He’d forgiven Cousin Ossë for taking advantage of him during his magic-addled state; it had all been harmless fun for those involved, which was as much as one could hope for when it came to Swan wishes. He’d been grateful nothing worse had happened– but that was no reason to forget the matter.
Turnabout was fair play after all, and with the Terror missing from the sea, there was no one forbidding him from using a particular, experimental shape he’d kept in storage since a particular incident involving a cliff face and his spine.
He took a great deal of pleasure in the sight of his Cousin with his cheeks puffed out absurdly, frog-kicking his way clumsily towards the surface. A few pulses of his tail brought him face-to-face with the mortal Maia, his long teeth bared in a grin that said simply revenge is sweet.
He swam lazily around his Cousin for a few deliciously prolonged seconds, laughing a deep rolling laugh that carried through the water. “You do look silly, Cousin,” he clicked using the strange aquatic syllables of the sea-maiar. “I never thought I’d see you on the receiving end of your pet’s mischief. I have to say, it’s immensely satisfying.” Sauron wasted no more time, but slipped an arm around Ossë’s waist and brought them both to the surface with a few sinuous motions.
Of all the Ainur in all of Arda to find him, of course it was his cousin. It couldn’t be one of his Oarni, too obedient and polite to laugh about his fate. Not even one of his brethren from Valinor, most too kind to truly enjoy his pain. No, it was his arrogant smug cousin in that stupid handsome Orca form. Hadn’t he broken that?
He spared only a glare for Sauron’s taunts, lungs burning and head spinning unpleasantly. As one smooth, strong arm slid around him, he was briefly panicked – what if he didn’t intend to help? He punched in an utterly ineffective and pathetic poke at a mighty pec. What if he used this to his advantage, and–?
But that thought was interrupted in glorious relief as air was back, and he tried to gasp for it but was cut off with a painful cough, body trying just as hard to expel water as it struggled to get air. After several rounds alternating between gasps and choking coughs, he finally got things figured out and settled wearily. Pushing his hair from his face, he warily regarded his cousin who was currently both helping and mocking him simultaneously. “… Did I not smash that body against a cliff last time we met like this?”
“You did, but I forgive you,” he replied serenely, gently thumping his Cousin’s back to assist the water leaving his lungs. “Lucky for both of us, it wasn’t irreparably damaged. Alas, I can’t say the same for our lovely statue.”
He snickered, the shining black and white planes of his face splitting to reveal a row of pin-like teeth. “Forgive me, but you do so look like a drenched bar mop. I can see why you might be embarrassed for the Oarni to find you like this.”
Sauron rolled lazily onto his back and pulled Ossë atop his broad chest as though it were a raft. “Now, would you like me to deliver you home to that secret island of yours, or would you rather I left you to you own devices, here in the middle of the ocean? I’m sure a helpful merman would find you eventually. Or a shark.”
MisbehavingMaiar: Tumblr Archive 