An Alternate Meeting (!)

▀▄▀▄▀▄An Alternate Meeting▄▀▄▀▄▀ (𝚐𝚗!𝙼𝙲)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍: 𝙲𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚀𝚒𝚞/𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚗 (𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍) 𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙱𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 (𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍) 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 (𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍) 𝙼𝙲 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 (𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙾𝙻:𝙽&𝙵)

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝: Baxter and MC go to Sunset Bird for their summer vacation, choosing to be roommates for the short time despite being there for seperate reasons. Takes place in Step 3 of OL:B&A.

(𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗)

It was an average day in Sunset Bird- well that's what it seemed like to Cove as he helped the ORCA clean up the remenants of a party that happened last night on the shore line. Despite Cove loving the summer, after all school was offically out and he could go surfing if he pleased- but the part he disliked severely was the vacationers who come here just for the summer and leaving their mess everywhere only for it to be swept into the sea.

The seafoam haired boy was lost in his thoughts, silently cursing the ones who left such a mess behind before his focus was broken by a voice behind him, making him jump slightly.

"Excuse me, but- may I ask you a question really quick?" He turned around to see a boy behind him with white and black hair, a hand in his pocket and his phone in the other- wearing a half black and half white button down shirt. Cove rose to his feet, not bothering to wipe the sand from his shins and knees- unbothered by the texture. "What can I do for you?" Now don't get me wrong- Cove was not a people person, but he wouldn't allow himself to tarnish the ORCA name by showing his frustrations to someone who was obviously one of the previously mentioned vacationers. "Sorry to interupt your work, but I'm looking for my friend- their name is MC and they said they'd be helping the ORCA today. I have a picture of them if that'd help." The black and white boy turned his phone around, showing Cove a photo of two people. One was a person in a white sweater with gray-blue acents, they had long brunette hair and a grin plastered onto their face as their arm was loosely wrapped around the other person in the picture. The first was unfamiliar, but the second person- who was adorned in a slightly larger, heavy dull green puffer jacket with fur lining, also grinning brightly with a peace sign up- was definetely familiar. "Their name is MC, they volunteered with your group for this summer." The boy provided a bit more insight after getting no reply from Cove as he analyzed the image. "Yeah- I recognize them. They were stationed here with me for a bit, but went to get waters for us." He explained before- as if being summoned, MC came jogging down the shore with a small cooler and more garbage bags. "Mr. Holden! I'm back! Sorry that look so long!" they shouted a bit, catching the attention of both boys- that's when they noticed the black and white boy with their teammate. "Oh! Baxter! Hey!" their voice slowly quieted down as they neared the two, slightly panting from the mix of jogging and the heat they were definetely not used to- it was much cooler in Golden Grove, even in the summer months. "There you are, I came to check how things were going and met your team mate- I am so sorry I never got your name...and I never told you mine. How rude of me. I'm Baxter Ward, it's a pleasure to meet you-" He introduced himself, leaving the last sentence to be contiued by the blue eyed boy. "Oh uh- Cove Holden. Also- MC I told you before, Mr. Holden is too formal. Just use my name, please." He said, taking the cooler from MC and checking it's contents- seeing multiple waters and cut fruits.

"Oh- uh, somebody named Jamie dropped by the ORCA headquarters and left the fruit for you. I brought it with since there's still work to do and I heard you mumbling about being hungry before I left, hope that was okay?" They explained, causing a light blush to spread across Cove's cheeks- slightly embarrassed to be called out for his muttering, how much had they overheard? "Thanks, uhm- sorry." His slight embarassment contiued, growing slightly when the two tourists chuckled a bit. "Don't apologize, seriously. We've been out here since ten cleaning up after these people- it's completely valid to be hungry after four hours of work." MC offered him a smile. "Anyways- now that I'm here, if you'd like I can help out? Make this go faster?" Baxter offered, slipping his phone into his beach short pocket. "I'd be alright with it, but Cove- is it fine if he helps out? Just for right now." They ask to which he nodded, he was not going to turn down an offer to help. "Sure, not like an extra hand could hurt any. Plus, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can return to HQ." He was quick to drop down to the ground again, picking up trash once more- this time being joined by two others. "So- not a fan of summer tourists huh?" MC said with a smirk, not looking away from the ground as they clean. Baxter gasped in mock offence, playing along. "Oh goodness! We barely know each other and you already dislike me Cove?! Oh woe is me!" he said over dramatically, obviously acting, making both MC and Cove laugh. "It's not that, I'm just- annoyed at the ones who think they can leave all this trash around as if it isn't doing any harm. The ORCA is one of the few clean the beach programs in Sunset Bird, so it sucks that the work load practically triples in the summer when we all could be doing something starting a fundraiser or enjoying the beach properly." He rambled a bit once the laughter died down, the look in his eye showed how passionate he was about the ORCA's mission. "Y'know- you remind me of one of our friends from Golden Grove. She's just like you about keeping her forest clean, it's how she earned the title Queen of the Forest." MC explained with a light chuckle, smiling at the two boys who kept cleaning but were listening intently. "You make her sound so peaceful MC, Tamarack gets super protective over you- it's scary!" Baxter quipped back, chuckling a bit. "She isn't scary, try angering Autumn back in middle school! They're the one who gets scary when being protective!" MC stated back before looking to Cove with a smile. "Sorry, Autumn is another one of our friends-" they had started before Baxter cut them off "You mean your partner~?" he teased, making MC flush pink. "Baxter! We're not together!" they sputtered out quickly before clearing their throat to contiue. "He's another one of our friends, from Golden Grove. We all grew up together, similar to you and Jamie I assume?" they offer him an easy in to the conversation. "Oh- yeah. Me and Jamie met when I first moved here, they were the first friend I made here in Sunset Bird." He replied with a thankful smile, before the conversation continued peacefully as the three cleaned. Chatting about how they met their friends, memories, and getting to know each other as the day passes slowly. Although it'd be temporary for one of them- this was the start of a beautiful summer blossom friendship.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 1,192

Random thought:

Qiu, Tamarack, and their MC dressed as Lock, Shock, and Barrel from Nightmare Before Christmas. I might actually draw this at some point-

Lock and Shock can be flipped between MC and Tamarack, but Qiu is definitely Barrel with how often they lose their notebook pages.

Down by the Harbour

Cove Holden x Gender Neutral Mermaid!Reader

Summary: A reimagining of the Our Life Beginnings & Always prologue where the MC is a mermaid now!

Word Count: ~6k

Warnings: None other than probably OOC Cove, I'm not confident in my abilities to write characters that I didn't create so-

Authors Note: RAAAAH THIS IS FIRST FIC IVE EVER WRITTEN- This was supposed to come out last week but work absolutely demolished my energy and then my writing got too out of hand and this became so much longer than I anticipated. This was supposed to be a fun little fic but 20 pages and 6000 words later here we are, whoops? Also idk if this is even a bad thing but this fic ended up being a little bit more MC centric than I inteded it to be, as in Cove doesn't really show up until a little bit into the story, apologies if that annoys anyone you can just skip ahead if you wanna see Cove meet the mermaid MC that badly. OH ALSO if anyone is interested in the funky mermaid lore I imagine this universe having feel free to let me know! I'd love to ramble about it! Anyways I've gone on long enough, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!!

Likes, Comments, Reblogs, etc etc are very appriciated!!!

তততততততততততততততততততত

When you were just a tiny fry, you found yourself in a gorgeous coral reef that’s become your beloved home. You loved to explore the reef and discover just what was out there in this vast habitat. You especially loved to scour the seafloor and find any items that caught your eye, “treasures” you called them, whether preciously valuable or utterly useless, if it interested you, you’d always pocket it to add to your collection. Finding treasures became your favourite pastime and now as a fingerling you like to consider yourself a “professional scavenger”.

One kind of treasure you especially love to find is those funny little objects that the humans from the surface would leave behind. Your coral reef seemed to be near a human habitat as very often you’d see humans exploring the coral reef similar to how you would. While the humans incredibly intrigued you you always hid away and kept your distance to only observe them from afar, then when the humans left you’d come to collect the treasures they’d leave behind.

While the coral reef was a vast habitat, over the years you’ve learned that even if the reef is safe there are still places you should always stay wary of. One such place was the place you called the threshold, the threshold was where the waters became empty of any healthy coral or fauna and the water became murky and hard to breathe in. All that was left was an empty wasteland that’d send chills down your fins. The threshold was luckily small enough to easily be able to exit if you ever found yourself there, however, what lies past the threshold was the one place you never wanted to find yourself in.

Because that place is where all the monsters sleep.

Sometimes whenever humans were exploring the reef they’d bring these giant monsters with them that would stay at the surface of the water, while they had never caused you any direct harm they still deeply scared you. The monsters would make these awful sounds that’d shake you to your core, and sometimes they’d drop down giant nets that’d steal away the fish and bring them up to the surface. Once in the past, you had gotten curious enough that you nervously followed the monster once it began moving and found yourself deep in the threshold, at some point through the murky waters in the distance you could see more monsters all at the surface. You put two and two together and deduced that whatever this place was was where all the monsters lived, then at that point, your fear got the best of you and you got out of there as fast as you could.

After finding out where the monsters lived you went back home and decided to give yourself a rule to never cross the threshold and never make contact with the monsters lest you find out where the monsters take all the fish they steal. Since then you fell back into your usual routine of scavenging for treasures and hiding whenever humans came near, your comfortable routine lasting for years up to the present…

তততততততততততততততততততত

On this bright and sunny day, you were currently making the rounds across the reef searching the sands for treasure. Earlier today a huge amount of humans visited and explored the reefs, they did bring a monster with them but luckily it was quieter and it didn’t decide to steal any fish. Because of the sheer amount of humans that had visited there were so many treasures you saw them drop, it felt like for every one treasure two more would appear just nearby. You found so many things such as cans, bottles, lines of wire, those masks that the humans would wear, you even found those beautiful silver rings you’d see some humans wearing on their fingers! You’d hit the jackpot today!

Just as you were packing away a pretty net you could use as a shawl you found something had moved in the corner of your eye, when you looked over to see what it was you saw a manta ray tightly wrapped in plastic. The manta ray was shakily swimming through the coral, clearly struggling to navigate due to the plastic restricting its movements. You gasped then put down your bag and quickly darted toward the manta ray to help it, unfortunately, you had moved too suddenly as the moment you got close enough to reach out the manta ray got spooked and quickly began to flee. You called out to it to try and get it to stop but the animal didn’t listen so you swam after it.

Despite being hindered by the plastic the manta ray proved to be a very slippery catch as every time you got close to it it’d slip right out of your grasp and continue fleeing. It was honestly very frustrating however you were determined to help the poor frightened animal. You laser-focused on catching the manta ray which caused you to not notice that the coral and plants were beginning to become less present and that the water was becoming increasingly murky…

Finally, the manta ray seemed to tucker itself out as it slowed its efforts at swimming which let you finally catch it, you smiled in triumph as you finally reached the manta ray and carefully laid your hands on its fins. It thrashed around to try and escape your grasp again but you quickly shushed it while gently stroking its back which thankfully made the manta settle down. Once it was calm you began to get rid of the disgusting plastic, tearing it apart with your sharp claws.

As you tore the last bits of plastic off a deafening rumble had suddenly come from behind you, you barely had enough time to wonder what that noise was until a large shadow ominously passed over you. The shadow made you look away from the manta ray and finally take in your surroundings properly, the waters were a vomit brown and the seabed was completely barren with no pieces of coral or fauna in sight. Horror seeped into your bones and you began to panic as you realized that you had swam straight into the monster’s territory.

You looked above you and lo and behold a monster was moving directly above you, you felt like screaming but clamped your mouth shut in fear of the monster hearing you. This monster was the loudest one you’ve ever heard, making a deep yet scratchy rumbling sound that shook the ground below you. In your fear, you almost forgot about the manta ray until it slapped your hands with its fins before quickly swimming away. You went to get up and follow it but as you did the ground shook under you and suddenly you were scooped up into the largest net you’ve ever seen.

The monster had caught you.

You screamed and tried to get out but the monster’s net had completely engulfed you. Rocks, garbage, and even other fish were caught in the net with you as it dragged across the ocean floor, kicking up sand as it drove on. In your state of panic, you flailed around and got your tail stuck through one of the holes in the net, adding fuel to your panic. You tried everything to get out, but the more you struggled the more trapped you became. 

As the monster continued moving and catching more things in its net you began to hear more monsters in the distance. Not even wanting to imagine what the monsters were going to do with you you doubled your efforts in trying to escape. In your desperation, you had begun to viciously scratch and bite at the net itself to try and break it, even as bits that you’d chew off got in your mouth you spat them out and continued. Finally, you had tugged, scratched, and bitten the net enough that it finally tore and you tumbled forward. You must’ve put much more strength into your escape than you thought as when you broke through the net you caused the entire net to break and nearly snap off, even the monster stumbled a little.

Very unfortunately however, even if you tore through the net a large piece of it was still wrapped around your body. You tried to get it off however the net was tightly wound around you and you were being thrown around by the currents that all the monsters were creating. The entire world was spinning both figuratively and literally, so much so that you felt like you were gonna vomit, and it didn’t help that you were already so disoriented and panicked from the adrenaline before. You felt the net tighten around your body more and more but before you could try to escape again your dizziness had become too great and everything went dark…

তততততততততততততততততততত

How did this day go from great to absolutely horrible in mere minutes???

All you wanted was to just add some new human treasures to your collection but now here you were, washed up on jagged and uncomfortable rocks with your body and tail twisted in all the wrong ways because of this stupid human net! One of your arms was twisted backwards and pinned to your side while the other was bent painfully and pressed into your chest and neck. Your tail meanwhile was bent and twisted in various directions while being simultaneously constricted by the net. Everything felt sore and even the slightest movement would cause shocks of pain to burst throughout your body.

So right now all you could do was just lie there on your back, you still felt exhausted from before so your mind still felt too sluggish to think of a logical escape plan. You huffed and laid your head back against the rock, your mop of wet hair splaying out under you. You seemed to have washed up under some small wooden structure as when you looked above yourself you only saw a bunch of wooden planks lined up together and extending outwards into the sea, so much for trying to pass the time by cloud gazing…

Judging by the little amount of sky you could see when looking to your side it must’ve been pretty late in the evening right now, the sun had been pretty high in the sky when you first got caught (at least you think it was), just how long were you out for?

You felt the ocean water gently wash over the end of your tail, relieving the soreness but only for a brief moment before the tide went back down. A whine escaped your throat, you couldn’t help but wonder if the ocean was deciding to taunt you now, showing just how close to home you were despite being unable to move. Were you… going to be stuck here forever? You could only count the number of times you were on land with one hand, and even then you’ve never been out of the water for this long. Would something happen to you? You had no idea, and that made you increasingly nervous.

You probably shouldn’t wait long enough to find out if something would happen if you were on land for too long, but you were at a loss as to what to do. Your body still hurt and you still couldn’t move, and even if you could move and shimmy back into the water your arms were stuck in a position that made scratching at the net impossible and last time you check you can’t make your neck grow longer so biting the net was also a no go. How were you supposed to get home???

As you wallowed about your predicament the silence was suddenly broken when you heard a loud thumping from above the wooden structure. You immediately stopped what you were doing, your fins flaring out in alert to focus on whatever the noise was. It moved from the start of the structure all the way until the end of it where the sound stopped.

What in the world was that??

Quiet as a guppy, you listened carefully for any more noise to try and figure out what that was. You’ve never heard a sound like that before in the reef, was it a surface thing? You racked your brain to try and think of whatever it could be... Could it be… a human? What would a human be doing here? Aren’t they supposed to be with the monsters? Oh no… What if the human was looking for you to bring you to the monster you escaped from earlier?! You couldn’t let the humans or the monster take you again! Subconsciously the tip of your tail that was sticking out the net silently flailed as you feared being discovered. You need to get out of there right now-

*Hic- Hic- Sob…*

Wait… What was that..?

From the end of the structure was a different sound from before. The noise was quiet, almost like a whisper, you heard something taking in gasps of air in very quick succession along with sniffling and whimpering. Was the human… crying..? Why? What are they so sad about? Your previous fear of being discovered had begun fading away and was now being replaced by great sympathy, you never liked it when things were sad and it was no different with humans. You almost wanted to speak out to the human but you were unsure if revealing yourself would be a good idea.

The human’s cries continued while you quietly listened until a particularly harsh tide rolled up the land and crashed over you and dragged you downwards. You slid down the rocks before abruptly stopping before fully being in the ocean again. The jagged rocks scratched at your back and the sudden movement made your twisted limbs burn with pain and soreness, you couldn’t control the pained cry that left your mouth. Writhing from the pain you had rolled onto your side without realizing, as your bit your lip to try and stop your crying. The pain slowly cleared from your head letting you tune into your surroundings again, it was then that you realized the sounds of crying had completely stopped.

“..H-Hello?”

Oh no.

The planks of wood creaked above you as you assumed the human was moving around after hearing you.

“Is someone- hic- there…?” The human said again, their words briefly cut off by a hiccup and sniffle.

You stayed completely silent, not moving a single muscle. The human seemed to be doing the same thing as you couldn't hear any more noise coming from them, well, except for the sniffles and hiccups they still let out. As this silent stand-off continued you found yourself starting to consider properly speaking up to the human.

Back when you’d seen humans in the reef you never really got to hear them speak, you always thought that since the humans were almost always around the monsters the humans would sound similar to them, but it seems to be the exact opposite. This human’s voice… was so… meek. They didn’t sound like a monster trying to find you, they sounded small and sad and… like a fingerling. Just like you.

And just like that the tiny bit of fear that lingered in your head completely crumbled. Gathering the strength you could you rolled to lay on your back again, weakly grunting as you did. Taking a deep breath you puffed out your chest and opened your mouth.

“H…Help..”, your voice came out much weaker and scratchier than you anticipated, you knew you hadn’t exactly spoken words–especially not human words–for a while but wow…

Scratchy and unused voice aside, you listened for any response from the human. However you were only met with silence, strange, did the human not hear you? You shut your eyes and called out for help again, saying it louder this time. Resting your body back down on the rocks you yet again listened for a response, and yet again you were met with nothing. Now you were really confused, they were talking before but were completely silent now, what gives??

You almost went to call out again until you saw a shape in the corner of your eye that wasn't there before. You quickly looked over and saw something peering down at you from over the wooden structure, but just as suddenly as it appeared it darted away. That had to be the human! You heard thumping come from above you until suddenly the sound dashed towards you, the human was running to stand right above you!

You barely had enough time to react when from your side something swung down from the structure. You jumped in reaction and looked over and immediately felt your jaw drop at what you saw. A body like yours, but with two legs dangling down from their hips, there was undeniably a real human being staring down at you.

The human dangled from the wooden structure using one arm to hold themself up, their other arm down at their side, strangely the arm by their side was wrapped in a weird thick pink… thing. You’d never seen anything like it, but the bright pink stood out against the night so much you couldn’t help but focus on it. After a few moments of silence, the human suddenly let go of the wood and dropped down to the rocks, breaking you out of your fascination with the human's strange pink wrapping.

The human stood completely still, they just stared at you with wide disbelieving eyes. They wore a thin white top and thick beige shorts, on their face was something that you’re not entirely sure of what the name is, it was one of those frames with glass in them that you remember finding sometimes in the reef. What really stood out to you from the human was their eyes and hair, both of which were coloured almost exactly like the sea. Looking into their eyes reminded you of the bright clean waters back at the reef, and their hair that gently swayed in the wind made you think of the calm waves you’d see during those rare days where you’d perch up on a rock above the water. Your curious mind almost wondered if they were a human version of the ocean itself, if so maybe that pink wrapping would be their coral.

After you observed the human, you tilted your head at them, the movement startling the human and making them gasp, the action almost making you giggle. The human shook their head then wiped at their eyes with the hand wrapped in pink (which you thought looked slightly uncomfortable) then looked back at you and gulped.

“... Are you real..?”, they asked tentatively. Their voice shook ever so slightly as if tears were gonna start falling from their eyes again at any moment.

You nodded your head in response to the question, even if you felt it was a tad strange, of course you were real! The human took a very slow and careful step towards you, mumbling something you couldn’t hear properly.

The human went silent yet again, but their eyes drifted from your face downwards towards your tail. Suddenly feeling quite bashful underneath the human’s stare, you slightly fidgeted your body which you quickly regretted as soreness sprouted in all your limbs. Right, you almost forgot the twisted state your body was in.

After seeing you fidget the human’s eyes widened, “You’re stuck.”, they thought aloud.

After a pause, the human suddenly walked closer and stopped just next to you. They still looked slightly wary and held their hands up in what you assumed to be a position that tried to make them look more docile. Even so, you couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated by how the human towered over you and you felt your body shrink back. At that, the human sputtered.

“I-It’s okay..! I wanna get the net off you.” They crouched down so they weren’t ominously standing over you.

From here you could see their actual face much more clearly. They had chubby cheeks that had streaks of dried tears running down them, and when you looked up into their sea-coloured eyes they looked slightly red from crying.

The human looked away from you and instead looked over at the net wrapped around your body, they winced at how the net was digging into your skin and reached out. You tried to stay as still as possible as they grabbed a piece of the net with their not wrapped hand, cautiously sliding their fingers under the material to put some space between it and your body. Their hand was ridiculously warm against your cold skin, but they weren’t reacting to the temperature difference.

The human then grabbed another piece of the net with the hand wrapped in pink. They breathed out an “Okay” and suddenly tugged harshly to try and rip the net. Your body shook with the action and you yelped in a mixture of shock and pain.

“Ah- Sorry!” The human said, they continued tugging at the net but a little softer this time. It didn’t necessarily stop all the pain, but the gesture was sweet enough for you to try and keep your cries to a minimum.

Despite the human tugging on the net as hard as they could the net wouldn’t rip. After one extra hard try the human let go of the net and huffed, falling back onto their bottom to sit on the rocks, their cheeks puffed out in an angry pout. 

“I can’t break it.” The human grumbled, and you couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment with them.

You rested your head back on the rocks, then an idea came to mind. You looked back at the human, more specifically their hands. Just like you thought the human didn’t have claws like you did, that’s probably why they had more trouble with the net than you would. If the human didn’t have any claws that could tear the net, then they needed to find a substitute!

With some strain, you rolled onto your side which got the human's attention, they shuffled backwards and watched you to see what you were doing. With your cheek pressed against the rocks, you bent your neck so you could grab one of the jagged rocks under you with your mouth. Once you had one you looked back up at the human, who was just staring at you in confusion. With your limited mobility, you made a slicing motion with the rock in your mouth, and at that, the human got what you were trying to communicate.

“Oh! I can cut the net with the rocks!”, They looked at the rocks near them and almost immediately spotted one they could use. They grabbed it and ran their finger across the jagged edge of the rock, nodding in approval once they deemed it sharp enough.

They reached back down at the net but paused before they tried anything. They looked back at you for a moment.

“Um, please don’t move too much. I don’t want to cut you.”, You nodded and made your whole body go limp.

The human brought their attention back to the net and grabbed hold of it. They held the net with their wrapped hand and held the rock in their not wrapped hand. Very carefully to not cut you the human slid the rock between you and the net and pressed the sharpest edge of the rock against the net. Then very slowly they began to move the rock back and forth to slowly slice the net. The process wasn’t smooth by any means, the human had to adjust their grip multiple times and make sure they pressed the rock against the net hard enough to actually do something. But the human didn’t give up, and after what felt like ages of cutting, finally, the rock cut through the net!

Once the rock cut through you and the human let out a cheer of triumph, your tail moved in excitement and the human went back to cutting the net, though this time filled with much more vigour after the initial success.

Soon enough with the human's efforts they were able to cut through a large enough portion of the net for them to reach under and tear the rest of the net much more quickly. Once the net was torn enough for you to regain control of your limbs you cheered and rolled over onto your stomach, flailing your tail around to fling leftover pieces of net off of you. 

Finally, your limbs weren’t in pain anymore! Relief washed over your body so strongly you nearly felt like crying. To your side, you heard the human sigh and felt them grab the net from under you and throw it somewhere else. You sprang up from the ground and sat down properly, looking at the human with stars in your eyes you leaned towards them and smiled.

“Thank you..!!”, Your voice was still pretty scratchy but you made sure to sound as thankful and happy as possible.

At the sound of your voice again the human’s eyes widened before they nodded, “No problem.”, you swore that even in the dark you could see their cheeks turn red ever so slightly.

A silence fell over you and the human, both of you looked out towards the sea but neither of you made a move to leave. After the brief pause, the human spoke again while fidgeting with their fingers.

“So… um… You’re really a mermaid?”, they asked. 

You were slightly confused. Mermaid..? You’ve never heard that word before. You looked back at them and tilted your head in confusion.

“Mer…maid?”, you said, pronouncing it very carefully to try and get it right.

The human paused for a moment, they looked just as confused as you were. “You…”, their words trailed off as they looked down at your tail, they looked back at you, “You don’t know what mermaid means..?”

You shook your head to which the human scrunched his eyebrows.

“Never… Heard of… ‘Mermaid’… before.”, you shook your head. The human hummed and then looked out at the ocean before pointing at it.

“You live in the water, right? And you can breathe in it?”, they asked to which you nodded.

“Reef is… my.. Home”

The human mumbled then resolutely said, “So you’re a mermaid.”

You still didn’t understand what that word was, but you honestly weren’t sure how you were supposed to respond, the human had said that you were a “mermaid” so surely you felt like you kind of had to agree with them.

Without waiting for you to confirm or deny what they said you were the human spoke again. “How did you get here? And how did the net get on you?”

The topic change was slightly abrupt, but they did ask a question you could actually answer, so you did.

“A monster.. took me! Grabbed me in.. its… its net. I got away… Bit my way out. But.. my mind.. hurt… so I fell… asleep.”, you explained as best you could, trying to use the best human words you could in the way that made the most sense.

Luckily the human got what you were explaining and nodded along with your story. They turned their body to face the ocean instead of you and rested their arms on their legs.

“Mm. I got here ‘cause of my dad.”, they said, your fins perked up at the mention of the human’s dad. You looked at the human curiously, wanting them to explain further.

“Dad..?”

The human nodded, but before they began explaining their expression suddenly saddened and it looked like tears were gonna fall from their face again.

“My parents… They don’t love each other anymore.. And- hic- and I had to leave home and come to this- this stupid town!”, tears began to flow out of their eyes again after their outburst which left you internally panicking.

If you were being honest, you weren’t entirely sure what the human was talking about but you still didn’t want to see them cry. Wracking your brain for a way to make the human feel better you got reminded of the manta ray you had helped earlier today, more specifically how you got it to calm down so you could help it.

Hesitantly you raised your hand to the human's seafoam green hair. Then making sure to be as careful as possible so you didn’t spook the human you began to pet their hair. The second your hand touched their head they stopped trembling and froze like a statue.

“I’m sorry…”, you soothed. The human turned their head to look at you with pure bewilderment which made you self-consciously take your hand off their head and drop it back down to your side. Maybe humans didn’t do that to comfort their friends…

Thankfully the human didn’t look angry at what you did, just very perplexed. They sniffled and wiped the new tears from their eyes, mumbling a shy “Sorry” back at you. After that, you and the human settled into another moment of silence, the rolling tides of the ocean becoming comforting background noise.

The two of you stayed like that for a while, sitting next to each other and watching the waves. You could tell that both you and the human were getting tired, your body and mind felt more sluggish and out of the corner of your eye you saw the human yawn and rub at their eyes to try and get the sleep out of them. Yet despite the growing fatigue neither of you moved to leave. You both stayed put right there together, and neither of you really knew why.

“...My name is Cove.”, the human suddenly said. You had gotten so used to the silence that you almost jumped at the sudden noise.

You repeated the human’s–Cove’s–name, liking the way it rolled off your tongue so naturally. The name almost felt familiar though you couldn’t tell why. You smiled and said the name one more time.

“Coove~”, you said it in a sing-song way which made Cove look at you dazzled, and he couldn’t help but return your smile.

You then pointed at yourself, ready to introduce yourself. “You.. Call me-”

“Cove?!”, someone suddenly yelled from somewhere.

You and Cove immediately whipped your heads around to the sound. You didn’t recognize this voice at all, it sounded much older than you and Cove combined. The voice yelled out for Cove again, sounding very concerned, how did the voice know Cove’s name? Oh no, was it..?

Cove looked back at you with fear and a new sense of urgency, “It’s my dad!”, he gasped, confirming your suspicions, “I-I don’t want him to see you! You have to go back home!”, he urged.

Cove’s sudden sense of scared urgency immediately spread over to you making you panic. Even if Cove was sweet and had helped you out of the net that didn’t mean all humans were like that! Who knows what Cove’s dad would be like?? From what Cove had said and how sad he sounded, then his dad must be terrible!

Gathering strength into your body you began hurriedly shimmying further into the water. Cove crawled over behind you and placed his hands on your back, the sudden warmth against your scales making you jolt, though Cove either didn’t notice or didn’t care about your reaction as he simply began to help push you into the water. Eventually, once your whole tail was completely submerged you were able to let the incoming tide sweep you down into the water.

Letting yourself sink into the water, you felt nearly all the tension that had built up exit your body. It was so nice to be back in the water where you belonged. Or, almost where you belonged. You were still deep inside the monster's home and you had to navigate out of there, you could only hope that all the monsters were asleep. But that’s a problem you didn’t want to worry about right now.

Swimming back up to poke your head out of the water, you saw Cove still sitting there at the water's edge. He was checking behind him, presumably watching to see if his dad would show up. Hearing you poke your head out of the water he looked back at you, jolting a bit as you had startled him.

You smiled and raised your hand out of the water, “Goodbye Cove!”, you didn’t want to leave him without saying goodbye.

Cove nervously returned your smile and waved back at you with his hand wrapped in pink, rushing out a stuttered goodbye. After sharing your farewells, you quickly dived back down underwater, ready to finally make your way back home. The water was muddy and the environment was still depressingly barren, making it tricky to navigate, but you weren’t going to let that deter you.

As you were slowly but surely making your way back home, your thoughts kept drifting back to Cove, he somehow managed to feel so strange but so comfortingly familiar at the same time. Everything about him just made your brain go wild with curiosity. Humans had always intrigued you but they always felt too foreign, too invasive for you to gather the courage to speak to them, but Cove wasn’t like that. He felt… nicer. That’s the only way your young mind could put it. You wanted to find out more things about him, his personality, his hobbies, his fears, his dreams, anything you could uncover about him you wanted to figure out.

You wondered if you’d ever see Cove again, you really hoped you would…

তততততততততততততততততততত

Cove stood at the edge of the ocean in a daze, he felt like he was dreaming. Did he seriously just meet a real mermaid?? There’s no way! That person had to be some sort of actor wearing a fake tail and makeup or something. But the tail didn’t look fake… and neither did their fins or gills… Oh jeez, maybe all of Cove’s messy feelings were really getting to him.

Cove was stuck in a tornado of events. First, his parents fighting more, then them breaking up, then his dad saying that they had to leave to somewhere else, then him being brought to this weird town where all anyone does is fish, and now on top of everything Cove has to meet a real mermaid??!! He barely knew what to make of all of this.

He looked to his side and saw the cut-up net he had helped the mermaid out of. When he first saw them all tied up he knew he wanted to help them, but he was so caught off guard by their appearance that he still froze. In the end, Cove was glad he got the net off, the net was coarse and scratchy when he tugged on it, there was no way being wrapped up so tightly in it was painless. The net must’ve come from one of the boats that he and his dad saw when they were exploring the harbour, they looked very similar. Hopefully, the mermaid wouldn’t get caught that badly again.

Cove sighed and kicked at the rocks underneath him, it was only a matter of time until his dad found him here. That sucks, Cove had hoped he could stay away at this secluded dock forever. At least the mermaid got away, Cove wanted them to be his own little secret, besides his dad would probably scare them away or something which could make it so Cove never saw them again. 

“Cove! There you are!”

Speak of the devil. Cove turned around and saw his dad hurriedly make his way over. Once his dad reached Cove he dropped to his knees and quickly gave Cove a once-over to make sure he was okay. Once he knew Cove was fine his dad pulled him into a tight hug and lifted him up. Cove tried to push away from the hug to no avail, groaning at the affection.

“I'm sorry, looking at the boats must’ve been too boring right? Let’s go check out the house now okay? You must be tired, I know I am!”, Cove’s dad laughed as he began to walk back to the main harbour with his son in his arms.

Cove grumbled but conceded, “Fine…”

Cove rested his chin on his dad’s shoulder and took one last look out to the ocean. He wondered where the mermaid was now, they mentioned ‘Reef’ being their home, did that mean there was a coral reef near here and that’s where they lived? Hopefully there was, Cove would love to visit. He had so many questions about the mermaid, but his growing sleepiness made it hard to focus on any of them.

Feeling his eyes finally droop close, Cove could only wonder if he’d ever see the mermaid again. He really hoped so, maybe they’d make this town a not-so-terrible place to live…

তততততততততততততততততততত

Thank you for reading! Forgive me if the writing in this is kind of funky or flawed, I haven't written this seriously in months and I'm trying to get my groove and style back

If this gains enough traction and interest then I might continue this as a fun little series so once again any form of interaction is greatly appriciated and encouraged!!

I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine before she realizes she’s reading.

Maya Angelou (via writingdotcoffee)

Thalassa

TW: Child abuse, Domestic Violence, Murder, Violence, Sexual Content

Thalassa (/θəˈlæsə/; Greek: Θάλασσα, translit. Thálassa, lit. "sea"; Attic Greek: Θάλαττα, Thálatta) was the general word for 'sea' and for its divine female personification in Greek mythology.

Eavinary is a continent in the world of Vesela. Vesela is a realm where gods walk freely in different parts of the world. Most of them are found in Eavinary. These gods aren't a lot like you're used to seeing. These gods, while they are immortal, can die just like any other mortal when it comes to being mortally wounded. They can only die from unnatural causes. Among these gods are the more well known ones. Life, Death, Sun, Moon, War, and Disease. They're the most known and the most feared.

The moon goddess is all six year old Aurora looks up to. She's read stories about this goddess, has heard how kind she is and how she could never hurt a soul. It's a good escape when you have a drunkard dad that comes home every night and beats your mother while you hide under your bed. And it goes on like that for the next ten years of their life. But everything changes when they turn fifteen and tragedy like never expected hits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being a little girl in a world full of gods and goddesses was certainly a difficult concept for a six year old to handle, especially when you were surrounded by nothing but bad things and evil people. 

When Aurora was six years old, her mother meant the world to her, she was her knight in shining armor and no one else could convince her otherwise. Her family lived in a relatively small village on the coast of the continent Taemora. Taemora is a sprawling landmass, characterized by its breathtaking diversity of landscapes. Towering mountain ranges, crowned with snow-capped peaks, stretch like the spine of a slumbering giant along the northern border. These mountains are rumored to hide secret valleys, where ancient tribes guard long-lost treasures. Or that's what her mother told her stories about. 

To the west, a vast, untamed wilderness unfolds, a realm of dense forests where colossal trees seem to touch the heavens. Deep within these woods, whispers of sentient flora and elusive forest spirits capture the imagination of daring adventurers.

As you venture eastward, the terrain transforms into a vast expanse of rolling, emerald-green hills, reminiscent of an artist's masterpiece. The plains were home to nomadic tribes who had mastered the art of horsemanship and whose grand caravans traversed the land in an endless dance of life and tradition.  Towards the south, the continent meets the sea with dramatic coastal cliffs that plunge into a crystalline, bioluminescent ocean. Here, hidden coves harbor pirate legends and rare, elusive sea creatures, while vibrant underwater cities of merfolk thrive in harmony with the tides.

Her mother told her all kinds of stories about the gods and where they came from, that no one quite knew, but that she did. "The Aurora Borealis, which dances in the northern skies, is believed to be a bridge between the mortal realm and the land of the gods, where the divine and the earthly converge." The soft voice of her mother echoed in her head, reminding her of how her name came to be. She'd go on and on about how the gods had blessed her mother with her existence, which is how she got her name, that she was the mortal who would unite god and man as one.

As her childhood continued, she lost faith in the gods, each new day a new bruise and the same grumpy brunette man screaming at her mother. The few times she spoke up, she shared a similar bruise to her mothers the next day. It got progressively worse into her preteen years when she started going by the name 'Rory', their mother adored their name and thought it fit them well. Their father was livid, they convinced themselves that he just didn't understand and tried to give him time. But it failed every time. Everyday, one new bruise.

Eventually, they stopped speaking all together to avoid any conflict. From ages eleven to thirteen they were silent, hardly ever spoke unless Arthur wasn't home. Arthur is what they started referring to their father as, they'd referred to him as such since they were ten.

Manipulators often exhibit a range of common signs and behaviors that can help you identify their attempts to control or deceive others.

 There were days where he was okay, the days when he was sober, the days he didn't recall any of his horrible actions and actually acted like a proper dad. One of those days, he tied a piece of pink twine into their hair and braided it down their back. 

Charm and Flattery: Manipulators often begin by showering their targets with excessive charm, compliments, and flattery. They aim to create a sense of trust and admiration.

He'd compliment it, say it was a nice color and that they should change it to look like that some day. That they'd be such a good and strong person one day and even that he was proud of them. It gave them hope.

  "..Dad?" Rory asked, glancing over their shoulder at Arthur as he braided their hair. "Yes sunshine?" He asked, a light hum in his voice. "...Why do you hurt mom?" They asked, bracing themselves for any form of violent action.

Gaslighting: Gaslighting is a form of manipulation where the person tries to make you doubt your own perception of reality. They may deny things they've said or done, making you question your memory or sanity.

  "I don't know what you're talking about, I'd never hurt you or your mother sweetheart" He said, his voice light, almost innocent sounding. "You know that don't you? why don't I make you something to eat, what would you like?" He asked. Rory paused, turning and facing him again. "My friends say that their moms talk about how you hit her with a lot of things because you drink too much" They said.

Isolation: They may try to isolate you from friends and family, making you more dependent on them for emotional support and validation. This isolation can make it easier for them to manipulate you.

    "I don't think these are good friends for you to be hanging around, they're putting this false information in your head, how about I get you more books and you can spend more time reading than trusting liars" Arthur said, going to the kitchen and starting on food, humming as he did so. "..But you hit me too, this bruise is from last week" They said quietly after having followed him into the kitchen, watching him turn to face them and come closer, kneeling in front of them. Manipulative Pity: They might pretend to be in a constant state of distress or crisis, using your sympathy to manipulate you into doing what they want.    "Oh Sunshine, I'm so sorry, I've just been under so much stress recently with trying to get a new job....I don't mean to hurt you" Arthur said, tears forming in his eyes as he started to hug Rory. "I'm so sorry baby, I really didn't mean to, I'm just so stressed and I need to be able to get a job so I can give you and your mother a better life" He said.

And they believed it.

The hope disappeared slowly overtime, disappearing entirely on the evening of their fifteenth birthday.

Rory never got much on their past birthdays, a book here and there, they were always happy with what they got. But every year their mother, Eve, never failed to get them a new birthday outfit. This year it was a pretty knee length powder blue dress with ruffles towards the bottom and they wore their pair of black dress shoes. She did their hair up in a fishtail braid and added a blush pink bow to the end of the braid.

   "Look at you, absolutely gorgeous" Eve spoke, giving their child a kiss on the cheek. The faint purple of a bruise could slightly be seen through the makeup on her face, her ash blonde colored hair draped over her shoulders covering the bruises on her collarbone and neck. Her brown eyes withholding tears in them, breathing out she put a necklace around their neck, a pink seashell with beads on each side on a leather cord. "Perfect, now you're ready" She said. Rory stood from their place at the vanity, following their mother out to the dimly lit living area, seeing a table with a small cake with a singular candle wick in it. It burned brightly, and there was a gift on the table wrapped in paper.

They sat at the table, smiling at their mother as they unwrapped their gift, letting out a soft gasp when it was unwrapped. It was a leather bound book, upon opening it the pages were blank, it was a diary. "Oh...it's beautiful" They said softly. "Thank you mom-" They started, the door slamming open seconds later. The wind from outside blowing out the candle wick on the cake. It was Arthur standing in the doorway, very clearly intoxicated, it very quickly went quiet. 

Abusers may overreact for several reasons, and it's important to note that their behavior is not justified or acceptable. Overreactions are often a manipulation tactic and a form of control. 

    "Did I miss you singing happy birthday?" He asked, his words slurring from the content of alcohol in his body. "No, I was just about to sing" Eve spoke up timidly. Arthur nodded towards her, motioning for her to start before pausing. "Wait, the candle isn't lit, can't you do a single damn thing woman? its a fucking candle for a cake and you can't even light the fucking candle, what the hell is wrong with you? useless bitch" He said. 

"There's no need to overreact Arthur, it's Rory's birthday, I think you need to tell them something" Eve said. "I can react however I damn well please, and I don't need to tell her shit, I created her if anything I should be celebrated" He said. "Them, we talked about this, they don't like us using she or her, please don't disrespect their wishes Arthur...they're fifteen" She said. "Good! then I can go ahead and marry her off so she can stop wasting my time" He scowled. "Over my dead body you will" Eve said, gaining a bit of a back bone for once during the past fifteen years of her marriage. "She's my baby and you are not getting rid of her" She said.

Arthur went silent, sitting on the chair, avoiding eye contact. Eve cut him a piece of cake, bringing over a plate and handing it to him. "You know Eve, you really should be careful with the phrasing of your sentences" He said, grabbing the hand of hers that held the knife and twisting her wrist and grabbing it and stabbing her in the abdomen. After that first motion, he couldn't stop, he had dropped the plate and started stabbing erratically, all over here body. The blood soaking into the wood floor and her struggling to try and crawl away and failing as Arthur stabbed into her spine, stopping her ability to move her legs and she just let out weak cries and screams while reaching for Rory. Her child that stood only a few feet away, eyes wide in shock and unable to make a single noise or move a single inch as they watched their mother being butchered by the man who they used to call their father.

Control and Power: Abusers often seek to maintain control and dominance in their relationships. In some cases, killing or threatening to kill their victims can be seen as the ultimate way to exert power and instill fear.

Running was all they could do. Their heart was pounding loudly in their ears, feeling like it was about to jump out of their chest. Their breathing became shallow and rapid, it began to feel difficult to get air into their lungs, they collapsed to the floor behind their locked bedroom door. The faded echoing of slamming on the door. They felt hot and cold at the same time, and their chest felt like it was squeezing itself harshly, their hands were shaking. They felt nauseous and dizzy. They needed to move, they knew they needed to get out. They needed to run. They didn't know where to go, but they needed to run.

 Panic is often accompanied by an intense and irrational fear that can be triggered by a specific situation, object, thought, or physical sensation. This fear is out of proportion to the actual threat, and the individual may have difficulty explaining or rationalizing it.

They set their sights on the window in their room, they blinked but suddenly they thudded to the grass outside their bedroom window and then they were running. They spread their wings out of their back and tried taking off the ground, jumping, crying, unable to catch their breath. They heard a crash from inside the house and gave up and started running and didn't look back. They couldn't turn back, not now, not ever. Their mother was dead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please stay tuned for new chapters every other Sunday on Wattpad. This is a story based on my minecraft lore based SMP called Wisper SMP, streamed on twitch every other week, told from the perspective of the water goddex Rory and things that have happened in their life.

Wattpad

Thalassa

TW: Child abuse, Domestic Violence, Murder, Violence, Sexual Content Thalassa (/θəˈlæsə/; Greek: Θάλασσα, translit. Thá...

▀▄▀▄▀▄A Mother's Love▄▀▄▀▄▀(𝚏𝚎𝚖!𝙼𝙲)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍: 𝚀𝚒𝚞/𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚗 𝚈𝚒 𝙻𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙻𝚒𝚗 𝙾𝚙𝚊𝚕 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝙲 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 (𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙾𝙻:𝙽&𝙵)

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝:

Qiu and MC shall both be 24 in this one-shot! Enjoy!

(𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗) The wedding was absolutely fantastic, went off without a hitch- which was a suprise going off of how clumsy the groom could be about losing the simplest things, but I guess that's what the bride is for. Picking up the missing pieces for them, making her groom whole again. Emotions were high, after all- this wedding had been in production since both Qiu and MC were 22. Two long years of planning for their perfect wedding, but the wait was well worth it. Everything was absolutely stunning- the off-white base colors for the outifts, matched with the golden accents paired with the bridesmaids and groomsmen wearing earthy green and cream tones- pulling them apart from the natural autumnal scenary of Golden Grove.

The ceramony was rather basic, but it worked for the two love birds and got the job done. The reception however, was a lot more fun since Hong Lin, Qiu's father, was able to pull some strings for his child and his now daughter-in-law. Not only were the location set for their honey moon, but the reception as well. People were dancing, having fun- a room full of family and friends, both new and old, brought together to celebrate the union of Autumn Lin and MC Lin.

By the time speeches were going on, things were settling down- light chatter floating within the room as they all waited patiently for the next speaker to aproach the mic. A light tapping gathered the attention of all those in the room, including the newly weds, to the microphone. There stood Opal Second, MC's loving mother with small tear and makeup streaks on her cheeks as she smiled lovingly at her daughter and new child-in-law. "Hello friends and family alike, I wanted to thank all of you for coming to my daughter's wedding. She and Qiu spent so long on planning this and I'm so glad it's gone as smoothly as possible for them, but that's not why I'm here right now." She had started, looking around earning a few cheers from the crowd before her gaze returns to the newly weds once again. "Let's start with my newly apointed child-in-law, Qiu- or Autumn. Let me tell you, when I had first met him that early morning when they came over to pick my lovely daughter up to walk to school- I knew something was going to be special about his relationship with her. As I watched the two grow closer with time, I knew my daughter's originial thoughts were correct about him." The crowd was slightly confused, unsure of what she was referring to but figuring she'd get to that point in a moment. "I wanted to thank you for keeping her happy, and being there for her when even I couldn't be. You are an outstanding person Qiu, and I'm super glad I get to call you my son-in-law." Opal grinned at the two beloveds as they cuddled closer to each other, Qiu grinning ear to ear- pure joy radiating off of them that made MC giggle lightly.

"Now my beautiful baby girl, god I'm so proud of you sweetie. From the very first day we've been in Golden Grove you made friends with two amazing people, and now you're marrying one of them! Back when you were ten years old and you came home excitedly, telling me that you had found the one you were going to marry I was shocked- but look at you now! Fulfulling that very promise you made all those years ago!" MC blushed brightly, grinning shyly as the crowd laughed lightheartedly at the call out from Opal. Qiu had even laughed before shouting over the laughter "What can I say?! We just knew we liked each other!" they had made the laughter grow, flustering his bride further. Once the laughter died down, the speech contiued. "Oh goodness, I've been waiting two years to make that joke! But back to the point- I am so proud of my baby for finding her true pairing. Despite not being able to witness romantic love as she was growing up, she still found her one and only and I couldn't more excited for her and her future. I love you sweetie, thank you for coming into my life and being my little ray of sunshine." The speech was finished, and more tears had slipped from Opal's eyes gently cascading down her cheeks before MC had stood, tearing up herself, and rushed over to hug her mother. "I love you too momma." She said with a smile, the mic picking up on it- making the audience aw before Qiu stood and approached the two who held each other tightly. Originally he had intended to stand there until the hug broke to escort their lovely wife back to the couple's seat, but once Opal noticed him near she had pulled him into the hug as well. Soon after that both Yi and Hung, Qiu's parents, also joined the hug- a united family. A flash went off, the wedding photographer capturing the familial moment with a soft smile. Once the speeches were all done and the reception had gone deep into the night, it was eventually time to sent everybody home. Opal, Yi, and Hung going to dinner while their children whisked each other away to their honeymoon.

Not going to lie, once Our Life: Now & Forever is fully released I might make a part two to this one of the honeymoon night- BUT not yet. Thank you for reading, and for the request Anon! 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 890