Beware, Beware, Of Me

Beware, Beware, the Mother of the Sea, Beware I Heard Him Cry. His Words Carried Upon the Ocean Breeze, As He Sank Beneath the Tide . Xin Er, 38, Gryffindor, Intermediate Class 'Motherhood is not a choice. It's a game, and I'm winning.'

[moon-onthe-water]

gussykesser‌:

“To be fair, when I fuck my way through the houses, I’m getting us gold,” Gussy said in response. She kept some of the gold for herself, of course, but some of it went to the crew. “I know my spells! I haven’t gotten a disease yet!” That she knew of, but it was an occupational hazard. “Really, I think that me fucking myself around this school should be a good thing. Then they know that I’m there when they need a fuck and I’m good. It’s like building a client basis where the market was completely dry otherwise. I’m being a good business woman.”

She laughed at the next comment,“You know, I could be a great mother. I think I would look adorable with a little baby belly. Not to mention that’s a kink that I can’t tap into when I’m not pregnant.”

“The fucking is not the problem. The problem is earning the wrong reputation. Fuck whoever you please, and earn yourself a name as the best lay in the castle if it will make the Captain scowl in that way she does, where she thinks she looks intimidating but actually just looks sweet; but protect yourself, and for Lavinia’s peace of mind, keep up the illusion that we are reasonably respectable merchants. Duì?”

She pulls a book from the shelf, examines it, and then puts it back before turning to face Gussy; and smiles, before tucking a hank of the girl’s hair back behind her ear.

“I am sure, given time, you would all be great mothers, and Milo a wonderful father. A ship is no place for a newborn, however; and your belly would not stay small for long. Besides, the side effects? The vomiting, the changes in appetite, the swelling feet and stretch marks? Such things are bad enough on land. For your own comfort, and to save me the grey hairs, give it a couple more years before you start to brood.”

[moon-onthe-water]

sunshinexcaptain‌:

Happily, Hei listened to the lecture and watched as Xin rifled through the books. “But Mǔqīn, why can’t I have a baby? They’d be my heir.” Someone was going to have to take over from her one day. The Wicked Wench was a family tradition. “Also, I may need you to trip Salazar Slytherin into my arms. I think he’ll be the hardest of the Founders to sleep with. They say he’s a virgin.” Usually, she didn’t bother with virgins, but she could take the lead for one night if it meant sleeping with him. “Or maybe make me trip into his lap. There’s a reason men fall for Melody every time.” Gussy had the innocent thing, which fooled every man she knew. 

“You’re still practically a baby yourself, Hei; what do you need an heir for?”

She makes an interested noise, and looks back at Hei.

“He looks difficult to trip. He may call for a firm shove, instead.” And a great deal of whiskey, she’d imagine, from her brief experience of him and all the rumours of his particularly chaste nature.

Xin Er chuckles softly, and takes a book from the shelf before turning to face Hei, and then moving to balance it carefully on her head.

“You are different women, meimei. Gussy’s tricks with not work for you, just as your tricks will not work for you, and if Master Slytherin is as virginal as the rumours say, I imagine tumbling into his lap would only startle him. You might try something a touch more subtle. Or alcohol.”

[moon-onthe-water]

artistaxaltieri‌:

Always pleased with attention, Mateo smiled at the woman. “It’s quite alright. No harm done.” With a little flourish, he bowed to her. “Indeed, I am the artist. Mateo Altieri. And who is the woman with impeccable taste?” It didn’t have the same flirtacious tone that his words would have if speaking to a man, but he was always cheerful unless he had a reason not to be. 

Her smile broadens at the bow, and she offers one in return, a traditional greeting she’s not bothered with in a while.

“Xin Er. I arrived recently, with the merchant ship? You may have met one or two of my crew mates already.” She would imagine Hei, with her adoration of pretty things, has already had at least a fleeting encounter, though she has a hunch her pretty captain isn’t his type.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mateo. I confess, it has been a long time since I last took up a brush for anything more than letter writing, and so I have great admiration for artists; and after enough time on the sea, a person can begin to miss art.”

[ghostsandgoblins]

[moon-onthe-water]

milokistky‌:

“How true!” Milo said with a smile, “I’m only interested in healing my only sexual diseases.” he walked over and picked the book he knew Xin was looking for, then patted the top of her head for good measure. His movements were languid, a habit learned from being on a ship full of women for so many years. He had a slightly feminine lilt to his walk, and to his affections. “But as far as babies go, I have to disagree.” he leaned against the wall, smiling at her, “Don’t you think it would be fun to have a little one waddling around? I think you’d have fun being a Zǔmǔ?”

She kicks at his ankle when he pats the top of her head, the look she shoots him sharp but affectionate, and flicks through the book idly, scanning words.

“On the subject, there’s a whole shelf of books and scrolls with medical spells over there, and books on medicinal herbs right next to them. Have a look, and pick the ones you want to take with us when we go. We can’t take them all, but one or two just for you won’t make that much of a difference to the take.”

Xin Er scrunches up her nose at the idea of a baby on the ship.

“I don’t think you want to try fighting in a raid with a baby on your hip, xiao didi. And I would ask you to imagine, for a moment, any of the girls pregnant. That would be the opposite of fun.” 

She looks over at him slyly, before snapping the book shut, and returning it to the shelf.

“And for the sake of your own attempts at baby making, and keeping your necessary equipment for doing so intact, my love, don’t call me zumu again. I’m too young to be a grandparent; the only reason I’m succeeding as a mother is because you were all adults when we found you.” She reaches with one hand to cup his cheek, a brief gesture of affection accompanied by a smile, before starting deeper into the library.

“Come on. We’re looking for anything with gilt edges.”

[moon-onthe-water]

@hufflepufftm

“Your insight is as impressive as the subject is fascinating, Mistress Hufflepuff.”

She moved cautiously, expression open and friendly, smile spread across her face. The greenhouses probably have enough valuable cuttings and seedlings to keep the ship in food and water for a year, and the rumours of unicorns in the forest have her thinking back on every wand maker and supplier for them they’ve ever dealt with; but the woman who knows far more about what is and isn’t valuable on the grounds of this school is too open hearted and honest for the sly seduction of Xin Er’s crew.

“I was hoping, if you had the time, that we might talk a little? Your lesson on merfolk was most interesting; being the seafaring sort I found myself caught, and would love to hear more.”

This one needs a gentler, friendlier hand; and besides the siren song of gold earned through herbs and horse hair, she wouldn’t mind winning that bet, and seeing if other parts of Helga Hufflepuff are as sweet as her smile.

[moon-onthe-water]

oceanfight‌:

Crocodile tears ready, Dayiu rests her hand on Xin’s shoulder, forcing her to turn around. “I need to tell you something, I came to you first because I know you can help me, you know you are like a second mother to me. I believe, I am with child.”

“It’s one of the founders, I don’t know which one.”

She fixes Daiyu with her most unimpressed look, even as a corner of her mouth quirks in amusement.

“The angry dark haired one, I hope. That would be an attractive child, unlike the other option. Half Chinese with red hair? Now that would be a tragedy.” She pulls a book at random from the shelves behind her, and knocks Daiyu gently on the head with it, expression equal parts fond and exasperated.

“It’s nice, how you continue to believe you’re funny.”

[moon-onthe-water]

@artistaxaltieri

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Clumsy of me.”

He’d reminded her of Milo, when she’d first spotted him, a sweet face with steel beneath; and she can’t help herself. She took careful pains to put herself in his path so this little run in would happen, and she offers him a smile now, friendly and encouraging.

“I believe I’ve seen you. You’re the artist, hmm?”

[moon-onthe-water]

@the crew

“I’m not saying you can’t fuck your way through the houses one at a time. I fully support your efforts, and if you’d like someone to trip a person so they fall directly into your arms, you’re aware by now that I’ll happily do it. I am simply saying that Milo doesn’t deserve to have to cure you of every other disease, nor does he likely have the time between trying to fuck everyone himself, so please remember your protection spells, and make some vague effort to learn a couple of new ones while we’re here and have the resources.” She glances back over her shoulder from where she’s been picking through the books, making a note of the ones that look finely made and like they’d be worth something, with an amused smile.

“And no babies. My hands are already full; we don’t need actual children as well.”

[moon-onthe-water]

Xin Er Zhang is 38 years old, is a Pureblood, is in the House of Gryffindor, and is in the intermediate class

‘Motherhood isn’t a choice. It’s a game, and I’m winning.’

Xin Er, as a child, was...unusual. Though demure enough when the situation called for it, when it did not she was reckless and excitable, running around and demanding the same lessons as her brothers, in swordsmanship and magic both. It was one of her brothers who decided to teach her hand to hand combat, who looked at his sweet faced little sister and decided that while most women were not expected to carry a blade, that did not mean she could not still be dangerous; and when, at fifteen, she was set on the path that would see her married within six months, she set out on it certain that she would never be threatened.

Things did not go the way she had though.

With blood on her hands and the taste of betrayal thick on her tongue, all the promises of her parents on her wedding day broken, Xin Er fled for the coast, desperate and furious and running only on the thought of away, or freedom; and what she found was not what she expected.

Hei’s father took her onto his ship readily enough, after she broke the arm of a crew member who tried to touch her without her permission, and she fell into the rhythm of things with the ease of one born to it. The crew became her family, filled the spaces of her brothers; and, quickly enough, a sharp tongued little girl filled the space of what she might have one day had, had she not been married to a monster instead.

When Hei’s father died, it broke her, a little - though she had never acted on the feelings, he was still hers, and losing things never sat right with her - but she threw herself into supporting her new captain, always with a proud smile spread across her face.

Each addition has been a blessing, in her mind, and she loves this crew as much as if they were biologically hers, would kill and die for them; but her possessive streak runs hot, and on a take as complicated as this, she foresees she may need to get her hands dirty yet again.

[moon-onthe-water]

sunshinexcaptain‌:

@her crew

She hadn’t noticed Geum was tucked into her pocket like she was supposed to until after she left her room, and was just about to enter the class. At the end of the class, she escaped first, hoping to put Geum back before anyone realised that they’d broken the rule on pets. Not that Geum and Jason were just pets or mascots, they were part of the crew. 

And Geum was also not in her pocket anymore. She turned, seeing a member of her crew had joined her in the otherwise empty corridor. “So, new mission. Find Geum before she steals everything before we get to.” 

“It would be embarrassing, to be upstaged by one of the Nifflers already,” she offers, voice thick with amusement while she folds her arms across her chest.

“Any thoughts as to where she might go first, meimei? Besides the hourglasses full of gems in the entrance hall just begging to be ransacked, of course.”

[boseman-chadwick]