#mer!john soap mactavish

[meowmeowriley]

@sergeantwoods Sorry for the long wait, but here's the mer!AU

Think I'll call it Fish Out of the Sea

Ghost x Soap, blacktip reef shark mer!Soap, human Ghost, fluff, getting together (kinda)

Ficlet after the cut 😘

"No."

John sighed, he didn't seem surprised by Shepherd's hard rejection, but he kept trying. Simon had to give props to the fishing boat Captain. "You have the best mer rehabilitation facility in the country. It'd be a shame not to use it."

"You said you had a mermaid. That's not a fucking mermaid, John."

"I said I had an injured mer." He repeated himself from their earlier conversation.

"I'm not taking that thing into my facility."

"He needs help-"

"He's hideous, and aggressive." Shepherd barked. "That thing keeps lashing out, it'll scare patrons, attack my staff, and if that *thing* touches my mermaids, tries to mate with them, I'll have it put down."

"Mers are actually matriarchal, sir." The mer expert, Kyle, finally spoke up. "I've never worked with a shark mer before, but I do know he won't mess with Kate or Rosa, because they won't want him. Since they're together."

"Kyle. For the last time, the mermaids aren't lesbians. They're just fish." Shepherd was one of those who thought of mers as lesser than humans. Obviously.

Simon was standing near the door. No one had noticed him sneak in, but when he'd overheard that the mer was a shark variant, he'd needed to see it. Now, seeing the poor thing huddled in the corner of it's transport tank, curled in on itself, he felt so bad for it. He watched, any time someone went near it it flared out it's dorsal and pectoral fins. It would gnash it's teeth and charge the glass. All signs of aggression in a shark but... as soon as it finished its display it was right back to the furthest corner from the humans. It kept peeking at them over it's own shoulder when it thought they weren't looking. He quietly crept closer.

He took in it's markings, gray on it's back, white on its belly, black tips to it's fins. Claspers on its pelvic fins. A male blacktip reef shark then. His inferior end was all shark, something Simon was very familiar with, as he took care of all of the sharks here at the aquarium, several of them blacktips. His superior end, or top half, he supposed a visitor would (incorrectly) consider it, was new and interesting to him. Though he was vaguely humanoid, his skin was all two tones white and gray, like his tail. He had a wedge shaped snout in place of a human nose, a wider mouth with jagged teeth. Slitted eyes, and a black tipped fin atop his head that reminded Simon of a mohawk. Webbed gray and white hands with black claws rubbed up and down it's own arms in a self soothing gesture. One forearm had an odd angle to it, probably the injury that landed him here.

He retreated from the tank quietly before speaking, interrupting the squabbling of the other men. "He looks like a reef shark to me." Everyone else jumped. "Blacktip reef sharks aren't aggressive. Sure they can get a little iffy during feeding, but they're more curious than anything."

"He's been charging the glass, Ghost." Simon managed to suppress his eye roll at Shepherd's nickname for him. They all called him that here. "Fuck you mean 'not aggressive', you don't know mers."

"No, but I know sharks. He's injured, and defensive. You ever think he doesn't like us because it was something shaped like us that broke his arm?" John winced, he obviously felt bad about it. Not like he could've know he'd caught the mer in his net, but it was nice to see some accountability from a fisherman for once.

"Well we can't communicate with him, so he'll stay scared and defensive." If Simon didn't love the sharks, he would've left this place a long time ago because Shepherd was an absolutely abrasive cunt.

"Kate and Rosa can. And their English is excellent." Kyle spoke up again. "We have them pass on the message of our intentions, and Ghost and I tag team his rehabilitation." Of course he uses the dumb nickname too. "It's the perfect plan! And an incredible opportunity to be one of two aquariums to actually work with a shark mer. The novelty of something so rare will bring in patrons." Kyle was really leaning into Shepherd's true interests here, bringing up money.

Shepherd was quiet for a moment and then, "If anything happens, you're both fired." He then stormed out of the room.

"Thanks, Gaz."

"Of course, Cap."

Now the three of them had to get the shark mer into an appropriate tank.

***

They had initially tried to put him in with the other mers, but he'd seen the sharks in the tank across the hall and told Kate he wanted to be with his own kind. That would make Simon's job easier, anyway. Kate had explained that they needed to put a cast on his arm, and Rosa had wrestled it onto him, since the humans couldn't get too close. They decided to name him John, after Captain Price, calling him Johnny affectionately. Gaz explained to Ghost that part of rehabbing Johnny would be gaining his trust, teach him to communicate. To release him without a way to communicate could lead to him attacking humans and being a problem down the road.

Simon had a plan: ignore him. He was a reef shark, his own curiosity would get him to open up. It took a week.

Simon would feed his sharks from a catwalk above their tank, for safety reasons, dropping their food in in the mornings before they opened their doors. No need to scare any children. For the first week, any time he passed by, Johnny would posture aggressively and gnash his teeth, before snatching up his food and swimming off. When Ghost would gear up and go in the water for his evening shows, Johnny stayed far away. At night, Gaz and his mers would move over and Ghost would mostly just observe as the girls tried to teach Johnny how to speak, and he petulantly ignored them, with a little pout on his face as he refused to even make eye contact with them. It was cute.

The first time he tried to speak was also the first time Simon saw him raise his head above the surface. He seemed frantic. "HAAAH!" He startled a bit at what was most likely the first time he ever used his lungs to breath air. "HAAAAH! AH! YAAH!" he was waving with his good arm. Stretching it out towards the platform between his tank and that of the other mers, thrashing his tail with his fins tucked in. Very distressed. Simon went to check, to see what could possibly be bothering him so much, when he found their elusive fourth mer. Simon had only seen Gary once. Gaz called him Roach, because he hid in the tiniest cracks in the reef in their enclosure, why on earth the isopod mer was on the platform, and not in the water, was beyond him, but he couldn't let the poor thing suffer. He had several of his little legs caught in a grate. Simon spent some time disentangle him. He tossed the infant sized mer into the nearest tank, which happened to be the shark tank, with Johnny. The larger mer immediately dove to catch him. He stroked Roach's antennae back like one would the hair of a small child, a soothing motion. Clearly not as much of a loner as he pretended to be. From then on the little isopod mer could be found clinging to Johnny's sides or fins with his many little periopods more often than not. After that, it seemed that Gary encouraged Johnny's more curious side. The mer's language was mostly outside of the human range of hearing, but Simon occasionally caught clicks, whistles or hums shared between the two.

Simon had left a bucket with soap close to the edge once, the two mers were clearly curious about it, but he didn't think anything would come of it. Which is why it was such a surprise when Johnny stuck a webbed hand in and scooped some out, popping it immediately into his mouth. Simon knew it wasn't enough to harm him, which is why he couldn't help but laugh at the poor creatures misfortune as it sputtered and writhed, making bubbles. While laughing he let his guard down, and was surprised when something struck him, knocking him off the catwalk and into the tank. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing only Roach, floating downward, listing side to side, tiny head in his tiny hands. He surfaced to see Johnny. "Did you just throw him at me?!" Johnny sunk down so only his eyes and cranial fin were above the water. The little shit. "Not cool, Soap!" He forced his palm out towards the mer, sending a spray of water its way. That seemed to really break down the mer's walls.

Johnny started approaching while Simon would try and clean the tank. At first, darting away if Simon caught sight of him. Eventually however, he would get closer and simply observe. He'd watch Simon work at cleaning the glass or vacuuming the sand at the bottom. It was fun to see shark behavior and mer behavior collide. If Simon sat something down, Johnny would pick it up, and without a doubt if he could get it in his hands, it would end up in his mouth.

There was a small crowd, a child's birthday party had been held over by Gaz's mer tank, the girls were always a hit with the kids, and the little show they put on with Gaz was actually pretty funny. They'd harass him as he pretended to try and do his chores. Slapstick comedy was good for all ages.

Simon had his own show with his sharks, but it wasn't for a few more hours. He was actually just trying to clean. Apparently his cleaning sponge had caught Johnny's attention, as the mer had swam up and was watching him intently. He kept inching forward, eventually crowding Simon against the glass while reaching for his sponge. "Oi!" He said into his respirator, not that anyone could hear him. He shoved Johnny away and kept trying to cleaning, but the persistent bastard just kept coming back. He could vaguely see the crowd observing them through the glass. They were probably laughing. When he'd had enough, he got an idea. He turned when Johnny got close again and placed one hand on his dorsal fin and the other on the underside of his snout. He began to rub at the sensitive underside of the mer's snout, and just like his sharks, the mer entered a state of tonic immobility. He repositioned Johnny, nose down tail to the surface, Johnny's arms hung limply down past his head. Simon quickly withdrew his hands and watched as the mer continued to float for a bit, before blinking vigorously. He shook his head before righting himself, and slapped his tail into Simon's chest as he practically fled to his little cave at the other end of the tank. When he surfaced later, Gaz informed him that the kids were raving about how cool the 'shark guys' were.

Simon had to admit that Johnny was growing on him. He looked forward to seeing him each day. Johnny began trying to get Simon to swim with him. He'd grab Simon's arms and try to pull him into the water when he was on land, or he'd push Simon away from the glass and his cleaning supplies, towards the open water. Sometimes Simon would indulge him, and the two of them would make laps around the tank.

Simon realized, when Johnny began posturing towards the sharks and getting territorial about him towards them, that Johnny was attempting to court him. Worse, he couldn't bring himself to try and put an end to the behavior either. Johnny was getting touchy, he'd run his hands along Simon's sides or chest, in much the same way Simon would to per his sharks, but it felt different. He would push Simon until he floated horizontally in the water, then drape himself across the man.

Simon knew he was getting himself into some deep shit, but he couldn't help the small voice in the back of his head that urged him to reach out, to cradle the mer's rubbery cheeks in his hands. He wanted to kiss him. He was fucked.

***

I hope you liked it! Ngl, I really liked this one. If you don't mind, I might expand on this and make it a multi-chapter fic over on AO3? I wanna explore more of society's reaction to mers, specifically interspersed relationships and where this could go. Let me know what you think, and thanks for the idea!

[baohanhanesel]

Merman Task force and Handler Simon. 2/3

Price.

Gaz.

Simon continues to carry fish.

[journen]

Mer Soap au, installment 2! Their meeting. I'm imagining they met after a helicopter Simon was in on an op got shot down over the water. Soap then pulled him to shore, and waited by him until he woke up.

This is Simon when he wakes up. 🤣

Installment 1 of this au is here!:)

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

remora reader is so cute i wanna snatch her away from 141 she can be my pretty little gf ill feed her and let her stick to me while i swim around >:( shes a babyyyy

this is so sweet <3 if only she weren't so super overprotected. and the 141 sharks aren't a fan of competition :(

cackling at the idea of another mer just barreling in at top speed, tackling remora reader and hissing at Price, Ghost, Soap and Gaz that they've ALL lost their clean scale privileges until they learn to take care of her!! (ง��□′)ง

specifically this happening with a lionfish or barracuda mer. small but spiky/aggressive. someone the 141 can't actually fuck with but just have to tolerate.

no idea how to write something like this but i love it _(:з)∠)_

[grimmroach]

not pictured- ghost being a gay disaster

[s0fter-sin]

mermay idea

mers keep their faces covered as a way to indicate social status and familiarity. warriors have intricate masks, handcrafted when they win their first battle and the more detailed a mask is, the more accomplished the wearer is. they're rarely shed and are only taken off for their closest kin and mates

warrior bull shark mer!soap seeing human!ghost, seeing his skull mask and immediately knowing he's a high ranking warrior; one to be feared going off the numerous scars covering his body

an ideal and worthy mate, so long as he can prove his prowess

so he follows him as he's deployed on a mission near the ocean and is smitten when he sees how ruthless and capable he is; bathing himself in his enemies blood. he keeps his distance, not wanting to tempt fate but ghost spies the tip of his fin cutting through the water

and he's nothing if not an opportunist; kicking the bodies off the pier to the waiting jaws below

but soap? all he sees is the first step in a courting ritual

and he has to come up with something truly brilliant to match such a glorious offering

on ghost's part, it's been difficult getting people to understand the depths of his dependence on his mask. price thinks it's something to overcome, gaz and other soldiers just think it's an accessory to help with intimidation

the few partners he's tried to have thought he was someone to "fix"; nothing more than an object, a notch on their belt to prove how "good" of a partner they were to put in so much work to make him better. it always leaves him feeling violated, more so than if they'd just taken his mask off outright. one night stands were hardly worth it either; scratching a physical itch but falling so short of the intimacy and connection he craves that he feels worse off than he'd started

when he finally meets the mer that's been hunting him across the country, sees the bright red mask so artfully hewn and attached to his face?

it's like looking at a reflection of himself

he might have finally found the understanding he's been searching for

[worms-for-brains]

I am not immune to Mer!Soap. I am not immune to Mer aus in general 😔

I know the general consensus is that Soap is a shark or seal but I did a little research and found out that Scottish mermaids (or Ceasg) were half salmon and how could I say no to that

[ghcstao3]

human!ghost who has major thalassophobia and mer!soap who insists on trying to bring him out into deeper parts of the ocean to show him things.

soap just doesn’t understand how the ocean can be scary to anyone but nor does he recall ghost ever being that pale, and why is he making that face?

[yeenybeanies]

in the spirit of mermay, i drew The Boys as mers in some more color palettes 🧡💀💚🧼

patreon ✨ ko-fi

[queermentaldisaster]

Alright. You can blame this one on Mer!AUs

I don't have this one as fleshed out...

But Siren!Ghost. Sirens are social creatures, who cannot deal with isolation. He got captured as the only living siren to ever be put in a lab. The man who runs this lab? Manuel Roba.

He doesn't see Ghost as a living being, just a way to enhance the rest of the cartel...and one day, the lab gets broken into by Los Vaqueros. They manage to 'take down' Roba, and find Ghost. So they call their friends (Price and Nikolai) who run a mer/siren care facility. Granted, it's far, (all the way over in the UK) but it's the safest place for Ghost. So they manage to get him transported over there, and Ghost starts off in a tank by himself, but close enough to other sirens and mer to not be isolated. Unfortunately, Ghost, at this point, has become so used to the isolation that all the noise bothers him.

And the worst one is his Scottish neighbor. The mer calls himself Soap, because they only tell their true names to very specific people (sorry to whoever used this idea first but it's mine now, you can share) and he just keeps chattering at Ghost. The worst part comes when the group decides he can be integrated with other mers. He gets put in a tank with one other mer (Roach), Soap, and another siren (Gaz).

And Soap will not leave Ghost alone, no matter what happens. But...I mean...it's a Ghoap au. Ghost warms up to Soap.

@forestshadow-wolf @resident-idiot-simp

[baohanhanesel]

@ezraa-the I brought some Pirate Ghost and Mer(Monster) Soap goods.

Soap wants to devour Ghost because he is a sailor in HIS ocean. Ghost has a crush on him.

Soap doesn't even have to trick or manipulate Ghost for him to rip his heart out and offer it to the mer.

[journen]

Done for Mer May! My first time participating... don't know if I will have any follow up pieces for this AU but I hope you guys like this! 😄

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

Hi I’m the one who left the egg ask! I genuinely had no idea what an ovipo kink was I was just wondering if babies were a possibility 😭😭😭

(Maybe that’s still apart of that but I don’t really understand it.)

That’s all Bai bai 🎀

oh no worries! the post in question.

trust me… communication is poor. the mer 141 have not talked about it and believe a range of things:

babies aren't possible because you're a different "species" (Ghost)

babies are possible and would be considered and planned for--extensively; they have the resources--were that possibility to become a certainty (Price) 

babies are probable and come with the desirable side effect of baby-trapping you via laying an obvious physical claim (Gaz) 

or he's so driven by his libido anyway that the idea of you not eventually getting knocked up is inconceivable; just try harder and believe in yourself (Soap).

more mer au / more Price / masterlist

[theartgremlin]

He was interrupted in the middle of being a menace by a diver with nerves of steel!!!

[pekoehoneyncream]

Ghoaptober #2

Prompt: Bullet

Words: 1500~

TW: None (sfw)

This version of Ghoaptober was created by @spadesandshovels

I'm once again not playing by the letter of the law, but I really couldn't think of anything to write about bullets :(, so I found a work around.

Enjoy!

“Hello and welcome to Alpetsha's Arctic Expeditions! My name is Chrissy, I'll be your guide. Up there is Duncan, he's our lovely captain, give him a wave,” Chrissy smiled at all the frantic waving from the kids and the few half-automatic waves from the adults, “Awesome! Today we are focusing on Homotritus, or as it's more commonly called, we're going mer-spotting!”

Chrissy paused to allow for the cheers that announcement always brought, “Glad to see we're all excited! Duncan is taking us up to the edge of a territory that's home to a very unusual mer-pod. When we get there I'm going to ask that no one shouts, screams, or throws anything into the water. That includes yourselves or your fellow passengers,” she ends with a laugh to lighten the tone of her warning, smiling at the small ripple of laughter that washed through the boat in reply. 

She felt the engines cut and the boat coast to a stop, a glance up to Duncan showed him giving her a thumbs up and she plastered an even bigger smile onto her face.

“Okay! Looks like we're here folks, I'll give you some fun facts while we wait for our neighbors to get curious. We're visiting a territory that's been established by a pod of four mers, we'll most likely be seeing Babble and Bullet come up for a visit. Babble is a minke-whale morph that-”

“What's a morph.” A little girl interrupts from her perch in her father's arms. Chrissy could barely make out her eyes, she was so well bundled against the cold.

“A fantastic question! A mer's morph is how we refer to the species that the mer looks like. It's not actually known why mers resemble certain species of sea creatures. Some claim its convergent evolution, others say its just aesthetic mimicry, but nothing is known for certain.” Chrissy throws a wink to the little girl, delighting in the way she giggles and hides her face, “As I was saying, Babble is a very curious minke-whale morph that will probably pop up to check us out sometime soon. Following him will be Bullet, an orca morph." The word orca sends excited titters through the crowd, everyone knows what an orca is, not so much for minke-whales.

"I will have to ask that no one screams if they spot them." Chrissy tried to make her voice serious, but not domineering. She didn't need anyone getting uppity about a woman bossing them around, "Bullet and Babble are some of the rare mers that wear rudimentary coverings and accessories and they can be somewhat alarming at first glance. Please remember that they will not harm you.”

“What's so alarming about them?” The gruff question is called forward from the back of the group, so Chrissy can't spot the exact asker.

“Another excellent question! Bullet has fashioned what looks to be a juvenile true-orca's upper jaws into a kind of headpiece, and Babble wears what we can only assume is the matching lower jaws.” Startled exclamations from the port side of the boat saves Chrissy from having to take a stab at explaining why mers do anything, and she moves over to the commotion as quickly as she can. Spotting curious blue eyes poking above the waterline as Babble spy-hops to get a look at them. 

“And here’s Babble! You're right on time!” Chrissy pitches her voice to carry across the water, feeling the tension fall out of her muscles when the mer seems to recognize her or the boat she’s standing on and pops further up out of the water. Showing off the skeletal jaw of sharp teeth that was aligned and fastened to his own. Chrissy was happy to let the guests live in the ignorant bliss of assuming that she’s just trying to look fun by talking at the mer, every employee had been banned from even alluding to the fact that this particular mer-pod was notorious for sinking any boat that they didn’t like, along with almost every ship that dared poke its nose over their territory lines. Alpetsha Arctic Expeditions didn't make it a company policy to stay out of their territory just to be polite. 

The minke-whale mer looked them over for a while longer then dove back under the water, sounding off with a flood of ratcheting clicks, pitching whines, and popping chirps the whole time. 

“And that’s why we call him Babble. Now that he’s come up to say hi, we can expect to see Bullet soon enou-” the yelp of a bitten off scream echoing from the boat’s starboard side heralds Bullet’s arrival and Chrissy hustles over before people started getting smart ideas. 

Bullet slowly circled them, his left pectoral fin breaching out of the water as he swam on his side to better eye the boat and its contents, or perhaps it was to keep the height of his distinctive dorsal fin under the water, so as to not give himself away too soon. 

Bullet was a bastard like that. 

“And here’s Bullet! If he turns over you’ll get to see how he got his name,” Chrissy said this with the bouncing tone of tour-guides everywhere, but eyed Bullet with much more caution than she'd given Babble.

Bullet’s upper face was completely obscured by the jaws he had broken and molded and mended to fit onto his head. The bone was covered in nicks, discolourations, and what a more generous soul might call carvings. 

A shadow barreled up from the depths to sideswipe Bullet. Babble arcing out of the water and crashing back into it with a cheerful trill, narrowly missing coming down directly on top of Bullet. The waves Babble displaced rocked the boat and the guests gave a cheer for his antics. Bullet turned to chase Babble clockwise around the boat and the guests able to see him over the sides gasped at the newly exposed carnage. 

Bullet’s right pectoral fin was ragged, missing its fore-edge and pockmarked with holes. The holes traveled diagonally up to his side, where their path was continued by a series of puncture scars. His back was serrated by lines of propeller scars, the front edge of his dorsal fin cut free from the rest of the structure, with the top third of its length missing entirely. He had another set of propeller scars marking his right collarbone, going over his shoulder, continuing down his upper back and Chrissy was willing to bet that under his mask he had a matching set across his face. Innumerous less distinctive scars tore up and down Bullet’s hide as well, teeth-rakes, old bite marks, rub lines, but the one that always got to Chrissy was the thick scarring that cuffed his tail above his flukes. Like someone had hauled him up and dangled him out of the water, their prized catch of the day.

“You said this is a four mer pod?” The shy question came from the very pretty young woman who had been unfailingly polite on every expedition Chrissy'd had her on. Chrissy was almost certain her name was Lizbeth.

“I did indeed! Good listening,” Chrissy praised, half to set a good example and half to see that cute blush creep up Lizbeth’s cheeks, “the other members of this pod are a very rare spot, as they like to hang out on the ice floes that are deeper into their territory. There’s a walrus morph we call Hoss and leopard-seal morph that earned the name Houdini. I’m seeing a few raised eyebrows from the more nautically inclined of us. Yes, the Arctic is not the natural habitat of the leopard-seal, but please keep in mind that this is a mer, not a true-leopard-seal. Mers are usually known to favour the natural habitats of their morphs, but they can and do move around as they like.” Chrissy watched the guests give understanding nods and gave another smile. Movement from above caught her eye and she glanced up to see Duncan giving her the ‘wrap it up’ signal.

“Alright folks, we’re gonna have to start packing it in, does anyone have any last questions?” Chrissy moved back over to her speaking platform. The speaking platform was really just a few pallets secured to the deck with anti-slip tape conquering its every flat surface, but it worked just fine.

“They’re all guys?” The question was half a sneer, from a young man that had been largely and loudly unimpressed with every activity Chrissy had seen him deign to attend. 

“Yep,” Chrissy chirped, giving her biggest smile yet, “They’re what’s known as a bachelor pod, though not much is actually known about distinguishing the sex of mers. From what we can see and guess from how their morph presents, they’re all male.” 

“They’re gay?” The same man barked, offended.

“Maybe!” Chrissy cheered, “Nothing is known about mer courting rituals or mating practices, so it’s equally likely that they are or they aren’t, but they do make a cute couple!” 

Chrissy gestured over the starboard side of the boat, where Babble could be seen hanging off Bullet’s dorsal fin, making the orca morph tow him around. Bullet was darting about and doing tight barrel rolls, to the seeming delight of Babble. Chrissy wasn’t sure if Bullet was doing it to indulge Babble or to shake him off. 

“Is that the last of the questions?” The guests looked around amongst themselves, then looked back at her, there was a smattering of shaking heads and shrugs, “Perfect!”

The engine kicked back on under their feet and the boat started pulling away. Chrissy glanced over the side, spotting Bullet and Babble bobbing in the waves, watching them leave. 

Letting them leave.

Chrissy shook herself free of that thought and started the closing spiel. Thanking people for visiting, and making sure to mention the countless ways and places that the guests could donate their money to one of Alpetsha’s many wildlife programs. 

Thank You For Reading!

I just really wanted to write mer au stuff for cod okay??

As you probably guessed Babble is Soap, Bullet is Ghost, Hoss is Price, and Houdini is Gaz.

Gaz earned the name Houdini by breaking into boxes and stealing stuff of the boats, the more they tried to secure it against him the more determined he was to get into it. He's a smart boy and he uses those smarts for evil and evil alone.

Minke whales are baleen whales and walruses eat like clams and stuff, so I had the idea that Ghost and Gaz will kill big stuff then bring it back and rip it into small pieces for Soap and Price. Price eventually got his hands on a knife to do it for himself, but Soap loves having Ghost do it for him.

I also had the idea that Ghost is blind in his right eye, hence why he's looking at the boat with his left.

PekoeHoneynCream's Masterlist

[s0fter-sin]

saw a tweet about mer!ghost being rescued from roba by price and placed in his rehab facility that soap lives in after a boat propeller injured his tail and now i’m obsessed with the idea that ghost thinks he's traded one hell for another and when he sees the beached shark mer with a human device strapped to his tail, it's all but confirmed for him

the pens they’re in are poorly designed; they’re huge, deep with glass walls but completely open to each other and it takes nothing to pull himself over the edge into the the other mer's cage. he swims over to the platform he’s trapped on and hushes what he thinks is panicked warnings and fearful pleading. he covers his mouth and begs him to stay quiet; ghost is bigger and as an injured mer, he has every right to fear he'd take his territory if not eat him outright but he can’t escape and leave this mer behind to endure his fate

he promises he won't hurt him, promises he'll find a way to free them both from this human prison

the mer quiets, eyes narrowing in such human confusion that it makes him ache; this mer has been here too long, to have adopted their mannerisms and abandoned any hope of freedom

ghost quickly checks their surroundings, ensuring none of their jailers heard the mer's noises. no one disturbs them and he pulls the mer off the platform into the water, diving under his tail to get a better look at the trap. the mer tries to pull away, tries to get him to stop; it must hurt something awful if even freedom isn't enough of a temptation to try removing it

ghost winds his own tail around him, immobilising the mer and uses his teeth to tear through the trap and his heart breaks to see how his poor tail has been mangled; more than half of it gone, deep scarring left in its wake

he releases the mer and jets back to the surface; he’s wasted too much time, they need to hurry before the humans return. but when he looks to coax the mer through an escape, he sees him sinking to the floor like a stone, writhing and moving his arms in an attempt to swim but nothing stops his fall

ghost ducks back down and takes the mer in his arms-

only to rear back when he claws him away, baring his fangs in a threat display even as he sinks back to the floor, unmoving

ghost circles him, confused why he won't let him help when he sees him start to suffocate. he's a shark mer; if he doesn't swim, he can't breathe

and with only half a tail, he can't swim at all

ghost tries again but the mer won’t let him close so he waits for his eyes to begin to flutter and charges in, grabbing the mer out of reach of his claws and fangs and drags him through the water; forcing precious oxygen into his gills

he swims in circles until the mer comes to, sluggishly clawing at his arms but he refuses to let go. he won't leave this mer behind, even if he has to carry him through the ocean for the rest of their lives

but they took too long

a human enters and sees ghost holding the injured mer and hits something that makes the walls screech, red flashing from the ceiling, and even more human come charging in. ghost clutches the injured mer to his chest and hisses, saliva flying from his bared fangs

he won't let them hurt him any more

he spins, trying to keep them all in his sight- when the shark mer's fin slaps him in the face. his arms slacken around him and he throws himself at one of the walls of the cage, gripping it to hold himself up

ghost stares at him, betrayed and enraged; they've broken this poor mer until he doesn't even know who his true allies are anymore

his tail thumps against the wall, instinctively trying to swim and support his weight and one of the humans drops to one knee. he throws an arm out, barking something and another human takes off running

he turns back to the injured mer, grabbing hold of his arm and ghost hisses again, rushing them both when the mer snarls at him to stop and he freezes. he watches the mer hold his arms up and the human clasps his forearms and stands, walking him along the border of his cage back to the platform he'd been beached on

but he chirps as the human tugs him up on it, curling up with the end of his tail just barely dipping in the water

like he's happy

the wailing and flashing lights abruptly stop and ghost fights the urge to shake the echoing ring from his ears. the other human returns and he doesn't fight the hiss when he sees another trap in his arms; the same one the mer had around his tail

ghost's hiss cuts off when he gets a face full of water and he splutters, looking back incredulously at the shark mer who'd just splashed him

he laughs at whatever look is on his face and rolls his eyes in another painfully human gesture. he reaches for the trap, fingers flexing like he's trying to pull it right out of the air and the human shakes his head as he hands it over

the mer lifts his tail onto the platform and ghost can't believe his eyes when he fits the trap onto himself; tightening every strap until the muscles of his tail bulge under the pressure. the mer slumps like he's relieved and shoots him a look; daring and almost playful and winks as he throws himself into the water

ghost lunges for him, waiting for him to sink again-

but he's not sinking

he's swimming

he twirls and spins around him like an overgrown dolphin, flaunting his strength and agility and the humans around them laugh and shake their heads at the display like they’re used to it and ghost realises it isn't a trap on his tail

it is his tail

the humans gave him a new tail

the mer flicks to a stop in front of him, now easily supporting his weight and gives him a full-fanged grin

"you're a little tangled up inside, huh, big boy?"