#ikepri au

[bontu-the-l0ver]

IKEPRI RHODOLITE PRINCES COMMONER AU!!

I might talk about what happened to the king in this scenario.

Also I forgot do add Chev line to Jin, it mean to say "most capable brother"

Leon is just chill bro let him be

what would you like to see about his au?

what happened to the "king"

why does Chev not trust Sariel?

what happened to the mothers in this Au?

Yves babysitting Luke 😀

Voting ended onOct 13, 2025

[rjthirsty]

Chevalier/Reader Knight AU

1,000 words

"Knight?" Your voice was soft and contemplative, indicating your hesitancy in conjuring the words. This wasn't going to be a typical request. You were about to cross into inappropriate territory, something you had been whimsically wandering into more and more lately.

"Yes, Princess." Chevalier responded with cool indifference. It was his typical tone and demeanor, though he never failed in humoring your silly thoughts or fielding your questions.

"Do you have a woman on hand?"

"No."

You considered how quickly he answered, pausing as an idea bubbled up from the momentary relief his swiftness had given you. "A man?"

Chevalier snorted at the absurdity of the question, though your insistence was amusing. "Princess, I don't have the time to pursue another. Nor do I find a reason to want to."

He had never found himself infatuated with someone else, often considering that he must be heartless to not have an interest in romance or sex at his age. Neither of those things crafted him into a better knight. And that was his place. Your knight. Your protector. You and your wellbeing were the only thoughts he allowed himself, and for some reason that seemed satisfactory to him.

What good was love if it didn't measure significantly close to the way your laughter made the air lighter. The way he felt stronger when you depended on him. The guilty pleasure he had when his glare was enough to drive away an unwanted pest. Love was a foolish thing for foolish people, and Chevalier was no fool.

"I see…" You let the thought linger in the air leaving the conversation open but giving yourself time to work up the courage to broach your next idea.

"Knight?" Your words were as heated as your cheeks, slowly flushing darker as each syllable left your mouth. "Have… you ever… kissed someone?"

His eyes instinctively dropped to your lips which you caught with your teeth to nibble on anxiously. Realizing you were aware of where his gaze lingered, he glanced away, his posture shifting as he adjusted his footing where he stood.

"No."

"I've read all about kissing in books," you explained quickly in an attempt to defend your inquiry. "And as you know, I'm of marrying age now and will start fielding suitors my parents have approved, but I haven't…" A nervous chuckle. Eyes downcast. You couldn't look at Chev. He stayed silent, forcing you to finish. "I… would… like to… practice. So I'm ready, you see-- for my first kiss."

Silence. Your heart hammered loudly in the suffocating silence. Your fingers twisted in your skirt. You chanced a look in Chevalier's direction to see his icy blue eyes trained on you, but he wasn't saying anything.

"What you are suggesting is far from appropriate." That was a good answer. A safe answer.

"You would refuse?" You asked, feeling your hope shattering under the weight of his words.

"No."

"Then…"

Another long silence followed with the both of you staring hard at each other. Chev was always difficult to read, but he had been your knight for a decade, and you felt there were moments you understood his tells. His wordless conversations. His minute movements that said so much.

His lips pursed. Chev desired to fill your every request, but this was dangerous. It wasn't that he would be reprimanded in any fashion, nothing so simple, it was that he understood what such affections could cause to blossom in the hearts of young women.

"Is that a command?" Your knight asked.

"Does it need to be?"

"Yes."

Heat spilled from your chest like your heart had burst, pouring into your gut and pooling in your lower abdomen. It spread slowly down your limbs to your fingers and toes, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. A cry of your body begging for more. You were hot and cold at the same time and certain your skin had erupted in goosebumps.

You drew in a shaky breath and cleared your throat, afraid your voice would crack, rendering you too mortified to go through with it. "Chevalier Michel," you were regal. Commanding. Perfect. "Come ki-iss-ss me…." Not so great on the delivery…

The rare smirk graced Chev's pale lips briefly before he fell back into his severe resting expression. His strides to you were long, quick-- too quick! A buzz began circulating through you, perhaps you weren't ready after all. You could feel your hands shaking. Your heart pounding. Your limbs numb. And suddenly Chev was in front of you. Taller than you. Looking down at you. Your head swam like your thoughts were being dragged away from your reach. The world became too loud and nothing was making sense but you felt something gently push your chin upwards.

You were positioned looking up into Chevalier's crystalline blue eyes. His eyes dipped lower to your mouth, and then they closed altogether, his pale blond lashes dusting his cheeks. Frozen, you stayed in place as lips warmer than you expected touched yours.

Oh…

From numb to burning, his delicate kiss scorched your senses into functioning again. Your eyes closed, and all you saw painted on the backs of your lids was how beautiful he was so close. A small inhale brought you the smell of him - roses, so sweet and light - did he always smell like that? His fingers below your chin were clad in soft leather, warmed by his body heat. You leaned into the kiss, feeling both his lips and yours flexing against each other, and suddenly, you wondered if you were supposed to do something else besides touch mouths.

It couldn't have been as long as it felt, but somehow it seemed like the two of you were connected for several minutes, and yet, when he pulled back, you knew no time had passed at all. In your gaze, you saw him, and in his eyes, you saw yourself. He was looking only at you, and his cold stare looked to be thawing just a little. His fingers were still under your chin, and your fingers sought to cling to his coat. But as soon as you brushed the fabric of his jacket, he retreated out of your space, and you were left weakly grasping at air.

A/N: I'm not sure if I want to write more. I had this idea and had time on my hands in bed, and this is all I really wanted to get out. No proofreading. No full story. Just a kiss.

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

Dunno if I'll have the energy to get more than a draft done these days, but here's a sneak peak at the bakery!mc au I'd talked about before. I hope you guys like it! Was fun to get into, and hope it'll get fully fleshed out someday :)

Here's the writing snippet, but the rest of the theoretical plot points are below the cut, if you're interested! c:

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BakeryOwner!MC x Silvio Ricci (Benetoite AU)

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

After meeting through work, Silvio's been stubbornly hung up on the fact that I was "the one that didn't want him". Despite plenty of women throwing themselves at him and no shortage of attention in sight (albeit shallow), and yet... he still won't let me go.

Silvio pesters me at my business, or in town, or wherever the Prince happens to run into me. (I'm not convinced it's as accidental as he claims it is.) He keeps trying to send fancy dresses and jewels my way, hoping... I'm not sure what, really. Maybe to go on a date? Does he want me to sleep with him? I just can't tell why he's trying so hard when it feels like there's no need for him to go to such an extent.

My best guess is that he's miffed I'm the only one not kissing his feet wherever he walks. Wait... could it be that maybe he likes that I speak my mind instead of cowering or kissing his ass? No, that's too crazy a thought to even be possible.. Whatever the reason, it'd be lovely if he wasn't always trying to publicly "court" me at my own shop, turning heads in every damn direction he goes.

I set down the tray of baked goods with a huff, crossing my arms and taking in the sight of him across the counter, smirking at me as he once again stops by to "order" (wear me down).

"Good. Morning. Silvio." I grit out, trying to remain vaguely professional. "What can I get for your today, your highness?" For as much as he complains about me not smiling at him, he seems to look pleased with himself. But I have a feeling that if I were anyone else, I'd probably already have gotten my head lopped off for my sass.

⬇️ sneak preview below the cut! ⬇️

Future plans for the story:

(in case I don't write it lol)

• Silvio stops by the bakery to bug MC ..a lot

• Silvio gets overprotective if there's any creeps

• MC begrudgingly getting used to Silvio's touchiness and "commands" ..while still letting MC get away with too much of the usual Sass

• MC eventually just treats him like Some Dude and they get drinks and kick back after the shop closes up (usually at Silvio's insistence)

• Come time for Silvio's bday, he secretly hires MC to make a fancy ass birthday cake for him bc he trusts MC's tastes and to probably not poison him

• .... But also he's secretly using it to see what MC thinks of him, bc he left the decor and flavors and stuff up to MC

• MC gets sick (horribly sick) just before the bday party after so much crunch planning, ingredient prep, etc.

• Silvio forces MC to "get better or back out" bc he doesn't want MC to get worse bc MC is already in a horrendous state

Didn't work out the rest yet from there, but it's probably gonna be Silvio forcing MC to stay at a guest room in the palace (was already there for the birthday contract job) to make sure MC gets better, then make MC make him a much smaller cake for a private party together. And then from there Silvio starts to realize he's falling hard and freaks out. MC slowly starts to realize this too. Things get a little awkward, but Carlo and Rio play a hand in pushing them together. From there on, it's a typical uphill battle for getting to be together, but they're every bit as wholesomely, annoyingly, sassily in love.

[luunie004]

This has been sitting in my notes for a loooong time. I was so bored and made mlp au for ikepri boys. I didn't want to make them all alicorns since it would be pretty boring XD Don't ask me why cuz I don't know either XD

Since I forgot to add Sariel and Rio. I think Rio would be Earth pony or unicorn and Sariel unicorn🤔

[solomons-poison]

The Silvio baby fever never ends, I'm unwell

New dad!Silvio who cried when his child was born (he also cried at the pregnancy announcement, and the baby shower...). The word "family" has had strained meaning for him for most of his life, and he never really expected that he could ever form a family of his own, not a healthy one anyway. But here you two were, holding this wriggling bundle, the culmination of both years of desires and one stressful and wild courting experience.

New dad!Silvio so anxious about not having eyes on his baby, so the two are inseparable for the first several months. He can't trust anyone else but you and him to care for the baby, and he refused to have a wet nurse standby unless he could watch over. No, he's not overcautious, and you suppose that's fair given his family history. He's always been overprotective of you, so truthfully its no surprise when it extends to his child. If you need a break or have something you have to do, he'll take the baby with him to meetings then. Though, the nobles and merchants are noticeably distracted when he does so...

New dad!Silvio who refuses to sleep without his baby in the same room. It's an argument in and of itself just to get him to understand baby couldn't sleep in the bed with him, but he compromises with having the crib right by the bedside. At least he's very active in caring for baby, often being the first to get up when they cry and taking care of them.

New dad!Silvio who is incredibly loathe to admit that he trusts Rio as the only other party that can take care of baby when he or you can't do it. He's quick to insult Rio and will never let him know in words how he feels, but anyone watching can tell what the truth is.

New dad!Silvio who goes without his jewelry for the first time since he was a kid. He learns the hard way that the jewelry is 1. A choking hazard for his kid, 2. A choking hazard for him (he gets surprised how strong his baby is), and 3. Just an all around danger given how heavy it is and how his chains sometimes swing with gravity. The lack of jingling catches everyone by surprise for a while, he's unusually quiet.

New dad!Silvio who learns to embrace cheaper quality shirts. Normally he's all about high quality silks and such, a sign of his class and nobility just as much as his jewelry. But after the first several times baby has vomited on them, he understands its a losing battle.

New dad!Silvio who is already thinking about having another kid barely a few months in. He's anxious and he's exhausted and he's scared of being so emotionally vulnerable. But having a kid with you was one of the best things thats ever happened to him, second only to him marrying you. It's proof that he's found love and trust in someone, who loves and trusts him back, and the realization makes his heart ache.

[sarahmmmmm29]

Uh Oh! I made an Ikepri DnD AU!

You can do whatever you want with this large block of text but I also might post sketches of some of them. I'll use the tag "Ikepri au" if I do post more about this. :)

!!!There will be main story spoilers for most characters!!!

So basic campaign plot is that there was a portal opened that is causing disturbances in Rhodolite, Benitoite, and Jade. It's highly suspected that some sort of portal or rift occurred in Obsidian but there isn't any evidence and no way to check. To top it all of the king of Rhodolite has perished from sickness so in the midst of the disturbances the Belle selection is still going on. MC is a blank slate so idk what to do with her yet.

Disclaimers : I have not played a lot of DnD so there will be info thats a bit off but this is just for fun so it doesn't matter. The world is a classic DnD style high fantasy world added to the game's world building. I made the deceased Rhodolitian king a human. It would makes sense to have a longer living race for him but it felt limiting and I'll just blame it on the Belle process. All of the Rhodolite princess are all half human races. I also assigned all of the LI's as a medium sized creatures bc I didn't want to alter their statures. When choosing classes I tried to balance out the common party line ups. So Leon's faction would probably all have melee combat classes but that's boring so I got creative with it.

Jin: I decided to make Jin a Ranger (Hunter Archetype) because I thought that tracking abilities would suite is way of handling problems. I can so easily see a plot where he tracks an enemy down and befriends them. I made him a human bc it just really fits his background as growing up as a peasant compared to the other races I gave his brothers.

Chevalier: The game spends a lot of time talking about how smart he is so I gave him THE intelligence based class. Chevalier is a Wizard! Well, a Evoker Wizard-Fighter multiclass. (I wanted him to effective in close and ranged combat) Because Chev a natural born genius I thought it was only natural for him to multiclass like this. These classes also fit bc neither of them rely on Charisma so his impersonable manner would still be supported. I decided to make Chev a half elf due to his noble lineage. The Michael family was able to accrue their power due to their longer lifespans. (most of the nobles in this world would be a race with a longer life span)

Clavis: This one is fun! I chose to make Clavis multiclass as an Artificer-Rouge and I made him human. Artificer was an obvious choice because of his concoctions and other weaponry and he has a bunch of rouge-ish tendencies. I am also pretty proud of his classes bc they are directly related to Chev's. Their rivalry is a huge part of Clavis' story so Artificer is the corresponds to Chev's Wizard class. While Chev is naturally in tune with he Arcane, Clavis didn't have this same inclination so he taught himself the artificer crafts to compensate (and their both Intelligence based) The rouge class is more dexterity than strength based so it also gives them different fighting styles. I made Clavis a human to add a bit more drama to his inferiority complex. It also adds an intresting dynamic between their families. The Lelouche family would go through generations serving the Michaels for a single one of the Michaels generations.

Leon: This one will 100% have spoilers. I decided to keep it simple with Leon's class bc he's a pretty straightforward guy. Leon is a fighter with a Battle master archetype. His race is where it gets intresting, I made him a Changeling. With is Prince and the Pauper situation this race makes sense here but also adds a little spice. Instead of being bought because he looked like the 4th prince Leon was bought for his race traits. I also like the idea of him using his changeling ability to sneak out. (4th prince appearance of half elf bc of his noble mother)

Yves: I decided to make Yves a Bard, Half Elf. I mainly did this to balance out Leon's faction. I also think that Yves is good at boosting moral so I put him in the Collage of Valor. It also matches his appreciation of art an culture. This may change when I complete his story. Half elf is bc it very vaguely alludes to his relationship with Gilbert (they're cousin's?)

Licht: I decided to make Licht a Tiefling Oath breaker Paladin. I think that adding a deity to the mix of the twin's trauma was perfectly cruel. So obviously paladin is a good pick for Licht due to the combat style but also the story aspect of making him an Oath Breaker adds extra angst. The basic backstory of the incident(tm) is unaltered but after committing matricide Licht deems himself unworthy of being a paladin in service of the same patron deity of their mother (a sorceress and bard) so he breaks his sacred oath. This fits his self-sabotaging nature and ties into his whole "rejection of the light" theme. I made the twins half Tiefling to make the whole stigma of the the twin thing more cemented bc its a common trope for Tieflings to be discriminated against for causing trouble.

Nokto: I decided to make Nokto a half Tiefling Sorcerer with the same patron deity as his mother and Licht (or does he?). Sorcerer are Charisma based which absolutely fits. After the death of their mother Nokto was practically haunted by the deity and still is. I basically turned his inferiority complex and imposter syndrome into a deity. (sorry I gave the twins religious trauma.) The same reasoning given applies for the race choice here. Also Nokto with horns? Yes plz.

Luke: I decided to make Luke a human barbarian because he is filled with rage. Since I don't know a ton about Luke yet I might change his class after I do his story. Human just fit him at the moment but I considered Half-orc to match his stature. I'll probably end up changing his stuff up.

Sariel: As he is a mysterious fellow I decided to make Sariel a rouge, Drow. I haven't done his sequel yet but his main story hinted at some lost kingdom's noble ancestry so making him a slightly different race than everyone else makes him stick out a bit. Additonally, the dark aesthetic of Drows fits his mysterious and vaguely ominous vibe. His backstory had him leading a gang of other 10 year olds as they pillaged and stole so rouge makes sense to me. He also is the one who taught Clavis how to lockpick so I would love for Sariel to inadvertently be the reason that Clavis picked up the rouge skills that make his life a living hell.

Rio: I decided to make Rio a half Water Jinasi half human Cleric of the Life Domain. I wanted Rio to have some form of magic but the other magic classes didn't fit. So in this AU Rio had forgotten what his deity was and has spilled that adoration onto the MC. I chose the Life domain to first add a healer to the mix and also bc Rio cares very deeply about the people that matter to him so him being able to heal them would be fitting. I made him a half water Jinasi bc I wanted Silvio to be a full Water Jinasi but also to differentiate Rio from both Emidio and Silvio. Making Rio's mother human adds another layer to both of their mistreatment in the Benitoitian court at the hand of Silvio's mother.

Silvio: I'm set on Silvio being a water Jinasi since they compare his eyes to the ocean all the time. It also adds to his ability as a sailor. I might just make Silvio a plain fighter with a high Charisma stat even though he is relatively non-combatant instead electing to use fanatical power to solve problems.

Keith: I haven't done Keith's story yet so I'll probably end up changing this but think I would like to make Keith a druid with a barbarian multi-class specifically with wild magic as his rage effect. I wanted to make him mainly class as a Druid bc I know he's a fan of plants and needed Keith to use the "Speak with Plants" spell. Poor boy needs the practice. Due to his DID Barbarian would be the meta usage of it, him using the rage mechanic would just be Keith switching to the Dark Keith alter. I haven't decided on a race for Keith but I don't think Elf fits. Maybe an Earth Jinasi? I would have to learn more about Jade, I think.

Gilbert: I also haven't completed Gilbert's story but I think a Wizard Elf would fit him as a narrative foil for Chev. Both have the natural born genius and nobility aspect to pick out his class and race but Gilbert lacks the constitution to multiclass as a fighter. So where Gil lacks in Strength he'll have a higher Intelligence score. I haven't decided but Gil would will likely be a Necromancer. Necromancer would give the extra threat of Obsidian since he can rise an army of the undead.

So the guys are not getting full explanations bc they are so new:

Azel: Sorcerer (cuz God) , Elf (he should have pointy ears)

Matius: Paladin (obvi), Human (IDK just felt right)

Kagari: Fighter (cuz he kill), Tiefling (cuz Yasha)

[keithsandwich]

Oh, I've been thinking of a kind of fantasy AU, and decided to ask the Keith expert: what is your idea for a fantasy AU Keith?

Do fairy Maeve has any kind of powers?

And whose race/powers do you think each of Keith and Maeve kids would take after?

Okay, so we have been talking about your fantasy AU and I love your ideas so much!!

Since your AU has a different setting from mine and @bicayaya's, in the sense that ours is a more fairy-tailish while yours reminds me of a RPG world-building, I have some different thoughts on Keith and Maeve and Jade.

I already talked to you about Jade being a fairy kingdom and both Keith and Maeve being fairies, instead of just her. I think different creatures would live in harmony with the fairies, but it would be predominantly a fairy land. More specifically, the land of the wood fairies (so you can have different kinds of fairies in your world).

In this context, I would say their powers would be related to the forest, the trees, the herbs, the Jadean wildlife, and the spirits that inhabit their lands (not only earth spirits but also water, for they have rivers and coast).

Idk how you feel about it, but maybe they can have a special connection to their crests, perhaps even having familiars - Keith a stag, Maeve a blackbird (tho she doesn't have a crest, that's the animal I associate with her), Aster a dragon (? if they exist in your world), Luna a swan, Helia a falcon and so on (because I haven't fully decided on the other lol).

Anyway, this is what I thought so far. Hope we can keep talking about it! Thank you so much for asking and for sharing it with me 🥰

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

The Fire & The Selkie

In the ocean, especially this far North, warmth can be hard to find and harder to keep. But a spark starts on an island, far into the frigid waters. Will it flicker out, smothered by the winds and the mist? Will it ignite? Or, will it burn everything to ash?

Main character; Keith Howell

Content; Gender-neutral reader (they/them pronouns), maritime and selkie shenanigans

Content Warnings; Swearing, some fear

Word Count; 2.9K

You should have heeded the elders' warnings.

“Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.”

But you couldn’t afford not to go out on the water, and an old rhyme wasn’t about to dissuade you from missing out on earning some money from checking the crab lines and cast nets.

But now, several hours away from the safety of dry land, you found yourself fighting the waves and winds to keep your boat from capsizing. And with no crew, you were burning both from the cold, and exhaustion. You knew that if you survived this storm, you would most likely be sick if not with a cold, but also hypothermia.

It wasn’t the time to imagine the consequences of today if you didn’t live long enough to see tomorrow.

You spat out the salty water from your mouth and braved the storm. This was hardly your first one, but a dread weighed you down. The quiet part of your conscience, a part that was much older, was screaming caution.

Not caution about the storm, but of something else.

Nothing but fishing tales made larger than life. Is what the rational part of your brain argued, but it was unsure.

While there was no such thing as monsters that lay in wait under the waters waiting for a boat to devour, you did know that if you were to capsize, you wouldn’t be coming out of the water alive. The frigid water would sap all warmth from you, and you would slowly sink to the bottom. The only evidence of you being a destroyed boat drifting to some coastline.

You gritted your teeth as a particularly freezing wind blew back the hood of your coat, causing your eyes to sting from the salt in the air. You didn’t even bother trying to fix it, knowing that it would be a fruitless endeavour trying to keep it up — you could use that energy elsewhere.

You gripped onto the wheel tightly, barely being able to feel it, and pressed forward. 

Did you know where you were going? Not in the slightest. If you didn’t at least steer into the waves, the only place you would be going was Davy Jones’ locker, where many of your more reckless and overly confident community members had found themselves before.

Some would say you were reckless and overly confident as well, it was always a calculated risk. Even today.

Just today was by far the largest risk you had taken yet, but the potential yield from those traps and lines would be able to not just feed your community but also could prove to change your life from being just an errand runner, to finally running your own boat. 

To finally be a captain of a crew, and not being some lackey for the drunkard in town. To be the one making orders yet still treating your crew fairly. To be fully in charge of your own life and not be at the mercy of others.

A flash of lightning struck the horizon, providing a blinding light in the darkness that was the storm. And from that darkness, you could just make out a tall, dark mass that pierced from the ocean.

Please, please, please. You silently begged the sky to send another bolt of light to illuminate the way. Just long enough for you to figure out how to navigate there.

BOOM!

A crash of thunder. Any second now, light would follow.

As if answering your call, lightning danced throughout the sky, just long enough for you to steer the boat to face the island.

Fighting the waves, and screaming back at the howling winds, you were also laughing like a madman, all sense of sensibility — and perhaps sanity — thrown out the window. The time for that was long gone, and you were rapidly running out of both energy and willpower, but also gas. The needle tipping right above zero.

It was a last-ditch effort, and you didn’t slow down as the boat practically crashed into the rocks at shore.

Another boom and flash of lightning seemed to congratulate you on surviving and welcome you to the island. And while you were relieved that by some stroke of luck that you had made it through the storm and made it to some semblance of land, you also knew that this island — a speck in the middle of a frigid sea — was not just a lifeline, but also a death sentence if you couldn’t call for help, or someone didn’t find you.

But fighting the panic that was starting to build in your chest, and threatened to choke your breath, you hauled the boat further up shore to where the waves and the thick mist couldn’t reach, and flipped it to the side, watching water pour out. Once only a few drips trickled out, you flipped it upside down, creating an artificial cave, blocking out the roar of the wind, and the outside world.

After hours of noise, the relative quiet made your ears ring. But you couldn’t relax just yet, knowing that if you fell asleep now, you wouldn’t wake up.

Adjusting the boat — how a dingy piece of metal managed the storm avoided you — you shuffled like some absurd hermit crab to where you could place the damned (or blessed?) piece of metal so you could get some airflow. 

To survive, you needed fire, but you also didn’t want smoke inhalation to be the death of you, nor hypothermia.

You poked around in the few storage containers you had on board since they were the only dry things you had on hand. A pot, a steel wool sponge, some batteries, and a threadbare blanket, that was what you were willing to sacrifice.

“Come on,” you whispered, a white cloud escaping from your mouth, “work for me.”

You placed the battery on the steel wool sponge and mentally sighed in relief as you saw it slowly turning red before catching on fire. Gently, you placed the small fire on the blanket, anxiously waiting for it to spread. 

Soon, the cold from the hours of exposure was traded for the warmth of a fire. But the burning from the cold was replaced with shivering that shook your whole body. 

Knowing that it would take much longer for you to warm up if you kept on the layers of soaking fabric, you gently peeled away the layers until you were just wearing the slightly damp thermal leggings and top.

Scooting closer to the fire you made yourself comfortable, as comfortable as you could knowing that finding help was nearly impossible and sat there, knowing better than to fall asleep.

… 

Sometime throughout the night, you had drifted to sleep from exhaustion and the comforting warmth of the fire. The cawing of sea birds waking you from a dreamless sleep.

The storm had passed, but it had left its mark.

You had bruises, the aching kind that would definitely be an ugly shade of purple and oh so tender, and now in the weak light of day, you could see large dents on the boat, from where the waves had continuously struck at the haul.

Crawling out from your makeshift shelter, you stretched out, feeling and hearing all sorts of cracks and you groaned at feeling the tension release. Sleeping on cold rocks didn’t do you any favours, but you were thankful that you made it to see today.

But since you could actually see more than an arm's length in front of you, you took the chance to inspect the craggy island, to see if there was anything of use besides the abandoned fishing nets and other man-made debris that had also found its way here.

You walked down the narrow shoreline you had beached yourself on until it slowly opened up to a larger beach. There wasn’t much, a seabird here or there, but what caught your attention was a seal, basking in the weak sunlight.

You had seen seals before, but never for long since they would slide into the water at the first sight of humans. And you stood there, just looking at its content sleeping face.

The seal was cute, just look at them, but you kept on moving, going towards a small cliff by the water that was encrusted with marine plants. While not super appetizing, they would be enough, plus you didn’t feel confident in trying to catch one of the aforementioned seabirds currently. So the algae would be enough for now.

Happy with your collection of assorted marine plants, you started making your way back. You looked back though, hoping to see the seal one more time for an added dose of some much-needed serotonin, but they were gone, the only evidence that they were there was the slide track going towards the water. 

Your mouth twitched, nearing a frown, before you shook your head and continued back to camp, not really looking forward to your meal.

It was more or less the same when you got back, but the same feeling that you had while in the storm, to be cautious.

But what danger could be found on some craggy spire in the midst of the sea? As far as you knew, you were the only other person here. But your brain and your body were on high alert.

Ignoring your breakfast of ocean-provided greens, you carefully looked around your camp. All seemed as it was before you left, but upon entering under your boat, you found a large fresh halibut on the rocks, dead.

It couldn’t have washed up to shore, the tide didn’t come up this high. Upon flipping the fish over you found one large puncture mark.

Something had killed this fish and left it in your camp while you were gone for less than three hours. And while one part of you was grateful that you wouldn’t just be dining on seaweed, another part of you felt sick with dread.

You weren’t alone. They knew about you, maybe even have seen you, but you haven’t seen them.

You felt dizzy, and running out of your boat tent, you vomited into a rocky crevice.

“Tch,” you huffed, wiping your mouth. “If you think this is some sort of game you can fuck right off!”

Spinning around you hoped to see someone trying to hide, or to at least hear some sort of sound, but all you found was a seabird sitting comfortably on your boat, and another (or perhaps even the same) seal sitting at the tide line.

They looked at you curiously and turned their head to the side. Like they were surprised by your outburst.

You furrowed your brow, “Maybe I’m just going mad. Swallowed too much seawater.”

Shaking your head, you crept back under your shelter. But there was no denying that the fish was caught by someone and not by yourself. Your stomach gurgled, and putting aside your suspicion, you started a fire and prepared the fish. You might have not caught it, but like hell were you going to let it go to waste.

Soon, the suspicion was replaced for contentment at finally getting some hot food into you. And you looked outside, wondering when you would be getting an answer.

…

...

...

Keith didn’t have company very often besides the seabirds, so he took to sunbathing when possible, fighting away the cold of the ocean. Warmth was a hard thing to be found.

Sure, that jangly fellow visited every few months, but he hardly counted as good company. Something about him irritated Keith, but he couldn’t put a finger on it, so he just stayed polite, waiting for the man to leave. Their interactions were icey, much like the ocean waters that he knew.

But there was now a new visitor, they crawled out of the raging sea, a fire burning bright in them. Even though they were shrouded by darkness and mist, there was a warmth. Keith could only watch in curiosity as they fought their way out of the water and made a camp.

Fire was a rare and precious thing, not easily made or kept here, the cold and damp forcing it to die out sooner or later. But the new human, who was looking half drowned and half dead, was burning so brightly that Keith could only watch as orange light slowly illuminated the makeshift shelter they had made.

Humans rarely ever brought anything good with them, the litter on the beach being evidence of that, but he couldn’t help but be intrigued. Even while exhausted and barely holding on, they were fighting where some may have just given up.

In a place that was typically cold and isolated, Keith couldn’t help but think that maybe the ocean had finally answered his call for a companion.

So he watched, and took notice of their shivering form. Unlike himself, humans weren’t made for this type of weather. He couldn’t just waltz in though, not wanting to scare them away. 

After what felt like hours, the human finally fell asleep, somehow getting comfortable on the rocks even though they would definitely leave bruises on their skin. Keith slowly made his way towards the shelter, and looked curiously in, making sure that there was no chance that they were still awake.

But nope, you were out cold.

Keith slowly took off his seal coat, morphing into a man, and gently placed it on you, knowing that it would warm you up. 

A part of him was a tad disappointed that you didn’t turn into a seal like him — you would have made an adorable seal — but he felt his face warm up as you burrowed subconsciously into his coat, curling up into a ball. Warmth in his face? That was new… but not unwarranted.

And he stayed on the other side of the shelter, by the entrance, but still close enough that if you woke up suddenly, he could take his coat and high tail it out of there if need be.

Giving your coat to a human? What am I thinking?

But he also didn’t want you to die. You brought vibrant warmth to the cold landscape. While he knew the fire could bring warmth, he also knew it could burn and destroy, consuming everything in its path.

He also knew that in order for him to be bound to you, like the old wives tales told, you would have to not only take his coat, but also give it back. The tales said nothing about him lending and then taking it back without you knowing–

The rustling of the pebbles moving took him out of his thoughts and he snatched his coat back and made a beeline for the water, quickly throwing it overtop of his self. Once back in the relative safety of the sea, he peered over the waves to see you crawling out of the shelter and stretching out, much like he did when sunbathing.

And then you were making your way down the shore, heading west, towards the haul out beach. Knowing that you were headed somewhat in that direction, Keith made his way there.

Its not so I can see them, no, just trying to warm up is all.

But he usually didn’t get a flutter in his chest from the prospect of sunbathing. 

Naturally, he arrived before you did. Judging from his prior trekking experiences with that Silvio fellow, he reckoned that he had at least an hour before you stumbled your way to his haul out site. So, he stretched out, much like you did, however without the aforementioned cracking of every joint of his body.

He had a nice chat with some seabirds that were passing by, and mainly just enjoyed the weak sun that peaked through the clouds.

Then he heard your footsteps, and looked at you.

You looked back, only for a brief moment though, before continuing to the shoreline, picking up seaweed and algae. And even from the distance between the two of you, Keith could hear the gurgle of your stomach.

So, he went back into the water, into the depths, and hunted down a good sized halibut — surely a 5 pound fish would be enough for today? And left it in your shelter as a sort of welcoming/please don’t die gift.

But he wasn’t expecting you to come basically running out of your shelter and hurl into the cliff side.

“If you think this is some sort of game you can fuck right off!” You snapped, and Keith shrunk into the water.

Did you not like the gift? Did you find it offensive? Did he do something wrong?

But your ire, or what he assumed to be ire, cooled down and you went back into your shelter and Keith could smell the distinctive aroma of fish cooking. He usually preferred his meals cold, but he couldn’t help but wonder what hot fish tasted like.

He knew though that he would never have the chance, one human knowing of the existence of selkies was dangerous enough — what with the folk tales that still circled around after centuries — and while you may be intriguing, he couldn’t risk endangering everything just because you piqued his interest.

But he also couldn’t just ignore you.

You were a fire, and he couldn’t let you run rampant on his island because of the slight chance that you would burn everything to the ground.

...........................................

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