#i miss our mer au what if we brought it back

[lilikags]

@shirokururu

there HAS to be a reason for this

[youarejesting]

Wash Out.21 (Sope Special)

[Master List]

Banners: @purpleskies1999 Pairings: Dolphintrainer!Taehyung x SharkDiver!Jin,  Mer!Jimin x Reader, Scientist!Namjoon x MerKing!Jungkook, Mer!Yoongi x Mer!Hoseok. Rating: 16+ Genre: Mystery, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, little bit of Action, Slice of life, Enemies2Lovers, Friends2lovers, Social media au, Fake Texts, Fake Subs.

Summary: Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung’s rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?

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Yoongi stood still, his legs shaking. It was not normal for him to be standing for this length of time. They were mermaids used to having tails their strength in the water. Swimming was like breathing. Of course their legs only appeared on their sacred land under the ocean.

They couldn’t walk on human land, could never compare to their leg strength. Most Mermaids spent their days in the water only entering the sacred land for celebrations. Yoongi being one of many guards would protect the royal family, albeit there was no longer a royal family. Jungkook was all that was left, a prince forced to be a king before he was ready. 

Guards were the most common of the merfolk to adorn legs. Jungkook was confined to the sacred land, his time in the water limited. Anything to keep him safe from the threat of other merclans. Each guard embellished in the silk of the clams. Byssus was woven finely like silk, the light material was surprisingly warm enough to protect the guards and King whilst in their more vulnerable form.

Yoongi looked across the crystal throne room, the love of his life standing just as tall, his stature stronger than Yoongi’s. A feat as Jungkook tore the room apart, bioluminescent vines and lanterns ripped from the walls. Food and wine splattered on the floor of their ancestors.

Hoseok’s mouth turned down, the sight unnatural for his usually cheerful disposition. The hardest part of their job was raising Jungkook, it seemed no matter how hard they tried to teach him right and wrong, politics and history they still came up short. He didn’t have a family, not anymore, he didn’t know how to share and never had to work for relationships. 

Everyone adored him, feared him, doted on his every whim. He was given the finest foods and all the newest technology Merfolk could offer. Anything to keep him content in his prison. It surprised Yoongi that Jungkook hadn’t questioned his confines, that he was complacent with their level of control over his freedom.

Jungkook no longer understanding, why his new found friend was so reluctant to stay. He extended all his riches and gifts to the human, something other merfolk would cherish. 

“Why does he still want to leave, with me he could be treated as a king,” Jungkook seethed, throwing a leg over the arm of his throne massaging his temples. “Leave me.”

Hoseok marched dutifully to Yoongi, supporting the older merman as they made their exit. Walking him to the entrance of the underwater cove, the air though damp enough to keep their lungs from feeling dry, they much preferred sinking into the cool water. Doing so allowed the power of the sacred land to slip away leaving only their natural form. 

The two transformed their black and blue tails wrapping around each other, a romantic gesture Yoongi enjoyed more than he wished to admit. They relaxed in eachothers arms peacefully, sinking further until they landed on the floor of the large network of caves. This is where most of the merfolk lived as they were still protected from the open ocean.

Under the cove was wide and besides a few stalagmite and stalactite the surface was predominantly flat. However the local life was anything but, everyone bustling around the settlement enjoying tending to the seaweed, crafting and protecting the sealife. 

“Jungkook, is struggling. He doesn’t understand how to handle rejection. He doesn’t understand that people value the same things,” Hoseok mumbled, massaging Yoongi’s lower back to help relieve tension from standing for such a long time.

“That human cannot survive long under the ocean, he grows weaker by the day, barely eating.” Yoongi huffed, “If Jungkook doesn’t let him go, the poor thing will die, Jungkook isn’t ready to experience something like that so close to him.”

“I think he has gotten too attached, losing this human might break him,” Hoseok bit his lip, “Dare I say he is in love with him, he could be his promised.”

Yoongi scoffed, the idea that Jungkook happened to find his promised one and he was a human, the first human he had ever met. Yoongi and Hoseok were unaware they were each other's promised until Yoongi had a week off from guard duty and started to get really sick. The two had met in the infirmary wasting away and only in one another's company did their condition improve. “Hoseok, that’s a bit much.”

A figure swam down the path quickly, heading straight to the sacred cove entrance, carrying something large. Was someone trying to attack their home? The two fell apart taking up offensive stances, each lurching forward when they spotted Jimin holding an unconscious human.

“Not another one,” Yoongi chastised, eyes sweeping over Jimin trying to be inconspicuous. Though he cared he showed it silently, not fond of open praise. The kind to listen and assist others out of sight.

“I have to make sure he is alright,” Jimin gave no further explanation, swimming up into the cove entrance dragging the human onto the sacred land. Jimin’s gold tail disappearing, leaving behind two bare legs. 

Wrapping himself in a cloth, the two followed. Yoongi strained to lift himself into an upright position. Hoseok brought out their usual transport, especially for Jungkook’s deliveries. In this case they threw the unconscious human across the shell of the crustacean and they headed to their king.

“Are all humans this big?” Yoongi asked, eyeing the figure draped beside Jimin. The two crab-pooling wasn’t the issue, the way Jimin looked genuinely concerned for the human was. It was no good for humans and Merfolk to fall in love, the dynamic wouldn’t end well. 

“No, they aren’t all this big, some of them are small, delicate and beautiful. They are magnificent, fascinating beings. Some are scary and mean and others are innocent and protective, just trying to do the right thing.” Jimin whispered, checking the humans breathing once more. 

“Is he your promised?” Hoseok asked softly, not knowing how to approach the topic sensitively. Jimin smiled, shaking his head. The thought appeared to have amused him.

“He is someone else’s promised,” Jimin said, “But I think I met her, she was beautiful and strong, never letting anyone stop her, never letting bad things keep her down. She would swim head first into enemy waters to save someone she barely knows.

The human groaned, “Where am I?” Jimin let out a sigh of relief, this human was waking up and didn’t seem to be physically hurt, at least there were no wounds they could see upon his flesh. “Am I dead?”

“No, you are not dead, you are in our settlement.” Jimin grinned at the disorientation present in Seokjin’s words. He was struggling to enunciate his words, each more like a whine drawn out.

Upon entering the crystal throne room the group tried their best to support the sluggish human inside. Gaining the attention of Jungkook, ceasing his brooding long enough to assist the three struggling mermen. As if hearing the commotion or perhaps Seokjin’s terrible jokes Namjoon emerged from where he had been staying.

“Jin! Are you okay?” Namjoon grabbed his friend, checking him over for injury, “What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you and avoiding the police, I ran my car off the cliff and also may have destroyed the letter box outside your beach house.” He laughed, “Never really liked it anyway.”

“You did what?” Namjoon said, concerned, “Are you crazy?”

“Listen, we were being chased. It was all for you, and Jimin of course, returning Jimin and rescuing you.” Seokjin smiled at his friend. Yoongi thought these humans were weird, they were reckless and too odd for his liking. “I even teamed up with Taehyung and Y/n in order to save you. Do you know how hard that was?”

“Didn’t seem hard at all, you and Taehyung seemed to get along really well.” Jimin pushed the human with a smile, it was weird to see Jimin acting so comfortable with the humans. “We will return you so that the issue can be resolved, I am starting to grow worried about how we left.”

“What do you mean?” Seokjin asked confused

“Humans tackled Y/n and Taehyung dragged me into the water. Right before you and your car contraption fell into the water I killed the man who scared you all.” Jimin said proudly, this didn’t seem to go over well with the human’s. Yoongi hoped Jimin didn’t do something stupid turf war wasn’t on his to do list.

Yoongi didn’t understand the words coming from Seokjin’s face, if he had to liken it to anything, it sounded like vulgar slang, curse words. The human looked panicked.

“We have to go back, they are probably being sent to prison,” Seokjin said, trying to leave unsure which direction to go, “They are in big trouble.”

“Can’t you just talk to your king and explain and they will be removed from prison?” Jimin said

“Prison doesn’t work the same as it does here,” Namjoon explained, “Very Very bad people go to prison, Murderer’s, thieves and other despicable humans put in one place.”

“Yeah and if they go to prison, they may be beaten or worse,” Seokjin huffed. Jimin looked up at Jungkook who nodded, bringing out a small mirror and handing it to Jimin.

Looking over Jimin’s shoulder, Yoongi noticed a human different to the two infront of him, she was feminine delicate and leaking. “What is happening to her?”

“She is crying,” Jimin explained, “Humans do that when they are hurt or in despair, from what I have been told they do the same when they are happy too.”

“Confusing and a little stupid.” Hoseok laughed, “How do you know the difference?”

The charges have been dropped, Namjoon breathed listening to the interrogator, explaining that they couldn’t record the phenomenon that occurred on the beach. “They are being let go,” He smiled, a sight Yoongi hadn’t seen since he first laid eyes on their large domestic crustaceans.

“There is Taehyung,” Seokjin called out looking down, the two humans looked void of any emotion, they collected their things and climbed into the police car getting an escort to their homes. “They are safe and that’s all that matters.” 

Seokjin smiled, his eyes leaking much to Yoongi’s disgust. Namjoon smiled, he seemed a little amused by the older human. “I remember distinctly you saying you hated Taehyung with a passion and wanted him to choke on a sardine.” They two laughed for a moment, “When did things change?” 

“I guess when you are working as a team to save someone you develop an understanding.” Seokjin shrugged his large shoulders, “It also didn’t help that he was living in my house for almost a week.”

“You like him,” Namjoon poked him, “Admit it you have feelings for him.”

“We can head back when you are ready, we have returned Jimin home safely.” Seokjin smiled, looking around at the group and smiling, “I am Seokjin by the way, you can call me Jin.”

The man was goofy, reminding Yoongi of Jungkook himself, the two so alike in their childlike nature, letting themself play without hesitation. It was almost admirable that people could act so carefree, unaffected by how they could be perceived.

“I don’t know if I am allowed to leave?” Namjoon said, his smile falling, eyes fixed on the ground before him. 

Yoongi looked at his king, the spoiled young man reflecting on his actions, it had been many days since they saw the young man smile. Almost expecting him to refuse, Yoongi schools his expression when he doesn’t. 

“You should go, You don’t belong down here?” Jungkook took the mirror before walking away from the group to sit on the throne. He lowered his head looking at his reflection trying to distract himself from the pain. Letting your promised go was the hardest thing a merperson could do. Under normal circumstances, promises are only parted by death.

Namjoon walked over, placing a hand on the king's head and smiling at him, “If ever you want to visit, I would be happy to show you some great places, places you would love.” Jungkook’s broken heart warmed at the human’s dimples appearing softly in the flesh of his cheeks.

That was the last thing they needed, their king running off for a romance on the coast line. Seokjin swung his arm around Jimin playfully, the merman giggling whilst his legs almost buckled. “Yeah Jimin knows the private beach by Namjoon’s house, he can show you the way if you ever want to visit.”

Tags: @backinblack1967 @miriamxsworld @moccahobi @simplymemyself @a-gayish-unicorn @ella-mella @vjinfan23​

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[oboevallis]

who is he

AU: amelia never told link he was the father of her son

“Amelia, you have to tell him eventually. Especially if he’s asking.” Meredith reprimanded as she stirred in sugar into her coffee. Since Scout was at school age everyone had been telling her he’d be asking questions about his father, and Amelia had been dreading that conversation. He had asked the question last night though, he asked Amelia why he didn’t have a dad present, his friend has two dads, and he could never recall him having one or mention of one.

“There’s nothing to tell him, Mer.” Amelia sighed as she situated her lab coat, and pulled her hair back.

“Well, he has a dad. Who may I add has no idea, that it’s their child.”

“Link made it clear if the baby wasn’t his he wasn’t interested. So when I found out the baby was his I realized, if he can’t love me for me he doesn’t deserve to love my kid. At the end of the day he’s mine.”

“And Link’s kid. It takes two to make a baby.”

“And only takes one to give them sufficient love no matter what.” Amelia sighed, sending a glare towards her sister before leaving the attendings lounge. Since Link left her and she’s had no contact with him, and wasn’t interested in doing so.

_______________________________________

“Mom?” Scout asked as he walked into his mother’s room.

“Yeah babe?” She patted the space in her bed next to her. Scout crawled into bed next to her and passed her a paper.

“We have to do a project about our lives, like where our names come from and our parents and like where we were born and stuff like that.” He pointed to each bullet point that had the criteria.

“Alright.” Amelia smiled, knowing her son he was going to try and find information about his father through this. “Seems simple enough, you want to get started now?”

“Hmm.” Scout seemed to contemplate this. “No, but maybe you can tell me the things I need to know?”

“Okay.” Amelia braced herself and sat up before passing the piece of paper back to him. “What do you need to know?”

“How did you and my dad meet?” Amelia leaned over to see the sheet of paper.

“I don’t see that as a question on the list.” She then pointed to one of the bullets on the list. “Here, we can do the ‘where we’re you born question’.” Amelia chuckled scooting closer to her son and wrapping her arm around her son. “I was in LA that’s in California. It was late at night and I couldn’t sleep, because you were kicking up a storm.”

“Did I hurt you when I would kick.”

“Nope, didn’t hurt a bit. It was just hard to get comfortable. Back to my story, I went outside and sat on the beach, then your Aunt Addison came and sat with me for awhile. It took her a long time to convince me that I needed to go to the hospital.”

“Why didn’t you want to go to the hospital?”

“I was scared.” She forced a smile, thinking about her first son, but she wasn’t going to get into that at the moment. “But then early early early in the morning you came, and I saw your cute little face and you were healthy and perfect. And I wasn’t scared anymore because I had you.” Scout smiled at his mother, before asking the next question.

“Why’d you name me Scout?” Amelia hesitated for a moment. He’d been named Scout because it correlated with his fathers name, and when she told Link it was a boy he’d suggested the name and at first she hated it, but when she saw her son for the first time she knew he was a Scout.

“Your name comes from a character in a book. You’ll get to read it when your a bit older.”

“I don’t have siblings, so can I talk about Zola and bailey and Ellis?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

“So how are they related to us?”

“Well, my brother Derek.”

“My middle name!”

“Yep, he’s the dad of Zola, Bailey, and Ellis. So since Derek and I are siblings his kids are my nieces and nephew, making them your cousins.”

“Do you miss your brother?”

“I do, everyday.” Amelia nodded.

“How about my dad? Do you miss him?”

“Why are you so keen on knowing about your dad?”

“I dunno, it seems like everyone has a dad. And they do things with them, like go to baseball games.”

“Well we’ve talked about how every family looks different. Like your friend has two dads and no mom? Some kids only have a dad, some have two moms. Our family is you and me.” She wrapped her arm around her son allowing him to lean his head on her shoulder. “And we can go to a baseball game if you really want to. We can do all those things.”

“Really? You’ll take me to a baseball game? You always say how dangerous it is.”

“Yeah, but we can go to a game. As long as your not partaking in the game yourself.”

“Deal!” Scout jumped up on the bed, shrieking with laughter. “Can we see the Mariners?” Her heart dropped at the mention of the team.

“Any other team you like?”

“Well yeah, but the Mariners are Seattle’s team. And we do live in Seattle, and I really like their mascot.”

“Okay, we can go to a game.” The neurosurgeon sighed nervously.

“Yay!” Scout jumped on to his mother engulfing her in a hug. “Your the best mommy ever.” Amelia smiled contently, savoring the hug.

_______________________________________

“This is reaaaaaaaaaaally big.” Scout said as they stood near the entrance and he was looking up at the stadium.

“It is isn’t it.” Amelia looked down at her beaming son and smiled, he had the same smile as his father. “Now when we go in, you don’t let go of my hand, okay?”

“Mom I’m 6 years old, I’m a big kid.”

“Yes you are a big kid, but I’m afraid I’m going to get lost so I’m gonna hold your hand.”

“Okay, I’ll protect you mom.”

“I appreciate that.” She squeezed her sons hand, and leaded them to ticket booth. Once they got into the stadium, Scout clung tightly to his mother obviously not used to the amount of people around them. “Want to get some nachos?”

“They have nachos here?” Amelia brightly smiled and nodded, knowing they were her sons favorite. “This is the best place ever!”

“Hmm.” Amelia hummed, she knew her son was over the moon excited, but all she wanted to do was run far away. As they were waiting in the concession line, Scout explained to her who the star players were and how the game worked.

“Is anyone a doctor?” A voice shouted from behind, causing Amelia to turn around abruptly. She took her sons hand and went to the person who was seizing on the floor.

“Don’t move, and watch this watch keep track of the time.” She told her son handing him her watch and left him two feet away. She then moved to move the person onto their side, and took off her jacket putting it under the mans head. “I’m Dr Shepherd. Has he ever had a seizure before?” She asked the woman standing beside the man, obviously distraught.

“No, no this is the first time.”

“Heard there’s a seizure?” Amelia’s heart dropped when she heard the voice. He kneeled across from her, and his face visibly dropped registering who was in front of him. The paramedics were standing next to the two with a stretcher ready for the patient, but the seizure had yet to stop.

“Do guys have lorazepam?” Amelia asked, looking at the paramedics instead of Link who had the medical bag.

“Already on it.” Link salty said as he injected the patient with it. After a couple of seconds the seizure ceased.

“How long was that?” Amelia asked looking back to her son.

“5 minutes aaaaaaand 3 seconds.” Scout said as he watched the watch in his hand.

“Alright, this guys gotta get to the hospital.” Amelia said before helping the paramedics ease the man into the stretcher. She then took her sons hand.

“Grey-Sloan right?” Link asked as he walked with them.

“Yeah we’re gonna take him there, are you coming as well Dr Shepherd?” The paramedic asked, Amelia nodded and picked her son up so they could keep up with the fast pace. “What are you doing Dr Lincoln?” The paramedics asked noticing he was following them.

“I was gonna come.”

“No, you’ve gotta stay here. You know in case one of the players get hurt?” The other paramedic said as they loaded into the ambulance.

“Yeah, right.” Link and Amelia held eye contact as the door was shut. He watched the ambulance drive away and sighed, it had been years since he had seen her. He thought lots of times what he’d say if he saw her again, but failed to get the words out.

_______________________________________

“I’m so sorry we missed the game.” Amelia apologized as she walked into the attendings lounge where he was sitting with Maggie.

“It’s okay.” He sighed, leaning into his mother once she sat down on the couch.

“I promise the next game we’ll go, and I’ll try really hard not to save someone’s life.” She chuckled, kissing the top of her sons head.

“I have a question.”

“And I may have an answer.”

“Who was that doctor? He knew what hospital you worked at.”

“Oh my God, Link?” Maggie asked, abruptly turning around while she was pouring her coffee.

“Who’s Link?” Scout asked.

“Link. Is. No. One.” Amelia glared at her sister.

“Right.” Maggie immediately looked down at the floor, embarrassed. “I’m just gonna go now.”

“Now, they won’t be stadium nachos, but want to go get nachos somewhere?”

“Yes please!” Scout smiled jumping up from the couch.

“Let’s get some nachos.” Amelia smiled standing up, Scout went to get his coat on while Amelia opened up her phone and stared at her former boyfriends contact, before shutting her phone off and taking her sons hand as they walked out of the hospital together. Seeing Link today brought up old feelings but she had to remember she had all she needed, her son. She smiled as he squeezed her hand and it reaffirmed her he was all she needed.

[bunnimew]

Starstruck 2: Lost at Sea

Fandom: Rise of the Guardians Relationship: Jack Frost/Pitch Black Also featuring: Jamie Bennett Tags: Mermaid AU, Modern Mer AU istg, jamie is a good bro, Pitch is The Most Dramatic, There is angst here, there is also fluff, Action Plot! Rating: T Words: 3601 Summary: Sequel to Starstruck Pitch is missing. Jack has to find him. Jamie has to follow Jack, just to make sure he doesn't get eaten by sharks or something.

For RotG Mermay 2021 prompt Mother of Pearl On AO3 Here.

Jack was beside himself with worry.

No one had seen Pitch since yesterday morning. Since Jack said goodbye to him before heading off to work.

Pitch never made it to the theater. No one had seen him at rehearsal the entire day. Jack only found out when he arrived home to an empty house and his agent knocking on the door to ask if Pitch was feeling alright.

Pitch was gone.

And Jack couldn't rest until he found him.

He went straight to Jamie. No one understood how much Jack needed Pitch more than Jamie. Jack talked about Pitch all the time, confided everything to his best friend, which meant Jamie had unique insight into just how broken Jack would be if Pitch never came back. Worse, if Jack didn't even try to find him and it turned out he could have.

Jack didn't know exactly how Jamie was going to help, but he maybe should have predicted that Jamie would grab his pick-shovel and demand to come along.

They were already on their way back to Jack and Pitch's house, their plan set to trace Pitch's path to the theater and start their search there, When Jack decided to try one more time...

"You don't have to come with me, you know."

"You can't stop me, you know."

"I know!" Jack said. His voice was a little high, a little defensive, and very tense. It wasn't Jamie's fault, but Jamie got to hear it anyway. "I'm just making sure. Pitch isn't your fiancé. You're my friend, but… I don't even know what I'm doing, so. I'm just making sure you know you don't have to do this."

Jamie pressed a hand to Jack's shoulder as they swam along, their pale and true blue tails oscillating in an oddly perfect tandem. There was strength in that hold that Jack was sorely missing right now. "And I'm making sure you don't do something stupid, or that at least you don't do it alone."

Jack almost stopped dead in the water, but Jamie’s firm hand kept him moving forward. “It might be better if I did it alone.”

Jamie snorted, the brat. He didn’t even look at Jack when he replied. “Yeah, no. No way. Even if I’m just a witness to what happens to your remains, it’s better if I’m there.”

Jack blinked, taken aback. So much for optimism and solidarity. “You’re just gonna watch me die?”

Jamie shrugged. “Depends on how it happens. I’ll take on a shark for you. I won’t take on twenty sharks for you.” Jamie paused. “Probably.”

It was a bad joke, but it brought the smile back to Jack’s face. He put his hand on Jamie’s shoulder in kind and made his peace with the fact that Jamie was going to waste however much time he wanted on having Jack’s back while Jack went out of his mind searching for Pitch.

And honestly, Jack was thankful.

“I’m going to stop in and change,” Jack said when they reached his door. “I should probably be wearing real clothes when I meet my doom.” That was going to be their running joke now, Jack decided. The thing that kept the tone from getting too heavy to handle. The thing that kept Jack focused on finding Pitch and not focused on the fact that he was lost. “Do you want a jacket or something?”

Jamie started to shake his head, then rethought it. “Actually yeah. Another layer wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He swam over to hold the door when Jack went through. “Got anything fashionable? Something that will make me look badass for our rescue adventure?”

Jack almost laughed. Jamie was an amazing friend. “I’m wearing the badass jacket. You can wear the sexy one.”

“You mean they’re not the same jacket?”

Jamie was right to grab his pick-shovel. It was a tool as much as a weapon, and Jack did also have one, but the only time they needed both was for prying huge chunks of rock out of the ground. The likelihood that Pitch was pinned under something large enough it would take both of them to free him…

Was not zero.

Jack grabbed his pick-shovel.

He also grabbed a bag to put snacks in and the knife North had given him. It was so beautiful and fancy that Jack had never used it before. But it was a knife meant for work, and Jack didn’t know what he might need to cut. So he was bringing it along just in case.

And, also just in case, Jack left his lovely seastar in its feeding tank for safety.

Jamie noticed all of it. “How long do you think we’ll be gone?”

Jack shook his head on his way out the door. “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll be able to come back in between. Maybe we’ll see something and… not be able to come back. I don’t know. But I’m bringing food enough for at least one night.”

“Seems smart,” Jamie agreed. His tone wasn’t in total agreement with his words. Jamie hesitated for the first time since hearing the news, on the idea that they would be at this for long enough that food would be a concern.

“You don’t—”

“Shut up and lead the way,” Jamie interrupted.

Well.

Okay.

Jack turned toward the theater and flicked his tail hard. Jamie would keep up. They had no time to waste.

-o-

“This is the longest I’ve ever swam in one day, I swear.”

Jack agreed. They were following a current that ran… somewhat close to Pitch’s path to the theater. It would have been kind of ridiculous for Pitch to have gotten caught up in it, but with his huge fins and unwieldy tail and, let’s be honest, ridiculous manner, it seemed the most likely thing to have happened.

That, and Jack didn’t have the authority to investigate other mers or search their homes, so it’s not like he could search anything but the natural surrounding area for Pitch.

Jack sighed. He felt defeated. “We can take another break soon. How far do you think he went?”

Jamie slowed and rotated upright in the water. “He could still be trapped in it, Jack. There’s no way to know.” But then he smiled and met Jack’s eyes with honest enthusiasm. “Glad you brought those snacks!”

Jamie was the best friend.

Jack laughed and pulled one out for him. “I really hope my idiot of a fiance is not still tumbling tail over fin in this current. That would be horribly embarrassing and also very inconvenient.”

Jamie nodded. “And very Pitch.”

Jack sighed again, this time put upon. It was true.

Hopefully one day this whole fiasco would be a great story to tell over the dinner table to Pitch’s latest celebrity friends and not the end of his world as he knew it. The cold hand of dread began its now very familiar clutch around Jack’s heart and he struggled to swallow down the rising anxiety and keep his tail moving.

Until Jamie wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulders, again, and shook him just a little bit. “Don’t worry until we have reason to worry, Jack,” he said. “Let’s find him and figure it out from there.”

Jack agreed, because what else was he supposed to do? Except the nagging thought stuck with him that the hours Pitch had been missing already and the hours Jack and Jamie had spent looking for him were amounting to something to worry about.

So of course when they noticed the sudden plethora of fishing nets, Jack’s worry set sail for the stars and skyrocketed.

“Shark-eye on a woodlouse,” Jack moaned with his face buried in both hands. “They ate him!”

Jamie rolled his eyes and shook Jack by his elbow. “Don’t be dramatic. Pitch has been rubbing off on you.”

Jack shook his head, but kept on. “You know how these things are. Anything and everything gets caught in them and all of it dies. It doesn’t really matter if they ate him, although I’m really hoping they didn’t eat him. If he got caught in one of these nets, he’s gone.”

Jamie didn’t reply. He swam forward with a steady beat of his tail, and that told Jack everything. Jamie was an optimist, but he didn’t want to lie.

These nets meant real danger.

Made more and more evident as they continued to follow the current and found thousands of fish caught up in them. Jack and Jamie had to swim out of the way of sweeping nets more than once and each time, Jack thought of their agility and of Pitch’s huge, billowing tail. This was what got him, Jack was more and more sure. It had to be.

Jack closed his eyes as they swam on, letting Jamie guide their way. If Pitch did get swept up onto a fishing boat, how would Jack ever know for sure? He would just be gone, and Jamie wouldn’t let him mourn if there was still hope left because that’s the kind of person Jamie was. But Jack couldn’t just hope forever and live in that house without Pitch and pretend it would all be fixed when Pitch magically showed up some day.

Jack would hope, though. Because how could he give up when he loved Pitch so much? The whole idea made Jack fear his own future, so he just… swam. And let Jamie guide them. He needed to be in his own head for a little while.

“Spawn of a…” Jamie trailed off in a faraway, disbelieving tone, and Jack opened his eyes because that was either good or very, very bad. “Is that him?”

In an instant, Jack was scanning the seas around them. Fuck, but all he saw was nets. “Where?”

“There!” Jamie pointed, but he also started swimming. Jack hurried to keep up, and then—

He saw what Jamie saw. A small, long, black and gray thing tangled in an abandoned net caught in the current’s flow. It was anchored from below, but the line was too long and Jack’s concern was too short to give it more than the glance it took to verify Pitch wasn’t about to be swept away in the current again, this time without any hope of swimming his way out of it.

The figure wasn’t struggling against the nets at all and Jack swam faster. His huge fins, twisted and folded in the spun plastic, gave him away before anything else. It was Pitch. It was absolutely Pitch.

Jack screamed his name over and over as he swam nearer, waiting, hoping, praying for Pitch to look up at the sound. He looked so pathetic and sad, immobilized and swaying helplessly in the wake of the current. He could have been dead already, except that he finally stirred from all the noise Jack was making and looked up. When their eyes met, when Jack could see for himself that Pitch’s gaze was clear and focused and that he was just stuck, the ridiculous man, relief flooded through every part of Jack’s being so suddenly and so completely that he almost lost the rhythm of his stroke and stumbled in the water.

Pitch was alive, and, other than his current circumstances, he was fine.

Jack realized Pitch was neither trapped under nor between anything heavy and so his pick-shovel would do nothing but fill his hands. He tossed it behind him for Jamie to catch and continued on unhindered.

“Jack!” Pitch shouted to him, and the sound made Jack’s heart sing. The heavy pull of the current sent it sinking again, but Jack was on a mission and skillfully rode the tide right into his chest, where he clung with all of the accumulated desperation of the last several hours and steadfastly refused to let go.

Jack pulled the fancy knife from his hip and prayed the inset mother of pearl handle survived what he was about to do to it. He pulled the netting as far from Pitch’s skin as he could, then pressed the knife into the synthetic fibers and began to saw away at it with everything he was worth.

Pitch tried to help. His wiggling wasn’t very effective, but it did get him a little further from Jack’s blade, and that was something. “How did you find me?”

Jack smiled at him. It wasn’t really anything to smile about, but Jack was just so glad that he could smile at Pitch, so he did. “Followed your tracks. Made some good guesses. Jamie helped a lot.”

Pitch looked behind Jack at where Jamie must have been hovering with the two pick-shovels out of the current’s reach. “I thought he couldn’t stand me.”

“He can’t stand me when I talk about you. That’s different.”

“Oh right,” Pitch said absently. It was obvious he wasn’t really taking anything in. His eyes were glued to Jack’s hands slowly tearing away at the nets now, and he was biting anxiously at his lip.

“Don’t worry,” Jack soothed. His voice was tense, but Jack couldn’t help that. His hands couldn’t stop moving until Pitch was free, and the netting was stronger than it looked. “I’ll get you out of this, Tigershark. I promise.”

Pitch met his eyes again, and there was so much heat there. So much love and trust that Jack nearly forgot what his hands were doing. “I know.”

It felt like forever before the first rope gave way, then two forevers for the second. Jack’s arms were burning and Pitch’s tail wasn’t even free, yet. The pace was excruciating, and after hours of constant swimming, Jack was tired.

The thought of Pitch’s safety was all he needed to keep on.

Pitch, on his part, tried to help with every limb he could wiggle out of the way. The net had tangled around him at least three times, but Jack hoped once the tail was free, the rest would come easy. When the bottom fin finally broke through, Jack wondered if he imagined the way Pitch’s soft tail brushed against him, as if it were on purpose.

But then, as soon as Pitch’s first arm escaped the plastic cage, he pressed his fingers to Jack’s cheek, and Jack knew he hadn’t imagined anything at all.

Before the last snarl was cut, Jack made sure both of them had a firm grip on the net. It would absolutely suck to go through all of that just to lose Pitch to the current again. And then they had another problem.

Jack took hold of Pitch’s arm. “You trust me, right?” he asked.

Pitch looked very much like he did not trust Jack right now. “What do you mean? What are you doing?”

Jack sighed. Why did he have to ask questions? “I’m going to get you out of the current so we don’t start all of this over again. Do you trust me?”

Pitch’s eyes widened. He looked thoroughly unconvinced. “What about you?”

“I’m a stronger swimmer,” Jack said. Then he tightened his grip on Pitch’s arm and swung him around in the water. Pitch flailed hilariously, but let him do it and that was all Jack asked for. When he let go, the force and the pull of the current tore Jack away and spun him viscously, but the net kept him anchored just as it had done to Pitch before.

When he finally got another glimpse of Pitch, it was to see Jamie holding him back by the shoulders. The idiot had honestly turned around and tried to get back to him.

Thank the universe for Jamie.

Jack held the knife between his teeth and gripped the net with both hands. All he had to do was make it far enough out that the pull wasn’t stronger than him. That�� should be easy, right?

Right.

Jack took a hard breath through his nose, then went for it. He swung on the net as far as physics would allow, then pushed hard with his tail and both arms to escape the drag of water trying to keep him in. He could feel the water he pushed against with his hands, but he could also feel the water slipping backwards over his shoulders and sides as the current slowly won.

Jack pushed harder, swam faster, felt himself beginning to thrash as he realized it wasn’t working. The current was going to take him and throw him out who knows where else? He had some food, but Jamie and Pitch didn’t and what if the current never let him go at all?

Then a hand grabbed his and Jack looked up to see Jamie, strained and panicked, reaching out for him into the turbulent water. Jack’s expression probably looked much the same, but some of the anxiety smoothed out when the two of them began to move, this time steadily away from the current that wanted to claim him.

Jack didn’t understand, but he didn’t care. He clung to Jamie’s wrists and didn’t look away until finally the pull began to loosen its grip and Jack could breathe again. Then he noticed the massive black tail swishing back and forth in the water behind Jamie. Pitch?

Jack blinked, startled, and accepted it without fuss when Jamie suddenly shot backward and Jack was flung bodily into a circle of four arms and two tails that seemed ready to crush him before they would let go.

It was Pitch. Pitch had pulled them out. Pitch had been tugging on Jamie’s tail and Jack was really going to have to treat Jamie to something nice because that probably hurt like hell but first, Jack was going to have to kiss Pitch senseless for saving him. Nevermind that Jack had saved Pitch first. Pitch could kiss Jack senseless, too. It was only fair.

Jack wormed one arm around each of them and held on. They were safe. They were finally safe, all three of them, and now they just had to get home. Jack’s eyes were burning and when he looked up, Jamie and Pitch’s were red-rimmed, too.

Yeah, okay. That was scary. Jack could admit that whole thing had been scary. He would do it again in a heartbeat, but… He was glad he wouldn’t have to.

Jamie finally loosened his hold and gave Jack some water. Jack, who immediately turned and smothered himself in Pitch’s chest because it had been more than twenty-four hours since Jack last laid eyes on him and the idiot had nearly gotten himself killed by accidentally getting swept up in a current that he had no business being that close to in the first place.

Pitch pressed his face into Jack’s hair and wrapped around him the way Jack liked, the way that made Jack feel safe. It was stupid, because obviously Pitch was a danger magnet, but the man had also proven himself to be strong and capable not two minutes ago, so Jack would take it.

“I love you so much,” Jack whispered into the water. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“I won’t, Jewelfish.” Pitch said against the shell of Jack’s ear. “Never again.”

Jack pressed his face up against Pitch’s throat. “I’m serious, Pitch. I was so worried. I thought I lost you. I thought I was going to have to—”

Pitch pressed two fingers against Jack’s lips to quiet him, then leaned just far enough away to meet his eyes. “I swear, Jack. I will be more careful. I will never do this again.”

Jack stared deep into Pitch’s gaze, judging for himself whether Pitch really meant that or not. Pitch held Jack’s stare, steady and calm. Calm, after all of that. How? But he was. Calm and sure, and Jack slowly started to believe him.

With a nip at Pitch’s fingers, Jack gave in. “Alright, Cuddlefish. Take me home.”

Pitch smiled and swam pointedly away from the current that started all of this. “Anything you wish, Nibblefish. Thank you for coming to find me.”

Suddenly Jamie was on Jack’s other side again, and his solid warmth was very much appreciated. “There was no way we wouldn’t. Seriously,” Jamie said, wide eyes fixed on Pitch. “I don’t think you really know. There was no other option. Jack was coming to find you. I only came to make sure Jack didn’t die in the process and, as it turns out, good thing I did!”

Pitch’s smile, adoring when it was aimed at Jack, shifted into a sort of baffled amusement. Jamie had that effect on people. “Thank you. Jack is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. He wrapped his arm around Jamie and squeezed. “I know.”

Jamie grinned and hugged him back. “Good thing. Because I am not looking forward to the hours it’s going to take to get back and watching you two be disgustingly sweet and all over each other the whole way.”

Jack bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“I’m going to see you home safe,” Jamie continued, “but as soon as we are, I am clearing out, because I know exactly what you two are going to get up to and I want no part in that.”

Pitch’s face was equal parts embarrassed and scandalized, and Jack couldn’t keep the laughter inside anymore.

Jack was incredibly lucky. He had an adoring fiancé who would give him anything, an amazing best friend who would do, for him, anything, and a future that didn’t scare him anymore.

Also, Jamie was one hundred percent right.

Jack couldn’t wait to get home.

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

Happy Birthday @rudzik-art!

As many of you know, Robin (@rudzik-art) is turning 20 today. As a surprise gift for them, I took an AU we talked about and turned it into a fic! (So, today is not only a celebration of Robin’s birthday, it’s officially my return from fic hiatus.)

But that’s not enough to mark an occasion as important as a 20th birthday, so I got some of our favorite artists involved as well! Read it on AO3 to see it with the art. 

Fic Summary: Juno Steel, pirate of the ship Carte Blanche, did not expect to net a mermaid today. 

I give you: Juno Steel and the Brine of Deception

I.

The day seemed ordinary when Juno woke up. He lay in his hammock, watching the square of light on the floor waver as the Carte Blanche rocked in the waves. Or maybe just because he was still really hungover. The crew had stayed up late making toasts and singing shanties last night, and that had involved quite a lot of rum.

“Ughh.” Juno sat up and began to unwrap his hair.

"Mornin', Mate Steel!" His roommatey, the exceptionally clever Rita, beamed at him from her hammock. "How are ya feeling?"

"Sick," Juno grumbled. He climbed out of his hammock and padded over to the washstand. "I've got to get off this rum."

"Yeah, Mate Steel, I told ya that swill Ms. Vespa brewed ain't good for ya."

"I know." He glanced at her in their broken mirror as he lit a candle, which hung from the ceiling in a glass bottle. "Did Buddy say if we're docking today?"

"Nah, she said last night that we’re just doin’ chores again." Rita watched Juno adjust his eyepatch in the mirror and rocked forward in her hammock. "Why? Did you wanna go ashore?"

"Eh, not especially." Juno tied his eyepatch on and started towards the door. "It's not like I mind being on this stinking ship where my legs feel like jelly and…." He sighed. "You know what, Rita, let's talk about this later. I've got a busy day to start on."

“See ya, Mate Steel.” 

Juno stepped out into the hallway of the ship. He stuck his head into the galley to grab an orange from a bowl on the counter and plucked away the curling peel with his rough, uneven nails as he creaked into the hall. Down the hardwood floors and the few puddles from leaks, he bounded towards the staircase that led from the ship's quarters to the main dock.

“Captain’s waiting for you,” snarled Vespa as soon as Juno’s head appeared above decks. 

“Morning to you too, Vespa.” 

Vespa frowned and went back to twisting a knife around in her teeth. A briny sea breeze rustled the bandana tied around her forehead. “Good morning,” she muttered, like it was a concession. Then abruptly she crossed her tattooed arms and cleared her throat. “Now get a move on. The captain doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” 

“Duly noted.” Juno ducked past the first mate’s glare and strode down the deck. He tossed his orange peel overboard, but a breeze caught it, and spun it back onto the deck, where it was pinned abruptly under a heeled leather boot. 

Captain Aurinko’s dark eye studied Juno from under her hat. In her broad-shouldered coat, criss-crossed with belts that dangled swords and pistols, she was intimidating with a streak of devilish intrigue, and she smirked as she lifted the orange peel from the deck. “You ought to clean up your trash, Juno.” 

“Captain A.” Juno rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly plucked the peel back from the captain. “Sorry about that.” 

“Not to worry, darling. Shall we sit down?” Captain Aurinko neatly unfolded a scroll from her belt and spread it over one of the barrels nearby. She and Juno perched on surrounding barrels. “Our schedule is fairly lowkey today.” Her leather-gloved fingers traced Juno’s name, written in ink on a list. “I want you to check the nets and get some fishing done. Don’t complain,” she added, as Juno rolled his eye. “You’re the best at it, darling. After that, go over the stores with Jet, and then I’m sure Rita would appreciate it if you tied up your shared room a bit.”

“Seems like a slow day,” Juno observed. “What happened to ‘high adventure’ and all that?” 

“That’s taking a back seat at the moment.” Captain Aurinko pursed her lips. “To be honest, darling, I worry that our current crew isn’t… properly equipped to handle missions of the capacity I have planned.” She rolled the map shut. “But that’s no concern of yours. On your way, darling. Come find me if you need anything.” The captain stood, dusted off her coat, and glided away to take her place at the ship’s wheel. 

This job is somehow way more than I expected and not what I expected at all. Juno sloshed through the inch of water in the cargo hold. The nets lay all tangled together, and it took a few long minutes of blistering his fingers on their ropes to untangle them. Hell, I probably should have just stayed on the Mars continent. 

And yet the Mars continent had never been home to him, not really. Not since the constables and the law had seen to condemn him over a few childhood tavern brawls and turn him into a wanted lady. As a child, Juno had always promised his brother (may his soul rest in peace) that he’d leave and be an explorer one day. That just ended up looking different than he imagined. 

Still, Juno reflected as he dragged a net up the stairs. It felt like something was missing from his life. Some final adventure he needed to conquer, or maybe some event that would set a grand adventure in order. Right now he just existed, drinking rum in the mornings and evenings and sloshing about on the sea with all the rats and the treasures and people he didn’t know if he could trust. Rita aside, of course. 

The net rigged into the pulleys, Juno cast it over into the ocean. Within a few seconds, it vanished beneath the rolling blue waves. Juno rested his arms on the railing and sighed. What he needed, once he finished his tasks today, was a good long nap, and maybe a cup of coffee instead of rum, assuming they still had coffee in the stores. Then he should mend the patch in his work breeches, and afterwards -

The weight in the net shifted abruptly. Juno frowned and stood up from his slouch. Sure enough, when he tested the rope, there was an uncommon weight to it that hadn’t been there a moment ago. A large school of fish? A small whale? Maybe an octopus. They’d caught an octopus last week, and Captain Aurinko still wrote with the ink they’d extracted from it. Whale oil could be useful too, plus good for trade too. Juno eagerly tightened the opening of the net and began to pull it up. It was heavy, but Juno was a strong lady. He ground his feet firmly to the deck and pulled again, harder, heave-to heave-to against the struggling of his catch. Finally, a splash confirmed that the net had risen above the surface of the water. With a few more final pulls, Juno hefted the net alongside the ship. He quickly tied the rope around a wooden post nearby, to secure it taut, and ran over to see what he’d netted; and there, lying in a tangle of rope of seaweed, was the most supremely beautiful man Juno had ever seen.

No, not a man, or at least, not a human one. Because, Juno realized upon closer inspection, humans didn’t have a silver-blue tail where legs should be, or gently pulsing slits along their throats, or webbed ears, and they certainly didn’t have nails as long and sharp as knives. The mermaid turned his head. His ink-black hair sat plastered to his face with dripping seawater, and when he opened his eyes, Juno saw that they were the same ink color all the way through. Blue scales glimmered along his cheekbones. His face and body sparkled with droplets of seawater, like small diamonds, and here and there wet strands of seaweed clung to his bare chest and arms. He was utterly terrifying, and yet, Juno had never seen anything so exquisite. 

“Well?” hissed the mermaid. 

Juno blinked. “Well, what?” 

“Oh, honestly.” It was hard to tell with no irises, but Juno thought the mermaid might be rolling his eyes. “You pulled me out, you quite clearly wanted me for something. I suppose you’re one of those humans that eats mermaids, aren’t you?”

“Huh? What the hell, of course not.” 

“Hmmm.” The mermaid plucked a lock of seaweed from his neck and flicked it back into the sea. “Now you’ll say you’ve grabbed me by accident.” 

“Obviously.” 

“Obviously.” He imitated Juno’s tone and smirked, slightly. His teeth were just as sharp as his nails. “You’ve never seen a mer before, have you?”

“‘Course I have,” Juno scoffed, suddenly on the defensive. “In… storybooks and stuff.” The mermaid lifted his eyebrows. “Listen, I’m new to this whole pirate thing, okay? I just wanted to grab some fish for my crew’s larder. You weren’t exactly part of the plan.” 

“Ah.” The mermaid shuffled forwards and wrapped his hands around the ropes above his head. “So you’re not going to eat me.” 

“I’ll chuck you back in, if you want.” 

The mermaid giggled. He leaned forward and reached one of his hands through the net to grab Juno’s chin. Juno jolted and, with instinct, brought up his knife and pressed it to the mer’s sternum. “So defensive,” the mermaid purred. His thumb swiped over Juno’s jawline. “You have a shaving nick right there.” The very tip of his nail pressed into Juno’s skin for a minute, and then he retreated. “Well,” he said. “I’m afraid you can’t chuck me back in, love. You see, in your eagerness to haul me up onto this rowboat of yours, you tightened your net quite fiercely. Now my poor tail is injured. I can’t possibly swim.”

“What?”

“So you may as well cut me down. It looks like you’ll be stuck with me for a while.” 

Juno narrowed his eyes. “How do I know you’re not lying?” 

“Oh yes, because I would lie so I could spend several days hanging around with a crew of pirates? You’re not that cute, love.” He reached out his hand again. “But, if you’re so determined, I’ll tell you my name. You may call me Glass.”

“Glass. Hi, I’m Juno Steel.” Juno sighed heavily. The Captain’s gonna love this. He pulled the net over the railing and lowered it carefully to the deck. Glass smiled up at him as Juno freed him. Juno stepped back and rubbed his forehead. “Great,” he sighed. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?” 

“That depends, how adventurous are you?” 

“God damn it.” Juno tossed the net aside. “It’s too early in the morning for me to have a mermaid hitting on me. You just - stay there while I go get the Captain.” 

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Glass called after him, but Juno pretended not to hear. 

II.

“So,” said Buddy delicately. “This is quite a predicament.” 

“I’ll say,” Vespa snarled, smacking her fist into her palm. “We have a crowded crew already, and then Steel goes and lands us with an injured fish to take care of.” 

“Hey, don’t drag me into this.” Juno raised his hands innocently as Vespa shot a glare in his direction. “Listen, I’m not the one responsible for this. It was this guy who swam right into my net.” 

“Oh sure, the fish is to blame for your stupidity.” 

“The fish can hear you,” Glass trilled. 

The crew stood in their spare hold, positioned awkwardly around a basin of seawater. Glass lay primping in the water, finger-curling his hair and watching the five pirates from under his long lashes. Juno couldn’t help but notice that the mermaid’s gaze seemed mostly to be fixed on him. Rita, who watched countless plays about mermaids, hung star-struck at Juno’s elbow, clutching her face in her hands.

“Ain’t he so preeeeeetty, Mate Steel?” she whispered into Juno’s ear as the captain and the first mate deliberated amongst themselves. “He’s just like one of them old paintings, or like, like something right out of a play, ya know? He’s kinda scary too, though, but in a really nifty way, don’tcha think! It just - just -” She scrunched her forehead as if searching for the words. 

Frannie, the parrot perched on Rita’s shoulder, squawked, “Shiver me timbers!”

“Yeah, exactly!” Rita beamed. “It shivers me timbers! Shivers ‘em real good, don’t you think he’s pretty, Mate Steel?” 

Glass lolled in his basin, running his sharp nails over the fine webbing at the end of his tail. He winked at Juno. Somehow, the lady got the sense that Glass could hear everything Rita was saying; but more than that, it was as if he could hear everything Juno was thinking. Like those solid black eyes could see things normal eyes couldn’t. 

“He’s something, alright,” Juno murmured. 

“What I do not understand is how he came to be injured.” The quartermaster, Jet, stood by Rita’s other side with his arms crossed. Jet always wore the same thing - baggy brown breeches, a ragged white shirt, and a brown jacket so enormous that it could probably serve as a backup sail if the Carte Blanche ever needed one. He wore his long silver hair tied up in a ponytail. Despite their difference in personality, pirating ability, and three feet of height, Jet and Rita were close friends, second only to Rita’s bond with Juno. “I do not believe our simple fishing net would be strong enough to damage a mermaid’s tail.” 

“Well, you’d have to ask him about it.” 

“There is no need to be defensive, Juno.”

“Whatever, you’re all on my case, and I’m getting pretty tired of it, big guy.” 

Across the room, Vespa and Buddy drew away from each other and turned to face the rest of the group. “Alright, darlings,” said the captain. “We’ve thought this over -” 

“More like we’ve argued it,” Vespa muttered. 

“Peace, love.” The captain laid her hand on Vespa’s arm. “After some deliberation, Vespa and I have decided that we cannot abandon the mermaid back to the sea with an injury. We may be pirates, but we are not monsters. He will stay here until he recovers from his injuries.” 

Glass giggled and slid his tail back into the water. “So generous of you.” 

“You’re welcome, darling.” Captain Aurinko smoothed back a stray lock of her hair. “Additionally, since Juno was the one that injured him, Juno can be the one to attend to him.” 

“What.” 

“You heard me, dear. You’ll bring him his food, refill the water in his basin, and see to any medical needs he may have before he’s recovered. Any questions?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a question, how come I’ve got to -”

“Then if there are no questions, the meeting is dismissed.” Buddy smiled and took Vespa’s

arm. “We’ll see you all later. First we have some things to... attend to.” Vespa shot one last glare in the others’ direction before following the captain away to their cabin. 

“Well,” said Jet. “If that is all, I will return to my repairs of the Ruby 7 lifeboat.” 

“Hang on, you can’t all just -”

“I’ll go with ya!” Rita said, ignoring Juno’s protests. “Bye-bye, Mate Steel and Mistah Mermaid!” And she skipped after Jet, Frannie flapping behind them both. 

Juno sighed heavily and turned back to Glass. The mermaid had his arms folded on the rim of the basin, and his head cocked at an inquisitive and seductive angle. He smiled. “Well,” he said. “It seems that it’s just you and me.”

“Don’t get too used to it, I’ve got lots of chores to do.” 

“Oh, but the Captain said you needed to look after me,” Glass beamed. “Doesn’t that mean I’m at the top of your chores list?”

Juno glared down at the mermaid. “Fine. Tell me what you want and make it quick.”

“Oh, it’s quite simple. I just want someone to talk to.”

The pirate blinked. “Are you kidding? You want me to hang around here and talk to you?”

For a moment, the mermaid’s flirtatious smile vanished. His inky eyes narrowed, and he glanced away from Juno before speaking again. “I’m not trying to force you if you don’t wish, Juno, I simply… hoped to get to know you better.” He glanced back at Juno quickly, and Juno started. 

He’s not… no. He can’t be. Not me. 

So he shrugged and grabbed a nearby stool. “Sure,” he said. “Great.” He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’d like to hear more about you, of course.” Glass lifted his eyebrows. “Juno Steel. Juno. A goddess on the high seas. Although - pardon me - you don’t seem entirely suited to this profession.”

“Yeah.” Juno fiddled with a spare thread on his blouse. “Didn’t plan to be a pirate, originally. I wanted to go into law, but then I found myself on the other side of it. With my brother.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’d always planned to leave the Mars continent together, but then...” The pirate sighed deeply. “He… he’s not around anymore.”

Glass watched Juno quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Juno cleared his throat. “Anyway, Rita and I have been friends for decades. Business partners. She’s a locksmith, and I’m an informant, so sometimes we worked together.”

“I see.” Glass leaned forward on his elbows, and his smile sharpened a degree. “Not such an upright lady, are you?”

“Hey, careful. I still have my morals.” Juno crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. “Anyway, she did a job for Captain Aurinko and put two and two together that she’d been hired by a pirate. Suggested that I could give the Captain any information she needed, and together Rita and I got her out of a tricky spot. So, the Cap offered us spots on her crew.”

To Juno’s surprise, as he narrated to the mermaid, he found himself enjoying the conversation. Glass was a good listener, and seemed interested in Juno’s life in a way that few people had been for a long time. Every lady needed to feel special every now and then, and Juno was no exception. 

“So,” he said eventually. “Mermaid. What’s your life story?”

The mermaid still smiled, but something about his demeanor had changed. “Oh, Juno,” he said. “I don’t have a story, and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t tell it to anyone.” 

“Huh.” 

Glass sighed and leaned back in the water, lounging with his arms on either side of the basin. “I’ll leave you be,” he said theatrically. “Thank you for keeping me company.” 

“Yeah.” Juno got up, feeling strangely regretful. “No problem.” 

Juno finished up his chores and took a nap to sleep off what remained of his hangover. Afterwards, it was time for dinner, and for the first time since joining the crew, he didn’t eat with everyone else. Instead, he brought two plates to Glass’s room and they ate together, chatting about things they’d seen on the sea. 

“I swear, it looked like an underwater city. Whole thing, made of coral.”

“Oh, I’ve been there. It’s not a very long swim from here.”

“Really?”

“Mmm. Pretty place.” 

And Juno kept thinking about the mermaid that night, as he lay in his hammock. The ship’s rocking and Rita’s snoring usually lulled him to sleep, but tonight felt different. Every time he tried to doze off, he was struck by the thought that Glass lay just down the hall, with his dark eyes and his sharp smile. Maybe the mermaid was lonely. Maybe he was having trouble sleeping, too, and would want company.  

Finally Juno’s curiousity overpowered him, and he got out of bed. Rita and Frannie were both deep asleep, but he put on his slippers to be extra quiet, then lit a candle. He was about to slip out the door when he heard a loud thud. But not from the direction of Glass’s room. It sounded like it came from the ship’s treasury. 

What the hell?

He snatched his pistol and slipped out of the door. Juno crept along the hall, keeping close to the wall with his candle outstretched before him and his pistol at his side. He moved along the right-hand side, so that nothing could creep into his blind spot, but still the creaking of the ship and the uneven sway of it unnerved him. Again, the clinking noise sounded from the treasury. He could see the doorway. Juno took a deep breath, counted to five, and whipped around the corner. 

Glass looked up from the chest he was elbow-deep reaching into and frowned. “Ah,” he said. “Well, hello.” 

It was Glass, but… human. As far as Juno could tell. He had legs, normal ears; his eyes were regular eyes, with gorgeous dark brown irises. He wore a short white dress belted with a corset, as well as a knife strapped to one of his distractingly gorgeous thighs. 

The pistol trembled in Juno’s hands. “What,” he breathed, “the hell.”

“Careful, now, there’s no need to wave that thing around.” Glass raised his hands, both of which clutched long ropes of pearls. His teeth were less prominent, but still looked thrillingly sharp. “I can explain everything.” 

“Yeah?” Juno stepped closer and pointed his gun at the mer’s - the human’s - heart. “Start talking.” 

“I understand this is confusing, Juno. In some ways, I’m glad you’re the one who caught me. It means we get to have a secret.” Glass stepped closer to the pirate. “Just for the two of us.”

“You were a mer,” Juno sputtered. “You were injured.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Glass covered the quivering barrel of Juno’s pistol and pointed it away from himself. “Juno, listen to me. Whatever you think I am, you’re wrong. But I can tell you. I will tell you. I’ll tell you everything, if you want to know, but you must promise me you won’t alert your captain.” 

“Why not?” Juno snapped. “You’re robbing us. You lied your way onto our ship and - and just so you could get our shit while we slept?” 

“Well, it’s not really yours, now is it?” He was so close now. Juno could feel Glass’s warm breath on his cheek, followed a few seconds later by his knuckles. A shiver ran through him involuntarily. Glass chuckled. “I trust you, Juno, and I can’t have you giving me away now. Please.” He leaned down and whispered in Juno's ear, “I’ll give you whatever you want.” 

The words drifted into the pirate’s mind and melted over his senses like slow honey. He shivered in the brine-aired night, and in the warmth radiating from Glass’s presence. It was a sensation so strong, so all-encompassing, that for a second Juno didn’t even notice that warmth had retreated. He snapped to his senses just in time to watch Glass disappear out the door. 

“Hey - HEY!” he shouted. “Get back here!” Juno sprinted after Glass as the long-limbed thief bounded up the stairs towards the deck, and into the open air. The deck’s rocking motions were more obvious here, swaying Juno back and forth on his own feet as he fired a warning shot into the night air. “Glass, you bastard -! get back here!” 

Glass paid him no heed. Dripping pearls and laughing, he crossed the deck in a burst of speed. Juno stumbled after him. He can’t get away, the pirate thought, he has nowhere to go - and as soon as the thought entered his mind, Glass leapt over the edge of the railing and out into the open night. 

“NO!” Juno shouted. His momentum carried him the rest of the way, and he ran right into the banister, wrapping his arms around it. Below, he saw a flash of silver scales as Glass disappeared beneath the rolling waves. Juno stared, dumbfounded. He had no time to process, or to call for the captain, before suddenly the ship lurched again beneath his feet and sent him tumbling headfirst into the waves. 

III. 

The water crashed into him. Juno gasped as the cold ensnared him, but the gasp let in a rush of frigid water into his lungs, making him sputter. His arms struggled weakly. His fists clutched handfuls of seawater as the weight of his clothes and the tossing of the waves dragged him under. For a singular moment his head parted the surface of the waves, but before he could even taste oxygen, the water closed over him again. Juno couldn’t breathe. His lungs burned. All he could feel was that burning and the numbing coldness. And then, suddenly, he felt something wrap around his waist. 

Juno looked down and gave a garbled yelp of surprise. Glass was at his side, holding him close. He wore the strings of pearls around his neck, and he wrapped one of them gently around Juno, holding them together in the tumult of the water. Juno fell still. Black dots swam before his vision, and the cold seemed to sting his bones, but the mer’s arms were warm, and Juno instinctively drew closer to him. 

“Juno?” Glass murmured. His voice sounded distant. “Juno, stay awake. I can help you breathe, but you have to stay awake -” His hands clutched Juno’s shoulders, but the detective could barely feel them. Glass’s face moved closer to his. “No, stay awake - I can only help you if I breathe for you, and I can’t do that if you’re not awake to say so - no no no, keep your eyes open for me! Please, Juno -” His grip tightened in almost frenzy. The black dots blurred the edges of Juno’s vision. His entire body felt made up of this pain intensifying in his lungs. “Juno, I can save you, just give me a yes, please don’t black out, please don’t -” 

Juno could barely feel, but with what little strength he had left he tried to nod. His forehead tipped against the mer’s shoulder. Glass drew back and cradled Juno’s face in his hands, and then, strongly, he pressed his warm lips onto Juno’s mouth. Oxygen entered his body slowly, like warmth dripping slowly down his throat. Juno felt something like life beating in his chest, and he almost tasted sea salt, but before he could reflect on anything he was feeling, the black dots swelled to cover his vision, and everything faded away. 

When Juno came to, he found himself lying on a cool stone. The world above him slowly came into vision: a cool, dark cave, striped with damp vines that dangled from the ceiling. He felt cold water lapping at his ankles, and heard soft singing in the air in a haunting language he didn’t recognize. Weakly, he lifted his heavy head and looked around to get his bearings. Through the mouth of the cave, Juno could see the sun rising on the horizon, and the golden glow bled into the cave as if it were paint spilled across the water’s surface. Glass lounged on another rock, drawing ripples in the water with his fingertips, still in his mer form and glistening with pearls. After a few seconds all of Juno’s senses fell into place, and he realized the mermaid was the source of the music.

“Glass?” he called weakly. 

Glass stopped singing and looked over. His shining face lit into a smile. “You’re awake.” He rolled off of the rock and vanished with a faint splash into the water, and then a moment later emerged dripping wet by Juno’s side. The hand shifted and a moment later Glass’s face appeared above him. 

“Juno,” he sighed. “Here, let me help you sit up. How are you feeling?” 

“Unghh.” Juno rubbed his head as the mer helped him into a sitting position. “What the hell happened?”

“You blacked out.” Glass shifted back a few inches to give Juno breathing room. “Are you feeling alright now?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Juno sat up higher on the rock. Glass leaned on the side, with his arms folded and his head tipped to one side. His scales shimmered. “You saved my life,” Juno said. “Didn’t you?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let you die, Juno.”

“You kissed me.” 

Glass stirred his fingertips through the foam brushing up against the rock.

“You kissed me. You stole from my crew, and then you saved my life. Why the hell would you do that?” The water lapped quietly at the edges of the cave. 

The air misted before Glass’s lips while he breathed, and his gills pulsed. A drop of water slid down the slope of his forehead.. “I had a very straightforward plan,” he murmured eventually. “I’d been tracking your ship for a while now, you see. I saw that big fellow rowing above me one morning, so I swam to the surface to see what was going on. When I noticed that chest he was loading onto your ship, I decided to track you all. I knew you must have some kind of treasure, and I wanted it. I hid under your prow, or swam near you. Then one morning, a net dropped, so I seized my chance and swam into it, and then….” He turned his head and fixed his black eyes on Juno. “Well, then you messed up my whole plan.” 

Juno started to speak, but Glass talked right over him. 

“You, all fascinating and charming, with your fed-up attitude and your adorable pout.” He smiled. “I don’t meet people very often. I’m usually on the move, either on land or in the water, and I never have time to… to chat with someone I find attractive. And then,” he chuckled, “I decided to forget you and go through with my plan anyway - and you came to stop me! Leaving me to save you, in the end.” He shrugged delicately. “What can I say, darling? You are beautiful. I want to know everything about you.” 

Glass closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms. Juno watched him, with his heart drum beating in his chest. Around them the water was turning golden. Juno watched him, and thought, He thinks I’m beautiful. 

“What are you, exactly?” 

The mermaid lifted his head. “Hmm?”

“I mean, you’re a mermaid, right? But then when I saw you in the night, you had legs, your eyes were normal -”

“Ah. Weren’t you listening?” Glass smirked. “Shapeshifter, love. I can be a mer or a human as it suits me, but I’m never just one for very long.” 

“Huh.” Juno thought about that for a moment. He could feel his pulse in his throat. “And you’re a thief, apparently.” 

“You can have your pearls back if it bothers you that badly.” 

“Honestly?” Juno took Glass’s hand in his. “Right now I kind of just want to pay you back for saving me.” 

Glass looked up. He met Juno’s eyes and let the pirate draw him up onto the rock, and as the golden light spilled far enough across the water to light them up, they kissed. 

It was like oxygen-giving, but better. Glass’s lips were soft and sweet, and he tasted like the ocean. Juno felt the sunlight falling across their shoulders, and both of Glass’s hands twisted gently in the front of Juno’s shirt. He dragged him closer and their kiss grew deeper, with Glass’s tongue slipping into Juno’s open mouth, and Juno wrapped his legs around the mer’s waist. They didn’t break apart until it was physically hard to breathe, and even then, only far enough for the mermaid to press his forehead to the pirate’s.

“Glass isn’t my real name,” he said, breathless. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Juno gasped. “Christ, you’re a good kisser. Okay. What is your real name?” 

“It’s in Mer. You won’t be able to pronounce it.” 

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

“Nąuhréyęvhve.”

“What the fuck kind of name is that.” 

The mermaid with the unpronounceable name laughed and dropped a quick kiss onto Juno’s cheek. “It means dancer.”

“Yeah, I still can’t pronounce it. I’m just gonna say Nureyev.”

“Nureyev.” The mermaid tried it, head tipped to the side. “Nureyev” He turned to face Juno again and smiled. “Hmm. That does have a nice ring to it.” 

And they kissed again while the sunlight grew around them. 

IV.

Captain Aurinko liked to think of herself as a level-headed person, but right now, Juno Steel had her worried. “It’s no big deal,” Vespa had told her. “He vanishes at the same time as the mermaid, so what? The mermaid guy probably talked his ear off, and Steel just got annoyed and chucked him overboard.” 

“Then where is Juno?” 

“It is possible we overlooked some part of the ship when we checked,” Jet suggested. 

Vespa smirked. “Or he’s screwing the mermaid somewhere.” 

“How would that -” Rita had begun, but Buddy decided that Rita should go check the stores, and Vespa should go check the crow’s nest, before they could have that conversation. 

Now, she stood on the deck by the ship’s wheel and watched the horizon through her telescope. All she saw were the unchanging waves. Buddy sighed and lowered the telescope from her eye. “Come on, Juno,” she murmured. “This crew won’t work without you.” 

Behind her, the deck creaked under footsteps. “We checked the crow’s nest,” said Vespa. “Didn’t see anything.” 

“Us, either,” called Rita as she and Jet emerged from the lower stairs. “Mate Steel just ain’t here at all.”

“Rraw! Mate Steel ain’t here!” squaked Frannie.

Jet furrowed his brows. “I think,” he began heavily, “that perhaps we must consider -”

“No,” said Buddy. “We’re not giving up yet.” 

“Buddy.” Vespa laid a hand on her arm. “Listen, we don’t know what this mer guy might have done, okay? We should start makin’ the assumption - Rita? Are you okay?” 

Rita had begun to cry, holding the end of Buddy’s long coat and using it to dab her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, matey,” she sniffled. “It’s just, I’m rememberin’ that in plays mermaids eat people sometimes, and I don’t want Mate Steel to get e-eaten, ya know? An’ that mer-guy had such really sharp teeth an’ I don’t wan Mate Steel to di-i-i-ieeeee.” She sobbed loudly and blew her nose on Buddy’s lace trim. 

At that moment, a loud splash sounded from the ocean. The four turned around in time to watch the Juno and the mermaid course up on a jet of seawater and collapse onto the deck, where they lay sputtering in a puddle. Juno’s clothes clung to him, soaking wet, and the mer wore a tattered white dress. “Hey, guys,” Juno coughed.

“What the hell?!” exclaimed Vespa. 

“MATE STEEL!” Rita ran across the deck and threw her arms around Juno’s shoulders. “You’re alive! Oh, Mate Steel, we was so WORRIED, I thought somethin’ terrible’d happened to ya, where’ve you BEEN Mate Steel? Did he kidnap ya? Did he hurtcha?” She glared at the mermaid and fumbled for her little dagger. “I swear, if you hurt one curl on my Mate Steel’s head, I’m gonna -”

“I’m fine, Rita.” Juno sat up and helped the mermaid to his feet. Buddy blinked, sure she was seeing something wrong - perhaps the rum had gone to her head. The mermaid had legs now. “Guys,” said Juno. “Nureyev’s here to return some stuff he took.” 

“Oh.” The mermaid laughed nervously. “I thought I was just dropping you off.”

“Nureyev.” 

“Fine, fine.” He reached into his pockets and pulled out all the strings of pearls that should have been in the Carte Blanche’s treasure stores. Buddy raised an eyebrow as the mer-turned-human - Nureyev - held them out to her. She took them from his hands and eyed him. 

“I was under the impression that mer usually only have tails,” she said lightly. 

“I’m a shapeshifter.” 

Vespa and Jet said, “a what?”

“A SHAPESHIFTER?!” Rita exclaimed. “Wow!!! That’s so COOL, Mistah Nureyev! Like, like in that really great play that came out last month, Squares and Triangles and Also Sirens? Wow, that play is so GOOD! Can you turn into anythin’ you want, or just a mer and a human?”

“More importantly,” said Buddy, “how long were you planning to use your abilities to rob us?”

Rita fell silent. Nureyev smirked. “Quite a while,” he admitted. “Juno simply… altered my initial plan when he spotted me last night.” 

“Ah. So that’s where you’ve been.” Buddy smiled as Juno blushed and ducked his head. “Well, it seems there’s simply one way to resolve this whole mix-up.” 

“Yeah!” Vespa drew her scimitar and pointed it at Nureyev. “I say we tie him up and make him walk the plank!” 

“Rraw! Walk the plank!” agreed Frannie. 

“That is impractical,” said Jet. “If he walks the plank, he will simply transform underwater and swim away. I propose that we throw him in the brig until we reach port. We can decide from there.” 

“Hey, c’mon, none of this is making sense,” snapped Juno. “He gave all the pearls back.” 

“You’ve certainly had a change of attitude.”

“Yeah, well you could use one, Vespa, and here’s another thing -”

“Enough, darlings!” Buddy held up her hands. “That’s enough. I have an alternative proposition.” She marched across the deck and stopped before Nureyev. “You possess interesting skills, Nureyev. Skills that I think our team would find very useful. And, since I’m sure Juno will vouch for your character, judging from the fact that he’s wearing your lipstick -”

“Hey-”

“- you have an in.” She held out her hand. “If you want it, darling, there’s a place for you here aboard the Carte Blanche.” 

Nureyev glanced over at Juno, who stood watching him with hopeful eyes. A smile grew across his face. “Well,” he said. “I must say, it’s nice to finally be appreciated.” And he shook Buddy’s hand. 

~~~~

“...aaaand that’s my idea for a stream about us!” Rita set down her stack of papers and beamed around at the rest of the crew. “Whaddaya think? It’s good, ain’t it?” 

“It is exceptional,” said Jet in a grave tone. “I am moved to tears.” 

“I dunno, I think it’s a little unrealistic in a few parts.” Juno gestured to the portion marked as chapter five. “I don’t really see why I’d let a mermaid kiss me while I’m drowning.”

“You totally would, Mistah Steel!” Rita clutched her story defensively. “You’re just horny for death!” 

“I’m what?”

“In my case,” said Nureyev, over the laughter of the rest of the crew, “I don’t see why I’ve been characterized as a mermaid.”

“Every pirate stream has to have a mermaid, Mistah Nureyev? Ain’t you ever seen High Seas of Saturn? The Ghost Ship that Also Has Zombies? Pirates of the Carribean 207: Oh My 

God When Will This Franchise End?”

“Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell, I’m afraid.” Nureyev shifted Juno’s position on his lap and rubbed the lady’s thigh. “My introduction scene was on point, though. After all, Juno does love me in fishnets.” 

“Shut up,” Juno mumbled, blushing. Nureyev chuckled and kissed his neck. 

Buddy took another sip of her tea. “You’ve created quite an interesting story, darling. I’m glad it’s kept you entertained. I know our long periods between heists can get tedious, but I’d say this has been fun for all of us.”

“Oh yeah, this part.” Vespa waved a section of Rita’s script. She’d been writing notes on Rita’s finished pages throughout the reading process. “Where it says my arms are covered in tattoos. I’ve only got twenty tattoos and only six of them are on my arms, so I thought that was kind of unrealistic, kid.” 

“I’m taking artistic license, Miz Vespa!” 

Vespa narrowed her eyes and grabbed her knife. “Are you saying my tattoos aren’t already artistic?” 

“N-no! Fine, I’ll change it!” Rita snatched the page back and began to doodle furiously on it. Jet leaned close. 

“Do not listen to the haters,” he whispered. “You have created a masterpiece of television.” 

“Thanks, Mistah Big Guy.” 

“You are welcome.” 

“Well, this has been entertaining.” Nureyev tapped his fingertips on Juno’s knee. “If there’s nothing else that you require, the two of us will probably go to bed…”

“No, you can’t go to bed!” Rita frowned. “Whaddaya mean? We’re just gettin’ started!” 

“Rita, you’ve read us your entire story,” said Juno. “What else is there.” 

“I’ve read you the pilot episode.” Rita reached behind her and grabbed an enormous stack of blank notepads. “But now, you’ve all got to help me plot the rest of the first season!” 

The rest of the crew looked at each other. Juno sighed and got up from Nureyev’s lap.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll get some coffee started. Looks like we’re gonna be here a while.” 

The End

~

Big thanks to @in-consist​, @awalkingparadox11​, @scintillart​, @hemaris​, and @acadieum​ for all the incredible work they did! 

[justmevoldemort]

Kiss of the Mer

A/N: I can't draw, but I can write so here's my contribution to MerMay with a Julian Devorak Mer AU

Word Count: 4k

Kiss of the Mer

The sun beat down harshly on her already burnt skin as she walked along the beach, a spear in hand, searching for a fish to satisfy her hunger. She’d been on the island for several weeks now, and though she often had Julian to keep her company, she was beginning to wonder how long she would last. Every day she would wake in the early morning and go into the jungle behind her. It was too dangerous for her to sleep there, but it had a flowing trickle of fresh water, plants and animals that she could hunt and eat, and plenty of shade to offer relief to her burnt skin. She spent the early morning hunting and gathering food, and in the hottest part of the day, she did her best to stay out of the sun, and to find more ways to protect herself and to build her hut on the beach. In the late afternoon, when the sun wasn’t as harsh, she would return to the beach and go for a swim as well as hang out with Julian. They hunted fish for dinner and stayed up late into the night talking. It was the only interaction she had.

Theoretically, she could survive, but in practice? She missed the life she had before. She missed the sight of something besides the island. She missed music. She missed eating something besides fish and plants. She missed people. Thankfully though, she had Julian. Ever since he rescued her from the shipwreck and brought her to the island, he’d visited her every day. She enjoyed his company thoroughly. He was funny, nice, and convenient to have around whenever she managed to injure herself. He was a good friend, and she was glad that he was willing to spend so much time with her. She’s not sure she would want to. She was sure that she looked horrendous, her skin red, dry, and peeling, and her hair greasy and sticky from lack of washing and from the salt in the air and water. Her clothes were ripped from forming makeshift bandages and from the explosion that caused the wreck; and she was certain that she smelled something awful. But Julian didn’t care about any of that. He was kind to her and provided her some much needed company. He helped her hunt and he told her bad fish puns. He helped heal her wounds, and he made her laugh. Julian was an amazing friend, and though he was mer, she almost found herself wishing he was more. 

There were several nights where they floated in the shallow bay and talked about everything under the stars and what’s under the stars often was very personal. She told him all about her life on land and then at sea, and he told her about all the oceans he’s traveled and about his family. They often floated close together, hands grasped so they wouldn’t float apart, and his tail sometimes wrapped with her legs. There were several times they ended up face to face, chest to chest, warm breath fanning on each other’s faces. But nothing ever happened. Maybe, sometimes, they would hug or cuddle, but never more.

In legends, they said that a mer’s kiss could allow a human to breathe underwater for a period of time. She wondered if that was true. She also wondered what it’d be like to kiss a mer-- to kiss Julian. Would the fins on his arms flare open like they do when she teases him and he gets embarrassed? Would his lips taste of the saltwater or would they taste of the berries she finds on the island for him? Would his kisses be soft and slow, or would they be fast and passionate? She wanted so badly to find the answers to all of these questions, but doubted that she would. She doubted Julian felt the same. 

With her mind milling with these thoughts and frustrations, she thrust down into the water. Her spear was powerful and fast, but the fish she’d been trying to grab was faster. In her frustration, she hadn’t noticed her foot being directly under the fish until she missed the fish and the tip of her spear when directly into her foot. She cried out in pain and surprise and tears flooded her vision. Damn it. 

At the sound of her distress, Julian was at her side in an instant, the worry in his brows increasing at the sight and scent of blood in the water and the tears in her eyes. Carefully, he picked her up out of the water and set her on a rock, careful not to jostle the spear. With tender hands, he removed the spear from her foot and pressed a kiss to her knee in comfort when she hissed out in pain. His hands pressed on the open wound and he began to hum a song that she’d heard the last time he healed her. It wasn’t a song she knew, and he had told her it was an ancient mer song from the very depths of the sea. Through the song, he was able to access his healing energy and project it into her wound, healing her and only leaving a scar.

 She was glad that he was able to heal others, it had come in handy several times before when she had been injured in the explosion, and when she was attacked by a shark not long after. The only downside though, was that the healing process, since it was expedited, was excruciatingly painful. She wasn’t one to cry often, being a pirate did that, but each time Julian healed her, even if it was something as minor as a scratch, tears of pain would roll down her cheeks. 

Julian lifted his hands from her foot and wiped the tears off of her face and looked at her with worried eyes. 

“Are you alright?” She nodded her head and averted her eyes from the depths of his gray blues that held so much emotion concerning her. “What happened?” 

“Julian…” Her eyes flicked back to his before focusing out on the rolling waves. “I don’t know how much longer I can live like this.” She didn’t dare look over at him for fear of seeing the emotional response on his face.

 “What are you talking about?” Despite not looking at him, she could hear the concern in his voice, the careful strain of him trying not to seem too bothered by her statement.  She gulped, and in that, swallowed down the urge to brush it off and not open up to Julian.

 “I haven’t eaten anything besides fish and berries in over three weeks, I’m dehydrated, my skin is raw and peeling, and I’ve lost count of how long I’ve been stuck here. I miss music, I miss dancing and wearing clothes that aren’t ripped and not feeling disgusting all the time. I do the same thing every day and the only thing that’s given me any happiness and has kept me from not giving up, is your daily visits. But even with that I still feel so alone and if I talk to myself any more than I already do I’d be considered crazy. You’ve been wonderful to me, but I’m just slowly going to deteriorate here on this island. Eventually the stream  of fresh water will run dry and I’ve got no way to convert the water from the ocean into something that would keep me alive. If I don’t die from the nutrients I’m lacking from only eating fish or from dehydration, I’m going to die from skin cancer that I’ll surely develop from the amount of time in the sun with no reprieve. If I stay here, it doesn’t matter what happens, I’m just going to slowly die.” A deep breath and she continued her rant that had been pent up for too long.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love being with you and I really appreciate your company, but companionship isn’t going to keep me alive. It’s just keeping me from going crazy. I almost feel as though I was supposed to die that night from the explosion but you rescuing me only delayed the inevitable. I sacrificed myself that day on my ship because I didn’t have anyone and I was at terms with death. But now, now I have you and the fact that I am going to die a slow and probably painful death and I’m not at terms with that-- I’m terrified of it. There’s no way I’m going to survive for long and yet, all I want to do is live now.” A single tear tracked down her cheek. “I can’t live like this but I don’t want to die.” 

Seeing that she was finished, Julian pulled her into his chest, holding her tightly in a comforting hug. His tears trailed down his face and dripped onto his chest where they mixed with hers before falling into the water below them. He held her tightly, a hand winding its way into her hair and rubbing lightly at her scalp and holding her closer to him. When they finally pulled away after several minutes, watery, tired eyes looked deep into one another and conveyed emotions that could not be described with words.

  “I wasn’t going to suggest it yet, but I’ve been talking with my sister and there may be a way we can help you,” Julian said softly, gauging her reaction before continuing.

 He must have waited too long though, because she pulled back slightly and looked at him, “How?”

 “Well, a mer’s kiss can give a human the ability to breathe underwater for some time and we thought that it may be beneficial for you to come to our home where we can care for you a bit better and then we could find a way to get you back to your civilization on land.” She looked at him with wide eyes.

 “That sounds wonderful. Why were you waiting to suggest it?” Julian swallowed thickly.

 “Well, because, um, in order to do that, you’d have to kiss me and I wasn’t sure you’d want to do that.” He rushed the last bit and he felt his cheeks burn at the curious look from her that followed. The longer she looked at him, the darker his face became. “What?” Finally, she looked away and giggled, the sound making Julian much happier than the sobs several minutes before. “What is it?” He asked again, embarrassment and curiosity biting at him.

 “It’s nothing, really I-” she laughed and shook her head again. “You really thought I wouldn’t want to kiss you?” 

“I-I-” Julian stuttered a failed response, the flush spreading up to his ears and down his chest and the fins on his arm flaring open slightly. 

She giggled again at his reaction. “Oh, Julian. What on Earth made you believe that?” She shook her head lightly, when they met eyes again, Julian saw mirth dancing in her eyes where sadness was before. “Whatever made you think that I didn’t want to kiss you lied.” Now it was her turn to flush. She looked down for a moment before getting her confidence and courage back and continuing. “In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve thought about kissing you for quite some time now, and I definitely wouldn’t object to kissing you, underwater breathing abilities or not.” Julian stared at her for a moment, his brain catching up with the situation before a smirk fell upon his lips.

  “So you’ve thought about kissing me then?” His eyebrow raised in teasing and suggestion.

 “Looks like you’re not shy about this anymore,” a smirk of her own teased her lips. “But yes, on several occasions actually,” While that was the response Julian was hoping for, her open honesty made his ears redden more than they were. But he quickly recovered, using his hands to grab hold of her hips and lift her off the rock and pulled her in close to him. 

“Really?” His voice rising in a lilt. “Why don’t you show me everything you’ve thought about then?” His eyebrow raised in a challenge and her arms slowly made their way up his arms and around the back of his neck.

 “Okay.” Julian blinked in surprise but before he had time to react otherwise, she was pulling his head down to meet hers and their lips locked in a soft embrace. Their lips moved slowly against each other, neither rushing things or pushing too hard. One of her hands wound its way into Julian’s hair and gave a light tug, causing Julian’s hands to tighten on her hips and a low groan to escape him. With each passing second after Julian’s emission, the kiss grew more passionate. Their lips moved heavily, sometimes biting or licking, and the hand in Julian’s hair tugged harder at each moan of his they swallowed up. 

Though they hated to separate, they had to part for air and unlike humans, Julian had to re-wet his gills so the two had to separate completely. She gasped for air and Julian fell backward into the water, splashing up at her and offering her a shit-eating grin. She caught her breath but Julian continued to lay in the water. She laughed and watched him roll around and float, occasionally flicking his tail and splashing her. A laugh barely escaped her throat before it was cut off by a squeal when his tail suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her down on top of him. 

His arms moved to circle her waist and steadied her on top of him so she wouldn’t fall, and his tail treaded the water and kept them afloat. He reached his head up and kissed at all the water droplets scattered across her face causing her to giggle. He watched her laugh and the sun shining in the background provided her a halo effect and caused her eyelashes to glimmer when it caught the water in them. His tail kicked them around the bay and they continued to laugh and kiss as they floated around in the water with the sun setting above them. 

One particular swish of his tail was more powerful than the rest though, when she bit his lip as they kissed. The force of the movement jostled the two of them and caused her to fall off of Julian and into the water. 

Bubbles surrounded her as she fell into the water, but unlike usual, they didn’t dissipate. The longer she was in the water, more bubbles formed and circled around her. They surrounded her and kept her from surfacing for air. They spun her around quickly and she could feel something changing. Was she getting gills to allow her to breathe? If not, what was happening? Julian didn’t warn her about this. The water spun her faster and she felt her legs become glued together due to the force and a quick, sharp, pain erupted in her neck and sides, as well as the feeling of something pushing through her skin on her arms and hands.

 When the bubbles finally subsided, she was dizzy and her lungs burned. She tried to kick her way back up to the surface but found that her legs would not move. Panic flashed in her vision and she looked around wildly until Julian appeared in front of her, his eyes wide and shocked. When he noticed her panic, however, he grasped her forearms and guided her in breathing, showing her and convincing her that she was okay and that she could breathe the water without dying. It took everything in her power to open her mouth and breathe in, and that was only after she saw black lining her vision from lack of air. When she breathed in, the cool water provided relief to her lungs and her vision cleared.

 “Are you okay?” Julian’s voice cut through her mind, surprising her. This must be how merfolk conferred underwater-- by projecting thoughts into one another’s brain. She nodded and attempted to formulate a reply.

 “I can’t move my legs.” Julian looked down and blinked away some shock. 

“You may want to look down.” Confused, her eyebrows furrowed and she looked down at her body. The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer wearing the loose pirate’s shirt she’d been wearing. Now, there were… scales? Her hand drifted to her chest. Yes, scales covered her breasts. With her hand in front of her, she saw webbing between her fingers, and fuschia fins protruded from her biceps. Her eyes continued down her body, but in the darkness of the depths and the new lack of sun in the sky meant that she had a difficult time seeing anything below her waist. Julian grabbed her hands and helped pull her towards shallower water where she could see with the little light that was left in the sky, and when she looked down, she was shocked with what she saw. 

Starting at her waist, fuschia and blue scales draped down her body and formed a tail with a beautiful, feathery fluke at the end. She gaped at the tail, the beauty of it stunning her almost as much as its placement. As an experiment, she moved her legs in the same way she practiced when she was a little girl, and flicked the tail backward. The momentum shot her forward in the water and after a moment of struggling to turn, she quickly managed the mechanics of the tail and was swimming in circles around the area where she and Julian were, a large smile on her face and a look of wonder on his. She loved swimming like this, it was like all her childhood dreams were coming true. The tail was strong and powerful, and she was able to swim quickly through the water. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of and more. \

“Does a tail usually come after kissing a mer?” Julian had only told her that she would be able to breathe underwater, not that she would transform into a mer. Julian shook his head. 

“You’re the first I’ve heard of who’s gotten a full transformation just from a kiss.” She cocked her head.

 “Just from a kiss? Does that mean if a human and a mer do more than kiss, a full transformation usually happens?” Julian’s face flushed red like a child in a sex ed class taught by their mother and she fought back a laugh as she swam up to Julian and pressed a kiss to his flared fins on his arm. 

When she pulled back, her hand went to the gold necklace draped from her neck and fiddled with it. Julian stared at the necklace as if he was seeing it for the first time and his eyes widened as he registered the golden conch charm hanging from the chain. Could that be why she had a full transformation?  

“Julian? What is it?” Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern and confusion and Julian realized that he had been staring at the necklace for too long. 

“Your necklace. I think that may be the reason you had a full transformation. It’s an ancient and powerful mer relic. Where did you get that?” 

“It was my mother’s. It’s the only thing I have of her.” Julian swam close to her, and after checking with her, he reached up and grasped the conch around her neck. The moment he did, the water around them began to swirl quickly, shapes forming in the water, projecting scenes of something they didn’t know.

 It started with a young mermaid, her dark blue tail swishing in the sea foam at the base of a large rock that she was resting upon. In her arms she held a bundle of blankets, but from the angle, they were unable to decipher what it was that was inside them. The mermaid looked out over the water and watched as a small craft steadily approached. In the boat, there was a single figure and as it got closer, they could see that it was a young man, likely a fisherman judging by the size of the craft and the nets draped over the edge. The craft got closer and the mermaid's grim expression flickered to a smile for a brief moment before turning to a frown. 

When he was within a foot of the rock, he threw down an anchor to stop the boat and looked at the mermaid longingly. He then spoke to her and though the water didn’t project the sound from that moment, through his body language, she and Julian could tell that the man was pleading with the mermaid. For what, they guessed for her to stay with him. With a sad look, she turned toward the bundle in her arms and unfolded the top of it, revealing a baby girl. She whispered something to her baby before taking off a necklace she was wearing. The necklace caught the light and the golden conch that matched the one glimmering in the ocean next to Julian from was placed around the baby’s neck. She pressed a kiss to the baby’s temple and just before handing her over to the fisherman, her voice was suddenly projected outward from her necklace and into the water around her and Julian.

 “I love you my daughter. Never doubt that, and never doubt that you are worth every piece of gold in the vast oceans. My daughter, you are royalty. I love you, dear one.” With those final words the mermaid handed the baby over to the fisherman and he held on to her tightly. The mermaid pressed a kiss to his cheek and after one long, longing look towards the two of them, she dove off the rock and disappeared into the depths below. 

The water cleared around them and she and Julian stared at the place where the image had been. Shock displayed across their features at what they had just witnessed and what was implied by the scene they watched. Julian turned and looked at her with what seemed like new eyes. He saw all the similarities between her and the mermaid as well as the fisherman. Her eyes shone the same color as the mermaid’s and her face shape was a mixture of the two. Her hair was the same unruly mess as the fisherman’s but the same color as the mermaid’s. After seeing the two and then looking at her, it was obvious that they were her parents.

 “Julian…” Her hand fiddled with the conch resting on her collar bones and she looked up at him, unsure.  “Do you think that…” She trailed off, leaving the unasked question hanging in the water. Julian nodded and brushed her cheek with his thumb. 

“You look so much like her.” She smiled at the comparison and Julian continued. “And that explains your transformation. It wasn’t the conch like I thought. It was because your mother was a mermaid, and a mer queen at that.” She blinked at him.

 “Wait a queen?” Julian nodded. 

“Yes, she said you were royalty and she holds a remarkable resemblance to the queen of the mer that I saw when I visited the palace when I was younger-” 

“You’ve seen her? She’s alive?” She couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice. Her entire life she’d been told that her mother was dead, but now, she could be alive.

Julian looked away and solemnly shook his head. “She was killed in a pirate attack three years ago. We’ve been without a queen since then but…” He trailed off, his eyes wide as he looked at her “You’re her daughter, you’re the next in line for the throne.” Her eyes widened. 

“Does that mean…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question in case she was wrong.

 “You’re the queen of the mer.” 

[chibi-pix]

VLD AU - Wishes

Another lovely installation of the mermaid Pidge AU! And with an illustration a little ways into the tale. Well! Enjoy the 2,350+ ficlet in the “keep reading” below. 

Pidge looked up at the stars. She knew she couldn’t always have Lance around, he had to return home so people didn’t go looking for him and accidentally find her, it was understandable, but she couldn’t help but miss him when he wasn’t with her. She wondered if this was how others felt when they were in love and couldn’t spend time together.

Love. Weren’t they just friends, though? She was friends with Hunk and Keith, too. But Lance, she felt something different with him. Sure, it was nice listening to Hunk and Keith when they spoke about their interests, but when Lance did, she just listened completely, her attention solely on him; when she would talk about what she liked, he did the same. She liked how he would go out of his way to explain something and she loved the gifts he brought and would put together for her. She loved the different models he had set up in her cave, finding those to be her favourite ones.

She loved the way that Lance was so relaxed around her, able to fall asleep in her hand or on her chest. She never minded, she even thought he was cute when he did that, and she often would find herself singing to him, letting the music give him good dreams. And he even met Matt! Sure, he was understandably nervous about the much larger mer, but he handled the situation fairly well.

Is it… because he likes me, too? Is that why? She thought, thinking of how her parents had told her before that sometimes others will put up with things that they may not like or that frighten them because of someone they love. Can we even be together? I’ve heard stories about others having once been with humans before our ancestors hid themselves, but… they’re all smaller… I’m… She looked herself over. Large. She was enormous. Sure, she wasn’t nearly as big as her parents or brother, but she was still massive, especially compared to humans. To Lance. He was so small compared to her, she could easily hold him in the palm of one hand.

Pidge looked up, watching as a star… no, it was a piece of debris, a meteoroid she recalled Lance informing her, that fell. She then closed her eyes. “I wish I could be closer to Lance… if anything can grant my wish… please… please… I just want to be with him more. Hold him in my arms, not my hands…” she whispered. She opened her eyes again before sighing. She then dove back down, returning to the ship she had her collection and home in. She went to one of the emptier areas and snuggled down in the bottom, looking to the wing from Shiro’s plane.

It may have been Shiro’s plane, but it was because of that plane and Shiro that Lance went looking for her. Alongside the models Lance had gifted her, this was her favourite in her collection. It may have been simple, but it was this simple thing that helped to start their friendship that she hoped was blooming into love.

I wish… I wish… to be with… Lance… she thought as she drifted off to sleep, smiling for she knew Lance was coming back to visit her.

-+-+-+-

“Quit grinning like that. It’s creeping me out.” Keith commented as he sailed out with Lance. “What’s got you so excited anyway?”

“Probably because he’s gonna see his girlfriend?” Hunk smirked, clearly teasing Lance.

“What?” Lance exclaimed. “She’s… she’s not my girlfriend. Just… you know… a girl… and a friend… and...” He was blushing and did his best to hide it. Seeing that, both Hunk and Keith grinned. Yup. Their friend definitely had a crush on the curious mermaid.

“Oh yeah, he likes her.” Hunk sang a bit.

“Falling in love with a cryptid… actually sounds nice.” Keith hummed.

Lance scowled. He did want to make a comment about this being different than Keith’s obsession with Mothman, but if Pidge could exist, why not Mothman? “Anyway! A crush is… tricky right now.”

“A big issue, you might say?” Hunk inquired. Okay, if Lance was sometimes annoyed by Keith’s obsession with cryptids and conspiracy theories, then Hunk’s puns took the cake.

“Really?” Lance inquired, though Keith was snickering a bit.

“Hey, you opened the door to that one, I just walked through.” Hunk defended himself. “Anyway, so what if she’s bigger than you. Much… much bigger. You can still like her, right?”

“Well… yeah…” Lance nodded. He then looked out to the ocean. “Hmm… odd… Isn’t Pidge supposed to be here by now?” He wondered if her brother stopped her. He was definitely the protective sort. Well, that was to be expected, it just meant he cared for his little sister. Mermaids and humans alike, it was nice seeing siblings look out for each other; it showed that their species weren’t too different from one another.

“Maybe she got held up?” Keith suggested.

“Lance? Lance!” The three humans looked. They heard Pidge, but they didn’t see her. They then checked over the side of the boat where Pidge’s voice was. And there she was… but much, much smaller. She did her best to smile when she saw Lance look over the edge, but she looked so panicked. “Lance… I… I don’t...”

“Holy crow… Pidge is… smaller...” Hunk whispered.

“Hold on, I’m coming down.” Lance assured, getting up on the railing and diving off and near Pidge. When he came up, she was quickly against him, hugging him and crying. “It’s okay, Pidge, I’m here. I’ve got you.” he assured, putting his arms around her. Wow. She was actually small enough for him to do that. It was both amazing… and frightening. What happened? How did she get so small? “Do you know how this happened?”

“No.” Pidge shook her head. “All I know is I went to sleep last night, but when I woke this morning, I was all… tiny. Everything is so much bigger than me...”

And that scared her. Pidge was probably used to being one of the biggest creatures out there, suddenly being so small terrified her. He couldn’t blame her for her emotions. Creatures she probably hunted and ate probably saw her as prey now. The ocean was much larger, she probably couldn’t get from one spot to another as quickly as she used to.

“What about Matt? Did you talk to him about this?” he asked softly.

“No… I… I didn’t go look for him… he goes to deeper waters usually...” Pidge mumbled. Deeper waters. It was probably more dangerous to a mermaid who was so small. “I’m so scared… I don’t know what to do...”

And the ocean was dangerous. “Okay, we’ll think of something… we’ve got to.” Lance said. “I mean, you can probably stay close to my place.”

“Um… voice of reason here.” Hunk got their attention. He missed the part about Matt, the two spoke too softly for that, but Lance’s tone was normal again when he made his suggestion. “But the odds of someone noticing Pidge there are very likely. I mean, I get she’s somehow stayed hidden all this long, but...”

“Quiznak… you’re right!” Lance groaned.

Keith was watching them before he spoke up. “Why not the villa?” he suggested. Lance and Hunk gave him questioning and are you serious looks. “Okay, hear me out. She’s small enough, she should fit in the bathtub, right? And it’s just us who lives there.” Sure, they had family near, but the three were given the chance to live alone and pay rent from their part-time work with AARC and the tasks they do there. It was seen as great training for when they may take off to live alone. Or continue to live there, have their own private place on the islands and close to family and friends at AARC. “She can use your room’s bathtub, Lance; it’s upstairs and out of the way, the odds of even Allura stumbling upon her would be low.”

“What about Matt?” Pidge whispered.

“I’ll find him and explain, but you don’t have to go to the villa if you don’t want to.” Lance responded just as softly. He then nodded. “If you want to go to the villa, we can help you there, help find out what happened, and help keep you safe. If you don’t, we’ll still find a way to help you.”

Go with Lance? To his home? Sure, he shared it with Keith and Hunk, but… Lance lived there. Lance may not have noticed, but her cheeks took on an even darker green as she blushed, the webbing of her ears getting stiffer. “You’ll… you’ll look for Matt at times? And let him know?”

“If he doesn’t find and eat me first.” Lance teased, getting Pidge to giggle. Oh good, he could still make her laugh in her tense situation. “But yes, I will. I’ll try to go out a few times a week at least, just to find him. He’ll probably be looking for you, too, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Pidge nodded. “Okay… because this is… scary.” she admitted.

“We can get the boat to the small dock near the villa.” Lance nodded. “I dock there all the time, no one will think anything of it.”

“I can go in and check, make sure Allura’s not visiting, then let you know if it’s clear, then you guys can bring Pidge up.” Keith added.

“Sounds like a plan.” Lance nodded. “Right, Pidge?” Pidge nodded in agreement, trusting Lance and his friends to keep her safe. “Well, let’s get you on board and get back to the island then; if you need back in the water, just let us know, okay?” he asked, swimming around the boat to the gap in the railing so they could get on board. Hunk met them there and helped get Pidge on board, being careful of her fins so he didn’t get hit or hurt her.

“Um… question, can she even be in a fresh water tub?” Hunk asked.

“Fresh water?” Pidge asked. “Isn’t water water?”

“Oh boy...” Lance blinked. He really hoped they wouldn’t need to find a way to get the bathtub’s water to have the right salinity levels for Pidge. Well, they would find out soon enough. He captained his boat to the small dock, typically used to jump off of and swim in the water, but sometimes Lance used it if he decided to not dock at one of the main AARC buildings.

When Keith gave them the all clear, Hunk and Lance worked together, picking Pidge up and carrying her together. It wasn’t that she was heavy, but rather she was still fairly long and they didn’t want her dragging and getting hurt. When they entered the house, Pidge looked around curiously.

A house. A villa, as they called it, but it was still a home. And it was definitely different from caves used by others in the sea. It was really… peaceful. And she liked seeing the photos lining the wall the stairs went up. She soon found herself being brought through Lance’s room.

Blue. Of course it was blue. It looked nice. And it was a bit cluttered, too, though he managed to keep it as tidy as possible. Video games and plush toys alike, the toys were cute, depicting sea life. He really does love the ocean. She thought, her ears twitching happily. And then came the bathroom, blue definitely being a theme for Lance.

“I got the water started.” Keith said. “Pidge, is it fine? Too warm? Too cold?”

Pidge reached. A little cool but very comfortable. “It’s perfect.” she said. Carefully, Hunk and Lance lowered her into the tub and Keith put in a stopper, letting it fill up. Once it was full enough with Pidge in it, the water was turned off. “It’s comfy. And it feels safe here.” Pidge hummed, making herself comfortable. “It feels different from the ocean, but nice. My skin feels smoother in here. And my gills do just fine.”

“So the freshwater isn’t bad?” Lance asked, sitting on the edge of the tub.

“Not bad.” Pidge assured with a nod before putting her head under the surface. Yup. This was nice.

Lance smiled. “Well, you can stay as long as you need to.” he assured, the mermaid nodding, clearly hearing him. “I’m going to step out for a bit, okay? Want me to go to the market and get some fish? Or go fishing?” Another nod, this time more eager. Ah, she must have skipped eating in her panic. “Okay, we’ll do that.” He stood back up before lowering the shower curtain. “So you can close it more easily if you want privacy. We won’t be gone long.”

Pidge lifted her head back up. “Be safe. Come back soon.” she said.

Lance blushed deeply. “Yeah. Will do.” He nodded before leaving the bathroom, letting Pidge pull the curtain shut. “Holy crow...”

“Your girlfriend is living in your bathtub… have fun sleeping at night, buddy.” Keith patted Lance’s back.

“Good luck.” Hunk chuckled.

“Anyway… let’s go get some food for Pidge, she’s probably hungry.” Lance sighed, nudging his friends away. He couldn’t help but smile, even with their teasing. Maybe… maybe it is possible for us to really be together. He thought to himself. But I need to also help her find out what happened… and find Matt to let him know what’s going on; he’d be worried about her.

Inside the bathroom, happily in the tub, Pidge hummed to herself. Her situation was frightening, but she had good friends. Hunk and Keith were very helpful. As was Lance. Lance was amazing, kind… perfect. I’m his size now, too. She added as a thought. It’s not so bad when I think about that part. And I can be close to him. Maybe… maybe my wish came true? She shrugged before shutting her eyes, letting herself doze off in the safe, cool waters and the room that she realized smelled like Lance. It made her feel even safer.

Just as he trust me to keep him safe in the ocean, I trust him to keep me safe here.

Well, here you guys go. And it’s official that Pidge is small! Though how and why, we’ll find out another time. 😉 But now we know that her fitting in the bathtub is official and it’s not just me making people happy with the same size for Plance moments. 

Also, as a reminder, installations most likely will be out of order (as they have been before). I write what comes to mind, so I don’t have a full/actual timeline, though it can be relatively easy to guess. 

Anyway! Until the next part! 

[dontatmethanks]

Part of your world

A leviHan Fic (mermaid AU)

AN: Ah Finally, I give you chapter 4! Sorry it took so long 😭 please enjoy!💕

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Chapter 4

Recruitment day came on Wednesday, and everyone was excited to meet kids. Hange and Petra had helped Nifa decorate the lobby in the main entrance in time for their welcome, complete with a sign that said ‘welcome recruits!” Nanaba put out name tag stickers and little goodie bags for the kids, eager to meet the new interns or servants as she liked to cal them under her breath. Much to Erwin’s displeasure.

Hange was in the middle of working Levi through his exercises. He was in the water, back against the rocks. He lifted his tail up above the water and held it there for a few seconds before dropping back down, exhaling profusely. He did this multiple times until Hange stopped him at the three minute mark. This exercise kept his tail flexible enough to make up for his missing tail fin.

“Good job, Levi.” Hange praises him and squats down next to him. He grimaces in pain slightly and sinks into the water, head tilting back and pants softly.

“Tomorrow we do weights.” She tells him and he groans and glares at her.

“Are you trying to kill me you shitty human?” He whines, eyebrows pinching, and she giggles.

“Nah just trying to help you get stronger.” Levi huffs, looking up at the parted clouds in the sky.

Hange takes a moment to examine him closer. She looks at his facial features as he stares up at the sky above him, his gaze has gone soft, almost unguarded. His steel eyes are half lidded, full fluttery lashes brush against his pale cheeks as he blinks. Thin eyebrows are relaxed, matching dark, silky looking hair flutters against his pointed ears. Hange blinks slowly, her eyes remain glued to him unable to look away.

‘He’s a very good looking specimen.’ She thinks.

What? Hange double takes.

WHAT?!

Before Hange can even comprehend what just happened, Levi swivels his head to meet her gaze and she freezes, cheeks bursting into flames. Levi raises an eyebrow at her and opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by her phone chiming from her bag. Hange praises the whatever power that was above the as she practically launches herself away from the mermyd and rummages in her bag.

It was Moblit who sent her a message that the recruits have arrived. She jumps in excitement, causing Levi to give her a weirded out look.

“Ah, Levi!” She yells at him, twirling around to look at him.

“What is it shitty glasses, you’re freaking me out.” He chides at her.

“We have some newcomers coming to the center, kids actually. They’re going to be volunteering here for the rest of the year.” She explains to him, her big smile never wavering.

Levi gives a her blank stare, not understanding a word that came out of her big mouth.

Hange scratches her head, “basically these kids are going to be helping us with our work. They learn about this place as they go, and we help them find opportunities for their future.”

Levi blinks, children? Human children? He internally shudders.

“As long as they don’t place their filthy hands on me or the water I don’t care.” He drawls in a monotone voice. Hange tilts her head at him curiously.

“It’s okay for them to meet you?” She asks him slowly. He nods, making her smile so bright it almost blinds the mer.

Hange leaves him to his own devices and heads to the main building in a frenzy. When she makes her way into the lobby Nanaba and Mike are already greeting the kids. Hange stops to take them in. There are seven of them, eyes wide as the juveniles look around the main lobby. Hange can feel their excitement raidiating off of them in waves.

Hange worms her way next to Nanaba near the front desk, Erwin is there too His voice booming as he introduces himself. When he catches sight of her he gestures for her to come foward, she happily obeys and walks infront of the young teens.

“This is Dr. Hange Zoë, She is the head of our research and rehabilitation department.” He tells them and Hange gives them a huge wave and her best grin.

“Hello everyone, I’m so glad you chose to volunteer with us, we’re going to have lots of fun and learn so many new things!” Hange’s energy is ecstatic.

“She will be showing you a tour first, please make sure to write your names on a name tag. We’ll have ID’s ready for you by next week”. Erwin finishes with a clap of his large hands. The kids all began to murmur in excitement with each other as Petra handed them each a blank name tag and a marker.

Once all the kids had their name tags, Hange raised her arm and pointed towards the elevator.

“Alright everyone! Single file into the elevator, the tour has commenced!” Hange, Nanaba and Mike showed them the their way around the main building before making their way to the medical wing.

“While you guys won’t be dealing with a lot of the patchwork, you will be assisting with things like helping to transport patients in and out of their enclosures when medical assistance is needed.” Hange explained to them, stopping near one of the medical rooms.

“Who knows? Maybe Dr.Petra will give you an opportunity to sit in as well.” Hange says, giving Nanaba a sly grin, who responds with an equally devious expression.

One of the teens raises their hand, it was a boy with straight blonde hair that almost reached his shoulders. He had bright, ocean blue eyes that shined curiously underneath his bangs.

“Yes? Er-” Hange craned her neck to read the name off of his name tag. “Armin!”

The boy smiled shyly and nodded before asking, “eh-um, I read on your website that you guys take in a broad range of species that are mostly aquatic and that you specialize in the more unique err-specimens.” The boy behind him groaned. His short hair had an ash blondish almost light brown color to it.

“Really Armin, you can’t even wait until after the tour for questions?”

The girl next to him socked him on his shoulder with her tiny fist. She too was blonde like Armin, hers was a little longer and tied in a loose ponytail over her shoulder. She was the smallest of the group but it seemed that she packed a punch. The boy rubbed his shoulder and was about to yell at her bofore the boy on the other side of the girl gave him a murderous glare. He had shaggy brown hair and piercing teal eyes.

“Shut up Jean.” The boy tells him and the the other boy-Jean-attempts to grab at the teal eyed boy. He stops in his tracks when he meets the steely glare of another girl who stood on the other side of the teal eyed boy.

“Touch Eren and you’re going to be single for the rest of the summer.” The girl’s voice almost sounded sinister. She was asian, with short dark hair that ended just below her ears. A long fringe fell over her face just between her grey colored eyes. “I wasn’t even gonna do anything Mikasa, gosh.” Jean said and crossed his arms in an angry pout.

Hange laughed, “It’s alright, I’ll answer any questions that you guys have throughout the tour.” She turns to Armin, who perks up instantly.

“You’re definitely right, we do specialize in the more special cases and species.” They’re moving towards the other side of the campus now, where the enclosures are.

“Most of our patients indeed are the usual specimens like dolphins seas turtles and sharks, ranging from the more endangered to the more common.” She stopped near the gate of the patient area, there was a large sign that read ‘Authorized personnel only’ in front of it.

As they made their way through the area the kids ogled at the various enclosures that they passed. Mike introduced them to Hans, a 50 year old Hawksbill sea turtle. He was brought to them two years ago with a missing flipper and a fractured shell. The teens were in awe when Nanaba introduced the to Winnie, a vampire squid aka Vampyroteuthis infernalis. Nanaba had found her when she was a little polyp in some sketchy ‘exotic’ pet store. She was in terrible condition, the owner kept her in a cramped tank that was never cleaned. So Nanaba bought her and brought her in and they’ve had her in their care ever since.

Hange then leads them to Sawney and Bean’s enclosure. The two reef sharks were very curious and immediately taken a liking to the new recruits. Hange was not surprised in the slightest, she let the kids feed them a couple of baby squids.

They stop at enclosure that was built underground, Hange turns towards the group of unsuspecting teenagers and grins.

“You guys are going to love the next few patients.”

Mike opens the heavy steel door of the enclosure’s entrance that leads to some stairs. Hange leads the group inside, the space is huge, the walls weren’t walls they were giant tanks that connected into one big watery enclosure above ground.

One of the teens presses her face against the side of the glass. It’s a girl with hair as brown as Hange’s that’s tied up into a high ponytail and long bangs that framed her face.

“There isn’t anything in here.” She says, eyes scanning through the deep blue water. Before anyone can retort, a large figure swims pass them. All the kids jump and gasp at the looming figure.

The creature was very large. The head resembled that of a horse, it’s tail was long and adorned with flowy skirt like fins. It had two front webbed ‘legs’ and a beautiful blue and green color pattern across its entire body. The group of kids were left with their mouths hanging open at the sight.

“Meet June, she is a Scottish water horse.” Said hange.

“Otherwise known as a Kelpie. She’s a total sweetheart, pretty old in age but loves to play fetch with pool toys.” Hange giggles as June swims closer to the group and snorts at them, creating little bubbles in the water. The kids became more enraptured with June, they all crowded near her as she curiously eyed them while swimming around in happy movements.

Hange explained to them that she was the subject of an illegal traveling circus, they had her as some kind of exhibit. When they were shut down she was brought here because she had spent her entire life in captivity and knew nothing about surviving alone in the wild. Kelpies usually stick with their mothers for a while before going off on their own, June never got to experience that.

“Hey, she kind of looks like Jean.” A boy with a buzz cut teased and everyone in their group except Jean burst out in a fit of giggles. Jean grabbed the boy and pressed his knuckles against his head.

“Say that shit agin Connie.”

He only laughed as Jean rubbed his knuckles against his head.

As the group made their way through the entire campus Hange would answer their questions with gusto. Sasha, the girl with the brown ponytail, asked about lunchtime and Hange told them that she had one more patient to introduce to them before lunch.

As they approach Levi’s enclosure Hange stops and turns to them.

“Our next stop is another special, have any of you heard of the ‘Homo Aquatis Melusine’?

The blonde haired girl perked up and shot her hand up. Hange took a peek at her name tag.

“Historia!”

Historia’s cheeks colored a little before answering in a small voice, “you mean Mermaids?”

Hange nodded with a smile. “Ah yes indeed, mermaids, merfolk, water people, Triton’s children. We’ve created many names for them, yet we still have very little knowledge about them. Mermyds are extremely stubborn and highly unpredictable, so I ask you to please be mindful. This one has been through trauma and is making a difficult recovery. This is the first Mer to be in our facility so we are still learning the ropes around caring for him.”

The teens are practically vibrating with pent up curiosity, hange grinned a little.

“No way, you mean we’re actually going to be working with a Mermyd?” Eren practically yelled, Hange Cringed.

“Yes and no, he is a difficult case. I will have at least one of you assisting me once in a while so he won’t be too overwhelmed.” She responds

“I read that they can be dangerous.” Said Armin, Hannge looks at him curiously. While she was sure that Levi was definitely a force when he was in the wild, she wouldn’t say that he’s dangerous now that he’s in rehabilitation.

Hange hums, “Yes they are. Like any other wild creature, including us, they have the tendency to react violently when it comes to difficult situations.

She claps her hands together, “Now, I’m going to have you guys change into wetsuits, just as a precaution.”

As Nanaba and Mike hand out suits to the kids and direct them to the bathrooms, Hange makes her way into Levi’s enclosure.

She smiles when she notices that he is in his hammock reading-er- attempting to read one of the books she left him. The mer squints at the letters in front of him, small lips attempting to pronounce each word.

“The cat in the hat, that’s a classic.”

He looks up at her and squints.

“What do you want?”

Hange pouts at him, “I’m giving the new volunteers a tour, you’re up.”

Levi freezes, his usually guarded expression cracks a little. Hange puts up her hands.

“They’re not going to be in here, they’ll be up there.” Hange says to him while pointing at the observation deck above the water. He visibly relaxes. Hange bends down to examine his tail, carefully telling her fingers over the bandage.

“How’s it feel?” She asks him softly, looking up at him. Levi stares back at her, his tail twitches slightly under her touch but he does no pull away this time.

“It’s better, doesn’t hurt as much like before, but it’s uncomfortable to swim with.”

Hange hums and unconsciously strokes the scales of an uninjured area of his tail. Levi’s breath hitches slightly and he shivers making Hange snatch her hand back.

“I’m sorry did I hurt you?” She apologizes but Levi shakes his head, cheeks redden slightly. Hange let’s out a sigh of relief.

“Good, hehe” she stands and checks her watch, “Okay the kids should be finished changing by now.”

Levi buries his face back into his book. Hange scoffs and moves the book away from his face. He glares at her.

“Hey, don’t be a pouty fishy, human interaction will be good for you.”

The Mer rolls his eyes.

“Are a bunch of snotty human brats supposed to magically heal me?” He says before crossing his arms against his naked chest.

“No, but it will make it easier. They’re nice kids.”

Levi looks back her, she giving him a small sad smile. Her chocolate eyes gaze at him warmly and it stirs something up inside him . He feels hot all over again, he sighs.

“Alright, But if anyone one of them even sticks a finger inside the water I won’t hesitate to bite it off of them.”

Hange laughs one of her bubbly and breathy laughs that make her eyed crinkle behind her glasses and he shoulder shake.

And the Mermyd could only stare at the goofy four eyed human, as she continued to cause whatever was happening inside his chest to flutter rapidly against his will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: Aaaaaand scene! Look at Levi blush hehehheee 😈 and yessss our fav teens have finally arrived! Let’s just hope Levi doesn’t chew any of their fingers off hehee.

Thanks for reading, see you in the next chap!😘

Part 5

[lizartgurl]

The Little Atlantean (Aqualad x OC AU)

(part one) PART TWO

@super-spoiler @flamebiirds @the-shadow-of-atlantis @thespacebuns @princes-jasmine

“MERMAN OFF THE PORT BOOOWW!” The eccentric seagull, feathers sticking out in all the wrong places, hollered, looking out the wrong end of his telescope as Kaldur and La’gaan surfaced at his rock.

“Woah,” Vulko scuttered backwards, falling off his driftwood perch as he lowered the scope, “You swim fast for a little merman,” He told Kaldur.

“Vulko,” Kaldur dispensed with the pleasantries, holding out his bag to his mentor, “Look at what we’ve found!”

“Well,” Vulko remarked, holding both items in his wingtips to examine. He put down the tube for favor of this tiny trident.

“Yes, this is very, very interesting. Intriguing indeed!”

“Well, what is it?” La’gaan insisted impatiently.

“Hold your seahorses, young guppy, I’ll get to it,” Vulko said.

Kaldur and La’gaan waited impatiently, with bated breath, as Vulko buzzed appreciatively.

“A-HA!” Vulko declared.

“What is it?” Kaldur and La’gaan demanded in unison.

“This fine little specimen you have here,” Vulko rubbed off a bit of the grime on his feathers to give it a shine, “Is none other than a dinglehopper!”

“A dinglehopper? There’s no such thing!”

“A dinglehopper,” Kaldur sighed happily, “What do humans use it for?”

“Well, they use it on their hair!” Vulko pointed to the tufts of feathers on either side of his head, “Beauty like this doesn’t come easy.”

He demonstrated, sticking the prongs of the dinglehopper into one of the tufts, and twirled it rapidly three times before yanking it out.

“Ta-da!” He gestured to his curlier tuft with fanfare, “Now you try, kid.”

Kaldur snatched up the dinglehopper, caressing it with reverence before daintily twisting it into a thin layer of his already curly hair.

“How do I look?” He asked La’gaan.

The guppy squinted, regarding that area of Kaldur’s head carefully. “Well, it looked a lot curlier than it did before!” He said hopefully.

Kaldur beamed. “What about the other one, Vulko?” He asked.

“This, my young mer-prince, is a snarfblat,” Vulko grinned. He put the small end of the curved tube in his beak, and blew hard, causing the large, open end to spout a pile of sand and seaweed that then dripped out onto Vulko’s rock, before being lapped up by the calm waves.

“What’s it for?”

“You did hear?” Vulko raised a bush, feathered brow at La’gaan critically.

“The snarfblat dates back to pre-hysterical times when humans sat around, and stared at each other all day.” He got up in Kaldur's face, locking eyes to demonstrate. “Got very boring, eh? And so! Humans invented these to make music!”

“Music!?” Kaldur’s face paled.

“The concert!” La’gaan exclaimed.

Kaldur groaned, tossing both items back into his bag, “My mother is going to kill me! Thank you, Vulko!” He waved briefly, before grabbing La’gaan’s fin and diving back beneath the sea.

“Anytime, kid! Come back soon!”

-

Kaldur doubted he’d be allowed anywhere anytime soon, as Tula cornered him at the palace gates.

“Where have you been!?” She hissed, “Auntie Shayla threw a fit when you didn’t make it! Garth is saying it’s the downfall of his career!”

“Garth is always dramatic, and I’ve dealt with my mother before, I can handle it now.”

Tula huffed at his naive confidence. “The entire kingdom of Atlantis was there for your performance. Do you know how ridiculous I felt presenting an empty clamshell for all my future subjects to see?”

Kaldur sighed, “Tula, I’m sorry-”

“I know you are,” She groaned, “But this habit of yours is getting ridiculous. I can’t keep covering for you every time you want to see a new wreckage.”

“It’s not as if I will ever take the throne.”

“No, but Kaldur, if you’re not there, it makes us look weak, it looks like you don’t support me or your mother. Worse, it feels like you don’t care about us.”

Kaldur stared at Tula, her face downtrod as she absently traced patterns in the sandy ground with her tail.

“Your mother had another briefing with General Mera while you were gone, you missed that too. The Purists are getting restless again. They’re not looking for much more of an excuse to attack. We can’t give them an excuse. We have to be at our strongest.”

Kaldur nodded grimly. “I guess I’d better give my apologies to my mother, then.”

“One moment,” Tula pointed to the bag clutched in his hand, still holding his precious human treasures, “Want me to hold that while you deal with Auntie Shayla?”

“Yes, thank you, that would be much appreciated.”

Tula grinned half-heartedly. “Don’t get zapped,” She teased, floating off to hide in the shadows and watch the whole thing, where she thought Kaldur wouldn’t notice her.

La’gaan trailing along nervously, “Do you think we’ll get zapped?” He whispered, echoing off the columns in the hall.

“I highly doubt it.”

Still, as he swam into the throne room to find his mother pacing back and forth, with Garth the tiny gray crab shouting in agitation, he couldn’t be sure. At least while she was pacing, the Royal trident rested safely on the throne, unable to react to the emotions of the wielder.

“Kaldur!” Queen Regent Sha’lain’a held back her rage only to give her son a hug, relieved for his safety.

Her face darkened, holding him out at arms length. “Where have you been?”

Kaldur balked, “Um, well-”

Garth scuttled forward, “Tonight was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career!” he dithered, interrupting the queen and the prince, “And now it is ruined! Completely ruined!”

Kaldur rolled his eyes, and caught the wry smile his mother shot at him as the little blue crab paced the sandy bottom between them.

“It wasn’t his fault, your majesty!” La’gaan plead in his behalf. “There was this shark!”

Queen Sha’lain’a backed off at this. Certainly, Kaldur hadn’t been where he should have, but if he had run in with a shark, she could hardly blame him for missing the concert.

“A shark?” She glanced between La’gaan and Kaldur curiously.

“Y-yeah!” La’gaan was astonished that she believed him, “He was all- grr- and then he was- and we were like- AH!-” La’gaan put on quite a show for the confused Queen and Composer.

“And we just barely made it out!” La’gaan finished. Kaldur nodded eagerly, confirming La’gaan’s report.

“And then there was this seagull-” Kaldur’s face fell. La’gaan was too into it, he didn’t realize what he was saying as Queen Sha’lain’a’s face darkened while La’gaan did a mocking performance of Vulko’s confident explanation of “human stuff”.

“You went to the surface?” Her tail swirled the water between them furiously. Kaldur glared at La’gaan even as the guppy ducked behind him for cover.

“It was just for a little while, nothing happened-” Kaldur tried to assure her.

His mother took his hands in her own.

“Kaldur, you know why I forbid all merpeople from going too close to the surface. “We have already lost your father and uncle.”

“King Orin, may he rest in peace,” Garth recited with a salute.

“In peace,” La’gaan mumbled.

“I do not know what I would do if I lost you too.” Sha’lain’a hugged her son tightly. “You may not be the next king, but you still have responsibilities. As do I.”

Back straight to balance her crown, Sha’lain’a resumed her seat on the throne, her grip on the regent’s trident loose and comfortable. “As Queen of Atlantis, I forbid you from ever returning to the surface.”

“But mother-!”

“Not another word, Kaldur. That is final.”

His bottom lip shook with his fists, and then Kaldur turned and swam from the throne room, La’gaan calling his name.

Sha’lain’a collapsed into her throne with a sigh.

“Teenagers,” Garth huffed, “Give them an inch, they swim all over you.”

Sha’lain’a raised her head from her hand. “Was I too harsh, Garth?”

“Not harsh enough,” A new voice stated. From a side entrance close to the throne, the Queen’s advisor and the third of the royal siblings floated forward.

“Orm. I suppose I should scold you as well for missing the concert.” Sha’lain’a joked.

“You could, if you had not delegated me with the responsibility of ensuring that no Purists disrupted the celebration and brought harm to your son or the Crown Princess.” Orm returned the playful smile.

Sha’lain’a glanced between her brother and advisor, and the court’s composer.

“What am I to do?”

“Kaldur’ahm is a troubled youth. He is not expected to hold the place that his cousin one day will, yet he is expected to act as if he is.” Orm said slowly.

“You are saying he is jealous?” Sha’lain’a asked, “Kaldur has never wished for the throne. He is as free-spirited as his father.” She glanced at her mirror image in the polished trident, as if she could see the vision of her late husband in the reflection.

“Perhaps not jealous, but under increasing pressure. And when teenagers are under pressure, they tend to rebel.” Orm stated matter-of-factly. “I trust you recall our days of youth?”

Sha’lain’a shook her head. “I was always the one leading our escapades in our youth.”

“Orm is correct!” Garth declared. “Kaldur needs constant supervision!”

“Constant?” Sha’lain’a questioned.

“Someone to supervise him, keep his head on his shoulders, his fins on his tail, et cetera.” Garth embellished.

“Hmm,” Sha’lain’a turned the idea over in her head. “Perhaps you are both right.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Garth bowed lowly, Orm respectfully inclined his head.

“Garth, I place you in charge of supervising Kaldur’ahm.”

“Me!?” Obviously, Garth was not his own first choice.

“Perhaps this way Kaldur will be able to show up for rehearsal more often,” Sha’lain’a winked at the crab.

“You did say that his voice was the best you had ever heard.” Orm smiled, and perhaps from the angle where Garth was standing, it took on a wicked glint.

“It’s settled then.” Sha’lain’a resumed her seat on the throne, confidence restored, and planted her trident on the ground.

“But Your Majesty-”

“That will be all, Garth. You are dismissed.”

Garth was pacing the halls of the Palace moments later.

“I should be writing symphonies, not babysitting some child”

Garth stopped, hearing the insufferable Prince Kaldur’s voice, and the hushed voice of his normally well-behaved older cousin, Crown Princess Tula.

“She’s right, you know.” Tula whispered, handing Kaldur a woven bag. Kaldur snatched it from her, holding it close to his chest, “Humans are dangerous, they killed our fathers.”

“Not all of them are bad, I just have to prove it to her.”

Tula shook her head, floating aside to allow Kaldur to swim past, heading for the palace exit.

“Where is he going?” Garth grumbled, scuttling after him.

He followed Kaldur and La'gaan out of the palace, past the homes of many Atlanteans citizens, and to a rocky outcropping on the very far edges of Atlantis, where the magical shields that hid their city safely in the fathoms below the sea just barely had a hold.

La'gaan kept lookout and Garth hid himself in a pile of rocks as Kaldur heaved a boulder aside, revealing a cave opening.

Garth scuttled forward, barely making it through the opening as Kaldur and La'gaan hastily replaced the rock behind them.

The cave was much bigger than the outside had led Garth to believe he tumbled down a steep sandy path, and the narrow cave tunnel opened up into a grotto with shelf-looking rock formations that spiralled up and up and up, each one full of strange objects- human objects- that Kaldur'ahm had obviously spent years collecting.

Garth's jaw slackened. How had the young prince kept all this from his mother for so long?

"Kaldur?"  Garth scuttled behind a two round pieces of sandglass connected by a wire at the sound of La'gaan's voice. The glass actually allowed him to spot La'gaan more easily, hesitantly floating at Kaldur's shoulder while the mer-prince drooped across a rock, moping as he cleaned off his latest treasure.

"Kaldur, are you okay?" La'gaan pressed.

Kaldur didn't reply at first, setting aside the seaweed and adding the dinglehopper to his collection of similar human stuff.

He sighed and sat up, placing the snarfblat with other human instruments like the butterflorp and the vigetti.

"If only I could make my mother understand," Kaldur murmured wistfully, "I just don't see how a world that makes such beautiful things...could be so bad." Kaldur's tail, a mesmerizing swirl of orange, gray, and silver, flicked almost unconsciously, lifting him from his rock and up to where his precious treasures were stored. He spread his arms, showing La’gaan his collection of twenty thingamabobs, which fearfully struck Gar with the resemblance of human harpoons as he cowered in the corner. Kaldur showed off his books next, pretending to illuminate them with a human lantern, which didn’t work underwater. Apparently humans powered them with what was called “fire”.

“I want to dance down the streets with the humans! Stretch my-” Kaldur paused in the middle of gazing at a dancing statuette of a human boy and girl, which tinkled with the faint sound of bells as he spun it around.

“What are they called again?” he asked La’gaan. With a grin, the green guppy wiggled his back fins at Kaldur. His face brightened.

“That’s right! Feet!” Kaldur sighed dreamily, and gazed up at the grotto’s opening far above.

“I wish I could be a part of that world.” He sighed, slowly putting away his treasures with the car of a mother seal for her babies.

Garth decided that he had heard enough. He puffed up his shell and strode forward to declare his presence and the foolishness of what he had found here, when he tripped and fell into a human tureen with a loud clatter, tangling himself in the pearls and other jewels Kaldur had stored in it.

“Garth!” La’gaan ducked behind the rock in fear of a scolding.

“We weren’t doing-”

“Anything?” Garth huffed as Kaldur helped get untangled from the human stuff.

“Why, if your mother knew-”

“You’re not gonna tell her, are you?” La’gaan begged, and Garth suddenly found himself trapped between the two youngsters.

“Oh please, Garth, she could never understand!” Kaldur plead.

“Alright fine!” Garth snapped his claws to get their attention. “I will keep this a secret from the queen mother.”

“Oh thank you!” Kaldur was unable to hear the rest of what Garth said from the sheer relief that flooded over him, but he was able to catch the shadow that passed over the grotto’s opening.

“But still! You know your mother’s decree,” Garth continued, oblivious, “I cannot let you return to the surface, or explore other human wreckage-” He finally noticed that he was speaking to the empty grotto.

“Kaldur?” He asked.

Kaldur and La’gaan had swam back up to the cave’s opening, the water had grown a bit darker, to herald the nighttime in the world above, but a flash of light every so often showed Kaldur the shilouette of a ship-still floating on the water, not sunken like the other’s he had come across.

Garth caught up with them, just in time to follow Kaldur and La’gaan up to the surface.

[marquisoforder]

A kingdom by the sea

In honor of MerMay heres a Malec Mer AU none of you asked for

Read on AO3

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It was many and many a year ago,   In a kingdom by the sea...

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“Kingdom of Idris has angered a foe they have never encountered before. It falls on the shoulders of the young crown prince to battle the evil hidden beneath the silent waves of a deadly ocean.”

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The sea was undead.

Though it had appeared alive like a monster with a thousand watery tentacles rising up, nothing about the nature of this stormy sea warranted the word ‘Alive’, in description of it. The malicious winds had acted the part of a necromancer and brought the smooth sleeping ocean to desecrated life and given it the rage of a thousand drowned warriors. And as the fates would have it, the good ship Cassiel had found herself trying to navigate her way through these enraged waves, crashing overboard and doing their damned best to drag her under. And standing atop the main deck of this ill-fated vessel was a young sailor, barely out of boyhood with the subtlest hint of a dark stubble on his otherwise smooth face, on his very first voyage across the sea. And unknowing to him and everyone else abroad, his very last as well. The boy was trying his best to act brave, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. There were tears in his eyes as he tugged at a rope with all his might, in an attempt to obey the captain’s orders and hold the sails. He had seen his fellow sailors falling over and drowning. Heard the scream of Old Tom as he lost his footing and went tumbling over the rails. But the boy had not lost his balance or grip. Yet. The waves tossed the ship around as if it was nothing but a plaything. As the boy struggled with the rope, it seemed that finally his luck had run out as he slipped on the wet deck and fell over into the dark and churning sea beneath. For one infinite moment the boy was suspended in limbo, falling through air, feeling weightless and breathless. Then he crashed into the water, his clothes weighed him down and all he could taste feel and unfortunately breathe, was salt water. He was drowning and there was absolutely no hope in Hell for him when a piece of driftwood jabbed him in the ribs. With the last bout of strength that often came over the dying and the desperate, he grabbed it, hoping against hope to stay afloat as he broke the surface of the water and gasped in a lungful of fresh air. The boy’s luck had not run out yet.

Or so it seemed, until the his head went under once again. This time it was a quick and unpredictable motion. Almost as if something, someone, had dragged him down. After a second of initial fright at drowning, the boy’s mind came to a strange state of lucid alertness, making his closed eyes snap open, and what he beheld made him exhale what little air he had breathed, in one unfortunate silent scream. Holding him down with an arm around his neck was a man of ethereal beauty; wild black hair framing sharp features on a smooth golden face. The boy noticed luminous necklaces adorning his bear chest and his lips were curled up in to a sharp and bright smile. Even as his grip tightened around the boy’s neck, his smile never wavered. And as the final bit of air left his lungs and merciless salt water began to fill the boy’s lungs, he cast his eyes downwards, unable to look in to this angelic face of death, and witnessed a fresh horror.

Where the man’s legs would usually have been, there was no such appendages at all but one long tail of a thousand shimmering scales. The boy’s breathless struggle ceased, and beside him, the merman laughed.

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The council is abuzz with dread murmurs. It seems as if everyone has something to say but nobody has the courage to say it out loud. Perhaps if they were at least a little courageous, there would not have been a tragedy to whisper about in the first place. Alexander Lightwood thinks bitterly and sighs. He is not too fond of his father’s Council, but as the Crown Prince and the Lord Commander he is duty bound to appear whenever the Council is in session and lately, they have been forced to gather with increasing frequency.

“This is the third ship we lost this week!”

Lord Treasurer Blackwell speaks a little too loud for Alexander’s liking. There is an accusatory edge to his words and Alexander is sharp enough to catch the quick glimpse of disapproval that flashes in his Father, the King’s eyes.

“We are quite well aware, Lord Blackwell,” Lady Inquisitor Herondale’s wizened voice holds much sarcasm as she peers at the tall man from behind her half-moon glasses. “There is no need to raise your voice. All of us here know how to add numbers.”

Alexander cracks a smile at the old woman’s words. Imogen Herondale might not be a pleasant companion but she certainly was an adept politician and a valuable ally. Alexander had grown up watching her rise through ranks in a court dominated by powerful men and held a respect for her unwavering determination and unparalleled cunning.

She also happened to possess the second biggest army of trained foot soldiers in the Kingdom of Idris. Second only to the Army of the Crown. The Herondale army was led by young lord Jonathon, a boy close to Alexander’s age and whom the King had wisely appointed as the Sworn Shield to Prince Alexander on the day the boy turned sixteen.

Whoever held the House of Herondale in this political game, held Idris.

“Wouldn’t it be wiser for us to avoid the sea routes where these accidents happened?” Alexander knows young Lord Lovelace, newly appointed Lord Physician, knows of sea fare as much as he knew about war fare, which is to say absolutely nothing. Yet he was trying to help which was more than what could be said for the other bickering lords.

“It’s not quite possible, Lord Lovelace,” Alexander glances at Lord Admiral Branwell, a red headed man of strong build who nods at the young prince before returning his gaze to the map on the table, his eyes fixed on the patch of blue that marked the Pentagram of Doom, the ocean area where all the Idris Vessels and their crews were meeting their untimely doom. “The closest trade routes to six of our biggest trade partners cut through the Pentagram, we don’t have the time or the resources to send our fleets around the Adamas Islands just so they will miss the Pentagram. We have to find another way.”

His father sighs and rubs his temple.  Losing ships, both trade vessels and military ones, at this rate would mean a serious threat to the Kingdom’s economy as well as its security. The Fleet of Idris was famous for their ruthless battle strategies and large numbers. But if they lost half their best ships to the Pentagram, rival kingdoms would smell their weakness from miles away, probably resulting in all-out war.

“What is causing these sudden storms?” The king asks finally, his tone stuck somewhere between a question and a complaint. “This is not the usual time of the year when such storms happen!”

“You know what is causing them, Your Grace,”

The voice that speaks up is one that Alexander is not used to hearing at the Council meetings, even though the speaker was never absent at said meetings. Lady Gray introduced herself as a healer and a wise woman, but everybody knew there was more to her than that. She had appeared in the court around the time Alec was about ten years old and his father had hired her immediately. Rumors said that she was something more than human, something from the myths and legends. She neither dismissed nor confirmed them, remaining a constant mystery of King Robert’s Court.

“What are you implying, Lady Gray?”

“These freak storms started to happen after the Rebellion, your Grace.” The healer spoke in calm and quiet tones. “And we all have heard about what that rebel Morgenstern did hidden in his castle to gain power.”

“If you are talking about the rumors about the creatures of the Downworld, its just a vile story spread to demoralize our armies!” King Robert speaks a little too strongly and Alexander catches a secret look being passed between Lady Herondale and Lord Branwell, almost as if they knew more than they were letting on about the rumors that stated Valentine Morgenstern had summoned creatures from a world unknown and experimented on them until they yielded him some sort of magical power in combat and prolonged his life. “They are nothing but a myth! Morgenstern had no special power about him or his armies!”

Lady Gray gazes at the King for one long minute of sizzling anticipation but sits back in her chair without another word, but her words and her look had caused the Council to break into nervous murmurs again, and Alexander himself feels oddly ominous about the situation and suspicious about his father’s sudden lashing out as well as the look that passed between Lady inquisitor and Lord Admiral. Alexander hadn’t been the one to lead the troops against Valentine in his castle, but he knew both his father and Lord Branwell had been there and they seemed to have witnessed something that warranted utmost secrecy if even Alexander wasn’t privy to it.

“We’ll discuss this again when we gather next week, I expect all of you to come forward with a plan to avoid more such tragedies.” His father sounds resigned as he waves a hand and dismisses the Council. “Lady Inquisitor, Lord Admiral and Lady Gray, please remain behind.”

At that moment Alexander knows there is more to this than what meets the eye.

[youarejesting]

Wash out.17

Banner: this banner is made by the lovely @purpleskies1999 Pairings: Dolphintrainer!Taehyung x SharkDiver!Jin,  Mer!Jimin x Reader, Scientist!Namjoon x MerKing!Jungkook, Mer!Yoongi x Mer!Hoseok. Words: 2.2k Genre: Mystery, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, little bit of Action, Slice of life, Enemies2Lovers, Friends2lovers, Social media au, Fake Texts, Fake Subs.

Summary: Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung’s rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?

Taehyung thought this was the most stupid and wreckless thing you had ever done and he was an idiot to be apart of this. But that’s what friends are for, right?

Jin was in position in his car one stop away from the amusement park, which meant the two of you had to sneak a five foot seven mermaid out through the crowds. Without exposing his tail and then getting him onto the bus and then into Seokjin’s car. This was like some weird video game but there were no save points or second chances.

It took a few trial runs without Jimin before you came up with your plan. You both had a total of 42 min to cross an entire park, your route had to include ramps as you would be using the lost and found wheelchair. The stakes were high if this went wrong, the two of you and Jimin were going to be in deep trouble.

After Taehyung’s first show with the dolphins he came to the warehouse for ‘lunch’ where the two of you used the sling to get Jimin out of the tank. You were lowering him into the wheelchair while Taehyung guided him into the seat. 

Draping a blanket over his tail, you made sure it was fully covered completely around, not wanting anyone to catch sight of his fishy appendages. “How long till you dry out?” Taehyung asked bluntly pulling a shirt over Jimin’s head and a Hat with the amusement park name on the front. 

“Uh, about ten minutes.” he said,

“Alright let’s go, tell us if you feel uncomfortable at all Jimin.” You nodded at Taehyung who began pushing the wheelchair. 

You moved along the path, watching Jimin look around in a mix of alarm and excitement. He seemed to frown at the heat and brightness from the sun. 

“I’m getting kind of dry,” Jimin muttered shifting in his seat, Taehyung opened a water bottle and poured it down Jimin’s shirt. You were heading down the ramp getting close to one of the rides, the water splashing Jimin slightly. 

Turning the corner you stopped watching the leader of the management team walking towards the warehouse. 

He had a phone to his ear talking to someone in a business tone. Spotting the three of you and recognizing Jimin. “Oh I forgot my paperwork in the office, I will just grab it quickly before heading to the warehouse. I will send you the report on the merman when I see him.”

He nodded his head towards your odd throuple, taking a step back and turning around. He had helped you; he had wanted you to escape. 

Pushing forward you were stopped by a crowd of people, Jimin was getting uncomfortable again. The sun was his enemy. 

Pushing through the crowd you finally got through and we’re racing for the exit. Jimin squirmed again, why did it have to be so hot today?

Taehyung detoured to the left to the touch pools, grabbing Jimin's face and shoulders, dumping it in the water. Pulling him back out he looked shocked but at ease as the water dripped down to his dry tail. 

Looking up, Taehyung saw a horrified staff member. You pulled a starfish off of Jimin's face delicately with wet hands. Rubbing the back of his neck Taehyung laughed awkwardly, they probably thought he was harassing someone who was disabled. He dunked his head in the water as well so as to make it seem less awkward. 

“See you don’t need to go on rides to have fun, come on more to see,” he said. Flicking his wet hair back and wheeling the merman away quickly before they called security. 

You had purchased some more water bottles and dampened the blanket draped over Jimin's tail. The three of you moved out the entrance of the park and to the left towards the bus stops. Luckily the bus had just arrived helping Jimin on and relaxing. You were halfway there and in the cool of the bus out of the sun Jimin too relaxed, somewhat eyeing the world passing by. 

Getting off at the next stop, Taehyung rolled Jimin towards Seokjin’s parked car. Taehyung saw him leaning against his car looking kind of handsome in the afternoon sun. 

He hated to admit it but the two had grown close, somewhere along the way of helping Seokjin grieve Taehyung learnt things about him that opened his eyes. 

Seokjin wasn’t a bad guy, he was confident and funny and a bit of a goofball but he was also a kind and caring guy. Taehyung thought maybe if they met on better terms they might have been friends. 

“Finally,” Seokjin smiled at the three of them, making Taehyung smile back shyly. “Let’s get him home quickly,”

“Help me get him in the back,” Taehyung gestured to the back of the car. You ran around getting in the back, ready to help guide Jimin in when Taehyung and Seokjin lifted him into the vehicle.

Taehyung secured Jimin under the arms, letting Seokjin lift him from the waist, aiming the blanket wrapped tail in through the car door. Jimin was frowning, not exactly appreciating their lifting technique. Taehyung gave him an apologetic smile, “Sorry friend.”

Sliding in the front seat, Taehyung watched Seokjin pack the wheelchair into the boot of the car and take the driver's seat. “Do you mind if we get some drive thru on the way home?” Seokjin said, looking in the rear view mirror. 

“We gotta get him home before he dries up, we can order in,” Taehyung laughed but inside he was concerned with the mermans health.

“Sure, we can order in.” Seokjin sighed, “Jimin, my name is Seokjin. It’s nice to meet you.”

Taehyung was lost in thought watching him drive, he was concentrating on the road and it made him look mature to be so serious. It seemed strange to be in the same car as Seokjin; a month ago he would have threatened to jump out on the freeway, rather than spend even ten minutes in his rival's car.

Pulling into the driveway Jimin winced getting back into the wheelchair and they placed him in Seokjin’s bathtub which was filled with seawater, it had taken a ten litre container and multiple trips to drive enough seawater to fill the tub. The two lifted Jimin, lowering him into the bathtub where he sat relieved to be in water once more.

“Do you need anything?” Seokjin tried to be polite to his guest. Jimin again didn’t reply again, instead his arm stretched out, small hand reaching for Seokjin.

Seokjin held his hand out to shake Jimins but was pulled forward where the two shared a kiss. Taehyung immediately pulled Seokjin back, feeling his blood boiling, “Can you understand me now, Seokjin.” Jimin smiled

The anger which had flared up inside Taehyung died off with the realization that Jimin didn’t speak english and Seokjin wouldn’t understand him without sharing a kiss. Coughing awkwardly, Taehyung looked at the three in the room. “Who is hungry?”

“What do we feed Jimin? We didn't think this through,” You said immediately looking alarmed.

“Does he eat sashimi?” Seokjin asked Jimin

“Maybe I can go into work and sneak out some fish?” Taehyung said

“No, we can’t go back there, we can’t return home, we can’t see our family. We have to hide here with Jimin until we can get him to his home.” You argued walking out the bathroom. Jimin leant over the bathtub side trying to see where you were going. Cute, he must really like her.

Returning with arms full of menus, you sat on the floor beside Jimin and began looking through them, “What does everything want?”

They got fried chicken, bulk tuna and salmon sashimi, Kimchi Jjigae, Jjajangmyeon and tuna mayo rice balls. The selection was quite wide and you brought everything into the bathroom sitting and eating on the floor.

Jimin ate the sashimi but seemed really interested in the other foods, Taehyung offered him a tuna mayo and rice ball. Taking one Jimin sniffed it before he took a bite contemplating the texture and flavour before popping the rest in his mouth. 

“You should offer Jimin some fried chicken to try, as you are closer” Taehyung said with a sly smirk, you rolled your eyes taking a piece of chicken and holding it out to Jimin. He let you hold it while he leant over and took a small bite.

He chewed thinking about the crunch and the flavour before his smile grew he took another bite and another. “This is so tasty.”

“Would you like to try some more dishes?” You asked, smiling at Jimin ready to offer him more food. Taehyung and Seokjin shared a knowing glance but they didn’t say a word. “Okay this one just try a little cause it is a bit spicy which means your mouth will get really warm okay.”

Jimin had some soup and smiled, licking his plump lips a little confused, “My mouth is really warm and tingly.”

“That’s what we call spicy.” Seokjin said, “It is good but don’t have too much. It's your first time eating things that aren’t fish so it could make you sick of all these new foods, you can try some more another time.”

“Oh, I got this really hilarious picture today on our way out of the park,” You shouted brandishing your phone screen to all of them. “You should have seen Tae, he full on dunked Jimin head first in the touch pools and the staff were about to call security.”

That night the boys went for a shower Taehyung stepped out laughing, “Jimin told me this hilarious story about his friend falling off the back of a crab”

Seokjin smiled heading into the bathroom coming out with bright red ears, “I have never had someone sit there and watch me while I shower, but he did tell me about some kind of cool stuff about his home, he said the king wouldn’t hurt Namjoon.”

Taehyung watched you gather your things and walk to the bathroom, he ran up to the door pressing his ear against it, Seokjin beside him doing the same thing. The two stared at one another as they heard you speak. 

“Don’t um turn around, I am going to shower?” You had stuttered, obviously nervous. 

“I don’t understand, but I will do as you say” the two of you talking quietly. 

Tags: @backinblack1967​​  @miriamxsworld​​ @moccahobi​​ @simplymemyself​​ @a-gayish-unicorn​​​

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[sam-i-am-27]

Dive Right In

Summary: Virgil never suspected that anything was different about him, his town or his family. However, just like in most stories, that all changes when he meets someone who proves him wrong.

Word Count: 1177

(Next)

For as long as he could remember, Virgil had been without a mother. In stories, the characters missing at least one parental figure in their life remembered a glimpse, a sound, or a smell. Virgil on the other hand had nothing. If he could take a guess at which one memory of his eighteen years living had to do with his mother, he’d have to say his father constantly talking about his eyes. Just like Harry Potter, he had inherited his mother's sparking sapphire eyes as well as her habit of staying up late.

“She was so much of a night owl, some nights I was surprised she didn’t take flight into the air,” his father would say anytime Virgil came out of his room with bags under his eyes (so quite often).

Everything else he had gotten from his father; his long, lanky limbs, his brown hair, and especially his love of the ocean. Between the father and son, they had spent a lifetime at sea. His father was a whale biologist and sometimes would spend weeks out at sea, following migrating pods and recording hours of their songs. To the very few people who visited their seaside home, the constant sound of chatting whales was a bit annoying, but to Virgil, it was his white noise. He couldn’t sleep, eat, read, basically live without their singing. Deep, melodic, enchanting… he didn’t know why he needed it, but he did.

Sometimes he would bring some of his father’s old recordings to the shore and sit there for hours as the sun set, headphones on and just listen to the song, watching the sunset on the horizon. Other times, like tonight, he’d bring it out on his little row boat and float in the water, the whale song playing for the whole world to see as he lay there, listening to the gentle lap of waves on the wood and whales singing to each other.

The sun was just beginning to rise, or at least Virgil thought it was, the morning haze was hiding anything outside of the atmosphere from sight. It was a bit chilly but he had wrapped himself in his old black jacket and a thick wool blanket to act as a barrier between him and the chill. The whale song coming through his headphones was keeping him calm enough to not start rowing madly out to parts of the sea that were deeper than he could ever imagine. His father should have been back by last night but he was still out there following the orca pod because of some strange reason. Virgil knew he’d be back but it was an orca pod… He knew they wouldn’t attack him but there was still that irrational thinking that had him out here on this boat.

The whale song stopped momentarily to buzz and notify Virgil that if he didn’t get to shore instantly, he would be late to school. He sighed, turned off the alarm and started to fold up his blanket carefully to store under his seat. As he opened the compartment, something bumped against the bottom of his boat.

“What the hell?” Virgil leaned over the side and glanced around the boat, trying to find the source of contact. But the water was dark and he couldn’t tell if it had just been his imagination or something under the surface. As he began to give up, he thought he saw a flash of something bright blue and red. A part of him wanted to continue investigating what had made his boat rock but the other part told him that the most important matter at hand was getting to school on time. He shook his head, taking his water bottle and chugging over half of its contents.

“I’m going insane…” he muttered and started to row back to shore. Little did Virgil know, just out of the light was two living beings, watching the bottom of the boat go slowly back to shore with curiosity neither had ever felt before.

“Did you see that, Roman?!” the blue-tailed mer said excitedly, looking at his red-tailed friend. “He was in a completely intact boat! I’ve never been close to the shore before! Or been so close to a human! Ooh, that’s so cool!”

“I know!” Roman said, grabbing his friend’s arm and shaking it hard. “I told you, Patton, this human comes out on the water a lot. He was out literally all night so I figured that if there was anytime to show you a human, it would be now.”

“A human… an actual human! In a boat that isn’t wrecked! And with something that can record speech! Ooh, I wish he would have dropped it when I touched the boat! Or if he fell in! That would have been absolutely fintastic useful for my research!”

“Uh, not it would- nevermind. I haven’t really… seen his face before but he’s always playing the random snippets of conversation. I wonder if this human was stupid enough to know that the conversation he was listening to was about someone’s sex life.”

Roman guffawed at the idea of relaxing to something like that, but Patton was deep in thought.

“Humans can’t understand our native language so they hear… whale song or somethin’. If he comes out here and listens to it often… it probably means something to him,” Patton muttered, adjusting the glasses on his nose. “I really want to meet him but-”

“Even I’m not adventurous enough to go up there and say hi, Pat,” Roman said. “Unless he jumps in and grows gills or you go out and sprout legs, we can never, ever interact.”

“Curiosity killed the carp, but satisfaction brought it back,” Patton said with a smirk.

“Come on, Pat. You use that every day!” Roman groaned. “Even my own father knows it’s ‘Cat’ and he doesn’t even know what a cat is!”

“I will say carp until the day I die, Roman,” Patton replied, flicking the end of his tail playfully. “Thank you for showing me him, Roman… I literally can’t say thank you enough, but I sure can try.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank y-”

“It’s fine, Patton. Now, let’s get back to the castle so we can make it seem like we were there all night.”

“That part I’m not too happy with… the lying part of it…”

“Would you rather tell a lie about something that literally holds no purpose to any of us or have Thomas and my father berate us for sneaking out in the middle of the night for that same purpose?” Roman asked, cocking an eyebrow and starting to float in the direction of the castle with a flick of his dark red and white tail. Patton sighed and matched the movement with his own dark blue and black tail. “Okay, okay…”

The two mermen gave a hard flap of their tails, they were shooting through the ocean faster than speeding bullets, the only trace of their mere existence a trail of bubbles and waves cascading to the shore.

I LOVE MERMAIDS AND I LOVE SANDERS SIDES AND I LOVE AU’S AND I LOVE WRITING AND I LOVE FAN FICTIONS SO THIS HAD TO HAPPEN. 

FINE. 

Inspiration to write this comes from the AU’s that @randomslasher and @fandergecko have created. I absolutely love your AU’s and although this isn’t based on them, my motivation and inspiration to write it came from both of your AU’s, so thank you so much! I hope you continue to build upon them cause I am very excited to see what happens in them! 

Taglist is open so if anyone wants into this one or my general one, just ask! (I know I’ve never used my general but I’m going to start to try from now on).

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG.

HAVE A GOOD DAY!

[metalotaku-da]

Ryan and Lance week 5 mermaid au

i’ll probably do more of this later on ao3. but the first part is already 12 pages.

“Everybody up! We got to move now! Up! Up! Get your gear.” James yells tearing down the narrow hallway below deck. Slamming on the doors to the rooms to wake people as he passes. A few people falling from their bunks to the floor.

 Ryan is up on his feet in no time pulling on his clothing quickly. Once his pants and shoes are on, he grabs a shirt off the wall and his camera bag from his cubby and heads into the Hall. Nadia is seconds behind him hoping on one foot at time to get her shoes on. “What the hell is going on. We just hit the hay a few hours ago.”

 “3 hours and 38 minutes ago.” Ina says calmly leaving her shared room with Nadia.

 “Ok yeah, well close enough. It's the middle of the night. What the hell is the emergency?” She huffed falling a few places behind Kinkade to give him the arm room he needs to get his shirt on. Even if he doesn't button it.

 “Don't know we just need to be prepared.” Ryan answers pulling his camera bags strap over his head to secure it before digging out his waterproof video camera just as they get to the stairs to get on deck.

 Once Ina is on deck with her own bag on and waterproof tablet in hand she takes a cursory glance at the sky and down to the horizon. “We have changed course and have increased speed since retiring for the night.” The three ignored the other crew members stumbling up behind them to head for the bridge.

 “Why? I thought we were going to follow the current with the migrating shoals till we spotted a pod?” Nadia asked as Ryan continued to lead the way now filming as he went. His camera's auto balancer working perfectly as he ascended the stairs nearly two at a time with his long legs.

 “About time you lot got here, hurry up and gather up cadets.” Iverson yelled as soon as the door opened. Already packed around the high-tech holo-gps table was captain Iverson, Sam and Coleen Holt their son Matt as well, first mate Adam west, navigator Veronica McClain, and their marine biology specialist Slav. The one who stood out the most to Ryan was their ships medic Coran also being at the meeting. That was never good. Before their trip could complete the trip to the table James comes bursting in behind.

 “Everybody is up and getting to stations sir. All hands should be on deck shortly.” James Sames with a halfhearted salute to the captain who has a soft spot for his old military protocol.

 “What is going on? Are we sinking or something?” Nadia asked annoyed at having been woken up so abruptly.

 “There is an emergency, but not our own.” Colleen said gently before Iverson could snap at her impatient.

 “We got a call from a nearby coast guard vessel.” Iverson said looking around the table. “They intercepted a poaching vessel.” He paused. “In the middle of a hunt.” The room exploded with questions.

 “Everyone quiet and wait. See if your questions are answered after he gets out the pertinent information.” Adam shouted over the group till the ceased.

 “The coast guard was unable to engage the ship in time to prevent them from harming one of their targets. The good news is they seemed to be after live specimens. The bad news is, they were targeting mers.” Iverson gave a second for that to sink in. As that was exactly the target of their ship, but for research and study in the wild. James had been brought in specifically to collect video for a documentary for added awareness and generate funding for their ongoing research to the public. “And from what the coast guard described of the pod. And their doubt of their own observations. The pod that was attacked is believed to be subject group ap27v, Voltron.”

 There was a clatter as Matt dropped his tablet. “Voltron? Poachers found and cornered our legendries?”

 There was a groan from Veronica. “they aren't Pokemon Matt.”

 “You right I could log on to pogo out here and catch something. They are rarer than Pokemon. They are like finding the lochness monster. We've only had the first-hand privilege to witness them 4 times in 4 years. And the handful of sightings by other vessels is shoddy at best. We can't even get close enough to tag any members.”

 “To a seedy bunch of poachers, they probably didn't notice or care about how odd the pod was. They saw a small easy target of variety. Good easy money.” Ryan spoke up his mouth pulled slightly in anger. “It's just about a quick buck.”

 Ina carefully placed a calming hand to Ryan's back. Knowing how much her friend hated poachers. Specifically, mer poachers.

 “Yes, and we are going to take this opportunity to tag one of the pod.” Iverson said once Ryan was done. “After we have contained and corralled them. We have permission from the government to seize and relocate members of the pod as we deem necessary, though if that does not pan out.”

 “What? Why? How?” Nadia asked in confusion. They hardly ever took in living specimens and the mers in particular we're highly protected under international treaties and the U.N.

 “The pod's alpha male was severely injured by the poachers. The pod managed to free him, when the coast guard arrived. But there was a lot of blood. They don't know what other injuries we're incurred by the pod. But the male orca breed was observed to be missing an arm from the elbow along with other lacerations. He was also not swimming well on his own the pod was keeping him at the surface and pulling him along as they swam.” Colleen gave the run down from her notes on her tablet.

 “We also want all hands-on deck not just because we are cornering injured mer to sedate for medical treatment. Possibly multiple. If it's not treatable on site, we will have to move pod back to the coast for rehabilitation. The unique make up and study of this pod has allowed is this opportunity. Even if our goal should be immediate release. If anyone mer won't survive their injuries above a 90 percent.” Iverson looked to Ina to make sure she made notes on her tablet. Which she was. As that call would most likely fall to her and Slav. “We are to collect them all, till they can be rehabbed and reintroduced.” he gave out a long sigh and then gestured to James to finish for him. Having been the one he first called when the transmission came over. And had caught the tail end and most unbelievable part of the report.

 “The other reason is…” James looked around the table at everyone with the most serious of looks he could. “They had advanced weapons.”

 “Well of course they did James. They are poachers of mer. Sure they have top of the line instruments of torture.” Nadia sassed at him.

 “Yeah seriously.” Matt answered.

 “No, the pod did.” James stated back. His tone and eyes showing the seriousness of the information and that he was not joking.

 “Like they stole from the poachers?” Coran asked with a twirl of his mustache. Though his tone was curious his face gave way to his worry.

 “A wet gun isn't going to fire.” Veronica pointed out.

 “No.” James said again rubbing his eyes in exasperation. “Their own they made. The descriptions were vague. But...” He looked around the table at the shocked and agape faces of the team. “The pod got members of it on board the ship to free their member. They were witnessed dragging him over the side and engaging the crew of the ship with primitive projectile weapons. Including firing on the coast guard ship when they tried to corral the pod to hold for us.”

 Ryan nearly dropped his camera at that information. Matt dropped his tablet a second time. “That's not possible.” Sam said in his shock. “mer have only ever been observed with basic tools, a coral club, or a sharp shell used for cutting a sharped bone spear. Maybe a shark’s tooth imbedded in a wood handle for the most complicated. You’re talking about…”

 “This odd mix matched shouldn't be natural in the wild pod is…” Matt said. “Evolving. If not experimenting and inventing. Like…”

 “Humans.” Ryan said in pure shock. This was new. This was ground breaking. This pod alone was unique and ground breaking based on no two subspecies was the Same. It was a mixed pod. and had funded this crew for many years now when they were first spotted. If they could get proof of this, show just how much more human these creatures were. They would not only stun and enlighten the scientific community but maybe even get more funding for protection for these creatures. Or communication. Ryan and Ina's own side project and theory. In attempts to learn their complex languages. “This is..”

 “Amazing.”

“Exciting.”

“Ground breaking.”

“Dangerous is what it is. All you little nerds get the stars out of your eyes and buckle down.” Iverson said annoyed. “They attacked the coast guard, who was trying to help and only contain.”

 “We will be engaging in a closer and more direct nature. If the reports on the weapons is true. They could use them on us, not understanding we are trying to help.” Adam tried to sober up the group of scientists. “So, we need to proceed with caution. We are headed just ahead of their last know location on the direction they were seen headed. It’s dark, and we have a lot of unknown variables. We have 7 different species of mer to prepare to Capture, subdue, and asceses. And they are already stressed, and in the middle of their fight or flight instinct, and possibly we now have the added danger of distant weapons. We need all hands-on deck sharp and alert. This isn’t going to be easy.” Adam relayed for the group.

 “I’m not having anyone die on my watch. The rich bill payers don’t tend to like that. And it looks bad on my record.” Iverson had to get in the last word a wry smile on his face. “So get some coffee and get to your stations. We should be in the strike zone in an hour so long as they didn’t change directions. You are dismissed.”

 James grabbed his team on the way out. “Kinkade, can you set anything up for night filming with Ina? I know it’s last minute.”

 “It is, I have one camera we can…” Ryan started.

 “I’ll have the program ready for it within the hour limit.” Ina answered.

 “I’ll switch it to a mount with an auto leveler on the front of one of the go ships.” Ryan finished.

 James jerked at that. “I don’t know if i want you on a go boat. That’s, that’s a risky spot if the information is true.”

 “Uh griffin, this is like the kind of discovery that makes names. Gets you in a college textbook, maybe even a high school one.” Nadia quipped back. “If you don’t think Kinkade is going to make sure his camera is on the first ship to intercept the pod. You are delusional.”

 “She’s right.” Ryan said with a smirk.

 “I don’t like it. But if you are going to do it. I want you dressed in full gear. Your thick wet suit, the white one so we can see you if you go over.” James said with a sigh. “Ina, I want…”

 “I’ll collect live feed from all camera’s Ryan sets up, and catalog as much data as I can from the feeds before bringing the mers into the slings. That way Slav has adequate data for tranquilizers based on preliminary data to lower risk.”

 “Yeah that.” James said with a pout. “I’ll let you to get on what you need to do. “Nadia, coffees, for everyone. We meet back on deck once Ryan and Ina have all the gear they need. And we set up whatever they need help with. We are kind of useless till the mers on in the slings. Then we move fast. If… and only if we really feel they need greater medical care, will we transfer then to the tank. If that happens this trip is over, we head back immediately to the aquatic reserve facility.”

 ***************

 “Alright we are close to the estimated area the mers should be in. keeps yours eyes peeled, and the sonar drones have been dropped along with two ariel drones with heat signature detection. Once they have been spotted, we will deploy the net boats to secure then and lead them back towards our main ship for tranquilizing and medical assessment. No sling leaves the water unless Slav or Ina gives the go.” Iverson said as he stood in his old military position in front of the crew on deck. “We need to look alive people and keep alert, we don’t know what to expect, this is anything but a routine bag and tag. Watch each other’s backs. The safety of this crew comes first.” Iverson then gave the floor to James.

 “The pod we are looking for is the Voltron pod. It consists of a large alpha male orca whale type mer who was the one reported with the most severe injury. He is also the largest. He’s estimated at 30ft long. He’s been named Shiro. The female alpha is an 27Ft long oarfish type. She is the second largest in the group. Named Allura. Next in size we have a female coelacanth, the largest one ever recorded, and it’s just an educated guess based on photos at 15ft. She is the slowest and cataloged as shay. Then we have on second most dangerous after the orca. A bull male elephant seal he is 12ft long, and huge. One of the largest we’ve seen. We believe him to be Over 7,000 lbs. and if he feels like it, he can get around on our ship if we aren’t careful called Hunk. Third dangerous is a crossbreed. Mako, and bull shark mer cross breed. He’s 10ft long. Male. he’s got the speed of a Mako and the most aggressive in the pod. He’s also been recorded with a large black coral knife in every sighting. So, keep an eye out. He’s going to be the hardest to predict. The shark mers are usually solitary or pair. And this one is not. And is normally protective of his pod. Attacking ships that get to close. With the recent attack and alpha male injured he’s going to be worse he’s been named Keith. The smallest female is an octopus type. So, another who will be able to get around on deck easily. She’s also pretty young based on her size. She’s 9ft long if she’s streamlined. She has reach and can be kind of aggressive too. Matt stupidly named her Pidgeot, we call her Pidge. Lastly is a young male, who appears to be a lancetfish type, or at least a crossbreed of one. We just don’t know what with, or if he is a new species. He has a frill with barbs that can extend down his back. He will be the easiest to spot Out here in the dark, he has bioluminescent spots and stripes that flash. He’s just longer than the shark, 11ft and originally named lance. He’s also sometimes seen with a spear. Our goal is to collect them quickly with the least amount of stress. It’s going to be tough. But I know we can do this. These mers are counting on us.”

 Matt took over next. “Alright I’m calling out teams for the net runners. I want you sitting pretty and waiting for the drop. Ryan will be joining one of the lead boats with his camera, so he’s just an extra body.” Matt then began calling out the four groups.

 *******************

 More ships, more humans. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone. The pod had had to slow down. When their leader Shiro had lost consciousness. Pidge had done her best to stop the bleeding from his stump of an arm, tying a band of seaweed around it. But while they had been resting trying to catch their breathes and gills at the surface the next boat of humans had shown. Larger even still than the first two. Then it had broken up into many. 4 smaller, louder boats had come towards them. They had tried to flee. They couldn’t dive with Shiro like this. He’d drown. But they weren’t fast enough pulling his large mass along with them. The humans in their unnaturally quick boats had gotten ahead of them. Encircling their family with a net. It dropped to deep for them to go under even if Shiro could dive and he couldn’t. Keith was becoming more agitated if that was even possible. Slashing at the net with his knife, his claws his teeth even. It wouldn’t break though. And with each passing wave the bigger ship drew closer to them. Allura drew her long body up protectively around Shiro at the sight. Shay holding his head. Pidge i tried tugging on the top of the net to push it down so maybe we could swim over it. We were having very little luck. Then in his frustration Keith slashed one of the hard jellyfish at the top of the net with his knife. It shrank in size and that part of the net dropped lower in the water. Pidge puffed up at the sight of it excitedly. And I flashed my tail. I waved Hunk over placing his hand to my throat I made the vibrations that went with my lights and the words with my hands, so Hunk would know what we wanted. Pidge making the Same gestures a few more with her tentacles pulling at the net Too. Hunk dove down just enough to build some speed then cleared the surface enough to land on the top of the net with his body. I took my last arrow from it’s hold and flashed at Keith. The two us began to slash the jellies on either side of Hunk to get the net to lower more. Pidge darted quickly to shay and Allura to help them guide Shiro out the deepest part above Hunk. I flashed another pattern to Keith, so he knew to go help them. Then i joined Hunk in swimming down holding the net.

 ********************

 “Are you seeing this?” Matt said excitedly to James as they watched the feed from the boats laying and tying off nets while their ship pulled them in.

 “Yeah I am. And as cool as it is, to see their tools and problem-solving abilities in person. They are going to get out and we are going to need a new plan to catch them.” James complained. “Can we real the nets in any faster?”

 “A little.” Nadia “But we can pull it.” She snapped her fingers. “See if Iverson or Adam can reverse direction. Put tension on the net make it narrower.”

 “On it.” Sam said with a smile calling up to the bridge.

 They watched the net jerk on the video feed just a few seconds to late, most the mers getting clear outside the net, the seal getting the net pulled out from under him like a rug falling to the outside of it. But under him was an unbroken buoy. Once his weight was removed it added to the lift of the net. Leaving only one mer the lancet trapped inside. His weight to light. Flinging out of the water and a few feet back from the net seemly stunned for a minute before he dived under. The shark disappearing from the surface along with the octopus and seal.

 “So, we got one at least. Even if his pod flees I don’t think they’ll go far, do you?” Nadia asked.

 “We don’t know how they will behave. Oar and lancet leave week and injured behind. Sharks eat them. So, we don’t know what they will do. This pod already defies all we know about mers. Anything could happen.” Ina said looking at an underwater feed of the scene.

 *********

 I swam up to the net and watched sadly as Keith once again frantically attacked it with everything he had Hunk pulling on it and pidge trying to analyze it. I have them a sad smile and at them to go. I was trapped. Shiro was injured. They needed to flee before the human’s big ship was to close. Keith shook his head and tail violently in the water eyes sad and terrified. It’s ok I signed him. Along with escape. Later. Shiro. safe. I reached my hands through the net Hunk and pidge each taking one. Hunk let out a mournful wail into the water. Pidge signing, they will come back. For me. Not leaving. Back. soon. Keith reached threw the net to grab my head and pull it forward pressing the bridge of his nose to the top of my head, so I could feel the small pulses. Back. safe. Not leaving. Not alone. I flashed my lights back. Love. family. Safe. ok. Go. go. Go. I fight. We pulled away from each other and the net. I watched my pod swim away. To safety to freedom. Then turned to face the big human ship. I had lost my arrow. Only had the bow left draped across my chest. But I still had my teeth, my claws and my barbs. I would fight. To give my pod time at least to get away.

 ********

 “Ryan did you see….” Ina asked after having witnessed the underwater scene thanks to the lights of the ship coming closer to the net and mers.

 “Yeah I did.” He said his own small feed on this tablet of all the camera’s. His words tinged with sadness.

 “But they still left him.” Nadia said sadly.

 “I… I didn’t think they were going to after that.” Colleen said a hand cupped over her mouth. The small group on deck watching as the sad lone mer began to frantically move about the shrinking space shoving at the enclosing net. Bright lights on his body flashing randomly. Suddenly shining like a light bright with its paper pulled back to just some twinkling lights. Or pulsating down his body. Intermittently when a boat would get to close he’d flare his spines and flash his teeth. His world slowly shrinking.

 “Saddle up team. We still have a job to do. I know it’s hard. Ina assessment.” James sadly got them on tract.

 “Subject named lance, untagged, estimated length 11ft long male lancet. Coloring brown, blue white. Gill breather self-pumping. Estimated weight 225-250 pounds Warm blooded. Scale density estimate 6mils back. 2-3 stomach area. Appears to have several fresh lacerations, and a piece of harpoon embedded in his back just under his dorsal ridge between his shoulders. From his movements I believe it to be embedded in the skins connective tissue. I don’t believe it’s in his spine. Due to agitation level, he needs to be tranquilized through the softer underbelly before slinged. Or he could break off spines in it with his thrashing. Or dig the harpoon in deeper putting his spine at risk.”

 “Good call.” James patted her on the back. “you’ve got the assessment Slav. Start working on some tranquilizers for him. We’ll hit him once the net is tight enough to control his movements more.”

 “on it. right away.” Slav called to him with a thumbs up. Loading the cartridges from his station near the platform.

 “Ryan can you get back to the ship? I’d like to get more shots from the platform when we bring him up. If that’s alright.” Matt asked. “his lights and the display look controlled a little bit. And maybe we can get a better identification on his subspecies.”

 “sure.” Ryan said. His boat already heading back to the main ship as the others helped guide the mer closer as the net closed in.

The slings were dropped down just before the mer was corralled above it. a mere 10ft ring. Not even enough room for it lay flat at the surface without touching the back of the ship and the net behind him. His thrashing becoming worse. They didn’t have a clear shot though for the tranquilizer. And then the creature started ramming the net. Getting a few spines stuck on the netting. Tearing a few of his fins. As the sight of the pooling blood building in the water, Ryan had had enough of the mer’s fear in his viewer. He grabbed a rope off the deck floor and tied it to this belt. Then set down his hand-held camera. Only his small go pro still clipped to the front of wet suit.

 “Kinkade what are doing?” James asked once he saw Ryan set down his camera. Then he saw the rope a second of shocked panic before he rushed his friend. “don’t do something stupid Kinkade!” however Ryan jumped into the net with the panicked thrasher mer before James could get to him. He grabbed the rope to tie off to the deck though to keep him with in reach. “Ryan! You idiot!”

 “what is he doing?!” Nadia screamed running up to James to try and help him pull Ryan back towards the ship. Ryan popped up at the surface directly in front of the mer it had turned at the splash.

 The creature charging him as Ryan held his arms to brace himself. The mer grabbed his arm unable to get any moment built to throw him. Ryan bit his lower lip hard to hold in his own yell of pain as the mer clamped down hard on his forearm. Its sharp teeth piercing threw the thick wet suit and into his flesh. Claws cutting deep into the suit to shred it. but the thick fabric giving his arm some protection. His pain almost drowning out his friends shouts of fear and worry from the ship. But Ryan could feel the mer’s full body tremble threw his arm clamped tight in the creature’s mouth. Like it was to afraid to let go. But didn’t have the energy left to tear his arm from him. Barely had the strength to flail it’s tail about. It is catching and pulling on the too close net. Ryan carefully and slowly brought his free hand up to the side of the mer’s head and neck the back of his hand brushing the area up and down. Just like he had recorded the sea lion mers in California do to their young. Fingers and nails curled away from the mer’s face and sensitive eyes. The mer flinched at the touch but opened his eyes to look up in shock at Ryan. Mouth still clamped tight. Then Ryan opened his mouth and began to chuff, moan and warble the tune he had heard and memorized from watching the recordings over and over again with Ina to catalog. To his and everyone on the ship’s amazement the mer froze at first and just watched. After a few seconds with the growing silence of the people around them, the only sound from the machines. the mer released the hold on his arm with his teeth. Ryan didn’t stop his ministrations or the sounds he was making, keeping his eyes locked with the mer.

 “what the hell is he doing?” James whispered to Nadia hoping she had a clue. She shrugged in response.

 Ina however answered. “it’s a call sound sea lion mers in California use to calm their young. Along with the hand motion. It was used by 87% of the observation group. With very small variables in the sounds. It also included the hand motion and touch.” She kept her voice low.

 “he’s not a seal type mer.” James grit out. “why would he take a risk like that? How does he know it’s even working? That it’s not just confused at the dumb human touching him and is going to snap any minute.”

 “there is a seal in their pod though.” Matt whispered back joining the group by the rope to quickly tug him back should the mer snap out of his trance. James just rolled his eyes.

 “can anyone get a shot with the tranquilizer?” they heard Adam ask as he joined them down on the deck. Iverson must have sent him down after seeing the shit show it was turning into.

 “no! god no!” Nadia growled out. “trying to get him killed. It takes a minute to work. In that time, he could rip Ryan apart.”

 The group watched as the mer brought it’s face closer to Ryan’s before clicking its teeth hard enough for the sound to echo around. Its mouth shaking and teeth rattling. The lights on it’s tail starting to pulsate is a slow soft pattern lighting the waters. Its brows started to scrunch up mouth pausing when Ryan kept up his tune. The mer jerked it’s head up sharply lowering its self in the water before grabbing Ryan’s hand that was on his neck and pressing it in the Same position to the exposed column of his neck with the back of his hand. The mer’s grip nearly bruising on his hand despite it being much slimmer and smaller than his own. The action so fast it freaked out Ryan’s friends jerking on the rope pulling the two a little closer to the ship positioning them over the submerged sling before they realized it wasn’t attacking Kinkade. The mer then repeated the light pulse pattern and the clacking of its teeth.

 “I’m sorry.” Ryan whispered careful not to move to much and startle the mer. “I don’t understand.” He kept his eyes locked with the mers. Though he could feel the vibrations threw the hand pressed to the mers throat. The mer stopped again before it looked even more frustrated. It dropped both of hands and surged forward. To grab his head. Pressing the bridge of his nose to the mer’s forehead. However, that didn’t seem to sway the crew on the ship.

 “no!” James had shouted at first pulling on the rope again at the initial surge with his team. Once he realized the mer wasn’t trying to rip Ryan’s head off, the group relaxed a bit again. “oh my god. I’m going to kill you when you are back on this deck Kinkade!”

 Ryan ignored his friends to carefully place the back of his curled hand to the mer’s face and neck again. Making the calming seal song again. The pressure on his nose growing a bit as the flashing became faster and once again a bit frantic. Claws of the creature digging in ever so slightly to his scalp before backing away.  The mer was trembling again.

 “Ryan, Ryan you need to get out of there. It’s not working anymore. It’s going to attack.” James said to his friend bracing himself on the lip of the deck to pull as soon as he needed too.

 “he won’t. some one get me a fish. Slav put the tranquilizer in the fish.” Ryan paused in his tune to instruct the others. He poured as much calm certainty into it as he could into his words. Though he was fairly certain the mer wouldn’t. it was just frustrated and scared. Slav stumbled on the deck in his bid to do as asked. The pulsating stopped the water going dark for a few seconds before it started again at something more reminiscent as a throb if Ryan had to put a word to it. the mer took one hand off his head releasing some the pressure on his nose to press the hand once again to the mer’s neck. As it tried to make clicks and sounds it wasn’t capable of producing. Ryan stayed still in the water and repeated the seal song again while they waited for the fish.

 The human was singing Hunk’s song. It knew seal. It knew at least some seal. But he couldn’t make the Same sounds. He tried, he tried so hard to get the human to understand. The human who didn’t attack him even when he had lashed out with the last of energy to bite him. The human who was telling him it’s ok. You are safe little one. He didn’t understand. The humans never talked to them. They made loud indescribable noises. Angry ugly faces at them. Some smiled and waved their arms. But none ever spoke to them in one of their languages. Till this human. This human who couldn’t understand him. As he begged for help. Begged to be freed. The other humans around them had their eyes locked to him, but they didn’t attack. Unsure if it was because they worried of harming their own or that he would attack the strange human if they did. None of it Matter. This human spoke like Hunk. Hunk who was so mournful at having to leave him behind. But Shiro and the pod needed Hunk. They’d come back for him once it was safe. Just like they had for Shiro. This human was trying to make him feel safe. Even if he was anything but. He’d hold onto the that for as long as he could. Till these humans cut him to pieces or jabbed him with their barbs that made their kind sleep. That’s all that was left to do was wait. And hold onto this what little bit of peace this human was offering him. Letting him pretend it was Hunk singing to him and consoling him.

 My eyes catch movement behind the human. We’ve drifted closer to the big human ship. The human bumping into the ridge that sits in the water. Another human was leaning over to hand the seal human a fish and make some noises at him. The seal human took the fish with the hand I had injured. I could see and smell the blood flowing from it. mingling with the water and my own. All my injuries from the previous humans starting to burn and ache the more tired I got. It felt like torture. The seal human slowly moved the fish between us to just in front of my mouth. He stopped speaking while pressing the fish to my lips.

 When the merman locked eyes with him again pulling away enough to look at the fish and sniff it before locking eyes with Ryan again. Ryan smiled at the mer sniffing the fish exaggerated the noises a bit of it. and pressed his lips around it like he was eating it before pushes it back at the mer till the mer took to understanding the gesture of him wanting the terrified thing to eat the fish. The mer closed his mouth around it and Ryan pulled back that hand once more. Giving the mer some space as it moved away a bit to hold the fish and bite of cHunks chewing and swallowing it much slower than Ryan expected. Once the mer had finished eating Ryan once again continued to caress the mer’s cheek and sing to him till he slowly drifted off in his arms. The tension of the team around him dissipating with each in the creature had sagged till, he could hear the collective sighs.

 “Jesus Christ. Raise the sling. Please somebody.” James said with a head falling back sigh. “on three we hoist this idiot back on deck.” He said to Nadia and Matt who waited for his countdown to pull Kinkade back on the deck. Once he was within reach of the rail Ryan grabbed it with his good hand to help pull himself up.

 Adam was there drag him over and start cutting away the shredded wet suit around his arm. Coran coming up behind with his medical kit ready. “do I need to tell you how much trouble you’re in now or should I wait?” Adam asked.

 “wait.” Ryan answered with a snort.

 “yes at least until I finish treating this wound. Though it’s not nearly as bad as it could’ve been. You are one lucky duck there Kinkade.” Coran said getting to work cleaning the wounds for bandaging.

 “I call dibs on strangling him first.” James said. “that was immensely stupid.

 “it worked.” Ryan answered.

 “it did. That video will help with proving our theory on communication skills and intelligence of mers.” Ina said looking at Ryan’s go pro.

 “yes, because your theories are worth dying for.” James spat back. “whatever. Get cleaned up and below deck Kinkade. You’re off this deck till Iverson or I say otherwise.” Then he stormed off.

 “give him a few hours. He’ll calm down.” Nadia said with a smile and a shrug. “you scared the shit out of him. He was worried you were going to die. And he’d have to watch.”

 “probably would’ve blamed himself too. Since it’s his operation.” Matt said.

 “yeah. I owe him an apology coffee.” Ryan answered. But he wasn’t looking at any of his friends. He was watching the mer being taken out of the ocean and moved with the crane to the holding tank. His mouth fell into a heavy frown.

 “the mer tired himself out. Even if we treated his injuries and released him now. His pod is to faraway. He’d be stranded alone, and likely wouldn’t make it unless his pod found him. It is better to contain him, treat him and allow him time to rest.” Ina informed him.

 “yeah, plus what good is it to release him to catch him again. We need to get the rest of pod for treatment too. Specially the orca.” Nadia said. “they kept one of the drones on the pod as it left.” She informed him at the look of confusion.

 “he’s not trapped.” Ryan said with a breath of relief.

 “no. he’ll be ok.” Matt said with a pat to his arm.

 “and so, will you lad. Now that you are all treated. Better listen to the deck master’s orders. Chop chop below.” Coran teased helping Ryan to his feet with Matt. Matt grabbed the camera Ryan had dropped and took it with him to walk Ryan back down to his room.

[rueitae]

Written for the Pidgance Positivity discord prompt: mythical creature AU

AKA: in which I check mer!Lance off my popular fandom trope list. 1785 words of an AU beginning.

~~~~

“Do you have any last words, child?”

Pidge shifted her bare feet backwards tentatively, and winced as she picked up what felt like a splinter along the rough plank of wood. Her body faced towards the galleon, and Captain Sendak cutting off her only way back to relative safety. She kept her head turned over her shoulder, careful to keep her balance on the piece of wood protruding from the side of the ship - nothing but open ocean below it.

Once out at far as she dared from the ship, she resumed her furious glare towards the captain. “You’ll never get away with this. The world is going to find out what Zarkon is doing and you won’t be able to hide as privateers forever.”

The Galra grinned evilly at her. “Bold fighting words with no bite. You’ll be fish food within the hour.” He turned to his crew. “Retract the plank!”

“Katie! No! Please stop this!”

Her heart melted at the sight of her distressed father, held back by two of Sendak’s crew. This wasn’t fair to him, and she wished desperately her recklessness hadn’t got her into this situation. Not only was she going to pay the price, but her father was going to have to live with watching his only daughter drown. Even though it was her neck on the line, she felt more afraid for him.

The least she could do was put on a brave face. He would survive to remember this, and have even a chance of fighting back against Zarkon with his inventions. So she puffed up her chest and clenched her fists. “Don’t let them win, Dad! Do whatever you have to! I lo- AH!”

“KATIE!”

Caught off guard by the ground literally taken out from under her, Pidge only managed a half hearted gulp of air before her body sank beneath the waves.

It was quiet, a peace she couldn’t enjoy because already she wanted air desperately.

Her shackled hands made swimming difficult, but her legs were free and it at least gave her a chance to hold off the inevitable. Swimming with just her legs proved much more difficult than anticipated though. Every second she craved oxygen more and more and in a moment of clarity she realized she wasn’t even sure if she was swimming towards the surface.

Her muscles gave out on her. Consciousness slipped further away.

A mass plowed into her at breakneck speed and a tick later she gasped for air, oxygen filling her lungs once again.

Salt water stung her eyes when she opened to see. She rubbed them with her hands, pushing back the bangs of her short hair.

A radiant smile, sparkling blue eyes, and same color scales greeted her. “Hi!” he merman said. “You okay? That was a close one.”

Her normally sharp mind was slow to catch up. She understood that this mythical creature had saved her, was keeping her above water, and was speaking to her in her own language. None of it registered enough to say ‘thank you’ or even ask how he existed outside fairy tales.

The merman had his back to the galleon, and it allowed Pidge to see the battle that was brewing around it. The ship shook violently, but not as if it were rough seas. The rocking and swaying was deliberate. She saw fins, zooming through the water and ramming into the ship. Sendak and his crew shot cannons and fired rifles, but the assault continued at a relentless pace until the ship had a gaping hole in the side and began to take in water.

“D-dad!” she gasped. “My father is still on that ship!” she yelled desperately. Despite having just failed at swimming, she had a mind only for her father about to go down with the ship and did her best to wiggle away from her rescuer. She needed to save him, do something for him, anything.

The creature was having none of it and kept a firm hold on her. “Hey, hey, let’s not try swimming right now. Shiro’s gonna get your father. You guys will be safe from the Galra, promise.”

Pidge heard the words, but their meaning and implication other than her father being okay faded from comprehension as she watched the ship buckle and sink. Fins and scales of all different colors swirled around the impending wreckage.

Overwhelmed, she passed out amid the chaos.

~~

Days later the situation was still overwhelming, but at least she was safe and so was her father.

Pidge lay on her belly, body mostly in the water to keep herself cool, propped up by her forearms. The small crescent shaped atoll that had been their residence over the past few days came set with a bay of shallow water perfect for wading despite being in the middle of the ocean. With no natural trees or brush on the all sand island, this was their preferred way to keep cool here in the tropics.

Sam Holt had chosen to avoid the midday heat by resting in their small shelter made of tarp and seaweed, materials which had been provided by their hosts. Pidge was currently more interested in entertaining one of them as company.

“Let me get this straight,” Lance began. He lay on his belly beside her, arms resting on the tiny beach and long blue tail swishing inquisitively in the water. He held a circular device in the palm of his hand, wires sticking out on all sides. “This thing can convert quintessence into useable energy for human machines?”

“That’s right,” Pidge confirmed. She had just finished saying as much, albeit in more scientific detail. Her rescuer was infinitely curious, and she had enjoyed the last few days explaining to him and the other merfolk how humans were fighting the Galra on land. Their meeting with Princess Allura gave Pidge renewed hope that shared knowledge between the land and sea could be used to finally be rid of Zarkon and his fleet of pirates. “Careful though, the material is hard to come by and we only just got it dry,” she said, taking the device from him.

Lance gave it one last scrutinizing eye and flapped his tail lazily. The tiny waves it created lapped up to Pidge’s shoulder and it felt amazing in the hot sun. She must have expressed her pleasure because he took note.

“If you take Allura up on her offer, you can live in the ocean with us you know,” he said, voice hopeful. “We can fight the Galra together on the same front. The conversion isn’t even painful, or at least that’s what Shiro says,” he reflected as an afterthought.

Pidge smiled sadly. “I can’t. I’ve got my family on land. Yours is in the ocean. Besides, now that we’re working together, it’s not like I’ll never see you again.”

Lance pouted, averting his eyes and looking a bit sheepish. “I thought you might say that.” His scaled ears perked up and he smiled. “What if your whole family came to live with us. You’d be a whole lot safer from the Galra and there’s plenty of room for your father’s machines.” His face faltered. “If we can make them waterproof anyway.”

Pidge flushed. She had to admit the idea of becoming a mermaid was intriguing. She’d grown up fascinated by the sea folk, a side effect of living in Port Garrison, but never fancied ever meeting one much less befriending one. Matt would tease her mercilessly about it when they got home; giving up a chance to be a mermaid when it was all she had talked about as a little girl.

The idea also scared her. It was not a decision made lightly for a nice boy she had only known for a few days, even if he had saved her life.

Lance coughed. “Or not. I mean, I get it. It’s a big change. I volunteered to run messages between our families after you get home, so we’ll see each other more often than we think. I’m … sorry I suggested it.”

He was embarrassed.

Pidge took one of his webbed hands in hers and leaned her head to rest on his partly scaled shoulder. “I appreciate the offer, Lance, I do. But I can’t.”

He pressed his face gently into her hair, stopping just short of an affectionate kiss. “I understand. I wouldn’t ever want to leave the sea” he said quietly, subdued. “Allura meant it though. The offer is always open for all of you, if the Galra ever get too dangerous.”

“I know,” she said. “Thank you.”

The water rippled around them and Lance’s fin-ears twitched. He submerged himself for several minutes. Pidge found herself mesmerized - watching his gills take over breathing, and ears flop back and forth.

“Message from Hunk,” he explained when he came back up. He smiled, but it looked very sad to Pidge. “He found a Garrison merchant ship, they’re even headed home. He said they’re happy to come pick up you two. Should be here sometime tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Pidge managed to say. “That was fast.” Their living conditions were less than ideal, even with the food and fresh water that were provided for them. Even so, she surprised herself at how upset she was that her peaceful time with Lance was coming to an end.

“I guess I’ll have to take you to the coral reef some other time,” he moped. “Or never, if this war with Zarkon keeps going on.”

“It's fine, Lance,” she attempted to comfort him. “It was just something to pass the time if we’d be here longer. I’m sure it's pretty, but I’ve had a great time talking with you.”

He smiled warmly, an action that even after such a short time made her heart beat a bit faster and brought a smile to her own face. “I just wanted to do something to return the favor,” he said. “Shiro never talks about his life as a human, and you’ve taught me so much already.”

Pidge snorted. “You saved my life. If anything, it was me doing you a favor and I enjoyed every minute of it”

“That doesn’t count,” he said dryly, propping up his chin with a palm. “I want to show you the ocean so badly.”

“One day,” Pidge promised. “After we beat Zarkon and we’re all safe.” She paused. There was so much uncertainty with their mission, and no guarantee it would be resolved in their lifetimes. Even so, it was nice to have something for herself to fight for. “Are you staying for the sunset tonight?”

His smile returned, and his eyes twinkled with delight. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

[narukuwrites]

002. Part 13

Words: 2,310 Tags: Merman AU, Fluff, Angst, Drama, Magick, and Witchery Summary: North and Josh enjoy being together, Ralph and Simon have a little chat and decide to visit Lucy, Amanda gives Elijah some bad news and we find out her plans have been a long time in the making and our two boys take a little respite.

Author’s Note: We get to see a little bit of everyone in this. The story is progressing quite well I think - but then again I don't know how many more parts will come. Markus is definitely whipped though. XD

North let out a quiet, relaxed sigh as she snuggled into the comforting warmth of Josh and she'd felt a lot lighter then she had in a long time. They hadn't gone any further than some kisses and heavy groping, but both of them decided to take things slow, neither of them were virginal or inexperienced but this was something more. And something like that was something the both of them wanted to explore together in an intimate and romantic manner. She always had her suspicions that Josh was a romantic at heart and it was nice to know that all of that would be now focused on her.

"I can hear you thinking over here.." Josh said in a quiet voice, a teasing lilt in his voice.

"Then you shouldn't be listening..." North replied back in a playful manner before letting out a chuckle and hugging Josh's form tightly for a moment before lessening her grip. "I wonder what Simon and Markus will have to say about this..?" North asked and although it was very likely that the two other mermen she'd grown up with and saw as friends and brothers were already aware of Josh' feelings.

"They'll probably say it took us long enough.." Josh replied and honestly he didn't feel too stressed about what they thought. Simon and Markus would understand and support them, there wouldn't be anything that changed but as of late he'd been thinking about what if they did successfully take back Markus' kingdom - what would become of Jericho then? Someone would need to stay here and look after everyone and it was something he would bring up, once he'd discussed it with North first. He would never usurp Markus but it was inevitable, their leader couldn't stay here forever and he had the feeling that Connor's arrival just as Lucy as said - would change things for all of them and he was grateful that North asking him about Connor pulled him away from that train of thought.

"That's true, I doubt it'll change anything with us, but I'm curious Josh - this new merman who arrived recently. I've not seen him yet, what is he like..?" North said curiously.

"I don't know how to explain it, but there is something about him. He exudes warmth and benevolence. He is certainly not like other mer I have come across - he's something else entirely. Having him with us is a definite boon.." Josh replied thoughtfully.

"Should I be jealous..?" North teased.

"No, god no...I only have eyes for you North..." Josh added before leaning in and stealing a kiss from the attractive amber blonde mermaid he'd fallen wholly for.

--

Simon didn't find the peace that fell between him and Ralph as uncomfortable, in fact, it was the opposite. And he, of course, had so many questions he wanted to ask about Connor and indeed Ralph himself. But he didn't want to disturb Ralph who seemed completely in his element with the succulents. It struck him though that his fellow blonde mer although he was twitchy and nervous around others, with succulents and maybe perhaps creatures of the sea too, and Connor that he was more at ease.  And he blinked in surprise was Ralph addressed him with a question, almost like he could sense what he was thinking.

"Ralph knows you have questions. Ralph will answer any you have.." he said glancing up from a particularly colorful succulent which reached out to him, as he gently brushed his hand against it and never letting his gaze fall from meeting Simon's own blue ones meeting hazel ones. "I well, uhh..if I may ask what happened to umm... " Simon shifted a little uncomfortable and he hoped that Ralph knew what he was referring to.

"Ralph doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable for asking. Ralph understands you are curious and Ralph is happy to answer..." the blonde mer replied before pulling his attention away from the succulents and swimming a little closer towards Simon but not intruding into his space as he continued in a calm voice, almost like he was at peace with the fact. "..Ralph was injured by a tiger shark that was trained to attack Ralph due to jealousy of Ralph's friendship with Connor. Ralph stopped it from turning on Connor, Ralph would gladly do it again...."

Simon hadn't expected his fellow blonde mer to be so forthcoming and it was clear that Ralph's loyalty and friendship with Connor, wasn’t like  the one he had with Josh, North, and Markus - but whatever bond the brunette had with the blonde in front of him now it was a true unyielding one and he wasn't too surprised to hear that Ralph wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The petty jealousy of others though had been the reason for what had happened and he felt a silent wave of anger go through him at that.

"You're a good friend to Connor, that much is very clear. Thank you for being so open and I'm sorry if it caused you any distress.." he replied putting his hand onto Ralph's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly and he didn't miss the fact Ralph stiffened at his touch for a moment before relaxing when he pulled his hand away. And he only nodded in understanding as the blonde addressed him once more.

"Ralph is fine but Ralph isn't too comfortable with touch. Ralph apologizes and Ralph wants to know if you have more questions...." he said in a quiet voice. It had only been for a brief moment but he could sense that Simon has the ability to read minds and he didn't want to be intruded upon. It wasn't that he didn't like the touch of someone else, but he was sensitive when it came to such things and it would take some time before he would be comfortable with touches from anyone other than Connor. That was just how he was but he knew that perhaps Simon wouldn't intrude without first asking but he still wanted to keep his privacy.

"Oh. Yes, I'm sorry about that. I guess you sensed that I can read minds, it's my ability but know that I would never use it in such a manner.." Simon replied reassuringly and it was true he wouldn't.

"Ralph knows you wouldn't. Ralph thinks it will take time for Ralph to get used to the touches of others. Ralph thanks you for the comfort though.." he added in response before nodding and letting the other know all was well.

"You know we have a Siren who may have prophesied about Connor's arrival as well as helping to keep this garden safe? Perhaps you'd like to meet her.." Simon suggested and he wasn't too sure if it was a good idea but he had an inkling that Ralph would hold his own in the presence of a Siren.

"Ralph is interested yes. Ralph would like to know how she keeps the succulent garden protected in a magick that shouldn't be possible.." he replied before going over to pick up his bag and placing it over his shoulder and motioning for Simon to lead the way.

 --

Elijah was growing impatient as Amanda sat soundlessly and quietly in a trance as she was communing with the darker realm and finding out just exactly was happening with Connor and Jericho, but he knew that this was the best and fastest way to see what was happening. The dark mer hadn't given him much information about the plan but clearly, it involved whatever it was she has created to look like his son, that his gaze still kept falling back to but who could blame him. Amanda's witchery and magick had, for the most part, created everything to perfection but no doubt his mannerisms and attitude would not be like his son. Nevertheless, as long as it brought Connor back to him - that was the only thing that mattered.

Amanda had seen all of what had happened and she didn't stay to watch all of what had occurred between the rightful heir of the Mansfield Kingdom and Connor, but it would indeed cause Elijah's wrath to be felt throughout his kingdom - but everything that was happening, was what was supposed to be. There would be no changing it, but there was a way to ensure ruin for Jericho and their leader Markus. It was a long time coming and she had been dormant for a long time, but Lucy's heart would make her whole once more and she could discard this lowly form for her true one.

And when she came back to herself she decided to tell Elijah outright. This too after all was part of the plan and would set things into motion. "It iss not good news. Connor has been claimed by the true heir of the Mansfield Kingdom, the exiled one.." Amanda said as she swam elegantly towards Elijah and wasn't too bothered by the fact that the king's aura was a murderous and dark one.

"You must stay calm and control yourself, this is something that can be countered. But you need to listen to what I say.." she added gripping his arm tightly and ignoring the pained hiss that fell from the king's lips.

To hear that someone had claimed his darling Connor, he was seething and he couldn't clearly hear anything that Amanda was saying after she had given him that news but the searing pain that went through him brought him back to his senses he was thankful for even if his body reacted in an unappreciative manner. "Alright I will listen, you can let go of my arm now.." he replied coldly and he felt his body sag with relief when Amanda's touch was no longer on him.

"It was unavoidable what happened and it is the reason why I created an identical copy of your son, as well as placed a couple of mers who are under my control and currently within Jericho and are part of the general populous, when the time is right they will ensure that Connor is incapacitated enough and my thrall to be put in his place.." the dark mer said with a cold voice.

It was becoming very apparent to Elijah that all of this, was something that Amanda had been planning for a long time - which begged to question just what was the reason behind all of this? “And how exactly do we go about all of this Amanda?.." he asked and he felt a chill go through him as Amanda smiled in a manner that distorted her face and he was faced with something ancient.

"Simple. I convince Leo that Markus is a threat and has something which can destroy him and usurp him as king and that acting quickly and that attacking Jericho to ensure he stays in power of that dismal and desolate kingdom...” she paused with a cold smile before continuing on unperturbed  “He is under my control of that you can be more assured. And why my king have Jericho not kidnapped the crown prince for their own gain? I believe that is reason enough to rally the troops to to action no.?"

--

Connor had quietly risen from his sleep and he loathed to leave the warmth that seemed to radiate from Markus and he took the moment to truly take in every inch of the dark-skinned mer and he was gorgeous in every sense of the word. His chocolate brown eyes framed with long, alluring lashes found themselves drawn to that ring that was tied around Markus' neck with some sort of human-made material, it clearly wasn't made from anything that came from their world. Whatever the ring was, it was important and he would ask exactly what it was when Markus awoke. He also didn't miss how angry the mark he'd left on the other was and felt proud of the fact, the both of them now had matching marks.

He had felt a lot more grounded and calmer then he had done, that want and desire to have Markus breed him was still there but it wasn't something that he needed right this instance, being that close and so connected with Markus had been indescribable and he wanted more of that - but he was also hungry, for sustenance and so he gently let his hands trail down the form of Markus in hopes of rousing him from his slumber.

Markus felt the warm touch of fingertips caressing and tracing patterns into his skin as he found himself waking up languidly and seeing the breathtaking vision of Connor above him, those fathomless brown pools of chocolate looking at him with so much adoration and want and he felt a wave of arousal go through him, as his hand gently linked with Connor's other hand as the other one continued to explore.

"I'm hungry Markus..." Connor said pausing to lick his lips and that action immediately caused Markus to sit up and pull him into a deep, longing kiss that he moaned into before pulling away and letting out a husky chuckle. "I meant for food Markus, hunt something for me and as a reward, I'll let you bury your cock inside of me.." the brunette added tilting his head and being the very picture of innocence.

That was incentive enough to spur Markus into action and he could only nod before stealing another kiss and coming up with a plan to get something to sustain them both. He was hungry too, very much so and the sooner they had filled the bellies the sooner he could get back to worshipping Connor whose claim bite stood out strongly against that beautiful pale skin, that he could happily touch forever.

[thelastspeecher]

18 : Merguckets, I'll gladly help fill out a meme. (It makes me happy to do all the numbers too.)

18. A new mattress

Geez, some of these prompts are difficult.  I know zero things about getting a new mattress (including how you know you need to get one).  As a result, this is basically only tangentially related to the prompt.  But it still counts.  It takes place shortly after Stan and Angie officially become mates (the mer equivalent of marriage).

Send me an AU and a number and I’ll write you a ficlet!

               Stan followed Angie further intothe extensive coral reef on the boundary of the MerGuckets’ property.  

               “Careful of the staghorn.  It’s sharp this time of year,” Angie saididly.  She was navigating the coral withease, zipping through without so much as brushing up against anything.  It was seemingly effortless for her, like shewas on autopilot.

               It’s like how I memorized the way to the kitchen as a kid, so I couldget something in the middle of the night without turning on any lights.  Distracted by comparing his human childhoodto mer life, Stan didn’t do as Angie had told him.  His arm grazed against a protruding clump ofstaghorn coral.  He hissed in pain andimmediately clamped his arm over the deep scratch.  Angie turned around.

               “Oh, no,” she said, swimmingback to him.  Despite his attempts tostem the bleeding, blood trickled through his fingers, forming puffs ofred-tinted water.  “I told ya to be careful of the staghorn,”Angie chided.

               “Yeah, yeah,” Stanmuttered.  “Sue me, there’s about amillion different kinds of coral here, and it’s all packed tighter ‘nsardines.”  Angie frowned, puzzled.

               “Sardines?  What’s that?” she asked.  Stan stared at her.

               “It’s…a kind of fish.  You really don’t know what a sardine is?  I mean, you’repart fish.”

               “I ain’t part anything,” Angieretorted, digging around in the satchel she had brought along.  “I’m 100% mer.  That’s all mammal, darlin’.”  She gave him a small peck on the cheek.  “But humans have some mighty strange namesfer things.  Might just be atranslational error.  What’s thescientific name?”

               “Who do you think I am?” Stanasked.  “Do I look like a person who knows scientific names of fish?”

               “Mm.  Maybe.” Angie pulled a roll of bleached fibrous algae out of her bag.  “Now, hold still so’s I can wrap this.”  Stan let go of his wounded arm.  Blood billowed in red clouds from thescratch.  Angie skillfully wrapped the rollof algae around Stan’s wound, sealing it up in under a minute.  She put the remainder of the roll away.  “There. That should keep any sharks from sniffin’ us out now.  But just in case, let’s skedaddle.”  She took off again.  Stan sighed and reluctantly followed her.

               “Why are we here?” Stan complained, after narrowly missing anotherclump of dangerously sharp staghorn coral.

               “Didn’t I tell ya?” Angie asked.

               “Uh, no.  You said ‘Stan, let’s just go now and get itover with.’  I don’t even know what ‘it’is!”  Angie stopped swimming.  

               “That’s right, ya wouldn’tknow.  I doubt humans have the sametraditions as merfolk.”

               “So?  What are we doing?” Stan said, finallycatching up to her.

               “Gettin’ a bed, of course,”Angie said.  Stan frowned at her.

               “…What?”

               “Well, now we’re officiallymates, we’re s’posed to get a bed to share,” Angie said, taking a careful seaton a nearby rock.  She twitched her tailaway from some nearby coral, startling a small group of fish into darting off.

               “Okay, hear me out,” Stan said,sitting next to her.  “We get a bed after we move outta your folks’ house.”  Angie cocked her head.

               “Why would we move out rightnow?  We don’t have any guppies.  There’s no real reason to leave,” she saidsimply.  Stan put his head in his hands.

               “Great.  More culture clash.”

               “Culture clash?”

               “Yeah.”  Stan rubbed his face.  “Explain to me why we wouldn’t move yet.”

               “It just makes sense to stayput,” Angie said.  “It’s safer and hasmonetary benefits.  So merfolk live withtheir parents until they lay their first clutch.  Is that not what humans do?”

               “Nope.  Not usually, at least.”

               “Oh.”  A moment passed.  “We can leave my folks’ house if that’s whatya want.”

               “How about we table thisconversation,” Stan said.  “We can talkabout it later.  Right now, let’s just dowhat we came here to do.”  He eyed thebright-colored coral surrounding them.  “Gettinga bed in a coral reef.  For some reason.”

               “We’re here to harvest it.  We grow our beds,” Angie explained.  

               “Like, the bed frame?”

               “Yep.  Pa’s fam’ly has this secret to growin’ bedframes from coral.  Ain’t many merfolkwho know how to do it.”

               “What about the mattress?” Stanasked.  

               “That’s somethin’ we’ll need tobuy at the store.  But seriously, hon, wedon’t need to get the bed now.”

               “Nope.  I got hurt, so I’m doin’ it now,” Stan saidfirmly.  He looked around.  “Where’s the bed coral?”

               “Just a lil bit further.”  Stan groaned. “Don’t worry, we’re past the worst of the staghorn now.”