#and i would also get so disappointed when they swam away :[

[mabelstone]

Common Tongue

hozier x f!reader

part five of lullabies <3 | part four | masterlist

cw: 18+, oral sex, a lot of this is sex ok u should know me by now, the word 'balls', not much plot tbh

word count: 4.1k

taglist: @princezty @somethinglikero @jimihendrixpopfigure @the-imperfectgirl-blog @l1nd3n @yunonaneko xo

I woke in the delicious warmth of Andrew’s arms, his soft breaths against my neck sending a chill down my spine. I gently nuzzled into his touch, his arms autonomously holding me tighter. For the next week and a half, this was my morning routine. Also part of the morning routine was the part where I would slip out of his grip as gently as possible when I was on the verge of weeing myself.

I’d slip back into bed, entranced by the way sleep drenched breaths swam through the small parting of his lips. The way his muddy greens danced under his eyelids as he dreamt, and the way his thick lashes swept along his high cheekbones made it near impossible for me to look away.

We danced around the fine line of being lovers, friends, and fuck buddies, not even entertaining the thought of defining what we were. I knew it was all probably moving too fast considering I’d just gotten out of a relationship. Not that I really cared - Andy had a way of numbing me. Numbing the heartbreak in a way that I didn’t even have to acknowledge it. He made me feel happy and sexy and loved, if that’s what you’d call it.

Like he could feel it, he’d wake to me watching him, causing me to blush profusely and apologise. He’d either pull me in and kiss my neck and forehead, or remind me with a grin, “staring is rude, y’know,” in his deep, groggy morning voice. It was rare to catch him watching me sleep as I was the early riser of the two of us. But during the day, I’d swear I was his favourite sight. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.

This past week also consisted of numerous phone calls to Andy, all from producers begging to sign him to their labels. I was so ecstatic for him, but of course, he was overtly humble as always. After doing his research and attending a few meetings, he decided to go with Rubyworks.

“Andy!” I threw myself into his arms excitedly, squeezing him so hard, I thought he might implode. “I’m so proud of you… we have to celebrate!”

“I’dunno, baby…” he sighed, raking his hands through the back of my hair while I melted into his touch. “This all might blow up in my face yet.”

“Don’t talk rubbish!” I scolded him, peeling my face away with my arms still around him so he could see me frown. “And you deserve to be celebrated. And we have no plans for dinner. Please?”

“Because you’ve twisted my arm,” he gave in, bending down slightly to capture my lips in his. As if I had any control at this point, I autonomously kissed him back, a squeak leaving me when he effortlessly picked me up and sat me on his kitchen island.

He deepened the kiss, one of his hands squeezing my thigh, the other tangled in my hair. I sighed against him, my hands skating across his abdomen. His tongue slipped into my mouth, forcing me to swallow a grunt of his. Both of his hands now slipped up my thighs, stopping just at the crease of my hip with a firm squeeze.

“You’d better stop,” he warned, pupils blown.

“Or what?” I teased, hands now gripping his biceps. Fuck dinner. I’ll give him something better to eat.

“You’ll see later,” he promised with a kiss to my temple, sliding his hands off me. “Let’s get ready now, or it’ll be impossible to drag me out of this house.”

“Fine,” I sighed in faux disappointment, hopping off the table and dragging him behind me by his hand.

I put on my favourite dress; a flowy black number with a corset like top that did me lots of favours in the breast department. I wore some simple three inch heels, sheer black stockings, and a faux leather coat. My hair was slicked back into a wavy ponytail, complimented by some chunky gold jewellery to break up all the darks I had on. I wore Andrew's favourite perfume of mine, Jimmy Choo's Eau De Parfum. I'd always had an illustrious love for fashion, but oftentimes Joe had an issue with my style. Not Andy, though. His jaw just about hit the floor and he looked as if he were close to calling off our plans and just taking me to bed instead. Not that I would have protested... but no, tonight was about him.

He looked edible in a black button up and brown jacket, with those white converse's that were basically fused to his feet at this point. He trimmed his beard down and has doused himself in Tam Dao by Diptique, and when I say he smelt divine, I mean, I considered calling off our plans as well.

At first, we found ourselves in a cheesy karaoke bar that was walking distance from his house. We threw back a couple shots, laughing and cheering on both the good and… not so good performances. Andy always said that despite the voice he was gifted with, he hated singing karaoke. I eventually convinced him to duet Islands in the Stream with me. It was the most fun I’d ever had. He then gave his own rendition of Sex Bomb, and I hate to admit it, but it did something to me. We snacked on shitty street food as we passed through the weekend markets, enjoying our tipsy people watching.

After that, we found a dim lit bar in the west end with live music and cheap drinks for happy hour. We caught a taxi and walked hand in hand from the car to our booth. For once, I loved having everyone's eyes on us. I wanted everyone to see us together, though we weren't really together.

The combination of the sultry jazz band in the background mingling with the effects of too much alcohol too fast had me sliding my foot up his leg, getting a high from watching his eyes darken as he squirmed. He gave me a warning look, to which I innocently sipped at my drink and averted my head to the band, gently applying pressure to his crotch. I felt his hand grip my ankle, and when I thought he'd move me away, he ran his hands up my leg instead, stopping only when he reached my knee. I turned my head back to him quickly, my core growing hot at the feeling. He looked gorgeous, curls framing his face, his eyes fixed on me as if I were the most interesting thing in the room.

His stare challenged mine, almost daring me to keep going. The look in his eyes screamed, "see what will happen," and I have never been one to turn down a dare.

Drunkenly, I slid my finger around the rim of my glass, bringing the salt to my lips as I sucked my finger clean, making effort to show my tongue at first. I pushed it in far deeper than necessary, almost able to hear the way his breath hitched in his throat. His grip on my ankle tightened, and I applied a bit more pressure with my heel.

"I swear to God, I will throw you into a cab right now," his eyes were hooded and narrowed in on me. It felt like a stand off between a predator and prey, despite feeling nothing but safety in his presence.

"You wanna take me home, big boy?" I teased, relishing in the way his cheeks flushed when I used the ridiculous pet name. He loved a good double entendre. Well, triple entendre, really.

I reached across the table to grab his hands, running my thumb over his knuckles. Despite the often heated nature of our exchanges recently, I'd never felt more loved. Maybe that was the wrong word, it was too soon. I'd never felt more secure.

He abruptly got up from the booth, dragging me to the dance floor with him. I laughed wildly, the alcohol buzzing through both of our veins like a freight train. “You hate dancing!”

“I know!” He shouted back over the music, pulling me in close to him by my waist. “But you’re beautiful and you’ve been force feeding me whiskey.”

“Hardly force feeding,” I scoffed, slapping his arm playfully. We swayed to a cover of I’d Rather Go Blind by Etta James, giggling uncontrollably at how uncoordinated we both were. It didn’t matter, it felt good.

Then there was the feeling of someone bumping into me hard, followed by the cold of a drink soaking the back of my legs. I gasped, pushing myself further into Andy to get away from the feeling.

“Sorry,” the woman spoke with no sign of remorse in her tone or expression. Andy was quick to grab a handful of napkins from the table beside us, wiping me down as I blushed embarrassedly. I was sure I was hallucinating when I looked up and saw Joe smirking. Fucking loser.

“Andy,” I pulled him up by his coat from where he was wiping me down. “Let’s go.”

“It’s okay, darlin’, you can’t even tell-“

“No, Joe is here. Let’s leave, please.” I felt hot and nauseous immediately, the glint in his eye from across the room all too familiar. He was going to make me pay for leaving him.

Andrew’s expression turned unreadable, yet he still nodded and stayed close behind me as I quickly fled the bar. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I nodded, acutely aware of how dry my throat felt. “He’s just unpredictable, I’d rather not deal with him tonight. Or, ever for that matter.”

He just hummed in response, lacing his fingers with mine. He pulled out his phone to order us an Uber. I tried to protest, insisting that we hadn’t celebrated him enough. He shushed me with a kiss, reassuring me that tonight was wonderful and he was grateful. I leaned into his body while we waited in the cold, his arm around my shoulder as we watched the traffic pass us by.

“So you are with him?” Joe scoffed, seeming to appear out of thin air. I startled at his voice, scolding myself internally for peeling away from Andy so quickly. “And you couldn't fuckin' wait for the chance to steal her, could you?"

“We aren’t together,” I quickly interjected, ignoring the way Andy’s face faltered at my clarification. “And even if I was, we are over. It’s over. Don’t you understand?”

“I understand that you can’t keep your legs shut.”

I was taken aback by his comment, unable to think of a snarky reply as my cheeks warmed and my jaw slackened.

"That's no way to speak to a woman, show some fuckin' respect," Andrew growled, stepping closer to my ex, absolutely towering over him. Joe tried to get in his face, both of them puffing their chests out like two pigeons. It was kind of sexy. Is that horrible to say?

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" Joe bit back, grabbing a fistful of Andrew's shirt.

"Stop!" I shrieked, grabbing Andrews' wrist, trying my hardest to get him away from Joe. "I want to go home."

"Home?" Joe seethed through gritted teeth, his face red as a traffic light.

Andrew shoved Joe back, sending him stumbling, barely finding his footing.

"Andy, I want to go home," my voice was fragile as I tugged on his wrist once more, his expression immediately softening when he saw tears in my eyes. He took my hand in his, leading me away as he checked to see if Joe was hanging around. Looks like the security guard saw him, thankfully.

The Uber rolled up two minutes later and I couldn't have climbed in any quicker. I was beyond grateful to be in a warm car rather than out in the cold with Joe.

"That was fuckin' scary," I huffed, throwing my head back against the headrest.

"I'm sorry," he cooed with a gentle hand threading through my hair. "I shouldn't have said anything to him."

"That was not your fault," I assured him, turning to look at those big, doe eyes that were starting to make me weak.

He gave me a half hearted smile and sat in silence for the rest of the drive. I wondered what he was thinking, but felt it was probably best to just let him feel how he needed to. When we got home, we thanked the driver and walked into Andrews house in silence.

"Are you okay?" I asked gently, standing by as he shucked his coat.

"Yeah," he sighed with a shake of his head, though it wasn't convincing in the slightest.

"Did I do something? Or, say something?" I prodded further, softly taking his hand so he'd look at me.

"Really, it's no big deal," he gave me a half hearted smile, squeezing my hand once before heading for the stairs. "I'm gonna go shower."

I watched as he walked away, wracking my brain for anything that could have happened. Surely seeing Joe didn't upset him.

Then I remembered how fast I was to reassure my ex that Andy and I weren't exclusive. Fuck. I planned out my approach in my head for a while so I didn't dig the knife in deeper.

When I made it to his room, he was in his closet with dampened curls and a towel around his waist, looking for clothes, I presume. I knocked softly to let him know I was at the door.

"Andy?"

He hummed in response, turning only his head to me.

"Is it because I said we aren't together?"

He huffed some half witted laugh, almost as if he were embarrassed.

I walked closer to him, taking his hand into mine. "Well we aren't officially together, Andy." I sighed. "But I guess we kind of are together, aren't we?"

That caught his eye.

"And," I continued, "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with right now." I took his face into my hands, pulling him close as I softly kissed him. His mouth was much warmer than mine and he smelt so fresh and delicious.

Each time we kissed, something deep inside of me sparked like a flint and steel. The near palpable electricity of that spark conducted its way through my lips straight to his. We found a steady rhythm that was soon forgotten, replaced by tongue and teeth, desperate for more. Without breaking contact, we staggered back onto the bed, only the cotton of his towel and the nylon of my stockings keeping our bodies separated. My hands tugged at his soft auburn curls, eliciting encouraging hymns of appraisal that I wished I could devour. His hands dug into my hips harder than he ever had. Not hard enough to hurt me, but hard enough to let me know he wanted me just as bad as I did him.

I moved my mouth to his neck, sucking at his delicate skin, feeling his pulse against my lips. He shuddered and gasped, desperately trying to grind my body against his. The sinful noises he made only made me crave him more, only made me yearn for his beautiful rhapsodies. To hear them alone, without the deafening ring of my own pleasure in my ears, to hear them without my own pants and sighs overwhelming his. Just him, all of him.

"Andy, I really want to suck your cock," I blurted, pulling away to look at him through drooped eyelids. "May I please?"

"Good manners," he joked, his eyes even more lidded than my own. "Of course, baby." He pulled me in for another kiss, his tongue gliding against mine as I let a hand trail down his stomach and underneath his towel. I felt him twitch in my hand as I started to stroke him, his groans reverberating in my mouth.

I had never wanted to knob somebody off so bad. I always hated it with whoever else I was sleeping with. There was something about Andy. He was such a giver that it felt wrong not to give him something back. Like I'd be missing out on a sacred experience if I didn't do it right now. There was no part of me that didn't get pleasure out of pleasuring him.

I pulled my lips from his, sliding down between his legs. I kissed from his jaw to his collarbones, to his chest and then his stomach, watching goosebumps form along his creamy skin, his calloused hands skating along my forearms.

I finally freed him from the towel, watching his cock jump against his happy trail. I took him into my hand, pumping his length a few times to see his facial expression change. My God, was it the most divine sight. Unable to hold off any longer, I licked a flat stripe over his tip, his precum dancing on my tongue.

"Fuck," he practically gasped, gently grabbing the back of my head.

I slowly wrapped my lips around his tip using one of my hands to guide him into my mouth. Without taking his eyes off me, he reached behind his head for a pillow, staring at me like he might die if he looked away. I didn't dare take my eyes off his.

I slowly took more of him into my mouth, swirling my tongue around him as I did so. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, borrowing a whimper from my mouth working around him. I pulled off briefly to blink up at him, "tell me how you like it, please."

He whimpered some response, nodding desperately. I put my mouth on him again, looking up for further instruction.

"Stick your tongue out a little," he breathed, the faintest of smiles on his face. "Good, now start movin', baby."

I nodded best I could with my mouth full, bobbing my head at a steady rhythm. I looked up at him through my lashes, my stomach flipping at the sight before me.

"Gooood girl," he praised me, freeing one of his hands from my hair to brush his thumb over my cheek. "Can you go a little faster, angel?"

I hummed in agreement, moving my head along his length faster, keeping my tongue out along the base the way he liked, making sure to hollow my cheeks the best I could. Not that there was much room for that. I moved one hand to steady myself against his thigh, the other slipping down to massage his balls.

"Jesus Christ," he moaned, throwing his head back. "Yeah, that's it. Just like that." My stomach flipped, my core on the verge of boiling over. I swear I could get off on the sight and sounds of him alone.

I took him as deep as I could, fighting off the urge to gag as he repeatedly hit the back of my throat. My jaw was aching and tears were threatening to fall from my eyes, but I was determined. I could tell he was close by the unsteady rhythm of his breathing.

He gave my hair a firm tug, a warning, almost as if to give me the option to pull off. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum if you keep going."

I hummed in acknowledgement, no shred of intention to stop in my body.

"Where, baby?" He breathed, the muscles in his stomach beginning to tense. I traced a few shapes with my tongue as a form of communication, my way of showing him where, looking up at him. "Christ, Y/N," he groaned, spilling hot ribbons onto my tongue, his hips stuttering beneath me. I kept my mouth on him as he rode out his high, his face contorted in ecstasy, brows furrowed, mouth agape as his euphonious appraisals slipped from it.

I pulled off, my lips swollen and red, mascara no doubt running down my cheeks, and now uncomfortably horny.

Like he could read my mind, he sat up pulled me into his lap, now kissing my neck. His beard scratched across my collarbones in the most tantalising way, his hands working quickly to unzip my dress. He did so with ease, slipping the material off my shoulders where it pooled in our laps.

"You are perfect," he sighed against my skin, kissing me hard as he palmed one of my breasts. I whimpered against him, my hands in his hair as he buried his face in my chest. One of his hands cradled the bottom of my skull, the other guiding my breast to his mouth as he flicked his tongue across my nipple.

"Andy," I whined, pure need unmistakable in my tone. "Mmh, need you, baby."

He flipped me onto my back without warning, sliding down the bed between my thighs. His eyes were hungry, almost primal. Despite his release only moments prior, he had determination written all over his face as he buried his face between my thighs, pressing wet, open mouthed kisses through my stockings. "Please, I need you now. Please, please," my voice was whinier than I'd ever heard it, so much so I almost didn't recognise it.

My dress was still bunched around my waist, but he didn't seem too inconvenienced. My stockings, however, had no chance of surviving this one. In one fluid movement, he ripped through the crotch of my stockings, tearing them thigh to thigh. I gasped, my stomach flipping at the gesture. He pulled my knickers to the side, sliding his tongue over my clit without warning. Instantly, my back was arching autonomously, my head already thrown back against the mattress.

His tongue flitted against me with expert precision, switching between sucking and licking. "Tell me how you like it," he spoke against me, the vibrations from his voice combined with his soft lips against the most sensitive part of my body making my head go fuzzy. I couldn't even respond, only able to fumble around for his hand.

He slipped two fingers in with ease and I nearly screamed in pleasure. Lewd, wet noises filled the room, my whines and moans somehow even louder than the physical proof of my arousal. His deft fingers worked me to the fastest orgasm known to man, hitting my g-spot with each thrust, his tongue signing love letters onto my clit.

I chanted his name like a mantra, desperately clinging to the bedsheets beneath me as I completely lost myself under his touch. The most incredible feeling ever ripped through my every nerve ending, every fibre, every atom of my being. I shook uncontrollably beneath him, toes curled, eyes screwed shut as I made noises nobody else had ever torn from me. This must be what heaven feels like.

I finally came back down to Earth, panting like I'd ran a marathon. Andy wiped his mouth on the towel, the most satisfied grin I'd ever seen plastered to his face.

"Andy, I-" I stammered, genuinely lost for words as I laid my head on his chest. "I owe you the world. What do you want? Whatever it is, it's yours."

"Are you kiddin' me?" He laughed exasperatedly, kissing my forehead. "I should be givin' you the world. That was the closest to a religious experience I've ever had."

"You'd better write a song about this," I half joked, shimmying my dress off finally.

"Way ahead of ya', darlin'," he sighed in content. "I need to do that more."

"You ruined my stockings, Andy," I sighed in faux disappointment, "but that might have been the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

Then he was back to his shy self, a bashful grin on his face that he covered with his arm, leaving my heart to soar within my chest.

Fuck. I was catching proper feelings. Like... proper. Like, L-Word feelings. The realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks. Andy was to go and record some songs next week. What if he didn't feel the same? What if he got really famous and left me behind? Was I just sex? Was he just a rebound? It all has really moved fast, I shouldn't be getting attached...

"I'm gonna shower," I smiled politely, excusing myself before he had a chance to say anything.

A million thoughts raced through my mind at once. Was I trying to sabotage this for myself? It felt nice to be clean, a nice reset. The water defrosted me, made me feel centred again. I dried off and slipped into one of his hoodies.

"I need to tell you something," I blurted, unable to stop the words from coming out as I walked back into his room.

i did some googling and there might be some confusion (or maybe not, but just in case) when i say stockings i mean toe to hip tights/hosiery. i'm australian lol i apologise if some things don't make sense... i don't like the word hosiery ok

[fourthwingingit]

Laios is the first character I've ever been able to fully relate to and given how many people think hes the most unhinged guy possible in and out of universe i am kinda worried...... like...... is this why i only have 3 friends in the area?? I thought he was the average autistic man (like me)

[yeonkimintakecare]

Bad Friends

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Summary: After your friends abandon you on your birthday your forced to interact with your ex for the first time since you broke up with him.

Author's Note: this was very therapeutic to me >_<

This is heavily based on situations from my life, and I kind of went crazy while writing this. So enjoy :)

Warnings: angst, lack of communication, as the title says... bad friendships.

You swam through the sea of drunk people looking for a familiar face. Your efforts were useless, it would seem that your friends have abandoned you while you were 4 drinks in. And it was your birthday. You check your phone to see if they have responded, but there’s no notifications. You check their location on snapchat and it tells you that they are at another club on the other side of the city.

'Some friends you guys are' you think to yourself.

You start to tear up, you felt like your friends had been growing away from you lately, but this cements that feeling. They were the ones that insisted on doing something for your birthday and then they stranded you at the club.

As much as you don’t want to you call your brother, knowing he told you not to go out with these girls, but you have no other way of getting home, your friends had your wallet in their car and they had been paying for your drinks prior to this. You dial your brothers number.

“Hello? What's up? I thought you were out with Ashley and Witney? Are you okay?” Your brother, Taehyung, asks and just like that you can’t hold back your tears. You had missed being this close with him. You guys used to talk all the time, but when you moved away you ghosted him and his girlfriend, Minji, who was like a sister to you.

“I went to the bathroom and they were gone, *sob* I’ve looked all over, they didn’t even text me. I think they left me to go to another club and I have no money and my phone is almost dead and I’m way too *hic* drunk for this.” You say while sobbing.

“Calm down, ____, I’m out of town with Minji but I’ll send somebody to come and get you, just send me your location.” He said calmly.

“Send who?” you ask weakly, fearing that you may already know the answer.

“I’ll ask some of my friends in the city, but most likely it will be Jungkook, I just got off the phone with him and I know he’s not doing anything.” You groaned at his response.

'Fucking great.'

“I know, but you need a ride home and we don’t have a lot of options. Send me your location quick so I can get you home, loser.” He said with a chuckle. You send him your location and 2 minutes later you receive the text

“Sorry dude, Jungkook was the only person who could come and get you right away.” You put your head in your hands and leaned up against the side of the building.

Jungkook was your brother's best friend, but also your ex.

They had been friends since they were preteens and you had dated him for 4 years in high school and college, but you ended things with him because you guys had been fighting constantly. Then you suddenly got a job in another state.

The break up was part of the reason you lost touch with Tae and Minji, you didn't want to make them choose between you and JK. You were scared that they wouldn't choose you, so you left before they could disappoint you.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out there and you had recently moved back. You started talking to your brother again, you apologized to them both, realizing it was stupid to think that they wouldn't move heaven and earth for you.

but... you haven’t seen Jungkook since you broke up with him. But of course you were so unlucky that you were going to have to see him tonight... while you're drunk... and crying... and completely alone...

Fifteen minutes pass before you see a car that you know too well roll up. You see Jungkook in the driver’s side of the car. He stares at you for a second before giving you a small wave. You give an awkward smile and a head nod before you make your way to his car.

‘God. This is going to be awkward.’

When you step into the car it immediately smells like him, his cologne mixed with his natural smell. There was many times where you smelled something similar that would make you think of him while you were away. Now here you are and it's actually him.

Neither of you speak besides small a small 'hi" and when you briefly asked if it was okay to plug your phone into his charger.

You stare at your lap, twiddling your thumbs. He focuses on the road, eventually your phone turns on and you see decide to go check social media. You open up instagram and you see Witney’s story, and her and Ashley are at a bar with two guys you had seen them talking to earlier. You scoff at the idea of your only friends ditching you on your birthday for men that were strangers. You were beyond pissed.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asks, putting a hand on one of yours and rubbing his thumb on the back of it. You thought this would make it awkward, but it didn't it felt almost normal. Like this is how it always should have been.

“Maybe, I’m just really drunk right now." You paused. Unsure if you should ask this question. But again, you're too drunk to make normal decisions, so you just do it. "I’m going to ask you a question and I want an honest answer, don’t use kid gloves for me." You stare at him until he gives a small nod, his eyes darting between you and the road.

"Am I really that unlovable?” You say while you feel the tears start to well in your eyes again. You saw his hands tighten around the steering wheel while so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“Now, what in the fuck makes you think that?” He said, obviously trying to not make me feel bad but also wanting to yell at me.

“If I was a lovable person wouldn’t my friends WANT to hang out with me on my birthday? I just feel like I’m such a fucking failure, I couldn’t even make it work at my job and I can’t make friends. And the only person, that’s not my brother, who made me feel safe and comfortable, I pushed away.” You hide your face in your hands as you start to cry. You really must be drunk because somehow this turned into you venting about your feeling to your ex… including your feelings about him.

Jungkook pulls his car over onto the side of the rode and he turns to you and grabs your hands. “You are one of the people in this whole wide world who deserves to be loved. You are one of the kindest people I know and you are beautiful inside and out.” He used one hand to grab yours and the other to hold your face and to make you look at him. “You are not a failure. Sometimes jobs just don’t work out, its okay, you’ll get a new one, and eventually you will find the place that you are meant to be at."

You stare into each other's eyes for awhile. For the first time in awhile, you realize how much you missed this. how much you missed him. He always brought you so much comfort back then, and then you broke his heart. Why couldn't you have just made it work? Why did you feel you had to leave?

"Also your friends suck, that not on you, that’s on them to let you slip away.” he says, breaking the spiral that you had been falling into.

It made you think about why you left back then. You pull your hand from his and turned to look out the window. "Well they always leave anyways, so there's never a reason to get too attached." you say solemnly.

"That's sad that you think that." you turn to see him staring at you, eyebrows furrowed, you look away again, not wanting to see his pity for you. "And also, very untrue."

Your head snaps to look at him. "Excuse me?" you ask, getting defensive.

"it's not true. I think on some level it might be, but at some point you started pushing people away before they could leave you. You pushed me away, I know you're getting close to your brother and Minji again, but when you moved away you ignored them the whole time."

You stare at him, slack jawed. "I'm not the only one at fault here. Not in this car at least. I will admit that I ignored Tae and Minji, and I have apologized to both of them and made my amends. But, need I remind you about what happened between us? We had issues long before I decided to move away. You were distant, you know you were." You start to tear up. This was a constant fight between the two of you back then.

~ flashback - 3 years ago ~

You were sitting on the couch, seething. It was your anniversary and he was going to take you on a date to celebrate the 4 years you have been together. You had been sitting on the couch, ready, for the past three hours. No messages from him, for why he might be late.

Normally, you wouldn't be mad about this, but recently it's become a real problem with him. He never used to be late, but now he always was. You fought with him about it last week, when he was going to help you prepare for a big presentation at your job, but he never showed up.

He called you the day after, apologizing, claiming he got caught up at work, and passed out as soon as he got home. You told him that it hurt that you were "forgettable" to him. This presentation was a big deal for your career, and that you couldn't focus on it because you were wondering if something bad had happened to him. You left a million messages and got nothing back from him.

You still did well on the presentation, but you had stayed up most of the night worrying about him and had forgotten your lunch at home and was going to have to skip it because you were in such a rush to get to work that morning. You fought with him for a while longer and then hung up, needing to get back to work.

An hour later, Jungkook showed up with food from your favorite restaurant and a promise to make it up to you this weekend for your anniversary. You chat with him for a bit, pushing aside your anger, because he's here, right now. putting in the work.

When you return from your lunch you get called into your bosses office. "____, you did amazing in our meeting this morning." You give a smile and a a small nod in thanks. "There's an opening in one of our other city locations. It's quite far away, but I think you might be just the right fit for it."

You sit there, slack jawed for a second. You heard about the position opening in the Chicago location, but you never dreamed of getting it. It's a higher position than you are currently and its highly coveted. "oh, um, thank you, I appreciate the offer, when would I need to go by?" You ask, there are so many details you'd need to know, I mean what about your friends and family here?

"As soon as possible, we have housing that we can provide, and we will pay for your transition there." She says, with a smile. She's been your boss for 5 years now, and you've always gotten along.

"Can I have a couple days to think about it? I just have a lot of things up in the air in my personal life right now, and I don't want to make any decisions without really thinking about it first." She gives you a comforting smile again.

"Of course, take the time you need. We will need to know by next week Friday if we need to find somebody else for the position though." You give a small nod and thanks. "Ok, now tell me about your anniversary, that's today isn't it?" she says, you laugh and tell her about your plans with Jungkook.

You think about her offer all day, deciding to talk about it with Jungkook tonight. Chicago is halfway across the country and it would be really hard for you guys, and you aren't in the most stable place right now.

You get dressed up, you guys always go to the restaurant you had your first date at for your anniversary and then a walk in the park. But instead, here you are, alone on the couch. You sit there for another hour, trying to get in touch with your boyfriend.

Once it hits hour four you decide to go take a shower and have a good cry. You were used to this kind of stuff from your friends, but never your boyfriend. And he knew how insecure you were about being an afterthought to most people.

You woke up the next morning with dozens of missed calls from Jungkook and various texts apologizing and asking for you to call him back. You don't. Honestly, you're tired of it all. You thought you'd wake up today feeling better, but you just feel a pit in your stomach.

It was the weekend and you decided not to leave your apartment and do a deep cleaning of your home. Maybe if you could get a clean house, you could also clear your head. You talk to your brother on the phone while you clean.

"Maybe something came up again, I know he's been working really hard lately." Tae offers. For some reason this made you mad. Tae was your brother, he shouldn't be defending Jungkook. He should be mad with you, or at least pretend to be.

"You know, I don't really care, he should still communicate with me. It's one thing to miss a date, even though it's actually been several dates that he's missed, but he's not showing up, and then when I'm worried about where he is... he's not answering. It's not usually until the day after when I finally hear from him." You rant for awhile.

Tae stays pretty silent and you feel like he's staying quiet because he doesn't agree with you. You abruptly stop your rant to say "Okay, well I guess I have stuff to do and I'd rather talk to a wall, they might actually give me something to work off of" you say, giving more attitude to your brother than he probably deserved, but you were angry right now and his silence was just making it worse.

You blast your music when you get a text from Minji.

"Hey, I heard you were having a rough go of it." she texted.

"yeah, I'm angry cleaning my whole apartment right now." you respond.

"Yeah, I saw on my laptop that you have been listening to your punch that fucker in the face playlist. Pretty intense name btw."

"yeah well, i feel pretty intense right now. if the grout on my bathroom floor was a person, I would want to punch it in the face."

"Are you sure that it's grout that you want to punch in the face or a certain boyfriend that has been flakey...?"

"maybe both. i have the capabilities to be angry at multiple things at once, i'm talented in that way."

"I'm sure you are, but is that good for you?"

"maybe it's not, but it's the way i feel right now."

"I'm just worried that you are letting this anger seep into your other relationships... like the one with your brother..."

You roll your eyes. of course, now you're the bad guy. You just wish, literally, anybody would be on your side. But instead you're the unlovable one, and nobody is every going to put you first.

You leave Minji on read the rest of the day. No longer answering any messages, you turn your phone off. You start to feel better after you're done and take a shower. You do a full care routine and come out with a clear head.

You turn your phone on to see your boyfriend has been trying to get in touch with you again. You ignore his messages to start making dinner instead. You're almost done cooking when you hear your doorbell ring. The pit in your stomach that you spent all day trying to get rid of comes back.

You look in the security camera to see Jungkook at the door. You start to walk away from the door when you hear him say "____, I know you're in there. I can hear the music from out here." You sigh and open the door.

"What do you want?" You say, holding the door open enough so that only you can fit into the crack.

"Can we talk? Like actually talk, not fight." He asks. You want to get angry at the way he says it, but you can see he meant it genuinely and not in a backhanded way. You open the door all the way to let him in.

"Fine. Talk." You say after you both step in to your home.

"I'm sorry." He says and you immediately want to forgive him, but you know you won't forgive yourself if you give it to him that easily.

"Sorry about what?" You say, not letting up.

"I'm sorry about missing our dates. I've just been working so much lately, I've-" You start to feel the anger bubbling to the surface, you cut him off before he can make you any more upset.

"You think I'm mad because you're missing dates? I don't care about going to dinner. I care that you aren't communicating with me where you are. I wait up into the night and I worry about you, whether you got into an accident, if you're eating okay, if you're getting enough sleep. That is what I care about."

He stares at you, obviously not sure what to say to you. He finally says a small, quiet "I'm sorry." and you stare at him. You want to forgive, you so want to just hug him and be over all of this, but you just don't trust him anymore. You've been in this situation with other guys and you're not about to have your heartbroken again.

"I think we need to take a break." You say, he looks away from you.

"If that's what you think is best."

"it is."

"Okay then." he gets up and walks out the door. You let yourself cry and then finish making your dinner. You keep your phone off the rest of the weekend, you make some decisions.

On Monday morning you walk into your boss's office and accept the position. You vacate your home in the next week and move as much as you can to Chicago.

You tell your brother and Minji, they agree to send you some of your harder to pack things, and house some of the other valuables until you can figure out what to do with them. They seem upset with you about your sudden break up and sudden move, so you contact them less and less. You've only spoken to Jungkook a handful of times and it's mainly short, one-word messages.

You grow so depressed while you're in Chicago, your personal and professional life suffer as a consequence to it. You essentially go to work, bide your time there, come home, maybe eat if you have it in you to make a meal, and go to bed.

One day, you get a call from your old boss. "____, I haven't heard from you in forever, how are you?" she says with that warm voice. It's been months since you've let yourself talk to somebody who cares and it immediately brings you to tears. You cry and tell her about everything your break up, your isolation, your depression, everything you've been feeling for the past 8 months.

"I see, well I'm very sorry to hear that ____. Would it help if I could get you transferred back to here?" She offers, that immediately eases the pit in your stomach that you've been feeling for weeks.

"Would that be possible?" you ask, your voice small with embarrassment.

"Of course that would be possible, Your position here is filled but there is an opening in the higher ups, let me see what strings I can pull."

You immediately feel at ease. You might be able to go home! Then realization hits you. You've spent the last couple months isolating yourself from all of your loved ones, and now you're going to have to make amends.

You immediately call your brother and you both have a long talk over the phone. You open up about how you felt like they were judging the decisions you made and that you were scared that if he had to pick you or his friend, that he would pick his friend.

"____, there is literally nobody in this world that I would choose over you." he says.

"Hey, what the fuck." Minji says in the background, this being her first time speaking up.

"Obviously it's a tie between you guys and I would never have to choose between you guys... right?" he says and you both mumble a yes, obviously.

You all continue to talk through everything you've been feeling with each other, them feeling hurt by you pushing them away, but you work through things, you all cry, and you start to feel better about it all.

You get notice that you are being transferred back home, its not a hard transition, as you never fully moved here and you didn't really make any new friends. but about 2 weeks before your move, you get a message from two girls you went to college with.

"OMG, ____ we heard you're moving back, it's been forever, we should do something, right?" texted Ashley.

You ponder it, you had been best friends with them in high school and then when you moved on to your jobs you'd only really meet with them once a year. But, you are trying to fix your relationships, and don't hang out with many people besides your brother and his partner (and you used to hang out with you boyfriend...)

You decide to just do it. "for sure, lets get dinner when I get back :) "

You talk with them a lot before and after your move. They're a lot different to you now, but you make the effort to understand their interests. They really want to take you out clubbing for your birthday, but you tell them that it's not really your scene anymore.

"So how's your relationship status?" Witney asks, taking a sip of her espresso martini.

"ah, non-existent right now." you say while avoiding eye contact.

"I thought you were dating that hot tattooed guy. What was his name?" Ashley offers, sharing a look and a smirk with Witney that isn't lost on you.

"Ah well, we broke up a while ago." You say with a sad smile while raising your cocktail to your lips.

"You should totally reach out to him!" Witney says suddenly, making you choke on your drink.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you don't know what could happen, maybe he's still into you." Ashley throws out. You forgot how much they loved drama, and how if they don't get it, they'll cause it.

"Yeah, it wouldn't really matter if he did still like me, we just didn't work. We couldn't communicate with each other the way we should." you say, hoping that's the end of it.

"But he's hot, isn't that enough. at least you could get one or two good, hot nights with him." Witney says with a sly smirk.

"Yeah, I'm over this conversation. I'm not going to hook up with him, we are done and that it." You say, letting your mask slip a bit.

"Geez, sorry. We were just trying to get you some." Witney says while Ashley rolls her eyes at you. They stay silent. They're mad at you.

You inhale. "I was thinking," They look up at you. "Maybe we should go out for my birthday." They both perk up immediately and start talking over each other about which bars we should go to, what events are going down, is there any parties going on, what we should wear.

Hey, maybe this won't be that bad.

~ present day ~

"You're right. I was distant. I was so focused on work, and I just thought you'd stay there for me, even though I was neglecting you. You leaving was a big wake up call for me. I had to really change the way I thought about my work and personal life and make them separate." He says, looking at you. You give him a small smile, his hand reaches your face and wipes of a tear. You put your hand over his and lean into it.

"I know I haven't said it. But is missed you. So much." You say, not breaking eye contact, not wanting to ruin this moment with the man you once loved.

"I missed you too." he says quietly. You stare up at him and you begin to smile through your tears and you can feel his breath getting closer as his hand stays on your face, you take this time to hold his face and kiss him. You passionately kiss while his hands make his way into your hair and your arms are wrapped around his neck. It’s like the two of you were trying to get closer, but there was no physical way for that to happen.

When you both finally come up for air and you both are out of breath, your foreheads touch as you look into his eyes.

“You didn’t push me away. I’m right here, I’ve always been here, and I always will be.” He whispers to you and you feel tears slide down your face again as he kisses them away.

~ time jump - a year and four months later ~

You are trying to buckle your heel when you get a knock on the door. You open it to find your handsome boyfriend wearing a nice suit, but with no tie. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was a mafia boss from a romance novel with his tattoos and jewelry. But you know that he could never hurt anybody.

"You look stunning." He says, giving you a bouquet of your favorite flowers and a kiss. The kisses go on for awhile, neither of you coming up for air before he goes "Are you ready to go?" finally breaking your brief make out. You nod in response.

You go to your the fine dining restaurant you always go to on this day. The food was great, as always, and you take a walk in the park. You arms are linked together as you both people watch and and chat about your day.

You come up on a bench and you both have a seat. You see somebody hiding behind a tree. You go to point it out to your boyfriend, but when you turn to him, he is no longer sitting next to you. Instead, he is on the ground, down on one knee. Your hands fly to cover your mouth in shock.

"____, We've had some ups and downs, but we've come out of them all stronger and better than before. In our time apart, I realized, I never want to not have you in my life. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?" You fly into his arms, toppling him to the ground.

"Of course I will." You say while picking yourselves up and kissing him over and over. Out, from behind the tree, comes Tae and Minji, recording and taking photos. You hug them and cry, Minji compliments the beautiful ring that now sits on your finger.

You thank yourself for the people you've surrounded yourself with, and you thank them for sticking by you, even when you're being unreasonable. People who actually love you aren't easily pushed away, and you're so thankful for that.

[dp-marvel94]

Seafoam Sky -Chapter 1

Summary: Danny has dreamed of glowing lights for as long as he can remember. When he almost dies pursuing them, an unknown powerful entity saves him. Now the entity is calling him too, though Danny can’t tell if it’s for good or for ill. He hopes the memories and dreams of being lovingly cradled under the stars are real. But with his parents’ stories about wind spirits that lure mer to the surface and steal their souls… how can he trust his mysterious savior?

Word Count: 4,210

Next Chapter

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note:

It's finally here! Happy Ecto-Implosion! A huge thanks to my artist, @ecto-stone whose art inspired this fic. Thank you for being cool with all my crazy ideas and always excited to read my ramblings. Check out the art work here! And thanks to my beta, KindStar This story would make a whole heck of a lot less sense if it wasn't for your help. Thank you for all the constructive comments and all the encouragement. :) And thanks to everyone reading! I hope you enjoy!

The young mer floated in the darkness. Lights sparkled above and below. All around him. He reached, wide eyes awed. If he could just touch-

“Danny! Wake up!” His mom’s voice roughly pulled him out of the dream. 

Startled by the shout, Danny twisted out of his sleep hammock. “Ah! Wha- Umph!” His light-blue flank spasmed, knocking nick-nacks off his shelf and down onto him.

Nose wrinkled, he rubbed his sore side. Where was-

Oh right. His eyes flitted over the room. Rough stone walls, wovened sleep hammock, scatters bits of shell and seaweed. This was his room; he’d gone up for a nap. And..

That dream. He had that dream again. Every few months, since he was a fry, he dreamed of the sparkling lights. Suspended among them, so far, yet close enough to touch. Something in him reached, pulled towards the-

A pounding below interrupted his thoughts. “Danny!” His mom’s annoyed shout. “The door!”

“I’m coming!” The mer-boy finally shouted back, shaking the last fog of sleep away.

This time, Danny anticipated the knock. 

“Get the door!” His dad complained. “Your friends are here!”

His friends! Danny’s eyes lit up. “Coming!” 

He raced down the corridor and into the livingroom, eyes taking in the scene. His mom and dad tinkered with some gadget again, googles fixed over their eyes. 

“I’m going out with Sam and Tuck.” The mer-boy said. “I’ll be back later.”

The adults waved him off casually, not even looking up. A stab of disappointment struck his heart. As always, they had eyes only for their work…

Danny shook his head, dismissing the feeling. He opened the door, “Hey guys.” And swam through.

“Tell us if ya see any wind spirits!” His dad yelled, as the door closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, where are we going?” Danny’s friend, a purple-tailed mer-girl named Sam asked.

“To the trench.” The boy grinned, eyes sparkling. “You guys have to see it!” Swimming fast, he pulled his friends along beside him. “If you look out over, just after the Dimming, when it gets dark, there’s all these tiny blinking lights. Like thousands of them!” 

“The trench?” Tucker, a yellow-tailed mer-boy with his customary hat of woven, red seaweed, squeaked. “You mean the one where if you swim too deep the weight of the water on top of you alone will kill you?” He raised a brow. “Haven’t there been, like, rabid shark sightings near there?”

“Those are just rumors, Tuck.” Danny shook his head. “And it’s not like we’re going to swim down in the trench. We’ll just watch from the top.” He dipped down, swimming through a gap between two rocks.

The three swam for several minutes more, the blue-tailed mer eventually pulling to a stop just at the edge of the ravine. “See!” He waved excitedly. “I mean, there are no lights yet but give it a few minutes.”

The mer-boy drifted down, settling on the cluster of boulders above the trench. His friends swam over, sharing fondly amused grins at his excitement. Sam took a seat to one of his sides, her dark hair swirling around her head.

“So they’re like the lights in the above world from the stories. The floating ones, up really high?” She asked.

“Stars.” Danny nodded, awe entering his voice. “They’re called stars.”

Tucker joined the group on Danny’s other side. He blinked, disbelieving. “How'd you know that?”

The blue-flaked mer’s eyes drifted to the open water in front of them, gaze far away. His mind drifted…..

A busy market square. A tiny mer crying for his mother. A cloaked man, a scar over one red eye. 

“It will be alright, little one.” A soothing, melodic Voice came from the merman.

Wide eyes traced the painted lines and dots on the stranger’s blue skin. “What’s that?”

“It is a map of the stars.” The stranger smiled kindly.

“Stars?”

Blue fingers followed the silver and gold marks. “The floating lights in the world above. In the world of air and light.” They seemed to shimmer, almost glowing. “They are called stars, child.”

Danny blinked, drawing himself out of the memory. “Someone told me once, when I was little.” 

“My grandma told me she went up there, when she was our age.” Sam leaned forward, purple-eyes sparkling conspiratorially. 

“How didn’t she die?” Tucker gaped. “You dry up and suffocate if you go to the surface! That's what my mom always says.” 

The purple-eyes mer waved him off. “You only really start drying out after twenty minutes, and it takes at least an hour to suffocate.”

“Only an hour?” The yellow-tailed mer scoffed sarcastically. “That’s plenty of time.”

“Exactly.” The purple-tail raised an eyebrow pointedly. 

This earned another scoff from Tucker and the two started squibbling. 

“Bub says the far lights are giant balls of gas, burning billions of miles away.” Sam argued.

“That’s ridiculous.” Tucker countered. “They’re obviously glowing plankton in the ocean above.” 

“What?” The mer-girl’s mouth dropped open, eyes narrowed skeptically.

The yellow-tailed mer motioned, one hand palm down and parallel to his chest. “There’s this ocean, the water below.”The other hand stacked on top of the first.  “The air.” The stack grew, his left hand added above the ‘air’ layer. “And then the other ocean, the water above.” It was as if the parts of the world were rock strata in a cliff-face, one piled atop the other. “Except it’s upside-down so we’re looking at the plankton floating near the surface.”

“You clearly just made that up, Tucker. Everyone knows that….”

The two argued lightly and Danny smiled, just enjoying the banter. It wouldn’t be a hangout section with his friends unless Sam and Tucker gave each other a hard time. And really, they were great for letting him drag them out here. It was quite a swim, and one his parents would not be happy about him making, but it would be well worth it when the lights came out. It wasn’t the stars but it was as close as he could hope to get. And-

“Danny! Look out!” Sam shouted. 

The boy jerked up, but not in time. Something gray and rough slammed into him. Sharp teeth flashed in his vision.

“Rabid shark!” Tucker cried.

Heart pounding, Danny flailed. Jaws snapped, eerily close to his tail. Frantically, the mer jabbed. “Take that!” His finger met the creature’s eye. “Gross!”

The shark jerked away, bits of gore drifting out its wound. But… madness linger in its remaining eye. The creature rushed back. 

“Sam! Tuck!” Danny screamed, floating over the ravine. 

He sprinted away, diving down. Frantic words, shouts sounded. The mer boy couldn’t process. Just flashes of his friends' panicked faces high above, where he had left them. Above?.... He hadn’t meant to swim this far down, below the cliff face.

“Guys! Help me!” He yelled, eyeing the shark still focused on its prey.

Above him, the groaning reverb of rocks shifted. The creature lashed out, inches from his caudal fin. Danny dodged but-

“Ah!” Too slow. Teeth sunk into flesh. 

“Now!” Sam shouted.

Immediately came a heavy boom. Danny turned to look, eyes widening. Oh no. A torrent of rocks fell. One slammed into his attacker, releasing him from its hold. 

“Danny!” “No!” Sam and Tucker reached towards him. But-  

A wordless scream, as the boulder impacted. His bloody flank spasmed uselessly and he spun, head over tail.

The worlds spun, light above and dark below flashing. His friends’ screams…. He couldn’t understand. His breath heaved, heart pounding in his ears.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. Danny spun, mind in chaos. Then-

Glowing lights sparked into existence.

Eyes widened, his heart slowed. The lights all around him… they were so beautiful. 

A tiny fish, lines of glowing green flickering on its side, darted towards him and nibbled at his fingers. Danny flicked it off with a feeble chuckle.. And… his breath choked. 

His tail throbbed. Weakly, he tried to flex it, tried to kick but… the limb screamed, pain radiating down. He gasped. It must be broken. He couldn’t swim.

The realization should have caused panic, especially with the blood leaking from the wound, drifting up, just visible in the blinking light. But-

The blinking light…. Two pale white jellyfish undulated past, tentacles as long as he was tall drifting behind. An octopus, orange and pink small enough to fit in his hand, darted around; glowing spots dotted its skin. Masses of green plankton gently floated.

Danny sank deeper, his mind growing fuzzy and indistinct. The water pressed down on him, heavier and heavier. His tail ached, sensation dimming as his gills fluttered, straining to take in water. 

A colossal fish, long and eel-like with glowing blue dots lining its sides; a glowing spot hovered above its eyes. Miniscule jellyfish flashed different colors. 

Danny’s vision faded, growing black around the edges.

A clear oval luminesced, edges red. Fanning, branching, fluttering clumps, like the coral that rooted on the rocks near home, and yet it drifted in the open water. Lines of tiny blue squares, stretching as far as the eye could see. So many creatures floated around, beings he never could dream of. 

Floating on his back, surrounded by the ethereal glow, Danny reached up, towards the surface, towards his friends. 

Light shone above him, coalescing. White-blue. Golden yellow. Fanning, branching, spread-wide. Expansive but near. 

Something soft and light gently brushed his face. The boy reached back, the luminescence a hair’s breadth from his finger. 

Just like his dream.

A whisper into his mind. Almost a Voice. It was like a song, chiming and sweeping. Light and ringing. Immaterial, ethereal. Like nothing he’d ever heard before.

Danny’s heart pumped, slow and heavy. His gills struggled. One more breath. 

His watery mind barely grasped for understanding but… slipped.

He was dying.

The Voice’s words whispered soft, tender, kind. It was… a desire to save, to rescue. A plea to accept the offer. It just required a small sacrifice, something surrendered…. 

The mer-boy’s throat barely twitched. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Eyes fluttered, closing. One last moment. One last glimpse.

Against the pale blue, glowing white lines and dots made a familiar pattern. But he couldn’t quite remem…

Heart stopping, Danny exhaled. 

I want to live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny gasped, twitching eyes darting around, unseeing. 

His mind raced. What? How? He wasn’t dead-

“Danny! You’re awake!” His mom’s voice, quivering.

The boy flinched at the sound. Too loud, too close. His head hurt.

“Son!” Large arms swept him up. “It’s alright. You’re alright. The wind spirits didn’t get ya!”

The mer squeaked, body pressed on every side. For a moment he was back in the ravine. The water crushed him. He couldn’t breathe. 

Gasping again, Danny jerked out of the hold. He fell back, onto something soft and springy. He blinked, eyes struggling to focus. And…

His parents' faces, hovering just over him and frantic, snapped into view. His parents? But-

The memories hit. The glowing lights. The ravine. The shark. His friends…. His friends?!

“Sam and Tucker!” The mer-boy shouted. “Where are Sam and Tucker? Are they okay?”

“Are they okay?!” His mom’s eyes snapped wide, almost bulging. “You almost died, Danny. You could have died! You’re not allowed to go to the ravine anymore. If your friends hadn’t found you…” Her voice broke, sobbing. 

The woman threw her arms around him and his dad joined, burying the boy in his parents’ arms. This time, Danny didn’t resist. He accepted the hug, though didn’t return it. For just a moment, a bitter hurt flashed through him. Oh, of course, they were worried now. After brushing him off this afternoon like always.

He huffed, eyes drifting over the…floor? He had been laying on the floor. A pile of woven seaweed blankets and pillows, stuffed with sea sponges, sat below him. Eyes flitted a few feet. His mom’s shell-decorated seat. Fish-bones needles, for one of Dad’s projects. This was his house. But…

Frantic words and questions bombarded him. But Danny ignored them, mind swimming. 

How did he get here? Why wasn’t he dead? Where were his friends?!

A sudden knock came from his left. 

“Is Danny awake-” Sam’s voice. “Danny?!”

His parents let go and a blink later, his friends were hugging him. This time, he returned the hug.

His heart fluttered, trembling. Finally, his own sob came. “You… you guys are okay.” 

“Of course we’re okay. You… you dork.” Sam squeezed him harder.

“Don’t scare us like that!” Tucker cried into his shoulder. “We thought you were dead!”

His parents’ both rose from the floor, whipping their faces. An awkward pause, the adults’ eyes on his back while he broke down. 

“You must be hungry.” His mom finally said. “Jack, come help me.”

The pair left, blessedly leaving the trio in peace. And Danny hugged his best friends, crying with them for a long while. Then…

A confused question broke through the supreme relief. “Guys! What happened!?” Danny pulled away. “That shark attacked us! It freaking bit me. I got knocked into the ravine.”

“We saw you fall. You disappeared!” Tucker waved his arms. “We were calling your name but we couldn’t see you. Sam was about to go after you but...” He bit his lip, trailing off. 

“Yeah.” Danny didn’t quite register the hesitation, sitting up more fully. “I tried to swim back but couldn’t. I broke something in my… tail.”

The blue-tailed mer’s eyes drifted to his flank, widening. With a thought, the tip flicked, as natural and easy as ever. “Guys… my tail isn’t broken. But… I know… I know it was. I couldn’t even move it without screaming. This is crazy...”

He stared, flexing his dorsal fin. Moving it side to side, up and down, mesmerized by the movement.

“That’s not the only crazy thing…” The yellow-tailed mer hesitated..

Danny looked up at the words, wide eyes flitting between his two friends. “What?”

The two traded hesitant looks. Finally Sam started. “Something… really weird happened after you went over the ravine. I was just about to go after you, when these lights showed up. At first we thought it was the glowing lights you’d brought us there to see. But then they were getting closer and closer. And brighter and brighter and… there was this sound.” Her eyes widened, far away. “It started small. But it kept getting louder and suddenly it was everywhere like.. Like it was inside my head….”

Beside her, Tucker shivered. “I heard it too. Nothing…  I’ve never heard anything make a sound like that before. Never. But… it was like this singing but… high and far away but somehow also really close and…”

The hair on Danny’s arms rose, something distant but so near tickling at his mind. The darkwater, bright light, a musical Voice.

“The light kept getting brighter, like it was gonna burn my eyes. It should… should have hurt but… it didn’t. I couldn’t look away.” Tucker breathed, almost dreamily. “It was so beautiful.” 

Danny’s stomach dropped, a strangely calm dread. He waved a hand in front of his friend’s face. “What happened next?”

The other boy shook his head, snapping out of it. “There was this flash and you were back. You were just laying there, at the edge of the cliff. But… but.” Tucker’s voice trembled. “There was seafoam everywhere. All over you.”

“Sea… sea foam?” The dread rose, wrapping around Danny’s throat. “Seafoam? Like…” 

Numbly, Sam nodded. “Your tail… it looked half gone. And your hands…” She shook. “You were dead. We were sure you were dead and.. And…”

Danny’s mouth was somehow dry. “Turning into seafoam.” He’d been dying. Sinking into the depths, the glowing creatures drifting around him… He’d been dying. He had felt it and…  “I… I was turning into seafoam.” Like any other mer, returning to the foam all their kind had come from. 

But… but that was impossible, Because… “I’m.. I’m not dead, though?” He asked, anxious, hopeful, desperate.

Sam nodded, eyes glazed, almost haunted. “Your eyes popped open and… they were glowing. Solid white.” 

“Your whole body started glowing too. Like light was coming through your skin.” Tucker added, nervously chewing at a fingernail. 

Danny stared at his own hand. This was.. This was all impossible. But… the image flashed in his head…. his veins, pulsing with light from within. Why… why did it feel so right?

“It kept getting brighter and brighter until we couldn’t see you at all.” His red-capped friend continued. “Then there was this whooshing noise, like a million manta rays flapping by, and you were normal again.”

“But there were all these white things around you. They looked like that red-coral at the reef, the branching wavy ones. But not hard at all. They were soft and smooth.” Sam’s brow furrowed. “They disappeared though. They were all gone by the time I came back with your parents….”

The purple-tailed mer trailed off, a heaviness falling over the room. 

Tucker wrapped his arms around himself. “It was freaky, man.”

Part of Danny wanted to laugh- talk about an understatement. But… in his chest, his heart pounded fearfully. He’d almost died, he remembered that. But what had happened to him after?

And yet… again, it scratched at his mind. Light coalescing above him. Immense, reaching softness. A ringing, tender almost-Voice. His heart skipped a beat.

Something had saved him.

Before Danny could open his mouth to tell his friends, his parents burst in. 

“Here you go!” His dad shoved a plate into his hands. “Manatee cheese and mussels. Your favorite!”

Again, a hint of bitterness rose. Apparently he just had to almost die for his parents to pay attention to him. Danny shook the thought away; it was his favorite meal…

His mom joined. “Sam, Tucker. Here’s some for you too.” She handed plates over and the five sat in a circle on the floor.

The blue-tailed mer ate the food, though he didn’t enjoy it. Not with his stomach churning as it was with the adults hovering over him. 

“You’re lucky to be alive, Danny.” His mom’s sad serious eyes fixed on him. “You know you can’t go to the ravine like that. It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah!” His dad stabbed his seaweed salad violently. “Those windy spirits haunt those cliffs. They lure you with their weird songs and spooky ghost lights.” His voice lowered, slow and ominous. “You get closer and closer. You can’t look away and…” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Tucker’s widened, fearful. 

“They blind you!” His dad shouted, fingers jerking like a flashing ball of light. “Then they drag you to the surface and suck out your soul!”

Both Danny’s friends gasped, faces pale. They traded knowing looks, side-eyeing him. 

“Don’t scare the kids, Jack!” Mom reprimanded. “No spirit is going to touch my baby.”

“Sorry, Mads.” The other adult rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Meanwhile, one of Sam’s eyebrows rose, a pointed though subdued question.

Subtly, the boy shook his head. And though both friends frowned, neither said anything

“You’re fine, Danny.” Luckily, his mom mis-read the exchange. “What happened was scary but it’s over.“ The woman placed a hand on his arm, an attempt at comfort. “You’re safe.”

The boy smiled, though the warmth of it didn’t meet his eyes. “I know. Thanks Mom.”

The group finished eating soon enough and the adults rushed Danny’s friends out. The trio shared a hug, again questioning looks pinned on the blue-tail. And again, Danny refused. As weird and worrying as what happened to him was, that was not a jar of slugs he was willing to open in front of his parents.

“We’ll talk later.” The mer-boy instead whispered into Sam’s shoulder.

With subtle, understanding nods and parting waving, both teens left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny quickly excused himself to his room. As soon as he crossed the threshold, door closed, he let out a groan. 

“Why?” He rubbed his eyes. 

So much had happened, he couldn’t even begin to process. And of course, his dad had to bring up wind spirits again. It was ridiculous. Everyone knew spirits weren’t real. But…

The sweeping song danced in his head. The feeling of light on his skin, not searing or burning, but… warm and safe. 

Danny twitched suddenly. His back itched, something brushing his skin. He reached under his shirt, reaching for the spot. His fingers brushed the thing, soft like hair but… not. He gripped; whatever it was, the end was hard but light, tapering into a long, thin point. It came away without resistance. He brought it in front of his face. 

The boy gasped, eyes wide and mesmerized. The white object glowed, warm in his hand and pulsing with light. It tingled, the warmth spreading down into his palm. Something sparked in his veins. A flicker, a glow. Blue-white light shimmered through his skin.

With a choked cry, Danny dropped the feather as if he’d been burned. The light disappeared as soon as it left his hand, his own veins going dark. The object fell softly to the floor.

For a long moment, the boy held his breath, just staring. He swam back, slowly leaning closer, eyes fixed. Nothing. No spark, no hit of light. Tentatively, he poked the object. No reaction came.

“That’s dumb.” Danny complained, frowning at it. “ ‘s just a feather.”

The word passed his lips and the realization hit him like those falling rocks. It was called a feather. Usually part of a wing and used for flight. This thing that had somehow been in his shirt, that his friends must have seen around him when he… appeared back at the top of the ravine. It was a feather and…

His heart pounded, breath choked. He hadn’t known what this was this morning. He’d never seen a feather, nor a wing, nor flight. No one told him what they were. But… those words were there, in his head, as easy as any other. As familiar as his scales, his tail, the idea of swimming.

This was a feather. And not just any feather. It was his own.

Panicked, Danny shoved the object away. He stuffed it in the bottom of his chest, under old clothes and blankets. Out of sight. If he couldn’t see it, then it wasn’t there. It wasn’t real.

The boy paced. None of this was real. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t. He just… he just needed to go to sleep. He would go to sleep and this nightmare would be over. No more feathers. No more glowing. No more eerie wind spirits. Which saved his life! He’d be dead if it hadn’t-

No. With a frantic head shake, Danny practically leapt onto his hammock. He crawled in, tossing and turning until an uneasy sleep took him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great feathered wings stretched over Danny, filling his vision. They reached towards him and he reached back. 

Swirling light and water. The feathers encircled him. The tender Voice sang. A lullaby. Safety, closeness, love. 

Danny trilled back, high and melodic. Something in his chest vibrated. His back twitched, feathers brushing each other. He shone.

Movement. The pressure around him lessened. They were soaring, streaming up and-

A splash, tiny bubbles parted. Danny squeaked fearfully.

The Voice hummed and comfort filled the boy’s veins. 

Higher. Blue surrounded, paler than he’d ever seen. And… light. Yellow and shining, all consuming. 

Awe swelled in his heart. Danny stared at the sun.

The mer-boy woke with a gasp. His tail twitched, an ache deep in the muscle. His back itched; something invisible, immaterial fluttered, dragging in the water.

Danny opened his eyes and the feeling disappeared. For a flash, his heart throbbed, aching with its absence. Then he shook the sensation away. But his body still felt odd, too heavy and too light at the same time. His gills fluttered, taking in water. He breathed, the familiar movement foreign. 

What was wrong with him?

The boy dragged his head up, rubbing his eyes. This was crazy. He was going crazy.

Something green flickered in the dark. His eyes jerked to the object, widening. He reached for it.

Fingers gripped the corner. A piece of green sea-weed parchment, familiar with its squid-ink dye. And yet… it glowed. His eyes flitted over the words.

Beloved child of my wings. I am pleased to know you are well. Not a day has passed and yet I long to see you, precious one. Meet me where the lower water mets the air and we will fly together under the stars. Love, your Abba.

Danny read it one, twice, three times. Slowly bringing it to his chest, the boy’s heart pounded. Joy and terror mixed in equal parts. 

Safety, the feeling of being wrapped in protective wings, haunted him. His dream…. It had felt so real. And… feathered wings. That was what he’d seen above him as he died. An awesome, immense being with wings. 

And this letter…. The honey sweet words soothed him. His own parents hadn’t talked about him with such affection in years. The promise of the stars, always calling to him from his dreams, lured him; he could see them, really see them.

But the intimacy, the familiarity there, from something he did not know….

What, or who, exactly had saved him?

[batrogers]

4 with chief and whoever was idiot enough to hide an injury- before they knew he would explode at them :0

Well it's a Chief version of exploding, which is to say Disappointment (TM) TBP Skyloft & Chief, rated G ~750 words. Non-graphic injury.

Also on AO3

IIII

It was the greatest fucking insult his legs gave out on him mid-dodge. Link collapsed to the ground and felt the blinding impact hit the back of his skull moments later. He lay still, stunned, but something got the lizalfos to dart away seconds later.

When he sat up, dazed and shaken, he saw the arrow not far away. He hissed and pulled it from the dirt and set it to his bow again himself to carry on helping the others from what should’ve been a fucking safe distance.

The fight was over not long after that. Link shook himself and paused, head spinning with regret as the pain returned. He carefully put his bow away and reached up to feel along the back of his skull – but, thank every wind he could name, he wasn’t bleeding.

“You okay?” Four asked. He was visibly walking off a sprain, blood spatter across his green tunic, and Link smiled and gave a shallow nod.

“Fine, thanks. I just got a bit of a scare.”

“Alright.”

Link liked that about Four: he didn’t fuss, not much. Not often. He thought to go check on the others himself, as he had the most medical training after Chief, but there was an odd pressure in his head that left his eye sore. He pressed one hand to his temple again and went to find somewhere to sit down as the others took care of themselves.

That was a nice thing about their group: everyone was good with injuries on at least a basic level. Chief mostly helped with cleaning wounds, stitches, and broken bones. The rest healed quickly between them all. A knock to the head was nothing.

So why did it seem to just be getting worse?

He put his face in his hands for several seconds, or what only felt like it, and then startled as someone spoke to him.

“Skyloft, what’s wrong?”

He jerked up, his head banging like a drum, and turned to see Chief was looking at him with worry in his eyes.

“I’m fine,” he said, and closed his eyes against the stabbing pain. “It’s nothing. Is everyone else seen?”

“Open your eyes again, I need to check something. Your left eye looked wrong—“

“It’s fine, I just got a hit to the head. It’ll pass in a minute.”

“It’s been fifteen minutes,” someone said. It wasn’t Chief, but someone else’s voice he couldn’t place past the blinding pain. “Shouldn’t that have healed already?”

Chief didn’t answer aloud. Link felt his hands touch his hair and start towards the lump he’d felt earlier, although it stung with pain long before he got very close. Link twisted his head away and pushed himself to standing, one hand on Chief’s shoulder. He opened his eyes, trying to orient himself.

His vision swam, like waves of dark water, and the shadows clawed their way in from the edges until everything went black.

When Link woke up again, he was laying on his back on a pallet in a tent, with the taste of fairy dust on his lips. He made a face and pressed one hand to his head, but there was no sign of any injury at all.

“You’re awake?” Chief said. “How much do you remember?”

“...We were fighting a lizalfos camp... I think.” There were scraps of memory after, but the sense of what happened slipped through his fingers like water.

“I figured,” the other man knelt and bent over him, a lamp in hand. He moved it across his vision, back and forth, and Link had a sinking feeling he knew what had happened.

“I hit my head?”

“Judging by the injury and a few others who saw you go down, something hit it for you. You didn’t bleed so I didn’t catch it as quickly as I should’ve or we might not have needed the fairy. You had blood in your eye and the pupil was blown by the time we realized you were hurt.” He sank back on his heels with a scowl.

Link sat up tentatively and rubbed one hand over his neck. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I know better.”

“Given the severity of your concussion, I forgive you the lapse in judgment,” Chief smiled crookedly as he spoke. “I doubt you were thinking straight. But maybe next time something actually hits you, tell me right away given we both know you can’t judge for yourself.”

Link groaned and pressed both hands to his face. Using up a fairy in their group was a bad sign; they didn’t heal like Hylians. “Promise,” he said. “Next time.”

[petitelepus]

Merformer femme reader (more like a siren) trying to lure MTMTE Soundwave to her because she has a crush on him?

You had been watching him from afar for quite some time already. This Mer, Soundwave as they called him... He was perfect mate material.

Not only was he big and strong, but he was also caring, always looking after these smaller Mers of his pod and making sure to chase away any possible dangers.

You could tell that when the mating season, followed by nesting season would come, he would be there for you, protecting you and your eggs and then the future pups that would hatch from those eggs of yours.

You bet that the pups that came from you and him would have the best chances to survive, grow and find future mates.

Now you only needed to lure him in.

You inhaled and let out the loudest and most beautiful sound you could muster from your lungs.

The whole pod turned to look where the gorgeous sound came from and they saw you, resting on a rock and singing this love song of yours.

The smaller Mers with Soundwave awed and slowly started to swim toward you, but you didn't want them, you wanted their guardian.

You looked and to your surprise, you saw Soundwave just staring at you from the distance.

You tried not to show your disappointment and instead, you abandoned your spot by the rock and swam towards the blue Mer.

You started to swim around him while singing, showing off your beautiful fins and colors. You were displaying yourself shamelessly, and while you were at it, you put more feelings in your voice and sang louder.

You swore you would sing until you would lose your voice if that was what it took to charm him!

You started to pump your eager body against his and each time your would touch, you would peep in submission.

Finally, Soundwave seemed to react, as he raised his hand and you stilled and peeped quietly.

"Courtship display recognized." He said with the most monotone voice you had ever heard, but that didn't chase you away.

No, you peeped a little louder and he started to swim around you instead.

"Initiating a dance of approval." He said and you blushed as you watched him swim around you and then he started singing!

Little did you know, he was like you. His voice didn't sound so monotone anymore when he sang, and it made the blood in your veins burn.

Finally, Soundwave stopped and the two of you introduced yourselves to each other. You smiled and flicked your tail bashfully, "Would you like to, uh, grab some crabs and talk over food?"

Soundwave was about to reply, but the smaller Mers from earlier who had turned quiet at the sight of you two dancing for each other, decided to suddenly speak.

"Can we get some too?" The two of them asked and you blinked, realizing that they were just big pups.

Soundwave looked at you and you smiled, "I don't mind."

He nodded, "I'm... Glad."

[peekapen]

Into the Deep Chapter 2

You get to meet Moon the same night you meet Sun! But it doesn’t go as planned…

Notes:

Trigger warning for near drowning! Also, when Sun and Moon are speaking it would not be comprehensible to people. I imagine their language is a mix between wild cat snarling and growling and dolphin clicks and squeaks if that makes sense. Enjoy the chapter! Trigger warning for near drowning! Also, when Sun and Moon are speaking it would not be comprehensible to people. I imagine their language is a mix between wild cat snarling and growling and dolphin clicks and squeaks if that makes sense. Enjoy the chapter!

Sun happily swam through the water, doing little tricks in the water as he went as he was unable to contain his excitement. Finally, Clide was gone! After months and months and months he was finally sacked! Well, he wasn't sacked sadly, but he was replaced and is no longer their caretaker! Oh how fun, fun, fun! And the new one looks so nice! They were so sweet to them! They were a little too trusting him to think that he would just go back in on his own, but it was cute! Super cute! Who knew humans could be cute?!

All the ones he met before were more boring and dull than anything, always too busy to play or spend time with him. None of his former caretakers had been so sweet or so trusting as this one had! Oh, they could become his new best friend! He let out a happy trill as he did a large loopdy loop in his pen, his excitement only growing at the thought of his cute, sweet, gentle new caretaker becoming his best friend. He'd always wanted a best friend outside of Moonie! Maybe they would play with them! Or make things for them! Or maybe they would bring them treats! Or new toys! Or-

"Sunny!" An annoyed, raspy voice yelled and Sun yelped before sheepishly swimming up to his brother's resting spot, knowing what that tone meant.

Unlike most Moonlight Mers, Moon preferred to sleep on land in the sun like a Sunlight Mer rather than in the water like most of his kind. He claimed it helped him preserve warmth for the cold night, but Sun was pretty sure he just really liked the feeling of the sun on his scales. Sun slowly emerged from the water, but at the sight of his brother's angered gaze he quickly tried to dive back in with another yelp, but before he could Moon had wrapped his tail around his neck and pulled him out of the water, hissing and growling in annoyance at Sun.

"Don't you dare try and run away from me Sun! Why must you be so loud at this time of day without a proper reason?! You know that I need to sleep too right, especially with night coming soon?!" He yelled and Sun shrank in on himself, feeling guilty for disrupting his brother's rest.

"Sorry Moonie!" Sun apologized as Moon unwound his tail from around his neck before realizing he hadn't told Moon the good news yet! He abruptly sat up, startling Moon before nearly screaming: "I'm just so, so, so happy! Clide is gone!"

"Clide is gone?" Moon repeated slowly, red eyes widening in surprise before he grinned triumphantly. "Finally! Took them long enough. What finally made them realize he was inadequate to stay here?"

"Well they didn't exactly, fire him, but he's no longer our caretaker!" Sun said before rushing on at Moon's disappointed look. "You know how people were talking about a new recruit coming in today, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that new recruit saw Clide trying to separate us and-"

"HE TRIED TO WHAT?!" Moon yelled angrily as he tensed, fins bristling and claws drawn, but Sun only glared at him before shushing loudly.

"Let me finish! He TRIED to separate us, but then that new one came in and, though they had the completely wrong idea, stopped him! Clide got so mad! But then one of those weird labcoat people came, asked them a few questions, and then decided to let them be our caretaker! You should've seen them, Moon! They were so sweet and gentle whilst freeing me and so trusting! They untied me outside of this weird pen and completely trusted me to just go inside! I mean, of course, I was going to, I could never leave you behind, but it's weird to see a human trust me so much even though they don't know me! How cool is that?! Wait...what's that look for?" Sun asked, his fins drooping at his brother's loud sigh and frustrated expression.

"Sun, how do you that they trusted you? Maybe they were just really stupid. Or what if their just trying to try to win your trust so that they could try and separate us again? You remember what happened last time with our handler before Clide." Sun winced at the sight of his brother's jagged scar that ran down his chest. His brother wasn't wrong...he tended to give each human the benefit of the doubt and it had nearly cost Moonie's life and his own...But he this human felt...different somehow. Yes! This one was different for sure! They had to be!

"I just know! This one's different, they gotta be! You'll see! I'm sure they'll be coming by tonight to see us again, so I'm gonna stay up alllll night if I have to! I need to thank them properly! Ooh! That reminds me, I should get started on making something for them! Yes yes yes! I'm sure they'll love that-!"

"Sun..." Moon started, but Sun continued to babble on before he jumped back into the water, leaving the nocturnal Mer to finally rest.

Moon sighed and curled up again, thinking about what Sun had just told him. Despite his trust in the human, from what he said they did sound interesting. Very, very interesting. Knowing how these things usually worked with new handlers, they would probably come by to see him tonight as Sun said, so maybe he could give them a little test and see if they were everything Sun made them out to be. And if they weren't up to the task...

Let's just say there's a reason those other handlers were never seen again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Okay! Let's do this!" You yelled at yourself in the mirror, excited to finally get to meet your second Mer. Who knew you would be so lucky as to become a private caretaker to two Mers on your first day?! And such cool ones like Sun and Moon?! You had thought that just like in every place before this one you would have to work your way up in this place, but you weren't going to question it. After all, why look a gift horse in the mouth?

You suddenly let out a loud yawn, surprising you. Right, you didn't sleep at all tonight and it was way too early, 3 a.m. to be exact. You turned to your bedside table with an accusatory stare where the folders for Sun and Moon were. It had been very interesting to read, but the problem was that it was so interesting that you kept reading until now despite knowing you would need to sleep for your introductory shift with Moon tonight. The only good thing that came from this was that you now knew everything you could know about the two and could properly prepare to introduce yourself to Moon and prepare to get closer to Sun the next day.

Sun, the one who you had helped yesterday was slightly larger than Moon, but not by much. He was a Sunlight Celestial Mer, which meant that he was only awake and active whilst the sun was up. He was omnivorous, so he would eat pretty much anything and, according to the documents, you really meant anything. He even tried to eat glitter glue once when a former caretaker accidentally brought it with them! However he was usually pretty friendly and energetic as long as the caretakers left Moon alone, but even then the worst he would do was get in the way while they were working on him. He loved to play games, so when he was up, you had to make sure to bring something for him to play with you so that you two could bond. Maybe a puzzle? Or a ball? Eh, you'd just take them all and let him choose!

Moon was the lump of scales in the back of the enclosure that still needed to get checked, but that wasn't your job tonight. He was the whole reason the two of them were there as he had gotten his tail badly hurt a while back. It was a lot better now, actually, he was almost completely healed but he still swam crookedly and they needed to know why. Sadly he was quite aggressive according to the files and hadn't let anyone near him whilst awake, so he always needed to be tranquilized during these check-ups, but because Sun would get in the way they still hadn't been able to figure out why Moon swam weirdly. Because he was a Moonlight Celestial Mer, he was only active at night, so there was less known about him than Sun as he was very reclusive and didn't like being seen, so it would be a lot harder to work with him. Unlike Sun he's a carnivore, so that meant to find a treat he liked you'd only have to take food from the meat and fish section rather than from all of the different sections in the storage area.

You threaded one of your fingers through your hair as you stared at the blurry picture of Moon that they had used for the file. Due to you having met and made a good impression on Sun earlier, you were asked to meet with Moon that very night to make sure both Mers were on the same page and you were very nervous. But also infinitely excited! You would be able to learn so much about Moon due to how much info his file was missing, it's crazy! Though you didn't know how you were going to win his trust, you were determined to try!

With that thought you quickly changed into your uniform which was a special armored swim gear (which was still a little too big on you due to you being new and not yet having your own) before heading down to the cafeteria. There, you ordered a BLT sandwich which you pretty much inhaled before going down to storage to grab a small tranq gun in case of an emergency, a ball in case you were still there when the sun rose, a medkit for if you were lucky and Moon would let you check his tail, a variety of food for Moon to try and finally a harmonica. You remembered reading that Moonlight Mers were the original sirens, so many of them liked music. You weren't sure if Moon did as well, but you could give it a try! Worst case scenario, you play so awfully that you were killed, but that's highly unlikely.

After you had collected everything you needed you put it all on a small, metal cart before rolling it into an elevator that you thankfully saw during the tour earlier and went up to the first floor before rolling it out the back door and into the Sanctuary. Unlike during the day, the place was pretty quiet as now only the nocturnal Mers were out, and that wasn't much in comparison to the diurnal ones. You tried to keep the noise down as you slowly went through the enclosures, but despite this a few of the Mers that were awake swam next to you in their enclosures, curious. A few of the other caretakers noticed you as well, but they didn't show it and instead continued with what they needed to do with their Mers.

Before long you made it to Sun and Moon's enclosure and slowly opened the door. You winced at the loud beep and creak as the door unlocked and opened, you didn't want to wake Sun or scare Moon. You carefully pushed the cart through the door and took in your surroundings. Every enclosure was unique to the needs of the Mers, though each one had salt water that was channeled from the ocean and a land area for the Mers to relax on. Though the beachy area was pretty bare with nothing to decorate it, the glass that made up the sides of the enclosure showed a rich world hidden under the water, filled with caverns, coral, kelp, and other sea plants. No fish inhabited the area though as due to Sun being omnivorous and Moon being carnivorous, any fish they would have in there would be eaten. The only things that were safe from Sun were these specific plants as they made him sick.

You slowly pushed the metal cart through the sand, grunting in annoyance as the wheels kept getting stuck until you decided to give up and just unload everything here. You quickly grabbed all of the different fishes and meats you had grabbed earlier and placed them in a neat row by the shoreline. The idea was to tempt Moon to come out with the harmonica before introducing yourself and letting him choose something from the row of food. Whatever he grabbed first was probably his favorite, so you would write that down in his notes so that you could bring more of that in the future.

Once everything was neatly laid out you grabbed your harmonica and headed over to the large glass wall on the farthest side from the water as possible, wanting to make sure Moon didn't feel threatened by you. Once there, you plopped down onto the sand and sighed happily before gently tilting the harmonica this way and that, enjoying the way the moonlight glistened off of its silver surface. You were about to start playing when the sand to your right suddenly shifted, causing you to yelp in surprise as a familiar yellow Mer rose from the sand, white eyes blinking tiredly as he looked around for whatever disturbed his slumber before his eyes landed on you. For a second nothing happened, but then his eyes widened and he let out a happy chirp, a large smile on his face before he hugged you tightly. Surprised, but very grateful that he was happy to see you, you hugged the big guy back with a laugh.

"Hey there Sun! Happy to see me?" You asked and the Mer let out a loud trill of confirmation making you giggle. "That's good! I'm happy to see you too bud! Sorry for waking you though, didn't know you liked sleeping under the sand."

The big mer only let out a whistle that you swore meant 'it's alright' before perking up suddenly. Before you could say another word the huge Mer dragged himself over to the shoreline and dove it. He quickly came back though and waved at you, urging you to follow him before diving back down below. You waited by the shore for a few moments, waiting for the large yellow Mer, when two large, dark blue and white-clawed hands shot out of the water, grabbed your ankles, and dragged you under.

You were barely able to breathe in some air before you were surrounded by darkness. You would have shrieked had your training from a while back not kicked in. Thank god you had to take a course on how to deal with mischievous Mers before you came here! Suddenly the grip on your ankle disappeared and you felt the water move before beautiful, glowing dots appeared from the dark, and two glowing, red eyes which followed your every move as the Mer slowly circled you. You knew it had to be Moon circling you and that this probably wasn't a good thing, but you couldn't help your eyes widening in wonder at the beautiful Mer.

Sadly, you still needed to breathe though and so you quickly started kicking your legs, trying to reach the surface when Moon pulled you back down again. You started to kick and squirm as your lungs started to burn. Yes, you would've gladly stayed down here for hours if you could, but you needed air! And you were running out of said air fast!

Suddenly something sped by you and tackled Moon, causing the dark Mer to release you with a loud hiss. You quickly swam up and gratefully gulped down air before swimming to the shore. Once you were out of the water, you made sure you were a good distance away from the shoreline, not wanting to get dragged in for a second time before turning back toward the water. Somewhere near the middle of the surface of the pool, you saw flashes of fins and claws, accompanied by growls, hisses, and yelps. A few times as they fought tail would hit the water, causing a large wave to form which turned into cold droplets that hit your skin in quick succession.

This went on for a few minutes before it suddenly went completely still, the night sounder far quieter now that the noises of the scuffling had gone. After a few moments of more nothing, you started to get worried and cautiously started edging closer and closer to the shoreline only to jump away with a startled squawk as Sun jumped out of the water, dragging a hissing and spitting Moon with him by his scruff with his mouth.

This was your first time seeing Moon clearly and you gasped in delight. He had a few similarities with Sun when it came to the weird dark purple ruffle fins on his waist where his upper body ended and his tail began as well as a crescent moon-shaped marking on his face, but that was about it. Unlike Sun he had a large, old-timey like nightcap fin on his head which ended in a glowing point. The part that attached to his head was covered with small, almost fluffy-looking fins. The right side of his upper body was covered in light, silvery-blue scales that matched the crescent marking, with the other half matching the rest of his face and lower arms which were all the same midnight blue as his tail and nightcap. Both of these were covered in little, glowing scales to mimic the night sky, going from the tip of his crescent-shaped tail to his glowing cap point. The biggest difference though was that unlike Sun he had scars littering his body, the biggest being a lightning bolt-shaped one on his chest. But you thought that the scars made him more beautiful and even though the scars and the red eyes were a little scary, you found them more complementary than anything due to how they contrasted against his otherwise cool color palette. 

When Sun saw you, the fins around his head perked up, but when Moon saw you he let out another loud growl, causing Sun to frown before letting his brother go. The Moonlight Mer immediately created space between them both and started hissing and spitting loudly. Sun responded with a few spits and growls of his own, but he didn't seem very angry. It almost looked like he was...lecturing Moon. Moon in response hissed louder, his back fin standing up straight as his tail thrashed through the sand before yelping and jumping away. For a moment you were worried he had hurt himself, but then you saw the tuna you brought earlier land by your feet and you sighed in relief. He must've hit it by accident and got scared. How cute!

"Looks like you found the treats I brought!" You said, startling the two Mers as you picked up the tuna before walking toward the row you had made, making sure to keep the distance between yourself and Moon. "I brought them for you, Moon. I'm sorry if I startled you or something, I just wanted to get to know you a little bit." You quickly rinsed off the tuna in the pool before putting it neatly on the other side of the row, keeping your movements slow and deliberate so as to not scare the two Mers watching you. "I'll leave now if you want me to, but you need to take one of these first. I can't just leave all of this here overnight and it would be such a shame if you didn't take a least something!"

You said with a grin before yelping as Sun came out of nowhere and gave you a big, tight hug. He let out a bunch of happy chitters and clicks which made you smile despite the pain in your chest from the sudden, tight hug. He thankfully released you after a few seconds, but before you could say anything he plopped something heavy and wet on your head. You shuddered a little from the slimy texture of the thing before gently taking it from your head only to gasp in delight at the sight.

On a bed of dark, wet seaweed was a beautiful, white pearl about the size of the pad of your thumb. Before you could thank Sun or try to give it back Sun gave you one last, huge lick on the side of your face before heading off and burying himself in the sand once more to probably sleep. You sighed and turned to Moon instead, hoping to get to know him a bit, only to hear a large splash and find the Mer gone and the tuna missing from the row of food. You smiled at this and decided that this was enough for an introduction, so you grabbed the leftover food and headed back to the main building to get some rest after your long and exciting day.

[the-kittens-of-vol-tron]

hi this is my third time trying to get back into VLD and honestly i think this time my juICES ARE FL O WING

soooo, my ao3 is nightingale231

and i was wondering if you could write any kind of,,, langst with smitten pining lance and specifically thinking keith deserves better?

[or mom friend lance tbh]

Your wish is my command (also I'll gift this to you on A03 :3)

I really debated between making this established klance and in the talking stage so I did a mix of both

-----

Lance felt like he was on cloud nine, his lips pressed against his formal rival. It was over as quick as it happened, Keith pulling away, his face matching the color on his armor.

"Don't you ever do that again." Keith looked him up and down, seeming to check him for any injuries.

"I will if it means you'll kiss me."

Keith rolled his eyes, "I can't kiss you if you're dead because you tried to sacrifice yourself for me."

"I tried to sacrifice myself for Voltron actually. Little self-centered there Keith," Lance poked his forehead.

Keith grabbed his wrist, "I like you too much to have you die on me."

Lance felt his face burn. The kiss should have been enough reason for him to realize Keith liked him back but hearing him say it made his knees weak.

Keith kissed him again, ignoring the rest of the team finally making their way into the Blue lion hanger. Lance kissed him back eagerly, trying to ignore the voice in the back of his head telling him he wasn't worth it.

---

He and Keith didn't immediately start dating, but they became joined at the hip. Their arguments died down into nothing, just slight bickering once in a while. You couldn't have one without the other. Everyone's bonds for Voltron became stronger. The team was running better than ever.

"You awake?" Keith whispered in the dark of the room.

Lance moved slightly, being mindful of the boy next to him, "yeah."

"Can't sleep?"

"You're the one to talk."

Keith chuckled in the dark, "I'm just lost in thought."

"What about?"

"How much I like this guy I know."

Lance smiled, more to himself than to the other boy. No matter how many times Keith implied his feelings towards him, he still found himself flustered. "What would you tell this mystery guy."

"That I like him a lot, and he makes me happy and I like being around him."

Lance felt the other boy's lips pressed against his cheek.

"And I was wondering if he would be interested in being my boyfriend."

Lance thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest; he wondered if Keith could hear it. His chest swam with a mix of emotions, tightening a bit as the feeling. He liked Keith, he liked him more than he could put into words. But he was just Lance. He was a nobody compared to Keith.

If they didn't end up in space together Keith wouldn't have known who he was, let alone have feelings for him. He knew he wasn't the best person for Keith.

"Did you fall asleep?" Keith's voice had a hint of disappointment to it.

"No, sorry just thinking."

"About what I asked?"

"Yeah...um." He couldn't faintly see Keith's outline in the dark.

"You don't have to say yes." Keith began to lean back to lie down.

"I didn't say no."

"So...?"

"Yes, I would love to be your boyfriend."

Keith propped himself back up, quickly finding Lance's lips. Lips kissed him back, trying to will his brain to shut up.

---

They had been dating for almost two months, and Lance was absolutely smitten with Keith in every way possible. Dating Keith was better than he could have ever imagined. Keith was soft when it was just the two of them. He was completely different than when they were with the team. He let his guard down, relaxed more, he whispered sweet things in his ears. Lance couldn't believe that Keith wanted to be with him. That Keith chose him.

The unfortunate part about being with Keith, someone who Shiro (y'know the best pilot in the Garrison) mentored, someone who was at the top of his class at the Garrison, someone who was good at everything he did; Lance couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't worthy of him.

Lance knew he had a place in Voltron but lately, he had been questioning his status as the right leg of Voltron. He just didn't feel like he contributing to the team in a valuable way. In a way that no one else could.

And sometimes, even when Lance just wanted to simply spend time with his boyfriend, his brain picked apart every reason why he wasn't enough for Keith. Why Keith should find someone better.

He kept his thoughts to himself, making sure he didn't worry his boyfriend or the team. He could push through these thoughts.

"Lance? You spaced out there."

He blinked at the voice, pulling himself out of the dissociative state he found himself in. "We are in space so."

"Ha good one Lance!" Hunk replied.

Shiro gave him a slight frown, "you okay?"

Lance nodded, "yeah sorry. Just lost in thought."

"Okay. We were just discussing the mission."

Lance looked up at the hologram, "looks good to me."

"Okay. Then this is the idea we're going with. Get some rest everyone." Shiro dismissed the team and everyone dispersed.

"You want to watch a movie?" Keith stood in front of his boyfriend, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah...yeah a movie sounds good. You pick though." He stood from his chair, letting his boyfriend take his hand and drag him towards his bedroom.

"You're not even paying attention." Keith poked his cheek.

"I am, I swear."

"Who's Gazel?"

"....She's the main character?"

"No one in this movie is named Gazel. Something is on your mind. You can tell me."

Lance stared at his boyfriend, for a brief movement he thought about spilling his guts to him. Telling him all his insecurities. He opened his mouth, "I love you."

Keith's face fell into a surprised expression before he smiled, "I love you too."

---

Sleep began to escape from Lance. No matter how much he tried he found himself tossing and turning throughout the night. His anxiety would rip any peace he managed to hold in his grasp.

Which is how he found himself sitting on the observatory desk, a blanket wrapped around him. He watched the stars dance around in his vision, his eyes burning no matter how many times he blinked. All he wanted to do was sleep.

"Babe? What are you doing in here?"

He closed his eyes, he knew Keith would eventually stumble upon him. "Hey." He didn't even have the energy to turn and face him.

Keith softly walked over to him, sitting down next to him. "You weren't in bed."

"Couldn't sleep."

"You couldn't sleep the past couple of nights...or last couple of weeks."

Lance took a deep breath, "yeah."

"What's been on your mind?"

"Oh, stupid things. Nothing you need to worry about mullet."

"Lance...we've talked about you lying to me."

"It's not a lie."

"I don't think it's stupid."

"You don't even know what it is."

"True, but anything that bothers you is not stupid."

Lance pulled his knees closer to his chest, he knew this was a dumb argument to have with his boyfriend. "I just...I think... never mind let's just go back to bed."

"No, what were you going to say?" Keith leaned into his side slightly. "I won't be mad at whatever you have to say."

"Okay...I think you deserve better."

"What do you mean?" Keith's voice was hesitant as if he was thinking of the worst-case scenario of Lance's words.

"I think you deserve better. I don't think I'm good for you...or that I live up to what you need."

"What do you think I need?"

"Someone who can hold a candle to you. You're like...one of the best pilots in the word, you are a great swordsman, everything you do is just...good. And then I'm beside you just not contributing."

"You don't think you contribute?"

"Not really. You could have anyone in the world and you chose me? Something doesn't add up."

"I chose you because I love you."

"But if we didn't end up here," Lance gestured to the Castle, "you wouldn't know me. You wouldn't love me. I wouldn't exist to you."

Keith didn't respond for a couple of moments, his eyes scanning the stars. "You're right. I wouldn't know you. Or Hunk or Pidge. I would still be living in the shack, going crazy over the Blue lion. And I probably wouldn't be in a relationship either."

Lance didn't respond, he didn't know what to say. Keith wasn't wrong.

"I chose you Lance because I like you. You make me happy, you are someone I feel drawn to. And you're the team sharpshooter; you can come up with plans on the fly and hold the team together even if you don't realize it. Without you, we wouldn't be Voltron."

"I guess."

"Babe, look at me."

Lance turned his body to meet his boyfriend's eyes. Keith reached up and gently touched his cheek. "I love you. I love you more than I can put into words. You are everything I want and more. You amaze me every day and you will continue to amaze me. This anxiety is just anxiety. Not the truth."

"I'm worried you're going to find someone else." He closed his eyes, "someone better than me."

"Lance the only person I'm looking for is a witness for when we get married."

"I think that's for future Keith and Lance."

"And I'm excited for them to get to that point."

Lance leaned forward and connected their lips softly, this time he shushed his anxiety.

-----

I hope you liked it :3

Thank you <33333

[broken-clover]

20- Wonder

In another bizarre coincidence, I promise that I didn't know Super Mario Wonder was supposed to release today, the fact that this ended up the way that it did baffles me too. I did consider making this one Mario-centric to fit with the theme but admittedly I'm not super confident writing things for the mainline Mario series so I ultimately didn't go with that route.

Instead, I continue to dig around in my bag of weird fandom. I wanted to do something with The Suicide Squad because it's one of the few superhero movies I genuinely enjoy rewatching. How's that post go about seeing a character and knowing they're basically designed for you? Because that's pretty much Polka Dot Man for me. I'm still mad about it.

Content warnings for suicidal ideation, pretty much the same as canon. There is also a bit of alcohol and vomiting. I promise this does get happy, it's just that this is an R-rated movie full of fucked up characters

-

Corto Maltese was a beautiful place. The more time he spent on it, the more obvious that became. And the more obvious it became, the more he desperately tried to loathe it. Because he wasn’t supposed to have even made it that far.

Sheltered and stupid were two different things. Mother might have done her best to keep them all under as tight a watch as possible, but it hadn’t left Abner naive. The mortal dangers of Task Force X weren’t hypothetical. Most of them were fully expected to die and any survivors were just going to be tossed back into another, equally dangerous deathmarch later. It was exactly why he’d signed up in the first place. Of course he wasn’t going to make it out alive, he couldn’t even if he wanted to. It would be much faster than placing his hopes on a prison riot or slowly waiting for his disease to do its job.

Unfortunately, several things were getting in the way of his death wish. If there was one thing in the world he feared more than anything, it was being a disappointment. Being a disappointment was simply asking for mother and her friends to strap you down on the worktable until she found a way to fix it, to make it all better. If he so much as thought about abandoning the mission, mother’s face swam before him with a scowl. It could have been so easy, just run away until Waller decided it was too much and had the bomb in his neck detonated. It wouldn’t have even hurt. The thought of being a disappointment would have hurt more than any physical injury ever could.

Beyond that, it seemed his team- team, what an odd word for a group that could barely stand each other- were almost as lopsided in the head as he was. Nobody liked him, obviously, but they were often too busy bickering or getting distracted with their own business to hate him enough to just kill him and save them all a lot of trouble. Bloodsport and Peacemaker especially, those two had seemed so promising, but their constant bickering meant neither of them had even attempted to shoot him yet. King Shark wasn’t out of the question, but things weren’t looking too good on that front, either.

And, thirdly…the longer he was someplace beyond the sterile walls of S.T.A.R. labs or the high concrete walls of Belle Reve, the more he had started feeling emotions other than deep, all-consuming dread.

It frightened him. There was safety in being certain, even if that certainty was that nothing would ever get better. That he would never be anything more than a lab rat or a pawn to push around. Hadn’t he been tormented enough? What had he done to deserve it? Why did the universe have to torture him with hope?

It had been such a small thing at first, tumbling over itself to become an avalanching snowball. All he had done was his usual nighttime routine, expelling the dots that had built up across the day before they started to burn under his skin. When he’d sat back on his haunches after nearly puking his guts out, the nearby greenery had caught his sight. It was so mundane, so normal-looking, so…lovely. Vibrant, waxy green leaves that shone even in the dim light. Nothing like polished metal or unbending stone. In a moment of weakness, he’d allowed himself to touch it, and a sparkle of awe settled itself in his chest as his fingers traced the swooping branches.

He kept trying to step on it, but that little twinkle just wouldn’t die. More distractions kept getting in the way. More little things that stuck out to him. The bugs that hovered around the lights at night. The distant sound of water lapping against the island shore. Music floating out from the radios at Soria’s camp. The rough yet strangely cozy texture of the seats in Milton’s van.

While the others conversed through the ride to the bar, Abner watched the city go by from the bus windows. So many people doing their mundane little tasks up and down the streets. He wondered what it felt like. If he would ever get the chance to do something so simple.

(Why would he even ask that? Why would he entertain the thought that he ever would? Why, for even just a second, did he hope…?)

The ruckus inside the building hurt unlike anything else ever had. It compelled him. Likewise for the tiny glass of alcohol that Peacemaker had ordered for everyone at the table. He knew what alcohol was, but had never tried it for himself. People seemed awful fond of it, though, so he expected it had to be interesting.

Oh.

Horrible. It was horrible!

How fantastic!

It stank, like the bodies around him did. It burned as it went down his throat. Ratcatcher 2 offered him her unfinished shot, and he took it. Someone else slid him a new, full one. He drank and drank until whoever it was finally stopped putting more alcohol in front of him. Which was well enough, because his vision had started to go fuzzy, and it would have been a struggle to hold the glass without dropping it.

They were supposed to be keeping an eye out for Grieves, but the longer the night went on, the more they started to get distracted by the goings-on. Flagg was flirting with somebody across the way, and Peacemaker and Ratcatcher 2 had gotten up to join the crowd on the dance floor. Abner had joined them briefly upon the latter’s insistence, but quickly grew too dizzy from all the lights and spinning and excused himself.

At some point, after a long, slow blink, he’d opened his eyes to find himself with his knees pressing against tile and his head dangling above a toilet. He contemplated the situation momentarily before his stomach decided to empty itself. Thankfully, there were only a few glowing dots mixed into the bile and secondhand alcohol, enough to fizzle but not to eat right through the bowl.

It was a small relief, as he immediately puked again. Alright. Alcohol wasn’t quite as fun as people made it look.

Something behind him squeaked, in the high-pitched way animals did. Sure enough, when he had enough energy to turn his head and not immediately get Dizzy again, a rat had scuttled under the stall door to stare at him.

“Huh?” He squinted through the blurry vision. He recognized this one, didn’t he?

Something knocked on the bathroom door thrice, then it squealed open. “Abner? Are you in here?”

“Rat-” he coughed on his own spit. “Ratcatcher 2? Wuh- why are you here? Isn’t this the men’s room?”

“Sebastian said you got stuck. The others were busy, so I thought I should check to make sure you were okay.”

It was bizarre to consider. Someone cared enough to do that?

He let the rat crawl up his back to unlatch the swinging door. The girl approached him, and the look of concern on her face was as genuine as her tone. “Are you alright?” She asked, brow furrowing. “You don’t look too good. Should I get Robert?”

Abner grinned, looking like death warmed over yet never feeling more alive. “I'm just wonderful.”

That little sparkle wasn’t going to die anytime soon, not like this. But more and more of him was starting to be okay with that.

[docholligay]

Shamash questions: More of em!

Sailor Moon, Sad headcanon or idea

I could not pick a winner form these three and refused to try, so 2 points for all!

Michiru is a terrible person. There are many and sundry a reason this is true, not least in this moment her jealousy of Haruka's grief on the anniversary of her grandmother's death. She is not so abhorrent as to take pleasure in the pain of her beloved, no. But this grief. It is clean. It is simple. 

That relationship is over. It cannot improve, but also it can no longer lead to fresh disappointment. Unlike her own relationship with family, the constant needling and dissatisfaction in each interaction. And while largely she is unbothered, has come to accept this facet of her life, she cannot help the (very) occasional spark of hope -- for unfettered pride, for unquestioning acceptance, for steadfast love.

 This is weakness she has not shared, will not share. Not even with Haruka. Especially not with Haruka, who in her earnestness might endeavour to fix the situation. No. She will simply live with this, will accept the burn each each time the spark is extinguished.

So she envies Haruka in the simplicity of her grief, and accepts this as simply another way in which Michiru Kaiou is a terrible person.  -- Seolh, 2 points 

Michiru can hold her breath for a very, very long time. She's never told anyone. There are many reasons for this but the largest one is that she only found this out one night when she swam deep out to sea with no intention of returning. It is yet another thing Serenity took from her: she should at least be able to choose the manner of her own death. She tries not to be bitter about it but even when she's happy and she no longer wishes to drown sometimes she will remember and the bile of something so simple being taken from her rise in her throat and she will have to choke it down. Michiru can hold her breath for a very very long time and sometimes she wishes it would translate to her having an actual large lung capacity so she could release the scream trapped in her diaphragm, pressing against her lungs and heart. Instead, she keeps her mouth shut and her scream deep inside and she breathes. --Geeky, 2 points

When Haruka dies, Michiru tries to cling to what’s left, freezing their home in a moment in time. She fires a cleaning staff who dared to wash Haruka’s last mug, still sitting empty on the counter. She sleeps in another room, afraid her perfume will wear away what remains of Haruka’s scent on the sheets. Eventually, she leaves the house, unable to change it but unable to stay either, paying others to pack her belongings and move her possessions. Let the house forever remain as it was in her mind; the car project still dripping oil onto the garage floor, the tie draped over a doorknob, the comb that still holds strands of her hair laying on the sink. If the moments do not end, perhaps she can freeze her grief as she did her surroundings, can stop the waves of sorrow that drown her with every breath Haruka will never again take… -- Awashsquid, 2 points

Michiru Kaioh reviews a fast food limited time special -- picking this one was actually incredibly difficult and the finalists have been highlighted for DAYS. The three winners were the three that made me actually laugh aloud.

I'm imaging Mina started this whole thing; she's got her pulse on pretty much everything so she of course has both a Youtube and Twitch channel where she games and chats; she gets paid for it pretty well, considering how pretty and cunning she is. She hooks Haruka in, who probably starts out rather awkwardly on Twitch, streaming herself tinkering with cars and little models. She gets a modest following; not as large as Mina, but enough to make her feel comfortable and definitely proud of herself. She moves to Youtube and has Ami set up different playlists for her. Michiru has interest in it as far as "ah, something Mina got her into. Of course. That's lovely dear." She ghosts through the background of a couple of videos and it soon becomes a popular chat pastime to bet on when she'll appear and what brand of wine she's currently drinking.

Haruka, of course, loves junk food. She has a playlist full of videos of her "reviewing" different kinds of snacks and drinks. She hasn't gotten any brand deals yet, but she will soon Mina, just you wait.

Michiru is feeling pretty good one evening as she finishes up some business with a local art gallery. Things are going well, and she's confident that, despite her unorthodox style, Chibiusa's show will be well received. She reaches for her glass only to remember she'd drained it while listening to the obligatory elevator hold music that consisted of "Today's Top Hits Played Through A Dying Speaker of Dubious Quality." Rising from her chair, she makes her way down to the kitchen, passing Haruka’s play room; from the loud yet cheerful shouting coming from inside, Haruka has gotten into one of her belovéd foodie arguments again. Michiru peeks around the door and smiles to herself; Haruka is leaned forward enough in her wheelchair that Michiru can count the seconds down to her tipping it just a little too far forward. Haruka’s hand has moved towards the brake even as Michiru watches, so at the very least on some level she's not so far gone down this...ah, Burger King rabbit hole, that she'll forget and end up hitting her chin on the desk. Again.

Michiru turns to leave when she hears Haruka call out "Oh! Michi, wait! You gotta come here, this asshole thinks his bowling lane's mac and cheese balls are better than an actual big name food chain. Like, can you imagine that? Babe, please try these with me, tell these, what's the word? These plebs how much better Burger King's balls are than some guy with a deep fat frier. I've already told them how refined you are!" Michiru can feel the length of the evening stretch into the distance as she stares at those big, beautiful, damning eyes. -- Rhio, 1 point

Her review is to pass the plate to Rei without breaking her conversation -- dancinginredshoes, 2 points

"You may think that the announcement of the limited time 'McRib' offering from McDonald's is an enticement to purchasing it, but this is incorrect. It is a warning to stay away for the next two weeks, much like the nape of a lizard might flare up in its carefully delivered advice that one should leave the vicinity." -- Mike, 3 points

[demieyesore]

Flirtatious - Sam Monroe

Summary - Sam has been stalking you for a while now, but he didn't realize that you knew. Or at least had a suspicion; until you started behaving in a more playful way, despite no one being around.

Warnings / Mentions - Fem!Pronouns for reader, AFAB!Reader, Stalker!Sam, Kind of Delusional Reader but she is right...reader is mentioned to have younger siblings (brothers), panty kink, cockwarming, masturbation, unprotected PIV, little bit of aftercare, Sam does slap her at one point

A/N - Yes ik ik...fem pronouns for once in a fic LMFAO, mainly because someone requested a male reader/masc fic earlier and I plan on writing that and I didn't want to like...make it uneven if that makes any sense.

Requested - Not my request, but you can find it linked here

Word Count - ...5k...

Tag List - @vixxensvoid @maevesversion @sockiess @stylesslytherinskywalker @myheadhurtscutely @yourenogoodforme @gallerygourmet @heartsforanakin @helendeath @ysrjune @anisangeldust @catnipaddictt @ahano @itachicha @02ibiskywitt05 @espinathena-17

Sam was many things. The school's outcasted "emo". A disappointment to his parents. A drug addict. Weird. He was just misunderstood.

People always treated him differently, making sure to purposefully exclude him from activities as a child. Maybe that's why he liked you so much.

You weren't by any means popular. You knew people but you were pretty quiet. Like you had so much to say but never knew how to put them into words without embarrassing yourself. You just kind of hung around people. They weren't quite what you would call friends since you didn't hang out with anyone after school except maybe your cousin.

Sam never understood how people didn't flock to you; like how a moth is drawn to a flame. You were so fucking pretty. He always thinks about how you two met. It was like a meet cute. But in reality you didn't really think of him after it happened, it was kind of...one sided.

You were out with your cousin, it was summer so you were wearing jean shorts and a cute little tank top. Your hair was pushed out of your face and you had jewelry on. The kind that makes your skin look so radiant.

Sam was forced out of the house by his mother and step-family. He was also wearing a tank of his own. It was pure black just like his dyed hair, except the blue streak that ran through it. His face was adorned with multiple piercings.

You and your cousin were at an ice cream shop, she asked for a chocolate and vanilla twist in a cone. Your order was in a bowl because you despised the mess of a cone, but you still managed to get one of those waffle bowls. The two of you were sat by the koi fish pond at the ice cream shop, kicking your feet as you sat on the little stools nearby.

Your eyes drifted over to Sam, you recognized him from school. Your cousin's eyes followed and smiled a little when she saw him, taking a lick of her ice cream before looking back at you.

"Know him?" She asked with a stupid grin on her face. She knew what your type was, although you never really had a boyfriend. You only ever talked about the nerdy boys from tv shows you liked. Or the so called "weird" boys.

"Yeah, or well...kind of?" You questioned yourself as you answered her question. "He's from my school, I've never talked to him. Not many people have." You finalized, taking a scoop of your ice cream and dipping the spoon into your mouth.

"How come you've never mentioned him? I thought you liked guys with that whole...alternative thing going on?" She tilted her head before sending a glance at Sam. He took notice and his eyebrow raised slightly which made you hit her shoulder to stop looking.

Sam was standing in line behind his mom, waiting for her to decide what she wanted from the little parlor. His eyes raked over you while you looked away from embarrassment.

"Vixx, shut up, now he's looking at us..." You groaned, turning to face the fish. Watching as they swam by, just feet away.

"Aren't they so pretty?" You ask, staring as their fins glide through the water. Vixxen, your cousin, on the otherhand wasn't aware you turned away and were talking about the koi fish.

She maneuvered her head a little bit, Sam no longer observing them as he was handed his ice cream. "Are you talking about his ass?" She casually asked as she leaned in, squinting.

You immediately spun your head towards her, giving yourself whiplash. You practically shrieked as you whisper shouted at her.

After a couple more awkward minutes, You and Vixxen got a little bored; having already finished eating your ice cream. You dusted yourself off as you stood, swiping at the grime that coated your jeans from the old rickety stools. You started walking ahead of Vixx, swiftly noticing that she was lagging behind. You twirled your body around, facing your cousin as you walked backwards. Vixxen was texting on her phone, probably posting some off putting comment about her celebrity crush on tumblr.

"Vixx, come on! Hurry up alr-" And then you got cut off.

Remember how I said this was a meet cute? Remember how you were walking backwards? Yeah, you see where this is going, don't you?

You crashed into something, stumbling to the ground. You tilted your head back to look at what you ran into. Sam was standing there, his back being what you previously walked into. But now he was looking over his shoulder at you. One of his hands up by his ear and holding a little wired earbud. He looked startled for a second before his emotionless facade came back up.

His mom basically yelled at him to help you up, so he did just that. But not without rolling his eyes. "Good?" He lazily asks when you get to your feet. You're a bit confused while you observe him checking over you. His hands were placed on your upper arms, close to your shoulders while he twisted your body, inspecting it to make sure you weren't hurt.

Honestly, he didn't really care all that much but he knew he'd probably get in trouble for not being "Gentlemen like".

You're probably wondering how this led to him stalking you. To him being so fucking obsessed with you that it consumed him whole.

You apologized and moved on with your day, although you were still embarrassed from the interaction. Sam, however, could not get it out of his mind. He saw the way you and who he assumed was a friend or family member were very obviously looking and talking about him. But he ignored it in favor of the fact that he's alternative. Everyone at his damned high school would stare at him, in fact he's pretty sure you're one of them.

A couple of weeks later, you both met again. You and your family were unloading a U-Haul in front of your new home, just a few houses down from where Sam lived. Of course, the both of you had no idea until your mom invited Sam's family over for dinner. Something about how your mom made a new friend in the neighborhood and she mentioned having a son the same age as you.

Only then at the dinner, the awkward tension was felt. You both immediately recognized each other, and his mother also brought up the thing from the ice cream parlor.

Afterwards, Sam still couldn't get you out of his mind. He definitely thought you were attractive but it was so stupid to him, he didn't even know you. He couldn't trust you until he knew more.

But then it became an obsession. At first, it was just walking past your house, using the excuse of going outside because his mom kept complaining about how pale he is. He'd walk past your house with his headphones plugged in, blasting whatever punk shit he listens to. He'd keep his eyes forward to not look suspicious; but from his peripheral vision, he would take notes on what you were doing.

Some days you were outside, wearing jean shorts and a bikini top, a pair of y2k looking flipflops while holding a water-gun. You'd be hanging out with your little brothers, sometimes Sam wished that his step-brothers were friends with your brothers. It'd be a lot easier to get to know you if he actually could talk to you.

Other times you were helping your mom garden, complaining the whole time about not liking the texture of the dirt, or how hot it was outside.

Sometimes you would just sit on the front porch, scrolling on your phone.

Sam knew it would be weird if he only ever went outside when you were out. So he had to settle on a schedule and just pray you were actually outside at the time of his, now daily, walks.

Then he started to sneak out at night, creeping over to your house so he could see what you were up to. He wanted to get to know your night-time routine. Always justifying his stalker like behavior by telling himself that he was just trying to learn more about you. Just trying to see if you're actually compatible like he was secretly hoping.

He'd watch as you get out of your personal bathroom, always thinking to himself about how lucky you were to get your own. Especially when you have younger siblings. He'd observe from your window as you would open your dresser drawer and pull out a pair of pajamas. They were a matching top and bottom that had "Juicy" printed on the backside. Sam thought it was fitting with how often he finds himself staring at your ass. Sam was always making unnecessary comments in his mind. Sometimes, he'd bring a journal with him to write down all the information just so he wouldn't forget.

He would watch you play videogames, draw, post on social media, everything. Sam would jot down every album and artist he saw in your room, hoping that he at least listens to one of them. This was all just research...

His stalking got so bad that he even installed cameras. How? Obviously he snuck in through your window one night when you were at a sleepover. He hid one in a teddy bear that you always kept on your shelf, hid one in your closet, and one by your desk. He had to make sure they weren't noticeable. But once he felt it was good enough, he left.

Summer was passing by and school was starting back up soon. Sam was honestly really excited; not because of all the bullying that'll probably happen to him but because if he finds out who your friends are, he can easily learn more about you.

Sometimes you and Sam would see each other while outside and say a quick hello, but most of the time he kept to himself.

Finally when school does start, he realizes how easy it'll be to stalk you. Research you, I mean. He didn't think that you'd both share so many classes. He also didn't anticipate you trying to become his friend, like at all. And it was only after a couple of weeks.

Sam was sat leaning against a tree, his eyes closed with his headphones on. It was lunch and you were sitting with some people, although these weren't your friends. You had just met Alyssa and were trying to bond with her so you could hang out after school. The table Alyssa and her friends sat at was so very close to where Sam was sitting.

He just looked so pretty, and all you wanted to do was walk up to him and talk to him. So you finally worked up the courage to do it.

"I like your makeup." You said meekly, worried he wouldn't hear you with his headphones on. Sam saw the lighting change with his eyes close so he opened them. His eyebrows raising in shock when he saw you, only to go back to his stoic facade. He moved one of the muffs from over his ear so he could hear you. "Hm?" He hummed in acknowledgment to your presence.

"Your makeup, I like it." You gestured to his eyelids, which were coated in guyliner and black eyeshadow. "Thanks.." Sam said awkwardly, he didn't know what to really say to that.

"Can I sit here?" You questioned, pointing to the empty space next to him. He nodded hesitantly but at least you were talking to him.

The both of you talked throughout the lunch period, you had asked him about the music he likes which he happily told you about.

A couple weeks later and you and Sam are hanging out pretty often. Maybe once or twice a week, plus seeing and talking to each other at school. Surely he didn't need to keep watching you if he was only doing it to learn about you. I mean, now he can ask you...but Sam didn't want to stop. He liked being able to see who you were when no one else was around.

Weeks of being friends, turned to months. Sam was basically your best friend at this point. He was coming over almost everyday and if not, you were probably going to his. You noticed that he preferred hanging at your house, you assumed it was because he was embarrassed about his room. You knew that it was a huge mess and had always smelled like weed. But in actuality, Sam was constantly anxious when you came over.

Worried that you'd see the pictures he's taken of you on his phone, or even the polaroid's he has hidden under his bed. Terrified that you'd see your missing panties in his sock drawer. Nervous that you'd snoop and read his journal where he has all the written proof needed to probably put him in jail. Every little thing in his room, you could probably trace back to you if you tried hard enough. His CD rack that holds all of his albums? Some of the disks have been switched out, instead are hard copies of Sam sneaking into your room at night. His favorite one, the one he watches most, is a video where he slept over at your house. You were passed out after staying up for way too long.

The video just plays a recording of Sam kneeling on the edge of your bed, watching the rise and fall of your chest as he palmed himself through his boxers. His jeans unzipped and resting around his hips loosely.

His lip bitten raw and red as he holds back his moans and whimpers. He couldn't touch you...he wouldn't. Told himself how wrong it was. But he figured it was fine if he only used your hand to get off, right?

The video has horrible graphic quality, no good lighting being used in the video except the moonlight from your window. His hand wrapped around yours as he uses you to jerk himself off. He stopped multiple times, anytime he was about to cum.

He just couldn't cum in your room, not like this at least. All he wanted, scratch that, needed to do was edge himself. The most blissful torture to him.

Sam's creepy and pervy behavior soon became apparent to you. He had been over at your house to help you with your homework. He went to use your bathroom, telling you that he'd be right back.

Before he had left for the bathroom, he handed you his notes. Except they weren't the right ones. Silly little Sam, always doing stupid things. You rolled your eyes, unzipping his backpack to look for the correct notes. You shuffle around his compartments but accidentally stumble across a cloth that's such a familiar color. You pick up the lilac purple fabric, turning it over and over just to make sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you.

Your underwear. It was a pair of your underwear. These ones hadn't even gone missing yet, you just changed out of them earlier when you got home. You stared in utter bafflement for a couple of seconds. Quickly shoving them back into the pocket and zipping it back up when Sam came back into the room. You noticed how he paused for a moment, his eyes widening.

"What are you doing?" His face went back to it's nonchalant expression, something that always made you nervous. You couldn't read him like this.

"You gave me the wrong notes, Sammy..." You bit the side of your cheek, pretending not to have seen anything as you continue to rummage through his bag.

"I got it, don't worry.." Sam pressured, guiding you by your hips so you'd go back to where you had previously been seated before. You refused to let him know that you saw what he had stolen. You probably should have but something else was nagging at the back of your mind.

You weren't crazy. You weren't insane for feeling like something was wrong all this time. You knew that your panties had been going missing. But you just tricked yourself into believing that the washer or dryer was eating them. You always felt like you were being watched. Even when by yourself. It was like your gut just knew, but it wasn't like you were seeing someone following you around. Just little things here and there that set you off.

You decided that it was time to do an experiment. If Sam really has been watching you this whole time. Then you were gonna expose him for it. You were gonna make it so hard for him to not do something about it.

Over the course of two weeks, you decided to tease him. Purposefully changing in your room, directly in view of the window; not yet aware of the cameras. Showering with your bathroom door open, something you could do anytime you wanted since the restroom was inside your bedroom.

Making sure to bend over and arch your back anytime you dropped something.

Randomly stretching throughout the day. Wearing your most revealing clothes while just in your room.

Masturbating without the blankets covering you. Making sure to moan Sam's name whenever your family wasn't home.

Doing every little thing possible to make him snap or break. If he didn't then damn, the embarrassment would never leave you. But thankfully, he did crack.

You were once again, home alone. Your parents were out on date night, it was the weekend and your younger siblings were at a friends house.

You were sick and tired of trying to catch Sam doing something, anything, that could prove he was stalking you. Maybe you were just being paranoid. But then again, what mentally well person would have stolen your dirty underwear? You didn't even want to know what he was doing with them, but you had a few guesses.

This time you wanted to do something more risky. You were gonna call Sam and touch yourself while on the phone with him. If he truly was watching you, there was no way he would let that slide.

You tugged your pj shorts down your frame, going to sit at your desk chair. Your phone was laid on top of the desk charging. You decided to get yourself in the mood first, watching a couple of porn videos you liked on your laptop. Imagining that it was Sam instead. Even if he was stalking you, you still did have a crush on him, for a while now. And you doubted that it would change all that much even if he is being a fuckin' weirdo. It honestly kind of turned you on more.

You toy with your clit through the fabric of your underwear. The slick of the wetness spreading and making it go sheer. You then pushed your panties down from your hips, letting them hang around your ankles as you picked up your phone.

You dialed Sam's number, putting the phone on speaker as it rang. Your laptop that was open in front of you displayed the video you were still watching, except now it was muted.

You weren't gonna let Sam know through audio what was happening, if he wanted to do something about it, it would have to be because he saw it happening.

He picked up after a couple of seconds. "Need somethin'?" He asks through the phone, his voice crackling from the calls connection.

"Just wanted to hear your voice." You admitted, massaging your slit with your finger. "That's a first." He mutters, probably rolling his eyes dramatically or maybe he's watching intently.

The not knowing kind of made you more thrilled. If he was watching, then maybe he'd fuck you. And if he's not, then you have to do your damn best to make sure you're sneaky enough to get away with this.

"Oh shut up, it's not a first and you know it. What do you want to talk about?" you ask, just wanting to hear him speak more.

"Hm..." He trails off, thinking for a second. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" He asks, you can hear him groan on the other side of the line. You huff a little in annoyance because it sounded more like a stretch than one of pleasure. Were you really just being delusional?

"Nothing as far as I know, what about you?" You circle your clit, watching the laptop screen that shows something you wish you were experiencing at the moment.

"Nothing, wanna ban- hang out" He quickly corrects his mistake. You can hear him on the other side, swallowing thickly.

You immediately observed the change of what he was starting to say. He just had to be watching.

"Yeah, sounds good Sammy. I have a lot of ideas on how to fill our time." You comment, something that isn't necessarily flirty, unless he's aware of what's happening.

He stutters a little, like his brain is having a hard time catching up to what's happening. "Like...like what? What do you- um...have in mind?" You can tell he's nervous, anxious, maybe a little excited?

"Oh, nothing much, just binge watching tv, maybe studying a little...I have to do my laundry tomorrow...we could just chill." You brush off his question. Speeding up on your clit a little before pressing a digit into your cunt. A small whine escapes you, it was quiet but still picked up on the call.

"You alright, angel?" Your mind spins a little when he calls you angel. It regularly can get you going but gods...right now? Driving you absolutely insane. You pump your fingers into yourself quickly, little noises heard here and there by Sam.

"Angel? You okay?" He asks again, but the coil in your stomach is unraveling too quick for you to stop.

"Fuck, oh my god, Sam-" You whimper out in a squeaky moan. You panic while fucking yourself through it, clicking the hang up button while riding out your high. No longer keeping yourself silent through your orgasm.

Through the blind white ecstasy you were feeling, you didn't notice your window sliding up, the screen protection from bugs pulled out as Sam broke in.

He quietly placed the screen down, striding over to the desk you were sat at. You were tired and recovering from your high when a hand clamped down on your mouth. Despite knowing who it was, your body still went into fight or flight. You tried to scream only for it to be muffled. Sam pulled your head back so you could see it was just him towering above you.

"Put on a real pretty show, baby." He practically coos. "Fuckin' knew I was watching didn't you?" He points to the camera he positioned by your desk. His hand shifts from covering your mouth to gripping your jaw.

Leaving your mouth absolutely gaping at him. He tightens his grip on your jaw more, his other hand connecting with your cheek in a slap. Nothing too rough, but just dominant enough to get your attention. "Asked you a question, angel..." You can only nod at his accusation.

"Words pretty girl..." He caresses' your cheek gently. His dark eyes looking down at you. Dark not in color of his iris's but dark in the way that sends a shiver down your spine. Dark in the way that your brain is telling you to get away and run from this predator. But just like a deer caught in headlights, you freeze up.

His eyelids are covered in messed up eyeliner and eyeshadow. Clearly he wasn't planning to wash it off at all tonight.

"Sammy..." You whine out, your boldness shying down now that you knew you were right.

"Awe, poor baby lost her confidence? Hm? Where's the girl that kept teasing me?" He questioned, his hand slipping from your jaw and to your throat, pressing just lightly. The freehand he had, the one that had previously slapped you, prodded at your mouth with his index and middle. "Suck." As if on command, you took his fingers into your mouth, wrapping your lips around the slender digits.

Your tongue swirled across the tips of his fingers, coating him in your saliva. He pulled his hand away from your mouth, twisting the chair to face him as he dropped to his knees. He forced your legs open as he smeared your spit across your sensitive folds.

You shifted uncomfortably under his touch, little cries falling from your lips about how you can't. "You can take it baby...I got you." Sam reassures, his dyed hair a mess. He worked that coil back up into your lower abdomen. Your hands gripping onto his shoulders as his fingers pulled out of you before diving back in.

"Lookin' so pretty for me baby, my little angel. Need me to protect you, right baby?" It was like he wasn't just talking you through it but also himself. You rapidly nodded your head at his question, your eyes screwed shut as you grinded against his hand as best as you could.

That winded up cord snapped, your release flooding through your body as you tightened around his fingers. Sam kept going, curling into your sweet spot as he fingered you through your orgasm.

"Doin' so well, my pretty girl..." You panted heavily, fighting to get your breaths under control.

Sam removed his fingers from your cunt, pushing them into his mouth and moaning around them. "Better than I imagined, holy shit." He licks himself clean of your juices, giving you your time needed to recover.

Once your heartrate starts returning to normal, Sam stands up from his knees. He pulls you to your feet, you wobbling slightly from the exhaustion your body was already going through. He swiftly picks you up, carrying you the couple of feet to your bed, before putting you back down.

"Sam..." You start, trying to backtrack a little bit when you see him taking off his studded belt. He hums in acknowledgment. Barely paying attention until you start speaking again.

"Was I really right?" You pull your blanket over your lap, feeling a little too exposed. Sam lazily nods his head, already assuming what you meant. "Tried my fuckin' best to not get caught too..." He mumbles, seemingly a little upset with himself for not being careful enough. He pulls down his pants, taking his briefs along with them. Your face contorting into one conveying anxiety when you saw how big he was.

There was no way he was gonna try and put that inside you, is he trying to kill you?? "Sam, wait, hold on a second-" You attempt as he pulls the blanket from you, pushing your legs up so they're on top of his shoulders.

"Sam, stop, you're not gonna fit!" You basically shout at him, grabbing onto a spare pillow to hold onto from your nerves.

"Don't worry angel, I'll make it fit." He sends a small grin to you before pushing his tip against your slit. He pressed into you, your cunt attempting to stretch and accommodate him.

You whined from the discomfort and pain, biting your lip to stop yourself from crying as he sunk into you, making you take him to the hilt. "Shhh, shhh, you're okay. You can take me, can't you?" He comforts before teasing a little at the end. "You got this pretty girl...just breath..." You do as he says, breathing through the discomfort as you get used to his size. When the pain finally dissipates, Sam pulls out before going back in, making sure to go slowly. He may be a little mean, but he wasn't violent...never would he want to hurt you. Maybe rough you up a little bit but never cause any real damage. He only ever wanted to protect you after deciding you were perfect for him.

"Better now baby?" He asks as you nod, giving him the greenlight he picks up his pace. His hips smack against your ass as he thrusts into you. One hand on your waist while the other rests on your ankle. He pulls you closer to him, forcing you to meet him when he slams back into you. The spare pillow you had covers your face as you moan into it.

Sam thought about pulling it from you, wanting to see your gorgeous face as he pounds into you, but he decided against it. He could tell you were shying away from him. Your boldness from earlier only was present because you weren't even sure you were right. Part of you probably assumed you were wrong. But now that Sam is here, fucking into you like you've been daydreaming about. It's all too much. You always get flustered too easily, it's one of his favorite things about you. He didn't want to push you too much, you were already vulnerable and if screaming into a pillow about how good you feel was the solution then so fuckin' be it.

One of your hands snakes down to his hand on your waist, you intertwine your fingers as your final orgasm washes over you. Sam smiles as his pumps into you slow, growing sloppy as he too cums. He pushes your legs off of his shoulders so he doesn't fold you in half when he leans against you. His bodyweight on you as he presses messy kisses to your collar. "Did so well for me..." Sam praises, his eyes raking over your face after pulling the pillow away from you.

You don't bother responding, your body feeling too weak. Sam pulls out of you but you whine from the loss, already missing the feeling of him filling you. Sam walks to your bathroom, grabbing a clean washcloth, wetting it in the sink before coming back into your room. He swipes at the mess between your thighs. The sensitive area making you jolt. "I'm sorry..." Sam lovingly rubs your thigh. After cleaning you up, he climbs into bed beside you, pulling your form against him. He covers the two of you with your duvet; getting comfortable as he spoons you.

"Is...it okay if I put it back in...?" He murmurs against your neck, still pressing kisses to you. You lazily nod, almost completely dozing off. He slides back in, feeling your gummy walls around him. "Never want to leave this pussy." He whispers, not even in a sexual way. Almost as if confessing that it gives him the only comfort he'll ever need in life.

[mnoonthego]

Day 30- Back on the Water

Today we took our first tour, a snorkelling and dolphin boat trip in the Watamu National Marine Park and Reserve. It was a bit shocking to suddenly be spending the day with 20 other people. I was impressed that we were told that no single use plastic bottles were allowed to be brought into the park. (Single use plastic bags were banned in Kenya prior to 2020). The amount of plastic bottles littering the beaches, streets and wilderness areas throughout Kenya has been disappointing and overwhelming.

Our first destination was to find the dolphins. It was a bit like the Masai Mara of the Ocean, a number of boats all started to crowd the pod of bottlenose dolphins. I talked to our captain about the regulations and was glad to hear that there were some and then a few minutes later I spotted the Parks boat coming out to talk to those that were infringing on the dolphins space. That said, it was still beautiful to see them!

Our next stop was the reef for some snorkelling. Unfortunately, we forgot Oriana’s underwater camera which was so disappointing as I would love to be able to revisit the seascapes we swam through. Snorkelling from Shela was good but this was great! I don’t know the names of most of the fish but the colour and movement was spectacular and the amount and diversity of fish was impressive. The coral was washed out in most places but there were a few patches of the brightly coloured coral you hope to see return on mass in the future. My favourite spotting was an octopus that was tucking its self under a rock when I spotted it! There were lion fish (we didn’t get close), tons of parrot fish, angelfish, damselfish, butterflyfish, clownfish, pipe fish, blue stripped snappers, red snappers, puffer fish and so many more. We also saw a bunch more of the giant clams that we had seen in Shela. I don’t know how it is possible to get cold but eventually that is what took Tamsyn and I back to the boat. The girls both raved about what they saw and I am so proud of their ability to swim and snorkel. Mark has taught Oriana how to dive while snorkelling and so away she would go to have a closer look at something of interest.

By this time we had worked up an appetite and were excited to head up Mida Creek for lunch on a small island. This is tour life so our boat and four others pulled up to the island and walked the short distance to a covered area with about 20 tables. After we were served our drinks, the courses started to arrive. Prawns, King Fish and lobster were all on the menu! What a feast!

Although the food was good the highlight of the lunch was meeting a lovely family who were visiting from Nairobi. Their daughter Joy had recently moved to Toronto to work for a software engineering firm and so we instantly had a connection. They were the nicest people and had all kinds of insight on growing up in Kenya. When we were getting ready to head back to our boats, Eileen handed us a gift- a bowl with a carving of an Elephant and the word Jambo on it. She had been surprised that we had chosen Kenya of all of the vacation destinations in the word and wanted to be sure we wouldn’t forget out trip (how could we??). She mentioned that the word Jambo isn’t actually used by locals and is only used when interacting with tourists. I couldn’t believe it! Here I thought we had been so smooth in adopting a Swahili word for greeting others. I refused to use the word for the rest of the day!

On our way back to the beach we were lucky enough to see a few turtles but they were a fair distance so I’m not sure what type they were. When we arrived at the beach we headed to the tiger shark nursery. Typically you don’t want to be anywhere near a tiger shark but the babies are ok and you know that the mom’s aren’t around (they are on the other side of the reef) so it was very cool to walk into the water to observe them.

We were so full from lunch that, other than Mark, we weren’t hungry. As he was craving a hamburger and we just wanted some more of that amazing gelato, we headed out. The gelato place was closed so we tried the tex-med place that had a table with comfy looking chairs that was street level and therefore would allow for people watching. Mark and I started with margaritas and the girls had milk shakes. The margaritas came with a side of shots!? The bartender said that Tequila is just summer water with a side of lime. I think as far as the girls were concerned, the best part was the restaurant kitten. Finally they had a cat they could pet and cuddle. My highlight, the “boy band” (a bunch of young boys with a water bottle drum) that sang Jambo Bwana, a popular song heard throughout Watamu, to us from the road. Mark loved his hamburger and I think the onion rings were the best we have ever had! We ended up having an interesting conversation with the owner, a Frenchman, his wife (kenyan) and their son which just added to the success of the evening.

[shadeedee]

Sins of the father - A fic about SQ and Curtain, basically where the father/son problems first started with bit of a scary ending!

*Flashback* A young LD Curtain grunted, pushing a stroller along the grass. In the stroller sat a dark curly haired baby boy, beaming and babbling. Curtain stopped to chat to one of his employees, leaving the stroller behind him. “He’s adorable,” a lady said. Curtain looked at the baby. “Yes well uh, actually he’s not my real son. He’s my adoptive son. His father died a year ago. His name is Shepard,” he replied. Baby Shepard cooed. He tried to climb out of the stroller. Curtain huffed. “No. Back in. Come on. I told you this before,” he said. Annoyed, he went to stand with his workers. A while later, he went to return to the stroller, but it was gone. Shepard had gone with it. Curtain’s eyes widened. He frantically searched but couldn’t find any trace of it. “Shepard! For god sake! Where are you?” he called. Then, he heard a splash and a loud squeal. He rushed over to the sound. The stroller was tipped on it’s side, and baby Shepard had fallen into the river. Curtain gasped and dived in, his suit becoming soaking wet and his shoes filling with water. To his horror, the currents began taking baby Shepard downstream. “No! Stop! Stoooooop!” he cried. He swam fast to try and catch up to the baby. Shepard squealed and reached for his father. A few other people also dived in to help. Once Shepard was safely out of the river, Curtain was told off for his negligence. “Shame on you! You can’t take your eyes off your baby for that long! I suggest you hold onto him next time!” a woman yelled. *Flashback ends* SQ frowned. He had been scared of the water ever since. He only painted it now. He never went in. He wondered if his father let go of the stroller on purpose. He treated him so horribly, and was very narcissistic in his parenting. SQ entered his father’s office with his painting gear. Curtain was at his desk working. SQ took a breath, and went up to him. “Dad, you remember that time i fell in the river?” he asked. Curtain looked at him. “You were very little, SQ. I thought you were over that by now,” Curtain replied. “Well, i just, i just wondered, was it an accident?” SQ asked. Curtain frowned. “Of course it was an accident. I would never do what i think you’re implying,” he said. SQ nodded. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said. Curtain then got up and stood behind his son. SQ’s eyes widened. “To tell you the truth, that day i was rather stressed taking care of you. So, well, i thought taking you for a swim would fix things,” he said, sweetly. SQ breathed, heavily. “W, what does that mean, dad?” he stammered. Curtain pulled his son towards him when he tried to get away. “It means, i thought you could swim on your own, i was wrong. I wanted to teach you confidence. So, i let the stroller go. I saw you struggling to swim in the water, so i had to dive in and get you. It wasn’t pretty. My entire suit got soaked, as did my shoes. Then people told me what a terrible parent i was. They called me an unfit father. But, all i did was teach you how to swim. I mean, you almost managed to float on your back. I wanted to leave you until you floated at least. But you didn’t. That disappointed me. So i had to go in and get you,” he said, gripping SQ’s arm. Then he smiled and let go. “Come. Let’s go for a walk,” he said. After a bit of walking, they stopped at a river surrounded by bush. SQ trembled. The area looked rough, too. It wasn’t nice at all. “What are we doing here, dad?” he asked. Curtain happily kicked at the leaves on the ground. “Oh, i just wanted to spend some time with my son,” he said. SQ was worried now. His dad never spent any time with him. Now all of a sudden he had taken him to this disturbing place and insisted on spending time with him? It didn’t make any sense. Curtain looked at the river, and his face suddenly turned serious. “You want to jump in, son? Hm? Want to swim with the fishes?” he asked. SQ began to back away. Curtain followed him. “Where are you going? You haven’t had your swimming lesson, son. Time to start. Come on. And you have to float this time. Because, we all float son. They all do.”

[insomniumstella]

late nights 

bucky x reader 

summary: late nights with Bucky while everyone else at the compound are sleeping. that’s it.

warnings: none, this is just fluff, unless, if you squint really hard, you might be able to find some angst in there

word count: 1,123

“We shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.” Bucky gave her a big smile and just like that all her worries washed away. She’d suffer through Tony’s disappointed lectures for this smile. He was jittery with excitement by the time they reached the compound’s pool. A full moon hanged above the two as they came to a stop. It illuminated Bucky’s face beautifully, y/n thought; like a painting its master spent years creating.

“Ready when you are.” She stuck out her hand. Bucky didn’t hesitate to take it. Y/n barely managed to take in a breath before Bucky jumped into the pool, clothes still on, bringing her down with him. Despite it being deep into summer the water was icy cold. Their wet clothes uncomfortably leached onto their bodies. Wrapping his arms around y/n’s waist, Bucky swam upwards until both of their heads peaked from above the water’s surface. He laughed when y/n had to place her hands on his shoulders just to stay afloat. The outside pool was much deeper than most and even Bucky had to straighten up to reach the very bottom without getting fully submerged. “It’s weird to be awake when everyone else is sleeping.”

“Wouldn’t know.” Bucky shrugged and y/n’s heart shattered. If there was a way for her to take his nightmares, she would. Every single one, each more terrifying than the last, no, she wouldn’t care. She’d take them all if it meant Bucky could finally rest. “You’re wet and shivering.”

“Top 3 things you could also say in the bedroom!” Y/n joked. “Good one, Sherlock.”

But his words gave her an idea. A rather bold idea she might regret. They were friends, yes, they were close, yes. But were they that close? Close enough for Bucky to feel comfortable if she took off her clothes? Letting go of his shoulders, y/n swam to the edge and pushed herself upwards until most of her body was out of the water. While the water was cold, the chilly air against her skin felt even more bitter. Bucky had an amused expression when she sat down on the edge.

“I sense trouble.” Bucky chuckled, swimming up to edge and resting his elbow on it.

“No-“ Y/n mumbled, stumbling over her words. “No trouble.” She added, peeling her top off right after. Y/n hoped his reaction would be good, but she didn’t expect a smile so big it took up half of Bucky’s face. A smile so genuine she had forgotten what it looked like.

“Naughty.” He teased. Bucky didn’t move because there was no need for it. He had all the time in the world to take off his own top. For now he relished in the glorious sight that was y/n. All the doubts she had about the idea were long gone; as if Bucky’s adoring staring had wiped them clean. Slowly, she removed her shoes before taking off her jeans too, throwing everything in a messy pile.

“Your turn.” She said and Bucky shook his head no. Y/n could sense his nervous demeanour underneath the playful facade.

“I have scars. Big ones.” He said nonchalantly. “Many of them.”

“I know.” Was the only thing y/n was able to reply with even though she didn’t. There wasn’t a way she’d know. “I think scars are beautiful.”

One sentence was enough to melt Bucky’s heart. She trusted him enough to take off her own clothing, so there was no reason he couldn’t do the same. Unsure, he slowly peeled off his top, throwing it on top of the pile. Perhaps he let his body move on its own. Admitting his love for y/n would be too scary. 

“These are staying.” He pointed to his jeans, but y/n could barely see them from above the water. Sliding back into the pool, she rested one hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

“These ones?” She tugged at the fabric on his thighs. Laughing, Bucky placed her other arm on his shoulder. Y/n wasn’t the only one making bold moves tonight. He quickly wrapped her legs around his waist as if to not let himself think the idea through. He let out a relieved sigh when the girl laced her hands around his neck. And so they stood in the icy water, faces just inches away from its surface, staring at each other. The loving kind of stare. The I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you kind of look; a look no friends share. “I think your scars are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.” Y/n whispered upon looking down. She timidly kissed a big scar where his flesh meets metal. Bucky had a bewildered look on when their eyes met again.

“Don’t-“ He stuttered. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?” She kissed the scar again. “They are.” She kissed a smaller one on his chest, then a fresh flaw on his right upper bicep. But she didn’t stop there. Y/n peppered kisses on every single line, every cut, every scar she could reach while clinging to Bucky. “They tell the marvellous story of what a strong man Bucky Barnes is. How he keeps on fighting and how he won’t give up.”

“I don’t want to be friends anymore.” Bucky stated. This was true. He didn’t want to keep on looking at y/n from the other side of the room and have to endure other man flirting with his woman. He didn’t want to pretend his playful touches were everything else other than flirting. Bucky was tired of having y/n so close, yet so far away. Touch, but never savour.

It was un unsettling feeling. Y/n was almost sure she pushed it too far until Bucky stopped her right before she could remove her body from his.

“I love you.” He started out. “If you would ask to me collect every star our universe has to offer, I would.” Bucky pushed her hair out of her face. “I would do anything for you.”

This was enough of a confirmation as y/n crashed her lips with his. The whole world seemed to stop for a moment. There was no more burning of the freezing water or the icy wind. No sounds of late night travellers passing by. No one else, just y/n and Bucky as their lips moved together. With her head spinning, y/n weaved her left hand into his hair. Closer, please, I want you closer. She was sure Bucky could understand what her actions meant. She was right. By the time they pulled away for air there was no space left between them. And as the outside world slowly came to life again, y/n had already decided upon her whole world being the man in front of her. James Buchanan Barnes. The man with many scars and secrets she’d do anything for.

[healingagoddess]

Where dreams come true but don’t ask Ajak

Request: @sunshinelemondrop16​ said - “Hi! I was wondering if you could do a one shot of the reader and ajak trying different things for dates? Like baking, swimming or something that ajak hasn’t ever tried before and it’s hilarious? Thank you! Love all your works”

Warnings: English is not my first language.

Notes: I am so sorry it took me forever to write this T-T I love writing Ajak in funny situations.

_ ✽ _

Being always at Ajak’s homestead is great, but eventually you grow used to it which is good. However, you like going out and both of you love exploring the wonders of the world, so when you suggested to go to the city for a little get away there was no resistance. You had met Ajak outside the “yeehaw life”, as you call it, but this would be the first time to travel with her. You had every intention to make it a romantic vacation and to try out new things.

You were staying at a hotel recommended by an old friend of yours, it had a pool somewhere on the roof and the view at your room was amazing. Ajak knew what she was doing, she walked with such an elegance fitting right in as she walked through the lobby on her way to check in. You were going to discover a whole new side of Ajak.

After a few hours of checking in you both decided to check out the pool, since you don’t know your way around the city that well you both opted to wait a little longer and enjoy what the hotel had to offer. And it was nice to find that it wasn’t too crowded, there were seats around and it also had a bar. The garland of lights made it look real nice and cozy, even if it was literally the middle of New York City.

You were literally praying to see Ajak in a swimsuit, and you were not disappointed that under her swim robe she was wearing a blue two-piece that you almost dropped the drink she had just brought for you. And by almost dropping the drink means that you did drop the glass but Ajak caught it almost right away.

“Are you alright?”

You are staring at her body… respectfully. You nod.

“Would you like to swim?” You ask shyly.

“Ah… sure. ¿Por qué no? (why not)”

Ajak sinks… quite literally. You didn’t really expect her to sink to the bottom of the pool the first time she got in. She glided in like an Egyptian goddess, but she remained for a few seconds at the bottom before pushing herself upwards to the surface. She looked like those vampires in eclipse coming out from the lake that Bella almost drowned in. As you sat on the edge in a safe space to sit she comes to sit next to you. You just keep staring.

But… when she is sitting next to you with the water up to your chest, she keeps moving around like the water is trying to drag her weight down. You know she is an android alien, but you didn’t know she was like waterproof. She is trying so hard to remain seated, and she is wearing a two-piece swimsuit. And then her leg goes up, her back goes down as the pool is sucking her back into the bottom and her boobs are all over the place. She rolls on her stomach to push herself up, and then turns back to seat herself. It’s been a whole five minutes, and she is struggling to sit.

“Are you-?” You ask concerned, after observing her fight the water for five minutes.

“I got it.”

“Maybe try to move less? And sit where you don’t slide back down?”

“Hmm.” She hums, before finally finding a position that doesn’t intend to drown her.

“Have you ever been able to swim before?”

“I have. I know how to swim; I swam the ocean with Thena and Gilgamesh once. But my moves are too strong, I’d send the water everywhere.” She replies as a matter of fact, and you just nod before offering her a drink.

“Do I have to put you in rice?” Smack “Awe.” You rub your shoulder.

“Be grateful I can’t reach for my sandal.”

You don’t stay in the water for long, because you just can’t wait to take Ajak off that swimsuit. But the next day you both have plans to go to central park. And as you make your way through it you are so excited to see the cherry trees.

“So, you don’t put your finger up and call home like E.T.?

“I- Y/N, no.”

“But, you do call home.”

“I have a connection… yes, but it is different.”

“Hey, would you like to bike?”

Ajak takes one look at the bikes around and sighs. So, of course twenty minutes later she is on a bike. But, it is so interesting because she keeps moving with her feet instead of the pedals. She gets on foot on the pedal, it seems like she is going to do it and get it right… and then she just keeps going with her foot. And then she goes back and forth with her feet.

You ring the bell once and she stops.

“Um… do you need help?” You ask her as you circle her with your bike.

“No. I’ve done many things in my life. I know how to ride a bike.”

“If you’d like I can hold it for you as you try to pedal?”

She seems to consider your offer and then nods. Happily, you get off your bike and hold it, it moves wobbly as she tries to pedal for the first time. After a few tries she seems to get the hang of it, she is a quick learner, but she doesn’t want you to let go. After half an hour of trying, you finally let go. And she keeps biking and steady, she is doing amazing… until she realizes you let her go.

She starts ringing the bell and calling out your name. “I told you not to let go!”

And then her bike begins to shake wobbly.

“Just keep going! Don’t stop and don’t look back!” You shout back.

It was a lost case, she goes straight to the sides and couldn’t be stopped by the bushes, but her bike gets stuck in between the pavement and the grass and with that speed she slips off the bike with no support to the front and crashes right into the grass. You rush to her side, but when you get there she’s already up and covered in grass dirt up to her chest. You hold your hands to your face with a sheepishly expression and she just closes her eyes defeated.

“I am so-“

She holds up a hand and shushes you.

“Ajak.”

“Sh.”

“I swear, I-“

“No.”

And she starts walking back to where she left the bike. Luckily, with no damage. She says nothing as both of you return them, and then you walk in silence for a few minutes. Still feeling guilty for the accident, you get her some ice cream. As you sit on a bench you turn to look at her to make sure she is okay, but she doesn’t seem mad she just looks ready to ditch and move on onto the next activity. She keeps looking around the park at all the people, especially the children playing around and she smiles and waves back at them. You had never seen that and your heart melts. And then she catches you staring.

“What? Please, tell me I don’t have grass on my hair.”

You shake your head and pout before leaning in to kiss her. She gives you a sweet and loving kiss, cupping your cheek to pull you slightly closer. Before pulling away you nuzzle her nose with yours.

“I am sorry.” You apologize with puppy eyes.

“I forgive you, but you owe me dinner.” She says with a toothy grin, she is joking.

“But… I got you ice cream.”

“Not enough.”  She teases. “I want dinner… and something else.” When she says the last bit she squeezes your tight.

“You wanna ride me?”

“Y/N!” She looks around to see if someone is listening, but it’s New York. “…si.”