#soft jade leech

[cloudcountry]

hold on hold on i just came to the realization that fish do not sneeze.

imagine how BAMBOOZLED the octatrio would be when they hear you sneeze for the first time??? like human what was that. did you just eject a lung? are you okay??

azul would be immediately concerned, giving you the weirdest look. he hesitantly asks if you're okay, because you seem fine, but you just made the strangest noise he's ever heard and oh, is this a weird land dweller way of showing your affection? because you were pretty cute when you did that. oh, it's not...? well, now he's embarrassed!

jade is fascinated. don't let him find out about that sneezing power or pepper or ANY of that shit. he WILL use it against you. your sneezes are like little treats to this weirdo. he'll even become inclined to test those things on himself, to see just what sneezing feels like. he's genuinely surprised when it isn't painful? and that the face you make in instinctual? land dwellers are so fascinating.

floyd locks onto you. doesn't matter if he was in a mopey mood or pissing off riddle again, his eyes are wide and his pupils are dilated and he's staring at you. it doesn't matter if your sneeze is loud or quiet, he thinks it's so strange and so cute. hey, little shrimpy! what the hell was that and why did it sound so weird?

LIKE....THESE GUYS HAVE GILLS. THEY HAVEN'T HEARD A SINGLE PERSON SNEEZE UNTIL THEY CAME TO THE SURFACE. bc yk, sneezing requires lungs and nasal passages AND MERPEOPLE DONT HAVE THOSE UNLESS THEY TOOK THAT POTION TO BECOME HUMAN AND IM CRYING.

octatrio finds out what sneezing is real!!

i feel like i need to clarify that i know what sneezing is HELP ME@$@$$@$@?@!#?@!!@!# i just thought it would be a funny post i assure you guys i know people sneeze and that they probably would have been taught about it. this set of headcanons is not supposed to be taken as something that happened in canon, i just wrote it because I thought it would be goofy!!

[a-twistedheartslonging]

Mob Azul/Jade/Floyd who owns the place you work but you didn't find out about that until after you flirted with him when you were on your break.

How the heck where you supposed to know it was him? He wasn't there for you getting hired or you're training. You only even did it because your friend/coworker said you would die alone if you did take the initiative and challenged you to flirt with the next guy to come into the club.

Admittedly you should have known something was up when they looked panicked at who came through the door but hey, you were on a mission, and the guy surprisingly didn't seem to mind your flustered stuttering attempt at rizzing.

Actually...he seemed to like it a bit too much.

[hisui-dreamer]

you: jade, c'mere I wanna show you something *gestures to your phone*

jade: hmm, what is it? *stands behind you and leans down to your eye level to peer at your phone*

the screen is blank.

jade: what's there to se-

you: *turns to peck him on the cheek* oh, nothing *grins cheekily*

jade: *shocked and dazed and blushing*

from this point on, any time you try to show jade something, be it a magicam post or a picture you took, the first thing he does is peck you on the lips because "you missed the first time."

[cannedpickledpeaches]

Sad Poems but I Choose to Interpret Them as Happy

Jade Leech x Reader

“I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday. I will love you as the starfish loves a coral reef and as kudzu loves trees, even if the oceans turn to sawdust and the trees fall in the forest without anyone around to hear them . . . . I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat, and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm whale loves the flavor of naval uniforms. I will love you as a drawer loves a secret compartment, and as a secret compartment loves a secret, and as a secret loves to make a person gasp . . . I will love you until all such compartments are discovered and opened, and all the secrets have gone gasping into the world.” -Excerpt from The Beatrice Letters, Lemony Snicket

Jade is not as fickle as his brother, but he too is guilty of interests that come and go like the wind. There are some that stay, like hiking, foraging, and photography; but there are far more that he drops as soon as he’s figured them out. More often than not, his love is not long-lasting.

He has long accepted that any romantic relationship he finds himself in would have a very slim chance of being normal. Healthy. No, his love will likely destroy his partner, whether it is because of obsession or of fleeting interest. He thinks it wouldn’t be so bad to experience it. It would be interesting, a deviation from his norm.

You’re his target, but only because you made such a fascinating proposition. When you’re bored of me, tell me immediately, and we can break up with no hard feelings. Were you such a pragmatic person? He hadn’t noticed before. It spurs him on to know more, to learn everything about you. And once he does, once every single secret you could possibly hide is laid bare before him, he’ll lose interest like he always does and drop you like a bad habit.

So he does. Your favourite food. Colour. Season. The basic things, until they get more specific. The way you do your hair in the mornings. The recipes you favour and the ratio of their ingredients. Your reactions to his occasional unhinged comment. The shows that you laugh or cry at. The ones you think are mediocre. He files them all away in his memory, picking you apart like you’re a subject to study. That’s what he tells himself, anyway. Mild interest. Once he finds out everything, he’ll grow bored and leave.

Days turn to months turn to a year. Has so much time really passed? The secrets you hold have dwindled in number. He knows you inside out, top to bottom, soul to body. There’s only one thing left that he doesn’t know.

You often tease him, asking why he won’t bring you to the Coral Sea. He always gives some shoddy excuse or the other. He isn’t so sure, himself. There’s no real reason to stall. The ice floes have retreated. His parents would be delighted. He would finally know how you’d act in his hometown, in the dark, deep sea that is so different from your home, and with that, he would finally drop you. There will be nothing new.

Unfortunately, I find myself quite busy recently. Perhaps next month. When next month comes around, he pushes it another thirty days. Then another. He was never one to procrastinate, so why now? This is far from efficient. Was he such a cowardly person? He hadn’t known before. He needs to get it done so that he will no longer have a reason to keep you by his side—

Ah. That is the issue, isn’t it?

He doesn’t know how long he’d been in love. All he knows is that he can’t get bored anymore, even if the smile you give him is the same, even if your laughter that warms his chest is unchanging, even if he brings you home. All he knows is that as much as he thought his love would be destructive, he treasures your comfort and happiness too much to think about hurting you anymore. The deadline no longer lies where your last secret is. Forever, until the seas dry up, until he breaths his last gasp—he will love you forever.

[marigoldendragon]

Jade's happy place

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

Hey, I forgot I made twin side mawshots like, two weeks ago. Not good, but I'm still chuckin 'em at y'all

[vorish-wonderland]

You're a shrimp mermaid. You're quite the coward, but you still have a small "business" where you offer to clean the mouths of other merfolk. Recently, two morays have taken interest in you. But strangely enough... you don't feel that scared of them.

Includes: soft/safe vore, semi-willing prey

★✦Symbiotic Relationship✦★

☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

The pair's sharp, serrated teeth were covered in blood. It was probably the blood of people like you.

That could be you.

Just a bloodstain on some carnivore's teeth.

That thought has always terrified you.

"Can you help us with the blood, please? You'll be paid well."

"No problem, Jade!" You happily said. "I'll get you both cleaned up quick as I can!"

"Ehehe! You're the best, Shrimpy!" Floyd smiled.

"You truly are, (Y/N)." Jade added.

These strange twins have been frequenting your business recently. You're not sure why, but they've taken a certain interest in you. They're morays, and... very terrifying. They paid you very well the first time you met, so you put aside your fear and helped then with the blood staining their mouths. Ever since that day, they've come back every time they need your help.

"So, Shrimpy-"

"No talking while I'm in your mouth."

"But-!"

"Zip it."

You used a small scrap of cloth that had fallen from the surface when cleaning. You wipe off the blood, and use your spindly little limbs and feelers to make sure you'd done a good job. You aren't sure if you do a good job, but these two keep coming back, so you have to be doing something write!

"There you go!"

"(Y/N), may I ask you something?" Jade asked as you crawled out of his brother's mouth.

"Sure, go ahead."

"If I recall correctly, you claimed to be quite cowardly, and you were scared of us when we first met, yes?" Jade tilted his head. "So why are you no longer scared of us?"

"Huh? I don't know, actually." You responded. "If I had to guess... it's probably because I've gotten to know the two of you... and I know that you would never hurt me!"

"...I'm flattered, but that is an idiotic thing to say given that we don't really know each other." Jade smiled.

"Well, I have my reasons for thinking that..."

Jade stuffed you into his mouth. A bit more forceful than you'd expected, but whatever.

"I know you would never hurt me because, well, you gain something by keeping me around. So you have no reason to hurt me." You explained. "We have a symbiotic relationship, in a way."

And then you were swallowed.

You were a bit surprised, honestly. You didn't at all expect this to happen.

But it doesn't matter, because you know you'll be safe. Like you said, these two won't just get rid of something that benefits them.

And you know you were right when you heard the pair start arguing.

"Great job Jade, now Shrimpy's gonna be scared of us!!"

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to do that..."

"That's bs and you know it! You absolutely did that on purpose!"

"They tasted too good, Floyd, I simply couldn't resist."

"Well I guess you've got a point... but you didn't have to eat them!"

It's a bit cozy in here.

"Heeeeeey, Shriiiiiimpy??? You ok in there???" Floyd asked you.

"Stop poking me, Floyd." Jade demanded.

"I'm good!" You responded. "Why did Jade do this? Did he... want me to clean in here...?"

"Huh? You mean you're not scared out of your mind right now?" Floyd asked, clearly very confused. "You... you do know that Jade just ate you, right...?"

"I know. But I know I'm not in any danger! After all, I provide you a service, and if I died, then you wouldn't have that service anymore!" You explained. "So can you, uh, let me out now, Jade? I... don't really like it in here..."

"Hmm... who knows? You tasted amazing, and not to mention I feel so nice and full with you in there~" Jade licked his lips. "You poor little shrimp... such a pity you were so delicious-"

"What, do you want them to be scared of us?!" Floyd yelled.

"Fine I'll get them out." Jade sighed. "I would've thought that you of all people would enjoy teasing (Y/N)."

"Yeah, but like... they're right. If they get too scared of us they'll probably stop helping us."

"Hm. I suppose you're right."

It feels kinda awkward to just listen to these two argue...

But hey.

At least you'll be safe.

[kandyshoppe]

I feel my sketchy shading has kept getting softer and softer, but I’m not liking it. I liked my rougher style before! (Also the background took FOREVER! I regret doing a water background!)

[jaylleoo14]

shut up. I was watching the camp vargas event part 2 and why was Trey so goated?!?!?!?! Like sir omg i feel in love ?!?!?! He has such big brother type vibes and ahrhrhrhrhrhhhhfhfhfhffh okay but fr though, when Trey ran into Jade and they ran for it to the lake MY DELUSIONAL HEADASS WAS LIKE "THEY ARE SO HOLDING HANDS IN THE DARK RN TRUNNING AWAY TOGTER" LIKE YOU CANNOT TELL ME THATS HOW THEY WERE RNNING. THEY WERE RUNNING LIKE RUN AWAY LOVERS IN THE DARK OR SOMETHING

guys im cooking something frfr

[thateldribitch]

Hold My Heart in Your Palm

No warnings. Just Jade being super soft on a reader having a panic attack.

***

“Darling. I need you to breathe for me.” Yellow spirals consume Jade’s beautiful eyes. Soft pulses of light. Tender. Gentle. Warm olive and sunshine gold—a breath of fresh air fills your lungs like a summer breeze. One…. Two. “Good,” he presses a soft kiss to your forehead. “Keep looking into my eyes, Darling. I’m going to make you feel better…. Trust me. Let go….”

It’s easy to surrender to Jade’s gentle voice. Trust makes you melt. And it’s not as if you’re unconscious, or even unaware. But more… sinking into your lover’s signature magic. Shock the Heart wraps around you like a cloud of comfort, fogging your senses and filling you with this serene calm. 

A velvet-clad thumb strokes over your cheek, as Jade leans closer. He tugs one glove off with his teeth, then the other. You gulp for breaths in the palm of his hand. And slowly…. Your dizziness fades…. 

“Good…. So good for me, my dear,” he sighs in relief. The praise lights like sparks in your gut. Butterflies flap drunkenly in your chest. A silly, tiny flush replaces that sickly panic-pale. His lips find your cheek, stamping softly beneath your eye. His tongue darts out, dabs a tear away. “...Answer me truthfully, my Love—”

“M… Mhm….” You nod, hazily. The sweet, if abrupt, confirmation makes Jade laugh a little. 

“...Will you be alright if I take you somewhere quieter to calm down?” 

“ ’s long as it’s with you….” Barely, you slur the words out. He lets out a pleased rumble as he steals a small, chaste kiss. 

“May I pick you up?”

“Mhmn….”

“Do you need to go to sleep, Dear?”

“Don’t wanna….”

“Alright.” Before you know it, you’re settled into his bed. The faint scent of earth perfumes from his terrariums. He nuzzles in with you, curls around you in such careful constriction. The spell drops. The room goes dark.

And even despite your ‘wants’, you soon start to snooze against Jade’s chest.

[cloudcountry]

Hi! I’m only a new follower but have binged a few of your works and they are so lovely <3 congrats on the amazing and big 1k!!

If it’s no trouble could I ask for Jade/Floyd + Glasses? But if there’s too many asks of the tweels feel free to insert any character that comes to mind, I’m good with anyone! Lmao 🤣

Thank you sm!!! And no rush at all ^.^ hope you’re doing great <3

!!! thank you so much <3333 !!! theres never enough tweel content <3 truly i adore those two and i think we can all agree. i havent met a single person that doesnt like them.

as someone that wears glasses this was fun LMAO

JADE LEECH + GLASSES (1k event details)

~~~~~

Your hands falls on your nightstand, feeling around for your glasses. You groan when you find nothing, knowing exactly who has done this to you.

“Jaaade!” you call out, flinging the sheets off your body and heading towards your bedroom door, “Where did you put my glasses?”

“My my, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jade chuckles, opening the door before you can ever reach it.

Was he just waiting out there?

“You’re so weird.” you mumble, squinting until you can see the blurry outline of your glasses on his face, “Give them back, please.”

“Mmm…no.” he taps his chin thoughtfully, “At least, not for free.”

You groan again, making a show out of your playful annoyance. Jade just watches, and it's clear he’s not budging no matter how much you whine.

“Fine. C’mere.” you sigh, grabbing at his pajamas and pulling him into you.

“That’s it, siren.” he coos, swooping down to kiss you.

You break away shortly after and he chases your lips, smiling like the devious little sneak he is.

“Can I have my glasses back now?”

“A kiss for each lens, my dear. And one for the frames too.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” you groan, pulling him into you again.

[a-twistedheartslonging]

Soft Yan Jade-

He loves the way you tremble when he gets close, the slight quiver in your voice when you speak to him. He's conflicted about it at times, on one hand, he wants you to feel safe and comfortable with him, to seek him out when you need it. But those subtle signs of intimidation from you also feed into his sadistic side.

How easily he towers over your diminutive frame, broad shoulders eclipsing your slight silhouette. When he looks into your doe eyes, wide with apprehension, he feels a heady rush of dominance. 

Your weakness fuels his strength. The contrast between your soft frail body and his build exhilarates him. Seeing you cower and submit to his will makes him feel excited.

And yet as much as he enjoys your fear, he can't bare the idea of hurting you, well hurting in a way that is worse than the bites he wants to give you...

[sweetpeauserboxes]

[id: a light blue userbox with a pastel blue border and pastel blue text that reads  “this user is dating a jade leech fictive and loves him lots for who he is and is lucky to be his girlfriend <3.” on the left is an image of jade leech from twisted wonderland. /end id]

[avistellart]

Happy birthday Jade and Floyd!! 🥳

[toast-tales]

A Hunger from the Depths [Jade Leech Vore]

This is an AU of Twisted Wonderland where the twins' mer forms are muuuch bigger. Fearplay, unwilling prey, and soft/safe vore lie ahead. ~2800 words. Read on if you dare...

* * * * * * * * * *

Thalia had been given access to Octavinelle's pool, thanks to her work at the Mostro Lounge. This was the first time she'd seen it - and it was nothing like what she expected.

"Pool" was quite the understatement - this may as well have been a small lake. The water was still and dark, light twinkling in the shallow ripples on its surface. The lights on the ceiling had the appearance of distant stars - most likely magic.

The room seemed impossibly big, but it didn't echo. Besides the small stone area at the front, the entire room was water, and it stretched much further than any pool Thalia had seen before. It could easily house a whale, at least - maybe several.

A thought crossed Thalia's mind - just how large were the mer-people's aquatic forms, actually? She'd never seen Azul or the twins in their other forms, though the intimidating height of the twins made her think large. But…surely not this large?

She put her towel down on a small slab of stone and approached the water's edge. She swished her hand in the pool - the water was cold. Not unbearable, but definitely chilly. She shivered. Maybe the cold would get her to exercise a little harder tonight.

There was a small, metal stepladder at the edge, which she slowly lowered herself down. The stone edge of the pool was slick with algae underneath the surface of the water, and slimy tendrils of the stuff tickled her feet as she descended. She wished she was wearing something better suited to the cold water than a bikini - like a full wetsuit, maybe. She did her best to stop her chattering teeth and forced her body in, splashing a bit of the water into her face as she did. Salty - it was saltwater after all. Since the residents were mainly from the Coral Sea, it made sense.

She didn't know how far down the stepladder went, but she couldn't feel the bottom of the pool, and she certainly couldn't see it either. After her chest, she lost sight of the rest of her body under the water. She wondered how deep this pool was - could it actually be like an ocean below her?

She looked to the other edge of the pool - which, from her vantage point, she couldn't see. I'm not getting all the way across, but let's try halfway.

She kicked off the algae-covered wall and started a smooth breaststroke, fighting through the cold that was starting to seep into her bones.

It wasn't until she was a little ways out when she stopped to take a quick break, and that's when she felt it - something brushed her ankle.

Her body froze instinctively, and she realized she hadn't thought of something more crucial - what else was in this pool? She couldn't tell what it was that touched her, but it felt like a large tailfin, thin and flexible like that of a goldfish - but much, much bigger.

She could feel her heartbeat speed up in her chest. Would Crowley keep monsters in the pool used by students? …she realized that unfortunately, he probably would.

She turned around - the edge of the pool she had started from seemed so far away now, but she had to move now, quickly-

She did not have time to think before it happened - a very large, scaly hand wrapped around both of her legs and pulled her down under the waves. The cold water on her face was a shock, but it was the least of her worries - she thrashed and struggled, but the grip on her legs was like iron, and whatever had a hold on her had no intentions of letting go.

She struggled to open her eyes underwater, and the salt stung a bit, but what she was able to see made her heartbeat speed up even faster. A wide grin and a set of sharp white teeth were visible, illuminated by a faint, greenish luminescent pattern running down a long, massive body. Two glowing eyes, big as dinner plates, one of them gold and the other…wait…is this who I think it is?

Before she could straighten her thoughts out, the giant merperson clutched her close to his body and rose quickly to the surface. Thalia coughed and sputtered and gasped for air as her face broke the surface of the waves.

"I do apologize…I simply couldn't resist."

The voice was what made Thalia absolutely sure that she was right - this was Jade Leech, the moray who she worked with at the lounge. But his size…

"H-how are you this big?"

Jade chuckled, and Thalia could feel the rumble of his chest underneath her. She was still being clutched to his smooth body - she would be blushing if she was not still reeling from everything happening at the moment.

"I suppose my land form is much smaller, isn't it? This is my full size. I find it nice to stretch my fins every once in a while, so to speak." Jade flashed his sharp teeth as he spoke - each nearly as big as Thalia's hand.

The merman ran his large, webbed hand across Thalia’s hair, stroking it gently as he spoke. “Are you simply out for a late-night swim? You ought to be more careful - there are some things in the water that would simply love a little snack like you.” He stopped stroking Thalia’s hair, and she felt herself tense at those words. She was quite familiar with the way Jade and his twin looked at her in their human form, and now, at this size…Jade’s gaze was even more transparent in its predatory nature.

“Um…heh heh…” Thalia forced a small laugh, but it was quite obviously strained. “...d-do you think you could help me get back out of the pool? To, uh…make sure those things don’t get me?” Thalia did not have much choice at this point - there was certainly no getting away from the giant moray, even if she managed to wriggle out of his solid grip. She was held close enough to his body to feel a faint heartbeat, but mostly, all she could focus on was Jade’s sharp, white teeth - fitted in a mouth large enough to swallow her whole, and grinning a little too widely.

“Why, of course. I am supposed to be looking after you - it’s a part of our contract, after all.” Jade let go of Thalia - she had no plans of trying to swim away, she wasn’t stupid - and twisted his body so that she could hang onto the fin on his back. Thalia couldn’t differentiate between the icy cold water and the frozen feeling of fear anymore as her movements stiffened. She didn’t like the chuckle she could feel rumbling in Jade’s chest as he sped away towards the edge of the pool.

It was only seconds before they arrived at the edge - Jade swam much faster than she had even imagined previously. Thalia carefully let go of him and started to swim towards the ladder, but, almost predictably, Jade moved his huge body in between her and her only chance of escape. He placed his arms on either side of her, trapping her against the cold stone edge of the pool.

Jade did not say anything, simply stared at her with his huge, hungry eyes, still grinning and showing a hint of his teeth. Thalia considered screaming, but she sincerely doubted her voice would even come out now. She felt like a mouse - a very small, terrified mouse shaking under the paw of a huge cat.

As if to drive the point home, Jade ran a large tongue over his bottom lip and added a sheen of saliva to his teeth in the process. Thalia felt her heart drop all the way to her toes and a shiver of fear curl over her skin. Her voice begged to say something, but what should she say?

“J-Jade, the water is getting kind of cold…”

“I know of something that could help with that, little human.” With a devilish grin, Jade moved his body even closer, pressing Thalia even more against the stone wall of the pool. More than just his heartbeat now, she could feel something else - a faint rumbling in what she guessed could only be his…stomach. He lowered his head next to her ear, his warm breath tickling her frigid skin. “Would you like me to show you?”

Against Thalia’s best instincts for survival, she felt something else then - a wave of pleasure that pricked sharply down her skin. She hated it. She decided not to speak, for fear she would say something stupid.

In response to her silence, the large moray ran his huge, wet tongue over the side of her face, leaving little room for speculation now.

“T-the contract!” Thalia fumbled. “Y-you can’t hurt me, the contract-”

“I have no intention of hurting you, little human, not now,” Jade crooned, stroking the other side of her face with his huge fingers. “This is simply business, you see. We decided it would be best for you to get a taste of what a breach of contract would look like - Azul thinks you may not be…sufficiently motivated.” The moray’s eyes narrowed as he grinned. “And as it happens, after today’s shift I could use a snack.”

Thalia was at a loss for words - if Azul was in on this, then screaming really wouldn’t do anything, would it? Had he set this up, by suggesting she should visit the pool after her shift today?

“B-but-”

Jade put one webbed finger over her lips, silencing her. “Don’t worry - I won’t keep you long. This will only be a…short demonstration. I do apologize for any inconvenience.” The eager flashing of his teeth did not help his attempt at sincerity - neither did the continued rumbling of his stomach, pressed firmly against Thalia’s body now, as if growling in anticipation.

Jade bent his head over and placed his lips gently on top of Thalia’s head. After a few seconds of painful silence, without warning, he enveloped her head between his lips. She screamed now, but her pleas were lost in the giant tongue that moved back and forth over her, coating her in a sticky saliva. She could feel the faint prick of his huge, sharp teeth, which was a good incentive for her not to struggle, though it was a hard instinct to repress now.

Jade helped her efforts to keep still by holding her body tightly between his hands, both of which were large enough to wrap all the way around her. He held her torso in his mouth for a while, running his tongue back and forth along her bare skin as if to savor her taste. Slowly, he lifted her body up and began pushing her further into his maw, letting his tongue guide her in past his teeth.

Were it not for the overwhelming fear and disgusting feeling of being covered in saliva, Thalia would have been able to appreciate how warm it was inside the eel. That momentary comfort was interrupted by the breath being pushed out of her lungs as Jade used his tongue to press her against the roof of his mouth, moving the muscle back and forth over her chest and face, the tip of it teasingly brushing against her feet outside his mouth.

She almost didn’t notice as Jade began to tip his mouth back even further, and with just the faintest hint of light coming in from his open mouth, she could see the back of the moray’s throat illuminated dimly, the muscles stretching greedily in anticipation.

She could not scream - she didn’t have the air in her lungs to do so. Instead she pleaded weakly as her head dipped past Jade’s uvula. “Jade…please…”

She felt a small moan escape the eel and seem to envelop her as she was eagerly taken in by the moray’s throat, her plea either unheard or ignored. Her entire body was now inside of Jade, and she could feel his lips close over her feet as he pushed them in with his finger.

The movement down his throat was painfully slow - while Jade was large, his throat still had to work to accommodate Thalia. Even after the threat of his sharp teeth had passed, she could not struggle in the vice grip of the throat that pushed her down, squeezing her tightly as she made the descent towards the stomach. She thought she could feel something massaging her from the outside, as if Jade was aiding his throat by pushing her down with his fingers, tracing her journey downwards.

The last of her body was taken into his throat, her bare feet slipping against the edge of his tongue before they were sucked into the esophagus. Just as she thought she would suffocate, her head breached the end of the throat as it opened up into the stomach cavity. It was completely dark - Thalia couldn’t see how large of a space awaited her, nor could she see what else was in there with her, if anything.

As more and more of her body escaped Jade’s throat, she found herself pressed against the stomach’s walls, which undulated hungrily around her. Once her arms were free, she desperately tried to reach out, feeling for the size of the space, trying to readjust her body so that she could remain upright. While the feeling of saliva was omnipresent, Jade’s stomach was not as…full as she had imagined. There were no digestive juices - that she could feel - though the stomach walls were slick and wet. She had imagined being immediately assaulted with acid, but even with all of her exposed skin, she didn’t feel any pain - just a bit of discomfort from her cramped position, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

She was much closer now to the rumbling, hungry sounds of Jade’s stomach, though, which served her no comfort. The walls of the stomach contracted around her, pressing against her skin, as if desperate to bring her further inside the moray, where the sounds seemed to emanate from…

She felt the stomach press her even firmer as Jade placed a hand over his stomach, feeling Thalia through his skin. She could feel him sigh in contentment.

“You were even more delicious than I had anticipated. It has been so long since I was this full…now, listen, human. It would be an easy thing to digest you now, but as I said before, I have no intention of doing so…this time. I trust that this is a sufficient demonstration for you, yes?” He chuckled darkly, and the sound vibrated through Thalia’s bones. She was keenly aware of the walls of the stomach all around her, and how quickly their innocent massaging could betray her, treating her as nothing more than food.

“Yes, I…I understand…can I…come out now?” Thalia’s words were a struggle to get out, between the limited air in the stomach and her almost fetal position. She squirmed, trying to sort her limbs out into a more accommodating position. To her dismay, this movement seemed to elicit another moan of pleasure from the moray.

“Mmm…not quite yet, little human. I’d like to savor this for a little while longer. After all, if you don’t break the contract, I may not get to taste you again…how unfair.” She felt an odd sensation as Jade began to move - below the surface of the water, it seemed, until he finally stopped. The stomach squeezed tighter around her as Jade seemed to be lying halfway on his belly on the bottom of the pool.

“You’ll have enough air for the rest of the night.” Even underwater, Jade’s voice could be heard clearly. “I think I’d like a short nap. It would be best for you to sleep too - we both start work early tomorrow, don’t forget.”

Thalia wanted to know how she was still able to breathe - not well, but she didn’t seem to be suffocating - not to mention how Jade could seemingly choose not to digest her - but she did not think she would get the answers she wanted, certainly not from here. She felt the moray’s breathing slow, could hear his heartbeat’s rhythm decrease into a steady thumping that ended up being almost hypnotic. The fear had had time to ebb, and it had drained her of all of her remaining energy. Almost reluctantly, Thalia allowed her eyes to close, hoping that she would be able to open them again in the morning.

Jade was lulled to sleep by the taste of the human lingering in his mouth and the feeling of a full belly, knowing that he would be so reluctant to let them go in the morning. He rubbed the bulge under his chest, barely making out the shape of the human underneath.

He half-hoped the human ended up breaking their contract after all - what a delicious meal they would make.

Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I don't plan on being as active anymore, but I figured I'd share a story I've had in my head for a while. Eat on, my dudes!

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

Hiking Refreshment

(Surprise Jade anthology piece, go! Poor Jade’s been getting side-saddled, though he does get a couple votes every time. This ended up so much longer than I meant it

Anyways, this takes place right after Floyd almost eats them, so they’re still on high alert with him… which leads them to kind of neglect the threat of the just as mischievous but less outwardly eccentric brother. This is also based on an actual experience I had where a friend of mine tricked me into an all day hiking trip >:( ) TW/CW: Soft, safe, non-sexual oral vore and a bit morbid joking about ending up murdered in the woods

Count: 8462

“What happened in there,” Jade turned to ask his twin once both of them left the VIP room, finding himself immensely curious by how the Ramshackle prefect ended up less than a foot tall. He became even more intrigued as Floyd grinned, placing a hand to his chin and smiling in amusement at his brother’s expression. “And why, dear brother, do you look akin to a cat who caught the canary?”

“I may or may not have given Little Shrimpy a little taste when they got shrunk,” Floyd answered, looking rather smug as he spoke about it so casually, watching his twin’s eyes widen.

“Oh, my,” Jade said quietly in surprise, a second passing before he slowly grinned mischievously. “Tell me, how was it?”

Floyd’s smile didn’t drop as he licked his teeth for any lingering taste, replying, “Delicious.”

_________________

Syn threw away the cookies the second they were brought out of Mostro Lounge and claimed the whole shrinking thing really took it out of them. Really, they just wanted a shower and change of clothes, feeling lingering disgust at their still drying upper half.

But, Ace and Deuce insisted that Riddle wanted them to at least be brought to Heartlabyul so that the perpetrator would apologize and so the Housewarden could see for himself that they were fine and the ‘Eat Me’ cookies were brought back.

Reluctantly, they agreed and followed the duo through the Heartlabyul mirror once they all left Octavinelle.

Riddle had proceeded to check them over, asking them why their hair and clothes were damp. They gave the same lie they gave to Ace and Deuce; they’d fallen in a drink. They had to use every muscle in their body to not recoil when he didn’t believe them and took a brief sniff of one of their sleeves to try and decipher the ‘drink’, wrinkling his nose a bit and saying it didn’t smell like anything he’d ever had before, questioning that why only half of them was damp if they fell in.

Syn deflected by asking about the culprit of the shrinking cookies, relieved when it was enough to raise Riddle’s temper. For once, they were thankful for his still somewhat hot-headed tendencies.

A Heartslabyul student, already collared, was waiting in the kitchen beside Trey, who profusely apologized the second they walked through the door. After a few seconds of telling the man that it wasn’t his fault, both him and Riddle made the culprit kneel and apologize several times before Riddle was satisfied, dismissing the student and adding that the culprit would spend the foreseeable future under classic pre-overblot standards while being the only one to clean the kitchen.

Syn didn’t envy the culprit, but they didn’t feel bad for him either.

They were able to return to Ramshackle after saying that they should probably get some rest after the prank, going home to find that Grim had ransacked Scarabia’s fridge and brought a bunch of leftovers that Kalim gave him. They called him a thieving rat affectionately, took a shower, and proceeded to conk out immediately after. When they woke in the morning, they REALLY didn’t feel like being anywhere where Floyd could potentially run into them.

They mustered up the most sickly hoarse voice they could, burying their face in their pillow and telling Grim that they didn’t feel well enough for classes.

After a bit of back and forth, they convinced him enough that he sighed, crossed his paws over his chest and said that he’d make sure to bring back their homework, but to ask Ace and Deuce for notes cause he wasn’t gonna do it. That was fine by them, and the cat set off grumbling about unreliable henchmen.

Syn spent the day trying to be productive, cleaning about the dorm while they mulled over the day before. Part of them was in denial that they’d ended up tiny and in Floyd’s mouth, but picking up their clothes for laundry they got a whiff of his breath from the dried saliva. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it wasn’t exactly the smell of roses and was a reminder that the whole thing did, in fact, happen.

Grimacing, they chucked the clothes in the rickety dorm washer, lazing the rest of the day on their phone and only getting up to dry their clothes. They weren’t looking forward to Floyd’s inevitable taunts and were thinking of how they were going to try to deflect the comments when the front door slammed open, making them jolt in surprise. A glance at the clock showed that it was still lunchtime.

“SYN!” Grim’s voice from the front door precluded the cat walking into the lounge where they were laying on the couch with Ace and Deuce right behind him.

“Hey, calm down, furball,” Ace said, sighing a bit as he placed a hand to his hip as he stopped. “I’m sure he’s just trying to rustle your fur the wrong way.”

“Are you okay, Syn,” Deuce asked, looking them over and frowning. “Grim told us that you were feeling sick.”

“Uh,” Syn blinked a bit in surprise, having not expected anyone to show up this early in the day. Well aware that they didn’t look ill, they sheepishly said, “I’m feeling better?...”

Ace’s eyes widened a bit in surprise, giving a sly smirk as he exclaimed, “No way! You’re playing hooky! And here I was thinking that you were the ‘perfect Prefect’ and a goody-two shoes!”

Face flushing a bit at feeling caught, they skirted around the accusation and retorted, “We both know that Riddle’s more perfect Prefect than me, and if you keep calling me a ‘goody-two shoes’ you’ll find my sneaker so far up your ass that you’ll be tasting the laces. Now, what’s this whole thing about rustling Grim’s fur the wrong way?”

Syn looked between the trio expectantly, Grim being the one to speak up as he jumped onto the couch and got in their face.

“Floyd came over to our table asking where you were, and, when I told ‘im that you weren’t feeling well, he said it was a shame because he was ‘looking forward to another taste’ or something,” the cat creature said, worried. “And when we asked him what he meant by that, he talked about how he ate you yesterday!”

They paled the second Grim had mentioned Floyd, but quickly found themself exasperated, exclaiming, “He said WHAT? He didn’t eat me yesterday!”

“See? I told you guys,” Ace smiled triumphantly, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. “They were perfectly fine. Floyd just wanted to make both of you nervous and took them being small yesterday as an opportunity to get under your skin.”

“Don’t lie, you were worried too,” Deuce huffed, crossing his own arms over his chest and looking to the side in what seemed like embarrassment at being fooled. Except, they’d only been half-fooled.

“Yeaaaaah, about that,” Syn slowly said, raising their hand to rub the back of their neck nervously, the gesture enough to get all three of the others attention. They really debated whether or not to continue, but if Floyd was being so fucking vocal about it… and LYING, to boot... They took a deep breath and let out a nervous sigh as they pressed their hands together. “He didn’t eat me, that’s true…. But I have a reaaally strong feeling that it’s because Azul walked in when he did… Floyd did… He did end up sticking me in his mouth a bit…”

They watched the two humans and cat creature to gauge the reactions as they brought their still pressed together hands to their chin, unsure of what they would all think. After a couple moments of tense silence, Ace was the one to break it, catching them off guard as he let out a surprised exclamation.

“HE WASN’T LYING?!” he shouted, making Syn jolt enough that Grim fell off their lap with a yelp.

“Well, I mean, he DIDN’T eat me,” they replied, startled. “So.. he did lie about that.”

“That’s not the point,” Ace’s eyes narrowed in irritation. “He PRACTICALLY ate you! That doesn’t sound much better!”

“That’s why your clothes were damp yesterday,” Deuce said, brow furrowing in thought. After a second, he jolted and added, “Wait, so if it wasn’t for Azul, you would have-?!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Syn exclaimed and raised their hands a bit, not wanting to think about more… potentially fatal alternatives to the end of the day yesterday. “I don’t think he would actually kill me!”

Maybe…

Ace, Deuce and Grim gave them disbelieving and shocked looks, making them sigh tiredly.

“I-... look, I didn’t, and DON’T, want to think about the ‘what if’s,” they said, lowering their hands. Raking a hand through their hair, they added, “I wanted the day to process everything. But, as long as that shrinking potion is on lockdown, nothing like that will happen again and I can go about my life forgetting it ever happened.”

After that, they convinced Ace, Deuce, and Grim to go back to classes. They spent the rest of the day trying to do just that; forget the fact that Floyd almost ate them.

Except, they couldn’t.

When Syn forced themself to go to school the next day, they were followed by more murmurs than usual, which wasn’t surprising, telling Grim to drop it when he snapped ‘You got a problem, pal?!’ at a giggling Pomefiore duo that had been looking at them while they passed. They’d have thought people grew out of their high school phase at a certain point, but thinking about some adults they knew even growing up, they remembered that some people would probably go to the grave gossiping.

It didn’t help when lunch came around and Floyd decided to jumpscare the entire table by popping up behind them and throwing his arms around their shoulders, exclaiming that he was glad they were back and look what he was having for lunch!

He showed off a large plate of honey garlic shrimp that was definitely not cafeteria food and gave them a shit-eating grin while he mockingly complained that it wasn’t going to taste as good as they did. And mentioned that it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying without any squirming.

His loud taunting was drawing practically everyone’s attention in a fifty foot radius.

Syn felt nauseated, paling at his comments but tried to ignore it the best that they could. They even told Ace and Deuce to leave it alone when the duo tried to snap at the eel, not wanting him to decide wailing on the two other dudes was a ‘fun’ idea.

Eventually they shoved him off of their shoulders to stand up and declare that he’d ruined their appetite. They almost grabbed the stupid plate in his hand when he moved to block them from walking away, but Azul strode up and talked Floyd away before Syn ended up being the one to throw a swing with the honey garlic shrimp.

Incensed, they acknowledged Azul’s apology for the eel’s behavior before walking off to get fresh air in the courtyard.

The next week went by about the same, suffering Floyd’s comments whenever he got the chance while they tried to avoid him and just go about their classes. It got to the point where they didn’t even go to the cafeteria for lunch one day, instead opting to go to the greenhouse to try and have a day without a shrimp dish shoved in their face with mocking comments.

“Fucking dickhead,” Syn groaned tiredly as they walked on the stone path, rubbing their neck to try and ease the abundance of tension that had piled on. And they thought they were stiff and stressed before.

“I assume you mean my brother.”

“Gah!” They yelped and jumped at the seemingly sudden voice, quickly looking in the direction to see that Jade was knelt beside some logs along the path with mushrooms, heart skipping a beat in the second it took to take note of what side the black section of hair was on. They must have been too distracted to notice him. Then again, everyone was usually taller than them, so trying to be mindful of looking down wasn’t a priority.

Taking a breath of relief after the brief surprise, they huffed and replied, “Obviously. Sorry for walking by grumbling, I didn’t think anyone else was going to be in here during lunch… maybe Leona, but I did see him going towards the cafeteria, soo… yeah.”

“I’d be more surprised if you weren’t complaining,” the man said, looking at some kind of handheld device that he pulled from the bark of the wood, seeming satisfied with whatever it said as he placed it beside other equipment they hadn’t noticed before. He stood up and gave them an apologetic look, adding, “He’s been very adamant about keeping the Mostro Lounge freezer filled with shrimp to continue making dishes to upset you.”

“Honestly, the dishes aren’t even the worst part,” Syn sighed, crossing their arms over their chest and closing their eyes briefly to fight back the irritation. “It’s more the fact that he’s been so vocal about almost eating me while being teasingly cryptic sometimes that at this point everyone thinks he either actually ate me or that he’s playing 4D chess with euphemisms and we’ve got something else going on.

“Usually his shamelessness is amusing, but not when I’m being followed by constant speculation already,” they opened their eyes and gave a sharp huff. “I was the kid that got ignored, not the one that had rumors made about them that I remember. It’s a rather sharp turnaround since I’ve gotten here.”

“I see,” Jade placed a hand to his chin in thought with a small hum, making them realize they’d probably overshared. But, before they could try to tell him to ignore it, he said, “If that’s the case, perhaps some fresh air would do you good.”

“Uh… I guess… That’s why I’m in here though,” Syn replied, blinking a bit in confusion. “To get, like, fresh plant air and stuff.”

“You misunderstand,” Jade chuckled, teeth glinting for the barest second before they were expertly hidden once more behind his signature close-lipped smile. “I didn’t mean around here. I’m suggesting you join me in a Mountain Lover’s Club hike this weekend. Take some time from the main school in fresh air away from pointless gossip. And, away from Floyd’s antics.”

They perked up a bit at the thought of not having to watch their back to avoid being pounced on by Floyd and taunted, but quickly deflated, saying, “Sounds tempting, but I’m not a good hiker. I’d probably slow you down the entire time.”

“I’d take it slow for you then. I’m there to enjoy the sights anyways, so taking a more leisurely pace is more than welcome to remind me to take my time,” he countered their answer effortlessly, making them blink in surprise. He didn’t falter as he added, “Although, if time and energy is a concern of yours, we can go along a shorter trail for only a couple hours.”

“Only a couple hours?” Syn asked incredulously, finding that two or so hours was still a long time to just spend walking. But… maybe a change of pace away from Ramshackle or the general student populace with some exercise would help them feel better.

After a few seconds of Jade patiently waiting, they eventually agreed reluctantly with a sigh, “Alright. I guess some time from the cycle of classes and dorm isolation would be nice, even if I’m not outdoorsy.”

“Perfect!” Jade’s response was a bit more enthusiastic than Syn was expecting, but he was also the only one in the Mountain Lover’s Club. His demeanor immediately returned him mild pleasantness, adding, “I look forward to the hike this weekend, and I’ll meet you at your dorm at eight AM Saturday so we can get an early start.”

Eight in the morning?! That was so early for a weekend day… But, if it was only a couple hours, they’d be back before lunch and able to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Syn, after their initial moment of alarm, groaned at the thought, grumbling, “Fiiine. I’ll see you eight o’clock on Saturday. I gotta dip though, so catch ya later, Jade.”

“See you soon, Syn.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

…………….

Saturday came around and Grim thought they were psychotic for agreeing to join Jade on a morning hike, tugging at the hem of their pants as they readied their small green backpack with a bottle of water, a couple granola bars, and their phone.

“I’m telling ya, BOTH those twins are trouble,” he yowled, putting his paws on his hips as they stopped and looked down at him with an unimpressed look. “You didn’t work in Mostro Lounge like Ace, Deuce and I! Floyd may have given us all a squeeze, but I swear Jade found way too much amusement in our suffering!”

“Well,” Syn crouched down to see more eye to eye with him. “It’s a good thing I’m not working at the Mostro Lounge on a contract, and therefore he doesn’t have any reason to try and dole out punishment, hmm? Honestly, he probably just wants to see me struggle to keep up with him and get breathless since I suck so much at PE classes with Vargas.”

“Hmmph,” Grim crossed his arms, not amused by their response, exclaiming when they reached out and gave him a small pat. Pushing their hand away with his paws, he exclaimed, “Gah! It’s not dignified for the Great Grim to be pat!”

They snorted in amusement and withdrew their hand, straightening back up and slinging the small backpack over a shoulder while teasing, “C’moooon. The worst thing he can do is kill me in the woods where no one can hear me and bury the body, but I’ve got you to vouch for my last whereabouts.”

“M-Myah!” the cat’s eyes widened a bit, making Syn realize they may have jested a bit too darkly.

“Kidding, kidding!” they exclaimed, forgetting that he was a scaredy-cat behind all of his snark and ego. Shooting him an apologetic look, they added, “I’ll be fine! I’ll buy you some of those new candies in Sam’s shop when I get back, kay?”

Grim pouted for a couple seconds, but said, “Alright, but I want a couple cans of that high-shelf tuna too, got it?”

“And, a couple of those high-shelf tunas,” Syn rolled their eyes, but they were thankful he was easily distracted by promises of food sometimes. There was a sharp knock on the front door that drew their attention, both them and Grim walking downstairs to the foyer, where they opened the door. “Sup, Jade.”

“Morning, prefect,” the man greeted, dressed in an outfit entirely unlike what they were accustomed to seeing him wear. The tan and dark blue jacket with white cargo shorts, black leggings with odd grey stripes, hiking boots and colorful fanny pack strapped across his chest was… a look.

“Uh, morning,” they absentmindedly greeted, a bit distracted by his attire.

“Is something wrong?” Jade asked, looking a bit caught off guard by their distracted response.

Shaking their head, they replied, “No, nothing’s wrong. Just, never seen you out of school or dorm uniform, so it’s a bit jarring. Sorry, didn’t mean to stare.”

“I see. Well, as long as nothing’s amiss, are you ready for the hike?”

“About as ready as I can be,” Syn nodded, looking back to where Grim stood with his arms crossed, watching the interaction with disapproval. “I’ll see you later, Grim!”

“They better be coming back fine,” Grim said, directing the comment at Jade.

It surprised them enough to make a shocked noise, but Jade beat them to respond.

“I assure you, no harm will befall your precious prefect,” he replied and placed a hand to his chest, an amused smile on his face as he faced down the not very threatening cat creature. Despite his pleasant smile, there was a bit of a sense that he was trying to intimidate the smaller creature. Rather unnecessarily.

“Oi, break up the staring contest,” Syn waved a hand in front of Jade’s face to get his attention. “The longer we stand here, the longer it’ll take to make it back.”

“You’re correct. Let us depart then.”

“Lead the way,” they said, looking back at Grim, who they had been surprised had made such a comment given his apprehension around the twins. “NOW I’ll see you later!”

“Bye, Syn.” the cat’s unenthusiastic farewell was the last they heard before the front door closed and they turned to face their companion for the day. The sky was clear and a light breeze brushed past, the sounds of birds chirping giving life to a morning they would have otherwise spent sleeping in.

Jade was waiting patiently at the steps of the porch as Syn walked up to him and put their hands on their hips, declaring, “Welp, ready to go whenever you are.”

The man smiled pleasantly and replied, “Then let’s go.”

And, so, that was the start of Syn’s Saturday morning to get away from the stress and worry associated with campus gossip and the boisterous taunting of Floyd. It was nice, being able to walk around leisurely, even though the walk to the actual trail he wanted took a while.

The conversation was light and the hike up the mountain he wanted was filled with him talking about the kinds of mushrooms and animals he’d come to expect from the trail. He’d asked them if they knew anything about mushrooms, and they gave him what they did know. Which was basically the bare minimum like mycelium, the fact that mushrooms can connect to each other, and that they didn’t fall under plants or animals.

They noted that the one they knew the most about were Cordyceps, a fungi that infected ants and made them act like zombies, and that there was a fungus that looked like pink tendrils hatching out of an egg, though they couldn’t remember the name of it. Other than that, they didn’t know much about mushrooms, but thought they were fascinating.

Jade, of course, was happy to fill them in on the subject. And they were happy to listen, even if they knew that they were gonna forget most of the information by the next day and the man was giving them so many facts that their head swam.

Syn did have to reject a mushroom he plucked up on the side of the trail to try as a snack though. As much as they liked looking at them and learning, they informed Jade that the texture wasn’t one they were fond of. But, thankfully, he didn’t seem too dejected and popped it into his own mouth, content with simply giving more mushroom knowledge.

It was like an actual course on fungi, which was nice. For the first while. Until their pace slowed a bit and they began to lose energy, though they didn’t have the heart to interrupt him.

After a long time, the duo reached the peak of the trail, giving them a pretty view of the woods around and the horizon. A sight to behold, even for a not outdoorsy person like Syn. Even though their legs were starting to get tired.

Jade suggested a break, something they were relieved about and didn’t hesitate to sit down for a few minutes to eat their granola bars and drink their water, finding themself ravenous and thirsty. Pulling their phone out, they unlocked it and glanced at the time.

11:42 AM. More than two hours since they’d started the hike since the actual trail had started around nine.

“Hey, you told me this was only going to be a couple hour hike,” Syn said and looked up at Jade with a raised eyebrow, realizing that was probably why they’d been so hungry when they sat down.

“I did, and it was,” Jade replied, giving them an amused smile that barely showed teeth as he raised a hand to his chin. “Only a two hour hike to the top.”

“Bwah! You fucking tricked me,” they exclaimed, groaning at the realization that they were going to have to walk at least two hours more to get to the bottom of the mountain again. “Uuuugh, Grim was right, I never should have agreed. I knew you wanted to see me suffer, but geez.”

“I wanted to enjoy a leisurely hike with you to get you some time away from my brother,” he chuckled, gaze flicking over them. “Although, if you’re too tired, I’d be more than happy to carry you the rest of the way.”

Syn stiffened at the thought, finding several reasons to be against it, from their ungodly aversion to physical contact to what they could only assume was their pride on having to rely on someone else or bothering another person. They chucked their phone in their bag and zipped it up, hopping to their feet. “Nope! No need to carry me! Let’s start heading down.”

They ignored the hum Jade gave before he turned and began to walk down the trail.

“Shame.”

Quickly, it became clear that the downward trek was going to be more difficult and arduous than the path up. While the trail up was clear and clean, the one down was apparently going for a more freestyle route with the biggest indicator that there even was a trail was a lack of grass between trees. The trees and the roots made themselves very known, with Syn immediately tripping over a route about five minutes down.

They fell in probably the weirdest way, body rocking back violently after jolting forward, but their feet didn’t move. They ended up sitting on the ground with their legs folded to one side like some 1950s wife that sat down on the floor, though unharmed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone fall like that,” Jade commented, a bit startled and incredibly amused as they blinked in surprise at the brief panic that came from tripping. He knelt beside them and asked, “You didn’t sprain your ankle, did you? If so, I can still carry you to the bottom.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Syn replied, detangling their legs and standing up. Their ankle on the foot that caught on the root ached a bit, but it was already fading. Brushing themself off, they gave him a side-eye and asked, “Why do you keep asking to carry me?”

“I simply wish to follow through on my promise for Grim,” the man said, straightening back up and backing off to give them plenty of space. “I did assure him that no harm would come to you.”

“I guess you did say that,” they were getting the sense that it wasn’t the only reason he was acting like this.

“The responsibility would fall to me if you ended up spraining an ankle or becoming injured, even if you’re the one making the decision to push past your limits,” Jade added, starting to walk down the trail and letting them follow behind him.

Syn bristled a bit, finding the comment a bit passive-aggressive and retorting, “Well, this whole thing would be done and over with if the trail was ACTUALLY only a couple of hours.”

“Perhaps,” he didn’t look back as he gave the small response, leading to them grumbling while they trailed behind him.

After a small while, there came a section of trail where a massive divot was carved into the ground, about thirty meters across to get to the other side. ‘Bridging’ the gap was a pile of rocks so haphazard that it wouldn’t be surprising if it was made by a rockslide. It seemed sturdy enough that walking across the boulders wouldn’t cause a shift, but there were definitely a lot more tripping hazards here, it was less than ten feet across, and there was NO safety rail.

“The fuck is this,” Syn asked, stopping at the edge while Jade walked onto the stone like this wasn’t a massive hazard. When he stopped and looked towards them, they flung their arms out to gesture at the hundred foot gap of boulders.

“It’s entirely safe,” he assured them, placing a hand to his chest. “If you’re worried, I can stick behind you to catch you.”

“That wasn’t the question, but sure,” they sighed, resigning themself and walking past him onto the stone. The sooner they suck this up, the sooner they get to go the fuck home and lounge around.

The stone was unfamiliar beneath their shoes, shoes that were NOT built for hiking long term or treacherous areas because they thought he’d pick an easy fucking trail that didn’t require getting new goddamn shoes. A miscalculation on their part that would never be repeated because they’d never go on a hike with the man again.

The first half of the boulder bridge went back painfully slow with Syn being terrified of tripping or rolling their ankle and ending up falling, but they slowly grew more confident the longer the stones went without moving like their paranoia told them.

So, growing more sure of their steps, the second half of the boulders began to pass quickly.

About three quarters of the way across, all that confidence dissipated as their sneaker failed to grip the stone correctly when they placed their weight. Their heart dropped and time felt like it stopped as their ankle rolled from not being prepared for their foot to slide along the rocks curve, gravity pitching them towards the angled edge where there was a VERY steep drop to the bottom dozens of meters below.

They weren’t even able to scream, voice catching in their throat while their eyes couldn’t tear from the rocks below.

They were able to avoid tumbling head over heels by reeling back the best they could, but that only accomplished hitting their back against the stone painfully while gravity continued to drag them down the slope for a heartstopping second, scratching their back across the rocks surface as their hoodie and shirt rode up from the drop.

There was a sharp tug at the back of their collar and they found themself disoriented as they were harshly pulled back up onto the rocky pass.

Syn panted, holding a hand to their chest at the close call, finding that even Jade looked startled as he looked at them.

“Are you alright,” he asked, quickly looking them over while they fought to shake off the buzz of adrenaline.

“I-I think so,” they replied, shifting to sit up a bit better, peering at the rock edge they’d almost plummeted from. “Holy shit… good catch, I almost fucking died.”

“Thankfully, you didn’t,” Jade sighed a bit, shifting over so that he was kneeling closer to them than the edge of the rocks, starting to loop his arms under their knees and back.

Syn jolted a bit in surprise before instinctively holding onto a fistful of his jacket when they caught a glimpse of the dizzying drop again, protesting, “I can still walk, you know!”

“I’m not risking it until we’re across safely, Syn. Please, indulge me in this, at least.”

They huffed, reluctantly keeping further protests to themself. Mostly because they weren’t sure they’d be able to keep their weak knees from collapsing if they tried to actually walk themself, and decided that solid ground was a far more preferable place to test that than the treacherous stone.

“‘It’s entirely safe’, huh?” they grumbled once Jade was walking on dirt instead of rock, earning a chuckle from him that felt weird while he was carrying them.

“And I said I’d stick behind to catch you, and I did,” he remarked, striding over to a fallen log on the side of the trail and carefully setting them down. While they checked themself over, he slipped his fanny pack over his shoulders and zipped it open. “Are you injured?”

“I can feel a couple scratches on my back where the rock got me, and my ankle hurts, but I’ll be fine,” Syn said, sighing a bit in residual relief. Without most of the adrenaline in their system, they could feel the sting of the scratches and the throbbing ache in their ankle, but it’d be bearable. Rubbing their face with a hand tiredly, they asked, “How much longer until we reach the bottom?”

Jade paused, replying, “Hmm… About another few hours.”

“What?!” they exclaimed, burying their face in their hands with a deep groan and mumbling, “I’m NEVER hiking with you again. Not without an adult.”

“We’re both adults.”

“A DIFFERENT ADULT, JADE… Floyd doesn’t count, either,” they added quickly, looking up to glare at him and blinked in surprise when they saw he was holding out a small thermos towards them. They took the offered container and asked, “Fuck is this?”

“Sweet tea,” Jade said, smiling. “I decided to bring some in case you drank all of your water since you like it.”

“Oh,” Syn blinked a bit, their exasperation giving way to sheepishness, adding, “Well, now I feel bad for snapping at you… Thanks, Jade.”

“No problem,” he tilted his head and closed his eyes for a second before sitting beside them on the log and adding, “Now’s probably a good time for another break, at least for a few minutes.”

“I won’t complain about that,” they said, uncapping the thermos and giving it an experimental sniff on instinct. Smelled like sweet tea. While surprised that he brought anything for them, they weren’t surprised it’d be sweet tea of all things. They tended to basically carry around a gallon of the stuff around school.

In the corner of their eye, they saw Jade pull out a water bottle for himself and drink deeply from it, following suit with their own beverage.

The thermos had kept the tea cool, the liquid a relief to the dryness in their throat and they gave a small sigh of satisfaction as they pulled the metal away from their lips. Giving Jade a small smile they said, “Thanks for the sweet tea, Ja- oooh, what the fuck?”

A sudden wave of dizziness crashed over them with enough intensity that they placed a hand against their head and closed their eyes against the sudden vertigo. They felt the weight of the thermos leave their grip, even though they were certain their grip hadn’t loosened enough for it to fall. Thankfully, they didn’t find themself slipping off the log and the disorientation passed after seconds, but it was still unpleasant.

Made more so by a jarringly familiar situation, even if it was in a different environment with a different eel.

“JADE!” Syn shouted, all thankfulness they had completely eradicated by the fact that they were shrunken on top of the log, immediately looking in the direction the man had been sitting. Only to find the back of their hoodie pinched between a thumb and forefinger as they were plucked off of the bark, yelping and kicking on instinct.

“Oh dear~,” Jade spoke with a false concern as he lifted them up and placed them in the palm of his other hand while they spat curses. With the thermos set beside him, it looked like he knew exactly what would happen and took it from them before it fell to the ground. An amused and downright mischievous grin was plastered on his face, putting normally carefully hidden teeth on display. “I didn’t realize you were so short with me, Syn.”

“Fucking BASTARD,” they exclaimed, trying to hold onto anger to keep away the anxiety and fear that came with being small enough to sit in the palm of his hand, even though their legs kind of draped over the edge. “I no longer feel bad about snapping at you, what the FUCK did you do?! How’d you get ahold of the Heartslabyul potion?!”

“Ah, that’s the thing,” he replied, looking far too satisfied as he tilted his head slightly and bared his teeth in a pleased smile. “I didn’t.”

“What do you mean you didn’t get the Heartslabyul potion?” Syn asked, narrowing their eyes. They instinctively glanced over the edge of his hand as their body tried to look for ways out of this. They immediately got nauseous at the sight of a fall comparative to the one they almost took earlier, averting their gaze and bringing their attention back to him.

“I’m rather adept at potionology, if I do say so myself,” Jade said, eyes narrowing smugly as they paled with the realization that he could make these whenever. “I even found myself lucky enough to have someone to experiment with.”

Their eyes widened, mind going to their other friends as they quickly demanded, “Who?!”

“Worry not, it’s not one of your normal friends,” he chuckled, seemingly taking great pleasure in their concern. “As much as I’d like to lie and watch you squirm, you’ll be doing plenty of that in a minute anyways-.”

“WHAT?!”

“- so I’ll give you an honest answer,” Jade continued as though Syn didn’t interrupt him, expression taking a sadistic quality. “I did promise you a day away from campus with no worries about school gossip or Floyd, did I not?”

It took Syn a couple seconds to cut through their anxiety enough to realize what he meant, having been rather distracted with the fact that he’d told them that they’d be squirming soon. But, he laid out the answer cheekily, catching them off guard as they exclaimed, “Wait, you shrunk FLOYD? How’d you even get him to agree to something like that?!”

“I didn’t really. But, I knew it was safe enough to imbibe, so I more or less just slipped some into a drink to check the potency. And, it came out perfect.” he hummed, giving them a second or two to let them process it before adding, “You need not worry about my brother dearest, good prefect. I assure you that he’s safe in Octavinelle. He’s probably enjoying himself hunting ACTUAL shrimp in the tank I placed him in.”

They spent several seconds trying and failing to respond to the batshit insane information he just gave them, mind kind of already overwhelmed by the already batshit situation. All while he just watched in amusement. Eventually they composed themself enough to say, “Let me get this straight. Not only did you make a shrinking potion to shrink ME for this outing that you’ve probably had planned since Floyd almost ate me, but you USED it on said brother to keep him away from potentially meddling?”

“Mhmm,” Jade hummed affirmatively, waiting to see if they had more to say. Which they did, understandably.

“Why the fuck did you shrink me again,” Syn shouted, a mix of pissed and panicked, throwing their hands up for a moment in exasperation. “What did you mean by the whole watching me squirm comment, and what’s the fucking end goal here?!”

“That’s simple,” Jade’s grin widened, pleased with the line of questioning. “I’m going to finish what Floyd started and do what he couldn’t at the time. I’m going to devour you.”

A tense silence fell that left Syn’s heart racing and face paling while he watched the realization sink in, leaving them in a kind of state of shock. After all, how the fuck are you supposed to respond to someone who, while you didn’t trust fully, you didn’t expect to FUCKING EAT YOU IN THE GODDAMN WOODS?

“Oh dear, is this perhaps a bit much,” he asked, raising his other hand to his chin in thought, the question surprising them enough from their shock to speak.

“Buh-eh, wha-? What fucking part,” Syn spluttered, aghast at the audacity of the question. “The fucking being shrunk down to mere inches or being told that you’re gonna eat me?! Like, look, I know I joked about you murdering me in the woods, but I DIDN’T THINK IT’D ACTUALLY HAPPEN!”

“You joked about me murdering you in the woods?”

“NOT THE FUCKING POINT TO BE FOCUSING ON, JADE,” they snapped, despite knowing full well that they brought it up first. “You literally just said you were going to eat me, let me ramble before I die!”

“Heh heh heh, I didn’t realize you were so dramatic, prefect,” Jade chuckled, a sound that sounded so off when they were sitting in the palm of his hand and literally at his complete mercy. When they only gave him a dour and nervous stare, he added, “While, yes, I do intend to consume you, I can swear that you’ll be quite unharmed in the process.”

Syn stared at him in suspicion and disbelief, asking, “What do you mean I’ll be safe? I had a feeling Floyd might have actually eaten me if Azul hadn’t walked in, but I didn’t want to be RIGHT about that.”

The eel hummed a bit, watching them through a half-lidded gaze as he thought. Or was stalling to see them fidget in his hand. Maybe both.

“Life under the water is vastly different from life on land. With no way to make fires, we tend to eat things raw. And sometimes, we’ll eat them alive and whole,” Jade replied, letting his toothy smile widen for a second before dropping it slightly and adding, “Merfolk have a vastly different anatomy to humans, of course, and that includes a digestive tract that can have multiple stomachs for most with a stomach specifically for storing things safely. Azul, Floyd, and I all possess this.

“Not only would you be perfectly safe, but my body is perfectly suited to consuming you alive and well at your size,” he finished, flashing them his casual, friendly smile like he hadn’t just said one of the most psychotic things they’d ever heard.

Syn spent another couple seconds trying to process everything he’d said, eventually telling him, “You know, none of that is fucking reassuring, right?”

“I know. That’s why I had no qualms about telling you,” Jade said, expression becoming more toothy and mischievous. Paired with his hand moving to curl around their abdomen, they were even less comforted. They were able to keep one arm from being pinned to their side, but it was useless, their tiny hand doing nothing to the fingers around them. “It’s not going to stop you from squirming.”

“A-Ah, JADE?!” Syn yelped, already not liking their position. They liked it even less when his hand lifted higher and his grip repositioned so that their sides were pinched between his two forefingers and thumb, trying very hard to not think about how easy it would probably be to break their ribs. They were also certain that his index fingertip, the finger resting closest to their heart, could feel it pounding in their chest fearfully like a bird desperately trying to escape its cage. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, NOT EAT ME?!”

“That’s not nearly as fun and would be a waste of a good shrinking potion, heh heh heh,” he laughed lightly, ignoring their protests as he lowered them towards his mouth. Unlike Floyd who’d dangled them over wide, open jaws, Jade’s approach was more subdued.

His teeth split apart while Syn very vocally cursed him, the Great Seven, God, and anything else they could think of, tongue snaking out from between the sharp, bony points.

Syn stared at the prehensile appendage that was just as unnervingly long as his brothers, cussing and kicking at the tongue despite the brief aches that ran up the ankle they’d sprained. Unfortunately, it took only a second or two before the tongue to get ahold of one of their legs, curling around their calf and knee while they squawked in surprise.

“Fucking, l-let go, you dickhead,” they exclaimed, very much holding onto their anger the best that they could and repeat that he’d told them it was safe in their head. Those were literally the only things keeping enough of the fear at bay for their body to not paralyze them in panic.

Of course, their protest went VERY unheeded as they were brought closer to his mouth, the tongue guiding their leg into his jaws. With their free leg, they tried to brace their foot on one of his top teeth, shoe planting firmly on the bone while their hands scrabbled at fingers larger than their legs.

Jade paused at drawing their leg into his mouth, eyes narrowing reminiscent of a cat enjoying its quarry a bit too much.

Syn huffed, already feeling tired despite the adrenaline in their system, entire body straining in this awkward position while they struggled fruitlessly. Their eyes met his mismatched ones and they gave him THE most pissed off look they could muster while gritting their teeth at the discomfort of fatigue, snarling out, “God, I-I wish I could say I hope you choke, b-but APPARENTLY that can’t happen.”

Their glare was cut off when he opened his jaws just enough that their foot slipped off of his tooth, making them exclaim in panic as the leg not wrapped up by his tongue slid inside too quickly to pull out before he pulled the rest of their other leg inside and clamped his teeth around their abdomen carefully.

Oh yeah, they definitely remember NOT enjoying the points of bone against their body.

“Ugh,” Syn grimaced at feeling the warm confines of his mouth, saliva soaking into their pants fabric as they felt the tongue move. They were both disgusted and confused before realizing that he was shifting so that his tongue completely wrapped around both of their legs.

With his mouth opening again a bit wider so that his teeth no longer pressed into them, several things happened at once.

SOMETHING grabbed their ankles. Something sharp and pointy enough to elicit a sharp “What the FUCK?!” before tugging at their legs, but didn’t break through fabric or skin. At the same time, the tongue wrapped around them loosened enough for them to slip deeper while their upper half was pressed into his jaws.

Now, it seemed to be their torso’s turn to be savored as his teeth clicked together behind them and the muscle lurched beneath them, wasting no time dragging over every millimeter of their form while they wriggled. Breathless, they tried to yank one of their ankles free of whatever fucking had them, realizing that their legs were being held over the precipice at the back of his mouth, and why was everything moving?

It was hard to tell past the fact that they were held in place surrounded by a constantly moving tongue that didn’t want to leave them alone, but they could feel gravity shift in a way that suggested Jade was moving around. And, after a couple seconds, he began fucking HUMMING, of all things.

A jaunty little tune like the bastard didn’t have a LIVE PERSON IN HIS MOUTH.

Oooooh, Syn decided they were going to beat the shit out of him whenever they got out of this, thinking angrily of how they could try and get payback for this when things shifted again. This time, internally.

Whatever held onto their legs let go for a brief second before they found the sharp points at their waist, making them yelp as they were yoinked back to the back of his mouth where a loud swallow overwhelmed their senses, finding themself engulfed all around by even more constricting walls that made it hard to breathe.

They squirmed the best they could, but they were tired, struggles weaker than before. If anything, it got even MORE constricted after a second or two, and they found themself surrounded by his heartbeat, breathing, and humming briefly as they presumably slipped past several important organs deeper inside. Where they eventually spilled out into an organ that sounded WAY too close to whatever was gurgling nearby.

Syn jolted, trying to avoid touching any of the walls around them. An impossible task. But, from what their knowledge of biology granted them, the organ would already have acids and stuff if it was the real deal. Thankfully, their surroundings incited no itchiness or burning sensation.

“Are you alright in there, Syn?”

“G-Gah!” They cried out in surprise at the sudden acknowledgement that tore them from their thoughts, jolting and kicking one of the walls. This close to his lungs, they couldn’t escape from the knowledge that their movements caused his breathing to hitch, wondering if they’d actually managed to hurt him.

A pleased hum and satisfied sigh begged to differ.

“You’re certainly lively,” Jade chuckled. One of the walls felt like it was pressing against them slightly, only causing them to flinch at the touch.

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” Syn snapped, mind reeling a bit from the day.

“Mmm, the whole point of this excursion was to enjoy your company, whether walking with me or inside of me.”

“Whatever. You better take me to Ramshackle after you’re done with the trail, or I swear to the Seven that you never see the fucking light of day again,” they grumbled, knowing full well that they were at a MASSIVE disadvantage and that their words didn’t mean shit.

“But, of course. I promised you’d return unharmed, and you promised to be back for Grim,” he stated. “Although, you did end up a bit scratched.”

“That’s FINE.” Syn said, the scratches and aching ankle were the least of their concerns right now. “Just take me home, motherfucker.”

________________

Grim paced the lounge of Ramshackle in worry.

Syn had said that they’d be back after a few hours, and it was WAY past that. What if something happened? What if they got hurt? WHAT IF JADE KILLED THEM AND BURIED THEIR BODY IN THE WOODS LIKE THEY’D JOKED?!

He had half a mind to march all the way to Octavinelle to demand Azul somehow figure out where Jade and the Ramshackle prefect were. But, before he could entertain the idea too much, he heard the sound of rustling keys and the unlocking of the front door, the person in question trudging in.

“Syn,” he exclaimed, bounding up to their legs. “You made me worried sick! I thought you said you were only going to be gone for a few hours, and it’s been well over- Why are you wet?”

Syn looked at him like they’d pulled two all-nighters, glancing themself over. With a deep sigh, they said, “If I tell you, you have to promise to not nag me about being right.”