Artists @ Work

Slow eddies rippled past Palaemon as he swam through the clear, crystal waters of his home. It was just another long, endless day in his immortal life, one that would no doubt be spent as it always was; searching for those that needed his help. It was the same task that the gods had given him all those years ago; he was to find humans that were lost at sea, drowning, or otherwise about to die in his waters, and save them. While at first it had been a worthy goal, the older he had grown, the more weary his task seemed. Day in and day out, it was always the same: Find the human. Watch the human panic at the sight of him. Soothe the human. Save the human. Wipe away their memories. It was all the same, for the years, decades, centuries of his life.

On this day, the fish were whispering about a strange creature nearby. It was hurt, they whispered as they swam by him, darted through the floating tendrils of his dark hair. It needed help.

While saving creatures other than humans wasn’t unheard of, Palaemon was surprised; it was unusual that the fish called something within their waters strange. Then again, perhaps it was just a piece of human equipment, or a land animal that had somehow fallen off of a boat. Resigned to this, Palaemon followed them through the water.

His nose wrinkled at the initial sight. Something was twisted up in a long fisherman’s net. How horrible. He had always hated the things; they caught and killed many of his friends. As he swam closer and closer to the net, whatever was caught in it turned to face him, and then-

He was lost.

Stunned, he stared at a creature that was so, so similar to himself. Although the stranger’s skin was much paler than his own, and his tail was stouter, and in differing shades of emerald and aqua whilst his own was serpentine, and covered in glittering golden scales, he was like him. The fact that another creature like himself existed left him in such a stupor that he barely heard the other’s greetings.

“Oi, mate! You can hear me, right? Helllooooo?” The stranger attempted to wave his hand, only to get it more tangled up in the net.

“I… My apologies.” Palaemon managed to reply, shaking himself out of his fog. “I… One moment.” Without any trace of his usual grace, he managed to pull out the dagger strapped to his waist and cut the other out, careful not to knick his skin. The stranger breathed a sigh of evident relief, easily breaking free of the shreds of rope.

“Thanks for that. Those little fishy friends of yours are useful messengers, eh?” The stranger grinned, sticking a finned hand out at him. “Thanks for the save! Name’s Kai. S’a pleasure!”

Momentarily surprised, Palaemon blinked at the hand, then glanced back up at the stranger. This was… Certainly new. With a slight, strange warmth bubbling up in his chest, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had finally found a way to break out of the monotony his life had become. Slowly, he reached forward, taking the other merman’s hand and firmly shaking it.

Sure, why not?

"So how are you liking the beach?"

Mark's smile was soft and there was a longing look in his eyes that was visible even through the webcam, despite the fact that the slightly grainy look of it did him absolutely no justice.

"The food's great. Though the view would be much improved if I saw a certain actor lounging naked on the beach..."

After knowing him for so long, Robert could tell that he was blushing, more from the tone in his voice than the terrible video quality.

"Having more fantasies about Scarlett? I keep telling you, her and Jeremy make a much cuter couple."

"I said actor, not actress."

"Fine. Hemsworth is married, you know."

"I was talking about someone who's not nine feet tall and practically a demigod."

"Evans, then?"

Robert shook his head at that, unable to help but grin at his lover. The banter between them was always spot on.

"You know who I'm talking about."

"Right, Tom, then."

A shared chuckle, then a moment of silence- the type of odd, calm silence that Robert was unable to find anywhere else, where he was content for once to just sit there and allow his bustling mind to be calmed... Mark always did bring out the best in him.

"You're going to be home soon, right?"

"Yeah. Another week or so, then I'll be up and at em on that anti-fracking hippie thing of yours."

Mark just snorted and rolled his eyes, though Robert could definitely see the smile tugging on his lips.

"Its not a hippie thing. And hurry up."

"I will, I promise. Love you.""Love you more."

Dedicated to comuto- I've noticing you've been down lately, my friend, so I worked extra hard to get this up to cheer you on!!! You're incredibly talented, and one cool chick- I only wish I knew you in real life so we could hug and gossip about our feels! 

Of course Mark should’ve seen this coming.

Don’t get him wrong; He counted Robert as one of his best friends. They had worked well on their first film together, Zodiac, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to finally be working with him again. Hell, if it wasn’t for Robert, he wouldn’t even be in the Avengers.

Yet as the actor went on and on and rooftop partied and drinks and the script and who knew what else, the mild mannered actor found himself wanting to strangle the man.

‘How is he not tired?’ His weary mind wondered as he eyed the talkative man beside him, head resting against the car window as Robert talked and talked. It had been a tough day of filming with some very emotionally draining scenes (the subtle way Bruce admitted he had always wanted children truly tugged at his heartstrings), yet his friend was carrying on as if he had just drank a Red Bull.

Maybe he had.

Though Mark hadn’t put much thought into such sugary drinks before, he began to wonder if maybe he should try some himself, and what would Bruce be like if he drank some, but then he realized it’d be a terrible idea that would only result in an over stimulated Hulk and…

The next thing he knew, he was being pushed onto a bed with someone ripping his clothes off.

“Noooooo…” he groaned, trying to push down his weariness to fight the attacker away. All he managed was to bat uselessly at his assailant’s hands as they pulled off his pants.

“Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up.”

Squinting against the too bright light, Mark managed to make out Robert’s face looming above him, maybe a tad too close for comfort.

“Too bad, I was really looking forward to kissing you.”

Mark merely groaned in reply, too tired to push him away despite the fact that his closeness was starting to unnerve him- that and the fact that he was naked.

“Where are my clothes?”

“On the ground.”

“………Why?”

“Because you need to sleep.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with-“

“I certainly don’t want to sleep in some old jeans, no matter how comfy they are.” Robert matter of factly replied, cutting him up as he finally moved away. Somewhere, the light was turned off, and Mark gave a sigh of relief at the darkness that descended on what he supposed was Robert’s hotel room. Which only served to remind him that he was, in fact, lying naked and defenseless on a bed in a pitch black room with the notorious Robert Downey Jr.

“Why am I-“

“You fell asleep in the car, and I didn’t feel like waking you up to ask where your place is. You need your beauty sleep for the fight scene with Hemsworth tomorrow, right?”

Oh yeah. He forgot about that.

The thought was nearly distracting enough for him not to notice when he was pulled into a pair of warm, comforting arms, the familiar scent of coffee and lingering cologne surrounding him.

“Why are you naked too?”

“Didn’t want you to feel left out.”

At that Mark couldn’t help but laugh, and he finally relaxed in Robert’s arms. It wasn’t as bad as he had first thought. They were, after all, just friends, and Robert was just looking out for him…

“Now shut up and go to sleep. I don’t want you falling asleep into your veggie shawarma tomorrow, Mark Buffalo.” Rob teased, sending Mark into another fit of sleepy giggles.

“Fine, Robert Clowney… Frowney… Lowney…”

“Shut up and sleep.”

“Yessir.”

Finally complying (Robert really did get everything he wanted, didn’t he?), Mark closed his eyes, beginning to doze.

After an hour or so, he could’ve sworn he felt a pair of lips press against his forehead, a beard tickle his skin as someone whispered a near silent “I love you.”

Wow, first (real) post, and it isn't a story. Hah.

The fanfictions should be up soon, guys, but for now, enjoy a cake baked in the shape of Russia's national flower!!

Perfect, a Homestuck reference. Just the thing to open up this blog.

Anyway, friends, from now on, I'll will pester you silly with drabbles, one shots, and the very occasional multi-chapter story. Most will be fanfictions of some sort (particularly Homestuck, Hetalia, or nerdy comic books such as Batman), with the very, very rare original piece rearing its ugly head.

Iwillbe taking requests, just so you know. Mainly Homestuck, again, and probably only Midnight Crew. I can't help but love those mobsters.

Especially Droog.

If you can't tell.

But I digress. Nice to finally be on tumblr, pals, and I hope this'll turn out as entertaining as it looks!!