queen mera

( UWS GIFT EXCHANGE ) 

agent nineteen doctor morse

" OBVIOUSLY. ”   It’s a show of good will, to hide any irony in the hand offered to help the other up. That can be saved in the slight arch of her brow.    “    I would assume this is just a minor misunderstanding.    ”

HABIT DICTATES A GENERAL WARINESS OF ANYONE IDENTIFYING THEMSELVES AS PRESS.   (    Though the company she keeps while surface side may indicate otherwise.    )    Too many instances of being mis-identified have made such an attitude certain.

(    So help her if she’s called the Little Mermaid one more time.    )

Still, the other woman isn’t wrong.

“    Yes,    ”    Mera agrees,    “   The ones forgotten, I find, fit the bill most of all.    ”

Continued from here Kaldur tried not to be outwardly taken aback by the offer, but it crashed down on him like a ton of bricks. Just the weight of that responsibility alone… “But I’m a soldier,” he tried arguing. “And not even the highest ranking among my peers. Would appointing me be appropriate?” 

Part him also wanted to bring up Garth, but foisting responsibility onto a friend, especially something this heavy, was too cowardly and underhanded for hims to stomach actually doing. In addition, Mera and Arthur must’ve already considered all their options before coming him, meaning at the current moment, he was their best, if not only choice. Kaldur knew he ultimately had to accept, for the sake of his mentors and all of Atlantis, but he small, childish part of him still wanted to delay just a little longer.

IT WASN’T A DECISION MADE LIGHTLY       leading in any world comes with many to make, all with their own weight. More inclined to the natural order of where they were raised than most, Mera still shakes away his concerns.    “    The circumstances don’t call for the usual procedure.    ”

he asks too much of mera. 

it’s not a point of contention,  or question even. it’s fact. and has been for more than a decade now — arguably their entire lives. yet here she remains,  rarely careful with her learned considerations in favor of remaining as blunt as a boulder. meant to either ground him below the surface or keep his head above the waves. 

That’s your vision,  guiding them. 

them and their visions. of grandeur,  of destruction,  annihilation and pestilence and prosper and all promised to come true with vague enough detail for support. arthur isn’t soured by this small reminder;  every movement to appease a mass unwilling to accept him as their king so far had been … mild,  at worst. he played into their traditions when not archaic,  he brought them kicking and screaming from the dark ages towards the twentieth century. this ? this would take every ounce of political capital he had remaining within the courts,  mera’s apprehension built in the same blunt foundation he’d done nothing but admire. 

so he smiles down at her. drinks in that laugh like a man drowning and returns it in kind until your vision retreats toward the back of his mind.  “  okay,  alright got it wrong once or twice. learned mighty quick to keep you around JUST in case i start lookin’ like a jackass though.  ”

arthur’s hands flow from the delicate curve of her neck down her shoulders until taking up mera’s,  tracing circles over war - spent knuckles.  “  we should head to the hidden kingdom before word gets out that some wizard was made privy on atlantean business. especially one the old maids have been harping about for years.  ”  the swim made FAR easier with their claims to the sea and its inhabitants. given the time of day,  they’d make it there by nightfall,  or early rise for the trench.  “ atlan buried his secrets there,  maybe that nerdy nose’uh yours’ll sniff something useful out.  ”

THE MAKINGS OF WHAT WAS CERTAIN TO BE       an impeccable comeback are quieted by Arthur’s gentle movements. Like hands flowing through water, he manages to dismantle every last ounce of argument in her.  They learned each other this way, through trial and error flowing through a deeper understanding they are even now still working to fully realize. For whatever counter-point they offer each other, balance remains. Something solid after so much of their lives had been spent trying to stake claim in something of their own.  

“    My nose is not nerdy.    ”

Arthur maps their course and Mera follows with a nod.    (    Ancient magic is kept best among their forgotten kingdoms, this in particular claimed by sand.    )    But apprehension grows somewhere in a tucked away memory, a root she hadn’t quite carved out, though she did leave it neglected for some time. 

IT’S EASY ENOUGH TO FEIGN       some misunderstanding of what she doesn’t like.    (    As a matter of fact, it’s a trick that has gotten her out of quite a few certain customs she had no interest in trying.   )    Though he’s no stranger to this trick, either.    “    Where I come from, joke’s are meant to be funny.    ”

Kaldur stilled for a moment, scrutinized Mera’s expression and posture carefully for a moment, then finally relented, frowning. “I think I may have heard about this curse,” he said finally, pursing his lips. “Though I had thought it only the vile rumors of the petty and jealous.”

And for it to be enough for such exceptional monarchs to loose favour in the court…the backwardness of the his people has surprised and disappointed him once more. “Is there anything I can do to assist in maintaining order for the time being?”

THE DIFFICULTIES IN NAVIGATING AROUND       the more backwards notions held by some that reside in Atlantis is typically a cause for mild frustration.    (    Raised among it, Mera often finds herself more understanding of those stuck in their ways.    )    But the potential ramifications of a few well-placed fear-mongers is cause for concern.   “    In this instance the rumors of the vile and the petty have struck their own oasis.    ”

—————  their story is rife with it,  but their story was not about profound failure. and sometimes,  with his hand caught beneath tender gesture,  the reminder that was mera staring up at him served to calm him in a way only she’s ever managed. arthur’s edges are made blunt,  and the plead across his face softens as that same hand curves around her soft jaw until landing behind her neck.

he did not move without her.

but he was right about this. a place,  his instinct maybe,  or that always calling voice of the sea told him as much.

“  we are NOT —  ”  the low rumble carries further in water,  arthur careful to readjust his tone. old habits,  “  going back to children as political bargaining chips.  ”  especially when he can already hear the old bags of their council harping on about some curse in his lineage as the sole cause of mera’s mad queen rampage that inevitably destroys their world. what ground did that gain them in actuality? half their people satisfied with guarantees of the future,  half disavowing mera as their queen after dedicating her life serving them. 

“  dealing in the what if’s. those hardly ever served us any good,  just gave ‘em a way to keep the door open on more demands. i think we should move as we always do : be their guides.  ”  sealed with a kiss pressed against mera’s head,  dipped down until their noses were resting against the other. his smile is hard to keep contained,  “  besides,  when have i ever been wrong?  ”

WHAT ONCE WOULD HAVE BEEN VIEWED AS A FAILURE       is soothed in the fluid way he tracks his path to drawing her closer. Her world had always been so small, despite the vastness of a kingdom she felt moved to protect. Even if their ruling territory were to begin and end with the boundaries of their lighthouse, pressed against the life inside the ocean itself opened up before her. Always thinking three maneuvers ahead, her worrying mind can wander. It’s stilled here. 

(   Those who would seek to decipher who among them held the true power always had missed the point.    )

Attention paid to the advancement of two disjointed worlds left little time to real family planning. A child, not of their blood, but loved fiercely all the same. A prophecy, a distant threat from those in Atlantis fearful of any change, had been nothing but a nuisance in the back of her mind until now. Now, when years of prosperity needed insurances. When hard work and blood spilled for the sake of the protection of their people suddenly was not enough. She was versed in the trading of children as political fodder. For the all respect that was paid to Atlantis’ history, there were paths they couldn’t entertain any longer.    “    That’s your vision, guiding them.    ”

Melting even further into the shelter he offers, Mera sighs.    “    What’s a curse after all we’ve accomplished?    ”

❝     OH, I NOTICED.     ❞     Stephen takes the proffered tea, nodding with an appropriate amount of respect toward the royal currently occupying his study. 

(     Borders are etched by the conquests of yesterday’s worst atrocities, and Stephen does not think for one moment that Atlantis has somehow been immune to the bloodshed it takes to establish a nation. History is the memory of states, Henry Kissinger wrote ; we must not accept the memory of states as our own, Howard Zinn countered.     )

❝     Why am I interested in an unbreakable curse that latches onto bloodlines until it has wiped them clean off the face of the earth before moving onto its next victims, thus rendering it capable of reshaping entire dynasties as it goes     ?     Well, Days of Our Lives is on a mid - season hiatus and I suppose I got bored.     ❞

He sets the thin teacup down into its saucer, irritated by the way it knocks against the porcelain several times during its slow, deliberate descent.

❝     Prophecies don’t account for curses, your majesty. Prophecies represent Order, neat and tidy and clean. Curses are … Chaos.     ❞

Stephen Strange does not deal in Chaos.

IF GUILT TAKES HOLD,       over the fact she had sat on any notion of a curse for so long, it isn’t apparent in her passive gaze.    (    Most royal lineages had magical blood, her mother’s passing while birthing twins had been nothing more than a coincidence, all things easily excused away.    )    Mera takes a sip of her own tea, studying the man across from her for a moment longer.

Even after all this time there is a certain hesitation in trusting anyone beyond a circle of the trusted. Perhaps especially after all this time, that is the case. With a sigh, she relents.

“    Our kingdom deals in prophecies with some regularity. It becomes white noise when they change so frequently, and when the subject matter seems to always be what will bring about the demise of our civilization. The Widowhood has been circling this for some time.    ”

A SYMPATHETIC SMILE       takes hold. Her gentle heart doesn’t always bleed through in such moments, but for him she makes an exception.    “    Unfortunately, this is not a trick.    ”

❝ 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴, 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴. ❞

𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙴𝙴, 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴    either. Everyone changes, it’s an entirely commonplace phenomenon where true stagnancy DOESN’T EXIST and personalities adapt to altering circumstance. 

Her sentiment isn’t lost on Lois.

❛     Is that why you’ve chosen this hero-ing business? There’s a lot of love to be found in protecting others .    ❜

sentence starter for @atlanqueen​

THOUGH DIFFICULT TO DECIPHER       as your nose is pressed to it, acknowledging the moments in which life irrevocably changes allows for true growth to occur.      (      She likes Lois, plain as it could be in the exchange of wisdom      ).      “      All vocations are labors of love. You know that as well as I do.      ”

STEPHEN HAS VERY CLEARLY LOST ALL HOPE OF CONTINUING HIS WORK UNDISTURBED,     as evidenced by the way he lets the book in front of him close in on itself and disappear like an antacid tablet dissolving in water.

❝     I surely need the Omega-3’s, just as you surely do not.     ❞     Deadpanned as he resigns himself to Mera’s company for the foreseeable future. But as the options she lays out unfurl a new set of questions, Stephen finds himself leaning back more comfortably.

❝     Now that is interesting.     ❞     He conjures up some tea, steaming all of a sudden on the coffee table between them.     ❝     What did your husband     — —     the King     — —     tell you     ?     ❞

NOTHING IF NOT POLITE ,       years of diplomacy dictating as such, she inches forward to pour them both a cup of tea as it is presented to them. A willingness for information over the exchange of swipes also plays a role in her tamped down annoyance at another willful misunderstanding towards the way in which her people live. 

“    My husband is a great man, he doesn’t have a talent for the minute details in recall.    ”