#nurgul oakley brotp

[ericsonclan]

A Gift From The Heart

Summary: Nurgul goes cloud watching with Oakley and decides to give them a surprise gift.

Word Count: 1756

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Nurgul was in the midst of nursing her daughter Maria in the courtyard when she felt a light poking at her elbow. She turned round to see Oakley standing there, the same unreadable expression on their face as always. Her friend’s hazel eyes studied her curiously. “Cloud time,”

“Oh, right! I’ll be done here in just a minute then I can meet you at our regular spot, k?”

Oakley nodded in understanding and walked off without another word.

Nurgul glanced down at her baby daughter. “Looks like we’ll have to find someone else for you to spend time with for a while,” She walked into her house, wondering if anyone was at home. Gabe was off working on dock repair, Luka was in school, Santi had a shift at the library… “Javi!” Nurgul smiled brightly at the man as he sat at the kitchen table idly perusing a half-done crossword puzzle. “Maria, your great uncle Javi will be watching over you for the next hour or two,”

“Please, just ‘uncle’ is fine,” Javi quipped, reaching up to take the baby. As Maria was taken from her mother’s arms, she began to cry but soon adjusted as Javi began rocking her and making funny faces to keep the baby entertained. Javi smiled over at Nurgul. “Go on, we got this,”

“Thanks!” With that Nurgul headed out toward the meeting point, her grey knit cardigan swaying behind her as she walked. She and Oakley had a weekly tradition of meeting up atop the library in Haven’s Landing and cloud watching together. It was a way for them to get away from the general hubbub of life and just be for a while. Sometimes Nurgul would lead the conversation and chit chat about this or that and other times the pair would be completely silent, simply enjoying the sight of the clouds and the feeling of the fresh air brushing against their skin.

Taking the stairs, Nurgul headed for the roof, pausing for a moment to wave to Santiago before continuing her climb to the top. The library tended to be quiet and was close to the house: the perfect place for a meet up. As Nurgul approached the top of the stairs she saw that the door to the roof had been left open. Oakley was already up there.

Emerging onto the roof, Nurgul had a quick look around. It was a peaceful day in Haven’s Landing. The river just outside the community flowed peacefully and she could spot Gabe’s beanie as he led a crew in fixing up the docks. Guards on the walls and the ground kept watch for muertos or slinkers as they were called in these parts. Nurgul had heard many names for them but all of the dead were the same. Thankfully the residents of Haven’s Landing kept the resident slinker population in check. There would be no breaches on their watch.

“Found one,” Oakley’s words had Nurgul turning her head to look at her friend who was lying spread eagle on the roof. “It looks like an owl,”

Nurgul walked over and lay down beside her friend to see which cloud they were referring too. “Hmmmm, you mean that one on the right?”

“Yep,”

The pair fell into companionable silence. Nurgul watched the clouds drift slowly through the sky. It was a really good cloud watching day. The clouds were big and puffy, mixtures of shadow and light that looked like any number of things. From time to time she would point one out for a moment, noting that one cloud looked like a bunny or another looked like a pillow. Oakley would simply nod most times, sometimes offering an alternate interpretation of what the cloud was, then they would return to their own private thoughts.

It had gotten to that point where time started to melt and lose its meaning when all of a sudden Oakley’s stomach loudly rumbled. Both of them glanced down at the source of the noise.

“Did you have breakfast today?” Nurgul rooted in her pocket, wondering if she had something in there to offer.

“Had some eggs. Wasn’t too hungry,” Oakley looked down at their hands which were spread across their stomach as though to quiet it. “Wish there was granola,”

“As soon as we have oats again, I’ll make some more with you,” Nurgul promised. Baking with Oakley was always fun, especially granola. Oakley’s eyes lit up for the treat in a way they did for almost nothing else. Unfortunately though there were a lot of ingredients needed to make granola so their instances of baking it were few and far between.

Nurgul looked over at her friend thoughtfully. “In all the years I’ve known you I’ve never asked. Why granola? Why is it your favorite food?”

Oakley shrugged. “Tastes good,” They were silent for some time and Nurgul thought they were done when they suddenly continued. “My dad used to make it,”

She’d never heard Oakley mention their family before. All Nurgul knew was they’d been on their own since age nine. She was hesitant to ask more but curious. “Those are good memories then? Having granola with your family?”

Oakley nodded. “Dad said it was a healthy snack, so he made it every week. We had it for breakfast too. Constance always wanted it sweeter,”

Their older sister. Nurgul had heard her mentioned before. A certain light danced in Oakley’s eyes whenever they mentioned her. Nurgul waited patiently to see if her friend would say any more, but it looked like Oakley was done. Speaking of the past had Nurgul thinking of her own as well. “My mom and I would bake together a lot. Looking back, I guess it was mostly her baking and finding ways for me to help, but I still loved it. We made bowersak pretty often. I used to love watching the dough puff up and go all golden when she put it in the oil,”

Oakley looked over with interest. Nurgul had made the fried dough before in the spring to celebrate Nauryz and they’d quite enjoyed it for its warmth and light crunch.

Nurgul smiled at her friend’s receptiveness. “Would you like me to make bowersak again sometime?”

“Yes,” Oakley turned to look back at the clouds then paused. “Please,”

“I’d be happy to make you some,” Nurgul returned to cloud watching, her thoughts now on food. Bowersak was easy to make: just dough and hot oil. Granola was another story. They’d need oats, honey, seeds, dried fruit, some vanilla bean if they were extra lucky… hopefully the bowersak would in its own small way fulfill Oakley’s craving for something crunchy and sweet. She wished there was more she could do though, a way to bring that same joy to Oakley’s eyes they had whenever remembering the granola of their past. Perhaps…Nurgul began to make a mental checklist. She could do that. She’d make it a surprise though. She loved surprises.

It was a few weeks later when Nurgul found Oakley doing their own cloudgazing in the tiny courtyard that connected their living quarters with the main house. Nurgul walked up slowly, wanting to make sure not to startle them. “Got a minute, Oakley?”

Oakley didn’t respond at first but eventually glanced over Nurgul’s way. “Wanna join?”

“Actually, I have a surprise I wanted to share with you. It’s a gift that I made. Not food,” Nurgul quickly added as Oakley turned their head in interest. “But it is food related,”

Oakley sat up, their expression unreadable. They probably didn’t know what to expect. Nurgul held out a parcel she’d wrapped in butcher paper and decorated with a piece of twine she’d dyed with huckleberries. Oakley accepted to the parcel, shaking it experimentally. The package flopped back and forth in their hands. Pulling the twine, Oakley let the butcher paper fall open and reveal their gift.

It was a black t-shirt, the sort that used to be made back before the world fell apart. Originally it had been blank, but now the front was covered in embroidery. A large granola bar had been embroidered upon the shirt, various shades of brown, yellow and beige used to emulate the texture. It also had the outline of a wrapper along its lower half, the edges of the wrapper a shiny silver as though the granola bar had just been opened and was about to be savored. Across the top, the word “GRANOLA” had been embroidered in all caps using a bright yellow thread.

Nurgul watched her friend’s face attentively, hoping to capture some glimpse of emotions to know what Oakley thought of the gift.

She got more than she had hoped for. Oakley’s eyes were bright with joy, but that wasn’t all. A smile pulled at their lips, something that only appeared once in a blue moon. They held the shirt up, letting the wrapping paper fall to the side, and began to happily rock back and forth, their eyes locked on the embroider shirt. A happy little tone steadily fell from their lips as they cradled the shirt.

“I take it you like it then?” Nurgul asked with a smile. She’d never seen such a strong reaction from Oakley before.

Oakley pulled the shirt over their head, looking down at it in awe. “I’ll wear it forever,”

“Well, I hope you let me wash it from time to time, but besides that you can wear it as much as you want. I wasn’t sure if you’d like it since it’s not actual granola, but it looks like it was a hit!”

“It’s perfect,” Oakley murmured, their fingers tracing the embroidery reverently.

“I’m glad. I wanted to give you something special to help you remember those special times with your family you told me about and just to celebrate you being you, Oakley Emerson,”

“Knox,”

“What was that?”

“You can call me Knox,” The look in Oakley’s eyes had a depth as they held Nurgul’s gaze. It was clear this was something important to them, something secret, perhaps sacred,”

“Knox,” Nurgul nodded, a small smile crossing her lips. “Thank you for telling me,”

Oakley nodded, holding her eyes for a second longer before they turned their attention back to their shirt. They were happy, perhaps happier than Nurgul had ever seen them. That was more than she had ever expected a simple shirt to accomplish. She watched in quiet contentment as Oakley admired the gift, both of them lost in the timelessness of a perfect happy moment.

[ericsonclan]

The Mystery Snack

Summary: Renata and Sophie prepare to sneak up to the surface when suddenly another merperson appears wanting to see the land dwellers again.

Word Count: 2876

Read on AO3:

Renata swam forward, her yellow tail cutting through the water with ease as she twirled amongst the seaweed. A large grin was on her face as she continued onward, not a care in the world. Her brown eyes glanced up at the waters above, noticing the small schools of fish and the warm sunlight that pierced through the surface of the ocean and highlighted the waters below. There really was no place to live like under the sea. Still, the surface was so mysterious with the land dwellers running around on things that looked like sticks and with their weird food. Renata still wasn’t over how disappointing that black block tasted.

“Stupid stale box,” Renata flicked her tail and did another small spin, instantly regaining her joy. Whatever, she was planning on meeting up with Allison today and after that she would finally go on that stealth mission that she and Sophie had been playing for ages. In fact, Renata was already forgetting sections of the three hour old plan. Her nose scrunched up in concentration as she continued forward before she shrugged it off. It couldn’t be that important if she forgot it.

With a happy, upbeat tune Renata made her way forward, dancing upon the small little pulls of the ocean below. Until her eyes caught sight of Allision; her blood red tail stuck out clearly in the water as it moved this way and that. The ends of her fins brushed against the sands of the ocean floor, moving at such an anxious pace that Renata grew curious at what could be getting her friend in such a mood. With a playful smile she swam forward and tackled Allison with a hug. “Surprise hug attack!” Renata declared loudly and spun the two of them around in the water for a few seconds.

“Renata!” Allison squirmed around in her friend’s arms for a moment. “You distracted me from the hunt!”

“Oops, sorry there. Whatcha hunting?” Renata’s eyes scanned the area and her smile faltered for a second when she saw a big shark. Without thinking twice she guided her and Allison into a hollowed out rock. “That was close! Mr. Grumpy Teeth almost saw us,”

“That's what I was hunting,” Allison mumbled, her tail flicking in anticipation of Renata’s disapproval.

“Allie, just because you got a badass shark tooth necklace doesn’t mean you won’t be this grump’s appetizer,”

Renata’s words made Allison glance down at the necklace that Renata had gifted her during their travels together before they found the place that they now called home.

“I know,”

“I mean, we snagged that off some shark that was totally dead. I’m pretty sure a whale sat on that shark or something but this one is bad news.” Renata’s tail curled around a little rock and began to whack it softly up and down.

“It could be a threat though,” Allison’s eyes watched the shark for a moment then looked over at Renata.

“It could or it could just be passing through. Best thing we can do is stay here for a little bit then head back home. If it decides to show its ugly mug in our home, then it's gonna learn what merpeople can really do!”

Allison was quiet for a moment, her hand playing with her necklace. She trusted Renata’s judgement here; she usually always listened to Renata’s decision when they revolved around things like this. Not when it came to dumbass matters though - that’s when Allison knew to not have a fin in those sort of things. Usually. “Okay, fine,”

“Wooo! Alright, I found some neato sticks so we’re playing tic-tac-toe!” Renata beamed over at Allison who nodded and took the stick.

It was an hour or so before the shark moved far away from them and off in a direction opposite to their home. Once the coast was clear Renata led the way before swimming around and around Allison. “Glad we made this a game day and not a hunting day!” Renata smiled over at her friend. The red-tailed mermaid gave a small smile in response.

“Yeah, I guess it wasn’t bad,”

“That’s the spirit! Now come on, let's get back home!” Renata grabbed Allison’s hand and pulled her forward as she swam. Soon the two friends were swimming side by side, happy and carefree. It wasn’t a long swim before they arrived back home to the giant sea stone that held dozens of caves that the merpeople had turned into a beautiful home with the help of rocks, shiny shells and the occasional hermit crab.

As Renata and Allison made their way through the entrance they spotted Oakley who was staring rather intently at a patch of seaweed. The merperson’s chestnut brown tail swayed slowly, moving with the ebb and flow of the thought process of their inner mind. After a moment or two of pondering Oakley opened their mouth with a pronounced ‘Ah’ sound and bit down on the seaweed. Chewing thoughtfully, Oakley went from a somewhat blank expression to one of disgust. With a ‘bleh’ sound, bits of seaweed swooshed away with a well-timed current. “Bad seaweed.”

Before Renata could go over and comfort her friend for their terrible loss of potentially good seaweed, a new merperson spiraled forward. His firetruck red tail stood out loudly against the softer colors of the creatures nearby him.

“Knox!” Duck moved forward, abruptly stopping and causing a small whirlwind of water with his tail nearby. “I found a new patch of seaweed that we haven’t explored yet! Wanna go?” Oakley gave a small nod which made a happy smile appear on Duck’s lips. Interlocking his pinky with Oakley’s, Duck swam forward, slowly guiding his love away. Renata and Allison watched them for a moment when suddenly a loud voice appeared nearby.

“Allie!” Willy swam forward, his hands cupped together. “I found a super cool stone!” Revealing the stone, Willy watched as awe danced around in Allison’s eyes as she studied the smooth blue rock that changed from lighter shades to darker ones. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah, really cool,” Allison carefully took the rock and examined it for a moment longer before pressing a kiss to Willy’s cheek. That romantic gesture made Willy beam with happiness and twirl in a circle a few times in a row.

“I found a whole area like this! Come on, we gotta check it out!” Willy grasped Allison’s hand. The positive smile on his face made a new smile appear on hers.

“Okay,” Allison began to swim away then looked back at Renata. “See you later,”

“Okay! See ya!” Renata gave a wave then was off like a shot after moving her tail with a strong flick.

Twirling about, Renata made her way through the merpeople’s land. As she swam by, she noticed Nurgul’s lavender tail and saw that she was making seashell necklaces with Gabe before stealing a quick kiss from him. Both of them were overwhelmed by that action and their faces only became redder when Gabe returned Nurgul’s affection with a kiss of his own. Nurgul smiled softly at that and swam around Gabe and his orange and yellow tail twice then took his hand in hers. Renata smiled at the happy couple then swayed her tail back and forth at a fast pace, propelling herself forward.

Her eyes caught sight of Ruby who was beside Aasim, her azure tail curled around his black tail that held red accents. Ruby watched Aasim with a warm smile as he tried to carve some sort of writing into stone. After a moment she caught sight of Renata and gave a small wave. Renata returned it in kind then continued forward, her gaze turning to the water above and picking up on the fact that night was fast approaching. She had to find Minnie for some quality snuggling time before she went on this top secret mission with Sophie.

Moving her fin at an alarming rate Renata cut through the water and made a beeline right towards her and Minnie’s home. There, already relaxing, was Minnie. The redhead’s eyes brightened immediately when she spotted Renata, her smokey grey tail happily swaying. “Hey there, Ren,”

“Minnow!” Renata swam forward and immediately wrapped her arms around Minnie. Peppering Minnie’s face with kisses, Renata pulled back with a warm smile. “Did you miss me?”

“Yeah, I did,” Minnie held onto the hug. “Did you have a nice time with Allison?”

“Yep! But now I want cuddles!” Renata nuzzled her face against Minnie’s. The action made MInnie’s face heat up.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’m down for that,”

Minnie’s answer made Renata’s smile grow and soon the two of them were cuddling up close to each other, their tails gently intertwined as Minnie gave Renata a kiss before falling asleep.

Renata’s eyes fluttered open and she gave a loud yawn, smacking her lips together for a moment. Glancing over, she saw that Minnie was fast asleep. It would be tough to sneak out now. Minnie wasn’t exactly a heavy sleeper. Giving a soft kiss to her girlfriend, Renata then got to work, wiggling and squishing her body together to slip out of Minnie’s arms. It took some awkward movements and a weird sound or two but soon Renata was free.

Giving a gentle goodbye kiss so as to not wake up Minnie, she started to swim off. Then she suddenly paused. Her eyes traveled over to Minnie and she resisted the urge to give her love another kiss. She quickly failed. Renata swam over and kissed Minnie one more time then used the end of her fin to tickle her face before leaving.

It didn’t take Renata long to spot her best friend. Sophie’s shimmery white tail swayed ecstatically with her anticipation for this secret mission. Her eyes soon found Renata and a smile appeared on her lips. “Heya, Ren! I see you succeeded in step one,” Sophie swam over to meet up with Renata.

“Yep! And I only gave Minnie two goodbye kisses so she won’t be waking up unlike last time.”

“Yeah, midnight swimming with dolphins would’ve been a blast,” Sophie’s tail stopped for a moment. “Oh well, that will be the next mission but this one first! I gotta see if this black block was really stale or if you’ve been hiding secret tasty land dweller food,” Sophie’s eyes narrowed at Renata playfully.

Renata gasped. “I would never do that to my best friend! That black block is gross but I guess we'll just have to go up to the surface to prove it to you,” She shared an excited smile with Sophie until suddenly the two mermaids heard the flick of a fin slicing through the water. Spinning around, the two of them spotted the familiar evergreen tail and the freckled chest of Louis.

“Hey, I’m here for the mission!” Louis grinned over at the two mermaids, his tail swaying excitedly.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Sophie crossed her arms and shared a secret look with Renata. “Can we trust him?”

“Hmmm, nah,” Renata answered and swam away with Sophie for a second before turning around and grabbing Louis’ hand. “Kidding! Okay, let’s go lick some weird land dweller food and see that stick lady that Louis likes!”

Louis sputtered a response but neither of his friends heard him in their excitement.

“Okay!” Sophie smiled and led the way. The three of them tried to be stealthy as they snuck out. They were less than successful. Sophie ran into a rock structure, accidentally knocking it over, and Renata got distracted by a funny looking crab while Louis tried to grab a fish in his teeth as a gift for the land dweller he was sweet on. Luckily for them though none of the merpeople woke up and so the trio soon swam up to the surface and towards the spot where Renata, Louis and Violet had run into those two weird-speaking land dwellers. Once they arrived though it was clear that the two stick folks as Renata called them and the stale black block were nowhere to be seen.

“Are they hiding?” Sophie’s face was barely above the water as she scanned the area.

“No, they love to be out and about,” Renata looked around. Louis nodded and started to speak but the fish in his mouth muffled his words. Spitting it out, Louis tried to speak again.

“Renata is right. Maybe they have a sleeping spot though. These rocks don’t look comfortable,”

“Yeah they look like real jerkfaces,” Sophie nodded in agreement to Louis’ words.

“Well if they do have cool sleeping rocks, then I wanna find them. That’s gotta be where their stash of stale food is too,” Renata dove down underwater and soon Sophie and Louis followed suit. The three of them searched around the area for a little bit before Sophie spotted a weird-looking wooden log in the sea. It had sticks poking out of it draped with strange white long seaweed. Without hesitating Renata and Sophie dashed forward, jumping and splashing into the water as they made their way forward. Meanwhile Louis was studying his fish gift.

“This is stupid, I can’t give a fish twice!” Louis frowned and tossed the fish over his shoulder. The dead fish plopped into the water then traveled along the surface’s currents. Louis thought deeply about what he wanted to give the land dweller who made him feel all warm and fuzzy. After a moment his eyes shone with the answer. “A jellyfish!” Louis jumped up in the air and dove back down into the water, determined to find the new gift.

Sophie struggled to get onto the weird floating wooden log. Her fin floundered about as she tried to get her full body onto its flat top. Once she was on the log she leaned over and helped Renata who gave herself small encouragements as she struggled along with Sophie to get onto the floating log. It took a few more moments but soon both of them were on the log and rolling about to see what they could find.

Sophie’s light blue eyes looked around for the supposed snack Renata had licked. Looking back and forth and back and forth as she rolled around, Sophie finally found it - the black block. “Heheh, found ya!” Sophie grinned then licked the shiny black item. Her smile immediately faded though and a small pout pulled on her lips. Renata was right, it was stale. Sophie continued to pout, upset by this news when suddenly she found a white, tiny three-pronged item. “Ooo! Ren! I found something!” Sophie whisper hissed over to her best friend who was currently busy sniffing a bag full of what looked like pebbles and sand. Rolling over, Renata stopped by Sophie.

“Look! Look! I think this is a tiny weapon!” Sophie held out the three pronged item.

“Ooo! Or a thing to help your hair be super smooth!”

Renata’s suggestion made Sophie’s eyes grow large and the redhead immediately began to run the three pronged item through her long red hair. She made a happy sound as she continued to brush her hair while Renata clapped along. Sophie was about to start up another round of brushing when her eyes caught sight of the bag again. “What's that?”

Renata followed her friend’s gaze and looked at the bag. “I don’t know but I hope it's tasty!” She pulled open the bag and dug around. Tossing a handful in her mouth, Renata let out a small gasp. “It’s good! It's tasty sand!”

Sophie immediately snatched some up and her tastebuds were bombarded with distinct sweet, salty and crunchy sensations. “It is tasty sand! This is amazing!” She smiled over at Renata who returned it and the two began to high five again and again and again. When suddenly they heard some sounds from inside the log and the strange dialect of the land dwellers.

“We’ve been compromised!” Renata yelled. She and Sophie began to roll over to the edge of the log. Both of them were in the middle of helping each other escape when Louis emerged from the water, a small pink jellyfish covering his eyes.

“Guys! Bad news! Jellyfish aren’t good gifts!”

“Not now, Louis! We have to get back home with the tasty sand!” Sophie jumped into the water, the food in the bag closed and secured.

“Okay! I just need help getting Mr. Jelly off my face!” Louis blindly swam forward, bonking his head on a rock a moment later. Sophie quickly pulled off the jellyfish then looked back to see that Renata had the three pronged item in her mouth. With a jump that Renata would describe as nothing short of godliness, although in actuality it was anything but that, Renata belly flopped into the sea.

“Ren!” Sophie called out to her best friend as she slowly sunk into the sea below.

“Haul ass, ladies! Back home we go!” Louis led the way back under the sea once Sophie had successfully grabbed Renata. The three of them successfully disappeared without being seen by the land dwellers. As they swam forward all three of them had one single hope: that they wouldn’t get caught sneaking back into the merpeople’s land.