Being On The Aro Spectrum Would Be A Lot Easier If Being Single Wasn’t Made To Feel Like A Literal

being on the aro spectrum would be a lot easier if being single wasn’t made to feel like a literal death sentence

Mermaids Tale

This is a pirate au that I've been meaning to get started for literal months and I just bashed this out last night and finished it at about 3am. I've got more planned for Wolfstar, Jegulus and Dorlene but don't hold me to that cause my motivation wavers more than the British Government. Any way enjoy this cute Marlily with some of Lily just admiring how beautiful Mary's eyes are and ofc Sirius simping for Remus doing the most mundane tasks.

The Marauder glided through the waves easily, the crew hadn’t seen land in nearly three weeks, and they were having to ration what food they had left. The sun was low in the sky casting an orange hue over the horizon which matched the red hair floating on the breeze from underneath a light blue bandana. The pirate stared out to sea watching the water ripple along the side of the ship and the sun dance across the surface. In the distance a pinprick of black on the horizon caught the pirates attention. Lifting the spyglass of the hook on her belt and saw that the dot of black was indeed an island. A small one but an island none the less.

“LAND-HO!” she yelled heartily down to the deck below.

“Fucking hell Evans! A bit more warning next time I was just dropping off.”

“That was your warning Potter now look alive ‘Captain’” the tone was mocking and no one else on the crew would dare, but James just smiled and chuckled warmly at her knowing that their was no disrespect meant by her tone that would be hiding under others. As if Eurus was on their side an eastern wind blew and filled the sails. Soon the anchor was lowered, and the crew stepped foot on land once more.

“Crickey I love the sea; oh, Poseidon do not mistake me!” One of the crew proclaimed loudly pointing out to the gentle waves lapping at the beach his long dark whipping slightly around his sunburnt cheeks “but by Gods, Gaia I have missed you so.” He said falling back on to the sand with a blissful look on his face.

“Enough fooling around Sirius up you get” James said while lightly kicking the soft underside of his thigh. “We’re sleeping under the stars tonight and we’ll find food and fresh water in the morning.” Casting a few glances over his crew James noticed a lack of red hair and teasing comments “Where’d Evan’s go?” a few murmurs carried through the crew until James turned to his quartermaster to his left “Lupin?” the soft caramel curls bounce lightly against the pirates forehead as he met the dark brown eyes of his captain.

“She walked of as soon as you started talking, through those trees, you know what she’s like.” He spoke so casually and turned back to winding the rope over his hand and under his elbow to keep knots out of it.

“yeah I do” James said with a slight sigh sweeping the dark brown hair out of his eyes. “crew help him set up shelters.” Sticking a thumb out roughly in Remus’ direction, but the Doctor hadn’t moved from his spot on the sand staring at something behind his Captain. “useless” James muttered to himself.

***

The sun was still setting below the horizon and created a wonderful, speckled pattern over the dirt as the light dripped through the leaves. Lily’s boots crunch old leaves and twigs beneath her feet as her fingers lightly brushed against the tree bark and ferns at her side. Freckles adorned over her knuckles and up under the sleeve of her shirt, berries were plucked by a swift hand used to thievery and popped into her waiting mouth. The sound of running water filled her ears and the ever curious the redhead followed the sound eagerly. The dagger from her hip easily sliced through the undergrowth and revealed a glistening waterfall with a small collection of ponds. The sun was dipping further and further out of sight leaving the young pirate in shadows, but she had enough vision to see something moving about in the clear waters in front of her. Keeping her dagger unsheathed Lily’s leather boots stepped swiftly over twigs and stones and a with bated breath crouch at the edge of the biggest pool her mouth parted slightly in wonderment. The crimson red tail flicked up above the water once more and then the Lily’s befuddlement a human hand split the surface of the water with a kind of grace that you would never expect and then it was gone. The surface of the water was eerily still and the only sound above the pool was Lily’s shallow breathing. Her deep green eyes scanned around the spot where the hand had disappeared. Instead, something not two feet in front the pirates face caught her attention. Two deep blue almost black twinkling eyes stared unblinking at her with an inquisitive disposition. The whiteness of the eyes were a brilliant contrast to the dark skin that travelled to a human forehead and human cheeks, almost as dark as the oak that the Marauder was crafted off. Despite the coldness of the stare the skin looked warm, like it was more orange than brown. Small ringlets of hair floated in a mass around the smooth forehead, but then the face rose slightly, and the rest was in sight. There was a human nose, flatter and wider than Lily’s own which was quite small and button like, the cheeks Lily could see properly now were full and the whole face was rather round, however what wasn’t human was the ears that didn’t protrude from her skull. It wasn’t like some of the crew that had their earlobes blown off, rather her ears were just the holes in the side of her head, and their were slits in the side of her neck starting just under her jaw finishing halfway down the neck. Lily hadn’t realised how far forward she had been leaning in wonder at the beautiful face in front of her until her balance had toppled and long sturdy arms caught one wrist and the other held her waist carefully. Faces on inches apart and eyes locked together as if the world would end if they stopped. This close Lily could see the specks yellow hidden in those deep mysterious eyes, they seemed scrutinous and untrusting. Out of the corner of her eye the marvellous fish tale was back, and Lily’s attention was stolen, the scales seemed to glimmer without any help from the sunlight, light patches faded to a burnt orange and green eyes followed the long tail up and up until slowly scales turned to pudgy human flesh. Lily’s eyes trailed up the rest of the body in front of her over the arm connected to her wrist still, followed a sharp collarbone, up the slender neck, across plump lips that parted to show sharp incisors and back to meet eyes once more.

“You’re a mermaid” Lily whispered dumbly unsure of what else to say. In a way of responding the mermaids doe like eyes narrowed and her head cocked to the side sending small drops of water down the water from the tightly wound ringlets that burst away from the mermaids face.

“And you are human.” The voice protruding out of the mermaid sounded like the words were foreign on her tongue as if she didn’t speak much.

“I’m Lily” the mermaid seemed perplexed by this and took a long time to think of an answer, large eyes never leaving the green ones presented before her. Carefully as if the next words might be the most important yet she pushed out the word

“Mary” Lily watched with apt attention how the mermaids lips formed around the word and the sharp set of teeth hiding behind them peaked out. The pirate leaned forward more so than before to graze her fingers lightly against Mary’s cheek, overtaken by a bout of confidence or stupidity Lily tipped herself toward the mermaid even more allowed her hand to cup Mary’s cheek ever so delicately. The hand holding her wrist slid down along her forearm leaving goosebumps in its wake and securing itself on the other side of Lily’s waist holding her up out of the water from both sides allowing Lily’s right hand to slip on to the bend between Mary’s shoulder and her neck, her thumb rubbing small circles just below the last gill. A tiny involuntary shudder ran through the mermaid at that all the way down to the tip of her tail which flicked the surface of the water slightly. At this Lily bent her head so pink blush lips could meet Mary’s in a soft kiss. It was unusual and incredible all at once. Like no other kiss Lily had experienced and like she had been kissing Mary for years. Muscle memory seemed to take over, but she felt as if she was just about treading water staying afloat in a vicious storm. Suddenly thankful for the strong arms circling her waist which helped ground her and keep her head although the way one hand pressed lightly at the small of her back and the other curled around her hip was intoxicating in the best way possible. After what felt like one second and an eternity they parted and only by the stars being reflected in Mary’s eyes did Lily register how long she had been gone for, but she didn’t move, she stared at those magnificent blue eyes and wished she knew more. More about Mary’s life, who she was, what she knew, anything, everything and then she realised she could. So, Lily asked all the questions she could think of, and Mary smiled brightly at her curiosity and answered gracefully. Lily settled on the grass next to the pond and admired the stars above her as Mary laid back in the water occasionally flicking her tail as the two shared stories of their parents, of siblings, friends how Lily ended up a pirate from a well-respected family and how Mary ended up on the little island in a fresh water pool. They talk and the sun started to peak up from behind them and they kept talking so openly as if they could never trust some else as deeply as they did each other and maybe they never would again.