#the second day of mermay | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

milksnake-tea · 11 months

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━━ homecoming.

He was always your favorite, ever since the day you'd found him. But you knew you couldn't keep him forever. One day, he would have to leave.

merman!blade x gn!reader

contains: fluff, hurt/comfort, a smudge of angst, blade is a little shit, reader is a scientist, potentially ooc blade, a hint of abandonment issues, making out (but nothing suggestive), not edited we die like jing liu, written before version 1.1

word count: 1.7k

a/n: posting this on the last day of mermay because ofc i am (im pst so shhh its not june yet). anyways merman blade is the most genius thing i have ever thought of no one will convince me otherwise

Your research facility was unlike any other in the world.

The hallways were enshrouded in darkness, with the only light sources being the illuminated tanks that lined the walls. They varied in size and shape, some cylindrical, others rectangular. Some tanks were lucky enough to have entire biomes in them, ranging from gorgeous coral reefs to murky kelp forests, and some had nothing in them at all. But what every tank had in common was an eerie glow of cyan that pulsated throughout their waters.

As you walked past the exhibits - your footsteps echoing loudly throughout the empty halls - your specimen began to unravel to life.

Electric eels sparked with lightning as you passed, and beside them, gigantic sea serpents hissed and coiled. Grindylows peeked from behind their forests, and jellyfish of all forms drifted aimlessly through their tanks. An eye the size of a soccer ball watched you from the largest exhibit of all, the giant squid thrilled to see its master.

This institute was home to mythology and biology alike, where fables rested alongside common knowledge. Here, in the middle of nowhere, with no land in sight, you were in the eye of the storm - vulnerable to the truths behind old sailors’ tales.

Despite this, you loved your job more than anything. These creatures that you studied, that you nurtured and raised, were like your children. Even the various hippocampi (who you didn’t have the heart to keep within your walls), were dear to you, and you to them.

Yes, there was the occasional sea monster that you had to shoot down. Yes, there were the occasional sirens who would try to lure you to your death. Most of the ocean’s creatures were dangerous, and well aware of it. Unfortunately, you were too smart and too stubborn to die.

A sharp tap on glass snapped you out of your thoughts. Smiling knowingly to yourself, you walked up to a cylindrical glass tank that spanned two stories tall, encircled by spiraling stairs.

“Hey, Blade. Missed me?” You greeted, placing a hand on the glass.

Out of all of the creatures that you held within your home, he was your favorite.

He really was a beauty. Gifted with a slender black tail, seared with a vicious red, the merman swayed gently in his tank, sleek, almost sharp fins flowing around him. Blackened scales gave way to fair skin, scarred with scratches and bites from previous battles. His hair billowed around him like a dark cloud, fading from black to a soft maroon.

You'd found Blade a few weeks ago, bleeding out in the coral reefs surrounding your little island of a facility. He’d likely gotten into a fight with other merpeople, as the more territorial ones tended to do. Even now, the wounds hadn’t completely healed, with bandages still wrapped around his abdomen.

Blade’s ever-cold face barely budged at your greeting. The second your hand met his tank, he backed away, swimming up towards the top of his tank - naturally expecting you to follow. You sighed, shaking your head knowingly.

By the time you had climbed the staircase to the top, Blade was already lounging on the stairs leading into his waters. His wet hair clung to his body as he watched you expectantly, his tail flicking small waves into motion. Sunlight cascaded over him from a glass ceiling, bathing him in a gentle light.

“You’re late.” His eyes never left your body as you neared him, eyeing you like a hungry predator.

You dropped your bag off some counter lining the walls. “I was dealing with the new shipments.”

“Oh? Am I finally getting some company?” Blade asked sarcastically, stretching like a cat in the warm sun. You don’t think it was an accident that he rolled over, shamelessly showing off his sculpted abdomen.

“Like I could just order a merman off the web,” you scoffed, sitting next to him and dipping your legs into the tank. “You’re just a special case.”

He didn’t respond to that, merely watches you with an emotion that you can’t quite pinpoint. Knowing him, it could be anything from warm affection to a mischievous desire to inconvenience you by the slightest amount. He was petty like that.

Briefly, his tail came to brush against your legs. You giggled at the action, the thin fins ticklish against your skin. A flicker of a smile flashed across Blade’s face, gone just as fast as it had appeared.

“How are your wounds?” you asked, your hand absentmindedly coming to pet his head. Where Blade would have bitten anyone else, the merman keened at the touch, closing his eyes briefly.

“Better.” His voice was barely above a whisper as you threaded your fingers through his wet hair.

“That’s good. No pain?”

“None,” he answered. As you removed your hand, for a moment, he chased it, before he met your teasing eyes and remembered himself. Coughing, he quickly turned away, refusing to meet your amused gaze.

“At this rate, you’ll be leaving sooner than expected,” you hummed. Blade’s eyes widened at your words, an unfamiliar pang hitting his chest. “I’m sure you’ve been missing your friends.”

Blade scoffed at the notion, rolling back onto his chest to stare at the floor. “Hardly.”

“Well,” you shrugged, kicking up some water. “At the very least, you’d miss the open waters.”

That, he couldn’t deny. But even still, the thought of finally leaving the facility had become foreign to him. Three weeks prior, he would’ve jumped at the opportunity to get out of this place, this tank. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, chin up.” Your hand cupped his cheek, bringing him to look up at you. “It’s not like you’ll never see me again. You can always visit.”

He doubted that. Out in the ocean, he had little free time to himself. He would spend his days constantly on the run from various mermaid kingdoms and tribes, and if not that, he’d be hunting, searching for his next meal. He journeyed the seas without end. Blade was a vagrant, a wanderer without a home.

But here, perhaps…

His body moved without thinking. Pushing himself up onto his arms, he leaned over you, water droplets falling onto your shirt as he caged you between his arms. His gaze had become hazy, his eyes lidded. His breath shuddered in his chest as he pressed his forehead against yours, drinking in as much of you as he could.

Blade didn’t say much, but he didn’t have to. You heard his words loud and clear, without him needing to say a word.

Stay.

It was unclear who he was talking to, whether it be you or himself. There was a subtle desperation in the way his chest heaved as he breathed, breathless without a thief.

Your arms, your welcoming arms, wrapped around his shoulders like a warm blanket, bringing him in for an embrace. Immediately, he latched onto the opportunity, gripping onto you as though you’d disappear if he dared loosen his grip. He buried his face into the crook of your neck, breathing in your scent, forever engraving it into his memory.

If only he was human, he’d lament. If only he could walk the lands like you did. If only the two of you weren’t separated by land and sea. If only - his grip became just a little tighter - he could stay like this a little longer.

You stroke the back of his head gently, feeling Blade shiver at your touch. He wasn’t crying - you didn’t know if he even remembered how.

Deep inside, you wanted him to stay. You didn’t want to let him go. It was an ugly, selfish part of you that wanted to keep him for yourself. But you knew you couldn't keep him here. He had to return to the ocean, where he belonged.

He pulled away from you, yet still held onto your arms like a lifeline. You never thought you’d describe the stoic merman as desperate, but there was no other word that could properly depict the emotion swirling in his eyes.

Your hands came to cradle his face gently, unable to say a word. Blade’s breath hitched.

His lips barely parted as he spoke, his voice raspy and low.

“Forgive me.”

That was the only warning you got before he crashed his lips into yours.

His kiss was unlike any other you’ve had. Whereas your previous experiences were tender and romantic, this was hungry, raw, depraved. Blade kissed you with the fervor of a starving man, as though you would be his final meal. He was aggressive with his affections, practically clawing onto your shirt as he clutched you closer to him.

Your heart raced in your chest as you met his violent dance, parting your lips for a moment to allow him to slip in his tongue. You welcomed him in, firmly holding his face. Emotions swirled in you like the blurred voices of a crowd, overwhelming and satiating you at the same time.

To say that you were surprised by his actions would be a lie. You’ve known his feelings for a while now, and had plenty of time to accept yours. It was obvious, in the gentlest touches, in the way he could make you smile just by being around you.

You’ve avoided acknowledging these feelings for the longest time, and so did he.

When the two of you finally parted, a string of saliva connecting the two of you, the only thing you could do was watch. You studied Blade’s face, clearly now, for the first time. Your fingers traced around his jawline, admiring how his cheeks had become dyed with a pretty red. You swiped over his parted lips, still catching his breath from the kiss. Your thumb rubbed just underneath his eyes, brushing away the loose strands of hair from his face.

You’ve always known he was a beauty, but in this moment, he simply took your breath away.

Blade covered your hand in his, nuzzling into your palm. He softly pressed his lips to your inner wrist, a stark contrast from the kiss he’d just ravaged you with. He kept his eyes solely on you as he did this, trapping your gaze with his stare.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Huh?” You blinked, trying to snap yourself out of your daze. Blade smirked against your palm, swiping out his tongue and dragging it against your skin.

“Come, now,” he mused. “You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?”

reblogs w comments are appreciated !!

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #hsr #hsr x reader #honkai star rail blade #hsr blade #honkai star rail blade x reader #blade x reader #hsr blade x reader #x reader #y/n #reader #reader insert #oneshot #mermay #archives 🏵️

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iwaasfairy · 2 years

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┌─ “ ! „ MARINE BLUE

tw. noncon!, dubcon, size kink, dacryphilia, biting, blood, interspecies sex, non-human anatomy, double penetration, blood, breeding, thalassophobia, captivity, creampie, sub reader, biting wordcount. 9.5k

a/n. here she is the mermay fic that is finally done. yes it's a monster of a fic but i promise it's worth it,, i sWear i swear ♡ enjoy merman/shark iwa rearrange your guts

iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader

The glimmer of the sunlight casting down on the wide open ocean is enough to make you a bit dizzy, holding up a hand over your eyes in hopes of shutting out some of the brightness. It’s undeniably beautiful, and the soft rolling of the waves brings a chilly breeze over the otherwise sweltering deck of the boat. Droplets of sweat roll down your neck, making your sunscreen covered back a little more sticky than it needs to be— but that’s a minor inconvenience to pay for a day out on the water.

Is what you tell yourself, and others when they ask. Beside you, Tobio is gearing up, yanking up his wetsuit with a little bit too much intensity and focus when it sticks on his calf or wrinkles around his thigh.

The sight makes you snort despite yourself. It’s the kind of expression on his face he has when he’s overly excited, though the narrowed frown your way would probably scare some people away. “Here, let me help,” you jump in before he rips the seal-like, dense fabric. Again.

“Yeah,” the noiret grunts. You wrap your arm around his lower stomach for stability and reach your free hand down the leg of it, feeling Tobio tense up beneath your touch. An otherwise innocent touch— but still your own face goes a few degrees hotter. He’s staring down at you as you force your hand along the length of his thigh until you get to the problem area, wiggling the sticky fabric away from his skin with a bit of work. Your hair sticks to the sides of your face when the wind picks up, but you pray you don’t look too horrible when you meet his eyes.

“I’m gonna pull it,” you say, and Tobio’s eyes flick away from your face back to his own body, then nods. “‘Kay, here— goes.” With one hard pull at the fabric it slots up the few inches and pulls nice and snug to those phenomenal thighs of his. You slide your hand back out along the side and let out a little puff of air, then take a step back to wipe your hand over your forehead. You’re most definitely flushed, nose and ears an obvious shade of embarrassment. But you are… painfully obvious, after all. “Good?”

“Yeah, thank you,” Kageyama doesn’t quite turn to face you when he says it, instead choosing to jam his arms into the sleeves with just as much enthusiasm as before, but it sounds genuine.

“Ahem,” the lithe, annoyingly familiar voice to your side chants, “if ya don’t mind, lover boy. The rest of’us are ready when you are.” Atsumu’s got his arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow obnoxiously raised your way as you meet his look head on. There’s a short twitch of an amused smile that comes to his lips, before he sighs. “Yer’ gonna be okay up here, ain’t ya? ‘S not exactly the most fun of jobs, even if ‘a trust ya with ma life.” You nod, taking the softer look in his eyes of one of concern. Hidden under a lot of posturing and a lot of talk, but concern nevertheless. “Don’t get a heatstroke out ‘ere. We’ll be in for a little while, so drink some damn water.”

“I will, I will,” you roll your eyes, but the smile that comes to your lips is a genuine one, “thank you, ‘ma.”

He pointedly ignores your quip to help Osamu put on his oxygen, checking every tube and valve meticulously before they go. Bokkun, as always, is the first in the water, and you take a quick second to wave him out before undoing the rope around the railing and tossing the floaty down into the water for the big swimmer to grab. He says something that you miss when Osamu jumps the last bit of the ladder down, but the smile beaming on his cheeks is enough to settle you. “Have fun, guys!” you yell behind them, watching both Atsumu and Tsukki descend the ladder and get into the water.

Last up is Tobio, whose goggles and mouthpiece still dangle around his neck as he fixes the escaping bit of hair into his suit. “You sure you don’t wanna come with?” he asks, winding his arms around your lower back to pull you a little closer. “I mean, we can wait a little longer if you do. There’s plenty of gear down below, and we’re anchored. You don’t need to stay up here for our sake.” His little frown is pouty, and you’re quick to lean up and cup his cheeks. He has to dip down a little to allow you the comfort of reaching, as you lay a long kiss on his lips.

“I’m sure. You guys go have fun.” Your eyes go to his chest, then aside at the ropes of the ladder. He lingers a little longer, letting out a sigh and laying a kiss to the top of your head. “Bring me back something pretty.” You usher him along after the others, who in the meantime have connected the floaty to the weight a couple dozen feet away. A little far for your liking, but then again— keeping up with Bokuto when he’s on a roll is nigh impossible. The noiret sends you a thumbs up when in the water, and you wave him off with a small smile. It doesn’t take long before he’s reached the floater and resumes the last of the gearing up, then dives.

And then it’s just you. And the impossibly far stretch of the ocean as the bright midday sun gleams on its surface and glistens like a night sky full of stars. The warm waves and the salt bobbing peacefully against the ship belly, with the occasional hiccup or gurgle. You really do love it out here. The little alcove formed by the stacks of rocks is hidden in its shadow, running wind between the giant rocks where they stick out of the ocean strong and sturdy. In a hundred more years, these giants might have eroded away by wind and rain and the biting of its ocean footing.

But for now it is still your favorite diving spot, with the summer weather and the usually gentle pull of the ocean. Down below the surface, there’s a few underwater grottos, and a gorgeous stretch of land that used to be covered head to toe in coral reefs. Not so much anymore, sadly. Your last few years diving you’ve been more focused on the fauna— by necessity. The gentle bob of the waves against the hull of the ship calls to you, spattering into a million warm droplets.

It’s unfortunate. Your stomach still twists and turns at the idea of following them down, and you know that if you think about it too long, you’ll start to panic. And when you panic, your breathing goes short and hiccup-y and you get this awful urge to fight against your years-long collected knowledge; and that leaves you a useless addition to the team. Even just a few meters under had set you off last time. Left you sputtering and crying as you surfaced too quickly and your ears popped so hard you had to sit down for a while afterwards. It’s not fair, you think as you lay yourself down on the deck, legs still dangling off the side of the boat for the drops of cooler water.

How a single dive can ruin years of experience. But unfortunate and frustrating as it might be— you remember the darkness of the ocean. Night diving is always a bit of a gamble, that time hadn’t been a special occasion.

You remember being swept by an undercurrent, away from the guys, away from the lights. Remember your throat closing up when the water went a few degrees colder, the weight of the oxygen flasks on your back pulling you down despite your flippers working harder than normal. All scary, deafening— but then the yank. You’d never felt anything like that. Yanked a few meters deeper by a mean natured thing, the cold of it on your calf until you screamed around your mouthpiece and kicked toward your own leg.

The memory still gives you that tight feeling deep in your chest, that the ocean was victimizing you personally. You’d barely been able to force yourself to ascend slowly from the depths when you’d finally made it back towards the lights, shaking so badly Atsumu had to help you out of your gear after. Realistically, people die every day. Divers die being stupid, or reckless, or overconfident. The ocean doesn’t have a moral compass, after all. You don’t really want to become a number in a statistic.

But still, you long to join your friends again, to enjoy the perfect diving conditions to scuba around the familiar scenery yet again. You could spend hours for every day of the rest of your life and still never have enough.

You stretch out your arms above your head and let the sun warm up every fiber of you, glowing in the heat and the smell of salt winds that sticks in your nose and makes your hair a rough, coarse mess. It can only have been an octopus, you decided this only a few days after the incident, and you still believe it now. There’s a lot of them around the sandy ocean floor, hiding under rocks and nesting in the grottos from time to time, and while they are very strong, they’re not ill natured. It was an accident, you know this. So really, there’s nothing holding you from going back in. At least to splash around a little until the others return.

The time ticks by fast when you’re focused on the wind and the heat of the sun, lulled by the gentle tilt of the boat back and forth. Your feet a bit colder, toes stretching out towards nothing.

You sit up, pop the top off of your flask and down a few good gulps of water, then peer down into the water a couple feet away from you. The water closest to the stacked stone is only a good 10 meters deep, slowly dropping off the further you get away. Not even enough to truly hurt yourself if you do panic, though you’d rather avoid another incident. It rolls and bubbles under your feet, a clear, iridescent color that foams white. And you let out another wistful sigh, until your breathing hitches.

There’s a dark form that flicks through the water and under your boat, too fast to identify— all you see is that it’s big. Longer than the types of dolphins that come here. The ocean floor remains mostly undisturbed, but you suddenly jerk forward as the boat gets bumped from the other side. Your hand wraps around the railing while you stare, watching that same animal dart through under the water edge, tail whipping up a serious splash as the boat jerks again. You almost slip off the deck with the force of it. You’ve never seen any dolphin bump a boat this way either, you think in a fit of anxiety, sweaty palm wrapping tighter around the cool metal.

Your mind races with thoughts as you try to make note of what you saw, looking over at the floaty. It’s not nearly far enough not to come in contact with it if it’s aggressive, though the rapidness of the movements stay around the belly of your boat. The tail is the only thing you can really see because of the reflections on the water, but the pointy angles and fins don’t remind you of anything other than— You take a sharp breath. You do get sharks here from time to time, but Grey Reefs are small and gentle. In all your years diving you’ve never seen one this big— or aggressive.

And none of the guys are wearing chain protection suits in the first place, because there were no sharks reported in the area. You try to focus your eyes on catching where the shape should be moving down below, but the ocean floor is suddenly awfully vacant. And the wind picks up too, turning the boat further from the anchor point. Before you get the chance to climb down the ladder and switch on the red LEDs of the floaty, another bump jerks you off balance and you clamp your hand down around the rope ladder so hard it burns your fingers. You keep going down though, barefoot and in only your bathing suit as you get closer to the end of the ladder.

But the rope of the floaty isn’t there. Now, Bokuto is a carefree diver at the best of times, but you’ve never seen him forget to tie the rope in such a way that it stays connected to your boat. You panic. Despite all your experience, you get an awful case of cold sweat as your feet stand on the last step on the ladder and get kissed by the water, as you try to spot the floaty from your position. And sure enough, only a few feet out from the boat, the end of the rope bobs on the water surface as if taunting you. The ‘surfacing’ button is only a little further down the rope.

Your chest tightens as you look down below, at the aquamarine color and the soft weave of the waves around your toes. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. You’ve swam with sharks before. This isn’t just about your fear anymore now. Someone could get hurt if you don’t make sure they keep their eyes peeled. You take a deep breath and disconnect one hand from the ladder so you can aim your body towards the end of the rope, before sucking up all your courage to make a nice dive into the water.

Your body enters elegantly, barely splashing. The ocean feels a lot colder than you know it to be after sunbathing, gurgling around your ears as you force a few long paddles forward, then peek your head up. Your aim was a little off, but with a bit more reaching you can will yourself to focus only on the rope. It bobs temptingly just out of reach on each new wave. The water sucks a few degrees of your heat straight off of you, and your muscles are a bit sore, but your smooth technique is well worth it.

You manage to grab on, holding tight around the gritty texture as you paddle back towards the boat with your free arm. A tug stops you. Soft at first, you only notice your leeway is gone when the rope pulls down hard and fast towards the ocean floor and the burn of the rope leaving your palm is enough to have you flinching back. Instead of managing it back with the rope, you’re scared into swimming the other way when the dark shape appears back around the belly of your boat— you drag yourself instead to one of the low outcrops that surface just above the water edge. You’re shaking, your breath heaving wildly as you push yourself out of the water and onto the painfully sharp rocks on your knees.

You hack up some water you must’ve downed from the scare, before sitting down in the little sliver of sun to cast a cursory glance at your palm. There’s a few definite scratches deep enough to pull blood from the plasticized end of the rope, that now sting viciously from the salty water. More pressing is the subject of your panic though, as it lingers half hidden under your boat, only the bottom fin visible from your position. Though it certainly isn’t an ideal situation, you’re at least glad it’s staying by the boat. Visible to you means out of the way for the guys, and your heart rate— though still elevated, calms a little.

That panicked urge came up again, a thought that annoys you a bit too much as you spit onto the wound to at least wash some of the salt out of it. Your water bottle is still on deck, so you’ll have to wait until your new ‘friend’ loses interest. But the animal doesn’t budge even a little, staying right in place and course correcting with an easy whip of the strong tail. You have to admit— begrudging as you are— that there’s something slightly amusing about watching an animal twice your size just … sit under your boat like it’s taking a break in its shade.

“Thanks, jerkface,” you mumble towards the unmoving animal, though your mouth pulls up with a soft smile. The boat makes another noise when the creature bumps against it like the wave that splashes into tiny droplets again.

You can’t help but chuckle when you see some bubbles roll up along the hull and surface with a soft ‘pop’, pushing yourself up from your seated position. You should take a walk while you wait, let the movement keep you warm. The bit of stone you dragged yourself onto isn’t exactly big, but it curves into one of the bigger stacks where the gritty terrain creates a little cave. A soft splashing calls your attention back on the boat. And the absence of the previously tired shadow below it.

Salt water washes up over your feet as you sweep the area around your plateau for its shape, finding the ocean floor equally undisturbed. However normal all if this should feel on any other day, your skin stands on end, like an uncomfortable itch to run. As the wind drops, so does the twisting of your boat with the current. You drop your eyes to the far edge of your outcrop to study each rock as you think, only to go rigid. Your entire spine locks, toes digging into the stone. The top half of a face is surfaced above the water edge, as the man hides himself right up against your rock.

You stare, wide eyed and waiting— for recognition, maybe; or any explanation whatsoever. The guy doesn’t look familiar though. He doesn’t speak, but lingers just enough out of the water to keep his eyes on you, unblinking. It’s such a weird behavior that you’re not even sure what the hell to say, settling on a pitched “Wh— Sorry? I -what are you doing?!”

The man doesn’t respond, or move, and you can feel your anger rising above your concern. “This isn’t funny. You scared the shit out of me.” And then after a few seconds of pause, you point your thumb vaguely towards your friends. “We have a permit.” His eyes are sharp and angular and stunningly shiny, a pretty sort of watery green. You think you’d be able to appreciate it more if he wasn’t so damn creepy.

“... Dude, we’re allowed to dive here. Please just—” you swallow, thinking better of picking a fight. The guy is still between you and your getaway after all. “I can move the boat if you’re bothered.” Still no response. He barely seems to understand you’re even talking to him at all, and you take a few steps closer to get a good look.

It doesn’t… help. Your eyes go wide as you stare at the man— well… What seemed to be a man at first glance, doesn’t look anywhere near as normal as you really take it in. More accurate would be to call it a something. The creature bops unmoving in the water, not taking a breath, not blinking either. His hair colors a dark grey at the spiky ends, coarse with the salt water, and the skin around his jaw and cheeks is distinctly more grey too. It doesn’t move when you shuffle back a few steps, though it does seem to follow you with its eyes. Then sinks a few inches into the water to wet himself again, and back above the water.

You’re… floored. You didn’t notice any signs of dehydration, or of hitting your head— but then what the fuck are you looking at. It doesn’t make any sense at all, and you cast your eyes back at the spot where your friends dove a while ago, before turning back. The creature only takes his eyes off you a split second to follow your gaze, then goes back to staring. A deep sense of childlike curiosity washes over you the longer you stare. You’re unable to help it. You crouch down like you’d approach a stray cat, and shuffle a bit closer. Far enough to feel safe, but just close enough to take in every miniscule change on its face. “Hi.” There’s a dumb, long pause; before you point at yourself and say your name.

A few times for good measure. “I’m… I’m a friend.” As soon as you say that, though the creature doesn’t show so much as an ounce of understanding, he darts forward a few feet along the rock’s edge and closes half the distance between you in a blink. It scares you enough to fall back onto your ass with a yelp, hissing at the sting of the sharp rocks digging into your skin. The creature’s eyes are wide as he dips under the water edge basically instantly, his hiss ringing through your ears as you remain frozen for a few breaths. He moves so fucking fast. It’s a little terrifying really. The sound of bubbles is all that remains, before you allow yourself to peak a little closer to the edge again. His head is sunk about a foot under the water, but slowly comes up again when you stay in place to watch him surface.

Awfully close, only a good two feet away from your face. Too close for your liking. You give a little smile, then slowly sit back onto your heels. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” Even if he would, you somehow doubt he’d tell you this honestly, watching how a large wave washes over him and he carries on without blinking. The chill of the stone below you makes you shiver, teeth clacking. Only when you blow out a tense breath, unsure of how to proceed, the creature forces himself up a little higher out of the water with a leverage you don’t really understand.

It’s only now you really see the stark differences. Though anyone would be forgiven mistaking him from a distance, as close as you are, you can see the dark grey and lighter bellied pattern start to appear along his shoulders. Under the full head of hair, you can now see that where your ears sit, his are obviously absent, and the sides of his throat have gashes that open and close a few times, twitching against the cold wind. “Wow,” you can’t help letting your mouth drop open at this alien-like sight, looking both very human and distinctly separate.

Whatever curiosity that had sparked the creature to come up to watch you in the first place seems to get the better of him, leaning into the rock edge and pulling one clawed hand out of the water to rest it on the gritty surface. His fingers are a greyish blue, and have black, predatory nails only on the three first fingers; silvery membrane stuck between each digit. A hand that’s ever so slowly slid your way until his index finger bumps up against your knee and you’re too anxious to move a muscle. He taps the fatty pad of his finger along your knee with the tiniest movements known to man, as if testing you out, then slowly rests his hand over your knee.

You’re not sure why, but the touch is surprisingly comforting— maybe as a stark difference between the rush of adrenaline you had just minutes earlier. He, in turn, seems absolutely fascinated by your skin, poking and feeling and letting his cold fingers roam around the area. It gives you goosebumps. He looks up at you every few seconds as if to check for your reaction, before pulling back entirely and dipping back under the water surface. “Hey, wait!” you crawl forward to watch as he lingers at the rock edge, before floating back up. This time letting his entire body float up, and splashing his giant tail for good measure.

“What’s up?” You suck your bottom lip into your mouth. He floats easily, clearly very muscular torso flowing down into an equally ripped tail. It’s huge, with the same shark-like coloring going down all the way to the white tip of his fin. When you don’t move, he seems to raise an eyebrow your way, a reaction so strangely human you can’t help but huff out a laugh. He moves his tail again, throwing some water over your thighs in the process— as if encouraging you to touch in return.

“O-oh,” you struggle to come up with anything to say, “I’ll be gentle. Don’t… freak out.” However strange, the exploration seems entirely led by the creature instead of you. Your fingers brush over the colder, wet surface of his tail with just as much consideration as he had for you. It’s nowhere near as squishy as it looks, consisting of stacked muscle upon cartilage — you can feel as he flexes below your hand. He also has claspers, that you pointedly ignore to study the rest of him, but you’re glad your assessment was correct. Male it is.

You cast a glance back to his face, but he retains the same unbothered look as you slide down to feel his fins at the very end of his tail. “Your tail is very pretty,” you coo, and his fin moves to splash up a few droplets of water onto your skin.

At the very least, the sound of your voice seems to please him. He shakes you off to push his tail back under himself, flicking it a few times, before coming to hang back over the rock. Maybe with the confidence of your previous successful touch, you dare reach out your hand to his arm too, along the slightly coarser skin there. It feels a little like very fine sand, and seems to tickle him as he lets out a purring sound that can only remind you of a cat. “Can I see your gills?”

He tilts his head aside when you motion to his neck, understanding; you slide your fingers along his shoulder to the base of his neck. The narrow slits open and close automatically, and he jerks when you brush a finger over them. They’re much softer than the rest of the body, a wet, spongy sort of feeling that has you pulling back quickly. “Sorry! Sorry.” He blows some air through his nose in response, before wetting himself again under the water edge and coming back up. “You can’t stay out for too long, can you?”

No answer, of course. But you’re satisfied with the way he hasn’t left yet, and shift your legs to sit down more comfortably. Now exposing your feet, the creature only takes a second to snatch out and yank your ankle towards his face with one hand, going a little more light-handed when you yelp. He makes a clicking sound and pauses, which you take as an apology before he continues. His other hand pinches at your toes, moving them around with thinly veiled interest. His gills open and close rapidly for a few times, before he pulls your ankle again.

And again, and again, until you follow along and let the —merman— glide you down into the water, hooking your elbows onto the rock to stay afloat. He dips under your body to really inspect you, pushing and pulling your legs separately. Infinitely intrigued with your legs, he squeezes your shin where the bone sits closest to the skin and knocks it for good measure. Then he surfaces with what you can only describe as the start of a grin, exposing a row of sharp, shimmering teeth. You smile back, though it puts a definite pool of fear back into your stomach when he swims up close and starts picking at the straps of your bathing suit.

“Yes, my legs are pretty nice, huh? I,” you swat his hand away from the loop to shiver at the way he bumps his tail against your legs, “need my bathing suit though. No touching.” His clicking noises ring over the soft roll of the waves. You wish you could understand what he was saying. “You’re talkative all of a sudden.” Your laugh isn’t returned, but he seems to perk up at it anyway. The foreign sounds continue as you study the rest of his face, where little freckles sit on his nose bridge, and how large his pupils really are. He seems to notice your staring, because he grows quiet, and his brows go up like a begging puppy. The tip of his fin brushes along your shin, causing you another little shiver. And then, just as fast as you can blink, he sinks back under and disappears off into the water’s depths like it’s the easiest thing.

When you make a move to get out of the water, a harsh grasp around your ankle has you freezing up, ignoring the way sharp nails trail up the side of your body. The merman surfaces with a huff, blowing salt water towards you and you frown. But then he curls up a little closer, and you appreciate the way the rubbing of his skin feels like a warm spark on yours. He leans in to sniff at the side of your face and neck, then sinking down to your collarbones, and rubs his face against you in a stubborn sort of bumping motion.

His rough exploration with his hands soon grows a little too close for comfort to the lower half. “You got something you’re looking for?” you breathe out, turning aside a little to avoid the way his lips brush along your jaw and under your ear, hanging on with a tremor growing from the cold. He doesn’t seem to notice— or at the very least, care, and picks a nail under the leg of your bathing suit with curiosity. “Stop that, that’s mine. Mine,” you try to laugh off the heat starting to make itself obvious on your face, and ignore his narrowing eyes to softly push his hand away from you.

Something the merman doesn’t seem to appreciate much, because his tail wraps around you in a second and he turns you to face the rock side instead, swimming up behind you to trail fingers along the base of your neck. It’s awfully intimate, even when under the veil of innocent exploration. His claws drag along the veins in your neck where your cold body is pressed up against yours. He maneuvers you around to urge your hips back and up, letting out a frustrated rumble when you sink back under. “I don’t know what you want me to do,” you bite back. You watch as he dips back down and twirls around a few times underneath you, lifting your legs up and open to inspect. Before you can even think about your current position, he swims between your legs and pushes his face in between your thighs.

Your face feels like it’s on fire as you splutter and swallow. “F— Hey, h-” You shove your hand onto the top of his head to push him back down, but he doesn’t even budge, your fingers tangling into his coarse mess of hair as he grabs your thigh tight. “Hey!” You’re too embarrassed to look down as he pushes his nose against your pelvic area through your bathing suit— you want to chalk it up to just curiosity, but the sheer proximity is enough to make your stomach flip. For a second you swear you can feel what must be a tongue rub along the fabric, before you’re struggling off of his shoulders with a glow so hot it’s probably coloring your entire face. “O-okay, that’s mine too. So enough. That’s enough.”

The merman surfaces with a funny look on his face, somewhere between confusion and anger at being denied, when you push yourself out of the water and back onto your safe, little rock. He swims in a circle a few times, splashing your legs with a giant scoop of water, before placing his chin on the rock. And you force the frown off your face. “Guess you wouldn’t exactly understand me already being taken.” You reach out to scratch under his jaw until the purring noise comes back. You suppose it only makes sense he can’t speak English, but getting some questions answered would be really nice right about now.

“Hey, can you dive deep?” you mumble as he cracks open one eye to look at you, just to fill some of the silence. “This place has a ton of octopi this time of year, but I haven’t been able to go down to see any. Octopus.” You draw a little shape of an octopus in the air, then mimic it swimming with your hand and point at the water. “Did you see an octopus?” Though you’re sure it’s too hard to express what you’re trying to express in hand gestures, the merman does seem to take an attempt at figuring out what you’re saying.

Then he clicks his tongue, dives under with another hard flick of his tail and disappears from your view along the ocean floor just as quickly. A little bit of hopeful curiosity snuffs out at the sight, wringing your hands together. You suppose it lasted much longer than you could ever have asked for anyway, poking your feet into the water again to swing them back and forth. The sun on your skin is still nice as you take a few seconds to collect yourself, brush some hair out of your face and ignore the heat in your stomach. Right when you slide yourself back into the water to get back onto the boat, the dark shape whizzes along the ocean floor.

He blows out a soft huff when breaking through the surface, and swims up so close you’re chest to chest. Again. His thick tail curls around you to keep you both above the water, before he pulls up a clawed hand to show off the thing in his hand. Which you quickly recognize to be an octopus, poor little arms clinging hard onto his hand and spewing ink. “Oh my god.” He shoves it towards you as you squeak. “No, don’t give it to me! What am I supposed to do with it?” You barely catch the octopus when he tosses it, quickly setting it free. The thing darts off towards the open sea within an instant, and the merman hisses, before looking back at you with a frown.

Then he’s back under, chasing down the poor thing. When he surfaces again, he shoves you straight out the water onto your rocky platform, then launches the octopus onto it too. You feel awful watching it writhe, but are a bit more surprised by how easily you’d just been tossed out the water. You let him get onto the rock with you, and grab the octopus to hand it back to you. You’re almost in tears when you smile at him, shaking your head. “I don’t— I don’t want this. I really don’t.” A few more clicks come from him when you yet again try to release the octopus, hissing in protest. But you still carefully put the poor animal back, and wash off the ink sticking to your hands as it swims away.

Your merman is staring at you with disbelief, mouth corners pulled up in a half-snarl. “It’s okay!” you coo though, “thank you. That’s very sweet.” You sit a bit closer in case he attempts to chase it down again, and pet a hand down his chest. Which seems to douse the fire in his eyes enough to relax, looking between your face and your body a few times. His gentle purring continues when you don’t move your touch away. “I don’t eat live animals. But… I a-appreciate— the gesture. And,” you struggle to continue watching the glint of razor sharp teeth when he cracks his lips open, “you’re… you’re clearly a great hunter.”

When you try to place some distance between your bodies, he lifts his tail and pats it on the wet ground, before moving the length of it over your legs. “Hey,” you quickly say, swallowing the rest of your words when he moves over you more, face to face. His long lashes are awfully distracting so close, mouth hanging open a sliver to show you a peek of a pale, pink tongue. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear he was about to kiss you.

“I’m taken,” you mumble, averting your eyes and pulling your hands to your chest for good measure.

Whatever he understands that to mean makes him growl, low and possessive. He says something you don’t understand, then growls again. His hand comes to pet your shoulder, running his nails through the baby hair at the base of your head a few times. It snags every few seconds, makes you hiss and moan too. And it makes him grin. Even worse, it sends an embarrassing amount of heat to your cunt, grimacing when you feel your pussy get slick. The earlier touching and now the press of his muscular body over yours is leaving you a mess.

His hand pushes against your thigh, twitching hard, which has your eyebrows pulling tight. You go pale when you look down. What you assumed to be his hand was something else completely, moving around against your thigh with a sticky sheen being rubbed on your skin. The claspers you’d earlier seen to identify him as male, are swollen and extended, and he’s basically rubbing them against your hip like he’s grinding his cocks into you. His tail is heavy enough to keep you in place under him, and his crawled hand is slid along your side when the purring continues. “Oh, fuck,” you mouth, “oh fuck.” Trying to slip out from under him makes him let out a mean growl, mouth corners lifting to show his canines.

“I’m already taken,” you quickly whisper under him again, placing a hand on his shoulder as your eyes dart all around his face, “please get off. You— I- I’m flattered, really. But you should find yourself,” the growl turns into a hiss when you push at him, “a nice mer lady!” When you get one leg from under the heavy press of his tail he snaps his jaw and clamps his hand tight around your arm, laying down on top of you. His head is nuzzled— or forced— into the crook of your throat and his hips buck against you. “I can’t,” you squeak, shivering under his huge body.

He doesn’t care. The two cocks squirm against your belly, making you feel gross in every single way. Once again you try to push him away with a sad ‘no’, but this time the merman hisses and shows his teeth in a display that even you know to be aggressive. The blunt heads twitch and curl against you in a way that feels so foreign and uncomfortable that your lungs are folding in onto themselves, with only the fabric of your bathing suit that sits in the way. The man’s eyes, despite the brilliant color of them, are narrowed and uncaring. And you understand then, that he —it— has absolutely no intention of letting your begging sway him.

The impatient clawing at your thighs is painful, course skin rubbing against yours. You’ve never thought of yourself as delicate before, but pressed under the huge —absurdly so— creature, you find yourself crying. For yourself, and what you know will happen. It makes your skin break out into a cold sweat, adrenaline pumping under you as his heavy tail twitches over you, and he tries to pull you closer in a way that sends a splitting pain down your spine.

It’s only instinct to get away. Your eyes shut and you slam your elbow forward into his throat, kicking and wiggling until his grip loosens with a surprised noise, and you scramble up shaking. If you had more time to stop and think, maybe you’d think twice about rushing over to the edge of your little platform. But you only hear your mind scream to run! get away, and so you jump. Off the rocks into the coldness of the water, feeling the clack of the pressure on your ears and head, you wildly paddle yourself back to the surface and towards the blurry shape of the boat.

Your muscles are achy from the change in temperature, head fuzzy. And there’s this awful, rapid pumping of a heartbeat that should feel familiar, but doesn’t at all. You pull your arm out of the water and drag it through as hard and best you can, making a decent dent in the distance separating you from safety. But it’s not enough. If you’d been able to think twice, you would’ve known it not to be enough. The hand is back before you can so much as brace yourself, deathly tight as it wraps around your ankle and you’re yanked down. You take a stuttered gulp of air before being pulled under into the chilly cold again, and though you thrash wildly, you can’t see anything with the push of the wave on your skull.

When the tail wraps back around you, you open your eyes despite the salty water, trying and failing to shove at his shoulder before your arm is caught too. Your heart bangs so violently against your ribs you’re scared it might pop out through the skin. But you can’t really think, because your eyes shut against the pain of the salt, filling into your nose, clacking your ears. Your head flops forward as the merman drags you through the water; and it hurts. Your lungs hurt. Your eyes hurt. The panicked feeling screaming between your ears hurts, and without anything else to do, you open your mouth and scream.

What little sound reaches your own ears gives way for the water to fill your mouth up, the gross, unbearable taste of the ocean water now drowning you. You’re drowning. You’re drowning.

And then you’re shoved so violently back onto the ledge that you don’t feel yourself land until the water is pushed from your lungs with the force of it, and you’re gasping and thrashing around on the stone now. You gag against the salt as spit drips out your mouth and the rushing sound of water leaves your skull for a calmer blurbing, leaving you catching your pitiful breath where you try to push yourself back until your back hits a wall. Tears are pooling in and streaming down over your cheeks in full hiccupy weeps— can’t help it. But as you rub and rub until the stinging goes away, you come back to yourself just enough to realize something.

It’s significantly darker and quieter than it was. You look around through your teary eyes, finding yourself stuck in a cave. The water at your toes is the only source of light you’re allowed, every other escape showing you only stone and moss. Wherever the creature took you… it isn’t a place you’ve ever been diving. And— you glance up to the middle of the pool that laps ever so calmly at your feet now. The merman’s eyes are glowing a glittering blue, vigilantly staring at you from just above the water edge where you can see his tail flick around elegantly under the water.

“D-don’t,” you try, only to grab at your throat when only a pitiful squeak comes out, swallowing a few times. “Don’t come closer. Don’t- d-don’t come.” Your shaking hand isn’t much of a shield. The merman’s clicking noise comes back in an equally forceful manner, as he swims all the way to the end of the pool and then back. Still glowering at you. When you don’t move, he swims a little closer, letting the soft brabble of the water carry him towards you. But this time you push yourself up onto your feet and kick at the water, and hiss back. “Go away! Leave me alone!”

“Leave me alone,” you squeak pitifully, and rub your hands along your arms, and glare back. He doesn’t, though you don’t expect him to. But now you’re fucked. You can’t go into the water without the merman grabbing you, not that you’re in much of a hurry to try again anyway, and you can’t get out any other way. The realization gives way to a wobbly lip and a whiny sob from somewhere in your body, as you sit back down with your face twisted into tears, wrapping your arms around your knees.

The merman doesn’t flinch when you glare at him, only peers those creepy eyes back at you. “Go! Go away! What the hell is wrong with you, I-I mean—” Your voice rises automatically, stress bleeding out into your waterfall of words like there's no stopping it. “I’m not even of your kind! Why the hell did you take me here, w-why did —You don’t even— I… You!” Your train of words leaves you when the sound of moving water sounds again, and ever so slowly, the merman starts dragging himself up the ledge.

It’s not big, barely enough for two people to lie together, and with the chance of sliding down into the water. And he’s big. You swallow and look away when he’s still hard —harder even, maybe— and try your very best to ignore the scooching and shuffling sound as he slowly drags his long tail out of the water and gets closer and closer. The merman purrs when he’s pressed against you again, wide chest pressing against your shoulder, and his head slowly nudges against your ear. It’s gross, and you hate him, hate how his hand trails up the inside of your thigh. How he sticks his tongue out and licks along the shell of your ear.

But you can’t help but shiver, a sad squeak breaking free from your throat when he purrs louder and louder each second he’s touching you. His tail slaps the wet ground with a satisfied sigh when he moves over you more and you resign yourself to laying down on the cold, damp floor. But you can’t help it. You have no other place to go, nowhere left to flee. The mere thought of trying to run away again is enough to have your stomach flip like you’ll throw up. You cry when the merman starts nosing hungrily down your neck, licking, dragging razor sharp teeth along the heartbeat.

He lays himself half on top of you, until you can feel the squirming dicks start to reach for your center again. They flop around and move as if with a mind of their own, a nasty sort of display that makes you want to gag again— so you cling to his shoulders instead. Whatever thoughts the creature has running through his mind, it doesn’t show clearly on his face. But you want to look away from his gaze nevertheless, ignoring the revenant way he watches your face twist with every crass touch. When his hands tire of exploring, the merman moves aside a little to shove you further up the rock, almost bumping your head against the wall in the process.

Your thighs are shoved apart, one leg hauled over his arm to get it out of the way. But your thoughts are so still, so awfully quiet. He stares for an uncomfortable amount of time as he leans down to sniffle around the area— and really, that’s probably the worst part. Because despite everything, how much you hate this, hate him, want to kick and scream and pull at his hair until he leaves you the hell alone, you’re still getting wetter. You can feel the heat between your legs, soaking into your bikini bottoms and coating your puffy pussy in glistening slick. It doesn’t take too long for the man to figure out that your bottoms can be pushes aside, to reveal your cunt.

And you suppose he says something, because he stares up at your face with a weirdly calculating expression. “Shut the hell up,” you grunt under your breath despite his silence, hating the —it feels like amusement that’s radiating off of him when he dips a finger into your wetness with a slow growl, and you turn your head to the top of the cave. There’s some shuffling, before he is back over you, and this time you hold the way your throat bobs as he wraps a free hand around it. Doesn’t squeeze, but the weight of his arm alone is enough to have you gasping, tears beading back past your lashes.

Then he shuffles some more, and his fingers are pulled away from your pussy to slot them curiously into his mouth. Aquamarine eyes roll back into his skull when he closes his lips around them, and both of your breathing seems to speed up. You, for his reaction, him; to rip your other leg to slot around his waist as he nudges his cocks against your clenching pussy. His dick is colder than your body, making your tummy flutter as he presses all his weight into you and the glossy head of his cock pops inside. Stretching you wide. Your eyes shoot open as you dig your nails into him. He looks absolutely feral.

The thin ring of blue is all that is left from blown eyes pupils, big and black and terrifying. But it’s the low growling noise followed by the way he leans down to suck the crook of your neck, right below his hand that really scares you. Because his breathing is so erratic, and his hips still haven’t moved. Your own voice comes out like a small child being chastised, when you tremble under him. You don’t want him to move. But you want even less to be speared onto his dick all at once. “Go slowly. Slowly,” you beg, moving to thread your fingers through his hair trying to coach something back.

But whatever it is you try to communicate is completely lost when he seems to break his trace and the dick starts squirming inside its very tight clutch, and he suddenly pushes your head out the way. His teeth clamp down hard and fast on your neck, ripping a sharp whine from you that dies within seconds. The coat of blood you feel running down your shoulder is sticky and burning, and you trash against him. But the moving of his cock continues, like a snake curling inside your dripping pussy. And before the head even starts pushing against your cervix, your other hole is starting to receive its own needy press.

“Ohh- g-god, oh please,” you breathe out, hiccuping and whining and moaning all at once. “Please, fuck—” It’s so tight. Your entire lower half feels like it’s being stretched so wide you should fight, but you’re trembling in pleasure anyway. Your ass is filled with the same impatient motion of his second cock, both twirling and prodding against your walls, and your head snaps back. Your body wound like a spring. You don’t get to think about your orgasm before it’s hitting you full force and knocking the breath out of you, your pussy clenching and gushing around the intrusion.

Your legs shake even when he lets go of your throat to heave his upper body over you again, and starts bucking into you. Relentlessly, with his sharp nails gidding into your thigh and his heavy body sliding you up and down on the floor with each thrust, as his tongue rubs along the skin of your wound. You think you’re crying, but you’re also half aware of the desperate, whining noise you’re making as he fucks your holes so deeply your eyes cross automatically. Your toes curling where your legs are wrapped around his waist, totally unaware of the wrecked way you’re drooling and curling against him.

The loud sound of skin meeting skin each time he bottoms out and fucks you, you feel full— so full it’s a different kind of whole-ness. You’re clawing at his back, ignoring the way he hisses when you accidentally touch the small fin along his spine or how he’s gone hovering himself over your body to stare at your face, and run a thumb over your lips. Every impulse is too much. The way his chest rubs against your oversensitive tits, how his cocks seem to find the exact spot inside you to have the air forced out of your lungs. The black swimming in the center of your vision.

“I can’t, I’m-” You feel him so deep you feel like you’re choking on it, and so you absolutely miss the way your teary babbling makes a grin pull at the corners of his mouth. That wicked mouth chooses the worst time to descend and swallow your noises with a greedy lapping into your trembling lips, when he pushes his tail under himself more to raise the both of you off of the ground. The angle of his cocks sliding in and out of your sloppy, messy pussy changes even deeper if at all possible, mixing with your panting and moaning for the most slurred swearing.

As you feel the weight of him bump your clit and his rough skin stimulates it just right, you bite your own bottom lip so hard you start to taste copper— and you cum again. But the second shudders your entire body even more, hanging onto his neck as he huffs and sighs into your neck and the rhythm becomes unbearable to you. You want to stop, yet your limbs are welded shut against him— cumming so hard your mind seems to reset for a moment. The merman doesn’t stop, and continues to wildly chase his own orgasm as he pounds into you.

Heavy weight of his body meeting yours, he seems to clench every single muscle in his overly strong body. His nails dig into the stone next to your head hard enough to make tracks, before he shudders and shoots ropes of hot cum inside your holes. You can feel as it fills your stomach, filling you up with so much heat it feels a bit sickening. You’re entirely worn when you let yourself drop back onto the cold floor that’s now become a few degrees warmer, and cry out a long wail of exhaustion. Every part of your private area is completely covered in the mess of your mixed wetness, leaving you in an uncomfortable, sticky puddle when he pulls out.

And speaks to you with that low voice you have no chance of understanding, rubbing his knuckle along your cheeks in a gesture that should feel comforting. But you’re in pain, every inch of your body feels like it’s been bruised— and you squeeze your eyes shut and ignore everything. You ignore the way he pulls himself off of you, how he manhandles you around to lick at your cunt for a few moments, and how the water gurgles at the edge of the ledge when he slips back inside. You wrap your arms around yourself as you wait, and hope for your heartbeat to come back to you.

But you can’t possibly ignore when he swims around the pool a few times, before trailing a finger along your thigh down. Or how he stops, clears his throat with an awfully sore sounding huff, and speaks. Speaks, making your eyes shoot open to look right at him. It’s totally unpracticed and gruff as it fills the small cave-in, but he lifts a brow and grins wide and animal-like. It sends icy shivers down your spine.

“Mine.”

That’s how the beast disappears under the water edge, leaving you used on the floor of a dim cave, with no other way out.

#iwaizumi x reader #haikyuu x reader #iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi smut #iwa smut #haikyuu smut #hq smut #hq x reader #tw.noncon #tw.blood #tw.dubcon #tw.size kink #tw.dark content #tw.breeding #🍯honey.pot #💫ch.iwaizumi

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shibaraki · 1 year

Text

BE STILL MY INDELIBLE LOVE ┊ CHOSO

tags: GN reader, shark mer choso, mating behaviour, accidental acceptance of courting, fluff, interspecies relationships, blood + mild gore (fish death), biting (plenty of it), fluff, forbidden love vibes

wc: 1K+

↱ for the mermay collab hosted by the teahouse server — written using @petrichorium’s prompts: “This is… food? For me? I can’t eat this” and “A cloud of blood billowing from a thrashing creature” ↲

Curiosity is just shrouded gluttony. The need to see more, know more, devour as much of the world as you can. Your village elders impressed fear on the young to keep them from treading far afield. They punished those that set foot beyond the borders. Do not leave the boundaries. Do not enter the woods.

You always had been an insatiable child. Restless and unhappily kept in your four walls. The hunger never settled. It drew you to stories of eldritch creatures cast away by God, tales woven with drunken mariner whispers, pages in books quickly torn at the spines and burned. A travelling scholar once told you that the Earth was covered in salt. The sea. The monsters you sought resided there, finding home in the briny depths.

There is a vein outside the village where the salmon run upstream to complete their life cycle. Every river led to the ocean, that much you knew. The first time you crept out of the village had been on impulse. You walked for miles, closely following the sounds of free flowing water until you stumbled upon the inlet. You recall how your feet sank into the mud, grit of silt and icy embrace, and how the oppressive current worked against you as you trudged downstream.

That is where you found Choso.

Where the treeline flanked the narrowing river on either side and rose to create a tapestry of foliage that obscured the sun, in a palatial veil of gold, you saw him; large and angular, a shadow moving on the riverbed. Half fish half man. A long dark tail and a pale belly that blended into skin. Torqued fins, caudal and pelvic, another beginning at the base of his spine, standing proud and tall. Black hair plumed around a gentle face, markings cut across the bridge of his nose. Serrated teeth hidden behind soft lips that tore into your ankle and unearthed a merry scarlet waterfall when you came too close.

Monsters are defined by their aberrance. Monsters are unnatural, wicked and ugly. On your second visit you quickly learned that Choso was none of those things, watching in awe as he drug himself onto the banks and cradled your injured heel. A long tongue too rough and dextrous to be human lapped over the scabbed wound in apology, his saliva numbing the residual pain.

Monstrous? No. To you, he is about as threatening as a limpet. You returned to his neck of the river every day since— rather, every day possible. He is the one to receive your first and last words. With each sun cycle and mark left on your skin your neighbour’s expressions grow more sour. Monstrous are the grating whispers, louder still, the eyes pinned to your every move; endured, only if it meant seeing Choso once more.

A cloud of blood billowed from a thrashing shadow in the dark crevasse. You wait in the mud, cushioned by dry grass pressed flat under your thighs. The surface ripples violently and eventually settles into foam, fizzing out in broad rings. The stillness breaks where a head rises from the water. Red rivulets paint Choso’s chin, running down the column of his throat and staining his gills as he drags himself ashore.

You hold a trepid breath. One swing of his large, muscled arm and there’s a severed fish carcass hauled into the dirt. It comes apart like wet paper, viscera spilling out in a streaming tide. “Eat,” he states firmly.

Choso doesn’t speak often. When he does it is usually just to demand something of you. Give when he needs to tend the thin wounds his teeth leave. Come when you’re too far from him. Watch when he wants you to pay attention as he dives deeper to perform strange, intricate dances for you.

Eat is a recent addition to his verbal repertoire. For some reason he is intent on feeding you. “This is… food? For me?” you smile ruefully, apprehensive as you poke at the dead eyed fish head at your feet. “I can’t eat this, Choso.”

He huffs. The currents break around a too-big tail as he crawls to your lap. You fall back on the soft earth, knees parting to accommodate his breadth. The fins on either side of his pelvis press into your navel. You reach out to cup his face in your palms without much forethought, drying blood now chipping under your fingers.

Something warm and pleasant coils in your chest when his whole body shudders. His gills flutter around a long exhale. You laugh quietly, relenting when he nuzzles his head against your midsection, blood smearing your clothes. Sometimes it felt as though he was trying to dig into your bones.

Head whipping to the side, he takes the flesh of your forearm between his jaws with just enough pressure to pierce skin. The flat of his rough tongue rolls over the wound, blood congealing. Satisfied, he noses at the sensitive skin of your wrist before returning your hand to his jaw. You barely flinch. Choso has done this so many times now you’ve lost count. He steadfastly refuses to tell you why but there’s never any malice in it.

A thought crosses your mind. Your arm falls limp to the side where his own lies. You feel him seize when your fingers enclose around his forearm. Choso stares unblinking while you bring his wrist to your mouth. Pliant, allowing you to shape him as you please.

His skin is thick and tough and so unlike your own. A rumbling purr begins to resonate in his chest as you sink your dull human teeth into him, biting down harder than you’ve ever tried, eyes clenched shut with the effort. Your jaw locks, a soft pop rattling around your skull when the scales break.

You reel away as his blood fills your mouth, sticking to your gums. The taste of copper pervades your senses. Hare brained, your elders called you. Foolish glutton. But in that moment, when Choso braces himself over your body, pinned back to the verge, he dubs you something new.

Crowding close to nip at your cheek, he murmurs, “Mine”.

#jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #choso x reader #choso x y/n #m.choso

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mdzs-is-rotting-my-brain · 1 year

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Wangxian mermay 2023

Day IV: Shipwreck

The last thing Wei Ying expected to happen to him, was pinned to the floor of the shipwreck he’d been hired to evaluate by a man with gold eyes.

His hand, thick with…callouses, didn’t cut off airflow, but the implication was there. His other hand was large enough to pin both of Wei Ying’s hands to the floor.

Which was doing things for him.

Bad time to learn he had kink.

This is not the time to get aroused.

Wei Ying cleared his throat, and prayed his face wasn’t red.

“Um, hi. Did…I disturb you?”

What a thing to ask!

In Wei Ying’s field of environmental science he learned there were only a handful of people that willingly walked into ten-year-old oil tankers washed up during hurricanes.

The first group, his group, were the people hired to figure out what threat it posed to the environment.

The second group, dumb teenagers.

And the third group, people looking for a ghost story, or the curious.

This man, with his sharp angled features, beautiful golden eyes, and large hands, belonged to neither of those categories.

“I mean, yes. Clearly I did because people don’t tend to react violently when they’re expecting people to come wandering around the corner. And you’re not living here, you’re too pretty for that. Not that that’s a judgment on the houseless, anyone can be-”

“Quiet.”

Wei Ying snapped his mouth shut, frowning. The man’s voice trembled. He noticed both of his hands were shaking, his breaths were ragged and short.

“Oh shit, do you…need help?”

The man glared at him harder, his hand on Wei Ying’s throat twitched like he couldn’t decide to squeeze or release.

Wei Ying shut down the part of his brain that wanted him to squeeze just a bit harder.

“Close your eyes,”

Wei Ying obeyed, closing his eyes and going limp, trying to poise as little threat as possible. The hands fell away from him, as the weight moved off.

“Get out.” The voice came back, shaking and pained.

Wei Ying sat up, turning his head to the direction the voice came from, keeping his eyes firmly closed.

“You’re hurt.”

A snort, what sounded like a snake across the metal plates,

“You cannot help me.”

Wei Ying frowned, “You don’t know that. What’s wrong?”

“I cannot tell you. You cannot help me.”

Wei Ying took a breath, slowly breathing out. “I can’t just leave you here. Please…let me do something. Call someone you can-wait, no that won’t work Yuan-er broke my phone last week. Mianmian has a phone I can borrow.”

A long beat of silence followed that. Either the man had gone, or he was staring at Wei Ying, trying to figure out how he tied his shoes in the morning with a brain that moved that fast.

(He didn’t! He had velcro laces and boots so he didn’t have to worry about if he tied them or not)

“I…was going to see my brother. I do not have his number. There…is no one else.”

No one that beautiful should sound that heartbroken. Wei Ying wanted to hold his hand, to comfort him in some meaningful way.

“Then let me help…please.”

The tension this time was different, he knew the man was waffling, willing to give in, he could taste his anxiety and reluctance in the confined room.

“You…may open your eyes.”

It took a moment for them to adjust to the sunlight streaming through the broken plates of the tanker, scattered across the tossed cabin. Glinting off silver and white scales smeared with blood from a long fin impaled by three rebar.

“Shit.” Wei Ying scuttled over to the tail, he pressed down gently around the wounds, issuing an apology when a hiss of pain and a hand grabbed his elbow. “Fuck, fuck, this…this is bad. Ho-how long have you been like this?”

“Thirteen days.”

The man’s brow twitched forward, his mouth wasn’t unhappy, more…curious, his eyes darting between Wei Ying and his tail.

Right.

He probably should have had more of a reaction to a mermaid in the shipwreck (great name for a band) but as stated by friends and the few people that loosely considered him family, he was bad at faking being human.

An explanation would have to wait. The man was dehydrated, and had lost a considerable amount of blood, The tanker was upside down, so the high tide would have brought in water and fish, but still he needed fresh water, his first aid kit, and the atargatian from his jeep.

Turning he saw his gray and white bag on the floor, grabbing it he pulled out his lunch, and a bottle of human medication Wen Qing cleared for him to use.

He passed both over to the man, along with a sweater he kept because fuck these northern estimations and recoveries, they were always cold.

“I have to go back to my car and get some things. I have some atargatian that will help heal your wounds, but I’m going to have to get them out of you first. Are they welded to the floor? Do you know?”

The man blinked, a creamy cardigan with ink stains around the cuffs draped about bis shoulders, and his hands full of Wei Ying’s startlingly red lunch looked…adorable.

Wei Ying barely restrained himself from cooing aloud.

“No. I sought refuge from the storm in here, the waves drove them in when the ship washed on land.”

Wei Ying nodded, “Good, good, that’s very good. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

He pulled his gloves back on so he could pull himself out of the wreck faster without worrying about cuts and scrapes and legged it up the beach to the parking lot.

With flirting and a lot of fluttering eyes he got Mianmian to text Wen Ning to pick Yuan-er up from pre-school, only promising to tell her the entire store later, She was a Koi Jin, she would understand.

He was out of breath when he got back, the mermaid had put the cardigan on and was staring at the food with the kind of determination a man before the gallows does.

“You don’t have to eat it.” Wei Ying turned over a metal box, using it as a makeshift table where he unloaded the three bottles of atargatian, handing one over, he got out the rest of the supplies.

“I..do not think that I can.” His voice was quiet, he peered at Wei Ying through his lashes, “I do not wish to be rude.”

“Dude. You’ve been pinned by rebar for thirteen days, and you let me go after just a few seconds of incredibly kinky restraint. You’ve been the perfect gentleman given the circumstances.”

He kneeled beside the rebar closest to him, this one was going to be the easiest to get out.

“I should really have asked Wen Qing to come out, but I forgot before I left if you would have been comfortable with someone else. She’s a Wen Taimen in case you were worried I’d call a human to help you out. What should I call you anyway?”

Wei Ying pressed a thick gauze pad to the top of the wound, grabbed the rebar.

“Wangji.” He said staring at Wei Ying,

“On three.” Wei Ying offered his elbow “You can hold on to if it you need too.”

He slid one hand around his elbow, fingers shaking slightly.

“Okay,” Fresh blood seeped out of the wound, “One, two-” He pulled up and out, covering the wound with the gauze before fumbling for the first bottle of atargatian, he popped the glass cork, dumping the dark blue brew into the wound.

He made quick work of the other two pieces of rebar before wrapping the bottom half of the tail with enough gauze to make Wen Qing have a coronary when she finds out how much was missing from his kit.

Wangji was breathing hard, his skin was pale and sweaty, his fingers were digging into Wei Wuxian’s arm so hard he knew he was going to have bruises the next day.

“Okay.” Wei Ying moved to his side, holding up his hands, after he pulled the gloves off, “Do you want me to touch you?”

Wangji nodded once, a tight, controlled action.

Wei Ying took one of Wangji’s hands, placing it on his own chest, over his heart where Wangji could feel his heart through the thin t-shirt.

“Breath with me. In and out with me. Good, good, that’s very good. Slowly.” He took deep breaths, letting them out slowly.

“You did good. Such a good job. I know it hurts right now. I’m sorry. You’re doing gre-”

Wangji buried his head in Wei Ying’s chest, his arms wrapped tightly around Wei Ying’s waist, hands gripping his shirt so hard he might have felt a few stitches pop.

Wei Ying settled down beside him. Stroking his hair and back, rubbing his arms. He hummed softly, like he did when Yuan-er had bad dreams, something soothing from Wen-popo to help soothe him.

Cold water slapped him in the face.

Sputtering Wei Ying jerk up, blinking at the rapidly encroaching water and the dusty sunset.

He scrambled backwards, looking around. The mermaid was gone, along with the empty atargatian bottles, his lunch, and sweater.

No surprise really, he hadn’t expected for an injured mermaid to stick around. Being injured was bad enough, having to rely on someone who may or may not have been human, especially given their track record was worse. Wei Ying could have brought Wangji to his family, washed his tail, and adorned him with pearls while kneeling and it wouldn't have mattered. Acts of service did not trust make.

Gathering his things, he gave the slowly encroaching ocean one more look before making his way out of the ship.

He thought that was the end of it.

He really did.

He helped someone out that needed it and went on with his life. Told Wen Qing of the events before she discovered the missing gauze and atargatian before she could, and got replacements a week later and a lecture about falling asleep with a stranger.

Which, he deserved.

Until today.

“Have you…done anything recently?” Mianmian had asked an hour ago, perching against his desk.

Wei Ying looked up from his oil tanker report draft,

“Not…that I’m aware of. Why?”

“Lan Xichan called, he wants to see you at the corporate office in Gusu.”

Wei Ying stared at her for a minute longer before looking at the clock on his computer, “It’s nearly midday, Gusu is a three-hour train ride, or two hours by bus, I gotta get Yuan-er in forty minutes and-”

“You’re not cooking tonight.” Mianmian stole one of his mints from the bowl, “I am. I don’t want to die. Lan Xichen’s sending a car for you.”

“It wasn’t that spicy, Yuan-er?”

Mianmian shrugged, “I’ll grab him, Good luck, put on a tie.”

She pushed off his desk, returning to her own.

Wei Ying flipped her off before digging out the only tie he had.

The car ride was only an hour, but it felt like an eternity. He’d met Lan Xichen when Cloud Recesses Disaster Recovery had been brought in for an oil spill off the coast of Seattle, in which Wei Ying was both an anti-capitalist protester and volunteer. He was pretty sure Lan Xichen forgave him for nearly setting him on fire. In his defense he hadn’t known he’d been there at the time. Companies didn’t like talking to Volunteers, and Volunteers had decided on in situ burning to prevent the build up of oil near a turtle nesting ground.

He hadn’t lit anything on fire recently, so it couldn’t have been for that.

The Corporate offices were high in the mountains that forced corporations that ruined the environment to climb up the stairs, while employees got the trolley ride up the back.

He was greeted upon arrival, and taken straight to Lan Xichen’s office.

“Lan Xichen I-”

He was met with bright gold eyes staring at him from the otherside of the room.

This one went places. Were those good places?

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mirmb wangxian mermay 2023 #wangxian mermay 2023 #mirmb writes

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cringetownusa · 11 months

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This was meant to be for mermay, but i do NOT have the energy or drive to finish any of the lighting or rendering, so instead there's some MerWarner ideas and a drabble under the cut for you. [commissions]

i was thinking that maybe their eggs got swept by a current and fell into a ditch, so when they hatched they didn't have anyone, so yakko learns what he can by watching fish and mermaid from kinda afar

learns how to like mermaid chirp from watching them, and how to speak by watching humans when he tries to go to the top of the water out of curiosity (he still very small at this point so nobody spots him) but he hatched first, and kinda just. took the other two eggs with him once his arms were big enough to hold them

(TINY eggs, so took him maybe a week)

when wakko hatched yakko worried he was doing something wrong because wakko would respond to things yakko said, but he never actually said anything much.

dot took a long time to hatch. she was the smallest, and she was a frail baby, and she couldn't swim on her own right out the gate so she would hold onto her brother's pinkies and they would try and get her to get enough strength to move her tail up and down enough the gain momentum she also grows a lot slower than her brothers wakko will probably catch up in a couple years dot will always just. be even smaller than another mermaid her age would normally be

--- ok second break

Drabble:

When the other egg took so much longer to hatch, Yakko had begun to worry.

He'd felt like he'd done something wrong, Wakko had hatched just fine as far as he knew, so he assumed the little egg would hatch not too long after; but it hadn't just taken a little longer. A lot longer, so much in fact, that Wakko was now big enough that when Yakko had gifted his little brother his old red cap, it fit comfortably on his head.

But still, nothing from the egg.

They both knew it was safe, the little one was ok, because there had been so many days where the tiny egg shook just ever so slightly, so many days where both brothers would rush to the egg, eager to greet their new sibling into their vast ocean world.

Despite their wishes, more time passed with no new sibling to greet.

They had begun to sleep in shifts to watch the egg. Wakko would curl his small body around the even smaller egg while he watched, and yakko would lay belly on sand of the cave and burble quietly at the creature before him.

It was on one of the nights where Wakko was watching when things finally changed. Just like usual, when the little egg shook, Yakko was awoken instantly by his brother tugging on his ear fins, pointing to the movement.

Just like usual, they both rushed back and watched on as their future sibling struggled at the walls of their home. After a couple minutes, both brothers assumed that nothing would come of it, that this would be another false alarm. But, the egg moved differently. It rolled slightly, like the little one in there was taking up all their energy to press their face against the shell wall.

Both brothers laid close to the ground, watching with rapt attention. The egg bulged ever so slightly, before a tiny split appeared, just a dot of red nose following after. It stilled, then the nose retreated. Yakko and Wakko looked at each other in disappointment after a moment, thinking this would be all they would see of their future kin today. Instead of stopping at that, however, the tiny form inside darted at the crack again, hitting with enough force that the entire soft shell rolled once, before running into the small hand of the eldest brother, finally releasing their new sibling.

Yakko beamed at his new little sister, then to Wakko, who looked at her with the exact same amount of awe.

Barely the size of his pinky, he came up with the name instantly, then helped her onto his pointer finger, leading her up to his eyes.

"Hello Dot."

#animaniacs #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #the warner siblings #mermay #my art #unfinished #my writing

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artiststarme · 1 year

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Heartbreak in the Sea

Well, here is a merman Eddie/human Steve AU. I’ve never actually read any mermay prompts but I plan on getting a mermaid/siren tattoo soon so I guess this was meant to be! Thank you to @mentallyundone for sending me the prompt. I hope this meets your expectations!

~*~*~*~

The only thing Steve had to look forward to was seeing the beautiful merman on the beach. He didn’t care about his ship work anymore, his friends back on the mainland, or even the treasure his crew hoped to find. All he could focus on was the next time he could talk to Eddie, the most beautiful man in the sea.

He’d met him by accident when his crew had become stranded on an island vacated by men long ago. Ever since that fateful day, the merman had been on his mind nearly every second of every day. Steve could picture his ink black hair glistening with sea water under the light of the moon. He could imagine his spiked black and silver tail resting on the rocks as he spoke to Steve about the happenings of other ships and the kingdoms underwater. Most of all, Steve could imagine his smile and the playful glint in his eye as he sang his siren tune.

Over time, his memory faded away. Steve forgot his favorite song and the names of his friends back home. He forgot the best courses to sail and even the name of his ship. He just couldn’t seem to grasp any information that wasn't related to merfolk on that isolated beach. The only thing on his mind was Eddie.

Steve thought the merman would be happy to hear how often he plagued his mind but instead, Eddie looked distressed. His smile dimmed to a broken frown and his eyes filled with salty tears.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Everything’s okay, I love thinking about you.” Steve told him softly.

But Eddie just shook his head, “Stevie, you don’t love thinking about me, it’s a curse. I talked to you too much, I exposed you to my world. Don’t you get it, I’ve sentenced you to death, my love.”

The words threatened to break Steve’s bliss but they just couldn’t make it through the hazy cloud of ‘Eddie, Eddie, Eddie’. “That’s okay, as long as I get to spend time with you, I will be pleased.”

Eddie looked distraught the rest of his visit and even afterwards, he watched Steve board his ship in worry. He knew the stories of what happened to humans after spending too much time with the merfolk and yet he still dragged Steve into it.

Steve, the beautiful Steve Harrington, his Stevie that could do no wrong. He was going to die because Eddie had been selfish. He just couldn’t leave the pirate alone, too drawn in by his human charms. And now he was going to lose him.

On a random night, the thoughts of Eddie grew too strong for Steve to withstand. His memory was gone and his common sense was shattered. He had to get to Eddie, he had to find him. So, he pulled on his coat and walked out of his quarters on the ship he no longer recognized. He stood at the railing for a moment and looked at the tempestuous sea. The moon illuminated the harsh waves as if as a beacon, beckoning Steve closer on his quest to find his merman. He had but a single whisper in response.

“I’m coming, Eddie.”

He leapt from the ship and hit the freezing water. His body froze as the ice gripped his lungs. Steve knew deep down that he’d made a mistake. The curse cleared at once but he couldn’t swim against the paralyzing cold. Eventually, he breathed in the freezing water and drowned to a painful death. In his mind, he could still see Eddie. He imagined what they could have been in his last moments had he been born to the sea or if Eddie had been born on the land. But alas, it just wasn’t meant to be. Not in this world but maybe in the next.

Eddie never again saw his pirate love. He would search along the ship routes and even ventured close to the lands that Steve mentioned frequenting but he could never find him. He spent the rest of his life searching the seas for Steve, hoping against all hope that he would find the man he loved. He never did though and he died just a few years later of a broken heart. Thus, the story ended in tragedy for yet another pair of star-crossed lovers whose love was doomed from the start.

My Permanent Tag List: @doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @straight4joekeery @carlyv @pyrohonk @ksherlock15 @conversesweetheart @estrellami-1 @suddenlyinlove @yikes-a-bee @swimmingbirdrunningrock @perseus-notjackson @anaibis @merricatty @maya-custodios-dionach @grtwdsmwhr @manda-panda-monium @lumoschildextra @goodolefashionedloverboi @mentallyundone @awkwardgravity1 @anzelsilver @jestyzesty @gregre369 @mysticcrownshipper @disasterlia @lillys-weird-world @messrs-weasley @gay-stranger-things @pnk-lemonades @coolestjoy30 @awkotaco24

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#Someone said I chose violence today and they were right #Ugh what is this?#Mermay AU #Merman Eddie #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #fanfic

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angel-with-paper-wings · 1 year

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The Siren’s Song

A super quick one-shot I threw together after being inspired by this amazing art done by nipuni!

This takes place while Erik the siren/merman is in Persia and working for the Shah, and Nadir is charged with making sure he is cared for and ready to suit the Shah’s whims. I hope you all enjoy and thanks again to nipuni for the incredible art and idea!

Rating/Warnings: rated T, tiny amount of gore, references to murder

The sun dipped just below the west horizon, painting the Mazenderan sky a bright blood-red. From the window of the great Persian palace overlooking the Caspian Sea, the sunset’s glowing splendor made for a breathtaking view. A single figure stood at the window; Nadir watched the light disappear below the horizon with a heavy sigh. With the end of the day came one of Nadir’s most important duties, one that he either found mildly enjoyable or extremely unpleasant. The probability of either outcome was as unpredictable as the waves in the sea below him.

Nadir tipped the last of his cup of tea into his mouth, letting the flavors cradle his tongue for a moment before turning away from the window. He then walked through the halls of the fine palace towards the kitchen. The Shah had spared no expense in the construction of the lavish building, which served as His Majesty’s personal home in the region of Mazenderan. Nadir Khan held authority of the property when the Shah was not present, and as such was in charge of the strange rituals that occurred within the building. Or, more accurately, below it.

In the kitchen, Nadir prepared two small baskets of sustenance, then took them and proceeded to the entrance to the palace’s cellars. Down the dark stone steps he treaded, so accustomed to the path by now that he could walk it without the aid of a lantern. He arrived outside a large wooden door with a ruby-encrusted doorknob. Willing his heart to stop beating so fast, he turned the doorknob and opened the door.

Inside was an enormous room, with dark stone walls lit intermittently with torches. The floor of the room was almost entirely missing, replaced instead with a great pool of black water. The surface of the liquid was eerily still and presented no indication of how deep it was. The stillness, coupled with the obtrusive feeling of unknown, gave any who entered it a chill along their spine.

Nadir felt the feeling wash over him again, but let it pass with a practiced air of calm. He stepped forward from the doorway onto the stone platform that formed the edge of the pool. The platform extended forward about three meters, before stopping at the water’s edge. However, a thin stone catwalk, wide enough for a single person to stand on at a time, extended out along the surface of the water, stopping in the center of the great pool. Simply standing on the platform near the door was terrifying enough, but many enemies of the Shah had found themselves being urged out onto the slippery catwalk to meet a ghastly fate. No one in their right mind would step foot on that catwalk, even if they were unaware of what lay beneath the water’s surface; even now, Nadir felt his primal defenses tensing and urging him not to step forward. But he had done this many times before.

He closed the wooden door and let the loud slam echo off of the stone walls. He then stepped forward across the platform with purposefully heavy footsteps: one, two, three, four, five. With a deep breath, Nadir then stepped forward onto the catwalk. He kept his movements slow and scanned the water carefully with his jade-green eyes.

Once he was almost at the edge of the walkway, he became aware of a strange sound surrounding him. It was so faint he did not notice it at first, but by each passing second it grew into a low droning note, half-breath and half-music. It seemed to rise from the water itself, the surface of which remained smooth and black as ink. The soft humming wove itself into Nadir’s mind, pulling him closer and closer, but he fought to keep his legs steady on the platform and his eyes fixed on the water. His voice called out into the chill air of the room, breaking through the humming with a single word.

“Erik?”

At once the humming stopped. Nadir looked around for any sign of movement below the murky water.

“You’re late,” a voice called from behind Nadir. The Persian man jumped and almost slipped on the stone catwalk, hissing out a curse. He turned around to see the figure of a man—well, a man’s head and torso—sitting atop the edge of the stone platform. Where his hips would have begun, the pale skin faded into black scales: the beginning of a long black tail that at the moment remained hidden beneath the surface of the dark water. The top half of the siren’s face was covered by a sculpted white mask, and the bottom half was curled up in an unsettling grin, his yellow eyes unblinkingly fixed on Nadir.

“I had to finish my tea,” Nadir muttered. “But I am not one to forget my duties.” He held up the pair of baskets in his hands.

The yellow eyes shifted to rest on the basket. Erik’s eerie grin widened, his thin lips pulling back to reveal two rows of razor-sharp fangs. Without warning the siren plunged himself into the water, barely leaving a ripple in his wake as he disappeared beneath the surface. The room became deathly quiet again, until Nadir saw a shimmering out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look down at the water next to him, and watched the spiny points of fins dragging along just under the surface. The whiplike tail then flipped out of the water, sprinkling Nadir with a spray of droplets. The man grumbled and wiped his face bitterly.

He whipped his head around to the other side and saw the siren’s head poking out of the water a few feet off of the catwalk, the sly grin frozen in place. Nadir knelt down on the stone walkway and said, “You make this quite difficult. Although I’m sure that is the intention.”

Erik scoffed. “You offend me, Daroga. It is always my intention to make guests feel comfortable when they visit my home.” He brought his bony elbows up to rest on the stone catwalk and craned his neck to see what Nadir was rummaging with in the basket. “What have you brought for me to break my fast with today, hmm?”

Nadir let out a huff as he extracted a large fish, freshly caught. He avoided meeting Erik’s eyes as the siren’s tongue poked out from between the thin lips, dragging across the dagger-like teeth. In the other basket, Nadir revealed his own meal: seasoned lamb kebab with rice and flatbread. At the sight of the “human” food, the siren turned up his nose. “You’ll spoil my appetite, Daroga,” he whined, inching himself further away.

Nadir gave Erik an amused glare while he sat and took a bite of the bread. The siren made a face of disgust before turning his attention to his own meal.

The strange pair began to eat together; at one point, Nadir looked up at the siren, but immediately wished he hadn’t. Erik’s mouth was rimmed with blood, and Nadir’s stomach turned as he watched the long tongue swipe hungrily over his fangs, wiping them clean of fish. “How is your new invention coming along?” Nadir asked, attempting to distract himself from the rather frightening image.

Erik’s yellow eyes sparked. “Perhaps you could tell me,” he said mischievously. At Nadir’s questioning look, he added, “I just tried it on you.”

Nadir frowned. “The humming?”

The siren nodded. Behind him, the fins of his long black tail splashed excitedly in the water. “I have found a frequency of sound that most humans find relaxing, even intoxicating. Amplifying this signal allows it to pass through water with relative ease, reaching their ears without them realizing the source…until it is too late.” The fang-filled grin flashed across his face again.

Nadir nodded in understanding. He wouldn’t lie, it made him a bit disappointed inside to know that Erik was capable of such ingenuity and artistry, only for it to be exploited in the name of causing torture and death. He sighed to himself.

“What about you, Daroga? How are things faring in the world above?” Erik asked as he set aside the bones of the fish and began picking at his fangs with one slender finger.

“Well, the Shah is having trouble finding a replacement vizier, one that he finds more trustworthy than the last.” Nadir couldn’t help his eyes from glancing over to where the scaly black tail shimmered and swished beneath the water. The last vizier, after his betrayal to the Shah was discovered, had found his death in this very room not a week prior, his neck snapped within the elastic force of that same strong tail. Nadir inhaled a deep breath to clear his thoughts. “As such, His Majesty has found himself under a lot of stress. He questions the loyalty of almost everyone around him. Because of this, I imagine you’ll be getting more…visitors soon.”

At Nadir’s last statement, Erik’s eyes darkened. “Visitors,” he spat the word with disdain. He pushed himself off of the stone catwalk and sunk lower into the water. He began to effortlessly swim in a circle before Nadir as he spoke impatiently. “There is no need for petty euphemisms, Daroga. I know what my role is to the Shah. I am his royal executioner; he sends me those he hates the most, the ones he wishes to see die the most agonizing deaths. And much like you, I am not one to forget the duties assigned to me.”

Nadir met the siren’s burning yellow gaze. “That is not the only role you fulfill, Erik,” he assured firmly. “You are an architect, the greatest Persia has ever seen. Your creations have brought wonder and beauty to many, not just terror and destruction. Trust me, you are valued much more than as a simple executioner.”

Erik’s tail lashed through the water, and he practically leapt forward until he was in front of Nadir. “Then why does the Shah keep me in a shallow tank and feed me like an exotic pet? Do not dare lie to me, Daroga, for I know my true worth in this country.” He slowly slid back into the water, turning his black-spined back to Nadir. His hand drifted up to touch the edge of the porcelain mask that hid half of his face. “I know my true worth…in this world.”

Nadir watched Erik with great pity within his noble and generous heart. After a quiet moment, he reached a hand into the inner pocket of his coat. “I believe you requested this a few days ago,” he said softly.

Erik turned his head around, and his eyes widened as he looked upon the object in Nadir’s hands. It was a large book, leather-bound with gold letters forming a title across the cover. He eagerly swam closer to find out what it said. “Italian Architecture of the 16th Century,” he read. His fingers reached up and snatched it from Nadir’s offering hands; he opened it up and began looking through it quickly, paying little attention to the small drops of water from his wet hands soaking through the pages. “Fascinating.”

Nadir smiled at his eagerness. “I suppose I’ll leave you to it, then. Enjoy your evening.” He have a small bow before standing and waking back along the catwalk to the stone platform.

Just as he reached for the door handle, he heard the voice behind him again say, “Daroga.” Nadir paused, before turning back around.

Erik slowly swam forward, cutting through the water like glass without leaving a single ripple. He reached the edge of the pool and pushed himself out with his wiry arms, resting the base of his tail on the stone platform. In the torchlight, Nadir could see the scars that slashed across his chest and shoulders, the way his ribs and joints protruded plainly from under his greyish pale skin. Despite the nocturnal darkness that rimmed his golden pupils, Erik’s eyes appeared soft as they focused on Nadir. “You have my thanks,” he whispered timidly.

A warmth erupted in Nadir’s chest as he took in Erik’s quiet words. With the corners of his lips turned up in a smile, Nadir gave Erik one final nod before opening the door and climbing back up to the world above.

#phantom of the opera #poto #Phantom of the Opera #Erik #Daroga #Daroga/Nadir Khan #erik x daroga #platonic erik x daroga #you can read this as romantic or platonic #I didn’t really specify either way #my writing #one shot #fanfiction #poto fanfiction #mermay

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shyvioletcat · 11 months

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A/N: I wrote a little something in celebration of Mermay. It’s just fun that spawned from a completely random idea. Yes, it’s another single parent au but who’s gonna stop me? Certainly not myself. Please enjoy.

~~~~~

Aelin’s make-up brush was coated in gold as she ran it over her top eyelids. Working in water, there wasn’t much that would withstand it, but she had curated a good collection after some serious trial and error. There was also the toxins in her make-up to consider, if she killed the fish, she wouldn’t have a job. That was why she left off the glitter gel, that would go on after her water performance. This was the ever glamorous life of a mermaid.

She had worked at the Orynth Aquarium for nearly two years. It had started as a what the hell of it job, and then had progressed into something she loved. Thanks to the support if her parents this job wasn’t make or break for her and realistically Aelin know one day she’s have to get a real job, but in the meantime it was fun while it lasted. Her last minute prep was checking if she had had her earplugs and her airways were clear and ready. The earplugs she tucked into the turquoise scale decorated bikini top she wore and she blew her nose once for good luck.

Aelin hated to break the illusion but with the irritation in her eye today she needed to wear goggles for this performance. If she persevered through it and kept her eye exposed to the aquarium water it could potentially flare up more and then she’d have to stop work completely. And that just wasn’t fun for anybody. She had forked out a mild fortune for this particular pair. They were clear as they could possibly be, both the silicone and polycarbonate lenses. To hide it further she put a circlet over it to cover the straps wrapping around the back of her head.

“Lys, can you?” Aelin said to her co-worker and friend.

“Of course,” Lysandra said, helping secure the circlet onto the straps. She was a mermaid too, and would go on a little later in the day.

It only took a few seconds and then it was done. One benefit of the goggles and circlet get up was that it would help to keep the hair out of her face while she swam. The silicone of the circlet was fashioned to look like clusters of shells, corals and pearls, all painted to match her overall mermaid colour scheme. Aelin did a quick adjustment of her goggles and the top part of her mermaid outfit, making sure everything was secure and not likely to fall off in the water. She was as ready as she could be without her tail.

Aelin left the dressing room that had been repurposed from small storage space for the performers. From the still lingering smell of old fish she suspected it had a prep room for the aquarium residents' food. She’d taken her turquoise coloured tail with her and sitting on the water’s edge rolled down the sides until she got to the flipper. Her feet slipped in and she hooked the strap over the back of her heel to stop them slipping out. Then she lathered herself up in hair conditioner so the tail would slide on a little easier.

It took time and a fair amount of effort, but it wasn’t too long before Aelin was entirely merma-fied. The world became muffled as the earplugs filled her ears. She swung her feet around dipping them into the water, and then eased herself all the way in. Submerging fully for the first time always felt a little odd—getting her legs to kick in sync instead of alternating strides. But after a few good kicks muscle memory took over and Aelin was swimming with ease.

Above the surface Aelin started breathing in and out, readying to hold her breath for her big entrance. She counted one, two and then three and she went under, swimming deeper into the aquarium. Fibreglass rocks jutted up from the tank floor and Aelin made for the decorative arch built, arms in front of her guiding her through the water.

There were fish around her, nothing too bitey or sharp, for safety reasons obviously. Aelin had been diving in the shark tank before, and they weren’t vicious creatures, just sometimes curiosity got the better of them. So she was in here with the tropical variety, also making the swim just that more pleasant. If any inhabitants happened to bump into her it was a lot less distracting.

Just as the front glass came into view Aelin lungs began to feel a little bit of strain. She decided that she would do a swim-by of the glass and then pop up for some more air. With her goggles she could see the audience clearly, on other days they would have been blurry blobs of indecipherable colours, but today she could see everything. When children noticed her swimming towards them, they rushed the glass, faces practically squished up on it. They pointed and shouted soundlessly to parents and friends.

Aelin smiled, one hand swooping down to her side while the other waved at the crowd. There was one girl in particular that caught her eye, brown hair pulled back into two braids, face slack with shock and awe. The precious little thing’s eyes were wide as they tracked Aelin’s movements through the water. It wasn’t until Aelin was almost out of sight that she rushed forward, beckoning to someone behind her. Aelin kept swimming but made sure to give the girl a particular wave before she disappeared from sight.

Catching her breath Aelin then dived back under. This time she swayed her hips, building up to a spin. The girl from before practically chased her across the viewing area, the skirts of her tutu swishing around her knees as she did. On the next pass Aelin slowed down so that she could interact with her audience. She waved and smiled, swished her flouncy tail at them. But she was saving the air in her lungs for a little something special. The brown-haired girl was front row, little hands on the glass as she bounced on her toes. Aelin swam right up to her, putting her own hands on the glass too. The smile she was being given was infectious and Aelin had to try and keep her lips sealed so she didn’t lose the air trapped inside. Bringing two fingers of each hand to her lips Aelin whooshed out a bubble of air and made a heart shape. Bubbles followed the movement making a clear heart that framed the girl's face. Aelin wished she had a camera to capture the pure elation and joy.

When the bubbles faded the girl turned, Aelin saw her say something and her companion stepped out of the shadows and came into view. It was an effort not to lose the rest of her air with just how fine a specimen of the human he was. All broad shoulders, chiselled jawline and an usual hue of silver hair, he was knee weakingly handsome. The distortion through the glass did little damage to the overall effect.

Duty called and Aelin had other viewers to entertain. She went through various routines, backflips and front flips, spins and waves, and more air kisses. A lot of people moved on but Aelin’s biggest fan hung around with her carer who now sat on the lowest step, elbows on his knees as he watched the girl have her fun. He smiled and nodded along with whatever she said.

Aelin’s window for performing was closing and she wanted to give this girl a special experience before she wrapped it up. Gulping in some air Aelin dove back down. There the girl was, waiting on the glass, kneeling because she was probably worn out from all the games of chase. Aelin beckoned her to stand by curling her fingers to her palm. She misunderstood and waved and it wasn’t until the man said something to her that the girl stood. Aelin nodded, indicating she’d done the right thing.

Aelin treaded water to keep herself in place and with her pointer finger she made a twirling motion, trying to convey that she was going to spin. The girl clapped before her hands raised above her head like a ballerina. When the girl said something to the man behind her Aelin followed the line of sight. Her lips tightened into a closed lip smirk as she caught him mid check out of her. In this line of work this kind of thing wasn’t unusual, and at least this guy seemed to be doing it respectfully. He was most certainly blushing when he noticed Aelin’s gaze on him and her expression.

It took some manoeuvring and effort—this was one of the more advanced moves in her routine, but Aelin spun upwards in the water, gracefully turning in full circles, slower than the girl was twirling. She was over excited and frantic. Aelin kept going until her head broke the surface, allowing herself a smile and a few intakes of air before going back down. The girl was still spinning when Aelin saw her again and it took the man pointing out that the mermaid had returned for her to stop. The poor little thing swayed on her feet, too dizzy to see straight, making Aelin laugh out a bubble of air. She swam down again, lounging lengthways in the water to get to the girl’s eye level easier.

The laughter had cost her and Aelin would need to swim away soon. So she waved, blowing another heart kiss to the girl’s utter delight. Aelin needed to get to the surface quickly after that so she started swimming straight up. Her new little friend insisted that the man, most likely her father now that she saw them together, wave as well. He did, and Aelin made sure to catch his eye. She winked, then blew him a kiss too, hoping he was blushing again.

Aelin kept to the surface as she swam back to the edge of the aquarium. She was out of breath when she hauled herself onto the ledge and for a while she just lay there, smiling as she recalled the little girl. The kids and their enthusiasm was one of her favourite things about this job. It gave her a sense of fulfilment bringing a little bit of magic to their lives. This girl had really been something and her father—

“Oh. Oh, shit.” Aelin slapped a pruny fingered hand over her mouth. He’d sure as hell started it but she most definitely might have flirted with a married man. A deep breath out later and she let it go. It was harmless fun and it wasn’t likely that she would see him again.

~~~~~

This trip to the aquarium was proving to be a hit. When Rowan had seen the promotion about the mermaids at the aquarium he’d known that he had to bring Ivy. Mermaids were her current obsession and the chance for her to see a real life mermaid was something he wasn’t going to pass up.

Ivy had loved it, every single second. Her enthusiasm had won her the attention of the mermaid. The kisses, waving and the dancing had probably made Ivy’s year. Since the mermaid had swam away Ivy hadn’t stopped talking about it. She’d been disappointed for sure, but the magic from that moment still held sway and she was buzzing. A huge turtle swam by and Ivy followed it with her eyes, head turning and nearly knocking into the glass as she tried to look at it as long as she could. The way things were going they would be here until they were physically kicked out.

“Ivy, should we go see the penguins?” Rowan asked.

Ivy spun, so fast that Rowan had to steady her with a hand on her head.

“There’s penguins?”

Rowan chuckled. “Yes, there are.”

“Why are we standing here then?” Ivy told him, grabbing his hand and leading him in the entirely wrong direction.

“This way, little love,” Rowan said, gently tugging her hand in the right direction.

It was while they were watching the little, stubby, flightless birds waddle around when the announcement that would change Ivy’s life was made over the loudspeaker.

“Hi there, visitors,” a female voice said. “If you would like to meet one of our resident mermaids please head to Coral Cove where a meet and greet will start in five minutes. They are very excited to meet you, and we hope to see you there!”

“Daddy,” Ivy’s eyes were wide. “Did they say we can meet a mermaid?”

He nodded. “Indeed they did.”

“Can we? Please?” The four year old begged.

Rowan already had it in his mind to say yes, but if there had been any doubt for him it would have been banished just from the look in her eyes. “Let’s go.”

It frustrated Ivy when she kept taking the wrong turns so Rowan just picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. This place was easy enough for him to navigate, not so much for a little girl who couldn’t read. They found Coral Cove in the tropical section. It was all warm lights, pastels and colourful fish. There was a line already forming and the two of them joined the end of it.

“Is it her, Daddy? The swimming one?” Ivy asked, head peering over the heads in front of them trying to see.

“I’m not sure, love. We’ll have to wait and see,” Rowan replied.

Ivy was full of nervous energy and eventually Rowan had to put her down because she was shifting around so much. She got antsy and like a dutiful father he was, he handed her some snacks from the backpack to keep her occupied. That gave her five minutes of peace before she was at it again. Holding his hand, Ivy left the line as far as she could while still hanging on. She gasped, hurrying back to Rowan’s legs.

“Dad,” she said in a harsh and very loud whisper. “It’s her.”

“Is it?” Rowan whispered back.

Ivy nodded, such a wide smile on her face. There weren’t too many people ahead of them so it was only another ten minutes before they got to the front of the line. Like Ivy had said, the mermaid from the aquarium was the one doing the meet and greet. She was sitting on a giant pink clam shell, smiling and waving to the visitors.

She was still wearing her gold and turquoise tail, a white starfish was stuck onto some kind of hair clip to keep her damp hair off her face. The previous kids were finishing their goodbyes so the mermaid hadn’t seen them. Rowan looked down to check on Ivy, she was staring at what could safely be considered her idol with wide eyes. But he also recognised another look.

Ivy was a shy child, she didn’t make friends easily or like talking to people in general. And the look she had on her face now told Rowan she’d entered her freeze response, fully shut down. He crouched next to her, turning her so she could look at him.

“Hey, Ivy,” he said quietly. “Do you want to meet the mermaid or do you want to go?”

“I wanna meet her,” she replied even softer.

“Did you want to just give her a wave and go, or?” Rowna offered.

Ivy shook her head. “No, I want to say hello.”

“Okay, I’m right here if you need me.”

Rowan stood and Ivy’s little hand found his. The mermaid’s focus had turned to them now and she clapped her hands and smiled.

“Oh, you came!” she said, all excitement.

Ivy nodded, the beginnings of a smile on her face.

“I really hoped you would,” the mermaid said. “I had so much fun playing with you before. Would you like to come sit down and I can show you some of my treasures I’ve found on my adventures?”

To his mild astonishment, Ivy took a tentative step forward. She did look up at him for reassurance and Rowan gave her an encouraging nod. Ivy’s hands were curled under her chin, still slightly defensive but she kept walking. The mermaid extended a hand and Ivy took it, holding it all the way until they were sitting right next to each other.

Rowan couldn’t hear what was being said, but only about a minute went by before Ivy had relaxed and she was smiling, animation creeping back into her face. The mermaid was doing an amazing job of bringing Ivy out of her shell and soon they were passing lines of conversation back and forth. Rowan smiled, hiding it as he looked down and shook his head. This woman was dedicated to her job, that much was for sure.

Ivy and her new best friend were still talking and Rowan was left with nothing much else to do but watch. The woman in the costume was stunning to say the least, and if mermaids did by some chance exist she could be one of them. Dressed like this there was almost something ethereal about her. Details he hadn’t seen through the fog of the glass were clearer now. In the water she had looked paler, but sitting here in the light there was a lovely tan to her skin, and it didn’t look fake. Her make-up was fairly simple, just some gold on her eyes to highlight her lids, and there was some glitter on her cheekbones. When wet her hair had looked dark blonde—nearly brown—but as it dried a brighter colour was coming out.

She kept to a colour scheme—gold and turquoise. The bulk of her tail was a rich turquoise, with highlights of gold on the scales and fin. That was truly a work of art, the fin itself was more of a feathery look rather than a short fin, and there were even smaller ones on her hips. Her forearms had what looked like scaled gloves on them along with some chunky coral jewellery. Even her top had was scaled and painted to match everything, and the way it fit it—

Rowan’s eyes snapped away from her chest before his appreciation went any further. He told himself to keep his eyes up, she’d already caught him once and that had been embarrassing enough.

“Daddy!” Rowan heard Ivy squeal along with the pattering of her running feet. “Look what Aelin gave me.”

Ivy held up a bead that looked like a pearl. It clearly wasn’t, it was just cheap plastic but he knew from the look on her face that she would treasure it until she inevitably forgot about it.

“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Rowan gushed. “Did you say thank you?”

“Yeah-huh, I did,” Ivy said. “But Daddy, can you take a photo?”

He nodded, running an affectionate hand over her hair. “Of course.”

Rowan pulled his phone from his pocket while Ivy ran back over, nearly jumping into the seat next to the mermaid, well Aelin he supposed he could call her now. He glanced at the screen and then up, making sure everyone was in position. It was right then that he realised why she had chosen turquoise and gold… her eyes, that's the colour they were too. For an embarrassing moment Rowan stared a little too long. They were so unusual, so exquisite. He had to wonder if they were contacts to go along with the otherworldly nature of her job.

He returned his focus back to the screen and the two of them were smiling at the camera. Snapping a few just in case, Rowan nodded when he was done. Ivy ran over to him, thriving on the excitement of it all. They were walking away when Ivy turned around for one last goodbye.

“Bye, Aelin! Bye!” She was waving frantically as she said the words.

Aelin looked over at her, smiling widely. “Bye, precious. You have a wonderful day.”

“Bye,” Ivy said one last time.

They walked for a while, Rowan leading the way as Ivy looked at the pearl cradled in her palm. He smiled to himself, his daughter’s joy so infectious. They ended up in a shark tunnel when Ivy finally looked up. She tracked the sharks and the stingrays that swam over head, a very soft wow escaping her. Rowan crouched down to watch along with her, just to see the world through her eyes for a moment.

Ivy arms reached out and she hugged him around his neck. Rowan scooped her up, kissing her cheek as he stood.

“How has your day been, my little love?” He asked.

Ivy didn’t look at him, but she did hug him tighter. “It’s been the best day ever.”

~~~~~

It was near closing when Aelin was leaving for the day. Today had been great, eye irritation be damned. She waved goodbye to colleagues as she headed for the front exit, tired and hungry. Water performances always left her famished. Make-up and costume gone, she was wearing a simple pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, looking like any other visitor still hanging around.

She had just walked out the main exit when she stopped to search through her backpack for her car keys. Someone moved past her and she stepped aside to give them some more space. Aelin’s hand was on said keys when she heard her name being called by an unfamiliar voice. She looked up and her stomach dropped. Her new little friend was looking back at her, propped up in her father’s arms and looking over his shoulder.

One key aspect of her job was keeping the magic alive and right now she was watching it fade away before her eyes.

“Oh, hey Ivy,” Aelin said, waiting was the damning question.

“Where’s your tail gone?” The little girl asked.

Her father had stopped and now the three of them were forced into starting up a conversation.

“Well, you see,” Aelin said, quickly scrambling for a reply. “A seawitch put a spell on me and between three and six o’clock I lose my tail and become human. It allows me to get home but that’s about it.” There was a muffled laugh from the girl’s father. Aelin tried not to laugh herself, but the happiness of a small child hung in the balance, so instead she lent in conspiratorially. “To remain a mermaid I need a kiss.”

“Quick, Daddy. Kiss her!” Ivy exclaimed.

The poor man looked a little panicked, no doubt having been weaselled into gods knew what by the little tyrant in his arms.

“Ah, there’s the catch. It had to be my true love,” Aelin said with a sigh, and then something a little mischievous crept in. “And I don’t think your mother would appreciate that offer anyway.”

“Divorced,” the man said quite suddenly. “I’m divorced.”

“Oh, I see then,” Aelin said, biting the inside of her lip to stop any laughter over his abruptness escaping.

All in all, Ivy seemed to buy the whole curse business, even though the premise might have been fairly outdated.

“That’s so sad. You have to find them,” Ivy said, as serious as a child her age could be. “You have to be a mermaid.”

“You’re right, miss Ivy. I’ll have to keep my eye out,” Aelin replied with a wink.

“Ivy, why don't you go grab some pamphlets to show your uncles, huh?” The dad said.

“‘Mkay, Dad.” Ivy was set down and she ran off to the wall that had the pamphlets, taking a moment to consider before she started grabbing.

There was a moment of silence between the two adults, Aelin not exactly sure why this guy had sent his daughter off. She waited, hoping whatever this was would wrap up soon because she was starving.

“Do you do, ah… private functions?

Aelin’s head tilted to the side, blinking a few times. “Ahhh…”

Being hit on was a hazard of the job, she had been flirted with. A lot. And if that was what this guy was going for he was doing a terrible job. In fact, it was coming off a little creepy.

“No, wait. That’s not what I meant,” he said earnestly. “It’s Ivy’s birthday next month and she had such a great time with you today. So, I was just wondering if you worked outside of the aquarium. That was such a clumsy pass on my end.”

Aelin laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“But really, Ivy thinks you’re amazing, but if you don’t I completely understand,” the man said.

Touched by his sincerity, Aelin only left him hanging for half a moment before she answered him. “For the right price, I most definitely do.”

“That would be fantastic, thank you,” he said.

“Aelin, by the way,” she said, finally getting to a proper introduction.

“Rowan,” he said, fishing his wallet out of his pocket and handing her a business card. “Here’s my number, just send me a quick text and we can get it sorted.”

“Sure thing, Rowan.” Aelin tucked the card into her pocket. “Anything for my new bestie.”

That made the father smile. “I’ll let you get back to it. Have a nice evening.”

“You too, Rowan,” Aelin said.

Rowan gave her a final nod before he went off to collect Ivy. He snuck up on her, catching her by the waist and winging her into the hair. The little girl’s laughter echoed and the whole scene was so sweet that Aelin couldn’t help but smile. She hasn’t been lying when she told him she did parties, it was usually just for friends. But watching the duo walk away Aelin decided that she would make an exception—just this once.

~~~~~

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#rowaelin fanfiction #mermay fanfic #throne of glass fanfiction #i know the title is ridiculous but here we are

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