#is mermay even still a thing?

[skywardknight420]

Gotta couple of mermen for mermay?

[suzylind]

Mermay - Drift & Ratchet

With share determination, I pulled through last night to try and wrap it up all in one go!

I really wanted to finish this piece before the end of the month. Due to so many events taking place, time was running out, so I did one big pull to get it done no matter what.

Enjoy some "Dratchet" Transformer Mermay for this year!

[cheaploafs]

I may have missed mermay but its okay because it will always be mermay so long as this au exists in my mind <3

Also full vers. without special bits undercut because Ivy’s tail is hugging him and its adorable <3

[dazzelmethat]

"Although commonly mistaken for mermaids, the freshwater parasitic sprite spends all it's life inhabiting the body of a large fish.

Like most common fish species the fry spend their childhood fleeing their mother."

Something a little horror themed for mermay.  I think frequently about a mermaid version of that isopod that lives in the fish's mouth. And I also frequently think about how my platties whom after giving birth immediately started chasing their young.

[ectoplasmer]

did you guys know i loove ymy boyffriendss orr

[yamiartstash]

The yearly pic of Snipe. This time, he's having a fish buffet.

[calcifiedunderland]

Had this idea for my MerMay event 👀💌 I’m really proud of this one. Hope you enjoy!

Floyd! Azul!

Legends told that you could control a selkie if you were to steal their pelt. That being said, Jade wasn’t very concerned with others taking his eel skin.

If anyone were to get their hands on a Selkie’s pelt - the skin they wore in order to turn back into their merform - they could make the pelt’s owner do their bidding. Jade supposed it would be smart to keep it locked away in his dorm, like Azul, or constantly on his person, like Floyd, but he liked it to be seen.

Usually, he had it slung across the back of his chair or around his neck with his Dorm scarf when in uniform. Sometimes, he’d tuck it in his bag, and it would stick out whenever he took his things out. A reminder to anyone that, while he was a menace on land, he was still from the ocean.

It gave him a twisted kind of amusement to watch the look in others’ eyes. The desire to take his eel skin, to hold it in their grubby little land-folk hands and steal it from him. It would be so easy. One quick swipe from the back of his chair, or a quick pick-pocketing from his bag, and then they held the power.

It would be so easy to control Jade Leech - to have something over him, to take something so important to him. To finally have the upper hand over Jade Leech. To trap the charming moray himself.

If only they’d work up the courage.

He’d deliberately make a show of it, drawing the skin slowly from his bag and shaking it out. The slick, shiny, smooth teal pelt that meshed perfectly with his human body would drape over the chair back tantalizingly. The same pelt that allowed him to return to his home in the ocean, that gave him the power of returning to his natural eel form, hung over the chair as if it were nothing but a mere jacket.

He’d usually feel the weight of others’ gazes upon him while he did his work, but today Azul gave him a large stack of papers to work through. Something about a deal of his again. Being Octavinelle vice Housewarden certainly had it’s busy moments. And despite being a menace, Jade was still an accomplished student, so he put his head down and got to work.

Quietly, over the hours he worked, the pelt slid soundlessly from the chairback to the floor. Jade didn’t even notice - just as the skin allowed him to move through the water without a ripple, it fell without so much as a sound. He must have been so focused on his work, or perhaps half asleep, that he didn’t even notice you come behind him.

His head snapped to you when he felt your fingers brush against his back. You flinched backward, fingers clutching his pelt.

“What are you doing?” Jade’s eyes bored into yours, face slack. You tried not to gulp as you gingerly tucked the teal ‘jacket‘ back onto Jade’s chair.

“You dropped your jacket onto the floor, I was just putting it back,” you explained. “It just looked really pretty with the colors and trims and stuff, so I figured you didn’t want it to get dirty…” you rubbed the back of your neck, trailing off.

Something like shock swirled in Jade’s eyes as he looked at you. You had already taken your hands off the pelt, but you could’ve very well run off with it. He searched your face for any sign of foul play, but found none. His heart skittered a beat, amused. You had no idea what you’d just done, had you? You hadn’t even realized you’d declared your intentions to him, earnest and sweet. How cute.

A selkie coat already was a valuable thing, but an eel selkie coat was very uncommon. To take a selkie’s coat was one thing. To return it to them was practically a declaration. And you gave it back to Jade without a second thought, with honesty in your eyes as you called it a jacket. A jacket.

“Welp, I should probably go,” you felt awkward under Jade’s gaze. His pupils were smaller than a pinhole, and despite being helpful, you somehow felt like you did something big. Still, Jade wasn’t biting your head off, so it couldn’t have been that bad?

You shouldered your bag as you trudged out of the library, Jade’s gaze still haunting you. You willed it out of your head once you entered Ramshackle, and didn’t think about it until the next day when Jade approached you.

Imagine your surprise when you saw a strangely soft-gazed Jade looking down on you, seated in the cafeteria, hastily eating your lunch. “(Name),” he said fondly, his ‘jacket’ draped around his shoulders. You swallowed your food in a hurry, eyes falling on the teal ‘fabric.’ You could’ve sworn it was a jacket or something, with how large and long it was. Come to think of it, you’d never seen Jade actually wear it, and it seemed more suede-y than soft…

Jade grinned cryptically, “I must say, you surprised me in the library when you made your intentions known. But I do accept them.” You opened your mouth but no words came out. You were flabbergasted. What on earth…?

Jade’s voice took you out of your thoughts. “I must thank you for returning my pelt to me. Perhaps I can repay you with a complimentary Mostro Lounge meal?” You gawked at him, feeling bewildered.

You managed a confused nod, “I-I mean, sure? But I didn’t really do anything-“ “Splendid. You will join me for dinner later today after classes. Please do not be late.” Jade gave you a cryptic smile before smoothly walking away,

Beside you, your friends gawked. Grim nearly choked on his tuna, “what jus’ happened?!” You shrugged, eyes wide as you stared into space trying to understand, “I don’t know! I just gave Jade back his green shoulder-thing, and now he wants to pay me back or something? What, is it a big deal?”

Ace looked at you like you were stupid, Deuce looked at you with pity, Jack looked shocked, while Epel’s jaw dropped. “You just made your shot at one of the creepiest guys on campus!” Ace spluttered. You looked at the others helplessly, “what?”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “Prefect, I know you come from a different world and all, but do you at least know what a selkie is?” You nodded hesitantly, and Jack continued. “Did you touch his pelt?” You frowned, “you mean that green thing on his shoulders? I thought it was his jacket. I just gave it back to him when it fell?”

You laughed nervously as your friends stared at you. “He didn’t declare war on me or something right?” Epel sipped his apple juice, “nah. The opposite, actually.” You choked on your food.

Guess you’ll be dealing with a besotted Jade for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for reading!! Reqs for Mermay are open til the end of may! Xoxo calci

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

35 / 2.1k / shark merman Price and remora mermaid reader for mermay :)

...

Price isn’t stupid. He knows you’ve been following him since the early morning as he makes the rounds through his favorite reef. You’re stealthing poorly—just poorly enough that he knows you’re there, but you’re still small enough to dart into the reef every time he tries to get a good look at you.

He's been ignoring you and hoping you’ll take the hint to buzz off before he makes you buzz off.

You think you’re getting the hang of sneaking up on him when you turn a corner and lose him. And then he’s sneaking up on you.

You peek around the bright lumps of coral, wondering where he’s gone, when something blots out the sunlight above. You look up to see him—the long expanse of muscle and bulk on top and the smooth shark’s tail below—as he peers down at you.

You stiffen, pressing yourself to the sandy sea floor.

He scans you with his dark eyes to determine just what kind of creature has been following him. Not a threat, decides. Even as a mer. You’re too small. Too soft. You have no teeth to speak of. How laughable. And a tiny little thing, at that.

You straighten up, watching him circle you. You’d been looking for an opportunity just like this. That’s why you were tailing him. But now that his shrewd gaze is finally on you, you feel exposed.

He takes his time inspecting you. Then he swims a wide arc around you once more and lowers his clawed as if to touch you. You force yourself to stay still, your tail curled under you on the sand.

“You’ve been following me,” he says. It’s not a question.

“Yes.”

Price hooks one of his claws under your chin and pulls your head lightly upwards. You slowly rise as he tilts your chin up until you're suspended in the water in front of him.

"You should be scared of me,” he says.

You settle your own hands on his wrist in contentment. You look less like a meal being evaluated and more like a kitten being scratched under the chin. "Would you like me to be scared?"

He chuckles at your enthusiasm. He knows exactly what this is. You're a remora mer, which means you instinctively seek out and bond with bigger creatures. Even if that creature is an unfriendly shark mer. Surely you must know how dangerous it is to be within his reach?

"You're very big. You must be king of this reef,” you say.

He pauses as the praise washes over him. He knows how intimidating he is, and you should realize you're nothing but small, soft and fragile. But obviously your instincts for fawning and flattery are finely honed.

He can see the way your little self seems to be drawn to him. A remora mer, indeed. He's seen others like you, but they've always avoided him. He could just as easily kill you as he could accept your company.

There is something pitifully adorable about you. The way you tilt your head and expose your throat unwittingly is endearing. He knows it’s because your instincts are leading you to bond with him for the safety he provides. You're too willing.

"Do you lack the common sense to fear an apex predator?" he asks, voice low and amused.

"Yes," you respond obediently.

He can see the way your little body is pressing up to his hand, desperate to get closer. He moves his arm, gently guiding you closer to him. "Good," he rumbles softly before using two claws to stroke down the curve of your neck. "Very good. You're too small to survive my teeth, you know."

"Of course. Much too small. Your teeth are so big and sharp."

"And you're soft and weak. Soft as a piece of kelp, I bet." He gives the tip of your tail a flick, and his eyes glitter as you bob and shake out your tail fin at the touch. Fussy little creature. "You're not very good at what you're supposed to do, little mer."

You open up your eyes. "I'm not?"

"Following me for hours without even trying to ingratiate yourself to me," he growls. "You're supposed to busy yourself with my needs. Not..." He trails off as you tilt up into his touch, almost nuzzling his hand. He gives your forehead a light flick with his claw to make you pay attention. "Acting like some kind of pet."

You quickly smooth yourself down. "Of course. I know that." You dart closer, putting your small hands on his inner arm, his shoulder, his chest, inspecting him. Your fingers glide over him, brushing and scratching and plucking away bits of sea debris and dry skin. Grooming him. "I just thought you might want me to be scared of you first."

Oh. He’s enjoying this far more than he thought he would. For something so soft, you’re quite bold.

He presses on your hip to turn you slightly as you work, idly inspecting you in return. "Maybe later. Let’s see if you’re worth the effort first." He rests his chin on his other hand to watch you fuss over him. It's been a long time since he had any kind of attention on him. You dart around behind him and busy yourself with his hair next.

He leans into your touch when you start to untangle his hair. "You seem to enjoy this.”

“I do.”

“Good for you,” he drawls. "Are you good for anything else?"

"I'm good for lots of things." You move from his hair down to his tail, trying not to stare.

"Oh?" He reaches up and idly drags the back of his knuckles down your spine and over the fin there. He smirks as your fin flattens with the touch. "Like what?"

"Anything you can think of."

"Anything?" He gives a low rumble in his throat at your words. "Don't go promising favors you can't fulfill, little remora."

"Okay," you chime.

He grabs ahold of your tail fins. "And don't agree with every single thing I say, either. That makes you far too easy to manipulate."

"Yes, sir!"

He rolls his eyes. You really are a pushover. It's like you want him to be cruel to you. He lets go of your tail but twirls his fingers in the tip of your tailfins. "Is it your instincts that are making you so deferential? Or are you just a coward?"

You pretend to think about this for a moment. Then you respond, pleasantly, "Which do you prefer?"

"Mm, so you do have a brain."

"Me? No, surely that can't be. Not a thought in my head, sir. Promise."

He eyes you like a disobedient puppy. You're putting on this fairly convincing act, being a mindless, servile little thing, and it's confusing his instincts to know you're doing a fair bit of manipulation yourself to win his protection.

"Might prefer you a bit more brainless, actually," he says. He nudges the underside of your chin with his knuckle this time instead of his claw, noting how you drop what you were doing to follow the gesture as he guides you out in front of him again. "You're willing to do anything I ask, then? No questions?"

"Yes, sir.” You rest your much smaller body against his forearm again. “Anything.”

He looks down at how you submit willingly to his hand, taking in the sight of your small body pressed up against it. He feels something primal coil in his gut at the display. You let yourself fall under his control so easily. "What if I told you to open your mouth like a goldfish?" He brings his thumb up to your lip. "Would you?"

You open your mouth.

Interesting. He taps your lower lip with the tip of his thumb. "Wide," he murmurs. "Open up wide for me."

You open wider.

"Now bite."

You bite down around the tip of his thumb.

His lips twitch up into a smile at the feeling of you nibbling at him, the little scrape of your teeth. "Good. Harder."

You reposition your grip and chomp down in earnest this time. He grunts. Your teeth are smaller than his, but they're still sharp.

"There you go. Not bad for such a small mouth." He pulls it away, half-expecting you to start hollowing your cheeks on his thumb if he dawdles too long. "Have you ever had to deal with bigger fish?"

"Of course," you chirp. Like it's no big deal.

Price snorts. It's hard to imagine something like you doing anything but darting behind the nearest rock at the first sign of danger. “How many have you killed?"

"None."

"Right, I'm sure you ask them nicely to leave you alone," he says. "And do they listen?”

"Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't."

"And when they don't, what do you do? Do you fight back? Do you give up?"

"Well..." You wring your hands briefly. "You're going to handle it now, right? So what does it matter?"

"It matters to me." For some reason, the thought of you trying to fight back against a larger fish makes him restless. "You still need to know how to defend yourself."

You frown. "You're not going to do it for me?"

He scoffs, but you're starting to make him feel something close to concern for you. He doesn't know why the thought of you being defenseless irks him so. "Are you really that helpless? Are you really so soft that you just want me to fight all your battles for you?"

"I mean, you're a shark."

He huffs irritably at that, his annoyance with you outweighed by his annoyance with himself for feeling concerned over you. "Do you think I'm going to do everything for you just because I'm bigger and stronger?"

You smile at him, pleased.

Ah. He's the fool suddenly. He grabs you around the waist with just one of his big hands and brings you close, his voice lowering in warning. "Stop smiling, little fish."

"Okay," you chime.

"I told you to stop sounding so bloody agreeable. You make me want to bite you." He lifts you up in front of him to get a clearer look at your face. Your eyes are too wide, your smile is too sweet, your body is too flimsy. It's all infuriating to him. He’s been roaming the ocean a long time and he's grown comfortably hard and cold. You’re not changing that. "You have no self-preservation instincts at all, do you? You're just going to get yourself killed one day."

You settle into his hand comfortably. "Maybe so. Can I get you anything else, boss?"

You're hopeless, he decides. With how sweet and docile you are, he feels something clawing at the inside of his chest the longer he holds you.

Instead of answering you, he fits you against his chest, into the crook of his arm. There. Better. He can keep you closer this way without having to look at your silly doe eyes.

“Not now,” he says finally. “Maybe later.”

You lean into the position, tucking into the side of his chest like you're making yourself at home. "Okay, boss."

He can’t decide if he likes you calling him that or not. He can feel the way you nestle against him, settling in comfortably and making no effort to resist. You really are too easy to control. Just a little pull and you're molded against his side. He feels you start to smooth down some of his chest scales without even thinking. Grooming him. Nice and clean. Little busybody.

He's not used to being pampered, but feeling the tension start to bleed from his muscles under your touch… maybe it’s not so bad. He glances down at you, wondering how you're able to look so contented tucked up against him. His chest rumbles as you scratch near his throat. He lets his muscles relax under your hand.

You're an annoying little thing--too innocent, too naive, too sweet, and he conveniently forgets how capable you are of convincing him of that to win him over--but it's been too damn long since he's allowed himself to be comforted.

Maybe it would be alright to let you stay with him for a little while.

...

more Price / more mer au / masterlist tag

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Love is a Many-Legged Thing

Yandere Squid Merman x Gender Neutral Reader CW: Noncon, tentacle noncon, light tentacle bondage, stalking, kidnapping, squid-based merman, big slimy prehensile merman dick, reader fucked senseless, merman fantasizes about receiving oral sex, general yandere behavior, delusional yandere, voyeurism, exhibitionism Word Count: 2k (Happy MerMay!!!! I really hope you all love the fic, would have been done weeks ago had the ac not died. But still 40min left of MerMay! I wrote this fast without a beta reader so please forgive any mistakes! The name Onyk is a reference to Onykia Ingens, a deap sea squid with an astoundingly long dick.)

Seaspark Aquarium was a very unique establishment. Not only did it contain the usual attractions that an aquarium housed, the tide pools, the sharks, a seemingly unending variety of colorful fish and corals and nudibranchs, but it also housed transient merfolk. The aquarium was situated on a flat outcrop of rocky land. Via submerged tubes it granted access to a huge tank to the ocean and merfolk below.

The tank was absolutely massive and had many different areas including a reef, a seaweed forest, a beach, and even a secluded sea cave. There were underwater cameras in most of the areas that live streamed what was happening on screens for the humans. Though the sea cave feed was restricted to adults only since the merfolk sometimes mated there.

The aquarium was just as much an exhibit for the merpeople as it was for the humans, they had underwater screens that allowed them to view the humans at play and at the food court. They enjoyed seeing and even communicating with their terrestrial cousins. There were several areas where humans and merpeople could talk face to face or via the cameras. Many of them visited quite frequently and made friendships with regular customers and their favorite staff members.

You had been blessed with landing a really good job at Seaspark Aquarium. Though it was entirely because you were the cousin of the curator of the establishment. You did janitorial tasks, including sometimes scraping the tanks, and occasionally you had to provide food for an exhibit. Even though interacting with animals or merfolk was not a common part of your job, there was one squid-man who had become quite friendly with you. Onyk.

Most of the squid type mermen shied away from human interaction, and really the aquarium as a whole, but not Onyk. He had always been a frequent visitor. A knowledgeable observer might even say it seemed that he had been hoping to find something there. The first few times he had gone had been out of pure curiosity about humans after hearing tales about them his entire life. But after his first couple of visits he was enthralled. Everything about the land walkers amazed him.

And then he met you and felt his heart flutter every single time he looked upon you. He frequently tried to engage you in conversation whenever he could and was always watching you, though often it was in secret. Onyk cherished your chats with him, he found you so interesting, even more so than he found other humans. He loved seeing you go about your tasks, it made him think of you cleaning his home as his mate while he went and got food for the two of you.

Of course if you had any say, that would never happen. Onyk, for some reason you couldn't quite place, creeped you out. No, it wasn't the head of tentacles he had in place of hair, nor the dark purple tentacles he had from the waist down, it wasn't his smile that showed off his dangerously sharp teeth, or his cyan blue eyes. No, it wasn't anything physical, just a weird energy he seemed to give off. Like a hungry animal hunting its prey.

You tried to be nice to Onyk, though you always tried to keep conversations brief and hurry on to other tasks that would take you out of his reach. Unfortunately he took your awkward stammers and clumsy rushing to zip away from him as you being extremely shy because you liked him. He sighed and stared at you longingly, head resting on his hands, as you rushed off once more. Clearly you were simply too embarrassed by your emotions to act rationally around him. Onyk had to find a way to get you to stop running off. As adorable as it was that you kept scampering off from your shyness you really needed to be closer to him.

Onyk had a brilliant, though simple, idea. It came to him right as you were in the middle of making another excuse to run away from him while the two of you were chatting in the beach area. He'd simply grab you. It wasn't the first thing he'd normally do, but you were just too prone to running off. It was more than obvious you needed him to make a firm and forceful first move.

"Well uh... it was nice seeing you again Onyk... but um... I gotta go check on the tide p-"

Onyk lunged at you suddenly with the speed and ferocity of lightning. He pulled you into the water and swiftly took you into the empty sea cave and sat you on the dry ground within. Yes, this would do perfectly for his purposes. It was a huge room that had an area for him to swim and enough space for you to run about and get exercise. This would make a lovely home for the two of you, he'd have to keep all the other merfolk out from now on but that wasn't an issue, they were respectful of claimed territory.

Once you caught your breath you were confused and angry at the sudden relocation.

"What the f-"

He interrupted you again, this time by pressing his hungry lips to yours in a passionate embrace. His long tongue slipped past your unsuspecting lips and explored every inch that it could reach. His saliva pooled in your mouth, claiming it. The offending muscle snaked down your throat before finally retreating as he broke the kiss, you struggled to find your breath once more.

"Heh, sorry for interrupting, I have just been waiting to kiss you for so long I couldn't hold back any longer!"

“What!? Why did you do that? Why did you bring me here!?”

“Well your shyness was making it hard for us to take things to the next step in our relationship, now you can’t let your nervousness get the better of you and make you run off!”

“Next step in our relationship? We have no relationship, you creep!”

“Don’t say that! Y-you just have the jitters because moving in is such a big step! Yeah, they’ll wear off soon I’m sure.”

“There won’t be a soon, I am going back to the beach!”

You started to head back to the water, but Onyk closed the distance between the two of you easily.

“But you can’t go! You’re just in denial and nervous, but you’ll love living with me, I promise. M-maybe I’m not moving too fast but too slow. That must be it, you must be all pent up and eager for my dick! So naughty~”

Onyk’s blush was evident even on his light blue skin. He swallowed your complaints in another deep kiss as he stood behind you and rubbed your crotch gently.

“We’ll do it in front of these cameras so everyone knows you’re mine now~”

And, indeed, the screens in the adults only section of the aquarium definitely picked up some viewers as the scene between you and Onyk unfolded.

Most mermen would have had trouble traversing land, but Onyk’s strong tentacles allowed him to maneuver easily enough. He peeled off your wet clothing and wrapped his arms tightly around your bare chest, rubbing and caressing you with greedy hands. His prehensile cock wrapped partially around your waist, held you close as it rubbed against you. At first you mistook the sensation for a tentacle before looking down and seeing it, the cock was tapered, icy blue and glowing at the tip, with the rest of it being dark purple.

Your shouts and screams were ignored as Onyk convinced himself they were just you being grumpy or maybe playing hard to get. The merman’s sharp teeth bit carefully at your tender neck as you squirmed. Most of his tentacles had wrapped around your legs, powerful suction cups firmly adhered them to you. They held you staunchly in place despite your best efforts to struggle.

The remaining two writhing appendages were busy with another task. They gently prodded and massaged your tight hole, slowly worming their way inside you. Your efforts to clench and keep them outside of you were rendered futile as they finally worked their way inside of you. They began thrusting in tandem back and forth within you, loosening you up well.

Your next attempt at protesting devolves into several lusty moans as he ministrations begin to elicit pleasure. It’s all the confirmation he needs that he has been right all along and definitely went about everything in the right way.

“Your mating sounds are so lovely,” he said as he nipped at your ear.

His tentacles suddenly withdrew from your lovingly stretched hole, leaving you involuntarily whimpering at the sudden removal.

“Awe, don’t worry, love. I have something far better to put into you~”

You snap out of it when you hear those words and feel his cock move itself from your waist and start wiggling against you in search of its target.

“What!? No, please do-oooh~ Aaah!”

When it found your entrance it deftly slithered right in. Much to your unwilling pleasure.

Onyk chuckled.

“I knew you just needed some good dick~ You feel soooo good. You were made for this!”

When you happened to look up at one of the cameras you blushed and looked down. The room that monitored the sea cave was now packed, everyone enjoying the sight. The aquarium was already at work recording with plans to put it on their website for sale.

You couldn’t help the lewd cacophony of noises that tumbled from your mouth as the thick slimy cock thrust back and forth inside of you.

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you!” Onyk chanted louder and louder until he slammed into you hard, filling you up with warm viscous semen at the same moment that you were shuddering from the strongest orgasm that you had ever experienced.

You were far too dazed and overstimulated to realize what was going on in that moment or what you were saying, but on autopilot you mumbled back what your brain thought it was supposed to when someone told you that they loved you.

“I l-love you too…”

Onyk was overjoyed to hear those words from his beloved human. He pulled out of you and laid down on the floor of the cave, pulling you close to him and resting your head on his chest. His webbed fingers gently caressed you as did both the tentacles that made up his "hair" and the ones below his waist. Cum slowly ebbed out of you and onto him but he didn't mind, the two of you would just get messy again the second you came to your senses. He nuzzled into your hair and gave you dozens of little kisses. Your mind was too blank and your body too exhausted to do anything but drool a bit on his chest while he cuddled you.

His head was swimming with all of the things the two of you would do together. Sharing meals, chatting, mating. He couldn’t wait to wrap his cock gently around your neck while at the same time plunging it down your throat and having that pretty mouth of yours suck it until he was feeding you his cum. Maybe the two of you could try it when you woke up.

Meanwhile onlookers on the viewing screens were putting away their cocks and slipping their fingers out of their pussies with the spectacle now over, but word soon spread and tourism was up over 300 percent! Scientists the world over were interested in documenting this rare species of merman having sexual relations with a human. Grants were given. A great raise and credit to your cousin, the curator.

It was even considered a diplomatic victory for merfolk and humans!

Everyone came to the consensus that on all fronts, but yours, it was far too beneficial and lucrative to make sure you had to permanently stay in the sea cave for the rest of your life with Onyk. At the very least they equipped the habitat with amenities like a proper bathroom, tv, video games, and human food. The sea cave area was also expanded, and you were afforded some privacy, except for most of the times that your “husband” Onyk was spilling his seed into you. That’s what people wanted to see.

[artist-ellen]

Historical Mermay 2024: Minoan Mermaid!

This one was a little bit down to the wire. I did the sketching and inking 3 different times before I was happy enough with it. Even now I still have doubts. This illustration is based on at least two Minoan murals of women, but things like the hairstyle are wildly mermaid-exaggerated because I have a theme and that theme is princess hair. XD I also tried to work within some of the mural's color-palettes but I don't think I succeeded very well. Too many texture layers? I can't tell, I can't dwell on it any more.

Like last year this Mermay challenge prompt list comes from the amazing chloe.z.arts on IG. I'm going to do my best to keep up with the prompts, wish me luck!

I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram, tiktok or check out my coloring book available now \ („• ֊ •„) /

https://linktr.ee/ellen.artistic

[xxnori-dorixx]

!Gore and violence under the cut!

"Before the dangerous fish even has time to swim towards me, something huge suddenly, as if from nowhere, cuts off the fish with an obvious loud sound of impact, as well as tearing of flesh, when something pushed itself and the fish to the rocky bottom.

The blood froze in my veins when I saw this, eyes widened in shock and blinked in confusion. What was that...? I slowly turn in the direction where something with the fish disappeared from my field of vision... that was a mistake.

The huge something that I barely made out was large, and had a long tail, with fins that I could not see from there... but the body was clearly scattered with many small and large yellowish spots of biluminescence that resembled the night sky.

The thing itself pressed the already half-dead fish to the rocky surface with a force that was almost nothing compared to the size of this huge something. The fish was clearly still fighting, trying to get out of the grip of the huge creature, but it was strong, not letting go of its prey and then-

It suddenly plunged its mouth into the fish, tearing the skin and flesh without much effort, and even tearing it off in pieces without sparing, and the claws of its hands (hands??!) also dug into the skin of the fish, from which a lot of yellowish blood began to accumulate in the water, as the meal of the terrible and huge creature passed. I may be a biologist... but even for me this picture was terrifying, and I couldn't help but turn a few shades paller as I watched, unable to move, and my eyes growing dizzy. No wonder I was told me that I'm the most sentimental of everyone...

The fish, despite the battle, began to slowly lose life, while the creature greedily devoured it, and the sounds of tearing flesh and bones that made my head spin.

Okay... calm down, I need to get out of here before this creature decides to eat me too! The thought made my stomach twist with horror and a little nausea from what I saw.

I tried to slowly start swimming back... but as luck would have it, a sob escaped me, causing several bubbles to fly out of the mask.

This immediately attracts the creature's attention, causing it to pause for a second... before their head suddenly turns to me, and I immediately meet the gaze of large bloody red eyes, which paralyzed me in horror. You could barely see the yellow blood from the fish it had eaten on its snout (or face?). And just as I was thinking about it, a tongue came out of its mouth and licked its teeth, and its gaze said it all...

I'm next."

( Get a Moon mer treat before the MerMay ends:3 )

Light version:

[midnight-mourning]

Siren's Curse (Of Bad Luck)

🐟🐟Midnight's DCA MerMay Day 13🐟🐟

this one was a treat bc i got to include pirates and i think you all know how much i enjoy pirates, also just a silly treat overall, enjoy!

Prompt: Hiiii Midnight!! :) For my request, Siren Reader trying to lure the boys to their death, but reader is really really bad at it. In their failure the three become really close. I want reader to be mad about it for a while too that they don't find them 'scary' after a while. The boys can be mers or human, does not matter.

DCFPU prompt used: Pirates

Word Count: 2214

will be posted to ao3 later this evening

🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊

The waves around you lap lightly across your tail and against the rock upon which you sit. The moonlight above peeks through the clouds in streaks. It's serene, soothing, would lull you to sleep if you didn't know better. Because moment's like these usually don't last. 

And much to your total surprise, it doesn't. 

Out in the distance, a ship slinks across the horizon towards you. Even from here you can make out the chatter of its crew, the creaks and groans of the ship as it rocks against the waves. You sense the nervous energy which winds around each person aboard like a vice. Feel the nervous beats of their tender little hearts. Almost taste their fear. Good. As they should be. It makes things that much easier for you. 

You've got a bit of an excited thrill in you yourself. This is what you were waiting on. The night would have—admittedly—been boring without someone showing up with the hopes of trying to pass you. And some of your most fun was being able to lull them into a false sense of security before ultimately—well, you're getting ahead of yourself. 

Unable to wait, you dive down into the water below practically without a sound. You swim with ease over to the ship, popping up next to the hull. Now much closer, you can make out the distinct mutterings and mumblings of the crew. All worried about sirens and curses and more. All of it relating back to you. 

You want to give them a little scare. Really rattle them before the main event. You open your palm then drag your claws against the wooden hull, the loud, abrupt scratching sound it makes all but halts the conversation above. You muffle your own snickering. You wait a minute or so, until they've started talking just a little more again, then start to hum. 

At this, they delve into harsh whispers, someone shouts 'Siren! It's a siren!' before they're hushed. Enough's enough, you've had your fun, so you shift from humming to singing. 

You've done this so many times now it's easy, though by nature your song comes to you without effort. It rolls off your tongue as smooth as the finest of silks, soft as the breeze and gentle as the sea on a calm day. You sing with passion, you sing of desire, and you sing for those who need it. 

As you sing you slowly work your way up the side of the ship, clinging to the wood and ropes as you go. You'll try to pluck off which ones you can that are within your reach, that should give the rest enough of a hint to leave and never come back. 

You've made it up the edge, spying an entranced sailor right within your reach. You shift your song to be more directed at him, hand outstretching lovingly. You're about to take hold of him, drag him down with you—only for cold iron to be pressed to the side of your temple, followed by a click. 

You waver, startled, but still keep your song up, perhaps it's someone who's got a bit of cotton in their ears, trying to resist. No matter, they'll succumb soon enough. 

But your voice practically dies in your throat upon seeing who—or what, rather—is pointing a weapon at you.

A person who wears the clothes of a man but looks nothing like it. With skin the color of the sun and shiny metal in his exposed joints. There's no hair on his head, which is instead surrounded by large orange triangles—which are pierced with small rings, again like the rays of the sun. A hat sits upon his head, and with the rest of his dress you surmise he's likely the captain. Nothing like any captain you've ever seen.

He's not human, that's for sure. 

Nor is the other man—other... captain...?—that appears from behind him. 

You can only stare in amazement, confusion, and slight irritation at the two of them. Suddenly unable to muster your song. The remaining crew is still very much dazed, and would remain so for at least a little while. 

The one with the gun clears his throat. "Not very polite to come aboard a sailor's ship without permission, Little Fish."

You swallow, still trying to keep your words honeyed beneath your reply. 

"Not polite to point a gun at someone for doing so."

You hear a few clicks, they're coming from his head, you realize. "Trespassing."

You glance up to the black flag waving from the mast. "You're pirates."

"Even worse, then." He tsks.

"If I'm trespassing on your ship, you're trespassing in my waters."

Head tilt. "You own the sea?"

"Something like that. This bit of it anyway." You press your temple more against the gun, annoyed. 

"Perhaps you'd be interested in sharing?"

"Not really—"

The other man—who had a blue and white face with inhuman red eyes—suddenly steps forward, trying to take the pistol. "This is a waste of time, I'll handle this if you won't."

You suddenly begin singing again then, and still to your dismay there's no effect on either of them, but the others on board are still pulled under your song, and using this to your advantage are able to create a distraction that allows you to dive back down into the water below. 

When you emerge again a bit further away—and hopefully out of range—you look back to the ship, where the two from before now stand clutching the railing. 

"I'll consider this a mishap and let you live for now, but next time, don't count on being so lucky." You grin, diving under the waves though in reality, you're both frustrated and baffled. 

It must have just been a fluke. An odd happenstance. Those occur sometimes, right?

Right?

As you would come to find out, apparently that odd happenstance was a common happenstance. But one that only occured with those two in particular. 

Captain Sun and Captain Moon—as you'd come to learn—were entirely unaffected by your singing. Worryingly so. No, confoundedly annoyingly so. 

They would appear every couple of weeks, always trying to get past you and always failing. But not because they were enthralled by you, no it was only their crew that was affected by you. Which made this whole ordeal that much worse for you. You couldn't scare them off for long no matter what you did! The pirate ship continuing to blemish your waters like an ugly thorn in your side. 

But while that was utterly annoying, the part that bothered you the most specifically was that no matter how much you sang, how well you sang, or what song you used, it did absolutely nothing to them. They always told you it was because of what they were—automatons and not human beings—but you refused to accept that.

They seemed to find it amusing even, your efforts that is. Which only fueled your frustration and almost led to them succeeding one day. Too baffled and embarrassed that you practically croaked out several times before you could reorganize yourself. 

Though you admit, you think part of it may just simply be... fluster on your part. In the months since your first encounter, they've made conversation with you, starting brief, but growing longer with each passing visit. You think to them it’s almost a bit of a game. To you it’s... something else. 

The feeling's quite unfamiliar to you and you certainly don't like it. The way your heart sometimes flutters when Sun banters with you, or when Moon threatens you, no longer with the animosity he once held. How you can't seem to take your eyes off them with every added visit. Coupled with your inability to get them under your spell it all makes you angry. 

Angry at yourself, and certainly angry at them. 

Such anger simmers under the surface with this latest visit of theirs. They skip the formalities, as they have the past few times. Instead anchoring their ship further away and using a long boat to meet you in your usual spot. Just the two of them, of course. Rub it in even more that you have no effect on them. 

"Afternoon, Little Fish," Sun calls out to you as they approach. 

You spare him a brief wave, busy sharpening your claws against the rock. "Captain Sun, Captain Moon."

"Formal today aren't you?" Moon chides. "Is something the matter, Star?"

"Perhaps they're upset it's been so long since our last visit. Got bored out of their mind without us to pester them," Sun snickers. 

"The gift we have might lighten their mood then. Maybe they'll even let us pass."

"Now that's wishful thinking." 

At that they both laugh. It only serves to make your anger flare further. 

Your claws scrape against the rock, agitated, but collected. "I have no need for gifts. Nor the desire for them." You go so far as to turn away from them once they reach you, feeling hurt at the confirmation that you're just an obstacle to them. 

There's quiet behind you, only the sound of shifting mechanisms that you once found intriguing, alluring even. Now they only serve to remind you that you're no equal to them. 

The hand on your shoulder instinctively makes you want to turn and fight. The closeness unfamiliar, frightening. You resist, however, out of something called 'common courtesy' as Sun once described it. 

"Have we upset you?" Moon asks, tone now concerned. 

Another hand, this one clasping yours in your lap. "We're terribly sorry if that's the case."

This closeness, the false worry in their words, it strikes deep in your heart. Deeper than even the wound of your inability to charm them. 

"Do you know the reason why I won't allow you safe passage through here?" you ask them, soft.

Sun's chin rests on your shoulder. "Because you find it amusing?"

"Because we're pirates and you find that morally abhorrent?"

"It's because it's my home." You sigh, eyes trained on the waters in front of you. "And it's my duty to protect it for those who can't. To keep them safe. I sing for me, and my own entertainment, yes, to a point. But I also do it for them."

"Why are you telling us this?"

You turn to Moon, bitterness written across your face. "Because I'm making it clear to you that no amount of anything will get me to change my mind about letting you through. So, toy with my feelings all you like, but it won't make a lick of difference."

"Toy with your—Little Fish, is that really what you think?" Sun raises his hand from your shoulder, reaching up to turn you to face him. 

You swallow. "Of course it is. You've made it abundantly clear all you see me as is someone in your way. Not to mention how you've wounded my pride with your inhuman ability to resist my song."

"Well to our credit we're not human—" You hear metal hit metal behind you, and Sun flinches. "But that's beside the point. I apologize on both our behalves that you feel that way, Love. Because it's far from the truth I assure you."

Moon moves closer, gentle, unlike him. "We initially intended to slip by you, yes. But that was before we met you, got to know you. Began to care for you."

"Do you think if we were just using you we'd keep coming back?" Sun raises your hand to his face, pressing a kiss to it. "Do you think we'd be this close with you, so open?"

"Isn't this what normal humans or automatons do between friends?" you ask bluntly. 

They both seem to freeze for a moment, sharing a glance. Then, they start to snicker, before bursting with laughter. 

You feel your face heat up, Sun speaking to you between fits of hysterics. 

"Not-not in the slightest, Little Fish. I would never hold, kiss, or cherish someone I didn't adamantly love. I doubt Moon would either."

"I have no frame of reference, how was I supposed to know!" you bluster.

Both captains continue to laugh at your expense, while you continue to process what they've said. 

Again, your face feels warm. "So, all this time you've been... courting me? And I didn't even know?" Your hands come up to your face, groaning.

Moon snickers, arms wrapping around you. "You were too busy trying to lure us to our deaths." 

"Which, perhaps you'd have better luck with if you didn't have to contend against these." Sun reaches into his shirt and pulls out a chain with a bright green gem on the end. It reflects the light of the day intensely, so sparkly it burns. 

It takes you a moment, but then it clicks. You gape, expression souring. 

"That's cheating!" Despite the confirmation of your shared feelings just seconds ago you now have the desire to throttle the both of them.

Still, in the laughter you now share with each other, you feel a sense of peace, of completeness, that you'd never experienced before. You relish in it. 

And in getting to snatch up those pretty amulets they're wearing just to prove a point. 

Though, you've suddenly lost the voice to sing. 

What a pity.

🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊🎣🌊

Thank you for the request @fishm0ther!! as i said very much had fun with it and i'm content with how it turned out ^^ thanks for reading!!

Masterlist post is here

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[c1phra]

... ❝ SIREN SONG. ❞ ft. hugo x reader

𝒾. ⠀IN WHICH : you find yourself captivated, enthralled by a creature that seems more beautiful and more deadly than you could ever comprehend.

꒰ contents ꒱ cw: blood, vague allusions to death, hugo may or may not have eaten a person. siren!hugo. gn!reader. horror-ish, open-ended. wc : 1351

꒰ notes ꒱ suggested by @rainswept! written as a part of my mermay series. this... feels kinda rushed. idk if i like the ending but i was STRUGGLING trying to keep this close to the same length as the others, and i didn't even manage it.

Blood, the faint, metallic scent of blood is the first thing you register when your toes meet the sand. The smell makes you halt in your steps, glancing wearily across the beach to find the source. There was nothing, no one. It was well after dark, and all other residents of the town were tucked away in their homes, too scared to even glance outside at the stirring ocean.

You were warned too. Once, twice, more times than you could count, they tried to warn you. And you tried to listen, you truly did. But something pulled you back, every time.

It was the song at first. A sweet, crooning melody that carried into through the open windows of the inn, filling your room with its pleasant tune. You’d peered outside, only to find an empty beach staring back. Still, the song continued, echoing from the stretches of rocks past the shore. It almost drove you mad, resigning yourself to pressing a pillow against your ears to drown out the noise. 

When you asked the innkeeper about it in the morning, he went pale. “Lower your voice, kid.” He whispered harshly, eyeing the other guests eating breakfast two tables away. “Listen, no matter how much you want to find it, leave it be. It ain’t worth it. If you’re hearing the call, that means it's got its eyes on you now. There’s nothing you can do but turn away and pray it finds some other slab of meat to sing to.”

You stared in bewilderment, your words spluttered. “What are you talking about—”

“Hush!” He hissed. “The siren, kid. What else?”

Under no circumstances should you leave after dusk, you were told. The creature rises from the water with the moon, and won’t stop singing until its hunger is sated. You nodded silently, mouth slightly agape. His words, and the urgency he spoke them in, made very little sense, but you swallowed down the rest of your reservations quickly.

That night, you stuffed your ears with cotton and pretended not to hear when the singing rose to a crescendo. 

It took you three, maybe four days to crack. By then, the dark circles around your eyes looked like bruises, and you were snapping at every face that dared to pass you in the halls. It was torturous, it was miserable, and you—

You had enough. 

The sun had just begun to rise by the time you stumbled back, your shoes missing and your head in a daze. One of the staff, an early-riser by the looks of it, balked at your appearance at the foot of the stairs, shooting you a worried look. You smiled thinly. The concern was sweet, but it wouldn’t stop you. Not from leaving to visit the shore again the next night, and the night that followed that, and so forth.

You don't think you could stop yourself if you tried; once you were tempted the first time, he had you—hook, line, and sinker.

As you reach the rocks, you slip your shoes off and leave them on the sand, climbing onto one of the rocks closest to the ocean and dipping your feet into the water. Already, the proximity to the sea seems to soothe some latent ache in your shoulders, filling the absence of something you never knew you were missing.

“You’re back, my dearest. I have been waiting for you.”

The voice cuts through the night as cleanly as a blade, making you jump. You didn’t notice his appearance, not a single splash nor ripple breaking the surface of the water. And as usual, he seemed to take delight in catching you off-guard.

“Hm? What's with that look?” A hand works its way under your chin, tilting it from side to side. Sometime in between your slow blinking, Hugo had pushed up onto the rocks, propped up by the long, slender fish-tail that replaced his lower half. He forced you to face him, giving you a perfect view of his heterochromic eyes—one a pale grey, the other a startling red. “Don't tell me you came all this way not to talk to me?”

“No,” You say slowly, your heart rate rising at his touch. The reaction he seemed to draw out of you was unsettling; no matter how much his silky smooth voice put you at ease, no matter how easily you melted under his touch, your body would always reach like a cornered animal, shaking and pulling away.

You could still smell blood, lingering in the air.

“It's so dry up here,” He sighs, dropping his hand. Your face grows cold, but you bite back the urge to lean into him again. “Come to the water, with me, won't you? I promise I'll keep you close.”

It was the same question, every night. Every night Hugo would draw you in with his song, every night he would meet you at the rocks and shower you with affection, and every night he would ask you to come down into the ocean with him. He would never push, never force, but you always got the uncomfortable feeling that the question was merely an illusion of choice.

The way he looked at you was with an inhuman sort of hunger, his eyes dragging along your body like he was sizing you up to devour you. One of these days, you would break, and one of these days you would sink into the waves. Perhaps that was why he seemed so sure of himself when he asked it; if your resolve was weak enough to come meet him every night in the first place, then it was only a matter of time before it cracks fully, splintering like driftwood.

“I... can't.”

“Surely you’re not still so wary?” His voice was teasing, but there was something sharp to the edge of it. Through a flash of teeth, you caught a faint speck of dried red stuck to his canines.

“I can't swim.” You blurt out suddenly.

“Oh? Are you scared, my dear?” The man—no, the creature murmurs, leaning forward to press a kiss to the pulse point of your neck. The sensation was feather-light, and yet sent you shivering. You could imagine the fangs hidden beneath his closed lips, a single fold of tissue between their sharpened points and the delicate flesh of your neck. Under his mouth, your heart was beating at the pace of a rabbit.

You felt exposed, raw. A helpless prey animal, caught in the grasp of its natural predator. He was toying with you; and he had to know it. Otherwise, why else would he be holding you so gently, arms circling around your waist with just enough tightness to be uncomfortable, as if he knew exactly how much pressure to apply to snap you in two?

And yet, there was a softness to his touch that you couldn’t ignore, a tender sort of reverence in the way he traced along your skin. It almost made you forget, for just a moment, the sharpness of his teeth. A moment, only a moment is what it took, but it made you falter. There was a voice in the back of your head, crying out—reason, or common sense, or some sort of instinct, begging you to pull away. To run, while your neck wasn’t yet torn to shreds.

Your instincts screamed, but they weren’t what answered him. 

“No,” The words fall out too quickly, too carelessly, as if he has his claws in your throat, pulling them out by force. You can’t stop them, especially not when he’s kissing the taste of them right off your lips before you even have a chance to regret them. “Not of you. Never of you.”

And at that, his eyes soften, and your guard wavers. Because for a moment, it seems like the answer pleases him, an almost genuine smile wrapping across his face. It makes your heart flutter, heat rising over your cheeks. He nods, once, then twice.

“It's okay.” Hugo grins, so wide you can see the traces of blood in his teeth. “Whenever you're ready.”

©c1phra 2025 : do not copy, translate, repost, redistribute, or use my work to train ai. reblogs are appreciated <33

[yandere-sins]

The Octopodes' Tale - Chapter II

Thank you everyone for voting ♥ It's time we actually get to know our new, sweet yan, isn't it? Wonder how you guys will decide this time, especially if you have read about the facility and the Professor in the previous MerMay story, hehe! ;) Fandom: Original Content   Pairings: Yandere!Octopus Merman x GN!AFAB!Reader Words: ~2k  Warnings: Yandere, Monsters (Tentacels, Oversized Mention, Mermaids, Monster Appearances, Sharp Teeth, Claws), Fear of potential harm to human/animal

"Excuse me!" you repeated, this time firmer, standing up straight. Everyone was now finally giving you their full attention, minus the guards with their guns still pointed at the man in the pool. Questioning glances were thrown your way, and your heart throbbed from nervousness as you felt the eyes of all these great researchers on you. They had decades of experience combined that you'd likely never reach if the facility decided to kick you out for the unnecessary ruckus you caused. And yet, you had to admit to yourself that the truth was more important than your pride. Even if it wasn't in this research field, you could still enjoy and care for sea life. But if someone were to be harmed because of you, that's not something you could easily get over. 

"It's my fault! That guy didn't do anything, really. I realized someone was with me in the room after I left, and I freaked out when I returned and found a struggle in the water! I didn't want another person or the octopus to get hurt, which, by the way–"

Directing your focus to the guy still bopping in the water, you gave him a stern glare. "You should get out of there, that's not a pool to swim in! It's the octopus's home! You'd not appreciate someone stirring up your home either, would you! That poor thing must be so frightened right now, I can't imagine what it feels like!"

Stunned silence. 

Everyone stared at you, their mouths agape, and you felt the heat burn in your cheeks as your shame made you think about where you had gone wrong. Even if you did the right thing, they were probably horrified by your reveal and the commanding tone of your voice. You wanted to drown yourself in that very pool beneath your feet in that moment, but thinking about them having to fish out your body only made you more ashamed. You should never have come here; this was way too much embarrassment for one day!

Unexpectedly, the silence vanished, replaced by loud laughter all around you.

First, there were chuckles from behind you, then a bellowing laugh from the Professor. Soon enough, everyone had a full-on laughing fit, and even the guards gave each other looks as if to say, "Really?" their stances relaxing just a tad, even though their weapons were still raised. 

Perhaps the only one that wasn't laughing was the guy in the water. However, you were glad to see he was getting closer to the pool's edge again, seemingly ready to finally get out of the tank. If you had helped anyone that day, at least the poor octopus who was confined here and had to endure all of this. Hopefully, it would recover from the stress, considering how fragile marine life could be. 

Immediately, the guards snapped back into focus as the guy grabbed the metal grates around the pool, and you felt the frustration bubble inside you. The researchers were still laughing at you, the guards kept stopping the man from getting out, and no one cared for the poor specimen in the water, denying it the calm it deserved! 

"Let him get out! Isn't protecting your specimens the most important thing for you guys?! You are ridiculous, it's not like he can run away from a locked room!"

Squeezing past the guards, you knelt next to the man, immediately feeling thrown off by how huge he was. Worry crept up your spine as you crouched beside him, and although you remained open-minded, it was unsettling as he was more than twice your size. So, even though you wanted to hook your arms beneath his and pull him from the water, you went for only one arm instead, tugging at it with as much strength as you could muster after exhausting yourself in the water. 

Thankfully, after cocking his head a little and watching you struggle, the man finally did his part in slowly moving with you. None of your muscles could truly move him on your own, but with his help, you pulled him up on the metal. You managed to get his torso out of the water just in time before your strength ran dry, someone placing their hand on your shoulder as if to relieve you. Immediately, you felt your and his heavy body sag, his shoulder leaning against you awkwardly as you turned your head to look at the Professor standing behind you. He gave you a slightly pitiful smile and his fingers gripped your shoulder tightly, pressing painfully into your skin. He looked very different from the old man you had met before, the smile not reaching his eyes as they drilled into you from above.

"Your sense of justice honors you, but I think you should take a good look at the specimen you're trying to help. We wanted to wait for you to realize it on your own once you started working here properly, but it would be a disservice to everyone if we kept you in the dark any longer."

Your brows furrowed in confusion as you watched the Professor give you an encouraging nod towards the man you were still clinging on to. Slowly, you turned your head, glimpsing at his face, a cheeky grin plastered on it. Besides his size, you thought there wasn't much special about him. But the longer you looked, the more uncanny he became. His skin had a warm tan, almost reddish and feverish, but icy cold to the touch. His eyes still had the golden glow you had seen before, but there were many different colors melting into each other, his irises dotted with orange and red that made the yellow pop even more. And then his mouth came into view, and you were unsure how you could have missed the pitch-black teeth and the jagged yellow tongue shining forth from behind them. 

You let go of the man at once, your instincts tingling in your mind again like before. Something wasn't right about this guy at all, and you couldn't pinpoint whether he looked wrong or simply sick to you, but either way, his appearance was uncanny. You didn't understand what was happening until you looked over his shoulder and down his body, tan skin turning into a pure red mass around his hips. 

And from it, tentaclese emerged. 

"What…" you mumbled disbelievingly, slowly moving backwards on your knees and away from that creature. The guy leaned forward onto the grated floor, seemingly unbothered, while red tentacles poked out from the water, sticking and gripping the metal around him. They seemed to come after you with all the time in the world, creeping eerily into your direction, while you felt your own world stop spinning as you tried to comprehend what was going on. But there was only so far you could go until your back hit the legs of the Professor, who stood in your way with an unbothered knowing look in his eyes as you looked up at him with questions and a need for answers. 

"A siren. Perhaps more commonly known as mermaids—or mermen, like in this case. It's what we are all about here at the facility. We study and live with these creatures. After all, they, too, are creatures of the oceans, you see."

Stretching out his hand, one of the tentacles reached up to meet it, wrapping around it with fluid motions despite its massive size. However, when you looked down at the… siren, you found his strange eyes stuck on you, still smiling while he watched. 

"Leomaris is one of our most prized specimens here. You'll hardly find anyone more active and cooperative, which is why I wanted to assign you to him. He can be a bit playful, as you likely have guessed after this ordeal, but studying him will lead us forward on our path to learn about these creatures, I have no doubts."

Shaking his hand once, the tentacle let go of the Professor with the squelching sound, common to the suction cups. Instead, it gently snaked to the ground again, landing right in front of you, winding and twisting as was usual for these appendages. Your stomach churned as you weren't sure if you were in awe or disgusted, fearing you might throw up as you watched the tentacles closing in on you. Although your brain understood the information you were given, even now, watching the merman lower himself flat onto the grid and reaching out towards his own tentacle, long, black claws at the tips of his fingers playing with the winding red, you couldn't quite believe it. 

Mermaids were fairytales. At most, they were legends from the past, apparitions sailors had seen or animals they had mistaken for humans. And now you had to just accept that they were real? They actually existed? That the creature in front of you wasn't an animatronic or a projection? But you had touched it, and… it felt real. So maybe it was? They really existed out there, and this facility captured and studied them? And you could be a part of this? This amazing research?

"So?" the Professor grunted, slowly getting down on one knee again to be on your eye level, placing his hand on your shoulder. He gave it an encouraging pat to tear you out of the daze you were under, your head slowly turning away from the organism in front of you. Even now, your body was still screaming for you to get away. Never look away from a creature more dangerous than yourself, and give it a chance to attack. That's what helped with most animals, but you weren't so sure with this one. 

"Will you join us?"

The Professor smiled at you, nodding his head once again towards the siren, and you still felt frozen as you looked back at him. A big, red tentacle awaited you, hanging in the air as if waiting for something. Someone. You. 

You were supposed to take it and seal the deal. Start your work here and join the research team, even after what happened. You'd take care of this creature and study him alongside others like you. You'd get to do what you wanted and have the potential to be someone greater than you ever anticipated. If this research was finalized with your name on it… you couldn't even imagine the changes your life would undergo by accepting this position. You'd be part of something big and meaningful and everything you ever wanted.

But was it worth the risk? You knew nearly nothing about this type of creature. Even if the Professor was convinced of his willingness to cooperate with you on the research, you knew the legend surrounding mermaids and how they usually weren't interested in building mutual trust and understanding with humans. Who said he wasn't like the human-eating monsters from the books? With all the red on his body, he resembled the comical red devil, and he might very well be one. A predator waiting for you to fall once more for his tricks and jump into the water so he could take a bite out of you. Who was to say you weren't just a snack for him, and your instincts were right to warn you? If mermaids were real, what more crazy things would you encounter if you stayed?

Thoughts and reasoning as always, are welcome! ♥

[click4rainy]

Part of your World//Mk1 Kast x Merperson!Reader (Mermay Special)

👽:This took TOO LONG OMGGG. I put my whole mermussy into this. Enjoy 🧜🏼‍♀️🧜🏼‍♂️🧜🏼

❌: NOT proof read.

🖇️:The whole roster (attempted I’m sorry if I missed someone…) x reader

⚠️: SFW/Fluffy/Silly head canons/little imagines and scenarios for you Tehehe.

🐉 Liu Kang

★ Liu Kang was just meditating near a hidden coastal temple when a divine presence overwhelmed his senses. Immediately he was drawn to it. And with that, encountered you—basking on a rock, singing softly. You mistook him for a sea spirit at first, which amused him quite a bit.

★ His initial reaction was reverent—most definitely intrigued. Liu Kang sees beauty in all life forms, and you are no exception. Your aura attracts him, he finds it serene and ethereal. He greeted you as an equal, not a curiosity.

★ Your worlds are so different, it took him several months to ensure your connection was genuine and not born of novelty. Making it official after month four.

★ He made you a necklace with a pretty jade charm wrapped in golden wire. Wrapping it around your neck one night (during a full moon because he’s sentimental like that) He simply declared “From now on, until the stars fall from the sky, I am yours.” You gladly accepted.

★ It’s been over a year since then. He warms the shallow waters you dwell occasionally for when you’re cold, and you bring him pearls. Lots of them. He’s kept every single one in a pouch on his hip. (It’s getting a bit heavy)

★ While you teach him sea songs, he tells you celestial stories. (He has many, many many celestial stories…) Sometimes, he’ll show you human calligraphy on flat stones as well. You enjoy and appreciate the effort.

★ You’ll rest your tail on his lap while he meditates.

★ sometimes he’ll play with your hair, most times it’s you playing with his.

★ Floating together beneath the stars, Liu holds your hand beneath the waves. “Did you know your eyes reflect the moonlight better than the ocean?” He whispers. You flick water in his face, flushed and gills flaring. “You literally glow.” You softly giggle.

•••

🪷 Kung Lao

★ While skinny dipping (against better judgment) he saw you lounging nearby. He caught your eye, (duh) and you teased him without mercy. He scrambled out of the water—flustered and beyond enchanted while his hands flew to his crotch.

★ Of course after his initial shock—he pulled up his boxers (dampened immediately by his lack of grace) and flirted like no tomorrow. It was…charming in a dumb human-man kind of way.

★ It took only three months to make things official between the two of you. Impulsive yes, but no less sincere.

★ He carved a token out of his own hats metal lining—a small crescent moon charm. (He has a chip in his hat as an every day reminder of you.) Offering it to you as a keepsake, you chirped and trilled with excitement. That was sentimental to you.

★ A year and a half later, and you two are still going strong! He teaches you dumb surface slang while you teach him how to whistle underwater. (Turns out, it’s nearly impossible for humans to do so)

★ Kung Lao is the type to get all giddy and excited when he holds his breath long enough to surprise you. (You are overly impressed every time.)

★ He brings you fruits from the surface, and sometimes even these things called dumplings. He insists that he’s teaching you the ‘epitome of land culture’. You take in every word, fascinated.

★ you’ll braid hand made seashell beads into his hair with his head in your lap. (He falls asleep more than half the time and wakes up with sun kissed skin. Sometimes sunburn…)

★ One evening while attempting to impress you, Kung Lao tried to surf on some makeshift board of tree bark, immediately wiping out into the water below.

★ You laughed so hard you snorted, watching as he resurfaced—sputtering, but grinning stupidly. “I meant to do that, by the way.” He says standing up triumphantly in the knee deep water. You shook your head, rolling your eyes while swimming a few circles around him lazily. “Mhmm, of course, very smooth.”

•••

⚡️Raiden

★ Raiden had encountered you during a lightning storm over a coastal temple while on a solo mission. Seeing a shimmer in the waters, he followed the light—only to find you tangled in a net….

★ Looking at you, Raiden was shocked, in awe—and also a little nervous. He didn’t believe merfolk were real, and now here you were—literally thanking him as he cut the net loose. Right after, you vanished with a smile, leaving him stunned and longing. He couldn’t stop thinking about you since that moment.

★ One week turned into three months. Then six. The recurring visits built a tight bond between the two of you.

★ And before he knew it, you had ‘claimed’ him with a kiss and a nip to his lips. Gifting him a strand of kelp with your magic woven through it, tying it around his wrist. He’s been wearing it for two years now.

★ He teaches you about agriculture and harvest festivals, occasionally bringing plums or pears for you. You tell him about sea rituals and even teach him a prayer to say before entering the ocean out of ‘respect for the tides’

★ He hums the melodies you taught him when he is stressed and away from you. And you often find yourself relating him to the color blue. Especially the one that shows when exploring the coral reefs—when the sun hits the water just right. Pretty and deep.

★ Tonight, Raiden stands ankle deep in the water, bowing slightly, extending his hand to hand you a gift, you giggle, and instead of taking the bundle immediately, you swam closer, reaching and and managing to poke his nose while he bowed, a small zap sparking between you.

★ Raiden’s eyes shoot open and he flushes, stumbling back, he laughs. Boyish and genuine, making you light up. Finally taking the gift, you tilt your head, teasing him. “You’re adorable when flustered.” He simply looked away, trying to will his blush away. “Yes, yes—please open your gift now…”

•••

🎬 Johnny Cage

★ He was filming a water based action movie and almost drowned trying to impress the damn crew. You saved him and instantly became the ‘mysterious sea beauty’. The tabloids never shut up about it.

★ Johnny was is complete disbelief—before snapping into an immediate desperation for your number. (You have no number…)

★ After about two weeks of hilarious, failed date attempts—you began actually enjoying his company.

★ It was official within one month. He had set up a sushi picnic on the sand for the two of you. It was cute for the first few minutes until the wind blew sand all over the food…(it was the thought that flattered you.)

★ Ten months passed since then. And he’s built a floating dock retreat just to be near you. Occasionally filming you when you’re simply floating on your back or lazily laying on your stomach with your tail behind you, fins soaking in the sun.

★ He brags about you constantly. Definitely trying to make a movie based off your love story.

★ You help him rehearse lines with exaggerated mimicry, teasing him and his people’s way of ‘entertainment’ but you are fascinated by it nonetheless.

★ Johnny has custom waterproof jewelry made for you. One of them being a charm bracelet with gold plated mini sunglasses.

★ Bursting through the surface, gasping. He huffed out with a grin “forty two seconds! C’mon! Personal best right there!” You just laugh, emerging with him. “Quite impressive…just don’t drown trying to rehearse lines below surface, okay…?”

★ “okay—okay—I hear you. No drowning for the drama.” You flick water at him, hiding your smile under the water.

•••

🗡️ Kenshi Takahashi

★ Kenshi met you while tracking a lost artifact near a coastal village. He had just begun to understand Sento, and was meditating near the ocean to focus. He heard a splash, which had been you, watching, curious, lying on the sand with your chin propped in your hand.

★ He was intrigued, not afraid. His life had been full of war and loss, so meeting a mythical being that radiated serenity was jarring—but comforting.

★ Though he can’t see you, he often remarks about feeling your presence.

★ “You know, I’m aware of your gaze…” He simply said out. You froze, flushed, and replied “Simply curious about the blind swordsman meditating near my waters…”

★ He often said your company felt like sunlight reflecting on calm water. And that made you feel a little attached…your kindness eventually chipped away at his guarded exterior.

★ Roughly six months passed and the two of you had built trust. You had helped him express his emotional vulnerabilities. He made you feel protected in a spiritual sense. Even when parted.

★ Every visit, every shared silence, every gentle touch over the days sealed something permanent between you.

★ Resting near your ocean grotto one afternoon, Kenshi reached out and brushed a lock of wet hair from your face. He whispered that “even in darkness, you’re the brightest thing I’ve known in years.”

★ You cupped his face and gently pulled him into a salt tinted kiss. Afterward, he simply stayed rather than his usual departure. That was the first night he had fallen asleep on the rocks with you. Curled up in each other’s damp warmth.

★ one year later and he still likes to polish seashells into small charms and present them to you with intense sincerity. You accept every single one.

★ Definitely trains by the shore so you can continue to be fascinated by your ‘blind swordsman’

★ you’ve made him a coral beaded necklace. He wears it proudly and threatens Johnny any time he tries to tease him about it.

★ The moon was just beginning to rise, and you were resting on a rock near a bonfire Kenshi had built. He’s quietly cooking you fish, and you’re humming something ancient and slow. Something that tugs at his heart every time.

★ “You’re doing that thing again,” he says.

★ “What thing…?”

★ “Sounding like I don’t deserve you.”

★ You flushed and traced your fingertip into the wet sand, drawing a nervous little swirl. He simply chuckles, rare and soft. Walking over, kneeling and reaching for your hand. You guide it to your heart.

★ “You do.” You whisper bashfully, letting him plant a kiss to your palm, cradling your hand like it was made of starlight.

•••

🔥 Kuai Liang

★ Kuai Liang stumbled upon you while tracking a cultist through a misty coastal forest. It was near a hidden inlet. He found the enemy there, left him limping away, before he shot his head around to scan the water…

★ He heard something—someone…and followed the soft humming. That’s when he found you, sunbathing on a rock in the early morning light. You startled him, yet he hadn’t tried to flee, or attack.

★ You smiled, tilting your head before lifting your hand to wave at him. Greeting him softly. He was wary of that. Immediately assuming you were a sea spirit or siren trying to lure him to his death.

★ However, he sensed no malice after staring at you for a moment longer. And despite his natural reserve, he lowered his guard. Slightly.

★ your ethereal presence unnerved him. But your calm nature and the way your energy chipped away at his doubt made him fold eventually.

★ It took seven months for Kuai Liang to understand he had fallen in love with you.

★ and when he told you, kneeling at the shore with a jade stone in hand, you took it. Seeing that as the link between the two of you. Five months had passed since then. You’ve know each other a year. But those Five months? They’ve been filled with affection, whispered nothings. Promises of forever and more.

★ He braids your hair, kissing your temple while doing so.

★ Trains near your cove and always makes sure you’re close. He’s clingy but in denial about it.

★ You’re lounging, humming with your tail half in the water and upper body sprawled on the sand. Kuai was meditating at the edge of the water near you. One hand in the water as to feel your presence.

★ Suddenly—a burst of warm water splashes over him, and there you are, smirking and trying not to giggle.

★ “You’re playful today” he sighed, not quite annoyed though.

★ “And you’re too serious.” You reply, flicking water again.

★ He grunts and calmly stands. “Do not tempt me.” He simply warns.

★ “Or what?” You smirk.

★ Instead of answering, he steps into the water, then very calmly…dunks you. A playful battle in the water ensues, until you’re both tangled up, flushed and cackling.

•••

🌫️ Tomas

★ You met each other during a storm.

★Tomas had been sent on a recon mission to a remote coastal region when a freak storm had knocked his ship off course. He barely made it to the rocky shore, coughing up seawater, his powers flickering, smoke pluming from him faintly like he was a crash dummy gone successful

★ You found him on the sand. And at first, you thought he was a dying sky dweller. That was until he groaned and muttered, “Kuai Liang’s gonna be livid…” then, he tried to sit up.

★ You dragged him away from the rising tide with strong arms and whispered “You shouldn’t be here…”

★ When his vision cleared and he saw your shimmering tail and sea glass eyes, he blinked slowly.

★ “Am I dreaming…?”

★ You smiled. “Only if you think this is the afterlife.”

★ Tomas is kind at heart, so while confused, he wasn’t frightened when first meeting you. He was in awe.

★ You healed him with salt and sea herbs, and he stared at your webbed hands like they were performing magic. He wanted to understand you badly….not out of duty, no. But out of honest curiosity.

★ Your relationship happened gradually. About a month and you were comfortable with each other in a way that was special.

★ You’d talk at the edge of the tide, or while he stood on the rocks as you floated just beneath the surface.

★ You would ask about the world beyond the sea. And he would query if you believed in fate.

★ He started bringing you all sorts of thoughtful things. A small book of poetry he attempted to seal with wax in order for it to stay safe from the salt water. (It was iffy. Smudged by the third week. Still, he would perfect a ‘water proof’ book for you eventually.)

★ He brought you a bit of woven cloth that smelled of fire and pine. A charm made of Smokey quartz.

★ One night, after nearly losing losing him in a skirmish with an enemy, you cried into the waves. Uncertain if he’d come back. You were frightened.

★ When he returned, battered and bruised—but still standing, he just knelt and whispered “everything’s okay, I’m here.”

★ You were overwhelmed. With all of the emotions. And kissed him that night under the moonlight. And the ocean, the chaotic spirit she was, had stilled for once.

★ Tomas made it official the next evening with his own worn ring. A simple silver band he had on a string around his neck for years. (It was too small to fit any of his fingers.) It was something from his past. He gave it to you.

★ you gave him a braided cord of pearls and woven kelp that tightened with a spell only you knew. “So you’ll always find your way back to me.”

★ He hadn’t taken it off since.

★ You two have been together nearly two years now. Long enough to know each others silences. Long enough that you know when you’re both looking at the moon despite the occasional distance.

★ Light was creeping across the rocks as you surfaced tonight. He’s already there, sitting cross legged with a hooded like cloak wrapped around him. Smoke coiling lazily around him, as if he were relaxed but eager. Simply just waiting for you.

★ You him softly to announce yourself, and he looks up with that cute smile of his. “I brought something.” He says, holding out a carved bit of driftwood shaped like a whale.

★ Your eyes lit up, and you softly laughed. “Did you carve this yourself…?” You asked genuinely.

★ He shrugs. “I’m not just smoke and knives, you know.”

★ You lean forward, and kiss his knuckles. “You’re my favorite.”

★ Tomas flushed, and wrapped his arms around your shoulders, pulling you in close. There’s salt in your hair, soot on his fingertips, and nothing between you but the sea, the sky and the bond that was unbreakable.

•••

⚙️ Cyrax

★ Cyrax was scouting near an abandoned fortress—investigating strange energy readings—when she found you injured in a rock pool after a storm. You couldn’t get back to sea due to your injured tail. Instead of alerting the Lin Kuei, she carefully patched you up, made a fire to warm you and stayed until the tides rose.

★ When first seeing you, she was stunned. Witnessing something so beautiful and mythical—in such a vulnerable state—made some emotions stir in her chest.

★ She felt protective, fascinated, and definitely overwhelmed. Especially with how gentle your energy was compared to her usual kombat world. She tried to act professional, but her voice always softened when speaking to you.

★ Two weeks and her curiosity won out over protocol.

★ She kept returning under the guise of ‘monitoring activity’ but always brought food, tools, and stories. She became your unofficial guardian, and one day you asked, “Do you come here for duty or for me…?”

★ The silence told you everything

★ When she had shown her face for the first time, revealing a beautiful—fleshy face—you fell in love even deeper. (Yes you were in love with the suit before you found out it was a person inside the suit.).

★ More visits led to deeper conversations. And the two of you bonded. She asked you if it was mad that she wanted to ‘woo’ a merperson.

★ You said ‘absolutely.’ But still indulged.

★ One time she confessed that “I’d rather spend time with you than return to base” (whatever that was.) You expressed that you wished she could stay forever.

★ She kissed you while you were still dripping in seawater.

★ six months and counting. She’s the best thing that has ever happened in your entire fishy little existence.

★ records and analyzes your singing. Calling it ‘data that warms the suit’s circuits’ right…

★ You create little ritual exchanges—she brings you salvaged gadgets from sunken ships, and you wrap her wrist with sea woven threads that remind her of you every time she looks at it.

★ You love to rest on her lap, her hand gently stroking your hair/face as she softly recounts tedious training her grandmaster puts her through.

★ Swimming lazily around her as she kneels in a coastal rock, watching the stars reflecting above, she reaches down and says “My scanners read that your heart rate rises in close proximity to me.” You nod, giggling while pulling her closer to the edge so you can nuzzle into her neck.

★ “It’s a joyous reaction, i promise.”

•••

❄️ Bi-Han

★ You were captured.

★ The Lin Kuei had detected an unidentified energy signature beneath the northern coastal waters—strange, shifting, ancient. Bi-Han insisted that he investigate himself. Hence your kidnapping. That was your first impression of the notorious assassin known as Sub-Zero.

★ You woke up in a containment tank, disoriented, your tail pressed against the reinforced glass. And there he was—standing outside the pod, arms folded, watching you with unreadable eyes.

★ “I hadn’t expected something so…human.” He muttered.

★ You bared your teeth, brow furrowed in irritation. “I didn’t expect something so cold.”

★ He smirked. Just a little. And that was the first crack in the ice.

★ Being analytical, skeptical, and deeply guarded, Bi-Han assumed you were a threat—until you started speaking that is. (Mans didn’t give you the time to speak when he first saw you before capturing your scaled ass—but we digress)

★ When you refused to give up your oceans secrets despite being held in a Lin Kuei facility, he was both frustrated and impressed.

★ He interrogated you personally. Every day. Not with cruelty, but with intense, simmering silence. You’d ask him why he kept coming back.

★ “I—perhaps because you are not afraid of me…” he answered gruffly. That was when you knew something between you had shifted.

★ At first he kept you hidden under the pretense of ‘strategic value’ but really? He was drawn to you. You challenged him. Your warmth made him uneasy—but addicted.

★ It took months. Eight long months for him to admit to himself that he was falling for a mythical creature. And when you were released (unofficially , of course), he met you at the ice shore, where the water was slushed and freezing. Sheets of ice water blanketing your fins. You told him that you would leave. (With absolute zero intention of actually doing so)

★ He grabbed your wrist, not harshly, but firm. “Do not…” he trailed off, his eyes flicking to your lips. And then, without asking, without permission, without hesitation…he kissed you. His silent way of saying ‘you’re mine now’

★ He had given you a shard of glacial obsidian with a wunjo rune carved into it. “To mark what is bound,” He had said.

★ You returned with a string of tiny abalone beads, cool to the touch, you fastened it around his neck while he sat near the shore one evening, eyes closed, listening to the waves.

★ He opened his eyes, grumbling out “I’ve never allowed anyone to touch me like this.” You simply replied with “Then perhaps you’ve been cold for too long.”

★ It’s been a little over a year since then. He’d never admit that. But proved he remembered when he gifted you a blade to strap to your hip. “Simply for protection. You live in the ocean, do you not?”

★ If anyone asks, he says “It’s irrelevant.” You know better. He keeps your gifts tucked away in a hidden compartment in his bedroom.

★ The moon was reflecting off the freezing shore like usual, you emerged from the black waters. Droplets rolling down your neck. He’s already there, arms folded, watching you with that familiar, unreadable intensity.

★ “You’re late.” He says.

★ You shrug. “You’re always early.”

★ He steps forward, and drapes his cloak over your shoulders before you can protest. “The sea isn’t warm enough…” he murmurs, and you lean in closer, pressing your fingers to his chest. “And do you plan to do anything about it, cyromancer?”

★ He cups your chin, tilting your face up. “I plan to keep you from going back beneath these waters long enough to make you wish you had legs.”

★ You gasp, pushing him away playfully and clutching the cloak around yourself tighter, not caring if you were soaking the lower half of it with salt water.

•••

🔧 Sektor

★ You were swimming near the surface, just off the rocky coast of a secluded island, drawn by strange lights under the water. You had seen tech before—sunken boats, weapons lost in the ocean—but this was different. Surfacing, with a cautious air to yourself, you observed from behind a rock.

★ Only for her to suddenly appear in the shoreline, half armored, glowing red eyes scanning the surf. She didn’t flinch when she caught a glimpse of your shimmering tail—only tilted her head.

★ “Unidentified entity,” She had said flatly, which made your heart stop. “Organic, but non threatening.” You blinked, confused but unafraid. She was most terrifying—yes. But beautiful in a sharp, almost untouchable kind of way.

★ Sektor was running a solo surveillance mission. She expected rebel interference, not a mythical sea creature. Analyzing your lack of aggression, she recalibrated her approach.

★ So, instead of reporting you, she kept your presence off the logs. You fascinated her—your physiology, your persistence in staying in close proximity with her, your effortless grace beneath the water.

★ She told herself it was simply curiosity. But something about your laughter when you teased her about being ‘half toaster’ made her chest tighten in a way she couldn’t quite identify.

★ It took three months of tentative meetings. At first, she scanned you constantly—literally. All the time. Eventually she stopped using her tech as a barrier.

★ You began meeting more frequently, at sunrise or moonlight, when the beach was empty.

★ One night, she surprised you by removing her armor plating and stepping into the shallows. That night she simply told you,

★ “I’ve stopped recording all encounters.”

★ You asked why, and she said “Because I want them all to be mine.”

★ That was when you kissed her, of course.

★ She forged you a bracelet made of melted down scrap and titanium, etched with binary code. It translated simply to ‘Yours’

★ One year and two months later, (she tracks the exact time, you count it in moon cycles) and you two are still deeply devoted to one another.

★ The tide is rising, and the stars are blinking into view. You surface quietly, scanning for her—and there she is, standing at the waters edge, silhouette sharp against the moonlight. She’s removed her helmet again—only for you, eyes softening at your presence.

★ You smile and flick your tail, splashing her. “You’re early.”

★ “I rerouted my mission schedule.” She steps into the surf without hesitation, water lapping at her thighs. “I estimated a 93% chance you’d surface tonight.”

★ “And the other 7%?”

★ She touches your face gently, rolling her eyes as if the answer were obvious. “I would have waited anyway.”

•••

👅 Mileena

★ You were a legend in Outworld. Spoken of in whispered tones by sailors and coastal travelers. A guardian of the deep, a creature of prophecy, possibly a trick of the moonlight.

★ Mileena was more than intrigued upon hearing of you. Though, you were a mere story. Not true. Right? One night, she stood at the edge of the royal cliffside during a diplomatic retreat and saw you breach the water, a shimmer of moonlit scales and sleek muscle. Your eyes were glowing softly in the dark, and instinctively she drew out her sai. Of course you were real….

★ You tilted your head. “Empress of Outworld…do you always greet strangers with weapons….?”

★ She laughed—actually laughed. “Only the ones worth fearing, dear.”

★ You disappeared before the guards saw you. But she never forgot the glint in your gaze. Hauntingly beautiful.

★ Mileena is not quick to trust—especially with her throne constantly under threat. But something about you…it was alluring.

★ You didn’t flinch when you saw her teeth. You didn’t bow, or grovel, or ask her for favors. You simply listened. Watched. Teased her.

★ She found herself slipping away from court during the night, under the excuse of ‘meditation’, but really, she just wanted to see you again.

★ “Should I be worried…?” Tanya once asked.

★ “Yes.” Mileena whisperer. “But not for the reason you think.”

★ It took longer than you anticipated for her to reciprocate your feelings. Five long months of moonlit conversations, exchanged gifts and stolen touches. She held herself back—not out of disinterest. No. But simply because she was afraid….

★ afraid of what love could look like for someone like her.

★ One night, after you saved her from an assassination attempt by capsizing the boat she was lured onto, she held your face in trembling hands and said, “You would risk war for me?”

★ “I’d drown empires if it meant you’d be safe.”

★ She kissed you then—fiercely, hungrily, with a desperation born of years of isolation.

★ She had announced you publicly within the next week. Simply holding her chin high as she regarded the court. “They are my partner—first citizen—if you will…” she said. “Their kingdom is the sea. Respect it—or feed it.”

★ She had a throne carved of magenta reef rock, polished and perfect. For when you did have the occasional shift from tail to legs. (Yes you can dwell land willingly)

★ You had collected two decently sized telescope seashells and sharpened them to a perfect point. Using some abandoned netting as twine, you weaved a glove of deadly finger knives for her. She used them often when sparring.

★ Three years later and you’re still her ever willing shadow in political rooms when summoned. Her warmth when the Tarkat eats at her inner peace. Her anchor when the throne tests her patience. She’s undoubtedly your storm. And you her calming tide.

★ She definitely gives you royal baths. Insisting you join her in the palace’s vast bath chambers—private lagoons filled with perfumed water and warm stones. She strokes your gills, you wash her hair. It’s your safe space within each other.

★ You create ‘sea veils’—which are like thin layers of woven water magic shaped into gifts. She wears them during your guys’ bathing time.

★ You give her bite training. Yeah—bite training. To help her have better grip of her tarkat side. She’ll ask you to tempt her—test her. You trust her completely. When she’s about to snap, her kiss her sharp mouth and whisper, “You are not a monster.”

★ The Emoress definitely has some petty tendencies when it comes to defending your honor. When nobles offend you with backhanded compliments, she sends them on ‘diplomatic missions’ to kraken ingested waters. You pretend not to notice. She acts as if she isn’t smiling.

★ Mileena lounges on a rock, your tail in her lap. She lazily traces circles on your scales with a claw. “You know—I could eat you.”

★ You grin. “And yet, you haven’t.” She smirks, leaning of down to whisper in your ear, “Don’t tempt me, little fish,” before pressing a kiss to your cheek.

•••

🪭 Kitana

★ You two had met at dawn. Kitana was traveling under royal escort to visit a coastal shrine. There, in the sacred stillness of the ocean temple, she saw you—floating just beyond the shallows, hair trailing in the water like a banner of silk, eyes glowing faintly with bioluminescent power.

★ The guards had raised their weapons. Kitana raised a hand to stop them. “I don’t believe they mean harm,” she said calmly.

★ You bowed, dipping beneath the water, only your eyes visible before rising back up. “Your intuition is correct, princess,” you replied softly. “I only watch. You were the first to watch back…”

★ She was graceful upon meeting you, but wary. She’s been betrayed one too many times to give her trust freely. Of course….you didn’t demand her time. You simply appeared.

★ Sometimes during her meditations. Sometimes when she walked alone. You never pushed, only listened.

★ She told herself you were a fantasy. Then one day, she reached for your hand—and you held it. Not pulling away.

★ She truly believed the connection since then. It was a slow, delicate build. You taught her the language of the tide shifts and wind pulses.

★ She taught you Outworld diplomacy—how silence can be louder than a war cry. She never rushed, never declared anything—but she did let her guard down.

★ One night, after a political summit went sour, she found you waiting in the moonlit waters, arms open. She collapsed into them and whispered “With you….I don’t have to be royalty.”

★ You simply pressed a reverent kiss to her lips. And it was sealed from that point forward. The trust. The bond. And the love.

★ Kitana gifted you a royal ring, one that bore a lotus. The petals encircled a sapphire tide symbol you had once drawn for her in the sand.

★ You gave her a scale from your tail—iridescent, powerful and rare. “As long as it glistens—I am yours.”

★ She weaved it into her fans hilt for protection. It’s always with her.

★ just a little over a year and a half, you still spend most your time in the sea or near the coast. By kitana visits whenever she can. Sometimes Tanya or Mileena cover for her. Sometimes they don’t have to.

★ When she’s with you, she’s not just a princess. She’s a woman in love.

★ The stars were bright tonight. Reflecting on the almost still waters of your cove like little diamonds spilled from the sky. Kitana walked barefooted in the sand, her royal robes trailing behind her. You rose, slowly. adorned in seaweed and a string of pearls.

★ She smiled softly, kneeling down. “I missed you.” You answer only by wrapping your arms around her, pulling her down more until she was flatly seated beside you. Her hand resting over your gill scarred ribs.

★ “How do you always seem calmer than the rest of Outworld?” She hums. “Because I only have to answer to the moon.” You replied honestly, which made her exhale, leaning into your touch. “Sometimes I wish I did, too.”

★ “You can,” you reminded her gently, kidding her palm and wrist.

•••

☀️ Tanya

★ You, little mer, were a secret.

★ When Tanya escorted Empress Mileena to a coastal temple to consult a sea oracle, she wandered too far during her evening patrol—drawn to a rhythmic humming coming from the cliffs.

★ She found you floating near a tide pool, tracing symbols into the water with your fingers. You looked wild and free.

★ “You’re trespassing on sacred ground.” She said sternly, weapon in hand. You didn’t flinch, just smiled at her. “Funny. I was about to say the same to you.”

★ She didn’t report you. Not that night. Not the next. Not ever.

★ Tanya is a disciplined woman. Cautious when first aware of your existence. You weren’t like anything she had ever seen. You spoke with wisdom older than any priest she’d met and carried yourself with a serenity that disarmed her. Heavily so. Still, she approached every interaction like it was a battle strategy.

★ That was….until the night you sang a lullaby into the waves—and she lowered her weapon. “You’re not truly an enemy, are you?” She asked quietly. And you let a smooth chuckle out. “Of course not. And you’re not only a priestess.”

★ Things shifted after that conversation. Happily so. It took nearly a year for feelings to be matched. You flirted first, in riddles, sea blown gifts and subtle gestures. She, of course, denied her feelings at first.

★ It was because she was afraid it letting live compromise her devotion to duty. But the more you listened to her confessions, about the weight of keeping Mileena safe, the pressure of Outworlds politics—the more she leaned on you.

★ The night Mileena nearly succumbed to Tarkat, Tanya showed up at the cove, shaken but holding up a front that crumpled the moment she laid eyes on you.

★ You held her as the tide swirled around you both, stroking her back gently. “I can’t lose everything.” She whispered.

★ “You won’t, not while I’m here.” You promised. That was when she knew you were her soulmate.

★ Tanya had knelt before the sea, dipping her fingers into the saltwater, and recited an ancient vow of devotion. A prayer she perhaps would have offered to Argus at some point. She now offered to you.

★ You kissed her fingertips and placed a sea forged ring on her finger of choice. A mark of binding tide unions. “Your heart is safe in my hands now,” you told her.

★ Four entire years. She doesn’t tell many, she keeps your love private. You are the only thing she allows herself to be selfish about.

★ But Mileena knows. And approves. Silently but fiercely.

★ Every week, you perform a short sea ritual for her—a quiet protection rite inked in moonlight and deep, ancient runes. She carries the charm everywhere.

★ She built you a hidden shrine tucked between rocks—lined with sunstones and prayer beads. You’ve decorated it with sea glass and coral. It’s your shared sanctuary.

★ The sun was low. Shadows stretching across the sea temples quiet edge. Tanya standing at the tides reach. The wind was tugging at her braids, flickering her sharp features to the sunlight occasionally. You were gliding towards her, before rising from the waters.

★ “You’re trembling…” you say softly. “I cannot afford to.” She whispered more to herself than to you. “I’m the one who keeps her steady.” You reached up, cupping her face with your wet hands, sea salt clinging to her skin. “Then let me be the one who keeps you steady.”

★ Her eyes closed. She leans forward and foreheads press. Heartbeats calming. “Say you won’t leave…”

★ “I was made from the tide.” You smile. “And it always returns.”

•••

🪽 Ashrah

★ She first saw you near a cursed coastline in Outworld, where corrupted waters had long since swallowed ships whole. Ashrah was hunting a relic of darkness to purify—but of course the magic in the sea pulled her off course….

★ You had risen, slowly, spectral fins shimmering while simply saying, “You’re walking in tainted tide, woman.” She had gripped her kriss blade on instinct—but your presence didn’t feel threatening. In fact, quite the opposite.

★ “I don’t believe in coincidences,” She told you. “Neither do I….” You replied before vanishing back into the water.

★ Ashrah is reverent, cautious and still unsure if she deserves love. When she met you, she was stunned by serenity and how your aura felt like…grace. She just couldn’t word it.

★ You just listened, gently challenged her beliefs and offered your presence like it was a gift rather than a plea. She started to realize she didn’t have to fight for peace with you. It just was.

★ She didn’t fall fast. But she fell deeply. It took six months before you two had made it official. She spoke often of her desire for purification, for freedom from demonic origins. You never judged her. You told her she wasn’t broken, just becoming.

★ The first time you shared your full form with her, luminescent tail, glowing gills, coral marked arms, she gasped. “You’re…. Devine.”

★ “I’m flawed….” You had corrected gently. “But, I do know what light feels like. And it feels like this. You.” She kissed you for the first time that night. Slow, reverent. Like she was praying through your lips.

★ You’ve been together over a year and some odd months. Your relationship steady, quiet, and deeply spiritual. You are both healing. Together.

★ She teaches you prayers and old chants while you explain how Mer-Culture worked.

★ Carries a pearl you gave her as a protective talisman. Cleansing it every full moon with you.

★ Resting on a flat rock near the sea temple, head tilted toward the sun, you hear Ashrah approaching with slow footsteps. Her blade strapped to her back, tones dirtied from travel. She looked exhausted.

★ You held your arms out. And without a word, she climbed into your lap, straddling you as your hands settled on her waist. Her head bowing, forehead touching yours. “You’ve saved me, in a way.” She muttered. “I simply stayed.” You replied.

•••

🦎 Syzoth

★ You first encountered Syzoth near a secluded mangrove delta—your territory. Sacred and untouched by Outworlds wars. He was injured, bleeding green ichor into the stream bed after a mission gone south.

★ You found him shifted, tail dragging, body shaken, too exhausted to hide his form. You didn’t attack, you simply said “You’re not the first broken thing the river had carried to me.”

★ He bared his teeth. “I am not broken.”

★ “Good!” You chirped happily. “Then you will heal quickly.” With that, you guided him into deeper waters—and vanished before he could ask your name. He returned the next night.

★ Syzoth is used to being feared, misunderstood, or used. So your calm presence, the way you didn’t recoil from his Zeterran form, or even seem surprised…that left him wary. You, however, were patient. For him. Never offering pity, or asking too many questions. You were simply company.

★ Showing him a world where teeth and scales don’t mean danger. Where hissing is music and transformation didn’t have to be shameful. You made him feel like both halves of himself could exist.

★ Your relationship didn’t happen in words—rather instinct. You brought him to your hidden cave, glowing anemones lighting up the walls and relics of sunken ships decorating your home. It felt intimate being in your dwelling. Extremely so. You were a pair since then.

★ For two years you two have kept a low profile relationship. Secret from most of the realm—more for your protection than his. But to each other, there is no higher truth than the bond between you.

★ You two sun bask together. Lying together on warm rocks, limbs tangles lazily, eyes closed while the heat sinks into your scales. Sometimes you fall asleep like that—with his head on your chest, listening to tour heart beat.

★ Hides love notes in seashells for you.

★ He’ll use his camouflage to surprise you with affection.

★Makes little sand sculptures of your tail.

★ Definitely have hunting games for fun in the shallows. It’s less about the catch and more about showing off to each other.

★ Syzoth for sure pretends he doesn’t like it, but you clean his scales after battle, scrubbing gently while he grumbles out “I need no pampering….” Until you reach his neck and he melts into your hands.

★ He built a nest in your hidden cave with sea grass, drift wood and volcanic sand where you both hide from the world. It’s your haven. No one enters but you two.

★ Curled against his side, your tail coiled gently over his thigh, his breathing deep, uneven. His last mission was a bit rough if you were to judge.

★ You run your fingers over his chest, “You push too hard…” you whisper. “If I don’t fight, I lose who I am,” he says without looking at you. You lifted his chin, “but when you’re with me, you don’t have to fight to exist.”

★ His eyes narrowed. Not in suspicion or anything. But searching. Then, he lowered his head until it rested in the crook of your neck. “You’re the only place that feels real.”

•••

🦷 Baraka

★ You swam upriver during monsoon season, drawn to whispers of suffering from a quarantined village near the edge of Tarkat territory. That’s where you saw him—towering, scarred, fanged—but not attacking. Just….watching the water.

★ Surfacing with no sudden movement, he still sensed your presence. And he snarked on instinct, but paused when he saw you weren’t afraid…just curious.

★ “You are not one of them,” he growled.

★ “And you’re not the beast they say you are.” You replied. He didn’t speak again that day. But when he returned the next, so did you.

★ He was unsettled by your serenity at first. Too used to being feared—even by allies. Baraka waited for that flinch, that disgusted recoil, the judgment….but you never looked away from his face.

★ He didn’t know how to handle that. You asked him questions—not about the disease, but about his people, his culture. You called him a leader, not a patient.

★ “You see the person,” He muttered once, voice thick. “I see the soul,” you corrected. It was the first time anyone made him feel more than his affliction.

★ He didn’t believe he deserved love. He warned you repeatedly, growled when you got too close, even tried to scare you off in a state of uncertainty once. You never gave him that anticipated flinch. Simply touched his cheek and whispered, “I’ve seen uglier things than a heart that still wants to be good.”

★ Baraka had broken down for the first time in years. Shoulders slumped and hands shaking. You held him in the shallow waters until his breathing slowed. That was when he realized you weren’t going anywhere.

★ He had presented you with a ceremonial bone dagger. Explaining briefly that it’s a high form of trust his people once had. You took it graciously. Wrapped it in seaweed charms and braided it into your belt.

★ A year and a half later, he doesn’t advertise your bond, but everyone in Tarkat territory knows.

★ You bring him fish seasoned with coral Ashrah and sea herbs that ease the Tarkat inflammation. He never asks, but always eats it with quiet gratitude. Saving you the last bite every time.

★ He gathers rare shells for you with surprising tenderness.

★ Carries you in his arms on land like royalty (until you need to go back. But then you do it all over again)

★ He’s devoted. Utterly so. And extremely protective of you.

★ Sitting by the fire pit outside the Tarkat camp, moon gleaming against the water, Baraka returns from patrol, body smeared with soot and blood.

★ He grunts as he slumps beside you, the shallow water splashing around his waist, legs sinking into the sand beneath slightly.

★ “Rough night….?” You asked gently.

★ He huffs, “I scared a small child today…”

★ “You hadn’t meant to.”

★ “Doesn’t matter,” he growls. “They look at me like a monster.”

★ You reached over, placing your hand on his beneath the water. “They may see teeth and disease, but I see the one who keeps them safe.”

★ He turned slowly, eyes meeting yours. “And what do you see when I look at you?”

★ “My heart.”

•••

⏳ Geras

★ You first appeared to him at the edge of the infinite sea. Where sand meets deep ocean trench. He had been walking the boundary of time, reflecting on a fracture in the timeline when you rise from the water.

★ He didn’t speak at first. You only looked at him, tilting your head as though you could see behind the sand coating his skin—into the vast, tired soul inside.

★ “You don’t belong here,” he said, not as a warning. But as a truth.

★ “Neither do you.” You replied.

★ He remembered that moment perfectly. Forever. You, dripping with moonlight, unafraid of a being that had outlived empires.

★ Geras is rarely surprised, but even you managed to surprise him. You were timeless in a different way. Bound to the oceans, ancient in song and spirit, and yet so full of emotion. You didn’t try to fix him. Didn’t ask about his purpose or his immortality.

★ You listened, asked questions. Managed to have him query you before you answered in riddles. It both infuriated and fascinated him. You had once said “Time runs like water. Even you can be reshaped.”

★ You were right, in a way, obliviously so.

★ Geras doesn’t fall in love. He calculates risk, observes pattern, measures flow. But you introduced variables he couldn’t explain—how his form relaxed around you, how he thought of your smile even when centuries passed between meetings.

★ You once swam up to him during a moment of rare vulnerability and pressed your forehead against his. “I know what it’s like to be ageless and still feel…alone.”

★ He didn’t speak, only lifted his hand and gently cradled your face—solid, ancient fingers against your cool, salt kissed skin.

★ Geras offered you a small jar of sand, saying that it was from his hourglass. One tiny bottle of pure, suspended time. “Even when all else crumbles, this will remember us.”

★ You wove it into a pendant, telling him that it was practical a proposal in your culture. He hadn’t argued.

★ Time is irrelevant for Geras. But to you, it’s been…long enough to feel like an eternity, short enough to always stay longing for more. You never count the years. Only the memories. And each one is a blessing to you.

★ He’ll stop time briefly to give you endless kisses mid sunset.

★ Rebuilds broken coral formations for your home.

★ He creates sand islands on the sea and you rest in them with him, watching the stars wheel through eternity. You trace constellations with your fingers on his palm and tell him how old the sea says she is.

★ you teach him the songs of ancient sea spirits, he recites forgotten languages of time. It becomes a kinda of courting, a dance of intellect and myth. He smiles when you correct him.

•••

🫀Havik

★ He wasn’t supposed to find you.

★ The water twisted, the current distorted, and there he was, clawing his way through a whirlpool he made from nothing.

★ He emerged laughing, teeth bared (obviously) jaw dislocated, soaked and completely delighted. “I found something new,” he cackled. “And strange! Oh, you’re perfect.”

★ You blinked. Cautiously circling him from the water. “You…are not from here.”

★ He snapped his jaw back into place. “Good eye, good eye indeed.”

★ He shouldn’t have found you. But…you didn’t send him away. Instead, you swam him toward the shallows, where there was a small island he could rest on. You didn’t ask how he was spat out by the ocean. But you wondered.

★ When Havik first laid his dead eyes on you, he was fascinated. Obsessed. He saw you fit for worship. He loved the way your voice echoed like sea chants. The shimmer of your scales, the way your magic bent but never broke under his chaos. You were a contradiction to his entropy—fluid, unknowable but deeply whole.

★ More importantly, you didn’t fear him. You watched him come undone, and you didn’t flinch. You even smiled.

★ It took one week for him to claim your heart. (So he says. You say a month or two.)

★ There was no clear moment, it simply became. He declared loudly without context, that “The mermaid is mine.” To nobody in particular—perhaps the sky. You hadn’t argued.

★ “You’re wrong in all the right ways.” He said once, brushing your cheek with fingers that broke bones for you. “I could drown in you.”

★ Havik offered you a relic—his own severed hand, enchanted to writhe forever, wrapped in kelp and bound with coral rings. You did not take it. But you pressed a soft kiss to it before handing it back.

★ He ripped a tooth out in reply to the rejection of his hand gift…you took it and made it into a necklace.

★ You gave him scale from your tail, telling him it’s said to cause hallucinations if stolen. He swallowed it while and grinned for three straight hours.

★ A binding pact in a way. Flesh, madness, magic and mystery.

★ six years committed to each other. Every time you see each other again, it feels like the first. That’s the trick.

★ He leaves you off putting yet romantic notes carved into driftwood. “Your chaos competes me,” “Kiss me before I dissolve again,” or “I’d unravel every plane of existence for one smile.”

★ You decorate his bandages with seashells and pearls. He lets you.

★When you sing, his spasming flesh and muscles settle. His chaos slows, even if for a moment. He says your voice is the only thing that “Feels like home without being absolutely boring.”

•••

⚔️ Reiko

★ He found you when scouting the coastal borders of Outworld—sent to investigate rumors of sea witches disrupting trade routes. What he found was you, rising from a glowing tide, your tail cutting through the dark like moonlight through steel.

★ Reiko raised his blade without hesitation. “State your allegiance.”

★ You tilted your head. “To the ocean, soldier. But I mean no war.”

★ He didn’t lower the weapon. But he didn’t strike either.

★ “Then why do you haunt these shores?” He asked.

★ “Because something about them feels like it’s calling me home.” You replied.

★ It took him days to realize you meant him.

★ Reiko is a suspicious man. No doubt by nature. He’s trained to see threats before beauty. Deception before magic. But with you…. He couldn’t shake the feeling you weren’t trying to manipulate or control him.

★ You spoke in riddles but never lied. Listened intently and with deep interest. You asked about his dreams, something no one had ever cared to hear from a soldier.

★ He hated that he starts to look for your silhouette on the rocks.

★ He hated more how it hurt when you weren’t there.

★ Reiko takes nothing lightly. It took nearly a year of visits, conversations by torchlight on the cliffs, secret swims under moonlight, quiet nods after brutal battles—before he admitted what was happening.

★ You were tending a wound in his arm once, silent as the waves around you. He stared at you for a long time.

★ “You could enchant me. Trick me. Kill me.”

★ You smiled at that. How silly. “Then why do I heal you instead?” He reached up, brushed your face with a calloused hand. “To keep me soft for when you strike.” You rolled your eyes, but smiled. “You are a fool if you believe that true.”

★ “I am a fool, then.” He smirked.

★ Often after battle, he sits by the water and removes each piece of his armor. You clean and enchant them with protective runes drawn from sea ink. He never lets anyone else touch them.

★ You heal his cuts and wounds with sea balm and careful kisses. He tries to act unaffected, but you’ve seen him lean into your touch like a drowning man grasping breath.

★ Reiko had stormed out of the war tent, blood still drying on his blade. You’re waiting near the tideline, perched on a barnacled rock, silent. He drops to one knee beside you, his jaw clenched.

★ “Shao’s orders make no sense. I am a soldier, not a pawn.”

★ You reach out, brushing the blood from his cheek with a thumb. “You are more than either.”

★ He looks at you sharply, before softening his gaze, before you could say more, he kissed you. Hard, aching, fierce. Feeling like a man rather than a weapon for once in his life.

•••

🩸Nitara

★ You first saw her circling the reef, wings silhouetted against the dusk. She thought she’d found an easy snack—“a half human glittering fish.” She would say later with a devious smirk.

★ You let her approach. Let her get close enough to taste the electricity in the water around you. But when she dove, you vanished into the tide, reappearing behind her with a grin. “You hunt poorly in salt air.” You teased.

★ “And you swim well for prey.” She replied, clearly amused.

★ That began flirtation of near misses, taunts and curious visits when the night had crawled. Until it became something more.

★ At first, you were a puzzle in her eyes. Not edible. Not afraid. Not even useful in any immediate, selfish way. Just….fascinating.

★ Of course, you never tried to fight her, didn’t swim away scared. You watched her like you already understood what she was beneath the sharp teeth and bravado. And that scared her more than she let on.

★ Still, she kept coming back. “I just like your weird little songs.” She told herself. But it was your laugh, your warmth, the ability to see the person she was under the vampirism. That hooked her.

★ Eight months of tense silence, teasing, and mutual rescues. She saved you once from a blood cult that tried to drain you dry for your healing essence. You saved her when sun scorched hunters chased her into the ocean cliffs. You wrapped her in enchanted kelp to keep the burns at bay.

★ After that, she kissed you mid fight—carried you halfway into the sky and whispered “you know this means something now, doesn’t it?”

★ You kissed her back. “It always did.”

★ She made it official by biting you. Not feeding, just grazing your collarbone. “It’s the Vaeternian bond mark.” She explained, unusually quiet. You responded by brushing your fingers along her jaw, placing a tiny shard of pearl inter her wings edge—blessed to pulse when you’re near. You didn’t need words. The ocean and sky had spoken for you.

★ You have been together for two years. But time with her is unpredictable. Some weeks she’s gone for days, others she sleeps in your arms in tide pools for hours.

★ She always returns. Always.

★ You let her drink from you only during the full moon. It intensifies her powers and you both pretend it’s strategic. But you’ve seen the way her breath hitches when your blood hits her tongue. She always kisses you after.

★ She carved a low, hollow cliffside for the two of you. Nestled in sea worm stone and blood stained velvet. You curl together there, her wings folded over your shimmering form. Your humming soothing her restless sleep.

•••

🪓 General Shao

★ You were discovered near Outworlds battle worn coast. Where tides still sang of ancient wars. Shao rode there with his army to investigate rumors of a “sea ghost interfering with supply ships”

★ When he saw you rise from the depths—half myth, water glistening on your skin, eyes unafraid—he didn’t speak. He stared. You bowed your head in respect, but not submission.

★ “I’m not your enemy,” you said evenly. “Unless you try to command me.”

★ That was the first time in ages someone had dared say such a thing to him. And lived. He was interested. Suspicious. Felt an intimidation he didn’t show.

★ Shao is used to being obeyed, feared, worshipped. But you met him eye to eye, tail undulating calmly beneath the waves, and didn’t flinch when he stepped toward you.

★ He saw wisdom in your stillness. familiar with power being brash—but you were graceful. Elegant even. And for the first time in years, he was curious.

★ Shao isn’t fast with affection. He observes. Tests. Waits. It took about one year of interaction—of you offering him sea wrought advice, healing his warriors, challenging his control over nature, before he accepted that what he felt wasn’t weakness. No, it was desire. Deep and ancient.

★ When he finally approached you, it wasn’t a confession. It was a declaration.

★ “You are power I cannot command,” he said, voice low. “And I’ve come to crave your presence regardless. Tell me if I offend you…”

★ You smiled softly. “You humble yourself for me?”

★ “I do.”

★ The kiss between you that day was chaste. Reverent. He treated you as if you were a higher being when lip locking.

★ three years together. To others, he remains stern and untouchable. But in private? He’s a gentle giant. Softer than he ever knew he could be when it came to you.

★ Has quiet strategy meetings with you. Consulting you when faced with new threats. You provide insight the tide whispers. And he listens—deeply. Respectfully so. He calls you his “Ocean Oracle.” Only in private.

★ Gives you silent protection. Ordering that no soldier approaches the sea caves where you dwell. No one questions the unspoken threat.

★ You’ve marked him with salt runes only you can make. No curse nor poison dares touch him.

★ He returns from battle one evening, bloodied, victorious, but nonetheless tired. You meet him at the tide line, salt air brushing your face.

★ “I’m not in the mood for ceremony.” He growls.

★ “Then you’ll have comfort instead.” You reply.

★ He kneels, armor heavy, as you press your forehead to his. “The ocean told me you’d survive,” you whisper.

★ He sighs, allowing his massive frame to lean into you—his only moment of weakness.

•••

🔊 Sindel

★ You first met when Sindel visited the coastlands on a ceremonial pilgrimage to reconnect with Outworlds lesser knows spirits. Her priests warned her of a siren who lived beyond the rocks. Dangerous, seductive and uninterested in the affairs of mortals.

★ Naturally, Sindel approached alone.

★ When she found you resting on a black rock amid a stormy sea, you opened one eye and simply said, “You carry too much weight for a woman who glides so easily.”

★ She narrowed her eyes. “And you assume too much for someone who sings in riddles.”

★ You smiled. She didn’t look away. She was fascinated of course. Who wouldn’t be? You were strange. Beautiful and magic. A type of magic that was different from her own. Fluid, intuitive, primal. You weren’t intimidated by her power, unimpressed of her title.

★ You listened when she needed silence. Spoke when no one else dared to. You offered her peace instead of loyalty.

★ It made her curious. Then protective. Then entirely too drawn.

★ You were both slow to admit the pull. You teased her, she remained cool and unreadable. It took over a year of stolen visits, tide laced conversations and quiet touches during twilight rituals before she finally allowed herself to want out loud

★ She kissed you once in front of her guards. Just because.

★ She brushes your hair while you sit beside her, tail coiled across her lap. She hums softly with you.

★ Definitely wears your pearls in her hair.

★ Commands ships to detour just to visit your cove.

★ Sindel was sitting at the edge of her ornate boat. You rise from the water and rest your head in her lap. “You look tired, my queen.” She runs her fingers through your hair. “Then stay with me until I sleep. Dream with me, ocean soul.” You hum softly, smiling at that. “Anything for you.”

•••

🧪 Shang Tsung

★ It started with rumors—whispers of a sea bound being whose magic could heal wounds, conjure storms and sing ilusiona into existence. Shang Tsung sent his goons.. and when they failed, he came himself.

★ You were lured into a shallow cove, weakened by a binding rune and caged in a shimmering obsidian tank deep in his laboratory. He observed you like a rare experiment. At first, he didn’t speak, only took samples, recorded your reactions, and tested spells against your natural defenses.

★ You stared back, unafraid. “Do you plan to dissect me or worship me first?” you asked, soft but pointed.

★ He blinked—then smirked. “Why not both?”

★ Shang Tsung was intrigued. Perhaps too intrigued. You didn’t beg or rage. You remained calm, graceful even when chained. You questioned him like an equal. Challenged his logic. Corrected his incantations.

★ You didn’t fear him. Worse—for him at least—you pitied him. That stirred something he hadn’t felt in decades.

★ You were supposed to be a tool. But instead you became a mirror.

★ Weeks passed, he began speaking with you more than observing. Your magic resisted his touch. But your mind didn’t. You talked philosophy. Origins. The difference between control and balance. You mocked him once when he mispronounced an ancient oceanic word—he scowled, but didn’t retaliate.

★ He began visiting you even when no experiments were scheduled. You once hummed a siren song that made the glyphs around your tank crack.

★ “You’re not bound to anything.” He said that night. “Even my wards resent holding you.” He hesitated before leaving for the first time since capturing you.

★ One night, he found you collapsed in your tank—your body dim, magic flickering. A side effect of the prolonged confinement. He panicked. Shattered the tank and carried you in his arms to a pool filled with seawater he’s once harvested for research.

★ You revived slowly, eyes fluttering as you woke. “Why…?” You whispered. He looked away. “Because the world is full of things I can break. And you are one of the few I’d rather not.” You reached for him, not with power but with trust.

★ From that night your cell became a sanctum. Not a cage. And his heart, though he’d never say it, had already been breached.

★ It’s been almost a year since he’s freed you. He still keeps his secrets. Still dabbles in soul magic. But now he runs new spells by you, trusts your judgment and protects you with quiet, lethal devotion.

★ He lets you do a form of forbidden spellplay. Having you experiment on him with your own style of magic—whispers, blood songs, sigil blessing. He swears it’s to “further his knowledge,” but his breathing always changes when your hands are in him.

★ Mixes potions based on your scent and aura.

★ Brags about you to anyone who will listen. “My sea darling would drown you all.”

★ You sit on the edge of his summoning platform, hair damn from your nightly ocean ritual. He approaches silently. Long robes whispering across the floor.

★ “I’m still your prisoner in a way” you muse. He arches a brow at that. “You’re free to leave.”

★ “And yet, you’d find me.”

★ He hums, stepping closer. “Not to trap you again.”

★ “No” you agree. “Just to see if you missed me.”

★ He cupped your jaw, thumb brushing the corner of your lips. “Don’t mistake obsession for love” he whispers. “And don’t mistake surrender for weakness.” You murmur back.

★ He kisses you then, possessive, soft only at center. The way someone kisses a secret they swore they’d keep and failed.

•••

💀 Quan Chi

★ He summoned you, ripped your magic from the edge of the void and bound you to an obsidian salt circle in his chamber.

★ You arrived in a vortex of foam and magic, body glowing, voice distorted by fury. Your tail lashed shading the runes, nearly cracking the walls.

★ “I am no spirit.” You hissed. “You dare summon me like a beast?”

★ Quan Chi only smirked. “I don’t believe it…you’ll be fun to break.”

★ You met his gaze. “You will not break me.”

★ He didn’t know it yet, but that was the moment his obsession began. He had cold curiosity.

★ You were supposed to be a living artifact, a source of power he could siphon. But your resistance wasn’t just magical, it was intellectual. Emotional. You spoke in riddles, refused to scream when he prodded your limits. Dared to insult his knowledge of the underworld.

★ And worst of all….? You looked into his voice filled eyes and saw someone who once had light.

★ He despised that.

★ And he kept returning anyhow.

★ One night, he dreamed—something he hadn’t done in centuries. In the vision, you were singing in a black ocean, and he couldn’t look away. When he woke up, your tank was glowing softly, and you were humming that exact melody, eyes half lidded.

★ He demanded you stop it. You hadn’t. That night, instead of draining your magic, he sat across from your tank and asked. “What are you really?”

★ You smiled. “A mirror, maybe. You hate me because I remind you of what you were. Or not.” You shrug. He never touched your bindings from that point forward.

★ He needed your help for a spell that required a willing sacrifice—not of life, but of memory. You offered him an earring that was gifted to you from your first love, the one memory that still gave you joy. He stared at you, almost shocked. “What do you want in return?” He asked.

★ You answered, softly. “You. Not your power. Not your schemes. Just….the man I believe still exists inside you.”

★ Later that night he gave you a vial, small, delicate. Filled with black, cloudy essence. A piece of his soul, or what he said to be at least. His way of saying “you have me now.”

★ A year and a half later and he denies it’s a ‘relationship.’ You call it whatever the void between life and death is. But you share power now. And you sleep close in a personal pool in his chambers close by.

•••

🎆 Li Mei

★ She was sent to investigate strange magical activity near the coast—whispers of a sea being drawing children toward the turf, healing the wounded, and singing the dead into peace…the rumors smelled like danger.

★ Li mei found you, basking under a moonlit arch of coral, your form half glowing and half shadow. You didn’t flee. Didn’t attack. You simply looked at her and said “You’re not afraid.”

★ “Not yet.” She responded calmly. And you smiled. That was her first mistake, letting herself be charmed.

★ She approached you like any threat. With discipline and suspicion. But when you offered your magic not as a weapon, but as a gift, to heal a wounded girl from the village, to still a storm, to soothe a nightmare, li Mei hesitated.

★ You weren’t her enemy, you were something ancient and gentle, powerful, but never reckless and when you called her brave not because of her title, but because of how she carried her grief, that’s when the walls cracked.

★ it took several months of visits, short conversations between her patrols, shared silences, at the edge of the reef, small gestures, like her handing you a lotus pendant and you gifting her a shell pulsed soft light when she held it.

★ She kissed you after you shielded her from a corrupted sea spirit. When she didn’t pull back, you both understood no were spoken, but your magic wrapped around her like a vow.

★ she brought you to the Empress‘s shore, not to hide you, but to protect your right to exist. when challenged li Mei stood tall and said “this one belongs to the deep, but their heart is tethered to mine. You will treat them as an ally or deal with me.”

★ you were no longer a hidden mystery from that day forward. You were acknowledged. Claimed. Loved.

★ You have been together for three and a half years. You measure it by moon cycles and the way her voice has softened when she says your name.

★ You’re waiting at the tide pools when she returns from a mission—bruised, her usually done hair slightly loosened. Her face drawn but unbowed. You move to hold your arms out and she kneels, moving into your arms without hesitation, burying her face in your neck.

★ Later, she falls asleep on the rocks beside you, your tail curled around her legs, her pulse steady against your palm. For a woman trained to live without softness she’s never felt more protected than here—in your arms, between the sea and the stars.

•••

💥 Takeda

★ He was on a mission, not for the Shirai Ryu, but for himself. Investigating magical interference in a coastal region. Locals spoke of a creature who healed the sick but stole dreams.

★ He didn’t believe the dream stealing part. No. Not until he saw you standing waste deep in moonlight water, humming softly to the air you looked over your shoulder and smiled.

★ “I know a shadow walker when I hear one.” He froze, impressed. “Then you also know I don’t sneak for fun.” “No.” You said. “You sneak to see what you shouldn’t.”

★ He stayed longer than he should have that night.

★ he was cautiously respectful, you fascinated him, your movement, your calmness, your voice, he tried to treat you like just another piece of magical Intel, but he found himself looking forward to your stories your songs, the way you teased his bad posture during meditation.

★ He called it “recon.”

★ Kuai Liang called it “infatuation.”

★ He denied both. Then you saved him from drowning during a surprise ambush, and he woke up with your tail curled around him and your voice in his mind whispering, “I wasn’t going to let the sea take you.” He stopped denying it after that.

★ it took five months, you danced around each other, long conversations by the tide, shared jokes, moments where your fingers brushed underwater and neither of you pulled back.

★ He kissed you first he didn’t say anything before or after just held your face and leaned in like it had always been inevitable.

★ Two years and counting. You’ve helped each other heal from things you rarely speak aloud.

★ Takeda likes to hold your hand while meditating, sitting in the shallows of the water.

★ Wears the tiny spiral shell charm you gave him around his neck. All the time.

★ Feel like he would write poems and put them in bottles. Sending them out to you lovingly.

★ Takeda returns from a mission bleeding, quiet, tense. You rise from the waves, luminous and glowing. And without a word, place a hand on his chest. Your magic threaded into his wounds, knitting them closed.

★ “You didn’t tell me it would be that dangerous,” you said with concern.

★ He sits heavily, voice low. “I didn’t want to worry you.” You tilt your head. “You’ve done the opposite.” You pout. He just kisses you, grateful, tired, a bit apologetic.

•••

🌧️ Zeffeero

★ Zeffeero sought you out—not for romance, but for advantage. The archives whispered if a sea dwelling entity who could manipulate currents, conjure storms, and “weave silence into water” he didn’t believe in the legends. He believed in leverage.

★ So, he summoned a tempest over your sacred cove. Forced you to surface. Your firm rise from the roiling sea like a gif made flesh, magic licking at your skin.

★ “I know what you are.” He said.

★ You narrowed your eyes. “Then you should know better than to disturb me.”

★ the waves stilled at your word. And Zeffeero, used to being the strongest voice in the room, found himself speechless.

★ He was intrigued, despite him cloaking it with arrogance. You weren’t afraid of him. You didn’t kneel, flatter. You asked questions he couldn’t answer. You made the ocean bend and didn’t even flinch. You dismissed his threats with a laugh.

★ He told himself he was only returning to study you. To form an alliance. To harness your power. But the first time you touched his wrist to heal a cut with nothing but a whispered note, he forgot every step to his plan.

★ You traded barbs, battled in mock duels, water vs water, will bs will. You toyed with his pride, and he poked at your trust.

★ Eventually, he stopped demanding your loyalty and started earning your time. You caught him once watching the stars reflected in your scales. He didn’t look away.

★ When he finally kissed you, it wasn’t planned. It happened after a storm, both literal and emotional. Shaking after breaking the contact.

★ “I should hate you.” He whispered.

★ “You dont,” you said. And he kissed you all over again, like a man drowning willingly. You’re his everything.

★ He gets jealous of dolphins. Literally. He caught a dolphin getting a little too playful with you once spinning in circles and nuzzling you affectionately, and immediately summoned a tiny raincloud to float above it for the next hour. You laughed for days. He still maintains it was “necessary aquatic discipline.”

★ He loves watching you swim—and brags about you constantly. “You see that tail? They’re faster than a storm current.” “They once summoned a sea serpent with a whisper.” “No, you don’t understand—they’re everything the ocean wishes it could be.”

★ He secretly practices sea songs to impress you. You try to teach him your language—which consists of echo location. though he’s terrible at it, he tries.

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

78 / 1.7k / part 2 of remora!reader surviving orca!König's tank for mermay 🦈

...

“Alex? Alex!” Your hands press up against the glass. But Alex—the diver you trusted, the one who you thought was your friend, turns away from you. "Please..."

König watches the commotion from a distance. His hand—palm wide enough to fully engulf a human's skull—flexes in annoyance. Your desperate wailing disrupts the fragile hierarchy of the tank. He tolerates it for exactly fourteen seconds before surging forward with a speed like he isn’t the biggest thing in the tank.

His shadow swallows your smaller form against the glass. The next thing you know, he's snatched your thrashing wrists above your head with one hand and pressed you against the tank's barrier with the other.

"Quiet."

The barked command makes the glass behind your head ring. Net-like fabric floats around his head as he stares you down with eerie stillness. His tail coils beneath you and his body is taut—ready to shake sense into you the old-fashioned way if you wiggle.

Remoras are clingy by nature, feeding off scraps from proper predators. Weakness incarnate. Yet something in your wide-eyed stare pricks at recollections of his own helplessness years ago. He dismisses this immediately.

"Improve your posture before Horangi circles back," he mutters, jerking your wrists higher. "He chews on twitchy things. Understand?"

You stare at him, utterly still. You can't quite make out what he's saying over the roar of blood in your ears. Still, you're careful to keep your tail from brushing his as you hang limply from his grip. You shouldn’t touch an angry orca without begging permission.

König’s pointer finger hooks under your jaw to force your chin up. "Begging makes you smaller." The last word comes out punctuated by a mean poke of his pinky finger’s claw against your neck. "Do you hear me? If you value your pretty throat, stop bleating like seal bait."

You blink up at him, pupils still huge. You swallow and try to choose your next words carefully. What comes out, however, is, "You think it's pretty?"

A beat passes—long enough for Horangi’s silhouette to glide past the tank's far not-coral formation.

König’s exhale bubbles out in a low, irritated tsch that flutters the netting in front of his lips. He pushes your jaw to the side to make you break eye contact. He has half a mind to make you expose your neck, too. Your tiny remora brain must not have parsed his words correctly. "I meant the tendons. Weak spots. Delicate." He makes his voice arrogant and attached. "In that sense, yes."

"Oh." Tendons. You have pretty tendons, then. Your fingertips—still hostage above your head—tap unthinkingly against the side of his fingers. You tilt your neck, opening it to him even more, despite his claws floating around it. "Do you like weak spots? I have a lot."

König’s head tilts. His grip on your jaw shifts—pressing your head back until your entire throat bows taut under his claws. One casual flick, and he could open it up like the human divers unzip their suits. His inky tail presses in to hem you in from below. Not that you're trying to escape.

"You mistake patience for interest," he growls, though his thumb makes another lazy pass over your throbbing pulse. "The question is whether your many weak spots make you worth the effort of keeping alive."

"It wouldn't be. Except..." You let your eyes wander down his body. Then you look away. "Well... No, it's nothing."

"Spit it out."

You wriggle in his grip again and shoot him a coquettish look. "For a mer as big and strong as you, it would be easy to keep me alive. I bet no one ever picks a fight with an orca."

A chuckle rumbles up from his chest. You think you've got him right where you want him until the sound becomes a growl that reverberates through your skull where he's still pinning it to the glass.

"Cringing flattery." He releases your wrists just to splay his hand over your ribcage. The span of his palm covers your torso. "But that's right, foolish schmarotzer. Every fight ever picked with me ends with the problem sinking to the seabed in pieces. Fighting is easy. Easy is tiresome."

He pulls you away from the tank wall and pushes you suddenly downward. After a long descent, your back hits the shallowly-sanded tank floor hard enough to dredge up a bloom of silt. You let out an uncomfortable uff. His palm splays wide against your sternum—not crushing, but containing. Two clawtips press divots into the skin above your heart. "I tire of flattery. Your lines are stink up my tank. Mold your clever mouth around something else."

"What else is there?"

König's answering exhale is a stream of bubbles that pop fizz against your face. The claws at your sternum drag downward, ginger enough to etch thin white lines that bloom pink. “Your tongue is as dull as your teeth. Better to use it for scraping barnacles off my scales. Or" —his thumb presses hard into the hollow under your chin— “begging. But you are much worse at that.” The pressure relents only for his claws to flex around your throat.

A shark’s silhouette passes overhead—Horangi’s lithe form pausing to observe the disturbance before gliding onward. König’s gaze flicks up, tracking him.

You watch him watch Horangi. Begging—for what? Food? Shelter? No, it's not that, you realize, seeing Horangi's brief smirk and feeling König's grip tighten in response. He wants your fear; your unquestioning respect. He wants you something easy under his thumb to beg for his mercy.

Your reaction is instinctive and immediate. You try not to seem as eager to please as you actually are, but you can't help the way your pupils dilate at having found a niche. "Please," you mewl. You clutch his wrist—the one connected to the hand still wrapped around your throat and chest—with eager hands. "Please release me. Throw me to the shark instead; he’ll be kinder." You make sure to say this loudly enough to reach Horangi's ears.

König’s head snaps back toward you, hood whipping through the water. The whites of his eyes flash briefly before narrowing to glacial slits. When Horangi draws closer, nostrils flaring at the metallic tang of adrenaline, König lashes out at him a territorial swipe of his claws. Horangi darts back, but his interest is clearly piqued.

König hauls you upright by the throat and shoulders. “Dummes biest,” he hisses. “You think you can gift yourself to the sharks? Your life is mine. I decide when you become chum.”

To emphasize this, he drags you toward the coral outcropping where Horangi has settled to watch as he sharpens a stolen diver’s knife against a rock. Horangi’s grin widens.

König stops just shy of Horangi’s reach. He thrusts you forward like a fisherman presenting live bait.

“Here.” His voice drops to a taunting purr. “Beg him for death, if you’re so eager.”

You stare at Horangi. You open your mouth but can’t form the words.

Horangi’s golden eyes gleam. He leans in. “Oh? Brave little scavenger—”

König yanks you back against his chest before the shark’s claw can graze your cheek. A low, resonant click rolls through his chest—an orca’s warning—as Horangi retreats with a scoff. “Not brave. Stupid.” He forces your head to crane up at him. “But stupidity is fixable. You want to be shark food? Earn it. Kneel first. Then maybe I’ll let Horangi take a finger. A fin.” His thumb traces your lower lip. “Your impudent tongue.”

You positively squirm as he holds you there and takes inventory of your weak points. You've never been objectified quite like this before. It's thrilling.

You’re rewarded with a sharp jerk of his claws. He bends you, forcing your spine to arch against the solid plane of his chest. You're meant to pick scraps from his kills, but here you writhe as if starved for a different purpose. "You vibrate like a shrimp in a net," he mutters. His big hands drag your smaller frame flush against the lethal curve of his pectoral fins. The scarred edges bite faintly into your hips. He could sand your scaled skin to pulp with a single thrash.

Horangi keeps watching. He scrapes the knife’s blade idly over the pad of his thumb. Then König notices you noticing Horangi noticing you. “Eyes forward,” he snaps at the tiger shark with a low, clicking sound in his chest. “This one is not your chew toy.”

“Fine, fine,” Horangi replies. He stretches and retreats with a curious flick of his tail.

König’s attention returns to you. You’re still not trying to escape. You must enjoy being manhandled. Stupid little putzerfisch. “You lick the hand that throttles you. Pathetic. But…” He drags a clawtip up your neck to tap your bottom lip. “Convenient.”

You resist the urge to catch it in your mouth and suck on it. "Convenient is good?"

"Convenient is tolerable." His finger pushes past your teeth before you can react, the blunt tip pressing down on your tongue. Saliva clouds the water as he drags the claw along the sensitive muscle. "Good would imply you have use beyond this."

You nod obediently. Or you try, but the weight of König's finger makes it difficult. "’M utheleth," you agree around his claw.

He pulls it out with a wet pop. "Useless and honest. A rare combination."

He releases you abruptly, sending you drifting backward in the current. Before you can right yourself, his palm slams against the sand beside your head, caging you beneath the shadow of his dorsal fin. The black-and-white patterning of his tail seems to warp in the murky water.

"You will make yourself less useless starting tomorrow." His claws pluck a stray seashell from the sand and flick it disdainfully toward the tank's filtration system. "Clean this cesspit. Remove debris. Scrape algae from the glass. If I see a single parasite on Nikto’s scales, I will peel yours off and feed them to you." His gaze follows Horangi, who’s now circling the tank’s upper levels with roiling boredom. "And when the sharks demand entertainment," he adds, leaning down until his mask brushes your temple, "you will not volunteer your tongue. It belongs to me."

With that, he shoves off the sand and surges upward, his tailfin disappearing in a cloud of silt.

...

part 1 / [part 2] / part 3

more mer au / more KorTac / masterlist