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machinelikesmachines · 21 days ago

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[T] scientist!yn / eldritch alien!DCA word count: 2,177 they are yucky... enjoy :o)

Your breathing stutters when a plethora of hands reach out to gently cup your helmet in their array of palms.

They had tried this many times before, already. An inquisitive action. Asking to be closer, to tear down physical barriers piece by piece. As much as you could, you have kept the suit on. To protect your flesh, and your mind.

What passes as a finger feels along the bottom seam where the helmet locks into the rest of the suit. Then pauses once they touch the latch mechanism.

You keep your eyes squeezed shut. Allowing the webbing of viscera to ripple around you like a sensory deprivation chamber. Or the calming sway of the ocean, a simulation impossible to your time.

When you keep your eyes closed like this, you can almost envision the depths: The cold, all-encompassing pressure. Flittering visions from a planet you had never visited, could never visit, but that had been home to the creatures that envelop you. Adore you. The vastness of the adoration weighs down on you, an ethereal force that cocoons your consciousness into a swaddle of astral affection.

Go ahead. You aren't sure if you said it aloud, but your mouth moves regardless as you open your eyes at last.

The one that forms in front of you reminds you of flowers and fauna and ferns and all the beautiful, horrific signs of nature and life your existence has lacked. One of the writhing appendages that circle around its face in a halo opens up to reveal sharp teeth in a muted hiss.

It shoves its face against the glass of your helmet. You can feel the rattle from its face tendrils that wriggle with what you have learned to interpret as joy. From the inside of your chest, happiness blooms out. Sharing in the abstract emotions. An endless feedback loop, born from your otherworldly connection.

Heat from its type of breath, more releasing energy than co2, fogs up the helmet’s glass plane. The too-many mouths lash, and yet by now, the unnatural, jerky motions don’t unsettle you.

With your permission, the latch is undone.

All of the tendrils — petals — framing its face rustle in a nonexistent breeze. Subduing its zealous nature to curious reverence.

Orbs of magenta — its true eyes, not the false ones that look like markings on a moth's wings, squint into gleeful crescents.

You dip your head to assist the being in taking off your helmet. The equipment slips off, exposing your face after weeks, months, of hiding away. Beneath protective barriers.

You shiver at the cold of the space station seeping in all at once. The air is frigid.

The abomination senses your discomfort long before your nervous system alerts you. Wrapping you in dense tendrils that flicker and fan out. Sharing their unnatural warmth through layers of protective fabric.

Then your head is tilted up by coarse, yet smooth, hands. The pads on its palms are soft with a strange give. Goosebumps prickle on your arms from the unearthly texture. All your survival instincts kicking in that the being in front of you is unnatural beyond comprehension.

You ignore the instincts, and push the side of your face into its palms instead. Encouraging the tentative touch.

All at once, the being fills your vision. False eyes peering into yours, the material and colors flickering and reforming to express the same joy of its true eyes.

With a firm hold on your face, it mashes flesh to flesh in the mimicry of a kiss. The affectionate gesture catches you off guard, not unpleasant but not quite right, infinite rows of teeth clacking against your front row in an audible sound.

You let out a quiet, ow, which seems to encourage the being to readjust its strategy. All the magenta eyes pulse in even waves. A call. The corners of your mind feel like they are being held with a gentle, insistent pressure. The second being forms, twisting out of the tentacle netting of their main body with the sort of stretch one does when freshly awoken. The spinal fins layering its neck flitter open. The large mouth-tail that drapes from its false head flops down with immense weight.

The curve of its closed false eyes peeks open, leering at you.

The being is atop the other, applying pressure that seeps through their conjoined, inexplicable form. Melting. Melding. Communicating without the slightest indication. One existence with two outward expressions. Although on a scientific level you vaguely understand they are no more than organs, functioning in tandem to keep one living organism whole, you can’t help but get endeared to the quirks that set their personalities apart.

Sun, for the brighter half. Brimming with energy and a desire to sate its curiosity. To invade, inspect, and grow. The first to root, to take hold. Pushy.

Moon, for the darker half. Subdued, quiet, and yet the carrier of most of their psychic abilities. Cautious. Crafty.

You didn’t notice when they had both gotten so close to your face. Looking at you expectantly, like you had called out their names – oh, you realize. Thinking about them, letting your mind wander, commands their attention immediately.

Moon’s body cycles through colors; deep violets, dark navy blue. Displaying infinite cosmos and galaxies faster than your eyes can comprehend. Splotches of swirling crimson that glow brighter than the vast expanse of stars right outside your window.

Sun shifts back to make room for the other parasite celestial. Twisting off to the side, flexible body bending to mime lying beside you mid-air. The being busies itself with intertwining its fingers with yours, fascinated by counting each finger you have.

The darker half wins the stalemate of staring you down. Creeping closer. Gingerly nudging the smooth plane of its ‘face’ against yours. Overlaying your lips with its incomprehensible pressure. Softer. Mindful of human fragility, to a degree.

You dare to press back.

There is nothing there but its form. The subtle ripple of teeth beneath the surface. Taut like a reinforced wall of stitched together sinew, snaking underneath. Never staying still, like the rushing, winding currents of the cosmic depths they belong to. The pressure is nice, but it’s not quite–

The quieter of the two seems to notice. Not quite right, either.

Twisting its head around. The thinness of its neck wraps around itself several times. Reminding you that the endearing facade is just that: A facade. Contorting to bring its true mouth closer. Jagged teeth larger than your hands. A maw that opens up, fangs and what you liken to saliva stringing between the roof and bottom. The same jaws that you saw chomping down on–

A tongue slithers out to lick across your cheek. Disrupting and dispelling the negative memories that feel like centuries ago despite your short, human lifespan.

Tasting. A slow, testing drag with the lightest of pressure.

The gesture elicits a full body shudder from you. A mix of disgust and wonder.

All their pupils track your reactions with unending curiosity. Beneath the microscope of glowing white gazes, a solar system of observers, a flush at last colors your face as you let off a small laugh.

The chimera mimics the color shift immediately. Sharing in your sheepish, sweet embarrassment. Pink, ruby, rose– a swath of reddish hues cascades down their ‘bodies’ in sheer delight. You feel their joy bubbling up in your chest again, swirling in your mind like starbursts and blazing comets.

Sun tugs at the gloves you wear. Not to pull them off, but to bring attention to your (rather empty) hands. Another part of the suit to unfasten. Another barrier to tear down, to actually touch them– You nod. The gloves require more of your assistance, your participation, than the helmet. You pull your arms, one by one, into the suit with a shift of your shoulders. From the inside, you take apart the velcro seams and unhook the safety latches.

You slip your arms back through the safety suit’s sleeves. Letting the brighter half carefully peel off the rest of the dense, rubber gloves.

The being is instantly intrigued. Rushing to feel the smooth flesh of your palms against theirs. Indexing the sensation and deciding that it is as wonderful as the rest of you. Mere glimpses that are opening up to full windows of experience. Letting them in.

As always, Sun pushes to the forefront. Demanding your attention, curiosity, and affection. Moon’s false torso twines together with Sun’s. Encompasses the right half of your body, while Sun cradles the left.

An urge to touch them surges through your body like a tidal wave crashing down. You reach out, hesitating as your knuckles brush against the sides of Sun’s neck frills. The spines feel as hard as stone, but the umbrella-like underside of the frills is soft. Velvety. Your fingers uncurl to feel along the underside. The frills flutter. The earnest reaction draws a soft laugh from you, the noise popping like bubbles. Cute.

Moon continues to curiously prod at your hands. Sharp fingertips dip underneath the cuff lining of your sleeves. Pulsing eyes with infinite pupils swivel closer to inspect the exposed flesh down to the molecular level. A tendril curls under and around your side, the wrap of it like a wide, flat blanket. One of their larger eyes nudges underneath your arm. Watchful.

With your urging, Sun dips its head down. Pressing the smoothness of its false face to your chest, languid and cuddly. Nuzzling close to the lullaby of your heart beat. Completely relaxed. At ease in this hazy, dreamlike moment.

Its gaze peeks up at you. Nudges its face forward until it’s resting in the crook of your neck, bending it at an odd angle. Soundless encouragement to keep going. The mouth splitting apart its false face ripples open, revealing another magenta orb that regards you with limitless affection. Then snaps shut, holding together the tethers of their corporeal form.

You comply, reaching around to delicately feel up the slenderness of their spinal column. The thickest roots twine together underneath the tough surface. Bone-like spines protrude outward, flexing unnaturally when your fingers brush against them. The smooth, marble texture of their form is broken up by patches of scorched scars.

A network interconnected of the areas that had been burnt in an effort to kill the multiplying cells that construct their mass. A frown crosses your face at the memory. In time, you hope the worst of the scars will fade to distant memories for all three of you.

Moon grows curious, pressing the side of its face to your cheek. Aware of your distress, fluttering its eyes closed to send signals along the neural pathways in your brain to soften and blur the edges into a blissful fuzziness. The bright glow of its true eyes strains the corner of your vision. Your fingers reflexively dig into the form you hold onto.

The chimera reacts to the tightened hold like a viper. All of the tendrils wrapping you up grip down harder in turn, enough so that you let out a weak cry. Their grip slackens as your fingers dig into their form further, seeking an anchor for the surge of panic and flicker of pain.

Sun and Moon lower their heads, crowding in, folding in on each other, to check in on your expressions. Learning that it shouldn’t mimic the change of pressure. Watching as the furrow to your brows fades away, as you give them a tentative smile to reassure their panic. It’s alright, your mind supplies.

You lean forward, enough so to gently cup Moon’s face first. You flicker your eyes closed, indulging in the expanse of darkness and cosmos that dance beneath your eyelids in the presence of a cosmic being. Your lips touch against your target; a light peck to the center of its forehead. Where the split in their face becomes more than an illusion, an additional mouth that peels apart at the corners. The curves of spinal teeth press back against you. You can’t help but smile.

The energetic half grows impatient. Rays rustling in an echoing rattle that chases down the barren hallways of the station. You laugh once more, moving to wrap your arms around the warmer enigma. You place a little kiss on each of the wriggling tendrils looping around its face, the being morphing to make the process easier as Moon busies itself with repeating the action. Bumping the center of its mouth down your sleeve, nestling its face to the center of your palm.

You stop when the needier half seems temporarily appeased, wriggling with boundless energy beneath your hold on its face. You stare awhile into the vastness of magenta eyes, allowing yourself to be lulled into infinity.

Warm tinted arms wrap you in a light hug, favoring to rest against the right side of your body.

Cold tinted arms follow suit, resting against the left side of your body. Content to wrap around you, ensnared in the web of their unearthly affection. Home.

#Helllll yeah #machines reblog

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machinelikesmachines · 27 days ago

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Down in the Depths

🐟🐟Midnight's DCA MerMay Day 8🐟🐟

Another evil drabble for y'all that I meant to post yesterday but forgot 😔

anyway, please enjoy!

DCFPU prompt used: Abyss

Word Count: 1671

Story will be posted to ao3 soon!

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You feel a rush of water go by you and jump, looking up and around from your current spot searching the sand for crustaceans. Squinting, you see a squid hurry off into the darkness. You huff, rude. You go back to your search.

You were trying out a new location today, your usual spot had been a bit thin, you think from another mer also hunting it, though you've yet to catch sight of them thus far. It'd been going on for a few weeks where you were sure someone else was around, always just out of each other's—albeit limited—vision. In fact you even think they'd tried to extend a token of friendship once or twice, leaving little snacks and such at the entrance to your cave.

Before you could get the chance to find where they'd been staying, or even just to simply say hello, they'd seemed to have just up and left. Which was disappointing, but they must be the traveling type, not staying in one place too long or such. Regardless, if you wanted to eat, you needed to venture a bit further out, to spots less familiar in order to keep food coming in.

You dig around in the sand, managing to snag a couple of small crabs in the process. During one glide through, you find something suddenly latching on to your palm, a slight stinging present on your hand. You lift it in front of you and find a bobbit worm attempting to eat you.

You scoff, plucking it off. "Now we both know that's not going to work out well for you. Off you go." You set it back into the sand where it buries itself once more. You continue on.

This area is a bit dimmer compared to other locations you forage. Less glowing plants and animals alike. Though you didn't mind, given you can only rely so much on your sight as is. No, you had your other senses to depend on instead.

Which is how you can tell exactly when the person behind you swims a little closer.

You keep your eyes on the sand, still focusing on your task. "You're not very subtle, you know."

A hesitation, small stutter in movement. Their tone doesn't portray this, however.

"Ah, but what if I wasn't trying to be subtle?" They say, words almost a purr.

"No?"

Closer again, and at your side you see a blue and white torso. "Perhaps I'm just a bit shy, and was simply waiting for the right opportunity to approach."

You huff. "Then what about your friend over there?" You point in front of you, a ways away into the darkness where you know another mer is watching. "They shy too?"

Bristling, but that same even tone remains, chuckling even. "Oh yes, very shy. But, he's quite the friendly fellow when you get to know him, right Sun?"

The other mer swims closer, but keeps a further distance than the one up in your personal business at the moment.

"I would say so. You, on the other hand, could work on your introduction skills. I'd say you're making a terrible first impression." A little closer, now in front of you, offering out a hand. "Terribly sorry, friend. Believe it or not you'll find I'm the more approachable one of the two of us."

You tsk lightly, and finally look up from your foraging. In front of you is a yellow mer, who's face and the fins surrounding it emit a soft, warm glow. Beyond that you can't really make out much of his features, poor eyesight and all that. His hand, however, is still extended out to you.

You take it, unsure, skeptical. "I'll be the judge of that."

Your hand rests in his, only for him to raise said hand to his face, planting a kiss to it.

"I'm certain you'll be fair in said judgement. Have you got a name, Sweetfin?"

You have to remove your hand from his grip, uneasy now. "I do, but why don't you two share first?"

"What's the fun in just saying it outright?" The blue mer drawls.

You decide not to waste further time, you're hungry and you'd like for them to get to the point of the conversation. Which, if you had to guess, was to leave as you were invading their territory or the likes.

You nod at the yellow mer. "Gonna take a crack at it and say that since he's 'Sun', that makes you 'Moon'." You turn to get a better look at the blue fellow, finding a similar patterning, but no fins around his face, just a glowing orb attached to a tail on the back of his head. "How's that for a guess?"

While you can't make out the features of his face, his words hold a slight ire as Sun snickers in the background. "For a guess, good. For enjoyment? Not much fun at all."

You laugh at that, then slip out from between the two of them, a little more difficult than it should be. You duck your head a little. "Well, I apologize for intruding on your reef here Sun, Moon. I'll be going now that I've got my lunch for the day."

You swim off then, even as they—surprisingly—call after you.

"Not intruding, come back whenever you'd like."

"And perhaps with a name as well!"

You chuckle to yourself, considering it. Only a brief conversation and you're immensely curious about them already. A bit odd, though, which is maybe why you'd never encountered them before. As while your head was ducked, you noticed that both their tails didn't seem to match correctly with their upper halves.

The best way you could put it was... disproportionate. Much larger and oddly shaped than the rest of them, though it was too dark and your vision too poor to really understand why that was. You brush it off, who were you to judge?

As it would turn out, you did happen to return to their reef multiple times. Mainly because you saw the chance to scrounge for food easily. Though, the two mers who lived there were also intriguing, to say the least.

You've not known many other mers throughout your life, but you knew enough that you could tell Sun and Moon were different. Their mannerisms, their energy, something about it was just, odd.

They always seemed to be a little too close, a little too kind for how little you knew of each other. And whenever you tried to kindly keep your distance you could tell how they seemed to struggle to 'keep it together' so to say. Regardless, you only ever visited on the rare occasion—especially now that your own reef is replenished, so you figured it was probably fine.

But when they began visiting you at your home is when you started to truly question things. You don't even know how they found your cave. You never gave any indication of where you lived. Yet there they were, either one or both of them, waiting right outside to greet you and join in on your usual daily activities.

You'll admit, it was sometimes a bit haunting. The ravine that was outside your cave never scared you your entire life. But having someone, or multiple someone's there, calmly waiting on you, nothing but the glow from their own bodies to provide light, it just felt eerie. You suppose you never realized how alone you were out here until confronted by said loneliness.

"Hello there, Little Fish." You're greeted as you exit your home.

Looking up, you find Sun is waiting for you. Just a singular soul, only partially illuminated, floating in the abyss. You know, you realized that he always seems to be wearing that same, serene expression. Moon as well.

Something else that occurs to you just then is that you've never fully seen either of them. Just blurry, dark glimpses. And a sudden thought that occurs to you, is that when they have showed up outside your home, they've always turned down coming inside.

Something stops you from fully exiting your cave. You hover on the edge. "Hello, Sun."

"How are you today?"

You wish you could get a better look at him, you wish you could simply see. Maybe if you could find a way to shine light on him that would work.

"Star?" Sun asks. "Are you feeling alright?"

You shake your head. "Yeah, just fine. Though, maybe a little tired to do too much today. I might just, go back inside and sleep—"

"Oh but what's the fun in that," He's close now. Much closer than before. His hand brushes your shoulder. "You have later to rest. Once you get moving you'll feel better."

You stare up at him then. Really truly stare. You even go so far as to get closer yourself. Close enough that you're merely a breath apart. And you can see every detail of that glowing visage.

"Sun?" You ask.

"Hm?"

You swallow. "Would you like to come inside?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a burden." He tilts his head, mouth entirely unmoving. Entire face frozen in that same expression. "But thank you for the offer."

How did you never realize his voice isn't coming from his mouth.

You nod then, starting to pull away. "Ah, no worries. Well, I think I'm going to lay down, just for a little while, sorry you came all this way."

Sun's grip tightens on your shoulder, fear spikes in you.

"No need to apologize, Sweetfin. We can still make the most of it." He's too calm, too knowing. Something's very wrong.

You try again to go back inside. "Sun, I'm really tired. I'm going back inside to lay down."

You become acutely aware of there being something in the depths beneath you. You have one guess as to what. Or who, rather.

Sun's other hand grips your other shoulder. You're stuck waiting for what happens next.

"No, I don't think you will."

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This one was a lotttt of fun I will not deny that, i love fucked up evil creatures with a sense of eeriness, hope I was able to capture that here, thanks for reading!

Masterlist post is here

@machopeach @beemyhuneybee @fishm0ther @deviouscrackers @elsajoyagent8 @luckyyyduckyyy @zenkaiankoku @jogimote @local-shrub @milosmantis @robinette-green @everlightreader @sinister-sincerely @starredeclipse @dangerva @juukai @crystalmagpie447 @mothgutz236 @lizyxml @divinit3a @amarynthian-chronicles @crystalfay @that-one-unknown-artist @rosescarletful @buzzy-bee @hazelthebat @nightriverart @mr-munchies @sun-and-moon-fun

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