Wadanohara♪

The pain was still there but his tail was moving around like a dog’s. It was the part that showed how he felt in this situation and he was excited to the core! 

“I’m not a guppy but fine. I don’t think I’ll mind that anyway– at least, in the beginning. If it’s the same every time, it might get… no, not really.” 

“Guppy’s a nickname, don’t get your fin in a knot. I can come up worse if you’d prefer.” 

A small bit of scorn in her voice, she flashed the other a look. Shaking her head once more, Feferi puffed, gills flaring out. Ugh, boys. There wasn’t a good retort, so she simply squashed his hand, spinning about to snag the other, walking backward, and smiling that sharp-toothed smile. 

Dissolving into some little blubs, her eyes rolled, head tipping back with a jangle of jewelry, exposing a soft throat, lined with gills for just a moment. The openings flapped open and shut, no water to line the bright fuchsia flesh. Sal’s smile was persistent, and she was half tempted to wipe it off, but restrained herself with a sigh, settling for digging her nails into his palm. 

One hard tug, and she was marching him out of the public area, moving a little too fast to be comfortable. Licking her lips for a moment, her head swiveled back to check that he hadn’t fallen flat on his face, 

The pain was still there but his tail was moving around like a dog’s. It was the part that showed how he felt in this situation and he was excited to the core! 

“I’m not a guppy but fine. I don’t think I’ll mind that anyway-- at least, in the beginning. If it’s the same every time, it might get... no, not really.” 

It was a simple explanation, and really, she was a little miffed about the doubts. Shaking her head once, her fingers came to flutter into her hair. Puffing up a bit to size the other up, her chin tilted, eyes cool and frosted with a particular field of emotion she couldn’t name. Excitement was present, but pulsing in her chest where her heart should have been. 

The hand in her’s made her pause, reconsider, think. Finally, a few small motions, and she squeezed. It was nothing gently, she squeezed with a bone crushing grip, and dug her nails into his palm without hesitation. 

“Absolutely  not there. Hmph! Are you trying to bore me with that sort of glubbing? Somewhere betta, of course– walls are alwaves fun, sturdy.” 

He laughed at the fact that she was trying to make herself taller. He was already scared of her! That was why he liked her so much. Maybe scared wasn’t the right word. He wanted to see blood drip from her stomach down to her legs. This was the best he felt ever since he’s been stuck in here! He wanted this feeling to last and for the pain to keep going-- wait, there was pain.

He looked at her hand gripping his tight and the smile became bigger. He didn’t feel much to begin with except love and adoration. Pain was the best way to show love-- at least, in his mind it is. However, it did hurt and he winced, breaking the spell of false smiles on his face. Damn, that actually hurt. Can he return the favor?

Wadda-ko skipping suddenly skidded to a halt as she was in front of the door of a castle, yet her iron grip was still grabbing on to his hand. She looked back at the shark as she started opening the door, giggling at his questions and just simply dragged him in. She would gladly explain over some prosciutto!

A loud ‘click!’ was heard when the lights turned on in the castle once the door slammed shut behind them. The door locking…but of course she’s not going to tell Sal about that. “A break~? Okay Sal! Here, sit down sit down!” Wadda-ko just pushed Sal down on this couch…and sat right on his lap. Just casually sitting on his lap facing him. What, it’s rude to face away from someone when you’re talking to them! Her curly tail bobbed a little as she had a perfectly innocent smile to her face.

“Here you go~!”

It took Sal a few minutes to realize she was on him. Normally, he would enjoy this but after that...  He wanted to rest.

Yet,  no words could come out. They were trapped in his throat. Now that he had a closer look at her, he wasn’t sure if telling her to get off was the right thing to say. If her grip was enough to make him feel like he had bruises all over, what would happen afterwards?

Don’t be scared, he thought as he put his hands around the person ( was it a person even ) waist. Just lie! And so he did, with his smile although the fear was still there deep inside barriers of deceit. 

“Ah! Hello hello!”

Someone new! How exciting!

Wadda-ko’s nose twitched a little as she continued to smell the scent of the stranger, skipping closer to the other with a happy and excited smile to her face. Someone new, someone strange, someone different~! How fun! The humanoid mogeko didn’t care for personal space as she moved close enough to pop a personal space bubble, sniffing over him and circling him.

“You’re in Mogeko Forest, Sal!” How did she know his name? You won’t get a proper answer. “This beautiful forest leads to the even more beautiful Mogeko Castle~! Come come, you should come visit us! The mogekos would be sooo excited to see a new face, and we might be able to play! And have lots and lots of fun~.”

“W-Wait-- I said wait!” 

He tried to pulled back but it was useless; the grip was enough to tear off his own arm. Could a shark even be scared of what was going to happen? It was the first time he heard of it and he hoped he could find a good end for this. What did she even say in that rush of words and movement? Also, was that a tail? If this was a normal moment, he would have tried to look up the other’s dress already but he was just heavily confused.

“What are mogekos, what’s Mogeko Castle and what’s--- oh.” The oh was directed at the extravagant castle and the bodies he occasionally saw. Of course, it wasn’t as great as the Red Sea but he wished he would be heard. He was sure his neat clothes were ruined by the many times he almost fell  and he was breathing heavily. He may be fast underwater but above that, it felt like miles passed by in a blink of an eye. 

“I... Let’s take a break before we play, okay? Please!

Head shaking once, she focused on the other once more, fingers coming back to tousle dark hair, letting curls slip around her nimble fingers. How to respond? Lost in her questions, the heiress finally did clear her throat. 

“Of course I bleed! Tyrian’s my color, runs through my blood tunnels, the most royal of colors, for a heiress, of course.” 

She wasn’t much of a beggar, but it felt good to cheese this guy off. 

“Any neck ripping, limp yanking or anything else fishy is going to get my foot up in your breeding sack. I’ll turn the glubbing thing inside-out if you even dare, that goes for that fin too.” 

Ah threats. Unless in danger, they wouldn’t be used, scare tactics were particularly spectacular in that regard. Sizing him up, she matched his own smile with one of hypodermic teeth, sharp and gleaming. Fingers folding, twisting and convening, she finally took a small breath to respond. 

He felt warm inside at those words and he took a step towards her again. He must have looked like he wanted to eat her! Not at all; in his case, he wanted to hear more of those delectable words. If those words were a weak fish or witch, he would have gobbled them all up! 

Sal was right in front of her now with there barely a space between them. Scare tactics only attracted him more to where he wanted it. He felt it and that was all he needed to make sure it was okay. That it was right to follow it! Oh, how bad he was as an ambassador without his princess around. 

“Want to try under the place I said the twin was in or how about somewhere else?”

Talk, talk talk! A small puff of air escaped her lips, gills flapping open, then shut against her sides. Hate was a rather odd thing for a woman like Feferi, but there was no point in simply not explaining, especially because the other seemed to be so full  of it. 

“It’s like, an arch-rivalry, your partner and you, you hate each other so much, that it transcends the normal bounds of being antagofishstick! There’s lines though, like, you can’t kill them, or maim them– but you can bite and make fun of and just be an overall bass, not abusive, but just a bass. Usually there’s mackin’ too.”

Antagofishstick might have been pushing it a little on the puns, but she didn’t particularly care.  The other seemed awfully annoyed by something, probably talk of his brother, if she had to explain it. 

“It’s not love- you care aboat them sometimes, but like, you don’t love them. They’re your’s, in some twisted way, and you’re there for each other when the tides get stormy! Still with the biting and the rudeness, though.” 

Feferi laughed softly, shortly, fins fluttering back and forth with the motions of her gills. The freckled skin of her neck was a little paler than that of her face and shoulders, though, that was only natural by the way of pigment in the skin. Once more, a slender chin tipped upwards, remaining graceful, though her hand shot out to catch his wrist. 

“It’s somefin like what you’re doing.”

Briefly, her fingernails dug into the skin of his wrist, gouging for a few moments, before her hand retreated, folding gently with the other. Regal, royal- picture perfect fishy princess. Observing the motions and body language, her own expression softened with amusement.  

“Oh, I just thought about ripping your neck and I got so excited that I was carried away! Oops? Not really but I guess you’re right on that being what i’m doing now. It’s what I always do to people honestly but it’s never sent back in return. Isn’t that just so sad?”

He moved his wrist as he talked to see if he could make it worse and he just sighed as the emotions ran out of him. From how this interaction is going, it felt like he would get nothing return too! That was sad to him and honestly, that sadness showed in a state of bittersweet boredom.

“How about this?” A pair of shark teeth smiled as he clapped his hands together and he jumped a step towards her. 

“It’s called blackrom sometimes, if that’s easier for you. I can’t pronounce some words humans use, so it’s even. But, it’s a special, special kind of hate- with some attraction involved. It’s supposed to help make you betta, you hate each other, and bite the krill out of each other, but there’s lines, and you care about each other? It’s hard to explain.” 

Another chuckle at the twin thing, before she shakes her head once, jewelry clinging together, cold against her neck. The gills aren’t hidden underneath it, those are on her sides, under the shirt, that’s something she’s rather thankful for. Would it be a rude trick, to use those to her advantage? 

“It has to be special, not just anger and comtempt! –And I like your brother, I don’t like you.” 

She smirked at that, tilting her head up a tad. 

“Hate? How can it be special when it’s just hate It just can’t! Hate is hate, love is love and lust is lust. Although there’s always lust and love becoming the same... Hm, I don’t think I could ever love someone I hate!” 

Now, that was a downright lie but he doesn’t want to admit it out loud. Love is love and hate is hate, like he said. Too bad he loves everything to the point where he just wants to see blood spill from their neck.

It went like that right now. He didn’t love her personality or the fact that she favors Samekichi over him. He didn’t really care for her at all. It was just the fact that she likes his twin that he claws gently at the spaces between the jewelry. 

It wasn’t enough to leave a mark but it did do some of the job. It left faint marks on her neck which easily disappeared. They weren’t that deep to begin with but it could. He could easily take off his gloves so it could be easier to scratch and scratch and scratch at that space between the gold jewelry!

It was strange though; he was so silent and it seemed like he was treating her with great care. Yet, he was just confused in what she just told him and if he could rip out her necklace and use it to tear at her insides.

Wadda-ko was getting bored…oh so bored! She already played with the Mogekos, what else could she even do? The girl sighed and sat up a little from her laying position on the floor, getting tired of just blindly staring up at the ceiling and occasionally kicking a mogeko away when they tried to crawl up her skirt. She’s surprisingly not in the mood for any of that!

The girl jumped up and skipped her way out of the castle, humming as she headed towards the woods to look for something, anything to do. But as she was skipping along, she saw white. Just a suddenly completely white figure standing in the woods. Smelled like shark…mm…shark fin soup sounds delicious right now.

Sal isn’t that used of being unprepared. He has a plan for every situation but that was in the Blue and Red Sea. Now, here he is in a forest with himself and.. whatever that building was. He’s walking to it like a moth to a flame but he’s hoping he won’t regret it later on. 

He’s pulled away from his thoughts when he hears a sound and he sees... What? He stays still to check if that is her but no. It’s.. completely different. This is so confusing but he doesn’t mind! A new person means that he can pretend he knows everything, that he can put on a act and just slip into the role.

“Hello! Do you know where I’m at right now?”

“Black romance, stupid– it’s called a kismesissitude, or the caliginous quadrant. It’s this whole thing based on mutual hatred, seems like somefin that you’d like. But, it’s normal in my culture, just like having a matesprit!” 

“K-kis..mesi--Kismesissitude. Why make such a big word when you can call it hate? It seems more easier than that and i’m not stupid for not knowing. Again, we don’t have that in my sea nor the other sea~ Ah, so mean! Maybe punching my twin might help with that?”

“Actually, he’s been brought up too much. Let’s stop with that.”

His voice becomes cold and it’s obvious his personality shifted to something else. He rolls his neck and tries his best to escape the feeling of feeling inadequate. He tries his best to smile through the thoughts and he goes to move his hand slowly up at her arm. He remembers how the skin feels-- not like he can, with the gloves he’s been wearing but they help make a nice sound when they finally reach up to her neck. 

« Say what makes you sleep better when the night comes, Sal. »

She wanted to hit him, down there, irrationally there. She wanted to lash and scream, to call out what a piece of trash he was and curse him –oh, if only she had more experience, or even all of her magic. If only she could actually do something to silence that large, teethed mouth still blabbering and trying to make its way to her brain.

« I won’t hit you. I am not a child, Sal –I never was. My innocence and kindness doesn’t necessarily make me weak, and a good witch always knows when it’s the moment to hex someone for what they’ve done. And it’s not now –not when I proved how the destiny chosen by a sleeping God, even if it’s my King, can be changed for the better. »

A pause.

« You hurt me. You used me. This is why I am telling you to stay away from me. »

“Do you see the world like me now?”

With that question, his expression changes to one he would consider weak. His teeth aren’t shown anymore as he closes his mouth and he frowns at the question. He isn’t going to like the answer and he knows this. He tries to not pay attention to it but now, it’s nagging at his mind like a nail in a head.

Speaking of a head, he tilts his own to the side at that other question. There’s a look of genuine confusion before he hides it with a grin. It would be bad to show enemies companions other faces when it’s his true self they’re talking to, after all! Yet, what’s a true self anyway? It’s been so long of faking that he doesn’t even remember. 

“I guess I did.”