Whumptober 2023 - Day 1
Prompts: "But now the room is spinning while I'm just trying to fill in the gaps." / Swooning. / "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Pairing: Bean and Mora (S4 finale)
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Unlike Bean, who wished that she was not walking through her dreams whenever she saw her mermaid, Mora ached to be spellbound in a dream, fearfully rapt at the sight of Bean. How spiritless her body appeared, suspended far too low beneath the surface for even a mermaid’s liking. Blue gloom clung to Bean’s aura, drenching Mora in the color used to describe what she was feeling.
Bubbles burst from her lips as she cried out Bean’s name. The water swallowed Mora’s voice and rendered her silent even as her tail beat against the sea, launching her into Bean with a force that should have made them both startle. Even with the water supporting her, Bean felt heavier than dead weight.
Mora wound her arms around Bean, fidgeting with the star-shaped necklace beneath her shirt before swimming them up, up, up until they burst into the air.
“Bean?” Mora gasped. “Bean, please. Come on, come on.”
No stirring from the Queen of Dreamland. Not so much as a twitch or a sigh. Mora heaved Bean back onto her chest and dug a fist into the softness of her stomach, tucking her chin onto a limp shoulder. She leaned her chin against Bean’s neck and rubbed her nose against the pulse point beneath her jaw where steady silence abided.
“Wake up, Bean. You always wake up for neck nuzzles.”
Trembling slightly, Mora covered her fist with her other hand and strained the muscles in both of her arms, squeezing Bean against herself. Mermaids were not well versed in CPR. Mora reminded Bean of this while jerking her fist into the human’s abdomen over and over again, aiming for the spot that was up between her ribs.
Water sprayed at their shoulders. The moon illuminated the dreadful wine-like color of Bean’s lips, cold as the sea she had relinquished consciousness in. Mora’s panting and pleading dampened the sound of Bean sputtering and spewing. Soon a wet string of coughs rocked her body, and feeling Bean’s chest swell against her fists roused Mora from her panicked state. She shouted her name and spilled tears into the sea.
“That’s it, Bean, use those lungs.”
Somehow Bean smiled at the relief in Mora’s voice. Her teeth chattered and her nostrils flared, trying to suck in air without water. Bean twisted in the mermaid’s grasp, spinning around to face her. The spittle from her choking could have been drool dripping down her chin. Bean stared at Mora like she was the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Mora? Baby, what are you doing here?”
“Nuh-uh. You, Bean, need to tell me what you’re doing here.” Mora’s voice hitched and Bean’s smile grew hazier as the mermaid pulled her body closer. “Why were you… This water is deep and dangerous and you didn’t even call for me!”
“But you came,” Bean lulled. “I don’t even know what happened, but it doesn’t matter because now you’re here with me again.”
At the same moment that Bean leaned in for a kiss, Mora shook her head hard. They smacked their foreheads together and groaned. Bean’s eyes remained pinched shut long after Mora had recovered from the pulsing pain. She reached out and threaded her fingers through Bean’s hair, cradling her head against her palm. To Mora’s dismay, Bean winced even harder.
“Ow.”
“Ow? That’s not even where we collided,” Mora said, tapping an experimental finger against the back of Bean’s cranium.
“Ow!”
Frowning, Mora adjusted her grip until Bean grew calm in her arms again. When she opened her eyes and saw the concern in Mora’s expression, Bean attempted another kiss. She seemed oblivious to Mora’s scoff.
“I think you hit the back of your head and then fell into the water.”
Bean tangled her arms around Mora, slurring, “Does that mean I’m dreaming?”
“No, but you might have a head injury. Being unconscious and unable to breathe for the time you spent underwater can’t be good.”
“I’m good, Mora. I promise.”
A gentle hand lifted from the water, cupping Bean’s cheek. Mora shook her head and chuckled, “You’re not very convincing, love.”
She offered a reassuring smile before parting slightly from Bean, then pointed three fingers up to the sky. Bean’s eyes never left Mora’s.
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
Now Bean’s gaze flickered down to the fingers that were raised tall.
“Mora, seriously?”
The reassuring smile evaporated. “Seriously.”
All Bean did was roll her eyes, seeming to sink deeper into the water. Mora grunted with the effort to keep her afloat.
“Bean.”
Flashing a (perhaps concerning) lopsided grin, Bean took Mora’s hand in her own and kissed the pad of every finger that was exposed.
“One.” Kiss. “Two.” Kiss. “Three.” Kiss.
The Queen of Dreamland’s grin grew even more cocky.
“There. Three fingers is my final answer.”
Mora did not appreciate Bean’s pompous kisses or smug answer.
“We’re going to try that again. This time, you’re only allowed to use your eyes.”
As if jinxing the said body part by simply saying it aloud, Mora watched Bean’s eyes grow cloudy and blurred, the color fading at a rapid pace as her pupils billowed. Mora snapped her fingers in front of a gaze that failed to focus. Before Mora could tell Bean to concentrate, her hazy eyes rolled back and bared a stark whiteness to her horrified lover.
Had she known that Dagmar might hear her, Mora would have quieted her cries. But when Bean began sinking quickly into the water with her head lolling back, the mermaid’s lungs swelled with the air that Bean was no longer breathing.
“No, no, no. Come back to me, Bean. You were right here!”
Mora grasped Bean’s shoulders, unsure of what to do. She had just slipped into darkness. She wasn’t drowning, but she wasn’t breathing either. Remembering the stories from the past, Mora pressed her lips to Bean’s and kissed hard, trying to breathe air into her lungs. But Bean’s lips were cold and purple and unresponsive. Just like the rest of her body, limp and weighing in Mora’s arms.
“Bean? Bean!”
The mermaid wasn’t aware of eyes on her, leering from the balcony of the castle where her lover had been tossed from. She wasn’t aware of the woman who was muttering curses beneath her breath, curses that would soon put a permanent end to the heart still faintly beating against Mora’s.
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