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fortune-fool02 · 4 years

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dio rejects humanity and becomes fish

"Dio, no!" Jonathan cried, reaching out in vain at his adoptive brother.

Dio cackled wickedly, as he clutched the Coral Mask in one hand, its spikes extending menacingly as it was exposed to a vial of ocean water that Dio had swiped from Jonathan's study room. At his feet, George, Jonathan's father, lay unconscious, having been wounded by Dio to gain the final ingredient-- a smear of human blood.

"I reject my humanity, JoJo!" he shrieked with a sinister grin. "I become MERMAID!"

At once, spiked tentacle-like tendrils emerged from the mask and clamped onto Dio's face. A bright, shining glow began to envelop him as a swirling mist formed a whirlwind of chaos within the mansion's lobby.

"Jonathan, get down!" Speedwagon cried, tackling Jonathan to the floor. Behind them, a frightful transformation began to take place, as Dio began to morph, his clothes all tearing off to reveal his bare, transfiguring body. Golden scales began forming onto his skin, his ears lengthened into pointed fins. His teeth sharpened like those of a shark's and four pairs of gills opened up on each side of his neck. Last to morph were his legs, fusing together into a long, scaly tail tipped with a fan-shaped fin, and now unable to stand, Dio fell to the floor with a thud as the light faded away.

Both Jonathan and Speedwagon gingerly looked up in horror at what Dio had become, as the mask dropped from his face and tumbled to the floor with a hollow clank.

Dio, lying prone on the floor, slowly stirred and pushed himself up to a sitting position. "At last...at LAST!" he laughed maniacally, testing out the flexibility of his new tail. "At last I can feel the POWER OF THE OCEAN coursing through me!"

"W-what have you done?!" Jonathan cried in disbelief.

"The power of the ocean has transcended my mortal limits!" Dio snarled, though Jonathan noticed he was beginning to wheeze and gasp. "I have...ascended...from a mere...human....to an unstoppable...force of...the sea!"

"But Dio," Jonathan reasoned, "you're....you're not in the sea."

Dio, now panting heavily, seemed to be suddenly struck with a realization, as his eyes widened with terrified regret.

"W-water..." he moaned, clutching his neck in a panic before collapsing onto the ground, his gills flapping vainly for the water that wasn't there.

"Dio? Dio, no!" Jonathan cried, running to his side.

"Leave him be, Jonathan!" snapped Speedwagon. "Let the bastard fish dry out and die, he deserved it!"

Jonathan glared back sternly at his companion. "He may have been cruel and wicked, and now a mythical sea creature, but he's still like a brother to me!" He grabbed the faintly struggling, gasping Dio by his tail, feeling the drying flakiness of his dehydrated scales, and began to drag him toward the back door.

"Speedwagon!" Jonathan groaned. "Take care of my dad for me and make sure he's okay! I have to get Dio into the water!"

Speedwagon nodded thoughtfully as he rushed to George's side. The old man was unconscious but alive, with the stab wound in his flank, inflicted by Dio, still bleeding profusely. "What are you all standing around for?" he yelled at the authorities who entered the room. "Get this man a carriage to the hospital right away!" he yelled, applying pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile Jonathan, dragging the now convulsively-gasping Dio by his tail, was slowly but surely making his way to the fountain in front of the Joestar mansion: the only source of water close enough for him to reach in time before Dio suffocated to death. With one final, heaving grunt, he lifted up the twitching merman and dropped him into the fountain with a splash.

For a few moments Jonathan watched the dark water with bated breath. Then suddenly, from under the murky water, a pair of glowing orange eyes suddenly glared up at him, before giving out a bubbling sigh of exhausted relief, before closing back down again.

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"How's Dad doing?" Jonathan asked Speedwagon, as he arrived to the Joestar mansion in a carriage the following morning.

"He'll have to stay at the hospital for weeks, maybe months," sighed Speedwagon sadly, "but the good news is that he'll live. We're not sure when he'll wake up, but he's stable and in better health."

"That's good to hear," Jonathan replied, thankfully. "I'll try to visit him as soon as I can, but for now...I've got another problem to worry about for the moment."

Speedwagon's face wrinkled in disgust as he became aware of a fishy smell emanating from a bucket that Jonathan carried in one hand.

"Dear heavens, JoJo!" he complained. "What is that dreadful smell?"

"Just some left-over mackerel from our pantry's ice box," Jonathan replied. "I've got to keep him well-fed so he won't...try to EAT anybody."

"Who...?" Speedwagon relied, confused, as his eyes trailed up toward the fountain, where a familiar, blond figure lay in the shallow, running water.

"Here, Dio, I brought you breakfast," Jonathan crooned gently to the merman.

Dio glared hatefully up at him, with brilliant, tangerine eyes, pupils slitted like a cat's. "I am not a pet, JoJo! How dare you treat me like some lowly wretched beast?" he snarled.

"Oh, Dio," Jonathan sighed mournfully. "You did this to yourself. You were arrogant and foolish and it's just brought grief to us all. But no matter how much of a spiteful imbecile you have been...you are no less a brother in my eyes. And I know I'm a better person than to just leave you to die."

He fished out a mackerel from the bucket and uneasily held it out to Dio, who seized it suddenly and without warning, causing both Jonathan and Speedwagon to stumble back in fright.

Gripping his meal in his clawed, webbed hands, Dio messily devoured the fish, tearing into it savagely as his razor-sharp teeth shredded apart fins, bones, scales and all. Speedwagon felt sickened at the sight.

"Disgusting," he groaned. "He was vile before he became a mermaid but he's even worse now!"

"It's a shame, really," Jonathan added with a dry laugh. "Dad always used to praise him for his table manners."

As Dio finished off the last remnants of the fish, Jonathan and Speedwagon got their first good look at Dio's newfound piscine form in the yellow light of early morning. His entire body was covered in small, fine, golden scales, save for his face, throat, belly and chest, which retained the color and texture of Dio's original skin. A large, transluscent dorsal fin emerged from the middle of his back, the same see-through shade of yellow as the smaller fins that emerged from his ears, his elbows and what used to be his hips. His tail, tipped in a bright golden tail fin, was longer than Dio's legs used to be, coiling snakily around the circular fountain with the fluke dangling limply over the edge.

Still retaining his mop of messy blond hair and sharpm handsome facial features, Dio was both terrifying and yet strangely beautiful, Jonathan thought. Just like many of the sea creatures he studied in his marine researches: a gorgeous, elegant exterior concealing the heart and soul of a ruthless, predatory killer, one that was best admired with distance and precaution.

His golden scales glimmered beautifully in the sunlight, but Dio didn't seem to appreciate the glare one bit. He shrank away from the light, shading his eyes from the glare as he wriggled about in the water until he was safely in the fountain's shadow.

"He doesn't seem to like the light," Jonathan noted observantly. "His eyes must have become adapted for the dark depths of the sea, I shall have to get him some shade from the sun if he's to stay here."

"So, what are we going to do with him now?" Speedwagon asked Jonathan concernedly. "Are you going to take him to the ocean and leave him there? The sooner we're rid of him the better!"

"We may be rid of him if we do just that, but he'll be someone else's problem." Jonathan warned. "He's vicious and powerful and he's sure to use his newfound abilities to hurt others, and it would be our fault for turning him loose."

"You don't suppose we could...dry him up and sell him to the museum?" Speedwagon snarkily suggested.

Jonathan shot Speedwagon a horrified glare. "No, no, we're not going to kill him! He's perfectly harmless if we keep him confined in the fountain. This should keep him out of trouble and I can keep a close eye on him."

Meanwhile, Dio had been listening to the whole discussion: furious that they were contemplating on selling him like some common fish. Angrily, he planted his scaly hands onto the fountain's edge and raised his body up as high as he could. "I CAN HEAR YOU TWO SCHEMING!" he cried out at the two. "How DARE you treat me like this!"

Jonathan shook his head disappointedly and approached the merman, who crouched back into the fountain's shadow hissing like a threatened snake. "Dio, I don't want to do this any more than you. But it's my responsibility to keep others safe from you, and you safe from yourself. You turned yourself into this, Dio, and now I know no way to change you back."

"Damn you, JoJo..." Dio whimpered, his voice beginning to break. "So I'm going to have lo spend the rest of my life, however long that may be, kept prisoner in this stupid fountain like some kind of trained seal at a circus? As your own personal pet mermaid, huh, JoJo?" He splashed his tail in frustration and let out a loud, inhuman, mournful wail, and Jonathan felt a hint of pity, even for someone like him.

"This was your choice, Dio," Jonathan scolded, sternly but comfortingly. "There's nothing more you and I can do about the situation, but have to get used to it."

He offered Dio another mackerel. "Here you go, Dio. Eat up and stop being miserable, we'll try to find out a way to make this work out."

Dio recluctantly reached out to take the fish from Jonathan, before sinking back down into the water, bubbling indignantly about his plight.

Jonathan turned to Speedwagon as Dio ate sulkingly. "Speedwagon? This may be a bit of a favor to ask from you..." he asked awkwardly.

"Sure thing, anything that you request," Speedwagon replied.

"You see, I'm going to have to watch over my father at the hospital for a while. And I'm going to have to have someone to watch over Dio for a while to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. I know he can't breathe without water for long and can't leave the fountain for long, but that doesn't stop him from trying. Could you...merman-sit for me while I check on my Dad?"

Speedwagon nodded uneasily, and hesitantly glanced toward the fountain, where Dio, taking his time as he slowly ate his mackerel, made eye contact with Speedwagon and gave a hostile snarl.

"Dear me," sighed Speedwagon in exasperation. "Today is going to be a very, very long day."

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This.... This was absolutely incredible to read! I love every second of it! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, anon! It's absolutely amazing!

#merman dio #merman au #submission

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rat-father · 4 years

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Part 3! I took at least 8 breaks writing this and I can't stand to look at it any longer so sorry it's a bit short

New friend for Pora :)) and new whumpee

I feel like I'm missing a tw but I'm not sure?? Might be me being used to having more

Tagging; @jordanstrophe @skunkandgrenade

-- tw;; captivity/slave whump, near death experience --

It wasn’t until Pora was all the way at the top that they realized just how high up the tightrope was. This would surely be the end of them, there’s no way they could make it across without falling. The audience was watching them closely, but all they could see was the rope and the hard floor below it.

They accepted that this was it and put their first foot on the rope, then the second. To their surprise they didn’t instantly fall, and they kept going, hoping to just reach the end. One mistake and they would fall down, and one mistake they made.

They screamed as they lost their balance and fell down, it was over for them. Except they never hit the floor, they kept falling down a seemingly endless pit. Eventually their back connected with a trampoline, making them bounce up and down for a good bit. Once it finally stopped they laid on the trampoline, eyes closed, waiting for their head to stop spinning.

They slowly pushed themselves up to a sitting position, and squinted looking around the area. They weren’t in the circus anymore, it seemed like they were in some old park, but everything felt wrong.

Was this what the afterlife was like? It was very foggy and they could barely see 20 meters ahead of them. They got off the trampoline and wandered around, looking for some sign of, anything, really. The park was surrounded by a forest, big trees looming over it. It was a perfect scene for some horror movie. If they just followed the path they’d get out right? Made sense to them.

Fog aside, navigating their way through the forest wasn’t that hard, the paths were clear enough. They walked for what felt like hours on end, the fog cleared up, but it didn’t help them in finding out where they were. And being held captive for months really didn’t do much good for their stamina.

Pushing more leaves aside, they found a nice lake leading out into the ocean. They hadn’t seen any wild life yet, so they assumed it was safe to rest there.

Drinking the water wasn’t going to be an option, even though their throat was burning from thirst. They sat by the lake, feet in the water. They used to sit by lakes like this all the time as a kid, waiting for dad to come back from his boat trips. The memories made them feel warm inside. Something moved in the water, snapping them back to reality. They caught a glimpse of a tail, probably just a fish swimming by. A big one by the looks of it.

Someone poked their head out of the water, making them jump and scramble back. The person was just staring at them in amazement. They were confused and unsure of what to do. It took them a second to realize that the person didn’t look like a person at all. Their skin was light blue with gills on either side of their face, scales covering parts of their body, antlers on the top of their head and big curious eyes.

“Hi there! My name’s Sanria.”she spoke first.

Her voice was soft, but high pitched. Sharp teeth showing as she smiled at them.

“Hey, I’m.. I’m Pora,”they paused, wondering what was going on. “Do you know the way out? Of this forest?”

Sanria’s let out a small gasp, her eyes widening in surprise.

”You’re leaving the forest?”

”Yes.. well I’m.. trying to at least.”

“I’ll show you the way out, only if you promise to take me with you!”

This.. creature? Wanted to go with them? It’s not the weirdest thing considering how they ended up here in the first place, but weird nonetheless.

“If you know the way out, why are you still here?”Pora asked softly.

“Because I can’t walk!,”Sanria sighed and pulled herself up the side of the lake, showing her long fish tail. “And the ocean goes a different direction completely. You, however, can carry me.”

Pora stood frozen with shock. They must have been dreaming, no way any of this was real. They considered the offer for a moment and looked at their arms which were skin and bones.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

”Yay!,”she clapped her hands in excitement.

They put one of their arms under her tail and the other around her waist, then hoisted her up. She was much lighter then they’d expected her to be. Her antlers got a bit in the way while they were carrying her around, but they tried to just ignore them. Sanria told them where to go and which path to take. They strayed far away from the original path they took, and they felt kind of grateful that they weren’t alone anymore.

“Say, Sanria, are the antlers just a normal thing your.. species has?”

“Yes they are. At least where I was born. Higher up they don’t have antlers apparently. Less aggressive there.”

They weren’t sure how to reply to that. They shook their head and continued walking. Sanria started quietly humming a song to herself. It was quite calming, taking it all in, walking through the forest was pretty nice. There wasn’t someone beating them constantly, no tasks to do, no consequences. If it was a dream, they wouldn’t want to actually wake up. They eventually reached a gate, with empty roads on the other side.

“The exit is right over there!”Sanria exclaimed, excitement in her tone.

Pora smiled as they left the forest together.

“So,where do you wanna go now?”They asked.

“Wherever you’re going. I quite like you, and can’t go that far crawling around.”

They chuckled and were about to reply when the world threw them upside down, and they both fell into the sky. Different colors flew by, screams filling the silence. And with a loud thump everything went still.

#whumpee #pet whump #whump #clown whump #aaaa #I don't like this #I had no clue how to write what I had in mind

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zippers-flowers-and-wine · 4 years

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This might sound a little weird but I was looking at this account and thought of the sequel to the little mermaid. Would it be possible in the lore for there to be a situation similar to Melody's?

Hmm... I've never seen the little mermaid sequel unfortunately 😨

The only Disney sequel i ever watched was The Lion King 2, and that's only because of the bomb ass song "That's My Lullaby." But I think I get the gist of what it is?

Like, she wants to be a mermaid? Right? Well, I imagine, based on who the Dad is, the kid would come out as a selkie, water nymph or mostly human like creature:

Abbacchio: Kid would have pointed ears, sharp teeth and take mostly after the Reader in skin tone and hair type. But she would totally have Abbacchio's white hair. Her skin would be super rough around her elbows, knees and shoulders. She'd also be pretty strong, even as a child, and would be a surprisingly weak swimmer. No gills, fins, ect. so she holds onto her dad(s) if she need to go into the water. (If anyone would get the mermaid envy, it'd be her)

Fugo: His kid will end up as a selkie! He'd end up with all the tiger-shark traits that skipped Fugo, with a slightly longer body. The reason he'd get the tiger shark is because humans, when involved in making the child, activate a sort of "randomizer" in the merfolks genes. Fugo's kid has no lionfish spines, but he does have a small bit of venom. His charm would be one of those surfer dude, shark tooth necklaces and he'd keep it wrapped around his ankle. (Both Fugo and the kid are really happy, though his son may get a lil jealous of Fugo's kelpie power)

Narancia: Personally I'd love to see him have twins, and they would both be "mermaids" except they have legs. So their toes are kind of like scuba flippers and they find it hard to be on land for long periods of time. They both have "wings", but one has a permanently damaged wing due to complications during birth. (They actually get human envy because they wanna walk without the big flippers tripping them.)

Mista: Pretty much a full fledged mermaid. Like her daddy, she'd be an octopus because Mista is fully octopus with nothing else that can be "randomized" onto her. Unlike Mista, she has all 8 of her limbs, so it will force him to either get over his superstition (maybe transition it another number 👀) or lose his mate and child. (The kid is really happy here, since she looks like a carbon copy of her daddy.... -she despises him in the teenage phase, breaks the poor octomans hearts.)

Bruno: His kid come out a lot like Abbacchio's kid. Except his son is a really gifted swimmer, and goes on to do synchronized swimming as an adult. The kid is also incapable of gaining weight beyond a certain amount thanks to his extremely high metabolism and the ribbon eel traits. And you know that webbing we have between our fingers and toes? His is slightly higher up and he got called frog feet a lot. (In this case, the kid is pretty happy with his life. Bruno is happy that his family is happy, but doesn't appreciate the S.W.F hanging around.)

Giorno: His kid is full merfolk. You wouldn't have even realized that he had a human mother, should you see him out and about. He gained a lot of eel traits, completely dodging the lionfish ones from Dio like he was in the matrix. Jonathan, in this AU, is a European Conger mixed with a moray, so the kid is hella big, and has a nasty bite to boot. (In this case, Giorno would be slightly envious of his son, but tries not to let that cloud his love)

I hope that helps a little bit?

#zipped up #mmr questions #yall really just baby crazy today huh?#merfolk jjba

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riv-ika · 3 years

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what is the fantasy lesbians - the novel wip? <.<

ok so wolf already asked and i went off here but NOW im gonna say more because oh my god it does not even cover a fraction of what i’ve got going on

so let me tell you about that ragtag group of disasters meant to save the universe!! from Earth, because yes our world exists, unfortunately, we have a family of four siblings. the eldest are a pair of twins, Samuel and Cameron (Sam & Cam, their parents are hilarious, also both he/him), the next oldest is Roxanne, Roxy for short (she/her), and finally Evie (she/her) is the baby. The Finley siblings are absolute disasters, as implied by the whole ragtag thing, but really closely knit. Roxy is Amara’s love interest and I love her. She is so smart and cheesy and absolutely loving her fantasy coming of age adventure and SHE DESERVES IT.

next we have Dante and Virgil. one is a tired, grumpy old man and the other is a murder-sunshine-child who loves swimming and knives. can you guess which is which? Dante (he/him) is the grump and Virgil (she/her) is the Child, fondly called Gills by her adopted uncle, as unwilling as he is. Dante is the group’s dad but kind of like that fun dad who’s also kind of concerning with how exhausted he is. Virgil is off the shits, completely feral, anger issues out the wazoo, but she is ADORABLE. Anyway, they are a species called Panyct (yes, pronounced panicked) who come from a bioluminescent world, so their skin is primarily dark blues and blacks with gorgeous glowing markings in crazy patterns that range from purple to pink to green it’s insane. Virgil has green markings and her choppy hair is dusted with a green glow.

finally we have the Avaru gang. Avaru are basically winged humans, although near-human would probably be more accurate. their wings have many variations from bird wings to bat wings to bug wings, etc. but birds of a feather flock together if y’know what i’m saying so most of the Avaru my people meet first are bird-winged. Avaru are great metal-workers and have specially formed talons that they use exclusively in battle but the bird tribes are generally peaceful and are ruled by a sitting council as well as a Wren, cough king of the birds cough, who is sort of a figurehead. idk i haven’t worked it all out yet. also Avaru have sharp teeth because I think it’s neat. Anyway, our Avaru protagonists are the Wren-to-be, Nefe (xe/xem) and xer loyal bodyguard Cyano (he/him) whose preferred weapon is written as ‘yes’ in my notes. Nefe is of the Corac clan and I haven’t figured out xer wing colours yet. Cyano is of the Jayus clan, so clearly he has jays’ wings because holy shit can you imagine how gorgeous that would be. I haven’t fleshed out their characters a ton but Cyano is for sure in love with his Wren so that’s fun

so yeah thats the disaster gang!!! thank u for asking ik this isnt really about plot but i just had to go off

#river answers #rivika #river #damnthisbastardforeternity #fantasy lesbians wip

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chibi-pix · 5 years

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VLD AU - That’s Not Pidge!

@a-haunted-sock thank you very much for inspiring this next one. I got it done sooner than I expected.

Writing and illustrations alike! Here’s another addition to the giant mermaid!Pidge AU. Word count: 2,720 words. I’ll put it in the “keep reading” section below.

As a note, later we see “<speech like this>”, that means they’re in another language. Rather than fussing with translations or coming up with another language, I like to use that form to show different languages, especially of fantasy languages. Enjoy!

There were hardly any times where Lance feared the ocean. The first time was after playing video games. He learned from one specific game that the ocean was indeed a frightening place with the high probability of so many different creatures wanting to kill you. But he also understood that it was in their nature and they just hunted prey. Once he got over that, he respected the ocean more deeply, no pun intended on his part, and loved how natural and mysterious it was. Far into the depths rested a great mystery, one humans could only daydream and ponder about. It was strange, really, that people knew more about other planets and stars than they did their own oceans.

The second time he felt fear about the ocean was when he met Pidge. Yes, she startled him at first, but that was reasonable. She was much larger than he was, the boy able to comfortably fit in the palm of her hand; using both hands, she could safely encase him in webbed prison. He felt very thankful that day that she had no intention of eating him, but rather she was curious. A strange creature that didn’t look like it belonged to the ocean, a creature she had seen come and gone… and many who never returned to the shore. At least not breathing. But what scared him more was her comment. She had a family, as well as he hoped she did so that she would not be lonely, but that wasn’t the scary part. What was was that from what he understood, she was a runt. Smaller than average.

At the same age Pidge was, however young or old that was, Pidge’s older brother was larger. Much larger from what Lance could ascertain. THAT was what frightened the poor boy. Not that anyone could blame him. Lance had spent plenty of time studying creatures of the ocean, at least the known ones. He made comparisons and he knew that Pidge was of a carnivorous race, or at least mostly carnivorous. Her teeth sharp, meant for tearing into flesh. Thinking of that, the mysteries of behemoths of the sea washing up with massive bites bitten out of them was less mysterious and almost terrifying. But that was nature.

And nature was something Lance loved and respected.

Fear. Respect. Love.

And knowing Pidge always helped to draw him back out, whether he was joined by Hunk and Keith, his best friends and the only people he talked about Pidge with, even going as far as to introduce them, or he went out on his own; he just had to be careful of mother nature deciding what days were perfect days for storms despite what meteorologists thought they knew.

Or at least he thought that was really all he had to be careful of as he went out to the middle of the ocean, nearing what he mentally called Pidge’s territory.

Setting his electromagnetic anchor so his boat wouldn’t drift away, Lance dove into the water, eager to swim with Pidge. Perhaps this was a day she would take him deeper. His suit and gear may have seemed minimal compared to what divers used to use, but it was definitely more advanced and allowed safer, deeper dives. He hoped to sneak out his uncle’s prototypes one day to test with Pidge, trusting that she would protect him and safely get him back to the surface if something went wrong.

Lance kept swimming downward, easily getting down to the dysphotic zone. He spent so much time in that level under the surface, it was in such an area that Pidge and he originally met. He went further, reaching about six hundred meters. Now that wasn’t the deepest part of the ocean, that was know, but it was far enough for Lance.

Okay, Pidge, now… where are you? He thought to himself, the voice in his head taking on a playful tone. It was sometimes like playing hide and seek with the massive mermaid; she had a way of remaining hidden. Perhaps it was the fact that people couldn’t see clearly in the ocean water naturally? Or maybe it really was magic? Science was also a plausible thing, she could be able to adjust her colour as needed like a cuttlefish. Hunk would love that idea; as bright as the mechanic was, he’d probably giggle and say it sounded like cuddle and made them sound pleasant. That thought made the diver chuckle to himself.

Lance saw movement in the distance. He recognized the wavy motion and figure. Pidge! He thought, his mental voice sounding a bit too excited than he expected. Oh thank goodness Allura wasn’t there to hear his thoughts, she would tease him about having a crush, as any good relative did. Annoying, but he knew she loved him and teasing was a good sign of that. He just wished she didn’t hit close to home when she would joke that the only girlfriend he’d probably get would be a fish. In reality, Pidge technically was a fish, right?

He really wasn’t sure. She could breathe air like a mammal but she also breathed through her gills like a fish. And he wasn’t about to get too personal and awkward and ask her about mating or anything like that. Nope! Too soon! Maybe never.

Shaking his head, Lance pushed those thoughts away. He then looked. Wait. Pidge wasn’t there. Okay. She may have been playing. Smirking behind his mask, he looked around. Behind him? Above him? Below him? He checked every bit, trying to locate Pidge. Can’t sneak up on me, Pidge. He playfully thought. He heard a sound, even through the water. Behind him. Spinning around, he could see the figure again as it neared.

Huh? He thought. Wait a moment… that… that isn’t Pidge… that one is… bigger?! His eyes widened. Oh quiznak! And worse yet, it was speeding toward him. Before it could reach, a set of hands came up from under him, startling him as he was suddenly cupped and pulled into a familiar surface. Wait… this is Pidge who has me! He thought in alarm. But… who was that? A family member?

Pidge pulled Lance in close, protecting him between her hands and chest. She made a sound, something akin to a snarl as a larger creature swam around her, sniffing at her and checking her over. From inside his safe zone, Lance couldn’t understand what was said when the other spoke. Not that he couldn’t hear them, but rather they spoke a different language.

“<Pidge! What is the meaning of this? Is this why you’ve refused to come home?>” the larger creature, a merman, inquired, settling his movements. He sniffed again. “<What even is that thing? It doesn’t belong out here.>” He grabbed for Pidge’s wrist, making a move to pry her hand away from its protective position. Pidge didn’t budge, she refused to let anything or anyone hurt Lance, especially while he was in the ocean and she was near enough to protect him. “<Pidge, show me.>” That wasn’t curiosity in his voice; he was being protective of the much smaller mermaid.

“<No, you’ll try to hurt him. Or worse, eat him. He’s not food.>” Pidge snarled, using her tail to smack away his hand. She tried to swim off, but the other got around her again. Curse being the runt. “<Leave us alone, Matt.>”

“<Pidge, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s dangerous. Being so close to the surface...>” the other started to say, concern now softening, showing a gentler side of his protectiveness.

“<I keep hidden… they aren’t able to detect me, Matt.>” Pidge spoke softly.

“<Aren’t able… this one was in your zone, near your cave!>” the other, Matt, reminded. “<And how can you be so sure they aren’t able to detect you? Pidge...>”

Pidge turned, showing Matt her back. She then pulled her hands out a bit to check on Lance. Still there. Still alive. Still fine. But he did seem rather scared. Before Matt could check, she pulled her hands back, keeping him hidden.

“<Pidge, this is a being of the surface, isn’t it? By the depths… you know what Dad always told us!>” Matt raised his voice. He then moved in closer, nuzzling his sister. “<Please… please stop this… come home. I don’t want you hurt…>”

Pidge sighed, her shoulders relaxing and the ridge along her back, which she didn’t realize had gone stiff, softened, swaying again with the movement of the water around them. “<I know… but I like it up here. It’s been fun and I’ve been safe. I’ve also been able to help others.>” She looked to Matt. “<A sky-ship went down. They call them planes. Its captain was still alive; because I freed him and got him back to the surface, he’s still alive. People are happy.>” She looked down to her hands again. “<He told me so. I trust him. He’s done nothing but been kind and trust me… And I trust him.>”

Matt sighed. He knew his sister better than he knew his own fins. She was as stubborn as she was curious. But she also knew how to see the good in others. She wasn’t naïve, she didn’t openly trust others. But she could tell when someone truly meant no harm to her.

“<I promise, I won’t eat this… thing. Whatever it is you have.>” Matt assured. “<So… will you at least show me?>”

Pidge grumbled before looking down. She pulled her hands away, but further cupped them, keeping Lance safe. She brought them up and whispered into them, this time speaking in a way Lance would understand her. “My brother wishes to meet you; he promised he won’t eat you and I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything to bring you any harm.” she spoke so softly, but Lance could understand her easily. “Do you wish to meet him?”

Meet her brother!? Lance’s eyes widened. This thing that probably originally intended to eat him? He relaxed, though. Pidge said she wouldn’t let her brother hurt him and he trusted her. He then gently placed his hand on her lip that he had access to with her hands slightly parted. Soft. Hiding dangerously sharp teeth. But he wasn’t scared. He then tapped her lip a bit, talking in his own way to her.

Okay, let’s meet big brother. He thought. He heard Pidge sigh; he could tell she was worried about him, but he trusted her to help keep him safe.

Pidge pulled her hands down and opened them up, showing Lance there, sitting on both of them. Matt went in closer to see him, but the older, larger merman pulled back when Pidge snarled at him; the sound startled Lance.

Wow! She can sound aggressive! The human thought, both unnerved and amazed. But she’s definitely making sure he does nothing, huh?

“Well,” Pidge mumbled, “Lance, this is Matt. Matt, this is Lance.”

Matt eyed Lance, seeming to evaluate him. This thing was something Pidge wanted to protect? It may have been tiny, but he heard stories and knew this sort of creature could be a potential threat. What if he blabbed to the others of his species about Pidge? What if they decide to capture her? Experiment on her? Keep her in a little cage?

Kill her?

“<How can you trust this thing? Pidge...>” Matt muttered. “<Surface beings are dangerous creatures...>”

Lance blinked. Matt definitely wasn’t speaking a language he knew. Odds were, it wasn’t even a language any human knew; hearing it, he really questioned when, where, and how Pidge learned to speak his language and completely bypassed the awkward moments of the language barrier.

Pidge grumbled under her breath. “They aren’t all the same, Matt.” she said, speaking so Lance could understand her. “I’ve met a few.”

“<A few? And why aren’t you using the ocean’s language?>” Matt gave a quizzical look, trying to comprehend his sister and her actions.

“Because Lance doesn’t understand it, and yes! A few!” Pidge huffed, blowing bubbles from her mouth. “Lance’s friends; they’re my friends, too. Keith and Hunk are very nice. Even...” She giggled a bit. “Hunk passed out when we first met. He was scared. And Keith got so excited, he spooked me.” She looked happy at that memory. Hearing her, even Lance was amused. That was an interesting day. “Look, Matt, you don’t know them like I do. And it’s not like I’m out there for everyone to find me, befriending every human I meet. I’m careful.” She gently scooted Lance over to just one hand and used the other to gently poke him. Lance seemed to chuckle, a few extra bubbles going off from breathing mask.

Matt raised an eyebrow before carefully grabbing Pidge’s wrist. He leaned in to get a better look at Lance, examining him more closely. “He makes himself too comfortable here...”

“Because he’s my friend and knows I won’t hurt him.” Pidge deadpanned, pulling her tail up and swatting Matt’s face with it, getting him to let go. “And if you must know,” she moved her hand to her head, letting Lance go there to hold onto her hair, “yes, I allow him in my cave to see my collection.” She swam off a bit, but Matt decided to follow. “What can I tell you to convince you?”

“Hmm...” Matt grumbled. “Look, if I find a scratch on you that isn’t from some other predator of the oceans...”

“Don’t go threatening him, Matt.” Pidge stated. She looked up. “We’re clear. Lance, I’m going to return you to your boat, okay? I’ll make sure Matt doesn’t sink it.” Lance pressed on Pidge’s head, silently acknowledging what she said. “And Matt, you better behave yourself.” she snarled at her brother. She went up and broke the water’s surface near Lance’s boat. She went over and put her head near, letting Lance get on board and remove his mask. “Sorry about Matt.” She looked back, seeing him surface just enough to show his eyes. “He’s a bit protective of me; our parents have told us old stories. But those stories didn’t come from this era. And they never met you, Hunk, or Keith.”

“It’s fine and understandable.” Lance assured.

“I hope… this doesn’t scare you off.” Pidge’s ears twitched downward.

“It doesn’t.” Lance shook his head. “See you next week? I’m spending the week helping out at AARC. And helping Keith with his blog… Man, how’d I rope myself into that one.” He shook his head. “Anyway, we can meet in a week, right? Maybe any other days when I have time off?”

“I’d like that!” Pidge exclaimed, looking excited.

“Maybe I can convince the others I’ll be out on a camping trip, then we can watch the stars together.” Lance suggested. He grinned when Pidge’s ears twitched happily. “I’ll see you next week then. Or sooner.” He then looked to Matt. “Nice meeting you, Matt. Hopefully we can get along one day.” He yelped when Matt’s tail came up and splashed water at him, his boat, and Pidge; thankfully it wasn’t enough to sink the boat. Matt huffed before diving back down.

“I’m sure he’ll behave.” Pidge assured.

“But he doesn’t like me.” Lance chuckled.

“He doesn’t like you, yeah.” Pidge confirmed.

“Eh, family. Should’ve seen Marco and Veronica when Luis brought home his then-girlfriend for the first time. They got protective.” Lance shrugged. “But they warmed up to Lisa. I’m sure Matt will warm up to me, too. Just gotta give it time and be patient.”

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded. “Anyway, safe sailing. See you another time.” She nodded before diving down to join her brother, most likely give him a stern talking too.

Lance smiled, watching as Pidge disappeared into the waters. He then deactivated the anchor and sailed back to the AARC base, his mind dwelling on what he told Pidge as a blush came to his cheeks. “I just compared me meeting Matt to the family meeting Lisa, didn’t I?” he sighed. “Oh boy… but..” He shook his head. “Meeting Matt was a bit scary. I think I’d be terrified to meet their parents if Matt was THAT MUCH BIGGER than Pidge. Wow...” He then nodded, focusing his mind on getting back home.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. As an added note, I knew Matt was bigger than his sister, but even I was impressed with what my mind came up with when I doodled Matt looking around Pidge. Whew!

#Pidge #Pidge Gunderson #Katie Holt #Matt Holt #Lance #mermaid pidge #mermaid katie holt #merman matt holt #mer!matt holt #mer!Pidge #mer pidge #giant mermaid #giant mermaid pidge #giant merman matt #matt is massive #VLD #Voltron legendary defender #alternate universe #i love when people inspire me

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drops-of-moonlights · 5 years

Text

Winx AU Detailing Part IV - The different races and species of the Naerys System

AKA all the wacky ears and other details I’ve put into characters so far. I’ve written this post before twice already but hey, what’s one more gonna do.

Humans are the most common species in the system. They’re average compared to the rest, with normal eyes, rounded ears, regular teeth and limbs. They have an advanced resistance to poisonous substances than most other species, however - only Orcs and Dwarfs have it as well. While eye and hair colors are usually the same we get here on Earth, some other planets add extra color to the mix (the notorious fuschia hair of Zenith, the pinkish shade in Lynphea and the indigo hair of Solaria, to give some examples). Brown is the most common eye color, followed by hazel. Similarly, brown is the most common hair color, followed by black.

Elves are the second most common species, alongside Orcs. They’re taller than the other species, and are of a lithe or slim build most of the time. They have slanted, horizontal pupils similar to goats, and have slighly longer, pointy ears. They have one of the highest percentage of magi than the others as well. Green is the most common eye color, followed by amber. Blonde hair is the most common followed by light brown.

Orcs share the second spot for most common species, and are generally tall with easy muscle building, having a general stocky shape Their ears are square-ish and fin-like, and have a faster general hair growth. Teeth are sharp and pointy, and while omnivorous, they require a generous dose of taurine to keep healthy. Share the same poison resistance that humans do. Blue is the most common eye color, followed by brown. Black hair is the most common, followed by red.

Dwarves are the third most common species, alongside merfolk. They’re on the average shorter than humans, and have most of the same characteristics Orcs have. Their ears are big and round, however, and do not have the same sharp teeth, rather they have way stronger mandibles, even being able to bend metal. They also don’t need a constant intake of taurine like Orcs do. Brown is the most common eye color, followed by green, with red hair being the most common with grey following suit.

Merfolk are the third most common species, sharing that spot with dwarves. Their backs, arms and legs, as well as partly their face, hands and feet are covered in small, shimmery scales, and their eyes have a fish-like look to them. They have the natural ability to shapeshift without the use of magic, capable of changing their legs for a fish tail and viceversa. Their ears are also webbed and have small, almost invisible gills on their necks that allow them to fully breathe underwater. They don’t grow hair outside of their head, as it would be detrimental when swimming. Blue is the most common eye color, followed by purple, with mint green hair being the most common one followed by blonde. They have the highest range of hair colors of all species.

Drakians are the second-most rare species, and are mostly found on Solenei and Daumme, with Antocea housing a very small percentage of them. Their eyes are reptilian, and their ears are sharp and vaguely-fin like. They also have scales covering their bodies in the same fashion merfolk have, but a Drakian’s scales are harder and somewhat sharper. They also have a higher internal temperature on average. Amber is their most common eye color, with grey following close, and red hair is the most common one followed by blue and brown.

Leprechauns are the rarest of the sapient/sentient species, found only in Magix and in small quantities in Daumme. They’re as short as Dwarves, but have big, pointy ears and a more slim build than Dwarves’s stocky body type. Green eyes are the most common, followed by purple, with green hair being the most common followed by red.

Mixing of the races is not frowned upon, and their resulting kid will tend to share aspects of both parents, though sometimes they lean more towards one species than the other. For example, Musa’s parents were an orc (mom) and a dwarf (dad), and while she got the stature of her father, most of her other attributes come from her mother. Aisha, by contrast, is 25% mermaid from her mother’s side, meaning she gets the ringed eyes and ears, but not the scales. It’s also significantly draining for her to change between tail and legs, sometimes needing to get a full night’s sleep to recover. She can breather very well underwater, however.

Transformations also work differently for Merfolk that mostly live underwater - their forms will lack most forms of sleeves and gloves, and will grant extra decorations on their tails (and even change the color of it alongside their scales) depending on the transformation. Similarly, most underwater merfolk are Sorcerers, as wings past Enchantix or Harmonix are hard to maintain and move beneath the waves, with the obvious exception of Sirenix wings.

#Winx Club #Winx Redux AU #Winx AU Detailing #so yeah idk what the next Detailing post will be but hey #this one's done at least

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aweebwrites · 6 years

Text

Fins and Hooves

Warning: animal death, mentions of blood (nothing too gross)

________________

Zane watched, perched on his favorite resting point in the lake as Cole ran along the shore. Cole himself had made the resting point using his affinity for earth. It was a shallow bowl shaped rising in the water, close enough to the surface that he could sit or lay down comfortably and still be visible above water while being just deep enough to keep his tail and gills submerged. There were two similar ones to his left for Nya and Skylor whenever they decide to come over to his side of the lake but his was hand carved with beautiful patterns and colourful stones embedded along it by his thoughtful mate.

Said mate who looked majestic running along the shore line, sending water splashing when the the waves came in too close. His hair had grown out over the winter and he had Nya pull it in a ponytail. He wasn't just running for fun however. He insisted that he hunt today. He found land animals unique in taste and while he loved fish, he like a change in diet from time to time. So after mentioning that to the kelpie during their morning swim (the sudden change in the dynamics of the lake confused breeding fish and a few who were supposed to be heading further north to lay their eggs had done so here instead. They decided it was a good thing and frequently checked to see how the hatchlings are doing), he took it upon himself to hunt for his mate.

“What has Cole so busy?” Nya says, sliding up onto the rest next to him.

“He's hunting.” Zane informed her, resting his chin in his webbed hand. “I've never actually seen him do it so I thought I'd observe.” He says and Nya hummed.

“I'm surprised he finds any prey with those thundering hooves of his.” She snorts.

“I thought the same thing at first.” Zane says quietly, watching him turn at the start of the fjord filtering fresh sea water into their new home, eyes on the small woodland bracketing a third of their home, arrow drawn tightly in his bow. “But he's being loud on purpose. It spooks prey out of hiding and their panic would make them uncoordinated and easy to take down. He's managed to do this for a few but he rejected them it seems.” He says, a little confused on the last part.

“Cole goes all out for you, no matter what he does. Of course he'll be picky hunting for you.” Nya says with a grin, nudging him with her tail and he smiled a little, blushing at that. “Oh. Looks like he's chosen.” She says and Zane watcher in awe as Cole went stock still, eyes focused on his target.

He breathed out slowly and let his arrow fly, a wounded yelp sounding after. He then grinned, swinging the bow over his shoulder and trotted off into the woodland. He reappeared soon after with a deer over his hide, blood running from its throat.

“Strong man.” Nya says, wagging her brows and Zane laughed, splashing her with the icy water.

They both slipped off the rest and swam towards the shore coming up to the place where both warm and frigid waters mixed.

“Big one. I know Skylor would love a taste.” Nya commented as Cole slid the corpse off of him.

“Which reminds me. She and the others should be here any moment now. I should get extra for them. You know how Lloyd is with deer.” Cole says, kneeling to steal a kiss from his mate.

“I'll help. If I recall, Master Wu has a taste for fish as well.” Zane says with a smile, cupping Cole's cheek.

“What's with the secret huddle?” They all looked up as Jay circled overhead before landing. “Oh deer! Get it?” He says with a grin, and Nya splashing him as Zane chuckled.

“Jokes aside, Lloyd is actually just starting to change his scales. He'll be here for a while before he has to leave for the Spirit Coves. Dragon growth spurt and all.” Kai says, hovering next to them.

Just then, a loud thud sounded and they saw a green dragon crain its head up and roar. It would have been intimidating if his roar hadn't cracked half way in. They were left laughing instead.

“You guys are jerks.” Lloyd huffed, crossing his front paws, before in a puff of green, he was his less scaly form.

In this form, he looked almost human if his slitted green eyes, pointed ears, peaking fangs, folded wings and scaled tail wasn't enough of a give away. Considering that he was part dragon, part Oni (demon) and human all in one, he leaned more towards his dragon heritage unlike his demonic father. Speaking of.

“Did Master Garmadon get your message Master Wu?” Zane asked the white dragon as he shifted into a similar state as his nephew.

“Yes. He should be back shortly after Lloyd returns from the Spirit Coves. The venom of the Great Devourer's bite may not be able to injure him but the effects have to be dealt with gently.” Wu says and Lloyd hung his head.

“Cheer up squirt. Your dad will be fine. He's tough, remember?” Cole says, ruffling his hair, earning a hiss and a swipe of claws in the direction of where his hand was. “Tell you what, how about we hunt you something to eat. The deer have wandered pretty close by…” He says, swinging Lloyd up on his hide and he beamed, near drooling at the mention of his favourite meal.

“Hey! How comes he gets to ride on your back!” Jay protested, zapping Jim for good measure.

“Ow! That's why you cluck!” Cole yelled and Zane laughed.

_____________________

“Hey Skylor! Where have you been?” Kai asked once she walked up to where everyone was eating on the shore outside.

“Molting. I hate it but at least it all goes one time.” She shrugged then walked over to Nya, leaning down and kissing her.

“I kept it safe like you asked.” Nya says, gesturing to her seal skin she wrapped around her neck.

“Great. Hold onto it for a while longer, would you?” She asked, sitting next to her and Nya nodded with a smile, returning to her meal, offering her some.

Zane on the other hand wasn't sure of what to do. The only ones he's eaten in front of was Nya, Skylor and Cole after a lot of reassuring. He feared his mouth may be unsettling for some.

“Aren't you hungry Zane?” Master Wu asked but before he could use that as an excuse, his stomach growled.

Loudly.

“Ha! Zane's stomach is more intimidating than you!” Jay grinned at Lloyd who glared at the harpy before plucking a feather, making him yelp.

“Serves you right.” Kai smirked at his mate as he whined into his feathers.

“Zane?” Cole's soft, worried voice called and he looked up at his mate before looking away.

“I… The way I eat is-”

“That's what this is all about?” He looked up at Cole, confused. “Snowflake, no-one minds or even cares how you eat.” Cole says, holding onto his webbed hand.

“Oh. Cold water mers have a very flexible jaw for the very big prey that live there.” Master Wu explained to a confused Lloyd.

“Ok. But what does that have to do with not wanting to eat? I'm pretty sure I can open my mouth wider than yours.” Lloyd pointed out before shifting and opened his mouth wide and took a big bite out of the deer he hunted all by himself.

“You might not have noticed but I don't chew. I eat my meals whole.” Skylor pointed out before demonstrating by swallowing down a large fish.

“I think Jay and I are the only ones who have small mouths but that doesn't stop Jay from getting food even on his tail feathers.” Kai says pointedly, to the messy eater who looked at him sheepishly, scales in his hair.

"The fangs are still new so my way of eating is a little different too." Cole says, nudging him gently and he smiled a little.

“There’s no such thing as normal. Everyone is unique in habits and more. Here, we are all family and we accept each other, flaws and all.” Master Wu says and Zane looked around at his strange pod before smiling.

“Plus, it'll be a shame for that deer to go to waste…” Lloyd says, licking his maw.

“It would be, wouldn't it?” Zane says, looking down at the untouched deer Cole had hunted and even skinned, just for him.

His stomach rumbled once more and he looked to Cole who nodded. He then sighed, letting go of insecurity. They watched in awe as he opened his mouth, revealing blue muscles in his cheeks and a very blue mouth filled with sharp teeth and a long dark blue tongue before he struck into the upper thigh of his prey, teeth cutting through the flesh easily and breaking bone. The group all cheered for him and Cole grinned, proud of his mate.

The rest of their meal was uneventful but the happy aura never left. Zane's pod was a strange one indeed but he wouldn't trade them for anything.

_____________

(Idk what to call this Au so I just put the first thing that came to mind. Also, Lloyd! He looks like his kid self now but after his trip to the Spirit Coves, he'll look like current Lloyd but with more demonic features. That's another story. Also, Lloyd doesn't know Misako. She was a human and died before he hatched several years ago from natural causes (I made her lay an egg that took years to hatch >:3 I also gave Garmadon the chance to raise his son). Finally, Garmadad isn't fully evil. He killed the last of the Devourers for the protection of Ninjago but got bitten in the process (the bite is treatable in this au because no angst! {Or very little at least}). He's in the first realm getting treated by other Oni (they're not evil like in the series but they aren't particularly good either. They look after their own and the Omega is fond of both him and Lloyd. He's super tsundere when confronted about Lloyd but he would high-key die for him. Same for Firstborne). Anyway, enough talking for now. I haven't slept yet... Weeb out!

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fanficmoi · 6 years

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The Fool By The Seaside Chp.2

Paul returned to the coast everyday after that, desperate to see the man, the creature, again. But he wasn’t there for the whole week that followed the encounter, or the week after that, or the week after that. He grabbed every book he could find on the library about sea creatures and there he found the word, a world he’d always thought to be fantasy and yet would never again be perceived as so in Paul’s mind. Mermaid. Or rather, merman. The book told him that they were part human part fish, and that they often appeared to sailors on their voyages at sea. It spoke of their beauty and how they used it to lure those sailors to their deaths. But Paul couldn’t believe that, yes the creature had been scary but Paul had touched him without his permission. The creature had probably never met a human before! The books spoke of encounters mermaids had had before with humans, often about how enchanting they were and how disappointed the men narrating the stories had been when they found out that they were fish from the waist down. Paul scoffed at them, how could people be disappointed at such a remarkable aspect? Paul knew he wanted, no needed, to see it again. To feel it under hand, to be able to take it in in detail and be able to appreciate every inch of its beauty.

Paul was desperate, he was irritable and nobody could figure out what was wrong with him. But he couldn’t tell anyone, the boy was Paul’s secret. The creature had sang to him. Surely that meant something, it had too.

It was with this thought in mind that it struck Paul. An idea to get the creature to return. Paul would sing. Yes, he would sing a song and hope for the creature to hear it.

And so that’s what he did one day. He brought his guitar to the beach, something he rarely did due to a fear that it would get wet or get covered in sand, and started to strum out a soft tune he’d been working on for some time.

One day, you'll look

To see I've gone

But tomorrow may rain, so

I'll follow the sun

One day, you'll know

I was the one

But tomorrow may rain, so

I'll follow the sun

He closed his eyes and let his heart take over the song, the wind caressing his fair face.

And now the time has come

And so, my love, I must go

And though I lose a friend

In the end you will know

Oh-oh-oh

One day, you'll find

That I have gone

But tomorrow may rain, so

I'll follow the sun

So focused was he that he didn’t hear a body come out of the water, with its head tilted and eyes wide in confusion and wonder.

And now the time has come

And so, my love, I must go

And though I lose a friend

In the end you will know

Oh-oh-oh

One day, you'll find

That I have gone

But tomorrow may rain, so

I'll follow the sun

The song ended there, and Paul sighed in content, the first he had felt in a while. The atmosphere had relaxed, the waves and seagulls seemed muted, and Paul could feel himself beginning to lay down for rest when a voice made him snap up.

“Don’t stop.” It said.

Paul sat up in a flash and blinked his eyes as he took in the sighet before him. It had worked! The man was there, his body from the waist down hidden from view with the water. Paul stared in amazement as he took in every detail. The man’s skin seemed to almost shine as the evening sun struck it. He was still wearing the necklace with the blue stones, and Paul could see a gold armband on his left bicep with some engravings he could not decipher.

The creature spoke again, “I like your song.” Its, His, voice was different as he spoke than when he sang. It was rougher, more nasal, and yet still enchanting.

Paul finally dared to open his mouth, “I, that was it. The song ends there.”

The creature looked down at the water, the looked up again. “You have another?” He asked, “Another song?”

Paul found himself nodded, “Sure, loads.”

The creature, the merman, smiled. But it quickly faded as he saw Paul flinch away from his teeth. He sank down in the water, feeling dejected.

Paul cursed himself, “It’s okay, I’m sorry.”

The merman’s eyes looked at him without actually moving his head up. He then offered a nervous, close mouthed smile and said, “Song?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” Paul said with a shy smile of his own. Then he started to sing.

I've just seen a face,

I can't forget the time or place

Where we just met.

She's just the girl for me

And I want all the world to see

We've met, mm-mm-mm-m'mm-mm

Had it been another day

I might have looked the other way

And I'd have never been aware.

But as it is I'll dream of her

Tonight, di-di-di-di'n'di.

Falling, yes I am falling,

And she keeps calling

Me back again.

Paul stopped and looked at the merman. He found him smiling with his eyes closed, a serene look on his face. After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes and looked at Paul with a confused look.

“Why stop?” He asked.

Paul shrugged, “Sorry, I just...I was looking at you.”

The creature seemed flattered, he looked down with a smile.

“My name is Paul, by the way.” The human spoke as he put down his guitar for a moment, not really caring about the sand anymore.

The merman tilted his head, “Pole.” He said.

‘Pole’ laughed, “No, more ‘Powl’ like.”

“Powl, Paul.” The creature said.

“Yes.” Paul nodded and the merman smiled, proud.

“You have a name?” Paul asked him, curious as to what kind of name a mermaid would have.

“John.”

Oh. Wow. “John?” Paul asked in an incredulous voice, “John!?”

The creature frowned and moved away, “Why wrong?” It sounded offended.

Paul sighed, “I’m sorry. I just, John is a rather common name.”

John frowned, “Not at home. I only John in school.”

Paul decided that he probably meant ‘school’ as in group of merpeople. Like fish. And he was curious, “Are there many of you?” He asked.

John smiled a grand smile, “Yes! Many of Merrow.”

“Merrow?” Paul asked, “You mean merpeople? Half fish?”

John looked offended again, “We not fish, we Merrow!”

“Right, sorry.” Paul said, embarrassed. “So how come you speak English?”

The merman relaxed, “Aintín taught me English.”

“That a friend of yours?” Paul asked as he got closer to the water, slowly so as to not spook the merman.

John frowned, “Aintín family.”

Paul frowned, “Aintín, is she your mum?”

The merman looked down, suddenly sad looking. “No. Aintín not mam.”

Paul raised a worried eyebrow at the sudden change of mood, “Sorry. You have a mum?” Maybe merpeople didn’t have mums, how would that even work?

John sighed and grabbed at his necklace, “Mam away.”

Oh. His mum had left him? Well shit, looks like crap parenting extended to the sea. “I’m sorry.” Paul said, then spoke again. “My mum left too. Well, she died.”

The creature looked up at him in shock.

Paul continued, looking away from his companion and into the horizon, “It’s just me, my brother, and my dad now. It’s not that bad, we get by.”

There was silence for a moment. Then John spoke up, “Uncail dead too.”

“Aintín and Uncail? Are they your aunt and uncle?” Paul asked, it would make sense, the words were practically the same.

John nodded, “Yes. Aintín is mam deirfiúr.”

“Is that sister? Deirfiúr?” Paul guessed.

“Yes.”

Paul drew his knees up and laid his crossed arms there, “Do you have any...deirfiúr?”

John nodded, “From mam and other Merrow. Not athair.”

Paul frowned, trying to connect the word. “Athair? What is that?”

John also frowned, and went silent as he searched his brain for the correct word. “Patir, aita, otets, fatha?” He asked, “Fatha english?”

Paul nodded, “FathER.” He corrected with an amused smile.

“FathER.” John repeated, then smiled back. His teeth were on display but Paul didn’t flinch back.

The two were silent for a few minutes, just looking at each other. Once again Paul felt himself be drawn in by the others eyes, there was something entrancing about them and he couldn’t think of any other thing he would rather be looking at. Or wait, he could.

“Can I see it?” He asked without thinking.

John tilted his head, “Eet?”

Paul swallowed, “Your...tail?”

John didn’t respond, but his eyes widened and he sank further down.

The human was quick to respond, “I won’t hurt you I promise! I just...I need to see.” Paul’s hand was raised in a calming manner, “I need to see I’m not insane.”

John hesitated for a minute before saying, “Rock.” And he sank down into the water.

Paul did nothing for a minute, until he understood what the merman meant. He stood up, grabbed his guitar and walked closer to the large rock. He left his instrument far from the water and walked back to the water. He waited for a few seconds and then got in the water. It reached mid-thigh but he would walk steadily enough, he finally reached the patch of sand behind the rock and sat there, waiting.

Finally, the merman’s head emerged from beneath the water. His eyes were wary and wide in what appeared to be fear.

Paul smiled, “I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” He extended a hand. “It’s okay.”

The merman gave a shy smile and slowly a hand raised from underneath the water and rested on Paul’s own. The human’s breath caught. The hand had a blue tint to it, it was webbed, and he had sharp nails that could be called claws. It was wet and cold, yet so incredibly breathtaking. The fingers were thin and seemed longer that would be considered normal, but they were certainly not ugly. As John rose further, Paul could see that he had fins on his arms, a gorgeous light blue color mixed with silver. Now that the merman was so close, Paul could see that he had gills on both his neck and to the sides of his chest. He saw the latter close as they left the water and then saw John chest expand as he breathed in deeply.

Just before jumping into the sand John stopped and looked at Paul, “Promise?” He asked.

“Promise.” The human breathed.

Then with a splash John was in the sand next to him, his upper body a few paces behind Paul’s so more of his tail could be seen. At his almost feminine waist, John was sporting a belt made of a thin silver cloth with blue stones much like his necklace’s making jingling sounds as hemoved. And the tail, oh the tali. It was long, incredibly so, it had to be at least a meter and a half, thought Paul was tempted to say it was two meters total counting the fin part of it. John had no belly button and the scales started to appear mid waist until they completely took over. Paul kept expecting to see an indent between what would be two legs held together but there was none. There were two short fins to the side near the end of the tail until finally the caudal fin took over.

Oh it was gorgeous! The same blue-silver of the arm fins, the tail shined as the sun hit it. And the caudal fin had four parts, rather than the expected two. It was still touching the water, but Paul had a clear view of it. As it ended, it turned near transparent but it was still blue at the beginning, until the colour faded.

Paul couldn’t speak out of sheer awe, but John took his silence as a sign of disillusionment and hurried to speak, “Tail longer than most in school. I, I clean tail every night. Tail colour rare in school.”

Paul saw the merman curling his tail up and quickly said, “Please don’t!” Causing the merman to stop and tilt his head. Paul continued, “It’s beautiful.” He looked into his companions dark eyes and said, “You’re beautiful.”

The merman looked into Paul’s eyes with wide eyes, feeling himself getting hot, something inexplicable being cold blooded as he was. He extended his tail again, this time laying it closer to the human.

Said human didn’t look away from his gaze immediately, but did so eventually and went back to admiring the tail. The merman didn’t look away from the other’s face.

Paul suddenly dared to raise a hand but first he asked, “Can I touch it?” At the alarmed look he received, he continued, “I promise I’ll be gentle.”

The other’s chest was raising up and down rather rapidly, he had always been told stories of humans that stole mermaids scales, leaving them to die. But Paul wouldn’t would he? He was nice, he had sang John a song. Songs were signs of affection. Plus, the human had promised, and promises were unbreakable. Slowly, he took a deep breath and nodded.

Paul smiled and carefully moved a hand closer to the tail, he could see it tensing so he was very gentle as he laid a hand in what would have been the thigh. He heard the other’s breath hitch and looked up to see if he had hurt John, but to his surprise found him with his eyes closed and an expression of pleasure on his face. Paul smiled and slowly started to move his hand up and down the appendage, enjoying the texture. It felt different from skin, but it wasn’t rough. It was very smooth and not slimy like he had expected.

He was completely entranced by the activity that he didn’t stop until he heard a whimper come from the merman’s lips. He looked up in worry but was shocked by what he found. The creature’s head was thrown back, his eyes shut tight, and his mouth a wide open. He looked...aroused. It was a delectable sight.

Appalled by the thought, Paul jumped away from the merman and stood up. John’s eyes opened and his head snapped to look at Paul, his head tilted in confusion. He too had been surprised by his feelings of pleasure coming from the touch, but it only made sense! Paul had been rubbing his tail, clearly he knew what he was doing to John. “Paul?” He breathed with a wobbly voice.

Paul couldn’t handle the tone and shook his head as he moved away from the rock and into the water.

“Paul?” The tone was more alarmed now, and John was sitting up straight now. The merman frowned and stretched an arm out, “Paul.” He said. Surely the human wasn’t leaving? Not after John had trusted him and let him touch his tail. Not even other Merrow touched each other’s tails. It was a sign of ultimate trust, and John had let a human he barely knew do it.

Paul just shook his head at him and turned away, walking towards where he had let his guitar.

“Paul!” John jumped into the water and got closer to the beach, he could feel the sand touching his chest and tail.

But the human didn’t look back at his merman, and ignored the following cries of anguish from the creature.

John felt rejected, he could feel his eyes getting wet so he quickly went underwater and swam away from the beach. He couldn’t believe what a fool he had been! Of course Paul had only wanted to feel something exotic, he didn’t care about John or what the touches had meant to him. Plucsheadáinín.

#the Beatles #beatles #mclennon #fanfic #beatlesslash #slash #fic #my fic #paul mccartney #john lennon

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travelling-in-packs · 6 years

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Trenches.

Rinlouh opened his eyes, all three giving off a hazy glow. The darkness of his room, a cave, gave him a sense of security in the depths of the ocean. The water around him suddenly warmed, the hydrothermal vent spewing gunk and hot water from the corner of his room. Rinlouh sighed, knowing he would have to go out and either hunt or eat, his loud sisters surrounding him. His gills fluttered, and he let himself float, rolling over and swimming out of the cave entrance, into the dark coral and prismarine-lit rock extensions.

Rinlouh touched a bright prismarine stone, letting it rest on his fingers and closing his third eye, his other two adjusting. He dropped it at the call of his father, Renlough, and swam toward the sounds.

“Rinlouh, you’re up late! You’re lucky that the neighbors hunted for us today, or we’d be starving,” Lianou, his mother, flashed with her eyes. She always had that belief that Rinlouh was the best hunter in the sea. Percy opened his third eye, dimming the light to say something with the flashing, like morse, but Renlough stopped him.

“We could put a lobster in your room again. That woke you up!” Renlough’s gills fluttered as all of his eyes flashed, laughing.

Rinlouh ignored them, taking a fish from the pile and swiftly gutting it with his sharp teeth, chewing and flicking the small bones or scales out. Lianou shook her head in disgust, taking her own and gently slicing it, then eating pieces out with a sharp piece of dead coral.

“Teeth are for hunting,” Lianou angrily scolded, turning away from her ‘barbarian’ of a son.

Rinlouh laughed softly, eating the rest of the food slowly, with his own piece of coral. Of course, he could tell by the noise of water that his sisters, all three, had joined them. Reyanai, for whatever demented reason, sat next to Percy and chewed loudly, as older sisters do. He tried to nudge her away, to no avail.

“Mom! Rin touched me with his weird hands!” Reyanai flashed brightly, grabbing Rinlouh’s hand and flailing it to get Lianou’s attention. Lianou rolled her three eyes, throwing a fish at Reyanai, who caught it with her teeth.

“Reyanai, quit being rude to your little brother. He doesn’t look that different,” Lianou flashed, glaring at Reyanai.

“Hey, not my fault his dad was one of those” Reyanai flashed, before Renlough promptly covered her eyes, blocking the light and the words from escaping.

Rinlouh looked at his mother, his eyes wide, flashing dimly, “My dad was.. What?”

Lianou quickly responded, “Nothing dear, she’s just--” a pause-- “joking.”

Renlough shook his head “Lia, he’s much older, he can handle it. 68 seasons is more than old enough to know.”

Rinlouh stayed silent, and his mother gazed ahead, clearly pondering the decision at hand.

“Fine,” Lianou flashed, her eyes dim, “Come to the surface. I’ll tell you, away from your sisters.” She’d begun to swim away, and Rinlouh followed, anxious as ever. As they left, Lianou shot a look at Reyanai, giving her a mom-glare that could and would kill. As they got closer to the light, Rinlouh became more comfortable, the surface having been a safe place for him, both in the past and the present.

As they drew closer to the surface, they both closed their third eyes, the light being too much for their sensitive pupils. The sun beat onto the water, proving that the flashing wouldn’t work. They had to dig up their linguistic skills from the back of their minds, from what the landstalkers would utter.

“I know it’s a shock. But hear me out, alright?” Lianou spoke, her voice raspy from saltwater and disuse, “after your sister was born, her father left me, and I was very sad. Much like you, I came to the surface for comfort and then I saw a boat. There was only one landstalker on the boat, and he didn’t look armed. He said his name was Oscar Pendleton, and he seemed... Calm. People usually panic when they see us, but he believed I was pretty. He called me a ‘Mermaid.’”

“So... what does this have to do with me?” Rinlouh asked, getting frustrated.

Lianou looked up, at the pink and orange sky, watching the ‘sun’, as she called it, dip under the waves, “Well, I fell in love with him, and a while later, I was pregnant with you. I told Oscar, and he was proud of you; but he couldn’t stay for any longer. He said he’d been out for three ‘months’, which I assume is about a season. He had to leave but... Then I found Renlough, and he understood... He was prepared to help me take care of you.”

Rinlouh panicked, his gills flaring slightly, “What? You mean- what? Does that mean I’m not allowed back home? I’m not ready! Mom..” He stared at his mom, and she shook her head in response.

“Of course you’re allowed home, honey! It just means that you’re different. Oscar would have loved you if he could. He wanted to name you ‘Percy,’ because in their mythology, ‘Perseus’ was a strong landstalker. I think,” she chuckled weakly, trying to add humor to their situation.

It worked, because Percy smiled very slightly, then asked, “Can I go see him?”

Lianou paused, then nodded, “‘Florida’ is where he said he lived. But please, don’t be rash. It’s hot on land. And very dry. You’ll need to be careful about people, too. They don’t know what you are. It’s dangerous, my little guppy… You’re not even fully grown.”

“I don’t have to wait until I’m full grown, right? Besides, it’s my right to know him,” Rinlouh glared against the fading sunlight.

Lianou shook her head, trying to make her tone as calming as she can, “No. I want you to wait. I don’t want you going to the surface based on a rash decision.”

Rinlouh made a sound similar to a growl, like the creaking sounds dolphins make.

“Do not give me that tone, Rinlouh. You should think about this. Who knows what they could do to you up there! Few of our kind have gone, and only one has returned. You know what happened to him,” Lianou stated, trying to seem strong, even if her voice was wavering and she showed signs of nervousness for her only son.

“He went blind, yeah. Nobody understood his crazy ramblings. He suffocated on water. He was-- older, mom… It wasn’t caused by what happened on land, he probably just stared at the light,” Rinlouh hissed, clearly hiding his shock with anger.

Lianou sighed, shaking her head, “I know I can’t stop you. But, please, take some time and calm down; alright?”

Rinlouh’s only answer was to turn and swim into a current, then float through the water. Lianou stared for only a moment, but ultimately chose to go back, and wait for her son to come to his senses.

Once Rinlouh did come back, he was calm. He’d spent his time in a cave, and his skin was rehydrating from being above water for so long. The glow in his eyes was dull, but he’d forgiven his mother, and chose to wait and decide when he was ready. Even if it took many seasons.

Rinlouh awoke with a start, the dark of his cave contrasted against a bright red lobster, its claw clamped down on his calf. He screeched at it and, by instinct, shot down to bite it. He kicked away its limp body and floated to a small cave opening, burying the dead lobster down into the sand, along with 6 of its brethren, also deceased. They were effective alarm clocks.

Reyanai swam in and crossed her arms, “You killed another one? They’re gonna go extinct, Perc!”

Rinlouh shook his head, “No, they aren’t. And for the last time, don’t call me that!”

“You let mom call you Perc!”

“Percy! And that’s because she’s mom, not Rey.”

“Whatever. Dad wanted you,” Reyanai flashed brightly, then swam away, taking the turn to the main area of their underwater city.

Rinlouh took his time getting to Renlough, still tired and dazed from Rey’s vicious way of flashing.

“Percy,” Lianou waved to him, catching his attention before continuing, “Come quickly! Renlough found something!”

Percy swam to her, then let her pull him into a current, and they got pushed along through the water. Lianou held him close, excitement bubbling off of her. When they got to a dense kelp forest, they pushed away from the current and swam to a small clearing.

Lianou led him silently to where Renlough, his “father” sat, studying a weight from a net a few tuni away. Rinlouh didn’t understand, since they tended to avoid all nets, in or out of use. Renlough looked at him and gave him a smile, soft and understanding.

His mother tapped him on the shoulder, then flashed, “Percy, it’s one of Oscar’s nets, from his boat. It wasn’t here yesterday, it’s new. Your father is back.”

Oscar Pendleton watched the waves, slapping against his ship’s hull, quiet music playing from somewhere in the cabin. The net he’d dropped had been cut, and sank impossibly deep into the midnight blue of the sea. The moon reflected off the water, and Leo glared at him from the night sky. He didn’t care for sleeping, not this far out to sea, and not at this time of year. It was much too dangerous for a sailor to not have a watchful eye.

The occasional sea life swam around him, avoiding his boat. Superstition had built up in his name. Dolphins were the only ones who knew why they were avoiding the Huntress. The curious ones would make sounds at him, but be ushered away quickly. Sharks would get close enough to bump the boat, but swim away quickly, in fear of the tales.

Oscar didn’t mind the creatures, they weren’t what he was there for. He was here for the mermaids, as he called them. They were curious creatures, and the stigma around the Huntress hadn’t yet reached the trench. As Oscar waited, eyes scanning the soft blue waves, he pondered giving up. It wouldn’t have been the first failed trip, nor would it be the last.

The only way he knew the mermaids had come was the disgruntled splashing coming from his starboard side. He walked over and helped her up, giving his best sailor smile. Her eyes flashed, a strange language of morse code the mermaids have. When he shook his head, she started speaking, her throat moving strangely and her voice scratchy.

“Oscar, it’s mou, Lianou! Ma olen namereno toi! I’m so elited!” She grinned, sharp teeth glistening, her blue skin shining in the moonlight.

“Of course I know it’s you, Lianou. Do you remember the hand speech I taught you? I can only slightly understand you,” he explained, to which she looked at her webbed hands and nodded. Sign language was the one way he could communicate with the mermaids, their mixed dialect and horrible pronunciation making speech impossible.

“You! I am so happy you here,” she signed, her grammar was off but he couldn’t blame her. Sixteen years was a long time, but with how well she was still doing, Oscar was sure she practiced.

“I’m glad to see you too, Lia. How have you been?” Oscar signed back, tilting his head for emphasis.

“Well! And your son is alive! I brought him,” Lianou signed quickly, grinning. Oscar stared at her in disbelief, but he didn’t distrust her. He knew that she wouldn’t lie about anything, and he vaguely remembered her talking of a baby the last time they’d met. He was just shocked that it survived.

“Please, let me meet him, Lia,” he signed in response, his eyes searching the water for the other mer-creature. Lianou turned and dove into the water, and appeared again around ten minutes later, with what he presumed was his hybrid child.

The hybrid looked shy, his third eye closed despite the humidity, and his gaze averted. He was taller, and much paler than the rest of his species, and his eyes were smaller. His hands had much less webbing, along with his feet, and the webbing on his sides was completely missing. His long hair was in streaks of light and midnight blue, with some dusty orange hairs highlighting. Many of his features showed Oscar to be the father, such as his nose and body shape. Most of his features, however, were a strange mix of human and huperus.

“This is Percy! He looks so much like you! I named him after your funny stories,” she signed, holding the hybrid, “Percy” in place. Percy appeared uncomfortable, but Oscar knew he was also nervous, and curious. The mer-creatures always gave away their emotions very easily.

Percy opened his third eye and tried flashing at Oscar, to which he raised an eyebrow. Lianou turned to him and flashed her eyes at him, explaining that she would translate his words for him. He flashed his sequence again, and Lianou nodded.

“Him says hello! And that he has waited a long time to see you,” Lianou signed, clearly very excited.

“Well, I say hello back. I’m glad to finally see my beautiful son,” Oscar signed back, to which Lianou gurgled and flashed his words to Percy. The hybrid seemed to blush, his bluish skin gaining a slight purple tint at the cheeks and ears, and what appeared to be random freckles glowing. Oscar smiled at him, and he bashfully smiled back. Percy flashed again at Lianou, and she translated once more.

“Oscar, Percy wants to spend time with you. He wants to go home with you in the Togethered States. He will be good. He has wanted this for many seasons,” she blinked her eyes, as if trying to sweeten the deal, and convince Oscar. Of course, Oscar Pendleton was a kind man to her. So he quickly nodded, smiling. Lianou squealed, and by observing her reaction, the hybrid became excited as well. Percy sprung up and wrapped Oscar in a hug.

Oscar hugged back and lightly patted Percy on the back. When they pulled apart, Percy stepped back and hugged his mother.

“I will return him at the next summer solstice, if I don’t get caught up in work. Then, we will decide if he stays with me or returns to the sea. Alright?” Oscar asked Lianou. The sky began to streak with a deep purple, telling that dawn was upon them.

“Yes. We will be back soon. Percy must goodbye everyone,” Lia smiled one last time before turning and diving in the sea. Percy gave one last hug to Oscar, two of his eyes wet with tears. His son dove into the ocean after Lianou, and they both disappeared as the scarlet and crimson colors of the sun tainted the skies.

#a wip of percys backstory

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rainbowpixiecat · 7 years

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Daddy Day

Just a fluffy fic about Cronus spending a fun day with his son.

It was a bright, warm summer’s day in Newflower City and in the neighbourhood suburbs around it. Winter was long gone and summer had been led in with a delightfully gentle spring that slowly grew warmer until it gave way to hotter days. Kankri had fully healed in just over six weeks and even though he loved having time off as maternity leave, he missed the social environment of work and working. Kankri often worked from home, doing digital art and writing commissions for people who wanted characters or fan art. He also wrote and sold e-books under a pen name and he liked to work part time at the local library too. He sometimes volunteered there, putting away materials or helping people find information.

Today he was working all day and Cronus was on his week off, leaving their very young troll grub with his father. Crokri was about 5 months old and still needed lots of care and one on one time. Cronus didn’t mind though. He always felt a little out of his depth when it came to taking care of their son since he thought Kankri was such a wonderful mother. But Cronus loved Crokri and he always tried to do his best, even if he did get some things wrong and make mistakes. Cronus affectionately called their time together Daddy Days. Today he was having a daddy day with their little grub. Kankri had gotten Crokri up and ready then made everyone breakfast that morning. Cronus had spoon-fed Crokri his grub porridge cereal while Kankri busied himself getting ready for work. And then Kankri had given them both a goodbye kiss and hurried out the door to his car, which was a much smaller and more fuel efficient one than Cronus’ vintage 1960s cherry Cadillac. After that, things had gotten exceptionally quiet, besides the gentle susurrus of their air con keeping the house cool. With it being such a lovely summer’s day, Cronus decided to set up the new interactive paddling pool outside that they had recently bought for Crokri, at Kankri’s insistence that such beautiful days shouldn’t be wasted and that it was good for Crokri to spend time outside in the fresh air instead of inside all the time. Cronus heartily agreed, and had fun trying to get the fancy inflatable pool out of its box and set up. He tried blowing it up manually at first, before realising it came with an electric pump. Things went more smoothly after that. Crokri was curious; watching everything from the colourful playpen Cronus and Kankri had set up on the lawn under the awning for him. The candy red grub paused playing with his toys every so often to stare and make cute noises at what was going on, flapping his little ear fins and making his gills flutter. He even sat up on his hindquarters and put his grub legs to the bars, chirping and clicking cutely at his dad along with gibberish baby babble “Da-da-da-da!”

Cronus was grinning as he watched it blow up, slowly taking on the form of a bright coloured play gym. “Yeah little buddy, it’ll be ready soon. I knowv you vwanna play. Hold on just a vwee bit longer” he chuckled, turning his attention back to the pool. It had an arch over the back part of the pool, leaving a shady area for the littles to play out of the sun, and beside that was a water slide down one side that looked really big for Crokri and ended in the main part of the pool. This was an open air area with soft plastic rims on the sides for lightweight plastic balls to roll down, and a hoop in the middle front area, held by a blow up dolphin. There was another thin arch over a part of the main pool that sprinkled a small spray of water from above. Another part of the pool was a three walled area with a bouncy floor and gentle little sprinklers of water coming out the bottom sides. Needless to say, the contraption was ridiculously expensive, but it would last Crokri from grubhood to wigglerhood and into his early kit years plus elementary years so it was worth the cost for the number of years of fun they’d get out of it. And of course, for if they had any more kids.

Cronus tested the inflated pool play centre, pressing on the durable rubbery casing, which was made of tougher stuff with sharp troll claws and teeth in mind. It bounced back firmly under his fingers so he knew it was ready. “Looks like it’s ready!” he commented brightly to his son. He disconnected the pump and turned to the two other boxes on the outdoor picnic table. Kankri had bought a supply of swim diapers and a small bag of floating pool toys and pool balls. Cronus ripped them open, unpacking the toys first. He grabbed the hose and turned it on, leaving it in the pool as it started filling it up with water. The water was coming out hot at first from the hose being in the sun but it soon started dispensing cool water once the warmed stuff was flushed out. Crokri, meanwhile, had no understanding of lengths of time and had no idea what was really happening, so he started crying impatiently, pulling, pushing and hitting the bars of his playpen as he cried loudly. He wanted to see what this colourful, exciting new toy was! Red tinted tears streamed down his chubby light grey cheeks as his cries filled the air, going up and down in volume.

“All right, all right, shh shh shh, it’s comin’, it’s comin’” Cronus cooed reassuringly, putting down the box of swim diapers and walking to the side of the playpen. He bent down and picked Crokri up, bringing him up to his chest to pat and cuddle. “Shhhh. I knowv you’re excited baby. Howv’s about vwe get you into one a these Findin’ Nemo diapers your mama bought, huh?” he spoke to him and rubbed his back, pacing back and forth while light red tears, spit and snot soaked into his tee shirt.

Crokri started to calm down a bit after a couple of minutes. His cries got softer and his tears stopped, though his voice still wailed in a feeble attempt to show he was still a bit unhappy. Cronus laid him down on a folded swimming towel on the outdoor table and started to take off his slightly damp morning diaper that Kankri had put him in this morning. He picked up a blue swim diaper with Nemo on it and slipped it onto Crokri’s bottom half, poking his tail through the slit in the back. These ones were made specifically for sea dweller grubs, which meant they accounted for the finny tail all aquatic grubs had. “There ya go, doll. You’re all fitted out ready to go. Let’s havwe some fun in the sun. Oh. Better not forget the lotion”. Kankri really had thought of everything. Not only had he laid out swim towels and water diapers, but he’d left the bottle of little kids’ sunscreen lotion right there in easy view. Cronus pumped a little of the white liquid out and rubbed his hands together, making a thinner layer. He never took his eyes off Crokri, who lay on his back waving his legs in the air. “Don’t tell your mum I changed ya on the table. Kankri vwould kill me” he chuckled, knowing that Kankri would lecture him about changing Crokri on the ground for proper safety. Cronus reached out and started rubbing the oddly textured lotion into Crokri’s face and skin, getting whines and squirming from the 5 month old grub. Crokri’s tiny legs tried to push his dad’s hands and fingers away as he fussed, especially disliking it when Cronus used his fingertips to gently massage it into his ear fins. “Hey vwe gotta protect you from the sunburn. Believwe me, you’ll thank me later. Stay still baby, let me get your ears”.

Crokri turned his head out of the way to protect his ear fins and let out a loud wail of protest, without tears but with plenty of feeling. “Yeah I knowv you hate it!” Cronus laughed a little and finally picked him up again. “Okay, all done! No need to shout the house dowvn. Let’s see howv that vwater’s goin” he spoke amicably to the baby and walked over onto the soft, short lawn where the inflatable waited. It was half full of water and still filling. Cronus knelt down by the side of it and tested the water with one hand. Deeming it to be safe temperature, he carefully lowered Crokri down to just above the water, watching his tiny feet and tail splash in it. Crokri got a look of delight and wonder on his face as he cooed and peeped, reaching for the water. He loved water of any kind and always got happy and excited about swimming and bath time. Cronus struggled to keep hold of him properly since the grub was now wriggling and fighting to get out of his grip and into the water, gills fluttering in anticipation. He laughed quietly and lowered him into the water before letting go, and watching him swim around. “There ya go” he drawled happily, easing into a more comfortable sitting position on the grass beside the play pool. Cronus remembered something and looked over at the table. He got up and grabbed the bag of toys and brought it back over to the side of the pool. “Hey Crokri!” he held up a brightly coloured pink rubber duck “Crokri, look!” he squeezed the duck, which squeaked twice. This got Crokri’s attention. The grub swam over and popped his head out of the water, reaching for the ducky with his two front legs “Ahh! Ahh!”

“You vwant this? Catch!” Cronus chuckled and threw the toy into the pool a short distance away. Crokri let out a joyful squeak and turned to swim after it. He knew this game. It was popular fun at bath time. He grabbed the toy in his mouth and swam back towards Cronus with it triumphantly.

“Ooh, vwell done” Cronus reached out and took the toy, then petted Crokri’s head, careful of his little blobby horns. They looked like they were trying to form the zigzag shapes of Cronus’ horns, but they were short and stubby like Kankri’s short nubs, which made them look endearingly ridiculous. Cronus threw the duck again and watched his son swim after it. The pool was so huge compared to the kitten sized grub. He grabbed another couple of toys and threw them in too, watching them land and float in the water. Crokri ‘caught’ each one and brought it back to him, getting praise and pets each time. He had to roll and guide the balls towards him since they were too round and slippery in the water for him to grasp with his teeth or stubby legs. Predictably, the entire bag of toys ended up in the water. Crokri loved swimming amongst the colourful toys. Cronus sat and just watched him, talking to and interacting with him for a while. He noticed the little ramps on the sides of the pool and picked up a ball “Crokri, vwatch this! Vwatch. Are you looking?” he waited till he had his attention, waving the toy in the air. Crokri chirped and swam closer, wide red eyes tracing the ball. Cronus smiled and dropped it onto one end of the sloping side rails. The air-filled ball neatly rolled down the yellow rails and plopped off the end into the pool. “Nowv you try” Cronus encouraged. Crokri swam to the ball and herded it back to the top end of the rail. He stopped beside it and whined. He couldn’t reach.

“Oh” Cronus realised “Here, daddy help you” he moved to the rail and took the ball, dropping it onto it. The ball rolled down it. Crokri squeaked happily and swam after it, watching it plop off the end into the water “Ba ba ba!”

Cronus smiled at his attempts at words. “Vwery good. Yeah. Ball!” He looked around and noticed they hadn’t tried out the slide yet “Hey, vwanna try the slide? C’mon. Daddy help” he reached out his hands to Crokri and picked him up. Cronus pointed at the slide, and Crokri turned his head to look

“Look! Slide!” Cronus said loud and cheerful. That got Crokri’s attention and he pointed at it too and copied the noise Cronus just made “Saiiiii!”

“Eh, close enough” Cronus laughed. Crokri was starting to say words and repeat a few familiar things but he had no proper grasp on language yet. Cronus took him to the top of the slide, bypassing the little steps and hand holds and setting him at the top of it carefully. “Ready? Daddy’s gonna let you go. One…tvwo…three….” He moved Crokri forwards and back in his hands each time, so the grub knew he was getting ready to let go “Goooo!” Cronus sang playfully, releasing his grub gently and watching Crokri slip down the slide on his belly with a squeal of “Eeeeee!”. The grub plopped off the end into the water with a tiny splash. He swam underwater like he’d taken a graceful dive, and came back up to the surface laughing.

“Vwas that fun? Did you like that?” Cronus asked, moving and placing his hands in the water, palms open to receive Crokri “Vwanna go again? Come on. Vwanna slide?”

“Da da da!” Crokri gabbled and swam up into his father’s hands. Cronus chuckled and picked him up again, putting him at the top of the slide and repeating the whole process. This game went on for quite a while. Eventually, Cronus took a break and let Crokri swim and play around freely in the water while he played around on his phone beside the pool. He removed the hose and turned it off since the pool had fully filled by now. For a grub the size of a three month old kitten, it was pretty deep and quite large.

“Chirp!” Cronus was just checking Bubblr when there was a cute trill and he got hit with a jet of water that landed in his face. He spluttered and shook his head, wiping at the water with his hand as he lowered his phone. “Vwhat?! Vwhat vwas that? Oh…Crokri…” he started laughing. Crokri was sucking in mouthfuls of water then spitting them at his father in light little jets. Crokri spat at him again “Chirp!”

Cronus chuckled “Vwell aren’t you a little mischief maker? Heh heh. So cute. That’s a newv trick isn’t it?” he sounded mildly impressed. Crokri swam in circles and then spit a jet at his face again.

“All right. You vwanna vwater fight? You vwanna go? Look out, splash!” Cronus splashed a little bit of water at Crokri. The grub laughed in delight. He sucked in more water and spat it at Cronus, getting his shirt this time “Chirp!”

Their impromptu water fight continued for several minutes, Crokri squirting jets and Cronus gently splashing or squirting jets back using his hand and a squeezing motion. Eventually the grub got tired and slowly swam off to have a rest. Crokri climbed up into a little three walled area of the play pool that was raised up out of the water. Tiny, weak sprinkles of water came out of the bottom sides of the walls. Crokri lay down with a big sigh and rested quietly. Cronus made a noise of endearment “Awwv, baby, are you all tuckered out?” he smiled “Kay. You rest. Daddy’s gonna stay here and vwatch you” he said, going back to playing on his phone, liking Bubblr posts and watching videos. He glanced up at Crokri every so often. After about five minutes passed, a blur of movement caught his eye. Crokri squeaked and giggled with joy. He had figured out that the spongy floor of the resting platform was in fact a mini jumping castle. He couldn’t bounce very high but he loved it anyway, bouncing off the walls, and all over the floor, kept cool by the sprinkles of water. Cronus laughed a bit. “I think you’re keepin me entertained more than me entertainin’ you” he put his phone down and dipped his hand in the water, swishing it around. “Hmm, it’s nice and cool. Kinda vwish I could go svwimmin too but vwe can’t afford a pool yet” he sighed. “Geez it’s hot out here” Cronus’ ear fins flapped as though trying to cool him down. He splashed a little water on himself, then grabbed the hose and turned the nozzle back on. Cronus drenched himself with water, sighing happily. He felt much cooler now, with the light summer breeze blowing on his wet skin and clothes.

The sea dweller let Crokri play until lunch time, a good three hours’ worth of play in his new pool play centre. This didn’t seem to make any difference when it came time to get Crokri out and have lunch. Cronus called Crokri over to him and the grub curiously and obediently swam over to the side. Cronus reached in and picked up the grub in both hands, lifting him out of the water “Come on lil guy, let’s get some lunch. You needa replace all that energy you burned off” he said.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Crokri reached for the water and whined “Ahhh! Agaaah!” he babbled, making his thoughts on that proposal clear. Cronus shook his head “No honey, come on, you’vwe already had ages in the pool. It’s time to go inside”

Crokri whined and started crying, wriggling in Cronus’ arms, straining his entire body towards the water “Wawa…wawa!” he cried, making loud ‘waaaaaaah’ sounds and similar sounds as he cried.

“No. No means no. Vwe’re havwin’ lunch” Cronus said firmly but kindly. He was careful not to drop him, having to shift his arms and hands to make sure the grub didn’t struggle out of his grasp and fall to the ground. He went over to the table and laid Crokri on the towel that Kankri had left out. He dried him off, which was hard when the grub was crying loudly and flailing all his legs, trying to roll or crawl away.

Cronus checked the swim diaper and deduced there were no poop surprises, so he took it off and picked up the normal disposable one that he’d taken off earlier. He had to be quick as Crokri flipped onto his front and tried to crawl away. “Vwhoop!” Cronus quickly grabbed the grub before he could fall off the edge of the table “You’re not getting avway this time” he chuckled. “Come on, vwe gotta get your diaper back on” He laid him down on his back again and struggled to get the diaper taped back into place. Crokri cried harder and louder and his face started to turn red. Cronus finished sticking down the last tape. He picked up Crokri and hugged him close to his chest before he turned to carry him inside, opening the sliding glass door and stepping back into the blissfully cool house. Cronus’ clothes were damp but he wasn’t dripping wet.

Crokri was having a full blown tantrum. Cronus thought it reminded him of Kankri sometimes, especially when he’d been pregnant and having mood swings. He snickered, then winced at the volume of the grub screaming and sobbing in his ear. There had to be some way to get him to calm down. Kankri was so good at it. Cronus didn’t know what to do. He patted Crokri’s back and made soothing noises as he paced back and forth with him, but the grub persisted in crying. The cries got a bit weaker after a few minutes and Cronus went to put Crokri into his tiny high chair seat that was attached to the side of the table. He buckled him in with the safety restraints. Crokri’s cries escalated again.

“Vwhat? Are you hungry? Let’s get you some nummy food. Mummy made it especially for you” he cooed, trying to calm Crokri down. Cronus got out the jar of home made grub food from the fridge and heated it in the microwave in Crokri’s cartoon character bowl. He stirred it and tested the temperature. He then sat down in a kitchen chair and tried to feed his screaming and wailing infant. It went about as well as a train wreck. Crokri turned his head away from the tiny spoon, or tried to push and hit the spoon away with his legs. Food got smeared everywhere and dropped onto the highchair tray. Cronus did manage to get a few spoonfuls in, only for the grub to spit it all back out down his chin and front, and then rub at his face with his legs. Cronus realised he’d forgotten to put a bib on him, which Kankri always did when feeding him “Shit, I forgot your bib. Damn it…this isn’t vworking” he set the food aside and went to get a facecloth, wet it under the kitchen tap and went over to wipe Crokri up. Crokri hated being wiped clean and of course cried even more about it.

Cronus felt like he had failed in some way. Like he was doing something wrong. But he wasn’t ready to admit defeat. His child needed food for energy. He wasn’t going to let him go hungry. Crokri was fussy with his food as it is. Cronus had an idea. He grinned. “Hey baby, Crokri…howv about ice cream? You vwant ice cream?” he sang out. He opened the small freezer compartment at the top of the fridge and took out the container of Neapolitan. He served some into another plastic cartoon bowl and brought it over. “Look vwhat I got. Mmm…” he spooned up some and tried to get it in Crokri’s mouth. It went in successfully. The grub abruptly stopped crying and flinched, his eyes going wide as saucers. He chewed experimentally and then swallowed, making little sounds. “See? Niiice” Cronus smiled. Yeah, this was gonna work. “Here, vwant more?” he spooned another tiny bite into Crokri’s mouth. The grub nommed it down with a little coo. Cronus chuckled “Don’t tell your mother about this. It’s our little secret, kay?” He continued feeding him the ice cream with great success.

Cronus knew he’d be in trouble for taking the easy way out and feeding their son ice cream for lunch. But Kankri wasn’t here to see it and Cronus was more concerned about getting something in his tummy. It didn’t matter what it was, just that it was something. Crokri ended up polishing off two whole bowls of ice cream, much to his father’s delight. Cronus ate two bigger bowls for himself. Cronus cleaned him up and took him out of the high chair. Now it was nap time. Crokri always had a grubnap in the middle of the day right after lunch. Kankri was good at getting the fussy little critter down for his nap. And depending on the situation, Cronus was too. Especially when he sang his child to sleep. Crokri loved being sung to. He spent some time settling Crokri for his nap, cuddling him, patting his back gently and singing a song to him softly as he paced the living room and hallway. Eventually the grub went limp and heavy in Cronus’ arms and he heard the soft, tiny breaths of the sleeping baby. He smiled. Works every time. Cronus carefully moved into Crokri’s room and ever so carefully and slowly lowered him into the crib. Crokri stirred and made a few squeaks and chirrs. Cronus had a moment of panic and froze, reaching over to rub Crokri’s belly in a soothing motion. Crokri clicked and settled back to sleep with a soft sleepy chirp. Cronus released a held breath. He tiptoed out of the room as quietly as possible and closed the door, which had a fabric piece on it that muffled the closing latch. He waited outside the door, listening. All was quiet. Cronus relaxed as he walked away back to the living room and got on the shared computer to have some fun. He watched videos on YouTube and some anime on other sites, checked his emails and played games. Losing track of time, he was startled when his phone rang. He picked it up and heard Kankri, calling to check on them both. “Oh, heya Kanny, howv’s it going at vwork? You on your lunch break?”

“Yes. I am. Work’s going okay. I am rather enjoying myself, actually. It’s been busy today. We had some foreign exchange students just before lunch, and of course, lots of people come in looking for resources and information so I’ve been busy helping them find what they need. Oh, and covering and cataloguing the new books we received this morning. How’s Crokri? Did he eat his lunch? Speaking of lunch, I’m quite pleased with myself for this lunch box I made up last night. A salad wrap and some fruit and dark chocolate. Combined with exercise, I’m feeling better about myself and I notice that I’ve lost more weight”

“Awv, that’s real svwell babe. I’m happy for ya. Glad you’re feelin’ good about yourself and taking care of yourself. It’s real nice you’re enjoying the vwork too. As for Crokri, ha ha let me tell you…” Cronus explained his morning to him, leaving out the part about the ice cream. “He’s been dowvn for about an hour and a half nowv. He really needed time to let his batteries recharge, but he vwasn’t happy about it at all. He really lovwes that pool” he chuckled.

“Well, that’s to be expected when you have a water baby” Kankri answered, a smile in his voice. “We already know he loves the water, thanks to you. I’m glad he’s having a proper sleep though; it throws his whole routine out of whack when he misses his nap. It’s Porrim’s turn to have him this weekend so we might be able to get a sleep in on Saturday and maybe do something together. I was thinking since it’s so hot, we could go to the local pool, or the beach. Depends which one is less crowded”

“Ooh, sounds good babe. I’d be dowvn for a beach trip, for sure. And vwhen vwe get back vwe can vwatch some flicks and cuddle on the couch or…vwhatevwer”

Kankri chuckled at the clearly suggestive implications of that word. “Movies and ‘whatever’, sounds good to me. I’ll look forward to it. I could use the stress relief. Anyway I have to get back to work. Give Crokri a kiss from me when he wakes up. And here’s one for you as well” he made a kissing noise through the phone and Cronus chuckled softly and returned it “Lovwe you too, Cherry. Havwe fun. I’ll see you vwhen you get home”

Once Kankri hung up, Cronus went back to playing on the computer until roughly half an hour later, when the expected sounds of hi s son’s crying alerted him to the fact that Crokri was awake. Taking his cue, Cronus got up to go get him. He walked down the hallway and opened the door, swinging it open silently to reveal the baby’s colourful nursery. Crokri’s crying was normal instead of a tantrum, and Cronus happily leaned down and picked him up. “Heyyyy little guy. Feeling better after your nap?” he smiled.

“Squeak!” The grub reached out to him and whined, little tears at the corners of his eyes. He looked adorable with his tousled bed hair. His voice still sounded a little sleepy.

Cronus hugged him close, then sniffed the air and made a face, holding him away from him and looking at his sagging diaper that was stained red and brown. The little pictures of crabs printed on it had faded.

“Vwhewv, smells like someone has a dirty diaper. Let’s get that changed” He carried him to the changing table and laid him down on it, securing him with the straps then un-taping the diaper tabs and opening the front. Cronus grabbed the wipes and started cleaning him up, “Vwell I knowv vwhy you didn’t havwe any poop in there earlier, you vwere savwing it up for nowv, huh? You made a big mess. Gotta say, considering your size, that’s impressivwe” he chuckled and finished cleaning him up in a matter of minutes, expertly rolling and taping the diaper into a ball and throwing it away in the special pail that reduced odours. After changing so many, he and Kankri were now both adept at it.

Crokri wiggled his body and legs, enjoying the fresh air on his tush. He wiggled and squeaked happily, clearly feeling better.

Cronus tickled his belly and laughed. “Vwho’s a cute little guppy? You are! Yeah~…Here ya go, bums up” he slid a new crabby diaper under the red grub’s butt, slipping his tail through the slit in the back. He reached for the anti-rash cream, rubbing in a small amount before adding a sprinkle of zinc based baby powder. He brought the diaper front up and taped it in place with the sticky tapes on either side, giving the front a little pat once he was done “There nowv. You’re all clean and ready to go” Cronus put everything back in its place. He cleaned his hands with some hand sanitiser then unstrapped the safety belt from Crokri and picked him up happily, cuddling him close again. Crokri clung on contently and looked around.

Cronus patted him softly. “Let’s get you a little snack. You’re probably hungry” He carried him into the living room and placed him down in his playpen with toys before walking to the kitchen to rummage up a quick snack. Cronus tried to pick something healthy to make up for the extra sweet lunch. Crokri needed some proper food, not just sugar. Cronus chose finger foods, chopping up tiny squares of wholemeal bread, cheese sticks, apple sticks, some little cheesy crackers and some carrot sticks. He brought the food in to Crokri and climbed into the playpen with him to sit on the floor. Cronus put the plate of snacks down and it didn’t take long for the red grub to crawl over and take a look.

Crokri sniffed the different foods, then grabbed a grub cracker and started nibbling on it, spilling crumbs. He didn’t have all his teeth yet but he had enough to chew things up.

Cronus watched him contently, a smile playing on his lips. He reached over and gently tried fingercombing the grub’s hair. Crokri growled softly and shook him off as he backed away, holding the cracker in his mouth. His ear fins flared in a threat display.

Cronus laughed “All right, all right. Fine. I vwas just trying to help. Keep your bed hair!” He took his phone out of his pocket and waited for Crokri to come back to the Disney themed plastic plate.

Sure enough, Crokri got curious as to what the other foods tasted like and dropped his soggy, half eaten cracker on the carpet to crawl back up and try some more things. He picked up a cheese bit and took a little bite, chewing oddly as the texture was new to him.

Cronus snapped a few pictures of Crokri trying different foods and sent them to Kankri. Once Crokri had finished his snack and made a nice little mess on the carpet and plate, Cronus took the plate into the kitchen and left it on the counter, also leaving the crumbs and spilled bits on the floor. He came back into the lounge room to find Crokri happily entertained by various baby toys and grub toys.

Crokri climbed on the grub play gym, wandering around through tunnels, across bridges and down slides or playing with the interactive parts. He then chased balls with colourful liquid and toys, or beads or spinners inside them. He pressed buttons on the My First Lusus wheel and chewed on the rubbery plastic teething keys. He rolled around in the soft toys and pressed buttons on the interactive board book. He had a lot of toys, probably from being spoiled by everyone. Grub toys were a bit different from wiggler toys or toddler toys. They tended to be lower down to the floor, and since grubs didn’t have opposable thumbs, or even fingers, usually consisted of things easy to use with grub legs and mouths.

Cronus made himself a snack, (a sandwich and a glass of water), and sat on the couch to watch TV while keeping an eye on his kid. He finished his snack while paying attention to the ‘real ghosts caught on film!!!’ TV show, which filmed the audience’s reactions to each scary ghost video.

Crokri could only stay entertained for so long though, and soon started making trills, squeaks, and other little noises to get his dad’s attention. Cronus looked in his direction and saw Crokri standing at the side of the playpen, holding the bars. He was wearing a pleading expression that begged ‘let me out!’. His big round candy red eyes were irresistible.

“Awww~” Even though he really wanted to watch the rest of his TV show, hey couldn’t say no to that. Cronus got up with a groan. “You vwant out? Okay baby. Come here” He walked over and leaned down into the pen, scooping him up easily. Cronus cradled him in his arms and tickled his belly. “Vwhat do you vwant, huh? You vwanna play vwith daddy?”

Crokri squirmed and uttered delightful baby giggles in response to being tickled. He looked up at his dad and reached out for his violet earfins “aba aba ba, guuu…!” he babbled the little language he knew and Cronus grinned down at his son.

“Is that so?! You sure got a lot to say for a little shrimp. You vwanna do something fun? I got a great idea” Cronus held Crokri in one arm and used his free hand to pull the cushions off the couch and toss them on the floor. He grabbed the blanket that was folded at the back of the couch and shook it out so it lay flat. He then put Crokri on the blanket. “Ready to go for a ride? Vwheeeee!” Cronus laughed and jogged away, pulling the blanket along the ground, around the cushions and furniture which were used as obstacles.

“Chirp!” Crokri almost rolled off and had to grip on with his little legs but he enjoyed being tugged around. He giggled and squealed in delight and babbled even more. When Cronus got tired of that game and needed a breather since he got puffed, they instead played a bunch of other games. Cronus made a fort for them to play in with blankets and cushions. Then he threw toys everywhere which Crokri could fetch and bring back upon being prompted. Then they played hide n seek. Then Cronus put on a baby cartoon and danced to the songs and actions together with the grub.

Kankri had insisted to keep things educational when playing with their baby, so Cronus also tried reading books and doing flash cards with the grub as well. When that finished, he took Crokri into the kitchen and laid out some paper on the floor. He got out the poster paints and filled a little tray with them then helped Crokri dip his front legs into the paint and make marks on the paper. Colourful scribbles decorated the paper, and Crokri, and the floor and walls. Cronus stuck the works of art to the walls with blu tack. Wet paint dripped down the walls. Basically with all the games they played, the house was now a mess. But the grub still had plenty of energy to burn and needed entertainment!

Cronus was trying to think of what else they could do when Crokri noticed the view of the back garden and scurried over to the sliding glass doors. He stood on his hindquarters and put his paint wet legs on the window. “Auuuu! Wawa!” He banged his front legs on the glass enthusiastically, smearing more paint on it and babbling. “Wa wa! Wa-wa. Wa waaaaa!”

Cronus walked over “Oh, you vwanna go outside. Yeah, sure, vwe can do that! Let’s go play in the garden. You vwanna help me vwater the flowvers? Or should vwe play on the svwings?” He picked up his son and took him outside, placing him down on the warm, green grass. Crokri ignored his toy balls and his outdoor play gym. He ignored the swing set and the slide. He ignored the obstacle course and the mini maze. No, instead he headed straight for the pool! Crokri hurried to the side and jumped up and down, trying to find a way to climb in. “Squeak! Chirp! Peep!”

Cronus laughed and shook his head “Ahhh, I should havwe knovwn. Vwater! Yep, okay, you can go back in. Come here so I can get your svwim diaper on~” he sang. He hurriedly picked his son up, causing Crokri to whine loudly and reach for the water, struggling to get out of his father’s hold.

“Hang on, hang on. You can’t vwear a normal diapee in the pool honey. Hold still for a second vwhile I get this one on” Cronus said, trying to be patient with the impatient, squirmy baby. He took off the new ‘old’ diaper and put the swim diaper on, making sure Crokri’s finned tail was popped neatly through the slit in the back. He then rubbed on some more sunscreen into Crokri’s body and face. Crokri fussed and cried, making it difficult, but Cronus worked fast and soon he was done. He carried the grub to the pool and held him over the water. Crokri stopped crying and looked at the water in excitement, reaching out for it as red tear tracks glistened on his face. His gills fluttered, his earfins fluttered, and his legs paddled at the air cutely in swimming motions. “Squeeeeee!” he wanted in!

Cronus couldn’t help laughing. He put him in the pool and let go, watching Crokri take off and swim gleefully around in the pool. The water was warmer than before since it had been outside in the heat, but it was half under the patio shade so it was okay. Cronus doused himself with the hose again to try and keep cool, and played with his son in the pool play centre. He filmed Crokri playing and uploaded it to Bubblr.

He heard Kankri come home several hours later, hearing his keys unlocking the front door. Kankri’s voice could be heard as he walked down the hallway and into the living room. “Oh my word! What’s happened here? The whole house is a complete mess” he exclaimed. Footsteps came through the kitchen and a handbag was deposited on the kitchen bench, keys hung up on the key hook hanger.

Kankri’s voice sounded out again. “Oh no, there’s ants all over the kitchen bench. Who left out this food? And there’s crumbs everywhere. Ahh why are there so many ants?” Sounds of water running and things being cleaned up and food thrown in the bin were heard. Then Kankri noticed the walls and floor “Cronus, this better be water soluble paint or you can pay for the new paint job!” he yelled out. He noticed Cronus and Crokri outside and went out the back door.

“Here you two are. Cronus, why is the house in such a state? You know we teach Crokri to clean up after playing with his toys or making a mess. I’m glad you two have been having fun but you better not expect me to clean all that up. There’s ants everywhere in the kitchen, the sink is full of dishes, Crokri’s high chair is messy. I noticed there was food mushed into the carpet in the living room. There’s paint smeared everywhere in the kitchen. And Crokri’s room smells like dirty diapers. Did you empty the diaper pail today? It’s full and the bins go out tomorrow”

“Nice to see you too, Chief. Howv vwas your day?” Cronus replied somewhat sarcastically, a bit annoyed that Kankri wanted to complain before even greeting him. “Yeah, listen, I’m sorry about all that but I vwas just spending time vwith the little guy. I vwasn’t thinking about havwing a perfect clean house. Making sure he’s havwin fun and spending quality time vwith him is far more important in my vweiwv. Vwhy vwaste time vworryin about cleaning up vwhen you could be spendin’ it making memories that last? The house vwork’s alvways gonna be here, but grubs growv up fast”

Kankri sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes a moment and sighed again, evidently trying to keep his cool. He dropped his hand and looked back at Cronus, before shaking his head “Well…it looks like you and I have differing opinions. But you do make some very good points. I’m sorry Cronus, how was your day? ” he asked more genuinely. He walked over and hugged him “I missed you both at work today. And I’m glad you both have been and are still, having fun”

Cronus slipped his arms around Kankri’s waist and pulled him closer, kissing him fondly “Our day vwas good babe. Really svwell” he kissed him again and squeezed him lovingly “Vwe missed you too. Crokri painted you some art vworks. And vwe did the flash cards” he nuzzled him. “I’m glad you’re back. My pretty cherry”

Kankri hummed happily, breathing in his mate’s scent “I saw. And thank you for practicing the flash cards, it all goes towards his education” he purred, letting out a soft, pleased sound at the pet name and attention “I’m always happy to come back to you. Today was fun, but it’s nice to be home with my two favourite people in the world”

There was a splash and some excited grub noises. Crokri had noticed Kankri was back. He chirped and trilled, then clicked eagerly, swimming around trying to find a way to hop out of the pool.

Kankri let go of Cronus and moved out of their embrace. He hurried to the side and scooped Crokri up into a loving hug, not caring that his clothes were getting wet. “Ohhh my little cutie pie! Mummy’s so happy to see you! Did you have fun in your new pool? You look like you had a wonderful day, mwah, mwah!” he kissed him playfully with exaggerated kissing sounds, while the grub squirmed and giggled, laughing in delight. Crokri cuddled close and nuzzled Kankri’s chest, sighing contentedly as he purred and snuggled. His little fins did a happy flutter. Kankri smiled warmly down at him before looking at Cronus again.

“You’re still going to clean up the house” Kankri replied, cheerful and smiling. “We can’t have Crokri exposed to germs, insects, or tripping hazards. And besides, it is possible to clean up one activity while Crokri is distracted with another. That’s how I do it. So, we’re going to play outside and water the flowers, while you make everything nice and tidy again. By the way, if you ever feed him ice cream for lunch again, I’m going to tie you up and force feed you ice cream. Got that?” he beamed.

Cronus’ mouth dropped open “Vwhat? But I didn’t- ! Howv did you-!?” How did he know? How? This made no sense. “Kankriiii” Cronus whined.

Kankri turned back to Crokri, ignoring Cronus’ protests with a wicked grin. “After all, I’d much rather spend time playing with our cute baby than doing the housework. Grubs grow up so fast~” he sang.

Cronus opened and closed his mouth, trying to argue, but coming up with nothing. Scowling and grumbling, he shuffled off into the house in his damp clothes to tidy and clean. Some things just weren’t worth arguing about. Maybe on their next Daddy Day he’d take him out to the park to play. He started to smile as he cleaned up though.

Knowing he was Kankri’s favourite person in the world, and Crokri’s too, made up for a bit of housework. He wondered what being tied up and force fed ice cream would be like.

#Loopy Gigglesniffer #Cronus Ampora #Kankri Vantas #fanfic #Crokri #OC #Grubs #baby #fluff

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fanficmoi · 6 years

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The Fool By The Seaside Chp.7

“Do you enjoy working at library?”

Paul hummed, he was laying with his head on John’s tail, the merman decorating his hair with pearls and small shells. “I don’t mind it, y’know. My friend George works there, he’s a crackerbox.” He shrugged, “The pay is good, and my boss is nice.”

John tilted his head, his hair was still keeping his hair short, since he still felt the sadness and guilt over Ridire’s death. “Boss?”

Paul closed his eyes, the feeling of his boyfriend’s (Merboyfriend? Merlover?) fingers caressing his hair making him feel drowsy, “Yeah, y’know. The person is charge, tells me what to do, makes sure I get the money.”

John nodded, chuckling at his human’s sleepy tone. He curled himself up so that Paul’s head was still resting on his tail, but John’s head was resting on the human’s chest. He caressed the guitarist’s chest with a sharp but gentle nail, “Sleep,” He told him. “I will wake you up in thirty minutes, yes?”

Paul only snored in response, and John giggled in amusement. He kept an eye on the beach, not wanting to be surprised by some human. Paul had told him that nobody visited this part of the coast, it was far from the port and beach days weren’t really a thing with all the shit weather. But still, John was cautious. And he wouldn’t dare fall asleep on the beach again, the last time hadn’t gone so well.

Instead, he wondered about the future. He was with Paul now, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that they were from different worlds. Paul would have to move on someday, John knew. Get a human mate, have offspring, offspring with legs. John couldn’t give him that, he knew. But there was a little bitty bitty small problem, John was falling in love with his human.

John swam into his home with a sackful of shells, he’d gotten lucky today, finding a spot full of large, shiny (empty) shells. “‘ello, Mimi!” He shouted, putting his sack on the dining stone. “I’m back.”

There was no answer. John frowned, his aunt was usually right in his face whenever he came home. He swam to the kitchen, nope. To her chamber, nope. To his chamber, nope. He searched the whole cave, and found nothing. The he heard a familiar voice calling his name and he hurried to the entrance. “Cyn?” He asked, he tilted his head, “Where’s Mimi?”

Cyn grasped his forearms, she looked terribly distraught, “Oh, John! They just came out of nowhere, we were having lunch and they just-”

“Who’s they!?” John was getting upset too, where was his auntin?

Stu appeared behind her and it was then that John noticed that a crowd of curious sea creatures was forming around them. Stu said, “The police came, John. Took your auntin, said she was under arrest.” He looked forlorn.

John’s breath caught, then it began to speed up. Soon his gills were shaking and his chest was rapidly moving up and down. “How, how did this happen? She’s never done anything!” He could see that the people around him were starting to feel the effects of his panic, their own breathing erratic. But he could hardly concentrate on that now.

Stu and Cyn were quick to grab him and move him to the inside of his home. “John,” Cyn was saying, “You’ve to calm down.”

John just shook his head, he hated police. They always got in the way of his fun, hurt his friends, and now they had arrested his auntin!? The woman was practically a saint, she never broke a law in her life!

Stu’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “You gotta go to the headquarters and talk to them, see if you can pay her bail. It was probably a rumour or some shit like that, my Athair was arrested over that and he’s all good now, isn’t he?”

Cyn didn’t mention that the guards had been unfamiliar, unlike the usual ones from the headquarters that everyone knew. They had also worn different uniforms, and had been more aggressive. But for all she knew they had just gotten new uniforms, or something harmless like that that John didn’t have to worry about.

Paul sighed to himself as he stood outside his brother’s room. “Mikey?” He asked as he knocked, “I really want to talk to you.” Michael had been ignoring him for days now, and Paul could hardly blame him. The older one had been horrible, scaring his little brother. While he was with John all those thoughts flew away, but he couldn’t ignore them while at home. His dad had noticed something was off between the two brothers, but being busy with work was unable to address the topic. So it was up to Paul.

“I am really sorry, Mike.” He said, “I don’t know what came over me and I know I keep saying this but it's the truth.” He knocked again. “John said he’d help-” He broke off at the sound of something heavy hitting the door, probably a book or a shoe. “Mike?” At least he’d gotten a reaction. He knocked rapidly, “Michael, please. I’m trying to fix this.”

There was silence, then the door was unlocked.

Paul smiled and opened the door, “Mike?”

His brother was sitting in his bed, glaring at him.

Paul’s smile fell as he sat down next to him, but he was relieved that his brother didn’t push him away. “Mike, I know I sound like a broken record but I am sorry.”

His brother nodded, expressionless. “You do know he’s causing this, right?”

Paul frowned, “Who?”

Mike scoffed, “Your John. He’s the one making you act like this.”

It was Paul’s turn to scoff, “Of course not, Michael. Why would you say that?”

His brother rolled his eyes, “Because you only get like that whenever I insult him or whatever, you get protective and horrible. That creature made you like that.”

Paul scowled, “Now, Mike, I know you don’t like him-”

Mike stood, “For god’s sakes, Paul! It’s not that! It’s just that it’s obvious.”

Paul stood up as well, “John wouldn’t do that.”

Mike stepped forwards, “How would you know? You know all their stories, sirens are manipulative, cruel-”

“First of all, John’s not a siren. He’s just a regular Merrow.” Paul was trying to control his temper, “And second, I trust him.”

Mike glared, “Why trust him over me? Your brother?”

Paul sighed, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that you barely know him, Mike.”

His brother sat down again, “And I don’t wanna know him,” He huffed, “I don’t get why he got so upset when I touched him, it’s just a body part.”

Paul glared, “A very sensitive body part, Michael. Private.”

Mike chuckled, “And I bet he lets you all over it.”

Paul didn’t answer and his brother laughed. “He does, doesn’t he? That’s why you like him, you like his tail.”

“Of course not!” Paul shouted, “That’s the least of it, but yes it’s a sign of trust, that’s why I trust him.”

Michael just shook his head, “Fuck, you’re hopeless, Paul. That thing’s got you good.”

Paul knew that if he stayed he would lose it again, so he just turned around and slammed the door as he left.

His little brother was left with an angry, worried mind.

“What do you mean, I can’t see her!?” John shouted at the poor merman behind the counter.

“I, I’m sorry, gentlemerrow. The royal guards have prohibited.” The attendant tried to explain, there was something extremely powerful about the angry being before him.

John heard Cyn and Stu gasp behind him, “Royal guards? From Atlantis?” He frowned, “What were the charges?”

The attendant cowered, “It’s really not my place to say-”

John leaned forwards, his teeth barred and his pupils looking like slits. “What. Were. The. Charges?” He pronounced in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Stu and Cyn winced, as this everyone else in the vicinity. This was a rare John, he was angry and actually meant it. John was afraid of anger in others, but he himself had quite the tempers. And both his bark and his bite were very sharp.

The merman behind the counter shivered, he grabbed a file that was at the top of a pile and opened its stone flaps. He cleared his throat, “The Merrow known as Mahry Elishabet Smeed was arrested by the Royal Guard of Atlantis with direct orders from the Royal Palace on charges of…” The man frowned and then gaped up at John.

John sneered at him, “What charges?”

The other’s head tilted, “What did you say was your relation to the prisoner?”

As his friends frowned, John’s glare deepened, “She’s my auntin, and don’t you dare call her a prisoner!”

The attendant’s gape became wider.

John grabbed him by the forearms, ignoring his friends’ protests, “What are the fucking charges?”

The other just looked at him in awe, but then finally spoke. “She was arrested for harboring a siren in her home.”

Paul had returned to the beach, guitar in hand. It was nighttime but he didn’t mind if he couldn’t see John, he just needed space.

He stared at the stars above him, they were beautiful. Almost as beautiful as John. You couldn’t see the stars from the city, too smokey, but here in his beach, he could see it all.

He sighed, could Mike be right? Was John controlling his feelings? It made little sense, John had been surprised by his outburst too.

He grabbed his guitar and began to pluck a gentle melody he and George had been working on. They had wanted to be in a band, but two was hardly enough. And neither of them could play drums.

Suddenly the water splashed, “PAUL!” A familiar voice screeched.

“John!?” Paul tossed his guitar aside and jumped up. He spotted his merman a bit further away, seemingly unable to get out of the water.

“Paul! Help me!” John screamed, his voice panicked.

Paul ran into the water, seeing John barely able to move. His lover stretched out his arms, crying for help. Paul finally reached him, slipping along the way. He grabbed the wet arms and pulled. John launched himself at him, holding him with all his strength and that’s when Paul saw what was holding him down, were those eels?? They were wrapped all over John’s tail and lower torso, and they appeared to be electrocuting him. Paul pulled harder.

John was sobbing, frantically flipping his tail hoping that the eels would be thrown away but they held on strongly. At least they were getting closer to the beach.

Paul kicking at the creatures as well, ignoring the fact that they could hurt him. His only concern was John. Finally, they got to the surface and Paul dragged his lover far away from the water.

The eels screeched and let go but Paul kept dragging the heavy weight of John until he tripped over a rock and the two of them fell down.

In no time John was hugging him, shaking and sobbing. Paul was confused but put his arms around the merman and whispered assurances in his ear.

“Johnny, what’s wrong?” Paul asked. Then he noticed that his lover was shivering, so he started to rub his arms with his pals. But he was even more worried, the cold temperature had never affected John before.

But before the human could comment on it, something even more strange started to happen.

John’s tail was looking burnt and bloody before, but now it appeared to be almost melting in a way. The scales were falling away, some of them just disappearing, his fins falling away as well.

Paul looked away only to find a distraught but quiet John looking back at him. The human frowned, “John, what’s going on?”

The other just shook his head and looked down, “I am sorry, Paul.” He choked, “I didn’t know.”

Paul’s answer was interrupted by the sight he witnessed as he looked briefly back at the tail. He was speechless. For the silver-blue tail was gone, and its place were two pale, very much human, legs.

#beatles #mclennon #my fic #fanfic #the beatles #john lennon #paul mccartney

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