fish want me women fear me

I'm feeling really soft and fuzzy today, So if I can request something I want to do that abeja 🐝💓

#Concept: Nightly routine with y/n and Harry- parents of two little babies.

Tag me if you write this baby ✨✨

Adore you alot 💕

Night Routine

Warning: your ovaries might explode... mine did 🤚🏻 I would give this man 9 children if he asked.

Word count: 1.7k

I have a kofi, so please consider buying me coffee if you can <3

I hope you enjoy it!! Let me know what you think 😚

“But I want to take a beth with him, daddy,” Cecília whined to Harry, while he undressed her, putting her new pajamas and towel on the bathroom counter.

“My little darling, he is still little, he can’t take bath with you,” Harry explained, taking Cecí on his lap and putting her inside the warm tub, handing her some of her favorite toys. “Lorenzo is just 6 months, he’s not as big as you.”

Harry made a bowl with his hands, wetting her curly hair and applying shampoo, a pout still on her face. “Please, daddy?” she said, her chubby hand grabbing his arm. Cecí had already mastered her puppy eyes technique, and she knew how much her dad had a weak spot for her.

“Alright, alright,” He finally gave in, “but he will stay outside of the tub, he doesn’t know how to sit by himself.”

“Thank you, daddy!” The girl splashed water around in excitement, which made Harry smile. That’s how he always wanted to see her: happy and healthy.

Harry went to the door, keeping an eye on the girl in the tub. “Baby? Are you done nursing? Cecí wants to see Lorenzo,” he tried to call his wife as loud as he could while being mindful of Lorenzo, who could be asleep by now. He never wanted to alarm any of him or Cecília with his loud voice.

In a matter of seconds, Y/n appeared in the hallway, a confused expression on her face while Lorenzo was calmly laying down on her arms, his little hands resting on Y/n’s shoulders. “What’s wrong? Why does she want to see him? We just had diner together,” she asked, heading in Harry’s direction.

“I’m not sure, guess she just missed him,” Harry answered, giving his wife a kiss on the forehead and bending down to talk to a very awake Lorenzo. “But who wouldn’t miss you, huh? Such a cutie, right buddy?” he was aware that using a baby voice wasn’t the best, but he couldn’t help, Lorenzo was just extremely adorable.

“Mommy! Enzo!” Cecília called, from the opposite side of the bathroom, “come here mommy, miss you too.”

Y/n sat on the bathroom floor, Lorenzo still with her. “Hey, my heart, having a good bath with daddy?” she asked at the same time Harry sat down by her side and hugged her from the side, laying his chin on her head.

“Yeah! Daddy always let me play,” Cecília took one of the yellow ducks and showed her mom, “This is Mc Duck.”

“Wow, he’s a very beautiful duck isn’t he?” She asked, giving Lorenzo to Harry while kneeling near the bathtub since Cecí still had to wash her hair, Y/n gently took the excess of shampoo from the girl’s hair, while Harry tried to keep Lorenzo entertained by singing him a silly song.

“He is, I love yellow,” the little girl admitted, “I think Lorenzo loves yellows too.”

“And why do you think that, Cecí?” Harry asked amused while pretending to eat the boy’s fingers.

“Because we’re are best friends,” She said as if the answer was obvious, “and friends like the same things.” Y/n and Harry looked at each other and laughed, for a five-year-old girl she knew a lot about relationships.

“Oh, how do you know that?” Y/n asked, finishing washing her hair, letting Cecília enjoy her time in the bath.

“Because you and daddy are best friends, you wear the same clothes sometimes, listen to the same music, and watch the same movies,” with every new topic she would count down on her fingers, it was quite a comical sight.

Harry’s chuckle filled the room, the baby on his lap giggled too. “Well, my little lady, you are right. But friends can also like different things, too,” he told her. “Me and mommy like a lot of similar things, but we also have our preferences.”

“Exactly, daddy loves bananas, but I don’t” y/n complemented, getting Cecília out of the tub, helping her into some warm clothes, “I don’t like to work out, but your dad always wakes up early to go for a run, see? We like different things but we still love each other.”

Harry got up from the floor, rocking Lorenzo softly, his heavy eyes indicating how sleepy the baby was. He took the combing cream in his hand and began combing Cecília’s curls with one hand, while his other arm held Lorenzo. Being a father of two made him very talented at doing two things at the same time. While he did that, Y/n was getting Cecí’s toothpaste ready.

“Daddy, do you love mommy even if she doesn’t go running with you?” Cecí asked, before opening her mouth so Y/n could brush her teeth. Normally they would let Cecília do it by herself, with their supervision, but it was already late and the couple desperately needed to get the children to bed, or else their routine would be messed up. Good thing Lorenzo seemed to be falling asleep already.

“Of course I do! We don’t love people just because they do the same things we do, we love people because they are kind and respectful to us, yeah?” Harry said, looking at Y/n and blowing her a kiss. This is what he loved the most about parenthood: watching the kids growing into their best version.

Parenting was made in many different ways, but the couple especially loved having these kinds of conversations. Even though Cecília was still young, she was already beginning to comprehend what love and friendships were, and Harry and Y/n had the privilege to teach her that.

Harry finished her hair, putting the brush and the products in their place under the sink while Y/n put on some socks on Cecí’s feet, the little girl was yawning, seeming tired. Lorenzo started to fussy on Harry’s arms.

“Guess it’s time to sleep, huh?” Harry said, caressing Cecílias head, “Tired, my baby? Want daddy to read a bedtime story to you? Or do you want mommy?” At the same time he mentioned Y/n, Lorenzo started to soft cry. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry asked, looking down at the upset’s baby face.”

Y/n took his from Harry’s arms, cuddling him closer to her chest, “What do you want, Enzo? Mommy just fed you” she looked at her husband, “I’ll nurse him again on the bed, he’s probably just a bit agitated, will you put her to sleep?”

“Yeah, of course.”

The woman kissed Cecília on the forehead, “have a good night, ok, baby? Mommy will take you to the playground tomorrow, alright?”

“Ok mommy, I love you and little bro too,” she said, giving a hug to her mom before she disappeared through the door with the crying baby.

Harry took Cecília by her small hand, leading them to her room, just by the side of the main suite, where the couple slept. He guided the little girl to her bed, giving her all of her favorite stuffed animals, and covered Cecília in her Lilac duvet.

“What story do you want today?

“The pirate one, please,” she asked, laying her head on the pillow as Harry went to her bookshelf, picking the one with the title Pirate’s cove. He sat by the end of the bed and began telling the story.

“I have a story for you, a story of untold riches and a young lad who found them. And who am I, you ask? Well, I am the spirit of the sand-dollar, a pirate and a buccaneer, Captain of the seahorse, the finest ship to ever sail the seven seas…”

Harry would occasionally stop to answer any questions Cecília had, but after 15 minutes he was done with the book and the girl was fast asleep, hugging tight to her little lamb. He made sure she was tucked in and turned off the lights (besides the one on the side of Cecília’s bed, she was scared to sleep in a pitch-black room), he closed the door and headed to his bedroom.

To Harry’s surprise, Lorenzo was sleeping in his bassinet by the side of the mattress. He usually would sleep in his nursery, but today just seemed like an off day to the little boy. Harry got closer to him, stroking the chubby cheeks, “Oh my little bug, did mommy let you sleep here with us? You’re not feeling fine?”

“I think he’s teething,” Y/n said in a raspy voice, taking her head from the pillow, “he’s even a bit warmer than usual, I think his gums are itching.”

“My poor baby,” Harry mumbled, turning his head to Y/n, “I hate seeing him upset, maybe we could make some homemade Popsicle, it helped when Cecília was teething.”

“Yeah, we can try that, we can make them tomorrow.” she patted the mattress, “now please come to bed, he did a number on me, I’m so tired.”

“Alright baby,” Harry took off his shirt, standing only in sweatpants, he went to the bed, laying by Y/n side, one arm hooked on her waist as she cuddled to him, placing her head on his shoulder.

“I’m so lucky to have you,” Y/n said against his neck.

“Oh baby, I am the lu--”

“--I mean, how many husbands would still love their wives even if they wouldn’t go jogging at 6 in the morning?” she said teasingly, her giggles reaching his ear.

He rolled his eyes playfully, “you are making a lot of jokes for someone who is tired,” he kissed her temple. “I’m gonna wake you up at 5 am tomorrow, so we can be fitness together.”

“Don’t you dare! You do that and your plan of being a father to three it’s over.”

“Damn sweetheart, that’s not very nice, huh?”

“You’re the one who started,” she said, before closing her eyes, snuggling to Harry’s body. The man placed a hand on her belly, falling asleep minutes later.

Tag list: @sunandherflores @elenagilbert01 @bellelittleoff, @cheshire-salvatore-mikaelson

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royal pain in the ass- chapter 6

Chapter 6: Era of the Great Sea Captain Tetra saves some castaways.

[first] - [previous] - [next] read it on ao3!

  △ ▲△

There was just something about Outset Island.

Tetra hated pretty much everything about it. The people there were soft, even the fishermen who spent their days hunting down the monsters of the sea. Everyone was preoccupied with their simple lives. Rearing their children, washing their clothes and hanging them to dry, playing with wooden swords…

They all went on like this, day after day, as though a great and powerful kingdom did not lay in ruins, miles below the sea.

But still, some little part of Tetra couldn’t help but want it. She wanted that simple life, to live without a care in the world. The burden on her shoulders was heavy, but the time she’d spent on Link’s little island, where nobody needed anything from her, had lifted it.

So when she found Link on Outset, of all places, well… that just sweetened the deal, didn’t it?

Rats… Wind was his name, now, wasn’t it? At least for now it was.

The best part of Outset, though, had to be the woods. The Forest of Fairies was quiet these days, which perhaps made it all the more ideal in Tetra’s opinion. She never got a second alone on her ship, not truly, but she could here.

Gently, she placed a hand on one of the trees, tracing the grooves in its bark. She was familiar with this one. When the Helmaroc King dropped her, it was this tree that she fell into, the branches snagging on her clothes. And then she met Wind.

Goddesses, where would she be without Wind? If this one, special, stupid kid hadn’t found her that day. Part of her wanted to think she could have taken Ganondorf on her own, and that was the part of her she let control the narrative.

Still, the Forest of Fairies was beautiful. Tetra could only hope their new home would have places half as pretty. With its cool breeze rustling fallen leaves, the ever-present smell of fresh dew, and gentle harp strumming…

Wait. Who the hell was playing the harp up here?!

Her good mood thoroughly ruined, Tetra followed the sound of the harp. Eventually, she came upon one of the heroes, sitting at the forest’s cliff.

What was his name? Cloud? No, that’s close, but not right… What’s a Hero of the Clouds, anyway? That sounded stupid. Hero of the Sun? Hero of the… Wind? No wait-

Sky! It’s Sky!

Yikes, though. Sky didn’t look so good. He kept plucking at the strings of his harp, but each time he only made it a few notes in before wincing. There were dark circles under his eyes, which kept darting up towards his clear, blue namesake with desperation.

Tetra almost left right then and there.

But there was a voice in the back of her head, one that sounded a bit like Wind, a bit like an old king. A princess would try to help her people.

Ugh. Fine. This would be a good practice run, anyway.

“Hey, buddy,” Tetra awkwardly tried to put on her cheerful princess voice. “What’s- what’s up?”

Sky looked back at her, almost no emotion on his face. “Oh, Zelda.”

“It’s Tetra,” she responded instinctively, mentally cringing at her own bluntness. She’s trying to be nice now!

“Right, Tetra,” Sky nodded, as if reminding himself. “I have a question for you.”

“Alright, I can answer questions.” Tetra took a seat next to Sky, letting her legs dangle off the cliff’s edge. “What do you want to know?”

“Your Hyrule,” he gestured towards the Great Sea, expanding as far as the eye could see. “How did it come to be this way?”

Right, this guy’s the first one. “Well, Ganondorf was sealed in the Evil Realm,” she started.

“Then what happened?”

“He broke free. The people of Hyrule, they prayed to the Goddesses to save them from his wrath, and-” Tetra swallowed. “And they flooded the land.”

For a moment, Sky was silent. His grip on his harp was tight, and for a moment, Tetra was concerned he’d break it. It was such a nice piece of treasure, after all, and it’d be a shame if it were harmed.

Finally, he spoke again. “How many died?”

“What?” Tetra almost shouted, certain she’d misheard him.

“When the flood came, how many died?” Sky reiterated, his gaze focused on the waves lapping at Outset’s shore.

“I- I don’t…” she sputtered helplessly. “I don’t know.”

“This is the legacy I’ve left the world,” Sky said. “What did their blind faith bring them?”

  △ ▲△

Standing on the stern of her ship, Captain Tetra takes in a deep breath and sighs. There’s nothing like the open ocean, is there? Cutting through the waves, the smell of salt in the night air…

With Wind gone on his little hero quest, searching for new land has taken a backseat. He would kill her if she even thought about founding her kingdom without him there by her side. Well, at least try to. They both know who would really win that fight.

But it’s not so bad. New Hyrule can wait, Tetra has a chance to focus on some of her own passions.

“Captain!” It’s Gonzo, Tetra’s right-hand man. He stops a few feet behind her. “We’ve spotted the Ghost Ship at Greatfish Isle!”

Like hunting down and destroying every last Ghost Ship on the high fucking seas.

“Excellent.” Tetra smirks. “Alter course for Greatfish. We’re going to destroy some undead tonight.”

“Uh, that’s just it, Captain,” Gonzo says. “There’s people on the island, yeah? And they’re fighting the monsters!”

“What?!” Tetra snaps back towards her subordinate. “Who would be stupid enough to fight a Ghost Ship?!”

△ ▲△

Of course, the second they noticed the ship, that’s when the undead started jumping onto their islet.

“Get it off get it off get it off get it off!” Flora desperately shouts as, using the Magnesis Rune, she slams the shield from Artemis down onto the Stalfos that has an iron-tight grip on her ankle.

“Flora, use the shield!” Dusk shouts over her shoulder, focused more on parrying off the sword of a Stalfos. In the same swift movement, she drives her rapier cleanly into its skull. As much as Artemis hates to admit it, Dusk is good. “Don’t make it a mallet!”

“She knows what she’s doing!” Artemis contends, just as her sword meets the lantern of a poe. “She doesn’t need you telling her what to do!”

“Now isn’t the time for arguing with each other!” Sun’s exasperation drips off her words. She’s just barely able to duck, dodging a swing from a Stalfos. On the ground, she kicks a leg out, knocking the walking skeleton off its feet.

Artemis’s eye twitches, and she snaps back around in anger. “I’m just saying-!”

But that moment of distraction was just a smidge too much. The Poe rises behind her, raising its glowing hand, preparing for the one, fatal strike. But before Flora can even gasp, or Sun can yell for her to watch out-

BANG!

The Poe’s lantern shatters, and with an agonizing shriek, it disappears.

There’s another ship in the water, bearing a red and white sail with two crossed swords. And there, gripping onto a rope as she leans off the bowsprit, is Tetra, the barrel of her gun smoking.

“Tetra!” Artemis could breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank the Goddess you’re here!”

Tetra blinks, taken aback for a moment. “Queenie?! I thought the Time War was over!”

“Fight now, talk later!” Sun shouts over the Stalfos she has in a headlock.

Tetra nods, tilting her head back towards her ship. “Boys! Lend them a hand!”

At her word, a crew of men lapel down from the ship and into the shallow waters. With their cutlasses drawn, they begin slicing away at the Poes and Stalfos attacking the stranded ladies.

Tetra sharply whistles, catching Artemis’s attention. “Queenie, take your best, leave the other two behind! We’re boarding that ship!”

Artemis bites her cheek. Her best, huh?

Well, there was no doubt about which of them had the most training.

“Dusk!” she cups her mouth as she yells.

And Dusk almost instantaneously freezes, her rapier dropping slightly as she looks at Artemis, her eyes wide.

“Come with me to the ship!” Artemis points towards the Ghost Ship. “We need you!”

For a moment, a very brief one, Dusk doesn’t react. Then, she smirks, a smugness only a queen could have.

“It’s about time,” she says.

  △ ▲△

The second they step into the Ghost Ship’s hull, Dusk’s nose wrinkles. “I can practically feel the dust in the air.”

The whole interior of the ship seems to be filled with smog, solidifying the undead ambience. Its wooden walls groan as it’s rocked by the sea, giving off the same eerie blue lighting it had on the outside. Below them, on the ship’s bottom, were monsters. Poes and ReDeads.

“We need to get back there,” Tetra gestures towards the back of the ship with her cutlass. “Once we take the treasure, the ship will disappear.”

“Right, because you’re pirates,” Dusk crosses her arms. “Remind me how you two know each other, again?”

Artemis and Tetra exchange a glance. “The War Across the Ages,” the former explains. “We recruited many individuals adrift from their own eras.”

“But pirates? Really?” Dusk gestures to Tetra with a hand.

“I’ll have you know, I’m the greatest pirate who ever sailed this sea,” Tetra jabs her thumb towards herself.

Artemis rolls her eyes. “Come on you two, behave. You’re cousins, after all.”

“Wh-what?!” Dusk sputters. “I thought you said her name was Tetra!”

Tetra snorts. “Yeah, but to some people, it’s Princess Zelda.” She holds out her hand, winking at Dusk. “Welcome to the family, cousin!”

Hesitantly, Dusk shakes her hand. Tetra responds with a shocking amount of vigor.

“Now that that’s settled,” Artemis claps her hands together. “How about we defeat some undead?”

As if answering her question, Tetra shoots right at the ReDead’s skull. While her bullet is enough to defeat the single ReDead, the sound also draws the attention of the other monsters on the ship. Slowly, they begin shambling towards the ledge the ladies stand on.

“Oh great,” Dusk mutters to herself. “There goes our element of surprise.”

“Dusk, we should stick together,” Artemis suggests, careful in her phrasing as she draws her rapier. “We can watch each other’s backs.”

With a nod, Dusk retrieves her own sword. “Let’s go,” is the only thing she says before she jumps off the ledge.

  △ ▲△

These new guys, Sun decides, are good. They’re decent with their swords, though she knows they’d be better if they’d attended the Knight’s Academy. At least they’re good enough to make up for both Artemis and Dusk’s absences.

One of the taller pirates slices clean through the neck of a Stalfos, its head landing just at Sun’s feet. Rearing her foot up, she crushes it under her boot. Of course, she’d never admit it, but that crunch! is such a sweet sound. Like music to her ears.

Sun’s ears twitch slightly as they pick up the faint sound of clanging metal. She’s just in time to duck again, missing a swing from an angry Poe.

“Hey, pirates!” she shouts, hoping to catch the attention of at least one of them. “Think one of you can take this for me?”

The tall one with the bandana nods, quickly moving himself between Sun and the Poe. She sighs. She just isn’t equipped to deal with that, today. Maybe if she’d remembered to bring a sword…

Sure, hand-to-hand combat isn’t usually her first choice, but Sun has grown to appreciate it over the past few minutes. Hylia, not just appreciate it. She loves it, more than she ever thought she would. Who would have guessed that punching things would be so fun?

“Well, well, look who’s decided to grace us with her presence.”

Oh, that sounds considerably less fun!

Turning behind her, Sun sees what must be the monster Artemis and Flora told her about. Because as her eyes lay on him, it’s almost as if his form is wobbling, before solidifying into a figure she knows well.

It’s a shadow of Sky. A representation of her Link, but if he was dunked in black paint and given terrifying red eyes.

“I’ve heard of you,” Sun’s eyes narrow at Dark Link.

“Ah, and I know you, your grace,” Dark Link laughs, and though it’s cruel and contemptuous, some part of her head thinks, ‘That’s familiar.’

“But tell me,” he continues. “What’s Hylia herself doing so far from home?”

Sun freezes, her blood running cold. “How did you…? Who are you?”

“What, you don’t recognize your own hero?” Dark Link frowns mockingly. “You know, I thought he’d take the longest to crack, but just a few whispers about the sea, and-” he abruptly snaps. “He was as good as gone. Now that fairy brat, on the other hand…”

“Stop it,” Sun snaps at him. “Just tell me where they are.”

“Oh? And why would you care?” The shadow tilts his head, and for a moment, his confusion almost seems genuine. “You goddesses have never cared for the fates of your heroes.”

And then, there’s a spark inside of Sun, and it sets her whole mind on fire. “I am not Hylia,” she asserts, grabbing onto his arm. “I. Am. ZELDA!”

It’s a moment of pure focus, the first time she’s ever said anything like that aloud, let alone screamed it. Unfortunately, it’s also a moment of distraction, just as Dark Link wanted. He draws his shadowy Master Sword, raises it above his head, and-

“SUN!”

Suddenly, Flora pushes Sun out of the way. The sword’s hilt strikes her head with a loud, sickening CRACK! She ends up collapsing right on top of her ancestor.

“Flora!” Sun gasps, tilting the scholar’s chin up to get a better look at her. After such a nasty blow, it makes sense that she’s out cold. But there’s blood, a lot of it, practically running down her face from above her left eye.

“You hurt her!” Sun exclaims, drawing Flora as close as she can bring her. “You son of a-!”

But, just then, they’re interrupted by two more shouts. In all the hassle, Sun hadn’t even noticed the Ghost Ship’s disappearance. Dusk, Artemis, and Tetra stand on the shore, staring right at the mess in front of them.

In an almost simultaneous burst of light, Artemis and Dusk summon their Bows of Light. Tetra draws her pistol, all three taking aim at Dark Link.

“Not another move, asshat,” Tetra warns him. “Attacking a princess is rude, you know.”

“She’s a queen,” Artemis informs her.

“Attacking a queen is rude, you know,” Tetra amends.

“Well,” Dark Link raises his hands above his head. “It seems we’re at an impasse.” He catches Sun’s eye one last time. “Farewell for now, your grace.”

Before any shots can be fired, Dark Link’s shadowy mass collapses in on itself. Like a splash of water, he sinks into the ground and disappears.

As the adrenaline fades from her body, Sun suddenly looks down at the bleeding body in her arms. She tightens her grip around her descendant, instinctively covering Flora’s wound with her hands.

“Oh no,” she mutters to herself as her fingers turn red. “Guys! We need help!”

  △ ▲△

It’s just a head wound, Tetra told them. And a head wound means it looks worse than it is, and it’ll bleed more than usual. Flora’s fine, she insists, she’ll wake up soon. All they have to do is keep an eye on her bandages and wait.

“I mean, you’ve seen my Link,” Tetra explains, leaning against her ship’s railing. “He gets a concussion every other week. He’s bounced back from worse than what Flora has.”

There really was no reason to stay on Greatfish any longer, now that they had Tetra and her crew. She’d been so generous as to waive the transport fee, something about a family discount that Artemis didn’t really hear. They’re heading to Windfall Island, so that they can restock their supplies before the next portal appears.

Flora was set up in one of the bedrooms below deck, tucked safely into one of the beds. Artemis has taken it upon herself to remain by her side, at least until she wakes up. She’s just so pale, and she hasn’t moved an inch…

As the first rays of light touch the sea, there’s a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” Artemis calls out, rising from her chair at Flora’s bedside.

The door creaks open, and Dusk pops her head in. “How’s she doing?” she asks, tilting her head towards Flora.

“No change,” Artemis crosses her arms and sighs. “I know Tetra said this is normal, but still…”

Dusk steps into the cabin, closing the door behind her with a sigh. “Sun’s a bit of a wreck. I told her I’d check in on Flora if she ate something.”

“She doesn’t blame herself, does she?” Artemis questions, wringing her hands together.

“The hit was intended for her, from what I can gather,” Dusk reveals. She gently places a hand at the top of Flora’s head. “You’re quite brave.”

Artemis smiles weakly, sitting back in her chair. “How are you holding up, Dusk?”

“I’ll admit, pirate ships aren’t as bad as I thought,” Dusk chuckles lightly. “It’s quite cozy here.”

“Dusk, I’m-” Artemis starts, but she swallows and starts again. “I’m sorry. You haven’t really spent that much time travelling before, and it was irresponsible of me to assume you’d feel comfortable with it immediately.”

“Artemis,” Dusk sighs. She kneels next to her, taking her hands into her own. “I should be the one apologizing. You were trying your best, but… I’m sorry, I was rude about your night watch, and I really ruined the whole thing, didn’t I?”

“Oh come on,” Artemis scoffs, but for once, there’s no malice behind her words. Her hands return Dusk’s grip with a tight squeeze. “You clearly weren’t okay with it, and I took that personally instead of making sure you were alright.”

“I just…” Dusk purses her lips together. “I’m scared of being alone in the dark.”

“Then you won’t have to cover any watches,” Artemis asserts. “But, you know, I spent a lot of time in a warped version of your era. I even met the most peculiar woman, a princess of the Twilight Realm…”

Dusk gasps. “You met Midna.”

“I did,” she nods. “So if you ever need someone to talk to, please consider me.”

Wordlessly, Dusk leans forward and pulls Artemis into what might be the warmest hug she’s felt in years. And instinctually, Artemis hugs her back.

For a long time, they stay like that.

“You know, I never figured it out,” Dusk suddenly speaks. “Flora’s down the family tree, and Sun’s up it. When exactly does the War Across the Ages take place?”

“From your perspective? You have about two-hundred years to go,” Artemis reveals. “You’re my grandmother a few times over, by the way.”

“What?!” Dusk suddenly draws back. “Why didn’t you lead with that?!”

  △ ▲△

Waking up is quite the process. When Flora opens her eyes for the first time, her vision is blurry. Like the world’s been spun around. Just barely, she’s able to lift her head, though her neck protests such movements.

There, sitting at the edge of her bed, though. That has to be Mipha. Who else would wait for her like that, within arm’s reach should she need an extra bit of healing?

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Daruk and Urbosa just a few feet away. They’re talking to each other, maybe about her. Their tones are quiet and subdued, though. And Revali! Revali is waiting, just by the door. That's just like him to hover, even if he pretends not to.

‘Did I pass out in the spring again?’ she wonders.

“Flora?”

But then, she blinks, and it’s almost as though the scene shifts. It’s Sun sitting on her bed, a look of hope clear on her face. Artemis and Dusk freeze, gaping at Flora’s awakening. Tetra is the one who’s by the door, though she’s clearly keeping her distance.

Right. Of course.

“Flora!” Sun springs to her feet. “You’re okay!”

And then, before Flora’s sluggish mind can catch up with her, Sun wraps her up into a tight hug. Flora’s head throbs at the sudden, jerky movement.

“Ow…” Flora groans.

Sun gasps in shock, dropping Flora back onto her pillow. “Sorry!”

“Hylia’s fucking tits-” Tetra curses, missing Sun covering her chest with an arm at those words. She pushes herself between Sun and Flora. “Do none of you know how to handle head injuries? Stop moving her around!”

“I’m sorry, it’s just-” Sun awkwardly fidgets with her fingers. “She got hurt because of me! I need to make sure she’s okay!”

“And I want to make sure my travels with you four start off on the right foot,” Tetra insists. “Without anyone dying.”

“I’m fine,” Flora croaks out.

Dusk gestures a hand to the young queen. “See? She’s fine.”

“You’ve decided you’re coming with, then?” Artemis suddenly appears at Flora’s side, lightly patting her head. “You didn’t need much convincing.”

Tetra shrugs. “I figure I owe Link this much. He’d do the same for me.”

“Woo,” Flora weakly cheers, lamely raising a fist in celebration.

Artemis gently pushes her hand down. “We’ve still got a few days left on the Great Sea, Flora, don’t get your hopes up. We’re not going anywhere until that head wound of yours closes.”

“Aw…” Flora pouts, crossing her arms.

“Get some rest, kid,” Dusk instructs her. “You look like you need it.”

“You,” Flora points to Tetra, though there’s already a drowsiness to her words. “You’re going to tell me more about your time.”

Tetra nods mockingly, taking Flora’s hand into her own. “When you wake up, your majesty.”

Egbert the Wingman on his latest attempt at atonement. You pick the couple he decides to "help". Bonus points for Seal Giamen cameo

Thank you so much for the prompt!!! I hope that you enjoy it!!

This is unbeta'd because I feel like dying like a man today. Also, I don't own any of it.

The day started out just as any other. Egbert woke to the waves rocking the boat, the smell of gunpowder, and a large seal angrily bomfing at him because it was breakfast time. “Alright, alright,” he said, pushing the seal away from him and rolling out of the bed. “Good morning to you too.”

Seal Gaiman just stared at him with a stern expression on his face before bomfing again and making his way to the door.

“Alright, let’s see what we can ‘borrow’ from Corazón this time,” Egbert said, making his way out of the door.

“Egbert, are you talking to that dumb seal again?” Corazón said, making his way out from below deck, “I thought we’d talked about this.”

“You let Merilwen talk to animals all the time!”

Corazón rolled his eyes. “Merilwen uses magic to talk to animals. If you were doing that, it wouldn’t be weird,” he made his way to the ladder that led above deck, “I just refreshed the larder with pickles. Make sure to keep the seal out of them.”

“Sure thing,” Egbert said with an agreeable smile. He waited until Corazón had made his way up to the top of the deck before turning to look back at the now disappeared Seal Gaiman. “Come on, mate, where are you at?”

A series of seal noises and a clutter led to the seal curled up in said barrel of pickles.

“Come on, Corazón told us to stay out of there!” When the seal steadfastly refused to move, Egbert shook his head. “Well, I’m not helping you out this time!”

Making his way upstairs, Egbert passed Prudence’s door (there was no mysterious humming and chanting coming from within this morning) and nearly ran into Dob, who was standing with Meril-cat on his shoulders.

“Oh, there you are, Egbert,” Dob said happily. “I’m supposed to tell you that we are going to spend the day in town and then we will be leaving this evening. Corazón says ‘don’t be late, but also, I don’t want to see you lot for the rest of the day. Captain’s orders!’” He smiled brightly.

“Sounds good, what do you want to do then?”

Dob shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry Egbert, but I promised Merilwen I’d spend the day with her. We’re going to see how many taverns will adopt her as a bar cat!” Said cat was still resting imperiously on his shoulder.

“Ah, okay. Well, I guess that I can use this time to check in with La Vache Mauve.”

“Sounds good to me, buddy,” Dob said, before leaving the ship with the cat on his shoulder.

Left alone on the main deck, Egbert shifted uncomfortably. It had been a while since he had the silence he needed to talk to the cow. On the other hand, silence was still silence. And if there was one thing Egbert knew, it was that all silence existed to be wonderfully broken.

As he was thinking this, the sun appeared to glow a little bit purple. Looking at it longer, Egbert watched as it slowly turned, revealing the purple cow that he followed.

“La Vache Mauve!” He exclaimed happily.

“Yes, child,” the cow replied. “Now, I see that you have been making steps toward atonement.”

“I try,” he responded dutifully, “It’s slow going, though. It’s not easy, you know!”

“The path to make up for our past mistakes is never easy, young one,” the image in the sky shifted to look stern, “But if we are not able to walk it when the road is tough, we are not really walking it at all.”

Egbert took a slow breath, pondering that. “I think I understand,” he said. “I will continue to walk the path, even when it is tough.”

Countenance shifting into a please expression, La Vache Mauve went on, “As it is, it is time for you to take the next step in your journey. Two of your companions are struggling to be true to themselves and each other. You must help them take the next step they need toward truth.”

Egbert nodded. That sounded doable. “Which of my two companions are you talking about?” He asked.

“That is something you already know, you must think about it and go from there,” with a moo, the sun had turned again, and Egbert was left on the boat alone.

That didn’t last long as he grabbed his trusty mace and bombs and leapt over the side of the boat. La Vache Mauve may not have said who he was supposed to help, but if there were a liar in the group that he traveled with, it was definitely Corazón De Ballena, and Egbert had a feeling that where he found Corazón, he would find the other member being untruthful to themselves.

Sure enough, as he turned around the corner, he had to stop suddenly so as to not draw the attention of the pirate. Corazón was at one of the stalls of artisanal meats, but instead of looking at the wares, he was standing behind one of the barrels and staring across the market. Confused, Egbert followed his gaze . . . oh.

Standing at a shop and looking at various baubles was none other than Prudence. She didn’t seem to notice either of them, and as Egbert watched, she selected a bauble and brought it to the counter, leaning in to touch the shop keeper’s arm and laughing at what he said. After some words were exchanged, she paid for the bauble with some coin and turned around, letting a smirk show off her face. She then walked out of the market area confidently, seemingly still not noticing the two people watching her.

Egbert turned to look back at Corazón, who was still looking at the stall Prudence had been sitting at with a pinched expression and his arms crossed tightly across his chest. Suddenly, he strode off, following her path into the next area and leaving Egbert alone.

Crossing his arms across his chest, Egbert thought. Dob had mentioned thinking that Corazón may have stronger feelings for Prudence than he was letting on. The two were close, and if there was one thing Prudence did lie about, it was her emotions. Standing, straighter, Egbert resolutely followed them.

Operation: Gain Atonement By Hooking Up Your Teammates was on.

***************

As Egbert strode into the next area, he was immediately grateful that it was busy. It allowed him to blend into the crowd better. Unfortunately, it also allowed Corazón to blend into the crowd better, which meant that he was still able to tail Prudence as she went on her shopping spree, this time entering an antique shop. This had to stop.

Filled with a spurt of inspiration, Egbert wandered into a more secluded area and started casting “Find Steed.” 10 minutes later, he had a dog and a Prudence was coming back out of the antique shop.

“Hey there, boy,” he said, leaning down to pet the dog. “I need you to cause a commotion and bring Prudence and Corazón together, okay?”

With a quick bark, the dog went off to do as he commanded, running into the middle of the crowd and howling before growling and leaping up on the counter by where Corazón was hiding, grabbing a piece of meat off of it and jumping down. Shaking his head, the Dogbert threw the meat in Corazón’s direction, causing him to dodge out of the way . . . and into one of the barrels that sat outside of the stall, just as Prudence walked into a nearby tavern.

Dogbert sat back and looked at Corazón, who was now sprawled against one of the barrels, before coming back and sitting down at Egbert’s feet.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Egbert said, reaching down to pet his head. “Good boy.”

A few minutes later, Corazón had recovered from his spill and made his way into the tavern. Egbert followed him inside, deciding that he could always pretend to be a dragonborn gargoyle if it looked like he was about to be spotted.

It turns out that this was unnecessary, as Corazón had taken a seat at the bar and was drawing all the attention to himself. Well, “taking a seat” wasn’t the best description of what was going on-- more like he had sprawled himself against the bar and was loudly describing his recent “heroic adventures.” Somehow, the slight scratches he bore from crashing into the barrel had turned into scars he had received tumbling through cliffs while being chased by a villainous beast, which he had of course managed to trick and then slay without any further harm to himself.

The worst part was that it appeared that the people in this tavern were utter fools. A group of men (more like boys, really, they clearly had never left the town) were listening, egging him on. And there were women (again, more like girls) who were seated next to him, saying things like “that must have been so scary” and “wow, you are so brave!”

As Egbert himself sat down at one of the seats near the main aisle, he spotted Prudence, who was seated in a shadowed corner and seemed to be drinking her ale very fast. She was clenching the tankard she was holding so tight her knuckles were red, and her whole body had gone stiff, much like a very unhappy cat. She also kept shooting furtive looks in Corazón’s direction before looking back at the table in front of her.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion from the bar as Corazón stood up, loudly announcing, “And now I will show you how I, Corazón De Ballena, master swordsman, took down the fierce monsters!” He shuffled his feet into a fencing pose and held out his hands as if he was holding a rapier, quickly moving through the motions of the supposed fight. Nearby, the girls around him gasped and giggled in glee.

As Corazón got closer and closer to him (and Prudence), Egbert saw his chance and subtly stuck out his foot. The pirate, so focused on his performance, didn’t notice, and sure enough, he tripped, flailing wildly before stumbling over and tripping on another chair leg. Through an impressive series of events that only could have happened because a cow was watching over them, Corazón stumbled and tripped through the tavern, before finally landing square in Prudence’s lap.

Immediately, both of them froze, locking wide eyes. Indeed, they were not the only ones frozen, as the whole tavern went silent.

Then Prudence roughly shoved Corazón off of her, causing him to roll on the floor and land on his back. “I hope you fight monsters better than you fight the empty air,” she taunted before making her way out of the room.

Propping himself up on his arms, Corazón watched her leave before suddenly jumping up, standing like a peacock. “Alright, which one of you pushed me?” He demanded, “That is unacceptable, and I will have my vengeance!!”

Egbert was already gone.

***********

As he left the tavern, Egbert looked around wildly before realizing that Prudence had successfully escaped into the crowd. Even though it should be easy to find a ruby red tiefling among all of the people, she was nowhere to be seen.

As he was thinking this, Corazón walked out of the tavern and looked around before deflating. Noticing Egbert, he walked up to him. “Where’s Prudence?” He demanded.

“Why should I know?” Egbert asked.

“You were OUT HERE, Egbert! It doesn’t seem hard to keep track of her when you can see where she’s gone!”

Egbert shrugged. “Sorry, I was too busy trying to pick out a new barrel of pickles.”

“I can’t believe you let the seal into my pickles and you lost Prudence! I’m going to get drunk, and I don’t want to see any of you until later on!” He stormed back into the tavern.

Egbert sighed and fought the urge to bury his head in his face. There went his chance at atonement.

As he was thinking that, the sun seemed to shift and La Vache Mauve appeared in it yet again. “Well done, my child.”

“What are you talking about?” Egbert kicked a rock. “I failed. They didn’t reveal any truths to each other.”

“Remember that in life, every step made on the journey is a valuable one,” came the reply. “This is a lesson that is relevant to their story as well as to yours. Atonement, like truth, will only come once you’ve waited.” Before Egbert could say anything in reply, the cow had disappeared again.

“Well, that’s deeply unhelpful,” Egbert said to himself before setting out to find some pickles.

*****************

Later that evening, all was quiet on The Joyful Damnation. Dob and Merilwen had come back to the ship laughing gleefully about having turned her into the best tavern cat ever. Egbert had removed Seal Gaiman from the pickle bucket and had retired to bed, trying to find peace from the day. Prudence had returned to the ship before the others and had retired to her quarters for some rest. And Corazón made his way back last, stumbling aboard the ship and making his way to the captain’s quarters.

As he walked inside, he started unbuttoning his top, preparing to sleep, before sensing something off about the room. Looking side to side, he didn’t see anything-- until he looked up and saw the familiar glowing eyes of the party’s tiefling.

If asked, Corazón would tell you that he always responded to things in the most epic and dignified manner ever. In actuality, he jumped back in shock and let out a series of impressive swear words. Taking a few breaths and clutching his chest in shock, he finally managed to get a few words. “What are you doing in here?” He demanded. “I thought we agreed Captain’s Quarters were off limits!! And that you shouldn’t Spider Climb on my ship!!”

“You said that; I pretended to listen,” Prudence shrugged, dropping down from ceiling onto the floor. “And I’m here because as stupid as you and your stories are, those scratches are fresh and you’ll probably let them get infected and then I’ll have to hear you complain about it. So I’m going to clean them out for you.”

Corazón blustered. “I don’t need your help, Prudence! As the captain and leader of this ship, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself! In fact, I should be helping you!”

“Uh huh,” Prudence said, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him onto the bed before grabbing one of his arms and examining it. “You have splinters in here, by the way.” Her touch was gentle as she set about removing them and cleaning the scratches.

Corazón froze for a few minutes, staring out of the wall but watching her out of the corner of his eye. When she didn’t make any motion to look anywhere other than his arm, he relaxed, but he continued to pointedly not watch her. “It’s not that bad,” he muttered.

“It never is with you,” Prudence responded matter-of-factly, dropping the arm she was looking at and picking up the other one. “It doesn’t look like these will need bandaging, but it also means they won’t scar, so you won’t get to impress girls with them much longer.”

“So you admit they’re impressive?” He puffed out his chest.

“They could be considered impressive if I didn’t see you roll straight into a barrel of salt trying to avoid a puppy,” she corrected him, raising an eyebrow and meeting his eyes.

“It was bigger than a puppy. It was a real beast, Prudence, I was just protecting the townspeople,” Corazón flushed.

“Ah yes, I got to see your prowess up close and personal in the tavern,” she remarked wryly, smirking as his face went redder. “Somebody sure was clumsy today, weren’t they?”

“Clumsy? I am never clumsy, I am the epitome of grace and dexterity at all times . . . OW!”

Holding up the splinter she had taken out mid rant, Prudence raised her eyebrow. “Truly, you’re the most impressive man I know,” she said before chuckling and dropping his hand. “Well, I think you can handle yourself from here.” As she left, she stopped to look at him. “Sleep well, Corazón,” and she slipped out of the room.

Watching her leave, Corazón shook his head and ran his fingers over his arm gently before laying down and falling into a peaceful slumber.

Watching overhead, La Vache Mauve smiled.

Happy Birthday @rudzik-art!

As many of you know, Robin (@rudzik-art) is turning 20 today. As a surprise gift for them, I took an AU we talked about and turned it into a fic! (So, today is not only a celebration of Robin’s birthday, it’s officially my return from fic hiatus.)

But that’s not enough to mark an occasion as important as a 20th birthday, so I got some of our favorite artists involved as well! Read it on AO3 to see it with the art. 

Fic Summary: Juno Steel, pirate of the ship Carte Blanche, did not expect to net a mermaid today. 

I give you: Juno Steel and the Brine of Deception

I.

The day seemed ordinary when Juno woke up. He lay in his hammock, watching the square of light on the floor waver as the Carte Blanche rocked in the waves. Or maybe just because he was still really hungover. The crew had stayed up late making toasts and singing shanties last night, and that had involved quite a lot of rum.

“Ughh.” Juno sat up and began to unwrap his hair.

"Mornin', Mate Steel!" His roommatey, the exceptionally clever Rita, beamed at him from her hammock. "How are ya feeling?"

"Sick," Juno grumbled. He climbed out of his hammock and padded over to the washstand. "I've got to get off this rum."

"Yeah, Mate Steel, I told ya that swill Ms. Vespa brewed ain't good for ya."

"I know." He glanced at her in their broken mirror as he lit a candle, which hung from the ceiling in a glass bottle. "Did Buddy say if we're docking today?"

"Nah, she said last night that we’re just doin’ chores again." Rita watched Juno adjust his eyepatch in the mirror and rocked forward in her hammock. "Why? Did you wanna go ashore?"

"Eh, not especially." Juno tied his eyepatch on and started towards the door. "It's not like I mind being on this stinking ship where my legs feel like jelly and…." He sighed. "You know what, Rita, let's talk about this later. I've got a busy day to start on."

“See ya, Mate Steel.” 

Juno stepped out into the hallway of the ship. He stuck his head into the galley to grab an orange from a bowl on the counter and plucked away the curling peel with his rough, uneven nails as he creaked into the hall. Down the hardwood floors and the few puddles from leaks, he bounded towards the staircase that led from the ship's quarters to the main dock.

“Captain’s waiting for you,” snarled Vespa as soon as Juno’s head appeared above decks. 

“Morning to you too, Vespa.” 

Vespa frowned and went back to twisting a knife around in her teeth. A briny sea breeze rustled the bandana tied around her forehead. “Good morning,” she muttered, like it was a concession. Then abruptly she crossed her tattooed arms and cleared her throat. “Now get a move on. The captain doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” 

“Duly noted.” Juno ducked past the first mate’s glare and strode down the deck. He tossed his orange peel overboard, but a breeze caught it, and spun it back onto the deck, where it was pinned abruptly under a heeled leather boot. 

Captain Aurinko’s dark eye studied Juno from under her hat. In her broad-shouldered coat, criss-crossed with belts that dangled swords and pistols, she was intimidating with a streak of devilish intrigue, and she smirked as she lifted the orange peel from the deck. “You ought to clean up your trash, Juno.” 

“Captain A.” Juno rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly plucked the peel back from the captain. “Sorry about that.” 

“Not to worry, darling. Shall we sit down?” Captain Aurinko neatly unfolded a scroll from her belt and spread it over one of the barrels nearby. She and Juno perched on surrounding barrels. “Our schedule is fairly lowkey today.” Her leather-gloved fingers traced Juno’s name, written in ink on a list. “I want you to check the nets and get some fishing done. Don’t complain,” she added, as Juno rolled his eye. “You’re the best at it, darling. After that, go over the stores with Jet, and then I’m sure Rita would appreciate it if you tied up your shared room a bit.”

“Seems like a slow day,” Juno observed. “What happened to ‘high adventure’ and all that?” 

“That’s taking a back seat at the moment.” Captain Aurinko pursed her lips. “To be honest, darling, I worry that our current crew isn’t… properly equipped to handle missions of the capacity I have planned.” She rolled the map shut. “But that’s no concern of yours. On your way, darling. Come find me if you need anything.” The captain stood, dusted off her coat, and glided away to take her place at the ship’s wheel. 

This job is somehow way more than I expected and not what I expected at all. Juno sloshed through the inch of water in the cargo hold. The nets lay all tangled together, and it took a few long minutes of blistering his fingers on their ropes to untangle them. Hell, I probably should have just stayed on the Mars continent. 

And yet the Mars continent had never been home to him, not really. Not since the constables and the law had seen to condemn him over a few childhood tavern brawls and turn him into a wanted lady. As a child, Juno had always promised his brother (may his soul rest in peace) that he’d leave and be an explorer one day. That just ended up looking different than he imagined. 

Still, Juno reflected as he dragged a net up the stairs. It felt like something was missing from his life. Some final adventure he needed to conquer, or maybe some event that would set a grand adventure in order. Right now he just existed, drinking rum in the mornings and evenings and sloshing about on the sea with all the rats and the treasures and people he didn’t know if he could trust. Rita aside, of course. 

The net rigged into the pulleys, Juno cast it over into the ocean. Within a few seconds, it vanished beneath the rolling blue waves. Juno rested his arms on the railing and sighed. What he needed, once he finished his tasks today, was a good long nap, and maybe a cup of coffee instead of rum, assuming they still had coffee in the stores. Then he should mend the patch in his work breeches, and afterwards -

The weight in the net shifted abruptly. Juno frowned and stood up from his slouch. Sure enough, when he tested the rope, there was an uncommon weight to it that hadn’t been there a moment ago. A large school of fish? A small whale? Maybe an octopus. They’d caught an octopus last week, and Captain Aurinko still wrote with the ink they’d extracted from it. Whale oil could be useful too, plus good for trade too. Juno eagerly tightened the opening of the net and began to pull it up. It was heavy, but Juno was a strong lady. He ground his feet firmly to the deck and pulled again, harder, heave-to heave-to against the struggling of his catch. Finally, a splash confirmed that the net had risen above the surface of the water. With a few more final pulls, Juno hefted the net alongside the ship. He quickly tied the rope around a wooden post nearby, to secure it taut, and ran over to see what he’d netted; and there, lying in a tangle of rope of seaweed, was the most supremely beautiful man Juno had ever seen.

No, not a man, or at least, not a human one. Because, Juno realized upon closer inspection, humans didn’t have a silver-blue tail where legs should be, or gently pulsing slits along their throats, or webbed ears, and they certainly didn’t have nails as long and sharp as knives. The mermaid turned his head. His ink-black hair sat plastered to his face with dripping seawater, and when he opened his eyes, Juno saw that they were the same ink color all the way through. Blue scales glimmered along his cheekbones. His face and body sparkled with droplets of seawater, like small diamonds, and here and there wet strands of seaweed clung to his bare chest and arms. He was utterly terrifying, and yet, Juno had never seen anything so exquisite. 

“Well?” hissed the mermaid. 

Juno blinked. “Well, what?” 

“Oh, honestly.” It was hard to tell with no irises, but Juno thought the mermaid might be rolling his eyes. “You pulled me out, you quite clearly wanted me for something. I suppose you’re one of those humans that eats mermaids, aren’t you?”

“Huh? What the hell, of course not.” 

“Hmmm.” The mermaid plucked a lock of seaweed from his neck and flicked it back into the sea. “Now you’ll say you’ve grabbed me by accident.” 

“Obviously.” 

“Obviously.” He imitated Juno’s tone and smirked, slightly. His teeth were just as sharp as his nails. “You’ve never seen a mer before, have you?”

“‘Course I have,” Juno scoffed, suddenly on the defensive. “In… storybooks and stuff.” The mermaid lifted his eyebrows. “Listen, I’m new to this whole pirate thing, okay? I just wanted to grab some fish for my crew’s larder. You weren’t exactly part of the plan.” 

“Ah.” The mermaid shuffled forwards and wrapped his hands around the ropes above his head. “So you’re not going to eat me.” 

“I’ll chuck you back in, if you want.” 

The mermaid giggled. He leaned forward and reached one of his hands through the net to grab Juno’s chin. Juno jolted and, with instinct, brought up his knife and pressed it to the mer’s sternum. “So defensive,” the mermaid purred. His thumb swiped over Juno’s jawline. “You have a shaving nick right there.” The very tip of his nail pressed into Juno’s skin for a minute, and then he retreated. “Well,” he said. “I’m afraid you can’t chuck me back in, love. You see, in your eagerness to haul me up onto this rowboat of yours, you tightened your net quite fiercely. Now my poor tail is injured. I can’t possibly swim.”

“What?”

“So you may as well cut me down. It looks like you’ll be stuck with me for a while.” 

Juno narrowed his eyes. “How do I know you’re not lying?” 

“Oh yes, because I would lie so I could spend several days hanging around with a crew of pirates? You’re not that cute, love.” He reached out his hand again. “But, if you’re so determined, I’ll tell you my name. You may call me Glass.”

“Glass. Hi, I’m Juno Steel.” Juno sighed heavily. The Captain’s gonna love this. He pulled the net over the railing and lowered it carefully to the deck. Glass smiled up at him as Juno freed him. Juno stepped back and rubbed his forehead. “Great,” he sighed. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?” 

“That depends, how adventurous are you?” 

“God damn it.” Juno tossed the net aside. “It’s too early in the morning for me to have a mermaid hitting on me. You just - stay there while I go get the Captain.” 

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Glass called after him, but Juno pretended not to hear. 

II.

“So,” said Buddy delicately. “This is quite a predicament.” 

“I’ll say,” Vespa snarled, smacking her fist into her palm. “We have a crowded crew already, and then Steel goes and lands us with an injured fish to take care of.” 

“Hey, don’t drag me into this.” Juno raised his hands innocently as Vespa shot a glare in his direction. “Listen, I’m not the one responsible for this. It was this guy who swam right into my net.” 

“Oh sure, the fish is to blame for your stupidity.” 

“The fish can hear you,” Glass trilled. 

The crew stood in their spare hold, positioned awkwardly around a basin of seawater. Glass lay primping in the water, finger-curling his hair and watching the five pirates from under his long lashes. Juno couldn’t help but notice that the mermaid’s gaze seemed mostly to be fixed on him. Rita, who watched countless plays about mermaids, hung star-struck at Juno’s elbow, clutching her face in her hands.

“Ain’t he so preeeeeetty, Mate Steel?” she whispered into Juno’s ear as the captain and the first mate deliberated amongst themselves. “He’s just like one of them old paintings, or like, like something right out of a play, ya know? He’s kinda scary too, though, but in a really nifty way, don’tcha think! It just - just -” She scrunched her forehead as if searching for the words. 

Frannie, the parrot perched on Rita’s shoulder, squawked, “Shiver me timbers!”

“Yeah, exactly!” Rita beamed. “It shivers me timbers! Shivers ‘em real good, don’t you think he’s pretty, Mate Steel?” 

Glass lolled in his basin, running his sharp nails over the fine webbing at the end of his tail. He winked at Juno. Somehow, the lady got the sense that Glass could hear everything Rita was saying; but more than that, it was as if he could hear everything Juno was thinking. Like those solid black eyes could see things normal eyes couldn’t. 

“He’s something, alright,” Juno murmured. 

“What I do not understand is how he came to be injured.” The quartermaster, Jet, stood by Rita’s other side with his arms crossed. Jet always wore the same thing - baggy brown breeches, a ragged white shirt, and a brown jacket so enormous that it could probably serve as a backup sail if the Carte Blanche ever needed one. He wore his long silver hair tied up in a ponytail. Despite their difference in personality, pirating ability, and three feet of height, Jet and Rita were close friends, second only to Rita’s bond with Juno. “I do not believe our simple fishing net would be strong enough to damage a mermaid’s tail.” 

“Well, you’d have to ask him about it.” 

“There is no need to be defensive, Juno.”

“Whatever, you’re all on my case, and I’m getting pretty tired of it, big guy.” 

Across the room, Vespa and Buddy drew away from each other and turned to face the rest of the group. “Alright, darlings,” said the captain. “We’ve thought this over -” 

“More like we’ve argued it,” Vespa muttered. 

“Peace, love.” The captain laid her hand on Vespa’s arm. “After some deliberation, Vespa and I have decided that we cannot abandon the mermaid back to the sea with an injury. We may be pirates, but we are not monsters. He will stay here until he recovers from his injuries.” 

Glass giggled and slid his tail back into the water. “So generous of you.” 

“You’re welcome, darling.” Captain Aurinko smoothed back a stray lock of her hair. “Additionally, since Juno was the one that injured him, Juno can be the one to attend to him.” 

“What.” 

“You heard me, dear. You’ll bring him his food, refill the water in his basin, and see to any medical needs he may have before he’s recovered. Any questions?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a question, how come I’ve got to -”

“Then if there are no questions, the meeting is dismissed.” Buddy smiled and took Vespa’s

arm. “We’ll see you all later. First we have some things to... attend to.” Vespa shot one last glare in the others’ direction before following the captain away to their cabin. 

“Well,” said Jet. “If that is all, I will return to my repairs of the Ruby 7 lifeboat.” 

“Hang on, you can’t all just -”

“I’ll go with ya!” Rita said, ignoring Juno’s protests. “Bye-bye, Mate Steel and Mistah Mermaid!” And she skipped after Jet, Frannie flapping behind them both. 

Juno sighed heavily and turned back to Glass. The mermaid had his arms folded on the rim of the basin, and his head cocked at an inquisitive and seductive angle. He smiled. “Well,” he said. “It seems that it’s just you and me.”

“Don’t get too used to it, I’ve got lots of chores to do.” 

“Oh, but the Captain said you needed to look after me,” Glass beamed. “Doesn’t that mean I’m at the top of your chores list?”

Juno glared down at the mermaid. “Fine. Tell me what you want and make it quick.”

“Oh, it’s quite simple. I just want someone to talk to.”

The pirate blinked. “Are you kidding? You want me to hang around here and talk to you?”

For a moment, the mermaid’s flirtatious smile vanished. His inky eyes narrowed, and he glanced away from Juno before speaking again. “I’m not trying to force you if you don’t wish, Juno, I simply… hoped to get to know you better.” He glanced back at Juno quickly, and Juno started. 

He’s not… no. He can’t be. Not me. 

So he shrugged and grabbed a nearby stool. “Sure,” he said. “Great.” He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’d like to hear more about you, of course.” Glass lifted his eyebrows. “Juno Steel. Juno. A goddess on the high seas. Although - pardon me - you don’t seem entirely suited to this profession.”

“Yeah.” Juno fiddled with a spare thread on his blouse. “Didn’t plan to be a pirate, originally. I wanted to go into law, but then I found myself on the other side of it. With my brother.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’d always planned to leave the Mars continent together, but then...” The pirate sighed deeply. “He… he’s not around anymore.”

Glass watched Juno quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Juno cleared his throat. “Anyway, Rita and I have been friends for decades. Business partners. She’s a locksmith, and I’m an informant, so sometimes we worked together.”

“I see.” Glass leaned forward on his elbows, and his smile sharpened a degree. “Not such an upright lady, are you?”

“Hey, careful. I still have my morals.” Juno crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. “Anyway, she did a job for Captain Aurinko and put two and two together that she’d been hired by a pirate. Suggested that I could give the Captain any information she needed, and together Rita and I got her out of a tricky spot. So, the Cap offered us spots on her crew.”

To Juno’s surprise, as he narrated to the mermaid, he found himself enjoying the conversation. Glass was a good listener, and seemed interested in Juno’s life in a way that few people had been for a long time. Every lady needed to feel special every now and then, and Juno was no exception. 

“So,” he said eventually. “Mermaid. What’s your life story?”

The mermaid still smiled, but something about his demeanor had changed. “Oh, Juno,” he said. “I don’t have a story, and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t tell it to anyone.” 

“Huh.” 

Glass sighed and leaned back in the water, lounging with his arms on either side of the basin. “I’ll leave you be,” he said theatrically. “Thank you for keeping me company.” 

“Yeah.” Juno got up, feeling strangely regretful. “No problem.” 

Juno finished up his chores and took a nap to sleep off what remained of his hangover. Afterwards, it was time for dinner, and for the first time since joining the crew, he didn’t eat with everyone else. Instead, he brought two plates to Glass’s room and they ate together, chatting about things they’d seen on the sea. 

“I swear, it looked like an underwater city. Whole thing, made of coral.”

“Oh, I’ve been there. It’s not a very long swim from here.”

“Really?”

“Mmm. Pretty place.” 

And Juno kept thinking about the mermaid that night, as he lay in his hammock. The ship’s rocking and Rita’s snoring usually lulled him to sleep, but tonight felt different. Every time he tried to doze off, he was struck by the thought that Glass lay just down the hall, with his dark eyes and his sharp smile. Maybe the mermaid was lonely. Maybe he was having trouble sleeping, too, and would want company.  

Finally Juno’s curiousity overpowered him, and he got out of bed. Rita and Frannie were both deep asleep, but he put on his slippers to be extra quiet, then lit a candle. He was about to slip out the door when he heard a loud thud. But not from the direction of Glass’s room. It sounded like it came from the ship’s treasury. 

What the hell?

He snatched his pistol and slipped out of the door. Juno crept along the hall, keeping close to the wall with his candle outstretched before him and his pistol at his side. He moved along the right-hand side, so that nothing could creep into his blind spot, but still the creaking of the ship and the uneven sway of it unnerved him. Again, the clinking noise sounded from the treasury. He could see the doorway. Juno took a deep breath, counted to five, and whipped around the corner. 

Glass looked up from the chest he was elbow-deep reaching into and frowned. “Ah,” he said. “Well, hello.” 

It was Glass, but… human. As far as Juno could tell. He had legs, normal ears; his eyes were regular eyes, with gorgeous dark brown irises. He wore a short white dress belted with a corset, as well as a knife strapped to one of his distractingly gorgeous thighs. 

The pistol trembled in Juno’s hands. “What,” he breathed, “the hell.”

“Careful, now, there’s no need to wave that thing around.” Glass raised his hands, both of which clutched long ropes of pearls. His teeth were less prominent, but still looked thrillingly sharp. “I can explain everything.” 

“Yeah?” Juno stepped closer and pointed his gun at the mer’s - the human’s - heart. “Start talking.” 

“I understand this is confusing, Juno. In some ways, I’m glad you’re the one who caught me. It means we get to have a secret.” Glass stepped closer to the pirate. “Just for the two of us.”

“You were a mer,” Juno sputtered. “You were injured.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Glass covered the quivering barrel of Juno’s pistol and pointed it away from himself. “Juno, listen to me. Whatever you think I am, you’re wrong. But I can tell you. I will tell you. I’ll tell you everything, if you want to know, but you must promise me you won’t alert your captain.” 

“Why not?” Juno snapped. “You’re robbing us. You lied your way onto our ship and - and just so you could get our shit while we slept?” 

“Well, it’s not really yours, now is it?” He was so close now. Juno could feel Glass’s warm breath on his cheek, followed a few seconds later by his knuckles. A shiver ran through him involuntarily. Glass chuckled. “I trust you, Juno, and I can’t have you giving me away now. Please.” He leaned down and whispered in Juno's ear, “I’ll give you whatever you want.” 

The words drifted into the pirate’s mind and melted over his senses like slow honey. He shivered in the brine-aired night, and in the warmth radiating from Glass’s presence. It was a sensation so strong, so all-encompassing, that for a second Juno didn’t even notice that warmth had retreated. He snapped to his senses just in time to watch Glass disappear out the door. 

“Hey - HEY!” he shouted. “Get back here!” Juno sprinted after Glass as the long-limbed thief bounded up the stairs towards the deck, and into the open air. The deck’s rocking motions were more obvious here, swaying Juno back and forth on his own feet as he fired a warning shot into the night air. “Glass, you bastard -! get back here!” 

Glass paid him no heed. Dripping pearls and laughing, he crossed the deck in a burst of speed. Juno stumbled after him. He can’t get away, the pirate thought, he has nowhere to go - and as soon as the thought entered his mind, Glass leapt over the edge of the railing and out into the open night. 

“NO!” Juno shouted. His momentum carried him the rest of the way, and he ran right into the banister, wrapping his arms around it. Below, he saw a flash of silver scales as Glass disappeared beneath the rolling waves. Juno stared, dumbfounded. He had no time to process, or to call for the captain, before suddenly the ship lurched again beneath his feet and sent him tumbling headfirst into the waves. 

III. 

The water crashed into him. Juno gasped as the cold ensnared him, but the gasp let in a rush of frigid water into his lungs, making him sputter. His arms struggled weakly. His fists clutched handfuls of seawater as the weight of his clothes and the tossing of the waves dragged him under. For a singular moment his head parted the surface of the waves, but before he could even taste oxygen, the water closed over him again. Juno couldn’t breathe. His lungs burned. All he could feel was that burning and the numbing coldness. And then, suddenly, he felt something wrap around his waist. 

Juno looked down and gave a garbled yelp of surprise. Glass was at his side, holding him close. He wore the strings of pearls around his neck, and he wrapped one of them gently around Juno, holding them together in the tumult of the water. Juno fell still. Black dots swam before his vision, and the cold seemed to sting his bones, but the mer’s arms were warm, and Juno instinctively drew closer to him. 

“Juno?” Glass murmured. His voice sounded distant. “Juno, stay awake. I can help you breathe, but you have to stay awake -” His hands clutched Juno’s shoulders, but the detective could barely feel them. Glass’s face moved closer to his. “No, stay awake - I can only help you if I breathe for you, and I can’t do that if you’re not awake to say so - no no no, keep your eyes open for me! Please, Juno -” His grip tightened in almost frenzy. The black dots blurred the edges of Juno’s vision. His entire body felt made up of this pain intensifying in his lungs. “Juno, I can save you, just give me a yes, please don’t black out, please don’t -” 

Juno could barely feel, but with what little strength he had left he tried to nod. His forehead tipped against the mer’s shoulder. Glass drew back and cradled Juno’s face in his hands, and then, strongly, he pressed his warm lips onto Juno’s mouth. Oxygen entered his body slowly, like warmth dripping slowly down his throat. Juno felt something like life beating in his chest, and he almost tasted sea salt, but before he could reflect on anything he was feeling, the black dots swelled to cover his vision, and everything faded away. 

When Juno came to, he found himself lying on a cool stone. The world above him slowly came into vision: a cool, dark cave, striped with damp vines that dangled from the ceiling. He felt cold water lapping at his ankles, and heard soft singing in the air in a haunting language he didn’t recognize. Weakly, he lifted his heavy head and looked around to get his bearings. Through the mouth of the cave, Juno could see the sun rising on the horizon, and the golden glow bled into the cave as if it were paint spilled across the water’s surface. Glass lounged on another rock, drawing ripples in the water with his fingertips, still in his mer form and glistening with pearls. After a few seconds all of Juno’s senses fell into place, and he realized the mermaid was the source of the music.

“Glass?” he called weakly. 

Glass stopped singing and looked over. His shining face lit into a smile. “You’re awake.” He rolled off of the rock and vanished with a faint splash into the water, and then a moment later emerged dripping wet by Juno’s side. The hand shifted and a moment later Glass’s face appeared above him. 

“Juno,” he sighed. “Here, let me help you sit up. How are you feeling?” 

“Unghh.” Juno rubbed his head as the mer helped him into a sitting position. “What the hell happened?”

“You blacked out.” Glass shifted back a few inches to give Juno breathing room. “Are you feeling alright now?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Juno sat up higher on the rock. Glass leaned on the side, with his arms folded and his head tipped to one side. His scales shimmered. “You saved my life,” Juno said. “Didn’t you?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let you die, Juno.”

“You kissed me.” 

Glass stirred his fingertips through the foam brushing up against the rock.

“You kissed me. You stole from my crew, and then you saved my life. Why the hell would you do that?” The water lapped quietly at the edges of the cave. 

The air misted before Glass’s lips while he breathed, and his gills pulsed. A drop of water slid down the slope of his forehead.. “I had a very straightforward plan,” he murmured eventually. “I’d been tracking your ship for a while now, you see. I saw that big fellow rowing above me one morning, so I swam to the surface to see what was going on. When I noticed that chest he was loading onto your ship, I decided to track you all. I knew you must have some kind of treasure, and I wanted it. I hid under your prow, or swam near you. Then one morning, a net dropped, so I seized my chance and swam into it, and then….” He turned his head and fixed his black eyes on Juno. “Well, then you messed up my whole plan.” 

Juno started to speak, but Glass talked right over him. 

“You, all fascinating and charming, with your fed-up attitude and your adorable pout.” He smiled. “I don’t meet people very often. I’m usually on the move, either on land or in the water, and I never have time to… to chat with someone I find attractive. And then,” he chuckled, “I decided to forget you and go through with my plan anyway - and you came to stop me! Leaving me to save you, in the end.” He shrugged delicately. “What can I say, darling? You are beautiful. I want to know everything about you.” 

Glass closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms. Juno watched him, with his heart drum beating in his chest. Around them the water was turning golden. Juno watched him, and thought, He thinks I’m beautiful. 

“What are you, exactly?” 

The mermaid lifted his head. “Hmm?”

“I mean, you’re a mermaid, right? But then when I saw you in the night, you had legs, your eyes were normal -”

“Ah. Weren’t you listening?” Glass smirked. “Shapeshifter, love. I can be a mer or a human as it suits me, but I’m never just one for very long.” 

“Huh.” Juno thought about that for a moment. He could feel his pulse in his throat. “And you’re a thief, apparently.” 

“You can have your pearls back if it bothers you that badly.” 

“Honestly?” Juno took Glass’s hand in his. “Right now I kind of just want to pay you back for saving me.” 

Glass looked up. He met Juno’s eyes and let the pirate draw him up onto the rock, and as the golden light spilled far enough across the water to light them up, they kissed. 

It was like oxygen-giving, but better. Glass’s lips were soft and sweet, and he tasted like the ocean. Juno felt the sunlight falling across their shoulders, and both of Glass’s hands twisted gently in the front of Juno’s shirt. He dragged him closer and their kiss grew deeper, with Glass’s tongue slipping into Juno’s open mouth, and Juno wrapped his legs around the mer’s waist. They didn’t break apart until it was physically hard to breathe, and even then, only far enough for the mermaid to press his forehead to the pirate’s.

“Glass isn’t my real name,” he said, breathless. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Juno gasped. “Christ, you’re a good kisser. Okay. What is your real name?” 

“It’s in Mer. You won’t be able to pronounce it.” 

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

“Nąuhréyęvhve.”

“What the fuck kind of name is that.” 

The mermaid with the unpronounceable name laughed and dropped a quick kiss onto Juno’s cheek. “It means dancer.”

“Yeah, I still can’t pronounce it. I’m just gonna say Nureyev.”

“Nureyev.” The mermaid tried it, head tipped to the side. “Nureyev” He turned to face Juno again and smiled. “Hmm. That does have a nice ring to it.” 

And they kissed again while the sunlight grew around them. 

IV.

Captain Aurinko liked to think of herself as a level-headed person, but right now, Juno Steel had her worried. “It’s no big deal,” Vespa had told her. “He vanishes at the same time as the mermaid, so what? The mermaid guy probably talked his ear off, and Steel just got annoyed and chucked him overboard.” 

“Then where is Juno?” 

“It is possible we overlooked some part of the ship when we checked,” Jet suggested. 

Vespa smirked. “Or he’s screwing the mermaid somewhere.” 

“How would that -” Rita had begun, but Buddy decided that Rita should go check the stores, and Vespa should go check the crow’s nest, before they could have that conversation. 

Now, she stood on the deck by the ship’s wheel and watched the horizon through her telescope. All she saw were the unchanging waves. Buddy sighed and lowered the telescope from her eye. “Come on, Juno,” she murmured. “This crew won’t work without you.” 

Behind her, the deck creaked under footsteps. “We checked the crow’s nest,” said Vespa. “Didn’t see anything.” 

“Us, either,” called Rita as she and Jet emerged from the lower stairs. “Mate Steel just ain’t here at all.”

“Rraw! Mate Steel ain’t here!” squaked Frannie.

Jet furrowed his brows. “I think,” he began heavily, “that perhaps we must consider -”

“No,” said Buddy. “We’re not giving up yet.” 

“Buddy.” Vespa laid a hand on her arm. “Listen, we don’t know what this mer guy might have done, okay? We should start makin’ the assumption - Rita? Are you okay?” 

Rita had begun to cry, holding the end of Buddy’s long coat and using it to dab her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, matey,” she sniffled. “It’s just, I’m rememberin’ that in plays mermaids eat people sometimes, and I don’t want Mate Steel to get e-eaten, ya know? An’ that mer-guy had such really sharp teeth an’ I don’t wan Mate Steel to di-i-i-ieeeee.” She sobbed loudly and blew her nose on Buddy’s lace trim. 

At that moment, a loud splash sounded from the ocean. The four turned around in time to watch the Juno and the mermaid course up on a jet of seawater and collapse onto the deck, where they lay sputtering in a puddle. Juno’s clothes clung to him, soaking wet, and the mer wore a tattered white dress. “Hey, guys,” Juno coughed.

“What the hell?!” exclaimed Vespa. 

“MATE STEEL!” Rita ran across the deck and threw her arms around Juno’s shoulders. “You’re alive! Oh, Mate Steel, we was so WORRIED, I thought somethin’ terrible’d happened to ya, where’ve you BEEN Mate Steel? Did he kidnap ya? Did he hurtcha?” She glared at the mermaid and fumbled for her little dagger. “I swear, if you hurt one curl on my Mate Steel’s head, I’m gonna -”

“I’m fine, Rita.” Juno sat up and helped the mermaid to his feet. Buddy blinked, sure she was seeing something wrong - perhaps the rum had gone to her head. The mermaid had legs now. “Guys,” said Juno. “Nureyev’s here to return some stuff he took.” 

“Oh.” The mermaid laughed nervously. “I thought I was just dropping you off.”

“Nureyev.” 

“Fine, fine.” He reached into his pockets and pulled out all the strings of pearls that should have been in the Carte Blanche’s treasure stores. Buddy raised an eyebrow as the mer-turned-human - Nureyev - held them out to her. She took them from his hands and eyed him. 

“I was under the impression that mer usually only have tails,” she said lightly. 

“I’m a shapeshifter.” 

Vespa and Jet said, “a what?”

“A SHAPESHIFTER?!” Rita exclaimed. “Wow!!! That’s so COOL, Mistah Nureyev! Like, like in that really great play that came out last month, Squares and Triangles and Also Sirens? Wow, that play is so GOOD! Can you turn into anythin’ you want, or just a mer and a human?”

“More importantly,” said Buddy, “how long were you planning to use your abilities to rob us?”

Rita fell silent. Nureyev smirked. “Quite a while,” he admitted. “Juno simply… altered my initial plan when he spotted me last night.” 

“Ah. So that’s where you’ve been.” Buddy smiled as Juno blushed and ducked his head. “Well, it seems there’s simply one way to resolve this whole mix-up.” 

“Yeah!” Vespa drew her scimitar and pointed it at Nureyev. “I say we tie him up and make him walk the plank!” 

“Rraw! Walk the plank!” agreed Frannie. 

“That is impractical,” said Jet. “If he walks the plank, he will simply transform underwater and swim away. I propose that we throw him in the brig until we reach port. We can decide from there.” 

“Hey, c’mon, none of this is making sense,” snapped Juno. “He gave all the pearls back.” 

“You’ve certainly had a change of attitude.”

“Yeah, well you could use one, Vespa, and here’s another thing -”

“Enough, darlings!” Buddy held up her hands. “That’s enough. I have an alternative proposition.” She marched across the deck and stopped before Nureyev. “You possess interesting skills, Nureyev. Skills that I think our team would find very useful. And, since I’m sure Juno will vouch for your character, judging from the fact that he’s wearing your lipstick -”

“Hey-”

“- you have an in.” She held out her hand. “If you want it, darling, there’s a place for you here aboard the Carte Blanche.” 

Nureyev glanced over at Juno, who stood watching him with hopeful eyes. A smile grew across his face. “Well,” he said. “I must say, it’s nice to finally be appreciated.” And he shook Buddy’s hand. 

~~~~

“...aaaand that’s my idea for a stream about us!” Rita set down her stack of papers and beamed around at the rest of the crew. “Whaddaya think? It’s good, ain’t it?” 

“It is exceptional,” said Jet in a grave tone. “I am moved to tears.” 

“I dunno, I think it’s a little unrealistic in a few parts.” Juno gestured to the portion marked as chapter five. “I don’t really see why I’d let a mermaid kiss me while I’m drowning.”

“You totally would, Mistah Steel!” Rita clutched her story defensively. “You’re just horny for death!” 

“I’m what?”

“In my case,” said Nureyev, over the laughter of the rest of the crew, “I don’t see why I’ve been characterized as a mermaid.”

“Every pirate stream has to have a mermaid, Mistah Nureyev? Ain’t you ever seen High Seas of Saturn? The Ghost Ship that Also Has Zombies? Pirates of the Carribean 207: Oh My 

God When Will This Franchise End?”

“Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell, I’m afraid.” Nureyev shifted Juno’s position on his lap and rubbed the lady’s thigh. “My introduction scene was on point, though. After all, Juno does love me in fishnets.” 

“Shut up,” Juno mumbled, blushing. Nureyev chuckled and kissed his neck. 

Buddy took another sip of her tea. “You’ve created quite an interesting story, darling. I’m glad it’s kept you entertained. I know our long periods between heists can get tedious, but I’d say this has been fun for all of us.”

“Oh yeah, this part.” Vespa waved a section of Rita’s script. She’d been writing notes on Rita’s finished pages throughout the reading process. “Where it says my arms are covered in tattoos. I’ve only got twenty tattoos and only six of them are on my arms, so I thought that was kind of unrealistic, kid.” 

“I’m taking artistic license, Miz Vespa!” 

Vespa narrowed her eyes and grabbed her knife. “Are you saying my tattoos aren’t already artistic?” 

“N-no! Fine, I’ll change it!” Rita snatched the page back and began to doodle furiously on it. Jet leaned close. 

“Do not listen to the haters,” he whispered. “You have created a masterpiece of television.” 

“Thanks, Mistah Big Guy.” 

“You are welcome.” 

“Well, this has been entertaining.” Nureyev tapped his fingertips on Juno’s knee. “If there’s nothing else that you require, the two of us will probably go to bed…”

“No, you can’t go to bed!” Rita frowned. “Whaddaya mean? We’re just gettin’ started!” 

“Rita, you’ve read us your entire story,” said Juno. “What else is there.” 

“I’ve read you the pilot episode.” Rita reached behind her and grabbed an enormous stack of blank notepads. “But now, you’ve all got to help me plot the rest of the first season!” 

The rest of the crew looked at each other. Juno sighed and got up from Nureyev’s lap.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll get some coffee started. Looks like we’re gonna be here a while.” 

The End

~

Big thanks to @in-consist​, @awalkingparadox11​, @scintillart​, @hemaris​, and @acadieum​ for all the incredible work they did! 

Dead Earth 3rd installment

Ringer had killed a couple men back in Quorum, and that was the problem. Quorum was pretty rough and tumble; those men he shot were mean and tough, and he figured it made him a real bad hombre.

He was tall and slim, and he fancied himself a gunfighter, wearing a pistol in a shoulder rig and another in a holster tucked into the back of his belt. Somewhere along the way he had joined up with Daily, a big beefy man who loved to hit things with his fists, and the two of them pretty much thought they were the toughest dudes to ever live. Geo, a smallish young man, was impressed by them, and latched onto the pair.

Breen only had two other crew members: Cee W., a copilot he’d met on a night the young man was fed up with his previous employer, and Hanah, an old ship hand who kept to herself, knew how to do her job and everyone else’s too. Breen’s ship The Grabbyelle was already warming it’s engines for take off by the time Ringer, Daily, and Geo showed up, late as usual.  

“They’re on, Cap’n” Hannah’s voice sounded in Breen’s ear.

“Lift it” Breen told Cee W.. Once they were on course, he turned over control to his copilot and called a crew meeting in the galley. Hex and Jackal would be there, Cee W. would listen in on the com.

_____________________________________________________________________

Breen did a double take as he entered the galley and saw Hex. She was wearing a kind of business suit in crimson and black, with plenty of gold jewelry, somehow managing to look like both a CEO and a pirate -- the pirate effect highlighted by the nine inch blade strapped to her left thigh and a long wool coat draped over her shoulders like a cloak. Jackal was beside her in similar if less flashy garb. His large foxy ears were plainly visible through a brimmed hat with two holes for them, but looked at first glance like they might be part of it, like feathers stuck in the hatband. Wearing a vest and no jacket, he had a sort of short staff slung across his back. It was the least number of visible weapons Breen had seen on them yet.

When Ringer and Daily came in trailing Geo behind them, Hex and Jackal had their interest right away. Ringer leaned insolently against a counter eyeballing Jackal, and Daily walked over and lewdly ran his eyes up and down Hex.

“Well well, Captain, what have you brought us?” Ringer said, looking at Jackals ears, then glancing at Hex. “Pets? Are they house trained?” Jackal’s eyes narrowed a little, and one ear flicked. “What do think Daily, she got a tail hidden away behind her? Aww, what am I sayin’, you probably don’t care if she’s human or not”

“Shut up, Ringer” Daily said flatly, leaving his eyes on Hex.

“You’re out of line, Ringer” said Breen, with more confidence than he felt, “You too, Daily, back off! Don’t be rude to our clients” Daily lingered a second, then moved to sit at the table with Hannah and Geo.

“Oh clients!” said Ringer, bowing sarcastically “So sorry, I didn’t realize.”  Suddenly ignoring Hex and Jackal, he dropped into a chair and faced Breen, who also sat.  “What’s the job?”

Before he could answer, Hex said “I’ve hired this ship and its crew to retrieve something of mine. A box my uncle left me.”

“We need a whole ship for that?” said Geo skeptically “Must be a big-ass box”

“Not so big,” said Hex, as Jackal brought her a mug of black caff and sat at the table, “it’s not the size, it’s the location. I hope you all are ready for a rough time -- we’re going down to the Old World.”

Well, they didn’t like to hear that, and with good reason. The Lunar Colonies had been established close to 200 years ago, and the Earth had been considered a dead and dangerous planet for most of that time. Oh, there were things living on it, but it mostly wasn’t a fit place for people to live. Some did anyway, such were the ways of humans, to claw existence from the barest chance of survival. They lived amid the wreckage left by a combination of environmental disaster and global warfare, an apocalyptic  wilderness considered uninhabitable by most of what was left of humanity. Many of those left on the planet were either genetically altered or cybernetically augmented, the progeny of laboratory creations during the last, war-torn decades of a fully populated Earth.

Called derogatory names like “grader” “shifter” “alter” and “mutie” (slurs short for upgraded, gene-shifted, altered, and mutant) people with cybernetic or genetic enhancements were not welcome in the lunar colonies. First generation Upgraded and Gene-shifted entities had been designed for war and terror, often mimicking horror story creatures such as vampires and zombies, or housing weaponry and programing for battle and assassination. Not just people, there were many human-created animals, some of which were quite intelligent. And there were micro-organisms and nanobots still swarming the planet, as well. When a last large-scale evacuation had finally been implemented, the Planetary Evacuation and Transfer Agency had screened for and denied entry to all Enhanced Beings, a policy meant to prevent “infecting” the supposed purity of the Lunar Colonies.

“I shoulda known a couple of damn shifters would try to get us down the well” said Daily, referring to the gravity well created by the planet. “Like hell I want to go there, full of vampires and borgs and nano-mites and who knows what.”

“That box of your uncle’s must have something worth a whole lot of money in it for you to hire a ship and land on that death rock,” mused Ringer. “What’s our share?”

Hex looked at him coldly “Whatever worth that box has is only valuable to me. There’s nothing in there for you. What you get is a working ship in operation, with its dock fees paid off and plenty of food and water, and your normal crew rates.”

Ringer scowled and looked over at Breen “That right, Captain? We working for zero percent of the haul? Doesn’t seem fair, that.”

“Can’t make money on a ship with empty tanks and unpaid dock fees, Ringer. I saw a chance and I took it. You’re getting paid your crew rate. Sometime in the next few hauls maybe we’ll find something that’ll earn you a nice bonus. Meanwhile, eat up, sleep tight, do your job, and draw your normal pay.”

“I don’t like it at all,” Ringer replied “and I know Daily and Geo don’t either. How ‘bout you, Hannah? You want to go down to Old Earth? Getting old to try that kind of environment, aren’t you? And I bet you don’t like to work a run and not get a percentage”

Hannah, never impressed by Ringer and his friends, shrugged “You ever shipped out on one of those big ol’ EA astroid miners? They charge you for room and board the whole time you’re on the ship, gotta pay it out of whatever you manage to mine while you’re out in The Black. If you don’t find enough ore to pay your bill, you don’t get to leave the ship when it docks, gotta head back out on the next run and hope your luck is better. Plenty of them miners never manage to get free, spend the rest of their lives working for that EA mining corp, never see a single kuai in their bank account. This here’s not my favorite deal, but it’s a deal, and a better one than I’ve had from some. Captain says we might get something extra later on, then I expect there’s a good chance of that, he ain’t lied to us yet.”

Hannah grinned nastily at the lanky troublemaker, “As for taking a trip down the well, you don’t worry me none with that talk, Ringer, what with you never even breathed the Old World air. You might be surprised to know I actually been down there before, an’ I ain’t so old I can’t go again. What’s more, I’m twice as likely to make it back as you are yourself, and that’s facts. That there planet eats up men think they’re tough like you, just plain eats ‘em right up; why, you oughta be scared more than you are, really.”

“Scared?” Ringer was outraged. “You keep talking, grannie,” Ringer bit out, “I’ll show you who’s tough”

“Alright, that’s enough,” said Breen, “In 52 hours we’ll be landing. It’s a dangerous world, but we’re just making a pick up, and taking off. No reason for everybody to get all wound up. Now you’ve heard the job, and that’s how it is. Everybody back to work. Hex, I’d like to speak to you on the bridge at your convenience” and with that, he walked out.

Daily stood up, looking at Hex, “How ‘bout it, lady, you want to come see me in my quarters when you’re done with the captain, I’ll show you a real man.”

“That’d be nice” said Hex, “I been looking for a real man since I got here.”

“Oh yeah?” said Daily, grinning lustily.

“Yeah,” said Hex, wryly, running her eyes slowly up and down Daily “and I haven’t seen one yet” and turned her back and left.

“Fucking bitch!” Daily exclaimed and leapt up to follow, but suddenly Jackal was face to face with him, fangs bared, staff out with the tip resting against Daily’s chest, stopping him. Ringer put his hand to his gun, but Jackal said “Daily dies if you do, Ringer. Daily, you better call off your buddy if you want to live. You know what a bangstick is?”

Off to one side, Hannah chuckled. “You boys sure went knocking on the wrong door. Better go easy there, Ringer. Bangstick is a compression gun, Daily, in case you don’t know. Just a pipe with a round loaded in, usually shotgun shell -- you jab it against anything and it hits the pin, fires the round. You’re mighty close to having a big hole right through you, boy.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Jackal “and your pal Ringer there could make me nervous, with his hand on his gun like that.”

“Let’s go, Ringer,” said Daily, slowly, “this is a bad start to a fight. We can pick a better time and finish it.”

“Anytime at all, cabronés,” said Jackal, as Ringer took his hand away from his holster and Daily backed away. “You try it anytime you want”.

Daily and Ringer left.

Hannah looked at Jackal. “You remind me of some folks. You ever ship with any of the Old Fleet?”

Jackal grinned at her and winked, touched the brim of his hat and left.

Hannah whistled soundlessly and looked across the table at Geo. “Kid, I never liked those two you hang out with, but you seem okay, so I’ll give you some good advice for free. If they go after these two, you just let them go and do it without you, I’d hate to see you killed. That there was a Galloglas, or I’m Queen of the Moon.”

Geo wrinkled his brow at her. “What in the diyu is a Galloglas?”

“You ever hear of the Old Fleet?” Geo shook his head at her. “The Council of Captains?” Geo shook his head again. “Well, you know how Sol Union got started?” Geo shrugged. “Por su madré, what all are they teaching people these days?” she said, “Well okay then, listen up, I guess this here is story time.”

“Back in the day, the Old Fleet was called the Station Supply Fleet, or the Service Fleet. A handful of giant ships created to service the seven space stations.

Life on these stations was secretive even back then, and from the beginning, their smaller populations tended to have a lot of brains and be in the top of their field. Then those folks raised a few generations of children who were certainly very, very smart, even if no one has ever proved they’ve been genetically enhanced to be extra intelligent, as rumor says.

Those stations, whole little worlds unto themselves, were busy developing goods and services in their areas of specialty -- those things they still produce, like robotics, medical research and narcotics, specialized food production, entertainment. But that wasn’t all they developed while floating around out in The Black. They also developed their own ways of life.

Sort of the same way, the Service Fleet was making their own cultures too. Most of those ships were crewed by several hundred men and women on back to back between-station journeys that could take three years or more each trip, and they naturally started their own way of living.

So anyway, it wasn’t long before the stations began to have differing opinions about what the law should be on-station. Different from each other, a bit, and very different than the governments that thought they controlled them.

More and more those opinions disagreed with the opinions of Earth and the Lunar colonies, and when one of those disagreements came to a head on Station Delta, the old Space Command  found out very quickly that one of the things all the stations had in common was an opinion that attempts at military boarding and take-over of a station would not be tolerated.

The long and short of it was, the few surviving members of the Lunar Military incursion team wound up reporting that yes, the extremely intelligent people of Station Delta had, in fact, thought to engineer quite well against armed intrusion. Planetary authorities were further caught with their pants down when the seven stations of Sol System immediately unionized and seceded en mass, announcing themselves an alliance of self-governing bodies. Looking back, they had to have been planning it for a while, secretive messages going back and forth in the dark for years. Anyway, that’s how Sol Union was born.

The days-old Sol Union then gave the Supply Fleet that serviced them an offer, which was simply: join us.

Now those ships relied heavily on those stations to supply and refuel. There was no way to land them on the Moon or on Old Earth, they were designed to dock with the stations. And I imagine a lot of those ships didn’t care for being ordered around by government folks who didn’t know what life in the Fleet was like, most of who’d never even served on board any ship at all.

On each ship of the Fleet, decisions were made about the Sol Union offer. On some ships, there were votes. On other ships arguments were more pointed. Explosive, even. Two ships were lost entirely.

In the end, the Council of Captains was formed (some of whom were very new to their captaincy indeed). They defined each ship as an autonomous entity, and unanimously offered an alliance with the Sol System Union, simultaneously offering Earth and the Lunar Colonies a peace-treaty with trade agreements. Once the Sol Union signed that alliance with the Council of Captains, there wasn't really any choice for Terran or Lunar governments; the station labs produced a lot of the best goods and technology: medical equipment and vaccines, personal electronics, as well as widely enjoyed arts and entertainment- that last bit was particularly tricky for Space Command to get around. It was extremely difficult to keep the support of the citizenry when the 'enemy' was so damned popular.

But mostly it was that the ships of the Fleet were almost all of the serious space-craft humanity had made up til then. There was no space navy, nor any kind of second fleet to provide shipping. In effect, the rebel Union, while refusing to trade any of their products with Terra, had agreed to sell to the Fleet, who was offering to sell those things to the Earth and Moon. And buy goods from them to sell to Sol Union, of course. Neither Terra nor Luna could afford to refuse, and indeed, the Delta Solar Treaty worked well for all concerned. Still does.

Now, one of those ships, the captain was a woman named Reilly Galloglas. Nobody is sure how or where, but her crew started buying or building smaller ships. They spread out some. Some of them turned Pirate. Some of them started raiding Earth, scavenging and selling black market goods. Some of them even left off shipping out and worked security for a station here and there, or started a business. Mostly they’re one big family, even if distantly related. They’ll adopt long time crew members, and I’ve heard tell some people marry into the family. But they never take in or keep anybody who doesn’t live up to their standards, born in or not. And there are three things you have to know about them Galloglas folk.

First, they’re honest and honorable, even if half of ‘em are criminals and pirates. I mean they might steal all your money, but they won’t lie about it, they’ll keep any promise they make, and they’ll only kill someone who’s armed and facing them. Second, they’re a hard, dangerous, deadly folk. They don’t run from a fight, you can believe it; there’s just no back up to ‘em. And third, they are loyal as fuck. They mostly handle their own business, but gods help anyone who backshoots one, or gets one too outgunned and they have to call for reinforcements.

I only ever heard one time it happened. ‘Bout sixty years ago, the Theta Station Mining Co. had a difficulty with one, and blew her ship up while she was on station talking to them about it. They musta figured to strand her there, or something. I don’t know if they realized that little ship had her husband and kids on it, but she sure made sure they knew it by the end. Every Galloglas near got involved, and that right there is why there’s only six stations left in Sol Union. The rest of them stations looked at shrapnel left where the station had been, checked their options, and allowed as how Theta had fucked up and got what they deserved. They sorta buried the whole story and moved on quick. They surely didn’t want to push the issue with that Galloglas crew. I reckon if it came to it, they’d all of them show up, and I don’t see how there could be less than 500 of them Galloglases, maybe two or three times that number, a bunch of ‘em with their own ships, and every one a demon in a fight.”

Son,” Hannah looked into Geo’s eyes, “you take an old lady’s advice, tell your friends to lay off - them two are a lot more trouble than Ringer and Daily can handle”

“I will Hannah, thanks” said Geo. And a couple hours later, he did.

But the problem was, Ringer had killed a couple men back in rough and tumble Quorum, and he figured it made him a real tough guy.

Just a Puppy Crush - Chapter Fourteen Ship(s): Violet/Clementine, Louis/Aasim, Ruby/Brody Media: The Walking Dead Game (Season 4)

When they pulled into the parking lot, Louis’ demeanor changed immediately. He craned his head to look inside the diner cautiously, then let his eyes dart between the stained glass windows of the diner and a red, beat-up car in the employees parking section.

      “Earth to Louis,” Violet leaned forward and shook her hand in front of Louis’ eyes, and frowned at his silence. “What’s up?”

“Huh?” Louis blinked absently, then took the key out and gave a weary smile to Violet through the rear view mirror. “Sorry, this heat is too much. It’s fucking October, when is it gonna start acting like it?”

     Unconvinced, Marlon pressed his face up against the passenger seat window and looked at the car. His eyes lit up, and he flashed Louis a goofy smile as he made the connection.

“Flame decals. That’s Aasim’s car.” Marlon happily noted, brushing his shoulder against the flustered Louis’. “That why you wanted to go to the diner?”

       “Purely a coincidence!” Louis stammered, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

Violet and Clementine exchanged a look, and rolled their eyes as Louis went down his list of excuses.

       “Shame I don’t believe in those,” Marlon sang out, slamming the car door behind him as he marched into the diner. Still stuttering to explain, Louis followed close behind him.

“That’s.. kind of adorable.” Clementine giggled, unbuckling her seat belt and jumping out of the car. “Idiot probably has his work schedule memorized.”

        Violet snorted, and swallowed her laughter as Clem wrapped herself around the taller girl’s arm. “C’mon, let’s catch up with them.”

‘80s rock hit their ears as soon as they opened the swinging doors, and Marlon and Louis had already sat down in a booth near the jukebox.

      Louis was using one of those cartoonishly gigantic menus to cover his face, and Violet rolled her eyes as she snatched it when she sat down across from him.

“Dude, you okay?” Violet pressed, concern clouding her eyes as she frowned. Louis sighed and let a weary smile form on his face.

        “I’m all sweaty and gross after the game. I didn’t really factor that in.” Louis admitted wearily, taking the menu back from her and creating a barrier. “I.. uh.. feel kinda weird.”

Violet clasped her hands together and scanned the restaurant. A couple kids from school, but none she was really close to. Aasim was nowhere to be seen.

      “Don’t worry, Lou,” Violet pressed the menu down and offered the pouting Louis a smile. “I don’t see him anywhere. He’s probably on dish washing duty.”

After a couple tentative seconds, Louis nodded and let himself relax, fiddling with a sugar packet. “Yeah, okay. You’re right.”

        Clementine giggled, softly kicking his knee under the table. “Who would’ve thought you, of all people, would be such a wimp about your feelings?”

Louis glared, arching his brow as he glanced between Clem and Violet. “Oh, I’m a wimp about my feelings?”

         Before the girls could protest, the big red employee’s only door opened, and Aasim was practically shoved out of the kitchen. Clem turned to Louis and waggled her eyebrows, and snatched the menu before he could retreat.

“Aasim, buddy!” Marlon ushered him over to their table. “Did they kick you out again?”

       Sheepishly, Aasim nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, fuckers keep calling me bossy just because I have standards of what I’d eat off of.”

Louis had leaned heavily against the table, cradling his cheek as he wracked his brain for literally anything to say.

      “You’re just decisive,” Louis landed on a compliment, and fanned himself with a menu. “I like that in a wo- Man.. person.”

Aasim absently blinked a couple times before grabbing a notebook and pretending nothing had happened. “So, what can I get you guys?”

       “A fuckton of pancakes!” Violet jumped in with an answer before Louis could embarrass himself any further. Marlon and Clementine nodded in agreement, and the flustered Aasim turned on his heel and went back into the kitchen all too happily.

Louis immediately cradled his head as if in pain, elbows against the counter. “What the fuck was that?”

    Violet rolled her eyes and tipped his chin up, before shaking his shoulders to snap him out of it. “You are an absolute mess, Lou. Just treat him like you treat us. Like a friend!”

Louis pursed his lips and shook his head. “I’m not going to make fun of him and call him a scrub.”

      Clementine snorted as Violet sighed and leaned back in her seat, chewing on her straw. “Vi’s got a point there, you know. Just try and take it easy, okay? Be normal Louis.”

“The day I take romantic advice from you two pining nerds is the day Marlon shaves the pubes that he dare calls a mustache.” Louis clenched his dreads in his fist, as Marlon shot him a glare and checked himself on the napkin container. “Sorry man, the truth comes out when I’m panicking.”

         Clementine and Violet were too busy blushing furiously and looking at anything other than each other to notice Aasim approach their table. Struggling to hold a couple plates, he set down a stack of pancakes in front of Clem and Marlon.

He held the whipped cream bottle in his hands, and recoiled when Clem went to reach for it. “Just don’t use up the entire thing this time, okay?”

      She quickly snatched it from his hands and turned it upside down, letting it pour all over her pancakes. “No promises.”

Aasim rolled his eyes and turned towards Louis and Violet. “Yours will take a little bit longer. Chocolate chip’s your favorite, right?”

       Violet went to answer but recoiled at the realization that Aasim was staring down Louis, and that she was the last thing on his mind.

“Aw, you remembered!” Louis cooed, cupping the sides of his face to give a charmingly dorkish smile. “And my favorite drink is...”

       “Sprite.” Aasim snorted, before his cheeks reddened and he started stammering for excuses. “I only remember that because you said Marlon thinks it’s ‘too spicy’.”

“Oh, fuck you. Sprite is harsh, man.” Marlon muttered through a mouthful of pancakes, glaring at the laughing Louis across from him. Clementine and Violet giggled, letting their knees softly rest against each other under the table.

    A lady from behind the counter pushed two plates of steaming chocolate chip pancakes towards Aasim, who gingerly planted them in front of Violet and Louis.

Aasim lingered around the table for a while longer, anxiously looking over his shoulder back at the kitchen before his name was called and he scurried back to the counter.

     “Aw, look!” Clementine smiled down at her phone before tilting it towards Violet and Louis. “They’re so cute.”

It was a new post on Brody’s Instagram of her and Ruby in a costume shop dressing room, Brody’s arm slung around Ruby as she stuck out her tongue and gave a peace sign to the camera.

        Violet’s eyes almost bulged out of her head at the sight of Ruby with her hair not in it’s signature messy ponytail. She looked so nice with it down, bouncy red curls spilling over her shoulder.

Brody also looked super different. Her hair was up in pigtails, and the end of each were blue and red. She was holding a cartoonish plastic hammer over her shoulder, and wearing a red and blue bomber jacket over a plain white T-shirt.

      [The caption: “There are sweeter things to do in the moonlight.” along with party streamers and flower emojis.]

“Rubes makes a killer Poison Ivy,” Louis guffawed, taking the phone from Clem’s hands. “Brody is a really good Harley Quinn too! Those dorks are adorable.”

        Violet nodded, cupping her Coca Cola in her hands as she observed the picture. “Think they’ll get together before Halloween?”

Louis snorted, and passed the phone back to Clementine before shoveling a load of pancakes back into his mouth. “Puh-lease, they’re even more clueless than y-“

         Clem ‘accidentally’ kicked Louis’ shin under the table, and he pulled it to his chest, silently glaring.

“So, what are you guys being for Halloween?” Marlon eagerly changed the subject, swirling the straw around in his drink.

       “Sexy cat, probably.” Louis beamed, causing Marlon to choke on his straw. “Nah, I’m not really that sure. Was thinking about jumping onto the clown bus.”

“Perfect, you don’t even need to change!” Clem giggled, holding onto her sides as Louis threw a crumpled up straw wrapper at her. “What about you, Vi?”

        Violet wiped the syrup off of her lips. “I have this old pirate costume that my mom made for me. I might wear that out.”

Clementine’s eyes lit up and she grabbed Violet’s hand that was laying on the table. “We should go together! I was a pirate last year and I could totally reuse it.”

       “Uh, yeah. Definitely.” Violet’s eyes were pinned on Clem’s hands over hers, and hoped her face wasn’t as red as she felt it was. “What about AJ?”

“He’s gonna be Disco Broccoli.” Clementine giggled, tapping her free hand on the table. “He might tag along with us if Carley and Lee can’t take him out. Is that okay?”

       “Oh, abso-tutley.” Violet quickly responded, a smile on her face as she tried to imagine the little hothead of a kid playing the chill, collected Disco Broccoli. He did have killer dance moves though, so she didn’t doubt he could pull it off.

It took a couple more minutes for everyone to finish and for Louis to start scraping the plate with his fork, trying desperately to scoop up any pancake remains.

       Aasim came up and placed the bill on the table, raising his eyebrow at Louis’ odd behavior. “Is he okay?”

Marlon took the fork from his hand and put his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to console him. “Lou’s always inconsolable after a really good meal. He’ll be alright.”

        “Well, you can come back tomorrow...” Aasim wearily suggested, Louis’ head snapping up at the statement. “Only if you want to! I’ll be working tomorrow after school and I could probably sneak some extra pancakes for you.”

Louis clasped his hands together happily, and took the bill from the end of the table. “I’ll be here. You’d have to barricade the doors to keep me from coming.”

      “I’m pretty sure that’s against customer policy, but I’ll keep a stool free for you.” Assim rebuked wittily, his thumbs tucked nervously into his front pocket. Louis passed the bill back to him, and did that one charming smile that could make someone faint if they looked too close.

“Uh, cool.” Aasim stammered, just noticing the other three’s presence when Clementine cleared her throat. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

      Louis was unable to control how giddy he was when they all got into his car, humming happily and tapping the steering wheel. Marlon and Violet exchanged a knowing glance, and for the first time in all the years she’d known him, she felt a ping of solidarity.

She didn’t know why things were the way they were with Marlon. Hell, she couldn’t remember the last time they’d been alone together. As much as she didn’t want to care about what he thought, she cared about Louis too much to just create more tension between the group.

          Looking back on it, Marlon and Minnie were actually pretty close before she got expelled. The thought crossed her mind for the first time that maybe Marlon blamed her for what happened, and she instinctively tugged her knees to her chest. Shit.

The static of Clementine’s hand brushing against her ear surged panic throughout her senses. Clem was pursing her lips, and adjusting the flower behind her ear.

            “You know, I could probably make a whole flower crown for you.” Clementine pondered, a warm smile on her face as Violet let her eyes meet hers. “It wouldn’t be that hard. You’d look really cute.”

Violet’s cheeks were flushed with pink, and the murmuring of Louis and Marlon talking seemed so distant. Like nothing else on earth existed other than Clementine, who’s radiant smile was almost too much to bear. “I don’t know..”

     “See?” Clementine pointed at the blush on her cheeks, quietly snickering. “Red looks good on you. I’ll make it happen.”

Noticing Violet’s silence, she recoiled back to her seat and anxiously glanced from her to the window. “Sorry. I think I’m drunk on maple syrup or something. I’m not usually that forward.”

       Violet pursed her lips, nodding before she gently placed her hand on top of Clem’s clenched fist. Clementine relaxed at the touch, and wearily smiled up at the taller blonde.

“Don’t... be sorry.” Violet whispered, her eyes glinted with a mix of cheeriness and astonishment. “I, um-“

     The car swerved to the left frantically, and Clem smacked the back of her head against the seat. Louis quickly pulled over, and turned around to check on everybody. “Shit, there were some dumbass squirrels playing chicken. Are you guys okay?”

“Peachy.” Clementine winced, rubbing the back of her head with a scowl. “At least I didn’t lose another leg.” She joked lightheartedly.

      “My god, Lou.” Marlon groaned, tapping his fingers against the dashboard. “And you say I’m a bad driver.”

The two playfully bickered in the front while Violet worriedly kept glancing at Clem. “You sure you’re good?”

        “I’m okay, Vi.” Clementine snorted, eyes dancing back and forth between Violet and Louis. “Just a little bump.”

“First stop, casa a la Clementine,” Louis sang as he pulled into Clem’s driveway. All the lights were on, and they could see Carley and James on the back porch talking.

      Clementine paused, eyes flickering over to Violet nervously. “You want to come and say hi to AJ? And maybe play some Wii? I know it’s a school night, but..”

“Inviting me over after the first date? I’d love to, Clementine.” Louis mockingly cooed, earning a glare from Clem that made him squeak and cower in the front seat. “I’m kidding.”

      “Yeah, sure.” Violet felt herself saying impulsively, brain wiping out all of her concerns about how she’d get home and if her father would be there when she did get home. “I got laundry to do, right?”

Clem let the anxiousness wash away from her features and beamed, nodding. They both said goodbye to Louis and Marlon, thanked him for the near-death experience and dinner, and she followed a bouncy Clementine through the front door.

Don’t You Say It!

It was nearby footsteps, not the knock on the cabin door or the voice that woke him up. "Vash, we are almost to the area, the captain asked for you topside".

The red haired Miqo'te sighed as he quickly wiped sleep from his eyes. Jobs like this were such a pain in the ass, and he had hoped to keep clear of them. After all he had a job working at the Red Lantern now, and he rather enjoyed things there. For a brief moment a smell hit him, familiar perfume that made him actually long to be back home. Green eyes narrowed slightly, nostalgia was not a usual feeling for him, nor was longing like this. Another sigh escaped his lips as he stood up and grabbed his weapon's belt and his jacket. Ahh…yeah the same jacket he had used to cover her up the other night when she fell asleep downstairs at the Lantern, that was where the smell came from.

In short order he was up on the deck of the airship, cool wind whipped by as they made good time to their destination in the Sea of Clouds, carefully hugging the floating islands to keep a low profile. Limsan born, but Vash was not fond of the ocean, but he did enjoy being up in the sky, the freedom was just as exhilarating as the dangers. "Yo, V'shen, how much longer?"

The shorter Seeker gave him a look like she was going to kick him, and she might very well do that because it was just her usual attitude. "It's 'Captain' out here Vash. And it won't be long now, our lookout spotted contrails already so we are certain to be in position to strike. And thankfully there are not Ishgardian ships in the area either."

"That's good, I dunno how well they would take us hunting a stolen ship instead of reporting it."

She flashed the taller Seeker a grin. "Not just a stolen ship, a stolen Imperial ship. Gotta admit, that makes this a helluva lot more fun."

Vash snorted and crossed his arms as he flashed her a smirk. "Oh and I am certain it is the thrill of the hunt, and not the prospect of getting all that loot that you are enjoying more."

V'shen opened her mouth to make a retort when over her ship's pearl she heard the lookout call that they had sighted the Imperial vessel to the northwest. "Damn they added some speed." Scowling now she broadcast ship wide. "Bring us into the ambush point, cannons and ballista make ready! Boarding teams prepare for action!"

It was controlled chaos now and Vash stayed back out of the way as he waited for things to really cook off. And cook off they did, the medium sized Garlean transport entered a narrow pass between two of the floating islands and soon found itself raked by cannon fire before heavy thuds announced the arrival of massive ballista bolts attached to chains which were in turn attached to winches on V'shen's ship. At least they could thank the Ishgardians for that idea.

Of course the other ship returned fire, to include two reapers that had been posted on the top deck of the transport. The ships shelled each other as the winches whined and began working their magic, slowly bringing the ships closer together. V'shen was not out to destroy the pilfered Garlean vessel, no profit in that, instead she had instructed her gunners to take out the weapons aboard their prey. A salvo blasted one of the reapers so hard that the magitek armor just vanished in a cloud of fire, smoke, and shrapnel. Already the pirates aboard the transport were forming ranks to repel boarders, they knew what was coming their way.

And they were not disappointed as the gap between the vessels closed to mere fulms and V'shen's men began to grapple aboard. Vash was in motion now, leaping aboard with the rest and drawing his long knives as soon as his feet touched the deck. What ensued was a bloody affair as the transport crew became overwhelmed and lost the upper deck in mere moments. Vash moved separate from the other boarders now, taking to what shadows he could find and heading down to the engine room.

The enemy crew was no push-overs despite being outnumbered and Vash learned that the hard way as soon as he set foot in his goal. BANG! A shot rang out, the round just barely missing him, and sending the Seeker diving for cover as more shots followed suit. Someone had been watching the entry very carefully.

"You'll never get our prize!"

"Uh… yeah we will!" Honestly, why did try to banter in the middle of a fight? Even more so when it gave them away. Vash smiled as he palmed two metal orbs depressing a button on each one before rolling them toward the voice. Right away he covered his ears.

A shrill whistle lashed out from those devices and it almost covered up the sudden sound of someone hurling up everything in their stomach. A less lethal device, courtesy of a buddy of Vash's. Vash had been prepared all along and as soon as the shrill died down he uncovered his ears and pulled the wool he had stuff in them on the way here.

A quick peek revealed that the other man was still retching up everything and Vash moved in to strike. Was it madness, or determination that decided Puke Boy's next actions? Regardless he thought the best reaction the approaching Miqo'te was to discharge his gun again…into a very important looking part of the engine. "She's not gonna be yours now!"

Vash wanted to facepalm over the man's defiance, but there was little time now as already alarms were going off. Instead he kicked the man's face as hard as one would a blitz ball, sending the fellow sprawling onto his back. From there it was a simple matter for Vash to plunge a blade into the man's heart to end his interference. And then it was back into a full sprint to the top deck, yelling as he went along, "Abandon ship! Abandon ship!"

Now it was true chaos as both V'shen's crew and the transport crew all tried to get to the boarding lines. Vash knew that he had to try and change the outcome of this increasingly poor situation, and so against his better judgement, or the thought process of most sane people, he altered course for the control room. Thankfully there were no pirates in the room so he could get to work without being interrupted, except for the yelling in his ear as V'shen tried to get her men clear.

Vash knew only a little of piloting an airship, having secretly taken one of the Lantern's vessels out with Kylar to learn. It would be a good way to impress someone one day. And of course Garleans had to make things so damn complicated! Still he worked furiously at the controls, to try and save the vessel from smashing down into what was far below the Sea of Clouds. Not smashing into an island would be nice too. The sound of twisting metal and ripping wood drew his attention next, out the viewport he saw the ballista bolts starting to tear up the deck of the ship, thankfully at that moment V'shen had her crew release the chains, her vessel would not get dragged down.

"Vash, where are you?!"

"I'm earning my Captaincy!"

"Wha…you idiot that is not how this works!"

He could not help but smirk to himself as he tried to pilot the vessel. "Look we all need this sorta intact! Now stop yelling at me, it is distracting."

Aboard her ship the small woman paced, her tail lashing. "This is not entitle you to a larger cut. And if you die I am not hunting down the owner of that perfume to tell her you were a hero or something."

Of course she would notice it…price of doing business with other Miqo'te. "You better not call me something like that. I have a reputation to uphold." Gritting his teeth he worked the controls hard to adjust the attitude of the falling vessel and steer toward port just a bit. He could not totally save the ship, even he knew that. The only thing that was left was to crash it as "softly" as possible.

The shuddering impact came, metal screeching along stone as the airship cut a swath along the large floating island that Vash had chosen as a landing site, it was sorta a landing. He held on with all he had and applied what little reverse thrust the wounded beast could muster. Out the window he saw the deck of the ship flexing and starting to buckle, sheets of metal peeling back and leaving a trail behind the transport. Thankfully there was a very large spire of rock sticking up and the prow of the ship smashed into it, finally halting the forward momentum. Unfortunately that sent Vash flying forward to smash into that viewport hard enough that it cracked.

V'shen had her ship down near the transport in moments, just in time to see a grease covered Seeker man emerge from the wreck, blood trickling down from a cut in his scalp. "Vash…you look like shit."

"Yeah ya know, any crash you can walk away from and all that." He jerked his thumb back toward the wreck. “And by the way, I get dibs on what is in the captain’s cabin, it’s on fair since I rode a fucking crashing airship down to safety.”

“Yeah yeah, okay that is fair enough.”

One of V'shen's men stopped to look at the guy that had just crashed an airship in a way to leave it mostly intact, and to walk out mostly unharmed. "That got to be the best pir…"

"Don't you fucking say it!" Vash already had a throwing knife in hand.

Tangled the series AU- Pirate Varian and his new family

Aka! A very weird AU I made based off the fact that a lot of people have compared Varian to Hero from Big Hero 6. So basically I've made characters that are Tangled versions of Wassabi, GoGo, Honey Lemon, and Fred. Hope you like it!

So basically this obviously all takes place after season 1 and when are main group leaves to go on their Adventure in season 2, the group of pirates finds out about what happened with Varian and don't really agree with how the king is handling it and they decide to break Varian out and take him with them. They kind of have to force Varian because he's a stubborn child but once they're finally on the boat and have successfully escaped. Varian gets to know the Pirates he's now in the company of! It takes a little while for him to fully trust them all and once they've got his trust they do their best to help him through the situation he's going through.

Now let's talk about these cool Pirates who wanted to help Varian! (Ps I'm not really sure what they look like yet...)

Violet-(Honey Lemon)

° The big sister of the group and the first one who gains Varian's Trust.

° Violet is 24 and is extremely protective of her family, she basically has the personality of extremely sweet and kind person but can do a 180 and be utterly and completely terrifying.

°Basically just don't give Violet a reason to see you as an enemy, she will destroy you.

°Violet makes Varian new clothes to wear so he's more comfortable being at sea and can move around more.

°Uses a bow and arrows to fight.

Maria-(GoGo)

° She's the captain and the second person to gain varian's trust.

° Maria is 22 and is usually the one who comes up with all the plans and gets them money so they can take care of themselves.

° Maria is kind of a strong silent type who really only speaks when she needs to, she also taught everyone in the group self-defense with different weapons.

°She taught Varian how to use a dagger to defend himself if he's ever in danger and also got the dagger customized just for him.

°Uses double wielding swords to fight.

Adam-(Wasabi)

° Adam is 23 and is the big brother of the group and is also in charge of fixing the ship if it's ever damaged and gains Varian's trust after Maria.

° Adam is basically a big softie and very kind and also make sure the ship is always nice and orderly so finding things is easier.

° Adam likes to make plush animals so when he first meets Varian he makes him a teddy bear plush hoping it will help him sleep at night.

° Uses an axe to fight.

Chuck- (Fred)

° Chuck is basically The Adventurous one of the group and is the last person to gain Varian's trust since he kind of scared him the first time they met with asking him a lot of questions.

° Chuck usually will find stuff for Varian to use for his Alchemy and helps make sure he stays safe well he's doing it.

° Chuck also made a little bed for Varian's raccoon friend.

°Uses a sword and shield to fight.

Varian is change in the best way possible by these people and feels like he's part of a family now and he's no longer alone. But! Since technically he was broken out he is wanted now and this makes it so he doesn't really get to leave the ship that much but he doesn't really mind and everyone takes turns staying on the ship hanging out with him so he's not alone. And here just some fun little conversations they would have all hanging out with Varian.

Violet and Varian-

Violet: Ok, Varian I understand you like doing Alchemy and I love seeing you do something that makes you happy but... you've almost blowen yourself up twice this week so maybe instead of doing Alchemy we can read a story together and eat cookies?

Varian: Ok... their chocolate chip cookies, right?

Violet: of course they're chocolate chip! what other kind of cookies would we get?

Varian: True

Maria and Varian-

Maria: Ok, you've been sitting in this room for 2 hours straight doing Alchemy we're going to do some sparring

Varian: But I don't want to spar..

Maria: how about we make a deal, if you beat me next time it's my turn to watch you while everyone's getting supplies I'll let you do as much Alchemy as you want And if I win you are only allowed to do 3 hours of alchemy next time I'm watching you and then we spar, deal?

Varian: Deal!

Adam and Varian-

Adam: Ok Varian buddy I love you but you need to clean your room

Varian:* looks around* yeah I really need to clean my room... can you help me?

Adam: sure thing Lil buddy!

Chuck and Varian-

Varian:*mixes two chemicals together and then backs up realizing they might explode* Oh no-

Chuck:*tackles Varian out-of-the-way shielding him*

Varian: I'm sorry...

Chuck: It's ok, it's not your fault

Also! After some time everyone starts working together figure out how to help Varian save his Dad and end up running into Rapunzel and her group, at first everyone with and has been taken care of Varian didn't want to trust them because they know of what happened last time but Varian begs them to help thinking if they work together to find a way to save his Dad so they do.(and since I don't know a lot about the moon AU they might find out that Varian has a connected to the rocks???)

Aaaaaand that's all I've got for this AU! If anyone's interested in this Au and wants to add on to it please feel free to! I love to see it! Hope whoever reads this has a wonderful day or night!

Heaven Sent (PART 8)

pairing: bucky barnes x guardianangel!reader

word count: around 2.2k

warnings: angst, fluff 

series masterlist | overall masterlist

previous: part 7

“Erm, Quill?” Gamora leaned forward, looking over his shoulder at the screen. It was flashing with a Terra logo. Quill hadn’t noticed, the extent of his multitasking occupied with flying this ship across the galaxy and enthusiastically singing along to ‘Rock Me Gently’ by Andy Kim.

“Quill,” Gamora repeated impatiently and Rocket turned to look with a frown. His eyes widened at the symbol and he reached out to hit Quill over the head.

“Ow!” Quill gasped dramatically, hand flying to his head as his brow furrowed, “what have I said about hitting the driver.”

“That it was totally okay and would probably gain your full attention,” Mantis piped up from the back. Quill sighed.

“That was hit on, Mantis, and that was specifically to Gamora,” he turned to shoot a glare at Drax.

“I wanted your attention,” he shrugged, “you said it was the best-“

“Alright, alright, we aren’t getting into this argument again,” Rocket sighed, shaking his head, “you have incoming from your buddy with the plastic suit.”

“It’s Iron Man,” Quill jabbed a button on his dash to accept Tony’s call, switching all flying controls to Rocket.

“Looks like plastic to me,” Rocket muttered, turning to face the galaxy ahead.

“Tony Stark, what’s up?” Peter Quill reclined in his chair, a smirk on his face. When the two had parted ways after the Thanos incident, Tony had given Peter a way of communicating with Earth – more specifically, Tony – in case the Guardians heard of any intergalactic plots against their planet.

“Yeah, and you just give us a call if you need the real superheroes to solve your problems for you,” Quill had retorted with a smirk.

“So, you tapping out?” Quill joked as Tony sighed on the screen in front of him, “in need of the big guns?”

“We’re in need of your ship, Quill,” Tony emphasised, trying desperately to keep his voice level. “There’s an issue with…” He frowned, moving closer to the speaker on his display, “is that Andy Kim?”

“Sure is but back to the part where you were begging for our help-“

“-ship,” Tony interjected.

“Terra, Earth. Whatever you want to call it,” Quill shrugged, and Tony sighed impatiently again.

“Earth,” Tony closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath. “Look, Quill, enough joking around. This is serious. If… if what happens happens, we’re talking about the destruction of the universe. Yeah, Earth – Terrra, whatever now, but-“

“Alright, alright,” Rocket huffed impatiently, steering the ship in the direction of Earth, “save your big doomsday speech for when we get there, plastic man.”

“Iron Man,” Tony corrected but sighed in relief. “Thank you, I’ll send you our coordinates.”

And with that, Tony’s face disappeared from the screen, leaving only the vast space beyond. It was silent for a while.

“I am groot,” Groot leaned over to mutter at Rocket.

“I don’t know pal. I mean, humans have a tendency to overreact but… Stark sounded pretty serious,” Rocket muttered, “let’s just hope we get there in time.”

Y/N was pacing again. The others had gone to rest or eat, knowing there was nothing they could do. It was a strange feeling. Usually, they had an array of plans – at least a little more knowledge of what was going to happen. Except this time, it felt they knew too far ahead of the game for something like this.

There was no improvisation here and yet none of them had a clue how they were meant to defeat this guy.

Bucky had tried to coerce Y/N to eat with him, and she had pushed her vegetables around her plate as the team ate in silence. She chewed relentlessly on her lip, thinking of all the other options she had. But all resulted in nothing good. Everything bad.

“Y/N,” Bucky whispered when the others had left, clearing their plates. He lay a gentle hand on her shoulder and she whirled to look at him, fork clattering to her plate. She met his eyes, absorbing the concern and immediately knowing what she had to do.

She smiled shakily, reapplying her strong face over the reality of her despair. Bucky watched and hoped he was really making her feel better.

“I’m sorry, Buck,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I was just… overthinking.”

Bucky frowned and leaned down, pressing a soft and gentle kiss to her lips. Y/N kissed back, and Bucky noted a little more desperation on her end, her fingers gently tangling in his hair and pulling him closer. When they parted, she refused to quit him completely, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw and then his neck, her hands moving to grip his shoulders gently.

“It’s going to be okay,” Bucky wasn’t sure whether he was reassuring her or asking her if it was. Y/N sensed his unease and smiled against him.

“It’s going to be okay,” She repeated.

“Come to bed,” Bucky pulled away completely, looking into her eyes. Y/N smiled again, cupping his cheek with her hand.

“I will in a bit, I promise. I just need to go over some things with Steve and Tony,” she murmured, any trace of panic gone from her expression. Bucky sighed with relief, moving to press a kiss to her palm.

“Don’t be long,” he muttered as he stood, walking backwards out of the kitchen as Y/N watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, she stood abruptly, abandoning her plate of untouched food on the counter. She practically sprinted to the conference room where Steve and Tony sat discussing, throwing the door open with a wild expression.

“He can’t know,” she said once Tony and Steve’s eyes fixed on her. They both frowned, glancing at each other.

“Who can’t know what?”

“Bucky can’t know what’s going to happen,” Y/N sat at the head of the table, knee bouncing anxiously up and down.

“What’s going to happen?” Steve gulped thickly, leaning forward.

“You know,” she looked him dead in the eyes and Steve felt everything grow heavier. He’d had some hope when Tony had called the Guardians – that maybe they had a chance of defeating this guy in space, and the thing Y/N had told them about would never have to happen. That he could spare Bucky of the pain. That he could spare himself of the pain of seeing it all over again.

“He’s just… he’s just got you and…” Steve stammered shaking his head.

“He will be fine,” Y/N reached over the table and placed a soothing hand over Steve’s, “I told you before Steve, this is the only way. I can’t let anything else happen.”

Tony watched the exchange in silence, interjecting only when he saw Steve’s shoulders relax.

“So, who do we tell the plan to?” He asked.

“Everyone but Bucky. These space guardians,” Y/N waved her hand, “the Avengers. They all know. But not Bucky. Tell Bucky the plan is to kill Ophiataurus-“

“-and why can’t we do that?” Steve interrupted angrily, shaking his head and repeating the phrase he knew too well, “We don’t trade in lives, Y/N. Never.”

“We have to, Steve,” Y/N’s tone was firm, outmatching Steve’s authoritative edge and sending both men into a stunned silence.

There was a rumble from outside and Tony turned to the window, a blue light beneath a shadowed shape piercing the grey sky and flattening the trees around the compound.

“They’re here,” Tony stood. “Steve, get everyone out onto the ship.”

Steve nodded, jogging out of the conference room as Tony ran a hand over his face.

“You sure about this, kid,” he turned to you, a defeated look in his eyes. Despite knowing what Y/N was planning was the worst-case scenario, he also related to it. The self-destruct in defence of the planet was a tendency he too harboured and unlike Steve, was aware of how he couldn’t stop her now that her mind was set.

“Let’s go,” she stood, stalking out of the room and to the grass.

She knew she had to make an impression and reinforce authority over the situation. This was her blaze of glory and she’d be damned if this group of strangers were going to reinforce authority over her like they’d done with Tony.

So, as she watched the misfit crew clamber off the space ship onto the burnt grass, she changed from her normal human clothes into her guardian gown, a belt containing a sword and daggers hanging from her hips. She stepped out into the humid air, waiting until all eyes were on her until she rolled her shoulders and let her wings unfold from her back.

“Holy shit,” Peter’s jaw fell slack and Gamora elbowed him, despite the awe also etching across her face.

“Now that is just a full angel. No pirate, no baby. Angel,” Drax pointed enthusiastically and Y/N smirked as she approached.

“So, you’re the guardians of the galaxy?” She stood before them and Rocket grinned, leaning on the steps of the ship.

“That would be us, darlin, who’s asking?”

“An actual guardian,” Y/N scoffed, reaching out a hand to the space between her and the group, “Y/N. Guardian angel.”

The group stared at her sparkling hand before Gamora stepped forward.

“I’m Gamora. This is Peter, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Nebula and Mantis.”

“Nice to meet you,” Y/N nodded, turning when she felt a presence behind her. The entire team, bar Fury and Maria were heading across the grass. She turned back to the group before her and smiled, gesturing to the stairs, “May I? We’re kind of running out of time.”

“Oh right, sure,” Peter stepped aside, letting her climb the stairs first, following behind, “any specific destination we’re heading too, Ms. Angel.”

Y/N couldn’t help but chuckle at the name, shaking her head as her wings retracted back into her back to save space on the ship.

“The emptiest part of space you can get us to in four hours will do.”

-

The Guardians wasted no time in setting off from Terra, under the intense instruction from Y/N and Tony to get them as far away from Earth as possible.

Bucky watched from a window as the planet grew smaller and smaller, in awe when they were actually in space. Y/N watched him for a while, letting him relish in the feeling alone before slowly approaching.

She wasn’t expecting to be shocked herself at the view, but the vast expanse of stars and the shrinking planet below them knocked the air from her lungs and she choked on her words.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Bucky murmured, arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her down to sit next to him. He rubbed circles with his thumb across her hipbone but froze when he realised he hadn’t answered her.

“I mean you probably see it all the time but-“ he cut himself off when he saw her expression of amazement, her eyes wide and reflecting the bright stars that travelled across the window, slightly watery, and mouth parted in wonder. She smiled at Bucky’s words and shook her head, leaning against his side.

“I was always too busy looking down to ever look up,” she whispered, the soft vibration of her voice travelling through Bucky and soothing him.

“When I was little… back in the day,” Bucky chuckled, shaking his head. “It would never have even crossed my mind that this would ever be possible. Space was always there and we were here. We were never going to cross paths. Steve and I used to watch the stars and name the constellations like the nerds we were every night but… I never thought I’d be among them…” his face lit up with excitement and Y/N couldn’t help but beam at the expression he held. This was her Bucky. The science nerd. The gentle soul. The protector.

And now she needed to protect him.

“Bucky, I’m tired,” she lied, her voice barely above a whisper. Bucky looked down at her and smiled, laying back on the window seat they occupied and pulling her over his chest.

“We can have a nap, doll, I’m sure they won’t mind,” he kissed her hair and let his eyes flutter closed. Y/N pursed her lips as she ran her hands over his chest, letting her powers send him into a deep sleep, waiting until she heard the soft snores from between his lips until she stood.

“I can do that,” she whirled around to see Mantis watching, Drax by her side slowly raising a snack to his mouth. Y/N frowned at him and Mantis smiled, “He thinks he’s invisible.”

What kind of idiots had Tony brought her? But Y/N wasn’t about to unpack all of that now, instead giving the two a friendly smile before heading to the centre of the ship.

“All right, guys,” she called everyone’s attention to her, spinning a golden dust in her hands, ready to display her plan to the group. They gathered, transfixed by the stardust and Y/N sighed, beginning to weave pictures in gold.

“This is the plan…”

next: part 9

The Worst Pirate I've Ever Seen

Ahoy! A Julian Devorak adventure!

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15748518

Coarse rope swayed under the calloused soles of Julian's feet and his roughened hands as he bounded up the ship's rigging. Ocean waves crashed below him in the darkness, a comforting constant din. He grinned as he hauled himself into the crow's nest, ignoring a disdainful caw of an actual crow kept caged on the lookout point.

This was his favorite part of seafaring- the serene ocean glistening in the starlight. Adventure awaited in every direction, the wild breeze soaring in his ears calling to his heart to wander forever. He gazed up at the sky through his windswept locks and rehearsed his constellation charts, verifying that the ship was headed west as planned. It was peaceful, lovely, stunning-

"I think I have scurvy."

Julian groaned, not even needing to turn around to look at the man behind him. "You don't have scurvy."

"You sure?" The pirate in the crow's nest with him was the picture of perfect somewhat sunburnt health. The only thing Julian could prescribe was rest for the circles around the man's eyes.

"We've been over this. You're homesick."

It earned him a loud sniffle. "I DON'T have FEELINGS!"

Julian was ship medic, which on occasion turned into drinking buddy, comic relief, and unofficial therapist. He wasn't even supposed to be a pirate in the first place, but he'd been plundered from a trade ship and conscripted into a life of piracy, spared for his abundant charisma and charm and he supposed for his (dubious) medical abilities.

The main difference between the spice traders and the pirates was marked increase in personal drama.

"Well I've made damn sure that you're all eating like you live in a tropical pineapple scented paradise, so admit that you're sad and don't have scurvy!"

The sailor sighed. "I might cash in next port we fall into. Take my share, settle down. The sea changes you."

"And people say I'M dramatic."

"You are!"

Julian watched dawn crest over the sea, pleased to see land in the distance, and less pleased when he realized what land it was. "Captain!"

The pirate captain was a younger, respectable man as far as pirates went. He raised his eyebrows under his tricorn hat at Julian, prepared for antics of some kind. "Yes, Devorak?"

"Is there a particular reason we're sailing towards Vesuvia?"

"Sure. It's a small country- but absolutely filled to the gills with gold. Run by some bratty blond no one else will bother defending."

Julian coughed. "Yes, well. I've met this bratty blond. I ah, amputated his arm, in fact."

The captain roared with laughter. "Excellent! You'll have to tell me all about it."

Julian explained it later to the captain and first mate below deck, embellishing only harmless details of the battle- as if either of them believed Julian had truly killed any jaded warriors while simultaneously crouched under cover with Lucio, terrified for his life. He delighted in acting out Lucio's whiny, self absorbed floundering and rage at needing his grievously wounded limb cut off crudely in a war camp tent, sharing a laugh at the concept of a man who denied defeat even at death's door.

The first mate was particularly amused. She grinned at Julian. "I hear Lucio got a real wonder to replace his arm- an alchemical beauty made of pure gold."

The captain laughed. "Say, Devorak- wouldn't it be incredible to take his arm again? Ha!"

Julian laughed.

And kept laughing.

Oh, what a delectable joke!

He finally breathed again and his crewmates were looking at him expectantly. Julian's eyes widened. "This is- this is harebrained even for me. Absolutely bonkers. You can't be serious."

The captain mused for a moment. "Vesuvia itself wouldn't be difficult to loot- quick in and out disguised as a merchant ship as we hustle around the port and terrorize some small fry. Now, Lucio is an idiot. His arm is completely solid gold, magic, and power. It's likely the most valuable object we know of. If we can get inside the palace with you as our In to distract him- forget the city! The palace is full of so many riches they won't notice what's gone!"

"So you want me to infiltrate the palace, let our crew loot to their heart's content, and if possible steal Lucio's arm?"

"Yeah."

Julian stared in disbelief. "That's the worst scheme I've ever heard."

The first mate scowled, disappointment on her tanned features. "So, we're not storming the castle?"

Julian smirked. "I've never looked forward to anything more in my entire life."

-~-

Julian was filled with dread.

It wasn't out of fondness for Lucio. No, if there was anyone who deserved to have pirates ransack their house, it was Lucio. This was the most righteous conquest so far in Julian's life as a professional scoundrel. Lucio was volatile at best and he'd have to tread carefully.

They made port with ease, looking for all the world like honest merchants. Pirates could clean up well if they liked- Julian had even sacrificed the last of his apricot oil soap to the cause. Julian let the majority of the crew do as they pleased in the city and led the first mate and a few more respectable looking pirates to the palace.

The palace guards blocked the gate, glaring at Julian. "Password?"

Julian stood tall, grinning widely. "Tell Lucio Doctor Jules is here to ah, check up on him. I come with greetings for an old friend."

One guard left and the other employee eyed him. "You cut his arm off, right?"

"Yes- our relationship is rather complicated."

The remaining guard lowered their voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Was it gross? Like blood everywhere?"

"Appallingly so. Gushing blood and torn muscle sinew everywhere. I had to cauterize the wound."

"Ew." They looked delighted.

The other guard returned and waved them through the gate. Julian eyed the moat under the grand bridge to the palace with suspicion. Long curvy shapes drifted in the water and one of his crew members looked over with wide eyes. "Vampire eels?"

"Yeah Aislinn," said the first mate. "Don't jump in no matter what you do. Didn't think this guy was the type to have exotic pets all over."

Right on cue, Mercedes and Melchior bounded out of the palace foyer barking and snarling. Julian put himself in front of his crew, blocking the huge white dogs as they yipped and tried to jump him. "Ack! It's ME! Come on guys!"

Lucio himself followed the dogs, grinning widely and taking his time to call them off. His voice was as raspy and high pitched as Julian remembered- a perfect balance of sinister and annoying with a shot of whiny. "Alright, alright. It's just Jules!" His gold trimmed white blazer was roguishly open to reveal toned muscle under his red decorated sash. Despite the provocative neglect of buttons and regal shoulder cape, Lucio's arm still stood out the most. Typical that he'd want to draw attention to his wealth with every first impression. "Doctor Jules- finally dropped by to apologize?"

Julian had expected this. "I wanted to check in on an old friend when I found out my merchant ship was headed to Vesuvia. May we talk somewhere without my entourage? We've been at sea for months and I'm sure they could use-"

Lucio waved his hand dismissively. "Yes yes, go ask some servants for rum or whatever else it is I don't drink."

This was ridiculously easy. The first mate grinned at waved at Julian. "We'll be enjoying the grandeur and hospitality, see you later!"

Lucio sighed loudly. "You must be so low in life, Jules, trouncing around with sailors who barely have soles on their shoes. Rustic. Abhorrent. Please, have something civilized to drink with me while we discuss your employment."

"My what?!"

Lucio plopped down on a couch in a vast private parlor complete with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony. They faced a huge magical fish tank that took up an entire wall, housing a deadly gorgeous lionfish the size of Julian's torso. Julian busied himself with staring at the vivid coral rock sculptures and swaying deep sea plants in the tank. Lucio poured a glass of wine for himself. "Come on Jules- surely you'd rather work for me. If I travel, it's in class."

Julian held back a groan. Prolonged exposure to Lucio would be a blight upon his soul. "I'm quite content. I booked free passage providing medical expertise and I've seen more of the world than ever before- even took a trip back to Praka."

"Ah, Praka!" Lucio sipped his wine, slouched and uncaring about Julian's tensed posture. "The prettiest girls are from Praka, you know. Goddesses, all of them. Meet any lovely ladies there?"

Julian floundered. This wasn't how he imagined this conversation going. "Er- at least seven."

"Seven? Jules, you've GOT to get out more!" Lucio winked. "Don't you owe me some company? Have a drink, I insist!"

"Ah- coffee, if you please." Lucio snapped his fingers for a servant and Julian's mind raced. His companions were likely already looting what they could get away with like kids at a sweets stall, and he didn't have too much time no matter how smooth and rich the coffee brew. "Do you mind if I take a look at you? I am rather sorry about the amputation- nasty business."

"As you should be."

"I don't delight in harming others!" Julian took a sip of his coffee when a servant brought it to him and stood up, circling behind Lucio. He brought his hands down to his shoulders and squeezed, feeling the joining of metal to flesh under the guise of giving Lucio a massage. "It doesn't pain you, does it?"

"Only my pride!" exclaimed Lucio.

Julian felt around as much as he could without getting caught. There didn't seem to be a catch or release mechanism on it, and it felt seamlessly grafted to Lucio's flesh. "Magic?" he asked.

"Of course- what else would it be?" Lucio finished his glass of wine and poured another. Julian noted that it was barely 9 AM and scowled with judgement, even if he also was prone to bouts of day drinking. "If not now, since you're so inclined to take a slow boat everywhere, then in the future- I insist you'll be my official physician. If I have need of you, I expect you to be here."

Julian wasn't one to turn down future job prospects, and keeping Lucio happy was key as he withdrew his hands. "Of course. I'd be honored."

"Good!" Lucio yawned and Julian's ears twitched as he thought he heard a commotion in the distance. "I have an execution to freshen up for- what's that noise?"

Julian panicked. He needed to distract Lucio and followed his basic instincts. "I must leave!" he exclaimed. With a dramatic spin on his feet he chugged the rest of his coffee and sprinted out a window with a horrifying, all consuming crash of glass as he hurtled through the air to the eel infested moat.

"What the FUCK!" Lucio blinked at the glass shards all over the floor and laughed at Julian's high pitched screams of horror as he fell down into the water. Lucio didn't even bother getting up, shaking his head and drinking directly from his wine bottle. "Typical Jules. SOMEBODY NEEDS TO FIX THIS WINDOW!"

Julian belatedly remembered the pet vampire eels and screeched, flailing in the swirling depths as something sank fangs into his thigh. He managed to kick it off and frantically scramble to shore, running with adrenaline pumping so hard through him he crashed into a street vendor's cart. "MY CABBAGES!" he wailed.

"I'M SORRY!" Julian haphazardly bolted through the crowded streets, soaking wet, limping, and injured with bloodied cuts all over his face and hands. Many people shrieked at seeing him and helpfully ducked out of the way.

What he didn't expect was to be physically grabbed as he turned down a side street. He readied himself to fight but paused as he realized his would be attacker was a small older woman giving him a stern look. "I- I gotta go I'm so sorry-"

She spoke in a strong accent that reminded Julian's salty heart achingly of home. "You've got to be the worst pirate I've ever seen."

Julian laughed nervously. "Pirate? You must be-"

"I'm coming with you."

"Uh, what?"

"I'm Mazelinka." She jerked her head back down the street. "I live down there. You'll need to remember that when you're back."

"I-"

"You are a disaster, boy!" She snapped. "I make a better pirate than you!" She thrust a small package at him. "For your injuries. I knew you'd need them. I see much."

Julian melted under her short glare and led her to the docks, unsure why he suddenly trusted Mazelinka with his life. "Call me Ilya."

She chuckled at him and remained silent. Julian got the bizarre feeling he'd just been adopted.

-~-

The pirate captain stared at Julian with disbelief. The crew gathered around their exquisitely expensive spoils dumped out on the table, already sailing off to another country to pawn off things such as a priceless vase and large amounts of ruby jewelry. "You went to steal Lucio's arm and came back with an entire old woman?"

Julian blushed. "Yes."

The captain grinned at Mazelinka. "Welcome aboard. Devorak's outdone himself! We needed a lookout since Scurvy Boy left us this very morning."

Julian smirked and rummaged in his pockets. "Now, I don't want you to think I'd come back, ah, empty handed?" He held up a piece of carved gold on a short vibrant violet ribbon, a token of the shoulder rub he'd given Lucio. "Think one of Lucio's war metals will fetch a pretty price?"

The gathered crew cheered and clapped him on the back as he tossed it on the table. With luck, Lucio would blame the loss on a blacked out partying episode. Julian excused himself for some fresh air and leaned on the railing, sighing as he gazed up at the cloudy sky.

The first mate lounged next to him, grinning as the wind whipped their hair. "Say, Devorak- ever thought of getting an eyepatch? It'd look good on you."

Julian snorted. "That's HIGHLY unlikely."

Not Dead Yet (Part 23)

*Wow did this not turn out how I was planning it. I’m just gonna go stare at a wall for a couple hours now.*

Pairing: Reader x Peter Pan

Warnings: language

After Peter had told us that pirates were floating out in our lagoon we dropped training and raced to the beach. I was on Ben’s shoulders trying to get a better view. Out in the distance was the outline of a ship, any other details were too far away to notice. Even with the telescope I nicked from Ben all I could distinguish was the skull and crossbones fluttering in the wind.

“So,” I handed Ben’s telescope back to him, “What is our plan of attack?”

“No attack.” Peter said, “If we killed them all then what fun is there? Wait till they come ashore then the games will begin.”

“Fine…” I muttered, “Come on Ben, let’s go back to camp.” I kicked my heels against his sides.

“I am not a horse, Y/N.” he pinched my thigh.

“You’re right, horses don’t talk. Now forward!” I kicked again and he dropped me from his shoulders. I hit the ground with a resounding thud. “Bad horsey…”

“Idiot.” Devin held out a hand for me. As we were walking back to camp a thought occurred to me.

“Devin, have you seen that ship before?” I asked.

“No. Why?”

“Because back there Peter said he had seen it before. I thought maybe since you’ve been here longer than I have that maybe you knew.”

“Nope. That’s the first time I’ve seen anything but Pan and Lost Boys show up on the island.”

“Makes you wonder doesn’t it? This is an isolated realm. The only ones that ever come and go are Peter and his shadow. So how does a ship full of pirates even know about this place? And if they were here before and got away why would they come back?”

“They’re adults and adults do stupid things.” Devin shrugged like this was obvious. “It does make a change to routine though. Fighting pirates will hopefully give us some real practice.”

“It would be nice beat up a salty seadog than you lot for once.” I smirked and Devin smacked the back of my head. “Kidding, mostly.”

“Wanna go a round? I will take you down.”

“Please don’t,” Ben piped up, “I don’t want to have to stitch you back up when she cuts you to ribbons.”

“Thank you Benny,” I gave his cheek a kiss, “I knew you were my favorite!”

“Please don’t call me Benny,” he wiped the spot where I kissed him, “Since when are you so affectionate?”

“The same time she started calling Pan, Pete--”

I tackled Devin to the ground. “Shut your trap!” I seethed through clenched teeth.

“Y/N…” he gasped in a strangled breath, “Can’t breathe…”

I pressed my forearm harder against his throat. “Then shut it.”

“What’s going on here?” Felix came back to see what the commotion was about.

“Nothing, just horsing around. Right, Devin?”

“Right.” he glared up at me. This conversation was far from done.

I stood up and shoved past Felix who was also giving me a skeptical look. I had explained to Ben and Devin and Nick what had really happened back in the Enchanted Forest. All the others could believe I was off having sex with Peter but not them. They were the only ones whose opinion I cared about. Out of the three of them I knew that Devin suspected more happened than I said. I would rather skinny dip in the mermaid lagoon than let him know what had happened...and was technically still happening.

I got back to camp and plunked myself down on a log and started sharpening my dagger. I wish those pirates were on the island now, I could use a distraction. “If you’re not more careful you’ll cut yourself.”

Peter sat down next to me. That’ll work. I sheathed my dagger again and pulled on Peter’s arm. “Come with me.”

“What have I done?” he asked as I dragged him away.

“Nothing yet.” The second I thought we were far enough away from the others I pulled him against me and kissed him. He responded with equal fervor after a moment. All the troublesome thoughts before about this exact situation started to dull away.

I pulled away to catch my breath. “Thanks.” I whispered quietly, “See ya.”

“Wait? What?” Peter grabbed me as I started to walk away and pulled me back next to him, “Is something going on?”

“No. Why?”

He cocked an eyebrow up at me. “I know you my little Lost Girl. I know when something’s bothering you.”

“Don’t worry yourself about it, it’s my problem.” I pushed his hands off me, “I just needed a distraction.”

“For the love of…” he pulled me back again, “Talk to me.”

“I don’t want to.”

He continued to stare at me until I relented and told him about my little spat with Devin. “Wow, you’re really that embarrassed of me?”

“No,” I leaned against a tree, “I just don’t want Devin to look at me like I’m some kind of harlot.”

“Oh yes, and dragging me off so that we can snog behind a tree just barely on the outskirts of camp is the way to do that.”

“I know I shouldn’t have told you about this.”

“Pet, please,” he rubbed his hand up and down along my side, “If I could tell you my problems then you should be able to tell me the same.”

“Thanks, Peter. I’m gonna head back to the beach, see if the ship is any closer.”

He nodded and let me go.

The ship had moved closer but kept to the lagoon for the first couple of days it was here. Peter gave us some insight as to who exactly we were dealing with. A man named Killian Jones who had at one time been a member of the royal navy alongside his brother. They had traveled here a long time ago where his brother had died from poisoning himself with dreamshade. Not the brightest were they? Why would someone want to return to the place that killed their only family?

After some time they came ashore. The Lost Boys and I watched from the trees as they stepped foot on the beach. We were given specific instructions to stay out of sight and not interfere unless things turned hostile.

~~~

“Hello Lieutenant, gone rogue I see.” The pirate and his crew turned at the sudden voice. Peter stood behind them, a sense of superiority flowing through his veins at their dumbfounded expressions.

“You,” the grizzled former lieutenant growled at him, “You’re the boy. The one that killed my brother.”

“Oh no, he did that himself. I gave you the cure, I told you if you left the island you would pay the price. I have no fault in your brother’s stupidity.” he circled the pirates slowly sizing them up. They might not be navy anymore but the stink of adult responsibility still clung to them.

“You could have mentioned that the water only worked in this realm.”

“You should have asked.” Peter smirked at his sneering face, “Why’d you come back, Killian?”

“For this,” his hook glinted in the light, “And that’s Captain Hook to you boy.”

“Alright, Captain, tell me who has done such a thing as to make you desperate enough to travel here again.” This did have him genuinely curious.

“A coward that turned into a crocodile and killed my love.”

“Well that’s all well and poetic but it doesn’t answer my question.”

“The Dark One, a demon by the name of Rumpelstiltskin.”

Peter’s smile dropped slightly at the mention of the Dark One. He shrugged it off and found his tongue again. “Oh? Haven’t seen that rat in a few years, how’s he been?”

“Dead, the next time I see him.”

“A common threat by the few that get away from him alive. I suppose you came for the dreamshade as a way to kill him?”

“It was a thought but not even my hook in his heart could vanquish him. I need something stronger than your poisons.”

“Perhaps I could be of help then. I’ve seen far more lands than you ever have and know more than you could comprehend. I’d be willing to make a deal.”

“I’m not in the habit of making deals with self proclaimed kings on deserted islands.” he brandished his sword, “I should cut you down here and now.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Peter pushed the tip of the sword away from his face, “Because I’m not alone anymore.” He gave a whistle and the Lost Boys started pouring out from the jungle.

The captain and his crew drew their weapons as they took in the horde of Lost Boys. “My boys outnumber your crew two to one. You really want to try and take us on?”

“Fine, you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours? Sound reasonable?”

“I can’t be so sure about that, my boys can get bored very easily and who am I to deny them a new game?”

“We are not a game?”

“You’re on my island, you are what I say you are.” Peter stepped back into his group, “Come on boys, I think they understand.”

Together the boys turned around and sauntered back into the jungle. Peter kept up a brave face until such a time as he was able to detach without being noticed. He had something he needed to do.

~~~

“Well that was anti-climatic,” I sighed that night around the campfire.

“They did seem pretty scared of us though.” Nick reminded me.

“Yeah, but I would have loved a good fight.” I tossed my dagger in the air and caught it again, “It’s been too long since I’ve had a good enemy.”

“Your bloodlust is never ending isn’t it?” Nick laughed.

“Are you kidding? She’d chop my hand off if I so much as touched her club and I’m her best friend.” Ben interceded.

“I believe that title belongs to me.” Devin wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“Awe and to think that you hated me when I first came here.” I ruffled his hair.

“Well you did hit me with a rock.”

“Did I? That doesn’t sound like me.”

“No, she didn’t hit you.” Nick said, “She tried to hit Pan and he threw it back and then it hit you. I remember because I was standing next to you laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.”

“Thanks pal,” Devin knocked him over the head.

“No problem chum,” Nick hit him back.

“You’re a great friend, buddy.” Devin punched him.

“I know I am, friend.” Nick socked him hard in the stomach and soon the two were rolling on the ground beating up each other.

“Remind me why we’re friends with them?” I asked Ben.

“Because they’re family.”

“Right…” I stretched the word. “You make sure they don’t lose any fingers, I’m going to bed.”

“Will do, night.”

“Night.” I ducked into my tent and started to strip off my dagger and cloak when a hand wrapped around my ankle and dragged me back out. “Hey--”

I was pulled up and a hand shoved over my mouth as my captor started to drag me into the jungle. I bit down on the hand and kicked back. They let go and I reached for my dagger. Dammit, I just took it off! The person on the ground kicked out a leg and swept my feet out from underneath me before pinning me in place. I tried to push them off when a pair of lips met mine.

“Are you done being a crazy thing?” Peter asked.

“You are an ass!” I fumed up at his shadowed face. “Do you know how to use that mouth for anything else besides kissing?”

“Well now that you mention it--”

“I meant talking pig.” I kneed him hard and he rolled off me, “Would a simple, ‘Y/N, follow me’, be too hard for you to do?”

“It is a lot less fun.”

“What do you want? I’m tired and don’t feel like having a snog.” I pushed myself up to standing.

“It’s not about that. I need your help with something.” he grabbed my arm and started pulling me forward.

“And this couldn’t wait till morning because…?” I stumbled along behind him.

“Because I can’t wait till then. I need this done now.”

I let out an unhappy groan. A familiar rush of wind surrounded us and the next thing I knew we were standing on the far side of the island where the cliff overlooked Skull Rock. “Peter?”

“Shut up. Let’s just get this over with before I change my mind.” another gust of wind and we were standing on the beach. The boat I had used before was bobbing in the waves. I sat down and he took either oar as he started to row us across to Skull Rock.

What was he doing? He tethered the boat again when we got to the cave and gestured for me to follow. He knew I had already been here. Felix had told him as much. Was this some kind of continuation from our discussion weeks ago in the Enchanted Forest?

We came to the top tier of the cavern where the giant golden hourglass sat. Peter moved past and took out the crate filled with all his past mementos. “Peter, what’s going on? What are we doing here?” I asked unable to take the silence.

“These,” he dropped the crate down at my feet, “I need them destroyed.”

“Why? Why now? Does this have to do with the pirates?” I sought his gaze but he turned away from me, “Peter, remember what you said earlier about you being able to tell me what your problems are? If this is one of them then you can tell me. It’s the reason you brought me here because I know you don’t need me to turn these old memories to ashes.”

He went to the back of the cave where the large opening looked out across the sea and sat down. I sat down next to him waiting for him to speak first.

“Do you remember back in the Enchanted Forest when I said nothing good ever followed that dagger of yours?” he spoke quietly.

“Yes.”

“Did you ever wonder why there was an R carved in the bottom?”

“A bit yes. I just figured it was from a past Lost Boy.”

“It was. One of the first.” Peter’s expression was unreadable, “He was such a puny thing when he came here, couldn’t have been more than ten years old. Practically orphaned, drunk father, lived with a couple of spinner women, a very boring, sad, little life.”

“You brought him to Neverland.” I risked scooting closer.

Peter nodded. “I showed him how to fight, how to fly, took him to different realms all the time and taught him everything I could.”

“What was his name?”

“Rumpelstiltskin.” he spat the word.

“You mean the Dark One was a Lost Boy?”

“That he was. That dagger I gave you was the one I gave him. It’s been through a few owners since then of course.”

“What happened?”

He kept staring out into the distance without responding. “Peter,” I laid my hand overtop of his. He finally turned to face me and I could see the years in his eyes. How long he had lived, what all he had seen, all he had experienced. I pleaded with them to talk to me.

“He left.” his voice teetered between serenity and rage, “He wanted to be with his lazy drunk father instead of me! I gave him everything he could ever want and he chose to go back to the man that didn’t give a damn about him!”

“You loved him. Loved him like a brother.”

“He was the closest thing to a real family I had ever felt. Through all the families I had gone through and little brothers I had, had, he was the best.”

“You didn’t have to let him leave.” I squeezed his hand assuredly.

“He was my little brother, the thing I loved in this entire world more than myself. What kind of a person would I have been if I hadn’t let him go? If I had forced him to stay then he would have hated me, I couldn’t face that.”

I brought another hand up to sweep the hair out of his eyes. “I know you. You wouldn’t have let him go just like that.”

“You’re right. One night after he had gone I knew I wanted him back. I got it into my head that his place was on Neverland having adventures with me.” there was a small remnant of a smile ghosting his features before it crumbled into a deep scowl, “The only thing holding him back was that coward he called a father.”

My heart dropped down into my stomach, “Please tell me you didn’t.”

He gave a single nod. “I didn’t know he was there. I thought he was asleep but he must have woken up. He watched me slice his father’s neck open from the window.” Peter drew in a deep breath his grip on my hand becoming painful but I didn’t make a move to stop him, “After that, he never wanted anything to do with me again. He hated me, he made a point of telling me so over and over before I left.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “It was like a curse. The only thing left of him being that dagger and this.” he was holding a straw doll in a little blue coat all of the sudden. “Ever since that day anyone who has ever wielded that dagger became important to me then met an end in some way or another.”

The sheath at my side was empty but it weighed like log at my hip. Without another word I stood up and dumped all the belongs in the crate on the ground. Peter watched me as I grabbed a torch along the wall and walked back to him. “I think it’s time we broke that curse.” I held out the torch to him, “And it starts here.”

He stood up and took the torch from me. He stared down at the pile of children’s clothes, family drawings, dried foxglove flowers and wooden toys before tipping the flames to them. The pile caught fire and soon were engulfed entirely in flames. Bits of paper and cloth curled and turned to ash. I took the spot next to him and watched the pile burn.

“Y/N,” Peter said without looking at me, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” His hand reached for mine holding it gentler than before.

We stayed in that cave the entire night in silence watching the pile of childhood memorabilia turn to ashes. Anything that didn’t burn we tossed into the sea. The only thing still remaining was the straw doll. I didn’t try to make him burn it too. He had a use for it whether or not I agreed with its purpose was yet to be seen.

In the morning light we gave one another a knowing look and laid down on the cave floor and fell asleep. It had been a long night and there was more to do today but we needed rest. When I woke up later I was resting just in the curve of Peter’s body and the world seemed clearer.

(First) (Previous) (Next)

The Green belt Monster

I was 9 going on 10 when it happened…it was the Spring of 1956. My dad moved the family from Norfolk to San Francisco, my dad was a career Navy man and had gotten a big promotion. As my mother was young and still taking college courses, trying to get her teaching credentials, she could live anywhere in the U.S. and continue her schooling. My parents were good in the sense that I knew they both loved me, but as a grown man reflecting back on it now I believe my parents started too young. They were too wrapped up in eachother and just didn’t think how moderate neglect works on a kids young psyche. My dad is 10 years older than my mom, and at time he was still very much a young man in spirit. He was tall and thin with dark hair, classically handsome. My mom was young and a former beauty queen that gave it all up to have an affair with an older Dashing Naval cadet. As a teenager my Dad told how he and my Mom grew up across the street from eachother. At first my Dad viewed my Mom as just a bratty little girl that always threw rocks at him. But when he came home to visit after being gone for six years, he saw this beautiful girl with sandy blonde hair, green eyes and freckles tending his parents “victory garden”. Her face was flush with color and sweat from digging in the garden, and the most angelic beautiful girl he’d ever seen! My Dad was 28 and my mom 18, so needless to say the age discrepency created a small controversy in that small town. My maternal Grandparents tried to have my Dad arrested and briefly faced jail time and a dishonorable discharge from the Navy, but they were both madly in love and somehow convinced my Grandparents to let my Dad marry my Mom. It helped that at the time in Illinois, 16 was of legal marrying age. Also by the time they decided they were going to get married my Mom was 3 months pregnant with me. But that’s a story for another time! As a kid I was very awkward along with being Painfully shy (a trait I had inherited from my Paternal Grandmother) on top of being an introvert. To combat this my parents forced me into cub scouts, then boy scouts, but it didn’t help. I would just find a corner and work on whatever project I was tasked with. I didn’t make any new friends, but I learned some practical skills that served me well later on down the road. I spent A Lot of time in my room reading and building models of ships and planes. These are both habits that were drilled into me by my parents. If I wasn’t going to make new friends, then “By God you’re gonna be the smartest most skilled weirdo in the class room” my Dad would always say. By the time I had turned 8 I had read almost all of the classics, except for Treasure Island. My Dad had read it as a child and often referred to it as his favorite book. Once it was playing at the theater on base, my Dad took me to see it. We watched 3 times back to back. When we got back to the house my Mom was Furious..at least she acted furious, but she never stayed mad. My Dad had a way of smiling at her that instantly disarmed her, even to this day my Dad at 77 will just look at my Mom when she’s reading him the riot act about one thing or another, he’ll catch her eye and she’ll just melt…she’ll look and him and sigh, then say “Oh you old devil, kiss me and I’ll forgive you”…and my Dad will shuffle over (pretending to be decrepit) take her in his arms and plant a big smooch on her like they were teenagers, much to the disgust to me and my 2 younger siblings…but I digress! Because at the time I was an only child and was too socially awkward to make any real friends I had become quite adept at entertaining myself by coming up with stories as I built the models my Dad had gotten me. After a while I had gotten quite skilled at model building. I’d paint them to look like they has been through extremely rough missions, or fresh out of the factory. Once my Dad had found a model of an F4U Corsair that had been flown by an ace onboard the same ship my dad had served on during the war. I built it for him taking extra special care to paint all the tiny details in, I even painted the inside of the cockpit. It took me two months to build and paint that model! When I finally showed my dad, he was so impressed with it he displayed in his office on base. And when we moved he had it shipped to his new office and paid a guy 25 bucks to make sure it survived the trip. I had written a few of the stories down and hidden them in the pages of all the books I had acquired over the years. But these weren’t just any books! My Mom despite growing up in a small rural town had been an avid reader and collector of fine books. And whenever she would buy me a book, she insisted on buying the hard cover versions. And if she could find them, buy 1st editions. Now with books like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Tarzan, the Jungle Book and Knights of the Round Table and a mother that read them to me and just for the love of them I dreamt of these things Everyday and night, I Always had adventures rolling through my head. But we lived in Norfolk, Virginia on a Naval base. If you’ve never lived in Naval base housing…for a kid, it’s torture. Oh yeah, I could see the harbor from my bedroom window and watch the ships come in and out. But these folks we’re having Real adventures, probably with buddies they had met in basic training. They probably told jokes and played practical jokes on eachother and laughed a lot, chased girls when the got off duty, talked about how they missed they families or their best girl when they were out to see for months on end. These guys fought the Japs in the Pacific, maybe even had to cross the North Atlantic and sweated bullets while waiting for the Nazi’s to sink their boat with a Jerry sub. Went on secret missions in far off seas…these guys had friends, and went on real adventures. Something I never did. There were neighbor kids, a few were even in my age group. But there father’s were jr officers, or non commissioned officers. My Dad was a Liutenenant Commander that had risen through the ranks quickly…it didn’t matter that he’d earned it by fighting his way the Pacific as a Jr. Officer, and distinguished himself during the war. Superior Officers and their awkward shy kids Didn’t fraternize with Jr. Officers and enlisted or their kids. So back to those models I built…my Dad took me to an airfield once to look at some of the old planes he’d flown in the Pacific. I was fascinated, I spent hours in those planes studying every panel, nob, switch, pedal and dial I could reach. Because of my curiosity and fascination my Dad started bringing me home books on them. One day he found me on the roof with an old wooden milk crate, his old goggles and a broken broom stick pretending to fly a corsair shooting down Japs. He had a good laugh, but then demanded I get off the roof. After that he started bringing me home plastic model kits of various aircraft. My first dozen or so came out pretty rough. But I would rush it, just wanting to see the finished product. But from then on I would take my time, making sure to pay close attention to all the small details. After a few months of this I had become quite an accomplished model builder, so much so that I had one 1st prize in a model building contest that was held by the on base after school program for the officers kids. Little did I know my own accomlishment would only serve to further alienate me from the other neighborhood kids. It seemed I could do no right as an 8 year old. So I fell even deeper into my reclusivity, only leaving home to go to school and maybe the occasional movie at the base theater…if my Dad had time. Don’t get me wrong, the kids weren’t physically abusive. I never got beat up. I was just the invisible boy. None of the kids spoke to me at school, and I was too deathly afraid of rejection to approach them. The Playground attendant (otherwise known as “the yard duty”) would talk to me, but she was a 65 year old woman. I was always fascinated when she spoke of what it was like when she was a kid, but there was only so much I could relate to. After I lost interested in what she was talking about, I’d politely excuse myself, hang my head and walk away. One day after school I was walking home from the bus stop when I noticed both my parents were home, which was very unusual because the sun was still high in the sky. At first I thought a family tragedy had struck but I couldn’t imagine what? We hardly ever visited family, and it was only my Dad’s parents that Ever came to visit. When I got in the house my parents sat me down at the dining room table…now that I think about, I think it was the 1st time we had ever sat at the table as a family! The 2nd thing that ran through my mind was maybe my parents were going to take me somewhere for my birthday? I had Always heard about this magical place in Los Angeles California where kids were in charge, and you could go on a tour of a town inhabited by Pirates, or a house full of Ghosts, or you could steal an Indian kayak and paddle your way to an island and meet the Actual Peter Pan and fight Capt. Hook! But alas, this was not to be true… “Hey Calvin, guess what”! My Dad said excitedly. But before I could answer my Mom blurted it out. “You’re Dad got promoted and given a new command. We’re moving to California”! At first I was excited just because my parents were, so I shouted my question… “Are we moving to Disneyland”!!? My Dad looked at me perplexed. If it didn’t have wings or tits, he didn’t pay attention to it. “Uh no…honey, we’re moving to San Francisco! Ya know…where Alcatraz is, and the Golden Gate Bridge….where Dad came home from the Pacific”. My Dad was injured on his way home and was diverted to San Francisco for surgery to save his left leg and to recover. I don’t remember it, as I was only a little over a year old. I just have flashes of large crowds and paper snow flakes that fell continuously for (to a toddlers intellect) what felt like days. I also have memories of my Dad walking with a cane until I started grade school. I asked if we’d still be on base? At this point my father had wandered off to pour himself 3 fingers worth of scotch. My mother explained that we would move into a brand new house built just for us in a neighborhood Just for Navy families. At this news I was crest fallen, I had already figured out that as long as I was surrounded by other Navy kids I was going to be a loner. I tried to fake my enthusiasm for this news, but my mother wasn’t that easily fooled. “Oh sweetheart, it’ll be different there. I promise”! She told me. “I have a present for you” she continued. Reaching into a paper bag she had under her arm she produced a package wrapped in gold wrapping paper with a red bow on it. I could see by its dimensions that it was a book. I was glad for that, I loved books! I tore through the thick paper and saw the deep rich red leather cover of the book. Down the spine and on both the front of the book was the title accompanied by a tall ship with its sails filled with the oceans strong winds embossed in silver was Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. My mother had told me how she had read this hundreds of times as a child. She spoke about it so often I felt like Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins were distant relatives. As disappointed as I was at the previous news, I couldn’t hide my joy at seeing the title. I turned the book over and looked at the back, it was bare except for the illustration of an open treasure chest spilling with loot in the same shiny silver paint that emblazoned the front. Because my parents decided to drive across the country, I got a chance to dive head first into my book. By the time we left Virginia I had finished ¼ of the book. Between sight seeing, falling asleep and various other distractions I finished the book just as we started our last leg of the trip driving through Death Valley. By this time the idea that hidden treasures could be buried in any of the crags, canyons and rock spires in the valley haunted me. I had fantasies of having shoot outs with bandits and pirates trying to steal my gold, sword fights with Spanish marauders or Mexican outlaws hiding behind every rock.  The rest of the trip went quickly for me.  Though I enjoyed seeing the country from the back seat of a family wagon surrounded by my books, drawing pad and various toys I was anxious to get out the car and sleep in my own bed,.  Before we even left my Dad had had all our belongings shipped to our new house, save for our clothes and personal belongings we had packed into our suit cases all our worldly belongings would be waiting for us in our new house.  Once we hit crested the mountains coming out of the desert I was glued to the window. Though Virginia had mountains, I had never seen them. Up to that point I had never seen so many lush green rolling hills or tall trees.  Though we had trees in Virginia, they were not much more than 30 or 40 feet tall.  These pine trees seem to be well over 60 feet tall.  Shrouded in fog with a chill I felt as though I was in the hills where Capt. Billy Bones was drinking his rum to excess at the Admiral Benbow inn and watching for incoming ships from the cliff face.  For the next two hours we worked our way through the smaller communities into our new neighborhood.  In my head I had imagined our new house wouldn’t be much different from our old one…two story turn of the century stripped down, bare essentials Naval housing, where the newest feature to the place would be the 3 foot high chain link fence around the featureless half dead grass yard. If there was one thing I had learned from being a navy brat, it was Not to have high hopes for much of anything!  After we had driven over the Golden Gate Bridge and snaked our way through the streets of Tiburon up into the hills above, my Dad decided to just drive around and see the sights our new neighborhood had to offer before we got to our new home.  Despite the thick damp fog and cool temperatures (I had heard that California was Always warm and dry) I was completely blown away by the natural beauty of the little bay side community.  Once again I felt like a character out of a book on a new adventure…as to what the adventure was I had no idea, and it wasn’t important.  For the 1st time in my short life I felt excited to be somewhere new, I didn’t care if I was painfully shy or awkward or bored or lonely.  Who could be bored or lonely in a town like Tiburon!?  We drove around for another 30 minutes or so until my Mom couldn’t take it anymore, she Had to see our new house…and she had to pee!