#he would seize if Luke showed him his ankle so this is too much | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

linearao3 · 5 years

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Porn prompt! Rey and Ben are begrudgingly working together but on the run and need to lie low in an abandoned house for a bit until their exfil. Forced proximity + honest to goodness conversations = banging

It only took me… six fucking months. You didn’t specify the “it’s too darn hot” theme, but I hope you don’t mind it? Also I’m not sure this is what you meant by “honest to goodness conversations,” but, uh, they do talk? Anyway:

“What’s wrong with this planet’s atmosphere?” she gasps, slamming the window down and sliding down beneath the windowsill. “Do they know we’re here?” They’re supposed to be hidden here, waiting for Poe to come and sweep them off their feet. Or up by the scruffs of the necks they’ve been busy endangering. Poe has plenty to say about that these days, though Rey doesn’t think he has as much room to talk as he thinks he does.

“What do you mean?” he asks, but she can see its affecting him too, sweat dripping down his neck though the instrument on the wall shows only 27 Standard.

“It’s choking. Are they poisoning us? What have they done? How long do we have?”

He pauses, blinking. “Nobody did anything. It’s just humid.”

“Humid? This is water?”

“Yes,” he says. “You’ve never been on a humid world before?”

“There was fog on Ach-To.” She sits down. The air feels heavy.

“It’s hot. I thought you’d be used to heat.”

She points indignantly to the temp instrument. “44 is hot.” She sees him flinch at the number. “39, 38 even, if you don’t have water or shade. 27 isn’t hot.” She’s in the shade, hidden beneath the sill in this dark abandoned house, but it doesn’t seem to matter. And according to the recently resigned-or-so-he-claims Supreme Leader (Rey is tempted to rifle through his memories and see if he wasn’t deposed), it’s water that’s to blame. “So what do you do about this?”

“Maybe there’s climate regulation somewhere. But I doubt it. This planet is primitive.”

“So what do we do?”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

“In real heat, you look for shade. If you can spare the water, you make yourself sweat. If you can spare the power, you rig a fan. If the sand hasn’t shifted lately, you can dig down to a cooler layer.”

“Fanning might help. Sweating won’t, or not much. I think the whole… problem… is the evaporation point.”

Rey swears. “Fine. Is there a fan unit?”

There is not. They search the whole house, both stories, and when they meet up again, he’s opened all the windows, and a good deal more of his snow-white skin is showing than when she left him. (She knows what snow is, now, how it feels, how fragile it is, not like sand at all, and for a brief moment she dreams that Kylo Ren might be cool and gentle to the touch. But she knows better; she’s felt him at her back, under her hand, fighting together; he’s feverishly hot; touching him would be no help. No help at all.)

He sees her looking. He’s removed his gloves, and his tunic; his arms are still covered, and suspenders hang from his waist, pulling at the high band of his trousers. It’s actually worse than – but what does she mean worse? Worse how. That doesn’t make any sense. She turns away.

“It encourages evaporation,” he says stiffly, and she nods, just as stiffly. That makes sense. They’re shaded here, after all, and so there’s no need to shield bare skin from burns. He’d burn so easily, in the sun, with that skin; he’d flush and the lightest touch of her fingers would make him hiss, but he’d need a salve; she imagines the extravagant quantities of cool gel she’d need to cover all of him, a whole pot, enough to dip her fingers all the way into; she imagines her wet fingers sliding over his back as he shudders –

“What is it?”

“I was just – you wouldn’t fare well on Jakku. Showing skin like that.”

“I know,” he mumbles. “I didn’t. Dress like this.”

She jerks around to face him. “You were on Jakku?”

His eyes are downcast and he swallows hard. “First Order business.”

Of course. Busy being a master of the universe. While she dug for parts in dusty graveyards. She looks down at her arms, carefully wrapped against a blazing star she hasn’t seen in years.

Well. He’s not a dark lord, anymore, is he. Just some human man (strong and hot to the touch), taking instructions from Poe, just like her. And she’s not his subject. She’s his… partner. (Equal in the Force. Mirror-image.) She undoes her belt and strips off her wrap, and then the tunic underneath. She’s not looking at him but he swallows so hard she can hear it.

She sits down on the floor and takes off her boots, then lays down flat. He’s looking at her; she can feel it; he’s standing there looking at her. “Heat rises,” she reminds him. Slowly, he sits down, and then slowly unfolds to lie on the floor. Parallel to her, and not so far away.

There’s nothing to do but wait, is there? They should rest. “Sleep,” she says. That’s what you do if you don’t have to work. “The beacon will wake us up if Poe shows up earlier than he says he will.”

But she can’t sleep. The air is too heavy. She should feel drowsy, but she only feels restless. Irritable. She rolls on her side and sees that he’s done the same. He’s been watching her not-sleep. His eyes flicker over her, lingering in odd places – not the subtle little valley that shows at the top of her breast band, but her ankle, her shoulder. Her mouth. (Maybe that’s not so odd, she thinks, sneaking a glance at his sulky-soft lips.) She rolls her neck, under his gaze, and blushes when she realizes she’s done it.

He keeps looking. “Did you really roll around in the dirt?” he asks. “To keep cool?”

“What?”

His finger traces a line in the grain of the floor. (As best it can; the grain is fine, and his fingers are thick.) “You said you’d dig down to a cool layer.”

“In the sand,” she says. “If it’s burning through your shoes, you dig down to where it’s cooler.”

“Oh,” he says. “Only your feet.”

Is he… disappointed? “What were you imagining? That I buried myself up to the neck? I’d never get out again.”

“Some animals wallow,” he says, sounding a bit defensive.

“You mean like a sand bath? Sure, but that’s to get clean, not cool. You scour, you don’t roll around. And I’m not an animal.”

“We’re all animals.”

“We are not,” she says sternly. “Animals can’t govern themselves. We can.”

“Maybe you can.” He rolls away from her. She can tell just by the shape of his shoulders that he’s clenching his fists.

“Oh, you mean, unlike all those other sentients who need the guiding hand of a supreme leader?”

“Snoke couldn’t govern a single ship,” he grits. “And neither could I. Neither can Hux, not by himself. People aren’t governable. They’re manipulable.”

Now her teeth are clenched too. “Maybe they are. But they can resist it. And – ”

“Maybe you can,” he says again, and the tension in his shoulders is pulled so tight his back arches and the pain radiates out from him in the Force like a sonic shock. The pain carries his meaning to her, and drags at her heart, even before she hears him mumble it out. “I never could. I’m weak. I always have been.”

“No,” she protests. “No, you’re not. I know you’re strong; I’ve felt it in you.”

He spits the bitter fragment of a laugh. “You. It’s easier for you than for anyone.”

“What are you talking about?” Being strong? He should know, better than anyone, how hard she fights, how she struggles and weeps – she thought he did know –

“At least Master Snoke, Master Luke – they told me I had to work for it. You make it seem like I could just have it. Like I could just reach out and – have.” She sees him lift a straining arm, clutching for nothing. (There’s so much effort in him, so much struggle, but the muscles in his pale shoulder move with such simple grace.)

“Have what?”

He rolls over again. He’s closer, now. If he reached out again she would be in his grasp. The sun is setting; the damp-warm room is falling into shadow. She can feel sweat dripping between her breasts. She can feel his eyes on her face.

“Have what?” she whispers again.

He breathes out. Does she feel it? Is he that close? Or is it just a brief stirring of the hot and sticky air between them? “A way out,” he says at last. “You can lead me around so easily, because you always make it seem like… all I have to do is ask.”

He laughs again, longer, and so much sadder; he closes his eyes but she can see the tears lining his lashes. For a moment Rey could cry herself, for the despair that howls in him. A feeling like the first time she climbed a dune, and felt herself slide down and backwards with each step, while the wind built and shifted the peak above her.

But she has learned to walk on sand. A light, trudging step. A patient step.

“Maybe not. Maybe that’s not all. But have you tried?” she asks gently. “Have you tried asking?”

His eyes fly open. “Asking?” His voice cracks. “Have I tried asking?” She sees it, suddenly, in his dazed eyes, full of pain and rage – his outstretched hand, his palm sweating in his glove, his lips trembling as he made himself say it. Please.

Quick, like she’s bringing her staff down on a pole-snake’s head, she seizes his hand. The same hand. Bare now. (Still sweating.) "I asked you too,“ she snarls, clutching his heavy paw to her like its her haul, her prize, “I asked you, I begged you, but you were so set. You say you want a way out? I told you I’d help you, I was ready to take you away, bring you out, but you were asking me to stay there. But fine. Fine! You asked once and I said no, so now you’ll never ask anybody anything ever again, is that it?”

She tugs on his hand again, angrily, like it will convince him of something. If he wanted, he could be immovable as stone, but he jolts with her motion. His skin is hot, like she knew it would be, his palm hotter, almost slippery with sweat, and little flashes of thought are jumping from him to her like sparks, like a current (her hand, pushing cool sand up and down her bare legs, tracing the curve of her calf and the hollow of her knee; the shifting line of her bare bent neck; the glimmer of a drop of sweat as it moves between her breasts) but she pushes past them, leaning in, staring fiercely up into his face. “Fine. Will you come with me, Ben? Join me; be on my side? I have no bloody idea if it’s easy or hard. But will you come with me and try?”

If she were standing, she might have stamped her foot, some distraction from the hot tears gathering in her eyes. Instead, she yanks fiercely on his hand, pulling with her whole body, so that she rolls onto her back and he follows. His body lands heavily on hers, and the images in his head change and strengthen and become more than images: he can feel the grit of sand over her soft skin; he can feel the hard muscle in her neck and shoulder, the fit of his thumb into the hollow of her collarbone; he can taste the drop of sweat, and he would lick it from her skin or suck it as a dark drop from the linen strip he envies and resents.

He’s smotheringly hot, worse than this deadly atmosphere, and he crushes all the breath out of her. But that flood of thoughts, and the frantic whimpering noise he makes when she’s under him, make her head drop back, and make her whimper in return, even before his nose presses into the hair behind her ear; even before his mouth is on her neck, every word a kiss or a bite, “Rey; I’ll do anything; Rey.”

All the bare white skin is on her, there to touch, but she knows what she wants most, and she seizes his long black hair and drags his hectic mouth to hers. He stammers against her lips for a moment before he falls into her, kissing her with single-minded intensity. She tries to move one hand to his shoulder, but he seizes both her wrists and pins them; he won’t be distracted from her mouth. He caresses it with his, scrapes and nips her with his teeth, breathes her in, drinks her up. “Anything,” he says again, low and aching, moving her lips with his.

She kisses him back, doing everything he does to her to him, but harder, ‘til he moans. And he can pin her arms, but her legs are free, and she presses her bare foot along the back of his thigh, tracing out the shape of him. When her bent leg squeezes the muscles of his ass he chokes and gasps for breath; she doesn’t know if it’s the feeling or if he’s picking the image out of her mind, the thought of how he’d move if he were fucking her. His fingers are tight on her arms, and his hips jerk, once, before he falls back a little, retreating down her body.

He lets her arms go but he puts one outspread hand across her neck and collarbone, the heel of his hand resting against her breastbone. With the other he rips away her breast band. It drags at her, biting into her flesh before it tears; he just stares, fixated, until the linen rips. He licks his lips, panting, and then he jerks his eyes up to her face, stricken. He swallows hard, drawing back his hands as if she burns him, and the cold wave of his fear makes her shiver in the sweltering room.

She grabs for his hair and drags his head down, arching her back in case the way she manhandles his head doesn’t make it clear what she wants. When his tongue touches her, stroking up to the point of her nipple, she gasps, and his fear draws back, lost in a wave of his intense satisfaction.

He licks, and sucks, and bites at the undersides; he bites the nipple, too, and she jerks her knee into his side. "That hurts,“ she growls, and he grunts, but doesn’t pause. It’s hot and wet in the room; his mouth is hot and wet on her skin; she knows she’s hot and wet between her legs, and she knows he’s thinking of it. Before it had choked her; she’d thought she was dying, poisoned. Now she luxuriates in it. The air is full of the smell of him, sweat and leather and burning power cells.

She digs his hands into his hair again, dragging it against the grain so that it spills over her bare skin, tickling and rasping under her fingers. "You’re going to fuck me, aren’t you?” she says sternly. "You’re going to fuck me very nice and hard, and then you’re going to come with me and be with me. Aren’t you, Ben?“

He makes a furious noise against her skin, a snarl that buzzes through her and makes her squeeze her legs tight around his waist. He claws at the waistband of her pants, grunting, "Nice and hard. Harder than you’ve ever had it.” She lifts her hips and he yanks her pants and underwear down together, barely getting them past her knees before he’s struggling with his own pants, staring down at her. His cock comes free, thick and red, the tip already smeared wet. His lips are wet and shining, and she wants them on her cunt, reaches out to push him down, but he’s already muscling his knees between hers, spreading her thighs with bruisingly desperate hands.

“Anything,” he groans, as he presses into her and she cries out. "Nice and hard and anything. Rey.“ His voice is so deep, and he’s so deep inside her. She moans, and he thrusts again. "Rey.” He braces himself on one forearm, the fist clenched beside her ear; with his other hand, he tremblingly lifts her leg to wrap around him, to feel his bare skin against hers, to feel his muscles work as he throws himself into fucking her. Her head rocks back, little noises pouring from between clenched teeth as he works his cock into her, just like she asked.

They’re both soaked with sweat, their bodies moving slick and sultry. "That’s good,“ she mumbles. "Ah, ah – that’s good. That’s so good.” She can feel how it thrills him, feel it in the Force and in the way he moves, straining and savoring. She rolls her hips, pressing him where she wants him, and urges him on with her heels. He’s panting, wild-eyed, spitting obscene syllables; he drops his head, and she can feel how good it feels, to drag his cock out of her clenching cunt and drive it back in. She sees the tense line of muscle in his shoulder, braced above her; she stares at it, and there’s answering tension in her. She claws at his back, clings to him with her knees, wringing what she wants from him, convulsing when she gets it. He shudders and sobs when he feels her feel it, but he fucks her through it. (Anything, anything; he always expected to work for it, and never thought the work would be so sweetly difficult.)

Her head lolls, and he’s still working, still straining, fighting with his own pleasure. She opens her mouth and licks his neck, hot and hard. His hips stammer. She sinks her teeth into his shoulder and he shouts and slams her flat beneath him, jerking still more warmth and wetness into her.

He lies heavily on her. She can hear him swallow, feel the faint, exhausted tick of his mind, listing towards anxiety. He’s ready to have failed, ready to panic. She strokes her hand through his hair and he steadies. His thoughts sink down to a low flame of sensuous impression. Hot, he is thinking, hot and wet and sweet and good.

Rey breathes deeply, inhaling the humid air that feels like it might drown her, and hopes Poe takes his time.

#anonymous #reylo #lemons

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bards-witcher · 5 years

Text

Shipwrecked - Ohmtoonz

Basically all the guys are pirates and Ohm’s a merman. Thanks to @rainstorm67 for the inspiration.

As always I hope you enjoy :D and if you like this you can find all my fics here to wonder through.

[Luke POV]

“I can’t wait to get off this goddamn boat”

He heard Delirious muffle his laugh next to him, the both of them currently on their hands and knees scrubbing the top deck, he was starving, the captain having decided that neither of them should be fed alongside their punishment. Normally he hated the looks of pity the crew would throw his way at his predicament, but he had no mind to complain when every now and then they’d chuck them the odd vegetable scrap whilst the Captain had his back turned.

“You love it really” He couldn’t help but snort at Delirious’ comment, they’d been in some shitty situations in the past but nothing like this.

“Only when we’re with a captain who actually knows what the fuck he’s doin’, if we weren’t a couple days from land I’d fuckin’ mutiny” The way his friend paled at his comment showed how he took the statement a lot more seriously, worry making its way onto his face.

“Not so loud, you don’t know who’s listenin’. Just keep your mouth shut until we reach land, I don’t wanna die cause of your big mouth”

“I don’ give a fuck, nobody ‘ere like him either, I could snap my fingers and have everyone on my side in a second” Even as he said those words he felt the weight of them get heavier, barely registering the sound of footsteps approaching him until they stopped right in front of him, at which he could only mutter a swear and pray to every god he knew.

“Is that so Cartoonz?” The malice in those words sent a shiver down his spine and he hated how weak he felt in this moment, helpless but to look up at the man now looming over him.

“Is that what, sir?”

The Captain huffed a laugh above him “You’ve got balls I’ll give you that. Now, what’s this about a mutiny?” An onslaught of curses sounded in his head and in the corner of his eye he could see Delirious reach for the knife he kept in his boot.

“Think you may need to go back inside sir, sun’s clearly gotten to your head, no word of a mutiny here” In the background, he could hear a couple of the crew members try to muffle their laughter, but he knew with those words he’d sealed his fate. He cast one more apologetic glance towards Delirious before Gorilla blocked his view.

He let out the breath he’d been holding, he knew Gorilla would stop Delirious from doing anything stupid meaning that his friend wouldn’t follow the same fate he did.

“I’m going to miss your jokes Cartoonz, but all good things must come to an end. Seize him” He felt strong hands grab his arms and pull them behind his back, he didn’t bother struggling, knew it wouldn’t make a difference, he only made sure to spit at the captain as he was pushed past, getting a sick sense of satisfaction when it hit him in the eye.

“Nice shot” He heard the words whispered to him, the thick accent telling him that it was Brian who would be taking him to the chopping block. He felt rope being tied around his wrists before he felt his ankles also being bound together, in the back of his mind he noted how Brian had given him a bit of wiggle room in his binds, silently thanking the Irishman before he finished. “For what it’s worth, I would ‘a sided wit’ ya” He felt a final pat on his shoulder before he was lifted and left to stand on the plank that would signal his doom.

“Any final words Cartoonz?”

He gave one final glance around the crew, people he’d come to appreciate and respect over their time together and he’s sure that under the right circumstances they could’ve dominated the seven seas, but that was for another lifetime.

“I think fuck you sums it up pretty well”

“Very well, Wildcat, if you will” The fact that the captain didn’t have the balls to push him over himself, was just salt in the wound. He noticed the brief hat tip Tyler gave him before picking up the stick that would send him over, and it was only a second later that he felt himself being pushed into the waters below him.

The cold water hit him like a train, instantly taking any air out of him upon impact and he was quick to start struggling in an effort to escape his binds. Despite Brian having made them loose, no matter how much he tried he couldn’t get his hands free, and with every second he descended further into the cold unforgiving depths, his lungs screaming for air.

It’s when he has no energy left to fight when he swears that he can feel his body start to shut down, that he sees a figure approach him. It’s when dots start to color his vision and he feels on the cusp of unconsciousness that he feels a hot searing pain on his right eye and even with no air left he manages to scream in the water until the salty water hit the back of his throat.

Before he knows it he’s coughing water out of his mouth and throat before taking deep breaths of air, paying no mind to his surroundings as he tries to get air back into his lungs. When he’s finally got some semblance of control back again he looks at his surrounding, realising that he is both still bound and underwater.

Before he could question what was happening he felt his arms be cut free and in the next moment his legs as well before a figure swam up in front of him and it took all semblance of control not to react.

He could only describe the creature in front of him as some form of merman, he could make out a large green tail from the waist down, almost camouflaged in the water, only able to see it due to the few rays of sunshine that reached far enough to glitter off of their scales. The upper half looked like any other person, broad chest, two arms and a thick head of hair that despite its short length still managed to flow with the water. He noticed the scars that littered not only his chest but his tail as well, showing how he was no stranger to battle.

“I hope we are well met, Luke Patterson”

A multitude of questions ran through his head and he was struggling with which one should take precedence, but when no answer was forthcoming the creature in front of him continued.

“We’ve been watching your ship for a while now, my kin and I. Your Captain has something of great value to us, our King, and we’d like him returned to us”

The sentence did little to answer his questions, instead adding another ten on top of that until he felt like his brain was going to explode.

“I am a merman of the Atlantic clan, normally we don’t venture so close to land or the surface, but this is of great importance. The reason you can breathe under the water is because I branded your eye, however, only in the presence in one of my kind will you be able to use this gift. So, will you help us?”

“So, let me get this straight, first you stalked me, then branded me a like a bit of cattle and now you want me to help your asses out? I’d rather die thanks” He felt confident in his words, confidence that quickly diminished at the malicious grin that spread across the merman’s face.

“Well I wouldn’t have put it so crudely, but yes, and it wasn’t a request. If you’d prefer we’d quite happily leave you to drown again before we start poking holes in that ship and picking off the people on it like fish in a barrel.” He felt a sickening feeling rise up in his throat, but the merman hadn’t finished yet. “A fun game we used to play would be how far could we drag a person underwater before the pressure causes their lungs to collapse, I hear it can be quite painful” The last part was whispered to him and even though he was in the water he felt an even colder shiver run down his spine, the merman moving behind him to place two hands on his shoulders. “I wonder how long Jonathon would last? 100 feet? 200? Maybe you could keep track for us?”

“I’ll do it”

“Wonderful” the merman then swam back in front of him, a bright smile on its face that did very little to reassure him “I would’ve hated to see such a waste of a fine specimen like yourself”

“Can we just get this over with please?”

“Eager aren’t we, first we must wait for nightfall and then another of my kin will join us to get you onboard, after that it’s up to you. Try not to let us down, we’re not known for our generosity”

All he could do was nod before he felt long arms wrap around him, not having a chance to protest before they were moving, the merman carrying them both surprisingly fast through the water until they caught up with the boat he’d been thrown off of not 15 minutes earlier.

It wasn’t too hard to keep pace with it after that, waiting for what felt like hours below the water's surface until he could finally return to the ship he’d called home for the last few months.

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

He carefully walked across the top deck, maneuvering himself best he could to avoid the areas he knew would creak a little too loudly, before quietly making his way below the deck to see the person he cared for most.

It had been relatively easy getting onto the ship, he was surprised to see the merman shift their tails into legs, but he had little time to question them before he was hauled over one of their shoulders and they began to scale up the side of the large ship, letting him climb up and over the edge before descending back into the water.

He stopped in front of the door he knew his friends were behind, briefly listening to the sounds of Delirious’s’ muffled talking occasionally mixed with someone else in the crew, with a deep breath he gently pushed the door open, taking a step inside only to be met with the blank stares of the crew.

“Evening gentlemen, did I miss much?” He whispered the words, not wanting to alert the captain of his presence but he was only met with confused stares and whispers between one another. It was Delirious who came up to him first, he thought that this would be one of the handful of times that they’d hug it out but instead, he was met by anger in his friends’ gaze.

“If the Captain weren’t in his chambers right now I’d punch the fuck outta you, what the hell were you thinking?” He didn’t have time to answer, as despite his words Delirious leaned forward and pulled him into a tight hug which he was happy to reciprocate, the two of them just holding one another until they heard a cough come from somewhere in the room. “How the fuck are you even here? How’d you get that scar?”

“Gimme a moment to get my bearings and I’ll tell you everythin’” He then gave a final pat to Delirious’s’ shoulder before he made his way around the crew giving each of them a small greeting before he was once again by Delirious’s’ side.

“Brian get the Rum, you guys are gonna need it to believe a word I’m gonna tell ya”

Once glasses were distributed and everyone was seated he told them what happened, about the bitterly cold water and the searing hot pain, the mission he had been assigned almost as if he had made a deal with the devil.

Despite the outlandish nature of his tale, everyone seemed sullen and serious like they fully understood the gravity of the situation they were now in, that if they didn’t rescue the merman from this ship they were dead men.

Over the course of the night, they made their plans, silently thanking his luck that the majority of people on this ship hated the captain as much as he did. Their plan wasn’t foolproof, it was haphazard at best but it’s all they could manage in the short time they had, not realizing how long it had taken before Moo came down to tell them that it was almost sun up. It was almost showtime.

It’s when they’re rushing around the cabin gathering their supplies that they’re caught, the captain stood in the doorway sword aimed at his throat with a sick grin on his face.

“What a surprise to see you here Cartoonz, it appears you’ve had quite the adventure since we last met” He motioned towards his eye with his sword, barely flinching away in time to stop the sword grazing against his face. “Now, whilst I’d love to hear all about it we’re making landfall tomorrow and there’s a lot to be done, we can’t be having a traitor around here spreading lies amongst my crew now can we”

He refused to answer, instead hoping the sheer fury in his eyes would be enough to convey his hatred for the man in front of him.

“Nothing to say? Fine, makes my life easier. Satt, take him up top and tie him up, with chains this time. See if you can find something to weigh him down with as well, there’s a good lad” He saw the young man in the doorway simply give a nod before scurrying off to who knows where. “As for you lot, you’re lucky I don’t throw you over with him, but I can’t go losing half my crew can I? See I’m not that cruel am I?”

He just about heard the snort come from Delirious, even in the face of adversity he still stuck true to himself.

“What are you still standing around for? Up top NOW” He watched his friends come to life around him, picking up the last of their belongings before making their way out and onto the top deck of the ship, leaving just him and the captain still stood in the room. “I had such high hopes in you Cartoonz”

Again, he didn’t answer, instead, he spat in his eye much as he’d done yesterday, earning him a hard slap across the face which caused him to lose balance for a moment. Before he could recover the Captain grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him out of the room and out onto the deck where he was met with the sight of his friends standing in a line ready to watch him die…again.

The captain shoved him towards the direction of the plank, and he would’ve fallen flat on his face had it not been for Satt quickly grabbing hold of him. He quietly thanked the man who only gave him a half-apologetic smile before binding him in his chains, and it wasn’t too long before he found himself on the edge of the plank again, watching the water churn below him.

“Any last words Cartoonz? I hope you don’t make a habit out of this”

He briefly glanced back, noticing some of the crew with their hands on their weapons, giving him a brief nod showing that they were ready and waiting for when he came back.

“See ya tomorrow” He then jumped of his own accord into the cold waters below and once again he found himself struggling futilely against the chains.

It wasn’t too long before the same merman from yesterday returned, only this time he lacked any sort of friendly manner, his slightly scaled hand reaching up and around his throat, choking him even as water was forcibly making its way down his throat.

When he thought that this was it, that he’d actually die this time the merman released him and similar to yesterday he found that he could breathe under the water.

“We spared your life on the condition that you release our King. You failed and now must pay with your life”

He just about caught the arm that once again came darting towards him, using all his strength in an effort to hold it back.

“Wait, just lemme explain. You send me back now and we can get him for you”

He felt the arm he was holding waver slightly, knowing he’d gotten through to the merman he continued his explanation

“Me and the crew got a plan ready, all they’re waiting for is the signal, you get me up there and we’ll get your King back, I swear” The merman looked him over, as if determining whether he was telling the truth or not but apparently he was satisfied with whatever he saw, quickly moving behind him to snap the chains that still bound his arms and legs.

“You have one hour before we tear this ship apart” Before he could answer he was once again grabbed and they made their way quickly through the water, it didn’t take long until they were side by side with the boat and barely a moment later he felt the both of them breach the surface where he was then thrown.

He flailed in the air, tried to get any semblance of control before he landed face first onto the deck of the ship, causing any and all movement onboard to cease as they watched him pick himself up.

He shook his hair slightly to get rid of some of the water, devilish grin on his face as he stared towards the captain. “Boys, I think it’s about time we had a mutiny don’t you?”

Barely a second later and carnage broke out, he managed to duck to avoid the sword that had just been where he was stood, quickly sidestepping so he could analyze the scene in front of him.

All he saw was fighting around him, he briefly noted how his crew outnumbered the captains, if only slightly, before a shout caught his attention, just turning in time to catch the sword Delirious threw at him before he jumped into the fray of the fight.

He managed to pull Satt out of the way from a sword that was where his throat was not a second earlier, he managed to slice someone from naval to throat before they could flank Wildcat and threw his sword towards Jiggly who caught it in time to block the sword that had just tried to slash him in two.

He could see that they were winning, most of the captain’s crew were now dead whilst most of his remained relatively unharmed, that was until he noticed Delirious in a fight with the Captain, and he could tell from the sloppy movements with his sword that Delirious was tired.

He ran towards them, only speeding up when he heard a shout from Delirious as the captain’s sword cut along his thigh, causing him to falter, allowing time for the captain to once again bring his sword up for the killing blow.

He barrelled into the captain, knocking them both off of their feet and the sword to go flying out of his hand. He was quick to land the first punch, ignoring the man struggling under him, he threw punch after punch until the captain was nothing but a bloody pulp below him.

He made sure to keep the man conscious, standing up from his motionless body whilst he gave Delirious a hand up off of the floor, his friend wincing in pain at the pressure he put on his leg. It wasn’t long before Jiggly and Mini came, putting one of Delirious’s’ arms over each of their shoulders before practically dragging him away to tend to his leg.

It was then that Tyler approached him, rope in hand which he graciously accepted, thanking him for his help before tying up the captain and carrying him, only to drop him in the middle of the deck, telling his friends to do whatever they wanted to him whilst he took care of business.

It was on his walk to the captain’s chambers that he felt fatigue hit him, the last 24 hours hitting him like a freight train as he stopped outside the captain’s door. He wasn’t surprised to find that it was locked, only after several attempts was he able to kick it open. A brief glance around the room told him that the merman supposedly here wasn’t in fact here.

He felt the deathly grip of panic in his mind, the thought of the merman waiting for him just outside these wooden walls sent a cold chill down his spine, so much so that he almost missed the faint sound of singing that was within the room.

He walked around the room in an effort to locate it, stopping in front of some kind of bookshelf where the song was loudest, it didn’t take too much effort to knock the shelf down, eliciting a secret room where he saw the merman in question within some kind of tank.

“Was that really necessary?” He looked towards the owner of the voice, he looked similar to the one he’d met except he was different, ethereal almost. There seemed almost to be a faint glow about him even in the dim of the cabin, that there hadn’t been with the others he’d met, and he could feel himself entranced. “I’m sure you tore that bookshelf down for a reason other than staring longingly at me?”

He shook his head slightly, coming back to himself as he stayed looking at the creature in front of him, he wasn’t as toned as the one he’d met or as scarred, but he still showed signs of battle, of calloused hands and shoulders that carried the weight of the world.

“You Ohm?”

“Congratulations, you win a prize”

Any enthrallment he’d had over the creature was now gone, not one to take someone else’s sarcasm so lightly he quickly made his way towards the tank, so he was face to face with him.

“Quit the sarcasm, I’m here to break your ass out”

“Break my ass out? I would’ve at least thought we’d have dinner first, I mean you’re a fine-looking man, but I have some standards” He heard the merman chuckle at his own joke, a sound that made him feel lighter than air for a moment until he remembered the urgency of their situation.

“Look I don’t have time for this, you’re friends out there want you back and if we don’t hurry they’re gonna break through the ship.”

Even through the water, he could see the creature in front of him pale at his words, the confidence he’d had not a minute before was completely replaced with fear. “I can’t go, they’ll kill me”

“Well that sounds like an issue for you to deal with, I ain’t lettin’ this ship go down”

“So that’s it then? You’re just gonna throw me to the sharks” He hummed in response before going back to the captain’s quarters, rifling through his chest for a pair of trousers before heading back towards the merman. “I’m your best bet for survival, do you honestly think they’re gonna let you guys go?”

“They swore to me, I was told that their word is their bond, so yeah they have to let us go but only if you go join them”

“You know that’s only true provided one of our laws aren’t broken in said bond”

“And? We ain’t breakin’ no laws”

“No, you’re not, but my race have kept themselves hidden for thousands of years, do you know why?”

“I dunno, you get sunburn otherwise” He was surprised to hear the small giggle from the merman again, the sound alleviating some of the tension he didn’t know he had.

“Our number one law is that land dwellers can’t know of our existence, and here’s a whole ship of people who have not only seen us but also been branded. This ship was doomed the moment you saw one of us” He was stood frozen, he had no reason to believe the creature in front of him, it could all just be a ploy to keep him alive but yet some part of him just knew he was telling the truth, that their fates were sealed regardless. “So, I reiterate, are you gonna give them what they want? Or are you gonna let me help you?”

“Shit” he whispered, rubbing a hand down his face before staring at the merman in front of him, and his decision was made. “We need all the help we can get”

Despite the sense of dread that filled him about the situation, watching the bright smile on the merman in front of him caused a flicker of hope to ignite inside him.

“Excellent” He stood there transfixed as he watched Ohm pull himself up and out of the tank, his tail shifting to a pair of reasonably toned legs and try as he might he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man striding towards. “Like what you see?”

He snapped out of his trance, immediately looking away from the creature in front of him as he held out the trousers for him to put on.

“Don’t tell me you’re shy” despite not looking at him he could hear the smile painted across the merman’s face as he spoke.

“Just put the trousers on will you”

He heard a sigh before he felt the trousers being tugged out of his grasp “Spoilsport”

“If we make it outta here alive I’ll show you just how shy I am” He doesn’t know why he flirted back, let alone at another species, but it sent a thrill down his spine, one he hadn’t felt with either man or woman he’d come across. He shot a smile and a wink towards the now smug looking merman before heading out and towards the top deck, knowing that Ohm wasn’t too far behind him.

On the top deck, his crew were mostly milling about, there was no sign of the captain but the trail of blood heading towards the edge of the boat told him what fate had befallen him. He whistled his friends to attention, all of them gathering around him in an instant.

“Everyone this is Ohm, this is who the mermen want but now we have to come up with a plan to save him and escape the bloodthirsty fuckers below us”

“What happened to giving him up? They’ll leave us alone if we give him up” There were a few shouts of agreement from the rest of his friends and at the sight of hands reaching forward to grab a hold of Ohm he quickly moved to intercept them.

“Cartoonz what the fuck. Don’t tell me you value this…thing over us?” He ignored Ohms shout of protest at the remark before facing his crew.

“They’re gonna kill us regardless if we give him up or not, you guys ain’t dumb you know it to be true, and our best shot is with Ohm fightin’ alongside us. You don’t like it you may as well jump overboard now and let the fuckers tear you apart” The silence that followed his statement told him that his friends had no objections to the change in plans, instead he moved from in front of Ohm to look at him in anticipation. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We have to go into the water” The sighs and grumbles he heard from his crew were almost comical and he was half tempted to join them.

“So, you want us to kill ourselves, right, well fat lot of use you were”

“I can only help you in the water, my powers are limited out of it, so yeah, if you want to survive we need to go into the water.”

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

He doesn’t know how long they took making their plan, only that it wasn’t much longer before all of his friends were branded similarly to him, except not on their eye, Ohm had told him that whoever had done it must have been pretty sadistic.

Before they could do much else however the whole boat shook, everyone stumbling in an effort to balance themselves, he only stayed up because Ohm had grabbed a hold of him, pulling him up and making sure he was steady but his hands didn’t leave his body.

“Time’s up Luke, get your people to safety”

“How do you know-“

“No time now, I’ll explain later when you’re showing me just how not shy you are” Before he could say another word Ohm ran from his side, leaping over the edge of the ship and he could see his legs transform back into a tail before disappearing behind the boat ledge, the sound of a splash of water showing he’d made it.

Before he could do anything another jolt was sent through the ship and it was he who saved Delirious from falling before pushing him towards the other side of the boat that Ohm had gone.

“C’mon everyone, get your asses outta here” He made sure that everyone had left the ship, the creaking and cracking of the wood telling him it wasn’t a moment too soon before he jumped into the cold depths.

The moment he was in the water he heard a deafening shriek in the water, he tried to cover his ears in an effort to block it out, but it was futile, he’s sure his head would explode before the sound ceased entirely.

He wasn’t the only one, he turned to see Mini also removing his hands from his ears before they all started to swim in the direction Ohm had told them to go.

It was long and tiring, it had barely been a minute before he saw a merman grab hold of Vanoss, the man tried swinging his sword in vain, but the merman was quick to evade the slow strikes in the water whilst he started pulling the man downwards.

He tried to swim down to help when a blur of something passed him and he was met with the sight of Vanoss being thrown through the water towards him whilst the merman who had taken him was surrounded by a deep blue cloud, blood. He just managed to grab onto Evan when he was close enough to reach and, making sure he was okay, they headed off once again.

Ahead of him, he saw several of the guys in an outward circle trying to sluggishly fend off the merman with their weapons, every now and then one of the creatures would swipe at them, catching some part of their skin and causing them to bleed.

In the background he could see Ohm darting about in the water, he seemed to always have at least four pursuers on him, every now and then he’d dart past one of the mermen surrounding his friends, blood quickly appearing showing that Ohm had managed to injure said merman in some way.

Eventually, all of them made it into a group together, some of the more injured people, Delirious, Vanoss, Wildcat, were kept closer within the ring whilst the rest of them took the brunt of the attack. Despite somewhat keeping them at bay he knew it was just a game to them, they could easily overpower them and yet were content to play with their food.

He doesn’t know how long they were like that, all he knew was that he was tired, his swings having become even slower due to fatigue and the same was similar for his friends, he silently prayed for a miracle to save them as they still tried to keep the creatures at bay.

Eventually one of them got bored and he saw the mermen dip below their huddled mass, and from the shriek, he heard from Jiggly he could tell he’d been grabbed. After that it became chaos, all of them reaching out to try and get a hold on the man sinking ever lower, only causing them to expose themselves and making it too easy for the remaining merman to grab them and make the slow descent down.

Although underwater he could still hear the screams his friends gave, just as clearly as if they were on land, as they were forced further and further down. He briefly noted he was the only one that had been spared and tried as best he could to try and free his friends nearest to him.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you” He turned to see the merman who he’d first spoken to calmly floating beside him, he was quick to turn and raise his sword which didn’t garner any form of reaction from the creature. “Put that kids toy away, it’s no use down here” Despite his words he still tried to slash at the creature in front of him which was easily dodged. “Want to bet on your life on which of your friends die first? My money is on the Irishman down there”

He could still hear the screams of his friends and was helpless but to watch them descend further into the depths, although futile he tried once again to swing his sword, only for the merman to easily evade it before smacking it out of his hand. The creature's hand came to swipe at him and once again he caught it, barely holding it back before another high-pitched shriek rang through the water.

He saw Ohm swim by in a blur, seemingly unaffected by the noise whilst all of them, even the merman, seemed to be affected by it, causing the arm he was holding back to falter.

As soon as the sound was gone a series of large tentacles seemingly came out of nowhere, tearing the mermen off and away from his friends, catching one of the creatures and crushing it into two.

It was then that he saw a giant creature emerge from the depths below him, and if he didn’t know any better he’d say the myths about there being a Kraken were true. He didn’t have time to process that thought before even more tentacles reached out to the mermen still surrounding them, and while they were diverted his friends made the quick move upwards, a brief check for injuries showed nothing major, before they carried on their journey.

Ohm was quick to join them, a pod of dolphins following him, who were quick to grab a hold of members of the crew before dragging them off to some location only they knew. As he was traveling he looked at Ohm who was swimming beside him, despite the injuries and fatigue that seemed to be affecting the creature he was once again entranced by the way he moved through the water.

He quickly looked away when Ohm caught him staring, despite being in the water he heard the creature's voice crystal clear beside him. “You did well back there, not many people can hold out against one of us”

He let out a scoff at the comment “They were only playing with us, lucky that thing came when it did”

“Hey! Don’t be rude, Tiny saved your life remember” He didn’t know what to laugh at more, the defensive tone of the creature next to him or the name of the ginormous tentacled being he’d witnessed earlier.

“Tiny?”

“I didn’t think he’d grow that big” They both laughed together, before the sound dissipating with the water that passed by them as they made their way to safety.

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

When they got close enough to land the dolphins stopped to allow them to swim the rest of the way, having somewhat rested a little he made short work of the journey, noting how much slower Ohm was now traveling and how he seemed to physically be in pain.

Once stood in the shallows he helped his friends up and out of the water, where they made the short walk onto the sandy beach before collapsing again. Ohm was the last to come out, his tail having shifted to human legs again and he could see the struggle it took the creature to travel the small distance up the beach.

He strode into the deeper water, ignoring Ohm’s questions when he picked him up bridal style before carrying him back towards the beach and laying him gently onto the sand.

“How long can you stay on land?”

“Couple of days” It was then Ohm tried to shift himself and he could almost hear the wince of pain he gave, ignoring Ohms protests he started to push the creature around to find the source of the pain.

The most prominent injury he saw was a long, somewhat deep gash traveling down his thigh, whilst not immediately serious blue blood continued to ooze out of it and he could see Ohm getting paler by the minute.

“Why didn’t you say anythin’ you fucker?”

“I have advanced healing, nothing to worry about really” He didn’t believe the falsetto tone in the merman’s voice, and instead took off his shirt in order to press it down hard onto the wound to try and slow the bleeding.

“Mini?” The somewhat faint grunt he got in response was somewhat reassuring to him “You still got those med supplies?”

He waited what felt like forever until he heard back from the other man “Yeah but everything’s soaking wet, might just salvage some of the bandages if we leave ‘em out to dry”

“You got a needle and stitch?”

“Yeah, but-“

“Bring ‘em here, and get those bandages out, I’m sure some of the guys are gonna need ‘em soon”

Without another word, Mini passed him a needle and some thread, and without a second thought, he put the thread through the needle, tying the end before removing his shirt from the wound and pressing the two sides of the wound together. He cast a final look towards Ohm, fear evident in his eyes and he felt his heart sink in worry about the creature in front of him.

“You ever been stitched before?” He knew the answer before he asked, the shake of Ohm’s head only reaffirming that. With the promise to be back in a second he left Ohm and headed towards the small tree cover not too far away, it took kicking around the ground for a little while but he eventually found a stick large enough for his purpose.

He quickly returned to Ohms side before holding the stick towards Ohms' mouth.

“You can’t be serious”

“It’s gonna sting like a bitch, it’s this or ya’ tongue” He almost laughed at the look of disdain that crossed Ohm’s face before he grabbed the stick from him.

“Fine, but I thought you’d take me to dinner before gagging and touching me up” This time he did laugh a little, and the sound of Ohms laugh joining his once again made him feel light as a feather. “Just so you know my safe word is Tuna” with that he put the stick in his mouth and tried to relax as much as possible for what was to come.

He could only stare at the creature dumbfounded, a part of him wanted to laugh again but the other half was stunned into silence, he felt Ohm move impatiently under him and he was brought back to attention. “I ain’t even gonna ask”

Ohm only winked at him in response, he cast one final look before he once again held the cut together. He made short work of stitching the cut together, given his limited resources and his squirming patient it most definitely wasn’t his best work, but it’ll serve its purpose.

He grabbed his now ruined shirt that had been previously discarded and washed it in the seawater before walking back to Ohm and washing the wound with it. Once done Ohm was quick to remove the stick from his mouth, throwing it far into the distance whilst he made gagging noises.

“Don’t be such a baby”

Ohm glared at him briefly before moving his leg around a little to gauge how much he could move it, he didn’t manage to get it very far before he winced in pain again, letting the leg fall back onto the ground.

“Hurts like a bitch, you definitely owe me dinner after that” He chuckled at Ohm’s predicament, the creatures glare at him only lasting a moment before he started giggling as well. He offered a hand to Ohm who gratefully accepted it, and hauled him to his feet before carefully lifting him up again and carrying him to the tree cover.

“You saved our lives, you can have whatever you want”

The merman seemed to ponder on that for a moment before leaning up closer against him, leaning in to almost whisper in his ear. “What if I want to climb you like a tree?”

He took a moment to study Ohm to try and discern whether it was a joke or not, but by the devilish grin on his face he’d meant every word, and once again he felt that thrill of excitement again.

“What happened to dinner first?”

“I’m willing to make an exception this one-time”

“Oh, thank you, I must be pretty damn special for you to abandon your morals like that” They had now reached the cover of the trees, but he made no effort to move, instead content to just stand there holding onto Ohm who was just as happy to hold onto him.

“Something like that yeah” He tried not to think too hard about those words once they left Ohm’s mouth, not sure if he wanted to tackle the implications they held, instead they carried on standing there, staring at one another until the sound of people approaching broke their moment, he quickly dropped Ohm down on the ground before heading towards his friends and bringing those most injured under the shade with the merman.

Despite the fact that he’d barely had time to rest and truly process everything that had happened since he was first cast off of the ship, adrenaline still kept him moving. Assembling teams to go search nearby for resources whilst he tended to those who needed it, mostly it was just small scratches, but Tyler had a particularly nasty gash on his temple and Evan on his right arm where the merman had grabbed him, both of them needing stitches.

The small search had yielded little in the way of food or fresh water, but they did come back with dry brush and sticks that could be used for a fire, however, at least for their first night, he wasn’t comfortable in lighting one, not knowing what eyes were watching them.

As the sun began to set below the horizon everyone settled themselves down somewhere and made the effort to try to fall asleep. He doesn’t know how long he spent trying to sleep, only that the moon was high up in the sky until he heard a gentle voice barely discernible over the sound of the waves crashing on the beach behind them.

He instantly knew it was Ohm who was singing, the gentle lilt of his voice in a language he didn’t know helped settle him down, and for the first time in months, he felt truly at ease, happy to let the soft voice lull him into a peaceful sleep.

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

He woke to find a hand gently stroking through his hair, he wasn’t going to deny how nice the touch felt so simply pushed back into the touch before relaxing again, feeling the hand pause briefly before working through his hair again.

“Most of the guys have gone out looking for water” He wasn’t surprised to hear that it was Ohm next to him.

He could only hum in response, too tired to actually contribute to the conversation, which only earned a small chuckle from Ohm. “You always this grouchy in the morning, well afternoon now.” He simply hummed again, eliciting another small giggle from Ohm before they fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

“Can you take me to the water?”

“You’ve got legs, take yourself” He grumbled which only earnt a slight tug on his hair.

“But, I’m injured. Just imagine poor little old me hobbling slowly across the sand, maybe I’ll slip halfway and-“

“You’re such a little bitch” He didn’t need to see Ohm to know that there was a shit-eating grin spread across his face. He rubbed his eyes briefly before slowly rolling himself up into a seated position whilst he stretched his arms up high above him and let out a long yawn.

He noticed Ohm’s gaze travel down his still exposed abdomen before he stood up, holding a hand out to help lift Ohm up, where similar to yesterday he carried the merman into the shallow water.

Once deep enough Ohm was quick to escape his grasp, although not shifting into his tail he was still pretty fast in the water and it was a challenge to keep track of him until he eventually gave up, instead content to watch the waves far into the distance.

He was broken out of his train of thought due to water being splashed at him and he was met with the sight of Ohm holding a couple of fish in one arm whilst the other was preparing to splash him again.

“Here, take these to shore, I’m gonna try and catch a few more” Without another word he took the already dead fish from Ohm and lay them on a small rock nearby, leaving Ohm to the water before collecting the firewood collected yesterday.

It was surprisingly easy to start the fire, the leaves and twigs so dry that it didn’t take much to set them alight. Pulling the knife from his boot he made quick work of gutting the fish, using one of the longer sticks to hold it above the fire as it cooked.

It wasn’t too much later that Ohm joined him, five more fish in his arms before taking a seat next to him, both participating in light chatter as they waited for the fish to cook.

Just as the first two fish were done, some of the guys returned back, sullen looks on their faces, their search for water had so far been unsuccessful, some of the guys having decided to try and venture a bit further before making the journey back.

Despite their thirst they gratefully accepted the food that was offered them, they ate in complete silence, not wanting to address how they were going to survive here and instead making the most of what they had whilst they still could.

Darkness was starting to descend fast, they’d started going around the group and telling some of the more funnier stories they’d experienced during their years on the sea, Moo talking about a rookie who had gone to use the head only to be hit by a boon and cast overboard. After which Jiggly mentioned about how the chef on his last voyage had made a giant plate of fresh dried meats, with bread and fruits, only to trip and drop it onto the Captain, and finally, he regaled the tale about how Delirious had managed to somehow tip a galley over as they were headed to shore, needless to say, the other crewmembers weren’t impressed but he almost drowned due to the stitch he got from laughing.

As he’d finished his story and the others around the fire were laughing the rest of the crew returned, judging by the sour looks on their faces their search hadn’t gone too well either.

“There’s no fucking water anywhere on this goddamn Island” The booming voice of Wildcat caused them to turn, however he seemed to only get angrier at the sight of them, before angrily heading directly towards him “So our ‘captain’ gets to sit on his arse and be waited on hand and foot by this...thing” He waved a hand towards Ohm letting everyone know who he meant before continuing “whilst the rest of us actually try to find a way to survive. It’s a fucking joke, you’re not any better than the last guy”

He couldn’t stop his own rage rearing its ugly head at his words “I fuckin’ saved you, he fuckin’ saved you, you’d do well to show us some respect” He was now toe to toe with Tyler, the both of them staring each other down.

“There it is again, you’re fucking taking that things side again. Do we mean nothing to you, huh? The first thing that offers its ass to you and you’re willing to shove our faces in the dirt”

He couldn’t stop himself from pulling his arm back, but just as he was about to punch Tyler he felt someone grab hold of his arm, turning he saw Delirious holding his arm back and shaking his head in lieu of telling him to stop. At that he felt the energy and anger he’d felt drain out of him, his arm going lax in his friends' grip and he felt Delirious let him go.

“I get that you’re thirsty and hungry and tired, we all are, but fightin’ amongst ourselves ain’t gonna help us. I’m not askin’ for you all to like me, or Ohm, but the truth is he’s our best bet outta here” Silence followed his statement and he unconsciously let out a breath when Tyler stepped back from him. “I’m not askin’ ya to follow me to the ends of the earth, just off of this island and then you can all go and do whatever the fuck you were doin’ before we all met”

Everybody was looking at Tyler now, waiting to see what he did, and it seemed that they all collectively let out a breath of relief when he nodded and took a seat by the fire, taking one of the fish that had been cooked before sharing it with some of the guys.

He then turned to see Delirious and Ohm talking quietly amongst one another, at the sight of him Delirious stood and waited as he approached, once in front of him he put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently in thanks.

“Thanks for holding me back there Del, the two of us brawling would’ve just made things worse” He heard a small chuckle come from Delirious who put his own hand on his shoulder before speaking.

“Yeah, well someone’s gotta watch out for your ass.” He was surprised to feel Delirious tug him closer but leaned down slightly when his friend leaned to whisper in his ear. “He’s quite the catch ain’t he” He looked up over Dels’ shoulder to where Ohm was sat, staring out at the Ocean.

“Del we’re not-“

“Sure, you’re not” He then heard that infamous chuckle come from his friend and internally groaned at the rumors that would be spreading around the camp. “Just be thankful I ain’t making fish jokes or anythin’…yet” His friend started laughing again before giving him a final pat on his shoulder and making his way back to the campfire.

He stood there contemplating every decision that had kept Delirious in his life before a soft voice singing brought him back to attention and he looked down, not even realizing the small smile that graced his face as he moved to sit down next to Ohm.

“It’s a beautiful song, what’s it about?”

“It’s about a merman who was forced to wed a human to keep the peace between our people, and it lasted for many years until one morning the human woke up and realized she was in bed with a monster. In her hysteria, she stabbed the merman to death and then their children before finally killing herself to amend for the crimes she committed against her race. After that there was a war between the species, it was long and relentless, but the mermen didn’t have the numbers to keep fighting lest they face extinction, so they hid in the darkest depths of the ocean and that’s where they remain, too few to carry on the fight.”

“Alright not such a beautiful song then” He heard Ohm huff a laugh beside him, the both of them staring out at the horizon in front of them

“Nobody lives who remembers it, for all I know it’s a cautionary tale meant to scare young merman from venturing too close to the surface”

“Didn’t stop you” This time Ohm chuckled, and he turned his head to peek a glance at Ohm only to be met with hazel eyes staring back at him.

“What’s life without a bit of adventure though” He hummed in response, despite the intensity in Ohms gaze he couldn’t look away. “I’ve always admired you pirates, traveling across the world whenever you want, doing whatever you want. It’s just always seemed so free”

He sarcastically laughed before he turned back out towards the sea “It ain’t as glamorous as you make out”

“Well I know that now”

“How did you get to be in a pirate Captains cabin by the way”

He heard Ohm heave a sigh beside and he thought that he wouldn’t get an answer, but just as that thought crossed his mind Ohm started to speak. “I’ve been ‘captured’ for years, he just paid the highest price for me”

“I saw you jump out that tank yesterday like you were gettin’ out of bed, why didn’t you ever escape”

“I was scared” He could hear the vulnerability in Ohms’ voice, despite his human nature he was surprised that the merman could have such deep feelings. “I’ve been hunted down my entire life and being in that tank, I felt…safe. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to me”

“Why are they after you?”

“Power, not just ruling over the merman but actual physical power only bestowed amongst royalty. Whoever kills me becomes king and the power passes to them. With it, they could cause destruction not only in the oceans but on land as well”

“So, you killed the last king?”

“I did what I had to do, I don’t see the need to hold this petty hatred for humans like my kin has, without me your kind would have been destroyed long ago”

“Thank you”

As he said that Ohms' head darted to look at him, and in the darkness, he swears he can see tears forming in the merman’s eyes. “You’re the first person to say thank you to me you know?”

He didn’t have an answer for Ohm, instead he rubbed his hand gently up and down the merman’s thigh beside him as he stared back out at the horizon and that’s how he fell asleep, putting up no protest when he felt Ohm manhandle him until his head was in his lap and he felt fingers once again brushing through his hair.

“Goodnight Luke”

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

He woke up just before the sun rose, the rest of the crew were littered across the beach, some had fallen asleep by the fire and others under the cover of trees whilst some had taken to curling up on the sand halfway between the two.

He felt the burning in the back of his throat that demanded water he didn’t have, the oncoming’s of a headache making itself known, quietly hoping that they’d find some form of water otherwise tensions will only grow higher between the group of them.

He gently got up off of Ohm in an effort not to wake him before making his way towards the trees to start the search for water.

He walked around for hours, every now and then he’d knick a tree with his knife so he wouldn’t retrace his steps but as of yet, there was no luck. There was now a pounding in his head and the heat from the sun did little to alleviate it.

Just after noon he made his way back to the camp and was surprised to see everybody stood and surrounding Ohm, even from far away he could hear their shouts.

“What the fuck is goin’ on here?” His voice sounded across the beach and the voices were quick to settle down, they were quick to break away from Ohm as he approached, guilty looks on their faces.

“Cartoonz, please tell your friends I didn’t carry into the Ocean and consume you”

“The fuck?” Everybody turned to look towards Craig, Evan and Delirious, their faces red with embarrassment as they refused to look at anyone.

“What, it was a possibility” He barely heard Craig’s murmur and only rolled his eyes when he did before he turned back to everyone else.

“So, what I leave camp for a few hours and you’re having a witch hunt against Ohm? I thought we were past this guys”

“You were gone for ages, we had no idea where you were” Delirious spoke out and he felt a flare of guilt rise up in him.

“I was looking for some water, didn’t find any” Most of them let out a groan whilst others let out a curse.

It was then that Ohm stormed off towards the Sea, he heard some of them mumble about how he was abandoning them to their fate, he couldn’t help but feel his own flare of rejection at the sight of Ohm walking away but was quick to run after him.

He was quick to catch up with Ohm, the merman slowly wading through the water allowing him time to grab his arm to stop him.

“Ohm, what’re doing? Where are you going?”

“I ain’t going anywhere, I’m just saving your dumbasses again” He cast a brief smile towards him before pulling his arm out of his hold and walking out just a bit further until the water reached his waist.

He walked out to join him, intrigued at what the merman could possibly do to save them at this moment. First Ohm raised his arms up towards the sky before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. The merman was stood like that for a while, and he was wondering whether whatever he was doing was actually working until he saw Ohm start to shake and sweat where he stood.

Just then a clap of lightning sounded, and he quickly looked up and towards the horizon to see a series of dark storm clouds heading directly towards them. He could make out the lightning in the dark clouds, the sound between each set of thunder getting shorter and shorter, his trance at the storm heading towards them was only broken when he heard a pained groan beside him.

Turning to look at the merman, he was shocked at what he saw, he looked deathly white and visibly shaking that he looked on the point of collapse.

“Ohm, you can stop now, the storms almost here” Still there was no response, and he was quick to catch the merman who suddenly collapsed, but still Ohm didn’t relent from his task. “Ohm, stop it now, you’ve done enough” Ohm let out a pained shout, he was finding it ever more difficult to keep the almost convulsing man from collapsing “Ohm stop this shit right now or so help me I’ll fuck you up even more”

Just as the storm clouds started to pass over them Ohm fell limp in his hold, he was quick to lift him up and over his shoulder, making his way as fast as he could towards shore as cold, heavy rain started to fall over them.

When he got to shore he stopped briefly to allow Craig to determine whether Ohm was still alive and upon hearing he was he quickly headed up to the treeline to lay Ohm down under some form of shelter.

“You said you’d fuck me?” He let out the breath he’d been holding at the sound of Ohms’ voice but couldn’t help the chuckle that came with the statement.

“You outdid yourself this time Ohm” He felt Ohm once again fall limp in his arms and he felt panic surge through him “Ohm?” He shook him a little but still got no response “Ohm you better not fucking die” Again he shook Ohm and again there was no response “OHM!”

He ignored the circle his friends had created around the two of them, too intent on trying to get some sign of life from the creature in front of him.

“Wha?” The whispered word from the man in front of him almost reduced him to tears as he leaned down to rest his head on Ohms' shoulder, feeling the life under him. “I bust my ass to get this rain for you to drink…and you ain’t even drinking it. Go, 'm fine” He looked up to see Ohm give him a reassuring smile before trying with his weakened strength to shoo him away.

He cast one final look to Ohm who had settled himself into a more comfortable position to rest in before he turned to his friends “Well you heard him, drink up”

It was almost comical the way they stood in the rain, mouths open to try and catch as much as possible until eventually they got bored and started to cup their hands before drinking as much water as they could stomach. Even when they were full and on the verge of throwing up at how much they’d drank, they drank more and more until eventually, the rain stopped and even then they lay on the beach, too sluggish to make a move.

It was to all their surprise then that they saw Ohm stumble his way past them, he practically launched himself to his feet in order to intercept him, narrowly avoiding throwing up as he did so.

“Ohm, what the fuck are you doing, you need to rest”

“m’gonna save you guys”

“You already did, please Ohm, come back with me” He tried to plead with the merman, to physically block him but even in his tired state the merman still managed to slip by him until he was in the water.

“That waters gonna last you a couple of days and I don’t have the energy to do that again. Please, let me do this”

He’s now standing in front of Ohm, hands on his shoulders as he tries to plead with him to stay “Other mermen are still out there, they’ll kill you, I can’t-“

“You can think of them Luke, this is what’s best” He felt tears burn at his eyes and it’s almost like a vice in his chest, he knows that this is the only way for them to survive but it didn’t make it any easier.

“Can’t Tiny come and get you? He seems to handle things pretty well” Ohm’s answering smile did little to comfort him.

“He’s far too big to get anywhere close, and he’ll be followed, I’d be dead before I even got close to him”

“Ohm” There was so much he wanted to say and yet he didn’t know where to even begin.

“I’ll be back, I promise, you still owe me dinner” He huffed a laugh even as his tears began to fall down his face, closing his eyes when he felt Ohms' hands come up to caress his face. He felt the gentlest caress of lips against his own, so gentle it could almost be mistaken for a brush of wind. “Farewell Luke”

He opened his eyes as he felt Ohms’ hands leave his face, watching the merman dive below the water’s surface, his legs having turned back into a tail and he stayed there long after Ohms’ shadow had gone beyond his sight.

“He’ll be alright” Delirious’s voice startled him and he turned to see his friend beside him before his friend offered him a comforting pat, which turned into a hug. Normally not one for affection he craved it now at this moment as his whole being filled with dread at the thought of what could happen to Ohm on his journey.

With a final pat on his back Delirious let him go, offering him a final smile before heading back to land, he cast one last look on the horizon, praying to whatever God was listening to watch out for Ohm before he headed back to wait out his fate on the beach.

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

It’s four days until there’s any sign of life, besides them, near the island. Having finished the fish that Ohm had caught them two days ago they were not just hungry but were thirsty as well, having not drunk anything since the storm before Ohm left.

The didn’t notice it at first, the heat coupled with fatigue meant that they paid little attention to much else besides their own needs, but it was Mark that called out the ship first, frantically pointing to somewhere on the horizon until they too saw it.

It then became a mad dash of people, him and Tyler were busy trying to get a fire going, whilst everyone bar Mark and Evan who kept watch of the ship, went to retrieve leaves and twigs that would easily cause smoke when lit.

In their urgency it took them longer than normal to get the fire started, hands slipping and dropping wood before a fire could start when it should be second nature to them. Luckily it appeared that the ship was heading towards their direction, regardless the fire would make a good weapon should the people that came with it be hostile.

Once the fire was finally lit they quickly piled the dead brush on top, willing to suffer through the smoke in favor of watching it climb ever higher signaling their presence. It felt like hours before the ship seemed to be in any vicinity close to them, but there they stood eagerly waiting and watching it approach them.

When they deemed it close enough they started shouting, expecting to see members of the crew peer over to look at them, but no such thing happened. When there was no answering shout or sign of life on the ship he got an impending sense of dread.

He called everyone to arms, their swords were out only seconds later as they watched the ship lay down its anchor and slowly come to a stop just off of the shore.

“Friend or Foe?” He shouted, adrenaline surging through him and ready to unleash at a moment’s notice.

“Here I thought we were friends Toonzy” He stood there stunned as he saw Ohm standing up on the bow of the ship, even at this distance he could see the bright smile on his face.

“Ohm?”

“The one and only” His friends seemed just as shocked as he did, all still in fighting stances but with mouths agape at the scene in front of them. “Are you gonna come aboard or just stand there gaping like fish?”

It was then a mad dash towards the ship, all of them eager to get off of the island and onto some semblance of normal. He was the first to climb the ladder up onto the top deck, as soon as his feet landed on the wood he raced over to Ohm before wrapping him up in a tight hug.

“Told you I’d be back didn’t I?”

“Don’t you fuckin’ do that to me again you hear?”

“Eh…I suppose-“ Before Ohm could finish his sentence, clearly meant to taunt him, he leaned forward and pressed their lips together, made better when he felt Ohm kissing him back.

“Ugh, seriously guys. It hasn’t even been five minutes.” Delirious’s voice caused them to break apart and turn to look at him. “Keep your gross kissing to yourself, we don’t need to see that shit”

Ignoring him completely they turned back to each and once more pressed their lips together, he couldn’t care less what Del or any of his other friends thought about his relationship with Ohm, hell he didn’t even have an explanation for it, just knew there was nothing he wanted more than to keep the merman in his arms.

“Tyler, can you come sort them out, they’re bein’ disgustin’” He saw Tyler's head peer over the side of the ship as he reached the top of the ladder before climbing over the edge.

Tyler gave one look at them before shrugging his shoulders and turning to get a better look around the ship “Just remember we got kids on board”. At Tylers’ words, they pulled away, taking one last look at one another before he turned to look at the ship, wrapping an arm around Ohms’ waist.

“Where the hell you’d get this?”

“The Oceans a big place and I could have only the best for Captain Toonzy”

He snorted at the nickname but was also trying to play off the thrill that the title of Captain gave him.

“The crew?”

“On a ship somewhere” He turned to look at Ohm, shocked look on his face whilst the other man just laughed and gave a shrug “Tiny will watch over them”

He frowned at that statement, giving a final squeeze around Ohms’ side before heading back to the ladder and helping everyone else up onto the ship. Tylers’ shout of water had them all quickly heading below deck to get their fill before finally making a move to leave.

With Ohms’ help forming a little wind, they were quick to set off, feeling lighter with every mile they put between them and the Island that had almost become a graveyard.

That night they celebrated, they had the luxury of perishable food which they were quick to gorge on, he had Ohm by his side and by the way said mans hand was currently climbing higher and higher up his leg under the table, he wouldn’t be leaving for a while.

The next morning when everyone had some semblance of being themselves again he gave them the option of staying with him or offering them the chance to leave at the nearest port. He was surprised to hear them all choose to stay with him, that Wildcat had voiced his choice even before Delirious could.

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

From then on their crew became one of the most notorious group of pirates on the seas, any who went against them didn’t tend to last long, rumors were quick to spread about threats in the water that followed their ship and would attack any who opposed them. Not that anybody survived long enough to be able to report the truth.

Most of the time Ohm was happy to travel with them, he enjoyed the company, and everyone had now accepted him as part of the crew. If he had it his way Ohm would be spending almost all of his time on the ship however the merman would always state that he still had duties to fulfill below the surface and for him to stop sounding like a pining woman.

When they were particularly unlucky they’d run into a group of merman eager to hunt Ohm down, whenever this happened he’d get his crew to bear arms, most of them with bows and arrows along the sides of the ship waiting for Ohm to bait the creatures up closer to the surface so that they could take their shot.

Normally him, Tyler, Brian, and Delirious would descend into the water in an attempt to help Ohm, whilst still not as fast as the creatures they were hunting, they were much improved from their first encounter with them. They’d even managed to save Ohm a few times when he was in a particularly tight spot, the creatures too focused on their goal meant that they were easily ignored, making it that much easier to sneak up behind one of them whilst they wrestled against Ohm to put a sword through their chest.

The last Captain he’d sailed under had been a disgraceful example of a human but as he stood at the bow of his ship, leaning forward into Ohms back as he let the wind whip at his face, he sent a quick thanks to him, for without him he never would have formed his crew, nor he never would have met Ohm.

He pressed Ohm closer against him, the merman happy to keep as much contact between them as possible whilst they watched the sun sink slowly behind the sea, content to stay there in each other’s arms until the moon was high in the sky.

#ohmtoonz #ohmwrecker #cartoonz #pirate au #loves when tumblr keeps giving me issues XD #anyway hope you all enjoy it #it was fun to make :D

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