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#Siren boy
oceanwithouthermoon · 3 months
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the fact that he can canonically sing really well makes me soooo curious..
and not only sings, but also ENJOYS singing..
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wistfulpoltergeist · 9 months
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Oh, to be lost in the ocean in a company of a Siren...
♫ ♪ ♫ ♪♫ ♪ ♫ ♪
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chaosanswers · 2 years
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The new boys are here!
Apollo
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He’s an alien
He’s a curious boy
Never been away from his home planet before so things on earth kind of startles him.
Loud car horns, vacuums, blenders, a bunch of loud things
IN LOVE with anything sweet.
The marks on his face are also on other parts of his body, the change color depending on his mood so you can always tell when he gets flustered
“You’re so cute Apollo!”
“O-Oh!” *cue marks turning pink*
Niran
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He’s a siren
He’s very different from Simon
Simon sings for enjoyment, but when Niran sings it casts a spell over others
This boy spent a majority of his life deep in the ocean, so he’s a bit cautious when he first came into dry land
He’s a bit stubborn, overconfident, and extremely arrogant, but there’s a soft side to him
You just gotta dig for that soft side tho-
This cocky motherfucker saw you then try to enchant you with one of his songs
Surprise to him it didn’t effect you
“I like your singing!”
“Huh?”
Kai (left) and Ari (right)
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These two are driders
Kai spent his life in society with his family
Ari grew up in the wild
These two are childhood friends too
Ari met Kai when Kai stumbled into his territory and became fast friends
Kai keeps his eyes hidden cause he’s afraid he’ll accidentally scare people (he’s a bit shy to)
You know that meme where that one person has their gremlin friend on a leash?
That’s Kai and Ari…. I’ll let you guys figure out who’s the gremlin in the scenario
When it comes to an s/o Kai loves to give his s/o gifts and handmade gifts, Ari however, hes clingy but doesn’t like to admit it
“I-I made this for you.. I hope you like it..”
“Aww Kai!”
“So you’re not clingy?”
“Who said I was clingy?! I’m not!” *holds onto you tighter*
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deadsetobsessions · 2 months
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Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.4
[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3][Pt.5][Pt.6][Pt.7]
Danny was sitting in the back, his backpack obnoxiously taking up the seat next to him, when the door to the lecture hall creaked open near silently.
“What are you in here for?” Danny asked the guy who crept into class. He sympathetically took his backpack off the Seat of Shame and allowed the guy to sit down. Funnily enough, they had the same hair and eye color.
“Gen Ed. Undecided. You?” The guy grunted quietly back.
“Environmental studies. I’m Danny.”
“Tim.”
With the implicit understanding of two people in a required class they could not give less than two fucks about, Tim and Danny tuned back into the lecture. When the class was assigned group work, Danny looked over to see Tim softly snoring, head slammed down on the table.
“Tim. Wake up, dude.” Danny poked his shoulder.
“Huh? Class over?”
“Nah, we got group work. Discussion board.”
“Oh shit, thanks for waking me up. Wanna team up?”
Danny shrugged. “Sure. We should aim to post it in the middle so the professor doesn’t read our answers to the class.”
“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Any idea what we’re talking about?”
“Kind of?”
“Good enough for me.”
——
Tim Drake kept seeing Danny Fenton around on campus.
“Danny! Dude, what are you doing?”
Danny turned, gloved hands full of crumpled trash. “Picking up after the student population, apparently.”
“Didn’t think environmental studies was that serious.”
“Global warming is very serious, you jerk,” Danny smirked at him, crossing the grass to put the trash into the trash can. “Reduce, reuse, oil shouldn’t be spilled in water and all that.”
“Basic stuff,” Tim grinned. Nice, he basically had a friend past Bernard now!
They were friends, right?
“And yet humanity fails to comprehend it. Incredible. Incredibly stupid that is.”
“They get it. Major corporations just don’t care.”
Danny sighed. “True that. You on your way to your next class?” He took off his biodegradable gloves off (nitrile and nylon, baby!) and chucked them into the trash.
“I’ve got free time, actually. Prof cancelled for his daughter’s surgery.”
“Oh, shit, that’s rough! You wanna go downtown and join the strike?”
“A strike? What for?” Even as he asked, Tim hiked his bag higher onto his shoulder, ready to go. They fell into step as the two left campus.
“Apparently, Quillan Pharma was doing some shady shit at their manufacturing plants. I think it’s like killing kids, and pouring toxins into the ground.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. Oh! Poison Ivy’s gonna be there!”
Tim blinked. He casted a sideways look at Danny. Sure he’s been here long enough to know… but it couldn’t hurt to check. “You know she’s an eco-terrorist, right?”
“Okay, but like… people suck sometimes. And all she’s asking for is like don’t kill the planet. And she doesn’t do that whole mind control thing too much anymore! The Sirens are so cool. Plus, one of my best friends at home might actually kill me if I don’t try to get her autograph. Poison Ivy is like, Sam’s personal hero.”
Tim snickered. “Yeah, okay. Mind if one of my friends join? His name’s Bernard.”
“The more the merrier,” Danny nodded. “Ooo! Hot chocolate. Want some?”
Danny bought three drinks as Tim trailed behind, texting Bernard.
“He said yes.”
“Cool! We should meet up somewhere before the drinks get cold.”
Well, Danny got the autograph. Tim got a new friend, and Bernard got a drink from his crush.
——
“Oh, you’re the glowing dude that Batman always talks about!”
Danny blinked, eyes scanning the wing-like cape and the yellow emblem on the hero’s suit. Danny was indeed glowing, stars and nebulas freckling across neon green skin, and glowing hair the color of a white dwarf star, tinged with the blue from his ice core.
“I… have absolutely no idea who you are,” Danny lied, like a liar. He’s found a surprising niche of entertainment in messing with the local vigilantes and he’ll be damned if he missed this opportunity.
He heard a snicker from the comm lines as Red Robin visibly brushes it off.
“I’m Red Robin. Why are you picking up trash?”
“Picking up after you humans, apparently.”
The both of them blink, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu. A moment of awkward silence passed before they both shook it off.
“Are you here to help? No offense, but the track record for you people is terrible.” Danny strode over and grabbed a bag. He opened it, and shook it at Red Robin’s face. “See? Batarangs, these odd bird looking ones, the R’s. Seriously, pick up after yourselves!”
“Oh, woah, can we have these back?”
Danny yanked the bag back before Red Robin could get close. “Pay me. These were incredibly tedious to pick up. Especially the batarangs. I mean, I even found a whole bunch of old rusted ones in the middle of the bay. What did you do, dump an entire bag in there from the air?”
Red Robin sighed and took out a wad of cash, with tracking fluid all over it. Danny grimaced, smelling the odd scent on the money. “That’s not real cash. It smells off. Are you trying to give me counterfeits because you’re broke?”
Red Robin gaped, oddly offended. “No! They’re real!”
“Doesn’t smell like it. It’s stinkier than the trash. Go get the one with the money, the litterer. Tell him I’ll be back the next full moon. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” Danny grumbled, disappearing on the spot to watch Red Robin flounder with the stack of cash and the piles of dead bodies on the shore.
“What the fuck even is my life these days?” Red Robin wondered out loud, stuffing the cash back into his pocket. He looked over the plastic wrapped bodies and slumped, sighing.
Oddly enough, Danny felt a sense of sympathy. Well, he’s not getting paid for sympathy. He’s not getting paid at all tonight, actually. Danny flew off, plunging once more into the depths of the significantly cleaner waters, and used his ice to scoop out oil stains.
Danny glanced around and sighed. He had a lot of work to do.
——
“So you’re saying he’s like a werewolf mermaid fae child immortal god thing, right?”
Bruce grunted.
“B, what the hell are you smoking these days? You know drugs are bad, right? Do we need Superman to give you that PSA?” Jason snickered.
Tim, massaging his arms from having to haul an ungodly amount of dead bodies, grunted. He’s so similar to Bruce that it gave the people currently in the cave hives.
“He said full moon. I don’t think we can track him with regular stuff. The bugs kept shorting out.”
“Oh boy,” Dick sighed. “Don’t fall off the spiral cliff, Tim. You’ve got midterms to think about so no stalking the guy.”
“Yet,” Tim shot back, changing out of his suit.
Bruce grunted, setting aside a huge stack of cash.
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heyheresathou · 23 days
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how do y'all not let the things you like consume your entire being
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yxami · 7 months
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meow I’m still bored
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Yandere siren that appears before the familiar sight of the shore, softly humming to himself about whether to kill a few more sailors today. He’s already been scolded by his brothers for killing so often but he’s been so bored lately!
With no sight of a prosperous mate, he’s just been killing disgusting and vile humans that happen to run into him, or maybe he should say humans that sail to their death. Perhaps he should look up what the humans referred to him as in the newspapers.
He knows that the townspeople have been giving names to the sirens that lull sailors to aggressive waters that make their boats crash into sharp and rigid rocks.
His train of thoughts are broken when he hears a voice coming behind the rock he sits on, he slips into the ocean and pops his head slightly up to witness what he heard.
“I’m fine mom, I’m just going to be at the beach for bit. Ugh, no.. I’m not going to swim or anything” You drag your voice in the lie that you weren’t going to take a dip in the relaxing waters. You turned off your phone when you manage to convince her after a few minutes.
The unnoticed siren witnessed you taking off your shirt and shorts, providing a mouth watering sight of you in your swim wear. He couldn’t help but stare until he realized he had to hide from you.
You look over to your left to see the odd movement in waves, but you saw nothing so you ventured further into the cold waters. You were wondering why your mother was so anxious about you being the ocean.
Yeah, there was some dangerous creatures like sirens and mermaids but they were much deeper into the ocean. They’d never dare lay on the shore, right?
“Hello human” The ironically mentioned siren circles around you, before curling his dangerously long tail to trap you. You can feel his smooth yet scaly tail brush against your legs.
You fuss around and scream for help before he frowns and covers your mouth.
“Why scream? I already have you in my grasp so what could a human do to help now?” He tilts his head in confusion, wondering why you truly believed somebody could help. He had already checked the land before you came and it was completely empty.
“I’m sorry!! Please just let me go! I didn’t mean to get in your territory” You started to cry, assuming that you had offended the siren in some way for him wanting to drown you.
But unfortunately that wasn’t the case. You just piqued the interest of this curious siren and now he was confident that you’d cure his boredom.
Poor you.
“My territory? Silly human, I just came here to relax, I’m just interested in why you look so entrancing” He ghosts his finger tips over your stomach, looking at how you shift and turn at the cold touch within the comfortable waters. What did you expect? He was a cold blooded animal after all.
“So you don’t wanna kill me?” You sniffle, trying to wipe your tears but you had forgotten that he wrapped his tail over your arms as well, so he wipes it for you even when you flinch at his fingers raised to your face.
“No no, if anything, I’m interested in courting you, you look so pretty after all” He moves his hands to your hair, feeling how silky it felt and staring at how beautiful you looked, even with your fearful eyes that were glossy with salty tears.
“Courting me? I’m not a siren though..!” You said with an urgent tone, worried you had gotten yourself in a much worse situation than being killed.
“So? I think you’re perfect for me, so dainty and precious, you’re like a shiny pearl, I love it” He whispers in your ear, humming as he explores your body with not only his tail but hands.
“I don’t know..! I have to go back home and—“
“It’s okay my pretty little human, you won’t have to worry about your human life anymore” He shushed you with a hug, kissing your neck and jaw, making you whimper in fear but he took it as a pleased one.
“I’ll take you to my home and you’ll feel much better!” He exclaims, dragging you into the ocean before you could hold your breath.
You were too unlucky to even be presented the chance of death from drowning because he kisses you with puffs of air each time you’re close to passing out. And now you’re stuck in this cage he calls home.
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gemissleeping · 3 months
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Sea Foam
Theodore Nott x Siren!Reader
Summary: One night a month, you’re unable to control the abilities you inherited from your siren Mother. Taking refuge at the Black Lake, you hope for that night to pass in peace. Until Theodore Nott discovers you sitting by the edge of the lake just as the full moon rises.
Length: 1.5k
Notes: Brash Theo (heart eyes), angst (i live for the drama), no proof read, slight allusion to cannibalistic desire. Not smutty just saucy. Keeping you fed with my niche day dreams. Short series please let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list.
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Salt wafted through the air as the sharp cliffs of the rock below you cut through the thin cotton of your nightdress. It felt as though you may as well be wearing nothing at all. The breeze was picking up now. Full moon approaching the midnight sky. You dreaded this night each month, when the moon would rise in its completeness and you would lose all reins you had on your mind. It had been that way since you had turned thirteen, and it hadn’t ever stopped since.
You let out a sigh as goosebumps erupted across your skin and your toes made contact with the dry sand. It was the pits of winter and the sand always felt closer to ice chips than anything else this time of year. The moon continued its unrelenting rising and you knew it was only a matter of minutes now.
One foot planted in the sand, you readied yourself to approach the shoreline before the sound of footsteps behind you caused you to falter. You glanced back to where the sounds were emanating from anxiously. Hair falling over your near-bare shoulders as you searched the darkness, the distinct feeling of being watched making your throat tighten. No one else should’ve been out near the Black Lake this time of night.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” a deep voice echoed your thoughts from the shadow ridden tree line of the bank.
You blinked back at the shadows until a red glow became visible. At first you weren’t sure what you were looking at, but as your eyes adjusted you found yourself studying the end of a lit cigarette. It wasn’t a particularly helpful clue, half of the school smoked like chimneys.
“Neither should you,” you called back softly to the figure, still lurking in the tree line. “You need to leave.”
Urged by the pull you felt from the Lake’s depths tugging at your chest, you glanced hurriedly back to the moon where it was inching closer.
“Please.”
You turned back, eyes brimming with swallowed fear as you silently pleaded with the figure, who had now stepped out from the tree line. He was tall, hair falling in messy brown curls around his face.
Theodore Nott’s dead-eyed stare only made the material of your nightdress feel thinner beneath his calculating gaze. A cigarette hung lazily between his curious lips as he watched you, leaning against a tree.
“Why’s that?” He breathed in a cloud of smoke; cigarette mixed with chilled air.
The pull tugged at you again and your grip on the rock tightened momentarily. Something he clearly didn’t miss from the way his eyes dragged downward.
You clenched your jaw, knowing no answer you could give would satisfy him and that time was escaping you. You tried to keep your voice even but the shudder was audible.
“Because I asked nicely.”
Theo frowned at the shake in your voice, taking note of the fear that had leaked through your eyes. He took a step towards you, and the motion propelled you, pushing you off of the rock.
You spun to face him, stumbling back towards the water’s edge. Unsteady as the pull became more unbearable, urging you to the lake as you pressed your heels into the sand.
“Please Theo,” your voice sounded fragile against the wind, control dwindling.
“You didn’t answer my question.” He took another step towards you, discarding his cigarette with a curious frown. Hands shoved deep into his pockets against the chill as the wind made your nightdress dance.
You glanced behind you, where the water was trying to lick at your skin. Fear crawled its way up your throat, alongside desire.
The crunch of sand ahead of you drew your attention back to Theo. In your distraction he had found his opportunity, now standing before you, only a breath away. His movement startled you, and you took one, thoughtless, step back into the lake.
A sharp inhale was all it took before your lips had parted and your eyes had snapped up to his. Feeling all semblance of control unraveling as he watched you curiously.
Your fear melted into something far more dangerous as irregular breaths frantically tore through your chest. Fighting glazed eyes, you latched onto his from where he studied you. You could feel yourself slipping away slowly, body in control as you became aware of yourself taking another unsteady step back into the lake.
Theo’s eyes darkened with concern as you fled further. The water lapped at your legs, staining the bottom of your white nightdress. Feeling nothing but need burning through you as the moon took a hold completely, eyes blown out.
His hand found your wrist as you stepped back from him again, further into the Lake. A strange mix of confusion and longing in his unrelenting gaze as he stared, tall above you. Clouds of your breath dancing across one another’s cheeks as he grew nearer.
It was too late for the both of you. The water was drawing you in the same way you were now unwillingly luring him. He made no attempt to resist as you backed further into the lake. Instead letting you lead him, unable to tear his eyes away from yours. You could feel yourself trying to break through, to tell him to run. But that part of you was buried deep now, instead you waded further.
The wind picked up, a surge heading towards you as the lake grew rough. It brushed across your waist, bringing you to a stop as Theo closed in on you. With each wave you felt your mind washing away, filled only with him and the need to be deep below the surface of the lake. To drag him down there with you.
Theo’s hand released your wrist gently, traveling down to your fingertips as his other slid around your waist. You were both frozen for a moment, chests heaving as you were utterly transfixed by the other, before you crashed your lips against his.
Hands snaking around his neck to thread viciously through his hair as he lifted you, pressing your chest to his. You were hungry for him, a kind of hunger that you knew wouldn’t be eased by a kiss. His lips moved against yours with equal fever as you consumed each other, unable to breathe unless it was him.
Your bodies pressed against each other with urgency as you felt him gasping into your mouth, hands tangling in the fabric of your nightdress. The water pulled you again, as Theo pulled at the fabric, tongue slipping past your lips. Both came undone.
As Theo unknowingly led the two of you further into the depths of the Lake, you felt your skin changing. Scales sewing themselves across your skin as your legs gave way to fins. His lips not leaving yours for a second as your kiss only grew more desperate. Teeth tugging at his lips, you pulled at his bottom lip. Eliciting a breathy groan from the boy, which was muffled as he kissed you back roughly.
The water was at your chest now, and if he had noticed the sudden change to your body he gave no acknowledgment of it. Continuing to hold you tightly to him as you drew him further into you, the torn remains of your nightdress floating to the shore. Arms pressed against the back of his neck as you leaned back towards the surface.
Just as the water was about to swallow you both, one of his hands came to rest against your cheek. It was gentle, careful, and the feeling of his rough fingers trailing across your skin hit you like a rush of air. Eyes flying open you clawed your way back to the surface of your mind. Both of your hands falling to his chest and pushing him back roughly.
He surged away from you in the water, stumbling back and blinking with confusion. Both of you staring at one another in shock as he took in the water around him, the sight of you before him as though he was seeing it properly now. Breathing the harsh winter air in half-breaths as you both desperately tried to fill your lungs.
You could feel your eyes glazing over, and you did your best to fight the feeling as the guilt set in. Lips quivering slightly, you tried to blink back the grip the moon had over you as you floated a few steps away from him, struggling to remain on the surface. But it was no use, this wasn’t something you could simply control.
It took your last remaining strength to push yourself away, disappearing beneath the surface of the lake with the flick of your tail and the force of the moon bearing down on you. Leaving Theo above, his shirt see-through and half unbuttoned in the water. Lips swollen with desire and panting with confusion.
Read Chapter Two here
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written-tragedies · 4 months
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if you don’t support gay marriage you’re a faggot !!
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snorzyy · 11 months
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i love being emo i love being cringe i love my chemical romance i love fall out boy i love pierce the veil i love paramore i love sleeping with sirens i love evanescence i love the amity affliction i love black veil brides i love the used i love the offspring i love ryan ross i love i love i love *starts hyperventilating*
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r0s3bl00d · 1 year
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And as the sun went down
We ended up on the ground
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Instead of a cult or something summoning Danny into Gotham it was Harley, Salina, and Ivy jokingly doing it for girls night. It works and now they have a Bruce-Wayne-AdopteeTM in their living room. He isn’t even phased about being basically kidnapped they decided to take care of him until he goes back to where ever he was summoned from.
Now girls night has the addition of a random teenager. At least Bud and Lou like him.
Danny’s obviously tired, he’s in high school, high schoolers are always tired. So he just accepts his current fate, at least these lady’s aren’t cultists and they’re feeding him. They also have cool looking dogs. And they offered to let him use the bright green nail polish.
Danny leaves in the morning after a catnap with their contact info and a standing invitation to come to girls night again.
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chaosanswers · 2 years
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New monster boys coming soon:
A siren, an alien, and two driders
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goodboyaudios · 6 days
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wingedcat13 · 11 days
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Siren Call: 3
[We’ve had past and present Minerva, but what about future?]
One day, Minerva will be familiar with the island’s crags and shelves. She’ll know the way the shore slope becomes a drop off and where the sandbars are, the color and density of all the coral, the migratory patterns of the species who pass by.
Today, she knows enough to avoid triggering the sensors. Even pauses to adjust one that’s started sagging out of place.
Minerva chooses not to walk up the beach, not wanting to track sand into the - house? Facility? Building? - not wanting to get sand caked to her feet and legs. Jumping straight up to the roof in a waterspout is also unnecessarily dramatic when there isn’t a fight to get to. So she just gathers herself, waits for a wave, and urges it a little higher, placing herself at its apex.
It gets her high enough that she can reach the railing of the overlooking balcony, with enough momentum to curl and tuck her body, cartwheeling over the rail partially just for the joy of motion. Even the smooth tiles feel rough compared to the water, strangely unyielding, and she wobbles just a little as she catches her bearings. Belatedly, she realizes she almost kicked the crap out of one of the balcony’s chairs. The little swerve she does is automatic. At least there wasn’t an audience-
“Minerva.” Says Synovus, sitting on the table because they’re deranged. There’s a surprised tilt to the end of her name, like half a question answering itself. They’re wearing civilian clothes again, and some part of Minerva’s mind can’t help noting that their arms are bare. “Welcome - back.”
One day, Minerva won’t scowl at them on reflex.
Today, she demands immediately, “Were you waiting for me?”
“Y-es?” Synovus hedges, not moving. “But also no? I was - I thought you’d be coming up from the shore.”
They sound almost abashed. But that’s too close to ‘embarrassed’ and Minerva is well aware that Synovus has no shame. She may have genuinely surprised them - they’re perched on the edge of the table, and had leaned away slightly. Synovus wanting to be a problem would have chosen a much more… blatant posture. Or at least to sit further back in the shadows. The absence of either a gaudy attention grabber or deliberate stealth indicated this middle ground was not an act. Or perhaps that’s what she’s meant to think.
One day, Minerva will not have to consciously pick aside the paranoia to see what is in front of her.
Today, it takes effort - but she does it.
With a sigh, she closes her eyes, and focuses on each part of her body, bringing herself down from the mild surge of adrenaline. One hand draws back the wet strands of her hair. The other removes the mask that was a gift. She leaves her eyes closed while she rubs the red marks out of her skin.
With her eyes closed, it’s easier to skip past the defensive retort, and say instead, “You could’ve at least had a coffee waiting for me.”
“I don’t actually know your preferences in that regard.” Synovus admits, and for a heartbeat Minerva is worried this will turn into a far too blunt conversation about homecomings, but - “Do you take it black? Iced? Green?”
Minerva scoffs, but it might have just been a laugh. Even she’s not sure. “White chocolate mocha.” She answers. “One shot espresso, oat milk.”
“Ah,” Synovus says, as Minerva opens her eyes. They seem to have had a revelation. “So that’s why Alexandria likes those Unicorn frappes so much. Hm. And here I usually go for the cider.”
A smile tugs at one corner of her mouth at the thought - Synovus, dread assassin, going to a coffee shop and ordering hot apple juice with whipped cream.
Minerva sets her mask on the table. “Stand up a minute.” She tells Synovus quietly, her voice nearly lost in the sound of the waves below.
“I don’t take direction well.” Synovus replies, even as they slide off the table and to their feet, turning to face her. There’s a caution to their movements, but also curiosity, written far more liberally across the unobscured face Minerva once never thought to see.
If Minerva meets their eyes too long, she’ll lose her nerve, so she winds up staring somewhere around Synovus’s collarbone instead. There’s a scar there, hidden for now by a high-necked top, and Minerva knows that because she put it there. It had been a targeted move: Synovus had broken her collarbone the fight before.
She wants to be better at giving back things other than pain.
“Just - give me a moment. Don’t move, please.” She’s pretty sure it’s the ‘please’ that gets them. Synovus goes so statue-still that Minerva’s not sure they’re blinking. But they don’t protest. And they certainly don’t move as Minerva steps forward.
And in one of the most awkward movements of her life, slides her arms around Synovus’s ribcage, setting her chin gently on their shoulder.
This is instantly easier when she no longer has to look at Synovus’s face. Well. When she can’t look. Can’t fixate on finding and parsing the smallest of expressions, assigning meaning to the specific tilt of a chin or speed of a blink. She’s still bad at it - hugging - because she usually just lets other people hug her, and initiating it is weird, but she can’t imagine Synovus is particularly good at it either.
After all, they’re still standing stock-still, and if Minerva wasn’t currently very aware of their breathing, she might even think they were panicking.
“Not a trap.” She mutters, and feels as much as hears Synovus’s responding huff. But their arms slowly, cautiously, hesitantly come up to return the embrace, hands resting lightly on her back. The side of Synovus’s head tips gently into hers.
One day, Minerva might not feel awkward about body contact and physical affection. One day, she may find herself as familiar with Synovus’s scars as she is her own. And she just might reach a point, eventually, where one of them could make a joke about this just being an excuse to get Synovus wet and not immediately both perish from the agony of an accidental allusion to arousal.
For today, this awkward embrace is enough.
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Minerva probably won’t ever see a crowd as something other than a threat to be monitored.
Large groups have always made her tense, and that instinct had only gotten worse over the years. Most villains respect the ad hoc agreement about making an entrance, but there are a distinct few who would kill from a crowd. And there are those who are not villains in the distinct, identity sense, but would wreak havoc nonetheless.
So she scans the mall’s sheltered internal colonnade from behind her sunglasses, and listens to her daughter tell her about her day.
“- I just told him that I’d come from further South, and he didn’t ask me any more questions after that, but then freaking Brad asked me if I was an ‘illegal’ and I know what you mean now, about temptation to cram people into lockers. He’s lucky he’s so tall; I couldn’t fold him up to fit without taking some limbs off.”
Alexandria huffs, taking an aggressive pull from her milkshake. The stress of her life is getting to her - no teenager should have worry lines, or bags under their eyes that deep - but she insists this is what she wants. Even if Minerva sometimes wonders whether Alexandria sees herself as a member of the school’s attendees, or just a spectator who sometimes catches a stray ball.
“Did you tell Brad that?” Minerva asks mildly, mostly curious.
Alexandria sighs again, “No.” She says sullenly, shoulders slumping. “I asked him if he thought the government should determine who gets to live where, and then when he started to argue with me I told him I hoped his yacht sank with him on it.”
“Alexandria.” Minerva was still learning to find the right tone. The right amount of reproach, without exasperation or accusation. She must’ve gotten close, because Alexandria just lifts one hand in a ‘not me’ gesture.
“Specifically so he’d wash up in Mexico or Hawaii and get to be illegal himself.” She clarifies. “I don’t think that convinced anyone I wasn’t an immigrant, though. Til Seanna pointed out my grades in Spanish would probably be better.”
Minerva’s sigh is more restrained, but she points out, “There are other languages in South America. Brazilian Portuguese, for example.”
She’s not sure why she’s entertaining this, really.
“That’s true.” Alexandria ponders that for a moment, drinking more of her milkshake. “I mostly just meant to imply I was from one of the towns that got fu- uhhhh, screwed up by the power grabs.”
Minerva briefly leaves the conversation, remembering that shell of a place. The layouts, the dressings of a town, not quite abandoned yet but with nothing else to bleed.
Judging by the nudge she receives under the table, Alexandria isn’t totally oblivious to her distraction. She’s also changed the subject.
“So.” Alexandria is saying, drawing one syllable into three, “How are you and my godparent getting along?”
‘Godparent’ has become Alexandria’s favored way of referring to Synovus in public. It’s a joke on multiple levels, some of which Synovus seems to appreciate. But Minerva thinks it also makes them slightly uncomfortable, in a way they refuse to express to Alexandria.
“It’s fine.” Minerva replies, on rote. Her eyes flick to Alexandria, then back to the crowds. “What is it?”
“What do you mean, ‘what is it,’?”
“You wouldn’t have asked if you didn’t want something in particular.”
Alexandria’s mouth twists down, “Can I just get an answer without fishing for it, for once?”
Startled, Minerva looks at her again. Takes a better assessment of her daughter’s body language, the tension there. She knows she’s also gone tense.
Anger creeps into Alexandria’s voice, replacing the annoyance. “I’m not going to lose control. I’m not-“
She cuts herself off, abruptly looking away. Her fingers relax around the plastic cup, deliberately demonstrating that her strength won’t get away from her.
Minerva has a suspicion of how that sentence might have ended. I’m not like you and dad.
Reaching out physically feels like the wrong move here. So does stiffening up further and refusing to talk about it. Be better, she thinks to herself desperately, her mind flicking back to an image of a person with one foot in the water, one on dry land.
“We still… disagree, on some things. Some major things.” Minerva makes herself say. She still doesn’t like that Synovus kills people. She doesn’t like that Synovus has ostensibly killed for her, or for Alexandria. But she also feels relief that Synovus did, and a sense of gratitude she can’t quite smother. It makes her feel dirty, oily, and she hasn’t found it’s root.
Taking a breath, Minerva continues, “But… I don’t think they mean either of us harm.”
Alexandria has relaxed a little, absorbed by what Minerva’s saying. And probably having to pick through it for what she isn’t saying either.
“Would you say that you, I don’t know, maybe, trust them?” Alexandria prompts.
Minerva’s grimace is answer enough.
Alexandria sighs, “Mom.”
“It’s complicated, Alexandria.” She says, but it’s not the abrupt conversation-closer it would have once been. More… beseeching.
“Do you trust anyone?” Alexandria asks, “And like, I don’t even really mean me, here, but like. Anyone?”
Minerva remains silent.
“Do you trust yourself?” Alexandria asks, sounding a little alarmed.
Minerva hesitates - but she can’t really answer that one either.
They sit in silence for a few minutes, just the background roar of the mall’s crowds between them. Minerva hates this. She hates feeling like she can’t actually control herself, can’t master the emotional impulses she’s forcibly crammed into a box for years. She hates that Alexandria is having to pick up the conversation, make the overtures, do the work.
But any time she tries to think of a way to do it herself, her mind shies away from it. The words wilt and die in her throat. Because what if she gets it wrong?
What if she has more to lose?
Eventually, Alexandria looks at the melted remnants of her milkshake, and asks, “Can we stop at the Hot Topic before we leave.”
One day.
———————————
A week later, Rosie pokes her head into the common room Minerva’s reading in. “Minerva?”
She’d finally been asked point blank by one of them what she wanted to be called, because Athena no longer seemed accurate. Committing to Naiad hadn’t felt right either, so she’d given up her civilian name. Synovus already knew it, what was the point?
(It had occurred to her, later, that the small thrill she felt at being addressed by it was possibly what Alexandria felt at being addressed by her chosen name.)
(Also, it would’ve made Albion furious.)
“What is it?” Minerva asks now, letting one finger hold her place in the book as she sits up.
“There’s a fight drifting our way - Zephyr and a few others against the Eye. He’s made another floating platform again.” Rosie rolled her eyes, providing her professional opinion.
Minerva tilted her head, hesitating. Zephyr was a hero she’d worked with before, though they had never gotten along. He’d offered to take her flying, she’d taken that as flirting and shut it down, they’d never really overcome the resulting awkwardness. She had no idea who he’d be working with.
Eye, in contrast, was Eye in the Sky - a villain obsessed mostly with surveillance, and not being observed himself. He was a center point of several conspiracy theories involving the NRA, CIA, and a number of international organizations. She’d never fought him before, just heard the stories.
“What’s the protocol?” Minerva asks, rather than offer any of that information. She was certain this group of people knew far more about everyone involved anyway.
Rosie smiles, “Not much of one, just a lower alert status. Doll and I will make the rounds and check on everyone, Synovus is going to suit up just in case, but we won’t get involved unless territory agreements are breached.” She added, “Alexandria’s still on the mainland, we’ve made sure she knows to be suited if she makes her own way home.”
Minerva taps at the cover of her book, thinking. She feels adrift, still. This isn’t an actual fight, unless she wants to go and be Athena, and the idea of that is physically uncomfortable. It would also invite too many questions. Naiad would-
Hm. “Does Synovus want me in uniform?” She asks, sardonic.
“I didn’t ask and don’t plan to.” Rosie replies flippantly. “If they want you to do something, I imagine you’ll hear about it directly.”
Somehow, that isn’t the response she wants. “I don’t-“
“They also haven’t given any orders that you’re to be stopped.” Rosie points out, cutting her off. “The rest of us will be either in the operations room or up on the roof to watch. Klaxon if there’s trouble.”
She gave Minerva another smile, twiddled her fingers, and withdrew. Minerva shifted, and opened her book again.
She made it through two more paragraphs, then left it unceremoniously on the floor.
———————————-
On the roof, Synovus was pacing.
In a way, that’s reassuring, because even Minerva knew by now that if there was imminent danger, Synovus would be stock-still. The sun glints off the dark helmet, and threw the matte black of the rest of the suit into stark relief against the sandy-colored rooftop. Wind off the sea ripples through the cape, keeping it blown back, perpendicular to the path Synovus is walking.
The sun is kinder to Minerva’s costume, and there is no cape to blow. The dark mask helps keep her from being blinded by the sun. Athena wouldn’t be of much use here; Naiad might be.
Doll - the larger, Russian man who Minerva thought of as Synovus’s second in command - stood up here too, a viewfinder raised to cover his face. He’s looking into the direction of the wind, angled out and up, and Minerva follows that direction.
There it is - flashes of distant, shimmering silver in a cloud bank that’s thinning. Some masking device, most likely, now disabled. There’s tiny flashes of what must be powers or weaponry at use, but she can’t make out more than that.
“How bad is it?” She asks anyway, brisk and businesslike.
“The wind isn’t in our favor.” Doll comments. He’s always answered her as if she’s a coworker, and she appreciates that. “I can’t tell how much of it is powered and how much of it drifts. If there’s been damage to it -“ He lowers the viewfinder to make a hand gesture. “It might not be able to control its direction anymore.”
“Sloppy.” The comment is out of Minerva’s mouth before she can stop it. It draws Doll’s attention, if not Synovus’s. At the slightly raised eyebrow, she sighs and continues, “Disabling propulsion or navigation creates unnecessary risk to everyone involved. The only time it becomes necessary is when there’s weaponry that absolutely must be disabled, and you don’t have either the training or the time to sort out different power systems.”
Doll nods, offering her the viewfinder. “It could be self-inflicted,” he points out.
“Possible, but suicidal. That would require an exit strategy. Do you think Eye has one?”
“He’ll have three, only two of them will work, and none of them will be enough to keep him from getting captured.” Synovus breaks into the conversation abruptly, annoyed. Or perhaps professionally offended. “They’ll be personal craft.”
Meaning the rest of the platform’s crew would be left to die. Incentive for the heroes to try and rescue them rather than pursue, but what a waste.
The viewfinder lets Minerva get a better sense of the platform’s size, and also an estimate of its height and distance. She can make out a glimpse of a gray-shaded costume, diving through the clouds: Zephyr.
“If you interfere,” She asks, while her view is disconnected from her surroundings, “What would that look like?”
There’s a hesitation. A gust of wind snaps at Synovus’s cape. The distant battle continues.
“If they cross the boundaries, there must be consequences.” Synovus says reluctantly. “I will destroy the platform. Survivors will become my prisoners. If the heroes protest, I’ll fight them.”
Minerva lowers the viewfinder, and returns it to Doll. Synovus has stopped pacing. “You don’t have the facilities for a mass casualty event.”
“No.” Synovus agrees. “I don’t.”
————————————
Rosie has come out to join them on the roof by the time there’s significant change. The wind has died down some - likely a marker of Zephyr changing it, finally reaching their shores. The air feels thick and dead without it.
They’ve mostly stood in silence, watching. It feels longer than it has been, and Minerva knows it’ll be worse for those actually fighting. She’s surprised she hasn’t felt more of an urge to intervene.
Though she has been keeping watch for anyone falling to the water below.
It’s hard to say which of them notices first - their attention is collectively on the sky platform, and not each other. But there’s a decided tilt to the mostly-exposed metal monstrosity now, and in very short order, it begins to fall.
“Catch it.” Minerva finds herself murmuring. “Catch it. At least slow it-“
But no one does.
The platform hits the water at the full speed gained from a several thousand foot drop, slamming into the ocean. Those watching know that the metal will crumple on impact, water at that height and velocity worse than slamming into concrete. The surface area only makes it worse; tilted in at a slight angle, it displaces the water in a specific direction.
Towards the island.
Minerva had studied the ocean as much as she could. She knows this phenomena, and can cite times in the past it’s occurred. Not caused by the shifting of the ocean floor or tectonic plates, but by a sudden mass displacement.
They call it a super-tsunami.
Synovus is a statue beside her from the moment the platform starts to fall. Doll catches on once the surface of the water rises - and then doesn’t fall again.
“Three minutes.” Minerva calculates, based on distance and the probable speed of the wave. As many miles to cross. Much taller. “Evacuation?”
“The Jet is under repair, we can’t get it into the air in time.” Rosie answers, grim.
“Seals on the inner portions of the facility might hold, but we don’t know how long we’d be underwater.” Doll says, hitting the klaxon anyway. “The fridges?”
“Only as good as long as the power lasts.” Rosie replies. “Alexandria?”
“Still on the mainland.” Doll growls, running a hand through his hair. “Even if she could reach us in time, we’d have to get everyone onto the plane-“
Synovus has, so far, said nothing. Minerva is the only one close enough to catch when they choke out a strangled, “-fucking submarine -“
Minerva had expected Synovus to have a plan. A power, a strength, a defense mechanism. The realization that they don’t is like a fire’s been lit at the base of her spine.
She doesn’t remember grabbing Synovus’s collar, or dragging them to face her. She does remember saying, “I can stop it.”
Synovus doesn’t hesitate. “What do you need?”
There is no questioning of if she’s sure, or recommendation that she go into the waves to ride it out. No suggestion of running.
“Get me in front of it.”
Immediately, Synovus has one arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, and they’re running. Off the edge of the roof, not quite flying, flickers of shadow beneath their feet. Minerva doesn’t have time to question it, because her attention is on the big damn wave.
When she had said she could stop it, she had spoken with a bone-deep certainty. But she’d never actually tried to divert a tsunami before, let alone one of this size. The largest amount of water she’s worked with has always been as much as she needs to accomplish her goal, and nothing more. Diverting some rain-induced flooding is nothing compared to the power of the tides.
But she can feel the ocean beneath them, as Synovus clears the island’s coast. She can sense the oncoming wave, so fast to them, but to the ocean like a flinch in slow motion. The ocean doesn’t know how to control a fall.
But Minerva does.
The trick is in grasping the majority of the wave without over extending. She doesn’t need every droplet, every molecule, but she does need the vast majority of them.
It’s like trying to get a grip on something flat with only the pads of her fingers. It’s like misjudging a stair and finding herself both plummeting and ramming into an outside force. It’s like taking the first breath of rain-rich air in the early morning, and feeling life enter her lungs again.
Minerva twists the top back over itself, breaking the wave in the wrong direction. She cuts it down the middle, diverting it off to the sides. She forbids it to go forward, as though it’s met a cliff. And as the water falls, the wave collapsing, so does she.
It takes a brief second to put together that the body that had been holding her aloft is now limp, twisted slightly as though to put itself between her and the wave. Synovus is unresponsive, the shadows gone, only the cape whipping around them as they fall. Minerva is able to catch them, now, grabbing on before they can drift away.
She reaches for the water below them, calling it up to catch them with less than bone-breaking force. It’s easier, somehow, but also harder, and she’s having trouble fixing a direction in her mind for where the wave was and where the shore should be. Hot air, harsh wind, cool water and the dimming depths as they’re both drawn down.
And she remembers, finally, that Synovus can’t swim.
—————
The disorientation has mostly worn off by the time Synovus wakes up.
Minerva had managed to follow the upset currents, but hadn’t wanted to risk trying to shape and change them. Or to fight them overmuch, with her cargo. So they’d wound up washed not to shore, but to a small opening into one of the partial lava tubes at the island’s base.
Outside, saltwater rain is still falling, though it will stop soon. The ocean’s roar sounds, to her ears, slightly confused. The sun is still shining, and the wind has picked up again. ‘Calm’ is a subjective definition, but they’re approaching it.
Minerva had been relieved to find that Synovus’s helmet was intact, even with the impact to the water. She’d managed to find its clasps, and to remove it, making sure the seals had also held and that Synovus wasn’t drowning in their own personal fishbowl. They’re propped up against her legs, which are folded beneath her, and she’s prepared for a violent awakening.
But Synovus’s eyes blink open, and Minerva is able to watch their facial muscles work as they come to terms with their surroundings.
“You fainted.” Minerva informs them.
Synovus squints at her, but doesn’t immediately protest. They also don’t try to move much, other than a slight squirm that Minerva recognizes as a full body check. Do I still have my appendages? Do my fingers and toes all work?
“Yeah.” Synovus concedes. Their voice is raspy with saltwater, even though they didn’t get much of a chance to drown. This time.
Minerva should probably start somewhere else - like making certain they’re okay, or assuring them about the conditions outside, that the wave had been averted. Instead, she all but demands, “If you’re so terrified of water, why in the hells did you build on an island?”
She can see the balk in Synovus’s expression: a furrowing of their brow, a twitch of the nose. Synovus lifts a hand to consider covering their face, eyes the sand on their glove, and lowers it again.
“I already know you can’t swim.” Minerva says flatly.
“I can swim.” Synovus shoots back, annoyed. “I cannot swim well, there’s a difference.”
They sigh, and move to sit up. Minerva doesn’t stop them. She doesn’t expect an answer, at least not without further prompting, but Synovus continues:
“It’s… easier. The isolation. Clearly defined borders. This is mine, everyone else fuck off. And it…” Synovus shakes their head. “It serves its purpose.”
Once, Minerva would’ve accused them of grandstanding. Of the island being a show of wealth and status. She knows better now - knows that while that is true, there’s other reasons, layered beneath.
And she thinks about everything Synovus has ever told her about self control.
“It contains you.”
Synovus hesitates, partially grimacing, but nods. “Serves its purpose.” They repeat quietly.
The two of them sit in silence, in the dark shadow of the cave. They listen to the water, and the waves as they return to normal.
“Thank you.” Synovus says, into the silence.
“I don’t require thanks.”
“But I feel you deserve it, and it’s mine to give.”
“And if I don’t want it?”
“Refuse it. I will survive the disappointment.”
Minerva has the uncomfortable feeling that they are not discussing only gratitude. Rather than address that, or continue the discussion, she says instead: “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
Synovus doesn’t reply. They tilt their head, studying her in the dark. Minerva’s dragged them into a cave and confronted them with truths after they passed out from fear doing something on her word, she should give them a break. She doesn’t.
“I should be out there looking for survivors, or recovering the dead. I don’t want to. I should’ve involved myself in the fight, reminded them to be careful of the platform’s vulnerabilities. I didn’t. I don’t feel guilt. I feel… annoyed. Angry. Because they should’ve known better.”
Synovus just turns a bit, to rest their back against a rock. “And that in turn makes you feel..?”
“Foolish. Arrogant. A bad hero, and a worse teacher. I should be patient. Forgiving.”
“They nearly killed you.” Synovus points out dryly. “You’re allowed to be angry about that.”
“And more would’ve died if the wave had reached the coast.” Minerva grits her teeth. “But that anger should be - I can’t control them. I cannot fix them. But I didn’t even try to intervene until it was almost too late.”
“But you did intervene.”
Minerva gestures, attempts to pinpoint the logic fruitless and frustrated. “Am I a hero or not?” She demands. “Do I act for others or only my own skin? I’ve spent years - decades - so sure of the answer but now -“
She raises her hands, half-fisting them in her hair. The sensation provides a little bit of grounding, enough of a distraction she doesn’t think about the words before she says them. “- now you make sense to me, and the things I thought I believed in enough to die for are - are hollow or gone or dead. And I let you kill them. I let you kill him.”
Abruptly, she draws her knees up, burying her face in them. “I let - I made - my child - our child -“
Minerva can’t tell if she’s crying or not. Her breath is coming in gasps, and her face feels hot, and this was always the part of weeping that she hated the most; the lack of control, the inability to communicate. Her eyes burn. So does the center of her chest, her stomach.
And Synovus is here, as her witness. Why not? They’ve seen every other ugly part of her, every other failure. She’s spent a good portion of her adult life fighting this person, exchanging scars, only for them to pick up the pieces and try to protect her. She’s finally had the upper hand, proven that she does have power, that Synovus now owes her in the brutal calculus of lives, and instead of reassuring her it’s broken her.
Because Synovus doesn’t trust themself either.
But Synovus trusts her.
“Do you wish I wouldn’t have killed Albion?” Synovus asks quietly.
The answer is as simple and certain as the water. “No.” She says honestly. “No I - I don’t.”
There’s a pause. Then, “Do you wish I would’ve killed you too?”
That answer isn’t as clear to find. “I - some days.” She says hoarsely. “I committed the same crimes.”
Synovus exhales, across from her, and it isn’t quite a sigh. “Alexandria feels differently.”
Minerva stops breathing.
Of all the answers Synovus could’ve given, that’s the one she can’t counter. She can’t afford to do this. To wallow in self recrimination. Her daughter is out there. And while maybe - maybe her morals are falling to pieces, and she doesn’t know who she is, but she knows that whoever she is loves Alexandria.
“Is it pathetic?” She asks Synovus, in the dark she can’t see through and Synovus can. “To need someone else to determine who I am. What I believe.”
She can hear the twist in Synovus’s expression as they reply, “That’s… inherently not a question I can answer. But, Minerva?” Synovus doesn’t hesitate, so much as pick their way across uncertain footing, “I don’t think you would’ve been able to turn back that wave if you weren’t… as much as you are.”
It’s clumsily phrased. Wavering and uncertain. But Minerva, whether because she’s reading what she wants to from it, or because it’s actually Synovus’s intention, understands.
She takes a deep breath. Then another. Then she stands, and offers a hand in Synovus’s general direction. Her voice is much more certain, calm, when she says, “I need to go organize a search party.”
——————
Minerva may not ever come to terms with her role in her ex-husband’s death, or the harm she caused her daughter. She might not ever find the rock-solid beliefs that she once thought she had.
But she might - just might - come to terms with that uncertainty. The ocean doesn’t have roots either.
She’ll have good days and bad days. She’ll need to make decisions about who she wants to become, and how she feels about who she is. But as both Naiad, and Minerva, she has that freedom.
She’ll never touch the Athena costume again.
And one day, while she’s working on a laptop in one of the common rooms, Synovus on one of the other couches and Alexandria sprawled on the floor, Minerva will say, “I have an idea. Something I’d like to do about the Pacific garbage patch.”
And Alexandria will roll over to look at her, and Synovus will glance up. And Minerva will add, “It’s not precisely legal.”
And Synovus will say, “I’m listening.”
——————————
[And so ends Siren Call! This took much longer than it’s other pieces, and there were things I debated including and things I wanted to cut, but in the end, this was the flow the story took. I’m not saying I’m *done* with Synovus and co, but I will say that I’m glad to have this chapter closed and tied off.]
[As per usual, a copy of this will go up on Ao3 soon, and I’ll find out how long it is, because I’ve once again written directly into tumblr drafts. It’s where the Synovus muse lives, apparently.]
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gemissleeping · 2 months
Text
Sea Foam | Chapter Two
Theodore Nott x Siren!Reader
Read Chapter One here.
Summary: After almost pulling him to the bottom of the Black Lake the night prior, Theodore Nott can’t keep his mind off of you. But you worry things aren’t all that they may seem to him.
Length: 2.7k
Notes: More brash (kind of dark) Theo. Angst. Not smutty just saucy. Not very pc comment about drugs/addiction (but it’s a UK high school in the 90s so… real). Featuring Blaise & Milli the peak friend duo. Sprinkle of hurt/comfort if you squint. Thanks for reading, love you guys <3
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When you pulled yourself from the depths of the lake an hour before sunrise, the shoreline was empty and he was gone. You could barely remember anything save for a string of flashes; his lips on yours, hands hungry for each other as you had tangled yourself in him. How you were supposed to face him in the halls today, you didn’t know. You hauled yourself onto some rocks outside of the castle’s view. A tremor running through you like a gentle current, as it always did the next day. Evasion, you eventually settled on, would be your best hope. At least until you decided what you were going to do.
An hour or so later, you were making your way towards the Great Hall. The salt licked curls of your hair the only evidence that last night might’ve happened at all. Only a few students sat, littered across their House tables. The early morning sun was casting patterns through the windows, most students likely still in the middle of their dreams.
Theo would be running Quidditch practice around now, so you wouldn’t have to fret the possibility of your paths crossing. Unfortunately, that also meant you’d have to leave before Milli and Blaise got back from practice too.
Lifting your teacup with unsteady fingers, you sat at the Slytherin table, flipping through The Daily Profit without really taking any of it in. Students slowly piling in with heavy eyes, soft yawns and hushed chatter. Filling the Great Hall until the sound rose to a low, inviting hum.
You took a hesitant bite of some plain toast, never feeling that you could stomach much after a full moon. Your attempt was soured quickly, the toast going down the way you imagined gravel might. Deciding you couldn’t eat anything more, you folded over the paper, going to stand just as a hand clamped down on your shoulder with far too much energy for the current hour.
“Alright Darling?” Blaise Zabini’s melodic voice rang out as he stepped over the bench. Taking a seat beside you with a shit eating grin.
“She’s still waking up Blaise, be nice.” Milli scolded as she sat across from you, her freckled cheeks undoubtedly blushed from the morning air.
“From those dark circles I’m not sure she slept at all.” Blaise quipped, stealing the toast from your plate as you sighed, unimpressed. “You and Nott are two of a kind this morning,” he added, demolishing half of the toast in a single bite as you stilled.
Nausea licked at your stomach, trying to crawl it’s way up. You went to speak, but your voice was lost for a moment as you caught sight of a set of sleep torn, dark blue eyes. They’d cut through the sea of students, found you even from the doorway. You swallowed, flicking open the newspaper on the table again and tearing your eyes away as you cleared your throat.
“What do you mean?” You asked, trying not to appear overly nervous as you glanced over at Milli, who was practically trying to live inside of her coffee mug.
“Looks like he was dragged through a bush backwards,” she echoed into her cup. Only taking a momentary break to answer your question before going back to drowning in her coffee. Panic flickered through your chest as you took another precarious sip of tea, a headache was forming now.
Against your will, you felt your eyes sweep across the gathered students at the Slytherin table. Locking straight onto those same tired eyes as Theo took a seat further down the table. Already looking at you from beside Matt and Enzo. Barely listening to a word either of them were saying as he watched you with an unreadable expression. You felt yourself inhale harshly before dragging yourself away from him. Doing your best to push him to the bottom of your mind as you tuned back into your friends.
“Understatement of the century,” Blaise chimed, polishing off the toast. “Whichever girl of his he shagged last night has him proper messed. Could barely even run drills this morning.” You almost choked on your tea at Blaise’s comment.
“Blaise,” Milli sighed, dropping her empty cup to the table, “you have absolutely no decorum.”
“Which is exactly why you keep me around,” Blaise grinned, pointing at her with his fork. “How else would you two get any of the gossip?”
Milli shook her head fondly as you managed to put on a small smile. Pushing your hands towards the teapot to refill your cup, very aware that Theo was still transfixed on you.
“Jesus, you’re shaking like the smack addict my Mum dated in Third Year.” Blaise crowed as you lifted your magically filled cup, barely managing to keep the tea inside of it. “Anyway enough about Theo’s ugly mug. I’ll get it out of him in Divination.”
“Rather out of character for your Mother.” Milli frowned curiously over her eggs, distracted.
“Well, you know how it goes. His wallet was heavy,” Blaise stated simply, peering over at you with discernment before turning back to Milli for a moment, “good smack’s expensive you know.”
“I don’t.” She glowered.
“Well now you do.” Blaise was looking at you sideways again. He was, unfortunately, even more perceptive than most people believed.
“And what of your Mum’s smacked up ex lovers - dead now I’m assuming?” Milli chimed from across the table. You felt Blaise’s calculating eyes leave you, utterly unamused as he turned his attention to her.
“And you say I have no decorum.”
“Neither of you should throw stones in glass houses,” you murmured, lips against your teacup as you blinked tiredly between your two friends.
“She speaks,” Blaise smiled, a slither of his concern seeming to melt away. Your friends were admittedly idiots, but they both cared for you deeply.
“Seriously though,” Milli spoke up across from you both, “are you alright? You got in after me last night.”
“Fine, just getting my ass handed to me in Potions this year.” The pair shared a glance, but neither pressed further.
The rest of the day had been long, leaving you bone-tired. Through all of the classes you had shared, you could feel Theo stealing glances at you. Perhaps he was angry, or merely curious, confused even. But it did nothing to ease the guilt and embarrassment that was rising through you. It wasn’t until Potions last period when Matt started laughing suddenly from beside him that a thought dawned on you.
You felt like a fool for not having got to it sooner, though you hadn’t exactly been clear headed today. Especially not with this headache, which had only grown. Occasionally gracing you with unwelcome fragments of last night in the middle of your Professors’ lecturing. Yet it hadn’t occurred to you until now; what if Theo told someone about last night?
You’d known him, all of the Slytherins, since you were little. In passing mostly at Galas and Dinners, but you’d never been overly close. Who was to say that he wouldn’t? Your Father had gone to every length to keep your ailment hidden, it was an embarrassment to him. In his eyes you were the worst kind of half-blood, a reminder of his weakness. It couldn’t get out, it would ruin him, ruin you.
You knew what that meant, what you had to do. Whether you could bring yourself to was something else entirely. It was while you were making your way to the Common Room after Potions, thinking about how you would do it. Brow creased with the weight of it all, when a low, strained voice spoke from behind you.
“That’s not fair.”
You turned back in surprise to see Theo at the far end of the hall. His chest rising and falling rapidly, tie loosened as he ran his hand along his jaw. The sight of him sending a wave of memories through your mind as you began to feel unsteady.
Blaise and Milli had been right. While you’d been avoiding so much as breathing in his direction all day, you hadn’t looked at him, not properly. He looked as though he hadn’t slept at all, the undersides of his eyes practically bruised from the lack of rest.
You felt yourself frowning softly as you tried to make sense of his words, choking on your own. “Excuse me?”
“It’s not fair. If you get to remember, and I have to forget.” He called back with a quiet anger, watching intently. Searching your eyes for something. You froze, locked on him in shock as the realisation slowly swept you.
He knew you had been thinking of obliviating him.
“You’re the reason I’ve had a headache all day.” You murmured, eyes widening with the gravity of Theo’s invasion dawning on you. He walked towards you carefully, like he couldn’t help himself.
“And you’re the reason I can’t think of anything. Except for-“
His eyes fell to your lips.
You knew you should go, turn and walk away. But as he approached, you couldn’t bring yourself to move. Completely stuck under his gaze. Distracted by the way his dark curls caught the fleeting light, the shadow against the slope of his nose. You saw him smile as he read you for filth, flitting through your head with ease. Your breath caught as you slammed him out, cheeks flushed.
“You’ve been using legilimency on me?” You seethed in a hush.
“I have,” he admitted, eyes darkening, “and you almost drowned me in the Black Lake. So I guess we’re both bad people.”
He took a step closer to you, and then another. Until he was so unbearably close that you were forced to look up at him. Theo was already watching you, gaze darting between your lips and your eyes as if he had no control over any of it.
“You should’ve listened to me when I told you to go,” you whispered, your own eyes falling to his lips before flickering back to his, cheeks still running warm.
You could feel your chest hammering, breath picking up. Flashes of the night prior came back to you in a flood and you broke away, taking a rushed step back from the tense stare of the boy before you. It had been him, all day it had been him, ever since breakfast.
“Stop doing that,” you gasped. Trying to shove him out of your mind again. But instead your back hit the pillar behind you with enough force to dash the air from your lungs. He closed in.
“Not until you talk to me,” Theo breathed. Eyes trailing lazily across your features in pursuit of something.
You only shook your head, unable to break the gaze he was holding. “We need to stay away from each other.”
But you didn’t mean it, he could hear it. An unbecoming frown pulled him closer to you until you were only a breath away. Theo tilted his head, as though he was failing at unraveling your mind this time. His hand raised, fingertips hesitating towards the exposed skin of your neck.
You knew better than this, knew that you should push him away the way you had last night. Knew that it wasn’t real. But when his fingers brushed so barely across your skin, dancing their way up to your jaw, all rational thought left you.
“I don’t know if I can do that.” He murmured, his face dangerously close to yours.
You faltered as his thumb drew deliberate soft circles across the arch of your cheek. Eyes burning with shame as the guilt of last night clawed at you, “I could’ve killed you.”
“But you didn’t.” Theo muttered, his other hand circling the loose sleeve of your shirt. Fingers brushing past it, pushing it up further as he explored. The rough callouses on his fingertips dancing along your arm as he continued to drown in your eyes. Thumb still running gently across your cheek. Until it faltered, a frown flickering across his features.
Trailing across the skin of your forearms, were a string of welts; left by the snaring kelp you had buried yourself in. His eyes softened as his fingers left your cheek, gently pulling the sleeve of your shirt higher with a frown.
You flinched, pulling your arm back to your side. The burning sensation ripping you into reality once again. “Believe me, I tried.”
“What can I do?” He asked, far more softly than you had ever heard him speak. “I want to help you.”
Your eyes stung, wishing that for even a moment you could let yourself believe him. But the truth was that you couldn’t afford to take that chance. You’d had no one to guide you through this after your Mother had left, no clue as to how any of it worked. No textbook had ever helped you, the sirens you found in their pages weren’t like you.
You were alone in this, and you couldn’t let yourself do this to him on the off chance that maybe it was real. Of his own volition and not drawn from him by whatever you had done to him under the full moon. You glanced back up to him as the sun sank through the stained glass windows of the empty hall.
“It’s not real, Theo. The way you feel is a, a reaction,” you could hear the crack in your voice as you sank away from him, “It will pass.”
Theo’s eyes darkened as he took a step back, hurt clouding him. The last of the sun’s warmth leaching from the air as night began to set in.
“Stop,” he breathed as his eyes found the floor, “stop doing that. You keep lying and forgetting that I can hear you.”
“Do you think this is normal?” You pleaded with him, wishing for nothing more than to make him see reason. “I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t-“
“I wanted to,” you snapped suddenly, your voice cutting through his as pain bloomed in him from your words. “I wanted to,” you said again, softening. “Any second longer and I-“ your eyes fluttered, blinking back tears, “I would have done it. It’s not real, Theo. It’s safer for both of us if we just-”
He wasted no time in cutting you off with his lips. Gently pressing them against yours, one hand tangling tenderly through your salty hair. The other at your jaw, fingertips trailing up to tuck some of the loose strands behind your ear. It was different to last night. Gentle, fragile even. You felt your lips part in a mess of surprise and fear at the sensation. It was all the invitation he needed.
He deepened the kiss, tilting your jaw back and eliciting an involuntary gasp from you. Swallowing the sound with the softness of his lips against yours. Hands running over your skin like he was trying to memories you. His fingers brushing through your hair one last time before he pulled back gently.
“You don’t feel that?” He breathed against you, hopeful eyes lingering as he cradled your face in his palms. But you couldn’t answer him without lying, without admitting that you felt it all too. So instead you avoided his question.
“Don’t you think it’s odd? When you never seemed to before?” You countered, desperately trying to shove whatever he had drawn out of you down. “Forgive me, perhaps I’m inexperienced, or naive. But I’m fairly certain that kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight.” You finished emptily, growing tired of your rising hope.
He straightened, his hand falling from your cheek. Brushing your shoulder before dropping to his side.
“You seem very certain that it did,” Theo conceded. Taking a step back from you, his eyes hardening as he swept your face.
“What?” You breathed, his face perfectly indifferent as he gazed at you, waiting.
“That I never felt that way before last night.” He clarified, narrowing in on you. You stayed like that for a moment, watching each other carefully. Eventually, you let your eyes sink to the floor. Hand coming up to smooth down your hair.
“I won’t ask you again.” You swallowed, brushing past him as the warmth drained from you. You didn’t have to say it, you could feel him on the outside. Begging you to let him through to your mind.
So you left it there like a note upon his doorstep; that you wanted to forget. Even if it wasn’t true
Read Chapter Three here
Taglist: @hemlockmuncher @hoeforvinniehackerrr @moonlightttfae @thecraziestcrayon @itssomeonereading @leona-hawthorne @liaaanie
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sinnabee · 6 months
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Happy day...
@naffeclipse thanks for bringing this terrible man into my life! he haunts me :)
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