#WAIT cleaner wrasse....... cleaner wrasse too

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

How could I forget my passion? Drawing fish fucks majorly! It's so fun to doodle them. They're full of smooth curves and long lines and teardrop shapes and spiky fins and all other things that are beautiful and fun to draw in the world :D Draw a fish, guys, it's awesome

[muppenthings]

PURPLE

Submitted by: prplzorua

Me absolutely loving the last vid and the eye shadow? More likely than you think! 🐙

Here’s all fluff, because I’m still absolutely giddy about it.

WC: 2,152

—-

 It started the last Meet up Patton had come in with a lovely shade of Baby Blue eyeshadow.

Well, not that anyone else knew at the time. When Logan had picked him up he was wearing shades, so it wasn’t until he stepped out of the car and onto the beach that the Pharmacist and the Actor realized.

Patton had taken off his shades so that the mer on shore would be able to gauge his expressions. He didn’t want to risk the anxious giant thinking that he was upset with him.

It was Logan who noticed first and he simply stated that the color suited the Barista well.

Roman, upon realizing, eagerly complimented Patton on the look. Going so far as to say that they should match up next meeting in their respective colors.

 "We can be eye-shadow buddies!“

Patton only laughed and thanked them.

Assuring Roman that he would definitely be up for that.

 Virgil, however, was confused.

 "What’s eyeshadow?”

Patton paused. “Oh, well, it’s like a powder that you use to cover around your eyes, see?” He says pointing at the glittery color on his face. “It brings out my eye colour and my freckles!”

The mer tilts his head slightly.  

“What are freckles?”

“They’re just little dots on my skin-”

Virgil suddenly looked alarmed. “like scars?”

Thankfully, Logan stepped in, “no Virgil, not scars. No pain of any kind was involved in how freckles came to be. They’re just areas of pigmented skin; think of it like your markings but plenty and very tiny.”

The mer blinks, thinking about it before nodding. “Oh, ok.” He then looks back at Patton, “so why do you wear eyeshadow?”

“I only wear it every once in a while, but when I do it makes me feel good! And it’s fun and pretty looking!”

“…oh…”, says the giant softly.

After the Barista explained it, to him, the giant seemed sad. It was then that the humans remembered that the mer wasn’t able to see such tiny details; he  probably couldn’t see their eye color, much less little splash of colour on Patton’s face.

Roman frowned.

He felt a little bad for the big guy, but he couldn’t do much about it. Besides what colour would go well with the merman’s grey scales?

Did it even matter? 

Roman looked up at Virgil again, squinting in thought.

A favourite colour would work. Wait what was his favourite colour?

“Hey Virgil, what’s your favourite colour?”

The mer blinks away from his conversation with Logan. “Uhh. Purple”

“Really?”

He never would have pegged the guy as someone who likes purple. Roman had assumed the giant would have preferred blacks or grey’s or even brown.

Virgil shrugs, “yeah It’s bright and it reminds me of the cleaner wrasses. They’re the best cleaners in the station, kinda  really nice and very brave. So yeah, purple…then uh… black and grey.”

“Huh, didn’t take you for a purple kinda guy”

Virgil shrugs causing the Logan on his arm to be disrupted, if only for a moment

Purple, Roman thought. How would purple look on Virgil’s face? Wait…how would his marks look if they were purple?

And that’s what lead to the idea.

—-

Being an Actor had many perks.

Helping on stage had even more perks, especially when one needed to get a hold of old props or extras. Which, of course, meant that after talking to the director and his other colleagues, he was able to get quite a lot of purple powder paint.

The only issue now, was to get it on the mer without Logan freaking out. A quick phone call to a certain eager friend, gave the answer; a bucket…or well two.

 Patton was also the one to remind him that they’d need brushes. Virgil being a giant meant that regular brushes would be too small. So on the Saturday evening before the meet up, the two went to the department store, looking for the softest dustpan and brushes they could find. They also got a fairly long, retractable step ladder each.

“Ok”, huffed Roman as they reached Patton’s apartment. “we got the stuff, but how are we going to stop Logan from knowing what it’s for?”

Patton just smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, “don’t you worry about that. I’ll handle it”, he winked, before leaving the room.

Roman for the life of him couldn’t figure out why that sent shivers down his spine.

—–

The next day, he found out why.

Patton had indeed convinced Logan to take the materials with them as  they drove down to Kelp cove. All without telling him what exactly the contents of the bucket were.

The Barista apparently had something over the Pharmacist and very much used the blackmail to his advantage.Even as Roman cheered in glee, he made a mental note not to let Patton get too much dirt on him.

—-

When they arrived, Virgil was already there laying with his torso half out of the water. He perked up immediately when the three of them came down the slope.

“Hey Virge!” Waved Roman as he stepped up to the Mer with a bucket. “Can you tell me how it smells to you?”

Virgil glanced at him skeptically but took a light sniff. Only to rear back suddenly. His nose twitching in an almost sneeze.

The actor looked sheepish. “Oof, I probably should have warned you that it might make you sneeze.”

Virgil deadpanned.

“Anyway”, huffs Roman, “can you handle the smell?”

The Giant still looked skeptical, but nodded.

“It doesn’t really smell bad, just tingly? I guess?” Roman suddenly beamed and Virgil grew even more skeptical. He reared back a bit more. “Why?”

Before Roman could answer, Patton came running down with the other bucket. Eagerly he opened it to show the mer the purple substance inside it.

“Because we mentioned the eyeshadow last week and you looked sad that you couldn’t see it and Roman figured that the only way that would work was if it were on you!”

“On me?” The Mer blinks.

He looks at Logan, who simply shrugged.

Thanks to Patton, the Pharmacist had no clue that this was what his friends were plotting and could offer no input on the matter.

Virgil worried at his lip.

“Will it hurt?” He had thousands of other questions but that one seemed to make the most sense to ask.

They had told him about ear piercing and bits about make up the week prior. So he immediately associated the two, especially since Logan had said they were ‘human beauty products’ and Roman had said that ‘beauty was pain’…but then again, Roman did say that while putting his hand on his forehead and making a weird pose.

Patton brought the brushes forward.

“It shouldn’t hurt at all! But tell me, how does this feel?”

The Barista takes the brush of the pan and brushes it gently against Virgil’s arm.

“Does this hurt?”

The giant raises a brow, “uh, no?”

“Good! This is how we’re gonna put the makeup on you, well the powder at least but it’s close enough to makeup.”

“Yup!” Chimes Roman, “so, you up for it?

Virgil, took a deep breath and then nodded, ”…yeah, ok". Roman and Patton squealed.

The winds on the beach suddenly picked up and blew some of the powder from the bucket into Virgil’s face. The Mer tensed,  rearing back a bit as his eyes drew closed his nose twitched and his breath hitched-

“Oh, everybody get down! He’s gonna blow!” Cried Roman and all three humans dropped to the ground as the giant battled with his oncoming sneeze.

Thankfully it was a false alarm.

Virgil snorted, huffing, shaking his head and twitching his nose until the feeling fully abated.

Roman looked up at the Mer now rubbing his nose, before glancing at Patton and Logan who were still on the ground with him. The Actor burst out laughing. “Oh this is gonna be fun!”

—

Their set up was fairly simple, all things considered.

The giant was to be propped by his elbow, with his hand curled under his chin and his head set at a particular angle.

It was a rather comfortable position, if not an odd one. Virgil didn’t really mind it, even if Roman’s instructions on ‘how to move his head’ were a bit confusing.

Currently they found a position that allowed the humans full access to his markings and one that didn’t cramp his neck.

Virgil was propped on his left hand, while Logan was sitting on the fingers of his right hand. Patton and Roman were each sitting on the top of their ladders, left and right side respectively, and happily brushing away.

Logan was looking curiously up at them. “Are you quite certain that these brushes aren’t causing you any harm Virgil?”

The mer hummed, “no, the brushes are really  soft…s'kinda nice actually.”

“Oh, well alright. If your certain-”

“Hey specs!” Called Roman from his seat at the top of the ladder, “he’s relaxing, so can you stop asking him questions?”

Logan rolled his eyes at the actor, “I was just making sure-”

 "Yeah, well, you’re making him shake my ladder!“

Which was true, but thankfully not by much.

 "Barely!” Hollered back Logan, grinning.

“Barely is a lot!” Retorts Roman, a wide grin was plastered on his face.

Patton chuckled and whispered to Virgil. “That’s good to hear kiddo, glad you’re relaxing into it. Just don’t go falling asleep on us!”

“I won’t”, whispered back the Mer, but his voice sounded dazed, near sleep-thick actually.

Patton giggled knowingly and in retaliation, Virgil scrunched up his nose.

“Hey!” Exclaims Roman with a dramatic whine, “now I gotta start that piece over! Stop! Moving!” There was no heat at all behind those words, which only caused Patton and Virgil to snicker.

Shaking his head at his friends, Logan then sighed and accepted his position as ground support…literally. 

Virgil would make low whining sounds and wiggle his fingers whenever he couldn’t feel the Pharmacist. So the human either had to sit, lean or stand on one of the Mer’s fingers to keep him calm.

Not that Logan really minded, he assumed that because Virgil had his eyes closed and could feel both Patton and Roman, the giant found it necessary to feel him too.

Asking the jumpy mer questions worked as well but it disrupted the process and Roman would scold him again. For as amusing as that was, Logan knew he wouldn’t be much help as he didn’t have much experience with makeup.

Then again it wasn’t actually eye-shadow, just colored talcum powder, and even he could probably do a decent job at it…the ladders didn’t have the space for him to help anyway.

—

When it was finally completed and the two buckets were empty, both Patton and Roman had come down and safely retracted the ladders.

Virgil was giddily instructed to take a look.

The mer conceded fairly quickly and moved towards the water’s edge, just enough to see his reflection without disturbing the water too much.

Virgil blinked.

And then blinked again.

His reflection was staring back at him with purple marks instead of black. It was…different. Though, a very nice kind of different.

“So…do you like it?” Asked Patton hopefully.

The giant nods, smiling.

“Wooh!” Shouts Roman fist pumping. “I brought tiny bags, hold on, I want pictures of all of us!”

The actor then sprinted up to the car, only to return moments later with three, very tiny but brightly colored, see through bags. He held them up eagerly, one Red, one Baby Blue and the other a sparkling Navy.

Patton easily and neatly smeared on the Red powder on Roman and of course, Roman did the same for him. Then the two of them pulled Logan, sat him down and each did an eye.

The poor Pharmacist didn’t even get a chance to have protested. But the way the other three were snickering, even he doubted that he would have.

—

“Do you actually like it?” Logan whispers, as the two behind them were busy choosing the best pictures further up on shore.

Virgil thought about it for a moment, calmly watching his reflection in the water.  His face turned a light pink, only serving to bring out the purple color more. “Yeah”, he grins, and nods in confirmation, actually giggling a bit, “yeah, I do.”

Logan looked up at the giant and smiled back, he couldn’t help it. The Mer truly was a sight to behold.

Virgil was beaming, all brilliant, bright and giddy. The purple 'eyeshadow’ glittering as he did so.

END.

————-

Mupp/en: This is so, so adorable and wholesome! All of them wearing eye shadow in the end is amazing! Just perfect! 👌 I gotta say, Patton blackmailing Logan into not questioning the buckets made my night. The idea with the powder and its application was clever! And the result, a happy mer! 💜

I just adore how you write their interactions! And their little banters! It’s amazing! I love this so much! Thank you for sharing your wonderful work!! 🌸

[dzamie-oc]

Swimming With a Shark

Summary: A wolf and a human break into an aquarium, and the human gets eaten by a shark who works there. Word count: ~2000 Fandom: OC (Kahudra) Notes: This story contains unwilling prey, implied digestion, a shark without clothes, and one character nearly drowns (he’s okay though)

In an off-limits room of the aquarium, Dave slipped quietly through the door, then held it open for his companion, Varren. "See? Easy-peasy. No alarms, no chases, nothing. And that wolf katul they left as a guard dog - er, sorry, security guy - was too busy napping to do his job."

Varren brushed off the canine pun. "No problem, just don't make a habit of it, yeah?" He kept his ears perked forward as he scanned his new surroundings. The hum of machinery had grown louder without the door blocking it, and Varren's keen nose easily picked out the cleaning and water treatment agents used in this part of the facility. "Are you sure this will help?"

"Oh, for sure," his human friend replied as both their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, "it'll let you get familiar with the place. You're sure to impress the manager or whoever it is supervises... whatever it is."

Varren nodded, picking his way along the floor. At this level, there were a number of pools set in the "ground," most of them cordoned off to prevent someone from stumbling in accidentally. Cards attached to the railings provided handwritten information about the state the water was kept in, and the silver-furred wolf challenged himself to guess which creatures each holding tank could be used for. A noise behind him alerted him out of his game, and he whirled around, fearing that they had been found out after all. On seeing it was just Dave, Varren calmed down slightly... until he saw what his human friend had done. "Are you... is that a swimsuit?!" he hissed.

"Well, I'm not one to skinny-dip," Dave replied. On seeing Varren's exasperated look, he shrugged and started looking at the labels Varren had been reading. "Look, you're here to help with a job hunt, and I'm here because SOME of these things have gotta be heated. Besides, they're clearly temporary things, so there probably aren't any fish in them!"

"You can't- there still shouldn't be random humans in them!" Varren shot back, "these things likely have a different sanitizing procedure, and you being in the wrong one could create a contaminant dangerous to the creatures! Hell, that's why I haven't been peering in to see if anything's in them, to minimize my risk of getting fur in one!" At that point, the katul realized he had started to raise his voice, and bit his tongue to keep quiet.

Dave made a vague, dismissive gesture and looked down at another card. "You worry too much. Oh look, warm freshwater, sand at the bottom, and not very deep. C'mon, Varren, what could I possibly be messing with here?"

"A shark," Varren said, and nearly jumped out of his fur when he heard a second voice answer at the same time. Heart pounding, he fought every instinct telling him to be sensible and flee whoever had found them out, instead stepping closer to the pool Dave stood next to. There was a quiet splash, and someone poked her head out of the water, resting her arms on the lip of the tank.

"More specifically, the one who has to clean up before going home," the newcomer said, "so, seeing as you're neither employees nor fish, I'm dying to hear why you're interrupting my swim."

Dave shrugged. "Should be obvious, miss. Water's fine, I take it?" In contrast, Varren took a few seconds before replying, "I'm, uh, studying marine biology and was looking at this aquarium as a place to apply to for... uh... a position."

The woman snapped her fingers at Dave. "Oi, shark privileges. Stay out of the water or else." After a couple of seconds, she turned back to Varren and rested her chin on her forearms. "And you. Breaking into a place you want to work for? Can't say I've ever heard of that working."

Varren crouched down so they didn't have to look down and up as sharply. From this angle, it was easier to see that she wasn't human, having some sort of snout. "Well, Dave - that guy - said it would be helpful to be familiar with the layout of the place. And it's kinda my first non-retail job, so I sorta just-" He cut off suddenly as her voice and words sunk in. "Wait, are you Wendy? The shark diver who does the feeding show on Tuesdays? It's cool to see how close the smaller fish get while swimming past."

"You don't know the half of it; there's a reason you'll never see me do the show in the tank with the cleaner wrasse. But yeah, that's me. Bet I look different from above and out of my su-" A loud splash interrupted Wendy, who turned to glare at the intruder to not only the employees-only area, but the pool of water as well. "Out. Get out," she ordered, before turning back to Varren. "Alright, look. While I can't take a moral high ground over you, I really should report you to management. But, I'm a sucker for honest flattery, so how's this: I'll keep quiet about this meeting, and in return, you'll save me filling out a ton of forms by keeping quiet about what's about to happen to your friend."

The wolf tilted his head at her, then looked over to Dave. The human was still in the water, slowly paddling towards the conversation. "Uh... what's about to happen to him?"

Wendy grinned, and Varren found himself wishing his eyes hadn't yet adapted to the dim light, to save himself the view of many, many sharp teeth. "Well, he jumped into a tank with a shark, refused multiple warnings, and is wearing remarkably little to protect himself. What do you think is about to happen to him?"

Varren shuddered. Dave, apparently trying for the title of king of bad timing, grabbed onto the rim of the tank and pulled himself next to the shark woman. He squinted at her, then dropped his gaze to the water's surface. "Are you... not wearing a swimsuit? Heh, were you waiting for some dashing 'bad dude' to come along?"

Against his better judgement, Varren glanced down, though he couldn't see anything below her shoulders. Then, to the wolf's surprise, Wendy smiled at Dave with the same grin she'd just shown him. "That'll come in handy in a few seconds. Easiest way to ruin one of those things." With that, she plunged back down into the water. Varren watched as the dark, semi-obscured form swam a couple quick circles before returning to the side.

Dave, to his credit, realized the conversation was over, and he pushed himself up onto the floor, then sat on the edge to let his feet dangle in the water. "I think she has the hots for me, dude," the human bragged, flashing a grin significantly less full of sharp teeth at his friend, "c'mon, there's no way she'd bite me, and there's only one thing a guy and a girl can do that swimsuits get in the way of!"

Before Varren could reply, or even warn Dave to get out of the water, Wendy breached the surface. Jaws agape and already around her quarry's feet, she quickly consumed past the human's knees in a single surge. Dave shouted in surprise when she clamped down and pulled, dragging him off the side and back towards the water. In a panic, Dave threw out his arms towards his canine friend, who reflexively grabbed him by the wrists. Wendy, however, was already swimming up again. When Varren next saw her snout, it was wrapped around Dave's belly. He saw and felt the shark swallow; unwilling to let go of the human, the unexpected tug downwards pulled Varren to his knees. Dave opened his mouth to shout again, but the shark's hand shot out of the water to muffle him, leaving him with only his eyes to stare pleadingly at Varren.

Unfortunately for the katul, and even more unfortunately for the human, pulling hard at the mostly-eaten Dave didn't pull him out of Wendy, but instead pulled him and Wendy partly out of the water. Varren looked down at her and immediately regretted it. He'd seen her at work enough to figure that she'd be quite stunning without clothes, but at that moment, the sizable bulge in her stomach, moving with every panicked kick Dave made, had frozen him with terror rather than interest. Worse, by the time he looked back at Dave, Wendy's jaws had just slid over his head, muffling the man's protests with her throat rather than her hand. Not only that, but she was staring at the wolf.

"Leh. Go." she said, her own voice muffled by the arms still between her lips. Varren, however, only stared at her in shock and fear, and when she pushed herself back into the water, he instinctively took tight hold on the thing she was trying to take away. His grip proved stronger than his balance, and all he managed before hitting the water was a surprised yelp. Which, unfortunately, meant the next breath he took was wetter than he was used to.

In a panic, Varren thrashed around, letting go of Dave as he tried to right himself, cough the water out, and replace it with air. He was barely aware of the pair of hands pushing at his back and hips until he managed to grab hold of the rim of the tank and properly have a coughing fit. After what felt like ages, though, the katul managed to return to simply panting hard as he clung to the solid ground.

"You gonna live?" Wendy asked from behind him. A burst of adrenaline saw Varren shoot out of the water like a rocket, whirling around only after he was a few feet from the tank. The shark woman was swimming in slow circles near the top of the water, her dorsal fin and part of her tail cutting through the surface.

"I... you're not going to try to eat me, too, are you?" he replied.

Wendy swam up to the edge of the tank, causing Varren to take another cautious step back. "Not if you don't want me to. Wasn't your fault you fell in the water - well, mostly wasn't your fault, but I'm sure you didn't plan to." She smiled, this time making sure to obscure her teeth. "Anyway, you should probably leave before someone better at security takes the front desk. Good luck on the job hunt!"

Varren shook himself dry, though the water clung to his clothes more easily than to his fur. "Uh... thanks. I'm kinda second-guessing this place; you're very, uh, unconcerned with- with murdering Dave, and with the possibility that I might report you?"

"Dunno the exact legal stuff, but the worst that can happen is a bunch of stuff to fill out affirming that I'm a shark and I was hungry and yadda yadda... It's happened, like, three times now?" Wendy grunted with effort as she pushed herself up out of the pool, then stretched her arms up. Varren backed away some more, transfixed on her gut and trying not to pay attention to how much the human within was still moving. The shark took notice, and started to walk to the other side of the pool. "Oh, but don't worry about me eating you. I mean, unless you make it a habit to swim with me uninvited and hit on me while doing so."

"I'll... keep that in mind." Varren replied, hesitantly, then added under his breath, "and probably stick to places with cameras for awhile." Slightly calmer, the wolf made his way back to the same door he'd come in through, turned, and waved with automatic etiquette. "Goodnight, miss Wendy."

Wendy waved as well, though her back was turned as she bent down to do something with the tank. "Night, wolfy. See you later, whether we're on opposite sides of aquarium glass or not."

[metalotaku-da]

MerMay Shance

Prompts stolen from @justshance. all pieces are up for grabs if anyone wants to take them further or rework them. @shancemermay 5. Coral reef

“Hello, please can someone help me?” The black tip reef shark mer called out into the reef as he made his way a little deeper into the cluster of corals and sponges. He held his one good to the upper shoulder of his stump. A small cloud of red spilling from his fingers and cut along his face. A few others along his body that was littered with old scars. “Please. I need help. I was told to come here to find it.

Lance watched with others of his community from the safety of the corals to the sharks pleas. He made a move to go out into the open, but was grabbed by another cleaner wrasse mer.

“What are you doing?” Sanda hissed at him. “He is a predator and an outsider. Leave him to the tide.”

“He is hurt, and in need of help. Do we not help him because he is not from our reef?” Lance asked. “We help other predators.”

“We help those from our community. Who know should they turn on us they will not be helped again. There is nothing to stop an outsider from doing so. They will just move on to the next reef.” Sanda pointed out in a tone you would use to remind a the water is wet.

Lance puffed out his chest as he patted his work bag. “It is in the nature of a predator to kill, just as it is my nature to help.” with that lance darted out into the open behind the shark. The shark mer turning to the disturbance in the water.  “I can help you. In exchange for things you no longer need and not eating me.” lance said once the shark’s eyes were on him. His last sentence said with a nervous grin. He cringed a bit when the shark jerked back in it’s slow movement towards him.

“I won’t eat you.” the shark’s brows drawn tight in a pained puzzle. The shark eye up the much smaller mer. Nearly a quarter his own size. “I…” he was cut off.

“Good then we are in agreement.” the smaller wrasse mer flitted up to the shark with a lack fear. “I’m not the best medic. But afraid i have to do. Let me see that shoulder.” the shark pulled back.

“No, not me. I’m fine…”

“You are bleeding all over the place is does that slash on your face mess with your smeller?” he asked scrunching up his face just an arms length from the shark.

The shark let out a huff. “It does, but i know i am bleeding. But my friend needs help more. I will be fine.”

“And where is your friend?” lance asked looking around drifting in a slow circle moving up in the water column to get a better view.

The shark winced at that. “He is not here. He couldn’t make the swim. Please, come with me to help him.” the shark asked.

The wrasse mer looked nervously from the shark to the coral cluster he knew sanda was hiding in. before shaking his head and squaring his shoulders. He met the sharks eyes and gave a determined nod. “Of coarse. Show me to the person who needs help and i will help to the best of my abilities.”

The shark mer swam up to the wrasse with a warm smile. “Thank you. Please follow me. My name is shiro.”

“Lance.” the wrasse mer said with a small smile of his own, pressing closely to the sharks side near his belly keeping behind his pectoral fins and out of arm's reach. “Lead the way big guy.” the two kept close as the shark booked it to open water, lance keeping up thankfully by stay in the streamline of the shark’s body as it cut through the water with great speed despite his injuries. When ever he couldn’t keep pace he’d reach out tentatively and grab the shark’s pectoral fin. Shiro would only glance over his shoulder at the motion to make sure the wrasse stayed with him. “What is your friends name?” lance asked after a short time passed but he was much farther from home than he had ever been.

“Keith. He is also a shark, but smaller than me. Young.” shiro answered. “Thank you. For agreeing to help me. And trusting me. I know it seemed like a trick or a trap to ask you to leave the safety of your home with a stranger.”

“Trust is earned and traded.” lance recited his lesson from his favorite teacher the shrimp mer coran. “But help can be freely given should one choose. And i have chosen to follow my nature to help those in need. And you are in need.” lance gave a light squeeze to the shark’s fin. “Maybe should you and your friend not eat me, we can work on trading trust.”

“You have earned my trust already lance.” the shark answered sincerely. “Neither of us will harm you.”

“Are we close?”

“Yes there.” shiro pointed to a cluster of dead and bleached coral. Between it and the rocks they had made a rather large cave under the debris. Inside was a shark mer with longer dark hair curled up in aganony. A bloody gash seeping red into the water from his cheek. The larger mer quickly settling in around his friend. “Keith i’m back. I brought help.” shiro turned back to look to lance who was hovering at the entrance to the cave nervously. The soft pleading gaze from shiro bringing him closer to the other shark who was thrashing wildly every few minutes.

“My name is lance and i’m going to do my best to make you feel better.” he said softly opening his bag and pulling out a snail shell with a hollow urchin spin from a hole in it’s center. Moving closer to press it to the sick sharks back near his gills.

The shark jerked back and growled. Causing the smaller mer to drift away from him. “What is a runt like you going to do?” it growled.

“Keith…”

“Everything i can. You just have to let me.” lance said back sternly. “Can you tell me what’s wrong since you can insult me.”

“Poisoned.” the smaller shark growled, while the larger said it more softly.

“By something you ate or something stung you?” Lance asked quickly pulling out a deep round shell and a coral cone with a rounded bottom.

“Maybe if i eat you, i’ll feel better!” the smaller shark snapped thrashing in pain again.

“Keith stop!” shiro snapped at his friend before turning to lance, “ please, he didn’t... he won’t…” but he stopped as lance swam up easily to the smaller shark and pulled his eye lid open to look into his eyes.

“Answer the question mullet. I can’t make a remedy unless i know which. And what did it.” lance pulled the shark’s ear before smearing a salve onto the wound on his cheek from another clam shell in his bag.

“Stung.” he quipped bitterly. Wincing at the stinging wound and manhandling.

“By what or who?”

“A lionfish mer tried to take our cave.” shiro answered instead. “We fought, but keith was stung.”

Lance smiled and patted keith’s unmarred cheek. “See not so hard. I have what i need to take care of that. Was it your face here that got stung?”

“No my clasper did.” keith snarked sarcastically.

“Well either way wouldn’t be much of a loss for you i’m sure.” lance sassed back settling into the sand and pulling a few things from his bag to place into his shell and began to crush with his coral. Ignoring keith’s growling. “Shiro can you catch a small flounder or white fish? Something bland? It will help the medicine go down easier for your friend.” he didn’t even look up from his work. Even as keith thrashed again.

“Yes i can but…”

“Go it’s ok. I’m here to help. After he is free of the toxins i’ll give you both a through check up teeth and parasites and all your little cuts. He’s too sick to stomach me as he is.” lance said with a smile at the calmer shark.

“I wouldn’t be able to stomach you if i was starving.” Keith shot back.

“I take it back. How about the nastiest sea squirt you can find. Really make this medicine taste like parrotfish poop.

Shiro smiled at the fiery little wrasse, giving a light chuckle before heading out to collect a meal for his friend. Shiro returned with enough to feed all three of them. Helping lance to force feed keith who swore it was poisoned by the wrasse to kill him faster. Lance saying the initial sting was making him have hallucinations or it was part of his permanently damaged brain since he hallucinates his hair being in style. Shiro laughing it off as keith being a picky eater. But they did get him to take the med. The trashing had become far less intense just minutes after. Shiro invited lance to stay the night with them in their cave after he treated shiro’s wounds. The rest could wait till the next day, and he’d swim lance all the way home. Lance agreed wholeheartedly, snuggling up under the sharks fin for the night. .

[drweidinger]

Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we’ve had it exactly backward?

One little fish captured Bshary’s attention. It’s called a cleaner wrasse.

BSHARY: So the cleaner wrasse is a small fish, 10 centimeters max, that lives from the Red Sea to Australia and the whole Indo-Pacific.

This particular wrasse is called a “cleaner” because of the rather unusual niche it fills on the coral reef.

CRAIR: These are the fish that essentially eat the parasites and dead scales off of other fish.

BSHARY: Little crustaceans or little flatworms that would eat either the mucus or the skin or the blood of the clients. That’s, obviously, like a tick, and you don’t want to swim around with ticks, so you go to a cleaner fish, and the cleaner fish then removes these parasites.

Each cleaner wrasse sets up shop at a particular spot on the reef — kind of like a string of car washes — and the client fish line up at their favorite station to have their parasites removed.

BSHARY: That’s their reason of being, so to speak, in a coral reef. From sunrise to sunset, 11 hours, they clean. They have 2,000 interactions per day. And a single client typically goes five to 30 times a day to see a cleaner fish.

The cleaner wrasse will even service predators, like the barracuda.

CRAIR: One of the scariest looking fishes in the ocean, it’s got a crocodile mouth, needle-sharp teeth. And the cleaner wrasse go in its mouth and eat the parasites from between its teeth.

So Redouan Bshary was hanging out, underwater at the coral reef, watching all this cleaner wrasse action. He began to observe patterns. For one thing, there were two different types of client fish. There were the fish with limited range, who had access to just one cleaner wrasse. Bshary called these fish “residents.” He compares them to people who live out in the country.

BSHARY: You live in a little village, there’s one hairdresser, if you want to have your hair cut, you go to this one hairdresser or you don’t have your hair cut at all.

And then there were the fish with more range, who had their pick of many cleaning stations. If they didn’t like the service they got at one, they could choose another. These fish, Bshary called “visitors.”

BSHARY: So this is like the big city life.

In other words, if you don’t like one hairdresser, you can find another one nearby. And the cleaner fish know the difference between visitors and residents.

CRAIR: What’s incredible here is the cleaner wrasses themselves are able to recognize and understand which species of fishes have other options. And they will actually tailor their level of service depending on the competition.

For instance, they might make a resident fish wait while they service a visitor, knowing that a visitor might take his business elsewhere if there’s a line.

BSHARY: And that’s exactly what visitors are doing. If the service is good, there’s a higher chance that you go back to the same station for your next inspection. If the service is lousy, you go to a different station for your next inspection.

CRAIR: They also provide another service too, which is, they use their fins to basically massage the fish they’re servicing. And the predators receive way more tactile stimulation from the cleaner wrasses than the non-predators, and the residents receive much less.

This was exactly what Bshary had been looking for. The client fish were choosing their partners, and the cleaner fish were dialing their service up or down in response to the amount of choice that each client had. And, as economic theory would predict, the client fish with more choice reaped greater benefits.

BSHARY: Obviously, I was extremely excited. I was hoping for this market effect.

But there’s a central tension between cleaner wrasses and their clients. Eating parasites and dead scales is all well and good, but that is not what the cleaner wrasse truly wants.

CRAIR: It actually prefers to take a bite of healthy scales, or healthy mucus.

BSHARY: This mucus, this is what makes the fish so slimy.

CRAIR: It tastes better, it’s probably more nutritious.

BSHARY: That’s actually quite nutritious. The mucus protects the skin and the scales of the fish.

CRAIR: But if it does that, it hurts the fish. The fish will probably swim away.

BSHARY: So the client obviously has no interest whatsoever that the cleaner fish eats the mucus. And so there’s this conflict of interest. The cleaner fish wants to eat mucus, the client wants the cleaner fish to eat parasites, and therefore the clients have to find means to make the cleaner fish eat against its preference.

So what happens? Bshary found that the cleaner wrasse is much more likely to cheat, and take mucus from a resident fish — the kind that can’t just move his business to another cleaner.

CRAIR: It’s like monopoly power, they can extract a higher price. Whereas in a more open market where the fish can travel and shop, they have to raise the quality of service, so they are more gentle.

Here’s something else Bshary found: if the supply of cleaner wrasses in a given area decreased, the remaining cleaners had more leverage.

CRAIR: So, when Bshary would manipulate conditions in the reef, if he just took half of the wrasses out of the reef, the ones that remained immediately started taking more bites from their clients.

But the clients do have recourse. If a cleaner wrasse takes too big of a bite, the client will chase the cleaner fish away.

BSHARY: And the cleaner fish will remember that this particular client chased it, and when this particular client comes back 20 minutes later, half an hour later, the cleaner fish will remember, “Okay, here my relationship with this client is not particularly good. So I have to make up for the bad service last time.” And the cleaner fish will give this resident a particularly good service.

DUBNER: And there’s no doubt in your mind that they really do remember the individual fish?

BSHARY: Yeah, we did experiments on this, yeah.

Redouan Bshary has by now spent two decades studying the cleaner wrasse. Long enough to convince him, and his fellow animal behaviorists, that they plainly engage in what humans would recognize as economic transactions. And there’s growing evidence that biological markets exist across a very wide range of animals. Paper wasps, for instance. They live in nests that are controlled by a single queen, and they earn their keep by foraging for food. But: they’re free to go work in another nest if they’d like. The journalist Ben Crair again:

CRAIR: Its labor is sort of the price it pays to get into a nest. If you suddenly double the number of nests, the price should go down.

And that’s exactly what researchers found. When the number of nests in a given area rose, the worker wasps could get away with foraging less.

CRAIR: The dominant breeders were suddenly willing to tolerate smaller contributions, in terms of the amount of time the subordinates were spending in the field foraging.

DUBNER: So it’s like, when the unemployment rate goes down, wages go up?

CRAIR: I’ve thought about it more in terms of a real-estate market. So when there’s a larger supply of homes available on the market, the price of rent is cheaper. And when that supply is really restricted, the price of rent goes up.

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/animal-economics/

[chinabarrels]

A parent can start to steer their ideas towards

A parent can start to steer their ideas towards something that makes the best sense. Sometimes ideas are just impractical or too expensive.Do not wait until the last minute to find something. There are a few of reasons to start early. One of the reasons is that if the costume is to be bought from a store they might be out of the one that the kid wants by close to Halloween.Another reason to plan ahead is if a costume is to be homemade it will take extra time to get it right.

However, Bernanke believed in a "leveraging theory", the Fed dramatically purchase of bonds, forcing the market to accept low interest rates, market investors will increase the purchase of other assets - such as the strength of the stock, to construct a " artificial bull market, "the rise in the stock market will increase household wealth and consumer demand, which will stimulate economic growth.

Once a demand for industrial or economic sector to become the "leader", hoarding cash may be the promotion of mutual transmission type of credit, this is a bubble in the past the United States "forced copy", its risk is staggering.QE is nothing more than the U.S. plan for negative interest rates with inflation (now a zero interest rate policy), let the dollar fall. This is equivalent to the U.S. to become a world awash with liquidity, exports, speculators get funds from the U.S. market and into emerging market countries, emerging market countries, the first reaction is capital controls.

At the same time, emerging market countries will use other means to raise interest rates to face the problem of domestic inflation and demand inflation, asset price bubbles as limited as possible to stop hot Injection Machine Screw Barrel money arbitrage. In fact, these acts against the United States policy has offset the effect, for emerging market countries have found that hot money arbitrage models are the "asset bubble benefit + the currency appreciation", if combat asset bubbles, will be shrinking domestic demand, then the United States from emerging market countries will not receive a substantial increase in export demand. Emerging market countries will not bear the international monetary system has been adjusted by the role of follower, they would not have tolerated the continuous depreciation of the dollar without taking following devaluation. In other words, the U.S. plan in addition to expanding the QE of the world monetary system disorder, the purely monetary benefit is limited, but its costs are severe abnormalities.

You can even design your own strap with your name or your business' name and logo for customization or promotional purposes. So whether these are for yourself, as a promotional tool as a gift, sunglass straps are absolutely the perfect choice.Other Useful Sunglass AccessoriesAside from straps, you may also find getting other sunglass accessories quite useful for sports and other similar endeavors. You can get floating neck straps, cleaning cloths, sprays, cords, eyeglass holders, protective cases and many other useful items to protect your eyes and your eyewear.

What happens is that the wrasse moves above its client and touches it gently with its fin. The behavior is observed only when the client is a predator. This points to an explanation that strategic move is a means to prevent any conflict. Or perhaps, the cleaners make this move when they sense any danger.

[waterworldcraze]

Are Aquariums A Lot Of Work? What You Need To Do

Many of us dream about having an aquarium in our homes but are worried that it is too much work. I have also looked into getting an aquarium and did some research as to how much work it really is and which aquarium will suit me best.

Aquariums are, in fact, not that much work to keep, depending on the type of fish that you decide on, the size of the aquarium, and whether it’s a freshwater or saltwater aquarium. Many see the initial setup of the aquarium as the most work.

You should also start your tank off right to ensure that you don’t begin your aquarium with water that is unhealthy or even toxic to your fish. To do this, you need to first decide what type of aquarium you want.

In this article, we’ll look at both freshwater and saltwater aquariums and how to start them the right way so that your fish will have a healthy habitat to live and grow in.

The Differences Between Freshwater And Saltwater Aquariums

The basic difference between freshwater and saltwater aquariums is that a freshwater aquarium mimics a freshwater habitat (like you’ll find in a lake or a dam, for instance).

A saltwater aquarium, on the other hand, mimics a saltwater habitat, like that found in coral reefs in the ocean, for example. The fish, animals, and plants you’ll find in these different types of aquariums, therefore, differ a lot.

Because of the difference in habitat, there is also a difference in the cost between freshwater and saltwater aquariums.

Because of the more specific and (sometimes) harder to mimic habitat, a saltwater aquarium is more expensive to set up and look after than a freshwater one as other equipment is necessary.

Most aquarium keepers agree that freshwater aquariums are easier to start with when you want to get your first fish tank.

However, if you really want to start with a saltwater one, the best idea is to have a fish-only saltwater aquarium and to rather leave a reef aquarium for later when you have more experience.

If you are unsure about the types of fish that you can keep in home aquariums, here are the most popular ones. Of course, there are some fish, like piranhas, which are sometimes also kept as pets!

The freshwater fish that are mostly kept as pets are probably also the most well-known and popular fish.

Popular freshwater fish include:

Neon Tetra

Guppies

Goldfish

Angelfish

Zebra Danios

Oscar

Bettas

Kissing Gourami

Freshwater fish are generally speaking hardier than saltwater fish as they can better cope with changes in water pH, for example.

This is another reason why freshwater fish is sometimes a better place to begin your fishkeeping adventures — they are a lot more forgiving if you make mistakes!

Saltwater fish being kept as pets have become a lot more popular over the years. This is not only because of the movie Finding Nemo (2003) but also because newer technology makes it a lot easier to mimic an ocean environment for the fish using specific equipment.

Saltwater Aquarium

Popular saltwater fish include:

Clownfish (these days also often called “Nemo”)

Green Chromis

Wrasses

Damselfish

Tangs

Diamond Watchman and Orange Spotted Gobies

Butterflyfish

Saltwater fish live in water with a 7.8 — 8.4 pH, meaning that there isn’t that much room for making mistakes when you have a saltwater aquarium. However, with the correct tools, you’ll soon be an old hand at it!

Which Equipment Is Necessary To Start An Aquarium?

It’s very easy to go out and buy one of the all-in-one aquarium kits, but you should be careful to make sure that it contains everything you need to set up the aquarium.

You should also make sure that the brands used in the kit are trusted ones — even though it may mean that you will need to pay more. In the end, you’ll have the peace of mind that the equipment won’t break soon after buying it and place your fish’s lives in danger.

Here’s a list of everything (except the fish and food) that you will need to set up your basic aquarium. Of course, you can also add plants, some underwater “castles” or even a “sunken pirate ship” if you like!

Saltwater Aquarium

Freshwater Aquarium

Aquarium

Aquarium

Substrate (sand or gravel)

Substrate (sand or gravel)

Live rock

Filters

Salt filters

Lighting

Filters

Water testing kit

Powerhead

Hospital or quarantine tank

Protein Skimmer

Thermometer

Lighting

Chlorine neutralizer

Water testing kit

Hospital or quarantine tank

Thermometer

Chlorine neutralizer

As you can see, there is some equipment that is necessary for a saltwater tank that you don’t need for a freshwater aquarium. It is usually this equipment that push the overall price of the aquarium up.

The fish you decide to buy can also range drastically in price. Some freshwater fish you can get for as little as $1-$2, while some saltwater fish can cost upward of $100.

How To Prepare An Aquarium For Fish

Although it’s very tempting to just fill your new aquarium with tap water and add the fish, this is the worst thing you can do. Before you can add fish, you first need to prepare the tank correctly to ensure that your fish have a healthy environment to live in.

An aquarium can be made ready for your fish in just a few steps:

Plan the size of the aquarium and which fish you’ll keep

Clean the aquarium

Add the substrate and water

Install the aquarium equipment

Add the plants and other decoration

Cycle the aquarium and add your fish!

Next, we’ll look at each of these steps in detail.

Plan The Size Of The Aquarium And Which Fish You’ll Keep

First of all, you need to decide which type of aquarium you want and the species of fish that you want to keep. This will dictate the size of the aquarium that you’ll need.

There are various online calculators that can help you figure out the size of the tank you’ll need depending on the species and amount of fish you want to keep.

The larger the aquarium, the happier your fish will be; it’s untrue that fish “grow to the size of the tank”. In fact, if the tank is too small for the fish, they will be stunted in their growth which causes health problems.

The fish can also become aggressive because of the stress and lack of space.

Also, keep in mind where the aquarium will be kept — and keep the weight of the filled aquarium in mind as this can be hundreds of pounds depending on the size of the tank and the amount of water and substrate.

The aquarium furthermore needs to be kept away from direct sunlight and a lot of noise. Basically, you can’t, for example, put the aquarium next to a window and beside the TV.

Make sure first that you can afford to buy the size of the aquarium that you will need for your fish, all the equipment that goes along with it, and also that you have a suitable place to put it.

Once this has all been figured out, it’s time to go out and buy everything you need — leave the actual fish for now, though — and get the tank fish-ready.

Angelfish in a freshwater aquarium

Clean The Aquarium

Once you get the aquarium home, you will need to wash it, but be careful as you should never use any chemicals like cleaners on your tank.

Use warm water and – if the tank is dirty (for example if it’s second-hand), use white vinegar to wipe it down before rinsing it very thoroughly with warm water.

Remember to always keep the cloths, etc. that you use for the aquarium separate and only use it on the tank. This will ensure that no chemicals get into the aquarium’s water by accident.

Adding The Prepared Substrate And Water

Once the aquarium has been cleaned thoroughly, you can add the prepared substrate (gravel) and water.

To prepare the substrate, you will need to wash it — but, again, only using warm water.

The easiest way to do this is to place the substrate into the bucket you’ll use for the aquarium and add water. Swirl the water, discarding the dirty water.

Repeat this process until you find that the water is completely clean when you swirl the gravel around.

Add the substrate to the tank, creating a layer at the bottom.

Next, add the dechlorinated tap water to the tank. If it’s going to be a saltwater aquarium, you can also prepare the saltwater. Once you’ve added all the water, you can begin installing the equipment like the filters, thermometer, etc.

Installing The Aquarium Equipment

Following the instructions on the packaging, install the filter, thermometer (somewhere that’s easy to keep an eye on), and you can also install the heater now if one is necessary.

You can also add the protein skimmer, etc. if you are planning a saltwater tank.

Make sure, however, that you first rinse equipment that will be in the water with some water as well to remove any dust which may have collected on them.

Add The Plants And Other Decorations

Next comes a very fun part — adding the plants and decorations. Again, make sure that you’ve washed the plants (rinse them in clean water) and other decorations (that pirate ship) before placing them in the water. Note that both live and plastic plants should be rinsed beforehand.

If you’re using live plants, you should always plant the roots gently below the surface of the substrate, leaving the crown — if the plant has one — above the substrate. You can also use an aquatic plant fertilizer on the live plants.

Have fun while planting, decorating and creating a happy, healthy habitat for your fish. Just be sure to leave enough space for your fish to swim around in – don’t overdo it!

It’s always easier to add some more plants later rather than filling up the tank with plants and have your poor fish always swimming in a labyrinth of leaves.

After adding the plants, you need to cycle your aquarium.

Cycle The Aquarium And Add Your Fish!

Cycling the aquarium is one of the most important steps in getting your aquarium ready. Be sure that this is completed before adding any fish.

This is where your patience will be tested as you wait for the nitrogen cycle to complete naturally and for enough good bacteria to build up in the biological filter.

This is essential for the health of your fish as the bacteria will turn ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish, so you really don’t want these building up in the aquarium! Your regular water changes will take care of nitrate build-up.

How To Cycle Your Freshwater Aquarium

First, add some ammonia that you got from the fish store to the tank. Be sure to follow the directions on the bottle to a T regarding doses.

Leave the tank, but test once a week to check the levels of ammonia and nitrite. You’ll see that the levels spike first and then drop. Once the levels reach zero (0ppm) it means your tank has been completely cycled and is ready.

How To Cycle Your Saltwater Aquarium

To cycle a saltwater aquarium, you will need “live rock” where the bacteria can build up. Choose light rocks that have a lot of nooks and crannies for the bacteria.

Be sure to transfer the rocks as quickly as possible to keep too many of the bacteria dying off.

If needed, you can also add ammonia to the water to kick-start the cycling.

It’s important to know that cycling can take around 6-8 weeks before it’s finished. Once the levels of ammonia and nitrites reach 0ppm, do a 50% water change to get rid of a build-up of nitrates.

The video below shows some more tips on how to cycle a saltwater aquarium.

When To Test The Aquarium Water After Cycling

For new aquariums like the one you’re prepping, you will need to also check the water daily.

Check the following:

Water pH level

Ammonia levels

Nitrites levels

Nitrate levels

Water hardness

You will still need to check and test the water every few weeks in an established aquarium to ensure that there are no compounds that can affect or even poison your fish. When the nitrate levels spike, you will need to change some of the water.

Now that your aquarium is fully prepped, you can add the fish! However, you can’t just put the fish in straight from the container in which you brought them home. You need to acclimatize them first.

How To Acclimatize Your Fish

Make sure that the aquarium lights are off and dim the lights in the room (or draw the curtains/close the blinds).

Take the bag with the fish that you have bought and float it in the aquarium. This will ensure that the water inside the bag is adjusted to that in the aquarium. This will ensure that you don’t shock your fish during the next steps.

Open the bag and add half a cup of water from the aquarium to the bag with your new fish. Repeat this step every 5 minutes until the bag is filled with water.

Pour out half the water that’s in the bag into a separate container – not into the aquarium.

Start adding aquarium water again, half a cup at a time every 5 minutes until the bag is full again.

Now you can use a net to carefully pick your fish up out of the bag and add it to the aquarium. Discard the bag and water into a separate container.

Be sure to watch your fish closely over the next 24-48 hours to ensure that they settle in well, are eating, and aren’t showing any stressed behavior.

Final Thoughts

Now, we have to add that, if this sounds like too much work and something that will just take too long, that you should either re-think getting fish and an aquarium in the first place, or either opting for a species of fish and size of aquarium that you will be able to manage.

Just remember that large amounts of water — and, therefore, larger aquariums — are much more forgiving when it comes to changes in the water chemistry; so you should also not go too small.

Also, an aquarium will not only teach you patience but will also open up the underwater world for you. Watching an aquarium and looking after your fish is even stress-relieving and calming.

Making sure your aquarium is set up right from the start will also give you peace of mind when you add your fish to their new habitat.

In the end, what you get out of keeping fish more than make up for the patience you needed while the tank was cycling and you were waiting for your fish to come to their new forever home.

With a little elbow grease and finding out as much as you can about keeping an aquarium, you will find that aquariums are actually not that much work!

[muppenthings]

Cleaning day

Submitted by: prplzorua

So, this takes place after Nets to the shore.

But like…I have no explanation for this. I’m just really fascinated by the fact that the Cleaner species of underwater creatures (wrasses, gobies, shrimp etc) have their own little dance greeting for their ‘clients’. As a diver who has visited quite a few stations, I actually got to see it personally but I never understood it until I had hw about it lol.😁🐙

Anyway enjoy XD 

Warnings: Blood (a little bit), injuries/wounds (not explicit), loss of consciousness (implied)

That’s it, I’m giving the poor giant a break, tho don’t worry :)

WC: 2,639

—-

Virgil winced for the umpteenth time as he kept swimming.

It’s been a solid four days since he was tangled in the nets and his healing cuts, bruises and burns, ached something wild.

So that brings him to this area of the water, to a cleaning station.

He grimaces the moment he enters the familiar outcrop of coral, his head was pounding and cleaning stations were always extremely noisy, but on top of aching, his wounds had started to itch and he really wasn’t too keen on that. So cleaning station it was.

This one was located on the side of a channel, it was one of the few big enough that he could fit while laying on the course but soft sandy bottom. There were only two other client species getting cleaned it seemed;  a Leatherback turtle and a Moray eel. 

Good, not as busy as it could have been.

He swam in slowly, but moved to lay on the sand. 

He really didn’t have the energy to swim in place while they cleaned him.

The mer lay still on the bottom with the back of one hand pillowing his chin and the other near his face. Once the sand settled a few brightly colored Wrasses came bobbing around his face to greet him.

Gently, he exhales and opens his mouth.

The fish are quick to start, diving in and picking at the bits of whatever was stuck in his teeth.

Once it was established that he was here to get cleaned– and that he was not going to break the unspoken rule by attacking anything in the station– plenty more cleaners came up to him.

Some Gobies came swimming in a circle in front of his nose and then started their cleaning at his hair and first dorsal fin. The Cleaner shrimp followed directly after, rocking side to side in greeting before crawling over to clean his claws.

Three small wrasses swim into his left gills to clean and the mer shudders.

Virgil hated the feeling but knew better that to squirm, a necessary evil and all that.

Until one of the fishes yanked at something and the giant’s breath seized.

After a moment of frozen panic Virgil attempted to breathe again but when he tried, he ended up coughing. The force of it startled not only him but the surrounding fish

That’s when the scent hit…blood.

Everything scattered, leaving the giant mer to battle with his coughing fit. 

Once it settled and Virgil found himself breathing clearly again–the little wrasse came up to him with something in its mouth as an apology…a piece of the net mesh.

The mer lifted his palm slowly and the wrasse placed the piece of metal in his palm and then fled as fast as it’s little tail could take it.

The other cleaners waited, hidden behind coral crevices; the turtle and eel were long gone.

Virgil rolled his eyes and resumed laying flat with his mouth open. 

While he didn’t blame the cleaners–injuring a client  enough to where it bled, was a means to get everyone eaten– but he really didn’t want to come back the next day. Being surrounded by a cacophony of noise with a headache was not something he was up for and having to swim all the way back twice? No, he best wait and get the cleaning done and over with.

Realizing that the mer wasn’t going to eat them for the earlier discrepancy, the Wrasses came back. This time there was a far larger one that bobbed up and down in front of the giant.

Ah, the alpha. Behind it were about fifteen other  smaller wrasses of the same species, right, wrasses were protective over their broods and tribes. One of the smaller fishes at the back of the group was the one Virgil recognized as the one that pulled the net piece out of his gills.

When the small fish realized Virgil was looking at it, the poor thing quickly swam behind another member of its group only to be pushed away. The bigger wrasse Swims in front of it and bobs up and down once more, the little one behind it, seems to timidly do the same.

The giant almost snorts, but knowing that the particular action wouldn’t translate well, he simply tilts his head and remains calmly on the sand. Signal received the wrasses begin cleaning again; the little one staying fin fin with the alpha.

Seeing that Virgil was their only client and that the wrasses were not eaten, meant that it was relatively safe and that the mer was a patient predator and that meant…free reign on cleaning.

In seconds, the Mer found himself swarmed with various cleaners including a couple Blue tangs, though they stayed far from his face.

The Cleaner Shrimp were back at his claws, carefully and skillfully cleaning under them, while the fishes swam around  in a cleaners frenzy.

Surprisingly the Eel came out of hiding and the turtle returned, causing the more skittish cleaners to take care of their previous–less giant-- clients. Not that Virgil minded, the ones he had were doing a pretty good job and by the fact that he now held a small piece of mesh under his thumb, it was a pretty thorough one too.

One of the fish– that was once in his mouth– tapped his cheek gently with its tail, signalling that it and the others were done and he could close his mouth. The mer did so gratefully, wiggling his jaw a bit; holding his jaw open and still for so long caused it to ache a little.

The Cleaner shrimps had just finished with his claws when a Goby bumped a bit too roughly into one of the visible bruises on his side. This, of course, caused  the mer to jolt but the Goby remained resolute.

Grumbling, the mer leaned on his side, exposing the injuries on his underbelly.

The Goby tried to pick off the dead skin around one of the cuts but Virgil jolted again. Upset, the Cleaner Shrimps and the Wrasses chased the too rough Goby away–it swam to the turtle and began cleaning the reptile’s shell, the turtle couldn’t care less–with the Goby gone, the Cleaner Shrimps began carefully cleaning the wounds. Because the mer didn’t jolt at all, the Wrasses left those wounds to the skilful crustaceans and continued their cleaning at his fins.

Some time later a squadron of Manta rays came in circling around.

Because Virgil was, currently being tended to by most of the cleaners, the Mantas could only get cleaned by the few remaining, meaning only two Mantas at a time.

He watched them swim, circling around the area, over and over as they got cleaned. How unfortunate that they couldn’t stop moving lest they drown.

The mer watched them swim, gritting his teeth behind his lips–to avoid any accidental signs of hostility–he could feel the tiny nips and nibbles of the Cleaner Shrimp as they neared a particularly deep cut. It wasn’t too deep actually but it was deeper than the others. Still, he bared it, knowing that an infection would be far worse.

Virgil kept watching the Mantas, hoping that focusing on them would be better than the pain and discomfort, but of course, the squadron brought their own sense of discomfort, they were as loud as anything else in the water. That alone didn’t bode well for the merman’s still pounding head. He really should have drank more water when he was at the estuary.

Still, he was already here and he might as well finish. He kept watching the Mantas.

They swam, four in one circle.

Circling.

Circling.

Circling…

The four Mantas he was watching had white bellies.

But the more they circled, the more black bled into white.

Circling.

Circling.

Circling…

They were completely black now and the pounding headache grew worse, but that was completely unrelated.

Circling.

Circling

C i r c l i n g…

—-

Virgil opened his eyes with a silent groan.

His headache and the pain pulsed right around the bridge of his nose.

The Mantas were still circling in his vision.

He blinked, only four of them were left out of the entire squadron and two of them were currently being cleaned.

Did he pass out?

Before he could really think about it, one of the Cleaner shrimp swam up to his nose and sat right on the tip, causing him to cross his eyes in order to see it. The little crustacean tapped its claws down twice. The mer gave a tentative look, he had to admit, the shrimps did a pretty good job. The edges of his cuts and scrapes weren’t as red and those that had started to scab were instead white lines, nice to know he wouldn’t scar too badly, or if at all, after he was fully healed. Virgil glanced down again–nothing was below him–so he moved slowly onto his stomach. 

Immediately after he did so, the Wrasses, having just finished with one side, began on the other.

Soon enough, the Cleaner shrimp had left, having gotten their fill. 

The Mantas were now gone and the smallest wrasse, now feeling brave, came up to Virgil and tapped him gently on the nose. Cleaning complete.

Gently he nods in thanks, before stretching and then swimming carefully forward and out of the channel.

—-

Now clean, still achy but significantly less itchy, Virgil heads to one of his favorite areas…

 and picks up a couple handfuls of kelp.

He’s not too hungry yet, but considering that hunting may mean reopening wounds, he wasn’t going to wait till he got to that point.

With his kelp collected, the mer heads to his beach, Patton and Logan said they’d visit him for lunch. They had something called a holiday? It didn’t matter, he still got to spend time with them and that was all that counted.

The moment the mer reached the familiar cliff, he spotted Patton on the shore.

The tiny human didn’t hesitate to wave at him. Smiling, Virgil dove under, swimming as quickly as he could manage, before carefully coming up next to Patton.

In a blink the barista is hugging his nose. “Hi buddy! Roman can’t make it today, he’s helping his brother with something. But how’re you doing today?”, he giggles.

The mer huffs out a chuckle, “ ‘m good”

“Glad to hear that Virgil”, comments Logan as he walks down the berms to stand next to his friends. “And may I ask the state of your wounds?”

Virgil nearly rolls his eyes, give it to Logan for being straight to the point, but still, he can’t say that he doesn’t appreciate it, the incident was scary for all of them. Instead, with a sigh, the giant carefully turns on his side, minding that his torso on hard rocks wasn’t exactly fun.

“…‘m better”, he rumbles out, “still hurts a bit, but better…”

Logan is quick to inspect the bruises and cuts in front of him–he just barely stops himself from touching–he then moves downwards to the tail, checking on the mer’s fins. The Pharmacist is quick to return to the other two. “Thankfully it seems that there is still no sign of infection”

“There better not be”, mumbles Virgil as he lays back onto his stomach, pillowing his head with one arm, the other holding the kelp. “That place is way too noisy to go back to if that happens”, he exhales, now nibbling at the kelp.

“Place?” Inquires Logan.

“…station…”

“Ah, that’s quite clever of you to go there, it should minimize the risk of infection greatly”

“Mhm”, agrees the giant chewing on his kelp, “still noisy though”, he then mumbles something about a ‘headache’ but the rest was lost to his chewing.

Patton, looks between the two of them for a second with a pensive hand on his chin, and then he snaps his fingers with a realization. “Oh! Cleaning station!  With all the little cleaner fish and shrimp right?”

“That is correct Patton”    

  “Yup”

Came the simultaneous replies from Logan and Virgil respectively, the barista beamed.

—-

The three happily stayed at the beach, Logan sitting on a nearby rock, while Patton was sitting on the ground and leaning against Virgil’s forearm. The giant himself, meanwhile, had both arms now pillowing his head, kelp long eaten.

“…and then she said she wanted six shots of espresso!”

“I certainly hope you didn’t give that to her, that amount  is highly detrimental to one’s health”

Patton shrugs,“I mean she was a paying customer and-”

The barista was suddenly cut off by Virgil’s large yawn. 

“Oop! Are ya Sleepy buddy?”

The mer shrugs, getting up to brace on his elbows while mumbling something unintelligible and looking away, not wanting to admit it.

Logan tsks. “Larger creatures require more energy to heal Virgil, it would be beneficial for you to rest”

“…but-…”, started the mer in protest.

“Oh! Wait I got an idea! I’ll be right back!”, with that Patton practically sprinted up the beach.

Logan and Virgil looked at each other, then at the direction their friend left, then back at each other; they shrugged.

A few moments later Patton returned with a sun hat, four beach towels and sunblock.

Logan quirked a brow as the barista suddenly deposited two of the towels into his arms. “Um, Patton? What is all of this?”

“Stuff for nap time!” the barista exclaimed cheerfully, as if that explained everything. “Alrighty Virge, I need you to lay back down ok?”

The giant pouts but does as requested, laying down and pillowing his head on his crossed arms.

“Perfect!” cheers Patton as he then climbs up and spreads a towel over from the crook of the mer’s elbow. He then lays down on his back and covers himself with another towel like a sheet. “See? Nap time!”

Virgil blinks and  huffs a short laugh as he then breaks out into a grin. 

Logan himself smiles at the two, before squeezing the two towels Patton had given him and joining the other human.

—-

They didn’t fall asleep right away, but the three of them were far more relaxed than before. 

Patton continued with his story and then Logan with one of his; when that was finished Patton started with another one.

Slowly, slowly Virgil found his eyes slipping shut, he tried to fight it-

there was a small tap on his arm.

He looked down to see that it was Patton.

Surprisingly it was Logan who had fallen asleep first. The Pharmacist was curled up, on Patton’s side with his head resting comfortably on the barista’s stomach.

Patton looked up at him with a heavy-eyed smile, “get some sleep bud, we’ll be right here, promise”

“..ok..”

When Virgil woke up roughly an hour later–no thanks to a seagull that decided to perch on his nose and then leave when his eyes opened– he found that the human was good on his promise. Both Patton and Logan were still there, asleep and curled up with one another, breathing softly.

The mer smiled and closed his eyes again, his headache was gone but napping a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

---------------

Mupp/en: Aaaah! Another gem!  ❤o❤  And I learned new things! Cleaner fish greeting their clients? That’s so cute! And ooooh my goooosh the little wrasse that picked off the mesh piece! Precious baby was so timid! Them hiding behind another wrasse was adorable. :,) I loved how much the fish and shrimp were communicating with Virgil! I just... I love them all.

I loved Logan’s and Virgil’s shared look when Patton darted off to get the towels! xD And the nap time!!!! Hnnngh my heart! 💕 I love this!!! Thank you for sharing! <3

Btw. Patton’s customer is so relatable.