if parker hadn't been so focused on the task at hand, she may have realized just how loud nomi is. as it stands, with nomi's thighs squeezing her ears, wet hair still a curtain around her as she braces against the rock, well, it's safe to say parker's in her own little world. 

and what a world it is. 

nomi shudders into her mouth and parker squeezes her close, her tongue a slow, teasing pressure to drag on the aftermath a moment longer. but then she shakes her shoulders, palm on nomi's spine, and helps shimmy her back down to her waist. 

blue eyes follow the glistening trail left over her own chest as her hips wriggle. 

with nomi keeping her arms full, she can't wipe the mess off her mouth. not that she cares. she's grinning wickedly, so hard her cheeks hurt, and her chest is rising and falling quickly, in tandem with the fluttering of her heart. 

nomi's bikini bottoms drift along the surface of the water a few feet away.

"so," she says, still beaming, "y'like?"

Naomi Sato

☉

thunder breaks. a chain drops around her. that mask she wears, that mask she has to wear to do the things she does, isn't fitting right. because she's not filling in the spaces, not bulking up with the monster creeping under her skin. the one that hungers for blood and the choking, squelching sound of broken noses. 

the pleas of the indebted.

her shoulders tense. his skin feels wrong. clammy and pallid. like the mist had touched and untouched him. is this supposed to be her fate?

amulius' chin tilts and parker looks up too, teeth bared in a twisted grimace. are those...ghosts? like honest to gods ghosts? it's enough to make her stumble back, to make her shake. you'd think, after being flung in enough dimensional pockets, she'd have lost the ability to be scared of the unknown now. 

her steps falter. amulius steps forward, towards the ragdoll body. he notices it move first and parker's quick to narrow her eyes, watching in disbelief as his limbs are snagged upward by elbow and spine and shoulder. 

as scared as she is, relief sweeps through her. whatever this thing is, it's not isaac. it can't be isaac. 

"where the fuck is he?" she snarls as she goes in swinging. 

Isaac Merlo

☉

and on and on she walks. it's not her first time, getting swallowed by mist, so she's not as peeved as she should be. until she starts thinking about the fact that no one knows she's in here. she just straight up walked through the rift without even a text to Naomi Sato.

she blinks and when she stutters to a stop, realizing maybe she should do the smart thing and turn around, she realizes turning around isn't as easy as it seems. her arms wheel through the fog and it clings (and yet it doesn't) to her skin. it goes down her throat and she feels it, and nothing, at the same time. 

it's enough to make her start running. 

amulius keeps at her heels, feathers fluffed at her alarm. he casts her a silent, worried look, but she sets her jaws. keeps moving. as long as she keeps moving, she'll be okay. they'll be okay. she'll find isaac and they'll get out of here just fine. 

her throat is dry and cracked. there is a sheen of sweat on her neck. but her heaves as she jogs are kept tight and quiet, ears strained to hear isaac's footsteps just beyond her, out of reach. 

"isaac, damn it! come back! why the fuck are you - SHIT." she stumbles to a stop as the mist goes. just goes. it happened in a blink. she looks wildly at amulius and the bird looks just as disoriented, but his piercing gaze is fixated on something in front of them. 

parker's stomach drops. a sour taste fills her mouth. she's seen broken bodies before. hell, she's broken bodies, but not like this. never like this. not with limbs twisted in all the wrong ways. the cold cowl of death lain over his body. 

how did this happen? what the fuck am i gonna tell - how am i supposed to - where the - holy shit. holy fuck.

amulius rests a talon on her shoulder. squeezes. steadies her. she breathes out shakily and straightens her shoulders. detaches, like she has to for the job. 

"you stupid piece of shit," she mutters as she crouches next to the body, reaching to put him back together as best she can. but she pauses. her brows furrow at the crown. her scalp prickles. unease shivers through her and she doesn't know what the fuck to think. 

just that she has to get him back through the border. she has to get him back home.

Isaac Merlo

15 become lost in the mist

☉

she doesn't care for this place. it's too close to the rift. but there's a pit stop she'd had to swing by on her way here. a lonely gas station on the side of the mountain, left mostly alone save for the crumpled bills and pokeballs passed between hands. which parker - rocket - doesn't have a problem with in the slightest, so long as they get a cut. 

and they haven't seen one lately. 

so her fists are bloody by the time she's done. amulius has a nick on his arm, a couple of feathers lost in the scuffle. a fat wad of cash is stuck under the waistband of her joggers. it's easy to put the face out of her mind as she climbs. 

her thoughts drift to something - someone - sweeter. 

amulius is the one to stop her though. she would have gone around the rift none the wiser if he hadn't pointed out the blond hair, stooped figure of - "nah, bud. can't be i - " but the letter she's stuck on is ironic 'cause he looks both ways and he's certainly missing a fucking eye and fuck. 

"the hell's he doing going in alone?" she says. the fog tugs at his heels and draws him into the rift. 

amulius looks at her expectantly and she throws her hands up. "y'remember the sea? the kingdom with all the crazy ass birds and minions 'n shit? nah, nah, fam. nah. if he wants to throw his life away on some -

"motherfucking fucking damn it gods fuck, come on." amulius snickers with his eyes and follows parker as she passes the wall of fog. 

Isaac Merlo

☉

nomi's leaning into it, into her, practically taut with anticipation. parker's muscled arms roll against her skin, hands losing their gentle drifting and sinking into their shared heat. nomi's hair falls lank around her shoulder and her fingers fidget with the heart-shaped metal. she really should have taken these off before hoisting nomi up to her shoulders. 

parker growls in frustration and teethes at the loose bottom. fingers sink into nomi's waist to support her so she can duck her head in between the fabric and the object of parker's desire. it falls to nomi's knees, her calf, and parker doesn't really know where they end up. 

hooked around her ankles or kick off into the water? she'll never know. 

because nomi says ah and that's all the yes parker needs to open her mouth and press nomi against her. warmth hits her tongue. one arm slung around the small of nomi's back, the other over her thigh, fingers splayed on hips.

it's a watercolor dream, and it's dribbling down her chin, and she is chasing memories with a fervor marked by countless nights of pleasures like this.

Naomi Sato

☉

"i dunno. snails ooze, right? sounded smart in my head."

priam pulls out the clunkiest fucking phone parker's ever seen in her life. it's like the heaviest duty of heavy duty oshawottbox cases. parker shouldn't really be judging. her phone screen's cracked every which way, but that's besides the point. 

he hands it over and she flips it around, snorting. "god, it's even got a pop socket thing." a black rose on a red circle. "she find this at hot topic or something?"

the phone screen lights up and parker's nose scrunches. "i'll go through her purse, but snoopin' through her phone might get us killed. what else - holy fuck, are those flavored condoms?"

she shoves her hand into the bag and pulls out tinfoil squares with COTTON-CANDY FLAVOUR stamped on the front. the expiration date is well off in the future so there's no chance these are old. parker cackles and then realizes she's pinching not just the condom, but a piece of paper as well. she peels the red paper off and realizes she's looking at a carnival ticket stub. 

"think she was she gettin' down 'n dirty with a clown?"

priam conrad

☉

nomi's presence has haunted her flat. phantom grazes on the small of her back while she's showering; whispers that give her goosebumps when she's stooped over the stovetop; the tv left on in the other room because if she was half asleep, she could almost think it was nomi's laughter in the next room over. 

and how does she tell her this insanity, this shit that should by all means be a dozen red flags to the woman in her arms? she's agonized over it, napkins stuffed in an ever-bleeding nose. 

she can't explain it, the way it's clicking into place now. she's always been better with this language. to know raw emotion, unfiltered by their own clumsy cadences. 

nomi drawls her name and parker cuts her off, answering demand with greedy glee. past bleeds to present in the way she clasps nomi against her. knuckles bump against the cave pool's uneven edge and parker twists. the scrapes on bare skin don't matter as she leans her weight back, swollen lips breaking free of nomi's to trail over her chin, down the hollow of her throat.

her tongue skirts the line of her bikini top. fingers trail nomi's spine as parker sinks lower in the water. 

Naomi Sato

☉

last time she hung out with jayden, like, really hung out with jayden, it had been after talking him down from straight up murdering bax. so, understandably, she's a little on edge right before Chill Time. 

but then it's fine. he's fine. they're conversational and she can pretend, in the glow of the carnival and surrounded by screaming children, that they're normal people. 

"yeah. useda go with avery every year. she'd eat corn dogs and throw up on some poor bastard on the pendulum ride every year. without fail." she snubs her nose. "ain't gone the past couple though, since she got outta here."

a clown on stilts wobbles and walks by them. parker snorts. "but, like, never? you've never seen shit like that?" 

jayden cross

☉

too bad parker wouldn't know sacrilege if it bonked her on the head. the same goes for what's expected on a proper date. really, with her nose plugged, she's thinking, well, isaac's still here and it's early enough she doesn't want to make nomi feel like she just has to go home or whatever. 

they can hang out. and parker will be jealous, yes, but she'll manage. because isaac's a cool dude. and because he's taken. and because he's spent all night being good to them. being good to her. 

parker grabs his wrist as he goes to set the sorbet down. "naw, night's still young. you two share dessert. i'm gonna go get all cleaned up." she lets him go, places that bloodied hand on nomi 'cause she's pretty sure nomi doesn't give a damn about it. 

"you just let one of your lil' eyeball freaks send me back and i'm gonna clean up 'n put some frozen peas on my face. and then i'm gonna see ya in that cute bikini this weekend, 'kay?"

point to note though - she completely forgets they're supposed to pay. so at least you get away with that one, isaac!

Isaac Merlo Naomi Sato

☉

in this scant half-second, where her stomach drops and she is tangled in nomi and the water is rushing up at them, she is somewhere else. their reflections near and then they shatter, washing over them, passing through them, and the pain returns. immediately. harshly. she fears her nose might bust, but something shifts. changes. 

like she's giving into something.

under the water now, nomi's hair is stretching out around her. she looks like a damn mermaid. parker stares up at her with wide blue eyes, thinking about her rasped words. the truth in them. the need tugging at invisible strings parker's felt, but could never find. 

her feet find purchase on the rough stone of the natural pool. bubbles slip past her lips, onto nomi's too, because she's closing that distance between them as she pushes them up to the surface. 

water sloughs off of them in a sudden rush and parker's lungs are begging for a breath, but she's too busy molding her lips against nomi's to care. too busy entwining her hand in her hair, reaching roughly for her thigh to coax her onto her hips. 

i've wanted you so badly too. the low groan in her mouth is as close as she gets to speaking the words back. 

Naomi Sato

☉

hey, want to play what's in the bag?

"uh, fuck yeah, i do." parker has heard things around the rocket sub. things about the snail. mostly bad things. and scary things. elisabeth fiorelli, underboss, is someone you don't fuck with. as such, parker has made a point not to cross paths with her. 

you would also think she'd be smart enough to know that maybe going through her things would be a no-no, but she's bored. and easily persuaded. 

she stoops over the bag.

"well, go on then? what's the ooze lady hiding?"

priam conrad

☉

parker doesn't know how to explain to nomi that she's only going to feel better if she's away from her, but also she'll feel like absolute shit if she's away from her. that's the kinda crazy stuff you don't mention on the first date, which they've finally established is what this is. took them long enough to get there. 

maybe this is karma finally having its way with her. parker's busted so many damn noses, the universe is just giving her nosebleeds to make up for it. maybe she hit someone with the mark of cain and now she's gonna get nosebleeds for seven more years. or is that mirrors? has she broken any mirrors lately? 

"y'know, 'least ya can tell people y'made me swoon so hard you gave me a nosebleed," she says, still muffled. she doesn't dare remove the pressure off the napkins. 

her front is slick with blood. her hands are crimson. it's not an unusual sight for her, but usually it's someone else's blood on her hands.

"i'll just do my best not to bleed on the second date."

Naomi Sato Isaac Merlo

☉

up above nomi, up above the both of them, is a pocket full of stars. meteor falls is open above them, carrying the breeze that thumbs through nomi's hair. the tips curl over her bikini top, pink on pink on pale skin. parker doesn't know if it's simply because she's smitten or if the moonlight is actually making nomi glow.

there's room enough for two on the rock so at nomi's admission, parker grins and hauls herself up. ˙ǝɓpǝ s,ɹǝʇɐʍ ǝɥʇ ʇɐ ɹǝɥ uıoɾ oʇ uɐɯoʍ ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ ɓuıuoʞɔǝq 'ʇno pǝllɐɔ ǝɥs „'ɹǝʞɹɐԀ„ more tension flickers in her jaw, touches her temples, and she draws in a breath.

„ʍǝ uǝʌǝɹ pıp ɓǝʇ ʇo sʞıuuʎ pıd' pıp ʍǝ¿„ says the reflection in the pool. 

her gaze falls to the wayside as her hands come up to nomi's hips, searching for stability. the water's surface is placid. this light breeze isn't strong enough to cause any waves. nomi is looking at her and parker is ʍɹɐddıuɓ ouǝ ɐɹɯ ɐɹonup uoɯı,s ʍɐısʇ' and she is grinning like a damn fool as she presses their hips together ɐup sɥǝ ıs sǝɐɹɔɥıuɓ ɥǝɹ ǝʎǝs and finding, she thinks, that nomi feels this too. 

this magnetic tug, these years lost, and despite the pain that blossoms on her temples, behind her eyes, it's nothing compared to the overwhelming grief at the idea of turning her back on them. 

so she she is tilting her head, lashes fluttering,

|iqꙅ oᴎ ᴎomi'ꙅ owᴎ
lips on nomi's own

softly, gently, because whatever this is, it's fragile, and their reflections are shapeshifting as parker's hand trails up her back, palm on her neck, fingers cradling her head. 

it is with tremendous effort that she resists the urge to drag them into the water. instead she laughs breathily. some of that ache in her skull recedes. she thumbs nomi's lips. swallows. says, "whatever you want, cupcake."

Naomi Sato

☉