#julianxreader

The two large windows did nothing to block out the morning light. It drifted past the gold threaded curtains to the bed where it awoke you with a gentle press against your eyelids. Opening your eyes to the expensively adorned room and not the quaint cozy one you are accustomed too located above the shop, you Remember your weekend stay at the palace.

you stifle a yawn as you slightly stretch you smile at the groggy voice that mumbles beside you. “Please tell me that light isn’t the sun and you’re not getting out of bed” you let out a soft laugh, running a hand through disheveled crimson hair. “Unfortunately it is And it’s Not just me getting up you know ” Julian shakes his head grumbling as he reaffirms his arm around your waist. You push back the hair that fell into his face, he always looked good but there was something about his features when he was relaxed like this that made your stomach flutter. “we both have meetings with Nadia and the court today”

he nuzzles further into you refusing to let you go. You laugh again “your already awake,julian” you shift beside him, “in more ways than one I see” you say feeling him pressed against you as much as you can feel his smile on your skin. He lets out A playful whine. “Exactly the reason why we should stay in bed longer.” His head pops up from his hiding spot against you, starting to kiss your neck “don’t you agree?” You sigh at the feeling closing your eyes feeling the warmth from him and the morning sun.

“We can’t be late julian” you try to sound assertive but fail when he kisses your sweet spot, letting out a moan. He continues his light kisses, hand moving down to hold your thigh. “We won’t be. Nadia arranged for someone to come tell us when we need to get ready.” His lips finally meet yours, speaking between kisses. “So technically. We won’t be late. And have. Plenty of. time” you Hum as you kiss him back, matching his slow intoxicating pace.

your hands go over his shoulders having your arms around his neck. You both were already breathing heavily, heat travels through your body. But an idea pops into your head making you smile. “Plenty of time?” He lazily kisses your chin and jaw responding with a hum “mmhmm”. a hand goes to his hair at the base of his head twirling it around your finger. “how about a challenge?” This halts his movements, hands by your waist. pushing away slightly to fully face you.

“Challenge?” He asks eyebrows raised a smirk already forming onto his lips,seeing that glimmer in your eyes “My dear, do tell what is going on through that pretty head of yours” you tilt your head slightly, looking up at him eyes scanning his face. Your right fingertips softly go up and down his lean back, feeling him shiver lightly under your touch “Well seeing that you are certain that we have enough time and eager for” your left hand glides over his chest, going down his stomach, causing Julian’s breathing to change. “Assistance.” You smirk hand stoping above his underwear band.

“I’ll provide it for you” Julian eyes widen at your words and looks down at your finger hooked onto his waistband. you lift his gaze up back to you with a finger under his chin. Pupils already dilated with need looking at you with curiosity wanting to know what you will ask of him in return, knowing how much you love to play with him. “Yes?” He musters to say in a calm tone. The corner of your lips lifts up as your eyes follow your hand down the side of his smooth neck already blooming pink, focusing your gaze back on him. “You have to finsh before the servants knock on the door. If you don’t” you turn your head slightly against the pillow, looking up at him. “Then I’m afraid you will have a very frustrating morning, won’t you?”

Julian suppressed a moan, trying to not admit how incredibly truned on he was at your proposal. Even if it meant potentially not finding relief he did not care. hot blood rushed through him making his mind fuzzy. How was it that, although he was the one looking down at you his body above yours, You were the one who was controlling him making his body succumb to your gaze and touch. Honestly he wasn’t thinking with his logical head when he uttered his agreement to your challenge after a few seconds since you presented it.

Your eyebrows rise up in amusement at his complying response then a teasing smile spreads across your face. “Confident?” Julian brings his eyes away from your mouth to look at you giving you his well known mischievous grin. “Always” You narrow your eyes slightly suspicious. His grin wavers, a look of need resurfaces. “However I think it mainly might be because” he fixes his throat. “I can’t really think when you and I are in this sort of position” he shifts above above you his hips wanting to grind against you but knowing better not to.

His desperate words and movements starts a flutter in your chest increasing your own need for him. “That so?” you say eager to start your game. your hand moves to the back of his neck again “I’ll use that to my advantage then” you close the gab between you and Julian, Guiding him towards you, hearing his relived sigh against your mouth. moving your lips together like it has been years since the last time they touched.

Your hand moves from his neck into his hair, making the kiss deeper tugging lightly at the crimson curls earning a hum. After a few seconds your hand that was resting by his waistband starts palming him through the fabric. You capture his moan sending vibrations to your core. Applying the right pressure continues his muffled moans against you until he breaks away to curse breathlessly.

You don’t stop your movements, your lips go along his jaw then to the sweet spot underneath his ear, julian sucks in a breath and lets out another moan. “Fuck, how can your hand feel this good?” Julians grinds against your palm. He was fully hard at this point seeking out release. You let a small laugh against his neck “so eager” you say looking at his flushed face again, seeing his parted lips turn into a grin. “Well I do have a challenge to beat,don’t I?” With his statement you return the grin and pull away your hand away from him making him let out a whine from the loss of your touch.

Both of your hands go to his chest, lightly pushing against him making him fall on his back. you straddle his waist. Julian’s eyes widen and glimmer with amusement at the new position. His hands graze your knees, when he hears no remarks from you julian slides them up landing on your hips. His darkened eyes look up at you waiting your next move. “You are very sure about the time, I’m sure you don’t have nothing to worry about” you respond to his last comment. lowering your head and kissing his neck, Julian’s elegant hands go up your waist and back softly. His breathing increasing and letting out soft gasps when he feels your open mouthed kisses. Tongue and teeth graze against his smooth skin leaving marks behind that only you know their placement.

You leave your final mark on his collarbone. raising your head slightly, Your hand glides over it and to the bottom of his neck raising goosebumps, feeling him swallow. Your eyes take in your work of pink and red hues decorating his neck and chest causing another jolt of arosual through you knowing he was completely yours. Not only from the marks but also from julian’s shiver under your finger tipes. He withholds a moan seeing your lustful gaze only set on him.

His chest continues to rise and fall with deep breathes as Your lips continue their way down. your mouth takes in a nipple in a single motion. Julian squeezes your waist and gasps slightly at the action. “That mouth of yours is torture” he groans out.

Said mouth gives another lick before moving to the other one. continuing all the way down his tensing stomach, to were he is painfully pressed up against his underwear. You don’t hesitate To take off his covering releasing him and you suppress a moan at the sight of him. The upper half flushed pink, twitching aginst the morning air as precum leaks and falls down. You smile as you see julian give a small thrust towards you “please baby I need your mouth on me” he pleads eyes glazed over.

“You want my mouth on you?” He bites his lips to stop him from yelling out a yes, instead he nodes. He catches your grin but before he could understand what it meant your tounge swirls around his swollen head. Julian lets out a moan closing his eyes. Your tounge goes over the sensitive part underneath and over the slit. Sucking lightly letting it go with a pop. You blow on it gently watching it twitch again making you throb between your legs.

Kissing the head you look up at julian, his lust filled eyes are on you and you keep the gaze as you ever so teasingly swip your toungue on the sensitive area. Watching his jaw set and his breathing increase. A few seconds of this has him groaning in frustration. “What baby? Not enough?” You taunt with a devilish smile. He sighs and shakes his head with a smile “you really are-oh f-“

You cut him off always loving how his face transitions to shock, his mouth parting. Realization, eyes widening, and pleasure as he closes them and leans his head against the pillows, back arching slightly. Letting out another long moan. “You feel to good, fuck, please”. Your mouth takes as much of his long cock it can and your hand focuses on the base. You swirl him in your mouth flattening your tounge under him and gliding up flicking up on the head. You go down again and begin to hollow your cheeks and bob your head creating a pace that has julian moaning deeply and whispering silent yes’s above you.

Humming against him makes his hips jut out, hitting the back of your thoat, suppressing the gag reflex you moan again. “Oh fates your mouth, your mouth.” He groans.”do that again,please baby” you comply humming deeply, sucking hard all the way to the tip. Your hand continues to work the base and your mouth changes paces,bringing julian closer to the edge each minute that passes.

His thighs is begin to shake and his stomach tenses. His eyes are screwed shut, only focusing on the pleasure your giving him. “I’m close, I’m so close.” He pants, his hips move up again and you place your hands on his hips to keep hims from moving. “Please don’t stop, dont stop” he mutters. You go to the tip swiping underneath a few times before you let him go.

You don’t stop the smile that forms on your face when a Protestant noise falls from His lips and opens his eyes. . “Why” he sounds like he had been running. You rub his thighs soothingly, but the action does the contrary keeping him at the edge. Plus the teasing smile on your lips makes Julian’s heart speed up and his already peaked hormones flare up again.

You move your hands on either side of his waist on the bed. Looking down, head tilted slightly. “Is this not a challenge?” You simply state Julians eyes widen a bit letting out a frustrated exhale not only because he was close but because of how your words and dominance affected him so easily.

“It seems” you shift your body to where you are sitting beside him, his body laying infront of you. “We still have time.” You look to his flushed face, eyes looking instantly at you.”Let’s try again shall we?” You kiss him deeply humming against him. “I meant it when i said your mouth is torturous my dear” julian says against you, kissing you hard. Your mouth moves with his as your hand glides over his side and hip.

You stop kissing him, watching your hand wrap around his glistening hardened cock, squeezing him lightly. Julian sucks in a breath at the feeling as well as the sight, his eyes never leaving your hand. You start stroking him tortuously slow increasing his frustration. You lean in closer, whispering in his ear. “Did you also meant it when you said my hand felt good?” The man splayed out only for you, relinquishing all control to you nodes with a hum. Your thumb goes gover the head earning a pretty moan. “I’ve given you both, my mouth and hand right now. You should feel grateful” you state, watching his mouth part letting out a gasp as your hand moves faster, loving the feel and warmth of him in your hand. “I am, I’m so grateful, you are so good to me! yes.”

You pump him for a few more seconds like this untill you slightly slow down giving your hand a rest. Your lips go over his chest and neck that you can reach. “Becoming needy and bothered in the palace of all places. What do you have to say for yourself?” You lick over a red mark before looking up finding his eyes on you, a grin on his smooth features. “You and I both know it’s not our-“ he moans as a jolt passes through him before “first time this has happened” he finishes, a blush comes over your features as the images of him kneeling before you and him having you against a shelf at the far corner of the places library come to mind.

You return the playful smirk before kissing him. “I guess you do have a point, we both arnt saints” your hand resumes the fast pace, swiping off the grin from Julian’s face having him bite his lip as his eyes return to your hand. Widening, but after a few seconds when you find a rythem that has his hips jerking and thighs l shaking he closes them tightly. Your own eyes flicker between your hand and to his face, his expressions spiking your own arousal, seeing him withering in ecstatsy.

His breathing was coming out quicker, a slight sheen of sweat laid on his body causing his dark red hair to stick on his forehead. Not to mention his increasing small pants and whines were blurring your mind. His hands clenched the sheets making it easier for him to thrust his hips into your hand. “Look at you, your so needy and desperte to come” You close your hand a bit more around him. He’s light breathless pants continue. “I know your close baby” the amount of times you’ve been with Julian you memorized evey reaction and signal his body delivers commiting them to memory.

“You might even win, are you going to come for me?” Julian nodes his head or Atleast he thinks he does, the jolts and building of pressure becoming to much, his mind had been blurry from the start but now he felt more gone only you occupying his mind, your scent, taste and touch. Your hand slows down a fraction at his lack of answer. His hips jerk up and eyes open “no! No please dont stop. Im sorry. Yes I’m going to come for you. Please, don’t stop please”

Satisfied with his answer you continue to jerk him off. You start kissing his collarbone and neck when he closes his eyes “please,please, please” he chants You encourage him to do so, wanting to see him come undone because of you. However, a soft knock cuts throughout the room that might as well sounded like the towns bell tower. “Mr. Devrock and Vesuvias magician?” A light subtly voice follows.

“This is a courtesy wake up and a reminder that you will meet my lady for breakfast this morning.” Your eyes found each other’s, Julians clouded gaze clearing. You look over his face once more capturing this image of him into memory, your hand still moving leisurely against him. “Well? Answer” you whisper. julians throat bobs and a grin forming he breathes out a curse. in a louder strained voice he calls out to the servant “understood, thank you”when you hear thier footsteps fade away you release julian. Much to his dismay and protests.

“How unfortunate” you sigh you run up a finger up his stomach, his whole body now basked in the early sun. You get off the bed bare feet touching the soft carpet. “No no please, we can still-” julian protests catching your wrist. You give him a sad teasing smile. “Sorry my love but a deal is a deal, you know that” he pouts at you his hair ruffled against his forehead giving him a boyish look. That makes you blush. You give him a final kiss but julian follows it up as you lean away not wanting to let you go.

"So I said to him, I said "Bernie, you pop that gum one...more...time"" Jackie had the attention of the whole bar as she told her storie, standing on a table"And he did. So I took the shotgun off the wall and I fired two warning shots...into his head"

I could hear a few gasps, a glass falling and a chick high fived Jackie as she got down the table, finishing her storie.

"And that's how I killed my husband, became a fugitive and joined this lovely crew" She winked at her mates and nodded her head at me.

"That's bullshit!" A guy yelled from the back.

Heads turned, including mine and Jackie's and a tall, muscular man, body filled with tattoos and a scar across his face, had his arms crossed over his chest, face filled with disbelief.

"And why do you think that?" Jackie copied his posture and crossed her arms as well.

"Are you kidding? You're a woman! Your type shouldn't even be allowed on the ship. I mean, only the ones who warm our beds" Some men matched his deep and disgusting laugh.

"I think you should shut your craphole before I stick my sword into it" Jackie drew her sword before I could even notice.

"Bring it on, sea whore" The man also drew his sword, a very long one.

"You know what they say about men with big swords?" Jackie grinned as she held up her pinkie finger. That made him growl in anger.

I decided it was better to step up before something bad happened. Climbing down from the high window I was sitting on, I walked to the middle of the bar, raising my captain hat from my face.

"Please, please, fellas. Why fight? Can't we just enjoy this beautiful night, drink some rum and tell more stories?" After finishing my sentence, I could only feel a breeze over my head as an axe flew over it.

I clenched my fist and turned to the direction where the axe came from and a very skinny man looked at me, terrified. Poor man, I would go easy on him.

"Ooookay, ladies and gentlemen" I turned around, waltzed away from the opposite crew and jumped on top of a table, grabbing the axe and yanking it out of the wall "get ready for a fight!"

Screams and roars came from both sides of the room and soon enough one crew was fighting the other, punches, kicks and all other types of attack were happening in the bar. I was ready to join the fun when something caught my eye.

A red headed man, helping other people to go up the stairs. Were they escaping? Definitely not on my watch. I analyzed the saloon and decided the safest and fastest way to cross it was going behind the counter. I ducked, walking close to the ground and made my way.

While crossing the bar unseen, I could see Jackie fighting the asshole from before. I jumped over the counter, pulled my small dagger from my belt and stabbed him in the back. The man let go of his sword and seeing that opportunity, Jackie kicked him in the jewels, giving me a thumbs-up.

"I'm going upstairs. I saw some of them trying to escape. Hopefully I'll be able to catch at least one"

"Maybe you could even catch the captain" He joked and I couldn't help but to snort.

"Those pigs only care about themselves. They are always the first ones to flee. Their captain is far far away" And finishing my sentence, I dashed to the stairs going to the second floor.

As usual, it was a corridor with many doors. Rooms for voyagers, couples who wanted some privacy and drunks who didn't want to go home and had some money in their pockets.

The last door though was sprung open, still banging on the wall because of the wind. They were still here. And if I ran fast enough, I could still catch at least one of them. Hopefully he would be the talker type.

Running through the corridor, I could feel myself burning up with excitement. It was always a win to come back with a prisoner. But going into the room, I saw something completely unexpected happening.

The read headed man was helping people out of the window. But that's wasn't odd. The thing that actually intrigued me was seeing a captain's hat hanging from his belt.

"My oh my, what do we have here?" The last person had just exited through the window when the man turned to me in shock.

He tried to jump out of the window before I could catch him, but his long legs made him trip on himself and falling all spread out on the floor. I walked with my hand on my hips, going over him and sitting on the edge of the window.

"What kind of captain are you?" I crossed my legs and adjusted my hat so that he could see my whole face.

He sat abruptly on the floor, almost falling again, and crossed his legs like a child "Wh-what do you mean?"

"You were almost invisible down there, didn't make a scene or a fuss, didn't start any drama, didn't interrupt nor encouraged the fight and even helped part of the crew to escape? Your no ordinary captain"

"Darling, you would be surprised by how peculiar I can be" He got up, putting on his hat, just to take it off again in a swift movement, bending over to me and extending the hat "Julian Devorak, Captain Devorak or whatever you wanna call me"

I got up myself, feeling slightly intimidated by his height but keeping my pose "(Y/N) (Y/L/N), Captain (Y/L/N) or whatever you wanna call me".

"You sure are very fierce, Captain, I actually though you would choke me to death" Captain Devroak took a step closer to me and gave me a devilish smirk.

"I mean, if you are into that" I almost pressed our chests together, leaving only a few inches between us "...it can be arranged"

He blushed and it did something to my body that I had never experienced before. His shyness made me feel shy as well. He had this magnetism that made me want to get close to him.

He stated to stutter, trying to respond to my dirty comment and leaned his hat lower, trying to hide his face due the embarrassment. But unfortunately, I wasn't taking any of that.

I placed my hand softly on his hat and removed it from his head, tossing it to the side. His hair was messy now and I could finally analyze him. His hair reminded me of the burning fire of a fireplace and his skin looked like porcelain. Almost to delicate to touch but starving for any type of contact.

I realized the eyepatch he had and I wonder why he had it. There was s small lump on it, so there was definitely an eye in there, but it wasn't the time or place to ask about it...yet. I noticed his lips quivering and decided to take the lead. I grabbed him by his cloak and pulled him closer.

"Tell me captain, why did you leave the rest of your crew downstairs?" He looked relieved when he realised I wasn't teasing him anymore.

"They aren't actually part of the crew. Those bastards tagged along a few days ago and we all found it very strange. They started bothering the women of the ship and that was unacceptable. We tried to fight them, but they had one of them hostage. My plan was to get them drunk as a distraction and leave them behind. But I guess your crew took better care of that part"

"I see" I pulled his cloak in a way that made him lean down, faces coming closer "Now tell me, Captain, are you a nice, good and honorable man?"

He chuckled, getting his confidence back "Definitely not, Captain. I'm reckless, rowdy and completely bad"

I could help but laugh a little of him "Uhmm, that's exactly how I like it"

I stretched my whole body to be able to brush my lips against his and he placed his gloved hand on my back. We looked at each other's eyes and I could definitely see a sparkle on his.

"Captain! We won!" Jackie bursted into the room and Julian turned his head while I ducked to the side to look at her "Ooooh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were, well, yeah. I'm, uh, going down and, well, see ya!"

We kept looking at the door until the sound of her footsteps were nothing but a simple memory. We stared at each other again and starting laughing, still holding onto one another.

"Now that was a mood breaker" I pressed my forehead against his chest and he sighed.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to continue our fun another time"

My eyes went wide and I smiled at him "We are having a party tonight at my ship, you and your crew should come!" I realized I sounded to excited and fake coughed "I mean, only if you want to"

He laughed lightly and kissed my cheek "It'll be my pleasure, darling"

I let go of his clothes and walked past him, going out of the room, but stopping before he vanished from my sight "Maybe you can show me how bad you are"

But you only waved him off, coughing out what you could and calmed yourself afterwards. “I don’t know where to start,” you admitted. “Oh?” he asked, the smile returning on his face. Maybe because of your strong reaction, he seemed almost sure that his teasing had actually worked on you, but you were not going to give him this victory. “I guess the attractiveness of fish people lies in the eyes of the beholder. And that was not my question.”

You could see his high spirits fading as he crept back into the water, a small pout appearing on his face. “Well, what did you want to ask, then?” Thinking about how to phrase your question better, you picked some more fish off its skin, shoving it into your mouth. “Well just… Very human upwards and then colorful, weird fishes down there.” Now it was your turn to smirk over the appalled gasp he let out. You could hear a faint mutter from him, sounding like ‘I’m not weird’ and you chuckled lightly.

His eyes shot up to your smiling face as he watched you for a bit before saying, “At least now you’re laughing again.” You looked at him, surprised, before continuing to eat. His face seemed genuinely happy, and you could feel your heart jump out of rhythm for a few beats when your eyes met. “But to answer your question: Yes, we do, though we don’t look all alike depending on species.” Nodding, you took in his info, trying to make the best that you could out of it. “Are there many other… merpeople?” you asked carefully, and Julian smirked again. “Countless.”

There was no way you could lie to yourself. You were still scared shitless and hearing that there were many, many more of his kind sounded ominous in every possible way. But at least for now, you felt a little bit less concerned with his presence than before. The rest of your meal was quiet. You offered him some of the second fish, though he refused, stating he didn’t like anything that came close to the fire. “Except for you,” he noted, winking at you. You barely acknowledged the comment which seemed to unnerve him a little, but he was tactful enough to leave it at that.

“Say Julian…” you spoke up, after having finished the last piece of fish. “You said you collected me back at the ship, right?” He seemed to think for a bit, muttering, “Ship…” until it seemed to come together for him. “Oh, yes! The ship. Big, brown. What about it?” Silence fell between you two for a moment as some bad memories came over you. “Was there-” you took a second to gesture at yourself and look up at him “-anyone like me? Who survived… I mean…”

The shake of his head was devastating, and you felt it all the way down into your gut. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled, though you weren’t sure how much empathy he could really feel. Nodding, you put on your best smile. “It’s okay, I actually have something I’d need your help with!” Changing the topic seemed to be the only right thing for you to do, your mood slowly sinking. You couldn’t help but laugh a little as you saw his whole body perk up, including his two, pointed ears. “What is it?” he asked eagerly.

“I would need something that I can use to boil water. Like a pot… Or anything that can withstand the heat.” Confused, his brows furrowed as he repeated your words. “Pot?” Thinking, you turned around to the beach, using your finger to draw the item into the sand. “It looks like this… And there are two handles… Do you think you can get me something like this? I am sure if my ship sank, there will be a few lying around - if you can find back to the spot that is.”

You looked expectantly at him, while he inspected the drawing. Unsure, he glanced up at you before his eyes showed a spark of determination. “I can find that! I’ll be right back, just you wait!” Immediately, he scurried back, deeper into the water and you yelled a weak, “Go Julian!” after him as he disappeared into the deeper ocean parts.

The silence that came over you was shocking. You felt like you hadn’t been alone for a long time, though it had roughly been a day. All the panic and fear you had initially felt in the last few hours seemed to wash off slowly, fading into something probably worse than that. Overcome by sadness, you took a deep breath before the tears flowed out, sobs escaping your throat.

They were all dead. No one had survived. But why you? Why had you been the only one Julian saved? For the first time in the few days, your mind wandered out to every one of your comrades and your captain, their faces still vivid in your mind. Even if you all had been pirates, they didn’t deserve the cruel fate that had come over them. And silently, you wished it had taken you too, then you wouldn’t have to live through the loss now. You felt so incredibly lonely all of a sudden, the feeling swallowed you whole. Alone on what seemed to be an island, talking to a fable. Sorry was what you felt for everyone who had fallen in the ship war, though you should have known the possibility of this fate when you had joined the crew.

You were glad Julian had left you for a bit. It gave you the time to mourn properly and cry without some mermaid watching you intently. For a while, you let the grief consume you, letting out ugly sobs and long sniffles. But eventually, your tears dried out, probably by your lack of hydration at this point. You felt like literal shit, not like before where you had cried and felt better. Even though you had just eaten, everything that was happening was straining your body more and more.

It was unclear to you if Julian noticed your swollen eyes when he returned. Proudly, he held up the two pots he had found on his adventure, though just as fast, he lowered them, calming his excitement. You thanked him properly, even putting on a fake smile for him before you asked him if he could fill those with clean water, instructing him clearly to not put any seaweed in it. He complied without talking back. In the end, he did seem to catch on on the situation.  

Silently, you watched the water bubbling in the pots. You had no idea how long it would take for them to be boiled enough into safe water, all you knew was that you couldn’t drink it if it didn’t lose the salt in it. “What are you going to do with it?” Julian eventually asked, glimpsing up from observing the pots to look at you. “Drink it,” you revealed, smirking expectantly. There were no words to describe how much you looked forward to actually drinking water.

You heard a small ‘Is that so’ leave him, before he laid down onto the beach again, using his own claw to draw small circles into the sand. “Are you sad?” he mumbled after a while of silence. Sighing deeply, you shrugged your shoulders, looking up at him with a timid smile. “It’s nothing-” But before you could finish the sentence, you were interrupted by him. “You don’t need to hide it.”

Lowering your gaze back at the bubbling water in front of you, you were quick to wipe away a single stray tear that seemed to escape your eyes. Taking a deep breath, you tried to be more positive, though you found it hard to keep your thoughts away from your dead friends. “Does your species grief, Julian?” you mumbled, thoughts lost in memories. He eyed you curiously but lowered his gaze as he saw your hurt expression.

“We do! We do it… differently. I can’t do the thing you do with your eyes… That water releasing thing-”

“Crying. It’s called crying. The water is called tears,” you interfered, immediately having to put up your hands to wipe away more of said tears from your cheeks. Just speaking made it hard to hold back now. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, and if you didn’t know any better, you thought you heard him whine softly. Maybe he didn’t know what to say, perhaps he just knew better as to put salt into the wound, but he kept quiet other than the whine from before.

By looking up and taking countless deep breaths, you somehow managed to keep yourself from breaking down completely. It took you as long as it took for the water to finally boil thoroughly and as you thought it to be safe, you took it off the fire, replacing it with the second pot. Julian’s eyes followed you keenly, and he wiggled in his spot, certainly unsure if he could say something again.

Whyever you thought this way, but for some reason, you felt a bit bad for keeping him hanging like this. So far, he had been nothing but good to you. Treated your wounds, gotten you food and water. Yes, even saved your life, even if you weren’t really grateful for it on this day. All the days you had spent getting your hopes up and believing in yourself were now shattered to nothing, only a question remaining. “Why…” you mumbled, your forehead in wrinkles.

“Hm?” Julian immediately perked up.

“Why did you save me and not the others?” you asked straightforwardly. There was nothing more that you wanted than an answer to this question. And the longer he took to reply, the more agitated did you become about it. “Julian, why-”

“I couldn’t save them all, okay?” he snapped at you, making your eyes widen by how sharp his tone of voice suddenly was. Even now it sounded beautiful, but it cut deeper than a knife into your heart. The way he slowly sank back down from his upright position, avoiding eye contact with you, a mix of disgust and pain on his face, it was almost as heartbreaking as the whole situation you were in. He clutched his own arm as he seemed to recall some memories too, and a hint of anger appeared in his eyes before it disappeared completely.

You averted your sight, nodding. “You did your best…” Julian sighed, brushing his hand through his red locks. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled, and still, something inside of you told you not to believe his words. Something seemed to be lingering in his thoughts when he spoke about it, his expression showing more than he was willing to admit. It left you wondering if what he was saying really was the truth. Even though there was so much more you wanted to clear out with him, you couldn’t for now. You were drained of your energy as the night slowly closed in on you two.

Reaching forward, you grabbed for the cooled down pot, bringing it to your lips. For the first time since the sinking of your ship, you felt water rush down your throat. It still tasted salty, but the moment it flooded into you, your body started screaming for more, and you barely let off to breathe, downing the whole pot.

Setting down the utensil, you let out another long sigh. “You’ve ever been thirsty, Julian?” This time your voice was steady when you spoke to him, smoothed by the water. The question caught him off-guard, confusing him initially. “Thirsty? Like you with the water? I don’t have to drink, so-” Cutting him off with a shake of your head, you looked up. The stars were finally twinkling above you, and the clouds had disappeared, leaving only the brilliant night sky behind.

“No, I mean… Like a strong longing for something. Something you want desperately. That kind of thirsty.”

For a while, he seemed to think hard about your words, letting them run through his mind thoughtfully. “Yes… I think I know what you mean. I have that. Have you?” Nodding, you brought your arms over your head and stretched lightly as to not upset your wound, letting out a small yawn. “I do. I feel like this a lot lately.” He acknowledged your answer with a hum, only to add a small, “What will you do about this thirst then?” to which you could only shrug, smiling at him softly.

“Maybe you are more human than I thought,” you finally admitted, looking at him intently. His face was painted in surprise before it lit up, a light blush laying over his cheeks in the light of the fire. You couldn’t help but notice your heart set out for a second as he looked at you just so adoringly. It was as if you had just given him the biggest compliment he could have ever gotten.

“I think I will go to sleep now. Could you-” you took a moment to point at the ocean, “-maybe not creep around me tonight?” He followed your pointer finger directing him back into the water. An over-dramatic sigh occurred from his lungs as he turned back to you.

“Oh, how I would love to lay with you… But I guess if I must, I will stay out of the sand.”

There was no hesitation in him patting off the very same sand from his arms and sinking back into the water up to his shoulders. “Good night, sweet dreams ~” he purred, grinning wildly at you with his sharp teeth exposed. “Well, I sure hope I can sleep and not get woken up in the middle of it again,” you replied teasingly. You saw him roll his eyes at you before giggling and drifting further off into the ocean, waving at you before he wholly submerged.

Left behind, you were alone with your thoughts again. Even though you felt the need to be strong, you couldn’t help but fall into a pit of despair once Julian was gone and you didn’t have to bring up a certain amount of decency. Heck, you didn’t even need to bring anything up for him, and you quietly kicked your own ass for admitting out loud that he was less of a creature you had thought of him before.

Wasn’t he just a fairytale? A fish with probably more things going through his mind than he spoke out loud for sure. But was he growing on you? All the things he did for you without hesitation, his little flirts, the melody of his voice? Where those all things that you actually enjoyed? You still didn’t trust him, and in the tumult inside of your heart, you figured it would take a lot more time for you to be able to do that.

Sighing, you shoved some more dried leaves that you still had laying around into the fire, and took out the second pot. You placed it aside for the next day, so you’d have water in the morning. Then you laid down, taking a deep breath. Surprisingly, even though the day had been so emotionally heavy, your wound had been the least bit of discomfort for you. It still felt really disgusting to have the seaweed on it, but you didn’t want to upset Julian again by taking it off, and the cooling effect of it really did feel good.

Closing your eyes, you thought of what had happened over the day. You thought about Julian the merman, your lost comrades, your captain. For a while, you played with the image of your ever so charming but in times of need serious captain that you had served for so long. In the end, you had never fessed up your feelings. And now it was too late.

The morning light drifted it’s way though the windows of the shop cascading it’s soft glow around the structure and across the sheets where two bodies were bundled up against each other. One was still asleep, his eyes closed and mouth slightly parted, a soft expression taking over his face. The other propped themselves on their hand and looked down at him smiling at the fact that his face did not show any signs of worry or discomfort due to the images that would play inside his head sometimes causing him to startle awake in the middle of the night. They were happy that this time he was able to rest through the night.

The light coming through touched julian’s face making his eye lashes cast a small shadow and making the Reflection from the hanging crystals on the wall decorate themselves amongst his cheek. His dark Scarlett hair ruffled against the pillow, Mc couldn’t help but run there fingers through it, brushing it away from his face. He looked so calm and worried free, drastic change from his usual work expression, furrowed eyebrows and constantly pinching the bridge of his nose as he runs around taking notes while studying a new technique and checking patients at the clinic.... which he should be getting ready to leave for right now.

 Mc leans down slowly and presses soft a Kiss on his forehead. “Ilya, wake up”they mumble softly against him. Julian stirs lightly but dosnt wake up. Mc kisses his cheek “you’ll be late”they look up and see nothing has changed. “Jules” they kiss his lips “you gotta go to the clinic today” that action also does nothing to wake the sleeping doctor, but a tint of red blooms across his cheeks and nose and there’s a tiny curve at the corner of his mouth.

Mc smiles and sighs “you better not fuss to me about being late today, I tried to wake you up” Mc leans back down and plants a kiss on his neck, a sigh comes from above them, they moves their lips and kisses the spot between his neck and shoulder. The hand that rests on their waist tightens, mc leans up again, smiling. “I know your awake, Ilya”

 His smile broadens as his eyes flutter open to look up at them. “Ah, I’m caught” he says his voice rough from waking up, he smiles as he looks over mc’s face “good morning, you look Beautiful as always” Mc blushes at his words “there you go again complimenting me in the Morning when I look like-“

 “Like what? Lovely? charming? How about exquisite?” He grins and holds Mc tighter against him. They laugh and shakes their head at him, “ you should’ve woken up sooner, now you don’t have time to eat an actual breakfast... like always” they poke his cheek.

 His grin widens and looks up at their eyes lowering them a bit “And stop these? He runs his thumb over mc’s lips. “How could I possibly think of doing that, my dear?” Mc laughs again and rolls their eyes “you’re impossible” they lean down and gives him a quick peck to which Julian makes a sound of protest to

“come on, get up, you gotta go” Mc turns to get out of bed but Julian tightens his grip around then, bringing them back to him as he nuzzles his face into their neck and let’s out a groan “just I few more minutes, they’ll be fine without me for a few more minutes” he grumbles looking up at them “although... I seem to not be able to go a few minutes without your kisses” he moves up so he is looking down at mc , he leans down to kiss them. “Hmmm if you think about it” Mc starts, making Julian pause his movement’s. “You can have way more of my kisses and something extra when you come back from the clinic in the afternoon” julian reddens again “buuuut” Mc fakes a sigh of disappointment “seeing that you are going to be late right now means that you are going to have to stay late and probably won’t get any kisses and such because I will be asleep when you come back” they look up at him with a smile “concluding that you won’t get any kisses until tomorrow...maybe”

 Julian’s eyes widen at the report Mc has given him and his studious features on his face come out. He stammers a bit “Your-your right Mc!” and suddenly he’s up and out of bed grabbing his clothes “I’ll have to be quick I can still make it! Oh hoho! I’ll be faster than I have ever been before and I’ll come back home as soon as the evening colors come to the sky!” He rambles on dramatically.