dead sea

ariel. you'll never sink when you are with me

[arielhalloran]

ericphughes‌:

Scout reached her before he did, before he could make a desperate grab for the leash, racing against the torrent of wind. Eric sped up his pace, waving his arms in an effort to get her attention, or his dog’s attention, someone’s attention at least. “Don’t worry,” he warned, his voice shaky and already a little out of breath. “She’s really friendly! She won’t hurt you -”

He barely finished his sentence before Scout jumped on the poor girl like she had gourmet dog treats hidden under her towel. It was as painful to watch as Vesuvius erupting; her red hair flying down mimicking the volcano’s flames, tumbling down in a scenic crash, combined with crashing sea waves and a now gloomy sky. Her surprised shriek filled the air all around him. The sailor prepared himself to launch a death grip on Scout, pulling away the lively dog by the scruff of her neck, but then she beat him to it. Eric blinked rapidly to make sure he saw correctly. Whining uncomfortably, Scout backed away from the girl fearfully, tail tucked away between her legs, and ran back to him wilfully. 

Knitting his dark eyebrows together, Eric tried to register what just happened. None of it made any sense. Bending down for a split second, he ruffled Scout’s head briefly before making his way over to the girl. Up close, everything was even more confusing. She was definitely a stranger. He couldn’t smell any alcohol or weed on her, and besides looking weak and disoriented, her pupils weren’t too dilated. 

“Yeah, of course,” he nodded, pulling himself back to reality. Eric didn’t merely stick out of his hand for the girl, but snaked his way through underneath her arms when her knees buckled. He held her up until she stabilised, firmly planting her feet into the ground. It was impossible to ignore the pallid colour of her skin, or the goosebumps littering her arms. Eric took off his windbreaker swiftly, cursing a little when one of the sleeves got caught on his watch, and adjusted it over her shoulders gingerly

“Should - should I call someone for you?” he asked, wondering what was the best way to go about this. “Do you need me to take you to a hospital?”

for a moment ariel thought all the breath had been knocked out of her lungs on impact but she didn’t realize just how breathless she could be until the brunet snaked his arm around her to help her stand again. in fact, for a moment her head went all swimmy and she felt like she might fall again. she felt like maybe she could stare into his brown eyes forever and never get bored.

but then he let go. because she was a stranger standing practically naked on a beach who couldn’t speak more than five words to him or even stand on these new legs properly. and she realized maybe this was just about the worst choice she’d ever make. as he placed his outer layer of clothing over her shoulders she knew he’d have to have a girlfriend and if not already, that girl from the other day on the shore surely must’ve been something close to it by now. he was just so dreamy, there’s no way ariel could trick him into loving her.

auburn brows furrowing, wondering what exactly he meant by call and who exactly she could up here, ariel almost responded in confusion before he posed his next question. then her heart started racing and she felt like she just might be sick. she didn’t know all that much about humans but what she did know was that she wasn’t one of them. and that the hospital sounded an awful lot like the places they’d taken so many of her kind to torture and test on.

blue eyes wide and jaw clenched tightly, the girl shook her head vigorously. “no, no hospital! — i just...” she had to figure out some way to distract him and convince him that that place wasn’t an option. what if they ran some sort of tests and found out she wasn’t actually human? what if they sliced her open to look at her insides and bled her dry or if they put her on display in those sad little tanks for everyone to watch that she’d heard speak of?

“where am i? i just — i washed up here and i don’t remember anything.”

[arielhalloran]

ericphughes‌:

After that fight, Eric knew he had to get out of the house. Once again he ended up, through no fault of his own, caught in the middle of it - stuck between a rock and a hard place, except they were both as tough as each other. His mom complained about his dad’s eagerness to accept deployments out too often, that their house was more of a pitt-stop than a home. Then he drove back with the fact that she encouraged him to pursue his career in the first place. Somehow Eric’s inability to help around tending chores got caught in this mix? 

Scout let the way, dragging Eric over endless rough cobblestones until they reached the familiar bounty of sand. The lumbering giant of a dog was able to get his legs up and running so early in the morning, at least. From this angle, Eric could see that fine, mom does have a point: Scout’s dark grey and fawn outer coat tangled between the white undercoat, threatening to mat if it wasn’t untangled soon. He added that to his mental checklist of troubles to handle once his day started for real. 

For most of the time, the energetic bearded collie stole all his attention, charging head first into the waves now that she was finally free of her leash. Until he saw her, someone, stark naked in a beach towel and struggling to stand. Squinting at her, Eric ran a mental lineup of all the faces he knew in this small, seaside resort. Sure, sometimes kids got drunk and did stupid things, but it wasn’t holiday season - which meant life was pretty much dead around town. 

Jogging a bit closer, Eric waved, trying to grab her attention, “Hey! Hey, miss!” The salty scent of the sea drove up his nostrils in a huge gust of wind, so potent he felt like he could taste it. Up close, her face was just as disheveled as she looked. Eric tried to ignore the way she barely clung the towel to her shivering form, the ends flapping in the wind. “Are you okay?…Do you need any help?”

she had to keep pushing. she couldn’t just sit there in the sand forever else the tide come in and take her back to sea, where she no longer belonged. after three more tries ariel was finally able to stay upright for more than 30 seconds. still not without legs wobbling and the one arm not clinging desperately to the dirty cloth waving out beside her, like it would help her balance somehow.

was it always this cold here? she couldn’t remember ever being so freezing in her entire life. the wind that was responsible for rocking the water’s surface to and fro was now slicing through her new pale skin, turning it red and covering it with tiny tiny bumps. she’d never felt her whole body shake or her teeth chatter before and once satisfied with her stability, she wrapped her spare arm back around her body, hoping it would warm her up somehow. 

but then there he was. dark hair and strong jaw and long legs crossing the shore. suddenly her knees felt weak again and she feared she may fall. it was the boy from the boat. by some miracle or act of the fates he was rapidly approaching and she her mouth felt strange. it was like all the moisture had dried up like a beached fish left to dry in the sun. she couldn’t speak, only just gape at him and try to keep her legs from falling out beneath her once more.

unfortunately no matter how hard she tried, these newfound limbs couldn’t stand up to whatever force smacked into her from behind. the redhead fell in a decidedly ungraceful manner, tumbling back down to the sand with a yelp. and then some sort of creature was there, fuzzy face in her own and she feared this might be the end. not even a full hour as a human and already she was faced with doom. she shut her eyes tight and wondered if maybe she played dead it would leave her alone. and then the creature ran off just as quick as it had barreled into her. as she slowly opened one eye, still wary, she saw it had gone to seemingly hide behind the legs of the man she’d pulled from the waves.

ariel realized after much too long that her jaw was still slack and no sound had come out. she needed to speak! she sat up cautiously, still eyeing the creature behind him, rubbing the tender spot on the back of her head where it had med with the harder, more densely packed wet sand and cleared her through, willing anything to come out. “i — c-can you help me up?”

[arielhalloran]

     she wasn’t quite sure how she’d been able to swim to shore with these less than efficient legs but it hadn’t been well. in fact, she hadn’t even made it all the way. it’s just that suddenly she was on the sand coughing up the same saltwater she’d been breathing effortlessly less than an hour ago. now it was coming out her nose and making her eyes burn like she’d stared at the sun.

     even after all of the liquid had been expelled from her lungs, the redhead still felt her throat sting every time she coughed. she rubbed her eyes roughly with the balls of her hands — now smooth and peachy with fingers fully separated. no webbing, no fins. just pink, wrinkly skin and fingernails caked with gritty sand. only when she had finished nothing the small differences in her hands did she realize all of the rest of her was neatly on show for any human who would happen to pass on by.

     this wasn’t an issue that she would worry about if she’d still had a tail, but from her very limited knowledge and observations of humans, they were always covered up with something. out of the corner of her eye she spotted and ratty, sand covered piece of cloth and scrambled to wrap it around herself, swathed in bleached blues and washed out oranges. 

     what was she even doing here? how was she supposed to find the boy from days before? she may have left him on this same shore, but what if he wasn’t from this place? what if he was far gone back to his home? she had to find him but as she tried to get to her... what were they called again? feet! — she wobbled trying to find purchase. her legs buckled beneath her and she wondered how exactly she was to get off this beach if she couldn’t even walk? was every surface like this one? when she stood her feet had been swallowed up by the hot sand. how was she supposed to find him if she couldn’t even use these new legs?