(inhales) MerMay for the soft prompt “Listen, we don’t have to fight, we can both be adorable.” and I'm fully fine being rejected bc I do this all the time but Hanneman and Byleth perhaps? (thank you for opening these again I still love last years results)
Finally got to your request babe! I know we discussed a few different ways this could go. Hopefully you like what I settled on <3
(Taking MerMay Rarepair prompts until the end of May!)
--
Byleth had only been gone three days. The world was an unpredictable place, he knew, but things had calmed down since the war. Three days didn't seem like enough time for Something To Happen at Garreg Mach.
Now, Byleth stood on the dock of the stock pond, staring down at his husband, who was half in the water with his elbows folded on the dock, staring up at Byleth.
"You turned yourself into a mermaid," Byelth summerized.
Hanneman huffed. "Really, there is far more to it than that. As I just told you, I wanted to find a way to utilize the Crest stones' habit of changing people into beasts. I thought, if I could just find a way to control this ability, we could make use of it to protect the people. Imagine being able to transform into a beast at will without losing yourself to the power!"
"So you transformed yourself into a mermaid," Byleth repeated. It felt worth repeating.
Hanneman's upper body looked much the same as before Byleth had left, though it was rare to see it bare outside their bedroom. Hanneman's lower body, on the other hand, had changed drastically. He now sported a russet brown fish tail instead of legs, with tail fins the same green as his usual cravat.
The gills on Hanneman's hips flared as he huffed again. "That was the end result this time but it was far from my intention." He gestured at the pair of vials on the dock beside them and began explaining how he had created a substance from a crushed up Crest stone to test his hypothesis.
As he outlined the process, Byleth sat on the dock, looking more than listening. Fish in the pond periodically came up to investigate Hanneman's tail only to swim away when it flipped or twitched. Byleth wondered how much control Hanneman had over his tail. Did it feel cool and slick like a fish's scales? Or warm and firm like Hanneman's human legs?
Hanneman's voice sped up as he got to the meat of his research, as it always did, and his tail swirled underwater excitedly. Byleth smiled.
"And that was when I portioned out how much equalled a single dose and discovered-- What is it?" Hanneman cocked his head at Byleth's smile.
"You're adorable," Byleth said simply.
Hanneman made a series of stuttered noises. "I most certainly am not!" He finally cried. He punctuated this with a fist against the dock, which didn't really help his case.
Byleth picked up a vial. "Listen, we don’t have to fight, we can both be adorable."
"What? No!"
"Yes."
"Dearest, I cannot allow that. I am still testing the substance. I do not even know when my dose will wear off-- Byleth!"
For Byleth had uncorked the vial, tipped his head back, and downed the whole thing.
And promptly blacked out.
When he opened his eyes, he was at the bottom of the stock pond. Or rather, he assumed that was where he was-- he was certainly under water and the dock far above him certainly looked like the stock pond dock. Confirmation came in the form of his dear husband hovering over him with crossed arms.
"Never do that again," Hanneman stated. His tone was furious and worried all at once.
Byleth pushed himself off the sandy ground and swam a lap around Hanneman. The tail-- a dark teal like his original hair color-- was surprisingly easy to adjust to. "How do I look?" He asked, holding his arms out for Hanneman to assess.
Hanneman continued to glare for a few more moments before sighing out a line of bubbles. "You look adorable, my dear."
Byleth swam close and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. I guess it doesn't help your research, though, does it? We both have Crests already. I can't give you new data."
"On the contrary-- you possess a different crest, and a rare one at that! The more experiences I can record the better." Hanneman took Byleth's hand. "Let us go to the surface. Alois should have fetched my notebook by now. I want to hear every detail of what you're feeling!"
With that, Hanneman began pulling Byleth up towards the dock. The next time he left for a trip, Byleth resolved, he was taking Hanneman with him.
Apparently three days was far too long.
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one of the oddest arguments i've ever gotten into was like. i had agreed to give a dude a chance. we were on a first date. and he got. just. so mad. because i had told him i read about 2-5 books a week.
but he found out it was actually that i listen to 2-5 audiobooks. he was dead set on the idea - that's not reading, it's just listening. that i was lying, somehow, by implying i'd "read" the book.
language has a beautiful ability to adapt over time, particularly in the face of technology. when i "connect to the internet" i'm referencing the oldschool method of literally plugging into the internet - which i very rarely physically do. i roll down my window, which is a reference to the circular mechanical action it used to take. hell - the floppy disc remains our resolute save file icon. when i say i "ran to the store," nobody expects me to actually run - and what my version of running to the store looks like and your version are probably pretty different.
i told the guy, baffled: i look at things through glasses, that's still seeing. nobody complains i'm filtering the image.
he says: that's not the same and you know it.
i use audiobooks because i have adhd, and it makes it so i can actually focus. i am using it to help a medically diagnosed condition.
language also has a really cool ability: when we read something, our brains look at a word and make an image. when we hear a story, our brains hear a word and make an image. whether we hear it or read it - the word means the same thing, written or spoken. there is no quantifiable difference in the knowledge-encoding experience - i still happily hallucinate while i'm listening.
and i just kind of stared at him while he was telling me that "claiming" i had "actually read" a book that i had actually-listened-to was lying
and my only baffled response was like: "... are you gatekeeping the experience of... reading?"
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