#with fins so fine and smiles that thrill

[montereybayaquarium]

What’s your favorite part of your job? 🦈 🌊💙

Come along with Senior Biologist Ann, as she shows us one of her favorite job roles — feeding our sevengill sharks.

[nanamiscocksleeve]

Reading While Cockwarming Them

Warnings: MDNI, PIV, general sex, teasing, some name calling and sadism in Geto's part. A/n: Found an old WIP that I half wrote then gave up on because I couldn't find the inspiration. I'm glad I got back into it because I almost feel like my JJK writing has become rusty nowadays, and I'm thrilled to find some ideas that might still feel new.

The book is open on the bed, right under your pretty, flushed face as you kneel on all fours, Satoru’s cock nestled comfortably in your slick pussy. 

Your mouth is moving, and you see the little black characters on the page, but your speech is slurred and syrupy as you try to form intelligible sounds. 

“The…he-he-ro…isn…ways…to…”

“What’s that baby?” Satoru taunts as he slides out of your drooling cunt, all patience and sweet smiles. He feels how your walls clench in protest as you try to keep him in, his tip almost out of your tight, wet, hole.

“Toru please…” you whine, knowing his enticing length was right there, but he was getting off on seeing you swallow your words. Determination that had been ample in hand at the beginning of this session had now gone flying out the window. You just had to insist that Satoru couldn’t fuck you dumb with his cock, denying his claims, and now you’re forced to swallow your pride as you realize you can’t focus on a damn thing. The letters all look like squiggles to you and your tongue refuses to cooperate, only allowing you to pant and babble nonsense.

“You’re the one that said you would read me a bedtime story.” He arches his hips away from you as he feels you lift your ass, hoping to slip him back in. “And so far I can’t understand a word you’re saying. I’m hoping this helps.”

You moan in frustration and try to focus your hazed mind on the print. “The hero isn’t always right. As told in the story we’re about to embark on-” Your breath hitches as Satoru glides back into your warmth as you started to read. The hot length of his cock spreads you apart so invitingly messing with your head.

“Oh don’t feel like you have to stop on my account sweetheart. Keep going. Just testing how deep I need to go before you start going dumb again.” Not very deep based on his observations. He’s barely halfway sheathed and your speech had already become halting and incorrigible. He slips out slightly and you clear your throat trying to not to sob and admit defeat. 

“Our story takes place in a time of old and ooohhh…” The sensual groan leaves you unrestrained as he pushes further in.

“Hmm so about three fourths of the way,” Satoru muses, looking at how much of him was buried inside you. “Keep reading. Trying to fine tune this pussy. I was promised a bedtime story.”

He starts to thrust slowly, letting you feel each inch of him as he withdraws before sliding back in, never bottoming out and leaving you aching with the knowledge that you're only half full. You're not even trying to focus on the words now, just moaning and knowing you'll likely have to let him win if you wanted anything tonight. 

“Satoru please…” You whine as he starts to drag his fingers along your moist slit, finding your bud and circling it expertly. 

“Aw. No bedtime story for me tonight?” he asks mockingly as he draws out a moan from you. You shake your head and he grins triumphantly. “Next time then. We'll train your pussy to not disconnect from your brain.”

Kento can’t stand the thought of not having physical intimacy. Cockwarming was his way of reconnecting, of being able to touch you, feel your soft skin and the warmth of your body, even if he was too tired for sex. 

The bed is so inviting, and your back rests against his chest as his cock pulses with life inside you. Warm sheets are wrapped around your bodies as you sit on his thighs with a book on your lap. Kento's chin rests on your shoulder as you read, his eyes tracking the words as the story flows from your lips, his breath tickling your neck. The atmosphere in the room is almost balmy as his hands massage yours, fingers molding to the spaces in between. Your pussy occasionally clenches around his velvety cock, enjoying the way he filled and stretched the space inside. 

“Are you paying attention?” You tease and pat his cheek to draw his attention back to the story. His large hands had started to wander from yours and were flirting with your ribcage, cradling your breasts in his palms and squeezing enticingly. After a long day, the massage felt more relaxing than arousing and you indulge him for a moment before asking again. “Kento…the story.”

“I am paying attention darling. It looks like our protagonist accidentally discovered something he wasn’t supposed to.” He thumbs your nipples, which had already pebbled from the squeezing, through the sheets and you throw your head back onto his shoulder, biting your lip and letting out a hushed sigh. Your juices had steadily dripped from your core and were pooling at the base of his cock, leaving a ring of wetness on his hard shaft.

“Are you sleepy?” Kento’s lips ghost the shell of your ear and you mumble a tired yes. His chuckle resonates in your ear, deep and rich, and he takes the book away and places it on the nightstand. “It’s all right,” he reassures you as he starts to lay you both down on the bed. “We can find out what happens tomorrow.” He rearranges the sheets while you settle your head down comfortably on the pillow. Sleep overtakes you quickly but you can feel Kento pressing little kisses down your neck.

“Do you mind…?” He whispers, and your half-awake brain manages to slur a yes. You knew what he was asking, and you honestly didn’t mind. His snug cock thrusts ever so sweetly inside you as he tries not to rouse you too much from sleep, breathing steadily into your hair as he tries to orgasm.

The slick heat from being inside you for so long helps in his efforts, lazily stroking your inner walls at an unhurried pace. Your languid body barely stirs as he sets up a deliciously slow pace, quiet squelches issuing from your pussy as he rocks his hips against your ass. He bites his lip as he nears his climax, letting out a muffled groan as his hot cum is released into your warm canal. 

“Darling…focus…” His clever fingers which were playing with your pulsing clit halt, and his cock, snug in your pussy, remains there, barely providing any friction. You whine and look at him pleadingly but he tuts at you, waving the little study booklet in front of your face. “Can you repeat what I was saying?”

Why had you agreed to let him help you study for the bar? Your lawyer boyfriend, so sinfully handsome and smart, was obviously worried about your progress. He accused you of getting too distracted, and the solution was to force you to study with nothing but distractions, hoping to improve your recall abilities. 

What he hadn’t specified was that it would involve sitting on your bed with his cock stuffed in your pussy  while you straddled him, repeating little vocabulary definitions and basic terms of law. Your poor, sloppy, pussy couldn’t stop dribbling, spilling all over him, as you tried to recall the words.

He smirks at your hazy expression, seeing your mind trying to gather itself back into a cohesive state. “Well?” he prompts you again. “Can you explain the concept of intent for this?”

“Ah…” your mind is fuzzy as your walls clench around his cock, still hard inside you. How long had he been doing this? “Mmm…intent…matters because…” Because why? Why did it matter? All that mattered was fucking. Fucking him, riding him, getting filled to the brim with his seed. 

“Tsk. Oh honey. You're never going to pass the bar at this rate.” His hands firmly hook themselves underneath your fleshy thighs. “Now repeat after me.��

He begins to pick up your frame, easing you off his cock before loosening his hands and letting you fall back into his throbbing erection with force, your ass cheeks slapping his thighs as you slide down all the way to his base. 

"It. matters. because. The. Mental. state. Of. a. client. Affects. Our. Ability. To. Prove their. Innocence.”

Each word is punctuated with his hands picking you up and letting you slide, the sound of your ass pounding back into his lap echoing through the room. Each time, the bulbous, mushroom head of his cock kisses your cervix and you swear you're seeing stars each time. You sob each time, your cunt squelching as it takes him all the way in, desperate for an orgasm that wasn't likely to happen. 

“Hiro… Please… Need to cum… study later…”

“You'll never improve if you can't study through the distractions.” His eyes are hooded and dark, barely able to restrain himself from wanting to fuck your brains out until you're spilling all over his thighs. Oh the sight of you, struggling to remember basic words, thoughts too occupied with his cock to remember even the most basic concepts relating to your job. 

“Tell ya what. I'll give you a scenario. If you can explain intent based on that I'll give you an orgasm. How's that?”

You look at him hopefully, still shivering from the intensity of his last movements, and nod. 

“Explain the intent behind a young woman who invites her boyfriend over to help her study for the bar but decides to answer the door in just her underwear.”

Oh the bastard. Feeling your patience snap you admit your motive.

“Clearly she wanted to get fucked nice and good but her boyfriend is a naive moron who really thought she wanted to go over flashcards.” 

“You’ve got the flash part down spectacularly darling.” Hiromi fondles your nipples and you whine, your cunt clenching around him like a vice. 

“Hiro please…”

“I suppose I could count that as an acceptable answer. Nice work.” He spanks your ass in appreciation. “Admission of guilt always helps. Now show me how you plan to alleviate it.”

Your boyfriend was mean. You hadn’t really noticed it until just now. He was more of the type to tease you than anything else. Until you had suggested reading to him while sitting on his cock. 

For some reason, you had assumed he was going to be sweet about it. You hadn’t anticipated how hard he would make this for you. Your lips tremble and you’re a quivering mess as you hold up the book with shaky hands. Tears streak your cheeks as you try again, feeling Suguru’s thumb relentlessly playing with your clit, depriving you of just enough stimulation to keep you focused. 

“T-t-t-the for-forest i-is the…” You wet your lips trying to concentrate. “The fas-test way to the…hi-hi-hidden-”

“Too slow.” You squeal as Geto spanks your already swollen clit, the sting bringing back clarity to your senses. “I thought you were better than this. Are you so fucked out on my cock that you’re taking an hour to read a sentence?” The harsh slap of his hand on your wet folds makes them pulse and you squirm, and you close your legs to avoid the reprimand.

“Tsk. You really are a dumb whore right now.” A cry leaves your lips as he harshly pinches your nipple, twisting it cruelly. “Who told you to close your legs? You seemed pretty confident when spreading them open for me earlier.” Sniffing, you reluctantly part your legs and then let out a noise of discomfort as he slaps the little bud again. 

“Suguru…” you whimper pathetically only to have him roughly rub your clit again.

“Suguru.” He mimics in a high-pitched mocking tone. “What, you thought I would sit here all night while you take your sweet time? You haven’t even finished a page yet. Your cunt is going to be as empty as your brain if you don’t get it together.”

You whine and try again. “The solder…wanted to raid the amry… to get a sard- OUCH!” Suguru gave you a truly hard whack that sent you reeling, a confusing haze of pain and pleasure running through your body like an electric shock.

“What was that? Are you sure that’s even a word?” Slap. “Solder?” Slap. “Amry?” Slap. “Sard?” Slap. “The words are soldier, armory, and sword you stupid slut.” Each spank to your clit is punctuated with a yelp of pain from you. 

“Suguru! I’m sorry please-!” 

He pulls the book from your grip and tosses it aside. “This is why little whores shouldn’t try to brag about talents they don’t possess. Now why don’t you showcase the only real skill you have and cum on my cock like the desperate little cocksleeve you know you are?”

© nanamiscocksleeve original work | no copying, plagiarizing or translating

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[tinydefector]

Marine Centre 7 - Merformers AU

Word count: 2k

Warnings: mention of dead animals, eating dead animals, attempting to court/filrt.

Masterlist

Perv

Next

_____________

Big blue had been avoiding them the best he could while at the centre, staying at the bottom of the cove or out in the deep water of the sea so that he wasn't near them. 

 But all the other oceanides began to get very friendly towards them, following them up and down the sea line and around the walkways around the marine centre.  

Angelfish trills, surfacing from the water cooing as he tries to get their attention. "Hi Angelfish, I'll talk later. I'm trying to find Big blue” they hum with a smile as they continue walking towards the cave.    

Cherry shoulder-checks him aside. Calling out himself He waggles his fins as he pushes himself up onto the sand a little, using his hands to drag himself.  “Cherry! No,no you just got out of quarantine, don't you damage your scales again!” They nearly shout while trying to shoo him back into the water. 

As Rodimus makes another persuasive overture, the three Oceanides continue calling and thrilling as if trying to get their attention but they were set on a mission they wanted to find Big blue. They had books that they wanted to read to him, to help him be able to speak a little more or just be able to ask more questions from the food they eat to oceanide ways. 

“What has gotten into you three my God, you're acting like pups” They chuckle only to hear Bee call out. They would know that call anywhere. “Bubba!” The little yellow pup calls out. “Yes hello baby!” They call back. 

 The little pup zooms through the water, spitting out a mangled blend of little melodies and little words. "No! Cuddle, cuddle!" He huffs puffing up as he chases them. “You can cuddles in a little sweetheart.”  

Firefin seems just as persistent to stop them from going to the cave. Beaching himself in their part, blocking them. They let out a sigh realising they weren't going to escape the three adults and pup. “Fine, fine guess I'll sit here then” they huff out and sit down in the sand. 

Bumblebee is quickest to zoom over, trilling excitedly as he uses the waves to wash himself up closer to them as he wiggles and drags himself into their lap. They grab out one of the books of fish holding it out for Babybee to see. The other three almost crowd around to inspect what they have. 

“Fish, Fish” the pup shouts. “Yes bubba, fish, gonna point out them and you nod if you eat them” they coo while pointing to the fish, making a motion to their mouth, doing a head nod and shake to try and make sure the oceanides understood what they were asking.   

 

Cherry jabs at a pufferfish photo, then to Angelfish who shoves him away with a playful hiss. Bumblebee trills happily from his perch, little hands pointing at fish as he peers at them. “Do you like Flathead?” They hum only for the little one to nod vigorously. The other three seem to be playfully fighting between each other over an answer. 

Firefin rumbles thoughtfully. He nods slowly at them, he then points to the lionfish and makes a low snarl at it. “yea i know you don't like the Lionfish, the Sharks seem To once they are dead.” They continue pointing to another one, this time an Eastern Wirrah. “What about this one?” 

At the next indicated fish, Angelfish perks up. Cherry nods eagerly. As they continue to go through the book making doen fish that they liked and didn't, Bumblebee babbles as he points at other fish, crustaceans and shellfish excitedly. 

But it's their heads snapping to the side as Shimmer beaches himself with a kill. “Holy shit, holy shit!” They shout pulling Babybee closer as they watch Shimmer rip into the seal carcass. His head snaps towards them as blood runs down his mouth and chin before he goes back to eating. Shimmer lazily tearing into a seal carcass on the sand. The pup coos excitedly at the gory sight, wiggling out of their arms and quickly splashing his way over.  

__________________________

"Hello gorgeous!" Rodimus trills, only for Bluestreak to surf closer to them. "Come swimming with us again please?" He calls out only for Sideswipe to shoulder-check him aside. " Ignore this fin flicker, you can do better. Name's Sides - I'll show you a way better time than any landwalker." He waggles his frills eagerly. 

As Rodimus makes another persuasive overture, Sideswipe cuts in flamboyantly. "Forget these two- I'm the best you'll find in these seas, sweet thing!, come on you have see me at my lowest" 

Rodimus elbows him aside. "The they're not interested in guppy talk."  

Their displays only grow more elaborate as the softone strides unresponsive past, oblivious clicks drowned out by youthful cry of Bumblebee. The little pup zooms over spitting out a mangled blend of songspeak and soft word phrases. 

But Rodimus presses ever closer, blocking their path. “Come on, you had no issues talking with me after Optimus took off” he nearly whines. The softskins let out a sigh realising they weren't going to escape the three adults and pup. So they sit down in the sand. Close to the water so that Bumblebee could move closer. 

The group lets out a noise of success. “finally we can actually spend some time with you!” Sideswipe laughs as he moves closer, watching curiously as they pull out strange looking boxes. But as they open it the oceanides see the images of fish. 

Bumblebee, trilling excitedly as bright illustrations capture his fleeting focus. Sideswipe and Bluestreak crowd close as well, "Ooh, look - it's you, Blue!" Sideswipe jabs, pressing his claw at a  picture of a pufferfish. Bluestreak shoves him away with a snort. "Frag off, your ugly mug is Not!." 

They let Bumblebee curl up in their lap while pointing to a fish. And making a 'to eat' motion before waving their hand in the direction of the three like a question. Before doing a head nod or shake. Sideswipe catches on first, snapping his dentas. "Eat it? Frag yeah we do, looks tasty!" 

Bluestreak elbows him. "Spongebrain, they're asking if WE eat it, not if YOU would." He turns a questioning gaze on the humans. "yes we hunt those" he nods along as they point to different ones. At the next indicated fish, Bluestreak perks up. "Oh, those? Fat suckers are a real treat, their meat just falls off the bone. We'll chase those gutbusters all over the reef given a chance." Sideswipe rumbles while admiring the different fishes.

Sideswipe nods eagerly. Rodimus nods too, he then points to the lionfish and makes a low snarl at it. “Those firefish are nasty, we don't eat them, they make us very sick” he informs only for the softone to make a noise in understanding. 

He points to others, fielding answers. "Groupers are yummy. Lobsters if we're lucky, fast buggers though. Any big fish, deep fish.  barracuda, Mahi Mahi, sunfish, even marlin if it's a big feeding party."

As the softone continues pointing to others as the boys nod or shake their heads over which ones they eat. Bumblebee babbles as he points at other fish excitedly, “yummy, yummy!” He coos which earns a laugh from the others. “ yea pup they are yummy”

The smell of blood has their attention as Sunstreaker drifts onto the sand with a seal that he is ripping into and eating. The metallic scent draws Sideswipe's attention downbeach. "Hey, looks like Streaker's found himself a feast." The others follow his gaze to see Sunstreaker lazily tearing into a seal carcass on the sand. 

Bluestreak clicks his dentas, eyeing the dripping prey. "Not a bad catch, solo this time?"  Rodimus' fins flick approvingly. Sunstreaker licks a lingering gaze to their softone. Bluestreak snaps his dentas jealously. "Showoff, look he's got them interested now!"

"Always got to one-up us, eh Streaker?" Sideswipe whines. "Can't you let the rest of us wow someone for once?" Sunstreaker just huffs, blood dripping from his chin. "Not my fault if you clownfish can't land a catch to save your sorry shells. At least I get results." He flicks gold and silver fins in a taunting display.

Bumblebee swimming over to Sunstreaker. Cooing softly as if to ask if he could try the seal with him. The little pup is very polite as uses his big wide eyes up at him, Sunstreaker had a soft spot for the pup reminding him of his own pup sunstorm bumblebee's plea proves effective, as his big puppy eyes always did. With a smug quirk of his lip, Sunstreaker tears off a choice strip of seal meat for the eager little pup. 

"Here you go, squirt. Maybe you'll finally fill out that scrawny frame with a real meal." He ignores the others' jealousy as Bumblebee trills his thanks around the treat. As he lets the pup have his fill of the seal while he eats. 

Bluestreak scoffs. "Look at that, he's stolen the pup's affections too..." Sideswipe tries to stop the soft one from following Bumblebee down to the seal carcass. "Don't pay them any mind, sweetspark. I'll hunt something for you." He calls out as a promise. 

Bumblebee eagerly devours his seal chunk with Sunstreaker's watchful gaze. When the pups caretaker edges closer, Sideswipe whines pathetically. "Don't do it, you'll only encourage his displays! Gorgeous, come back - I'll prove myself a far truer catch." 

But their noisemaking falls on deaf ears as their human carefully approaches the feeding pair, wary yet curious. Sunstreaker lets them near without hissing, merely flashing bright patterned frills at them in invitation. 

A challenging smirk curls his lip components. "See something you like, landwalker? I'm always up for another hunt if it means claiming a worthy prize." The others can only whine and fawn, outmatched by the golden mech's sheer audacity. 

"What are you doing?" Drift asked, popping his head up to watch the younger Oceanides. Bluestreak huffs. "We're trying to win favour, prove ourselves to the landwalker. But Sunstreaker keeps showing off as usual." 

Sideswipe nods fiercely. "He only does it to make us look bad. If he'd frag off maybe one of us could get a real connection going."

Rodimus vents softly in amusement. "Optimus already tried a fin show, but I doubt Sunstreaker will get them that easily." Sideswipe titters. "Can you blame him? The way they doted on Bee, of course he got all showy!" 

Drift shakes his head in amusement before taking off again. 

"No way, Optimus!," Bluestreak insists. "I mean look, they're still not even reacting to us" 

Sideswipe nods eagerly. "Bet his display freaked them right out, Wonder how far south he hauled his sorry tailfin..."

“I'm telling you Blue, He got so worked up while Ratchet and I were at the caves, fins and frills All flared out as he made a little call to them. And beforehand I was asking him if they were his mates. He said something to them in their words and they got very shy” Rodimus says to him.

"How would you even mate one?" Sunstreaker shoots back at them.

Bluestreak hums curiously. "I don't suppose landwalkers mount the same as we do? No tail, slit or pelvic fins in sight." 

"Frag if I know." Rodimus says defensively. 

Sunstreaker fans his fins and frills at them again, a soft little rumble leaves him as he puts on the show, the softskin looks at him and smiles as they talk and praise Sunstreaker in the language he can't understand, but they do make a whistle noise at him. He smirks triumphantly as the landwalker's praise. Bluestreak scoffs jealousy. "Fragger thinks he owns the surf with this showboating" 

A deep rumble echoes off the waves and it has Bumblebee looking up and calling out to his Sire. Even the softones attention flicks to the large Oceanide as he hangs back in the deeper water. Optimus was still keeping his distance from them after his flare up. 

Sunstreaker falters his display. "Well frag me, Papa Prime's making his presence known out there..." Bumblebee trills excitedly at his sire. “Papa, Papa!” he calls out to him.

____________________

Photos of what the Oceanides look like for those who haven't seen Megatron is the next one I'll be working on.

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[milf-murdock]

I See Red (Part 1)

Simon "Ghost" Riley x 141!Reader

Part 2 can be found here

Summary: A tech expert lends her expertise to the 141 for a mission. It’s not her fault that she’s tall, beautiful, and perfect. But it is her fault that she can’t keep her goddamn hands to herself. How else are you supposed to react when you walk in to find her lips on your Ghost?   Warnings: allusions to cheating (not Ghost’s fault!! Sweet man has never done anything wrong in his life), swearing, angst (does it make it better if I promise all the fluff in the next chapter?) A/N: Well this has been on my brain for a while. I’m so thrilled to finally have this out into the world! The OGs know that this was one of my first prompts I came up with when I was first writing for Simon Riley. I guess we’ve come full circle <3 Thank you for all your support. Remember, your comments, tags, and messages mean the world to us writers! 

It’s surprising that the harsh grinding of your teeth isn’t audible given how hard you’re clenching your jaw. You watch in irritated silence as a tall curvy redhead named Bex leans over Ghost’s shoulder to peer down at the encrypted computer. 

She’s always so fucking close to him, to your Ghost. 

You steady your growing impatience by taking a swig of water, the thin plastic crinkling under your touch. 

“Hmm.” She leans in closer and you could tell Ghost is on edge. He wasn’t exactly the sort who tolerated too many people encroaching on his personal space. 

Clearly he makes an exception when it comes to gorgeous redheads though, you think to yourself before mentally chastising the thought.

The rational side of your brain knows that he’s more than likely just putting on a brave face because Bex is new to the team. Technically, you correct yourself, not an actual part of the team. She’s more like a short term contractor. Even you had to begrudgingly admit that the 141 needed her level of expertise to crack through the firewalls and get the intel needed to ensure success for the next part of your mission. After all, you risked your life getting the damn laptop. What good is it if you can’t even get into it?

You knew all of this. Logically. It made sense. Your team needed a military-grade computer expert. She was the most qualified for the job—the “best of the best” Price had said. Done. Fin. 

Except…

Except you just couldn’t get over the way her eyes always seemed to linger on Ghost. The way she’d accidentally brush up against him as they walked side by side through the hallway. The way she laughed a little too loud at his terrible Army jokes. And right now, the way her hand rests on his shoulder as she studies the screen. 

Your fist unconsciously clenches around your water bottle causing the ice cold water to gush over the loosened cap, spilling all over your lap. 

You let out a shout, jumping to your feet as the cold water soaks through your layers. Bex jumps as well, surprised by the outburst, stepping back from the mess. 

Simon is on his feet in a heartbeat. 

“You okay?” But not even his deep baritone, usually instantly calming, could soothe your irritation, now at an all time high.

“I’m fine,” you snap, crossing the briefing room in strides to toss the empty bottle in the bin.  Ghost watches you with careful eyes. Though his face is covered by his signature skull balaclava, you didn’t miss his appraising gaze as he tries to assess the situation—ever the tactician. 

You take a deep breath. “I’m fine,” you try again, aiming for a more pleasant tone. “Really. Just a slip of the hand.” 

“Well,” Bex scoffs, “You really should be more careful. We are dealing with electronics here, you know.” Her snarky tone has you nearly seeing red again, but you clench your jaw tight and plaster the friendliest smile you could muster, though you’re certain it must look more like a grimace. 

“Noted,” you grit out before turning your attention back to Ghost. “I’m gonna head to the barracks and grab a shower. Catch you later?” 

Ghost’s head bobs in a subtle nod, but his eyes are still looking at you with that quizzical expression on his face. He knows something is wrong. 

You just subtly shake your head in response, doing your best to a convey a “not now. We’ll talk later” with just a glance. Turning back to the door, you leave the two of them behind to tackle the task at hand. The sooner you crack the encryption and figured out where your target is, the sooner Bex can get the fuck out of here.

Walking across the base, you pinched the bridge of your nose between your fingers, internally scolding yourself for letting your temper get the best of you. The fresh, cool evening air helps calm your sour mood, and you do your best to reassure yourself. 

I’m sure it’s nothing.

 It’s all in your head. 

He probably doesn’t even like redheads.

You’re so caught up in your thoughts you don’t even see where you were going, which is exactly how you find yourself running face first into the brick wall of Johnny. 

Oomph. The air whooshes out of your lungs as two broad hands reach up to steady you. 

“Easy there, lass,” the Scottsman chuckles. “Watch where yer goin’ bonnie.” 

“Sorry Soap,” your cheeks feel warm with embarrassment. “Didn’t see you there. Lost in my own head.” 

“I’ll say!” Johnny claps a hand on your shoulder, the other balancing a stack of folders. “Hey, while I have you here, have ye seen LT?” 

“Yeah, he’s with Bex in the briefing room. They’re trying to tackle that computer we lifted from the last mission.” 

Soap nods. “More power to her. That shite doesn’t make any fucking sense to me.” 

“Yeah. She’s a real blessing to the team,” you grumble, unable to withhold your eye roll. 

“There’s that fiery sergeant I love so much,” Soap teases. “Am I getting a whiff a jealousy, hen?” 

“Don’t even get me started Soap or I swear to god—“

“Alright, alright,” Soap laughs good naturally, his free hand coming up in mock surrender.  “But hey, would you mind dropping off these files to LT? He needs to review them before our meeting with Laswell in a couple hours and I’ve got to meet up with Price now, don’t have time to trek all the way to the briefing room.” 

“Sure,” you do manage to hold back your sigh this time. “Happy to help.” And you are happy to help Soap—he’s a great friend to both you and Simon—you just aren’t too happy at the thought of seeing your new BFF Bex again so soon. At least the short walk had served its purpose in cooling your temper a bit. 

“You’re a treat, bonnie, I owe you one,” Soap smiles, giving your shoulder a firm pat before taking off in the opposite direction towards price’s office. 

You adjust the stack of sealed papers in your hands as your turned back around towards the briefing room and head across base. 

You quick steps have you approaching the briefing room soon enough. Surprisingly, the door is  left slightly ajar—you must not have shut it all the way when you stormed out of the room earlier, you reason.

You approach silently, softening your footsteps to avoid any kind of noise, a small voice in the back of your mind goading you to surreptitiously see how Bex might behave without an audience. You peer in the room to find Bex and Simon standing at the table, the computer screen lighting up in front of them. 

“We’re in!” Bex exclaims, her voice high pitched with excitement. 

You watch the scene unfold before you and it feels like the world is moving in slow motion. Bex turns her radiant expression up to face Simon, her hands moving upwards and tucking up under his balaclava, and then—in the blink of an eye—she raises it above his chin and presses a kiss to his lips. Simon’s hands reach up to grasp her wrists, already beginning to pull away, but it’s too late. 

You see everything. 

The papers fall to the floor with a crash, and both Simon and Bex jump apart, eyes flashing to the door. 

Bex at least has the good sense to look embarrassed by her actions, her face flushing bright red, eyes cast to the ground. 

“It’s not what it looks like,” Simon urges, pulling his mask back down in place. “Wait—“ 

You turn and walked out the door, the scene playing on a loop in your head. 

Her lips. Pressed up against Simon. Your Simon. His lips…kissing her back? The memory already warps, tinged with shades of red matching the shades of anger running through you. 

The rage fuels your steps as you run from the briefing room, desperate to get away.

Simon blinks at the empty space in the doorway, the space where you stood just a second ago, before this colossal shit storm descended. 

“Well, sorry we got interrupted,” Bex’s sultry voice breaks the silence, her small hand reaching towards Ghost’s glove. “Should we continue where we left off?”

“Touch me again, and you lose the whole goddamn hand,” Simon’s hardened voice is laced with the threat of violence. “Keep your bloody hands to yourself.” 

The blood drains from Bex’s face. 

With that, he storms out the door, following your trail. One thought playing on repeat in his mind: I can’t lose her. 

Masterlist ✧ Ask Box

Read Part 2 here ❤️

[astarioffsimpmain]

Cozy Up with: Halsin

[Autumn photography by: coldoctober]

[Halsin photography by: @elminstersapprentice]

Author's Note:

Next cozy encounter is with Halsin! Our favorite bear ❤️ I absolutely know he'd be the best at easing anyone's fears. He's such a calming presence.

You loved scary stories. You loved the thrill of being scared, the tension right before a scare, and the mystery of the unknown. But perhaps you had met your match in Wyll. It had been your idea to delve into the stories of the macabre on that fine, chilly evening that Karlach had declared that she was bored, and over half the camp had agreed. However, Wyll's - disturbingly true - encounter with a Wraith years back had been enough to send shivers straight down your spine and for a knot to settle in the base of your stomach. 

But you had a reputation to uphold, so you clapped with the others when he was finished and smiled until you reached your tent for the evening. Shivering, you pulled your blankets up around you and scooted closer to the candle you had by your bedroll, eager to stay near the small patch of warmth and the light. You cracked open your book and tried to pick up where you had left off, intent on leaving all thoughts of shadows and wraiths behind. 

But when a snick snapped just outside your tent, you froze, body stiffening with fear and apprehension. Rustling. A shiver ran down your spine as you silently reached for your knife. Goosebumps erupted on your flesh at the sound of a soft grunt and you gripped the knife hilt tightly. Suddenly, the tent flap swung open and you jumped back on your haunches, knife in hand, only to find your lover, Halsin, in wildshape, poking his snout inside to check on you. You let out a relieved sigh and let your knife fall to your side. “Halsin,” you breathed out.

He snorted and his eyes began to glow. Then the light spread to the rest of his enormous body, and before your eyes, he had returned to his elven form. With a small, knowing smile, he crawled the rest of the way into your tent and settled in beside you. Wordlessly, you pulled some of the blankets covering you over to him as well, and he accepted them with a gracious smile. 

“Do you remain on edge from the tales around the fire, my heart?” he rumbled, opening his arms to you. 

You settled into them with a grateful sigh, glad to be safely pressed against your bear once again. “No, I'm alright.” 

His silence told you how little he believed you. 

“...alright, perhaps a little.” You curled up tighter around him and he did the same to you. “Wyll’s encounter with a wraith was quite harrowing,” you murmured and you felt Halsin nod above you. 

“Indeed. Wraiths are most unsavory creatures. However, they are not infallible, as we heard tonight. Wyll disposed of it bravely. As would we, if we were to come across one. I will always be within reach of you; in battle and in every breath you take from this moment on. My dear one, never doubt that fact.” 

~

fin

[resi4skz]

Title: The Ocean's Whisper

Pairing: Merman Chris x Human OC (Violet Carter)

Synopsis: Violet wants to end it all but the last minute is saved by the mysterious man who she hasn't seen in her town till that night.

Warnings: fluff, eventual smut, angst, sea monsters, and much more

THIS IS NOT COMPLETE

I have had enough of people. Their comments. Their stares. Their whispers loud enough for me to hear. They want me to suffer? Fine. I'll suffer. Wiping away the tears from my cheek, I look into the darkness of the ocean below me. A soft breeze runs through me as I try to come up with a solution. The waves, the ripples in the water, would it take me away with it if I was in it?

Letting out a deep breath, close my eyes and let myself submerge in the freezing water but somehow, it's a relief. I feel lighter. Stress free. Maybe now my mom won't have a daughter to compare others to. Maybe this is best. For me. For others.

I want others to forget me.

I want to forget.

Black.

Fins. Tail.

What? Why do I feel someone pulling me back?

"Come on," the voice says as the sudden constant pressure on my chest forces me to take a deep breath, coughing out water.

Taking a few breaths, I finally look up to the person who 'saved' me. "What...."

It's a man. Black hair, brown eyes, water dripping from his hair and face, such luscious lips. Shirtless? "Why did you do that?!"

"I saved you! You were drowning!" The accent coming from this guy had my lady bits screaming. Now is not the time, Violet. "If I hadn't gone in time-"

"I didn't ask you to save me!" I spat out.

He blinks at me, perplexed. "Wait, you wanted to die?"

I hold my head in my hands. It was going so perfect.

"But why?"

I look up. Where had he come from? I haven't seen him in my town before. Was he new? "None of your business like you," I air quote the next word," 'saving' me was none of your business."

"But those things would've eaten you alive."

"Come again?" What is he on about?

"You didn't see them because you're not..." He suddenly stands up and looks towards the ocean. "It's here."

"What's here?" I asked.

"Tristan."

"Who the hell is Tristan?"

My question was answered as a low, deep rumble cry vibrated through the air. It was almost like it was announcing it's presence. Then I saw it. A tentacle. A very long on. Then another. And another. "What the fuck is that?"

He swivels towards me. "You can see it?"

"Uh, yeah? It's almost like a gigantic squid!"

Then he smiles. His pearly whites on display. And the dimples? I almost tripped....on air. "You're the one everyone has been talking about!"

"Uhh....come again?"

He grabs my arms, I'm suddenly feeling warmth from his smooth hands. "And I saved you! Okay, I need to head back to report and tell them I found you. Oh man, they're going to be thrilled-"

The tentacles of this Tristan seemed to be getting closer. "I'm sorry, but who are you? What is," I point towards the sea," that? Am I dreaming?"

"That is a Kraken. My name is Chris."

"A Kraken."

"Yup yup," he nods.

"I'm dreaming. Or dead." I pinch my arm, hard. I flinch in pain. "What the fuck?"

Chris suddenly grabs me by the shoulders making me face him. "Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"I need to take you to the council. But in order to do that, I need you trust me."

I raise my eyebrow. "What does that have to do with me trus-mmpfh" I blink as I'm cut off by a pair of lips on mine. I punch at his chest but holy, why is he so strong? And his lips.....I find myself melting into the kiss, tilting my head for better access.

Reality comes crashing through me and I push him back with all my might. "What are you doing?!"

Then I feel it. The waves of the ocean.

Then I hear it. The murmurs of people from the market behind us.

I touch my neck. "What did you do?" I feel it again, the 3 slits on each side. Almost like fins.

"They're temporary. But necessary. You need to come with me."

To be continued....

A/N: soooooo what do you think?

[senqv]

FOLK OF THE GREY WAVES.

blue lock ! mermaid au featuring : alexis ness , michael kaiser , kurona ranze x gn! reader

warning(s) : kaiser tries to kill you once purposefully and once accidentally ( what’s new ) , biting , dead fish rip , lmk if there are more !

a/n : can you tell i was an ocean loving child

alexis ness !

prolly a dolphin mercreature … you know how the media portrays dolphins to be cute little angels but actually they are wild. yea

he has a curious nature as a dolphin, but also, as we know, incredibly intelligent

he can’t speak too much, but communicates with little thrills and chirps <3

you learn his name after he draws it out onto the sand, he really likes how you say his name !!

alexis also likes to ‘study’ you, as you say, and he is extremely fond of wrapping his tail around your legs — he doesn’t have them, after all, so he’s really curious on how they work !

he always leaves some gifts for you by rocks for you, like shells and clams with pearls in them <3 sometimes he finds some weird human contraption that was dropped into the sea and brings them to you as well

you bring your own gifts for him too ! he’s quite fond of flowers; especially lavenders, the sweet smell really appeals to him. he’s kinda sad that he can’t bring them underwater though :(

a regular bottlenose dolphin is about 2-4 m ( around 6.7 - 13.1 feet ) in length, so he’s quite big — bigger than you at least.

despite his large size, he’s very gentle with you, brushing his face over your palms and examining your legs with apt fascination. his fingers are nearly floating above your skin, because you’re so small compared to him that he really doesn’t wanna hurt you (*⁰▿⁰*)

he’s always mimicking you smiling. it’s his favourite expression !! it gets a little unsettling sometimes because you can tell that something has angered him but he’s still like :)

and then suddenly some people who have bothered you have develop a fear of the sea and refuse to go near it and you hm

splashes water on you to express his displeasure. and then he nudges you down when you try to tackle him as revenge … and somehow he is surprised you went down so easily ??? like huh have you not seen the size difference

overall really cute 10/10

michael kaiser !

if dolphins are bad this guy is an orca. the worse subspecies of dolphin fr they r such menaces ( but also my favourite ocean species LAWL they r too cute )

probably tried to kill you the first time y’all met ??

orca LOVE to play around with their prey. he definitely tried to flick you into the air but then decided that he was quite fond of you and now you’re his human. like um .ok ?????

really likes shiny things ! tinkers around with the bracelets and rings you wear, it’s cute how his pupils dilate a little when a glass bead reflects against the sunlight just right

he would really like for you to swim with him, but the sea is horrendously cold during the winter …

he doesn’t really understand that concept, so he tried tugging you into the water once, and you could barely submerge half your body you froze up and had to get out :(

kaiser refused to let you go afterwards for a long time, wrapping his arms and tail around you, a grumbling sound from his throat and warm breath against your neck <3

his fins twitching and his huge tail slamming on the deck nervously as he massages your arms to get the blood flowing again

he can’t let his favourite human die too fast yknow :( but the asshole attitude returns after he knows you’re fine. mf

he brings you his catches; huge fish, turtles, sometimes even smaller dolphin species as ? gifts ?? and lowkey gets offended when you explain how you can’t haul all those back to your house

again — he is huge. male killer whales are about 6 - 8 m ( 19.6 - 26.3 ft ) in length !! sits you on his lap as he marvels at how tiny you are compared to him

after thorough observation, he mlems at you face and you can’t tell if the grin he sports is him telling you that you’re going to be his next meal or something else

really likes it when you trace the patterns on his tail <3 he hides his face in his arms so you can’t see his expression but his tail is thrashing really wildly !!

possibly a 10 when he’s not trying to kill you

kurona ranze (黒名 蘭世) !

do i even need to say it ??? shark boy <3 i’d say hes a lemon shark mercreature !! omg i love lemon sharks they r the cutest

just putting it out here that lemon sharks are possessive of their humans and get jealous when they give other sharks too much attention LOL

kurona wraps his tail around you when he wants your attention and just in general when you’re near him !!

like ness, he is really curious of your legs. tried biting them once or twice — it doesnt hurt, but the occasional bite marks on your calves and thighs are hard to explain to your friends

his teeth are really cute to look at tho !! very spiky, and he grabs your hand so you can feel the groves of his triangular teeth and his tongue licking at your finger-pads

really likes swimming with you — you don’t even have to tread water cause he’ll just hold you by the waist and swim like that !! strong boy

kurona knows a lot about the ocean (since he practically lives in it ..), he brings you to see tiny glowing jellyfish at night and little bioluminescence plankton in underwater caves !! he gets really happy when he sees you excited over them

his eyes dilate … like a lot. they get huge when he sees you cause he loves you <3

really enjoys getting pets ! he’s not too expressive but you can always hear some gentle purring when you run your fingers through his hair

brings you small coral and pearls as gifts <3 sometimes he feels mischievous and just spits out some kind of fish at your feet just to scare you _:(´ཀ`」 ∠): wtf kurona !!

loves laying his head on your lap to hear you muse about the stars and constellations at night <3

deadass tries to lean his near 3 m ( 11 ft ) self on you like . hello

really likes stars a lot, his tail was practically wagging when you gave him a bracelet strung of star-shaped beads !!

he brought you a really pretty starfish afterwards as thanks

kurona automatically starts licking at your wounds if you have any, and he’s really careful not to get saltwater on them

doesnt like it when you’re hurt in any form :(

10/10 sea puppy bf

now i lowkey wanna sketch mermaid au blue lock adjdjhsjasjsj

[rezitio]

┊⋆ ˚✯✩ :: 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐘 𝐌𝐄! 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐁!𝐌𝐂

13/08/23

✩:: 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐁!𝐌𝐂✧

A/n : I hope someone hasn't done this before.

Warning : Fluff/Headcannons. AFAB!reader

Characters : Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub

:: Lucifer

When he heard the news, he was in a little bit of shock and confusion. First he didn't really believe you and tried to laugh it off but when he saw how serious you were he began expressing his concerns but assured you he was willing to take care of the child if you chose to keep it.

"Wait, you're being serious?" the blank expression you had on your face answered him. "But how? we were so careful..."

"I know but this is a good thing right?" You say trying to sound cheerful "I was thinking maybe, we should keep...it?" You say fidgeting with your hands.

"Keep it?" He replied. "You know this isn't a very good place to raise a child, especially with them around" he says referring to his brothers

"I know but-"

"And I haven't really heard of demon-human mixes unless you mean giants but are you sure you can take care of a giant?"

"I don't think they will-"

"Food and support is going to be hella expensive and we don't know if it can live here or the human-world, what would it eat? And it's going to be time-consuming are you sure you're ready for that? I don't think you are-"

"Can you stop referring to our child as 'it'?" You shout. He hushed a bit surprised by your outbreak. "I know I'll do everything in my power to provide for the child, the question is will you?"

He sighs and embraces you in a hug "I will baby, just worried" he kisses your forehead

"I'm worried too but I know if you support me we can power through"

He looks at you "I'll be with you both of you all the way"

:: Mammon

First he will be a little but worried but other than that he's happy! He's ready to try his hardest to be the best father he can be for both you and the spawn. He loves you so much, he's willing to make sacrifices (use his credit card) for the child

"So my sperm is growing inside ya? Just like that? No complications, no problems?"

"I mean if you exclude the change of taste buds and vomiting, yeah I'm alright" you laugh

He scoffs "I'm going to be a father- Huh..." His tiny smirk turns into a wide grin as he surprisingly picks you up chanting 'Im going to be a father' he eventually puts you down after much protests from you.

"You don't have to do any work now, let me take care of you, ok?"

You giggle "Ok, prince Charming"

:: Leviathan

First he was shocked and didn't really process what you're just said. He also didn't understand how it worked but seeing as you were just as worried as he was he began to comfort you, then you started planning your baby in his room.

"It's not that big of a deal, we can take care of it" he held your hands with one hand and wiped away your tears with the other.

"But are we even ready" your voice cracked. "I mean you weren't ready when you came here, I wasn't ready when you came into my life was I?"

"I mean yeah, but-"

"But we survived now look at us now" he point to him then to you with a cheeky smile "Mom and dad" then pointed to your stomach "bi-species mix" making you giggle a bit

Seeing your smile he smiled a little more. "Ok, as long as you'll be here with me"

"I'll never leave your side. Now what are we going to name them if it's a girl"

"I'm thinking ___"

"___? What about Ruri" he argued

You just gave him blank stare "But __ is also fine!"

You laugh, and you two continue talking about the child.

:: Satan

At first he was not having it, he was like "Haha, funny, you're joking" and wouldn't accept any other explanation, but when he realises that you are in fact serious, he tries to calm you down. He may not be super thrilled about having kids but for you, he'll bite.

"Satan! I'm being serious, I-I'm pregnant. Do you not want a baby that bad" You say on the verge of tears

He finally sighs giving into reality "MC..., I'm sorry. It's just a huge step" he says trying to hug you but you push him away tears keep flowing.

"Do you want me to leave th-"

"No. Please y/n don't leave me." He sighs yet again

"Look I may not like the idea of kids very much but...for you, I'll do anything darling."

:: Asmodeus

You wouldn't have to tell him, he'll tell you. He's the avatar of lust, sex and everything that comes as a result of it. He knows whether his seed met your egg or not.

"I- I think we're pregnant love..." He looks you dead in the eye sounding generally worried.

"We?" You ask and he nods his head.

"See how you've been vomiting all over the place and you don't like my gremlin churros anymore but you pick Beels donuts- we're pregnant!" He exclaims. Again you wanted ask were he came in the We but you let it slide.

"Yeah, I know we are Asmo but I- i don't think we can keep it."

Silence fill the room for a second before Asmodues speaks. "I'm not gonna force you, since it's growing in your stomach but... I'd like to keep the baby."

One of your worries was Asmo wouldn't want to keep the baby, as you see now that problem is solved but unfortunately it was only one of your worries.

"Baby I- what if we- I don't think I'm ready to be, what if I mess up? I can't" Tears pool your eyes and brings you into a tight hug

"I'm not ready to but, with you, I know we can"

:: Beel

First off let me say Beel would not have a problem with having a child in the beginning infact he wouldn't even fully process it till you start going into labour, so when you tell him you're pregnant with worry and tears on your ears he can't seem to understand where it's coming from. He does try and comfort you in whatever way he can.

"Hey, hey its fine really." He says trying to comfort you but you can't stop crying. "If anything is my fault I came inside, look I don't mind the kid, sure it means I have to share my foods but really we'll get through it."

"I'm worried Beel, what if-"

"Enough with the what ifs, you're going to be fine. We'll be fine and we'll raise this baby together."

You hug him and he hugs you back slightly caressing your back. Although there were a few complications with your pregnancy because of the half breed when the day arrived you delivered your baby, after much panicking from Beel, who had now processed what was going on, that you had to comfort him.

[devondespresso]

Never Again

Nancy is trying to have a good time with her boyfriend after season 1. It would be a lot easier if the last time they did this wasn't the same night her best friend died, but she needs the break to avoid those thoughts, even just for a night. Apparently, she doesn't get a choice.

TWs: Implied past sa (coercion, not from nancy's experience and not directly described), past character death (Barb), accidental self-injury (and blood), and overall themes of grief (if you're worried about the sa tw i have a brief explanation of the context in the note on ao3)

This is the version of Never Again that has 18+ content changed to just kissing. (shoutout still to @museumgiftshoperaser for beta-ing the nsfw version 💕) **It still has implied sa and all other trigger warning still apply**

ao3

___

Her heart was racing, her mind tuned into every touch and feeling, electric excitement buzzing in her skin at the soft kiss they shared by her bed. Gentle breaths hitting her skin and the echo of her own bouncing back.

No shirts, just the soft contact of skin as Steve held her waist and she held his neck.

She led him over and down to sit on the bed, keeping the contact above all else.

Warm, soft, and absolutely thrilling.

Just go home… okay…

Her heart was racing.

Her mind tuned into every touch and feeling.

An electric anxiety buzzing through her skin and swimming in her gut.

He pulled away.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

He looked at her with that face. She shook her head, glancing away and trying to get herself back into it. It’s okay, it’s fine, you’re okay.

I’m fine.

Just go home, okay.

“Nancy.” he leaned back fully, “What’s going on, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just. Overwhelmed.” she smiled, “I’m okay. We can keep going.”

He studied her face for a moment.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she made herself roll her eyes and smile.

“Okay,” he said, leaning back in more carefully than before, “You have to tell me if you want to stop, okay?”

“I told you I’m fine.” she made herself laugh. She grabbed around his neck and pulled him for another kiss.

He was tense with caution for a few moments. She ran a hand through his hair and he relaxed.

..This isn’t like you…

She chased the feelings, the warmth and excitement and thrill.

..Nance.

She deepened the kiss, going stronger and disregarding the need for breath.

It was still warm. But it stopped being soft, desperate tightness in her lungs and tears in her eyes slowly outshining any joy.

Just go ahead and go home, okay.

A few tears escaped and she barely separated to catch her breath. The tightness in her chest only worsened as her lungs filled with air.

She needed out.

So she pulled back, getting up and rushing to the door.

“Nanc- Nancy! What’s the matter? Nance?”

Nothing.

“Just gimme a minute.” she called to the room behind her, then rushed in the bathroom and closed the door with a gentle thud. She sat on the toilet seat, covering her mouth with her hand and tried willing herself out of whatever headspace made her cry when she was supposed to be happy.

She tried cold water and breathing, but they did nothing. Dread still twisted at her insides, heart still too fast, tears still running wild and for no good reason.

“Nancy. It’s Steve. I have your shirt, do you want me to leave it on the door knob or can I come in?”

“No no no it’s fin-” her breath cut her off. She took another in, deep, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“No, we’re stopping. I can leave the shirt on the knob for you.”

“Steve, it’s okay, I’m just being… weird. It’s not a big deal.”

Silence from the other side of the door, long enough for her to think maybe he left already.

He took a deep breath from behind the door. 

“Nance, can I come in?”

She took a moment to breathe and wipe her eyes.

“Yeah.”

The door opened slowly and Steve already had his shirt back on. He closed the door behind him, crouching in front of her.

"Something is wrong." And he held her shirt out to her. More tears spilled out as she took it, and they agreed with him for her.

Steve sat on the floor and leaned back against the wall as she put the shirt on, slower than she had to.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” he asked gently after she was done.

“I-” she shook her head, looking for the most normal way to describe it.

“Did I do something to make you upset?”

“No, no. You’re fine, I promise, I- It’s just me being weird, nothing to do with you.”

He studied her face. She wiped at her tears with her sleeve. He reached out and stopped, then grabbed her a towel from by the sink.

“You can touch me, it's fine.”

“Good to know.”

Silence for a moment.

“You know you don’t have to, y’know… we don't have to sleep together. Like, ever, if you don’t want to.”

“That’s not…” she paused. It's not. But it leads where she needs to go. “Never, huh? You’re okay with never sleeping with someone ever again?”

“Yeah. Especially if you don’t want to, okay? You’re not losing anything if you decide you never want to do it again.”

She gave him a look.

“You’d stay in a relationship where you can never sleep with your girlfriend.”

“If I happened to love this girl, I’d do pretty much anything." he smiled, "Maybe even, oh I don’t know, run towards a 10ft tall monster man with a baseball bat I found on the ground,” he nudged her leg, “Y’know, if this girl was really special.”

She tried giving him another look, but her smile broke through, followed by more silent tears.

“You’re not losing me for anything, okay? Never feel like you have to do shit you don’t want to just to keep some boyfriend around.”

“Says the guy who ran towards a monster to keep his girlfriend around.” She shot back halfheartedly.

“That’s different, that’s-” he scooted in closer, stressing the point even more, “I wanted to help. You gave me the chance to leave and I almost did, but I wanted to protect you.” he took one of her hands in his, “You have to want to, otherwise it’s not-” he looked away, searched for a word and couldn’t find it. Instead he made a tense sort of eye-contact, “You don't really come back something like that. Just promise me you’ll never do it unless you want to.” 

She exhaled, glancing away to cut tension and nodded. “Promise.”

He nodded, but his eyes still searched her face. She searched back.

“And it has to be because you want to actually sleep with them… not because you want to have them around or…"

She sobered and tentatively brushed the hair out of his face with her free hand.

“or you think you have to.” she finished. He gave a short nod, the look he gave her asking for the promise again.

"Steve, I promise I want to. It’s something else- and I don't know how to say it. But yeah, somethings... It’s something in my head. I had a good time, the first time, and I was having a good time just now, right until the..”

She looked for a vague enough word to fit without making it something he could’ve knowingly caused.

“...until The Something happened?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” he exhaled, then caught himself, “Well, not- not good, you’re still upset. I mean. Do you know-”

“Would it be weird if I gave you a hug right now?” she interrupted. He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes.

“Go for it.”

She wrapped her arms around his back and he leaned into it. They both rested their head on the other’s shoulder, the air softening back into something comfortable again.

“I love you, too. By the way.”

“Thanks,” he whispered, relaxing.

“And you never have to do it to keep me around, either. I-” She took a breath, and the moment to think. Another breath. “I’m not with you because of that, I’m with you because of you.”

He nodded slightly into her shoulder, holding onto the moment. Then drew back, no longer concerned with hiding the tears. 

“I’m with you because of you, too. Even with The Something, okay?” he took her hand and rubbed a thumb along her fingers almost absentmindedly, “Do you know what you want to do about it?”

She sighed.

“I don’t know what I should do. I can’t… ignore it.”

“Yeah, probably not… We can avoid getting- avoid doing it, if you want. Or figure out why it’s happening.”

“I know why.” she cut in, “I mean I just… I have an idea, maybe.”

“Do you want to try and fix it?”

“I dont think it's like that…”

“That’s okay, that’s okay. Do you want to see if it’s something we can avoid?”

She looked down at the thumb gliding across her fingers. She put her other hand over it, stopping the motion and just holding.

“I think I just need time. To figure it out and work through it, on my own.”

“Okay, that’s fine." he squeezed her hand gently, then let go. "Never again, if you need that."

"Maybe again. Eventually again." she exhaled, shaking her head, "Thanks."

"Mhm."

She looked up, stealing a breath and bringing herself back to normal as a sort of silence stretched across the room. Not awkward, but still not completely comfortable, at least to her. Everything she's wanted to say out loud has been said, repeated and in more words than necessary, but moving on still feels too soon.  She looked around the room for a segue that could get them back to somewhere relaxed, but found nothing relevant. Instead she ripped off the bandaid.

"I think I’ll.. be in my room, for a minute." she said, then immediately cursed herself for the awful transition, standing decidedly to mask the awkwardness.

Steve seemed more shaken by the sudden movement before a clear realization. She gave her hand out to help him up.

"Yeah, ‘course. I can.. mind if I shower?"

"Mhm. Thanks for understanding." she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek, "I'll be in my room when you're done."

"I'll knock. No answer and I can hang out in the living room until you're good. That okay?" 

"Great, thank you."

"Cool, I’ll.." he jutted a thumb back to the shower.

"Yeah." and she headed out the door, almost closing it before he spoke up again.

"Nance."

She paused at the door.

"I love you."

She relaxed a little.

"I love you, too."

They shared a smile and she closed the door.

Nancy made her way back, strolling slow down the hall to her room, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it, locking it out of habit. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, taking a long breath, as much as he lungs could take, then let out as slow as she could without suffocating. They fixed it, or at least found the work-around. It's okay now. She's okay.

She looked over at her bed, and the tousled sheets on top of it made the dread crawl back in. Cold and shaky, heart rate still too fast despite it being over now.

She pushed off the door and ripped the blanket off, then the next blanket, the sheet under, then pillows, yanked off the bed one by one, to just get it all off, start over, get it back to-

Wood on wood knocked from the nightstand beside her. She turned her head and froze. The photo of her and Barb gone.

She dropped the pillow and leaned over the desk, searching for where it fell. Back left corner, a little raccoon plush breaking its fall.

She dropped down and rescued the picture, checking for cracks in the glass. It was fine. She stood up, avoiding hitting her head on the desk, and examined it again for any slight new imperfections. It was still fine. She set it back on the nightstand where it belonged, tidying a few other things that fell over but not quite off the ledge. And it looked fine.

She took the last few pillows off the bed carefully, dropping them on the pile behind her.

She took a breath. Another.

Now would be a pretty good time to start crying again. It's supposed to be better, make you feel better afterwards, or at least numb. Her last cry didn't do that, didn't even touch whatever immovable heaviness lived somewhere behind her ribs. Metaphorically the heart, but physically deeper. The true center of her body, below her lungs that seemed allergic to air, above her gut that stayed hooked on feelings well past their welcome.

Now would be the time to cry. No one to see it but her, like crying on the inside but if crying inside could do anything to actually help.

She didn't cry.

So she made the bed. Refitted the sheets tighter, neater. Laid both blankets over top, one flat to tuck under the pillows, one folded to be used. Arranged pillows, biggest by the headboard, smallest towards the center. A few stuffed animals added around for good measure: a worn white rabbit, a puppy with a pink collar, a black cat, a light brown teddy bear, and the raccoon.

And it looked perfect. She won't be using it for that anytime soon, it's just her childhood bed again. The assortment of stuffed animals specifically helped distance it from the dread, and if she was lucky it'd be completely forgotten by morning. 

She let out a deep breath and flopped down on her back, the bed bouncing and springs creaking loudly from age.

She's a little too big for this bed. She can still fit, technically, as long as she doesn't stretch out too far. They're lucky Steve doesn't mind curling up a bit, otherwise he'd never fit with both of them there.

A knock on the door. A gentle three taps, barely audible. She looked over to the door. She was basically done tidying up, the bed looked basically perfect.

A pause followed by three more knocks. Louder, just in case the first three hadn't been heard. She kept her eyes trained on the door. The room was perfect, she stopped crying and she was just lying down before bed now.

He didn't even try the doorknob, had no idea she locked it.

She couldn't convince herself to let him in.

Another second of silence, then the sound of the stairs creaking gently.

She should've let him in. 

But the bed still holds a whisper of their time earlier, the only evidence left being the memory. And her guts still carrying the dread it found earlier, like a toddler clinging to their first toy. 

She looked back over to the plushies, grabbing the Teddy Bear in hopes it could drive the dread away. It was nice, but didn't do anything, and she tried the raccoon after. Nice, but not helping.

She reached for the puppy but she was gone. She put the others back and looked over the bed, and found it on the floor. She rescued it and held her close. 

The dread still didn't get better, and if anything it was getting worse, but she didn't let go. She sat up with it in her arms and could feel the tears finally coming back to her eyes. She held tighter, but they wouldn't fall.

The room looked perfect. Exactly like it did a few months ago.

Only she knew something's different. Only she knew that Barb will never lay on her bed next to her, never call her phone over and over until she answers, never play with the little music box she had gotten when they were both tiny and happy and alive.

When they both fit on the bed, starfished out beside each other, talking about every little nothing that meant the world to them a few months ago.

She needed to fucking cry.

Because nothing was wrong. Will came back and Barb skipped town, problem solved, nothing to see here. A rocky month for Hawkins and then everything's normal again.

She pushed off the bed, holding the puppy tight and pacing a circle, careful not to hit the nightstand again.

She’s too careful.

The picture could've broken, but it didn't. She could've hit her head, but she didn't. The puppy plush could've been lost, but she wasn't.

Too careful and now everything looks perfect.

It was all just fine.

Barb wasn't dead, she ran away. No one was grieving, they were missing her. Nancy wasn't a careless ass, she was a teenager with one rebellious night.

And people had the audacity to think Nancy felt betrayed that Barb left her.

She threw the puppy plush at the bed and it bounced before landing somewhere on the other side. Guilt punched her gut and strangled her throat, but the puppy didn't hit anything, barely even jostled the bed. 

Like nothing happened.

She grabbed the picture of her nightstand, holding the top and bottom of the oval in each hand, put a foot up on her bed. 

And as hard as she fucking could, slammed the frame down on her thigh.

Glass shattered and the wood split along the sides, the little frame bent but still in one piece. She held the frame still in front of her, staring down at the split fibers sticking out, the glass chunks at her feet, the few clumps falling from the still frame as gravity slowly pulls them away from her.

She doesn't regret it. Or maybe she does. 

She turned the frame around slowly, looked Barb in the eye, both of them surrounded by shards of glass. The front of the frame's wood was more bent than split and would probably look ok after some work to it. But the glass is still broken, never to be glued back together or look quite the same ever again.

Something here was finally broken.

Her thigh was itchy. She moved the frame to one hand and looked at her thigh. A few crumbs of glass sitting on top, a scattering of cuts and a few splinters. Speckled with dots of red like her first attempt at shaving.

That wouldn't be a fun fix. Nor would finding all the scattered pieces of glass surrounding her. 

She could ask for help, but that'd mean explaining why she broke the picture of her dead best friend, on purpose, and finding a reason that doesn't sound awful. She could fix it on her own, make the problem just broken glass, like the frame just fell off the table. She could pretend it upsets her.

She did neither. 

She cried.

___

[trickstercaptain]

@harringtontm sent a meme: sleep. it's all right. i'll keep watch.

       It was the first time he'd stopped to take a breath in at least four hours, maybe more. If he hadn't been up and down ladders, ensuring that hatches had indeed been battened down and that none of the torrential rain or ship-sized waves had pierced the hull, he was at the helm barking orders or in his cabin consulting his detailed, annotated charts. He couldn't afford to stop, particularly after nearly taking a tumble over the side of the ship ( after a rogue wave struck the Wicked Wench at an unexpected angle ), or else this would happen: he'd lean against the rail, his feet and legs would protest at the prospect of moving so much as another inch, and his eyes would slowly drift shut.

       Fortunately he did not get so far as to actually drift off, brought back to attention as Jack was by the sound of a soft voice beside him. He opened his eyes to the sight of Steve Harrington, looking as wet and bedraggled as he probably did — but he couldn't quite stop looking at him. It was still raining, even though the storm had passed, and Jack had to acknowledge that the distracting way in which the water clung to Steve's shirt was a sign, if he'd needed one, that he'd been at sea far too long.

       “ I'm fine. I'll manage a little longer. At least until the rain stops. ” Jack flashed what he hoped was a reassuring, grateful smile. Yet it wasn't just how Steve looked that was playing on his mind in that moment; it was the lightning fast way in which he'd jumped to attention and caught Jack before toppling over the side of the railing; it was the way he'd seen him helping out the other hands and mates on board in spite of his lack of experience; it was the stunning amount of maturity he'd displayed over the past few hours. Not even now, as the danger subsided, had Jack heard a single complaint from that direction.

       “ Thank you. ” He deserved to hear it. As much as Jack enjoyed the thrill of a good squall, it was always a taxing affair — even more so as a captain. “ Were it not for you, I'd be over the side right now wishing I'd grown a tail and fins. ” Jack smiled again, more teasingly this time. “ Turns out you're not so bad at this after all. ”

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Chapter 8:  Life’s a bi—

@hannahhook7744 tagging you here again so everyone knows we’re writing together

Audrey was minding her own business, reading a magazine on her bed at home. 

Wondering how long it would take her family to figure out where she was. They had been spamming her phone since her date with Uma and the boys, and it was starting to get quite annoying.

Not that, that was stopping them. 

Honestly, how had they forgotten about the cabin that Audrey practically lived in?

It was pathetically ridiculous…

vzzzvzzzvzzzvzzzvzzz!

Sometimes, she wondered if they’d have noticed if she was gone; sometimes, she was tempted to try.

She flipped the page in her magazine without really seeing the words.

She was reasonably sure that her new partners would have the means to help with that. Not now, though. Now there was better things to do, you see.

The magazines desperately needed something to write about other than this worthless drivel, and Audrey was determined to give them that.

She flipped the page again and turned over her phone so it would stop flashing notifications she didn’t want.

There was a knock on her window.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock. 

“Hey Audrey!”

‘Was…was that the blonde pirate?

What was his name again?

Gabe? No, no. That's not right. Fin? No, no. His name definitely started with a ‘G’. Now what was it? 

Gerome, George, Griffin…Grant, Gideon… GIL! 

His name was Gil! Wait. Why was Gil at her house?’

And more importantly, how did he manage to open her window already? Did he pick it?! Her further panic was stopped by Gil smiling at her and greeting her – she faintly greeted back. Manners, you see.

"When you knock,“ she said then, "It is customary to wait until the person inside opens the door – ehm, the window, I suppose – for you. Not–“ She gestured around to her wide open window and the thingy that just disappeared in Gil’s pocket.

"Okay!“ he smiled at her again, "I will try to remember that!“

Gil wondered if that was an Auradon thing or not but figured (for once) that it was better not to question it. “Annnnnyway, do you have a first aid kit?”

"Yes I do,“ said Audrey, scanning the pirate for signs of what might be wrong. "Why do you need it?“

"Long story?“ offered Gil innocently.

"I’ve got time.“

"Okay, cool,“ said Gil, "But do you have the first aid kit too or? Are you gonna give it to me?“ He wasn’t too sure how great of an attention span the princess had.

Unfortunately, Audrey wasn’t too pleased with the reminder, but she did turn around to get the kit. What if something actually happened?

“Oh well, my dad saw us on the Internet—not sure who showed him the Internet—and wasn't happy. “ Gil shrugged, wincing in pain slightly “My brothers and little sister distracted him but I can't go back to get the one at home and everyone else is at work and you live closer than where the Lost Revenge is docked… soooo.”

That made sense, Audrey supposed, and she made a mental note to a, stalk Gaston’s social media and b, see how close by he lived and if she needed to find a new place. 

She wasn’t really that thrilled to have Gaston as a neighbor.

But in the meanwhile, she came closer to Gil and gave him the first aid kit.

"Are you okay?“ she winced at her poor wording and attempted to correct herself, "I mean, well, do you need any help, I guess?“

"I’m gonna be fine,“ he smiled at her, "I’ve done this a lot of times already.“

Somehow, this did exactly nothing to calm Audrey down.

Gil lifted his sleeve and started stitching up a deep cut on his arm. Without putting any numbing cream or anything else on it first. 

“So how is your day going? Anything cool happen?”

Audrey stared at him, perplexed. It took her a moment to realise he had been talking to her.

"Excuse me?“ she stammered out.

"Um, sure, why though?“ he seemed confused. He was sewing together his arm and he was confused about a figure of speech.

Audrey shook her head.

"No, I mean– Nevermind. No, I don’t think anything ’cool’ happened to me.“ She looked away from him. She was certain that if she kept looking, she would get sick, and neither of them needed that at the moment.

"Aww, really?“ he said, still stitching up his arm, "That’s a bummer. I thought princesses do some cool stuff all the time.“

Audrey did the ladylike thing and shrugged. “Well, not really. Most of us have to do what is expected of us—that goes for princes, too, actually—and it can be really boring, honestly.”

Gil frowned slightly ”huh. Doesn't sound too different from the isle. Weird.”

Audrey frowned at that.

She supposed he wasn’t that wrong– except, of course, Auradon version of ’following in your parents footsteps’ didn’t include attempted murder in between second and third period.

Also, she was trying not to think about parental expectations. It wasn’t good for her mental health.

"I’m…sorry,“ she said instead, and then, pointing at his arm: "Do you want some disinfectant for that?“

"Yeah, sure, if you’ve got some rum to spare, that’d be great.“

She blanked again.

Gil didn't notice.

“Do you have any siblings? Or cousins? I have lots of siblings and cousins! I heard you have a mom. I used to have a mom–she taught me to sew before she disappeared and my dad got remarried. Do you need anything that needs to be sewed back together—”

"Gil please don’t talk about sewing right now–“ was the first thing that left Audrey’s mouth. This impossible pirate was stealing her filter, see?

And he didn’t seem upset either:

"Okay,“ he shrugged, "What do you want to talk about? You don’t have to tell me about your family if you don’t want to.“ He knew that family could be a touchy subject for Isle kids and he saw no reason why it should be different for Auradon’s Hero kids.

"No, it’s fine,“ said Audrey, "I can tell you about my family.“

“Alright. If you're sure.” Gil shrugged absentmindedly, messing up his sewing. “Oops.”

Audrey blanched at the sight. Wondering if she looked as green as she felt. 

“So… family?”

"Yeah, sure. Family.“ She hoped that talking would distract her from the frankly disturbing scenery in front of her. "As you said, I do have a mother–“

This got a chuckle out of the pirate.

"–Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty. And my dad is Prince Philip. They, well, mom grew up in the woods, yeah? With the three good fairies, my aunties, basically. Anyway, mom and dad decided to move back into the woods when I was thirteen. And, I mean, the woods! So, I stayed there. Went to school with the other royal kids, Ben, Chad, Ariana – my cousin. I stayed with my grandmother.“

Audrey paused a bit, as she had some strong feelings about her grandmother at the moment.

Gil just hummed at her:  He was busy with the thread in between his teeth, trying to sever it. She wordlessly gestured to the scissors in the kit and looked away again.

“And well. Grammy—that’s what I called my mom’s mom—well, she tried. But in the end she didn't really do the best job. She had expectations. A lot of them—and when Ben broke up with me, a lot of them were destroyed and she wasn't very happy with me anymore and made sure to remind me of it every minute of every day. And My cousin, Ariana, well.. she's always been jealous of me even though she's older and was overjoyed at being in Grammy’s good graces, so she found the situation funny… I guess… So I'm not really talking to them or my parents at the moment.”

Audrey inhaled, cutting off her rambling there before she could annoy Gil, who was finally done patching up his arm.

"Is that why you wanted to ’date’ us?“ he asked in that innocent way of his. Then he held up the bloody needle and some leftover thread: "Also, where can I put that?“

"There’s a bin in the corner,“ Audrey answered the second question first, "And, yeah, I mean–“

He stood up and cut her off: "I get it. Piss of your grammy. We’ve all been there.“

"Grammy, royal council, and the media in general,“ Audrey corrected.

"Aye, Uma said that.“ he throws away the– the stuff he just used to sew together his arm and turns back to the window: "Thanks for the help, princess. If you don’t need anything, I’ll be going again.“

“Wait. You didn't tell me about your family.” Audrey blurted out, not quite wanting him to leave just yet even if she wasn't sure why that was.

Gil paused. “Oh. I wasn't sure that you’d be interested in all that.”

“Well why not? You already asked about mine.” Audrey pointed out. 

Gil smiled slightly before sitting back down. “Okay, fair.”

—line break—

The Revenge’s infirmary was always undersupplied, what with a crew of pirates who barely believed in their own mortality, let alone safety measures. Ew, safety measures, what a way to suck out all the fun and excitement out of life!

This was the sentiment the pirates shared and which Bonny, the crew’s medic, disagreed with.

Not that anyone was listening to her much.

So, no, undersupplied infirmary was nothing new – the difference was that in Auradon, they could actually do something about it.

Which was good.

Very good.

The only downside was that Bonny was doomed to suffer the flirting of her Captain and first mate up close for however long it took them (her) to get the supplies.

The shop keep looked pained as Harry's hands wandered. “Children, please. You're in public—”

Bonny sighed, not even looking up from her shopping list “Trust me. That's not gonna stop them. It never does.” 

Uma and Harry didn't even acknowledge them. 

Everything went silent for a few minutes. A very long few minutes that felt more like hours. 

Before Bonny eventually broke the silence. “Do you have sleep elixir?”

She knew she was gonna do the shopping herself, she just hoped it would take them longer to get distracted. But no. Obviously it did not.

Bonny snapped her fingers in the sales person's face. "Sleeping elixir?“

"Yes, yes, sure, we do have that. But it’s some pretty strong stuff, are you sure you want this?“

Bonny glared at Uma and Harry, who paused their make-out session to smile at her with feigned innocence, and said, loud enough for them to overhear: "Yes. The strong stuff. The ship doesn‘t have thick enough walls to deal with that.“

Harry sent her a wicked smirk:

"We live to please,“ he said, before Uma tugged at his hair to make it clear whom he was supposed to please.

Bonny ignored this.

"I– what?“ stammered the sales person.

Bonny rolled her eyes. These people couldn’t take a fucking joke.

"Isle kids? Hello?“ she said instead, "Our life expectancy is 19. We've done some shit and seen some shit. Yes, we need and want the sleep elixir. We don't want to die from sleep deprivation or ‘fright’, as you lot would call it. Ya feel me?”

"Right,“ the salesperson gulped and with a quick look at Uma, pushed the elixirs over the counter. Uma actually took time to push Harry away and glare, which Bonny appreciated a lot more when she wasn’t on the receiving end of that glare. 

"If that’s all?“ the salesperson said with too much hope in their voice for Bonny’s and Uma taste – Harry fundamentally didn’t care. He was currently busy kissing Uma’s neck as she checked over the shopping list.

Bonny just went back to shopping—grabbing a basket as she read down the list. Marking the items off:

Pain killers ✓.

Sleeping elixir ✓.

Coriander.

Henbane.

Hemlock.

Rum.

Needle ✓.

Thread ✓. 

Bandages ✓. 

Numbing Cream ✓.

Water filter.

And occasionally adding things to the list as she did so. 

She was a bit bummed that apparently the shop didn‘t have henbane or hemlock, and she wondered if she was supposed to deal with that now. But nah, that looked like Uma’s problem. Not hers.

Once the list was otherwise checked off– no poisons and no rum, apparently you needed to be twenty one in Auradon to buy alcohol, could you believe that? She wondered if anyone bothered to tell that to Harry and Harriet. Or if they just got a fake id. Either way, that also did not look like a her problem. She was reasonably sure that a numbing cream would work like anesthesia  as well as the rum did. Hopefully.

"Captain?“ she cleared her throat, "I need the money now.“

Uma handed the pouch to her without looking. Looking deeply into Harry's eyes. Like a weirdo.

Bonny looked at the shop keep with a ‘what can you do?’ expression before handing him the money. Already regretting not waiting for Gil to get home before shopping.

At least he knew when to keep his hands to himself.

—line break—

Chad pulled his knees to his chest as he sipped on his hot chocolate that was now in a tiny teacup. Wondering how he always got dragged into improv tea parties with his cousin, a parrot, and his sister whenever he was at his aunt Snow’s castle–and why they always had to do it in Glauco’s room when they had perfectly normal (non-tiny) tables in other rooms. 

“Cha-ad!” Chloe whined, crossing her arms. 

“Wha-at?” He asked, mocking the way she said his name–causing her to kick him. Nearly making him drop his hot chocolate. “Ow!”

“You forgot to put on your hat!” Glauco answered for a now pouting Chloe, holding put the ugliest, floppiest that any of them had ever seen. 

A hat that matched the outfit they had somehow bullied him into wearing.

Why was this becoming a pattern?

“I am NOT wearing THAT.”

Spoiler alert: He did end up wearing that.

And that was not the worst thing of this whole afternoon.

The hat was just as itchy as the outfit (which. No surprise considering it had feathers and he was allergic to feathers. A fact he always forgot) and it kept falling in his face. 

Which made drinking his hot chocolate and eating the snacks on the sampler plate very hard. 

So hard in fact that he was only focused on that and nothing else—including the door when it opened. 

Which is how he found himself faced to face with a wide eyed Evie. 

“Uh…”

It was official: Chad's life was a joke. 

“You're hallucinating.”

Evie just slightly took a step back and slowly closed the door–not breaking eye contact.

Chad groaned, burying his face in his hands— ignoring Glauco and Chloe’s giggling.

Why was this his life?

parts 1-3

parts 4-5

written together with @hannahhook7744

Chapter 7

Chad knocked on the window of a guest room in Snow White’s palace—the one Chloe usually stayed in—and waited for someone to answer.

Hoping it wouldn’t be his aunt or uncle.

He really didn’t feel like talking to another adult right now.

He just really needed his sister (and maybe his cousin) right now. 

He knocked at the window again, hoping that his sister would open soon. Because otherwise the guards making rounds would see him and they’d have questions, such as "Why don’t you just use the front door,“ and "Do you know that your parents called and want us to let them know if you turn up?“

Which, yes, utterly unacceptable.

But the window remained locked, and he didn’t know how to open it from the outside. The pirates probably did.

He should ask Gil to teach him sometimes.

He lifted his hand to knock at the window again and nearly knocked at his sister’s forehead instead. After a moment of hesitation, he did so anyway, lightly enough that it wouldn’t hurt her in the slightest.

He smiled at her appalled expression.

"Chad!“ she protested, fixing her bangs just a little, "What are you doing here anyway?“

Chad shrugged slightly, climbing inside. "Just wanted to see you, Chlo." 

He hoped she bought it because he didn't want to have a conversation about what was actually bothering him with a ten year old. 

Or two ten year olds, if Glauco came back. 

Or Glauco's parents, if he had left to go get them when Chad had knocked on the window.

… he probably should have thought of the possibility before he knocked on the window, to be honest.

But hey, too late for that now, and it was not like he didn’t do even less thought-through things lately.

Still, he froze when he saw Chloe standing in front of him with her hands folded at her chest and a huge pout.

"You’re a terrible liar,“ she told him.

He buffed, sitting down on the floor. "When did you get so smart?"

Chloe got that look on her face. The one that said she was about to be a major smartass. Which her next words only proceeded to prove "When I stopped listening to you."

"Hey!"

She smiled victoriously, that little monster, and, yeah. Little girls be like that.

In retaliation, he reached out to mess up her hair a bit.

"Hey!“ she yelled out too, and grabbed his wrist, eventually mostly hanging from it. Chad was tempted to just swing her about the room like when she was really little.

"You’re evading the question!“ she accused, "Mum says that’s rude!“

Well, and now Chad has to talk or he’d be teaching his little sister bad manners, a crime more unforgivable than making out with three pirates in their parents’ eyes. Oh, goodness.

“Just got in a fight with mom and dad.” A ‘fight’ was an understatement in his opinion but he wasn’t sure how else to describe it—so ‘fight’ would have to do.

Even though the word caused his stomach to drop as he wondered how his life had gotten to this point.

Besides, he wasn't about to unravel all of his personal problems on a ten years old, was he now?

… Yeah no. Said ten years old was incredibly nosey and Chad possessed the chronic inability to say no to her. She was also easily distracted, though, and beamed excitedly when Chad lied (only a tiny bit!) that the fight was about his recent date.

And suddenly, Chloe wanted to know everything.

Thankfully, or unthankfully—depending on how you look at it—, the door to Glauco’s room opened before Chloe badgered him enough to get him to give in. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Glauco who opened it but instead his aunt Snow. 

The two stared at each other. 

All while Chloe poked his shoulder. 

“Chad. Chad. Chad—”

“Chloe, dear, why don’t you go get some hot chocolate with Glauco and your uncle Florian? They’re in the kitchen.” 

Chloe pouted, but Snow gave her one of her looks, and off she went.

"I’ll make you one, too!“ she promised Chad in between the doors, and then she was gone.

Which meant that Snow redirected the look at Chad.

He smiled nervously.

"Hi, Auntie,“ he said.

Chloe, never one to turn down hot chocolate, of course took the bait.  “Okay auntie Snow! See you later, Chad!”

Chad fidgeted—not meeting Snow’s eyes, Too tired to see yet another person he cared about disappointed in him for something that shouldn’t have mattered. Even though he had wanted the attention it brought before. 

Maybe he was a moron after all. 

He’d have to send Evie and Doug a gift basket for all the tutoring they had given him over the years.

"Chad,“ his Aunt continued to give him the look, "You know you can talk with me about everything whenever you need, right?“

Her eyes got softer as she said this.

So Chad stopped looking into her eyes as he gulped and said: "Yeah, sure.“

He wished that he could believe that.

But he didn't.

He had stopped believing that ages ago. 

After Chloe and Glauco were born. 

"Anyway, Auntie Snow, I can't right now, I'm terribly busy, I promised Audrey I'd meet with her, so, yeah? See you later,“ he said, making a move for the window.

He did in fact promise no such thing, but he was sure Audrey didn't mind, and he really wanted to get out of this uncomfortable conversation. He touched the window frame and twisted his body to fit through it.

"Chadwick James,“ his Aunt's voice froze him mid-motion, "You're going absolutely nowhere until you've had the hot chocolate Chloe is making you. And you're not using the window -“

So Chad climbed back in and walked the familiar way to the kitchens, a concerned but for the moment satisfied Aunt Snow behind him.

[lemonflavouredchaos]

Fuel to the Fire Pt 2(Dmitri Antonov x Reader)

                                                                                                             Based on a request via my main blog - here’s part one for those who want to read it. 

This is an AU where Dmitri has no family in Russia and has decided to flee to America along with Hopper, Joyce and Murray to evade the governmental forces who will quickly realize that he knows more than he should if he turns up alive. Y/N is a foreign journalist resident in America who caught and sent to Kamchatka after being sent to Russia on behalf of a newspaper. Previously she thought Dmitri was being an asshole to her but he was actually just awkward and fancied her. They had an angry makeout sesh and went to sleep but *insert drums* there’s only one bed. NSFW MINORS DNI

Yup - It’s as cliched as it gets, folks! 

      It feels like being a teenager again, lying next to him, barely breathing, conscious of the weight and mass of him next to yiou. He doesn’t seem like an exceptionally large man in the day, but Dmitri takes up more of the bed than seems feasible in the dark. He fills the room, in fact, with presence alone. He shifts in his sleep, grunting, and the rumble sigh he lets out makes the room feel too hot, too small,

“I can’t sleep,” he says suddenly, making you jump. He doesn’t even whisper, just speaks normally - absolute weirdo,

“Me neither,” you reply, unable to do anything but whisper. Dmitri sighs again,

“Why are you whispering?” He asks, voice loud enough to make you flush,

“Why aren’t you?” The irritation is back, God you could strangle the man. He just chuckles and shifts again, shaking the mattress. The scent of mint makes you realize he’s facing you. His hand creeps across the mattress between you to caress your side and a giddy thrill makes you huff, covering a chuckle, “you’re irritating.”

“Not sure I know this word, but I assume it means very handsome and charming,” he says and you can hear the smile in his voice, 

“Will you keep your voice down?”

“If I whisper will you be kind to me?” He asks with a gentle pinch of the flesh on your ribs, 

“Yes, fine,” you hiss and shake your head, though he can’t see it. Dmitri sighs and shifts closer, 

“Is this better?” He whispers this time and the anxious humming in your blood quells, 

“Much.” 

      The hand softens and cups your waist, applying gentle pressure, urging you closer until his nose nuzzles against your cheek and the tickle of hair on your lips precedes a gentle kiss. He pulls back, 

“Is this good?” He murmurs against your lips, 

“Yes,” you whisper back and he smiles against your mouth before pulling you to his body with eager hands. He’s hard against your hip and you realize that all that shuffling and sighing was not the movements of sleep afterall - had he been lying awake, just as a aware of you as you were of him? A quiet groan against your lips as Dmitri hefts his weight up onto his elbows and cautiously moves over you tells you that he was. When you lift and part your knees to let him slot between your legs a shudder runs through his body, 

“Fuck,” he mutters and dips his head to kiss your neck and shoulders, a jumble of half words and sounds follows as he grinds against you in slow, steady movements that make your body feel like its light and fizzing. A low moan escapes you as his hand presses to your breast, “shh,” Dmitri smiles against your ear, “need to be quiet, yes?” You nod and he dips his head to kiss the exposed flesh of your breast, pressing his tongue to your nipple before closing his lips around it. Already humming with anticipation you have to bite your lip to stay quiet.

It’s so easy to tug those soft sleep trousers down that you’re almost shocked to fin him bare underneath. Suddenly its skin on skin and all you can do is reel at the feel of him between your legs,

“Still good?” He gasps in your ear, 

“Yes, still, ah, still good,” you gasp as his hand slides down to lift your knee and he slips down under the thick blankets, kissing as he goes, “I can’t... how the... Dmitri how the hell am I meant to stay quiet if you - ah!” You clap a hand over your mouth as his lips close over your clit and suck gently. Wrapping his arms around your thighs, Dmitri pushes forward, pinning you to the mattress. 

He makes quick work of it, its efficient, almost brutally so, and you have to bite your lip to muffle the whines as you wriggle under him. He’s just a shadow when he works his way back up between your shaking legs, but you can taste yourself on his lips,

“Yes?” His hand is warm on your thigh, 

“God yes,” you manage to whimper and he laughs against your cheek, the sound humming through your body as he lines his cock up with your entrance and pushes in slowly. The stretch is enough to make you gasp and arch your back, hands groping at his biceps, his shoulders, his neck, pulling him down to kiss you until his weight presses down on you. Hissing, Dmitri starts to rock his hips and drags you close against his chest. A quick series of whimpering moans spills from his lips and he whispers a word that makes no sense, rubbing his face against yours, nuzzling your cheek to press a series of wet kisses to the burning skin. He pulls away sharply shudders as he spills,

“Fuck,” he gasps and rolls to lie beside you, “forgive me... it’s, ah, been a while.”

“Nothing to forgive,” its meant to be flippant, but you’re shaking, panting, and he laughs weakly as you drag the nightshirt down over your body, wincing at the wetness it drags with it.

“I would say we should do that again, but what chances will we have?”

“There’s the rest of the night,” you say and stretch, luxuriating in the heat you made together. It was meant to be a tease... you think, be he rolls to drape an arm around your waist,

“All the time in the wold to sleep,” he murmurs, “less time for this.” 

If you enjoy my writing and want to show some love you can lile, reblog, or send me a KoFi.

[wyntereyez]

The Mermaid and the Codfish

Some time ago, I was asked how I’d tackle a soulmates AU.  I thought about it, and decided it would be an animal shapeshifter thing; soulmates can change into the same animal, but until they meet their soulmate, they’re stuck in a half animal form.  This proves to be very awkward, and I kinda love it.  This is going to skip around a bit as I cover various bits of OUAT canon.

***

The bird woman takes Emma’s order, and Emma spares her a smile.  The waitress returns it as best she can with a mouth that was half beak; her animal half was a near perfect division, her right side human and her left covered in brilliant blue Macaw feathers.  Her massive left wing sags with only a right arm to act as counterweight. When she leaves, her feathers brush against Emma’s hair, and her dining companion frowns.

“They really shouldn’t let someone like her work here,” he says disdainfully.

Emma struggles to keep her smile plastered to her face.  Her date is completely human; he’d found his soulmate years ago.  And yet here he is, on a date.  Having a soulmate didn’t guarantee loyalty.  She absently rubs at her legs through the elegant slacks; her scales have begun to itch. 

She listens to him prattle on about his favorite subject - himself - for a little while longer, before springing her trap.  And when her skip inevitably runs, Emma is in hot pursuit.  Her legs may have been ungainly, more suited to water than land, but she is accustomed to them.  It was only a matter of time before she’d caught her skip.

Her peers may call her ‘fish legs’ behind her back, but Emma Swan always got her man.

***

There are no soulmates in Storybrooke.

When she’d arrived with Henry, she’d assumed at first she was only meeting mated citizens.  But after a few days, she’d noticed no one had animal traits.  Either everyone in Storybrooke had met their soulmate, or she’d found a town full of the rare few people who didn’t have one.

Like Neal.

Perhaps the town had been founded as a refuge for those without soulmates?  It could explain Storybrooke’s oddness.  She tried asking Henry about it, only to be met with a blank stare.  Henry was too young to develop soulmate traits, so he’d been blissfully unaware of how impossible the town was.  But how had he never heard of soulmates?  Emma showed him her calves, how they were covered in fine scales that had to be moistened twice a day, showed him the delicate fins that were her feet, and freaked him out when she demonstrated how her legs had more joints than a human leg.

He’s horrified, then fascinated.  “It’s part of the curse!” he exclaims excitedly.  “Don’t you see? If everyone could find their soulmates, they could break the curse on their own!”

Emma smiles indulgently.  If only there was a way to magically suppress soulmate traits.  She’d give up hers in a heartbeat.

***

The curse breaks.  

Emma suddenly has parents, a fairytale couple her own age who turn into a magnificent stag and doe.  Mary Margaret - Snow White - studies her, searching for the soulmate traits she hides so carefully.  

“I’m sorry, Emma,” she says, her voice full of sympathy.

Emma stares at her blankly.  Now what was she sorry for?  She’d already apologized for abandoning Emma, not that that meant anything.  Emma understood, but it didn’t fix anything.

“You must have lost him so young,” Mary Margaret continues.  “Henry’s father, I mean.”

Oh.  She thinks Neal was her soulmate.

Emma doesn’t have the heart to tell her she’d fallen for someone who was destined to be no one’s mate.

***

The blacksmith has the head and torso of a fish.

Emma almost laughs hysterically.  How does that even work?  Wouldn’t the flames dry him out? How can he wield a hammer with a fin?  This doesn’t make sense.  Nothing makes sense.

Especially not how a cowardly blacksmith (with a voice and accent that sends a little thrill through her) could have scales that match hers.

Emma’s not the only fish woman.  There’s someone else out there for the blacksmith.

***

He’s Captain Hook.

At her threats, the cowardly blacksmith becomes a cocky pirate, and somehow, his voice becomes even more seductive despite coming from a fish’s gaping maw.

And suddenly Emma gets it and doubles over laughing.

“Codfish!” she gasps out.

His eyebrows - because, somehow, the fish head has eyebrows, though not a waxed mustache - raise up, before furrowing into a scowl.  “I have been called that, yes,” he growls.

They negotiate, if threatening with dismemberment by ogre can be considered negotiation, and Hook agrees to take them to the beanstalk.  Emma volunteers to climb with him.

The more he speaks, the more Emma can’t decide if she wants to kill him, or if she’s starting to like him.

Answer: she likes him.  A lot.  But he’s a villain and can’t be trusted, even though her instincts say otherwise, so she leaves him to Anton’s care while she and the others escape. 

She hopes the giant is a man of his word.

***

He follows them.  First to Storybrooke, then to New York.  And Neal.

Emma sees Neal glance between the unconscious Hook’s fish head, then down at Emma’s concealed legs, and he scowls.

Emma suddenly has the horrible thought that maybe Neal had taken up with her because he’d suspected she was Hook’s soulmate.  She doesn’t think Neal was that cruel, but it seems she doesn’t know Neal as well as she’d thought.

***

Hook discovers her secret in Neverland.  She was in desperate need of water, and Hook had taken her to a pool he’d assured her was safe.  He’d left, and she quickly strips off her pants and dove into the water from a rock that conveniently hangs over the pool, sighing as it takes effect on her dry legs.

She loses track of time as she swims laps, as adept in the water as a fish, and is surprised by Hook sitting on the diving rock.

“So you’re a little mermaid, are you?” Hook smirks.  

“So what if I am?” she demands defiantly.

He shrugs.  “Do you mind if I join you?  You’re not the only one who dries out.”

Emma’s not naked, and she understands his pain better than anybody.  “Go for it.”  She turns her back on him and languidly swims another lap.

Hook isn’t so graceful.

He can swim, yes, but his head and torso are awkward, and his legs seem tiny in comparison.  So instead sits in the shallowest part of the pond, occasionally ducking his head under.  Tired from her exertion, Emma sits beside him.

He turns, great unblinking fish eyes meeting hers.

“Do you even remember what you looked like?” she blurts out.  He’s looked like this for hundreds of years, and Emma can’t contain her curiosity.  What must it be like to be trapped like this for so long?  She wouldn’t have been able to bear it.

“I seem to remember being devilishly handsome,” Hook says, voice a low purr.

“You were a teenager.  You were probably pimply and awkward,” Emma teases.

Watching a fish pout is wild.  

***

It happens outside Granny’s Diner.  While everyone is still inside celebrating, Emma is sitting in the dark with Killian.  He’d traded his ship for her, his home, and no one has ever cared so much for her before.  And…she cares for him, too.  She leans forward, her lips brushing that rubbery fish flesh, when she feels a tingling in her legs.  Suddenly, the persistent itching vanishes, and her legs feel more solid than they had in years.  And, beneath her lips, she feels the scrape of a beard.  She draws back, opens her eyes, and gasps.

Oh.

Oh.

The face that looked down at her was roguishly handsome, with piercing blue eyes lined in kohl, a short, dark beard sprinkled with ginger, and dark, messy hair.

Killian Jones flashed a devilish grin that only made his face more handsome.  “Like what you see, Love?” He was cocky, but there was an uncertainty behind it.  Hundreds of years since he’d seen his face, he’d said.

”Yes,” she breathes, then moves in to kiss those very human lips.

~fin~

[10blue10]

Sky Dancing

The siren call of the open sky was impossible not to answer. Up here, no problems could touch them. Up here, they were free. They became one. Skimming over a wide expanse of clouds like a white frothing ocean, plunging down to see the real ocean, ascending back into the sunlit world above.

It was so thrilling that he couldn’t resist the urge to fly himself, if only for a few moments. Hiccup locked Toothless’ tail-fin into position and unhooked his carabiners. His partner growled, in a way he’d learned to interpret as don’t even think about it. “You worry too much! I’ll be fine,” he declared, slipping off.

He dropped for a few hundred feet - it was incredible how fast one fell - before spreading his wings, such as they were, and catching the air. Toothless, despite the grumbling, matched him beat for beat. If anything did happen, Hiccup had perfect faith his beloved would be there to catch him, always.

“Toothless?“ he called. The dragon looked over. “May I have this dance?”

Eyes wide in surprise; then a fond croon, a shy nod. Hiccup banked to the left, swerving in front of Toothless, who banked to the right. They crossed over a few more times; Hiccup even pulled off a barrel roll. “Ha! Did you see that?”

Toothless snorted and performed an ever neater roll over his head. “Show off!”

He folded his wings and dived. Toothless followed, and they spiralled around each other. Toothless gave Hiccup a bright smile and gently nudged him with a paw, making him spin. Then he twirled himself. At what felt like the last minute, they came together again and pulled up, skimming across the oceans surface.

White frothed spray was thrown up on either side, leaving a trail of ruffled water in their wake. Hiccup cheered in delight as they climbed higher again.

He loved sky dancing with Toothless. It made him feel more like a dragon; like he and his beloved were truly one and the same. He fell into the air once more.

[sleepy-shinx]

An Unexpected Encounter at Sea (Chapter 3/?)

Summary: Just barely having adjusted their course to return to Hisui, Isabelle, Emily, and their two surprise passengers find that they are sharing the water with two aggressive Pokemon who are not thrilled to see a boat in their territory. How will everyone on the boat handle this sudden issue?

Author's Note: This chapter is a bit shorter than the last two, but it's packed FULL of action. However, please note that I have very little experience with writing Pokemon battles. I've seen a lot of the Pokemon ANIME so I THINK I did a pretty good job with it but if it comes off as lackluster for some reason... fair enough XD Aaaand it's time for a setting change next time. We're getting there, y'all!

Warnings and pairings: still none lol

Word count: 2532

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37717015/chapters/94270837

Other Chapters: Previous | tbc

As Emmet and Elesa made their way to the upper deck of the boat, they got their first glimpse at their world surroundings.

And those surroundings were mostly water.

The girls had seriously not been kidding. They were in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight. Elesa found herself in awe of the view. Emmet was intimidated.

“That’s a loooot of water,” he noted nervously.

Elesa laid a hand on his shoulder. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”

“How do they even know where to go from here…?”

The two found themselves distracted by the twins, who were looking out over the starboard side of the boat at something in the water, in the distance.

“We’ve still got a good amount of distance on them,” Emily said nervously. “But we should still be careful not to get their attention.”

“It’s a little too close for comfort,” Isabelle nodded. “If we continue at this distance and keep away from them…”

“We should be fine.” Emily turned away from the gunwale to see their two visitors watching them. That was when Emmet and Elesa caught sight of Sobble and Popplio, who were on her shoulder and in her arms, respectively. Elesa gasped at the sight of them, eyes lighting up.

“Goodness, those two are so cute,” she gushed, trying to stay quiet after overhearing that conversation. “I’ve never seen either of those Pokemon before.”

Emily smiled. “This little one I’m holding here is Popplio, and Sobble is the one on my shoulder. Sobble is another of Isabelle’s partners, Popplio is one of mine.” Almost as if on cue, Sobble hopped off Emily’s shoulder and onto Isabelle’s.

“There are a couple of potentially dangerous Pokemon nearby, but we haven’t caught their attention yet, and hopefully it’ll stay that way,” Emily explained. “Sorry to potentially startle you, but I needed to make sure we were fully aware of what was going on.”

Emmet nodded. “Safety checks are verrrry important. I know this well.”

Popplio barked in Emily’s arms, looking pleased to see the new friends. It leaped out of her arms and onto the deck, clapping its fins together and creating a bubble with its snout.

Emily laughed quietly, bending down. “Very good, Popplio, but please be careful! We’ve got to be quiet for a little bit here.”

Elesa walked over and bent down in front of the Pokemon, petting its head. “Hi, Popplio! Nice to meet you!” Her voice remained low.

Popplio happily rubbed its head against her hand in response.

All four humans suddenly found themselves distracted by splashing in the water on the starboard side of the boat. Isabelle turned her attention back to the water and paled almost instantly.

“Oh, no,” she whispered.

Right in between their boat and the two aggressive Tentacruel, a pair of Finneon and a Lumineon had swum to the surface of the water and were now staring down one of the alpha Pokemon. And the other one had its eyes directly on them.

Emily whipped around and swore to herself (she was a sailor, after all). “Just our luck. Isa, what do we do??”

The Finneon and Lumineon had disappeared back underwater, trying to put distance between them and the alphas. While one Tentacruel was busy chasing them, the other was quickly moving in their direction.

“The only thing we can do.” Isabelle picked Sobble up off her shoulder, handing the Pokemon back to Emily. She then turned to face her ace. “Eelektross, are you ready?”

The Pokemon looked nervous but chattered in affirmation.

“Then lend me your help yet again.” She turned back to the water just as the Tentacruel leaped, roaring at them as it prepared an attack.

“Eelektross, use Spark!”

Isabelle gave the command, doing her best to be confident in what she was doing. Before their visit to Hisui, usually, Eelektross would handle these threats without her help. But Ingo and Akari had shown them the power that battling alongside her partner would give her Pokemon, and she was determined to start helping Eelektross with its duty. She could only hope it would help it here.

Eelektross didn’t hesitate, immediately preparing its Spark attack and rushing at the Tentacruel. The Alpha roared in anger at the super effective attack, regaining its composure as Eelektross floated above the water a distance away from it. It then retaliated, shooting poison at her partner. Isabelle panicked and shouted the ‘Dodge it!’ command moments too late. She recognized the move as one she’d seen a Toxicroak use in Hisui. Poison Jab.

The move hit Eelektross square on, and the EleFish Pokemon squealed as it was flung towards the boat, almost hitting the hull.

“Eelektross!” Isabelle shouted, leaning over the gunwale to check on the Pokemon. Eelektross was struggling to recover, a purple blush appearing over its face. It was poisoned.

Keep your composure, Isabelle! Eelektross needs you!

“Use Thunder Wave, Agile Style!”

“Status conditions can make or break a battle. Eelektross knows Thunder Wave, and Chandelure knows Will-o-Wisp. Do not underestimate these moves.”

Ingo’s advice was replaying in her head at the speed of light as she tried to figure out how to handle this battle.

More electricity surrounded Eelektross, and then more appeared around the Tentacruel, effectively paralyzing it. It roared yet again as it began to struggle to move.

Taking advantage of the extra time the Agile Style move had given her, she issued another command. “Use Spark again!”

As Eelektross rushed towards the Alpha again, another roar could be heard from the port side of the boat.

Unintentionally letting herself get distracted, she spun around at the same time as the other three on the boat. The other Alpha Tentacruel had given up its chase and was now targeting them instead.

“No, no, no!” Isabelle cried.

She suddenly heard Eelektross crying out behind her, and she realized her mistake as she turned back to the battle she had been trying to fight before. Tentacruel had managed to overpower its paralysis and land a strong-style Hydro Pump on Eelektross, who was now only barely hanging on.

They were in serious trouble.

…

Upon spotting the second Tentacruel, Emmet wasted no time. He turned to his own Eelektross, who stared back at him in determination. Rushing to the port side of the ship with Eelektross right behind him, he pointed at the Pokemon (much larger than any Tentacruel he’d ever seen, also what was with those glowing red eyes?) and yelled, “Eelektross, Thunderbolt!”

Eelektross leaped into the battle with zero hesitation, launching its electricity through the air with the grace of years of practice in battle alongside its trainer.

Emmet heard the pop! of a Pokeball behind him, and then Elesa yelled, “Zebstrika, Wild Charge, now!”

Zebstrika whinnied and slammed into the Alpha Tentacruel Isabelle had been fighting with all its might, landing back on the deck afterward, shaking its head from the recoil damage.

Isabelle leaned over the gunwale. “Eelektross, are you okay?”

Emmet could just barely hear the other Eelektross’s chattering. The serious damage and the poison were likely seriously taking their toll. He gritted his teeth as the Tentacruel he was fighting launched a Hydro Pump of its own at his partner. “Fall back to dodge, then get in close and use Crunch!”

Eelektross jumped back and to the side to dodge the attack, then rushed the Tentacruel head-on to use Crunch, easily hitting its target. The Tentacruel roared and fell back. They’d lowered its defenses.

Behind him, Elesa’s Zebstrika avoided another Poison Jab from its opponent. “Use Flame Charge!” she yelled.

Zebstrika screeched, building flame around its body and charging at the Tentacruel. It hit, and while it didn’t do much damage to the Alpha, Zebstrika began moving a lot faster than it had before.

Emmet’s Eelektross rose quickly in the air to avoid another Hydro Pump. “Thunderbolt!” Emmet called again.

Eelektross launched another charge of electricity at the Tentacruel, hitting it square on. The Alpha screeched, having taken too much damage, and it quickly swam off as fast it could in its condition.

Satisfied, Emmet turned around to see how Elesa was doing. Thankfully, the Gym Leader had also gotten a strong handle on her side of the battle, and even though Emmet watched Zebstrika take full damage from an Ice Beam, the Thunderbolt Pokemon was still on its feet.

“Elesa, wait.”

Emmet, Elesa, and Emily all turned their attention to Isabelle, who was looking at Elesa with determination glinting in her eyes.

“I want to try to finish this.” She stood up, watching the Tentacruel who was momentarily immobilized by the paralysis it still suffered from. “I’m not very good at battling yet. I only recently started trying to learn how. But I want to try and show Eelektross that we will figure this out, and we’ll do it together.”

She leaned over the gunwale. “Eelektross isn’t done yet, and I know it has the strength to see this through.”

Eelektross, hearing and understanding everything she said even if it didn’t understand the words themselves, managed to pull itself out of the water, floating above the surface and readying itself to continue its battle. Isabelle could sense its own growing determination.

Elesa nodded, giving her an encouraging smile. “I understand. But Zebstrika and I will be ready to take over if you need us to.”

“Thank you, Elesa.” Isabelle stood to the water, taking a deep breath. Then she called, “Eelektross, use Spark!”

Eelektross took to the air, and to her surprise, did not use the same move it had used before. Instead of charging its opponent once it surrounded itself with electricity, it screeched, letting the sparks fly in every direction (except towards the boat). Tentacruel was unable to avoid the supereffective attack that was much stronger than the Spark the Eelektross had used on it before, and it too swam off quickly as soon as it was able.

All four of them watched it swim off, shocked by what they had seen.

“That was Discharge,” Elesa managed out. “I think your Eelektross just learned a new move.”

“That was amazing!” Emily gushed to her sister.

Eelektross floated back up to the deck, landing on it with a soft grunt and collapsing in exhaustion. Isabelle bent down at its side, laying a hand on its head.

“You did so well,” she whispered to it. “And you know Discharge now- I’m so proud of you.”

“Do you have Pecha berries anywhere?” Elesa asked, turning to Emily.

“We do, they’re downstairs. I’ll go grab one.” Emily ran back to the stairs.

Isabelle looked up at both Emmet and Elesa. “Thank you both so much for your help. I have no idea how we would’ve gotten through that without you. I know I asked you to let me finish the battle, Elesa, but you did do most of the work, and I appreciate that so much.”

“You did a fantastic job for being new to battling!” Elesa reassured her. “I can tell that you have a passion inside of you for it, and as long as you and Eelektross keep working together, I know you’ll continue to get stronger.”

Emily then reappeared, arms full with sitrus berries, with one Pecha berry in the midst for the poisoned Eelektross. She handed the Pecha berry and most of the Sitrus berries to Isabelle, then split the remaining Sitrus berries up between Emmet and Elesa for their own partners. All three issued their thanks to her, and she beamed, glad to have been able to help.

“For the longest time, Eelektross was handling a lot of these types of battles on its own,” Isabelle started up as all three Pokemon began eating the berries they’d been given. “Of course, we’d never run into a scenario nearly as serious as this one, so it always did fine on its own. But while we were in Hisui… we were shown just how much more power Pokemon gained when they fought alongside a trusted human partner. I knew I wanted to learn how to give Eelektross that power in battle, and believe it or not… it was Ingo who helped both of us start down that path.”

“Of course it was.” Emmet laughed, but then a wistful and melancholy look overtook his eyes. “He absolutely loves to battle.”

A gentle smile appeared on Emily’s face as she leaned on the port side gunwale, next to her sister. Eelektross had finished eating and was already looking significantly better, circling around Isabelle’s legs. “Like we said before, we only just left Hisui two days ago. It should only take us that exact same amount of time to return.”

Emmet looked like it took him a second to process that. He sat down on a bench that crossed the width of the deck.

“It might not be a ton of time for you two who are used to long-term water travel, but that’s gonna feel like an eternity for Emmet,” Elesa pointed out, smirking at her friend. Emmet gave her an unimpressed look. Isabelle and Emily shared an amused look.

“Well, that’s not my only concern,” Emmet retorted back. “I barely mentioned this trip in passing to Uncle Drayden. We will be gone for several days without checking in with him. He’s gonna get concerned! After Ingo’s disappearance… I do not want to worry him.”

“Uncle Drayden will be fine,” Elesa insisted. “He’s been used to you going off on trips to look for Ingo since his disappearance. You may not have been doing it nearly as often as you did within that first year, but still. He’ll probably just think you need some alone time and leave it be. The Subway and the Gym are expecting us to be gone for several days, too.”

“You’re right.” Emmet sighed.

“Let’s focus on finding Ingo for now.” Elesa sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We are so, so close to finally seeing him again. You are allowed to let that be the main thing on your mind.”

Emmet let that sink in. So close. So close. So close. It had been four long years. He let the tears forming in his eyes fall as he thought about the fact that he was just two days away from seeing his brother again. If it hadn’t been for everything they’d gone through to get to this point, it might’ve been almost unbelievable.

“We’ll just be retracing steps, so hopefully it should be smooth sailing back to Hisui over the next two days,” Emily reassured them.

Ingo’s Chandelure floated over to sit on Emmet’s other side on the bench, still visibly happier than it had ever been in four years. Eelektross moved over to its trainer, laying its head in Emmet’s lap and chattering happily as Emmet smiled and began to pet it. Zebstrika, not a fan of being around unfamiliar people, nudged Elesa, who returned it to its Pokeball without a second thought, other hand still on Emmet’s shoulder

“Two more days,” Emmet whispered.

[simprura]

After-Stream Comforting: Quackity x Fem! Reader

*°:⋆ₓₒ 1K Words ₓₒ⋆:°*

Aaah my first Tumblr Fic!! I really hope you guys like this one, it’s my first Quackity/Alexis fic so expect some errors!! xp Anyways I hope you guys love it just as much as i did. I wrote it based on what i wanted if you couldn’t tell xd Leave your Criticims below!! Happy reading :))

You laid on your boyfriend – Quackity’s – Single-sized bed watching him stream Jackbox with his friends GeorgeNotFound, Karl Jacobs, SapNap, and BadBoyHalo. they played a copious amount of jackbox games together. Laughter erupted from his mouth, Entertained by the inappropriate answers his online friends gave in Quiplash. A faint noise could be heard from his headset; a chorus of indistinct laughter from his 4 fellow streamers signified that they were all equally enjoying themselves. You however weren’t having the best day and wanted your dear lover to end his stream – you really wanted some form of affection. Alexis had known that you would get like this sometimes and he usually knew how to handle you; a dose of sweet talk and cuddles usually made things better but today had proven to be particularly bad.

You had been feeling very unlovable that day, some dark stuff from your past had always been convincing you that you were a terrible person and incapable of love. These dark thoughts swirled and consumed you like a hungry monster. This hungry monster wanted to feed on your worries and self-doubts and make you bedridden for days on end. You were thankful you had Alexis there to reassure you that you were deserving of love and that things were going to be fine, but had slowly started to worry if you were 'too much’ for him to handle.

You tossed in his bed, upset with yourself and how you were acting. You always hated yourself when you got in this mood but you always had s hard time getting yourself out of it. You faced the wall, a stuffed bear wrapped in your arms and tears threatening to spill. Alex looked over to see your slumped and depressed form sticking out from the rough stone wall. His attention was quickly taken back by his friends yelling at him “Nonononono! Karl-“ He burst into another laughing fit. His laugh was always contagious and always put a smile on your face, but not on this gloomy occasion.

Alexis’s worries grew inside of him, too. He hated seeing you lie this, so beat down and miserable, he ached to do something – anything to cheer you up; it was in his DNA. He debated ending his stream to come comfort you but he had only been live for an hour and a half; cutting it off now would make this one of his shortest streams ever. He went back and forth debating if it would be worth it. His fans would surely understand, right? Right?

He took one more glance at you, you remained unchanged; still in the same position from the last time he looked at you. He was brought back to his stream by SapNap hollering at him. He yelled back him jokingly to ‘Shut the fuck up’, immediately laughing after. Taking one more side glance he decided that you were more important than any stream “Okay fellas, I think- I think I’m going to wrap it up here. Sorry for the short stream guys.”. His friends begged for him to stay, they wanted to finish their current games “C’mon man! One more game, it’ll be quick!” Sapnap pleaded. “Yeah it’ll be super quick!” Karl added on, hoping to change Alex’s mind, but he was set on you. “Nah, I’m good. Next time I promise!” Quackity said before muting himself to read off a few more donations.

As he turned off his stream and shut his computer down, he moved to you and moved to lay behind you. “Hey Pumpkin, you okay?” He asked. “I dunno, I just- I don’t feel good about myself right now. I’m sorry I’m being such a downer.” It was exhausting to talk. “I can tell when you’re upset, y’know. Do you wanna talk about it?” You flipped yourself over to face your boyfriends, tears starting to trickle out. “I-I’m sorry…” You started to sob into Alexis, him pulling you into an embrace. “Hey, hey- what’s wrong bubba?” He planted a gentle kiss on your forehead and began to pet your hair, soothing you. “I just um- I just feel really bad about feeling like this all the time.” Alexis was puzzled. “Feeling like what love?” You paused for a moment, thinking about how to describe your feelings. “I feel bad about…about not feeling like I deserve your love and affection…” He was silent, thinking about what to say next. You filled the empty noise “And – um, I feel bad that you always have to comfort me…” Alexis spoke up “Bubba what? Don’t you ever feel bad about feeling sad. It’s more than okay to feel those kinds of feelings – and like – I’m always going to be here for you, okay? Forever and always.”

He moves his hands to your face, gently wiping the stray tears running down your cheeks and to your nose. “You wanna know why?” You nodded, too tired to speak. “Because I love you so very much.” He again kissed you on the forehead, moving to your cheeks and squeezing you in another hug. “I love you so much!!!” He spoke between a frenzy of kisses he was placed on your face “I – Love – You – So – So – So – much!!” You started giggling, his kisses were soft and each one tickled you a little. Alexis smiled with glee when he heard you laugh. His favorite thing to do was make people laugh, and to hear you laugh at his actions made him thrilled. He stopped to look back at you, looking into your (E/C) orbs. “As long as you’re with me, I’m going to love you and care about you endlessly, okay?” You smiled, the last of your tears streaming down as you nodded. “Yeah, okay. Thank you.” “Anything for you, love” He gave you one last kiss on your cheek, rubbing his thumb in a circular motion on that spot. Not long after you both fell asleep, both exhausted from your days.

Fin~