#yeah there's a third mer au now

[gullableh]

•★  SICK🌌🪐

JULIAN. LOKI X MALE! READER.

★•° Warnings : boy x boy, cringe, very fluffy,

Swear words, fruity af.  Crack treated, like seriously crack treated

Reader is a simp.

Highschool AU

(I'm not good in french even though I got a 9-

I will use Google Translate mostly. So if youre reading this and you're french, im sorry if i made a mistake or two, you can correct me if I'm wrong ^^)

★•° summery :reader and Julian supposedly had a date. But sadly reader got sick and couldn't come. So Julian decided to pay his lovely boyfriend a quick visit, just a quick one...

★•° a fluff story so no dirty thoughts.

• usage of pet names

• relationship goals

• probably ooc since I'm not the best in   writing oc 

Music you could listen to while reading:

------------------°•©

Écoute chérie; 

Vendredi sur Mer

              The moon will sing;

                                           Angus & Julia stone 

Back to the old house;

The Smiths                     

              Lamp;

                                                     Yume Utsutsu

                

                                (Enjoy ^v^)

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

Readers pov:

*Sigh*

This. Was. The. Worst. Oh you wanna know what happened? Oh well you probably already had read the summery, you still want me to tell? Okay sit down and listen carefully. Also next time read the summery some people aren't as generous as me to explain why my day is ruined. And the people who have read the summery. Good job here have a cupcake *gives the cupcake to you* ^v^

Anyways where was i? Oh yeah, listen carefully...

It was any normal day, I woke up went to school met up with my lovely boyfriend🥰

And I remembered after school we have a date, great right? Well I'm not finished.

After school I went ahead to go home and get prepared for my date with my boyfriend. 

I got home, had an outfit ready, and I was about to go when suddenly.

*Chough* *Chough*

I have no idea if mothers have mother senses (it would be cool if they did) but as if she had a spidersense of her own she grabbed my arm, shut the door and made me sit on the couch.

Then she went on a full on ten minute long lecture about how I was sick and that I should stay home. Wait stay home? But I was about to go on a date. Mother couldn't possibly do this to me, oh but she could.

Well anyways, now I'm here in my room, in my bed all depressed because I couldn't hang out with my boyfriend )': I had already told him, well, texted him that I wasn't able to attend our date since I was SiCk. Oh please, as if I would die.

I was moping in my bed all pouty, from disappointment because I couldn't see my boyfriend, but also from pain. (stupid migraine) It was I think around somewhere in the night, after dinner. when I heard something. I stopped moping and listened carefully where that sound came from

*Tick* *tick* *tick*

It was as if someone was knocking against glass, again I stayed quiet and listened attentively

*Tick* *tick* *tick*

Wait it sounded like it came from my window. I got up from my bed, fear slowly creeping up, I went to my bedroom window, and shoved the curtens to the side slowly, and then i saw....

Third person pov:

There he was, Julian Loki Infront of your window, the best soccer player in your school, also one of the kindest people in your school. And most importantly, your lovely boyfriend that you where thinking about the entire day.

A smile made its way to youre lips, but confusion was visible on [readers] face. What was he doing here, it's somewhere between eleven o' clock and twelve o' clock, shouldn't he be home alseep? Worry was also evident on the boys expressions. [Reader] quickly opened the window and let him in.

"Julian what are you doing here?"

"Mon chéri, sorry I wanted to come here earlier but my mother wouldn't let me out of the house."

He said with a sweet and gentle smile towards you. You see why I'm so smitten over this guy? 

Julian is always so sweet and gentle, he's like that towards everyone, but towards you he is even more gentle.

"Speaking of, why are you up so late?

You said you where sick, you should be resting Mon amour."

He said, he spoke with such a gentle tone, it was angelic, he was an angel that's why. He ushered you to bed like a mother would to their child. And you being such a simp for you're boyfriend, obliged and laid down on you're bed. Oh yeah did I tell you that he had a bag with him, well he laid the bag on the ground and started to rummage trough the supplies in the bag. He grabbed what seemed like medicine and food, that could help [reader] with his sickness.

"I also might have paid a quick visit at the infirmary."

He said with a smile that could blind you because of how bright it was. He grabbed a container with some liquid stuff, probably soup.

"Have you already eaten? It would be great if you did, but that would mean I bought this for nothing"

He said with yet again, another blinding smile.

Because of the stupid migraine and the fact that the sickness made you not hungry, you nodded you're head a no. You where indeed hungry but because of the sickness, you felt like throwing up everytime you're nostrils smelled the slightest bit of food.

"I'm not hungry, thank you Julian but there was indeed no need"

That was a big ass lie, and the both of you knew that all to well, he looked at you with a worried expression, yeah there was no way that he didn't know I was lying

"Mon chéri please tell me the truth"

Yup, now I feel guilty about lying yippie :'D

I took a deep breath and told him the truth, that shows how much of a sucker I am for this man. He again looked at me with a worried expression on his face.

"très chère chérie, if you want to get better you should eat healthy things, i don't like seeing you sick and in pain."

He gave me a sweet smile, but behind that smile was clear that he was still very worried.

I smiled at him back with as much gentleness.

"Im sorry Julian, I didn't exactly mean to lie, it just kinda slipped-"

"It's all right Mon amour, just please don't lie to me like that again."

He cut me off before I could even properly apologize, I smiled at seeing his gentle smile reapearing on his lips again. He grabbed the container with the liquid stuff in it, he opened the container and low and behold chicken soup. He grabbed the plastic spoon that was in the container with the soup.

"Open you're mouth mon chéri I'll feed you."

He said with a smile as if he didn't say the most flustering thing, I felt my face heat up specifically my cheekbones. The spoon with the chicken soup was right Infront of you're mouth, slowly you opened you're mouth a bit, until it was wide enough for the spoon to fit, for some reason this felt so embarrassing even if there weren't any people around, it was just so embarrassing being fed by someone. A while later and the soup was finished, you felt a bit better now that you weren't hungry anymore, but the migraine was still haunting you. Luckily you're savior in need is here to help you from you're misery.

Julian again rummaged trough his bag that he had brought along with him, he let out a small 'aha' as if to say that he had found something. He brought the thing out of the bag and let me have a closer look, it was painkillers, he really though of everything.

"I've brought some painkillers."

He wouldn't stop smiling, as I said such a sweet angel. He gave you the painkiller and abit of water to drink with, in one swift motion you chugged the painkillers with the water down in one sip. The painkillers where helping a bit but not as much as to make it completely go away.

"My head still hurts"

"Would you like me to massage you're scalp Mon amour?"

Definitely did not expect him to suggest that, but who would say no to that offer? So you nodded youre head with a smile and gestured for him to sit next to you on the bed, I patted the empty place beside me, he made his way towards me and then sat next to me on the bed. He laid my head down on his chest, so that he could carefully massage my scalp while I was in a comfortable position. My head was laying on the side where his heart was, his heart beats where so soothing I could just fall asleep. Not long after did his hands began to gently massage my head, all of this was so very calming I could already feel myself geting tired and sleepy slowly and slowly.

"Is this alright mon chéri? If you're uncomfortable just tell me alright?"

I was already half asleep so I just let out a small 'hmm' so that he would know that I was still listening to him. He laughed at my tired state, he looked so adorable while laughing.

"Goodnight mon vie"

He said before giving youre lips a small peck. Not caring if he would get sick later, all he cared for now was that you where comfortable and safe. The rest didn't matter all that matter to him was you. 

Fin:D

★°•BONUS+

THE NEXT DAY

 you woke up from a very nice dream, you felt much much better after last night, guess Julian took very good care of you. you expected to wake up in you're own bed wich you did, but you specifically woke up in someone's arms, Julian's arms. he was still sleeping, so the ever so kind boyfriend you are, you let him have his rest and sleep. And seems like he had it enough because not even a minute after you woke up, was he starting to wake up. His eyelids slowly lifted up, revealing his golden brown eyes. They look so beautiful in the morning. He looked at you before a smile was forming on his lips, how cute this moment was. 

"Morning mon soleil"

Two boys waking up from eachothers arms, oh how adorabl-

*Chough* *chough* *chough*     

That was not me I swear. Oh it was julian, seem like he got invected when he kissed you goodnight last night....

Well then, atleast now you could repay him back with taking care of him this time.

Fin (fr this time)

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

This was so crack treated and cringe, I apologize if you felt second hand embarrassment-

[matchingbatbites]

wip wednesday

So, final results from yesterday's poll?

🦇 familiar!Eddie 🦇

I want to say I'm surprised, but I'm really not, lol. We love us some bats in the Steddie fandom. I'm not sure if you 34% were hoping for vampires, but I hope you're pleasantly surprised regardless.

I had a lot of fun with the poll idea, and I hope you all did too! As you can tell, I didn't actually vote myself because I wanted to be surprised by the results, so I've spent the last 24 hours bouncing off the walls lol. Thanks to everyone who voted!! I might do this again next week, we'll see :)

I promised a synopsis and a snippet, so here you are! Snippet is under the cut!

Synopsis:

Supernatural Creature AU. Dustin is a witch whose familiar, a bat named Eddie, is not as cooperative as other familiars he’s met. The little creature has a big personality and isn’t afraid of doing whatever he wants, and Dustin is more than used to dealing with how sassy the bat can be. It would also be good if Eddie didn’t go off on his own every chance he got, although he seems to have a built in homing-beacon for locating one Steve Harrington, a Merman adopted into Dustin’s little friend group that the witch not-so-secretly adores.

When Dustin tries to cast a spell that lets him communicate with Eddie, it backfires and turns his familiar into a human. He knows that Eddie can’t stay at his house - he’s not even supposed to be using magic on his familiar, not until he gets older, so his mom will flip if she finds out. The witch begs Steve to keep an eye on the new human while he figures out how to reverse it and Steve agrees, completely oblivious to the fact that he’s going to fall head over heels for the man in the two weeks they spend together. 

And then Dustin's mom finds out. 

She’s upset, of course, but she knows how kids can be. She says she can fix it, she knows what Dustin did wrong and is able to reverse it. But because Eddie is human now, he has human rights, so he gets a choice: does he choose to return to being a bat, to being what he’s always known? Or does he choose to stay human, to exist as something other in the world?

(We all know he chooses Steve, in the end.)

Snippet:

Steve is lounging by the pool, basking in the sun warming his skin and scales alike, the fin of his tail floating lazily in the salt water. He's on the verge of falling asleep - he put on enough sunscreen that it wouldn't be any worry, and it's so tempting with how quiet it is right now. No kids bugging him, nowhere to be any time soon. For once in a while, he's free to just chill.

The relaxing atmosphere is ruined when something crashes into his chest, and - yeah, he screams, but it caught him off guard, okay? He grabs at the object, intending to throw it away from him, but immediately releases it when he hears an annoyed squeak. Startled, he looks down to find- 

"Eddie! That’s the third time this week, you little monster!"

The bat looks up at him from its position with its wings splayed across Steve's chest and makes another, much happier noise. Steve can't help but smile even as he whips his tail out of the pool, flicking water onto the creature who lets out an affronted squeak and quickly crawls up to bury itself in the crook of Steve's neck.

The Mer chuckles softly and brings one hand up to gently scratch at Eddie’s head, and reaches over with the other to dig his walkie free from where he'd wrapped it in a towel to keep it dry.

"Dustin, this is Steve. Come in, over."

A brief pause, then a soft crackle. "This is Dustin, what's up? Over."

"Your familiar got out again, over."

"Shit. He must have got out when I left for Mike's. Is there any way you can bring him to me? Over."

Steve frowns at the idea of having to get up and get dressed when he had planned to do absolutely nothing but lounge around all day. Eddie gives a soft grumble and Steve starts up his idle scratching again, and he feels the bat practically melt into a puddle at the gentle affection.

“I can, but do you mind if I bring him later? This is the first chance I’ve had to sun my scales in like, two weeks, over.”

Dustin gives a long suffering sigh that makes Steve roll his eyes, before giving a disgruntled “I guess. Just be glad I don’t actually need him today.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault that your familiar likes me so much. I’m not even a witch but he latches on to me any time he sees me.”

“He’s a familiar, Steve! He’s attracted to magical energies or something, I dunno!”

“I mean, you can just admit that I’m Eddie’s favorite-”

Eddie gives a soft chirp at the sound of his name, but for Steve it almost feels like an agreement. He coos softly at the creature as the walkie crackles to life again.

“Just- Get him back before dinner, okay? I don’t want my mom to worry about where he is.”

"Roger that. Over and out Dust Bunny."

"That's not my-"

Steve clicks the walkie off, something he knows he'll get an earful for later, but right now he sets the device to the side as he shuts his eyes again, enjoying the heat of the sun and the soft noises from the bat cuddled in the crook of his neck.

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

[NSFW] Oviposition saiou prompt

Hina: You could make a bubble guppies saiou au Me: Make it oviposition or get out of here Bunny: just make a normal mer au hina Hina: Excuse me. What? Me: I said Make it oviposition or get out of here, mer sex or go to the normal ⁠au-corner [because it was in a nsfw channel]

Hina: Monokuma the orange fish Bunny: MR GROUPER DESERVES BETTER monokuma is grumpfish /j

Hina: Why oviposition Me: Seahorses, hell, one of them can even be a seahorse prince if you want, think about it But actually just because I like it [red evil smiley emoji] Bunny: really catering to hina's interests huh [Hina's thing with horse prince is Pit lore, sorry]

Bunny: i rlly enjoy ovi/eggpreg stuff which is VERY funny since normal pregnancy is. one of my biggest squicks, so are saiou childhood friends AND eggpreg bc then we can slide in some 'if you don't get married by-' Me: I don't know the cartoon, I just want the egg laying action Bunny: i go for interspecies ovi usually but they can both be mer this time. as a treat Hina: I'm down for anything childhood friends [but we had to explain ovi to him]

Bunny: chasing each other thru the seaweed a mating chase/capture could be fun, as a throwback to their childhood games,, Me: That's so cute Bunny: it is!! they're giggling the whole way through kokichi teases him abt it because shuuichi always lost their childhood races (he will win this time) whether it was something along the lines of hysterical strength or kokichi let him the world will never know Hina: WHY IS THE HE WILL WIN SO THREATENING Bunny: BECAUSE HE'S GONNA TACKLE KOKICHI INTO THE MUD AND FILL HIM WITH EGGS, HINA Hina: EXCUSE ME??? Bunny: WHAT TJE FUCK DID YOU THINK MATING CHASE/CAPTURE MEANT Hina: I wasn't paying attention to that part I was just like. "Oh chase sounds fun" Wait so loser gets egged? Bunny: yes, hina what a way to phrase it

Hina: Also isn't that like. A shitton of eggs Me: Not the craziest amount of eggs in the nature world But yeah, it can be lowered for the mers, they evolved past the high infant mortality biological precautions Hina: Also how big are these eggs Like relative to a human Bunny: i was thinking about kokichi getting an ovipositor as thick as his arm stuffed in him ok big eggs because i want to make kokichi cry Me: Tiny, Okay, sure Hina: Where are these eggs going Bunny: his womb??? where else would they go… Hina: He has a womb??? Bunny: both of them do MER HAVE DICK/OVIPOSITOR AND VULVA, AS WELL AS ALL OF THE INTERNAL MECHANICS THAT IMPLIES Hina: Where do they go do they just. Sit in there. Bunny: WHAT DO YOU MEAN SIT IN THERE DID YOU EXPECT THEM TO DO A LITTLE DANCE Hina: WHAT DO THE EGGS DO Like do they have to lay the eggs? Or are they just. Eggs for the sake of eggs and get dissolved like human eggs do? Bunny: are blanks (like unfertilized chicken eggs) just for sex purposes? hatch inside leading to live birth? get laid and THEN hatch? eat each other like shark pups??? lots of options Kai: THEY INCUBATE IN THE FATHER AND HATCH AND HE PUSHES THEM OUT HINA Hina: WAIT SO THEY HATCH INSIDE???? Bunny: there's plenty of real fish that do that, hina Dra: Yea the dads just pops the babies out Hina some fish give birth fun fact Hina: IM QUITE LITERALLY ALLERVIX TO EGGS I HAVE AN EGG ALLERGY Okay [Bunny] just explain the AU I'll Google it

Bunny: WHICH ONE Hina: CHILDHOOD FRIENDS MERMAIDS WITH A SIDE OF OVIPOSIFION YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT MARRIAGE Bunny: saiou are best friends as children. both of them are disliked by almost everyone and find a safe haven in each other, eventually promising to mate each other by age [idk] if no one else will. Shenanigans Proceed, they have a better pod and found family now but the joke promise remains,, kokichi brings it up when it's time as a funny haha because obviously shuuichi wouldn;t want HIM and shuuichi misinterprets and thinks kokichi is making fun of the concept of wanting HIM, cue third act breakdown and resolution. Me: Wtf Why would you add angst to it Bunny: that's not angst it's hurt/comfort they're fine being raised in a pod that hated them both led to some self esteem issues but they find love in each other and their new friends and family they have a mating run/chase through the seaweed and shuuichi wins, pinning kokichi down and filling him tf up. the end i like emotions in my egg porn what can i say im stealing from pregame hcs and saying baby shuuichi is just, WAY too into poison for everyone's comfort, to be supportive, kokichi keeps asking him to '''poison his enemies''' he will not

Me: How do they actually resolve the conflict and get together tho? Bunny: idk they have a conversation about it maybe one of them is packing to dramatically leave and the other one accidentally spills the beans on their pining we never decided if they actually have babies huh Hina: No that's why I was confused Is there a reason they need to mate Is it a for life thing? Bunny: generally i assume yeah? Hina: Okay so it's kinda just because? If they wanted theh could be unmarried? Bunny: i..guess?? hina it's porn Me: Ofc they have babies, if they didn't want babies then they should have yeeted the eggs

[bluiex]

Heyyyy it’s the same anon that was talking about majorwood, I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE BLORBOS MORE!!!!

i am thinking so so so hard about the scene where Martyn kills Scott to save him from the rest of the yellow lives, and more immediately from Jimmy, since Jimmy was the closest and completely intent on killing Scott first. Besides the cinematic parallels to Martyn killing Ren in third life, it just absolutely hurts my poor little heart thinking about it.

I dunno, I’m just thinking so much about those silly dudes and their ocean island. I am rotating a mer Scott and human (maybe pirate) Martyn au in my head so much right now. Just thinking about Martyn leaning over the edge of a dock or a boat to talk to Scott, and Scott discovering his new favorite sound is Martyn laughing that deep hearty laugh of his that makes him so happy <333

Majorwood... Good ship name

OH YEAH. WHEN YOU PUT IT LIKE THAT qoq Martyn didn't want Scott to be hurt by anyone else, and the best option at the time was for Martyn to kill him, get him away from all the other yellows. Safe. Back home.

Scott comes up to Martyn while he's turned around distracted, splashing water up at him getting him soaked- Scott making the most insane jokes and flirting make Martyn laugh before Martyn is snapping back with the same energy, prob even more so

[bangtanloverboys]

the world for a kiss // kth

summary - a quick solo trip to the beach was exactly what you needed to relax. well, that was the case until you found a merman caught in a net. now you have him in your bathtub asking all sorts of questions

pairing - merman!taehyung x gender neutral!reader

genre - fluff, humor, angst; merman au

author’s note - man this one i really liked because it's me and my bittersweet ending loving ass. i came up with it back in my old apartment in the midst of a bath, i just love mermaids in baths man.

You’re staying at your family beach house alone, wanting to get some alone time 

You’re walking along the beach and you see a passed out man?? You get closer and you see he’s actually a merman and he’s tangled in a net

He’s wounded badly and you know he needs help 

He wakes up as you’re cutting him free and he rightfully freaks out and is like “get away from me!!” he hisses bc pain

You tell him not to move bc he’s hurt and you know first aid so you tell him to stay there

You go in your house, turn on the large bath then run out with the wheelbarrow that usually is for carrying wood

You manage to wheel him into house and get him into the bath 

He’s surprisingly trusting of you and you ask why and he’s like “mer people can sense people with good intentions” and you’re like oh?

He’s there for a good few days, you bring him raw fish to eat and he’s happy

On the third day you come back and he’s standing in your bathroom naked and you scream bc he’s a naked man

“You could do that the whole time!?” “well i didn’t think it was possible but yeah”

You take him out on the town for fun

You dance around and have fun and goof off and have a day of it

You realize you kinda like him and you go to kiss him and he’s like no, no kiss and runs off

You’re hurt bc you got rejected and duh it fucking sucks

He’s not back at the house so you assume he went back into the ocean and you’re sad bc no proper goodbye

Next day he returns and is like “i'm sorry for that, just when a merperson kisses a human they lose their tail permanently” and you’re like oh. 

He says goodbye and you wish him well

You come back the following year and stand on the beach and you think you see his tail, but you aren’t sure either way, it brings a smile to your face

[the-odd-job]

Nature Calls

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Rape/Non-Con Category: Other Fandom: Transformers > Merformers Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker Relationships: Sideswipe/Sunstreaker Additional Tags: Mating Cycles/In Heat, Captivity, Aliens, Aquariums, Captive Mers, Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Twincest, Mutual Non-Con Words:  2583

Reproduction had to take place. That was the prime dictum of life.

His body was screaming at him.

Mate, procreate. Continue his lineage, write his name into the history and future of their species through his offspring. Pass on his genes.

Whatever you wanted to call it. He wanted to fuck, needed to have someone stick it in him or do the same to someone else, if you wanted to be crude about it.

Being crude about it was about the only thing he had left. There was no sugarcoating the need anymore. It was all consuming, hijacking his thoughts day and night. Hormones coursed through his bloodstream and drove him next to mad with restlessness that had nowhere to go.

He needed to go, to Gather, find everyone else of their species and sate the desperate need to reproduce with a mate of his choosing. That was the one and only purpose of this time of the year. Really, of their whole lives. Make sure his legacy continued even when time, sickness, or predators got the better of him; wasn’t that the whole point of living?

And his body was telling him to do just that, right now. 

That had been the state of affairs for several days now. Only problem was, there was no Gathering.

There were only four walls, the floor, the platform, and the ceiling with its bright lights high above.

And there was only Sunstreaker. His brother. Not a potential mate.

His body didn’t care about little details like that. It didn’t care that there was nowhere for him to go, that any direction he swam there would only be an obstacle that prevented him from going further, that there was no one he could quell the need with.

It just burned.

There should’ve been a long migration to the atoll, taxing but intensely rewarding. 

Instead there was just a circle.

No way out.

Four walls. A floor.

Round and round.

Round and round.

Round and round.

He wasn’t sure if the humans had noticed the difference between their usual bored swimming and… This. This frustration that drove them into trying their hardest to fulfill their instincts, in vain. There was nowhere to go, there was never anywhere to go. Sunstreaker would lash his tail out of the water, creating impressive splashes before diving as deep as the tank went. He’d run into walls, hit them with his hands or his tail, like that could crumble them and let them out.

It was impossible not to sense the tension in the water, thick enough to almost turn it solid.

Sideswipe just swam. Round and round, trying even in the smallest manner simulate the journey he was supposed to be on.

The courting. He’d never participated in it before, but he knew what it was. He still remembered the year of his birth, watching mers flit about, chasing after each other until one gave up.

He was old enough now. First year that he was, this one.

That was what he was supposed to be doing. There were supposed to be mers as far as the eye could see, potential mates, potential partners, thrilling chases while they tested each other and tried their strength in titillating games designed to pry into the suitability of the other’s prowess.

What was there instead?

A tank too small, and Sunstreaker.

And if he wasn’t handling it well, Sunstreaker was handling it even worse. He was already the more high strung of them, easily agitated.

Add to that the incessant need and their total inability to do anything about it, and he was downright explosive. 

It was never fun to share the space with him. Now it felt downright dangerous—moreso than usual, anyway.

He’d done his best to stay out of his brother’s way, but despite his efforts he still carried scratches from the times when it all boiled over into vicious claw strikes and bites aimed at soft flesh. They hadn’t gone at it seriously, though. It didn’t feel right. This time of the year was, for all intents and purposes, about love.

Not about fighting.

He didn’t feel proud of the fact Sunstreaker had red marks on his body too, some fresher than others. Yeah, he hadn’t taken any of it without returning some of it, but it wasn’t right.

None of this was supposed to be happening.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

And he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it for. Rationally he knew its duration was finite, that he only needed to last until the short season came to its end.

But rationality was in short supply, even for him. Sunstreaker had even less of it left. He was a coiled bunch of muscles, appearing incapable of relaxing even for a moment.

He’d barely slept. Neither had Sideswipe, but Sunstreaker hadn’t done it even as much as he had.

He had to be tired. Sideswipe for sure was.

And yet neither of them could stop swimming, Sunstreaker lashing out at inanimate objects every other chance he got, just to dispel some of the restless energy the both of them carried, one that they couldn’t direct where it was supposed to be directed.

Into courting and mating. That was what it all came back around to. 

How much longer? The lights shut off for another artificial night, the humans left, and still the need raged on. One more day? Two more days? A week? He wasn’t sure, but even the shortest duration felt too long.

He couldn’t take it. Couldn’t.

But he had no choice.

Heaving one breath after another, Sideswipe broke from his constant counterclockwise circle in favor of heading to the middle of the tank, lowering himself to the dimly lit bottom to try to catch even some sleep, while Sunstreaker kept circling the outskirts of their home. He’d probably do that for the whole night. And the day after.

And after that too, for however much longer this lasted.

Sideswipe wanted to cry, to air even some of the sheer frustration crushing down on his chest, but he grit his teeth and held back. He curled up on the warm floor, hugging his tail to his chest and pressing his forehead against it.

Just a little while longer, hopefully. He could do this.

He had to.

He hadn’t the time to doze off before he felt the ripples in the water that signaled Sunstreaker was approaching. Sideswipe glanced up just when Sunstreaker came to him, and he reached out his hand to invite his brother over.

They’d barely had any time together since all of this started, too caught up in feelings that only had negative outlets. He missed the feeling of his brother’s scales against his.

Maybe he could have some of that now, while they waited for all of this to be over.

“Sunny,” Sideswipe said softly when Sunstreaker took his hand and flicked his tail to glide the rest of the way over, aided by Sideswipe’s pull on his arm. Sunstreaker didn’t say anything, but pulled him into his arms. Sideswipe melted against his chest, closing his eyes and sighing quietly.

He’d missed this.

Sunstreaker was hotter to touch than usual, but Sideswipe suspected he was the same. It didn’t matter. Sunstreaker was still tense, but he wasn’t bleeding violence all over the place, which gave Sideswipe hope that it was all going to come to an end soon. Maybe things were on the downswing, finally.

Sunstreaker held him, and Sideswipe fell into a fitful sleep, hoping Sunstreaker would follow. They both needed the rest.

It wasn’t very restful rest, but it was better than nothing.

He didn’t know how long he was out for before Sunstreaker’s voice woke him up. “Sideswipe.” It was strangled and pained and kicked Sideswipe straight out of his sleep. His tail jerk reaction that Sunstreaker had somehow gotten injured seemed foolish, but he didn’t know what else could have caused a voice like that either.

Sunstreaker’s hold on him had tightened, which wasn’t unwelcome, but was a little unexpected. “Sunny?” Sideswipe asked, peering up at his brother’s face.

His twin’s hold tightened further. “I can’t- I have to- I can’t.”

“Can’t what? Sunny?” Sideswipe frowned, trying to pull away to get a better look at his brother.

Sunstreaker wouldn’t let him, his arms tightening around him and holding him in place. That was a little weird, but it wouldn’t have been too alarming on its own if he hadn’t felt something brush up against his tail just then.

Something that wasn’t Sunstreaker’s tail, or any of his fins, or his arms.

Sideswipe stiffened instantly, dread rushing to meet him like the maw of a dreadjaw. “Sunny?” he asked again, voice thin, trying to wriggle free from Sunstreaker’ hold. It was no longer welcome, but Sunstreaker wouldn’t let go of him.

His tail twitched, and Sideswipe could feel that something brush up against him again.

He didn’t want to look.

“Sunny. Let go of me,” he said, forcing his voice to be calm despite the quickly rising panic. This was bad.

It only got worse when Sunstreaker merely growled, a sound that was in no small part possessive. 

Sunstreaker moved his tail again, this time with more purpose, humping against Sideswipe. Panic won over and he twisted, hard, to break free from Sunstreaker’s embrace. He shoved his arms between them, pushing at Sunstreaker’s chest to drive him off of him, and Sunstreaker did break his hold.

But only to grab his wrists instead.

Sideswipe screamed in frustration when his arms were yanked up and back, Sunstreaker forcing him back against the floor. He tried to use his tail to flail free, but Sunstreaker pressed down on him, transferring his wrists into one hand and using his newly freed arm to grab a hold of his hip instead.

His claws instantly pierced through his skin, hooking under to keep him in place despite his wiggling.

And Primus but Sideswipe wiggled, doing anything and everything he could to break Sunstreaker’s hold on him. Nothing worked. Sunstreaker’s grip on him was bruising, and he couldn’t get the leverage to break free. All the while Sunstreaker worked his tail against him, twitch by twitch, rubbing that damned thing to his underside.

And too close to places he wanted nowhere near it.

Breathing hard, Sideswipe finally hazarded a glance down his twisting body, just to confirm what he already knew. Sunstreaker’s erection was fully out from his slit, and mere inches from Sideswipe’s.

He moaned. Sideswipe fucking moaned despite himself, fear temporarily drowned by primal need.

He hated himself for it instantly. “Sunstreaker,” he pleaded, but Sunstreaker hardly seemed lucid, and Sideswipe was getting a frightening taste of what his brother was going through as his body arched against his own wishes, brushing up against Sunstreaker’s member to the tune of a reverberating growl from the golden twin. His slit was opening in response to the promise of sex, heat flushing his body from head to tail tip.

But he didn’t want this. Primus, he didn’t want this.

“Sunstreaker, please. Please, please no!” Sideswipe begged even as Sunstreaker’s arms tightened and he held his hips in place long enough to line them together. It didn’t matter how much he tried to move away, Sunstreaker’s aim was unerring when the tip of his length nudged into Sideswipe’s slit, and he thrust all the way in at once. “No!”

Sideswipe screamed. It didn’t hurt, and that hurt worse than any physical pain could have.

This is wrong.

That was the one thing he did know even as his body moved with a mind of its own, drunk on the fact the need was finally being seen to. He groaned as Sunstreaker began to move, ecstasy lighting up his nerves and making his body rock back against his brother.

His brother. His own damn brother was fucking him.

Sideswipe sobbed, but he couldn’t find it in himself to fight, not when everything about him sighed with relief that he was finally doing what he was supposed to be doing. Mating. He’d put it off long enough.

He never wanted it to be like this.

Sunstreaker pressed down against him, still holding his wrists above his head, though it was doubtful that would’ve been needed anymore. His body reciprocated the act without any hesitance, convinced that this was right and good. How could it be wrong?

Procreate.

He didn’t want this! Not here, not with his brother. He cried out when Sunstreaker shoved in particularly deep, pleasure making his tail flail for more. He’d never in his life felt anything better than the just now, with Sunstreaker’s member opening him up over and over again, the perfect snug fit for his slit—none too big, none too small, filling him up just right…

The heat in his body reached its unexpected tipping point without a warning and Sideswipe bucked up with a surprised cry, his whole body stiffening and grinding itself against Sunstreaker, impaling himself as deeply as he could. Sunstreaker hissed above him and hunched over, humping once, twice, before he thrust in deep for one last time. Sideswipe could feel a burst of heat deep in his slit and misery almost ate him alive right there and then.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

How could this happen?

Sunstreaker slumped over him, panting to the same rhythm Sideswipe was as their bodies climbed down from their twin climaxes. His grip on Sideswipe’s wrists loosened until Sideswipe carefully pulled his arms free.

He could’ve pushed Sunstreaker off of him. Probably should’ve. Clarity was quickly returning now that the accursed hormones were retreating, satisfied that the most important task of the year had been fulfilled, and Sideswipe felt…

He wasn’t angry. He couldn’t be when he knew firsthand the kind of torture Sunstreaker had been through. That he himself had been through.

Maybe this had been inevitable all along. Maybe they’d just been putting off what couldn’t be avoided.

Reproduction had to take place. That was the prime dictum of life.

What had made him think they could escape it just because of the circumstances they were in? Just because they were trapped together with no one else around? Just because they were siblings?

They were old enough now. They’d had six years free of that regulation, too young to partake.

But that was over now.

Sideswipe bit his lip, his breath hitching. Sunstreaker stirred above him and carefully pulled out. Sideswipe twitched at the retreat and the emptiness that followed, and hated, despised the part of him that already missed his brother’s length.

It didn’t belong in him, not in him, but a part of him whispered that yes, yes it did. For as long as they were alone here, yes it did.

Sunstreaker drew in a deep breath and Sideswipe’s attention shifted to him just when his brother shook his head, likely clearing the last remnants of his rut. His eyes came up, full of sorrow when they met Sideswipe’s gaze.

And Sideswipe’s heart broke, for both of them. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Sunstreaker repeated, releasing his hip and bringing his bloodied claws to Sideswipe’s face instead, cradling it in his palm. Sideswipe closed his eyes and nuzzled against it.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he whispered to every apology, wrapping his arms to Sunstreaker’s shoulders and pulling his brother back down over him, seeking that touch and reassurance. He wouldn’t let this come between them. He wouldn’t.

He couldn’t.

What had they been reduced to?

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

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

[bombshellbois]

Bait

@harringroveweekoflove

Harringrove Week of Love Day 2: Mythological Creature AU

Rating: T

Words: 1641

Summary: Steve is barely paid enough to scoop ice cream under the hot sun at the Hawkins Aquarium. He's definitely not paid enough to deal with their asshole of a science project.

Steve is used to Dr. Owens showing up at his job by now. The Scoops Ahoy stand at the Hawkins Aquarium sees most of the science staff at some point because Indiana summers are fucking hot and a 15% employee discount is a 15% employee discount. Dr. Owens doesn’t come for the ice cream, though. He comes to ruin Steve’s day, usually carrying a bucket of raw fish for the... secondary duties Steve has now. 

There is no bucket today. There’s a black eye, a busted lip, and a ruined wetsuit under a Hawkins Aquarium windbreaker, but no bucket. The signs of carnage are not uncommon either. 

“Harrington.”

“Still think having a mermaid in an aquarium is a good idea?” Steve asks, glancing at him briefly before he goes back to wiping down the stand’s serving counter. 

“I didn’t ask your opinion,” Owens says shortly. Talking splits his lip back open.

“But you want something from me.”

“You’re on the clock, aren’t you?”

Steve could argue, and sometimes he has, that he’s on Scoops Ahoy’s clock, not Owens’. Not even the aquarium’s, technically. And he’s being paid 3 bucks an hour to sling ice cream, not deal with the world’s first known mermaid. But Owens seems to be having a tough day, so he lets it go. 

“Fine. Robin will be back from her break in 5 minutes. What do you need?”

***

Once Robin is firmly in charge of the ice cream scoop, Steve heads to the giant laboratory at the back of the aquarium. The heavy door buzzes open as soon as whoever watches the cameras sees him coming. Yeah, they all know him here, the asshole in the sailor uniform who’s Owens’ bitch.

‘We need to clean the tank,’ Owens had said. Which meant they needed to empty the tank first. 

Billy wasn’t having any of that, apparently. 

Steve sighs as he climbs the industrial staircase up to the top of the massive 2-story tank. There’s a lot of humming in his ears from the giant industrial filter and all the equipment in the room. He can’t hear shit inside the tank, but he doesn’t need to. A cursory glance over his shoulder confirms that, yep, as per usual, he’s got a mermaid following behind him. Probably staring at his ass. 

Billy pops up at the top of the tank, folding his arms on the rim of it as Steve reaches the top of the stairs. He shakes his head of wet, blond curls out, and grins when water splatters all over Steve’s blue work uniform. Steve has no idea where a mermaid learned to be such an asshole. 

“Hey, pretty boy,” he says, running his tongue over his sharp teeth. Steve doesn’t know where he learned that either. 

“Why are you roughing up Owens?” Steve asks, crouching on the platform along the lip of the tank, bringing himself down to Billy’s height. “You always bitch that your tank isn’t clean enough.”

“It’s not. Because it’s a fucking tank and not an ocean.” Billy flashes him a grin that shows off his teeth, like rows of pins. “What can I say? They don’t handle the merchandise correctly.”

Steve gives Billy a critical once-over. He’s all muscle, from the sturdy human trunk to the thick red tail that Steve has seen him use to break ribs. “Too delicate for Owens’ handling? That’s what you’re sticking with?”

Billy scrunches his nose, and that’s all the warning Steve gets. The giant fan of his tail fin pops out of the water and slaps down on the surface, hard. It sprays Steve with more cold water that definitely, definitely needs that cleaning. He coughs and splutters, fumbling for his hat when it falls. Billy makes a grab for it, but Steve manages to slap his hand away. This time. Billy already has two of these stashed somewhere in his tank, and Steve’s boss is going to start charging him if he keeps losing them. Even if it’s aquarium property that’s stealing them.

“Were you saying something there, princess?”

“Asshole.” Steve drops his weight back and sits on his butt. “What’s got your mer-panties in a wad? Seriously.”

Billy’s tail fin slides back under the water and he shrugs. “Where’ve you been? You haven’t come to see me.”

Ah. That’s probably it. “Missed me?” 

That earns him a dramatic rolling of eyes as if Billy has ever heard of anything so absurd. As if he hasn’t just roughed up a man in his fifties to get Steve to come to his tank. As if Steve is somehow the unreasonable one here.

“It’s okay if you did.” 

“We don’t feel shit like that. Merfolk aren’t pussies.”

Steve is pretty sure that’s a lie. According to Owens, mermaids might have a very complex system of interpersonal relationships, which may or may not include bonding the way humans do, blah blah blah. From what Steve can tell, Billy’s pretty human in respect to how his emotions work. He’s just a typical guy about them, meaning he doesn’t want to talk about them or acknowledge that they exist. 

He really hates that he’s the emotionally mature one here. That is not a thing that should be happening in Steve’s life right now. Robin has already confirmed for him that if emotions were a car, he wouldn’t even have a learner’s permit. He’d still be on roller skates. It’s a sound analogy, and it’s comforting because it confirms what Steve pretty much already knew. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t come to see you,” he says because it’s just faster. Pointing out that he’s not allowed inside this place unless Owens has requested his help won’t end well. Steve is pretty sure that’ll make Billy  just dig in his proverbial heels every time he wants to see Steve. That’s kind of sweet, in a Billy sort of way, but Steve doesn’t want to suddenly find himself working six days a week and on-call for Sundays even though the aquarium is closed. Easier to just take the blame. 

Billy huffs a breath out through his nose. “You’re just being nice so I’ll let them clean the tank.”

“And you were only an asshole to Owens so I’d show up and be nice to you,” Steve points out. He’s learned not to let Billy’s bullshit slide. He might be some majestic legend of the sea, but he’s also an asshole. And an opportunist. 

Billy breaks out into a grin, doing that Thing with his tongue again. “You got me.”

“So. Will you let them clean the tank?” Steve asks. “I’ll bring you your lunch in the holding tank and tell you about the bullshit new ice cream flavor they’re making us push.”

Billy looks up and off to one side as if he’s considering it. “Hm... sure.”

That was relatively easy. Small mercies. “Awesome,” Steve says, getting to his feet, sneakers squeaking on the wet platform. “I’ll tell Owens to get that hammock thing th—“

“But only if you carry me.”

Steve stares down at him. Billy just gives him a shit-eating grin, popping his tail fin back up and swaying it in what Steve swears is a taunt. Not that he knows anything about mermaid body language but that... that’s taunting right there. 

“No.”

“Then I’m not leaving my tank.”

“Billy.”

“Steve.”

Steve flails helplessly, gesturing to include all of Billy. “Dude. You’re over 200 lbs.”

Billy fakes an affronted look and pats his sculpted abdomen. “Hey. I’ve been watching my figure.”

“Your tail is the size of a person.”

“Only a small-to-medium size person.”

“I am not hauling your slimy ass down two flights of stairs.” Steve is not paid enough for this bullshit to begin with, but this is a whole new level of paid that he’s not getting. 

“Excuse you, I am not slimy!” Billy strikes the water again with his tail on a hard angle, sending a small wave of water crashing over Steve. Then he shoves back from the side of the tank and starts to submerge. 

“No, no, no!” Steve coughs and wipes the water from his face, crouching back down. “Okay. Okay, you win, I’ll carry you.”

Billy pauses and raises an eyebrow. “...And?”

“And... you’re not slimy.” Steve has no idea if that’s true or not because he doesn’t usually have to haul Billy’s entire ass around. But apparently, he’s about to find out. 

***

Getting down two flights of industrial stairs with a mermaid whose tail is the size of Steve when the whole thing is out of the water is... interesting. In a lot of bad ways. Steve’s arms feel like they might rip out of his sockets after the first  five steps because Billy is well over 200 lbs of muscle and fucking fish scales and maybe he’s not slimy but he’s definitely slippery. And then he has to get up a half flight of stairs to get Billy to the smaller holding tank. 

Billy thinks the whole thing is hilarious, and also steals his hat in the process. 

The only satisfaction Steve gets is dropping Billy’s heavy mer-ass into the holding tank completely without ceremony. Which, as he should have remembered, does the same thing as dropping any other large, heavy object into the water. Steve gets soaked for a third time today when the wave it creates crashes over him, but at least this one doesn’t reek. And maybe it even gets some of the fish smell out of his uniform. 

Billy pops back up from the water, laughing his ass off. “Good thing you look good wet, pretty boy,” he says, leaning on the side of his tank. “Now I believe you said something about lunch?” He snaps his fingers twice. “Chop, chop, I’m starving.”

Mermaids are assholes and Steve is absolutely not paid enough to deal with them.

[scribble-blog]

Soulmate AU part 8!!!

First • Previous • Here • Next

“I need you to call your father, Wayne,” Ivy hissed, hand over the slowly growing red spot on her side. “And tell him that Scarecrow and his thugs have decided to trash up my gardens.” She spat the words furiously for someone who was starting to look paler than the Joker’s clown makeup. “Get your date out of here while you can.”

From the crashing sound behind Ivy, that wasn’t possible.

“Miss,” Marinette moved forward. “Let Damian call for help. You need medical attention.”

Ivy just laughed at that, wincing. “Yeah.”

Damian’s hands had been on his phone since Ivy showed up, dialing Alfred’s number and letting the call roll, knowing that he would hear everything and send whoever could help. He should be getting away from them, trying to change so Robin could come help-

Marinette’s eyes just narrowed. “You’re bleeding out.” With much more force than Damian thought she could exert with her tiny frame, she pulled Ivy forward, down to the bench, and then started tearing away the edges of the shirt that was soaked with red. “Damian. Call for help.”

He made a show of pulling the phone out, pretended to dial, and then held it up. Alfred spoke up.

“Master Bruce is already on his way. Masters Jason and Tim as well.”

“Alfred,” he said, playacting it out. “Something is going on at the gardens. Pam’s been shot and said that it’s Scarecrow.”

“ETA seven minutes, Master Damian. Apologies that this disrupted your date.”

Said ‘date’ was ripping the hem of her own dress into strips, while helping Ivy maintain pressure on the wound, then winding the bandages around her with a precision that spoke to past experience.

“Thank you, Alfred. We’ll sit tight, and try to stay out of sight.”

He didn’t end the call. It was far better to have the line open in case anything else went down.

“That’s as much as I can do,” Marinette said, face set in determination. “Is there anyway we can get you out and to some actual medical personnel?”

Ivy made a face. “You’ve done plenty, kid. I’ll probably be just fine.”

“You’ve been shot!” Marinette’s voice went high with outrage.

“Looky here,” a voice from the door called out.

Damian faced the idiot. Hulking figure, gun-toting. Typical.

“We got a Wayne, a girl, and Ivy, holed up in the back,” he spoke into an earpiece. “The three of you are coming with me.”

“Monsieur,” Marinette spoke up coldly. “This woman is shot, still bleeding. I will not allow you to move her.”

With a feeling like ice water down his back, he realized he couldn’t actually leave. This girl wouldn’t last face to face with a goon, let alone Scarecrow. Damian stood beside her. “Marinette, these men are dangerous. Don’t antagonize them.”

“Listen to the boy, sweetheart,” the man growled, getting up close in her face. “Now, you and Wayne are gonna help her up, and bring her to the front. If she passes out or dies, I guess you drag the body. Understood?”

Damian can feel it right before she decides to do something, and he tries to move before it happens to preempt whatever retaliation for her snark is incoming.

And then without words, she drives one hand up into his face, her knee into his crotch, and uses his doubling over to sweep his legs out from under him. With one swift movement, she pulls his head forward and then bashes it back to the floor. The man’s eyes roll up in his head.

Damian is left, if he is being honest, a little breathless. He’d completely forgotten that Drake had said she’d been able to take him down. Between her small stature and innocent appearance, she seemed so...

“Damian,” Marinette says levelly. “Check the hallway. We need to move to a different room.”

Well. He supposed he won’t ever make the mistake of calling her harmless.

He does as she asks, without question. He’s caught halfway between disbelief and high elation. Marinette had seemed sweet and funny and smart in their quiet awkward conversation, but this was- he let himself be pleasantly surprised by just how relieved he was that his soulmate knew how to protect herself.

And watching her take down a guy easily two times her size was, to be frank, very attractive.

“Clear for now,” he told her lowly. She was helping up Ivy. “Let’s take the left, it’s a slightly longer route to the front so we should have a bit more time to hide.”

Before, he would’ve been surprised by her taking most of Ivy’s weight as she helped her walk. Now, it made sense, even if her height made the image unusual.

“Where’s the biggest tree in this place?”

His head whipped towards her. “Too close to the front. We won’t make it.”

“Side exits?”

“Can’t risk them. Probably has men outside.”

“Dark room for night blooming plants?”

Ivy, pale with a thin sheen of sweat, looked up. “Three rooms down on the right. Smart gal you picked up, Wayne.”

He could only nod, starting to lead them. Ivy’s labored breath was too loud, but there wasn’t much they could do.

“Stop,” Marinette breathed, and Damian did so without hesitation. He pushed himself against the wall as Marinette did her best to do the same, Ivy leaning against the wall and her shoulder.

He heard the footsteps a moment after. Three sets. Marinette tensed and he waited.

She met his eyes, and he nodded at her, reassuring the best he can. She straightened though, so it mustn’t have been too bad.

The footsteps were too close. He took a centering breath, and leapt the moment he saw movement.

The first man went down easily, the second fumbling with his gun long enough for Damian to disarm him and send him flying, joining his friend in a heap against the wall. The third man was raising his gun even as Damian spun back to him, but before he could do anything Marinette was there, one hand chopping against his exposed throat, the other wrenching the gun away.

The man couldn’t recover enough to retaliate before Damian crossed the divide and delivered a blow that knocked him unconscious.

“Thanks,” Marinette breathed out, just a bit to close to him. His eyes met hers again and that electric current returned, sharp and steady between them even with no contact.

Ivy coughed.

Damian turned away instantly. Marinette slipped right back into steadying Ivy, and they continued to the correct room without any further interruptions.

The room wasn’t in total darkness- there were flowers, grasses, and mosses that exuded faint bioluminescence, but the soft glow did little to actually illuminate the room. If anything, it cast the shadows darker, leaving every shadow absolute.

It was brilliant.

Marinette was already feeling along, finding somewhere dark and soft for Ivy to recline. Damian skulked after them, one eye on the door and the other on his phone. The call was still open, Alfred waiting on the other end. Ivy was quiet enough now that he didn’t dare break the silence to speak to him.

He received an ETA text of two minutes. He could only hope that they wouldn’t check this room.

They would though.

And Damian would be ready when they did.

TAGLIST:

@the-fusionist @rebecarojas07 @lowandco @kotaleartzu @resignedcatservant @alenee13 @mystery-5-5 @ladybug-182 @actual-disaster-human @loysydark @rumbelle18 @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @athena452 @mochegato @ash-amg @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thestressmademedoit @sassakitty @doriebell @toodaloo-kangaroo @myazael @theatreandcomicfreak @mer-mel @dahjokester @northernbluetongue @abrx2002 @area51qt @jessigurl-design @renscorpio @cici-schnee @multplelifes @redscarlet95 @razzledazzle247 @rosep16 @emotionalsupportginger @kceedraws @tired-butterfly @kuroko26 @catthhay @moonystars14 @shamefullove @shreky-boi @imanerddealwith @chaosace @captainmac6 @purple-people-eaters-productions @crazylittlemunchkin @weird-pale-blonde-person @bigpicklebananatree

[dracjoonie]

| ⋄ Moonchild ⋄ | Mer!Joon AU |Chap.2 Mudskipper|

⥼ Pairings : Mermaid!Namjoon x Human!Fem!Reader

⥼ Tags : Fluff, eventual smut, slow-ish burn, do Mermen count as hybrids?.. mer!joon x fem!reader

⥼ Summary : What happens when a son of the moon and sea discovers the surface for the first time. And as he stumbles through it; trying to adjust to these new things she called “feet” and “legs”, would it be the surface he fell for, or her?

Basically, Namjoon as the little mermaid~ Minus the whole plot.

⥼ Word Count : 4.5k

⥼ A/N : I know its been a long time since I updated, and I’m really sorry about that ^^” I had a lot of doubts around where I wanted the story to go, but I think I’m all sorted out now! Anyway, I hope this is well received <3 

You tasted salt again. Felt it burning in your eyes and deep in your sinuses. You wished your scream when the wave hit sounded less embarrassing, but you figured it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like you were the only one. Though he looked relieved when he saw the great big shadow of a wave looming above the both of you. 

And he was, but that feeling lasted about as quickly as it came.

The wave knocked you back like a steel wall, and then dragged you forward harshly against the rough sand. Not into the ocean, thankfully. It dragged you far enough for your skin to feel raw. But that had nothing to do with why his relief was so short lived. 

He thought the water would bring his tail back.

He was wrong. 

So what does a Moonchild do when faced with extra limbs, too many joints, and not enough coordination? Turns out they scream. A lot. You would think something that lived primarily underwater wouldn’t have a set of lungs like that, but you were wrong. Baby’s and sirens should have told you that. But the longer he went the more you wondered if he needed air to breath at all. 

“COULD YOU CALM DOWN ALREADY!?” 

“CALM DOWN!!?? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!?? WHY DO I HAVE LEGS!!?? WHAT ARE THOSE!!?? WHAT IS THIS!?? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!?? I’M UGLY!!!” 

“Over dramatic much? jeez..” 

“WHAT!??” 

You began to try and pick yourself up out of the sand, wanting to avoid near drowning for what would become the third time that day. 

“You screaming. It’s dramatic.”

“How am I supposed to react!!?? -Wait, how did you do that!!?” You turned back to flash him a quizzical expression; forgetting for a moment that he had probably never seen someone “walk” before.  

You had only walked a couple of feet up the shore away from him, but for him that was way too far for comfort. Like you ditched him on a bike with no training wheels, except the pavement was slippery sand -if sand was outer space. He flipped himself onto his stomach and did what he could to drag himself after you. He learned fast though, switching to a military-esc crawl when he realized you can only pull yourself so far in a substance with little to no leverage. 

You watched him, still in disbelief that this whole situation was actually happening. 

Soon he made it to the end of his difficult journey, grabbing at your ankles with his dried out hands and huffing out in exasperation. 

“How did you travel like that!?” You snorted at his phrasing.

“I walked.” He tilted himself in the sand to glare up at you, his sharp eyes still too shiny and vibrant to be intimidated by. Especially in his position, with his half wet and half dried clumps of hair invading his face from all sides. You chuckled, squatting down so he wouldn’t have to strain so hard with his feeble glaring. You startled him again with your speed, but he only jolted a little and kept his grip around your ankles. 

“I’ll show you how.” His eyes got real big at that.

“To.. wal-k? -I can’t do that.” 

You had to smile half heatedly at his defeated expression and that sorry look in his eyes. “I just want to swim..” He continued, a sad note in his voice.  

“Well we can figure out your missing tail situation later, for now let me just get you walking so you don’t cook and die out here.” You realized how poor your choice of words were when he started scrambling around in fear. “THAT CAN HAPPEN!!?? WHY DO YOU LIVE UP HERE!!??” 

“Uhh forget I said that, I was exaggerating.. Mostly. Flip over for me, ok?” 

He stammered, but did as he was told. He flopped back on his back, looking up at you sternly. You were able to ignore how naked he was right up until then, you shifted your gaze to the skys trying to talk yourself back into ignoring it until you could get him off the beach and clothed. That wasn’t really a conversation you were willing to have right now, it was barely morning and the day already felt too long. You only hoped he wouldn’t ask you anything specific.. That didn’t have to do with his legs. 

You walked around his form, sitting yourself back in the sand beside his knees. You grabbed his hand that laid beside him, and he gripped yours tightly. 

“I’m gonna help you sit first -give me your other hand too." He strained to look at you from on his back while reaching out to you with his other hand. You held them both now, each of your hands holding one of his reassuringly. You pulled on his arms, not too hard or too fast, just enough to raise his torso slowly off the sand. His balance wavered and tilted once he was upright, but instead of falling back he spread his legs and landed with his palms in the sand between them. He looked stunned, and you stayed at bay waiting for his next reaction. He smiled, a touch of confidence reaching his full lips. 

"Did I do it?" You tried your best not to laugh at him too much at the excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, you've got step one down -now bend your knees."

"My what?"

“Your… leg elbows." He frowned as he looked down at his new appendages, trying to pin point what it was you were talking about. He made an audible "ah!" When he figured it out.  

You held your hands out again as a balancing option but he was doing just fine staying upright on his own now. He bent one leg up, looking shocked that only one of them moved when he coaxed it. He tucked his leg in close to his chest with his foot planted in the sand before he fought to do the same with the other leg.

"Like this?" You nodded as you stood back up and stepped directly in front of him. He gently placed a foot on each of his in preparation as he watched you curiously. 

"So these-" you tapped your feet over his to make a point. "Are your feet, to stand you have to balance all your weight on them. The sand’s gonna be moving under them so this isn’t gonna be ideal, but this is what we're working with." You bent down and urged him to give you his hands again, and he did.

"You ready?" He yelped a yes in reply and you took the que. You pulled on his hands, feeling him tensing the muscles in his legs to catch his own weight. 

"Push on your feet." He nodded, tensing his legs more and helping you raise him up fully. He shot up quickly once he figured out the trick to it, startling you this time. He stood taller than you, which was concerning when he started to tip over.

"PUT YOUR ARMS OUT FOR BALANCE!" You shrieked, moving your feet off of his and throwing your hands up to catch his shoulders if it came to that. Suddenly his head was suspended a foot under yours.

He had bent his knees. He was still wavering in the wind a little bit, but he was standing; mostly, all on his own. 

"Hey!! You've got step two down...kinda. Can you straighten up?" He glanced up at you, his eyebrows knitted in concentration but you could see that he was gonna try his best at whatever you asked him to do. He started to straighten his legs out, his arms still far from his sides. He raised up slowly watching your eyes the whole way until he was stood above you again. Something behind you caught his eye and he reeled, ducking back down and hiding his face in your shoulder as he gripped onto you for balance.

"The sun.."

You gripped his arms as you looked down at him questioningly.

"Yeah..? It's sunrise now." You glanced back behind you being sure not to budge him and looked back at all the reds and pinks of the morning sky, the sun peeking up over the water. You were thankful for it, that little bit of sunlight was the only thing keeping you warm in your drenched clothing. 

"I'm not supposed to be on the surface when the sun is rising -I'm not supposed to be up here at all -but especially not when she's chasing the moon away." 

You were dumbfounded.

"Um.. well. You might have to make an acception today-"

"Are you not scared of her?"

You realized that this must have been some deep rooted merpeople thing, maybe the reason no one had ever seen one before. But he was on the sand now with the sun peaking over the horizon, and he was doing just fine. Whatever impending doom he was sacred of couldn’t have been real.. Or true -you hoped.

"Uhh.. no?" You questioned, seeing if he would say more but all he did was keep his head tucked into your shoulder. You patted his arms timidly, trying to conjure him some comfort.

“Hey.. Whats your name anyway?” He peaked up at you, his eyes swirling and glimmering in the rising light.

“Its Namjoon, and you?” He said in a rush. 

“Y/n.. Listen -its ok if you’re scared of the sun, but its only gonna get higher in the sky the longer we stand here.” That didn’t help, and you knew that as soon as the words left your mouth and you saw him start to tremble. 

“..Namjoon, really.. It’s not gonna hurt you. Just focus on the ocean, isn’t it beautiful like this?” 

That time did something. He started to peak his head up again, his earrings dangling as he moved on wobbly legs. He rose up, still jumpy, but determined. He held onto you the whole way up with his eyes so full of wonder as he calmed himself enough to look at the scenery behind you. You turned your head to see what he was seeing. The stark red glow of the sun as it broke through the horizon, still just a crescent on the surface but its light reflected off the waves and made the clouds glow in pinks and oranges. He stood like that a while; bravely, long enough for you to turn back to him and see the ocean in his eyes.

“See?” He only nodded.

“But don’t stare too long, I’m not sure what it’ll do to your big fish eyes.” “-Hey!” He looked at you again, wobbling from how quick he turned to you with an offended look on his face. “..I’m not a fish.” He pouted as he spoke and you couldn’t help giggling at his expense.

“Yeah, yeah. Lets get you walking fish boy.” Despite his pout he still nodded and looked back down at his new feet. You stepped back from him with your hands still out to catch him if he fell.

“Ok -step three. You’ll need to lift up one foot at a time and put them down in front of each other one behind the other -like this.” You stopped to demonstrate under his incredulous glare. He huffed and lifted his first foot, he tipped over but lept that foot forward in the sand to catch himself in time. He flung his hands out in the air again for balance too, just like you taught him.

“Heyy! That’s one step, now do the other one.” He glared up at you again and you grinned. You never thought you would be teaching a grown man to walk, but there was something endearing about it all. He tried stepping with the other foot and balanced it better this time as he placed it in the sand just in front of his first one. He tried it a few more times, turning a corner and just trying to get a hang of it. He stood a little straighter the longer he kept trying.

You let him walk on his own until he was walking circles around you. Somewhere along the line he figured out how to hop and land on his toes, he was very fond of that. You were happy he was having such a good time after he had just been screaming his lungs out. But unfortunately there was another thing you needed to point out to him, preferable before other onlookers started to show up. 

“Hey Namjoon!?” You shouted to him, waving your arms to coax him over from the direction his skipped off to. Somehow he figured out how to do little spinning jumps when you weren’t watching. He landed on his tip toes but it didn’t look like he was expecting the wave of dizziness that hit him once he stopped spinning. You watched him giggle and tip sideways to one knee mid wave.

“Y/n!! Everything is spinning!! The surface is fun!!” You chuckled at him as you made it over to where he was. You watched him flop himself on his back and dance his fingers up towards the sky.  Now that the sun was up you could see the delicate pastels in his hair more clearly. Strands of lilac and mint and powdered blues evenly blended amongst soft silvers and cool whites. 

“Not to burst your bubble, but there’s something you should know.” His ears perked up as he fought to focus on your figure looming above him.

“You’re naked.” He frowned up at you, flopping his hand in your direction

“And you’re not.” You sighed. This really wasn’t something you were up for explaining more in depth. 

“Uh.. we don’t really do that up here.. Be naked! That is..In public.” He tilted his head in the sand as he continued to frown.

“Why?” You thought about it for a second. Of course you knew why. It was awkward, it was distracting. It wasn’t a common occurrence to see some adult man zipping around showing full frontal. Not to mention it wasn’t exactly kid friendly. But you weren’t sure how to explain all that to him, or where to start. You banked on a shorter answer.

“I don’t know, its inappropriate?” 

“Why?” He said again, unsatisfied. You pinched your brow as you thought again. 

“It’s distracting?” 

“Are you distracted?” He didn’t miss a beat when he questioned you back. And you really didn’t want to answer that. So you didn’t.

“... Anyway. I found this abandoned towel..  You should wrap it around your waist so we can go into town without you mooning anybody.” 

“Mooning?” He sat up as he questioned you, wresting his elbows on his fresh new knees. You already felt too mentally drained from his previous questions, you didn’t even think about touching that one.

“You’ll have to figure that one out on your own.” You tossed the towel into his lap as he rose a brow at you, but he ultimately obliged once he got himself upright again. 

~~

You hadn’t given much thought to your own situation until you were walking back into the town you thought you finally got away from. It turned out jumping ship wasn’t the most productive strategy for getting away. And you still weren’t sure what happened in between you watching the lights of your home town get farther and farther away --and the burn of salt water filling your lungs. Regardless, you were thankful Namjoon saved you. Even if among all the chaos he brought with him you hadn’t found the time to thank him yet. You would make sure to. Your personality may be flippant most of the time, but you really were thankful. This guy just left his whole world to save your life without even thinking, and because of that there was a small chance he couldn’t ever get back. 

You felt for him and would do everything you could to help him find his tail, but your first form of thank you would be to show him around your small town on the surface. Surfing the web for merman lore to help send him home could come later. For now, a good distraction from his current predicament was in order. And distractions were just about everything for him. 

He was first fascinated when you made your way off the beach and he came in contact with the side walk for the first time. And fencing..and how sharp gravel is. And the way his mouth dropped when he finally looked up and saw his first building was a sight to see. You wished the milestone would be something better than a public restroom, but he was happy enough. He really wanted to go inside, but you promised him you would take him somewhere better.. Somewhere cleaner. 

When he spotted his first tree was the same time he learned how to run. He ran right up to this great big palm tree and flung his arms around it, resting his ear against its trunk. 

“This is alive!!” He exclaimed, and all you could do was giggle as you watched him look up and sway in tandem with the fluttering of its leaves. "Its old.. it must have watched the moon and the sun chase each other so many times.. What do I call you?"

"That's a palm tree" He grinned. "A palm tree, amazing. I hope you don't mind if I rest my palms on you." 

"It's just a plant, they don't have feelings." Something in the air moved when you said that, something other than Namjoon's jaw dropping to the sand.. "Are all humans this rude.” You knew it was the tree he was asking, so you merely rolled your eyes and kept walking down the sunny side walk with a grin. 

Finding him clothes didn’t take much time at all, street vendors were practically throwing themselves at him when they were barely set up for the morning. He was eye catching, so you weren’t surprised. With his long and delicate silver hair, and his eyes you couldn’t always place a color on. Not to mention how decorated he was in perfect pearls and pearlized sea shells, all wrapped in what you guessed was a seaweed equivalent to twine. Not only was be beautiful, but he looked expensive. And his big curious puppy dog eyes made him look a touch gullible. You couldn’t blame anyone for wanting to sell him their goods until his pockets ran dry. Little did they know it was your pockets, it would be a while before they were dry, and the majority of your funds were still on the ship headed in the opposite direction. 

You were looking around at the third booth in a row that Namjoon was ushered into. The sales women had barely spared you a glance, something you didn’t mind at all. You looked around at the little shark tooth necklaces and snickered at the large assortment of mood rings. You checked the price on a few of them, four dollars a piece. You didn’t have much, but you would keep them in mind. They were definitely something you though Namjoon would appreciate. 

The sales woman was a lot older; very friendly, and didn’t have much care for personal space. But Namjoon didn’t seem to mind, even when the woman was forking through his hair without asking. Though you might not be able to know if he did have a problem, he could barely get a word in.

“Ohhh! Sweetheart! You’ll love this!” You heard the older woman exclaim, and it wasn’t the first time.

“I do!-”

“Great! I can wrap it for you! It’ll be $10! oHH, wait right there sweety I know something else you’ll just die for!” 

You snickered at the whole encounter, still wondering and touching things lightly. Part of you was evilly waiting to see what would happen when the woman found out he was broke. But --she did have shorts in her shop, and that was something he genuinely needed. You made your way around until you were met eye to eye with Namjoon again. You raised your brows at him in a silent question of “Are you ok?”  He nodded and blinked, averting his eyes to see where the woman had gone looking. He leaned into you to whisper in your ear shortly after.

“What is a dollar?” You grinned at the innocent question. 

“Its money. What do you all use for money down there anyway?” You whispered back. Not that some random old woman would know you were conversing with a merman about merman currency, but you felt weird speaking any louder.

“Oh, we barter. I think some other cultures of moonchildren use money though.”

“So there’s more of you than just where you’re from?” You asked genuinely curious, and he frowned at you like you had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

“Of course?” 

“Hey, I didn’t know any existed two hours ago. And you didn’t know about humans, so don’t even.” 

He paused.

“..That’s fair.” 

Just then the old women popped back up with what she had been rummaging for. 

“This here!” She held out an elaborate necklace in her hands. Most of it was made up of several cords with tiny pearlescent blue beads, both sides coming around to the center to hold a good sized oyster shell with moon phases carved into it. It was beautiful; and she was right, he loved it. He gasped when he saw it, holding out his palms for the women to place it in. 

“Oh! This is so beautiful! The carving here is so precise, this can’t have been done with a shell pick..” He spun the necklace around in his hands, feeling all the beads and even holding it up to see the moon phases against the sunlight. 

“But I don’t have any dollars..” The woman’s demeanor changed, just as you knew it would. She reached up for his hands with her short stature, securing the necklace away from him. 

“No money, no sale.” 

“How much is it?” You spoke watching the sad swirl in Namjoon’s eyes. The women almost looked shocked at you, as if she truly didn’t see you until you spoke to her. 

“$60.”

“$60? You’re kidding. Those beads are coated plastic, I can tell from here.” 

The old women scoffed.

“$40, take it or leave it.” You were about to say something when Namjoon intervened.

“What if we trade? I’ll give you a good pearl for it.” You cringed out of your skin when he said that. You knew how much pearls could be worth, and all of the pearls on his body looked worth well more that a $40 necklace. They could go for thousands. 

‘Wait!-” You Grabbed at Namjoons wrists before he could do anything foolish.

“Its ok y/n, I won’t miss it.” He untied what looked like a tiny pouch at his forearm. It was so heavily decorated you wouldn’t have ever known it had a function. You peaked over his shoulder to look inside, and your eyes went wide as you saw at least sixty or so perfect pearls. 

‘Wait, wait!” You held your hand out again between them both. 

“If you’re going to trade, a good pearl for that necklace, and pair of shorts and shoes for him. How does that sound?” You looked between them both as they both nodded. “And a mood ring” You added. “The nicest one you’ve got.”

“Yes, sure sure. But the pearl better be real.” Namjoon pulled out a little one. It was perfectly round, and the way it shinned almost made it look like it was glowing. The women's eyes went wide as he brought it closer to her, popping it right in her hands. She looked it over with a big grin on her face, and you wanted to scream about what a waste that was. But if Namjoon was happy, that’s what mattered. “The shorts?” You questioned to snap her out of her trance. “Oh yes! Ohh, and I have the perfect ones for you! Hold on just a minute!” The old women jumped up with glee, making her way over to the other side of her little booth. “Come ‘round this way dear! You’ll need to try these on!” Namjoon looked at you unsure, and you simply nodded and gestured for him to go where the women asked. She pulled out a pair of blue and purple tie dye shorts with a large lizard embroidered by the bottom left hem. He smiled as soon as she pulled them out, and you wondered if somehow within the past 15 minutes if she had really cracked the code to understanding his exact tastes, or if he would have smiled like that at anything. 

“You’ll love these!”

“I do!-”

“Go on, into the dressing room you go!” Your heart clenched a bit as she squished him into the tiny two foot dressing room. It was all made up of black curtains, and something you yourself would be horrified to get undressed in in such an open area. But seeing as how Namjoon was already naked.. It should be fine?..

He had never even seen shorts before until today, and putting them on might be more confusing for him than you would imagine. As the seconds went by you started to worry.

What if he tore them, or what if while trying to balance he fell right through the curtain and took the whole booth with him. What if he didn’t understand where his legs should go, or if he put them on backwards? As your heart was beginning to race Namjoon made his way out of the dressing room, his new perfectly fitted shorts worn correctly. 

“Oh they’re perfect on you! See look in the mirror! How are they? Do you love them!?” 

“I do!-” 

“Good good! Oh you deserve this too!” She pulled out a little white linen vest almost out of thin air and started to help him place his arms through its holes as Namjoon watched himself in the mirror. 

“Oh! its perfect! This one is on the house! You look like a handsome little merman!” You smirked at the accuracy the old woman was unaware of.

“Oh! Thank you!-” 

“Beautiful, beautiful! You and your girlfriend have to come back and visit sometime!” 

“Uh, we’re not-” You started, but no one heard you -and the suggestion seemed to go right over Namjoon’s head.

“Thank you ma’am! I feel brand new!” 

Namjoon bowed his head a little as he held the old woman's hands in thanks.

It didn’t take the women long to wrap up his new necklace in a cute little gift bag, or to let him pick some matching flip flops and a mood ring that peaked his interest. You made sure to grab one of the cards that tell you what all the colors mean, you were sure that could be fun to bring up later. And to maybe see if his ever changing eye color matched up. 

Namjoon was strange and other worldly to have around, but despite his circumstances you were excited to watch him see your world for the first time. Maybe he would help you see things in a new light too, maybe moonlight for a change.

[staarshines]

Paging A Heart Chapter 1: Darts (Grey’sAnatomy!AU) || P.D.

| Paging A Heart Masterlist |

Warnings: Spoilers for seasons 1-10, strong medical themes throughout (the entire series), language, drinking, mentions of sex, mentions of surgery

Word Count: 2.3k

Surgeons aren’t known for happy personal lives; they’re known for changing the face of medicine. You’ve only ever been interested in the latter, using all available resources to advance your career. That is, until, you meet a gorgeous paramedic that changes your view on that without even saying a word.

[A/N]: I’m back after a one month hiatus with finally the first part of Paging a Heart!

You slam the door to Joe’s Bar open and swat at the bells when they ring loudly, announcing your arrival. Rey catches sight of you and waves you over, accompanied by Meredith and Alex. You don’t even bother to plaster on a fake smile, stomping over and plopping down on a seat in between Rey and Meredith.

“Tequila.”

Today had not been a good day, to say the least.

You can see Meredith eye you warily out of the corner of her eye, probably debating whether or not she wanted to get into what was bothering you.

“Rough day?” Rey offers, clutching her Bloody Mary. Joe slides a tequila down the table and you treat it like a shot, downing it in less than three seconds and slamming it down on the table.

“You could say that.” You motion to Joe for a refill, massaging your forehead with your free hand.

“Don’t take your anger out on the glass,” Alex remarks with that trademark smugness in his voice, only making you want to throw it at him.

“What happened?” Rey tries to divert your attention from Alex and you let her succeed, but he’s getting on your last nerve.

“I just got off of a twenty-eight hour shift and this is the first thing I’m having to eat. Well, drink,” you correct yourself, grabbing the drink from Joe’s hand. He raises his eyebrows at you but you just shake your head, silently telling him you’d be fine after a couple of drinks.

Not going to lie, those ‘couple of drinks’ were looking like ‘blackout drunk’ right now.

“What the hell were you doing for more than a day that didn’t let you eat anything? And you’re drinking on an empty stomach? Give me that.” Rey snatches your drink away and you groan, rolling your eyes.

“As much as I love you, I kind of want to punch you out right now.”

“Like I care. Order a burger or something,” she shrugs. Meredith laughs from beside you at both of your antics.

“But seriously, you couldn’t sneak in one bite?” Mer chimes in.

“Nope. I had four valve replacements and then I got pulled into an emergency transplant that just ended twenty minutes ago. Welcome to the life of a cardiac surgeon.”

“You’re just stressed. You need to let off some steam,” Alex starts. Oh boy. Here we go again. “You need to have some sex.” You narrow your eyes, giving him a disbelieving glare. “What? Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re wrong,” you oblige, earning laughs from Rey and Mer. 

“I’m serious. I have Jo, Mer has Derek, and Rey… that paramedic, what’s his name? Ben?” Rey chokes on her drink, slamming it down on the table. You use her shock to your advantage, stealing back your drink while she looks at Alex with a presumably incredulous look on her face.

“How the hell do you know about that? Who else knows? Wait, who did you tell?” Your jaw drops, because did she really think you went around blabbing her secrets?

“Oh, please,” Alex starts before you have the chance to talk. “You’re not slick at all.”

“Plus, you work at Grey-Sloan,” Mer calls out to her from beside you.

“She’s got a point there,” you clink Meredith’s glass.

“Speaking of paramedics, that one’s had his eyes on you ever since you walked in.” Alex nods his head slightly to the right and you meet eyes with the one and only Poe Dameron, looking handsome as ever in his uniform.

He shoots you a charming smile before turning his attention back to some people you guessed he worked in the same rig with; they looked vaguely familiar and you could easily point out Ben. Turning back towards the table, you take a long sip of your drink while Rey looks for who Alex was talking about.

“Oh, Poe? The guy you have a crush on?” It’s your turn to choke on your drink, giving Rey a look of betrayal. It takes her a minute to realize her mistake, eyes widening.

“Oh. Oh shit. I meant—”

“You have a crush on McFlirty?” The enthusiasm in Meredith’s voice makes you groan, knowing her and Karev could—would—have the entire hospital playing matchmaker within hours.

“Wait. McFlirty?” Her lips turn into a fine white line when she realizes what she’s done. 

“Forget I said anything—”

“McFlirty?” you question Rey, knowing asking Meredith was going to be a waste of time if she didn’t want to tell you.

“Yeah. They call him that because he’s... flirty,” Rey explains the obvious, making you roll your eyes for the second time in those five minutes.

“With everyone,” Alex adds, earning a punch to the shoulder from Rey. “Ow! All I’m saying is—”

“No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have even gotten my hopes up.”

Yep. You were definitely getting blackout drunk tonight.”

“Aw, come on. It’s just in some people’s personalities. If you like him, go fuck him. He can’t seem to keep his eyes off you, anyway.” You’re not sure whether your jaw drops during Alex’s third or fourth sentence, but you’re definitely more interested in the latter.

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“What the hell do you think I mean?” Alex snaps, and you’re a bit glad to see his normal personality return.

“Yeah, I think you need some sex,” Rey chuckles, and you can’t help but laugh at his own advice being used against him.

“Oh, please. I got some this morning.”

“I did not need to know that,” you mutter with a grimace, hearing Meredith laugh at your pain. She suddenly gets up from her barstool, drink in hand. Before you can ask what’s wrong, she shoots you a sly smile.

“He’s coming over here. Good luck.” She gives you a wink before walking off, leaving you momentarily speechless.

“Grey, you can’t just drop a bomb on me like that and walk off!” you yell after her, shaking your head and turning to the other two when you get no answer.

“Well I’m not the one who dropped the bomb, so good luck,” Alex tells you with a raised eyebrow, shushing you when you start to tell him off as well. “You’ll be fine. Relax. You’ve got this.” You can do nothing but nod as he leaves as well, remembering how long it’s been since you’ve panicked about something not work-related. Something like this. You had the ability to stay calm while a patient was coding on your table and you were elbow-deep in their chest, but making a move towards a guy you really liked? 

You’d choose scrub caps and the overwhelming smell of antiseptic over the talking stage any day.

Before Rey can say or do anything to calm your nerves, he’s already made his way beside you.

“Care for a game of darts?” he asks, giving you that same goddamn smile that he’s given you across the E.R. so many times. Butterflies explode in your stomach and you know you have to play it cool or else you’ll never forgive yourself.

“I think that would be great.” His smile breaks into a grin and you can do nothing but return it because his bubbly attitude is contagious. Rey raises her eyebrows, giving you a nod of proud approval before you follow Poe to a dartboard, taking a gulp of your drink just for the alcohol-related confidence. He starts plucking darts off of the board and you lean on the table, setting your glass down and trying to find a way to start a conversation.

But your mind is blank because he’s gorgeous and you’ve had a crush on him for so long. It was finally happening. Was he going to ask you out after this? Maybe you were getting ahead of yourself.

“I just realized I should probably introduce myself,” he chuckles nervously, setting both the darts and his drink down on the table and catching you off guard with how beautiful his eyes are. “I’m—”

“Poe Dameron,” you interrupt, holding back a wince when you realize you cut him off. “I’ve seen you at the hospital a couple of times. It’s nice to finally meet you without blood and screaming patients all around. Sorry for cutting you off,” you mutter sheepishly.

“It’s all good. And you’re [Y/N] [L/N], the famous cardiac surgeon.”

“Nope, I’m just the cardiac surgeon. You’re thinking about Cristina Yang,” you nod with a small smile.

“Don’t humble yourself. I’ve heard some things.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Like the fact that you’re shit at darts,” he remarks with a grin. You can’t help but raise your eyebrows playfully, grabbing a red dart off of the table and walking over to the line behind the board.

“Whoever told you that must’ve been butthurt that I beat them,” you shrug nonchalantly, unsure of where all of this sudden confidence was coming from. Maybe it was the alcohol. The dart lands just an inch away from the center circle and you pout, moving off to the side and letting him take a stand. “I’ve only seen you around here for a couple of months. You new?”

“You could say that. I’ve been working for seven years as a paramedic in Seattle but I just got transferred to this quadrant.” He swings his arm and the dart lands maybe half an inch farther from where yours was, but regardless, you smirk because you’re still in the lead. “Funny. I’m usually crap at this game with new people. Must be luck.” 

“You’re joking. Someone doesn’t hit it that close on their first try,” you remark, motioning to both of the darts on the board. “That’s not luck.”

“You know what’s really not luck, though? You saving all those lives.” So that’s what he meant when he called you the hotshot surgeon. This man was disarming you with every sentence he spoke, and you two have talked for a grand total of less than five minutes.

“It’s just the job. You save lives too,” you point out, forgetting about the game and suddenly becoming more interested in talking to him.

“Yeah, but you guys do the real work.” Oh, forget disarming. He’s making you fall for him more and more with every sentence. He takes a small sip of his drink and you raise your eyebrows.

“Club soda? I didn’t take you for that kind of a guy,” you tease. Normally you wouldn’t be quite this bold, but you were already comfortable with Poe.

“I have a shift in an hour. Forty-five minutes, now,” he remarks, checking his watch.

“I just got off a twenty-eight hour shift,” you yawn, rubbing your eyes.

“It’s just the job, isn’t it?” he asks with a smile, and you can’t help but chuckle. “What made you stay in Seattle? I’m guessing you weren’t born here.”

“How’d you know?”

“Most doctors that are in Seattle aren’t actually from Seattle. Especially if they work at Grey-Sloan.” You nod in turn to his sound reasoning.

“I came here for my internship, actually. Thought I’d move to Mayo or Hopkins once I finished my residency, but I ended up getting attached to this place. Even if everyone who works here is cursed in one way or another,” you add with a small laugh.

“Cursed?” He quirks an eyebrow, letting you continue.

“Yeah. A lot of crap has happened over the years. Shooting, power outage, plane crash—”

“A place crashed into the hospital? I’m out of here.” You’re unable to suppress a laugh, gently pushing his shoulder.

“No! One of the hospital’s planes crashed. The doctors were out there for five days, if I’m not wrong.” Talking about it brings back memories of Lexie and Mark, but you’ve learned how to let it pass you by with just a sigh by now.

“Damn. You had to go through all that?”

“No, no. I was off both days of the outage and the shooting and I wasn’t on the plane.”

“Talk about luck. So you’re untouchable?” he offers with a sly smirk. You shake your head, biting back another smile. You seemed to do that a lot when he was around.

“Don’t jinx it, Dameron.” He opens his mouth—presumably to retort with another cocky remark—but your pager rings before he can say anything.

“Sorry. I’m not even on call,” you motion to your glass and pull your pager out of its holster, eyes going wide at the words on the screen. There was no way you could ignore this, and the fact that drinks with the man you’d waited so long to have were being cut short makes you groan.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” You shake your head, waving around the pager before holstering it and pulling out your wallet, slapping a twenty down on the table next to your half-finished tequila.

“Eight car MVC. I have to go in—”

“I understand. Better than most people.” Even though he’s reassured you, you can’t help but feel guilty. 

“I’m sorry—”

“Hey, it’s fine. I promise. I’m going to be in on this for the start of my shift anyway, so I’ll see you around. Go save lives.” Something about the last three words makes your heart skip a beat even though you’ve heard them countless times.

“You too.” You can’t help but say it with a grin, which is probably to blame because of his infectious, animated personality. “I’ll talk to you… later?”

“Yeah, for sure. Go, go, go.” You leave with the biggest smile on your face, bumping into Rey on your way out.

“I know that smile. It went great, didn’t it?” She nudges your shoulder, wiggling her eyebrows. You shake her off with a laugh as you both step outside and start towards the hospital.

“Oh, shut up. We have work to do.”

“I know, I know. But you’ll tell me afterwards?” You give her a playfully offended look, gasping dramatically.

“How shitty of a best friend do you think I am?”

•

•

•

Masterlist

All taglists are open! Send me an ask or a message :)

Permanent: @becausewhyknotme​, @criminal-cookies​, @theladyoffangorn​, @officialtonystarkprotectionsquad​, @justmebeingtheweirdmeiam​, @agentpeggybarnes​, @fantasticcopeaglepasta​, @talk-geek-to-me​, @letsmellowjello​, @thescarletknight2014​, @wemisshim3000​

Star Wars: @kittyofalltrades​, @arkofblake​, @m1rkw00dpr1ncess​

Poe Dameron: @yougottakeeponkeepinon​, @seekerofmagnificentmysteries​, @poe-damnnn-eron​, @lapilark​, @peterhollandkait​, @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​, @ghoullflower, @twomoonstwosuns​, @writefightandflightclub​, @lady-sloan, @poes-stardust​

Paging A Heart Taglist: @mndalorians​​, @cloud-leader​​, @softly-sad​​ 

[yukipri]

Hi! Sorry if this has been asked before but how much time is Sabo able to spend with Ace and Luffy in the Mer! AU? Does he hang around a lot for adventures or only visit every few weeks because of his duties with the Revolutionaries? Or does he pretty much work from the Sunny? And what about Ace and his connection to the Whitebeard Pirates after picking up Luffy, now that he is Co-Captain of Luffys crew? ( / in hiding after the war? )

So ah, a lotta questions in this one! Thanks for the interest and sending it in! ^ ^

I try to keep my long answers limited to one central topic per ask response so it’s easier to read for everyone, and you can read a bit about Ace’s relationship with the Whitebeards in this story post, so let me talk a bit about Sabo in this one!

So a very, VERY quick ‘n vague rundown of Sabo’s timeline here:

The way I currently have it now, the Auction House Incident happens shortly before Loguetown, aka while they’re still in East Blue. This is when Sabo and Koala meet the ASL pirates, and when Sabo regains his memories as a result.

Sabo’s conflicted about a lot of things, but especially given the situation he found Luffy in (in an auction house, submerged in a tank, and shackled with seastone that Sabo can still see bruises from), Sabo’s very reluctant to leave. He den dens Dragon to let him know that he’s regained his memories, and Dragon casually drops that oh yeah, Luffy’s his daughter.

Kind of a shocker for everyone.

Anyway, turns out Dragon had wanted to see Luffy off at Loguetown anyway and will be in the area, so Sabo and Koala go to meet up with him when they make landfall at the town of the beginning and the end.

Sabo tells his boss that he doesn’t have any intention of leaving the Revolutionaries...but also thinks he wants more time with Ace and Luffy, and he’s still so disoriented, he’s not sure he can immediately go back to his duties. Likewise, Koala’s just found out about Arlong, and even though she’s sure she could have moved on if it was just a report, she’s seen how hurt Nami is. And she wants to stay a little while longer too, if possible.

Dragon thinks the two have done enough work and deserve some time off, and orders them to remain with the ASL pirates at least until they’re in the New World, at which point they can decide whether they want to return to Baltigo or not. He’s sure they’ll find ways to help the cause along the way as well. And while Dragon has full faith in Luffy, he sees no demerit in having two of his most trusted officers on her ship until she can at least get her fins under her, so to speak.

(Then they hear a ruckus outside, Sabo and Koala rush to check, and lo and behold Luffy’s about to get beheaded. That was fast)

And so Sabo and Koala temporarily join the crew, and their positions are kind of like Thatch’s; treated as fully part of the crew, but also without giving up their more official and permanent roles as Revolutionaries. And while not as much as Thatch, they’re also Grand Line veterans, and more often than not step back to let the true rookies shine, providing backup when needed (but also disappearing once in a while to check in on local agents they pass by).

Sabo, as the third brother who sleeps in the Captains’ quarters and has his initial included in the crew name, sorta gets treated as a pseudo-Captain. Less in that he gives orders directly, but more in that Ace and Luffy automatically turn to him for his opinion, since he’s always been the brains of the trio, and he was their missing piece. But when the other two are unavailable, leadership does fall into Sabo’s hands more often than not; as Chief of Staff, he’s used to the leadership position, and functions exceptionally well at times of crisis, while also knowing exactly what Ace and Luffy would have done.

Sabo and Koala remain with the ASL pirates for their entire trip through Paradise, periodically checking in with Dragon. And well, Dragon was right--they do get quite a bit of Revolutionary Work done. If anything, they do more than usual--which is slightly embarrassing, but Luffy doesn’t hesitate to cause trouble, and Ace is right there backing her up and doubling the damage, so perhaps it isn’t so much a surprise.

And so they help the Drum Kingdom, and help Princess Vivi save Alabasta, and then go to Skypeia, and then go head to head with CP9 and Luffy declares war on the freakin’ World Government. Sabo knows it’s risky for him to be there, the Revolutionary Army isn’t quite ready to be out in the open like that yet--but in his defense, he was wearing a mask (no, he wasn’t copying Sogeking he swears).

They free shadows and defeat Moria in the Florian Triangle, and gain a skeleton as a crew member.

And then they get to Saboady. Where things go to shit.

(aaand I’ll leave off here for now, but yeah Sabo’s with them post time-skip too, this time as a slightly more formal member of the crew, and he also spent a little time at Rusukaina during the time skip. But that’s not for this post ^ ^;)

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[rueitae]

Writing Roundup 2020

This is a writing reflection I’ve been doing for myself every year for the last four years. Its a positive boost to myself see how far I’ve come and look back on my progress for the past year and look forward to the new year. 

Everyone is welcome to use this same format if they’d like to do the same! 

~~~~~~~

Stats:

Words written:

330,000, which is nearly half of all the words I’ve written on Ao3 in the last three years. 

One Shots Posted (all fics plance unless otherwise stated):

In the Arms of the Ever(pink?) Tree (4463 words)

For the Plance Secret Santa exchange. Post s8 date/not date on a snowy moon. Love confession. 

Birthday Treats (2129 words)

For Pidge’s birthday this year! Domestic family fluff, breakfast in bed, plance kids.

Begin Again (Together) (4805 words)

Canon divergence from before episode one! Pidge and Lance are established dating when alien intervention brings them to where they are supposed to be: with the Blue Lion. Just a brief look into what the AU would look like. 

Common Ground (4521 words)

A treat for my friends who introduced me to Magic Knight Rayearth and pointed out some fun character parallels. There is this beautiful art Arya made to go with it because we’re all trash for both series. Plance meet up with Fuu and Ferio post series for both couples. 

Bonded To You (1808 words)

For the Langstron Halloween Exchange! Established plance with a baby Lance is trying to keep safe from a witch who would take advantage of the child’s heritage. 

It Tasted Good (6785 words)

Pikelavar for Pikelavar Month! The premise is crack, but it's mostly treated seriously. Pike ate the Jewel of Jitan by accident and doesn’t realize it until Haggar finds them. Meklavar gets Protective.

The Remainder of Days (3188 words)

Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Fantasy AU where Pidge is a minor forest goddess and Lance is her neighbor mortal farmer. 

I Love You a Lily More Each Day (3232 words)

Another of the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon compliant where Lance is undercover at a flower shop and knee deep in an illegal smuggling operation. 

Lease on Life (4978 words)

This one was also part of Bad Things Happen Bingo and was an experiment. It’s POV of an oldest plance kid, canon verse. Her parents’ Paladin days come back to haunt them one night. Some cute family stuff too in there. 

Ready to Dance (4135 words)

For the Valentine’s Day exchange! Post series. Lance tries to get back into the party scene and Pidge rescues him from a disastrous night. 

Loopholes (5476 words)

Technically I didn’t write this fic this year, but a very kind reader asked if I would post this to Ao3, so it was my first fic of the year on Ao3. It’s Lotura! Originally a gift for a dear friend I’ve had since elementary school. It’s a fantasy AU where Lotor stumbles into Allura’s kingdom needing help. 

Next to Me (7311 words)

Also for Bad Things Happen Bingo, this is probably one of my favorite fics of the year. This is the canon verse AU that went all wrong in s7, and Sendak succeeds in destroying Earth. Lance and Pidge end up not only his prisoners, but also two of the last humans in the universe. Ends open ended, but it became a series in the end!

Into Me (14248 words)

The sequel to the above fic. There are two versions, this and the one below. The title tells all. Lance and Pidge come to terms with their new life aboard Sendak’s flagship and do their best to keep the other comforted.

Into Me (non-explicit version) (7228 words)

Exactly the same as the fic above, only this one is SFW

Sunshine (3831 words)

A Bad Things Happen Bingo! One of my favorite concepts. Canon verse. Pidge gets sick while she and Lance are on a scientific mission. 

Showoff (635 words)

A really short fic for a friend on their birthday, featuring their plance kids!

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

A fic I have been wanting to write for a very long time. I love the concept of Pidge as a Disney Princess in the sense she has the forest guardian theme and all these animals love her. So there’s some play on that as the Paladins stop for lunch on their journey back to Earth in early s7. Lance comes to a realization and they have a chat surrounded by the animal friends. @anchoredtetherart did a phenomenal piece to accompany it. Please look at it in awe here.

The Hardest Part (3960 words)

For Bad Things Happen Bingo! An AU of the episode The Reunion where Pidge doesn’t return when she’s supposed to. 

A Planned Sacrifice (4988 words)

Another Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon verse. Pidge assumes that being a sacrifice for the ‘forest god’ is strictly ceremonial and at worst a wild animal. It’s actually Sendak, who no one has seen since Shiro shot him out of the Castle. He remembers Pidge and is far too pleased to see her again, tied up on a silver platter. 

Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone (3946 words)

Bad Things Happen Bingo. AU sometime in s1 where Haxus isn’t as dead as Pidge thought. 

Touch (7519 words)

Written for the Lance Goes Boom bang! It was inspired by @fenixseraph ‘s amazing art here! It’s a different take on The Way Forward, where Pidge and Lance are separated from the rest of the team and placed in their own cell. And the Red Lion causes issues. 

Chaptered Fics started/added to:

Wolf In Thieves’ Clothing (4516 words)

An AU of The Castle of Cagliostro from Lupin the Third series. Lee, you have my thanks forever for making me watch this finally. Pidge is a literal princess whose kingdom is in the middle of an internal coup. Lance is a gentleman thief who rides with his best buds Hunk and Matt. Their paths are destined to cross again when Lance goes back to the castle he used to call home. 

Game of Love (4593 words)

The most crack of the bunch. AU of Fall the of the Castle of Lions where Sendak and Haxus get away with it all. Pidge and Lance are prisoners on Haxus’ new ship, and Lance finds an opportunity for eventual escape when he learns that Haxus has a crush on his second in command. Operation matchmaker begins. (happy ending planned for all)

What Tides May Bring (20704 words)

Collab with the fantastic @anchoredtetherart for MerMay! Established plance as mermaids and guardians of their elements with adorable mer child. Then angst because they are all captured by a ‘research’ institute. 

Seasons of Magic (16546 words)

I actually added a chapter this year! Ongoing collection of one-shots with mage Pidge who lives in the country and cultivates her plant magic and makes potions with the assistance of her dragon familiar, Lance. Mostly domestic fluff. 

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words)

Added another chapter this year to my Keith-centric AU. It’s basically VLD but five years early and they’re all literally child Paladins. Keith gets to meet Krolia earlier and its fun to go into tween friendships as they try and navigate the reality of their situation. 

Seeds (48833 words)

Added a ton earlier this year. A collection of plance fics all or mostly under 500 words. All meant to be adopted by others if interest strikes. Covers many genres.

Chaptered Fics Finished:

Resolve to Fly (75799 words)

Written for the Pidge Angst Bang. My artist @alchemie0 did an outstanding job capturing the feel of the fic. Look at the art here! Canon verse AU where Pidge encounters Haxus, who has crashed on Earth. She helps him repair his ship in excitement and good faith, which he pays back by kidnapping her. For two years she survives as little more than a housepet on Sendak’s ship. Gen.

Who's Protecting Who? (28989 words)

Also technically not written this yeah, but posted. A collab with Hush waaaay back in 2018. It's a plance Altean AU with Pidge as distant royalty and Lance as a bodyguard.

A Dish Served Cold (21533 words)

Finally finished this one! Canon verse in which Pidge accidentally runs into Sendak on an isolated planet. Sendak takes advantage of this encounter and tries to return to the Empire with her in tow. Much Pidge whump. Gen

Reflections: 

Best title 

I still really really love Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words). Because it's too soon for the Paladins to be Paladins, and for Keith it's not nearly soon enough for Krolia to return. It just feels like it has a lot of heart to it. I hope I can keep it going, but my ideas are incredibly scattered for it. 

Worst title 

Touch (7519 words). Yeah it’s a play on ‘Don’t you touch her’ but it feels soooo dry. 

Best/worst last line

Best: This was really, really hard choice this year, but ultimately, making up for the terrible title, its Touch (7519 words) 

“It feels good to escape the ship with all of his teammates, secure in the knowledge that he has a way forward not just as a Paladin, but also with Pidge.” 

- Not only did I manage to fit the title of the episode in there, it's got that hopeful tinge to it and reflects on personal growth both internally and with Pidge. 

Worst: This one isn’t necessarily bad from Begin Again (Together) (4805 words), but it could be better. It didn’t get quite the epic sense I was hoping to pull from it.

“Okay,” he smirks, hand firmly on the throttle. “Operation save Earth starts now.”

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Definitely wrote way more. Even with posting two fic that are essentially the exact same, I still ended up writing nearly half of my total Ao3 word count this year. (330,000/670,000). Doing Bad Things Happen Bingo was a bit part of that - I was very inspired at the beginning of this year - but also there were many events I participated in (8 total!!) on top of my personal projects. 

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

A really hard decision this year, because there are several that make me really happy. I think oddly enough though, it’s Game of Love (4593 words) because of its potential and how much crack it is. It has such whacky rom-com energy to it but also that underlying angst of the situation I can fall back on. My favorite trope to explore is what happens to the characters when they’re captured. I just really enjoy the concept and the challenge to make such a concept believable with minimal suspension of belief. 

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Using kudos as my gauge (and not counting the chapter fics), the winner is: 

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

Not surprising because Ivy’s art is STUNNING.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I think that’s It Tasted Good (6785 words), the pikelavar fic. Pikelavar is underappreciated in general

Story that could have been better?

For all I was excited to write Sunshine (3831 words), it didn’t quite fall the way I had imagined in my mind. I don’t know if it was the structure or I was running out of steam or what. All i know is that I wanted more but all I could concentrate on was that scene where he’s caring for her in bed. Maybe I was just too ambitious.

Sexiest story?

No brainer it's Into Me (14248 words). Literally. Which really shocked me that it happened. Didn’t think I’d write any smut at all, let alone this year. This particular fic just kinda called out for it 

Saddest story?

The prequel to the above fic: Next to Me (7311 words). How much more sad can you get than Earth being destroyed, being Sendak’s prisoners all while trying to tell each other ‘i love you’ without seeming weird because you’re the last humans in the universe. 

Most fun?

I think it's Ready to Dance (4135 words). Just Valentine’s fluff and impromptu slow dancing in the park at night. 

Story with single sweetest moment?

I’m picking What Tides May Bring (20704 words). Listen, mer Lance and mer Pidge playing with their mer baby in their domestic paradise is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Dad Lance has my heart. 

Hardest story to write?

The last chapter of A Dish Served Cold (21533 words) was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty happy with it in the end but at the time man it was so hard. 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut. It was...weird? But also strangely calming. I wrote more for another fic but it's still a WIP. I definitely need to be in the mood to write it. 

Proudest Achievement:

The Pidge Angst Bang. Resolve to Fly (75799 words). Look at that word count. I only wanted something under 3k at first, so it was just going to be Pidge meeting Haxus. But by the time I finished that part it was already 10k. So even though I was going through a rough part of my life, I just kept going and it ended up being my therapy. I’m really proud of the fic and I love my artists’ pieces. It really lifted my spirits. (You should all really go check out the Ao3 collection of all the bang stories and art they are AMAZING you won’t regret. If you love Pidge angst they are all must reads.)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I’d like to finish my Bad Things Happen Bingo card and then focus on my current WIP, that includes the Seeds collection. There are days I still feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to find a routine after moving. I’d like to do more events too, but I think I need to be more selective about which ones I do. I don’t want to burn myself out. 

Apart from that, I’d really like to try and give back to the community more. I’d like to start consciously writing fics for others without an event to go by. 

Past Years:

2017

2018

2019

[celestialflamesme]

| MER-MAID FOR EACH OTHER | A Stashi One-shot Mermaid AU | Fairy Tail Next Generation |

Ships: Nashi Dragneel x Storm Fullbuster (Magma mermaid x Sharkboy)

Dedicated to @primaverafrog @luna-chan00 @biorckstudios18 @cxndy-stxrs and that random fact I read about sharks thriving in volcanoes.

If there was anything Nashi's dad taught her, it was this.

It was her mom that had sat her down and told her about how she couldn't play with the other mermaids and the do's and don'ts and safe spaces and creeks that reeked of danger and bad merfolk. Nashi nodded half-heartedly, too upset to barely talk back like she usually did.

But Nashi's dad, bless his soul, beckoned her to him one fine day and said, "No matter what you are and what you can do, don't hide a single part of you. Fight for what you want and what you deserve no matter how ridiculous it looks in the grand scheme of things. We'll always be here," he poked at her chest, "supporting you. Always."

Of course, turns out it was regarding a 'big, juicy mackerel' he lost to a 'dumb, fucking orca of all fish', but she liked to think it applied to other aspects of her life too.

The mer peered at the children giggling and trying to outswim each other across the reef and sighed.

As amazing as living in a volcano was, it sure was lonely sometimes.

Magma merfolk had several restrictions because of the seething temperatures their bodies possessed. Basically, if she touched a mer, they'd get burnt (super bad). It wasn't like there was a chance of that happening anyway, considering how scared merfolk were of them.

Pearl (a curious whitefish she'd come across on one of her hunts) swam in circles around her, obviously in a playful mood. She slightly smiled and brought a finger to her lips.

The children screeched as they spotted her swimming rapidly towards them and scattered away. The pinkette chortled at them.

"You'd think they'd have learnt by now, eh, Pearl?"

Pearl made a noise of delight, wading amongst the reeds. She huffed. "I knew you were hungry, you silly little fishy. Which reminds me, I have a date with destiny!"

Her best friend clicked. (Sorry hun, a mermaid has needs. Sweet, sweet protein; sign her up please!) She squinted, scanning the waters for her next meal. Her eyes registered a faint figure.

Tapping her tail thrice to get Pearl's attention, she swam ahead at a careful pace, ducking behind giant kelp to get a closer look. The figure continued its path, paying her no notice. Which was when she realised what it was headed straight for.

Pearl.

Her heart beating violently, she let out a war-cry and flexed her tail harder. Her vision saw red as she rammed into-

"WHAT THE FLIPPING HECK?!"

Both the bodies crashed into a boulder and Nashi let out a small groan, her sight blurry. Blinking back into consciousness, she tilted her head up.

She wasn't going to lie, the first thing she saw was his jaw filled with sharp canines. Her blood ran cold as she slowly, carefully, looked up only to gaze at perfect cerulean blue eyes.

She blinked. He blinked. Then the screaming ensued.

"WHAT'S A SHARK DOING IN MAGMA REEF?! AM I GOING TO DIE?! HOLY FLIPPING MAVIS-"

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU TACKLE ME LIKE THAT?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH, YOU CRAZY MER?!"

6 minutes later, Pearl floated by, unimpressed by their shrieking. The shark-guy (shark-man, shark-douche, whatever) reached out to grab her and Pearl and Nashi collectively squeaked, the latter smacking him at the back of his head. He snarled.

"I'm trying TO CATCH MY NEXT MEAL! DO YOU MIND?!" He yelled.

"YES, I MIND! PEARL IS MY FRIEND, NOT FOOD!"

"Oh dear Triton, she's one of the vegan loons...." He muttered under his breath. She clicked her tongue.

"Even if I am, that doesn't explain the fact that YOU'RE ON MY TURF!!" She retorted, and he flinched at her tone.

"I DON'T SEE A SIGN ANYWHERE!!"

Nashi growled at him, "You have 7 seconds to run before I burn you to ashes!" Which is when she noticed that she was still on top of him.

"Wait, you aren't- what?" She furrowed her eyebrows and inspected him. "You're- wha- how?"

"What is it?!" He frowned. "It's considered rude to sta- HEY!"

She frantically patted and touched his chest and arms for something, anything and let out a breath of bewilderment. "You're- You don't feel anything?"

"Well, you are a little warmer than the others," he admitted. The shark raised an eyebrow curiously, "Uh- why?"

Nashi blinked out of her stupor, then pointed at herself, "Magma mermaid."

"Oh." He blinked back. "You're not as scary as they make you out to be. Unless," he held her shoulders and scanned her (Uhhhhhhhh....) "You're a baby!"

"WHAT! NO, YOU DUMBASS!"

"So you're saying that you're old?" He teased.

"I'm the appropriate age!" She huffed back.

"Appropriate age for?"

"Uh, stuff?"

"Yeah huh."

"YEAH HUH!"

He bit his lip, fighting back a smile. "Now, what am I going to do about lunch?"

Nashi's eyes widened. "Kelpsicles, I have to hunt too!" Both met each other's gazes before he shrugged. "Truce?"

"It's Nashi, actually," she smirked.

"Cool, I'm Storm."

............

An hour later, Storm managed to piss her off again.

"What do you mean you don't like burnt fish?! It's flipping amazing!"

Storm sighed (The audacity!) "Have you even tried raw fish?"

She spluttered, "Of course I have-" At the disbelieving look he shot her, she mumbled, "Not."

"Open up then."

"Excuse me?!" She shrieked indignantly. "I barely know you! You could poison me for all-" she choked as he shoved a piece in her mouth mid-sentence.

"I don't wanna hear it," he interrupted her before she could yell at him, "So? How's it taste?"

"I still like burnt fish." She mumbled, flustered.

"D'aww, is the iddle widdle mermaid embarrassed?" He cooed. "How ador-" Now it was his turn to choke as she shoved the entire fish down his throat.

She snorted, "Now that's peak humour." He shot her the middle flipper.

.............

"Damn, the humans are at it again."

"What's new?" Storm grumbled.

Nashi's grin widened, "Wanna check it out?"

"I don't know Nash, this bunch looks- Nash?" He groaned at her figure wading upwards, "Woman, get back here!"

Nashi was too busy taking in the sun's warmth to pay him any attention the first time. The second time however, she swivelled around only to register his panicked look. The third time, she found her tail stuck. In a net.

"STORM!! FLIPPING- HELP!!" She screeched, pushing, propelling herself out, trying anything, everything. She was getting dizzier by the second.

A giant thud resonated from behind her, and the net shook back and forth but she waddled undeterred until Rip! She was free!

"Oh thank Triton!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. The humans were yelling but she didn't want to stick around and find out.

A pair of arms wrapped around her making her flinch. Storm had a dark look on his face as he pulled her against him and swam forth, not uttering a word.

He'd rocked the boat. He'd- he'd saved her from-

"Don't ever leave my side again." He murmured against her hair.

.................

"Nash, stoppppp," Storm whined, "It's only 15 minutes awayyyyy."

"You said that 15 minutes ago! And what's the big deal anyway?" She snickered, reaching out for his fin again, only to be swatted again, "Ticklish?"

"Very much so." He raised an eyebrow, daring her to try again. "You can't stay one minute without trying to feel me up, can you?"

She spluttered and even Pearl (dumb fish!) joined Storm as he chortled at the indignant face she made.

"We're here!" He cheered, only to be tackled by a bunch of sharks. Nashi felt her breath quicken.

"Storm?" She blinked. The group turned to stare at her in awe.

"STORM BROUGHT A GIRL HOME!"

"SHE'S PRETTY!"

"ARE YOU TWO MARRIED YET?!"

"Uhhh..." What was happening again?

Storm laughed at her confusion. "I figured you'd be lonely up there so I thought you'd like to stay with my family for a change. Don't mind Kai and Gale," he shot them a look. "They're dumbasses."

"If you won't date her, I might," Kai smirked at her. She nervously smiled at him, confused.

Storm growled, "Back off, she's mine!"

Nashi choked. Even Pearl cheered as they proceeded to carry her into their coven? Cliff? Ridge maybe....

"Since when am I yours?" She inquired, bewildered.

"We'll work on the specifics later. For now," he wrapped an arm around her torso and grinned at her, "Yeah, you're mine."

.................

Bonus: (that no one asked for)

"Sing it with me, River! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK!"

Storm grumbled, "If his first word is baby, it'll be your fault."

Nashi shrugged, "As long as it's not Daddy, I don't mind at all. Say mommy, sweetie! Mo-mmy! See!"

The tiny shark ("He loves raw fish! He's a natural predator!" Storm cheered, making funny faces at his giggling son) paid no heed to his parents, distracted by Pearl swimming in circles around him.

"Pearl, you're going to make him take his first paddle before he says Momma at this rate," Nashi warned.

"You mean Dadda."

"Momma!"

"Dadda!"

"Momma!"

"Dadda!"

"Ma- da," River giggled, clapping his hands. Both of them blinked at him.

"Well that solves that," Storm smiled.

"Yeah...." Nashi sighed. "Who's a good little sharkie? Yes, you are!" She cooed, carrying him in her arms. "I love you!" She poked at him.

"What about me?" Storm pouted. She rolled her eyes and pecked him on the lips. "I love you too, Snarky."

He flicked her on the nose.

.....................

[oneacearmy]

The waves are steadier than social restrains

Fandom: Brave, Moana

Summary: Moana and Merida have a self care day, they talk about the way society doesn’t like two single woman taking over the world. 

Tags: Modern au, asexual relationship, demisexual Merida and aromantic Moana, fluff, slight angst. 

Word count: 1053

People see Merida, the daughter of Fergus, one of the most powerful entrepreneurs and global economic leaders, they expect a well behave lady or a spoiled brat. 

Merida IS a lady, she learned etiquette, music, embroidery, politics, economics, everything her mother thought would help her have the opportunities that her parents didn’t and lead the company to greater highs. In reality, Merida knew all of those things but rarely put them in practice, just put up a front for the company sake but went idly about her day when outside of that rigid and cruel world. 

People know Merida and expect a hurricane of red hair and the disaster that her presence can bring. No one really know the redhead, they just see can their eyes tell them but nothing beyond. No, God forbid that this fine young woman was a complicated being like every other human in the planet and didn’t fit entirely on a label. 

She felt alone for so much time. No one to hold her in the dark days and tell her that everything would be alright. 

Or at least that was until she meets Moana in a high social event with every other powerful economic figure and their hell’s spawn. But Moana understood her like nobody else, even had the same sentiment of putting up a front and being a lady in the eyes of the public, but being a tornado of personality inside closed doors. 

People see Merida and Moana and expect a powerful economic lesbian relationship that could cause these two companies to fuse together and bring an even more glorious era for it. 

“OH! You are never this rough! At this pace, the night won’t last long.”

Moana panted softly and a puff of hot air escaped her lips. 

“Ugh, just stop moving, relax and let me handle it.” Her deep accent bleeding to her frustration, Merida pulled slightly and tried again. 

The scent of sweat filled the room, different fluids could be found in the bed. Merida gripped firmly the object in her hands and got back to work trying to be gentler this time. 

“Yeah, that’s better” was the reply she got from the Samoan girl. 

“Does it feel good? Do I keep going?” The redhead whispered softly, losing herself in the act and letting his hand guide itself through the act. 

“Don’t you dare stop,” Moana said in a treating way just to add a soft “I need you.” 

The Scottish woman continued her work, finger expertly moving in rapid but calm motions while the voyager just closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the moment. 

Merida stopped for a moment, staring at Moana’s back. “What’s wrong?” she asked ina sweet voice. 

Merida returned to the task at hand and finished braiding her hair and tied it with a scrunchy and wrapped the look together with a dark green bow on the top of the braid. “Ya look absolutely stunning with the braid. It is one of my best works and it really shows.”

The island girl took the braid in her hands and brought it over her shoulder to better see the intricate patterns of the hairstyle. She had to admit that despite the firey girl normal lack of finesses, she had an eye for art and the education that she received on her heritage’s traditions showed. 

“It is good, but now the bed is covered in gel, mousse, conditioner, moisturizer... it is a disaster” 

Merida snorted and hit lightly the other girl’s shoulder. “And we haven’t even started on our nails.” 

People didn’t know that either of them had the idea to date anytime soon. Not when Merida was an opened asexual and Merida and enclosed aromantic. 

Both girls stared at the tv that showed the second season of Jessica Jones, a series that both girls had started together and decided to finish tonight even if they were only in the third episode of the first season. 

“Now do my hair, hopefully, I won’t have as many knots as I”

“Knowing you, I’ll find a rat’s nest in there” 

Merida and Moana, the two daughters of rich parents and a social responsibility decided to have a self-care day. They ordered a dozen of freshly baked Krispy cream classic doughnut, hot cocoa with marshmallows that they prepared themselves, put on some new facial mask that Moana had discovered and had a pillow fight a few minutes before settling down to do each other’s hear. 

The red-haired turned towards the tv and sit comfortably in between Moana’s legs while she started brushing her hair since both had curly and bouncy hair, they knew better than anyone how to take care of it and brushing each other’s hair has always being a thing between the two, like an inside joke or secret. 

“Hey, Mers? Do you remember Mr Dingwall, son?” Asked the islander with a trembling voice. 

“Wee, yes, that little dipshit still things I’ll be with him.” 

“He told me he does it because his parents make him. Apparently is ‘no good for the company image that that girl is still single’” 

“I know. He told me. I told my dad who told Dingwall, MacGuffin and Macintosh that I’m not to be pressured to marry because of my age and sexuality. I told him it should be because I’m perfectly capable of taking care of the company on my own but the four of them looked at each other and started laughing. LAUGHING!!! I AM NOT A JOKE!” 

Merida stayed silent, she knew how these things affected her, the board of directors could be very opened and let the girl choose a man or woman, but the idea of her being by herself apparently was too far fetched because having no desire for people meant that she was broken, uncomplete. 

She decided to change the subject “How did you manage to have so many leaves and twigs on your hair? Don’t you brush it?”

The redhead laughed a little and made a non-comical sound “It mats like crazy, no matter the brushing, this nest would stay like this forever.”

The voyager sighed “At least you have an excuse to why you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, no one should endure the bite of a racoon when they play with your hair.

[hiddendreamer67]

Witching Under Pressure

Lowkey only got inspired once all of November and it was to write this meta piece about @delimeful and my authorsonas. It feels good though. <3

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

The pot before her bubbled with arcane energy, pulsing a light blue every so often as Mandy idly stirred the mixture with a stick she found in the garden, her eyes focused on a book hovering to her right.

“...okay, I think I’ve got it this time.” Mandy took a deep breath. She reached over with her free hand, grabbing a few herbs that sat at the ready. “Tragic backstory, relatable quirks, a dash of lore. Am I missing anything?”

Being alone in her potion room, no one answered her about missing ingredients. That was for the best. It would have been worse to gain an answer.

“Is that what it’s supposed to do?” Mandy wrinkled her nose, noticing a faint unpleasant aura leaking out of the cauldron. She leaned forwards, wincing as the mixture began to gurgle ominously, darkening into a sickly green. “Well, that can’t be good.”

It was, indeed, not good. The liquid began to get more volatile, sending up waves of energy that seemed to be searching for something. Irritated, the potion ducked down to the bottom of the container, before launching itself up and out, directly at the practicing witch.

“AAAAAH!” Mandy screamed, thrown back by the impossible force of her own work being spat back in her face. The distance she was thrown seemed to increase, the witch shrinking midair as a side effect of the failed experiment. Like a perfect toss Mandy landed inside a spare teacup on the counter. Her speed sent the teacup spinning into a tizzy, the miniature witch clutching desperately to try and gain her balance as the cup dangerously spun straight towards the edge of the counter. There it rested precariously, dipping back and forth as if deciding whether to send her tumbling down a probably fatal distance.

A rumbling in the ground approached, the footsteps of the intruder upsetting the teacup enough to launch itself off the counter. Mandy let out a startled scream, and the footsteps hurried forwards before with an oof Mandy was not shattered against the floor.

“...oh hey, Lime.” Mandy said nonchalantly, looking up at her savior. It was strange seeing her friend from this angle, used to the dragon shifter only beating her in height by a few inches. At least, when she didn’t cheat and bend the universe to her whims so she could feel tall.

Lime blinked, looking down at the shrunken witch for a very long time. “I have so many questions.”

“Just a potion gone awry.” Mandy gave a wave of her hand to the cauldron that was now sulking. Mandy sighed internally; it was frustrating whenever her vat of creativity decided to shut down. Guess the new project would have to wait another day, again. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You nearly died.” Lime reminded her, standing up to his full height and cautiously cradling the teacup like it was an injured bird. 

“Died?” Mandy laughed in the face of death. “You’re forgetting the witch bit.” As proof, Mandy teleported herself onto Lime’s shoulder. Immediately he yelped, jumping so high in fright Mandy was very nearly thrown to the floor for real. “Hey, watch it! Precious cargo here!”

“Precious cargo should be smart enough to give me a warning if you’re gonna do that.” Lime growled. “Don’t teleport onto me, it’s dangerous.”

“It’s only dangerous if you are not careful.” Mandy argued, grabbing a hold on his collar as she looked around her studio. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it small, but it was the first time someone was with her during it. 

“What were you doing, anyway?” Lime asked, and it was a good thing Mandy had grabbed on as his swaying footsteps sent her leaning again when he went to investigate the cauldron. “What is this thing?”

“I was … doing an experiment.” Mandy scuffed her foot. “I dunno, I’m just trying to do some new content.”

“Oh, a new au? You need story ideas?” Lime perked up, trying to turn to her and for a third time nearly throwing her off when he tried to look at the tiny witch. “Maybe I can help!”

“Nah, I doubt it.” Mandy shrugged, teleporting to the safety of her cabinets. She put her hands in her pockets, frowning as she inspected the various pieces collected from all her worlds. “I think I’ve done everything already.”

“That’s not possible.” Lime insisted, watching the witch who was now at eye level. “I mean, you’ve got a lot of wonderful worlds, but there’s got to be something for you to do.”

“Not without going out of character.” Mandy glanced back at her cauldron. 

Lime snapped, the loud sound making Mandy jump. “That’s it! What if you switched characters around? Made the mean bigs become tiny, and the tinies got to deal with them?”

Mandy raised an eyebrow. “That’s literally just Switched Perspective.”

“Oh. Well that’s what I’d do with your worlds.” Lime shrugged. He leaned forwards, investigating the same characters Mandy had collected. He reached a hand towards the miniature aquarium world, where the mers were all suffering at the bottom of a tank. “And I’d lend a helping hand to a few of these guys-”

“OI!” Mandy leapt into the air and smacked his hand with a surprising amount of force for someone a few inches tall. “Don’t! Are you mad? You’re going to hurt them, only I know how to take care of them!”

Lime raised an eyebrow, clutching his injured hand to his chest. He pointed to the mangled mer Logan pitifully bleeding out. “Do you? Do you really?? Because Logan’s mangled body says otherwise.”

Mandy glanced back at the near-corpse floating in the water. “He’ll be fine...probably. Just give it time, sometimes I gotta break ‘em to make them better.”

“Or to break them again.” Lime huffed.

“If you’re just gonna sass me, the door’s right there.” Mandy pointed to the inter-dimensional void that was still laying open in the corner of her room.

“I’m just trying to help!” Lime insisted, putting his hands up in surrender. “What about… a punk au?”

“Got it.” Mandy jammed her thumb towards one of the realms, leaning against the wall.

“A fairy au?”

“Three of ‘em.” Mandy counted her fingers. “Wait no, four. Same with vampires, werewolves, a few mers, and several dozen borrowers-”

“What about a story with borrower Deceit, who tricks the others?” Lime suggested. “Give the power to the tinies for once!”

Mandy paused, her eyes resembling that of a kicked puppy. “You don’t remember my A Little Lie Couldn’t Hurt AU?”

“Ooooh, yeah.” Lime winced, biting his lip. “My bad.”

“Nah whatever, I forget about it too.” Mandy admitted. “It’s hard to keep track of so many AUs.”

“Especially when you don’t finish any.” Lime muttered under his breath. 

“What?”

“What?” Lime pretended to look inconspicuous like he hadn’t said anything.

Mandy gave him a glare. “The point is, I feel like I’ve maxed out my creativity. I’ve tried going non-Gt. I’ve tried going romantic. I’ve tried going fluff. I’ve tried doing just about everything and i’m BORED!”

“Well that’s dangerous.” Lime observed. “Isn’t you getting bored what broke all of these universes in the first place?”

“Mostly, yeah.” Mandy admitted. “Aaaaaand now I’m too bored to fix them.”

“Or write any of your lingering prompts, apparently.” Lime whistled lowly, peeking into the depths of the cupboard. “How many prompts are waiting for you again? You could always use those.”

“Hey, that’s private!” Mandy rushed over, snapping her fingers so the door slammed shut in his face. “Those are for me to look at and think about writing, forever.”

“At least you’re honest.” Lime laughed. “So, if you’re not doing your prompts, and you don’t want to continue your AUs, and you’re struggling to create a new AU, what are you doing?”

Mandy glanced at her failed experiment again, getting a bit uncharacteristically self-consious. “I was… you’re gonna laugh.”

“I’m not gonna laugh.” Lime assured her.

“Well you should, it’s dumb.” Mandy insisted.

“Oh there’s a very good possibility it’s either something dumb or dangerous.” Lime agreed. “But I’m not going to laugh.”

“Okay, I just-” Mandy grit her teeth, ripping it off like a bandaid. “I was trying to write some OC content.” 

It was quiet for a moment, Mandy not daring to look at Lime for his reaction.

“...that’s it?” Lime prompted.

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’?!” Mandy gasped in offense, whirling around to face him. 

“I kind of thought you were going to admit to something like writing smut or something.” Lime explained. “There’s nothing wrong with you having OC content.”

“But I don’t have OC content.” An exasperated Mandy explained. “That’s part of the problem. I don’t have a single original character to my name.”

“Well… you have yourself.” Lime reminded her.

“Don’t you go ripping your horns through my fourth wall like that.” Mandy warned.

“Mandy, I’m sure you’ll get there eventually, it takes time to develop a whole person from scratch.” Lime reached over, carefully nudging her shoulder with a single claw. He gave her a smile. “You’re doing your best, right? And everybody will love whatever you come up with because you’re a fantastic writer who makes lovable characters and believable worlds. You’ve got this.”

“Heh, yeah, I guess.” Mandy agreed with a small smile of her own.

“And I’m sure you’ll torture your new characters just as much as the old ones.” Lime teased, though a small part of his eyes clearly begged Mandy to be more gentle.

“Probably.” Mandy agreed, her smile growing into an unapologetic grin. “Thanks, Lime.” 

“Anytime.” Lime assured her. “And, while I’m here…. You think you could save even one Virgil from suffering?”

“Nope.” Mandy popped the ‘p’. 

“Worth a shot.” Lime grinned, giving her a little salute. “Well, see you around. Good luck with the characters, and the… height thing.”

“Yeah, not really sure what this is about.” Mandy looked down at herself. Hopefully that wasn’t permanent. “See ya later, Lime!”

[what-even-is-thiss]

Fic, Off of Land, Out of Water, Part 3. Optimism.

Part 3 of the mer au. Uuuuhhhhhhh... warning for mention of transphobia and allusion to self harm but its not explicit or important ‘kay this was a hard chapter to write I hope you like it it’s got 2,531 words, bye.

First Previous Next

Abstract: We meet Virgil’s brothers.

3. Optimism

Patton drove faster. Roman turned the radio up louder. Patton reached over and fully turned it off.

“I swear, you’re worse than mom.” Roman said.

Patton made a face at him and then stepped on the gas again.

“How have you been doing by the way? With her?” Roman said.

“Roman, today is about a fishy situation with Virgil’s friend, alright?” Patton said. “Let’s find something good to think about.”

He smiled. Roman sighed and put his socked feet up on the dash.

“Fine, don’t talk about it but I know your fake smile when I see it.”

“Oh, I’m just worried about Virgil.”

“All of us are always worried about Virgil.” Roman said, putting his feet down and unwrapping a piece of gum. “Everything all the time always about Virgil. He’s like an anti middle child, I swear.”

Patton laughed. “I kind of wish I could argue with you about that but here we are. Going to pick him up again.”

“I prefer to look at it as performing a service.” Roman said.

………..

Virgil sat on the one flat rock and gently made waves in the water with his tail. He had to prop himself up against another rock to do this because his new anatomy wasn’t made for sitting up. Patton sat in his lap (if you could all it that) in a swimsuit. His swimsuit was a weird combination of grey and blue boxers and a frilly pink crop top. He was twelve now and even though he was only two years younger than his brother Virgil was always the big one in their family and Patton was missing some things.

They were alone together. Seagulls yelled overhead. Patton watched them with no interest.

“So what is it like down there?” Patton asked eventually.

“People are people. Judgy.” Virgil said.

“Know when you’re coming home?” 

“Next year maybe. But only for a couple weeks at a time. Can you get off?”

Patton scrambled off. “Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Just too much after a while. Now can I ask you a question while mom isn’t around?”

“Yeah!”

“What’s with that?”

He pointed at the swimsuit.

“Mom got worse after you left. Decided she wouldn’t sign off on blockers but I’m making the best of it. Blah, right?”

He let out a strained laugh and Virgil gently slapped his face. He still wasn’t letting him get away with the fake laughter. They went silent again for a minute. Seagulls yelled some more.

“So who do you live with down there?”

“The witch.” Virgil said. “I call her Val because she kind of reminds me of that teacher you had in kindergarten. Too happy. Too nice.”

“I don’t think you can be too nice.” Patton said happily. 

“Whatever. She’s getting old.” Virgil said.

They went quiet again. The weight of a year apart sat between them. The knowledge that they’d never catch up on it all in one afternoon. The fear that they might never catch up again.

They heard a car in the distance. The sound of running and Roman shouting about hamburgers and the parents apologizing about traffic followed it. Patton wondered if Virgil was as tempted to vanish into the water as he was.

………..

Logan was nothing like Roman had expected.

“He’s nothing like I expected.” Roman said.

“Well what were you expecting?” Asked the new angry man sitting in their secret rock cave.

“I don’t know. Something more dramatic.” Roman said, helping Virgil to get Logan on his feet.

Patton grabbed the ice chest and shoved Virgil’s phone into Virgil’s pocket.

“Personal space, much?” Virgil asked as Logan fell over again. “Hey! I told you, we can carry you to the car.”

“I can tell that I don’t want that.” Logan said. 

“As the one who's usually the shortest, I know.” Patton said, smiling.

“Why does he keep baring his teeth at me?” Logan asked. 

“It’s the way humans smile, Logan. Get used to it. Especially around Patton.” Virgil said. “Hey, move your legs!”

“I’m not exactly used to having them yet, you know!”

After a good deal of lifting and shuffling and eventually some help from Patton as well, they stuffed Logan into the backseat of Patton’s black SUV. Virgil was the one to position him and quietly click and hiss something at him when he looked frightened of the seatbelt. As Patton and Roman took their places in the front it wasn’t lost on them how touchy Virgil was being with Logan in the backseat.

Virgil took a moment from clicking to say “Don’t start the car yet.” in English.

Patton adjusted the rearview mirror to see what they were doing. The body language was like nothing he’d ever seen before. Logan, smaller than even Patton was and probably in shock, seemed to be looking everywhere but the ground. Virgil coughed as he tried and failed to make a certain sound in the back of his throat. The seawater wasn’t quite out of his system yet. Logan bumped him in the chest with his head in a really casual way.

“Yeah I’m fine, thanks.” Virgil said. “I’ll just say it this way. The car is going to make noises. I’ll explain the noises to you later. It’s safe, alright?”

“It’s powered by fire. How good can it be?” Logan mumbled.

“You just think that because your only experience with fire is volcanos.” Virgil said.

He ran a hand down the length of Logan’s spine. Logan winced.

“What is happening to my eyes?” Logan asked, a curious tone in his voice.

“You’re crying. I’m sorry!” Patton called back. “We really have to get moving though, Virgil. I can never find my way back to the road in the dark.”

Virgil made a noise of agreement and Patton turned the key.

……….

Roman carefully placed both of his hands beneath the wig and removed it. The cap was next. He checked his teeth in the mirror. No, he hadn’t been performing all night with lipstick on his teeth. Of course that had only happened the first time but he was still paranoid about it. Every single time. 

He pulled the dress off and stripped to his underwear slowly, untucking and unstuffing everything. Eventually it was all undone and he pulled on a pair of jeans and an undershirt before going to work on removing the makeup.

“Get lipstick on your teeth again?” said a deep voice in the doorway.

Roman looked in the mirror. Tall, dark hair, light freckled skin, black jacket, a look in his eyes that was just a little off. Young enough that the stress of living in modern America hadn’t yet put dark rings under his eyes so he made his own with eyeshadow.

“How’d they let you in?” Roman asked, throwing away a third makeup wipe.

“Stage manager knows me by now.”

“Not enough to know that you’re aro, I’m assuming, fish boy?” Roman asked.

Virgil chuckled. “Well if it gets me free beer…”

Roman turned around and approached with his arms open. Virgil accepted the hug and patted him on the back.

“You’re just as bad as the rest of us.” Roman said, pulling his button up on. “So tell me why you’ve decided to let me bless you with my presence.”

Virgil shoved him and turned off the drag queen’s mirror lights for him. They started walking out of the club.

“Patton and I were thinking about doing the tattoo thing you suggested.”

“Wait, what?”

Virgil shrugged and pulled some gum out of his pocket. Roman took one. He knew he didn’t have to ask.

“I figure if I get it on my leg it won’t show up down there and you’re looking for a way to avoid questions about the scars on your arm so why not? Pat’s got a design. His scars are finally healed enough. You wanna go right now?”

They reached Roman’s car. Roman assumed Virgil had taken an Uber or something. He assumed. He might never know. There was a lot he didn’t know about his younger brothers. There was a lot he had to assume. There was a lot he had missed out on with them, but would he miss out on an opportunity right now to make a stupid memory? Hell no.

“Well if you’re being fun and spontaneous for once I’m  gonna bank on it. Sure.” Roman said, showing all of his perfect white teeth and clean face, both now totally free of lipstick.

“Cool. You’re the only sober one. Let’s go steal Patton.” Virgil said.

……….

Every time Logan clung to a blanket or felt strange at someone touching him he looked surprised at himself. The fact that human behavior came so naturally was worrying. They were all taking shifts looking after him. Usually it was Virgil but Virgil sometimes had to go into a recording session for some radio commercial or an audition for a voiceover or meet with his agent. Sometimes he returned to the ocean because, well, he had to. So during those times Roman or Patton would have to take over the “humanization process” as they had dubbed it. Or, “project Logan”

It was mostly Roman that used the first one.

Learning to walk proved to be difficult and teaching him manners proved to be even more difficult. Patton ended up getting nights, after Logan was tired of walking ten steps and then falling over and over all day long. So he mostly taught Logan how to read. As such, he ended up explaining a lot of strange things in picture books to him.

“Why do you always depict merpeople with bare skin?” Logan asked one day.

Patton looked up from the mug of tea he was stirring creamer into.

“Hmm?” he asked.

Logan held open the picture book he was reading. There was a mermaid in a clam shell bra, happily singing. Logan had already explained to Patton at length why clam shell bras would be awful ideas and woven strips of cloth made from seaweed and sometimes hair were used when a person felt compelled to cover or contain that area were much better ideas and used by merpeople with breasts all the time. Patton had heard that lecture many times, in fact. He had not, however, heard the complaint about skin.

Patton moved to the couch to sit next to Logan, his sleepy eyes almost making him spill his tea. The couch in Virgil’s apartment was a small leather loveseat. Logan didn’t seem to care about the closeness. Merpeople never seemed to care about closeness, Patton had noticed. They touched each other without thinking. He looked over Logan’s shoulder as he pointed at the illustrations in the fairy tale book.

“None of them have scale patterns. Almost all of them have belly buttons.” Logan said, pointing at various drawings in confusion

“Do you not have a belly button?” Patton asked.

“Of course not.” Logan said. “Virgil has told me now how mammals reproduce and I was absolutely not created that way.”

Patton moved closer and started tracing the large splotchy birthmark surrounding Logan’s left eye.

“You seem kind of disgusted by it.”

Patton sounded almost hurt.

“Well, I am.” Logan said, gently moving Patton’s hand away.

“Well… thank you for your honesty, kiddo.”

“I am older than you.”

Patton giggled. “Obviously, but I’m still me. I’m the dad friend. So is that birthmark where your scales would normally be?”

Logan nodded and lifted up his shirt in response. Patton got a good look. Freckles formed a series of swirls and lines on his skin. And it was true. Logan had no belly button.

“That’s fun. So you were born from an egg?” Patton asked.

Logan quickly put his shirt down, shut the book, and looked embarrassed.

“It is highly improper to discuss reproduction in polite company.”

“Right, sorry.” Patton said.

“That story about the sea foam though.” Logan said. “Ignoring all the inaccuracies it reminds me of  the story Virgil told me. About the day he went under.”

“That’s a good one.” Patton mused. “I was there for it.”

As usual he couldn’t think of much else to say.

“Yes, but one that led to strange markings, I suppose.

“Want to see my strange markings?” Patton asked.

“Out of curiosity, yes.”

Patton lifted up his shirt and showed Logan the scars and the tattoo of a merman holding a tragedy mask over his left scar.

“For Virgil and Roman.” he explained. 

“I never expected humans to decorate their skin.” Logan said.

“What did you expect then?” Patton asked, almost like he was questioning a child.

“I… don’t know.”

“Your idea of us was like our idea of you.” Patton said, tapping the fairy tale book.

“Oh.”

Logan looked off into the distance, seemingly understanding something now. Patton rested his eyes on him wistfully, wondering why he’d never asked more questions of Virgil. Why he didn’t ask more questions of Logan now. Why his brain wasn’t good at forming questions in the first place.

He wondered what it was like down there. He knew what it was like to be in saltwater, but not to breathe it. He knew what it was like to be close to someone, but not to the extent that he wouldn’t flinch at the touch of a stranger.

He wondered, too, what Logan was thinking about.

“With video recording,” Logan said, “Could you… I’m not sure how it works but could it record me saying something and then keep it forever?”

“Until someone decides to delete it.” Patton said.

“Then with that and these,” he held up a book, “why did I just dedicate my entire goddamn life to memorizing things?”

“I see that Virgil taught you how to swear.”

……….

Patton wiped the tears from his eyes. He never did cope with pain that well.

He looked at Roman’s bandaged arm from the backseat. Virgil stuck his phone with the aux cord in the cup holder and turned up the speakers loud. 

It sounded just like when Roman first got his license and became an adult only in a legal sense. When Patton was 13 and foolishly taping his chest down with packing tape that left his body constantly sticky and sore. Like the summer they drove away to Disney World without their parents knowing. When Virgil was homeschooled for two weeks at a time and always smelled like saltwater. When dad and mom still loved each other and the band that made this music was still together. It sounded like the first conversation they’d ever had about getting tattoos together.

It sounded like The Black Parade.

Sober now, horribly, criminally sober, with a new picture on his chest and his brothers screaming off key in the front seat, Patton drifted off, his glasses sure to leave a mark on his face when he woke up.

Roman sang until he was hoarse, ignoring the bandages and how similar the tattoo would feel to what it was covering up.

Virgil, for once, didn’t think. The pain on the back of his leg barely registering as anything. The celtic cross it formed barely meaning anything to him.

...........

Logan lay on the bed next to Virgil, for some reason not feeling compelled to cling to him. Must be a human thing. He slid to the floor and sat, his knees pulled to his face.

Virgil’s soft snoring broke the ice of the early morning fear just enough to get his brain working. The series of freckles and birthmarks on his skin looked mystical in the moonlight. Like he was destined to find some sort of meaning in it. Maybe he was. Maybe he could.

Maybe there was a way to connect to the past with it.