Show & Tell
One Nice Bug Per Day
Peter Solarz
h
Product Placement
@theartofmadeline
Cosimo Galluzzi
Keni
AnasAbdin
Origami Around
Three Goblin Art
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
d e v o n
No title available
🪼
JVL
Stranger Things
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Love Begins
No title available
seen from Germany
seen from New Zealand
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Brazil
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Ireland
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from India
@luckless-medic-blog
bitx-me:
“He’s not gonna w-want to–He’s gonna be m-mad–All my fault–He was nice and I hurt him I j-just couldn’t take it anymore–I was losing my mind and he wouldn’t end it–” Onyx curls up so tight it hurts, starting a stream of clipped, frantic distress calls.
Could... could he try crooning some more? He did it, hoping so hard that it’d work. “Please... it’s going to be alright, I’m sure he won’t be mad...” He didn’t know what else to say, not wanting to make things worse again.
bitx-me:
She’s curled in a very tight, very angry ball at that point. Onyx hisses as Mark comes close–But she’s not yet in ‘feral’ mode, thankfully. Just rather agitated.
“He did…? Oh. Then that’s a-all my fault…” And her tail curls around her face, trying to hide from the koi, the lights, and the shame.
“But... but he’s okay... he’s okay, and he’s going to come back. I’ll make sure of it. U-Unless you don’t want to see him...? I can tell them to either bring him to you or keep him away...” He swam in anxious circles, trying his hardest to keep from sobbing again. He just wanted to make her feel better...
darling boy, your shoulders may be broad but there are only so many crosses you can bear before you break;
bitx-me:
Onyx recoils with a sharp, angry squeal. “No noises! No noises! Shut up–No noises!” Hissing, she drags herself into the corner of the tank that’s farthest from Mark, curling up and shaking.
He flinched at the surface, but immediately stopped the sobbing- biting his lip to do so. It took a while, but once he had the information, he dived back below, calling out to her softly.
“Hey... Petrel’s alright, it seems. But he tried to drown himself, so they aren’t letting him around the tanks until they know he isn’t going to try again...”
bitx-me:
…Alright, she’s had enough. The noises he made were nice, but now Onyx is managing to become stressed enough to negate them. She was so deadset on death–In her mind, there is no other option. Mark is starting to really upset her.
“Well–I don’t have friends!” And she makes a shrill, stressed noise, again trying to thrash away from him.
He let her go, deflating, the croons turning into something closer to sobs. “Please... I want to help... please let me help?” Oh, it hurt so much to see her in so much pain...
Quickly, he swam back to the surface, calling out to the caretaker, trying to ask about Petrel. He was desperate for anything to try soothing her.
bitx-me:
She lands on the bottom of the tank, too weak to move. “I… I guess you can ask? But if that’s the case with you, then you understand, right? There isn’t even any point to being alive. Everything is just… Always hurting and awful and gross and nothing is worth it.”
He swam after her, carefully wrapping himself around her. “Well... I live for my friends, pretty much... I know they’d be sad to see me go, and I want to keep talking to them, playing with them... That’s my reason for living. Sometimes, when the pain gets really bad, it doesn’t seem worth it.. But trust me, it is. I promise.”
bitx-me:
“It’s internal problems. O-Orgal failure and permanet stuff from when I was really little and st-stuff, ‘n I don’t have an immune system, basically…” She glances down at her scales. “…They’ve always been like that.”
And now Onyx starts to get agitated–Trying to squirm away from Mark. “He DID! The others had a p-place to go–I just went right back to living in a tank and getting injected and sick and cut open–It’s not FAIR!”
More crooning, though he let her go immediately. “That sounds a lot like the stuff I have... Sometimes I cough up blood. It’s never good when I’m in a tank with a predator... oh well. A-And... I don’t know, dear... Do you want me to ask the caretakers where he is...? Maybe he’s still around...” He didn’t want to give her false hope, but he also didn’t want her to still live in despair. He needed to help her. It was as much an instinct as hunting was for predators.
bitx-me:
“It won’t get better. They have to do stuff to keep me from dying, and I’m tired of it. I don’t like it…” She chirps sadly, but also scoots up to nuzzle back.
“Well, he didn’t know if he could get the rest of the mers at the lab out… But even if he did, I was just going to be stuck there anyway. So he said if he couldn’t save them, he would kill me… E-Everything hurt, it was really bad there.”
“I think most of your problems are from stress... Just looking at you, I can tell they treated you horribly, even without talking to you. Your scales shouldn’t be so dull...” He ran a hand over some of them sadly, though still smiling.
“But... he did save them, so I don’t think he broke his promise?” Tilting his head, he tried to make sense of it, trying his best to understand. “I promise, it’s going to be a lot better. It isn’t going to be all good, but it will be so, so much better.”
bitx-me:
Onyx just shakes her head. Just because the mer is calm, doesn’t mean she’s forgotten everything. “I can’t. They messed me up too bad, and everything is always going to hurt, and I’ll never… Never live properly. There’s no point.”
Her scales flash slightly–Much duller than they should be–Under the medical room’s harsh light. “Even if he is alive… He said he would kill me. But he lied…”
“I know how you feel, dear... I’m also always in a lot of pain. I... the humans at my old home made me all weird, and nothing really works right. But you know what? Every day, I’m so, so thankful I held on... it’s going to be hard, I know it will be, but I promise it’s going to get so much better.” He nuzzled her lovingly, trying to maybe help her feel a little better.
“Why would he say that...?” Oh... that was worrying... why was the younger mer so worried about someone who threatened to kill her?!
bitx-me:
She chirrs happily, cuddling up to him. Onyx’s usual furious noises are gone–The bichir feels safe for the first time in ages. It’s amazing.
“I’m scared and I’m broken and… I hurt Petrel… I was angry a-and… I think he killed himself, and it’s all my fault.”
That was enough for his empathy to trigger badly. “Ohhh, I’m so sorry so much has happened to you... But you’re safe here, and you’ll be able to heal. And I can ask the caretakers if anyone knows if he’s alright. But even if he isn’t, I’m sure he’d want you to live... can you do that?” Petrel... he didn’t recognize the name. Human or mer? He didn’t know. But he would do his damn best to help her out, no matter what.
bitx-me:
She clicks her teeth once–And that’s it. The crooning has damn near hypnotized Onyx, leaving the tiny bichir a little pile of depressed putty in his hands. “It’s… No it’s not…”
Her own responsive clicking continues, almost instantly going from anxious and needy to calm and content as soon as the restraints are off and he’s holding her. “I… Yes…”
“There we go... you’re doing so good!” He’s mindful of the spines as he carefully took them to a corner, curling around her as well as he could. “I promise, everything’s going to be okay.” The tank was a little cold for his liking, but he endured it gladly, smiling down at her, watching as one of the caretakers smiled at him- Mark had worked his magic once again.
“Now... tell me what’s wrong, little one? Why do you think you need to die?”
Aaaaaaaaaaaand done!
bitx-me replied to your photo: Did a quick edit of this picture to give a better...
//FISH MADE OF SUNSHINE AND SWEETNESS//
tbh? i wanna remake his borders so its that yellow iridescent sorta color :D it fits him far better than pink ever will!
bitx-me:
It’s reluctant, but it’s there, the tiny clicking response call. Onyx tugs at her restraints, wanting to be closer to him–
–No, fight it! “You… You’re not gonna… Gonna help. I don’t deserve it, and I’m gonna–need–to die, ‘n… ’M just so tired… They broke me and he’s d-dead…”
Her protests are void of any malice, and Onyx is clicking louder and struggling to get at Mark. “G-Gonna bite you…” And that was the weakest threat ever.
It was probably safe to unstrap her... so he did so, carefully taking her into his arms. “Shhh... it’s going to be alright...” He put the crooning into his speech, trying to keep soothing her, to keep calming her. He just wanted her to be alright...
“Let’s get you calmed down, and then we can talk. Is that alright with you? I just want to help, little one... I can’t stand to see anyone in pain.”
bitx-me:
“Well you can’t he… Help, ‘n you…” It’s hard to even think through the noise–Leaving Onyx overcome with a desperate urge to get closer to him. It stops almost the instant he quiets.
“Well–You can’t! You can’t help, and it’s not FAIR that they’re making me stay alive!”
Oh...? Mark crooned some more as he hesitantly swam closer. It seemed to calm her down even more than others, maybe he should keep doing it...? “But I want to help you, little one... It’s going to be okay, I promise...” Oh, it hurt to see her in so much pain, but he was determined to help her.
“Please, please let me help...? It’s going to be so much nicer here, I promise... I came from a bad place too, but being here helped me so, so much, all the humans here are so much nicer.”
bitx-me:
She just sniffles. “If you d-do, I’ll–I’ll bite you! And I got REALLY sharp teeth!” It’s pretty obviously a bluff–The crooning noises have Onyx subconciously tugging at the restraints, trying to get over to him.
“And I don’t EAT, because I am trying to DIE, and the STUPID people here won’t let me.”
“I’m just trying to help, little one...” More crooning, and then he stopped it for the moment, curling his tail around him. He was easily twice Onyx’s size, and he didn’t want that to scare her.
“And why do you want to die? What’s wrong? Maybe I can help...”
@bitx-me
More crooning, and Mark settled himself in a far corner of Onyx’s tank. “It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you... In fact, I’m going to let you go, but you have to promise not to hurt me or yourself. Can you do that? I can get the caretakers to bring you some of the most delicious fish you’ve ever tasted if you do, too!” He was trying his best to sweeten the deal as much as he could, just wanting the new mer to be happy.
