of the waves.

     “ oh -- ” lifting her head, serena let out a small gasp as a reaction to see the woman, not expecting to meet her here of all the places. “ princess ! ” exclaimed the mermaid, a grin spreading fast. everyone knew how lucien was nothing less than a father to serena and it was also a known fact that anyone who meant the slightest bit to him would automatically appreciated by the merprincess too. “ i wasn’t expecting to see you, what a pleasant surprise. why are you here ? ”

     “ well, you’re ... you ! anything shall be expected. ” serena exclaimed, her voice holding such affection that it was so, so rare to hear from her. in all honesty, the people who got it from her could be counted by the amount of fingers she had in both hands, maybe even on one. “ yeah we haven’t. i hope you’ve got a make-up gift for that somewhere. ” she grinned, not really meaning it but it was serena after all - who could really know ? “ so tell me ... is everything alright ? ” she didn’t want to say much more even if she wanted to, not knowing if daniella had talked to him or not yet, but her gaze remained curious nevertheless.

     “ huh ? ” she hummed. “ honey, it’s not much of a problem right now, but that doesn’t mean you will not regret nor foreseeing it. ” she commented, taking a sip of her drink, the sleeves of her elegant dress moving up to reveal shiny lilac-blue scales reaching up to her inner sides of her arms when she brought the straw to her lips. “ i said seaweed. mixed in baby’s breath and aloe vera, i hear it does wonders. ” she then tilted her head to the side, pleased with how easily she got her name -- and even where her loyalties laid in. “ the pride hm ? it’s been a while since i last met a werecat. what do you turn into ? ”

     “ really ? ” she raised her eyebrows, looking back at the flowers for a moment before a smile spread across her lips. “ guess i got that from you. ” she looked up at lucien, a proud look on her face. linking her arm with his, she tried to move him towards the garden. “ stay for a bit, will you ? we can work on the garden together and talk a bit ? please. ”

     “ mhm. ” serena hummed as a reply, having forgotten about all the chaos and misery for the moment now that lucien was here, a smile plastered on her face. “ a girl gotta keep herself busy and i realized it’s been a long while since i did this. ” as she could recall, the last time was also with lucien, who taught her all she knew about gardening. when he used his magic she grinned, shaking her head. “ oh -- you know i love cheating with magic. ” 

     “ trust me, minion, ” hissed serena, eyes taking an almost red-ish deep pink, threatening in the glint. “ keep talking and you will see why. ”

     “ hey, he’s pretty sensible. ” especially compared to her, that is. “ but ... i am afraid of the lengths he’d go for sometimes ... for some. ” while she didn’t want to be her arrogant self in this matter, she had a feeling if it came down to it, markus would sacrifice himself to keep her safe and that alone was enough to make her chest tighten in fear. 

     “ oh ? ” serena mumbled, looking quite surprised. “ it is almost impossible not to learn about how efficient it is on the skin once you’ve done some digging ... ” she trailed off before gasping dramatically. “ -- wait, have you not been looking into that problem of yours ?? ” expression quickly changing, serena then grinned, raising a brow. “ princess serena of the oceans. but it is ‘your highness’ to you. ” she said with a straight face before waving a hand and giggling. “ just kidding ! you are free to call me serena. now ... your name ? ”

@mcrkvsn

     how did he do that -- still remained by her side despite every single bad thing that came along with being in her life alone -- was beyond serena’s understanding and she had a feeling that centuries could pass and she would still remain in awe. leaning into his touch she quietly sobbed, still too shaken up but now slightly calmer by his touch. the stormy sea in her eyes sharply turning into the familiar violets as soon as she looked back at him, two more tears ran down her cheeks. “ i -- ” she mumbled, trying to fight it, trying to fight for his well being, but she was too tired. and as selfish as it was, markus was the one real feeling she ever had in all her life, she couldn’t be without him now. heart thudding loudly she collapsed into his arms, letting herself bask in his presence. sobs ripping from her chest, she buried her face against his neck, fists clasping his shirt weakly. “ markus ... ”

     too focused on the task of taking care of the flower decorations outside of markus’ place that she decided to work on and distract herself from real life, at first she failed to recognize who was calling out to her. “ hm ? ” raising her head, she dropped the scissors in her hand immediately, running towards the seelie prince. “ dad... ”