Hi there! I ADORE YOUR WORK. Can you maybe write a fic that’s hurt/comfort? Pearl calming Marina down from a panic attack. It would be super comforting to me ^u^
bro i cant believe this ask came in bc i was literally just thinking about a situation like this in the shower (who doesn't imagine fanfics while taking a shower) so tada here we go with pearlina <3 and thank u so much im so glad u like my stuff!!!! sorry it took a while to get it out!!
[cw, description of intense panic attack, PTSD symptoms]
~
Marina didn't know what happened, one minute she was watching a new movie with her girlfriend and cuddling on the couch, the next she was hyperventilating and sobbing. Curled up in a ball on herself, her knees were folded up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them with a death grip, her nails were starting to dig into her skin but she couldn't feel it.
Pearl was just as confused, but she knew the octoling got like this sometimes, a symptom of her PTSD which they talked about before. The moment she realized Marina spiraling, she did her best to comfort her and try to prevent a full panic attack but her flashbacks were too intense. She sat with her girlfriend, trying to talk to her and get her to come back into reality, away from the torture her mind was subjecting her to.
"Rina, you're safe, you're here with me in Inkopolis, you're home. It's alright baby, please come back to me... please Marina," she pleaded in her gentlest tone, the one she only used for times like this.
Marina gasped in between sobs, trying to catch her breath but it only made her feel like she couldn't breathe at all, furthering her panic. The only sounds she could make were short syllables caught in her breath, completely incomprehensible. Pearl reached out and grabbed one of Marina's hands, leading it away from where she had been clawing herself by accident. She placed it on her chest where the octoling could feel her heartbeat and the movement of her body.
"Here, focus on me, kay? Feel me and match me, follow my rhythm, you're great at doin' that. Feel how I breathe like this, really slow and steady, just in... and out. In... and out." She demonstrated taking large, deep breaths through her nose and slowly exhaling. "Your turn now, just try it with me, in... and out."
Marina did her best to focus on Pearl, seeing the small inkling's body and feeling her heartbeat while she was breathing distracted her from the current pain she was in. She was still hiccuping, but she managed to take a somewhat normal breath in and exhale it quickly. Then again a second time, she tried following her girlfriend, but her body's involuntary reaction was making it hard. She didn't have control, everything was out of her control and she couldn't do anything-
"Pearlie- can't... I can't breathe Pearlie, I-"
"I know sweetheart, I know. You can do it, just look at me, just focus on my face and my movement and my voice, look in my eyes and see how many colors you find. Look at my skin and every single pore and mole I have, hear all the things I say and the sound of me moving on the couch, hear the fan cooling the house and the music playing,” she looked into her girlfriend’s eyes, desperately wanting the tears to clear from them. She didn’t know what else she could do to help, she hated feeling so useless like this.
The octoling’s eyes darted from Pearl’s eyes to her face to her lips, she saw the gold and yellow and brown in her eyes. She saw the delicate swirls of color blend together outside her pupil and she traced the outline of Pearl’s eye markings with her gaze. Her skin was pale and clear, but Marina still counted every tiny freckle she could find no matter how insignificant it was.
She could hear Pearl guiding the same breathing exercise she began earlier, and she hadn’t noticed that she had been following along with the rise and fall of the inkling’s chest. When did she stop gasping and start breathing? She listened in to the faint sound of the air conditioner buzzing throughout the house, a sound she mostly tuned out on a daily basis seemed so helpful now. The bluetooth speaker was connected to Pearl’s phone, playing a quiet piano melody of the Calamari Inkantation.
For the first time since her panic began, Marina unclenched her hand and stretched out her fingers, gaining feeling back in them again. Her arms felt like they were vibrating, she could hardly feel any of her body earlier, but now at least the uncomfortable feeling of her arms being “asleep” was providing some sensation. She closed her eyes for a moment to fully take in the calming energy Pearl had created for her, breathing in the Inkantation melody like it was a lifeline. It always had been for her, for many people who heard it when they were at their lowest.
“You’re okay Rina, I got you.” Pearl said softly, reaching out to bring her girlfriend into her arms.
“Pearl,” Marina whispered as she fell into the embrace, wrapping her arms around the inkling’s small frame. She could feel the softness of Pearl’s sweatshirt on her skin, the tingling in her arms was fading much more now and she couldn’t get enough of the texture she could feel again.
Her face was still damp, but her tears weren’t falling anymore. Her breath still shook upon each deep inhale but she didn’t feel restricted or unable to breathe like she had before.
Pearl squeezed her tight, playing with her long brown and teal tentacles idly, “You’re safe, baby. You’re always safe with me, I’ll protect you from anything.”
Marina could only nod in confirmation, her voice too weak for her to speak without it failing her. Pearl didn’t need the words though, the two of them always had an understanding of what was left unsaid through their body language. It was okay that she couldn’t voice the words right now, the inkling knew them anyway.
“I love you so much,” she sighed and rubbed the octoling’s back comfortingly. It had gotten late, the movie they were watching had ended and the house was fairly quiet now. She felt like she could fall asleep right there on the couch, holding her girlfriend tight and chasing away any bad memories or nightmares that may try to haunt her.
Marina felt herself relaxing, after an emotional outburst like that she was exhausted. Her mind and body both were shutting down for the night, but it didn’t stop her from tracing her finger on Pearl’s chest in the shape of a heart - her way of responding, “I love you too.”
