance at the windowless walls of the lab.

“Any possibility she could be moved to an outdoor tank?” he asked. 

“Absolutely not,” Alyssa said. “Corporate wants the strictest confidentiality about it right now. They won’t approve the risk of moving it outside.”

“If she was near the surface, she likely needs a certain amount of sunlight to be healthy,” Owen pointed out. 

“We can get some UV lights for the tank,” Alyssa said. “That will have to do for now.”

It wasn’t as much as he wanted, but it was probably the best he could expect. He nodded begrudgingly. 

“Were there any other mermaids around when she was found?” Owen asked. 

“Not that anyone saw,” Alyssa said. “They could be loners.” 

They could be, but Owen suspected they weren’t. Not much to do about that either way; if they were intelligent as he thought, it wasn’t like he would wish for any more of them to be caught. 

A clear plastic bag to the side of the desk caught Owen’s attention; inside the bag was what looked like some kind of bracelet. He picked it up to study.  If he had to guess, he’d say the pale material was made of bone. A delicate, swirling pattern had been carved into it. 

“What’s this?” he asked. 

Alyssa barely glanced at it. “Oh, it had that stuck on one of its arms when it was caught.”

He had to bite back the words he wanted to say about it. “She was wearing a bracelet when she was caught.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Animals get stuck in things all the time, guppy. Don’t read too much into it.”

Owen wasn’t sure if she actually believed what she was saying, or if it was just an excuse so they could study the mermaid without concerning themselves with too many pesky ethical questions. “Did she have anything else on her?”

“Just that,” Alyssa said. 

The door opened, letting in another scientist with several containers of sashimi. Owen immediately abandoned the computer and Alyssa to collect them. Alyssa leaned against the desk, watching as he made his way up the metal stairs to the platform that had been built around the top of the tank. 

“Be careful up there,” Alyssa called out. “It almost drowned someone it’s first day here.”

That did make Owen pause for half a second. He didn’t exactly blame the mermaid for that, but he didn’t feel like drowning himself either. But she’d been days longer without food or sunlight by now. The risk probably wasn’t quite as big. 

Once on the platform, he moved to a spot where the mermaid could easily see him and sat down. He could see her watching him from her spot, but she still hadn’t moved. 

The top container was labeled tuna. Owen considered how best to get her to eat it as he opened the container. The packaging came with chopsticks, and Owen was struck with an idea. He opened the chopsticks, made sure the mermaid was still watching, then ate a few slices of the sashimi. 

“I thought that was supposed to be for the mermaid,” Alyssa said. 

Owen swallowed before answering. “I’m trying to make sure she knows it’s safe.” 

“You taste test your seal’s food too?” 

Owen didn’t dignify the mocking question with a response. Obviously this wasn’t a method he’d ever used before, but he’d never been in a situation quite like this one either. He focused his attention on the mermaid. “It’s safe to eat,” he told her. “It’s tuna fish.”

He hesitated for a second about how to give it to her.  The usual method of tossing it in her general direction felt rude, but he didn’t want to stick his hand in the water when he didn’t know how fast she was either. Finally he gathered several pieces with the chopsticks and used those to slip the sashimi in the water and let go. 

The sashimi slowly floated down, and for a second Owen thought she would ignore it after all. Then, she moved. 

In spite of everything, Owen couldn’t help but watch with fascination as she uncurled herself from the bottom of the tank, her tail propelling her forward with slow, undulating movements. She caught the sashimi, then rolled over so she was floating on her back and looking up at him. 

Owen hoped his face wasn’t turning red. He’d been vaguely aware that she wasn’t wearing anything since he’d first seen her, but with the way she’d been curled in on herself, he hadn’t exactly been seeing everything. Now he could. 

She seemed unbothered by her lack of clothing, which was a bit of a relief. They might have taken her bracelet from her, but at least they hadn’t taken anything else. 

Owen focused on the food, picking up another piece and eating it as she watched him. “I promise, it’s good. You need to eat something.”

She finally popped the sashimi in her mouth and chewed slowly. Owen watched to make sure there wasn’t a bad reaction, and was relieved when she swallowed. She hovered where she was, seemingly waiting, so Owen picked up a couple more pieces and slipped them into the water. She caught them and ate without hesitation this time. They continued that way until she apparently decided she’d had enough, and she swam back off to her spot.

“Your methods are super weird,” Alyssa commented.  “But I have to admit, they are effective.  Let’s get you your key card.”

-

Owen hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the mermaid all night.  He’d relocated for this job, and got to go home to the small, cozy house he was renting.  He got to be comfortable.  The mermaid was stuck alone in a windowless room.  Did all the lights get turned out at the day?  Was she left in complete darkness all alone?  How did she sleep?  There was nothing in the tank to make her comfortable.

The thoughts swirled around his head enough that he couldn’t sleep well, and he found himself up and on the way to work earlier than he needed to be.  He still wasn’t the first one in the lab; Alyssa was already there, with two other people who were installing large UV lights over the top of the tank.  The mermaid huddled in her spot as far away from them as she could get, watching the installation of the lights with clear suspicion and irritation.

“Good morning,” Owen said.  He wasn’t particularly pleased to see Alyssa, but his parents had ingrained in him the need to be polite.

She waved absently, not looking away from her computer screen.  “Hey.  The fridge has been stocked with sashimi for it.”

“Her,” Owen automatically corrected. 

Alyssa rolled her eyes.  “It’s not like it can understand us, guppy.”

He had to admit – if only to himself – that Alyssa might be right about that.  But not for the reason she claimed; it had occurred to Owen, at some point during the night, that even if she was intelligent, there was no reason to assume she spoke English.  For all he knew, she might not have even known humans existed up until she was captured by them.

Still, even if she didn’t understand what he was saying, that was no reason not to try to communicate with her.  Owen walked up to the tank, crouching down so he was eye level with the mermaid.  She met his gaze for a moment, then glared up at the men on the platform. 

“Good morning,” Owen said, “they’re installing UV lights.  The lights mimic sunlight; when they’re ready, it’ll probably make you feel better if you lay under them through the day.”

Her scowl eased some, looking more dubious than irritated.  He couldn’t be sure if she was responding to his tone, or if his words actually made sense to her.

“Do you want to go ahead and eat breakfast?” Owen asked.

Her scowl returned full force, and she glared up at the men setting up the lights.  It felt like such a crystal clear answer to his question – no, I’m not eating until they leave – that it took his breath away.

She’s intelligent.  She has to be.

Anyone who bothered trying to talk to her would surely be able to see it.  And that had to be part of the reasoning for all the secrecy.  Sure, there were some scientists who were unethical enough to keep a new sentient species captive for study or potential profit.  But most of the people Owen had worked with throughout his training and career would be completely horrified and outraged by the idea.

But here he was, signed on to the job to keep her alive so she could be studied. 

I have to get her out of here.

He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t.  But he’d have to play it smart, and take time to figure out a plan that would work.  Raging and railing would just get him fired and lose his access to her.  And the lab was days away from the coast; it wasn’t just planning to get her out of the lab, but getting her back to the ocean.  It was going to take time.

And maybe a little help.

[bbygirl-aemond]

i love the dragon tamer saying plainly that dragons "are not playthings for games of men" and rhaenyra just ignoring him like yep that encapsulates the entire reason for the dragons going extinct, because targaryens could not stop using them as cannon fodder and killed them all

[izel-scribbles]

strangler fig - the crane wives

(click for hd/closeups under the cut)

every single crane wives song fits malevolent (fight me on this. i'll win)

ty to @ganem-ouchie for giving me this idea last month in the replies of a random shitpost

[nephilimbrute]

stuff i drew today ^_^

[starry-bi-sky]

i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

[serial-unaliver]

rich customers are either the nicest people ever or have you thinking about becoming a serial killer on break

[yashley]

"Yeah, but we talked about it and I didn’t want it." "Why not?" "Because it scared me."

[sketchunit]

more silly lil tfone doodles <3

im so normal about these two I PROMISE (<- lying)

[aliciamorov]

A POST TO SIMP FOR SEASON 7 RICK AHHHH (the photos are so bad bc i was taking pictures of my laptop☠️did I even write that right)

wet hair rick ✅

he's so FINEEEEEE MY LOOOORD

he gets more and more hot with every season (i want him so bad)

[cinamun]

This man....

[cupofsharks]

Draw Med annoying Misha while Misha is trying to write a story on his typewriter

He only wants ONE (1) surgery! And then maybe a second just for good measure.

[aperfectlylesbian]

Rio: Why are there little handprints all over the walls?

Agatha, whispering: Why are there little handprints all over the walls, wildflower?

Aradia, whispering: Because Abby and I have little hands, mama.

Agatha: Because they have little hands, my love.

[avephelis]

evil artstyle chippy if i have to touch another gradient in the next week i'm throwing hands

[mormonforgetmenot]

I love being queer and I love being a mormon, but there are times when I'm just so tired.

[ringosmistress]

Happy Birthday, dear John

[carlyraejepsans]

toriel... what are your toriel takes today

i have a headcanon that toriel has a hand-washing compulsion where she does it wayy more thoroughly than needed, instinctively trying to scrub under her claws even when they're perfectly clean because she can still feel the phantom of dirt under them from the time she dug chara's grave.