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silkjade · 11 months

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alhaitham x mermaid! reader (3)

⤀ warnings: fem!reader, no pronouns mentioned, reader has hair long enough to be pinned a/n: recommended to read the previous parts first, since this is a direct continuation next ﾉ series masterlist ﾉ bonus (18+) ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･𓇼

When you first step foot into sumeru city’s grand bazaar, you're immediately taken aback by the atmosphere. It's too loud, feels too stifling— a far cry from the vast and silent depths of the ocean, or the peaceful serenity of the forest. Even port ormos, had at least a lovely sea breeze. But you've come so far, it'd be a waste not to experience this lively city to its fullest.

“This necklace should only be worn by someone as beautiful as you!”

“Ditch those drab clothes and come see this new fabric from liyue!”

“I guarantee these sunsettias are sweet like you!”

"Can I buy you a drink tonight?"

It's already a little dizzying to be so far inland, but the way all these humans vie for your attention, on top of the musicians and screaming children in the background… it’s a lot to take in so suddenly. Covering your ears helps a little, but not nearly enough to drown out the cacophony. You don’t even care to react when a strong arm wraps around your waist and leads you away.

Alhaitham guides you towards an isolated corner nearby, shooting a glare at any who dares look your way. He speaks to you in your native tongue; his pronunciation has become near flawless with your help.

“Are you alright?”

Both your head and your heart seem to settle a bit at the familiarity.

"It's a little much is all... just need some time to adjust."

To play it safe, alhaitham removes his soundproof earpieces, placing them on you instead, and switches it on to the lowest setting. He's no fan of the noise either, but he's used to it; he'll be fine.

"Oh isn't this beautiful? And i'm sure it'll look even better on me!"

Alhaitham rolls his eyes. You're gushing over a hairpin while he stands beside you, arms full carrying assorted jewelry, trinkets large and small, a carpet, and a basketful of zaytum peaches. Mermaids and their vanity and their affinity for pretty things… at least you’re helping the local economy.

However, there’s currently only one issue and it isn’t the mora— it's the merchant who has him blacklisted.

"That'll be two million mora for the hairpin."

Now that he cannot justify. It's well crafted and beautifully embedded with crystal ore, but definitely not worth even half of what dori is asking for; only a fool would pay that price. Underhanded as it may be, he manages to swipe a similar hairpin that peaks out from under the large pile of accessories. Besides, all the times lord sangemah bay has overcharged him on information sales is far from a mere two million mora.

Dinner at lambad’s is interrupted by a trio of colorfully clad men who seem to be on familiar terms with alhaitham. You had always read him as more of a loner, and had seemed to be correct in your assumptions until now.

"I have some business to attend to, but I'll be back shortly. In the meantime, these are my... acquaintances. You can trust them."

“Would it kill you to call us your friends?” says the intimidating, purple one.

The blonde one laughs into oblivion when he sees alhaitham leave with his arms full of your many purchases in tow.

…

“Ah, so you’re a diver. There’s a specific deep sea coral I’ve been dying to study, but it’s been impossible to get a sample. Would you be interested in working together? I'll be sure to compensate you well.”

You agree to tighnari’s proposal; it would be no trouble as the dragon bone coral he speaks of is easy to find if you know where to look. Across the table, cyno let's out a chuckle.

“You sea…,” a pause for dramatic effect, “you said ‘sure’ which can also be construed as ‘shore.’ As in, the land along the edge of the sea.”

Kaveh orders a round of firewater shots to drown out the pain of cyno’s terrible sense of humor. Unfortunately, alhaitham returns to find out you’re quite the lightweight.

…

He carries you on his back all the way home, listening to your drunken rambles along the way. You seemed to have had fun with his friends, but there’s a corner of his mind that can’t help but wonder if you now find him boring in comparison.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Wanna know a secret?” you slur, giggling. “I enjoy the time I spend with you the most.”

With that said, you nuzzle closer into the crook of his neck and alhaitham feels his face heat up all the way to the tips of ears. Mermaids are proud and rarely ever reveal their true feelings, so he counts himself lucky to have heard yours. Your soft breathing tickles his skin. He’s glad you’re asleep now, knowing that you would’ve teased him again otherwise.

Once home, alhaitham sets you on the living room divan before leaving to prepare the bath. The aforementioned business he had to attend to, was purchasing salt. In bulk. He figured you’d need saltwater to rehydrate, as it’s been a few days since you’ve last been in any water. And a saltwater bath would surely be less of a hassle to deal with than a shriveled up mermaid.

The way your legs meld back into a tail is mesmerizing, especially with how your scales shimmer to life in the water. It quickly sobers you up. He’s about to leave but…

“Not even going to keep me company? I stayed with you all night at the cove you know.”

There it is. Alhaitham turns back around just in time to see the little grin on your face, as you rest your arms along the edge of the tub while your long tail hangs over the other end. He doesn’t know much of mermaid physiology but it’s enough to assume the saltwater, makeshift as it may be, has successfully sobered you up.

“I’m going to bed. You should get some sleep as well.”

“But I’m not tired.”

“I am. Goodnight.” And he leaves. Eventually, the man returns with a stack of books and papers.

“These are old studies I pulled from the akademiya regarding the dark sea. Since you’ve got the energy, mind fact checking? Just be careful not to get them wet.”

He sets them down on a nearby stool before a splash of water hits him right in the face.

“How about with some compensation then?” he says, pulling out the hairpin he had swiped from dori.

It’s similar to the one you had previously fawned over, though it’s laid with nagadus emerald instead, which he thought suited you much better than plain crystal ore. Unbeknownst to him, you had liked the first because its cyan stones reminded you of those he would toss in the water upon arriving at the cove. However, you adore this one for the way the emerald gems seem to match the very one sitting on his chest. You think you’ll cherish it forever.

“Will you put it on for me?”

His touch is surprisingly gentle, careful not to accidentally tug too hard. Alhaitham’s seen kaveh put up his hair enough times to replicate a simple style. Easier said than done as it turns out to be less than stellar, sitting slant and loose. At least he tried.

“Well? How does it look?”

Light reflects off the gems in your hair and into the water, casting an iridescent glow that bounces across the room, dancing onto your skin. Anyone could say that even the brightest of jewels dull in the face of your otherworldly beauty. Only he can say that in this moment, in his bathroom, you look more perfect than the moon shining through the window behind you.

“I think it’d look even more flattering if you were reading,” he glances down, “Enigmatic Depths: An Empirical Study of the Ocean and Beyond.”

Another splash of water hits his face.

a/n2: If you're already on the taglist, you'll be tagged for any future parts (just lmk if you'd like to be added/removed) ^^ I also kind of want to do an 18+ bonus part in the future, but no taglist for that since I don't want to jumpscare anyone lmao (unless you guys want one idk but have your age in bio pls) Anyways, thank you for reading ♡

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flowerandblood · 6 months

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The Cry of the Sea

Halloween Request Oneshots Series

[ pirate! • Aemond x mermaid! • female ]

[ warnings: sex content, virginity loss, fingering, smut, angst, abduction, violence, threats, obsession ]

[ description: A mermaid who rarely surfaces of the water decides to save a drowning boy. While she tries to keep him safe, she is kidnapped by strange, terrifying people, taken away from her mother and her home. On her way, she meets a captain with one eye who will decide her future fate. Obsessive, possessive, dark!Aemond.]

*Warning! Note from the author: The heroine has a name because of the plot, but apart from that there are no detailed descriptions of her appearance. Oneshot is written from a third-person perspective.

*English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy!*

My others works: Masterlist

____

She had only heard about who people were from stories and what she learned made her rarely floated to the surface of the water. Her mother said they were cruel, that they killed through need, waged wars and destroyed each other, cold and ruthless.

She also said that in order to walk on the ground they needed two limbs, as they had two arms, so in place of their fins were to be so-called legs.

She never dared to ask her mother how she knew such things. She spoke of something like a sound, like music, that it reverberated through the air and was pleasant to the ears, that it had a rhythm, that people danced and jumped to it. She couldn't imagine it; she, her mother and the other inhabitants of the underwater city communicated with finger gestures.

One day she was awakened by a muffled bang, something she had never heard before, and she swam out into the night depths, seeing little. She widened her eyes in surprise to see not the night sky but an orange glow above the surface of the water. She looked back, thinking in horror that she should return to her shelter, but decided that she would just look out to see what was happening, to see if they were in danger.

So she surfaced, feeling the air in her nostrils which caused her pain, she used them so rarely that her lungs were not properly developed, she felt like she was suffocating.

She plugged her ears, terrified, hearing loud shot after shot, the great mountain with sails that her mother called a ship was hitting another masthead with fire, and she was between them, not understanding what was happening, panicking, hiding under the water again.

The sound was instantly muffled as she plunged into the depths, but she suddenly heard a loud splash beside her and saw the body of a white-haired boy struggling to lift himself up, unsuccessfully. She could see his hind limbs, his legs unable to lift him higher like her fin, merely waving fruitlessly in the watery depths, his body sinking lower and lower to the bottom.

She remembered her mother's words about how people couldn't breathe underwater and once they fell into it, they died.

So she swam after him, terrified, grasping him in her hands; he was struggling, terrified, but she managed to hold him and they emerged from the water together, panting loudly and coughing.

"Daeron!" She heard a loud, low, desperate cry, which frightened her, for the first time hearing the words, human speech, sounded strange, not like the noise of the water.

"Here!" She heard the childish, squeaky cry of the boy she was holding and plugged her ear with one hand, feeling a terrible pain. She heard the splash of water beside them and saw that a much smaller boat had fallen into the water.

There were people in it, big, pale, dirty, frightening.

She wanted to run away, but she was afraid that if she let go the boy would start sinking again, so she held him until they came closer and she helped him into the boat, panting hard, shivering all over. The men who sat inside looked at her in disbelief.

"Holy Seven. I think it's a mermaid!"

"Kill her, she can deceive with her singing!"

"Are you mad?! We'll get a fortune for her! We take her, let the captain decide."

She heard loud sounds spoken quickly, she felt like her head was going to explode, she wanted to turn around and submerge herself back, but she felt a large hand grab her by her hair.

Something strange came out of her throat, a sort of high pitched squealing sound that frightened her alone, and then she felt wetness in her eyes, even though she was fighting her way out she didn't make it, another man grabbed her by her shoulders and forcibly threw her into the lifeboat.

She was feeling that she was cold and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering all over, her half-naked body now surrounded by the cool night wind, one of the men shouted that they were swimming away and back up.

"Drop the net!"

"Don't hurt her! She saved me!" Squealed the boy she had rescued from death, pushing away the men who wanted to touch her, laughing loudly, amused, looking at her body. She was terrified and trembling all over, a white-haired child came up to her and embraced her, shivering along with her.

"It's going to be okay. I won't let you get hurt." He whispered softly, something in the sound he made of himself reassuring her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the moisture running down her cheeks, thinking only of the fact that she should have listened to her mother, and now she had to pay for her curiosity.

They threw her into a net like an animal, then lifted her up with a hand crane and her body suddenly fell to the wooden floor, lots of legs around her, lots of men talking loudly to each other. She covered her ears and cried, feeling only pain, terrified and frozen, and suddenly she felt that something was wrong.

The voices around her fell silent as she lifted her gaze and glanced over her shoulder.

In place of her shiny fin, covered in beautiful scales, were two long limbs, the same as theirs.

Legs.

She covered her mouth with her hand and turned away, another terrifying high-pitched sound came from her throat that felt like it tore her skin and she cried out loudly, terrified.

What had happened?

Where was her tail?

Her mother never spoke of her father.

She said he was not worth mentioning.

"He chose the sea, but not me." She had told her once, but it was only now that it was beginning to occur to her what she might have meant.

"What is the meaning of this?" She heard a low, cold voice and saw above her a man with a large scar on his left cheek and a black eye patch, he had the same white hair as the child she had saved, except that his was longer, tied with a black ribbon. He looked at her in disbelief, as if she were some strange, frightening creature.

"It's a mermaid, Captain! I saw for myself, as long as she was in the water she had a long tail!"

"That's right, sir, if we sell her we'll get crores!"

"Don't sell her, brother! She saved me!" She heard the voice of the same little boy holding him by the sleeve of his black leather jacket, his gaze directed at her again, this time focused and excited.

"We're turning back to the harbour. Find her some clothes, nobody can touch her." He said, and after a moment the men lifted her up, although she tried to pull away, it was to no avail.

They forced her to put on a long, smelly cloth and gave her some scratchy material, although when she covered herself with it made her feel warmer.

They locked her in a room from which she could only see the sea through a small hole and she watched in despair as she moved away from her home, from her mother. She pressed her forehead against the wooden wall and cried quietly.

She heard footsteps, quiet at first, then louder and louder, the door to her cabin opened and there the same terrifying man with a black eye patch stood over her, closing the door behind him.

"Who are you?" He asked, and she looked at him with big eyes, not understanding what she was supposed to do, what they wanted from her. She only swallowed loudly, not taking her eyes off him.

He came closer to her, and she stepped back quickly, pressing her back against the wall, breathing loudly, terrified.

"Don't be afraid." He said a little more calmly, kneeling in front of her, something unsettling in his eye, some kind of unhealthy fascination. She saw the gesture of his tongue running swiftly over his lower lip, as if he was just preparing to eat something tasty.

"Who. Are. You." He repeated word after word and tapped his finger against her chest hidden under her blanket, she flinched at the gesture, curling into herself, moving as far away from him as possible.

He lifted his hand and pressed it to his chest, wearing only a white chemise tucked into black leather trousers.

"Aemond." He said calmly. After a moment, he placed his hand on her chest, looking at her expectantly.

"You?"

She wondered if he wanted to know who she was, if he had just confessed his name to her.

She saw his eye widen as she lifted her hand, touched her thumb with her pointing finger, signifying the syllable 'Le', and then lifted her pointing finger up, signifying the lone vowel 'a'.

Lea.

He looked at her, shaking his head, sitting down in front of her.

"What does that mean?" She heard him say the words quickly, but completely misunderstood what it was supposed to mean, so she showed him the same gesture signifying her name once more.

He ran his thumb over his lip, looking at her intensely, tapping his fingers on his knee, then rose suddenly, startling her with it, opening some cupboard with a loud clatter, taking out some large object.

She saw that what he was holding in his hands had cards and patterns, he turned it towards her, moving closer to her and it was only then that she noticed it was letters.

Her mother had told her about them and had even drawn them for her explaining that people used them to write down words and their sounds.

She had written what her name and a few other sentences would sound like in their language, wanting to give her a comparison of how their gestures translated into their syllables.

She touched her finger quickly to a letter she recognised as 'L'. He looked at it curiously and read it out loud.

"L" He said and she nodded, pointing then to the "E" and "A".

He looked at her in disbelief, the corner of his mouth twitching in what she might have called a smile if not for the glint in his eye.

"Lea." He whispered, and she blinked, understanding that he had said her name as a whole, that that was what it sounded like. She nodded and he licked his lips excitedly, moving far too close to her, placing the book in her lap.

He began to point his fingers at more letters, and she followed the movement of his hand, trying to decipher what he was trying to convey to her.

Y O U S A V E D M Y B R O T H E R

You

ved

bro

ther

You saved my brother.

The fair-haired boy.

She looked at him puzzled, swallowing loudly and nodded. She heard him sigh with some kind of relief and joy, happy to be able to communicate with her, pressing his lips together, leaning over the book again.

DAERON

"Daeron." She choked out the word she had heard when she had held his brother in her arms, which apparently was what he had shouted then, terrified.

She heard their captain snort a laugh under his breath, running a hand over his face, looking at her in disbelief.

"Yes." He hummed softly, his voice seeming calmer and gentler to her. She leaned over the book, this time she wanted to tell him something, and he immediately squatted down, looking at the letters she was pointing at.

WHY

She glanced at him with her lips tightened and he looked at her, swallowing loudly, his gaze cooled. He stood up abruptly and she was unable to make a sound, not knowing how to stop him, he walked out and left her alone, locking the door.

She tried to lift herself up on those two strange limbs, but she was falling, they seemed limp and weak to her.

She preferred to crawl, wrapped herself in her blanket and fell asleep lying against the wall, crying silently, praying to the Drowned God to take her back to the sea.

The next day, the little boy she had saved brought her food and placed it in front of her, stroking her head, saying something quietly. He then ran away as if he should not come to her and closed the door behind him.

She spotted the fish and bread on her plate and began to eat quickly, hungry and thirsty, she was given some disgusting liquid in a metal jug, but she drank it, not having much choice.

She spent the whole day lying in one place and it was only at night that she heard the sound of the lock being opened, the same man standing over her again.

He approached her slowly, crouching on the floor in front of her, massaging his chin. She held his book pressed against her chest, tried to look through it earlier, but understood nothing of it.

He gently took it from her hand.

She shuddered as he laid down on the floor just behind her, resting his cheek against her shoulder, placing the open book in front of them, pointing one by one with his finger at the letters and syllables he had spoken so that she could see them, illuminated by the moonlight.

"We - are - sai - ling - to - King's - Lan - ding." He whispered softly, and she blinked, her lips tightening, understanding enough that they were sailing somewhere far away, that she would never see home again.

She closed her eyes and wept quietly, feeling her body begin to tremble, a shudder went through her as she felt his lips on her neck.

"Don't cry." He whispered in her ear softly, warmly, tenderly, and though she didn't know what it meant, she thought he sympathised with her.

"I have no choice. If I let you go now, my grandfather would kill me. You are a chance for us." He hummed the words into her ear, his wet, warm lips trailing higher and higher, she wondered what he was actually doing, why she was getting hot from this kind of touch, why she felt a pleasant pulsing and tension between her limbs.

They both started panting as his hand slipped between her legs and began to touch her, she felt that this was a very private and intimate place, her thighs clenched involuntarily but his fingers slipped inside anyway.

She heard his every move accompanied by a loud click of her juices, with every stroke he made a pleasant warmth and tickle went through her, she felt something hard on her buttocks and moaned softly.

"− fuck −" She heard him mutter behind her, from which a shudder went through her. She sobbed in surprise when she felt his finger suddenly inside her, clasping her hand on his wrist, terrified.

He only shushed her while moving him deep inside her, rubbing him against the place from which waves of pleasure passed through her, from which she lost the remnants of her strong will.

She didn't put herself against him when she felt him lift her thigh, as something hot, big and hard pushed against her entrance from below and began to slide into her flesh, pushing her core apart with her loud cry.

His free hand held her tightly, she clenched her fingers against his skin, panting along with him as he began to move suddenly, pressing his lips to her neck, to her cheek, whispering and groaning low some words whose meaning she didn't understand, his thrusts pushing her hot, throbbing muscles to the limit.

She had no idea what was actually happening, what they were doing, but it felt good, she felt pleasure, she needed it after so many hours of terror, so she let him do what he wanted, easing down completely, moaning loudly as he turned her onto her stomach and lifted her buttocks, sliding into her with loud, wet slaps, his breathing erratic, loud and aroused, his fingers tightened on her skin.

"− I'm going to keep you for myself − you'll swell from my seed and give me offspring born from the sea − my inheritance − oh, fuck −" He mumbled out, feeling her walls begin to clench against him hungrily, a wave of pleasure shook her entire body, stupefying her and making nothing reach her, she felt something hot spill inside her, and then there were only their loud, accelerated breaths.

"− mine −"

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess

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kingschclar · 1 year

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KINKTOBER DAY TWENTY-EIGHT — dacryphilia with jade leech

contains :: merman!jade (and he has a monster?? dick), sub!jade, dom!reader, dacryphilia, reader and jade are third years, handjob, overstimulation, jade cries crystals instead of tears that turn into pearls

kinktober mlist!

Jade trembled in your arms as you started jerking him off again. His hand flew back, his sharp nails digging into your flesh as he grabbed your thighs. “C’mon, Jade,” you cooed, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck. “We need some tears.”

“S-Sorry,” he stammered, forcing his tail to stop thrashing from the pain of overstimulation.

“For this project, you will need to source for mermaid tears in order to make your potion,” Crewel announced. “Good luck, my pups,” he hummed, cracking his whip before he dismissed the class. Mermaid tears were a rarity, and since they were actually crystals, sold at a high price. You either had to have very good connections, or very good sources, and luckily for you, you had both.

You ran your free hand down his body, feeling up the fine scales that covered his body and making him shiver from the sensation. His skin was cool, He truly lived up to his name, given how beautiful he was. A beautiful gem, only for you. His jaw dropped open slightly as he gasped, starting to thrust up into your hand again, and you could tell he was close. You slid your hand up, prodding at his lip before letting two fingers slip into his mouth, and began teething at them almost immediately. You ran your hand over his near-purple cockhead one last time before pinching on it. Jade cried out in surprise, thrashing violently in your arms as he came with a cry, and you don’t think you’ve ever heard him make a noise that lewd.

It almost caught you off guard when he started sniffing, his eyes filling with tears. Your eyes widened as you snatched the jar you brought from its place, positioning it under Jade’s cheek. The first tear that spilled over his lashline glistened almost unnaturally before turning into the prettiest crystal you think you’ve ever seen. Though, what made you stare in awe was your boyfriend’s expression. His lips were slick with saliva, and his cheeks were dusted with purple. His mismatched eyes were glossed over as he sniffed and panted, and you could tell that his mind was still elsewhere.

“You okay, Jade?” You asked, running a hand down his back wherever there were no fins in the way. He slumped into you, his tail curling up to him as he did so.

“Yeah,” he sighed, and it faded into a breathless chuckle. “It’s just that I haven’t cried in years.”

“You did so well,” you assured, now running your hands through his damp hair. “Thank you, babe.”

“Of course,” he smiled, leaning forward to kiss you softly. “I’m alright if it’s for you.”

“Well…” His eyes widened slightly, and you laughed a little. “I could use more mermaid tears.”

#; — ares’ kinktober 2022 !#; — sealed w a kiss. ares #dom reader #sub twisted wonderland #sub twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland smut #twst smut #twst #sub jade #jade leech #jade smut #jade leech smut #sub jade leech

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damianbugs · 1 year

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If you r still doing the fic recs, what are some good Bruce and Jason ones? I'm going insane

HELLO. oh my gosh. you know, since exam month has officially begun, i should be studying, but like, why would i do that when i could be doing this instead? this is like. so much more productive for my happiness.

it's no secret i am not normal absolutely totally insane about bruce and jason and OF COURSE i will rec you fics of them. i have 150+ bookmarks of fics just centred around them so i really tried to narrow it down to a few of my favourites. if you ever need anymore please ask again!

what a truly disastrous tragedy they are. the blueprint i fear. no fictional father and son has impacted me more. jason and bruce fic writers lace their works in crack because once you read one, you are stuck forever. there is no escape. trust me. anyways!

BRUCE AND JASON FIC RECS

don't take your guns to town by kreestar

batman comes home from a night patrolling to find a 10 year old jason todd waiting for him in his kitchen. across gotham, at the same time, red hood is stopped by a 25 year old bruce wayne.

MY NOTES: no one is surprised at all that the first fic on this list is time travel. the characterisation in this was insanely good especially between young bruce and jason i loved their parts. so bittersweet and the ending was lovely!

I Will Always Be There For You by squashflower

There's a closet in the manor that locks you inside. It has no lighting or heating or air conditioning of any kind, and Jason, safe to say, wishes he could burn it to the ground. Or shoot it. One of the two.

MY NOTES: there is just something so good about stories where it switches from robin jason to an experience mirrored by red hood jason and this is the perfect example. so so good.

all the small weights by sparkycap

When Batman gets hit with fear toxin, he worries about his Robins. His Robins think it's their job to deal with it. Jason wasn't aware anyone still included him in that group, but according to Tim, he's the only one available.

MY NOTES: fear toxin the trope that keeps on giving. best thing about this though is that the actual fear toxin is not the main part of the story, and i think it was handled so beautifully and maturely in a way i haven't seen before. i cried (twice).

-> just an aside, but i think you should read the other bruce and jason work by this specific writer. they're all insanely good.

Mermaid Tears by minnow_doodle_doo

And if real mermaid tears were what Jason wanted the world to have, Bruce would make Aquaman cry glass.

MY NOTES: teehee sorry for recommending ur own fic in ur ask minnow but this fic is just so sweet and special i need everyone to read it. a wonderful look into that all encompassing love bruce had for jason when things were much simpler for them.

Aftermath by ivy_and_ivory

Now: Batman is in Paris, pulled there by a case that extends beyond Gotham’s borders, when circumstances lead him to a badly injured Red Hood – who might hold the key to Batman’s investigation.

Then: The Red Hood storms into Gotham, begins to stake his claim on the criminal underground, then abruptly disappears – but only after he breaks into Arkham Asylum and leaves the Joker dead in his own cell.

Or: A study of why Bruce couldn’t kill the Joker, what would happen if someone else could – and how you move on from the aftermath.

MY NOTES: you know when you find a fic and you're just like. oh my god. this is it. this is exactly what i wanted. this is all that matters. yeah. that's this fic to me. im sort of obsessed with the idea of batman bonding with red hood without making the direct connection that it's jason.

A Straight Blade by Sparkypants

"What happened to your face?" Bruce asks, reaching his hand for Jason's jaw. "You're bleeding." Jason bristles, cheeks turning pink. "I cut myself shaving." He says, and wipes at the cut with the cuff of his hoody. Damian makes a clicking noise with his tongue, "I'm amazed you haven't taken your own head off." He snarks. Jason shoves his chair away from the table, temper flaring. "Well it's not like anyone ever taught me, is it." He hisses. He's five years late, but Bruce finally teaches Jason how to shave.

MY NOTES: i am so okay so normal about this fic. such a sweet little happy story but i was literally looking down at my screen squinting through my blurry vision because i was tearing up. the unknowing domestic simplicities of being father and son (hysterical sobbing)

Stargazer by LemonadeGarden

Jason Todd is seriously injured during patrol one night, and is forced to stay at the manor to recuperate until his injuries are healed. To pass the time, he makes a list of things he never got to do before he died. Except there's one small problem: most of them involve Bruce, and Jason doesn't really think Bruce cares all that much about him anymore. This is a story about how wrong he is, but I made it sad anyway.

MY NOTES: okay so i think the best way to end this post is with the first ever bruce and jason centric work i ever read that changed the chemicals in my brain forever. THIS is the fic that made me really latch onto their relationship and want to see that reconciliation and recovery. THE roadtrip fic ever.

#bruce wayne #jason todd #oh how they r so important #batfamily fic recs #saki batfam fic recs #batman #red hood #robin ii

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dahliaes · 23 days

Text

sea of magnolias - chapter two "dragonflies"

cw; no plot ofc, slice of life, melancholy, references to mother nature, jean is now here and he is a SWEETIE!!!! pure fluff, 3k words because im so slow, i wanna be 17 and live in the sea, yearning/longing, pieck and porco are idiots in love

hi again!! this story is very touching to me and i can't stop expanding despite how little the word count is lol i hope you all enjoy this little slice of life south carolina story bc i love it!!

chapter one

Marshes, white beaches, blue crabs. They didn’t wake you up. Neither did the small puddle of drool in the basin of your collarbone or the breeze bleeding in from the open window. That’s ocean breath.

You come apart, your cold limbs tangled up in hers and your eyes open like blooming flowers; if you could just sleep for a bit longer…Sleep like the pale mermaids you see rotting in the marsh, where the sea swallows their spine and soft skin; God puts her face down and her carrion melts unto the moon drenched nectar. If you could sleep…

You shiver beneath the cool quilt and feel Pieck beside you, your sweaty skin slides off hers with no traction—just like how the algae in the marsh slips beneath your feet.

Sometimes you and Pieck would cuddle in her twin sized mattress, hide beneath her big pink comforter, and trace each other's scars like constellations. A botfly infested her bottom lip and Porco cut it out with his pocket knife. She bled like a peach and smiled at you with blood stained teeth. You were shirtless playing cowboys and Indians with no distinction whether you were a boy or a girl, tripped and skinned your knee on the blistering pavement. Mama poured rubbing alcohol over your skin and promised that it wouldn’t hurt but that didn’t stop you from crying. You’ve got another one where no one can touch.

And sometimes you’d wake up with sunlight bleeding in through her window, the kind of sunlight you only saw when you were seven years old and small enough to be carried by your Mama; chalk on your hands and knees covered in bruises, no one had hurt you yet and never would if she was there to protect you, right?

“Pieck?” You whisper, hoping she hears you above the whispers of the marsh. They’re always saying something to you. You drifted to sleep like drifting to the sea and it’s still dark out, even darker than before, and you hear noise coming from the kitchen over the marsh valleys somber sounds. She’s saying something to you. “I think Pock’s home.”

“Mhmph,” She mumbles beneath the blankets and rubs her tired eyes, “He doesn’t live here.”

You’ll have to go home soon. Home right on the marsh water and rotting wood, home where it smells like the feather of a blue heron and where you’ve got all your pretty sundresses hanging up like American flags—the kind that makes boys unable to control themselves around you and God turn his gaze back to the sunset; Pock will drive you home. But it feels so nice to cuddle with her. Her skin is hot but cool when you touch your cheek to her spine, each little bump is another phase of the moon and you remember how she was the only girl at your sixteenth birthday.

You hum at the buzzing of Porco; Pieck, will you make me the happiest man on earth? Will you give me a son? And you hear his deep voice, heavy with beer and honey, mumbling something indistinct and gruff, something you don’t bother listening to.

“He must’ve brought another one of his fuckin’ friends over,” Pieck stretches her feet from beneath the blanket and cracks her back like a glow stick, “My daddy’s gonna kill him. I promise you that.”

Pieck slips away, waddling like an angel to the warm light of the kitchen lantern—that's how the fireflies get burned—and you hear her mumble to Pock about how he shouldn’t be using the key under the mat whenever he feels like a beer with his buddy… Jean?

Not blondie Reiner, not the olive boy Connie with the shark tooth necklace—he said he dug them out himself—not the younger one Colt or the dark scary boy Jaeger with dead eyes.

Jean. A new flower.

The moons out, you can feel her flowers growing and her spotlight shining down through Pieck’s open window. With that breeze, with that coolness of the evening, with that sleepy nectar that always keeps you safe. Midnight blue faded around you. You could almost touch it.

You shuffle beneath the quilt, rubbing your eyes full of bugs and lashes, and hear Pock crack open a Bud Light; he’s gonna crack his teeth one of these days. And you crawl out from the blanket to follow Pieck, just like you always did as a baby with your little blue jeans rolled up to your knees, always wanting to be right by her. This time it's a peach sundress and hardwood floors. You float to the kitchen light like a moth to a flame.

It’s Pock stumbling drunk and swinging his arm over her shoulders, kissing her sloppy and dancing around the kitchen with his babies in his arms. It’s Pieck hiding her face in his chest, hiding her red cheeks and blooming smile where no one but his heart can see and it’s—

He’s six feet tall, as tall as the moon, and maybe he could get it for you if you ask real nice—he’s leaning out the open window, looking up at the deep dark sea of the sky, the moon like a pearl and his tan skin like the shore. Blue jeans and a red ball cap; oh, you wanna touch your heart and find the seashells hidden inside, put them up to your ear, and have them whisper to you that he’s a flower. A lily? A dahlia? The ones hidden beneath your bed with true souls and soft eyes…

And he turns around and you see his face. Now you know what flower he is.

Oh, he’s so pretty.

You lock eyes for a moment and you swear his face softened; in oil paint taken right from the moon and sea, he was made from honey. He looks at you like a little boy, as if he weren’t a man, but something soft and slack jawed that wouldn’t hurt you or the frail little birds with broken wings you like to nurture; his baseball cap and light scruff. He gently smiles at you and you swear boys like him aren’t from here.

He sips his beer and runs a hand through his hair. You touch the flowerbed between your breasts and wonder if you’re ever getting home.

“Go away,” Pieck shoves him, but he takes her down with him, “You’re an animal.”

“You know you love me, baby.” Porco slurs, “S’why you’ve got my baby in you. S’why we’re gettin’ married,'' He pulls her into his arms, his wet mouth bleeding with beer kisses the top of her head and rubs her belly, eyes lidded like bumblebees—you stand there watching them fool around, listening to the gulls and the nic-sea-breeze fray the curtains, letting the blue moon drift in pass Jean. He must like it. He’s watching you, a gentle smile that makes him look humble, then the open window, then the mosquitos buzzing around his sun kissed skin. Oh, he’s so tan. Oh, he’s so tall.

He doesn’t look like one of the boys from here. Even though he’s tan and strong, he looks tender.

He reminds you of those shy cowboys, the ones with hearts aglow and eyes full of stars, waiting to be met with either a bottle of whiskey or the Big Dipper up in the sky; your cool naked skin by the campfire and his big old calloused hands shining orange, red, and blue as he holds you close…

But you look at him again and he isn’t a cowboy. Cowboys can’t ride in the marsh. He’s just soft and pretty and taller than the moon. He’s only seventeen.

Maybe he’ll play cowboys and Indians with you.

Porco pouts at Pieck when she pinches his cheeks. You hope she shuts him up before he starts singing that song and makin’ up his own lyrics, before he starts trying to fight everything in sight. But you also hope Jean isn’t as quiet as you.

“You girlies shouldn’t be left alone,” Porco kisses her nose and you know he’s piss drunk, he must’ve robbed a liquor store like his daddy used to. That’s what put him in jail. “Y’all’dve called me n’ Jeanboy. Promise we’da keep ya safe and all.”

Jeanboy. Oh, Jeanboy, say something. You can’t help but watch him standin’ there, silent and tall with big shoulders meant for climbing on; something so intangible, something so indistinct and sweet about him. You hear Mother Nature humming everytime he looks up and looks away, shy like a scared little fawn in the body of a big strong elk. That’s not how boys act. You swear she’s rubbing peach blood all over his cheeks. He’s blushing.

“Yeah, you’re real cute, Pock.”

Then you watch him lean down to her and whisper something that he shouldn’t have, something that makes her wanna die.

“Will you shut up?” Pieck squeals, sick of all the sweet words he’s been whispering beneath his breath. She pushes him away and he comes stumbling drunk over to you.

“Miss Baby,” You’re sick of that nickname, “Haven’t seen you around here lately.” Porco pinches your cheek and you slap him away like a mosquito. You wish he’d shut up. He’s always treating you like a little sister and you didn’t want Jean to think you were something not worth kissing. You’re a woman. But Porco wouldn’t understand that.

“Why are you in my face?”

He slings his arm around you a little too rough and you can see Pieck peeking around the corner, making sure her daddy doesn’t hear all the drunken ruckus he’s causing—maybe, like the whispers of June, they just don’t notice anymore. They just get used to it.

“I have a secret to tell ya,” Porco whispers to you and his breath feels like august heat on your cheeks, thick and moist and hot with the stench of Bud Light lingering and floating throughout the air. You can taste how many beers he’s had.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“My buddy Jean over there,” He keeps his voice low, just for you to hear, he snickers and leans down like he’s about to kiss you, “He says you’re pretty.”

You want to scream.

With that cool breeze, Mama’s voice floats right to you and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear; Pieck’s got a willow tree and Her limbs sway in the wind. You remember once how a boy opened your hand and pressed a daffodil on your soft palm. Maybe when Jean was looking out the window he saw seven year old you and wanted to go back to a time before he was a man, before the world had changed him from callow to tough and worn. How long has he been here? Where’s he from? Not here. You woulda known. You woulda recognized him.

But you’re getting ahead of yourself. He didn’t say that, right? You’re wearing a light sundress and he’s wearing dirty old blue jeans with a faded red ball cap. You hope he’s got a truck.

Porco snickers and you aren’t sure what to say. No, he didn’t. He doesn’t even know me. Stop fucking around, Pock. Then you’d push him away and take Pieck’s hand in yours and run to the beaches like you were still kids running away from everything scary and loud; the monsters beneath your bed and the man who left bruises on her frail little arms. But you didn’t want to run to ten years ago. You wanted to run so tall and pretty and shy Jean couldn’t see you anymore. Run right into the sea and crash onto the waves and become a mermaid. Pretty where no one can see, especially not him.

“Leave her alone, you dick.” Pieck pinches his cheeks and he tries to give her a big wet kiss, but you’re looking at Jean with one of his eyes half shut and a little smile peeking up at you—at you?

“What? We’re just havin’ some fun, baby,” Porco laughs and Pieck scoffs and pulls him away from you, the salty sweet stink of Bud Light and cigarettes drifts off with him. As she takes him off to the living room, throws him down on the couch, and covers him up with that quilt, you stare at Jean. He keeps his eyes on the ground and you swear you do too, but…

He swallows and you watch his Adam’s apple bob. What were you supposed to say? Something about how Mother Nature grows forget-me-nots over your Daddy’s grave and how if he were to grab your waist, he’d feel flowers growing between your ribs and healed bruises from that night in October. What were you supposed to say?

How are you supposed to talk to boys?

And Jean opens his mouth like he’s about to say something but—

“He’s sloshed,” Pieck comes from behind you and you want to get down on your knees. “Wanna spend the night? You can sleep in our bed.”

“I can’t,” You whisper, wiping your cheeks so hard the blush comes off, “I’ve got church in the morning. I gotta get home.”

“I can drive ya.”

Just as he said that, the flowers in between your breasts bloomed and you felt something from a few summers ago whisper in your ear.

“Really?” You whisper back, but it wasn’t to him. It was to God.

“’Course,” He mumbles and comes over to you, somehow getting taller with every step, “I’m Jean.”

“Georgia.”

Georgia, you knew your cheeks were like wine. Georgia, your stomachs full of butterflies and you know not to touch those delicate wings, Georgia, he’s so cute. Georgia, you knew he was strong, but small scars cover his warm, whiskey-honey skin and you can’t bring yourself to look right at him and his little smile—despite what manners you’ve been taught. If you stare at an eclipse, you go blind… So as time slows and the heaven-pearly moon fades over top you and him, you look for something. Something boys aren’t meant to have and something only stargazers can find.

Then you see it—just as he smiles and sticks out his hand and says its nice to meet ya—you see it.

“Huh?” You say dumbly, wilting with a crooked awkward smile. Oh, God, you want to die. Pieck giggles at you and pinches your arm with a stupid smile on her face that makes you wanna hiss at her to shut up. C’mon, girl, what’s gotten into you?

“Said it’s nice to meet ya. I think I’ve seen you before on the docks, right? Down by Delphie?” He smiles sweetly and it makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter around the lilacs inside of you. You’re gonna be sick.

He shouldn’t smile at you like that. He shouldn’t look so cute and handsome and humble, like he’s one of those dogs that splash around in the creeks, beg for belly rubs, and wag their tails at every bit of affection they get. He smiles like a dog and you wanna put him down.

“Something like that.” You mumble, looking down at your bare feet and the toes of his boots. Your toenails are long and painted pink with smiley faces looking right up at you. Your face is hot like the sand on a summer afternoon and you can’t wait to get outta here.

“And I can drive ya home, if you want.” He says again, voice light and chipper. God, you wish he’d shut up. Maybe he wants you to jump up on his back and bite his ears and crawl all over him like a bug, he’s strong like a tree trunk and you could infest him if you wanted to. Because, God, you want to.

You blink at him. He blinks back.

“Sorry, Jean, she’s a mute!” Pieck squeals, shaking you by the shoulders, “We can’t ever get her to talk!”

“Shut up.” You whip your head around to see Pieck cackling like a witch and covering her mouth. You wanna push her so hard her baby falls out, but she starts to mouth to you; He is so hot! You swat her like a bug and beg for all this to be over, but you know you want it. You want to be with a boy, just for the night—not to lay beside, not to fuck or kiss, but to just be seen beneath the pale moonlight and have the sharp edge of seventeen pierce right through your heart like Mama said it would. Seventeen, she said, will always mean something to me. That’s when I met your daddy.

This summer wasn’t old enough to have a name, but if you climbed up into Jean’s truck and asked him if he believed in mermaids, maybe you’d name it Georgia.

“Fine.” You turn around to face him and you huff, “You can drive me home.”

Pieck buzzes behind you and you feel the ocean rise throughout your body, you’re scared you’re gonna throw up sea water all over him.

“Alright,” Jean flashes his sweet smile and runs a hand through his hair, “I gotcha.”

He’s got you.

And as you walk out with Jean behind you, Pieck and Porco turn into the no-see-ums that always bite your thighs; God plays a song just for you, just for Jean to hear, and you press two fingers to your heart as he watches. Maybe you’re sunkissed. Maybe you’re bare and naked and long legged with big eyes and there’s a moon you could bite into like an orange, but there he is. Behind you, holding the door open like a gentleman.

He has a seashell tattoo on the belly of his wrist and you promise yourself you’re going to touch it tonight.

#UGH back again!!!!!#sorry the chapters are so short i get nervy #sea of magnolias #jean kirstein #jean kirstein x reader #jean kirschstein x reader #jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirschtien #aot x reader #jean kirschstein #aot fanfic #jean kirschtein x you #attack on titan x reader

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yandere-writer-momo · 1 year

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Is it alright to have Yandere Jun with mermaid reader who wants to see humans and then leave.🙂😳?

I didn’t forget, it was just difficult for me to picture this. So happy mermay y’all! @scr3amingqueen I finally made a story for your fan art 💕🧜‍♀️🧜

Yandere Baki Head Canons

Yandere Jun Guevaru x Female Mermaid Reader

Jun Guevaru

When Jim finally escaped prison, he returned to the sea. His heart filled with adventure lust

Jun decided to explore uncharted waters and low and behold, he catches a glimpse of a colorful tail of a fish he’s never seen before. A very big fish

He encourages his men to set out nets to try to catch that colorful fish. Maybe it was a new species? Either way, it may sell for a pretty penny

But this fish was incredibly smart. It evaded all of the traps and sometimes, Jun swore he’d seen the upper half of a woman. He brushed it off as him getting a little crazy from being on the water for too long

Then the day comes that he’s finally able to capture that fish and… it wasn’t a fish at all but a mermaid. You were a mermaid that was just curious of the strange creatures on the large vessel, you never meant them any harm

Mermaids were stories of sailors who have been gone for too long on the sea, Jun had no idea that they’d be true. That this beautiful creature that laid out on his ship deck in front of him was real. Yet here you were sobbing in front of the sailors, unaware of the pearls that fell from your eyes instead of tears. A jack pot

Jun has his men put you in a tank of salt water below the ship deck and he makes sure that they make you cry a lot by scaring you. The crew members slap their hands against your tank and make loud noises to get more pearls to fall from your eyes. You’re miserable

A week goes by and you become so incredibly homesick. You miss your family and friends. If only you hadn’t been so curious… then maybe you wouldn’t be so hungry and sad… maybe a song would make you feel better?

It’s late at night and all of the sailors are sleeping except Jun. He’s in his captain quarters trying to figure out where to sell you and that’s when he hears it. The most enchanting melody he’s ever heard

Jun rushes to your tank, his eyes widening at how gaunt your cheeks look compared to when he first found you. Had his crew members not been feeding you like they were supposed to? He’s sad you stop your song and swim to the far corner to your tank. You’re afraid of him… and Jun’s heart twists. He doesn’t know why it hurts him to see the fear in your eyes but it does…

Jun punishes the crew members for their mistreatment of you and takes it upon himself to care for you. It’s the first kindness you get from your captors. You’re extremely hesitant of Jun but you begin to warm up to him over the course of the next few weeks

And you finally speak with him. He’s shocked to learn that you can speak and even more shocked that you understand him. You two begin to converse for hours and he finds you extremely charming. Jun is also thrilled to finally know your name (and you his)

You share with him about how mermaids can gain legs if they drink human blood but you joke with Jun that it’s just a folk tale amongst the other mer. Jun begins to think about it. He really enjoys your company… Jun realizes he’s in love with you. Madly, utterly in love

One of Jun’s crew members tries to touch you while you’re in your tank. You scream loudly in fear. Your scream alerting Jun, the pirate captain running to your defense and quickly giving the member a quick death. He didn’t hesitate to slit their throat. Their blood splashing all over your face and some even got into your mouth…

Imagine Jun’s surprise to see that you now had the lower half of a human woman? Legs and all? He quickly dresses you in his shirt and carries you to his quarters before anyone can see you. Jun lays you on his soft bed with a bright smile

You’re confused on why Jun keeps pressing his mouth to your body as you lay there. Why he’s telling you how much he loves you and how he’s so happy that you can now receive his love. It’s a strange change in the man you’ve come to call your friend to now call your lover

Jun saves that crew member’s blood for you so you can keep your legs. Jun wants you to live with him as a human forever. Jun tells you his wishes of you becoming his wife and even the mother to his children

There’s no hope for escape and Jun convinced his crew to make sure you never escape. That you are to be referred to as Missus Guevara

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pix3lplays · 8 months

Text

Masterlist IV

Thank you all so much for your support! On to Masterlist 4!

-Honkai Star Rail-

Reader gets kidnapped by toxic ex

Reader can talk to cats

Jing Yuan x fem!general reader

Reader is friends with Jing Yuan and Yanqing, and is dating Dan Heng

Gf!reader finds them crying on a bench after a party

As vines

Selectively mute Dan Heng x reader

Reader has been silently mourning

Reader is sensitive to noise

Accidentally triggering selectively mute Dan Heng

Reader is Super casual, even about pain

Imbibitor Lunae is jealous

Wife!reader x Jing Yuan where wife!reader is grieving a past lover

Reader and child are royalty

High school AU reader proposes with a ring pop

Blade and his daughter!reader

Boba preferences

Reader threatens IL Dan Heng with the shackling prison

Reader convinces Dan Heng to join the astral express

They hurt reader with their words during an argument

Jing Yuan x calm and patient reader

Magician!reader pretends to die for a trick

Wife!reader and kids want to play pretend

Cloud knight General!reader x IL Dan Heng

Reader simping for a different Imbibitor Lunae

Dan Heng and his religious guilt

Reader gets asked out

Jing Yuan x calm reader who finally snaps

x idol!reader who’s like Hatsune Miku

Jing Yuan x reader with face dysmorphia

Reader is friends with Blade and Dan Heng

Reader is stressed about an exam

Triggering Dan Heng’s touch aversion

Running into reader and remembering

Reader has really bad agoraphobia

Fem!reader when baby says babysitter’s name as first word

Daughter is moving out for college

Dan Heng x reader with many hyperfixations

Reader is a night owl

How they act after an argument

Jing Yuan x wife!reader with mysterious past

Imbibitor Lunae x fem!reader: masks

Fem!reader is a disciple of Dan Feng

Reader is dead, Blade and his daughter

Welt comforting reader who has major anxiety over miscommunication

Nanook x artist!reader

When their daughter calls from college feeling odd

Sfw alphabet for Dan Heng

Sampo angst, with some x reader

Imbibitor Lunae x reader that’s secretly a siren

Blade’s daughter joins the Stellaron Hunters

fem!Disciple of Dan Feng x Dan Heng IL: she gets in a fight with blade

Welt Yang x wife!reader with healing kisses who’s a member of the Stellaron Hunters

Blade’s younger sister!Reader is dating Dan Heng

Reader is pregnant with twins

Reader is a huge simp for them

Their trauma

Sampo x noble reader

Sampo angst: argument

Jing Yuan SFW alphabet

Welt x ex Stellaron Hunter healer!reader

Reader has a toxic home environment

Sleeping/cuddling with them

Imbibitor Lunae cutting his hair

Dan Heng: Nyctophobia

Blade’s younger sister!reader when he hurts her boyfriend, Dan Heng

Blade’s child hates him

Yanqing accidentally calls reader ‘Mom’

Luocha revives reader

When reader is sick

Baby says the HSR man’s name first

Reader needs constant reassurance

Jing Yuan proposes, reader says no

Small thing about Luocha reviving reader

Hsr men threw up and come to bother reader about it (joke post)

Reader flubs the proposal

Luka when his s/o dies

600 followers special: asking them if they want to have a baby

Sampo x mermaid wife!reader

Dan Heng gets heat exhaustion

Fake dating

Possessive Luka hcs

Imbibitor Lunae Dan Heng being sick and clingy

What they’d do with Instagram

Their food allergies

Jing Yuan’s wife!reader getting flirted with right in front of him

Imbibitor Lunae watching reader pull for him

Astral Express crew reacting to Dan Feng’s daughter joining the crew

When Yanqing threatens Dan Heng with the shackling prison

Blade’s daughter takes up weapon crafting

Mother figure to Yanqing meets Jing Yuan

Dan Heng x reader: criminal

Slapping Dan Heng in the middle of an argument

Why they got bullied in high school AU

Dan Heng’s kids hate him

Reader suddenly avoids them at all cost

-Dr. Stone-

Stanley Snyder relationship hcs

Senku and Dr. Xeno with a reader who has severe anxiety

Challenging Senku to a math battle

Ryusui and Xeno when their crush makes them short circuit

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #Dr. Stone #Dr. Stone x reader

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mochiwrites · 9 months

Text

based on a conversation I just had with @loombarrow and @em-mermaid

—————————

“Hah! I win again!” Mumbo slaps his card down on top of the table with a victorious cry, a smile on his face.

Grian groans in return, slumping back in his chair, “Teaching you Uno was a mistake.”

Grum and Jrum look between the two with interest, setting their own decks of cards down on the table. Mumbo looks at Grian with a pleased smirk, “I think it’s quite the opposite, actually. I happen to enjoy Uno.” His smirk turns teasing, eyes bright, “It’s not my fault you’re just bad.”

The words light a fire in Grian’s eyes, and he jumps up, a fierce determination. “Now you’ve done it, Mumbo! You’re forcing my hand,” he says, brows furrowing tight.

“Done what?” the vampire inquires, blinking at him with feint apprehension.

“You’ve made me bust out the big guns.” Grian leans forward, starting to roll up the sleeves of his jumper. First is the red wool, followed by the cuffs of the white button up beneath. As soon as both fabrics are rolled up, it reveals his pale skin underneath. He repeats the process with his other arm.

The second both of his arms are revealed, a loud gasp breaks from Mumbo’s throat. His eyes widen comically, his face slowly turning a bright shade of red, blush extending all the way to his ears. “G-Grian! What are you doing?!” he cries, instantly moving to cover Grum and Jrum’s eyes.

Grian stares at him, lifting a brow. “I rolled up my sleeves. Brought out the big guns?” He flexes his arm at Mumbo, which happens to be quite toned. “Y’know, I’m introducing you to my little friends?”

A strangled noise leaves Mumbo as he squeaks, almost scandalized and very flustered at the sight of Grian’s bare arms.

He quickly stands, feeling as if he’s going to combust. He takes Grum and Jrum with him, keeping their eyes covered. “Y-You know what, I think you’ve won this round.” With that he walks out.

He definitely doesn’t spend the rest of the day thinking about how soft Grian’s skin looked and how toned his arms were. And he definitely doesn’t wonder what it’d be like to bite his arms.

Grian is left at the table, surrounded by Uno cards, very, very confused.

#mochi writes #songbird’s blood au #grumbo #hermitshipping #based on the idea of a Victorian vampire mumbo being scandialized and flustered at seeing grian’s bare skin

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ryllen · 6 months

Text

Please read this by putting it through google translate image translation feature on phone and cry with me,

or i can summarize it to you

"Why does human help the weak?" [ You just do it automatically, don't u think? ] - Kalim [ I was taught to do so. ] - Deuce [ Helping others is a beautiful thing. ] - Rook [ It's a natural for the strong to help the weak. ] - Riddle

[ It's just human's instinct of wanting to survive together, is it not? ] - Trey Jade finds it weird, because in the sea, no thought will be given to the weak. The strongest will survive. Call it an ego on land if you want, but that is how it has always been in that big pool of deep never ending water.

Jade is a mermaid type who is rather sensitive when turned into human. Walking with legs feel like walking on knives for him. To counter that problem, he always had his transforming potion mixed with a lot amount of pain killers.

One time he started to feel pain on his feet, he refused to be helped as he is fixated of being a strong creature & not wanting to be positioned as something weak. When he finally let trey helped him, he kept asking if there's any compensation he had to pay for having Trey helped him. "It is just pure kindness for underclassman", Trey said. Having it not sitting right on him, Jade told Trey his secret about his human legs' sensitivity problem as a form of payment. "That's too much information for that price." "Such critical thing! I never tell anyone that information as it would endanger my life!" "So.., are you telling me because you trust me?"

"No. I am telling you because I want (to keep receiving) that pure goodwill from you, my senior."

"That's an unnatural & greedy remark from a benevolent Octavinelle's student. Such a bad boy, Jade." Trey touched Jade's face in soft scolding manner & it made the mermaid quietly flustered with feeling he never knew he could felt before. Finding Trey's affection dear to him, at some other time later, he pretended that his feet hurts. And he lied about not bringing any pain killers with him. Trey who was wary about lying Jade, used his magic to overwrite the pain on Jade's feet, so he could walk by himself. But Jade sulked. Because, rly, he just wants to be carried by Trey again. Sensing this, Trey gave in, and carried Jade on his back, pleasing him.

Jade then invited Trey to go to an abandoned castle. He asked him to dance with him.

"I want to look good in front of you. But I'm not good at dancing," Trey said.

"Good." Jade replied with a smile, happy with his awkwardness. "I am not familiar with human's dance either."

They started to dance. And flirted a little. "Your eye is like olive." (Typical TREY) And when they were about to kiss, 3 overblot ghosts broke in.

"'ll take responsibility" Jade said, instantly feeling responsible as he was the one who brought them there. He managed to defeat one of the ghost. But in the middle of battle, the usual pain started to seep in to Jade's feet. For real, this time. His legs gave out.

With 2 overblot ghosts left still, Trey put himself into the middle of the fight. "I don't have enough magic to both overwrite your pain & defeat these overblot ghosts at the same time. So, run away while I try to hold them back."

Jade started to think how unacceptable it is that he is protected by someone who is supposed to be weaker than him. He should have been the one protecting Trey as mermaid is a stronger being, however he is nothing but a hindrance right now. Trey would even win the fight if it was not because of him.

So Jade found a way. He made noise to get the overblot attention's. He directed them to him so he could take them out by letting the chandelier fall over all of them together, including him. He was so ready to be crushed & took all those responsibility with him.

But, of course, Trey can't have that! Trey saved Jade at the last minute. He pushed Jade away, so the chandelier missed him. But in consequence, Trey had his legs broken as they were the ones that got crushed by the chandelier, instead -- together with the remaining overblot ghosts.

Jade who still didn't realize the situation, said "... Oh. That's too unreasonable to suddenly jump in, under the chandelier and come..." "I can't help it."

Jade slowly turned his head.

"It's too easy to want to help the person you love." "...So let me help you out." The horror of the current situation finally creeped to Jade's face.

"T-TREY-SAN! TREY-SAN!!!!!!!"

[ What do i do now?? What do i do??? ]

"Go, return by yourself even without me..."

Jade started to think of all his options. Phone? out of range. Magic? Out of the question, he just realized that his magic gem is now broken. The only mirror to come back to the school was at the foot of the mountain, while the castle they were in was at the very top of it.

[ Carry this person on your back. ] The voice in his head said...

"Carry this person on my back--?" he turned his head, and suddenly imagined the path of 'knives' he had to step on to go back. Not alone even.., but together with this person. ...The additional weight surely would pressed his feet harder to the ground, causing even more pain.

Trembling from the thought of the pain, Jade thought... "This is bad..., I only have one more painkiller...."

He took out that single pain killer in his pocket, and put into his mouth, seemingly ready and prepared to walk, at least; a few steps back without pain. But no, he refused to do so. Trey is wounded. He must experience pain too right now. Lips-to-lips, he gave the wounded Trey the painkiller & let him swallow it.

"I'll help you now..." Jade said, repaying on Trey's deed & now walking back without painkiller, with his dear senior on his back.

His feet hurts. So badly that he started to bit his lips & let them bleed. The sudden thought of wild animals attacking them in this situation, made him shuddered.

Near them, he spotted a good running river.

...

[ I can just abandoned this person... and jump into the river. ...With that I can easily reach the foot of the mountain. ... With that, I can become a strong creature again, not the helpless one like what I am right now. ]

...

For a second Jade lost in thought of abandoning the weak like what the sea always taught him to do. But then, reminiscing how Trey carried him at that crucial time when he needed him to, he said to himself...

"No. That doesn't matter... "

"Because right now ..., I am helping him out of pure love."

And so, he kept enduring, until Idia who wandered at night to get his late night snack from the school's vending machine, found them who successfully came back, fainted at the hallway.

Time passed.

...

"Jade refuses to walk for awhile now." Floyd said, guiding Trey further inside to the longue. It might be because that event; so traumatic & painful, that Jade just wanted to forget entirely about walking all together. Or maybe it was out of guilt, for him being the reason that Trey had to be confined in the hospital room to recover & not being able to go anywhere. That's why, Jade isolated himself in the glass wall as a way to punish himself & share the same feeling with Trey.

"Sorry for the trouble." Trey replied, pushing his wheelchair with his hands.

"It's okay. It's Jade's own fault." Floyd replied, nonchalantly. Just like he always been. Oddly comforting, at the current situation. "Jade, sea turtle is here~~"

There he is. Jade, swimming in his mermaid form. Their eyes met. Seeing Trey sitting on a wheel chair, his eyes, glistened.

"So will your legs heal?" Jade was still in his mermaid form. He perched on surface of the longue's glass wall he was in, to talk to Trey.

"Yes."

"It's not just the bone fractures, right? It's also the ability to walk, right?"

"Of course."

...

Jade was relief. But he was still burdened with other feelings from the incident.

" --- IF I NEVER MET you, after graduating, I would have returned to the sea and keep being a strong creature forever....." "I am so scared and feeling so pathetic......."

...

Trey reminiscing the moment Jade carried him on his back, while enduring the tremendous pain on his feet, said, "You are...? At that time though, you looked like the strongest person in the world to me..." He patted Jade's head, consoling him.

Jade was relieved once again. " ... Trey-san ... " But it seems that this mermaid still has something in his mind...

"...When you risked your life, and let yourself be crushed under the chandelier..., was it all just because of the natural instinct inhabits in your body, OR-"

He didn't finish his question, and yet Trey answered. "It's because, I like you."

...

Jade proceeded to come out of the water, having his tail transformed to legs, once again after a long while. He approached Trey who sat there still with his immobilized legs.

"...I never thought I would ever need my legs again... He gazed Trey in the eyes. "But it is necessary...." "...There are a lot of things I want to do with you, with these legs..."

"...Many..."

And they both shared a kiss, which became the start of everything else.

#treyjade #twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #trey clover #they gave me peace they gave me laughter they gave me pain #the recipe of ultimate shipping #pls don't s t ab me if i did not get the precise translation correct #and please excuse me for writing in elementary school level #i have english test next week and i am so doomed like this #but i hope the feeling transfers if u did choose to read my writing instead of translating the doujin pages directly #i am so happy that i actually manage to drag people to treyjade ocean *weeping*#i hope you guys manage to keep that endearment live for a long time in the corner of your heart #some fanartists keep picking up the mermaid having the knives walking painful sensation for angst #it works everytime #i am no big brain #these fanartists are doing all the GOD's works for treyjade with actual depth #the true servers of servers

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nexusnyx · 1 year

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journey to kintsugi ▹one

— A/n 📝Reblogs and comments make all the difference. I do not allow my work to be translated or uploaded to any other place. My tip jar if you enjoy this story a lot and feel like it. ☕️ You can read this chapter on AO3. Word count: [5.5k] — Warnings⚠️ mature content—violence, mentions of death, gore — canon-typical themes; Minors DNI.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤMain Masterlist | Official Playlist | Series Masterlist

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ▹ My Little Outlaw

It'd been a while since Joel dreamed, but for some reason, he was now drowning in them.

Images of the past, present, things he's certain he never saw before — they all flash before his eyes, taunting him, making this ocean too hard to float or sink an anchor in. He's swimming against the current. The biggest problem is when he submerges out of his own free will — times when curls and memories of breakfast are so vivid and real around him that he allows himself to just be.

While he dreams, Ellie dodges ghosts left and right.

The ghosts want her to feel like something cold and see-through and inexistent too, but Joel's hand is as solid as it's ever been when it squeezes hers. Ellie has this. She also has your words. "Okay. I'll come back."

Her hand squeezes Joel's. She wonders if you really will.

To Joel, darkness tastes like citrine. He's always hated it, but he embraces it this time.

Before, he hated it.

Every time he dreamt and tasted the last memory of real happiness he had and woke up—orange juice. The smell. Taste. Laughter.

Citrine.

Now, he embraces it.

He hears Ellie's voice somewhere in the back of his mind.

Everything inside him hurts. His scars, his guts, his head — they all ache, pinning him to the reality that he's still alive. Somehow.

Under the cloak of pain and sweat, he's aware on some levels of what slips between the cracks. He's aware there's a house, food that Ellie brings and feeds to him, and the cold howling outside, as angry as he wished to be — if only he had the strength. If only the memories assaulting him were less sharp, if they were poking at something other than his heart.

He hears things, too.

Noises, clicking, pots and metal — voices.

One more voice alongside Ellie's.

The first time he hears it, Joel feels electric. His whole body wants to spur awake, to get up in one single motion and march in direction of whoever or whatever is here, but he's pinned under an invisible force.

No strenght, he remembers. It makes him want to cry.

Maybe he is. There's a wetness on his temples now that he notices it, and Joel wants to scream, but what stops him is what he hears next.

Laughter.

Ellie's laughter.

It's a sound he would recognize blind and gone out of his mind. He'd recognize it in his sleep, and when it comes, it washes away the slimy skin which grew when he felt the powerlessness of his own body.

There's a lump that remains in his throat. The desire to cry sits with, laying by his side like a clingy lover.

He lets the tears fall, unsure of whether he has a choice or not, and tries just to get a peak.

He can open his eyes, at least.

His vision is blurry, but Joel gets a better sense of space with his eyes open. For one, his body's lying comfortably on a couch. Second, the sting and burn he felt for these past days on his bruise seems to be... fading. Dull.

Third and most important, there is a second voice.

And there's laughter.

Joel wishes to watch, but the relief that floods him is more effective than any lullaby. Joel is back in darkness the next second, and it's her who welcomes him.

Memories, sweet as nectar, and fierce as the winter wind flood him.

Orange juice, his favorite movie, the sound of explosions, and the taste of blood. Joel drowns in them.

"You came back." Ellie sounds as surprised as she feels.

She's here. Staring at Ellie with those piercing eyes and that same mermaid scarf wrapped around her neck, covering the lower half of her face. Her hair is tied up neatly and quite beautifully, and Ellie realizes that she's waiting out in the cold.

"Sorry." She steps to the side. "Come in."

Iara steps inside, and Ellie closes the door behind her.

"How is he?"

Ellie preens at being able to answer that without crying. This time. "Fever went down. He stopped shivering in the middle of the night, too. I don't know if — can people dream when they're, like, really sick? 'Cause I think he's even dreaming. Different than before. He used to talk in his sleep, but it was usually just random shit, like 'over there' and 'this one' and stuff like that. Now he's—" Ellie cuts herself short before something personal of Joel's slips to someone who's unknown. "Well — I think he's dreaming."

"He probably is." Iara gives Joel's body a one-over. "No more shivers. That is good."

"Yeah."

"Have you slept?" Iara directs her gaze back at Ellie.

If it was anyone else, Ellie would have a retort on the tip of her tongue. "No." For some reason, lying to Iara seems just as easy as it seemed lying to Joel. "Couldn't really... sleep, y'know? Plus — I kept waking up every time he said something."

"Did you eat?"

Ellie shakes her head again, feeling suddenly like a kid. "How old are you?" All she knows is that Iara is a woman. A grown woman.

And now, she's a smily one. "Why the question?"

"Just making conversation." I feel like a kid around you. "Didn't really think you'd come back."

"You asked me to."

"I did." Ellie had. A nervous chuckle leaves her. "Didn't think you'd show up, though."

"Why wouldn't I?" Iara starts walking inside the small cabin, taking our her bow and arrow from her back and setting it down. "Like you said, I've been helping."

"Right. Which — I haven't said thank you for that, have I?"

"You don't need. I helped you because I wanted to."

Ellie laughs. "Yeah, that deserves a thank you. Most people nowadays are either a piece of shit or they're an opportunist piece of shit, and you seem to be neither, so... definitely thanks in order."

Iara chuckles drily. "I'm a piece of shit alright."

"Hmmmm. Nope. Can't see it."

"Your standing on my good side." Iara gives her a side smile, and it makes Ellie laugh again. "But I'll take the thanks nonetheless."

"Oh! Right." All of those words and nothing said. Ellie clears her throat. "Thank you for the help."

Something flashes across Iara's eyes. There's a second of a wait before she nods. "Of course, Ellie." Iara takes a look around. "So — where's the rest of the deer?"

Together, they pick go outside to pick up what they had stored under the ice. It had been only a day since Iara left the cabin with the promise of coming back, but Ellie already feels used to her presence, as if the hours they spent together after the incident the previous day equaled a lot longer.

At first, the woman is quiet.

They had arrived in relative silence with the deer and the weight of what had just happened still on their shoulders. Ellie was shaking a lot, and it made the vials of penicillin fall when she retrieved them from her pocket. Then, the silence had been broken with, "here, let me help," and Ellie was back to crying again.

Despite her best judgment. No matter how much she willed the tears away when the bottles hit the floor and panic flooded her, fear that they were broken because of her, because Ellie had been reckless, stupid, and now all of it had been in vain that Joel would die — Joel will die and I'm gonna be alone I'll die alone this always happens to me — that's when her field of vision was covered by that face.

The woman's face, so close to hers. Her eyes diving through Ellie, reaching far inside to ask, "Ellie they're not broken. Look. Can you see?".

That was when she snapped back to herself.

Came back.

"Fuck, I don't know what's wrong with me — what is wrong with me?! I have to get it together, I gotta get it fucking together. Get it the fuck together, Ellie!"

As soon as her hand made contact with her own head, sitting it with the heel, a hand gripped tight around her wrist. "Hey, hey — take it easy, take a second, Ellie. Getting it together is not suppressing feelings." The hand loosened, but she missed the pressure and contact almost immediately. Somehow, she knew and kept on holding Ellie — kept her hand close. She went on, voice a little lower. Gentler. "Suppressing things... That's just — self-harm. You're no longer in danger. Things are registering. Your body's adrenaline is fading, giving place for other things. Okay? Can you breathe for me?"

Ellie needed a few tries to get her lung working, it turned out, but eventually, she did.

Breathed, then cried, and was held.

The tears lasted for a lot less than she would've imagined if she could have ever perceived this kind of danger even happening. It hurt, but — nothing more happened, and for that... she had this woman to thank.

Only — Ellie had no idea who the woman was.

She knew for some reason, she'd helped her with her first couple of hunts. The food and the false sense of security did eventually help her to catch her own prey, but — all the help. And yet, Ellie could barely open her mouth. Could barely breathe through the knot in her throat.

Somehow, the woman knew. All she did was let go when Ellie's tears stopped, sat by her side, and whispered. "Iara Lupi."

Her voice brought Ellie back again. "What?"

"I know your name and you're sitting here probably thinking about how you're with a stranger." Deep, sharp, and black-painted eyes stared into Ellie's. "My name's Iara Lupi. Even if it's in terrible sheets, it's nice to meet you, Ellie. You're very brave." It comes out so earnest and simple that it shocks Ellie, her jaw falling a little. Iara Lupi only tilted her head. "How old are you?"

Ellie was fourteen and stunned.

It had been simple after that.

They talked all throughout the night.

Ellie pretty much laid all the past months of her life out on the wooden floors, splashing all of the chaos on the walls while Iara taught her how to store her prey in order to save it for later, how to administer the syringe and penicillin, even going as far as helping Ellie to make a decent fire and cook the meat properly.

Joel never had the time to teach Ellie how to remove the skin and guts and make the most out of the meat. Jacksonville and everything else had gotten between that, and in only a couple of hours, Iara not only taught but also made her do some of the processes herself.

Iara offered some bits about herself, too.

Just like Ellie, not a lot. Nothing of her past, no details about the commune she lived here in the mountains, but enough. She never asked Ellie why Joel and she were in these mountains. Where they were headed, or anything intrusive. She did ask, "So — was your dad okay before this infection?"

And — awkward. How many more times would they go through this? Ellie explained Joel was just... a friend. He was taking her somewhere she needed to be, and that was it. That had been enough for Iara.

They were back to talking about life in the mountains, and how life must have been before.

No real awkwardness. Instead, there were stories about the people that made up her life. Some things about herself, about her horse — Gale, the black beauty Ellie would get to meet the following day — and enough to make Ellie feel... human.

It was one of the best conversations she's had in a long time.

A real one.

It was almost like—

no.

She couldn't make the comparison, because it'd kill her to poke at those corners she left in the dark. They reeked of grief. Of love. Of lost.

Ellie was content knowing Iara would leave at the end of the night to never come back, but something she said obligated Ellie to ask her to come back.

"You didn't have to stay."

"I know. But it's the least — connection's what keeps us alive on any given day. 's what we need. Humans just... don't want to be alone. Least of all, alone on a terrible day."

It tugged at Ellie's strings. All of them. So she'd whispered, "So come back."

"What?"

"You could — if you want to. No need to help from the shadows like a forest spirit or somethin'. You can come back and help me with the rest of the meat. I don't know if I'm—" she had almost stopped, choked by the initial signs of the knot starting to form again; somewhere in her brain the words needy childish why would she want your company started chanting but she just—huffed. "You can come back. That's all."

"Okay. I'll come back."

Easy like that.

Ellie kept watch of Joel's night clinging to the gun and the lingering warmth left behind by your presence.

When she dozed off, Ellie's mind drifted through these same mountains.

Through the thick woods, a mountain tiger watched her, and she felt him approaching — Joel's presence behind her and the sight of the wild animal ahead.

She felt safe. Almost... tucked in.

As much as he enjoyed the dreams and recalling the soft feeling of her curls between his fingers because now there was no alarm bleeping him awake, Joel knew when he woke up that surrendering to those roads in his mind was a dangerous path.

He forced himself to swallow the stale taste in his mouth and assess his body.

He'd woken up sometime late at night when everything was cold and dark. Only the electric lamp worked between his body lying on the couch and Ellie sitting on the ratty armchair, but the temperature was holding on alright all things considered inside the abandoned cabin.

Joel counted his luck.

As his mind closed around the thought at least we're not freezing cold his eyes get caught in Ellie's, and her delighted exclamation of his name is a little drowned by the fire he feels in his veins when the next second clicks and it dawns on him that they're not alone. His eyes leave Ellie and find yours.

Ironically, Joel freezes.

Feeling hot from head to toe, his muscles become still.

A deer in the headlights and good god, what gorgeous headlights they are.

Your eyes are painted.

It hits Joel that he used to hate it. The weight of beauty products on a person's features — even if it accentuated their beauty, he preferred the naked skin.

It suited you.

Suddenly, it was a wonder why the hell it ever bothered him in the first place.

"Hey—" Ellie. Her fingers snapped twice, pulling his gaze back to her like pulling on a string. "I asked are you cool? Are the stitches hurting or anything?"

Joel ignored the obvious pain he felt because it was nothing compared to the hazy, feverish last few days. "'m all good." Was this standing next to Ellie the person who had helped her?

Sometime late in the night when all of the forest outside echoed with silence, Joel woke up.

Medicine had been coursing through his veins for enough hours to start fighting back against the bacteria, and he woke up with a startled gasp and a panicked sense of not this again not this again—

Ellie had calmed him. Told him he was medicated, they were safe, there was more food. She told him how much time passed, how she managed to survive and then asked him to 'now... I'm gonna tell you something that—I feel I need to. I want to. 'Cause I trust you, but... I need you to breathe' and Joel was smacked by the sense of deja vú.

He listened to the story — David, the lying, the cannibalism, the gun pointed at her head—and fuck.

Joel did need to breathe. It'd been hard, but Ellie had gotten through with her story, and then further explained to him about the mysterious figure who acted in the shadows until just then.

He had been... amazed. To say the least.

Not only at Ellie's bravery, but her sheer, almost liquid luck.

Ellie being alive by now was a fucking miracle.

And the longer she stayed alive, the more she seemed to be learning through experiences and others how to keep herself alive and—

Isn't that exactly what Joel could aim for?

He swallowed down the caveman instinct of 'hunt them down and end them', because it was useless to even dream that high, and also because this gift, both of them still being alive and whole, was a gift he intended not to waste.

Ellie suddenly speaks, breaking him out of the memories of her midnight tales. "This is Iara," she pointed to her side.

"She just... came out of the fucking shadows. Or at least that's what it felt like. And, at first, it kinda really spooked me out 'cause of her scarf that—it's black and it has these, like, scales painted on them, the mermaid type, y'know? And I thought I was fucked 'cause if she was problem too, I — I wouldn't know what to do. My gut was telling me, yelling at me that the David guy was bad news. The same way it told me she wasn't when she spoke."

Joel was not certain what part sidetracked all of his thoughts the hardest — Ellie sharing her feelings and thoughts, laying them so open on the table for him like this was a thing now that they could do, or the mythical appearance of the person who apparently succeeded in doing the job Joel's been trying so hard at.

(And failing, so fucking often, his mind offered in a vicious whisper.)

"The wolf," Joel said, for some fucking reason. Maybe it was the way your name's stuck to his head since Ellie told him, and the memory of her reading about her favorite animal, speaking of the Latin where "the origin of the word comes from, dad," sparked in the infinite maze of his mind like a flare, Joel kept thinking about wolves. About what was the face of the one Ellie glowed when talking about.

And there she was.

God.

""Pack." Iara smiles at her correction, and Joel's only a little sick. That's why everything's spinning. It's the tiniest hint of a smile, actually, but as someone who's used to ugly frowns in the mirrors, he can spot a smile from miles away. "I'm glad to see you awake."

"You are? Why?"

She lets a short breathy laugh out of her nose and looks over at Ellie who — is smug.

"Told you," says Ellie.

"Particularly grumpy. I can see it now." Iara nods, leaving Joel to feel left out.

They share a shrug, and Ellie directs herself at him. "As cute as the I'm mean and I've got an asshole voice to prove it would be," the part she says with a voice makes Joel narrow his eyes. If only he could get up. "She's medicated you twice already, used sharp knives around me and, well—there's the whole... helping thing. If she wanted to kill us or rob us to take us alive, she had golden opportunities. Now!" Ellie claps her hands together. "Can you please tell her it's alright if I look at her poisoned darts? Iara says just because I have a gun it doesn't mean I get to see him, and she's convinced you wouldn't like it, but it's fine, right? I handle a gun. And you've let me drink. Can I just take a, y'know, closer look?"

It might be kind of mean to let her finish the whole speech, but Joel lets only a heartbeat pass before shaking his head. "She was right." He smiles at the look of absolute shock on Ellie's face. "You were right, she is smart."

"Oh, c'mon'—"

"I don't want you to look at all." Then, those wolf-like eyes are back on him. "Is she always like this?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Wow." It's said with admiration. To him. "Well. You ready to eat in a conscious state, Joel?"

Nothing about Joel's body was ready.

Regardless, he nodded. "Yeah." Getting up would be a tricky thing—

but it isn't. Ellie is next to him hooking her arm in his to help him sit before he can even finish the plan of sitting he was trying to come up with.

The thickness in the air is either from how much Joel is feeling at blinking out of unconsciousness slowly to a scene that resembles a normal thing instead of a tragedy was—new.

Inside, he felt some relief. Even if temporary, it was a nice thing to feel — a comet in his pitch-black dark night.

Ellie telling him everything. The consequent hug after all of it, and how having her in his arms made Joel want to break down into tears.

That feeling echoed until now.

Then, it's overshadowed by when their pot opens and the smell hits them.

"Woah."

Ellie's right on that — smelling good cooking is in the list of things Joel least expected.

"Is this because of the herbs you brought?" Ellie asks.

The lady nods with a hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth.

"Cool. We haven't eaten anything decent since Jacksonville."

As much as Joel would love to tell her to mind her manners, but it's the truth.

During the first few bites, the conversation is stifled and awkward. A lot of what happened between his last moment of consciousness and now keeps coming back to him, and it's distracting, but the taste of the food turns out to be even better.

After a guttural groan as she bites on the mix of rice and meat, Ellie turns to her side. "What is this?"

Iara chuckles. "Thyme. Some other herbs. Nothing much."

"Okay — don't say that. This is amazing," Ellie insists.

Joel's head is nodding along. He feels the eyes on him, and seeks for the courage to stare back at you. "She's right."

"This is even better than your brother's food," Ellie tells him.

Joel has to fight back a smile. "Eat your food." She's right. Her grin tells him she knows that, and Joel shakes his head.

He did wish it was Maria cooking that day.

It probably would've been something like this. Delicious.

When Ellie asks about her — Iara Lupi, Joel has trouble thinking of her name, all he sees is sharp electric eyes, that gaze on me, wolf, wolf, wolf — conversation changes.

Smoothes out. Joel just focuses on eating, on doing so slowly as to not seem like an animal, but his ears are all theirs.

He only notices he's being talked to because Ellie kicks his chin.

"Huh?"

"She asked you a question," says Ellie.

He looks up — wolf.

Lupi.

It makes sense.

"'m sorry — what was that?"

"I asked how much does it hurt?" Not does it hurt, because that's obvious to her. How much.

Joel eats the word 'why' because that would be rude. He shrugs his shoulders. "A little. 's more — aching. Y'know?"

"Makes sense. It's still really swollen," Lupi nods.

"Would it be more if I'd applied it that way?" asks Ellie.

Lupi laughs in her little bowl. "Yeah, little one. The needle and medicine straight to the wound would've had a little bit of reaction. It was already sensitive."

"She taught me how to apply the medicine," Ellie informs, looking at Joel. "It has to be intramuscularly—" she stops, checking on Lupi who nods at the information. "Right. And some medicine you apply it intravenous. Which is harder, 'cause I've got no fucking clue how to find a vein."

"Most people have no clue," Joel offers as comfort.

"And the next time..." Lupi prompts.

"Right! If the vial is intact, I can check it for instructions. 'Cause they put it in there how to do it," Ellie parrots the information that was likely given when Joel was out of this world.

"You taught her well," Lupi's eyes are on him as she says that. Joel stops with the fork midway to his mouth. "She's an excellent shot. Clean and throughout."

Pride swells up his chest. Joel smiles at her, and Ellie looks almost embarrassed at the compliment.

"I can be better," she mumbles.

"Practice," says Lupi.

"Lots of it," adds Joel.

Looking at Joel, Ellie points her fork in your direction. "Her aim is perfect. Like — remember I told you about the dart? It was right in the middle of his fuckin' neck."

Right then, something happens — as Joel looks over to her, there's a flicker of something extra in her eyes that's gone in a blink, but the ghost of happiness lingers in her face. The corner of her mouth, the lazy drop in her eyes. She's content thinking about the man who harmed Ellie with a dart in his neck. A poisonous one.

Joel decides that while he's not certain she can be trusted yet, he can like her.

"I need to have it," Lupi says, finally. "Very little room for mistakes in this life."

Joel nods at that.

Very little room for mistakes in this life.

He'd made his fair share of them. More than he should have, more than he wished. Still — if there was room, it's mostly gone now.

Her aim is perfect.

It dances around his mind for the rest of the evening, that knowledge.

Instead of letting it steal all of his focus, Joel sets his mind to focus on the image ahead of him. So many times over the years he's obsessed over the memories he only has bits and pieces of because at the time he wasn't present for them, it makes him livid to even think.

So he doesn't.

Instead, Joel listens to Ellie making small conversation.

Their easy banter and interaction make Joel relax even when he wants to stay alert.

Ellie calls her Iara with fluidity. Easily.

Joel's stuck in the ways she feels bigger than a room. All he sees is the wolf.

Her presence is big, and his mind plays 'her aim is perfect' over and over until their food is gone and Ellie's satisfied her fill of questions.

The only time she directs herself at him again is to ask about his wound. Usually, Joel would bristle at the reminder of his failing and his age, but her question lacks any tone of malice.

After he winced to get up — a singular tremble of his lips — Lupi fixed her gaze on him. "Does it irradiate?"

Joel frowns. "What?"

"The pain, when you move. Does it flow to the rest of the body?" she elaborates.

Joel nods. "A lil'."

"Is that bad?" asks Ellie.

"No. Infections are nasty. The longer he gives himself to heal the better it'll be." She starts gathering her things and Joel feels uneasy watching it.

"D'you think we're safe here?" Joel asks her.

Lupi slows down for a second, looking between him and Ellie. Weighing if she tells the whole truth or the partial one, probably.

"He'd be a fool to come looking for trouble." Lupi's hands close around her bow. "But... you're asking if he is a fool."

"I am."

"He is." At least she's honest. "If you were a little up higher, you'd be in our territory and that would deter him. You're not in shape for that walk, though."

"This was the fastest thing we could find," says Ellie. The given circumstances goes unsaid.

"There's a couple more abandoned cottages in this mountain." Lupi looks away and then breathes in deeply. "I brought... salve." Her eyes are so expressive, and Joel wonders if the painting in them amplifies that. "If you want it. You could put some in the area and by tomorrow it'd hurt less. You'd be able to walk there."

"It'd still be difficult," Joel states, sensing that in her tone. Lupi nods, and it makes him think of the possibility of something shitty happening along the way. His eyes go to Ellie who's listening with attentive eyes.

He doesn't have a night.

As minimum as it is, there is a window where Ellie's left alone again, and he hates that.

"I could take you there, too." The offer makes him look at her again. "I can handle your weight better than her. I know the place."

The obvious discomfort in her could mean numerous things. Horrible things. And yet—

Joel knows she's only projecting it so loudly because she hates how it looks. How much she's asking them to trust her intentions, and although it's only been days — for her and Ellie, hours for had and Joel — they're not people who trust easily.

The thing is — Joel does.

Not trusts, exactly. That's too big of a word. But he wants to.

The only approval he needs comes from his little outlaw.

One glance with Ellie and Joel knows — okay.

Looking back at her, Joel nods. "I'd like that."

Take them far away from that fucking town and those fucking people.

Joel needed time.

He needed to be not in pain. With a hole searing and burning in his stomach.

Lupi nods back, and looks around. "Shall we?"

Ellie speaks up. "You — sit down." Talking to him. Gods, he's gone—soft. Something. Joel huffs but complies. "I'll get our stuff. The less you move the better."

When they empty out their hiding place with backpacks on and guns in hand, Joel accepts Lupi's silent offer to be a walking cane through gritted teeth.

He thanks the universe for the cold distracting him from how unnerved her presence makes him.

Her aim is perfect.

She had no reason to help them. But...

Joel steals a couple of glances at her wild hair, inches away from him, walking through the snow with certain steps and quick eyes — it's undeniable.

That's the help he'd need.

Was it the universe?

If Joel did this all alone — and he could, despite how hard it would be and how impossible it seems in his head, he fucking would finish this mission with or without aid — while it'd be complete, something would break beyond repair.

He knows that. Feels it in his bones, as if it's part of his blood.

He doesn't want anything else broken.

How would be ask?

What would be her reason to fucking go?

Lupi barely had reasons to come back.

She settles them inside a cottage two times smaller than the abandoned house they were in, but three times in better shape. Ellie thanks her again, and Joel notices in her step that Ellie seems to be looking for something — probably the same thing he is.

Joel finds it in the last remnants of his consciousness to ask her.

He's sweating again after the trip up, and feeling a little delirious.

Lupi's talking in hushed tones to him about the salve and Joel knows he still has a voice.

So he uses it. "Lupi."

Her eyes snap towards him like daggers. Sharp, cutting through everything. It's warm, but not the stinging kind like his bruise. The blanket type.

It's the first time he called her by a name, he takes note.

"Would you come back again?" Joel needs her to say yes. He feels it in the knot climbing up his throat. "You saved her. I... I need to thank ya."

"She already did." Lupi straightens her back. "But... I can."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. To check on you." Then, something happens. The left corner of her mouth flickers, and Joel may be dreaming, he must be, but it seems to hide a smile. Her head nudges in Ellie's direction. "This one will be fine."

It forces a chuckle out of him.

Ellie fully laughs behind her hand. A short burst of laughter.

"Okay." Joel accepts it gladly.

She'll be back to check on him. He might have a chance of making a miracle — Lupi's right, Ellie will be fine. Somehow she will.

Hoping it's not all a dream, he lets his eyes close, feeling oddly comfortable inside his sleeping cot.

Citrine embraces his mind, deep in his subconscious.

When he comes to himself, Joel's in snowy mountains.

The first splash of color he sees comes from a pair of large, yellow wolf eyes.

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