#my heart goes out to Ariel and the kids it must be terrible to have your private life blasted like this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stellarhistoria · 10 months

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my dnd game is wack y'all / / @wclking-fire. vash & ariel; scattered across the sands au

"I've already said this once, and you'll only hear it one more time." there would be no doubt embellishments this time around because she hates telling the same EXACT story twice ( same truths, different accessories ).

even so, she rolls her eyes and looks over to her son happily ignoring the two of them, as if they were the least threatening people that could possibly exist, while also shrinking away from seemingly a docile looking woman trying to offer a drink. only to get a glare from momma and the woman backs away from her son, from justin.

"I'm sure you've already heard of my family and I in rumors, in whispers, across this desert environment, with barely an oasis to be seen from." she chortles at the memory of some of the rumors that have cropped up as a result of her happy go lucky family finding themselves in rather terrible situations. "If you haven't, then you've been quite on the run, but for your sake, I'll go over this ONLY this last time."

she takes a breath and settles into her seat as justin clambers onto her lap. "There is no doubt in my mind that you have heard of the Demon of the East. A vicious being with claws and pointed ears and eyes that glow in the dark, a constant looming storm overhead in multiple cities that the "Demon" shows up in. That would be the second youngest, my sibling. They're easily frightened when they don't have their weapons, or if they don't have their girlfriend around. Even worse if they don't recognize anybody at all."

justin leans against her chest while playing with one of his toys that twists and 'breaks' before putting itself back together, like its made of magic of some kind. "And certainly, you've heard of the doctor who is rumored to be able to heal with burns, to heal with things that make you see the night during the day. Surely, you've heard tales of how he has endless water but no one can prove it. Surely, surely, you must have heard of how he has never failed to cure someone of illness that isn't permanent." she scoffs; "That's the middle brother, heart of gold and the best resting bitch face I've ever seen."

but she pauses for a moment, gauging his reaction. pausing to let him have that sink in before continuing on. "The ones I'm sure you haven't heard much of, are my two eldest brothers. One apparently is a ghost that wanders a deserted city, trying to breathe life into a place beleaguered by something far older and more powerful than himself. I don't remember the name of the city, but it has some weird stigma to it."

"The other you probably have barely heard anything of, is a man who would fight for justice and harmony in the name of revenge. He's got a bad habit of finding out everything about places he goes and people he talks to dead last, and it tends to kick him in the ass when it happens. I'm sure there was one thing you might have heard, as I've heard it all the way out here: he was the one who has been rising the conglomerate ranks and trying to measure off water supply to those in need. Yeah. That's my idiot brother."

"Then there's me: the Living Shadow. Rumors have it that I disappear into people's shadows, haunting and hunting them should they ever step out of line or become too much of a problem to the people around them. I've been used as quite a cheesy boogeyman of sorts. I can't help but feel jaded to it all, it's actually quite cute... and my brother in the big city tells me that he's doing well enough, if being occasionally targeted ─ which is nothing new for us."

she clears her throat slightly and looks down at her son, who is reaching for the canteen she always keeps full of water. she easily hands it to him over herself, though she's worn from talking so much, and quirks a brow at the blond man before them both. "So, you got all that down somewhere, blondie? I'm not repeating it again, even if my kid doesn't think you're all that much of a threat to either of us right now."

#♡. ariel.ic ⁄ ⁄ a well earned respite .#♡. trigun.au ( cytosfamily ) ⁄ ⁄ scattered across the sands .#♡. ariel.asks ⁄ ⁄ t pose in gloom zones to assert dominance .#wclking fire #wclking fire [ ariel & vash .001 ]#HELLO. woe upon you. have a sarcastic momma #long post tw #you absolutely do NOT need to match this #this is practically Exposition tm

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stories-by-rie · 3 years

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Chapter 3 - Heart of Silver

Back in the present, Evelyn and Ariel search the house of the dead granny in order to find clues on how to stop the heart of silver curse.

words: 3614 || masterlist

Evelyn pulled in on the house’s driveway. Now that she knew that no one was living there anymore, she couldn’t deny the ghostly aura that hung on it. The windows were dirty, the geraniums in the windows dead and brown. The driveway was growing weeds all over, so unlike the tidy places of most older people. Even the magnolia tree looked glum now.

“The whole house feels like death,” Ariel mumbled as they walked closer. “Must have been a pretty rich lady, though. Didn’t you say she didn’t have any money?”

“It’s an old woman. She owned the house and couldn’t bear to separate from it. Believe me, she told me for nearly a whole hour how she wouldn’t move out because she couldn’t see it in someone else’s hands. The pension was just enough to cover for house and food, so she didn’t have much extra.”

They came to a halt before the door that was cordoned off by the police, but Evelyn swiftly cut through the sticker.

“You’ve become unscrupulous, huh,” Ariel said and stepped in behind her.

“It’s your terrible influence,” Evelyn replied and turned on the lights.

“This was probably a nice house once,” Ariel noted as they looked around. The ceiling was dark brown mahogany, the floor white marble tiles that looked quite expensive, but were covered with a great Persian carpet. Overall it seemed to have been a very grandiose house judging by its interior alone. There were shadows on the walls, where paintings or photos must have hung -- which perhaps had been sold in time. This was an impression that wasn’t new to Evelyn, as weren’t the spiderwebs in the corners and the dust on the decoration.

“They probably used to have a lot of money back in the day. Judging from the silverware alone,” Evelyn agreed and pointed towards the dining room, the door still open from the day before. Ariel nodded along and they walked over the echoing tiles, over the old dusty rugs, quieter. There was a simple chandelier over the dinner table, dipping the small room in yellow light, spider webs between its bulbs.

Evelyn walked over to the sideboard, opened the drawer where the silverware was neatly stashed on red velvet.

“Fancy,” Ariel mumbled and looked at the spoons and knives and forks. “So which of these is the culprit?”

Evelyn looked down, face blank. “I don’t remember.”

“Didn’t you say that there was some kind of evil aura?”

“Very much so. It only missed evil green sparkles or something. But it just looked like a fork. Maybe too much like a fork? It definitely stood out somehow.” Evelyn looked down at the forks. None of it was missing, the cutlery was still neatly put in its satin cushion, but she still couldn’t make out the one that had been the medium to curse her. She still remembered the unsettling feeling that had overcome her at the sight of the whole drawer the last time around, shivers running down her spine. All of that was missing now.

“Maybe it is because I sent the granny off? Or because the curse got activated?” she mused. Ariel crossed their arms before their chest.

“That’s both possible. Curses work in a whole lot of different ways, there are dozens of various classifications for how they are transmitted alone. If the medium isn’t working once the curse gets activated, and doesn’t even show signs of the curse, then it means that either the curse gets transmitted through the victim, or that the curse medium is randomised. Any kind of object could be the medium now if it’s not you.”

Evelyn felt her limbs get heavier at those words. It was not the silver – not yet. It was the hope that left her in that moment. Somehow, it had been so easy in her mind. Ariel knew their curses. They knew how to break them.

“So, what do we do no-”

Evelyn didn’t even get to finish her question before Ariel took the first fork and poked their finger on it.

“What are you doing?” her voice jumped an octave higher as Ariel tried the next one.

“These aren’t exactly sharp, did it bleed when you poked your finger?”

“No. Sort of? There was liquid silver when I pressed it. But- Why are you-”

“Maybe it is just a hidden medium. Sometimes, when curses are especially deadly, to make sure the whole power goes into just that one victim, the medium hides its potential so that it won’t curse two people at the same time.”

“Ah.” Evelyn stared at Ariel as they kept poking themselves with the forks. “So can it still curse you then?”

“Depends. Potentially.”

It was late and Evelyn was exhausted, so it took a while for her to understand those words’ meaning. Once she did, however, she quickly grabbed the fork out of Ariel’s hand and put it back.

“Are you mad? What if you get cursed too?” With horror she looked at a reasonably startled Ariel who just shrugged.

“Would definitely keep me motivated.” Their gaze dropped to Evelyn’s neck, then wrists where the dark silver veins were well hidden by her hoodie.

“No. If you get sick you won’t be able to cure me anymore. You stay alive, preferably.” Evelyn closed the drawer and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Then how do you think I am going to find the right fork if it is just hiding?” At this point Ariel sounded a little exasperated, a fake smile on their dark purple lips.

“Don’t you have some strange curse detector of sorts?”

Ariel just shook their head. “Only nolly-powder and that’s really just for our last resort, okay? There are really, drastically awful side-effects, and we should not lose time because of them.”

It was quiet in the dining room, only the platter of the rain against the windows -- it sounded spitefully soft now. The quiet of a house not lived in. Consequently, it was easy to hear the door fall shut.

Both Evelyn and Ariel whipped around toward the back of the room, where the door was still wide open as they had left it.

“Maybe above us?” Evelyn wondered with a toneless voice.

“Did you not say you sent the granny off?” Ariel asked instead. They glanced at each other with the same uncertain look in their eyes.

“I am really tired. I would honestly be happier if this was a burglar, and not a ghost. Or a Mare. Seriously, I couldn’t even handle an Elwetritsch today.”

“Isn’t that last one just some super shy chicken with antlers?” Ariel had turned back to the forks and continued poking their finger.

“Please don’t underestimate chicken nor antlers. But yes. They also can’t shut doors,” Evelyn said and sighed deeply. Maybe, if she ignored any kind of noises for long enough they would eventually disappear by themselves.

Certainly, getting cursed didn’t seem bad enough for one day, though. So she flinched when there followed the sound of something heavy falling over – really heavy – somewhere in the house, even if it was not close by.

“At this point, it would make more sense if it was a burglar,” Ariel said and walked back towards the hallway. Stairs lead up to the next floor on one side, a door right underneath that had to lead into the cellar.“Hey, let’s take bets. I say it’s a burglar, you say it’s a horned chicken. Winner gets ten Euros, deal?”

“It’s called an Elwetritsch, and also I wouldn’t make deals with dying people if I were you, Ariel.”

“That just sounds like you have no faith in my abilities at all.” They said it like a joke, but Evelyn knew them long enough now to understand what they actually meant. The way they weren’t looking up at her when they said it was telling enough.

“I do trust you, Ariel. You know that right?” Evelyn looked at them, and when their eyes finally met, Ariel’s crinkled. “Just, the situation is driving me a bit on edge, that’s all,” she added.

“Mh,” Ariel hummed, not in a way that indicated that they believed her. For now she ignored it, as she did the feeling of doubt in the pit of her stomach, and focused on Ariel instead when they pointed upstairs. “Let’s check in on the Elwetritsch?”

Evelyn nodded and followed them up the stairs. Last time she had not gone that far deep into the house, and it seemed like the old woman who had lived here didn’t either. The dust laid heavily on the old furniture, even on the ground in a way that was easy to see in the dim light.

“Doesn’t seem like she went here often.” Ariel wiped a finger over the dust and pulled a face. “This is going to make my allergies so bad.”

“Maybe she was too old to walk many steps. Old people have bad joints, no?” Evelyn opened the door to her side, revealing a small bathroom that looked like it was ripped straight out of a 70s decoration advert. It smelled like old water and too much soap, the tiles a shade of orange that should be banned.

“It would be a good place for a burglar now that the house is officially empty, just that there are no signs of a living person anywhere. Not even chicken feet in the dust.” Ariel had kneeled on the ground staring at the floor from close up and squinted at the tiles. They sneezed.

“Maybe the noise came from the cellar then,” Evelyn wondered and walked over to the next door. Behind it, there was a children’s room. Posters of pop bands from the eighties still hung on the walls, the bookshelves empty but the bed still made ready. It poked at Evelyn, uncurled something inside her heart at the view.

“She had her kid’s room ready for whenever they would come back home, it seems. That’s very nice.” And still no one had noticed the old woman’s death in such a long time. She must have been truly lonely. She walked over to the next room that was mostly empty.

“Any chickens inside?” Ariel asked into the space – nothing answered. There were still curtains and a closet on the wall. A fainter colour in the shape of a bed on another wall.

“This probably was the old bedroom. Maybe she had the bed brought downstairs at some point.” Evelyn walked over where there was still an impression of the bedposts in the old rug.

“Okay, one more room, I am having the hunch that I will be disappointed regarding my expectations to see horned chicken today.”

“Wait.” Evelyn turned back to Ariel who was just about to walk over to the next room. “Don’t you think this room feels weird?” she asked and Ariel just shrugged. But there was an undeniable shadow hiding in the corners, behind the curtains, inside the closet.

“Feels like it does in your apartment. Like ghosts are trapped in here.”

“There are no ghosts trapped inside my apartment,” Ariel refuted but walked closer to Evelyn as she went to open the closet door.

“Are you good with ghosts?” they mumbled behind her back as she put her hand on the door knob.

“Most of them. As long as I recognize them, yes.”

Ariel chuckled a bit at her words, which gave her the courage to open the door. Behind, there was nothing. Nothing but shadows. Evelyn crunched down and now it was her turn to wipe with her finger through the dust.

“And?”

“Looks like there were ghosts here at least. Maybe it was the granny. There is residue mixed here. See? The grey ash?” She held her finger up for Ariel to see and they nodded.

“Knew that dust looked funky.”

“It’s when ghosts dissolve. They lose what could be considered their body. To the human eye it looks ashen. It also tends to darken shadows.”

“Fascinating.”

Evelyn looked up at Ariel with a raised eyebrow. “You had a class about this. You studied the same subjects as me at uni.”

“That really is no reason for me to actually know this stuff.”

Evelyn supposed that they had made a fair point and let the matter be, even if the confusion would not leave her.

“The granny was still very lifelike when I saw her. She couldn’t have dissolved that much so quickly for us to find so much residue.”

“So, more ghosts?”, Ariel suggested and Evelyn gave a nod. There was only one more room on the floor, and she could not deny the rising anticipation. Before the door, they both hesitated, though.

“If there is no burglar in there, we should check the cellar next,” Evelyn mused and Ariel nodded and stepped back a bit, as if asking Evelyn to open the door first.

“We should check the cellar either way, really. No matter what we find behind this door” she said and took a step back too. Ariel just sent their hand through their hair and pointed at the door.

“You feel that there’s something behind this, too. Don’t you? It might be important, so we should really check this out. You go first.”

Evelyn shook her head. “There is no reason I should go first. This is about curses, so you’re the go-to person. You should go first.”

“It’s likelier that there’s a burglar behind this, or a horned chicken. That’s your area of expertise, so you should go first. I am far too fragile to be put in such a danger.”

“Ariel, you were the one who went to attack a Mare back when we met, do you remember?”

“Yes, and I have learnt and changed myself through that experience. More specifically, I have learnt that it should be you who deals with these kinds of matters. So after you.”

Evelyn sighed deeply and then shrugged. “You know what? Fine. There’s no reason not to check out this room too. I can ignore some cold shudders down my spine, I am not that easily frightened.” Just as she put her hand on the door knob, though, the knob dissipated to dust right in front of her. Evelyn and Ariel exchanged a glance. “I feel like something doesn’t actually want us to enter this room.”

“No shit.” Ariel stepped back even farther and then waved for her to move out of the way. Evelyn just managed to get far away enough before they tried to kick the door open.

A loud yelp, a loud bang when the door flew open, but nothing else happened, no monster jumping at them, no screaming ghost, and no attacking burglar either. In front of them was a simple study, filled with bookshelves and a big desk full of papers and letters.

“I am slightly disappointed. That’s what I hurt my ankle for?” Ariel said as they stepped inside. Evelyn followed right after and couldn’t hide her slight awe. For a few seconds, the sight of the study overwhelmed her, a space that was clearly well cared for, a space that must have been so precious a long time ago. It was as obvious as it could be, small decorative figures on the shelf, a few letters framed on the wall. The only sign of neglect was the thick layer of dust on the books, even inside there. It was the few seconds in which Evelyn’s heart beat a bit lighter, forgetting about the fact that it pumped liquid silver through her body.

The spell was broken as Ariel’s words settled in a bit late. “You hurt your ankle? Should we go and check with a doctor?”

“No, it’ll be fine. This is how devoted I am to curing you. Let’s check out these open letters and books, maybe we will find a clue about the curse,” Ariel whispered. They had a good point though, so they both started to work through what they could get in their hands.

It didn’t take long until they realized what the old lady had used the study for.

“She was looking into curses,” Evelyn said as she flipped through A Beginners Guide to Curses And How to Break Them.

“Yeah. I found a conversation with a famous curse-broker from the sixties here. Apparently they were discussing some new phenomena that they thought were linked to curses.”

“But she was not a curse-broker herself?” Evelyn wondered and Ariel shook their head.

“If she had been, I would have known. Not a professional one, at least. Maybe she just was fascinated by them. Or maybe she had a victim in her family. A lot of people get into curses after one of their loved ones succumbs to one.”

Evelyn continued to flip through the book before her until her fingers traced the photo of a boy in silver, shackled to a barn wall. A cold shudder ran through her then, made her recoil a bit before she flipped to the next page, where an equally familiar photo was printed.

“Ariel, I am certain that this woman knew about the Heart of Silver curse. This book looks well read.”

“You have it,” Ariel mumbled from behind her, their voice a bit thin. It nearly sounded as if they would start crying, which was a slightly unsettling thought.

When Evelyn turned around, it was not Ariel who stood behind her. Instead, she stared right at the very dead eyes of a young boy. He was maybe fifteen years old, still already nearly as big as Evelyn herself. The startle nearly made her scream, but she could control herself just in time. Carefully, she tried to look around and find Ariel, but the boy just came closer, losing his body more and more.

“Yes, I have. I have it,” Evelyn stuttered and held out the book to him.

“No. You have it,” the boy repeated, in the same manner, but he still sounded more powerful. His eyes dropped to her neck, where the black lines of her silver veins were visible the best.

“I do,” she agreed and pulled up her sleeves as well to bare her wrists.

“You should find what you really want,” the boy said with a sad tone in his voice, it sounded farther away than he was. So hollow.

“I will. Thank you.”

The boy still looked like there was more that he wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth next, there was no sound coming from him. Instead he just disappeared into thin air once more. Evelyn felt her whole body shake.

“Oh! Look at what I found! That old granny won second place in a cooking show once!” Ariel yelled from across the room. Evelyn turned to them and the framed certificate in their hands.

“Wow, you look as if you have seen a ghost.”

Evelyn just stared at them from afar and pointed towards the dusty footprints before her.

“There is a ghost in here.”

The ash-like dust was still falling slowly like soft snow and landed before her feet -- the thought alone that the ghost was standing so close made her skin crawl. Ariel took off their glasses for a moment to narrow their eyes at where Evelyn was pointing.

“I can’t see anything.”

“The ghost is currently not showing his corporal form.”

Ariel nodded and pushed the glasses back up their nose. “So it was a ghost, not a burglar or an Elwetritsch. At least as long as there isn’t anything weird in the cellar. What happens when neither of us win a bet? Do we both pay? You give me 10 euros and I give you 10 euros?”

Evelyn decided to ignore the question and instead held up the book that was still in her hands.

“The old lady knew about the curse. The ghost materialized for a moment when I talked about it. He said ‘You should find what you really want’, and then disappeared.”

Finally, Ariel got a bit more serious and walked over.

“That’s the same book as I have at home,” they mumbled and took it out of her hands. “So the old granny really knew some of those curses. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence, or if she was somehow tied to that curse especially.” They flipped through the pages not unlike Evelyn had done before, until they looked up again. “What is it that you really want, Evelyn?”

“I want to get rid of this curse, of course, what do you think?”

“What do you really want, must be the focus here, then. So, some kind of personal revelation might be the key to fulfilling the curse.”

“Believe me, my thoughts and emotions are all set on staying alive. Maybe what he said was not related to the curse, though. It could be that he was just talking nonsense. Some ghosts lose control over their words with time,” Evelyn pointed out and with another glance at the ashen dust before her, she added, “This one has been dissolving for a long time now, from what it looks like. I bet he is the one leaving all the residue in the other rooms.”

Ariel put down the book onto the desk and stared at the ashen footprints in front of Evelyn. “Better search the cellar then? Let’s find out a bit more about this granny that taught herself about curses, hid ghosts in her house, and cursed innocent ghost hunters after her death with her silverware, shall we?”

In lieu of nothing better to say, Evelyn agreed and carefully stepped around the ghost, out of the study.

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previous chapter || WIP intro || masterlist || next chapter

#writeblr #novella #my writing #original fiction #fantasy #urban fantasy #ghosts #curses #wip; heart of silver #heart of silver chapter 3 #tw body horror #(very very light not really spooky though)#tw depression #tw death mention #because of ghosts

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docholligay · 7 years

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Under the Sea

The commission for @yamadara87 this month! I hope you like it! If you’d like more of my writing, including a new Mystery and Shadow to be dropped tomorrow, check me out at my Patreon! 2012 words.

Michiru Kaioh, whenever asked what she would like for her birthday, smiled and said she was too old for anything too dramatic, and that she would very likely go to dinner with Haruka, perhaps take in a play.

What she did not say was that mostly, she simply wished to be left alone.

The last party she remembered having was her 16th, thrown by her parents to fete her burgeoning womanhood, or so the story goes. It had been the same as all her parents’ other parties, with lavish decor, champagne flowing, a cake decorated in the most lavish and expensive way possible, floral arrangements with crystal details, live music, and all the empty fineries of the world.

The first party she remembered wanting was when she was four. She had wanted a Little Mermaid party, and her parents had agreed. For weeks, she had looked forward to seeing the bright haired singing mermaid atop her cake, with her loveable yellow and blue friend, and the grumpy crab that always made her laugh.

When the day came, her 4th birthday party varied precious little from her 16th, the only nod to Michiru’s request the decor on the cake, mermaids singing on the shoreline and even they invoked Waterhouse in smooth lines and soothing colors, with none of the technicolor glow that entranced Michiru’s little heart.

And so, on that day, she learned that birthday parties were never for her, and always for others, and she dropped them as soon as socially permissible.

“Anyway that’s why I’m not throwing her a birthday party,” Haruka said, weaving some version of the above tale, “I never do. She hates it.”

“Okay, but I love an excuse to use Michiru’s black card,” Mina leaned over on the couch and grabbed a chicken strip from Haruka’s plate, “you never do what I want to do.”

Haruka withdrew her plate. “Get your own!”

“All this lesbian selfishness.” She shook her head as she gnawed on the chicken strip. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Haruka dipped her strip in ketchup thoughtfully, “You know, Michiru’s the reason I stopped hating my birthday. I wish--I wish I could do that with parties for her.”

“Ah well,” Mina slumped back into the couch. “She’ll like whatever you do.”

Haruka shrugged, disappointed. “Yeah.”

___

One of Mina’s finest strengths was her own control of her element. Other people might not have said this of her, but, then again, others were not available of what her element really was. But she had seen it clearly the day she began to swing a chain made of other people’s hearts, and few people realized that Rei was not the only one with a deft skill and a subtle hand at her trade.

A normal person might have simply bought festively colored plates, commissioned a cake, and set about buying invitations. But Mina had often observed that most people did not live with the idea of a challenge, and, in any case, perhaps the greatest act of kindness she could bestow upon Michiru was not forcing her to thank Mina for anything.

Also she couldn’t see any of the senshi helping out of the goodness of their hearts, unless she played it off just right.

Luckily, again, her element sparkled.

And so it took her very little time to set the events of her triumph in motion.

“Did you know Michiru’s birthday’s coming up?” Mina looked over at Usagi halfway, then turned back to her magazine.

“Yes!” Usagi answered brightly, and then puzzled. “Wonder what we should get her.”

“Yeah,” Mina turned the page disinterestedly, “Just gotta find a good time to give it to her. Because she never has parties, she got too disappointed when she was a kid. Broke her heart.”

“I’m not sure I think that’s physically possible, Mina.” Ami did not look up from her homework.

“Oh Ami, it’s an expression! She doesn’t mean her PHYSICAL heart!” Usagi laughed brightly, but Ami did not correct herself, and Usagi turned to Mina. “What happened when she was a kid?”

“Oh, she never talks about it,” Mina set down the magazine she had never been reading, “But when she was a little girl, she adored the Little Mermaid. It makes sense, doesn’t it, each of us remembering our past lives, each remembering how we would be drawn to you? It was something she didn’t know yet but her heart must have seen,” she touched her fingers to her chest, her eyes far off, and Rei huffed heavily and rolled her eyes, “must have known she was connected to the water. She was promised this party. Oh, she was so excited, Usagi! Imagine little Michiru, clutching a stuffed Flounder, waiting for her own magical tale under the sea!” She gripped Usagi’s hands in her own, as Usagi’s eyes grew wide.

“But?” Usagi nodded

“The day came,” Mina’s voice grew sad, “and for all the glitter and glitz...it was never meant to be her party. No Ariel, no Sebastian, No Flounder. They didn’t even invite any of her friends, just her parents associates and Michiru, poor little Michiru, OUR OWN little mermaid, was so filled with anguish that she cried under the stairs, HER OWN OCEAN against her cheeks.”

If she could have seen the look the other three girls were giving her, she might have been ashamed.

But probably not.

Usagi snapped to attention, the perfect soldier Mina knew she could be, when the battle was aligned to her unique abilities. “Mako!”

Mako looked up, already knowing her fate.

“Your food is the best! I know it’d make Michiru so happy if you made a Little Mermaid cake for her, so that’s your job!” She nodded crisply, and then leaned toward Mako and smiled as if apologizing for becoming the terrible general. “I’ll let you pick the flavors, because everyone knows you know flavors best, and everyone will love it but especially Michiru, I know you’ll do great!”

It was impossible to disappoint Usagi in the face of such a compliment, and so Mako simply nodded, and could not help herself from mentally arranging a perfect party spread.

“Minako!” Usagi whirled and pointed to her. “You know parties, and drinks! You get all the punch and maybe a little champagne but not too much!”

“Aye aye, captain.” She saluted, with every intention in her mind of getting too much champagne.

“Genius Ami!” Usagi jumped toward her, bursting with excitement. “You figure out a SUPER clever way to get her to come to Mako’s apartment!”

“Are we using Mako’s apartment?” She asked cautiously.

“Of course we are!” Usagi smiled brightly. “Where else would we go?”

Ami did not answer, simply shrugged and shared a knowing glance with Mako.

“And Rei!” She was most excited now of all. “You know Michiru really well, so you can help me decorate elegantly!”

Rei crossed her arms. “Then you should just let me do it, Usagi, you think elegance is tinsel scattered all over the tables with a bunch of fake rose petals.”

“Michiru loves roses, REI!” Usagi scowled.

“Not ugly fake ones from the craft store.”

“You’re so mean to me and I’m just trying to do something nice for Michiru!”

“I’m trying to help you do it RIGHT.”

“I know things Rei! It’s supposed to be a Little mermaid party not a fancy thing, didn’t you hear Mina’s story!”

Mina smiled and leaned back against the wall of Usagi’s room. All according to plan.

____

Michiru was not easily touched. The sea was a cold thing, she had often reflected. She wondered, often, if she had been born this way, or if she had built this this stone wall around the garden of her heart, brick by brick, protecting herself from the many slings and arrows of a fortune so outrageous Shakespeare knew not of it.

And yet. With the brightly colored banner, Usagi’s renderings of Flounder and Sebastian framing Michiru’s name, the imprints deep in the paper from where she had pressed so hard as she drew, putting such effort into it. The food was beautiful, dumplings arranged beautifully with thematic fillings, a cake with her technicolor mermaid, no deep oil colors to be found, framed in the middle of the table.

Usagi set a rhinestone tiara on her head, glittering with teal and purple jewels, a purple glittering cameo set in the middle of it, framed by enamel shells.

“It’s the fancy Little Mermaid crown! I went to DisneySea to pick it up for you, Michiru!” Usagi clapped her hands together with delight.

“I’m sure that’s the only reason you went, and not to get pizza spring rolls.” Rei snapped, a glass of teal fizzy punch in her hand.

“It was!” Usagi protested loudly.

Michiru was ever so grateful for their bickering, which kept her from thinking too deeply on the subject of all the effort that had been laid out for her, that kept her from dwelling too much on the tiny girl inside of her that jumped for joy at seeing the green tulle and fake fishnet against the wall, the brightly colored party hats on the table, of feeling as if someone had listened.

Haruka put an arm around her, and popped a crab dumpling in her mouth. “Shebashtain’s delischious.” She swallowed. “This is really great, guys!”

Michiru looked up at her. “You didn’t do this?”

Haruka shook her head. “I rented us a sailboat for tomorrow afternoon. There’s cake there too, though.”

Michiru looked up again, unable to imagine that these girls who were quite stuck with her more than anything, by an accident of fate, had pooled together their resources and wherewithal simply to make her happy. She had never been overly expressive with them--she was a creature

who lived by the checkbook more than the heart, she often thought, and that was all she knew how to do.

But somehow these girls had seen what she meant, when she offered them concert tickets or dinners out.

“Thank you so very much.” She looked around, pretending to survey the party once more, but pointedly meeting no one’s gaze. “I,” she adjusted the tiara on her head, “I am not certain what I should say.”

“Do you like it?” Usagi asked, for a moment seemingly worried she might not.

“It is the birthday I’ve always wanted.” She gratefully took a cup of punch from Mako’s hand. “I cannot believe the effort you put it.”

“Well, you’re one of us, Michiru!” Usagi grabbed a plate from the table. “So we had to make sure you had a good birthday!”

She smiled honestly, a small band of white showing at her lips. “I cannot express how grateful I feel. Truly.”

She made a note in the back of her head, however, that Mako seemed to need a new stand mixer, that Usagi would very likely enjoy a box of the fine imported chocolates her parents got, and Rei seemed to be in need of a fine evening out.

She would simply tell Haruka to go have fun with Mina, on her credit card.

She sat at the table as a lit cake was put in front of her, and somewhere deep under the sea, Michiru felt warm.

In the corner, Haruka grinned brightly and poked Mina in the shoulder. “You did something nice for miiiichiiiiruuuuuuu.”

Mina looked away from her and sipped her punch, which was mostly just champagne, by her own pour. “The fact that we managed to separate your heart crystal from the talisman itself is really inconvenient for me, have I mentioned that?”

“You did something nice for miiichiiiiiruuuuuuuuu.” Haruka leaned onto her shoulder.

“I did something nice for you, you homosexual ingrate. Michiru was just my pawn.” She swatted at her face.

“I love you too, Mina.” Haruka leaned against the wall and popped another dumpling in her mouth.

“Fucking lesbians.” She shook her head.

But she smiled, just shaded enough so no one could see, at the glisten of Michiru’s eyes in the candlelight.

#a holligay joint

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