Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday to AO3 🎂🎉

AHHH!! Why are people so nice and patient? I was playing Sky: Children of the Light and was in the music hall, my little squid brain trying to string together the right notes to play Undertale's Memory. It sounded enough like the actual thing for someone to figure out what I was attempting. This masterful person played the song beautifully! And then they proceeded to teach me?! Ehhh?! And they were so patient?? And repeated notes so I could understand?? I love them but I can't tell them. And they taught me another Undertale song which I already forgot the name of. But that aside, I now know how to play Memory and it's incredible. I will now be getting an instrument as soon as possible and only the dark dragons will be able to stop me.

If my new bestest friend somehow sees this, I love you more than words can allow and am forever in your debt. If you want a seasonal pass next year, you can bet all your candles and hearts that I will get you one. May the rest of your year be wonderful and grand, may you get to meet and pet many super cute dogs whenever you go out and may someone pay for your food at a restaurant or your drink at a cafe. May you find twenty bucks on the street, may you find that lost sock or earring, may whatever god(s) you believe in grant you luck and fortunes untold for helping one small and undeserving Sky kid.

Seaweed Nest

Cross was running his hand over the soft nest that he and the shiver had been sleeping in since he arrived. It was soft and plush, warm and safe. But it was starting to fall apart. He would have repaired it himself. If he knew how. There were quite a few nests hidden in the Trench. At times Cross saw the others working on theirs. It was amazing how everyone, everyone except him, knew how to weave these special nests that were all so comfortable. He wasn't jealous per se, but he certainly would love to learn.

"Whatcha doing Cross?" Dream swam up and curled himself around the thresher. He gave a small hum at the warmth.

"Just thinking," Cross received a bonk for his response. "How do you all make these nests?" The leviathan gave a squeal and darted away from Cross. Had... had he said something wrong. Just as the poor mer was about to leave, Dream swam back in, kelp in hand. He dumped the seaweed on Cross and sat next to him.

"Ooh, I've been wanting to teach you this!!" 

------

"Baha, oh my gosh Crossy-" A certain bull shark mer burst out laughing at the sight before him.

"Shut up," The mer glared at Killer for even thinking about teasing him. "It's Dream's fault."

"Don't blame me! I was just trying to-"

"Brother, you don't even know how to make a nest,"

"I do! It's just... Different is all," The goldfish pouted. Nightmare allowed himself to fall into his smaller form. Once a reasonable size, he untangled his brother and mate from the mess of seaweed they had made.

"Don't do this again. Horror will be happy to teach you both," He gave both of them a pat before leaving to dispose of the knot of kelp.

------

"This is nice," Cross murmured as he sunk deeper into the newly made nest. Horror only purred in response. Dream was still off sulking somewhere, though, it was likely Dust was with him as the whitetip had mysteriously vanished some time ago. "Thanks for the lesson," Cross got a kiss for his words.

Goldfish

Green eyelights met empty black eyes. Sans glanced over to his friend, more than a little curious as to what was going on. Kelp didn't blink. Neither did the fish in the tank. The older skeleton went over to the completely normal one, or, Sans thought Kelp was completely normal.

"Uh, buddy?" Kelp waved him away. "Kelp?" The younger fisherman finally blinked. And the moment that was over, he stared with an even more intense glare than earlier.

"Has that thing ever blinked?" He asked, finally turning away from his "adversary."

"Pretty sure it hasn't. It's a fish," Kelp took a moment to digest the words that had just been said. A soft ohhhhh came from the fisherman as he turned back to the goldfish. "It doesn't have eyelids, I thought you knew that,"

"I do! I just forgot," Kelp mumbled, his face flushing a light green. Sans patted him on the back as they continued walking towards the docks.

"Umm, Kelp?" Horror was shushed. The Great White nudged his landwalker partner. "Kelp?" The two sharks present shared a worried look for their two-legged mate. "Are you okay?" Green had been staring at gold for an unknown amount of time when- Dream blinked and shook his head. After a few more blinks, he looked back at Kelp, who was dusting off his shorts and slowly standing up. Once he was straight, he had a grin plastered on his face. The three mers were about to ask when-

"Hah! I knew it! You do blink!" He gave off a cheer, confusing his present company.

"Why wouldn't I?" Dream asked, confused, but completely adoring the sense of accomplishment Kelp was oozing.

"There's this-" Kelp struggled with the words for a moment. "Goldfish, and the damn thing never blinks. It doesn't have eyelids. But, you're a goldfish-" Dream let out a soft laugh.

"Kelp, I'm still a mer. Of course I blink," The skeleton didn't bother fixing his clothes to keep it from getting wet, he simply jumped in the water and hugged Dream. Horror and Dust joined in the hug, all three mers purring happily.

"That's even better. It means I win against that stupid fish. Because you're a leviathan and far superior,"

"Why were you even having a staring contest with it?" Dream asked, wiggling his tail with glee as he was surrounded by loved ones in a tight embrace.

"I- don't remember anymore... But! That doesn't matter," The three remained hugging until the mers had to return to the Depths.

Shiver

I finally decided to participate in Mermay. Got a bit of catch-up to do. But here's my first installment. The Mermay bingo I'm going off of is from @skumhuu

He was alone. Cross didn't quite know how he got here, but here he was. In the ocean, alone. Sand beneath his flippers and salt water surrounding him. Schools of fish swam past, only darting away when he moved. It was- relaxing. He felt free. Freer than he had since he was captured as a pup. Cross didn't swim, he just stayed. Watching the fish and other critters going about their lives. He should probably go on too.

Mismatched eyelights scanned the reef. Where would he go? How was life supposed to work under the waves? He tried to remember what Gaster taught him about shark behavior. Nothing came to mind. Except- Sharks had a tendency to live in shivers. Or, mersharks at least. Should he try to find others? Cross shook his head. He didn't want to think about how easily another mershark could tear him apart.

Maybe- yeah. He could just hunt for now. Build up his skills and get used to living outside of the lab. Then he could move on to settling a bit more. And maybe he could find a shiver. But, for now, he needed to be able to survive on his own.

Cross sat curled up on a rock. His eyelights scanning the area for anything dangerous or suspicious. There was the faintest bit of blood in the water, which he ignored. He hadn't heard anything, so the blood was likely from some unfortunate fish that was caught by another creature. The thresher debated on going and hunting for himself, but the water was too dark and his eyelights adjusted poorly. He would usually hunt closer to the surface, where plenty of light filtered through and he could see clearly.

"Yoo! Crossy!" The mer looked up, instantly spotting a red glow emerging from the darker water. A bull shark mer emerged, blood smeared on his skull, sharp teeth forming a wild grin. "Glad to see you haven't ditched us," Killer chirped playfully.

"As if," Cross huffed, nudging away his partner before any blood got on him. "Aren't you supposed to be with the others?"

"Nah, we didn't want you to be alone, after all, you've been up here makin' sure we all make it out," The smaller shark forced himself into Cross's arms, hugging tight. Cross froze up for a moment before sighing and returning the embrace. Killer let out a soft purr, relaxing Cross further. It was- nice. While the larger mer didn't mind waiting for everyone and keeping guard, maybe he did get a bit lonely. The thresher melted in his partner's embrace, exhaustion creeping up on him now that he was in familiar arms.

It wasn't long before Horror and Dust appears from the trench, Horror holding a large tuna and Dust with the rest of their catch. A school of pilot fish swarmed around the two sharks cuddled together. Cross let out a confused mrrp? before opening his eyes he didn't know he had closed.

"C'mon," Dust said, tail gently brushing over his two intertwined mates. "Lets get back to the twins," Cross stretched before swimming over and offering to help with the catch. Killer did the same and both ended up with a few things they brought back to the Depths.

Waiting there for the group to return were Dream and Nightmare, the goldfish settled on his brother's shoulder, talking about whatever ancient beings talk about in their free time. The warm, glowing entity darted down and greeted the sharks as they came in.

Once everyone was settled and eating, Cross paused from his meal. He looked over at everyone, securely nestled in Nightmare's tentacles, happy and content. He wasn't alone anymore. He had people, a lot of people. His time in the lab seemed so far away. Like it was a lifetime ago. And it might as well have been. Before, Cross was miserable and trapped. Now, he was free and living with the kindest beings he had ever met. And all of them cared about him so much. He finally had not only a shiver, but a family.

Cross smiled as he continued eating the squid Horror had caught especially for him.