#if you asked me how i would rank lower decks after just watching the first two seasons i would probably say like. high mid

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

lower decks is the best star trek show. i'm not taking constructive criticism at this time

[grandline-fics]

Hear me out please, Cross Guild playing UNO with Y/n? 👀

DESCRIPTION: They underestimate you during game night

WARNINGS:  i don't think any warnings are needed

CHARACTERS: Cross Guild

WORDS: 1,321

A/N: Thank you for this request! I had a lot of fun with this scenarion even though it was something different to come up with something. Hope you like what I wrote.

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

DIRECTORY | PROMPT LIST

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These game nights were a relatively new addition to the Cross Guild dynamic, a simple suggestion among some of the lower ranking recruits to pass the time but one made a comment on how it helped enforce partnerships while also being a safer way to get out frustrations of the day. You’d overheard them talking about their more recent game night and became curious, noticing how more relaxed and happier they all seemed between jobs. As you walked by the large set of double doors of the trio’s meeting room you heard the angered conversation and panicked begging from the other side. If anyone needed to get their frustrations out through different means and enforce partnerships it was those three. 

With a sigh you left them to it, having no need to intrude in their ‘meeting’ just yet. After completing your duties you changed into comfier clothes and walked by the large communal lounge to the sound of playful arguing and laughter. Glancing in you saw the groups sat at tables, on floors, or the sofas. Everyone engaged in games or just watching in amusement. You noted even some of the higher ranks were mingling in the groups too. Still no sign of your Bosses though. With a small hum you reached into the cabinet where the games were kept and grabbed the first pack of cards you touched and left the others to their fun. 

You’d made one more stop on the way before you were outside the double doors once again and rolled your eyes to still hear the same muffled nonsense that you’d noticed a handful of hours ago. With a sharp knock you entered. Crocodile and Mihawk glared towards you at the sound of your entrance but held back the beginnings of their yells or threats when they saw it was you. Still they weren’t entirely happy though. Slowly your gaze slid across them and then down at the chopped apart Buggy, meeting his pleading gaze for rescue. “Is there an emergency?”

“In a manner of speaking.” You replied walking towards the meeting table, lightly tossing the deck of UNO cards on the table before carefully setting the four glasses and bottle of whiskey beside it. “Call this an emergency workplace resolution meeting. Game night.”

“Absolutely not!”

“I’m not a child.”

“That’s not going to solve them threatening to kill me!”

“Well then consider this me resignation party.” You said with a simple shrug, silencing their refusals and whining while sliding into your seat, face calm as you poured your own drink. 

Mihawk eyed you carefully for any sign of a bluff but still removed Yoru from its place near Buggy’s nose. Crocodile glared at you, teeth grinding into his cigar and removed his hook from Buggy’s back. With both threats of violence seemingly lifted Buggy gladly reassembled his body and rose from the floor, the only one to openly show worry at your threat. “You’d really leave?”

“What’s to stay for?” You asked, swirling the dark liquid with relaxed ease in the glass while smiling sweetly at the trio. “When I was hired it was to oversee the parts of this enterprise the three of you either lack the maturity or patience or general will to do and I do it exceptionally well. I was promised that I would not be bored in this job but quite frankly the three of you acting like homicidal children with each other is a bore. I’m not your nanny. So what are we deciding? Playing along or saying goodbye?”

Your question hung heavy in the room. None of the men were prepared to lose you. You were far too good at your job and your wage reflected that. They knew no-one else would be able to handle them individually the way you did while also achieving all of your duties effortlessly. The three of them exchanged looks with each other while you sat as relaxed as could be, leaving your fate in their hands. For the first time today the three Cross Guild leaders were unanimous in their choice. Crocodile poured his own glass and grumbled as he took his seat. “Deal the cards.”

“Still, UNO?” Mihawk remarked as he took his chair, reaching for a glass and the bottle once it was free. 

“Like I said, you were acting like children. Needed to see you could handle a child’s game first. We can always move on to something else after?” You suggested with a smirk as you shuffled the deck and dealt the cards. 

“UNO is fairer than other games, less chance for cheating.” Buggy muttered, pulling his cards towards him and the final glass. 

“Aww come on boys, don’t pout.” You consoled the trio with a calm smile as they threw their cards on the table as you won. Again. “It’s just a game.�� 

“Stupid game.”

“You thought you going to win that one for sure, didn’t you Croc?” You asked with a growing grin while Crocodile glared harder, wanting nothing more than the skewer the entire deck with his hook. Still he couldn’t deny that this was the longest he’d spent in the same room as Mihawk and Buggy without any real animosity or desire to kill him. You on the other hand, he wasn’t best pleased with. More so because he hadn’t expected you to be capable of beating him like this. While it wasn’t a game like poker or blackjack, it was still cards and it stung a little but he couldn’t bring himself to be truly angry not when you proved your point. If anything he felt pride.

Mihawk was more relaxed about his losing streak, still a bit of a bruised ego but it was going to damage his reputation any. A little card game won out of chance and luck wasn’t going to rattle him. His mood was lighter, enjoying the way you showed a more playful and smug side of yourself now that everyone was getting along. As for Buggy he was delighted to feel safe with Cross Guild’s masterminds, he didn’t care if he was losing the game. In his eyes he was the real winner, that for once Mihawk and Crocodile were at someone else’s mercy for a change. “Another game or have you had enough?”

“It’s late.” Crocodile noted, finally catching sight of the clock on the wall. “We all have work in the morning.”

“Suit yourself.” You shrugged, sitting back in your seat. You would leave after you finished your drink. As you sipped your drink you lazily twirled one of the cards between your fingers.

“Next time we need a better game.” Mihawk stated as he slowly sipped his drink. You felt satisfaction grow as you silently listened to them plan when the very notion of playing a game was  initially so ridiculous. Then the conversation slowed and you blinked to see three sets of eyes locked in on the card still being manoeuvred deftly between your fingers. One moment it was a green 3, on the next twist it was a yellow plus two, over and over it continued, always changing. A small laugh broke through your lips, deciding to finally put them out of their misery and show that you weren’t playing fair.

“Little cheat.” Crocodile chuckled.  Buggy grinned and Mihawk smirked as you drained your glass and rose, setting the cards you’d had hidden up your sleeve on top of the pile of discarded ones. 

“Goodnight gentlemen thank you for a not boring evening.” You thanked them with a smile and a wink and turned on your heel, leaving them with a soft hum drifting from your lips that curved upwards. All three of them watched you leave, each of them now looking forward to the next game night even more although whether they could get along with each other until then was another matter entirely but for you they’d try.

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[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Merging multiple species into society

( Don’t forget to come see my on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord )

Across the landing field the ground crews were in frantic motion. Landing pads that had been used as temporary supply dumps were cleared, refugees and civilians were moved up for transport off world, and for the first time in seven months the Galaxian base commander braided his face tentacles.

From his office overlooking the entire compound, Commander Zavar kept watch of the progress from the corner of his eye while his main focus was on the mirror in front of him. Carefully observing his reflection he intertwined the several dozen chest length tentacles that grew just beneath his jaw into elegant patterns.

He hadn’t bothered to for the last few months as the braiding of tentacles was meant to show a sign of respect. A Galaxian with unbraided tentacles was essentially stating that whomever they spoke with they held them in low regard. Zavar hadn’t braided them for some time as he felt no need to show signs of respect to anyone under his command.

It had been months since the landing base was established with the intent to use it as a jumping off point in new offensives. When Zavar had been given command he felt that he would be helping bring an end to this bloody conflict by maintaining such a crucial facility. Yet just as the offensive was about to begin their enemies decided to launch a massive counter offensive on an entirely different continent. In short order the manpower which had been set aside for the Galaxian offensive was pulled away to mount a rapid defense and halt this no enemy offensive.  

One by one troop ships stopped coming to his base and requested materials became increasingly diverted to other theaters of the war until finally this once crucial launching point became nothing more than a gas station for passing supply ships.

He grimaced as he made a wrong twist while braiding remembering his degrading morale and the effect it had on those under him. The drive that had once fueled Zavar was sapped away by months of repetitive supply transfers and paperwork, and this soon turned to ever laxening of base discipline among the work crews. When Zavar’s second in command came to him with information that several of the crews had taken an abandoned storage building and had turned it into an entertainment club of sorts, all he did at the time was put on his military cap and take a walk over to it for a drink himself.

That had all changed last night when in the middle of darkness moon Zavar had received an offworld communication from central command. After weeks of careful negotiation the human government they had agreed to join the war effort on the Galaxian side. A substantial force of at least four of their divisions had already arrived in system and would be sending down a battalion of 500 soldiers to further secure and expand Zavar’s base.

Within moment of the calls end Zavar had ordered all of his crews to standby and began issuing orders with renewed fire. As Zavar finished braiding his tentacles and looked out across his base he saw all of the landing pads had been cleared, and with moments to spare.

A loud rumbling could be heard and Zavar could feel the room slowly vibrating as he looked to the clouded skies.

Breaching through the murky grey clouds that had covered the sky for weeks Zavar saw a human landing craft. It was a bulky black mass of metal with a design reminiscent of an overweight bird Zavar thought as it slowly descended towards the base. He was slightly disappointed in the lacking design aesthetics of the human craft, but he had remembered that these transports were designed for carrying large amounts of troops to safe areas rather than enemy held landings. Zavar watched it for a few moments more before leaving his office and making for the landing pads.

It was a short ride from his office to landing pad three were Zavar met his second in command already waiting with a small detachment of honor guard. He exited the vehicle just as the landing craft set down sending gusts of wind out from the engines as they slowly died down.

As Zavar took his place at the head of the honor guard the loading door of the transport popped open with a loud thud and began to lower.

He had heard stories of humans before, how they were great warriors of the highest caliber, that their reflexes were heightened to such a level in the heat of battle they could see an enemy from miles away, that they could lose limbs and heal after a period of time only to forge new ones and return for more combat; truly these beings would bring a swift end to this war.

The ramp finally touched the surface of the landing pad and Zavar could finally see inside of the transport. What he saw rather surprised him however…..

At the top of the ramp stood several ranks of human soldiers dressed in combat gear, but at the head of them was a uniformed Kliptec; their serpent body draped across the decking of the craft.

Zavar cast a side long glance at his second who looked as dumb founded as Zavar was feeling before looking back at the Kliptec. Their upper body was humanoid in shape, yet they bore more hallmarks of a reptile. Scaled skin, slit like eyes, sharpened fingers, and in place of feet was a roughly six foot long tail.

As the Kliptec slithered down the ramp towards Zavar and the front ranks of humans followed Zavar was greeted by further confusion. Mixed in with the humans soldiers Zavar noted several other species not native to the human worlds.

A Draxic casually stomped forward with the ranks appearing to carry some form of heavy weapon casually over their shoulder, a Flinchestet with a communication device glided across the decking as if its limbs could not be bothered to touch the floor, a Valmorian with a red cross painted across their helmet stood alongside a Combra whose face had been ritually scared for the coming battles; but most surprising of all was the towering figure at the very back of the transport.

A hive warrior drone draped in the uniform of humanity. It held no weapon between its claws but Zavar was positive it would have no need of such a device to rip through the lot of them. Some of the honor guard made let out whimper of fear and one even went so far as to start to bring their weapon to bear.

With only a look Zavar’s second command was at the guard’s side and snatched the weapon from his hands in a single motion.

“Be. Calm.” Those two words were all he said to the guard before returning to his place next to Zavar, the weapon he had taken from the guard clutched at his side.

His men looked at their commander with silent awe as they saw Zavar look unphased at the sudden turn of events. Instead of humanity’s reinforcements they appeared to have been given a cavalcade of species that had once fought against humanity. In truth Zavar was deeply concerned about this development, but the one thing keeping him from panicking was his observations of the actual human soldiers present.

Their eyes lacked a sense of fear one would normally experience when coming upon something, or someone, so unnatural to themselves. They were alert and disciplined which was all that Zavar needed to know to reassure him that things were as they should be.

The Kliptec finally slithered in front of Zavar and gave a crisp salute which Zavar returned with a bow of comradery.

“Lt. Colonel Reginal Seth of the 17th Engineer battalion.” the Kliptec said.

“Base Commander Zavar Hatsval,” Zavar replied as he motion to his second, “and my second Xixvil Nog, of the Galaxian expeditionary force.”

“I must admit,” Zavar began as the column of forces began marching past the trio, “when I heard we were getting human reinforcements I was not expecting this.”

Reginal’s sighed and rolled his eyes as if he had heard that same statement a thousand times before.

“Our military allows anyone to enlist so long as they were born within our borders.” he stated as he turned to see his soldiers march by to the storage facilities. “It is an efficient system to use every natural resource available to your advantage, so why limit to a single species military?”

“We do not ask others to fight in our stead.” Xixvil spoke as he watched several humans walk by.

“And how has that turned out for you here?” Reginal said as his serpent mouth twisted to a half grin. “Because from where I am it looks like we’re here to fight in your stead.”

Xixvil’s mouth dropped open in shock before morphing into one of anger while Reginal continued smirking. Zavar thought he was about to see his second lash out when the hive drone he had seen before marched over to them.

It stood easily twice as high as a Galaxian and three times as high as the human soldiers around it. Its collection of eyes were constantly darting around randomly as if trying to observe everything at once while it hovered over the trio. It slowly opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharpened teeth as it surprised Zavar once again.  

“Dro…..go…..where?”

In all of his life in the Galaxian military he had never heard of a hive drone capable of speech. In the past the Galaxian’s had fought several wars with the Hive and at every encounter the drone warrior caste was found to be near mindless killing machines without a queen’s control. To hear one speak in a language he could understand, let alone in broken sentences was enough to end the careers of several Galaxian biologists.

“Report to Sgt Morris, Dro.” Reginal said as if the tower beast of flesh and chitin before him was just another average soldier.

The drone’s eyes stopped twitching for a moment as if concentrating before continuing “Morris…..yes…find…Morris….going….now…sir.” It tilted a blade like appendage which took a moment for Zavar to realize it was saluting Reginal which the Kliptec swiftly returned.

“Carry on Dro.”

With that the drone shambled off after the majority of humans who had left the landing zone leaving only a few behind to begin unloading the battalion’s equipment. Reginal turned to them and handed them a data pad. “Once our gear is unloaded we will begin expanding the landing fields by three additional pads. After that we’ll start reinforcing the outer perimeter walls and compound infrastructure.”

Zavar took the data pad and began going over the details while Xixvil continued to watch Dro walk away.

“I do not mean to be rude, but why did you call that drone “Dro”?” Xixvil asked once the drone was far enough away.

Reginal shrugged, an oddly human gesture for such an alien being, before answering “That’s his name; Dro Harris.”

“It was my understanding that hive drones lacked the capacity to develop individuality.” Xixvil continued as he watched the drone in the distance stop in front of a humanoid looking figure before following them into a storage bay.

“Normally they aren’t able to, but humans have this strange ability to impart personalities into beings should they stay around them long enough.”

Both Zavar and Xixvil looked at Reginal dumbfounded.

“Are you serious?” they asked, to which Reginal simply nodded.

“One of his parents fought in the human hive wars and took an egg back as a trophy. Turns out it hatched and they decided to raise him as their son.”

“I can’t imagine humans reacted well to a hive drone in their midst.”

To their surprised Reginal shook his head. “From what he’s told me he used to be a successful actor before he enlisted; he was popular in fast food commercials.”

“Now I know you are making things up.” Zavar cut in, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“Humans do weird things like this all the time,” Reginal said, “they act distant at first but once they warm up to you the majority of them will welcome you with open arms and treat you like kin.”

He stretched out his arms so Zavar and Xixvil could get a good look at him.

“People assume humans are barbaric isolationist xenophiles, and while it is true there are some of them out there they do not make up the entirety of humanity.”

“There are humans that will sit down with complete strangers and within an hour be closer than brothers with them, humans that will drop everything to come help you even when there is no benefit to themselves, humans that will check up on you just to see if you are alright.”

“It’s weird but at times it’s almost as if humanity has been sick of just knowing only humans and will throw themselves at anything different just so they can experience something new, something exotic and exciting.”

Reginal looked at the two Galaxians as they took in what he had to say and shook his head. He gave a quick salute and then slithered after his men as the heavy equipment began rolling off the transport leaving the Galaxians in the dust.  

[hailhydra920]

A Pirate’s Heart (3)

Pairing: Pirate!Bucky x Pirate!reader

AU: Soulmate and Pirate AU

Chapter 3       

Summary:  You've managed to capture Captain Bucky Barnes' heart.

Warnings: None

           Bucky stretched out his scope and studied you as you gave orders on your ship. He had decided to let you follow him to the fountain of youth, seeing as you are his soulmate, it’d be rude not to. He watched you with a sigh and a soft smile.

           “Cap’tn?” Steve called before steeping in front of Bucky’s scope.

           Startled, Bucky jumped back and closed his scope. “Geez! Seeing your face up close is scary!”

           Steve chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I came here to tell you that you can’t stare at that dame forever through your scope, because first, that’s creepy, and second, you have a ship to run.”

           Bucky glared at Steve for a second as he tried to keep his blush at bay. “I was not staring! I was admiring. There’s a difference, and it’s not creepy when I do it!” He huffed before pushing past Steve to get to the wheel and taking control of the ship.

           A loud squawk sounded before a parrot landed on Bucky’s hat before saying, “The Cap’tn’s an idiot. The Cap’tn’s an idiot.”

           Bucky went to swat the parrot, but it flew away.

           “SAM!” Bucky roared. “IF YOU DON’T CONTROL YOUR BIRD, I’M KILLING IT!”

           Sam pet his parrot with a frown and held it closer to his chest. “Don’t kill my precious Redwing!”

           “If that bird comes near me again, I’m eating him for dinner.” Bucky stated as Sam grumbled something under his breath.

           “Aye aye, Cap’tn.” Sam muttered with an exaggerated salute.

~~~~~

           “So…Captain Barnes, huh?” Wanda said wiggling her eyebrows.

           “Not now Wanda.” You said rolling your eyes.

           “What? I think it’s a perfect match by the way. And why haven’t the both of you kissed yet?”

           “Do you know how hard it was for me to become Captain? If it wasn’t for my good friend Jack Sparrow helping me, I’d still be swabbing the deck and being the butt end of jokes for men.” You said slightly adjusting course to follow Bucky’s ship. “If I marry Barnes, all my hard work goes down the drain and I become lower in ranks again.”

           Wanda hummed. “I don’t think he’s like that though.”

           “You don’t think the notorious womanizer Captain Barnes is like that? For all I know, I could just be becoming another notch in his belt.”

           “Well, the universe paired you two together for a reason, it’s worth a shot.”

           You huffed. “I take back what I said at Tortuga. Why did my soulmate have to be a blasted pirate?”

~~~~~

           “So, what can I do to earn your trust?” Bucky asked as he walked beside you.

           You held up the map to the fountain of youth and sighed. “I don’t understand this blasted thing!”

           Bucky smirked. “Guess I’m not the only one.”

           “Whatever, but it’s because of you we’re stranded on this island! Now, we have no way of getting off this place because our ships got destroyed!”

           Bucky put his hand on his chest. “How is it my fault that lightning struck our ships, and a sea monster was after us?”

           He was staring at you with those bright blue eyes, and you couldn’t stand how attractive he looked at the moment. You pulled his hat over his eyes and huffed. “Curse your pretty blue eyes!”

           He chuckled and fixed his hat. “Not my fault I’m so amazing and would you stop doing that?”

           You tugged his hat over his eyes again. “No. Now I’m going to see if I can find some decent food around here.”

           You walked away and Bucky smiled as he fixed his hat with a sigh. He was going to win you over.

           “Cap’tn’s an idiot! Cap’tn’s an idiot!” Redwing screeched as he flew above Bucky.

           “SAM!!!!!” Bucky roared as he tried to grab the bird. “I’M KILLING IT!”

           Sam’s eyes widened. “Fly Redwing!”

           Bucky grabbed his pistol and tried to shoot it, but it didn’t work. “Curses. Wet gun powder. You can’t fly forever little bird!”

           Bucky grumbled as he sat on a nearby log by Steve. “I hate that bird.”

           Steve chuckled. “I think it’s funny. Also, how are you doing lover boy?”

           Bucky glared at him and sighed before gently dragging his fingers over his soulmate line. “We’re still having our arguments, but I think I’m getting to her. The universe paired us up for a reason.”

           Steve nodded and pulled his soulmate compass out of his pocket. “Speaking of soulmates, I found mine.”

           Bucky’s eyebrows rose. “Really, who?”

           Steve opened his compass, and he and Bucky watched as it spun a couple times before stopping. Bucky’s eyes followed it as it landed on you.

           “We have the same soulmate?” Bucky grumbled.

           Steve laughed. “No, the woman behind her.”

           You moved out of the way, picking up some wood for a fire and Bucky saw the woman helping you collect some wood. She had fiery red hair and a confident presence to her.

           “What’s her name?” Bucky asked.

           Steve shrugged. “I haven’t talked to her yet. Pretty sure her name is Natasha from what I’ve eavesdropped.”

           Bucky began tugging Steve off the log and began pushing him.

           “Wh-what are you doing?” Steve asked trying to push Bucky away.

           He continued pushing Steve toward Natasha. “I’m making you talk to her.”

           Before Steve could do anything, they had made it to Natasha, and she looked at them for a second before rising her eyebrow.

           “May I help you?” She asked before picking up another piece of wood.

           “Actually, yes.” Bucky beamed. “Have you met my first mate, Steve?”

           “We didn’t actually mate.” Steve clarified as Bucky facepalmed.

           “She knows that.” Bucky whispered as he elbowed him.

           “How was I supposed to know? It’s weird when you introduce me like that. You could’ve just said ‘Have you met my friend, Steve’ instead of your weird introduction.” Steve argued back with a nudge.

           “You’re the one making it weird. No one else was thinking that.”

           Natasha stood there awkwardly. “I’m just gonna go…”

           Bucky shook his head frantically. “N-no! Why don’t you two get to know each other! I’ll leave you two alone!”

           Bucky took the wood from Natasha’s hands with a smile. “I’ll bring this to your captain. You two have fun.”

           Bucky walked away with a smug smile on his face as he marched over to you. He set the wood in the pile beside you and watched as you tried to make a fire.

           “Need some help, Sweetheart?”

           You narrowed your eyes. “Just because I’m a girl, doesn’t mean I can’t make a fire. Or be a captain for that matter. Jack taught me all I needed to know.”

           “Slow down there, Sweetheart.” He chuckled as he played with a stick from the pile. “Never said you couldn’t. I was just asking. And who’s Jack? Do I need to fight him for your affections?”

           You rolled your eyes. “You don’t know Captain Jack Sparrow? He can somehow get out of everything, and no, you don’t need to fight him. He’s my best friend.”

           Bucky hummed. “Do you think he’s hot?”

           You got a little flame started and you rolled your eyes. “Jack loves the sea. He doesn’t have time to love an actual person.”

           He crossed his arms. “You didn’t answer the question.”

           You squeezed his arm. “He doesn’t even compare to you.”

           A smile spread across Bucky’s face. “Really?”

           You nodded. “Oh yeah. He’s like 100 times hotter than you.”

           Bucky’s smile dropped and he glared at you. “Not funny.”

           “It was kinda funny.” You said before tugging his hat over his eyes before running off.

           Bucky fixed his hat and beamed. “Oh, I’ll get you back.”

[ibis-gt]

chapter one of mercenary au! there may be more if i can dig uo the proper motivation... anyway here u go. requisite meetcute, 3k words, content warning for mentions of past family member death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Light shone through the bedroom window of one Luther Algers. The beam moved steadily, achingly slow, as the sun rose in the sky, until it finally reached the perfect angle to shine on his face and, when the sensation made him blink awake, directly in his eyes.

He groaned and rolled over, rubbing at his face with the heel of one hand. He would’ve tried to fall back asleep, but his thoughts caught up to him too quickly.

Today. He knew what today was. Today, he set off for Pentel. Today he gave up his freedom for the good of his kingdom.

Okay, so maybe that was a little dramatic. It sounded like he was going off to war or something. In truth, he was going to get married. It would be a lovely ceremony, lots of people in attendance, a splendid banquet, good feelings all around.

It just would’ve been nice if someone had asked him if he wanted to be married. Or told him who he was marrying.

But that wasn’t how this worked. It was an arranged marriage, one meant to strengthen the peace treaty between Pentel and Contigo. Traditionally the marriage should have been between princes or princesses of both kingdoms, but since Contigo’s king was childless, Luther had been chosen to seal the deal. Luther’s father was a high-ranking noble with a fair amount of money and influence, and he owed the king a favor. He seemed an obvious choice.

Well, no point in putting it off any longer. It would be about two weeks’ journey to the city of Pentel and once he arrived there were still details about the wedding to hammer out and his fiancee to meet. He rolled out of bed and dressed in the outfit that had been laid out for him last night. All lace and ruffles, with a runed belt, the symbols for first encounters and strong bonds etched across it. His job from here on out was to look pretty and smile on command. Like some kind of trained dog.

Before he had time to really properly wallow in his discontent, his father’s voice rang out from the foyer.

“Luther! It’s time! Don’t be late!”

“Coming!” Luther called, skipping out of his room and descending the stairs as quickly as he could. He caught sight of his father just as he exited the front door to their palatial estate. Luther took a moment to catch his breath and make sure his clothes and hair were in order before he followed, stepping out into the daylight. Outside, a line of splendid carriages sat, with people milling about between them. A trip like this was expensive, even beyond his father’s means, but since it was a matter of national importance the king was footing the bill. Servants flitted to and fro with last minute additions to the carriage train’s luggage, attended the important guests who would be traveling with Luther, and were generally busy as bees. Everyone was decked out in their finest finery, which seemed odd to Luther. Shouldn’t they save it for the last day of travel, when they’d actually arrive? But he supposed that they’d be stopping along the way for food and rest, and they’d need to look their best.

“You could’ve had breakfast if you’d been up earlier,” his father grumbled in lieu of a ‘good morning’, “but as it is either you can wait until lunch or see if there’s anything they can dig out of the provisions for the road. Now, your carriage is the one in the middle of the group. You’ll be in with two diplomats and a manners coach. They’ll teach you how to act and speak to Pentel’s royalty, topics to avoid, so on and so forth. There’s a historian in the carriage behind you, try to meet with them at meals and - are you listening to me?”

Luther was not listening. He was staring wide-eyed at a figure standing near his carriage. The man was dressed in armor, with strong boiled leather covering his chest and stomach. Metal pauldrons, gauntlets, and shin guards, slightly tarnished from time and use, glinted dully in the light. An oversized hammer hung from his belt. A few strands of black hair had come free from his long ponytail, and a scraggly beard clung to his chin. Probably the most interesting thing about the man, though, was that he looked to be about twenty feet tall. He could’ve picked up Luther’s carriage under one arm and walked off with it. He was watching the pair of them intently, ignoring the people bustling around between the carriages with packages and bundles for the road. Luther tried to drag his attention back towards his father. He could’ve sworn he saw someone actually walk between the man’s legs out of the corner of his eye.

It was rude to point, and probably unnecessary, so Luther said as delicately as possible, “Who’s that, uh… rather tall man?”

“Ah. Your bodyguard.” Luther’s father turned and waved at the giant.

“My - ?” Luther started to say, but lapsed into awed silence as his new bodyguard walked over to them. The ground practically shook under the weight of the man’s footsteps. He blocked out the sun as he stood before the two of them, and Luther suppressed a shiver that was half from the chill of the shade and half from the sheer size of the man. He was even more intimidating up close than he’d been at a distance. Luther felt practically pinned in place by the intensity of his gaze. Luther’s father continued speaking as though there weren’t a colossus standing mere feet away.

“As you know, your safety is my top priority,” he said, turning back to face Luther. “I’ve hired this mercenary to protect you on the journey.”

“I… see,” Luther said, glancing nervously up at the giant. “And… what is your name?” He raised his voice a little just in case the man had trouble hearing him.

“You can call me Cam, sir,” the giant replied. A hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth before his face resumed the professional mask. His voice was gravelly and incredibly deep. Luther felt it vibrate in his chest.

Luther’s father glared at his son. Luther knew he didn’t really approve of fraternizing with those of a lower station, but it would have been so rude to just continue talking as though Cam weren’t there. Besides, that was such a stupid prejudice. But he didn’t dare disobey his father any further, so he did his best to listen as his father ran down a litany of instructions to ensure the journey was as productive and successful as possible. Largely it boiled down to Luther learning a lot of very boring things very quickly so he could present himself as the best Contigo had to offer.

Finally, his father put his hands on Luther’s shoulders and gave him the closest thing to a smile he could manage.

“You’re doing a good thing, son,” he said. “Good for both our kingdoms. You’ll be perfect. And you’ll be very safe.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Luther. Since Luther’s mother had died in childbirth, his father had been very protective. Overly so. To the extent that it bordered on paranoia. It didn’t help that an assassination attempt had been made on his father’s life after his involvement with an unpopular ruling about taxes that shifted the burden to the mercantile sector. His father had been convinced from that day on that home was the only safe place for him and his son. Luther hadn’t been allowed out unless accompanied by at least three handpicked guards, all of whom were serious buzzkills and never let him do anything fun.

That was probably why his father had gone so overboard with his protection on this trip, Luther supposed. Anyone wanting to cause trouble would hopefully be scared off by just the sight of the giant bodyguard walking alongside the carriage train.

He snuck a glance at the giant again. Cam was still standing right next to them, keeping them in his shadow, but was now looking out at the horizon as though scanning for threats. He was probably just as bored as Luther was, having to listen to his father prattle on. The thought was oddly hilarious, and Luther bit the inside of his cheek to keep from giggling as he met his father’s eyes.

“Well, I suppose this is goodbye, then,” Luther said. “I’ll be sure to write to you often.”

“Yes. Goodbye, Luther.” His father said the words as though he wasn’t entirely sure what they meant. He brought his son into an awkward, hesitant embrace, and quickly let go again. He’d never been good at showing affection, not through words or actions. Truth be told, Luther would’ve been jumping for joy at the chance to get away from home and his controlling father, if it weren’t for the fact that he was just going to end up in a no doubt equally controlling situation. “You go on ahead. I’ve got a few things to clear up with your bodyguard here.” Luther saw the small grimace that Cam attempted to hide and smiled to himself. He seemed like he’d be good company, at least.

As he set off towards the carriage that would be both his salvation and his prison for the next two weeks, he caught only a few words of the fairly one-sided conversation his father had with the giant. It sounded mostly like strict instructions not to talk to Luther except in times of extreme emergency, and a few other nitpicky details he didn’t quite hear. There was a rumbling, “Yes, sir,” from Cam, and then the giant’s thundering footsteps, drawing nearer. Luther’s heart beat faster as Cam approached. His stomach started to knot in anxiety. He knew the giant had been hired for his protection, but having such a large being walking so close behind him hit his fight or flight reflexes, and he’d never been much of a fighter. Luther forced himself not to look over his shoulder. He climbed into the carriage and settled himself on the cushioned seat, then finally shot a sideways glance out of the window. Cam had resumed his post in front of the carriage and all he could see from inside was a section of the giant’s leg.

Luther’s heart sank as he stared glumly at the ceiling of the carriage. The most interesting person on this journey, no doubt, and he was under orders not to say a word to him. He hoped he could break down the giant’s walls eventually. No doubt he had countless exciting tales of action and danger that would be loads more entertaining than listening to dry old historians and prim diplomats lecture him about how to hold a fork.

~~~

They had been on the road for only a few hours, but it had dragged like an eternity as the diplomats prattled away. Luther could barely hold any of it in his head. His eyelids drooped, he swallowed yawn after yawn, and he had to consciously stop bouncing his leg every five minutes. They’d finally decided that was enough for now, clearly dissatisfied with how poorly he was paying attention. Luther stared out the carriage window. He would’ve had an excellent view of the rolling green hills in the distance if it weren’t for Cam.

The giant was trudging along beside the carriage, easily matching the pace of the horses with a measured stride, and mostly blocking Luther’s line of sight to anything else. Luther realized Cam was going to have to walk the whole way, basically alone, since everyone in the carriage train seemed afraid of him and avoided him whenever possible. That was almost worse than having your ear talked off by stuffy old men telling you how to act. Luther knew Cam was under orders not to talk to him, but how was Luther’s father going to find out, anyway? He reached up and swung the window open, leaning his head out to call up to the giant.

The motion of the window opening caught Cam’s eye, and he glanced down just in time to see Luther’s curly-haired head poke out. Whatever the kid was saying was lost in the rumble of the cart wheels and the thunder of the horses’ hooves. It must’ve been important, though. The kid’s father had been very clear that he was engaging in extremely important business and should not be bothered or distracted by Cam. He could practically still hear the man’s thin, unpleasant voice. “Only in the utmost emergency should any communication pass between the two of you.” Well, this looked like an emergency, if he was interrupting his business, and how was the guy going to find out, anyway?

“Can’t quite hear you, sir,” Cam said. “Maybe we could talk when the carriage pulls to a stop at the next town?”

Oh, god no, I can’t wait that long, Luther thought. In fifteen minutes these old fogeys were going to try to start lesson number two. He leaned a little further out and on an impulse yelled, “Pick me up!”

Cam caught that one loud and clear, although for a moment he thought he must have misheard. But there wasn’t much else that could have been. He shrugged and said, “Open the door, then.”

Luther couldn’t believe that worked. He’d half expected the giant to laugh or shake his head. The diplomats stared at him open-mouthed.

“S-sir, I don’t think you should - ” One of them began nervously, but that only strengthened his resolve. He unlatched the door and swung it open with a confidence that completely crumbled as Cam’s huge hand reached in and grabbed him around the middle. It was a delicate maneuver since the carriage was still rolling, but Cam managed it deftly, lifting Luther up and setting him on one shoulder, then laying a hand across his lap to keep him in place. He'd had to crouch to reach into the carriage and Luther felt his stomach drop as Cam straightened up. The ground fell away at an alarming speed, and then he was swaying gently back and forth with Cam's stride, hair blowing in the breeze.

"So, what were you going to say?" Cam asked. 

"Uh, um, I, uh.... Hi?" Luther squeaked.

Cam's eyebrows knit in confusion. 'Hi?' Did the guy just want to say 'hi'? Really?

"Hello," he replied.

Luther was silent, fidgeting for a moment. He'd lost his nerve completely. He was up so high and so intimately close to Cam's face. He couldn't even find his voice enough to ask to be set back down.

Oh my god, Cam thought, that was really it. Well, that was embarrassing. Didn't really need to go to all that trouble. But the guy seemed content to sit there for now. He decided to try some small talk.

"Enjoying the journey so far? It must be pretty stuffy in that little carriage. Good to get out and get yourself some fresh air."

"O-oh, um, yes. Quite stuffy. The air is, uh. Nice." Luther could smell Cam very distinctly. Sweat, salt, steel, and leather. An earthy combination, but not entirely unpleasant. It was so different from what he was used to, and honestly a welcome change. It was a lovely day, a little on the chilly side, but Cam's hand on his lap kept him quite warm. Even the cold steel pauldron below him was heating up pretty quickly. "I’ve, uh, never met a giant before."

Oh, there it is. He'll have all kinds of invasive questions, no doubt. Cam suppressed a little sigh. "Honored to be your first, then." Technically not exactly true. Cam was only half-giant. But to sheltered nobles who didn’t know better it didn’t matter.

But there was no follow-up. Possibly Luther caught the tired edge to Cam's voice and wisely decided to drop that line of discussion. The silence that followed wasn't as awkward as Cam thought it would be. The little noble smelled faintly floral and citrus-y. The scent was light, not at all cloying like some other rich folk's perfume. Cam found that he kind of liked having him on his shoulder, actually. It made him feel like a protector, as opposed to before when he felt like he was just tagging along uninvited.

Luther was glad that Cam had his eyes fixed ahead on the road, because he was blushing so hard his face must have been lobster red. The giant was unexpectedly gentle. He'd half expected to be accidentally crushed in Cam's grip at first, but Cam had much more control than that. The hand across his lap was a firm, comforting pressure, and he was grateful for it. His own hands had been held tight to his chest, but as he relaxed he lowered them slightly. He hesitated, then rested them on the side of Cam's hand, anxiously glancing at Cam's face as he did so. No reaction. His hunched shoulders slumped, and he let out the breath he’d been holding.

Now that Luther felt more comfortable, he could enjoy the sensation of being carried. It was quite the way to travel. He looked out across the fields and watched a pair of birds in flight. The advantage of Cam’s height allowed him to see so much farther than usual.

Cam snuck a sideways glance at Luther. He had his head turned slightly away staring out at the horizon and seemed much more relaxed with a slight smile on his face. Cam suppressed a smile of his own. The little noble was pretty cute, he had to admit. His carefully-arranged brown curls had gotten mussed and out of place when Cam picked him up, and they now fell much more naturally around his face, framing it nicely. He could just about make out constellations of freckles across his delicate face, and warm, curious brown eyes that tracked an arc across the sky. An expression of wonder and amusement perched lightly on Luther's face.

Cam realized he'd been staring at Luther too long just as Luther looked back in his direction. Cam yanked his eyes away and focused on the road again, desperately keeping up the blankest poker face he could manage. He realized he was nearly about to walk right over the carriages and course-corrected as subtly as he could, cursing himself for getting distracted. This was just another pretty noble he had to protect and he couldn't afford to mess this job up. The payout would be huge, along with bi-weekly payments as long as he hung around after the wedding. Nearly a real steady job. He heard Luther stifle a giggle on his shoulder and his brow furrowed, his neutral expression drawing down into a frown. He hadn't been nearly as subtle as he'd hoped, then.

Blessedly for Cam, Luther's carriage door swung tentatively open again, and one of the diplomats poked his head out.

"It's, ah, time for the next lesson," he called over the clatter of the horses' hooves. "If we could have the young gentleman back, please…?"

Cam nodded his agreement and shifted his grip on Luther, leaning down again to place him back in the carriage. "Watch yer head," he muttered, and Luther ducked inside, giving Cam a wistful glance over his shoulder.

There. With any luck, those would be the last words they ever spoke to each other.

[selinakidreams]

pairing: merman! dabi x gn reader

warnings: nameless character deaths, a singular mention of nausea + throwing up, unfortunately a lot of blood mentions, near death experiences, SHARK! THERES A SHARK IN THE WATER ! (I SWEAR this is supposed to be pretty but the warnings make it seem otherwise) slight soulmate au?, dabi had a SINGULAR moment of softness.

a/n: guys I don’t even know what this is and it’s unedited,, but welcome to my contribution to mermay ! I had two scenes plain as day STUCK in my head and I just needed to get them out,,, honestly this was just supposed to be a short lil thing but I’m invested,, so here this is

ps, though this may not be edited... I would like to thank all my monster fucking moots who helped me to piece together the perfect mer version of dabi— I love you guys so so so much.

looking out into the darkness of the night, unable to locate the horizon from your position at the edge of the ship- you lift your gaze to the sky with a small sigh.

an unimaginable amount of stars litter the atmosphere, the clear view above could never be tiresome.

the city was no place for you; too crowded, full of men who were trying to court you for your fathers money and your beauty, not enough adventure. the ocean offered a type of freedom land could never- granted, the ship wasn’t much different from the bustling towns in the sense that all the soldiers would eye you like you’re a slab of meat.

the only difference given at sea is that you’re able to put those undesirable fuckers in their place. given your ranking, your power obsessed father wasn’t completely useless.

escaping to the empty deck had been your big feat today; everyone below was gulping down wine by the barrel when you managed to slip out. it was much colder out here, the chill of the salty wind was refreshing, sobering you up quite a bit- but still mentally fuzzy enough to tempt yourself into discarding edict and loosening up your tighter garments.

your drunken attention span shifted from fiddling with your bow in the back to the inky deep water...

what was that?

ripples were quietly dancing on the surface, the warm light reflections coming from the ship’s sconces moved along with them.

it had been really fast, so fast that you were almost left to wonder if you had actually imagined the most vibrant blue eyes you had ever seen... bobbing in the ocean.

two days. it had been two days since you had first “spotted” them and absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. the sailors still went about uglily gawking at you, your captain of a father was still behind the wheel, barking orders at everyone, while you went about your business. Sighing, the image of the eyes still fresh in your mind, you prepared to be lowered into the shallower sea.

upon hearing that there was a small island not too far from your current coordinates, you commanded a stop be made, needing to take some time away from the close knit quarters you constantly share with those horrific pigs. thankfully, no arguments surfaced and you headed straight for the dinghy. it had been surprisingly easy.

the trip wasn’t too long; you patiently waited for the tip of the boat to breach the soft sand, excited for what awaited you. it was such a lovely sunny day, big puffy white clouds dotted the expansive blue sky while the palm trees at the base of the beach greeted you with a steady sway.

once your boots sunk into the wet sand, you turned to the two other men who had escorted you and informed them that you were not to be followed- but to wait right there- which in retrospect, was not a good idea. that was too much trust and responsibility that was placed in their incapable hands.

you wasted no time trudging through the lush greenery to get to the other side of the island, wanting to be as far away from the crew members as possible. 

it couldn’t have taken you more than two hours for you to reach an elaborate array of tide pools sporadically placed on a flat uneven rocky surface, some being lapped over by waves while others sat calmly- living in their own little world.

you had to look in each and every one of them.

wide eyes and mouth open, looking at all the lives in the crystal clear pools was an absolute marvel. some only held a few small sea anemones of different colors while others not only held the soft flowery plant but also housed fighting crabs of all sizes, large chunky starfish, and even a fish or two!

you took careful steps towards the end of the rocks, towards the ones where the waves were constantly restocking the pools with new life, your heart flipping in your chest at the colors of the crashing waves.

peering down into one of the deeper ones, you found it hard to take your sights away from the glistening sun streaks that cut through the water; a small gateway to the open ocean was at the bottom of this pool. it’s like you were hypnotized. making yourself comfortable, you laid yourself down next to the glistening water and began to break the calm surface with your finger tips, eyes trained on the tiny ripples.

“they left you, you know.”

you felt so at ease with the sound of the waves crashing around you, you almost didn’t hear it. it wasn’t until the nagging feeling that you weren’t alone hugged you in all the wrong places, that you looked up... only to be met with nothing.

scrunching your brow, the tranquility you were feeling before suddenly slipping through your fingers. you sat up, but not before you held a lingering glance at the glowing water once more. that’s an image that will stay in your mind; you almost wish you had your sketch book.

your mind went blank when you saw something block the light as it swam by... something big. the next few minutes happened in a blur. after scrambling up to get away from the pool, a huge body washed up on a nearby rock plateau and by no means was it graceful. your heart dropped to your stomach as you watched the lifeless body get smacked with harsh waves.

he was wearing your ship’s uniform, now drenched in blood.

nothing came up when you fell on your knees and lurched over, your eyes squeezing shut- the gruesome image of the crew member engrained in your mind.

“they got what they deserved.”

this time when you whipped your head up to follow the velvet voice, you fell into an almost trance. those breathtaking turquoise eyes you had seen a few days ago were now staring right at you, not too far away.

you couldn’t help the gasp that you inhaled as you fell back. looking at him in his entirety- you must have been hallucinating. growing up hearing the tales of deep sea monsters and nasty magical land creatures could never have prepared you for what laid in front of you.

it was such a drastic change; going from looking at something so appalling to something so... flawless... it was indescribable.

on display, your eyes followed the curled figure- wet white hair flopped against a pale forehead, the tips of his pointed finned-ears peaking out from the wet hair. there were deep dark purple markings starting underneath his eyes, slightly mimicking bags that then restarted at the bottom half of his face- all the way down his neck, ending at just the top of his chest. the markings then continued down his arms, right up to his knuckles contrasting the pale thin slightly webbed fingers that merged to sharp claws, gleaming in the sun. his toned chest eased into a pearly type of color around his hips before submerging into a black ragged tail- but it did the strangest thing. when the sun reflected off of it, a blue so royal- that you’ve only seen it on the most expensive of garments- came to life. the dorsal fin looked just as rugged as the tail did, but his odyssey fluke was splayed out so beautifully, you didn’t give it a second thought.

it wasn’t until you took a second glance that you noticed there was a red tint to his claws that you put into context what was said earlier.

“did you- di- you killed that man?”

his voice came out as smooth as silk, “I did.”

how could you be so dense? this was a creature that came from the sea- a ruthless underwater world. he was a predator. but wait-

“you can speak- you s-said.. did you kill them for me? are you going to-?”

“I killed those men because of all humans, the ones who betray others for their own greed serve no purpose.”

he didn’t tell you more than necessary in his opinion, but he was smart enough and old enough to know that you’re still going to ask more.

it seemed you were sitting on quite the pile of questions but he wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence. it was clear that you were mulling over what should be said first.

“was it you I saw at sea the other night?”

out of all the things you could ask, that was the only thing your mind had on repeat- the only thought present.

“and if it was?”

after receiving two similar vague reactions, something in you was screaming for something to happen. the interaction seemed to be going nowhere and here you were, in front of a creature that you’ve heard so much about but never actually met- a drastic change in interaction was calling, and who were you to ignore it?

in hindsight, it was a terrible idea.

one minute you were on land, next you were shedding your heavy, restrictive clothing- the mer watching with a slight smirk and a heavy gaze- then seconds later, were in the violent push and pull of the ocean. luckily you were far enough to be out of the rocky reach, but the current was too strong. you were being swayed back and forth with too much force.

if it had been your first time in the ocean, you would have been a goner- you would have washed right into the sharp jagged edges; a terribly painful way to go. but thankfully, flowing with the ocean had been your specialty since you were young. incredibly masculine and dirty, but you simply couldn’t stay away. the watery depths have lured you in and there was no escaping the spell it had casted on you all those years ago.

maybe that’s why you dove in. or maybe you wanted to see what the mer would do. whatever the case, there you were in the lull of the tide and running out of air. breaching the surface was your main goal, urging your arms and legs to snap out of the shock of the cold water.

eyes on the bubbles traveling upwards, you finally get your arms to push through the current almost missing the dark shadow swimming closer and closer to you, getting larger and larger.

a quick sideways glance in the clear water showed something large with many many rows of teeth out on display, heading toward you and gaining momentum.

a shark.

a... shark.

of all the ways you possibly thought you could go... this was not one of them. it’s almost ironic- the one way you thought you wouldn’t go would end up getting you.

breaking the surface, you gulp your last breath of air- painfully waiting for the horrifying moment when powerful jaws clamp around your body... but it never came. all you felt was a strong current zip past your feet, slightly pulling you along with it.

you’re heart was pounding; adrenaline coursing through your veins, breathing choppy as you whip your head in every which way to see what was going on in the water beneath you. then you saw it.

blood.

just then, the gory image of the crewmate’s body flashed into your mind. there had been another sailor... the mermaid didn’t pull up two bodies- he wasn’t the only predator in the water.

before you could evaluate further, you were pulled by the ankle under the water and into a place where the blood hadn’t seeped yet.

not enough air was sucked in before you submerged, so you frantically searched for ways you could reach the surface again- not even thinking about the now-absent steady grip that dragged you under.

then you felt it. pointed claws lightly tracing up your sides before his handsome face was leveled with yours. if seeing him on land wasn’t good enough, seeing him in his element was nearly heart stopping.

but your lungs were going to collapse before your heart could-

or so you thought.

he flattened his palm around your waist, cupping it gently before he inched his face toward yours, lips slightly ghosting yours, as if asking for permission.

with his toned body pressed against yours, it was hard to think straight, but the most prominent siren going off in your mind was the fact that you were loosing oxygen, and quickly. you found yourself panicking in his grip. was this really the time?

his lips were on yours in less than a second, your struggling becoming more and more apparent- but it was when he got your mouth to open that you realized what he was doing.

A mermaid’s kiss gives you the eternal breath; the ability to breathe under water.

pulling away, he watched as your eyes went wide, the small smirk you’d seen before had appeared once more.

the sensation was otherworldly; though there was a heavy pressure in your chest as the water was filtering in and out of your system, you were breathing underwater.

slowed down by the new density, you lifted your head to look up at the mer- no doubt the most excited and bewildered expression on your face, just to realize the size difference. he was huge- how had you not noticed this on land?

the more human half of his body had to be around the six foot range, his muscular tail roughly adding another ten. the massive figure floating around you was... beautiful.

he had the softest gaze when looking down at you, it nearly shocked you more that the new incredible ability had. he didn’t seem like the type to be full of expressions; it was such a warm and familiar look, something that you hadn’t seen in a long time- and one you typically didn’t see on a stranger’s face, much less a merman you had only just met.

opening your mouth to say something-if you could, that is- his expression changed in a blink, fear now contorted his features.

everything was so fast with him; his arm wrapped around your waist in mere seconds before speedily guiding you through a passage of underwater tunnels that lead to somewhere you assumed to be in the middle of the island- a lush green grotto.

once you resurfaced, you inhaled a breath you didn’t realize you needed; the new air burned your lungs- you almost didn’t want to breathe.

“just keep breathing. it will get easier over time.”

he almost sounded... bored? a complete one 180 to what you had just witnessed in the water.

the mer guided you up to the pool’s edge, lifting you with ease until you sat with only your legs dangling in the water.

outwardly, it stayed quiet for a while. there wasn’t much noise around besides the occasional bird call and the delicate sound of waded water.

your breathing had slightly evened out but you weren’t too confident in your voice, so keeping your mouth shut seemed like the best option.

what now?

tag list: @zhongh-li

[amalthea9]

His Majesty’s Latest Bad Bargain

So, this drabble originated from my desire to show that Horatio cared about Styles. Because I had read a few fanfics that painted Styles as someone that the both Horatio and the rest of characters deemed a nuisance, a bafoon, or a waist of everyone’s time. 

Which, obviously, hurt me a whole hell of a lot.

It evolved into a therapy piece alongside that original intention. Over the loss of a mom, and being terrified of losing so much once again.

I hope that this piece is enjoyed in some way. <333

Maybe I’m reading too much into the relationships between these characters, I don’t really know.

But I wanted to write this.

And a SINCEREST thank you from the bottom of my heart  to those I tag and read this as well as anyone who comes a long to do the same! <333

So here it is!

---------------------------------------------

The battle had been won.

Horatio assessed his losses, as a captain did, while the smoke of cannon cleared. He breathed in the cannon smoke along with the victory. Making his way from the helmsman port he saw two figures as the smoke cleared.

There was Matthews! Alive and well, but…

But a taller figure was dependent on the boatswain's weight.

"Mr. Matthews!" Horatio called out, making his way to his loyal man.

Now it hit the captain who Matthews supported.

Styles...

"It's Styles, Sir!" Matthews yelled with worry, still supporting his shipmate.

Horatio saw it now. The blood that drenched Styles' shirt.

Horatio's stomach dropped.

Styles was grimacing as he walked, grunting and panting as he tried to hide how much pain he was in.

There was a second of their eyes meeting. Horatio's chocolate hues against Styles’ bright greens.

No words exchanged, only Horatio taking an arm and assisting Matthews in helping Styles down to sick bay.

Styles wanted to speak up, despite his vision getting blurry.

"S-sir…" Styles breathed, but only sputtered out blood as he tried again to speak.

He wanted to protest this nonsense. His captain, shouldn't be helping him to sick bay! 

"Belay that, Styles," Horatio whispered firmly. "Save your strength, man."

Styles knew his captain well enough to leave it there, so he allowed the aid of Horatio.

--------------

Now Horatio sat next to Styles, who was unconscious. 

Horatio's hands were clasped against his lips as he monitored Styles. The previous moments now flooded Horatio's mind.

--------------------------

He had demanded of Dr. Clive to see to Styles' bullet wounds before others when they got to sick bay.

There were three bullets in the torso.

Removed successfully.

Matthews held Styles' hand as Styles swallowed some whiskey and bit down on the wooden stick.

Styles shut his eyes tight. He didn't scream, and he let the pain and loss of blood take him into unconsciousness.

With the operation ended and the doctor gone, Horatio and Matthews remained in silence. 

"Mr. Matthews…" Horatio had whispered. "I will take the first watch."

Matthews, meeting Horatio's eyes, knew to only nod and leave. But not before he thanked his captain in his heart for showing Styles this amount of concern.

William had not been present at the scene of Styles’ injuries, nor to his admittance to sick bay. But when William had looked for Horatio and was unable to find him, he was told the captain was in sick bay. When William asked if Horatio was injured, he was told no. But that Styles had been. William's stomach was twisting in knots as he walked briskly towards sick bay.

"Stupid oaf," William had thought to himself angrily. "Get yourself shot three bloody times when I'm not there to save you. How dare you…"

William and Styles could play the game of disliking each other to no end. But the truth of the matter was that both men would die for the other if need be. 

Now William stood at the door of sick bay, knowing full well his anger masked his deep fear Styles would die.

With a deep breath, William entered the small room now. He was met with the sight of  Horatio seated at a sleeping Styles' side. 

"Well?" Was all William said, his voice guarded against anxiety.

Horatio hadn't even heard William enter, so the sudden sound of another voice startled him. But when he saw the owner of the voice, he was relieved to see it was William. 

"The doctor said Styles should pull through," Horatio replied, his voice calm.

William nodded as he came closer to Horatio.

"He's a strong man physically," William began gently. "And you and I both know he's as stubborn as a mule, so he won't be going without a fight-"

"I just DON'T UNDERSTAND why he didn't come to me when he was shot!!" 

William was taken aback by Horatio's outburst and he stared at his captain for a moment. 

Horatio's hands began to fidget and he spoke again, his tone lower. 

"He kept fighting through it, instead of rushing himself to sick bay as quickly as he could!" Horatio's voice was more frantic now.

"Horatio-"

"Instead, he waits until the battle is over, sitting down as if NOTHING was wrong! As if he wasn't BLEEDING OUT where he sat! And then pretends it didn't even HAPPEN!!! Telling me it ISN'T his blood!!" 

Horatio fell suddenly silent. His eyes shut tight, and he breathed through his nose heavily. 

William stood in solemn silence, simply observing his friend. 

Horatio wasn't talking about Styles anymore…

Archie…

William didn't know what to do or what to say to help Horatio through what he was feeling now. He felt it best to remain silent for now. To let Horatio vent out whatever guilt or pain he was feeling to become verbal. But William felt a pain in his own heart now. 

William's gaze turned to Styles' unconscious form on the cot. 

Were they going to lose Styles now too?...

William watched Styles’s chest rise and fall, suddenly hyper focused on the movement.

For fear it would suddenly cease.

"I can't do this again, William…" Horatio whispered.

William heard Horatio's voice as if from a distance. His own thoughts having spiraled down into memories he didn't want to remember. He turned to look at Horatio.

"Sir?..." was all William could speak, in barely a whisper.

"I know a captain loses his men…" Horatio's quiet yet anguished voice began again. "I knew this would be part of it but…I..."

"How long has Styles been with you, Horatio?" William asked gently. Trying to anchor both Horatio and himself from the dark tides of their minds.

Horatio smiled then and whispered.

"Since the beginning…"

Horatio's voice became both heavy and light at the same time to William's ears.

As if he was trying to recall a memory without the pain of someone not being alive any more in that memory. Coupled with the dread of losing someone else in that same memory.

"When...when Archie...led me down below deck of the Justinian...Styles was the first sailor to say anything."

"What did he say?" William asked with a smirk, already seeing the smile playing on Horatio's lips. A smile which he was very relieved to see.

"There goes His Majesty's latest bad bargain," Horatio chuckled breathlessly, recalling the memory with great affection. And yet tears threatened to fall from his dark brown eyes.

William chuckled too, shaking his head. His own memories of Styles’s defiant behavior towards him coming to him. 

"Of course Archie reprimanded him immediately," Horatio continued, still smiling. 

And William smiled and nodded in reply.

"Neither I nor Styles could ever have imagined how many times we would be on the same ship. Nor how...fiercely loyal he would prove to be...to me. And I to him."

William watched Horatio as his captain stared at Styles, his smile now gone. William could sense that Horatio wanted to take Styles’ hand, as a friend would who wishes to comfort their sick one. 

But Horatio had always been a man who followed formalities in the ranks, despite the current  situation. 

So all Horatio could manage was a hand on Styles' shoulder before he abruptly pulled away.

There was another heavy silence when Horatio suddenly spoke.

"Why did you come down, William?" Horatio asked curiously.

William was surprised by the question, but after a moment, realized that it did seem odd for him to inquire after Styles. Given the way he and Styles were.

"I came to threaten Styles, of course." William replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 

Horatio looked at William with confusion.

"That I would kill him myself if he didn't recover from this," William stated, a smirk on his lips.

Horatio let out a soft chuckle at this and shook his head.

"...not dead yet...Sir…"

Both Horatio and William looked at each other with shock as they realized Styles had spoken! Horatio turned to face Styles, as William came over to Horatio's side.

"Styles?!" Horatio exclaimed, his voice frantic. "Styles!"

Styles' eyes slowly opened, and when he saw Horatio, he couldn't help the look of relief on his face.

"Captain…" Styles whispered softly, as if only to himself.

Horatio took Styles' hand into his now and squeezed it firmly. 

Formality be damned.

"Yes, Styles!" Horatio replied with a nod, smiling gently with relief. "I'm here!"

Styles squeezed Horatio's hand as firmly as he could.

"I'm...s-sorry, Sir…" Styles began in a whisper. 

Horatio looked to Styles in confusion

"You're not…" Styles whispered weakly. "A bad bargain...you're a hero...you're...me h-hero...

Horatio felt a warmth in his heart as Styles said these words. 

Had Styles heard Horatio earlier? Had Styles thought that Horatio had harbored any ill feelings for those words after all of this time?

After so many years of faithful service to him, Horatio felt pained that Styles was worrying over his first words to Horatio.

Horatio watched as Styles tried to continue to speak and he quickly shook his head, speaking in a gentle tone.

"Save your strength, Styles," Horatio said softly, squeezing his friend's hand. "Belay that..." Horatio smiled as he said these words. Remembering who it was whom he first heard say that to the surly sailor.

Styles smiled weakly in reply as he held tight to Horatio's hand. There was so much he wanted to tell his captain right then. Maybe it was the laudenum making him not think straight, but...he wanted to tell Horatio how much it meant to Styles that he was here. 

That Horatio...had worried about him at all.

Styles had never imagined it would be Horatio at his bedside when he was injured.

He wanted to thank Horatio.

He wanted to say he was sorry for worrying Horatio. 

He wanted to say he missed Archie too…

But he couldn't, he was too weak. All he could do was squeeze the hand so generously offered to him by Horatio and meet his eyes in earnest gratitude.

And Horatio squeezed Styles' hand and kept smiling at the man he considered to be more than just one of his crew. 

He considered Styles a friend.

"I meant what I said earlier, Styles."

Both Styles and Horatio looked over to William, who's expression was serious. But his steel blue eyes expressed his immense relief at seeing Styles awake.

Styles had honestly forgotten William was there. And again, his heart felt comforted in seeing William showing concern for him. 

"I'll shoot you myself, if you don't pull through." William threatened, the usual sternness in his voice.

But Styles saw that twinkle in William's eyes he knew all too well and he nodded a small nod.

"Gonna need more...than three bullets then...Sir," Styles replied, his smile becoming cheeky.

William couldn't keep the act up any longer and smiled back at Styles.

"Good man," William replied, his voice gentle now. "I'll go fetch Dr. Clive and Matthews."

"Thank you, William," Horatio nodded, forgetting all formality once again. 

But neither William nor Styles thought anything of it.

When William left, there was another silence. But it wasn't a sad silence.

Styles closed his eyes for a moment, his face contorting as he felt a new rush of pain. He coughed softly.

Horatio kept Styles' hand in his, as though it would help anchor Styles to this world.

"Styles…" Horatio began, his voice almost a whisper. 

Void of all rank and formality.

Styles opened his eyes once more and met his captain's gaze.

"S-sir…" Styles rasped.

"You have never let me down, Styles."

Horatio's voice was full of sincerity. Someone speaking who wished the listener to hear him and understand the meaning behind the words.

And Styles did hear him, and he did understand. 

The brash but loyal sailor, gave his captain a weak but sincere smile, as he whispered.

"Thank you..Sir…."

Horatio nodded and smiled. That boyish smile Styles remembered from so long ago, when Horatio was only a midshipman.

Dr. Clive and Matthews now entered the room.

Horatio and Styles released hands and Horatio stood up.

"Thank the lord!" Matthews exclaimed quietly, seeing Styles awake. The older man smiled and made his way over to Styles, standing beside  Dr. Clive.

Horatio stood aside so that Dr. Clive could check Styles’s wounds.

How do you feel, Mr. Styles?” Dr. Clive inquired.

"Bloody awful, Sir," Styles grunted, but his weak smile was cheeky.

Matthews smirked and chuckled while Dr. Clive frowned and looked at the stitchings.

Horatio smiled along with Matthews, knowing Styles would be back on deck or working the cannons soon. At Horatio’s side once more.

-----------------------------

@ariel-seagull-wings

@twice-told-tales

@professorlehnsherr-almashy

@ailendolin

@fyeahmeninroyalnavy

@lord-antihero

@mademoiselle-princesse

@cel-aerion

[vickyskpopkingdom]

ATEEZ - From The Wonderland Pt.1

this story is based on ATEEZ' performance of wonderland on Kingdom: Legendary War. while i was writing it got a little out of hand and i wrote way more than anticipated so please keep an eye out for pt.2 and possibly pt.3. they well be up in a few days!

if you haven't you should definitely check all of the performances out, the link to ATEEZ' performance is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDitNeFO-I&t=183s&ab_channel=MnetK-POP so please do check it out, it is amazing.

pt.1 pt.2 pt.3

warnings: guns, swords, drinking and fighting

2k words

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the ships in the harbor swam quietly above the water, swaying to the rhythm of the waves crashing on the stone walls of the dock, the inside of the bar was much more loud and chaotic. The pirates took care of their ships but not so much of themselves. Beer, rum and wine seemed to flow endlessly, the bar staff barely keeping up with their customers.

This was a usual development of the evenings in the city. Pirates everywhere knew that they would be safe here, the town flourished thanks to them spending their money on alcohol, women and repairs for their ships. It never took long for the alcohol to take over, resulting in bar fights and various other showdowns or show-offs.

Two men sitting directly in front of the bar downed a shot of pure rum, before falling back into their previous conversation.

"The Kraken is a legend. Nothing more, nothing less. Probably made up by some pirate some centuries ago to make sure no one sails there to steal his treasure", the younger of the two said, his voice slightly cracking because of the amounts of alcohol already running through his body.

The other, slightly older but equally as drunk, shook his head, grabbing the wood of the bar to steady his swaying body. "Then tell me why no one who sailed there came back? I don't trust that part of the sea one bit, you hear me? Not one bit!"

A hiccup escaped his throat, as he called for a bartender with his hand. "We would like another round please", he ordered as the woman approached them. Then he looked back to his previous discussion partner. "It is real. And there is no one out there that could defeat The Kraken."

"It's a myth! Crafted to keep cowards like you away from what could be a huge treasure.", he other retorted.

Two small glasses were put down on the counter in front of them, the sound of glass hitting wood disrupting their conversation. "Both of you are wrong", the female bartender scoffed, "The Kraken was real and it was defeated."

Both men stopped their movements to look at her. The younger grinning from one ear to another, seemingly amused by the previous statement, while the older one eyed the bartender up and down. "And how would you know, lady?"

"What? Have you never heard of ATEEZ?", she asked back, a smile playing around the corners of her mouth now, "They slayed The Kraken."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hongjoong sat inside his most prized possession, his ship 'Wonderland', as he waited for the final object needed on his quest to arrive. Above him on the deck of the ship he could hear his crewmates running around, making finishing touches for departure. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of sailing out with his crew again, finally getting back on the sea after a break on land.

As the noises calmed down a little, Hongjoong could already tell that the supplier had arrived. His hunch turned out to be true, as the door to his private room opened and a man dressed in all black stepped inside. This was not their first meeting and as it also wouldn't be their last Hongjoong had already gotten used to the large black hat the person opposite to him wore that covered the most part of his face.

To say that he was curious to see that face would be an understatement. And yet he had never asked to see it. Hongjoong knew that sometimes secret had to be kept. Besides he certainly did not want to taint this relationship. It was way to beneficial.

Without a word spoken the man in black set down the object on Hongjoongs desk: an hourglass, held in a circle made of gold. The words 'Symphony No.9' were engraved on the circle, almost invisible to those who didn't know about their existence. Pearly white sand flowing freely from one side to another if turned right. It was beautiful, breathtaking even, to finally see the ominous hourglass on his own ship.

"Thank you. I appreciate your work", Hongjoon said, as he pulled a small leather bag from one of the drawers in his desk. Coins rattled against each other as the bag got exchanged form Hongjoongs hand to the gloved hand of the quiet man. "I will let you know, when I am searching for new objects."

At this the man in black nodded, tipped the brim of his hat at the Captain and left.

Hongjoong looked at the hourglass, smiling as he turned it over. The white sand started flowing down. "Show us the way, Symphony Number Nine."

As the Captain stepped out of his cabin, he could already see his crew ready on deck. The only thing they were waiting for was his 'go' and they would start sailing in an instant. By the atmosphere surrounding them, Hongjoong could already tell that they were just as excited as he was to see for themselves if the legendary treasure, the 'Symphony', was real. The legends surrounding its existence described it as one of the largest treasures out there. Shimmering gold coins, fiery red rubies and the finest silver swords were only few of the objects rumored to be part of the Symphony.

Hongjoong could feel the eyes of his crewmates on him. He couldn't hide his smile anymore as he finally said: "Let us start our journey, ATEEZ!"

Excited yells were the answer and everyone got to work. Soon the ship was leaving the harbor behind, the wind being on their side today.

As the captain, Hongjoong usually didn't have much to do with the actual sailing. He was more into planning their journey, making sure they had enough food and water and ordered his crew to stop at a nearby harbor to fill up their supplies if necessary. Today however he stood on deck with everyone else, breathing in the fresh air of the sea while trying to calm down his beating heart. It had been quite some time since him and his crew went on such a mysterious journey.

"Bring all of this below deck!", Hongjoong could hear Seonghwa ordering some of the lower ranked members of their crew. He turned around to see his right-hand man standing tall between the other crewmates, overlooking the whole process. Seonghwa was a reliable partner to Hongjoong, his right hand, who always kept his cool. Which was more than necessary because Hongjoong held intense pride for everything he did and could get into heated arguments with other pirates from time to time.

As if he had sensed something Seonghwa turned to look at Hongjoong. "You are still out here today? Don't you trust us, Captain?" His voice was calm, as always but Hongjoong could hear the teasing undertone.

"I trust all of you wholeheartedly. Just didn't want to miss our departure", he answered nonetheless. Seonghwa smiled warmly at him before walking over to Wooyoung who had called out for him.

Hongjoong let his eyes wander a little more over the deck, spotting Yunho who was currently training his sword-skills. Or at least he tried to do as much as he could with the limited resources he had to fight against. His enemy of choice were some thick ropes spun between the masts of the ship. The Captain had told Yunho countless times already that he was a skilled fighter especially with a sword, but Yunho always strived to do better.

"Don't tire yourself out too much, Yunho", Hongjoong finally spoke up as he approached the younger man, "We can not tell when we will arrive and I need you to be ready if we actually have to fight someone... or something."

Yunho cut through the centre of the ropes with a final strike. "Fine, fine. I'll tone it down a little." He smiled brightly at the captain before collecting the now cut ropes and knotting them to the masts again.

Sometimes Hongjoong felt as if he had adopted a puppy into his crew and not a 22 year old man.

"Hongjoong!", someone called for the Captain. He of course knew, that this voice belonged to San. His eyes found San and his bright pink hair standing at the ship's wheel as he was responsible for steering it. He waved for Hongjoong to come over.

On his way over to San, Hongjoong passed by Seonghwa once more who was now with Wooyoung. Similar to Yunho they were training. Well Wooyoung was training with a gun while Seonghwa gave him advice on the angle, the stance and the technique. Somehow the vice-captain had an incredible aim and a steady hand. Hongjoong would trust Seonghwa to shoot an apple off of his head.

Wooyoung wasn't quite there yet, he still had a long way to go to reach Seonghwas level of skill, but he was eager to learn and had improved highly ever since he started training his aim.

"You two as well? I guess, you can join Yunho in wasting your energy", Hongjoong sighed at them.

Seonghwa shrugged, pointing to Wooyoung. "It was his idea, not mine."

Wooyoung fired a shot at the makeshift target and almost hit the bullseye. "Ah~ so close! Did you see that Seonghwa? Was that one good? It was good, right?"

"Sorry, Woo. I was talking to Hongjoong and didn't pay attention to you."

"What? Oh my god Seonghwa, you are so mean!"

Hongjoong left the two to bicker among themselves and finally reached San. "Whats up?", he asked.

Just like the other crewmates San seemed to be filled to the brim with excitement. Which wasn't exactly something new or unusual. San, together with Yunho Wooyoung and Yeosang, whom Hongjoong had yet to spot on their big ship, were always giving high energy especially when they were all together.

"Just wanted to confirm our current route with you", San answered, gesturing towards the small table next to she steering wheel. On the wooden surface San had laid out a map covering most of the sea and of course the hourglass, which would lead their way. None of them knew exactly how it worked, but i seemed as if the sand inside the glass was drawn into a specific direction as long as it flowed down.

Hongjoong took a look at the white sand, comparing its flow with the direction of their ship and nodded. "Seems good to me. I think, you can work it out by yourself just fine, San."

San shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, right Captain?"

"Right, San", Hongjoong said, smiling. He knew that San worked hard to reach the level of skill he had now. No map was too complicated, too old, too ripped for San, somehow he was able to read them all. San had always gotten them to their destination safely and yet he still liked to check in with the Captain, making sure they were on the right path.

With a friendly pat on the head, after which San smiled proudly and most pleased, Hongjoong made his way down to the main deck again. Once more his eyes landed upon Yunho, who had stopped wielding his sword. Instead he was now bend over a black cloth. Next to him were the last two main crewmates, which Hongjoong had not yet seen after their departure: Jongho and Yeosang. Seeing those two and the mysterious black cloth reminded Hongjoong of something that he had entrusted them with. As he walked over to them he wondered, if they were already finished with their task.

"And what are you three plotting?", he greeted them as he arrived at their current position.

"Nothing much", said Yeosang, "Just showing Yunho our new flag."

So they were finished with their task. Hongjoong couldn't help but smile. Their old flag had been ripped during their last quest. Of course that wasn't something to stop ATEEZ from continuing, but Hongjoong had noticed that his crew's motivation had been higher while they were still in possession of their flag, their symbol, the sign which let others know that they were dealing with ATEEZ. And because of that he had asked Jongho and Yeosang to think about a new flag.

Hongjoong scanned the new flag. Similar to the previous one the background was black, appropriate for a pirateship, but this time Yeosang and Jongho had decided to paint the lettering, the word ATEEZ, in a fiery red. But there was something else that caught Hongjoon's eye: "Is that fire above our name?"

"Yes, but also no", Jongho started to explain, "It's supposed to resemble a crown that is on fire... or made out of fire. Whatever floats your boat, you know?"

To say that Hongjoong was impressed would be an understatement. He had always known that his members were creative, always thinking about what to do next and most importantly what would benefit their crew. There was a tight-knitted bond between the members of the core-crew, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Wooyoung, Jongho and Hongjoong himself, forged by their adventures on the sea. Somehow he felt as if the new logo, the fire, the crown, their name in red, combined all of their characters perfectly.

"It's time to hoist this new flag up, guys", Hongjoong ordered, "Let's show everyone who they're messing with."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hongjoong was awoken by someone slamming his door open. By the dim light coming in from the outside of his room, he assumed that it was early morning, around five am maybe.

"Captain, I think we're here!", San's clear voice resonated into the room. There wouldn't be another crewmate up at this time of day anyways. At least up until now. During the last few days on their journey all of the crew had gotten more and more restless. Nobody could tell why, since there were no changes in their surrounding, but somehow they all were getting sure that their destination was close by.

Their intuition had not been wrong Hongjoong thought as he stepped out on deck and saw an island coming closer and closer to the ship with every second. His members stood by his side as they all watched the island draw closer. With a quick glance Hongjoong was pleased to see, that they were just as ready as him to step off the ship and get to finding the treasure. They were all dressed accordingly and Yunho and Seonghwa even had their weapons with them.

They couldn't help but feel an ominous feeling wash over them as Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Wooyoung and Jongho landed on the island with a small boat. They had decided to leave the rest of their crew on board of the 'Wonderland'. Too many men could potentially be more dangerous and just the seven of them going alone. Besides that they were skilled and could handle fights by themselves, as they had proved countless times already.

They didn't regret this decision even as the dark forest loomed over them on the island, they never regretted a decision they had made. But neither of them could deny that a little more company would have felt more comfortable.

Hongjoong adjusted his long fur coat. It was a piece of clothing many deemed unfitting for such an adventure but Hongjoong felt most comfortable in it. He was the captain, he was talented, he was the leader, the brain. The fur coat wouldn't be an obstacle in whatever situation he had to face. "Let's find that damn treasure, ATEEZ!", he said as he took the first step towards the densely wooded forest. His crew followed suit.

A shiver creeped up on Wooyungs back as the trees started to surround them. During the first few minutes his mind was busy to figure out what was so confusing about this forest. Something was off, wrong almost but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then finally it clicked: There were no noises. No birds singing, not any other animal making a sound. No wind flowing through the leaves. Even the sound of their shoes on the forest floor seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness around them.

Of course they had heard rumors about this island. And there were many. One talked about the treasure being cursed, bringing the finder only harm and misfortune. Another said that the treasure was being guarded by a giant kraken. And the most popular of them all of course told them that no one who stepped a foot on this island was able to return back home. All of these rumors could be true Wooyoung now realized. This was definitely the right place to hide a cursed treasure guarded by a kraken with a preference for humans.

Wooyung realized that his friends must have felt the same way. None of them dared to talk. Every single spoken word would have felt too loud in this forest. But on the other hand there was no denying that this was the right place to hide a treasure! And up until now they had always been successful on their adventures. Their teamwork was outstanding, no one could compare. They had risen in ranks ever since they started sailing. There was no way that this would be their breaking point.

The cracking sound of a stick made Wooyoung flinch. He was a little ashamed but was instantly less embarrassed when he saw how Yunho clutched at San's biceps. Just as he was about to point this out though, Seonghwa hissed a "Someones's coming" to no one in particular. Wooyoung could see how the older already laid a hand on his sniper.

Without talking the pirates stood in a circle, their backs to each other. It was quiet again, somehow the silence felt even more heavy than before.

Suddenly even more tree branches cracked, Wooyoung could even hear footsteps approaching them. This time he didn't need Seonghwa to tell him that someone was on their way. He could hear them himself, loud and clear. Someone was coming. They were fast. And they were many.

People started breaking through the trees attacking ATEEZ on sight. As he ducked under a thrown fist Wooyoung made a mental note to thank Hongjoong and Seonghwa later for training them so hard in hand-to-hand combat before they started sailing all those years ago. He was able to avoid another punch and in turn could kick his enemy off of his feet, making them fall to the ground with thud and, Wooyoung noticed in horror, an extremely loud cracking noise. Now that his sole focus wasn't on dodging he was able to get a good look at their enemies. They were around the same height as him and his friends but there was no flesh, no hair, no skin, not even eyes in their sockets. They were fighting a bunch of skeletons. The one Wooyoung had previously thrown on the ground was no longer moving. It seemed to had landed on a rock of some sort and cracked its spine.

As he looked around Wooyoung noticed that breaking their bones seemed to be the only way of getting them to stop fighting. His crewmates were struggling with the skeletons because simply pushing them back or slicing into the bones wasn't enough to keep them back. They didn't feel pain.

"Break their spine or their legs!", Wooyoung called out, while trying to escape the boney hands of another skeleton approaching him, "They need to be unable to move."

At this exclamation San aimed a swift kick at the head of his enemy. The skull made an ugly noise as it dislocated from the rest of the body and landed on the ground. The skeleton stopped moving before falling collapsing.

"Yeah, I guess the head works too", Wooyoung commented.

"You should concentrate!", Seonghwa barked back, but even he couldn't help a small grin making its way onto his lips.

As it turned out his call to focus wasn't without reason. Wooyoung struggled more and more with every punch, with every kick. He was getting exhausted, feeling the hits the skeletons were able to land on him while his enemies remained unbothered at anything that wasn't cracking them in half. He could hear Jongho's heavy breathing behind him and saw Yeosang limping. This was not going well. Not at all.

He wanted to help his friends but he was equally beat up. Still Yeosang definitely needed help. Wooyoung took a step towards his friend and felt a hand closing around his arm. Slender bones held him in his current spot, as another set of bones wrapped around both of his legs. How could these people only made out of bones be so strong?

A yelp escaped his lips as more and more hands got hold of his body. Yeosang, who Wooyoung wanted to originally help, turned around. He realized what was happening to Wooyoung and started to run towards him but it was too late. The skeletons dragged Wooyung with them. Yeosang was still struggling with his limp, unable to follow them.

"They have Wooyoung!", he cried out, panic clearly audible in his voice. If he wasn't used to one thing it was seeing Wooyoung like this; helpless, alone, frightened. Normally Yeosang would not have distracted his other friends from their own fights like that but this situation was different. All of the rumors they had heard before came back to his mind at once, his worry for Wooyoung only increasing.

Hongjoong broke from their circle and sprinted into the woods, following the skeletons who had captured Wooyoung.

"San, no!", Seonghwa's voice resonated over their heads. Yeosang turned around to see San, who was also trying to leave into the same direction.

"He can't fight them all alone, Seonghwa!", San called back.

"They are leaving...", Jongho panted. He made a sweeping gesture around them. Their attention diverted to their surroundings. The youngest had been right. The skeletons retreated back into the forest, using different directions as they ran.

"Then it should be fine for me to go find Hongjoong and Wooyoung", San stated, already starting to walk again.

Seonghwa opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by someone-- something screeching.

All of them froze. That was a noise they had never heard before and Yeosang was more than sure that he never wanted to hear it ever again. It sounded angry, it shook him to his core. Yunho and Jongho seemed to have the same reaction as him, while San was still staring towards the part of the forest, that he suspected their other two crewmates in. Seonghwa on the other hand had a grim look on his face.

"I guess, that rumor about a kraken wasn't just a rumor after all."

Before one of them could react to his statement in any way, Seonghwa looked at Yeosang. "Are you able to walk?"

Yeosang tried to put weight on his right foot. It hurt but it seemed to be endurable. "I don't think I can run, but walking should be fine."

"Then we will all follow Hongjoong and Wooyoung. Don't try running off on your own, San, do you hear me?"

San didn't answer Seonghwa, he only kept on looking into the forest.

"Did you hear what I just said, San?", Seonghwa asked again, sounding even more stern this time.

"Yes, I did. And I won't run off."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

that concludes part 1 of this story, hope you enjoyed it so far & will come back to read the rest!

sorry for not including mingi but as he is not part of the performance i would have found it very difficult to add him as well. i already feel bad because i gave the members different "screentime" in this story (my program tells me i wrote "wooyoung" 21 times, followed by "seonghwa" with 12 times and "hongjoong" and "yeosang" with 10 times each).

[that-one-weeb-but-it-transformer]

𝔹𝔼𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔸ℕ 𝔸𝕌𝕋𝕆𝔹𝕆𝕋 𝕋𝕌ℝℕ𝔼𝔻 𝔻𝔼ℂ𝔼ℙ𝕋𝕀ℂ𝕆ℕ (𝕋𝔽ℙ)

Megatron looked at the Autobot infront of him.

"I wish to be on your side." She spoke.

"And why would I allow you to join the Decepticons when I can gut you where you stand?" Megatron threatened. "Unless you have- information you are willing to trade?"

"I am switching sides. I am not a rat." Y/n informed her voice unfaultered.

"Your loyalty proves you are still allied to the autobots." Megatron spoke, circling the femme.

"My leige let me personally snuff out the autbot femme for the Decepticons of course." Starscream announced.

"As I said once before. I am not a rat." Y/n spoke ignoring Starscreams threat "you take my offer. Or I leave- preferably with screamers head on a pike as a soviner."

A deep laugh came from Megatron as the Decepticons from the lower level of the command deck watched.

"Very well. I will welcome you into our ranks." Megatron spoke, "You'll be my first Lutient-"

"W-what!?" Starscream aspirated, "t-that is my post! My leige! She's still an autobot."

"Unlike you Y/n is known for providing results!" Megatron shouted at Starscream, "And has proven her respect within the mere mintues shes been here on not selling out the other side!"

"Y-yes my leige."

"Shockwave."

"Lord Megatron." The one optic scientists spoke up, "show our new Lutient around the war ship. As my top two Lutients you must work better than in sync."

"Yes my leige." Shockwave spoke as Y/n walked off, side by side with Shockwave.

The walk throughout the halls was silent, veichons looking her way, and even with there covered faces she sensed the digust they had with her.

"There is no logical reason for you to annex with the Decepticons. Why have you switched?" Shockwave announced.

"I suppose I got tired of blowing you off bridges Shockwave." Y/n responded.

"That is not an answer." Shockwave spoke, "I have fought you countless times on the battlefield, your reasons are illogical."

Y/n sighed, "for being a bot with no spark you sure do seem to care."

"Research purposes." Shockwave told her shortly.

"If you must know. I didn't belong there." Y/n spoke, "I never did, they never cared for me- none of them."

"Another illogical answer." Shockwave pronounced, "I have seen you take shots to the chasis-"

"That doesn't mean they would ever do it for me." Y/n cut him off, "at first. I would count how many times shots I had taken, Tallys are popular here on earth too. But soon the base walls filled with them. And there was no where else to write. I still believed that someone would come and erase the tallies, take the pain one time. You've taken more scratches for me than anyone."

"It would of been a shame if a boudler was to snuff your spark before I could terminate you." Shockwave told her.

"I believe you mean to say: You're welcome." Y/n told him.

"Yes I suppose that is a logically faster way of speech." Shockwave said.

"Then." Y/n spoke as they got to knockouts lab, "thank you"

Shockwave's helm turned to her quickly, his large optic confused on what she had just spoke.

"Come from a buff? Because primus do you need it." Knockout spoke.

"No. Shockwave was showing me around." Y/n spoke.

"You've infiltrated our base a number of times. Im sure you do not need a tour." Knockout spoke.

Y/n smirked, "mad because I beat your aft in too many times pretty boy?"

Knockout rolled his optics, "then go ahead and continue on your little tour. When your paint gets scratched dont come running to me for a buff."

Y/n chuckled, "good bye sweet cherry mech."

"Its not sweet cherry red! I told've you this before! I am deep rose red!" Knockout agrued as Shockwave and Y/n contuied on.

"I'll get you one day!" Knockout declared after her as she chuckled.

Shockwave contuied on with the tour, finishing off with showing Y/n the Predacon he had set after the autbots.

Y/n frowned as the beast looked at her, "I never did like fighting him." Y/n told Shockwave reaching out her servo in a friendly matter.

"He can't talk and we were told to simply just kill him." Y/n spoke as the Predacon rubbed his helm against her servo, "Such a beautiful creature. Its a shame they went extinct."

Shockwave was quiet as he observed the two closely. It was rare the Predacon liked anyone but him, and Megatron.

"You. Enjoy the beast?" Shockwave asked as Y/n turned to look at him and nodded.

"We should carry on." Shockwave spoke as Y/n nodded bidding farewell to the predacon and the two bots leaving.

"You will be working with me." Shockwave informed.

"Very well."

Over the short time Y/n's been there most warmed up to her- that inlcuded Megatron and disincluded Starscream- he was still angered by her taking his post.

She had finally a proper meeting with Soundwave before a mission and he seemed to take a liking to her, which she smiled at. Shockwave, her and Soundwaves first mission laid the foundation of them becoming a well known trio amongst the Decepticons ranks. And of course- Y/n then switched color schemes, matching Soundwave's and Shockwave's colors- just made them become well known.

She finally had her run in with the autbots, her against Ultra Magnus no less. Y/n had beat him to a pulp- or so she thought- last mintue he used all his strength with a god damn hammer no less.

Y/n laid on the floor leaking energon as she clutched the Predacon fang in her hand.

"You are a traitor to your brothers." Magnus declared, "Surrender now."

"Brothers? Yeah right. The autbots never cared. Never helped me." Y/n argued,"I was a mech sheild! Thats all!"

"Then you leave me no choice Y/n." Magnus spoke.

Closing her eyes as he lifted up the forge and Y/n braced. The pain never came as she opened her eyes Shockwave above her, his hand holding the face of the hammer stopping it in its path.

"Go." Shockwave demanded. "Get the specimen to the ship."

Y/n hurried up, running away as a groundbridge opened up, she stopped, go through? Or go back?

She turned around seeing Shockwave fly through the air and into the rocky mountains as she sighed, tossing the bone inside the portal she rushed after her friend.

She charged into Magnus' side, the two fighting again.

Before Shockwave could even get up, he heard a shot fired an a body fall.

Looking back he seen Y/n laying on the floor, Arcee with a gun aimed where Y/n would have been standing.

Soundwave had landed next to Shockwave the moment after it happened. Both expressionless, but pained on the inside.

The stand off was intense.

"They're not going to shoot back. We have what we came for." Ultra Magnus spoke the bone in his servo.

The two bots turned around walking off as there own groundbridge opened.

Soundwave walked over to Y/n's body, turning her over on her back his slim digits brushed her face plate.

Looking back at Shockwave he shook his head.

The slim bot picked her up walking over to Shockwave.

"A great loss we have suffered." Shockwave spoke as Soundwave nodded.

The green swirling portal had appeared behind them as they walked in, ending at the bridge where Megatron looked over hie warship.

"Lord Megatron."

"Shockwave. I presume your expedition has succeeded." Megatron spoke.

"Yes." Shockwave informed, "but with an unfortunate outcome attached."

Megatron turned around as Soundwave stepped up infront of Shockwave, Y/n's body still in his arms.

"Y/n has been terminated, by the one they call Arcee."

[iballisticcatt]

Old and New Friends

Note: Some of this writing is not my own.  rainbows-fanfics let me have a draft and create this. Thanks!

Louis’ POV

It had been a bit over a year since the Delta. Violet had started to get social again and Willy ended up making a prosthetic for Clementine. Life had been good, great even. I was in the piano room, playing away anything I could remember or any sheet music I found before the other music room burnt down. The door creaked open and scared me, making me jump and scream like a girl. Clementine came in laughing.

“That scream was amazing Louis,” Clementine chuckled, “Do it again!”

I became defensive but playful, “I was in the middle of playing piano when that door decided to creak in the middle of me playing!” 

Clem made her way over to the bench and sat down on my left, putting her head on my shoulder.

“I was thinking back to that card game we played when I first got here. You remember when I talked about that baseball player I met?” Clem seemed to be a bit brighter than usual as she spoke.

I responded, clawing into my memory to see if I could recollect, “Very, very vaguely.”

“Well, I was wondering if we could take a trip down there, the wars going on in the area are sure to have died down by this point, and Javi would be glad to see me. It’s where Richmond used to be, It’s called New Richmond, It is pretty far from here, but we can make good time if we find a car. It’s 300 miles from here to there. It should be about a week’s walk from here.” Clementine seemed excited at the prospect of seeing these people again, how could I say no to a face like that?

“Sounds like a hard trip, but I’m in. Who’s coming with us?” 

Clem smirked and looked right into my eyes, “Just us.”

That was unexpected, to say the least, but I was all for it. I nodded and smiled at the thought of being alone with her for so long. We both got up and went outside and explained the idea to everyone. Clem did most of the talking while I sat there and looked dumb. The idea eventually passed through and everyone helped us pack, we were going to head out in two days.

The two days passed, and with several goodbyes from A.J and Violet hugging me out of nowhere, we were off. Those days on the road were harder than I had ever expected, it only made me feel more guilty for leaving Clem and A.J to die in the forest, before the Delta. They were also some of the best. The cuddle sessions were amazing by the fire each day as one of us was on watch while the other slept. Seven days on the road and we finally arrived at gates with spikes on the ends of it and a control platform above it. As I first saw the gate, my mind forced me to blurt out, “This gives off medal music vibes to me.” Clem chuckled and said simply, “That’s kinda the point, don’t you think?” I replied quickly, “Yep.” As we approached the gates we saw a boy in an orange beanie, tallish, and holding an AK-47. 

Clem yelled out at the boy, “GUESS WHO’S BACK GABE?”

The boy jumped and looked at us, gun raised, then lowered it after looking a bit longer.

“Clementine? Is that seriously you?” The boy seemed shocked and happy

“In the flesh.”

The gates opened as Gabe came out and approached, I was walking beside Clem as the boy came and eyed me.

“Who are you?” He asked, strength in his voice.

“I am Louis, Clem’s boyfriend, she wanted me to meet you and Javier. I’ve heard about you guys from her.” I replied with strength above his own, subconsciously asserting my dominance over him.

His face dropped a bit at this realization. The face he made confused me a bit, but I brushed it off as Gabe spoke, “Well Clem, You are always welcome here to New Richmond, so let’s come in and find Kate and Javi, I’m sure they will be as glad to see you as I am and meet a new face.”

We were guided through the gates and a clang followed as they shut, seeming to trap us here. I hoped they wouldn’t kill us, I was sure they wouldn’t though. We followed a road down through the city, the buildings tall and unlike something I had seen since I was ten. We stopped in front of an apartment complex, the building standing tall with a raven or a crow standing in the front. We entered the building and climbed a flight of stairs before arriving at a door.

“Well, here is their apartment, I need to go back and get on watch, have fun.”

I quipped and smirked, “We certainly will!”

Clem looked at me and turned bright red, “Louis!” 

I just chuckled and knocked on the door three times. We waited for a second before the door opened and a tall man with black, moppy hair and a beard opened the door.

“Guess who’s back?”

“Clementine?”

A woman’s voice came from inside the house, “Wait, are you talking to Clementine? Is she back?”

The man, whom I assumed to be Javier, called back and said excitedly, “Yeah, it is! I can’t believe it! Wait, who is this?”

Clem responded, warmness in her voice, “Javi, this is my boyfriend Louis! Been with him a year and I adore him, I brought him along to meet you guys.”

Javier eyed me before sticking his hand out, I took it in kind, giving a firm grip to return his own. 

“Well come on in, Kate can’t wait to see you, Clem!” Javi seemed to be ultra excited, it had been a while since they had seen another. 

The one I assumed to be Kate stood up, her bangs split into thirds on her head with a braid in the back. She hugged Clementineshe was caring before eying me.

“Who might you be?” Kate seemed slightly concerned at my presence, her protective mode seemingly kicking in.

I replied, trying to defuse the tension, “I, am Louis, Clementine’s boyfriend.” I laid a kiss on Clem’s forehead as Kate relaxed a bit.

Javier spoke up, “Well, the last time I saw Clem she had the personality of an aggressive rock.”

I laughed, too long for Clementine’s liking. 

“I can’t imagine her like anything else but a teddy bear!” I replied between laughs and wheezes. Man, I like this guy already. 

A knock came back to the door, Three taps. Javi moved over to the door and there stood Gabe.

Gabe spoke, “My watch shift just ended, figured I’d hang out with you guys.” 

Javi looked over at Clem, “Well Clem, Kate and I would like to show you some of the newer things here in New Richmond,” Javi turned to face me, “You sure you’ll be okay with Gabe here?”

I replied with humor, “Of course, I have to be on my best behavior for my teddy bear here!”

Clementine punched my arm and chuckled. 

Kate entered the room, “We’ll get going, see you guys in a bit.”

They left without another word, stranding me with Gabe. We turned to face each other and I gave him an honest grin, nodding once in his direction. He smiled and awkwardly copied the gesture. We were then left in silence, our eye contact slipping as neither of us dared to start talking. I twiddled my thumbs under the table as I thought of what to say.

"So..." I whistled under my breath. "You're an old friend of Clem's?"

He looked surprised as I started speaking, but nodded in regards to the question. "Yeah, you could say that."

"How do you know her?" I pressed.

This may be awkward, but I was least getting to know him some more. I felt that was appropriate to do in this time frame until Clem got back. Gabe looked startled before going quiet, staring at the table and messing with his cuticles in thought. He looked up and shrugged, not bothering to make eye contact with me.

"Clementine helped us with overrunning the New Frontier. I helped her with some things and Javi said we made a great team together. Whether it was taking out walkers or playing a card game. She was just nice to be around."

I arched my eyebrow in interest. "Card games?"

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, taught her one." He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again. "I think it was euchre."

"How about you and I play one, then?" I offered, grabbing the deck out of my usual pocket and holding it in my hands. "While we wait for them to get back, of course."

His eyes lit up. A good sign. "Shit? You carry a deck around with you, too?"

"You bet! Never know when the opportunity is gonna' come. I find that card games help lighten the mood." I dealt him a pile. "How about we play...war? Easy and shouldn't take that long."

"You seem to have a lot of confidence," He commented as he took his pile. I shrugged.

We started by focusing on the game first, easing into it by dealing with our cards. We had the same rank right out of the bat and, after turning them over, I found Gabe had the higher cards. I winched watching him take them and tuck them under his pile. Not a great start on my end, but I was sure I'd be doing better as the game progressed. We did a couple more rounds before I decided to speak again, clearing my throat.

"You said Clem was fun to be around with. Why's that?" His eyes looked into mine. They were too tense, so I followed it with a joke. "Didn't she, like, scare you? She has this aura about her, doesn't she? Freaked me out when I first met her."

"Oh, yeah." He gave a pitiful laugh. "I thought she hated me. Didn't think she'd ever talk to me."

"Right?" I laughed along. "I thought she'd stab me in my sleep when I first met her."

"She's intimidating, but I think that's why I liked her, you know? She's...interesting, once you get to know her."

He wore a shy smile as he flipped his card. I didn't say anything about it, not even when I won the round and took the cards. Gabe was right, after all. Clementine was a tough shell to crack, but when you got to know her, she was caring. To those, she liked, anyway. I admired her toughness as much as the next guy, and as much as it fazed me, I still didn't let it stop me from flirting with her.

"You're pretty good," He told me. I nodded back to him.

"You, too."

"So, Louis, uh..." He drummed his fingers against the table. "How do you know Clem? How did you guys meet exactly?"

"I think it was about a year ago. My friend, Marlon, found her and A.J. in a car crash near our boarding school. They treated Clem, but A.J. was a lot to handle without her there. He didn't exactly warm up to us at first. He was giving my friend Ruby a lot of issues. He even bit her on the hand just because she walked up from behind him."

"Oh, shit." Gabe cringed. I nodded and followed with a shrug.

"Yeah, well, I calmed him down by playing the piano. I don't know how long it was until Clem came into the room and met with him again. When she told me her name, I couldn't help it." A shit-eating grin grew on my face. "When she asked for another song, I sang her 'Oh My Darlin' Clementine'."

"How did she feel about that? She'd have punched me."

"She told me she loved that song. So I kept playing. I thought it would get on her nerves but it didn't. Not like that's an issue; I've found other ways to get under her skin."

I saw I had won the round and collected my share. By this point, we were getting closer to the end of the game. I was winning right now; Gabe's pile got smaller while we were talking. I grinned as we flipped over our next set of cards, hoping to get this meaningless victory just so I'd have something to talk about later. I noticed Gabe's sudden silence and glanced up. He was staring at his cards, a troubled expression on his face.

"Sorry, I meant to go easy but my cards were just too good." I rubbed my hand along my coat conceitedly.

He looked up in surprise. How do I manage to keep startling him just by talking? Either that or he was spacing out a lot. "O-Oh, uh, I was just...thinking."

"Well, then. Penny for your thoughts? They're not back yet and, as good as I am at winning, the game isn't exactly over just yet."

"Yeah." He chuckled nervously, watching as I won the round again. "I, uh...I was just wondering something. Like, um, how you and Clem are...together." His hesitation made me quirk an eyebrow. "The last time I saw her, she was really serious and kind of, well, hard at times. You're the exact opposite. How did she...fall for you, exactly?"

My eyes widened in surprise. I wasn't sure how to respond to that question. Juggling the card box in my hand, I thought about it seriously for a moment. "Well, I guess making her laugh a lot helped."

"How do you do that, though? It was hard just to get her to smile when I last with her." His frown deepened. "But you do it so easily...you don't even have to say anything and she still smiles."

"Heh." My chest warmed at that. "I don't know, honestly. It's usually me making a stupid joke and just hoping someone will laugh. If she finds it funny, she'll laugh."

His look didn't change. "Yeah. That makes sense."

It grew tense as we ended the game, all the cards in my pile. I expected to feel triumphant for winning, but the look on his face made me feel guilty for naturally doing so good at the game. I knitted my eyebrows together as I stuffed the cards back in, wondering what went wrong in our conversation. As I closed the lid and slid it back in my pocket, I faced him again.

"Well, that was fun! We should play another after dinner." It encouraged me to see him nod slightly. "I'm sure Clem will want to join, too."

He perked up. "Really?"

I wondered why he reacted that way so quickly. Before I question anything about it, we heard footsteps coming. Gabe smiled looking past me and stood from his seat, moving faster than I could get off of the bench. The door opened as we saw Clem, Kate, and Javier coming in. They were smiling, but I could tell just from the look on Clementine's face that there was something important. Gabe greeted them and I followed behind, slipping my hand into Clem's.

"You guys are back quicker than I thought," Gabe commented.

"Everyone's doing their job. We just checked in on things. We saw Jesus too." Javi explained. "What have you and Louis been up to?"

"We played a short game of war."

"And I won. Naturally." I added. Clem shoved my side as she rolled her eyes. I noticed Gabe watching us intently through the corner of my eye. As I turned, he faced his uncle.

"I can help you get everyone for dinner. And set things up."

"Thanks, Gabriel." 

Dinner was a blur, everything blends together when everyone is laughing. The next day Clementine and I left, giving our goodbyes. I was sad to go, Gabe was a cool dude, but that’s just how it goes. Seven days later and A.J tackles Clementine and then me. We were home.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Some Reasons I Love One Piece

So I set up a poll to ask what I should do for my 4000 follower milestone, and something like 85% of the responses to my poll said you wanted me to do a compilation of stuff I love about One Piece! So hell yeah, get ready for me to talk about pirates for way too long (a sentence that could also serve as an accurate blog description).

Before that though, lemme just say- thank you all! Seriously! When I started this blog I figured I’d be extremely lucky to end up with like a thousand followers, and now I have four times that and it just keeps growing, which just constantly baffles and amazes me. I adore every one of you, and you’re providing me something fun and productive to do in quarantine, and I love you for that.

Anyways! Let’s talk good shit.

Let’s start with Luffy. The whole story starts with him, after all.

I love Luffy, just as a character. He’s one of my favorite protagonists in anything, ever, when ordinarily protagonist characters don’t really appeal to me all that much. I genuinely think he might be my favorite character in One Piece now that I sit down and really think about it. I love how unconventional of a main character he is- he actively shuns the idea of being a hero and is in fact the most chaotic neutral motherfucker on the planet, and yet he’s so friendly and loyal and fun that you straight up can’t not love him both in-universe and out. 

I also love the Strawhats just in general, both as a group and individually. Found family is one of my all-time favorite story tropes, and they do it better than like, the vast majority of stories out there. They’re all so completely unique from each other and play off each other so well and they really do feel like a family. I love how often Oda just shows them fucking around and hanging out. (One of my only gripes with post-timeskip is how much time they spend split apart.) I think it says a lot about them that I struggled so much when someone asked me to rank the Strawhats a few months back and had to rearrange the list like four times. I just!! Love them all!!

One of my favorite things about One Piece is that it’s the story of Luffy’s rise, and that it occurs in a world that’s so solidly scaled and well-developed that all progress he makes actually feels tangible and impactful. Some of my favorite moments in One Piece are the ones where we can see how far he and the crew have come and see other people’s reactions. His reappearance at Sabaody after the timeskip is my favorite scene in the manga, full stop. His entrance at Marineford and all of the Decks of the World cover stories delight me for the same reason.

Speaking of the worldbuilding, god it’s so good? I think one of the greatest potential strengths of a long manga is that its just got so much time to establish and build on so much information, and sometimes that leads to mangaka kind of tying themselves in knots with too much lore and explanation, but Oda just fucking nails it. 

I recently read a conversation during Zou where the Strawhats are talking to Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and the Wano folks about all their mutual acquaintances on the Roger Pirates- Brook asks about Crocus, Franky mentions Tom, etc- and I had a moment where I realized how in pretty much any other series all those connections might seem contrived, but in One Piece it works so well. So much time has been dedicated to establishing all these facts and characters and connections over years and hundreds of chapters that when they do come together, it just feels so satisfying. 

Like, at Twin Cape Crocus mentions he was a ship’s doctor and then mentions Roger as the Strawhats leave, at Thriller Bark we find out he’s Brook’s friend, at Sabaody in conversation with Rayleigh we find out for sure which ship he was a doctor on and that he joined them to look for Brook’s crew- and it all just falls together so nicely. One Piece is maybe the strongest series I’ve ever read in terms of how it establishes its characters and concepts and how they all fit into the world and cross over and connect with each other. The world of One Piece is huge, but it also feels so alive and interconnected, and that’s just wonderful. 

I love how hopeful One Piece is. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago who doesn’t watch it, and she kind of dismissed it as ‘a show where nobody dies.’ Which- setting aside the fact that that’s just not fucking true- my first response to that was, “So?” I think it’s nice that we can all know for pretty much certain that the Strawhats will achieve their dreams in the end. There’ll be a happy ending, and Luffy’s going to be Pirate King, we’ve known that from the start. The fun is in seeing how they get there. 

Aside from a few specific cases, I also really like how Oda does his character writing just in general. The female characters in One Piece generally get a bad rap, largely from people who haven’t watched the show and judge it on the (admittedly exaggerated) artstyle, but fuck if I haven’t seen such a widely varied and developed and flawed female cast writing-wise since- I don’t even know. Oda does a really good job of giving his characters, both male and female, unique and memorable personalities, which is super fucking impressive considering just how many there are. Similarly, I’m impressed by how new characters are introduced without getting repetitive or annoying, and very often those characters are really fantastic. I could talk about all the different One Piece characters I love and why, but we would legitimately be here all day. 

I also love how unlike a lot of long-running series like this, characters don’t just go away when their time in the spotlight is done. In just about any other series, characters like Buggy and Coby and Crocodile would just be gone and never to be heard from again after they’ve served their purpose. Instead you have the stupid clown villain from the second arc becoming a fucking shichibukai several hundred chapters later, and it makes sense in the context of the story! The whole concept of the cover stories works really well towards this aspect of One Piece, letting us see what all these other characters are up to without taking attention off the main story. This fits in with the interconnectedness I mentioned earlier, too. 

And I like how (and I know there are people who will argue this, I have had them in my inbox, but I do not care) One Piece has stayed so strong for so long. I’ve mentioned before that both of my favorite big arcs are pre-timeskip- Alabasta, for the civil war storyline and great supporting cast and villains, and W7/Enies Lobby, for the epic emotional highs and lowers + ANOTHER great supporting cast. But like, I’ve been enjoying the more recent arcs just as much! Honestly, now that I’ve finished Dressrosa, I think it definitely ranks up there among my favorites as well, for how chaotic and fun and high-stakes the whole thing felt when I was binging through it. I’m only a few chapters into Whole Cake Island so far but it seems very promising, and I’m really excited to get to Wano from what I’ve seen of it.

I haven’t even really touched on the art yet, either. I know the artstyle turns some people off of the series, for how kind of cartoony it is sometimes and how different it is from most other series, but honestly I just love it. I wasn’t sure about it at the start but it grew on me very fast. Hell, I have a whole tag (which I should use more) dedicated just to appreciation of pretty panels.

And the action scenes in One Piece are so fun and expressive and creative and almost always at least a little silly just by the nature of Luffy’s powers. I don’t think I’ve ever been bored during a One Piece fight. And the splash pages are frequently just breathtaking. I’m a writing person, not an art person, so I’m bad at putting this kind of thing into words nearly as well, but- yeah. One Piece Art Good. (My friend Narramin also has a really, really good series of posts about how great the visual storytelling in OP is starting here that I highly recommend, if you’re interested.)

Finally, I think my favorite thing about One Piece is that it’s all one story, start to end. I kind of touched on this above with the worldbuilding thing, but you can see what a ridiculous degree of thought and planning Oda has put into his story, and how well everything comes together. It’s the main aspect that got me to give One Piece a try in the first place- I heard how good and thought-out the long term storytelling is, and I just eat that shit up. I don’t think I’ve ever had the level of trust in a creator to handle and end their story satisfyingly that I have in Oda. It’s a good feeling. 

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (69) || atz

You’re too late to reach him.

By the time your footsteps come thundering up the gangplank of the Treasure, wood creaking beneath your boots, Mingi comes to greet you midway, face drawn with concern and barely veiled fury.

“Where is he?” Your captain asks urgently, immediately, and you feel the pit in your stomach sinking more than it already has. San has had his hand on your arm the entire time, a reassuring presence but unwilling to divulge any information to you about that mysterious white ship.

White ship... you think, eyes glancing over over the hull, following the harbor. What meets your gaze is an unassuming, slender ship a few docks down, hull painted a stark, bone white, the same colour of ashes long burnt out, cold and dead.

“He’s in the sickbay.” Mingi runs a hand through his hair, eyes hard and distressed. He makes a soft, helpless noise, turns to your captain. “Captain, I really didn’t know this was going to happen, I-”

“There was nothing you could do, you couldn’t have predicted it.” Hongjoong says with a sigh, his fingers tracing the stitching along his eye patch. Next to you, San’s hand falls from your arm, chewing on his bottom lip nervously as he glances at the door to the sickbay. “How is he?”

“Wait.” You cut in, unable to bear not knowing about what is going on anymore. This is Wooyoung they’re talking, dolphin laugh Wooyoung, chatterbox Wooyoung, brighter than the sun Wooyoung. Why is the mere sight of a single ship sailing into the harbor of Tortuga enough to unsettle all of them so much. “What’s going on?”

San’s mouth works soundlessly for a moment, trying to find the right words, before it abruptly closes. He glances between you and the white ship and back again, then swallows nervously. “Chin Hae, that ship is-”

All of a sudden, the door to the sick bay slams open with a bang and you nearly jump, whirling to stare at the source of the noise.

“Wooyoung, wait!” You hear Yeosang cry out, and your eyes widen when you see the purple haired gunner burst out of the door, stumbling on shaky legs and eyes wild. He looks about frantically before his eyes zero in on the gangplank, and takes off at a run, frighteningly fast, barreling straight towards you. You don’t recognise his eyes, lost in the waves of something dark, a place where you can’t see.

“Wooyoung, stop!” Hongjoong grabs him by the arm and tackles him to the ground, and the younger gunner goes crashing to the ground with a painful cry. You merely watch in horror as Yunho follows behind his captain, dropping from the rigging to pin his other hand to the deck as Wooyoung continues to struggle and flail, panicked tears streaming from his eyes, mumbling unintelligible nothings under his breath.

“They’ve found me, they’ve found me, need to run, need to escape,” he moans, tears slipping down his cheeks as you can only stare on in horror - what on earth is happening? “Need to hide, need to run away before they find me and chain me up again, I-”

What?

“Wooyoung, listen to me-” Hongjoong tries to say, but Wooyoung shivers uncontrollably even though the sea breeze is warm, teeth practically chattering from fear. “Wooyoung, please, you need to listen-”

“Who?” You find yourself saying, even before you realise you’ve spoken. “Who is ‘they’, Wooyoung?”

“He’s here.” He sobs, and you can feel each individual piece of your heart shatter and crack at his heart wrenching wails. “He’s found me, I need to escape, I need to-”

“Wooyoung.” Your captain grabs him by the cheeks, forcing the younger man to look at him with tear filled eyes. “Listen to me. You are Jung Wooyoung. I gave you that name myself years ago, when I broke the chains on your hands and brought you with me. You are one of my crew, part of the Treasure.” He squeezes Wooyoung’s hands tightly, as if trying to will him to understand. “No one is going to hurt you ever again.”

Wooyoung stills, the fight deflating from him like a ship’s sails that have lost the wind. “No hurt anymore?” He whimpers quietly, eyes still clouded with fear.

Hongjoong nods once.

“No more hurt.”

>>>

“Master, what’s going on?” You ask the second he steps into the storage hold. San draws in a heavy breath, as if it carries the weight of the world, and sits down in front of you where your blanket is wrapped around your knees. Because of Wooyoung’s current sensitive condition, your captain has ordered for the beds in the sickbay to be given to Wooyoung and Yeosang for now, the navigator apparently being one of the few people able to calm him down. Thus now, you’re bunking down in the storage hold, lantern flickering dimly overhead, illuminating the weary slant of San’s eyes, the tight purse of his lips.

“I brought you this.” San says quietly, holding out something red - fox fur! - you realise. Thanking him, you draw the half stitched coat into your lap, fingers fondling the stray ends like they’re old friends, before you ask once again.

“Master, please.” You say quietly, fingers of your real hand curling around his, a reassurance of your presence, a persuasion for the truth. You can see that it’s weighing him down, that he’s dying to tell you, but there’s something holding him back. “Master, Wooyoung is...” you trail off, searching for the right words. What exactly is Wooyoung to you? But regardless of the answer that you do not yet have, the truth is still the same. “He’s a very precious person to me. I can’t just-”

“He’s an important person to me too, Chin Hae.” San says softly, squeezing your hand back tight. “He’s my best friend.”

“But you know.” You insist, desperation welling up in you. You feel your lower lips trembling, struggle to keep your tears from falling. “Master, what happened to Wooyoung?”

San lets out a groan, letting go of your hands to run his own through his hair harshly. “Wooyoung’s past is... complicated. He’s been through a lot, and-”

“Master.” You say, and he turns to stare at you with pained eyes. “Please, just tell me. I want to know.”

San holds your gaze for a moment longer before his eyes drop from yours, a soft breath leaving his lips. “I just... don’t want you to think any differently of him, or any lesser about him because of his past.”

“I couldn’t.” You answer instantly. When San looks at you, confused, you add on earnestly. “Nothing you say about his past could change the way I view him now, Master. He’s the one,” your breath catches a little, and you turn away, looking instead at the fox fur in your lap, “who saved me from the very beginning in Nassau, even before he really knew me. I care for him a great deal, master.”

“I know.” San says softly. A breath passes before he looks up at you, manages a grin. “Scoot over?”

You do instantly, shifting so that San has space to sit next to you, shoulders pressing together. He’s warm, you think quietly, letting your head rest against his upper arm. “So?”

San exhales. “Well... did we ever tell you how Wooyoung came onto the Treasure?”

“No.” You shake your head. As far as you know, Wooyoung’s past has been cryptic at best, with San and Hongjoong dropping the occasional comment before about how he’d been like you, without a name. The circumstances behind that are unknown, but you wonder if you might finally get to find out today.

“I was in the sickbay alone a few years back.” He raises his hands, looking at them as if trying to remember what he had been doing that day. “I was still relatively new on board the ship, after captain picked me up, but I know we were docked right here, in Tortuga.” Your breath hitches. “I was doing something at the table, whether grinding herbs or mixing salves, I can’t remember. But then all of a sudden Captain burst into the room, Mingi behind him. And I remember so clearly, the small, pitiful shape Mingi was carrying in his arms.”

You can see it playing out in your mind, San sitting at his little table, back turned to the door, spinning around in shock as your captain crashes in with his quartermaster in tow. “He was nothing but a bag of bones,” your master continues, voice hushed, cracking a little at the ends, “but the scariest thing were his eyes. They were so dead, Chin Hae.” The despair in his words is enough to make tears well up in your eyes. “If I hadn’t seen him breathing, I would have thought he might have been dead.”

Wooyoung with dead eyes? His eyes have always danced with life since the first day you’ve known him, bright and vibrant like the pulse of the sea and the life it brings. You don’t want to even imagine what he could have looked like, the mere thought of it too painful for you to handle.

“There were broken shackles around his wrists, heavy padlocks hanging from each.” San adds on, voice growing more and more solemn with each word. “Captain didn’t tell me the reason behind them, only instructing me to take care of him and feed him till he got better. And I did. I fed him and bathed him, and that’s when I saw the marks all over his body, bruises, deep scratches, bite marks...”

You still. “Bite marks?” You repeat hollowly, the words echoing around your mind. San sucks in a deep breath, buries his face in your hair. Your arms come up instinctively to wrap around him, and San continues, words heavy.

“Bite marks... from the women he was sold to.” The words seem to be nothing more than white noise now, ringing emptily in your skull. “Chin Hae, his old captain was a slave trader, but kept Wooyoung on board as a pet since he could remember. He was kicked, abused, beaten within an inch of his life as he grew up.” His tears soak into your hair as you stare silently at the wooden beams opposite, unable to think. “And when his captain thought he was pretty and exotic because of his purple hair, he started trading Wooyoung with high ranking women in towns for favors, and the things they did to him, he still has nightmares about them sometimes, and he-”

There’s nothing but a dull, throbbing ache in your chest. It hurts so much it stifles your breath, poisonous chains wrapped tight around your throat and lungs.

“-that’s why he’s so afraid of women, Chin Hae.” San says helplessly, seemingly unaware of the way your breath is trapped in your lungs. “He slept with them so much afterwards as his way of convincing himself he’d finally left his demons behind, but when you came, he-”

“Please stop.” You manage to croak out, and immediately San falls silent. Your head is spinning, a painful, raw feeling in your chest, breath trapped painfully in your lungs. Rising to your feet, you try not to let the tears slip from your eyes, refusing to look at your master.

“I need some time, please.”

Without waiting for his reply you stride out of the storage hold, climbing the stairs to the main deck, away from the stifling air beneath the deck that seems far too choking. Here the air is calming, and you step to the edge of the ship to cool off, trying to keep your emotions under control.

Wooyoung was hurt, is all you can think. People hurt him.

How could anyone hurt a person like Wooyoung?

You let out a long, shaky breath as you look down at the rippling surface of the sea. Your image is distorted, reflection half glancing off with the lights coming from the harbor, the other half submerged in darkness. There’s a feeling that only builds in you, deep and roiling, far beneath the surface, somewhere deep within you, like the beginning of a tidal wave.

Fury.

Like waves lapping at shore, slowly but surely, eating away at the edges. You glance up at the white ship a little while off, and thunder rumbles in the distance from the sea.

You’re furious.

[ktheist]

saving grace | 4

muses. duke!yoongi x lady!reader

universe. arranged marriage / minor traces of magic in history

concept. driven into a corner with the new king, seokjin, offering to marry you off to a prince in a foreign land and a persistent mother who would seize the chance of a lucrative marriage for her daughter, you’re forced with the only other option to secure your freedom ‒ enter into a beneficial agreement with the man who reaped the seeds of war, the duke of cralon, yoongi min.

words. 6.2k

warnings. mentions of war, it’s cliche and cheesy all in one package

index. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / finale

x

isabelle armwell is not present.

naturally so, showing up here would only intensify the naturally main topic of the conversation today - baron armwell’s heinous crimes that’d come to light after his daughter came up and confessed everything to the authorities. some days after your visit to the royal palace, you’d invited isabelle to shop for the dress you’d be wearing for the engagement party.

it wouldn’t look suspicious if you take more time than necessary in the fitting room. somewhere in the corner of your heart, you cursed yourself for becoming exactly like the ladies you claim repulsed you. and yet with a smile on your face, you wave to isabelle before stepping through the room, leaving her alone to wait for you.

but by the time you came out, she was already gone. the staff recounted the disheveled condition she’d left in after having a chat with a customer who’d left without buying anything.

“she must have felt sick after that and decided to leave immediately,” the manager, who wasn’t there to witness it because she was helping you change, deduces.

“perhaps,” not allowing your conflicted feelings show, you agreed with a pitiful smile and excused yourself for the day, saying you’re far too worried about your friend to pick a dress today.

a week after that, baron armwell had been arrested for not only theft but further investigation showed that he’d been involved with tax evasion, bribery and so much more that the same exact people who are criticizing the barn, are doing behind closed doors.

“can you believe how brave lady isabelle had to be to confess to her father’s crimes?” irene’s striking emerald eyes matches the ribbon tied around her light brown curls as well as her unconstrained envy for ranks.

there are only two noble ladies from a baron family, namely her and isabelle that are active in social gatherings as of late. while she praises irene, she also laughs at the situation the blonde woman is facing.

“you’ve always been close with isabelle, lady ___, did you know?” krystal’s cat-like stare searches for a fault in your response but unlike when you’re with a certain crimson eyed man, you manage to smooth out your expression into a regretful smile.

“did we seem so?” a hand clasps over your lips, “i wish we were close enough for her to confide her problems with me but, alas, she’d be suffering on her own this whole time.”

and with that, the silence lapses between you and the two ladies while the round of hooves against the ground and wheels rolling echoes from the front. the guests are still pouring in and yoongi, having been swamped with the additional charges against baron armwell, has been cooped up inside his office. you wonder if he’ll manage to show up at all.

“m-my, lady ___, you’re so kind to worry about lady isabelle even on the brink of your engagement party.” irene tries again, the angle of her smile now positioned awkwardly after you declared your support for isabelle.

after her disappearance, you’d sent her two letters. one, inquiring her of her well being as a friend - an undeserving one at that. the other one being the invitation of your garden party three days apart. her written reply, as expected, appeared as if nothing was wrong but the news blew up in a matter of hours after the winter knights bearing the crown’s warrant began pouring into the armwell residence and their warehouses.

“who would have thought lady ___ would harbor such amicable feelings for the daughter of baron armwell?” the smile that adorns krystal’s face doesn’t match her icy stare.

perhaps it’s the emphasis of isabelle being baron armwell, a loyal supporter of the aristocrat faction - it’s much easier to persuade a family of the royal faction than the noble’s even though the odds are lower than when the crown was succeeded peacefully. or perhaps it’s the due reminder that she, a marquis’ daughter, still ranks higher than you, a mere count’s daughter regardless of who your future marriage prospect is.

whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like she’s acting as part of seokjin’s vassal, “i think it’s important to separate emotions from business matters. the matter of the which side the armwells are on and whether isabelle deserves the credit for stepping up and confessing to her father’s crimes are entirely different matters.”

the woman’s cat-like gaze remains impassive, “but i suppose i don’t need a trip to the optometrist to see that one wears her loyalty like clothes these days.”

the silence that lapses after you’ve finished your words is presses down on your throat with its invisible hands. irene’s paling complexion, as she looks between you and krystal, is enough enough to tell you that the elephant might be bigger than you thought it’d be.

“lady ___, you look as splendid as the roses that bloom in the duke’s garden.” count henry approaches, only bowing in greeting after having praise you with his famous empty words. he’s the only few young nobles who’s succeeded the title from his father.

“thank you, count henry, but the credit goes to the gardener and his grace - i’d only started admiring them just recently myself,” you gladly welcome the new comer, turning your full attention to him.

“oh yes, as the future lady of the house, are you going to make changes to the garden and hold more gatherings? i’d be the most blessed man on earth if i could see you - i men the roses in their full bloom next year as well,” his dream like eyes widens with excitement while not failing to compliment you.

“thank you, you’re very generous with your praises, marquis,” is all you force out, unwilling to go down this praise littered path any longer than you should.

as though the planets and the stars align, whispers begin to spread among the guests. some gazes at something behind you with the same stars that shines its luck on you, some observing the object of fascination with care.

“___, apologies for arriving late to our own garden party,” yoongi’s uncharacteristically suave smile enters your view whilst you slip your hand in the one he has extended midair.

“don’t worry, you’re just in time,” at the sight of his crimson eyes watching you through this lashes as he presses his lips to your gloved knuckles, you can’t help but replay the events that transpired within the closed door of your mother’s parlor.

it was nothing and everything you’d imagined a proposal from yoongi could be. whilst the extravagance of best tailored dresses and perfectly cut diamonds were taking up every possible space in the main parlor, yoongi had pulled out a simple cerulean diamond encrusted ring and slipped it on your finger, kissing it right after - a seal of promise to love and to cherish.

you didn’t need to ask to know that it was a perfectly cut piece from the siren’s heart. its much larger counterpart being showcased somewhere in the main parlor.

“i-i see,” your voice shook and your cheeks felt like summer came early and for some reason, yoongi let out a brieft chuckle before he slipped a hand underneath yours and kissed it, murmuring, “you’re not against it and that’s good enough for now.”

“looks like i’ve missed the fun,” the breath that fans the shell of your skin brings you out of your thoughts as he whispers lowly, eyes boring into yours instead of taking notice of the peering gazes.

having spent most of his time winning wars, yoongi’s never truly attended any social gatherings. this would be his first in a long time and yet he’s already caught onto the shimmering heat that hangs over the air after your and krystal’s conversation.

but more than that, you’ve only ever seen him in dark colors with unmanageable hair that brushes against the top of his eyebrows and sometimes almost serves to hide his eyes if he’d just lowered his head. but today, his hair is sleeked back and he’s decked in a pristine white suit and deep crimson undershirt that highlights his eyes as well as the dragons and silver shield engraved in the back of the cape that’s attached to his shoulders and flows down until inches from his ankles.

“there’s more where that came from,” you offhandedly remark, concealing a small sigh at the thought of the draining battle that will ensue.

“greetings your grace, i’m henry from the house of lau. it’s an honor to make your acquaintance.” the easy smile that slips onto henry’s features tells you he’s shifted from being a lecherous casanova to a diplomatic marquis.

“marquis henry,” yoongi acknowledges, his hand snaking around your waist and pulling you closer until your back presses against his front, “i saw you, lady irene and lady krystal keeping my fiance company, thank you.”

the young marquis’ flinch is skillfully hid by his smooth chuckle, muttering a generic recount of the conversation about the roses before offering to walk with the other two ladies, leaving you alone with yoongi.

“h-how much did you hear?” the schooled smile on your face wavers as you avoid the duke’s naturally intense gaze.

“enough to know i won’t be having any problems buying the whole of the lau family’s mines,” the charming smile on his devastatingly handsome features is tinted with a sure promise as the hand on your lower back pulls you closer, your chests almost brushing.

forcing out a chuckle, you calmly placate, “but wouldn’t that be counterproductive since seokjin affirmed that he’s part of his majesty’s faction?”

“i’ll find someone to replace him,” he cocks his head to the side, eyes disappearing behind his lashes as his smile stretches wider.

“i see,” your shoulder line falls as you mentally bid good luck to henry before catching sight of a group of noblewomen and men huddled together adjacent to you with fans hiding their faces whilst they steal glances your way.

“your grace,” with and hand on yoongi’s chest and heated cheeks, you light push him only for him to raise an inquisitive eyebrow, “people are watching.”

but when his lips curl into a smirk, the beating organ encased within your chest drops to the ground, “and?”

before a series of protests manages to leave your lips, you find yourself staring into a pair of molten rubies before your eyes flutter shut as a familiar pair of lips lands on your forehead. your hand balls into a fist in front of your chest, trying to suppress your palpitating heart as the seconds stretch on and everything begins to fade into white noise.

...until the sound of someone clearing their throat brings you back to the canopy filled garden. “master. madam. all the guests have arrived.”

“alright, thank you jackson,” yoongi nods at the butler as though he didn’t just exhibited an act of affection that should have been shared between only the two of you privately.

you dread the forthcoming headache that’ll be knocking on your temples at the thought of rumors of the nature of you and yoongi’s relationship, spreading like wildfire.

“madam...” the butler trails off, head lowered at you as though pleading for something, “the master doesn’t like drawing attention to himself even though it is the min residence that the party is held at...”

“you don’t say,” side eyeing man in question that, out of all times, happen to be glancing at the sky,  you doubt its sapphire hues are any more worth gazing than yesterday, “very well, i’ll announce the commencement of the party.”

“thank you, madam,” jackson dips briefly before walking away to stand with the valet and head maid a few feet away.

a soft breeze blows past the roofless area. though smaller compared to the garden in the palace, it’s still the size of half of your mention with its perfectly trimmed rose bed in the middle that’s half your height and makes up a maze where a fountain lies, rimmed with a deeper shade of rosebeds.

an even with the maze, at the heart of the garden, area between it and the mansion is still large enough to fit five tables with five chairs at each table scattered around the pavilion where you come to stand, hand around yoongi’s arms.

“ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. i hope you all enjoy yourselves today,” looking up to see those crimson eyes staring back at you, a smile slips onto your lips as you turn to the guests, “we trust his majesty has sent invitations to our engagement party to every family representative to those who are present and we hope to see you all there in a fortnight.”

x

the garden party drags on for hours with words as swords and superficial smiles as shields. as they get into the argument about seokjin’s rule, it isn’t hard to pick out the weeds that grow over the year after seokjin ascended the throne.

“to have completely disregard the nobles for a whole year, his majesty is a brave one.” count vernon’s lighthearted chuckle does not match his contemptuous remark.

“yes but, it’s not his majesty that we should be worried about, is it?” krystal’s question brings about a series of murmurs. of course, the question of your family’s stance must have been lingering on their minds even though your hosting and indulging the upcoming party should be answer enough.

“ah, i heard lady ___ and his majesty are quite close,” henry snaps his fingers, eyes shimmering with a recollection, “he used to summon you frequently back then, you know, before you and the duke got engaged. if you had any weakness, it’d be your beauty for having caught both the eyes of his majesty and the duke at the same time.”

at that, all eyes turn to you though some narrow their eyes at the marquis’ cheap tricks. suppressing the bile rising from your throat, you fix the beaming man with your own smile, “as you know, his majesty had just ascended the throne and asked for house ___’s advice on the matters at hand. my father was originally supposed to go but since the drought, he’s been required to ride to our estate and help the people there so i took over his job for him.”

glancing at the silver haired man whose lips twitch with humor at your feigned smile, “as for yoongi, when we met, it was like first love!”

whilst most of the ladies who are likely part of seokjin’s faction swoons at the way yoongi returns your smile. you barely notice the question thrown by one of the ladies to yoongi, “how was it for your grace when you met lady ___?”

a playful glint shines in his eyes as he chuckles, “when we first met, i remember thinking ‘this isn’t really happening, right?’” though those words hold a completely different meaning, the guests doesn’t seem to think it anything less than a romantic love-at-first sight kind of scenario as they murmur to each other and lament about their own first encounter with their partners. those who aren’t yet married or announced their relationship sending their wishes to the goddess to grant them something akin to your love story.

“your grace,” count jimin’s voice cuts through the air and silencing the crowd, striking hazel eyes boring into the silver haired man’s, “do you not feel betrayed? after coming home and bringing victory to king who severed the head of the one you sworn to serve?”

a pause lapses over the table as the question hangs in the air like a dark cloud. most of the nobles have reverted their gaze from you and yoongi as though looking at him would have caused their lives. you don’t have to crane your neck to know how piercing those deep rubies are.

“home,” a gravelly voice scoffs, “when i came back from the war, all i could hear was the people on the streets talking about how the cuts that were visible on my body could’ve been deeper so i’d die. how my cursed bloodline would doom the kingdom.” the man leans his elbow on the armrest, cheek leaned against his knuckles as his gaze fleets over the count, “it’s the same whoever i serve but at least the current king has improved the lives of the people by a large scale compared to that dim-witted uncle of mine and the rest of his supporters that roll around in the money they got from forcing such high rate taxes over their people.”

count jimin’s dry laugh echoes around the table, “those are serious accusations, i hope you have proof to support them, your grace, otherwise it’d be considered slander to all the noble houses present.”

“indeed it would be a grave insult,” you cover yoongi’s free hand that’s threatening to break the wooden structure of the armrest, relief flooding your system when it relaxes under your touch just the slightest bit whilst curious eyes peer at you, waiting on the edge of their seats for what you’re tying to get to, “only if it’s untrue. so how about a challenge for each house’s territory? his grace may conduct inspections on the park family’s territory and if his grace finds no fault in under the count’s rule, then the count will obtain the port to make up for the slander but if his grace’s words prove to be true, then the arable field belonging to the park family will go be part of the dukedom.”

“that’s ridiculous! his grace is the one who should present evidence before running his mouth.” the elder man’s face contorts with anger, nose flaring as he slams a hand on the table and sending his drink spilling over the fuchsia tablecloth.

you gesture for one of the maids to take away the spilled cup of tea before cocking your head to the side as though in deep thought, “count jimin, why are you getting mad? if what his grace says is a mere hoax, then you’ll be getting the iyesgarth port along with the rights to collect taxes... unless, you have something to hide?”

the maid returns with a new set of teacup, placing it in front of the silently trembling man and pouring newly brewed tea into it.

“i-i like lady ___’s suggestion,” lady irene’s timid voice warrants a turn of heads but despite the sudden attention, she still manages to deliver her reasoning, “both contribute significantly to the economy of the kingdom. if i’m being honest, the port is too good of a bargain to be given up easily.”

the stiff movements of several nobles as they stir their tea or reach for the delicacies laid out in front of them, is telling enough who they choose to push as their scapegoat.

“lady ___ didn’t you say to separate feelings from business matters? isn’t suggesting such challenge proves that you’re acting on your emotions because of count jimin’s rudeness?” you doubt that krystal’s question has anything to do with shifting the spotlight from the deathly silent count jimin than it does with challenging your judgement, “furthermore, you went ahead of yourself and didn’t ask for his grace’s take on this.”

you don’t miss the wide-eyed gazes coming from the nobles at the uncharacteristic chuckle that falls out of yoongi’s lips before he simply announces, “isn’t that a given? ___ and i are to be wed, consider whatever lady ___ say to be my own words from now on. i agree with giving up the port in the event that i’d baselessly besmirched the park family name.”

“f-fine, i agree to that arrangement.” count jimin finally declares, burning with pride and dignity that he’ll soon learn are fragile little things.

“great, the inspection will begin two days from now,” your lips curve, delighted at the conclusion of the ordeal, “it’s better to get this settled than drag this suffocating atmosphere to the engagement party, i would hate to have such a momentous day to be defiled with unsolved bad blood.”

the count opens his mouth as though the words of protest are a second away from falling off his tongue but after five solid seconds pass, the man clamps his lips shut and turns away. for the rest of the afternoon, nothing as strenuous as transpires.

those who attended are with their own reasons - whether to satisfy their own curiosity, to build connections or to simply witness for themselves the duke and future duchess’ stance in politics. either way, it concluded peacefully with the nobles from seokjin’s faction expressing their wish to see you more at parties and be invited to the ones you’ll hold in the future.

though you did not lift a finger, the duty to clean up naturally becomes yours as you oversee the process until the table clothes are folded, teacups and teapots stacked and delivered to the washing room whilst the tables and chairs are stored in the building separate from the main mansion.

yoongi disappeared as soon as the last five guests boarded their carriage. granted, there must have been a lot of paperwork and reports he’s supposed to get done. you wonder how he’s managed to squeeze you in his busy schedule when you barely knew each other.

the hand that hovers inches from the door to his office freezes at the deep voice that flows from the gap between the doors, “you don’t have to knock.”

“so it’s true that you have heightened hearing,” pushing the door open and stepping through it, you assert.

“it gets annoying sometimes, especially when i wake to the sound of the servants shuffling somewhere in the-.” the man hums in affirmation as he leans back. his usually towering frame appearing miniature surrounded by stacks of paper on both sides of his desk, the space in the middle being reserved for him to write on, “-not there.”

with lift eyebrows you meet the man’s crimson gaze, questioning why he suddenly stopped talking and how he has the nerve to forbid you from taking a seat on one of the sets of sofas in the middle of his office. whatever expression you must be making must have been the reason for his sudden retraction, “i mean, could you please come here?”

there isn’t any chair anywhere near his table but you get up anyway, heels clicking against the wooden flooring before stopping in front of him only to have man’s brows furrow with conflict. so you walk the extra distance around his table, your own features flashing is confusion,“why are you-”

but before you can even get the whole question out, a yelp escapes your mouth as the fingers that curl around your wrist yanks you forward. your fall into his lap may have been unceremonious as you reach out to grasp onto something for stability and that something just so happen to be his well built shoulders but he doesn’t seem to care. the muscles ripple underneath your touch as he hoist you closer as to not let you fall off sideways.

the heat spreads all over your body like poisonous smoke, sending your heart lurching into your throat as you bare yourself in those deep crimson eyes yet for some reason, you manage to push out a barely stable vocal, “i hardly think this is an appropriate position to be caught in.”

“the servants know not to bother me when i’m working.” the sight of his lips curling into a teasing smile now feels familiar, like the alleviated feeling of coming home after spending weeks at the capital for a mere ball.

“then i shouldn’t bother you either.”

“you’re allowed to. i give you my permission.”

“thank you, i’m honored.” you’ve only realize now that the chuckle from the garden party and now are no different. except the quietness just after the fall of the sun allows you to pick up on the adoration that wraps around his voice.

letting out a soft sigh, you suppose you don’t entirely dislike being held like a child like this.

“by the way, you didn’t have to go as far as gifting me a whole fertile land.” he says after the traces of humor disappear into the air but the lightness of the atmosphere engulfs you like a blanket.

preparations for the inspection has been commenced, the day after tomorrow, yoongi will ride with his men and arrive some time in the evening at count park’s territory with the help of a magical shortcut maintained by the wizard guild which are of close relations with the min family. despite the two day window, you’ve already got the necessary information about almost all the nobles’ activities, including count park’s. all yoongi needs to do is move in the direction you point: the missing daughter of a recently deceased baron that owned 1/8 of the land at stake as well as the territory’s reputation for the highest death rate ever recorded in the kingdom.

“shush,” you wave a dismissive hand - the same hand that bears a deep red diamond on its ring finger, “that’s the least i could do after you gave me the siren’s heart.”

“you should have picked some of the necklaces and bracelets as well,” he means from the boxes and boxes filled with sparkling jewelry that he sent along with the siren’s heart.

your mother had no qualms salivating over each content of the box until you instruct for whitlace’s representative to take it back, saying ‘i’ll explain to the duke’ when the man’s face pales at the lack of jewelry picked.

“i already have plenty,” you announce. having already explained your reason for declining such lucrative gifts - most of them decrease in value over the years unless it’s rare gems or gold or private property.

“that won’t do,” his ungloved fingerpads feel callous against your skin yet comforting as he traces it over the diamond encrusted ring, “what if i’m called stingy because my duchess isn’t wearing any accessories?”

“whoever that is must have a lot of time on their hand.”

“shall we acquire the territory of anyone who speaks ill of the duchess of cralon?”

at that, you burst out laughing. perhaps, it’s the way he proposes such idea - as though it’s as easy as stealing candy from a child. perhaps, it’s the underlying promise to go through such deeds if someone dares to insult you. perhaps it’s the delicate crimson gaze that’s looking at you as though he wants to take this moment and frame it in his memories.

the faintest of smile makes its way to yoongi’s lips as he leans into your palm -  his skin is as soft as it appears to be. you fear it’ll end up bruising under your touch. his own hand slips under your hand, callous fingers tracing your jawline. just like moth drawn to flame, you find yourself leaning down, eyes glazing over the pink lips but before you even manage to have a taste of sweet sacrilege, the the sound of the door swinging open echoes throughout the room.

x

“master,” jackson’s bows briefly, a tray of letter in one hand, “the countess sent a letter to the madam.”

“i-i see, is the carriage here?” you make an attempt to hop off the man, smile pointing in an awkward angle before realizing the tightened grip around your waist.

yoongi meets your hard stare nonchalantly, even having the nerve to raise an inquisitive eyebrow as to why you’re moving away until he relents, a sigh escaping his lips before his arms fall away from you.

“that... the countess sent the letter through a maid,” the butler stops in front of the desk, dark brown eyes fleeting over to the fireplace and then the shadows that its makes and then his polished shoes - anywhere except your eyes.

since you’ve sent one of yoongi’s footmen to notify your family coachman a few hours ago, you figured that’s how the letter was delivered. yet you don’t pry, butlers are often put in difficult positions due to their masters, “thank you, jackson,”

with that, you go to stand directly in front of the window for better lighting to read your mother’s undoubted cursive writing whilst trying your hardest to ignore the heat of yoongi’s body as he not-so-secretly reads over your shoulder.

dear daughter, i sent felix to run some errands. he won’t be available until tomorrow noon. i’m afraid you’ll have to spend the night at the duke residence. but fret not, i sent the leslie to help you with anything you need. plus, she’ll have to familiarize herself with the mansion once you get married anyway!

the ghost of a delighted laugh that belongs to your mother rings in your ear as your mind conjures a picture of her sitting at the maple desk gifted by your father some years ago, a plotting smile on her lips.

“jackson,” yoongi voice drums a second after your eyes fleet across the exclamation mark, “prepare a room for ___, looks like the coachman of the ___ family can’t come.”

“th-that won’t be necessary,” with a hand on the duke’s chest to capture his attention and prevent him from making any rash decisions, you quickly say, “i think leslie might’ve come with the sevant’s carriage.”

“miss leslie came by foot.” jackson informs.

“th-then the min house’s carriage...” you trail off with the last ray of hope only to catch the butler’s eyes glazing over something behind you before breaking into cold sweat.

“d-dylan has caught a cold so i sent him home for the night.”

twirling on your heels, the ominous stare that does a 180 into an uncharacteristically innocent smile does not go past you. the stare down seems to stretch on for hours, you with your stern gaze and yoongi with his unrelenting smile, until you find yourself letting out a sigh, eyes averting to the writings on the paper scattered on his desk out of the sheer need to not get swayed any further than you already are.

“very well, thank you for ha-”

at the words of affirmation to stay, yoongi speaks over you hurriedly as though stamping a seal to a deal and rendering you unable to backtrack and come up with a new idea on how to get home, “jackson, prepare my mother’s room.”

his late mother’s room would mean the predecessors of the duchy. you’d eventually have to move into the late duchess’ room as yoongi did with the late duke’s room but you’re not yet married and nothing close to having the title of duchess-

“yoongi, perhaps an ordinary guest room-”

“it’s either that,” his breath fans your ears as he leans dangerously close to your face, “or my room. your pick, my lady.”

the heat comes back full force, like flames burning your entire body and sending your heart palpitating wildly in your chest. with one step backwards and a robotic twirl towards the door, you announce, “jackson, please show my the way to the late duchess’ room,” as the silhouette of the man clasping a hand over his mouth as muted chuckles fill the air before you walk through the door pulls on your heartstrings.

x

the duchess’ room had been decorated with muted but calming tones. pristine white furniture complements the dusty peach walls and chandeliers that hung in the ceiling like diamonds. the bed, encased by a material like fine satin in the shade of pink but considerably lighter than the fuschia skies at dawn, could have been jackson’s choosing. but the interior designs couldn’t have been easily altered from its previous dweller’s touch. it was only three months ago that you’d met yoongi, and it’d take more than one or two months to get a renovation done even if yoongi wanted to surprise you with your new room.

it was a complete contrast to the darker interior of the mansion that sought a more sophisticated design with minimally furnished rooms and garnet curtains that were drawn apart to let sunlight pour over the wooden flooring and creme colored walls.

even if yoongi is the master of the mansion, you couldn’t sense a touch of him within those walls. it was almost as though he was but a ghost that resided mostly in the studies book shelves took up the entire walls on both sides adjacent to the door. and even with all that space to himself, the space between deep brown settee sets perched in the middle of room and his desk had painted an invisible line between him and the whole mansion. as though his only space was somewhere behind the desk and the spot where the sunlight poured graciously behind him.

and as you stared into the darkness after the lights were turned off, you wondered if yoongi had ever felt the warmth of a home. all of a sudden, a sense of emptiness crept into the crevices of your heart at the thought of having all the luxuries and adoration one could ever ask for but at the end of the day, coming back to long winded hallways and beckoning shadows.

so when he’d walked into the dining room that morning, you’d hoped he’d at least remember breakfast with you to be more than just deep garnet curtains, long table and empty chairs.

the vapor hovering of your teacup dissipates with the softest gush of wind but your main concern is the hem of your skirt fluttering around your ankle, almost threatening to send you flying.

your lips draw into a frown as your eyes flutter, prettily made hair starting to turn unruly.

“you have the worst luck with winds, ___.” when the gush ceases, you find yourself studying the towering figure that’s pulling the chair across from you to your side, his knee bumping into yours when he takes a seat. the swaying blades of grass and leaves surrounding the pavilion does not go unnoticed by you.

“yoongi,” the name tastes like your favorite candy on your tongue, “i thought it’s a perfect day to have breakfast outdoors.”

his damp hair appears a deep shade grey, fringes that would usually brush over eyebrows now almost concealing his crimson eyes. he’s donned in his black and yellow uniform, possibly to report his departure to count jimin’s territory to seokjin.

“i’m not saying i dislike this though,” he brings the teacup filled by jackson at his arrival, to his curving lips.

at that, you can’t help but let your own smile slip onto your lips, “i slept well last night.”

a flash of something you can’t pinpoint crosses those crimson eyes, “as you should. everything in that room will be yours - no, they already are.”

“if you keep saying that i might be inclined to give you another piece of land,” you pop a miniature cheese tart into your mouth, the sheer sweet and creamy taste melding together on your tongue.

“and i thought it was just me who’d want to spoil you with all the luxuries in the world.” the faint smile seems more apparent under the sunlight as his pink lips take on a lighter shade whilst last night’s events flood your memory like a broken tap-

“can’t i go with you?” the question tumbles out of your mouth much sooner than you plan it. but if you’re talking about planing, you were definitely envisioning asserting yourself as part of his inspection team.

“that’ll shift the suspicion to you if you’re seen aiding me,” his crimson eyes almost appear pink when they glaze over you, “they might even go as far as saying everything was planned out from the beginning by the duke and future duchess.”

“i know you were going to say that,” you lean back against the chair, shoulder line sagging at the dead weight of having to survive without yoongi for at least five days until he returns. and as you know many things, you both see his success in proving count jimin’s unspeakable deeds.

breakfast goes on with reminders of the key vassals yoongi is supposed to look for. count jimin may have owned a majority of the land but not the entire granary. there are two other nobles who are in charge of overseeing the work put into sowing and harvesting the crops but one had passed away last summer and his only son had been missing since while the other hasn’t appeared in public for a whole year. despite the rising death rates among the villagers, it could have easily been brushed off as a natural cause - it always had to be some tragedy falling upon someone of noble blood to allow for such inspections. otherwise, the opposing factions would band together in a circle just to protect their own.

but when an unsuspecting inspection is made in the name of one’s honor, not many dare to challenge its grounds. as though one’s title is worth more than the increasing rate of lives lost under the count’s reign.

“well, i suppose i have things to settle myself,” you murmur mindlessly before taking a sip of the green tea you asked leslie to prepare.

a chuckle escapes your lips when the duke doesn’t say anything yet lulls his head to the side in wonder.

“i think i found a bride candidate for seokjin.” you confess.

“a bride, you say?” yoongi blinks, those crimson eyes piercing with confusion.

“for now, i don’t have enough information to be sure but lady krystal is the person i have in mind.” when the man continues to stare, as though expecting you to at least mention which house krystal belonged to, you can’t help but let bubbles of laughter trickle from your lips. “she’s the one with stunning cat-like eyes and light brown hair from yesterday.”

“did she not try to challenge you openly?” the twitch in yoongi’s eye is enough to tell you he’s bothered by your decision but not as against it as he should be because he trusts your judgement.

“rather than that...” the image of krystal’s indifferent gaze burns at the back of your mind, “she stands on her own and doesn’t sputter out empty praises just to get on my good side. she’s also ambitious and far from a pushover.”

it is a second later, after what seems like a deep mull, that yoongi allows his free hand to ruffle the back of his head as a sigh leaves his lips, “if you say so, then i believe you.”

the sight is almost endearing if not for the effects he has on your heart, yet you till manage to chuckle to yourself over the irony of the circumstances, “have i ever been wrong?”

x

note. and there goes another chapter for saving grace! hope you guys enjoyed it!!

taglist. @ayujmi​ @fanfuckingfic​ @deathkat657​

[anyarally]

Logan Meets a Mer

Sanders Sides Fanfiction Virgil X Logan (Analogical) 3,133 Words   Ao3 Link

Logan was out on the sea yet again, dragged along with Roman and his self-proclaimed ‘merry crew’. He usually stuck to the lower decks, at his desk trying to study and write about any new findings he procured on these trips, but Roman called him and Remus, his co-captain and twin brother, up to the upper deck for a ‘bffs meeting’ as Remus called them. Or, you know, a top-secret meeting for the higher ranks, but tomato tomato. Little did he know he'd see something unbelievable that day.

Logan was out on the sea yet again, dragged along with Roman and his self-proclaimed ‘merry crew’. He usually stuck to the lower decks, at his desk trying to study and write about any new findings he procured on these trips, but Roman called him and Remus, his co-captain and twin brother, up to the upper deck for a ‘bffs meeting’ as Remus called them. Or, you know, a top-secret meeting for the higher ranks, but tomato tomato.

Logan sighed, putting a ribbon in his journal and his quill in his ink jar and going upstairs to where Roman and Remus were.

“Sir, this really isn’t a great time, I was about to-“

“Specs! How many times do I have to tell you now to call us sir! We think of you as an equal.”

“Yeah Logie-bear! Just because we’re captains and you’re not and we’re cool and you’re lame doesn’t mean we’re better than you!”

“Well, sirs,” Logan adjusted his glasses, “maybe if either of you simply called me my name, I wouldn’t be so inclined to not call you yours either.”

Roman loudly clapped his hands together, “Anyway! I have some very important and top-secret news for you all!”

“We have some top-secret news for you all! Jesus, Roman!”

Logan cleared his throat, “First of all, if both of you knew it shouldn’t be ‘you all’. Secondly, could you two please just tell me?”

“God, Logan, you’re no fun! Whatever,” Remus led the way to the back of the upper deck, pulling back a curtain to something Logan had never seen before. And that was saying something.

Logan looked up, mouth agape, at a merman. He always assumed they were just legend, he could barely believe his eyes. He slowly walked up to him, but when the merman started hissing he stopped advancing. The merman had short shoddily cut hair, giant pointy teeth, beautiful dark scales that shined purple in the light, left eye purple, right eye green, and scales on his face, specifically under his eyes.

“I, erm, you’re… magnificent.” Logan gaped, looking up at the mer.

The mer only hissed again, but if Logan hadn’t been so flustered himself he would’ve noticed the red forming on the fleshy parts of his face. Then, suddenly, the beautiful creature screamed .

A demonic double voice emanates from the beautiful beast, causing Logan, Roman, and Remus to hurriedly cover their ears. Eventually, it got high enough to break a glass mug, and then the mer took a break to breathe some.

Once he was done, Remus took down the net and looked at the two agape men, “Let’s get him downstairs. We don’t want the rest of the crew to see him.”

Logan and Roman nodded, finally broken from the trance, and helped Remus carry the now exhausted mer.

They laid him down in the tub for now, and Roman and Remus left, leaving Logan to watch him.

Logan scanned over the beautiful creature with his eyes, noticing his chest moving up and down. He has lungs. Good. He gently brushed his fingers against his tail, noticing the scales don’t feel… healthy. If he had been with the brothers when they caught the merman, he would’ve thrown him right back overboard. It’s dangerous and harmful to keep native sea life for too long, even though Logan wanted to study it far more than the crew presumably wanted to sell his scales.

Logan sighed, went to his room, got his journal and quill, and came into the bathroom to sit on the floor and write until the mer wakes up.

Sure enough, after about an hour and a half, the beautiful merman woke up. He slowly blinks his eyes open, but when he sees Logan, immediately starts hissing.

“Shh! You don’t want the boys to come!”

The mer turned his head in a questioning manner but ultimately quieted down.

Logan let out a relieved breath, “Thank you. Now, can you understand me?”

In response, he got a garbled mess of what sounded like dolphin noises? But then the mer coughed and replied, “Sorry, haven’t talked above water in awhile.”

“Fascinating! Do you have a name? Have you been above water before? Are your scales supposed to feel like that? Why do you have hair? Is heterochromia rare for merfolk too? Do baby mers nurse? How-”

“Hold up, you need to calm down like holy shit humans can talk. My name is Virgil. That’s all you really need to know right now.”

Logan sighs, “I suppose. Nice to meet you, Virgil, I’m Logan.” he held out his hand for Virgil to shake, and he just looked at it. “Very well, I understand your lack of trust towards me. If it means anything to you, if I were on the upper deck when you were caught, I wouldn’t have let them bring you on the ship.”

“Them?”

“Roman and Remus, the co-captains of this ship.”

“Co-captains?” Virgil said skeptically.

“I know, it’s idiotic, but their father only had one ship to give and they kept arguing about who could own it, eventually coming to the consensus that they could both be captain.”

They talked back and forth for about half an hour when Virgil started scratching at his scales. Logan grabbed his hand, and Virgil yanked it back aggressively, gently cradling it close to his chest.

“Apologies, I’m aware you’re not fond of… touch from me. I was simply trying to stop you from scratching, it can’t be good for you.”

“It gets this way when it hasn’t been in saltwater for too long.” Virgil snapped, anger clear in his tone.

Logan looked away, mumbling something.

“L? What was that?”

“Could I, erm, would you like me to let you go?”

“Dude that’s literally all I’ve wanted this whole time.”

“Oh. Ah, I see, you never said so.”

“I never thought you would say yes, and I thought my tone gave it away!”

“Apologies, again, I have trouble with emotions and tone and such,” there’s a long stretch of awkward silence, which Logan interrupts with, “anyway, escaping?”

“Oh, uh, yeah man I’d love that.”

“Very well. It’s almost sundown, after then the twins will go to the lower decks for supper and likely a party with the crew, then bed. It will not be suspicious for me to miss this, I rarely come anyway. If we stay quiet, they should not suspect a thing, and even if they hear my footsteps they will assume I’m coming out to look at and chart the stars like I do most nights. As long as we can hide the sound of your tail, we should be set.”

“That’s too many ‘should’s for me to be comfortable with. But, it’s the best plan we’ve got I guess.”

“Indeed.”

That night, everything surprisingly went off without a hitch. Logan managed to get Virgil off the side of the boat unharmed and undetected, but the next morning is where things get a little rough.

Logan looked out at the sea, sighed, and went back to his room. No going to sleep at this point, Logan decided to sit at his desk and write.

‘Sea Log #9.18 (CONT.)

Today, I met a rare creature I previously believed was simply a myth. I suppose the best name for him would be a merman.*

His scales were dark with a purple shine to him, and he thankfully was willing to answer some of my questions eventually,** but on this page, I have chosen to focus on this particular merman’s personality.

Once he trusted me enough to start speaking (English, surprisingly), he told me his name was Virgil. I learned that he doesn’t have many friends under the sea, just one best friend and a brother. His best friend’s name is Janus, he’s half eel as opposed to the more fish-like features Virgil has. His brother’s name is Patton, he’s very similar to Virgil, just with a blue shine to him and different scale placement on his face. He mentioned Patton’s vision is very bad, perhaps I could find a way to get a prescription and make waterproof glasses of some kind.

What am I saying, I likely will not see Virgil again, much less his family. I helped him escape, and I do not regret it.

Apologies, that was a falsehood. I do regret it, but not for the reasons I normally would. I feel something for this merman. I do not entirely know what, but it is something. I do know that I miss him. I miss him in a different way than I miss my work on land, closer to the way I miss my mother and Sparky, but still not quite.

I have made sure to leave space at the bottom of this page, so I will add more later. I believe Roman and Remus may be able to help me with this, but I will have to wait to ask. I didn’t bring any books on psychology along on this trip, and I suspect the twins will be less than pleased at me letting the merman go.

*double-check and correct if needed at a later date

**diagram and explanations on next two-page spread (pages 19-20)

Satisfied with his journal entry, Logan put his quill away and closed his journal, putting it away on the shelf above his desk.

He stretched his arms and glanced into his bathroom, seeing the light coming out and realizing he unintentionally pulled yet another all-nighter.

Sighing, he changes his clothes anyway to make it seem like he had slept, fixed his hair in the mirror, and started heading to the upper deck.

“Lo-lo! You’re finally up!”

“Sir, the sunrise just happened.”

“Ugh, you’re such a downer! Hey, where’d that mer get off to? I haven’t seen it since yesterday.” Roman asked whilst cleaning his sword.

“Sir, he is gone.”

“Gone?! Gone where?!” Remus screamed, Roman paused in his cleaning.

“I, ahem, I let him go.”

“You. WHAT.” Roman loudly stated in the most intimidating voice Logan had ever heard.

“Sir, it was inhumane to keep him here, you must know that.”

“It wasn’t human, Logan! Remus, throw him in a holding cell, we can’t trust him anymore.”

“Wait, sir-” muffled pleas continued to come from Logan as Remus muffled his mouth with his hand.

“Okie-dokie bro-bro!”

Remus quickly threw Logan into a cell, easily ignoring Logan’s cries as he did so. Logan wasn’t particularly known for his brawn, it wasn’t very hard to overpower him.

Remus waltzed on out, whistling as he went.

“Remus, didn’t Logan take the merman to his quarters?”

“Yeah, I think so, should we go check them out?”

Check them out, they did. In his quarters, the co-captains found his journal and Remus of course had no problem invading the sailing master’s privacy, so he opened it up immediately, flipping to the most recent page. On it, Remus saw a two-page spread of the merman, and when he went to the page before, his eyes widened.

“Roman, come here for a second.”

“What is it, Ree? You never use my whole name,” Roman looks over Remus’s shoulder, “holy shit. Remus, I think I’ve got a plan.”

They smirked at each other, taking the journal and going to the cell Logan was being held in.

“Hey, specs!” Roman yelled, causing Logan to quickly look up.

“Look what we found!” Remus holds the journal above his head mockingly.

Roman yanks the book out of Remus’s hand, “‘ I miss him in a different way than I miss my work on land, closer to the way I miss my mother and Sparky, but still not quite.’ You’re clearly in love with him, nerd! He must at least trust you, with all the personal info he gave you, so I think you’d make for perfect bait!”

“Wait, no! You can’t hurt him! It’s not our place, he belongs in the ocean!”

“Ooh, and maybe this Janus and Patton will come too, they sound pretty!”

“No! You can’t!”

The two twins just laughed. Remus opened the door to the cell and grabbed him, holding him while Roman put handcuffs on him, and then bringing him back to the upper decks. Once they get up there, Remus pushes Logan, making him stumble forwards, stepping on a net trap and effectively trapping him.

“Stop this at once! It’s not ethical! It’s not humane!”

“You can just say ‘right’ you know! Ugh, even when you’re dying you’re the biggest nerd in the seven seas,” Roman laughs while Remus just looks to the side.

Roman pulls a lever, pulling the net holding Logan up above their heads and putting him above the ocean.

“No!” Logan grunts, chained wrists grabbing the ropes.

“Yeah, keep that mouth talking, specs! The louder you yell, the faster that thing will come for you!”

Out of spite, the sailing master stays completely silent, not even moving enough to rustle the ropes.

He stays quiet for almost two hours, the co-captains trying everything they could think of without moving him from above the water to make the poor man yell, only making the ropes make some noise.

Eventually, Roman realizes he could look in Logan’s ship log for info on mers, and sees that they have an incredible sense of smell, especially when it comes to prey. They can apparently smell the blood of their prey and their friends, easily differentiating between them.

Roman smirked as he showed the line to Remus, but he just looked away again, “Ro, are you sure about this? I mean… I don’t wanna hurt him.”

“What are you talking about Ree, we need those scales!”

Remus raised his voice, alerting Logan of the argument, “No, you need those scales! I don’t care, Roman!”

“Oh fuck you, Remus. I’ll do it myself.”

Roman uses the lever to bring Logan close. He grabs his foot, yanking it through one of the squares in the net. Grabbing the boot and throwing it into the ocean, Roman uses his dagger and quickly slices the back of the struggling man’s ankle, hitting an artery before he levers him back over the water.

Logan tries to pull his foot back in the net but just ends up making the blood come out quicker.

Off in the distance, they hear a scream. Logan looks out to see a giant splash of water and what looks like but a black spec in the distance. He gulps.

The almost demonic screeching gets louder and louder until they see a giant splash right beside Logan’s net.

Virgil jumped up like a dolphin, doing a flip and diving back in, screeching the whole time. When he resurfaces to the right of Logan’s net, he hovers with the water just under his eyes for a second, and as he rises so his mouth is above water, two mers pop up behind him.

The one on the right of him has green and yellow scales covering the left half of his head, an eel eye on that side and a human eye on the other. The creature has long dark green hair growing out of the human half of his head which floats around him at the top of the water.

The other looks a lot like Virgil, with similar skin and hair tones, but instead of black scales with a purple shine, he has a grey tail with a blue shine to them. His scales also didn’t accumulate in certain spots like Virgil’s, they were speckled all over his face, like freckles.

“Virgil! You have to leave! It’s a trap!”

Virgil looked up towards the yell, eyes widening at the state Logan’s in. His bloody foot, broken glasses, his bruised cheek, and his reddened handcuffed wrists anger Virgil to the core. He sternly but lovingly says, “It’s okay Lo, we’ll get you out of there.” Virgil turns back to the co-captains, “Let him go, or we’ll sink your ship and take him ourselves!”

“Or,” Roman pulls out a pistol, mahogany with gold accents, and aims it at Logan, “We could shoot him now, and no one wins! Or I suppose you could give yourself and your little buddies over and he lives, whichever you prefer.” Roman smirks.

Remus gasped as he pulled out the gun and aimed it at Logan. “Ro, aren’t we taking this too far? We can’t kill Logan, right?”

“We’ll be fine without a sailing master for a couple days, Ree, we’ll kidnap a new one soon enough.”

“Roman, that’s not why and you know it!”

“Jesus Christ, Remus, we’re not gonna just give up mer scales for your stupid crush!”

“Why you-“ Remus growled, tackling Roman, making his finger slip and shoot the gun.

Time seemed to slow down for Logan as he did his best to get out of the way, the bullet hitting his shoulder. He yelled out, and Virgil screeched.

Virgil looked to the co-captains, eyes turning black, but was surprised to see Roman unconscious on the ground.

When everyone was shocked by the gunshot, Remus had hit Roman in the head with the butt of his dagger, effectively knocking him unconscious.

Remus and Virgil made eye contact, Remus sighing, “If I get the net into the water, can you help him? We don’t have a doctor.”

Virgil almost couldn’t hear Remus’s uncharacteristically quiet voice, but responded with a nod, “My brother knows healing magic.”

“Good.” Remus cut the rope to the net, making it fall into the water with a giant splash.

Virgil and the other mers immediately dove under, Virgil getting to the net first and cutting Logan free with his sharp teeth.

“Janus, cast the spell.”

“Got it,” the eel mer closed his eyes and brought his webbed hands to his temples, opening his now glowing eyes and saying, “KFIV VMVITB MLG HPRM ZMW YLMV IRHRMT ORPV GSV HSVKZIW GLMV.”

Logan opened his eyes and gasped, breathing water, and looked around confusedly. When he reached out for his glasses, he put more strain on his bullet wound, making more blood to float out of it and disappear into the water.

Virgil grabbed Logan’s glasses and handed them to him, continuing to scoop him up in his arms. “Shh, you’re okay now. I’ll explain everything as soon as we’re somewhere safe. Patton?” he held Logan out to the mer with a blue shine.

Patton nodded, gently touching Logan’s uninjured arm. Logan watched in amazement as the injuries on his arm and ankle went through an accelerated healing process, the bullet floating out of his arm and both wounds closing up until they were simply scars.

Virgil thanked the now panting Patton and closed his eyes as giant shadows enveloped the three merfolk and one human, transporting them away from Roman and Remus’s ship.

Don't freak out, there will be a sequel! It'll probably be in a bit though. I've already picked a prompt for it and a basic story outline though, so it's happening! Sorry this last chapter is so short, I just really felt that's where it ends. Oh and just an fyi Logan is (or was lol) Roman and Remus's sailing master, but he was not kidnapped! Pirates often kidnap sailing masters but Logan was there willingly. :) Everyone who read this story, you get a cookie! Anyone who solves the cipher gets a second cookie! Prompt: Trapped in a net

[discotreque]

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGG​TGGGTGQER;​LBHAOIBVNV;​OAPBIJNVagr;h;​oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

[zorosboyfriend]

Hello! Love your blog! Wondering if I could request Ace/Sabo (individually) when they see that their long time marine friend (who they developed feelings for) chooses them over their duty, (like if they were ordered by an admiral to execute them in battle, and they refuse?) I honestly just really like star crossed lover trope with a happy ending haha...

I got a little carried away writing Ace's part and ran out of steam but if you would still like me to write the Sabo one just drop me an ask!

Garp had tried time and time again to convince both Ace and Luffy to become marines. He'd never made any headway in convincing them but you were a different case. Ace had always been clear about his intentions to set sail as a pirate and you'd been equally vocal in your desire to become a marine, but when you eventually parted ways in pursuit of your dreams it was amicable. 

You two ran into each other multiple times over the years, both coincidentally and on purpose. You often spent time together in tiny port towns, catching up with each other. Garp went out of his way to ensure that you were never assigned any missions involving the Whitebeard pirates and Ace's crewmates knew better than to engage you in a fight.

You're currently assigned to the transport ship they use to escort high level criminals when news of Ace's capture spreads. You're there when Blackbeard tosses Ace, bloodied and unconscious, into the brig, his grating laughter ringing in your ears as you fight back the urge to launch yourself at him.

Not only are you one of Garp's protégés, a status that places you far above the average recruit, but you are strong in your own right, known by your peers as a competent, powerful rookie who is destined to rise through the ranks. It's why no one sees it coming when you creep into the brig in the middle of the night, knocking out the guards before they can even realize what's going on, and free Ace from his shackles. He's still a mess from his fight with Blackbeard and drifting in and out of consciousness but you manage to carry him to the deck, dodging past patrolling guards until you make it to the small ship tied to the side.

You've settled Ace into the boat and for a moment you think that you might be able to make a clean getaway but the abrupt, piercing shrill of the alarm dashes your hopes. You rush to lower the boat but before you can release the clamps there are dozens of marines on the deck. The vast majority of them are visibly shocked and confused though there are some who are already glaring at you, weapons clutched in white knuckled grips. The vice admiral currently in charge of the transport ship, a friend of Garp's who had agreed to take you on as a favor, steps forward, looking sad even as he unholstered his flintlock.

"You know there’s no going back.”

You do. You’re fully aware that once you leave this ship, your career is over and you will be labeled a traitor, worse than even the most villainous scum locked up in the depths of Impel Down. But you also know that if you step back down, let this blow over as a brief lapse in judgment, that they will kill him, and you can’t watch him die. 

You give one last salute, coat flapping in the wind, and then the small ship you’re on crashes down onto the sea below, skipping over the waves as you use your devil fruit to propel it forward. By the time the first cannon is fired you’re already out of range and the other ship quickly disappears into the darkness.

You're familiar with Whitebeard's territory and quickly set a course to the nearest island under his protection. It'll be another day and a half till you get there, sooner if you forgo rest and use your devil fruit to keep the ship moving at top speed, but you've put plenty of distance between you and the transport ship so for now you're focused on patching Ace up to the best of your abilities. You'd had the foresight to stash some supplies on board before enacting your rescue plan and you're thankful that you did because Ace's wounds are extensive and he'd been given no medical treatment after his capture.

The sun is just barely starting to rise, painting the sky in shades of pink, orange, and yellow. Your adrenaline has faded and you're exhausted but unwilling to sleep and you've preoccupied yourself with tending to Ace's more superficial injuries. You're so focused on cleaning a series of small cuts on his face that you don't even notice that he's begun to stir and it's not until you glance up at his eyes, which are open and trained on you, that you realize he's finally awake. You instinctively move to pull back but he catches your hand in his, weaving his fingers between yours and trapping your palm against his cheek.

"Hey." His smile is more tired and worn than it usually is but it's no less sincere and you take a moment to just look at him, this man you've loved since you were children, who you just came very close to losing.

There's no hesitation when you move to kiss him and Ace responds just as easily, free hand cupping your face as he moves his thumb to brush away some of the tears that now fall freely from your eyes. Later you two will need to talk about your feelings for each other, feelings that have largely remained unspoken over the years you've known each other. You will have to discuss what your new status as fugitive entails, how to deal with Blackbeard who remains at large, and a myriad of other things that will ripple out into the world as a consequence of your actions. But for now it is just the two of you, out on the open sea.