#bleh. enough yapping

[shuteyelenz]

Lil silly doodle of me n Billy's fursonas from my notebook. I like the idea of billy being a unicorn n me being a deer =3

!!!DOUBLES OF MY PARTNERS, MOOTS/SUPPORTERS OF DOUBLES, PR☆SHIP/C☆MSHIP, UNDER ATLEAST 17+ NEVER INTERACT! I BLOCK WHO I NEED!!!

[killer-blowmybrain]

one of my biggest fears is to my teachers discover that i know english and to draw

I DON'T WANNA BE THE ARTIST OF THE CLASS!!!!! THEY WILL MAKE ME DO THINGS AND MORE THINGS FOR NOTHING AGAIN!!!!!!!!

[shuenkio]

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 리노 S.K.Z 🐾

Paring: Bf!Lee know X M!reader | Genre: Suggestive | cw: curse bleh. | Non proof read | english is not my 1st | This is a work of fanfiction, do not throw unnecessary tantrums on this nsfw/sfw blog. ©Shuenki

Who would have thought that the nonchalant boyfriend that everybody thinks he was a mysterious guy can be this understanding your need even one didn't even open your lip to say? And what is it?

One glance into your eyes, lee know definitely see through what your desire on the spot. He can sense that you need comfort, a special kind of comfort.

Back when you guys were freshly dated, Lee Minho never missed any chance to ask about every single detail of you, he'd ask beforehand even your freaky-like or should we say kink?

However it is not some crazy kind of kink that makes him flinch. In fact he likes the idea, of giving that to you. It is not common for somebody to have it or like it when their lover wants to lay on their lap, cuddle, while letting them touch their intimate area however m/n desire to their heart content .

First try would feel new, but as the days went by not even groping or squeezing hard of lee know's length would make him horny. He is definitely the final boss one.

///

Stroking the slimmer smooth shoulder skin of your shoulder, Lee know eyes were glue on the tv with the cooking show, that he forgets that the cold chilling air hit his lower half body that is bare at the moment. This did not trigger him, or make him awake yet—

" bwoya? (What) What is wrong with you hm? Don't mind me and touch me however you like, go charge your battery back" the taller jot his hip up and extend his legs for his lover's better access as his dick breathing in the cold atmosphere, which draw pink blush on m/n's cheeks, the way Lee know was as bold as this only to fuel m/n even more— it like he's the only one who can put up to your good, only his.

"you're something you big cat, I never expected you could like this"

"Ehh!? What does that even mean, just shut up" the harsh words with affection underneath as Lee know said, his face might be unfazed but not his heart. You can't help but to feel a sense of comfort and protectiveness all at once, Minho knows the best how to consolidate and snug you into the safe place where you are called home— yes even this.

"how about —"

"sybau my love"

The musky scent of his length was warm and addictive—not overwhelming, just enough to make your head spin in the best way. It lingered, drawing you in, making you want more without even thinking. And end with that, your words were cut by when he shoved his 7 inches into your warm mouth, shut you up instantly to stop your yapping.

!?

A/n: I got an idea and decide to drop it out of blue, don't mind me guy I'm this random 🫵🏻😃 lmk anything and ty for 800+ followers 🥳 our m/n fandom is growing --

[spxdyr]

i think the most delusional thing about tommy stans (specifically bucktommys) is that they believe eddie "theres no one i trust more with my son than you" diaz is straight.

eddie "i hate dating it feels like im performing" diaz, straight?

eddie "cow eyes while buck is yapping" diaz is STRAIGHT?

and then in the same breath praise tommy for being a traditionally masculine gay man. like are you kidding me??

hes not a traditionally masculine gay man, hes a straight persons perfect idea of a comphet gay man. without all the, to quote mickey milkovich, "meh 🫴🏾" and "bleh 🫳🏾". tommy is a gay man written into the plot in the same way gay (white) men have been weitten into tv for decades. just gay enough to kiss a man and just straight enough to not turn away conservative veiwership.

eddie diaz is the first time in a long time that ive seen a gay man who was forced into the closet by cultural and social comphet norms. while at the same time doing his best to break that cycle not only within himself but in his son. where we'll (hopefully) get to see him struggle with coming to the realization that he doesn't love women, maybe has never loved women, and will never try to love a woman again. he's not queer for the plot or for the sake of someone else's coming out (like tommy), he's queer because that's who he is and its wholly apart of his character and story arc. all that on top of genuine religious trauma.

tommy, "historically", is a racist, lesbophobic, gay man who instead of trying to come together and find community with people who scared him because of the part of his identity that he was scared of, was a part of the problem . just because he was scared of who he was never gave him the right to be a piece of shit. and also since when is being scared of being outted an excuse to be racist??? we didn't get to see his journey because it wasn't important, hes NOT important outside of being a tool to bring buck out the closet. which i will also admit isn't right, queer characters should never be used as tools to move the plot along, but i hate tommy so im willing to look past it this one time.

[fluffyenergee]

Maybe a little request, treat it like you like. BUT! for me it's so frustrating when getting your foot wear slowly pulled off >///<

The ler taking their time to sloooowly untie the shoelaces and then sloooooowly pull down the socks. IMAGINE MEDIC, he wears those high boots that are over his ankles and probably also high socks to prevent abrasions

SO! after my little yapping, how about mercs reaction to such teasing? (=•w•=)

Oh, the scenario is lovely, although about the first part with the "request", I guessed you meant that as in fanfic request since I wrote a few of those tickle fics... Yeah, about that, if that's what you meant, or even if not, I guess that's as good time as any to say that: I don't and won't write requested fanfics. No. I have bad impression of that. I used to do that. Those fecking anons who requested never even said thank you. I'm not talking about you, of course, but yeah, they were anons who never even acknowledged I wrote something specifically for them. I only write when I get in the mood enough, sometimes they're in a reply for an ask, yeah, cause I like them in that way, but that's ocassional.

I'm not taking fic requests and never will again, if I post something I put a lot of effort in, then I want interactions, preferably comments. I'm not saying this to be entitled or anything, it's not that I need hundreds of interactions, and it's not that I think everyone will like it and as such should comment, but the hearts/likes to comments ratio is dreadful. I would take 1 comment over 10 likes, even more honestly. And since that's just not a thing I won't do it. Having said that, I am forever grateful to those who commented/said in a reblog something nice aboutmy fic. After all that, this isn't specifically for you, anon, of course, I don't even know if this is what you meant, but you did give me an excuse to say it :p.

Comment on stuff you like, on stuff you want to see more, likes are nice at best, but comments are what's really important. On art, on fanfics, on anything you like. Or next day you won't find desired fan content at all. I don't even mean my stuff, my stuff is bleh at most, but I can't accept seeing other people's amazing fan content with likes but very few nice words said about them. Comment. Or reblog with saying something. Or tell them in an ask. Did I mentions those people do it for free?

Now that I finished my yapping let's get to what you actually came here for, cause as I said it's a lovely scenario, and quite frankle perfect! I shall say more with each merc:

Medic: Let's start with the man of the hour himself - Scout Medic, since you talked about him I thought it was only right. I can go with him wearing high socks, oh for sure. Medic 🤝 Scout - wearing high socks. Anyway, in this scenario he's obviously very excited but the teasingly slow speed gets to him so much he might tell his ler to accelerate it. Either way, he's definitely wiggling his toes to tease them while twitching in his spot, all excited.

Scout: Hey look, it's... him. The guy who definitely wears long socks :D. And silly ahh shoes. This kind of teasing really gets to him, especially considering his feet are his most ticklish spot. He wiggles in place, his foot shakes while the foot wear is being taken off, and he's all red and blushy trying to hide his face and not to combust while talking his ler out of it. He doesn't really mean it.

Soldier: Brooo, he will kick his ler, be careful with him, hehe. Even if he knows damn well what's happening he will say that his ler is just doing all that to admire his "American feet". Of course he would. Although it's so flustering if prolonged I think that while his feet would move the rest of him would freeze and/or shake in anticipation.

Pyro: hey, he let his ler take off his shoes and socks, nice. Pyro keeps letting out muffled, of course, noises of excitement, his entire body wiggling in anticipation. He'll tease and keep moving his feet, even poking at his ler to playfully shove them away, but aside from that he's not exactly trying to stop it.

Demoman: He's the one who'd rather see just how close his feet are to being bare aka ready to be tickled. So yes, he tries looking away but can't keep his gaze away for too long while letting out nervous chuckles.

Heavy: He's holding onto his outstretched legs, head down to hide his flustered expression including biting down his smile. He knows what's coming, his feet are his 2nd most ticklish spot, uh oh. He'd rather not observe as his feet become more and more vulnerable but if his ler calls him out on that he will do it as stone-faced as possible.

Engineer: He's looking away, blushing. He's not saying he wants it but he's not protesting either, hmmmmmmm. Might chuckle nervously before the tickling starts. Yeah, he's real flustered. Also, look out for that gunslinger.

Sniper: He's kinda paralized with panicked anticipation. He knows what's coming and such teasing is too much for him. His eyes are closed, lips sealed shut, probably hiding his face with his silly hat (take it from him and observe) and his ticklish feet are twitching.

Spy: First of all, how dare you remove his foot wear? He's too French for that... smh. But seriously, he gets quite stiff trying to get his feet free without looking too desperate but at the same time making sure he doesn't get... brrr... tickled. And all this teasy removal is not doing him any good, let me tell you. At least if you ask him.

Well, this sure is the first time I stared at their boots so much. Aside from Scout. I stared at his shoes before. A lot :). I love his knee-lenght socks also. Seriously. They're one of my favourite things about him. You know what would be better than Scout wearing knee-lenght socks? Scout wearing thigh-lenght socks.

:D

I also love high boots so much, I'm obsessed with Medic wearing those too. And also Soldier wears those kind of boots hello? Awesome choice.

You can kinda tell in which order I wrote those based on the fact that as I wrote I used more and more ideas so the last ones I wrote are the shortest ones and the other way around.

[schwarzgeier]

Just popping in to say i love your goober geiers SO much they have fantastic design and are just really cool in general. I can't stop thinking about them SO I'm satiating my need to hear more by giving you (🫵) the unsolicited invitation to yap about anything an everything.

COMMENCE THE GEIER YAP!!

First of all ,thank u so much again for liking and interacting with my goobers ,it always brightens up my day . The joy of sharing things and creations with people is what fuels me in this life.

I. Have both so much to talk about yet nothing I feel like??? It's weirddd . On one hand all i have is Geiers in my head , on the other, Sybil and Blaus content is better storywise i think. Bleh

Welp i will start by talking more about Copper i think cause i feel like i haven't done her justice and she has a lot of potential. Her relationship with the Kolibris can grow into something great but also scary sort of.

Copper despite being a Geier is suprisingly unstable as i mentioned due to her weird inner fights. She wants to know more about the world sometimes ,or her condition or anything really. Yet she beats herself with a stick over thinking those thoughts heavily. It's a vicious cycle. And Kolibris entering that equation is both helpful and stresfull fhfhfj.

I haven't explored this part of Geiers much yet cause im unsure how to handle it but Geiers being anti-bioresonant gives them the unique ability to actually. Govern the bioresonant units kinda. Not govern but. Check up on. AEON is still in it's early stages with this job position for this unit but essentialy they have given Geiers the option to call a decommisioning order on a Falke/Kolibri unit if they deem them too degrated. It's a very edge case scenario since usualy they aren't the ones deciding who is defected or not in Nations eyes , they just carry out the orders. But AEON is toying with the idea of employing this strategy permanently as another check for bioresonant deviancy or spies etc. It's a hit or miss so far.

Anddd this is why Copper pursuing anything with the Kolibri cadre is a very polarizing topic for her. On one hand she does like them . And they are clearly at least intruiged back , interacting with her , offering books and their thoughts. It's both fascinatingly fresh to talk to someone they can't be in the head of , and also concerning . Because Copper fully realizes the Kolibris reciprocating can lead to their degradation, which she would have to report. Its. A very delicate and messy situation but they do get closer with trial and error. Sometimes Copper gets burned and pulls back, sometimes something upsets the Kolibris. But they do small gestures for eachother , like sharing books together or insights on different topics. Copper has always had a bit more refined speech for a Geier , purely as a personal choice of not being blunt as the bare minimum in conversation most geiers do. And this impresses the Kolibris a bit. They in return slowly let her inside their small circle and even start to read in their dorms together.

The check ups also turn a lot more . Interesting / tender sometimes depending on the Kolibri performing it. Cause I see the Kolibris as something of a unified mind , but with slight personal opinions sometimes . They do have their own opinions on some things but come together to a consus always. And with Copper some of the cadre is bit hesitant to engage more , it's a risk afterall. But the other half is very much into her dhfhgjb big coocky fire women that likes the smell of burnt flesh ,what can go wrong. The process of digging through Coppers mind is like disecting a special new book for the Kolibri.

Copper is bit of a loose lost bird , and the Kolibris constant hum and buzz of talking and moving in herd keeps her stable weirdly enough. Yes she gets gay panic but hey better than a mental breakdown.

(I am also working on another sketch page so stayed tune for that)

[askuemki]

Stickers

Valeria x Fem!reader

646 words Fluff..? Warnings: Implied sex, an attempt at formal formatting.

Needy bitch gets owned w/ stickers (idk how else to summarize it)

"Ugh! You're so... So picky!" you yapped, prodding your hands into your elbows, crossing your arms. Valeria wheezed a laugh, her fingers creeping and nipping at your cheek. "I'd argue the opposite, sweetheart."

For days now, your relationship tensed like a rubber band. You were lucky enough it hadn't snapped thin. Maybe, it was more like those 2000's silly bandz; the tension was fun. You were always bugging her, egging her on to hoard her attention. "Nuh-uh, you're always like: 'You're too weak; bleh-bleh-blehh...'" "I do NOT say that amor," Valeria jested, flicking at your forehead. You yipped, thwacking her side. A charming cackle cawed into your hair, bent over at your "sucker punches." She flumped, a deflated, jolly balloon. Her hand prowled to your locks, twirling within one another. "Such a silly girl." A soft snicker, and an even softer gaze-- a black hole. In her eyes, you were her sun. Her tiny dandelion in a field of weeds. Her firefly in the dark. Her ladybug in the woods. Those thoughts were something she cherished so terribly. "Please...?" "Please.. what?" Valeria's brow flexed. She was too focused on the flowers to even glance at the stem. A groan grumbled from your throat; her sun laid to rest, and the moon took her place. "Please what?? . . .Y'know, I can't work with this chula." Her gaze drooped as she echoed herself, looking down at her grumpy lover. A thumb teased at her lips, snaking to her neck. It swept back and forward, a hypnotizing pendant for both parties. A stuttering sigh broke the silence. "You never listen to me." "I do!" Your head shook. "You don't!! Ugh I was literally just asking you something, but you looked like a stoner." "The fuck about me looked like a stoner?" "You looked high. Duh." "I'm sorry that I'm in love with you." Valeria rolled her eyes, tossing herself away. "...Say that again." Valeria didn't know what the hell you were talking about, engulfing herself in the covers. Her sun glared down harder. It was hot. Torrid. She felt your stare burn through the covers. Then a chill seeped under the comforter. Wallowing in her pettiness grew overbearing, finding you basking in your study in solitude. Her eyes darted around, until an idea dinged in her head. She pussyfoots to your bookshelf, snagging a slip of paper. Sneaking over to you, her fingers slipped to your shoulders. An icky spot clustered on your figure It pestered at your skin...It was like chicken pox? How the fuck are you getting chicken pox at your age?? It was a sticker. Your lover had a smirk tugging her face, prancing away. That sly motherfucker... The sticker was cute, at least. A little glimmering star. Over the day, she kept slapping these stickers. A little meteor shower just for you. It was a bit hard to pinpoint why or when she kept doing this. Lounging around? Sticker slap. Making food? Sticker slap. Eating? Slap. Napping? Slap. Hobby...ing? Slap!! Dragging yourself to the bedroom, a slumbersome yawn belted into the air. A giggle rang from the bed, a piece of the night sky was in Valeria's bedroom, right beside her. Another sticker was placed right on your nose, gifted with a kiss. "You've been good today, I see." Valeria murmured, entranced by your widened eyes. "So you don't hate me?" "What?? No, no." She sighed, holding her universe in her hands. "But like.. You said you wanted to break up with me!!" Another sigh from Valeria, maybe you're the one who can't listen. A soft "no," huffed from her lips, squeezing your flabbergasted face as "punishment." "Stickers are there for a reason, stupid." "Yeah, I know that now, stupid. Maybe if you just said-" She ripped off a sticker, your eyes narrowing in retaliation. "Fuck you." "Gladly." And before you knew it, her hands slithered to your thighs.

[machlover54666]

splatoon yapping bc obviously i dont do enough of that here on tumblr :3

OK SO

i have Splatoon 2 and 3, but not Splatoon 1 as I dont have a Wii/U

I joined splatoon 2 near the end of the Splatfests but didn't participate in the Splatoon 2 FinalFest, I missed it!! o_O"

^^ the only splatfest i participated in in splatoon 2 <:[

BUTTT theres still story modes! I finished it a while ago (Years, even!)

I've gotten the Hero Roller unlocked and bought, i was a roller player back then! buuut nothing else yet 😰 (dont get me started on chargers i suck at aiming :[)

I also have Octo Expansion!

yeah i had a skill issue for octo expansion im not gonna lie

i USED to be an overachiever at Grizzco in Splatoon 2, and then I played with a friend and went all the way down to Go-Getter

BUUUUT MY SKILL ISSUE TURNED TO A SKILL SOLUTION IN SPLATOON 3 ^_^

i bought it on Day 1!! Proud player at Level 69 ^_^ (yes, thats my actual level)

i dont dare touch ranked or challenges. too many sweats /j

I AM A TURF WAR WARRIOR (TOTALLY) AND I ALWAYS PLAY IT >:] im also a fan of Salmon Run there and a Proud Eggsective VP!!

My story mode is, in fact, fully decked out - all logs/scrolls, all levels beat and hero suit filled out - and I beat After Alterna in October 2022!

I also own and have Completed Side Order! All Marina's Dev Diarys, all palettes completed, and i may need to work on the chips 😅

i do need to do agent 8's hackless,,, unfortunate skill issue there

BLEH I WISH I COULD ADD MORE PHOTOS THANKS FOR READING MY YAP ^_^

[sunshinecatie]

since you are often oh so kind with leaving me treats in my inbox i figure i'll answer your call and do the same! so, and i welcome any and all yapping and/or ranting about the fave,

recommended reading for Stephanie Brown?

So funny enough for me I struggle to give recs for Steph because it feels like she's everywhere and nowhere. Early Steph is iconic. I'm talking from Tim Drake's Robin run starting in 1993. She's silly. She's goofy. Con of that is Tim (bleh) but mores Chuck Dixon who is like... not a good person (racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, etc.) and that's very clear in his writing of Steph and Tim's relationship. He claims his characters don't have sex and then somehow Steph becomes pregnant? Like, huh? Chuck really? He also makes Tim like super preachy about how wrong abortion is so that was a choice. Honestly, I rather enjoy Steph during these issues though. She's fun and 90s Steph was the it girl. She's beautiful, smart, quippy. She's a darling of a character. For your sanity, skip War Games until you're ready emotionally. Because that book will put your heart through a blender. War Games catalogues her brief stint as Robin up to her death (yes, she died. I'm telling you. Wait to read War Games until you're ready emotionally because you will hate so many people and Bruce). My personal favorite and what I tell everyone to read because it's in my Top 10 of DC Comics ever? Stephanie Brown Batgirl (2009). This book made me fall in love with Stephanie Brown. I got it half off at at comic shop because I asked the shop owner for recommendations and she was like "I think you'd like Stephanie" and I've been hooked since. Iconically enough, Bryan Q. Miller who wrote her Batgirl actually follows me on Bluesky so that's a slay. Finally moving to more modern comics: Batgirls (2021). I recently re-read this book as it was one of the first titles I started picking up regularly when I started reading comics again. The story holds a special place in my heart. Getting to see Steph, Babs, and Cass all interact and grow as a team together is very wholesome and fun. It's a fun, fun read, but still has some really nice messaging about trusting yourself and believing in who you are. Thank you for the question Nix! I love getting to ramble about my pookies and this made me realize I need to actually make a Stephanie Brown reading list. She's just in so many single issues that its hard to like catalogue them. Maybe idk she should get a solo series or something finally (cough, cough DC)

[shuteyelenz]

Happy (late) valentines day!☎️💕

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

(Repost cuz I didn't like the og I posted. Bleh.)

(Click for better quality. Per usual.)

Ship doubles of my guys , moots of doubles, pr☆ship/c☆mship, under 17+ Never interact plz. I block freely.

Silly close ups + alt/rendered ver cuz WHY NOT💥

sorry, this is literally like a week late. =[ busy and all that jazz. but YIPEEEE LENZBY POSTING THE WORLD IS BETTER (worse) NOW 💥 inspired by those old 60s/70s valentines cards. Especially the ones by C.rumb because I take inspiration from his style, + it's very fitting for us. Usually, I don't draw stuff with phones when I draw Lenzby (because of the novel n all. Ifykyk), but I like how this turned out & i thought the pun worked. Anyways enough yap salad just look at 70s man yaoi.

[bulldog-geckorahhhhh]

I like words they’re like food they feel necessary to me I guess

friends are snacks and sweets and family is meals and partners are comfort meals idk I just feel like I need to talk to people or I’ll cry lol

I’m not very good at talking and my rambles don’t really sound all that nice but I think it’s okay as long as someone pretends to listen ya know? And even if you don’t say much I’m okay with it cus it makes me feel like I’m listened to enough to get some sort of recognition even if it’s just an okay

At least that makes me easy to yap at and the maintenance for me is super low just say some vague yes hehe

I do love hearing people talk

Nodding and nodding! I understand-! Sorry again for still not answering other asks. I’m just. Bleh

But I like listening to you talk- sometimes I just don’t have. Energy

[wyrm-mlm]

Get to know your mutuals: tag game

Thank you so much for the tag @wishchip106 !!

I love to yap so get ready y’all!

What's the origin of your blog title?

So Wyrm has become a sort of online nickname for me. I even have a tattoo of a “Wyrm on a string” like the 80s toy with dragon wings cuz wyrms are a type of dragon(yes I know they’re a wingless dragon but most people don’t know that.) Mlm is because I love multi level marketing that gay shit

OTP(s) + Shipname:

Oooooh boy do I have so many. My current ones are Cherik, Wolfstar and Jegulus(a new one for me but it has latched onto me).

I would also say Jayvik but I haven’t watched enough of the show. I just wanna put them into a bottle and shake it.

Some older ones I occasionally come back to are Spirk, McSpirk, Hannigram and Dreamling.

(Note: Fuck JKR and Neil Gaimen I hope they both rot.)

Favourite colour:

Rainbow. Although if I had to pick one, some sort of dark green.

*Glares at the spelling of colour in American*

Favourite game:

DnD, Animal Crossing and most Legend of Zeldas

I have also currently been playing Supermarket Simulator and House Flipper

Song stuck in your head:

I won’t say (I’m in love) from Disney’s Hercules

Weirdest habit/trait?

I can’t eat in a dark room/if I can’t see my food

Hobbies:

Writing, drawing, baking, and I learned to crochet last year!

If you work, what's your profession?

Currently Theme park Hospitality. Both food and beverage (Seaworld) and Slide Attendant (Universal’s Valcano Bay)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? Realistically?

Anything with animals. Worked for a year as a veterinary assistant at an all cat hospital. It was wonderful but my mental health couldn’t take it.

Something you're good at:

Trivia, especially involving animals.

Something you're bad at:

Taking care of myself.

Something you love:

Animals, fan fictions, fandoms, roleplaying

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

Animals. Especially the care and husbandry of common pets/livestock.

Something you hate:

Bigots. Chronic fatigue. Back pain.

Something you collect:

Orange Bird merchandise. He’s just a little guy and I am obsessed.(if anyone wants to see my collection let me know)

Something you forget:

Yes.

What's your love language?

Quality time and gift giving(Particularly sharing food.)

Favourite movie/show:

Movies: The Lion King(original), Star Trek IV The Voyage Home(the one with the whales) X-Men First Class

Shows: The Witcher, Avatar The Last Airbender, Supernatural (cringe I know)

Favourite food:

Chowder, fresh tomatoes, orange juice

Favourite animal:

I love all animals(except most parasites bleh)but some I’m quite fond of are Cheetahs, maned wolves, vaquitas, and bees

What were you like as a child?

I wanted to make friends with everyone. I was also very smart but never did my homework.

Favourite subject at school?

English, American History any anything science

Least favourite subject:

World History (sorry) and PE

What's your best character trait?

I haven’t given up yet 👍

What's your worst character trait?

I can come off as a bit of a know it all. I also have little patience or kindness for myself(I am working on this)

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

Money please

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet

Steve Irwin. And maybe the currently passed cast of Star Trek TOS

@veevil you’re getting tagged twice! Also @twistyoliver if you wanna

[rurunumi]

poetry, ready to eat: statistics

hey so i actually dont feel this way anymore but i thought it'd be silly to write about and i havent posted anything in a hot min so !! this is it lowercase n stuff intended

just a statistic

i think about the what could've been, the what ifs

the fact that we never amounted to anything special 

except something special to me

so i had hoped it would be special to you too

special enough to keep me around

special enough to fit into the 2% of highschool sweethearts that get married

but we're the rest, the 98%

the ones who never succeeded with the ones they saw the future in

the ones they talked about the future with 

like us

we’re just that statistic

not special, because those 2%, they're more than that

they succeeded, they're special 

they thought that they were both worth it

why didn't you think i was worth it

congrats to the 2%

and the 98% who could only dream

seems like we're joining you too

to add onto that stupid statistic that i wish i could be on the other side of

yapped a lot in this, got too lazy to add anything else bleh not my best actually might be my worst

[kozykricket]

i yapped about pokemon and what id love to do in my own creature collector so much yesterday, in a discord server, yet the idea of writing / noting all that down is like. bleh. ill do it. but its so much nicer just yapping to people than like. writing it down properly and cleanly. bleh.

anyways ive got a lot of fun idea.s theyre fun enough that it feels very worth it to write it down in a lil text document :p maybe tumblr post sometime...

[autumn-applepie]

I think it's baffling that my mother doesn't want me to get disrespected and always stand my ground but when I stand my ground against her or a family member I'm "being ungrateful"

I feel a little stupid for ranting this much but hhh ig putting myself on blast is what keeps me sane so I'm gonna rant down here sorry it's going to be log I just yap a lot ignore this lol </3

my mom is very pushy and a perfectionist, failure and error is not allowed, and whenever there's a problem she gets angry, screams, insults and throws things. I messed something in my new University's registration and instead of paying no taxes, we ended up having to pay a 400 euros tax. My mom was screaming like shit, I thought it was completely normal that we had to pay them but then we checked and we figured I messed an information cuz the explanation wasn't so clear on the site and she got mad saying that she was supposed to do it and I can't do anything alone, that I'm a child, I'm pushy and I always rush things when I did that registration quite calmly and double checked and was absolutely sure.

I just messed something, and tbh 400 euros of taxes for the whole year is not even that much, considering the higher taxes you can possibly pay in that uni is over 30,000 euros. And we have a whole month to fix this we just gotta wait for the secretary to reach us back to our email. And when we made the first payment (the admission tax of 120 euros, not the uni tax), she obsessively tried to search for every single paper possible, while I tried to show her how it takes a bit for the payment to show and she got heated up and doubled down on "I'm just showing you how you not fuck your life up" like wtf?? And ofc I got mad telling her to calm down cuz there was no reason to twist the knife in the wound and she got so offended saying I have no right to talk back to her and disrespect her. That I'll never go anywhere in life with that attitude and that when someone older than me talks I need to shut up and listen and that I want to ruin my life I can do that outside of the family. Even when she started mocking me instead of giving me actual counterargument (like, literally she would mimic my words mockingly and go "bleh bleh bleh gne gne gne wah wah wah wah!", even disrespectfully mimicking spasms while doing it) she would go "I'm making fun of you because you never let me talk so I'm not going to listen to you" wha????

This always happens also with my grandmother and my aunt. Long story short, my grandma is very old and is starting to struggle to walk. She uses a cane and always needs a hand. Usually is my aunt who does that, however, my aunt is very dismissive and superficial. Whenever we go out, I always end up being the one caring for my grandma because my aunt doesn't even care to stay close to her enough, making her risk to fall to the ground multiple times. Now, my grandmother is not a good person either, like at all. She's the main source of verbal abuse, fatphobic, homophobic, and racist "jokes" in the whole family. But still she's like. Almost 90 years old. And tbh she doesn't deserve to like. Fall to the ground because my aunt cares more about herself than her own old mother. I had to call out my aunt many times like "can't you please stay behind her instead of having your head in the clouds??" and my aunt gets always so offended and my mom always goes "she's your aunt, and she's older than you. You have to give respect no matter what" and I obviously told her that respect is a two way street no matter the age and no matter if it is a relative or not (also because we're talking about GRANDMA FALLING TO THE GROUND because of my aunt not caring), and her response was "Life doesn't work like that. Respect should always be given, you shouldn't be entitled to have that respect back" huh??????? I don't??? think that's how respect work????

Idk she always leaves me so spent every time cuz wtf

[twistedtummies2]

Mia Corazón (Commission)

Another commission I got via my FA page. This is from the same person who commissioned “Tick Tock” and “A Grim Dinner.” It features his OC based on Tick Tock the Crocodile, Tock Crockwork...BUT, more importantly, it also acts as an introduction to his newest OC, Caelyum De Macabre - a character based on Davy Jones (with hints of Tia Dalma) from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  And it’s NOT A KINK STORY. HERESY, I KNOW. I had a LOT of fun with this one; my only major regret is that I couldn’t make it longer than it already is. XD Also, just for the sake of making sure people know, I did not make up the lyrics to the song featured here. They’re actually fan-made lyrics for Davy Jones’ theme from the movies, originally created by a YouTube artist called Fiajela. I highly recommend looking up the song - it’s been covered by her and Man on the Internet, and they even made a duet version with the two stitched together. Anyway...hopefully you all enjoy. :)

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Valentine’s Day had come to Night Raven College. As you and Grim walked through the halls of the dark castle, you couldn’t help but chuckle at the decorations: pink paper hearts and streamers of white and crimson were everywhere, making it feel almost as if Heartslabyul had somehow managed to take over the entire palatial academy. Grim frowned up at you, trotting at your side, trident tail swishing as he went. “Nya? What’s so funny, Minion?” he demanded to know. “Nothing, nothing,” you responded with a shake of your head. “It’s just…everything looks so different.” Grim sniffed snootily, crinkling his nose at a poster of two young lovers embracing. “I don’t like it,” he remarked. “It’s all…mushy. It just doesn’t feel right for a School of Villains to be so…nya, what’s a good word…?” “Sentimental? Sappy? Saccharine?” “Gross,” was the word Grim chose, sticking out his tongue and shuddering like a small boy afraid of getting the dreaded cooties. You snorted with laughter. “Well, bring it up to the Headmaster,” you smirked, stuffing your hands in your pockets as you went. “I’d rather not,” Grim grumped. “Besides, we all know Crowley would just ramble on about it, or say he’ll get things done and never do…how come he’s Headmaster, anyway? He doesn’t do anything!” “Your guess is as good as mine,” you shrugged. “All I know is the only home I have is thanks to him, as is the only job. I’d like to keep both, thank you.” Grim shrugged back with an accepting sort of rumble as the two of you ascended the spiral staircase that led up to the Headmaster’s Office. Crowley had sent a call that morning; classes were dismissed for the day, so the university was a little quieter than usual: many of the students were off visiting family or loved ones, and those that were hanging around the campus still were largely engaged in…ahem…PRIVATE affairs. You, of course, could not leave; at least for now, Night Raven was your home, and as you were currently not in a relationship, Valentine’s Day wasn’t much different than any other day. Not that you minded much; it was still nice, in your mind, to see others happy and relaxed, and a holiday was a holiday, at any rate…though it seemed even St. Valentine’s holiday would not be saving you from helping clean up whatever mess Crowley needed dealt with this time. As you passed an image of two small, fluffy kittens holding a heart, a random thought came to your head: “Grim?” “Nya?” “Have you ever wanted to be in love?” “Not really,” the cat-like monster said. “Love is all…icky.” You frowned. “Icky?” you repeated. “All the kissing and hugging and…bleh!” Grim shuddered again, then went on: “Besides, it seems awfully difficult; makes you humans and even beast-men all crazy. I’ve got too much to deal with as it is, thank you very much! Nope. The World’s Greatest Mage won’t ever let love make him all soppy.” Grim stuck out his fluffy chest proudly at this, sticking his nose in the air. You smirked, and paused, reaching down to scratch behind his ears. He froze up…then purred and nuzzled into your touch. “Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…o-okay…maybe I love some things,” he admitted.

“Good kitty,” you teased, and snickered as Grim growled at you and half-heartedly swiped at your hand with a paw. You retracted it and the two of you kept moving. “Come on. The sooner we deal with Crowley, the faster we can get to our own stuff.” Grim nodded, as the pair of you drew nearer to Crowley’s office. You knocked on the door and waited for the sing-song call of “Come in!” before entering. Inside the office, things looked the same as ever, floating portraits of the Great Seven and all…aside from a vase of roses, plus a couple of heart-shaped ornaments on the desk, as well as the fact the purple-and-green curtains had been exchanged for solid red velvet drapes. Dire Crowley himself was seated behind his desk, sorting through paperwork, dressed in his usual attire. His feathery cloak rustled as he lifted his top-hatted head, and smiled at both yourself and Grim as you shut the door to the office behind you, his yellow eyes sparkling behind his Plague-Doctor-esque Venetian mask. “Ahhh! Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm! And the Little Monster!” he greeted warmly, rising and waving his hands, bidding you closer as he stepped around his desk. “Come, come, you’re right on time!” “On time for what, dare we ask?” Grim meowed. “Aren’t you celebrating Valentine’s Day, too, Headmaster?” you asked, politely. “Later,” Crowley smirked, winking and tapping the side of his mask’s long nose. “I’ll be entertaining a cute little fairy sorceress from the Land of Oz later tonight.” He let out a dreamy sigh, placing a hand to his heart. “Ahhh, Miss Upland…one day, you will be mine…” You and Grim gave each other a look, shrugged, then turned back to Crowley. “What’s the problem, then?” you asked, knowing better than to think this was a social call. By now, Crowley had firmly established yourself and Grim as the chief problem solvers of the Academy, so it stood to reason he had a mission for your both. “Oh! Yes, well,” Crowley muttered, and cleared his throat, adjusting and straightening his stance before going on in a business-like way: “As I’m sure you’ll both know, tonight there’s a special performance, directed by our own Vil Schoenheit, for the holiday.” “Nya? Isn’t it that play about the Sea Witch?” Grim checked, tilting his head. “Correct,” nodded the Headmaster. “And the Little Mermaid she assisted. We have a special guest coming to see the show tonight…” He reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out a small photograph, handing it over to you. You knelt down to get closer to Grim’s level, and showed him the photo as you both looked it over: the picture was a portrait of a dark-skinned mermaid, with hair black as ebony and scales of red and gold. Her eyes were brown and soft and warm as milk chocolate, and a silver locket in the shape of a heart was clasped about her throat. “Oooh…she’s pretty!” Grim smiled. “Very,” you agreed with a smile of your own. “She,” the Headmaster spoke up, “Is Young Lady Mia Corazón. Her family is one of the richest in the Coral Sea.” “Which is why you invited her,” you guessed, trying not to sound as bored as you were. To your surprise, Crowley answered, “I didn’t invite her! She wanted to see the show on her own…but there is one difficulty: her family insists that she be accompanied by at least two bodyguards at all times. Much like the Al-Asims, they’ve had…ISSUES in the past, and if their daughter is going to be on land for a spell, her parents want to make sure she’s adequately protected.” “That’s fair enough,” you supposed. “Let me guess,” sighed Grim, crossing his arms, “You want us to be the bodyguards then?” “Well, I suppose I COULD hire professionals,” Crowley murmured, scratching his chin in thought. “But they can cost a lot…I’d probably end up having to cut your pay just to-” “Forget it,” you grumbled, while Grim growled and slapped a paw to his forehead. “We’ll do it. But something is worrying me, if you don’t mind my bringing it up.” “What’s that?” “Are you sure WE’RE the right ones for this job?” you pressed, then before Crowley could speak up, you went on quickly: “We’ll do it, like I said, but…are you certain we should?” “How do you mean?” the Headmaster questioned, tilting his head. “Well, we’re not from the Coral Sea,” you explained. “Wouldn’t someone from that area be a better choice? Perhaps Azul could loan out the Leech Twins for a day!” Both Grim and Crowley looked at you as if you had grown a second skull. “…Right,” you sighed, quickly catching on. “Azul. ‘Loan’ us the Leech Twins. And us NOT expect things to go HORRIBLY wrong, one way or another. Yeah, that was a dumb suggestion, sorry.” Crowley chuckled and shook his head. “I have every confidence in you,” he said, with a wide smile. “You’ve solved so many problems in the past! And it’s only for tonight! What could possibly go wrong?” “Well, great, now something will DEFINITELY become a problem,” Grim grumbled. “Look, it’s not that I’m ungrateful,” you pressed on, “Or even that I’ve got a whole lot else to do, just…I’m worried because I don’t have magic. And Grim is…well…Grim.” “Hey!” Grim yapped indignantly. “I could roast any bad guy’s butt if they tried to get to Miss Coronation!” “Corazón,” corrected the Headmaster. “Whatever,” shrugged Grim. Crowley rolled his eyes, then turned his head upward. “You do raise a good point though, Prefect,” he conceded. “I didn’t think of that…at the very least, you two will need some help.” You were just about to agree…when suddenly, you heard Grim shiver. Both you and Crowley looked down as the cat-like demon quivered and hugged himself, the fire in his ears flickering. “Are you okay?” you asked, worriedly. “Y-Yeah,” Grim answered with a slight chattering of his teeth. “But…does anybody else feel like it suddenly got colder in here?” Now that Grim mentioned it, you DID suddenly feel a light chill crawl up and down your back…and it wasn’t too long afterward that the source of the cold made its presence known. With an authoritative BANG, the Headmaster’s office door burst open, causing both yourselves and Crowley to yelp and jump in alarm. You turned around fast, and gulped nervously as you perceived the imposing figure of Chief Jehan – the school’s head of security, garbed as ever in his military style cap and long, black trenchcoat. “Headmaster,” the darkly dressed security chief intoned, bowing his head respectfully to Dire Crowley, “Forgive this intrusion.” “Oh, it’s alright, Claude,” Crowley sighed out, then frowned. “Whatever is the matter?” “I apprehended this rule-breaking scallywag in the school cafeteria,” Jehan stated, indicating a second figure. “Ow! OW! H-Hey, let go of me, you old…! I’ll bite your legs off, you hear me?!” You and Grim were surprised to see the short, thick-hipped, green haired figure struggling in the icy grip of Claude Jehan, trying to pull away as his ear was all but being yanked from the side of his cranium. “Tock?” the two of you chorused. Tock Crockwork just snarled as Jehan glared at him. He tried to return the glower, but it came off more akin to a wounded animal trying to look tough than…well…looking tough. Crowley’s frown deepened, and he stepped past you and Grim – uttering a quiet, “One moment please” – before approaching the chief and the unruly Octavinelle student. “What is the meaning of this?” the Headmaster boomed. The Security Chief pushed Tock forward, releasing his ear. Tock stumbled a bit and caught himself, massaing his sore lobe. “This young ruffian,” Jehan explained, “Started a brawl with Mr. Bucchi over the last Deluxe Menchi Katsu Sandwich. As the latter student was merely defending himself, I felt his punishment should be more lenient; both have been banned from the cafeteria for the rest of the week…but as the one who started the whole affair…” He trailed off as Tock growled rather pathetically, looking down at the floor sullenly. Crowley scowled and hummed thoughtfully, clearly trying to determine a fitting punishment. Your eyes, as well as Grim’s, widened, and you looked to each other. “Grim,” you whispered, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “I think so, Minion, but a show about a math teacher who’s also a criminal mastermind? Who’d want to watch that?” You facepalmed. “What are you two whispering about?” Jehan asked, suspiciously, as Tock and Crowley both looked to you as well. “I think I know a way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak,” you suggested. “You mean, a way to deal with Mr. Crockwork while also dealing with your dilemna?” Crowley guessed. “Exactly.” “Dilemna? What dilemna?” Tock asked. You grinned.

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“Thanks for sticking up for me, snack meat,” Tock groused, petulantly pouting as he walked by your side. “You’re the one who decided to pick a fight with the hyena,” you shrugged. “Honestly, I think I did you a favor.” “Nya…my Minion has a point,” Grim nodded. “Do you really think things would have been better if Crowley had decided to punish you himself?” “Or worse,” you put in, grimly, “Leave you to Chief Jehan?” All three of you shuddered, and Grim even crossed himself at the mention of the security chief. “Fine, I guess that’s fair,” Tock grumbled. “But I don’t like having to protect a fish filet from harm. I eat fish!” “Well, you won’t be eating Mia Corazón,” you sniffed. “Alright…guess I’ll just have to eat YOU instead,” smirked Tock, and licked his sharp teeth. Grim mewed and hid behind your leg. You blushed. “…We’ll worry about that later,” you grumbled, making Crockwork snicker with a wicked smile. “For now, let’s focus on getting you some actual lunch.” “You ARE an actual lunch,” snorted Tock. “I am not on the menu!” you snapped, flushed with embarrassment as Tock gave you a knowing grin. “Well…not till your work is done,” he teased, winking deviously, then smirking down at Grim. “Maybe I’ll have the little hairball for an appetizer, too…” Grim hissed at being referred to as a “hairball,” but said nothing. “Do you always have to be so antagonistic?” you sighed. “It’s what keeps getting you into trouble, you know.” Tock just shrugged carelessly, hips swaying as he walked side by side with you. “So, where are we heading?” he asked. “Can’t go to the cafeteria, and the Mostro Lounge is way too expensive…” “The Mystery Shop,” you answered. “I’m sure Sam’s got something in stock for us all to snack on before we head to the beach to pick up our special guest.” “Nya! Between my fiery awesomeness, my Minion’s brains, and lizard-breath’s strength, we’ll be the best bodyguards ever!” declared Grim. “Call me ‘lizard breath’ again,” Tock warned, “And we’ll be back down to two people, fuzz-face.” “Fuzz-face?!” Grim snapped. “How’d you like to BURN off a few of those calories you’re so proud of, hah?!” “Girls, girls, you’re both pretty,” you droned. The pair glared at you, then each other…then growled in unison as they stopped. “Thank you,” you sighed with relief. “Now, let’s be on our best behavior: I don’t want Sam’s Friends to give us a hard time…” As you spoke, your little trio reached the entrance to Mr. S’s Mystery Shop, and the three of you walked inside. Aside from a simple banner reading “Happy Valentine’s Day!” over the door, the shop was completely as it usually was…at least on the outside. To be fair, once you all entered the building, the store within seemed its usual self, too; no heart-shaped décor here, only the usual assortment of voodoo accessories. The strange part came when you not only realized Sam was nowhere to be seen…but you all also noticed who was tending to the store. Or rather, what. “Crabs?” all three of you gasped in surprise. Sure enough, crawling all over the Mystery Shop was an assortment of strange white sand crabs. Their shells seemed to have been made from smooth, ivory-colored stone…and as if the presence of the pale decapods wasn’t bizarre enough, their activities certainly would have gotten some unusual reactions. A few of the crabs were straightening out and sorting through items on the shelves, making sure everything was in top-notch condition. One crab was holding a miniature broom, while the other held a dustpan, the pair of them sweeping the floor. Still another crab was changing a lightbulb, while two more – clicking their claws encouragingly – were supervising. A bunch of crabs carrying a spray bottle and a wash cloth scuttled past you all, near your feet. Yourself and Croc stepped back, but Grim – with typical feline curiosity – leaned down and actually sniffed at one of the crustaceans… “ME-YOWCH!” he yelped, and jumped back, mewling and covering his muzzle after one of the crabs pinched his nose with their pincer. The crab seemed to strut away importantly afterward. “Heh…guess the crab cake bit back, huh?” teased Tock. Grim just growled and massaged his stinging snout. “This is new,” you muttered. “Where’d all these little guys come from?” “Cruel and cold, like winds on the sea. Will you ever return to me? Hear my voice sing with the tide: My Love Will Never Die…” The melodious voice soon sang into your ears, and you and your companions looked towards the source. In a corner of the shop, a lone figure was quietly mopping, and singing the lonely, haunting sea shanty you had heard. The figure was a young and slender man, dressed in a tan-colored jacket with ruffle-ended sleeves, and a brown hip-skirt. His legs were covered by dark beige trousers, while plain brown boots were on his feet. A fishnet scarf was loosely slung about his shoulders, almost like a shawl, and an orange muscle shirt festooned his abdomen. His hair was a curious pink hue, and done up in dreadlocks. “Ahem!” you coughed, catching the young man’s attention. He froze and looked up to you, blinking his brown eyes. For a moment, you noticed there was a look of pain and something…hollow in his face, as if something inside of him was missing and he longed to get it back. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness and sorrow seemed to wash over you…but it disappeared in an instant when the youth smiled. “Oh! Ahoy there! Didn’t hear you come in,” he greeted, bowing his head respectfully as he put the mop in its bucket and then walked towards you and your group. “Can I help you?” “Well, you can start by telling us who you are, and what happened to Sam,” Grim frowned. The young man chuckled, flipping his fishnet scarf over one shoulder. “Sam is taking the day off for the holiday,” he explained, then slowly added, “I don’t…make merry on Valentine’s Day, so I volunteered to keep the shop open and do some cleaning.” “Well, that answers one question,” Tock snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and lookin the taller youth up and down. “Mind answering the other?” “Oh! Right, right,” the young fellow chuckled, and cleared his throat before giving a mock-salute and answering: “Name’s Caelyum. Caelyum De Macabre. I’m Sam’s new assistant.” “Pleased to meet you,” you smiled, and shook Caelyum’s hand, and tilted your head. “Say…can I call you Cael for short?” The young man’s smile flickered, and he paused before quietly beseeching, “I’d…rather you didn’t, thank you.” “No problem, I’m sorry,” you apologized quickly. “Not at all, not at all,” the young man chuckled, and straightened his stance, recovering quickly. “So! What can I do for you, me hearties? Supplies, clothes?” “Food,” growled Tock. “I’m STARVING.” Caelyum chuckled and jabbed a thumb to one part of the shop. “You’ll find everything you need in that direction.” Tock nodded, and sashayed in the direction De Macabre had indicated. Caelyum smiled back at you and Grim in the meantime. “You’re the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm, right?” he guessed. “That’s right,” you nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, then,” Caelyum smiled. “Sam’s told me all about you: he says you’re his favorite customer.” “He says that about everyone,” Grim snorted. Caelyum chuckled and knelt down. He extended a hand carefully. Grim sniffed it carefully…then smiled and allowed the shopkeeper’s assistant to pet him softly. “You have a beautiful singing voice,” you couldn’t help but comment. Caelyum looked up in surprise…then blushed a bit. “Oh, uh…you heard a little of that, did you?” he chuckled with embarrassment. “Nya! It sounded really sad, but…it was also really nice,” Grim mewed. “Thanks,” Caelyum said as he stood back up to his full height. “What song was that?” you asked, curiously. “I’ve never heard it before. Is it from your homeland?” Caelyum’s smile fell, and he looked askance. “Not exactly,” he murmured, then informed you aloud, in a matter-of-fact way: “It’s a song from the Coral Sea. I come from the Jubilee Port, near the Swamplands: same place as Sam. A…friend taught the song to me.” Catching the hitch in his voice, you smiled sympathetically. “It sounds like you two were close.” “We were,” Caelyum said softly. “Very.” “Nya…what happened?” Grim asked. Caelyum paused…then shrugged. “They left,” was all he said. Sensing the sensitive subject, you decided to drop the matter; Grim caught on and did the same. “How long have you been working for Sam? I haven’t seen you around before.” “Not long,” shrugged Caelyum, seemingly grateful the subject had changed. “He and I have some similar interests, and when I joined Night Raven, I applied for work.” “Oh, so you’re a first year?” “Yep.” “What house? Octavinelle?” you guessed, wondering why Tock wouldn’t have recognized the youth if so. “Scarabia, actually and weirdly enough,” laughed Caelyum, as if the placement struck him as some sort of very funny joke…he paused then leaned in and whispered: “Um…is it just me, or is the dorm head of that house a little…you know…how would you say it…?” “Too pure and innocent for this cruel, unholy world?” “…Yeah, that.” “Yes. Yes, he very much is.” The two of you were interrupted by the sound of Tock snarling in the food aisles. You all turned to see him trying to pry a bag of chips out of the pincers of one of the crabs, who looked very insulted to be interrupted in his work. “Hey! Can somebody make this crab cake let go?!” he snapped. “Oh, sorry!” Caelyum called out, and then snapped his fingers. Suddenly, every single crab inside the building froze…and then their claws and extremities retracted into their shells, leaving only a series of what looked like smooth, white stones scattered around the shop. With a second snap of his fingers, the stone crabs disappeared; there was no puff of smoke or flash of light. One second they were there…the next, they were not. Grim whistled, impressed. “Nice trick,” he murmured. “Is that your Unique Magic?” you asked. “Yep,” Caelyum nodded. “They’re called Locker Crabs, and you’d be surprised the kinds of things I can do with them…” “Cool!” Grim commented. “Hey, Tock!” you called out, hearing the rustling of snack food bags. “Leave some stuff for the rest of us, and hurry up! We need to get to the beach quickly!” “I’m hurrying, snack meat, I’m hurrying!” Tock called back dismissively. “The beach?” Caelyum spoke up, looking interested. “Why are you three heading there? What’s so important?” “We’re on a mission!” Grim cheered, puffing out his chest once more. “Oh, really?” smirked Caelyum, looking amused, and scoffed as he moved behind the front desk. “What for? Some sort of Valentine’s Day meeting, or something?” You frowned, sensing a bitterness to two particular words. “You mentioned you don’t make merry on Valentine’s Day,” you said slowly, approaching the desk and leaning on it. “What do you…y’know…have against it?” “Hm?” Caelyum murmured, then shrugged as he leaned back against the shelves behind the front desk. “Oh, well, it’s…not the day itself. More what it represents.” “Nya? What do you mean?” Grim asked, tilting his head. A shadow seemed to fall over Caelyum’s face, and he looked askance. Something icy and stormy flickered across his features. “Love,” he said, as if the word were some repellent toxin. You and Grim shared a look, then looked back to Caelyum. “Love is a lie,” Caelyum went on, seemingly talking more to himself than to either of you. “It’s like a parasite that burrows into your chest…and even once the sickness it spreads is cured, something in there remains, keeping you from ever knowing real peace. It pulls you along a blind alley, and just when you feel safe, it stabs you in every place it hurts most, and then leaves you to either heal on your own or die. It weakens your defenses, and confuses your resolve. And yet every year, every time this day comes around…I just see people acting like it’s the best thing in the universe.” He shuddered violently, looking positively ill. Grim meowed almost sadly. “I think love is mushy and gross, but…I don’t think it’s THAT bad,” he mewed. His words seemed to snap Caelyum out of it. The witch doctor’s assistant glanced up at you both…and, with a light chuckle, his helpful, friendly smile returned, the shadows departing in an instant. “Well…being mushy and gross doesn’t help,” he joked. Grim sniggered. Your own expression didn’t change, even as the employee leaned forward again. “Seriously, though, what IS your mission?” “We’re gonna be bodyguards!” Grim announced joyously. “Bodyguards?” “There’s a special guest coming to the show on campus tonight,” you explained. “The Headmaster assigned the three of us to look after her, since she’s a VIP.” “A really RICH VIP,” Grim added. “That’s our Headmaster,” Caelyum scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “So, who is this special guest?” “Mia Corazón.” Caelyum’s smile vanished, as if it had been smacked off his face. “Mia…Corazón?” he repeated. “Nya? Do you know her?” Grim asked. Caelyum didn’t answer, looking away; that hollow, haunted stare came to his face as he seemed lost in another world. “Mia Corazón,” he repeated again, then let out a soft, slightly hysterical laugh. “Of all the cursed days of the year…she chooses now…” Before you could ask what was wrong, Tock came lumbering over, arms loaded with various snacks and drinks. “There! That should be enough for all of us…or at least, for me,” he grinned, flashing you a wink that would have made you blush in an instant if your mind weren’t on other matters. He looked towards the assistant…then frowned, eyes narrowing. “Hey…who are you upset with?” The words once again snapped the brooding Caelyum out of it. He looked at Tock with surprise…then shook his head fast and brushed some of his pink hair away from his face. “No one. Nothing,” he insisted, and forced his smile back onto his face. “Now! Let’s, uh…let’s ring this up, aye?” In casual, business-like fashion, Caelyum charged Tock; you were grateful for the recent raise Crowley had given you as you paid for it all. The three of you then left the shop. Just before you exited, you turned to bid Caelyum one last farewell. He smiled and waved back… …But the moment you left, the darkness flooded his face once more, and he looked away, eyes smoldering like hot coals as he reached into his shirt… …Revealing the silver locket that was around his neck. The same sort in the photo Crowley had given you. The young man’s face became cold as an iceberg once more as he opened the locket…and sang to the tune the music box inside played. “Wild and strong, you can’t be contained. Never bound, nor ever chained. Wounds you caused will never mend, and you will never end…”

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“Why did you ask him that question?” Tock Crockwork belched and grunted as he finished up his lunch, licking and sucking on his fingers before looking to you, cheeks bulging as he still chewed his food. “Whuh queshun?” he mumbled out through a full mouth. “About why he was upset?” Grim spoke up, tilting his head. “I mean, he certainly looked upset, so…” “That wasn’t the question he asked though,” you clarified to Grim, then looked to Tock. “You specifically asked, ‘WHO are you upset WITH?’” Tock swallowed and let out a hiccupping burp before speaking. “Mph…yeah, and?” he grunted, patting his stomach and licking his lips free of any crumbs from the sandwich he had devoured. “Well…why did you assume he was upset with someone?” “I didn’t assume, I knew,” snorted Tock, and slung his arms behind his head as the three of you neared the beach of Sage Island. “That was the same look I saw in the mirror every day when I thought of Leona, or those boys back home.” Knowing what had happened in his conflict with Leona, you gulped at Tock Crockwork’s words. “Well, I hope he wasn’t mad at us,” murmured Grim. You smiled thinly; you had a very good idea you knew who Caelyum was mad at, given the context of things…and you were very much hoping you were wrong. You had the sinking feeling those hopes would be dashed as the three of you drew closer to the beach…and a familiar-sounding song, accompanied by the tinkling notes of a music box, drifted through the greenery and into your ears… “Over waves and deep in the blue; I will give up my heart for you. Ten long years I’ll wait to go by: My Love Will Never Die.” The source of the singing soon became clear as you pushed past the last few bushes of the wilderness and stepped onto the open, sunny beach. There was a single white bench nearby; standing beside the bench was a man in what looked like an almost Spartan uniform…and seated upon it was a young woman, with dark skin and long, black hair, dressed in a red and gold dress. In one of her hands, she lifted the pendant of a locket; the source of the music box tune. The lady snapped the locket shut, and she and her chaperone turned fast when they heard yourself and your companions approaching. She smiled, chocolate-toned eyes lighting up with interest. “Oh, hello!” she chuckled, seemingly a bit embarrassed at being caught in her reverie, and stood up as her suspicious compatriot narrowed his eyes at you. “Are you…my bodyguards?” “Yes, ma’am!” chirruped Grim, proudly. “Mia Corazón, I presume?” you smiled, respectfully. “That is right,” the young woman greeted, bowing her head in matching respect and lowering her locket. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” “Wait a minute…why do you need us to guard you?” Tock spoke up, and pointed to the Spartan-looking fellow. “Wouldn’t he be enough?” “Oh, that’s Firme. He actually has a date with his wife,” Mia answered, giving the man a teasing smile.

The guard blushed. “Miss Corazón, not in front of civlians!” he pleaded. Mia chuckled. “Sorry, Firme,” she apologized. “Now go on; I know she’s waiting for you.” Firme nodded gratefully, then glared at the three of you more seriously. “Protect her at any cost; we’re depending on you,” he ordered. “Aww, don’t worry, we’ll keep the little fishstick safe!” Tock smirked, cracking his knuckles and neck. “You can start by NOT calling her ‘fishstick,’” you droned, noting the nervous look on Mia’s face and the anger on Firme’s. You gave both an apologetic smile. “Sorry. He’s half-crocodile. Trust me, though, he’s a softy when you get to know him.” “HEY! I AM NOT!” snapped Tock, angrily. Grim just giggled. The interaction and your promise seemed to relax both denizens of the Coral Sea. Firme bowed to Mia, and then walked towards the beach…and kept walking, straight into the sea, until his head disappeared under the waves. “Well!” Mia smiled, and cheerily hurried towards your group. “Can we go see the show now? I don’t wanna be late!” “Of course…um…Your Excellency?” “Oh, don’t bother with titles like that,” the girl giggled. “Just call me Mia! Everybody does!” “Okay, Mia,” you chuckled, quite liking her warmth and energy. “Follow us, and stay close.” “I will,” Mia promised as the three of you set off along the beach. “Thank you, by the way; I hope this doesn’t cause you too much trouble.” “Quite the opposite,” grumbled Grim, remembering what Crowley had said earlier. “Why do you wanna see some silly show anyway?” sneered Tock. “Oh, it’s not silly!” exclaimed Mia. “The story of the Sea Witch and the Little Mermaid is important among my people…and besides, I think theater is exciting! I always enjoy seeing it!” “Hopefully our show won’t disappoint,” you smiled. Tock just rolled his eyes and scoffed. “I still think it’s for wimps,” he mumbled…then abruptly froze. The rest of you stopped, too, looking to the croc boy as he sniffed the air and growled. “What is it?” Mia asked. “Something wrong?” “Very,” Tock nodded. “We are being watched.” “How do you know?” you asked. “Instinct? Intuition?” Tock growled and narrowed his eyes, looking at you determinedly. “No, meat. We. Are. Being. Watched.” “By who?” whispered Mia, nervously. “I have an idea,” you murmured with some dread. Before Mia could comment on your remark, all three of you heard a sharp yelp, and turned to see that Grim had inexplicably toppled over. The feline-like creature sat up and massaged his bumped noggin. “Owwww,” he moaned. “What happened?” Mia asked, sounding concerned. “I dunno!” Grim whined out. “Just…s-something seemed to come up from under me and…” “GAHR!” You jumped as, right on cue, Tock toppled over as well. Then it was your turn, as you felt something shift under the sand where you stood, and you dropped to the ground. The wind was knocked out of you for a moment, but you managed to sit up just in time to see three large, round humps in the sand…which seemed to move of their own accord. The three humps began to trace a path, circling Mia, who froze up and squeaked like a mouse, clearly confused and frightened. It only got worse when, suddenly, more and more humps seemed to appear out nowhere: at least a dozen or more, which shot through the sand, burrowing through it with a barely-audible scraping sound… …Then, dust flew up as the shapes burst from the ground. As the dust cleared, you and your friends watched wide-eyed as a consortium of familiar white crabs toppled Mia Corazón, and – working together to lift her, carried her off across the beachside. “HEY! PUT ME DOWN! STOP!” Mia cried out, but the crabs wouldn’t listen, and soon vanished from sight. “Nya…we’re off to a good start with this job,” sighed Grim dismally. “After them!” you barked, and leapt to your feet as you dashed after Mia and her arthropoid captors, Grim hot on your heels. Tock grumbled sourly as he dusted himself off then jogged after you. “Taking orders from my lunch…I’m gonna eat that stupid, mask-wearing, feather-loving…!”

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Mia cried out as the crabs carried her along the sand, her “volunteer” bodyguards soon out of sight. She tried to fight free, but the crabs pinched and held her fast, keeping her in place. She wasn’t sure how far or for how long they carried her…but suddenly they stopped, and she let out an “eep!” as they moved into a pillar, and pushed her up, allowing her to stand. The mermaid-in-disguise turned around, panting for breath as she watched the crabs swarm about each other…then, they seemed to coalesce and mesh together; their pale shells took on more colors; hints of pink, brown, and orange… …Until, finally, standing before her was a familiar young man with dreadlocks and a fishnet scarf. In his hand, he held a heart-shaped silver locket. “Come my love, be one with the sea. Rule with me for eternity. Drown all dreams so mercilessly, and leave their souls to me.” He snapped the locket shut at the end of the verse, and paused before uttering, in a mechanical, robotic tone, two words: “Ahoy, Mia.” Mia blinked slowly, absolutely stunned. “…C-Cael?” Caelyum blinked back and said nothing, his face emotionless and blank. Mia slowly smiled, her eyes lighting up…then squealed with joy and rushed forward, throwing her arms around the young man…who stood stiff and rigid, not even looking at her, as she hugged him close. “CAEL! I…oh, Gods, what do I even say?! It’s…it’s been so long…I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been?! Cael…Cael, I-I’m so happy…!” “Let. Go. Of. Me. You. BITCH.” Mia gasped as Caelyum harshly pushed her back, nearly knocking her over. Her heart sank as she stared at the young man, who glared at her, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. She looked deeply hurt…and not because of the push. “Cael?” she whispered. “Cael…wh-what’s wrong? Why…why are you upset with me?” Cael’s eyes flashed with anger. “What’s wrong?! Why am I upset?!” he repeated. “What in Hades do you THINK is wrong?!” Mia flinched as the boy from the swamplands’ voice rose to a perfect scream. Cautiously, steadily, she approached. “Cael…please…I-I don’t understand. I…I’ve wanted to see you again for such a long time, and now-” “How DARE you?!” shouted Caelyum, silencing the aristocratic mermaid. “How dare you say something like that to me?! After what you did to me, do you expect to believe you’ve ever cared?!” “I…what…I do care!” Mia pleaded, and tears began to twinkle in her eyes. “Cael, what are you talking about?” Cael laughed; a dangerously unhinged, malicious sound. “Oh-ho-ho, you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about! You should!” he spat…then, the bitterness was replaced by pain as he went on. “Two years, Mia. Two years I waited, and you never returned. You…y-you broke your promise to me…and did you ever think of me in those two years? Did you think of me even once in all the time since, until now?” Cael’s eyes began to brim with tears of his own; he was shaking. Mia felt her heart sinking further in her chest. “Of course I did,” she said, softly. “You’re…you’re my best friend.” One could almost hear Caelyum’s last heartstring break. “Best friend,” he repeated, in a dead, soulless voice…then hung his head. “You still don’t get it, do you, Mia? You broke my heart, Corazón…” Head still hung low, dreadlocks casting shadow over his eyes, Caelyum De Macabre lifted one arm, and snapped his fingers…and Mia nervously stepped back as a swarm of crabs appeared to trail across his arm and mesh together…forming a silver cutlass. “…And now, I’m going to break yours. Literally.” Ominously, Caelyum began to approach. Mia felt panic rise in her, and started to back away…then yiped, almost comically, as she tripped on her own dress and tumbled back. “C-Cael…Cael, PLEASE!” she cried out, as the boy loomed over her, his face twisted in anger as he began to lift the sword above his head… “HEY! BACK OFF!” FWOOSH! A jet of blue flame shot between Mia Corazón and Cael De Macabre; the lad from the swamplands jumped back, then growled angrily, turning to face the source. You had finally arrive, with Grim at your side, both of you glaring at the bokor’s assistant. “That’s enough, Caelyum,” you warned. Cael sneered. “It’s not enough,” he hissed, “Until she endures the same amount of PAIN and AGONY I HAVE!” With a roar, he rounded about to try and strike Mia down…then froze in place when he found she had seemingly disappeared. Startled and caught greatly off guard, he was unable to avoid the green scaled fist that grabbed hold of the back of his jacket, and cried out as, with a roar, the owner of the fist hurled about seven feet away, sending him rolling through the send. His sword spun through the air before stabbing into the ground right at the edge of the shore. Caelyum coughed and snarled and spat as he got onto his hands and knees…then glared as he found Tock Crockwork – now in his full “true form” – glaring at him, fangs and claws bared. “Keep away from the fishstick, swamp meat,” he spat. “Thank you,” Mia whispered. Tock just smirked at her – somewhat cockily but not cruelly – then glarde back at Caelyum as yourself and Grim moved to stand beside him, all of you making sure to create a barrier before poor Mia. Cael rose to his feet shakily. “Leave her alone, Caelyum,” you said. “This is not your fight!” he snapped back. “Uh…yeah, it kinda is,” Grim snorted. “We told you, this is our job today!” “You don’t know who you’re protecting,” Cael viciously sneered, his shoulders trembling with fury, his fingers clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white as the bones under his skin. “She cursed me!” “Cursed you?!” Mia exclaimed. “Caelyum, I never did ANYTHING to you!” “Yes, you did!” Cael answered…and gulped back a sob before explaining: “You made me love you.” All eyes widened; you and your friends looked to Mia, then back at Caelyum. “Ohhhh…now the pieces are coming together,” Grim murmured. “I know the look in your eyes, meat, and it’s not love,” Tock said, darkly. “Not love as it should be, anyway.” “Cael…I-I’m so sorry,” Mia quavered. “Of course you’re sorry,” Cael scoffed. “Everyone’s sorry when it’s too late.” So saying, he lifted his hand…and the sword that had stabbed into the ground “dissolved” into a group of crabs. They scurried across the beach, crawled up his side…and reformed into a cutlass in his grasp once more. “Put the weapon away, Caelyum!” you beseeched. “It doesn’t have to be like this!” “Yes it does!” Cael yelled. “Don’t you get it?! I can’t be free! I’ll always remember! I’ll always feel that pain! Love is a curse; a curse that hurts me, every day of my existence…but after today, I’m going to change that.” He closed his eyes. You had a bad feeling you knew what you’d see when he opened them again…and you were correct. One of his eyes was suddenly surrounded by a fiery aura. “Today, I break the curse.” KA-ZAM! The familiar black cloud of Overblot surrounded the shopkeeper’s boy. Blue and orange light flashed in the gaps between the vapor as it swirled around the fellow from the swamplands…until finally, the mist parted. When it did, you all found that Caelyum De Macabre had gone through an alarming transformation. His brown-tinted clothes had vanished, replaced with a blue-gray uniform like a navy seaman. One of his arms was stuck into the sleeve of a long, tattered cerulean coat with gold lining, which hung about his shoulders almost like a cape. A blood red sash was lashed about his middle. While his left eye was surrounded by orange aura, a tattoo had appeared over his right, in the image of a pirate medallion. His dreadlocks had transformed into a head of writhing, wriggling, pinkish-purple tentacles, like those of a squid; each tendril’s tip was smeared with ink. His left arm had become a white crab claw, ink oozing from its joins; his right leg had become a crab’s leg, too, and was also oozing with Blot. A single black boot covered his one human foot…and he still held his cutlass in his one human hand. Cael grinned viciously, pupils pinpricks as he pointed his sword at you. “Yo-Ho, me hearties!” he bellowed. “Shiver ‘em from stem to stern!” At these words, the ground before his feet seemed to ripple…and then, a swarm of Locker Crabs came scrambling from the ground, racing towards your group. “I’ll take care of this!” Grim pronounced, and summoned a wall of flame. As the fire struck the crabs, they vanished in a cloud of silver smoke…but more just kept coming! Caelyum laughed and began to move towards your group, swaggering as the point of his crab-leg stabbed into the ground repeatedly. Seeing the approaching dark mage, Grim paused to hurl a fireball in his direction…only for Cael to split in half, crab legs showing in the “seam” of his being, as the fireball hurtled past without causing any harm. He stitched himself back together and kept moving forward, as if nothing had happened. Tock Crockwork roared and charged at Cael, swinging a punch at him…but De Macabre simply swept up his crab claw and, in a fluid, wrenching motion, whirled Tock about and flung him to the beach floor. He grinned with deranged excitement as he moved closer to yourself and Mia, leaving Tock to choke in the dust. “Hold them off, Grim!” you called out as he continued to scorch the crabs. “I’ll try!” Grim called back. “Run for it, Minion! RUN NOW!” And you did, holding onto Mia’s arm as you dragged her after yourself. With a wild laugh, Caelyum lifted his sword up…and then “melted” into a swarm of crabs, which scurried after the two of you as you raced along the beach. Behind you, Tock snarled, clutching his banged skull as he watched the horde of crabs vanish. He angrily kicked away a few that Grim didn’t manage to stop, and then charged forward. Grim panted; he was already growing weary. “I…I can’t hold them off!” he meowed. “There’s…there’s too many-EEP!” “Stop whining and shut up,” snarled Tock, whisking Grim up in one arm and sprinting on, the pair pursued by the remaining Locker Crabs. “We’ve got more important things to worry about, come on!” Unaware that your friends were on the chase, you hurried along with Mia Corazón. The crabs that made up Cael’s being clicked and scraped behind you with a deeply unsettling sound, urging you to go faster and faster. “Wait!” Mia gasped. “If…I…can…talk…to him…!” “I don’t think he’s in a mood to talk!” you replied. “Right now, all we can do is…!” You trailed off and stopped short as the crabs suddenly caught up with you…and then moved around you, reforming in front of you into a column. Thinking fast you looked around… …And were just in time to grab hold of sturdy tree branch, as a sword reshaped and then stabbed at you. You barely had a moment to parry the strike, the blade cutting a notch into the wooden limb you held. “Stay behind me!” you hissed to Mia, as Cael reformed fully. “So, it’s a duel then?” Cael cackled. “Alright! EN GARDE!” You yelped, instinctively blocking as the sword slashed at you once more. The slash was followed by a lunge; you jumped back quickly and parried that strike, too. CLING-CLANG-CLING-CLANG! The cutlass and the branch clattered against each other, the sound of the steel against wood that was tougher than it looked ringing out. Each time Cael tried to get around you to lunge at Mia, you blocked his path. You laughed softly, amazed you were holding out; guess one didn’t know how good they’d be at something like a swordfight till they tried! You ducked another slash, and responded by swinging your stick around. WHACK! Caelyum reeled as you managed to smack him across the face…then slowly turned back. He looked…annoyed. “Ow,” was all he said, almost sarcastically, before swinging his blade around again. You quickly lifted your branch… SWACK! And gulped nervously as the cutlass sliced it clean in half. “Oh, boy.” “HA HA!” laughed Cael, and lifted his crab leg, kicking you hard in the stomach. You coughed, dazed and winded as you crumpled to the ground. Now, nothing was standing between the enraged Caelyum and his prey: Mia. The mermaid with legs began to back away in fright…then cried out sharply as Cael thrust out his crab claw and grabbed her by the throat with it. A grin of evil triumph spread across his face as he lifted his weapon above his head. “And here we are at last,” he crooned with twisted delight, and squeezed, making Mia gasp for air. “Any last words, my dear?” Mia gulped…and looked pleadingly into the Swamplander’s eyes as she uttered five simple words. “Cael…please…I love you!” Just before the last three words were uttered, Cael had prepared to attack…but then he froze. The grip of his pincer loosened as she said those three golden words, and the demented smile vanished from his face. He hesitated, as if those words had caused something in his brain to just shut down… Which was all the opportunity you needed. CRACK! “GAH!” exclaimed Caelyum, and dropped Mia, who coughed as she hit the ground. His tentacle hairdo wriggled like a horde of angry snakes as he glared at you in rage: the stone you had thrown at his shoulder had hurt! With a furious roar, he swung his sword around his head three times, trying to cut you into pieces. You ducked and dodged each strike as fast as you could…only to fall back as Cael summoned a horde of sand crabs. You squirmed and grimaced as the crabs pinned you to the ground, acting like organic shackles. You winced as each time you moved, they pinched you hard, making you stay still. Caelyum smirked victoriously, and pointed the tip of his cutlass at your heart. “Tell me, Prefect,” he taunted. “Do you fear death?” “Do you?” CHOMP! Caelyum began to turn around towards the voice, his face etched with surprise…and stayed perfectly still, as if he’d become a statue, paralyzed in shock. The red marking of Tock Crockwork’s unique power – One Minute to Die – was evident on his left arm. “NOW!” the crocodile shouted, as Grim hurried over. The feline-like creature wasted no time: he focused his power, a bright blue aura surrounding him…before, with a spiteful hiss, sending a huge jet of flame towards Caelyum. Caelyum was sent flying through the air, clothing scorched, and rolled across the dirt, still in the position he had been stuck in. Only a few seconds later, he convulsed, and groaned, trying to stand up… …Only to find Tock looming over him. “This,” the crocodile hissed, “Is why I’M top of the food chain, snack meat!” WHAM! He spun around, slapping his tail across Cael’s face…and the Overblotting mage fell still and silent, rendered swiftly unconscious. The sword disappeared without warning from his hand, as if it had never been there. The crabs he had summoned all vanished in the blink of an eye: just like at the shop, one moment they were there, and the next they were not. All four of you – yourself, Mia, and your friends – sighed with relief. “Thanks,” you nodded to Tock as he helped you to your feet. “Hey, I’ve gotta protect my territory; that includes you,” Crockwork shrugged. You decided not to comment on that. “Are you okay, Miss Corazón?” meowed Grim, nuzzling up against the mermaid’s side. She smiled weakly and patted his head before standing. “Physically, yes,” she said. The teenaged girl’s eyes then lit up with concern as she hurried over to Cael’s side. “Cael…Cael, are you okay? S-Speak to me!” she pleaded. “He just tried to kill you!” Grim snapped out. “He wasn’t thinking straight,” Mia defended him. “Just…h-he didn’t understand…” She sniffled and bowed her head. “…C-Caelyum…I’m so sorry…” You and Grim shared a sad sort of look. Tock just looked confused, above all else. “What happened between you two?” the croc grimaced, crossing his scaly arms. “I think we’re about to find out,” you said, and pointed as silver mist began to wisp off of Caelyum De Macabre’s form. A moment later, a blinding white light surrounded the young man…and the mist formed a cloud, inside of which – as always seemed to happen – pictures from the past began to appear… “Tag! You’re it!” “I’ll get you! Ha Ha Ha!” In the swamplands of the Jubilee Port, a small boy with pink dreadlocks giggled and hid behind a tree by the riverbank. For several seconds, he sat anxiously…then yelped when, out of the river burst a familiar, dark face with flowing raven hair. “GOTCHA!” sang out the girl with the gold and ruby tail, and reached out a hand to playfully tap his shoulder. “No fair!” huffed the boy. “I always have to stay near the water; you never let me have an advantage!” The girl giggled and smirked teasingly. “Not my fault you’re a lousy swimmer,” she cooed. The boy grumbled and pouted. She smiled gently. “I’m sorry, Cael; I didn’t mean it,” she said, placing a hand on his leg… “AHA!” the boy laughed, and tapped her hand before jumping away. “You’re it again!” “HEY! THAT’S CHEATING!” The two laughed as the girl swam through the river, chasing the bayou boy up and down the banks…before finally leaping out of the river with a victorious cry. “RAAAAH!” “EEK!” Young Caelyum yelped as he was thrown to the ground. The girl with the fish tail grinned, flippers wagging happily as she kept him pinned. “Gotcha again!” she sang out. Young Cael giggled and wiggled under her. “Hey, lemme go!” he demanded with a slight laugh. “Hmmmm…if I do, will you just tag me again?” “…Maybe?” The mermaid glared…and tickled her friend with her tail. Cael squealed with laughter before flashing an evil smile. “Ohhhhh, you wanna play that way, huh?” He tickled her back and the two rolled across the bank…before yelping and splashing into the river. A moment later, both rose from the depths Caelyum coughing and floundering. “Help! Mia, help! I’m drowning!” “I’ve got you, hold on!” Mia said, and helped Cael back to shore. The boy sighed with relief and began to wring out his clothes. “Thank you,” he gasped out. “No problem,” Mia smiled. “I’m sorry you got all wet…” “It’s okay; I’ve got other clothes,” Cael smiled. Mia nodded, then smiled a bit more sadly. “I still should have been more careful: there may be more clothes, but there’s only one Caelyum.” Cael blushed. “Hush, you’re just teasing me now…” “No. I’m not,” Mia said seriously. “You’re my best friend, Cael.” Cael blinked, pausing in his activities. “…But…don’t you have other mermaid friends?” “I may have OTHER friends, but you’re my BEST friend,” smiled Mia. “And there’s only one of you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Cael blinked again…then smiled sentimentally. “Heh…well, um…you’re my best friend, too, Mia. And, uh…a-and I feel the same.” “I’m glad,” Mia smiled. A pause. “You should really suck less at swimming though.” “Oh, hush. Say! Maybe you can teach me?” “Sure!” That word seemed to be a cue, for the scene changed to a few years later; the same river on the bayou, the same boy and girl, just a little older. “MARCO!” “POLO!” The Mermaid floated with her upper half above the water, eyes closed, flapping her tail as she blindly searched for her friend. Cael would pop up now and again with a gleaming, gloating grin as he watched her try to find him: he’d learned to swim VERY well in the years since that time playing tag. “MARCO!” Mia called out again. “POLO!” laughed Cael. “Oh, this is impossible, you’re too fast!” “Suck less at swimming,” teased Caelyum. “I’m a MERMAID, all we DO is swim!” “You can walk!” “I need a potion or a spell for that,” huffed Mia, and turned around, trying to feel about for her friend. Cael smirked and dove under again, swimming cautiously around her in the wide river… …But as he popped up again, he was due for a terrible sight. He gasped as he saw Mia blindly reaching closer to the shore…where a venomous serpent glared at her oncoming form almost hungrily… “MARCO!” “MIA, WATCH OUT!” Confused, Mia opened her eyes…then gasped as she saw the snake rearing back to bite her! She pulled away just in time, and at the same moment, Cael glared and snapped his fingers. The snake heard a clicking noise, and turned its head to find a white crab snapping its pincers. The pincers swung towards its throat… SNICKER-SNACK! And that was the end of the snake. Mia swam back to Caelyum’s side as she snapped his fingers again and the crab disappeared. He hugged her close. “Are you okay?” he whispered, worriedly. “Yeah…i-it didn’t get me,” she panted with relief, and squeezed him tightly. “Thank…th-thank you…” Caelyum smiled warmly and returned the hug…then froze up as Mia leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said again, and nuzzled against his bare chest. Cael blinked…then blushed red as a tomato and grumbled. “…Hey, what are friends for…? More time passed, and the swamp disappeared. The scene now became a lonely pier. On it sat Caelyum and Mia, who was now in full human form. “Do you really have to go?” he whispered. Mia nodded sadly, hanging her head. Cael bit his lip, and looked away, tragedy in his eyes. “…When…w-when will you be back?” he asked, timidly. “I don’t know,” Mia admitted sadly, then smiled gently up at her friend. “My mother said I need to start learning more about the family business; spending less time on land and…well…with you.” Cael frowned and clenched his fists. “I see.” Mia’s smile fell…and she gave Caelyum a hug. He relaxed. “She’s set in her ways,” she said softly. “But I will never forget you. And I WILL come back.” “Do you promise?” “Of course. You’re my best friend,” smiled Mia…then reached into a bag she had with her, stationed between the two. “Here…I have proof…” Cael tilted his head as out of the bag she pulled two silver necklaces with heart shaped lockets. She gave him one, and clasped the other around her neck. “What is this?” Cael asked, crinkling his nose in confusion. “A sign that we both share the same heart,” Mia said, and giggled. “That’s the really sappy way of saying it, anyway. Put it on and open it!” Cael did, and at the same time he opened the locket, Mia did too…and soft, beautiful melody chimed from the music box contained. Caelyum’s eyes widened. “That’s the song you taught me,” he recognized, and looke dup to Mia. “The one about the pirate and the goddess of the sea?” Mia nodded. “It’s your favorite…my favorite…OUR favorite,” she said gently, and took Cael’s hands in hers, looking into his eyes with deep-rooted affection. “And as long as we share these lockets, share these songs…we’ll never truly be away from each other.” Caelyum smiled weakly. “I don’t know about that,” he chuckled, wryly. “But…thank you, Mia.” He paused. “You…you know I love you…right?” Mia blushed. “Yes. And I love you too.” Cael gaped. “You do?” “Of course, silly! You’re my best friend!” Cael blinked…then smiled and shook his head wearily. “Yeah…I know,” he said softly. “I…I know.” A pause…and the pair began to sing together to the mingled tune on their music boxes as they watched the sun sink on the horizon beyond the sea. “Warm and welcoming as the sea, someday I will return to thee. Hear my voice, sing with the tide: Our Love Will Never Die.” Time passed once more, but the music box still played. The next scene played in silence, as Cael lay on his bed silently one night. He hummed to the tune on the locket, and glanced sorrowfully towards a calendar on his wall. Every date was crossed out with a red X. He sighed…then snapped the locket shut…before a lightbulb seemed to go off over his head, and he reached towards his book case, grabbing a specific spell book… This short tableaux was followed by another as Caelyum was now found…underwater. His lower half had become a white-scaled fish’s tail as he swam through the water, using a spell that would turn him into a merman for a few short hours. He’d taken a boat out to the coordinates where he knew Mia lived. Now, he swam quickly and quietly through the city, looking for Mia. His eyes darted this way and that, seeking some sign of his long lost friend; two years without any sort of contact – never a call, never anything written – and he was now so close to seeing her again! He smiled wider as he moved into one of the higher rent neighborhoods of the underwater area, carefully brushing past other, natural merfolk going about their business. His heart was beating fast in his chest; when he found her, he’d tell her everything. How he felt, how much it hurt to be without her, how much he never wanted to be separated again! Then he found her, as he turned an alley…and that fast beating heart seemed to skip a beat… …As his face filled with sorrow. Only yards away – never noticing he was there, he saw a strong, burly-looking merman with blonde hair…hugging his Mia and kissing her full on the lips. He clamped his eyes shut…and swam away, out of the city and back towards the surface. His tears were lost with the tides. Thus ended the vision, as the blinding light faded, leaving an unconscious Caelyum De Macabre lying on the ground, back to his usual self. “…Prefect?” “Yeah, Grim?” “Is it, like…a requirement that we stand here for several seconds in total silence after we see those?” “No, I think it just happens.” “Ah. Okay then.” Tock Crockwork said nothing. A few moments later, Cael groaned and began to stir. He blinked his eyes and clutched his pink-haired head as he started to sit up. “Ugh…what…wh-what happened?” he slurred out. “You tried to turn my food into shish-kabob,” droned Tock, thumbing towards you. “Shut up,” you grumbled. Confused, Cael turned towards your voices, and looked about to say something…until he heard sniffling and whimpering. He turned…and found the teary-eyed face of Mia staring back at him. “C-Cael,” she whimpered…then let out a squealing cry that caught him off guard as she threw herself upon him and began to cry. “CAEL, I’M SO SORRY! I’m so, so sorry…please…please, I’m sorry, PLEASE…!” Caelyum, as you might imagine, looked beyond uncomfortable…and with a growl, he managed to push Mia off of him. She whimpered like a kicked puppy as, without a word, he got to his feet and turned away from her, one hand on his chest, clutching his silver locket. “Sorry isn’t enough,” he answered, coldly. Mia gulped…and stood up. “Cael…please don’t walk away,” she begged. “Why not?” Caelyum snarled back over his shoulder, and began to stumble away. “Because I love you!” Cael stopped. He didn’t turn around…but he stopped. Mia paused…and took a deep breath. “I love you,” she said, firmly now, not desperately. “I…I always loved you, but…but I was…I don’t know, I…I was worried…” She hung her head and paused before going on. Cael turned his head slightly to show he was listening. “When I returned to the sea, my mother didn’t want me to ever go back to the land. She forbid it. She told me I had to stay under the water, and…and find a proper husband. She told me to forget about you, and…that merman you saw? He was…my betrothed.” Cael growled. “WAS,” Mia pointed out, and then went on quickly: “Cael, I could NEVER forget you, and I could NEVER stop loving you. Those two years…they were agony for me. That time in the alley…I asked him to kiss me because I wanted to show him we WEREN’T right for each other. He agreed; there just…wasn’t a spark. We liked each other, but…we both knew it would be wrong.” She swallowed, and lifted her head. “So…we both spoke to my mother. And…she realized what she’d been doing was wrong. The very next day, I went back to the swamplands; I looked everywhere for you…you weren’t there.” Silence. “I’m so sorry, Caelyum,” she sniffled. “I’m…I’m so-” Cael stopped her with a raised hand…and slowly turned towards her. All of you were surprised to see tears in his eyes. “…I just tried to kill you.” “Yes.” “I ran off over this whole misunderstanding.” “Yes.” “All this pain, all this time…and you really loved me?” “Yes.” “And…you…still love me? After all that?” Mia smiled. “Yes.” Cael blinked…then let out a wet laugh. “Wow,” he chuckled. “I…I guess swimming isn’t the only thing we both suck at. I mean…we’re n-not very good at this whole ‘relationship’ thing, either, are we?” Mia shared a sniffling laugh…and the pair promptly ran into each other’s arms. “I’m so happy I found you,” Mia sobbed with joy. “I’ve missed you so much…” “Not half as much as I’ve missed you,” Cael choked. The pair squeezed each other…then backed up, holding each other’s hands and staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. “Play the song you sang long ago,” Cael began. “And wherever the storm may blow,” Mia continued. “You will find the key to my heart,” both finished. “We’ll never be apart.” “Aaaaand…kiss,” you murmured to yourself with a smile, as the pair did exactly that. Tock snorted, rolling his eyes as Grim stuck out his tongue and grumbled something about “soppy mush.” The two lovebirds parted after a few seconds…then seemed to remember you were all standing nearby, and blushed before backing away from each other like scalded cats. “Um…s-sorry,” Caelyum mumbled. “About trying to destroy us, or for that sappy display?” droned Tock. “Because I can forgive one of those…” “It’s the destroying us part, isn’t it?” you guessed. “Yyyyep.” Cael hung his head and shuffled his feet guiltily. “…I’ve…had a lot of pain bottled up for years,” he said silently. “And…when I heard she was coming here…I…well…” “It’s alright,” you soothed, moving closer. “I can understand. And for the record, we won’t tell the Headmaster.” “Nya…or Chief Jehan,” Grim added. “Claude Jehan?” Mia spoke up, and tilted her head. “Is he really as scary as they say back home? The Ashengrottos and Leeches have a LOT of stories to tell.” “I’d imagine,” you snickered. “And no. He’s not that scary.” “Right. He’s WORSE,” Tock responded. “Amen,” you and Grim chorused. Mia gulped nervously; Cael chuckled softly, smiling at her with puppy-eyed affection. “I…hope he’s not going to be at the play tonight,” she said slowly. “Trust me, you’ll be fine,” you soothed. “Well, we won’t be if we don’t get there on time!” Grim reminded you. “We’re already behind schedule, thanks to all this!” “The hairball has a point,” nodded Tock, stiffly, then grumbled under his breath: “I still say it’s all for pansies, though…” All of you chuckled…except Mia, who took Cael by the hand. “Can…can he come, too?” she asked, shyly. Cael looked shocked, as did Grim and Tock. You just smiled wider. “If he wants to,” you answered. Cael blinked…then grinned so wide his face nearly seemed to split in two. “Please!” he nodded eagerly. “Then come on!” you called, and gestured for the reunited lovers to follow. “Let’s get moving before my pay gets docked! I have a pet to feed, you know!” “I AM NOT YOUR PET!” snapped Grim, while Tock cackled with amusement, snapping his fingers and resuming his humanoid form. Caelyum De Macabre and Mia Corazón just smiled and squeezed each other’s hands, following at a steady pace. It took longer than it should have to reach the theater, in the end, but you still made it in the nick of time. When asked why it took so long, you had an honest answer: Cael and Mia were so busy staring into one another’s eyes with everlasting love, it made getting there quickly difficult. In your mind, and theirs, it was more than worth it.

 The End