Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Welcome to the town of Port Hermits.

This stunning little town seated along wild coastline and thick forest is picturesque at a glance, fantastical once you step inside, and there is more to it then what it seems on the surface.

It’s because this town sits on the edge of the world colonized by humans, and the corresponding edge of the hidden world of creatures which one would typically call fantasy. Any species complex enough to learn a human or similar to human language live here in harmony, this place being a closely guarded secret from the rest of the world.

Mayor Scar enforces a system in place for any human who wishes to be let in to the town’s secret world, and apon giving him the secret phrase and signing some forms, they’ll be awarded a badge to let any non human know they don’t have to hide themselves from this specific person. Not only humans wear badges, it’s encouraged to if you’re walking around in a form that can pass as human. The phrase is, “I am a friend to the unknown.”

The town’s a peaceful one, comfortably at the coastline far away from any trouble larger cities may bring, and it’s filled with some very interesting people.

The mayor himself, for one. He’s an elf, always wearing a cheeky grin. He’s served as mayor for quite a while now, helped in part to his charisma. His assistant, the short little anthropomorphic cat called Jellie is almost always at his side.

What you see on the surface isn’t actually the entire town. It has a cave-like underground section as well, where fantasy creatures who can’t as easily hide their non human features live. It’s not exclusive to just them though, anyone with a badge can live down there. There’s also a network of water channels to allow aquatic species to travel the streets like anyone else. There are homes submerged in the ocean typical of these aquatic species included within the town as well, it’s where they usually live.

The underground part of the town is also a guarded secret, the only humans allowed in are ones with badges. Its mostly homes, any business typical to a human town would be found on the surface. It has the aesthetic of an enchanted cave, with plant and fungi species native to the Great Pit growing all around.

The Great Pit is the biggest fantasy creature city in this part of the world. Native to it are the mythical green false-satyrs on the top levels, and dwarves when you descent down deeper. With the advancement of humans claiming so much land for themselves and growing their population to extreme numbers, those two species decided together to invite in any fantasy species to come live there in solace within the Great Pit, as it has plenty of space and is nicely tucked away.

Turning back to past events, it’s been over a half a year since Keralis, a human, freed xBCrafted the merman from an aquarium. Since then, the both of them have adjusted to the town nicely. The both of them have made so many friends here, it’s hard to tell that they’re still relatively new. Xisuma’s even moved over as well, after hearing much good things about this place from Keralis. He’s human too, but well aware of the fantasy world ever since he stumbled on xB and Keralis back when they were on their rescue mission.

xB and Keralis now semi-live together, in the underground portion of the town. They’re a couple, after all. They’ve found themselves a small, yet comfortable home, hooked up to the town’s waterways so xB can freely enter and leave through a trapdoor with a key. Keralis is the one who officially owns the home, but xB always spends nights here, sleeping in the pond like encasing of water built into the house’s living room. It’s perfect for anyone who frequently gets aquatic visitors, like Keralis.

It’s like back when Keralis had a big kiddie pool set up in his living room just after he had rescued xB, but a whole lot less uncomfortable and makeshift. Despite the near constant mopping, Keralis is pretty happy with where he lives.

Xisuma lives up on the surface, and is busy familiarizing himself with the town as he pretty much just moved here, only a few weeks in. While exploring the underground portion of the town, he’d had people taking to him, thinking he wasn’t human multiple times because of his helmet, them thinking he was wearing it to cover something up. It made him chuckle a little, because it really is just something he wears from day to day.

The otherworldly nature of Port Hermits is captivating, and to the three of them, it’s quickly becoming home.

Besides Scar and Jellie at the town hall, they’ve met other specific individuals who live here too. Keralis has befriended a fellow human named Bdubs, an architect who’s lived on the surface of Port Hermits since childhood. Both of their disproportionately large eyes make for quite a match. He was more than willing to give Keralis some thorough tours when he’d just moved over.

xB’s befriended a guy named Beef, who’s also aquatic like he is. He’s no merman, looks more like some sort of human, salmon hybrid. He’s got two legs and can walk on land, but he’s also got fins, gills and scales. He says he’s most similar to the chinook salmon, which happens to be the biggest salmon species. A big salmon, if you will. It’s the fall right now, so his scales are displaying a bright red colour, instead of the usual silver. Unlike real salmon, when winter falls his scales will simply revert to silver again. Beef is involved in a lot of the town’s local agriculture.

Xisuma hasn’t had enough time to meet people yet, cause as was said he just got here. They are bound to meet more people, this it just the start.

For example, the many faces of the town’s red-haired dockworker, the green false-satyr engineer who relaxes in Port Hermits when he doesn’t have work to do, the mischievous scientist pooka who’s always up to something, and the boisterous flower pixie and her goofy human partner. They are just a few of many.

In any case, xB and Keralis’ relationship has been going quite smoothly. After they had to be apart for a little over a month so that Keralis could go through all the motions of moving over, their reunion was sweet. Here’s how that went back in the spring.

.

Darkness has fallen, ocean waves roll onto the high tide beach on this cool March evening. A half moon reflects just a little, covering everything with a hint of moonlight. The agreement was to meet up on the beach under the cover of night in one month’s time, and it’s now been a month. The wait’s been hard for xB and Keralis, especially since they had to part ways immediately after officially getting together.

Keralis walks onto the beach, and takes a seat on a log. This is the third night he’s sat out here for a couple hours, waiting for him. Quite a bit had happened since they last saw eachother. Keralis wears a badge and has learnt so much more about the fantasy world, and xB’s been getting a feel for the ocean again after having spent so much time in captivity.

Every log or piece of kelp that drifts by gets his hopes up, and the seals that swim by almost seem to be mocking him. He’s been told that selkies exist, but he can’t tell them apart from a regular seal, so these could be selkies who are looking at him judgingly. Or at least that’s how he sees it, they probably aren’t actually mocking him. Keralis is just tired and missed his favourite fish.

But then suddenly, he spots something in the water that couldn’t not be xB. No human would be swimming at this time, and the outline of his curly black hair is distinguishing. Keralis turns on his phone’s flashlight and waves at him.

xB carefully swims up to him, trying to see his face in the darkness. His dark vision is better than a human’s, so he lights up, recognizing Keralis.

“Princess! Princess! It’s me! I’m back!” Keralis exclaims, still waving him over.

“Keralis! You’re here!” xB grins, pulling himself up onto the beach’s sandbar. Keralis kneels down to face him. “I didn’t keep you waiting for too long, did I?” xB asks. Both of them are unable to keep huge smiles off their faces.

“No no, this is only the third night. For you, princess, it’s not too long at all. How have you been?”

“Incredible. The ocean doesn’t seem too different from when I left. I’ve missed you, though.”

“Awwww, me too. I missed you so much too.” Keralis has his flashlight shining on xB, looking at him, almost in disbelief that they’ve been reunited. “Is it just me, or do you seem… Brighter than before? I’ll have to look at you under better light, but..”

xB looks at the blue fin on one of his arms. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I believe it’s because I’m eating better, or something.. Yeah probably that. I didn’t realize my colours faded when I was in captivity.. but I guess they do.”

“It’s so so nice to hear that you’re feeling better, xB. Come here.” Keralis reaches his arms out for a hug.

xB pulls himself forward, and they hug at an awkward angle. Keralis doesn’t care that he’s all damp, he’s just glad to be with him.

“And you, how’s your leg doing?” xB asks, slowly pulling away.

“Good as new! Fully healed, doesn’t even hurt. Like I never strained it in the first place trying, trying to carry you and run.” Keralis snickers, remembering the night he freed xB from the aquarium.

“That’s good to hear too. So, you’re sticking around over here from now on? Didn’t just hallucinate that?”

“You’re not going crazy, yes, I have officially moved over! Did you know, xB, that this town also has an underground portion? It’s exclusive to fantasy creatures and humans with badges, I went there a couple days ago, and there are channels through the streets that you can swim through! I want to go exploring with you.”

“Oh? You’re going to have to show me how to get in. That sounds like fun.”

“I don’t, actually know how you are supposed to get in from the water… I’m sure you could ask somebody.”

“Ah. Alright, I’ll do that.” xB giggles, then takes a deep breath. “So, over this past month, your feelings for me haven’t changed at all? We’re still going forward with being partners..?”

“But of course we are! Unless you’ve changed your mind, but, but I love your face and, am still head over heels for you. I want to be your partner.”

“I love your face… ah, I missed you, Keralis. Nothing’s changed then, sorry, I was worrying a little.” xB pauses, then reaches up to touch Keralis’ face, pulling him in for a kiss, this is the first time they’ve kissed outside of the first day they were together, it still all feels so new. xB still tastes quite salty to Keralis.

They pull apart, and xB starts talking again. “So, I heard humans like collecting little shiny things, so I found you something you might like.”

Keralis giggles a little. “Oh, really? What you got for me?” Keralis grins, just now noticing the tightly wrapped lump of seaweed xB has to his side.

“Here, let me get it out for you.” He picks apart the seaweed, Keralis puts his hand out and he and hands him a pearl. It’s about the size of a typical marble, a little irregularly shaped and white like you’d expect.

“W-wow, thank you xB! Where did you find this?”

“I was just trying to eat oysters!” xB snickers. “So I was right then, you like it?”

“Admittedly… yes, I do like it. Especially since you gave it to me. These are pretty rare.” He puts it into his shirt pocket. “I’ll keep it safe, thank you again.”

“I still really want to bring you some fish, still waiting for the go ahead.”

“Well, I’ll have somewhere to cook food real soon. Then, I’ll let you bring me some fish.”

“Sweet.”

“I’m also going to go for some proper diving lessons too. I want to join you under the water more often.”

“That’ll be fun. I’d love to bring you on an adventure sometime.”

“We could figure something out. Anyways, try to ask someone how to get into the underground portion of this town, and let’s meet here at the same time tomorrow to discuss plans?”

“Sounds good. I’m looking forward to spending good time with you.”

Keralis grins. “Here’s to our new lives.”

Chapter Text

Pearlescentmoon is a human, who doesn’t necessarily feel like she should be one.

Her human family didn’t seem to want her, after all. She was once a baby, abandoned and hungry on the forest floor.

Her earliest memory is of looking up at the forest canopy, a wolf staring down at her, drawn in by her cries. This wasn’t any ordinary wolf.

This wolf was a creature of fantasy, of a mythical species long lived and of slightly greater intelligence than a human. This wolf just happened to be a mother of her own too.

So she carefully picked Pearl up and carried her with her.

She was raised as a creature of the forest, speaking the language of the wild, and learning to survive and hunt like they did. The wolf who found her became her mother, the wolf’s partner became her father, and the wolf’s own pups became her siblings.

The fairies looked out for her too, providing her clothes and teaching her things that the wolves couldn’t. Through them she learnt about what lies in the rest of the world, and the rift between humans and pretty much everything else.

She grew up a little apathetic towards humans for abandoning her, yet still thankful of the way she grew up. She wouldn’t trade her wolf family for anything.

When she was 16, she was stricken with wanderlust and decided that it was time to see the world outside of just the forest. She was independent enough, and could fend for herself in the wild. Her mother led her to the edge of the trees, to farmland, and told her to be safe. That there will be things beyond her comprehension found beyond the forest. And she told her to come back and visit, that her den will always be open.

She agreed, and parted ways with her family to go figure out what the world really is all about.

She found a road quickly, and followed it for hours. She walked and walked, finding food and sleeping in makeshift dens. She had no concept of farm crops belonging to a specific person, so she admittedly took a lot of food from farms on the way not knowing what she was doing.

Then, Pearl saw her first other human. Someone driving a tractor along the road, scaring the life out of her. The guy in the tractor stopped, and asked if she was alright. Thing is, she had no idea what he was saying, she didn’t speak English.

The guy was concerned, seeing a seemingly lost teenager with scruffy hair and patchy clothes made of cedar bark and fairy linen. He tried to ask her for her name, hometown, anything. She couldn’t understand a thing, and when the guy tried to get her to hop onto the tractor to bring her to safety, she got scared and ran into the nearest bushes. He called out for her, but she didn’t dare respond. He was really just trying to help.

She sat in the bushes, considering whether exploring the world was really what she wanted to do. Whether her general apathy towards humans was right. She could easily just return to her family in the safety of the forest. But she’s optimistic and figured that it’s now or never, she’s already come this far. She gets up, and continues her journey.

Straying away from farmland, Pearl soon finds more forest, and enters as this is terrain she’s more comfortable with. She soon reaches a coast, and decides to follow it. Wind was on her face the moment she broke through the trees.

She had only been to the ocean once before, but that was quite a while ago. The smells captivate her as she journeys along the rocky beach, gazing at windswept trees and the seemingly endless expanse of the ocean.

She dips a foot into the water, and leaps back at its unexpected coldness. She sighs, hoping a proper bath will come her way soon. She’d later learn the hard way that the water in the ocean isn’t fresh, and not suitable to drink. She continues on, stony beaches turning to rocky cliffs, turning to flats of sandstone.

She happened upon tents seated high up on the beach, clearly belonging to humans. Her first instinct was to avoid them, but the smell of the ongoing campfires drew her in, hungry from having a few difficulties with food. She sees the other humans, a big group cooking hotdogs over a large fire.

She carefully studied the actions of the other humans as she approached, who waved at her. She figured she must get used to the presence of other humans if she’s going to explore the world, and she wants to know if humans are usually good, or bad. She waves back at them, and tries to gauge whether she was welcome or not.

She doesn’t sense any hostility, so she sits down on the rocks beside the fire. The people here don’t really know what to make of her, but she’s really trying her best to be friendly and communicate. They just think she’s from one of the other camping groups.

After staring at the fire for a few minutes, she could sense that the people were a little confused, so she decided to nonverbally say goodbye, and get up to leave. But she was stopped by a woman, who handed her one of the hotdogs. She wasn’t sure where Pearl came from, but she could tell that she was hungry. Pearl lit up, thanked her the best she could, and dashed away to scarf it down. The taste was unfamiliar, but delicious.

This dispelled some of Pearl’s worry about how the human world would be. It’s scary and unfamiliar, yes, but do the right things and it would likely welcome her. It’s optimistic thinking, coming from a girl who’s lived her entire life among magical wolves and fairies deep in the forest.

No longer hungry, she kept journeying along the coastline, passing the odd house and tiny village as she walks. She also passed by other campsites, but decided she’d rather just keep going to find new scenery.

Pearl once found a ravine in the side of a cliff carved out of rigid stone, eroded over thousands of years, with a waterfall at the very end. She followed the path up to it, taking her shoes off to soak in the freshwater. The cold doesn’t bother her as she’s exhausted, and it’s been a hot day.

She smiles from ear to ear, walking up the stream, as this sort of scene is so familiar to her. An enchanted looking waterfall, hidden away from normal view.

She feels the mist on her face, and she puts her hand under the falling water. She sits down and takes it all in, proudly proclaiming to herself just how much she loves this world. She feels connected to it, in her own special way. She steps in and lets the water hit her back, deciding to rest here for the time being.

After spending the night, she continues on wanting to see more. After about another week of wandering, she finally stumbles apon Port Hermits.

Pearl is nervous, as this is the first large town she’s ever seen. She decides to be optimistic, and enters from the beach.

This place, she’s never seen such vibrance from anything man made before.

Well, she doesn’t have much to go off, but that isn’t important. It’s apparent from when you first step inside, that this town is magical. She lets herself explore, and doesn’t get as many weird looks as she’d expect.

That is, until someone comes up to her and tries to ask her something.

“Hello? I don’t mean to be rude but could I have your name?”

Pearl whips around to face whoever spoke, no idea what they said. That voice definitely didn’t come from the guy in the wheelchair she sees who’s stopped, so she looks down to see a small hooded figure.

“You’re new here, are you? Here, no need to be afraid.” The hooded figure reaches a hand out towards her, or rather, a paw. This reassures Pearl immediately, whoever this is isn’t a human. She doesn’t know how to respond to the outstretched paw though, so she takes her own hand and gives the figure something like an awkward fistbump. The man, or he may be a teenager too, at the side of whoever this is holds back a snicker.

“My name’s Jellie, and this here is Scar. Say, do you speak English?”

Pearl just keeps smiling, staring at her blankly.

“I take it you don’t…” Jellie thinks for a moment, then decides to try some languages in an effort to communicate. “¿Hablas español?… Parlez-vous français?… Ξ Χπη ΕηχΜΝ Ψαληφ?… Ei Shpagck dee Inubaacish?” She pauses between each sentence, trying to see if Pearl understood any of it. “Help me out here Scar, try a few.”

Pearl doesn’t really know what’s going on, but she is intrigued by these two. At this point in the timeline, Scar isn’t mayor yet. He’s more like Jellie’s apprentice at the moment, learning how to work in the town hall from her, who’s about 40 years older than him. Jellie’s never been mayor herself, and has always worked the same job helping the current administration.

“Alrighty.” Scar says. “↸𝙹 ||𝙹⚍ ᓭ!¡ᒷᔑꖌ ᒷリᓵ⍑ᔑリℸ ̣ ᒷ↸?… Sprechen Sie Deutsch?… Can you speak Deep Forest?” He follows each one up with a pause like Jellie did.

Pearl lights up at the last one, and responds. “ Yes! I understand you now! ”

“It’s deep forest, Jellie. The language of the wild.” Scar says. “ My name is Scar. I not can speak deep forest. ” He says slowly, as best he can.

“ Oh. My name is Pearl. ”

Scar grins, and Jellie turns to him. “Who do we know that can speak deep forest?”

“She says her name’s Pearl. Let me think…. Stress! I think Stress can.” Scar says.

“Alright. I feel bad that we can’t tell her why we’ve approached her yet..” Jellie turns to Pearl. “ Come. ” She says in her best deep forest voice.

“It’s not like deep forest is on Google Translate… I’ll call Stress, and ask her if she’s free, and can actually speak the language we need.” Scar says, pulling out his phone.

Pearl is a little apprehensive to follow them, but she’s confident enough in her abilities to get out of a bad situation, so she decides to just follow them.

They approach one of the tunnels leading into the underground portion of the town, and Jellie helps Scar lift up the hatch. Now, Pearl’s more apprehensive to follow them. Scar and Jellie can sense that.

“ The town, is.. more, here .” Scar says, forcefully shoving words together.

“She’s new here! This is probably totally suspicious…” Jellie sighs. “I’m not about to ask Stress to come up here in the daytime though.”

The guard at the hatch notices the talking, and comes out to help. “Ah, Madam Jellie. Trying to tour someone new?”

“We’re just trying to make sure she knows what she’s doing and not going to accidentally leak any secrets. Town, and fantasy world security stuff.”

“I see.” The guard waves at Pearl. “I don’t know if you understand me at all but the town continues down here!”

Pearl sighs and decides to just go ahead, into the tunnel. Jellie’s word is enough to let her in without a badge, so she doesn’t need that yet.

She rounds a corner implemented to keep away prying eyes, and yeah, the town really is more here. She breathes a sigh of relief, not being nervous anymore. Scar and Jellie are right behind her, who then lead her to where Stress lives.

Jellie takes off her hood and hands it to Scar, and Pearl is absolutely fascinated. She’s never really seen a cat before, much less a cat which walks on two legs. She feels the overwhelming urge to pat Jellie on the head but she resists. Scar was wearing earmuffs, which he also takes off. Pearl’s met elves before, elf ears aren’t much of a surprise.

Plus, Pearl’s never seen a place quite like the underground portion of Port Hermits before. There’s so much new stuff going on, it’s almost overwhelming.

Soon, they get to a section with a lot of tiny, tiny houses built into the sides of larger buildings. A small pixie wearing pink is sitting outside her house, waiting for them.

“Ello you lot, I heard you’re in need of my assistance.” Stress says, flying up to them. She’s only 6-7 inches tall and with insect like clear wings, typical for pixies.

“So you speak deep forest? We need you to introduce yourself to Pearl here, and tell her you’ll be transcribing for us. The town hall will compensate you afterwards, don’t worry.” Jellie says.

“Yup, I can do that for ya.” Stress clears her throat. “ Ello! Your name’s Pearl, right? I’m Stress, and I’ll be speaking for these two over here.”

Pearl lights up at hearing her language once more. “ I see! I’m glad to finally be meeting people out here. What are their names? ” She points to Scar and Jellie.

“ The kitty is Jellie, and the elf’s Scar. ” Stress says, and then turns to Jellie. “ What shall I say now?”

“Tell her that we are from the town hall, and describe this town and our closely guarded secrets.”

Stress nods and turns back to Pearl. “ These two lovely folks are from the town hall here in Port Hermits, where we pride ourselves in being a place where humans and people like us can coexist. I believe something along the lines of that is our slogan…” Stress chuckles to herself. “ Anyways, this town’s nature is a bit of a secret, we don’t want the wrong people to cause any trouble.”

Pearl nods. “ I see, I’ve never been to a town before, this is all so new!”

“I will say, this place is special.” Stress turns and prompts Jellie to give her more to say.

“Tell her that we don’t want anybody to accidentally leak any secrets regarding our world, and ask her to agree to keep this secret, that it’s our responsibility as the town hall. Reassure her that she isn’t in any trouble too, this is just a precaution.”

“Alright.” Stress switches language. “ So, as I said this town’s nature is a secret, and as the town hall it’s their responsibility that no issues arise. We don’t want anybody to accidentally leak anything regarding here or the fantasy world in general. You’re not in trouble, they told me you just seemed unfamiliar with this side of the world. This is just a precaution. Are you familiar with the human world?”

“No, I’m exploring for the first time.” Pearl says.

“I see. Anyways, we don’t want these things to leak to just any human, majority of them can’t be trusted as I’m sure you’ve been told. Can you keep a secret?”

Pearl thinks for a moment. “ But, I am a human?”

“You’re a human???” Stress exclaims.

“ Yes?? What did you think I was?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t want to ask, thought that would be rude! Some of us look exactly like humans on the outside!”

“What are you talking about?” Jellie asks Stress.

“She’s a human, one moment..” Stress turns back to Pearl. “ How do you know deep forest?”

“I was raised among the wolves of the forest. I’ve never been outside of my home before, never seen any other humans until very recently. This is my native language, and I clearly don’t speak what’s commonly spoken around here.”

“Ohhh, that’s very interesting. Anyways, what I was saying… can you keep all of this a secret? I apologize if this is a lot, the world outside of the forest must be a lot to get used too.”

“Yes, of course I can. I’ve been taught about the complicated relationship between humans and fantasy creatures from fairies and other pixies like you. Thanks for being kind enough to help me out here, I’ve been on my own on this journey for so long. Tell Scar and Jellie I say thank you to them too.”

Stress turns back to them. “She says thank you for telling her all this. She agrees to keep the secret.”

“Oh, that’s good. Tell her that we thank her too.” Jellie says, and Stress tells Pearl this. “So, she’s a human? She doesn’t seem like one at all.”

“She told me that she was raised among the wolves in the forest.” Stress says.

“ Can you ask them what a town hall is?” Pearl asks.

“ I can answer that. It’s the people who run the town. It’s a very important job here.” Stress says. Pearl nods in response.

“We offer much support towards any fantasy creatures who may be struggling in this world. She seems to be a special case, as a human, but she counts. Tell her she is welcome to stay here, that I can guide her towards our support programs.” Jellie says.

“ Jellie says that you are welcome to stay here if you want, that we have support programs you’d be eligible for. She can show you there.”

Pearl thinks for a moment. “ I’d like to explore a little more, but I’ll think about it. I like this place already.”

Stress translates this back to Jellie and Scar, and the conversation ends. Pearl thanks them again, and runs off to explore the underground part of Port Hermits some more.

Soon she leaves to continue her adventure, turning back towards the wild. She’s done when she feels she’s done.

After a few months, she returns to Port Hermits with the intention of staying. She gets a home to share with other people her age, starts on learning English and gets a simple job delivering newspaper. Humble beginnings, she feels like this is where she’s supposed to be.

The time period that’s been defined as the present is about 10 years from this point. Pearl’s been well adjusted into life in Port Hermits, she’s made friends, has a place to herself and works delivering mail and doing the odd janitorial job. She enjoys the service to the community, and doesn’t desire anything more. She visits her wolf family regularly, and has even brought them over once to give them a tour of the town.

Despite everything, Pearl is glad that the world has shown to be a pretty nice place for her.

Chapter Text

Selkies are one species of many human like beings that inhabit this world, who live in the sea.

They have a sheddable “seal skin”, bound to them as a part of their body. When their seal skin is on, they are indistinguishable from their corresponding species of seal, and when it’s off, they are indistinguishable from a human. In this universe, it can come on and off whenever they’d like.

Most selkies choose to spend their lives at sea, away from human society. Underwater, they live closely with merfolk, water nymphs and other ocean associated species. Though, some choose to integrate with humans, and start lives on the surface. When they do this, they never stray too far from the sea, they can’t be without it.

It’s also not uncommon for selkies to form close bonds with humans, they’re even genetically compatible. Some even romanticize the thought, while some think humans are evil for the not very happy stories they’ve heard regarding their kind.

This certain selkie in question doesn’t really know what to think, but he isn’t opposed to the idea of living amongst humans. He’s just got to take the first few steps up onto land.

.

Bdubs is a human, who’s lived in Port Hermits pretty much all his life.

He’s an architect, and is the human who’s contributed the most to the town’s design, when it comes to the newer sections. Most of the time he’s found on the surface, mingling with other humans or his non human friends wearing their disguises. He didn’t actually know about the side of the town where fantasy creatures live until he was a teenager, having moved there as a young child with his parents unaware.

It was Impulse, a very close friend of his, who made him aware of everything. They were at Impulse’s house to hang out (and do a school project but that wasn’t important), and Impulse had let his large clubbed tail appear without thinking. Yeah, Impulse had to fill him in on a lot, and by the end of the week they went to the town hall to get Bdubs a badge. It was a lot to process, but he was glad to be let into the secret world.

In any case, he’s happy with how things are going for him. He loves his job, has many friends, and loves Port Hermits. Funnily enough, his parents still don’t know about the fantasy creatures and the whole other half of the town. They’re old, it’s hard to say how they would react.

One night, Bdubs decides to take a stroll on the waterfront, to enjoy the clear skies after having had rain for the past few days. It’s pretty dark out, he’s the only one here. Flashlight in hand, he decides to walk down to the beach, and sits down on some rocks at the edge of the sandbar, under a tree. It’s high tide, and actually quite calming out here.

Bdubs relaxes, and breathes in the sea air. The light of a waning gibbous moon shines above him, and the waves are low and few.

He sees a lone seal crawl onto the beach, and Bdubs grins at this surprise encounter. The seal looks around, unable to see Bdubs because the tree is blocking moonlight from hitting him.

Suddenly, the seal’s skin starts to split open from the front. Bdubs doesn’t know what he’s looking at, until he sees a hand reach out of the seal’s head.

He covers his mouth, trying not to make any noise. This doesn’t look real, more like a scene from a scary movie. His mind races, before settling on, this must be a selkie! He’s heard of them, but has never knowingly met one.

The hand grips the side of the seal skin, and starts to pull it away. This is actually quite terrifying to witness, not graceful at all. The scary movie comparison still holds true. The selkie makes his way out of his skin, and crawls out onto the sand. His hair is a striking white.

He stands up, clutches his skin close to his bare form contemplating his next move. Bdubs is having a hard time keeping his eyes off him.

He shuffles a little, and the selkie notices his presence. The selkie’s heart skips, and he turns around to dash back into the sea.

“Wait! Wait..” Bdubs exclaims, standing up. “I’m sorry, I…”

The selkie turns around to face him, seated in a half a meter of water, foot in his skin.

Bdubs takes a deep breath, and reaches a hand out to him. “Hello, selkie.. W-welcome to Port Hermits. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be out here, so sorry again for scaring you. Are you new here?” He puts on his best friendly voice despite shaking in his boots, feeling bad for spying on him like that.

“Yes, I’m new.” He says. Good, they speak the same language.

There’s silence, and Bdubs wants to stab himself for how awkward this is. There’s a very attractive, nude, nonhuman man in front of him and he does not know where to go from here.

He takes Bdubs’ hand, and stands up. “Do, do you need any help, maybe?” Bdubs asks him.

“Well, I don’t really know where to go… I think I could use help, yeah.” He says.

“Do you want to… ummm… Go to my place? It’s dark out. You should, probably put some clothes on..” Bdubs forces himself to maintain eye contact with him. What is he thinking suggesting they go to his house?

The selkie looks down at himself. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve been told that. I also believe I should go to the town hall? Let the administration know I’m here? That’s what I’ve heard, at least.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea. Get a badge because you pass as human, and I believe we also have support for any non human who wants to move here. Maybe, I’m not the guy to ask.”

The selkie nods. “You said go to your place?”

“Yeah, if you want.. I believe the town hall’s on nocturnal shift right now, so you could go in, but..”

“I need clothes first?”

“Yeah let’s get you something to wear. This way.” Bdubs steps back, and beckons him to follow. He’s never really given help to any non human before, this is all new to him. He’s no town hall worker.

“What’s your name?” The selkie asks. Bdubs is taking him the long way around, through the trees that surround the town, because it’s probably a bad idea to just cut right through.

“Bdubs. What about you?”

“My name’s Etho. As you could tell earlier, I’m a selkie. What’s your species?”

“I’m a human, actually.”

Etho stops in his tracks. “You’re a human??”

Bdubs stops too for him. “Yes, I.. sorry to disappoint?”

“Oh, no worries, I just wasn’t expecting you to be.. human.” Etho continues walking. “Thought the average human would be more scared of us than not…” He says uneasily.

“Well, most humans here are not the average human, we’re in on the secret. And don’t get me wrong, seeing a human looking hand reaching out the head of a seal was pretty shocking when you don’t expect it.” He says lightheartedly. Etho snickers in response. “I’ve got a werewolf for a roommate, and two of my closest friends are a zombie and a demon.”

“I see.” Etho says. “You’ve got a roommate?”

“Yup. He’s probably not home right now, though.”

They continue walking in general, awkward silence, before they get to Bdubs’ house on the outskirts of town. Bdubs designed it himself, and he’s very proud of it.

He unlocks the back door, and lets Etho in. “Here. I’ll try to find you something that’ll fit you.” Bdubs says.

“You think you’ll be able to? You seem pretty small.”

“Shut it.” Bdubs says without thinking. He gasps. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to say it like that..”

“It’s fine.” Etho grins, able to tell that Bdubs has some sort of issue with his height. Bdubs leaves to go find some clothes, giving Etho time to look around. Bdubs’ house is comfortable, and well decorated. This is all so new to him though, he’s never really seen the inside of a house that wasn’t in the ocean.

Bdubs returns. “Here, this should work.” He hands Etho the clothes, who then tries them on. The shirt fits him, Bdubs was sure to grab one that’s oversized on himself, but the pants were a bit tight.

“Are these pants supposed to be this tight?” Etho asks.

“No, sorry.. I’d give you some of Ren’s, my roomate’s, if I had permission. Will they work for now?”

“Sure they will. Thank you.”

“Are you wanting to go to the town hall tonight? Or tomorrow?” Bdubs asks.

“Hmm, yknow what, I’m getting a little tired. I’ll make it tomorrow. Is it alright if I stay here?”

“Yeah, there’s a spare bed downstairs. Happy to help out.”

Etho nods. “Thank you. Man, being on land is going to be hard to get used too.” He says the last part more to himself, as Bdubs leads him downstairs. Etho’s still clutching his seal skin, which pretty much looks just like a pelt. Bdubs has to remind himself that it’s technically a part of his body.

After showing Etho to the bed, Bdubs writes Ren a letter, telling him that Etho’s here, and then he lies down to try and get some sleep himself.

.

The next day, Bdubs wakes up to heterochromatic eyes staring down at him. He yelps, and quickly sits up.

“What are you doing in here??” Bdubs asks Etho.

“Just wanted to know if you were awake yet?”

Bdubs sighs. “Don’t worry about it. Let me calm my heart, one moment..” he looks to one of his clocks, and it’s a lot earlier than he would’ve liked. This is going to throw off his absolutely perfect sleep schedule…

“You ok?”

“Yeah, just don’t come into someone’s room unannounced, especially when they’re sleeping.”

“Oh, alright, got it.” Bdubs doesn’t blame him, he’s probably going through a good amount of culture shock. In the ocean, they just don’t care. Etho continues to speak. “So, I met your roommate earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Rendog, right? He seemed pretty friendly.”

“That’s him. Yeah, Ren’s a great guy, I’m sure he has no issue with you hanging around here. Plus, it’s my house, he pays me rent.” Bdubs says with a smirk. “Anyways, are we going to the town hall now?”

“Thought so.”

The door to Bdubs’ room is open, and Ren happens to be passing by at this moment. He sees them talking, and decides to make an entrance.

“Rise and shine Bdoubleo! Hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

“Hey Ren. No, why would you be? I heard you met Etho, did you see my note?”

Ren nods. “I did, in fact. It’s nice to see you helping out.”

“We’re just about to go to the town hall.” Bdubs says.

“Nice, nice. Welcome to the town.” Ren gives Etho a grin. “Say, how did you manage to land someone as good looking as sir Etho over here?” He says to Bdubs in a teasing manner.

“…What? Do you mean?”

“You know what I mean!” Ren snickers. Etho just sits there, and lets their banter continue. “I put two and two together, bringing a guy home late at night, who’s now wearing your clothes.. didn’t know you were capable of such debauchery!” He over dramatizes the last statement.

Bdubs feels his face start to go red. “That’s not what’s going on at all!”

“It, isn’t?” Ren says. Aside, Etho’s trying his hardest not to laugh.

“Yeah I’m just, helping him out. And why would selkies come out of their skins fully clothed? That makes no sense. Get your mind out of the gutter, Rendog.” Bdubs pouts.

“R-really?”

“I confirm.” Etho says. “No debauchery going on here.”

“I, humbly apologize. I’m going to go curl up into a ball and chew on a shoe now.”

“It’s fine, Ren.” Bdubs turns to Etho. “Sorry about him.”

“It’s alright, the misunderstanding was funny enough.” Etho says.

“Bye guys, good luck at the town hall.” Ren says, as he slumps away.

The room is silent for a few seconds. “Yeah, he definitely thought we hooked up. Let’s just get going?” Bdubs asks.

“Yup, good idea.” Etho pauses. “I like it here already.”

.

So they go, and Scar isn’t too busy so he meets with them himself. Bdubs is always glad to be able to talk to him, they’re good friends, of course. Etho gets filled in on anything he may not know already, and he’s given a badge since he passes as human. He’s also now accounted for by the town hall as a citizen. Etho’s made up his mind, he is definitely sticking around.

He had spent a bit of time twiddling his thumbs, hanging around the underwater housing portion of Port Hermits. He was taking the time to decide whether or not going to the surface was worth it, whether he wanted to believe the horror stories of human encounters he’s heard, or the recounts of very good experiences he’s also heard. He talked to many Port Hermits residents underwater when he was waiting, and even relayed some of the information he gathered to a merman who was also new, a few days ago.

Thing is, nobody explicitly showed him where the entrance to the underground of Port Hermits was, so he couldn’t check it out from there. Instead, he just got fed up and decided to enter the town from the surface, shedding his skin. That’s when he ran into Bdubs. He doesn’t regret his hastiness, he’s really starting to enjoy Bdubs’ company.

“Do you want to maybe go get something to eat? My treat of course.” Bdubs asks, as they leave the town hall.

“Sure, I was just going to go back into the water to hunt. I could use some food.”

“I’ll show you a real good place for a snack.” Bdubs looks around, and starts on a path towards a good bakery he knows. “Oh, I should ask first, are you a carnivore?”

“Not in this form, no.”

“Good, got it…” Bdubs changes the subject. “So, is it true this is your first time in a town outside the ocean?”

“Yup. I’m trying to adjust, but it’s just so different. Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out. I’ve heard many recounts from other people though, so I probably feel a little overconfident.” Etho chuckles.

“Ah, alright.” Bdubs pauses. “I… have a semi-important question for you, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to be friends? Officially? I know it sounds awkward asking this, but I thought I would.”

“Well… Yknow what? Yeah, I’d like to be friends with you. You’ve been so nice to me so far, it’s the least I can do.”

“Implying that’s the only reason why you’re agreeing?”

“Not at all! Don’t worry, I’m genuine.” The two of them laugh. “Where are we going?”

“A local bakery that has some of the best pastries I’ve ever tried. That’s why I asked you to confirm this was your first time in a “human” town, to see if you would be familiar with this type of food.”

“I’m not at all familiar with pastries, no.”

“I’m about to blow your mind.”

“My expectations are high, then.”

They continue on, and Bdubs finds it interesting how they’ve already gotten so comfortable with eachother. His heart involuntarily skips, thinking of the idea that they might just be soulmates in some way shape or form. It feels like they’ve known eachother for weeks when this is really just the second day. Silly idea.

They stop in front of what is clearly the bakery, and Etho reads the sign which says, “Gigapies.”

“You can read, right?” Bdubs asks him.

Etho holds back a laugh. “Yes, I can read.”

“Ok I, didn’t know for sure. They don’t only sell pies here by the way, this is just the name of the shop. This place is actually owned by Rendog, though you would never spot him working around here because he prefers to be nocturnal. He owns other stores around Port Hermits too, not just this, but if the name is Giga-something, it’s owned by Ren.”

“And you say this is some of the best food you’ve ever had?”

“Yeah, though I might be biased because most recipes are from Ren’s grandmother.. apparently. Yknow what, the quality is for you to decide, but I love it.”

They step in, and Etho’s hit with many unfamiliar smells. There are displays with various types of pastries and pies all around the shop. There’s also quite a few customers, and a couple girls at the cash registers taking orders.

“Get whatever you’d like.” Bdubs says.

“I have no idea what any of this even is.” Etho responds, looking around.

“Pumpkin pie is the specialty here, but I could tell you what some of the things are if you want.” Bdubs quickly scans the room, and everyone in it is wearing badges. “I’m going off an assumption that you can eat the same things humans can, and if I’m wrong I’m very very sorry.”

“No worries, I think you’re right.” Etho eyes something. “Hmm, what’s this?”

“That’s a tart, an um.. it’s a strawberry tart. Like a pie but smaller, and it has fruit. Pies have this bready crust, and.. an interior that’s sometimes not very solid..” Bdubs stumbles trying to explain it in a way Etho would understand.

“I see. Hmmm…” Etho thinks for a while, and Bdubs figures out what he wants.

“Yknow, you said pumpkin pie’s the specialty, I think I’ll go with that.” Etho says. “Do you think it’s pretty good?”

“Yes, it’s very delicious, but not when Ren brings home like 5 of them for the two of us to try and eat before they go bad.” Bdubs laughs. “It’s a good choice, go for it.”

They step into line and quickly get to the counter where they take their orders. Bdubs pays and the girl at the counter hands him their box.

“Let’s find somewhere to sit down? You think?” Bdubs asks Etho.

“Sure. I’m excited for this, I’ve never really eaten anything quite like this before. I guess eating anything other than fish is rare for me.. and selkies in general.” Etho follows Bdubs to the waterfront, and they sit down and open the box. Bdubs lets Etho take his slice of pie first, very curious on what his reaction is going to be.

They forgot to grab forks, but that doesn’t seem to matter because Etho just grabs it with his hands. He takes a bite, and pauses to process.

“What, in the world?” Etho says, bewildered.

“You like it?” Bdubs grins.

“I don’t know what I think, I didn’t know food could taste like this.”

Bdubs takes his own pastry and begins to eat. “Take your time. If you’re sticking around, I can bring you some more pie if Ren brings a bunch home as I was talking about, if you want.”

“If I’m sticking around?”

Bdubs pauses. “Are you going to stay here? Or, are you just visiting? I think I forgot to ask you that.”

“My intention was to stay, depending on whether I like it here or not. I like it, so I’m staying.” Etho says, continuing to eat.

“Right, right.” Bdubs pauses. “I’m assuming you’re going to find a place to stay in the ocean?”

“Yeah, that was my original intention. I heard you can’t just stay anywhere up here on the surface so I thought that sounded like a hassle.”

“Well if you wanted to have somewhere to stay up here, my basement’s pretty much empty. We could arrange something.”

“Hm, maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

There is a brief moment of silence. “Yknow, I really enjoy your company so far, Etho. Dunno if that’s strange to say but that’s what I’m thinking.”

“Ah, same here. Actually, is it alright if I stay at your place for a few more days, to adjust to land and everything?” Etho asks, and takes another bite out of his pie. He hopes he isn’t overstepping, and wishes he had something to cover the mild blush that’s definitely on his face.

“Sure, that’ll be alright. That would also be a way to get to know eachother better.” Bdubs says.

“Yes, for sure. The pie was delicious, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. By the way, I feel bad that I have you in those tight pants of mine. How about we get you a better pair before we head back?”

“I mean, if you’re willing, sure.”

They then get up, and walk to go find Etho some better pants. It was a nice, peaceful first full day together and Etho feels incredibly happy about everything. They’ll take things slower in the next few days, allowing Etho to adjust accordingly.

Chapter Text

There’s a small red and white fishing boat floating in the middle of the open ocean. It’s pouring with rain—one person is trying to pull their fishing nets in while the other hides inside, staying out of the rain.

“Get out here and help me, Grian!” She exclaims, fish flopping out onto the dock.

“I don’t wanna get my wings wet, Gem! I won’t be able to fly!”

“Well, we’ve got to secure our catch and get back to shore, it’ll go a lot faster with you out here! We’ve got towels.”

Grian slides her a bin filled with water, prepared earlier to put the fish in. Gem rolls her eyes and loads them in.

“The forecast didn’t say anything about this much rain!” Grian exclaims, still hiding from it.

“You’re right, it didn’t.” Gem looks up and around at their surroundings. “Dude, the visibility is awful! I can’t see shore.”

“You’re right. I guess we’d better hurry up…” Grian sighs, and steps into the rain to help Gem pull up their second net, grumbling.

“Now you decide to help?”

“Well…” Grian pauses, not knowing what to say in retaliation. “Man, I really do prefer fishing from shore. The good ol’ classic rod and hook.”

“This is more lucrative though, we get paid per fish, and the market’s got to stay stocked somehow.” Gem says, tossing a non target fish back into the water. “I wish we could go larger scale, but that’s too destructive to the ecosystem—the oceanfolk won’t like that.”

“Right right. Why are we the ones fishing anyways, and not them?” Grian holds his wings close to his back, hoping that’ll prevent much water from seeping into his feathers. Gem responds with reminding him that she really enjoys fishing, and he does too.

Grian is considered to be a species of harpy, one that has separate limbs for their arms and wings. His feathers are coloured in a bright red with undertones of yellow, and he has a tail and bird-like feet. The fantasy creature community in general doesn’t really consider his species to be a true harpy, being more humanoid than birdlike. They are still very closely related genetically to the four limbed, heavier feathered true harpies.

Eventually, they finish up with filling bins with their catch, which is about average to what they’d expect to find. Wasn’t a remarkable day, wasn’t a complete failure. It’s nearing 10 in the morning, optimal fishing time over. Being back before noon is what is expected of them. Grian turns on the engine, preparing to head off—Gem slides their catch inside, securing it.

They enter the covered area of the boat. Gem wraps a towel around her shoulders and sits at the wheel, while Grian shakes his wings out. He yelps in pain, accidentally slamming one against the ceiling. After quickly checking that he’s alright, Gem snickers and chucks some more towels at him.

“I really can’t see anything at all.” She says, trying to see through the boat’s dripping window. She turns on the GPS, and points them towards Port Hermits.

“Don’t you think the location it’s saying is a little strange?” Grian says. “I think we should be more over this way.” He points at the GPS device’s screen.

“Yeah, but we probably drifted a bit without realizing.” Gem says, eyes in front of her, trying to spot any sign of land.

Grian eyes the GPS, and sees it bug out a little. Their location point drifts in the opposite direction, then teleports somewhere else a half a kilometre away, and then back.

“Hey Gem, the GPS is acting weird.” He says.

She looks over at it. If on cue, it bugs out again. “Oh.. I’ve seen it do that under heavy rainfall before. Can you pass me the compass?” Gem asks.

Grian finds it on a shelf and hands it over. Gem takes a look at it, and reassures the both of them that they are heading in the right direction—towards land. They keep going, hoping they’ll be able to find Port Hermits like this.

Soon enough, Gem spots the outline of trees in the clouded, rainy sky. Grian turns up the engine and they speed towards shore.

“Grian..?” Gem says, apprehensively.

“Yes?”

“Where are we?” She asks. Up ahead, all they see is an unfamiliar coastline. It’s a beach lined with large grey rocks, generic for this area. Not a familiar cliff face or sandy beach in sight.

“I… don’t know.” Grian looks at the GPS, which says they should be right in front of Port Hermits. That’s obviously not the case.

“Ok, ok, let’s think here. It’s raining, and that definitely messed up our GPS and made the visibility absolutely terrible. Because of that, we have no idea where we are, but we’ve found land at the very least.” Gem says.

“Oh nooo! We’re gonna die stranded out here!” Grian exclaims ironically.

Gem chuckles. “Be serious for a moment… Let’s figure out which way the wind and current’s taking us, and hopefully we’ll be able to deduce whether we are North or South of Port Hermits.”

Grian walks out and begrudgingly spreads out his wings into the open air, trying to get a feel for the direction of the wind. Gem eyes the shore, to see if she can see them moving at all relative to it.

‘I think… the wind is pointing south, west.” Grian says, after a few minutes.

“I agree, we’re drifting South. Let’s head North, and hope we’re right.” Gem responds.

Grian shakes rain off his wings again, and this time hits Gem in the head with a wet smack. They laugh for a second, he apologizes and Gem just shrugs and says it’s fine, turning them towards the North.

“How far do you think we’ve drifted?” Grian asks.

“I have no idea, but I’m guessing it’s been pretty far.”

The next couple of minutes are uneventful, the fishing boat trudging along the forested coastline that’s been drenched in rain, the sky and sea a shade of grey. Grian swears he could’ve seen something in the water, but it disappeared before he could process it. He can’t help but get an uneasy feeling.

“You ok, Grian? We’re going to be just fine, don’t worry.” Gem says, noticing.

“I’m fine, but.. Did you see anything in the water?” Grian instinctively looks out the window, and jumps. “There, I saw something! That doesn’t look like a seal, or a whale!”

“What? Where??” Gem whips around. “I don’t see anything!”

“It just disappeared! It’s probably nothing, this rain’s just.. messing with me, man. I wanna go home…”

“Me too. Take the wheel, maybe? I’ll go see if I can spot it. Not a whale or seal, huh? Any other ideas?”

“Hmmmmmm…. With this rain, you don’t think anything closer to our world, might come close to the surface?” Grian mumbles, taking the wheel from Gem. “Something, actually dangerous?”

“I have no idea. You’d have to ask someone like Beef for info about the ocean, someone who’s actually lived there.” Gem stares out the window. “Wait, I see something!”

Grian dashes to the window beside her. “There! That’s it! What is that??” Grian exclaims.

The question answers itself as the creature lifts its limb above the water, to reveal a tentacle lined with suction cups. And then the boat lurches.

The two of them scramble out, to see a huge tentacle draped over the boat’s deck. It’s a cephalopod, larger than anything known to human science.

“That! Is a kraken!” Gem exclaims, clinging to the boat.

“What do we do, what do we do, what do we do??!!” Grian says in quick succession, frantically beating his wings and also clinging to the boat. He can’t fly away, and even if he could he wouldn’t be able to carry Gem.

Gem kicks at the kraken’s arm, but that doesn’t do anything. The boat lurches again, threatening to tip over.

“Here, let me try!” Grian also tries to kick at it, using his talons instead. He manages to damage it, but is knocked off balance quickly. That arm withdraws, but two more take its place.

Gem looks behind her. “Grian! It’s surrounding the whole ship!”

“Krakens are a type of octopus, they’ve got 8 legs! All I can do is keep attacking it with my claws, but who knows how big this one is!” Grian yells, trying to stand up again with Gem’s help.

“Guess I can’t do much in this form. Any ideas on what I could turn into to help?” Gem asks.

Gem may look human at first, but she’s actually a type of fairy. Informally dubbed the dust fairies, they can disintegrate their bodies and reform them in any way they’d like.

“Remember it can’t be any bigger than I am now! I don’t have any resources to use!” She adds.

“Try a big sea otter, maybe!? Make your claws as sharp as possible!”

“Ok, I, I think that’ll work! Better than being a human.” She says. Turning into a merfolk, or ideally an orca would be a lot better, but they are too big and therefore need more materials. You can’t just create matter out of nothing. Gem starts to shapeshift, her body disintegrating at the molecular level. Her clothes fall to the ground, and on top she reforms herself in the shape of a sea otter with orange and brown fur. It’s difficult in the rain, but she’s practiced this.

Once the transformation is complete, she wastes no time in jumping into the water to face the kraken.

“Good luck Gem!” Grian calls out. All he can do now is attack the kraken with his talons and hope Gem will be alright.

Gem sinks underwater with her breath held and focuses her new eyes. The kraken they’re facing is huge, and this is the first time she’s ever seen one. Usually they’re restricted to deeper waters and exist in a resting state, camouflaged to where anything swimming by is unaware that they are surrounded by a kraken’s huge body. So big they are easy to miss.

This one seems to have been lured up by the lack of light up above, and has mistaken their boat for something edible. This one’s actually small for a kraken, but Gem and Grian have nothing to compare it to.

Gem’s eyes are focused on the kraken’s main body, underwater with its mouthparts probably trying to scrape the boat’s tough hull. She doesn’t know where to aim, but the main body will do.

She clamps her jaw onto the kraken’s mantle, claws digging in as well. It writhes, probably also feeling Grian’s talons. They don’t want to kill it, just make it leave their boat alone. It doesn’t completely let up, and Gem needs to go up for air.

She gasps, and dives back down as quick as possible, choosing a new spot to bite down on and scratch up. She’d feel bad to go for the eyes, but she might have to if it doesn’t retreat.

On the surface, Grian manages to claw the end of one of the arms off. It’ll regenerate, the kraken will be fine. He’s successfully kicked most of its limbs off the boat, but the deck’s gotten absolutely drenched and there’s some clear damage to the boat’s exterior. He’s getting exhausted, his legs weak.

Gem tugs at its skin, begging it to please, just let go already. They’re winning, despite how huge the kraken is. It’s a smart animal, soon enough they’ll realize there’s no use trying to eat this boat.

A minute more of desperate clawing, and finally it releases the boat, quickly sinking back into the depths. Gem releases her grip, not to be pulled down with it.

She breaches the surface, and gets Grian’s attention, who pulls her back onto the deck. She’d be sobbing right now if she was in her human form, seeing all the damage her boat withstood. Figuratively, not literally. They aren’t sinking, the hull wasn’t broken through.

“You ok?” Grian asks her.

“I’m fine.” She gasps, flopping onto the deck. “Turn the engine back on, full speed home.”

“You can speak like that?” Grian asks.

“I kept human vocal cords… woah. You took a leg off?” Gem asks, as the clawed off kraken limb is on the deck of their boat.

“Yup. Want me to throw it back?” The engine springs to life, setting them back on course for heading North.

“Don’t. The guys at the fish market might actually want this. If regular octopi are edible then krakens might be too?”

“I mean… worth a shot.”

Inside of the boat and on the deck, fish are strewn everywhere from the fight so they gather them back up again into the bins. They probably lost some, but it’s no big deal because they could’ve lost all of it and the boat if things had gone poorly.

Gem doesn’t have enough materials to change herself back into a human, all excess matter was discarded in the panic so she’s stuck as an otter until she gets home. Once they’ve got a good course set Gem takes the wheel from Grian, looking extra silly in her current form. Grian starts to work on wrenching his feet back into the boots he has, designed to disguise his bird feet. He looks out into the water too, just in case the kraken decides to come back.

Eventually, they spot familiar coastline, a sure sign they’re headed in the right direction. It’s not long before they can see Port Hermits through the rain.

Gem gives the wheel back to Grian, because who knows who might spot her as an otter driving a boat. They pull into the marina nestled in the South side of the town.

They dock at the fish market, which is built apon a dock itself, suspended above the water. Grian jumps out with some rope, and ties the boat down. He then asks Gem to wait a moment while he goes to get the fish market’s owner.

“Beef! We’re back!” Grian says, stepping up to the counter. Vintage Beef actually owns the fish market, alongside having a farm of his own above water. His red scales and fish tail are hidden at the moment.

“Took you long enough.” Beef responds, lightheartedly.

“Oh no… What time is it?”

Beef checks his phone. “Noon, on the dot. Did the rain cause you any trouble? You’re drenched!”

“It did. It really did. Our GPS wasn’t working right and everything. Could we have some help hauling up the fish? Gem’s a little, incapacitated.” Grian says. Beef obliges, and follows him out.

Beef sees the damage dealt to the boat first. “What in the world happened to you? And w-“ Beef stops abruptly. “Why is there a giant octopus leg on your boat?”

“A kraken. We had to fight a kraken.” Grian sighs.

Gem pokes her head out, and waves at Beef. She’s dragging a bin of fish out. “A little help please?”

“Oh, you bet.” Beef steps on board and grabs a bin. “Sorry for making you guys go out today.”

“No worries, the weather forecast did not make it seem like it was going to rain that much. Do, do you want the kraken leg?”

Beef thinks for a second. “I have no idea. I’ve never eaten kraken before. You know what, let’s just put it in the freezer and then go from there.”

“Gotcha.” Grian lifts it up, angling it so that it looks like maybe something else. He follows Beef to the freezer to put it away.

“Can I go home and turn back into a human?” Gem asks, when Grian and Beef came back for more fish.

“Sure thing, looks like that kraken run in was pretty tough. If insurance doesn’t cover it, we at Big Salmon will pay for your boat repairs, promise. Since it got damaged on a job for the business.” Big Salmon is simply just the name of Beef’s business, a sign reading “Big Salmon Fish Market” is plastered on the side of the building.

“Oh, thank you so much.” Gem hops out of the boat, dragging her wet clothes with her. “I’m going home, see you later guys.”

“Ah, it looks like the rain is starting to let up.” Beef says, looking up.

And just like that, the rain starts to thin, and a little bit of blue sky can be seen through the clouds. They really haven’t been back for that long. Gem stops in her place, looking up at the sky as well.

She takes a deep breath in. “Oh for GOODNESS SAKE!!!”

Chapter Text

It’s been about a week since Bdubs accidentally stumbled apon Etho at the beach that night, and it has been officially decided that Etho will be living in Bdubs’ basement whenever he wants to be on land. He’s claimed the downstairs free bed and is making himself at home. Him and Ren get along quite well, and he isn’t opposed to having another roommate join the party.

Bdubs is lying down in bed one evening, trying to get to sleep at the regular time, when his mind involuntarily flashes to thoughts he only really found himself thinking on the day they first met. Picturing Etho again, as he stands on the beach holding his seal skin. And thinking about how beautiful he was.

He was flustered, and had to push himself to act normal. To reach out a helping hand. But now, since the initial rush is over, he’s becoming increasingly more aware at just how much he must be attracted to Etho. He’s his type, and they get along so well. Bdubs has pictured himself dating non humans before, but he’s always thought he’d most definitely end up falling for another human. But who’s to say, all it seems is that he’s caught a crush.

He keeps having to shut down thoughts of Etho from that evening, afraid of overstepping. He shouldn’t let himself fall too hard, without knowing if Etho even feels the same way or would be open to a relationship with him. His mind is probably occupied with getting his footing in up here on Port Hermits’ surface, after all.

Days passed, nights passed with Etho on his mind. And to be honest, Etho isn’t thinking too differently. He’d been pleasantly surprised, and even allured by Bdubs’ demeanour, finding him fun to be around and actually a bit cute. He’s never really cared about romantic feelings in the past, but this may develop into something he can’t just ignore.

He sees, something, in those big grey eyes of Bdubs’. It’s very hard to explain, but it’s something Etho can’t help but feel drawn to, at least a little. Yeah, from this point, he can’t help but acknowledge that Bdubs is incredibly cute. It’s too far gone, he’s fallen for him.

He’s open to the mind wandering, can’t help but wonder what Bdubs would look like as a seal, one of his kind, or what he fully looks like under that big moss-like coat of his. He also imagines teaching him the ways of the ocean. He’d been at peace with all these ideas, through these days of contemplation from the both of them.

But then, Etho remembers stories he’s been told. Not just fiction made up to deter children from humans, but real proven tales. About how a human could steal a selkie’s skin and render them unable to return to the ocean. And of how because of this, they are susceptible to domestic abuse within relationships with humans. Though it’s mostly women who are the victims in the stories, he shouldn’t write off the possibility.

There’s probably no reason to worry about any badged human in Port Hermits, at least that’s how it comes across. Bdubs seems too cheery, innocent even to ever harm him. If they ever do get into a relationship, he’ll address this concern. Better to be cautious and keep his skin close.

He’s tempted to give in to his whims though, to make an advance and see if Bdubs reciprocates. Approach him one night, and try to initiate something. Or invite him out on what humans consider a date. Maybe.

An opportunity arose soon enough, for them both to acknowledge their fleeting thoughts.

.

Cleo had invited Ren and Bdubs, and Joe who’s a good friend of hers too, to go on a picnic + hike around the surrounding forests on a near weekend. Cleo’s a zombie if that isn’t super easy to guess, she was once human. Cleo had heard about Etho from conversations with Bdubs, and the other way around, so she added that Etho could come along on the hike too if he wanted. He agreed.

It’s just a day trip, but it’ll take pretty much the whole day to complete the loop they’ve set out. Bdubs is excited to introduce Etho to some of his friends, perhaps he’ll even become a part of the group.

.

The five of them meet at the trailhead at a fairly early hour, and Etho waves to Joe and Cleo who he’s just meeting for the first time today. His seal skin is inconspicuously tied around his shoulders.

“Nice to meet you Etho, glad you decided to come.” Cleo says. “Bdubs has told me a bit about you already.”

“Yup, and he told me about you too. Cleo, right?”

“Exactly, and this is our friend Joe.”

“Howdy! Pleasure to meet you Etho, welcome to Port Hermits!” Joe says to him. He reaches his hand out, which Etho carefully shakes, unfamiliar with the gesture.

“You too.” Etho grins from under his mask. He got it just the other day, and feels that it suits him because he did feel like wanting something to cover his face.

“Shall we get going, guys?” Ren asks the group.

“Let’s go! Onwards, to the picnic!” Bdubs says loudly and dramatically.

The five of them head into the forest, where they are surrounded by many different shades of browns and vibrant greens. The trail, dirt and mosses on the ground are damp, despite it not having rained since a couple days ago. But, that rainfall was definitely on the heavier side. Even though all the forests in the general area are stunningly beautiful, these forests are especially so because of the proximity to the Great Pit, giving it a unique magical allure.

The town and this trailhead are still quite a few kilometres away from the Great Pit, and they will be taking secret trails not on the main maps to actually go right up to it, maybe peer down into it’s abyss. A night could be spent there if they wanted to make the hike an overnight trip, but it’s usually a hassle to get badged humans into the Great Pit, or any trustworthy human for that matter. Humans aren’t allowed to live there unless married to a non human citizen, space is limited and reserved for fantasy creatures.

Etho is actually pretty excited to be able to look down into the legendary Great Pit, he’s never seen it before. Bdubs and the rest of them have, but the last time Bdubs saw it was many years ago, and he’s never been inside.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Etho asks Cleo. “I want to get a job, and feel like I’m a part of the community, but I need some ideas.”

“I’m mainly an artist, I specialize in sculpture. Most of the statues and monuments you see around Port Hermits were designed and constructed by me. I also take private commissions, and sometimes help Bdubs out with his architecture work.”

“Ah, that’s neat. Don’t think that’s something I could really do though.” Etho laughs, and turns to Joe. “What about you?”

“I’m an author and poet. I’m not that famous, but I get by just fine.” Joe grins. “You’ll find my works in the town’s bookstore though, I’d say I’m at least well known locally. You’ll need other’s opinions to be sure though, I wouldn’t want to overhype myself.”

“Alright. That’s pretty cool too. Ahh, I’ll find something eventually.” Etho sighs.

“Good luck Etho! I’ll tell you if any of my Gigacorp locations are hiring!” Ren calls to him from behind.

Etho gives him a nod, and they keep walking through the trails, Cleo leading the way. Bdubs runs up to where Etho is, taking the opportunity to walk beside him before the trails get too narrow to do so anymore.

“So, heard you’re a selkie, Etho?” Cleo turns her head and asks him.

“Yup, lived my whole life in the sea. I’m just a harbour seal, nothing special.” He gestures to his skin.

“How are you adjusting to life on land?” She asks him.

“There was some culture shock, but I’m doing well. Did Bdubs tell you about how we met?”

“He didn’t, actually. How did you meet?”

Bdubs flushes, and mumbles incoherently, quiet enough to not be really noticed. If Etho tells the story faithfully, this is probably going to be a little embarrassing.

“He was sitting right up on the shore when I was crawling out of my skin. He gave me quite a scare, but reached his hand out to me and welcomed me, despite clearly scaring him too.”

“That’s cute. He must’ve been the first thing you saw when coming onto shore.” Cleo says.

“Not exactly, I had my eyes ahead of me. I only noticed him when I had completely gotten out of my skin.”

“Hmm.” Cleo then snickers. “You must’ve been totally naked, right? I can only imagine how awkward that must’ve been. Quite an introduction.” She gives Bdubs a silly look.

“I don’t really get the whole, nakedness is strange thing. It was a shock, but I don’t really remember it being awkward at all.” Etho says.

“Oh trust me, it was awkward on my end. I don’t really know what had gotten into me, but I felt bad for spying on him.” Bdubs says.

Cleo raises an eyebrow at Bdubs. “In any case, it seems like you running into eachother worked out well. Has it?”

“I think so, Bdubs?”

“Yeah, I agree… I like you a lot.” Bdubs said that last part a little more passionately than he meant, but Etho simply just grins as they continue their hike. Cleo looks at him with a smirk, picking up on Bdubs’ thoughts. Saying it like that may have been unintentional, but it wasn’t wrong.

The five of them continue hiking, conversations transitioning to and from a wide variety of topics. Cleo helps the group take the right turns, eventually setting onto what looks like deer trails to anyone who doesn’t know. As they continue towards the Great Pit, there are signs posted to trees warning of imminent danger, to get any unsuspecting human to turn around. The group knows they are just deterrents, and continue forwards.

It’s a few hours after they’ve begun now, and the five of them find themselves at the edge of… it actually doesn’t look like anything. Etho’s a little confused, isn’t there supposed to be a giant hole in the ground here? It just looks like an expanse of patchy forest, fenced off and with multiple danger signs.

“Here, check this out.” Ren says to Etho, and he picks up a leaf. “Humans have been extra productive making new technologies for mapping, satellites and stuff, so naturally the green false-satyrs have had to advance alongside in order to keep this place hidden.” He gently releases the leaf, lets it glide past the fence, and it phases through the “ground”.

“It’s a hologram. Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Cleo says.

Etho blinks, and looks closely at the fake ground. It looks totally real. “This isn’t what I was expecting at all.”

“If you strain your eyes at just the right angle, the illusion will disappear. Try to adjust the lenses in your eyes to a blur.” Joe says.

Etho squints, blurring his eyes as told, and suddenly he sees the ground fade, then snap back up to visibility again. He gasps, and keeps trying. Eventually, he holds his eyes at just the right focus, and sees the Great Pit. It’s huge, and he sees the blurry suggestion of houses and pathways embedded in the cliff face. It’s a lot to take in, and since his eyes are blurred he can’t really make out much detail. His eyes start to hurt so he unblurs them.

“I wish we could go in, apparently you can see everything so much better inside.” Bdubs says.

“Yeah, I know. It’s incredible, and you don’t even see the illusion of land from below. Just the sky.” Ren says.

“Quit it with your teasing.” Bdubs pouts.

“Ah, you’ll be able to go in one day if you want.” Ren responds. “What do you think, Etho?”

“I think I want to see it better.”

“That’s going to have to wait for another day. Just giving you a teaser.” Cleo winks. “We can make plans.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely going to want to come back here.” Etho says. “Just wondering, what happens if an animal or something tries to walk onto the hologram?”

“You shouldn’t try that, but I believe there are big drones positioned all over its perimeter, that can detect any large falling object. It’s more of the green false-satyr’s great technologies. If they detect something large enough, they’ll swoop in, grab whatever’s falling, and bring it back up to the edge in no time at all.” Ren explains.

“Alright. You sure know a lot about the lore of this place, Ren.” Etho says.

“Well, I know a guy.”

“Are we all done taking a look at the Great Pit?” Cleo asks the group.

“I am.” Bdubs says. “Etho? You’re the newbie here.”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be alright to continue.” He responds.

“You sure?” Cleo asks him.

“Yup. My eyes hurt.”

Cleo giggles. “Alright. Next stop’s the picnic?”

“Next stop’s the picnic!” Ren exclaims.

They continue on, rejoin the main trail and they start to climb up some steps to reach a higher elevation. Bdubs hopes his legs aren’t going to give out, and swears that he’ll cherish the break wholeheartedly. Joe also looks pretty exhausted, but Ren, Cleo and Etho seem to be doing just fine. Just a little further to go.

Cleo passes a water bottle back, and they get their first glance at a bit of a view. That’s what they’re hiking towards. It’s a nice, clear day, the view they’re going to get will be worth the effort.

They arrive at the lookout, and there’s no lie, it definitely is worth it. They can see a lot of ocean, open with no land in sight. They can also see the coastline, lots of undamaged forest, and Port Hermits looking extra tiny in the distance. The Great Pit is behind them, as well as any other sign of human disturbance.

Cleo unrolls a blanket, and Ren sets down his backpack which is full of food. “Gigapies, anyone?” Ren asks the group.

“Oh, right here. Absolutely.” Etho says, sitting down. Bdubs pretty much collapses down beside him, causing giggles to go around. Etho wraps an arm around him, to allow him to relax. But with where Bdubs’ head is at right now, with all these fleeting ideas about Etho floating around, there’s no way he’d actually be able to relax with his arm around him.

He resists the temptation to lean into his side, but Etho casually nudges himself a little closer anyways. Bdubs forces himself to think about something else.

He notices Joe Hills standing at the edge of the cliff face, admiring the view. He wonders what his thought process might be for a brief moment, standing at these heights. He’s relaxing, for sure. Bdubs wants to go over there too, but he’ll do that once Etho moves.

“Here, Bdubs. You want some?” Etho asks him, offering a plate with a slice of pie and a fork.

“Oh? Yes, thank you.” He takes it from him.

“We’ve got other food too, some fruit, crackers…” Ren says.

Bdubs nods, and takes a box of triscuits in a daze, setting it down in front of him. He eats the pie first, and joins the new conversation starting up.

Etho does eventually get up once he’s done eating, and Bdubs heads over to the cliff like he wanted. He sits down on a safe looking rock to admire the view. Etho notices him, and decides to go over too.

“Hey Bdubs. Isn’t this pretty neat? I’ve seen some cool things in the ocean, but you can’t see very far… I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He says, sitting down beside him again.

“Really?”

“Yup. I’ve… never wandered too far from the shore.”

Bdubs nods. “Well, if you’re staying up here for the long term, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see more places like this, I’m sure.”

“Yeah. But… if I am to be honest, it does make me a little nervous.” Etho clutches his seal skin. “It’s, real easy to trap a selkie above water. I definitely prefer to have the ocean within reach.” Etho isn’t quite sure why he’s just blurting these things out, but seeing the ocean be so far away below them suddenly made him think about his worries.

Oh well, with Bdubs, these concerns needed to be addressed eventually. Because Etho really does love him.

“Mmm. It’s true, huh? Some of the folk tales I’ve heard about selkies?” Bdubs says.

“I’d have to know exactly which ones you’re talking about, but probably.”

They are silent for a few moments. “Well, you have my word, that I’d never lay a hand on your seal skin. I can tell how important it is to you, because it’s a part of your body, right?” Bdubs says with a serious tone.

“It is. Thank you.” Etho’s grip on his skin relaxes, and he shifts a little to a more comfortable position.

“I swear on it.”

The tension is thick, and neither of them really know what to say next. Bdubs thinks of bringing the view up again, but decides against it. Both of them know that the folk tales that were brought up have to do with romantic relationships between a selkie and a human, albeit toxic. A selkie and a human.

They look at eachother, Etho staring deep into his eyes again. Bdubs is watching how Etho’s white hair moves in the wind. Their minds race, neither can come up with anything good to say still, it’s frustrating.

Their hands just drift together, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They were sitting closely together already, and if either Etho or Bdubs willed it, they could confront their thoughts and connect their lips right here and now. But, they could hear their friends’ chatter in the background, so the idea is never acted apon.

Soon enough, Cleo and Ren are calling them back to resume their hike. Bdubs gets up, giving Etho a soft grin.

“Hey, Bdubs?” Etho says.

“Yeah?”

“When we get home, I have something I want to say to you.”

Bdubs’ heart skips a beat. “Yes, ok. I’ll… remind you.”

They integrate back into the group, Ren’s loud voice and Cleo’s laughter drowning out any of the tension that was built. Their mindsets transition back into enjoying this outing with friends.

They descend from the peak they were sitting apon, heading back towards the coast. On the way back, they took brief breaks at any portion of the trail they deemed interesting, because after all they’ve been hiking for hours. Yeah, once they finally get home, Bdubs’ legs are definitely going to give out. Etho’s going to have to carry him to bed.

After multiple breaks and several more hours of walking, they finally return to the trailhead. It’s approaching dinnertime, and their lunches have started to wear off so it was agreed that they’d all drive over to a local fast food place for a quick dinner as a group. Thank goodness Ren was the one who drove Bdubs and Etho over, Bdubs doesn’t think he’d be able to drive at the moment.

When they are all having dinner, it’s apparent how exhausted they are. The cold drinks that they ordered were absolutely delicious. The day’s wake-up was earlier than usual, the five of them have been awake for a while, which contributed to the tiredness. The full day hike was physically demanding, and they all talk about how they’re going to get home and just.. lie down and relax. Not do anything for the rest of the day.

Ren, Bdubs and Etho wave goodbye to Cleo and Joe, before setting off to return to their home. Ren retreats into his attic rather quickly, and Bdubs beelines for his bed with Etho following him.

“I am not leaving here until I wake up in the morning.” Bdubs says, tucking himself in. He’s too tired to care that Etho’s sat down right next to him.

“Good idea.”

They don’t make it too long before the both of them have fallen asleep right next to eachother. Etho’s arm around Bdubs’ shoulder, sleeping soundly under the same blanket.

Chapter Text

Bdubs remembers stumbling into bed in a daze alongside Etho, but he still does a double take seeing him lying down in bed beside him, fast asleep.

Heart pounding, he decides the best thing to do is just get up, and go grab breakfast or something. Let Etho wake up himself. Does this turn of events mean anything? Probably not.

Though, he did have something he wanted to say to him, right? They fell asleep so quickly he didn’t get the opportunity.

Just as Bdubs’ feet stiffly hit the floor, Etho stirs and rolls over, waking up. Bdubs breathes a sigh as Etho slowly sits up. Alright, seems like it’ll be necessary to acknowledge their situation. Hopefully in a casual manner.

“Oww, my back is sore.” Etho groans groggily.

Ah, sore muscles, no kidding. Bdubs puts weight on his legs, and just like that, he notices that he too has sore muscles from yesterday’s hike, too dazed from sleep to notice it earlier. “My legs too, that hike took a lot out of me.” Bdubs gives up on trying to stand up, and lies back down beside Etho.

“Good morning, Bdubs.” Etho says. He is maskless, having pulled it off his face just before falling asleep. They’re both in their day clothes, and now that Bdubs is thinking about it, it isn’t very comfortable.

“Good morning to you too.” Bdubs replies.

“Sorry for dozing off in your bed, it was just so comfortable, and I was asleep before I knew it.”

“It’s fine, I totally get it.”They pause. “Here, I need to change out of my clothes from yesterday, ow.” Bdubs gets up, and stumbles painfully towards his drawer.

“Had any plans today?” Etho smirks, referencing how clearly sore Bdubs is.

“No, just working on my architectural draft from recently. Also, didn’t you mention you had something to say to me yesterday?” Bdubs asks, rummaging around for comfortable clothes.

“Oh yeah, I did.” Etho pauses, thinking about the thing he wanted to ask. “It’s too early in the morning, though. I’ll ask it later.”

“Oh, alright. Whenever you want.” Bdubs finds his super fluffy green cloak.

“By the way, your bed is super comfortable, if I didn’t already say that. Mind if I use it more often?” Etho says with a jokey tone, in an attempt to flirt with him. Bdubs just stutters in response, saying nothing coherent. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”

“Get outta here, I need to change.” Bdubs says, a little flustered.

“Go into the bathroom or something, I don’t wanna get up.”

Bdubs rolls his eyes and obliges, coming out a couple minutes later in his cozy long green cloak tied up in the front, with only boxers underneath because what’s the point in putting in more effort if he’s just going to sit around the house working the whole day.

Etho’s still in his bed.

Seems like he took his vest off when Bdubs was gone. Nothing is said as Bdubs rummages around for his drafting tools, setting what he needs down on his desk. It doesn’t feel like focusing’s going to be possible at all. He eventually just sighs, and returns to Etho’s side, too sore to want to walk around or even be comfortable sitting down for that matter.

“You gonna stay here the whole day?” Bdubs asks him. “Do you want me to bring you breakfast in bed?”

“I’ll get breakfast myself eventually. Just procrastinating on it.”

Bdubs grins, and boldly slips back under the covers, their hips nearly touching. “Let me join you. I don’t want to do anything.”

“Yeah, we worked hard enough yesterday.” Etho says lightheartedly. His mask is still off, the face he prefers to cover on full display. Just like the first couple days they’d known eachother.

“Tell me when you want to ask me your question.”

“I will. Just one thing, I hope I’m getting your signals right. I have no clue if applying selkie interpretations to humans works.”

“Well, we’re pretty similar, can even reproduce apparently. I believe… that according to modern biology perhaps, that would make humans and selkies technically the same species.”

“Interesting. Now that you mention it, humans and selkies might actually be the same species. Us selkies are just, under a magical affliction or something. I don’t know.”

“Better ask a biologist then.” Bdubs grins. “But yeah, point is, your interpretations… don’t worry about it.”

“Alright.” Etho lets himself gaze lovingly into Bdubs’ eyes, going over his words in his mind. “We’re both male, though. We can’t reproduce.”

“Well, I mean in general.” Bdubs pouts.

“Yeah, I know.” Etho plays with the fuzzy hood of Bdubs’ coat. “Say, would you like to go down to the beach this evening? I think I’d like to.”

“I mean, I think I could make it down myself… Just here, on the town’s waterfront?”

“I’d prefer someplace else, actually, but if you’re coming with me I can’t just swim somewhere else… I mean if you’re willing to drive we can go off to another beach in the area but you don’t have to.”

“Yeah, I can drive us. It’s not like the roads here are too busy, I wouldn’t trust myself on a highway with these sore legs. I’ll make it work, not too far though.”

“Of course. I’ve been wanting to, selkie out, for a while now. Get into my skin, and lie on the beach under the stars. I think it would be nice with company.”

“I can try to join you, to the best of my ability.” Bdubs grins.

“I don’t expect you to go into the water at all. Also, you can look up what the weather’s going to be like, right? Can you do that for this evening?”

“Sure.” Bdubs grabs his phone from the bedside table, and looks up the weather forecast. “Alright, it says that it’ll be partially cloudy. Won’t be fully clear skies but it seems fine.”

“Temperature?”

“Let’s see… 12 degrees at night, might be a little warmer before it gets completely dark.”

“And is that hot? Cold?” Etho hasn’t gotten a grip on temperature units yet.

“It’s cool, not frigid but I’d still want to wear warm clothes.”

“That’s alright, I’m pretty cold tolerant.”

“Of course you are.”

“More so in my seal skin. But I do like to be warm too.” At this, Etho snuggles up closer to Bdubs, putting his arm around him again.

Bdubs is silent for a moment. “So, are we going to do anything else today..?” He says, sinking into his coat.

“Well, I know you said you didn’t want to do anything, but I’d feel bad keeping you from your work for too long.”

“Yeah, I should try to do at least a little. But for now, nothing. Breakfast soon, though.”

“Mmm, I’m getting hungry. I can have something here? I don’t want to go hunting.”

“Of course you can, we have plenty.”

They stall for a few more minutes, before painstakingly pulling themselves out of bed. They trudge over to the kitchen, to make themselves cereal or something equally as simple. Ren isn’t around, thank goodness, he’d be likely to inquire on their situation and imply debauchery again, albeit in a joking manner. One of these days something’s actually going to be going on with them, perhaps.

Comfortable silence envelops the rest of the day, Bdubs forcing himself to get some work done despite his aching legs and occupied mind. Etho lazes around the house like how seals lounge around on rocks, nervously fiddling with his seal skin. Today’s the day, it’s got to be today.

And then they find themselves on the beach, the light of the day has slowly faded away. The sky is a deep blue, a few of the brightest stars are visible. Dinner’s been had, and both of their muscles are slightly less sore. Not by too much though.

It’s a smaller beach, one that doesn’t draw nearly as many visitors as some other ones in the area. It’s pebbly, the rocks don’t look unpleasant to lie down on. Nobody else is around, it’s just them. It’s exactly what Etho wanted.

“Ah, nothing beats this.” Etho says, breathing in the cool ocean air. “Let’s walk down to the water?”

“Sure, take the lead.” Bdubs replies.

They walk down to the water’s edge, and take a seat where it seems the waves won’t reach them. The tide is ebbing, and is somewhere in the middle of high and low.

Etho takes off his vest and shirt, preparing to change into his seal skin. Bdubs is trying his heart off to keep his eyes off of him.

“Just gonna quickly mention, I can barely talk in my seal form, so I’m just not going to. Is that alright?”

“Sure. I’ll lead a one sided conversation.”

Etho laughs softly at that, and continues to remove his clothing. “Thanks for coming out here with me.”

“You’re welcome. Is, is now a good time to ask you for what you’ve been wanting to tell me, or do you just wanna be in your seal form?”

Etho contemplates this for a moment. “I should stop stalling, shouldn’t I? I’ll say it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“One moment, I want to get at least partially into my skin.” Etho finishes in taking off all his clothes, and he then opens up his skin, sliding his legs inside. Bdubs watches as Etho’s legs and the skin seem to merge, easily turning into the lower half of a seal. He pulls it up to his waist, now looking like a pinniped merman. The rest of the skin is bunched up around his waist, and the tail is shorter than his legs would be so it looks slightly disproportionate, but still really neat.

“Comfortable?” Bdubs asks him.

“It’s good enough, I need to be able to talk for this.”

“Go ahead, I’m listening. And very intrigued, too.” Bdubs lays back on the rocks of the beach. Just as the forecast said, there are some clouds in the sky, but it’s not fully covered. They can hear the faint chirp of crickets on the distance towards the forest, as the sky turns a darker and darker blue.

“Well… it’s kinda both a question and a statement.” Etho starts. He shifts over to be closer to Bdubs, and looks into his eyes to gauge his current emotions. Bdubs is flustered yet again, at technically seeing Etho naked once more. He’s also making guesses at what Etho wants to say, it’s obvious at this point.

“…Whatcha looking at?” Bdubs mumbles at Etho’s stare. He blushes and looks away.

“Ah, nothing.” Etho looks back towards the water and takes a deep breath, deciding to be straightforward.

He starts. “So, I hope I’m getting these signals right, because… I really like you, Bdubs. And… I want to be your partner. Is, this a mutual feeling?”

Bdubs is unable to say anything. He just smiles as wide as possible as his mind runs as fast as it can, eyes darting away.

He was right! Thank goodness Etho’s also sensed the growing tension, because Bdubs was totally prepared to sit on these ideas for a long time. Etho just admitted to his feelings for him, and Bdubs needs to calm down and say something.

“Oh jeez, why was this such a difficult thing to say?” Etho mutters to himself.

“I- yes, I…” Bdubs stutters, being yanked out of his racing mind. “…I like you too.” He blurts out.

“Good, thank goodness I was right! I don’t know what I would’ve done if I were wrong, it’d be pretty embarrassing..” Etho looks back at Bdubs once more, finally making eye contact. His mask is off, yet again. Bdubs is surprised Etho said the exact same thing he was just thinking, about being correct. “Well, I can see it in your eyes. They say a lot.” Etho continues.

“R-really? I’ve been told that before..”

“It’s true.” Etho leans over, and places a hand on Bdubs’ chest in an intimate gesture. He feels his heart pounding. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this attracted to someone before.”

“You’re gonna kill me here..”

“Sorry, too much at once?”

“I don’t know, I’m just.. wow. Etho, I-“ Bdubs gets another good look at him in the low light and pauses to process him, his white hair seems to glow. He looks almost surreal, too good to be true, yet Bdubs sees him clearly. “You’re beautiful.”

“Man, now you’re going to kill me.” Etho flushes.

Bdubs reaches up to grasp Etho’s shoulders, and pulls him down into a kiss in an attempt to murder him even further. Etho’s surprised, but melts into it quickly.

Bdubs releases him, their lips part with a gasp. Both of them are blown away, their hands remaining on eachother. Bdubs has never experienced a first kiss this, enticing before. Usually it’s just awkward.

“I don’t know what to say anymore, Bdubs.” Etho says with a clear blush.

“No worries. So, I guess this seals the deal? We’re together?”

“I sure hope it does.” Etho pauses for a moment, and then snickers to himself. “…Get it, seals? Cause, I’m a selkie?”

Bdubs processes his joke for a moment, and then sighs. “Is this what I’m gonna have to put up with now?”

Etho giggles, proud of himself. “You’ll learn to love it.” His hand traces Bdubs’ cheek, as he shifts to be more lying down beside him. “You know what? I think I’ll go fully into my skin now.”

“Alright. But let me just…” Bdubs places one more quick kiss to Etho’s lips. “There, now you can.”

Etho just silently smiles and nods, gripping his skin and pulling it up all the way and over his head. The seam in the skin’s head magically disappears, and Etho’s seal eyes blink into life. He stretches, adjusting into his new form.

“M-may I feel your fur?” Bdubs decides to ask him. Etho nods, and lets him touch him. Etho’s fur is dense but soft, currently dry since he’s out of water.

Bdubs looks at his face, and just like in his human form Etho’s left eye is red, with a scar over it. Maybe one day he’ll ask him about its history. Bdubs recognizes Etho clearly within his seal form, and he just wants to give him hugs and cuddles.

He’s just about to ask for a hug when a large wave crashes ashore, water reaching up to where they are lying. Bdubs yelps, jumping up to his feet like a scared cat. Etho laughs at him, though of course it sounds like a seal’s honks when he’s in this form.

“Hoooh my goodness…” Bdubs gasps, catching his breath. His pants are a little wet now, and they’re not going to dry.

Etho sees this, and rolls towards the water. He stops at where the waves start to envelop him and beckons Bdubs in.

“No, I’m not going to swim with you-“ Bdubs protests, before Etho gives him some big pleading seal eyes. He sighs, and starts to take his shoes off, unable to resist.

“I’m only going in waist deep, alright?”

Etho smiles, and moves further into the water. Bdubs removes his pants for comfort reasons and follows him in, breath hitching at how cold the water is. It’s not like they’re nicely tucked in to some sort of warm inlet, this is the open ocean and it’s cold out. Waves crash against him, soaking his dry legs before he was ready.

Etho swims around him, clearly super happy at being here with Bdubs, in the ocean. It’s important to him to be able to see Bdubs through his seal eyes, and make contact with him like this. It feels official, like this. He snuggles up against his legs, comfortable.

“You having fun?” Bdubs asks him when he goes up for air. He nods, and keeps swimming around him with his head above water. It’s surreal to both of them, that they’re now lovers. The scene feels like magic with the stars overhead.

Etho stops in front of him, and decides to reach out of his skin. He pulls out his head and arms, wrapping them around Bdubs’ waist.

“Hey, woah.. you’re going to knock me over!” Bdubs exclaims, smiling and catching his balance.

“Oh, you don’t know just how badly I want to pull you in.” Etho responds.

“Maybe one day, when it’s less cold out. The water’s very cold, my feet are going numb.”

“Awww man, it’s March! It’s going to take too long to warm up, and we only have one first night as a couple.”

“…Well if I go in you better cuddle with me tonight to warm me up.”

“Deal.”

“Fine, you win.” Bdubs takes off his sweater, tosses it ashore and lets his legs go limp for Etho to pull him in.

Etho pretty much pounces on him. They land with a splash, Bdubs yelling and gasping due to how cold it is.

“You good?” Etho asks him.

“Let me just, breathe for a moment. Oh my goodness it’s so cold…” Bdubs pants, adjusting to the temperature.

“Sorry if I pressured you into this.”

“It’s fine, your point was right, there’s only one tonight.” Bdubs pulls Etho in closer, clinging to his warmth.

Etho buries his face into Bdubs’ chest. “Thank you.” He says, muffled.

He sits down at a comfortable depth, and pulls Etho in for another kiss. He reciprocates, plastering him in more of his own. Etho is so, so drawn to him and is having the time of his life out here. In the comfortable ocean, with the man he’s fallen in love with. He thinks back to his conflicting thoughts about going to the surface he had before he’d met Bdubs, and he is so, so glad he went through with it.

The rolling of the waves rock them as they cling to eachother, kissing and snuggling under the moon and stars.

Chapter Text

After the lengthy hike that it takes to get there, Docm77 has returned to the Great Pit. He finds the proper entrance, and descends.

Security at the entry greet him enthusiastically, as per usual. He can’t help his fame and instant recognizability.

For one, he’s a green false-satyr. His species is native to the Great Pit, and are quite scarce nowadays. All of his species are admired for their kindness in letting all sorts of fantasy creatures live in their homeland. And he’s also Doc, the genius engineer who made so much of the Pit’s current technology that hides them from the humans and keeps their civilization propped upright. His bionic eye and tattered labcoat makes his identity obvious.

Doc has to return to the Great Pit regularly to check up on his machinery, attend city planning meetings and meet up with his trainees, the DCP. But to the public’s confusion, he actually lives in Port Hermits.

Well, he personally prefers the slow, relaxed atmosphere of Port Hermits compared to the huge city that’s the Pit. Also, tomatoes don’t turn out as well as they used to down there as compared to the surface. Though most fantasy creatures from Port Hermits know who he is, he’s not met with as many starstruck eyes there. And the last reason as to why he prefers Port Hermits to the Great Pit, all his friends are there.

First, he needs to check the hologram projectors to make sure they are all in working order. It’s what keeps them all safe and hidden, its importance is immense. He sends a drone up above to check for any visual glitches in the projection, and it’s all good. This and the motion sensors are the most tedious, because the perimeter of the pit is gigantic and there are components all the way along the edges.

The robots that catch anything that falls aren’t his, he doesn’t need to check them. But what he does need to check is their synchronization. He lets the drone fall, and watches a robot spring into action and catch the drone, bringing it back to the surface. All good.

That’s all he needs to do for now, town hall meeting’s not for several hours. It would’ve been nice to arrive later and get some extra sleep, but the morning’s just the best time to travel if you want daylight but have horns and green fur. Plus if there really was an issue with any of his tech he’d need time to fix it. He has yet to run into any humans on the trails, just other fantasy creatures doing a morning run.

A lot of the elevators around are his design, but they’re simple enough that others can service them, he doesn’t need to. A lot of the power generators seen around are the same idea. He’ll check up on them once in a while, but the city ensures they are in good hands.

He can just sit back, relax, try not to get mobbed by people and go order some food or something. Maybe he’ll run into one of his apprentices, or someone who works in the town hall. Hopefully an apprentice if anyone.

He sets course for a traditional green false-satyr place he likes, traversing down the winding staircases that adorn the walls of the Great Pit. Despite it still being early morning, the pathways are alive with people, different species have different sleep patterns. Up here it’s mostly houses, shops are a little deeper down. His thoughts are full of his favourite tomato-included breakfast dish.

He’s stopped for a picture twice. Man. It’s fine, he likes seeing the happy looks on people’s faces but a goat can’t catch a break. If he really wanted to avoid people though he’d wear something else. At least the restaurant he’s headed for is nice and calm. He’d just scale the walls without stairs like his species did for thousands of years if it wasn’t for his mechanical arm affecting his grip and reaction speed.

Once this visit’s over he can return to Port Hermits, to consistent sunlight, fluffy werewolf boys, his workshop to continue his current project… Well he can’t have both Rendog and sunlight at the same time, he’s nocturnal.

The familiar smell of the restaurant he likes is comforting too, that and seeing others of his kind. While he’s sitting down, it gives him an opportunity to work on brainstorming ideas for new projects, scribbling in his notebook. He needs to assure the city that he’s actually been working while he’s in Port Hermits.

Doc’s current big project is improving the big water valves that many sorts of aquatic fantasy creatures swim through, just like the water entrance to Port Hermits’ underground and people’s houses that include a water entrance like Keralis’. He really wants to improve those doorways and make the underground even more accommodating for anything that swims. The end idea is going to be adding some underwater tubing and infrastructure to the Great Pit, to let these aquatic creatures move in. Who knows when they won’t be able to hide from humans underwater anymore?

It’s exhausting work, but Doc understands how important it is. Who knows what the livelihood of some of the Pit’s civilians would be like without him to protect them. That’s why he also takes teaching his apprentices extremely seriously, because he won’t live forever.

This wasn’t his project but there is internet and phone reception down here, he can use the humans’ technology to communicate with them when he isn’t present. Human technology is begrudgingly integrated into their lives, but Doc takes pride in the notion that his kind probably outranks the humans. It needs to continue this way, or else they’ll be discovered.

The food is delicious as always, and he can afford to tip the server well. He decides to take some time to admire the Great Pit’s architecture before the meeting, the whole place is a spectacle.

Because of the hologram imitating land above them, some amount of light actually bounces off of it and can’t get through. It’s particular wavelengths, just enough to be able to see the sky but because of it huge lights had to be installed to make sure the Pit’s bright enough during the day. That wasn’t Doc’s project, but the daylight sensing was one of his inventions from earlier on.

The Great Pit is massive, with no amount of surface area on the walls non utilized. Homes are carved into the walls and pile up from the bottom in massive towers. More motion sensors line these walls incase someone falls, Doc will service those tomorrow. Most of the construction is out of varieties of grey rock, sandstone which was imported over as a gift from immigrants from sandstone rich regions, and copper which is extremely dense in the dwarves’ caves in the lower levels of the Pit.

The green false-satyrs’ realm is where you can see the sky. Important buildings like the town hall, schools, and other public facilities are at the bottom of their region, alongside more stores and restaurants, whatever can fit. It’s the city center. Also present there are cave entrances, leading into the dwarves’ realm. It’s mainly homes, mines and a small amount of dwarven run businesses down there. Its main cave is actually a pretty large area, and it houses a large amount of people. In the center is a lake, where all the rainfall drains to. They’ve had plumbing in place for centuries to prevent flooding, and there’s been no major incidents. Despite being city runoff, the lake is actually clean enough to swim in thanks to filtration.

The buildings were simplistic at first, hastily crafted to fit as many people moving in within a short time, but as time went on improvements could be afforded to be added to decorate the city. Extra copper decor and carvings in the stone walls of buildings are the most common.

It’s a beautiful place, no doubt about it. Doc finds an elevator to take him to the bottom where the town hall is, may as well head over. The streets are cobblestones and meticulously maintained.

Here the town hall meets, and discusses how to help the citizens of the Great Pit. How to help them coexist, build, stay safe and thrive. Doc is of course representing the issue of staying safe from outside threats. It’s taken a lot of work to get the Great Pit to where it is now, and Doc’s only 40, he hasn’t even seen a fourth of it. His own mentors were incredible engineers too, who built the foundation which all of his work rests apon. And they had seen the Pit closer to its beginnings as a major city.

The main topic of the meeting is the direction of funding, Doc knows they’d never cut funding to him, his work is too necessary. Is there any point to him being here today? Doc sighs.

All in all, you could say that the Great Pit is where his soul lies, but Port Hermits is where his heart lies.

Chapter Text

Bdubs hears a knock on the door, so he goes to answer it. Outside he sees Doc, what is he doing here? It’s quite early in the morning, Bdubs hasn’t been up for very long.

“Hey Bdubs.” Doc says once he opens the door.

“HI Doc, what brings you here?” Bdubs asks, grinning.

“You know last night was a full moon, right?”

“Yup. Ren’s been out, is this about him?”

Doc nods. “Yeah, he was supposed to come to my place this morning, but the sun’s been out for a while now and he hasn’t come. Do you know where he is?”

“No, he hasn’t been here. Let me just check something..” Bdubs runs upstairs, and sure enough the door to the attic is wide open. He runs back down and tells Doc this, and that the door would be closed if Ren was home.

“Is there anywhere else he could be?” Doc asks.

“I don’t know of any, and Ren says he always returns somewhere after his transformation to sleep through the day! Wait why is he sleeping over at your place? Actually that’s not important, do you think he’s gone missing?”

“I don’t know. I think we should go looking for him, do you want to come with me?”

“Yes, let’s do that. I’m just going to let Etho know where I’m going and then I’ll be right back out.”

“He can come along too, if Ren’s truly missing we’re gonna need more help than this.”

“Sure, I’ll ask him.”

.

Doc, Bdubs and Etho have taken to the streets in search of Rendog, who seems to have gone missing after his most recent werewolf shapeshift. Doc wears a white hood in the daylight, and Bdubs and Etho are in their normal clothes because Bdubs is human and Etho passes as one.

“Let’s stop by your house again first, just in case he’s shown up.” Bdubs suggests.

“Yeah, that should be our first stop, then we go from there.” Doc says.

“Then we look ask around town, perhaps.” Etho adds. “See if there was anything urgent he needed to do at any of his Gigacorp business.”

“Yeah, sure. But would he really have forgotten to message me? If it was business related, it better have been really important..” Doc grumbles.

They arrive back at Doc’s house, and Doc enters to quickly check for Ren’s presence. The house is empty. He wastes no time in returning to Etho and Bdubs, reporting his findings. Finding Rendog is not going to be that easy.

They try not to let worry accumulate as they turn towards the town’s main street, scarcely populated but not devoid of people in these early hours. First stop is Gigapies, the only spot open in the morning. It’s quiet, and they see one human employee at the cash registers, and hear one more in the back probably making something.

Doc heard that all employees of Gigacorp know about the town’s nature, plus the cashier is wearing a badge so he doesn’t hesitate to go right up to the counter. “Hey, has Rendog been here this morning?”

“Oh, Rendog! No, I haven’t seen him.” She thinks for a moment. “Let me ask my coworker in the back.” She darts away, and they couldn’t hear their conversation over the sound of the electric mixer.

She returns. “He hasn’t either. I can give you a call if I do see him, if I can have your phone number.” She hands him a slip of paper and a pen.

“Sure. He’s gone missing without any idea of where he might be, so we’re trying to look for him.” Doc writes his name and number down and gives it back to her.

“Oh, I thought this was business related. That’s worrying. I’ll let you know if I see him at all, I’ve got it.”

“Thank you.” Doc nods, and the three of them leave.

Next they go to Gigalogs, which is a woodworking supplies store where you can buy wood, tools, and even some finished bowls, boxes and other small items you can make with wood. It’s not open yet, but Bdubs managed to remember to grab Ren’s spare keys before they left, so he unlocks the door.

Only Bdubs enters, and he disables the alarm like Ren showed him how to incase he ever found himself in a situation where he’d need to. The store is completely empty, and the back room too. He even checks all the corners of the store, incase he’s hiding for some inexplicable reason.

Their checks of Ren’s other businesses yield the same results. He’s nowhere to be found. Thus they stand at a crossroads, where to go now?

“So, what we know about what Ren does on the full moon, is that he usually goes into the forest to meet up with other werewolves in the community, to go hunt deer or something.” Bdubs says.

“I was thinking about the same thing. Do you think we should go into the forest next?”Doc asks.

“Yeah. What if he got injured and was left behind?” Bdubs responds.

“How about, me and Bdubs can go into the forest to look, and Etho can stay at my house incase he comes back? Or you could leave a note at my house and return to yours incase he returns there. Or the other way around, your call.”

“I think I can stay at your place, that’s where he’d most likely go, I think.” Etho says. “He’s a man of his word. I’ll leave a note at our house, that’s a great idea… I just need your key, Doc.”

“I have a spare one underneath my black cherry tomato plant at the front of my house. Call me if you can’t find it. It’s the small tomatoes that are a darker brownish red, the pot is black.”

Etho pauses to process. “Alright, I’ll try my best. Good luck guys.” Etho says, and he heads off.

And that leaves Bdubs and Doc, facing the forest. Is Ren actually in danger? Doc feels well equipped to help him, but Bdubs isn’t so sure.
Hopefully he’s not hurt or anything.

“You think he stays on the trails?” Bdubs asks Doc.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he likes running along the trails because it’s faster that way. To move, and to encounter deer. I’ll guide us, I’ve got a map of the trails here in my bionic eye.”

“Got it.” Bdubs remembers how Doc has told him how that red eye of his works. It can connect to the internet, display things for him like the map he just mentioned, take photos and do more expected bionic eye things like zooming and having toggleable night vision.

Doc leads the way through the forest, calling Ren’s name. They walk and walk, for about an hour, getting more and more worried every minute that passes.

Then Doc calls his name once more, and they hear a bark in response. Bdubs runs ahead, and into the bushes where the bark came from. There they find him.

Ren shouldn’t still be in his wolf form, and he also shouldn’t be chained to a tree by a collar and rope made of wood. What?

“Ren!” Doc rushes up to him, and he whimpers. Both Doc and Bdubs are aware that he can’t really speak in his wolf form. “Why are you here?”

Their immediate reaction is to break him free, and Doc inspects the collar. He gasps and steps back, it isn’t an ordinary one.

“What’s wrong?” Bdubs asks.

“This is the work of a malevolent faery. You know how these woods are filled with all sorts of things.” Doc switches his eye to infrared view. “Keep your guard up. This one may have the intention of keeping Ren as a pet.”

Ren whimpers sadly, in agreement with Doc’s statement.

“Breaking the collar isn’t that easy. It requires a certain technique in order to not make it angry. Man, where’s Cub when you need him… Can you call him, actually? You have his number right?”

“I do, I’m on it.” Bdubs says, and grabs his phone.

But his hand freezes, and his phone falls to the ground. Bdubs’ heart spikes, as he is unable to move his arm.

“What happened? Are you ok?” Doc exclaims.

“I don’t know, my hand is frozen…” Bdubs winces, and Doc can see from behind his shoulder, two eyes staring back at him through his infrared eye camera.

“Bdubs, calm down. It’s right behind you.” Doc says quietly. Ren whimpers, worrying greatly for Bdubs’ sake.

“And you expect me to- Let go of me!” He yells, struggling.

“Don’t! we don’t know what this thing can do!” Doc decides to try and talk to it directly. “Hey, these two are my friends, and we only want for you to let them go.”

The faery stares at him nonchalantly, not letting go. It then starts speaking to Doc, in a frequency only his mechanical ear can hear. “What do you mean?” Doc can barely make out.

“I mean Ren’s mine, you can’t take him. And, Bdubs is mine too.” Doc stutters on the last part but makes it sound convincing. Ren takes cover behind Doc, and Bdubs still struggles, totally freaked out over Doc talking to this thing that he can’t see.

“You think I’d let go that easily?” The faery says back to Doc, and squeezes Bdubs’ wrist tightly and painfully, causing him to yell out.

“Give them BACK.” Doc growls, seriously getting angry. How can he fight back against something he cannot touch?

Doc’s intimidation is already making the faery falter a bit, considering letting go, but then Doc decides to discharge electricity from his bionic arm, his last resort just in case it might be weak to electricity. Doc reaches out to where it’s floating, and in the blink of an eye it makes a shrill noise and retreats, disappearing completely.

Bdubs collapses onto the ground, and Ren yelps because he could hear the noise, yet Bdubs couldn’t.

“Oh my goodness that was terrible.” Bdubs gasps, massaging his arm. It might become bruised, but that’s the only damage. His phone thankfully didn’t break due to the soft forest ground, and Doc helps him back up.

“But there’s the main issue.” Doc looks to Ren again. But Ren shakes his body as if he were drying off and the collar comes right off, having been detached when the faery was fleeing. It’s all good, Ren’s fine.

Without the collar, Ren slowly changes back into his humanoid form. He stands up, once finally changed back.

“Dudes, I am so exhausted. Thank you so much for coming to my rescue.” Doc nods at Ren’s statement and gives him his white coat to cover up with.

“We were looking everywhere for you.” Bdubs says.

“Come on, let’s go back.” Doc reaches out his hand for Ren. They start to slowly walk away.

“Yeah, it’s broad daylight. What time is it?” Ren sighs.

“About 10:20.” Bdubs says. “Also what did you mean by calling me and Ren yours?” He snickers, question directed towards Doc.

“Well- I needed to free you somehow!” Doc starts to whisper. “Of course you don’t actually belong to me.”

“Thought so. My heart belongs to Etho!” Bdubs grins. Doc and Ren look to eachother and give a knowing look, their hands subtly brushing together as they walk.

The three of them travel back to Port Hermits, away from the danger of the woods.

Chapter Text

Rendog awakens past sundown, wrapped warmly in Doc’s bedsheets.

It’s later than when he would like to have woken up, but the whole, kidnapped by a malevolent woodland faery thing, kept him up past his bedtime.

It was terrifying, admittedly, being forced to stay in his full moon wolf form in the daylight. That had never happened to him before, and shouldn’t ever happen. That faery just had some sort of magic that forced him to to stay in that form? Ren’s unfamiliar with how, or why.

It was a bit of a pain to return to Doc’s house during the day, which is located boldly above ground for an owner with big horns and green fur. Bdubs had escorted Ren inside, and they met up with Etho who was happy to see that Ren was alright. Bdubs then grabbed a new coat for Doc and ran it over to him, who was hiding in the bushes. Bdubs never did ask why Ren wanted to sleep over at Doc’s, and he’s thankful he didn’t. It wasn’t the right time. Ren eyes a pile of his own clothes at the foot of the bed, perhaps Bdubs dropped them off for him?

But now they’re safe and secure, Ren comfortably in an environment that smells just like Doc, still wrapped in his coat and nothing else. There is, something going on between the two of them, and that something doesn’t really have a definition. Well, it’s a state of relationship where Ren is finding himself sleeping over at Doc’s place, more and more frequently now than ever. Always Doc’s house, cause Ren has roommates.

Doc gently opens the door, and sees that Ren is awake. “Hey, how did you sleep?” He gently sits down beside him.

“Fine. Slept in a little later than I’d like but you can’t help it.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry me like that, man. If something had happened to you I would’ve burned the whole forest down.”

“I try my hardest, Doc. The woods are dangerous dude, I’m never letting myself get separated from the group ever again. And you know what? Next month I won’t go out. I’ll stay right here.”

“Good call. And we should put like, a tracking collar on you. So I know where you are.”

“What?”

“You know, for when you go into the woods. What do you think? I could make you something.”

“Oh, well I guess that might be smart. The way you worded it made it sound kinda… kinky.”

Doc sputters incoherently, “Not the intention. Unless that’s what you want.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.” Ren says, and two of them laugh. Ren’s heartbeat slows, he’s comfortable. “Saw the faerie’s collar on me and got jealous?”

Doc grumbles, if you could see his face behind his fur it’d be blushing red. “Do, do you want any tea or coffee, perhaps?” Doc asks. “I could put on some breakfast for you.”

“I’d like that, please.”

Ren pulls himself forwards, and presses a kiss to Doc’s nose. He acknowledges the gesture, running his hand through Ren’s hair before getting up to make him some 10pm breakfast.

It was a long windy road to get themselves to this point, and Ren feels so lucky that he’s the person Doc chose to be with. Yet still, their relationship lacks a real definition, a notion to make it official. Though people like Bdubs must have their suspicions at this point, they aren’t public.

He knows that Doc faces expectations as a green false-satyr, a member of a species that’s declining. Much of his kind would look at him funny if it were known he was in love with some werewolf. Yes, in love. Ren’s seen enough, they’ve done enough together for him to not doubt that.

Well, if this is what they want, Ren should probably approach Doc about making their relationship more official. To hopefully transition it for the long term.

He finally puts his clothes on, and heads out the room to keep Doc company.

Doc has tomatoes on the stove, he’s probably making one of his famous breakfast sandwiches. Ren relishes in the vague humour of the tomato obsessed man cooking tomatoes and settles down at the table.

“You prepared to stay up with me tonight, Doc?”

“You bet, I’ve been napping all day.”

Ren thinks for a moment. “If you’ve been napping, where were you? I was in your bed!”

“…The couch. I, didn’t want to overstep.” Doc says quietly.

“Ah, no need for that, man! Come cuddle with me whenever you’d like!”

Doc subtly laughs to himself. “Ok, good to know.” He removes the tomatoes from the pan and cracks a couple of eggs into it. “I can’t help but laugh over the fact that we still call eachother dude, man, bro… when we are in a relationship.”

“It’s how I’ve been addressing you for years, why change?”

Doc shrugs. “What else could I call you… puppy, chihuahua perhaps because you’ve called yourself a chihuahua before.. Man, those are kinda awkward, nothing really fits.”

“It doesn’t have to. Keep thinking about it.” Ren winks. “Now for you, my precious Doccie-baby!” Ren exaggerates to make Doc cringe on purpose. “We could go with that, or big D- maybe not that one, or maybe fluffycakes! Fluffbutt!”

“..I’m not fluffy!” Doc flushes. Not this again.

“Says the guy who’s legitimately covered in green fur.”

“I didn’t chose this life, it chose me! This is how I feel on the inside…” Doc raises his mechanical arm. “Epic! Tough and powerful! Not cute and fluffy at all!”

Ren snickers. “I knew I could get you going with that. Love you Doc, just teasing you.”

Doc sighs in a mix of amusement and frustration, and finishes cooking. “Here, breakfast for my chihuahua.”

Ren picks up the sandwich. “Thank youu! Cook for me everyday, will you?”

“Ahaha, we’ll see about that. I’m sure you can pull your own weight too.”

“I own a bakery, I can cook for myself. But that’s baking, not cooking. You are simply better at cooking.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Trust me. Unless it’s the barbecue, I’m confident I have you beat in the art of braai! Though we have yet to test that out.”

Doc nods as Ren continues to eat his breakfast. There’s silence for a few moments, before Ren reminds himself of the subject that’s on his mind.

“Mind if I ask you a question? About us?” Ren asks.

Doc pauses. “Yeah? What is it?”

Ren shakes away a pang of nerves. “What are we, Docm77?”

Doc looks at him, a little perplexed. “You.. What do you mean?”

“Like, are we boyfriends? Or do you think that definition doesn’t fit? I’d hate to make you feel like you’re rushing into anything, so it’s ok if you’re not ready to put a definition to us or make it official, but I’ve just been wondering...” He trails off.

“Huh.” Doc pauses. “Are we not boyfriends? Cause I thought we were official.”

Ren stares at him. “What? Since when? I don’t remember that at all!”

“I- I’m sure I’ve called you my boyfriend before!” Doc groans. “What are you trying to say..?” He says gravely.

“I’m trying to- wait, I’m sensing a misunderstanding. I love you, Doc. And I want to be your boyfriend, I just don’t remember any words being said to make this a more official partnership. So we can go about maybe telling people, going on more dates? Sorry, I’m confused.”

“Yeah, I love you too. And you know what? Screw the idea of official. Let’s do whatever the hell we want. Finish your breakfast, let’s go on a date.” Doc stands up, presses his hand on the table and leans over Ren assertively.

“O-ok.” Ren says, baffled. He stands up to face him. “Let’s go on a date! To where though?”

“Well, how about let’s keep it simple, go to the underground to walk around, look at shops, the usual?”

“Alright, sure. Don’t think anything else would work at this time after all…Things, things remain open down there throughout the night.” Ren says nervously. This sudden proclamation from Doc was quite out of the blue, but not out of character for him. Ren also finds it kinda hot. Admittedly.

“Exactly. You ready to go?”

Ren takes a deep breath. “Always.”

.

Just as Doc had said, they decided to do whatever the hell they want, throwing any societal ideas or pressures to the wind. Within reason. Who cares if they are seen together, they just want to have fun. That’s what Doc thinks at least, he’s done with lamenting over whether or not him and Ren should go public. This was agreed upon on their short walk to the tunnel.

Doc casts off his hood when they enter the underground of Port Hermits, and the guard lets them in noting Doc’s fur and Ren’s ears. He takes Ren’s hand as their eyes adjust to the dim lights of the underground.

It’s not as busy as midday would be, but there’s a good number of nocturnal and night-preferring people around. It’s also as beautiful as usual, the bioluminescent cave plants as well maintained as always. The pathways are glowing today, which only happens when the little ecosystem down here is healthy and has had a good day. Ren and Doc admire the glowing pathway, taking it as a good sign.

“So, how do we intend to go public? I could tell our friends and everything, though… I have a feeling they suspect us already.”

Doc laughs softly. “Well, if anyone does, it’d be Bdubs because of the whole, proclamation I had to do to the evil faery in an attempt to free you guys. Yeah, you can tell our friends. I’m also glad you seem to be feeling better about that whole situation.”

“I am, thanks to you.”

They stop, and look out into the streets. They’re about at the center now, adorned with cute shops and a circular garden, which is also very well taken care of. It’s easy to find a place to sit down over here.

“And you, Doc? I’m well aware of your fame over at the Great Pit.”

“Yeah… Maybe I should introduce you to the mayor or something… That part I’m more worried about. I’m not worried about the acceptance of the common people, I’m more worried about my own kind. I might sound all high and mighty, but…” Doc takes a deep breath, straining to admit, “I am a little afraid.” He sits down on a bench, and Ren follows.

“…Yeah, no kidding.” Ren says, a little surprised by Doc’s vulnerability but glad at the same time.

“But I’m done with being afraid. Going public has to be done one day.”

“Well, I’ll be there to support you.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments in this garden, and Doc presses a kiss to the side of Ren’s forehead. He could get used to this.

“Right, should we stay here or keep going?” Doc asks.

“We just got here, but yeah, let’s keep going.” Ren says, so they stand up from the bench. Ren looks around, trying to decide where to go next, when he spots Cleo, eyeing something in a shop window.

“Hey look, Cleo’s here!” Ren exclaims. “I know this is supposed to be a date, but…” He thinks for a moment. “You said we can tell our friends now, should, should we go for it?”

Doc spots her too. “There she is… Right now? Go over and tell her right now?”

“I think we should.”

Doc pauses for a moment. “Yeah, you’re right, we should.” He steps forward, and gestures for Ren to follow him over.

Cleo appears to be deep in thought, when Ren and Doc approach her. She spins around, surprised to see people she recognizes.

“Hi!” She says, mildly startled. “Ren and Doc? What brings you out here at this time?”

“Hey Cleo, yes, we were, uhh….” Ren trails off.

“We have something to say.” Doc says.

Cleo blinks at them. “Alright. What’s up?”

“Come, take a stroll with us.” Ren says, leading them away from the shop circle, despite it being only slightly busy.

Doc sighs and whispers to Ren. “Are you stalling?”

“Maybe.” Ren whispers back. “It’s also too busy here.”

“There’s like, under 10 people in the vicinity.”

“10 people too many.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Cleo asks them.

“Uhhh, doesn’t matter.” Ren lowers his voice and turns to Doc. “You say it then!”

“Sheesh! Ok fine!” They stop, having wandered back into the garden. Doc clears his throat. “Cleo, myself and Ren have done some talking, and we have decided that we are going to tell our friends, that we are dating. Me and Ren.”

Cleo looks surprised for a moment, and then thinks about it. “I see. I had a feeling you two would be good together, but I had no idea it would actually happen.”

“Well, we’ve been under the radar here for quite a bit. Ren here didn’t actually think we were official, until… earlier. Don’t ask me how he missed that memo.”

“Hey!”

“Well, good for you two.” Cleo says.

“Not like the idea of official isn’t a pain, but that’s beside the point. Thanks Cleo.” Doc says.

“Thank you Cleo!” Ren adds. “Now, me and Doc are due to continue our date. Thanks again, this is a big step.”

“Always, you two. I’d hate to intrude on a date. I’m also looking forward to hearing more stories and gossip. Now, what was I even doing before this?” Cleo waves goodbye, and wanders off.

Once she’s completely gone, Doc throws his head back and sighs. “Holy... It’s done, we’ve told someone.”

“Dude, I’m literally shaking.” Ren holds his hands up for Doc to see. Doc responds by taking them, in an attempt to calm him.

“I’m happy though. As you said, this is a big step.”

Ren nods. “So, continue our date?” He turns to face Doc, hands still resting in his.

“Of course.” Doc leans forwards, and gives Ren a kiss on the lips. It’s brief, lasting for only a second.

Ren pauses in thought once they’ve separated. “I think that’s the first time you’ve kissed me in public!”

“What can I say? We’re moving forward. Let’s do this.”

Ren nods. “Together.”

Chapter Text

Pearl works as a mail carrier on some days, and today is just one of them. She leaves the post office with a van full of letters and packages, to begin her usual routine.

Simple letters are just deposited into the corresponding compartment of a big community mailbox, many of which are scattered around the town. She also does the usual key/bigger compartment method for smaller packages that will fit. What she does see, is some letters and packages addressed to her friends. She likes to deliver those personally, it’s more fun that way. Port Hermits doesn’t really have to conform to conventional rules, they let her do it.

She starts off with the closest address, once she’s done the main job for the surface portion of Port Hermits. Most of her friends live in the top portion after all. She rings the doorbell, and someone answers.

“You’ve got mail!” Pearl says happily.

“Hey Pearl!” Grian responds, stepping out after confirming she is someone he knows. To see if he can show his feathers comfortably. “Letter for me?”

“Yes, here you go!” She hands it to him. “Let me guess, from Mumbo? I hadn’t read the return address.”

Grian looks it over. “You’d be correct.” He giggles. “I wonder what he’s sent me this time, I told you about how we started a little game, right?”

“You did, but remind me.”

“Alright. So one day I was tired and delirious and got the bright idea of, wouldn’t it be funny if I were to send Mumbo a prank letter saying that he owes me 100$ for the purchase of a fancy foot bath, and I fabricated something about ordering it for him and now I need the money back. What I got back was a letter from Mumbo telling me that I now owed him money, for what was I believe a year’s worth of a waffle mix subscription. Which I haven’t received any, it’s almost like it isn’t real. He said the total I owed him was 250$. The letter was hilarious, I’d show you if you weren’t supposed to be working. Anyways, it escalated and now I owe Mumbo…” he opens the letter and quickly reads it over. “10,000$ and my left earlobe.”

“Ah, I remember now. And I’ve definitely delivered some of your letters to Mumbo myself. Seems kind of silly to be mailing eachother when you live in the same town.” Pearl laughs ironically. “The fees must be adding up.”

“I think that’s going to be the final punchline.”

Pearl stifles a laugh. “Incredible. Well, I need to get back to work, bye Grian!”

“Bye!”

Pearl hops back into her van, and heads to the next location. This one’s a package, addressed to none other than Skizzleman. She pulls up to his and Impulse’s shared home, and rings the doorbell.

“You’ve got mail!” She says when Skizz answers the door. She knew it would be Skizz, he’s always the one answering the door because he’s a human.

“I’ve got mail! Pearly pop, so good to see you!” Skizz pulls her into a tight hug and spins her around.

He releases her before she suffocates, and she hands him the package. “Here you are sir.”

“Oh, nice, this must be the new toaster! You know, funny story… Me and dippledop broke our last one because we were playing a game of catch.”

“How in the world did you break your toaster playing catch?”

“It was extreme catch. And in extreme catch, it doesn’t have to be a ball.”

“So you dropped your toaster on the floor.”

“Yes.” Skizz pauses. “Well, in our defense, it was getting pretty old.”

“Sure… Well, I’ve got to get going, nice seeing you Skizz!”

“Bye bye Pearly!”

She hops into the van, and heads to the next location. There are multiple letters to drop off here, addressed to different people.

She rings the doorbell. Several months ago she had met Etho for the first time, and adding him makes it 3 people living here in Bdubs’ house. Someone must be home. She hears scrambling, and the door practically flies open.

“Howdy Pearl!” Rendog exclaims.

“Hey, I got here first!” Bdubs grumbles.

“No, it was clearly me.” Etho says.

“No it wasn’t- Etho you are behind the both of us!” Ren responds.

“Hello guys.. You’ve got mail.” Pearl chuckles. “What are you doing?”

“Just racing to see who could get to the door first. In my unbiased opinion, it was clearly Bdubs.” Etho says.

“Unbiased..” Ren sighs. “I was the one with my paw on the doorknob.”

“Anyways, I have a letter for Ren, and a letter for Etho.” Pearl hands them over.

“Me? A letter?” Etho asks. “Man, I thought I was doing well in avoiding the spam mail. The surface is so strange, it’s like there’s eyes on you all the time.”

“Like a complete and utter dystopia…” Ren says dramatically.

“I just need Bdubs to grow gills so we can swim off into the sunset together.”

“I’m working on it!” Bdubs grumbles.

“I always witness the best conversations out delivering mail like this...” Pearl grins at them. “I need to get going, see you guys!”

All three of them give Pearl their unique farewells, and Pearl heads off towards her next destination yet again. She’s got only two locations left for the surface, before she needs to go underground for the rest of the mail.

She approaches this house excitedly, as Gem is a close friend of hers. She rings the doorbell.

“Hey Gem!” Pearl says when she opens the door.

“Pearl! Hello! I’ve got mail?” Gem asks.

“Yup, you’ve got mail.” She hands Gem the letter.

“Oooh, I wonder what it could be?” Gem scans its cover. “Oh, it’s a bank statement. Nice.” She says monotonously. The both of them laugh at that.

“You know I need to get going soon, but is there anything new with you? Quick conversation topics?”

“Well, I told you about that kraken run in I had with Grian… I can report to you that kraken tastes pretty bland, but it’s nutritious enough to be considered good food.”

“So you did eat it?”

“Of course! We had the whole tentacle right there. I still have some, if you want to try.”

“I mean, sure? I’ll try some.”

“It’s in the form of leftovers if that’s alright. Be right back.” Gem dashes off, and returns with a chunk of kraken meat in a spoon. “Here you go.”

Pearl takes it, and eats it. “Hmmm.” She processes it. “Yeah it is rather bland, but other than that, it really just tastes like seafood.”

“Yeah, not a crazy new taste.”

“Thank you Gem, that was interesting. I need to head off now, bye!”

“See you soon Pearl!”

Pearl heads off once more, towards the last destination on the surface. It’s an important one too, being the town hall. She does know Scar and Jellie personally. It’s a pretty large package that’s addressed to them too.

When she pulls up to the town hall, she loads the package onto a dolly and wheels it right into the door. Any other delivery person would’ve just left it by the front, but Pearl’s willing to cart it to wherever it needs to go. The person at the front desk recognizes her, and calls Scar right down.

Only a few minutes pass, and Scar comes right out the elevator and wheels over.

“Hello sir, you’ve got mail! Where would you like this package to go?” Pearl says.

“It’s so good to see you Pearl, and yes! I’ve been waiting for this to come in! Let’s see… follow me.”

He brings her to the elevator, and they both squeeze in with the package in tow. Scar selects the roof and they rise up.

“What is it, may I ask?” Pearl asks Scar.

“Well, it’s something Cub wants, and I’m just excited to see what he’ll do with it!” Scar responds. Cub is a member of upper management at the town hall.

“And why does he want this on the roof?”

“Well…” Scar chuckles, as the door to the elevator opens. “The contents of this box might be a little, explosive.”

Pearl pauses, and very carefully wheels the package out of the elevator. “Isn’t this, very illegal?”

“Don’t question it, Pearl.” Scar smirks. “Just kidding! This isn’t actually materials for Cub’s fireworks, it’s just the new launcher we’ve ordered! Now we can put on a show for the next major holiday.”

“Oh. I see.” Pearl sighs. “Where would you like this?”

“We’re setting it up just over here.”

Pearl lowers the package off the dolly, and Scar calls Cub up on his phone so they can proceed with the setup. Pearl waves him goodbye.

Now, it’s time to go into Port Hermits’ underground. There’s less mail to deliver down there than on the surface, but she eyes a few familiar names.

She parks next to one of the entrances to the town’s underground and brings the dolly back out. She can’t drive down there, everything needs to be carried manually. She slings a sack full of letters over her shoulders and pushes the loaded dolly down into Port Hermits’ underground.

The guard notes her badge that signifies she’s in on the town’s secret, and her mail carrier uniform, and lets her in with no issue. She locates her usual route and starts delivering mail like normal.

The first letter she recognizes is for Keralis. She met him rather recently, but they hit it off pretty well, so she decides to deliver it personally.

Pearl knocks on the door to Keralis’ house, and he answers rather quickly.

“You’ve got mail!” She says, handing him his letter.

“Pearl! What, what a nice surprise! I’ve got mail!” He takes it. “Looks like, formalities. That’s not interesting.” He throws it behind him. “I’ll open that later. Thank you anyways!”

“Usually I deliver mail to my friends in person so I can strike up a bit of a conversation. How have you been doing?”

“Ah, perfectly fine. That’s quite, sweet of you to deliver mail in person like this. You consider me a friend?”

“Of course I do! A new friend, but a friend nonetheless. Should I continue to do this for you and xB?”

“Please do, this is lovely!” He looks behind him. “What do you think xB? Have you been listening in?”

xB yells back at them. “I have! It’s pretty neat!”

Pearl and Keralis chuckle, and Pearl continues. “But the sad thing is, I can’t stay and chat for too long. I still have to finish my job. I’ll see you later Keralis!”

“Oh, bye!”

Pearl waves goodbye and heads to her next locations. Looks like her next in person delivery is for her friend Tango.

Tango lives in the underground, in a fancy, custom built dungeon-like home. Pearl loves coming over to Tango’s, she thinks his house is really cool. And to visit Tango! Tango is cool too! She’s not quite sure what his species is exactly, but he’s a kind of fae with an association with fire.

She uses his fancy door knocker, and Tango shows up before she has to use the doorbell.

“You’ve got mail!”

“Hey Pearl, really nice seeing you, uhh..” Tango takes the letter. “I’m in a bit of a situation right now, gotta go.”

“Is, it anything I could help with?”

“Actually, yes it is! Come in if you’d like.” Tango invites her, and she steps in before she can remember she has a job to do. Oops, detour by her good will. Hopefully this won’t take too long. She leaves her sack of letters inside at the door and follows Tango.

“So, yet again, one of the ravagers escaped-“ Tango tries to start.

“One of your ravagers???” Pearl exclaims, instinctively ducking back. The ravagers that Tango owns are a smaller, domesticated and less dangerous version of the huge wild creatures belonging to the realm of fantasy.

“Yeah, usual Tuesday. Anyways, the doors I have installed are one way for an animal like a ravager, easy to enter but almost impossible to exit. He’s gotten into my laundry room, which have these protective doors. The laundry room of all places has those doors for this very reason, in an attempt to catch an escaped creature somewhere it can be contained.”

“I know the rundown.”

Tango nods. “So, it would be extremely helpful if I had someone to hold the doors open, while I go in and try and wrangle it out.”

“Got it. Do you need me for the doors to your dungeon too?”

“Just this one is perfect, the doors to the dungeon open in the good direction.” They round a corner, and Pearl can hear the shuffling of angry feet. “Here we are.”

“So, I just need to hold these open?”

“Yup. And if you get knocked over, I’ll take all the blame.”

Pearl slowly nods, and reaches for the doors. Tango grabs a lead he had crammed into a pocket, and heads in.

“Don’t hold them open just yet, it’s good that the ravager is stuck in here. Now…” Tango trails off, and Pearl takes her hands off the doors and just watches.

The ravager is growling at Tango, who is slowly approaching with the lead. “Come on now, don’t you want to return to your buddies? Just come with me.”

The ravager charges at him, and Tango expertly grabs it, tying the lead around its neck. He strains to keep it under control.

“Here we go. Alright Pearl, I need you now!”

She holds the doors open, and Tango wrenches the ravager out and into the main portion of his house. Pearl watches carefully and follows him as he leads the ravager back into his dungeon.

“And… done. Phew, that was stressful. Thank you Pearl, that would’ve been a lot worse without you.”

“You’re welcome Tango. I’m just wondering, how did he even escape in the first place?”

Tango sighs. “That’s the question! There’s got to be an issue somewhere. That’s my problem, I’ll handle it. Now, I don’t suppose you have a job to get back to?”

“Yes! I do! I’ll see you later Tango!”

“Bye!”

She grabs her sack and heads back out to the streets of the underground. There’s a few more mailboxes to visit, and from the looks of it, one more friend.

She eventually gets down to just one final letter, and approaches Cleo’s house. She doesn’t even have to knock, looks like Cleo noticed her approaching.

“You’ve got mail!”

“Welcome back Pearl. Just a letter?”

“Yup, addressed to you.”

Cleo takes it and looks at it. “Sometimes I wonder why I still get mail like this. I died a long time ago.”

“Funny how that works.”

Cleo sighs. “The amount of paper wasted on dead people… What’s new with you Pearl?”

“Well, I’m at the end of my route. I talked to many of our friends today, and let’s see… I helped Tango with an escaped ravager, brought a firework launcher to the town hall, delivered the next letter in Grian and Mumbo’s note war, delivered Impulse and Skizz’s new toaster because they were playing catch with the old one for some reason… That’s not all, but yeah, it was a pretty eventful day.”

“That’s more exciting than what I’ve been doing. Tedious sculpture work, all day. It’s starting to look much better now, but it’s a grind.”

“Do I know what your current project is?”

“I don’t think so? It’s a commission from the next town over, they want a statue of a child and a dog for one of the parks. Want to see?”

“Ooh, doggy! I’d love to see it.”

“It’s quite cute, they held a contest to see which kid the statue would be modelled after.” Cleo leads Pearl into their house and towards the art studio. Cleo’s house is well decorated, covered in art and nice looking furniture.

Cleo opens the door to their studio, and the statue is right in the middle. Stone shavings gather at the base, and despite being unfinished Pearl can tell that it’s of a girl of about eight, tugging what looks like a frisbee out of the mouth of a medium sized dog.

“And here it is! Still a work in progress, but you can see what I’ve been working on polishing.” They gesture to the folds in the girl’s shirt.

“Lovely! What’s the breed of the dog?”

Cleo pulls out their phone. “Here, I’ll show you the reference photos. It’s some kind of terrier-like mutt. Also this kid’s actual dog.”

“Awww! Good doggy! I see it! I think your sculpture is going very well so far!”

“Thank you. And yeah, I am fairly proud of how it’s turning out so far. I’ll show you some photos of the finished product once I’m done. Or you could go to the next town over to see it in person!” Cleo grins.

“I’d love that! But… as I’ve said, it’s been a long day. Mind if I head home now?”

“Wouldn’t want to keep you from resting up. You work hard, Pearl.”

Pearl nods, a little exasperated. “For sure. Bye Cleo, I’ll see you later!”

“Bye Pearl!”

And so, Pearl returns to her van and drives back to the post office. Parking it there, she hops out and walks home.

Another day done, spent in the best town she knows, seeing the best people she knows.

Chapter Text

“May I ask you something, xB?” Etho says.

The waves crash on the rocky shoreline near Port Hermits early in the morning. Etho was out hunting, when he spotted xB resting on the rocks. He swam over and unzipped the top part of his sealskin so he could talk to him.

“Oh, hey Etho. Sure, what is it?” xB responds, a little confused.

“How do you do with the fact that you and your partner belong to two completely different worlds, land and the ocean?”

“Huh. That’s quite a big question to spring on someone randomly.” xB giggles. “But, I can answer that. So… I found being attracted to a human quite strange at first, but I got used to it. You know what Keralis’ house looks like? It’s in the underground and has a whole water access door and pools for me to sit in. That helps bring us closer. But you can walk on land, I guess things are different for you.” xB thinks for a second. “Perhaps my advice is give it time?”

“I guess so.” Etho responds. “Yeah, selkies and mermaids are quite different. How’s dating a human?”

“As I said, I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t actually think about the fact he’s human that much anymore. I do wish I could sleep with him in my arms though. But don’t get me wrong, things are going well.”

“That’s good to hear.” Etho smiles. “Things are going well with me and Bdubs too. Guess I should count myself lucky for being able to sleep in his arms.”

“It’s a luxury not all of us have.” xB says playfully. “Once Keralis gets better at diving, I want to bring him on another tour underwater with me. For a whole day, farther afoot.”

“I should get Bdubs to learn how to dive too, that sounds like a great idea.”

xB nods.

.

Beef spots Gem’s boat returning to the dock, looking like it’s practically sinking. This could mean one of two things, her boat’s actually sinking, or they’ve gotten a ginormous catch this morning. Beef lights up, it was most likely the latter.

Gem and Grian wave at Beef as they approach. He tries to peek, to see if they really were as successful as this appears. The fish market could really use some new stock.

“Beef help my boat’s sinking.” Gem says in a deadpan manner when she’s close enough.

“What! Really?”

“Check it out Beef!” Grian holds up two gigantic lingcods as the boat trudges closer to the dock. “We’ve got fish for days!”

“Holy smokes guys! With the amount you have here, I think we’re going to have to lower the prices so we can sell all this!”

“I know right? Me and Grian couldn’t believe it.” Gem hops out of the boat and ties it to the dock. Sure enough, all their bins are overflowing, there’s fish loose on deck…

“Here, let me get some extra bins to help you with all this.” Beef says.

A few moments later, Beef returns with said bins and an extra pair of hands. “Look who just happened to be here!” Beef says.

“Pearl!” Gem exclaims, nearly dropping a rope.

“Heard you could use some help with a huge fish haul?” Pearl says, tossing her sweater aside. “Oh he wasn’t kidding, that’s a lot of fish.”

“There’s no time to waste, let’s get moving!” Gem says, grabbing a full bin and passing it to Pearl. She grimaces a little at the sliminess, but she volunteered for this in a split second decision, therefore brought this apon herself.

“We’ve got salmon, halibut, lingcod of course, a few rockfishes…” Grian says to Beef as they haul fish. “What do you think?”

“This might be your best yet!”

“I agree!” Gem shouts from inside. She runs out to join them. “Having this much luck is fun and all, but let’s take the next day we were going to go out off. We might be just one little boat, but we still don’t want to drain the fish supply. Keep the ecosystem intact, and of course prevent our aquatic friends from getting upset at us.”

“Great idea, less work for me.” Grian responds with a smirk.

“Don’t put it that way, you’ll make us seem lazy! I’ll grab the next bin.” Gem runs back to the boat.

“In all seriousness, not damaging the ecosystem should be a top priority. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a fishman.” Beef says.

Grian nods. “We’ve got something special here.”

In the not too far off background, Gem and Pearl are goofing off, barely having gotten off the dock with their second loads before Gem slaps Pearl in the stomach with a fish.

Pearl wasn’t going to let that go unchecked, so she retaliates with a fish of her own and they enter a slap war with fish as the weapon.

“Ahem.” Grian clears his throat, and the two of them stop in their tracks. “Are you forgetting about something?”

“Oops, sorry, I’ll get back to work.” Pearl says.

“No no, you forgot to include me!” Grian smacks Gem across the head with his own fish. She can take hits like that because of her species, but she’s left stunned.

“Oh it’s on Grian!” Pearl exclaims, raising her fish defensively.

They each get a few satisfying wet smacks in on eachother before being reminded that they really need to finish the job. Oh well, but once the day is done the four of them get to have dinner together. It’s a wonder how none of them are tired of fresh fish yet.

.

Ren snatches Doc’s phone from his grip, staring him down. “Alright dude, that’s enough doomscrolling for one day.” He shuts it off and hands it back to him.

“But- oh fine, you win.” Doc slouches into his couch. “I’m the talk of MythicalMedia this morning. Guess the news of our relationship has gone fully public.”

“Oh, I don’t think I want to know.” Ren sighs, sitting down beside him. “My identity is still private, right?”

“Yup, your name’s nowhere to be seen. All they know is that I’m dating a werewolf nobody. Their words.”

“Ah, what did I expect.” Ren leans into Doc’s side, who in turn wraps his non mechanical arm around him.

“I’m concerned about the future of my species too, but I want to date whoever I want.”

“Hey, with your genius, perhaps you can invent a way to artificially create more green false-satyrs and give them to homes in need?”

“I’m no biologist Ren, I’m an engineer.” Doc chuckles.

“I was just kidding. But I do want puppies.”

Doc stifles a wide grin. “Let’s discuss that another time.”

Ren giggles softly. “So… are you doing alright?”

“I sure hope so. I’m aware it’s taxing to spend my time on the internet like this, but what can you do.”

“Just know that I love you, and don’t you forget it.”

“Never. I love you too Ren.”

They plant a short, tender kiss on eachothers lips, and Ren gets up to grab the TV remote. They spend the rest of the morning watching a silly program they both enjoy and laughing together. He’s worth it.

.

It’s an ordinary day in Keralis and xB’s household. Keralis had just got back from his job, and xB is there waiting for him with dinner on hand in the form of a ton of mussels he’d foraged, and a freshly prepared salad in the fridge with ingredients he’d bought at the underground marketplace earlier in the day. Those waterproof shopping bags they’d found have been a lifesaver, as well as many furniture installations they’ve made for the sake of accessibility for xB.

Neither of them would’ve expected this to be what their life would be like in a long term, committed relationship, but they aren’t about to complain. They joke about living to spite the divide between the land and the sea with their relationship, their love for eachother.

They heard a knock on the door just after they finished dinner, and Keralis gets up to answer. It’s Etho and Bdubs, bringing a tin of cookies.

“Sweet faces! What brings you two here?”

“Ah, just thought we’d stop by. I made cookies.” Bdubs responds.

Keralis turns to Etho. “And, they’re alright?”

“Wha-hey!” Bdubs responds before Etho could. “I’m a perfectly good baker, thank you.”

“I’ve had one, they’re fine.” Etho says.

“Come on in guys!” xB waves and shouts from his pond.

The four of them move over to a more cozy living area in the house, xB swimming into a section of indoor pond they put the couch right beside. He nearly falls out of the water trying to reach for a cookie from the tin in Bdubs’ hands.

“So, how’s the ocean today?” Etho asks xB.

“Well, currents were weaker than usual, but other than that nothing to note. Ecosystem’s fine, didn’t spot any plastic to remove either.”

“That’s good. I need to get out there more often, I fear I’ll lose my mind spending this much time above water.” Etho says in an exasperated tone.

“Hey, you’ve got your skin with you. You can come on in if you want?” xB suggests.

“Hmm… you know what? Sure.”

A grin lights up on Bdubs’ face. “Me too! I’m going to jump in the water too!”

“Wha-“ Keralis’ look of surprise fades quickly into a smirk. “Is it pool party time?”

“Oh rats, I don’t have a swimsuit.” Bdubs grumbles. Keralis gives him permission to just jump in with his clothes on, he’ll lend him a pair of pants to go home in.

“I don’t mind sharing the pond with everyone.” xB says. “I’m just surprised we’ve never thought of this before!”

Etho nods. “And we can invite more people in the future! Be right back, I need to change into my skin.” He darts into the bathroom. Keralis is right behind them, heading towards his room with a cookie in his mouth.

Bdubs tears off his sweater and hops into the pond beside xB, and he gasps sharply. “Ahh, cold! I wasn’t expecting it to be this cold!”

“It’s connected to the ocean, what did you expect?” xB giggles.

“Well that ain’t obvious! Well, it’s fine though, could be worse. I’m getting used to jumping into cold water.”

“Is Etho getting you to?”

“Yup. But it’s all part of the deal, of dating someone from the ocean.”

Etho comes back around the corner, half inside his seal skin, dragging himself towards the pond. “I didn’t think this through.”

xB giggles at him, and Bdubs hops out to go give Etho a hand. How romantic.

“Keralis is ok with all the water on his floor?” Bdubs asks, carrying Etho.

“It’s always wet in here, he’ll be fine.” xB responds.

Etho is quick at removing his mask and zipping his seal skin up all the way. He rolls around in the water fully as a seal, before setting into Bdubs’ lap.

Keralis returns soon after, almost slipping on the wet floor. He bites his tongue and joins the group.

“It feels strange sharing this pool with others… who aren’t Keralis of course” xB says. “It’s fine, it’s a pool party!”

“Yes! We should invite the others another time!” Keralis says. “Like Shashwhammy…”

Bdubs continues. “Ren, and are Doc’s mechanical parts waterproof?”

Etho unzips his seal skin just enough to say something. “Don’t forget Cleo, Joe too?”

“I’d definitely invite Beef.” xB says. “I’m sure we’re missing many people.”

“My poor house can’t hold many more!”

“We can figure it out.” xB snickers. He snuggles into Keralis’ side.

“Hmm, it feels like this pool party is missing something…” Bdubs says. “Other than the rest of our friends of course. Do you have any drinks?”

Keralis sighs in an exaggerated way. “Yes, I have some cocktail, mocktail ingredients.. and some sparking water.”

“If you’re willing to share.”

“Just don’t spill anything into my water!” xB exclaims.

Keralis takes orders, and goes to make everyone drinks. He enjoys doing this, despite his exasperation at the request. Watching Etho, as a seal sip a drink Bdubs is holding for him from a straw is quite amusing.

The conversation topics switch around frequently, and now it really feels like a party. They complain about work, which xB can’t relate to since he won’t be getting a job anytime soon. They discuss some of the town’s shops, recent wildlife sightings and of course poke fun at eachother.

The three of them are fairly new friends/a new love interest for Bdubs, and he’s certainly glad he got the chance to meet them. Etho’s more comfortable around humans and other land creatures than ever, and he knows he’ll be safe with Bdubs by his side. xB is surprised he’s enjoying being social, after having kept to himself for so long. Keralis can’t believe he’s found a community this great as a result of his chance encounter with xB all that time ago.

.

For as long as the waves crash on the ocean shore, the trees of the forest grow tall and lush, the rivers flow from the mountaintops, and balance is maintained, the creatures of fantasy will live on. Human influence may have stressed their habitats and defences, but their little corners of the world are their fortresses of safety. So long as peace is kept, their communities thrive.

Whatever may be out there, whether it be giant creatures below the earth, small creatures you can barely see, something hiding in plain sight… Or perhaps new friends of scales, feathers, shell, or kindly human. Not everything will be discovered, who knows what might be out there.

You’ve just got to be a friend to the unknown.