Safety in the Seafoam (DNF + Karlnap)

Chapter 122: A Talk

Second to last chapter lol, probably the fifth time I've used that title.

Tw: Mentions of death
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Dream POV.

It was easy to say that I was worried about George. He was clearly upset and it felt obvious that it was my fault. However I wasn’t sure what it was that I had said or done that got him to switch up so much. Well there was the fact that I was responsible for their capture but there was a lot more to it, at least that’s what it seemed like.

Yet when he moved to wrap his arms around me I found myself thinking that perhaps I was thinking too much into it. Perhaps he was just a little upset but now that I was with him he may calm down, especially with a hug, a sign of care between people.

His arms hugged my chest, with his head down so that I couldn’t see his face or whatever it was that he was thinking. I didn’t mind though, the warmth in this cold sea was comforting, and the thought that perhaps he wasn’t deeply upset at me or angry was a comfort. I still wanted to just make sure I offered my support. “Just let me know if you need to talk, ‘kay?” I asked.

There was no response, but I knew that he could hear me. I glanced over to Karl and Sapnap, noting the way that the brunette was glancing cautiously over at us. I didn't say anything to him either though, just leaving us floating quietly on a never ending sea. That sounded almost poetic when you thought about it.

His face was near mine, so that I heard when he spoke to me. “Can we have a moment alone?” He asked, his gaze darkened as he asked the question to me. I gave a nod, and he let go of me to allow me to swim by myself as I followed after him.

I was fine with that, enjoying being able to move through the water with some energy after not doing much in the past twelve hours. Perhaps I was feeling a little hungry and dehydrated at this point, since I hadn’t eaten or drank water since lunch yesterday. It was a bit worrying, especially the water issue, but I didn’t say anything about it since there weren’t many solutions.

In order to try and use as little energy I just moved by kicking my legs, hoping that since it was just one thing it would make me less tired by the end (it may have been my anxieties but I felt as though it made me more exhausted than it should have).

When I caught up with the mermaid, who was studying me without a clear emotion. “What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked, glancing back over my shoulder at where Karl and Sapnap were. We hadn’t travelled too far, since they weren’t specks in the distance but we also couldn’t hear them from here, at least not without yelling.

For a moment he glanced at me before looking back down the water, and I closed the distance even further, until we were less than an arms length from each other. “What did you want to talk to me about?” I repeated the question, my voice slightly softer this time. I was feeling a little bit tired after swimming this distance, but managed to hide it.

Still there was no response, and I found my brows furrowing, wanting to know what had caused him to pull me away, which was difficult when he had been so stand-offish and strange in the past day. He just waited with his head down towards the rippling water surrounding him, and I found my voice caught in my throat.

“I wanted to say I was sorry.” I decided, thinking that maybe he had dragged me over here because he wanted an apology from what I had done. I had already attempted to give him some, not just during our time in the ocean but back when we were on the boats as well. Perhaps he had thought they weren’t sincere enough.

“Everything that you’ve been through in the past month or so is my fault.” It was a simple statement, one that I said solemnly because it was true. “I know that it doesn’t make any difference if I say it out loud, I can’t take back what happened, but I want to be sure that you know.” I hesitated, still feeling as though this was pointless.

I mean, what good was apologising if there was nothing I could do to mend the relationship. It was an impossible thing to mean after he had to endure so much preventable pain that I couldn’t undo. We would likely part ways the moment I returned to land and with how large the land and sea both were, we’d never see each other again.

His gaze finally moved to look at me, brows furrowed and showing a careful sympathy. It was a sweet thing to see, since the mermaids were incredibly beautiful, even with the extreme differences for how he used to look. His voice was soft as he muttered an ‘I forgive you’.

It made me exhale, letting out a breath that I hadn’t realised I was holding. There was still the small chance he was lying to me, but I felt as this was the more believable accept that he had given me. I gave a brief nod, hoping that he was accepting it.

Then he fully closed the distance, wrapping his arms around my waist tightly. “I-I forgive you.” He repeated, thinking each of the words over as he said them. That immediately sent a warning through my head, listening to the cautious answer he gave… I couldn’t react though, as his hands wrapped around my chest once again.

“Um…” My eyes widened as he basically squeezed against me, slightly causing my ability to breathe to falter. I didn't say anything as he held me tightly.
“I do forgive you.” He said for the third time. “And I don’t want you to have to suffer through being in the ocean as I suffered from being on your ship.”

I watched him the whole time, my expression wary. “So I am not going to make you suffer in the way you made me suffer.” His arms continued to tighten around me, and I felt my heart continuing to sink and began attempting to thrash away, trying to push and kick at the creature. He let out a small hiss before coiling his tail around me.

“George-” I attempted, a mixture of pained begging and desperate anger, still attempting to free myself. “Please don’t!” He ignored me, pulling me back. I expected him to be feeling something similar; anger, sadness, anything, but he didn’t seem to have any emotion. “You don’t have to do this…” I muttered.

“I can’t do this.” He responded with a growl. “I can’t take care of you… it’s too difficult.” The confession was firm and angry. “You can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t do anything…” I didn’t say anything as he growled. “And what you have done…” He glanced away, not finishing his sentence before fully breaking off his train of thoughts. “I’m sorry.” He muttered again.

“You don’t have to do this…” I attempted, before being caught in a surprising kiss on my lips, deep and unable to pull away. I groaned against him as I tried to vocalise my anger, or to try and reason with the mermaid who had seemingly turned angry on a whim, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even call out and beg for help from Karl or Sapnap.

That seemed to be the brunette’s goal as he continued to force me against him before disappearing under the water. My eyes widened, managing to resist the urge to close my eyes against the sting of the salt, watching as the light drained from around me as he dragged me down, away from the surface.

‘Please!’ I wanted to scream, still attempting to claw or kick myself free, but it was useless as my brain began calling out, screaming for oxygen. My fingers managed to finally dig into his chest, just along his ribs, and I attempted to tear myself free by injuring him. Yet he didn’t let up at all, even as I felt my fingers being forced to relax.

Even through it, the mermaid lovingly embraced me, a sign of apology, or perhaps another way of showing that I was forgiven for what I had done. All I could see was his figure above me as the world went dark.
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1461 words

Maybe more than mentions of death...

🤪