#i have literally not stopped screaming about seaweed brain since it happened

[kittykyryi]

SEAWEED BRAIN???!?!?!? WHY IS NOBODY ELSE SCREAMING ABOUT SEAWEED BRAIN

[tiny-smallest]

warm summer nights

Rating: G Characters: Greg, Steven, Danny Fenton Warnings: none Description: Greg Universe is a lot of things- former semi-famous rockstar, musician, adviser, small business owner, best friend- but he is first and foremost a father.

But there were other things that made up his identity, things that hurt to remember and were usually easy to forget- until the day an incident on the beach and the appearance of a strange child in town sent both his fatherly senses and some old instincts screaming alarms in his head.

Also on AO3!

—

I thought this would be appropriate to post on the day that happens to be both one week after we said goodbye to Steven and the Dannyapocalypse. Like c’mon how perfect is that.

I started this in February back when I assumed we weren’t getting the end of Future until probably summertime. Parts have been rewritten or tweaked to accommodate the ending. Therefore there are SPOILERS in here for the latter half of Steven Universe Future (it is set between I Am My Monster and The Future) so do be aware of that. And also just be aware in general cause I’m sick of looking at this and details are blurring so if a detail or two seems off it’s because I didn’t catch it skljdfn

Enjoy!

—

Beautiful, blue, bejeweled.

This was one of the best things about living in Beach City. In this little town that was probably more of a village and definitely not a city, when the night was clear, as long as you weren’t standing smack in the middle of town where the lights would be brightest, Greg could see more stars than humanity could probably ever hope to visit. The fact that Beach City was very much a rural town helped immensely, too. No Empire City to smog up the skies from nearby.

Just the ocean waves and the twinkling expanse above, and his son’s house off to the side, the statue overhead serene and silent. You could write a song to a scene like this. Greg was trying, plucking idly at guitar strings, counting syllables in his head, matching words and chords. It wasn’t a serious project. More like a doodle of a song. Simple, short, maybe a little messy. Perfection wasn’t a requirement; just a bonus if it happened to happen.

He couldn’t say for sure whether or not Steven was in bed. Sure, he hadn’t heard anything, and Steven was sleeping much better these days, but Steven was also a teenager. Even at the best of times their inner clocks could be wonky. He sure remembered that. And it was a beautiful night; warm and breezy, calm and quiet.

So when he spotted a humanoid shape in the sky that lacked wings, he didn’t think much on it at first. Steven was seventeen, he reminded the nervous fatherly instincts pricking up. And Steven was seventeen and capable. If the boy wanted to go for a walk or hang in the sky for awhile, that was his business, and if it was because Steven was troubled, then Steven knew to also make it Greg’s business, if he wanted to.

Still, maybe he would pop by tomorrow morning with breakfast sandwiches. Just in case. Just to see him first thing in the morning.

Easy, Universe. Breathe. The air went in his lungs. The air flowed out.

He picked at the guitar again, but his eyes always somehow strayed back to the figure in the sky.

The first time Greg realized something might be off came when he realized the shape silhouetted against the stars was all wrong to be Steven. The body was too skinny- scrawny, even, and there was no sign of descent at all. Steven couldn’t hold his position. He could only slow his descent. Steven should have landed on the beach by now, if it was really him.

Unease bubbled in the pit of his stomach. He squinted, but whatever was out there was too far away for features to be discernible. Greg didn’t have binoculars.

Maybe he should go use that telescope…?

But it was probably just a gem, right? Right?

What was he supposed to do? Shout at them? They’d probably hear him from this far away…

Five dark bruises, long since faded, and the memory of what the house’s deck looked like from upside down, twenty feet in the air was what made him unsure if he liked that fact. It was definitely too tall to be Bluebird, though, and there were no wings present, so there was at least that comfort.

Not that there was much comfort at all. Who said Bluebird might not have friends? Sure, she was an obnoxious little goblin, but Greg knew there were other gems who hated his son and, apparently, that was a hell of a unifier in the gem world. I have no more hair to cut to get away if this is someone else who wants to try using me against Steven.

They hadn’t heard his quiet guitar playing, at least, and if they’d taken notice of the van on the beach, there was no movement to do anything about it.

Still.

He moved to strum the guitar, but his trembling fingers thought the better of it last second without any real thought and caressed the side of the fingerboard. Maybe he should call Pearl? He should probably call Pearl.

As he reached for his phone, a breeze blowing through the van made him shudder. Jeez, when did it get so cold? Why was it so cold! It was May!

Something made a noise outside. He froze.

The world went still. Greg’s heart hammered in his chest, pounded in his head. He could feel it beating in his ears.

A loud, wet thunk hit the window, slid down it. Greg raised his head just slightly and felt his heart somersault in his chest as the discolored, waterlogged hand slid down the window with a slow, wet squeak.

What. The fuck.

Greg was not a man who cursed liberally, years of raising a child to thank for that, but if there had been any air left in his lungs he would have said the fuck word like it was his day job at the sight of the other hand that slapped itself against the window. Fingers curled in like claws against the glass and there was a wet gurgle.

A face pressed into the pane. Skin blue, mottled with green and what looked like rotting bits, eyes nearly white, long, tangled, hair of indiscernible color, matted with sand and seaweed.

Their eyes met.

Before Greg could utter a sound she let out a guttural noise and banged on the window. It took a moment for Greg to realize that the strangled yelp was coming from him as he scrambled to close the back doors, slamming them shut with an echoing bang.

She clawed at the door underneath the window she was still smashed up against, something close to a growl pouring from her mouth. In the next moment the pouring was literally, water flowing like some kind of demented faucet from her throat. Greg watched from inside the van, feeling the world all but fall away as the girl began to turn inside out, discolored flesh exposing dully pulsating organs, meat rearranging itself into a ghasty, kraken thing with a pulsating eye sitting right where he was pretty sure squids did not have eyes.

It shrieked, slamming an arm the sand by the van, missing the front by an inch. Greg shouted in pain and scrambled to right himself, trying to get the doors he’d just closed back open.

“Hey!”

He stopped fumbling with the doors for a moment, then redoubled his efforts even though he felt the beast move a little bit away from where it had him pinned down.

The doors blew open with a bang and he half fell out, gaping from the sand at the sight of the back of a boy, floating in the air, fists raising for a fight. The kraken looked down at him, roared, and tried to slam its arm into him, next.

But as it came down, the child was gone.

He zipped around–around, the boy was flying–and kicked the thing right upside the head, sending it sprawling a few feet, before throwing what looked like glowing green fire at it from both hands. It swerved to the side, barely avoiding the beam of green fire, and looked back as if to assess where its prey had gone.

The boy shot like a reverse shooting star into the air and took another dive, feet held out to slam into the thing, but it halted his descent with a tentacle and threw him back, charging forward to meet him.

And it went right through him.

As it turned around again, the boy held up another hand of green fire and made a motion Greg realized somewhere in his frozen mind was very familiar. Like throwing a frisbee, the child flung a disk of green flaming something at the creature and hit it right in the eye in the middle of its head.

It exploded.

In a gush of green goo, it exploded, the slime expelled upwards in a really gross fountain. The boy landed in the sand beside the creature as the rest of the body began to melt away, blinking in what could only be surprise as the goo seeped into the ground. He tilted his head, bent over slightly, one hand resting on his knee as he fought to catch his breath, and opened his mouth.

Then he started, blinked, and turned the rest of his head to more clearly see what he must have been seeing from the corner of his eye–Greg himself–letting go of gravity as he did.

The boy floated there, breathing heavily, eyes locked on Greg, hair moving slightly like it was underwater, eyes glowing faintly. The world held still. 

“Sorry about that,” he said softly, and as suddenly as he’d dove to Greg’s rescue, he was gone, the prints from his boots in the sand the only sign he’d ever existed at all.

A breeze blew across the beach. Greg wheezed out a gasp as his body remembered it needed to breathe.

He looked to the house. Undisturbed. Steven must be out after all.

He laid down in the back of the van. If he was more in his own head he might have immediately gotten up to go wait in the house.

But the world was tilting and his head full of cotton, so he didn’t do that.

But he did know one thing.

He was not sleeping until he knew his son was back safely in that house.

Hours. Minutes. Everything felt so quiet and so loud. He should call Steven. He should make sure he was safe.

But did any of that really just happen? Was this a nightmare? Was he just losing his mind? I started losing my hair early; maybe I’d start going senile early, too, floated lazily up in the swamp water that was his brain currently, and despite the concern he probably should have been feeling at that thought (when had he last gone to the doctor for literally anything?) he felt nothing.

Finally, in the predawn light painting the world gray and blue, Greg saw him. Steven approached from the left side of the van a little off in the distance and walked out of view. He thought he heard the screen door.

Steven was home. Steven was safe. Whatever happened, whatever dark thing had reached from beyond the void to touch this beach, it hadn’t touched Steven.

Steven was safe. Steven was safe. Steve was… safe… Steven… safe…

dear theodosia what to say to you

Sound. Light. That’s Steven. 

Also, reality. Reality and pain. Headache.

He blinked and squinted, morning sun clear and warm, the world scattered, fuzzed at the edges, just clear enough to be entirely unwelcome in how real it was. Ugh. Why did his head hurt so much? Felt like he’d run a marathon-

Wait.

Wait wait what what-? Hold up. Put freakout on hold. Steven. He grabbed for his phone, fumbling it in sweaty fingers. 10:07. No wonder everything hurt. He’d slept maybe five hours, if that.

His eyes flicked from his phone to the sand as he thumbed over the screen to receive the call.

The van was parked far enough from the beginning of the beach for footprints to not leave indiscernible holes in the sand, but they weren’t close enough to the surf for the tide to wash everything away. But it had been windy.

There were marks, but had they come from feet? He couldn’t tell. He honestly couldn’t tell. God.

“Dad?”

“Hi, Stchu-ball,” he said aloud with a numb mouth and a number mind. Right. Think. Wake up, brain. Focus. He wanted to get breakfast for him.

“Hi Dad! Just got up; I was wondering if you wanted to join us for breakfast? Or, well, me; the others have to run to go do Little Homeschool stuff.”

“Yeah, sure buddy,” he managed. “My treat?”

“You sure? I can cook-”

Something firm and determined pushed him forward. “No, that’s fine. I’ve been meaning to try some of those breakfast sandwiches from Arianna’s, anyway.”

“Well… okay, if you’re sure.” The smile in his voice was warm. He wished he could return it.

“Yeah, I’m sure. See you in a few?”

“See you in a few.”

They hung up. He swallowed and climbed into the front seat to start the van, ignoring the good morning text from Pearl with only a slight pang of guilt. Might as well get breakfast and practice smiling. He was going to need it.

——-

The second Steven saw him, Greg knew the smile he’d pasted on before the door opened was too plastic.

The bright, sunny grin on Steven’s face drooped, eyes quickly flicking up and down his father’s form. Damn it. He hadn’t changed his clothes from yesterday, that’s right. There was nothing he could probably do about the dark circles he bet he had under his eyes but he should have changed his clothes at least.

Please don’t comment on it. Just let it go by.

“Your sandwiches, Mr. Universe,” Greg said, some distant part of him relieved that the silly, over-the-top voice came out and came out right. He gave his son a little bow as he presented the bag.

A giggle. “Please,” Steven replied in an equally silly voice. “Call me Steven. Mr. Universe is my father’s name.” The weight of the bag disappeared from Greg’s hand and he righted himself, wincing just slightly as one knee complained. The bag rustled, Steven stepping back inside the house. “My highly esteemed, very talented, charming father and oh my god is that an omelette? Is that an egg and mushroom breakfast sandwich? I’m throwing ‘amazing’ on that list I think.”

He snorted as he followed Steven inside. “You flatterer you.”

“Flattery has nothing to do with food that smells amazing. That you brought me,” Steven said as he set the bag on the counter and withdrew the plastic containers. Something inside Greg’s chest loosened at the absolutely ridiculous goofy face his son was making. They’d better dig in before the boy started drooling.

“All right, all right. I’ll take some of those compliments,” he laughed as he held his hands up in defeat, approaching the table. “Even though all I did was place an order.”

“For the right things,” Steven chirped as he reached into the cabinet to pull out plates. “Very much the right things. Stars that smells good.”

“Well, what can I say? We Universes have very… refined pallets.” Greg took the containers over to the table, Steven following with the plates.

Now it was Steven’s turn to snort. “Yeah, okay, sure.”

“Hey, remember that night in Empire City? I am a man of taste.”

“The classiest,” Steven agreed, a touch of warmth to the banter. Greg chuckled and ruffled his hair.

The boy moved to take a seat before pausing, looking to his father. “Hey, what are we doing? It’s a nice day! Let’s eat outside?”

Inwardly he quailed a little. He’d really rather not look at the beach today, if he were being honest.

But that earnest expression? How could he ever say no to it? Especially when it was asking something totally reasonable of him. “Sure, kiddo.”

He picked up the containers and Steven carried the plates, the door opening with the usual light creak of hinges moving. Steven sat on the steps with a sigh, stretching his legs and then scooting over to make room for his father. Greg sat beside him.

“So um… I was wondering…”

Greg turned his head. “Mm?”

Steven’s eyes were lowered, foot tapping against the step below. “… Are you feeling okay?”

Ah geez. “What do you mean, Schtu-ball?”

“Uh, well, you look kinda- really tired today, and I dunno-” He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was just wondering, like, did you sleep okay? Do you- maybe need to talk about something or…? Because I know, I know you’ll say it’s not my job, but you’re my dad, and well, I just- I love you a whole lot and even if you don’t wanna talk about it I’d just- just like to make sure you’re all right.”

Oh, Steven.

He stared at his son, this sweet, brave, beautiful boy that he could barely believe came from his own dna, and leaned down to press a kiss into his hair.

“Dad?” He leaned back to find confused eyes that were rapidly becoming worried. Small wonder. Greg gave his son kisses all the time growing up, but they’d tapered off the past couple years out of respect for Steven’s slowly emerging adulthood and the determination that his son would never, ever feel patronized by him.

He only gave in a few times, and considering the ones he could remember were Steven being abducted to space, the second time his son was abducted to space, and Steven returning from saving them all from certain, eventual destruction at the hand of space dictators?

Yeah, he could see why he’d be concerned.

“It’s nothing,” he promised, smoothing back Steven’s hair a little. “Just… Had weird dreams last night. I’m very glad you’re here.”

“… You- could talk about them? If you wanted to,” Steven ventured. The powerful affection swelled even more and he gave him another kiss, on his forehead.

“Nah, they weren’t that bad. Nothing your old man can’t handle. Besides, you don’t need to fight them for me.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t mean to brag-” the worried knot in his forehead hadn’t quite left despite the grin he flashed at Greg- “but I’m quite the dream warrior. Just ask Kiki!”

“Kiki?” Oh, right, the pizza nightmare nonsense. “You sure are, but you don’t have to be responsible for everyone’s sleep, kiddo. Just yours.” He ruffled his hair. “But hey- if there was something we could learn from this, I’d tell you. But there isn’t really. It was just weird and uncomfortable. Not even really a nightmare.”

“Oh.” He made a face. “Those suck.”

“They do,” Greg agreed, reaching for a sandwich.

Maybe it had been a dream, somehow.

——-

It was a few days later that the next oddity happened.

Just enough time for Greg to maybe consider that what happened on the beach was some weird sort of hallucination- or maybe something less severe than what that implied, maybe just a scary dream. A really, messed up, unsettling dream. He wasn’t sure if he ate anything before falling asleep (he was pretty sure he didn’t) but mark that down as something to never do again before bed, just in case.

He just really wish he didn’t remember that kid’s face as well as he did, or that… thing.

But it was fine! Greg was fine. It was probably just a nightmare, and nothing happened. Nobody got eaten the next day when they went in the water. No reports of missing persons. It was fine. He played guitar, hung out at his car wash, washed a couple cars, spent time playing music with Steven and Pearl, pacified Peridot’s twenty questions when she and Lapis dropped by town to visit, introduced Garnet to a new band, cooked a dinner with Steven, and even took a long walk down the beach with Pearl, chatting about anything and everything. 

As always, the talk eventually turned to the townies, and what they were up to.

“It’s so odd,” Pearl mused. “I didn’t know we could even get raccoons around here.”

“Yep. They don’t usually come into town, but there’s plenty of them in the forest. Them and their weird tiny people hands.”

Pearl made a face. “Oh- that doesn’t sound- very nice.”

Greg chuckled. “They’re mostly harmless. It’s just really startling to be sleeping and suddenly feel tiny hands just like yours touching you.”

“Oh no, they haven’t done that to you!?” She looked so scandalized Greg almost laughed.

“Oh yes they have! But not in town. Happened a few years back when I took Steven camping in the woods.”

“Well that’s awful rude of them,” she huffed.

“Nah, cut them a break. We were intruders on their home, after all. They were just curious. Also they don’t understand decorum like we do.”

“Fair,” she sighed. “Still, they must be capable of some form of human-like reasoning.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Pearl was an incredibly sharp person, but 5000 some years of refusing to properly interact with humans left her woefully unaware of a lot of things about the planet she lived on. Sometimes hearing her reasoning was downright hilarious. She certainly was a creative one.

“Well,” she started with all the innocence and assuredness of a small child about to explain a logic only they could understand, “The Frys and the Pizzas are the only ones it seems to bother.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

“If it’s really here for food, why does it only get into their garbage? Why not other people’s? Food is food and organics need to consume it, so logically shouldn’t it just go anywhere?” A pause. “Why, if it’s coming from the woods, it’s going out of its way to get to their trash, even! Fish Stew Pizza and Beach Citywalk Fries are all the way down the block from the forest.”

Huh. She had a point. “Who knows? Animals are weird. There’s a reason we still study them, after all.”

She clucked her tongue. “I suppose we’ll never truly know until we catch them in the act.”

They only get into the Frys’ and the Pizzas’ garbage.

He wish he’d paid more attention to that little tidbit than he did.

——-

Three days after that conversation, four after that nighttime beach dream, standing in Fish Stew Pizza at the counter, waiting for Kiki to finish his order, he saw him.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted movement from out the open window and, as humans were wont to do when something moved in their peripherals, he turned his head, not expecting to find much. This was one of the more popular spots of Beach City. People weren’t super uncommon, especially with the gems hanging around the city now.

What was uncommon, what was odd, was the sight of a new face, hanging around by the garbage– a teenager, with messy black hair and a t-shirt and jeans. Greg blinked in surprise, but any curiosity he might have felt evaporated as he watched the hunched up teenager glance, and not very inconspicuously, left, then right-

And then grabbed the little paper container containing a half-eaten thing of fries right from where it was perched on top of the rest of the trash, sliding over with guilty, shameful stumbling to the bench beside the garbage can. He shoved his hand into the bag and dug out a fistful of fries.

Greg froze. For a moment, all he could see was white hair, glowing in the moonlight, floating slightly in the air, topping a face that was a bit too thin. Something familiar-

Not the only thing familiar. At the same time he remembered walking by that same can, hunched over with shame and hunger, chewing the inside of his cheek, worries swirling, Rose oblivious thank god-

Sitting on the boardwalk with a hungrily suckling baby kicking the bottle, staring at the food places he couldn’t afford to order from because that crib had cost way more than he’d anticipated, stomach complaining with a hollow, gnawing pain-

Trying to ignore the burning in his cheeks as he counted up nickels and dimes for Kofi, grateful for his patience but feeling anxiety draw its claws along the inside of his head, wondering how long that patience would last when there was a line behind him-

“Mr. Universe?”

“U-um-” Trying to stuff his brain back into his head, he turned to look back to Kiki, whose face was lined with concern. Right. Pizza. “Oh, uh, thanks Kiki. This’ll- uh, make great leftovers." 

"Well… I always thought cold pizza was yucky but hey, it’s your food, not mine.” She returned his weak smile and ducked back into the kitchen. He picked up the box, gears whirring as he stepped outside and approached the bench.

As his shadow fell over the teenager, the boy glanced up from where he was trying to peer into the clearly-empty box, eyes that looked too big for his head watching him warily. They were a startling shade of baby blue and it almost wrecked Greg’s concentration. Almost.

“Hey there!” he smiled at the boy. “Today’s your lucky day! I’ve started doing a 'one nice thing a day’ resolution– you know, spread some goodwill and all throughout the whole year, not just at the holidays– and you’re today’s winner! Have a pizza.”

He held the box out to him. One eyebrow quirked up, but the slightly shaking hands did accept the box.

“… And you didn’t put anything weird in it.” It wasn’t a question, and it wasn’t quite a statement either, brushing instead somewhere lightly against an accusation, especially with the pointing finger at the box now sitting on his lap.

“On my honor as a musician,” he promised, raising one hand, putting on his best overdramatic voice. There was a brief spark of amusement in the boy’s eyes. Greg took the minute of lowered guard to give him a quick scan.

Messy black hair he’d seen from the shop, but closer now, he could tell there was a very slight greasy quality to it, exacerbated by the lack of brushing. His frame and his face were a bit too thin, elbows poking out a bit more noticeably than they should have been, cheekbones a touch too sharp. There was a hole in one of the knees of his jeans, and given the dirt smeared on the pants, it didn’t look like fashion.

“Yeah, well… thanks, I guess.” He was still suspicious. Understandable. Greg knew what it looked like, a grown man approaching a lone boy he had no relation to with free food. He didn’t begrudge the kid the wary gaze still honed in on him with laser focus. “I’m staying right here.”

“Never said you had to go anywhere,” Greg said, backing away this time with both hands raised. “Enjoy your lunch, kiddo.”

He turned and went right back into the pizza shop, hailing Kiki down again.

“Yeah, Mr. U?”

“You see that kid outside?” he asked softly. Her head turned with his in time to watch the boy tear the pizza box open, rip out a slice, and begin to hork it down. She nodded, her face a wince of sympathy.

“Yeah.”

“Tell him he can get a free pizza a day, okay? I’ll pay for it, but don’t credit me. Let him think whatever, just as long as he knows he can get something to eat here.”

“Awfully sweet of you,” she said with a little smile. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Should we get ahold of his parents or…?”

Something twisted uncomfortably in his gut. “No. He might recoil if we’re too obvious about helping. If his family needs food, he’ll take the pizza home.”

“Well, looks like they must be having dinner tonight. Sure hope he doesn’t eat that whole thing by himself right now, though.” They resisted the urge to check. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Mr. Universe. Can’t leave the shop, but as long as he’s hanging around outside, I don’t mind watching him.”

“Maybe try to keep your dad or Mayor Nanefua from hovering too close?” He forced an awkward chuckle. “I remember what it’s like, being that age. He’ll just get embarrassed and shut down. Free pizza won’t do him much good if he won’t come to claim it.”

“Don’t worry Mr. U; I got this.” She winked at him. He tried to let it comfort him, and smiled back.

The boy was still tearing apart the pizza when he stepped outside. Resisting the urge to check on him again, he walked away.

He went to find Steven, lunch forgotten, and made sure to give his son a great big hug.

“Dad?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to give you a hug.”

If he had his way, it would have been for the rest of forever.

——-

He’d almost convinced himself by the time a week had passed that the white-haired floating kid from the beach was a bad dream, or maybe even some kind of… weird, residual Future Sight rubbing off on him.

Could that even happen? Greg was sure around magic stuff often enough for something weird to pop up, right? He was tempted to as Garnet about it, but the urge to keep quiet about this wouldn’t go away. Especially since he wasn’t sure that he could trust Garnet to keep this between them- not when she shared almost everything with the other gems now, not when they were finally feeling something like a family unit after all the years they wasted being distant and combative with one another. Garnet was nothing if not protective, and he knew the implication he’d started seeing things might concern her into consulting the others. Maybe even consulting other humans, given that he was pretty sure she knew little about human biology and how brains and bodies connected.

Or she could take it to be a literal, physical threat and sound the alarm. That felt likely, too. Extremely likely. He thought of the way she very carefully shadowed Steven in the months following his meltdown, and winced. Yeah. That would be a bad idea.

Especially if this was all just absolutely nothing.   God, the last thing he’d want to do is alarm Steven for absolutely nothing.

He locked up the car wash at around dusk, checking his phone as he walked his way down the street towards the beach. Steven would probably be starting to cut the vegetables, and if he hurried, he’d get there before he was ready to toss the salad and reheat the sauce from three days ago. He might even be in time to help Steven dice, actually.

As he reached the street that became the giant back area of The Big Donut, he heard it.

The sound of metal rattling.

Greg froze, looking up from his phone, staring down the block. Boardwalk Street saw the back of several stores and featured two small parking lots, indents in the street that hid the actual backs of the stores from sight- not helped by how far back Shirts 4 You extended.

A memory floated. Raccoons.

Well huh. He should. Probably look.

He stood there another minute before there was another rattle of metal and sighed, pressing his thumb into the power button of his phone to make it sleep and following the sound.

Is that… is that glowing?

He turned the corner of Shirts 4 You, staring across the little parking lot at the backs of the junky souvenir shop (the name of which he’d never bothered learning in the thirty some years he’d lived here), Fish Stew Pizza, and Beach Citywalk Fries.

And floating above the dumpster of the pizza place was-

The phone dropped to the concrete with a clatter and the white haired boy looked up from where he was reaching into the trash, green eyes locking with his.

For a second the world was still.

Then Greg blinked, and there was nothing there. How long he stood there he didn’t know, the buzzing of his phone the only thing to make it past the pounding in his ears. 

Numbly, he bent and picked up the phone.

Hey dad, where are you? You okay?

With trembling fingers he tapped out a message.

Fine, sorry kiddo. Customer took too long. Just got him to leave. Be right there.

He looked up. The dumpster lid was now back in place. The sound he made was barely human.

Greg shoved his phone in his pocket, turned, and left.

——-

“You’re really not slick, dude.”

Greg startled, nearly dropping the bag. He fumbled it embarrassingly, only just managing to catch it by one of the loops in the plastic. A deep sigh came from above him, and he lifted his burning face to look into the eyes of the unimpressed teenager sitting in the tree.

How did he even climb that high? It wasn’t a very sturdy tree. Just the tallest one in the park. The thought made his gut knot. Please get down from there.

“Why are you following me?” His thin shoulders hunched, face tight, fists clenching.

Well this was sure going the exact opposite way he wanted it to.

“I- uh… wanted to give you this,” he admitted in defeat, setting the plastic bag down at the base of the tree. “Thought you could use it.”

“I’m not getting down.” Greg heard the real meaning crystal clear. I’m not getting within grabbing distance. “Throw it up to me if you want me to see it that bad.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly heavy, but… “You… sure it won’t unbalance you?”

“Try me.” The barest hint of smugness amidst the defensive suspicion.

Huh. Welp. “Okay, sure.” If he fell, Greg knew a guy who could repair anything. Even if he had to cushion the kid’s fall with his own body there’d be no lasting harm with Steven around, not really, and insisting the kid come down was not worth risking the boy running off. He threw the bag up.

The teenager caught it in one hand with an ease that surprised him. Shifting slightly, likely to ensure his butt was securely on the branch, he dared to let go of the tree with his other hand to open the bag, a few brightly-colored plastic bottles and a loofa staring up at him. “… This is-”

“There’s a public shower over by the beach. The beach open to the public, I mean. It’s a much better place to clean up than the ocean and it really will help you feel loads better.” He pointed at the direction of the beach, resisting the urge to shield his eyes from the setting sun. “We really get barely any tourists compared to Ocean Town, but we get just enough that nobody will think twice about you using the facilities. It’s May, after all. This is when tourist season starts.”

The boy lowered the bag a little, eyebrows shooting to the sky. It made his eyes look even bigger and his confusion even more child-like. “… Why?”

“Uh- why do we have a tourist scene? Beats me. Beach City’s a nice place, but it’s tiny and has less stuff than-”

“No I mean- why?” He gestured to the plastic bag in his lap.

“Oh, that.” He shrugged, doing his best to seem nonchalant. “You look like you could use a little help.”

“And you just… decided to help.” His voice was flat with disbelief.

Greg blinked. For a second he could’ve sworn his eyes were green. 

Green. Green like-

Focus, Universe! 

“Yeah.”

“And you don’t want anything.”

“Nope.”

“… I’m not sure if I believe that.”

Shit, he’d probably turned down the pizza offer too, then.

“Listen I know it sounds… weird. And I didn’t want to butt in, so I won’t ask. But I can help without having to know every detail, so… well, why not?”

The kid tilted his head to the side, chewing on his lip a little.

“If you ever wanna talk, you can find me at the car wash.” He pointed. “Can’t miss it. Out of the park down this way to Boardwalk Street, take a left to Thayer Street, walk up the block. It’s at the base of the giant hill, only thing on that side of the street, right next to the ocean.”

“… Mmhm.” He wasn’t looking at him. Okay, fair.

“See you around?” He gave the teenager a wave.

As he turned to leave, he heard a soft “See you around.”

——-

“Um- is this seat taken?”

Greg glanced up in surprise from his lawnchair at the voice. That surprise quickly turned into relief at the shock of messy hair, even if the teenager looked like he was trying to curl into himself while still standing. “Nope. Go ahead.”

He sat down on the other lawnchair, tucking his knees against his chest and glancing skywards. 

For a few minutes all was quiet.

“… It’s a nice night.”

“Sure is,” Greg returned easily. “We get a lot of those around here, especially in summer.” The kid looked so sad and he ached to do something about it, but pouncing was ill-advised right now. 

A star shot across the sky. Suddenly that pain became a look of sheer joy, the boy gasping in delight. Greg smiled. “Pretty, huh? Meteorites are aweso-”

“Meteors.”

“Mm?”

“Oh- uh-” The boy flushed. “They’re only meteorites if they don’t disintegrate before they hit the ground. Otherwise they’re meteors.”

“No kidding. What about comets, then?”

“Oh, those are like-” He held up his hands a width apart. “They’re small solar system bodies made out of ice, and when they get close to the sun, the sun warms them up, and that makes them start releasing gasses- it’s called outgassing? And that’s what makes them look like they do- although they don’t always get a tail.”

“The only comet I’ve ever heard about is Haley’s Comet,” Greg mused.

“Oh, we won’t see that again until 2061,” he chattered. “That comet only comes around every seventy-five years, give or take a year.”

“Well look at you, little astronomer!” Aw hell, that face was cute. It looked just like Steven’s when Steven was going off about music. “Okay, what do you know about other solar- bodies?” That was the term he’d used right? “In our solar system.”

“You- really wanna know?”

“Yeah!” For all his son was a space prince he knew dip about the solar system. “Lay it on me.”

“Oh- geez- where to start-! Okay, did you know a day on Venus is longer than an earth year? Uhhh- the footprints on the moon?” He pointed up, like Greg might’ve forgotten where the moon was. “Those’ll be there for a hundred million years- oh here’s a really cool one; if two pieces of the same kind of metal touch while in space, they permanently bond because the atoms straight up have no way of knowing that they’re separate! It doesn’t happen on earth because there’s air and water between the pieces.” He stretched out one foot, eyes locked on the starscape above, face practically glowing, hands moving as he spoke, as if trying to pluck the wonders he spoke of from the sky to show him. “The highest peak on any planet in our solar system is Olympus Mons, which is a giant volcano on Mars that’s like, three times as big as Everest! Neutron stars–those are the densest and littlest stars we know of so far–their radius is around six miles long but their mass might be several times greater than our own sun, and they might spin six hundred times a second because of their weird physics-”

Greg didn’t realize how hard he was smiling until Danny stopped, cheeks turning bright red.

“U-um- sorry, didn’t mean to just go off like that-”

Greg waved a hand. “It’s fine. I asked, right? Besides, that was all pretty cool.” He wondered how much Steven knew.

Quiet again.

“It really is a nice night,” the boy murmured.

“If you stick around, you’ll get used to them.”

The teenager’s back went rigid. “Uh-”

“Look,” Greg said with a slow sigh. He set aside his guitar. “… I don’t pretend to know exactly what your situation is. And I’m not demanding to know, either. I have some guesses-”

The blood drained from the boy’s face.

“-But! Well… I’d be a hypocrite if I turned you over to the police. I get it, I really do. But I’m a father, kiddo. I just… want you to be safe. Wherever that is, however that has to happen. Even if the law wouldn’t exactly be smiling at me for how that comes around.”

“… So you’re saying… you’re… not? Gonna call the police?”

“No. And frankly we’ve got enough weirdness going on here that I don’t think a lot of people will be too upset at something new if you just started hanging around. That’s what my son’s friend started doing, for days, and nobody questioned her. They all just assumed she’d just moved to Ocean Town nearby and, well, she had.”

“Son?” Now that his fear was easing, he was processing that. “You’ve got a son?”

“Yup.” He didn’t bother trying to hide the pride in his voice. “About your age, too. If you do start hanging around here, you can expect to run into him. He’s very much a people person. Spends a lot of time wandering town and usually ends up here at some point or another.”

“Huh.” There was something else in his face now, a look Greg recognized very much indeed. It took everything in him to not physically react to the yearning in his eyes. “… If he’s anything like you that… doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Steven is a million times my better, trust me,” he chuckled. “I know I’m his dad and it’s kind of my job to say that, but really, he is.”

“Heh…” the boy stretched his legs.

Silence.

“You got a place to sleep?”

The big, baby blues were defensive again. “Yeah.”

“Sleeping bag?”

“Mmhm.”

“… And you’re not lying?” he coaxed gently.

“No.” Though still lined with borderline aggressive caution, Greg could read his face well enough. He wasn’t lying.

“Okay. But if the weather ever gets really bad, come find me. We’ll figure something out- and it won’t be with me,” he added hastily as the boy quirked an eyebrow, drawing his legs in again. “You can crash with my son, maybe, or I’ll find somewhere else you’d feel safe in, but I wouldn’t try to make you stay in a space with me alone. I get it. Stranger danger.”

That got a head tilt. “He doesn’t live with you?”

“Ah- no.” That old pang, especially given recent events. “He lives with his mom’s relatives. It’s a sort of… joint custody thing, but we’re on good terms. He comes down and sees me all the time, and I go over there all the time. We cook together. Hang out. He’s fifteen minutes away by walking from here. I basically just don’t actually sleep there, really, unless he wants me to.”

And lately he’d wanted him to quite frequently. Especially after the other night. It had taken a minute of comfortable silence while eating for Greg to realize that if he’d only slept five hours, so had Steven, since Steven had gotten back from his walk not minutes before Greg finally passed out. Steven squirmed under his gentle questioning but caved quickly enough, admitting he’d had a nightmare and wanted to go clear his head. Even better, he didn’t resist Greg’s offer to stay over for the rest of the week.

That therapy sure was helping. Little steps. It hadn’t stopped the nightmares, and the boy still went pink occasionally, but Steven was opening up, accepting help. Greg was proud of him.

Now hopefully this kid would accept some manner of help, too.

… He probably should explain the magical aliens, huh. Then again, if the boy was hanging around Beach City so much…

Well it wasn’t like all the gems had humanoid anatomy to their forms. Hell, Bixbite had a claw! And the kid hung around Fish Stew Pizza often enough to have probably seen her.

“So have you seen the- uh-” He gestured out over the city. The boy blinked in confusion before understanding dawned on his face.

“Oh, you mean the literal aliens walking around.” He snorted at Greg’s face. “Well they’re not exactly subtle.”

“Uh- no, you’re right, they’re not,” he laughed weakly. “It’s a good thing the ones that look less human have the sense to avoid Beach City during the day during tourist season but there are slips now and again.”

“I’d say it’s kind of amazing the news hasn’t spread but like- aliens. Who’s gonna believe that.”

“Exactly. You have no idea how long that’s kept us safe.”

Something passed across his face, something grim and hard and understanding and wow it made a rock lodge in his gut. The look was gone in seconds, but some of that steel remained. The nod the boy gave was way too mature for a kid his age. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d imagine it’d be bad if it got out beyond Beach City. I won’t say anything.”

“We all appreciate that,” Greg said softly, still stunned. “Uh- thanks, kiddo.”

“Mmhm.” He stretched out again.

A breeze blew through, ruffled their hair.

“Danny.”

Greg’s head turned from the starscape above them. “'Scuse me?”

“Danny. My name’s Danny.”

“Nice to meet you, Danny. I’m Greg. Greg Universe.” He held out his hand across the divide of the lawn chairs. Danny studied it for a moment before taking it.

“It’s… been nice to meet you too.” A hint of a grin. “Universe? Really?”

He flushed. “Ah, well- bit of a story, tha-”

“How’d you manage to land the coolest last name in the world? You and your kid get 'Universe’ and I get something dorky as hell? That’s not fair.”

Greg stared at him for a moment before laughing.

He liked this kid already.

[greekgeek21]

The Codependency Competition Ch.6

Hey! I'm back! And it's 2 AM, again. I'm starting to really believe that all my best ideas come at this time. It's unhealthy because I can't seem to fall asleep without doing something first, usually publishing a chapter. Anyway, this story is far from over, so stop freaking out. Thank you.

I also just wanted to mention that I am so grateful for all the love I've been receiving for this story. It means more than you guys could ever know. So, thank you.

Also, special thanks to JJ, or nightskywithrainbows, my amazing beta reader who I would be lost without.

Comment, like, and follow! Stay safe and Happy reading!

– your author

ΩΩΩ

"Ok. Let me get this straight: You and Annabeth are dating, and have been for almost two years?!" Jack exclaimed, "I don't believe it. I call BS!"

Percy just sighed and leaned his head farther back, to where he was just looking up at the ceiling. Even after he had explained how Annabeth and him were dating, they still couldn't believe that they actually were. Plus, they had kissed earlier, so why was it so unbelievable?

"Oh my gods, what's so hard to understand about it?" Percy asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well, I mean, why would you even keep it a secret?" Chloe asked in return.

Before he could answer, Annabeth rushed into the room, settling next to her boyfriend, "Because our friend said we were too dependent on each other! We took it as a challenge, ok?! Gods!"

Annabeth huffed and snuggled into Percy's side. It had gotten too hard for her to hear him struggle through convincing his friends, so she had decided to step-in. Well, in actuality, she couldn't physically contain herself. But 'decided' sounds more sane.

While Chloe and Jack were fighting the truth, Mike had kept silent. He was stuck inside his head, thinking over everything he had pushed to the back of his mind since Annabeth had come to school for the first time.

Percy and her exchanging "secretive" glances.

Percy's excitement in the days before her arrival.

Annabeth and Percy's conversation in Greek.

It all made sense. The way that they seemed to be able to communicate without even opening their mouths. They were in love with each other the entire time! How had he not realized it sooner?!

Finally bringing himself back to reality, Mike said in a soft voice, "They're telling the truth."

"What? Mike, you can't be buying into this!" Jack exclaimed.

"Think about it! Look at them! Really look at them!" Mike yelled at his friend, pointing at the young couple, "They love each other!"

Jack and Chloe, exasperated, gazed over at Percy and Annabeth, who had been sitting deathly still during Mike's entire outburst. And true enough, when they REALLY looked at the duo, their eyes widened in realization. Everything they had said was true. Percy had been lying to them for so long...

Weren't they best friends?

"Shit!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, so NOW you believe us!" Percy said.

"Face it, Perce, you have no people skills," Annabeth smirked at her boyfriend.

He just rolled his eyes, "So what are we gonna do now?"

Annabeth started to think about it, but before she could come up with something, Jack spoke up, "We'll keep your secret!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. I mean, it could work, but why would they help them? It was obvious that Leo was right–not that she would ever admit that–and she and Percy should just give up, right? Unless...

"Yes! You all keep our secret, and Percy and I don't have to tell Leo that he was ri–right," she said.

Percy was going to protest, but one look at Annabeth silenced him. She looked so desperate. He couldn't make her admit defeat. It just wasn't in her nature. Plus, it wasn't in HIS nature to hurt Annabeth.

"Ok, whatever. But if we get discovered a second time, I'm not trying to salvage it again," Percy told her.

Annabeth smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips in thanks. Her eyes seemed to almost literally light up at the prospect of a challenge.

Percy and Annabeth spent the next hour explaining their entire relationship to Chloe, Jack, and Mike (minus the godly aspects). It seemed like the trio had a never-ending supply of questions to ask. By the time that Percy had finally found a way to kick them out nicely, Annabeth looked about ready to murder someone.

However, just as they were exiting the apartment, she jumped up, "Don't forget to ignore me at school! Remember, you haven't ever met me!"

Mike mock-saluted her, "Yes, ma'am!"

Then they left. And Percy and Annabeth were alone. Finally.

"I thought they would never leave!" Percy exclaimed, walking back to his girlfriend and putting his arms around her.

"Me, too. And now I'm ready to spend some time with my boyfriend," she agreed.

"Oh? I thought we had some homework to finish?" Percy teased.

Annabeth smiled and leaned in to kiss him, "That can wait."

And they spent the next half-hour making out...

Later, when they were in bed, Percy was stuck awake. He was just staring at the ceiling, unable to escape his thoughts.

Why were they trying so hard to prove that they didn't need each other...when they did?

It was all so confusing. He wanted to make Annabeth happy, but was this really doing that? I mean, he didn't want to assume, but he was pretty sure HE made her happy. Adding fatal flaws into a relationship just makes everything more difficult, that's for sure.

Percy looked over at Annabeth, watching her sleep and playing with her golden locks. She's so beautiful, Percy thought, smiling.

But, of course, something had to ruin the moment.

Annabeth started thrashing around, screaming out at nothing. She was throwing her arms and legs around in a desperate attempt to stop whatever she was seeing. As Percy tried to calm her, he let his guard down and was too distracted to realize that her fist was coming at his face. It was a sloppy punch, but it still stung. It hit him right in the eye, and would surely cause a bruise to form later.

Nonetheless, Percy kept on trying to help her. He was able to straddle her and was trying to hold down her arms. He was forced to use more force than he wanted to, though, because she kept on struggling.

"Percy! No!" Annabeth screamed in agony, tears flowing down her cheeks.

The amount of pain in her voice made tears form in Percy’s eyes, but he still pushed on, "Annabeth, calm down. We got out. We're safe. I'm ok. You're ok. I love you. We got out..."

And he kept muttering in her ear until she eventually opened her eyes, tears still streaming relentlessly.

"Seaweed Brain?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yeah, Wise Girl?" he asked, finally releasing her.

He moved to where he was holding her, allowing her to let it all out. She told him everything that had happened in the dream. She was in Tartarus, and she was watching Percy turn Akhlys’ own poison against her, but he didn't listen to her this time. It looked so real...and it felt real, too.

Nothing she could say would make him stop. It was horrible.

"It's ok, Wise Girl. It wasn't real. I love you," Percy whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much, Percy. Thank you for stopping," Annabeth said.

And that's the moment that Percy realized how bad this episode was. Usually, they could pull themselves out of it by grasping that it wasn't real, but this time, she couldn't. It was like when they had first gotten out of  'that place.' This one nightmare had probably set them BOTH back a couple steps.

"I will always stop for you," Percy assured her, "Now try to get some more sleep. I'll be here. Always."

"Always," Annabeth agreed, driving off to a finally peaceful sleep.

ΩΩΩ

Ok, so who had tears in their eyes right now? I know I do! And I'm sorry for doing this, but you know I couldn't make a Percabeth fanfic without having a PTSD episode, right? I just decided that I needed to get it over with. Plus, it helps move the plot along.

Also, I'm sorry if this starts to seem like Literallyobsessed's story a little bit here in the next couple chapters. I just liked that part of the plot a lot, and it was super interesting to read, so I added my own twist to it and put it here.

Anyway, I worked really hard to make this chapter longer than the last couple. It was hard. For some reason, this story's chapters seem to be a lot longer than the actually are...until I check the word count.

Thanks, JJ!

That's it! Comment, like and follow! Stay safe and happy reading!

– your author

chapter 7 :) 

[ellana-ravenwood]

I don’t talk to fish - Aquaman x reader

Can you one with Aquaman? Where he and the reader know each other but they hate each other an then they fall in love eventually? Requested by @itsrebeca

I accidentaly delated the original message so...yeah. Here we go. It’s really long because I didn’t wanna make more than one part huh. And it kinda sucks...Oh well, I tried. It’s so late...

You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

______________________________________________________________________

The first time you met Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, you were having a nice lunch date at your favorite cafe in Metropolis with your brother, Clark. 

You weren’t happy that one of his super-friend ruined your chance to spent time just the two of you. Since he moved to Metropolis and became Superman, you nearly never saw your brother, and you missed him. You guys have always been very close, and despite his overprotecting you, he just didn’t had time to hang out with you that much anymore...Especially since you stayed in Smallville to take care of the family farm with your ma’. 

You often joked about the fact that you’d have to be in grave danger to see him. Worst thing was, it was true...So when he called you and asked if you wanted to come for the week-end to Metropolis, you said yes without hesitation...The first day, he saved the world from aliens with the Justice League, and only came back late at night. You had to almost dragged him out of bed for him to follow you to the café to have lunch...and now, that Aqua-dude was ruining it. 

-Oh, hey Arthur, something the matter ?

Clark asked, concerned. 

-Is it a problem with...You know ?

-What ? Oh no, no don’t worry. I was just passing threw the neighborhood when I saw you. Thought I’d say hello. And who is your lovely partner ?

-My little sister, Y/N. 

-And I’m not lovely. 

-Oh, the grumpy one eh ?

You glared at your brother, and he looked away, embarrassed. It was kinda true that you didn’t always had the best temper, but talking about it with total strangers, really Clark ? You squinted your eyes at Aquaman. 

-Since he has only one sister, seems like it. 

-I’m...

-The guy that talks to fish, I know. 

-I don’t talk to fish. 

-Whatever you say Waterdude. 

-Aquaman. 

Clark chuckled lightly, looking around nervously to make sure no one heard you two. He was used to your provoking way, but a man like Arthur, a King used to respect and such...

-Play nice guys, and talk a bit lower, we’re in a public place.

-She started it. 

-No I didn't Liquidguy, you did by calling me grumpy !

-But you are grumpy !

-And you do talk to fish !

-I DON'T TALK TO FISH !

The crowd in the cafe suddenly went silent, and everyone was staring at you. You exploded in a fit of laughter. 

-Hahaha, man, Clark, you’re friend is COMPLETELY nuts. Sorry people, he has problems. 

You gestured to you brother to go pay as you dragged Aquaman out of the cafe. 

-You know, you aren’t good at hiding your secret identity fish talker. 

He winced. 

-I don't talk to them ! I mentally force them to do my will.

-Alright Fish whisperer...Wait, you force them to do your will ?

-Yes. I don't actually talk to them. Or whisper for that matter.

-Nevermind the talking situation, you FORCE them to do YOUR will ?

-Like I said. 

-Oh, you’re disgusting. 

-Sorry ?

-Yeaaaah, you act all grand like the fucking King you are, but you force beings to do whatever you want them to do, without knowing if they’re ok with it ?

-That’s not exactly how...

-Disgusting. Uh. I thought Clark’s friends were nice. 

-What are you even on about ?

You scoffed and looked away. Clark arrived and you grabbed his arm, dragging him away, ignoring Aquaman. Your brother tried to say goodbye awkwardly, hoping Arthur wouldn’t be mad at him. 

******

The second time you met Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, was when he saved your ass. You were on vacation, and went on a boat trip with friends. You weren’t too fond of the oceans, but somehow your friends convinced you and you ended up on a boat in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by deep water full of your only fears in life : sharks. However, everything was going smoothly...at least, until a storm hit. You were too sea sick to even realize the danger you were in, until the boat toppled over and you found yourself thrown into a roaming sea. 

You were never a good swimmer, and you struggle to keep afloat. And...Oh my god, was that a shark fin you saw a bit further ? You couldn’t see any of your friends, and the boat had already disappear in the tall waves surrounding you. AND YES THAT WAS DEFINITELY A SHARK FIN ! You tried to swim away, but the force of the water kept swinging you in every directions. You were quickly getting exhausted, and you were now sure sharks surrounded you...You hated sharks, there were the only thing in the world to actually scare you. You screamed for help, you screamed for Clark to come...after all, he already heard you from Metropolis while you were in trouble in Smallville...But you couldn’t scream much, water invading your mouth. And the fear made you even dizzier...The last thing you saw was four shark fins coming straight at you before you passed out. 

When you opened your eyes, you were on a beach, surrounded by your friends. They were glad you finally woke up. 

-What...Are we dead ?

They all laughed. No. No you guys weren’t dead. A nice and hot blond man saved you and...Blond man ? You whipped around and cursed. Of course. It had to be. 

-Waterdude...

-Aquaman. 

-Whatever fish enslaver...

He rolled his eyes, and your friends looked at you with a : “Really dude ?” look on their face. You rolled your eyes back at them and stood up...just to immediately fall back down. 

Arthur was the only one with fast enough reflexes to catch you before you hit the ground. 

-You, you knew I was deadly afraid of sharks...

-No, I didn’t. I knew I should have...”enslaved” dolphins. 

-Fish monster.

-Dolphins are not fish, they’re mammals. 

For some reason, this made you smile, but you quickly regained yourself and jump out of his arms. He scoffed, and after saying a quick goodbye to your friends, who were in awe of him (ew), he went back to the ocean. 

You were annoyed, but couldn’t help staring at his ass. It was a damn fine ass...He turned around. Damn fine six packs as well. 

-You’re welcome, by the way, grumpy one. I’ll tell your brother your safe. 

-Wait what ?

-Please, do you honestly think I was there by coincidence ? I was only giving back a favor I owed to your brother. Apparently, you tend to have bad luck, he was afraid something might happened. Guess he was right. 

-Tell him to fuck off and to take care of his own business. 

-Yeah, I’ll make sure, so that next time sharks can actually eat you before you drown. 

You shudder. You really didn’t like sharks. 

****

The third time you met Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, was at a party Bruce Wayne was throwing. He was dashing. You were stunning. You greeted each other coldly, but whenever you thought the other one was looking away, you stared at each other, completely ignoring the date you took with you. Clark noticed, and smiled lightly to himself. He knew since the first time you met what was going to happen. 

****

The fourth time you met Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, you were sitting on the dock of Metropolis, a bit depressed because your boyfriend just dumped you. For some reason, you didn’t feel sad, you didn’t like him THAT much, but you hated failure. The sole of your shoes were lightly touching the water...and you quickly put your legs back on shore when you saw a fin lurking around, terrified shitless...Until you realized it was actually a dolphin. A beautiful, majestic dolphin. 

-Got ya. 

You turned around and saw him, in casual clothes, not in his ridiculous yellow and green suit. 

-Are you following me ? Like the creature of the Black lagoon ? 

-Wow, I hope I’m a bit more attractive than him...and no, not following you. I was literally just walking around...I hang out a lot on the docks you know, and the occasion to scare you was too good.

-You really are an asshole. And controlling...

-I’m not controlling them. Yes, I will them with my mind to do things, but if they really didn’t want to, then they wouldn’t.

-You mean “your” sharks could have attacked me if they wanted to ?

-Never actually happened for any fish or sea mammals to resist me...I’m their king after all. 

-Such a show off. 

-What, why ? I am their king !

You scoffed. At this point, he was used of this reaction towards him, but still...

-Why do you hate me so ? 

-What ? I don’t hate you. Why do you think that seaweed brain ? 

-Maybe because every time we see each other you...

-Don’t take it personally. I’m like that with everyone. But I guess you being a King, you’re not used to people telling you what they think. 

-...

-I mean, not what they think, just...teasing you and such. I don’t think you’re an asshole...or, you are sometimes but...Hum...

-Teasing where I come from is a bit more enjoyable...

-Ah...uh...I...Hum...

You blushed. He smiled. Damn his smile was cute. 

-I don’t understand you at all. 

-...It’s because I don’t speak fish.

He turned quickly to you, and the smile on your face made him realized you were joking. You had a wonderful smile...

*******

The fifth time you saw Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, it was on the TV. Him, your brother and the rest of the league were fighting a particularly fierce enemy, and your heart stopped each times it showed the ones you loved in danger. The ones ? With an s ? ...That’s the time you figured out your brother wasn’t your only concern, maybe a certain blond seaman was also in your mind....

*******

The sixth time you saw Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, you didn’t even mocked him once. He thought it was odd, and when he asked explanation to your brother, Clark just laughed in his face calling him daft. 

********* The seventh time you saw Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, you had slightly given up on a possible romance with the King of the seven seas. He was a King, he was your brother’s friend, he was a meta-human, and most of all, he thought you hated him...So you were on a date with another man. 

You met Arthur “randomly” in Metropolis’ streets, and he was so awful to you that it comforted you in the fact he actually hated you for real. You ran to your brother, acting as if your date went wrong, when in reality it was your encounter with Arthur that threw you aback. Clark you, and called you daft. 

******

The eighth time you saw Aquaman, aka Arthur Curry, you were completely drunk at your brother’s birthday party. Singing “Show must go on” at the top of your lungs, you were having a good time...until you saw him. You were about to say something extremely mean, your drunkness inducing your cynical and sarcastic usual self, but he spoke first. 

-I’m sorry about...last time. Clark told me you cried. 

-Not because of you, because my date was ruined. 

-Ruined by me so...A bit because of me. 

-Hic...No...Or maybe yes. Completely. 

He was embarrassed, and you didn’t get why. Were you that bad looking right now ? Probably a bit disheveled, maybe your make up wasn’t as good as it was at the beginning of the party but...Why was he looking at you this awkwardly. You made a fake reverence, and he looked taken aback. 

-Sorry your highness, majesty, waterdude, if I inconvenient yourself right now with...the...sight of me...Am I speaking proper English ? Wait, you can’t understand me, I’m not talking fish. 

-I don’t talk to fish...and if I’m being honest, I’m not that sorry I ruined your date...I’m just sorry I made you cry. 

You turned your head towards him, curious.

-Yeah, the guy you were with, he kinda seemed to be an asshole. 

-On the contrary, he was lovely, but he wasn’t you. 

You froze, suddenly realizing what you just said. 

-Wh...What was that ? 

-I said he wasn’t as big of an asshole as you. 

-Oh...

On that note, Clark appeared out of nowhere with a very drunk Wonder Woman on his back and said :

-No, she said he wasn’t you, implying she’d rather go on a date...with you. 

You swore that if you were sure not to break your hand on him, you would have smacked your stupid brother. He widely smiled at you, and you frowned. 

-Diana, Clark has been in love with you for years. 

-Oh that’s so low little sister...

But given the state the mighty Wonder Woman was in, she probably wouldn’t remember anything the next day. Clark suddenly rushed out to the toilet, sensing she was going to throw up. 

You stood awkwardly in front of Arthur, too drunk to actually stand straight, so you were kinda gently swaying from side to side, trying to keep your balance. 

He smile, feeling as awkward as you.

-You...wanna go on a date with me ?

-No. 

-No ? 

-Yes. If there’s no sharks. 

-Promise, no sharks. 

You just both stood there, staring curiously at each other. If over a year ago someone would have told you you’d somewhat ask Arthur bloody Curry out, you probably would have laughed in their faces and ask Clark to punch them into space. 

-So...are you free next friday ?

-No. 

-No ?

-No, I have a date. With a king. 

-A king ? How many kings do you know exactly ? 

-...Are you being an idiot on purpose ?

-What ? Oh. Oooooh. Ok. I see. Yeah. Gotcha. So, next friday ?

-Yes, but I can’t wait. 

-Yeah, strangely enough I’m pretty excited too. 

-No, I mean...

You decided “fuck it”, he liked you enough to ask you out anyway. And it was true, you couldn’t wait. You grabbed his shirt and tugged him down to you, kissing him gently at first, before he deepened the kiss. You pulled away for air moments later, smiling like idiots. 

-So...Are you going to teach me how to speak to fishes ?

You asked, a mischievous smile on your lips. He rolled his eyes, before pulling you in for another kiss that tasted like alcohol and...Sushi. 

**********

The 2976 time you saw Aquaman, aka Arthur Cury, you were slowly waking up in your shared bed. One of his arm was wrapped around your waist, the other was gently resting on your stomach. Your rather big stomach. That stopped your habit of sleeping on your belly. 

His hand was lovingly resting over your stomach, already protecting your unborn child.