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buckyismyconstant · 4 months

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Merman, maybe?

AN: Screeching in, to get this written and posted before the Stucky Bingo deadline, and somehow managing to get it to fit two bingos plus the extra challenge in one of them. A big thank you to @buckyismyconstant for the quick beta on this fic

Summary: Steve hadn’t been sure what memories he’d get out of a year backpacking around Europe post-graduation, but meeting an honest-to-god mermaid - merman - merperson - whatever! - hadn’t been one of them.

Relationship: Back-packer Artist Steve Rogers x Merman James

Word Count: 1.7k

CW: Modern AU, Mermaid AU, Non powered Steve Rogers, Merman Bucky Barnes, Meet-cute, Language barrier, Cultural barrier, Artist Steve Rogers, Curious Bucky Barnes, Fluff, Mild angst, mildly flustered Steve.

Bingos and Challenges:

@stuckybingo B2 -Sokovia and the May Challenge- Mermay

@steverogersbingo E1 - Mermaid

Steve hadn’t been sure what memories he’d get out of a year backpacking around Europe post-graduation, but meeting an honest-to-god mermaid - merman - merperson - whatever! - hadn’t been one of them.

It had started off simply enough. Having crossed from Western Europe (northern Italy) to the Eastern part (Slovenia), he’d wended his way through Hungary, into southern Slovakia and made it into Sokovia just at the start of May. Like other places he’d seen in his journeys, the country was one of dichotomy - modern, bustling cities and then small rural villages that felt like something out of a fairy tale. It was while he was staying in one of these small villages that the strangest thing happened.

He’d gotten into the habit of travelling to a scenic spot during the day to try and capture the beauty of the landscapes before returning to the village and sketching the people he saw as he ate at one of the eateries.

On this particular morning, having had a hearty if basic breakfast at his lodgings, he’d set out on foot towards a large lake just outside the village. It was nestled at the base of the Carpathians, which rose out of the ground as if to challenge the sky, and was surrounded by swathes of wildflowers. He knew he had to capture it as best he could - his friends back in New York would never believe that such a place was real.

Steve set up his travel easel on a large rock, and placing in his ear buds, he started to make his preliminary sketches, making sure the proportions were right. It must have only been fifteen minutes later that he had the feeling he was being watched. With a frown he lifted his head and looked around, but there was no one to be seen, and nothing other than a few wild sheep and the movement of the lake water as fish made their way around.

Putting it down to his active imagination, he returned to his pencils, but the feeling didn’t go away. However, everytime he looked up, all was the same - a few sheep and circular ripples caused by the fish. Although, he thought, there must be some big fish in there to cause ripples that size. Maybe, if he set up his phone just right, he might be able to catch one of them on film if it came to the surface again? He propped it up on the edge of the easel, with the camera lens pointing at the lake, and he pressed record.

The next time he felt he was being observed, instead of lifting his head, he just flicked his eyes towards his camera… and jumped back, tripping over his feet. Looking up at the lake all he saw was a large, red tail making its way back under the water. Picking up his phone he stopped the recording and then rewound it.

A head, distinctly human looking, appeared from the water with long dark brown - possibly black hair - laying in wet tangles on its pale shoulders. It looked like a man, with ice blue eyes, sharp cheekbones and plump lips, but there was something uncanny about him. He could tell the moment he fell back, because not only was the sound of his shout audible on the recording, an expression akin to panic crossed the merman’s face and he dove back under the water, flicking up that tail that Steve had then seen. If he hadn’t had it recorded, he’d have thought he was dreaming. He walked carefully up to the edge of the water and stared down into it, yet saw nothing but the bubbles of small fish.

Trying to make sense of it all, he decided to break for lunch. Sitting down on a rock at the water’s edge, Steve pulled out a sandwich of local sliced ham and cheese and some fresh strawberries, and began to eat. He tried to keep half an eye on the water, but every time he thought he saw the water swirling as though something big was coming to the surface, the movement of his head seemed to scare the creature - man? - away again.

Having satisfied his immediate hunger, Steve got up to return to his easel. Before he did though, he left the last part of his sandwich and a few strawberries on the rock he’d used as a seat. This time when he started drawing, he decided not to put his ear buds back in, but turned his phone speaker up, so that he could still hear the music and hum along. He was notified of the merman’s return by the sound of a wet splat as a half eaten strawberry impacted against the back of his sketchbook.

Peering around his easel towards where he’d left the offering of food, Steve saw that the sandwich had been partially eaten and then deconstructed and discarded apart from the ham and all of the strawberries, except the one that had become a missile, left untouched.

He chuckled to himself. “Not a fan of cheese or fruit I see. Not totally surprising. I doubt there’s much of that in the bottom of the lake, or the sea, or wherever you’re from.” It was hard to concentrate on his drawing after that, despite his best efforts.

The hours passed and he tried not to look up every time he felt himself being observed, difficult as it was. However, it did seem as though his audience was getting more used to his presence, because when Steve did redirect his gaze at one point, he was happy to see that the top of the merman’s head was still poking out of the lake, his eyes and hair visible, at least for a moment before it ducked back under the blue waters.

Finishing off the drawing he’d been doing, Steve decided to reposition himself. He went back to the rock on the edge of the lake and sat down with his sketch pad in hand. His hands flew over the paper as he worked from memory, trying to recall the features he’d seen. He felt the presence close to him, but kept his gaze on his paper until he’d finished. Then, slowly, he turned and gasped as he saw that the merman had pulled himself up onto the shore, looking over Steve’s shoulder at the sketch of himself.

His tail glistened in the afternoon sun and water ran off his pale, muscular body in fat rivulets. There was an obvious wave to his hair, wet as it was, and when the merman tossed his head to the side, Steve could see the gills on the side of his neck. Speckles of water flicked onto Steve’s sketchbook and the merman reached out with one finger to touch one of the wet spots, obviously intrigued by the difference between wet and dry. Steve let out a soft chuckle and the creature reared back slightly, looking at him with wide eyes.

Steve allowed himself to smile, not a difficult feat, hoping that the merman would accept the gesture as one of friendship. What he wasn’t expecting was for the merman to grin back, displaying a mouth full of sharp teeth. Perfect for ripping through fish, he thought.

He raised his hand to his chest. “I’m Steve,” he said. The merman blinked at him. He’s unlikely to speak English, you idiot. He tried again, halting Sokovian. “Moje meno je Štefan.” If the merman spoke any human language it was likely to be one from this region of the world. The merman ran his tongue over his pointed teeth. “Jakov,” he replied. “Moje meno je Jakov.”

“Jakov,” Steve repeated, translating in his head. “Jakov a Štefan. James and Steve.” He pointed between them.

“James,” the merman parroted and then pulled himself closer to Steve again with his muscular looking arms. He peered at the pencil in Steve’s hand and Steve held it out to him. James plucked it from his fingers and brought it close to his face, studying the combination of wood and graphite with his icy eyes. Steve retrieved another pencil from his bag and lightly pulled the tip of it over the paper, leaving a trail of graphite in its wake. James poked his tongue between his lips and tried to copy, his clumsy attempt producing a thick, dark line. The merman seemed happy with himself though, as he grinned broadly, turning to look at Steve with sparkling eyes.

Over the next hour or so, as the sun began its descent towards the horizon, Steve tried to satisfy the curiosity of his new friend. James had plucked at Steve’s clothes with his fingers, leading to Steve shedding first his jacket and then his t-shirt. He tried not to think too hard about how he felt when those cool fingers trailed over his body, tracing the swirls and lines of his tattoos. Eventually though, it started to get cold and Steve’s stomach started to rumble. “I have to go. Už musím odísť.”

James cocked his head and Steve let out a huff, trying to work out how to explain himself. In the end, he mimed sleeping and James seemed to get it. He packed all of his stuff away, under the merman’s watchful eye and then rubbed at the back of his head, not quite sure how to say goodbye. “Zbohom…” His farewell was cut off when James surged up on his tail and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Then, before Steve could even process it, the merman dove back into the lake, circular ripples the only thing to show he’d even been there. “Zbohom, Jakov,” Steve finished with a whisper.

He walked slowly back to his lodgings, finding himself turning and looking back more than once on the journey. As he ate his dinner that evening, instead of sketching the passers-by he found himself returning to his sketch of James: the wet spots, although dried, having left smudges which just seemed to add to the portrait. And when he went to bed that night, it was to dream of an underwater world, sharp teeth and a red tail winding through his legs.

Tag list: @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796, @christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @galactusdevourerofworlds, @crayongirl-linz, @mightstill, @nicoline1998enilocin, @starrkermarvel, @ronearoundblindly

#stucky #fan fic #merman #steve rogers x bucky barnes #steve rogers #bucky barnes #merman bucky

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