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hqmillioncorn · 8 months

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FFXIVWrite Day eighteen: Fish Out of Water

with @windupnamazu 's Butter and Pancake and Cinnamon

Pancake looked over the clipboard that her brother had handed her. Somehow in his embarrassment he had overlooked the very obvious signs he had left behind of his newfound crush. “Heh-heh” Pancake laughed to herself, in a mischievous manner that could have only come from a younger sister with a plan. She looked over to her brother, who was trying his best to not look at Babycorn sitting next to him. He couldn’t have been more obvious if he tried. It was really sad. It was up to Pancake to save the day! And if she couldn’t commit regicide then this was the next best thing. “Why don’t you practice kissing Hildibrand?” Pancake stood up and turned Babycorn towards her brother, “Here! Butter can help you practice kissing so you can be really good at it.!” “PANCAKE!!” Babycorn, meanwhile, wondered when lunch was gonna be.

Hi everyone!

My name’s Chelinka! But everyone calls me Babycorn!

You might not know it but I’m actually a mermaid!!

Or at least that’s what I think everyone up on land calls us! Queen Lunya would know more! She knows a lot! But what she doesn’t know is that I’m up here! Hehehehehe! I snuck away onto the surface without telling anyone but Cherry!

But it’s okay because this is for love!

You see, a while ago me and Cherry started collecting a lot of cool stuff from humans! Boring people like Queen Lunya and Tilika might call it stealing but I call it borrowing without giving it back. Where else am I gonna get cool stuff like this tasty metal from?! CRUNCH

And it’s real easy, you see. I have a light on my head that lets me…Uh Never mind!

One day me and Cherry saw a biiiig thing moving around above us. Turns out it had a bunch of people on it! Including a really really cool guy…He was handsome and strong and he’s really funny…My hearts going Ba-bump ba-bump!

I learned his name is Prince Hildibrand!

I just have to know more about him!! He’s my true love! I just know it!

It wouldn’t hurt to just get a bit closer.

Babycorn wrote down the last few events of the day on a small piece of paper. “Can’t forget the part where I ate that really yummy food! That’s really important!”

She had eaten the piece of roast beef all in one bite. By the looks on Hildibrand and his family's faces they all must have been really impressed!

Her mermaid tail and lure might have disappeared with the spell Hades cast on her but her legendary appetite and sharp teeth had someone snuck through the terms and conditions that Babycorn had not bothered to even acknowledge.

“Then after that me and Prince Hildibrand went on a walk in the garden~”

Babycorn began to write all about how she had made a dive for a worm that she’d seen on the ground just to show it to him. Hildibrand was impressed at the speed that Babycorn had caught the worm and asked her if she had an interest in bugs. Babycorn nodded enthusiastically, she did!

Teehee~How did he know?

‘Then let I, Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville, catch one for you as well my esteemed guest!’ Hildibrand declared right before jumping into a pile of grass. It was a while before Babycorn decided to check up on him. She was surprised to see just his two legs sticking up from the dirt.

Then again that was how she found him on the ocean floor when she went to save him a few days ago. So she shouldn’t have been too surprised. Babycorn tried to call for help but forgot once again that she had sold her voice to sea witch Hades for the chance to even be up here.

She was able to catch a break when Nashu, one of the castle's many servants, happened to be walking by and together they were able to pluck Hildibrand out of the ground like a freshly grown radish.

“Ah! You have once again managed to save this gentleman’s life once again! How am I ever to repay you?”

Nashu requested a three-course meal because oddly enough this was not the first time she had done this.

Babycorn pointed at Hildibrand’s hair. Stuck between the strands of his luscious and gentlemanly hair was a wriggling little caterpillar. It looked very confused on how it got there.

“Ah-ha!” Nashu noticed what Babycorn was pointing at and plucked the caterpillar right out of Hildibrand’s hair. “I think she wants this!” Nashu dropped the caterpillar onto Babycorn’s excited hands.

“No doubt that the wonderful lady wants to return the lost caterpillar to its home!” Hildibrand mused. It was just like Babycorn had done with him, he was sure now that this was the same kind soul that must have saved him from drowning on that fateful night. And now she was doing the same for this poor defenseless creature.

Then she slurped up both the worm and caterpillar like they were noodles on a plate of spaghetti.

“You should have seen the look on his face…I think he really likes me too…” Babycorn giggled to herself, kicking her feet. The way Hildibrand’s eyes widened and how he backed away alongside Nashu.

“That should be it I think!”

Babycorn picked up the paper and admired her work. It was a bunch of nonsensical drawings because Babycorn had no idea how to write and especially not with such unfamiliar instruments.

Her drawings were more sloppy than usual so she hoped that Cherrypit would be able to understand them. The one with her and Hildibrand holding hands and kissing were very important. Sure neither of those things actually happened but it was only a matter of time!

Babycorn wrapped the paper into a tube shape and walked (she still couldn’t believe it! She wasn't swimming!) over to where her friend Cait Sith was napping. She had met the cute little stray kitty cat back when she still had a fishtail so it was a big coincidence that he happened to also hang around the castle.

“You good to go Cait Sith?” She tucked the tube of paper under his collar and gently poked him, his ear wiggled in response but he didn’t budge. “I promise to give you a really tasty snack and a paperclip later! Pleaaaase?”

Cait Sith let out a meow and finally stood back up with a shake.

Babycorn couldn’t understand what he was saying without Cherrypit but it was probably something along the lines of “Ay’ lass I’ve got it. Anything else ye wanna include? Mayhaps the story of your entire life while you’re at it?”

“Aw thanks Cait! You’re the best!”

Hopefully Cherrypit was doing okay by himself…

Prince Hildibrand looked so handsome!! I really wished I could have said ‘Hi’ to him! Or to say anything to him really…I bet all it would take was one look between us for him to know that we were destined for each other!

Cherry said that it would never work but what does he know?

Everything was going great! Until it started raining a lot!

Then something happened and the big thing all the people were on started going in the water! I grabbed Cherry and started swimming away because I was afraid he was gonna get hit by something!

I hoped everyone was gonna be okay but then I heard someone yelling and I turned around to see Prince Hildibrand in the water. He was sinking really fast! A little too fast. I was about to swim after him but then Cherry said that what I was looking at was the statue of Prince Hildibrand.

The real one was sinking right next to him at a much slower pace.

“Oh no!”

I started to swim after him but there were so many things falling that it was hard to reach him in time. It was really dark but thankfully my lantern was able to light up in front of me! So I could see where I was going.

Me and Cherry found Hildibrand and his legs sticking out of the ground!

I’m usually not very strong but somehow I was able to pull him right out and swim him back up out of the water. I may not know a lot about people that live on land but I do know that they can’t breathe in the water like me and Cherry! So I had to get him out of there as quickly as I could!

And I did!

Butter grabbed a bucket and flipped it over, sitting on it with a sigh.

It had taken all morning but he had finally convinced himself that the random girl that Prince Hildibrand had picked up from the ocean was not cute and he wasn’t thinking of holding her hand and walking down the beach with her.

‘You’re not fooling anyone doofus.’ He thought to himself.

“I knoooow…” Butter rested his head on his hands and sighed again. He wouldn’t even be able to fool a newborn baby at this rate. Everytime he even thought about Babycorn he began to blush and his heart beat faster and faster.

Just yesterday he had been working in the garden and had seen her walking alongside Prince Hildibrand. Butter saw Babycorn digging in the dirt and thought that maybe she had an interest in gardening. The thought of gifting her some flowers crossed his mind.

Then he saw her eat a caterpillar. ‘Oooh! She likes eating bugs! I know a place with really tasty looking bugs!’ He and Oleo had played there when they were kids and Butter knew a particular area with the most colorful bugs.

The dress that Babycorn had been gifted was covered in leaves, dirt and had been torn up in a few places but for completely normal reasons Butter thought that Babycorn would probably look pretty in anything.

Butter had talked with her three times now. Not that Butter was counting or anything.

The first time was when Butter had first caught sight of Babycorn when she first arrived at the palace. She was dressed in an assortment of rags that kind of resembled the sails of a boat. Butter would know, he had helped to secure those exact ones just days before.

Butter’s main job may have been stablehand but his official title might as well have been ‘Tiny little guy who knows how to do mostly everything and loves to help.’

When he saw Babycorn walk by he couldn’t help but look at her.

The way her hair almost glowed in the sunlight, her eyes that were practically sparkling at him. How her braids wrapped around her cheeks, shaped almost like a line of hearts. Her freckles that almost looked like a batch of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on her face.

It was enough to cause Butter to drop everything he was carrying right then and there.

He noticed Babycorn gave him an excited wave. He looked behind him just to make sure she wasn’t waving at someone else. “H-Hi!” Butter said back. His voice was quiet and for a second he wasn’t sure if she had heard him.

To his pleasant surprise, she had! Just as she walked out of view she waved back at him again. Butter wasn’t quite sure how long he had stood there with his mouth wide open.

The second time was on the first evening that Babycorn arrived. He had been the one to knock on her door and take her to the dining room for dinner. Butter had been unusually nervous, not just because he had helped cook this dinner but also because he had no idea.

He was never this nervous around other guests the Mandervilles had.

“D-Dinner is ready…” He nervously said, trying not to stare at her really cute face. He just barely resisted telling her that he really hoped that she liked it.

Babycorn gave him a big smile. The rumors were true. This mysterious girl that had saved Prince Hildibrand’s life couldn’t speak or communicate in any other way. Which was weird because Prince Hildibrand had told everyone in the castle about the mermaid with the beautiful singing voice that had saved him. That also looked exactly like Babycorn.

Maybe she wasn’t the same girl? That could have been it.

Butter turned around to lead Babycorn down to the dining room but stopped and turned back when he noticed that she wasn’t following behind him.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. Call it force of habit, he knew that Babycorn wouldn’t be able to answer. That made him feel like a huge dummy.

Babycorn nodded her hand and took a slow step forward. She looked happy when her foot touched the ground, but then on the second step she faltered and it looked like she was about to fall. If she could have screamed she would have.

“Watch out!” Butter leapt into action without thinking.

Babycorn had begun to fall backwards as she tried in vain to regain some sort of balance. Butter was fast enough to catch her, just barely. He managed to catch her in his arms as he held her up by her back. They stayed frozen in place for the longest, each of them looking into the other’s shocked eyes.

“I…um…” Butter’s entire brain was failing him. Why couldn’t he think of anything to say?!

Eventually he realized what he was doing. “Right-! Right! Um!” He helped Babycorn stand up right again and took a step back. “Sorry about that! I hope you’re alright Miss….” He didn’t even know her name?! What kind of first impression was this?!

Barring the fact that no one in this castle actually knew her name.

“Miss…Ma’am…?” Butter looked away in shame.

Then he felt something grab his hand.

“H-Huh?” Looking down he saw Babycorn’s hand grabbing his.

ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump

Babycorn was smiling at him. She gestured at him to walk alongside her. “So you w-won’t fall? Is that why?” Butter asked. Babycorn nodded in response. That was exactly what her intentions were.

“Yeah! Of course I’ll help you!”

They held hands all the way downstairs and into the dining room. That’s where Butter realized that Babycorn only had eyes for Prince Hildibrand. The way she looked at him, the way she acted around him, they were all dead giveaways. The universe couldn’t have been more clearer about it unless it literally spelled it out for him.

Butter had been so dejected he missed the part where Babycorn had cleaned off every piece of food off her plate.

Butter tried to forget about her, but every time he tried to fall asleep he just kept thinking about how nice it was to be with her. Even if it was mostly a one-sided conversation Butter had made sure to give Babycorn enough time to respond in her own way. So he could safely say that it was nice to talk to her.

It was probably just better to forget the whole thing even happened.

That was until Butter decided to walk along the ocean shore to clear his head.

There he happened to run across a familiar stray cat. “Hey you shouldn’t be out here!” Butter recognized the cat from the palace, “It’s dangerous out here! You could get eaten by a shark! Or worse!” When the cat ran away from him, Butter found he had no choice to follow.

That’s when he tripped right over a large tail fin.

“Ow! Watch it!” Butter heard someone say. Whoever they were, they sounded young. Butter had to stand up and let them know that it was dangerous here at night too. Butter stood up from the sand, shaking some of it out from his gravity-defying hair.

If Butter were more of an actual normal person (who didn’t have a secret fairy companion living with him) he probably would have been more shocked at the presence of a real life merkid in front of him.

“Sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going!” Butter apologized. He hoped he hadn’t hurt him. Butter looked around to see the stray cat now resting on a rock, licking its paw. It looked like he was worried about nothing. It felt a little silly. Still it was probably a little dangerous to be out here anyway.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

Cherrypit ignored Butter for the time being and focused on something more important, the message from his sister. “...Oh mean Bebe I can’t understand any of this…” He should have seen this coming. Fortunately there was one part of it that Cherrypit could understand clearly.

‘this guy helped me walk all the way to get food with hildibrand’

Cherrypit looked at the drawing, then at Butter, then at the drawing, then back at Butter. They were nearly identical.

“You!” Cherrypit yelled out to Butter.

“ME?!”

“Did you help my sister today?!”

“D-Did I?!”

“She says you did!” Cherrypit held up the paper and pointed up at it.

“T-That was your sister?!” Butter was slowly starting to place the pieces together. Could that girl really be a mermaid? Then that would mean that she was the…

“Does she have blond hair?”

“Yeah!”

“Yellow eyes?”

“Yeah!!”

“Really clumsy?”

“That’s her!!”

Cherrypit let out a cheer. He was overjoyed that his sister was doing okay. He had been so worried about her, especially after he had to be the one to swim her up to the surface before she drowned herself. After she had been taken away by Hildibrand to the palace he hadn’t heard from her since before just a few seconds ago.

According to Cherrypit, Babycorn’s younger brother, she had made a deal with a sea witch named Hades and if Babycorn didn’t share a kiss with her true love in the next two days then she would be cursed, or something he hadn’t quite understood everything that Cherrypit was telling him.

But it had also been a lot to drop on him at five in the morning so Butter was still a little proud of himself for processing most of it.

“Pleease you have to help her!” Cherrypit cried, “I’m really worried and Queen Lunya keeps asking me where Bebe is and I’m running out of excuses and I’m scared that B-Bebe is gonna…she’s gonna…”

Without missing a beat Butter reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of candy. The strawberry kind were Pancake’s favorite and he hoped that Cherrypit would like them too. “Here.” He held it out for Cherrypit to take, “It’s okay! I unwrapped it so you can eat it!” Unwrapping candy before giving it out to someone had become second-nature to him on account of Pancake.

Just as keeping treats in his pockets was.

Cherrypit wiped at his eyes and took the candy, looking up at Butter before putting it in his mouth.

“Woaaaah! That’s really tasty!!!”

Butter smiled, he was glad he could help.

Happy to help Babycorn was another matter entirely. That being said he wasn’t just going to stand around and let her get cursed! Or worse! He wanted nothing more than to keep her safe!

This girl that he just met no more than a day ago. Cinnamon was going to call him out on it for sure but his mind was already made up. He was going to keep Babycorn safe and un-cursed as much as he could! No matter what he had to do or where he had to go!

Even if the one true love that Babycorn had to kiss before it was too late was Prince Hildibrand

hi diary! its me again butter!

today we received word that the s.s manderville sunk off the shores of the kingdom! i was really worried about everyone but a knight told me that she heard that thankfully no one was hurt thats good!

prince hildibrand has been running around telling everyone that a mermaid was the one who saved him. apparently she had golden colored hair and the singing voice of an angel it sounds almost too good to be true

im glad whoever did save him managed to save him though they must be a really nice and strong person i would like to meet them and thank them one day! i’ll cook them a really yummy meal to say thank you!

After breakfast Butter had made sure to get Babycorn’s attention before the handmaidens took her and got her ready for the planned day out she had with Hildibrand. He managed to do this by passing her a message that Cherrypit had written himself.

It was a drawn recreation of his, Butter and Cait Sith’s meeting on the beach.

Babycorn instantly got the message and followed Butter outside all the way to the stables.

When she got there she was surprised to see her brother there, sitting inside of a large tub full of seawater. He was talking to another child around his age. Whoever she was, she had the same large ears as Butter.

“That’s my little sister! Pancake!” Butter explained before Babycorn’s imagination could run wild with any other possibilities. “And that fairy over there is Cinnamon.” Butter pointed at a small person with wings perched on top of Pancakes head. Babycorn hadn’t even noticed her at first.

As they both walked closer, the conversation Cherrypit and Pancake were having became more audible.

“Woaaah! So is Queen Lunya like your mom?!” Pancake excitedly asked.

“Nope!” Cherrypit shook his head, “My mama died when I was little. Queen Lunya is sorta like the queen of all mermaids that live here!”

“Is she really gonna be mad that you and Babycorn are here?” Pancake was worried. She was glad to have new friends (especially mermaid ones!) but she was a little worried that her friends were gonna get in trouble because of her.

“Probably!” Cherrypit answered, “But Queen Lunya is really nice! And really powerful so if we get in trouble she’ll probably just get really big to scare Babycorn again.”

“Big?”

“Yeah! Queen Lunya can get small then get really big then small again!”

“Cool!”

Just then Pancake noticed that her brother was back. “Butter!” She ran up to him and gave him a hug, “Butter when I grow up I wanna be a mermaid!”

“Didn’t you tell me just yesterday you wanted to be a mail Moogle?”

“I changed my mind!”

Once everyone was settled and introduced to each other Butter took out a clipboard on which he had written his entire plan. Alongside some hearts with his and Babycorn’s names on them but nevermind you that dear reader.

“So here’s the plan. Babycorn and Prince Hildibrand are going out today so they’ll have most of the day to themselves to get closer to each other.” Butter explained, “We just have to figure out some way for Hildibrand to kiss her.”

“Well it needs a perfect backdrop obviously!” Cinnamon brought up. “Something like…A beautiful sunset! Or something.”

“Yeah! And you can hold his hand or something gross like that!”

Butter looked down at his clipboard. “I-I guess you could do that…” He looked over at Babycorn who was nodding along at Cinnamon and Pancake’s suggestions. She looked really happy about the whole thing and considering that this was to save her life, Babycorn was having a lot more fun than someone in her position would have probably been in.

It made Butter happy, despite everything.

“Do you have any ideas Mr.Butter?” Cherrypit asked.

Butter was completely caught off guard. “M-Me?! Um…?!” He did have a few but none of them involved Hildibrand. “Y-You could…um…spend time with him and go on a boat ride or a picnic and maybe…?” He looked over at Babycorn who was looking expectantly at him, hanging on his every word. “And…he can…look at your…really…pretty…eyes…and then…k-k-ki…”

What was he DOING?!

Butter snapped out of whatever stupid lovey thoughts he was thinking and handed the clipboard to his sister. “Pancake. You take over.”

“Uh-huh.”

#ffxivwrite2023 #Butter #Babycorn #Cherrypit #Pancake #Cinnamon #it is SO hard to write for like anyone that loves babycorn cause like #as her creator im like What does anyone see in her??? she eats tree bark theres nothing here for you ndjkawdn #anyway this got out of hand and i had to stop myself #babycorn is an angler fish mermaid and cherrypit is a gulper eel i established long ago #how does it work??? idk #laughing my ass off at sea witch hades lulun is a genius #ahaha i made their outfits are colored opposite of the colors babycorn and butter know ahaha #kat shee is here too hi #queen lunya swimming up to babycorn and cherrys house only to find a Gone Fishing sign up

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