Neptunes Blessings Ch 019 024

AN:

In these chapters I start using gender neutral pronouns for the fry. For a reference guide for this and future chapters; he-she-ze, him-her-hir, his-hers-hirs, himself-herself-hirself and nephew-niece-nibling.

Warning:

In chapter 19 after the ~~~~~ Chloe shows up again, the description is a bit vague and I would recommend reading the last paragraph if you feel like skipping the rest of it. And again in chapter 23 after the ~~~~~ Chloe shows back up to abuse Mathias some more.

Chapter 19

The next few days passed in a painful blur of highs and lows. With the perpetual state of dread he found himself living in being broken up each day by Cora's distracting and enjoyable visits. However, by the time Helen came by Mathias found himself to be quite exhausted. Although he was uncertain as to how well he'd be able to learn right now, going to learn more knots from her as well as talk about bones still seemed like a far better idea than not. Even if he wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to discuss about bones.

He gave Helen the same smile that he'd been giving Cora all week. However Helen was a more observant bird than Cora. And so she noticed the hints of sleepless nights and stressful days within the pallor of his skin and the brittle edge to his smile. So with a gentle smile she said, "You don't have to force yourself, kid."

Mathias gave her an abashed, "Okay," as he mostly dropped his smile.

She gave him a reassuring pat as she moved in to remove his stitches. But while his upper arm was more than healed enough they decided to give his fin another week just to be safe.

Soon she was putting away her pliers and scissors and pulling out a few lengths of differently colored twine. Mathias visibly perked up even before she could ask, "Are you ready to learn some more knots?" At his tired yet enthusiastic nod she settled down so their shoulders were at the same heights and handed him one set of twine while she kept back the other set for herself.

She started off teaching him the slip knot, then quickly moved onto the square knot and figure eight knot before showing him the sheet bend. Which is when he got excited and exclaimed, "I know that one!"

Interested, she waited for a moment as he looked over the knot she had just tied, before verbally prodding him with a simple, "Oh?"

"Yes, I just didn't know it had a name," he said excitedly as he swiftly showed her his experience with this knot. "My parents used this knot to teach me how to make net bags out of kelp," grinning he started his explanation with an eager happiness only for it to slowly slip into melancholic nostalgia. With a slight frown he continued in a subdued voice, "They used to make nets when my parents were merlings, but then the pod leader's successor died in an accident and everyone was forbidden from making anything other than a bag or even allowing the fishermen to have nets."

Reminded of how much he missed his family he stared sadly at the knotted twine within his hands. Unsure as to what to say to that Helen shifted a little closer to him as she wrapped her wing comfortingly around him. After a little while Helen broke the silence by asking, "Are there any other knots you know but don't know the name for?" After he shook his head she softly asked, "Do you want to continue, or put up the twine?" Mutely he handed her his twine. After putting their twine away she searchingly asked, "Can you tell me about your family?"

Sighing, Mathias swallowed a few times before asking in a slightly choked voice, "What kind of bones did you want to talk about?"

Helen gave him a stern look for a few moments before gently chiding him, "Mathias, avoidance is often not the answer." But at his pleading look she relented and with a sigh of her own gruffly asked him, "What can you tell me about a mer's skeleton?"

Mathias contemplated quietly for a while before slowly and softly answering, "Our spines are, spongy? Soft? I'm not sure what the right word is. But the bones of our spine are lighter, more flexible and better able to grow back than the rest of our bones. They're similar to cartilage, but not quite the same."

Helen listened with quite a bit of interest so she quickly asked, "What exactly do you mean by grow back?"

With a weak chuckle and a small smile Mathias continued to softly speak, "Well I could lose up to half of my tail, and if I lived I could eventually grow the whole thing back. But if I lost an arm, then the arm is just gone. Or something could take a chunk out of my back, and the spine, surrounding flesh, sensation and mobility would eventually come back. Or if it was completely crushed then the spine would quickly pop back into shape and sensation and mobility would slowly return." Then he shrugged and flashed her a smile as he admitted, "Merfolk spines are just weird."

Laughing she nodded agreeing, "Yeah they're weird, but they'd make a lot of people jealous."

Nodding thoughtfully he agreeably said, "Yeah, I can see that. So maybe don't let any wizards know."

Patting his shoulder she nodded and said, "I'll keep that tidbit to myself."

He gave her a small smile before hmming and saying, "We also have a few ribs in our hip area."

Blinking, she looked to his lap as she baffledly asked, "What for?"

Shrugging one shoulder he explained, "Well I couldn't sit up without the muscle attachments. And it's suspected that it's one of the things that allows us to swim like a seahorse when we need or want to." Helen nodded encouragingly as his explanation made sense. He looked Helen over thoughtfully for a few moments more before saying hesitantly, "Our ribs also have many joints, and the sternum is mostly made of cartilage... Other than that I think our skeletons aren't all that different than you might expect."

Even if Helen still thought that talking about his family would help him feel better, she had to admit to herself that he had perked up quite a bit. Shifting into teacher mode she handed him another box of meaty hand pies as she explained to him how to relocate a dislocation, and how to immobilize a suspected break.

Mathias hung onto her every word as he ate. Once they were both finished he passed back the box and gave her a sudden hug. Startled, she nevertheless patted his back comfortingly until he slipped wordlessly away.

~~~~~

The next day was truly a dreadful day. Mathias knew it as he woke up clinging to his nest. He knew it as he preemptively coiled around his eggs. And he also knew that there was no escaping. Not without doing things he was unwilling to do. He would neither abandon his nest, nor risk his loved ones being the ones to take him down if he struck out at her. So, he was stuck with it being a truly awful day.

When she arrived he did his best to just get through without thinking too much. At least about what was going on, that is. And to a certain extent he succeeded. He thought about his mother's stories, his father's hunting lessons, and Helen's medical lessons. He thought about anything and everything to keep his mind off the here and now. He kept his responses brief and his face as blank as he could.

But when she got done using him for her pleasure and his body was fully back in his control he could not help the sick shudder that went through him, nor the look of revulsion that twisted his face. And this of course angered her. He knew it would anger her, but he could not control himself to that extent.

Her enraged shouts set his ears to ringing and as he twisted about to flee to his nest she started hitting him with her powerful tail. He coiled up with his fin and torso tucked protectively in while her tail slammed repeatedly against him. He hoped that someday he'd have enough self control not to anger her. Because she was not a variable that he had any control of. Nor were the eggs, or the harpies, just himself. That was all he could direct and somewhat predict, himself. So, he had to get better at it.

Eventually she tired herself out and left without a word. Mathias tensely waited awhile, then once he was reasonably sure she was gone he relaxed and passed out.

He awoke once again with a start and painfully uncoiled himself. Flinching, he examined his tail to find a few places where the skin had split open. Only a couple of those spots were bad though, but they were right over lines that had recently healed. With a dejected sigh he got to the laborious task of making thread and stitching up when the only parts of him that didn't hurt were numb. Thankfully some of the numb parts were also where he needed to stitch.

He had absently noticed some shadows circling overhead several times while he worked, so once he had tended his needle and put it up he gingerly and with a tail that wasn't working quite right made his way over and up.

Emerging from the water he gazed up at an anxiously waiting Cora. She started to hop out of his way only for him to brokenly ask, "Help me up?" Coming closer again she held a foot out to him. He grabbed it with both hands as with a grunt she dragged him out of the water.

Once Mathias had climbed and wiggled up into her arms and was clinging to her, she wrapped her wings protectively around his trembling form and rocked from side to side. After a moment she spoke up, "There's something Helen told me I need to say to you, and it's true so you better listen carefully." He nodded against her neck to let her know he heard her, so with a worried sigh she said into his ear, "It's not your fault." With a sob he clutched her tighter as her words seemed to give him a tiny escape. Patting his back she continued to rock him as she soothingly and confidently repeated as if it were a mantra, "It's not your fault. It's not, at all, none of it. It's not your fault."

Chapter 20

After a time Mathias' sobbing diminished without fully going away so Cora switched from trying to build him up to singing him a soothing lullaby. After a while he relaxed and seemed to fall asleep in her arms. Slowly she stopped rocking and singing and just held him.

She kept watch over his eggs as he slept peacefully within her embrace. For several hours nothing disturbed the water at any depths that she could see, and then finally he awoke. "Cora?" he mumbled groggily.

"Yeah I'm right here," she reassured him as she switched her gaze from the sea to his face.

"Can't really see you," he complained as he blinked blearily at her fuzzy face.

Frantically she asked, "Ah! What's wrong? Should I go get Helen?"

With a tiny smile he sleepily explained, "S'fine, just sleep gunk."

Curiously she leaned in closer to get a better look at the thick clear gel he was trying to blink out of his eyes. With an almost shy smirk he captured her lips in a kiss. With a happy little sigh she returned the kiss with a little bit of tongue.

Pulling back she asked suspiciously, "Can you really not see?"

"Everything is blurry," he affirmed before finding her hand by touch and bringing it to his chest huskily saying, "Touch me."

She looked over his back that was mottled in purple and blue bruises and uncertainly asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea right now?"

He nuzzled into her neck kissing and licking her slowly as he responded, "It feels good when you touch and I want to feel good. Please?"

Slowly she ran her hand from his chest to his neck and back again before hesitantly stating, "I should really go get Helen."

Finding her nipples he started tweaking them as he softly suggested, "Later." Then he drew his teeth dangerously along her collarbone.

Moaning, she held still for a moment and then huskily agreed, "Yeah okay, later." Making a triumphantly aroused sound he pulled her head down into another deep kiss. Running her tongue eagerly over his Cora pressed her chest to his as she gently caressed everything she could reach.

Pulling back he breathlessly asked, "How do you like to be touched?"

Chasing his lips she quickly answered, "Roughly painfully aggressively." Mathias grabbed her chest and roughly squeezed her breast only to have her pull back and say, "Yes, harder is good too!" So he shifted his claws into place and kneaded roughly over her exposed skin. Moaning, she gripped his shoulders as she throatily asked, "How do you like touching?"

Closing his eyes he let out a happy little sigh as he took a moment to enjoy himself before answering, "I like to be touched with confident desire." At his words she pressed herself back into his chest and started nipping and sucking along his shoulder and neck. With a shuddering moan he moved his hands roughly over her back.

It didn't take long for them to work each other into the heights of arousal. Mathias was aware of how banged up he was though, and so put a hand on top of Cora's head firmly pressing down while he panted out, "Mouth, cock."

A mischievous glint came and went in Cora's eyes as she briefly thought about playing dumb. Instead she eagerly swooped down while telling him, "Lay down." He carefully laid down, letting out a groan of pleasure as she sucked his shaft into her mouth. Cora gagged only briefly as his cock suddenly surged into her throat. But then she was happily slurping and licking as Mathias laid there with an arm thrown over his eyes. His abused tail only twitched a few times as he got close to cumming, the only real hint he gave her was the sudden desperate tone to his moaning. Pressing her hands to him she shoved her face down all the way as she desperately swallowed his cum down.

As his penis slipped back into its cavity she sat back up licking her lips. Then with more than a bit of amusement in her voice she scolded, "You should warn a girl before you cum."

Chuckling at her tone he blandly replied, "I'll do that next time." Then he moved his arm from his face and still bleary eyed he let out a growl that he'd seen get her pleasantly shuddering in the past before calling her over with, "Now bring me your spicy pussy."

Letting out a cooing moan she swiftly moved to straddle his face. Grabbing her butt he shifted and pulled her down until he could get his tongue on her little knob and raised ridge of flesh. As her tail fanned over his chest he realized that this was a new angle for him. With a chuckle he scratched at her back side as he suckled up one side of the V and then down the other. Happily he listened to her sounds of pleasure before making them louder by finally capturing her clit with his tongue. Holding her firmly in place he tugged and twisted her clit with his tongue as he made her loudly squeal out. Then once her wings started beating arrhythmically he pressed his tongue up and rocked it back and forth over that spot until she started pulling away.

Helping her lift up he smugly asked, "Do you want more?"

Letting out a shaky laugh she quickly said, "No, no. I need to be able to fly tonight. And it's already late..." Stepping away she mumbled, "I'll have to tell Helen to come in the morning. I hope she's not mad at me."

Rolling carefully onto his belly he said reassuringly, "Just tell her that I seduced you."

"You did, didn't you?" she said with amused exasperation.

"Yep," he said with a fair approximation of cheekiness including the smile that he flashed at her.

Chuckling, she leaned down to pet his face as she softly said, "Good night Mathias."

Kissing the heel of her hand he responded with, "Good night Cora, fly safe." Then he pushed himself into the water and after taking a second to properly blink the sleep gunk out of his eyes, he made his painful way back to his nest. Curling up to sleep he wondered why the good feelings didn't last longer.

~~~~~

That night was full of his worst nightmares yet. He woke up crying and trembling several times, sure that he could still hear Chloe's voice in the waves. Until eventually he forced himself to stay awake.

The next morning Helen did not scold him as he expected. She looked him over, popped a few vertebrae into proper alignment, fed him and gave him some medical advice. Then after stuffing his mouth full of candy they parted ways before the boulder top could get too submerged.

A few days later Cora told him that Clara had at seven eggs finished laying her clutch. His feelings were mixed on the matter, he was going to have seven children, daughters that he was hardly going to get to see. He wouldn't even get to meet them for two years. But they would also grow up in a safer, happier environment then the ten he was tending.

He smiled wishfully as he pondered over this news, then he remembered something that he should make sure they knew. "Oh yeah," he said sadly, "when my eggs are getting ready to hatch I won't leave the nest at all."

"Oh?" Cora asked excitedly, "How long'll that take?"

"Hmm," Mathias leaned against her as he pondered before answering, "With ten of them, it could take nearly two weeks from first sign to last hatching. Or it might be as little as three hours."

Nodding thoughtfully she rubbed the top of his head as she assured him, "We'll find a way to keep you fed if it lasts more'n a day."

Letting out a genuine laugh he shook his head and reassured her, "While I'll appreciate it if you do, I'll also be fine if you don't."

"Oooh," she giggled excitedly as she bounced beside him, "I can't wait to meet your babies!" Smiling, he agreed.

For the next month and some change, life for Mathias would follow a pattern. Every night would be full of terrible nightmares. Then the day would follow a set weekly pattern. Chloe would show up and command him. And while he got better at not angering her, he could not force himself to please her either. So each encounter would end with another small or medium wound of some sort. Then Cora would show up and help him put his shattered self back together. Usually with gentle comfort followed by physical pleasure. Sometimes it would include a new tasty treat. Then for the next five days they'd hang out for an hour or two each day eating together, flirting with each other and exchanging stories. Then Helen would show up on the last day. Help him remove any stitches that needed to go, and then teach and feed him. Only for the cycle to start all over again the next day. And over that time, his scales grew back. Only they grew back a dark, dull gray, with maybe a little bit of color or shine on the outer edges.

Until one day when Cora dropped by, Mathias simply didn't show up.

Chapter 21

In the middle of the night right after calming down from yet another nightmare Mathias noticed one of his eggs bouncing about. Scooping low he eagerly watched it with his head bobbing along. Then he turned his gaze to the other nine eggs. The fry in them were all fully formed and occasionally moving, but none were quite so active as this one. With a happy little smile he lay on the edge of the nest to watch and wait.

Morning came, and in time a shadow flew over, but Mathias didn't notice. He was busy darting to and fro about his nest to watch his eggs from every angle. That first one had a few splits in the membrane, but nothing long enough for it to emerge from. And two more had started to bounce.

About midday, roughly twelve hours after it had started the first one managed to get a torn edge into its mouth and quickly chewed its way free. "That's the way, little one." Mathias murmured happily and then, giving a reassuring hum, he slowly moved his hand towards his emerald and silver offspring. It didn't notice at first as it devoured its first home. But then it seemed to sort of sniff before darting over to start nibbling the dead skin off his knuckles. "Oh," Mathias said with a chuckle as he realized that it had been a few months since he'd been able to visit the cleaner fish.

Throughout the day and into the night Mathias stayed focused on his spawn. The next morning just as the third fry was finding its way free of its casing and as Mathias was shredding the mildering blanket to give chunks of to the other two, a shadow briefly hovered overhead and then something small splashed into the water. The sound caused Mathias to briefly glance up. Dismissing it as a potential threat he ignored the thing floating down until it got close enough to snatch up.