Inhale (killk me)
kinito pet au ideas (all mine now)
Pirate au, swap/opposite au, frenzy au, beach vally au, valentines au, broken computer virus (BCV) au, house care au, real virus au, mimic au, best friend au, candyland au, light's out au, time traveler au, steam punk au, ghost au, phasmophobia au, dragon barrier au, librarian au, magical forest au, fruit au, fruit au, furry au, sailor moon au, pride au, obsessed au, ice cream au, midnight starlight au, AHIT au, star collector au, broken heart au, rejected friend au, accepted friend au, Poppy Playtime au, Five Nights At Freddys au, Warrior cats au, Midnight driver, killer au, prince of the night au, pool swimmer, Magical boy au, Critical au, Escape room au, god au, AU god au, Au hunter AU, scream au, Mii au, plane crash au, pilot au, mc donalds worker au, driver au, smile tapes au, nightmare au, night gamer au, artist au, over eater au, roblox au, creator au, caseoh au, wii au, wand au, childhood friend au, possessed au, apple core au, string worm au, drunkie au, caretaker au, love maniac au, drier au, washing machine au, Im a pretty princess au, venting au, among us au, gentle man au, Youtuber au, Actual axolotl au, you are what you eat au, mince meat butcher au, butcher au, doxxed au, sally the witch au, autistic au, ADHD au, Autistic and ADHD au, Motherborn au, alien au, Mother Mother au, soul au, dragon born au, vampire au, vampire hunter au, it was all just a dream? au, sunshine au, digital circus au, clockwork au, gymnastics au, rainbow factory au, twisted and turned au, patchworks au, unseen au, joker au, minimum wage worker au, skinwalker au, kinito darling au, forever and ever, everlasting pain, story teller au, time teller au, zoo keeper au, smiling critter au, truth be told au, rizzler au, farmer au, anthro au, Digital pop up au, backfired au, chef au, cuphead au, BABQFTIM au, carnival au, internet explorer au, kidnapper au, robber au, parental figure au, parent au, father au, apple picker au, trans au, siren au, mermaid au, cloud critters, monster energy au, emo au, goth au, alt goth, prince au, princess au, priest au, reality au, Epic the musical au, bass voice au, prince of the sea au, stranger au, never used au, stranger things au, abandoned au, hazbin hotel au, lemon and lime au, softie au, grunge au, sugar crush au, rainbow friends au, block break friends au, sugar crush au, sweet tooth au, undertale au, heartless au, toxic au, waist au, epic au, error au, fresh au, reaper au, horror au, other sans aus, medical au, high school au, ruby and max au, little horrors au, planter au, plant au, crystal au, glass crystal au, rockstar au, ancient Greek au, mario au, shroomba au, sonic the hedgehog au, snowday au, cave monster au, dinosaur au, game show hoster au, lunar moon au, bloodmoon au, eclipse au, sundrop au, moondrop au, dignity au, angels gaurd au, demons gaurd au, king of hell, king of the sea au, mother nature au, king of the land, landlord au, your boyfriend au, planetary au, leopard gecko au, leopard au, train conductor au, mountain lion au, polar bear au, Mad Scientist au, don't die au, raindrops au, seraph au, always watching au, teacher au, birthday party au, husk au, royal au, gummy bear au, cannibal au, discord au, My little pony au, bumblebee au, cat au, animal au, sweet treat au, warzone au, warframe au, roblox au, unicorn au, factory worker au, you au, dihedra au, pee au, every au I forget, Deleted forever au (not really), sleep tight au, Fire borne, dragon au, mythical animals au, goodbye friend, rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles au, Replicate au, smartie pants au, femboy au, backrooms au, gurlie au, too silly au, silly au, TADC au, lovesick au, grand master au, crazy au, lab monster au, (insert every animal here) au, Monster under your bed au, sloozy au, nightmare monster au, aroace king au, your imagination au, salamander au, desktop pet au, ukagaka au, he knows what you are au, roller blades au, you can run but you can't hide au, poison rain au, dementia au, mr worldwide mr 305 au, anime au, welcome home au, Yume Nikki au, gacha life au, gacha club au, Battle blocks au,
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Obligatory Beach Episode
(Dawn of the final day, and I fucking made it, baby! I didn’t get the chance to draw any mers, but I got this out at least. I hope this is good enough, though I know Azul didn’t have much of a role in this. Maybe one day I’ll write the poor boy something just for him.
Anyways! Happy Mermay!)
Count: 6291
TW/CW: Vore mention, near drowning
“Is it too late to say I hate the beach?” Syn grimaced as they felt more grains of sand worm into their sneakers.
Unlike them, Azul and the twins were undeterred by the beach edge with Jade looking back at them with an amused smile.
“Pray tell, why are you joining us then?” he asked, hand to his chin. They didn’t miss the way he and Floyd shared a glance, the latter grinning widely to show off his sharp teeth.
“Yeah, Little Shrimpy,” Floyd slowed his pace enough to hover beside Syn, leaning down with his hands in his swim trunk pockets while they tilted away from his intentional looming. “Why’re you joining us?”
“YOU,” Syn growled, planting their hands on his upper arm and trying to shove him away. The eel man let himself be pushed to the side with a snicker, lazily straightening from his playful stumble. “Know exactly why I’m joining, you absolute twat muffin.”
The slightly taller twin had pounded on the already rickety door of Ramshackle until Syn opened it, at which point they had been promptly picked up and squeezed by him. He had said that he and Jade were going swimming, and that he really, really, REALLY wanted them to join, and if they refused then he’d just ‘have to find Crabby or take Baby Seal’. That fucking cat was their weakness, and the twins knew it.
“You’re more than welcome to head back. Though, I’m not sure if Floyd or Jade would let that happen,” Azul said. “You should be honored that you’re being let into the private beach area reserved for the Housewarden. If it wasn’t at the twins request, I’d be charging you for such an experience, you know.”
Despite the twins wearing only ocean themed swim trunks, and flip flops in Jade’s case, the light-gray haired man had swim trunks in the Octavinelle colors and a button-up short-sleeved shirt with a tentacle design. Syn didn’t question it or make a comment when they’d been dragged over. After all, they were wearing their own oversized swim trunks, a baggy T-shirt, and binder (meant for swimming and exercise, of course).
“Right, honored,” Syn replied, following the trio around a corner of outcropping rocks where the rocky cliffs around the area curled around a bay. The private Housewarden beach. Glancing at the water warily, they asked, “There’s no Stonefish or Cigarette Snails, right? I’m not liable to take one bad step and die to a Man of War, right?”
“Worry not,” Jade spoke up, striding up to a section of beach and placing down a bag of items he’d brought. Towels and extra swim trunks peeked out from the open zipper, with the glint of something else that Syn wasn’t nosy enough to care about. He turned to smirk at the lone human. “Aside from us, all the marine life in Octavinelle is harmless and tame compared to the actual variety that resides in real oceans.”
“Yeah, can’t have random students and visitors going in the water and potentially suing the school if a little barracuda bites them,” Floyd snapped his jaws slightly to accentuate his point. “Besides, even if you get stung, we can totally try the human thing and pee on it.”
“Piss on me, and I cut your dick off,” Syn said, crossing their arms over their chest. “Besides, that doesn’t work.”
“It doesn’t? Oh, well.” Floyd shrugged, before stretching and loudly adding, “Enough chit-chat, let’s get in the water already!”
Syn had forgotten that, while this was a magical world/dimension unlike their own, clothes just didn’t meld when merpeople changed form. They were reminded rather suddenly as Floyd whooped and TORE off his swim trunks, charging into the water as his skin began to change color. That explained the extra trunks in Jade’s bag.
Of course, they quickly averted their gaze on instinct, raising a hand to the side of their face to block the ocean from their peripherals and tried to ignore the startled redness that they could feel on their face. Jade chuckled at them but thankfully walked out of their field of view while a large splash was caused by Floyd behind them. Without much else to look at, their eyes fell on Azul, who sat on one of a few beach chairs they hadn’t really noticed with his own small bag of items.
“So, remind me. Why do you come to the beach if you’re not getting in the water,” Syn asked, ignoring the sound of water being displaced.
“Because,” Azul raised an eyebrow at their question. He pulled out a business book from his bag and settled in the chair. “As Jade and Floyd insisted, time away from the office is required to keep one’s efficiency and work ethic high.”
“You were dragged here too, weren’t you?”
Azul’s face purpled slightly in embarrassment, but he was saved from having to reply by Jade.
“Oh, Prefect. You’re welcome to look now. We’re ‘decent’ by human standards,” the man called out, amusement still lining his voice.
“Thank you,” Syn called back, lowering their hand from their face and looking to the ocean. They could see Jade floating a little ways from the beach, probably where it was deep enough to allow his lengthy tail room. Floyd wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but they tried to now concern themself with the fact since they didn’t plan on going very deep and would see the more rambunctious twin before he could reach them.
They gave a glance back to Azul, but he’d taken the opportunity to bury his face in his book, making them shrug and walk to the water’s edge. Absentmindedly, they started looking for shells to fill their swim trunk pockets. Maybe they’d find a scallop or something else curious in the shallows.
Syn walked along the edge of the beach for several minutes, occasionally crouching to get a better look at the shells that lined the shallow sands. They weren’t abundant enough to carpet the sand, but there was still a very good amount of shells to look through. Picking through a few more flat shells, they grabbed a small conch shell and saw the legs of a hermit crab retreat inside.
“Oh shit. My bad little guy,” they murmured quietly despite knowing the creature wouldn’t understand them at all.
“LITTLE SHRIMPY!”
“AAAH!” Syn cried out in surprise at a violent splash nearby, falling back in the water and flinging the poor hermit crab deeper into the water. Floyd had breached the water about six feet away where they sat, his head and shoulders out of the water as he glowered at them from the slightly deeper water, ‘standing’ on his arms while his tail drifted behind him. “Floyd, what the fuck?!”
“You said you were gonna come swimming with us, but all you’ve done is look at shells,” the eel man whined, grabbing one of the shells and chucking it to the side. “It’s BORING waiting for you to finish!”
“Hey, I said I would ‘go to the beach’ with you guys,” Syn stood up and tried to shake off as much water from themself as they could. They hadn’t really planned to actually get any deeper than their thighs, maximum. “I never told you I was going SWIMMING, and you agreed to those terms when you dragged me out here.”
Floyd glared at them, teeth baring in a displeased scowl at the word trickery. A snort from Azul in the beach chairs drew both Floyd and Syn’s attention for a moment before Jade popped up right beside his brother, an almost impressed expression on his face.
“Oh dear,” Jade chuckled, looking sideways at Floyd. “Seems like they’ve learned how to be careful with their promises.”
“Don’t make it sound like you guys didn’t have a hand in that,” Syn crossed their arms over their chest and raised an eyebrow at the twins. From personal experience, if they didn’t word certain things properly, they were VERY liable to be taken advantage of in this school by a fair number of people. Including the three accompanying them right now.
“That doesn’t matter!” Floyd’s tail slapped out of the water to smack back down onto Jade’s, unhappy with Jade comment. “What matters is I ‘persuaded’ Little Shrimpy to come, and they’re not even getting in the water!”
“You know, tell you what,” Syn bent down and splashed a wave towards Floyd to get his attention, the eel man giving them a look that would probably have them ready to bolt if he wasn’t currently restricted by circumstance. Hell, he tried to thrash closer and scowled when they stepped back. Placing their hands on their hips they declared, “I’ll join you guys deeper in the water.”
Floyd’s glower quickly gave way to an excitable grin, but they raised their hand before he could get too happy about it.
“IF,” they stressed the word with a growing smug smile. “Azul changes into his merform.”
Both the twins eyes widened in surprise at their ‘terms’, but what caught Syn’s attention was Azul behind them.
“WHAT?” he asked, quickly looking up from his business book to give them a startled look.
“But that’ll NEVER happen!” Floyd exclaimed, flopping onto his side with a hearty splash that drew Syn’s attention back to him and glaring at them.
“Exactly,” they gave a shit-eating grin and crossed their arms over their chest, narrowing their eyes at having the upper hand for once against the man. They could never get away with being so brazen when he was more than willing to lift them off the ground and stick them in a rafter. So confident in their standing, they placed a hand to their chest and smugly added, “I know you fuckers inside and out at this point! And while I might not know everything about you guys, I know that there’s no way in HELL that-.”
“I’ll do it.”
Syn froze, their brain short-circuiting for a few seconds because they were INCREDIBLY caught off guard by the interjection by the mer-octopus still human on the beach chairs. Very quickly, a rush of adrenaline and panic flooded through them as they whirled around and exclaimed, “You’ll WHAT?!”
Azul blinked in slight surprise at their reaction, but smiled back with his own slightly mischievous expression as he repeated, “I said, ‘I’ll do it’.”
“What do you mean ‘you’ll do it’,” they asked, mind in denial at having their foolproof ultimatum crumble around them so easily. Denial gave way to anger. “Didn’t you fucking say that you hated your merform after your overblot, even though I tried to tell you that it looked good, and you were like ‘Noo, no one needs to see me like that’?!”
“I did,” Azul’s ears tinged purple and Syn worried for a moment that they went a bit far, but he brushed it off as he continued. “But the look on your face as you lose a supposedly surefire gamble is priceless. Besides, Floyd still wants to play with you, and if you make him wait until the twins are out of the water, you’ll regret it.”
“Hell yeah!” A series of loud splashes preceded two hands grabbing their wrist as Floyd took advantage of their shock. They jolted and looked down in surprise, the eel grinning toothily up at them. “Now you have to join us, Little Shrimpy!”
“Floyd!” Syn yelped in panicked surprise as the man started to use his lengthy tail to drag himself back towards the water deeper than their knees, dragging them along with, the water going from shin to thigh height too fast for their liking. Jade floated behind Floyd where he was staring at them like a cat patiently waiting for a mouse to venture closer. “Stop grabbing my arm! He hasn’t even changed y-ET!”
They cried out as Floyd yanked their arm with enough force that they fell back into the water.
Salt water surged over them quicker than they could even think of trying to take a breath, the environment a blur of shades of blue and yellow as they were dragged deeper into the water. There were other colors, probably from coral or wildlife, but this metaphorical train wasn't stopping to let them take in anything. They didn't realize how fast the eels could be despite having 'ridden' with them in Scarabia that one time.
Syn was being pulled so fast that they couldn't even really try to do anything but focus on how their lungs hurt or how their ears popped several times with a change in pressure. They wondered if Floyd understood that humans didn't thrive under the water or if he was trying to kill them.
By the time everything slowed down to allow them a glimpse of colorful corals and what looked like a cave entrance surrounded by a shipwreck, they found themself choking back a breath, several bubbles escaping their lips as their lungs ached for air that was dozens of meters above at this point. Even if they could try to wriggle out of Floyd’s sharp-nailed grasp, they’d never reach the surface in time to catch their breath and strength.
Floyd let go of their arm and drifted in front of them, talking animatedly. But, his voice was muffled and they couldn’t focus on anything but his face, watching his expression fall a bit as Jade swam into view and said something to him.
Syn’s vision began to spot and darken at the edges, closing their eyes against the pain in their chest from lack of oxygen. They tried to bite their lip to keep what little air they had in their lungs but they couldn’t stop the involuntary whine that left their throat with the last of their air.
Something was pressed to their lips and they inhaled-drank a concoction that spilled into their mouth, gagging a bit at the vaguely familiar taste from it that they couldn’t quite place.
After a couple of seconds, they coughed and tried to push the unknown bottle away, coughing and panting as it was batted away from their mouth. It took them several seconds to realize that, not only could they breathe now, but they could focus on the voices nearby. They realized Azul had followed the twins and them.
“-ou trying to kill them?!”
“I thought they could handle a bit of time under the water,” Floyd’s voice cut through their consciousness as they shook off their daze and confusion. He had his arms crossed over his chest when they managed to focus, obviously unhappy under Azul's scrutiny, who floated beside him. "It's not my fault they can't go a few minutes without air."
"Remember, Floyd," Jade spoke up, shaking his head in amusement like his brother had made a minor mistake rather than almost drowned someone. "Humans are embarrassingly weak in the water, and Syn doesn't even have magic."
"I can hear you, asshole," Syn hissed, finishing their coughing fit with a weak glare at the eel. They tried to ignore the anxiety that came with seeing just how lengthy both of the twins were.
"Oh? Dear me, that wasn't meant for your ears," Jade replied, giving them a coy smile.
“Sure it wasn’t,” they scowled, much to the amusement of him. They yelped as Floyd moved in a blur of teal, finding themself feeling like they were suffocating once again as he used his lengthy tail to wrap around their waist and legs, crushing them with both arms and tail. “F-Floyd!”
“Heehee, now that you’re fine, we can show you around!” the rambunctious eel exclaimed right by their ear, pressing his cheek against theirs and giving them a small squeeze.
“I’m not gonna be fine if you keep crushing me!”
“And I can show you some of my favorite tunnels and caves,” Jade added, drifting in front of them and making them feel like being in an enclosed space with him was a worse idea than just being in the water with both eels lurking around.
“At least have the sense to give them SOME kind of reprieve before you two torment them some more,” Azul sighed, looking exasperated and a bit out of breath. If Syn thought about it, he must have had to do the octopus equivalent of an impressive sprint to catch up with Floyd. “And please remember that the water-breathing potion lasts five hours, so don’t try to keep them in some sort of hiding spot to keep them here.”
“Is that an actual concern I should have?!” Syn asked, the thought of being KIDNAPPED not really crossing their mind. They didn’t think Jade would actually do it, but Floyd was so much of a wild card that part of them felt like that fit him a little bit too much.
“Aww, Little Shrimpy can handle a bit of playing,” Floyd replied to Azul, Syn’s question entirely ignored. Still, he thankfully uncoiled from around them, letting them drift to the seafloor as he swam to a piece of broken wreckage sticking out of the sand and draped on the wood.
“Thank you,” they sighed in relief at being released, able to take a deep ‘breath’. Looking at Azul, they asked, “Do you usually carry around a bottle of water-breathing?”
“No. I added it to my bag when I found out Floyd went to Ramshackle to get you.”
“Ah. Yeah, that tracks,” Syn glanced to the side at the eel in question, who just flashed them a toothy grin from his perch. They just glared at him for a second before turning their attention back to Azul. They couldn’t help but glance him over, restraining their intrigue to avoid being weird or out of line. They were intrigued about the twins as well, but they hadn’t wanted to get overly curious for several reasons. “Thanks for packing that. Guess I owe you for that since the deal was just to go in the water and you turn into yourself. Look good though.”
“Think nothing of it,” the octo-mer replied, placing a hand to his chest smugly as he took in their thanks now that the threat of them dying wasn’t in the cards currently. “I’m generous enough to not place you in my debt for such an item.”
“You’re just saying I don’t owe you because Floyd almost drowned me,” they snorted, yelping when Jade leaned over their shoulder and stopped them from jolting away by blocking their other side with his tail. They hadn’t even realized the eel drifted from view at some point.
“Come now,” he said, black streak of hair drifting by the side of their face with his proximity. The already cool water felt colder with a chill of dread down their spine. “While Floyd can get a little overzealous, you don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re able to handle far more than you realize.”
“I think that you’re giving me TOO much credit and both of you are going to kill me one day. Either on purpose or accident, depending on which one does it,” Syn retorted, trying to see if they could slip from between Jade and his tail out to more open water.
“Mmmm, perhaps,” Jade noticed and shifted his tail closer to them, placing a hand on their shoulder to keep them in place. He didn’t coil around them or do anything, but he didn’t need to. He never really did. While Floyd was oppressively suffocating, Jade was terrifyingly looming. “I do wish I’d had the foresight to bring some shrinking potion. I can smell you better in the water and your heart is beating delightfully quick.”
“Ugh, do you and Rook have some kind of bet going on where you both try to say the weirdest fucking thing to me?” they asked, risking it and placing their hand against the eel's face to try and push him away. If it was Floyd, they would have definitely been bitten. Instead, their fingertips were nipped at, something that made them recoil instinctively and Jade chuckle.
“Ah well, there’s always next time.” Once more, a comment of theirs was ignored as the eel allowed himself to be pushed away and gracefully swam out of their bubble.
Only for them to be charged at and tackled, Syn finding themself once more embraced by Floyd as he probably decided he was bored just watching from his wooden perch.
“Ack, Floyd!”
“No need to wait for next time to eat Little Shrimpy,” Floyd said happily, hugging them to himself and biting their shoulder. “We can do it now!”
“OW! Floyd, stop fucking biting me!” Syn shouted, able to slip their arms from being pinned to their side and reaching up to shove his face off. They ended up with their hand bitten. Thankfully, neither bite broke skin, but they still stung. “FUCKER!”
“Floyd, stop biting them,” Azul sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, looking tired at the man's antics. His tentacles shifted as he began to move closer, but Floyd darted away like a dog trying to keep a toy from its owner. He paused, narrowing his eyes as he thought before huffing and shaking his head in exasperation. “Sorry, Syn, but you’re on your own. If he swims off, I have no hope of catching up.”
“Ooooh.” Syn made a disappointed and concerned noise, but they hadn’t really expected anything different. Once Floyd nabbed them, he had a habit of running off with them. Usually to toy with and eat them, but thankfully they were only getting half the treatment today.
“Aha ha, Little Shrimpy’s aaaaaall mine,” Floyd gloated, chomping on their shoulder again and eliciting an angry ‘Floyd!’ from them as he drifted. Then, suddenly, he twisted in the water and began to swim towards the broken wreck sticking out of the water nearby. “Hey, I can show you the shipwreck down here! It’s even got skeletons!”
Syn cried out when he suddenly took off, clutching onto the finned forearms around their chest as he swam, having to shut their eyes a bit from how fast he was swimming. “Skeletons? They’re not REAL, are they?”
“Awww, you worried about joining them, Little Shrimpy?” the eel practically purred, slipping through broken wood into a section of boat. He seemed to be looking for something as he shifted his hold to squeeze them in a hug and pressed his face against theirs again, declaring, “Don’t worry. Jade and I’ll take goooood care of ya!”
“Your version of ‘good care’ and mine are very different,” they wheezed out, gasping when he loosened his hold. Eventually he found what he was looking for and dropped them, making them yelp as they drifted without warning.
“Check ‘em out!” Floyd swam over to a pile of ivory in the corner of the room. Before they could question the unnatural placement of the bones, he flicked his tail against them, causing them to burst upwards and scatter before drifting down slowly. “It’s kind of like confetti when you swish your tail at ‘em!”
“Yeah… confetti,” Syn said, not sure whether or not they should be feeling grossed out by this. They really hoped that it wasn’t a bunch of real bones, but they didn’t get the chance to grab hold of any of them.
“Oh! Oh! We should play tag,” Floyd could barely hold still, quickly swimming back down to them. “I’ll be ‘it’! You should start swimming, Little Shrimpy~!”
“A-Ah, wouldn’t that be BORING, though,” Syn asked, not really wanting to play tag. They already had enough of that on land with him, thank you very much. And they played the ‘boring’ card because they knew that was the only thing he hated. When his face twisted into disappointment and irritation with the beginnings of a mood swing, they clarified, “I mean, I can’t swim very fast, right? Surely it’s super boring to catch me immediately.”
The eel stared at them, uncharacteristically quiet for a few seconds before he sighed dramatically and flipped over in the water.
“Maan, I guess you’re right,” he puffed out his cheeks with a huff as he thought. It only allowed them a couple seconds of reprieve before a mischievous grin spread across his face. “You know, you really do smell good in the water. We should play hide and seek.”
“Isn’t that still too easy?” they tried, not wanting to play games with the psychopath right now after almost being drowned.
“Mmm, probably,” Floyd replied, twisting back upright. “But I’ll give you five minutes. If you can find a good enough spot, maybe it’ll actually cost some effort. Ready?~”
“Yeah, yeah, ready, yup,” Syn quickly said, backing towards the rotted room entrance. They already knew they didn’t really have much of a choice in playing, so moving as fast as they could was probably best. He began to count loudly and they began to go through the labyrinth of a ship for a hiding spot.
It was a lot bigger than they’d thought considering how quickly Floyd had slipped into the room of bones, but he also had a powerful tail that was about two-thirds of his length. They felt like they got lost immediately, and they were pretty sure it wasn’t five minutes when they heard Floyd shout ‘Ready or not, here I come, Little Shrimpy!’. And without much time before they were probably found out, they moved into the nearest room and cramped themself in a dark hole in the wooden wall.
The hole was somewhat big, and they felt like it was bigger than the gloom allowed them to see, but they weren’t too concerned with Floyd sneaking up on them considering the amount of noise he was making.
“Oh, Shriiiimpy~,” he called out in a sing-song tone, and there was the sound of muffled crashing as he searched a room. “Where aaaare you?”
Syn questioned whether he didn’t understand the concept of hide and seek in such a large space since being so loud allowed them the opportunity to move away, or he just didn’t care. Given their experiences with him, probably the latter. Still, they kind of cornered themself, so they couldn’t really do much but wait to be found out and endure Floyd’s complaints about how easy they were to ensnare.
Listening to the sounds of chaos draw closer, they jerked violently when a hand covered their mouth and an arm looped around their middle from the dark, letting out a muffled exclamation.
“Please excuse my intrusion,” Jade spoke softly like he hadn’t just scared the poor human half to death, voice tinged with what sounded like a mischievous smile. “I can tell you’re having an immensely fun time with my brother, but I’d like to borrow you for now.”
“For what?” Syn wanted to ask, but everything came out too muffled to discern for anyone but themself.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”
“Mmmph!” they found themself dragged into the darkness they couldn’t see into. Apparently the space in the hole was a LOT larger than they knew and Jade was surprisingly adept at moving quick enough that the hole entrance was almost out of field of view when they saw Floyd pop his head in.
“Jaaade!” the other eel whined, eliciting a chuckle from their current kidnapper.
“You mustn't play with your food too much, Floyd,” Jade called back with a laugh, swimming quicker as Floyd slammed his body into the hole. “Lest another hungry predator swoop in and steal the catch!”
Syn could only clutch on for dear life as Jade swam out of the wreckage and made a beeline for a tunnel nearby, able to hear Floyd shout as he gave chase. The tunnels were terribly windy and dark, and echoed with sibling rivalry insults between both Floyd and Jade as they argued about who should play with Syn like they were a toy. Which, to be fair, was how the brothers probably saw them a lot if the amount of times they were hunted for sport was anything to go by.
“Gotcha!” Floyd exclaimed, tackling his brother in the dark and knocking Syn out of Jade’s arms. Dazed and in the dark, they couldn’t do anything as they were scooped up by him and sent on another head-spinning ride through more tunnels. “Aha ha! Later, Jade!”
“Floyd, slow down,” they demanded, feeling nauseous after being carried at top speed through winding darkness.
The light of the tunnel entrance had Syn blinking after several minutes being dragged through tunnels, Floyd’s loud laughter in their ears. They fully expected to spend even longer in a game of Keep Away between the twins whenever he left the coral and rocky insides. What they didn’t expect was a bunch of tentacles that quickly grabbed and entangled both them and Floyd.
“HEY!” Floyd shouted in surprise while Syn let out a loud shriek of panic before they realized that the tentacles were attached to Azul.
“Aha!” The octopus cried out in triumph, the tangle of eel, tentacles and human drifting to the seafloor now that Floyd couldn’t use his tail properly. He had his arms crossed over his chest while two tentacles pried the eels arms open with a surprising amount of ease to allow Syn from their captor's grasp. “Honestly, if you two keep acting this childish with them, I’ll be finding myself indebted based on your behavior.”
“I’m reeeally feeling the love from all three of you today,” Syn said sarcastically, sliding out of Floyd’s hold as soon as they could. They had to crouch on the ‘ground’ for a few seconds to try and settle their stomach from being yanked around. “Hoough, I feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster for an hour…”
“Aw, c’mon! The most Little Shrimpy would do is ask for more help on History,” Floyd complained as he was released by Azul, who kept a couple tentacles ready in case the eel tried to dart off with the human again. “You know they’re just a big pushover~.”
“I’m RIGHT here.” They glared up at the eel and straightened, rubbing their temples. “I don’t know why I hang out with you assholes.”
“Well, Floyd has the tendency to threaten you,” Jade swam past their shoulder WAY too close on purpose, but made no move to grab them, giving them an amused smile when they jolted. He settled in the water beside his brother and added, “But, I’d say you must be a bit of a masochist.”
“What? No I’m not,” Syn protested, earning a shared look between all three merpeople.
“Don’t you still hang out with Sea Lion,” Floyd asked, smirking.
“And Rook?” Jade added.
“And Malleus?” Azul’s expression turned into one of slight envy.
“And us?” All three finished together, each giving the human a look of disbelief at their claim of not being a masochist.
Syn felt their ears burn in embarrassment at the questioning, crossing their arms over their chest and replying, “Okay, FIRST OF ALL, I don’t hang out with Rook. He keeps finding me, and I don’t wanna be mean and just ignore him.”
“Didn’t he pin you with arrows once,” Jade asked, raising his hand to his chin to cover his smile a bit.
“That is not the worst thing that has happened to me, and you know it,” they retorted, pointing to him. “Anyways, Leona’s not that bad, and Malleus just needs a friend. And you guys have your good moments.”
“A bold claim,” Jade hummed.
“Awww, Little Shrimpy thinks so highly of us,” Floyd said, him and Jade sharing toothy smiles.
“They’ve both almost killed you at least once each,” Azul raised an eyebrow. “Floyd almost drowned you today.”
“I… I-I mean, I’m fine,” Syn replied, rubbing the back of their neck sheepishly. “And I’ve almost died plenty of times since coming to NRC, and it’s not like it’s a special occurrence. One of the Heartslabyul flamingos could probably kill me if it was motivated enough.”
“... You’re concerningly lax about your well-being sometimes,” Azul sighed, exasperated and concerned.
“It’s fiiiine,” Syn tried to wave off his concern, though they couldn’t help but think about how Malleus reacted when he’d come across them injured once. A bit less convincingly, they added, “... It’s fine.”
“Regardless,” Azul pinched the bridge of his nose and ignored the surprised noise they let out when he slid a tentacle around their wrist and forearm. “I’d rather you not find yourself in any further trouble, caused by you or Jade and Floyd.”
“Maaaan,” Floyd deflated as he whined. “Way to kill the mood.”
“You can find other things to play with. Syn isn’t nearly as fast in the water as on land, so you’ll just end up bored anyways,” the octopus reasoned.
“Fiiine.”
“I’d still like to show them one of my favorite caverns,” Jade spoke up, circling back to float beside Syn. “If that’s acceptable, of course.”
Azul glanced at Syn in a silent question and they shrugged tiredly, “As long as I’m not being dragged around or a Keep Away toy anymore, I don’t mind.”
“I see nothing wrong with that in this case.” Azul nodded, before fixing Floyd with a stern look. “However, I don’t trust you two to keep yourselves from messing with them past the point of the potion limits, so I’ll be acting as a chaperone.”
“My hero,” Syn said sarcastically, but they couldn’t help the sigh of relief that came with that knowledge. They didn’t think they had the energy to continue being toyed with for the day.
So, Syn was brought to a cavern with a variety of corals and creatures with the trio. Floyd would swim around scaring anything he thought was quick enough to give him the slightest bit of challenge while Jade showed them things he thought were cool or interesting. Azul kept one tentacle on their wrist the entire time, something they thought was unnecessary until Floyd swooped in at some point and unsuccessfully tried to steal them to show them an actual moray eel.
Azul had to stop them from actually trying to pet it, something they pouted at. Floyd and Jade both offered to let them touch their tails but Syn refused until the duo promised to not try anything, finding that the brothers were weirdly slippery and slimy, something they hadn’t noticed in the chaotic rush earlier. It was both gross and fascinating.
Eventually, Azul mentioned the time and they were brought back to the surface with the trio.
“The transmutation potions are in my bag,” Jade said, pointing to it on the beach while Syn trudged out, trying to shake off as much water as they could. “Thankfully, I try to have at least five in case Floyd somehow breaks or loses any.”
“I only broke the bottles once,” Floyd grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Pfft, I’ll get them,” Syn snorted, walking out and crouching beside the bag. They realized the glint they’d noticed earlier through the open zipper was some vials, lifting one up to show and asking, “These, right?”
“Yes.”
“Got it,” they grabbed three vials and three towels, walking back to the water where the trio was waiting, handing out the bottles and averting their gaze as they held out the towels.
“I half-expected you to not get the potions,” Azul commented, Syn lowering their arm and walking back on shore once each towel was grabbed.
“What, why?”
“Because, with Jade and Floyd waterbound, it would have been up to me to crawl out of the water to grab them,” he said. “You could have used the situation for leverage by confiscating the potion easily.”
“Do you think of leverage all the time,” Syn asked, though they knew the answer to that since this wasn’t the first time they’d asked. They sat down on one of the beach chairs with their back to the trio to allow them privacy to change, messing with the plastic straps of the seat while they waited. “It sounds awfully tiring.”
“It’s best to strategize for the future.”
“Still don’t know if I have a future here, bud.”
“Well, if I have any say in it, Little Shrimpy stays forever!” Floyd took advantage of their back being turned by picking them up off the beach chair, where they shouted ‘COULD YOU STOP PICKING ME UP?’. Thankfully, he had an extra pair of swim trunks on. “And, now that we’re out of the water, you’re staying with me tonight!”
“Not so fast, Floyd,” Jade walked up with his bag over his shoulder. “You got to play hide and seek with Syn earlier. I think it’s only fair if I have Syn for the night.”
“You stole them in the middle of the game!”
“Do I get a say in this,” Syn asked rhetorically, not expecting to be listened to at all.
“How about a friendly board game to decide who they spend the night with,” Azul asked, joining the twins with a thoughtful smile.
“If I win, can I go home?” they looked down at Azul from their position of being held up like a cat by Floyd.
There was a couple seconds of silent deliberation between the three men before Jade said, “That seems only fair.”
“Ugh, fiiiine,” Floyd huffed, not liking that he couldn’t just have Syn. With a mischievous smirk, he added, “If I lose though, I’ll be coming for you tomorrow, Little Shrimpy.”
“What a shocker. Can I be let down to walk on my own?”
“Nope!” Floyd chirped, starting to walk along the beach as Azul and Jade began to head back.
Syn sighed, resigning themself to a night of board games and potentially being eaten. “Sounds about right.”
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