#it can sound like sirens from afar! i think! which might wake someone up more than just music would!

[daz4i]

rocket sirens will have you noticing how so many songs you like have a high pitched droning sound in them that, when muffled, might sound like a siren and thus wake up neighbors who are currently more sensitive to it. oy vey

[lilacyennefer]

The Siren's Song I

A/N: Hello everyone! If you're following me then you might have seen me talking about a mini series with Jax and original female character of mine, and here it is! There will be 4 part and I'll post a new chapter every day starting from today. Also, I changed a few things to fit the story, but nothing crucial. With this story, I tried to explore Jax's relationship with someone shy, artisty, someone who doesn't have a lot of experience. I hope you guys will like this small journey! 

Summary: Jax meets with Grace, a singer, in Nero's bar, and he can't help, but fall in love with her immediately, and sooner he realises he never met with a woman like her before.

TW: sexual references

Jax walked into Nero’s posh bar and he immediately felt like an outsider. 

He was wearing a simple black shirt and jeans, Nero told him to leave his Cut and plaid shirts at home, so he threw on a simple shirt. This was rare to Jax, he never dressed elegant, the last time he wore a white shirt was at his graduation. 

And even in his black shirt he felt like he didn’t belong there, that was the truth, with his baggy jeans and white sneakers. 

The bar was elegant, almost high class, certainly expensive. The waiters and waitresses were dressed in elegant black and white clothes, and the guests were just as elegant. 

As Jax looked around, his ears were filled with an angelic voice, and at first he didn’t realise that the woman was actually there in the room, and the voice is not coming from a speaker. 

Goosebumps ran over his whole body as he listened to the woman sing, completely captivating him. 

What are those creatures in the myths that seduce men with their voices? Jax thought. A siren. He remembered. 

It was like a siren singing, making Jax’s heart clench with something he couldn’t quite recognise. 

And when his eyes finally catched the Siren singing, he could swear his heart skipped a beat. 

Saying that the Siren was beautiful would be an understatement. 

Jax was sure he never saw a woman more beautiful than her, and he saw and has been with many women.

Was it her voice and how she moved on the stage with such confidence he could feel himself get almost jealous of her? Or was it her figure, her blushed cheeks, and the way how the golden light coming from the lights shines on her hair? 

He didn’t know what was it about her what made him feel like a teenager again, being all excited to see a person from the opposite sex.

“Who is she?” He asked as he leaned closer to Nero.

“Isn’t she wonderful?” Nero asks “That’s Grace, our singer.”

She was certainly younger than him, that he could see from afar. Not much younger, maybe a few years, but she definitely was younger. 

The Siren’s eyes skim over the crowd, like she always did when she was on stage singing. 

It was the usual night, the bar was almost full with lawyers, doctors, and other important people who came here to have a few drinks to relax, or have a low-key business meeting. 

But tonight, she saw a man in the crowd who certainly didn’t belong here. 

Her eyes locked with his as she sang. 

The man was tall, blonde, and so handsome.

The first thought that ran through her brain was that a man like him would never want a woman like her. So inexperienced, so shy, so sensitive. 

Grace didn’t know yet how wrong she was, because Jax wanted her, more than anything.

“I know that look.” Nero tells Jax with a smile, but the biker was silent.

“Do you want to meet with her?” Nero asks.

“Of course I do.” Jax says as it was the most obvious thing ever. 

“She has a break after this song. She usually comes off of the stage then.”

Jax nods, and waits for her to finish the song so she can properly meet with her.

The song finally ended and Jax watched her walk off of the stage, and then he saw how small and fragile she is. There was something in her that made Jax want to wrap her up and protect her from everything and everyone, and give her all the comfort he can.

Nero walked up to Grace while Jax was waiting at the bar for them. 

He saw them talk, Nero explaining something to Grace, and Jax saw her smile and nod, then she looked at his direction.

Suddenly Jax was really nervous, he could feel his chest tighten and palms sweat. He quickly wiped them into his jeans before the Siren and the Bar Owner walked towards her.

“Jax, let me introduce you to our angelic Grace.” Nero officially introduces her to Jax.

“I’m Jax. Nice to meet you, Grace” he politely reaches his hand out to her so she can shake it.

“I’m Grace, nice to meet you too.” she shakes Jax’s hands, but before she could pull her hand away Jax leaned down to place a soft kiss on her hand, making her gasp and blush. 

God, I wonder if she blushes like this in the bed too. Jax thinks, and he hopes he’ll be able to figure it out. 

After their introduction, Jax invited her for a drink, which she gratefully accepted, and the three of them sat down in a quiet corner of the bar to talk.

Jax realised early that his Siren is actually really shy, and she blushes easily, especially if he complimented her, which he did more often just to see her cheeks turn crimson red. Every time she blushed, Jax wanted her even more and more, not just sexually, although he couldn't ignore the throbbing in his pants when she smiled at him or when his compliment made her blush. But he wanted to get to know her, her whole being, what she loves, what she dislikes, what makes this delicate woman go raging mad. He wanted to know everything about her, and drown in that knowledge. 

After a little while, Grace had to go back to the stage, and Jax just sat there and watched her and listened to her sing. 

Nero had some business to take care of, so he left Jax all alone with his thoughts. 

No matter what, he had to ask her for a date. If she’ll say no, he, of course, will accept it, but it probably will break his heart. But if she’ll say yes, then he has to figure out the most romantic date ever to charm her as much as he could. 

The night was going by quickly, and soon the staff was ready to close the bar, and this meant Grace finished too for the night. 

Jax waited for her at the door, which was reserved for the staff. The sun was already coming up, painting the dark blue sky into orange. He was smoking a cigarette while he waited, and still was smoking when the door next to him fling open, making the Biker jump a little before he looked into the direction of the door, only to see Grace walk out.

She changed her previous, elegant dress into a dark grey jeans, sneakers, and a shirt with a band on it that Jax didn’t recognise. 

“Grace!” he called her name, making the Siren look at her surprised. 

“What are you doing here?” she asks him.

“I wanted to make sure you get into the car safely.” Jax said, and partly it was the truth. 

“Oh.” he clearly can see the surprise on her face “That’s really nice of you.” and again, he could see her blush a little. ��My car is that direction.” Grace said and started walking towards the opposite direction where Jax was standing. 

Her car was a dark blue, vintage, 1979 Camaro which was still in a pretty good shape despite being over 30 years old. 

“That’s a really nice car.” Jax says when they reach her car, and from his compliment Grace’s face broke into a big smile.

“Thank you. What do you drive?” she asks, and bites her bottom lip, making Jax’s pants tighten. 

“I ride. A Harley.”

“Ahh.” Grace says, still smiling “You’re a biker boy.”

“That’s right.” Jax smiles back at her. 

They stand there silently for seconds before she speaks again.

“I’m gonna go, I’m pretty tired.” she opened her car door “Thank you for keeping me safe.”

“Grace.” Jax nervously says her name “Can I take you out on a date?”

The question surprised the Siren, and she couldn’t hide it.

“You want to take me out on a date?”

“Yes.”

“Me?” 

“Yes.”

Grace doesn’t reply as she sits into her car, searching for something in her bag, then gives it to Jax. She didn't wait for him to watch what she gave him, she started the car and drove away.

Jax looked down to the piece of paper in his hand, on the paper she had her name and phone number written. 

Jax never had to ask dates from women, as boastful it sounds, but women were throwing themselves at Jax, and he never really had to make the effort to be with someone. And most of the time, his relationship with these women wasn’t serious, it was mostly physical and never emotional. But with Grace, it was different. He didn’t only want to take her to bed and make her blush and moan, to find the places on her body what makes her shake from the pleasure, but he also wanted to be with her, wake up next to her every morning, and go to sleep with her by his side every night, he wanted to laugh with her and share his secrets with her, he wanted to give her comfort and keep her safe as much as he seeked her comfort and softness. From these thoughts something deep inside of Jax’s chest tightened what made him fill with worry, and made him hopeful at the same time.

This feeling, what he didn’t feel since high school has just returned with a crushing force, and Jax didn’t know if he was actually ready for it.

Tag list: @innerpaperexpertcloud @lady-evans @agirllovespasta @oldstuffnewstuff @claudiahxrdy @keithseabrook27 @alexa-rae-dreamz @minnicelli @woahitslucyylu @de-profundis-ad-astra @mylifeliterally @happyhenners @rebel-without-cause-x

[cosmiclatte28]

First Encounter (1) (Yuta x mermaid reader)

Okayy I got carried away and made a long opening for Yuta. Let's say just for the reader x Yuta, it will be kind of two parts. Later on it will only be scenarios .. I promise :")

Please follow my Instagram @cosmic_latte28 as I will be posting polls and questions on what to do next in this mermaid au!

ENJOY THISS 4k story, it’ll be interesting i guess

Scenario 1 – mermaid au! Yuta x reader

Have you ever found your mother annoying? Her constant "mother knows best" quote uughh you're tired of it!

For eighteen years of swimming under the sea, down beneath the scorching heat of the sun, you've spent your entire life swimming within the boundaries just like what your mother told you to do. But today, today is a special day!

You're turning nineteen and well nineteen can be considered a good age to be called mature right? You know running away is not a good idea, but your best friend who is a year older than you had just return from the surface and oh gosh either she was a good story teller or the world above the water is really that magnificent, you don't know yet and soon you will.

Yes, for today your nineteenth birthday, your mother has given you a quick birthday ceremony. She gave you a new "dinglehopper" a mermaid's hairbrush! You thanked her and she quickly left to work. That's when your best friend came and the two of you started your adventure.

It took you some tiring swimming, but the excitement of seeing the other world beats your fatigue. You wonder what's so special up there that your pretty aqua-green haired mermaid here told you such a wonderful story!

"You cannot imagine what I saw (y/n)! Believe me..." she said last week as the two of us are sitting over one of the bright coloured corals. We love to hang-out here and gossip about things. Last week she brought you for a very special story... her journey to the dry sand area!

You listened to her story, trying your best to imagine what it's up there, you listened to her story, while playing with your sparkling ash grey hairs. "Why wouldn't I believe you?" you wondered

She grabbed your hands and stared into your eyes deeply, "Because you will need to experience it to know what it truly is!"

You gave her a meek smile; well her parents are not as conservative as yours. Atlanta can go wherever she wants, and her parents wouldn't scold her, unlike you. Well if you return home after dark, you're pretty dead. Mom was so protective to you after father was caught on one of those giant shiny nets, and he never came back.

Atlanta continued with her story, "It was quite a long swim, I went there with some other girls and oh how great was it to breathe the fresh air!"

You laughed, well your lungs can breathe both air and, in the water,, but rumour has it that the transition phase hurts! You don't really mind that since you're really dying to experience the thrill.

"So, since you told me I wouldn't believe it," you smirked, "why don't you bring me up there to experience it? I'm nineteen next week and I'm sure we can go up for a while and I'll return before mom got home."

Atlanta at first disagree, she told you to ask a legal permission from your mother, but you know better. Mom would never agree and so you chose what people will do. Run away and promised to come back before she got home and pretended nothing happen.

After a lot of bribing and coaxing Atlanta with lots of promises, she agreed, and you were to meet her on the North Border at nine when the tides are calm.

So here you are today! Finally the sea no longer looks dark, the sun rays are penetrating the light blue waters and you can totally see the rocks and hear the sound of the waves as you swim and swim towards the sky. Your eyes changed colours from dark big pupil into a smaller one! Living on the deep waters, made your pupil dilate for maximum light absorbance, now getting near the sun, your eyes naturally contracted, and your hair looks even paler under the sun.

The sound of crashing waves, flying birds, and what mermaids and mermen call "human", are all getting louder in my ear.

"This is it, get ready to feel chest pain!" Atlanta squeezes your hand in assurance, and you nod your head. One last deep breathes and the two of you pop your heads out of the water. The transition of changing your water lungs into air lungs really hurt, you see white seconds after the air made their way to fill your air sacs and you feel great pain in your nose like when you choke on waters.

You feel your head goes light and the bright scorching sun no longer penetrates your eyes, you see dark and suddenly your body limps.

Atlanta was not as surprised as you, maybe it's because you never travel this far and it's your first time changing lung system. She dutifully brings you to an area of rocks where the waves are still high, so there's no human there. She calls out your name several time and slaps your cheek slowly.

"(y/n)! wake up dummy, you made it..." she slaps you

"We made it! Come on wake up..." She shakes your body gently, but when you did not respond Atlanta rolls her eyes and her hand scoops a good amount of water. She directly splashes your face with water and that did help you cough to live.

"Where am I?" You ask

"The upside... those are the dry sands... they are people... you made it! You're breathing air now!" Atlanta cups your face and you smile when you see how messy her aqua-green smooth hair looks above here.

"Hey tell me does my hair look that bad too?" Your first question out of the water is this, how lame!

"Well yeah the salt water made our hair stiffs here but believe me people will not judge you." She shrugs her shoulder.

"Hold up" your eyes grow twice as wide, "How did you know they don't judge?"

Atlanta rolls her eyes, "Well they saw us and they did not comment us at all, they just take out I don't know some sort of rectangle thing that has hole and flashes light... then no one dare to go near us."

You shake your head in surprise, Atlanta missed this part of story. She never told you she and her friends went that near to human! You thought they only hide and saw people from afar, but no they did not. You're now half worried, but what's there to risk more? You've broken mother's rule, and you've suffered from the transition, might as well made this a worth it experience and have no regrets! "You didn't think I'd bring you here just to see them from a distance right? Besides honey, you're the most gorgeous mermaid down there, no one will dare harm you!" Atlanta inches closer to you and brings one hand to brush away a strand of hair from your face.

"I mean it, your glowing ash grey hair, your deep amber eyes! Hey never realized they were amber before... not to mention your sweet smile and sweet voice. Girl they'll love you!" Atlanta praises you with tons of comfort and you find yourself under control.

What you did not know, yes being a beauty in the mermaid world made everyone adores and protects you, but here being a beauty means more danger! Come on which human doesn't want to own a pretty mystical creature in their bathtub?!

You and Atlanta are both too naïve to think that situation. All that matter now for you two is enjoying sunbathing and the fresh air.

"So, what are we waiting for? I'm good already and can we go somewhere else? Rocks are boring here." You splash your tail and make a giant splash to your friend.

Atlanta scoffs but quickly drags you to move to the other part of the sea surface. The two of you swim while holding breathe, yes, you're not transitioning that frequent... took too much energy and painful.

"Is this okay?" Atlanta found a place where there are several rocks and they're still in contact with water. You smile and look for a good position. The warm feeling from the golden ball in the sky really satisfies you. Deep waters are cold, and you love this warm burning feeling. Your long shiny silver-purplish tail flaps gently when needed and you feel your head gets lighter as the sun dries your wet hair away.

"Atlanta, why didn't people let us do this? I swear the sun is my favourite thing now." You brush away your stiff salted dry hairs away from your face, but that doesn't lessen your beauty at all.

The beach was crowded with people, but there were not many people around you. You still choose a distant rock, you're afraid of them still and Atlanta wants the most comfortable for you. So, you learn them first from the distance and later you can always move right.

You relax yourself over the flat rock and enjoy the piercing hot feeling on your pale skin. You close your eyes and feel the breeze, your ears catch the soft whisper of the ocean hitting rocks and without your concern, you start humming.

Well when a mermaid hums, it is luring, but believe us, we're not sirens. We don't kill people...

Your humming stop when you fell asleep on the rock. Atlanta is beside you, posing beautifully just in case someone passes by. You know stories of mermaid and mermen marrying someone from the dry world, and yes they can live happily... or you just didn't know what happen next. You know you can shape shift to have legs, but each step will feel like walking on blades. You cannot imagine living on two legs and take strolls on sharp blades.

"Atlanta have you tried walking on the dry sands?" you ask, still closing your eyes.

"Hmm no, I don't want to feel the blades... Do you know legend says you can get used to it and if you found your true love that won't happen again?" Atlanta answers while daydreaming on the fluffy clouds.

"Hmm... I'll tell you if I know the answer." You joke around and change your position.

Now you're laying flat on your stomach, the warm water meets your bare skin and you winced a bit. Rocsk can get really hot!

"How long can we stay here?" You question, tail still swaying slowly on the waters and hands under your chin.

"Hmm when we leave at nine, the swim took like an hour or two... I guess this is mid day now." Atlanta pierces her eyes into the beach,s and she can see people starting to spread check red mat and laying down plates of foods. It must be "lunch"

You thought things will not go wrong, and that's when everything went wrong.

The sun suddenly disappears, and big waves roll over to you. You and Atlanta are both sun-bathing and laughing under the sun, unaware that it is slowly turning cloudy. Well both of you are not aware since you two are blinded aka closing your eyes as you two chat and laugh. The laughter is loud enough to cover the sound of the growling sea and wind.

When you peek over your eyes since you feel cold, that's too late.

"Atlanta!" You scream when the big wave engulfs both of you and you're holding your breath in. Thinking maybe you'll be okay ... this is just one wave; you'll appear again on the surface.

No that was wrong. You feel the strong current push you into a group of rough and hard stones, you feel your bare back hit the rocks and you wince at the prickling sensation.

"Atlanta where are you??" you call out her name before being swallowed by the big waves again and you're carried further into the beach. Sadly, when you turn around, you're eye to eye with another group of pointy and sharp reefs. You scream when the friction from the rocks rip your shiny scales slowly and bitterly.

You turn your head around to look for your best friend, but you cannot see her. When another big wave hits you, you're ready to inhale the water and just go back home, but nature did not allow you.

Your eyes catch the reflection of your tail under the raging water, one of the pointy rocks has pierced over your tail and you see gushes of blood out of it. You gasp as you try to move your tail, but the painful feeling bring you tears and stop you from moving around. You receive the big wave once again and as hard as you try to keep your tears from falling, the pain under the water is unbearable.

You clung into one of the rocks and try to put half of your body weight into the rocks and let the buoyancy do its thing to keep you floating. You bury your head into your hands and your shoulder shakes and trembles. You cry since you're afraid and alone here. Everywhere you look, you're on another side of the beach, you no longer see the rock you hang out with Atlanta earlier. You also did not see her aqua-green hair at all!

You're doomed. That's all you can think. You weep as you imagine what are the things that could happen. Well if you're lucky Atlanta might make it home and tell someone to help look for you. Two, mom could probably tell someone you're missing but you curse yourself when you remember the silly note you left.

Earlier you left a note, "Gone with Atlanta for a trip, might not go home today. See you! I promise to take care of myself"

Your mother will most likely think you're sleeping over.

Third, you'll maybe die here if no one helps.

Fourth you might end up being caught.

Fifth caught and treated.

Sixth caught and eaten?!

You try to hum and call anyone lurking nearby, anyone who can help or at least see you're there helpless. In the middle of the panic, you see a glint of your father smiling at you as if telling you "this is not the end."

You grit your teeth when the pain hits back, you glance to look into your tail and grimace over the bigger stain and the pointy rock pointing out of your tail.

You look around and see that the sky is clearing, and you choose to try and survive. It's maybe noon already, your last chance of surviving is here.

Quietly you focus yourself and you bring out all of your emotion and voice. The mysterious luring echo suddenly resonates through the big ocean. The open air and the ocean wind helps deliver your voice to anyone near you. You keep on singing, letting out a melodious sad song through the air. The air particles vibrate and send your emotional cry of help to someone walking over the coast by himself.

A young man with white shirt and a comfortable beach shorts walks through the damp sands. He tucks his hand into his pockets as he walks quietly by himself on the now half empty beach. The crowd has fled away when the howling wave crashed the shore an hour ago. This man however, loves taking in the ocean after it is angry. He loves the feeling of the sombre, mysterious, and sad atmosphere lurking on the air as the wave slow down and return calm.

Today's weather forecast had reminded people to leave the beach before noon, but apparently the wave came earlier. Lucky he lives nearby, he can always check the shore after a mad ocean.

His steps come to a halt when his ears perk up after hearing an eerie cry. He focuses himself, closes his eyes, and sharpens his ear. He cannot believe himself when his brain tells him this is a cry of another being. Not a human's cry!

Curious, the young man lets his heart and ears guide him to the source of the painful magical cry.

The sound becomes clearer and the cry painfuller. He opens his eyes when he thinks he arrives at the place already and his eyes widen when he sees you, a wounded mermaid, crying herself for help.

"Help," you plead urgently when you see a man standing across you.

"Help... I'm not.. going.. " you wince from the unbearable pain now, "I won't hurt you... help"

"You're not human, aren't you?" he asks you from the shore.

Your heart curse him for still asking you that when you're clearly hurt.

"Well yeah, but please help me..." You grimace when the saltwater meets your fresh torn scales.

"You won't kill me, right?" he raises his brow.

You roll your eyes, "I'm not a siren, can you please just help me first... I am dying!" You're annoyed, afraid, and emotional. You don't mean to yell at him, but it's too late to take back your words.

You pull your hair with frustration, "Gosh I didn't mean to scream... now you're more afraid... I'll die in this pace." You bury your face to your hand. Now you understand why your mother calls you a drama-queen.

"Just ... help me or bring me help. I'm injured." You look up and to your surprise, the young man is already in front of you. Sitting on the rock with a wet pants. He has left his shirt on the dry sands and swam to you.

"Let's see... I'm not a doctor but I'll try my best," he rolls his sleeves to his elbow.

"Doctor?" you question him

He shakes his head, knowing it will be hard to explain, "Later. Now, what happened?" he leans closer to the edge of the rocks to see your lower body which is still under the water.

"See for yourself," you gritted your teeth when another friction from the rocks and the water meet the fresh wound. He grimaces, "Oh that's so bad. We'll need to pull you out... Can you hold my hand and push your tail as strong as you can?"

You bite your teeth and nod your head, worth trying right? There's no way he can break the strong rocks.

"Hey, what's your name?" asks him

You wonder why he needs to ask that now, but you blurt it out anyways. "(y/n), and you?"

He smiles, "Beautiful! Just like you, now I'm Yuta and I will help you get out of this."

Yuta offers you his hand and you reach out to touch them, "On three or when you're ready... Now (y/n) you can do this... it will hurt, but I'll take care of you.. okay?"

You nod your head and tear escapes your eyes again.

"You're bleeding so bad, on three..."

You take a deep breath and count along with Yuta.

"One..."

"Two..." he grips your small hands stronger

"Three..." with one nod from Yuta, you try your best to swing your tail away and hold into him.

You scream in pain when the sharp edge did move a bit, but your tail is not entirely out of it yet.

Yuta looks at you in pain too and he wipes a tear that left your eyes.

"Look! You're so strong! We'll do it one or two more times and you're free!"

You nod furiously, hands gripping into him tighter, trying to find strength.

Yuta gets down to kneel and offers you a stronger hold, you find the courage and strength again to free yourself.

On three, more tears fall from your eyes as the dagger like stone is only one pull away from your whole tail.

"Yuta... it hurts.." You cry when the waves start to hit you more frequently. The tides are coming in, and you must hurry.

"You can do it! I am here with you... one last effort and you're free (y/n)." he is sweating and you can see his knees are also bleeding from the rough surface of the reefs.

"Sorry... one last pull." You grit your teeth and with Yuta's strong grips. Your tail made it out and you almost got washed by the waves, if Yuta did not pull you out of the waters quick.

He lays you on the rocks and winces at your big scar, "We need to treat this or you will get an infection. Can you swim to the shore?" he asks you worriedly.

You cock your head to the side, it's only a short swim, you feel your tail still has some energies left and so with his help, Yuta guides you to the beach.

You finally feel the funny feeling of dry sands on your hands and tails. You did not realize you're smiling and ignoring the dying feeling on your tail.

"First time with dry sands?" Yuta asks as he kneels down beside you and ties a piece of cloth over your big wound. You think that must be his shirt, for he is still bare chested here.

You bashfully nod, "Thank you Yuta..."

He looks to the horizon, sun is setting down and he doesn't think you can go back to the sea in this state, so he offers you what he can do.

"Can I bring you to my cottage and just clean up this blood first, then you can rest before going home."

You look to the endless horizon and gasp in surprise when you see the sun is already settling down. Oh no, this is not good.

Afraid, you nod and let Yuta carry you bridal style to his cottage.

It is only half meter from the beach and his small cottage is cosy.

"Should you stay in water?" he awkwardly asks.

You think for a while, "Not sure, but now I don't feel anything weird. Don't worry I can breathe both in air and under water."

Yuta is busy walking around the house to fetch the first aid kit, "I know... I'm a marine biologist."

You smirk, "That explains why you got my trust directly after saying I'm not a siren."

Yuta scoffs, "Actually it's because I see your true face and the one over the water the same, and your tail is slightly different."

You nod your head slowly, then scan his room, "Nice, a mermaid enthusiast eh?"

The furniture decorating his shower room is basically mermaid, sea, and ocean. "Quiet interested in one, never dream I'll meet one like this, bring one home, and talk like this is nothing at all."

You're now inside his bathtub, you need water to keep your tail showing, and Yuta must heal the wound in the real form. So, here you are relaxing in his bubble bath! Bubble! He makes cute bubble bath since he thinks you can relax more! How cute and thoughtful is he.

You focus on his delicate fingers gently cleaning your injured tail from the impurities, washing it with alcohol, and then wrapping it with bandage after giving it medicament.

"Now that's all done." He stands up from the small stool and tidies up the mess. He throws the dirty napkins away into a basket.

"Umm don't you feel cold?" you ask when you realize he is still lacking clothes while you're under the warm bubble bath.

Your smile fades a bit when he quickly wears a tank top over his ripped abs.

"So, tell me how to take care of a mermaid?" Yuta drags a chair to sit next to the tub.

"I don't know... Yuta this is all new! I never leave the sea and now... now I'm here sitting next to a human, talking about mermaids, having a bubble bath, and I don't even know what will happen to me next." You massage your temple and relax your body into the warm sensation.

"Yuta do you know what will happen to a mermaid if they did not return by sun set?" You ask him after the two of you have exchanged information of one another. He also had boiled water and introduced you to this wonderful warm dark sweet liquid... hot chocolate.

He flips on his book and points to you a certain picture cycle, "You'll have feet and you can always bring your tail back by being in water."

"Oooh tell me what it is like to walk?" you sip on the warm liquid again.

"For us human it doesn't hurt... well you feel sore after a long walk, but for you... I heard first steps will be horrible."

"Oooof, guess this is the price I have to pay to experience an unforgettable memory, right?"

You two dive into deeper conversations, and you swore you've never seen a man this charming. Yuta and his smile, you feel at ease.

You don't see any harm and danger when you see him, you feel your body tingles and suddenly your tail shifts into a gorgeous pair of legs.

Both you and Yuta are speechless since this is the first time both of you witness this.

"That is amazing!" you squeal and move your legs up and down, feeling the weird new sensation running through your body. You kick the air and water a bit, laughing when you make a riffle of water.

Yuta just sits next to you, smiling as he sees you so happy over small things.

Both of you did not say anything, but the looks in your eyes and his are enough to say these two will one day madly fall in love.

"Hey now that your legs are here, your tail must be quite healed. Now shall we leave the tub. Don't you want to feel what it's like to be human?" Yuta grins and you snap your finger.

"You really understand my mind, don't you?!" You giggle as you push yourself to sit on the tub.

"Uhm wait a second, let me grab your clothes." Yuta nervously tells you to stay under the water first, well he is respecting your privacy.

He returns with a big tee shirt and a boxer. Guess he never has a girl coming to his house, there's only men attire here.

"I only have these, but I'll buy some things for you tomorrow." He apologizes.

"Don't be sorry! This is better, but how do I wear them?" you ask him innocently. Through out your life you've never seen a tee shirt let alone wear something on your legs! Duh even you just see your legs today!

So with a red face, Yuta teaches you how to dress up and when you stand up from the bath, he winces when you squeeze the bone out of him.

"Hell this hurts so much!" You hiss and he too squeals from your dead grip.

"Your grip! You're breaking my bones!" Yuta naturally slaps your hand away, and you end up squeezing his arm even stronger when you take a step to the mirror on the wall.

"Ah! My hair!!!! Yuta I swear I look tidier than this under water!" Your mouth suddenly explain this insecurities of yours out loud to a new man you just met.

He laughs and then apologizes when he realizes he must be rude.

"Believe me, I know how hard it is to arrange salted hair."

"Wait what? Salted hair?" You run your finger to your stiff hair and almost cry since you feel the stiffness so irritating you.

Well you're the most beautiful mermaid down there, there's not a day where your hair is not the talk of the town. Your hair is always on point, making everyone jealous, and even earning you the "best mermaid hair" title. You never leave the house when you have a bad hair day, and you sacredly always brush your hair til it floats perfectly in the salt water. However, now above the waters... you lost them!

"hey, I have a secret to cure that, but let me show you that tomorrow. Today you've had a long day and you need to rest."

You agree with him, though you have so many question in your head, your body is exhausted and you need a sleep.

Gently Yuta asks you, "May I?"

And before you could say anything, he carries you again and lays you down on his soft bed. You take in the new sensation of the soft mattress and soon your eyes grow heavy and you're drifting to dream land.

Heading to next scenario in the next chapter

What to expect

_ Yuta revealing secret to smooth hair

_Yuta teaching you what's that shiny thing dangling on his ears

_Yuta teaching you how to make your hair look flawless

SEE YOU!! MERMAIDS and MERMEN UNITE! 🧜‍♀️🧜‍♂️💖✨

[phancystuff]

Trying to Remember How it Feels (To Have a Heartbeat) 6/7

Pairing: Dan/ Phil (Phan) Summary: Dan moves into a new apartment in London and, though it’s a step up from his old apartment, his landlord gives him strange warnings while he’s touring the place– something about the last renters leaving because of ghost sightings. But, Dan doesn’t believe in the supernatural. He quickly changes his tune when he meets Phil Lester, the ghost haunting his apartment. Well, if haunting means quickly becoming the best friend he’s ever had. (Title from Harry Styles’ song Two Ghosts) Notes: Part 6 of my Spooky Week Special, already?? I plan on finishing this fic tomorrow, which will be a super hard feat since the ending isn’t done. LOL fUcK. Please note that, although this fic has the warning of major character death, it is not in any way graphic. Tags/ Warnings: ghost au, Halloween, major character death (obv. it’s a ghost au lol), depictions of panic attacks, angst, fluff, HAPPY ENDING, mentions of suicide (it happens in a movie they watch)

Read it on AO3 Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

The first sense that he got back was his hearing. Little, familiar noises filtered through his head slowly. Sirens out on the street. The wind moaning past trees and whistling through the city. The quiet creaking of a building settling around him. Soothing piano music coming from somewhere to his left.

Numbness melted away and a little bit of feeling slowly came back to his fingers and toes. They rubbed against something silky and warm. Sheets maybe? A comforting weight lay on top of his body. However, he also felt bone tired. The overwhelming weight of gravity dragged his muscles down and he couldn’t move a single fiber of his body. He concentrated hard, trying to at least lift his eyelids; they refused to move as if someone had superglued them shut.

It was terrifying to be able to sense some pieces of the world around you, but to not be able to see or interact with it. He wondered where he was. What had happened to him that made him feel like this? Was he… dead?

What were the last things he remembered? It was all a blur of clashing emotions and images. The colors were too bright-- a painful cacophony in his head that brought confusion, but no clarity. He lay still, because he couldn’t do anything else, listening to the soft sounds of piano music still coming from his left, and trying to understand what had happened to him by focusing on the individual images swirling in his mind and piecing them together.

Dan had gotten up that morning-- or one morning; Dan had no idea how long he had been asleep or passed out or dead or whatever had happened to him. He had showered, fixed his hair, got dressed, went out for breakfast. What had he had for breakfast? He tried to remember the taste and found that he couldn’t. He tried to remember what he had spooned into his mouth that morning. Sickly, sweet, soft, girlfriend? How did that make any sense? He hadn’t had a girlfriend in years. And girlfriends had nothing to do with food. He thought hard, trying to picture the restaurant. It had been an American style diner. Sickly, sweet, soft. Suddenly, it came back to him: pancakes!

Then the floodgate opened. Pancakes! Pancakes? Dan didn’t particularly love pancakes. Why had he eaten pancakes? Dan tried to remember, analyzing the images swirling around in his brain. Bookstores, Starbucks, comic book stores, clothes shopping, a movie. Then… then? Had Dan simply passed out after the movie? It felt like there was some little piece of the puzzle missing. Something big that had escaped Dan’s mind-- a key to understanding what the fuck had happened to him and why he still couldn’t move.

“Dan, are you awake?” A soft voice rose up from his left, around where the piano music was playing. Dan froze in fear. There was someone with him. Was he in the hospital? Everything felt and sounded too familiar, though. He was in his own home. So why was there a stranger in his flat? No, not a stranger. The voice was so familiar and Dan concentrated on it, analyzing it because he couldn’t reply to it. The voice was baritone, British, slightly Northern. It sounded loving and deeply concerned. Dan desperately tried to raise his eyelids. Maybe if he could just see the person’s face, he would remember them. The only indication that he was trying to move his lids with all his might, was a slight twitch in his left eye. The person hovering above Dan must have picked up on it though, which was either sweet or slightly terrifying.

“Dan? Dan, can you do that again?” The voice got closer. It was right next to Dan’s ear and Dan might have flinched back if he had the strength to do so. Dan tried to twitch his eye again like the stranger requested, but blacked out once again.

***

Phil had never wished for something so hard as he wished for Dan’s recovery-- not even that one time that he wrote a “book” for his parents that simply said “Can I have a dog?” over and over again in its pages. It hadn’t worked and Phil’s family hadn’t gotten a dog. But, Phil would write a million books begging for Dan’s life if he had to. He would do anything. The problem was, though, he didn’t know if there was a single thing he could do.

Phil sat rigid and unblinking in Dan’s office chair, watching Dan sleep in his bed. A pile of blankets covered his unmoving form. It was every single blanket, sheet, and sweater in their flat. It had been the first thing that Phil had done when he successfully transported Dan from the park to the flat in a exhausting, infinite blink. Phil would never forget that moment in all of his afterlife. It had felt like Phil was trudging up a snow-covered mountain in a ice storm, Dan a slowly dying weight in his arms. Afterwards, Phil had been so completely drained, but he forced himself to place Dan in his bed and cover him with blankets, hoping that they would help his warmth come back to him. Maybe it would restore the life that Phil had selfishly, recklessly stolen away from Dan. Phil didn’t have a single ounce of energy left in him after that. He wanted to cry, but he was just empty. There was nothing left; he felt like a husk of a ghost and that everything had been ripped and milked from him. He had dropped his physical manifestation and observed Dan in his non-corporeal form, like he had when Dan had first moved to the flat.

Phil wished that they could go back to May when Dan had first entered the flat with Paul. If he could just go back, Phil would never reveal himself to Dan. He would have ignored the undeniable tug he felt pulling him to Dan. The attraction to Dan’s dynamic, brown eyes. He would have been contented to observe Dan from afar and simply long to interact with him, like Phil had done for the last seven years with the other renters. If Phil had just done that, he wouldn’t have been able to completely fuck things up. Fuck Dan’s life up.

When Phil had been able to physically manifest himself once again, he put on a pair of thick gloves, maneuvered Dan’s mouth open, and dripped small amounts of water into Dan’s mouth. There wasn’t much left in Phil, except guilt and worry. He didn’t even let himself hope that Dan would be ok. He just took care of the dying man, on ghostly autopilot.

One day turned to two. Phil talked to Dan constantly, wondering if it would pull Dan out of his state of unconsciousness. Phil didn’t apologize or dwell on dark things when talking to Dan, instead he talked about video games, TV shows, YouTubers, whatever inane thing that Phil could ramble about that wouldn’t dissolve into a pained litany of “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please wake up.”

Phil had the idea of putting on some soothing music for Dan. Phil knew how much Dan loved piano covers, so he found a playlist of them on Dan’s phone and placed it on the nightstand. Phil continued to feel Dan’s forehead, feed him water to stave off dehydration, and fluff the blankets around him. Two days turned to three and Phil knew that if Dan didn’t wake up soon and eat something, that Phil might lose him.

Phil might have already lost him, not knowing if there was any Dan left in his body. Phil trembled, thinking about what he would have to do with a brain dead Dan. Take him to the hospital? Call Dan’s mum? He couldn’t just leave him…

It was late at night on the third day that Phil saw Dan’s eyelid twitch ever so slightly. Phil, hopeful and scared, had called out to him, but to no avail. Phil didn’t want to get too optimistic, because he didn’t want his hopes dashed painfully. However, the next hour, it happened again. Dan’s eye twitched slightly and, when Phil asked if Dan could do it again, Dan had complied.

Despite trying hard to tamp it down, hope had soared in Phil’s chest. “Ok, Dan, if you can hear me, I’m going to give you some water, ok? I’ll just put a little bit in your mouth. I’ve been making sure you don’t get dehydrated, love. I hope you can wake up soon, so I can feed you some soup or something. I don’t want you getting too weak.” Phil rambled while reaching over to get the glass of fresh water that he had refilled not long ago. Phil took Dan’s jaw in one gentle hand and squeezed. This action opened Dan’s mouth and Phil took the opportunity to let a few drops land on Dan’s tongue. Usually, it would take Phil several minutes to get the liquid to slide down Dan’s throat and several more minutes to repeat the process until Dan drank a sufficient amount of water. This time, Phil watched in stunned awe as Dan’s adam’s apple bobbed up and down immediately.

“Dan! You swallowed! Good job. Oh my god. I hope you can hear me; I’m going to try a little more water, ok? Not a lot, I don’t want to drown you.” Phil tipped a little stream of water into Dan’s mouth and pushed on Dan’s chin with a gentle finger. His mouth closed and Dan’s throat moved again. Phil could hear the unmistakably sound of swallowing. Phil wanted to cry, he was so happy. “Dan,” he whispered brokenly. “I’m so proud of you.” They repeated this process, until Dan seemed to get tired and he couldn’t swallow the water in his mouth. Thankfully, it wasn’t a lot and it just flowed back out onto Dan’s chin and down his neck. Phil got a towel and dried Dan’s mouth off lovingly, whispering quiet praises to him the whole time. Maybe Phil would get Dan back. He didn’t deserve it, but maybe this wasn’t over.

***

More than anything, Dan wished he had some way to tell how much time had passed between each time he woke up. He couldn’t even see how much light was coming through the curtains in his room. He had determined that he was in his own bedroom; it smelled familiar and the bed underneath his body was definitely the one that he had spent a small fortune on.

The voice that spoke to him and the cold hands that fed him water were still a mystery to him. Their identity was always right on the edge of Dan’s mind, dancing in and out of him dreams and thoughts. Dan knew that he knew this person and that they were very important to him, which made his predicament all the more frustrating. How could Dan forget someone who clearly meant so much to him?

The voice was blue for some reason. That’s the color that presented itself behind Dan’s closed eyelids every time they spoke. Sometimes the blue shifted to green. Sometimes there was a little golden ring around the blue. Dan didn’t know why he saw what he saw. But the detail comforted him, like Dan was slowly relating small traits to this person that meant the world to him.

Dan still could only manage to cling onto consciousness for small periods at a time. They grew longer, though. His arms and legs were still heavy and it felt like they sunk deeper into the bed each moment that he lay there. Dan feared that even if he did regain his ability to move at some point, he still wouldn’t be able to get up because he had fused to the mattress. He would be called mattress man, with the ability to sleep anywhere at anytime.

Dan laughed and, although it sounded more like a strangled grunt in his closed mouth, excitement coursed through him. He’d laughed!

“Dan?” Immediately, that excited, hopeful, fearful voice was above him. Their cool, but weirdly textured fingers touched Dan’s warm forehead. The hand carded through Dan’s hair and Dan hummed in the back of his throat. “Oh, Dan.” They sounded relieved and sad at the same time. “Can you say something to me?” Dan could only grunt, hoping it sounded enough like a “no.”

“That’s ok, I’m just so happy you made a noise. God, I love you so much, you know that, right?”

There it was, again. They were always telling Dan that they loved him. Dan knew it was true and agreed with the statement, but was still confused by it. How had he forgotten about his love? Dan made a confused noise, but slowly felt himself drift to sleep again. He could only sort of make out the voice that responded: “You do know that, right?”

***

On the fifth day, Dan spoke his first word ever since falling unconscious. “Food.” Dan rasped, when Phil asked him if he wanted more water. Dan’s eyes were still gently closed.

“Dan! Yes! What do you want? Soup? That’s probably all you can handle. Oh thank god, I’ve been worrying that you’d waste away to nothing. I was getting you all fattened up with pancakes, remember? We can’t go the other way.” Dan responded with what Phil hoped was an amused little coo.

Phil rushed off to heat up some canned soup that he knew was sitting untouched in their pantry. Phil stood at the oven, stirring the pot of soup and willed it to heat faster. Of course, it didn’t work. There were some laws of nature that he had to follow. Phil was beginning to wonder what those laws of nature really were. Before their doomed day out in London, Phil thought he had a handle on what the rules were. But, he had broken so many of them. He had extracted himself from Dan outside of the flat, and he had removed himself from his tether. Phil hadn’t dared to test if the tether was back by trying to leave the flat, because he had to stay and help Dan. He couldn’t leave Dan’s side. Even now, being in the kitchen away from the sickly man, was making him nervous.

When the soup was simmering softly, Phil shut off the burner and poured the food into a bowl. He transported into Dan’s room. “I’m back. I come bearing soup! I think I’m going to have to prop you up, though, ok? My hands might be cold, I’m really sorry. I’ve been trying not to touch you.”

“Ok.” Dan forced out and Phil closed his eyes against the onslaught of emotion inside him. There had been so many dark hours were Phil thought he would never hear Dan’s voice again.

“All right. I’m going to slip my arms under your knees and behind your back and sit you up against some pillows.” Phil did just what he had described, trying not to be positively affected by Dan’s warmth against their points of contact. He was never going to take Dan’s warmth again. He would only touch Dan when he had to, and stay far away otherwise. Phil slid Dan up in the bed, noting just how heavy Dan’s limbs hung. His head slumped to the side, his neck unable to hold it up. This wasn’t going to work.

“Hm, I think we’ll have to do something different,” Phil said thoughtfully.

“Ok.”

Phil moved Dan down so he was laying on the bed again. This time, he placed Dan further down the bed, so that there was room for Phil to sit cross-legged at the headboard. He did so, pulling Dan up, so that his head was propped against Phil’s chest. “I hope I’m not too cold. I’m sorry.”

“S’ok.” Dan replied, slurring slightly.

“Ok, no more talking, I want you to have enough energy to eat.

Phil propped his arm up and put Dan’s head in its crook, sort of like a parent about to bottle feed a baby. If Dan had been himself, he would have squawked at the compromising position. Phil reached over to the bowl of soup, wondering where the hell he was supposed to balance it. He put it on the bed, fluffing the blankets around it, and hoping that it wouldn’t tip over. Knowing his clumsiness, he would knock it over within minutes.

“Ready, Dan?”

“Mm.” Dan agreed from the back of his throat, following Phil’s advice and not speaking. He opened his mouth and Phil placed the spoon on his tongue, allowing the broth to spill off slowly. Dan closed his mouth and swallowed and Phil could cry with relief.

In fact, he did shed a few silent tears. They slipped out of the corners of his eyes and down his cheeks. Dan was eating. Dan was speaking! He was alive and not brain dead. Despite everything that Phil had done, he had gotten a second chance. No, Dan had gotten a second chance. Phil continued to feed him. He got through half the bowl of soup before he was unable to open his mouth one more time. Phil silently placed the spoon back into the bowl and put the bowl back on the nightstand. Phil curled both of his arms around Dan, cuddling him close. He carded one hand through Dan’s hair and softly ran the fingers of his other hand down his cheek. Phil cried softly, “I’m so glad to be getting you back, Dan. I love you. I love you.”

***

His name was Phil, Dan realized. Phil was holding Dan close to his chest, rocking back and forth, and whispering to Dan that he loved him. His name was Phil and he was a ghost. The ghost of a wonderful man who had met an untimely, unfair demise. Dan had met Phil and his life had completely changed; they had made each other feel alive in totally different, but also similar ways. His name was Phil, he was a ghost, and Dan loved him with all of his still-beating heart.

“Phil,” Dan whispered, his voice breaking. How could he have forgotten Phil? What was wrong with him? Dan used all his remaining strength to crack open his eyelids. Everything was too bright, despite the fact that a single light was on, somewhere across the room. Things were blurry to start with, but he focused his eyes, like adjusting the aperture on a camera. The first thing that Dan saw clearly was Phil’s crying face staring down at him. Blue-green eyes rimmed in gold were studying Dan’s barely-open eyes. Phil’s features were painted with shock.

“Dan? Oh, Dan.” Phil cupped his cheek and leaned down, almost as if to kiss him. Dan prepared himself for the shock of cold that he knew would spark against his lips, but Phil seemed to catch himself and stop. Phil was always so careful of Dan, like he was fragile. Breakable.

“What?” Dan forced out, trying to ask Phil exactly what had happened to him. Why was he in bed? Why could he barely move a muscle? Why did cracking open his eyelids and saying single words fill him with so much exhaustion that one would think Dan had run a marathon?

“Shhh,” Phil held up a cold, but gloved hand up to Dan’s mouth. “You’ve done a lot; you must be tired. Sleep now.”

Dan’s eyes drifted shut. He did feel incredibly sleepy. Everything was so heavy and the warmth of the soup radiated out from his stomach. Without much convincing, Dan’s eyes were slipping shut. Even the lids of his eyes ached with intense fatigue. “I love you, Dan.” Phil whispered, ghosting his fingers over Dan’s eyelids, caressing them softly. The coolness felt perfect against their delicate surfaces.

“Love you,” Dan mumbled and then quickly fell away to the world.

***

Dan’s recovery was steady, but incremental. Phil still couldn’t quite believe that Dan was back. Dan still didn’t know what had happened to him-- it was like there was a chunk of memory just completely missing and none of the images in his head seemed to fit into the blank space. Another day went by and Dan slowly gained the ability to fully open his eyes for longer periods of time and say complete sentences. Phil still had to help him eat, feeding him cans and cans of soup.

Despite the fact that Dan could speak again, he was afraid to ask Phil what had happened to him right off the bat. Dan guessed that it wasn’t anything good and, telling by the way that Phil looked at him like he would disappear into thin air at any moment, Phil was still very much anxious about it. Dan had simply asked how long he had been out for and if Phil had thought to tweet something so that people didn’t think he was dead. Responsible Phil had, of course. He felt dirty pretending to be Dan after everything that had happened, but he wasn’t about to let the world worry that they had lost their beloved Daniel Howell.

Dan wiggled his fingers and toes, wondering when he would get the full use of his arms, legs, head, torso. The movement rippled the blankets stacked on him and Dan caught a whiff of his own body odor. Phil was by his side, as always, rearranging the items on Dan’s nightstand. It was more something to do with his hands, rather than something that Phil needed to do. “Phil, I stink.” Dan voice was weak, but sounded a lot more powerful than the simple rasps he could only manage the day before.

“That makes sense. It’s almost been a week since… you showered.” Dan could tell that Phil had wanted to say something else, probably about what had happened.

“Right. Phil, what exactly happened to me?” Dan curled his hands into fists just because he found that he could. The new movement excited him and he was about to inform Phil. He released his fingers and they sunk tiredly into the mattress once more. Dan discovered he couldn’t move them again.

“You don’t remember?” Phil sounded devastated and guilty. Dan’s eyes darted up at the ghost.

“Oh, uh, no. Actually, when I first woke up, I couldn’t even remember who you were.” Dan chewed on his lip. “Imagine that. It’s like forgetting myself.”

Phil didn’t respond. Instead, he sat down on the edge of Dan’s bed. “I wish I could help you out with the whole, uh, shower thing. But I can’t exactly give you a bath with gloves on.”

“They’d have to be surgical gloves. But, it sounds a little humiliating. Like a nurse giving an old man a sponge bath.” Dan laughed shortly. He didn’t really have the energy to continue talking. Phil must have noticed.

“You should get some more sleep.”

“Mm. Can you tell me what happened, though?” Dan wasn’t going to let this go, no matter how much Phil wanted to repress it.

Phil sighed and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. “Of course; you deserve to know.” Dan hated the tone that Phil’s voice adopted. It sounded like the conversation that they had at the beginning of the month when Phil told Dan how he had died. Dan shivered involuntarily, his skin rippling. It felt weird after a week of numbness.

“I possessed you. We went out for the day, but after we saw a movie, you stopped responding to me.” There was an echo of a memory there. Dan remembered that his vision had gone black and that he refused to tell Phil there was a problem. That had been stupid, he had to admit. “I didn’t even notice how quiet you were being,” Phil said bitterly. “I was a selfish, horrible person and you nearly died because of it.”

“Phil,” Dan admonished, wishing he could reach a hand out and touch the ghost. “You can’t do this. It wasn’t your fault.”

Phil breathed in slowly. “Of course it was my fault, Dan. I was the one possessing you. I was slowly driving your consciousness out of your body and I was having so much fun, I didn’t even notice.”

“Phil--”

“--so I tore myself out of your body the minute I figured out what was happening. I was transported back here but I… I… left.” Dan looked at Phil, confused. He had left? Left the flat? How was that even possible? One of the first things that Phil had ever told Dan was that he was tethered to the flat and couldn’t leave.

“How?”

Phil looked at Dan, a wobbly smile making his chin tremble. “I don’t know. But it worked and I brought you back here. And here we are.”

“Here we are.” Dan agreed, his lips weakly lifting up at the corners. “I’m ok, Phil.”

“Yeah,” all of the tension drained out of Phil’s shoulders. “You’re ok.”

***

And Dan really was ok. It took an additional week of laying in bed, sleeping, eating increasingly solid foods, and trying new movements with his body, before Dan could finally pry himself out of bed. Finally, the day came that Dan could shakily step out of his now disgusting mattress, leaning on Phil the whole way. He steered Dan toward the bath that was already filled to the brim with steaming water and a tower of bubbles. Phil helped Dan undress, finally taking off the clothes that had been on Dan’s body for entirely too long.

“I wish you were undressing me in a different context,” Dan tried to joke as Phil lifted his shirt over his head. He popped through the other side and immediately saw that the comment had made Phil sad, rather than amused. “Sorry. Bad joke.” Dan apologized, his head ducking into his chest.

“I wish I could properly love you. Instead I just near kill you.” Phil said bitterly.

Dan held up a single shaky finger as Phil eased his trousers off. “Hey. You didn’t kill me. And it was my fault for being stupid enough to not tell you that I was getting weaker. If I had just asked you to go back to the flat, then nothing bad would have happened.” Dan stepped out of his trousers one foot at a time, his hands braced on Phil’s shoulder. “Plus, now we just know what my limits are and what to look out for when you are possessing me.”

Phil’s head snapped up and he stared at Dan incredulously. “I am never possessing you again.” He said it with such vehemence, that Dan found himself hunkering down involuntarily.

“That’s silly, Phil. It’s not going to happen again. We are smarter now.”

“Never again. You can’t convince me otherwise.” Phil picked himself off the floor and held Dan by the elbow. His voice grew softer, almost apologetic. “Are you ready for your bath?”

“Oh man, this is some nurse slash patient roleplay if I’ve ever heard it. I’m ready for my bath, Nurse Lester. I’m especially dirty down there, if you know what I mean.”

“Daniel!” Phil admonished, helping to lower Dan down into the tub. Things felt almost like they were back to normal.

Within a few days, Dan’s strength returned fully. Him and Phil were back to watching TV, playing video games, and making a short video for Dan’s channel so his subscribers didn’t revolt. He got tired easily, but he got his full range of motion back. With that, came a ravaging hunger that couldn’t be quelled by the empty contents of his pantry or refrigerator.

“I need to go to Tesco. I am starving and totally sick of soup.” Dan shut the fridge, only to find Phil right behind it, looking worried. Dan jumped. “Jesus fucking hell, you made me jump!”

“Sorry. I’m nervous to let you go out. What if you pass out again?”

“I’m not going to pass out.” Dan rolled his eyes. “Stop babying me. I’m fine.”

Phil nodded. “Of course, I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried. I thought-- I thought I was going to lose you.”

Dan ran a hand soothingly down Phil’s arm. They were always wearing gloves and sweaters now; it was just an automatic. But Phil had been noticeably more distant with the touching and cuddling, even though Dan wanted it now more than ever. Dan knew that Phil was just worried and that he didn’t trust himself. Dan didn’t know if Phil would ever trust himself again. “I’m ok. Well, I will be ok once I get some food in my stomach before it eats itself.”

Dan found a thick coat and stabbed his arms through it. He picked up his wallet, keys, and phone and slipped it into his back pocket. He was actually excited to leave the flat for once. It had been two weeks and, even then, it hadn’t really been him leaving the flat that day. Dan found himself itching to smell the autumn air and step on the crunchy leaves. “Stay safe.” Phil said as Dan reached for the doorknob to their flat.

“I will!” Dan replied brightly, opening the door and stepping outside it. The elevator ride down to the lobby was comfortingly familiar. Dan greeted each of his neighbors brightly and only some looked at him, suspicious of his manic joy. Outside, Dan was pleasantly assailed by a powerful breeze, sweet with the smell of decaying leaves. He was adjusting his coat to cover his neck and about to hail a taxi when he felt a presence at his elbow.

Dan dropped his hand and pressed it to his chest instead. “Whew, you frightened me, mate.” Dan turned and saw none other than Phil, standing at his side and looking sheepish.

“Turns out, I must have formed a new tether,” Phil said shyly.

Dan could only grin.

Part seven

[kunoichi-ume]

18 Sakura Kiba please

send me ‘i want the k’: Underwater kiss

This one was a challenge to decide what to do, and a lot of fun to write after I got an idea for it! I hope you like it!

The first time Kiba saw her, she was swimming. Normally hewouldn’t pay much attention to a human swimmer, only enough to keep out ofsight, but this far out to sea it was such a rare event he couldn’t help buttake notice. He keep out of sight, but couldn’t help but edge closer for abetter view. Her skin shone in the water like a pearl, and her hair was themost beautiful shade of pink he had ever seen. This human was beautiful, enoughto put most mermaids to shame.

He watched her swim around for a few minutes, going up tothe surface as needed for air, before she returned to the ship that was anchorednearby. When the anchor was lifted he couldn’t help but follow the ship, hopinghe might catch another glimpse of her.

Akamaru, his large white dog-shark partner, was followingalong in his wake, all the way telling Kiba what a stupid idea this was.

I just want to see herone more time, Kiba shot back at his partner, then we can go home okay?

Akamaru gave him a pointed look, one that roughly translatedinto you’re an idiot but he stoppedprotesting and followed Kiba in the wake of the ship.

It didn’t take long for the calm sea to become rough, wavescrashing violently against each other and the sides of the ship. Kiba had knownthe storm was coming, it was something all Merpeople could sense because theywere so attuned with the sea around them. The merman and dog-shark watched theboat lurch back and forth from far below, knowing that even they could be introuble near the surface when it was so violent.

That was when it happened, a wave (a large one from thelooks of it) crashed over the ship and the sea above Kiba and Akamaru was suddenlydotted with debris. Daring to move closer he could see several barrels, chucksof wood and bits of rope, other things he knew were associated with ships froma childhood spent exploring sunken wrecks. There was something in the distance,however, sinking faster than anything else that he couldn’t quite make out.

Keeping low he swam toward the strange object until he wasclose enough to make out the shape more clearly. It was a human!

Kiba had always been told that humans were dangerous, thatno matter what he should never approach one, but watching one falling throughthe water, knowing they couldn’t survive down there the way he did, he couldn’thelp but want to try and help. When a flash of lightening above the surface litthe water briefly and he caught a flash of pink, his debate was over almost assoon as it started. He cut through the water, using his powerful red tail toclose the distance between them as quickly as possible.

Absently he noticed that she was as pretty up close as shehad been from afar, but the thought was brushed aside the moment his arms werearound her. He starting swimming directly up, clutching her close to his chest.Her skin was cold against his bare skin, but he wasn’t sure if that was a badthing or not. Were humans always this cold? He didn’t think so but he wasn’tsure. He pushed himself to swim faster than he ever had before, even when thatidiot Naruto had goaded him into a race at the bottom of the dark ravine near theirvillage, but he wasn’t sure if he could make it in time. How long can she survive without air? He had no idea, no one knewmuch about the humans that dwelled above the waves.

As he was nearing the surface, not long after he had reachedher, a wave crashed above and the force of the water pushed him back down,sending them both spinning towards the depths. Akamaru was suddenly there, Kiba’stail grasped in his jaw to steady him.

Kiba shot his partner a grateful glance before looking backand forth between the girl in his arms and the surface. He couldn’t get therein time, the waves were too strong an even if he did there was no way he couldbefore she drowned.

It was then that he remembered something Shikamaru, the damnknow it all from the same guppy group as him, once told him about humans. Thatthere was a way to turn them into Merpeople. No one had really believed him ofcourse, it sounded daft, but for some reason Kiba couldn’t stand the idea ofthis girl dying here so he was willing to try.

And if it failed he was going to kick Shikamaru’s tail formisleading him.

Normally he would be hesitant to kiss someone he didn’t know,but he didn’t have the time to flounder about like a guppy about this. Hepressed his mouth against hers, parting her cold blue lips with his tongue andbreathing in through his gills and exhaling through his mouth into hers.

When Shikamaru had told them offhandedly that humans couldbe turned into Merpeople, he hadn’t wanted to go into more detail (he saidexplaining it so they could understand was too “troublesome”) but Ino had forcedhim into revealing the secret. Ever since then she had entertained idea of findinga human prince trapped under the waves and saving him. Surely he would fall inlove with her in his gratitude. Kiba had never, in a million years, thought hemight try it himself. He didn’t believe it possible really.

But as he breathed water and air into her lungs he foundhimself praying to Neptune that this worked.

He didn’t have to pray for long before she jerked in hisarms. As she pushed away from him, he watched in fascination as her legsmorphed, fusing together and growing scales and large graceful fins. Light pinkscales sprouted along her waist and up her sides, gills opened just under herstill covered breasts. When it was over, less than a minute after thetransformation started, she opened her mouth and screamed. Her voice cut acrossthe water, a siren’s call that if it wasn’t stopped, would attract every fishin the area.

He shot forward to where she had drifted away and coveredher mouth with his hand.

Calm down, calm down, hesaid, you’re okay I promise. I’m sorrythis must be weird but it was the only way to save you.

As he spoke the expression on her face softened, the fear losinga bit of its edge and confusion replacing it. She looked around quickly beforeglaring at him suspiciously.

Who are you? She demanded,and what did you do to me?

He shot her a sharp toothed grin, name’s Kiba and I just saved your life but you kinda… well… hisvoice trailed off as words failed him, really how do you tell a human that bysome weird Merperson technique (that is probably going to get him in so muchhot water with his mother) that they aren’t, well, human anymore. He settledfor gesturing to her lower half.

She followed the movement of his arm and gasped audibly asher eyes took in the tail that was where her legs should be.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Sheshrieked, hand curling into a fist and she swung at him. Slowed by the water,Kiba was easily able to move back and dodge the blow.

Listen, I’m sorry butyou were going to drown and I couldn’t get you to the surface, and who knowshow long you human folk can survive in the water and I just didn’t want you todie without knowing your name, he finished lamely, looking up at hersheepishly.

I don’t suppose thisis reversible, is it? She asked after counting to 10 twice.

He shook his head and she took a deep breath (which all onit’s own was a strange new sensation, breaking in from the gills on her sideinstead of her nose) and the anger bled from her face. It was hard to stayterribly mad at him when he was just trying to save her after all.

So what do we do now?I don’t suppose you live out here do you?

Kiba scoffed, Ofcourse not. I guess I need to take you to the Namikage. She’ll know what to do,and most likely give me an earful for this.

Sakura nodded her head Goodyou deserve it for being so reckless- Ahhh! Oh my god shark! She startedyelling, darting behind Kiba and hiding behind him.

Akamaru had decided to stop hiding below them, and wasswimming lazing towards them. Feeling her pressed against his back, andshivering slightly. Her skin was much warmer now, he noted before turningaround to face her.

It’s okay, hesaid, this is my partner Akamaru. He won’thurt you.

Wait… she said givinghim a strange look, you have a shark as apet?

Kiba wasn’t sure what a pet was exactly, but he noddedfiguring it was probably the human equivalent for the partnerships betweensharks and the Merpeople of his clan.

That is so cool! Sheshouted, surprising him by the grin on her face and the sparkle in her eyes, Do you think I can get a shark? Shegrabbed his arm C’mon let’s go to thisNamikage thing you mentioned, I want to know EVERYTHING about being a mermaid!

Amused by her sudden change in emotion he started swimmingtoward home, to Umigakure, and answering her many questions with a smile. Heeven managed to sneak in a few questions for her about humans, things he hadalways wanted to know. She even told him her name, Sakura and after she explainedwhat it meant he thought it was perfect for someone as beautiful as her. Maybeif he played his cards right she would fall in love with him for saving her,that’s how Ino insisted these things work, right?