it's mermay!!!!

Give You Hell (one-shot)

Synopsis: When you’re in a relationship with someone famous while being famous it can be difficult. But not for the Reader and Harry, yet when her past comes knocking, she’ll make sure to know where she stands.

Pairing: Harry Styles x fem!Reader

Genre: fluff, some minor angst, like microscopic 

Warnings: swearing, reference to past abusive relationship, but nothing explicit.

Word count: 3428

100% inspired by ‘All American Rejects’’ ‘Gives You Hell’

Dating someone famous while being famous yourself had pros and cons, much like everything in life. The cons mostly came from the outside, not from the inside. It was the opinions of others, thinking what they said mattered, the scrutiny of the press, hoping one of them would mess up, and they could run some bullshit article just so their numbers could go up, without a second thought of how the people involved felt, and it was some jealous fans who didn’t seem to comprehend the people they admired were actual human beings with feelings and thoughts and emotions and autonomy. But other than that, Y/N’s and Harry’s relationship was just like any other. Save for when their emotions bubbled over, millions of people heard them in songs.        They’d met at the iconic yellow-suit-Harry Brit awards. She’d been right next to Hugh Jackman opening the show, a red glittering bodysuit with a black and gold ring-master jacket, a top hat adorning her head as she dominated the stage. If Harry had been sloshed at that point (much like he was later on, but who was Y/N to say, given how most of the night was a blur for her), he would’ve absolutely started drooling at the sight of her, and he was one of the thousands who stood up, hollering and clapping as she and Hugh ended their performance.

       Much to his dismay though, Y/N wasn’t one of the people assigned to sit by his table, instead, she was a couple of rows behind, whispering something into Billie Eilish’s ear, the two erupting into uncontrollable laughter.        He felt like a creep as he tried to catch every possible glimpse of Y/N, her smile making his heart race. She’d been on his radar for a while, had even thought about asking her to collaborate on a song for ‘Fine Line’, but at the end of the day, it was an album of personal discovery (and when one of his producers told him Y/N was halfway across the world in the middle of Norwegian woods for the next half-year working on her own music, he didn’t want to be a bother). But seeing her then, Harry wondered why he hadn’t reached out on his own, especially after at the after-party Lizzo had dragged Y/N to him and introduced the two.        The following day, pictures of them dancing together, drinks in hands and drunken grins on their faces would sweep the web, sparking millions of rumours, but, at that moment, they didn’t care, nor did they care about what was written because as Harry twirled Y/N under his arm, as much as the connection was there, that night they went their separate ways. Even when they were drunk, they understood that about the other person, and wouldn’t accept anything else, but a sober and coherent ‘yes’.        Sometime midday the next day, Harry reached out to Y/N through a DM on Instagram checking in on how she was doing, which then turned into a six-hour FaceTime call.        “What do you mean you’ve never had a hangover?!”        Y/N laughed at Harry’s almost offended expression. “I mean I’ve never had a hangover. I’ve never thrown up while drunk or after being drunk, my head’s never hurt – nothing. I mean I’m tired, but that’s because I’m still on New York time and got to bed at like five AM.”        “You… are something else.”        She wiggled her eyebrows. “Is that something else something good?”        Y/N didn’t know, but when Harry saw her eyes sparkle, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately knew – she was it. “The best.”        “Well…” she bit her lip. “If I’m the best, would it be too forward of me to ask you out for a coffee?”        What Harry didn’t know was that when she saw him smile as if those were the best news in the world, her heart skipped as well, and she knew he was the one.        “Only if it’s my treat.”        “But I was the one who asked you out.”        “Yes, but you can pay for the second date.”        Holding in her squeals of joy was tough, but she raised her eyebrow, giving Harry a sly smirk. “Already so confident there’ll be a second date?”        Harry scoffed. “And a wedding!”        Seeing Y/N throw back her head as she laughed, made all sorts of butterflies fly through his stomach.        “Okay, Styles. I’ll take your word for it.”        Three months into the relationship, the two were booked to appear on The Graham Norton show together, which was also the first time they’d appear officially as a couple at a work/outing kind of a setting since the rumours started floating, and a picture of Harry kissing Y/N outside of a hotel room had sort of confirmed that.        “So, you two.” Graham pointed between Y/N and Harry with his cards. “Have started to date? Not to say anything Harry, but Y/N… I didn’t think boy-bands were your type.”        That made her lean over in laughter as Harry gave everyone a shocked face, before slumping back and pouting, nudging Y/N with his knee. “That’s not funny.”        “I mean it kind of is.”        “She was twelve when she swore off boy-bands.” Graham nodded, taking a sip of his wine. “Isn’t that what you said last time you were here?”        “Hey, it’s been ten years since I said that!” Y/N laughed. “Cut me some slack. All the people I was crushing on are married anyway… with kids… and could probably be my dads… I have issues, don’t I?”        Everyone exploded into giggles while Harry shook his head, chuckling.        “Love you with all of your issues.” He nudged her shoulder, and she nudged right back, taking a sip of her drink.        “Yeah, give it a couple of months. You’ll regret your words.”        The thing was Y/N was so wrong, and she’d never been happier to be so wrong. Each morning they were together, Harry woke up to her showering him with kisses or vice versa. As private as Harry was, his Instagram stories were now filled with pictures and small videos of them, of Y/N’s face half-covered by a blanket, glasses crooked as she smushed her cheek to his chest and watched a movie, or her eating breakfast while re-watching old Bones and Castle episodes with captions like ‘dunno how she keeps the food down’ and ‘she swears it’s just for research’, while her feed was full of candid Harry photos or her rummaging through his closet and showing everyone his immaculate style, and giving tips how others can recreate it (also she may or may not just use that as a reason to steal his clothes).        Generally, people loved it, and their love for one another. It was refreshing to see them enjoy each other’s company, and not be afraid to do so, especially now, given how it was a couple of days before Y/N ended her tour in New York in Madison Square Garden, to which Harry had specifically flown out for despite being in the middle of filming for ‘The Little Mermaid’. Three AM blinked on the clock, as the two finally drifted off to sleep after five hours of a passionate reunion when her phone dinged, indicating a message had arrived.        “Turn it off,” Harry grumbled into the skin of Y/N’s back. “’S too early.”        She hummed in agreement, furrowing her brows as her palm blindly searched for the offending device, and she squinted her eyes as the light burned her retinas before widening in shock at the message.        Harry felt her body go rigid, and he pressed a kiss to her neck. “Everythin’ alright, lovie?”        “Uh – “ she stuttered, trying to process the words on the screen. “Uh, yeah. Yes, everything’s fine. Just… some last-minute changes for the show. They want something really big for the ending, and some of the propositions are just…”        She could feel a smile stretch across Harry’s mouth. “Extravagant?”        “You could say that, yeah.”        “Sounds like it’s gonna be one hell of a show. Not that the others weren’t.”        Y/N switched the phone off wiping away the message first and then turned to cuddle into Harry’s chest. “It most certainly will.”        For the next two days, she was an anxious ball of mess, as her crew got everything ready, and her and her band rehearsed relentlessly before she asked all of them to gather at the studio to add a song to the setlist.        “It’s gonna be a couple more hours, Hazza,” Y/N murmured into the phone as Harry had called in to check on her. “ ‘M sorry. You don’t have to wait up for me. I know you’re still adjusting to New York time.”        “ ‘S alright,” he slurred, clearly already falling asleep but determined not to. “Can’t sleep without you anyway.”        At those words, Y/N’s heart did that stupid flipping thing it’d been doing ever since Harry entered her life to stay, and a shy grin blossomed on her lips. “You’re exhausted, sweetheart. But I’ll tell you what - if you do go to bed, I’ll be sure to wake you up with a kiss when I get back.”        “You promise?” She could hear the smile on his face.        “Swear it.”        “Alright, lovie. I’ll be waiting to cash in on that kiss.”        “I’ll run to give it to you as soon as I can. G’night.”        “See ya’ in a bit.”        Y/N let out a shudder as she heard the call disconnect. She entered back inside the studio and clapped her hands, drawing the attention of her producers and band members. “Where were we?”

***

       The hour before a show was always nerve-wracking for Y/N. It’s when the adrenaline truly started to rush, when her feet and palms got all tingly, and her ears and cheeks heated up. It was when their warm-up band exploded on stage, and the crowd got pumped up. But the best moment that night by far was right when she was about to run out, Harry had pulled her back by the wrist and kissed the living daylights out of her.        “You’re gonna kill it tonight,” he muttered against her lips, words skimming her mouth and making her smile as bright as the sun. She seemed to do that a lot around him. It’s why he now dedicated Golden to her every time he sang it.        “Thank you. For being here.”        Harry flicked her nose. “Always. Now go. People are waiting.”        When Y/N finally appeared on stage, pretty much glowing as brightly as the stage lights, her fans went wild, and even more so when she jumped, starting off the show. The whole time, her gaze flitted to backstage just to get a glimpse of Harry, and whenever she did, she saw him dancing, singing along, filming her having fun and some clips of himself as well, going absolutely ham to her songs.        As the night was moving towards the end, usually, she’d feel euphoria from giving a great performance, after hearing thousands of people sing her songs in unison, now Y/N felt closer to throwing up and fainting.        “So uh…” She pushed back strands of sweaty hair, hollers of people echoing in her head. “This is a very special show tonight. Umm… this is the first concert my boyfriend’s come t - .” She didn’t even get to finish the sentence before the cheers of the people interrupted her, deafening the girl even with the earplugs.        “But umm… it’s also a special show because two days ago someone reached out to me, and uh… he… well, he was as important of a person once the same way Harry is right now, and he wrote this.”        Y/N went over to where the piano chair was, lifted it and fished out her phone from it, revealing the message that’d been basically haunting her nights and days since receiving it.        “Breaking up with you was the biggest mistake I ever made.” To her own surprise, her voice was steady and sure, unlike her hands which were trembling like leaves in a storm. “I know you look happy and in love, but I know it’s not true. I’ve known you for five years, I know how to see through the mask you put on every day just to make sure others are happy while you yourself suffer an inauthentic life. But you do deserve to be happy. And I’ll be waiting for you if you decide to give us a chance again. I’ll be at your concert in Madison Square.” She looked out into the crowd. “You wrote a song once for me. If you sing it, that’s how I’ll know you feel the same.”        By the time she got to the end, there were no more shouts or screams, but confused murmurs. Y/N let out a shuddering breath, hoping that she could manage to do what she wanted, and everything didn’t fall apart. “The thing is, I’d like for Harry to come on stage, please.”        She could see the fear in his eyes as he jogged to stand next to her, but he disguised it with an overenthusiastic smile as he waved over towards the raging sea of people. He’d seen the message, had seen her reread it more than fifty times by that point, and as sure as he was in their relationship, when someone who held such importance, no matter if good or not, in someone’s life came knocking again, you could never be too sure what would happen. Harry didn’t want to say anything, believing if it was important enough, she’d tell him. Guess that was it.        “So, uh…” Y/N pulled Harry’s arms over her shoulders and grasped onto them, grounding them both. “This is for you.” Y/N looked over into the crowd before glancing over her shoulder, Y/E/C eyes meeting Harry’s wavering green ones. “And you,” she whispered so that only he could hear. “Hope you know I mean everything.”        As the cords started playing, she felt Harry unwarp his arms from where she’d been holding them over her shoulders and a smile erupted on her face.        “I wake up every evening,” Y/N sang, “with a big smile on my face, and it never feels out of place.”        “And you’re still probably workin’,” Harry’s voice joined in, grin as wide as the Cheshire cat’s, as he now had a microphone in hand, the other placing earplugs in his own ears, “at a nine-to-five pace… I wonder how bad that tastes.”        “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell,” the two harmonized, Y/N’s eyes locked onto the masses, imagining the face of her ex-boyfriend who had the audacity to send that message.        “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell.” Harry was looking at the crowd as well, now fully understanding the message and the person behind it, and although he lived by ‘treat people with kindness’, he couldn’t help but gloat at the fact he got to sing with the love of his life on stage, and basically serenade a break-up song to a person who didn’t know how to appreciate what he’d had.        Y/N cocked her head to the side. “Now, where’s your picket fence, love, and where’s that shiny car? It didn’t ever get you far. You’ve never seemed so tense, love. I’ve never seen you fall so hard. Do you know where you are?” It was hard not to smile, knowing where she was and who she was with. Harry threw an arm over Y/N’s shoulders as she sang, giving a mock sad look, while Harry pouted. “And truth be told, I miss you… And truth be told, I’m lying!”        “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well.” Y/N pointed towards where she imagined her ex was standing. “Then she’s the fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell! Hope it gives you hell!” For a split second, the music slowed down, guitar strumming in the air, as Harry pulled Y/N by the palm and towards his chest.        When the next lyrics came out of his mouth, he knew them to be true as he sang them to the man, he’d heard Y/N talk about, to the man who thought everything he’d done to her, every horrible word and deed was justified, to the man who thought breaking someone else down was the only way to bring themselves up. “Now tomorrow you’ll be thinking to yourself, where did it all go wrong, but the list goes on and on.”        “And truth be told, she misses you,” Harry hummed, Y/N letting out a large laugh, holding onto his bicep, as he slightly changed the lyrics. “And truth be told, she’s lying! When you see her face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you walk her way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!  When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well.” Harry sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Then she’s the fool you’re just as well hope it gives you hell.”        “Now you’ll never see,” Y/N took over the song. “What you’ve done to me.” She placed a hand over her heart. “You can take back your memories, they’re no good to me. And here’s all your lies, you can look me in the eyes, with that sad, sad look that you wear so well.” She dragged her finger down her cheek, giving a pout while Harry mimicked her stance before turning the mic to the audience.        “When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell,” the crowd sang back with such vigour, Y/N was sure the whole ground was shaking just from their voices, and the clapping and stomping to the drum rhythm would bring the whole world down. “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well, then she’s the fool you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell!”        The two were jumping around the stage like madmen, adrenaline filling their veins. “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!” “Hope it gives you hell!” Everyone else repeated.        “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!” “Hope it gives you hell!”        “When you sing this song and sing along, well you’ll never tell. Then you’re the fool, I’m just as well, hope it gives you hell!” Y/N grinned once more, placing her hand over her heart, meaning every word – she was just as well. She had amazing friends, a career that’d flourished, and a person who loved her more than words could describe.        “When you hear this song, I hope that it will give you hell!” Harry crooned down the mic, knowing their happiness would, Y/N’s happiness would give him hell. And he enjoyed it, knowing how good her life was.        “You can sing along I hope that it puts you through hell!” Her voice became the only sound as the last word echoed around everyone, her chest heaving up and down from the exertion, from all of the emotions running through her body as well as the overwhelming feeling of not only having Harry watch her perform but to end up performing with him.        When his hands wrapped around her body, it startled her out from the daze, and the popping confetti startled her even more, as the rest of her band joined the two to take their bows, grins on all of their faces while they did so.        “Not the song you thought I’d sing, is it?” Y/N laughed into the mic, Harry’s arms tightening around her waist. “There’s a reason I blocked your number, let alone you from my life. Don’t think I won’t do it again.”        “But I would like to say thank you, to the asshole in question,” Harry said, making Y/N’s forehead scrunched up. “You let go of the best person ever; you had the honour of calling yourself her boyfriend, but instead, you chose to walk away. So, thank you for that. Because now I’ll have that honour and pleasure for the rest of our lives.”        Yeah. It was one hell of a show.

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Everything tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @magicwithaknife​ @ollyoxenfrees​ @bnhvrdy​ @tvwhoresblog​ @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl​ @sj-thefan​ @teenwolflover28 @lestersglitterglue​ @im-squished​

Harry Styles tags: @sarcasticallywitty15​ @breezykpop​ @girlboss99​ @harrystylesdoesntknowiexist​ @alliyjane​ @sirtommyholland​

A/N: I love ‘All American Rejects’ and have been listening to ‘Gives You Hell’ non stop. It’s the best break-up song ever, and you won’t convince me otherwise. 

P.S. my tags are always open :)

P.S.S. please don’t repost my work on other platforms without my explicit written permission. reblogs are fine :)

Origins

Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary: Reader feels homesick after a particularly gruesome case. Spencer can’t buy a plane ticket, but he can try to help recreate part of home with them.

A/N: hey heyyyy- this is my eighth fic for my 30 fics in 30 days for April- I’m very nervous for this one to be honest- idk if it’s going to be a lot of peoples cup of tea- this one had me researching a lot lol since I have no clue about boats at all lol- I hope I did the request at least a bit of justice (sorry in advance if I fuck up any terms or anything) but I think I did pretty well with my research (I think). I originally got the request from @imagining-in-the-margins when she handed it over to me also thanks for some help on the folklore parts too! Here it is-

I always want to hear from you guys so feel free to drop me an ask here- and hopefully y’all enjoy!!

Warnings: ~disclaimer lol I know nothing about boating~ Anyway into the other warnings- Takes place directly after season 3 episode 8 (Lucky with Floyd Feylinn) Spencer gets really fucking sea sick- poor baby, Reader is from overseas (originally Cornwall in the request but I made it a bit more vague) and Reader’s father is a fisherman

Main Masterlist Word Count: 1.8k

The air that floated around whenever I was out on the water, salty sea water or fresh salt water always seemed to breath life back into my lungs. The river that we were boating on was quite salty near its widest point, tides brought the saltwater in to mix with the fresh making the water quite brackish.

I was lucky to still live somewhat near water after I had moved over to America. I hadn’t had the luxury of picking exactly where I was going to live and work when I transferred to the FBI, I just happened to draw all the right cards. With my schedule I didn’t go out on the water as much as I used to, definitely not as often as I had as a child. I yearned often to feel the specific type of air people only felt when on the water, especially when my job got particularly gruesome.

Gruesome was a way to define the last case my team and I had been brought in to investigate. My stomach churned at the thought of our last unsub, his name couldn’t leave my mind and the images of his heinous acts certainly didn’t leave either. Floyd Feylinn Ferell had been his name, though I wished I could forever scrub it from my memory. His crimes were too vile that everything seemed to trigger a memory, specifically of the frozen corpses.

The team had even noticed how affected I was by the case, often sending me worrying looks whenever it looked like blood drained from my face over sheer shock- just like the corpses. Cases had been gruesome before, sure, but there was something about this one made me feel frozen by fear.

I needed air, and not just any old air.

Homesickness was another factor that was making me feel so ill. I hadn’t been back to my home in so long, the only time I spoke with my father was over the phone, no video chats at all. He was just as technophobic as Spencer, maybe even more so to be honest. My father’s life as a fisherman hadn’t made him exceptionally tech savvy. He did know how to work a phone now thanks to you, which was another similarity to him and Spencer. I had helped Spencer learn how to work his new smartphone just last week.

Spencer, my lovely boyfriend of a few months, wanted to help quell my dark thoughts as best as he could with all of his knowledge. His first solution was to always revert to books, which I didn’t mind, it only made him more special to me. He tried to find books that would remind me of home- and get my mind off of gruesome cases that were closed and shut cases.

Hotch had then suggested the team take a day off, just one. After weeks of back to back cases with little to no reprieve we’d finally get some time alone, even if it was only for a day. All I needed was one day to get on the water and cleanse myself of the negative thoughts I had been feeling lately.

It was actually Spencer that had first suggested this excursion. He had come to one of our dates with his arms full of pamphlets all about renting a boat for the day. He also had definitely read up about boats, I’d expect nothing less of Spencer. I had learned it was his way of subtly showing affection, researching anything that I even was passively interested in.

Spencer packed even more than I did when we set off on the day long date, packing to the brim at least one too many bags- to be honest he packed two too many bags.

Once we had gotten the boat out into the water, the relief was almost instant. It was like my body knew I was home. I wasn’t actually at home of course, but it somehow knew I was near the water again. Honestly, Spencer hadn’t been far off when he called me a mermaid on one of our first dates, I had gone on a ramble about my love for it.

The water wasn’t nearly as clear as where I had grown up, much more dull in my opinion. But, the breeze that danced across my skin as well as the water made me feel more at home then I had been in a long time. After letting the mist spray onto my cheeks for a while I looked over to check on Spencer, who was not doing well by the looks of it.

Spencer’s face was twisted up in a grimace, not used to being in a boat. Until I had asked him a few weeks ago, to make sure it would be safe to go out on the water with him, I hadn’t even been sure he could swim. I also wasn’t that surprised that he had this reaction, it would have been less of a problem if it was a boat that I had picked out and bought. But, I’d take what I’d get if only to be by the water.

He pretended to hide his urge to dry heave over the side of the small boat that I had rented for the weekend. He looked almost green at this point, I knew he was only staying for my benefit at this point making me a tad bit sad. Water definitely seemed to have the opposite effect on Spencer compared to me, being on the water always felt like instant relaxation to me.

I still, however, didn’t want him to feel any major discomfort like he was obviously feeling so I decided to pipe up since he wouldn’t tell me himself, “Are you sure you’re ok enough to stay, Spencer?”

He pulled his life vest around himself as tight as he could while crossing his arms around his stomach. It took him a second to answer and in that time I almost started to turn the boat around back to the bay.

“I’m fine!” He squeaked out and I could see a shiver run through him. If I had offered to turn the boat around he’d most definitely have given me a glare, not wanting me to turn it around for his own sake. I squinted my eyes in suspicion, he was not completely fine obviously, but if he was insistent on staying maybe I could find something to distract him from it.

“Do you want to hear a sea shanty or do you want me to tell a regular story?” I asked out into the wind, thinking that might distract him from his nausea.

“A story, but you can’t call them regular stories.” He teased back as well as he could with the urge to dry heave, as if he didn’t know what I had meant. I scooted a little closer to him before I prepared myself to tell my story.

Selkies were always the ones I started out with whenever I told the stories I had grown up with. Despite its dark undertones I had latched onto the story as a child, finding it similar to the mainstream perception of what mermaids were. Though I’m reality seals that could transform into humans were a far cry from mainstream ideas of mermaids, a Merrow would have been a better comparison.

I always gave Spencer the origins of the story, he liked to know exactly where they had come from and how I had heard about the story in the first place, “As you know by now the folklore about Selkie’s originates from Scotland. Well- let me think about what I haven’t told you about Selkies before…” I pondered for a moment before remembering an aspect of the Selkies powers I hadn’t educated Spencer on yet. There was no doubt in my mind that he probably had all this information stored away in his brain somewhere, it was nice to know that someone genuinely cared about the stories I liked to tell. “Selkies are immortal, but they can be killed by other creatures. And I know I’ve told you that part, but I haven’t told you that they are generally killed by sharks when they are in seal form.”

I then went into the whole lore surrounding Selkie’s immortality. My hands were waving around animatedly as I talked, just like how the small waves were rocking our boat. They had definitely calmed down by now, hopefully Spencer would feel better soon.

Once I finished my tale I beamed over at him, my mood had brightened significantly over this trip, even though I could sense that Spencer’s had not. Though the story might have helped, he seemed a little less sickly now. He then managed to ask again without puking, “Could you tell another story? Maybe about the Kelpies? Or the Pixies of Cornwall? You can pick anything though really, I love listening to your stories.”

My heart swelled enough from his words that I thought it might burst. I wouldn’t have expected anything less of Spencer, he always hunted for more knowledge about things he was maybe more ignorant about compared to other topics.

I opted to then tell him about the Kelpies, who were also water dwelling creatures, before moving onto the pixies. He even seemed to be getting attached to the same stories that you favored as a child, and even as an adult.

I looked over at him as I finished my last little bit of information that I felt I could muster up today. A smile filled with fondness crept onto my face, his fluffy hair strewn about. It was cute despite his lingering sea sickness.

His face was remarkably less green now, my stories must have soothed him which made me feel heat run to my cheeks. Each time Spencer took interest in my origins I felt deeper feelings bubbling up, that were more than what we had expressed yet. Instead of voicing my full feelings just yet, I leaned forward to give him a chaste kiss on the forehead. He may have not looked green anymore, but I’d wait to give him a kiss on the lips until after we got back to shore, just in case something was to happen.

“Can you sing now?” I knew that he was not requesting me to sing any silly old song. He wanted me to sing the sea shantys that my father had taught me as a child. Not that I minded his request, I’d do anything to make him happier and I loved singing them anyway.

I smiled brightly as I guided the boat back to shore while I sang, already feeling lighter. It had not just been the water this time that made me feel better, it was also because of Spencer. He had taken so much care to help me feel more connected with home, loving to learn about your origins.

Ask Me Anything

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All works: @shotarosleftpinky @oreogutz @90spumkin @kyra-morningstar @s1utformgg @takeyourleap-of-faith I’m sorry 😭

All MGG characters: @muffin-cup @willowrose99

Spencer Reid/CM: @calm-and-doctor @destiny-tsukino @safertokiss @slutforthegubes @onlyhereforthefanfics @jareauswifey

Captain Swan Movie Marathon: “Carolina Moon”

Here is my second submission to the @captainswanmoviemarathon event!! This one is a modern au of the Nora Roberts tv movie (adapted from one of her novels) Carolina Moon. The main female character in the movie is psychic/clairvoyant (I’ll admit, I’m not too sure on the distinction between the two) and I thought her visions and what she goes through in connection to them made a nice real world parallel to Emma’s magic. (There’s also a scene in here where the male lead says something that I could so perfectly see Killian saying to Emma… I just cannot wait to get to that point!)

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this romantic thriller with some murder mystery elements.  There are some instances of abuse and violence in here though - which I feel like I should mention, since that’s a little darker than my typical style. Most of them are in flashbacks of Emma’s past, or in visions she has of victims, more than in the actual present day plot, still I wanted to make people aware before we got too far.

Please enjoy! (I’d love to hear what you think.)

Chapter One

July 1993

The water at their hideaway always feels so good. She could sink into it until her head slips below the surface and never, ever want to come up for air. It’s cooler, more luxurious than even the rich, satiny sheets on the trundle bed those rare nights she gets to sleep over at Rose’s. Emma Swan’s gangly, 13-year-old limbs slice through the murky water as if the constant humidity and sultry air of Storybrooke, South Carolina can’t penetrate here in their little haven. She knows, of course, logically, that the real world isn’t all that far away. The shaded pond she and Rose discovered two summers ago is just a short trek into the woods at the furthest edge of Rose’s family’s boundless acres. Still, it feels removed enough to bring Emma a sense of peace and contentment she gains nowhere else.

Looking over her shoulder to the large, smooth boulder jutting up out of the pond at the bank where they left their flip flops and cutoff denim shorts, she can see her best friend stretched out with her new book where they had spread their towels on the rock’s surface, just in the wash of warming sunlight that streams through the tree branches overhead. Her friend’s flawlessly creamy pale skin is prone to burning, but at the moment Rose seems willing to take the risk for the benefit of lazing cozily to read as she dries in the sun after taking a quick dip. Shaking her head, Emma plunges back under, happy to stay in the chilly water a bit longer herself. She knew as soon as they’d met outside Rose’s house that afternoon and Rose had held the newest entry in her favorite mystery series in her hand that she wouldn’t be able to resist burrowing into those pages for long.

It’s funny, Emma supposes, but that’s exactly what bonded she and Rose in the first place. They might seem different on the surface, but in the end, neither of them quite fit with everyone else, and so they gravitate to each other, and have ever since Emma first arrived in Storybrooke as an eight-year-old orphan. They’re willing to give each other at least one other person who takes them as they are and with whom they won’t have to pretend. Emma doesn’t care if Rose wants to read quietly and tell her about the stories she’s already finished instead of picking out dresses for the next cotillion class or preening in front of the mirror to practice batting her eyelashes to charm boys or bragging to Emma about which ones she intends to kiss. Her sister Ruby, who shares the same thickly shining, burnished mahogany hair and pretty pink lips but little of her fraternal twin’s calming, gentle personality, does enough of that for the both of them. Their mother, a former debutante and southern belle, delights in the one daughter’s traditional coquettishness, and despairs of the other’s shyness, a true throwback to another time who wants nothing more than to see both daughters marry well and retain their places atop the social ladder. In turn, Rose doesn’t mock Emma for her thick, dark-framed glasses or secondhand clothes, nor does she cringe away from the “fits” that sometimes take hold of her friend, making strange, disturbing scenes Emma can’t understand flash across her mind with such intensity they sometimes knock her off her feet. Emma knows Rose’s mother and sister find her an unsuitable and embarrassing companion for Rose, but she is eternally grateful her friend seems able to see the best in anyone - even a lost girl nobody else wants - and so blithely acts as though she has no idea of the rest of her family’s opinions.

Cringing even while still submerged in the pond’s depths and practically invisible, Emma tries not to think of her unwanted visions. Her strict, hypocritical, and more than a bit deranged foster father claims she’s possessed - and more than once has taken her episodes out on her hide. The man swears he’s beating the devil out of her and putting the fear of God in Satan’s place when he takes the thick leather strap to her shoulders, back and legs until she bleeds, but Emma has already lived long enough in a cruel and unfair world to know that his violence and “discipline” have less to do with parenting and concern for her soul, and more to show for his own twisted mind and overindulgence in the bottle. She wants to hide her spells from him, but when they come on her so abruptly and with such power, they are impossible to miss. She can’t fathom how a person like him was deemed fit to take in and care for a child, but it seems to be her lot, and so she simply grits her teeth and survives.

It’s different when the spells happen around Rose; the slight brunette merely rests a cool, steadying hand on Emma’s forehead or her arm until it passes, helps Emma stand until she feels in control again, listens as she attempts to make sense of whatever she’s seen, and most importantly… believes her. If only she could stay in the huge house Rose’s family calls home. She’d cook, clean, do chores, and stay in the servant’s quarters, Emma isn’t picky. It would still be a far sight safer than the situation she had in the rundown shack with the monster who’d been deemed her caretaker. Barring that, she would honestly rather live wild in these woods and survive off the land. She knew which plants and berries were safe to eat, Graham, her friend and a fellow orphan now happily adopted, had taught her how to fish; it wouldn’t be easy, but she’d get by, and at least no one would lay a hand on her again.

This afternoon, those eerie images she sometimes had seem far away as she splashes up out of the water, trying to arc playfully like a mermaid as she breaks the surface. Drawing in a big gulp of air after staying underwater so long, Emma startles at the sound of teasing laughter, and whirls to see three figures on the bank where she and Rose left their shoes and shorts. 

“Well, look here,” calls out a taunting voice that never fails to set Emma’s nerves on edge. “It’s the baby beached librarian and her drowned rat friend!” none other than Emma’s nemesis Killian Jones crows from his vantage point on dry land.

Rose sits up ramrod straight, book still in hand and annoyed scowl on her face at the quiet of their sanctuary being interrupted. She isn’t genuinely angry, though; for all that she and her sister shared little in common, she and her two years older brother are affectionately close. “Shut up, Killy!” she shoots back, throwing in the childhood nickname they all know he hates. “Who asked you to come looking anyway?”

The boy standing next to Killian speaks up next, making Emma scowl just as playfully as Rose had moments before. Graham Hunter might as well be her big brother; he’s the closest thing she’d had to family since her parents were lost in a car crash and she was thrown into the foster care system. Be that as it may, he and Killian Jones are thick as thieves, and he’ll give her a hard time for all he’s worth in while in the presence of his buddy. “We just wanted to swim,” he calls across the water to the two girls, smirking at Emma, now standing in the water with one hip jutting out and hands planted on her waist. “How were we supposed to know you two were infesting it?”

“Ha!” Emma jeers back, the affront plain in her voice; despite the fact that the entire routine is like a practiced girls-versus-boys exchange they’ve all engaged in countless times. There isn’t much else to do for entertainment in their sleepy little one-horse town. “You idiots know this is Rose and I’s hideaway, fair and square!”

“Well, Rose’s anyway,” a third voice cuts in snidely.

The cruel jab reminds Emma once more that she is just a charity case, quite possibly only included in anything at all because of her friend’s kind heart, and causes her gaze to cut sharply to the third member of the boys’ little crew, hanging back slightly in the shadows behind Killian and Graham as he always does. Her green eyes narrow to slits in genuine dislike and suspicion. Where before her animosity was largely for show, when they land on Walsh Ozman it is all too real.

She has never understood why the other two boys - jokers and annoyances though they may be, but good guys when it comes right down to it - hang out with Walsh at all.  Where Graham and Killian are much more cut from the same cloth - athletic, outgoing, well-liked and pleasant - Walsh is a splindy, sniveling character, complaining and whining whatever their little trio gets up to. He lives not far from Emma’s foster father’s cabin with his single mother - a bushy-haired redhead who seems strangely overprotective and attached to her only child. Most people give the property a wide berth, except when high schoolers teepee it the whole month of October, and the general town consensus is that Zelena Ozman might be a witch and to steer clear. Still, beyond all of that, Emma might have been able to look past the boy’s circumstances and see him for himself - she of all people knew the gift it was not to be judged by where a person came from - if Walsh hadn’t simply given her “the willies”. Even standing too close to him made the fine hairs at the nape of her neck stand on end - and not in the way that nearness to Killian sometimes did; an altogether much more pleasant tingle, even if she was just as unable to explain one as the other.

“We could just take their things,” Walsh suggests, holding up the threadbare, faded jeans Emma had left on the bank. “Make them walk back in their skivvies.” The wicked smile on his face makes Emma’s stomach turn over sickly.

Something sharp flashes in Jones’ eyes, his nostrils flaring slightly and his head giving a subtle shake of dissent that Emma can see even at the distance she stands away from him. Protectiveness, chivalry, or maybe the honor of a southern gentleman passed down to him through generations of his impressive family line, whatever it is, it sparks to life in his eyes at that moment as he quashes Walsh’s mean-spirited suggestion in no uncertain terms. “That’s my little sister you’re talking about Oz,” he growls, smacking the worn material from the smaller’s boy’s hands, even if the article of clothing isn’t Rose’s at all.

Emma feels her breath rush back into her lungs, though she continues to watch the guys warily for whatever they might do or say next. Before long, they grow bored of standing around and move on, hollering out age old taunts of “Bye, losers” and “Hey, smell ya later” to Emma’s derisive snort and Rose completely ignoring them to flip open her book again.

However, even with the intruders gone, it seems as if the perfect comfort of their retreat has been shattered by the unsettling interruption.  Soon, Emma wades to the shore and Rose clambers down from her perch, to dress once more and return to the world outside. For a moment, as she refastens her jeans around her skinny waist, Emma feels a strange prickling along the fine hairs on her arms… like they’re being watched. She jerks around, searching the surrounding trees and brush, but can’t see or hear a thing.

Rose’s small hand takes hers, snapping Emma out of the moment. “What is it?” she whispers, only true caring in her voice. “Did you sense something?”

Emma nods, but can’t give her suspicions voice. Usually her vision are clearer than that - this had just been heavy breathing and like looking at herself and Rose through another person’s eyes, outside her own body.

Rose stooped to grab the little canvas bag she’d bought along with water bottles, towels, and a second book in it. “Hey, don’t worry, okay?” she offers, hopeful and kind as always. “You’ll figure it out. Wanna meet back out here tonight? Secret Sister bonfire?” she winks mischeivously. “I have to get to dinner now. You know how Mama hates it if I’m not washed up and properly attired for the evening meal - or a second late. But we can talk some more then, maybe you’ll remember more and it will be clearer.”

Emma nods gamely. “The stars’ll be beautiful by midnight,” she suggests. “And we’ll definitely have the place all to ourselves.”

“Since we were so rudely interrupted,” Rose chimes in with a giggle and roll of her eyes.

“Shake on it, pinkie swear,” they say together in practiced unison, executing a complex handshake that ends with their pinkies hooked together and wide, matching grins on both their faces.

“Thanks Rose,” Emma whispers sincerely, trying to speak around the lump in her throat as if it’s no big deal. “I’ll be out here as soon as I can sneak away.”

Rose, for her part, wraps her taller, golden-haired friend into a tight, momentary hug. “Hey, we’re Secret Sisters! You can count on me.  I’ll see you then!”

They part ways at the edge of the forest, Emma heading to the rundown cabin that serves as her nightmarish version of a home and Rose to the pristine, Jones mansion standing tall over all the surrounding land. Rose looks back over her shoulder with a smile and wave that bolsters Emma, and the memory fades back into the haze of the past…

Eighteen years later….

September 2011

The blaring of the horn as a sports car whizzed by, barely missing the nose of Emma’s beat-up yellow VW where it had begun to edge out into the country intersection jarred her back to the present with a gasp and painful jolt to her chest. Panting for a moment as she gripped the steering wheel, Emma tried to clear her head and calm the pounding of her heart at the near-miss.

‘Get it together,’ she berated herself. It might have seemed like only yesterday as she remembered that sunny afternoon at the swimming hole, but that day had been nearly two decades ago. She was a grown woman, had made a way for herself, fighting tooth and nail for every step forward, and she answered to no one. She had learned to stand up for herself, to control her visions and use them for good, and was a special consultant for the NYPD. But, more than all of that, she had come back to this place to find peace, to lay to rest the ghosts that followed her everywhere else she’d gone in the years between, once and for all. If she expected other to leave the past in the past, she’d first have to manage it herself.

She’d had no way to know as she and Rose parted that afternoon with promises and plans for later that it would be the last time she would ever see her friend. Emma had harbored the pain and the guilt and the unanswered questions ever since. Finally, it was time to meet the gazes of all of those who’d stared at her in suspicion before she’d been packed up and moved away once more, and it was time she found answers. She wasn’t the scared, whipped, mistreated adolescent she had been at 13. What she had lived through then wasn’t her fault, nor was what had happened to Rose that muggy July midnight. 

And if she had to return to Storybrooke, South Carolina to lay that burden down… well, it was long past time she did.

Tagging: @captainswanmoviemarathon​ @teamhook​ @revanmeetra87​ @lassluna @kmomof4​ @searchingwardrobes​ @jennjenn615​ @hollyethecurious​ @stahlop​ @winterbaby89​ @lfh1226-linda​ @therooksshiningknight​ @thejollyroger-writer​ @artistic-writer​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @tiganasummertree​ @xsajax​ @spartanguard​ @laschatzi​

When I saw you're Little Mermaid AU. I instantly followed, because I'm a big fan of Disney and Pokemon, also what about Sleeping Beauty with WaterLilyShipping?

Waterlilyshipping and Sleeping Beauty. I can work with that and I'm trash for waterlilyshipping.

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

• King Kabu and Queen Melony finally had their first child, Prince Milo (Sorry Gordie, I love you. Maybe next time)

• They wanted a child for the longest time and now that they have one. They are celebrating his birth with the biggest party ever and everyone is invited

• A neighboring kingdom that they are in alliance with had a child around the same time, about a month into the preparation for birthday celebration. It was a little girl named Nessa

• To strengthen their alliance, it was decided that Milo and Nessa are to marry when they are 21 and the betrothal will be announced at the Milo's celebration party

• To no one's suprise, the good fairies arrived to the party to give gifts to Milo. There were 7 good fairies.

• First Great Fairy Opal gave her gift to Milo. The gift of Peace. He will be always be a peaceful person.

• Leon gave Milo his gift next. The gift of Harmony as in Milo will be friends with everything, pokemon, human and creature

• Then Raihan gave his gift, the gift of strength. This boy will be swol.

• Bea's gift to Milo was endurance to go along with his strength

• Peirs' gift was voice. Milo will sing like an angel.

• Marnie's gift was optimism. She thought that was very important and wants this boy to be a sunshine child.

• Bede's gift was intelligence. He wants Milo to be a fast learner

• Then there was Gordie. He struggled for weeks thinking of a gift to give but he couldn't find one.

• "I give you the gift of fashion, no that sounds dumb. The gift of sneezing with his eyes opened, no that's even dumber.." etc etc

• Suddenly, with ominous wind entering the room, Oleana, the evil fairy entered

• Years prior, she was defeated by Kabu and was banished from the kingdoms. But Kabu couldn't kill Oleana since if she dies, Opal dies. They two fairies are twins and their magic is intertwined. Opal said she wouldn't want die until the other fairies, who she sees as her children, are ready to thrive without her help.

• "I am here to give a gift to the brat and you can't stop me." She hovers over Milo, "He's a cutie. It would such a shame if he were to die early."

• "Listen all, and listen well! The prince will indeed grow with peace and beauty. Beloved by all that know him. But before the sunset on his 21st birthday, he will prick his finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel and die!"

• She leaves and chaos breaks out. No one can believe that the prince will die so soon.

• Opal can't undo the spell because since birth the two can't undo each other's spells and the other dairies are too weak to undo the spell.

• Gordie piped in, "I haven't given Milo my gift yet. I know I can't undo Oleana's spell, but I can alter it."

• "Sweet Prince, if through this wicked witch’s trick, a spindle should your finger prick. A ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give to thee. Not in death, but in sleep. That's what the prophecy will keep. And from this slumber you shall wake, with true love’s kiss, the spell shall break"

• For safety of their son, Kabu and Melony ordered that all the spinning wheels in the kingdom were destroyed. They could just import flax and make clothes. They got most if their money from exporting foods. Those that had jokes spinning fibers into treads, the couple offered them new jobs.

• But the fear of Oleana kidnapping Milo was still there. The fairies argued for hours over what to do next. Bea suggested fighting Oleana, Bede suggested making a deal with her. Etc.

• Leon made a suggestion, "This is probably the most heart breaking suggestion but it's the only way to secure Milo's safety. Raihan, Piers, Gordie, and I will raise Milo as our nephew away from civilization. We will all go by different names and Milo will be returned to his parents the night of his 21st birthday."

• After discussing this further, Kabu and Melony reluctantly agreed. It was for Milo's safety. When he was 3 years old, The squad took him and went to live in a cottage deep in the Slumbering Weald

• The squad could no longer use their magic and they also had hid their wings which meant they could no longer fly.

• They all went by new names. Leon was now Dande, Raihan was Kibana, Piers was Nerio, Gordie was Morris, and Milo was Percy

• Milo grew into a fine young man. He was handsome, charming, and has the biggest heart. He was basically a sunshine child and a gentle giant.

• It took some time for the fairies to get used to using no magic, but they managed.

• To survive, they would raise wooloo, mareeps, and other pokemon to sell wool and other goods. They also farmed fruits and vegetables to sell. They cared and love each and every pokemon. Milo was never allowed to go and sell the goods with his uncles though.

• Over time, Milo met a young girl that called herself Rurina. She was smart and sassy girl that loved to go out to fish and explore the forest and its lakes.

• They became fast friends and loved each others company.

• Milo showed her all the pokemon he raises, she taught him how to swim and fish. He taught her about vegetables and berries, she taught him about seashells. They would dance together by the lake for fun. Etc.

• Though Milo got bummed out when she would leave before sunset, which mean she couldn't stay for dinner. He couldn't go with her when she invited him to her home to eat dinner because his uncles never let him out of the forest.

• When Milo was about 16, she stopped showing up to the forest which made him super sad

• They secretly had crushes on each other

• Then Milo's 21st birthday. The squad had Milo go out into the forest to pick so many berries that the basket will over flow, just to keep Milo out of the cottage long enough so they can get everything ready.

• The plan was to make Milo a nice prince outfit and a huge birthday cake. But here's the thing, they are bad at making things.

• They usually always bought clothes at the markets once they finished selling their goods.

• The fact that they survived 18 years without magic is a miracle.

• Piers and Raihan tried to make the outfit as they bickered over the color but it looked like a hot mess. Poor Gordie was the model for the outfit. Meanwhile Leon tried to make a 21 layered cake that needed a broom to be held up. They should have had Gordie bake the cake instead of Leon.

• Enough was enough and busted out their magic wands after they closed and barricaded the house so no one can see the magic.

• Round two had better results. Piers made the outfit, Raihan cleaned the house, Gordie made a crown for Milo, and Leon made the beautiful cake, with only 5 layers this time.

• Raihan was bitter over not making the outfit and the outfit was PINK. The outfit for Milo should be BLUE. And a battle over color broke out between Piers and Raihan. Gordie and Leon minded their own business.

• Unfortunately the battle of colors caused magic to seep out from the chimney and a murkrow that was owned by Oleana saw this a reported it to her.

• She had been hunting down Miko for the past 18 years so her curse will come true.

• Meanwhile in the forest, Milo ran into his friend Rurina again after all these years. His heart fluttered because she became even more beautiful than he remembered. They caught up and danced by the lake like when were younger.

• Milo invited her over to the cottage to join him in celebrating his birthday. She agreed and Milo ran off to the cottage because he needs to help with making dinner like usual.

• Milo was greeted by his uncles. They had an amazing outfit in a nice green color (Gordie changed it to Green because he was done with Piers and Raihan fighting) and a delicious cake ready.

• For his birthday his uncles are taking him somewhere special. Milo asked his he can take his friend Rurina with him but his uncles shut the idea down.

• Milo went to his room to sulk. The squad felt bad because Milo was most likely in love with Rurina but he is still betrothed to Nessa.

• Rurina went back to her home. Turns out she was Princess Nessa. She didn't want to go to the celebration of Prince Milo's return. She knows she's betrothed to him, but she never met him. She would much rather spend the day with Percy instead after all she was in love with Percy.

• She told her parents about being in love with Percy but they said no and she went like, "fine, I'm going to his humble birthday celebration anyway" and ran off into the forest again.

• Milo got dressed in the outfit and wore the crown. He felt conflicted. He was super happy and excited to finally leave the forest and see what is beyond it but he didn't want to leave the forest without Rurina.

• On foot, the group left to the castle. Milo was in a dark clock to hid his identity

• At an excluded part of the castle, they accessed the part through secret passages, Milo was to get ready for the surprise his uncles planned. Milo was still conflicted. As his uncles bickered over nothing as usual, he saw green light. He was drawn to it that he wondered off to another part of the castle.

• When the squad realized Milo was missing, they realized it was Oleana's doing. They turned back into fairies and scrambled to find him. "Percy, where are you?"

• At the top of the tower. Milo saw a spinning wheel, he never saw one in his life. Something was drawing him to prick his finger on the needle. He did that and he fell asleep.

• Once the fairies found him, Oleana was there to mock them. "He's your precious prince"

• They couldn't present the prince like this. So they placed him in a bed.

• Oleana watched them in amusement and sneared " You might want to check up on that cottage of yours again"

• Before they left to the cottage, they put the whole kingdom to sleep in order to prevent Kabu and Melony from worrying.

• At the cottage, Nessa arrived to find Milo. She was ambushed and taken to Oleana's castle and was imprisoned.

• The fairy squad ran into the other fairies and caught them up to speed of what had occurred. Opal said they must get Rurina because she must be Milo's true love and they need her to kiss Milo. When they arrived to the cottage, it was trashed and all that was left behind if Rurina was her shell necklace.

• They knew Oleana must has imprisoned her so they made their way to her castle

• Oleana had Nessa chained up and said, "I will let you kiss your Percy, aka your fiance Milo, and break his curse, but I won't do that til 100 years have passed." Nessa cursed at Oleana but she left cackling

• The fairies came in on the scene freed Nessa.

• "So Ririna is actually Nessa and you four didn't know." Opal glared. "We never actually met her. We only got descriptions about her from Milo."

• They caught Nessa up to speed and now they must kill Oleana. Opal said she accepted her death so she's okay with it

• They got Nessa armor, a sword and shield, and a rapidash to help her on her mission.

• Upon arriving to the kingdom's entrance, Oleana casted a spell to have torns and vines grow all over the kingdom to prevent Nessa from entering. She managed to get in but now she must kill Oleana.

• Oleana took the form of a mighty Salamance and Nessa had to fight it. The fairies blessed her sword and shield to be able to kill Oleana. After a long battle, Nessa plunged the sword into Oleana's heart.

• Opal held her heart and collapsed. She was dying. All the fairies cried and she looked at all of them and said how proud she was of them. When her eyes closed, she turned into a bouquet of beautiful and exotic flowers.

• Nessa was then guided up to Milo's tower and kissed him, that was something she always wanted to do. Milo woke up and everyone else in the kingdom too.

• Nessa was super happy she gets to marry her true love Milo aka her Percy and same with Milo.

• The two got married, Milo was reunited with his family, Bede was chosen to step up as the new Great Fairy, Nessa was honored as Oleana's slayer, and they all lived happily ever after.

Raffle prize! :3

echoes of the stars

for: the amazing, sweet and supportive @edthemastershark​💙

Rating: T

Pairing: MadaTobi

A/N: very belated prize >.> didn’t realize how busy I’d be, but I hope you still enjoy it, Ed :3 

P.S. about other prizes: @kitsunesongs​, I’m struggling to make your fic short and coherent but might just end up with a fluff-angsty wall of plot... we’ll see how it goes😃 and @benzen-c6h6​, THERE SHALL BE MERMAIDS😍

Meow :3 Read on AO3 or continue under the cut!

———   

“You’re far away,” Madara’s amused voice wrests Tobirama’s mind away from his musings.

Tobirama looks over to his partner, allowing himself a tentative smile.

“Just thinking,” he says.

“Not about me, it seems,” Madara says, fake pout and all, “unacceptable.”

Tobirama simply rolls his eyes. “Allow me to correct this gravest of missteps. Truly, a travesty.” 

Madara opens his mouth, probably to drop another quip, and Tobirama promptly shuts it with a kiss, a habit that’s engrained in him by now, despite the lingering novelty of their relationship. Hot lips brush against his, and an equally fiery chakra rushes to meet Tobirama’s ice-cold signature, both sensing the other’s mounting pleasure, the energy tantalizing as their chakras coalesce. Tobirama leans back against the rock behind him and tugs Madara into his lap, coaxing his lips open and earning a delectable moan that makes him feel all kinds of fuzzy and tingly.

Words he’d never thought he’d use to describe his once well-controlled feelings, but it seems Anija’s sappy wording is rubbing off on him now that he finds himself falling for his once enemy, later friend, later best friend and now—

They draw away for breath, then sink into another kiss, as slow and languid as the first, which does nothing to quell the desire Tobirama feels simmering in the base of his stomach. It takes all his self-restraint not to whine as Madara pulls away once more.

“I love,” Madara’s voice hitches, “l-love when you do that. But better stop unless you want our first time to be in public.”

“We’re hardly in public,” Tobirama says, running his hands along Madara’s sides, “but—I really wouldn’t like to do this on top of Anija’s head statue.”

“Ah, right,” Madara remembers what spot they’ve chosen for their night picnic. “Well, first, someone could see through the genjutsu. And yes, your brother can go to hell with this stupid fucking head. I forgot that it’s already finished. There’s no escaping it, is there?” he laments, probably wondering exactly how much Hashirama’s going to pout if he smacks the engraving off with his Susanoo.

“Don’t you have perfect memory?”

“Haven’t looked at it with the Sharingan yet,” Madara says, long-suffering, “so I can make my brain forget it.

Tobirama lets out a laugh. “Lucky you. I had to deal with eidetic memory most of my childhood and had no way of turning it off. Every one of Anija’s embarrassing antics, heaps upon heaps of his atrocious handwriting and every single one of his whiny rants embedded in my memory. It was a nightmare.”

“Ouch,” Madara sympathizes, “my condolences for your childhood psyche.” He tilts his head to the side. “What changed?”

“Memory becomes more abstract over time,” Tobirama explains. “It hasn’t been studied widely, but some children are able to remember scenes in great detail, regardless of clan or dōjutsu. It can be… unsettling.”

“Especially if it’s memories from a battlefield?” Madara asks, bit hesitant.

“Oh, definitely.” Tobirama looks to the side, hands still playing with the hem of Madara’s haori.

Madara raises his hand, in turn, to caress Tobirama’s cheek, turning him back to face him.

“Is that what you were thinking about?”

Tobirama shakes his head. “Never mind. Seriously. It’s unimportant.”

“It is to me,” Madara insists. “And it’s not that—I mean, you don’t have to share whatever it is with me, but just…” He sighs, dark eyes glinting with moonlight as they stare imploringly at Tobirama. “Talk to someone about it? Please?”

Tobirama chuckles, burying his head into Madara’s chest to hide the blush he can feel warming his cheeks, so unused he is to genuine care that doesn’t come either from Anija or Tōka. And there’s that fluttering feeling again, making his heart race and rendering his thoughts incoherent. It’s unfair, what this man does to him. Illegal, the power he holds over his heart after just a few months of a tentative relationship.

“It’s not that,” Tobirama says, clasping his lover’s hands in his, “I trust you enough to share my worries with you, Madara. But I mean it when I say it really is… It’s fine.”

Madara huffs. “That is not the voice of someone who is fine.”

“That is the voice of someone who is just slightly bothered. By mundane things. Like a sprain or a lost kunai.”

“Did you sprain yourself or lose a kunai?”

“No.”

“Then you’re bullshitting me,” Madara announces, pulling his hands away and crossing his arms. “And I demand to know what—or who—upset you.”

Tobirama eyes him, suspicious. “If it is… someone, would you scare them half to death like the Hyūga that dared proposition me that time?” he asks, voice leaking derision.

“So it is someone! I knew it!” Madara says and, completely ignoring the question, demands, “Now, who do I have to kill?”

“No one,” Tobirama says, chuckling, “murder is off-limits, Madara. No death threats. No inciting interclan hostility because you think I can’t take care of an asshole on my own.”

“I never thought that,” Madara argues, shifting so he’s snuggled up with almost no space between them, laying head onto Tobirama’s shoulder. “I just wanted to take care of him myself. Because, uh, I hate assholes with a burning passion.”

“Uh huh.”

“I was born to fight them.”

“Right.”

“Destined by fate.”

“Oh really?” Tobirama feigns contemplation. “Well, in that case, I hope you’re not inflicting too much self-harm.”

It takes all of a second for Madara to get it, after which he pulls away and proceeds to tackle Tobirama onto the blanket they’ve strewn over the ground and tickles him, wordless but determined, taking no pity as Tobirama is overwhelmed by fits of tearful laughter.

“Fuck—Madara,” Tobirama breathes through huffs of laughter, “please—haha—stop godsdammit!”

“I’m an asshole,” Madara says wryly, “why would I listen to you?”

He does, though, relenting after a few more seconds of torment, leaving Tobirama breathless beneath him and not even bothering to dodge Tobirama’s punch to his shoulder. And the next one.

And the next.

“Done?” Madara asks, smirking.

“Fuck you.” Tobirama punches his arm again for good measure. “Tickling is off-limits.”

“Excuse me? You would be abusing it just as much as I do if I were ticklish.”

Tobirama rolls his eyes but doesn’t protest; tickling is his and Anija’s favorite type of mutual torture after all.

“Well,” Madara says, “was the exquisite torture enough to squeeze the truth out of you?”

Tobirama sighs, staring fondly at the lingering pout, the adorable frown and slightly ruffled hair that suits his lover so well.

(His and no one else’s, if Tobirama has a say in it. This trust, this closeness is something he decides he’ll never willingly let go.)

“Will you kiss me again?” he asks after a few moments of silence.

Madara eyes him, suspicious. “Are you going to tell me then?”

“Promise.”

And then Madara’s lips meet his, and the worries dissipate, as per usual, giving way to pure sensation. Madara’s tongue twining with his, his hands tangling in Tobirama’s hair, just as Tobirama wraps his arms around him and drags him closer. Madara ends up straddling him, which does little to help curtail his desire. Tobirama is glad to find himself lost in it, relishing their points of connection, the feeling growing overwhelming as their chakras mesh again, making them both moan and cling fast to each other, wanting, desperate.

“Fuck,” Madara groans as they part, “oh, fuck.”

“Good idea,” Tobirama breathes, vision hazy. “Stay the night?”

“Wh-what? Like, like, uh,” Madara stutters. Tobirama suspects he’d be flailing if his hands weren’t supporting his weight. “As in, stay the night as usual or?”

“I mean spend the night,” Tobirama says, “with me. As in have sex with me, Madara.”

It’s always best to be blunt with Madara, in any case.

And it’s been harder, with each passing day, to sleep next to each other as they’ve grown used to doing. Nightmares were kept at bay and breakfast became a less lonely affair, what with their brothers moving in with their wives and spending much less time with them as of late. And, of course, there was the added burden of keeping it in their pants when one or both of them would wake up with an erection. Madara insists on waiting, though, because apparently there’s something special about Tobirama’s virginity.

It’s getting more and more annoying.

Madara has stopped spluttering, finally, and sits up, shifting uncomfortably (well, too comfortably) on top of him.

“Well, we’ll—we’ll see about that once you tell me what the fuck is bothering you, Tobirama,” Madara announces, a light flush on his cheeks, waving his arm in a clumsy show of determination and knocking down the bottle of sake they’d placed on a nearby rock. “Fuck. Shit. Whatever, it was almost empty anyway."

“You will see that I’m tired of waiting,” Tobirama says, procuring a brand-new bottle of Anija’s signature moonshine from his storage scroll and setting it aside for later. “And Madara, I…” he trails off, staring helplessly into Madara’s eyes. “I was just thinking about how fragile everything is. It pisses me off.”

Madara frowns but otherwise stays silent, knowing to give Tobirama time to gather his thoughts.

“What we’ve built,” Tobirama continues, “the peace treaties, the village, the peace between our clans, finally and…” He claps Madara’s hands in his. It’s a wonder how soothing the gesture is. “This. Us. But not just us, you know—everything. I feel like it’s too perfect, too good, something that I always dreamed about because Anija dreamed about it, but while he always believed in it, I never quite could.”

Once he was old enough to grasp the more complicated concepts of settlement-building, Tobirama would stay late nearly every night, ignoring battles the ensuing day, ignoring his debilitating fatigue. He worked on infrastructure and administrative plans, education and tax systems, ideological documents and drafts of treaties for a potential shinobi, all the while listening to a despondent voice in his head telling him it’s futile.

A perfectly imperfect dream.

Tobirama’s eyes latch onto familiar constellations once again, so as not to see Madara’s deepening frown. He’s such an idiot and he should stop talking but something compels him to go on.

“And now, we’re here, and thank the gods Izuna’s wound is fully healed and my recklessness didn’t lead to another war. And new clans are joining the village, and we’ve restructured the recruiting system, but I can’t help feeling I’m going to do something wrong and fuck everything up. Or that I’m going to overlook something, and the future generations will have to deal with the consequences, and all that we’ve worked so hard for is going to crumble,” Tobirama says in the rush of one breath, cutting himself off before he reveals more of his stupid concerns. He knows what his father would say. To ignore the voices of doubt, stand up and act, to stop being a coward. “I’m sorry. I sound stupid.”

“You don’t.” Strong arms pull Tobirama into a tight embrace, and he ends up burying his head in the crook of Madara’s neck, breathing in the warm, home-like scent of musk and cedar, the slight tinge ash that always clings to Madara’s skin and the faint honey-like fragrance of his hair. “That is perfectly understandable, and you shouldn’t feel ashamed for being afraid.”

Tobirama takes a shaky breath, closing his eyes and basking in the closeness.

“I don’t think I can. I’ve never been scared of the future before, when it looked like war and death. Now it’s… happiness and I’m terrified of losing it, Madara.”

“So am I,” Madara whispers, grazing his lips against his ear, “so is your brother. So is everyone who put their all into building this village. Of course there can—and will—be mistakes. Of course we’ll fuck up at some points but,” he intersperses his next words with feather-light kisses, “I swear, Tobirama. It’s going to be all right.”

A proper kiss this time, soft and lasting just enough for Tobirama to stop shivering from the suddenly overwhelming dread.

“A stumble won’t mean defeat.” Madara tightens his embrace momentarily, flaring his chakra just so the warmth soothes Tobirama’s nerves further. “None of us knows what the future holds. None of us is going to be perfect. But you—Tobirama, you’ve done so much, started actually thinking of how to make this a reality before Hashirama and I learned to sign our fucking names on treaties. You’re the one that notices most of our mistakes and corrects them more efficiently than we could ever hope.” He shushes Tobirama with his finger when he’s about to protest. “And we’re all thankful for that. We are all there for you, helping you along the way and doing this together,” Madara promises, placing soft kisses onto Tobirama’s hands. “Everyone is trying their best, and that’s all any of us can do, isn’t it?”

It’s a challenge to keep tears from welling up, so Tobirama takes a few deep breaths to brace himself before he attempts to answer. His voice is strangled, close to breaking, but he ignores the weakness and says, “I know. Thank you. I’ll try to remember that.”

“Please do,” Madara says, smile evident in his tone. “And remember that I’m always here to listen.”

“Thank you.”

They spend the next few minutes quietly embracing and breathing together, chakra playfully mingling between them as the wind dances around them, whistling its restless melody.

“I’ve noticed you, too, tend to look at the stars to calm yourself,” Madara asks softly.

“Mm. Yes.” Tobirama lifts his head, giving Madara a quick kiss, and moving so he’s nestled against Madara, back-to-chest, facing the starlit canvas of the night sky.

“I used to find familiar constellations as a child, then outline figures in the ones I didn’t and think up names for them,” Madara admits. “Those two are Big Bear and Little Bear.” He traces the shapes with his fingers. “Because of the tails, see?”

Tobirama frowns. “They look like bowls with ladles to me.”

“Shut the fuck up with your bowls and ladles,” Madara grumbles. “You and Izuna have no imagination. Those are bears.”

“Whatever you say, Madara.” Tobirama chuckles. “Then here’s mine: that one looks like the symbol for pi.”

“A symbol for pie? Why the fuck would a pie even need a symbol? Those are Twins!”

They bicker over what each constellation depicts until they’ve run out of visible stars in their portion of the sky—and drained half of the moonshine.

“Well,” Madara says by the end of it, “we’ve at least settled who’s the more creative one out of the two of us.”

“You mean to say, who has the more developed imagination and who’s still a five-year-old,” Tobirama teases, not bothering to avoid Madara’s flick to his forehead.

“Dick.”

“Asshole.”

“You still like me.”

“And you like me.”

“I guess we’re stuck with each other then,” Madara laments. “Whatever shall we do?”

“Talk science?” Tobirama suggests, reaching for the moonshine and moving to sit cross-legged in front of Madara, who’s looking at him, one skeptical eyebrow raised. “There’s one mind-blowing fact we’ve just discovered about the stars, thanks to telescopes. Turns out they’re really, really, really far away and the light we see from them is actually from the past, because it takes so long to reach us. The worlds we see are millions, maybe billions of years old, and by now are probably dead and gone—but we’ll never actually live to see how they end.”

Madara blinks. “That’s depressing.”

“And… fascinating?” Tobirama tries.

“More depressing. But still cool, I admit.” Madara drains his drink. “Maybe there’s a world out there just like ours. War-torn and tired of war, building peace through trial and error.” His lopsided smile makes Tobirama’s heart skip a beat. “Makes you feel a bit less alone in the universe, doesn’t it?”

Tobirama returns the smile. “I don’t feel alone with you.”

It’s both sweet and hilarious to see the expression of utter shock on Madara’s face, and the blush that follows, and the spluttering before he settles on words.

“Oh, I, uh, yeah, me too! You’re, um, you’re okay.”

“And you’re remarkable, Madara.”

Tobirama is grinning like an idiot, probably, and Madara goes on muttering something about cocky self-satisfied bastards, before yanking Tobirama by the collar into yet another of their many kisses this night—and, hopefully, of many more to come.

Merman (Crowley x Reader)

Summary: As you grow up, a man with Ariel’s hair keeps saving you. 

Warnings: Slight child abuse, Ignorant parents. 

Words: 3095

A/N: I did not think that this would turn out to be THIS long.. I really like the idea of Crowley liking children, and the thought lead me here. It also shows my love for mermaids ;) But because the reader is a child, there is no romance involved. It’s my first story ever and ohhh god I am so nervous. Please let me know if you’d like a continual story because it was originally planned to be longer😂

---  

The first time you meet him, you are seven. You just moved to London, and you are exploring the streets with curious eyes. Your old home was a city too, but this is a bigger city. Much, much bigger city. Your parents were unpacking, and while they were they somehow started fighting. Distracted them enough to not notice you sneaking out to explore your new home. As much as nervous you were, this was also very exciting. A new adventure. There were a lot of people and a lot of noise. You have never seen a street so busy. A man pushes you as he walks by and you nearly fall. You struggle to keep your balance, then you see it. A bookshop. It looks old, probably for adults, but it has pretty aura coming out. It's tempting you to go inside. You decide to go explore to do what feels right in your heart. You are a child. The choices you make are simple. You cross the street, at least, you tried to. A hand appears and grabs your collar from the back, dragging you back onto the street. Just then, a car passes right in front of you, fast. Shocked, you turned to see who it is that saved you. It is a man. A very, very tall man. 

"That car almost hit you," the man says. You don't say anything back. You stay silent for a moment, too distracted by his bright red hair. The only person whom you knew with the kind of red hair was Ariel, the mermaid. You wonder if he too is a merman. 

"You want to cross the street?" The red-haired man asks you, letting go of his grip. You nod slowly. He looks slightly annoyed but reaches out his hand. "All right, kid. We'll cross it together." You look at his hand hesitantly whether to take it or not. He is a stranger you don't know, but he is offering help. Plus, he might be a merman. Merpeople can't harm, right? So you take the man's hand. 

Cars stop as you and he cross the street. Horns blew, but the men didn't stop. It gave you a rather strange feeling. However, he did mean no harm. When you two reached the other side, he lets go of your hand. 

"Careful, kid," then he adds, "Wha- What is it that they teach you at school? Oh yeah, look to your right and your left then raise your hand before you cross the street," the man rambles on before you can say you are not in school yet. They did teach you that in kindergarten, though. When he is finished, he looks at you. You realize he is expecting an answer. Your pose straightens up, nodding quickly. He gives you a satisfied look before turning around waving good-bye, entering the bookshop that stood in front of you which for some reason you did not want to go anymore. Instead, the curiosity that filled the exploration of the bookshop were all shifted towards the red-haired man. Or a merman. You think to yourself as you kept walking through the other side of the street. Suddenly, you remember that you didn't thank him for his aid. 

When you get back home, dinner is waiting for you. Surprisingly, your parents are not mad. You tell them what you have explored about the city earlier today. They mumble an 'Mm-hm' occasionally. You decide not to tell them about the merman. You promise to yourself, when you see him again, you'll thank him.

--- 

Months after you start school, you do see him again. You are a now proud first grader. It is a Sunday, you and your parents decide to take a stroll to the park. You are excited, maybe a little too much. No blame is made though, it has been a few months since the last time your family went out together. Only a moment your parents let your hands go, and you are already running around scaring away the pigeons. Your parents sigh as they go off to find somewhere to sit. You'll find them when you get tired of mocking the birds. But then you remember the pond. You jolted upwards and darting off to the pond. 

Your smile grows wider as you spot ducks on the water. "Quack-quack," you mumble to yourself. Wanting to see the ducks, you make your way over to the fence. You stand on your tiptoes, the sight of the happy duck family make you happy too. You tilt your head in various ways wanting to see the baby duck, still, you could only see its tail. You pull yourself up, your upper body leaning onto the fence to keep yourself from falling. There, now you could see the baby duck quite clearly. You begin to point at each one, not realizing how your body is leaning over the fence more and more in your effort to get your finger as close to the duck possible. "Mommy duck, Daddy duck, and Baby du-," You yelp as your body fell over the fence, or so you think. Your eyes shut tight, expecting a splash of water. Instead, your body lifts upwards by a force under your armpits. Someone is lifting you. 

"There, can you see the ducks better now?" 

The voice of the person sounds familiar to you. You instantly turn around, it is whom you expect. The merman. Then you spot something. A little snake. You notice that there is a drawing of a little snake drawn under the merman's ear. How weird. "My arms are getting tired, hurry up kid." The merman hurries you, bringing you back from your thoughts about the snake. He almost sounds annoyed, or is he? It is impossible to read him because of the sunglasses. Don't matter, you did want to see the ducks. You turn yourself back again, facing the water. The baby duck is very clearly visible now. 

"Mommy duck, Daddy duck, and Baby duck," your feet feel the ground again with the end of your sentence. Looking up at the merman, you open your mouth to speak to him but the merman speaks before you. 

"All right. Don't lean onto the fence too much, kid. It won't stop you when you fall," the merman states simply. He doesn't seem to remember you. For some reason, that disappoints you. It has been a couple of months since he saw you but your childish mind is disappointed anyways. You pout, and the merman looks down at you with his eyebrows cocked. "I'm just telling you to be careful. Go find your parents, now." With that, he turns his heels slowly walking away from you. "Angel! C'mon, let's go," he yells at another man who stood far back near the bench. The man is wearing a funny coat and has beautiful blonde hair, but that does not catch your attention. The merman's friend waves at you, but you don't wave back. You are too upset. You only realize that forgot to thank the merman again later when you went back to your parents. 

A couple of months has passed, but you don't see him. You made a little key chain for him at school when you went on a field trip. You planned to give it to him as a thank you present when you see him again. 

---

Two years have passed, and you are now ten. You now carried the key chain everywhere you go, in hopes of meeting the merman again. Two years wasn’t enough waiting for you to give up. Some said that you are now a girl too old to believe in Merpeople or miracles of such, but you still truly believed in them.

You rushed to outside, crying. It is raining, and you don't have an umbrella. Still, you don't want to go back home to get one. Your parents have fought again. Your mother has rushed out, and your father has just opened another can of beer. You followed your mother out, but you lost her already. She has disappeared into crowds of people. God, you hated London. Miracles don't exist. If it did, it wouldn't leave your family in this state. You stood in the rain, wondering what to do, where to go. Water is dripping onto your face, and your vision is blurry because of it, but you don't bother to wipe it. You shiver in cold, desperately wanting to go back in time, 2 hours ago, when you and your family were eating dinner peacefully. 

"What are you doing out in the rain?" 

You don't feel the cold water on you anymore. You look up to see the owner of the voice, and you can't help but be shocked. Your vision is blurry as it's covered with water, but you are sure that it is the merman who stands in front of you. A thousand years and still it would be impossible to not recognize that red hair. 

Despite how delightful you are to see him again, you can't bring yourself to say anything. First, your throat felt too sore. Second, you were hiccupping. Both are results from the crying. Not to mention it has been two years since you last saw him, and you were eight back then. You are older now, old enough to know how politeness is an important key when talking to adults. Also, you worry if your conditions seem as worse as it is. To be honest, it is quite detectable that you were crying. 

The merman grumbles before opening his mouth to question you, "Do you have an umbrella?" 

You nod sideways in answer. 

"Do you have somewhere to go?" 

"No," It is not a lie. You do not want to go back home. 

"Why are you out alone in the rain?"

"I..," You try to speak calmly, but you are on the barge of tears again. Really, why were you out in the rain? Stupid, you think to yourself. For you are only ten, it is the best harsh word you can come up to say it to yourself.

The merman seems taken aback by your tears. He tries to calm you down, but it merely does anything. You are too sad. Too angry. Too angry with your mother and father. Too angry with yourself for being so stupid. The merman murmurs something under his breath, with his hands on his hips andㅡwait, his hands were on his hips. He is carrying no umbrella. Nevertheless, there was no more rain dripping on you. You are about to say something when you are lifted from the ground. Your eyes widen in his sudden action. 

"All right, I'll get you dried. Then we'll find your parents, then you go home." the merman said, adjusting the way he held you. He thinks you have lost your parents. You know you should tell him that is not the case, but you don't. You let him carry you. For now, you want to go as far as possible from this place. You know you shouldn't follow a stranger, but he wasn't a stranger. He has saved you twice, and he is a merman. 

Although, the merman does not walk for long. He stops in front of the bookshop, which is just a few streets away from your home. To your confusion, the shop is closed, and you are pretty sure it is locked too, but the doors swung open with a snap from the merman. The door closes again when he walks right in. 

"Angel!" he yells, and the same man you saw two years ago walks out behind the curtains. 

"Crowley- Oh, dear. What did you do?" Crowley. That must be the merman's name. It is the first time you hear his name, and despite the situation, you can't help but smile at the silly name. All Merpeople had unusual names. Triton, Ariel, and Crowley. 

"Me? I didn't do anything. This kid was on the street crying!" 

"Oh. Well, you can lie her down here."

But before Crowley move, you pull yourself out of his embrace and hop onto the floor. You feel calmer now, and your childlike curiosity and wonder have come back to your entrance into the book shop. You didn't know Merpeople can do magic, but you do now. You look up to the blonde man. No, 'blonde' is not enough word to describe his hair. He has golden hair, almost white. Maybe he is also a merman. Then, a loud noise comes out from your neck and echoes through the room. It’s a hiccup. Your stomach rumbles along with the hiccup. Now that you were in a quiet, warm place, you hunger have come back. Dinner was unfinished due to your parents fighting. You are starving. Your cheeks blush a bright rose. Crowley doesn't seem to be amused, but the golden-haired man chuckles. 

"Come, you can sit here, my dear. I'll get you a towel and something to eat," he guides you to a chair, and you nod. You look around. It is the bookshop you longed to come. Most of the times, it was closed, unable to be visited. The inside is as fascinating as you thought it would've been. So much to explore. It is not like the library in your school. Not at all. The bookshop is messier. Books and papers are lying all around, and you like it that way. Your mother never lets you keep your room the state you want in. Your father will never let you in his room. You have been inside before secretly, disobeying your father, but you were too scared to touch anything. You do as your told by the golden-haired merman. He walks over to someplace where you cannot see from where you are sitting, but Crowley stands in front of you. He goes through his hair once, letting out a sigh. He then bends his knee, landing both of his hands on each of his knees, meeting your eyes. 

"Where was the last time you've seen your parents?"

"My mother is gone, I don't know where. My father is probably at home," You don't know what to say, so you tell the truth. Crowley looks confused. 

"Is your home far away from here?" You shake your head. You do not want to give the location of your home to him. Not for safety issues, but you simply did not want to go back. Surely, he was going to take you back if he knew. All adults are too busy for a child. 

"Where is it?" You don't answer. You look down, unsure of what to do. You do need to go back at some point. 

"There, there. We can discuss this after a warm cup of tea," the Golden-haired man appears again with a cup of tea and biscuits. He also hands you a towel to dry yourself. You carefully do so, not wanting to get anything wetter than it already is. There is a pond of water under where you stand. When you are done, you reach your arm out the grab a biscuit, but Crowley stops you, looking at you with his eyebrows raised. 

"What do you have to do before you eat?"

"I need to wash my hands," you let out a little gasp before answering.

"Good. Off you go," satisfactory looks spread over his face. 

You eat in silence. The two mermen do not seem to be bothered by it. They are discussing something on their own as well. When the last sip of the tea drunk, you decide to finally ask the question you waited so long to ask.

"Are you mermen?" The mermen are plural, but your question is more dedicated towards Crowley. They turn to look at you with confused looks. 

"I'm sorry?" The Golden-haired man does not know how to respond to the question. It gives a positive weight to your theory. If he is not a merman, what is the reason to be surprised by your question?  

"She thinks we are mermaids, angel," Unlike the other merman, Crowley does not seem to be surprised at all. He laughs. 

"Mermen," you correct him. "Are you a merman?" 

"What makes you say that, my dear?" 

"He has red hair. Like Ariel," you point to Crowley.

"Red hair? Is that all you need to call a person mermaid?" Crowley scoffs, for some reason, he finds the situation amusing. 

"Merman," you correct him again. "You are a merman." 

"Yeah, doesn't matter. I'm not a merman," he says. 

Disbelief look spread on your face. You are disappointed. For so long you've believed that the man was a merman, for so long he was a merman to you, you feel like you learned something you shouldn't have. 

"But we are not humans either," he adds quickly, noticing how upset you seem. This catches your interest again, immediately. "We are... Supernatural entities." 

You are not sure what that is. Even so, your eyes are already shining bright again, "And?"

 "And you can't tell this to anyone." His eyes lock in with yours, and although you can't see his eyes due to his sunglasses, you still feel greatly pressured. A good kind. You feel important. You feel trusted. 

With that, all your sadness goes away. Your body feels lighter, and you are ready to go home again. You stand up, folding your three fingers, only letting your pinky and thumb stand. "I pinky promise." Crowley smiles, and his pinky intertwines with yours, and thumbs meet as an approval to your promise. 

"Can I come back again?" You ask carefully to the Golden-haired men. He seemed to be the owner of the bookshop. 

"Certainly, dear. Come as often you like," he shows you a warm smile. The kind of smile you haven't seen a while. "And please, call me Aziraphale." 

"Bye-bye, Azirapelle!" You wave your hands at him, you are still a soul to young to properly pronounce an angel’s name who lived on this planet for 6000 years.  

When you walk out, the sky is clear. It is no longer raining. You wonder if the two men have performed magic again. You feel flowers bloom every step you take. Upon your arrival, your mother is back home too. You parents offer you ice cream, they must’ve felt guilty for what they’ve done. Only then you realize once again, that Crowley had saved you and that you forgot to thank him. But that’s okay, because you know you will see him again.

Stanuary ‘20 - Week Three: AUs

I’ve been busy working on my Master’s thesis and thus haven’t been able to do any Stanuary yet.  But now that I’m basically done (just gotta drop my thesis off at the thesis library Friday) I’m hoping to do all four weeks.  Just....not in chronological order.  Anyways, the prompt for week three was practically MADE for me.  Not to brag or anything, but I’m basically the non-binary ruler of AUs.

So, to really go whole hog with the AU prompt, I went with a crossover between two of my favorite AUs: the MerGucket AU and the Stay-at-Home Stan AU.  I’ve written something for this particular crossover before, so this is a follow-up to that.  Basically, Ford does research at sea, and when he has his big blow-up with Bill, jumps overboard, only to be rescued by Stan, who has somehow become a merman during their time apart.  Not just a merman, but a father, too.  Here’s Stan explaining how that came about.

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              Ford stared intently at the multicolored cuttlefish idly swimming by.

              It looks similar to the kraken I saw last month.  Do kraken crossbreed?  Or do juvenile kraken resemble cuttlefish?

              “Uh, Ford?” Stan asked, startling Ford free from his thoughts.  Ford looked over.

              “Yes?”

              “We’re here,” Stan said.  He jerked a thumb behind him.

              “You live in a cliff?” Ford asked.

              “Yeah.”  Stan looked over at the cliff.  “The door’s hidden, though.  Gotta make sure scuba divers or submarines or whatever don’t find us.”  Promptly after offering for Ford to stay at his place temporarily, Stan had led Ford into a partially submerged hidden cave, walked into the water, and transformed into a merman.  The casual nature of the act was off-putting to Ford, but not as much as the mumbled charm Stan had then cast on Ford to allow him to breathe underwater.

              Stan knows spells.  Well, at least one spell.  How is this reality?  How is my high school dropout twin brother a merman with a capacity for magic? Stan’s daughter, Molly, still nestled in his arms, snored loudly.  Stan looked down at her with a fond, loving expression.  Ford’s stomach turned over.  Stan’s not just a merman now.  He’s also a father, and a doting one at that.  Stan whispered something to Molly in a different language.

              “So, um, the door is hidden,” Ford said.  “Where is it?”  Stan looked up.

              “I’ll show you, but I need to get Angie’s brother outta the house, first.”

              “Pardon?”

              “We can’t just leave the eggs unsupervised,” Stan said.

              That’s right.  Stan mentioned something about eggs.

              “Angie’s older brother offered to watch ‘em while we went on our walk. Swim.  Whatever.  But he had a bad experience with a human not too long ago, so I don’t think he’d wanna see you.  Just hide behind that rock or something.”  Stan nodded at a large boulder near Ford.  “Once he’s gone, I’ll let you in.”

              “Okay, but-” Ford started.  Stan ignored him and swam over to the cliff.  Ford let out a sigh.  He ducked behind the boulder and pulled out his journal, flicking through the pages idly. He landed on the page where he had started a drawing of Stan, before he’d recognized the merman he was observing.

              At least I’ll be able to finish this sketch.  I wonder if I can get Stan to sit in this pose again.

----- 

              After about fifteen minutes, which Ford spent writing about this latest development, the sound of voices carried to where Ford was hiding.  Stan said something in the same foreign language he’d spoken in before.  A second voice, which sounded very familiar to Ford, responded in the same tongue. Ford closed his journal and held it close to his chest.  He could make out a flick of a green tail with light yellow fins as Angie’s brother passed the boulder.  The merman disappeared quickly into the distance.

              “All right, you can come in now,” Stan said, appearing next to Ford so suddenly it startled him.  Instead of being carried in Stan’s arms, Molly was now nestled in a sling draped across Stan’s chest.  Ford stared. “C’mon, Sixer.  I gotta put Molly in her actual bed or she’s not gonna sleep well.  She wakes up way too often as it is.”  Ford nodded silently.  He followed Stan to the cliff face, where Stan, with a practiced motion, slipped his fingers into a crack in the rock and pulled.  A portion of rock the size of a door swung open.  

              “Slick,” Ford said.  Stan rolled his eyes.

              “Shut up and get inside.”  Ford hurriedly swam in.  Stan followed, closing the door behind him.  Ford looked around in interest.

              “How is it so light in here?  Do merfolk have lamps?”

              “Uh, sorta,” Stan said, already heading off, deeper into the house.  “They use, um…I don’t know the English word for it.  They grow stuff that glows.”

              “Bioluminescent?” Ford suggested.  Stan shrugged.

              “You can ask Angie.  She might not know the English word, but she can explain it better than I can. Anyways, we have some lamps, but we don’t need them right now.  Enough light gets through the windows.”

              “Windows?”  Ford spun in a circle.  His eyes widened at the sight of a window above a couch.  “I didn’t see this from the outside.  Are they specially designed?”

              “Nah, stole ‘em from sunken ships,” Stan called from wherever he was. “You can’t see ‘em from the outside ‘cause of an optical illusion thing.  If you get close to the cliff, they’re more obvious, but not from a distance.”

              “Remarkable,” Ford muttered.

              “Ford.”  Ford turned around again.  Stan’s head was sticking out of a room down the hall.  “You’ll wanna see this.”

              “Not that I doubt you, but why?”

              “Don’t you wanna check out a mer egg?”

              “A- yes!”  Ford swam over.  When he entered the room, his eyes were immediately drawn to the large basket leaning against one wall.  The basket held two things: Molly, fast asleep and curled up into a ball, and one large, red fish egg.  Ford frowned. “You said eggs.  Plural.”

              “Slip of the tongue.  We haven’t been down to one egg for very long.”

              “Why is the basket so large?”

              “It’s called a guppy basket,” Stan said.  “It’s where eggs go and the baby mers sleep until they outgrow it. Normally, mers have a bare minimum of ten kids at once.  But when one of the parents used to be human…”  Stan trailed off.  Ford looked over at him.  Disappointment had settled on Stan’s face.  Stan noticed Ford looking and cleared his throat hurriedly, wiping away his saddened expression.  “When that happens, there aren’t as many kids.  Angie laid fifteen eggs.  Usually a clutch has at least twenty.  And of those fifteen Angie laid, only two are gonna hatch.”

              “What happened to the other eggs?”

              “Duds,” Stan said flatly.  “Clutches have a lot of duds.  That’s why mers have so many eggs at once.”  He sighed. “It’s fine, though.  I can handle two kids a lot better than I could handle ten.”

              “This is…I’m completely astounded,” Ford said, shaking his head. “You- how-”

              “They taught me a lot,” Stan said with a shrug.  “Even taught me their language, Mermish.”

              Oh, that must be the language he was speaking earlier.

              “Kinda had to,” Stan continued, “since I was born human, not mer.”

              “Yes.  You were.” Ford looked at Stan inquisitorially. “How did you become mer?”

              “I told you.  I fell in love with a mermaid and ate a magic plant.”

              “Give me the unabridged version.  I feel I’m owed that much.”

              “Fine.”  Stan looked over at Molly and the last egg.  “Let’s talk in the living room.  Molly’s a pretty heavy sleeper, but I don’t wanna roll those dice.  Babies are the complete monsters when they get woken up.”

----- 

              Ford settled himself on the couch, attempting to ignore the way his clothes floated upwards, tugging on his skin.  Stan sat across from him in an armchair.  He snickered.

              “What?” Ford asked.

              “You’ve got a cape on, like you’re Super Nerd or somethin’.  Why did you bother wearing that underwater?”

              “I-”  Ford looked back.  Sure enough, his trench coat was spread out behind him like a wedding train.  He scowled and tucked it under him.  “Don’t tease me, Stanley.  I’ve been too shell-shocked by all of this to act upset with you, but by no means am I going to brush what happened ten years ago under the rug.”

              “You’re in no position to make any threats towards me,” Stan said.  “I’m the one who cast the spell so you could breathe underwater.  I can remove it any time I want.”  Ford swallowed.  “Anyways, you wanted to know how I turned into a merman.”

              “…Yes,” Ford said softly.  Stan ignored his brother’s obvious unease.

              If he didn’t want me to threaten him, he shouldn’t have threatened me first.  So what if what I said had a bit more of a bite than he probably expected?  That’s what happens when you mess with merfolk. Stan sighed and settled into his armchair.  

              “All right.  Well, when Pops kicked me out, I took the Stan O’War out to sea.  Not my smartest idea.  Prob’ly shoulda taken the Stanleymobile.  I mean, I sailed into a storm pretty much right away.  I kept trying to bail her out, but it was raining buckets.  I went overboard.  Next thing I knew, I woke up on a beach.  My clothes were soaked, I had no idea where I was, but I wasn’t too worried.”

              “…Why not?”

              “‘Cause one of the prettiest chicks I’ve ever seen had my head in her lap.” Stan grinned at the memory, clear enough to have happened yesterday.  “And I just…I just stared at her.”

----- 

              Stan stared up at the young woman with his head in her lap.  She seemed like a personification of the sea, with eyes as blue as the ocean and hair the color of the beach he used to play on with Ford.  Faint freckles spilled across her nose and cheeks like she had spilled cinnamon but not bothered to wipe it off.  The young woman stared back at him, smiling like she had a secret as she stroked Stan’s hair.

              “Hi,” Stan finally croaked.  The young woman’s smile broadened.

              “Hello.  You almost drowned, do you realize that?”  Her voice was sweet and melodious, comforting like waves crashing onto the shore.

              “Figured.  Since I went overboard and woke up on a beach.  Did- did you save me?”

              “Yep.”

              “H-how?”

              “I’m a good swimmer.”

              “What’s your name?”

              “My full name’s awfully long and I ain’t too fond of it.  But I go by Angie.”

              “Angie.  I’m Stan.”

              “It’s a pleasure to meet ya, Stan.”

              “Your accent…are you from the south?” Stan asked.  A twinkle entered Angie’s eye.

              “One could say I’m from the deep south, yes.”

              “Kinda weird way to say it, but whatever.”  Stan began to slowly get up.  Angie stopped stroking his hair and scooched to the side, allowing him to sit up on his own. He looked over at her.  “So where…”  He trailed off, catching side of Angie’s bottom half.  Instead of legs, she had a large, ostentatious yellow tail with pink fins. His jaw dropped.  “You- you’re-”

              “A mermaid, yes,” Angie said softly.  Stan continued to gape at her.  “I- technically, I wasn’t s’pposed to let you see me, but I wanted to make sure you woke up.” She looked away.  “Even more technically, I wasn’t s’pposed to save you in the first place.”

              “Then- then why did you?” Stan asked, still trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.  Angie looked at him, her eyes soft and compassionate.

              “I couldn’t let you just drown when I saw ya go overboard.  I mean, yer only my age.  Yer fam’ly must be worried sick about you.”

              “Not really,” Stan mumbled, looking down at the ground.  He idly flicked away a seashell.  “They couldn’t care less about me.”

              “…Really?” Angie asked.  Stan nodded. “What makes you say that?”

              “For one thing, they kicked me outta the house.”  Angie was silent for a moment.

              “They shouldn’t have done that,” she said finally.  Stan snorted.

              “Yeah.  I fucking agree.”  He sighed. “Whatever.  Uh, thanks for rescuing me, I guess.”  He got to his feet and looked around.  “Do you have any idea where we are?”

              “I don’t know the human name for it.”

              Of course she doesn’t.

              “But it’s uninhabited.”

              “It’s-”  Stan stared at the mermaid.  “You- this is a desert island?”

              “No.  It’s got a tropical forest.  It’s not a desert.”

              “No, not- a desert island is an island that doesn’t have people on it.” Stan ran a hand through his hair. “Shit!”

              “Look, it’ll be fine.”

              “How?” Stan demanded.  “I’m not some survivalist nutjob.  I don’t know how to build shelter or kill squirrels or whatever.  I can’t-”

              “I can help with that,” Angie said, standing up as well.  Stan huffed.

              “Yeah, right.  Like you can help me make a little hut outta sticks.  You don’t even…have…legs…”  Stan stared at her.  Angie grinned cheekily.  “Wh-” He looked down.  Her tail had been replaced by two slender, pale legs.  Stan looked away immediately upon realizing that she was completely nude from the waist down.  “How-”

              “It’s a long story.  But merfolk can shift into a human form if need be.”  Angie looked down at the sand and wiggled her toes.  “I don’t take a human form often.  Don’t really feel the desire to.  But I want to help you out.”

              “The best way you could help me out would be to…”  Stan trailed off.  Angie looked at him curiously.

              “What?”

              “No, that’s stupid.”

              “Tell me.”

              “Do you- if you can turn human, can I turn into a merman?” Stan asked. Angie eyed him.  “I- honestly, I don’t really see a reason to stay on land. I don’t have anyone who cares about me, I don’t have any plans, there’s nothin’ tying me to staying human.”  Stan could feel dread and sadness sinking heavily onto his shoulders.

              Pops wouldn’t ever let me back, even if I did make a million dollars. And why would I go back anyways? Ford?  He’s never gonna forgive me.  Shermie and Mom?  Mom let Pops kick me out, and the age gap with Shermie was too big for us to get close. I don’t have anyone.  I don’t have anywhere.

              “It- it might be kinda nice to start over.  Somewhere else,” Stan continued.  Angie pursed her lips.

              “You should sleep on it,” she said finally.  Stan stuffed his hands into the pockets of his drenched pants.

              “That’s a no, then?”

              “Not necessarily.  I know there’re ways fer humans to become mer.  I don’t know the details, though.  I’d have to ask my parents.  And I’ll have to explain why I’m asking.”  Angie chewed on the inside of her cheek thoughtfully.  “It’s- it’s possible.  But you’d have to prove yer worthy of becomin’ mer first.”

              “How do I do that?” Stan asked.  Angie shrugged.  “You can’t give me any details?  Really?”

              “Look, I- yer the first human I’ve ever talked to fer this long.  Even if I knew everything about the process of turnin’ humans mer, I’d have a moral obligation to be quiet until you’ve earned our trust.”  She looked out to sea.  “And like I said, you should sleep on it, first.  Givin’ up bein’ human to become mer is not somethin’ you should take lightly. And it’s not somethin’ you should do just ‘cause ya have no other options.  You should want to do it fer a stronger reason than that.”

              “Like what?”

              “Well, my ma did it fer love.”

              “Your mom used to be human?” Stan asked, aghast.  Angie nodded.

              “Yes.  She fell in love with my pa and became a mer so they could be together.”  Angie looked at Stan.  “I ain’t sayin’ ya need to fall in love with a mer, but ya need a reason just as strong.”  She shrugged. “Anyways.  First things first.  I’ll help ya make some shelter, maybe even help ya do some foraging.  And tomorrow, I can come back with my folks. They’ll help figure this thing out.”

              “Sounds good,” Stan said with a nod, his heart racing.

              I can’t believe a mermaid rescued me and might make me a merman. What the actual hell is going on right now?  A small smile tugged the corners of Angie’s mouth.

              “What?” Stan asked.  Angie shook her head.

              “Oh, nothin’.  Just thinkin’ ‘bout how odd you are.”

              “Really?  You think I’m odd?”

              “You asked to be turned mer within five minutes of meetin’ me.” Angie grinned.  “That’s odd.”  Stan managed a smile back.

              “Fair.”

----- 

              “That’s how you met your wife?” Ford asked.

              “Yeah.  But, technically, she’s not my wife.  Merfolk don’t really have marriage.  Angie and I are mated.”

              “Does being mates still involve a union ceremony of some sort?”

              “Yes.”

              “Well, as far as Mom would be concerned, then, you’re married,” Ford said with a small smile.  Stan chuckled.  “Stanley, I’m honestly flabbergasted by all of this.  It seems…”

              “Impossible?” Stan suggested.  Ford nodded.  “I feel the same way.”  He leaned forward and clasped his hands.  He saw Ford immediately zero in on the red webbing between his fingers.  “Some days I wake up and I can’t believe where I am. I’ve got the most amazing person in the world as my mate, I’ve got a daughter, and I’m gonna have another kid any day now.”

              “Also, you’re a merman.”

              “That, too.”  Stan eyed Ford.  “And now, you’re gonna be sleeping on my couch until we figure out how to get Bill off your back.”

              “Yes.”  Ford paused. “Thank you, by the way.”

              “No problem.  I’ll take any chance I can get to stick it to a mer hunter.  Angie lost one of her aunts to a mer hunter.  And I damn near got killed, too.”

              “Wait, really?” Ford asked.  Stan nodded. He laughed, but it was clearly forced.

              “Turns out Carla McCorkle went into that business.  My own ex-girlfriend was about to kill me and sell my scales to the highest bidder.  Good thing Angie intervened.  If she hadn’t threatened to down Carla’s ship, I’d, well.  You can figure it out.”

              “Sorry, did you say that Angie is capable of sinking an entire ship?” Ford asked, holding up a finger.  Stan raised an eyebrow.

              “She’s a siren, Sixer.  That’s what they do.”

              “Are you a-”

              “Oh, hell no.”  Stan tilted his head.  “Well, technically, I’m a siren.  That’s the kinda mer I am.  But that’s not my job.  Sinking ships requires singing, and even magic can’t fix a voice like mine.  It made me extra persuasive when I talk, but if I try to sing, I still sound like a frog in a bucket.”

              “Siren is both a type of mer and a career?” Ford asked.  Stan nodded.  “Hmm. Interesting.  If you don’t sink ships, then what do you do?  Do merfolk need to have jobs?”

              “Usually, yeah.  Mine is taking care of Molly.  And when the other egg hatches, taking care of Stanley Jr.”  Stan grinned.  “It’s gonna be a boy, I can tell.”

              “You-”  Ford stared at Stan.  Stan stared back.

              “What?”

              “You’re a stay-at-home dad?”

              “Yep.”  Stan stretched languidly.  “Best job in the world.”  Ford shook his head, trying to hide his astonishment.  The front door opened.  Stan looked over.  “Hey, babe.”

              “Hello, darlin’,” Angie crooned, swimming over and kissing the top of his head. Stan grinned up at her.  “I stopped by Fidds’ place to check on him and his clutch.  He said the egg was movin’ ‘round a lot today?”

              “Yep.  Stanley Jr. is gonna hatch any day now.”

              “Oh, hon.  We aren’t namin’-”  A small squeak came from the couch.  Stan and Angie looked over.  Ford was as pale as a sheet.  “We have a visitor,” Angie said mildly.

              “Yeah, Ford got on the bad side of someone pretty nasty, so he’s gonna stay here for a bit,” Stan said.

              “Understood.  I’ll go check on Miss Molly.  She’s prob’ly hungry.”  As if on cue, crying sounded through the house.  Angie chuckled.  “Speak of the devil.”  She nodded politely at Ford.  “Pleasure to meet you, Stanford.  We’ll have to have a proper introduction once I take care of Molly.”

              “Yes,” Ford mumbled.  Angie left. Stan looked at Ford, concerned.

              “What’s wrong, Sixer?  You look like you saw a ghost.”

              “I-”  Ford took a steadying breath.  “Angie is very similar in appearance to my former first mate, who disappeared from my ship a month ago.  While we were in the middle of the ocean.”

              “Okay…” Stan said slowly.

              “He- Angie mentioned someone named ‘Fidds’.  My former first mate, he sometimes went by that nickname,” Ford continued.  Dread began to build in Stan’s gut.  “Angie’s last name wouldn’t happen to be ‘McGucket’, would it?”

              “No,” Stan said.  Relief broke across Ford’s face.  “It’s MerGucket.  But when her older brother pretended to be human to work for some researcher, he used McGucket instead.”  Ford groaned loudly.  He put his head in his hands.

              “Oh, no.”

              “Took the words right outta my mouth.”

「 cherry. rachel hilson. cis female. she/her. 」 are you ready for the time of your life, BLUE DAVIAU? the TWENTY ONE year old FINE ART graduate from tulane is ready to HOT AIR BALLOON  in DUBAI this semester. close friends would describe them as IDEALISTIC and CREATIVE, but there’s really only one way to find out. get ready for what august has in store for you, BLUE ! 「 pepper. twenty one. est. she/her. 」

ABOUT THE MUN.  the 2000 claymation film chicken run radicalized me

what up, i’m pepper, i’m twenty four, and not to flex but i’ve had writer’s block for two str8 months !! but i’m hoping to change that right here right now with one ms. blue daviau so thank you for coming on this journey with me friends it’s gonna be wild. a bit about me is i’ve gone to the mall literally every day this week and honestly, i am Exhausted from it so i apologize for the mess this intro is about to be. i’m a taurus with a libra moon and libra rising so do with that information what you will. my favourite pokemon is mewtwo. growing up i had a massive crush on danny phanton and ben 10, like i loved those lanky boys that could transform to fight crime for some reason?? i can’t tell you why. also when i was a child i thought god looked like king triton from the little mermaid. alright that is enough about me, moving on to blue. 

BIO.  if you use my coloured pencils you better put them back in rainbow order

this is going to be the short version of her bio but if you want to see the long rambly messy version you can find my google doc/app here ! which i recommend you looking at for no other reason than to see how cute the little cherry doodle i inserted in there is. it took me so long to get that in there and looking cute. it’s baby’s first fancy google doc 😌 anyways sdjhdsjh 

blue was born and raised in hawaii! her mother, stormi, was miss hawaii state at one point and her father, reggie, was a pro surfer! however before blue was born her father had a surfing accident that left him in a wheelchair. he turned to art to try to cope with the trauma of this accident and the reality of never being able to surf again, and he even opened up his own gallery! his gallery became a tourist attraction in hawaii and pretty well known in the art community and after passing down her crown blue’s mother became a news anchor. so the fact was blue was the daughter of two local legends in hawaii and the expectations were high!

not to mention the fact that all of blue’s elder siblings were amazing too. blue has five older siblings and all of them are successful in their own right and in their own niche. they’re also all named after colours funnily enough. the daviau parents had big hippy energy in case you were wondering. 

so growing up blue was always just kind of the ‘other’ sibling. all her older siblings had showed their talents at a young age and grew into them pretty quickly, while blue was just kind of... there. she was an artist, but she wasn’t a groundbreaking artist. she could sing, but her voice was simply pretty, not lifechanging. she could surf, but she was average at best. to put it simply, blue was the daviau sibling who wasn’t at all special. which ironically, made her stand out like a sore thumb. 

blue didn’t mind too much though, at least not when she was younger. she kept to herself anyways. all blue wanted do when she was younger was read, draw, and explore hawaii’s wild life, so she had everything she could possibly need to be happy right at her fingertips. life was good for her despite her inadequacy, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of it (and wouldn’t develop a complex about it later).

when blue was six though her parents decided that they needed to have sweet, sweet, baby number seven to save their marriage. they named that sweet boy gray. he did not save a damn thing, but he sure was cute. blue was eleven when her parents finally divorced and that pretty much marked the end of blue having any kind of parental guidance. 

long story short, both of blue’s parents went kinda buckwild the moment they were single and most of the responsibility to take care of five year old gray fell on blue. blue was the one to make gray’s meals. blue was the one to give gray a bath. blue was the one to tuck gray in at night and get him into his school clothes in the morning. blue was the one to help him with his homework and hold his hand as he crossed the street and honestly pretty much do everything for him until she was about seventeen. both her parents simply checked out on that front, and it the end blue was more of a mother to gray than either of their parents were. 

the pressure of having to not only take care of herself but also gray when she wasn’t even legally an adult yet, was honestly way too much for blue. her anxiety skyrocketed, and the pressure she put on herself only grew. the only way blue could really cope with it and calm herself down was by 1. losing herself in nature, 2. drawing, or 3. reading, or rather most likely, doing all of the above at once. using art of an escape pretty much guaranteed that blue’s love and passion for it grew, and with that her talent for it. by that time blue was seventeen she had a full portfolio ready to send off to any university outside of hawaii that would take her. because you bet your bottom dollar your girl was getting the hell outta there!

as we all know blue got accepted to tulane. it was hard to leave gray and her family behind, but blue set her mother and father straight before she left, ensuring that gray would be well taken care of in her stead and hoping that some distance between herself and her family that was so dependent on her (her mother never new how to cook so blue made all the meals, her father never knew how to handle gray so he was always coming to blue to advice, gray was absolutely lost without her, etc) would lift that pressure off her shoulders. 

it didn’t at first. the first few months were tough with all the calls blue got from home. that plus the schoolwork she had on her plate almost left her more stressed than before. however, slowly the calls began to fade and slowly blue was able to put her full focus in her art program, and later, her animation programs. 

sorry folks my brain is fried, we’re gonna stop here!

HEADCANNONS. on all levels except physical i am sitting on top of the moon with my legs swinging back and forth

Blue’s father is in a wheelchair from the surfing accident that made him take up art. His past as a professional surfer is actually part of the reason why his gallery is so popular though honestly, because the accident was televised and after that tragedy many of his fans and the public wanted to support him. He just also so happened to be really talented. But yeah, Blue’s father was really talented at surfing, he was even invited to the summer olympics in the nineties! But he was also the type to refuse to go because ‘surfing should be freeing, the olympics have so many restrictions, it takes away from what surfing is!!’ dkjsd he was that type yk? I also imagine Blue’s parents were the type to be on the front lines at protests. As it is, Blue is the same, very passionate, definitely has made some bomb ass posters and t-shirts for every women's march she’s attended.

Blue can play the ukulele really well and she honestly has a really pretty singing voice. However she can’t dance even a little bit. Honestly, she could literally break a bone. Really wants to throw it back though 😔

Loves to bake and cook because they’re relaxing activities with built in rewards. Learned to bake and cook because of having to take care of herself and her brother's meals when she was younger, that is if she didn’t want them both to literally get diabetes. As it is though, now that she doesn’t have to worry about her baby brother’s diet as well as her own, she will make a whole chocolate cake just cause she’s a little stressed and proceed to actually eat it. But she will share though. Catch Blue coming to your hotel room with sweets.

All of Blue’s elder siblings are adults now, but Gray is still about sixteen. They exchanged letters from Hawaii to Tulane and Blue always spends hours decorating hers and including little snacks and cute little knick knacks in them, despite the fact that Gray is now an angsty teenager and does not find these things as entertaining as he used to. Despite that, they are definitely the closest out of their siblings for the most part.

Blue’s siblings' names are Sage, Jett, Jade, Ruby, Rose and of course Gray. Jade and Jett, and Ruby and Rose are both twins.

The type to cry easily honestly. Also the type to carry other people’s problems with her. Like if you tell Blue that someone hurt your feelings last week she will remember and she will check on you the next time she sees you. Very empathetic, almost to a fault though because she’s constantly being careful of everyone else’s feelings rather than her own. The type who’s a good listener though. Also the type to give either really good advice or really odd advice.  

Art still tends to be her happy place, something she got from her father. Trying to find her own place outside of her father's shadow. She wants to get into the world of animation and cartoons but the whole task is a bit daunting. Is planning to work her ass off for it though! Spends a lot of time in coffee shops storyboarding and making animations. I think she may have a contract going on with a cartoon network of some sort, like they may have picked up a show of hers? Because I imagine her putting out some of her first shorts on Youtube and that might have gotten a bit of attention and led to her getting a deal for a show, so. She’s probably working her ass off towards that, and is honestly probably 1.doubting if they really picked up her show because of her talent or her father’s name, and 2.wondering if she can really do this.

Loves water in all shapes and forms. Since she can’t go to the beach everyday, the small bath in her tiny ass apartment??? Suddenly heaven. That said, Blue is either terrified of the ocean or loves it and I can’t decide which. Standby on that.

Makes a great coffee cake. Like it’s to die for.

Is VERY passionate about the environment. Is a pescatarian. Goes to the farmers market to pick out fresh produce. Loves to hike.

Always has the urge to sketch or paint after she reads poetry or novels. Highlights her favourite bits and has the tendency to read them over when she’s sad. The parts she loves are usually the parts that leave her wanting something.

Draws when she’s sad too. Claire Saffitz energy when she’s cooking but also just through life. Very friendly, but an introvert when it comes to gathering her energy.

Lives for libraries and bookstores, and has stacks on stacks of books in her old apartment. Loves old children's books honestly, like The Secret Garden, and poetry. Like whimsical and fantastical fiction with flowery words that just brings you to another place? Blue’s freaking jam. Falls in love with someone in fiction every five days, and desperately wants to be in love in real life, hence all the tinder dates and blind dates. I don’t think Blue ever has fallen in love though, like not really.

An absolute baby when it comes to the cold. Literally there could be a slight breeze and Blue will be acting like she’s suddenly in the arctic.  Any cold destinations will be greeted by a bundled up Blue’s Clues.

Made her first painting out of her own feces at six months old. Her parents proudly framed it. It’s probably still up in the attic in their Hawaii home.

Won her first art show at six but was unsure whether it was because her art really was something worth awarding or because of her father’s name. The award got her on the front page of the Honolulu Tribune but with her father proudly at her back and the title ‘Following in her father’s footsteps’ above her head. Blue just wants to find her own footing in the art world, and be her own person.

Keeps a journal and has since she was a teenager.

WANTED CONNECTIONS. i’m the friend that needs help opening water bottles. 

coming to theatres near you soon!

What Happens at the Toy Box Part 1 with @OneCheekyGal

Raine

••I wasn't quite sure what to make of my non-grand-opening Grand Opening, but Birdie's had done surprisingly well in the first few months, even considering the challenges that came with 2020. I had sorely lacked in marketing myself but it seemed I had garnered enough local fanfare by word of mouth, I’d even sold out of some of what I had on offer. I felt greedy in my happiness despite all the effort it took to realize this dream that spanned more than my own lifetime. The only way in which I had announced my arrival into the scene was via introduction to the surrounding business owners and shop managers. There was a sole location that had evaded me.  The Toy Box had managed to both pique my interest and stoke a sadness when I tried to stop by. Clearly it was not a store for children as the name would imply by a glance from afar. Thankfully it was in my nature to cast a deeper line into the sea of curiosities. I wondered the story behind its extended closure and during some lulls in my own foot traffic, I was prone to imagining its caretaker had been swept up into a torrid love affair and was sailing around the world with an incomparable lover. The wind held the secrets of The Toy Box at bay, sadly, so I was left to my own musings. It had become a habit to glance across the way before I opened and I held a silent yearning to see the sign switched from “Closed” to whatever elusive welcome alerted the passer by the store was open for business.

This was why when I stepped out to tend the garden and saw the door open that hadn't been since my arrival, excitement quickened my pulse. It was silly, really, but I wouldn't feel my induction into the local scene had been completed until I met this last neighborhood retailer.

My next appointment wasn’t scheduled for an afternoon and I could use a technology break. Setting up the online store was not on my list of favorite things to do. Locking up Birdie's temporarily, I sprung into action, lest I miss my chance and face that closed sign. I nearly skipped across the street before happily crossing the threshold that had been to date a gatekeeper to my curiosity. A bright but genuine smile curved my lips as I approached the petite and pretty girl behind the register, sure to keep a proper distance since I wasn’t wearing a mask.  Maybe it had been my daydreaming of her whereabouts, but on sight of her alone, I found my interest in her story piqued even more than all the wares for sale. I tried to keep my gaze from wandering and my eyes from widening at all the things, some which I wasn’t completely naive to, others that had me clueless about their potential use.••

Camille:

*The decision to temporarily close my shop so I could take a vacation had given me heaps of anxiety and a weight of worry on my shoulders that felt heavier than the Costco sized bag of cat food I liked to buy for Betty. I had considered hiring someone temporarily while I was away, but the efforts of training them for such a short period of time seemed like more of a hassle than losing the week’s worth of sales. 

What had started out as being closed for a short holiday had unexpectedly turned into something much longer. I had been out of the country enjoying the sand and sun when the travel restrictions and the COVID pandemic had been declared, and upon my return home, a mandatory quarantine had been instituted which meant the shop doors would unfortunately be staying closed.

Fortunately, my online shop was already well established and after an emailed Newsletter to my customer list indicating orders could still be placed during the brick and mortar closure, the lull that my vacation created gradually picked back up. My rainy day savings had helped during the months where in store purchases were entirely obsolete. In my time away and then the subsequent closure, the small cluster of businesses in the area surrounding mine seemed to stay fairly stagnant, with the exception of a new shop that I had completely missed opening, I could only assume it happened while I was away. I hadn't planned to make the time to introduce myself. New businesses tended to avoid mine. God forbid someone admitted to knowing the owner of a sex shop...not that it phased me anyways. The day I had been phased to re-open the shop, I used a wedge of wood to prop the door open to help get rid of the stale air while I dusted for the first few hours. I didn't expect a rush of customers even though I had made a re-opening announcement on the shop’s website with the new hours, and had sent out a discount code to my email list in the hopes of drumming up some more sales and maybe even some foot traffic. It felt good to get back to my old routine of keeping busy and taking pride in what I had built up over the years. It was while I was in the middle of organizing a new countertop display of novelty single condoms that someone walked through the open door. My smile, the one that was reserved just for customers came back to my lips easily, just like old times and as I angled the stand next to the cash register just so, I greeted the lovely looking redhead and tried to guess in my mind what she might be here for...a game I sometimes liked to play with myself just for fun.* Hello, how can I help you today?

Raine

•• I was immediately disarmed by the friendly body language of the girl that I was meeting at long last. My eyes betrayed me by stealing glances at the various displays which were successful in drawing the attention of a complete sexual novice, hoping the color of my cheeks was not as evident as the warmth I felt there. I could only imagine that someone with more experience would be quick to spend their savings based on the appealing presentations alone. I felt oddly at ease and out of place all at once, perhaps the impressive and colorful water wall behind the shop’s mistress was at work. I couldn’t help but appreciate that her store had its own water feature befitting its personality just like my own at Birdie’s.••  First, apologies for my barging in without paying mind to whether or not you were actually open. I saw from across the street that you were no longer shuttered and I was too excited for any patience. I’m Raine and I just opened up across the way. •• As I smiled, I caught a glance of a beautiful and fluffy white cat circling her legs, wrapping its tail around her, perhaps to state “She is mine.”•• I have been eagerly awaiting your return, there was a void because you’ve been nowhere to be found. Maybe the universe wanted me to save the best for last.

Camille

 *The way the girl looked around with wide eyed curiosity as she approached had me titling my head and feeling momentarily stunted when it came to a guess of what she might possibly wish to purchase. She had the look of uncertainty until she spoke and then surprise took hold of my features before I could school them back into place.* Oh! You don't have to apologize. *As I peered through the window in the direction of where she indicated, I mumbled to myself how I hoped the welcoming committee had been nicer to her than they had been to me before I turned back to her and extended my hand to shake hers out of habit before I could stop myself, I laughed awkwardly and pulled my hand away, remembering to keep my distance.* It's very nice to meet you, Raine. I'm Camille and this here is Betty. *I bent down to pick up my cat and lifted her up into proper view.* Usually she hides away in the back but since today is the first day back after closing, she hasn't left my side. *As Betty nuzzled against me, I smiled for the comfort she brought then sat her back down and made my way around to the other side of the counter.* It's very sweet of you to want to introduce yourself...so did you open pretty recently, then? I was closed briefly for a holiday before the pandemic started and had to stay closed.  

Raine

•• Nodding in immediate reaction as not to interrupt Camille before she was done speaking.••

Yes, three months ago, but we must have just missed each other for your sabbatical because I have been here for about five renovating. If you need any help settling back in, I’d be happy to volunteer. I haven’t made too many acquaintances and I am just getting my bearings, really so there are no social distractions to be had.•• I hoped I hadn’t been too forward. I had never much been desperate for human contact, but there was a smidge of isolation seeping in on the year anniversary of losing my Birdie. I tried to concentrate on the sweet of the bittersweet at my opening, but of course had been confronted with pangs of my loss. Daring another peek around, smiling as another blush warmed my cheeks. •• Not that I think you and Betty don’t have it handled. Do you mind if I take a look around? •• I was a mermaid out of water but that didn’t mean my curiosity was not at a healthy level. The range of items in my immediate view offered plenty of options for my perusal without my naivety making me completely foolish in front of my new kitty-corner shop neighbor.••

Camille: 

*I couldn't help the smile that took hold of my lips when Raine offered to help me settle back in...and it clicked in my mind that I should have been the one to make that offer given how long the shop had been opened. I was starting to feel like I didn't deserve her kindness for how oblivious I had been to the renovations across the way. Thankfully her question brought me out of my mind and the pondering of what else I might have missed while my toes and head were in the sand.* Please, take your time and browse as much as you’d like. *Not wanting to make her feel like I was hovering or being one of those nosy shop owners, I moved back around to the other side of the counter to continue with the display I had been working on, speaking loud enough for her to hear without being intrusive.* I don't have much to do in the way of settling back into things, but I’d love to take a look around your place when you're not too busy. *As I waited for Raine to reply, the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside the shop demanded my attention, and an old familiar feeling of what it was like to be busy returned along with a pang of guilt for being away so long. That feeling slowly faded and was quickly replaced with interest as I watched the gentleman exit his truck and begin to walk across the parking lot, headed straight for the shop Raine had pointed out as hers. Turning back to see if she noticed, I called out to warn her.* Hey, um...Raine...I think you might have a customer…

Raine: 

••My reaction of a sigh to the call to duty was uncharacteristic, but spoke to the fact I instinctually would like to get to know Camille and the setting of her shop was too perfect to urge me out of my hermit comfort zone. With the slightest reluctance I turned towards the door. I also knew whoever it was hadn’t made an appointment. While I was still allowing walk-ins, I had to limit the number of people in Birdie’s to three.••

You’re welcome to come across the way with me, if you’d like? I am not done exploring your shop, so either way, I will be back. 

••With a little more quickening in my steps, I exited, hoping Camille might follow. I passed the man as casually as possible, but was greeted with thoughts that made my nose crinkle, as it was plain he was looking at my ass with graphic intentions of what he’d like to do to it. I flushed again, this time in embarrassment and anger, and not at all out of flattery. My eyes pinched closed just before I unlocked my door, the sanctuary and water feature running through the floor calmed my wild emotions and allowed me to form a smile that though unauthentic, would fool the man when he caught sight. He didn’t hesitate to return the smile, though his was dripping with sleaze. “Just back from lunch? Maybe next time I’ll get here earlier so you won’t have to eat alone.” I gagged at the back of my throat and wished to shove politeness aside, but with a little more cleverness than the man deserved.•• Too bad my lunch table is reserved for one and booked months in advance. 

••I focused on the blessed sound of the water while he honed in on my chest with beady eyes, I turned out of view when he pestered me with more intrusive questions. “Boyfriend? Husband?” His pause was not long enough before he added, “Girlfriend? I’m more than willing to share.” I ignored his utterly insulting insinuations, refusing to satisfy any of his base curiosity, instead I fetched a bottle of Camphor essential oil, known to be used by monks to suppress sexual urges, smiling as I took his hand, dotting the top between middle and ring fingers with the oil.•• This is on special today. ••winking, though I felt like I must immediately return home to scrub myself clean for providing him any kind of returns to his advances•• Just for you. 

••I made a show of using my own, house made blend of hand sanitizer as his smile somehow got creepier. It seemed like at least an hour had passed since I left the Toy Box, though I knew for certain it has been a short few minutes. “Oh, I didn’t come here to make a purchase. I’ve been watching you come and go and… decided today was the day I’d let my fiery little redhead crush in on the secret.” My eyes flared wide and the creepy crawlies multiplied from head to toe. Stupefied and appalled, I shook my head vehemently.••  I suggest you leave, go home and clean those binoculars you’ve been using, that way the next time you look you’ll see I’m not interested. 

••”I wasn’t using binoculars --” Pointing out the door, my lips in a set in a stern line, frustrated with myself for entertaining any of this stupidity.•• 

Camille: 

*I nodded at Raine when she excused herself with haste for her customer. I understood completely. New businesses were hard to turn a profit the first handful of years and each sale was important toward ensuring one’s livelihood. Not wanting to encroach on her sale, I took my time gathering my keys to lock the door but before I could, Betty snuck her fluffy white self out, circling my feet and curling her tail around my leg. With a smile, I scooped her into my arms and locked up my own shop, not at all concerned about missing out on a customer. There hadn't been any all day while I had been cleaning anyways.

As I approached Raine’s store front, I could see her speaking with the man then pointing toward the door with a look on her face that was unmistakable. It was an expression I had used more than a few times, I had perfected it, really. Generally it was used on under-agers, and despite my petite size, worked very well. I was no pushover. But this guy was old enough to know better and to know he wasn’t welcomed.* Oh man, Betty. I wonder if our new friend needs some reinforcements. *Squaring my shoulders, I pushed the door open and painted on my brightest smile.* Hey, Raine. *I took my time looking around while holding Betty, her purrs from being in my arms and having her head scratched slowly began to fade with each step I took closer to the man who still couldn’t take the hint.* 

I just adore the water feature you have here, it’s so lovely. *Satisfied with being close enough to my new friend, I picked up a jar on a nearby table, pretending to look at the label as he spoke again. My nose scrunched at his blatant disrespect and I waited to hear how she would handle herself. Betty, ever the excellent judge in character, hissed in warning from my arms, and I caught Raine’s gaze briefly, winking as I quietly let my guard cat jump down from my hold. It seemed she had very quickly taken offence on Raine’s behalf and moved to circle around her legs as she always did with me. From my spot out of the guy’s view, I mouthed at Raine to pick Betty up, if he got any closer, I knew the claws would come out.*

Raine

••I knew we’d only just met, but Camille and Betty were both quickly becoming essential to my survival. Their audience reinforced my backbone, especially when I witnessed Betty hissing. Animals were the best judge of character and I caught Camille’s wink and easily read her lips.•• I’m afraid you will have to go now. I have a private consultation. ••I wasn’t prone to lie, but I also wasn’t an idiot. I needed to ensure this man got the message the first time lest he think there was any question in my denial. The encounter was new to me, I hadn’t ever really been in this position, but I was in a new locale and I was certain it wouldn’t be the last time.•• I’m so sorry, Camille, he was just leaving… 

•• “Before I go, can I set up a private… consultation?” My stomach absolutely turned over, most especially for the way he rolled over the words private and consultation.•• Consultations are for customers intending to make a minimum purchase of five hundred dollars. You can call to set it up when you decide you are interested in my inventory. Now please leave.

••I watched as Betty sauntered closer to me, stopping right by my feet. I was flattered by my newfound feline friend’s quick warming up to me. When she nudged my calf with her nose, I dipped down, gingerly picking her up and surprised when I was greeted with a purr of her approval before she turned her head to the man and let loose a low growl. I watched as the sleaze put his hands up in relent and started backing towards the door. “I’ll see you soon, beautiful.” Disgusted, once he left I let out a sigh of exasperation.•• Please tell me they aren’t all like that here? And thank you, complete lifesaver. You too, Betty. 

Camille

*As I waited for the jerk to get the hint Raine was trying to send his way, I found myself biting my tongue. She was being too kind, in my opinion. And if this guy was in my shop acting like this, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell him off and kick him out. Then again, I could recall when my shop was new, years ago and I had to have a few similar experiences in order to find my grit. Raine would find hers, too, I was certain of it. 

Setting the jar I had picked up back down, I slowly made my way closer to Raine, just in case dickwad decided to do something dickwad-ish. Fortunately, Betty had done exactly what I had hoped, and helped reinforce Raine’s request that he leave. As he moved past me on his way to the door, I smirked when he made eye contact, which probably wasn’t the greatest idea as we were left with his promise to return. 

Ew. Gross. 

I really hoped not. Moving toward the door, I smiled over my shoulder at Raine as I twisted the deadbolt...just in case and watched as he climbed into an older truck and slowly left the parking lot. I’d make sure to keep an eye out for him over the next week or so. Something about him felt...off.

Raine’s voice brought me back from my thoughts and I laughed lightly at her question, giving a small shake of my head.* Not all of them. Usually I get the creeps at my store given what I sell... and even then, it’s not very often. *Moving closer to Raine, I reached out to scratch behind Betty’s ears* A casual mention of knowing how to use a whip is enough to get them to leave pretty quick. Want me to show you how in case he returns? *My offer was mostly a joke...mostly.*  

Raine

••I laughed at the offer while simultaneously blushing. I liked Camille, a lot, but to say I wasn’t intimidated by all her wares would be complete fabrication. Still, my world was fairly lonely and my desire to branch out and make friends well outweighed any embarrassment over my naivety. For truth, Camille was the first person I’d felt comfortable with and conversation was coming too easy. It had always been Birdie and me and I’d never had true friends, only passing acquaintances. I couldn’t live a cloistered life anymore, and though it made me nervous to open up, I had already made the first steps with Camille, I could only hope she wasn’t just being polite.••  Do you offer beginner courses or something that comes before beginner? 

••Laughing again, I sat Betty down on the counter top and turned to reach for a bottle of a special elixir that I didn’t typically share with someone I’d just met, it was more reserved for requests of a special nature. I couldn’t help but recall that I’d blushed, too, when Birdie had first brought up the idea of concocting this particular blend of extracts, mostly for the reason behind it.  She had gently encouraged me, in a way only she could get away with, to come out of the nunnery and embrace my sexuality. She’d imparted her blunt wisdom, insisting I didn’t need a partner to learn what I liked myself. I probably didn’t quite crack the mold of my prudishness in a way she had hoped I would, but I dared to believe that my entry into a sex shop and making an acquaintance of its proprietor would have both made her laugh and proud. 

I snapped out of my happy reverie back to the present before turning to face Camille with the bottle in hand.•• Since you so kindly served as my protector and have additionally offered me whip training, perhaps you will indulge me in sharing something of mine with you?

Camille: 

Pre-beginner course? Hmm. Let me think...maybe a paddle or a soft flogger to start with before we get you yielding a whip then. *My laughter joined hers and it left me feeling good despite the lingering creepiness that she wasn’t afraid or too intimidated to joke around with me. Sure I had a handful of friends, but it had been a long while since I could claim anyone as a close friend or a best friend for that matter. And after the encounter with the disgusting guy, I felt a bond of sorts with her, and had already decided she was someone I wanted to be around. Her humour, while it skirted the edges of an obvious innocence gave me the impression she already appreciated my brand of unapologetic crass. It wouldn’t take long before I would help break her free of that shell, and I was confident it would be without much effort, too. 

When she put Betty down on the counter, I reached out to run my hand over her arching back, scratching through her white fur all the way down along her tail, letting it twist around my fingers the way I always did as I watched Raine grab a small bottle. My head tilted in curiosity at what the contents might be. A smile grew easily at her offer and I nodded without hesitation, not caring in the least what it was.* 

You know you don’t have to pay me back for doing what any friend would do. That guy was gross on so many levels! *laughing with a shudder, I shook my head continuing on so she didn’t  think I was being rude.*  But that doesn’t mean I’m going to say no. What is it? 

Raine

••Laughing openly at the softened suggestions, I continued to be at ease in Camille’s company. It had been too long since I’d laughed in such an organic way, the feeling rising with a genuine rush. Even if I had no use for anything at all in her shop, I was interested in what more I could discover from her expertise. Though I was verging on a comfort level that had me wanting to leave the mask down, I pulled it up out of respect for her and in order to share a more intimate distance. Leaning across the counter, circling my fingers around her wrists and turning her palms upward, I smiled behind the silk of my mask.••  This is called… Awakening. Think of it as a bridge from my world to yours. ••My brow lifted to communicate the intrigue I hoped was translating. I twisted the top of the bottle off, the scent of lavender and ylang ylang blooming in the air.  Retrieving a dropper from my sanitized tray and filling it with the oil. I dabbed each of Camille’s wrists and then circled my thumbs over each drop, gently massaging it into her skin before another application to my own fingers. Leaning slightly closer, I brought my fingertips up and behind her ears to dab just behind them before the last application to either of her temples. There were other pressure points for full effect but asking even her permission to do that would not be appropriate and would involve removing clothing.••

The effect will be subtle but this blend should allow you to clear out stale energies while refreshing you and opening you up to new and arousing potential. ••I could feel my cheeks warm again as I struggled to find the words to basically say what it was without blurting that it was basically like opening up a dam for energy that could block a libido. I wasn’t being presumptuous about her circumstance, my intention was to have fun.••  It will leave you attracting complimentary energies to your own. ••Betty meowed and butted her head against Camille’s arm, drawing another laugh.•• Looks as though Betty approves, unless I am reading her wrong. ••Lowers my voice though we are alone in the store.•• You can use it in other erogenous zones… the dimples on your back, the sternum, the inner part of your knee… 

Camille: 

*I found myself slightly surprised when Raine pulled her mask back on and leaned closer. Seemed I was getting an up close and personal demonstration of whatever this “Awakening” stuff was. My grin grew as she spoke and began to massage the small drops of oil into my skin. It smelled lovely and light, which was nice. 

As soon as she moved her hands to my ears I couldn’t help the soft laugh which was immediately followed up with an apology and explanation of being ticklish there. My laugher was short lived however because the gentle circling of her fingers at my temples earned her a sigh for how nice it felt. I was so focused on the beginning of what felt like a slight warming tingle on my skin that I nearly missed when she explained what the oil was meant to do. 

Now. I wasn’t normally someone who lived any kind of holistic lifestyle but damn if Raine didn’t have me rethinking that with the way she spoke and the way the oil felt as she applied it to my skin. I wanted it to do exactly what she said it would. I needed a complete and thorough cleansing of all stale energies. The whole world needed it really, but I didn’t think she had that many bottles of her oil.* 

Complementary energies? Hmm. 

*I was considering just how that could ever be possible given the whole social distance pandemic thing, but Raine’s laughter at Betty’s usual demand for affections drew me from my thoughts and I laughed with her as I gave my cat a scratch beneath her chin and returned my full attention back to Raine. Her lowered voice despite the fact that we were the only people in her shop had it dawning on me. Suddenly the warm tingling sensations on my skin and her mention of erogenous zones had me laughing. Loudly.* 

Oh, Raine. You are quite the surprise. I just clued into what you’re trying to say this stuff is. *laughing some more and giving my head a shake, I lift my wrist to my nose to give the oil a proper smell.* You just put arousal oil on me. How forward for you. *winking with a teasing grin so she knows I’m not bothered at all, I point at the bottle* I hope it works with the whole complementary energies. And if not, I do enjoy the way it feels. 

Raine

••I beam for the compliment of being a surprise, while I twist the dropper into the bottle, sliding it Camille's way•• I insist you indulge in the rest of the bottle. Maybe not all at once. ••laughs again, finding the atmosphere having lightened considerably from just earlier.•• 

Dare I suggest you try it somewhere I didn't? ••bats my lashes in acknowledgement of my less than innocent rhetorical•• 

If you're open to it, I think you may find it delivers on its promise with time and in its own way. Match.com it is not. ••a laugh bubbles up for how silly I feel talking this way and about things I've never conversed about.••

I only ask your honest feedback. ••biting my lip behind my mask before I pull it back down for a reprieve•• And maybe we could get together socially some time? I would be grateful for your company in the expanse of my wide open calendar. 

Camille: 

*Giving Raine a bright smile, I take the bottle and laugh with an understanding nod.* I promise not to dump the whole thing on my nipples in one go. *My snort is loud as I laugh again, entirely unable to keep a straight face at the idea.* 

I also promise to give you any and all honest feedback and I would be happy to be your guinea pig for anything else in the future. Unless it’s meant to dry me up like a prune in which case, no thank you! *While still holding the bottle in one hand, I reach for Betty, holding her in my arms as I consider Raine’s question to hang out.* I can do you one better than just getting together some time. Which, let's be honest here...people only say that to be polite and never actually plan to follow through. So, there’s a food truck that usually parks about a half block away, it’s amazing! Let me buy you lunch for this? 

*Giving the bottle a little wiggle, I let Betty down next to my feet and nodded firmly, not leaving her an opportunity to decline.* There are even a few scattered tables we can eat at. I will just take Betty back to my shop, lock up, and meet you out in the parking lot in a few. And then you can tell me all about the other kinds of concoctions you have made.

*Moving to the door, I twisted open the deadbolt I had locked earlier and opened it for Betty to walk through first.* See you in a few! *Giving a quick wave as I let the door close behind me, I grinned when I saw Raine nodding back at me, not that I had given her any choice to object.* Look at us making a new friend, Betty. And on the first day back at the shop.

Undine - 11

Fandom: HTTYD

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Hicret/Hicretstrid

Modern AU. Kinda-Mermaid AU.

FF-net   AO3

. o O o .

AN: Woohooow, a new chapter! Only took over three months to get it done... And that's with me having been SO eager for this chapter! There's a picture in this chapter, and I drew this over half a year ago! And since then, it's been waiting for this moment. xD

. o O o .

Wide.

Wide and beautiful.

That was all he could think about as he gazed out over the ocean. So magnificent and alluring, as if it would hug him and keep him warm as soon as he stepped into the water. The longing was overwhelming, and he couldn't quite figure out why he wasn't doing those last steps, why he stayed where he was.

So wide...

So beautiful...

So tempting...

"Hey, love. Did you zone out again?"

Eret flinched and, blinking to clear his mind of the foggy sensation that always followed one of these episodes, gazed at Hiccup and his godsdamned smirk next to him.

"Uh," he grunted, shaking his head after Hiccup had stretched to give him a light kiss in greeting. "You're back?"

Chuckling, Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry, talking to that one customer took a little longer than planned. But I still got all the shopping done; we should be good for a week or so now."

Eret nodded, silently accepting the fact that he must have lost hours again. Hadn't Hiccup left only minutes ago? Once back in their kitchen, he sat down and watched quietly as his boyfriend prepared dinner for them both, steak and a fresh salad to go with it.

"So, did you find out anything new?" Hiccup asked after they'd both eaten up, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied smile.

Eret shook his head. "No, not really. I... well, I didn't have time. I think I didn’t even get to sit down and open my notes this time." This was so frustrating. So many hours of possible working time – all lost.

"Well, I’m glad you’re taking the Undine serious now,“ Hiccup went on, carefree and relaxed. “But after she apparently enchanted you again today, I’d say there's at least one thing we can be absolutely sure of." 

Eret cocked his head, even though he could already guess where Hiccup was going with this.

"She really is no threat to us."

Eret nodded, though reluctantly. It seemed as if Hiccup was right. Glancing at the picture Hiccup had drawn and that stood in a corner of the room, he tried to sum it all up for himself.

It was two weeks now since he and Hiccup had both seen the Undine. They hadn't spotted her again since then, but the fact that they'd both seen the same face was proof enough. But proof enough of what? 

That she was real? Probably. 

But did that also mean that she didn't mean to harm them? Maybe Hiccup was right and she really posed no threat. But what did that mean for them? Of course, they could just go on like before, happy with the knowledge that a literal living legend resided in the ocean next to their home.

But how bizarre that fact alone was aside, all these episodes of one of them getting drawn to the ocean and basically becoming unconscious for hours... they bothered Eret. Yeah, nothing bad had ever happened. Yet. But they were disturbing nonetheless – because they were getting more frequent! Lately, barely a day passed without one of them ending up outside and gazing at the ocean as if it was all that mattered. And Eret just wasn't sure what to think about that.

Because, surely, those were connected to the Undine, right? They had to be, even though he couldn’t say why or how. It felt like too much of a coincidence that there could be two unexplainable phenomena at work here. And wasn’t it part of the legends about undines, mermaids, and the like that they were able to lure humans into the water and into their death? It wasn’t that he really feared this creature wanted to harm them… But he couldn’t entirely accept her being harmless either. 

“Maybe you’re right,” he evaded giving Hiccup a direct and possibly controversial answer. They’d discussed it often enough lately, and without any further proof of any sort, their different opinions on this matter wouldn’t change. They agreed to disagree, and that was enough for now. 

“Still, I’d like to go through my notes again tonight, since I didn’t get the chance to do so earlier. Look up all the legends that mention sirens luring people in with their song and such.”

Hiccup shook his head at that, but chuckled and smiled fondly. “If that’s what you have to do to find your peace of mind…”

. o O o .

For a while, Hiccup simply watched Eret as he stared at his screen, ruffled through pages in his books, and typed some new notes into one of his documents. He was adorable like this, biting his lip and with this tiny crease between his eyes when he was entirely focused on his work like this. And the fact that he was taking the Undine and her existence more serious now wasn’t exactly off-putting either.

And it wasn’t as if Hiccup didn’t understand why Eret insisted on gathering as much information as possible. Odin, he wasn’t much better if he thought about it. It was just that Hiccup didn’t believe some old legends, myths, or fairy tales could really tell them what all this was about. Mrs Ingerman might be their best option, but with how vigorously she’d been in her bad opinion about the Undine, Hiccup didn’t feel like bringing her up as a source of information. He couldn’t say why, but he just knew that the Undine wasn’t here to harm them. 

If only they’d seen her again, maybe even had gotten the chance to interact with her. That would certainly have taught them more about her and her motives. But she hadn’t shown herself to them again, no matter how determinedly they’d looked, and by now, Hiccup wasn’t putting much hope into finding her anymore either. She was probably still around, but as long as she was hiding so sufficiently, nothing would change. 

Sighing, he watched Eret for another minute or three before he got up to clear the table and clean the kitchen. Or… that was what he’d meant to do. 

He couldn’t even say when exactly it happened, whether it was right after he entered the kitchen or whether he at least started washing the dishes. All he remembered was that he suddenly felt too warm, the air around him too stuffy, and that he decided to go outside and get some fresh air instead. 

It was a lovely evening, the sun just about to set. The air was still relatively warm with only a light breeze blowing over from the ocean. His eyes settled on the glistening surface, smiling as the faint thought of drawing this one day came to his mind. But only a heartbeat later, it was gone again, along with pretty much every other thought in his head. 

He took a deep breath but it still felt stuffy somehow. Maybe the air would be cooler closer to the water? Hiccup made an unconscious step toward the water, then another. And another. The closer he got to the ocean the lighter he felt, his smile getting wider, his eyes brighter. 

On and on he walked…

. o O o .

With a heavy sigh, Eret stretched, the muscles in his back complaining at the lack of change in posture. He shushed them though, far more frustrated by the lack of progress in his research. There were so many stories, but none of them fit the case of their Undine. Nearly everywhere, the siren or mermaid was described as an evil monster which lured men in on purpose, direct and almost aggressive in their behaviour. And none of that fit to their Undine, he had to give Hiccup that much.

And… where was he anyway? 

“Hiccup?” Eret called, surprised that he wasn’t sitting on the couch anymore. When had he left? He got up, stretched some more, and then went in search of his elusive boyfriend. He had enough of all those frustrating thoughts and dearly preferred cuddles over pretty much anything right now. 

However, it quickly became apparent that he wasn’t inside the cottage anymore, and with a slight uneasiness, Eret stepped out the backdoor, expecting Hiccup to have gotten lost in the view, too. But he was nowhere to be seen, and somehow, that made it even worse. Calling his name again, Eret jogged around the house to check on their car, but it was still where it was supposed to be; Hiccup hadn’t driven off for whatever reason. His uneasiness grew as he ran a hand through his hair, looking around the wide-open landscape as if he expected to spot Hiccup there somewhere; which, of course, he didn’t. 

“Hiccup, this isn’t funny anymore,” he called, louder, but there was still no response. “Dammit!” he cursed under his breath, jogging back to the other side of the house. Reluctantly, his gaze landed on the ocean but he found that, for once, its allure was gone. Or maybe his worries for Hiccup were just overshadowing it. Slowly, practically against his will, he walked closer to the small stony cliff that separated the higher field of grass from the water. 

And prayed with all his heart that he wouldn’t find what he feared to find.

. o O o . 

With her incorporeal arms soothingly wrapped around herself, the creature sat at the foot of her usual rock, deep below the ocean’s surface. As so often lately, she was quietly humming to herself, the only thing that seemed able to keep the loneliness at bay – a little bit at least. 

She felt raw inside, torn between the urge to watch her humans whenever possible and to keep this safe distance at any cost. It wasn’t working. She could feel it, how her determination crumbled. It was only a matter of time before she would give in and go back, would risk… whatever could happen to her if she got involved with humans. 

But whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than this hopeless longing for something she didn’t even know. And she was certain that, to a degree, they had to feel it, too. When she felt the worst, almost ready to give up existing, more often than not one of them appeared outside, barely moving and just watching the waves, just like she liked to do, too. It was odd, but it made her feel connected to them. As if they specifically came for her, to keep her company. As if her loneliness had called them. 

And it was getting worse. 

She’d already spent part of this day with the bigger one as she called it. But where she’d been content with doing so every couple of days, she now already missed them again. How was she supposed to cope?

Her cold heart skipped a painful beat when she felt it – one of them was close again. Not close enough to find her, but inside the water. Even over the distance, she thought she could feel the warmth he radiated, making her whimper. Resisting was so hard. 

Impossibly hard even. 

With something like a soft cry, she gave in to the overpowering force that drew her toward them, floating close enough to spot him near the surface. It was the smaller one, and just seeing him made her feel lighter inside. Hopefully, this tiny bit of closeness would be enough to give her the strength to keep her distance a little longer. 

But then she saw it. Something was… off. 

Usually, the humans took off their additional skins when they entered the water, or most of them at least. And it made sense, she thought as she watched her human struggle. All those skins made it apparently difficult to move. Worried, she watched him more closely. He appeared to have problems with staying at the surface, as if the wet skins were dragging him down against his will. 

It didn’t look good.

Not at all!

She didn’t hesitate for even one second longer. From one moment to the other, she didn’t care about consequences anymore. Within a few heartbeats, she was at his side, her body condensing into a more solid form to hold him and lift him back up to the surface. He instantly gasped for air, arms and legs flinging around wildly. His eyes were open but equally wild so she couldn’t be sure whether he even noticed her or not. She hoped he didn’t.

She also hoped that lifting him back up here was enough, that she could go right back into hiding now. But as soon as she let go of him, he sank down again, helpless against the waves and the weight of his soaked skins. Whining in distress but without thinking twice about it, the creature wrapped her arms around her human again and slowly dragged him back toward the shore. It was difficult, her body not used to such exertion, and she had to pause several times, gathering her strength and holding him up almost more than she could manage. 

He’d stopped struggling by now which made it easier but also worried her. Terrestrial beings needed to breathe, didn’t they? Was he still breathing? She wasn’t sure but she also had no way of making sure. So she put in more effort to get him back to the shore and even managed to drag him onto solid ground, even though she barely remembered how. 

Frantically, she looked him over, unsure of what to do now. He still wasn’t moving. But before she even had one moment to think about what to do now, she heard the sounds; footsteps rustling through the grass above her and the weird but distinct noises humans made. The other one was coming here and quickly. That was good. He would know what to do with this one.

With two quick jumps, she was back in the water, diving in head-first and disappearing between the waves.

. o O o .

When Eret reached the cliff, heart hammering in his chest, he froze when he found exactly what he’d feared. Hiccup lay on the rocky ground below, pale and unmoving, his clothes and hair dripping wet. 

“Oh, FUCK!” he cursed, hastily climbing down to his hopefully just unconscious boyfriend. In the back of his mind, a voice was ranting about how Hiccup had been wrong, about how the Undine had lured him into death after all. But Eret determinedly shut it out. Now was not the time. 

Instead, he quickly scanned his body for any visible wounds, relieved when he couldn’t find any, and directly went over to reanimation. They’d taken courses before moving to the seaside, but never in his life had Eret imagined he’d one day have to use it on Hiccup. 

“Come on, Hic,” he gasped in-between. “Don’t do this to me.”

To Eret, it felt as if a small eternity passed as he alternately pressed down on Hiccup’s chest and blew air into his lungs. But in reality, it probably took far less than a minute until Hiccup reacted, coughing up water as his body convulsed. 

“Oh, thank Odin,” Eret gasped as Hiccup regained at least some consciousness. He was groaning, his hands fluttering up in search of something, and Eret caught them eagerly, reassuring him that he was safe now. “You scared me there for a moment, do you know that? Don’t ever do that to me again!” He was only babbling, really, too scared and relieved and shocked to make any sense. And it wasn’t as if Hiccup was all that perceptive right now anyway. 

For a while, Eret just held Hiccup. He had both arms wrapped around him, slowly rocking him back and forth and giving Hiccup time to recover and regain his senses. At first, all Hiccup did was groan and cough, but after a minute or three, he apparently found his voice again.

“She was there,” he croaked, followed by renewed coughing. “I saw her. Felt her. The Undine.”

Eret’s fingers around Hiccup’s shoulder twitched as he helped him back onto his feet. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised the Undine was involved in this incident. “Yeah, I guessed so. Maybe you believe me now that she’s dangerous. All these legends about her kind luring men into death – they can’t all be wrong!” 

Getting Hiccup up the rocky cliff wasn’t easy but eventually, they managed. Once they were back on grassy ground, Hiccup shook his head though. “No, you don’t understand,” he insisted, his voice still hoarse but urgent. “She… she was helping me. Dragged me to the surface and the shore. She rescued me, Eret! She’s not evil, not–” 

Hiccup broke off, coughing again, and nearly fell when he dizzily stumbled to the side. Eret caught him quickly, his arms firmly around him again as he led him to their home. He wanted to argue against Hiccup’s words, how that didn’t explain why he’d ended up in the water in the first place, for example. But instead, he just pressed his lips together, forcing himself to stay quiet. They would get the time to discuss this, but not now. Not, getting Hiccup inside to warm him up and let him rest was more important. 

“Whatever. But come on now, we have to get you out of these wet clothes.” Usually, a comment like that would have drawn a smirk from Hiccup’s lips and probably a comment about if Eret wanted to see him naked he only had to ask. 

But today, none of that happened. All Hiccup did was nod mutely, his eyes weirdly dazed and empty.

. o O o .

The creature didn’t get far before she paused and turned back to look at the shore. Too big was her apprehension for the human’s health; she had to know how he was doing and hiding deep in the ocean and out of sight was out of the question right now. Anxiously, she watched as the bigger one took care of him, for once not caring whether anyone might spot her head between the waves. 

Please, oh, please. Let him live!, she thought, desperately. Usually, the life of humans didn’t matter to her, but after all these weeks, she didn’t want to lose them.

The relief she felt when the smaller one moved again was beyond anything she’d felt before. Her heart was flowing over with lightness, unable to contain her emotions any longer, and there was an odd stinging in her eyes, more wetness than usual on her cheeks.

He was alive. As stupid as her thoughtless reflex to help him might have been, it hadn’t been for nothing. He was alive, and everything else was secondary to that.

However, as she watched them retreat into their construction, something else came up in her mind. The happiness and relief from before got accompanied by the returning longing as they walked away from her, but that wasn't something new. No, what was new was the sense of dread she felt. As if it had been her fault that he'd almost drowned in the first place.

But that was ridiculous… wasn't it?

With blank eyes she watched them as they disappeared out of sight, inwardly fighting against the voice inside her head. What if she'd been right before? What if she wasn't the only one feeling that strange pull toward these humans? What if, somehow, her presence affected them just like theirs did her?

Was she responsible for him almost drowning? 

As often as thinking about them had elicited some strange warmth inside her before, all she felt now was a weird coldness instead. She couldn’t even explain it to herself, but she just knew that she’d been right. Them spending more time outside where she could see them lately was somehow because of her, because they felt the same yearning she did. And it had almost killed one of them. 

Throughout the entire night, the creature stayed close to the shore, closer than she’d dared to in a long time, watching the building even after the lights had gone out. Something like today wouldn’t happen again. She wouldn’t let it happen again. 

For hours, she pondered even though, deep down, she already knew what she had to do. Her only option. Leaving was impossible, she'd tried that already. She'd thought that staying just close enough to watch them would be enough, but the past weeks had been anything but easy on her – and obviously, it wasn't a real solution anyway, not when it put them at risk. So what option was left to her? She knew that she wasn't allowed to interact, that it could have deadly consequences if she did. But apparently, that was true for not interacting, too.

Yeah, she already knew what she had to do, but she still needed the hours until dawn to gather her courage. Above her, the sky was already turning grey and orange as she got closer and closer to the water's edge. Once, the sensation of skin forming around her, of confining her, had put her off enough to throw herself back into the ocean, but today, it felt like little more than an unimportant inconvenience. Earlier, when she'd dragged the human onto solid ground, it hadn't bothered her either, hadn't even registered in her mind, and ignoring it now was almost easy. 

Once her feet touched nothing but sand and rocks and her legs had gotten accustomed to carrying her weight, her gaze locked on the small construction further up on the headland. Slowly, she took one step up the rocky ground, her eyes never leaving her goal. Before she knew it, she felt grass beneath her bare feet, such a weird and unfamiliar sensation, but even that wasn’t able to distract her from taking another step. 

And another. 

And another...

. o O o .

Uh Oh... I wonder how that's going to work out... O:)

uhhhhh yeaaaaaah I’ve got an order for some edwin featuring parental roy and riza, hold the royai?

merry new year, @bifullmetal, I’m your secret santa for 2018!! I’m sorry this is late, I was held up by some travel plans that popped off a little earlier than I thought they would

you asked for basically anything, so my plan going in here was to deliver a wintery and modern spin on the classic mermaid au fic. of course it ran away from me, so now you get a wip of a fic, and that just seems like a bum present so I draw art to make up for that, and gosh dude I just hope you like it

thanks to @fullmetalsecretsanta for putting this event together for 2018, you guys are awesome, for sure

anyway, here’s a sneak peek at the first chapter!

(edit: sorry for the extra late posting, I saved this to my drafts again on accident which is kind of the most embarrassing mistake I could possibly make)

“The Sea Bleeds Blue” Chapter 1 (prototype)

“... the man is reported to have been under the influence of alcohol during the time of his encounter…”

The tiny little TV blares throughout the house from its perch on the kitchen counter, a feat much more impressive in possibly any other structure that isn’t a cramped beach house. Like, seriously cramped. The kind of cramped where you can barely lay flat across the floor without hitting a wall.

It’s not like Winry Rockbell hates her grandma’s beach house. In a way, she gets it. You get older, your health starts to go, the warm weather is easy on your joints and the air is just so much easier to breathe compared to city smog. And everyone else your age has the same idea, too. When you have a nest egg and no other obligations, why not? Why not just live at the beach, wake up every morning to the soothing ebb of waves, sip your coffee on a porch overlooking the scenery, be a family vacation destination in and of yourself, and just wait to die?

That’s her whole bugbear with the thing actually, now that she thinks about it. People come to the beach to die.

She blinks hard, reaches for her wire cutters, and tries not to think about it much more than that.

“... officials like park ranger Jean Havoc however say the injuries are more likely to have been caused by a particularly territorial sea lion,” the newscaster on the TV continues, her voice tinny and distorted by the on-board speakers. Honestly, she could fix those if Gran would let her...

“He might’ve been feedin’ ‘em, harassin’ ‘em… Sea lions ain’t known to be gracious about their personal space, so all it takes is one loud, persistent jerkwad to ruin their whole day. Heck, mine too! Hahaha.”

“The man was admitted to the hospital this morning, and is expected to make a full recovery…”

Paninya scoffs, loud enough to startle Winry just as she’s threading the headlight through its socket. Luckily a less delicate part of this process. “Sea lion my butt. I’ve bounced frisbees off those things and they haven’t moved.”

She pauses as she considers that image. “Please tell me you don’t make field goals out of sea lions on purpose.”

“Of course not! They’re just… big. And bouncy. And all over? You can’t go down the boardwalk without tripping on them. Like, seriously, is there like a sea lion sanctuary nearby or something? Don’t they migrate?” Paninya asks, her nose scrunching up.

“Uh, I think Mr. Hughes might—”

“No, wait, that’s beside the point,” she interrupts. “And the point here is that I’m not buying what that park ranger is selling.” Her deep brown eyes watch Winry expectantly.

Winry puts down the wires she was futzing with and turns to give her a long-suffering smile, resigning herself to the next few minutes being completely unproductive. “Alright, detective, give me the scoop. What’s really going on in Brightly Cove?”

Paninya always gets this wild grin on her face when she does this. The corner of her smile lifts up just so, her eyes glint, and she squares her shoulders like she’s the hardboiled crime noir star the situation needs.

“Okay, so,” she starts, “You saw the gashes on the guy, right?”

Winry shrugs. “A little bit.”

“Okay, well, they’re completely inconsistent with a sea lion attack. We’d be looking for bites and puncture wounds, and he got approximately uhh, NONE of those. So either sea lions have mutated to have razor sharp claws in the past week, or it wasn’t a sea lion and the park ranger is bullshitting us to cover up what it REALLY was.”

“Right, I’m following so far.”

“So, let’s set the scene.” She stands up to stalk around the incredibly small kitchen table toward Winry. “You’re a dumb tourist that came to the beach in the winter. You’ve brought a brand new jet ski with you, completely oblivious that the water is way too cold for that right now. Because you’re a dumb tourist.”

Winry takes the cue. “I’m a savvy tourist because I’ve arrived when no one is here and none of the shops are open! Locals LOVE my business! Sure hope nothing happens to me without any lifeguards!”

“You’re out on the water when you get caught… in a current! Waves come and pummel you towards the shore, one by one! Before you know it you’re smashed up against the rocks,  no shore to save you. You’re stuck.”

She musters the most dramatic slump over the back of the chair that she can manage. “Woe is the fate of a tourist such as I.”

“But wait!” Paninya raises a hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from some kind of indoor sun. “What’s that coming toward you? It couldn’t be, is it a person, come to save you in your darkest hour? But then it comes closer, and you realize fate has never been so kind… because there, in the distance… is…“ She leans in close to Winry with a grave look.

“Is…?”

“Bigfoot with a machete.”

“Bigfoot with a—?!” Winry sputters, pushing Paninya away as she absolutely howls with laughter. “Your idea of a more likely culprit than a sea lion is Bigfoot with a machete?!”

“Uh, yeah?” She lifts an eyebrow. “Come on Winry. The gashes. The rocks. The collectible shot glass he leaves at the scene of every crime. It’s totally Bigfoot’s m.o.”

Winry turns back to the mess of robotics on the table. “I’m done with you. Completely done. I’m kicking you out.”

“What? Noooo, come oooon, I’ve got nothing else to do today! I’m gonna be so bored, Winry, pleeease,” Paninya whines, flopping bonelessly onto the table with her best puppy-dog eyes. Winry is mostly unaffected.

“Why not just go hang out with Lan Fan?” she asks. “She puts up with you way more than I do.”

“Can’t. She’s out with her grandpa ‘scoring sweet holiday deals’ at the outlets.” The complaint comes with air quotes. “Besides, you’ve been talking about how cool this project is gonna be for like, mooonths. I can’t miss it after that kind of hype.”

“I have kind of been taunting you with it, haven’t I?” Winry sighs, curling a loose wire around her finger. “Tell you what. If you can be quiet and not so… Paninya the amazing living distraction on me, then I’ll let you come with me later to do the experiment.” Paninya’s whole disposition perks up like a labradoodle. “But! That means no distractions.”

“Aye captain, no distractions,” Paninya promises with a little salute.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

Several hours in that ramshackle beach house kitchen, crammed around a table and dutifully trying to keep potato chip crumbs from invading her whole zone (which, to Paninya’s credit, does not technically count as a distraction), and it’s finally complete. Just in time for low tide, too. The thing she’s been dreaming of doing for months, the senior project that will launch her college applications from drab to fab, the thing that will get her out of this backwater beach town for good...

“Okay, so. No more secrets. Tell me what your project is, Win,” Paninya demands, handing her a roll up cord out of the backpack they brought with them. Winry beams at her.

“Wwwweeell, do you remember those guys from like, San Fran who started building an aquatic robot to explore a hole that was rumored to have treasure at the bottom?”

Paninya pulls out a half-eaten bag of Ruffles from the backpack. “No, but that sounds completely rad. Is that your project? Oh shit, are we gonna find treasure?”

“Probably not,” Winry casually admits, ignoring the way Paninya deflates. “But the robot, yeah. The one they built was a world-wide collaboration across the internet. They had a goal, and people would test their builds by building one of their own, tweak it, and report their findings on those tweaks. It was super cool.”

“Yeah, cool for nerds maybe…” Paninya mumbles around a chip.

“SO,” she presses on, “I built one of my own. With some tweaks. You know, in the spirit of the thing. Now I just need to test it out, record my success, and write a whole essay on it.”

“Which is why we’re in the spooky cave that you can only get to at low tide and has a mysterious bottomless pit in it? So you can see if your ‘bot dives or fries?”

“Yep!” Winry answers cheerfully. “And why not just use Ling’s pool to do this instead? My legs don’t get good traction in here. I almost slipped earlier. I almost died.”

“Because Ling’s pool isn’t saltwater, and you’re fine.”

“Wow. Cold. Is this what a shitload of free time your senior year does to you, or is it just the overachieving itself?”

“Both,” Winry chirps, and plugs the cord into the tablet. She moves to plug in the other end into the robot itself, but frowns. The waterproof chassis doesn’t look right, like it settled in transport, skewing the whole design just slightly enough that it kind of worries her. Just that tiny bit of pressure on the cable could knock it out with the right bump, or damage the whole port.

Oh well. That’s why a scout’s always prepared, right? She pulls a knife out of her pocket and carefully shaves the plastic away to make room. And just like that, the plug fits like a charm. Nice and snug.

She turns to Paninya, and nods. “It’s show time.”

“Wait, waaaait,” Paninya stops her, waving a cheese-dusted hand around as the other reaches into the backpack. “It’s bad luck to sail a ship without a name. Got one?”

“Uh… I’ve just been calling it Divebot mark 1?” she offers.

Paninya stops digging through the supplies to stare. “Come on, Win. I’ve taught you to ‘yes and’ better than that.”

“Ugh, fine, okay. Um… Divey Jones?”

“Better.” Paninya reveals a can of ginger ale, and at Winry’s own disbelieving stare, shrugs. “It’s not like I have champagne, dude. Ready?”

“Ready.”

Gently, Winry eases the newly christened Divey Jones into the pool of water in front of them at the same time Paninya starts vigorously shaking the can. It floats on top of the surface, gently bobbing, and Winry tosses a grin at Paninya. First success: buoyancy. Next: video feed.

She boots up the tablet, jailbroken to run an open framework because nobody wants you to sandbox their stuff anymore, and opens the custom app she programmed just for this project. One part video capture, one part robot controller. It saved her the parts cost of making a controller, but also? It’s just a little more impressive for whoever looks over her work. Look, she can engineer hardware and software!

When the window prompt comes up to sync the devices, she starts to get jittery. It was one thing to test out at the house, where everything seemed to work just fine, but this was it. This was what either made her winter break a vacation or a mad dash to troubleshoot whatever could have possibly gone wrong in her schematics. The only thing separating her from either possibility was the flip of a switch.

She picks Divey back up from the water, turns it over, and flips it from “off” to “on”.

Immediately, it begins whirring to life, humming in her hand as the battery does its work. She picks up the tablet and pulls out a notepad lined with little squares to check off as she goes through the boot up process: Video feed online? Check. Headlights? Check. A quick figure eight around the little pool confirms that the fins and motors are working, and she checks that off as well.

It’s time for the big moment. She and Paninya nod at each other.

She deflates the swim bladder a little bit, and as Divey Jones begins to sink into the black abyss, Paninya opens the can of ginger ale to a satisfying arc of spray across the cavern, whooping and laughing at the mess it makes. “Bon voyage!!” she calls down the hole, and Winry shakes her head, smiling and turning her attention to guiding the robot on its way.

The “bottomless pit” is an old volcanic magma tube of some sort, five feet in diameter at the top but quickly narrowing as you go down, and filled with water that pours into the cave at every high tide. The cave that contains it is only accessible on foot during low tide, and you have to be careful not to get caught in the cave during high tide. There’s a ton of warnings on a sign outside that attempt to dissuade tourists from trying to camp out in it, and for good reason.

She got stuck in here at high tide once, when she was a kid. Blacked out and woke up to an ambulance and her grandma freaking out. Couldn’t step foot into the place for a few years after that, partly because of trauma, and partly because the park rangers have tightened up their watch on the place ever since.

So. She and Paninya aren’t really supposed to be here. But, you know. It’s for science.

Paninya leans her head on Winry’s shoulder and watches the video feed on the tablet, the only indicator of where the robot is now that it’s turned a corner out of sight. She presses a chip to Winry’s lips, who mindlessly opens her mouth to accept it she’s so focused.

“How deep is this thing, anyway?” Paninya asks after a few more moments of watching video of dark gray rock walls float by.

“Hopefully less than fifty feet? The cable isn’t any longer than that.”

“Yeah, and you’re almost out of rope,” Paninya observes, looking at the coil beside them that grows thinner and thinner as the robot dives onward. “So now might be a good time to say you see the bottom.”

“Well, I don’t see anythi… wait.” Winry leans forward, bringing the tablet screen up to her face, her brow furrowing. There’s a small irregularity in the tunnels further down where it opens up a bit more. It’s like… what it looks like when an octopus camouflages itself against a rock. But the video on Divey’s tiny little camera is so grainy… and it looks so, so much bigger than an octopus.

Paninya leans in closer. “What? What do you see?”

“I… don’t know?” she answers honestly, and then something really startles her. “Oh fuck, it moved. It just moved—”

“What moved? Where am I looking?”

“Right here!” She points at the screen, at the tiny mass of pixels that is growing and changing and moving, even as the robot sits still, and she doesn’t know what it is. A thought occurs somewhere in her head that maybe she should start backing Divey up, but before she can do anything the mass surges forward in a terrifying blur and the feed cuts to static.

“Divey, no!!” Paninya squeals, and Winry nearly tosses the tablet across the room. But she’s cool. She keeps her cool. She’s smarter than to throw away the one thing containing most of the several past months of work.

“What the hell could…” She stops, the zippy sound of cord sliding across rock catching her off guard. That pitiful coil of cord that was slowly disappearing into the abyss with Divey is disappearing so much faster now, and with the tablet still connected to it.

“Winry, Winry Winry Winry, the tablet, you’ve gotta let go of the tablet—” Paninya babbles, scrambling to get onto her feet, and Winry doesn’t even think this time. She fumbles for the knife at her side, and in one swift motion, severs the line, just in time for the newly frayed end to get sucked into the hole like spaghetti.

Her mouth is dry as she looks up at Paninya.

“Run.”

Honey Yellow

From: Smutandfluffohmy Character Parings: Felix X Reader Warnings: None? Request: I don't know if you do imagines for a Felix, but if so will you do an imagine where Y/n comes to Neverland for whatever reason and she's SUPER clumsy and he is constantly having to save her from mermaids, dream shade, any and all slightly dangerous things on Neverland. He acts like its really annoying and as if shes a burden, when really he's falling in love with her and all her little quirks. Sorry if that's too specific! Word count: 2.9K Almost 3K A/n: I love Felix 🥵🥵🥵🥵

You’ve been in Neverland for a couple of months and you still couldn’t really get the hang of how everything worked. It seemed that everywhere you turned there was was something that was trying to kill you and you wish you could say that you saved yourself but the only reason you were still alive is because of the boys.

DIgging your toes into the mud you watched some of the younger boys hitting wooden swords together. The sun beat down on your face and the air around you just felt thick, you still haven't quite adjusted to the drastic change of living in a island covered in jungle. Dusting off your pants you got up and walked off to the beach trying your best to slip away unnoticed. Your bare feet sunk into the mud stomping closer to the beach, the mud slowly turned into sand.

Slightly digging your toes into the sand as you walked closer to the water, collecting seashells along the way putting them into your pockets. You edged closer to the water continuing to gather little rocks and seashells, a little rock you saw that seemed to sparkle in the water. Walking closer the rock slipped farther away each step you took, you were now on your hands and knees squinting through the sand and water reaching for the rock. The water creeped up to your jaw, grabbing the rock in your hand you felt a hand wrap around your wrist.

You yelped trying to pull your arm away but instead you just got yanked again causing you to fall on your face swallowing a mouthful of salt water. ‘Fuck fuck fuck’ you thought to yourself as you tried pulling away from whoever was dragging you further into the ocean. Pulling yourself away from the person has hard as you could, all your attempts falling worthless.

You were thinking about screaming for help but you could already hear the countless teasing you’d get from the boys. You were already not allowed to go to most places in the island alone because you keep getting yourself into trouble, you insist that you just had bad luck but everyone else said you were ‘clumsy’. You swallowed another mouthful of water as you tried prying off the fingers but it was left useless, you let the idea of possible death anxiously grow inside of you since it was too late to even scream out for help.

Just when you gave up hope you heard a yelp and then two arms pulling you up from the water.Trying to push away from this new person you got spun around and that's when you came face to face with a angry Felix.

“Oh hey Felix what’s up?” You said pulling at your clothes that clung to your body.

“Saving you from a mermaid.” He said rolling his eyes as he walked to shore ignoring you as you tried seeming unbothered from coughing up salt water.

“Could you not tell anybody about this?” You pleaded with him as you tried your best running through the water catching up to him, unsticking the wet clothes from your body.

“And why would I do that?” He said as he kept walking not looking at you.

“Because everyone will make fun of me again.” You said whispering to Felix shame filling you, wringing out the hem of your shirt. He took a deep sigh and started walking away from camp, deeper into the island.

“Fine have fun explaining the wet clothes.” He said waving you off. Running next to him you looked up at him smiling.

“Can I hang out with you?” You asked tugging at the hem of your shirt smiling up at him.

“Fine but if you get into trouble I won't save you.” He said biting at the piece of stick he always seem to have in his mouth. You knitted your eyebrows together looking up at him wondering if you ever saw him without chewing on something.

“I don't need saving.” You said sticking your nose up in the air and closing your eyes marching alongside him. The soft sand beneath your feet, Felix grabbed you by the waist and pulled you into him causing you to collide harshly against his chest. Before you could ask him what he was doing he pointed toward a weird looking rock with lots of spikes poking out of it.

“Okay I don’t need saving starting now.” You said brushing imaginary dirt off your clothes leaning in closer to take a better look at the rock. Stretching your hand to touch it it began moving causing you to jump at Felix wrapping your legs around him.

“I told you I’m not saving you.”He grumbled as he continued walking with you attached to his back. Crawling off his back you cleared your throat, “I can save myself thank you very much.” You said looking down at your feet cautiously taking every step, your hands linked together behind your back.

Felix looked down at you watching the way you strolled next to him as if you weren't just killed twice just this morning. His heart thumped against his chest watching the way your hair fell on your face.

“Why were you even in that far into the water?” Felix said looking at you gripping his weapon tighter trying to seem as un interested as he possibly could.

“I was getting seashells.” You shrugged not looking up “There’s not much I can do so I like getting seashells and rocks the younger boys can play with.” You said digging into your pocket checking to see how many seashells and rocks were still in there.

He simply nodded and continued walking, he stole side glances at you watching as you continued looking back at your feet. Randomly grabbing at random seashells you thought the boys would like. Grabbing a small rock gently blowing the sand off, closing one eye and holding it up to the sun.

“Here this one's for you.” You said handing the rock to Felix smiling at him as you continued walking alongside the edge were the dirt and sand met. Felix slowed down twisting the small rock in his index and thumb.

“Why this one?” He asked curiously unsure what he should do it worried he’ll accidentally lose it.

“It reminds me of your eyes.” You smiled back to him, continuing to walk ahead of him. Felix could feel his heart swell inside his chest unsure what he should or say next. Was she flirting with him? Felix just shook his head trying to make the thought leave his mind. ‘No idiot she’s just being nice don't be a freak’ Felix thought to himself.

“Oh.” was all he could say as he slipped the small rock securely into his pocket. You slightly tripped over your feet clumsy regaining your balance.

“Can I ask you something?” You said turning back to look at Felix who seems to look everywhere but at you.

“You just did.” He said flatly walking further ahead of you.

“Okay then two questions.” You smiled up at him jogging to keep up with his long strides.

“Fine.” He said huffing out a puff of air.

“What’s your favorite color?” You asked waiting to see how he would reacted to your seemingly innocent question.

“Really that’s what you wanted to ask me?” He said side eye looking at you.

“Yes I mean it's been months and I could never seem to get you to talk to me.”You said to him shielding your eyes from the sun as you looked up at him.

“Umm blue.” He said unconvincingly.

“Okay you can tell me your actual favorite color later.” You said drawing circles in the sand with your feet as you walked, Felix eyeing you suspiciously.

“What you don’t think I’m telling you the truth?” He said crossing his arms trying to walk besides you but avoiding the freshly drawn circles you were making, his long legs looking almost comical at how hard he was trying to not step too close to the lines.

“No I don’t THINK so I know so.” You said kicking away a rock that made its way into the sand.

“Well how do you ‘know’ I’m not telling you the truth?” He questioned softly kicking at the rock you just kicked into his line of path. Felix didn’t know what was wrong with him he was feeling weird all day. Was it the sun? Yes it had to be all the heat was getting to him.

“I don’t know. I may not be good at a lot of things but I’m really good at reading people.” You said stopping your drawings and looking up at a frowning Felix. “That’s why I like talking to Peter.” This only made Felix's’ frown grow more prominent, ‘Of course it’s Peter everyone loved Peter’ Felix thought bitterly.

“Hmm” That’s all Felix could say trying his best to avoiding the weight he felt on his chest.

“He’s a really umm interesting person sort of like the big brother I never had.” You said grabbing a rock and examining it. Felix's shoulders relaxed but still felt a knot in his stomach, he didn't know you two were so close.

“Why are you here anyways?” He asked, cringing realizing how harsh he sounded. You let out a nervous laugh looking away from Felix and straight ahead of you.

“Well Peter brought me here.” You said scratching your face, a nervous tick Felix picked up on the second week you got here.

“Yea he brings everyone here.” He said flatly again, the feeling that you were annoying him more prevalent than before. You wished the sand would swallow you up and go read some of the books Peter often let you read.

“Umm well I was going to get married… and the day before my wedding Peter’s shadow brought me here.” You said your tone falling more and more monotone as each word left your mouth the events replaying in your head. You remember crying till your sides hurt, muffling your cries with your hands you were thinking about how you were going to get out of this when you heard a slight knocking at the window.It was Peter Pan, his face being illuminated by the moons light you were convinced you were going insane.

You explained everything to Peter that made him feel despair deep inside of him. You reminded him so much of his sister that died soon as she left home, your big y/e/c eyes mirroring the same eyes his sister would give him when they would run around in the woods outside their house.

“Are you okay? You spaced out.” Felix said unsure if he should reach over and comfort you, however he decided against it. Felix couldn’t imagine this girl being someones wife, not the same girl that liked putting flowers in the boys hair when they weren't looking, not the same girl that made tea in the morning because she claimed it was ‘liquid happiness’.

“Did you love him?” He asked his tone softer than before, you wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face.

“I don’t know I never met him. I did hear he was triple my age.” You said cracking a smile as goosebumps crawled all over your body despite the hot sun beating down on your body.

“Wait what.” Felix said this time reaching and grabbing your arm softly turning you around to look at him.

“Umm it was an arranged marriage you know how those go.” You let out a nervous laugh feeling your heart beat hard against your chest. “Can we please talk about something else?” You whispered to Felix wanting to talk about literally anything else.

“I was attacked by a dog when I was 12.” Felix said not letting go of your arm and inched closer to you.

“What?” You said making yourself look up at Felix who's usually cold and frowning was now looking down at you in a way that made your heart swell.

“The scar, it was a dog. Well that’s what they told me I was a bit traumatized.” He said pointing at his face smiling down at you, not the usual smirk he had this was a genuine smile. Felix realized how close he was to you, against his better judgment he reached up and brushed your hair out of your face. He felt soft and gentle everything you would never describe Felix as, your heart raced and your face grew hot. Stumbling back anxiousness filling you as your mind grew foggy you took a couple of steps back.

Your left foot sinking into the sand as you began falling backwards. Felix grabbed at you pulling you into him his usual expression returning to his face.

“You should really be careful.” He said just as he usually said, his expression falling back to his usual bored expression. Your face grew hotter and redder in both anger and embarrassment pushing felix at arms length away from you. Turning away from him you came face to face with dreamshade, huffing you turned back to look at Felix who towered over you his hood falling just over his eyes.

“Look I don’t know how you know or if Peter told you but this isn't funny Felix.This is just low.” You said shoving your finger accusingly into his face stroming away from him wanting to hide in your bed for as long as you could.

“Wait know what?” Felix called out running after you. You picked up your pace cursing his stupid long legs as he was quickly catching up to you. Your feet started to ache as they stepped on sharp rocks and thorns that were scattered on the island floor. Crying you sat down against a tree, Felix stopping in front of you as you clutched your bare feet.

“Leave me alone you’re not funny I thought you were nice not a asshole.” You said with tears streaming down your face that you let fall freely down your face picking at little thorns that were stuck in the sole of your feet.

“Here let me help you.” Felix said offering his hands motioning to your bloody feet, you shook your head as you tried removing some splinters and dropping your foot as soon as it started coming out. He simply shook his head and grabbed your foot removing some of the bigger splinters and you just watched him and let him.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” He mumbled to you as he threw the splinters away as you squirmed everytime one was removed, blood trickling down the sole of your feet.

“You can stop pretending like you don’t know that I like you it’s getting old.” You said your face getting hot once more as you gripped the grass by your sides. This caused Felix to removing a splinter a bit too quickly causing you to yelp out in pain.

“Hey what was that for?” You said pulling your feet away from him stumbling to get up from the ground.

“I don’t. I don’t know. I just didn’t know. That.” Felix said unable to string the correct words together, he got to his feet and slid his arm underneath yours propping you up. “Here get on my back you can’t walk and if you keep getting dirt inside of the cuts they’ll get infected.” He said crouching down letting you crawl on his back, you obliged resting your cheek against his shoulder. He began walking to camp, both of you in utter silence.

“Felix.” You said still resting your face away from him.

“Hmm.” He said looking at you from the corner of his eye.

“Could we be friends?” You said, your palms getting sweaty as you pressed yourself closer to him afraid you were slipping too far. Felix nodded to himself a small smile spreading across his face.

“Honey yellow.” He said fully turning his head to the side, you turned your face to look at him confused if you heard him right. Your faces were only mere inches from each other causing you to get flustered, your eyes traveled rapidly across his face.

“My favorite color.” He said to you smiling at you, his smile reaching his eyes. Both of your faces getting red hot at the proximity of each other, your heart thumped hard against your chest getting worried that Felix would somehow hear it or feel it.

“Y/n I don’t know what I’m feeling but I think. I think that I like you.” Felix said shyly. His bright eyes looking at you made you forget this was the same boy that always frowned and always looked intimidated. Your expression fell soft and your heart felt soft everything about you felt soft and it was all because of the scary tall boy telling you he had feelings for you.

“I mean I don’t think ,I know I do.”He said unsure of your reaction.

“I like you too Felix.” You said softly enough just for him to hear you. His grip on you tightened scared that you’d slip out of his arms, he itched to lean in and pepper you with kisses but he was scared he’d do it wrong because he’s never kissed anyone before.You leaned in and softly kissed his cheek right on top of his scar his breath hitched in his throat his face growing a light shade of pink.

“I've never actually kissed anyone….” He said timidly, a voice that didn’t match the six foot tall boy that it was coming out of.

“I can teach you.” You said teasingly, however it was soon replaced with embarrassment as you realized what you just said.

“I’ll hold you up to that.” He smiled cheekly at you the pink from his face slowly fading away.

Cutie Reviews: Kawaii Box May 19

Before I begin I have an announcement: later/tomorrow I plan to post a sort of... glossaryish post that will be about ALL the boxes I subscribe to :D Because earlier today it occurred to me, I never really talk about the brands themselves anymore unless they have some update or if I complain in my reviews. I thought this type of post would be nice for anyone who just wanted to learn more about a specific box to see if they would be interested in it. I will also be including my own opinions on the box as a whole, pros and cons, how the box has changed, etc.

So if you like things like that, then make sure you come back soon!

Until then, we’re gonna focus on this:

Word of the month: Tanjyoubi - Birthday

Disney Princess Dress-Up Puffy Stickers

Our first item is a set of Disney Princess Ariel/Little Mermaid stickers. Covered to the brim with stickers, this sheet has multiple outfits, accessories/props, and deco bits to have fun with the sticker doll and then-some!

Besides Ariel, there are other Disney Princess and I’ve even seen they added a really cute Minnie mouse one on Blippo.com. Those in this set each cost $3.90.

I was really torn between all 3 dresses, the turquoise one was a classic for Ariel, and I love how the pink one reminded me of Aurora, but I actually settled for the purple one because I though it looked really pretty on her. Then I chose the shell purse and matching decoration/accessory and a light pink sash to add more to her dress, what do you think?

While on the subject, which dress would you have chose for her? Or would you have given her a different colored dress entirely?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s really simple, but it’s also pretty fun and cute, I love dress-up stickers because of how creative you can be. I mentioned this before but I really want to start a scrapbook or photobook and fill it entirely with dress-ups~

The stickers puffiness is nice and soft, and I like how these don’t feel finished. So I could go back to it a few days later and swap out her purse and hair piece to make her classier with a sun hat. Or I could give her the turquoise dress if I wanted. 

Sanrio Ziptop Bag Set

Next up is this pack of adorable Pompompurin zipper bags. You get 6 in total, including 3 Small 70mm x100mm, and 3 Medium 160mm x 190mm. Each set offers different designs, and besides Pompompurin (who I couldn’t find on blippo btw) there was also the other basic characters like my Melody, Gudetama, Little Twin Star. Each set costs $5.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I think these are really cute, and practical :D according to the back of the package you could put all sorts of things in these, and I like that both sets are zip-locks. These would be a perfect gift for any Pompompurin fan.

Kawaii Dreams File

This is the monthly Exclusive item, a file folder featuring a variety of kawaii designs and items you can find on the Kawaii Box box and booklet, with the inside panel being white and pink to match the box’s color scheme. It’s kinda small-medium, about the size of the booklet that comes in each box, and it’s a little flimsy, but for most part it feels durable and sturdy.

You can buy this off of Blippo for $2.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  

I usually don’t look forward to getting these files in the boxes because as cute as they are, they’re always big and bent. This one fits in the box with no problem, so I feel like even though you would need to fold certain things into it, it’s more practical. I also like how despite how colorful and busy it looks, it doesn’t feel too-busy.

Soft Jell Rainbow Gel Pen Set

I loved gel pens growing up x3 my friends and I loved to draw on our things and each other during class (but only when we weren’t actually doing anything important <3< I wasn’t a model student but I didn’t get into trouble either), and I remember just admiring the massive rainbow collection my friend had; she must have had at least 100!

My collection was much smaller and modest though, I only had a few glittery metallic ones and a couple multicolored pastels. So for someone who used to love these, getting a whole pretty set like this just made my day~

It’s also pretty rare for us to get a whole set of anything in the boxes. If you’ve seen my prior reviews (or check out the items on blippo) its usually just one separate of your choosing. This set costs $6.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The colors are vibrant and really pretty, as you can see I did decorate the box with them which in hindsight might not have been the best thing to do, but they still worked once the ink got flowing. They’re juicy and are capable of long lines, writing, dots, coloring.

My only complaint is that both blues (or I suppose you could say one is indigo? Turquoise?) look almost exactly alike. It’s the same in the actual pens, but there’s still a noticeable difference until you go to use them both, so I wish they would have darkened or lightened one of them to make the difference more noticeable.

Cute Animal Friend Masking Tape & Nekoni Cherry Blossoms Badge

For our next items, I got bunnies for both ♥

 First is an adorable pastel bunny washi tape that consists of a kawaii bunny doing some silly actions. I would have taken out a piece to show the design, but when I unraveled a long, long amount of it I saw no end to the pattern >3< like it kept going, there was no repeat bunnies. Each bunny was cuter, or sillier than the last.

There are several varieties you could get, and you can guy them in sets of 4 for $5.90 on Blippo.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Well besides being very cute and silly to look at, I like how this doesn’t seem to be repetitive like most tapes. I’m sure it starts repeating somewhere but for now, I just think it would be cute to use them individually as little emoji icons, like for notes or letters or something.

-----

From the brand Nekoni are these adorable pastel badges with cherry blossom designs, ranging from animals, a human girl, scenery, and adorable foods. Each badge costs $1.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s very cute, but there isn’t really much I can say about a badge other than the fact it seems to be fine quality. There was no problems with it or anything to complain about.

Cute Stationery Buddy

This probably would have been better suited for a school theme- but you also use stuff like this to decorate :P so, our next item is an adorable, soft but firm plush themed after various stationery items. There are 7 in total, each with a ball chain and costing $4.90.

I really hope I’m not the only person, but when I saw this (and even now) I think of a snail; it’s a roll of tape! I was so surprised initially but now that I’ve had it for a while I’ve been seeing it more.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Again, I find myself with little to say. It’s really cute though, and the quality is nice, there’s no obvious flaws or issues.

Yogurt Jelly Hair Clip Set

In comparison to stationery, we always get sets of hair clips so I’m happy about that :3 I love their kawaii hair clips and accessories, they’re usually always one of my most favorite items~

Anyway, this set is themed after yogurt jelly and features a small translucent clip attached to a clear, colorful, glittery yogurt jelly attached to it, each with labels, a colorful lid, and a tiny lotte written in the corner. These come in several cute color schemes, each set costs $2.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I’ve been saying this entire review, these are very cute. They’re also well made, in that the pieces don’t feel loose or flimsy, which has been in a problem with one or two past-sets I’ve gotten, but you can easily fix that with some good glue. I was also very happy to get a very pink set, but you couldn’t go wrong with any of them in my opinion!

DIY Fruity Doodle Pen & Flower Candy

Our last item is this cute little fruity doodle set. Technically I don’t consider this to be a DIY considering you’re just spreading gel on the gummies, but it’s very cute and I really wanted to try it. I started seeing it like a year or two ago?

It’s available on Blippo for $3.50.

As you can see, I got tons of yellow gummies, along with a single pink, and two blues. The gel is supposed to be sour, but it’s actually very light- it reminds me a lot of strawberry jello/gelatin. The gummies are individually flavored, and this is what I thought:

Yellow - might be apricot? It tastes a lot like the apricot jelly filling in the mochi I buy from the mall.

Blue - my favorite, tastes like blue raspberry.

Pink - no flavor I could pick up, just sweetness.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I said, I’m not sure this is entirely a DIY so I didn’t make a separate post on it. All you do is apply the jelly, which I thought actually tasted the best out of everything in the set, but it was very tasty and cute overall, I just wish the colors/flavors of the flowers were more varied.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content -  5 out of 5: I’m not sure they were all my absolute favorite or anything, but I did genuinely like everything we got this month. I found no quality issues or problems, plenty of variety in both the types of items, and for each item. A very practical and fun box. Some items were fairly pricey though, and I’m not sure if I agreed with some of those. Also, we got one item less than usual, which I assume has something to do with the price?

Theme -  ????? out of 5: I found this Happy Birthday theme to be extremely open and up for interpretation, so I had I’m not sure how I feel about how they did on it. On one hand I could say “yes, these are items you could use for gifts or decoration for a birthday“, but on another I’d say “sakura badges and yogurt hair clips don’t make me think of a birthday.”

Total Rank: 8.5 out of 10 Cuties. I liked the items, and I can see why they chose the theme they did, but because of how open it is, I’m not sure how my feelings are towards it. The items worked great and I would recommend mostly all of them. I’m not sure this is my favorite box though...

(I’m sorry but I ended up skipping the last part of this review, I was fine this entire time but towards the end things got really busy in the house and I’m not feeling well at the time. I would have went to lay down but my laptop has been weird lately and I didn’t want to risk losing the work T^T sorry if you were looking forward to that part.)

Waiting to love you a latte

Here’s hoping I can actually do this whole month. Sorry this fic isn’t the best, hopefully tomorrow will be better. Coffee Shop

Keith mindlessly cleaned the coffee machine, trying to do something to occupy himself in the very empty shop. Lance had his head resting on the pastry display case. They were the only ones on schedule and the only ones in the store. The weather wasn’t even bad outside but the shop was completely empty of any caffeine deprived people, leaving the two workers with nothing to do.

“That machine any cleaner than it was 20 minutes ago?” Lance asked.

“Have you finally made an imprint on the case yet?” Keith sassed.

“Leave me alone, I’m bored.” Lance whined. “There’s nothing to do and we can’t go back home cause Kolivan will kill us if we close up early without his permission.”

“Which we won’t get.” Keith moaned.

“Exactly.” Lance said, finally getting off the display case and using his hand to smooth the smug out. He wasn’t in the mood to actually clean it. That was a problem for later. Now though, he wanted to find something to do. He pulled open the drawers and pulled out all their markers and then went to the back and grabbed a new sleeve of hot sleeves. Keith gave Lance a confused look as he dropped them on the counter and dragged one of the stools behind the counter over.

“What are you doing?”

“Well we have to refill the hot sleeves at the end of the day anyway, let’s have some fun with it.”

Keith knew this is where he should reject the idea, but…he was really bored. Besides, he and Lance would be doing something together, like it wasn’t enough that they had shifts together. Keith wouldn’t deny his crush on Lance. Not when he knew that Lance felt the same, and he wasn’t being smug about that. Lance had promised his mother that he wouldn’t date anyone during the school year and they figured out their feelings near the middle of the semester. Lance was keeping his promise but would still flirt with Keith, paying him compliments or insist on pressing up against him more than necessary during their busier hours.

“Only a few more weeks till the end of the school year.” Lance would say more often now, like he had to remind Keith only a few more weeks before they had a chance to finally date. Part of him worried it wouldn’t be the same, but until they got there, he wouldn’t question it. Just look forward to it.

Keith started a complicated layered drawing of a flower while Lance passes by with cat faces, music notes and mermaid tails. Lance had started a drawing of a detailed blaster when he leaned over and opened the pastry case and pulled out an apricot and blueberry tart.

“You’re gonna get in trouble for that.” Keith said.

“You gonna tell on me?” Lance teased.

“If I don’t get any I will.”

Lance let Keith take a bite of the pastry before taking a bit out of the same spot, staring Keith down.

“Do you ever wonder,” Keith asked as he finished his flower and moved on to a flame, “if the wait will be worth it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with us. We know we like the other person but what if the wait wasn’t worth it?”

“I think of it like an actual relationship, you never know how it’s gonna turn out and besides, this way we have more time to get to know each other.” Lance pointed out.

Keith couldn’t disagree with that. He knew that Lance was scared of big dogs so he had slowly introduced his own dog Kosmo instead of just letting him surprise Lance completely. Lance learned that Keith hated having to wait for a really time. With getting the chance to know the other person’s flaws, it made things pretty clear if they were right for each other. Keith would agree that even with their differences, he still really liked Lance. So as much as he complained and worried about having the wait, he admitted it helped him like Lance more.

“’Sides, most people give up about two weeks in, you’ve stuck around for a long time. Trust me, if that doesn’t make you think I still won’t want to be with you, I don’t know what will.”

“Guess it’s good I don’t like to give up.”

“Thank goodness for that.” Lance said feeding Keith the last bite of the tart.

They continued drawing on the hot sleeves when someone finally came in. Shiro and his boyfriend Adam were regulars who kind of knew that the two baristas liked each other.

“You two look like your having fun.” Shiro said, watching Lance draw a chibi version of Keith’s dog Kosmo and hearts.

“There’s nothing to do, leave us alone.” Lance whined, as Keith got up like a responsible barista.

“Then can we get our regular orders?” Shiro asked.

Lance pulled out the cups and let the two patrons choose a marked hot sleeve before handing it to Keith to make the drinks before going back to work on the different hot sleeves.

“So, have the two of you started dating yet.” Adam asked as he watched Lance continue his dog drawing.

“It’s not the end of the school year yet. But don’t worry,” Lance said, looking over his shoulder at Keith, “it’ll happen soon. Until then, I guess I’ll just have to be happy with this small coffee shop flirting.”

Too Soft...

Author’s Notes | I hope you enjoy this like I enjoyed to write, cause fuck… I enjoyed it… Universe | Vikings Pairing | Sigurd x Sub! Reader Info | Viking Age AU, Dark! Sigurd, requested by anon for UKT3 Words | 1120 ⁑ Warnings: NSFW, SMUT included, some humiliation, Male! Dom, hardcore, oral sex (Male receiving), cursing, and dirty talk. +18+.

It was the end of a feast on the hall.

All his brothers were seated around the table, finishing the meat of the feast, sharing the mead and the laughs, high from the alcohol they had already shared for hours.

Ubbe had Margrethe seated in his lap and Hvitserk’s hand was running from her knee up to her but shamelessly. You were seated beside Sigurd, a cup of mead in your hand while watching Ivar talking about hard sex and stuff you knew he didn’t have done yet.

Sigurd rolled his eyes in one more ironic giggle. You were so tired of those two always arguing and fighting between each other, ruining good moments like that.

“You know nothing about what you’re talking, Ivar.”

Tiredness that mixed with the alcohol, forbid you to keep your mouth shut when you saw a fight about to start again.

“Neither do you…” you said, causing Sigurd to turn his face towards you at the same moment and Ivar’s frowned expression to convert in a smile almost immediately.

You were Sigurd’s woman for almost a year. And you knew he wasn’t that way. He was sweet and tender with you and it wasn’t something you disliked, but you would like some more strength sometimes and it was the truth: Sigurd could say whatever he wanted, but he also knew nothing about hard sex and stuff.

Or at least it was what you thought…

“C’ mon Sigurd, don’t look at me like that, love. You’re too soft for this. I love your softness, but this is not your game, babe” you tried.

Almost seeing the dragon in his eyes spitting fire when Ivar started laughing and Ubbe, drunk as he was, couldn’t avoid the smile.

“You drank enough for the night. We’re leaving” he said, finishing his cup and getting up.

You knew you went too far and he was mad at you because of Ivar’s laughs when you left, ignoring Hvitserk’s drunk appeal for you two to stay a little more.

“You’re too sober, Sigurd! Drink more mead or at least leave the girl!!”

Drunk, completely. Sigurd wasn’t used to share you as Ubbe shared all his girls with Hvitserk. He wasn’t used to be too harsh, to go too strong.

He was sweet, right?

Maybe that was the reason why you sighed surprised when he closed the door of your room with your back against it. His jaw clenched while his hands were running your thighs under your dress.

“Sigurd… babe I…”

“Shut your mouth!” he growled.

And for the first time in your life, you feared what was to come.

He was high from the mead, maybe drunk. Maybe not thinking…

Your eyes found his and you felt his hand in your neck, sliding slow, feeling your skin in a threatening way. For a moment, you thought he could choke you dead there and when his fingers surrounded your neck you feared he would do this.

But at the same time, you felt yourself burning…

You weren’t used to that fierce Viking in your room, and he could see it was making you horny.

“You speak too much, woman…” he said, touching your lips with his thumb, drawing it slowly. “I gonna show you better use for your pretty mouth”.

You felt his strength pushing your body down and you imposed no resistance.

He wouldn’t hurt you, you could see it in his eyes.

But you wanted things harsh…

He would give you harsh things…

“Love…” you tried to speak while he was opening his trousers, releasing the hardness you knew so well from the long nights riding your bardic prince.

“Suck.”

His voice was demanding, harsh. But you decided to impose him some resistance and discover where that intense man was able to go for your pleasure. And when you leaned your head back, you felt his heavy hand on your nape, his fingers tugging your hair, forcing your head towards his hard cock.

“I said suck it!”

He felt you melting in his fingers. Where was that amazing Viking in the last months?

Your mouth softly embraced his cock, sliding your lips through half of his length, filling your ears with a relieved moan from his mouth. And then, again, he surprised you, pushing your head against his crotch and moving his hips, rolling them into your mouth carelessly.

“You fucking like it, don’t you?” he said; his eyes on yours when both of his hands held your head, firming it into its place for he could establish a pace to literally fuck your mouth. “You fucking like things harsh… I gonna finish this pretty mouth of yours and then, I’ll fuck you until your pussy burns!”

That dirty talk, that harsh tone… You were soaking wet into your skirt, pressing your thighs one against another while that gagging sound was taking you to the edge of coming without even touch yourself.

Sigurd was right. You liked things harsh.

You liked to feel his heavy hands holding your head with that strength; you loved to feel his hard cock sliding through your tongue, senselessly fucking your mouth, not minding the little coughs he was provoking when his tip reached the bottom of your throat.

“Tonight… You gonna be my little whore!”

You felt his pace increasing, his words spreading a heating wave through your entire body while his seed filled your mouth without a warning, spurting when he pulled his cock out of your mouth, slowly coating your tongue with his flavor.

“Swallow it” he ordered.

And you did it, not questioning your master, opening your mouth clean to his eyes like a good little slave.

“You may be being a good girl now, (Y/N). But it doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you for tonight so easily” he said, caressing your chin with a devilish smile in the corner of his lips. “On all fours. No bed for you today. I gonna fuck you here and give you what you deserve. Now!”

You couldn’t exactly determine if he was pissed off or not. But you turned anyway, looking at him over your shoulder, seeing while he was positioning himself behind of you before filling you in a single movement.

Your moans filled the room and you felt his hand on your hair, pulling your head back, so he could speak in your ears.

“Louder…”

You would talk to him in the morning for sure, maybe apologize properly for exposing him like that. But for now? You moaned louder, obeying your master as a good pet.

It would be a hell of a night for sure. And you wanted to enjoy it completely before having your sweet bardic prince’s pride restored.

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