#tag yourself im fish link

[bonninium]

never in my life will i draw link seriously

[gallaghersgal]

Smoke & Mirrors || Lip Gallagher

chapter one of BORDERLINE.

pairing: lip gallagher x fem!reader (nickname: MK)

warnings & tags: the start of a SLOWburn. idiots with tension. mature for mentions of violence, smoking, swearing, canon typical dialogue and whatnot. y'all've seen the show!

chapter summary: lip gallagher has been your best friend since before you could remember. he's the smartest person you know, so it astounds you how someone like him can be oh so stupid. you're committed to investing in his future, even if he isn't. you won't let your best friend end up stuck on the southside.

a/n: ummmm hi!! wrote basically this whole thing in the last 24hrs. it's unedited and tbh if i look at it for one more second im gonna explode!! enjoy <33

wc: 2.9k

The crisp October air sends a chill down your spine as you usher your younger sister Caroline out the door for school. She groans and rolls her eyes when you grab her by the handle of her backpack, pulling her back to adjust her scarf. At a mere thirteen years old she already carries the same attitude you did at sixteen. “Whatever you’re gonna say, I don’t wanna hear it. You were just sick, dad’ll have my head on a platter if I don’t make you bundle up.”

She stomps her foot, a stupid, childish action that has you mentally swearing to never have kids of your own. Helping raise this one was enough as it is. “It’s not even-” she starts, but you cut her off.

“I said I don’t wanna hear it. Wear your fucking scarf or I’m telling mom you make that tutor kid do your math homework.” You shove her head gently after securing the scarf around her neck and let her stomp down the stairs. “Don’t be a brat.”

She doesn’t answer, instead starting down the street towards the bus stop. Cigarette smoke wafts over the morning air from the Gallagher house. You turn to see Lip on the front stoop, blood shining on his brow as he smokes. You feel a twist in your gut. What did he get himself into this time, you think. The repetitive motion of locking the door comes like second nature and you spend the thirty odd seconds it takes worrying about the boy across the street.

When you turn towards the Gallagher house Caroline is already ahead of you, not waiting until she passes the chain-link fence to call out, “what happened to your face?”

You catch up in time to hear him scoff, “good morning to you too, Kit-Kat,” pulling out her childhood nickname, the one she still hates, that he gave to her when she was barely four. “‘S nothing. Battle scars an’ shit.”

“What the fuck kinda battle did’ya get yourself into?” you ask, leaning down to take his chin between your thumb and forefinger. The cut isn’t too bad, a lot of blood for a relatively small abrasion, but the skin around his eye is already blossoming a dark bruise. Lip stares at you as if to say ‘not in front of the kid,’ and you nod, fishing a five dollar bill out of your pocket. You were saving it for work, but Caroline’s silence is worth more. She raises an eyebrow, to which you snap, “just don’t tell mom, ‘kay? And don’t skip just ‘cause I'm skipping.”

Caroline turns to leave and you extend a hand to Lip, pulling him to stand. Eager fingers reach for his burnt-down cig when he goes to drop it, taking the final hit for yourself before stubbing it out on the sidewalk. “Greedy. Gotta buy y’own pack,” he remarks with a smirk. All it takes is a second to get back across the stress, and once you’re inside he unwraps the scarf from his neck. 

Your eyes catch on his bruised knuckles and you tilt your head to the side with a silent question, you gonna tell me what happened? He sighs, hearing you loud and clear despite not speaking a single word. “Got into it with Frank. He was givin’ Ian shit for no fuckin’ reason.”

“Mm,” you nod, and catch his hand after he runs it nervously through his curls. The bruises there aren’t as bad as the one on his eye, Frank must’ve only gotten one good, drunken swing in. No cuts either, which was good. For all his tough guy exterior, Lip Gallagher couldn’t stand the sting of peroxide. The less you need the better, you think, and a grin plays at your lips when you glance up at him, holding his injured hand up. “Think y’can roll a joint with these?”

His laugh is like music to your ears, revelling in the first grin you’ve seen from him this morning. “Yeah, yeah I can do that, y’wanna jus’ skip the whole day? We could catch a movie ‘r somethin’,” he suggests, following you upstairs to your room.

You shake your head, opening the door to your room for him. “Can't. Calc test in third period. Sit down, ‘m gonna get the first aid kit.” While you get the kit from the shelf in your closet you hear him open your desk drawer, pulling out the grinder and weed jar you keep hidden at the back.

“You got a shirt or somethin’ I could change into? This one smells like Frank’s fuckin’ booze,” Lip scoffs. He shrugs the tee over his head and lights another cigarette, his eyes following your every move with that same boyish twinkle you’d grown fond of over the years. It was always good to remember things weren’t getting to him, not too bad. 

You cast a glare in his direction, silently scolding him, ‘you know better, let me open the window,’ but he only grins in response. Pale morning light illuminates the room when you pull back your blackout curtains and crack the window. The city is still quiet–or, as quiet as it gets in Chicago–and the sounds of gentle wind and birdsong fall softly on your ears.

You settle at his side, first aid kit in one hand and a gray and black sweater of his in the other. Curious fingers reach for a small cut on his shoulder. “What’s this one from?” You trace the gash. It isn’t deep either, but it’ll need to be cleaned so it doesn’t get infected.

“It’s, uh, ’s nothin,” he brushes you off, to which you shoot him a glare. That sets him straight. In a low mumble he simply states, “beer bottle.”

Rage seethes inside you, your jaw tensing as you wet a cotton ball with peroxide. You keep any comments to yourself, not sure how LIp will react. You’re aware of his more than complicated familial relationships–you’d grown up with thim, seeing Frank’s drinking get worse, and the aftermath of Monica leaving–but if there was one constant with the Gallagher kids, it was family first, above everything. You had your opinions of Frank, and you knew Lip shared your distaste more than anything, but that didn’t take away the sensitive nature of the topic. So, you stay quiet, dabbing at the wound with a gentle hand. The sting draws a sharp hiss from him, and it’s then that you realize how flushed he is, his cheeks, neck and chest are a soft pink color. Graciously, you pretend not to notice, so as not to embarrass him further.

When the cut is cleaned and covered with a bandage Lip takes his sweater, pulling it over his head. It leaves his hair mussed and he smoothes a hand through his curls while you tilt his chin up, inspecting the cut on his brow. Blue eyes stare up at you with a vulnerability you’re not used to seeing from the boy you grew up with. At least you know he’s comfortable with you. That’s all.

Comfortable. Friendly. Nothing more. The same as it’s always been.

The way it’s meant to be.

“Quit starin’, get me fixed up so we can smoke this,” Lip grumbles, gesturing towards the rolling tray in his lap. You laugh at that, heart quickening in your chest. Tensions between the two of you had been thick as of late, but underneath it all things remained the same.

“Glad to know you’ve got your priorities straight,” you snort, cleaning up the second wound with peroxide. He takes it better this time, more prepared for the sting, but you still catch the way a few pained tears brim in his bright eyes. 

Soft, parted lips rest under your fingers as you clean the final abrasion. The bruising is the worst here, deep purple hues present across his mouth and down to his chin. He finishes rolling as you’re wiping at the blood that pooled below his lip, a deep red trail spilling down his chin. Your delicate motions are interrupted by Lip bringing the joint up to seal it, licking along the edge of the rolling paper. 

“‘M almost finished, be patient,” you murmur, focused on keeping the disinfectant out of his mouth. A moment later you pull back, swiping vaseline over the split before wiping the excess on his jeans. Payback for interrupting your tending to his wounds. “There. All patched up. Say ‘thank you nurse,’” you tease with a grin.

He’s already flicking the lighter on, holding the flame against the end of the joint to take the first hit for himself. You busy yourself with cleaning up the first aid supplies until he passes it off to you. Thick, earthy smelling smoke flows from his parted mouth, which lifts into a mischievous grin as he hands you the joint. “My lip’s busted up pretty fuckin’ bad. Think y’could kiss it better?”

Your cheeks flush with embarrassment at his blunt proposal. “Shut up,” you retort with a sharp laugh, before you can even consider it.

Lip throws on an exaggerated frown, “oh, c’mon MK. You know it’d be so fucking hot- ow!” He flinches, chest shaking with laughter as you throw your remote at him. “Okay! Okay, I know I know. You’re not one of my g-”

“Little ghetto girlfriends,” you tease, repeating the drunken dig an alibi patron had once thrown at Lip. 

“Exactly.”

You shake your head, laughing at him for a moment. “You’re never getting in my pants Gallagher. I’ve known you since we were three. It’s wrong,” you lie. Lip is your best friend, the same role he’s filled your entire life, side by side since the two of you were in diapers. But your rejection stems from something deeper than that.

Lip Gallagher is inconsistent. You can’t exactly call him unfaithful if he never truly commits to one girl, but he’s not one for relationships. He’s flighty. He runs from affection. More often than not he buries his true feelings under snark and insults, weed, booze, and–when all else fails–aggression. That doesn’t mean you didn’t love him, it doesn’t mean you had no feelings for him, it just gives you reason to brush off his advances. For now, it can remain a little game between the two of you.

Months ago, when these unwanted feelings began to blossom in your chest, you’d promised yourself you wouldn’t be just another girl he messed around with. You aren’t willing to let him mess this thing up for the both of you.

Eager to change the subject you move to your desk, pulling out an informational packet from MIT. Before you can get a word out Lip is shaking his head, casting a skeptical glare in your direction. “Hey, come on. I just want you to apply.” You lean to hand the packet over but he reaches for the joint instead, which you pull away quickly.

“No you come on, why would I apply to MIT, seriously,” he shoots back, refusing to take the folder from your hand. He settles more comfortably in your bed, laying back against the pillows and staring up at the ceiling instead of meeting your eyes. “Bunch ‘f ivy league reject pricks ridin’ on daddy’s money. You’re lucky I’m even applying to schools in town.” Greedy hands reach forward for the joint again and you yield with a sigh, passing it over. As an afterthought, you toss the packet to him as well.

“Just consider it, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll think about it,” he says. You don’t need anything but the way he avoids your eyes to know it’s a lie. 

You purse your lips, throwing an icy stare his way. Lip Gallagher may be your best friend, but you’re not going to take any of his shit. “Have you even got any applications in?”

The question seems to take him by surprise, tendrils of smoke curling from the corner of his parted lips. “I’ve got a few,” another lie.

“Really? What schools,” you question, head tilted to the side with a knowing look. “Don’t lie to me, I know you better than anyone. I can tell.”

He laughs at that, shaking his head in disbelief. “Fine, you got me. I haven’t applied anywhere yet.” The end of the joint has a good stretch of ash, which he’s trying to keep precariously attached while he takes another hit. 

“Scoot,” you mumble, grabbing your own binder of college information packets. He stretches one arm back towards your desk to snag your heart shaped ashtray and knocks the ash off, then lays the tray in the space between your bodies. You settle in beside him, your knees propped comfortably over the throw pillow that always ended up in the middle of your bed. One hand takes the joint and the other opens your binder. 

Pages upon pages of information, campus maps, scholarship pamphlets, and your hand written tuition calculations make Lip go a little cross eyed as you flip towards a page with a yellow tab. “Okay. Here, look,” you point at the information you’d circled, reading Engineering B.S., training the Innovators of Tomorrow. “UI Urbana-Champaign. Great engineering program–” you flip the page over “–and scholarships for kids from underserved communities.”

You settle the joint between your lips, flipping through a few more pages. After a deep inhale you use it to gesture towards the page. “Or UChicago, that way you’d be close to home. They’ve got this thing called inner city promise. Smart kids, like you, from certain high schools with certain academic records and test scores can get full rides.” You run a finger down the short list, stopping at a familiar name and tapping it. “See? Lincoln Grove High School. You’d qualify, Lip.”

“‘M not some fuckin’ charity case,” he grumbles, snatching the burnt-down joint from your hand. “You’re a pain in my ass, y’know that?”

“Oh I’m a pain?” you snap, turning on your side to glare at him. “For what, believing in you? For not taking any of your self-deprecating, avoidant bullshit?”

He shrugs then, and the action is almost shy. He’s embarrassed. You have this innate ability to see him, the way no one else does. You scare yourself with it sometimes. “Just don’t know why you care so much,” he mumbles.

The sigh that leaves you is a deep, tired one. Convincing him of these things has always been difficult. For as smart as he is, Lip can be so infuriatingly stupid. “You’re smart, Lip. You’ve always been smart. I dunno what I would do if I went off to college and you stayed here. In this shithole.”

He doesn’t laugh the way you expect him to. He doesn’t brush it off. He just stares.

“We made a pact, did you forget?” you continue. He shakes his head silently, the far off look in his eyes letting you know he’s remembering that day. 

The day the two of you spent drinking by the pool. Making promises to each other. You’d said you would make it out, and you would do it together. You’d made Lip promise you that he’d give it a try, and stupidly you believed him. Or was it stupid? You’re not ready to give up yet. 

“I don’t want to do it without you,” you admit to him.

Lip looks at you, his blue eyes softening. “Do what without me?” You shake your head, scooting closer to rest your head on his shoulder. He stubs out the joint and wraps an arm around your shoulders. Friendly, comfortable affection. The kind you were used to. “C’mon MK, spit it out.”

“Any of it,” you return. “Don’t think I could get through another four years of school if you’re not doing it with me.”

“Yeah? What if we’re at different schools, dumbass,” he retorts, but his palm soothes across your arm, a contrast to his words. “You gonna follow me to MIT, since y’want me to go so bad?”

You can’t help the laugh that bubbles up in your chest, turning to look up at him with a grin playing at your lips. He got what he wanted. He made you laugh. “I’ll call you every night.”

“Every night huh?” he says with a smirk. “Cockblocking me from a thousand miles away is just like you, isn’t it.”

You shove him playfully, sitting up to move the ashtray off your bed. The MIT packet lays somewhere at the foot of the bed and you search through the pillows to find it. Instead of handing it to Lip, you just tuck it into his backpack, handing the bag to him after. “Well yeah, can’t have you getting distracted by the chess team girls,” you joke back. 

He lays there in your bed, looking up at you with that stupid grin of his. All bared teeth and mischief, the same one you’d seen all those years ago. You stay silent for a moment longer before you stand, holding out a hand to pull him up. 

“You sure we can’t just skip?”

“No, ‘ve got a test, remember? Gotta keep my grades up if ‘m gonna follow you all the way to MIT,” you say, and shakes his head with a laugh. Maybe he’s coming around to the idea. “Come on, I’ll drive us.”

thanks so much for reading!! series masterlist here.

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[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch14 Mers And Ladies

(Warnings: Mentioning of killing/blood/murder/wounds/drowning/bloodloss, Y/n does have a stab wound but it's NOT serious and doesn't really affect her too much. Mentioning of yn being stabbed with a knife.

NOW SOME IMPORTANT INFO FOR THIS CHAPTER!! I have three things to announce.

Firstly just a quick recap of mer Tengen's design-

Tengen would be a white butterfly koi fish mer and would look like the linked post below except less eel and more butterfly koi also below.

Merman Tengen( minus the eel like features)

his tail would be more like this instead

Secondly the QnA from last chapter. If any questions are lumped together then it's because the same person asked more than one question.

*Is Y/n still alive?

Obviously yes. And she's ok.

*Do mers have jobs or just chill in the ocean? Is there a mer equivalent to the demon slayer corps? Is there a reason why the wives chose to go by Tengen's last names and not Rengoku's? Why does Rengoku still go  by his own last name? Is polygamy more common among mers?

They just chill. No not really. Usually only the lady mers change their last names but this isn't always the case, but they love Tengen very much. Rengoku is still attached to his family name. Not really. Some mers are poly some aren't.

*How many chapters are left?

Im not sure. I already have the plot in mind, it's just a matter of writing it out. 

*Was Tengen's parts near the end a flashback or happening in the moment?

In the moment. No flashbacks that chapter.

Thanks to everyone who asked questions! Now that's over with-

Thirdly, I made a small side story for Ocean Deep containing Mer Douma x Reader. The link for anyone who wants to read it is below I also read you can replace a pint of blood after donating it within 24 hours if this is inaccurate I apologize.

taglist: @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan @camilo-uwu @hopefulworld1

@shadyd3ar @amypop122 @azuredragonstrike

@mimisweetz @chaoticoperatorduckhairdo @staarflowerr @aleee-386

Remember if you want to be added to the tag list lemme know.

"Leave her on the beach! Someone will find her or she'll wake up and go home herself!"

A voice..Male. Deeper. Different. Unfamiliar.

"We can't just abandon her! She's wounded! LOOK FOR YOURSELF!"

Pain. Numbness. Cold black closing in. 

"....."

"Tengen, please."

"....Press down on the wound tightly. It's a long trip and if she's going to make it then she'll need all the blood she can keep in her body."

Where are you?

.. Everything is so dark. 

What happened?

Why isn't there anything here?

We're you dead? Did you finally die? Is this what being dead was? Nothing but black abyss where you couldn't feel anything? ...It was ..oddly peaceful despite being so eerie.

"-likeliness to survive is guaranteed I'd say."

Huh? What was that? It sounded like the second half of a sentence you only just now noticed. Was there other spirits here with you?

"That's a relief. I was worried about the stab to her shoulder there. I do hope she's not too hurt."

"Don't worry yourself too much, Koyuki. It was a rather small blade and it only stabbed some fat and muscle. A few stitches and some rest will have her healed up within a few months!"

A small sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness. I'm sure everyone will be relieved to hear that."

"How about you? How are you feeling today? That sudden fever came out of nowhere."

"I feel much better but Shinobu says I should stay in bed today."

"That's good. Did she wake up while we were gone?"

"No but she did move in her sleep."

"Ah. Good. That means she might wake up soon. I'll just take your temperature and leave you two to rest for a little while."

There was the sounds of retreating footsteps and maybe a door squeaking shut. Did the afterlife even have doors? You didn't get a chance before the world fell into unconscious again- The next time you regained consciousness, you opened your eyes only to blink suddenly as a harsh light beamed down on you. Was that the fabled tunnel? We're you going to heaven?! A few blinks more had the harsh light evening out into other less harsh colors of browns and beige. You didn't know heaven had an oak ceiling-...

Wait. Ceiling?

F/c eyes blinked and eyebrows scrunched in confusion as your vision ever so slowly unblurred and you found yourself staring at an oakwood ceiling. There was silence as you continued to stare at it for the longest time.. before your head tilted to the right. The light source was discovered in the form of an open window. The sight of a calm blue sky and fluffy white clouds greeted you and a nice warm breeze bringing the smell of the salty ocean came through...Wait. This wasn't the beach. Could it be-??

Your eyes shifted down to your body and you only now felt the soft warmth hugging your body. Clean sheets covered your body as you lied upon your futon and a nice thick and warm blue blanket covered you from your feet to your neck. You were..in bed?? Could it be that this entire thing was just a dream? Only a silly dream about mermaids and jewelry and Akira that felt like it lasted for months but was really only a night or two? 

Slowly you willed your arm to move. Your right arm pushed up, up, up. You felt heavy, sluggish, and every movement was a pins and needles tingling feeling. The blue blanket fell away partially as your hand extended to the ceiling and wriggled all five fingers. Your other hand went to do the same thing-

UNTIL A WHITE HOT PAIN SHOT FROM YOUR SHOULDER AND DOWN YOUR SPINE-!!!

"AH!!"

You couldn't help but cry out from the sudden throbbing pain that shot from your shoulder and throughout your body. It was a burning throbbing pain that pulsed out from just behind your left shoulder. Your teeth gritted as you hissed, body contorting in pain and then there was a sharp gasp-

...Wait. That wasn't from you. 

Your head turned to the left in the direction of the sound and froze as two pairs of eyes met. A pair of pretty cherry blossom pink eyes and equally shaped pretty white flower shaped pupils stared down at your confused orbs. For a moment there was nothing but silence as your brain processed the other person in the room looking at you- Before she jumped as your body moved quickly.

Pink eyes blinked watching the other woman quickly flip onto her right side and struggle to push herself up onto numb arms and legs. "W-Wait! Don't do that! You'll hurt yourself!"

The other paid no mind to her warnings as she proceeded to crawl like a rapid animal desperate to get away from here. Falling onto her face after getting entangled in the sheets and letting out a yelp of pain. A rush of adrenaline shot up into your veins as you forced yourself back up and, although probably looking ridiculous, you crawled desperately for the door despite the emense pain in your shoulder and how tingly and weak your limbs were.

"Please stop! You're making it worse!"

Ignored. A desperate churning voice pounded at your skull. Run! Run! Run! Get out! Get away! It shouted that over and over, and like a scared injured rabbit you obeyed that. Legs unready for walking were forced up- only for you to fall back onto them with a thud. 

"Shinobu! Kanae! Somebody help!"

More people?! SCREW THIS!! In some adrenaline fueled strength, somehow your foggy mind was able to get up onto your legs shaking uncontrollably like you were a bare in a blizzard! You ran! Throwing yourself at the door and throwing it open with a slide! A loud thudding sound reverberated throughout the hall and room as you threw yourself out- Only to collide almost collide into someone carrying a bowl.  The pink haired girl squealed as you knocked into her, knocking the bowl of soup outta her hands. The distant sounds of spilling liquids filled the air behind you as your body collided with a wall so wobbly and unstable that you fell over onto your stomach. If your head wasn't blank from the pain, you might've heard the thud of the bowl and the clattering of a spoon somewhere behind you. Scrambling, clawing at the floorboards, and crawling like a desperate animal just turned free you carried on. Looking like a crazy person. Freedom! Freedom! To freedom you nearly were-

Until hands grabbed you.

You squealed out as two pairs of hands grabbed you by the arms on either side of your body and pulled you backwards and away from the door with a window in the middle showing the outside world and your near freedom. 

"Fast one aren't you?"

"LET ME GO!," you shrieked kicking out weakly no avail. 

Whoever it was was physically stronger as you were dragged across the floor back towards the room, and you were too physically weak to fight them off. Your shoulder still throbbed in pain but that didn't stop whoever they were from pulling you back into the room past the pink haired girl who tilted her head and looked worried with a hand to her face. You cursed pushing and pulling until you were plopped down onto something soft and you were finally released, falling backwards onto the soft bed- Your body said screw it and pushed yourself back up to snarl at your captors-...Only to be taken aback by what..Or better yet WHO who saw surrounding you.

LADIES!!

There was five other women in here staring at you. And all of them were fairly beautiful.  There was the girl still sitting in the futon a few feet away from you, her long black hair flowing around her nightgown and an open book she had presumably been reading open wide on her lap. A second figure was worriedly shifting from one foot to the other looking the most worried and had long pink braids that faded to a lime green at the ends. But the two you REALLY noticed was the two looming over you. The one to the right was the most beautiful. Pretty pink eyes, tall, and long black hair that swayed when she tilted her smile at you. The second one was more around your height, and just as pretty with black hair with purple ends pinned up and lavender orbs gazing down at you. She also wore a smile but it looked more..blank than the first one. And then finally you caught a fifth person's gaze. Young. So young that she could've been your little sister if your parents had anyone children. She peeked around the doorframe curiously with pink eyes a similar shade to the tall girl but in design more to the purple eyed one. All three having a similar facial structure. 

You stared at everyone around you bewildered before scowling. "Look- Just take what you want!" You held up a hand. "I don't have anything valuable on me anyways! Just let me go and I promise you I won't tell anyone!" The two smiling people exchanged looks above you. "I'm not worth the trouble anyways!"

There was a moment of silence still before Ms. Tall-With-Pink-Eyes chuckled holding a hand to her face. "I think she's mixing up the situation as something else."

"Well can you blame her with what she went through last night?," Ms. Lavender Eyes answered back before they both looked at you again. "I think we got off om the wrong foot." You jumped as with without warning she grabbed your eye forcing it more open as she peered at you. "Her eyes aren't clouded so that must mean she's completely lucid. Are you feeling light headed or anything similar?"

"Ow. " You pulled away from her shaking your head and scowling. "Just who are you people!? Where am I?!" Obviously you weren't home and you weren't on any beach. So where was this place?

"Forgive us. You must be very confused." Ms. Tall-With-Pink-Eyes spoke again before Ms. Lavender Eyes moved beside you. "I'm Kanae and that's my sister." She gestured to said sister who picked up your wrist to feel for a pulse as you were distracted. "You're here because you were hurt. Do you remember anything about what happened last night?"

"Last..night?"

She nodded as her sister went to your back. "Don't push yourself if you can't but can you tell us if you do remember what happened?"

Your eyes blinked. Mind going off in thought. What did happen last night? ..You remembered arriving at the beach- "I..remember the beach. It was so big and full of wreckage." Just thinking about all of those broken ships, some being where the men of your village spent their last living moments, sent chills down your spine. "And it was just turning sunset." You remembered how beautiful it was. You've never seen the sun make water sparkle like that. "Then I-" You opened your mouth but quickly stopped and closed it.

YOU COULDN'T TELL THEM YOU WERE HELPING MERMAIDS!! They might think you were crazy or having bad hallucinations! Or they might turn on you for helping nonhuman creatures!

"I was...releasing some fish back into the ocean I didn't want," you settled on. Technically it was the truth. Mermaids were part fish after all. "And then-"

You fell silent once more. A rock settling in your stomach. Akira. Knife. Stabbing. Everything going black!

"Akira!" The women jumped as you looked around wildly. Fear etched into your features. But there was no man amongst the women still amongst you. "Where is he?! H-He was on the docks with me when I passed out!"

"The man who stabbed you?" You flinched at Ms. Lavender Eye's blunt tone but she waved you off pulling the back of your collar to peek at your back. "..Hmm. The bandages are still clean and tied. I don't think she tore any stitches from her earlier stunt."

Your head craned behind you to raise a brow at her. "Stitches?"

She nodded. "You're extremely lucky! Your wound isn't very large or deep despite requiring stitches. You should be fully healed in two maybe three months. Obviously whoever tried to harm you was stupid in his selection of weapons!"

....You didn't know whether she was being serious or sarcastic with the bluntness of her words but you did frown. "Well thank goodness for that. I was worried about the size of knife that nearly killed me! Thank goodness for stupidity." Your eyes rolled. "But that still doesn't answer my questions. Who are you people and where am I?"

"Forgive us." Kanae(why does that name sound familiar?) smiled wider at you. Maybe to try to comfort you? "You're on an island a few miles off the coast you described. You were brought here by a few friends to have your wounds treated." She held up her hands. "But don't worry. As long as you take it easy, your wound shall heal in the timeframe my sister described." Well that's a relief. "However you lost some blood."

The blood drained from your face. "How..much?"

"About a pint I'd say. Don't worry. Usually the human body replaces that amount within twenty four hours but I want you to rest for at least two or three days before you try walking just in case."

"Oh...Will I be able to walk normally then?"

"Certainly."

You gave a sigh of relief. "Good. Then I can finally be able to go home." Kanae lost her smile for a moment giving a glance at her sister. "Then who are the rest of you?" You gave another look around the room. The other girl in bed was dressed a similar way to you in white nightgowns. We're you in a hospital? "Is she a patient too?"

"Oh. How rude of me. That's Koyuki. She's just running a fever. She's Shinobu, Mitsuri, and that is our younger sister in the doorway." Kanae pointed at each person as she told you their names with a smile. Mitsuri? Shinobu? Kanae? Koyuki? Why did all of their names sound familiar to you? You blinked as the blue blanket was pulled back up your body by Kanae. "Your body needs rest. Try to get comfortable and we'll bring you some food. You'll be needing lots of liquids and try to relax. Ok?"

You didn't know what to think really as you were made to lay back down and watched as they left. Where were you? Where was Akira? Where were your friends? We're they ok?....Your brain answered two of the four questions. Your friends are back in the ocean now safe and sound at last where they should be. By now they were probably already far away from here reuniting with Tengen(whoever he was) and they'd all be happy again.

...

A tiny smile formed on your face at the thought. It didn't matter if you were hurt. Your mission was successful and over with. Your friends were safe and home at last, you were no longer baring any burdens, and you were alive. Even if your current state was less than ideal, you didn't have to worry about anything else. Finally after so many months, the best kind of relief filled your body and you allowed yourself to relax. There was still the matter of Akira ..and Niko's horse but you'd happily deal with both of those later. With any luck the ships will be spared now and things could go back to the ways they were. Maybe people could even move back to town!

Oh how fate loved to throw boulders at you.

The Mitsuri girl had stayed to clean up the soup you made her spill (oops) and then two of the three sisters returned carrying trays of more soup. Kanae and her younger pinked eyed sister. The young girl couldn't have been older than fifteen or sixteen years tops. Both you and Koyuki had been given this crab soup and something dawned on you. The spoon lifted to your face but never touched your face as you froze up staring wide eyed. Footsteps softly thudded towards the doorway on their way ou-

"Kanae Kocho."

The footsteps stopped just shy of the doorway, back to the f/c eyes that now looked at her in familiarity.

"You're Kanae Kocho aren't you?! And your sisters are the same ones that disappeared last year!" 

The realization had finally struck you. THESE REALLY ARE THE KOCHO SISTERS!! They'd disappeared last year and vanished without a trace! You weren't particularly close to the Kocho family but being in the same town you'd see them walking around from time to time. It just took you a while to recognize them! 

"And you got kidnapped the year before that!," you accused pointing at Mitsuri who only blinked, "And you're the girl that was rumored to have drowned two years ago!" Koyuki blinked at the pointing hand. "What are you all doing here?! Don't you know your families are worried sick about you all?! What gives?! How did you escape that Naga?! Did you all just fake your deaths or something?!"

You couldn't help the rapid firing of questions that left your mouth under the mountain of realizations. These girls were apparently alive, not dead, and seemed in your point of view to be doing so well for themselves. What the hell gives?! No one answered. Giving you wide eyed silent stares until Kanae turned to you still with that smile which had now turned sad. 

"Get some rest. Everything will be answered in time."

You were left just like that. Left with the weird sea food tasting soup to eat and with more questions than answers. 

...

WHAT THE ACTUALLY HELL WAS GOING ON HERE?!

First all these girls disappear, then a couple merman destroy your town and way of life, then a merman shows up, then you get wrapped up in kidnapped mermaid drama, then you get stabbed while releasing said mermaids, and now the girls that are supposed to be dead... Aren't dead??? Just what the world did you get yourself into!? It was like just when you got yourself out of one mystery you fall into another! You tried talking to the other two remaining girls but Koyuki didn't say anything and Mitsuri squeaked out some excuse to leave quickly. It almost felt like you were back to square one... Y'know what? It's fine. If they ran away from home then that wasn't any of your business but you'd send some anonymous letters to the families (if you could find them) and let them sort this out. You didn't think they deserved to believe their daughters were dead.

You had enough things to worry about without getting involved into anymore drama. 

Like getting back home and getting your life back in order. So you didn't mention anything about disappearing or mermaids for the rest of that day, and the next day either. Shinobu had shown up to look over yourself again and you only remained polite and short.

"Do you feel better today?", she asked you.

"Yes. Thank you ..And sorry about yesterday."

"Don't worry about it. I'd act the same way if I was you. Any pain or numbness?"

"Only in my shoulder."

That was it. Only a few sentences before she left again and you were left in bed to rest with nothing but more of that fish tasting soup to eat. You get that they wanted you to have more liquids but couldn't they at least give you better tasting soup? 

You couldn't take it the third day. You awoke pretty early in the morning, in fact the sun was barely even up when you woke. Taking a moment you stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before glancing over to Koyuki. She was fast asleep softly snoring and turned away from you.. Everyone else was probably most likely still asleep this early as well.

NOW WAS YOUR CHANCE! 

Slowly the blankets was peeled off your body and in the same manner as two days ago, you rolled onto your unhurt side to push up onto your hands and knees. Biting your tongue to not groan  in pain that still lingered. Hurt or not you were leaving. You had done your duties, now you could just move on and never look back! Ever so slowly you pushed yourself to your feet which were still a bit wobbly but not as bad as it was two days ago. You should be able to walk now though if you went by what Kanae said. Tip toeing your way over, you slowly slid the door open only looking behind you once to make sure Koyuki was still fast asleep before popping your head into the hallway. It was quiet and no one else was around. 

AND THE DOOR TO FREEDOM WAS STILL THERE DOWN THE HALL.

You slowly stepped out into the hall closing the door back behind you quietly. You still couldn't run with your wobbly legs so you instead wobble walked down the hall quietly and made for the door. You had a head start! If you hurried then you'd be able to get away without anyone noticing that you were missing. The front door was upon you. It slid open. You stepped out and quickly slid it back shut. You turned around-

AND THEN YOU WERE MET WITH THE OCEAN!

You stopped stunned by the long stretch of sandy beach only stopping when it collided with lazy waves rolling over the soft sand and wetting any shells under it. The silence was only broken by said waves and the soft footfalls of your feet taking a few steps in the squishy sand. The wind blew send stands of your messy hair flowing about and the hem of your long nightgown flowing. A few seagulls cried out in the distance excited to have some food and leaving you to stare.

"...Where am I?"

F/c orbs scanned the horizon where the sunrise was rising from the horizon. Nothing but blue water was in every direction you looked in. Not a sign of other land anywhere!...You were probably taking further down the beach! There wasn't any wreckage so that must mean you were taken further away from the docks. So if you just started walking then you'd soon come back to the graveyard of ships! Perfect! You hoped the horse was still windering where you left it. With a breath you began walking along the sandy shore and away from the house to get away before they could wake you up and drag you back to the room again. 

So you walked. Wobbly along but you walked. And walked. And walked. 

YOU DIDN'T SEE THE RED EYES WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE OR THE WHITE MASS UNDER THE WAVES FOLLOWING YOU. 

Slowly the sun rose higher and higher in the sky making it warmer and brighter. Huh. You knew the coast was really big by the stories the fishermen told but you wondered how far up the beach they took you. Your right side was nothing but beach and ocean. Your left tropical forest you didn't want to go explore. The house was out of sight now, but you couldn't tell exactly how far away you were from it. 

"I'm starting to get beat."

Your body still might've not have been fully recovered because you were quickly getting tired with the want to rest. You usually could go on for longer but you were in condition to fight your body's limits. So you stopped and looked around. There wasn't anywhere in sight that could be a suitable place to sit down and rest, until you spotted a large flat rock leading off the shore and into the water a little bit. The waves sloshing on the sides but not wetting the top. Seemed like a good of a place as any to sit down that wasn't in danger of sharp seashells or whatever dangerous animals might be in the unknown woods behind you. But it was smack dab in sight for all to see.

"..Ten minutes," you told yourself tiredly wobbling towards it, "It's only for just ten minutes. Then I'm leaving."

The squishy sand laced with sharp shells scraped under your tired legs soon replaced by warm but smooth rock as you stepped onto the flat stone and sighed. It felt nice. Magenta eyes watched the way you smiled beautifully at your feet and stepped further to the edge of the rock. Drifting closer the eyes came as she slowly lowered until she sat down submerging her legs to the knees and sighing in the relief the cool water gave her sore body. The bottom of her nightgown bunched up just above her kneecaps. A giggle escaping her as the waves rolled over her skin. She looked pretty.

You sighed in the relief your legs were currently getting hugged by the water. "This feels nice. It's too bad my shoulder is killing me." 

Bubbles streaming to the surface got closer and closer to you as a white mass got closer and closer until a webbed hand silently reached out to grab the ledge of the rock behind you-

"Ah!" You hissed and gently reached a hand behind you to gentle rub your shoulder with a wince.

"Back pain? I hate that." 

"Tell me about it. So annoying."

"I know right?"

"Yes."

"......"

"......"

A GLASS SHATTERING SOUND WENT OFF IN YOUR MIND.

Your eyes comically went wide as an owl's as you froze. ...And then you slowly turned around. A man with red wine eyes and white hair was staring at you from the Water's edge.

"Hey."

You squealed leaning back- S P LA S H!! 

"SHIT!"

 He cried out when her form disappeared under the waves and a second later he dove right back under after her. Silence claimed the area once more before you broke the surface of the Water gasping and clawing at the stone for dear life like a drowning cat desperately pulling yourself up with help from two large hands pushing you up by the waist. Scrambling and crawling onto the once nice dry rock spitting out nasty too salty water before coughing and hacking. 

"'Eeehhh. Not really the flashy introduction I was hoping for."

You looked back up and yelped as a head was poking out of the water right in front of you. "Don't fall in again!" It- He shouted with an annoyed frown. "That's how you weak humans drown!"

"Wh-Who the hell are you?!" You leaned back leaning an arm up in case you had to defend yourself.

"You don't recognize me! I literally saved you like three days ago! Do humans really have that bad of a memory or what?!", he barked.

....Now you scowled. "Now see here you overgrown sea mule!" The man whoever he was blinked once taken aback by the sudden scowl and bite you gave him. "I'm too dam tired to be talked to like a brainless rock! I've been drained, stressed out my dam mind, attacked, and nearly drowned TWICE now! The last thing I need right now is the ocean equivalent of a donkey shit talking me! If you want to bother someone, go find a shark to antagonize!"

The man blinked once. Twice. Before he slowly hummed looking you up and down all drenched like a wet cat. "Well...The weren't wrong when they said you were certainly different."

"They? Just who are you?" 

He hummed again crossing his arms over the rock's edge. "I thought you already knew...but then again you never met me personally and when we did you were already passed out." A giant smile of ABSOLUTELY LARGE FANGS made you give pause and gulp. "Allow me to actually give you a flashy introduction worthy of my status!"

Two clawed hands dug themselves into the rock and your jaw dropped in fear as an absolutely massive body hauled itself out of the water and onto the rock. A large shadow loomed over you. 

He was-..massive!

Even larger than freaking KYOJURO!! And Kyo was bigger than Akira! A body beautiful sculpted by rippling muscles and scars sat itself upon the rock. Scattered purple scales glistening with water droplets aligned in a strange pattern you've never seen on any other mer  across the torso and around the waist where his human half blended into a absolutely BEAUTIFUL shimmering white koi tail similar to Makio's only BIGGER and SHINIER! A rainbow pearlescent effect it had has the light bounced off his large koi tail. The fins large and flowing in the water like the fabric of beautiful silk in the wind. But that wasn't all. 

A small jingling noise arose with him. The source being from the hoops dangling from his wrists. However you didn't notice that. Only the strange Mitch match of green and red sharp claws sticking out from hands large enough to crush you. Larger golden bands were tightly wrapped around his upper forearms as he flexed them out to you. But the thing was-

HE WAS ABSOLUTELY ADORNED IN JEWELS!!

A series of golden earrings were embedded into his ears, a similar piercing on his bottom lip. Across his forehead was some kind of large silver headband with three beautiful glimmering large diamonds in the front. Remember how Kyojuro's hands had a few rings? Well this guy had LOTS of rings! Some fingers having more than one on them. A long strand of shiny silver rocks clinked together and dangled from his headband. At least three different necklaces were wrapped around his neck with different valuable stones. Down his sculpted figure was a few various chains with a thick single silver one wrapped around his middle with a few polished seashells dangling from it's heavy bulk. But what really stood out was the large red and dark pink polished gems and stones pushed into his scales and embedded permanently into himself. The piercing wine red eyes crinkled up half lidded in a wide fanged smile at you- Holy shit! THOSE FANGS WERE LARGER THAN KYOJURO'S! His pure white hair falling down framing his face and for some reason a strange red birthmark over his right eye.

"I am Lord Tengen Uzui of the Western Isles! But you can call me Lord Tengen! And you have the honor of being in the presence of the God of Ocean's Deep!," he loudly announced out. Bold, assertive, and powerful enough to be feared by all who see him!

You only stared at him wide eyed. Holy shit...HE WAS BEAUTIFUL-!!

You immediately shook your head chasing away any of those thoughts. "...I don't believe it."

"Heh. Having a moment processing my flamboyant stature are you?"

"No. I can't believe the person responsible for half of my suffering is an over dressed full of himself watered down peacock."

"WHAT?!," he shouted turning towards your deadpanned face. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M THE MOST FLASHY AND STRONGEST MER THIS SIDE OF THE WEST COAST!!" He shouted in your face pointing a sharp red nail at your face, the bracelets around his wrists jingling with his movements.

".....I still don't see it. How'd you manage to beach all those ships? Flex and blind the captains with your over dressed scales?"

"HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR ME, GIRLIE!! I SAVED YOUR LIFE!! 

"Right.." You glanced at the claw pointed at you, and then his large fangs as he gritted his teeth together annoyed. ..And just remembered how much bigger he was than you. On second thought it probably wasn't a good idea to argue with the guy that caused so much damage single handedly. You sighed with a breath. "Right. ..You did do that. Thanks for that." He huffed a sound. "No. I mean it. Thank you. And I'm sorry for being rude earlier. I'm just really on edge lately. A lot of bad stuff has happened recently."

"I've been told." He still looked and sounded annoyed but leaned back up from where he was sitting and recrossed his arms making his biceps and arms flex automatically. ".... You're going to live?"

It was a statement but the way he said it sounded like a question so you nodded. "Yes. I was told my shoulder isn't serious and it'll heal within a few months. I can live with that."

He hummed again. "I guess it's a good thing I got to you when I did then."

"Yes. Yes...So.. You're the famous Tengen Uzui I've heard so much about?" You took a moment to glance over this mountain of a man again. If he was human you estimated he'd he OVER six feet tall. "You're certainly a lot taller than I expected."

..That smile from before was back. "In the flashy flesh!" He winked and shot a one handed finger gun at you which in turn made you giggle. "And you must be Y/n. My wives' told me all about you."

"Ah. You mean Hinatsuru?"

"And Makio and Suma. And apparently Kyojuro.." His gaze peered off for a second. "He told me that you saved him after he stopped breathing. Is that true? Did he stop.. living?"

He was asking you about this now? You tilted his gaze to try to see his eyes but they were firmly set to where his tail met the water. "No. He never stopped living really." The eyes looked back to you. "He just needed a helping hand is all. So did everyone apparently...Are they alright now?"

He slowly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah they're fine." Both arms raised to hold the behind of his head. "They're all still asleep or just waking up by now. I know Suma is probably still sleeping in." He chuckled at nothing dryly. "It's so surreal to have them all back."

"I'm just glad they're alright. I can't imagine what you all went through was anything but terrifying."

"Tell me about it. You have no idea what it's like having every person you love tipped away from you with there being nothing you can do to prevent it. Never knowing what's happening to them or where they are." ... His eyes narrowed down at nothing. "Knowing if they were dead or alive."

"... You're right."

Tengen paused. Blinking. "What?" He looked at you arms falling to his sides. "What did you say?"

"I said-.. You're right." F/c eyes looked away guiltily from him. "You're right. I don't know what it's like to lose family, at least not in the way you did and Kyojuro did. ..My parents died when I was really young but there's a big difference between loosing someone to natural causes and loosing someone to someone's else's own selfish intentions. If my loved ones were kidnapped by someone and taken somewhere I could never get to-...I would have probably felt the same unbridled anger and fear you must've had." ...You looked up at him after he remained silent and found him staring at you with an absolutely shocked expression. "Um..Did I say something wrong?"

Tengen slowly shook his head no. "I-..N-No. it's not that. I-I-...Well to be perfectly honest with you I was actually waiting for you to start cursing me and tearing me apart with what happened to your life."

You blinked. "Oh. I guess they really did tell you everything about me huh?"

He nodded. "Yep. Completely everything. We're very honest with one another. I don't believe in keeping secrets from one another."

Oh gods. If they told him about the effects his actions had on your town and everyone's livelihoods- Then did that mean they literally told him about them kissing you?! And Kyojuro proposing?! And- Oh god. You hoped Kyojuro didn't tell him that-

"So.." A cheeky smirk crossed his face. Leaning closer to your reddening face. "Do all women have this magical power of medical kissing?~" 

"UUUUUUGGGHHH!!" You shouted into the open air making him burst into loud laughter as you raised your hands and loudly facepalmed. "FOR THE LAST TIME!  IT! WASN'T! A! KISS!! IT'S C! P! R! IT'S A MEDICAL TECHNIQUE EVERYONE IN MY TOWN WAS TAUGHT!"

"Ooh.~ A secret excuse for kissing your neighbors. How flashy.~"

Your madly blushing face snapped to him. "ONE MORE JOKE AND I'LL TURN YOU INTO FISH BAIT!!" 

"HAHAHAHAHA!!" His loud laugh and large smile made the seemingly narcissistic personality and the scary persona before that seemed non existent. Melting to a joyful painting that had tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything less! You certainly exceeded my expectations of you."

"Well..Who did you expect me to be?" You changed the topic feeling your face burning up. 

He shrugged still chuckling and shoulders shaking. "Well..I know I wasn't expecting an innocent angel, not with your attitude. But I also wasn't expecting you to literally agree with what I had done so easily."

"I don't agree with what you did." He blinked as you held up a hand. "Not fully. I said I understand why you did what you did and I can sympathize with everyone of you, but I can't forget the damage it caused everyone who wasn't responsible for what you all went through. I DON'T!!" You quickly held up a hand when he opened his mouth. "Blame you. I really don't. But I can say what you did didn't just affect me either."

.. Tengen slowly closed his mouth letting a sigh through his nose. "You-..Have that right, and I can't deny you're right. But you sound almost guilty."

You blinked surprised. "You can tell?"

"I have very good hearing. Sounds and tones tell me a lot. It's how I heard you leaving the house you were in." Ah. That explained the sudden appearance. "Is there a reason to that?"

"I-..*sigh* I dunno. I guess I feel guilty because I did kinda blame you for a lot of what happened for a while but-..I don't know." Your hand held your head again. "A lot of things have been complicated for a long time."

"I- Yeah. I know that feeling."

Silence followed. Nothing but the soft waves sloshing on the shore and a few seagulls cawing in the distance. 

"...So why did you follow me?" You peered at him from the corner of your eyes. "You said you followed me from that house."

He shrugged. "Curious about ya I guess. And if I'm being a bit honest, I wanted to be sure they weren't being tricked by anyone. No offense."

"With what you went through it's understandable. I'd do that to if I was you."

"There was another reason why I followed you though. Well two reasons really."

Oh? You turned raising a brow. "Really? And what are those reasons?"

"Well Firstly I wanted to see if you were ok or not. I was told you were fine by those girls-" Wait. Tengen knew Kanae and the others? "-but I had to see for myself. The second reason was to thank you."

"Huh? Thank me? For what?"

"Everything. You willingly put yourself in danger for someone who wasn't even the same species. Do you know how many humans would literally do that willingly? Humans are selfish creatures who-"  He paused as your brow rose higher. "Uh- *AHEM!* I mean the bad humans are selfish creatures."

"Nice save."

"I'm serious though. Every human I encountered would've never done something like that. So..Why did you get involved?"

You took a moment to pause. "..I don't really know. I guess it's because it was wrong? Maybe because I would've felt guilty if I didn't do anything? I don't know for sure but in the end it was the right choice wasn't it? I mean-" You gestured to him. "You're all back together and alright. That's what matters."

"Right, right. ...But what happened to you-"

"Wasn't your fault. Sure what you did had an effect on my life but none of this would've happened at all if those people didn't kidnap your wives. You were just trying to get them back. Maybe not the way I'd go about it but again I'm not you."

"Right. So is this the part where I apologize for everything or do humans do the whole emotional talking first?"

You snorted. A smile on your face before you turned to him again. "How about we both just forgive each other and call it even?"

He smiled wider. "Thank Posidon. I thought I'd have to spill every emotion I feel before we get here." You chuckled more. "Seriously however. I am grateful for what you did. Don't think I can repay you for that."

"Actually you can." His head tilted interested. "Don't sink anymore ships and we'll call it even. Alright?"

..Tengen smiled widely. "You got it. I don't think I have any more reason for that anyways."

Relief filled you. At least that was over with..You blinked at something the two of you hadn't noticed. Tengen blinked as you slowly got up and a hand gently grabbed the side of his face so gently. A second later a wet sleeve ran over the underside of his eyes. 

"You're crying. Here. You'll be fine now..Sorry if it's not dry. Water will do that to you."

He didn't say anything. Only staring wide eyed at nothing until you backed away from him..and a hand slowly touched his cheek where your hand had previously been.

"Now then." You placed your hands on your hips and looked around. You've been walking for at least an hour now and there was still no sign of where you first started out from. "Can you tell me how far it is back to the docks?" 

Tengen stared wide eyed at your form-

"Tengen."

"Huh? W-What?"

"I asked how much farther do I have to walk before I reach the docks again. I've been walking for at least an hour now."

He blinked again before looking confused. "Docks? You're not on the west coast anymore."

You stared at him. "...Beg pardon?"

"You're in my territory. This island here." A hand patted the rock you both stood on. "This is mine. So are the other two islands off the coast and the coast I claimed during my skirmish there."

You stared at him wide eyed. "Wait..Are you saying that Im actually stuck on a deserted island?"

"It's not deserted! Everyone's mates live up in the house there. That's why you were brought here. It has everything you need to stay."

You continued to stare at him. "...WHAT?!"

[snurtsnurtcreations]

The Fisherwoman Pt 1

Call of duty pirate au outline part 1 (links: part 2, part 3, part 4)

Consider: Pirate captain Soap x Former navy officer now pirate first mate Ghost x fisherwoman reader

This has been on my mind for SO LONG, you don't even KNOW. Im probably never going to actually finish fleshing this out into a full blown fic, so here's the outline for the story

Warnings: gun use, a little suggestive scene, pining

They keep meeting you at a common port on their travels. Usually at the marketplace where you’re selling your catch, sometimes on the shore, once out fishing in your lil rowboat

Y’all’ve got a nice banter going between the three of you. They always keep an eye out for you whenever they’re at port. You always greet them snarkily but happily. You even let them get away with buying fish off you at a discounted price (they don’t know you’re discounting it for ‘em)

You’ve got an inkling that they’re likely not the most upstanding citizens around but you let it slide because, well, they seem like good people. They stood up for you when some guy was bitchin at you, they helped the neighbor’s young boy gather his lost marbles. If they happened to be at odds with the law, well, you certainly don’t mind when they act kinder than most officers.

There might aaaalso be some sexual tension there as well but… nah, surely not.

Simon and Johnny have been together for a fair amount of time when they first met you. Late at night, within each other’s arms sometimes they’d talk about what it’d be like to have a girl waiting for them ashore, somebody sweet and soft and kind and everything that they’re convinced they’re not.

Simon particularly has had the fantasy for ages of growing old in a little cottage with a lil lady by his side. Johnny never though allowed himself to believe it was a possibility with his… career choice but he confesses he’d love to have a gang o wee kids to coral. They fantasized together, but ultimately figured it’d be unlikely to happen in their lifetimes.

Until they met you, that is.

But you’re not one to jump into love. You’ve lived alone, providing for yourself, scraping by with your own two hands, for a very very long time now, and you’re not about to let anyone you can lose into your life all of the sudden.

And so it goes for a while, catching glimpses of each other every now and again, glowing in each others presence, them cautiously hopeful, you stubbornly in denial

It all comes to a head when they come stumbling into your home in the middle of the night, both injured, Johnny leaning heavily on Simon, begging you to take them in

They’d been ambushed by rival pirates as they were docking at the port. They barely got off the ship, ordering their crew to get to specific safe houses, and themselves slipping out of the city to retreat to a house they sincerely hoped would take them in

You let them in, of course, worried out of your mind. Patch them up, set up a place for them to sleep, share your heated leftover dinner, fuss, flutter, your imploring eyes burning right through them

They come clean about the events that led them here and who they really are, but you brush it off, because, really, they thought they were being subtle? (they were, you just always pay such close attention to them it became glaringly obvious to you)

You agree that they oughta stay low for a while, and freely offer they stay here until they can organize their crew and get their ship back up and running. They eagerly accept.

The next many days pass in domestic bliss. Raspy good mornings, cooking together, brushing past each other in the small house. Simon appreciates the homemade tea mix your neighbor gave you, Johnny promises to bring some good coffee from overseas once this all blows over. They watch as you mend nets, tag along when you set out on your rowboat, carry your basket for you when you’re searching for clams and the like.

You always go out barefoot if you're near the water. Simon inquires about this

“No use putting boots on just to get them wet and worn down. I’ve got only a single pair and those are for going out.” You state simply. Just a fact.

Johnny and SImon share a look when, later, you put your boots on for market and they’re noticeably worn out.

“Those look like they’ve seen better days. Why not get yerself a new pair o boots, lass?”

“New boots are expensive, and I’ve got larger priorities than some footwear.” You shrug, “Besides, these still work just fine.”

During the evenings, just after dinner, when the sun goes down and the only light is from the few candle lit lanterns, they really get to know you outside of your work. Of course, there are many a night when you’re working on stitching a net or mending some clothes and you ask them to tell you a tale of their pirating adventures, but once in a while, you take out your guitar and sing a song, enchanting them with a voice like honey. Or even better, you’d tell a story of your own. But they notice you always, always keep your hands busy

You help them change their bandages as needed -an intimate affair in itself. One night, you don’t even realize you’d started tracing a scar on Simon’s shoulder. Johnny disturbs you out of your thoughts, awful jolly as he regales the tale of how Simon’d got the scar (one of their first battles as Navy Officer Simon versus the slippery pirate Captain Soap). Simon snarkily remarks about a scar Johnny got from a stupid mistake.

“Really?” You laugh, astonished, as you finish binding the bandage round Simon’s shoulder. “Lemme see!” 

“As the lady wishes.” Johnny winks as he strips of his shirt.

So the evening goes, talking turns into tracing scars, which leads to softly murmured questions, which turns into soft kisses

They ask if you’ve got any scar stories of your own, and you reply that there’s nothing like theirs, if you don’t count the many on your rough hands from all your fishing misadventures

“...show us?” Johnny asks with hooded eyes.

Flushed, you abide, slipping your blouse off.

“Beautiful…” Simon caresses a hand down your shoulder as though entranced. “Totally unblemished.”

And. Well. Things get very heated from there ;)

The following morning you’re mortified because you know to you that was more than just a fun night, you’re emotionally invested here… but they’re only staying long enough to gather their wits and then they’d be gone. They’ll leave.

You push the feelings down and try to act natural. They don’t bring up anything about it, continuing the morning routines as usual, so you don’t blurt out anything either. Business as usual then. (Nevermind that when Simon wakes and see you making a pot of tea for the three he brushes awfully close to you when getting the mugs out. Nevermind that at the breakfast table Johnny sits close enough to have his entire thigh pressed against yours. Nevermind that when you leave for market, they each brush a kiss against your cheek and forehead. No, no, this all means nothing. Business as usual.)

Couple days later, Johnny and Simon are cooking dinner, awaiting your return from the market. You startle them when you burst through the door, locking it with shaky hands, eyes wild and breaths erratic. You ignore their questions and climb up on a chair to take your shotgun off its mantle above the door

This, off course, alarms them twice as much. At their questioning calls to you, you brusquely reply, “Shadow pirates.” And station yourself at the window, loading the gun.

They stiffen, then reach for their own weapons.

“Here they come.” You glances at the two, then back out the window, hissing, “Hide.”

The two disappear around the corner. You shoot a warning shot out the window. The group of men outside scatter.

“Who goes there?” You holler.

A single figure separates himself from the group

“Ma’am, my name’s Mr. Graves, and these here are my associates. We just ahd some questions for you is all. No need for violence.” He says placatingly.

“Well excuse me if I don’t trust a group of strange men in the dark.” You snark, “You can ask your questions from over there. What do you want?”

“Surely we could have this conversation in closer quarters than this, ma’am?”

“Surely you understand how improper and outright dangerous that would be for myself, a lone woman letting a stranger into her home at this hour?”

“I… Alright, alright, my apologies, ma’am. We simply wanted to know if you’d heard or perhaps seen two dangerous criminals around these parts? They’re known as Captain Johnny Soap and his first mate, Ghost. Vicious pirates those two, they are.”

“Only dangerous men I’d seen round these parts are you and your crew. Mr. Graves.”

“Bare with us a little longer, ma’am. Are you certain you haven’t seen anythin suspicious lately?”

“Well.” You pause. “I know there was some sort of skirmish nearer the city a week back or so, but no travelers make it all the way out here. Besides you, of course.”

At the frustrated silence from him, you scoff.

“Now away with you lot, before I go and make true on that warning shot!”

“Thank you kindly ma’am.” Graves says as they leave, though you suspect it was meant more sarcastically. You don’t loosen up your port at the window until long after their silhouettes are gone past the horizon. By then, Johnny and Simon have come out of their hiding spots, pistols at the ready but relaxing as the moments tick by

You only let go of the tension in your shoulders when Johnny sets a gentle hand on one.

“I think they’ve gone noow, luv.”

Simon slides the shotgun from your grasp and easily sets it back above the doorway. Meanwhile, you crumple in Johnny’s grasp, breathing heavily and trembling in his arms as you bury your face in his neck, letting the stress of the situation wash away in his hold.

“A right menace ye are.” johnny soothes, caressing your hair. “Scared ‘em away right quick.”

“You did so well, love.” Simon assures, stroking your back and pulling your legs into his lap

“They’d better never come back.” You attempt to grumble but the affect is ruined by a sniffle, “Or I really will blow their brains out.”

“That’s our girl.”

They become much more protective after that incident, insisting on coming out with you when you head to market.

Eventually they start heading out to town on their own as well, trying to learn what’s changed while they’ve been recuperating. It takes them weeks but they track down their crew members as well, and commission someone to fix their ship up.

You get used to being the one waiting for them to come home, usually just before dinner needs starting.

One day they return from the port city with a fine new pair of boots for you.

“Bonny lass like yoo oughta ‘ave a good pair o’ boots fer yer wee feet.”

Another day they take you out to the city with them, claiming they need a proper tour around the place, and what better guide than you?

Its all a ruse to spoil you, of course. You point out the fancy pubhouse the rich folk go to and turn away, already pointing out the next thing. They lead you in and y’all have a very nice meal together (possibly the nicest meal youve ever had, you admit softly. They think it’s because it’s expensive but you meant it was because they had taken you there)

You sarcastically lead them through the marketplace “Oh and this is the market, I’m sure it’s entirely new to you so why don’t I show you the highlights.” 

But then actually you get really into it, stopping to inspect the trinkets here and the ribbons there, amicably greeting the folks you know. Johnny “sneakily” buy a couple things for you, and you catch on to what they’re doing, flustered and blustering “what, you don’t think I’d buy it for myself if I really wanted it?”

Simon’s dead serious when he says, no, you wouldn’t. And he’s right of course, so you flush and accept the gift as graciously as you can after that.

All in all, y’all have an absolutely lovely time in each other’s company and it turned out to be a fantastic day out.

When you get home you tell them you oughta do something to thank them for such a great time, and Simon suggests you sing a couple songs for them, so you get out your trusty guitar and do just that (Johnny leans on you just so and Simon’s eyes are glued to you like a man entranced, neither can believe this isn’t a dream)

you find another way to thank them as well but shh

There is still the ever present itch in the back of your mind that this is all temporary, that they’ll leave soon, that they’re working on it to happen with every passing day, but in moments like this it is easy to silence that voice and just let yourself be in the moment, let yourself love and be loved, even if just for now, just for tonight, you let yourself savor the feeling

[stars-on-my-bedroom-ceiling]

masterlist of my moots and their tags!!

for some reason tumblr won't let me link the part 2, so check the reblogs if you want a real list

okay so i have a bunch of moots and not all of them have tags yet, so if you want to be added to the list, ask me please or just put an emoji you like and your preferred internet name in the replies and i will get to it :3

okay anyways

@lifegoalsofafish #fish 🐟

@mister-dirty-hands #crow 🖤

@i-live-life1313 #eli 💚

@bloophasarrived #mari 🐿

@liggy-not-potter #liggy 👹

@starcrossedmoony #peppa 🦕

@definitionoffuckup #star 💫

@wistfulenchantress #witch 🎧

@good-oldfashioned-lover-girl #evie 💙

@margaret-the-duck #maggie 🦆

@totalcharliespringsimp #charlie 👁

@figuring-it-out-slowly #mars ⚘

@dandelionflowery #dandelion 🌿

@random-bi-kid #petra 💜 or #asher 💜

@ashippingpotato #potato 🥔

@gildy-locks #gildy 🐥

@anglptera #ang 🦖

@cazzythefrogking #caz 🐸

@examishbookwyrm #bookwyrm 🐛

@random-doctor-on-the-internet #ash 🗡

@discoveredreality #ari 🗨

@biblically-accurate-chaos #bean ⚔

@blakat014 #kat 🕸

@rhystheaudhddaydreamer #rhys 🐺

@vizzly-sama #vizzly 🐁

@asclexe #cameron 🐱

@im-ur-sleep-paralysis-demon #demon ☻

@daydream-of-a-wallflower #kat 🍊

@aristos--achaion #void 🕳

@vintagetee13 #aimee 🌼

@childofposiden71 #kriss 💅

@cressthebest #cress 🌸

@idk-what-to-put-here-123 #ruby ❤

@sapphos-queer-kid #marie ✏

@aesthetic-writer18 #raine ✒

@njjisquiet8 #nj ⭐

@irisandthegayestpotatoes #iris 🍃

@jasonsbricky #elliot 🏳️‍🌈

@moonage-nightterrors #el 👀

@tequilaqueen #bea 🦋

@old-lady-habits #aspen 🏵

@buttercup-in-wonderland #buttercup 🌾

@midnights-dragon #tristen 🐉

@scatteredraysofhope #aditi 🦉

@themortalityofundyingstars #chase ✨

@garden-of-runar #ru 🥀

@theoneandonlypjofanatic #jia 🧡

@fairies-in-a-forest #dove 🕊

@dontknowanythingohwell #violet 🌌

this made me realize just how many moots i have lol

this will be updated once a month or so

so if you don't see yourself here, wait a couple weeks. if you still don't see yourself, tell me! you can drop into my askbox with your preferred name and an emoji :)

[stevetonyweekly]

Cap-Ironman Rec Week - Cap-IM Sunday - Sunday

Final day of @cap-ironman Rec Week is Cap-Ironman Works and this is also serving as this week’s post because it’s silly making two. Enjoy and be sure to check out all the recs in the tag, there’s SOOO many excellent fic! 

~

The Moon and the Sea by dirigibleplumbing

Steve has lived his whole life in the coastal California town of Nublado. He’s spent the last few years trying to move on from a traumatic event in his past, and he finds new joy when he befriends—and quickly falls for—reclusive local billionaire Tony Stark. Then Tony abruptly breaks things off and won’t reply when Steve reaches out. Steve’s friends Clint and Nat have his back, at least. But… is someone following him everywhere? What’s with the human teeth Steve and his friends found while they were out fishing? How did the Scarlet Witch know so much about him? And why are there so many crows around?

Leaping to Conclusions by Sineala

Basketball games. Lunch in the park. Evenings at the movies. Tony and Steve are longtime Avengers teammates and the best of friends, and Tony's been pining away for Steve as long as he's known him. Tony knows Steve's straight, but if Steve were going to date a guy, it would be him, wouldn't it? Everyone knows that. Unfortunately, no one told Steve. And when Steve decides to keep trying online dating after the Lover's Leap fiasco, Tony is shocked and heartbroken to learn that Steve's new boyfriend is none other than... Batroc the Leaper! But for the sake of Steve's happiness, Tony must put aside his own feelings about Batroc before it costs him Steve's friendship -- or worse.

Side Effects by elimymoons

"So what I'd like to propose," Tony continued on, "is for you to let me help you out a little, yeah? We'll work off some of this energy, some of this adrenaline, and you don't have to worry about hurting yourself anymore, okay?"

Steve's in a bit of trouble. Tony wants to help him out. Sexily.

made to make you blue by gottalovev

Steve, drunk for the first time since the serum, hits on Tony. It's everything Tony's ever dreamt about, but he refuses to have sex with a drunk Steve who can't truly consent. They do kiss, though, and Tony stays the night. The morning after brings a misunderstanding of disastrous proportion, where both men wrongly assume the other is uninterested.

Life gets extremely complicated when Enchantress, mad at Thor, casts a spell that links people who love each other together, letting them feel the other's pain.

[sugar-omi]

Okay so we've had leaving Cove for Baxter but what about an uno reverse card here? A post step 4 scenario where MC leaves Baxter and figures out they've always loved Cove?

P.S. Love, love, live your writing!!!

im so glad you sent this!! tysm for the praise<333 i feel like this could relate to this: question abt the reverse also i didn't think abt it then, n maybe i said this but to finish that thought. (eta now that ive linked it, BABE U LITERALLY RAMBLED STFU<///3) but baxter accepts your feelings bc he's desperate for love and he's pined after you for years. ALTHOUGH if i were to write it canonically, he would be so offended that you'd even bother and encourage you to leave cove before you hurt him. cove would do the same, if you confess to him he would Instantly lose all respect n interest in you and would all but spit at you if you did BAXTER WOULD ACTUALLY CALL YOU DISGUSTING AS WELL... i like to imagine cove would bc yk, i like the parallel, but he wouldn't and he'd prbly go "is that what you think of me?" bc he'd feel like a piece of meat in that situation

tags : Angst (w happy ending for you), Hurt/Comfort, breaking up w baxter, unrequited to requited love, falling out of love w baxter

synopsis : you break up with baxter because you realize you don't love him anymore. then you realize someone else is piquing your interest...

baxter is surprised, but he also expected this...

lately you'd been pulling away, and you've been lost in thought. and he's walked in on you crying a few times and you didn't want to explain to him why.

he feels his blood go cold, and he feels pressure wash over him.. he tries not to cry or choke up when he speaks.

he has to act like a gentleman. he needs to be understanding. he needs to be the strong one because you're sitting on the floor and crying, apologizing and hiding your face in your hands.

your sobs and shaky form hurts him more. he knows it's not your fault. it's his, in all honesty.

he left you so cruelly 5 years ago, and even though you've been together for a year and shared many happy moments with hushed giggles and loving kisses, you couldn't find the same love for him as when you were young.

baxter tries not beat himself up, pushing down his darker minds degrading chorus...

he puts a hand on your head, smoothing his palm over his pants. his palm hurts from digging his nails into it.

tonight is going to be rough. tomorrow will be harder.

"it's okay y/n. we had a good time together right?" baxter smiles. although the thickness of his voice makes you tuck in on yourself more.

he continues soothing you, ignoring the tears in his eyes. "i understand... we're so different now, it's not surprising it didn't work."

baxter's humorless and watery laugh makes you cry more, and you know he's crying now too. "we should stop looking back on the past now." baxter pets your head, trying to milk the last bit of affection from your dying relationship.

he feels like his world is opening up.

you turn your face away and wipe roughly at your tears. you know you look like a mess, but you feel so overwhelmed, and you have enough shame to not want to face baxter.

you finally look up at him, baxter lifting his gaze from his knees to look at you, glazed amber staring back at you. your heart clenches.

even though you don't love him the same way anymore, this kills you all the same.

"i'll... get my stuff tomorrow." you whisper.

cove was torn when you got with baxter.

he's always loved you, and when you still pined for baxter even after that summer, he got accustomed to putting his feelings aside to let your relationship grow.

but now you were sitting on his couch, looking distant at his fish tank.

your eyes were blurred with tears, and it took everything to curl yourself into the corner of the couch.

"y/n?..."

...

cove goes to call out again- "yeah?" you mutter, your words tiny and soft. weak. forced.

"what can i do for you?" cove wanted to gather up all your pain and take it away. so that the only thing left was for you to be happy.

...

you lick your lips, fixing your feet that were sliding off the cushion.

"i don't know. nothing for now." you turn and try to smile. "this is okay for now, i'm sorry for bugging you i..."

you swallow. "i don't wanna be alone right now."

cove comes closer, wrapping his arms around you, hiding your face in his neck. "i don't mind, i'll always be here for you."

it's silent for a long moment, the only sound being the TV cove didn't turn off at your insistence.

less sound meant your thoughts were louder.

you focused on the trickling water of the tank and it suddenly made you aware of how dry you were after crying.

you wrestle your arm free from the blankets and cove's hold, and you feel him watching your every move.

after drinking half the glass, you lean into cove's chest and take in the sound of his heartbeat.

cove is the only thing that keeps your head from spinning and the world from crashing.

you huff. this is frustrating. you're frustrated with everything, mostly with yourself.

"do you... wanna talk now?" cove inquires gently, rambling about how you don't have to but it might help.

you don't say anything for a bit, tracing the waves and lines of cove's tattoo.

"..even though i pined for him for so long..." you start, slowly letting the words come to you. "i thought this was it, i thought i was over him leaving me. but..."

you start to cry, so you sit up to turn around, hiding your face in your hands.

"i spent so long being sad that.."

"i spent so long being angry that.."

"i spent so long being angry then sad and missing him that.."

you swallow, muttering. "that i didn't even realize when i stopped loving him..."

it's quiet. and you don't look up to see if cove heard, but you assume he did since he asks a interesting question...

"then.. why are you so sad? i mean i get it, but..." cove groans, trying to word his thought carefully and correctly.

"i'm sorry.. it just seems like you're upset about something else, too..."

you exhale shakily, despising the tears still pouring from your eyes.

you take in what cove asked, debating what to say before you speak. "i thought this was what i wanted, but now i..." you start crying, overwhelmed.

cove just pulls you back into him, deciding that was enough talking for tonight, and now it was just about cheering you up.

it's been a few months, things are... different. some days are difficult. but most of them are better, just a bit mellow.

it took a bit, but your new apartment finally feels like home, and you can sit in the silence and solitude of it without feeling like your chest is caving in.

at least for today.

you and cove laugh, falling onto your new mattress after finally getting it through the door.

after the giggles die down, you flip over and look at cove. "thanks for helping."

cove turns his head to smile at you, "nah. derek did most the work."

"well, he's not here to receive my 100th thanks, so just take it."

cove laughs heartily.

lately, cove has started to look more handsome. ethereal, in fact. and you can't look away..

"y/n?.."

you hum, looking back at the ceiling. fuck you got caught.

"you're doing it again y'know?"

you whip around to look at cove, who has a smug grin on his face. "what? that's the second time you've said that! what does it even mean?!" you exclaim, slapping cove's chest with the back of your hand.

he laughs joyously, "like you're thinking philosophical thoughts!"

you roll your eyes, "ooo big words there, ocean boy. wouldn't you like to know about my philosopher thoughts." you mock, teasing cove with a grin you don't bother to fight coming across your lips.

"yep." cove pops the 'p', simply agreeing that he wants to know what's on your mind.

you watch each other in silence, and your eyes fall on his lips and he parts them to speak but you beat him to it, muttering lowly and if it wasn't for the emptiness and tranquility around you, he wouldn't have heard it.

"i'm thinking about how pretty you are..."

cove stills, you can hear his breath hitch and he stops breathing for a moment.

you continue, letting the water flow now that you've opened the gates.

"i know you've always had a crush on me, and please don't think i'm playing with you.." you swallow, keeping eye contact so as to will yourself to go on, although the depths of cove's glassy eyes make you flatter a bit.

you curl your fingers into your palms, keeping yourself from petting his cheek.

"at some point i started to.. realize just how much you are there for me. and i.." you lick your lips, "i love you."

cove starts to cry, and to that he sits up to hide his face.

you sit up as well, reaching out to cove's back. you don't know if you should touch him or not...

he cries for a bit. eventually, you do reach out, curling your fingers in the fabric of his shirt. you can't bring yourself to come closer, not sure how to comfort cove or if you even should, but you want him to know you're still here and waiting.

waiting for what? you're not sure.

waiting for him to seek your comfort? waiting for him to reject you? either way, you're waiting, and he turns around when he finally stops the waterworks.

"y-you mean it?" cove chokes, and you nod.

"yeah." you whisper, like any louder approval and it'll come off as half-hearted.

he pauses for a moment, looking at you. searching your gaze and trying to pick your brain apart.

"did you... break up with baxter because you...?" he can't say it, like he's not allowed to. like if he says it, it might shatter.

"love you?" you finish, "no. breaking up with baxter had nothing to do with you or my feelings for you."

"good, good..." cove repeats, sagging a bit in relief. "can i ask you one last question?"

"anything, cove." you assure, antsy to what will come out of his mouth. maybe this is all leading to rejection, but at least he'll know you loved him.

"you aren't saying that because i helped you through your breakup, right?" cove approaches softly. he doesn't mean to offend you, and you take none.

"no!" you lean forward, snatching up cove's hands. "i didn't say it right earlier.. what i meant was, i stopped seeing you as just a friend." you fret a bit, softening as you think about how you see cove now.

"i was hung up on what i couldn't have with baxter, and i know it sounds bad, but once i realized i was living in my head too much and didn't even know what i was feeling until after the fact.."

you intertwine your hands with cove's, looking up at him. "i realized life was so much better than in my head, and there was, is, someone greater than i could ever imagine."

you don't realize it until cove reaches up to wipe some tears from your cheeks. you laugh, "you're crying too, dummy."

cove laughs, holding your hand against his cheek.

"i've been waiting so long to hear you say that." cove cringes, "well... maybe too long. you're so hard to get over, i could never do it..."

cove looks at you with affectionate eyes.

"does this mean..?" you question, a bit egear but holding your horses.

cove laughs and nods. "yeah. i love you too, y/n."

you beam, taking his face in your hands and resting your foreheads together. "we'll take it slow, if it helps."

cove flushes, feeling a bit bold and is flustered by the fact. "not too slow, i've been waiting almost 17 years for this."

cove is the one to close the gap, swallowing your words before you can tease him, laugh, or agree.

you let him, letting cove pull you down to earth again and into him, as he always does.

[cantstayawaycani]

Can’t Stay Away’s Fic Rec Friday #1 (04.14.23) - to have only you by eternaltears

Title: to have only you (ao3)

Author(s): eternaltears (ao3) | @eternallystears (Twitter)

Fandom(s): Black Panther Wakanda Forever

Pairing/Ship(s): Namor x Shuri

Type: AU Canon Divergent | Multi-verse | Post BPWF

Rating: Mature

Status: Work In Progress

Updated: 04.09.23

Summary: After the alliance, Namor is torn and wallowing in his thoughts of the princess, of the Black Panther. Yearning for what could have been, he is suddenly flung into the multiverse with no way out. Perhaps it is Chaac's way of punishment.

A/N: HEY!! if you follow my twitter, im sure you've seen my thread for this story. LOL. i finally fleshed it out and decided it would be a fic. am i publishing this while i have one pending fic that is not even halfway finished? yes. definitely. will i be able to update both? yes, duh. it might take long though. but anyway, i hope you like this! it's been in my mind ever since i wrote that thread, and it's making me go crazy LOL. i hope you like it!

*I could not find this author on Tumblr. If this is your story or you know who they are, please let me know and I will tag you.

*I don’t have Twitter so I didn't link to the thread in question, but the author’s Twitter is linked above if you want to find it yourself.

Why I Love It: It’s Quantum Leap in a Nashuri fic! No, but seriously I know people have issues with the prominence of multiverse-centric storytelling in major media right now, the argument can be made that there is an oversaturation, and the execution has been somewhat clumsy. But this is fanfiction. And when fic writers get a hold of endless possibilities, that is where they have the most fun IMO. Multiverse exploration is ripe for that.

So when we have a character as stalwart and immoveable as Namor, finding himself thrown into the unknown time and again, being confronted with the many dispirate yet marginally familiar versions of his (yes his) Princess Shuri that the original version encompasses as a whole, why it’s enough to drive a God King mad.

As it is, this is whimsical, fun, amusing, and thrilling. It keeps you leaned in and on the edge of it, but not in a way that makes you want to tear your hair out. It’s a fish out of water story. A somewhat irreverent comedy, with highkey romantic undertones. Well balanced. A few non-BP characters appear – America Chavez and Doctor Strange – but they aren’t annoying and serve critical purpose to the plot.

I highly recommend for its dark rom-com tone and multiversal hijenx. Plus a disoriented, sulky, broody, lovesick Namor is always a treat.

to have only you

[linkii]

ummmm i nvr introduced myself soooo here’s an about me!!!

my name is link, im 24 (00 baby), and audhd (austistic and adhd)

i use he/him and she/her, and all neopronouns and xenopronouns, but NOT they/them pleeease

i’m indigenous australian, but very disconnected from my culture. on meanjin land.

i’m queer and asexual - any nsfw posts are tagged as ‘link after dark’ and they come at random so. sorry

dni & interests UTC

things i like: girls, kpop*, fish, cats, animal crossing, girls, roblox & minecraft, furries & scalies, girls, girls kissing, etymology & linguistics, psychology & criminology (i am NOT in the tcc), ghosts, demonology & angelology, chemistry, girls, cat girl/boys/etc, australian history, burial rites the book, lockwood and co, dead boy detectives, sims lore, kissing girls,

DNI: homophobe/transphobe/queerphobe/aphobe, exclusionist (terf, etc), anti-palestine, you think china is evil, you call yourself a weeb, loudly anti-kpop,

* faves: p1h, red velvet, aespa, ive, enhypen, nct (all units), zb1, boynextdoor, xikers , tws, skz, etc

i don’t anti any groups

[aftonfamilyvalues]

Do you have any silco fic recs that you'd be willing to share? I'm begging for crumbs I feel like I just keep finding bad ones but mayhaps I'm looking in the wrong places 🤲

Drink With Me - you are a bartender, jinx hires you to work for the last drop. part of your duties? bringing silco a bottle of his fav every week. life changing. genuinely, it changed the way i view writing, as silly as that sounds. its a ride, fucked me up but ends so sweetly. i still can not believe you can read this for free. literally revolutionary in the fan fic game. complete. smut.

One More Round - some added pieces for Drink With Me. one shots, chapter rewrites, all that jazz.

Drink With Me: The Virgin AU - not sure if itll be added to One More Round or whatever but I wanted to give it its own spot. a rewrite of the smut in Drink With Me but silco is a virgin. interesting! ongoing. smut.

All That's Left - a talented young scientist who was adopted by singed, you are convinced to join the revolution. there you meet silco, one of the three leaders. the fic does an amazing job at establishing the reader in universe. also the "inaccurate science" and "just making shit up" sounds legit lol. made me fall in love with the young version of silco, it really hits a spot i didnt know existed before. pure love. complete.

Everything Else - bonus content for All That's Left. fun!

Timeless - time travel au. with silco dead and jinx having dragged zaun into an unwinnable war with piltover, life is misery. that is, until you find a hex crystal which throws you back in time almost 2 decades. guided by the ghost of silco, you have a chance to change the fate of zaun and most importantly, the fate of the silco of this universe. the one currently fucking me up! what the fuck is chapter 6?! oh my god! ongoing. tags promise eventual smut.

Bend But Not Break - regency au. youre the zaunite governess for little jinx, a girl living in piltover with her wealthy industrialist father. with odd rules and a shady employer, something strange is going on in this old mansion. just make sure to lock your door at night and do not, i repeat, do not go into the attic.

The Mourning Eclipse - soulmate au. after the death of your mother, you move to zaun and into a supposedly haunted penthouse. not being a believer in the paranormal, you ignore the warnings and make yourself comfortable in your new home... until the ghost attached to the piano and bookshelf that came with the place makes himself known. without any memories of his life, you set out to help the ghostly man figure out why hes still here. ongoing.

Secret Ingredient - baker au. just got around to reading this one finally, as im in currently reading this between putting this list together. like only a few chapters in, but im really loving it already so its going here. i make the rules! ongoing. smut.

The Rest of the Recipe - horray! more content for another lovely fic! dont you just love it when that happens?

Battered and Baked - another baker au, its inspired by Secret Ingredient, actually. a good one for a quick fix of young silco. hes so sweet, maybe sweeter than your honey rolls. ongoing.

Trust - virgin silco? virgin silco. one shot. smut.

Substance - you get drunk one night and accidentally marry one of the sons of zaun. time to get to know your new husband, i suppose. hope nothing bad happens to him! another young silco, hes something special, isnt he? complete but the final part isnt uploaded to ao3 so link to final chapter here. smut.

Come Morning - you find the eye of zaun in a daze wandering around. you take him to your home to rest up and recover. he seems to have taken a liking to you though after that. complete. multiple endings including one with smut and another that will break your heart! take your pick!

What Lurks Below - mermay fic. a strange fish man saves you from a watery grave. you quickly befriend him despite not being able to speak each others languages. maybe more than befriend? the only problem is you could never truly be together... unless? ongoing.

Treat You Right - you admit to sevika that youd fuck the boss. he overhears. also hes a virgin in this one too. lol. one shot. smut.

Look Good - a little game of teasing your boss goes a bit too far. one shot. smut.

Concessions- masquerade, paper faces on parade. youre a royal and as such must be wed soon. but why not have a night of fun beforehand? who knows, perhaps this man will want your hand. one shot. smut

Gala of '81 - another masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you. you fuck a mysterious mask man at, you guessed it, a masquerade. one shot. smut.

Purgatory - more young silco because i apparently just cant get enough. i dont know, take care of him and suck his dick i guess. works for me! one shot. smut.

A Drought in the Night- vampire silco au! i did mention how much of love vampires right? he just fits so perfectly. very sexy. mmm. anyway, youre tasked with fixing him a drink and bring it to him after the head bartender is out of work. one shot.

A Little Thirsty- a sequel to A Drought in the Night. one shot. smut.

Here - sweet fluffy morning sex. need i say more? one shot. smut.

Tummy - hehe. one shot.

The Kinkman (Read: Very Murderous Crimelord) crack fic. you get a text from a wrong number and decide to fuck with him. one shot.

No Strings- remember that brothel scene? that masked man named pim? well, you get to fuck pim!... wait, i thought this was a silco fic rec? one shot. smut.

[mazikomo]

In Too Deep — Chapter 2, Testing the Waters

You hadn't even wanted the job in the first place, but after being tossed into the deep end, you found yourself searching for just how far it's depths reached. Modern AU, Silco has a massive aquatic collection and it's your job to take care of it.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

AO3 link

Silco/fem!reader, eventual NSFW 4.6k words Modern day AU, slow burn, full tags on AO3

After going through formatting hell, the sharks have arrived! Oh, and there's Silco too, but more importantly, sharks! 🦈

Open mouth kiss to @sherwood-forests for her pharmaceutical knowledge and @steponmesilco for the marine guidance. Don't put sharks on the floor kids.

[DISCORD: The Playground → #general]

TheBoySavior Today at 6:47 PM yo @SharkWhisperer how was the first day? 

Vi(olence) Today at 7:03 PM  first day? you get a new job???

TheBoySavior Today at 7:05 PM she got assigned out to manage a private collection  abandoned me 😭 

Vi(olence) Today at 7:06 PM private collection? who tf has enough fish to need a full time aquarist?

TheBoySavior Today at 7:07 PM  @SharkWhisperer I’m going to let you tell her 

Vi(olence) Today at 7:07 PM TELL ME WHAT?  👀👀 HELLO?? 

[The Playground→ #fishbowl 🐟]

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:54 PM  @TheBoySavior sent you the address and instructions for tomorrow morning, gimme a call if you need anything  TheBoySavior reacted with 👍

Vi(olence) Today at 8:55 PM  oh I see how it is you come online and go to your special little aquarists channel and ignore my questions I expect a full rundown when you get home

[The Playground → #general]

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:55 PM  @Vi(olence) seeing as this is the first chance I’ve had to check discord since this morning, I’VE BEEN BUSY 

Vi(olence) Today at 8:56 PM yeah yeah, you still haven’t told me what this new super secret assignment is 

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:57 PM  too lazy to type home in 15  can I have your leftover pizza? 

Vi(olence) Today at 8:58 PM  replying to @SharkWhisperer it has pineapple 

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:58 PM  im too hungry to care  

You put away your phone after that and closed your eyes to take advantage of not having to focus on driving. The bus stop was only a block or so from your shared condo with Vi, so you had opted to take it instead of having to figure out parking on your first day. Honestly, you might make it a habit. Some people said driving was a good way to sort out their thoughts and decompress. Those people had obviously never driven in Florida. 

With your backpack hugged to your chest, you got as comfortable as one could be in a metal bus seat. You hadn’t been exaggerating when you said your day had been ‘BUSY.’

Even with your methodical approach, you had been on your feet the entire day. Grayson had done a phenomenal job at getting everything ready, but you still had to acclimate yourself. And there was a lot to acclimate to: six tanks, all the life support systems attached to them, the dietary needs of dozens of animals, and the extra care and monitoring of those with medical conditions. Not to mention the usual aspects of starting any new job, like figuring out where the hell everything was. 

Oh, and the sharks are coming tomorrow morning.  

Needlessly to say, you had gotten your steps in for the day and then some. Checking the equipment was a matter of recording settings and what all the gauges read. It was simple but tedious. Thankfully, besides the piranhas, you were familiar with all the other animals. Even more thankfully, you had brought what you called your ‘slop top’ apron to wear while you did food prep. In between all of that, you had also played phone tag with Ekko to coordinate the transportation of the sharks. 

By the time the sun had set, you had established a nice baseline of operations for yourself. 

While everyone else had already left, you only had one thing remaining. A task you had been looking forward to all day: enter the main tank and have a look around. The new scuba suit in the locker room was a nice gesture, but you preferred to wear your own. Plus, red just wasn’t your color. 

You moved methodically, pulling the material taught as you went and only continuing to the next section when the current one was perfectly situated. Starting with pulling on the legs like stockings, then over hips, behind, and stomach. Your arms went through the sleeves like you would put on a jacket from behind until you were able to work it up over your shoulders. From there, all you had to do was zip up the front and fasten the velcro around the collar. Gloves, flippers, and goggles completed the ensemble. 

The suit had a weighted blanket effect, tight enough that you felt grounded despite quite literally floating,   but there was no hindrance to your movements. However,  navigating the long tube attached to an oxygen tank on the surface, instead of carrying one on your back, proved to be a bit cumbersome, but you adjusted well enough. 

Almost immediately after you lowered yourself in, Enoch nudged your side. 

He was one of the two green sea turtles who had come from a local rehabilitation center for marine wildlife. Their injuries had been cared for and healed, but the damage done meant they could not be returned to the open ocean. They were quite the characters. 

For Enoch, the general assumption was that he had been attacked by a shark as a decent portion of his front flippers were missing. However, that didn’t slow him down in the slightest. He loved attention and was known to follow his caretakers and bump into them whenever possible. 

Clarence, on the other hand, reminded you of a grumpy old man in a cartoon. He could have quite the temper and mostly kept to himself, but he still proved to be a sweetheart. He had been struck by a boat propeller which caused an air pocket to form under his shell—bubble butt as the condition was called. The air pocket was unremovable and did not allow him to dive to the depths needed, an unfortunately common occurrence for wild sea turtles. Weights had been attached to his shell to help counteract the pocket’s buoyancy effects. 

Like many turtles with bubble butt, Clarence was not a fan of his weights. With everything being brand new, it wasn’t hard to spot where he had already been rubbing against a filtration pipe in an attempt to knock them off his shell. He wasn't doing any real damage, but it was something you’d need to keep an eye on. 

The jerk of the bus’ brakes alerted you to your stop. Even at night, the heat and humidity was strong and you were already sweating by the time you reached your place.

You heard yelling from inside before you even had the key in the lock. Yelling meant Vi was gaming, maybe you could slip past her without having to explain your new assignment. Vi was generally easy going, but there were a few opinions of hers that she would fight tooth and nail to defend: cereal went into the bowl before the milk, pirating media was a victimless crime and more people should do it, and Zaun Inc. was evil. 

The rumbling of your stomach, however, killed that idea. 

It was dark when you stepped inside, save for the color changing LED lights that lined the living room. Sometimes you regretted agreeing to Vi having her gaming setup in the living room, but you weren’t home enough to justify moving it elsewhere. Besides, she made a surprisingly decent amount of money streaming. You dropped your backpack by the door and went straight to the fridge. 

A cold slice went directly from the box to your clenched teeth so your hands were free to crack open a sports drink. You flopped onto the couch in the spot that was outside Vi’s camera range. A burst of pineapple made you grimace as you chewed but it felt good to get something in your stomach after a long day. 

“Alright guys, I’m going to take a quick break. Back in ten.” 

Vi’s chair, a second hand gaming chair the two of you had picked out of the trash and pushed each other down the sidewalk on, creaked as she turned towards you. 

She looked at you with big eyes and folded her hands under her chin. “Soooo, where’s this exciting new assignment that’s so secret?”

You carefully kept your eyes on the ceiling. “Zaun Incorporated.” 

For the second time that day, you felt the air in the room shift.

“...You’re joking.” 

Eyes still on the ceiling. “Nope.”

Vi shot out of the chair and paced the small room. “Why would you work for a company like that!?” 

Your head lolled to the side as your eyes followed her movements. “You seriously think I would choose a job like this? You know me better than that.” Pizza laying on your chest, your hand pinched between your eyes, “Look, I don’t work directly for them, it’s a contract through my actual employer. I didn’t have a choice, I was the lucky duck that was picked.”

Back and forth. Back and forth she paced. Like a tiger on the prowl until she finally snapped. “Do you know how many kids come in hooked on shimmer?” 

Your throat tightened. It was something you had decidedly not been thinking about since Grayson told you where the assignment was. 

Vi’s day job was working with at-risk youth. She was a boxing coach and mentor for a lot of kids. The program she was a part of, Children of the Lanes, had been founded by her father and was held in high regard in the city. Ever since shimmer hit the streets years ago they’ve had their hands more than full. The substance was still very much a mystery, but everyone knew its base ingredient was the same as that of  Riowave, a pharmaceutical drug invented by Zaun Inc.  It was the first parent drug of its kind, and as soon as it hit the market, Shimmer flowed out onto the streets shortly after. 

From what you understood, the drug was groundbreaking due to its purported lack of side effects and ability to treat chronic pain where other drugs have failed. Unfortunately, the notoriety of shimmer quickly overtook the magnitude of such a discovery and the reputation of Zaun Inc. became tarnished. 

But you also knew that wasn’t the entire reason for Vi’s hatred of the company. No, there was something personal there. Something you had never picked at out of respect for your friendship.

You sat up and rested your elbows on your knees, the cold pizza forgotten.  “Look, I know their reputation isn’t the greatest, but I’m not going to be anywhere near that stuff. My job is to take care of the aquariums and animals. That’s it.” 

“Why does a company like that even have large scale aquariums?” 

“Apparently the CEO’s a shark nut or something, I don’t know. He hardly said anything to me when we ran into each other.” 

Vi rounded on you, “You met Silco?” 

“I think? Is that his name? It was really—” 

“Stay away from him.” 

You blinked. “Why?” 

“Just stay away from him, okay? He’s not a good guy.” She sat down and put her headphones back on signaling the end of the conversation. 

You finished the pizza, not even tasting it as you turned the conversation over in your head and got ready for bed. In the living room, Vi was a bit louder than usual, but better she worked out her frustrations on a video game than you. She’d probably simmer for a few days before cooling off, and if today was any indication of your new schedule, you wouldn’t be around much for it anyways.  

Honestly, you had been so busy today you had forgotten about your brief interaction with the boss—er, Silco. You didn’t know much about him besides what you saw in passing while scrolling social media. He was a rare case of a genuine self-made man in the pharmaceutical industry but many theorized it wasn’t entirely achieved by honest means. If the glimpse you experienced of him today was any indication, you were inclined to agree. 

His authority had been unmistakable in the room. An invisible weight—that eye, the Eye of Zaun nickname from the tabloids finally made sense—held you in place, and yet you were still intrigued. Your eyes had tracked over him. Everyone you had met that day had been in more casual clothes meant for labor, but Silco’s were impeccable. At a glance you could tell the attire had been tailored to his lean form. Dress slacks, button up, waistcoat, and tie certainly gave you pause. 

As you would with a new animal in your care, you kept your actions more reserved. Do and say what would appease them. Make them feel comfortable so you could eventually approach for a closer look. 

He scanned your form as you mirrored his position: firm stance, shoulders back, and hands loosely held behind your back. 

“You’re the aquarist Grayson sent?” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

“What time will the sharks be here tomorrow?” Right to the point then, best to do the same. 

“What time do you want them here?” 

The minuscule raise of an eyebrow told you that was not the response he was expecting. “Nine will be sufficient.” 

“Nine it is then.” 

–

By 8:55 the next morning, you had already suited up and were in the process of double checking everything you had set up yesterday. The sharks would be going into an isolated area of the main tank that was about the size of a large backyard swimming pool. They would stay there until they were acclimated and trained enough to have full access to the main tank. 

The doors to the freight elevator opened. 

“Five more minutes and I would have had free delivery.” 

Ekko rolled his eyes. “And you have the audacity to call other people’s jokes bad.” 

“You said you’d miss me.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” He pushed the large wheeled crate towards you. “I’ll be back in a minute with the other.” 

You worked on unclasping the plexiglass lid and checked the water flow inside. Ekko returned with the second crate moments later as you adjusted the speed of the small pump. 

He jerked a thumb behind him. “I don’t know what’s crazier, that guy’s hair or his eyes.” 

You looked up. “Oh, Dustin? Yeah, he’s a bit of an oddball but apparently a whiz with heavy machinery.” 

“Wish I had known that while he was unloading them off the truck. I was white knuckling my phone the entire time.” 

“How’d you get them loaded up?” 

Ekko grimaced. “I had to ask Marcus to help.” 

“Ew.” 

“I know. He bitched the entire time about how he should have gotten your position.”

You snorted. “Ironic since he never applied for it.” 

“Yeah, he didn’t like when I pointed that out.” 

“Marcus can suck a dick.” 

Ekko grinned, “That’s exactly what I told him.” 

Ekko and you fell into a comfortable rhythm after that. You gingerly rotated the sharks onto their backs, causing them to enter a sleep-like state, and checked them over to see if anything had happened during the transport. Ekko had already done a full examination with measurements, weight, and blood drawn this morning.

You had only been away from them for about a week, but you were once again struck by the beauty of the sharks. The moment they had arrived at Buhru Aquatics weeks ago you knew they were special. Little did you know just how special, being the prized feature of Zaun Inc.’s new building and all. 

There were a few reasons why sand tiger sharks were the ideal pick for aquariums. On the practical side, they adapt and survive well in captivity. Unless provoked, they’re not aggressive and therefore safe to mix with various other animals. If fed on a regular basis, they wouldn’t seek out a snack in their tank mates. 

Most importantly, however, they encapsulated the ferocious shark look people wanted to see. Three rows of jagged teeth were visible even when their mouths are closed, and long pectoral and tail fins not only allow for stealthy movement, but an impressive and daunting silhouette. 

For being wild caught, it was surprising how quickly these two had adjusted and began to interact with you more and more each day. It was why you loved your job so much; each animal had their own personality and it was never lost on you how fortunate you were to have a front row seat to observe them. Hell, not even front row, you were right on stage with them. 

Zaun Inc. never was a stage you thought you’d be on, but nevertheless, along with these two sharks, you had been thrust into the spotlight. Hopefully the audience wouldn’t throw you overboard.

“So, how’d Vi take the news?” Ekko asked.

“She was upset but understood I’m not actually part of the shimmer pipeline. Though, she seems to have a personal grudge against this place I have yet to uncover.” 

“That's why I let you tell her. All I know is there some sort of beef between her dad and—” 

The metal door clicked as it unlocked and caused the both of you to look up. Speak of the devil, Silco entered and smoothly approached, not even glancing at either of you as he strode right up to the transportation tanks to look inside. 

You cleared your throat. “Good morning, Sir. This is Ekko. He brought the sharks here and will be helping with checking them over and getting them into the isolation area.” 

To your surprise, Ekko offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sir.” 

Silco seemed to act on autopilot as he gave a firm handshake, responded with a clipped, “Pleasure,” then immediately focused back on the sharks. 

He tilted his head. “Two females?” 

That surprised you even more. 

You nodded in confirmation. “You know your sharks.” 

“Based on their size, I was going to say male, but since you have them upside down I can see they’re lacking that anatomy.”

“These two are still juvenile, I’d estimate about three to four years old for both, so they still have quite a ways to grow.  

“Do they have names?” 

You gestured to the one closest to you, “This is Gabriella. She’s quite social for having only been in captivity for a short time. The other is Sandy. She displays more typical behavior and likes to keep close to the bottom of the tank. You can tell the difference by Sandy's more prominent spots and slightly larger size” 

Silco hummed. “She has yet to come out of her shell.” 

“Well, luckily she has the sea turtles to show her the way.” 

You received two very different looks in response: Ekko, an incredulous, are you really telling dad jokes with the Eye of Zaun?? stare and a nonchalant glance from Silco. It was almost expressionless, save for the slightest raise of his brow. He was either amused by your cheekiness, or drafting your employment termination memo in his head. You decided it was the former—he had started it after all. 

“How long until they can enter the main tank?” 

You shrugged. “Depends on how they adjust to yet another new environment. Ekko and I got them onto a pretty good schedule after a few weeks, but I want to make sure—”

“The building opens in a month. I want them in the main tank by then.” 

His tone prickled underneath your skin. 

“That should be doable.” your response was clipped.

Silco looked up and suddenly that casual gaze was cutting. “It will be done.” There was no room for argument in his tone. 

That, however, did deter you. All your life you had a tendency to shoot from the hip and deal with the results afterwards. It had bitten you in the ass on more than one occasion but you chose not to regret things. Your gut may override your brain sometimes but there was always a reason for it. You were here to do a job and you’d be damned if anyone interfered with what you knew was the best course of action.  

The same authoritative tone from yesterday was summoned once more and you reflected Silco’s challenging stare. “With all due respect, Sir, my job here is to care for all of the animals. The sharks won’t be integrated into the main tank until I am absolutely confident there won’t be any issues. One of the turtles in there has already suffered extreme injury from a shark. I will not allow anything like that to happen under my care.” You gestured to the sharks without breaking eye contact. “My expertise tells me a month should be enough time to release them, but I am not someone who makes fruitless guarantees.”

You held his stare, not even allowing your eyes to flicker between his own duo-colored ones. Perhaps an overkill explanation, but if he wanted to play hard ball you were more than prepared to swing back.

Silco’s seafoam eye narrowed. “You would do best to watch your tone,” he paused for a moment as if he could see your insides bristle. Then, to your surprise once more, his shoulders eased. “However, I concede my order. I was unaware of the reason for that turtle's wounds.”

Your own posture relaxed as well. “Thank you, Sir. I appreciate the understanding.” 

“Just be sure everything is done to facilitate the transition in a prompt timeframe.” With that, he turned towards the exit.

You bent over the sharks and stage whispered, “Hear that ladies? Dad wants you in the big kids playground as soon as possible. So be good for him.” 

The only response was the echo of Silco’s shoes and the click of the latch as the door automatically locked behind him. 

Ekko broke the silence. “I know our job involves swimming in shark infested waters, but that doesn’t mean you have to piss them off while you’re in there.” 

“Where’s the fun in that? Help me get the sling under Gabby.” 

Ekko held Gabby in her upside down position while you maneuvered a large nylon blanket under her. After a final quick check over, he rotated her back upright. Together, you then pushed the transportation tank as close to the edge of the isolated area as you could. 

“Just try not to get in over your head here okay? This job is already a lot without you stirring things up with your mouth.” 

You each grabbed an end of the sling on either side of the shark.

“Tell that to my mouth, it runs on a separate operating system. Okay, lift on three: one, two, three!” 

Both of you hefted upwards. Gabby may only be a juvenile but she still weighed enough that there really should be more than two people to help move her. 

As soon as she was out of the water she began to thrash. Quickly, you stepped down into the isolation area where the water came up to your calves. She fought against the confines of the sling as she was eased in. You each lowered your sides of the sling and she smoothly swam out, happy to finally be back in open water. 

You repeated the process with Sandy who was much more agreeable to being moved. From there, you helped Ekko drain the transport tanks and pack up. 

“You want me to come down and help load the truck?” 

“Nah, I’ll let crazy hair play with the forklift again,” he clapped you on the shoulder, “Behave and keep me updated on the girls. I’ll see ya when I see ya.” 

You waved as the elevator doors closed and then you were alone. Well, not completely alone. You had your favorite girls with you now and you were sure you’d be having plenty of conversations with Enoch. 

As you approached the edge of the isolation area you replayed your interaction with Silco in your head. You could have handled it more tactfully, but what’s done is done. Not ideal, but you had gotten your point across. Working with (for?) Silco was certainly going to be a learning curve. 

Admittedly though, you gave credit where credit was due. To reassess and change your stance when presented with new information instead of digging your heels in was admirable. The man was a natural born leader. He had the power of a river cutting through mountains but was still adaptable to the landscape. 

You laughed to yourself, training Silco was probably going to be more of a challenge than training the sharks. Sharks were simple; keep them well fed on a strict schedule, and they wouldn’t cause any trouble. Silco, on the other hand, probably couldn’t be regimented as easily. 

He didn’t even need to be tamed that much though. Like the sharks living in a tank with their natural prey, you needed to find a balance with him. It was his building and his animals, but it was your job to take care of them. You didn’t mind if he came and observed. Hell, you hoped he would. You wanted him to know that his animals were in the best of hands and perhaps even see how deep his shark knowledge went, but he needed to respect that you knew what you were doing. There needed to be a, a… boundary! 

You dashed off to the supply closets not even caring about the wet footprints you left behind.

–

Towards the end of the day, you were observing the sharks when the click of the door made you jump and almost fall into the water. 

Silco’s voice was smooth while you floundered to recompose yourself.

“Yesterday, when you told me so succinctly to leave, you didn’t have any idea who I was, did you?” 

“No, Sir.”

“Silco is fine.” 

“Okay, Silco,” the name felt odd on your tongue, an interesting flavor but not one you were opposed to trying more. “No, I did not know who you were. Ran told me the marina was my domain. All I knew at the time was no one should have been here besides me.” 

“And yet earlier today, you put your foot in your mouth again despite knowing my position.” 

You barely stopped your shoulders from shrugging and instead nodded. Mirror him; if he was formal then you were formal. “I apologize for how I spoke, but I don’t regret speaking up.” 

“Standing your ground, a respectable trait.” Silco hummed, “Just remember your domain is but a small part of my kingdom.” 

He seemed to enjoy putting you in your place, but you were never good at staying still.

“Speaking of, I actually need to stand my ground again right now.” Your voice raised in pitch and you bit the edge of your lip.

Silco’s eyes tracked the quick movement before flicking back to yours. “And how’s that?”

You pointed to his sleek dress shoes. “If you continue to come up here, which I encourage you to do, I am going to have to ask you to wear non-slip shoes past the line.” You moved your finger to the yellow duct tape line that you had artfully run across the floor after your earlier encounter. It allotted a few feet in front of the main entrance and freight elevator as well as encased your office and the locker room. “You may be authorized to go wherever you please, but OSHA applies to everyone,” you paused, deciding to further test the waters with your best customer service smile, “even the king.” 

An eyebrow arched. “You really don’t have strong self preservation instincts do you?” 

“Why cling to a life preserver when there’s so much to explore below?”  

“An interesting way of phrasing it.”

You gave a sweeping bow. “Is there anything else His Majesty requires of his aquarist?” 

Almost as if he was playing along—and he might be, you couldn’t yet read him entirely—his voice adopted the slightest hint of a haughty tone. “That will be all.” 

Join the taglist!

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[identityarchitect]

[09/11] in light of the fact that tumblr is dying, my discord is jonahfagnus. go friend me if you want to keep in contact mutuals or not

gods i spent so fucking long on the html in this stupid post let's hope it worked

eliias-bouchard -> autistic-grey-wind -> bigender-sliver-of-straw -> eliias-bouchard

hi im lynx (or just see my pronouns.page). im some sort of thing or entity. welcome to my blog. please please view my blog as a site the theme is so good i spent a lot of time on it

edit: ed/sh blogs will be blocked on sight. no exceptions. dont follow me

my ao3

- disused writing tag: #tmabsent

- when i make a new “my writing” tag ill put it here -> temp writing tag

look at my ocs also check out starfallverse

favourites tag -> #%3C3 (its supposed to be a heart)

i cant guarantee consistent cwing but i generally try & do “cw thing” and “thing cw”. all of my posts are ask to tag forever and ever (do link to the post you need tagging though)

if ur my friend i might have a specialised tag for posts that remind me of u. i also might not. dont feel bad if i dont have one for you, its not indicative of how much i like you. also i usually wont tell you if you have a tag or what it is you gotta find that out for yourself

humans tag for ender

no particular dni criteria but i am pro any and all good faith identities & choose to trust the person on what their identity is. i'll just block if i dont like you

all blinkies made with blinkies.cafe

[ID1: a blinkie with the bigender flag in the background reading “bigender & better than you”.

ID2: a blinkie with the bigender flag in the background reading “trans in both directions”.

ID3: a blinkie with rainclouds on either side reading “mike crew lover”.

ID4: a blinkie reading “gerry keay lover”.

ID5: a blinkie with the plural symbol reading “not a gatekeeper”.

ID6: a blinkie with the tbh creature on one side reading “autistic af”.

ID7: a blinkie with the aro flag reading “unloveable <2″

ID8: a blinkie with the ace flag reading “-1 bitches”

ID9: a blinkie with the tbh creature on one side reading "ask me about rw"

ID10: same as above but with "ask me about ksbd"

ID11: same as above but with "ask me about hk"

ID12: same as above but with “ask me about tma”

ID13: same as above but with “ask me about aurora”

ID14: same as above but with "ask me about my ocs"

ID15: a blinkie with the homestuck cat on one side reading “hi lev hows the omniscience coming”

ID16: a blinkie with an octopus on one side reading “<-- fish :)”

ID17: a blinkie with a space background reading “ur local vastard”

ID18: a meme reading "you can always ask me for my discord; its never socially unacceptable" /end ID]

[mrs-gucci]

Mr. Handsy {Clyde Logan x wife!Reader}

@icarusinthesea :

Okay, okay. I think I've thought of something. Eh, it's a mediocre idea, but it does it for me. Fighting with Clyde followed by sweet, hot, nasty make up sex. I can not think of anything else. But whatever you write I'll love. 🥰

author’s notes: hello, hello! writers block has been hitting HARDCORE as of late, which is kind of a bummer, but luckily I’m feeling a bit better now! @icarusinthesea​ thank you for this request!! I hope it was worth the (very long) wait, and I send love to you, friend <3 <3

warnings: fluff. smut. club brawls. violence against an asshole. protectiveness. dom!Clyde. oral sex (m receiving). rough sex. unprotected sex/creampie.

(possible) tw’s: non-con touching (not by Clyde). physical conflict. sex in a public restroom.

word count: 1.9k

my general taglist peeps! @safarigirlsp @babbushka @mrs-zimmerman @dirtytissuebox @thepalaceofmelanie @einmal-im-traum @charliesahottie​ @gotham-city-uber-driver​ @gildedstarlight​ @slytheriin2002 clyde’s taglist peeps! @goddessofsprings​ @icarusinthesea​ @lumdelacour​ @readingreaver​ @eagerforhoney​ @trubluepensfan​ @beachwoodmonet​ if you’d like to be added to any of my taglists, the sign up is linked here and can also be found in my description :)

You had a bad feeling about this place from the very beginning, from the moment you stepped into this stupid sleazy club for your co-worker’s birthday.

Clyde decided to tag along, mainly to hang out with the other poor guys whose wives dragged them along tonight.

The bass pulses your eardrums as you make your way over to the booth that they’d claimed, saying some very loud ‘hi’s’ and ‘hello’s’ to everyone before taking a seat on Clyde’s lap.

Your outfit certainly matches the locale of tonight’s party, sexy and risqué while maintaining at least some coverage and dignity for your larger areas. Clyde’s been having some trouble keeping his eyes, and now that he can, his hands, off you.

His calloused flesh hand runs over your thigh and hip in a soothing manner, mindless in its movements over your exposed skin.

Soon, a good dancing song comes on and no matter how much you try to beg Clyde to join you on the crowded floor, he refuses, insisting that you go have some fun with your friends.

His eyes keep a close watch on you, knowing that unfortunately, it’s highly likely that some bonehead Joe will come along and think he can touch without permission.

He finds himself in a sort of entranced state, watching the way your hips move when you dance, watches your skin bounce and jiggle with each motion, sees the way the multicolored lights bounce off the sequins on your dress…

Sure enough, said bonehead Joe dances his way over to you, not-so-subtly checking you out from a bit of a distance before making his approach.

Clyde almost instantly leaps into action when his hand touches your hip and he slides in behind you. Thinking that the man behind you is Clyde, you start grinding against him a bit more, smirking.

But, only after a second or two, his motions and touch begin to feel awfully foreign. You’ve just truly begun to doubt your dancing partner’s identity when he leans down to whisper in your ear.

“Keep dancing like this and I’ll just have to take you home, babygirl.”

Goosebumps form on your skin in disgust the moment you hear an unfamiliar voice, yanking away from his grubby grip.

“How dar—“

“Hey, you!”

Your eyes widen and you look around the man to see a very angry-looking Clyde storming his way over to where you’re standing.

He turns the handsy man around with a hand on his shoulder, then gives him a shove. “Can’t ya see she’s married, asshole? Don’t you ever think ya can just go ‘round here, touchin’ what ain’t yours.”

“Cly—“

“Don’t ya even start with me right now, Y/N. I can’t believe ya didn’t stop ‘im, can’t believe ye kept grindin’ against ‘im.”

Your eyes widen. “Clyde, p-please, it’s not like tha—“

“I thought I told ya t’ can it, Y/N.”

You shudder at his commanding and harsh tone, immediately backing down and biting your lip as the tears swell in your eyes.

The man wears a small smirk, giving Clyde an equally rough shove backwards. “And what, you’re telling me she’s yours? Bullshit she is. Who’d ever wanna marry a one-armed redneck like you?”

Big mistake. Clyde used to just stand down and shut off whenever someone made fun of his disability, but usually now, he just gets fucking pissed.

Sure enough, his jaw clenches and he quickly lunges at Mr. Handsy, forcefully knocking him to the scuffed dance floor. Often times, mostly due to his kind and gentle demeanor, you forget that Clyde’s a veteran. A special ops veteran, at that.

You can’t deny that bearing witness to his unbridled anger and dominance isn’t at least a little bit sexy, even if you do feel incredibly guilty about not realizing sooner that it wasn’t Clyde.

Like the coward he truly is, and that many men like him are, he flees the scene quickly when he looks up and sees the anger in Clyde’s eyes.

Meanwhile, you instantly rush up to him, apologizing repeatedly. “Clyde, I’m so sorry, I thought it was you and I didn’t mean to—“

He snatches your wrist, bending down so that his hot, slightly strained breath wafts across your face. “You’d better yer slutty ass into the restroom right fuckin’ now.” He growls, letting you go.

You nod, whimpering under your breath as you scurry off into the bathroom.

He follows after you, pushing you into the single stall before reaching around to lock the door.

“Clyde, please, I’m so sorry. I promise that I didn’t know it wasn’t you until he spoke and I pulled away right after that. I would never…”

He holds a hand up and you trail off, then crosses it back over his chest along with the other. When you look up at him, ready to apologize further, he gives you a subtle head shake and a faint smile.

“Get m’ cock out.”

You know, then, that he’s not mad, and you know exactly what he wants from you. You step up to him with a small smirk and pop the button on his Levi’s, pulling the zipper down before reaching in to fish out his half-hard length.

“Now stroke it. You know how I like it.”

Your hand holds a steady grip around the protrusion, starting off slow but quickening randomly, just as he likes it.

His head tilts back onto the cheap tiled wall, nostrils flaring as he exhales shakily. “Thaaaaat’s m’ girl, just like that.”

You speed up just a bit, focusing your pressure and ministrations on the upper half of his shaft, moving the little bit of excess skin up and down his shiny pink head.

“Mmmmffhhh.” He groans through pursed lips, hips rutting forward into your touch.

Suddenly, he pushes your hand away, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to cope with the sudden loss of stimulation on his pulsing arousal.

“Knees.”

You get onto your knees, using his shoes as cushioning.

“Mouth open.”

Your jaw falls open and he wastes no time in moving himself into proper position, sheathing himself fully in your mouth.

“Ghhhohhh, s-shit.”

You’re choking right off the bat, shoulders shaking with each violent cough.

“Yeah, take it. Gon’ make ye choke on me, shove m’ cock down yer lil throat ‘till ya can’t breathe no more.”

You somehow manage to moan around him in between your gags and coughs, lungs panicked for the rough cutoff of airflow by Clyde’s length. Tears begin to swell in your eyes, soon running down your cheeks.

His eyebrows are tightly knitted in the center of his forehead, skin glistening with the beginnings of sweat as his hips rut into your cavern even quicker and rougher now.

Clyde has to physically pull himself away from your mouth, shuddering as his cock bobs and throbs angrily at the loss of friction. His hand splays out on the wall, chest heaving as he takes a moment to re-gain composure.

Then, he looks down at you, gaze sizzling your very skin.

“Up. Turn yerself ‘round n’ bend over, ass out n’ legs spread nicely.”

You put yourself into the position, wiggling your ass just a bit for play after pushing your jean shorts down, earning you a harsh smack across your newly-exposed skin. He smirks when you squeal softly, giving himself a few lazy strokes as he steps up behind you, lips instantly attacking your neck.

“Yer gon’ walk outta ‘ere with all o’ my marks on your neck, hickeys n’ bite marks. Maybe then everyone’ll understand who it is ya belong t’."

His chin digs into your shoulder, then he’s thrusting forward, filling you up and stretching you out to the max. You gasp, eyelids fluttering as your eyes roll into the back of your skull.

“Ohhhhh.”

He groans into your ear, chin digging into your shoulder as he begins fucking you fast and hard. There’s nothing gentle or romantic about this union; it’s hunger and wanting, it’s pure carnal lust.

Tears quickly swell up in your eyes at the sweet pleasure currently surging through your body, tickling every nerve ending and igniting every pleasure center. 

It’s humid in the club, the bathroom no exception and already, a sheen of sweat has formed on the surface of your skin. Clyde’s good hand takes an even firmer hold on the meat of your hips, hips thrusting at an impossibly fast pace.

“G’damnit, wrapped ‘round m-me so tight, fffuck Y/N. Such a lil’ cccunt, love shovin’ m’ b-big cock in ya, ssssplittin’ ya right in half--christ.”

You love how his accent gets thicker and thicker at times like this, so much so that sometimes you can’t even make sense of what he’s saying. It’s adorable.

“Mmm, C-Clyde! Please baby, please mmmake me cum!”

His lips latch onto the side of your neck, sucking as hard as they possibly can while he reaches around to rub your clit with the cool metal digits of his prosthetic. 

Your hips instantly grind down on him, a shaky gasp leaving your lips. “Ohh god, mmmmmfffuck--right there! Yes, yes, Clyde!”

“Say y-yer mine.” He growls into your ear, panting. “Tell everyone who ya bbbelong to. Scream ma name w-when ya cum.”

“Y-Yours, all yours, Clyde. I’m yours!” You whimper. 

Clyde fucks you with everything he’s got, biting into your skin and sucking more of the flesh until you’re littered with marks. It’s not long before you’re tumbling over the edge, body trembling as you release all over his shaft with a shout of his name.

“Clyde! C-Clyde, fuck!”

Not long after you, Clyde falls over the edge, desperately rutting and fucking each drop of his hot load deep into your spasming cunt.

“Y/N, g’damnit...fuuuckin’ s-shit!”

Both of you are rendered breathless as you come down from your respective highs. His lips and tongue gently soothe the harsh bites and bruises that have been left behind in his wake. 

He sighs softly when he pulls out, helping you pull your shorts back up before tucking himself back into his pants. When you turn around, he crashes his lips into yours, hands resting gently on your hips. 

“‘m real sorry fer that, Y/N; dunno what got int’ me. I didn’t hurt ya, did I?”

You smile, cradling his face in your hands. “Clyde, there is no need to apologize or feel bad for that. You know if I was uncomfortable, I would’ve stopped you or said something. I loved it, more than I probably should have, and I love you.”

His lips tug up into a soft, lopsided smile, relief flooding across his expression.

“I love ya too, Y/N, so, so much. Thank ya fer puttin’ up with me n’ bein’ mine.”

“No ‘thank you’ necessary, baby. I’m yours, always yours.”

Clyde grins, pulling you in for a hug as he repeats your words out loud.

“All mine.”

[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch8 An Unexpected Chain Of Events

(Warnings: Rengoku is in REALLY BAD shape with wounds, blood/possible blood loss, and a few giant fish hooks embedded in him. Mentioning of blood. Mentioning of attempted kidnapping. Mentions of Rengokus poisonous barbs. yn has to do CPR on Rengoku.

If you need a refresher on the mer cast-

Suma: (all blue) Halfmoon Betta Fish mer

Hinatsuru: Strawberry Peacock Cichlid mer

Makio: Golden Dragon Koi mer

Kyojuro Rengoku: Lionfish mer(you can follow the link below and see what he looks like there.)

https://www.tumblr.com/yuki2sksksk/729990049783021568/lionfish-based-merman-kyojuro-and-betta-fish-based?source=share

If I don't describe CPR accurately I apologize. I looked instructions up on YouTube to get as accurate of a scene as I could.)

Tags: @shadyd3ar @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan

The day was beautiful this morning.

With the sunlight sinking into the room through the window. The birds singing outside. Beautiful fresh smelling air. Beautiful visions of nature right outside of you looked. A bright blue sky. Fluffy white clouds. Yellow sun. Flowers of every color. Green plants everywhere. Trees providing shade as the wind rolled by. An absolute picture perfect scene for what could very much be a good day. Nothing in the world to worry about. Nothing to do. Just peaceful quiet and nature.

That was what your normal morning would've been on your day off. When you woke up at a reasonable time and woke up at a normal time. However this wasn't your normal morning. Now was it?

The wind felt nice against your skin as you walked along the dirt road and towards the pathway where the river lied. It was pretty early in the morning too. Two maybe three o'clock. A yawn bubbled up the woman's throat and made it out as a hand instinctively went to cover her mouth. Usually you would fear going outside anytime during the night but desperate times called for desperate measures. You were running out of food. All these scraps would only go so far before someone got the idea to start charging you money for that too or by the ways things were going, soon there wouldn't even be any scraps left for you to be handed. Your only hope right now was to rely on old scraps and providing the food yourself. Under the covers of darkness to avoid any suspicion.

Your door had opened quietly and you stepped out of your house and into the quiet, barren streets. The moonlight shining down and kissing your form. A shiver running down your spine from a warm breeze ghosting over your form. It would be a good night to fish. The door closed softly as you started walking towards the woods outside the town, fishing line curled up within your right hand. The moon shown down upon the forests illuminating the night bright enough for you to see and watch as the trees swayed im the warm breezes and hear the peaceful rustling of their leaves and lullabies of the crickets. It was just so beautiful and lively. You always loved doing this. Not when it was dark and scary however. It was more beautiful in the daytime. 

The sweet smells of flowers and grass were encouraging your lungs. Combined with the warmth of the summer air warming your muscles and urging them on. Both made you feel as light as a feather on your mere feet and the ground felt soft under you. It would've been nice if you weren't constantly looking side to side at every shadow that danced in the limited moonlight thanks to the grey clouds looming overhead. Step after step. Faster and faster. You fearfully started to speed walk through the pathways and around a corner of a house as soft dirt pathways turned into grassy floors of forests as you excitedly entered the beckoning woods. The moonlight being blocked out a bit because of the swaying trees and branches and clouds but you could still see perfectly fine. The river sso many people liked to fish at during summer wasn't too far from where you entered. It was just nearly a quarter of a mile into the woods. You loved coming out during these warm months and enjoying the view but ever since the disappearances -...You kept your distance. The way you found the river was walking through a bush and having to blink when a flurry of sparkling lights glared your eyes for a second.

Blinking your eyes adjusted to the beautiful and wonderful sight of a dark beautiful river reflecting the moon on its surface and sparkling as if the reflection had its own stars and consolations within its ripples. Completely untouched and waiting for you to touch its soft silence. Soft footsteps approached the gleaming water and a carbon copy of a woman appeared in the gleaming reflections. She stared up at the original mirroring the actions of the woman above. The woman's fiddled with her line and the small contacts she brought along with her. A hook with a big, juicy worm stabbed on the end of it dangled over the woman in the dark reflection before dropping into the water and rippling the reflection woman away back into the darkness of the waters.

Shaking hands fed the line lower and lower into the blackened waters. F/c eyes darting around the area. Every creaking branch. Every swaying bush. Every tall blade of grass. They all could hide a monster ready to carry you off to be their next meal. Next Bride. Next victim. The fast paced breathing was only matched by the beating of your heart in your chest. 

This was where those three girls disappeared last year, and near where the fourth girl disappeared. 

It was a stupid, STUPID idea!! ...But were you really just going to let your friends go hungry? No. No you weren't going to let that happen. The responsibility of their survival was solely on you for the moment. With a shaky inhale the woman returned to her work. Feeding the line into the wide river's darkened waters before kneeling down to sit upon the side of the water. Trembling. Nothing but the wind and cold for company. 

Rippling, rippling water. Sparkling mirrorer of the stars and moon. Swaying lazily with the flowing currents and keeping in time with the bobbing line of life keeping it tethered to the above world. With a lazed fortune in mind for the woman, a pull tugged onto the line and it was enough for her to pull up a feast big enough for a small person for a day.

You frowned as you gazed at the small catfish wriggling on the end of the line. This wasn't as big as you hoped. It was enough for a small human like you to have for lunch but that's about it. It wouldn't fill up a mermaid for an entire day! But..you couldn't afford to throw it back. A fish was a fish. And you'd have to get more. The line was thrown back in once again sinking back into the only black abyss of the waters. You sat there gazing at the blackness around you with nothing but the flopping fish for company. Every sound was amplified as in the silence made them louder. You shouldn't be here in the woods. You should be at home in your comfy bed asleep and waking up to a good morning where you'd make yourself breakfast before cleaning a little bit and then relaxing on your day off. But no. Here you were in the same forest where four girls disappeared just last summer fishing in the middle of the night just to feed three mermaids that you never really asked for with your poor town suffering the consequences. 

You should've headed the old tales-

The sweet sunlight kisses the world good bye as the sun set on the world. Wishing it good bye to make way for the cruel night that way ahead. Bathing the world in darkness tinted in white by his sister the moon as she dawned her best war paint and climbed higher into the darkened sky to claim her rightful place as Queen of the dark realm. That readd a sign to all her dark children that tonight would be the night for mischief and mayhem. Danger and chaos.

Death and undead.

Beware the full moon that comes to rise in the sky.

Beware the monsters who lurk and live amongst the world.

Beware of those who seek out their own entertainment.

So lock your doors up tight when the full moon appears. Barricade all your windows. Block up any chimneys. Hide away in your deepest closest. Arm yourself with your finest weapons. Speak not a word and be silent. Sleep not a wink and keep alert for they will all spirit you away.

Mischievous fae. Blood thirsty vampires. Carnivorous werewolves. Fire breathing dragons. Scheming demons. And so many more.

Those who refuse to heed the warnings are fated to die to be spirited away never to be seen again. So hide away and don't make a sound. Never answer the door no matter what. And above all else be weary.

You jumped as a thunderclap in the distance overhead echoed throughout the sky. Your head looked up instinctively and stared at the still lit up sky and the dark grey storm clouds that scattered across it like some shattered jigsaw puzzle. The sight of it worried you making a frown appear on your perfectly spooked face. The chilly wind blowing over your body once again as you shivered. 

You were tired. Exhausted even as the night went on. Darkened shadows filled the skies with darkness blocking out the light as your catch slowly grew. One by one. Until you jumped as a giant crash of thunder rolled along the sky making you jump and look towards the sky of darkness. You deemed it time to go then. Quickly pulling in your line up and gathering your fish, another clash of thunder made you jump. The wind picked up hammering branches against each other. Yep. Time to go! You just threw the string of fish over your shoulder when- 

DDDDRRRAAAAAAAGGG- 

You froze when you heard it. A distant cry of the Water's surface breaking just a few feet away from you to the right as you turned your head. The sounds of something coming from the other sides of the bushes. You couldn't move. Couldn't speak. As fear gripped your neck tightly and your eyes stared at the cold wind blowing the bushes around. The mud squelches and splashing sounded..BIG. POWERFUL...But also-

COUGH! COUGH! DDDRRRRAAAAAGGGG!! COUGH!

T H U D- ! ! !

You jumped as SOMETHING BIG. Collapsed.

Collapsed. JUST. BEHIND. THE. BUSHES.

You still didn't move. Panicking internally. What were you supposed to do?! Get your neighbors?! You wanted to go back...but what if it was someone who did need help? Or what if it was a wild animal? WHAT IF IT WAS A CREATURE GETTING READY TO CARRY YOU AWAY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN?!...Ok. maybe not. Calm down. It was just.. probably just a wild animal! Yeah! It was probably injured or something! In which case you better leave anyways. ...Buuuut if it WAS an injured animal like a deer then maybe you could just use it for food! You guessed it didn't hurt to just take a quick look. Right? Slowly you stopped and looked back towards the bush. Your bare feet touching the ground gently and quietly enough to not make yourself known.

Your breath hitched in your throat.

Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly stopping right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.

And you froze at what you saw-

The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. You cracked an opening in the branches and looked out. The darkened sky looked out over the entire area. Tree branches swayed and night fell upon the ground. However you froze as your eyes met a sickening sight.

R E D.

The coldness of the air bit down hard on your skin, like painful bee stings pricking your skin. The terror far greater than seeing a thousand wolves sunk in. A hand flew to cover your mouth as a foul urge to vomit rose and a sickening copper smell filtered through the air.

RED!!

That was the color painted everywhere on the ground displayed before you. And there...lying face down slumped over was a man's body. A canvas for the color. Your eyes shrank in terror and your ears gained a ringing sound all on their own drowning out any noise.

A DEAD BODY.

Right there lying right in front of your face. How-...How did this happen?! Where did it come from?! You wretched yourself away from the bush in shock and leaned over slightly. The urge to vomit riding as you did everything you could to keep it down. The bush branches snapping back into place hiding the sight from you. Automatically you gave a few coughs and gulped down air in an attempt to calm yourself head spinning. There was a dead man on the riverbank! Oh gods! What if someone thought you were responsible for this!? You could be tried for murder-

Wait...

How did you know he was actually dead?

That one thought made you freeze in your tracks instantly. That's right...How did you know for certain that he was dead? You just merely saw him covered in blood with a gash on his back. Your head turned back to the bush. He...he could've been hurt and tried reaching your house for help. What if he was laying there suffering?! That thought perked you back up into going back to the bush and cautiously reaching out to slightly pull the branches again. The body was still there unmoving. It...sure LOOKED dead but you couldn't tell in the dark. If he was still alive..you had to help him. You couldn't just leave someone to bleed out. The unmoving form still remained unmoving even as you noisily pushed through the bush and stood right next to the head. It was then that you again stopped dead in your tracks both shocked and horrified as the clouds overhead parted enough to allow more moonlight to light up the area truly revealing who or more accurately WHAT was laid in front of you 

A pale torso of blood covered skin sank down into the mud. Skin slowly melted away into fiery orange and red scales smooth and polished like that of a snake..Or fish. A giant tail full of fins sank deeply into the muddy bank before disappearing under the waves of the water that lazily hugged his body. F/c eyes widened to the size of plates.

A MERMAID?!

..No. wait-

Your eyes narrowed more in the darkness. A mer-..Man???

It was definitely a man. You could tell by how Large the body was and how muscular the exposed skin was. In the limited moonlight you were able to make out long blonde hair that mostly covered his face and he laid in a position that suggested that he'd collapsed by himself instead of being washed ashore by the river currents. But the question still remained...Was he still alive?

You hesitated again ...but slowly you reached over to the face laying on its side and touched the long strands covering his eyes. It was .. surprisingly soft and silky to the touch and you slowly pulled it away from the face to examine it. The right side of a man's face greeted you. You nearly jumped back at what you saw.

"Oh my gods."

A fish hook was just mere inches from his face. One of those thick metal ones that they used to catch tuna, small sharks, and other large fish. You immediately grabbed it pulling it safely away from him. What was this doing here?! A few more centimeters and it could've handed his face if he chose to move, splayed out on the cold unforgivable ground unmoving. His right eye exposed from pulling his hair back was closed obviously either unconscious or dead, and read streaks ran down his face in water dripping patterns from a cut on his forehead. However...that wasn't the strangest bit. Your hand instead went to almost touch his lips and flinched back feeling a weak warmth across your fingertips. You reeled back in shock, hand to your chest, and jumping. His body was still warm!!

HE WAS ALIVE!!

The hook was thrown aside along with the line of fish you caught thudding into the wet ground. Hands grabbed his right shoulder and HEAVED. Barely moving an inch, but slowly the body turned, and with a thud he was collapsed onto his back. A shocked gasp escaped from your throat upon eyes seeing his front body. Oh gods...So much blood. His body was practically DRENCHED in the red color! And you found out why. A large gash across his front from his left shoulder and ending just above his right hip was exposed to you. Definitely bigger than the gash along his back. And there was a third smaller gash along his right collar bone ending near his bicep. There was so much blood..How was he even still alive!? Wha-..What happened to him?! What caused him to get like this?! Thick broken strands of what looked like broken strands of rope was laid out all over his body, curiously you grabbed a piece and pulled it off him. What used to be a net maybe? You continued pulling it all off of him the hardest part having to walk into the river a bit and slide it down his tail in order to slip it off his tail. So much for a dry dress. The ropes were thrown aside and wet squelch sounded as you pulled up the hem of your now soaked dress to go kneel by his head.

It provided you a better look despite the limited moon light. You could get a better look at his injuries noting there was more than you expected. More BLOOD than you expected. It seemed most on his head came from either his mouth or from the cut on his forehead. There was also more cuts on his tail, but thankfully none of them looked very deep or if they were they weren't bleeding which was also good. But you also noticed something else. Something else very important about him. 

He was also wearing jewelry.

A thick gold chain was around his waist like a belt almost. His ears were pierced with a few small gold earrings that you only noticed thanks to the moonlight making them shine. Some kind of golden bands were wrapped around his left forearm, and finally a few rings were on his fingers. OOOH boy. Your eyes widened when you saw them. They were studded with big diamonds and other precious jewels. Whoever this man-..merman was, it was obvious he had access to some kind of wealth. Taking a closer look..He also was very handsome under all of the dread. Briefly your panicked mind wondered if all mermaids were like this or if it was just the ones you came across.

You reached out to touch it his neck for a pulse. F/c eyes smoothed over the body still wet and warm from the turbulent journey down the river. However the water droplets dripping down the body was expected, as was the smears of crimson blood from the injuries. What was not expected was the lack of movement coming from his chest. The woman froze again upon blankly staring down at the unmoving chest as a horrible reality was finalized right then and there. 

HE WASN'T BREATHING 

The horrible realization struck her as hard and quick as lightning made out of bricks. Her breathing hit he'd as her knees dropped next to his chest. Hands raised shaking and panicked as she stared panicked at the bloody body..Quickly the woman's hands reached out to shakingly pat at his cheeks.

"Please wake up. Pl-Please wake up!"

Unresponsive. Eyes remained closed silently drifting away from the world as peacefully and slowly as a leaf flowing down the pond. The woman above only being a distant audience- Until she refused the reaper his claim that day. 

Hands pushed themselves onto the unmoving chest. Hands interlocking. Arms stiff. And then the first of many pushes down. 

"Wake up!"

Sweat beaded from your forehead as you rapidly delivered a series of pushes down until you reached to the count of thirty in your mind. Stopping abruptly and grabbing his head. Nose pinched, head tilted back slightly, and not hesitating to place your mouth on his to deliver breaths. Sweat coated your face as you continued the cycle. 

Rapid pushes.

"Come on. Come on."

More breaths.

"Fight it!"

Rapid pushes.

"LIVE DAM YOU!"

Tears helped up in your eyes. A sob nearly escaping. The darkness and distant thunder overhead mocking your attempts at what seemed to be a lost cause. Gleeful in your failing. A shaking added to the woman as she went to quickly place her mouth back onto his- and then he choked.

The movement of him against you caught you so off guard that you actually tumbled backwards out of fright, the mud making a loud splat sound as you fell into it. If the dress wasn't ruined before it certainly was now. However that was the farthest thing from your mind as the body convulsed with coughs escaping the mouth- Two hands grabbed him by the shoulder as you heaved with a loud grunt to pull him onto his side. 

"That's it. Good. Good." A hand gently rubbed his back as you held him there. A gasping choking sound like a drowning man finally getting to land. "You're doing great. Keep breathing."

HE WAS ALIVE. HE WAS BREATHING!! He was still not in good shape but he wasn't dead! Thank the gods! The gasping choking sounds continued for a little bit making you wince as you watched him. His mouth hung wide open exposing a few fangs you wearily eyed. The girls had fangs too but his were much more sharp and pointy. His eyes squeezed shut and his brows tightly furrowed as he gasped and every so while spat. Until eventually his head laid upon the ground exhausted. Chest rising and falling deeply. 

For a moment there was nothing.

The sounds of creaking branches, wind, and heavy breathing were the only things heard besides the distant sounds of thunder in the ever darkening skies. Nothing but you staring at him in this point frozen in time as a hand encouraging rubbed at his back.

Then ever so slowly his eyes opened.

You froze when you first saw the whites of those eyes. At first they were confused blinking the blurry vision away only to be greeted by the darkness. A moment of longingly staring ensued, until the eye turned to stare up at you. You froze at the unusual eyeball staring at you. It was unlike anything you've ever seen. His pupil instead of the usual black was a pure white surrounded by a ring of red that was in turn surrounded by a secondary ring of orange. It made contact with your f/c irises and stopped there before widening in surprise. Your face stained in crimson red and mud brown. There was nothing but the tense breathing for ten seconds before the entire face slowly turned to you. The wet hair cling to his face, semi stained by the blood, and mud smeared on other parts of his body that wasn't already caked in water and/or blood. He just ..Laid there. Staring up at you. Right in the eyes. As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His fire like eyes stared at your eyes then looked down at the lower half of your face and the crimson smear. It looked like he's seen a ghost. 

"GAH!?"

You jumped back as his arm moved, pulling your hands away from his body and leaning back. Eyes wide as the limb shook enough to be mistaken for a frightened worm. You flinched. Was he going to attack you?! Drag you down into the water?! Drown you?! You were going to die and for what?! Helping him?! Your eyes clenched shut awaiting your fate!

A shaking hand reached up and-!!! Gently touched his mouth in bewilderment. 

"....Did you ju-just k-k-kiss me?"

A GLASS SHATTERED IN YOUR MIND

Wait...What?!

You lowered your arms slowly. Even more slowly as the most hoarse man's voice you ever heard came from the merman. You stared at him wide eyed as he stared up at you. "....W-What?"

"Ma'am, I am hu-humb-b-bly flattered-" He was BARELY able to hold up a badly shaking hand. "-bu-but I am a h-..*cough cough* ha-happly mmmarried man."

You stared at him blankly for the longest time just staring. His voice sounded like he desperately needed a glass of water for a dry throat. ".......SAY WHAT?!"

"I u-understand that I happen to b-be a- about b-but I as-sure you that I am l-like..Super married. *Cough cough cough*" He coughed a few times covering his mouth as you still stared shocked.

"I-I didn't kiss you!!," you squealed out horrified. "I was admitted CPR!!"

"I-Is that W-What humans do to court?"

"Wha- NO!! YOU WEREN'T BREATHING!!", You shouted at him red creeping up onto your face. "IT'S A MEDICAL TECHNIQUE!!"

He slowly blinked at you.. before speaking. "Oh. Well t-that is more sense. *Cough cough*"

You ignored the red in your face. "Just..Who are you?"

"I-I could be ask-asking you the same thing. W-What is a hu-human girl *cough* d-doing here?"

"Night fishing. Are you feeling ok?" You hesitantly raised your hands towards his body but stopped shortly of touching him.

"Not at all! I'm in incredible pain!," he shouted in a raspy voice making you wince at the volume.

"SSSHHH!! Keep your voice down!," you whisper shouted at him looking around the darkness. Who knows who..or WHAT could hear him?! "Is there anyone nearby who can help you? O-Or maybe family?"

"Nope! But i-if you help pu-push me back into t-t-the river then I might be *cough* a-able to get back!"

"... Can't you not move with your injuries?"

"BARELY!"

You again just stared at his face..then at his body..then back to his face. Oh no. NO! Nonononono!! This could NOT be happening to you! Not now! Not again! You couldn't get further involved into this! 

"Is there anywhere you can go for help?"

"N-Not around here."

You should walk away now. You had already did your good deed. He was alive and he could take care of himself! You shouldn't be getting anymore involved. In fact you even stood up and turned making him blink from where he laid in the mud-..Mud. You turned back around. He was weakly and pathetically staring at you from the mud like a piece of junk to be discarded. Helpless. Unable to find for himself. If a wild animal like a bear or wolf didn't get to him first then someone else could find him and..Who knew what could happen to him? And that's only considering if he didn't die from his injuries first. ..He breathed heavy and turned his head upwards as two feet stopped in front of his head. You looked back down at him. A crash of thunder illuminated each other's faces.

"Just out of curiosity, do you know what a piggy back ride is?"

The house was silent. Nothing but the thunder overhead and the wind scratching against the window and the raindrops beating against the rooftop as the sun still stayed hidden for another hour or so. 

T H U D-!!

The door flew open, hitting the fair wall behind it causing a loud thud to ring out throughout the otherwise silent house. 

STEP, STEP, STEP, STEP.

You pulled yourself into the house slowly step after slow step. Into your home until you collapsed onto the floor. A series of thumps and thuds rang out as bodies and objects fell. You fell exhausted onto your side breathing in and out gasping for air like a drowning man. Her body felt somewhere between numb and in pain, especially her back. Her entire body soaked to the bone because of the pouring rain and she was still covered in mud and blood. Only now she was soaked too. Only good thing about this was that no one would be outside to see her. Seriously. Why did mermaids have to be so darn HEAVIER than they look?! A large hand reached out to gently grab your shoulder. Still gasping for air, you opened your eyes to stare at the merman collapsed onto the floor next to you. Despite his condition being much worse than yours, he still looked concerned for you.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

A crack of lightning rang out allowing you to briefly see his face better in the dark. You waved him off way plopping with a wet smack sound onto your stomach and weakly rising up to your hands and knees. You had to close the door. The rain still poured outside in the dark hours of the morning as you weakly crawled to the doorway, giving a weak but worried look around, and then closed the door before collapsing onto the wooden frame. The mermaid watched you carefully with a worried but curious.look on his face. 

"My apologies!"

You weakly waved him off again just catching your breath. Man. Your back was killing you. Even the other three weren't this heavy. Speaking of which ..How the hell were they going to react when they saw you bring a complete stranger back with you? You really were insane for doing all of this.

The merman gave a look around from where he awkwardly lay down. "..Your abode looks highly warm. But how are you supposed to raise guppies here?"

...Guppies?

"Y/N'S BACK!! Y/N'S BACK!!"

Suma's voice echoed throughout the home only drowned out by the storm and you tiredly lifted your head up. However you weren't the only one that froze when hearing the voice. The merman had frozen stone cold at the voice.

"Y/N?! Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!! YYYYYYY/NNNNN!!!", Suma continued calling when you didn't answer her right away. 

He. FLIPPED. Literally. He flipped around landing on his stomach startling you by his sudden action. Hissing, pushing himself up onto weakened shaky arms as he stared down the way towards your bathhouse. 

"S-...Suma?"

Silence rang out other than the rain and a crash of thunder shaking the windows once more.

"... Kyojuro?!," one of the girls called back however you were so shocked by what was happening you didn't register who it was.

Recognition flashes across the man's face. Shaking breath rattling his chest mouth agape in those breaths. 

"MAKIO!!"

Fwap- "Gah!?" 

You toppled over as the end of his burly tail slapped into your. Desperation. Hesitation. Adrenaline. All pumped through the veins. Come here. Go. His mind told him. Claw after desperate claw again perfectly clean wooden floors as he raced . Mind reeling with the knowing NEED to be closer to the warmth his heart was attracted to. 

"Hey! Come back! Your wounds will get worse!," you called out to him as he desperately clawed away at a pace faster than you thought possible.

Despite your screaming muscles, you forced yourself to stand up and quickly walk after him as his form disappeared down the hallway. You turned the corner and looked down said hallway just as the man was clawing the bottom of your door with hissing desperation like a wolf frustratedly digging after a rabbit hole. Eventually he got it open pushing the door aside with a grunt and just-..Stopping. staring wide eyed into the bathroom. After about five minutes you slowly began walking down the hallway while keeping close to the wall just in case. The silence continued until the man's head raised higher. Tears starting to whelp up in them- Before without even a warning he just as quickly clawed his way into the room making you again pause.. Before quickly approaching. What was going on?! What if he hurt them?!

However when you hit to the doorway, you paused. In shock of what you saw on the other side. 

"Kyo!! Kyo!!" Suma called out for him crying historically as she held out her arms to him.

It's ok! He was here! He was coming!

Desperately and desired needs to be close. The desperation was met with open arms as you watched the three desperately crying mermaids clawing desperately at him. At first you were scared that they were attacking him by the way Hinatsuru just wrapped herself around his neck and the other two grabbed his sides and PULLED. Making them all tumble back and into the water, a giant splash noise resonating throughout the room as water sloshed over the sides and droplets rained everywhere.

"Hinatsuru!"

Footsteps approached the tub as you leaned over the side. She might've been crushed under his weight..You stopped. You blinked. You stared down at the scene before your eyes. Two emotions hit you. Absolute confusion and fluster as your face went red seeing Hinatsuru and the merman in the middle of.. Passionately kissing.

The kiss was deep but passionate, like lovers who've been apart for years. He held her so close to him as she gripped his cheeks. Both had tears streaming down their faces before a long held back sob escaped the pink mermaids throat and made them break a kiss only for Makio to take her place latching onto him to kiss him over and over and over for what seemed like eternity. Suma cried loudly as she desperately cling to his back, curled up and tears smearing the mud stain on his shoulder.

"I THOUGHT YOU W-WERE *HIC* DDDDDREEEEAAADDD!! AAAHAHAAAAA!!"

"NEVER!!" He shouted. Hugging two crying warmth givers to himself. "Never, never, never again." He repeated that mantra. Their warmth satisfying a deep hole made in his chest finally being filled again. "It's been so long..I'm never  letting you go again."

A shadow fell over them all as you stared bewildered. "..Just who are you?"

"... Apologies." He didn't look up. Didn't care. "I am called Kyojuro. You may back away now."

There wasn't really an answer until Suma looked at you, blinked, and then shrieked. "Y/N'S BLEEDING!!"

Uh oh.

[nnecrofancyy]

hey, im mikey, your local stray dog.

press “keep reading” to learn more about me! put on your reading glasses, buddy!

last updated sep 27 2024 6:33 A.M. EST

yo, i'm michael! it/he.

weird tmasc nb dog. mlm + pan + t4t + polyam. i am a digital artist, writer, furry, kinnie for fun, i'm real big into bugs and vulture culture, & i absolutely love horror. quite multifandom. i was raised by creepypasta, undertale, and batim. i am autistic & physically disabled in various ways.

this is my first & main blog on tumblr dot com! my previous username was sirfuzzbee, but i think i might've used the username smilingmidnight for a while before that. i forgor

my username is a necromancy pun. not necroph*lia, not Necrofancy by Scary Bitches, i am simply fancy about how i raise my skeletal army from the dead.

not a n$fw blog at all, but i do love mature & dark humor, and i often reblog art that contains blood/gore, suggestive themes, or artistic nudity.

i reblog whatever the hell i want here. expect spam, repeated posts, and long posts. i love to spam and receive spam from my mutuals. i use likes to bookmark posts for later, & i reblog posts that i want others to see. all of my posts are (or should be) appropriately tagged for topics, images, gifs, common triggers, and eyestrain/loud sounds. if i miss something, please tell me. i will NOT tag for slurs, social issues, crises/global issues, etc. so don't whine in my askbox about my blog being depressing or offensive. there are other fish in the sea, so get off my scales. mutuals can ask me to tag specific triggers. it doesn't matter how specific, but i may forget sometimes. again, i do not tag for any slurs. you can filter them yourself or not look at my blog. i will use tonetags if needed, but i don't need them myself. i won't automatically know when to use tonetags so please tell me if you need them. i block very liberally. huge fan of curating my online experience however the fuck i want.

here are some of my blogs:

@undeadskeletonarmy - my art, writing, & ocs!

@m1chaelocalypse - metalocalypse blog

@twobugskissing - my photos (mostly bugs n plants)

@necrostim - personalized stim blog (wip)

@/creepsypastas - crp/slasher ask blog (deleted cause idc)

@genderfuckfreak - fun flags for fun queers (sparse activity cus low motivation)

here are some links you should check out:

my carrd

my pronouns page

my redbubble

i don't have a dni, but this blog is not a safe space for fans of h4rry p0tter, k1lling st4lking, or any kind of rpf/rps. also fuck AI art and writing and if you use AI to finish incomplete fics then Get Off Of My Blog. + i will block accounts that only post n$fw, and i will also block anyone whose posts are frequently hidden by my filters. if i happen to recognize you as someone who reposts uncredited art on pinterest, run.

i do not use shinigami eyes because i use the tumblr app on mobile. please tell me if a post i RBed was originally posted by an active transphobic account. i do not inspect the blogs of every person i reblog from unless their icon or username stick out (/neg) to me.

[ohh-baekhyun]

Sugar | 03

summary: Getting into a performing arts college isn’t cheap. In desperate need of money, you sign yourself up on an online dating site called Sugar. There, you match with a wealthy man named Mr Byun.

genre: Softdom!baek, sugardaddy!au, teacherxstudent!au

taglist : in comment section. im sorry if i missed you, i deleted some of my asks the other time. let me know if you wanna be tagged :)

One Month Later

Living in a spacious apartment had its own downside. More often than not, I felt lonely, but I wasn’t complaining. Baekhyun didn’t come over everyday because he wanted to give me time to do things that didn’t involve him. I think they called it me time, whatever that was. Baekhyun said it was to prevent us from growing too dependent on each other, which could be unhealthy. And as much as I disliked it, he was right. Our relationship wasn’t permanent, and there would come a time when either one of us had to call the arrangement off. I would be sad, because that’s human, but not to the point where I became depressed.

When I wasn’t spending the day with Baekhyun, I’d be practicing the piano. After my father passed away, my stepmother had sold off our Steinway and stopped paying for my lesson. I was lucky to know a friend who allowed me to practice at her music shop for free. When I wasn’t practicing, I would be at home, taking care of my little plants on the balcony. They were like my babies.

Since Baekhyun had suggested that I learned a new language, I’d decided to take up Chinese. He had offered to hire a home tutor for me, but I insisted on learning it myself because Chinese lessons were expensive. We argued about it for a while, until he decided he wanted to learn too. We had our lesson together every Sunday afternoon for two hours. Our tutor, Miss Fei, was a long time friend of Baekhyun. And for some reason, she was always picking on me over the slightest things. Sometimes when Baekhyun wasn’t looking, she would kick my leg, step on me or pinch my arm under the table. If I had to guess, I think she didn’t respect me because she knew Baekhyun was paying for me. That’s why I’ve been working a part time job as a piano accompanist at a ballet school. It was an easy job with a reasonable pay, and I only had to be there twice a week. Thanks to that, I had finally saved enough to pay for this month’s lessons. I just didn’t know if Baekhyun would accept it.

Today was a Saturday and I was doing the homework Miss Fei had given us. I’d actually finished everything but I wanted to double check to avoid mistakes. I was scolded for making just one error last week, and if Baekhyun wasn’t there, I thought she might even beat me.

By the time I was done, I was too tired to climb to bed so I’d fallen asleep on the desk. What woke me up was the creaking sound from the door opening. I lifted my head from my folded arms and looked at the door. “Hi Mr Byun,” I greeted, my voice soft and languid. He was dressed casually in a black sweatshirt and pajama pants, his hair tousled like he had just woken up from sleep and rushed here immediately.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked, approaching me.

“Chinese homework,” I answered. “Can you help me check if there’s any mistake?”

He stopped behind my chair and bent over to rest his palms on the desk. His chest touched the back of my head as he scanned my workbook. Suddenly I stopped feeling sleepy but hyper aware. Baekhyun leaned closer when he reached for a pencil, and I had a feeling it was deliberate because the thing he was reaching for was just next to my book. I inhaled, feeling warm all over. Baekhyun remained silent as he continued checking my work. “This one–“ he drew a cross next to my wrong answer. “–is supposed to be a wǔ, not wù, they have different meaning, sweetheart, he explained.

I picked up an eraser and wiped it off before making a correction. If he hadn’t caught that, Miss Fei was gonna to go ballistic. I sighed in relief and glanced up from my desk. He was staring down at me. I wore a grateful smile. “Thank you,”

“Welcome,” He whispered, leaning down to drop a kiss on my lips.

“Why are you here, Mr Byun?” I asked when he pulled away.

His brow furrowed. “Do you not know what day it is?”

My eyes flew to the desk calendar, then I glanced up at him again. “Sunday?” I said hesitantly. Baekhyun frowned at me and I started to get anxious. “Did I forget something?”

Baekhyun sighed. “You are really unbelievable,” He mumbled, setting down the pencil before pushing himself off the desk. He clasped my hand and tugged me up to my feet. “I have a surprise for you,” he said as he walked me out of my bedroom.

He led me down the short hallway and as I stepped out into the open plan living room, my eyes widened. There were a combination of white and pink balloons floating on the ceiling, and rose petals scattered on the floor around the couch. Realization dawned when I saw cake on the coffee table along with other props and gift boxes. I was starry-eyed as he walked me there. I finally glanced at him, my eyes blinking in disbelief. “You did this? for me?”

He wears a smile. “Happy Birthday,”

My eyes flew to the grandfather clock. It was half past twelve. The fact that he remembered my birthday was shocking enough, he even came all the way here at midnight to surprise me. “I…” I didn’t know what to say. Thank you didn’t seem enough.

“Have I stolen your ability to speak, sweetheart?” He teased, one side of his lips curling up. I linked my arm around his and hummed. He chuckled at my sudden clinginess. “How could you forget your own birthday?” He questioned as we both lowered ourselves to the couch.

“I haven’t celebrated in a long time…” I replied, a tremble in my voice. My eyes were getting glassy and I had to keep them open so the tears wouldn’t fall. “Thank you for remembering, Mr Byun,”

“I was going to surprise you at twelve o’clock sharp–“ Baekhyun bent over to light up the candles and I used the opportunity to wipe the tears away. “–but I fell asleep. I hope I’m still the first to wish you?” He asked.

That explained the pajamas. And the hair. My heart warmed at his thoughtfulness. I shifted closer and slid my arms around his waist, giving him a side hug. “You are the first,” And the only one.

Baekhyun straightened his back once he was done and I unwrapped my arms around him. He held the cake towards me. “Make a wi–,” his speech halted as I blew the candles out. He raised his brows. “No wishes?”

I shook my head. “I have everything I need,”

Baekhyun regarded me for a while, seemingly confused, but he didn’t make any comment and placed the cake on the table.

I stared up at the balloons on the ceiling. They were so pretty. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done to me,” I said, looking back at him, a smile on my lips. “I appreciate it, Mr Byun,”

“To tell the truth, it’s my first time doing something like this,”

“Oh?” my head tilted in question. “What about your subs, or your ex-girlfriends?”

“I wrote them a cheque as a gift and they loved it,” he said. “But you don’t seem to like money that much, which is still very strange to me,”

“Of course I like money. But only money I earned with my own hard work,” I clarified. “I look for a sugar daddy to help me pay for college, not to live a lavish lifestyle. So...you don’t have to keep spoiling me,”

“Sweetheart, I like how undemanding you are, but buying you gifts isn’t gonna make me poor,” He insisted gently. “Honestly, every time you say no, it makes me wanna do the opposite,”

I gave him a long stare, hoping for some magic to make him listen. But he just shrugged. I sighed, giving up. “It’s gonna be very hard getting you a present because nothing would measure up,” I muttered under my breath.

“Speaking of present,” he said. “I have another surprise for you,” he tugged at my hand. As I followed him, I really wished he didn’t get me something too extravagant. I’ve been keeping count of the money I owed him because I planned to pay him back one day. Counting all the gifts he bought for me, my hair would turn gray by the time I paid off my debt.

“You said you didn’t want me to spend too much on you, so–” He pushed at the sliding door that led to the balcony. At first, I assumed that he had bought me a new plant, but then, I heard a gurgling sound that wasn’t there before, and as I stepped further in, I finally spotted the surprise.

“You got me a fish?” The surprise made my voice sound a little squeaky. Grinning hard, I moved closer to the rectangular fish tank. They were three little gold fishes. I lowered myself into a squat by the tank and Baekhyun crouched on one knee next to me. My finger tapped on the glass lightly and I giggled when they swam towards me, their fins fluttering in the water. I admired them for a while, and when I felt Baekhyun staring at me, I turned to meet his eyes. “This is the best gift so far,”

“You weren’t this happy when I got you that Chanel bag,” he commented. “I’d do this sooner if I knew,”

“Why did you get me a fish though?”

“I thought you might feel lonely when I’m not here,” he told me. “They can be your company,”

Overwhelmed by this thoughtfulness, I let out a groan of frustration. “You need to stop being so perfect, Mr Byun, it makes me wanna kiss you all the time,”

Laughter filled his voice. “And why is that a problem?”

“Because kissing usually leads to sex…and if we keep having sex, my vagina might actually break.”

Baekhyun blew out a huff of laughter, his eyes full of heat with a mix of amusement. ”I wasn‘t thinking about sex at all, but now I am. Thanks to you,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers slid through my hair and he cupped the back of my head. I stopped breathing, my heartbeat accelerating when he leaned in to press his lips on mine. I let my eyelids drop naturally as he kissed me, soft and slow. When he pulled back, we shared the same desire-filled gaze. “We should go inside,” He whispered over my lips, his words an invitation.

I swallowed and smiled, albeit shyly. “We should,” I whispered back.

Baekhyun glanced over at the fish tank for a second, then his eyes reverted to me. “Do you wanna name them first?” He asked. I bobbed my head, and we were silent for a while as we considered their names. “Hm, what about Bubbles?” He suggested.

“Oh that’s nice! Maybe we can call them Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup?” I proposed. “Since our names also start with a B, I think it’s perfect. What do you think, Mr Byun?”

Baekhyun gave me a soft look and smiled. He probably found it funny that I took this so seriously like I was naming my baby. “Alright, sweetheart,” he agreed.

For the next few minutes, Baekhyun taught me how to care for the goldfishes, like how many times I should feed it daily and how often I should change their water.

We returned to the living room and stored the cake in the fridge for tomorrow. None of us was hungry at the moment.

“I think we should tell Miss Fei to cancel today’s lesson since it’s your birthday,” Baekhyun suggested once we entered my bedroom. He shut the door behind us and stared at me for an answer. Remembering something, I put him on hold as I searched for my purse. This room was too big. Baekhyun took a seat on the edge of my bed and watched me. “What are you looking for?”

Finding my purse under the desk, I lowered myself to the ground and picked up an envelope where I kept my money. I was lifting myself up when Baekhyun reminded me to watch my head. Except it was too late and I’d knocked myself against the roof of the desk. I winced out loud, my hand flying up to rub the pain.

Baekhyun sighed out, shaking his head at my clumsiness. “You’re gonna wind up in the hospital at this rate. Can you please...be more careful?” he reprimanded gently. I flashed him a sorry smile and walked over to him. “Are you okay?” He asked and I answered with a small hum. Despite that, he still observed me closely, probably making sure I was telling the truth.

“I’m okay,” I reassured, climbing into bed and dipped my knee on each side of his thighs. He immediately slid a hand around my back as I lowered myself to sit on his lap, preventing me from falling backward to the ground. “I’ve been saving up,” I told him, holding up the envelope in between our chest. “Here’s this month’s lesson fee,”

He dropped his gaze to the envelope, his brows furrowing. “We’re done arguing about this,” he said firmly.

“Please accept it, Baekhyun,” I pleaded. “I think Ms Fei looks down on me because she knows you’re paying for me,”

He considered me for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “How exactly did you come to that conclusion?”

I tried not to read too much into his reaction. Baekhyun was a rational person, he probably needed to hear all the facts before he made a judgement. “For starter, she’s always picking on me over the smallest thing,”

“She’s a teacher, it’s her job to point out your mistakes, but that doesn’t equal hating you, don’t you agree?” He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“But–“

“Not everyone is going to coddle you, princess. You’ll never improve that way,”

A sudden wave of anger flared in my chest. Baekhyun and I argued before, but I’ve never gotten worked up like this. I guessed because this situation hit home for me. I could take a scolding, name calling or even a beating, but not when someone doubted my integrity. I slid off his lap and stood on my feet. He stood up and tried to reach for my hands, but I backed away. He frowned and studied me. I stared back at him, my eyes cold.  “I’m not a spoiled girl who needs coddling,” I told him boldly. So unlike me. I wasn't usually the assertive one.

Baekhyun must've agreed because he was speechless for a moment. “That’s not what I said,”

“But that’s what you imply,” I argued.

“If you don’t like Miss Fei, we can always find a new tutor for us.” He persuaded me. “I don’t want us to argue on your birthday,”

I didn’t answer to that. I wanted to tell him about the kicking and the pinching, but I doubt he would believe me. I walked to the other side of the bed to stay as far away as possible from him. I got in bed, pulling the comforter over my body and turning to lay on my side. A few seconds later, Baekhyun appeared kneeling on one knee by the bed, his eyes full of concern as he checked on me. Tears welled in my eyes before I could stop it. "I’m not making up stories like you think I am, Mr Byun,” I said, my voice trembled.

His eyes widened slightly at the sight of my crying, maybe because it was his first time seeing me like this. “I don’t–“ he stopped and sighed, sounding so exhausted all of a sudden. His face was blurry through the tears, but I could still detect the guilt clouding his expression. “Sweetheart, shh,” he shushed and reached over to dab my tears with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. “I’m sorry I doubted you. Fei is an old friend of mine, but I should’ve known better. You’re not someone who complains unless something is really bothering you. Had she done something inappropriate to you?”

“I don’t wanna tell you. You’re not gonna believe me.” my words were snippy despite my state. Miss Fei was Baekhyun’s friend of ten years, and I knew him for merely a month. Of course he would trust her more than me.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now. But is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

I pulled the cover blanket my head, ignoring him. When he didn’t say anything, it proved that he acknowledged his mistake. Because on a normal day, he wouldn’t appreciate this no-manner attitude from me.

Although I couldn’t blame him for doubting me, that didn’t mean I wasn’t hurt. Dark memories flooded my mind, bringing me back to those tough days when I was still living with my stepmother. She had never believed me when I told her that her boyfriend had been making a move on me. Until it was too late. Well, at least Baekhyun didn’t beat me up like they did. And he apologized. I’d forgiven him, but I didn’t want to speak to him yet. I didn’t care that it was my birthday, the day had never been significant to me anyway.

Author's Note:

hi everyone, it's been a very long while. I updated the 2nd chapter last christmas and in the time i was gone, i was constantly feeling very discouraged and demoralized about my writing. I tried writing story after story but im always worried it isn’t good enough. I've never been confident of myself to begin with, and then with the lack of feedback, I feel even worse. I don't know if I can write any new fics, but I really wanna try completing my ongoing fics hehe thank you for reading this story, i hope this chapter is not that bad, I haven't written for so long. Next chapter is gonna be very fluffy and smutty once the two finally made up! :D and if you like my fic, please show some support by commenting, it's what keeps me going and I really appreciate it! Tell me what you think of this! see you again!