It Changes, like Water (CH. 1)

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Summary: Akari has just met Gaeric for the first time and is still a little rattled by the experience. Ingo tries to reassure her by telling her a story.

Content Warning: Blood, bodily injury, and wild animal attack

Notes: I've made this in honor of Monsoon-of-Art and their PLA mer au (and just a touch from a different au where Gaeric acts as Irida's guardian). Many of the scenes in this fic are directly inspired by their work, there mer stuff more specifically. I've been a big fan of them since I started playing PLA and I've only grown to love all their characterizations of some of my favorite characters in all of Pokemon. Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3.

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“Hey Ingo?”

The large mer was studying the near microscopic flute that Akari had, humming in acknowledgement but still absorbed in his observations. The light wasn’t the best for looking it over in the tidal cavern, but this was the only place he felt safe meeting Akari so close to shore, the cavern offered some protection from any would be outside observers of the clans or the humans. Ingo was trying to think of any mention of a flute quite like this before in the time he had been with the clan, but nothing seemed to jump to mind.

Akari was in the process of reorganizing her bag before returning to the settlement, how it always got to be such a mess was always a mystery to her but her efforts were thwarted by events of the day. The teenager’s mind was still on her earlier encounter with the not quite so large but infinitely more terrifying Warden Gaeric. He was instantly suspicious of her, commenting on her small size and color of her coat after a brief interrogation, ears pinned back and a snarl on his face as he looked at her uniform like he was trying to place it but couldn’t, that was just before Ingo came to her rescue.

“Gaeric’s the one messing with all the supply ships, isn’t he?”

That caught Ingo’s attention, looking away from his open palm to her. Akari was squinting up at him, trying to parse any subtle emotions in his expression. He knew eventually she would ask; it wasn’t hard to put two and two together given Gaeric’s attitude. Despite knowing this question was inevitable, Ingo felt a cold spike of guilt lance his spine and his ears droop even lower. That was answer enough for her.

“He wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me if he knew for sure, would he?”

“Gaeric doesn’t hurt pups.”

His answer was swift, but it wasn’t quite a satisfactory one and they both knew it. Ingo was certain that, even if anyone else other than himself knew the truth about Akari and her mysterious flute, they couldn’t bring themselves to hurt her. Akari was a child – the magical white coat helped with the illusion, at least at first. It made everyone pause in complete befuddlement. Was she sick? Why was her growth so stunted for someone her age? It was hard to see Akari as anything but a sick, stunted pup with that pale coat. Although she was representing herself illegitimately and she was part of the exploration team that was causing irreparable harm to the fisheries of both clans with their presence, Ingo didn’t think a single member of either clan could bring harm upon her… especially not with how close he was tailing her.

“But I’m not a pup!”

She protested, her stomach souring when she considered how close her call with Gaeric could have been. They both knew the truth and Akari had the sneaking suspicion that Ingo was softening the truth to spare her from the dangers of her situation.

“He wouldn’t hurt you. Gaeric attacks vessels, he doesn’t hurt the people on those vessels.”

“Ingo, he leaves them in ice cold water for hours on end after destroying those supply ships. Some of them don’t make it. They die from hypothermia. We don’t have thick fur like you guys do!”

He flinched, turning his head away and tugging his cap over his eyes to obscure the pain in them. He could see it from both points of view. Gaeric’s priority was the clan, protecting them and their territory, and he saw the Galaxy Team as a threat – which they were. They were horning in on their territory, taking away from their primary food source, and potentially endangering their vulnerable pups. The team’s presence was a threat that no one in the clans knew what to do about. Gaeric, never one for subtly or decorum, did what he thought was best to dissuade the Galaxy Team from settling there. Ingo knew it was too late for that, but there was no point explaining that to Gaeric. It wouldn’t stop him, and it would already make Ingo seem stranger that he was defending humans.

Akari and her team were explorers and researchers, their interests lie in the sea, so of course they were going to butt heads frequently with the elusive mers, whether intentionally or not. Galaxy Team thought of them as monsters, huge moving shadows beneath the water that would destroy all they had built in an instant – Gaeric was certainly not helping in that regard. These people were mostly curious, and he could sympathize with innocent curiosity.

“Gaeric is concerned for the wellbeing of Pearl Clan, Akari. I understand his methods seem drastic, but-”

“Seem drastic? Ingo, they are drastic!”

Ingo’s frown deepened. He wasn’t trying to justify his fellow warden’s actions, but that was certainly how he made it sound. He knew why Gaeric was the way he was. His love for his clan ran deep. The mer glanced toward the sun sinking steadily toward the horizon from the exposed mouth of the cavern, soon to be swallowed up by the sea. He looked back at Akari, jaw set and mouth quirked like she was trying hard not to cry in front of him.

“I apologize.”

Ingo said gently, sinking lower in the water to be more on her level. Akari quickly spun away from him on the rock on which she was perched, her arms folded over her chest.

“I’m not trying to minimize the damage Gaeric has done and the people he has hurt. Gaeric doesn’t feel as though anyone is being proactive in the case of the hu – Galaxy Team. So, he takes it upon himself to be proactive, and takes it too far. He has a lot of misplaced guilt when it comes to protecting the clan… May I tell you a story before you return to your settlement? It might help you understand where he’s coming from.”

Although she was not facing him, he could tell he had caught her interest and he folded his arms over the large rock, resting his head on his forearms. He did his best to recall all the details.

Next Chapter >>

✿ MORE ASTRO OBSERVASHUNS ✿

I’m back to spill more astrology observations, lessgetit!!! ˃̵ᴗ˂̵

Also, quick reminder that these are just MY observations and opinions I’ve gathered, so take what resonates and leave what doesn’t! mwahhh 😽💋

☆ 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 seem to really like physical displays of affection very much. Every Gemini I knew always loved giving hugs specifically lol. They may enjoy physical touch as a love language.

★ I often notice how 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 aren’t scared to give their opinions no matter how controversial they may be. They don’t care if people agree, if they truly believe in it then they will share it and whoever disagrees can kiss their own ass. Which can seem intimidating to many especially with how much intensity and passion Scorpio brings to the table.

☆ I find it so easy to spot someone with 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒. You guys give a very mellow and grounded energy that is very specific to Earth signs. Y’all have that signature down to earth presence or a very firm/calm tone of voice that I recognize instantly even thru text lol.

★ Everyone wants to call Leos the most “cocky” sign but have y’all seen 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈? They’re the real culprit here lol. These guys are number one fans of themselves (do I even need to make examples lol) and I respect it tbh.

☆ Speaking of 𝐋𝐄𝐎, they love to just disappear for like days or weeks straight out of absolutely nowhere and then come back like nothing happened and resume from where they left off. Like sir, are you not gonna explain why you just ghosted everybody? Lol like are you gonna explain where you was? (double points if that Leo has Sagittarius or Aquarius influences in chart cos they’re even more prone to going mia).

★ When people have 𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 in their big 6 or heavy Mars influence in the chart I notice that they tend to sound/come across way ruder than they’re actually being lol. They can be very dominant and intimidating in conversations. You’d think they’re angry or being mean but they’re just asking you to pass them the water bottle lmao. Often I think they don’t even realize that themselves since they’re just built that way.

☆ People with 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐎 & 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 in their big 3 together kinda scare me lol (in a good way). They usually are very into occult stuff and/or are strongly religious and showcase it very openly and firmly. Sometimes they just have a very intimidating aura/demeanor to them. I notice how they frequently tend to be very into dark colors and themes/styles too. They don’t f*ck around at all. Love y’all 💚

★ People with a 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐒𝐔𝐍 usually have their Moon sign qualities be more noticeable. With Geminis I tend to catch onto their Moon sign behavior before I realize that they’re a Gemini. Could be a mutable thing where they’re versatile enough that their Moon qualities shine more than their sun sign qualities. Very frequently when I try to guess a Gemini’s sun sign I actually guess their Moon sign. They tend to act like their Moon more than other zodiac signs in my experience. They may not even notice it either.

☆ I hope I don’t offend anyone for this one but people with a 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 (frequently more moon) mother tend to have veryyyy chaotic childhood stories about her. Somehow these moms tend to often be pretty emotionally unhinged people (no offense but in my experience so many of my friends have a mom with a Pisces sun and/or Pisces moon and they all always tell me how their moms have crazy mood swings or a very erratic behavior). I’m honestly so sorry for anyone who had, or still has to deal with such an environment. 🫂💚

★ 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 & 𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 are the best opposite sign duo in astrology imo. I’ve never seen many Geminis or Sags that say they dislike or don’t get that along with one another. We really click well and even I personally can testify that lol. These two always besties.

☆ Also 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 loooove anything to do with 2D characters or just fictional stuff in general. They love their ffs, romance books, making fan arts or edits. Every Pisces I knew had some kind of obsession with multiple fictional characters or shows and each one of them had accounts dedicated to making art or edits about said characters/shows lol. No matter if it’s a manga, an anime, a video game, a song, a movie or a cartoon, a Pisces placement will most probably romanticize a character or wtv it is they feel resonates with them in some way. I know lotta people do that but Pisces are usually more prone to be very frequent and indulgent with it in my experience. Not judging anyone, just pointing it out lol.

That’s all for todayyy ☀︎

Also please don’t copy or claim my content without credit or consent ♡

I forgot how good of a coping mechanism(stim?regulator/??) that doing makeup is until I just did makeup the other day coz I knew I’d need a moral boost to get through the day and something to focus on while I did other stuff. then reminded again today when I knew I needed something to steel my nerves for the rest of the day & to make stuff easier. I felt way better about stuff and it’s making me remember I was gonna get more makeup stuff and I just keep forgetting which is problematic considering how helpful makeup is for me

Matty’s been feeling extra sentimental since we bought our very first flat together. Neither of us can believe that we’re finally moving in with one another, and making a home for our new family to grow in… but, it seems like the reality of it all is weighing on Matty a lot more than it’s weighed on me.

The process of moving our stuff into the building has been… tedious… especially with him being so big now. Since I refuse to let him lift anything, I’ve been the only one making trips back and forth from the van. Couches, tables, chairs, parts of our bed frame — I’ve had to bring them up to the third floor, all on my own. It’s exhausting… but I just don’t think that it’s right for Matty to help me… and that’s made him super upset.

He feels as though he should be able to assist me in getting the furniture up to our flat… that I should give him something else to do, instead of having him sit upstairs all the time… but I think he’s done quite enough already. So far, he’s organized the kitchen cupboards, put the utensils neatly into the drawers, hung a few curtains, decorated our bathroom, and chosen the colors that we’re going to use to paint the walls. If you ask me, I’d say that’s a job well-done… but Matty still doesn’t feel like he’s done enough to “contribute” to our future together.

It’s tough, trying to make him see things from my point of view… and, sometimes, I do feel like I’m using his pregnancy against him… but I’m not gonna change my stance at any point during this process. Matty’s in a fragile state, right now… and he’s just not strong enough.

I mean… even if I did let him help me unload the truck, he’s too all over the place to be of any real use. One minute, he’s mad at me for cooping him up in the open den… the next, he’s sobbing about how beautiful our future is going to be… and, a minute later, he’s rummaging through boxes, sorting through random belongings. I just don’t know what to do with him, sometimes.

Like now, he’s opening boxes of old photos, and holding me hostage in the den… taking me on an impromptu trip down memory lane. Photos of him and Tom, and the time he met the king, and all of the awards that he’s ever won, and blah blah blah. As sweet as it is, looking back at some of his fondest memories, I’ve got other priorities to tend to. There’s so much more furniture that I need to move, and he’s only holding me up.

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Can you do a post about nonhuman au floyb?? I love that little fucker

Ah yes, Floyd. The not so little, little fucker.

He still has his ear and arm fins even with the potion. He can make his ear fins wiggle and droop and they will sometimes do it unconsciously, perhaps because of how he’s feeling or or he’s eating or sucking on something. After the time he caught you laughing when he was sucking down a smoothie, he will wiggle them on purpose to make you laugh. 

He can make the arm fins flare out and go down so he can get shirts on easier but doesn't like covering them.

Still keeps some of his eel coloring and stripes along with his claws. His hands starting with that not-quite-white he has and becoming more of that green-blue going up.

His fingers have little bits of webbing and...are kind of creepily long. 

Doesn’t blink as often as a human should and his eyes glow in the dark, along with his habit of staring it can be a bit startling. 

Is very instant on getting you in the water with him for some reason. If you can swim, he'll offer to let you ride him but...keep in mind that when in the water either tween can out speed a flying broom. The guy is a living jet ski and you will zoom. Although he won't let you drown that doesn't mean he won't do stuff to scare you and make you think he is.

If you go out to the sea or a lake together expect him to bring back a fuckton of sea creatures that he expects you to eat. He's a very good hunter and plans on taking good care of his shrimp.

Has no belly button or nips.

Is very interested in your belly button.

You're his little shrimpy and he’s touchy when in the mood for it but especially likes how different you are. Small clawless hands are so fun to hold, likes comparing yours to his. Putting your hands on his face cuz it feels warm and nice, enjoy the ear-fin rubs. Body soft n smol, good for hugging and squeezing…and biting…but not too hard cuz his teeth would hit bone very easily. 

Skin feels different from what humans have but isn't quite the same as when in his eel form. It's soft but also…thick. There’s no way you would be able to break his skin with your bite or scratches, dull little human nails and teeth can't do much. He’ll think it's funny if you do it to try and get away from him but will want to bite back.

It is actually a good thing you can't break the skin since along with eating fish, crabs, and octopuses moray also eat very toxic creatures and as a result, the blood and flesh of a moray are very toxic. They accumulate high levels of ciguatoxins, which can give humans ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) if eaten. There will be times in a fight where he’ll get his blood on the guy on purpose and Jade has used his blood for…things before. Part of why Jade wants to test “special” mushrooms on others is because the poison won't affect him.

A moray will often eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth and is capable of taking a chunk out of bigger fish. As a result, Floyd will also try to eat…not food things if he can fit it in his mouth. Keep an eye on small nicknacks. Might also just, like, catch a bird and just freaking eat it. He’s learned butterflies taste really bad.

Everything about you just triggers his prey drive. He really wants to bite you…and chase you…and squeeze you…but also protect you cuz you're his little shrimp. Who would rub his face and tell him a good boy if he let you get eaten up? 

Can open his mouth scarily wide and his teeth are longer than OG Floyd's. Very long tongue and will lick the side of your face to gross you out. 

Has pharyngeal jaws which are a second set of smaller jaws located in the throat of the moray eel, behind the normal jaws in the mouth, complete with tiny teeth. This set of jaws gets launched into the mouth cavity during feeding, where it can grasp onto food, and pull it into the throat to swallow. Morays are unique in using their pharyngeal jaws to actively capture and restrain prey in this way.

Certain eels have been shown to be surprisingly affectionet with divers they recognize and enjoy petting, rubbing, and gentle hugs. Though with how Floyd is it's a little less surprising.

His gills are still present so his rib area is a weak spot. Getting hit there would really hurt and really piss him off.

Is nocturnal and prefers dark places, especially when sleeping. He also likes being snug and wrapped up for sleepies. In the sea, he would like to sleep in small places with his brother.

Moray have a spongy, sluggy texture from their lack of scales. To top it off, these fish are covered in a thick mucous layer. Believe it or not, mucous serves a very strong purpose in nature, typically providing a protective barrier over otherwise vulnerable layers of skin. Your stomach should have a thick mucous layer to protect it from the acids inside, and similarly, a fish without scales can make good use of this snotty, slimy substance to keep it safe from toxins and physical damage as it occupies its rocky habitat.

The green moray eel is actually brown under all the snot; it’s just covered in a thick green layer of mucous. In some species, this mucous is even toxic, making them a particularly nasty prey item. Luckily what Floyd and Jade have isn't the toxic kind and will make your skin pretty nice. Floyd will use this in his favor to get more cuddles. Though if feeling playful he may perform what is known as a slime attack by slapping someone in the face with his tail, it is very unpleasant to get in your mouth.

The smallest moray, the Snyder’s moray, is around 12cm (4.5in) long, and the largest is more than 3m (over 10ft) long and weighs up to 30kg. A huge moray eel in Indonesia has been witnessed feeding on sharks and I like to headcanon the tweels are pretty big in their mer form and not just because of tail length.

Morays actually have pretty bad eyesight and have a keen sense of smell to make up for this and rely primarily on chemoreception such as smells and tastes to navigate their world. I do wonder if the twins need glasses but don't use them or maybe wear contacts. 

 Floyd is very good at tracking you down by scent and likes it when you smell like him and him smelling like you. Though he loves cuddling and hugging you, it isn't just for affection. He’s giving you that eel stank, plenty of the others are weary around him and you smelling like him can help keep others away.

Him leaving clothes at your place honestly was out of forgetfulness but does it on purpose now since that time he caught you wearing his jersey…it was so big on you and you looked so cute and its smelled like you and….

The moray can form a true knot with its body, that it uses as leverage to pull on prey items like slippery fish. They can also use this method to create strong pressure to break food items into smaller pieces. It’s thought that the skill is passed on between individuals. So if you want to escape eel cuddles…good luck but it's probably not going to happen. Even in his more human form his long arms and legs will be wrapped around you. Kinda funny thinking of the tweel's parents teaching them how to become living knots though.

Certain types of eels can change their sex. The leaf-nosed moray born male, transitions as they age, switching to female later in life. This transformation determines them as “sequential hermaphrodites” I like to headcanon that the tweens can also change sex or already have both in their mer form. 

Morays can have around 10,000 eggs at a time, and when the larvae are hatched, the eels are fully translucent. I like to think the boys started out as tiny little things you can hold in your hand.

Regular eels do seem to have some courtship rituals. Some of which being displays of behavior, such as graceful movements and vibrant color changes and I already like that headcanon of the tweels being bioluminescent. Maybe he convinced you to come down to his dorm's special pool one night and decided to show off for you. Showing off that beautiful glow while doing these cool tricks in the water. A positive reaction will likely be taken as acceptance, so unless you tell him no, you will receive some wet slimy eel-loving.

Male eels may compete with each other for the attention of females showcasing strength and health to impress a potential mate. I can imagine he’ll be very insistent that you come to his games and watch, though with how he already is and him wanting to impress you further it would be a good idea for a nurse to be present. The other team's guys are going to need it. I think he might also get a bit more…bitey with the other guys around too. You will also be picked up and carried more often. 

Eels also release pheromones into the water to attract and communicate with potential partners but..hmm you're just a human and on land. With the others being beasts and all they would be able to smell it easily and know to stay the hell away from him but would his little shrimpy notice? I think at most that if it's something that you can smell it probably just seems like Floyd has just smelled a bit…musky lately. He is probably around you even more and keeps close to see you reaction to it. He probably gets sad if you tell him he stinky and takes it as you not wanting him. If you compliment it? Very happy eel time.

As for the rest of what he does, it's pretty much normal things that Floyd already did when you were just friends. Bringing you food, little trinkets that made him think of you, getting territorial around others, biting.

I’m up late so here are some HC’s I have of the girlies

Nat:

- You get her one of those “back off, I love my gf” shirts as a joke, expecting her to never put it on and she wears it RELIGIOUSLY. She is so proud to wear that shit

- (If you’re lucky enough to have a positive male figure, a grandfather or father in your life) one time overhears Nat talking about her home life and now that male figure is determined to make her feel safe and happy. He’ll insist that you both join him for fishing and while you’re apprehensive, Nat is 100% down.

-She never has water or lunch because she forgets/chooses to not take care of herself so you drop it off to her at practice everyday

- She sleeps with a stuffed animal but will not let ANYONE know

Shauna:

- Early riser, even when sleeping w you but she will just happily lay next to you, holding your hand, admiring you while you sleep just taking you in for a few extra moments.

- she has a scrapbook of everything you guys have done (movie tickets, Polaroids, etc), and she also keeps all the flowers you’ve ever gotten her in there after they’ve dried and withered

- She loves stargazing, she knows astronomy and can and will point out the constellations to you

- Reading to or with each other is common and probably a love language, especially reading the other to sleep

Lottie:

- Surprisingly very good at all the fine arts; she can draw well, she definitely can play the piano bc her rich parents paid for her to have lessons, etc

- Blanket stealer; she insists on having the AC CRANKED at night, then steals the blankets while you both are sleeping and you wake up with hypothermia while she’s snuggled up in all your blankets

- She wasn’t allowed to have a pet so you buy her a single goldfish once and she loves it so much, she let you name it (you named it something stupid but she still calls it what you want) it dies in like 2 days because as intelligent as she is she is incapable of taking care of another living thing and she is inconsolable for days. You got her a succulent to make her feel better

Jackie:

- Clingy (derogatory) sure it’s cute of her at first until she’s waking up at 5 am for her morning practices and wakes you up too so you both can “brush your teeth together”

- She will always ask for your old marked up books to read and she makes small notes in the margins in a different color before giving them back (She has reading glasses too, and she looks gorgeous in them)

- She asks you to help her stretch, or roll out her muscles before practice but she doesn’t need help she just wants to get you flustered and have your hands all over her

I LOVE THEM 🤭

nat would wear that shirt 24/7 istg 😭 especially as her pjs, and omg i love the idea of your male parental figure inviting nat to everything as well 🥹 even if it’s just something simple like going out for brunch, it’d make her feel way better and more welcomed. and her forgetting to bring lunch everyday is SO REAL 😭 then she’ll prolly buy a bag of chips and a soda as her first meal of the day and then complain about having a stomach ache 🙄 GIRL… also for sure, i bet her plushy is a little white bunny with long ears that was given to her as a toddler.

shauna has always given me the vibe that she wakes up at 9am idk but yeah she’d def just lay there looking at you 😭😭 and the scrapbook thing is SO TRUE, i bet she also adds entries of everything you do together 🫣 since she loves stargazing you got her one of those custom star maps of your anniversary day and she LOVED IT 🥹 and she for sure loves reading to you and hearing you read her favourite books to her

i def see lottie being good at drawing and playing the piano 😌 i also bet she’s especially good at painting landscapes and stuff like that. whenever u complain about her taking the blankets, she’ll just tell you to snuggle up to her to get warmer instead of actually sharing her blanket with you 🙄🙄 but if you’re the one stealing the blankets she’ll pout and whine for hours until you share them with her… the AUDACITY 😒 my girl came back from school on a random day and realized the goldfish wasn’t there anymore, she got concerned and asked the domestic helper what had happened, and she told her that the fish died like two weeks ago ☠️☠️ when i tell u lottie was SHOCKED… she was so embarrassed that she told you that it got a weird disease and died from natural causes LMFAOO

jackie waking you up so you can brush your teeth together is so real 😭😭 my girl doesn’t get the concept of having “alone time.” i just know it takes jackie an hour to read 3 pages, i bet she spends half of that time drawing silly little doodles all over the margins ☠️ and for sure, she also asks u to rub sunscreen on her body even though she could do it herself, she just wants to feel your touch 🫣

New Beginnings

Word Count: 6.3k

Warnings: Language, Spiderperson! Reader

Summary: Miguel finds out that his wife might be pregnant and struggles to both confront her and come to terms with being a father again.

Notes: I only know some broken Spanish, but I did double-check the words I used, sorry if my grammar’s not the best.

Miguel walks into the kitchen where the love of his life is busy tying up a garbage bag. She starts to heft up one of the three bags at her feet grunting in the process and Miguel stops her, “What are you doing?” he asks. “Taking out the garbage?” she asks. He places his hand over hers and slips the strings out of her fingers, “I’ll take it out.” She smiles up at him, “Well, I guess I’ll go ahead and get started on supper then.” Miguel lifts up the other two bags easily lifting them all with one hand. His wife turns the water on in the sink and stares at him sideways shaking her head at him, but still smiling nonetheless. “You didn’t really think I’d let you carry all of this by yourself?” he asks. “Well, hurry up and get back so you can help me with dinner,” she laughs. Miguel laughs too, and then he turns towards the door to their apartment. He opens it and steps out and then locks it behind him. He almost always takes the trash out so he’s not sure why she was already in the midst of doing it herself. Especially since it appeared to be rather heavy for her, it’s not like he particularly minds this chore either. He walks down the hallway and takes a right. Come to think of it, she took the trash out last week too. He remembers he had just been heading back home when he turned the corner and saw her trying to lift a particular heavy garbage bag into the shoot opening. He had immediately rushed forward to help her and asked why she didn’t wait for him come home first if the bags were too heavy for her to manage by herself. She had seemed briefly startled by him and though he knows she’s not as strong as him, he’s never made her feel like she was less than him because of it. Miguel takes a left this time and spots the trash shoot. She did express wanting to do things herself sometimes, although oddly enough she didn’t protest him taking it out this time. Miguel hefts the first bag of trash and opens the shoot and sends it on it’s way. He lifts the second bag and as he pushes it into the opening of the shoot, the bag catches on one of the sharp metal edges and rips it open, spilling it’s contents onto the hallway’s floor. Miguel groans, great. He pulls the bag back from the shoot and more trash spills out, and he sets the entire bag down on the floor, before grabbing the third bag and carefully placing it into the shoot. Miguel then stoops and turning the bag upside down so that the drawstring part of it is now on the bottom, he starts filling it back up again. “¡Carajo!” Miguel sighs as his fingers come into contact with something sticky. Now he’s going to have to wash his hands when he gets back inside. He tries to carefully put the gross bits of food back into the bag by grabbing old napkins and tissues and scooping it up. At least there’s a lot of bathroom trash in this bag so there’s not as much really gross stuff to worry about. Miguel scoops up another of handful tissues and an empty pink box clatters away from him. The bright color draws his eye and he reaches for it next, but just as he’s about to put it back in the bag, something about the label catches his attention. He reads it. And then he reads it again before it dawns on him what it is. He looks inside the box to find it empty and then looks back at the front of the empty pregnancy test box. Miguel then sets the box down on the floor and starts searching through the rest of the trash on the floor and when he doesn’t find it, he searches through the rest of the bag. One of his neighbors opens their apartment door clearly dressed to go somewhere and when the old woman spots him, she eyes him still currently crouched on the floor in a pair of flip flops rummaging around through his own trash. “Uh…I lost my ring,” Miguel lies even though his wedding band is still clearly on his finger. The old woman shakes her head at him as she shuffles past him towards the elevator. When she’s gone he sighs heavily and continues searching. And only when he’s searched the whole bag twice does he realize that the Actual Test is not there. That’s strange considering all of the bathroom trash is in this bag, and they only have one trash can in their bathroom. Miguel looks back towards the shoot and briefly considers going all the way down to the trash room just to see if one of the other bags might have the test, but he quickly thinks better of it. He stuffs the rest of the trash back into the bag, she’s probably wondering what’s keeping him. He saves the pregnancy test box for last and looks at it one final time. He desperately wants to know what it said. There’s a part of him that realizes it could have been negative and she didn’t want to get his hopes up, but another part of him is nagging at him and telling him that it’s not a coincidence that the test and the test box ended up in two separate bags. Then he remembers that she took out the trash last week and he about drops the trash bag as he drives the heel of his left palm into his forehead. He literally Helped her throw away the evidence! He was her unwilling accomplice. And now she’s the only one who knows what it said. He looks back in the direction of his apartment and then back at the box and throws it into the bag before tying up the torn edges of the garbage bag as best he can. He tosses it down the shoot finally and quickly strides back to his apartment. If she would go to these lengths to hide it from him, it must have been positive…right? It couldn’t have been negative, so she would be pregnant. Is she really pregnant? With his child? She’s always told him how much she wants to be a parent and they both adore her nephews. Miguel is certain that she would make a great mother…he’s just not so sure that he would make a great father. Miguel pauses as his hand hovers over the door handle and tries to calm his rapid breathing. Whatever the truth is, she clearly hadn’t wanted to tell him she even took the test. He can’t exactly blame her, even with all he’s talked about it and her helping him sort through his feelings along with his therapist, Miguel’s still not sure he’s prepared for her to tell him that she’s actually, genuinely pregnant. If he had the chance to hold this baby right now he still doesn’t know if he’d be prepared for the reality of caring for and raising another child. He blinks and wets his lips, his mouth gone dry and is oddly comforted by the fact that that’s a thought many first time parents have had even though…he is not. But his situation has been shared by others before him as well, perhaps not quite the same. The only difference in his case is that the questions are: Do I deserve this? And will I be good enough? Miguel looks up towards the door as he makes out the faint sounds of his wife’s humming and chopping of a knife on a cutting board. He wonders how she feels about all this? If she truly is carrying his baby and shouldering the responsibility all alone, something she has warned him about time and time again being Spiderman, and all because he can’t handle it? Then he feels he isn’t being a very good partner to her.

Miguel takes a steadying breath and tries to steal his nerves and finally opens the door. She instantly looks up at him and smiles that lovely, bright smile of hers that he adores so much. And for a moment he’s able to quell the painful churning in his chest. “What took you so long?” she asks. And Miguel is reminded of his discovery as she glances back down at the vegetables she’s chopping. “Bag split open,” he says in an even tone, “Trash went everywhere.” He watches her carefully and he sees there’s a small flicker of nervousness on her face as he says this, but then she turns away and dumps the vegetables into the pot. And when she turns back around it’s gone completely, “Eww, gross. I’m sorry, Miguel.” He closes the door behind him and slips off his shoes and makes his way over to the kitchen sink, “I bet you’re glad you didn’t take out the trash now.” “I mean…a little, but now I feel bad that you had to pick up trash,” she says throwing him a sympathetic smile over her shoulder. Miguel washes his hands thoroughly glad to be rid of the sticky food substance on his fingers, but also still focused on the task at hand as he dries his hands on a towel and turns to stare at her back as she returns to her chopping. Setting the towel back down he steps towards her, busy with dinner preparations, and then lightly touches her waist first before wrapping his arms around her. She stops chopping for a moment or two when she feels him touch her, and as his hands rest themselves comfortably against her stomach, she begins chopping again. Miguel presses his chest to her back and leans down and presses his nose into her hair. “You know…you were supposed to be helping me with dinner,” she begins, “But seeing as you had to clean up trash, I’ll let it slide.” Miguel hums in response as he inhales her scent. He can smell her shampoo and the spices that have wafted up into her hair from the soup she’s making, but other than that, she doesn’t smell any different. She smells like she always does…wonderful and like home. He strokes over her stomach, it’s too soon for her to start showing. She giggles as her head turns slightly, “Baby?” And Miguel realizes that she’s finished chopping as he continues to cling her. They often say that pregnant women are glowing. Is it just because they’re happy? Or is it hormones? Miguel reaches around her and takes the cutting board for her, “Let me get that,” he says and then unwraps himself from around her and steps over to the pot on the stove and dumps the ingredients in. He looks back over at her and she’s smiling softly and gazing at him very lovingly. She always looks happy to see him. She then turns and puts the knife in the sink and holds out her hand for the cutting board, and Miguel hands it to her and she rinses them both off before stepping over towards him by the stove. She seasons the food and then takes the nearby wooden spoon she set out and stirs everything together. He smiles at her and presses himself to her back again and bends down to pepper her neck with kisses. She giggles softly, “Miguel. I’m trying to cook.” “Mmm and you’re doing a wonderful job of it, Mi Amor,” he hums. She reaches up her free hand and runs it through his hair. He closes his eyes gently and enjoys the soothing strokes against his scalp. This is going to be harder to figure out than he thought. Of course when this day started this is not even close to the dinner he’d thought he’d be having tonight.

After supper is done and they’ve finished eating they spend some time curled up together on the couch and continue watching the movie they started yesterday. Miguel had kept a close eye on her at dinner to see if she had any changes in appetite that might be another indicator on whether or not she was carrying his child. But she ate about as much as she usually would although she did complain about a little bit of heartburn after their meal. But that could also be contributed to the fact that it was a spicy dish, and she did add just a little bit more of the peppers she was using than usual to make it spicier. It wasn’t too spicy for Miguel’s taste of course and it didn’t overpower or cancel out the other flavors in the soup, and it was her idea to add more not his, and she didn’t even drink more to douse it. Right now he’s having a hard time following the plot of the movie they’re watching because he’s too busy hyper-analyzing her every move. He tries to pull his focus back to the film, by assuring himself that she would tell him. But not even a minute passes by before the seeds of doubt take root once again. “Miguel?” she asks softly. “Hm?” he hums. “Did you hear what I said?” she asks. Shit. Miguel’s mind races as he tries to remember what she said and failing that he tries to guess, but his mind is blank, “Um…” he mutters instead. “Did you just not think it was funny?” she asks, disappointment creeping into her voice. “No, Mi Vida-¡Carajo!” Miguel curses, “I meant no, I didn’t Hear you.” He glances up at the tv and notices that it’s paused. How long has it been like that? She turns in his arms and stares up into his eyes, “You seem very distracted tonight, Miguel,” she whispers and then she reaches up a hand to stroke his cheek with her knuckles. Miguel’s eyes slip closed and he ponders for a moment. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” he answers meeting her gaze again. She studies his face for a few moments, looking him over and then locking eyes with him again, “What’s going on in that head of yours?” She can read him like a book and knows better than anyone when something’s eating at him, especially when he’s afraid to tell her what it is. And normally he would tell her. He would cave to her soft eyes and voice and they would lay here and he’d tell her all about what’s bothering him and his anxieties for the future and she would listen. But his words get caught in his throat just as he opens his mouth and he can’t. He can’t say anything, because the fear takes hold in his heart of everything that could go wrong, and nothing comes out. There’s too much and it all gets caught in the tightening of the dam in his chest and nothing gets past it. She blinks slowly as she looks at him and then her eyes close and she leans up and gingerly presses her lips to his. Miguel closes his eyes and softly moves his lips against hers. And as they part he can’t stop the pair of tears that slip from his eyes. And even though she doesn’t know why, she still swipes them away with her thumb anyways. “Let’s go to bed,” she says gently. She slowly rises from the couch, takes his hands in hers and pulls Miguel up with her. The movie is turned off and the tv forgotten as she ushers him to their bedroom. They brush their teeth silently next to each other and then Miguel strips out of his clothes to sleep in his boxers as she picks out one of his shirts from the dresser to change into. The light is turned off and the covers are pulled back and Miguel wraps himself around her and presses his face into the crook of her neck. He focuses on her heartbeat under his lips at her pulse point and listens to the sounds of her breathing for a long while. His fingers stroke over her stomach lightly before he pulls them back sharply and then places his hand overtop hers, suddenly fearful of his sharp claws somehow sinking into her abdomen against his will. Which is a ridiculous thought he realizes almost as soon as he has it because he has great control of his claws and this isn’t even the first time today he’s held her. So why would he now? But the longer that he’s awake the more the anxiety gnaws at him. That he won’t be able to take care of her. That he won’t be a good father, that he’ll ruin everything again, that he’ll do this or that, and a thousand other things. Miguel lifts his head up and carefully extricates himself from her. And only when he’s sitting up in bed does he realize his chest is heaving. He swallows and the lump passes painfully through his chest. So he gets out of bed and starts putting on his suit. But when he starts to put his arms through it a soft voice calls out, “Miguel?” And it would seem she wasn’t as sound asleep as he thought she was. “Where are you going?” she asks. He finishes putting on his suit and turns to face her, and with his heightened senses he can make out her features perfectly and the confusion in her eyes is as plain as day. “Lyla called me in to check on something,” he lies. She starts to sit up and pull the covers back, “Do you need my help?” “No,” he says quickly, “It shouldn’t take long, go back to sleep.” She hesitates for a moment, but starts to lean back into the mattress and he watches the confusion be replaced by disappointment. “Okay,” she relents, “Miguel?” “Yes, Querida?” he asks. “Be safe,” she says. A smile tugs at his lips as he places his palms on the bed and leans over to her and kisses her desperately…and then he pulls away.

He feels guilty for leaving her like that and he feels angry at himself for lying about it as he swipes through footage from across the multiverse. There’s nothing pressing that requires his attention, but he knew there wouldn’t be. “Lyla, can you get me a better view on Hobgoblin-2103?” he asks. There’s a flicker of yellow light in his peripheral and he continues swiping away at his screens. He’s sure there are bags forming under his eyes and his feet ache from standing for so long, but working is the only thing keeping his mind off of his anxieties. He needs to keep busy or it’ll just consume his thoughts again. Usually work is the thing that’s stressing him out and spending time with his wife is what eases his mind and heart. But not this time. He realizes then that there’s been no response from his chatty A.I. assistant which is very unlike her, “Lyla-“ But as he turns to look at her, Lyla has her arms crossed and has fixed him with her strongest glare. “Are you giving me the silent treatment?” Miguel ask raising a brow. Lyla looks at him for a moment and then looks at all of his open screens, nearly a dozen in total, and waves her hand at them and closes all of them. “¡Oye!” he exclaims trying to reopen them. Lyla immediately closes the two he opened again forcing him to look at her, “What gives?!” he demands. “What Gives?!” she repeats indignantly, “What gives, is that you’ve left her wondering where you are and when you’re coming home.” Miguel winces as the guilt washes over him, “I just needed some time to think.” “You’ve been here four hours, Miguel,” she says narrowing her eyes through her heart-shaped sunglasses, “I think you’ve done enough ‘thinking’,” she says bending her index and middle finger for emphasis. Miguel rubs the back of his neck, “Has it been that long already?” “Look you’re tired, she’s worried, just go home already,” Lyla says her face softening. Miguel sighs, “What do I do if she’s really-And I’m going to be-“ he stops and then wets his lips as he turns his gaze downwards and shakes his head. “Look, I can’t answer that for you. I just know that whatever you do, you’ll do it together,” Lyla says. Miguel looks up at her flickering image. “That’s what a partnership is all about, yeah?” Lyla asks with her usual optimism returning. “I tried earlier to talk to her, but I just…couldn’t get the words out,” Miguel says lifting and lowering his shoulders in defeat. Lyla seems to think for a moment, “Well, just start by telling her that you found the box. If it turns out she is pregnant, chances are she’ll have a lot to say to you too.” Now Miguel is thoughtful for a moment, for an A.I. with no family and only programmable feelings, she certainly has picked up a thing or two about interpersonal relationships from him and other members of the Spider Society. “But what if-“ Miguel begins “Blegh!” Lyla exclaims throwing her hands up and blinking out of and back into existence for a split second, “MIGUEL! You’re stuck trying to solve Only Half of an equation,” she says holding up one hand in front of her, thumb pointed towards herself, “Hm?” she hums and then she lifts her other hand and does the same and then slowly joins her palms together, and then she gestures with her clasped hands towards him, “Hm!” “You’re right,” Miguel says. “Good, now don’t come back until you’ve talked to her and had at least eight hours of sleep,” she says turning her back to him and opening a screen in front of her. He goes to open his mouth again, but she stops him by lifting her hand, “Up, up!” “Gracias, Lyla,” he says as he steps off the platform.

When he quietly creeps back into his bedroom, her back is to him. He slips out of his suit and peels back the covers and shifts over to her. Wrapping an arm around her waist he tries not to disturb her too much, but she stirs anyways. “Baby?” she asks voice heavy with sleep. “I’m here,” he whispers into her hair before pressing a kiss to her temple. Her body goes lax again and she more than lets him slip his hand under hers to rest against her stomach. Miguel rests his face in the crook of her neck once again and breathes a deep sigh. And when he wakes it’s to the sound of retching.

He quickly throws back the covers and leaps out of bed, taking only a moment to notice that the sound is coming from the bathroom, and as he reaches for the door the toilet flushes. Turning the knob slowly, Miguel peers into the bathroom. She’s sitting on the floor with her cheek pressed to the cold surface of the nearby tub with the toilet lid up. She’s so dazed, she doesn’t even notice him come in. Miguel grabs a washcloth and runs it under some cool water before wringing it out. She looks up finally when his shadow passes over her and he pulls her hair aside and places the rag on the back of her neck. She sighs in relief and Miguel takes a moment to press the back of his hand to her forehead. She’s very warm and obviously still reeling from her upset stomach. He sits down on the floor next to her, making sure not to block her path to the toilet. “Not feeling well?” he asks even though the answer is obvious. It takes a moment for her to respond, “…yeah…” Miguel pushes the hair that had fallen away from her face and she adjusts her cheek pressed against the tub. He stays like that with her for a few minutes, rubbing her back soothingly until she’s ready to stand. He helps her up, keeping one arm wrapped around her middle. She lets out a sigh and he takes the washcloth off of the back of her neck as she heads for the sink. Miguel carefully lets her go, keeping a hand on her back to make sure she’s steady on her feet before setting the washcloth down on the edge of the tub and lowering the toilet lid. She washes her face with cool water and then rinses her mouth out by cupping water in her hands. “Do you need to go to a doctor?” Miguel asks brushing his knuckles over her cheek and she leans into his touch. “No, I don’t think so,” she says slowly. He feels like he’s holding his breath as he stands on the edge of a building not knowing if he should take the leap and ask her if she’s pregnant and if this is morning sickness. “Do you want me to make you breakfast?” Miguel asks instead, “Or do you not feel like eating anything yet?” he winces, realizing his mistake. She looks up at him quizzically, “Miguel, that was breakfast. It’s almost two p.m.” “Oh,” he mutters. “What time did you get in last night?” she asks. “I don’t really remember,” he admits, “Just late.” She dries her hands and face with a towel. “You don’t remember me crawling into bed next to you?” he asks. “Vaguely…I know I woke up to you holding me so tightly it was hard to wiggle out of your grasp so I could go to the bathroom,” she laughs placing a hand on his cheek. “Sorry,” he chuckles. He then bends down and presses a kiss to her forehead. After Miguel gets dressed they make their way to the kitchen and after she gets something to drink, she starts snacking on plain chips not even five minutes later. While Miguel sets the soup pot back on the stove to warm up for lunch and as he’s waiting he sees her perk up when the smell wafts through the apartment. She looks a little less weary and her movements stop being sluggish by the time Miguel turns the heat down and fixes himself a bowl of soup. “Can I have some soup too?” she asks stepping next to him with a bowl already in hand. Miguel smiles at her and spoons some soup into her bowl for her, “I see you’ve got your appetite back.” She smiles sheepishly, “Yeah.” And as they sit down to eat, while last night where her appetite had been fairly normal, today it is voracious. She almost scarfs it down and only slows down after she goes back for a second bowl. And he’s almost convinced she’s going back for a third bowl, but she places it into the sink instead. And then she does something that surprises him, she places her hand on her abdomen and caresses it, even letting it linger there for a good second or two too long. Miguel stands up from his chair and walks towards her, but she stops when she hears his chair scrape across the floor. She smiles up at him lovingly and he hands her his bowl and she places it into the sink too. He moves to cover the soup pot with the lid and remove it from the burner. He should say something. Anything at this point. He can’t keep going on like this not knowing, but he looks to her and instead of saying anything at all, just stares at her in awkward silence. She purses her lips as she places her hands on her hips and shifts uncomfortably. “Did you…want to try watching that movie again?” she asks. And Miguel is mostly certain the suggestion is just to break the tension. “Yeah,” he nods, “That sounds nice.” She smiles up at him and he smiles back at her. So they sit back down on the couch and start the movie again from where they left off, and Miguel is very confused by what’s going on in the movie and ends up asking several questions. He really wasn’t paying attention to it last night. His arm is wrapped around her shoulder as she leans against him and after answering yet another question from him, she’s quiet for roughly a minute or two. But then she leans forward to grab the remote and she pauses the movie. Miguel looks down at her as she shifts in his hold to stare up at him. “Is everything alright?” she asks concern lacing her tone. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Miguel asks. She narrows her eyes at him, not very convinced, “Because…you were really distracted after dinner last night and then you left me in the middle of the night.” Shit, that does sound concerning. And to be fair he is having a crisis. “You need to talk to me, Miguel,” she says, placing her hand on his chest, “I can’t help with whatever it is you’re dealing with if you don’t tell me, Sweetheart.” He takes one of her hands in his, “I’m sorry for making you worry. I didn’t even leave this dimension, I just watched screens until Lyla told me to go home.” He can see in her eyes that this new information raises alarm bells in her head. She knows how prone he is to locking himself away and only focusing on work as a means to cope with the rampant thoughts in his head. “Miguel, talk to me,” she whispers insistently, “Por favor, dime lo que está mal.” Miguel swallows , “I…” he pauses to exhale a breath, both of his hands now gripping hers tightly, “Yesterday when I took the trash out…one of the bags split open…” And she nods at him. “And I found an empty box for a pregnancy test,” he says watching closely for her reaction. Her eyes grow wide and her lips part as she stares up at him in complete shock, a similar kind of shock that he had felt yesterday when he made this discovery. But her silence is making his heart clench painfully as the seconds tick by. “Mi Vida, are you pregnant?” he asks. She subtly nods, “Yes.”

Miguel inhales shakily as all the nerves of the past two days catches up to him. And he’s relieved somewhat to finally have an answer to his question, but then a dozen more pop up in it’s place. Questions he’s been trying to hold at bay when he didn’t know for sure and now they’re all rushing to the surface. But one in particular sticks out above the rest. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks unable to keep the hurt from creeping into his voice. Her eyes grow watery, “I-I didn’t know how to tell you,” she answers quietly, “I’m sorry.” “How far along are you?” he asks next. She takes a shaky breath and Miguel cups her face in his left hand and tilts her chin up to meet his gaze from where it had slipped down to his chest. “Almost two months?” she questions almost uncertain herself, “I just know I should have had my second period by now.” Miguel clenches his jaw and inhales sharply. Two months? Two Months?! Almost- He blinks as the tears start to form in his own eyes, “I’m sorry, I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me-I didn’t mean-“ She clutches at his chest bunching up the fabric of his shirt in her palms, “No, no, no, Miguel Baby, I don’t want you to blame yourself.” “But it is because of me?” Miguel asks quietly, “Isn’t it?” The tears fall freely from her eyes as she shakes her head at this, her eyes squeezing shut, “I didn’t want to get your hopes up is all, in case…I wasn’t or couldn’t…and it wasn’t just about how you felt about it, it was also how I Felt about it, because I’ve wanted this for so long and what if I mess it up or I’m not good enough or-“ She’s rambling at this point so Miguel leans forward to press his forehead to hers and he strokes her cheek with his thumb to try to quiet her sobs, but his own tears finally slip past his closed lids and he cries too, “It seems like we’ve both been thinking the same thing, I just wish you hadn’t tried to do this on your own and for so long too." She presses a kiss to his palm, “I didn’t know right away, things have been so busy, but also so good,” she sniffles. He brings her in close to his chest and then presses his face to her hair, “I will admit I am scared shitless though. I’ve been spiraling since yesterday, because I didn’t think a good thing like this would happen to me again.” Her fist tightens on his shirt, “Are you happy?” “So happy, Amor,” he whispers, “Now that I know for sure.” “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you,” she says with her cheek pressed over his heart. He pats her hair and tucks her head under his chin, “We have to remember to be there for each other and part of that is opening up and talking about what’s bothering us. You taught me that.” She nods against him, “You scared me, when you left last night.” His arms tighten their grip around her and he pulls her fully into his lap, “I didn’t mean to, and I’m sorry for that.” She sniffles again. “You know Lyla actually yelled at me,” he says. “She did?” she asks picking her head up to stare at him, “She never yells at you, roasts you sure, but?” “She does when I fuck up. Remember when I was trying to propose to you and I couldn’t work up the nerve?” She laughs lightly, “She’s right though you can’t do a proper proposal over what is essentially an inter-dimensional phone,” she says a smile finally finding it’s way to her lips. “True, but that’s how nervous I was you would say no,” Miguel says. He then leans down and kisses her softly. As they part she brushes her nose against his fondly, “I was going to tell you, and I finally figured out how I was going to do it too.” “How?” Miguel asks curiously. She smiles and extricates herself from his embrace and stands. He watches her walk over to one of the bookshelves by the tv, the one that houses her romance novels and moves a few of the paperbacks out of the way. And behind one of the rows that Miguel didn’t even notice was askew, she removes a small silver box with a white ribbon tied around it. She steps back over to him and sits in his lap again and hands it to him. He looks from the box to her and then gingerly pulls on the ribbon. Lifting the lid, Miguel stares inside the box at the pair of absolutely tiny baby socks with the classic Spiderman’s mask design printed on them. He chuckles breathlessly as he picks one up and rubs the fabric between his fingers, before looking up at her again. “There’s a little note too,” she adds, nodding to the box. Miguel turns his attention back to the box and underneath the other sock is a little piece of paper. He picks up the handwritten note and on it reads: “Miguel, I’m pregnant, and pretty soon our home is going to be filled with the pitter patter of our very own little Spiderbaby!” Miguel smiles and swipes more tears from his eyes. “I know it’s kinda corny,” she says covering her mouth with her hand. He sets the note back inside the box and then holds both of the baby socks in one hand, in awe of how tiny they both are in his large palm. And then he looks at her, “I like corny. And this? This is perfect,” he says softly. “What would you say to getting a little matching onesie?” she asks. “Is this your way of telling me you already bought one?” he asks. “No,” she says indignantly, “…but I did consider it.” “Hmm…it might be a bit too much,” he says. “Oh come on, you know you’d love it,” she says poking him in the chest. The corners of his mouth tug upwards the tiniest bit, the only indicator that he is sort of on board with going all out on silly outfits for their infant. Her smile drops suddenly along with her playful demeanor, “I hope you know I’m not trying to replace her,” she says seriously. Miguel nods his head, “I know you’re not, Querida. But this child you’re carrying isn’t just mine or ours, it’s also yours. I don’t want you to feel guilty for something so beautiful as giving life to another being.” She leans in and quickly presses her lips to his. And though Miguel still holds guilt in his heart for his daughter and perhaps always will just as easily as he still loves her, he’s also so incredibly happy to be able to soon welcome a new child into his heart. After all, the love of his life is carrying his child and there’s so much to prepare for and do, and so so many new memories to make. And even with his fear of the future looming in the distance, it’s been banished from this particular moment. He wants to live in the present with his wife who is his home and the child she’s carrying for him. And as the two finally dry their tears and curl up on the couch once more, with Miguel laying on top of her, he rests his cheek against her stomach and with his enhanced hearing, and the close proximity…he can can hear two strong heartbeats.

the gaang+ and their ideal jacket/coat -type wear?

sorry for taking so long to respond to this one it’s such a fun question i love jackets (also assuming modern au obviously)

aang’s favorite jacket would be one of those windbreakers with like. a vivid 80s color scheme (eg, purple and yellow, orange and blue, green and pink, etc etc). no one but him could pull it off (especially in this day and age) but he looks so cool in it. fresh and fly, even

katara loves jackets and is constantly saying in aang’s vicinity “wow what a gorgeous jacket… if only i had a BEST FRIEND in this CRUEL WORLD who TRULY LOVED ME so that i could wear it…..” and aang never picks up on what she is doing and buys it for her as if it was his own idea every time. and every time katara is like “omg aang!!! how did you know that this was literally the exact jacket i wanted!!!” and she’s being sincere btw. like she either just doesn’t remember or never even catches on to what it is she’s doing. so she’s just like “wow aang is an amazing friend…” somehow totally oblivious to her own machinations.

also katara loves wearing really big puffy coats with thick fur linings in winter, and whenever she zips up and puts the hood up on those bad boys she looks like a big puffy purple marshmallow and you only can just see her little face peeking through the fluff of her hood. and she should look kind of stupid but she doesn’t. in fact she looks sooo cute

toph gets really cold in winter so one year katara gets her one of those really fluffy, puffy coats. she loves it so much she even wears it indoors sometimes. and yes she looks adorable in it too

sokka just has one jacket that he wears for every occasion. it was probably hakoda’s, it’s either brown or green, it’s slightly too large on him, it has one million pockets, and it has a wool lining around the collar. he wears it in winter, in summer, rain or shine, and whenever anyone is like “isn’t that jacket not exactly…weather appropriate?” sokka’s like “wym? this is my jacket.” the truth is, he has such an ordered system of what items go in which pockets that he just can’t be bothered to have to move stuff around if he ever got a second jacket. so he doesn’t

zuko fantasizes about being cool enough to pull off a leather jacket, but in reality he is just a freak in a cardigan.

suki has one denim jacket that she has had since forever that she wears with everything. it’s faded, torn, and has one million pins and patches on it. this jacket is basically like a son to her. bisexual hall of fame jacket.

you know azula loves a fitted blazer. with sharp confident shoulders, but not in an obnoxious way. a sensible color and a sensible cut. classy, elegant, stylish, timeless. but sadly, the other kids in her eighth grade debate club think it’s “a bit much.”

mai is one of those girls who LOVES peacoats. she has a million different nearly identical peacoats in slightly different shades of black, navy blue, maroon, and burgundy (which is slightly different from maroon, GOD). she also has a few black leather jackets (she’s rich) that she looks really cool in, if you were wondering (and zuko isn’t jealous at all).

for ty lee’s birthday, mai gives her a jacket that is the exact same cut as her favorite leather jacket but in a really nice shade of pink. she had it custom made (but she doesn’t tell ty lee that). it is ty lee’s favorite item of clothing, and she cherishes it forever.

Wednesday writing -

I love your stuff sooooo much 😍 makes my week. Hopefully you're having a good one.

I would be happy with anything but I really want to see some wooing/surprised at how far the other is wing to go along with them! Like Magnus taking care of amnesia Alec, or magnus getting drawn in by Alec in the adoration vs. Heck even others being surprised by this too.

Honestly I'm just going to be happy with anywhere your muse goes but just give me some emotions! You're so good at it.

Hey! Thank you for the compliment and the well wishes! This week is doing much better than last thank you! I hope you’re having a good week!

I hope you enjoy this, it’s in all my fears forgotten

I hope these are enough emotions, let me know if you want more

💜 lumine

—

Magnus looks over the files that have been sent to him with a frown before he finally decides on his course of action.

Out of the half a dozen files that came through, only one is Magnus positive that Alexander would feel comfortable with.

It’s with an easy conscience that he signs over his consorts Institute to Mirai Lakecastle, Alexander’s second and someone competent and sure-headed enough to keep it together.

The clave will have no reason to argue and Mirai abides by the same code as Alec, it’s why Magnus picks her.

That and Alexander’s trust.

His faith and confidence in his second has grown since their first meeting and Magnus trusts Alexander’s instincts and his opinion.

It’s a lot of power to sign over, especially so quickly.

Magnus could do so much with the authority Alexander gave him but he doesn’t care. Magnus has a new and widely coveted political power and clout. It’s unthinkable that he would sign it over with so little hesitation or use. Yet Magnus wants nothing more than to concentrate on tending to his love who has changed so much and yet so little.

Alexander is truly no different than he was, only that he is how he was before the wounds of his past chiseled him into the man Magnus loves.

And yet he is also the man Magnus loves, the very foundation of him and Magnus finds that he adores him desperately.

Magnus cannot lose Alexander, as long as he is by his side then Magnus is happy to love him as he is, however he is.

Which means that there is no time to waste playing clave politics when Magnus can be introducing Alexander to a thousand things his boy had forgotten he once wanted. It’s a cursed blessing, to learn so many secrets that Alexander himself only remembered by forgetting so much.

Magnus opens a small portal, just enough to send his own response back to Alyssa. Then as soon as it’s confirmed to have been received, he snaps it closed and goes to find his boy.

Alexander is outside lying on his stomach, stretched out over thick green moss and dipping his fingers into the cold shallows of the nearby brook.

There are bright flashes of color as the fish dart around his touch and the rocks and Magnus laughs, heart lifting despite the weight of this morning.

“Enjoying yourself?” He asks, kneeling next to Alexander and pressing a palm to his shoulder.

“It’s cool and the suns bright,” Alexander sends him a faint smile before looking back at the water. “I don’t remember doing things like this before.”

Magnus doubts that he has and worse, they’ve hardly had time to even think of something as simple as a picnic where this could happen.

“Should we go boating?” He asks without a second thought and Alexander gives him a pleased smile and a nod. “Wonderful darling, I’ll set up a pavilion boat,” Magnus waves a hand as he speaks, “they run on magic, lovely. Absolutely divine and much better for the environment.”

In his delight, Magnus gets absorbed in his thoughts for a moment. It’s just a moment, but it’s long enough to miss the adoring and content smile that Alexander sends him.

Or that his eyes, while still confused, are deeply pooled with indulgent devotion.

Coral Island Farmer Questionnaire!

I wanna hear y'all Coral Island fans infodump about your Coral Island farmers!! Tag a friend, start your own post, gimme that sweet sweet lore!

How does your farmer feel about:

Farming:

Mining:

Foraging:

Catching:

Fishing:

Ranching:

Combat:

Diving:

Interacting with the Islanders:

Other:

What is their favorite building material?

What is their decor style?

Who's their love interest?

What's their favorite thing to grow?

What's their favorite animal?

Bonus! What do you associate with your farmer in these categories:

Color:

Season:

Metal:

@cheeryconspiracy I'm excited to see what your questionnaire is!!

Putting my own farmer infodumps under the cut for Length purposes XD

Farming:

Morimiya: His second favorite thing in the world! His wife complimented the way he looks while working the land, and he immediately threw out every other activity to tend crops. His main goal is to have 100% FARM on his land.

Maya: It’s cool, she guesses. Tedious, but brings in the cash and that’s the main thing. She likes that she can ignore the plants for the most part.

Clementine: Ideally, she would plant exclusively flowers and let them decorate the farm for the full season. Until then, she’s stuck with the weeds -ahem- crops that will bring in enough money to live her dreams. Mermaid farming will be an entirely different matter!

Mining:

Morimiya: It’s another task to do to keep the farm running. Pretty relaxing, and nice to do in bad weather, but he wouldn’t do it for fun.

Maya: She LOVES it!! She gets to pound away at rocks with a sharp weapon for as long as she wants, and no one will say she has anger issues! Mining is where she feels the most powerful, even if it’s not skill-based. There’s practically no better thing for her to do.

Clementine: She doesn’t like being underground. Or the dark. Honestly the dream is to have enough money to just buy ores instead of going down there. But back when she was freeing the giants, you couldn’t keep Clementine out of the mines! She was determined to free them. Busted down 3 of the mines with a bronze pick-axe, she got so single-mindedly focused.

Foraging: 

Morimiya: He really enjoys it! Getting to explore the island in full, talk to locals, enjoy the natural bounty of the earth… what’s not to love! Especially when he can race around with his horse. Morimiya will devote full days to just wandering the island and picking stuff up. He used to enjoy the underwater bounty, but then... the Incident...

Maya: Hate is a strong word, but she really doesn’t enjoy it. Trudging all around, crossing paths with people, ugh. Or even worse, being in the boring underwater world!

Clementine: On land, she totally forgets foraging is an option. Literally never occurs to her that things exist and she can pick them up. But underwater, no one can compete with how much she’ll pick up in a day.

Catching:

Morimiya: As long as it fills up the museum and temple offerings, he’s happy to do it! He did once get himself unconscious catching exclusively soldier beetles, so there are definitely preferred bugs!

Maya: Bug catching is possibly the most thrilling thing she could ever do! The chance to use some real skill, finesse, cunning! She barely pays attention to what she’s getting, since the fun is in managing the catches.

Clementine: She HATES bugs. Absolutely terrified of bugs. Especially wasps and praying mantises. Her net is basically a fly-swatter to her; gets the bugs away. Screw the museum and offerings, nuh-uh she ain’t touching that! Although ironically, her avoiding bugs as much as she can means they stick around longer, since she’s not startling them off.

Fishing:

Morimiya: His favorite thing in the whole world! It’s so relaxing! Any free moment is spent picking a fishing spot for the day and just losing himself to the line and the pattern of the pull.

Maya: Hates it hates it hates it. Literal torture for her! Just sitting there, doing nothing, with a guaranteed bite on the line?? What could be worse! Why does the cruel god keep making her do it! Although, she does get the chance to defeat sharks and keep the trophies of that on her farm… and it makes good money…

Clementine: She feels bad for the poor little fishies- ack ew ew ew slimy cross, dead things EW- But luckily she gets so one-track minded that when she gets focused on money-making she can do it for literally a whole day. But mostly she’s trying not to think of the implications of fishing for merfolk.

Ranching:

Morimiya: He kinda got into it, but in the end all the noise and upkeep got a bit much for him. Besides, he wants to focus on the crops anyway. He did shed a few tears when he eventually got rid of the animals though, and he’ll always be grateful they helped him heal the island.

Maya: She will never ever ever admit this, but ranching is secretly her favorite thing. It may not be much of a power-showcase, but the animals are just so cute… and maybe it’s nice to take care of something other than herself. Plus they bring in SO much money!

Clementine: Animals are loud and messy and smelly, it’s such a pain. But if she wants her flower garden and mermaid themed farm, they’re a good way to earn enough to accomplish that. Ideally she would exclusively raise llamas, because they’re so fluffy!!

Combat:

Morimiya: It breaks his heart when he does it. He did it only to fulfill the offering bundle, and once during his depressed era he went on a rampage to enter the Band of Smiles. He still deeply regrets doing that. As far as he’s concerned, the “monsters” are just fellow creatures of the island, all beings beloved by the goddess, trying to survive just like he is. He seems to have a magical protection from them, so he’s never seen them as a threat.

Maya: She doesn’t feel any particular way about it. If it involved more skill, she’d probably enjoy doing it. As it stands, the monsters are nothing but an obstacle to her goals, and will be removed as such. She does think the Band of Smiles is weird for apparently viewing the monsters as actual threats.

Clementine: If she ever knew there were monsters, she would literally never go to the caverns. She’s already so scared of bugs, you think she could handle giant caterpillars and wasps?? She would 100% throw up at the sight of an ogre with a giant meat stick. So the goddess basically went, you know what? Let’s just skip that offering for now. And magically, Clementine can’t see any monsters!

Diving:

Morimiya: He used to view it about the same as mining, but with the satisfaction of healing the island. Then he got trapped in the merfolk kingdom for half a season and got severe PTSD, so now he’ll only go down there if Absolutely necessary for the farm, or island improvement.

Maya: Underwater is so weird. Land-legs are better. It was great when there was the challenge of clearing up all that trash, but now it’s just. Meh.

Clementine: UNDERWATER IS THE BEST THING EVER!!! Clementine never feels more herself than when she’s completely submerged. She totally cried when she got her tail, and if the merfolk would just talk to her she’d never ever leave. But until then, she’s going to make her farm as much like underwater as she can.

Interacting with the Islanders:

Morimiya: He is genuinely interested in every single person on the island, and wants to know their whole life stories. He'll go out of his way to get people gifts and talk to them, and remembers every birthday.

Maya: Doesn't give a single bother about the townsfolk. They're all so weird, and take up her precious skill-building time. No, she is absolutely Not warming up to them!! She just Happens to occasionally have the perfect birthday gifts, and why wouldn't she give anyone who asks her opinion! Not her fault she has level 8 hearts with half the island...

Clementine: Islanders? Who? What? Anyway, when will the merfolk and underwater creatures finally talk to her-

Special mention

Tokori, all of the above: head empty, no thoughts, vibin' and having a good time. Are they even fully aware of what they’re doing? Who knows, but they’re having fun doing whatever! Everything is beautiful!

Associations:

Color:

Morimiya: Brown

Maya: Purple

Clementine: Pink

Tokori: Green

Season:

Morimiya: Spring

Maya: Fall

Clementine: Winter

Tokori: Summer

Metal:

Morimiya: Gold

Maya: Osmium

Clementine: Silver

Tokori: Bronze

Favorite building material:

Morimiya: Wood

Maya: Stone

Clementine: Scrap

Tokori: Grass (not hay. Just. Grass.)

Favorite thing to grow:

Morimiya: EVERYTHING

Maya: Cacti

Clementine: Pink flowers!

Tokori: The green one

Favorite animal:

Morimiya: Ducks are pretty cool.

Maya: How dare you ask her to pick favorites. ... Goats.

Clementine: Llamas! So fluffy! But peacocks and quail are so beautiful...

Tokori: baby chicks!!! baby cows!!! ...what was the question?

Decor style:

Morimiya: Javanese

Maya: Art-deco

Clementine: Mermaid

Tokori: Cabin

Love interest:

Morimiya: Macy

Maya: Zarah

Clementine: Princess Miranjani 

Tokori: Grass

Sorry about the bad news! I decided to gather some out of context TEG notes from my document in hopes to cheer you up a little:

Chapter 1:

First impressions, they find each other strange looking. Rodimus finds SW creepy and SW finds Rod gaudy in amount of pieces and color scheme. This is fun to watch change later on.

Chapter 13:

Rodimus is the first person Soundwave opens up to willingly without being forced to answer. He doesn’t even like Rodimus but the fact Rodimus is only one giving him a chance already makes him more willing to share internal stuff.

Chapter 16:

First instance of SW feeling good things in general (in a non-malevolent way, since the incident) but also feeling good things towards Rodimus. Also first time Laserbeak flutters against his chest in response to Rodimus.

Chapter 19:

Soundwave experiences whimsy. While still anxious and easily irritated with the LL crew, he felt comfortable enough at his party to laugh. In this same chapter he is bothered by being the most hated mech on the ship too. He has nothing left to loose at this time and is settling into life there whether he consciously admits it or not.

Chapter 21:

He’s making fucking friends, let’s go!!!

Chapter 22:

(1) Nautica is naturally friendly, quite like Tailgate, they don’t really have a reason to like SW at all but they want to try regardless. She is very excited to meet SW and I get the sense that while wary of him of course, she believes Soundwave to be gentler than he is— that he just hasn’t had the chance to show it yet.

(2) SW is being a supreme dumbass this chapter.

Chapter 23:

You could cut that tension with a knife, ease up girls.

Chapter 24:

He’s feeling guilty for what he did! Huzzah! Yes you are an asshole!

Chapter 25:

(1) TENTACLE WIGGLIES.

(2) Call back to when they first met, Rodimus did indeed punch him then and it was hilarious.

(3) Rodimus definitely likes cuddling. He made the moves to lean against slenderman.

(4) SW that’s called being happy.

Chapter 26:

He’s learned earning things is more satisfying than taking them, especially when it comes to making Rodimus happy. Regardless for a while he still struggles between what’s good for the ship, what makes Rodimus happy and his own hunger to know everything and do things that only benefit him.

Chapter 27:

(1) My king that’s called enjoying a conversation.

(2) Whirl is crazy!! Slay!!

(3) Whirl is spitting bars actually.

(4) SW literally risks being lost to space to retrieve the vial, the life threatening fight looses priority against the promise Rodimus made him.

(5) TG being a fucking boss. SWs realization that such a small mech can restrain him and that he’s greatly underestimated TG is hilarious.

Chapter 28:

Dude you are so in love.

Chapter 29:

Yes, SW, that’s how making friends works.

Chapter 30:

(1) This is funny to me, some security mechs have noticed the frequency in which Soundwave and Rodimus are seen together but they have it wrong here. It is Rodimus who brings SW along whenever he can, SW doesn’t believe he has the agency to follow Rodimus around without Rodimus asking first.

(2) Less swagger, more purpose is a hilarious line.

Chapter 31:

Do not take Rodimus away from his creepy shadow. He cannot stand being separated from his creepy shadow— he is lonely.

Chapter 34:

(1) I am going to die of heartbreak.

(2) Rodimus you’re behaving like a toddler.

(3) Mirage doesn’t speak of Skywarp here because for some reason he still believes he will face repercussions for loving a decepticon. Meanwhile, Rodimus (the autobot co-captain of the LL) is glaring at his decepticon boyfriend for ignoring him.

Chapter 35:

Yes, Rodimus your boyfriend is creepy. What else is new.

Ok that’s enough!! Hope they’re entertaining<3

aww thank you!! I definitely smiled all through reading that =D

i can’t stop with the stobin headcanons so here’s more :)

-sharing clothing obviously but also fighting like sisters when they see the other with one of their clothing items on (they don’t really care)

-dustin so badly wants to officiate their lavender wedding that he rewrites the entire speech to fit them and presents it to them like he would a project. he gets poster board and everything, making it all fancy and convincing. in the end after his performance and some serious consideration, they both say no and he pouts but they promise he can be the flower girl if he really wants to

-joyce and hopper have adopted both robin and steve as their own children. el is so excited to have two more siblings, especially a sister to do girly things with, but since robin isn’t super girly, steve steps in and does all of that fun stuff with el, who loves every minute of it. robin and will bond through art and sexuality and expression and stuff like that, but robin also teaches will a little bit of spanish (to impress mike but he doesn’t tell her that part until later)

-in fact, once robin starts hanging with will more, she comes out to him. he is really happy to have her as a sister so he doesn’t feel so alone with what he’s going through. he doesn’t outright come out to her at first, but she knows (because of course she does) and she helps him come to terms with himself. and at the end of the day, they both help each other out because seeing will become more comfortable in himself and with his sexuality actually heals baby robin who spent all of middle and high school hating who she was and wishing she could just be “normal”

-sometimes steve and robin will make coordinating outfits with similar color schemes and whatnot

-both learn sign language because robin is scared that one day steve may lose some or all of his hearing due to all of the fights and injuries and she wants to make sure that they still have a way of communicating instead of lip reading. steve cries when he finds out why she’s making them do it, out of fear but mostly out of love for his best friend

-they most definitely have kissed “just to see how it is” and it left robin running to the sink to wash her mouth out with soap because “it really was that bad”

-steve “everyone’s gonna think we’re dating” and robin “hmm tragic. let them”

-when steve is sitting on the couch, robin will come and sit on him and sprawl her whole body across his lap. they both say it’s comfy

-one summer, they decide to do a cross-country roadtrip ending in LA and max BEGS them to take her with them. when they don’t, she doesn’t talk to either of them the following days leading up to it, the whole summer, and 2 weeks into the new school year. she finally breaks when she needs to ask steve for a ride somewhere

-robin loves fall and steve loves spring, both of them hate summer and are indifferent to winter

-the first time they see each other naked was after Starcourt when steve made robin come back to his house because her parents were out of town. she tried to refuse but he looked at her so gently and pleaded so that he she wouldn’t have to be alone. once they were back at his place, he made robin take a shower first but once she got in, it was too scary and overwhelming because she couldn’t see steve. “could you just come in here with me?” steve took a minute to carefully take his clothes off without it hurting too much and climbed in. the second he was in, they hugged for what seemed like a very long time as they cried and cried, not daring to let go in fear of the other getting taken away, before helping each other wash all of the blood, sweat, and dirt off of their bodies. that night they did not sleep but the comfort of knowing the other was alright was enough

*cough cough* so uh.... nonhuman jade??? I feel like he would frog blink at me

Either that or not blink at all/hardly blink, most fish don't have eyelids, and even though he and the other mers do it's not like they would need to underwater. Tbh Seb and Mal would prob do that weird blink.

Anyway, since He and Floyd are the same kind of creature, stuff from Floyd's post will be repeated.

He still has his ear and arm fins even with the potion. He can make his ear fins wiggle and droop and they will sometimes do it unconsciously, perhaps because of how he’s feeling or if he’s eating or sucking on something. Unlike Floyd, Jade will do his best to control it since that shows his emotions and he doesn't want others to be able to read him, though that's not to say he won’t do it on purpose like when he fake cries. The whole “being able to produce tears” thing wasn't something he could do until he got on land. Fish don't have or need tear ducts. Still, if it's just the two of you he might give a fin wiggle to hear you giggle, he be silly like that sometimes,

He can make the arm fins flare out and go down so he can get shirts on easier, and they will flare out when trying to be threatening.

Still keeps some of his eel coloring and stripes along with his claws. His hands start with that not-quite-white he has and become more of that green-blue going up.

His fingers have little bits of webbing and...are kind of creepily long. 

Doesn’t blink as often as a human should and his eyes glow in the dark, along with his habit of staring it can be a bit startling. 

Like his brother, is very instant on getting you in the water with him for some reason. If you can't swim, he'll offer to let you ride him. Though he is capable of outspending a broom you don't worry about him trying to zoom like Floyd, that doesn't mean he won't try to scare you in the water though. He may be more polite than his brother but he's still a little shit.

Has no belly button or nips.

Has a very strong interest in your feet and legs, especially with how…soft they are. In the official manga, we get to see that Floyd isn't the only touchy eel, though he isn't…rough about it like Floyd. Well, not as long as it's you. He loves to poke, squeeze, and rub them. Very very badly wants to bite but…he’s a gentleman. At least until you guys are together, and he has permission, expect to look like you got nabbed by a small shark then after.

He can't help but be fascinated by how different your body is, he really does want to study you, though funnily enough he gets a bit of stage fright if you try doing the same.

Is a fan of those small clawless hands. Seeing how they prune up when wet for too long, holding them and enjoying that soft warmth. He’s bigger than plenty of people but gets a special kick out of how big you make him feel.

His skin feels different from what humans have but isn't quite the same as when in his eel form. It's soft but also…thick. There’s no way you would be able to break his skin with your bite or scratches, dull little human nails and teeth can't do much. He would be pretty amused at you actually trying to bite him, how cute. It makes him want to tease you more and make you make you angry enough to try more. Still, if you do somehow manage to break skin he’s prepared, can’t have his little shrimp die of poisoning.

Along with eating fish, crabs, and octopus's moray also eat very toxic creatures and as a result, the blood and flesh of a moray are very toxic. They accumulate high levels of ciguatoxins, which can give humans ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) if eaten. There will be times in a fight where he’ll get his blood on the guy on purpose and Jade has used his blood for…things before. Part of why Jade wants to test “special” mushrooms on others is because the poison won't affect him, and he wants to see how it affects others. Might poison you in small doses on purpose so you'll build up a tolerance.

A moray will often eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth and is capable of taking a chunk out of bigger fish. As a result, Floyd will also try to eat…not food things if he can fit it in his mouth. Luckily for you, Jade has more self-control than his brother so your small nicknacks are safe...for now.

Everything about you just triggers his prey drive. He really wants to bite you, chase you, squish you, put eggs in you, bite you some more. Really hates having to keep up his calm gentlemanly image at times.

Can open his mouth scarily wide and his teeth are longer than OG Jade's, so it's a bit harder for him to hide them like he would with those polite smiles he always has. Very long tongue, you've seen it when he totally wasn't trying to show it off to you. He was just enjoying that ice cream. Funny how you're the only one to get a good look at it though.

Has pharyngeal jaws which are a second set of smaller jaws located in the throat of the moray eel, behind the normal jaws in the mouth, complete with tiny teeth. This set of jaws gets launched into the mouth cavity during feeding, where it can grasp onto food, and pull it into the throat to swallow. Morays are unique in using their pharyngeal jaws to actively capture and restrain prey in this way.

Certain eels have been shown to be surprisingly affectionate with divers they recognize and enjoy petting, rubbing, and gentle hugs. Though a bit touchy, when in public he is nowhere near as touchy as Floyd. When alone? Just as bad if he knows you are comfortable with it.

His gills are still present so his rib area is a weak spot. Getting hit there would really hurt and really piss him off.

Is nocturnal and prefers dark places, especially when sleeping. He also likes being snug and wrapped up for sleepies. In the sea, he would like to sleep in small places with his brother and would love for you and him to share a sleeping bag when camping.

Moray have a spongy, sluggy texture from their lack of scales. To top it off, these fish are covered in a thick mucous layer. Believe it or not, mucous serves a very strong purpose in nature, typically providing a protective barrier over otherwise vulnerable layers of skin. Your stomach should have a thick mucous layer to protect it from the acids inside, and similarly, a fish without scales can make good use of this snotty, slimy substance to keep it safe from toxins and physical damage as it occupies its rocky habitat.

The green moray eel is actually brown under all the snot; it’s just covered in a thick green layer of mucous. In some species, this mucous is even toxic, making them a particularly nasty prey item. Luckily what Floyd and Jade have isn't the toxic kind and will make your skin pretty nice. Jade will use this in his favor to get more cuddles. Careful though, he may do what Floyd does and perform what is known as a slime attack by slapping someone in the face with his tail, it is very unpleasant to get in your mouth.

The smallest moray, the Snyder’s moray, is around 12cm (4.5in) long, and the largest is more than 3m (over 10ft) long and weighs up to 30kg. A huge moray eel in Indonesia has been witnessed feeding on sharks and I like to headcanon the tweels are pretty big in their mer form and not just because of tail length.

Morays actually have pretty bad eyesight and a keen sense of smell to make up for this and rely primarily on chemoreception such as smells and tastes to navigate their world. I do wonder if the twins need glasses but don't use them or maybe wear contacts. 

Jade is very good at tracking you down by scent and likes it when you smell like him and him smelling like you. Though he loves cuddling and hugging you, it isn't just for affection. He’s giving you that eel stank, plenty of the others are weary around him and you smelling like him can help keep others away.

Unlike with Floyd Him leaving clothes at your place is never out of forgetfulness. He plans everything out. Insistes that you put on his coat when it’s cold out and drapes it on you before you can say no. Hoodies aren't usually his thing, but his ass bought some just for  “forgetting” them at your place. They're actually some fancy name-brand ones. Still, even with his planning, he could not prepare himself with how good you looked in them…it was so big on you, and you looked so cute and now it smelled like you and….

The moray can form a true knot with its body, that it uses as leverage to pull on prey items like slippery fish. They can also use this method to create strong pressure to break food items into smaller pieces. It’s thought that the skill is passed on between individuals. So, if you want to escape eel cuddles…good luck but it's probably not going to happen. Even in his more human form his long arms and legs will be wrapped around you. Kinda funny thinking of the tweel's parents teaching them how to become living knots though.

Certain types of eels can change their sex. The leaf-nosed moray born male, transitions as they age, switching to female later in life. This transformation determines them as “sequential hermaphrodites” I like to headcanon that the tweens can also change sex or already have both in their mer form. 

Morays can have around 10,000 eggs at a time, and when the larvae are hatched, the eels are fully translucent. I like to think the boys started out as tiny little things you can hold in your hand.

Regular eels do seem to have some courtship rituals. Some of which being displays of behavior, such as graceful movements and vibrant color changes and I already like that headcanon of the tweels being bioluminescent. Maybe he convinced you to come down to his dorm's special pool one night and decided to show off for you. Showing off that beautiful glow while doing these cool tricks in the water. A positive reaction will likely be taken as acceptance, so unless you tell him no, you will receive some wet slimy eel-loving.

Male eels may compete with each other for the attention of females showcasing strength and health to impress a potential mate. Welp, time for Jade to invite you to a hike and show off, expect to be carried after he makes up after walking into an area, something about the grounds stability and how only a seasoned hiker like him knows the proper steps to safety. Dude will lift up a whole ass dead tree trunk stuck in your path. Will also be even more of a menace towards the other guys.

Eels also release pheromones into the water to attract and communicate with potential partners but...hmm you're just a human and on land. With the others being beasts and all, they would be able to smell it easily and know to stay the hell away from him but would his little shrimpy notice? I think at most that if it's something that you can smell it probably just seems like Jade has just smelled a bit…musky lately. He is probably around you even more and keeps close to see your reaction to it. He probably gets sad if you tell him he stinky and takes it as you not wanting him. If you compliment it? Very happy eel time.

As for the rest of what he does, it's little things like bringing you food which is often cooked by him, little trinkets that made him think of you, and getting territorial around others. The latter usually ends up with him not bothering to hide his teeth as he “smiles” at whoever is talking to you, likely having his hand on your shoulder or waist while doing so.

OK SO APH/ZANE/AARON IS THE POLYCULE EVER AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND

I have a little MyStreet rewrite cooking in my head that’s got this pretty prominently so yeah! Anyways have some HCs!!!

Aaron

Acts like he’ll kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll

People thinks he’s smart, but it’s just because he’s really quiet

He’s actually really fucking dumb /affectionate

Has a very weezy laugh

He/she/they, though most people use he

(Considering having him FTM He/Him but I can’t decide)

Didn’t really know much about gender and sexuality and stuff instill his sister came out as lesbian and she gave him a crash course

Used to struggle with internalized homophobia thanks to her dad being an ass but is now very comfortable in his own skin

Love language is physical touch and is chronically touch deprived, especially due to their years of isolation (just like me fr)

Intimidating when you first meet him, but I can guarantee you he’s secretly shitting his pants out of fear

A.K.A Social Anxiety Prime

RBF

Is such a worry wart, especially towards Zane and Aphmau

Used to have consistent nightmares, but ever since sharing a bed with Zane and Aphmau, they’ve pretty much stopped

On top of physical touch, he likes to do small acts of service

If either of his partners have a nightmare, she holds them through it and wakes up early the next day so that way they wake up to hot cocoa with cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract

His favorite food is anything with Cinnamon!

Aphmau

Acts like a cinnamon roll, will actually kill you

“Excuse me they asked for no pickles”

A plus sized queen!

She/Her but prefers masculine descriptors i.e. sir, Mr, boyfriend (looks pointedly at her being called the lord of phoenix drop rather than the lady)

Is super sweet and helpful unless you tick her off or mess with friends, at that point, may God bless your soul

Love language is acts of service and gift giving!!

This is super evident in MCD and it peaks through in Mystreet as well! So that definitely stays

Has a tendency to give too much and burn herself out

Anytime she finds a cool rock she has to keep it

Her giving you a rock is a big deal! It means she cares a lot, enough to give it away

Due to growing up poor she has a tendency to stock up on non perishable food and stress if they don’t have enough

Definitely had a crush on Katelyn when they were younger, it passed with time though

Is really smart common sense wise, really into logic puzzles and stuff

She knows everything. Your secret? I think you mean our secret.

Less so with book smarts but give her time and let her put what she needs to know in song form and she’s got it

ADHD

How does she learn these secrets? Well that’s between her and God

Her favorite food is Mangos and Mochi anything!

And last but certainly not least, Zane!

Looks like he’ll kill you, and depending on the day, he’ll either kill you or actually be a cinnamon roll

Was raised with ye old fashioned toxic masculinity drilled into his head by Garte leaving him really insecure about his gender and gender expression

Around college, he started coming more into his own and wearing makeup out and about (all of this up to now is p much cannon btw)

The divergence come when he also starts experimenting in other ways to like sometimes wearing skirts and the occasional dress

It still takes years for them to stop bringing an extra pair of more masculine clothes with him in case he gets too stressed or sees someone in public

They/He but doesn’t mind the occasional she

Asexual

While he really loves the colors pastel pink and purple, he still mainly wears black with those as accents

Has a backpack/bag they take EVERYWHERE

Going out? Take the bag. Going on a trip? Take the bag. Leaving the room? Take the bag.

Mans could survive the apocalypse with all the stuff he keeps in there. I’m taking sewing thread and needles, bandaids, Neosporin, fidget, toys, stuff, to doodle with, a book for when he gets bored, headphones, etc.

Has Autism

MLP Special Interest

Has emotional support Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle figurines in their bag (they remind him of Aaron and Aphmau respectively)

Mainly does vocal Stims but is not immune to hand flap propaganda

Sensory adverse (that’s what the point of the mask usually is)

Loves his mom very much, even if she can be a bit loud

Daddy issues, him and Aaron bond over this

His love language is quality time and gift giving (they regularly steal one of their father’s credit cards) (Garte has barely noticed)

Is the type to quietly sit beside or across from one of his partners when their stressed, maybe give them one of his hands and be a quiet comfort as he scrolls on the Internet, showing them cat videos/my little pony art

That or be like “You’re sad” throw a change of clothes at them and say “Get up we’re going to Olive Garden, don’t worry I’m paying”

Notices when his friends/partners look at something too long and you can bet your bippy that you’ll be receiving that during your next birthday/Christmas or maybe just tomorrow if he can’t wait

Honestly very book smart, he just doesn’t mention it

Has a PHD, though no one but Aphmau knows of what, the whole friend group have a betting pool on what it is and who will find out first (Aphmau didn’t count, she knows everything)

Loves hyperpop

Favorite Food is the pink Monster Energy Drink, dw that that’s not actually food

Hi there! I’m here to request #112 “I swear to you, as long as you’re by my side, you’ll never be harmed.” and #108 “When you love something, you protect it.” for our dear Merlin. (Sounds like some stuff he’d say to his beloved.) Ignore this part if you want to, but what if the beloved was a secret Druid? Love that someone writes for this fandom, especially since I just got into it! Hope you have a good day/night!

Absolutely! I agree with you anon, Merlin would say stuff like this :D and I’m happy to provide because I was in the same boat before XD Hope you enjoy!💖

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Forbidden Love

Merlin knows that if Arthur ever finds out about this, something terrible would happen to you. He can’t let that happen.

#108 “When you love something, you protect it.”

#112 “I swear to you, as long as you’re by my side, you’ll never be harmed.”

If there’s one thing Merlin is good at, it’s getting into trouble. A whole bunch of other things as well, but trouble is his forte. Gauis is always worried when Merlin disappears for a while. More so because he knows he will be the blunt of Arthur’s fury, but also because he doesn’t want Merlin’s magical secrets to be released.

But his disappearances had nothing to do with magic, but rather with you.

You were a Druid, known only to him. Merlin first saw you in passing, but after the whole Mordred incident, he’s been more inquired to learn about Druids. Then he accidentally ran into your camp one night after getting separated from Arthur. You and your people healed him up, but during his time there, you guys fell in love. Since then, he’s been sneaking out to see you.

But this time, you came to see him.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Merlin asked in tired shock, having just woken up to the sound of your soft frantic knocking on the physician’s door. He quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure Gaius was still sleeping, which he was.

“I need your help. It’s my people...we’re running low on supplies and...I don’t know who else to ask...” Your voice was weak and shaky as you tried to hold back tears. Merlin couldn’t stand to see you so upset, so he agreed to help at once.

Once he fixed himself up of course.

“Stealing from the king? Are you sure this is smart?” You asked the sorcerer as you and him sneaked through the dark torch-lit streets of Camelot, you pulling your hood tighter around your face.

“I’ve done it before. Arthur will yell for sure, but I’ll be okay.” Merlin reassured you while turning over his shoulder to give you that grin we all love. You smiled a bit in response, but then a frown returned to your face.

“It’s not just that Merlin...what if he or one of his guards finds me. I will surely be...” Your voice trailed off. Of course, you were always worried about Merlin’s powers being discovered, but he has hid them well so far. You would immediately be recognized as a Druid, committing a crime no less, and you would be executed on the spot.

Merlin could sense the fear in your voice and turned to give you a soft smile, placing a hand on your cheek.

“I swear to you, as long as you’re by my side, you’ll never be harmed.” He promised you, stroking your cheek slightly. You stared into his eyes for a bit, taking in that blue color before smiling slightly.

“I trust you.”

You and Merlin then continued your heist, unbeknownst to Arthur. He had to use his magic a couple of times to cause some diversions with stationary guards. The other times, you guys just hid until a patrol passed. Once you reached a storage room, where food and other supplies were stored, Merlin helped you bag as much as you could carry before you guys repeated the sneaking process all over again.

“You think this’ll be enough.” Merlin asked in a hush voice as you guys stopped near a secret exit out of Camelot’s walls, which will help you get back home easier.

“It’ll be more than enough. Thank you so much.” You beamed with a grin before moving to hug him. Merlin wrapped his arms back around you, relishing in your warmth as he nestled his head on your shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t need me past this point?” He asked, the thought of you walking alone in the woods making him worry. You pulled away from the hug with a smile on your face, eyes full of warmth.

“Merlin, I’ll be alright. You’ve risked enough for me already.” You told him in a hushed voice. He simply smiled a bit before moving to brush some hair behind your ear. As he did so, a beautiful rose seemed to appear out of nowhere and rest on your ear.

You blushed.

“When you love something, you protect it.” Merlin told you softly before grinning, a blush adorning his own face. You looked down at your feet, savoring this moment with him.

However, the sound of Camelot’s alarm bell rang, breaking the moment.

“You need to go.” Merlin said urgently, even though you both wish that weren’t true. You nodded sadly, but before you grabbed your things, you cupped his face and kissed him.

Everything else seemed to not matter for those few short moments.

“That’s a promise you’ll see me again.” You whispered before grabbing your bags of stolen goods and disappearing. Normally, Merlin would stay there, stunned, but the sounds of approaching guards caused him to be serious. But still, you were on his mind as he hoped you would get back safe.

Merlin then thought of something he could say to Arthur in the morning that would push away any suspicion.

But first he would have to think of something to say to Gaius, who was waiting for him furiously when Merlin returned home.

Hey bud. Got some Starburst duo headcanons for ya

Chris has an allergy to bees. They obviously can't sting him because of his steel skin, but whenever he's near them, he gets bad itchy rashes on himself (usually on his neck and face first) and has to get away from them before it gets worse

Jake loves mushroom toppings on his pizza. Chris loves pineapple and sausages on his

Jake loves the color red. Chris likes purple and pale pink

At certain times, Jake will panic about stuff and can sometimes exaggerate things a bit because of it, especially whenever he's trying to solve a case since he'll get a little too ahead of himself while still in the middle of putting things together, which can make him look a little like a drama queen during moments in front of others

Jake owns a fish named Sammy

Chris enjoys the rain at night during bedtime since it's peaceful to him

Chris' favorite animals are birds and horses

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I Like these, Buddy. I like them A WHOLE LOT @spider-jaysart

💙💖💙

If I may add a tad bit more or maybe expand on these;

- Sammy in particular is a small common clownfish and lives inside one of the biggest tanks they can afford that can fit inside the apartment’s living room. Jake consistently keeps his eyes on Sammy whenever he’s in the living room; he’s seen plenty of online videos of the worst fish owners imaginable and he’s determined not to repeat their mistakes

- One of Chris’ annoyances that can truly get to souring his mood would be seeing bad takes and posts from anywhere that state claims of ‘Superman is an alien who only does the good things because it makes us humans puny, insignificant and stupid compared to other beings’, ‘Superboy Red is only great at thing and that’s being an utter waste of genes and he can’t even do that right’, basically any takes that discredit his family is something he truly doesn’t appreciate

- Some of the classmates at Chris’ school often compare his relationship with Thara to that of Peter Parker and MJ Watson not just due to the latter having similar enough red hair to MJ but also her more outgoing and spunky personality that complements Chris’ more introspective and relatively reserved one brings in mind the similarities to Peter X MJ. Even Chris can comment that those comparisons aren’t necessarily unfounded

- Due to his 6 stomachs and physiology, Jake can tolerate eating less than adequate food at restaurants and is pretty resilient to food borne illnesses. That being all said, it also helps him detect if a meal or few aren’t healthy for regular humans to have less they risk food poisoning. Anytime Jake is in the kitchen whether it be for late night snacks or even volunteering to make dinner, he’s almost religiously very careful about what his hands touch and keeping them clean when possible so that he doesn’t risk cross contamination. Having Chris as a companion in the kitchen in turn becomes very handy via the latter having microscopic and x ray vision at his disposal.