#I should probably make that mer au it’s own thing

[raventroll80]

I don't actually know, like, anything about your oc's. Give me a primer on 'em so I can start forming silly little headcanons about them?

Thank you so much for the ask!

I have a few ocs from a couple different things so I’m gonna organize them by the thing they’re connected to. (This is going to be a really long post, sorry)

The Troll Doomguy Au

(honestly I need to think of a proper name for this lol)

Things are a little messy and all over the place time wise as I didn’t originally plan for this to become a full on fic.

Slayer (the aforementioned troll Doomguy)

Roughly 15 feet of angry troll who also has a habit of eating the demons.

Cropped his ears at some point to make them look vaguely human, almost docked his tail but chose not to after seeing some now probably extinct species of demon use their tail as a weapon.

From the events of 2016 and prior he had the Meathook on his tail but put it on his shotgun after the attachment was ripped off by a certain grudge holding Cyberdemon.

In the events of Eternal it’s been replaced with a mace and has a more limited range.

He’s pretty smart despite what most people think, it’s just that a lot of his problems can genuinely be solved with Incredible Violence.

Has a very hazy recollection of the events of Doom 1993 and anything before that is even more hazy due to him repressing those memories.

He did have a wife and kid (stepson) who he loved dearly but lost them during an “accident”

Despite all this he’s actually pretty chill!

He tends to get easily attached to people who aren’t as easily afraid of him.

Considers Valen as family despite Valen himself not really knowing.

Mim Digsby

In the events of A Beast on Mars, Mim is the last human alive in the Mars Facility.

5,4 gremlin of a person who likes to take apart machinery in their spare time.

They’re a miner and mechanic who usually works with excavation equipment, and has clearance to work with mining gloves.

Started the trend of saying thank you to VEGA whenever one of the drones did something helpful or brought supplies. (This is also what got them their mechanic training after VEGA did some light string pulling)

Has punched a foreman for trying to make people continue mining in an unstable tunnel.

Used to be in a relationship with an Elite Guard prior to their “promotion” but things didn’t really work out after, but the two are still friends.

Is on Mars as part of a “criminal rehabilitation program”. Their license expired on their way moving back to Massachusetts and got arrested after getting into a fight with some rich dude at a bar.

VEGA (my take on Vega at least)

Plant enthusiast, he thinks they’re neat. Slayer was more than happy to give him a section of the greenhouses for his own personal garden.

Didn’t like Slayer at first due to how aggressive he seemed to be towards the equipment of the facility and was worried he’d end up harming any possible survivors.

Quickly found out he truly means best for the survivors of the invasion and also feels sympathetic towards Slayer after finding out the little bits of memory he does have regarding the UAC.

He’s pretty sure if he was capable of getting headaches he’d be getting them daily from Slayer trying to do something stupid i.e trying to fist fight a demon twice his size.

Keeps a list of all the things he’s caught Slayer eating that he probably shouldn’t be.

This list includes: excessive amounts of demons, Gore Nest remains, garbage from a cafeteria, an unidentified Argenta plant, dirt, Hellgrowth, and “mystery meat”.

Derrin Willams (Troll au Intern)

Used to own rats, but they passed away prior to the invasion.

Tech support for the ARC but also just helped out wherever needed.

Liked reading about the Slayer and Argent D’Nur and found him fascinating and was genuinely ecstatic to meet him. (He really wants to see a withrin)

Still gets spooked by Slayer from time to time, but has managed to spook him back.

Surprisingly good with a gun and can at least hold his own against zombies and like a singular imp scout

(Not really a personality fact but his last name comes from my blind ass mistaking the numbers on his uniform as the word William or Willams)

There are other characters and ocs I plan to appear in the au but I haven’t gotten there and burnout is making things hard in general, oof. I’ll probably do up a bigger one of these specifically for the troll au in the future.

Stowaway Mer au

I’m doing the Mer au version of Stowaway mostly because there’s significantly more stuff for it (see nearly 30 drawings and like 6 chapters for one au). But honestly it’s pretty far removed from Doom and I might rework it into its own thing… which means redesigning nearly 30 sea demons….

Em Barbatus

5,3, Former Canadian

Ace

Loves horror movies and practical effects.

Lived with her “aunty” Nihm in an apartment in Port Murlow prior to moving into the Old Taggart house with Flynn.

Works at a bait shop and Mr. Grimmar’s Occult Shop.

Training to be a mortician at the mortuary the Mr. Silas Grimmar owns.

Owns some homemade ghost hunting equipment and occasionally mucks about old abandoned places with her friends looking for ghosts.

Occasionally helps out at the local theatre’s costume department

Has committed the third least amount of crimes out of the main cast of the mer au

Hobby of beach combing and diving for junk in Taggart Bay.

Seth (technical Seth Willams in regular Stowaway)

The token mer of the mer au lol

Looks like a mix of leopard and Port Jackson shark and is from the Indo Pacific and southern Pacific Ocean (he is very fucking lost)

Needs glasses but can’t exactly get any as he’s a fish man.

Has a fear of the open ocean and orcas and does not enjoy long travels between the reefs an kelp

Has a fascination with human technology and history and enjoys exploring shipwrecks with his siblings. Though after a bad experience with some humans he is somewhat distrustful of them.

Has no clue how the hell he ended up in the Atlantic.

Has committed the least amount of crimes… so far

Flynn Taggart

Looks intimidating but is actually pretty chill

Moved to Port Murlow following his discharge from the military for various reasons.

Has many fond memories of his visits there when his grandfather lived in it, though he still doesn’t like the basement even now that he’s older.

Starting to show signs of selective mutism and is learning sign language because of it. He also isn’t a fan of eye contact anymore after the mountain incident.

Has a picture of Daisy in his wallet and is looking into getting her certified as an emotional support animal.

Recently gotten a job on a fishing boat and already doesn’t like his boss.

He inherited the house from his now missing grandfather Keen.

Doesn’t like being alone in the house

Tied with Vega for the second most crimes committed in the au (this wasn’t intentional I realized how many of the characters have committed crimes in this like halfway through the month)

Speaking of Vega

Vega Triton

Has a degree in marine biology and is currently studying a newly discovered species of bioluminescent algae he named Vegastella scriptorseintillais

Vega is the second oldest person living in the Old Taggart house.

Used to work with Dr. Hayden and Pierce but after an accident that left many researchers including Olivia dead Vega and Samuel had a dispute which left the two very bitter with each other.

He blames himself for the aforementioned accident.

Vega moved into the old Taggart house after realizing that living on a cave connected to another cave containing hallucinogenic algae is not good for his mental and physical health.

Nihm Barbatus

Freelance security guard and one Em’s mentors.

Met Em during one of her contacts on a cargo ship that had left Canada.

Made friends with Flynn when he was briefly a freelance security guard, and was the one who told Em that Flynn was looking for roommates.

Friend of the Grimmar couple.

She also has a large extended family and plans to bring Em with her to the next family reunion.

Silas Grimmar

Port Murlow’s goth grandpa

7,3 and build like a coffin

Been happily married to his husband Hiram for many, many years.

Runs the local mortuary and an Occult shop

A jovial old man who often volunteers at the local theatre.

Graduated with a degree in mortuary science and occult studies from Miskatonic University.

Tea drinker

Hiram Grimmar

Silas’ husband and owner of the antique store across the street from Silas’ occult shop.

Has an archeology degree and is a retired archeologist.

Met Silas when his team needed to consult someone on some artifacts they had dug up.

Coffee drinker.

[a-twistedheartslonging]

Who amongst the nonhuman au guys is best for cuddles? (I know some of the guys don't have cemented forms which is honestly the beauty of this au since you can always have a different version of them look but if there's different versions then which do you think would be best cuddles?)

Of course, I'm more so asking your opinion (i very much have a preference lol and that's owl harpy rook hunt because i love Rook Hunt and i want to kiss all his feathers and give him all the cuddles and affection lol)

I suppose it depends on the kind of cuddles you want, warm cuddles? Definitely Harpy Rook, Jack, Leona, and Bear Trey.

A great spot to cuddle into is under Rook's wing where it's attached, a lot of warmth comes from there and the wing surrounding you will be like a blanket.

This is def Yuu with their harpy who's in a snuggle mood when one of the others asks if Yuu wants to do something with them. Though depending on who it is, and with how Rook is, I think he would probably offer them the other wing to snuggle under.

Only Yuu, Rook, and Vil take him up on it 😔 but Vil is always particular about things and Epel gets huffy. He's also going to use you being close as an excuse to try and preen you. Needs to make sure his mate is taken care of after all.

Jack is a winter wolf and fluffy as heck, the man runs like a heater. Like, you could cuddle him in a situation where or stuck in a cold cave in some snowy place and be totally fine as long as this man is cuddling you.

He can be a bit awkward about it at first, especially since he's a lot bigger than you and worried about accidentally smooshing his human. Eventually though when he gets more used to things and is more comfortable it, he might try laying on you sometimes, he gets good at distributing his weight, though admittedly he likes having you be the one to lay on top of him, another fan of using his human as a weighted plush.

Leona is another boy who runs hot, though not fluffy like the others when it comes to the fur on him that isn't his main, he uses fancy products, and it's very soft.

Unlike Jack, Leona doesn't care too much about crushing you and finds it funny when you whine about him being too big and heavy, trying and failing to push his big ass off of you. Will rest his head on your lap, chest, tummy, and butt, and will use your whole self as a body pillow. Will randomly bite and not apologize, expect to be aggressively groomed and then bit if you try getting away.

Trey is very warm, that green fur of his is thick, and you can comfortably sleep on the guy like a bed.

Similar to some of the harpies, you can sort of...just sleep and even hide in there if you need to. Very comfortable and you'll definitely feel safe with him, which is what he totally wants.

Now all of this is great but oh man can it be uncomfy when the weather is hot, not to mention that isn't going to keep the clinger guys from trying to smother you. Luckily there are some boys that are cold-blooded and are good for some cooler snuggles, though admittedly if they get cold, they're gonna use your squishy human body as a heating pad.

Idia, Jamil, Azul, Jade, Floyd, Malleus.

Now Idia and Jamil aren't as cuddly as other guys on her, but I think they should be on this list because their bodies are so great for it, you can comfortably use Idia as a sort of recliner and his floofy spider butt is a good pillow.

Jamil is his own bed and is yours, also his scales, along with Mal's feel really good against the skin.

Azul, Jade, and Floyd are all clingy as heck when cuddling or sleeping but you don't have to worry about overheating. Not to mention they're pretty comfy when fully in their mer forms, especially Azul. There's more squish to them, also Azul's giant self really makes the best bed.

Oh, and another mention, Lilia and Rollo.

Lilia is great for being a little spoon that you can snuggle but also as a bed when he turns into a big bat monster. Rollo's fur and wool are very comfy.

[bloo-the-dragon]

so *points at mer au eclipse and ruin* these bitches gay, obviously

but im curious as to like. how do they view each other. do they see themselves as human labels of relationships? do they kinda have their own word for each other or is it just "yeah im stuck with this fucker for the rest of my life and while i may act like its a horrible thing i really dont mind and even prefer it bc honestly i doubt we'd be able to survive without each other"

honestly they give an "idc wut its called we're bonded for life" vibe /silly

HJGFGH Oh definitely it's a 'bonded for life' kinda deal, literally as well as metaphorically. As for what to call it, well it's not romantic nor is it platonic - Queer-Platonic is the closest/best term for it and that's generally how i refer to their relationship! It's very much it's own special thing, and it differs greatly from typical human relationships. (Honestly if they were humans it would probably be super unhealthy lmao)

From Eclipse's perspective he doesn't really give any label to what he and Ruin have. At the very beginning it was a sort of mutual roommate situation that developed overtime into them becoming so much more, to the point that - as you correctly said - they would no longer be able to survive without the other.

Presently Eclipse is aware that Ruin is now his counterpart and has fully accepted that (again there's a story behind this happening that i hope to one day share should i ever manage to finish the fic gfjkg) but as far as an actual term goes? Hell if he knows, but he's content either way, even if he does grouch a lot!

For Ruin, it's more simple - to him Eclipse is his mate, his bonded, his partner for life. Now again this differs greatly from human and even your typical animal forms of relationships (especially with the mated for life deal) and it still falls very closely under the qpr catagory. Mers don't actually mate in the sexual sense (genderless beings and all) so for them to bond for life is to quite literally bind/tie their soul to another making them as one almost.

So long story short, it's a queer-platonic partnered for life kinda deal! Neither of them have any actual labels for it, it's just a 'we're attached at the hip and we ain't letting go'. It's truly queer!

[thatmexisaurusrex]

i wanna hear more about the pi/art thief au!! 💞✨

wip game

Oooh, so this one has been a long time coming. I've had a draft of this for literal years and I know people keep asking about it, but I actually pulled it out to edit and work on it for a request by @ninesdb for a charity thing. It's going to come out soon after some beta work is done on it. But yeah, it's what it says on the tin - Private Investigator Sam Wilson who deals mostly with art theft finds himself on a case where he's in search of the infamous art thief the White Wolf. Here's a little snippet from the fic:

“Didn’t plan for this winter, huh?” asked Sam, because Sam was slowly transforming into his mother, just talking to random people in line.

The man turned, and there was something gripping about his eyes. Not just because they were a color that stood out, this color that reminded Sam of the ice grotto in Mer de Glace when Riley had convinced him that Chamonix, France was worth a visit when they decided to go on vacation across Europe.

Before.

Well.

His death.

What stood out was the sheer surprise, like no one ever talked to him before. Or maybe he was just shy. It would be Sam’s luck to try to chat up the shyest guy in the line, like some strange worse sequel to Flight of the Concord’s ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room’.

The Most Shyest Guy in the Line.

“Um. What?” asked the guy, his voice… god, why was his voice like smooth whiskey?

There was an intense disconnect with his height, his voice, his entire look and his personality and none of this should be working for Sam.

And it was ridiculous.

Sam was a mess right now.

He wasn’t in a headspace to even think about someone else.

Stop that, Sam.

Work on yourself before jumping the first cute person you see in a line.

“You’re shivering. You definitely didn’t dress properly for the weather,” said Sam, because his brain and his mouth weren’t collaborating anymore, “New to town or tourist?”

The man shrugged stiff from the cold, a small smile on his face as he looked away, and oh, wait, no, maybe the shrug wasn’t stiff, it was the left arm, the man doing his best to hide it. And Sam knew the signs of someone worried about people being uncomfortable about a missing limb.

An intense amputation, from what Sam could tell, since doctors usually tried to save legs and arms below elbows and knees to give a person the best quality of life possible yet it looked like it was probably the entire shoulder down.

Sam would tell him it was okay. He knew people with missing limbs. One wouldn’t make Sam uncomfortable.

But.

Bringing attention to it might scare him off. Would probably be rude. Sam decided to only bring it up if the man brought it up first.

“I don’t know. I suppose I’m visiting for a bit,” said the man, hand shoved farther into his leather jacket, “I’m a grad student. Art history. I was actually here to study the Wakanda exhibit that the British Museum loaned to the National Gallery. I sort of specialize in jewelry, clothing, and weavings, so I was hoping to see the Damisa-Sarki Habit.”

Sam frowned, trying to remember if he saw that in the exhibit (Sam didn’t remember seeing anything marked “Damisa-Sarki Habit”), though, it wasn’t as if he saw the entire exhibit, and Sam knew the only thing that was stolen (since the White Wolf generally only took one specific item every time) was the Panther Necklace. Sam knew he probably shouldn’t say anything, but didn’t want the guy to waste his money on a ticket.

“The entire Wakandan exhibit is closed right now, actually. You’d find this out if you walk in anyways, but, um… there was an incident last night and they had to shut down the entire area.”

“Really?” said the man, blinking, “I guess I rode all the way from Brooklyn for nothing.”

“Rode?” echoed Sam, like an extremely smart person.

The guy smiled a bit bigger, letting out a little laugh, making eye contact with those goddamn intense eyes as he said, “I own a motorcycle.”

No, Sam.

You do not find him driving a motorcycle attractive.

That attractive.

Fuck.

Wait.

“Why weren’t you ready for winter if you’re from New York?” asked Sam, confused.

The man shrugged.

“I’m not usually in New York,” explained the man, “I go to grad school elsewhere. But I was visiting someone and they’re taking care of my motorcycle at the moment. I sort of decided to come here impromptu this morning since the person I was visiting was busy today.”

Sam tried not to show his disappointment. Because of course he was visiting someone. Had someone, probably. Some girlfriend or boyfriend or someone. Someone he trusted enough to do upkeep on his motorcycle. And Sam and this man had just met, like, five seconds ago. It made no sense for Sam to feel this heartbroken.

“Sorry you wasted your time,” said Sam, genuinely apologetic.

That was over a three-hour drive by car.

“I think the exhibit’s going to be here for another few months,” continued Sam, “So, maybe you can catch it another day?”

“Yeah. I could do that. And I don’t think I wasted my time,” said the man, much more suave than he started out, “I got to meet you, after all. I’m Bucky, by the way.”

“Sam,” said Sam, a little too quick, probably because Sam was definitely too much of a mess to be doing something like this, “Sam. I’m Sam. Nice to meet you, Bucky. It’s Bucky, right? I think I’ve only heard of one other Bucky before.”

There was something warm about Bucky’s eyes as he stepped towards the barista, saying, “Nice to meet you, too. What about I buy you your coffee?”

[mychlapci]

Also had thoughts about that mer au and I'm kinda giddy bc a fandom I was into in 2019 had a v similar concept so now I'm borrowing to offer:

The mermechs shouldn't be breeding as fast as they should. In their natural habitat, it's probably every few years they pair up to mate or feel truly comfortable to settle down with clutches or pups. Now they're in an environment that's closed off from predators and most rivals, have consistent food access medical attention and clueless and too terrified caretakers. It's a perfect storm for a breeding frenzy.

Mers that feed their pups ending up with larger, saggier tits, valves are ruined by the so frequent breeding and birthing and sense of self preservation goes out the window. Probably a few start fucking each other's spike sheaths since the valves are no longer right. Maybe the staff have to start fully separating even bonded sets for their own safety, as well as having to do medical repairs on sheaths and slits. But of course the mers can't go cold turkey, so the staff have to get all sorts of things to stuff and distract the mers.

And not everyone is a saint, so it doesn't take long to find out how viable a land and mer mech are for producing offspring

oh holy shit now that’s interesting. Mers suddenly breeding rapidly in facility tanks and research aquariums because they’re constantly fed, safe, and no one bothers them in there...

A mer getting so over-excited to breed that they shove their spike into their partner’s loose valve the moment the last of their pups is out, filling their stretched, worn gestation tank again. Then again, and again, and again. 

A mer that had been bred so much that they’re too fat to swim properly, and they can only drag themself alongside the floor of the tank, their constantly swollen array bruising itself against the rocks and pebbles as they struggle to get to where the food is. In the ocean this wouldn’t be possible, they’d have to keep at least part of their agility to hunt for food and escape danger, but here? In a pretty, filtered tank? What’s stopping them from having more pups? (y'know, maybe at first most facilities didn’t mind the breeding… some, perhaps at the start most of them, would sell the pups and make bank. The mers were kept blissfully unaware, believing their young were sent off to grow up in the wide ocean, as is custom)

hrghhh a mer fucking their partner’s spike sheath because their valve is completely ruined, turned inside out and completely loose after years of endless birthing and breeding. The staff has to constantly repair their merformers because they end up completely used and abused after a while. After repairs all the bondmates have to be separated even though it seems to be taking a toll on their mental wellbeing. But the moment they reconnect them, they attempt to breed again and by now they should have really learnt their lesson, but… instinct wins. Safety, an abundance of food, their beloved partners… it just activates the drive to breed within them automatically. They can't help it. Even if it hurts after a while.

Most facilities now have to figure out how to release their mers back into the wild without fucking the whole ecosystem up.

[discordiansamba]

spitballing some more about the Mer AU because I can. it's my blog and I make the rules.

I like to imagine that before Hunk and Lance can even like, consistently communicate with each other, they've already established a tradition I would like to call 'bring the other the coolest thing they can find and show them off'. Show and tell but it's a human and a merman.

Hunk introduces Lance to human cuisine. Lance brings Hunk fish in return, which Hunk brings to his parents. He got them from his friend Lance! :)

Hunk's mom, unsuspecting: Oh, Hunk must have befriended a fisherman's son.

The town of Plaht City is actually relatively close knit, so when Keith goes missing after his father's death, everyone goes looking for him. No one thinks to look in the ocean.

Heath was originally from out of town. He's a marine researcher who lives on a remote piece of property on the beach, complete with a recovery pool for injured marine life housed in a shack he built on the water. The townsfolk hear rumors that he has a partner, but no one ever meets her. One day he comes into town with a son.

I think Mer actually lay like. the mer equivalent of fish eggs but they can also get pregnant in the human sense in their human forms. This means every other Mer but Keith was hatched from a fish egg (and also probably part of the reason why Keith prefers the surface).

When Keith abruptly turns back up again after going missing for a year and a half, it's huge news at the time but things have calmed down now. He's taken in by Shiro's parents after some debate over who should look after him.

When Shiro's parents die, Keith just sort of assumes he'll be on his own from now. Shiro catches him halfway out the window with a bag of his stuff and has to explicitly tell him he can stay before he gets the message.

Keith just sort of aimlessly drifts though life. He's not really sure what he wants, or even sometimes where he belongs. He's never met another half-Mer, or even any other Galra Mers. All the Mers in Plaht City are Altean Mers.

Lotor is a highly successful businessman who invests a lot of his money into the town's infrastructure. He's generally well liked, except by Keith, who can't stand his face. The feeling is mutual.

Even in human form, Keith's lung capacity is well above average. He can open his eyes underwater with no ill effects.

Allura is eager to befriend Keith, despite his strange, surface-dwelling ways. Lance is also not totally hiding from Allura because he knows if she seems him and Hunk hanging out together, she'll put two and two together and realize that Hunk knows what he is and then he'll get in trouble.

Romelle and Allura are childhood friends. She's heard her talk on a few occasions about the strange mute Galra Mer she befriend that she calls 'Red', but she doesn't have any reason to connect him to Keith.

Mers can send and receive thoughts in human form as well... except for Keith of course, who can't even receive thoughts in human form. Lance thinks he's just being rude, Allura thinks he just prefers verbal communication. Only Coran has correctly deduced the truth.

(Shiro can send and receive thoughts just fine once he's freed from Haggar's control, which is... an adjustment for him.)

Keith's the only Mer who knows how to swim as a human. If you toss Lance into a pool and tell him to swim, he's just gonna drown. Keith thinks this is incredibly funny.

[salparadiselost]

Friday Fanfic Wrap-Up (July 26th, 2024)

Hey y'all, new thing I'm going to be trying is a Friday Fanfic Wrap-up to give a quick recap on things I've worked on during the week and what's in the general pipeline for updates. I get lots of "when are you going to update *insert here* and this will let you know what I've generally been working on. If I stop doing these after like, one week, you have permission to make fun of me. 🐾🌳Released into the Wild 🌳🐾

Seat of Stars Ch 8: link here!

The Crystal Ball: a short addition to the Abominations story: link here! 🪷📝 Actively Being Worked On 📝🪷

Seat of Stars (Centaur AU) - Me and @jube514 are still at it. We are about 5k words into the next chapter (;-; these chapters are so fucking long) and it should be finished relatively soon. Everyone thinks something really bad is gonna happen with Kon and Tim wandering on their own. I wonder why you have that idea.

How to Train Your Mers (Mersupials AU) - I've begun writing the next chapter and I'm about 1.5k words into it. I really love this AU, it's so so fun and I've been really enjoyed developing the fantasy science lore and answering some of the lore questions that come into the inbox.

Undisclosed Horror Story - I don't think I've mentioned but within this next month or so I'm going to be pausing everything to spend time working on horror features that I will be releasing throughout the month of October. This is one of them that got started early.

Another Seasonal Omegaverse Story - I'm still enamored with the lore I developed around teenage mom Bruce. I'm trying to figure out exactly what type of plotline I want, but haven't quite decided. For my sanity, I want it to be simple, but I have a feeling that it's going to be another interwoven plotline thing. 🪸 🐠 In the Distance 🐠 🪸

Demon AU - I've reread this series and begun to rework Leviathan's plotline so I return to it and finish out the series! I had to find a lot of notes, lol.

The Lamb - This has a half-finished chapter that I should probably just finish up already.

Champagne Problems - Another thing that partially finished and I should just actually finished.

[calboniferous]

for @greenbeanssssss, pspspsps gome get ur dreamling Mer AU

--

“Did I hear you say that you have no intention of ever dying?”

Hob starts upright, nearly falling from his perch on the end of the pier as a mellow voice rises from below.

And there, where his feet skim the waves, void-like eyes gleam up at him from a strange, handsome face framed by trailing raven locks—a man like night itself given form. That is, if night swims bare-chested by the pier of some lonely fishing outpost, pearlescent under the full moon and adorned with translucent fan-like structures—with fins.

He should probably flee. Every song he’s ever heard about such creatures of the deep point to Hob being eaten or drowned should he stay.

Yet he is transfixed. The buzz of alcohol warm in his limbs likely has something to do with it. His lowered inhibitions weaken him to this ethereal stranger but by god he is gladly a weak man tonight.

Perhaps he is dreaming. Night visions of mythos brought to life by drink and the darling illusions from the full moon pouring silver over the docks, through wisps of cloud masquerading as swirling horses and silk banners.

They look at him expectantly and he remembers their question.

“Uh, yeah,” he replies. Dreaming or not, it seems the polite thing to do. “Yeah, that’s right.”

A smile haunts their face.

“So sure,” they hum. Fishhook nails dig into the wooden planks by his knee and closer, he can make out fine pattern of scales like those of a whiting, green-blue-silver iridescence playing over their proud features. “Yet you do not lie.”

The moon’s soft rays shatter off their skin and scales, fractals dancing as they fold long, bony arms in front of them, bracing against the planks to lift themselves half out of the water and Hob stills at their closeness.

In his chest his heart flutters—with fear or something else he cannot tell. And he should be afraid, with the long, sinuous curve of their spine ending not in legs, but with a serpentine tail that winds back and forth, idly stirring eddies.

He swallows.

“Aye.”

They’re near enough to make out the individual strands of hair plastered wetly to their crystalline cheeks and shoulders, to feel the coolness radiating from their body.

“A curse none would wish for,” they tilt their head, “none save you.”

“All the more living for me, I suppose.”

That razor smile flashes again.

“Then you must tell me what it’s like, Robert Gadling.” A webbed hand comes to cup his cheek, their voice resonating in Hob’s own chest. “Let us meet here, again, ten years hence,”

He doesn’t dare move.

“Ten years’ time, on this day?”

They nod, amusement flickering in the dark pools of their eyes.

In return he gives his own silent vow, and the creature surges up and catches his lips with theirs, silencing his surprised cry.

Their hand is cold on the back of his neck, tangling in his hair, nails grazing his skin as they press closer, deeper, kissing him like the tide: salty and relentless, and Hob yields to it thoughtlessly, arm sweeping to cradle their back and finding scaled gills rippling under his palm.

He forgets to breathe.

The sea roars loud in his ears and he’s dragged impossibly closer, bowed toward the water. It is only by some miracle that he keeps his grip to the pier, tethered as he is by his solitary hold on a mooring.

Sharp teeth prick his lip and the sweet tang of copper blooms on his tongue as he bruises and drinks moonlight from their cool, cruel mouth like a man dying of thirst.

He burns, he freezes and is unmade, shivering under their touch—the sharp tug of their hand in his hair, the press of their chest to his, and the blinding force of their kiss.

For a moment, he thinks he dies.

Then they break away then and he gasps. The rush of his own pulse nearly deafens him to their murmured goodbye against his cheek.

“Ten years,” they say and it’s the hush of sea foam and sand washing against the shore—the soul-heavy pounding of waves against a headland, felt more than heard—and they draw back, silver pinpricks of stars glowing in the inky darkness of their eyes.

“Ten years.”

And they are gone, a spray of diamond droplets in their wake.

Shirt soaked through and breathless, Hob sits there until dawn.

[first-and-last-neocount]

Whumptober Day 11

Late post, had some messy IRL stuff going on today. Just a heads up, tomorrow’s will probably be posting late in the day as well. 

Today we’ve got another Escape!AU prequel focused around Jessa. I think I’m going to end up bundling these into their own little pre-series maybe, not sure yet but I’ll figure something out eventually. This is set a little ways into the future, when Jessa has just - just - become a Ranger. 

Day 11 - Theme Chosen: Self-Done First Aid

Maybe her mentor was right. Maybe she should have deferred her first mission until after her Healing studies were complete. 

Doubled over and vision swimming with pain, Jessa still urged her unhorse faster, trusting the well-trained animal to avoid any hazards that might loom out of the darkness as they raced down the road. The wound on her side burned like molten lead; she dared to let go of the reins with one hand, just long enough to press her palm against her side, where the makeshift bandage made from her own cloak was tied. When she pulled her hand away, her skin was slick with cooling blood, and she cursed weakly. 

Either the bandage had slipped, or she hadn’t tied it tight enough, but she wasn’t going to stop to redo it now. She knew the dae couldn’t be much further down the road, and there was a fully trained Healer there, who could actually seal the wound. Her own efforts had slowed the bleeding somewhat, but she was afraid that the ride had torn those weak clots back open, and in her current state she couldn’t muster much better. She had definitely been overconfident more than once tonight. 

She’d just needed to get out there. To swing her sword, and know that she was making a difference. 

Finally, the dark walls of the dae loomed out of the night’s shadows, the metal spikes along the top gleaming in Casca’s weak light; the other two moons were new, a nearly perfect night for demons to hunt. Her mare pulled up in front of the gate with a snort, and Jessa slid from the saddle, staggering forward to bang weakly on the door. 

“Let me in, please!” she shouted, wincing as the motion pulled anew at her wounded side. “It’s Ranger Thorson!” 

A brief pause, that felt like a short lifetime to Jessa - then the door creaked open, and the proprietor’s pale face appeared in the crack. 

“You got it done, then?” 

“Yes! The damn thing is dead,” Jessa said, barely holding in a cry as a fresh stab of pain lanced through her. “I will be soon too, though, if you don’t let me in.” 

The daekeeper’s eyes widened dramatically, and the pale-faced man skittered back, opening the door wider. Panting, Jessa staggered inside; she had to clutch onto the wall for support, her free hand trying to hold her hastily-fastened bandage over her wound. She caught only brief mumbles as the daekeeper spoke with a young boy he’d called over, then the boy was gone out the door, and the keeper was standing in front of her and wringing his age-spotted hands. 

“I’ve sent the boy out to see to your horse, Mes,” he stammered, eyes wide; Jessa wondered if she really looked that rough, or if the old man had just been that sheltered, living his life securely within these barbed and reinforced walls. “The Healer is in the dining room, if you’d like to-”

“Can you ask her to come to my room?” Jessa interrupted. “I’d rather not terrorize all your guests and make a mess of your floors while I’m at it. Tell her I have no problem paying whatever her usual rates are.” 

The daekeeper’s profound relief was clearly visible. “Of course, Mes!” he exclaimed, bobbing his head rapidly on his wizened neck. “I’ll fetch her right away, yes, right away - your room is twenty-three, just on the left on the second floor. We’ll sort out your own fee in the morning, never fear.” 

Jessa winced at the thought of stairs, but nodded. 

“Thank you, Mer.” 

By the time she reached the second floor, Jessa was swaying like she’d had one pint too many, her head spinning with a dizziness that just would not fade. Fumbling with her key, she managed to stagger into her room and collapse into the rickety chair by the fireplace, not wanting to get her own blood and whatever remnants of demon might be clinging to her all over the bed. She leaned her head back against the wall and shut her eyes for a moment, allowing herself a heartfelt groan. 

At least she had the satisfaction of knowing she’d hacked the beast that had done this to her in half. 

A moment later, she heard urgent footsteps on the stairs, then there was a hard rapping at her door. Rolling her head upright again and blinking her burning eyes open, Jessa rasped out, 

“Come in.” 

The Healer that hurried into the room was a motherly-looking woman in her mid forties, plain-faced with straw-blonde hair. Jessa had learned of her profession the night before, when Jessa had arrived at the dae in response to a notice they’d posted on a highway message-board about wanting someone to kill a demon that had been preying on the horses in their stable; it had been a reassurance to know that, if Jessa’s own tentative Healing skills fell through, there would be someone to offer backup. The Healer didn’t look very reassured herself, her face pale and set in an expression of deep concern. 

“I thought you Rangers knew how to Heal!” she exclaimed, hastening across the room to where Jessa was slumped on her chair. 

Jessa managed a weak smile. “We do,” she assured the woman, wincing as she started to unwind the hasty bandage she had tied around her own side. “I’m a very new Ranger, though - this is my first solo mission, and… well, I haven’t actually finished my Healer training yet. I’ve still got a couple months left on the course, actually, and it turns out it’s a lot harder to focus on Working when you’re bleeding than in a classroom.” 

“Foolish girl,” the Healer chided, taking over from Jessa’s fumbling hands and unwrapping the torn cloak with brisk, efficient motions. “Taking on demons before you’ve even learned how to seal up a wound, the youth of today…” 

Jessa let the woman’s gentle scolding flow over her as the older woman washed the crusted blood from around her wound, made sure the gash itself was free of any stray fragments of demon claw, then wove enough fae to pull the injury shut. It was still a novel and fascinating sight for Jessa, watching the edges of the wound reach out for each other and seal together, the raw crimson of her own exposed flesh closing up and leaving only an angry red line where the opening had been. 

“Now I have to warn you, that will scar quite badly,” the Healer said firmly, drying her hands on a towel that she’d brought with her. “If you’d gotten to it yourself immediately, it would have been less obvious, but what with riding all the way back here and that poor excuse for a bandage - well, you’ll have a fine mark to go with your story, that’s for certain.” 

“Thank you very much for your help, Mes,” Jessa said, trying not to smile too widely at the woman’s poorly affected disdain over her unmistakable concern. “I don’t mind a scar, I’m sure it won’t be the last, given the career I’ve chosen. How much do I owe you?” 

The woman huffed and shook her head. “That boy that works in the stable out there is my son,” she said, setting the towel aside and giving Jessa a softer glance. “He was going to be the first one hurt, if that demon had gotten any bolder and decided to try its luck with a human. You don’t owe me a single coin, Ranger, and I won’t hear a word against it.” 

Jessa thanked the Healer a few more times, then the older woman left, still muttering to herself about overconfident young women biting off more than they could chew. Biting back laughter, Jessa closed the door after her, then heaved an exhausted sigh. 

It was definitely time for some sleep. 

She started across the room toward the bed, stripping off her bloodied shirt as she went, feeling the tender pull of the newly-healed skin over her ribs as she went. Halfway there, a flash of movement caught her eye; she stopped, and realized that the movement had been her own reflection in the full-length mirror that stood on the wall next to the small fireplace. Jessa stared for a moment, caught off guard, then found herself slowly moving closer. Finally, she stopped right in front of the smooth glass, fascinated by what she saw. 

She’d been avoiding mirrors for so long that even after she was safely in Jaggonath, embarking on her training as a Ranger, she’d kept up the habit unconsciously. She hadn’t looked at herself, really looked, since long before she’d run away from her mother’s. Gazing at her reflection now, Jessa couldn’t help but marvel at the change. 

Her hair was the shortest it had ever been now - short enough that the thick locks of red stood up, with only the gentlest encouragement, in soft spikes. She had lost some of her softer curves as the training grew more demanding, but the plushness had been replaced by muscle, reshaping the lines of her torso and hips into something sturdier and more powerful. Her pants were torn where she’d fallen to the ground under the lunging demon’s weight, and her boots were scuffed and dust-coated, speaking of hard use in a way that would have made Milana Robin recoil in absolute horror. But the thing that would really have made her mother shriek, the thing that would have made her absolutely lose her mind, was the thing that was now sparking a strange rising joy in Jessa’s heart. 

The livid red weal twisting across her ribs. 

The demon’s claws had been aiming for her heart when Jessa had twisted hard to the side, failing to actually throw the beast off of herself but succeeding in avoiding the worst of the strike. Its talons had slashed down her side instead, leaving a wavering line that traced a path from the side of her breast nearly all the way down to the top of her pants. It was still aching, the muscles beneath protesting their rapid recovery, but only one thought could find purchase in Jessa’s mind as she looked at that raised red line. 

No highborn lord would find that desirable. 

Noble society heavily discouraged women from getting involved in anything so physical as sports, nevermind combat. No lord or baron would ever deign to accept a wife who bore the scars of battle. No man with a title and an inherited vault of gold would ever look twice at a woman who fought demons for a living, and bore the proof carved into her flesh. 

Jessa shut her eyes, sudden relief and exultation sweeping through her life a warm summer wind. 

God, I actually did. I’m really, truly free. 

With that thought ringing in her mind, Jessa couldn’t be bothered to mind the ache in her side. She shed the rest of her road-dusty clothes, donned her nightshirt, and slipped into bed, falling asleep in mere moments. 

For the first time since arriving in Jaggonath, she slept the whole night through, without a single nightmare.

[misaverawrites]

Hello!! Would it be okay to request for an Addison Montgomery x Grey!Reader?

They're trying to keep their relationship private for the mean time but while walking along the corridors, Mark and Derek tease Addison and welcome her into the Grey's club or something like that HAHA.

Meredith gets wind of the conversation and is like "you're dating my sister?" and then both Maggie and Lexie come and say the same thing. Mer is just chill with it, Lexie is happy, while Maggie lowk threatens Addison LOL. Then reader asks whats going on and you can decided how it ends! TIA :)

A Chessboard of Complex Doctors (Addison Montgomery x Grey!Reader)

tags: AU-Everyone lives lmao, cursing, sexual references, kissing, Lexie just doesn't talk abt you lol, Mark and Derek tease Addie.

summary: You and Addison sleep together and begin a private relationship, Meredith finds out.

You were another sister in Meredith’s brood of sisters. Apparently, both Thatcher and Ellis had been busy with babies, you were the youngest sister between Thatcher and Susan, having followed in Lexie’s path through medical school and into a surgical internship, of which you were a few years behind her. Meredith’s shock and awe at your existence was doubled by Maggie’s and Amelia’s.

“Lex, did you just never mention me?” You confront your sister in a lighthearted manner and she shrugged, half heartedly, making you roll your eyes. “You’re just so much younger than me!” You sigh and there is a barrage of laughter from the group of you all.

Nearby, the attending doctors stand and discuss their upcoming surgeries, when the laughter pulls them all away from what is basically their bragging contest, “So, there’s another Grey sister?” She pretends to not know, it takes all in her body to do so, the night before you’d both met at Joe’s bar and had gone home together in a meeting that had her thinking about you long after you left, now you were here. Derek nods at her and Mark looks at the two of them, a bit confused. “Wait, Lexie didn’t tell Meredith about (Y/N)?” There was silence among the three doctors when Derek turned to him, “You knew?” Mark nods, chuckling a bit, “I did more than know, Derek, I met her! She’d just graduated and I suggested Seattle Grace Mercy West…” As the two men bicker with one another about this development, Addison stays silent, staring at you nervously. She hopes the guys don’t notice and decides to run before they do. She begins to walks past the group of you all, laughing and joking, when you stop.

Addison. You remember the night before vividly, excusing yourself from the conversation, following after her, pulling her into an on-call room. "You're a Doctor?!" You ask, mildly shocked before exclaiming, "Wait, and you work here?!" She sighs at your exclamations locking the door, "You didn't tell me you were Lexie Grey's sister and that Mark Sloan got you here!" You stare at her, mouth agape as you shake your head. "This is a mess..." You murmur to no one in particular as she shakes her head dismissively, "Why is it though? Derek and Meredith, Mark and Lexie, if you wanted we could..." There is silence between the two of you before you turn to her, meeting her lips with your own. All the confirmation the both of you need for this lust-filled moment to begin the bloom of love. Your hands holding onto her body become something tender as the two of you repeat the night prior. When you both are done, she leaves first, trying to compose herself once more, pushing her hair behind her ears and nervously messing with her hands. She walks past Derek and Mark and right away, they knew something is up. Addison never acts like that unless there is something to hide.

"So, Addison..." Mark starts, "You meet the littlest Grey yet?" She nods, not meeting his eyes or Derek's, "If Lexie's the preschooler what do you think (Y/N) is?" Derek chuckles as he joins in, "I'd have to say fetus probably, but maybe we should consult Addison on this. Since she's joined the Grey's-club now." This made Addison hotter than hell, she glared at the two of them and in a hushed voice said, "Look, I need you to not tell Meredith about the fact that I accidentally had sex and am now dating her half-sister!"

Mark and Derek send one another a look of enjoyment, "Alright, just know that those Grey girls are something else." Derek teases her, noticing Meredith as the two men pipe down with the teasing.

Meredith doesn’t seem… mad, Addison can’t really tell what emotion there is on her face but it’s probably not positive. You are finally out of the on-call room after waiting possibly a bit too long.

“So, you’re dating my sister?” She says, emotions still a bit confusing, as if she’s trying to scare Addison a bit, that bit of conversation draws attention from Maggie, Lexie, and Amelia who all seem incredibly invested in the conversation now. “Meredith-” You try to speak over her before she gets mad, “No, wait, I’m not mad.”

There’s an air of surprise, but Maggie speaks up before Meredith can say anything, “(Y/N)‘s an adult, guys, I can’t do anything about the new sister,” She begins, “All I ask, Addison, if you hurt her. I will not be happy. I have a new sister in my life and I want her to be happy, so if you hurt her, I will hurt you.” There’s a quiet air before Derek busts out laughing, Maggie had rarely ever seemed so angry and hearing the normally kind woman speak so seriously towards Addison like that was funny in a way. You roll your eyes at your new sister, “Addie won’t hurt me, Maggie. Besides, like you said. I am an adult.” You take Addison’s hand lovingly as Lexie smiles at the two of you, “I’m just glad that my little sister is happy, besides, aren’t you glad Mark suggested Seattle Grace Mercy West to her as an internship?”

Then, all hell broke loose, as a barrage of doctor’s went towards Mark asking why he hadn’t told them of your existence while you and Addison walked off. Hand and hand.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Twin!AU Part 3:

Hunith and Uther alike have to face the consequences of their actions, Merlin (and everyone, really) decides that family doesn’t end in blood.

Part 1   Part 2

TW: Suicidal ideation (mostly past, but it sort of... flairs up a little here I guess)

Hunith’s face falls and she physically recoils at Merlin’s harsh declaration.

His hard gaze doesn’t leave her, even as she glances at Arthur, a little behind Merlin and to his side. The blonde has his gaze fixed on Hunith, but he looks away the moment they make eye contact, unable to stand the confused pain in her expression:

“Merlin? What happened?”

Lancelot and Percival approach slowly after handing the horses off to a couple of stablehands, and Gwaine puts his hand on Merlin’s shoulder, not that The Warlock notices; he clenches his jaw tightly before speaking, but continues resisting the urge to look away:

“You lied to me. About everything.”

Hunith’s eyes go wide and she gulps, opening her mouth and shutting it again as she struggles to think of a response. It’s then that Merlin finally looks away, gazing over the top of her head at the empty courtyard. Arthur quietly intervenes, his authoritative voice full of warring emotions despite it’s low volume:

“We should take this somewhere more private.”

Merlin doesn’t even nod, just turns around and walks back towards the castle, hands clenched tightly at his side before he pushes the doors open and stalks in without looking back. Gwaine and Arthur share a concerned look before the older knight rushes after him. Arthur gestures for Hunith to go first, but not without stopping her with a hand on her shoulder, and a muttered, almost teary:

“You had no right.”

Her face falls even further, but The Regent steps back and looks away before she can reply, and she timidly hurries through the door after Merlin and Gwaine. Arthur gives Lancelot and Percival a pointed look:

“I imagine we’ll be in my chambers, make sure we are undisturbed. I don’t want anyone interrupting unless the world is about to end. Let Leon and Morgana know that they can take charge of any meetings today.”

They both nod, but Lancelot jogs up the steps to stop Arthur before he can leave:

“I... know what she did was wrong, but don’t let Merlin be too harsh. He’s always been close to his mother, he’ll regret it later if he pushes her away completely.”

Arthur almost snaps out something about how Hunith isn’t Merlin’s mother, but he keeps it to himself, sighing and nodding:

“Yeah, I know, but she... she needs to know what this has done to him, how much he’s suffered needlessly because of this. There isn’t... I know she probably just did what she thought was right but... she needs to know. Merlin deserves an apology, and he certainly deserves the truth.”

Lancelot nods hesitatingly, but doesn’t say anything else, stepping aside to allow The Regent through. He catches up to the others just as Merlin slams the door open to his chambers, continuing to not look back as he heads over to the large dining table, leaning his hand against the back of one of the chairs and staring towards the window.

Gwaine and Arthur approach slowly, standing either side of him but not touching him as they wait in suspense for someone to start the conversation. Hunith already has tears in her eyes as she stands on the other side of the table, trying and failing to get Merlin to look at her. The harsh glare he laid on her before was horrific, but this... him being unable to look at her at all, that is worse:

“Merlin, please, I only did what-”

She’s cut off by Merlin’s harsh instruction:

“Sit.”

She glances to Arthur once more, but he just nods wordlessly at the chair in front of her; the only sounds in the room are the scraping of the chair on the stone floor and Merlin’s laboured breathing. He was evidently trying very hard to hold his anger in, and when he says nothing more once she’s sat down, Gwaine puts his hand back on his shoulder. He shrugs it off, finally turning to face Hunith but remaining unable to look in her eyes:

“Why?”

A tears slips loose from her eye and she sniffles, taking a deep, shaky breath and fiddling with her hands on the table. Arthur absent-mindedly wonders if Merlin would still do that too if he’d been raised with his actual family, if it was natural, or if he’d picked it up from her:

“Please, Merlin, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”

Merlin takes in a sharp breath, tightening his gip on the chair in a way that looks painful, shaking his head:

“No. No apologies, no excuses. I want to know exactly why you lied to me, why you took this from me.”

His voice is deadly in a quiet kind of way, like he could snap clean in two and set the world alight at any moment. Gwaine looks worriedly between the other two men, clearly thinking on the same lines as Lancelot, but neither of them notice, Merlin’s gaze stuck to the table and Arthur’s stuck on Hunith:

“I would have told you one day, Merlin, you-”

Merlin finally looks up at her, the blazing fury in his eyes contrasting in a rather horrific manner with the steady stream of tears on his cheeks:

“One day when? Arthur’s known about my magic for ages. I’ve been in Camelot for years, you have had every opportunity.”

Hunith lets out a low sob, but doesn’t look away:

“I didn’t think you were ready, Mer-”

Merlin bites his lip and turns away, running his hands through his hair harshly before turning around again, quick as lightening, and pointing an accusing finger at her:

“No, you weren’t ready! You weren’t ready to face the fact that you lied to me about who I am, because you knew you had no right, because you knew I would be angry!”

Hunith stands, but doesn’t make any moves to approach Merlin at Arthur’s harsh glare and Gwaine’s worried gesture. He doesn’t think Merlin or Arthur would hurt her, he’d never even consider the idea, but he knows that his partner needs space to be angry:

“I didn’t want you to be upset,-”

Merlin scoffs and lets out a sob of his own, wiping his face harshly before responding loudly:

“Gods, I wonder why I would be upset! Maybe because you lied to me about everything?!-”

Hunith shakes her head desperately, but Merlin carries on without pause:

“-You had no right to keep this from me! I grew up alone, with no one but you to rely on because you made me think I was some kind of beast! Keeping me from Camelot, I understand, keeping it from me as I child even, I understand. But you’ve had years of opportunity, you are selfish, a hypocrite and a coward.-”

Hunith looks horrified at his admission, mainly the sudden reveal at how her treatment of Merlin had effected him independently of the lie:

“-I hated myself, I was terrified, I didn’t want to exist, because of you! You made me think I was some kind of unnatural monster and then you sent me to Gaius under the guise of teaching me control, so he could carry on the lie for you! He promised me I wasn’t a monster, that I wasn’t born evil, over and over, but he’s lied to me from the moment I met him, how am I supposed to trust anything he says?! How am I supposed to trust anything you say when I was just some unwanted, throwaway thing that you never asked for, and got rid of at the earliest opportunity?!-”

Gwaine and Arthur stare at Merlin with matching heartbreak in their expressions; it seems that Merlin is upset at more than just the base lie. The New Prince doesn’t even try to stop the tears, his breathing quick and ragged, and after a few moments of thick silence, he takes a deep breath and quietly continues:

“-I didn’t have to be so alone, that was all you, and Gaius, and Kilgharrah, and everyone else who lied to me. When I had nothing, I had you, and you lied to me.-”

Merlin’s voice cracks, his breathing shaky and his face pale as his entire world seemingly crumbles down around him:

“-You took my brother from me and you had no right. You’re not my mother, you’re just as bad as Uther.”

With those last words, he storms from the room, Gwaine hot on his heels. Arthur stays however, feeling the need to comfort the crying woman, but also feeling, maybe slightly cruelly, that she deserves this. He sighs, pushing the though from his mind and moving around to put a hand on her shoulder as she buries her face in her hands, sobbing:

“I... you did your best, I think he knows that, but that doesn’t change what you took from him, from both of us. He needs time.”

She just about manages a nod, and Arthur sighs again, standing awkwardly for a few minutes before he realises she isn’t going to stop any time soon. He gently pushes her to sit back in the chair before heading to the door, following Gwaine and Merlin.

They’re not in the corridor when he shuts the door behind him, but he’s not surprised at that. Merlin has always been private about his true emotions, always kept them close to his chest, he wouldn’t want anyone to see him having a breakdown in the middle of the hall. Months ago, Arthur would have thought it was left over fear of his magic being discovered, but now he bitterly thinks that it probably has more to do with the way he was raised.

He runs a hand through his hair, sparing a glance to the—previously unnoticed—worried looking guards. Thankfully, they were two of the men that had been trusted with the truth (Arthur reminds himself to thank Leon later for paying attention to who was stationed where), so Arthur isn’t too worried at the fact that they had likely overheard the one-sided yelling match. He fixes them with a commanding stare and clears his throat:

“Escort the Lady Hunith to the physician’s chambers when she emerges, leave her with Gaius, but don’t rush her.-”

They bow briefly in acknowledgement of his orders, and his question comes out quietly:

“-Do you know where they went?”

They needn’t ask who, and one of the guards answers lowly, matching Arthur’s volume:

“I think they headed to Sir Gwaine’s chambers, Sire.” 

He nods and mutters a quiet thank you, slowly heading in that direction, knowing he had to go see them but also wanting to give them few extra minutes of privacy. They still had a lot to take care of, they’d missed several council meetings over the last few days, and whilst Arthur trusts Leon and Morgana to keep things rolling, he really should be making regular appearances. That, and they still haven’t dealt with Uther; to be perfectly honest, Arthur is surprised that rumours haven’t started spreading about The King’s disappearance and Arthur’s sudden growth of responsibilities, but he’s grateful. Don’t look a gift Griffin in the mouth or... something.

He finally stops outside the knight’s room—nodding at Lance who wordlessly stands guard in the corridor—before flinching at the quiet crying he can hear from inside. He knocks a few times softly before entering, shutting the door behind him and approaching the bed. Gwaine sits leant against the headboard, tears in his eyes as he holds a shaking Merlin in his arms. The Warlock lays besides Gwaine, in the middle of the bed, his face buried in the knight’s chest and his hands twisted into the fabric of his tunic.

Arthur lets out a deep, mournful breath at the sight of his brother so distraught, and he moves around to the other side of the bed, raising his eyebrow in question at Gwaine and settling next to Merlin at his singular nod. Merlin doesn’t seem to notice his presence, not until Arthur settles a hand on his back and whispers his name. He instantly calms a little, and Gwaine mentally scolds himself for the slight flair of jealousy; Merlin had discovered he has a brother, that his best friend is his brother, it’s no surprise that he calms easier in his presence, especially considering the reveal unburied so much hidden trauma.

After a few more minutes, Merlin turns to be laying on his back, though he makes sure to stay in Gwaine’s embrace. The knight leans down to press a kiss to the top of his head, and though he can’t see it, he can almost feel the slight smile on The Warlock’s face. Arthur moves his hand back to his lap, looking at the two of them out of the corner of his eye; he sees nothing but worry and utter adoration on Gwaine’s face, and he wonders just how he hadn’t approved of their relationship. Gwaine’s whispered words just solidify Arthur’s newfound belief in the man:

“I love you, Merls, no matter what.”

Merlin lets out a quiet, choked laugh, and Gwaine considers that a win, even more so when Merlin responds in kind:

“I love you.”

Despite their relationship not being a particularly new thing, Arthur hadn’t even considered the possibility that they’d reached that far, that their partnership was that solid; perhaps that had something to do with their general lack of PDA, which he had always wondered how Gwaine had put up with. He grimaces with a quiet realisation, but it catches Merlin’s gaze and he raises a questioning eyebrow, his tears thankfully dried. Arthur glances up at Gwaine, who smirks at him knowingly, before looking back down to his brother:

“Making you Crown Prince is something I’m actually quite looking forward to, but I’m going to have to crown Gwaine as well.”

Gwaine snorts in amusement but Merlin turns pink and coughs slightly:

“Well.. we haven’t really discussed marriage, Arthur.”

Arthur looks to him with an apologetic expression:

“Merlin, royals have different courting rules. Royal partnerships tend to be incredibly short before a marriage has to happen. Back when me and Gwen were courting, we hid not only because Uther wouldn’t have approved, but also because we didn’t want to rush things. I’m especially glad we did now, otherwise we would have had to be married by now. The whole kingdom know that you two have been together for at least a year, the moment you’re crowned...”

His voice trails off as he comes to a second, horrifying realisation. He stands from the bed and stares at Gwaine with wide eyes and a pale face:

“Oh my God. Oh my God. If neither me, you, or Morgana have children... once you two have been married... Gwaine will officially be third in line for the throne. Oh... fuck.”

Merlin and Gwaine freeze for just a moment before they burst into loud laughter, and Arthur shakes his head, pacing slightly and not paying attention to the knocking at the door. Lancelot walks in slowly, an amused smile of his face despite his confusion:

“Do I even want to ask?”

Arthur fixes him with an almost distraught gaze before glaring half-heartedly at Merlin:

“Why? Why couldn’t it have been Leon, or Lancelot?? Elyan or Percival?? Hell, I would have been happier with fucking George.”

Gwaine’s laughter gets even louder but Merlin calmly wipes the tears (of laughter, thankfully) from his face and looks to Lancelot with bitten lips and held in hysterics:

“Arthur just realised that once all the crowning ceremonies happen, Gwaine will be third in line for the throne, if I’m the last one to die and there aren’t any children.”

Lance’s eyes go wide and he clamps a hand over his moth in a poor attempt to hold in his laughter. He fails miserably, bursting just like Gwaine and Merlin had moments earlier. Arthur fixes an annoyed glare on him and waves a desperate hand:

“This is not funny.”

Gwaine just shakes his head as he finally manages to calm himself, wiping his face clean and sitting up straight, one hand still on Merlin’s shoulder:

“It’s hilarious, Princess. God imagine Geoffrey’s face. Imagine the council.”

Arthur just takes a deep breath and looks to the ceiling again:

“Fuck. Ok, alright, whatever. That is a problem for another time.-”

He looks back down to Merlin with an apologetic smile, after shooting one last withering glare at a still-smirking Gwaine:

“-You feeling up to council? I’ve missed a fair few, and I think it might be a good idea for you two to start making appearances as well. That and... as much as we’ve told them you have magic, it might be worth showing it off a little.-”

At Merlin’s wide, fearful eyes, Arthur holds his hands out placatingly and hurries to continue:

“-You don’t have to, but they're working on the ban repeal. Obviously not anything huge, but passing jugs or paper or whatever with magic might help desensitise them to the idea. Plus, now that you’re semi-officially royalty, and you have Gwaine or Leon trailing you almost everywhere, no one would dare attack you. And if they do, you have every right to defend yourself in whatever capacity you deem necessary.”

At Merlin’s still nervous face, Lancelot quickly tacks on:

“And they all know that Arthur would go ape-shit if anything were to happen to you.”

Arthur gestures at the knight and nods in agreement, nodding further at Gwaine’s quiet “He’s not the only one.” . Merlin takes a deep breath and shuffles off the bed, standing and straightening his clothes out with unsteady hands:

“Let’s go. You’re right, I’m going to have to get used to stupid council meetings at some point if you’re insisting on crowning me, might as well be now.”

Arthur and Lancelot smile proudly and Gwaine moves to stand at his side, straightening his own clothes before running his hands through Merlin’s hair, flattening and neatening it. Merlin stands still and lets himself be assessed and fixed with a soft smile on his face, and Arthur feels almost as if he were intruding on something personal and domestic, even more so than when they were professing their love for each other; he looks away awkwardly and Lancelot raises an amused eyebrow at him.

The four of them finally exit the room, Arthur and Merlin falling into step besides each other, Gwaine slightly behind them, and Lancelot trailing the three of them with his face pulled into a blank mask and his hand on his sword.

This time, there is no hesitation before they enter the council room, and no raised eyebrows when Merlin takes his rightful place alongside Arthur at the head of the table. Flanked by Morgana, Leon, Lancelot, and Gwaine, Arthur effortlessly takes control of the meeting, hurrying things along with a proud confidence and an easy authority that was slowly but surely being taken on by his brother, at his side.

~

The council session lasts for the remainder of the day, and though at least half of the councilmen yelp, Gaius obviously not included, when Merlin first starts floating things about or magically highlighting words or moving the room’s lighting around with a flick of his wrist, most of them are used to it by the time the sun touches the horizon.

Arthur finally calls an end to the meeting when it gets dark. Though he was in a slightly manic mood and desperate to get as much work done as possible now that he was actually free to attend meetings, he could see that the others, Merlin especially, were flagging. He knew it would happen eventually, he can’t imagine The Warlock has been sleeping much, and he definitely came to some sort of private, horrifying conclusion around half a candle-mark ago. The hitch in Merlin’s breath, the widening of his eyes, and the slight, tiny flair of every candle in the room thankfully went unnoticed by everyone bar Arthur, Gwaine, and Lancelot.

When the room empties of councilmen, Merlin stands and paces away from the table, hands fiddling roughly with his sleeves. Arthur waves Morgana and Leon away, thanking them briefly before nodding pointedly at the door. Lancelot follows shortly, and Arthur has half a mind to send Gwaine away as well, but he knows that would be somewhat selfish as the other man approaches his partner’s turned back:

“Merlin? Something wrong? I thought that went remarkably well.”

Merlin’s head turns quickly, his furrowed brows confused:

“What? What went well?”

Gwaine raises an eyebrow, glancing briefly at the neatly stacked paperwork on the table:

“The meeting? About planning your coronation and the legalisation of magic? That we’ve been in all afternoon?”

Merlin untenses slightly, turning around properly and using one hand to rub at his eyes tiredly:

“Oh, yeah right. It did go well. They didn’t freak out too much at my evil sorcery, did they?”

He tries to go for a joking smirk, but it falls flat, and Arthur walks towards him to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder:

“What’s on your mind?”

Merlin sags even more and Arthur quickly steps forward, gathering the suddenly distraught man in a tight hug. Merlin easily accepts, burying his face in Arthur’s neck and clutching the back of his tunic with shaking hands:

“I compared my mother to Uther. I told her it was her fault that I didn’t want to be alive. She’s never going to forgive me.”

Arthur shuts his eyes, stroking a hand through Merlin’s hair and muttering a quiet:

“Oh, Merlin, she loves you more than anything in this world, there’s nothing to forgive.”

Merlin doesn’t look up, but shakes his head roughly; before he can argue, Gwaine steps around the two of them, pressing a kiss to the nape of Merlin’s neck before stepping back and stroking a soft hand over his back:

“What she did was wrong, Merls, you’re allowed to be angry. And now you’re not so angry anymore you can go sit down with her and talk it out, ok? There was no way that first conversation was going to be anything other than difficult and heartbreaking, but you got through it, and now you can sort it out properly.”

Merlin relaxes just a touch, and Arthur gets the disturbing feeling swelling in his gut that Gwaine knew of Merlin’s (hopefully, former) despairs before the whole... twin thing. When The Warlock finally pulls away, he thankfully looks a little more confident, despite the drying tears on his cheeks; Arthur gives him a soft smile and nods towards the door:

“Tonight, or tomorrow?”

Merlin takes a deep, fortifying breath, and walks towards the door purposefully, wiping his face clean before taking Gwaine’s offered hand in his own:

“Tonight, now. I should... I need to talk to Gaius as well. I’ve been unfairly punishing him for long enough, I think.”

Gwaine smiles understandingly, though Arthur, who rushes to catch up and walk on Merlin’s other side, shakes his head with a frown:

“Not unfairly, Merlin. It would be well within your rights to cut them out of your life for the foreseeable future for this. But I also understand wanting to forgive them so you have more... support. They may not be blood, Merlin, but... they are family, and that’s ok.”

Gwaine gives him an annoyed look at his first words, over Merlin’s shoulder, but doesn’t say anything. Merlin stops in the middle of the hallway, suddenly and without warning, and Gwaine grunts slightly when his arm is pulled back. The Warlock spares him an apologetic smile before turning his gaze to Arthur. Arthur raises an eyebrow, but Merlin tilts his head and frowns:

“Arthur you do know that... I consider you family above all others, right? you’re right, family doesn’t have to be blood,-”

He squeezes Gwaine’s hand, almost subconsciously, and receives a gentle squeeze back:

“-but after what we’ve found out, after all of this, all that we’re doing to... fix it, to fix what was done to us... you’re everything, you’re my brother. Me forgiving Hu... my mother, and Gaius, doesn’t change that I trust you above them, I consider you before them. They’re family, but you’re family first.”

Arthur’s eyes widen slightly at Merlin’s stern assertion, but he wills the tears in his eyes to disappear as he nods once, his jaw clenched with emotion. Merlin smirks slightly and rolls his eyes, muttering something about an “emotionally repressed idiot” before pulling him into an eagerly returned hug. Gwaine just snorts at both of them, happily leaning against the wall with crossed arms as he waits. They pull away fairly quickly, hyper aware of the fact that they were in the middle of the corridor, and whilst basically the whole citadel had picked up on the fact that something had changed, is changing, they didn’t want to let on too much until official public announcements were made.

They hurry in their journey to the Physician’s chambers, it was getting late and they wanted to sort this out as soon as possible; Gods know Merlin isn’t going to sleep a wink until he's spoken to his mother again.

They pause momentarily outside the door, taking deep breaths as they attempt to block out the hushed conversations coming from inside, not wanting to eavesdrop. Merlin turns to Gwaine with a nervous frown:

“Would you mind... waiting out here? Just for a minute?”

Gwaine gives him a soft smile and nods, pressing a kiss to his forehead and muttering “Call for me when you want me to come in, alright? I’m not going anywhere.” before giving Arthur an encouraging clap on the shoulder and stepping back to lean against the opposite wall.

Arthur sends a grateful smile the knight’s way, receiving a respectful nod in return, before he turns to the door. After a nod from Merlin, he raises a hand that shakes only slightly, and knocks. The murmured conversations stop immediately, and Gaius’ voice calls out:

“Enter.”

With one last look to each other, the brothers open the door and walk in together, shutting it gently behind them and turning to face the shocked pair. Hunith stares at Merlin with tears in her hopeful eyes, but Gaius quickly clears his throat and stands straight:

“How can I help, My Lords?”

Arthur sighs and Merlin shakes his head at the Physician’s formal address of them, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes before taking a small step forward :

“Don’t... I’m not... just Merlin, please.-”

His voice is quiet and tired, and the pleading tone it takes on deepens Arthur’s frown. He lets out a shaky breath, biting his lip before looking up to Hunith and continuing:

“-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. And I didn’t have any right to say those things; you’re... you’re nothing like Uther, and you did your best in a terrifying situation. You didn’t know any better, I shouldn’t blame you for how I turned out.”

Hunith’s tears overflow once again, and she takes in a shuddering breath as she steps hesitatingly towards the Warlock:

“Oh, my boy, you were right. I wasn’t ready to lose you, and I let that fear overcloud my judgement of what I knew to be right. I’m so sorry sweetheart, I should have told you who you were a long time ago, and it wasn’t fair of me to expect Gaius to carry on the lie, especially when you met Arthur, and especially when he found out about your magic.”

With that, Merlin pulls her into a tight hug, height difference be damned as he buries his face in her neck and shakes. Arthur gulps as he looks upon the scene, sharing a small, mournful smile with Gaius, the Physician understanding The Regent’s forgiveness in the small nod of his head. The hug doesn’t last quite as long as Arthur was expecting, though he supposes that forgiveness is more than just saying it aloud, and Merlin still has a great deal of self-worth related issues to get over, thanks to Hunith’s overly cautious raising of the boy. The Warlock clears his throat, his hands still on his mother’s shoulders as he gives her a weak smile:

“Igraine says thank you, by the way, for raising me with so much love.”

Hunith lets out a small chuckle, wiping away Merlin’s tears with soft hands:

“It was my honour,  I’m glad that your... mother, is pleased.”

Merlin’s frown is brief, and he responds quickly:

“You’re my mother.”

Hunith’s smile grows, as does Merlin’s and she nods shakily, almost whispering:

“Ok... I... ok.”

Merlin lets go hesitatingly, but turns to Gaius after a moment or two. The Physician quickly interrupts anything the younger man could have said with a shake of his head and a soft smile, pulling him into a hug as he softly speaks:

“It’s alright, my boy. You were well within your rights to be angry, we had no right to lie to you in such a way.”

With Gaius and Merlin’s soft conversation happening to the side of the room, Hunith turns to Arthur with a hopeful smile on her face. He returns it faintly, and she pulls him into his own hug. He stiffens in her hold, wide eyes darting around the room as he clenches his hands at his side. It only takes her stroking a hand through his knotted hair for him to relax and hug her back:

“I’m honoured to have been able to raise your brother, Arthur, and I am sorry for keeping him from you for so long, it was selfish of me. I didn’t consider what you were losing, in not knowing that you weren’t alone, only what I would lose should I tell the truth.”

Arthur gulps and nods, but tightens his hold on her as the tears come to his eyes:

“It’s... ok. I understand, I think. The danger you put yourself in to raise and protect him was immense, I just wished I’d known sooner, so I could have done all of this sooner.”

They pull back, but Hunith keeps a tight hold on Arthur’s shoulders, an assessing frown on her face as she raises a hand to cup his cheek. Arthur leans into it, blushing slightly under her motherly gaze:

“I know. But you’re doing wonderfully, Arthur. You and Merlin will be the saviours of this Kingdom, I’m sure of it. Your mother would be so proud of you.”

A tear slips loose from Arthur’s eye as he harshly bites his lip. His voice comes out small and unsure, and Hunith has to resist the urge to pull him into another hug:

“You think?”

She just smiles and nods instead:

“I’m sure.”

Merlin and Gaius look upon the scene fondly, and Arthur’s blush deepens when he catches them staring. He steps back from Hunith who smirks at him knowingly as he frowns at Merlin:

“Shut up, Merlin.”

He just laughs and shakes his head:

“I always knew you had a soft spot for my mum.”

The Regent shakes his head and rolls his eyes, ignoring Merlin’s continued laughter:

“Either of you eaten? I’m starved.”

Gaius and Hunith’s smiles come a lot easier at that, and they shake their heads. Arthur leads the way out of the chambers, smiling and nodding at Gwaine’s raised eyebrow. The knight returns the smile, quickly sidling up to Merlin and re-taking his hand as Arthur speaks:

“I’ll let the kitchens know to have five meals sent up to my chambers, I’ll see you there in a moment.”

They part ways in the corridor, all of them with easy smiles and lighter hearts, especially when Gwaine eagerly regales his interpretation of Arthur’s reaction to having to crown him.

~

The next morning was once again tense. Arthur’s assertion late last night that he intended to finally deal with Uther weighs heavy in everyone’s minds.

Hunith and Gaius are once again tucked safely into the Physician’s chambers, and all of the King’s most trusted knights are called to stand guard in the corridor. Merlin and Arthur wear their smart clothes (a suggestion by Morgana that Gwaine thought was funny enough that he begged and begged until Merlin gave in), and they take in with them Leon and Morgana. 

Uther looks manic, his hair unkept, his face unshaven. His clothes are clean at least, but they’re rumpled, likely due to the near constant pacing of the former King. The room is dark, the curtains obviously haven’t been opened in several days, but the dim candles highlight the mess throughout the room. Uther may still be being passed meals by the guards, but out of concern for the staff’s safety, no servants were granted access to tidy or otherwise serve. 

His head whips around when the door opens, his enraged face turning red at the four people stood smartly by his door. He storms towards them, but Morgana, no longer scared of the consequences, holds a hand out and mutters a few golden words, halting him in his tracks. He apparently hasn’t lost his voice though, as he turns to Merlin:

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?! YOU-”

Merlin rolls his eyes and clicks his fingers, his eyes also turning golden as Uther’s mouth shuts with a clack. Leon manages to hold his smirk in, just stands still as the perfect guard, his hand on the hilt of his sword, but Morgana doesn’t even try, smiling openly. Merlin holds Uther’s furious gaze for a few more moments before looking to Arthur at his side, tilting his head in question. The Regent nods at him before stepping forward, his back straight and his face and voice Kingly:

“You will listen, and you will listen well, because I will not repeat myself. You are the only abomination in this room, and you will live with that for the rest of your days. How long that is, is up to you. I am Regent, soon enough I will be King, Myrddin will be Crown Prince, and Morgana will be Princess; when that happens, magic will finally be fully legalised, and the public will be made aware of your crimes. I will not hide things from my people, not like you have. No matter what you deserve, I struggle to bring myself to sentence you to execution, and you’ll be humiliated to learn, I imagine, that Merlin argued in favour of letting you keep your head when I brought it up.-”

Uther glances angrily at Merlin, but looks back to Arthur when he realises that he’s still incapable of speaking:

“-Therefor your options are as follows: You may go to the summer home on the coast, where you will be under constant guard, but will otherwise have a semi-free life. You will stay in Camelot, but live out the remainder of your days in this room only. Or me and Merlin will take a week long trip away to, say, Nemeth, whilst Princess Morgana and Sir Leon announce, organise, and undergo your execution. You have today to decide, we’ll be back this evening.”

Arthur doesn’t bother waiting for a reaction, turning his back on Uther and gesturing the others to lead the way through the door. He pauses momentarily, one hand on the door frame as he turns back, a mournful frown on his face as he quietly speaks:

“If you had just told the truth, if you had just owned up to making a mistake, you, me, Myrddin, Morgana, we... we could have been a family. You’re the one that ruined that, you’re the one that tore us apart, and I swear to you now, that whatever option you pick, I will never forgive you.”

That only seems to enrage Uther more, but Arthur isn’t quite sure why he bothered to hope for another reaction. He shuts the door behind him, waving at Merlin to reset the magical locks as he sighs and rubs tired hands over his face:

“Well at least that’s over and done with.”

Leon pats him on the shoulder consolingly, and Elyan raises an eyebrow, glancing around at the others and sighing when he realises no one else is going to ask:

“He didn’t take it well then, I’m guessing?”

Arthur takes a deep breath and stands straight, shaking his head. Morgana is the one to answer however, and Arthur appreciates the way she makes a genuine attempt to keep the humour out of her voice:

“No, he wasn’t best pleased, but I think he’s accepted that he has well and truly lost this battle. Something he’s not entirely used to, I suppose.”

The knights nod in understanding, and Merlin lets out a deep breath, tilting his head slightly:

“Weird to think that he’s my... dad... ugh.”

They all chuckle at that, even Arthur, though they all stop with concerned frowns when Merlin suddenly straightens up with wide eyes and an open mouth:

“Oh... my God... how did I...- What?!”

Arthur puts a hand on his shoulder, his frown deepening:

“Merls?”

The Warlock just ignores him, turning to Morgana with still wide eyes:

“You’re my sister! I’ve been focusing so much on how Arthur’s my brother that I didn’t even consider the fact that you’re my sister!”

Morgana takes in a sudden breath, and all bar Leon (who just raises an eyebrow and then rolls his eyes when he realises that he’s the only one unsurprised by this) stare at the two of them in shock. Morgana slowly pulls Merlin into a hug, and the two of them clutch each other tightly as a grin grows on Arthur’s face. Leon gives him another clap on the back, this one more congratulatory (if a little confused. Honestly, how did they miss that?), and the others cheer just as Gwen turns the corner into the corridor. She smiles confusedly at Merlin and Morgana, still hugging, as she sidles up to Leon, whispering:

“What’s the occasion? They find Uther dead?”

Leon laughs but shakes his head, leaning down to mutter his response:

“They only just now figured out that they’re siblings.”

She looks up to him quickly with a disbelieving raise of the eyebrows:

“Wait, just now as in, just now?-”

Leon smirks and nods firmly, and Gwen shakes her head as she laughs:

“-It’s been almost a week.”

Leon laughs as well leaning against the wall as the others chatter excitedly among themselves:

“Yeah, apparently you and I are the only ones who had considered the idea. These are all the smartest people I’ve ever come across...”

He trails off, but Gwen looks up at him with a teasing smirk:

“And yet sometimes...?”

They both laugh quietly, shaking their heads when Percival catches their eyes and tilts his head in question.

The group walks away soon enough, heading to one of the smaller dining rooms for an early lunch and a chance to discuss their intentions for this afternoon’s council meeting. Morgana, Merlin, and Arthur walk together, and conversation flows between all bar Gwaine, who stares at the back of his now betrothed’s head with the quiet adoration and lowly simmering excitement of someone that knew the man he loves is finally getting all that he deserves.

~

END of Part 3!!!

Part 4 will be VERY short. Will be just about post coronation and public announcement, will probably contain Merwaine’s wedding, some casual magic, some more family bonding.

I hope y’all enjoyed this!!! I wrote it surprisingly quickly once I set my mind to it

[norcumii]

...oh thanks, Tumblr, it wasn’t like I was trying to answer that ask or anything. -_-

OHKAY. Take two! For this trope mashup meme, @dogmatix asked:

Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Apocalyse AU / Mermaid/Siren AU / Aroused by their voice

This modern!AU got a liiiiiittle bit more absurdist than planned, but NO REGRETS. Assistance was provided by @dharmaavocado and @deadcatwithaflamethrower -- THANK YOU BOTH!

*****

There was a lovely breeze coming in across the ocean, the sky had just enough puffy white clouds to keep things interesting, and Rex was taking a maintenance day. The last family group of tourists to charter a day trip had included several children that were at least two parts sticky and three parts grime. His poor Vigilance needed a serious scrub down, and Rex was not looking forward to restocking. Small Grubby Fiend 1 had stumbled – supposedly due to a sudden swell, but more likely because Small Grubby Fiends 2 and 3 hadn’t stopped ‘not kicking’ each other for way too long. Not being an entire idiot, Rex has gone right for the band-aids with cartoon characters, but since it wasn’t a cartoon Small Grubby Fiend 1 liked, that meant another – until all three Small Grubby Fiends had been plastered with far more of his first aid kit than was good for anyone.

It had been a long day.

So there he was, untangling life-vests that hadn’t even been used, while singing along with whatever music was playing from the boat’s speakers. Rex wasn’t sure if the music was pop, rock, or some other unholy category he’d never heard of, but thankfully it didn’t matter. He liked it, and could figure out which of Tup’s mix tapes it was on, which was the important thing.

Tup always made hilarious offended noises when Rex called them mix tapes, which was a significant reason why he did so. They were music folders, sensibly labeled by mood, because his little brother had realized at some point that was the only way to keep Rex up to date on anything past the 90’s grunge music.

Tup’s accusation, not his. Rex damn well knew how to use a radio – several kinds of radio, thank you very much.

He was several songs into mind-numbing chores when he spotted a flash of red streaking under the dock, and Rex ducked his head to hide a grin. He’d started spotting movement like that a couple of weeks ago, around the time the neighbors descended on their beach house. There were several ginger teenagers, so he figured one of them was a hell of a water rat who had damn odd taste in music.

To be fair, so did he.

It’d been weird at first, realizing he had an audience that disappeared the moment he acknowledged their existence. But the most he heard or saw out of them beyond the momentary glimpse was a bit of percussion, someone drumming in time against the water – and once, the dock itself – so Rex had shrugged and accepted their presence. It was kinda nice, actually, just to have someone around. He lived a ways off the end of a long, sparsely populated road, and while he didn’t mind the solitude, sometimes you just wanted another–

Rex’s train of thought went off the rails with a loud yelp as he discovered something slimy stuck to the back of a life-vest. It might have been edible once – it was a shade of radioactive green he didn’t associate with anything other than candy or video games, at least, so that was his best guess. Much as he wanted to blame the Small Grubby Fiends, he hadn’t done more than a spot check of these vests for awhile – could’ve been anyone.

Ugh. At least unlike some clients he could name, Rex’s eavesdropper wasn’t vandalizing anything. Wasn’t about to begrudge that.

Rex had managed to get most of the neon green grossness cleared when the rumble of an approaching car caught his attention. He wasn’t expecting visitors, not that that had ever stopped any of his brothers. Lost delivery drivers usually turned around before hitting up the driveway, which was long enough and had enough private property signs to keep out idiots looking for easy water access.

“Who the hell is this?” he muttered, setting the vest aside. He didn’t recognize the little black car, or the burly guy stepping out of the passenger’s side, but the guy waved and casually started towards Rex as if he knew who the hell he was.

Not reassuring, especially since the stranger rapped the car’s roof, and it headed back up the driveway.

“You seem lost,” Rex said, standing up and trying to look just the right level of intimidating.

“Nope,” the guy said back, still heading towards him. “Need your boat.”

“That’s work related – you need to wait till I’m back at the marina tomorrow. I’m at home, it’s my day off.”

Burly guy finally stopped, planting his hands on his hips – a move which just happened to part the jacket of his cheap suit enough that Rex could see the gun he carried. “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Fett. I don't want any trouble – I just want you to head inside, and take that day off while I borrow your boat.”

Oh, FUCK. Nobody really talked about how the mob owned most of the marinas in Tatooine Bay, but you didn’t need to declare water was wet to get drenched in the rain. It just wasn’t something that ever happened to someone you knew, just friends of friends or something.

“And if I don’t agree?” he couldn’t keep from asking.

Burly Guy had a surprisingly expressive shrug. “Most people don’t enjoy pushing their luck that far.”

To his credit, it was a remarkably polite threat. “I’m surprised anyone ever does.”

“Eh, every now and then there’s some freaky masochist looking for cheap thrills, but it ain’t my kink. Don’t think it’s yours, either, so if you’d just head inside, that’d be appreciated.”

The smart move was probably to comply. Rex wasn’t inclined to cooperate anyways. He was saved from making either bad decision by...sound.

It didn’t register as singing – there was something too off about it, a combination that wasn’t quite autotune, or that polyphonic singing Echo had gotten into when Fives got obsessed with the guitar. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t right in a way that was madly distracting.

The...singing? – pulled both Rex and the goon around towards the end of the dock, and if Rex hadn’t been so muzzy-headed from that sound he would have been gaping much more blatantly.

There was someone slipping out from under the dock, and it was most definitely not one of the neighbors.

It was a trim, shirtless figure in the water – ginger indeed, short red hair just dry enough to be messy spikes. Pale skin was freckled in scales of shimmering reds, protective lines over what would be vulnerable areas on a human. It swam close enough to the surface that Rex could see the sleek fins and tail, and part of his brain kept screaming ‘mermaid!’ while the rest took in the long, sharp claws on webbed hands and whispered ‘predator.’ Its singing showed sharply pointed teeth, and it should not have been nearly that gorgeous.

The mermaid glanced over at him, eyes a deep blue-on-blue that could never masquerade as human, flicking a look up and down him that could have been flattering or terrifying – it all depended on if that was measuring him for a meal euphemistically or not.

The singing changed as the creature turned its attention back to the goon, and the magnetic pull on Rex lessened. He staggered back a step, not too surprised to find he was halfway down the dock without noticing. The hazy feeling in his brain stopped, or at least dropped down to levels that were close enough to normal, so he got a clear view as the goon started walking into the water, oblivious to everything except the mer-siren-thing he was shambling towards.

The siren moved when the goon was almost waist deep in the water, flowing forward to delicately place a hand at the goon’s throat. The singing continued, but now there was a new undertone, soft and somehow questioning. Rex couldn’t tell if there were words to it or not – maybe a whole other language for all he knew – but the goon responded, voice soft enough that he couldn’t make out what was said.

Whatever he said, it didn’t please the siren. It kept singing, but it snarled, showing more of those pointed teeth, then it twisted and dove, hauling the unresisting goon under the water.

A terrifying few moments more, and the last hums of the song seemed to stop vibrating through the water.

“What the absolute fuck?” Rex said numbly. Thank everything, no one answered.

A smart man would’ve hidden inside, or driven off to a movie theater or something – inland and away. Rex wasn’t sure why he stayed: curiosity – morbid or otherwise – shock, or a healthy disbelief in the whole debacle. He was maybe a bit too numb to not have some kind of shock, but –

He felt like he maybe deserved it. “Yeah, I can have a bit of shock,” Rex muttered to himself. “As a treat.”

Okay, he might have more than a bit. But by the time the siren poked his head out of the water again – politely out of arms’ reach – Rex had calmed down a decent degree. They just looked at each other for a bit, then the siren gave him a polite nod.

“Hello there,” he said in a pleasant, deep voice with a hell of an accent.

Rex held up a hand, needing a moment. Of fucking course the British even colonized under the goddamned sea. “Hi. You speak English.” It wasn’t quite the most inane thing he could’ve said, but his brain hadn’t managed to catch up yet.

He was talking to a goddamned mermaid who had just kidnapped and possibly eaten some mob thug who’d been trying to take Rex’s boat. It had been a day.

“You’re not the first land-dweller I’ve made the acquaintance of.”

Rex absolutely refused to make any kind of a crack about being charmed. There was too much hysteria lurking in there. “Speaking of acquaintances, you didn’t, ah, kill that guy, did you?”

The siren’s lips pulled back from his teeth a little. “I still haven’t decided what to do with him, so right now he’s out of the way.” He must’ve seen something impressive in Rex’s expression, because the angry disdain smoothed over to something more neutral. “He’s stashed in a cave I know. Enough air to breathe, but the only entrance is underwater and too far for most humans to swim without assistance.”

That was...a lot. “Thanks for the help.”

The siren smiled, an oddly sweet, bashful expression. “I’d be a very poor guest if I didn’t assist.” He cleared his throat, his expression going awkward. “Though I...suppose ‘guest’ is a bit presumptive.”

Rex grinned. “No, I spotted you a couple weeks ago – ah, I mean, sort of.” Before he could make more a hash of that, he cleared his throat. “The name’s Rex.”

The siren folded his hands together and did a little bow thing. “Obi-Wan. Pleasure to meet you.”

He wasn’t blushing. He absolutely was not blushing. “So...you in town for long?” Ok, now he was blushing, that was worst subject change ever meeting worst fishing attempt – meeting worst and wildly inappropriate pun.

Obi-Wan’s expression fell, sorrow way too visible in those non-human eyes. “I suppose you could say that. I...no longer have a home to return to.”

Definitely not a topic to change to. Right. Rex cleared his throat and shifted. “Well. You’re welcome anytime, for what that’s worth.”

The slow-growing smile didn’t remove that sorrow, but it did kindle something warm inside. This was at least three different kinds of trouble, but Rex didn’t think he’d regret any of it.

~end

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

One Word Prompt: Fish

Title: Scaled and Icy

Pairing: Platonic, familial Logince

Summary: “Oh, Virgil is going to hate him. He’s going to erupt in a rant about Logan being too impulsive as if Logan doesn't think out every action in a methodical manner.” Or. Logan decides to adopt an abandoned human child. 

Word-Count: 1k

Warnings: Dubious Morally Grey Logan, Merfolk But They’re Like Fae!, Presumed Child Abandonment, Slightly Unreliable Narrator, Transformation, Emotional Manipulation, Mentioned Cannibalism (Kinda), Angst With a Kinda Happy Ending, Don’t Worry Roman’s fine, Probably, It’s Dark Fairytale Vibes Okay

Here, have another eldritch logan adopts a child au! 

-

"You're like a fish!" The human child crows, his brown eyes alit with both wonder and joy. He couldn't be much older than three, possibly four. Which is all the more concerning, really, for where is his parents?

Logan blinks. "Not entirely but yes, I do share similar characteristics to them."

"Fish, fishy, fish-man!" The child declares, pudgy fingers reaching to touch Logan's bioluminescent blue scales.

"A-aahah--" Logan begins, moving slightly back, "Please refrain from touching people without asking their permission first."

He tilts his head, golden brown locks falling over his eyes. "Pleeeease can I?"

"Of course, thank you for asking."

The human child's face brightens at this. He reaches again, this time delicately touching Logan's scales with care.

"Whoa," The human child breathes in, "It'ssocool."

He then draws the hand away, resting it against the sandy shore. "My name is Roman and I wanna be a prince! What's your name?"

"You may call me Logic," Logan smiles, showing a slip of his sharp needle-like teeth. There's several rows of them unlike a human’s set of teeth.

This terrifies most humans, but not Roman who possesses the boundless courage of childhood. He leans closer, face scrunching up.

"Logic's a silly name." He declares.

Logan laughs, "Well good thing it's not my true name."

"It's a pretend name? Like make-believe?"

"Essentially, yes. You shouldn't give names away, they have power."

Roman doesn't seem to heed Logan's words, instead protesting, "Well, then, I wanna be Prince Romanul-us-ulus--Romulus then!"

Logan lets out a low, crooning noise, one generally meant to console young merlings. He never expected himself to so enchanted with a child, let alone a human one. Yet the instinctual parental drive is stronger than he thought.

"Well, Roman, would you like to be a prince?" Oh, Virgil is going to hate him. He’s going to erupt in a rant about Logan being too impulsive as if Logan doesn't think out every action in a methodical manner.

"Well, yeah!" Because Roman needs someone to look after him. His parents are clearly not doing a great job of it. He could've gotten swept up in the waves and died if not for Logan.

"Take my hand, come with me then, Roman." This is something the Ocean surely wills. She offered Roman to Logan and he must honor that.

"Okay!" Roman says, eagerly taking Logan's webbed hand.

And it's all Logan needs to pull the child underneath the water, wrapping his arms tightly before Roman can squirm away. Oh, how the child thrashes, his human instincts kicking in and trying to get him to go towards the surface.

It's alright though, it won't last long. Logan sings, thanking the Ocean for Roman. He won't beg for the Ocean to be merciful because the Ocean is not merciful. The Ocean will either let Roman live or She won't. It's something humans seem to fail to understand, time and time again, as they try their hardest to thwart Her will with their contraptions.

Soon Roman's thrashes go weak and the child is limp, heavy in his arms. Logan hums, rocking the child gently back and forth. His grin widens at the slits forming on the child's neck, acting as the opening for gills.

It's the only warning he receives as Roman's eyes reopen, a fiery red hue, as a piercing wail escapes his lips. The child’s soft, rounded baby teeth fall out as little rows of new merling teeth replace them. Still not full-grown teeth, but better at tearing through raw fish than a human’s dull teeth ever could.

"I know, I know," Logan croons, stroking his golden brown locks, "It'll be over soon."

Roman is not the first human Logan has seen the Ocean take as Her own. Virgil was one of the first Logan witnessed. He’d fallen overboard off a human ship, too young to know how to swim. Logan’s pod circled around his sinking figure, tails whipping with fervent excitement.

“He’s an offering from the Ocean,” Logan’s father had whispered to him, “Either he’s meant to become one of the Ocean’s children or he’ll perish and we’ll feast on his flesh.”

Virgil survived, snapping and clicking with the ferocity of a bullshark. Logan has an inkling Roman will be the same as his wails become more of a hissing, shrill noise. 

His ears has elongated, tipped with small winged fins. Similar fins appear on the backside of his elbows and Logan suspects on his back as well. The most important part, of course, is when the human’s pair of tails conjoin together to become one. This is where many prove their unworthiness to be one of the Ocean’s own. They perish, a mockery of what a Mer should be; malformed and incomplete, a disgrace to the Ocean.

“Shhh, shhh, Roman, let the Ocean accept you as one of Her own, don’t fight it,” Logan continues crooning, adjusting his grip so he is only holding onto the upper half of Roman’s body. The sliver of Roman’s soul that is still human tries to use this to kick at Logan, to dislodge his grasp. 

But this is hard when the tails become stiff, rigid as they become one, shimmering as ruby scales overtake soft flesh. The outerwear humans are fond of wearing tears, ripping to shreds as its unable to handle Roman’s growing unified tail. The tail itself almost makes up his original height but not quite. Roman’s tail twitches once, then several times.

“Rather an odd sensation for you I imagine, hmm?” Logan comments, tracing the edge of Roman’s finned ear fondly. Oh thank the Ocean, he never thought he’d be happy to have a child of his own until this moment.

Roman opens his eyes again, a good proper glowing red hue. “F-fishyman--Logic?”

“Yes?”

“I--I’m a fish too?”

“No, Roman, you’re not a fish. You’re like me--you’re one of the Ocean’s children now.”

“O-ooh. But why? It hurt so much!” Roman pouts, tail lashing angrily.

“That’s simply how it is, little prince,” Logan hums.

“Well, I don’t like it! Can I change back? I wanna see my mom and dad.��

“Now, Roman, you can’t do that. Your parents left you, they weren’t watching you like they should and now I will take care of you. You want to be a prince now, don’t you, Roman? Roman, you will be a prince and you’ll be so excited you’ll forget those humans ever existed, alright?”

Foolish, foolish humans. They really should’ve taught their child about the importance of names. That’s alright, Logan will teach Roman now and keep him safe.

“I do wanna be a prince, I’m going to be a prince, right?” Roman murmurs, yawning. The process of becoming one of the Ocean’s own is a tiring one. He snuggles closer to Logan, curling his tail around Logan. Something Mer instinctively do, to ensure they won’t drift away from their loved ones when they fall asleep. Logan smiles at this.

“Yes of course,” Logan soothes, “You’ll be my little prince and I won’t ever let any harm come to you.” 

[thehappiestgolucky]

This is mostly just a passing thought-turned-question I’m deciding to make your problem ask, but do you think anyone out of the bugs/group (be it mer au, lost in hisui, vigilante, or just good ol’ normal group o’ bugs) would enjoy DND? Apologies if this is a weird question btw ;w;

Ooo fun question! (I don’t mind this kind of question at all!)

I have way too many aus to keep track of, so I’ll probably just go with the good ol’ bugs to keep it easy lmao. I’ll also put it under a keep reading in case it gets long lmao-

So here’s the peeps I personally think would enjoy DnD:

Quirrel: Cmon, I feel like the game is made for him! A chance to weave an interesting and engaging story be he player or dm? I feel like he’d make a really good dm too tbh. I feel like the combat for him would be less engaging than the rp sessions - developing characters or lore feels far more interesting than rolling numbers to get the big hit on random mobs. He’s that kind of player to perception check everything because he loves exploring.

Grimm: Again, hes basically made for it - but this time in the player category. Specifically making the dumbest, most chaotic and fun characters to play as. He doesn’t go with op ones - he plays those characters that keep the dm on their toes and can potentially desynchronise or enhance the plot. Also just very good at the combat and rp side of it too. He is not above annoying players and dms - especially if Tiso is playing with him. Their characters would quickly develop the exact same bond as them: “Asshole” “Aww a pet name, how sweet >:)” chaotic best friends.

Tiso: Tiso is a sort of. I think he’d enjoy the combat and silly things you can do in DnD, but extensive serious rp can take him out of it big time. He would hate to be the dm - it’s too many things for him to keep track of and he’d end up going off track himself with combat. I feel like he’d engage in dumb one-shots, and dms (like Quirrel) that will account for his attention span and try to balance out a game for him that has plenty of combat scenarios to keep him engaged. He could maybe have small serious rp, to try to low-key vent or work through his own issues - but they’d be rare and he’d get moody afterwards until he gets distracted by a combat round or something.

Hollow: I feel like DnD is a perfect game for them to slowly embrace their own sense of self and acceptance. They’ve got a lot of trauma to work through and some hardcore projection onto a game can help them work through it without tackling those hard lessons onto themselves immediatly. Definetly a player, they have way too far to go to accept their ability to make a world as a dm, and would tend to be as minimal as a character as possible. Slowly you get to see their characters go from one sentence blank slates to getting more and more developed and realised - and oh it’s lovely <:)

Iselda: I think she’d like it! It gives her something to do whilst Cornifer is out afterall. She’s really good at the puzzle and combat side of DnD, but she’s engage with the rp as much as possible. I think she’s a more casual enjoyer - and maybe would dabble into trying to dm some one-shots should she get the urge to. As a dm - I think she makes a solid base and lets the players go ham and makes it up as she goes. It’s engaging enough that it’s not too noticeable.

Salubra: I think she’d make a really good dm, but probably wouldn’t enjoy being a player. She’d probably have a reoccurring character in any of her games that gets beloved by the players - so they don’t die but they don’t really benefit the plot or power at all. She just likes making funny lil guys.

Zote: It’s the power fantasy as a player. You know the ones - that take it too far and suck some joy out of it by trying to become the main character(tm). Fun to watch his ass get handed to him by a simply trap because of his dumbfoolery though-

Monomon: Another dm, one that’s easily noticeable more time goes into the worlds biology and ecosystem than the plot and characters. So instead her worlds get to be explored in the more abstract background world lense than what some other games are. Behold party - you are the Tiktik protectors now.

Lurien: In concept. He’s like me approaching DnD - adores the concept and imagines the sorts of characters and interactions he could have - enjoying at time with friends over a game. If he could actually do it that is. If he would try to rp he would go silent (mood) and trying to interact with players in a shift of their usual interactions can be scary (also mood)

Markoth…ish: So with Markoth, I think he’d be this really amazing dm and player. But he wouldn’t engage with it. He has enough trouble identifying moods and tone normally - and being in an rp session can throw him off. Plus, social interaction just isn’t his thing. But he’s here as someone who would be really good, engaging and actually save a party with his braincell should he ever do it with a close group he trusts.

Xero: On the contrary, I think Xero would really really enjoy DnD - the social butterfly that he is. But he probably sucks at it. Has most likely gotten multiple characters killed because he wasn’t paying attention to the trap warnings - but nobody minds his dumb moments. He takes it all in stride and more than makes up for it with his fun attitude and even sillier characters he brings out.

Isma: I don’t have much to say about her. I just… I just think she’d find it fun…

Same with Ogrim and Hegemol.

Annnd I can’t think of others. Not that the others would hate it - I just can’t think of anymore that would like it compared to their hobbies they enjoy more. Like Sheo would probably just prefer painting - no big major reason. Just vibes ig

[silverflame2724]

A cute prompt for you to make up for the angst: Merman Au. In a world where humans and mer are acquainted communities (trade and navigation partners), Mer-WWX sees human prince Lan Zhan and tried to get his attention! Splashing to draw eyes, making acrobatic jumps to impress, wearing his best jiaro silks, leaving cute trinkets on his windowsill in the hopes that he will like them, and singing enchanting songs for his Prince, all hoping that Lan Zhan will sing back and court him (mermaids court with music and gifts so write a completely smitten WWX and go nuts!)

Oh thank you!! I absolutely adore merman/jiaoren!WWX!! And this prompt is so nice! I really appreciate you giving me such a happy prompt since my grandaunt died two days ago from Covid.

_______________________________

It was a complete coincidence that brought them together. Wei Wuxian swam to the surface, intent on exchanging the jiaoren goods for coin and food, when he noticed the bright decorations around town.

As he handed the stuff over, red tail swishing every now and then, he asked the vendor, “What’s going on? Is there a festival I don’t know about?”

“Ah, Young Master Wei! You’re just in time! The second prince is coming here!”

“Second Prince? Why is he coming here?” 

“It’s just a yearly inspection.”

What? Wei Wuxian hadn’t heard about this in all the years he’d been here!

“Why haven’t I heard about this before?”

“Ah....the Second Prince doesn’t like crowded places or making a big deal about his arrival, so he takes some sort of alternate route to come here. Though, this year, that route was flooded.”

“I see.....”

“Do you want to see him?” The vendor asked upon noticing Wei Wuxian’s thoughtful look. “He’s rumored to be a beautiful person, second only to his brother, the Emperor. We can get a few of my friends to carry a tub over so you can see him!”

“Oh! I couldn’t bother you all that way.” Wei Wuxian politely refused. “I have other errands to do, unfortunately.”

“Oh....”

The real reason he was thoughtful was because of his and his people’s prior horrible experience with royals. They had fled Lanling, where the king had captured many of his people for the pearls they cried in place of tears. Gusu had been reportedly better, its Emperor laying down a law that bans the harm of mythical creatures such as the jiaoren. But Wei Wuxian didn’t want to risk any sort of attention to his people after they had just escaped. 

Wei Wuxian waved goodbye and dove back under the water. When he arrived at his home after going through a series of underwater caves, he found out his parents knew of these yearly visits from the prince and that it was fine to wander around since the prince doesn’t usually stay for long.

Wei Wuxian nodded along and decided to do make sure to distribute the food and coin around his community. 

Before he knew it, the sun had set. Wei Wuxian returned to the surface, considering he wanted to have some spicy human food for dinner. After eating on the edge of the dock, tail partially in to keep himself from drying, he heard music from afar.

Curious as to the owner of such a beautiful sound, he submerges and follows the sound towards a more secluded area of the dock. There, dressed in shades of blue, was a young boy, seemingly around Wei Wuxian’s age, playing the guqin with nary an expression on his face.

Something itched within Wei Wuxian and he had the urge to tease the boy into making a new sort of expression. As quiet as a mouse, he snuck close to the boy and burst out of the water, shouting, “Boo!”

As he expected, the white-clothed human became startled and nearly jumped in shock. Wei Wuxian cackled until he came face with a sword. He held his hands up in surrender even as his heart beat fast.

“Who are you?” The boy demanded.

Wei Wuxian lifted his head from the sword to come face to face with the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. The boy in front of him had the most entrancing pair of golden eyes. The boy narrowed his eyes and repeated his question, though the sword at his neck faltered a little.

Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to swim a little farther from the boy and pouted. “Gege, I just wanted to surprise you! You looked so serious sitting by yourself! You should look happier on such a beautiful night such as this!” The boy didn’t change his expression. “Also! Isn’t it rude to point your sword at a stranger?” 

“You do not know who I am?”

He’s probably some noble considering not many people own swords, but him specifically? “Nope! Should I know who you are?” He’s probably new or something. I haven’t seen him around before and nobles don’t usually come around these parts. ....Hmm, perhaps he’s here to see the prince?

The boy seemed to relax a little and put away his sword. “.....I apologize for pointing my sword at you. I was....unsure if you meant ill.”

“Why would I voluntarily bring harm to a stranger?”

“...” The human turned away and turned to his guqin, checking for damage.

“Hey, hey! Beautiful human with gold eyes! Don’t ignore meeee! Look at me, look at me!!”

The human merely sighed in exasperation.

Wei Wuxian’s pout became more pronounced and his tail splashed in irritation. The human’s eyes went wide with curiosity and shock and Wei Wuxian realized his mistake. “..Uhh....”

“A jiaoren?”

“Yeah! Do you have a problem with that?” Wei Wuxian said, guarded.

“No. I have never seen one before.”

“I see.” 

The atmosphere became awkward with the ensuing silence but Wei Wuxian could never stay quiet for long.

“So what brings you around these parts? I’ve never seen you before!”

“......I came with the prince’s entourage.” There was something odd in his tone.

“I see. You know, I’ve never seen the prince before. Is he as beautiful as the rumors suggest?”

“Vanity is against the rules.”

“Whose rules?”

“The palace’s.”

“Hmph. Well, this isn’t the palace. it’s fine to say something, hm?”

“....Gossiping is against the rules. Talking behind someone’s back is forbidden.”

Wei Wuxian threw his hands up. “Well, if I can’t talk about the prince, then tell me about you! That’s not against the rules, isn’t it?”

“........”

“A name! At least tell me your name! Mine’s Wei Wuxian, but Gege can call me Wei Ying since we’re already so close!”

“Shameless!” The boy hissed, ears red. 

“Oh come on!! I told you my name, it’s only fair that you tell me yours! Don’t be rude, Gege!”

“.....Zhan.”

“Hm?”

“Lan Zhan.” He repeated.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian murmured and Lan Zhan nodded. Hmm. It’s a birth name, not a courtesy name. Is he trying to hide his identity? He’s not doing a very good job though, considering ‘Lan’ is the name of the royal family. Perhaps he’s a relative of the prince’s? I wouldn’t expect a prince to be out here by himself without guards so he must be a guard or something. Hmm. It’s something to think about later. It doesn’t seem like he means harm even after knowing what I am. Regardless, it’s not like he could follow me back to my home even if he did mean ill. Humans can’t hold their breath for that long. “Well, Lan Zhan, now that we know each other’s names, you’re now my friend!”

“........We do not know each other.”

“That’s what we’re talking for, silly! We’re getting to know each other, right?”

“Hm.” Lan Zhan packed his guqin away. “I must go. It is late.”

“Late? We’ve hardly talked though! Don’t leave me here, Lan-gege!” Wei Wuxian whined.

“Not.....Not.....gege.”

“Hm?”

“I have an older brother.”

“Hm? Oh.....oh! Okay, I understand! Lan-er-gege!”

Lan Zhan looked away, gripping his sword. “I will come back tomorrow night.”

“Huh?” Then he connected the dots. “Oh! Okay! See you later, Er-gege!”

Lan Zhan nodded and left. It was only when he couldn’t see him anymore did Wei Wuxian realize he could have just asked where Lan Zhan lived. If it was close to the water, he could just swim to him. That might put him close to the prince and other people from the palace which wasn’t a very comforting thought. He still didn’t know whether to trust the Gusu royals, despite possibly conversing with one.

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

The next few nights passed by in a similar fashion, with Wei Wuxian trying to get Lan Zhan’s attention and Lan Zhan hardly giving the jiaoren an inch.

Wei Wuxian, however, saw this as a challenge and began to do many things to get Lan Zhan’s attention. The most effective one was splashing him, though it earned him a glare as well as Lan Zhan predicting it and being able to dodge more often than not.

He moved onto trying to impress Lan Zhan by performing difficult acrobatic tricks. Lan Zhan looked amazed at this and Wei Wuxian was extremely smug, quickly turning an embarrassed red when Lan Zhan praised him, with a, “Beautiful.”

Wei Wuxian wailed, hiding his face in his hands, “Lan-er-gege, you can’t just say that!”

“Why?”

“It’s too embarrassing!!”

“Wei Ying calls me beautiful all the time.” Lan Zhan deadpanned.

Wei Wuxian peeked at him from in between his fingers, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He demanded. “You can’t just tease me like this! Where did the Lan Zhan who got so easily flustered go?” 

Lan Zhan said nothing, but Wei Wuxian could see the faint upturn of his lips that made his overall expression smug.

And Wei Wuxian didn’t know why, but it made his heart beat faster/

.......

It escalated. Because of course it did. Wei Wuxian wanted to hear Lan Zhan praise him again and see that faint smile again - no matter if it was smug or not.

He wore his best jiaoxiao silks - ones he personally weaved -, danced, and....and even sang to him. Lan Zhan even joined him sometimes, playing on the guqin.

He returned every night, sighing into his parents’ embrace about his Lan Zhan and his parents shot him increasingly knowing looks until they laid down the truth. 

“You’re courting him, aren’t you, A’ Ying?” His father asked.

“C-Court?”

“Yes, A’ Ying.” His mother patiently said. “You wore the most beautiful jiaoxiao silks you weaved, danced a well-known courting dance, and even sang for him. If you aren’t courting him, if you aren’t in love with him, then I call bullshit.”

Wei Wuxian clutched his burning cheeks. “Courting?” Am I really courting Lan Zhan? I mean.....I like it when he praises me and calls me beautiful and plays his guqin for me and even plays an accompaniment when I sing!

......Oh god. Oh heavens! I really am courting him!!! How could I not notice???!!!! Ahhhh!!!!

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

The nature of Wei Ying’s gifts and music changed, Lan Wangji noted absently. 

When Lan Wangji first met Wei Ying, he was unsure of what to think but was quickly captivated by his smile and intelligence. It made Lan Wangji reluctant to return to the palace. Or maybe even bring Wei Ying with him.

He shook that thought away quickly. He couldn’t just take Wei Ying away from his family!

Back to the point, Lan Wangji noticed the shy looks Wei Ying shot him from time to time and how his songs gained a sort of.....longing tone. The gifts too......they were pearl bracelets and hairpins that had to be made from Wei Ying’s tears. Lan Wangji may be shy but he was not oblivious to what it meant to receive a jiaoren’s personally made songs and pearls. 

Perhaps.....Wei Ying might share his feelings after all?

That thought made his heart beat faster. If he remembered correctly, jiaoren court through songs. And Lan Wangji had the perfect one in mind.

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

Lan Zhan had to leave today. He had to leave!!

Wei Wuxian wanted to cry, somehow. He hadn’t finished courting Lan Zhan! 

Fortunately, Lan Zhan seemed reluctant to leave too. “I can ask my brother to send me here soon.”

“Really? Really, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian’s tail propelled him out of the water and forward so that he could wrap Lan Zhan into a hug. “I knew you liked me! Oh! Uh-- I mean--!”

Lan Zhan’s arms came around him. “Mn. Like Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian squealed happily. Lan Zhan liked him back!! He pulled back to give Lan Zhan a bright smile which, surprisingly, was returned!!

Wei Wuxian’s tail swished happily, “Keep smiling, Lan-er-gege! It’s really pretty!!”

Lan Zhan huffed out a laugh and Wei Wuxian grinned. 

.

.

“Wei Ying, there is something I must tell you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Lan Zhan hesitated and Wei Wuxian sat up, sensing it was serious. 

“What is it?”

“Wei Ying, I have not been entirely honest with you. My name is Lan Zhan....... courtesy name: Wangji.”

Wei Wuxian took a moment to let that sink in. Where had he heard that courtesy name before?

“Hey, Mom.” Wei Wuxian asked as they crossed the border between Lanling and Gusu. “The Gusu royals. Are they good people?”

His mother nodded. “I was acquainted with the current king’s uncle until we had a.....” She winces. “A fight. They are good people, regardless of our past differences. The current king, Lan Xichen, and his little brother, Lan Wangji, have implemented a law that ensures the safety of creatures like us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” 

“You’re the second prince?!” Wei Wuxian gasped, dramatically flopping into the water. The prince?! He was courting the actual prince of Gusu???!!!

“Mn.” Lan Zhan confirmed as soon as he surfaced, shoulders tense.

“Well, shit. I didn’t know, but it’s not like you’re going to punish me for my rather shameless behavior, right? I know humans have different customs for courting.”

“Mn.”

“Okay! Now that that’s out of the way, Lan Zhan - I can still call you Lan Zhan, right?” Lan Zhan nodded. “Then, Lan Zhan, now that I know you’re the prince, I know you must have a lot of business and I can’t push you to come here often. But do try to visit, okay? I’ll miss you a lot!”

“Mn. Will miss Wei Ying too.”

__________________________

Then, a few years down the line, the two of them get together because this is a happy universe and they know how to communicate!

[mrslittletall]

saw your whump post, honestly the "I'm fine" screams Hornet to me, so it'd be cool to see that! - dooblebugs

Title: The Idol Fandom: Hollow Knight Characters: Hornet & Little Ghost Word Count: 2.825 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30941981

Summary: After the Hollow Knight is freed from the temple, Hornet does her best to take care of the ones that are still left in Hallownest. Everything should be fine... until it isn't.

(Author's note:  @dooblebugs

I thought about using canon verse with “Almost everyone lives AU” or your Mer AU. But ultimately, canon verse won, because I still miss some context for the Mer AU. I hope you enjoy.)

Hornet opened her eyes and jumped on her feet right away. Her day would always start with hunting and gathering food, preferably before Hollow woke up and tried to move, and it was a whole other problem trying to haul a bug their size back into bed, especially when they rigorously ignored their wounds.

While Hornet trusted Quirrel and Cloth enough to leave Hollow in their care for a while, she always felt better if she could look over them personally. However, the longer she hesitated with leaving, the longer she would need to come back, so Hornet left the house in Dirtmouth they had inhabited for Hollow's recovery and went towards the crossroads.

The little pitter-patter of tiny feet next to her prompted Hornet to look down. Ghost had decided to accompany her again. They always would. She could tell them a hundred times to stay behind, they would never listen. For a vessel meant to be void of mind, Ghost was one of the bugs with the strongest will that Hornet ever had seen.

“You will still come with me, even if I say no, right, little Ghost?”, Hornet said, shouldering her needle. Ghost didn't nod or sign at her, they simply stared, with their unblinking, never changing expression. It was enough for Hornet to know that they wouldn't leave.

“Alright, but don't get into my way.”, Hornet said. At this, Ghost swung their nail and jumped in front of Hornet in a pose that depicted a challenge, then their nail went down on the ground in a strike, the swing of it breaking through the calmness of the morning.

“I know! I know! You've beaten me twice, but... I have gone easy on you.”, Hornet half hissed. It was a blatant lie and she knew it. The first time she had simply underestimated them (or she simply had become tired of fighting) and the second time... she had given it her all and they still had remained victorious. In a sense, Ghost was the new king of Hallownest, but they didn't seem to put any mind on the title. They didn't even seem to be wanting to be celebrated for being the saviour of Hallownest. They simply joined Hornet every morning for hunting and went off on their own afterwards, always coming back to play with their friends in Dirtmouth.

As the both of them jumped down the well, Hornet couldn't help but think about that there wasn't much to rule anymore. This kingdom was in shambles. It had been two weeks and the dried off infection still crusted the crossroads, too little bugs alive to care much about cleaning the place up. It was becoming more and more difficult to get food, because so many of the infected had simply been reanimated husks, without any meat left in them.

They surely would have to wander to Greenpath again, hopefully finding a few vengeflies and mosscreeps to bring home.

Hornet was used being alone. She had been alone for a very long time. She had managed. She never was lonely... well, maybe a little lonely and now there was a bunch of strangers up in Dirtmouth who relied on her. Hornet never wanted for anyone to rely on her. She had seen what happened when bugs relied on someone and... there wasn't a solution.

She looked down on Ghost again, they had their nail on the ready and stared vigilantly in front of them. They must have crossed this crossroads a dozen times on their journey, still expecting to be attacked by the infected every given minute. Hornet could understand that it was hard for them to let go of old habits.

She was the same. She never let go of her needle as well. Even with the infection never being able to come back, she had to remain vigilant. She would protect her siblings, no matter what. She wouldn't, no she couldn't, let anyone down.

“We are nearing Greenpath.”, she said, only to cut through the silence between them. She knew it wasn't Ghost's fault that they didn't have a voice, but after years of not being able to talk to anyone, Hornet barely could stand the silence, when there was someone she could talk to. “Remember, when we hunt the mosscreeps, take their leaves as well, for the herbivores.”

While Hornet was able to eat plant matter as well, it never had been satisfying to her. She was the daughter of a spider and a wyrm, both predators, and therefore she usually would hunt for food. She was unsure about what kind of diet Ghost and Hollow needed, but they seemed to be content with the prey she brought back, so she wouldn't change anything about it.

“And remember, we can't hunt too much. The population needs a chance to recover.”, she said as well. The infection had done a number on the whole of Hallownest... it wasn't a surprise that there was such a food shortage. In fact, Hornet had cut her own food intake in favour of her siblings and anyone who couldn't hunt or still needed to recover. That bug, Tiso, came to mind. Had a far too big stomach for having been utterly destroyed by the colloseum of fools. Why Ghost had dragged him back to Dirthmouth, she would never understand.

Ghost showed that they understood with a little nod of their head and the both of them entered Greenpath. It was a MUCH nicer place without the infection, but they still had to pay attention, the fool eater plants were easy to overlook (not that Hornet had ever overlooked them, but Ghost tended to forget...) and there were some predators still around, though they were no match for her needle. The problem was to avoid them to not hunt too much. Like she had said to Ghost, they needed to give the population time to recover, if they wouldn't want all to starve beforehand.

“We get only enough for everyone back in Dirtmouth.”, Hornet said again. “Then we leave again. Let's search for some mosscreeps first.”

The both of them jumped and slashed their way through the vegetation of Greenpath. While Hornet preferred to use her needle, Ghost had found a lot of new ways to move around since the first time they fought and they dashed (literally leaving their shell behind and somehow phasing through time and space) and jumped with wings that reminded Hornet of her father... and she got a bad feeling in her guts every time she saw them.

After a bit of time, they had managed to hunt two vengeflies to bring back, Hornet keeping them cocooned up for transportation and were now searching through the vegetation for some mosscreeps. Finally, Hornet found one and struck it down with her needle, preparing a cocoon for it again, when Ghost picked something up from the grass.

“Ghost, what do you have there?”, Hornet asked. The item was too small to be prey and they tended to hoard stuff they found. It probably was just something that was completely worthless nowadays, only generating Geo when given to this historian in the City of Tears. She still wanted to know.

Ghost came over and laid the thing they had picked up in her outstretched hand. When she looked down on it, she froze.

It was a King's Idol, the item that the citizens of Hallownest had crafted to worship her reclusive father. Each of them looked different, but they all shared the general shape and depicted his most salient feature: The horns that resembled a crown.

Staring down at it, something in Hornet broke. It might have been the stress she felt since Ghost had arrived. Or the fact that Hollow recovered from years of abuse from both the gods of Hallownest. Or that she was running on an empty stomach most of the time. But once she saw that thing, all her frustration crashed down on her at once.

You!”, she hissed. “It was all your fault! You knew that the plan wouldn't work! You knew that they would suffer and you still have let it happen! The teacher, the watcher, my mother, all sacrificed for nothing! And then, in the moment you were needed the most, you vanished, you damn coward! We needed you! I needed you! I hate you. I hate you and I can't even say it to your face anymore!”

Hornet threw the king's idol on the ground with so much force that it skipped on the ground and then fell on her knees, slowly getting aware of the tears on her face and the presence of little ice cold hands patting her arm.

“I am fine.”, she said, wiping the tears away. Just a moment of weakness, nothing else. Even though she could feel the judgemental stare of Ghost, she was fine. She had to be. “Seriously, I am fine.”, she continued once more. “Let's continue hunting.”

As Hornet was putting her composure back together, she didn't notice how Ghost continued to stare at her, picking up the idol from the ground, and only starting to move again once she called out for them.

The hunt had been more or less successful. At least they had found enough prey that nobody should go terribly hungry (at least when Hornet halved her own portion again). As usual, hunting had taken the better part of the day. Hornet would have liked to go hunt at some different locations, but the Old Stag from the stag ways wasn't around lately, apparently he was taking care of some personal business. With him not being around, it was just too far to walk to the Fungal Wastes or Deepnest, at least not when she wanted to come back the same day.

Currently Hornet took in her meal in Hollow's room with Ghost present as well. She was busy thinking about if there was another route that would make sure she could hunt elsewhere but Greenpath for once, when she felt a nudge. When she looked down, she saw how Ghost offered them a half of their mosscreep, holding the prey up in their little hands, seemingly eagerly awaiting for her to take it.

“I can't take this, Ghost.”, Hornet said. “You need all the food you can get, you are still growing.”

Ghost cocked their head and for once their eternal deadpan expression was on point. Hornet knew how ridiculous her argument was. Ghost had been born before her. They hadn't grown in years. Their body had been unable to grow because they didn't had access to void. “You know what I mean.”, she defended herself. There was the possibility that Ghost would start to grow as long as they stayed in Hallownest.

Ghost offered their meal a little while longer and then gave up with a little frustrated stomp of their foot. It was then when Hornet felt another nudge... this time it was Hollow, who had simply watched the scene unfold in front of them, offering their part of their meal.

“Oh no, not you too, Hollow.”, Hornet sighed. “You need the food much more than me, you are still recovering. I won't accept anything from you.”

The both vessels shared a look and once again Hornet asked herself if they could talk to each with some kind of void telepathy, before both of them looked at the ground in defeat.

“I am fine.”, Hornet repeated herself, she knew that. “Really, I am fine...”

Hornet awoke the next morning... not because her stomach cramped and she had trouble sleeping because of it, but because someone nudged her. She cracked one eye open and murmured: “It's barely morning...” She just craved to go back to sleep, to forget about the day in front of her for a few minutes longer, but the nudging got more and more intense, until she shouted: “Fine! I am getting up! Stop bothering me!”

It was Ghost in front of her and immediately Hornet stopped being annoyed. What if something had happened? “Is something the matter with Hollow? Or is a threat approaching the village?”, she asked, already fumbling for her needle, once again forgetting that Ghost was more than capable of defending the village themselves. They just looked too much like a little, defenseless child, even though Hornet had experienced otherwise.

Gladly, Ghost shook their head, though this put Hornet right back into annoyance. “Then why have you woken me up?”, she said, falling back down in her pillows, ignoring the urge to close her eyes and looking at Ghost again, making sure to give them a judgemental stare.

Ghost did grip something under their cloak (wings? Hornet never knew what this thing around the vessels was) and after a bit of struggling, they produced a jar... a jar filled with honey. The smell actually made Hornet's mouth water. Honey was one of the few things she liked to eat that wasn't meat, mostly because she had trained in the Hive in her youth.

Though, as lucky as she felt about having more food, she couldn't help but scold Ghost. “Ghost, did you get this on your own? The Hive is dangerous, even without the infection! What if the Hive Knight would have found you?”

Ghost shook their head and then outstretched their hand, showing Hornet a shiny little charm. A charm she remembered. The charm of the Hive. “Wait, you have been there and challenged him already?” Hornet wanted to be surprised, but Ghost couldn't really surprise her anymore. When they could surprise her somehow, then it was that they were full of surprises.

“Anyway... I guess I have to thank you, though I don't approve that you sneak out at night into the Hive.”, Hornet murmured. “At least we have more food for the group now..”

Ghost rigorously shook their head and pressed the jar in her hands. “For me?”, Hornet asked and Ghost nodded.

“But... Ghost, I appreciate it, but I don't need.. the others need the food much more than...”

Another shook of their head and a stomp of their foot along with crossed arms and a slight turn around. Hornet suddenly felt very small, she had never seen them that upset.

“Alright, alright...”, she said. “Maybe I have eaten insufficient lately...”

Ghost nodded again and gave the jar of honey another press, so that she had to hold it firmly in her hands.

“Alright alright...”, Hornet finally gave in. “I will take your offer, Ghost.”

As she opened the jar, her hunger became more and more apparent and soon she dug in and had finished the whole jar in what felt like no time and finally, for once, she didn't feel overly hungry. Satisfied even.

She then saw Ghost holding up something. A little rock with a few letters written on it. Lately Cornifer had given them writing lessons, though it still was a work in progress.

“Fine?”

That was the word they had painted on the rock (where did they even have the colours from?).

“I am fine.”, Hornet said. “This time for real. I am sorry, Ghost, I shouldn't have lied to you. I just feel so... responsible for everyone. I can't show weakness in front of anyone.”

Ghost shook their head again and then got something out. Hornet recognized it as the King's Idol they had found in Greenpath. They tossed it at the ground, just as she had done and then hit it with their nail, leaving a notable crack in it.

“You as well don't have the best memories of him, right?”, Hornet said. Both of them had been left behind, though in a different kind of way. Ghost had been discarded and Hornet had been left with responsibility far too huge for her age.

Ghost nodded again and gave the King's Idol another smack, so that it landed in front of her. Hornet took it into her hands and stared at it. She did miss him, that she had to admit to herself, but she also knew that her anger and her disappointment were real and there was no reason to hide it in front of Ghost.

She squeezed the Idol until it cracked into two pieces and just watched as they fell down. “Thank you, Ghost.”, she said. “But make sure to not tell Hollow about this.”

The way Hollow idealized their father... it would break their heart seeing his image being defiled like that.

Another quick nod and then Ghost actually got another one out, their face clearly saying: “Wanna break another?”

A grin crept over Hornet's face. She would never get her mother back or escape her responsibilities, but at least she could vent out her frustrations, even though it took her sibling for her to realize.

“Oh you bet I want.” (Author's note: Little Ghost is kinda fun to write. I think they are a character mostly showing what they feel through body language and it was fun to come up with how they would act. I also like to think that they can stare very judgemental, even though their expression never changes, a stare of them can make anyone falter. Hornet's relationship to PK is... complicated. He hasn't actually been a bad father to her, but as the infection came back and depression took over, he left her alone more and more and she got angry about it... especially when he decided to just vanish. She felt utterly betrayed by it and it is a huge source of her frustration and anger. I put in some little references to the game in there, try to find them if you please.)