#reef balls

[oysterninjapc]

Chesapeake Bay's Bright Future: The Inspiring Journey of James Ronayne "FV Pork Chop"

The Chesapeake Bay, with its vast waters and teeming marine life, is not just an ordinary body of water. It’s a fragile ecosystem that depends on passionate individuals to protect and rejuvenate it. Enter James Ronayne, also known as “FV Pork Chop,” a young and dynamic advocate for the Chesapeake Bay. In this blog, we’ll explore his inspirational journey and his incredible work in oyster…

[smittyw]

part one feat. everyones favorite imaginary NPC <3

i saw this and couldnt pass up the chance.. the idol prompt especially is suuuper cute and got me thinking about the super weird potential of them being on the other side of the camera. ridiculous and makes no damn sense, but it compels me

(shoutout @tizzypizza this template goes hard)

[kaxen]

I bought too many shine powders and got choice paralysis.

All I have learned is that I am dyeing most of those doll black instead of teal because the shine powders look terrible on light colors.

Also I still hate how Coral Reef designed the wrists.

My hand slipped, my finger got chopped open by the s-hook.

The s-hook got lodged exactly in the middle of the forearm piece and it took me forever to fish it back out because I needed to twist it to come out the slot.

My sister gave me one of her crochet hooks and it was just the right size to twist the S-hook back out.

I am like 50% tempted to just drill the wrist hole bigger since the design just doesn't work in a nice way, but I might experiment with other s-hooks first.

Now to clean off the test paint on the legs and the blood spot.

Blood for the Blood Cyborg God

[rmhashauthor]

I recently overcame one of my Greatest Fears and touched a shark!

Granted, he was only 2.5 feet long and couldn't bite through a wet paper bag made out of lettuce and manatee farts, but I touched it! And I survived! With all of my fingers and my pride!

Then Beloved Husband asked me if I wanted to touch one of the big ones and I told him I'd rather stick my head in a bell jar full of pissed-off hornets. My limit on sea creatures is 3 feet - anything bigger can fuck right off, thank you very much. That includes seaweed, crocodiles and stingrays.

[mazovshanka]

Here's Artemis again. I wanted to make use of that gentle afternoon light so I took more photos of my boy. His lovely eyes are from Ashuradarkeyes. Same goes for Oriana in the last photo. I just love those eyes and their realistic look.

[bunnyraptor69]

My oc Atsya'ni it's having a little redesign,in the meantime i did this before that and i really like it

Warning:blood🩸🩸🩸🩸

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A little of Lore

Atsy suffer a Lot of bully while growing but never answered in a violent way unless it WAS neccesary but after a situation with Näte and his Father,he change drastically

Näte is @nin3kyuu oc UwU

[tauforged]

finally broke down and obtained some corals for my little micro reef… the palythoas opened up almost IMMEDIATELY which i’m still sooo stoked about, and the GSPs followed suit not long after!! the zoanthids (the frag further back) are a bit more shy but i took another timelapse of them and i could see the polyps pulsing and shifting so they’re still alive, just taking a little bit longer to settle in. i’m very happy with them and i hope they thrive!!!

[theallseer97]

[anthonyspage]

💎🔮🌊🌿🪸🧜‍♀️🫧

[king-carnivore]

My one aunt was getting sorta pissy with my dad because he decided to have my mom cremated instead of a funeral

She's the only religious one of the family. My family isn't religious and my mom's cousins aren't religious, so why would we have a christian burial service for my non religious mom?

It's like how she got mad at my dad for not having me baptized. Tbh I'd be seriously upset if I was because it would've been against my knowledge or will

[vestaignis]

PHLYCTENACTIS TUBERCULOSA.

Phlyctenactis tuberculosa, широко известная как блуждающая морская актиния или плавающая актиния, является видом морских анемонов семейства актиний. Она произрастает в мелководных мор��х вокруг Австралии и Новой Зеландии, а также встречается в Чили. Впервые была описана французским зоологом Жаном Рене Константом Куа и французским натуралистом Жозефом Полем Геймаром. Они были военно-морскими хирургами французского флота, которые собрали значительные коллекции различных организмов во время путешествий.

Эта актиния покрыта пузырчатыми мешочками и бывает разных цветов: от коричневато-оранжевого, лилового, светло-серого до коричневого. Щупальца светлее и могут быть бледно-желтого, серого, коричневого или оранжево-желтого цвета. Она вырастает до максимального размера 15 сантиметров (6 дюймов) в диаметре ,со стеблем, который может достигать 25 сантиметров (10 дюймов) в длину. В течение дня блуждающая морская актиния остается скрученной вместе, выглядя как шар из печеных бобов.

Этот ночной вид актинии, обитает на открытых побережьях и среди защищенных коралловых рифов на глубине до 35 метров. Он прикрепляется к камням, морским травам и водорослям, но может отцепить свой педальный диск и обычно дрейфует по морскому дну. Плавающая актиния передвигается по морскому дну, ползая с помощью своего базального диска, а ночью взбирается на морские травы или водоросли, чтобы найти лучшее место для перехвата проплывающей мимо добычи.

Странствующий морской анемон ядовит, и прикосновение к щупальцам может вызвать болезненный укус. Пловцам рекомендуется избегать прикосновений к анемону и надевать защитную одежду.

Phlyctenactis tuberculosa, commonly known as the wandering sea anemone or floating anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Anemoneidae. It is native to shallow seas around Australia and New Zealand, and is also found in Chile. It was first described by the French zoologist Jean René Constant Coix and the French naturalist Joseph Paul Gaymard. They were naval surgeons in the French Navy who made significant collections of various organisms during their voyages.

This anemone is covered in bladder-like sacs and comes in a variety of colors, from brownish-orange, lilac, light gray, to brown. The tentacles are lighter and can be pale yellow, gray, brown, or orange-yellow. It grows to a maximum size of 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, with a stalk that can reach 25 centimetres (10 in) in length. During the day, the wandering sea anemone remains coiled together, looking like a ball of baked beans.

This nocturnal species of sea anemone lives on exposed coastlines and among sheltered coral reefs at depths of up to 35 metres (115 ft). It attaches itself to rocks, sea grasses and seaweed, but can detach its pedal disc and usually drifts along the sea floor. The floating anemone moves along the sea floor by crawling with its basal disc, and at night climbs onto sea grasses or seaweed to find the best place to intercept passing prey.

The wandering sea anemone is venomous, and touching its tentacles can cause a painful sting. Swimmers are advised to avoid touching the anemone and to wear protective clothing.

Источник://t.me/+E4YBiErj0A8wOGUy,/collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8618,/atlasoflife.org.au/creaturefeatures/2021/01/07/an-early-brief-snorkel,/www.reeflex.net/tiere/8754_Phlyctenactis _ tuberculosa.htm,//www.realmonstrosities.com/2015/01/wandering-sea-anemone.html,//shapeandtheidea.wordpress.com /2015/10/11 / wandering-anemone/,/animalia.bio/index.php/phlyctenactis-tuberculosa.

[poupeesdecirque]

Boxopening AND Chest Mod - Coralreef / Whale Island Body

So on monday the body for the Lvl 4 Akuma arrived and as I opened the box I was ...

greeted by massive tits. Not joking here. I sat in front of that box for 10 minutes before I texted my best friend that I hope this is a mistake. But ... no idea how brain afk I was back then I had ordered the big chest version.

Long story short: I hate dolls with big chests and the Lvl 4 has one side completely flat and the other is very small. It took me another 20 minutes to get myself to unbox the rest of the body.

To be honest the only time worse than this unboxing was as I got a wrong doll. But this time it was indeed my fault.

There was nothing I was happy about I just threw everything somewhere as I had no idea anymore.

I don't want to argue about "how pretty" this is, it's just something I can't have in my household as it triggers several points for me, partially even disgust and my own body dysphoria, so no discussion here.

I tried back and forth, trying to deal with my mental health escalating on this situation.

In the end I tried modding (or to start the mod) by hand but it's just a huge chunk of resin to deal with. THis was 1 hour in. YOu see it's barely a dent in it.

I put it aside and I can't say the following days were good on me. (Putting stress at work aside which already took a toll on me), in the middle of the night I decided to order a rotary tool to mod this without taking 3 weeks for it.

So this was another 45 minutes in. This time with more power.

Leading to another 30 minutes while my oven cooked my dinner.

Aaaand after one more hour:

It needs sanding but I can actually work with this.

Overall my luck is that the Akuma needs quite a bunch of mods anyways ... but not checking the chest size.... you see even with over a decade in the hobby you can be stupid.

[afyrian]

beach day w/ karasuno's first years | headcanons

m.list

kageyama tobio

- more competitive than you could ever see coming - 'let's see who can swim from that end to this end first' [kageyama] - a pro swimmer in another life - practically thrives in the water - enjoys snorkeling on a long day out - but he does hate the sun and burns like crazy - sunscreen king!! - feels super awkward about it and will ask you to help apply away from everyone - thoroughly enjoys a swim shirt on extra sunny days - but really just enjoys spending time with you - will not say it though

hinata shoyo

- big sandcastle enjoyer - brings a bunch of supplies - usually a beach ball and volleyball - or an underwater camera - loves looking for reefs and fish - checks out every seashell he can find - takes photos of everything to send to you if you’re not there - ‘this shell reminded me of you’ type of beat - is the ultimate planner of beach days - (by ultimate planner, it means he invites everyone and then hopes tsuki remembers) - was like this all through secondary school - but ends up asking everyone to go pretty much every day after brazil 

tsukishima kei

- chronic swimmer's ear - wears those prescription goggles that barely work - refuses to get into the water if it reaches above his knees - more of a scroll on his phone on a beach towel - will laugh every time you eat it while surfing - legitimately finds it to be the funniest thing ever - probably records it too - not because he thinks you look great surfing or anything… - but he does post your fail on like twt - tagging you and everything

yamaguchi tadashi

- loves to just chill - like a good book and iced coffee - does partake in group activities - usually volunteers to get ice cream for everyone - ends up getting most of them just slightly wrong - 'oh i thought you wanted lemon with raspberry.. not strawberry' [yamaguchi] - lowkey you think it’s on purpose - because it’s always people who pissed him off recently - never you though, he’ll never forget your order - even if you do forget to bring your umbrella for him… - (don’t worry he WILL steal one from a nearby resort) 

yachi hitoka

- becomes an amateur photographer - makes you do like fifty different poses - 'just move over like an inch..' [yamaguchi] - once she gets that out of her system, she's like a kid again - definitely a 'you want to play mermaids?' girl - in which you will whether you want to or not - absolutely loves it when the fish come up to her - huge fan of sharks actually - would die if she ever saw one BUT loves the idea of them - super fun to be around - towards the end of the day she just likes floating with you

gen. taglist (open): @eggyrocks @causenessus @applepi25 @softpia

[kaxen]

Coral Reef Doll has a cyborg centaur doll and I am contemplating how much I want her.

But I don't want to drop money until I have a plan on what I shall do with her.

I absolutely need to cram RGB lighting into her head.

Probably gonna do some variant of high contrast cyberpunk. Gotta have some hot pink accents for sure.

Also had a terrible mental image of doing a doll size equivalent of Tennis Ball Table Legs to protect the paint on her tippy toes.

[jumbleddufus]

I swear it's always "I love you so much!" but never

"I will love you with no regard to the actions of our enemies or the jealousies of actors. I will love you with no regard to the outrage of certain parents or the boredom of certain friends. I will love you no matter what is served in the world's cafeterias or what game is played at each and every recess. I will love you no matter how many fire drills we are all forced to endure, and no matter what is drawn upon the blackboard in a blurring, boring chalk. I will love you no matter how many mistakes I make when trying to divide fractions, and no matter how difficult is it to memorize the periodic table. I will love you no matter what your locker combination was, or how you decide to spend your time during study hall. I will love you no matter how your soccer team performed in the tournament or how many stains I received on my cheerleading uniform.

I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you next Tuesday. I will love you if you cut your hair and I will love you if you cut the hair of others. I will love you if abandon your baticeering and I will love you if you retire from the theatre to take up some other, less dangerous occupation. I will love you if you drop your raincoat on the floor instead of hanging it up and I will love you if you betray your father. I will love you even if you announce that the poetry of Edgar Guest is the best in the world and even if you announce that the work of Zilpha Keatley Snyder is unbearably tedious. I will love you if you abandon the theremin and take up the harmonica and I will love you if you donate your marmosets to the zoo and your tree frogs to M. I will love you as the starfish loves a coral reef and as kudzu loves trees, even if the oceans turn to sawdust and the trees fall in the forest without anyone around to hear them. I will love you as the pesto loves the fettuccini and and as the horseradish loves the miyagi, as the tempura loves the the ikura and the pepperoni loves the pizza. I will love you as the manatee loves the head of lettuce and as the dark spot loves the leopard, as the leech loves the ankle of a wader and as a corpse loves the beak of the vulture. I will love you as the doctor loves his sickest patient and a lake loves its thirstiest swimmer.

I will love you as the beard loves the chin, and the crumbs love the beard, and the damp napkin loves the crumbs, and the precious document loves the dampness of the napkin, and the squinting eye of the reader loves the smudged print of the document, and the tears of sadness love the squinting eye as it misreads what is written.

I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat, and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm wale loves the flavor of naval uniforms.

I will love you as a child loves to overhear the conversations of their parents, and the parents love the sound of their own arguing voices, and as the pen loves to write down the words these voices utter in a notebook for safe keeping.

I will love you as a shingle loves falling off a house on a windy day and striking a grumpy person across the chin, and as an oven loves malfunctioning in the middle of roasting a turkey. I will love you as an airplane loves to fall from a clear blue sky and as an escalator loves to entangle expensive scarves in its mechanism. I will love you as a wet paper towel loves to be crumpled into a ball and thrown at a bathroom ceiling and an eraser loves to leave dust in the hairdos of the people who talk too much. I will love you as a cufflink loves to drop from its shirt and explore the party for itself and as a pair of white gloves loves to slip delicately into the punchbowl. I will love you as a taxi loves the muddy splash of a puddle and as a library loves the patient tick of a clock. I will love you as a thief loves a gallery, and as a crow loves murder, as a cloud loves bats and as a range loves braes. I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence, and as justice loves to sit and watch while everything goes wrong. I will love you as a battlefield loves young men and as peppermints love your allergies, and I will love you as the banana peel loves the shoe of a man who was just struck by a falling shingle off a house.

I will love you as a volunteer fire department loves rushing into burning buildings and as burning buildings love to chase them back out, and as a parachute loves to leave a blimp, and as a blimp loves to chase after it.

I will love you as a dagger loves a certain person's back, and as a certain person loves to wear dagger proof tunics, and as a dagger proof tunic loves to go to a certain dry cleaning facility, and how a certain employee of a dry cleaning facility loves to stay up late with a pair binoculars, watching a dagger factory for hours in the hopes of catching a burglar, and as a burglar loves sneaking up behind people with binoculars, suddenly realizing that she has left her dagger at home.

I will love you as a drawer loves a secret compartment, and as a secret compartment loves a secret, and as a secret loves to make a person gasp, and as a gasping person loves a glass of brandy to calm their nerves, and as a glass of brandy loves to shatter on the floor, and as a noise of a glass shattering loves to make someone else gasp, and as someone else gasping loves a nearby desk to lean against, even if leaning against it presses a lever that loves to open a drawer and reveal a secret compartment. I will love you until all such compartments are discovered and opened, and until all the secrets have gone gasping out into the world.

I will love you until all the codes and hearts have been broken and until every anagram and egg has been unscrambled. I will love you until every fire is extinguished and until every home is rebuilt from the handsomest and most susceptible of woods, and until every criminal is handcuffed by the laziest policeman. I will love you until M. hates snakes and J. hates grammar, and I will love you until C. realizes that S. is not worthy of his love and N. realizes he is not worthy of V. I will love you until the bird hates the nest and the worm hates the apple, and until the apple hates the tree and the tree hates the nest, although honestly, I cannot imagine that last occurrence no matter how hard I try.

I will love you as we grow older, which has just happened, and has happened again, and happened several days ago, continuously, and then several years before that, and will continue to happen as the spinning hands of every clock and the flipping pages of every calendar mark the passage of time, except for the clocks that people have forgotten to wind and the calendars that people have forgotten to place in a highly visible area. I will love you as we find ourselves farther and farther from one another, where once we were so close that we could slip the curved straw, and that long, slender spoon, between our lips and fingers respectively. I will love you as the chances of us running into each other slip from slim to zero, and until your face is fogged by a distant memory, and your memory faced by distant fog, and your fog memorized by a distant face, and your distance distanced by the memorized memory of a foggy fog. I will love you no matter where you go and who you see, no matter where you avoid and who you don't see, and no matter who sees you avoiding where you go. I will love you no matter what happens to you, and no matter how I discover what happens to you, and no matter what happens to me as I discover this, and no matter how I am discovered after what happens to me, happens to you as I am discovering this. I will love you if you don't marry me. I will love you if you marry someone else—your co-star perhaps, or Y., or even Q. or anyone Z. through A., even R. although sadly I think it will be quite some time before two woman can be allowed to marry—and I will love you if you have a child, and I will love you if you have two children, or three children, or even more, although I personally think three is plenty, and I will love you if you never marry at all and never have children, and spend your years wishing you had married me after all, and I must say that on late, cold nights I prefer this scenario out of all the scenarios I have mentioned.

That Beatrice, is how I will love you even as the world goes on its wicked way. Always. Continuously. With increasing apprehension, and decreasing hope."

[shibaraki]

A FISH OUT OF WATER ┊ MIYA ATSUMU

synopsis: you are his constant in a life shaped by an ever changing element. he wants you. but you are the most oblivious creature he has ever met.

tags: GN reader, merfolk au, merman atsumu, human reader, childhood friends to lovers, fluff, falling in love, courting behaviours, obliviousness, cultural differences, first kisses, getting together

wc: 3.5K

↱ written for the mermay collab hosted by the teahouse server ↲

As a child Atsumu never understood other finfolks fascination with humans, good or bad. Ma was never reluctant to explain, rather, he just didn’t care to ask. There were far more important things to do in the reef. Like hunting shelled crabs, riding the currents, and eating oysters so he could spit pearls at his brother's head until he gave chase.

But three moons before his twelfth birthday, he found you.

Suspended in the water, bubbles dwindling around your frame as the fight bled from your muscles. You sank into a lifeless repose. A human. Small, smaller than him. Thoughts whirring to a stop, his mind blanked, and his tail propelled him forward in a blink.

You were light in his arms at first. Breaching the surface had been the scary part. Worse then, as he needed to drag you up onto the shore where he could be seen. The section of beach close by was secluded. Shielded by large rocks, tide pools formed in the crevices. Atsumu deposited you onto the sand, hissing at the tides that crawled behind and splashed at your chin as if to scold them.

You convulsed and curled in onto yourself like the tiny dumbo octopus that lived in the crevasse near his home. Water spurted from your nose and mouth. It gathered in the corners of your eyes and rolled down your cheeks. Atsumu stared as you wailed and felt his own tumultuous emotions swell dramatically. Restless under his skin was the urge to calm you. To comfort you. But he had never been any good at that kind of thing.

So he reached out to pat your leg. It was covered in clumps of sand. Your shorts and shirt were drenched, and one of your feet had lost a flip flop. Then he repeated what Ma always told him, “Don’t worry, guppy. I’m here”.

That distracted you enough that your attention fell on him. Your immediate petrified screech reverberated harshly in his sensitive ears, both pressed flat to his head as he hissed and squirmed further back into the ocean to escape the sound.

“A—A monster! Get away!”

An odd sense of vulnerability washed over him. Embarrassment, shame, anger. At that moment, Atsumu decided all his assumptions must have been correct. You were clearly a few fish short of a shoal. “M’not a monster,” he’d shouted back, fins flared irritably. “Be grateful I saved yer life, Ugly! Ugly, ugly, ugly!”

Your face scrunched up at the insults, covered in salt water, tears and bile. A dull ache struck against his skull, hard and sudden. You had kicked him in the head and ran away.

Osamu laughed at the mark upon his return. Atsumu endured, kept his mouth shut and resolved never to go back to the surface. Ever! But curiosity still drew him back the next morning. And the next. Every day he checked, you were there, standing awkwardly on the beach and squinting at the horizon. Searching.

Ma’s voice echoed through his thoughts while he hid from view. Atsumu was great at lots of things. Loads better than Osamu. Racing, hunting, splitting shells, tying knots, playing ball. Not so great at making friends. Try to meet ‘em where they’re at, she said. Smile. Be nice. Find what they like and ask about it.

When he finally plucked the courage to make his presence known you’d been back in the tide pools. The ends of your shirt pulled out to hold all the shells you were collecting, heavily weighing on the wet fabric. A few tumbled down as you crouched to pick up a limpet, mouth curling into a pleased grin. Limpets are boring, he thought. And an idea struck.

Diving lower, Atsumu combed through the sand and seaweed until he spotted an iridescent spiral of orange and purple. The snail went helplessly as he clasped it between his webbed fingers, shooting for the rocks. You were still there, filling the silence with a directionless hum.

Atsumu broke the surface quietly. Enough distance between that you could not kick him again. “Hey!” he called, hands thrusted out toward you, head already turned toward his shoulder to brace for another scream. “Got a snail. Wanna see?”

Nothing came. He hadn’t realised how much your acceptance meant to him until then—when you crouched excitedly close by, unheeding of the tide soaking you further, and gasped as he presented the gift. Relief burst in his chest, warm and tingly to the tips of his fins at the careful prodding of your fingers to the creature in his palms; so intense that a wave of luminescence washed through his scales.

“I was looking for you,” you later admitted, voice softened in apology. “Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry I kicked you and called you mean things”.

Atsumu detailed the slight pout to your lips. Knees shifting in the sand. Eyes wide, gleaming hopefully as you waited for his reply. Something fluttered in his stomach the longer you looked at him. Horrified, the longer he looked back, the more it dawned on him that you were not ugly at all.

“Good. So y’should be,” he grumbled, smacking his tail up onto the shore. Heat blotched across his cheeks when you glanced at it in awe. Timid, he added, “…S’fine though. Didn’t hurt”.

Smiling gleefully at that as his gaze darted back and forth, you held out your pinky and promised to always be his friend.

Time elapsed. Seasons passed. No longer a juvenile, his colours started to come into full bloom. Rich gold around his hips and waist, tapering into black toward his large ruffled tail fin. Even his hair lightened as he took to adulthood. After his twentieth birthday the months seemed to come and go faster than he liked. You were his one constant in a life shaped by an ever changing element. Atsumu’s blatant affection for you remained his worst kept secret but none of the finfolk scorned him for it.

Osamu’s steadfast teasing was the only downside. Offhanded or feigning disinterest, he’d always ask, “What d’you keep doing up there?”

Atsumu bounced a hard clam off his brother’s thick skull, “Nothin’. Told’ya a million times, I just like the surface”.

“Uh-huh. Does the ‘surface’ in question happen ta’ have a name and a pulse?”

“You’ll soon have neither if you don’t shut yer trap, ‘Samu!”

Summer comes along and once again, Atsumu decides to remain in the reef. There’s a new den for him in the alcove, carved out from the outcropping of rock with his own hands, right next to a dense forest of kelp. The afternoon sun filters through it in rays as the currents shift, dewy light dancing on the walls.

Two years he has been eligible to migrate and find a mate. This will make it his second absence from the celebrations. Ma never pushed him despite the worry written plain on her face. Osamu only pinned him with a knowing look as he went. It will be the longest they’ve been apart from one another and he doesn’t like it.

Realistically he still could have attended—should have, maybe, lest the other pods find his refusal disrespectful. But Astumu had no compulsion to go. The very idea of leaving you threw his instincts into high gear and he needed to race the currents just to calm the urgency wracking his bones. Because somewhere amidst the years spent with you he became aware of the voice clamoring in the back of his head. One that had been growing in intensity for some time, but hadn't been quite as loud as it was until the elders advised him to take a partner.

You were his mate.

Atsumu had been subconsciously courting you since you were children. Bringing you food and gifts, letting his display scales flash lurid in your presence. He kept guard as you slept on the sand, picked the seaweed and dirt from your hair, swam in synchrony with you when the tides were calm, wrapping your legs around his tail until you become a knot of a person. In hindsight, it was embarrassingly obvious—

Yet you are still blissfully oblivious to it, and that nags at him like nothing else.

Raking claw tipped fingers through his hair, Atsumu paces the length of his den with thoughts of how to be more deliberate in his courtship. Human relationships were complex—purposefully difficult, in some cases. You might respond better if he simply confessed what his intentions were.

You’ve promised to come by the cove as soon as you’re free today. Adulthood came with plenty of changes for you as well as him. You have to work more than he likes. It means less time together; hours spent with other people, any of which could stake their own claim and take you from his reach.

Agitated, Atsumu darts to the surface the instant the sky settles into evening. The sun spreads a blush across the ocean’s surface, tepid but pleasant when it kisses his cheeks. Your distant figure is climbing over the rock formations with careful movements. At first he lingers in the deeper water, submerged below the nose to watch like he used to all those years ago.

“‘Tsumu!” arms high in the air, you wave and bounce on the balls of your feet when you spot him. Lazily, he rides the small wave that floods onto the shelf you are standing on, arms folding on the craggy surface to keep his upper half above water.

There’s a bag over your shoulder. It drops low with the weight it carries. “Look what the tide dragged in,” you let the bag drop, contents half spilling out across the floor. Familiar things. Suncream, bottled water, a change of clothes. Your foot comes to rest atop the worn volleyball as it rolls toward the edge, flinching when he splashes at you in retaliation. “You’re here earlier than usual. Did’ya miss me?”

Atsumu bobs, eyes rolling. “Was too busy making up my new den to think twice about’cha, sunshine,” he cracks a grin. You bat at the hand that threatens to circle around your ankle as you lower yourself to sit on the shelf’s edge, legs swinging over the depths.

“All grown up and living on your own now,” you pat his head in what is intended to be condescension but only ends up conveying fondness for him as your fingernails scratch gently at his scalp. “Proud of you”.

“Stupid,” he mumbles, tipping into the touch without shame as he bobs in the water. Peeking up at you through the hair drying unruly over his eyes his heart sits prominent at the back of his throat. You’re in your swimsuit under your clothes again, he notices. “Ya gonna get in with me today?”

“Planned on it,” you replied coyly. Atsumu inhales deeply. Gills flutter. He feels his fins flare around his hips and smothers the need to hide himself, nudging his cheek to your bare thigh. A beat passes and your smile dims somewhat, “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately, ‘Tsumu”.

He rumbles his disapproval. Turning to nose at the skin there, Atsumu loosens his jaw and gently pincers your flesh between his teeth. Just enough to serve as a warning. The muscle and sinew remains relaxed despite it all, entirely sure he wouldn’t hurt you.

A heavy warmth drapes over his being at the heat, blood and beating heart echoing through your veins. “Gross,” you say without malice, flicking his temple at the lave of his tongue over your nonexistent wound.

“Ugly,” he returns, affectionate cadence unrestrained. You temper a smirk, kicking water his way as you tug your t-shirt over your head. Atsumu sinks into the sea’s cool embrace while you undress. Years ago you would have shied away from his blatant staring.

You’re welcoming to the arms that circle your waist as you turn to lower your body into the water. Atsumu doesn’t need to hold you up anymore, not like when you were young and easily drawn into the stronger currents, but he does so regardless. It earns him a soft huff, and a weak protest that is patently for show, but you let him.

A pleased sound vibrates in his throat before he can bite it back. You’re truly the softest thing he has ever laid hands on. Your fingers trail along his biceps, tracing the scales decorating his shoulders. Bioluminescence pulses through them with a shudder and you laugh at him, though not unkindly, “You’re lookin’ a lot brighter lately”.

Your ignorance is a blessing sometimes. Hiding his face in your hair his tail undulates and pushes your entwined bodies back toward the reef. Pride swells as your thighs cinch around his hips. The tides break around you, paving a pathway of foam from the shore to the corals. Below are vibrant formations, each unique and intricate, shelter for shoals of fish darting from the shadows stretching across on the seabed.

“Hey… can I ask you something?”

“Just did,” Atsumu snarks reflexively. You tighten your hold around his neck, leaning back to glare at him. You are about as intimidating as a sea bunny. He hums, “Alright, I’ll bite. What is it?”

Something flits across your features. Hesitance, maybe. Then your anxieties are spilling out into the open, “Why’d you split off from your group? Are they mad at you or something? If it’s because of me—”

Words stutter into a pitched plea for mercy when he pointedly tucks his chin to suck a mouthful of water into his cheeks. You flinch preemptively, throwing your hands up to your face. Atsumu holds a moment longer, pursing his lips as if readying to fire. You push at his chest in a fit of nervous laughter, “Okay, okay! I get it, it’s not my fault—don’t spray me!”

He doesn’t spit it at you. The seawater falls from his lips, trickles over his chin and returns to the tide. “Yer ability to overthink never fails to amaze me,” your breathing hitches as he brings your foreheads together. The flustered look you cast him makes him squeeze tighter, unwilling to let go. “They’ve gone to the mating grounds, that’s all. Figured it was as good’a time as any to find my own territory”.

You pause, a crease forming between your brows. “The mating grounds? You’ve never mentioned that before”.

Atsumu shrugs. The movement ripples out around you in broad rings. “Never needed to,” he says. “Wasn't important. M’here, aren’t I?”

“Why?” the pressure from your thighs lessens, just a fraction, but he’s already scrambling to cup the back of your knees and keep them there. You freeze. Scrutinising any minute change to his expression, eyes bright and flickering. Atsumu avoids your gaze with his inner cheek between his teeth. Slow, a smirk pulls at your lips. “Don’t tell me you’ve got no suitors”.

Atsumu chitters, displeased. You shouldn’t find the idea amusing. He wants you to hate it. Sulking, he says, “Glad ya think that’s funny”.

Your face falls, then. And you are seeking the strong grip he had on you before, clutching at his shoulders. Your hands slide carefully up the column of his neck, featherlight over his gills. A shiver breaks out across his skin as you take his face into your hands. “Hey, no. I didn’t mean—” you stop to sound a frustrated groan. “I didn’t mean it like that, ‘Tsumu. I just—I thought you were joking. Why wouldn’t a mer like you have everybody vying for your attention?”

His mouth shapes around a small ‘o’. Then it draws wide, crooked and teasing. “A mer like me, eh?” he echoes, slipping back from your grasp to circle you in the water as a thrilling static buzzed under his skin. Need grips him and hems his scales, saturating them with rich gold hues. “Like what?”

“Stop fishing for compliments, loser. You know,” you struggle to tread water and spin to track his circular motions, pushing a vindictive wave of water at him. “You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen”.

The glow from his display is bleeding into the blue-green waters and attracting the attention of the reef dwellers but he’s too pleased to be mortified. He halts his stalking, crowding into your arms, “Y’think I’m—?!”

Your fingers thread into his hair. With all your might you dunk him under, cutting his sentence short as a wave rushes to fill the space in his open mouth. He laughs through the descent of your body, the force having pushed him low enough that he is facing your bare stomach. Remaining there, even as you relinquish your grip.

Other finfolk never really commented on his colouring. They hadn’t attempted to initiate courtship, either, not with his priorities elsewhere. You have praised his scales before but this feels different. In the context of being wanted—desired as a partner. Maybe it’s just pretty words. But you would not have submerged him in a fit of embarrassment if there weren’t some truth in it.

Fins vibrating eagerly, small trails of bubbles rise to the surface. You're patting at his arms now, worried why he won’t come up, expression distorted by the water. He sinks forward, face pressing up against your midriff. Your abdomen immediately clenches. Nails dig into the curve of his shoulder as he mouths at your sternum. Arms rise to wrap around your waist and your knees flank his ribs, squeezing tight.

A mer’s senses are that much sharper here. He feels your stuttered breath, hears your heartbeat quicken, smells the beginnings of arousal. It tastes like victory, overwhelming all rational thought. Head to tailfin his instincts are begging to drag you to his den and fuck you to sleep.

But he can’t. Not yet, and not the way he wants to.

Pushing into a soft, resting stomach, Atsumu takes a breath, shakes himself from his reverie and blows hard against the skin. You immediately convulse, trying to squirm out of his grasp. Overhead, your sweet laughter; muffled by the white noise around him but just as euphonious.

You’re panting when he finally resurfaces, your head tilted to keep your chin above water. The tide must be coming in. He supports you against his chest, making you a few inches taller. “You dickhead. Fishbrains,” you chide breathlessly, betrayed by the fond look in your eye. “Shit. Don’t do that again”.

“Mean. What happened to gorgeous?” Atsumu’s pout trembles, struggling to keep his amusement at bay.

“I'll take it back!”

“No take backsies,” he croons, nuzzling at your jawline. Dangerous. “Glad ya think I’m hot and all but that’s not the only part of courting. Like, proving yer able to take care of them. Hunting an’ preparing food. Presenting gifts. Helping them groom. Keeping guard. S’why it takes the whole summer”.

As he speaks a slither of dread settles heavy in his gut. The memories practically flit across your face, visibly connecting the dots. “But you’ve always done those things—” your voice loses strength, mouth opening and closing a few times before finishing, “for me…?”

The sky is bruised. Clouds have gathered by the cliffs, and the sun is almost tucked beneath the horizon, casting a final burst of orange across the glittering ocean’s surface. His display dims. “Yea’,” he clears his throat, summoning a playful tone, “Real sharp, angel. I sure know how to pick ‘em”.

Any confidence he had slips between his fingers like dry sand the longer the silence draws between you. A sad note catches in his throat. His gills twitch as he waits with bated breath. Warm, soft hands come to cradle his face. Your thumb sweeps gently back and forth beneath his eye.

You don’t laugh. You don’t even splash at him. Rather, reverently, you say “…‘Tsumu”.

He peers up to meet your gaze. Softened by dusk, you are watching him through lidded eyes, crinkled at the corners. A sharp sensation frissons up his spine. You tilt his chin, bringing him into a chaste kiss. Atsumu shudders, hands pawing desperately at your hips. You pull back a hair’s breadth only to kiss him again, full lips sliding together, a more deliberate press that grows fervent at the cautious lick of his tongue.

When you seek air with a sharp inhale your eyes flutter closed for a moment. Atsumu doesn’t bother to dull his purr, nor the soft flow emitting from his tail, forming a golden ring of light around your entangled bodies. Mirthfully, you murmur, “I can’t believe it. You like me”.

It feels right; like finally letting himself have everything he’s ever wanted.

He laughs quietly, tucking a kiss beneath your ear, “Somethin’ like that”.