#cove the betta
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I think it’s genuinely fascinating how much a betta fish’s colouration can change! 👀
I’ve had Cove for 2.5 months now and his colours have changed a lot since I first brought him home. It shows how much a fish can adjust to his new habitat and how much change they can go through in their life. He seems to be a completely different fish sometimes (except his personality is the exact same)! 💙🐠
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TIDAL TEMPTATIONS. - chapter i
༄ pairing: merman!fyodor x afab reader
༄ cw: sfw (for now), non-gory descriptions of and treatment of stab wounds to fyodor, very brief mentions of blood. not intended to be medically accurate, treat ur stab wounds as you wish
༄ notes: hello :) welcome to my first multi-chapter fic! this has been a work in progress for some time, and im quite nervous abt posting this first part so be nice pls <3 just as a note, fyodor is referred to exclusively as he/him until reader names him next chapter (he can't speak human language yet) enjoy!
༄ wc: 4k
Since moving to a beachside village after spending your whole life in a landlocked town, your mother had outlined ample, strict rules regarding the sea.
Rule 1: No venturing out past sundown.
This was the rule you broke on an almost nightly basis. Your mother was quite the early riser, meaning she often was out cold before the fireflies had even begun flashing yellow and green. It was far too easy to slip out the back door with a flashlight, barefoot to keep your footsteps silent as possible. There was no feeling more serene than dawdling down the shore, mushy sand between your toes and waves lapping at your ankles as the salty breeze curled around you. It was pitch black save for the bioluminescent creatures that washed up on the shore and the pale glow emanating from your flashlight, and it was comforting. While many feared darkness, you found solace in its embrace.
Rule 2: No swimming past the sandbar.
Also a frequently broken rule. You found it to be far too restrictive, as the sandbar was only a dozen meters from the shore. No fish could be found that shallow, and it was much easier for crabs to nip at you when you were that close to the sandy floor. Being out deeper, where the gentle waves tousled and hugged you, was where you felt the most at home.
Rule 3: No fraternizing with sea beings.
That’s the name that had been put in place for entities that straddled the line of human and creature. Some believed they were even the missing link. Very little was known about sea beings, mostly due to the universal fear of them. They often had unsettling, bone-chilling appearances and never appeared to be overly friendly to humans, so a firm boundary was set. You must never approach a sea being.
All three of these rules were broken the night you met him.
Well, you assumed it was a “him”. He had a flat chest and sharp, masculine features, but he wasn’t human. His human-esque appearance terminated at his hips, where pale, nearly translucent skin tapered into onyx black scales, flowing into a sleek, obscenely long tail. His fluke, also inky black, was reminiscent of a betta fish’s frail fins, flowy with spindly edges, yet fanned strong against the current.
That was all you were able to see of him, at first. You had swam out well past the sandbar one night, flashlight in hand as you dove past the waves, your beam suddenly illuminating his form. He remained very still, head tilting as you made eye contact, as if he was observing you. And he was – he had heard the unmistakable sound of a human swimming, a somewhat ungraceful, clumsy affair, and followed it. Typically, when he sensed humans in the water, he would jet in the other direction – humans didn’t treat him kindly, and he had the scars to prove it. But there was something… different about you. A sweeter scent and a gentler aura. And he was curious - so instead of making a beeline towards his cove when he sensed your presence in the water, he swam closer.
He was immediately enamored by you. You were much softer and merciful, and he didn’t sense a single bad intention. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t uneasy. The only interactions he’d ever had with humans were traumatic, and other than appearances, he had no way of knowing you were any different. Claws bared, fangs ready, and tail already swishing, he was prepared for fight or flight – though he remained, just watching you. And you the same. It was drilled into your head, the second you spotted a sea being, swim as fast as possible towards the shore and never look back. There were a handful of reports of villagers being attacked by sea beings and barely making it out alive, and one case of a child who didn’t. Their presence was not to be taken lightly.
Yet, for some reason, both of you just… watched.
Watched and waited for the other to make a move - to attack. He thought it was surely any second until you unveiled a spear from behind your back to impale him, and you were just waiting to be torn to shreds by those claws. But nothing ever happened. You held his gaze and he held yours, studying the other.
Just as fascinated as you were by him, he was utterly fascinated by you. He had never gotten this close to a human before, not by his own volition anyway, and he had never truly seen one this plainly. It was easy to tell that you looked similar to him from the top up, but the bottom down was a completely different story. Where he was used to fish tails, scales, and fins, you wore two fleshy, stick-like protrusions that only bent in two places. No wonder humans were so terrible at swimming. He briefly wondered if there was anything between them.
It wasn’t long before you ran out of air and had to break the surface, but when you dove back down, he was gone. You felt a slight sense of relief that he hadn’t been staking you out as prey, but also a pang of sorrow as you realized you’d likely never see him again. What you didn’t know is that he hadn’t gone far, just hid behind a formation of rocks as he watched you dejectedly swim back to the shore. It was a foreign experience – he’d never seen a human… disappointed about escaping from him.
As you snuck back into bed and drifted off that night, you found yourself gilled and fanged, finding home amongst the waves.
~~
You didn’t see him for a while after that. Despite you returning to the same spot from that fateful night every day, marked by an especially large horseshoe crab shell, he was never there. It became part of your daily routine to venture to that spot, a backpack full of books, snacks, and water, and lay out on a towel as the sun drifted through the sky.
It was never quite clear to you what you were waiting for, though. What would you even do if he reappeared? You couldn’t converse, neither of you could go to the other’s homes, what was to be gained from seeing him again? You never quite answered that question – all you knew was that you just had to see him again. At least one more time.
Things started to look bleak as days turned into weeks. Your mother wasn’t happy with you spending nearly every waking second on the beach. She could never find out why either, as she’d likely ban you from stepping foot on the sand ever again. And you even had started to think that maybe you had dreamt it – no way you just happened to run into a breathtakingly beautiful merman-type sea being who didn’t try to attack you. That just didn’t happen.
This… creature, you just couldn’t get him out of your head. He had found his way onto almost every page of your sketchbook, finding new life in graphite, pastels, and watercolors. The inky black tail swirled long and curled on itself on the page, as you occasionally took creative liberties on his appearance.
Stories of him and your sure-to-happen future rendezvouses began popping up in your diary too - and not just him as a sea creature. You waxed poetic about what he might look like as a full-fledged human, with legs and without fangs. He’d surely be kind and gentlemanly, charming and funny with a deep voice and proper human language. He’d be well spoken and smart, and everything you’d ever dreamed of.
If he ever showed up again. And it wasn’t looking like he would. Until he did.
On a night where you hadn’t even been on the lookout for him, were just dragging your feet through wet sand and shells when you spotted a dark form curled up on the shore. The moon was but a sliver barely cutting through dense clouds, compromising your vision, but something convinced you to jog that way anyway.
And it was him. The tide that lapped at the sand jostled his barely conscious body, threatening to pull him back out towards the darkness. You gasped as you ran and fell to your knees next to him, immediately recognizing the onyx tail with the delicate fins and opalescent skin. Except this time his back was riddled with what appeared to be stab wounds – they were likely a few hours old, no longer gushing blood, but still deep, unhealed gashes that needed to be treated.
“Are- are you okay?” you stupidly asked – as if he was conscious or human enough to answer that question.
When he didn’t respond, you shifted to sit with your legs crossed and pulled his head into your lap, brushing his salt-crusted hair out of his eyes. His large eyes fluttered open at the stimulus, a glowing violet gaze shifting to meet yours.
“Hi,” you whispered, laughing lightly. “I had wanted us to meet again, but not like this.” You had assumed he didn’t understand human language, but the way he only stared at you blankly confirmed this belief.
Anxiety and panic started to bubble up inside you as you absorbed the situation but did your best to ignore it. Swift, calm action needed to be taken if he was to be saved. You shifted your gaze to better assess his injuries and counted five different gashes where he had clearly been stabbed with some sort of weapon – it certainly wasn’t something that had happened naturally. The shape of the wounds was reminiscent of those a fishing harpoon would create, and your face fell as you pieced together what likely happened. Existing in his own territory, he probably swam too close to a fishing boat and spooked the fishermen, prompting them to overreact and attack the harmless creature.
You brought a careful finger to trace along the edges of the wounds, making him jump and hiss, thrashing in your hold as he groaned.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” you gasped, your hands immediately flying away. “I’m gonna, um…” you thought for a second. You knew you had medicine and gauze back home, but he was just going to have to go right back in the water, right? It surely was better than nothing…
You slowly started to wiggle out of his grip. “I’m gonna be right back, okay? I need to get supplies to make you better,” you explained slowly, gesturing towards his wounds. He only cocked his head and furrowed his brows. Fuck. He wasn’t going to understand a word you said.
With a grimace, you gently held his head in your hands as you scooted away, slowly laying it back down on the sand. You stood to head back to your house, but the creature suddenly began groaning and crying out, reaching a shaky arm towards you. He was clearly distressed over you abandoning him.
“Hey, hey! I’ll be right back, I swear,” you soothed, crouching down next to him, and gripping his hand. It killed you to have to leave him like this, terrified you might return to either find him dead or washed back out to sea, but you couldn’t just do nothing at all.
You wracked your brain trying to think of a way to communicate to him that you’d be back when words weren’t an option. Grabbing your backpack, you anxiously rummaged through it for some semblance of an idea, all the while he moaned and groaned in pain. Some sort of keepsake you could somehow communicate had value, almost like collateral. Something to say, this is special, proof I’ll be back. As fate would have it, you had decided to do a deep clean of your bag that morning, so you were coming up pretty dry.
The only thing you could think of was an old copy of your favorite book you always carried on you, Crime and Punishment. Mother always teased you for a depressing, old Russian novel being your comfort book, but you never let it phase you. Pulling it out of your backpack, you stared at the old, tattered cover with the faded title, and hoped to god he could make sense of it – that you were trusting him with something that meant a lot to you. There wasn’t much else you could do.
You tucked it under his arm splayed out on the sand, making sure he noticed what you were doing. Petting his hair, you looked him deep in the eyes as you enunciated one more time: I’ll be right back.
Panic coursed through your veins as you clambered to your feet and ran back to your house. The light of your flashlight was nearly useless as you trembled with fear, tripping over shells and driftwood to the point where your feet were probably going to need some treatment too.
The next hurdle in your way as you reached your house was remaining quiet enough so as not to wake your mother – there was no way to explain your way out of frantically searching for medical supplies to run back out with in the middle of the night. When you weren’t even supposed to be out in the first place.
To minimize the amount of time you even had to be away, you just threw anything you could find in the cabinets into your bag, hoping it would be sufficient enough. Though you stopped in front of the mirror as you passed it, staring at your sweaty and distressed appearance, and took a second to wonder what the hell you were doing. Going out of your way to save a potentially homicidal sea being? Those stabbings may have been damn well deserved. He could somehow be manipulating your kindness for… something. You couldn’t even think of what.
You decided it wasn’t even worth fretting about – you had to get your book back anyway.
The trip back to your anxiously awaiting patient felt a million times longer than the trip home, with every step of your bloody feet reminding you that there may be no one – nothing – to come back to. The sea was a place of peace, but cruel and unforgiving. Your prayers were answered as your flashlight once again illuminated his crumpled body, barely conscious but still clinging on to your (soaking wet and likely ruined) book.
A relieved smile illuminated your face as you fell to his side once again, partially burying the flashlight into the sand so it stood upright to act as a lamp.
“You’re – still here,” you smiled, taking a deep breath. You almost said you’re okay, but that wasn’t quite true, yet.
His clawed hand trembled as it reached out for you, the stretch of his fingers revealing the black webbing in between them. You grasped it back tightly and intertwined your fingers together, squeezing. “I’m here, okay?” He offered you the tiniest smile, but immediately dropped it, the miniscule energy it required taking a toll on his wasting body.
The first thing you did was unfurl a massive, striped beach towel you found shoved in the back of a linen closet onto the sand before hooking your elbows under his underarms and dragging him onto it. It was nearly impossible, his entire body essentially dead weight at that point, but you wanted to get him off the dirty sand – and this was the closest thing you could get to a sterile field.
Dumping the contents of your bag onto the towel next to him, you parsed through it trying to figure out some sort of plan of action. You tried to keep the panic at bay as the thought that none of this was sufficient for anything worse than a superficial cut nagged at you. It was this or nothing.
The first thing mother always told you to do for wounds: clean it. A wave of dread washed over you as you pulled out the bottle of rubbing alcohol, your eyes flitting from it to the gaping wounds in his back. The way he looked at you with terrified, leaky eyes, aware that his entire life was in your hands right then, shattered your heart. You almost wished he was unconscious.
Grabbing a washcloth, he watched as you soaked it with rubbing alcohol, his nose scrunching at the offensive smell. Touching his cheek, you tried to smile as he met your eyes. “This is gonna hurt really – really – bad,” you grimaced. He just stared at you, emotionless, until the rag touched the first wound.
As soon as the liquid came into contact with the broken skin, he let out a horrific, inhuman screech that had you dropping the washcloth to cover your ears. His claws tore ragged holes in the towel as he gripped it, panting and writhing in pain. You couldn’t help but cry too. “I’m so, so sorry,” you continually repeated, abandoning the cloth to lay down next to him. Tears streamed down his face and soaked the towel underneath him, barely even acknowledging the way you wiped them away with trembling fingers.
Despite how much you preferred to just lie with him under the glow of the moon and the melody of the waves, you knew what had to be done. Death was worse than temporary pain – there had to be part of him somewhere that understood that. You hoped it would be better now that he was expecting it.
Slowly sitting back up, you grabbed the rag once more and wrung it out to reduce it to only the minimum amount of antiseptic required, and tried to ignore the way he quivered and shook his head. I’m sorry felt like a shitty spell as you chanted it over and over again, though the screeches became easier to tune out as they rang on. You were surprised his vocal cords didn’t fry.
After what felt like an eternity for both of you, you had finally managed to clean out the wounds and remove some of the dried blood that clung to his skin. The towel was torn to shreds and the veins in his eyes were blown with how much he had been thrashing and sobbing. But the worst of it was over now.
“We’re almost done,” you soothed as you gently applied the triple-antibiotic cream you knew was only meant for minor cuts to the gaping stab wounds. Once they were packed with gauze, you sat back with a huff to survey your handiwork. Sloppy and a bit haphazard but… better than nothing. And having the wounds covered seemed to have helped him calm down a little bit. One last thing crossed your mind though – how could you potentially make the dressings waterproof?
Your eyes flitted over to a slew of seaweed on the shore that reflected the moonlight and figured you might as well try. With some gentle and minorly excruciating maneuvering, you managed to wrap a few thick strands of seaweed around his torso to maybe keep the dressings in place, and protect them from water immediately seeping in.
Falling back onto the towel that was mostly just threads at that point, you sighed. Thoughts of what the fuck am I doing? carved their way into every square inch of your skull. Why am I playing doctor for… whatever he- it is? Why do I care?
The sun began to peak up over the horizon, signaling that it was likely around 5 AM at that point. A groan left your lips as you realized you were going to have to leave soon if you wanted to make it home before Mother awoke, but then remembered you had company. Turning your head, you inspected his body. This was your first time seeing him on land in the approaching daylight.
He only watched you as you observed him. He was… mesmerizing. Flowing from the nape of his neck to both of his wrists, swirls of smoky black pigmentation decorated his skin, while both of his hands and claws were solid black. His – admittedly stunning – face was mostly human-like, save for his slightly larger, glowing violet eyes with slits for pupils. And you had found out he had fangs when he kept hissing in pain. His hair was jet black and flowed just past his shoulders, flecked with salt and sand, that obscured the dark gills on either side of his neck. With only the pitiful light of dawn, you couldn’t make out much of his inky tail, only that it was quite long, and lined with multiple flowing side fins that resembled the fluke.
The waterproof digital watch on your wrist began to beep erratically, making the poor creature jump in fear. Shit. The morning alarm your mother had punched into it.
“I have to leave, I’m so sorry.”
Seemingly starting to recognize the sounds of leave and sorry, his already sad expression wilted even more.
“I’ll be back, okay?” you nodded, enunciating each word clearly. “And you probably need to get back in the water, so you don’t dry out.”
The elongated amount of time outside of the water seemed to have made his tail shrivel slightly, the pointed scales more prominent than they were before. Or maybe that was just the sun rising. Either way, you were at least somewhat certain he needed to be rehydrated.
Standing up on your feet, you dusted off some of the sand that now clung to every inch of you and crossed your arms. The tip of your tongue poked out of your lips slightly as you tried to conjure up a plan of how to get him back in the water. Considering the fact that he wasn’t just pure dead weight anymore, it couldn’t be too bad. But the fresh stab wounds were the main barrier here.
“Alright. We’re getting you back in,” you announced, as if you had some position of authority. He just cocked his head and flared his gills.
With time running out, you decided the best bet was just to use the towel to drag his body the couple of meters back towards the water, and rely on the tide to hopefully aid in easing him back in. It was a deliberate choice to ignore his snarls and light thrashing, clearly not thrilled with the idea.
“Stop fighting me, dumbass,” you grunted. Finally, the tide rose high enough to envelop him, allowing him to indignantly flick his tail at you before swimming away.
The trip back to your house was spent fuming as you wondered why the stupid creature was being so damn ungrateful. As if you hadn’t spent hours saving his life. Whatever. Maybe you could give him a piece of your mind when you went to check up on him later that day. What you didn’t understand was that his unwillingness to allow you to leave stemmed from the fact that he couldn’t quite grasp why you were leaving him. What you were leaving him for. And it hurt. He had always been a loner, even amongst his own kind, and you were the only being to ever show him pure kindness. Why would you leave? And would you ever be back?
#fyodor x reader#bsd x reader#fyodor x you#fyodor x y/n#bsd x you#bsd x y/n#bungou stray dogs x reader#fyodor dostoevsky x reader#fyodor imagines#bsd imagines
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omgie coco i just had the biggest brainrot over siren awea x pirate captain diluc n now i need to hear about what haico mermaid au would be like !! what colour would your mermaid tail be?! ૮꒰⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝꒱ა
omgosh AWEA ! ! i will be in ur inbox supes shortly to bug u more about awealuc mermaid au bcos i Wub d idea of u as a siren n diluc as a pirate ! :D is he swayed easily by ur singing when he first hears it . . are you two afraid of each other ?? curious , maybe ? 🥺 so many questions WAAAAH wait for mi in ur inbox fwiend ! !
i hv honestly never given any thought to a haico mermaid au but now that i imagine it in m head — it cld be so fun n sweet ! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و i imagine mi as da mermaid here n haithie as a marine biologist . as for how we'd meet ?? mmm i cn see m'self getting hurt , from a shark attack or gash wounds frm getting caught in nets , n wash up ashore not too far from his house ( a cozy lil shack by da beach :3 ) . he'd catch sight of me when he goes out early in the morning for a surf n finds me passed out n bleeding over the sand . . . i probably wouldn't end up waking up until Hours later , a great deal of time after he's finished patching me up
when i dooo wake up , im mostly curious n excited over anything else ! ! :D i dont think i'd be the type to be afraid of humans if i were a mermaid — the inherent need to explore n learn about everything i dont know runs through m veins in every au in every lifetime lulz . it's vrie quiet between us at first , no words exchanged or anything . jus' soft inquisitive gazes n gentle smiles n me watching him scribble doodles of m tail + notes into his diary ♡
i dont think he expects me to grow attached to him but . . i vrie much do >< when it's sun down he tries to get me to go back to the sea but i kinda jus . . . stay sitting there by his feet . . flapping m tail n making a scene of petulance when he gets up to go back home LOL uhmm . . n i fink that is where our friendship starts ! he gets to study me in return for his companionship which i so desperately crave after living a life by myself :3 there's a small cove by his shack so after a few weeks of knowing each other , he moves me to it n that way we are more accessible to each other ! ! yaaay :D ! !
he teaches me about his world ( + also teaches me english ehe ) n i teach him about my world n over time . . . our feelings grow into something beyond friendship n n n ! ! i think we slip into a romantic relationship rather easily after that :3 al haitham is just That kind of guy to mi ! ! like if u're fwiends w him it is so easy to fall in luvf ( boff' ways . . ) bcos he already favours you n . it saves him so much time n energy to simply go from friends -> lovers
i hope t's okies i put a mini messy moodboard here . . ໒꒰ྀི⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄ ·̭ o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝꒱ྀི১ m tail i fink would be like an opalescent pink — jus like the pics here ! ! the tail's end wld be super chiffony n flowy sorta like da tail of a betta fish hehe ( the top left photo ) :D
#૮ ๑´ `๑ ྀིა ⌒ 𝓗𝓐𝓘𝓒𝓞 ⑅˚˖ ݁ ˓#perhaps . . siren awea n mermaid coco are frens in da same universe :3 ?? tehe#this was soooo much fun awea u're so so kind to ask me this ! ! tusm puddin 🥺🥺
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The Girl In The Net
Well here it is; the mermay fic! Maizula won by a landslide lol. I am rather interested in making this into a longer fic lol.
Summary: Mai finds a very flustered Princess Azula stuck in a net.
Mai hates the summer.
It is too bright.
Too hot.
Her complexion is too delicate for it. Other people tan, she goes from her natural tone to bright red with no in between. She can glob on all of the sunscreen that she wants and it wouldn’t make the slightest difference. She takes a peek at her shoulder and sighs. It is already faintly pink.
She kicks at the sand.
Why is it always up to her to take Tom-Tom to the beach? And on such a smolderingly, skin peelingly hot day. She grits her teeth, the peeling is always the worst part of a sunburn. The little squirt is lucky that she is willing to endure this for him and his silly urge to make sand castles.
If only they’d never moved to Ember Island.
She’d take the Water Tribes to this.
The tribes have this desolate sort of feeling. Desolate, forbidden, and dreary under the merciless cold. By Agni, Mai could use a bit of doom and gloom instead of this in her face sunshine and joy.
She tosses another look over her shoulder. Tom-Tom is well away from the shoreline, chasing a turtle-crab. And so she takes her chance to do some wandering. She lets her feet carry her to the shadier cove.
The one that the fisherman like to use.
It isn’t all that far down the beach and she can still see Tom-Tom from within so far as she doesn’t venture too far under the rocks. She chucks a stone into the water and listens for the splash. The waves aren’t all that rough today and that is just as well.
She narrows her eyes and scoffs. Leave it to the fishermen to leave a heap of junk just laying on the beach. It looks to be a net and…who knows what else from this distance. She supposes that she’ll just have to drag whatever it is all the way back up the beach, throw it away herself, and scold some sloppy fishermen.
The sand shifts beneath her feet as she pads along it, ignoring how swelteringly hot it is on her soles. Her brows furrow as she comes closer to the heap.
Her breath catches.
It catches because this heap is breathing.
Heavily and labored, but it is breathing.
Mai’s mouth runs dry.
Just what in the Spirit World is she looking at? It certainly isn’t a fish but it isn’t a girl either. Or she is a girl, but not a human girl. Her hands, webbed and clawed are wrapped limply between the squares of the net and–from the looks of it, she has been going at the netting with her pointy little teeth. Bits of rope are caught between them.
Her hair, covered in clumps of seaweed falls over her mostly bare chest. Many strands of pearls hang at her collar, but other than that her skin is bare, revealing gills on her neck and a spatter of scales and scares on her belly.
She stirs slightly and those blue scales shimmer. Mai swallows and her eyes trail down the length of her tail. A long red thing with flashes of neon blue and fins that billow out like a lacy skirt. Like the tail of a betta fish.
By all means, she is beautiful, whatever she is.
Beautiful and handling the heat much worse than even Mai herself.
The girl opens her eyes and her fingers flex weakly. A few quarter-hearted attempts at untangling herself from the netting.
“Now how did you get yourself into this position?” Mai asks as she stoops down to work with the net. She is tangled really good, she might have to take a knife to the girl’s locks. She’ll certainly need to use it on the netting.
But this close she can hear the rasp in the girl’s breathing.
“I’ll take you down to the water and then we’ll work on this. How does that sound.”
The girl nods as eagerly as she can for having exactly no energy left.
Luckily she is light to lift. Mai carries her to the water’s edge and gives her time to soak in the water while she steals a peek at Tom-Tom who gives her a cheerful wave. She returns it and turns back to the girl in the net.
Seemingly re-invigorated, she begins clawing at the net for herself.
“Relax, will you.” Mai rolls her eyes.
She hisses when Mai brings the knife closer.
“I’m just going to cut the net, okay?”
And to her surprise the girl speaks. “Okay.”
“So you do talk then?”
She nods. “Occasionally.”
Mai takes a handful of net and begins cutting away at it, freeing the girl’s right arm first.
“Well then?” Mai quirks a brow. “How did this happen?”
“Aren’t you going to ask me what my name is?” She asks.
Mai shrugs. “I could but that’s not as interesting as the how’s.”
“My name is Azula. Princess Azula.”
Mai’s brows furrow. “Princess Azula? But she’s…you’re…”
“Not human like everyone assumes.” She shrugs. “Well I was before.”
“Before what?”
Azula hums. “Long story. Maybe I’ll tell you after I decide whether or not I like you.”
Mai brings her slicing to a halt. And for a moment all she can hear is the lapping of the waves as they crash against the cove wall. “Oh, you better like me. I’m the one who freed you from this net and kept you from drying out like one of those blowfish in a souvenir store.”
“Blowfish!?” Azula exclaims. “What’s that supposed to mean!? Blowfish are all puffy and round. I’m a starfish!”
Mai doesn’t laugh often, in fact, she likes to think that she saves her laughs for moments like these. “Alright you’re a starfish.” She looks back at that tail. The tail that is still too tangled to flick and flit about freely. “Or a beta fish. That’s definitely a beta tail.”
Azula, shrugging the rest of the net from her right arm, taps her chin. “A beta. I was wondering what sort of fish this tail belonged to.”
“Are you going to tell me how you ended up in a fisher’s net?”
Azula’s face goes a brilliant red, the sort of color she could mistake for a sunburn.
“Oh, it’s an embarrassing story.” Mai chuckles.
“And you’re not going to hear it.”
“Sounds like someone likes this net.”
Azula blinks at her, her mouth practically sputtering. This time she is the one sighing, resigned to her fate. But before Mai can groan and admit that it was a bluff and that she wouldn’t really leave her here she speaks up again. “I was trying to get fish.” She mumbles, folding her arms across her chest with a little pout.
“A fish?”
Somehow her face turns an even brighter shade. “Sometimes I get these cravings…” she trails off. “The fish looked rather tasty. And I was going to get one of them from the net, but then my arm fins got tangled.”
“Oh. Oh man, that is…that’s unfortunate.”
Azula gives a half pout. “It wasn’t so bad at first. But then the tide came in and that’s when I got tangled.”
“Did you at least get your fish?” With one more slash, Azula’s tail comes free. She swishes it about.
Her eyes light up, “I did! I got one of them!”
Mai smiles. “Was it worth it.” She puts the knife aside and begins working to untangle the girl’s hair.
“It was.” Azula nods. “I can see why the fishermen enjoy them so well.”
“I can tell, you have a scale in your teeth.”
Azula blushes again. “Which one!”
“Joking.” Mai confesses. “But you do have some rope by your left canine.” She pauses. “I might have to cut your hair.”
“No! Don’t do that!”
“Okay, I’ll keep trying. Did you eat the fish raw?”
Azula nods. “Sometimes I cook them with firebending but lately they have tasted better raw.”
“Gross. But to each their own.”
Finally her locks come free and Azula bats the net away. She sets the offending web aflame. “Well, that takes care of that. Thank you.”
“Yeah, I guess it was no big deal, princess.” She looks over at Tom-Tom whose curiosity is now piqued. “How would you like to meet my little brother.”
“Oh! Well…I wouldn’t, actually. I don’t like children they’re rather annoying.”
Mai gives her a light swat on the head. “Well too bad, because he’s right here. Tom-Tom, this is Azula. Azula, my name is Mai. It’s…well I don’t know if I’d say nice…but it was something to meet you.”
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Mahi: so how were the interviews?
Neta: they were good. How's college?
Mahi: It's going well
Neta: are you making friends mahi hmmmm? Making computer friends?
Mahi: shut up. When are we going to meet the new recruits
Neta: next week they're coming in for training and you are going to train them.
Mahi: ok.... Like what day next week?
Neta: Tuesday. The training starts Tuesday I will start scheduling them for individual shifts so they will be working here for a while.... it'll be great I think you'll like them.
Mahi: okay great. I don't have class then. where are you going to be Tuesday? I assume you're not going to be here
Neta: yep I have wedding planning I have to do. You think you can handle it by yourself
Mahi: yeah of course I can neta I'm a store manager remember. You don't have faith in your management. The longest person who's been here.... I can handle it.
Neta: I trust you. You're going to be with Candi and Warabie they're going to help you. If some things people's wrong please call me
Mahi: alright
Neta: ok this is something I need to tell you and it's really really important.
Mahi:.............
Neta: I have this friend, his name is Stefan. He's a betta. You probably know who he is, he's on the cover of 'kriller coffee'
Mahi: is he the guy that had his coffee shop closed down because he was accused of money laundering?
Neta: yeah him. If he comes into the store, send Vinny to the back.
Mahi: who's Vinny?
Neta: you'll know him when you see him all right. If Stefan comes to the store, send Vinny to the back. They cannot make eye contact. They cannot look at each other. They cannot feel each other's presence look at me. Look at me right now...........they are not allowed to interact.....at all. Okay, simple request.
Mahi: All right, I'll try..... See I hate it when you do that now I'm less confident in my abilities
Neta: you got this champ. I believe in you
_______________________________________________
Neta: *yawn*
Ikkan: tired?
Neta: yeah... I've just been really busy..... The store's going to be open in........one year...wow so close. You graduating this year right?
Ikkan: yep....three months..... we're also getting married next year.
Neta: oh yeah.
Ikkan: less than a year. It's actually 9 months
Neta: It's getting close
Ikkan: getting cold feet?
Neta: absolutely not. I waited so long to get the chance to call you my hubby [kiss.....kisskisskisskiss]
Ikkan: hehehe neta haha stop! Hehehe [kiss] we have to visit the venue next week....... and still need to talk to a Baker.
Neta: you still want a spice cake?
Ikkan: with little to no frosting... and apple
Neta: with a brown sugar drizzle?
Ikkan: yes....
Neta: It's better than carrot cake
Ikkan: carrot cake is good. You're just stubborn
Neta: vegetables should not be in cake. I'm sorry that is just the hill I'm going to die on.......*yawn*..... I'm glad the kelp dome is available....and we don't need to spend money on flowers.....we still need to put out wedding invitations. I have some old Splatoon buddies I want to come.... what about you? You still want your family from krillarney to come
Ikkan: yeah maybe some aunts and uncles can come and a couple of cousins
Neta: mmmm that's great. I'd love to meet them.....*yawn*.....mmmm...hmmm [kiss]....what about the honeymoon? Hehehe where do you want to go? [Kiss]
Ikkan: mmmm I don't know.......you said you wanted to go back to haddaido.... maybe stay at a resort
Neta: mmmm...I was thinking conch shell cove..
Ikkan: that's nice...get a air BNB....[kiss] with a nice view...[kiss]......
Neta: [kiss]..... I mean I got a nice view right now hehe . come here....[kiss]
Ikkan: I thought you were tired?
Neta: I'm not that tired [kissing]
_______________________________________________
Service worker: so The wedding will be set in the center, chairs will be set here. For the reception, I guess we can get rid of all the chairs. You have a small stage for entertainment and-
Koi-koi: sorry I'm late traffic and everything.
Neta: koi
Ikkan: hey mom.
Koi-koi: Hi guppy! [kiss]......................cover your neck I can see your hicky!
Ikkan: mom stop!
Koi-koi: cover. it!!.......
Ikkan: I'm going to the bathroom........ You're the only one who noticed.
Koi-koi...hmm.. awwww Neta! it's good to see you honey [peck]
Neta: Mrs. Admiral
Koi-koi: oh please just call me koi we're not in a work setting......... So this is the place? It's very nice. Natural light, very spacious, beautiful greenery. You choose a very nice location.
Neta: yeah.... We wanted something close to nature but...heh.... without bugs or .....birds..ikkan doesn't like birds hehehehe
Koi-koi: He's always been scared of birds. I have no idea where that stems from.
Service worker: well, the only bugs that we do have is in our butterfly garden. That's another option that most people go to for weddings...hehehe hhhhh
Koi-koi: uh huh.....how much is this going to be?
Service: well he picked A package which only provides the venue which is just the greenhouse. No other added things like music or flowers or food that equals out to be around 7.000
Neta: I have about 20.000 in my savings I was just getting-
Koi-koi: what are the other packages?
Service: well we have a total of four packages. A package is just the greenhouse. The B package provides music and flowers C package provides flowers and-
Koi-koi: which one is just food and flowers?.... I'm assuming you kids have your own music artist friends you'll invite to the venue so the music is not needed.
Service worker: so that is the C package....ummm...... That will cost 10.000
Neta: that's... that's like half of my-
Koi-koi: who's the caterer that will provide the food and what food will they be providing?
Service worker: well we usually outsource our foods from various restaurants. La homard and The Oceanside Cafe. they have a lovely selection of macarons that people just ad-
Koi-koi : do we get to choose from the menu? Or do they have their own pre-selected menu?
Service worker:........ they do provide a pre-selected menu but you are able to pick and choose what you want from any restaurant but there is a fee
Koi-koi: how much?
Service worker: uhhhh 800
Neta: That's... A little bit over my budget
Koi-koi: perfect. May we have the menus please......thank you. Here you go neta
Neta:.koi.....this is a little too much for me
Koi-koi: what flowers do you provide? The color is going to be green and purple. I was thinking of something like Purple stock and Dark purple carnations moonvista maybe some sages decoration. How much would that be
Service workers: that would be 900 those flowers are not provided in the C package so it would be a little bit extra.
Koi-koi: so how much should that be?
Service worker: 11.700
Neta: ehhhh thats-
Koi-koi: Great! Am I able to pay it monthly or all at once?
Neta: koi
Koi-koi: shh I'm doing business... Is there an interest fee?
Service worker: no we don't have an interest fee and you can pay for it every 2 months
Koi-koi: Great!.... Let me just get my card out.....ehhhh....I'll put it on my black cyan card.
Service worker: oh Black cyan!.... Right away.
Neta: koi I really appreciate you doing this but It's okay really I don't want you to spend this much money on-
Koi-koi: I have been saving for this for a long time... You really make ikkan happy..... The happiest he's been in years..... I really don't mind paying for it. You can use the money you saved for your suit or shoes maybe something for your groomsmen......
Neta:.............thanks koi
Ikkan: All right, I'm back. Here's your makeup..... Is this good enough for you?
Koi-koi: watch the attitude.... Well we have everything sorted out....
Service worker: here's your card back ma'am. You're receipt for your first month's payment
Koi-koi: thank you dear you've been a real help.
Ikkan: mom we talked about this neta and I have no problem paying for the expenses. If neta doesn't have enough I can pay
Koi koi- sweetie I insist. I've been dreaming about your special day for years. Since you were born. [Kiss]
Ikkan:...... Is this how you pictured it......
Koi-koi: ............. well...no. I pictured you in a wedding dress with your tentacles up in a tight bun..... but I do look forward to seeing my guppie in a nice tailored suit.
Ikkan: mmmmmmm I can still wear a dress.
Koi-koi:* heh* stop being silly
Ikkan: hehehehe I can wear your dress
Koi-koi: hahaha .... no. you'd stretch it.
Ikkan: I can fit in it you just need to cut the sleeves off.......... and dye it black
Koi-koi: *gasp* never!........ maybe you can wear your father's suit.
Ikkan: no I already have a suite in mind
Koi-koi: speaking of your father where is he?? He wandered off an hour ago.
Ikkan: I saw him near the fruit and vegetables when I came out of the bathroom
Koi-koi: oh ugh.... He's probably lecturing one of the gardeners. Probably something about mulch. You know how he is....hmmm.
Service worker: I almost forgot. We also need to know how many chairs we'll need to provide for guests.
Koi-koi: how many guests are you inviting
Ikkan: we actually haven't talked that much about that yet and haven't put on any invitations either. You haven't even made them yet.
Koi-koi:................................................................... Is it okay if we get back to you honey?
Service worker: Yes of course, but we do need to know how many guests a month in advance.
Koi-koi: of course we'll call you when we figure it out......... ....*sigh* you need to Make a list and figure out who is coming. I know you probably have a lot of friends who you want to go. You can maybe choose a couple family members and the same goes with Neta. You need to get on that. The weddings in a couple months........ Practically a year actually. You have plenty of time.
Koi-koi: All right, let's go home ..... Maybe dinner...... Boys do you want something to eat
Neta: yeah I could take something home
Ikkan: sure
Koi-koi: Merv we're going.... I'm going to try to find someplace to eat
Merv: so what kind of fertilizer do you use?
Gardener: Salmonoid excrement
Merv: oh really
Gardener: oh yeah It's very rich and nutrients we usually use it for produce. We have a partnership with grizzco we put advertisements around some of the green rooms and they give us salmon poop. Pretty solid deal
Merv: I used to own a farm
Gardener: ohh
Merv: and we raised manatees so every other month when we need to clean up their stalls and we used their-
Koi-koi: dear we're leaving......stop harassing the gardeners
Merv: All right .... Is there a way I can buy some of that salmon fertilizer?
Gardener: we sell small bags of it in the gift shop.. It's on the left
Merv: huh well I'll go over there
Koi-koi: Merv!!
Merv: okay!....... You said on the left right? Okay, thank you
_______________________________________________
Neta: Crab cakes we got food!.. does my crab cakes want crab cakes?
Cirrina: hi Daddy hi dad!
Ikkan: aw hi cici
Neta:.....oh hello?...... Cirrina ...... who's this?
Paul: you Don't recognize me Mr. V?
Neta: Paul?
Paul: yeah! He used to babysit me while everyone else's partying
Neta: well look at you. You got fingers now and actual flesh. You've really grown up huh. I mean the last time I saw you was.....was uh
Paul: 4 years ago I was 10.
Neta: yeah......... So it brings you here
Paul: oh my parents finally let me go to public school and I'm in her class.
Cirrina: we have a school project we're doing together.... Is that okay?
Neta: ohhhh what's the project history class?
Cirrina: It's economics
Neta: That's even better. You need any help?
Cirrina: nope, we're fine
Neta: are you sure?
Cirrina: Yes
Neta: I have a degree in business-
Cirrina: DAD
Neta: ok! Shit..... I'll leave you kids alone..... Dinner will be ready at 6...... Paul you want to stay we have crab carbonara.
Paul: uhhhh....
Cirrina: (shakes head )
Paul: No. I had to be home by 5:00 but can I-can I take some home?
Neta: yeah no problem kiddo
_______________________________________________
Neta:.(Eating)..............
Cirrina:...(Eating).........
Ikkan: ....(Eating)
Neta:.....(Eating).......so...... Paul.......do you like him?
Cirrina: *huh* dad!!
Neta: what! Just wondering! Just wanted to know!
Cirrina: *ugh* I'm eating in my room.
Neta: was I not supposed to ask that?... What did I do?
Ikkan: she's just growing up babe, give her time...(Eating)........ We need to start working on the guest invites... Who do you think we should invite?
Neta: uh........ hold up. I'm getting a call.......... hello. Hey mahi
Mahi: TWO FUCKING BETTAS!??!? YOU HIRE TWO FUCKING BETTAS?!!?!?!
Neta: ok technically I did not hire two. I hired one but the other one is a business part-oh................... please stop yelling. Ok ........ok ........ I'll head over there right now!!...... who started the fight?...... Stefan, of course he did... I'm on my way. I'll be right back
Ikkan: can I have the rest of your pasta?
Neta: fine
_______________________________________________
Mahi really should have let neta stay I mean them and warabi were both fighting for their lives @fish-at-fish-fish-resort
#yeah wedding for getting married. yay!#koi-koi is a great mom strict and overbearing but lovely and kind#Paul is 14 and is friends with Cirrina JUST FRIENDS#trans ikkan supremacy 🧎🏾#poor mahi they really didn't know what they we're getting themselves into#Vinny and Stefan were at each other throats#thankfully because Stefan started the fight Vinny was not fired but they are not allowed to be in the same place#not until this new store opens where they have two floors separating them
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The Elusive Purple Betta fish
#top quality betta fish#betta fish for sale#high quality betta fish#premium betta fish#betta fish for sale near me#betta fish#nice betta thailand#betta fish care#betta fish farm#siamese fighting fish#purple betta fish
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What's a mermaid to a king? A lover, apparently
i wrote this a while ago on my Wattpad, bringing this here for Mermay!
Ship: Emperor x Gloves
Fantasy AU!
Please, enjoy!
-----
It was a simple run along the cliffsides, but a misstep caused Emperor to fall off of them. It happened too fast, it seemed. The blonde let out a cry for help but no one seemed to care.
Even though the cliffs had water, Emperor was sure that when he hit the surface he would die-the cliffs were high up.
So, he closed his eyes and braced for the impact. And when it came, he passed out.
..Only to awake on the shore.
Emperor opened his eyes, rather groggily, and saw startling, pure coral pink eyes-sclera and all- staring into his own. The next thing he noticed was tan skin, and seaweed green hair and...scales?
The creature smiled, showing sharp teeth. "Great! Thought you'd never wake up, two-legged!"
The blond was confused, obviously, and sat up, pushing the green beast off in the process. "What...What happened to me?" He asked.
"You seemed to take a nasty dive off of the cliffs. I found you, swam you to the surface so you could breathe, and brought you here!" They explained, lifting...a green betta-fish like tail.
Emperor backed up. What this real? Did he actually get saved by a freaking mermaid?
The mermaid only tilted their head. "What? Did I scare you?" A look of realization dawned on their face. "Are you scared of me?"
"No, I'm not. In fact, I am in your dept." Emperor answered, still a bit shaken. "Just...I thought mermaids were nothing more than a child's nursery tale, not real beings.."
"...Guess that makes sense." The mermaid shrugged, and held up and out a hand. "The name's Gloves. Nice to meet you!"
The blond took it and gave it a firm shake. "Emperor Castilo."
Gloves' eyes widened in excitement. "Castilo? As in the Royal Family Castilo?"
Emperor only nodded and Gloves smiled widely. "Oh, sweet!! I get to tell my friends I rescued a prince!"
Said prince chuckled. "I suppose you do. Now...need help getting back into the water"
Gloves nodded, and chuckled a bit sheepishly. "Yeah... Will I ever see you again?"
Emperor nodded. "Meet me at the cove tomorrow, when the sun rises. I'll bring something for you then, alright?"
"Okay!" They smiled, and Emperor scooped them up bridal style and walked until he was waist deep in the water, and released Gloves into it.
Gloves gave a small wave, before swimming off into the ocean.
---
Days of meeting at the cove turned into weeks, into months and soon, a year. Every morning, Emperor and Gloves would meet at sunrise and talk well into the day. On a few occasions, the prince would even get in the water and swim around with the mermaid.
Gifts were given both ways; Emperor gave Gloves beautiful golden jewelry that wouldn't really weight them down or get in the way of swimming if they wore the pieces correctly. In return, Gloves gifted Emperor with small trinkets from their little collection of junk that fell to the bottom of the sea, or some beautiful piece of coral, a shell, or even an occasional pearl. The prince would tell the mermaid the object's name and purpose or treasure the object dearly, putting it up in display in his room.
Slowly but surely, Emperor fell in love with Gloves, finding himself wanting to be able to run away from the stress and responsibilities that came with being royalty and spending the rest of his life by the seashore, with his fishy lover.
But, one day, Gloves did not come. Emperor waited until the sun set.
For weeks the mermaid didn't come. The prince felt his heart break every day his friend was a no show.
Two months after Emperor last saw Gloves, his father called him to a freak show of sorts. To see what scum his people would be.
The prince wished he could save each and every being there. And then... someone caught his eye.
In a small tank, there was a mermaid with coral pink eyes and hair and a tail of seaweed green, golden adornments on their wrists. They were curled up, as small as they could make themselves, but even then their tail had to drape over the side of their tank.
It was Gloves.
Emperor ran over to the tank, his father following.
"Now, that is a mermaid. They're terrible creatures," His father started. "Sabotaging our fisherman's hauls. This one got caught in a net trying doing just that. Don't stare at it for too long. It'll think you're a meal."
The prince just stared at Gloves with a look so sorrowful you'd think his brother would have died. He reached out a hand to touch the glass and Gloves put one against his.
The king scoffed and walked away, leaving the two practically unsupervised as Gloves poked their head out from their tank. "You came."
Emperor nodded. "But it seems a bit too late... The show is moving out tomorrow and I have until sunrise to help you all escape."
"Midnight." A separate caged being said. Emperor turned to face them.
It was a kitsune, with 6 fluffy orange tails and in the form of a human with ginger hair and emerald green eyes. "Come at midnight. No one guards us then and the keys are left lying around."
The prince nodded yet again. "Alright. Just...try and stay alive."
Gloves nodded. "Will do."
------------
The full moon shone high as Emperor snuck out of his window, a cloak over his figure. He headed to the freak show with purpose. He needed to save his people. And most of all, he needed to save Gloves. No aquatic creature should be stuck in a tank that small.
With the lockpick he was given by the mermaid once upon a time, he picked the lock of the building and headed in, to find most of the creatures asleep, and the hall completely devoid of guards.
Perfect.
Emperor took the keys from the stand they were on, and unlocked the cages. Some beasts simply flew away. Some thanked him and others used claws or talons to help with others.
Soon all of the cages were empty and the beasts were freed, but... Gloves was no where to be seen.
The prince felt himself begin to panic, but the kitsune brushed his shoulder with his tail. "The back room. They were taken in there after getting sick."
"Sick?" Emperor asked, rather concerned.
"Mermaids can't survive any part of them being dried for more than a few weeks. They got deathly dehydrated." The kitsune stated.
Emperor nodded, and raced to the back room, unlocking it.
Inside, there was a small but simple pool, and in it was an unconscious Gloves, who looked almost deathly pale. The prince bit his lip to keep from loosing his cool, and knelt down to gently shake the mermaid. "..Gloves?"
Gloves stirred, and opened their eyes. "...E-Emp?"
Emperor nodded. "It's me, Gloves. Listen, I'm going to get you out, but I need to lift you out of the pool. Alright?"
The mermaid nodded and allowed themself to be lifted by the prince, who dashed out of the door and ran to the ocean. The cove, more specifically.
As the two arrived, the sun was starting to rise, reflecting off of the water with a golden light as Emperor lowered Gloves in it. "There..."
Gloves smiled, already starting to look better, "Thanks, Emp... And, can I ask you something?"
Emperor nodded. "What is it?"
"..Can I kiss you? Not in a romantic way I promise! Just.. A mermaid's kiss can grant someone the ability to breathe underwater and I want to show you something.
"...S-sure?"
The mermaid nodded and leaned up, their lips being met by Emperor's own as the prince felt the power flow through him. And then he was pulled into the water by Gloves. "A-ACK-"
Gloves giggled, their hair billowing now they were both fully underwater. "Gotcha!"
Emperor huffed, taking a deep breath to find he really could breathe under the water now. "...I'll get you for that."
"But for now, follow me?"
The prince nodded and followed the mermaid as they led him to a smallish cave-on the outside at least. On the inside, it was huge and full of wonderful things. Even a makeshift vanity on a shelf-like rock formation, using fragments of mirrors. Much of the jewelry Emperor gave to Gloves was on this shelf, but other pieces were on other shelves or adorning Gloves. The prince guessed this was their home.
Gloves stopped after finding a bottle full of some strange gold liquid. "I got this a while ago at a market." They explained. "I... I wanted to give it to you to drink."
Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well, it's apparently a potion that can turn a human into a mermaid. You often expressed how stressful the prince life is... I thought it'd help." Gloves explained. "I could help you with learning the basics of stuff, and you could even live with me!"
This seemed to be something out of a dream! But, Emperor wasn't willing to go. Not yet. "..I'll consider it, Gloves. I still have things to do on the surface."
Gloves looked a bit down, but nodded. "I get it... Well, take it in case you decide to drink it." The handed the potion to Emperor, who nodded and placed it in his pouch.
-----
The elixir was kept in a locked safe of sorts and almost forgotten. A few months after that exchange, Gloves didn't bring it up. But Emperor had been shown more and more of the watery neighborhood Gloves lived in; from the motherly siren and his selkie husband, to a sea nymph in love with a kitsune who lived on the surface, the prince had become as well known and respected as if he actually lived in the area.
Every night, Emperor would consider packing a bag and writing a note and drinking the elixir, to live there with Gloves permanently. And each time he decided not to drink just yet.
That all changed one day.
"Son," The king said. "I'd like you to meet your fiancé-"
Emperor tuned out her name, being frozen in fear. He didn't want this at all! He just... all he wanted was to spend his life with his mermaid friend!
So the moment he could, he sprinted up to his room and grabbed a waterproof bag, filling it with keepsakes of his brothers, along with the things Gloves gave him and the rest of his adornments (He wished to give some to his new neighbors, along with keep at least two matching rings for himself and Gloves). He grabbed a piece of paper and a quill, writing a note that simply he was running away, and to not look for him.
And with that, he unlocked the safe containing the elixir and headed out the window and to the cove with his bag.
When the prince reached it, he smiled in relief. Carefully, he stripped himself of his clothes and folded them to set on the rocks, keeping his circlet. He opened the bottle of the potion.
"Well, bottoms up.." Emperor said, to only himself. He downed the liquid in one fell gulp and jumped into the water.
He felt a weird sensation in his lower half but he didn't look until it was gone, and he saw a gorgeous and elaborate yellow mermaid tail, with specs of iridescent purple scales. Upon looking at his arms and feeling along his spine, Emperor noticed he grew fins as well, along with fin-like ears much like Gloves, though the ex-prince felt he paled in comparison to the mermaid of his affections.
He took his bag from the shore and quickly swam to where Gloves' cave was, his tail beating the water as hard as he could to get their faster.
When he arrived, he simply knocked on the stone, and was greeted with a tackle of seaweed green as Gloves hugged him tightly. "EMP!!!"
Emperor chuckled and embraced the betta fish back. "I missed you, Gloves."
Gloves smiled and looked Emperor up and down. "You drank it. You..."
"What can I say? Why would I not want to stay with the one I love?"
Gloves' face turned a shade of red, and they nuzzled into the crook of Emp's neck. "...I love you too, Emp..."
---------
When Prince, Regent, and their father found the note, a search for Emperor was called for. The kingdom searched far and wide before anyone thought to check the cove. All that they saw left of the kingdom's heir was his royal robes, folded neatly on the rocks with an empty bottle.
As for Emperor himself? He moved in with Gloves, permanently, and the two got together for reals. After a few years the two were married, and had two wonderful children. One was named Princess, and the other, Prince.
Some say the family learned of a way to turn into a humanoid form and roam the land as humans, and returned as the royal family when the kingdom fell to the grasp of chaos, but no one knows for sure.
All we can say, is this truly was a happily ever after.
The end.
-------------
The father shut his book, and the faces of his two children lit up.
"Are you saying you and Zaza are MERMAIDS?" The young girl asked.
The father only laughed. "Don't be silly, Princess. It's simply a story. A child's tale."
The son hugged his plush betta fish. "Y-yeah, sis. It's n-not real."
Princess pouted. "Awww! But that would be so coooooool!!"
"You know what else would be cool?" The father asked. "If you two went to sleep, now. I let you two stay up past your bedtime, your Zaza is going to get mad at me."
The two children nodded. "Night papa!" The son called.
He smiled. "Goodnight, Prince. You two, Princess." He blew out the light, and headed out of the room.
The other parental unit, Zaza, was waiting just outside the door. "Telling the kids the story again. Huh, Emp? "
"Gloves! You startled me there, love." Emperor stated. "And, yes. Princess won't stop thinking it's real."
"Well, who knows?" Gloves placed a kiss on Emperor's cheek. "You thought mermaids were a child's tale and yet you met me."
The king rolled his eyes playfully. "I suppose you're right. Now, it's been ages since we've done a good one, so..."
Gloves raised an eyebrow. "Midnight swim?"
"Midnight swim."
The two lovers headed out of the palace and to the cove, hands intertwined under the moonlight. they stripped away each others clothing as not to ruin it, and dove into the water.
A flash of colors followed, then green and yellow mermaids swam around the large cove, their laughter like springs of fresh water.
They got their happily ever after, after all.
#coroika#splatoon#Galax Writes#coroika Emperor#coroika gloves#emperor x gloves#gloves x emperor#empergloves#Lemon Lime#mermaid AU#mermay writing#mermay
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Merman Wen RuoHan with three forms
Deep sea: long, eel-like tail with flowing betta-style fins that make him look four times larger in the water; at least fifteen feet long; long claws on his hands that can spear fish; upper body is more human-like but with a larger mouth and flat nose and ears, all of which are mostly covered in scales; two rows of sharp teeth; pure white eyes that look blind but can see spectacularly in the dark; red bio-luminescence; long and flowing “hair” which are actually thin tentacles used to shock prey; can only breath underwater via gills
Fresh water: Classically beautiful merman; red and white scales and fins; human-like hair but with more of a shine, much like his scales; iris is a warm crimson and very inviting to look at; lovely jade skins that is fragile and burns under too much direct sunlight; large lung capacity and breathes using airway; sound of his voice can and has led sailors to drown themselves
All dried out: Human; handsome and well-proportioned with strong muscles; strength of his legs are deceptive since he was never taught how to walk (yet)
The story I want to write for this is set during the age of sail. Nie MingJue is given a map that tricks him into sailing right into the Sea Tyrant’s cove! But it’s Wen RuoHan who ends up tangled in a net on deck, rather than Nie MingJue torn apart beneath the waves. Although Nie MingJue ends up with much, much more than he bargained for...
#this fic is on my wip list list but enjoy this little summary for now!#misc musings#wen ruohan#implied enemies to lovers ruojue#ruojue#mermaid au#mermay#happy mermay have some sea monster wrh!#who isn't actually a monster despite his appearance#wq and her family also have these three forms#wrh as a guardian and master of the sea#which is inconvenient for everyone else who wants to sail the sea#and for those who want some mermaids in tanks to show off in lanling...
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Every Bi & Lesbian Comic, Graphic Novel, and Manga I’ve Read and Loved!
This is just the bi & lesbian comics that I’ve read and recommend. For all genres, click here to see the full list at the Lesbrary.
Check out the Lesbrary Comics tag for more reviewers’ recs!
Heathen, Volume 1 by Natasha Alterici (review)
The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars by Michael Dante DiMartino
Motor Crush Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr (review)
Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta by Megan Rose Gedris (review)
Spectacle Vol. 1 by Megan Rose Gedris
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (review)
Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (review)
Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings and Vampire Island by Sarah Graley (review)
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (review)
Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson (Author) and Brittney Williams (illustrator) (review) (as well as Vol 2 and Vol 3)
Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant (review)
Girl Town by Carolyn Nowak (review)
On Loving Women by Diane Obomsawin (review)
Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill (review)
Space Battle Lunchtime Volumes 1 & 2 by Natalie Riess (Vol 1 & 2 review, Vol 3 review)
America Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Gabby Rivera
Revolutionary Girl Utena manga by Chiho Saito (review)
Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters (review)
Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (review)
Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson and Sophia Campbell
Heavy Vinyl, Volume 1 by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva (review)
Charm School Book One: Magical Witch Girl Bunny by Elizabeth Watasin (review)
Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess Vols. 1-3 by Jeremy Whitley (review)
Manga:
I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up by Naoko Kodama (review)
Girl Friends: The Complete Collection by Milk Morinaga (review of volume 1, review of volume 2)
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
How Do We Relationship? Volumes 1 & 2 by Tamifull (review)
Citrus, Vols 1-3 by Saburo Uta (review)
Nonfiction Comics & Graphic Memoirs:
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (review)
I’m a Wild Seed: My Graphic Memoir on Queerness and Decolonizing the World by Sharon Lee De La Cruz (review)
Be Gay, Do Comics!: Queer History, Memoir, and Satire from the Nib (review)
War of Streets and Houses by Sophie Yanow (review)
If you like what we do here and want to see more of it, support this tumblr & the Lesbrary on Patreon for $2 or more a month to get queer books in the mail throughout the year!
#queer books#sapphic books#wlw books#lesbian books#lgbtq books#comics#lists#recommendations#master list
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@secret-engima Oh look, I’m falling down the rabbit hole.
A sketch of Sola in the Mer AU fusion, shortly after she’s rescued from Niflheim. Lots of scars, the big one across her back from when she was first captured, the one through her heart from all the times Niflheim’s pushed her magic too far, whip scars, scars from the slave collar and manacles, etc, and tattered fins.
The pale patches are from scale loss - very bad for mer/fish, because they don’t molt their scales and their scales protect them from physical harm as well as from bacterial and fungal infections. Human equivalent would be having an open wound. Scale loss can happen from hitting their tail against a hard surface or an underlying disease/condition. In Sola’s case it was physical trauma and being underweight/malnourished, as well as Niflheim yanking out her scales for funsies/use as decoration.
(Turns out mer scale jewelry is highly prized in Niflheim, given how they’re super rare to the point the common folk think them extinct and only the nobility and collectors know otherwise.)
Excluding the scar across her spine and through her chest, Titus probably has very similar scars, and likely had pretty severe scale loss as well, depending on where he was kept. He might even have scars from shark bites or something similar, if his owner was one that liked to use mer for ‘entertainment.’
.
-It’s months before Sola is well enough to even consider leaving the hidden cove the Furia relocate her to following her rescue of the Stormheart’s crew. That she had enough strength to save the entire crew is less a miracle and more a testament to how powerful - how many times she’s died - Sola is.
-Titus and the Furia are murderously angry over Sola’s condition. Nox and Ardyn are as well, doubly so because they can feel that Sola is Kin, but they end up leaving Galahd’s waters for a short while to wreck unholy vengeance on Niflheim before their tempers calm down enough to return.
-But that’s fine. Sola’s with the Furia and the crew of the Stormheart. The only place safer for her is Insomnia itself. Even then, the Galahdians are a very close second.
-With the Stormheart destroyed, the crew find themselves grounded on land until a new ship can be built. Normally most of them would find new, temporary crews to sail with until then, but not now. No, now there’s a Royal mermaid who saved their lives and Claimed them, so in the interim they spend their time protecting Sola and learning how to use the new shiny magic they find themselves with.
-Sola is all too happy to get to know her Claimed and teach them. She can’t do much else until she’s recovered. She knows Common, having learned over the course of her thirteen years enslaved. But Titus is the only one who knows Common Sign, so the grumpy Lionfish mer finds himself translating until the more language inclined Galahdians pick it up.
-Tredd is terrified at first that he’ll be rejected for his mixed blood, and is shocked when Sola not only accepts him but teaches him all the mer things that the Furia couldn’t, only having bits and pieces. The rest of the crew are hella surprised to find out that Tredd is also a mer, but they get over it pretty fast in favor of teasing Tredd for being a pretty Betta mer instead of something fierce like Titus.
-Titus gleefully kicks all of Sola’s Claimed into the water for advanced swimming lessons, with Sola and Nyx and Tredd and a handful of other Furia supervising Titus’ idiots while he teaches them. The Stormheart crew are a Regret. And a Suffer. Because Ifrit’s Pyre, Captain’s drills suck.
-Nox and Ardyn return, and Sola meets her Kin and - after grabbing onto them and crying her eyes out because she hasn’t seen Kin, hasn’t seen pod in over a decade - teaches them everything Titus and the Furia couldn’t, especially regarding Royal mer, given how Bahamut’s Blessing interacts with Leviathan’s in really odd ways at times. And sure, Nox and Ardyn are relative strangers, but they are Kin and they are Hers.
-Sola... doesn’t remember seeing Nox and Ardyn while she was captive. But she was never part of the private collections, always on one of the warships or in Besithia’s Six-cursed labs. But Sola looks at them, looks at their scars and the only way they could have gotten those is if they were owned by a collector who liked to play with mer, like Titus’ owner.
-And Sola’s furious that more of her Kin was captured. But it’s a tired anger. A bitter anger. Because Sola’s seen other mer in captivity, as rare as they are, and there was never anything she could do to help. So what if Sola didn’t know her Kin were captives? She wouldn’t have been able to help if she had.
-They escaped. That’s all that matters.
-And if Nox and Ardyn haven’t met Regis yet, then Sola begs them to come to Insomnia with her. Just to meet Papa. If after that they want to leave, Sola will help them do so, but... it’s so terribly lonely, being without Kin. She doesn’t want to lie to Papa. Not about something so important.
-Of course, NONE of the Galahdians are letting their own swim off without them. Sola included, because Tredd and Nyx have found themselves fiercely protective of their newest Pod-mates, and the rest of the Stormheart aren’t really any less protective either.
-The problem is getting everyone to Insomnia without their human pod-mates getting skewered by the Crownsguard and Cor the Immortal.
-Well, it’s a problem until they mention it in front of Sola, only for Sola to blink and sign that they’ll just head over to Leide and contact her Uncle Cid, a human shipwright and one of Papa’s Claimed. It’ll be easy.
-(No it won’t.)
-(In Leide, Cid squints as a chill runs down his spine and wonders what blasted LC nonsense he’s going to get tangled up in this time.)
#Shadow of Heaven’s Light#ffxv#fusion#Nox verse#mer au#Sola Lucis Caelum#Nox Izunia#Ardyn Izunia#Kingsglaive#Sola jinxed it#and poor Cid is going to get caught up in it too#or Cindy#or both?#oooh I like both#both is good#Titus’ hell training makes its appearance!#the crew is a Suffer#Sola just laughs
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One of my favourite things about having fish is seeing what their favourite hides are and seeing how excited they get when their favourite hide gets switched in. Cove is a huge fan of his heart log and curls up in it constantly! 🐠💙🥹
#feel free to share your fish’s favourite hides or accessories too!#fish#fishkeeping#betta fish#bettablr#betta#pet fish#betta tank#aquarium#cove the betta
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Although Judith’s never touched it, Carole’s been getting into using the video editing station in her sister’s room lol. A couple fashion videos and she’s earning royalties every day!
Judith’s just living her slightly famous college soccer player mermaid life and sorry did I mention how I can’t stop taking screenshots of her?. And she can... talk to fish now? So that’s new.
images described under cut:
[ID: a series of sims 4 screenshots. In the first one, my sim Carole is shown facing us through Judith’s open bedroom window, standing all cool and raising an eyebrow confidently as she looks into a camera propped behind a desk. She’s wearing a cold-weather outfit and hat.
The next four shots show Judith. First she is in mermaid form, treading water in a shallow, clear little cove with rocks, plants, and a sandy path on the hill behind her.
Next she stands on the left in her pink bikini in the main room of their poorly-lit house, illuminated from the front by the glowing lights of the huge fish tank to the right. She gestures as she talks to the betta and cichlid fish that swim around.
In the next shot, taken at about water level, Judith pivots as she swims in the backyard pool, looking over her shoulder. Her tail and fins are just visible through the choppy pool water.
In the last shot she has just gotten out of the pool, centered facing away from us with the swimming pool, beach, palm trees, and ocean view and gradiant-purple sky behind her. She’s hoisting herself up from the pool edge, her mermaid tail now replaced by a bikini bottom.]
#ts4 screenshots#the sims gameplay#sims gameplay#sims#sims 4 screenshots#ts4 gameplay#Patterson save#Patterson gen 2#Judith Kibo#Carole Kibo#image description
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my new bettablr!! Will be posting more soon!! @betta-cove
#fishblr#fish tank#betta splendens#betta fish#bettablr#betta care#bettaworld#aestehtic#little pets#pet
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Darkstache Week Day 5: AU - Merfolk
(AKA I had old designs of Wilford and Damien as mermen that I wanted to update and use)
North-West Pacific Marine Park is a plot of sea along the north-west coast that is dedicated to the preservation and research of wildlife in the area. Under the read-more are research notes obtained regarding the two merfolk that have called the Park home - Rose the red lionfish, and Dark the dusty shark/betta fish hybrid.
Word Count: 827
--
Our research into the two merfolk who have taken up residence in the cove on the edge of the North West Pacific Marine Park has been going excellently. We have learned a lot about the two mermen and their personalities.
The first we met was a red lionfish merman we have called Rose due to the pinkness of his stripes. Out of the two, he is the most inquisitive. Myself and my team believe he is doing his own research of us. We have been able to learn a lot about him by offering to swap things, such as shed scales for some strands of hair. His spines are retractable, mostly used in intimidation factors or when he wants to show off. Out of the two, he is the “hunter”. He gets a thrill in chasing fish into a panicked frenzy. Not only that, his spines can be pulled out to throw if needed. A strange evolutionary tactic, but they grow back fairly fast.
The second is Dark, named after his tendency to hide in the shadows during early encounters. It took a long time for us to earn his trust, and I firmly believe that Rose was the only reason we succeeded. If Dark had insisted he didn't like us, Rose may have turned against us. Dark appears to have feet resemblance to a dusty shark, with the frills of what may possibly be a betta fish. It is my belief that Dark was an attempt in making either a 'pet’ or a 'show piece’ that escaped or was dumped with the intention of him dying in the wild. There are several white claw marks across his left cheek from what may have been a battle long before he came here. Dark tends to sit back and watch when we visit, not interested in interacting unless we approach first. He is incredibly intelligent and enjoys when we bring him puzzles to solve. When hunting, Dark takes a more passive role. He uses his voice to sing and lure fish in. We think the frequencies in the water attract them and make them docile, as there is less of a scare when he or Rose strike out. He also nearly drew my assistant Eric into the water when Dark directed the singing at him to prove a point of what he can lure.
Both can understand our language, and Rose appears to be making attempts to mimic phrases we say. “Hello, handsome” is his favourite sentence to parrot. He and Melissa, one of the interns had what she called a “meaningful conversation” using just that phrase.
For the longest time, we were confused as to why two merfolk who should be in warmer waters were this far north. We did believe they were seeking mates, but that turned out to be farther from the truth. In fact, they are a mated couple who were just looking for somewhere quiet to live.
During one of our routine checks of the birds that nest along the cliffs, we heard singing coming from the cove and managed to approach without being noticed. The singing, to our surprise, was Rose. He was perched on one of the rocks beside Dark, hands locked together. The melody was calming, but when it finished, Dark slipped into the water. At first, we thought it was something for entertainment, but then Dark began to sing the same tune. The pair were soon singing in harmony, something only merfolk who can sing do when courting, and Rose slipped into the water to join his mate. They embraced in a surprisingly human manner, to the extent of Dark kissing Rose and resting his head on the lionfish’s shoulder, with their tails intertwined.
Some time after that, Dark was the one who made this fact known to us. I suspect it was his way of expressing trust in us, but he took Rose's hand in his own and kissed him on the 'nose’ before turning back to us. When I asked if they were in love, the pair swapped a look and nodded. They were almost like teenagers with their shy response. Melissa did notice Dark was wearing the plastic bead bracelet she gave Rose in return for one of his spines, so we have taken that as proof that merfolk partake in giving gifts to their mate. When we asked about it, Dark excused himself and swam off. Rose put his hands over his cheeks and shook his head in the gesture of “shy” that we taught him, followed by a laugh.
For now, we hope to observe the pair behaving naturally as a couple. We intend to encourage Rose to learn how to speak so we can communicate with him in an easier manner, as well as teaching him simple actions to convey answers to questions. We also hope to help Dark learn to trust us and show him that we don't mean him any harm.
#writersofmark#projectdarkstache#darkstacheweek2019#darkstache#darkstacheweek#merfolk au#(okay so the drawing was supposed to be a quick sketch to show what they looked like#but I got absolutely carried away with their redesigns and so that's the focus#the actual plan for the writing was to have several journal entries on discovering more about the pair but it's currently 10pm here#so if people are interested in this I could work on it more and actually write some serious fluff from the normal POV style I use!)#Cracked Mirror (Dark)#Rose Petals (Wilford)
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Overrated
Title: Overrated
Pairing: AU: Merman-Castiel x OFC Binda, Dean & Sam
Prompt: merpup
Summary: In her world filled with annoying, overbearing boys, Binda just wants something of her own she doesn’t have to share. Will a kind, quiet merman have the answer?
Warnings: Salt-water fluff. A couple of curse words.
Word count: 2,200-ish
A/N: I’m so tickled to take part in my first writing challenge! Thank you to @siren-kitten-his for hosting “Kitten’s Mermaid Challenge”. This is also my first AU, so I hope I did the characters proud. A big thank you to @thesassywallflower for being my beta on this one.
Binda - “deep water” (Aboriginal Australia)
This is a work of fiction based upon characters created by CW. The character “Binda” is my own creation. Please do not repost without my permission.
(photo: Robert Harding, Getty Images)
With one final grunt of effort, Binda flopped onto her belly and sighed in contentment. Creating the perfect resting spot took more fussing than a mama sea turtle digging a nest for her eggs, but it was worth it! The gentle hill of sand she had studiously constructed curved her spine into a gentle arch as she pillowed her face on her crossed arms. Sheltered here from the currents, Binda smiled as she felt herself sink into a welcome nap.
It was damn hard to get any peace with those two around.
“Bee!”
Damnit.
“Maybe she’s not here, Dean.”
“Nah, Cas said he followed her here.”
DAMNIT! Binda growled as their voices echoed above her. She should have known those dumb gobies wouldn’t leave her be. She also should have known that nosy codfish was going to tail her.
“C’mon, Bee, come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Maybe if she just kept quiet, they’d go away...a clam dropped onto her head and frantically skittered away.
“Ow!” she squawked, flopping upright and glaring upwards as she rubbed the sore spot.
“Hiya, princess!” Bright green eyes glinted down at her above Dean’s trademark smirk. Sam drifted into view, his gaze apologetic, as both brothers blocked out the sunlight drifting into her precious coral cave. Luckily, her gargantuan brothers were too big to fit through the opening.
“I tried to stop him, Binda.”
“Obviously not hard enough,” she grumbled as she plunked herself back onto the sand. The poor terrorized clam was struggling to bury itself, and Binda crooned to it soothingly as she sluiced a handful of sand on top of it.
“Aw, don’t be like that, Bumblebee.”
The childhood nickname grated on her already raw nerves. “It’s ‘Binda’, Dean. Go away.”
A chunk of dead coral thunked on her head next, getting tangled in her gypsum-white hair. Days of being pestered, bedeviled, and hounded suddenly burned like sand in a fresh coral scrape. Binda snarled, a snap of her tail shooting her straight to the cave’s mouth. The groans from both her brothers as her skull slammed into their noses was worth the sudden headache.
“What. Do. You. WANT?” she roared into their faces.
“Great Whites, Binda, what the hell?” Dean groused, rubbing between his eyes gingerly.
“I didn’t even do anything this time,” her taller brother whined from behind his hands.
“Sorry, Sam,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, just leave me alone, guys! What’s a girl gotta do to get some peace and quiet?”
“Calm your clam shells, toots. Geez, Binda, are you heading into your egg-laying season?”
Red. She literally saw red. Dean literally never saw her right hook coming.
“Son of a bitch!” Blood ribboned into the water from Dean’s nose as Binda turned to glare at Sam.
“Don’t look at me! Chasing you was his idea!” Sam yelped, his gold-striped grouper tail scrambling him backwards.
Binda ignored him, stabbing one slim pointer finger towards her brothers. “You two listen to me! If you follow me, I will harpoon you in the Amazon in the middle of a piranha colony!” Infuriated beyond belief, Binda spun and waved her powerful tail, surging away from them. “And don’t think I won’t do it!”
Weaving amid flurries of fish, Binda ignored Sam’s shout as she swam away. It’s not that she didn’t love her big brothers; she did, truly. With their mother gone and their father always away, they’d practically raised her. From the first toddling flip of her dorsal fin, her brothers had been there for her through it all. No mermaid in all the seven seas ever had better brothers.
They were always there for her. Really. Always frickin’ there.
If it wasn’t Dean needling her to go treasure hunting, Sam had his latest scroll he just couldn’t wait to share. They were there in the mornings, eating her favorite North Pacific krill. They were there to swim her home after her lessons, glaring off any cute mermen she even blinked at. They were there in the evenings, arguing over which lagoon to hit for dinner. As much as she loved them, Binda felt like she couldn’t breathe sometimes with how always...there...Sam and Dean were.
Distracted by her thoughts and frustrations, Binda didn’t check the corner before banking around a coral outcropping and plowed headfirst into something.
Someone, actually.
The someone in question flailed backwards at the force of their collision, straight into a swarm of visiting electric eels. The alarmed critters sputtered and thrashed, snapping great sparks into the unsuspecting soul thrust into their midst. Binda shrieked, darting forward and grasping a wrist to yank him out of the spitting, arcing tangle. The merman collided heavily into her, his face smashing into the curve of her neck and shoulder. Hissing with displeasure, the eels hurried on their way.
Gasping to catch a breath, Binda leaned back just as the mystery merman did. She found herself snared by a pair of astonishingly blue eyes.
“Castiel?” she asked dazedly. The merman straightened and moved away, rotating his shoulders a bit stiffly.
“That was unpleasant,” he rumbled in that deep voice.
“Oh, my gosh, Cas! Are you okay?” Binda’s gaze flitted over him, searching for injuries.
“I’ve sustained no permanent damage.”
“What are you even doing here?” she quizzed the merman, her brows twitching with confusion.
“I, uh -” the dark-haired mer glanced downwards, rubbing the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. “I followed you.”
Binda’s eyes popped open at the remark. “You followed me?” Exasperated anew, Binda flung her arms up. “Of course you did! Everyone follows me!”
Cas cocked his head to the side, squinting at her. “I do not think everyone follows you, Binda. There are many species in our cove who aren’t…” His voice dwindled off when the mermaid levelled a hard glare in his direction. “Nevermind.”
“Oh! What is it with you mermen?! Can’t you leave me alone for even a second?” Frustration rolled off the maid in waves, and Cas couldn’t help but stare. The current washed around them just so, billowing her white, waist-length locks around her in tantalizing tendrils. Her gorgeous tail, the bright gold and orange of a fan goldfish, gleamed about her in delicate, flowing fronds. It reminded him of the fancy dress adorning a human woman he’d seen on a distant shore long ago. Her green eyes, different from her oldest brother’s, shone brighter than any anemone, like a gem he’d spied in a wreckage. Practical soldier though he was, Cas was convinced Binda’s smiling gaze could soften the hardest of hearts.
That gaze wasn’t smiling at him now.
“I’m sorry, Binda.”
“No, you’re not!” She advanced at him, wagging a finger under his nose. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have told those two yahoo brothers of mine where I was! For carp’s sake, Castiel! You three are gonna be the death of me!” Her ire growing with each moment, Binda began swimming a line in front of Cas, arms gesticulating wildly. “When I wake up, there they are! When I go out, there you are! I can’t even go browsing for new top shells alone! Can’t I, just once, have a moment to myself? Have something that’s only mine that I don’t have to share?”
“I just...”
“What, Castiel? Just - what?”
“I just....want to make sure you’re safe.” With those words, all the ire drained out of her like air out of a puffer fish. This amazing, strong, handsome merman wanted to make sure she was safe. Binda would be lying if she said her heart didn’t flutter about the serious Castiel. While the other mermaids fawned over Dean’s vivid green and black cichild scales, or Sam’s bright gold stripes, Castiel’s midnight blue and black betta tail had always caught her eye. Different from any other mer, Cas possessed an extra set of fins separate from his tail. Thin, nearly translucent, the two long slender fins hung from his shoulders like wings. Chest muscles she’d blushingly admired bore an intricate tracery of gold in some ancient script - Enochian, Binda had heard Sam call it once.
Yes, Castiel was altogether quite the catch, pardon the phrase. But it was his quiet, gentle presence Binda most enjoyed. He often joined her as she tended the Pearl Reef, sometimes sitting with her as she rested in the quiet away from the busy-ness of cove life. He’d point out some bright flag of seaweed that made a picturesque splash against the rocks, or tell her about the seahorse hatchlings he’d seen the day before. Binda had always hoped she might catch affection in his gaze one day..
But his gaze held only duty, just like always.
Binda’s shoulders sagged at the thought. It wasn’t Cas’ fault, really. Her father or her brothers had probably told him to keep an eye on her. Trying for nonchalant and failing, Binda drug up a half-assed smile for the merman.
“It’s alright, Castiel. I’m sorry for yelling. I think I’ll head on home now. I’ll see you later.” With a wave of her side fins in farewell, Binda took herself off for the family caves.
Castiel sighed, brow creased in frustration as he watched her go. This wooing was much more difficult than he anticipated. He didn’t dare ask Sam or Dean for advice. He needed help from someone who wouldn’t laugh at him. And he knew just the one!
In a flurry of blue-black fins, Castiel took off for the friendliest corner of the cove.
Curled up under a large network of seaweed fronds, Binda lay quietly, staring up at the surface. The sun above shimmered like hammered silver in fleeting glimpses between the leaves. She huffed a sigh as she rolled to her side, twitching when something tickled her. One, then two, then five little pink seahorses poked their wee heads up above her fins. Binda smiled as she held out her hand to let them weave between her fingers playfully.
The boys had mercifully left her alone, and Binda had it in her heart to feel bad. Almost. At least for making Dean bleed. Although, she wasn’t going to waste the peace and quiet gifted to her. And if her smile looked a bit mopey - well, her peace and quiet were the only ones there to see.
“Shhh!” The muffled sound barely caught her attention, but it did that of the seahorses. The little creatures bobbed forward curiously, and Binda waved herself upright.
“Hello?” she called out.
“Uhhh…” Binda would know that confusion anywhere.
“Castiel?” She swam a bit higher to see over the seaweed; the merman seemed to be hunched weirdly backwards, like his anal fin was caught in his wings or something. “Are you alright?”
“I - I consulted Garth about my quandary,” he spouted out, his cheeks a bit flushed with...what?
“Oh. What quandary? Can I help?” Binda asked, her eyes tinged with concern as she swam nearer.
“No. Yes. I - I -” The poor mer couldn’t seem to make up his mind; the expression on his face looked like he might spontaneously combust. Was he ill? He suddenly lurched, his features contorting in discomfort.
“Cas, did those eels hurt you? Let me see!” Binda demanded, approaching him determinedly.
“No! Uh - this is for you!” The poor soul looked almost green as he thrust something into her arms. Binda’s arms instinctively closed around it, and the mass came alive as it wriggled and whined and…licked?
The merpup was all white, fur soft as the sand from a place called Puerto Rico her father once visited. His gleaming scales were iridescent green, showing hints of blue and purple in the light. And the black eyes that looked up at her had her falling in love in a heartbeat.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, cuddling the little pup under her chin. Her happy laughter splashed out when sweet puppy kisses found her jaw and cheek. “Oh, Castiel, thank you!”
“Please accept this canine as a token of my affection for you.” Castiel thought he spoke out loud but he wasn’t sure. His heart was pounding so hard with nerves, he honestly thought he might throw up, but Binda’s blinding smile distracted his queasiness.
At Castiel’s mumbled proclamation, Binda’s heart skipped and skipped again. Without thinking, she wrapped an arm around those broad shoulders and smushed a happy kiss to his lips. A spark that had nothing to do with any eels leapt between the two, painting matching flushes on both faces.
“Th-thank you, Cas, I accept!” Binda managed to stammer out.
“That’s...reassuring to hear.” Binda’s smile widened as Castiel’s shoulders sagged with relief. The pup continued to whine happily, yipping as he craned his head to swipe more kisses on Binda’s face. “I don’t know how much peace and quiet you’ll find with him”
“Peace and quiet are overrated! What should we call him?” she cooed, reaching up to scratch the little ears.
“Garth said his name is Mr. Fizzles. Which I find confusing because this canine emits no effervescence of any kind.”
Pure delight echoed in the chuckles Binda couldn’t hold in, and she beckoned the merman with a bob of her head as she cradled the merpup closer.
“Come on! Let’s get him settled!”
Snared by that blinding smile, all for him, Castiel couldn’t help but follow. The two spent a lovely hour getting Mr. Fizzles comfortable, and Binda eagerly waited for her brothers to return home so she could show him off. Her pup and her Castiel.
(very sad photo editing by me of a very cute puppy)
#siren-kitten-his#mermaid challenge#castiel#castiel x ofc#castiel fanfiction#supernatural#supernatural fanfic#supernatural au#castiel au#mer!castiel
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QUOTE
“The mountain that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.” -Najwa Zebian
BASIC
NAME: Gabriel Matthew Wallace
NICKNAMES: Gabe
AGE: 21
BIRTHDAY: February 10th, 1997
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/Him
FAMILY
MOTHER: Gloria Wallace (Maiden name: Aris)
FATHER: Matthew Wallace
LEGAL GUARDIAN: too many to fucking count lmao The State of California
SIBLINGS: Rebekah Wallace Johnson (Bekah)
PETS: A blue betta fish named Lynard who lives on his desk in one of those plant on top fish living in the roots vases, obtained on a whim.
IMPORTANT EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS: N/A
PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
FACE CLAIM: Adam Brody
RACE/ETHNICITY: ½ Jewish American (on his father’s side)
NATIONALITY: American
HEIGHT: 5′11”
WEIGHT: 154 pounds
HAIR COLOR: Dark brown
EYE COLOR: Brown
SKIN COLOR: Light
DOMINANT HAND: Right
ANOMALIES: A barely there scar above his lip from a bad fight when he was thirteen, a small scar at the base of his spine from where a belt buckle caught him during a beating from a foster parent, a mole on the back of his shoulder he probably really needs to get checked out by a doctor.
SCENT: A faint smell of lavender from the 4D laundry soap, Axe 3-In-1 Body Wash + Shampoo + Conditioner in Dark Temptation,Axe Deodorant in Dark Temptation, a Davidoff Cool Water Cologne he received as a birthday gift the previous year from Liliana who said she was ‘sick and fucking tired of him smelling like a douche’- as he used the body spray from Axe as well.
ALLERGIES: Latex, wasps, bees, pollen, mildly lactose intolerant.
FASHION: Gabe could give less of a shit how he dresses, as long as it’s comfortable. His go to is a pair of jeans and a t shirt, however if he has somewhere to go he’ll dress it up with a dress shirt and a pair of slacks. He’s incredibly reluctant to ever replace clothes, so several pairs of his jeans have tears in his knees, and several of his t shirts are stained.
NERVOUS TICS: Rubbing the back of his neck, drumming his fingers, tapping whatever is in his hands against the nearest surface, hummiing or making up a song about whatever is making him uncomfortable, refusing to make eye contact.
LIFESTYLE
HOME ADDRESS: 9280 East Cove Lane #4D, Seacrest Cove, CA
RESIDES: Seacrest Cove, CA
BORN: Carlsbad, California
RAISED: All over Southern and Central California
VEHICLE: A rusty dark green 1968 Pontiac Catalina coupe- which would be a nice car, if it were fixed up... But it’s not, so it’s just comes across as a rust bucket.
PHONE: iPhone 7, which he was bullied into letting Iva Zotrova buy and pay for during the Stella runaway crisis.
LAPTOP/COMPUTER: An older model Toshiba kept going only through Gabe’s knowledge of computers and pure damn stubbornness.
HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION: Listen I’m not even going to try, Gabe has been to a shit ton of different schools. It’s a wonder his education didn’t suffer too much from it.
COLLEGE EDUCATION: Seacrest Cove University
MAJOR: Computer Engineering
MINOR: N/A
JOB: SCCU Campus Store, Server at Old Mel’s Diner, Guitar Tutor, Coding Tutor, runs errands for senior citizens
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Socialist
RELIGION: A non-denominal Christian who is giving God the silent treatment.
BELIEFS: A firm belief that he’s too damn busy trying to survive this life to worry about the next
MISDEMEANORS: N/A
FELONIES: Charged but not convicted of assault. Gabe was charged when a former foster parent slapped Bekah, causing her to fall into a chair and suffer a significant cut on her head. Gabe panicked and shoved the woman (who was well into her sixties) away from her, and she fell down half a flight of stairs. The judge later ruled that Gabe acted in defense of what he believed to be his sister’s life.
TICKETS AND/OR VIOLATIONS: N/A
DRUGS: Pot, (rarely) Acid (once- never again.)
SMOKES: Once or twice.
ALCOHOL: Socially
DIET: Anything. Anything remotely edible. A childhood of doing things like eating straight jelly because it was the only thing in the fridge, or making ketchup sandwiches for the same reason have left Gabe with a ‘poor people don’t get to be picky’ mentality, and a nostalgic love for some snacks that make his friends and roommates look at him in horror.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Up in the air. He’s definitely more interested in women than anything else, but he’s not quite sure he’s entirely NOT interested in men. At the very least, he would make out with a man. (A fact he periodically tells Finn McGee, with a lot of winking and pretend burning looks.)
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: In a relationship with Stella Belmonte
CHILDREN: N/A
LOOKING FOR: Nothing more than what he has.
BEST FRIEND(S): Finn McGee, Stella Belmonte, Liliana Sanchez, Roslyn Knox, Veronique Dumont, Julian Lowell, Iva Zotrova (he GUESSES.)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English
PHOBIAS: snakes, bad grades, anyone coming up behind him without announcing themselves
HOBBIES: Guitar, Dungeons and Dragons, Video Games, Reading, Recording Covers on YouTube, Creating Mods for PC Games, Annoying Warren Porter
TRAITS: Hard Working, Sarcastic, Funny, Thoughtful, Determined
SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
FAVORITE
LOCATION: Hide Tides Apartments- Sea Crest Cove, California.
SPORTS TEAM: Gabe has never been one for sports, however at some point halfway through middle school he started saying he liked the 49ers whenever it was brought up, and still does if someone happens to ask him.
GAME: Mario Maker or Fallout 4
MUSIC: Classic rock and some old rockabilly classics, early 2000s rock like Weezer and Ok Go.
SHOWS: Game of Thrones, Bob’s Burgers, Archer, The Flash, Daredevil, Arrow, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Supernatural
MOVIES: Anything MCU or DC Comics, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Lord of the Rings, Karate Kid
RADIO STATION: 106.2 The Wave
FOOD: Peanut butter cookies, breakfast burritos, queso dip with tortillas, his mother’s shepherd's pie, brown sugar poptarts.
PROFESSOR: Professor Jade Pickering and Dennis Macdonald
BEVERAGE: Vanilla Coke, Red Bull, Code Red Mountain Dew
COLOR: Dark green
CHARACTER
MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good/Neutral Good
MBTI: ISFJ
ENNEAGRAM: Type 6, The Loyalist
TEMPERAMENT: Phlegmatic and Sanguine
WESTERN ZODIAC: Aquarius
CHINESE ZODIAC: Ox
PRIMAL SIGN: Walrus
HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff
SONG: Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas
IDEOLOGIES: Believes that capitalism isn’t in place to help anyone. It’s there to make the rich richer, the poor downtrodden, and the middle class complacent. It’s not just a matter of working harder than everyone else, you have to beat the system. And to do that, you have to know deep in your soul that no one gives a fuck what shitty things have happened to you, or what your dreams are- they care what you can do. Nothing more, nothing less.
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