#i know mermay is almost over but I just had to

[metallightningbug]

Send me "Merformers" for a merperson au starter!

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Slippery As An Eel

Yandere Eel Merman x Gender Neutral Reader (CW: Non-con, violent sex, bloody sex, biting, inhuman genitalia, huge dick, stalking, kidnapping, sadistic yandere, merman, eel man, merpeople, magic, general yandere behavior, reader gets broken ankle, dacryphylia, long tongue down reader’s throat) Word Count: 5.6k (Where I live there is still over an hour of May left, and I posted something for Mermay already, but it did not have smut, so I hope this feeds you all well for Mermay!)

Veeris was a merman, part man and part eel. Though most merfolk stayed well away from humankind, Veeris never managed to shake his fascination with them. They were so limited in their biped forms and yet they managed to traverse the skies and the seas. Maybe not so gracefully as a harpy or a merperson, but they traversed these domains nonetheless. And they did such a wide array of behaviors, from what he observed by watching the beach. They were just so fun to watch, going about their days. So small and fragile, but with little to no fear of predators. Veeris supposed that his own kind did a variety of crafts and hobbies too, but the eelfolk were a bit more homogenous than humans, who seemed far less predictable. Maybe it was just that he had lived among his own species so they just seemed more boring, but whatever the reason humans held some kind of spell over him. But there was one human that held his attention in a way that none others did, in a way that made his heart flutter and his thoughts race. And that human was you. It was a slow development, but after a while he became totally enthralled by you. Not knowing your name he dubbed you his "little siren" for getting him so attracted to you. He first saw you when you were picking up garbage from the beach, an activity that wasn't too uncommon as far as humans are concerned, but not totally normal either, it was always a welcome sight to see a human caring about the ocean rather than just polluting it though.   But another quality you possessed that made it so easy for the eel to fixate on you was that unlike the tourists who came and went you were a constant figure at the beach, you were practically a feature of it. And you weren't just a frequent beach goer, you were also consistent in the times that you went. Veeris could almost always predict just exactly when you were going to be there. At that point Veeris was extremely interested and curious about you, but not yet obsessed. What really made him yearn for you was when there was an oil spill. Of course you were a volunteer on the coast, helping to clean up birds that had gotten oil on them. And when he saw that he realized he longed for your delicate hands attending to him, traipsing over and exploring every inch of his body, in the same way that they were diligently cleaning every inch of the wildlife. Veeris tried to temper his passions, he really did. After all, you were a human and on the land and there was no way for him to even get to you, no matter how much he wanted to. Unless... he took advantage of your natural care for sea life. He was sea life was he not? The eel man knew every single inch of every path you took around the beach when you did one of your trash clean-ups. You always started at the south end and ended at the much more secluded north end. He staked the beach out for days waiting for a moment where there were no other humans nearby when you approached the end of your route. As you were going about using your grabber tool to pick up today's wave of never ending pollution you suddenly saw something large wash up with the gentle waves lapping at the shore. Just about 15ft. in front of you now lay a mind bogglingly long merman. Each of his features were striking in their own right. His rippling muscles, the long dark purple hair, almost black, splayed about messily over his face. The blue freckles covering his face, and parts of his arms, and chest. The dark purple scales covering his webbed hands and going up to his arms. But by far his most striking feature was the over 10ft. long tail. It was large, purple, had fins running all the way down its length, and looked oily, it was currently under a net. You saw his sharp teeth as he looked up pleadingly with his dark blue eyes and spoke in a pained voice, "Please help me, I’m Veeris. I was just swimming along when my arm and tail got caught up in this drifting net and I got washed ashore!" You told him your name and said that of course you would assist him! You ran over to him without hesitation, some humans may be scared of the seafolk, but you weren't a bigot! And clearly he needed your help. As you finished removing the net he struck without warning, wrapping you in his long slimy tail before slithering into the water and quickly making his way to his cave. You were stunned for a moment before you started to struggle, but the tail was heavy and muscular, almost like having the largest snake wrapped around you. There was also the little issue of having to contend with not being able to breathe. Just when your head was pounding and it felt like your lungs were on fire you felt the rush of air on your face as he crawled onto the floor of the seafloor, dragging you behind him. You gagged and spit up some water you had accidentally inhaled. "Wh-why did you bring me here?" You managed to croak out. It was practically unheard of for a merman of any type to eat a human but... with human meddling in the ocean fish may be scarce and anyone could be driven to extremes if starving. And those sharp teeth were definitely made for meat. "To be my mate, little siren!" He coiled around you and looked down at you intensely, this was the first time he had ever gotten to see you close up and he wanted to savor each and every little detail of his precious human mate. You flinched as his webbed fingers gently caressed your face. Welp, better than him intending you to be dinner. But uh... not ideal. You feared that trying to reason with him might make him angry and possibly violent, he clearly was not too rational, but maybe some quick thinking could weasel you out of this situation. “Well, um, I have a lot of responsibilities and a job that I have to do. Bills to pay. I can’t just be stuck here!” Maybe a bit flimsy, but maybe he’d buy it? “Ah, but don’t worry my sweet siren, with you being here you won’t have any of those types of worries in the first place! You can just relax and let me take care of you~” Damn, it didn't work. “But this cave is so damp and cool, surely my health will suffer if I stay for too long! And how am I to eat fresh vegetables or cook?” “Don’t worry, my love, I am good friends with the sea witch, Emrul. She has spent time amongst the humans in their form and has used powerful magic to make the next chamber in the cave habitable for your kind!” For the first time you took notice of your surroundings. You were in a huge room, a large portion of which was submerged in water where the cave led out to the sea, but the other portion was smooth rocky terrain. The walls had faintly glowing shells embedded into them with stalactites and stalagmites running together to form large pillars along the farther edges of the room. A soft moss like substance covered the rocky floor in large patches, it was probably of magical origin given that you could see no other way for it to survive here. Glancing behind you you saw a wide corridor leading deeper into Veeris’ den. Veeris slithered closer and grabbed your hand, leading you into the next room. Despite your reluctance to be there even you had to gasp at the sight before you. The room was enormous. The ceiling was a false but convincing image of the sky, clear blue with moving clouds. It was so real there was even a breeze, if it were not for the cave walls remaining the same as the previous chamber you would have been convinced you were really in a scenic location above water. The room was filled with grass and soil and even trees, there was a freshwater pond to give you a water source and in the distance there was a huge cabin, that even Veeris could easily fit into, in the corner with a sprawling garden free of any pests or disease, it was truly amazing. There was even a miniature river for Veeris to cool off in when he needed moisture and when he needed to get from one side of the room to the other quickly, it had arching bridges over it in several places so you could cross and remain dry. “See? Everything a human needs is here! Fresh air, food, trees, plants, food, freshwater, shelter!” Fuck! No dice. There was one last thing you could try. “Well, humans don’t fall in love or move in so fast… not usually… most of us prefer to date for a bit first.” “Date?” “Yeah, where you get to know someone gradually through planned meet-ups! And if you like them then you agree to be mates!” “Oh, so an extended courtship ritual that you need? Okay, little siren, how do we do a human date? I have already watched you for so long every time you are on the beach so I know I love you, but I don’t mind waiting a bit and doing this for you if it makes you more comfortable~” He looked at you and gave a toothy grin that you supposed was meant to be sweet but his sharp teeth gave you chills. But it wasn’t just that grin that made you exceedingly uncomfortable, apparently this eel man had been stalking you for quite some time. Oh god, it was working! “Well, uh, you can take me back up and we can meet and hang out on the beach sometime. I don’t know how your calendar works… maybe during the full moon, two nights from now?” “Okay!” Veeris took you gently and brought you back to the surface, it wasn’t that long, you could have made it yourself in one breath if you had to… assuming you were wearing flippers. Veeris gave you a hug and you said your goodbyes, once he re-submerged into the blue depths you ran home. You hadn’t brought your car since you lived just up the road. You had all of zero intention of going on your date, instead you started looking into new places to live. The nature of your work meant you absolutely had to be near an ocean, it would take some time to pull off but you sure as shit would not remain anywhere near this beach! Veeris, on the other hand, could not wait for his date. In only two days he would court and win the heart of his beloved, he just knew it! He could hardly focus on hunting, eating, or sleeping. He was just so excited, even a bit nervous despite his confidence that he would win you over. When the full moon started to rise Veeris was already at the spot where he first met you. You weren’t there, but that was okay, he had gotten there pretty early in the night in his excitement to see you again. But as the hours passed and the moon reached its zenith, with moonlight dancing on the water you never showed up. Veeris was heartbroken. At first he was depressed, then he was enraged. How could his little siren do something like this to him? He began to go back to his lair when a thought occurred to him. What if something had happened to you? What if you had been injured or hurt? It was the middle of the night, but Emrul was always up performing rituals and spells during the night of a full moon. Veeris knew he would need her help and did not delay in changing course and swimming directly to her dwelling. Emrul lived nearby, in a small stone building carved into the rocky side of a trench, secluded enough to perform her magical research and incantations in relative peace, but also close enough to the people that sought after her unique services. Her perimeter spell had already alerted her to Veeris’ arrival and she was outside to greet him. She looked very similar to him, with the obvious difference that she was a woman. Her scales were also a very dark, almost black, shade of blue rather than purple. She warmly greeted her fellow eel as they both went into her abode. Vials of brightly colored fluids lined her shelves, a cauldron bubbled with a mystic fluid that was thicker than water, and the smell of pungent ingredients permeated the water. “So, what brings you to me at such an hour? It must be important…” “it is… I really need your help...” And, after explaining his situation to her, he got it. A few days later you were in your house getting ready for bed. You had already arranged everything for your move, it wasn’t too terribly far, just 35 miles up the coast. All your things were already packed. You would miss the area, but you had no familial ties and no friends that lived near so that made things easier. You couldn’t stay knowing what was waiting to drag you into the depths. As you turned off the light and got into bed you slept soundly for the first time in days. But you didn’t stay asleep, you heard something outside. You ignored it at first, thinking it was just some raccoon or other such animal roaming about in the dark. But then you heard pounding at your door. You looked through the peephole to see who could possibly be disturbing you at this hour. What you saw made your blood run cold. Veeris, somehow, this far inland. Except there were now two very human legs where his tail should have been, he had no scales, and he was also dressed in very old style clothing. Like an alien who had seen fashion from the Victorian era and wore it thinking it would blend them in with modern day humans. How was he on land? How had he found you!? You ran back upstairs and hid under your bed, hoping that he would think you weren’t home and simply leave. And if he did come in maybe he wouldn’t find you under there. The pounding at the door only grew more fervent, you prayed he would just take a hint and leave but it didn’t seem like a lack of response was going to be enough of a deterrent for the former eel man. Veeris was worried for your safety, worried something terrible may have happened to you, so there was no force on earth that was going to prevent him from seeing you. And he knew you were inside. Emrul didn’t just enchant him with a temporary human form but also let him have a homing crystal that was tuned to the object of his desire. He knew you were inside this human building. Knocking wasn’t working, what if someone had you bound or you were injured and unable to come to the door? With a mighty heave he snapped the door and entered your home, calling out your name as he searched every room. When he reached your bedroom the crystal grew warm and glowed more strongly. You were close. His heavy steps boomed and thudded around you as he checked under your covers and opened your closet. There was now only one place left to check. Veeris easily pushed aside your bed, revealing you huddled up in a fetal position below where the bed previously stood. He picked you up easily and pulled you into a painfully tight embrace. “My siren! What happened to you!? Are you okay? Why did you miss our date?” Veeris was sure there had to be a proper explanation, like maybe you had been ill or someone had hurt you. You only had to get him to leave you alone for another night and then you could find a human mage, warlock, witch, or sorcerer of some type to block out magical tracking. You decided to go with old reliable. In a sickly voice you answered him after a few convincing coughs, “I-i wanted to come, of course I did but… I was so s-sick. I still am. That’s why I was under the bed, I had fallen and couldn’t even get up!” You finished your lie with a few more fake coughs and a slight whimper of pain. Veeris was totally convinced of your deception. Perhaps, as you would soon realize, just a bit too convinced. “Oh, my poor sweet angel fish, I am so sorry that you have been suffering. Forget the date.” Haha, Success! “You clearly cannot be left alone in this condition, don’t worry I will take good care of you, I will make sure you get plenty of rest and all your needs are taken care of!” FUCK! “No, no! You don’t need to go through all of that trouble! I was already starting to feel a little bit better!” You did not like where this was going. “Nonsense, what kind of potential mate would I be if I just left you to suffer! You don’t need to be so strong, you can rely on me.” “B-but the cold water could make me worse!” “Don’t worry, the swim to my cave is so brief that you won’t be exposed long and we can warm up and dry you off in that human dwelling Emrul put in the cave for us! And here, this will let you breathe underwater! It is an enchanted necklace Emrul made for me.” Veeris pulled a sapphire pendant from his pocket and put it gently around your neck before easily scooping you up into his mighty arms. Then he started walking with you right past the broken door and out of the house. You briefly considered screaming for help but there was no one out and about at this hour and even on the off chance someone heard your pleas for help and called the authorities they would never get here in time, and even if that did somehow happen how would Veeris react to your screaming? He could snap your bones without any effort. It was only a quick jog to the sea and when he reached the water’s edge he shed his antique style human clothing before starting the transformation back into an eel man, scales erupting on his arms and legs before his legs joined together and once more became his tail. He held you tight as he slithered into the water and swam as quickly as he could back to his lair. You instinctively held your breath but remembered the charm around your neck that would supposedly allow you to breathe water. It took a lot of will power to force your body to take a breath underwater, but you finally managed to do it and it worked exactly as it was supposed to. You could certainly use this to escape later. Veeris continued carrying you as he slithered into the large enchanted part of the cave. He took you into the cabin and, much to your dismay, stripped you of all your clothing. You tried to talk him out of it but he wasn’t having it, he insisted on getting you out of the wet clothing and bundled up in bed, you were sick after all and apparently humans were supposed to stay dry when sick as per your earlier worry about being exposed to the water while ill. He also insisted on cleaning you up and drying you off. The eel man took a soft rag and gently washed your body of all the water before bundling you up in the softest blankets you had ever felt and having you lay in the humongous bed. Veeris had never slept in a human style bed before, but this one was enchanted to support his full weight and made to dimensions to fit his full size. He found it very comfortable as he slithered into it, fitting you perfectly into his oddly warm coils. You had thought yourself free of this whole mess but now here you were, naked except for some blankets, snuggled up in the tail of a merman who was determined to prove himself to be a perfect mate for you. One day. Just one day and you would have been significantly farther. Not that that necessarily would have stopped him, but it might have. At the very least it would have given you more time. It was hard to go asleep with the massive man surrounding you, but eventually you did manage to get a few shaky hours of rest before waking up to something poking you in your thigh. You opened your eyes to find he was no longer coiled around you and instead spooning you, and his cock had gone erect in his sleep and slid out of his genital slit and was now leaking pre all over you. You feared the size of it, at least he currently thought you ill and hopefully wouldn’t try to mate with you. There was no way that thing was going in without at least some pain. You managed to suppress the urge to push him away from you, but you didn’t want to wake him up and have to deal with him. That task became impossible though when he began slowly fucking your thighs from behind in his sleep. You began shouting and struggling, but it did nothing to wake him. Thankfully whatever erotic dreams were leading to him to such behavior dissipated before he splooged all over you. He finally woke up, with his cock still between your thighs. He blushed and looked away shyly. “O-oh, I am so sorry my little angelfish, I… didn’t mean to uh…, well anyway your clothes are dry now.” But of course, he still had to dress you. You were there for several days, with each day seemingly getting just a slight bit better. You couldn’t stay sick indefinitely, what if he got his magic friend to diagnose you and tell you he was faking? He said her medical magic and remedies were species specific and she didn’t know how to heal humans, but what if he chanced it if you stayed ill? You couldn’t take the risk so instead you gradually acted like you were healing. The entire time he waited on you hand and foot, it was suffocating, he did not even take time to go hunt for himself. Instead he relied on the human food that grew there, even though it wasn’t what he was adapted to. He was overjoyed when you finally “got better.” And you were happy he did not have to be so smothering. No more being fed or bathed or watched over as if you were the most fragile thing to ever exist. When he finally left to go and hunt for the first time since you had been there you had to fight the urge to immediately make a run for it. You had no idea how long he was typically gone, you needed to wait a few days so that you could memorize his outside activities. Veeris, meanwhile, was so happy that his perfect siren had gotten well and was now staying with him. He considered all the time he spent caring for you to be a good substitute for your traditional courtship and dating. Plus every time he returned from any hunting or other necessary outings he always brought you back some gifts, a shiny stone or shell that caught his eye or other such treasures of the sea, and you always accepted and thanked him for these things. If that wasn't successful courtship he didn't know what was. It had now been days since your recovery from your "illness" and you felt that you finally had the ability to accurately predict approximately how long his outings would take. After he left, and when you had figured that he was far enough away as to be out of sight, you grabbed the pendant that allowed you to breathe underwater and started to make your way to the pool that led out of the cave. But in a tragic stroke of bad luck Veeris had found prey almost immediately right outside his den and was already on his way back as you left. Veeris was stunned when he smacked right into you as he was entering the tunnel back to the lair. After a moment of shocked silence he growled furiously and wrapped his tail around you tightly and hauled you right back into the tunnel you had just come out of. Fuck. Everything clicked for Veeris. This whole time you had faked illness to get out of your date with him. But that’s okay, he wasn’t above keeping you against your will. That was, after all, what he had attempted to do originally. You just had to be shown your place while he proved he was the only mate for you. Your fear in that moment was beyond anything that you had ever felt before, you had no idea what he would do or whether or not he would hurt you. Kicking and punching him did nothing to remove you from his thick coils, when he hauled himself out of the water he carried you aloft with the end of his tail and took you back to the cabin. Once there he slammed you hard into the bed, knocking the air out of you. “You were really going to leave me my wonderful angelfish?” He sounded as though he was on the verge of tears. “After all the gifts and how well I have treated you??” “Please just… let me go…” “NO! You’ll be happy here! I’m the only mate for you and we spent so much time together! I just have to show you, just give it more time and I will get you to love me back eventually, okay my siren?” Veeris was unstable, equal parts heartbreak, despair, denial, anger, and love. “I-I hate you, you fucking freak!” For a moment your anger at being kidnapped by this insane merman overcame your fear of him. You regretted it almost instantly. Such blunt words cut Veeris’ heart, causing him great cognitive dissonance. And he was also angered at you being so ungrateful, he had this whole little world in this cave tailor made just for you, when he thought you were sick he took care of you, and he always gave you tokens of love. Seeing the fury in your eyes you backed up until you were against the headboard. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean i-” He pulled you by the legs back towards him as you tried to get away from him. In Veeris’ mind you had to love him, at least on some level, it didn’t make sense that you didn’t. His brain couldn’t entertain the notion. You saying you hated him clashed with his belief and caused him discomfort and pain until he could resolve it in a logical manner. But now with a frightening smirk on his face everything fell into place. He had to utterly dominate you. You didn’t want an overly gentle mate at all times. You clearly wanted him to prove he was strong and worthy. And you were probably in denial about it too. It all made sense. He needed to overpower and ravage you until you accepted it. You flailed as you remained on your back, still being yanked towards him, all the while he stared at you with a very uncharacteristic grin. “V-Veeris?” Suddenly your pants and underwear were torn off followed shortly by your shirt, leaving you exposed under his unhinged gaze. Veeris bent down and used his insanely long tongue to lick all over you, from your neck down to between your legs. His large slimy cock and balls were now out of his genital slit and he was fully erect. The size of it truly scared you. “No! Please! Don-” You were cut off by that long tong plunging into your mouth and probing every inch, gagging you as it explored a bit down your throat. As he did this he coiled his tail around you almost unbearably tight. He broke the kiss and then positioned you to be turning away from him. You could feel his hot cock from behind begin to grind against your very much unlubed entrance. You instinctively flinched in anticipation for the pain, but it only made it much worse for you than if you had tried to relax. Veeris finally finished with the grinding and jammed his fat cock into you unceremoniously. It felt like you had been impaled by a molten spear and you screamed as loud as you could from the pain. It felt as if your hole was being ripped open with how much your body had to stretch to accommodate his dick. With each thrust into you it drove the pain deeper and deeper. Your body would have been shaking with the force of your sobs had you not been so tightly bound by his strong serpentine tail. But his sensitive body was made to detect any and all disturbances in water, so he could feel every sob and gasp and shake, he reveled in it, it was your body submitting to him. As he continued slowly fucking you he licked up all your tasty tears with his long tongue. You were such a beautiful sight, somehow made only more beautiful by your crying and pain. The hurt and trauma of the rape never turned to pleasure, he was not gentle, he was not doing this just for sex. He was doing it to completely dominate you so that you would understand that you were his mate and that he made the rules. He thought it was what you, deep down, needed and even wanted. Veeris refused to go fast, he wanted to savor every delicious stroke of his cock into your blood-lubed hole. You could feel the blood leaking down your thighs, mixed with his precum. You wanted to punch out, or kick, or at the very least hide your head in shame in your pillow to shield your tears from the world and block out the violation that was happening to you. But his body was tight around you, if he was railing you so violently you probably would have noticed the pain the bondage was causing. Veeris kissed your cheek with mock tenderness before whispering into your ear, “You cry so prettily for me my little siren~” Sharp teeth pierced your skin as he bit into your shoulder and then your neck. You blacked out from the pain right as Veeris pumped load after load of hot burning cum deep into your raw abused depths. You woke up over a day later all bandaged up and with a salve that had been inserted inside you to help you heal. Veeris was nowhere to be found. You even called out to him as loudly as you could, though your throat was sore from all the screaming from the day before. No response. You made sure your breathing pendant was still on you, which he foolishly didn’t remove, before hobbling to your feet. You almost collapsed due to the pain, but you pushed past it. Only one short, albeit painful, swim separated you from freedom. You weren’t broken yet. You were crying, your heart was beating erratically in your chest with anxiety, but you still had hope. You could make it. You got to the submerged part of the first room of the cave, your feet at the edge of the water about to step in. Veeris popped up with a splash before you even put a toe in the water. It had all been a test, a trap, he was going to train you to never dare leave one way or another. “Sorry to have set you up like that, but it is the only way you are going to learn your place.” As he slammed you back on to the bed you were kicking, screaming, and blubbering far too incoherently to make out any words. You were sure he was going to rape you again, his cock impaling you and filling you with the worst kind of pain. But he had something a bit more brutal in mind. Your terrified mind couldn’t even comprehend what he was doing as he held your leg with one hand and your leg with the other. Veeris sneered down at you as he twisted your leg in one direction and your foot in the other. There was a sickening snap as he broke your ankle. You screamed louder than you did even when he was fucking you. Mercifully you passed out from the pain and Veeris saw to your injury. He may have taken some pleasure in dominating and hurting you, but he didn’t actually want to cause you harm, didn’t you understand you were making him do these things? No matter, One way or another you would learn you would learn to never try and leave him.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Stuff of Fairytales - Floyd

Author Notes: Happy MerMay Twisted Wonderland! I won't lie, this fic kind of flew together while I was just sitting and chatting with my mom and sister. It doesn't have any specific music that it was written to or anything like that and my only real idea that went into this was MerMay. Nonetheless, I had fun writing this fic. As per usual, Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ MerMay/ fluff/ romance implied/ sfw

Word Count: 1264

Ignoring Floyd was always something that one did at one’s own risk. Especially when he was staring quite as pointedly as he was staring at me right now. And even more especially so considering that I was sitting on the edge of the pool while Floyd was in his merform.

He drifted over, and I cautiously met his stare, not entirely sure as to what I should expect from him.

For one thing, he’d been oddly peaceful this entire time. And while that didn’t necessarily mean anything, it still felt suspiciously like the calm before a storm.

He tilted his head, slowly coming to a steady stop right in front of me before crossing his arms and resting them on my knees, where I had my legs hanging over the edge of the pool and in the cool water, “Hey Shrimpy, did your world have any merpeople?” 

His tone was relatively innocent, but I still felt my eyebrows lift warily before I shook my head. Half-surprised by his question even as I answered him, “No… They’re the stuff of fairytales in my world…. Kind of like magic is.”

He hummed, rolling his mismatched eyes up to meet mine as he rested his chin on his arms. Almost as if he were, suspiciously enough, trying to look innocent.

I watched him silently for a moment before finally biting the bullet and questioning him as he continued to stare up at me, “Why?”

That singular word had a grin splitting its way across his face, perfectly displaying his too-sharp teeth that made so many others uncomfortable.

But just like how I’d somehow gotten used to his merform’s slimy texture, I was perfectly used to his sharp-toothed grins by now.

“Nothing~ It just explains why you had such a cute, surprised reaction when you first saw mine and Jade’s merforms.”

I rolled my eyes slightly at his teasing tone, even as I smiled despite myself at his words, “You say that like I was the only one who was surprised. I seem to recall Ace, Deuce, Jack, and Grim all being pretty shocked too.”

Despite my words, I couldn’t deny that I had been genuinely startled. Floyd and Jade were nothing like the fluttery, magical creatures I’d imagined as a child. Instead, they were far more dangerous-looking. Something that was fitting, considering their personalities.

But even then, there had still been something enchanting about seeing a merperson for the first time. Much less two of them.

Not that I was ever going to tell Floyd that. He was already amused enough as it was.

Floyd faux-pouted up at me in an almost playful manner, “But none of them were cute. They just looked like a bunch of guppies silently opening and closing their mouths.”

He paused as I fought the urge to snort at his analogy, and, as if somehow he could sense my amusement, he grinned again. His tail slashing through the water as his eyes all but sparkled at me, “You weren’t like that though, Shrimpy. Your eyes were all bright. Like you were excited.”

I almost sighed at his pointed, pleased-sounding words. Because while I couldn’t say that they were wholly accurate, they were a little too perceptive in a way that I could only describe as very Octavinelle.

Floyd, Jade, and Azul were all practically uncanny when it came to their ability to hit upon something people didn’t want them to know.

“I wasn’t excited….” I trailed off unconvincingly, not entirely sure how to defend myself in this situation since he wasn’t entirely wrong.

Lying would be useless. Floyd was so used to his brother’s slippery nature that he would be able to see through any fib I came up with in a nanosecond.

I didn’t have to rush, though. Floyd was waiting. An amused smile on his face as he waited for me to give up in a rare display of patience from the usually restless young man.

But then, I supposed being patient might be easier when victory was assured. His grin wasn’t making it any easier for me to come up with an excuse, though.

“Well, how would you react if you suddenly saw something out of a fairytale?!” I gave up in an exasperated half-surrender.

I refused to tell Floyd that a slight bit of childish enchantment and awe had shot through me when I’d first seen him and his brother’s merforms.

Doing that would just result in him telling his brother, and then there really would be no escaping the teasing and harassment.

As it was, I would just have to put up with Floyd’s teasing and amusement until he drifted onto another topic. He might bring back up my initial reaction to his merform every so often, but I could deal with that. 

After all, it was only fair with how often I got to pick him on numerous things as well.

At odds with my expectations of his laughter, Floyd straightened from where he’d been resting his chin on his arms this entire time and tilted his head in a thoughtful fashion.

After a brief moment, he grinned, and something ever-so-slightly worrying flickered through his mismatched eyes as he met my gaze once more, “I guess I’d squeeze ‘em.”

Before I could even think about reacting, his arms were wrapping themselves around my waist. Pulling me closer and squeezing me with a surprising degree of care considering who it was that I was dealing with.

I gasped slightly in surprise at both his actions and the cold from his wet arms, my hands flying up and grabbing hold of his shoulders in a slight panic. Not entirely trusting him to not pull me into the pool with him.

I didn’t go splashing down into the water though, and my reaction only caused Floyd to grin even more at me, “Your reactions are too much fun, Shrimpy~”

His words were all but cooed, and I frowned slightly, “Floyd, you know your slime is hard to get out of clothes.”

I scolded him in retaliation, continuing to frown down at him, but my words were met with little more than a nonchalant shrug from the merman, who certainly didn't seem like he was going to be letting go of me anytime soon.

In fact, he seemed perfectly content, smiling up at me from the pool that I was now perched precariously on the edge of. Fully relying on Floyd to keep me balanced as he held onto me.

He smiled, tilting his head slightly, perfectly unbothered as he grinned up at me, “Just use the washer at Octavinelle and tell Azul it’s my fault.”

I sighed at his words, feeling myself surrender ever-so-slightly as I let a smile slip onto my face. Sometimes it really did feel like there was no winning against Floyd, and, to be fair, his plan probably would work.

Azul was nothing if not used to Floyd’s mercurial ways that often caused him troubles. 

I relaxed, letting my hands continue to rest easily on Floyd’s shoulders as I smiled down at him, “Just don’t come whining to me later.”

 He outright grinned at my words, his eyes sparkling in an almost challenging way, “No promises~”

I shook my head fondly at both him and his words as I continued to smile down at the man who hugged me close to him.

Floyd himself might not exactly be the stuff of fairytales, but he was definitely  unforgettable, and there wasn’t a thing I would change about him. 

Even if he could be a pest sometimes.

[yandere-sins]

Yan-Poll #14

[Mermay Special Part 4 Warning: Yandere, Violence, Mention of Blood/Claws/Getting hurt/Someone else getting mauled and hurt, Chase Scene]

"No. NO!"

Your friend's voice boomed through the room. Strangely, the water didn't stop the sound from ringing out clearly and sharply, your ears feeling like they were exploding. There was little resemblance to the kind and sweet friend you knew. Their body contorted, their eyes bulging, fingers growing rigid, and their fangs snapping at the water before them. They were changing into a monster you only knew from horror movies, but worse was knowing you were the cause.

The queen gasped, just as much in shock as you were, but she regained her composure quickly when your friend charged at her, letting out their anger on her rather than you. She slipped by him, their claws ripping the skin on her arms cleanly like a scalpel, but she didn't deter. She grabbed your body by your arms, yanking you up and forward through the door.

"Swim!" she screamed as she used her body to barricade the door that she had shut closed immediately after exiting. You could see that she struggled as something or someone was thrown into the door repeatedly, trying to break out. "Don't look back! Just swim down the hallway and when you see the portal go right through it! Don't waste time here!"

There was a faint sense of desperation in the way she urged you, and you knew she couldn't hold your friend back much longer. Your head hurt, your body felt unfamiliar, and the screams of your friend told you to surrender, but when the queen gave you one last pleading look, you got yourself together and moved forward, leaving her behind. You could only pray your friend wouldn't do anything to his own mother and that she'd hold them back long enough for you to go.

You swam and swam, slamming into walls as you kept losing control over your own tail, clumsily, stupidly, feeling like a child. "[Name]!" you heard your friend yell behind you, and you jumped in surprise; they sounded so close. It scared you, they scared you. Everything about this world and chase was scary, and all you could do was keep your eyes forward like the queen told you and swim.

Finally, the portal appeared in the room before you, a sense of relief washing over you as you gathered your strength and caught yourself from hitting the walls again, the goal so close. It was almost too good to be true, and when a torrent moved you forward, followed by the sound of a massive body slamming into the corner behind you, you knew you were screwed.

Letting out a pitiful squeak, you picked up the pace, your friend suddenly right behind you. "Stay!" they begged, but it sounded like a demand. "Don't go back there! You're supposed to be here with me! What did that witch tell you?! Oh, I'll kill her if you leave! She'll be dead because of you! Don't go! Please, don't go!"

The chaos of their voice all around you didn't stop you from going forward. They were nuts, completely out of their mind. Nothing in this world could make you stay, and you reached out your hand towards the portal's light when...

Suddenly, you were yanked back.

You screamed as sharp claws dug into you, keeping themselves anchored inside your tail and tearing it apart. This time, you had to look back.

"Stay with me. I love you," your friend begged, bubbles rising from their eyes like tears. They had changed back into their normal self, beautiful, although you knew better now. It was all a facade. You shook your head, throat tight with fear and adrenaline. Their expression changed instantly, darker and more deadly, but your eyes were torn from your friend despite them reaching up, seemingly trying to attack you again.

With a heavy thud, the queen slammed a stone down on your friends head. They gurgled before sinking to the ground. "Go!" the queen yelled, her beautiful face ripped apart by claws, blood mixing into the water all around her.

You didn't make her repeat herself, the portal welcoming you with a waft of wind and the sounds of birds chirping.

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

You rubbed your palm along the muscle in your thigh, feeling the strange, burning sensation that had recently started acting up. You didn't know why, but sometimes, when you looked into a mirror or took a shower, it appeared. It was pretty annoying, but the doctors told you to just let it come and go as there were no signs as to what caused it.

But ever since your family decided to take a trip to the beach, this sensation had been acting up constantly. At this point, it was making your stomach churn, anxiety flooding your senses for some unknown reason. You tried brushing it off, listening to your mom and sister talk instead, but it was hard to ignore.

"Are mermaids real?" your sister asked, and your mom chuckled, turning around in the passenger seat to wink at you to tell you to keep up the charade. "They are so real. And they capture little kids and keep them locked up underwater so they can eat them."

Your sister squealed before giggling her adorable laugh. What a stupid story, you thought. Mermaids don't exist.

Finally, at the beach, your family set up the towels before running off to get food and dip into the water. But for some reason, you couldn't help but let time pass you by as you stared out into the ocean, strangely captivated by the waves. You jumped, eyes widening when you thought you saw a head pop out far, far beyond where everyone was swimming, sharp eyes fixating on you, but it was gone with the next wave. Your thigh burned, and this time, it hurt so much you could barely keep standing. You considered cooling down in the water, but the pain only intensified.

Your sister ran up to you not long after you took a seat in the sand, wanting to take you swimming with her. You refused, citing that you were hurt and needed to rest.

"But the mermaid told me to bring you to them..." she mumbled, wrecking her little head about what to do now.

"Who?" you asked, and she shot you a bright beam.

"The mermaid! They aren't mean at all like Mom said! They said we could come to their underwater palace with them! I want to, can we? Pleaseeeee!"

As the pain throbbed in your thigh, you watched as your sister jogged back into the water, arms flailing when she was suddenly pulled under. One second she was there, the next she was gone, and in her place, a strangely familiar face lurked out of the water, beautiful, ethereal. But the eyes of the stranger were weird, dark and mysterious. Driven by an unknown feeling that ran a shiver down your spine.

"Your turn." The stranger lifted a hand out of the water, webs between their fingers, inviting you in, and your leg hurt even more.

"I waited long enough for you to return, my spouse."

Was there ever really a choice for you?

(Reasoning and discussions welcome! ♥)

[pinkeos]

The Tides Beckon || Freminet x Merman!Reader (Pt. 1)

Warning/s: Mentions of blood, Fremi almost died, not much dialogue, author's first language ain't english

Notes: WAKE UP BABE ITS MERMAY -my brain last night so i decided to write this one with my favorite fontaine boy. also there's more to this story so i'll write more ehe

Whenever the world grew louder alongside his thoughts, Freminet would often seek refuge in the ocean. While others feared the unknown depths of the waters, the diver knew the nation’s hydrology like the back of his hand. The deep waters and the creatures within became his sanctuary for when everything was just too much.

This didn't come naturally, however. Because there was a time where he, too, grew anxious of what could happen whenever he dived deeper than the last. This was when the beings above hadn't bestowed him a vision yet, when he had to rely on his trusty helmet to dive. Who knew what could happen, his diving suit could malfunction while he was swimming and it would be too late to ascend by the time he noticed it.

There was a specific moment, at night, when he scampered into the waters, drowned in his thoughts and wanting nothing more than to surround himself with the waves that pushed his worries away for even just a moment. It was a mistake to not check his gear beforehand, a mistake that could've easily cost him his life. He was younger then, much less experienced of a diver than he was now.

He tried to swim upwards when water began to flood into his diving helmet, however, fate had something else planned as a bunch of seaweed vines caught his ankle, preventing him from swimming any further. The boy, calm as he may always seem to be, began to panic. His hands started to tug and pull at the seaweed vines to free his foot.

It was dark out, he shouldn't have left and dived into the ocean by himself. He had sneaked away from the House, not informing anyone of his whereabouts, so the chances of someone miraculously arriving just in time to help him was zero to none.

Or that's what he thought. It was when his vision began to blur, his body growing weak as water prevented him from breathing. His body had gone limp, eyelashes drooping, his consciousness slipping slowly and surely.

It was then that a shadow began to swim closer to him. The full moon’s light beamed from the surface of the water, providing decent enough lighting to help him in his blurry vision to make out that this shadow was a person. What they were doing in the ocean in the middle of the night, he didn't know. But they were there to save him.

He couldn't remember clearly nor did his vision help when it came to reveal his savior’s identity. What he was quite sure of was their long hair swaying prettily in the water, their tail moving as they swam— wait, tail? Before he could comprehend what he had managed to see, he blacked out.

Those memories would forever haunt Freminet’s mind. Even in the present, where he sat on a large boulder by the shore, Pers in his hands as he watched the waves roll in and the white seafoam appear and disappear. After that fateful night, he began to rack his brain on what happened.

Little knew of how fond Freminet was with fairy tales, and how often he would imagine this world in his mind where he had companions that would bring color and life to this imagination of his. He has books and stories stored away in his room, away from prying eyes that he would read whenever he wanted to.

That's when he came across the myths and tales of mermaids. Creatures that were half human and half fish, with ethereal beauty and a voice capable of luring many with their angelic singing. They lived in the depths of the ocean, far away from the humans, they served the hydro dragon and his many incarnations. But for some reason unclear in the books, their kin had begun to dwindle over the centuries. It wasn't clearly stated where they came from, or if they even were true, but Freminet was quite sure the person he saw that night was a mermaid.

He hadn't spoken a word to Lyney or Lynette, he was afraid they wouldn't believe him. Heck, sometimes he thought he didn't believe himself. Perhaps it was just an illusion? But then how did he survive? Who saved him?

The soft wind that blew on his cheek managed to pull the boy out of his thoughts. He sighed, hugging his legs closer to his chest as he placed his chin on his knees. The ocean was peaceful today.

At least that was until a loud splash erupted from not too far away. Usually, the salty scent of the sea breeze overwhelmed any other scent when near the shore. But it was different today. 

Freminet could smell it. The familiar scent of blood. And it was so strong. The boy gulped, standing up and silently making his way off the boulder. The splash wasn't too far, possibly from the other side of the large rocks. 

Trained in stealth and being naturally good at keeping quiet, he had easily managed to sneak his way to the other side, peeking over a boulder to see what was going on. 

The boy suppressed a gasp, but his lips still parted in shock, eyes turning wide. A small splash sounded from when the tail came into contact with the surface of the water. A tail, similar to that of a fish, but long and connecting to an upper human body.

The scales were covered in blood, staining its color and the water with it. A groan ripped Freminet’s attention from the tail and towards the human part of the creature. If he wasn't already shocked with the tail, he was even more surprised at the sight of the pained face of a familiar member of the Marechaussee Phantom meeting his view.

It was the face of the young influential official that almost everyone in Fontaine knew of. How could they not when he worked directly with the Iudex?

Though his appearance was far from the usual, because he was a freaking mermaid right now.

Freminet did not know what to think of this. He was just thinking about this a moment ago, even thinking what he could possibly do or say if he were to meet one in real life, as slim the chances are. But that was happening now and he was absolutely speechless.

“Who’s there?” The mermaid’s sharp voice cut through the silence. He was spotted.

Seeing as he was busted, the diver decided to reveal himself, though keeping his distance.

“It’s you…”

Ending note: I haven't written in a while so I'm trying my best because I really like this story😭

[aw-shizz-here-we-go-again]

•|| Seally Cute ||• (Mermay 2024)

Prompt 3: Seally Cute

Featuring: Geno, Goth, and Reaper!

Ship(s): Afterdeath.

Summary: Playtime with the kiddo! <3

Warnings: Blood from a hunt

Credits: Leviathantale and the Mermay Bingo I'm using are both by @skumhuu!

Read tags for notes.

"Dad? Dad??? Daddy!"

Geno woke up to a small, high-pitched voice yelling in his ear. He let out a tired grunt, then rolled over on his side as his tail gently swatted the other person away.

He smiled as he heard them let out a playful squeak, and he was almost immediately bombarded by a small body barreling into him. He yawned, then blinked blearily at the mischievous attacker as he rubbed his eyesockets. "Oh? What's up, my little clamshell?"

The young selkie in front of Geno puffed out their cheeks, flipping their black-and-white seal tail back and forth as they responded. "Mama's out huntin', and 'm boreddd! I wanna do sumthin'! Sumthin' else then jus' sleepin'!"

"You could practice walking, you know." Geno suggested, raising a bonebrow up at the child. He sat up and stretched, slight popping his bones as he did so. "You still haven't even tried taking your seal skin off yet, Goth."

Goth grumbled something under his breath, glowering down at the iceberg they were both on. ". . ."

Geno tilted his head to the side, wrapping his arms around his kid and hugging him close. "What was that? Is there something wrong?"

"...'s scary." Goth muttered quietly, burying his face into his father's chest. "A-an' I did try. Couldn't do it though..."

"Oh, Gothy," Geno squeezed Goth a little tighter in his embrace, wrapping Goth's tail around his own as he kissed the top of Goth's head. "It's alright, we'll figure something else out then."

"Swimmin'?" Goth asked hopefully, gazing up at Geno with big shiny eyelights. There was no mistaking it, the kid really knew what he was doing when he chose to pull the puppy eyes on his dad.

Geno sighed, giving Goth a defeated look. He didn't even attempt to resist, knowing that he would cave quickly anyways. "Okay okay, let's go swimming."

"Yay!" Goth wiggled his way out of Geno's grip, then proceeded to nudge and tug Geno towards the edge of the iceberg where the water was. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

Geno chuckled, relenting as he playfully shoved Goth into the icy sea before hopping in to join his kid. "Rather eager, aren't we?"

"You never lemme go swimmin' without ya, so duh!" Goth pouted, swishing his tail as he drifted around Geno in a lazy circle. He then sped up, swimming around Geno in faster loops. "C'monnn! Let's play tag or something!"

"Oho, you want to challenge me?" Geno asked in amusement, raising a bonebrow as Goth nodded in response. "Well then, let the games begin..."

.

.

.

Reaper was returning back home from... doing whatever he was doing while he was out, most likely hunting due to the blood on his teeth, and he surfaced to get a breath of air just in time to see a certain small selkie fling themselves out of the water to do a flip.

What the heck?

Diving back under the water, Reaper sped up towards the main iceberg that he and his family called home. As he approached, he could see the love of his life- ahem, Geno, ahem -and their child swimming around in circles, seemingly sportively goading each other on.

As Reaper watched, Geno suddenly thrashed his tail as he shot up towards the surface of the water, erupting from the sea and doing a double flip before he came crashing back down.

The leviathan let out a small, quiet laugh at the smug look that Geno shot at Goth, and at the pouty look that Goth had returned back at Geno.

Then Reaper had an idea. A smirk crossed his face as he dove down, deeper and deeper below his family. Once he was down deep enough to not be noticed if he shifted, he activated his leviathan form as he circled around in the icy cold depths, staring up at the two selkies above him.

He then silently and slowly swam up behind Geno, his now massive size absolutely dwarfing his mate. He watched as Goth noticed him, and he saw how the child's eyelights grew as big as saucers as his presence registered in Goth's mind.

Reaper held a finger up to his mouth, gesturing for Goth to stay quiet. He drifted ever so slightly closer to Geno, who seemed mildly confused by Goth's reaction since he hadn't realized that Reaper was behind him yet.

"Hello, darling~"

Reaper purred out an amused giggle as Geno yelped in shock, and he backed up a little bit as the selkie whirled around to face him.

"You-! Seriously, Reaper?! Ugh..." Geno groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nosebone in annoyance, glaring at Reaper in half-hearted anger. "I swear, you are so immature."

"Oh, my dearly sweet beloved, I'm so wounded by your insults!" Reaper whined pitifully, shrinking down into his normal form before dramatically leaning against Geno while holding his hand up to his forehead.

Geno grumbled something under his breath and pushed Reaper off, then narrowed his eyesocket at Goth, who had started giggling. He then sighed in exasperation and threw up his hands. "Both of you! Both of you are so immature! But at least Goth has the excuse of actually being a child."

He swam back up to Reaper and poked the leviathan in the chest, swishing his tail in mild irritation. "But you don't have any excuse!"

"B-but... Geno-senpai, it's just my personality!" Reaper blinked innocently at Geno, intertwining his orca tail with Geno's seal tail.

Geno rolled his eyelight and groaned again, pulling his tail away from Reaper and gently swatting Reaper over the head. "Don't even get started with that! Enough is enough."

Reaper sighed in mock defeat, backing away from Geno to give his love some space. "Alright, alright, if you insist."

Geno hesitated, then swam back over to Reaper to give him a soft, brief kiss before letting go again. "Love you, starfish~"

Before Reaper could sputter out a flustered reply, they both suddenly heard snoring coming from behind them. A quick glance revealed that Goth had fallen asleep, and Geno let out an amused snort. "I suppose playing around tuckered him out. We should be getting back to our iceberg anyways."

"I- uh- uhm, yeah! Mhm!" Reaper replied quickly, still blushing from the kiss. He rapidly flicked his tail and scooped Goth up in his arms, carrying the child as he started swimming to the homeberg. "Let's go!"

Geno followed suit, letting himself be half dragged in the current that Reaper's tail made since he was tired.

.

.

.

"You know, you should really wash up. You still have blood all over your teeth." Geno said with a small yawn, tilting Reaper's head with his hands on Reaper's chin so that he could see the orca's face better.

"Aw, what? Too shy to clean it off for me~?" Reaper purred teasingly, then hesitated and averted his gaze in shame almost immediately afterwards. "...Oh, yeah, right-- nevermind. Uh, forget I said that. Sorry."

Geno winced slightly, shivering not from the cold of the iceberg but rather from the reminder. ". . ."

Reaper shrank in on himself a bit, tears suddenly pricking his eyesockets "I'm sorry, okay? I- I really just can't help it... I'm sorry..."

Geno was quiet for a long moment, then he pulled Reaper into a hug. "It'll... it'll be okay. Just... let's not tell Goth, okay? I'd rather not scare him..."

"Okay..." Reaper muttered back, nuzzling into Geno's embrace. By the True Leviathans, he felt awful, but it wouldn't be an easy fix.

After all, it was his nature.

______________________________________________________________

Start

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Masterlist

[oceansssblue]

I love Mermay! May I request a mer!reader x Sailor/Pirate!Fives? The reader is a siren and is technically supposed to be luring Fives and his friends to their deaths, but ends up not doing so after getting into a convo with him. When someone (Palpatine, Fox, random guy, whoever you want) does try to kill Fives, the reader is able to save him. Happy ending please!

Hi there! Yay! As I have said before, I will be writing all my requests, but MERMAY! requests have priority over others even though they have been requested on a later note!

Dear anon, ty for the request! We're def going for a "cruel" badass siren that will be to her surprise captivated with our charming pirate Fives. Palpatine is obviously the bad guy.

I don't know much about sailing and i'm trying to do a past era alternative universe thing, so ignore any incongruences and that.

I hope you like it!

Xx,

Sky.

"A CHANGE OF CURRENT"

FIVES/MER!FREADER 📩💔💖

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF DEATH, BLOOD, WOUNDS, CRUELTY, SIRENS KILLING/EATING HUMANS, BITES, SCARS. REFERENCES TO ECHO'S TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE. DON'T GET SCARED. THIS IS MOSTLY FANTASY&MISTERY&FLUFF.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Being friends with the Captain doesn't allow you to lounge around, Fives" a voice almost identical to his teases him at his back.

The man in question turns around and grins. Echo has a half-fond, half-exasperated tiny little smile on his face. He's dressed in a similar way to him; thin linnen shirt with a deep opened v-neck and rolled up-pants, just in different tones of blue.

"Actually, it allows me to do exactly that" Fives retorts cheekily. Before Echo has a chance to put him into place, always the responsible of the two twins, he adds. "And I'll let you know lounging is a very important task on the "79's".

Echo arches an eyebrow. He crosses his arms in front of his chest; his hook just grazing the still pale skin of his left peck. Too much time spent trapped away from the sun.

"Is that so?" His brother humours him. The sun is hovering right upon them, bringing darker shades on Echo's already angular face. He's slowly filling out a bit, though, and for that Fives is glad. "How does that work, exactly?"

Fives tilts his head to the side. Echo always thought one of his twin's radiant smiles could iluminate any ship at the darkest of nights. That's the way he could eventually find the way back home, back to the 79's; Fives.

"Keeping a good mood is crutial to a ship's crew" his twin continues, going on one of his tangents. "It makes everyone work better, faster. Reduces fatigue and dangerous thoughts like plotting a mutiny".

Sometimes Echo wonders if Fives has all of this little stupid dialogues planned in his head just because, waiting for their chance to come up. The silliness of his twin's mind never ceases to surprise him; even after so many years of living together travelling through the seven seas.

"Like any of us would ever plot something of the sorts against Rex" Echo rolls his eyes, amused.

Fives shrugs, big smile still in his tanned face. They used to look so similar, Fives and him, before the accident. Now there are just... resemblances. Similarities. Probably the thing he hates the most about what happened –besides loosing his limbs–; how they had visually differentiated him so much of his twin, of his other half. For all Fives could be tiring and obnoxious, Echo knows he couldn't live without him. Even though getting used to his new body has been incredibly hard, he's glad for this second chance with him.

"I dunno' " Fives voice quickly brings him back to present time. He mimicks something dropping onto his head with his hands. "I think I'd look great with Captain Rex's hat".

Fives imitates the Captain's fierce expression and seriousness, still holding onto his imaginary pirate hat; and Echo can't keep the chuckles inside.

"You're a jokester, Fives".

His twin grins again.

"Don't make me repeat why that's important, now".

Echo smiles. Softly, this time.

Around them, at this time of the early afternoon, right after lunch, the crew of the 79' is surprisingly quiet and calm. The sea is peaceful today as well; nothing like the day before or the previous night. They're delving into dangerous waters, now. Places that don't quite appear on the map.

"What were you doing here anyways, all alone?" Echo asks.

Fives hums distractedly and glances in front of him again, at the sea; one leg staying inside the ship and the other dangling over board. The two of them have always been a little reckless like that; specially Fives.

"Thought I heard something" he whispers, then turns back to his twin again. His eyes suddenly look innocently young again, and his twin is suddenly reminded of past memories, of the two of them enlisting in the 79' when they were barely kids. "Do you think sirens really exist, brother?"

Echo sighs. They have all heard stories; but no one on board has ever personally seen one. He doesn't really know what to believe; could they be truly real, or are they just stories invented by lonely men that live by the sea?

"I don't know, Fives" he answers, going for honesty.

Fives hums, scanning the waters again; looking for something it's not quite there.

"If they do, do you think they're truly evil, like the stories tell?"

Echo stays quiet for some minutes. Then, he glances down at his hook; at the wood that replaces his legs. The skin that stays in contact with them feels sore and pained; he really should get some rest. He sighs, tired.

"I don't think so. If they do exist, and they do have something against us, I guess they'd just want to kill us directly, eliminate what they consider a danger and threat for their waters" he pauses and breathes in deeply. "I don't think they'd slowly torture us like humans do. We're the cruelest beings on land or not".

Fives golden eyes silently travel back to Echo's. He reads between the lines. He understands his point.

"You're probably right" he quietly answers, the moment unexpectedly delicate now. He shakes his head and smiles. Softer, gentle, now. "Come on. Let's go shut some eye".

Fives stands up with renewed energy, abandoning heavy feelings behind; and pats Echo's back affectionately. His twin nods knowingly, and follows him through the ship. Even though it doesn't mean he doesn't feel just as deeply –Maker knows he does–, Fives has never been one to hold up emotional conversations for too much time. They weigh heavy in his heart.

Echo takes his space on the thin cot –if you could call a bunch of old shredded clothes and blankets pushed together that– beside him and closes his eyes. Both of them, that night, dream of sirens and mermaids and all those stories the sailors spread around. They aren't aware how close they are to see some of those stories become alive.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You've been following them for two days now. Your job is to patrol the very limits of your world with the human's sea; and you were instantly alerted of their presence when they arrived, that enourmous ship of them difficult to miss.

It's not the biggest one you've seen. You had a fight with another one once, years ago; it's wood almost a dark black and it's sails a vibrant red. You still remember its name; Death Star. An aproppiate name for such an evil captain, such an evil ship. That fight was the main reason you had been assigned to keep all humans out of this waters; they just take and take, leaving nothing but destruction behind. You're not about to lose anyone else; not to the unforgiving, beautiful, yet terrifying sea, and definitively not to one of them.

This humans don't really seem to be looking for anything in particular. You had waited patiently, trying to find out their needs and wants; but reached no logical conclusion. They just seem to be... Wandering. Exploring. Ah, perhaps they're the curious ones. Many humans seem to be, just in the way young sirens are in their first years; wanting to swim through every single corner of the sea. See the world with their own eyes, and not through what elders tell them. You had been like that as well, in the past.

Mm. No matter. You're not putting the lifes of your people at risk just because these ones are looking fairly innocent. You know how quickly the tide can change directions, how surprising and dangerous the currents can be; and you're not going to let yourself be dragged by it. You'll do what you have to do; observe, wait patiently, and at night, lure them in. Your tongue wraps delicately around your sharp canines, excitement running through your veins.

You swim deeper into the sea below the ship. You almost feel impatient to play with them.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You curse under your breath, quickly hiding underwater when he almost catches sight of you while scanning the sea. You've seen this particular human before; often staring at the water or the horizon, a contemplative look on his face. He's a dreamer, this one; sometimes looking younger than you suppose he really is, others quickly snapping back to reality and jumping to his work with surprising skill. He's handsome as humans go; bronze skin looking smooth under the unforgiving sun and trained muscles peaking under his semi-transparent shirt. He has a strong jaw and nose, expressive eyebrows and golden eyes; a trait that somehow seems common with his fellow soldiers, maybe sharing the same origin, perhaps even some of them being family.

Watching him carefully under the distortion of the dark blue water, you're developed hearing catch a second voice entering the scene; and the human turns around in his precarious position on the border of the ship. This one is named "79's". It must be a reference to something you can't quite place; or perhaps a year of relevance to them.

Human tongue is quite easy to learn, contrary to your native Mando'a; so you have no trouble following the conversation even underwater. Both men hold affection clear in their voice; indicating a closer kind of relationship than two normal sailors on the same ship would have. The second voice sounds more mature to you; perhaps simply because this first human –Fives, you learn, what a curious name for a person– doesn't seem to take life very seriously. But then his voice drops, quietly asking something that makes your heart beat faster inside your chest; if your people are real.

It's a common thing to ponder between sailors. Humans like the tingling excitement of being a bit afraid; of imagining situations that may never end up happening in their heads. But no, this one doesn't sound at all afraid; just curious, cautious. When he asks his brother –you confirm– if he thinks stories about sirens are real, of what they do to humans, anger spreads like a fire inside of you. Oh, yes, because they don't do anything of the sorts to other creatures on this earth. The second voice –Echo's– answers in a quiet, delicate way; and you have to swim closer to surface just to take a look at him. You suddenly put things together; something horribly traumatic must have happened to his human, for him to look like that. You can't imagine living without your tail. It saddens you, inevitably; he's still handsome even like this, he would have been even prettier without his injuries. He would look like... Fives.

You blink, a bit confused at the direction of your own thoughts. Fives own voice tinges with understanding and fondness. He pats his brother affectionately, and then forgets about the sea; both of them quietly retiring for now, their steps echoing against the wood as they wook away.

You're left with a weird feeling inside of you. This two seemed... Kind. It isn't a word you usually associate with humans; but here you are.

You shake your head, mumbling to yourself. You won't let them fool you. Humans still carry all that darkness inside of them; that evil. You want none of that in your home, your sea.

Tomorrow, you say to yourself.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Fives smiles fondly at the sight of little 'Soka staring at the full moon in front of them. It's as big as they've ever seen it; very close to the sea, iluminating a silvery path towards the 79's in the otherwise dark night.

Ashoka is pure energy. The girl is hiperactive even at hours like this, were most of the crew has already gone to sleep; too excited to lay still in bed in the cabin she shares with Rex. The Captain of the 79's had adopted her many years ago, accepted her in his ship with a blink of an eye after finding out Ashoka had been abandoned in land by Captain Windu no less –an ex-friend and current enemy of Rex–; the small girl quickly falling under his wing like his own daughter. Fives can't understand how anyone could leave behind a kid like that; Ashoka is the only girl aboard, but she is like their own personal ray of sunlight. Hope. She's a special kid; has a perfect eye on when to pursue their enemies and when to abandon or change routes, an innate pirate even as young as she is. Fives can only try to imagine what things she would be able to do with more age and experience.

For now, though, 'Soka's just a kid. And kids do silly things; like playfully sticking out her tongue and precariously balancing her steps in the baupress of the 79's. Fives rolles his eyes good-naturatedly. He isn't too hard on the kid; he had been fearless and oblivious to danger once too. Hell, he still is, sometimes. It's just his way of being; free. He doesn't want to die by Rex hands if something happened to her, though, so he motions down with a flick of his hand.

"Get your feet down here, m' lady" he jokes, then extends his hand to hers in a courteous offer.

'Soka laughs, a sound that echoes softly in the silence of the night.

"Mm. I don't know if I shall accept such proposition, good sir" she answers, standing up in the thin baupress as if it is nothing.

Her dark black hair, looking almost blue, flies freely with the wind even with her white bandana wrapped around it. Her skin is as tanned as his, freckles tracing the outlines of the white scars that mark her otherwise perfect face. Like Fives and Echo, she has basically grown up on a moving ship.

"I'd like to keep my head, my lady, if you'd be so kind to help me" Fives insists, eyes turning to a gentle warning.

Ashoka rolls her big blue eyes.

"Okay..." she grumbles, then, abandoning the theatricality.

She turns her direction with flowless agility and starts her careful way back to him.

The ship rocks dangerously in the water –the sea not completely peaceful today–, and Ashoka stops in surprise and fear, holding her balance as best as she can. Fives also holds his breath. The 79's stops moving and they both sigh in relief, staring at each other well aware of the risks.

The girl chuckles nervously.

"Welp, that was a close one." She guiltily admits, restarting her way towards him. "I keep forgetting this waters are dangerous and not exactly what we're used to, huh?"

Fives doesn't tear his eyes from her.

"Yeah" he agrees. "Maybe you should leave your acrobatics for when we're back on the GAR sea..."

Big, angry waves splashes against the botton of the ship again; a sudden move that disestabilises Ashoka for a second time. It all happens too fast; the girl's right feet steps just on the edge of the baupress, losing balance, and her weight leans too much over one side with a terrified gasp. By the time Fives has rushed forward in a desperate attempt to catch her hand, Ashoka has already been devoured by the dark see with a dooming splash.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You smirk darkly when the sound of a body hitting the surface of the water is transmitted under the waves. You almost want to laugh at the way the small human desperately moves his legs to try to stay afloat; the sea isn't looking good for creatures without fins tonight, and it is obvious that this female doesn't even know how to properly swim even in calm circumstances. Maybe it's just because she's small, you're not sure.

You strike at her –harshly tugging her leg down and sinking her under the surface– right when another body drops into the sea. You snarl, irritated by the interuption, and turn around, scanning the water around you. Just five or six meters away, there he is; the human named Fives, the dreamer, the one who almost discovered you ahead of time.

This one does now how to swim. Even though his eyes are clearly pannicked, searching for her fellow human companion among the darkness of the black waves, his legs calmly move just enough to keep him afloat; conserving very much needed energy. His clothes are stuck to his body; both humans look so utterly small in the openness of the water...

The small female human screams, terrified, still not grasping her new reality; and the man shouts her name in a hoarse voice, squinting and desperately trying to find her. The girl goes to shout again; and your clawed hand quickly reaches up to close around her throat –not to really cut her breathing of, but as a warning–. You're not known for your patience, and you really can't stand creatures screeching.

Fives golden eyes, still having a shine to them with the moonlight, finally turns to your direction; and his whole face morphs into wonder, fear and shock, quickly taking in your claws and sharp teeth, the gills on the side of your neck and the dangerous swoosh of the powerful tail behind you. The small girl trembles in your strong arms; you glance down at her, bored but curious at the same time. She really is the smallest human you have crossed pass with. Are those marks that shine white on her face scars?

"Please" Fives voice barely picks up with the sounds of the waves and the wind. "You don't want to hurt her".

His words and his firm stare stuns you for a second. Then, you laugh out loud, the sound being carried away by the howling wind.

You haven't used the human tongue for so long... Since that fight. You'd be kind to humour this human for now. Perhaps getting to know them for a bit before eliminating them would help you understand them better and kill them easier in the future. For as small as humans are, they do make interesting big weapons.

"Don't I?" You smirk, tongue wrapping teasingly around your rigth canine. You caress the girl's hair with the hand that is not carefully holding her against her throat. You push your nose up to her neck and smell; then tilt your face back to the male. "Mm. Perhaps not hurt her. Just quickly kill her, no pain".

Fives trembles in the cold of the sea. The girl too. You grin.

"Why?" Is his pained answer. He's trying to remain calm, you can see that, even if his insides live in complete turmoil. "To eat her?"

You make a face.

"No. Human is not my favorite kind of dish" you inmediately answer, then shrug desinterested. "You kill us, I kill you first. It's the sea's law, sailor".

Fives frowns.

"We kill you? I didn't even know you truly existed until now" he points out.

Ah, humans are such natural spokesperson. Always finding an argument no matter their cause.

"You're people" you correct, drawing a claw down the girls face, not enough to draw blood from it, just a distracted caress.

Fives face... Pouts.

"That's pretty unfair, if I may say so. You can't blame a whole species in the name of a few".

You let your gaze find his eyes again. He's so determined it's entertaining to watch.

"You claim you're different?" You ask, observing him.

He nods.

You can see the fatigue starting to creep onto him. You're holding the freezing girl with your own strength, but he's on his own. You wonder how much longer would he be able to stay afloat. Maybe you should just wait and watch him sink.

"See those scars on Ashoka's face?" His words pull your attention back at her white marks. She tries to stay still while you study her. "They were made by bad people. Cruel humans. My brother Echo suffered by others as well. And yet here we are. I love Ashoka as if she were my own sister. I love my twin. I'd do everything to protect them. I don't want to cause pain to them".

You huf.

"That's easy. No one wants to hurt people that are dear to them. What about other's that aren't? Would you care?"

Fives is stubborn. You'll give him that.

"I wouldn't purposedly hurt others for the sake of doing so. Or if there's any other way. Look, there... Must be some bad sirens too. People who just enjoy killing and hunting indefense creatures just because they feel joy watching them suffer; not a matter of protecting their home or territory. And there must be good ones" he breathes raggedly. "It's the same with humans. There is evil and kindness in every living being. If you'd only gave us a chance, you'd be able to see it".

You hum. He makes a point. The excitement melts down. Your curiosity doesn't. Are all humans this interesting?

"What is your Captain looking for in this waters, Fives?"

His mouth opens in surprise.

"You..."

"Know you?" You chuckle, moving your tail slowly. "Mm. I've been studying you for days, I know some things. The answer, sailor?"

Fives forces himself to push through his shock and confussion to answer you.

"We've been paid handsomely to explore this part of the Unkown Seas. We have a cartographer aboard, he's been working nonstop since we crossed the GAR frontier."

You hum, recalling those maps the humans use to sail the seas without getting too lost of their way.

"So there's nothing you want from us?" You insist.

To your shock, Fives smiles; a small, almost cheeky tug of lips.

"Well, I do have a lot of questions about sirens now that I've seen you, but no, not really. Like I said, we didn't even know you truly existed. We just want to make our trip and return to land safely".

You observe him in silence. You feel the girls energy draining too; blinking heavily.

"Mm" you hum, pushing her against his arms in a second. Fives stares at you, wide eyed, not expecting you to move that fast. "You can call for your human friends to help, sailor. I've decided I will just keep an eye on your ship for now".

Then, before Fives has the chance to answer, you tear your hands away from the girl and dissapear under the sea.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Fives receives the reprimand of his life at Rex's personal delivery. He's task with leaving the ship shiny up and down; Ashoka also punished along him. If there's something the Captain of the 79's doesn't show, it's mercy. Oh, he's polite and gentle enough, if the situation calls for it; but he doesn't let things slip by. He's always aware, always scanning his crew with his amber eyes; and even though both 'Soka and Fives had tried to make the incident sound less of a danger, just an unimportant accident, there's really no way going around the fact that they had had a very close, dangerous encounter with a Siren.

Rex doesn't believe them at first. But then he sees the light marks on Ashoka's neck; there's nothing deep or worrying, but they're definitely shaped like some kind of claws, and he know's his fair number of fish and sharks to know they can't have done anything of the sort. Fives is guilty, yes, but he seems honest when he retells the experience. Ashoka too, a pleading look of forgiveness in her big blue eyes. Rex has no other option than to accept the story as truth.

Everyone on board of the 79's has the chance to see said siren with their own eyes a pair of days later. It's at night, so no one really sees her for quite some time; til Ashoka suddenly gasps and points out towards the see with wonder –and a sliver of fear– in her eyes. Rex quickly squints and stares in surprise. Well, that's a siren all right. The Captain and his men only have time to observe her for a minute before she smirks and plunges down into the water, her tail a silent goodbye.

Fives grins and elbows Echo.

"See? What a stalker. I think she likes me" he jokes, and Echo rolls his eyes pushing him with an exasperated smile.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Morning, dear siren" Fives greets you, carefully using the ropes to lower himself with his feet against the outside of the ship's structure, still on his shining the 79's duty. "How has sleep being under there?"

You splash him with your tail in irritation. There's no peace with the sailor around; and he has developed the annoying habit of periodically coming to talk to you.

Fives gasps with the cold water drenching his clothes; but his face quickly morphs from surprise to cheerful amusement.

"Why, thank you. I did notice I had started to smell too" he then smirks and studies your body up and down in a way that makes you as mad as nervous. "Darling, if you just wanted to see me wet, though... There's better ways we can enjoy together."

Even though there's a blush fighting it's way through your face, you keep your expresion neutral and narrow your eyes at him.

"You're the most annoying human I've ever met".

Five grins; as if your words were a personal compliment for him.

"You're magnificent company as well, dear siren" he retorts, unbothered.

You tilt your head, glancing up at him. It's both funny and irritating the way this human talks to you. He should fear you; you could jump up right now and kill him in a blink, and yet he's always like this around you. Curious, awed, and cautious while being impossibly and purposedly irritating as well. You wonder if it's his weird human way of making friends.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Fives reintroduces a wary Ashoka to you. It's only sensitive for her to be cautious; after all, you did have your claws around her neck not so long ago. After Fives' reassurance and a few patient words on your part, though, she quickly leaves the past behind; and watches Fives' careless and friendly interaction with you with bright eyes.

You grow fond of her as the days pass. It surprises you the way the girl seems atuned to other creatures of the sea; smaller ones like rain-fishes and seahorses always curiously coming up to meet her. You've heard of people like her before; humans with a special conection to the sea, with an instinctual understanding of it. Your people believe humans too came from the sea; and some just happen to conserve traits of their real origins more than others. If so, Ashoka is definitively one of them; and perhaps any of these sailors that seem for some reason persistent on spending more time at sea than in true land.

One late afternoon you ask Fives of this; of his will of travelling through the seas. You ask him wether he misses land, other human civilizations and things; but Fives shruggs with a smile. He tells you he likes it here, aboard on the 79's with his brothers, his family; and opens up about his own past as well. You listen to him mesmerised; feeling again like a kid whose being told interesting stories of lands far away.

After Fives finishes his and Echo's story –their misfortune making a strong feeling of protectiveness soar inside of you–, he glances at you with a tilt of his head, suddenly quiet and pensive.

"Plus" he continues, voice barely a whisper. "There's a certain peace you can't find anywhere else but the sea".

Even though his words are carefully soft and his demeanour almost shy –very uncharasteristal of him–, his bright eyes are full of heavy emotions; almost wanting to tell you a story different than what his words tell you. Almost whispering to you there's something more to his words than what they say.

You sink under the surface of the sea so only your eyes are peaking above the waves; needing the comfort of the water to hold his stare, this sudden shift on the atmosphere.

Fives hums, and you take a last look at him before dissapearing under the sea, running away from the human who's starting to make you feel things you haven't –and shouldn't– felt before.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Rutine makes you complacent. You get so relaxed at the knowledge that the 79's is no risk to you or your species you forget to stay vigilant; forget that they're not the only possible danger at the sea.

It happens at night; when your senses are dulled by sleep, your body curled in a tight space between the rocks at the bottom of the sea. Your return to consciousnes is a slow and lazy process. You open your mouth wide before momentarily clenching your teeth; the rest of your body muscles tensing and relaxing as well with your tiny stretch. Your eyes open and you focus on your surroundings; it doesn't feel like you've slept more than a pair of hours, and you usually don't have a problem to shut the eye throughout the whole night. Something must have awaken you subsconciously. You've long learned to trust your instintcs, so you decide to explore the sea around your little safe spot for the night before trying to get some more sleep. Maybe there's a predator around here.

It's when you swim away from the rocks you've hid in when you inmediately notice what's wrong; your too far away from the surface for the water to feel agitated here, but when you glance up, you see the usually dark ocean lit up in orange and red. The inmediate thought of the humans –of Ashoka and Fives– being in danger crosses your mind; and you're swimming up, up, up, before you're able to realise it yourself.

Your head peaks through the surface of the water and you can't help but gasp, eyes widenned in fear. The 79's wrecked. Besides it... So is the Death Star. Both ships have been fighting for who knows how long and you were peacefully asleep. It fills you with a dangerous wave of guilt; and unstopable anger. This is the ship that cost you the live of some of your best friends. This is the reason your people is no longer friendly towards humans; the pain of the past reflected on scars and lost ones. Some part of you is afraid –terrified– of facing said captain and crew again; the other part of you feels ravenous. This is your chance of revenge.

You sink under the water and sing. It's a song every siren child is taught by their elders; a call for help no one ever ignores. Sirens will stop at nothing for their people, their pods. Your voice carries easily through the water; and you hear a distant echo answering you. You know it's only a matter of time your people arrive. You'll help however you can in the mean time.

Your trained eyes and senses zoom in the fight aboard of the 79's. The men of the Death Star are dressed in black, like a bad omen; the colourful splashes belonging to Captain Rex' men. Both ships aren't the only battlefield; some are even fighting in the water, perhaps after pushing each other over board, some swinging their blades on top of smaller life-boats and lost planks of woods. The repair for what's left of both ships would be slow and costly.

You sink under the waves and move fast; jumping and dragging the 79's enemies with you underwater, drowning them or sinking your claws in their vulnerable throats, their screams futile under the water.

You can't see Fives or Ashoka yet; but just as the first of your fellow sirens arrive, you see Palpatine and Rex. They're fighting on the Death Star; blades swinging at each other while they expertly balance on the edge of the ship. You stop right below them and stare intently upwards; trying to catch the Captain's attention.

You do. Rex' eyes flicker downwards; making contact with yours. He quickly goes back to fighting against Captain Palpatine –how such an old man can move that fast you'll never know– and you wait patiently, licking your lips. You know Rex has catched on your idea and you only need to give him some time to bring him to you.

It's not a difficult move. With the knowledge that you'll be there to push him again back to safety and simultaneously kill his enemy, Rex throws his own body weight against Palpatine with all his strength and they both fall into the sea.

You almost see it happening in slow motion, such is your desire to claw your way through him. You're closing your hand around his throat in a blink, as soon as his body crashes against the waves; eyes shining and jaw opening to show your teeth while you push your face close to his. You want him to have a good look at you before you kill him.

"This is for Qui, Plo and Aayla" you tell him, eyes burning in hatred and vengance, his pathetic tugs at your hands only fueling your resolve. "And for those you'll never be able to hurt again".

You don't let him speak his last words. He doesn't deserve it; and he's not going to rat his way out of this. You snarl and sink your sharp teeth in his neck, closing your jaw before vicously pulling back and tearing his throat open mercilessly.

The carcass of his body floats away in the sea.

You turn to Captain Rex, scarlet blood dripping down your chin. He's not scared; but almost proud and relieved as he nods at you. You nod back and quickly help him get to the 79's again, reuniting with your people and organizising the counter-attack.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Once Palpatine is out of the way, the rest of his forces crumbles easily. In a matter of an hour, the few survivors of the Death Star scramble away in the remaning of their ship. You chuckle darkly. You know it's all for the enjoyment of your people; they'll do a slow hunt over the next couple of days, kill them one by one. Take their own personal revenge.

There's a conmotion up on the 79's. Rex is there, and so is Echo and Ashoka, the last two leaning down on the floor next to... Fives.

"What's wrong?" You quickly voice up from your place on the sea. "Is he okay?"

Captain Rex glances down at you worriedly.

"Blade sunk into his liver. He's loosing a lot of blood very quickly" he turns to look back to Echo and Ashoka. His expression saddens. "I... Don't think he has much time left".

Your heart starts beating out of your chest.

Fives, even gravely injured, lets out a wet laugh and jokes about it.

"I always thought you were a tad dramatic, sir".

Echo snaps at him, still squeezing his hand. You understand the sentiment. Now is not the time.

"Shut the fuck up, Fives".

You know he's scared. Everyone is scared. Echo, Ashoka, Fives, Rex... Even yourself. You've never felt this scared.

"B-bring him down" you whisper, then clear your voice and repeat yourself. "Maybe I can do something to help him".

"What can you do to help him?" Echo laughs, the kind of maniac sounding laugh that comes from a place of pure panic and terror from losing a loved one. "You're what, going to sing a song and magically cure him?"

It would be surprising to know that yes, that's...

"Something like that, yeah" you whisper, lost in your own feelings and thoughts.

You feel some of the other sirens splashing and moving their tails underwater hesitantly, wary. Nervously.

"Sister..." the voice of your friend Kid calls you from somewhere at your back.

You glance back at him. You know what he's going to tell you. You take a deep breath.

"I want to do it" you answer him, and everyone else.

They stay in silence, acepting your decission. It's a sacred thing for your species; for all sirens. The air feels heavy with understanding and expectations.

"Bring him down" you ask again, in the quietness of the night, and Rex gently squeezes Echo's shoulder before putting his faith on you and carefully laying Fives down in the last life-boat.

His brothers slowly lower it down til it softly contacts with the surface of the water and the small boat floats peacefully with the small waves. Two sirens quickly move to take a carefull hold of it so it doesn't drift away.

Fives turns his head to the side to look at you; hovering besides the boat with your claws lightly grassping the wood at the sides of it, head peaking over the water just enough to be able to look at him.

"Hey there, gorgeous" he smiles, and such brightness sends another painful dart to your heart. "Here to give me a goodbye kiss?"

Your own smile is wet with tears. It makes you let out a wet chuckle too. You haven't cried in... So many years.

"You should have thought of this strategy before" you decide to indulge him in his joke.

You know he's scared even if he doesn't want it to show. It males your decision easier; to know he's such a good person he doesn't want to make this more difficult for the people that woud be forced to watch him go.

Even though you feel almost eager for it, the need crawling up your throat, you're still afraid yourself. You've only got one chance for this. What if... It doesn't work?

You feel Kid's hand gently dropping on your shoulder, giving you the strength you need for this. You nod to yourself. The rest of the sirens form a circle around you; as tradition tells. They'll make sure nothing interrupts this sacred moment between you and Fives. Your hands tremble as you carefully place them on top of Fives' stomach wound. He makes a whimpered sound of pain and trembles, scared confused eyes quickly searching yours.

You look at him, soft.

"Trust me" you whisper. "And don't stop looking at me".

Fives doesn't understand what's happening, what's going to happen, but relaxes and nods. He can feel the exhaustion creeping in on him, the tempting feeling to close his eyes and surrender to the darkness. He focuses on you with the last of his strength.

You stop holding yourself back and let your voice sing your Song. You have never practiced it before; it's something that simply can't be, as it's not written before the moment arrives without announcement. It's instinctual, as simple and easy as breathing, and yet sounds so magical to all of those who hear it.

The first notes echoes in the silence of the night. It starts very quiet, almost a hum between your pressed lips, that slowly and unhurriesly turns into a whisper full of longing and melancholy. Fives is a human and you're a siren. It's not going to be easy. You have a feeling he won't care.

The Song fills with some softer, happier notes; lively and changing, more rythmical than the soft melody from before. A tiny smile makes it over to your face.

Fives is still looking at you. He wouldn't have been able to tear his eyes from you even if he tried. You're raw magic; raw beauty. And the sounds leaving your lips... He had never listened to anything so breathtaking in his life. He's hooked up in you.

Your gaze turns soft. You see his wound closing and healing by its self with just the corner of your eyes; and a warming relief spreads through your body, along with something sweet and gentle, painfully raw, longing and understanding. It's love.

The Song reflects those feelings; growing quieter as you keep staring into Fives' soul. You feel the notes slowing, your mind and heart finally wrapping around your feelings, accepting them, making them part of your own; and a last hum leaves your lips before the night is silent again, only interrupted by Fives' heavy breathing. Even if the Song is finished, he keeps looking at you like there's nothing else.

"That was beautiful" he whispers, dizziness still numbing his body and mind even if he's completely healed, now. He'll take some time to adjust. "Thank you".

You smile softly.

This is not your ending, Fives. But you need to...

The sailor squeezes his eyes shut. A painful headache stars at the side of his temple. He can barely concentrate in his surroundings now.

"Rest, Fives" you tell him, and he finally falls into unconsciousness almost instantly.

You glance up, noticing the wowed stares of the crew of the 79'.

"What was that?" Ashoka whispers in wonder.

You make Captain Rex a sign to let him now they can pull the small boat back up. You smile at the girl.

"My Song" you answer, misteriously. You glance at Echo, anxiously curved forward as if in a try to reach Fives quicker. You try to soothe his worries before dipping under the waves. "He'll be okay, just needs some hours of rest. I'll come back tomorrow".

With that, you nod to your pod and you slowly swim away. Your soul tries to tug you back towards him, but you comfort yourself thinking you'll be back to talk with him after some very much needed rest.

Patience.

You feel like a baby Siren again.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Care to explain to me what kind of voodo magic you did to me to turn me from a corpse to my handsome self again?" is what Fives first chirps at you upon seing you arrive the next morning, him waiting patiently for you in the small boat again, this time a bit further away from the 79's.

You smirk and place your folded arms over the border of the boat, resting your right cheek on top of them.

"I already told Ashoka" you answer playfully. "It's my Song".

Fives snorts and carefully pushes himself closer to you. You track the movement, distracted.

"Yeah, your song" he repeats, squinting and tilting his head in questioning. "Echo told me the other Sirens acted as if we were getting married or something".

You laugh freely, Fives smiling unconsciously.

"Well, singing your song to another holds pretty much the same meaning for my people. Your circumstances pushed me to do it way earlier than I would have prefered but... It's okay. You're okay".

Fives eyes turn soft.

"I know you love being all sexy and misterious. But tell me what has really happened, please?" His voice is also gentle and full of warmth.

He should know.

"All Sirens have a special personal Song. It's something instinctual that can't be repeated or prepared; born of raw feelings, desires and needs. It's different to other songs we sing. We don't use our normal vocal cords for this; it comes from somewhere within, deep in your soul. Sirens believe our kind are made of magic and music combined into one, and protected by a physical body shape; that of a predator so it can defend the pureness it holds. This Song... Can only be sung once, to just one other being, and it will create a special bond no-one but the two of them would be able to break. From that day on, this two beings will always be linked to each other, perhaps even able to feel or hear the other; and the Siren won't be able to sing in this kind of way to anyone else, ever again".

You grow quiet; waiting, patient. Expectant. Fives barely blinks.

You're not afraid to him not corresponding your feelings now. If it were that way, your Song wouldn't have worked the night before. A Song can't be an impossed thing; it must be accepted by the other's soul. Fives has subsconciously done that already; if his present mind needs more time to process it, nevertheless, you're willing to give him that.

Fives finally takes a deep breath in, noding in quiet understanding, before showing you his own signature smirk and closing the distances between your faces so that your nose is barely grazing his.

"Well. I think I'm definitively finally winning a kiss" he tempts you, eyes shining with mirth.

Your small laugh is pure unadulterated happiness. With your soul almost vibrating inside your chest, you cup his strong jaw and close the insignificant distance between you.

You kiss him –passionately, then gently– and Fives smiles against your lips.

THE END.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I'm sorry this took me ages to write! I got a bit blocked on how I was going to put Fives in danger and I also started with my finals.

I'm aware there are some errors in this but I prioriticed publishing it as soon as possible over having a second read to correct them. Sorry!

I hope you've liked it, dear. Second Mermay fic done, go check Tech's first one on my profile! (It's on: sw masterlist> 2 part of requests > Blue dreams).

Got requests closed cause finals and already a few of them in the line. I'll prob reopen in a month. If you want to you can still send them, just notice I'm not gonna be able to write it anytime soon.

Lots of things to come, stay tunned!

Xx,

Sky.

Back to masterlist here:

[inkformyblood]

never tastes so sweet (GhostSoap Mermay 2024)

Ghost x Soap, Mer! Soap, Scientist! Ghost; medical experimentation scene, established relationship. Lemon.

Something is hissing just beyond the broken edge of Johnny’s vision, mechanical in the back and forth tone of it, and he almost wishes that he would die so the noise would stop. There’s a dull throbbing ache at the nape of his skull, a matching pulsation along the swell of his forearm, and Johnny knows, without needing to look, that there will be a clotted hole where he had been injected with a sedative. 

The taste over his tongue, all discarded offal and the sterile swipe of antiseptic, would be enough to clue him in. 

Simon really has pulled out all the stops for this little fantasy of Johnny’s. 

Johnny chirps before he can catch himself, the vocalisation rumbling through his throat, his chest, the fin wedged between his back and the smooth glass of the tank trying to rise. Simon is entirely human, broad-shouldered with thick thighs that would propel him through the water if Johnny could ever coax him into swimming with him, so he wouldn’t understand the implication in the gesture Johnny cannot make at the moment. He would want to learn though, to set Johnny back to rights even with every muscle weighing him down like a diver’s belt and smooth Johnny’s fin out, his careful touch making sure every fold in the panels is exact. 

He cuts his teeth on another trilling vocalisation, forcing his eyes open as he swallows it back. Everything still tastes sour but the taste is slowly fading as he wakes. It does pull every mundane ache into sharp relief and Johnny groans as he stretches, rolling onto his belly and propping his chin onto his forearm. Outside his tank sits a lab, the walls bracketed by a row of counters in plain neutral colours. The walls are plain, windows stretched at a human’s standing eye level. There is a handprint on one, broad fingers splayed wide and Johnny knows, immediately, aching to touch, that it is Simon’s hand that left the mark. The lab is empty except for Johnny, the mystery hissing noise revealing itself to be a large filter attached to the tank, causing bubbles to spill over the top. 

If Simon isn’t coming to him, Johnny will just have to go and find him. 

Pressing his hands against the glass, Johnny pulls himself upwards. It is slower going than he would have expected, the remnants of the sedative still clinging like an oil spill in his veins, trailing lingering fingers over the spread of his chest as he breathes deeply, his arms aching by the time his head breaches the water. It smells sterile, lemon-scented clean, the same way that Simon smells when he drops onto the end of the pier, his shirt sleeves pushed up around his forearms and his palms dusted with ash. The air is cool, a shiver biting into the freshly exposed twitch of Johnny’s ears as he pushes himself up, hanging suspended in the air before he lets himself tip forward. 

The impact doesn’t hurt as much as he thinks it should. 

“I see I’ve picked a feisty one.” Simon’s gaze is cold above the dark fabric of his mouth, an indentation where his mouth should be but utterly featureless otherwise. He lifts Johnny up further in the cradle of his arms, one slung securely beneath Johnny’s fin and the other curved around the fin along his spine to press against his cheek. He pinches Johnny’s ear, bending it forwards so he can inspect the other side of it. “Number two-zero-seven-three-five-two-one.”

Just a sequence of numbers and it is so bitingly attractive. Johnny tugs against Simon’s hold, his tail flopping weakly against the other man’s thigh, and he goes nowhere, earning himself a twist to his ear in admonishment. The pain is dull, concentrated all the same, and Johnny expects it to end after a few seconds, his lesson begrudgingly learnt. 

It doesn’t. 

Johnny hisses, bares his teeth at Simon as he leans into the harsh hold, the continued twist of his ear until all he can hear is the blood rushing through his head, his vision consumed by pale blue eyes staring down at him. Observing him.

“Interesting,” Simon murmurs. He tips Johnny back into the tank, the warmer water a rush through his gills, over his bared teeth as Johnny rights himself. He covers his ear with one hand, searching for the open wound that must be there, pain radiating through his head in low pulses like a second heartbeat, heat bleeding through the rough pads of his fingers. There’s nothing. 

Simon turns to one of the desks, drawing out a dark blue notebook from one of the drawers. He checks his watch — a heavyset diver’s model that replaced the slimmer silver piece he used to wear before his visits to the pier became commonplace — and begins to write something. He doesn’t look up at Johnny, keeping his attention focused on the paper before him. A minute passes, then two. Johnny’s tail swishes against the empty base of the tank, trying to kick up sand so he could escape, old instincts rising to the surface. This is so much fun already. 

The pen clicks as Simon finishes his sentence and places it down. From this distance, Johnny has no hope of reading the words but it doesn’t matter as Simon begins to read his notes aloud, a fresh hunger cutting into the hollows between Johnny’s teeth, his belly growing warm. 

“Subject shows signs of discontent, initially attempting to escape the tank through a vertical escape. It was apprehended by scientist S. Riley and the identification number was confirmed. Subject responded reactively to a minor negative stimulus applied to it’s ear and was returned to the tank.” Simon turns, clasping his hands in the small of his back as he studies Johnny once more, his expression inscrutable, his stance making his chest press forward. He is framed by his lab coat, dark shirt beneath neat and pressed, his trousers similarly unremarkable except that Simon is wearing them.

Johnny had never been so fascinated by one individual before. Everything Simon does is notable because it is him doing them. He had suggested this scene, that Simon pretend to have captured him for experimentation while Johnny is however reluctant he felt like being, but this is far beyond his wildest imaginings. The identification number is likely false, not actually tattooed onto his ear, but it feels real. He bares his teeth up at Simon, keeping his belly flush with the bottom of the tank. 

He’s going to make Simon work for his data. 

“You’re only making this harder for yourself.” Simon’s voice is flat as if he’s addressing a piece of furniture in his way, an uncooperative machine that is taking too long to respond, and Johnny realises that that is what he is to Simon here and now. Johnny is a thing. An object. An inconvenient bullet point in Simon’s list of tasks. 

Johnny slides his hand down his torso, the slight curve of his belly, to the opening in his tail. Barely visible but he opens beneath his own touch, letting him press the pads of his fingers over the swell of muscle either side of his opening. His cock is soft, lying heavy and mostly concealed in his sheath, but Johnny stroked over it once, pulling the skin taught before releasing it. There’s electricity fizzing through his head, his breath coming in short bursts. He could call this off right here and now, scramble out of the tank and fuck Simon on the bleached-clean floor, mark up his coat with ink bled straight from the other man’s notes, Johnny’s unwieldy strength keeping them both stationary until they’re satisfied.

Needs some fucking patience.

Johnny chews his lower lip, works his teeth into the meat of his tongue when that doesn't work. Simon’s put effort into this, all because Johnny mentioned he’d like to try it. He won’t ruin all of this planning just cause he can’t hold out a little. He pulls his hand free, his fingers stained a faint pale blue and licks over them, tasting salt.

“Subject is displaying unknown behaviour,” Simon notates, his pen freshly picked up and scrawling across the notepad. “Additional research will be needed if this is due to the stress of capture and the negative stimulus.”

He places the notepad back down and turns away from the tank, from Johnny, picking something up from the drawer once again. Simon reaches down at his belt, his head bowed as he fumbles with something. Johnny creeps forwards, unable to make out anything past Simon’s bulk, pressing his nose against the cool glass of the tank. His touch smears, further clouding his vision, and he wriggles above the fog to keep his eyes on Simon. He almost wishes he hadn’t when Simon turns around, a recorder placed onto the desk behind him and a large noose on the end of a pole in his hands. 

Anticipation is almost as terrifying as the capture itself. 

The edge of the tank comes up to Simon’s chest, an uncomfortable angle for him to stand with his arms raised to catch Johnny with the pole, so he kicks a set of steps that Johnny hadn’t noticed previously over to the tank, locking them into place. He steps up onto them, staring down at Johnny curled on the floor of the tank. There’s something primal hissing at the base of Johnny’s skull, instinct digging claws into the furrows of his brain and tearing through soft flesh that doesn’t know what is happening. There is no cover for him to flee under, not enough space to manoeuvre by design, leaving fight as his only option. 

Simon tugs his mask down, a pre-arranged signal, and Johnny sits upright, curls his hands into his lap to tug at the webbing between the digits as he pays attention. 

“You good, Johnny?” Simon cocks his head to one side, trailing his fingers over the surface of the water. “Looking a little more spooked down there. Won’t be able to hold you properly with one of these if you fight me fully.”

Johnny pushes himself to the surface once more, lingering just beneath the pulled-taut tension of the water to snap at Simon’s fingers. He’d blunt his teeth over Simon’s calluses, tear his gums open by snapping the many bones in his hand for the sake of the marrow, kiss the remaining skin like it would make for every transgression in his life. Kissing the extended pads of Simon’s fingers is close enough and Johnny breaks through the water with Simon’s touch on his lip, his gaze focused utterly on Johnny. 

“Couldn’t break out the fancy tank for me, Si?” Johnny’s voice is a rasp, a blade drawn over a whetstone to try and hone it into a point. He coughs, dipping partially back beneath the water so he can push some water deliberately through his gills. It itches the same way a healing wound does, something natural but still horrifying all the same. He rises up to continue speaking, his voice clearer now. “I’m good, head’s a little foggy so I’m running on instinct first but I won’t fight you too much. Just a little tussle, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Simon pauses, his thumb working over a groove in the pole, his over hand still resting on the surface of the water near to Johnny, but not touching him. “Fuck, I love you.”

Johnny surges forward to kiss him, not caring about the water that splashes over the edge and onto the floor, onto Simon. His love tastes stale, old cigarette ash clinging to the seams of his gums, the edge of his lower lip rough beneath Johnny’s, but he still presses ever closer. It is only when Simon’s hands steady against Johnny’s shoulders, not merely holding him but lifting him, keeping him from sliding free of the tank entirely, that Johnny draws himself back. He balances on the edge of the tank, his earlier artificial exhaustion nearly a memory, only half of his tail still beneath the water in his haste to be closer to Simon. 

Simon’s eyes are wide, his pupils blown dark and his cheeks are stained the same shade as a sunrise bleeding across the water. The colour isn’t restricted to just his cheeks, flooding over the curve of his ears and leaking into the rough line of his neck, vanishing from sight beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. One of Johnny’s scales clings to the pout of his lower lip, another to the rough edge of the scar that stretches from one corner of his mouth, and Johnny reclaims them onto the pad of his finger, anointing Simon’s brow with them instead. They gleam beneath the harsh glare of the lights. 

“Love you,” Johnny murmurs, returning his hand heavily to the edge of the tank. It cuts into his palms as he shifts his weight, unwilling to sink back beneath the water until Simon knows it is the truth with every heartbeat. “Do you want to continue?”

“If you do.”

Johnny cracks himself open with a grin, would peel flesh and muscle from his bones to offer them to Simon, but he settles for lowering himself partially, leaning forward to kiss Simon again, brushing his mouth over the other man’s. He keeps his lips curved over the sharp jut of his teeth, unwilling to slice at Simon’s mouth and introduce another distraction. “Capture me, love.”

He sinks like a stone then, tearing himself away from Simon all at once, but it wouldn’t be an absence that would haunt him for long. Johnny lies flat along the bottom of the tank, first on his belly and then flips onto his back. It isn’t quite the same view as sunlight filtering through the water, a fisherman’s hook slowly making its way towards him, beautiful in its unobtrusive danger. No, this noose is crafted for Johnny alone. He scratches at the edge of his slit, his fin flaring out at the twist of pain and pleasure his rough touch causes. His cock is heavier inside the sheath, nearly sliding free, and his fingers come away bright with his slick. He hooks his fingers just inside his entrance, drawing it open as Simon looms over the top of the tank, pole in hand like a vengeful god, like Johnny’s vengeful god. 

The noose slips around his neck and Johnny fights it.

Not fully, not like he could, potential caught between his teeth like a mouthful of flesh, squirming through his veins to try and get him to struggle more. He could drown Simon, pull him enough that he would fall into the tank with Johnny and hold him down, swallow the final gasp of air that would rise from his lips. Johnny lets Simon pull him upright, his tail hitting an angry beat against the side of the tank. The sound echoes, deep and sonorous, a whale’s song seeking companionship, and Johnny snaps his teeth as Simon locks the pole into place along the top of the tank, keeping him stationary. 

He’s fully exposed now, the bright flash of his slit opening along his tail as his cock slides free, heavy and full. Johnny curls his hands over the line of the pole, tipping his hips towards Simon, presenting himself to the other man. He knows he is pretty to look at, all bright colours and attitude to back it up. Simon’s eyes are wide, dark as his gaze lowers to Johnny’s cock. He thumbs at the recorder on his belt, the fabric over his mouth moving as he speaks, but Johnny can’t make out the words over the rush of blood in his ears, the incessant need clawing at his belly. 

He wants to fuck Simon. Now. 

Simon looks like he feels the same way. 

“Gonna let me fuck you on your lab floor now, Si?” Johnny rasps, grinning at Simon wide enough to ache. “You just might soak through your neat white coat otherwise.”

Simon swallows, his gaze darting to Johnny’s face and then again to his cock. “Yeah, already am. We’ll do this again later, but I need you to fuck me now, Johnny.”

[paperstarwriters]

Abyssmal

short and sweet fic lol. It's been difficult squeezing time to write in between my classes as of late, but I wanted to write something out for MerMay. Just to try it, since I've never done MerMay before. Hopefully I'll be able to another one next year and onwards and all that <3

anyways I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Mer!Muriel x reader

Warnings: protective Muriel, bittersweet ending

Summary: You want to protect Muriel and his fellow Mer-folk from getting caught in traps set out by wealthy billionaires hoping to be able to present a spectacle at their next dinner.

Muriel wants to protect you from getting murdered by the people with harpoons sent by those same wealthy billionaires. Unfortunately for you Muriel has more of an advantage in keeping you for himself safe.

He's trying to keep you safe.

Masterlists | The Arcana Masterlist

Word count: 2,666

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

You dream of water sometimes.

All consuming, all encompassing, filling your lungs, filling your ears, nothing but the muted swirl of bubbles around you as you float in near weightlessness, watching sunbeams pierce the veil that ripples between one shade of blue and another.

Some would call it drowning, but there’s no need for air when you dream.

A bubble escapes your lips. Your lungs burn with the need for air.

So how do you survive?

How are you—

A hand presses against your back, cradling you as you feel the pressure of the water pull past you. It’s worse than wind as it presses through your face at the sudden onset of speed, it’s worse than the biting chill that wind presses against your cheeks, for the water clings, and pulls much harder than air would ever dare to.

Your lungs, all too suddenly begin to burn, the hands around you tightening as if it knows, pushing you forward to all the more sooner let you breech the surface.

And breech you do.

Water sprays around you as you surface, gasping for air, in big heavy gulps, warring with the need to cough out the water that had slipped through your nose. Clinging to a shoulder—who’s you aren’t quite sure—you cough and hack struggling to wipe the water from your face and nose and mouth, trying to see through the fat droplets that cling to your eyelashes and threaten to drop into your eyes blinding you all over again.

You pry an eye open and find yourself immediately blinded by sunlight.

It takes a few blinks to adapt to the brightness, fluttering open and closed as you furiously wipe the water from your eyes. Your eyes flutter open and you catch a bright gleam of blue—light glittering off the water’s surface forcing your eyes back closed. Another attempt at prying them open earns you a glittering eyeful of green, glass shards perhaps, you can’t quite tell, eyes promptly forced back closed before you can get a good look.

Your eyes are still closed, still being scrubbed from the water and sunlight when the arms that held you press you against the ledge of a rocky surface allowing you, to finally feel the cold and rough embrace of land a stark contrast to the hands that once held you. It takes you a moment, coughing water and shivering, as the hand that saves you gives you a rough pat on the back, encouraging as much water as they can from your lungs, encouraging another mouthful of water from out of your stomach.

It takes a while, but your eyes finally flutter open once more, even if the water stings as it slips past your eyelashes, even if you have to furiously blink to get it out of your eyes, you still manage to open them.

And in the shadows of the cavern you find yourself in, his green eyes glow familiarly bright.

Dark hair floats around him, almost looking like dark tendrils reaching out from around him, but his eyes, bright green cut through the shadows, unblinking even as water sloshes over them.

He watches you in silence, as if staring at something new and unknown, despite the number of times you’ve met before. At the very least he no longer bears his sharp jagged teeth.

You offer him your hand and watch as he pulls away for a moment, frightened like a small animal, as if the body hidden below the water’s surface wasn’t massive. As if it didn’t surround you with it’s size. Still he waits until you dip your hand beneath it’s surface and wait for him to approach, before his hand entwines with yours, and he pulls himself, to the surface’s edge.

He needs no help up, capable of hauling his upper body to the stony surface with one thick arm alone, resting his chest on the stony edge as he peers up at you still holding your hand. He seems relaxed, holding himself up by that water’s edge, though then again, perhaps his tail helps with the support.

He runs his fingers over your hands in careful curious little strokes, rubbing at your short nails with the pads of his fingers, half scales and half flesh. His own nails are more akin to talons, ones he carefully holds away from your skin.

He touches you as if he’s never held you before, as if he’s worried that you might run away, and yet, as soon as you reciprocate, as soon as you trace your fingers along a familiar pattern along his hand, you find him squeezing your hand and pressing his cheek against the softness of your palm, a small smile growing on his lips.

You wonder if it’s his name. If it’s how you can say Muriel in his absence of words and speech.

Though mer-folk are capable of speech, as seen by their ability to trade and argue against overfishing in their oceans Muriel remains silent, the pale streak around the skin of his neck the likely source of his agony. Though you converse easily with words carved into dirt, it doesn’t stop you from lamenting his injury. You don’t know what had hurt him there, some stray piece of plastic, the webbing of a net, or some malicious human behaviour you cannot tell, but you resent it all the same.

It’s why you keep returning here after all. Why you keep meeting.

“Thank you.” Your words are soft, hoarse as you cough up another lungful of water. Muriel watches in quiet horror as you do. He reaches up, as if hoping to do something to aid you, but hesitates a look of confusion crossing his face before he pulls back returning his hold to entwine with yours and squeeze acting as a form of comfort in lieu of a hug. You squeeze in turn offering him a small smile, and another “thank you” as your sputtering finally draws to a close.

Once more the silence returns, and though you squeeze his hand to offer reassurance, and he squeezes yours in turn, the silence is heavy with unspoken words. The faint crash of waves against the stoney ledge and the cavern’s walls echoes, the sound of birds and trees and wind is audible from the opening above, but the absence of words and the weight of his stare on you still breed a wealth of discomfort.

He squeezes your hand.

He knows what you want to say.

You still say it. Of course you do.

“I have to go back.” And his eyes narrow, levelling a bitter glare your way. “Muriel, please. It’s not safe for you down there.” He gestures sharply at you and you bite the urge to roll your eyes. “I know, I know, it’s not safe for anyone, but someone has to dismantle it, and it’s better that a human gets trapped than a mer.”

He pushes himself further up to the surface, shaking his head furiously hands gesturing wildly, before he pauses and presses a sharp nail into the dirt.

’They want to hurt you too.’ He scribbles out.

“They will hurt me regardless,” you retort. He begins to write but you interrupt him before he can. “Muriel. I know how you feel about that cage. I promise I’ll be fine okay?” His eyes flicker up to you almost pleading for a moment as his hand furiously tries to scribble out more words. “Really Muriel. I saw the logo, I saw the chains around your wrist, I know that—”

“No.” He grabs you with his free hand. Pulling you close as if you wouldn’t be able to hear the rough gravel of his voice otherwise. As if you did not turn your whole attention to the low rumble of his voice. “No. You don’t. You don’t know.” He pulls you closer, holds you tightly, and yet you don’t find yourself worried at the threat of pain. You trust him too much perhaps, too used to him saving you from troubles. To used to returning the favour. “They hurt humans too. They’ll hurt you. I don’t want to lose you.”

It’s only when your hand dips into water where you expected stone that you yank yourself backwards, surprised at how far he had pulled you away, too entranced by the intensity of his eyes how he looked like he was almost going to cry, and the way he pulled you close as if offering a hug.

You want to hug him. You’re tempted to dip back into the water if only to offer him that hug, but he holds you back now, pressing you away where he once held you close.

“It’s dangerous,” he insists, voice somehow both smooth and strained. Strained with emotion. Smooth as if well-used. You’re tempted to reach forth and touch his neck, trace your fingers over that scar. Perhaps it’s old. Perhaps it had long since healed.

Perhaps—

“Stop.” The strain grows stronger, his hold on you firmer as one hand pulls away to catch your stray wrist, fingers following temptation before your mind could stop them, before you were even aware of what you were really doing. Yet, even aware of it now, you can’t find it in you to want to stop.

You just want to hug him. To hold him. Can he not see that?

Maybe it was underhanded, but maybe it could convince him. A hug, or perhaps even a kiss. An appeal to his heart, an appeal to the friendship you’ve built over so many—

Your stomach growls, the sound of it echoing through the cavern, like the growl of some beast. A growl that was somehow only scary to the tension resting on Muriel’s shoulders as they finally sag and a soft smile is sent your way. With gentle care, Muriel sets you back firmly upon dry land as he retreats into the water. He waves to you, making an eating motion, as if he couldn’t just tell you that he was going to get you food. With a sharp turn and a flash his tail, Muriel dives into the cold water below, leaving you watch his figure fade into the blue-green waters as he swims deeper and deeper away from you.

And once again, you find yourself alone in the familiar shadow of the cavern. It’s not all too bad of a place to linger. There is an opening above that lets in sunlight and moonlight, and Muriel had brought you the softest pillow and blanket you had ever used—after they had been dried out of course—but there is very little to do all on your own without Muriel to keep you company.

Not that you intend to stay here too long, but it would at the very least help measure the time. If you had a ball perhaps, you could measure how many times you could bounce and catch a ball to see how long it took Muriel to leave and return. If you had a ball you could figure more accurately how long until he was a reasonable distance from the cave.

Instead you measure by your heartbeat. It’s erratic now, anxious in the face of what you were about to do, and the possible time limit you had to get all your gear. You wouldn’t be able to get your abandoned wetsuit on in time, but you could probably grab your goggles, and your flippers maybe. Oxygen was no go, with canisters empty and unusable but you wouldn’t need to go that deep anyways—not compared to the depth of the cavern at least. You knew what mechanism you needed to trigger, just a simple pin you needed to pull. In and out, a simple task.

You dove beneath the water’s surface.

And Muriel watched you dive.

Again, he watches you swim

He understood why you were doing it, he knew full well your intentions—you had argued them to him time and time and time again, but it still pained him to watch, to see you try to sneak around him, to see you fail to recognize the danger posed to you.

You’re dealing with cruel humans. Humans who would not hesitate to hurt and maim anyone who got in their way, anyone who stopped them from collecting the mer-folk they sought to harvest.

He can’t exactly blame you for trying though. Maybe he could have been more explicit in his warning, maybe he could have told you, used his voice for once in his life.

But would you even listen to him then?

He still recalls the phantom sensations of your hands reaching for him, holding him, cradling him as if he were something soft and reverent—something worthy of reverence. You traced your fingers over his scales with the most gentle touch, uncaring that they may cut your softer skin. And the way you leaned in as if you wanted more. A hug a kiss, whatever, the mere thought alone filled him with that wretchedly dark sense of greed.

But… he could be greedy now, couldn’t he?

His teeth and tongue itch, longing to taste the very thing he’s wanted since he’s met you—since you told him your name. Precious, precious thing to have. A valuable gift he will never forget. For so long he’s longed to feel the sound of it his mouth, to feel the ridges of the syllables and the hollows of the vowels. He wants to engrave the very shape of it on his tongue.

He wants to sing you your name.

He knows what it will do to you, he knows what will happen.

But your recklessness makes his greed seem noble in comparison, and none of his other songs seem to last long enough.

He’s just trying to keep you safe. To keep you from getting killed by those divers that you still don’t know about, wielding harpoons, and the same symbols that litter those cages. He sings to keep you safe, he sings to keep you alive.

He sings to bring you back to him.

He sings your name, and the melody—the praise the words of fond affection sung in a tongue you’d never understand—all come almost second nature to him. Like breathing.

A pang of pain strikes his chest. He breathes easy as you suffocate. But only for a little while. Only to keep you safe. To keep you from dying; from being captured, tortured and killed.

He watches as your body falls slack in the water, as your feet and arms drop to a halt and begin to float as you no longer exert effort to keep them close to you. When you turn it is slow and lazy as if you have no regard for the breath burning in your lungs, before you slowly begin to kick your feet and swim his way. Your lips part, and a small smile graces your lips as your very breath escapes you a swirling bubble of silver, but Muriel is quicker than you underwater, and he’s in front of you before you can dare breathe.

He presses his lips against yours.

He fills your lungs with his breath, shares the oxygen his gills pull from the water around you, and he carries you back up to the surface where you can breathe and he will not speak.

And again you will forget that you’ve tried this.

And again he gets to pull you back into his arms.

Maybe this time you’ll linger longer. Maybe this time he’ll let himself sing to you more, stopping you before you even begin to try.

Maybe this time he can make his offer. For you to become something that can explore and wander the water you love so dearly. For you to stay where it’s safe.

For you to stay with him.

Ah, the greed of a siren. He doesn’t want to ever let you go.

[kaihuntrr]

The Sea Prince; Mermay 2024 (+ updates!)

shhhh what do you mean may is almost over-? i made a fun piece and everything!! well. pieces. the first one is a piece i just finished today, and the second is a piece of pearl in her prince form ;> happy mermay!

(i'll be talkin about stuff under the cut, if you just wanna see the art that's a-okay with me! happy to be drawing them again <3)

so. uh. mermay pieces <33 i really wanted to draw some majorwood art since ive been on an art high lately (writing for a good chunk of the year so far makes illustrating/designing SO much more fun) and i think it's coming to an end soon, so might as well end it with the darlings <3

also im?? surprised??? i didnt share pearl's art????? uh. oopsies! its tooootally not a spoiler. ;)

anyway! its been a good while since ive made an update post, and i want to keep y'all up to date with how things are going!

important thing to announce; act one has been completed!

me and @mewhoismyself have worked very hard to write and edit the work respectively, and its over 100k+ words! hope y'all enjoy what we have planned, im very proud of act one (in particular those final few chapters, i love rereading them) <33

as for act two, im taking a break to do other things (college mainly, but also commission work and personal hobbies) but im probably getting back to writing soon! currently, act two is on chapter three, as ive decided to rewrite chapters 2-7 in the original doc, so theres a LOT of cut content. all for a good story! i dont really mind it :0c

finally, im opening up betas again!

theres been a LOT of inactivity from most of them and i have a bit of a schedule to keep, so im hoping that a new wave of betas could help with providing feedback and whatnot. i need clear communication! betas help greatly in letting me know how they feel with the current flow, their thoughts, and anything i need to address before publishing the chapter. id hope to get some new folk on board before my friend and i start developing act two more! <3

just send a message in the comments or shoot a dm! im more than happy to reply :D!

that should be it, so i hope you have a good day! i had a LOT of fun working on the pieces above, and im gonna have fun working on act two, you'll just have to wait and see! <33

[lets-try-some-writing]

Tis mermay and trying how to incorporate Cron, Earrh and Moon in Merformers but i think i got it (mostly)

Big underwater world. Unicron injured from a fight barely awake falls deep to the bottom of the water floor.

He crushes lot of abandoned dead eggs but one. His blood is absorbed into the egg and it comes back to life and creature inside grows

Some time passes Moon finds him slumbering..Earth pops out staring him down with dark eyes and munching on a "fish" (she collects parasites from body of her savior and eats them Cron is a sleeping buffet basically)

She refuses to leave the area. Moon not being a deep dweller creature(eventualy he adapts) tries to visit as much as he can and keeps her company and teaches her stuff(and tries to give her better diet because "No! Stop that that is not healthy! " *cue her chewing faster*)

Once when she convinced him to sleep in the area Moon almost cried histericaly when the giant in his slumber shifted and hugged Earth and by proxy Moon to himself

The two used to(moon saw her doing it and decided to teach her properly and joined in) groom scales of Cron when he still slumbered (if Unicron knew he rumbled happily once during these he would deny it forever)

When Unicron wakes they all start traveling together. She outgrows Moon but is not bigger than Cron

That all i got happy mermay 🧜

Ooooh this is a fun merformers idea! Allow me to mess with it a little bit!

In the beginning, Primus and Unicron were twin leviathans born of the same pod. Primus was intended to settle and brood, raising generations of new life forms. Unicron on the other hand was created to guard and destroy the threats to his brother's fledgling offspring. Their conflict began after Primus grew to see Unicron as a threat to his firstborn. Unicron didn't like sharing his brother and Primus would rather die than watch his children be slaughtered.

Thus, they fought. In the end, Unicron was cast away by Primus's thirteen firstborn. Unicron fled to the deep parts of the world, hiding away in places where Primus's children would be unable to handle the pressure and thus leave him to recover in peace. He bitterly planned his revenge even as he fell into a deep slumber, unaware of the fact that the place he had chosen to reside was filled with the pods of a creature killed in his and Primus's skirmish.

Deep in the trenches and slumbering his injuries away, Unicron's blood infused the pods he slept upon. Most were unable to handle the taint and perished. Some grew too quickly and emerged malformed, dying soon after their birth. But one of the pods received the perfect amount of Unicron's blood, and it was from that pod that Earth was born.

Colored like the kelp that grew further up in the trenches, Earth was perfectly hidden as he fluttered about the form of the one she immediately claimed as her father. After all, mothers merely lay the pods. Fathers say with them. Unicron may not have looked like her in the slightest, but to Earth, that was irrelevant. He watched over her, and she in turn cleaned his wounds, removed parasites from his scales, and ensured that he was in as good as health as possible. She only left Unicron's side to feed on the plant life further up the trenches closer to the surface.

That was how Moon found her. He saw her merrily collecting kelp and other plants to take back down into the trenches and he decided to follow her. As one of Primus's second generation spawn, he was larger than the rest and his and his siblings purpose was to fill the void left by Unicron. Of course he had to investigate a young mer without a guardian.

He almost lost his mind when he found just who Earth was returning to and caring for. He tried to get her to leave, but Earth was having none of it. She did not know his language, but she made it quite clear that Unicron was her father and she had no intention of abandoning him. With no other choice, Moon resolved himself. He couldn't leave Unicron unobserved, especially not when a strange creature like Earth was guarding him. She was not strong, but she was... interesting.

Moon took it upon himself to visit her whenever he could. He forcefully adapted to the deep and learned to force his body to glow brighter than normal to pierce the gloom of the trenches. Slowly, he earned Earth's trust, and together they worked to keep the Unmaker comfortable. Moon did so in order to hopefully keep the slumbering leviathan calm. Earth was just happy to have someone to teach her how to clean her father's scales properly. As time passed, Moon grew larger to compensate for his extended time in the deep, and Earth became stronger. They came to rely on each other.

Moon would go up and drive away threats that were too much for Earth to handle. Earth would in turn forage and hunt for food for all three of them. Unicron didn't eat much in his slumber, but every now and then he stirred for a snack, which Earth was all too happy to provide. Mars and Pluto became involved when Mars took it upon himself to set up shop on the surface near the trenches. He was afforded protection in exchange for his silence regarding Unicron. Pluto was a pain to convince to say out of it, but he too agreed to leave Unicron alone in exchange for regular cleaning from Earth who was quickly becoming well known for her gift in putting scales in order.

By the time Unicron woke, he had unintentionally garnered a pod of four leviathans, one of which was technically his spawn. Did he still want to crush Primus? He wasn't entirely sure anymore. After all, despite their disagreement, Unicron couldn't exactly find himself disappointed in Earth or her choice of companions.

Moon made killer meals.

[thewallsaretalking-again]

‼️ Energon / Blood warning ‼️

Look, I know I almost never do this journaling stuff, but lately things have just gone off the rails. I could talk all day and Emma would just think I’m crazy- but this time, I wouldn’t blame her.

It was a tough day at work ( the birds thought It’d be funny to try and peck my eyes out apparently, and the patrons had just been rude all day) so I decided to take a walk by the docks before I went home. It was late, obviously, the sun was setting, all that jazz; but honestly, none of that matters. It was when I got to the dock that afternoon that things really went off the rails; one of the fishing boats either forgot to pull up its net or completely malfunctioned and dropped it back into the water. That’s would’ve been fine and all; if it wasn’t for the fact that the DAMN THING WAS THRASHING AROUND. So I naturally stick my head under the water to see what is going on; and I see the biggest creature that I’ve ever seen in real life. I couldn’t make out what exactly it was at the time, but it was covered in bright reds and blues and was clearly stuck in the net.

So, in possibly the stupidest move since napoleons invasion of Russia, I take off my shoes, grab my work knife, and dive under. I could hear the noises it was making; they were high pitched wines and clicks, making it very clear that it was in distress. Once I got closer I realized that, whatever it was, it wasn’t a normal animal; it had hands and a head like a human, but the tail and wings of a manta ray (I didn’t stop and consider any of this at the time; only after I got out of the water did I realize what exactly I had been looking at). It was twisted in the net and its wings were being constricted by the thin wire. I could see it was crying and that its eyes were bright red. I ended up cutting the net off of it and it rushed past me so fast I nearly forgot which way was up. Then I got out of the water. As you do, I suppose.

I have absolutely no idea why I did any of this if I’m being honest; the entire thing felt like some sort of fever dream or trance, like I had no control over my own body. Maybe it was some sort of human instinct, maybe it was some sort of magic, or maybe it wasn’t either and I’m just an idiot. Either way, I ran into some sort of mermaid today and I feel higher than a kite. No one would ever believe me, and honestly? I don’t believe myself either.

I’m tired, this entire entry was rushed, and I need to go lay down and think on this; I hope the little guy is alright though, he seemed really stressed out…

————————————————————————

Sorry this is so bad guys 😞 I’m having a sort of writers block right now, so I might rewrite this later, but I do quite like the drawing!

As you can tell, little Orion has gotten a oceanic makeover! I think he’s adorable, to be honest. You’ll be seeing more of him this month, as well as more of his little human friend- I hope you’re all having a good mermay!! See you soon!

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore

Author Notes: Happy MerMay Genshin! This fic happened kind of spontaneously but I had a lot of fun writing it! Depending on how well it's received and what I feel like there may end up being a part two. I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this fic and I'm not gonna lie, this fic did not turn out how it was originally slated to. But I'm fairly happy with it. Dottore's merman fish base was a betta fish. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: MerMay/ Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 1327

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

{Part 1: You're Here!}, {Part 2}, {Part 3}, {Part 4}, {Part 5}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

I sat just outside the tank, watching the mysterious merman swim to and fro. Writing impossibly difficult equations with a sharpie on the glass walls of his tank as he continued on about his work and ignored me just like he always did.

According to some of the Fatui scientists who’d occasionally pass by to gossip and puzzle about the strange things he wrote, this odd man had once been the infamous Dottore. The second of the harbingers that worked for the Tsaritsa herself. But then something had gone horribly wrong in an experiment, and he’d turned into this. 

An exotic merman that looked more like something out of a fairy tale than a horrific science accident. But then, fairy tales often served as warnings of some sort, didn’t they?

Either way, his mistake had given some of his less-than-loyal lackeys the chance they needed. 

He’d been shoved into a tank and presented to the Tsaritsa as a centerpiece for her viewing pleasure. After that, each of them had become heads of the Fatui’s research labs.

Their betrayal had not been taken lightly, though, and at least three of them had been dragged into his tank and murdered when they’d come by to feed him. 

That was why they had hired an outsider to feed and care for the Harbinger, turned merman by his own crazed experiments. An outsider who was, namely, me.

Though I’d initially been terrified of the man, he was hardly frightening now. As long as I didn’t bug him when I gave him his food and kept his tank clean, he largely ignored me. Well, unless he wanted something for his work that continued even now within his tank.

Because despite the fact that he never spoke and had exchanged his legs for fins, Dottore remained intelligent. The trouble was, no one could truly understand what he was working on. The scientists only ever said that, from what they could interpret, it was groundbreaking.

But that wasn’t the only way my charge showed off his cleverness.

Whenever one of the few remaining scientists who’d been party to his betrayal came by to gloat about their victory or scowl at his writings that even they couldn’t understand, there was risk.

Almost inevitably, he would find a way to lure them closer and somehow, without any words, convince them to open the tank despite the risks they knew he posed.

Because while Dottore didn’t seem to kill without reason, he did kill for revenge. 

He’d never offered to harm me, but maybe that was because I served a purpose. After all, I was the only person who was willing to take care of his tank and feed him now.

Even the other Harbingers didn’t come by anymore, and the Tsaritsa had long since abandoned her ‘pet.’

He swirled through the water, his long, brilliantly blue tail fins spiraling around him like silk robes as he twisted. Looking over towards where I sat. 

I straightened slightly, surprised that my presence was even being acknowledged by the usually uninterested man, and, after a brief moment, he abandoned his pen. Letting it drop from his long fingers and drift to the bottom of the tank before he swam towards me. 

He stopped just short of the wall, a smile curving across his face, before he reached out with both hands. Pressing his tapered fingertips to the pristine glass that created a wall between us.

Curious, I mirrored his motions, placing my own fingertips on the glass right over where his rested. My eyes widened as he proceeded to flatten his entire hand on the glass, spreading his fingers as I, for reasons that even I didn’t understand, did the same.

It was like he was trying to communicate something to me, despite the fact that our interactions up until now had largely been limited to him pointing at whatever he wanted or scowling at me when I cleaned his tank.

He was the first to pull away, pulling one hand away to point up towards the top of the tank, the only place the water could be accessed from. I hesitated, realizing that the only other people I'd ever seen him direct to that location had been his would-be victims, whom I’d always only barely managed to stop.

I had been up there numerous times to toss his food or whatever item he’d requested by imperiously pointing at in, but I’d never done so simply to meet with him.

My fingers slid down the glass slightly, a frown creeping onto my face as my fingertips came to rest just over his palm, “If you try to drown me, I’m quitting.”

My words had only been muttered, but judging from the smile, devoid of kindness, that spread across his face, he had heard them and was pleased.

I stepped away from the glass, my gaze staying on him, floating with only a twitch of his finned tail, until I at last turned to mount the metal staircase that led to the tank’s top.

  I stepped up lightly, watching as he swam upwards, following my ascent in a far more fluid fashion as he glided silently through the water.

My steps had been unhesitating, but I paused as I reached towards the button that would lift the ceiling of the tank off. It was the only thing separating me from the merman who waited just below it. 

He would be furious if I aborted now, but that wasn’t my concern at the moment. My only worry at the moment would be what he might do if I did open the tank.

Would he attack and drown me? I had no clue how strong he actually was, but judging from his success rate thus far, I doubted I could get away from him.

The scientists he’d drowned were all members of the Fatui. Trained to serve that Tsaritsa in whatever way she needed.

 I wasn’t. I had no training or skills to assist me should he try to hurt me.

And yet I found myself pressing the button and watching as the machines activated even as I maintained a reasonably safe distance. I would listen to him, I was curious after all. But I also wouldn’t make it easy for him to attack me.

The sounds of metal sliding against metal filled the air as the tank's lid was slowly lifted off and the seal that held it to the tank’s thick glass walls burst.

Sure enough, there he was. Just under the surface of the water and looking directly up at me like he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that I’d done just as he’d wished. But up until now, I suppose I’d seemed totally obedient to his whims from his perspective. Well, except for when I would save his would-be victims from his machinations. And even that never seemed to really upset him. Rather, he’d always seemed more amused as he eyed the careful distance I kept between us. 

With a mere twitch of his tail, he surfaced, and I watched as he did something new. Something I’d never seen him do before, even when he was tempting foolish scientists closer.

He spoke.

“I always knew you were far more clever than most of the others here.” My eyes widened at the sound of his smooth voice. Wholly unfamiliar to my ears but strangely relaxing.

I shifted, still keeping my distance even though it was almost instinctive to step closer to him. I was curious, but cautious. And now that I was here, listening to the previously silent merman, I would play the fool and hear him out, “What do you want?

He drifted closer, either pushed by the water or by his own motions; I didn’t know which since my attention was on the single word that left his mouth as he lifted the mask from his face, revealing bright red eyes that I’d never seen before, “Out.”

[blinddreams24]

Cave

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“Killer.” Nightmare’s voice rumbled through the water. You stirred from your rock at the noise. Had you dozed off? You rubbed your eyes and looked up to see Nightmare had stretched his tentacles out to surround you and the boys. For the others, they either sat on top of or under a tentacle. But the tentacle Nightmare had stretched to you only wrapped around the boulder you sat on, not quite touching you.

Wait.

Where did Horror go? You could have sworn he was there before you’d closed your eyes.

“Yes, boss~?” Killer chirruped.

Killer’s tentacle pinned him to the sea floor. Nightmare smirked as he struggled. “Be still. You’re being disruptive.” The cyan eye glanced at you. He almost sounded as tired as you.

Oh. Oh, it was because you were passing out wasn’t it?

“I’m sorry.” You yawned. “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I can go back to Cross’s den if I’m bothering you.” You stretched and lifted off your rock.

Cross shook his head at you. “Don’t go in my den, y/n. It’s not your den anymore.”

…

What?

You froze and stared at Cross’s blank expression. Was… Was Cross kicking you out? Did you do something wrong? Was it because you’d talked to Dream and Ink? Did he think you’d betray them to their enemies? You hadn’t even talked about the boys! Dream didn’t even know you were part of the group until after Killer attacked him. There wasn’t anything you could have done!

You’d only just met Dream and Ink outside of the pod and you didn’t really want to see them again. Where would you go? Where could you go?

Cross’s tentacle slapped his head. “You’re scaring them, idiot.” Nightmare scolded. “Either explain or choose your words wisely.”

Cross blushed under the appendage but didn’t push it off his face. “Sorry. Y/n, we have a surprise for you.”

Your nerves were only slightly calmed at Boss’s actions but you were still anxious. Did he just change the subject? “You do?”

“Yep. If you wait here until Horror gets back, we’ll get straight to it.” Cross yawned and the tentacle left his face, resting under his arms. “Just, wait a little bit. I promise it’s a good surprise.”

“…Okay…” You drifted back to your rock, no longer tired. He hadn’t corrected himself, so there was a chance he was actually planning on kicking you out. You didn’t have anywhere to go, even if you could go back to the land. There was nothing left for you.

You hugged yourself.

Nightmare started humming. A lullaby you weren’t familiar with. It caught your attention and you glanced up to see Nightmare’s tentacle in front of you. You glanced at the Boss but he wasn’t looking at you. The tentacle gestured at the rock you sat on, as if asking to sit next to you. Maybe his tentacles felt more comfortable off the sandy floor.

You scooted over to give it space. Without hesitation, the tentacle filled the space you just emptied, flipping suckers-up next to you like an open invitation. You looked over at where Dust and Cross laid across or hugged their offered tentacles. It seemed to be a comfort thing.

Cautious, you reached out and grabbed the tentacle similarly to how you would hold someone’s hand. It didn’t sting you or shock you or drag you away. It just wrapped around your hand in a gentle squeeze and didn’t move again.

Huh.

You shifted into a more comfortable position and yawned. This wasn’t so bad. You were safe. You were surrounded by sirens that cared. And Nightmare, despite what Dream and Ink might have said, was one of the nicest people you knew.

You hummed softly as Nightmare’s lullaby lulled you to sleep.

“Y/n?” Someone whispered. “Hey… Wake up.”

“Mmh?” You mumbled, looking up from where you were curled up. Horror’s blurry face appeared as your vision cleared. Stars, you must have slept really well if it was taking this long to wake up. “Whazzit?”

Horror grinned. “I don’t think… you should sleep… here.”

You snuggled back into the pillows. “Nooooo. And Cross kicked me out. I don’t have a den.”

“Not if… you keep hugging… Boss.”

What? Hugging-?

…

Your eyes shot open and you heard Nightmare chuckling behind Horror. You had snuggled your face into the tentacle that you had apparently started hugging some time after falling asleep.

The tentacle was immediately released. It curled playfully and drifted back to you, opening up for you to hold again.

“I’m sorry, sir.” You blushed, keeping your hands away from the appendage in favor of covering your face.

“It is quite alright. You needed it more than I did.” He chuckled, still behind a smiling Horror. “Also, you do not need to call me sir or boss. Those are nicknames, not titles. Call me what you want.”

“Yes, sir.” Where was everyone?

He chuckled as Horror reached forward to touch the rock you were on. “You… ready?”

Ready? “For what?”

His grin split his face. “Surprise~.”

Oh, yeah. Cross said something about a surprise.

“Oh! Uh… do I need to… get ready?” You asked, uncertain. Did they want to kick you out? Were they throwing a party? What was going on?

Horror shook his head. “We can… go see it now.”

‘See it.’ Okay. So it was a gift or something.

“Okay. Um. Let’s go then, I guess.” You weren’t the most enthusiastic, but Horror seemed happy, so you would follow him.

He happily led you into the trench, past everyone else’s dens and in the darkness. The darkness of the trench was weird. You should logically be able to see in the depths(you’d gained night vision when you converted) but you could never make anything out unless Nightmare told you to look at something. It never felt malicious though. You just avoided swimming into the darkness without a guide.

Speaking of guides, Horror offered you a hand to hold as he guided you into the deep. You obviously accepted. You weren’t about to follow him on sight alone.

“Horror, where are we going?” You asked, testing the waters.

“Almost… there.” Was all Horror offered in response. He continued to pull you in a firm but gentle grip. So gentle, that you knew you could break away if you wanted to. He wasn’t forcing you to follow him and was giving you every opportunity to back out.

You followed, encouraged by that fact.

“Watch… your head.” He gently guided you into what felt vaguely like a cave. You weren’t sure. “We’re here.”

“Ok.” Came Cross’s voice from in front of you, making you flinch. “Boss?”

The darkness suddenly vanished and you blinked. You were in a cave, not quite as big as Cross’s den but definitely spacious. Cross had stuffed himself in the space that was small for him and Killer vibrated next to him. When you turned to Horror, you saw Dust halfway in the cave and Nightmare’s glowing eye and grin outside.

The cave was decorated. Little bits of coral, shells, and nets were strewn about in the corners and cubbies of the cave, giving it all the homey feeling of a seaside house. What stood out to you though was the red ringing frisbee tucked against a bed of sea weed.

“Surprise!” Killer cheered.

You blinked again slowly. “Oh. Uh. I… I don’t understand…” You admitted, embarrassed.

Dust and Nightmare chuckled softly as Cross spoke up. “This is all yours. We figured you might want your own den so we tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Feel free to move things around, get rid of whatever, and add stuff. It’s all up to you.” The orca siren smiled at you.

Did you hear that right? “I- You- This is for me?”

Killer’s expression turned sarcastic. “Nah, it’s for the frisbee.”

“Yes, it’s for you.” Cross shot Killer a dirty look. “If you don’t like it, we can-.”

“I love it.” You grinned. “Oh my stars! I love it! Thank you!” You shot forward and hugged Cross. Cross, shocked for a moment, laughed and returned the hug.

“Hey! …whataboutme?” Killer whimpered.

You laughed and broke away from Cross to hug Killer. Killer grinned and immediately squeezed you, laughing when you squeezed back.

“…So are we all getting hugs or…?” Dust asked. Horror looked like a kicked puppy as he watched you hug the shark siren.

And so everyone got hugs. Because you knew Dust was fine with waiting, you hugged Horror next. He was very careful, keeping his grip loose and his tentacles suckered firmly to the cave floor so he wouldn’t grab at you.

Dust gave you a normal looking hug, as if you were passing friends that saw each other all the time. But you could feel how his strength twitched to squeeze you. From what you could tell, he was probably stronger physically than any of the other boys.

It was a good thing he acted the most mature and self controlled. Oh my stars, he could crush you with his hands.

Before anyone could figure out what you were doing, you shot out of the cave and collided with a leviathan’s shoulder, hugging Nightmare too.

“Thank you! All of you!” You whistled excitedly. “I thought you were kicking me out of the pod!”

Killer burst into laughter.

“No! Y/n, we would never!” Cross gasped, clearly not realizing how he’d phrased his words earlier.

Strong yet gentle pressure pressed against your back as Nightmare hugged you with his hand. “You’re very welcome, little one. Though, it was Horror’s idea.” Nightmare’s chest vibrated deeply as he spoke.

“Thank you, Horror!” You called, still hugging Nightmare. He was too big! You had to give him a hug to do his size justice!

“Mm… you’re welcome, y/n.” Horror said proudly.

The rest of the next hour was spent constantly thanking everyone and fawning over every little detail in the den. Your den.

You swam full force into the bed at one point and stopped moving.

Cross, worried, peeked back into the cave. “Y/n?”

You didn’t answer and Nightmare chuckled.

“They have spent their energy. Let them sleep.”

“Oh.” Cross whispered as you melted into the seaweed, already unconscious. “Okay.” He slowly turned and swam away so he wouldn’t move the water enough to disturb you.

Dust and Horror followed Cross out of the den and back to their own dens.

Nightmare turned back to your new den.

“…Killer.”

“Coming!” Killer shot away from the nets in the corner and down the trench.

[meowmeowmeowmeow4x]

Dark Blue Moon and the Suffering Sun Chapter 31

MASTAPOST

big thanks to brekitten for betaing this chapter, and HAPPY MERMAY TO EVERYONE YAYAYYAYAYA

Here’s a fun fact, Danny noted, as he sat in the driver’s seat of the GiW truck they’d stolen GTA style from the government. Despite having a father whose driving may be more dangerous than the sirens that he hunts, and parents who built a tank that can float…

Danny did not know how to drive.

But luckily, Damian did! Thank goodness. Guess that rich kid education was paying off.

The issue, though? Damian didn’t have legs at this moment.

Which meant that Danny was the one stepping on the gas, while Damian took the wheel, sitting in Danny’s lap.

Here’s a fun fact. Whenever Danny’s dad drove, he always used to think that it was the scariest thing in the world. The G-forces turning you into a ragdoll. The screaming and car horns from other people. The uncertainty of whether you’ll make it to see the next day.

On this clear summer day, Danny learned that there was something far, far scarier.

To have all of that happen, and you were the one at the driver’s seat.

“Step on it!” Damian shouted. Danny could only comply. Stray shots blasted past the windows, but the armored vehicle stood firm. Another blockade was up ahead, a blockade that was very quickly becoming vacant as agents scattered to the side.

Damian cackled maniacally. His howling trills filled the air and mixed with the screams of the agents.

“Should I slow down?”

“Negative!” Damian yelled. Danny was seriously regretting following this plan. Why couldn’t they have just walked and snuck around the barriers?!

The blockade smashed into pieces. The truck rammed through the gates signs like they were wet tissue paper. Well that went slightly better than they’d expected. But there was still the issue of the very large tail of vehicles pursuing them.

Danny looked back and forth nervously. “Please tell me you have a plan for those guys.”

“Shoot them.”

“What?!”

“With your ice. Give them a frozen tire or two.”

Danny gulped. He was used to a little fighting, but this was getting ridiculous!

Then again, it was the GiW. Yeah, go on then. Danny poked his head out the window. Damian had torn up part of his shirt (rude!) and forced Danny to wear it like a mask. He’d also put some mucus in his hear to make it white. It was a challenge to twist his body to keep pressure on the gas pedal while also looking behind him, but some siren flexibility helped.

There. A GiW car lead the chase behind him. One of the agents glared at him with all the hatred she could muster (so the same amount that he usually received from glares), and fired a beam that missed him by about 40 degrees. Yeah. Good luck with that aim. Danny returned by icing over the road. His powers created a right-facing ramp right in front of the car. The car could not brake in time and flung itself to the side. Then an armored SUV took its place in the front.

Danny grinned mercilessly. Maybe Damian had a point.

He narrowed his glowing eyes. His target was small, but its relative position was pretty constant. Just a little to the left… and that was just perfect. Danny flung an ice beam. It hit its mark perfectly. The tire of the SUV leading the chase froze completely. The vehicle skidded out of control. Then the truck right behind it failed to brake in time. Like dominos the entourage crashed into each other like a perfectly programmed sequence. The sound of car alarms and clanging metal filled the air like music as the boys sped away in their getaway vehicle.

That was not the end of it, however. Danny spotted more and more vehicles assembling from the side roads. Danny flung ice like a kid in a snowball fight, but he’d burnt most of the energy from the tamales earlier. He needed more food.

“Save your strength,” Damian called out. “We are almost at our destination.”

Before long, the countryside roads gave way to tall buildings and crowds of tourists. With the vehicles hot on their tails, Damian yelled at him to slam the brakes. At the same time, the kid swung the steering wheel hard left. The truck drifted on its side for a few heart-stopping seconds before coming to a halt.

Danny kicked the doors open. He and Damian were out in seconds, invisibly slipping into the gathering crowd of onlookers. He bumped a shoulder or two, and more than one person waved their hands over their noses, making a disgusted comment in another language, but the crowd meant more than one kind of invisibility.

The agents filed out of their vehicles in quick succession, looking to muscle through the civilians. However, a matching crowd of police officers met them, engaging in heated argument. Danny had the distinct feeling Damian absolutely intended this.

They walked through the streets of the town. Further away from the truck, the crowd became sparser, but it was still very busy. American brands lined the storefronts, and local street food venders populated the sidewalks. From the corner of his eye, Danny spied a prime opportunity.

He casually sidestepped the sleeping security guard on his way to a suitcase and backpack store. Damian side eyed him, or at least he felt he did. “Relax Damian, this will make things much easier on us.”

Did he feel bad about stuffing Damian into a waterproof backpack? Maybe. But look, keeping invisibility on for hours at a time was hard! He needed a little respite. Besides, the GiW were probably looking for a white-haired scaly menace, for all that he was careful never to show his fully human form to them.

And Damian wasn’t even gonna overheat and die of heat stroke! He’d been very careful to ice over the lining of the backpack to keep the kid cool. Now if only he’d stop complaining.

“I would like to put it on the record that this is an awful idea.” Damian punctuated his fifth complaint with a sharp jab into Danny’s soft human spine. Ouch.

“Dude, I am literally undetectable right now. What more do you want?”

“You look like a vagrant with a very, very clearly stolen back pack.”

Maybe Damian had a point. People were staring, and covering their noses. Perhaps he had miscalculated. Danny ducked into an alleyway and camouflaged himself again, even if it made his stomach churn. “Look, their scanners are pretty close ranged, but I’m using my powers, it’s way easier for them to detect us.”

“Tut. Very well, but you still need a better disguise. Move quickly. I can smell them filing into town even from here,” His passenger chittered. And move quickly he did. Danny ducked into a clothes store and yanked the first articles he could see. He was half-tempted to reject the clean clothes to spite Damian, but spiting the GiW by not dying seemed much more attractive of an option. Then he borrowed some food from a convenience store.

It was necessary for his survival, even if it made him ill.

With his slightly less homeless-looking clothes, Danny was finally able to show his face without looking like a street rat. Well honestly he still looked like a street rat. The kind of things salt water and four days of not showering will do to your hair. But he at least looked like a decently-dressed street rat.

The agents had already swarmed the town. Thank goodness the sun had dried his hair again, or he’d be clocked in a blink. They patrolled around the streets in pairs and harassed innocent bystanders about the siren menace, all the while an official-looking police guy yelled at an official-looking GiW guy.

“We are close to the shore. Keep calm.” Damian whispered.

Just keep calm as the people who want to dissect you look you right in the eye. Thank you Damian for the encouragement. Danny forcibly slackened his shoulders, and slouched his back. Just a normal teenager. Nothing to see here.

The edge of the town was just ahead, maybe a hundred meters. Just needed to avoid suspicion for a few minutes more.

Danny walked through the human-shaped landmine, suddenly distinctly aware he had no shoes on. Only three meters away, an agent scanned over a young man, then attempted to pat him down, only for the man to shout at him and pull away. Then two more agents showed up and held his arms down. Danny shuddered, but he forced himself to continue. Danny hid himself between two adults walking past. He held his head low. It was just like high school, avoiding Dash, he told himself. Just like high school.

He was inches away from leaving the outer bounds of the area when an agent called out right to him. “Hey you!”

What does he do. What does he do, what does he do what does he do?! Sweat pooled on his neck. Just play natural. Yeah. Put all the hours of Spanish lessons to good use!

Danny turned around, and with his most casual smile possible, said.

“¿Yo no hablo ingles?”

Even he cringed at how bad that sounded. Adrenaline pooled in his still legs. The agent rattled off some excuse the government was peddling, and then pulled out a scanner. Danny’s eyes widened. If he stayed, Damian would get detected. If he ran, he’d be outed as a sympathizer at the best. If he fought, then the whole world would know Danny Fenton was a freak of nature.

Danny’s brain moved a mile a minute, but his muscles locked in place. What could he do. What could he do.

His eyes locked on a pair of Panamanian policemen behind him, with grim looks on their face. He scrambled together the last vestiges of the Spanish class he’d barely been passing.

Danny sucked in a breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“¡AYUDAME!” He shouted. Danny crossed his arms over his groin, and put on a pained expression. “¡LOS GRINGOS ME TOCARON!”

The agent blinked in puzzlement, like a deer in the headlights. His dumbfounded expression contrasted with the thunderous look that came over the Panamanians. Thank you Jazz for forcing him to actually study. Maybe foreign language classes weren’t all that bad.

Danny took the distraction and speed walked away from the premises, as verbal fireworks and fists flew.

The beach was in sight. Just a couple more minutes, and the GiW would never be able to catch them. Danny sprinted for the water. This close, the urban roads transitioned back to foliage and dirt again. He ducked underneath low branches, and jumped over fallen debris.

Then the air buzzed. The familiar scent of ozone permeated the space. Skulker.

His nose picked up the rocket. Danny lunged to the ground. A tree exploded into dozens of splinters behind. The shockwave threw him further away and slammed him into a rock. His vision shifted nauseously.  

“Put your mask on and run!” Damian shouted, having emerged from the backpack. Danny didn’t need to be told twice. He slicked his hair and booked it. Without his lateral line above water, Danny was forced to rely on Damian spotting for him. Skulker’s missiles exploded in mid-air as his friend took to intercepting them with his shots. More came through, forcing Danny to duck and weave through the storm.

“Where is he?!” Damian shouted. “I cannot get a visual on him.”

“He keeps flying into different spots to shoot at us. We need to get to an open field.”

Then came the machine blasters. The shots tore through leaves like they weren’t even there. Danny threw up an icy shield that deflected the shots away. Heavier blasts pelted the shield and forced him to reinforce it even more, straining his body.

Skulker’s voice cried out somewhere to his flank. “Over there!” Damian cried out. Danny threw an ice spear in the blink of any eye. It flew through the dense tree top. Seconds later, metal tore open in a screech. A smoking Gatling gun fell to the dirt.

Danny sprinted through the remaining thicket, and burst on to the beach. “Quickly, Danny!” Damian shouted. Stray gunshots blasted sand high into the air. Danny jumped behind an upturned wooden boat, ducked and rolled. The boat exploded into splinters, but otherwise shielded him from the blast. Danny tramped over seaweed and sandcastles alike, a mad dash for the water where he’d be in his element.

A net collided into his body from the side. The boys were thrown to the sand. The force sent Danny’s mask flying off his eyes, right as he spotted two familiar figures just off the beach.

His blood turned to ice. “Damian. Hide in the backpack.”

“What are you talking about-” Damian sucked in a breath.

“Get in now!”

In the water, standing on a jet ski, his mother lowered her binoculars, and suddenly she was racing towards the shore line at breakneck pace. Skulker laughed in the air. Danny threw off the net, dashing back into the jungle. He couldn’t get caught. Not now. His vision flashed with bright lights and glowing gun barrels.

“Don’t think you can simply run away from the mighty Skulker, whelp!” Skulker charged up another salvo. Just then, a blue shot tore through his arm cannon.

“Do not touch my baby!” His mother roared. She front-flipped off the jet ski and landed soundlessly on the sand. She charged for Danny, arms outstretched. “Danny!”

His foot landed on a patch of sand that didn’t sink slightly inwards like he’d thought it would. Danny’s blood turned to ice.

Sand erupted in a plume of yellow and white. His ears rang like high-pitched white noise. Danny barely registered the backpack being torn off his arms, Damian’s screeching becoming further, and further. The last he saw of Damian was in the clutches of Skulker, who shot him a metallic smirk as the man retreated into the sky. He smelled his mother and Bruce Wayne running up the beach. He nearly passed out turning invisible, aided by Skulker’s sand smokescreen. It was all he could concentrate on.

Danny stumbled behind his mother and Bruce’s backs, even as she yelled “Danny! Danny! Baby boy, where are you?!” into the empty beach. He stripped wordlessly in the water, turning skin to scales. But it was the lack of that familiar weight over his shoulder that made him feel more naked than anything else.

[sealofarchives]

Oneshot scenario: Merfolk!reader with the turtles (separate)

Just something for a mermay themed prompt while trying to think of other stuff to write

Warnings: the slight mention of drowning (just a brief topic again nothing too graphic)

(I forgot the exact concept art picture from one of the scrapped episodes where Mikey went all out for a mermaid costume for a distraction but, surprisingly it helped while trying to brainstorm ideas for the other scenarios lol)

Soupful Confessions

In the lair, close to the living room...

You were about take another spoonful of clam chowder soup. While your fish tail sat on one of the steps a surface level in a large aquarium tank filled with water. You placed the soup bowl by the makeshift table beside you. Then swam towards the box shell turtle pacing around a few distance away from the tank.

Before you could ask, Mikey immediately squeaked startled by your sudden appearance.

"Oh (Y/N)! Was the soup okay?"

"Mikey, I'll pretty much eat anything you make. Sorry for scaring you."

"Is something on your mind? You almost made a lap walking around my tank."

"Well... Despite that short-staffed situation during a surf and turf event near the Run of the Mill pizzeria..."

"I'm still excited that I made friends with you and a few other merpeople!"

You winced with a fake smile before going back to the soup filled bowl.

"I mostly tagged along with that group for a discount on seafood pizza."

"I couldn't stomach the idea of eating turtles, let alone ones who were brave enough to serve an angry mob of hungry merpeople."

"Yeah... I still think we were pretty lucky that we based off the menu from a few of dad's old movies. Clam chowder being one of those."

You blinked surprised at the soup then back to Mikey.

"Any clue why he doesn't like talking about clam chowder?"

"Because I tried bringing it up and he just avoids the question with something else."

Mikey only shrugged while playing around with his orange bandana tails.

"He told us only criminals like that movie but, Cassandra turned over a new leaf because of his words of wisdom."

"Maybe, something terrible happened during the making of the movie so, it might have been that..."

You hummed understanding that reasoning. Then held the bowl to drink what's left out of the almost empty soup. Mikey gulped as you perched your arms content with the meal.

"Hopefully its not too weird to ask but, are you free to be a muse?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I had a few sketches for some disguises especially with the mermaid theme in mind but..."

"I didn't want to offend you if some of the designs are in poor taste..."

You couldn't help but, giggle at Mikey as you placed the bowl on his head.

"So you want feedback from me? Sure, I don't bite."

"But, take it easy when you decide to use said distraction in action."

"I wouldn't want that cute face of yours getting hurt."

Mikey blushed as you winked at him and hurried off to get dessert. Unfortunately for him, his brothers also saw the incident and appeared with teasing grins, casually hanging around the kitchen like nothing happened.

Old and New Memories

In the turtle tank...

Donnie spoke up with a sigh.

"You know its impolite to stare at someone for a long period of time..."

"Oh sorry, a while ago, I got stuck with helping one of my classmates for something in Witch Town."

"That place still mentions you-"

"Being the infamous scientist turtle who scoffed at anything magic related and destroyed the center piece statue during an important ceremony."

Donnie felt an imaginary arrow hitting his head as he winced while you continued to talk.

"But still, you made a long way from being stubborn about mystic magic."

"And gained some understanding of it through your way of approaching things."

You fidgeted one of the charms added to the custom made backpack (courtesy of the purple turtle himself) to avoid the tedious process. Carrying a large jug of water when there's no aquarium tank around.

Donnie faked cough now regaining his composure as you looked back at him.

"Accidental destruction of property was the more correct term to describe it..."

"At that time, I was more focused proving April wrong that she didn't need help from those witches."

"Also, there is no way I'm setting foot near that place if they still talk about me in that matter."

"I was already greeted with the angry mob gathering pitchforks and torches when I tried to apologize for my actions."

Donnie crossed his arms as you lightly puffed one of your cheeks.

"On a lighter note, I found out some of my classmates grew up with parents who are big fans of Splinter's movies."

"And..."

You held up a conch shell device and played a recording from its string.

"Do you think we'll turn heads if we change the purple one's wanted poster in a light tone similar to the splitting image of Lou Jitsu?"

"I already heard stories how the former star dedicates his life to raising four turtles and..."

"The purple one can easily get away with anything for having such dashing looks-"

You immediately held the string down with blush surfacing an annoyed look on your face.

"It slowly started an argument on which of you was the best Lou Jitsu look-a-like."

"So the fan club forgot to start the project..."

"But still, at least you have me and a few other fans by your side."

Your fish-fin ears fluttered a bit taking notice of Donnie's smirk.

"While I'm flattered by that girl's comment, I only assume you haven't thought of the idea towards a surprise meet and greet."

"Or you don't like the thought of her dating me..."

The blush deepened your face as you looked away.

"I think she'll be more disappointed that you aren't into pda and hugs."

You felt Donnie's arms pulling you into a hug now sitting on his lap.

"Given the nature of my happy go lucky family members, I just give in to the hugs. However, for you."

"I'm willing to make some amends towards my soon to be partner's needs..." On the back of Donnie's mind was slight panic. With the realization that you look really cute sitting there. And how, he got a closer look at your face.

A Merfolk That Can't Sing?!

Near a rooftop pool close to 10 pm... (Totally not trespassing says the red slider turtle)

Your face sank halfway into the chlorinated water. Attempting to hide the embarrassed feeling as Leo immediately sat up.

"Wait, for eel? I always thought it comes naturally that most merpeople can just lure anyone in by a wonderful singing voice."

You laid on your aquatic back, letting the water glide you across the lightly dimmed pool. With a whine at Leo's fishy oneliners.

"Not me, my parents tried to get help and it didn't even work."

"I already don't like the thought of it being associated with drowning..."

"I almost forgot about that part but, the reason I brought the singing was more towards..."

"Donnie was playing a game where sirens sang during a boss fight."

"I don't know much about metal but, the song surprisingly blends well with the siren singing."

"Okay? I still don't get what you're trying to say."

"I don't want to sound like Dr Feelings but, if you have a favorite song you'd usually like to hum to."

"Maybe try that, since you don't seem happy trying to fit into the scary siren image.

Leo saw you hesitated for a bit but shrugged, now lazily laying on your stomach.

"I'll think about it but, thanks for the brief pep talk."

"Well if you feel up to a small karaoke battle, you know who to call!"

You held back laughing at him in an attempt to hide the blush on your face.

"You almost fell off the turtle taxi proudly winning the previous karaoke battle during a late night beach party."

Leo's confident smile quickly faded into embarrassment. As he immediately placed one of his beach hats on your head. Causing you to sit up to avoid damaging the hat.

"It still counted as a victory for me. We weren't expecting anyone to be up around that time."

"Let alone a surprise visit from a merfolk."

You blushed at the water's reflection, wearing Leo's straw beach hat. A tiny bit of regret deepened the blush as you caught sight of his slow smirk.

"Did my singing actually lure you in?~"

Your fish fin lightly splashed water near his face as you looked away.

"The turtle tank caused a tiny rumor about a turtle with a taxi on its shell"

"I don't think Donnie would be happy about making his prized vehicle open to the public."

Leo wiped the water off his face with a spare towel as he got off the chaise lounge chair.

"I still think I lured you in."

"It just happened to be in good timing, with Donnie making small tests to the turtle tank."

Your fish tail sat by the pool step ladders as you sighed.

"Just don't add any love songs to the playlist or I might curse you for a week."

"I can probably handle whatever hex you throw at me but, I'll still give you dibs on picking the first few songs.

"Just so I have somewhat an idea of what songs you're into."

Ever since he got you to laugh at some of his jokes, the red slider turtle believes you have that merpeople charm in you.

Early Morning Seaside Chit Chat

Close to early sunrise by the Hidden City beach.

The turtle tank was parked a few distance away from the volunteer vendor booth that usually helps with clean up, trash, and protecting wildlife. However, the daily weekend event usually starts in around 9 or 10 am.

Raph could see the groggy eyebags on your face as you struggled to stay awake, resting your arms above the aquarium tank.

"We brought some snacks that should last until lunch."

"So try to eat something so you don't accidentally chomp on a seagull."

You snatched a family sized bag of chips from the snack pile. With a brief thanks as Raph sat across from you.

"I scared off some birds from last year's sea turtle hatching tour."

"I'll be fine."

Raph bit into a piece of jerky as he rolled his eyes.

"That one pink heron almost knocked you into the sea if we didn't step in to help."

"Mikey almost saw a baby turtle getting pecked to death."

"That's the only time I pick fights with any of those birds."

Raph muttered a sigh under his breath as you pouted.

"Okay I'll admit, we didn't want to see that but..."

"I'm surprised how you convinced Donnie and the volunteers to set up a eco friendly barrier for those baby turtles."

You smiled a bit biting into another chip as you spoke.

You guys still helped, spreading the word through cute flyer posters and a tiny fundraiser for a good cause."

Raph lightened up with his toothy grin as he chuckled.

"So, no secret plan to get revenge on that bird."

"I mean Donnie was almost thinking about it, until he got praised with so many compliments displaying his work to the staff."

"Oh, so Donnie didn't have some speech with how cruel nature is and just went with your idea."

You accidentally yawned with an annoyed expression on your face.

"He did but, life is already like that sometimes."

"And not to bring down the mood but, you four would have been just regular turtles if it weren't for Splinter stepping in to protect you guys from being Draxum's super soldiers..."

Raph hummed briefly looking down at the half empty plastic bag.

"I don't think I could fit in with the other alligator snapping turtles."

"I had a lot of weird moments not realizing its a solitary thing and its just not for me."

Raph looked up after hearing you chuckle.

"You could easily win a few over just from your gentle smile."

"Showing off your strength is one thing but, your level of honesty."

"Its almost too sweet that it could blind the competition."

The alligator snapping turtle blushed at your compliments.

"If this is your way of wanting that expensive seafood buffet for lunch, I'm not budging..."

"Awww, but I saved up enough money for a really good couple's discount~..."

Raph eventually caved in to the offer after most of the baby sea turtles safely made it to watery shore. However, to your surprise, the two of you sat in one table alone. With the blush beginning to appear on your face as the waiter took his order.