#yet MerMay always passes me by

[luxmoogle]

Using this place as my notepad once again so I don't forget:

Sora, Riku & Kairi going to Neverland but being separated on arrival. Peter Pan finds Riku & Kairi and informs them Sora might need some help, and as he leads them to him, Sora's found at the Mermaid Lagoon in his merman form being doted on covered in pearls etc.

[apomaro-mellow]

This was such a cute mermay idea I had to do it

Nancy watched as they took the first mer out of the tank, nicknamed 'Billy'. His tail was a deep blue but she knew better than to attach too much connection between the coloration of the tail and their personality. He was anything but calm and soothing. If anything, she would call him a brute, but it was hard to even say that regarding an animal.

Sometimes fish could be aggressive. And clearly putting two males in one tank had amped up that aggression. Poor Steve had yet to leave his cave after Billy's last attack. They'd need a diver to help coax him out and tend to his wounds.

It takes a couple of weeks for him to recover and in that time, the team brings in a new mer, another male. Robin was vehemently against putting him in the same tank as Steve.

"He just got over what happened with Billy. What're you gonna do if this one tries to fight him again?"

"Steve isn't totally helpless", Nancy said, remembering the wounds inflicted on Billy as well. "Besides, we need to figure out if it really is just instinctual, territorial stuff or if there's something else going on."

And so the second male was put into the same tank as Steve's. At first, he was appropriately cautious, as was the other mer. They both kept to opposite sides of the tank. Then Robin began to notice some odd behaviors in them.

The new one, dubbed 'Eddie' by his wrangler Wayne, would sometimes poke and prod at Steve. He would do so and then immediately swim away, like he was bold but shy at the same time. Steve didn't lash out the way he had with Billy, so perhaps it was some form of play? It was times like these that she wished they knew more about these creatures.

Then Steve did more than just not lash out. He appeared to be playing along. Steve had never engaged in play. Honestly, to Robin he seemed a little haughty, like a prima donna of a fish. The gossamer frills of his tail, almost like a betta fish, gave him that look of someone above it all. But when he played with Eddie, he looked, well, goofy.

But he seemed happy. Healthy even.

Then, one day, while passing by on her lunch break, Robin noticed something she had never seen Steve do before. Eddie floated nearby while Steve swam in an alluring display, his tail undulating in a way that made Robin feel like she shouldn't be watching. So she didn't stay for long. There were always cameras on the tanks just in case something happened while no one was around anyway.

But she brought it up to Nancy immediately. Because if her suspicions were correct...

"It looked like a mating dance to me, Nance."

"Don't be silly, they're both males. And if that was possible, then why didn't Steve perform for Billy?"

"Uhh, he kept biting and clawing at him? Not very romantic. And let's not pretend homosexuality is a purely human invention", Robin pointed out.

Nancy was still skeptical. "Well, even if they are engaging in courtship, the fact remains that they can't reproduce together."

Unexpected babies could complicate things in the tank when they knew so little about mers to begin with. How did they even raise their young? It was the kind of question they'd learn the answer to sooner rather than later.

A few days after Robin took notice of the supposed mating rituals, a diver noticed that Steve's belly appeared to be a bit more full. They tried to get closer to inspect but in his first act of aggression, Eddie pounced with the intention to bite their head off. Thankfully, they were fully covered and got away with just a chunk taken from their goggles. Unable to inspect up close, the research team chalked it up gaining weight. It could either be from preparing for winter or having less stress to effect his appetite.

About a week after that, during a routine clean up, Nancy saw that the moment a diver went into the water, Eddie stood sentry at the cave and Steve was nowhere to be seen, presumably inside. Not wanting to agitate him, they waited until he was asleep to send a camera down. Through its night vision lens, they saw the two adult mer and what appeared to be a clutch of about five eggs, the size of grapefuit settled between them.

When the evidence came back, Nancy pointedly kept her gaze from Robin's 'I told you so' face.

"Don't look so smug unless you can tell me how this happened", Nancy said.

Robin shrugged. "I have theories."

It took about three weeks for the eggs to hatch, after doubling in size. The team kept their distance as Eddie's territorial streak rivaled Billy's when his mate was in a vulnerable state. But they checked in whenever they could. Only two of the eggs grew to full term and hatched, the other three deflating not long after being laid.

Nancy chalked it up to it likely being Steve's first mating and having come from a stressful situation. She was proven correct when a year later, he laid again, six this time, and they all made it to full term. She and Robin watched as Eddie and Steve floated together, tails in a twist and holding hands, letting the current carry them as their eight children chased each other around.

Robin nudged her partner. "We're gonna need a bigger tank."

[milksnake-tea]

━━ homecoming.

He was always your favorite, ever since the day you'd found him. But you knew you couldn't keep him forever. One day, he would have to leave.

merman!blade x gn!reader

contains: fluff, hurt/comfort, a smudge of angst, blade is a little shit, reader is a scientist, potentially ooc blade, a hint of abandonment issues, making out (but nothing suggestive), not edited we die like jing liu, written before version 1.1

word count: 1.7k

a/n: posting this on the last day of mermay because ofc i am (im pst so shhh its not june yet). anyways merman blade is the most genius thing i have ever thought of no one will convince me otherwise

Your research facility was unlike any other in the world.

The hallways were enshrouded in darkness, with the only light sources being the illuminated tanks that lined the walls. They varied in size and shape, some cylindrical, others rectangular. Some tanks were lucky enough to have entire biomes in them, ranging from gorgeous coral reefs to murky kelp forests, and some had nothing in them at all. But what every tank had in common was an eerie glow of cyan that pulsated throughout their waters.

As you walked past the exhibits - your footsteps echoing loudly throughout the empty halls - your specimen began to unravel to life.

Electric eels sparked with lightning as you passed, and beside them, gigantic sea serpents hissed and coiled. Grindylows peeked from behind their forests, and jellyfish of all forms drifted aimlessly through their tanks. An eye the size of a soccer ball watched you from the largest exhibit of all, the giant squid thrilled to see its master.

This institute was home to mythology and biology alike, where fables rested alongside common knowledge. Here, in the middle of nowhere, with no land in sight, you were in the eye of the storm - vulnerable to the truths behind old sailors’ tales.

Despite this, you loved your job more than anything. These creatures that you studied, that you nurtured and raised, were like your children. Even the various hippocampi (who you didn’t have the heart to keep within your walls), were dear to you, and you to them.

Yes, there was the occasional sea monster that you had to shoot down. Yes, there were the occasional sirens who would try to lure you to your death. Most of the ocean’s creatures were dangerous, and well aware of it. Unfortunately, you were too smart and too stubborn to die.

A sharp tap on glass snapped you out of your thoughts. Smiling knowingly to yourself, you walked up to a cylindrical glass tank that spanned two stories tall, encircled by spiraling stairs.

“Hey, Blade. Missed me?” You greeted, placing a hand on the glass.

Out of all of the creatures that you held within your home, he was your favorite.

He really was a beauty. Gifted with a slender black tail, seared with a vicious red, the merman swayed gently in his tank, sleek, almost sharp fins flowing around him. Blackened scales gave way to fair skin, scarred with scratches and bites from previous battles. His hair billowed around him like a dark cloud, fading from black to a soft maroon.

You'd found Blade a few weeks ago, bleeding out in the coral reefs surrounding your little island of a facility. He’d likely gotten into a fight with other merpeople, as the more territorial ones tended to do. Even now, the wounds hadn’t completely healed, with bandages still wrapped around his abdomen.

Blade’s ever-cold face barely budged at your greeting. The second your hand met his tank, he backed away, swimming up towards the top of his tank - naturally expecting you to follow. You sighed, shaking your head knowingly.

By the time you had climbed the staircase to the top, Blade was already lounging on the stairs leading into his waters. His wet hair clung to his body as he watched you expectantly, his tail flicking small waves into motion. Sunlight cascaded over him from a glass ceiling, bathing him in a gentle light.

“You’re late.” His eyes never left your body as you neared him, eyeing you like a hungry predator.

You dropped your bag off some counter lining the walls. “I was dealing with the new shipments.”

“Oh? Am I finally getting some company?” Blade asked sarcastically, stretching like a cat in the warm sun. You don’t think it was an accident that he rolled over, shamelessly showing off his sculpted abdomen.

“Like I could just order a merman off the web,” you scoffed, sitting next to him and dipping your legs into the tank. “You’re just a special case.”

He didn’t respond to that, merely watches you with an emotion that you can’t quite pinpoint. Knowing him, it could be anything from warm affection to a mischievous desire to inconvenience you by the slightest amount. He was petty like that.

Briefly, his tail came to brush against your legs. You giggled at the action, the thin fins ticklish against your skin. A flicker of a smile flashed across Blade’s face, gone just as fast as it had appeared.

“How are your wounds?” you asked, your hand absentmindedly coming to pet his head. Where Blade would have bitten anyone else, the merman keened at the touch, closing his eyes briefly.

“Better.” His voice was barely above a whisper as you threaded your fingers through his wet hair.

“That’s good. No pain?”

“None,” he answered. As you removed your hand, for a moment, he chased it, before he met your teasing eyes and remembered himself. Coughing, he quickly turned away, refusing to meet your amused gaze.

“At this rate, you’ll be leaving sooner than expected,” you hummed. Blade’s eyes widened at your words, an unfamiliar pang hitting his chest. “I’m sure you’ve been missing your friends.”

Blade scoffed at the notion, rolling back onto his chest to stare at the floor. “Hardly.”

“Well,” you shrugged, kicking up some water. “At the very least, you’d miss the open waters.”

That, he couldn’t deny. But even still, the thought of finally leaving the facility had become foreign to him. Three weeks prior, he would’ve jumped at the opportunity to get out of this place, this tank. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, chin up.” Your hand cupped his cheek, bringing him to look up at you. “It’s not like you’ll never see me again. You can always visit.”

He doubted that. Out in the ocean, he had little free time to himself. He would spend his days constantly on the run from various mermaid kingdoms and tribes, and if not that, he’d be hunting, searching for his next meal. He journeyed the seas without end. Blade was a vagrant, a wanderer without a home.

But here, perhaps…

His body moved without thinking. Pushing himself up onto his arms, he leaned over you, water droplets falling onto your shirt as he caged you between his arms. His gaze had become hazy, his eyes lidded. His breath shuddered in his chest as he pressed his forehead against yours, drinking in as much of you as he could.

Blade didn’t say much, but he didn’t have to. You heard his words loud and clear, without him needing to say a word.

Stay.

It was unclear who he was talking to, whether it be you or himself. There was a subtle desperation in the way his chest heaved as he breathed, breathless without a thief.

Your arms, your welcoming arms, wrapped around his shoulders like a warm blanket, bringing him in for an embrace. Immediately, he latched onto the opportunity, gripping onto you as though you’d disappear if he dared loosen his grip. He buried his face into the crook of your neck, breathing in your scent, forever engraving it into his memory.

If only he was human, he’d lament. If only he could walk the lands like you did. If only the two of you weren’t separated by land and sea. If only - his grip became just a little tighter - he could stay like this a little longer.

You stroke the back of his head gently, feeling Blade shiver at your touch. He wasn’t crying - you didn’t know if he even remembered how.

Deep inside, you wanted him to stay. You didn’t want to let him go. It was an ugly, selfish part of you that wanted to keep him for yourself. But you knew you couldn't keep him here. He had to return to the ocean, where he belonged.

He pulled away from you, yet still held onto your arms like a lifeline. You never thought you’d describe the stoic merman as desperate, but there was no other word that could properly depict the emotion swirling in his eyes.

Your hands came to cradle his face gently, unable to say a word. Blade’s breath hitched.

His lips barely parted as he spoke, his voice raspy and low.

“Forgive me.”

That was the only warning you got before he crashed his lips into yours.

His kiss was unlike any other you’ve had. Whereas your previous experiences were tender and romantic, this was hungry, raw, depraved. Blade kissed you with the fervor of a starving man, as though you would be his final meal. He was aggressive with his affections, practically clawing onto your shirt as he clutched you closer to him.

Your heart raced in your chest as you met his violent dance, parting your lips for a moment to allow him to slip in his tongue. You welcomed him in, firmly holding his face. Emotions swirled in you like the blurred voices of a crowd, overwhelming and satiating you at the same time.

To say that you were surprised by his actions would be a lie. You’ve known his feelings for a while now, and had plenty of time to accept yours. It was obvious, in the gentlest touches, in the way he could make you smile just by being around you.

You’ve avoided acknowledging these feelings for the longest time, and so did he.

When the two of you finally parted, a string of saliva connecting the two of you, the only thing you could do was watch. You studied Blade’s face, clearly now, for the first time. Your fingers traced around his jawline, admiring how his cheeks had become dyed with a pretty red. You swiped over his parted lips, still catching his breath from the kiss. Your thumb rubbed just underneath his eyes, brushing away the loose strands of hair from his face.

You’ve always known he was a beauty, but in this moment, he simply took your breath away.

Blade covered your hand in his, nuzzling into your palm. He softly pressed his lips to your inner wrist, a stark contrast from the kiss he’d just ravaged you with. He kept his eyes solely on you as he did this, trapping your gaze with his stare.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Huh?” You blinked, trying to snap yourself out of your daze. Blade smirked against your palm, swiping out his tongue and dragging it against your skin.

“Come, now,” he mused. “You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?”

reblogs w comments are appreciated !!

[ruewrites]

Stars in the Deep

AO3

Ship: Asmodeus/Solomon

Word Count: 3186

Warnings: Smut

A/N: Consider this a very very very late MerMay piece. I was busy finishing my degree and writing my thesis and preparing to pass my defense (which I did! Woo!). But I have it for you now! I hope you all enjoy! BUT I saw quite a bit of Octopus mermaid Solomon (or sea witch Solomon) from the fandom... and I had to join in. I couldn't not. It was too good (and there should be more tentacles with Asmo, I said what I said). Comments are appreciated <3

Shiny peach colored scales glittered in the afternoon light. His glow reflected on the seafloor beneath him. It had taken forever for him to be able to slip away from under Lucifer's watchful eye. The elder mer was far too over protective for his liking, Asmodeus needed space to be free and explore as he pleased. Being cooped up in the reef with nothing to do was boring, and there were so many pretty sites to see.

It wasn't like Lucifer would give him permission either. If he knew where he was going, and who he was seeing, he would be absolutely furious.

Exploration was also what had brought them together though, and Asmodeus knew what was good for him.

He swam deeper, away from the surface and out of the territory he had grown up in. The temperature change was slight but noticeable and the slight chill made Asmo shiver. Then the coral started to change, and he found the patch he was searching for. The textures of the sand changed and what appeared to be shimmering coins and pearls were littered around an opening in the ocean floor surrounded by rocks.

Well… not quite rocks.

It was hollow, and varied in texture. Almost like a boulder and the shape was odd. Sometimes it creaked, and parts of it flowed with the ocean current, barely holding on by a thread. Allegedly, humans used them to traverse the surface. It made little sense to Asmo, but that is what he was told. 

 He approached the cracked entrance without fear, even as his wrist was taken by a tendril.

“No hello Darling?”

“I would have, if you hadn't interrupted me,” the upper half of the figure poked out of the hole, he was pale, almost translucent, and his hair was whiter than any Asmodeus had seen before. He was so different than any other creature Asmodeus had ever encountered before, and so intriguing. His tentacles were blotches of white and dark blues with specks of black. Another tentacle joined the first, “You're early.”

“I was able to sneak out quicker this time, you know I can't exactly tell Lucifer when I plan on seeing you Solomon, Great Witch of the Deep,” Asmodeus pecked his nose, giving some color to Solomon's face.

He cleared his throat, eyes shifting ever so slightly, “I believe we are past titles my Peach.”

“You still haven't shown me what a paesh is.”

“Peach, Dearest, and I plan on changing that today.”

Asmo's eyes lit up and he pulled on the tentacle, surprising Solomon and succeeding in pulling him farther out of his cave, “Does that mean we get to go to the surface? I would love to lounge on a beach with you. I also know some lovely basking rocks that we can lay on to warm up.”

Solomon squinted and raised one of his arms to shield his eyes, his other tentacles firmly anchoring him to the cave's entrance. “Perhaps not now, the sun's a bit bright.”

Asmodeus felt himself be tugged towards the entrance, closer into the depths, “But I do have some things for you, if you would just-” another tug, “Follow me?” 

“It's a tight fit.”

“But you've entered before even if just a bit.”

Normally Asmo would enter a bit before pulling away, and then the two of them would spend time amongst the structures around Solomon’s home instead. Those weren’t as intimidating to Asmodeus as delving further from the surface was, yet Solomon always invited him, always yearning for him to dive deeper. 

Asmodeus didn’t miss the way Solomon flinched whenever the sun hit him in a particular way, how he hid under more shady structures, how easily his skin seemed to turn red. 

There was hesitation on both sides. Asmo gave one last glance to the surface and to the sunlight. The dark made it difficult to swim and see. It wasn't the world he was familiar with. And yet-

“I swear, I will take you to visit the surface.”

It was intriguing.

“I promise.”

And some part of Asmo wanted to dive deeper more than anything.

Entering was a tight squeeze, but once he was in, Solomon helped guide him. Apprehension had started to fill Asmodeus as the claustrophobia set in and the more he contemplated changing his mind and heading back to the entrance, but the deeper they went, the more the cave opened and slowly his anxieties seeped away. The farther he went, the more the world changed until it was entirely unrecognizable. Shimmering plants that Asmodeus had never seen before covered the walls, illuminating the dark path, and that wasn't the only difference.

“Welcome to my humble abode.”

Solomon was glowing. His colors had changed to light blues and greens and pinks which shimmered and glowed with the rest of the flora and fauna. Asmodeus had never seen a thing like it before. Even among the glowing ceilings and walls, he was a centerpiece in the massive cavern they had entered. 

He was beautiful.

“Solomon, you're glowing,” he couldn't help swimming around the mer, examining him. He was also much bigger than Asmodeus had realized, “I didn't know you could do that.” 

Solomon was grinning, he seemed both quite pleased with himself and with Asmodeus’ reactions. “You've never made it all the way down here before.” 

His tentacles flared out, showing off more of his newfound color. Solomon was confident, but down here he was in his element, here Asmodeus could watch him thrive. His eyes traced the intricate markings along his body as he placed himself on display, and Asmo wanted to trace each and every one. 

Then Solomon snapped back to his side, hands on his back guiding him further into the cavern “Please, make yourself at home, take a look around while I grab some things.” 

Asmo couldn't help but touch almost everything he came across. Fauna like this didn't exist in higher waters where he normally roamed. He wondered  if he could decorate himself with it. All of the glowing colors would help his beauty pop even more.

“Asmodeus?” Asmo turned to see Solomon holding a round object in his hands, “I promised you I'd show you a peach. Humans drop cargo from their ships all the time, and I wanted you to try this before it got too soggy.” It was still slightly firm to the touch, still untouched by the murky depths to which Solomon had dragged it so his beloved could have a taste. He helped Asmo raise it to his lips, and watched with delight as sharp teeth punctured supple flesh. 

How lucky had he been to find a toppled barrel bobbing at the surface? One that had been harboring such delightful goodies no less. 

Waiting for Asmo’s reaction, Solomon continued to hold the fruit towards his mouth, but there was only so long he could contain himself, “Well?”

Asmo swallowed, “It’s sweet.”

“Just like you.”

“I like it,” the mer finished off the peach, even gnawing at the pitt long after the flesh was gone. Solomon took his hands and removed the pitt from his mouth, “I would hate for you to chip your wonderful teeth.”

Solomon always wondered if Asmodeus had any siren in him, or maybe some distant shark, he loved those sharp little teeth. They were very pretty, and very attractive for a multitude of reasons. He especially liked the way they bit. With Asmodeus it was so hard to control himself.

Asmodeus let out a little squeal as Solomon's tentacles wrapped around him, two beginning to slowly rub along the front of his tail where a small patch of scaled were separated ever so slightly. Asmo hummed and wrapped his arms around Solomon's neck, “Did you just want to butter me up with dinner first.”

Solomon had one hand on Asmo’s waist and the other ran through Asmo’s hair, “Not originally no, but can you blame me? You look beautiful my Peach.”

Leaning in, Solomon could feel Asmo’s smile on his lips as they kissed. The mer was incredibly appealing, both in personality and appearance. If Solomon could have his way, he’d keep him down here with his other pretty things forever. A pleased groan left his lips as he felt the tip of his first tentacle slip into Asmo’s vent.  He pulled away and let himself nip along Asmo’s neck, enjoying the pleased sighs that left him as his tentacles squirmed into his warm depths.

“They’re so cute,” Asmo murmured, picking up one of the tentacles and bringing it to his lips  and pressing kisses along its length. The rest of the tentacles continued to wrap around Asmo maneuvering him so that his back was pressed firmly against Solomon’s chest. A few traveled down his torso making him shudder. 

“They feel so empty when you’re gone,” Solomon cooed, trailing his hand down Asmo’s chest. The feeling of muscles shuddering between his fingertips was like electricity in his body. He loved feeling Asmo start to twist against him as his breathing hitched. It meant he was doing a good job, it meant he was pleasuring his pretty little lover, “Feeling good?”

Asmodeus let out a little drawn out groan in response, his head lolling back over Solomon’s shoulder. His fingers wandered down to where they connected, and stroked along one of the tentacles making it stutter and Solomon made a noise behind him, “Starting to, think we could pick up the pace a bit more?” Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around the tentacle and started stroking. He was egging Solomon on, touching him where he was sensitive, his other hand caressing the side of his face along his markings and running through his hair. 

The noise that left Asmo's mouth when he complied was nothing short of heavenly. Each twitch was divine and his twisting made Solomon aware of how much he was enjoying himself, and he couldn’t help but tighten his grip. Burying his face in the crook of Asmo’s neck, he nibbled ever so slightly.  Every inch of Asmodeus was beyond comprehension, his mind went hazy as he made his way deeper into his partner. 

Solomon's tentacles squirmed and squelched inside of him as he held Asmodeus close. Pale fingers reached down to toy with the pink nub that had begun to protrude from his vent, and the sensation of pleasure shot through Asmodeus like lightning. 

“Solomon! Wait- wait! I'm about to-” 

“Shhh,” Solomon's hand reached up Asmo's throat, gently caressing his skin, “Let me make you cum as many times as I can.”

His own voice shook, his brows furrowed together and eyes closed as he buried his fade in Asmo's shoulder. His fingers further coaxed Asmo's length, as his tentacles worked his vent. He rubbed along the underside, not missing a single ridge or groove as he went. Asmodeus continued to squirm and whine in his grasp, his noises becoming more fervent the closer he came to his orgasm. Solomon switched from a gentle but persistent rubbing of his cock to a firm grip around him. His stroking was in tandem with his tentacles. 

With a squeal, his cock lurched, shooting off pearly strings of cum, that dissipated into the surrounding water. But the tentacles continued to thrust, they were far from done, and the sensations in his vent seemed to be keeping Asmodeus erect.

Asmo himself couldn't think of anything beyond the pleasure assaulting his core. It was a building pressure, and each one of Solomon's tentacles rubbed against sensitive walls. 

“Don't stop, please don't stop.”

It was amazing, and those words even failed to properly express what he was feeling. Yet, Solomon complied. His rapid pace and short thrusts had Asmo letting out  a cry as the inner walls of his vent fluttered and clenched. His body went rigid before slumping against Solomon. With a groan of his own Solomon felt himself release sperm packets deep within the other mer's vent. He remained inside as he held Asmodeus close, allowing them both  to drift to the bottom of the cave, nestled comfortably below. 

He noted Asmodeus still twitching cock with amusement.

“Was two not enough for you my Peach?” 

“You said you'd make me cum as many times as you could,” Asmo shot back.

“So I did.” 

Without a word, and plenty of smiles, Solomon removed himself from Asmo's vent and moved lower, careful to place his chosen partner carefully and comfortably on the surface below. He took in the length for a moment, admiring how thin wisps of their coupling dissipate before him. His fingers toyed with his partner's opening and the base of his cock before taking him onto his mouth. He went slow, savoring the way Asmodeus twitched and gasped, and how his fingers gripped at his hair. 

Honestly? He could watch his partner like this for hours and get off without physical stimulation The way his face twisted in pleasure, how his body twitched and his pretty fin flicked. Asmodeus was enthusiastic and just as sensitive as he was. If they had had similar anatomy, Solomon would have loved to thrust deep into his vent, chest to chest. If only, but Solomon could still have his fantasies even if it wasn’t something he could have in reality.

Asmo tightened his grip on his hair as he came again, and Solomon took all of him.

“Solly?” Asmo seemed confused, until his tongue probed deeper into his vent. 

“One more,” was all Solomon said before diving in.

Asmodeus’ mind was pleasantly numb and buzzing with pleasure. His hips thrust weakly as Solomon worked on him, and god what phenomenal work he did. When he came this time from the sensations in his vent, his cock let out one final release before retracting. His voice hitched and his grip on Solomon tightened before he went limp. The inside of his vent thrummed and pulsed with a comfortable final wave of pleasure, one so strong that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to move. His eyes shifted towards Solomon who hadn't left his side. Rather his tentacles started to curl around his body once more and he caressed what he could reach with his hands. He even brought one up to his lips  gracing it with a gentle kiss, and he swore he saw Solomon shudder.

“Do you use that trick on all the pretty mer who come into your cave?” 

Solomon chuckled, finally wrapping his arms around Asmodeus, he could make a crude joke about cumming in another cave, but for now he wanted to savor this moment, “What do you think?”

“I think you’re a charmer.”

“Only for you,” Solomon pulled away and looked into Asmo's eyes, “And no one else. Now rest, there is still one thing I wish to show you, and I have a promise to keep.”

***

They ascended from the depths hand in hand and breached the surface. The  water was still, not a wave in sight, the only movement occurring was where they disturbed the water. Solomon had brought him to what looked like a hidden grove, just off the coast of a sandy shore. After their coupling, Asmodeus found himself curled up to rest. He watched Solomon in between bouts of sleep as he moved about the cavern. Occasionally he would come back to Asmodeus’ side to play with his hair and kiss his forehead, before moving around again. He left tiny slices of peaches by Asmo’s side that the mer happily consumed along with trinkets for him to play with. Asmo recognized some as little pretty things that he had gifted to Solomon. When he lingered long enough, Asmo would coax him closer and trace along his pretty markings. He would start with the appendages, then his stomach and chest, and then the ones on his face before pulling him into a kiss. Then Solomon would laugh and whisper to him to rest.

 Once he was rested, Solomon prompted their journey to the surface. Just as he promised. 

“I like coming here,” Solomon said as he led Asmo up onto the landing of the grove, “It's quiet and where I find all of my treasures.”

“You didn't find me here.”

“Almost all of my treasures.”

His tentacles wrapped around Asmo, swaddling him protectively and holding him close.  His markings could still be faintly seen under the starlight. Asmo shuddered as cold fingertips brushed against his arms. Looking down at their bodies tangled together, it was hard to discern where Asmo's body ended and Solomon's began. He traced along one of them and looked back up at Solomon, “Where would you be if you had not met me?”

Solomon smiled and pressed a kiss to Asmo's forehead, “Where would I be indeed.”

They laid in silence, watching the stars and enjoying each other's presence. Then Asmo raised his arm and traced a shape into the sky using his finger, “Ursa Major.”

“Hm?”

“Ursa Major. It’s that cluster of stars right there,” he traced the shape once more with his fingers and then continued on, “If you keep swimming in that direction, there’s a lot of those big floating rocks. Like the one around your cove.”

“You mean ships?”

“Is that what it is?”

Solomon’s eyes lingered on the shape Asmodeus had traced in the sky and then down to where Asmodeus was pointing, “Ursa Major…”

“There’s more too if you like that,” Asmo pointed  to another cluster, “That one is Cepheus, and then his wife Cassiopia is over there- They’re both royalty you know- And then that one over there is Draco, a dragon. Oh! And that one is Ursa Minor-”

Solomon pulled Asmo closer, head resting atop Asmodeus’ pretty blonde locks as he named more and more of the stars. One day he could ask him how he knew all of the names and stories, but for now, he was content to relax and listen as he held Asmodeus securely in his tentacles. In the morning he would have to say goodbye to Asmodeus again and spend the days collecting treasures from the  surface and waiting for his return. 

Asmodeus would make his way back home. Lucifer would be pacing around, ready with a lecture that he had been preparing every second Asmodeus was missing. Asmo would sit and whine for hours as he was reprimanded, responding with vague answers about where he’d been.  Then he’d wait with lazy days spent sunning himself on rocks at the surface and staring at his reflection and his pretty glittering scales. Until he’d see Solomon, he’d stare at and adorn mementos from the sea witch. Pearls, pretty jewelry, and trinkets he couldn’t name from the surface. Solomon always slipped him one before he departed. Leaving scale’s behind for Solomon or little pretty things from the seafloor were ways that he showed his affection. A treasure for a treasure, reminders until they could see each other again. 

They spoke silently, staring at the stars. Time stood still as treasured memories formed above the surface. 

Both of them believed the stars looked a bit brighter this night.

[plankton-in-space]

Hello! It me!

Hello friends! It has been a while, I’m still here!

It’s my birthday again, today. This year passed so fast and so slow at the same time. 33 is such a nice symmetrical number, though!

Literally nothing went according to plan, there were many dark moments when I thought that life is simply suffering. I felt alone and overwhelmed and I withdrew from social media and from life bc what was the point?

My family is well and healthy, the crisis has passed and we all survived it. I try to let go of past resentments and look at the now of us, which I never seemed to appreciate before. We are here, we are alive and we are all a work in progress. It is so difficult sometimes to focus on that, when life is fast-paced and I try to think of every possible scenario that might happen in the future.

It has been my constant obsessive thought, the future, to the point of neglecting my present. But I’m learning to fight it on so many levels. Future plankton can take care of herself, current plankton needs to eat well, sleep well and be happy!

How easy it is to say “be happy” but how fleeting it is as a feeling. I felt very very happy this year, more so than any other year I’ve been alive. Even when happiness was sandwiched between the sads, it was there, sparkling!

I walked my dog everyday, in the forest, with his two bodyguards (our two stray cats, Aziraphale & Crowley) meowing behind us. They kept me company when I washed my tools with the hose, waiting patiently to be petted by my cold hands in the end.

The sun in my face, clay on my hands. Painting with watercolours after abstaining for years. Running with Kohta Yamamoto playing on my headphones. Learning to meditate. Books, ceramics, comics, art, alone or with other people.

My bestie was always waiting with coffee, gossip, ideas and laughter and I love her so so much. I really appreciated the company and the sympathetic ears when I needed to cry about the world. My other irl friends were amazing too, I was never alone. My brain tried to convince me I was, but I wasn’t. I was teacher, friend, daughter, sister, helper.

And I accomplished so much! I won’t share what, for a reason. I accomplished a lot and I am proud but my biggest success has been letting go. I’m an overachiever ok? I like working and being good at what I do and my biggest flaw is overworking myself to the point of burnout, to prove to myself that I’m worth the love I receive, the attention. Look at me, I am bright and hardworking and pleasant, love me love me love me. But I receive the love and the care nonetheless, and I want to remember that. I am loved because I am me, and I am who I am because I am very, very loved.

And this is the energy I wanna bring into my 33s, into 2024. I am loved deeply and I love deeply and I care. Numbing myself, trying to avoid the hurts and the sadness only numbs the joy, the quirkiness, the sheer weirdness of existence. If I fail, I will try again, if I cry, I will laugh again.

I hope you are all healthy this year, and happy. I hope you notice the sunrises and the sunsets, the flowers and the birds and the seasons.

I don’t know if I will be more online this year or not. Being online takes time I would rather give to me, well, being present in my life. I haven’t decided yet which socials to keep, how often to post, how to reduce doom scrolling without going offline. It’s a work in progress.

But now, in this moment in time, I will post my mermay drawings bc I managed to finish the challenge just yesterday! wahoo!

[petitelepus]

A free reign mtmte mermay bot x reader of your choice. I know you do fantastic work.

Minimus was a perfect servant, or that is how he wanted to think about himself. He would get up early, prepare himself, get ready, and rush to serve the royalty.

You were a shark princess, a member of the royal family and he was just one of your many little servants. What set him aside from others was his tremendous strength.

He could alone bring you your huge plate that consisted of wild fishes, caught by handy octopus Mers. That was his normal morning, bringing you your breakfast and taking care of your every want or need.

With due time, it became a rumor around the palace that you appeared to favor Minimus over other remora Mers.

Minimus would always say and correct that the rumors were false and that there was nothing between a servant like him and royalty like you.

One day, Minimus was preparing your after-bath dinner, but another servant came to him, looking fearful.

"M- Minimus...!" The Mer panted and the green little Mer looked at the other Mer in shock, "What, what is it?"

"It's the princess!"

"What about them? Are they alright?"

"She- She wants you!"

"Me?" Ah, he must have meant your dinner, "Ah, I see. I'll just get the fish prepared and-!"

"No!" The other servant shook their head, "She wants to see you now!"

"But isn't she-?" Minimus blinked as he realized why the other servant was so panicky. It was your bath time, a time when female remoras would help you bathe.

The male swallowed nervously and left his position to join you in the royal baths. Once there, Minimus noted that you were already done bathing and gone. You must have moved to your quarters.

So that is where Minimus headed.

There you were, relaxing. As soon as he made it, your head whipped around.

"Minimus." You turned to look at the Mer half your size and he bowed out of habit and because of his respect for you. "Milady."

He raised his head enough to look at you. yet he was still avoiding direct eye contact. "I heard you especially requested me?"

"I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t important." You stated and Minimus nodded as he bowed again, "Of course, milady."

A silence fell between you, only to be broken by your sighing. Minimus grew worried, "Milady, is everything alright?"

"No." You said as you sighed, "We had a meeting today."

Ah, the royal family meeting. You hated those, mainly because as the youngest member of your family, you had very little authority over the things that took place in the kingdom.

"Please, cheer up milady." The green Mer tried to cheer you up, but you sighed even louder.

"Let's be honest Minimus. I'm not the firstborn so I don't get anything but a fair title and place in the palace."

"That's not true, milady. You-!"

"Would be married off to someone to strengthen our kingdoms' union, but that honor is reserved for my older siblings."

Minimus frowned, knowing that what you said was true. You were the youngest out of 8, so it was highly unlikely that you would get much when the King would pass.

Like you said, you would have a title as a princess and you would have a home here in the palace where you would never have to work and you could live your life sweetly without worries your older siblings would have.

"Well...!" You finally smiled a little, "At least I get to do is to decide who I will marry."

"See, milady? Things aren't that bad in the end."

"Well, there is one problem." You groaned, "The Mer I have my eyes on is unaware of my feelings for him."

"Can I help you somehow?" He asked and you pouted as you turned to look at him.

"I like you Minimus." You blurted out without blinking an eye, "I like you enough to take you as my consort."

Minimus froze. He stared at you for a good moment before he felt his face starting to burn and turn red.

"M- Milady!" He stuttered in shock, "Please reconsider! I am nothing but a humble servant, a remora! I can't offer you the life you deserve!"

"You are my best and favorite servant. You know me better than anyone else." You pointed out, but then you became quiet as if you were deep in thought.

Minimus hoped that you were reconsidering, but then you looked at him again and grinned, "Is it a problem?"

"Huh?"

"Is me being a princess a problem for you?"

"No, milady, but-!"

"Then let's leave this place!" You suddenly shouted with a huge smile and Minimus blinked his red eyes, "Excuse me?!"

"Yeah! Let's go and form a new pod!" You smiled, showing off your razor sharp triangle-shaped teeth as you swam to the green Mer who was only half your size, and grasped his hands.

"Let's go on a journey and let me prove my love for you!" You were so excited and Minimus knew from experience that when you would get excited over something, you would get extremely stubborn also.

Finally, he sighed and nodded, "Very well, milady. I accept your proposal."

"Jay! We are going on an adventure!" You cheered happily and Minimus watched you swim around your suite in excitement. He doubted that you would actually leave the comfort of the castle...

Or so he thought, but there he was with you but the palace's doors, being sent off on a journey by your father, the king himself.

"Look after my daughter, Minimus. She can be a handful." The king nodded at him and the former servant and now your mate, nodded shakily, "Y- Yes, your highness."

"We will be alright Father!" You said happily and the huge shark king nodded as you grasped Minimus and bolted into the vast sea, hungry for adventures and eager to have your love with your new consort to bloom.

[corvus--rex]

If you saw the first version of this post, no you didn't.

I haven't been able to focus on any of my wips, but I did manage to get this out somehow. Anyway, here, have my not-yet-titled and not even edited contribution to mermay with some merklance

Keith had always dreamt of the ocean.  Every night he saw rolling waves, sunlight filtering through salt water to make the coral sparkle.  He saw brightly-scaled fish in colors he could never find at the aquarium, smooth pale stone carved with words and images he couldn’t exactly recall after waking.  He always knew where the ocean was, could scent it in the air, even where he lived with his parents just outside the city built over the desert.  He dreamt of a soft voice singing gently to him in a language he couldn’t remember, wrapping him in comfort and safety.  It would whisper a name to him, but like seafoam it dissolved when he tried to touch it.

His parents nurtured his love of the sea, and it surprised absolutely no one when he left for a university on the coast, one with one of the best marine biology departments in the country.  Keith had left most of his old books and toys behind in his childhood bedroom, but he brought the one thing he had never been without for as long as he could remember.  At first glance, it looked like a normal conch shell.  A second look and the color that was just a little bit off would become apparent.  As a child, Keith had taken a magnifying glass to it.  He had wanted to know everything he could about that small part of the ocean he kept close.  He found words he couldn’t read, but felt so familiar carved into the surface, intricate, swirling designs wrapping around the foreign letters.  He never told anyone what he found, keeping it a well-guarded secret.

He was dreaming about the words on the shell again early one morning in his college dorm.  He wasn’t alone this time, something that had never happened before.  He couldn’t see the other person, but he knew they were there.  They were saying something, and Keith had to strain to make out the words through the salt water he was floating in.  Even if he could hear the separate words of the rolling, melodic language, he couldn’t understand it.  It felt to him that he should be able to, but the speaker was too far away, too muffled for the sounds to make sense.  He woke with a start only seconds before his alarm went off.  The muffled sounds played on a loop in his head all day, and try as he might, Keith still couldn’t make sense of them.  He was so distracted, he ran into someone.

“Oh, sorry,” he mumbled, but stopped, hearing the same language again, the same soft sounds like ocean waves.  He looked up and into the intensely blue eyes of someone he didn’t know, but felt as though he should.  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

The stranger looked startled at the collision, but didn’t move.  He repeated himself.  His volume was low, voice soft, but the words carried.  The same words Keith had heard in his dream.

“What is that?  Key…what?  I know I’ve heard that before.”

“It means ‘home’,” the stranger said.  An odd sadness passed over his face.  “You don’t remember do you?  I’ve come to bring you home.”

Keith froze.  He knew, knew, that that was what those words meant.  A long-buried moment flashed through his memory, one of him on the beach, tightly clutching his conch, saying that word over and over to his parents, who looked utterly bewildered at it.  No, at him.  They were confused by him.  And all he wanted was to go home.  Where was home?

“That ‘key’ word.  I’ve said it before.  A long time ago.  I…I think I might be adopted.  I think my parents thought that was my name.  They brought me with them that day.  Too many humans, too many lights.  How did I forget that?”  He was muttering to himself, but looked back at the stranger again.  “What’s my name?” he asked, needing the answer to be the one he’d heard in his dreams, spoken by the same voice that sung to him.

“Kira.”

Keith hadn’t heard that name since he was a small child.  It was warm and comforting, but at the same time filled him with a longing for a home he’d forgotten.  He needed to know more, and it looked like the stranger in front of him could supply those answers.

“Are you done with classes for today?” he asked, “If you are, there’s a good sushi place on the beach.  I know the guy who runs it.  We can talk more there.”

Keith only nodded, too much in his head to verbalize.  The stranger led the way, leaving Keith to trail after him, sorting through his thoughts.  Except Keith was having a very difficult time doing that, distracted by this person he’d never met, but was still intimately familiar.  When they passed through the cover of the trees, Keith found himself staring at the stranger’s skin.  A warm, rich tan that almost looked like it was shimmering in the sunlight, glittering gold wisps wrapping and curling over his exposed forearms, ones that echoed the ones Keith had always seen in his dreams, appearing and vanishing like smoke.  Short dark hair that was carefully cut to keep his neck just below the ear exposed and looked like the softest fluffy silk.  Intensely rich blue eyes that sparkled like the sea itself.  There was no denying he was beautiful, but more than that, Keith trusted him completely and totally.

Before he registered where they were, they had stopped where the road met the beach.  The pale sands were covered in tourists and locals alike, but that wasn’t where the stranger was looking.  He scanned the shoreline, turning to head down the far-left side of the public beach.  As Keith continued to follow, he realized something.

“You know my name, but I don’t know yours,” he said once they’d passed the bulk of the crowds.

The stranger gave a half-shrug.  “Lance works for now.  It’s close enough.”

“That’s not your real name, is it?”

“It’s as much my real name as Keith is yours.”  Before Keith could point out that he had never mentioned his name, Lance continued.  “I’ve been looking for you for a long time by human standards.  Nothing for us, although it felt like an eternity.  I knew your human name, and where your halls of learning were, but I had no idea what you might look like now.  It was the luck of sea and stars we collided.”

Human name.  In a moment of desperation. Keith had asked Lance for his own name, and Lance had answered without hesitation.  The pieces of his past were hazy, and remembering that day on the beach startled him.  He knew that the people who had raised him, who he thought were his parents, had put him in therapy as a child for some trauma he could never identify.  Now, meeting Lance, he suspected that that trauma was vary different from anything his adopted parents could have conceived of.

Once again, due to being lost in his thoughts, Keith hadn’t realized that they were at their destination.  It was a secluded section of the beach he never knew was there.  Looking around, he realized that there was no way to see it from the road or even from the open water without knowing what to look for.  And right there, the gentle waves lapping at the sea-facing wall, was a small building, warm light glowing from the open windows.  Lance led them to secluded table in the back corner, ignoring the looks they were getting from the few people there.  If Keith hadn’t been so focused on where he was going and processing everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes, he would have realized the people around him were all like Lance – human enough in appearance, but there was something about them that wasn’t quite all human.

They had barely sat down when two seashell-shaped glasses of a clear, sky blue liquid shimmering with tiny flecks of gold were set in front of them, along with the absolute freshest sushi Keith had ever seen.  Lance picked at it and sat back, brows furrowing in consideration before he spoke.

“Your shell.  You have it with you?”

“Yeah, I do.  I don’t usually, but I heard those words in my dream and felt like I needed to keep it close today.”

“May I?”

Keith carefully took the shell, wrapped in his favorite t-shirt, out of his bag, setting it on the table.  Lance removed the conch with a gentle reverence, running his fingertips over its surface while looking it over.  It had to be some sort of reflection from the light, because Keith could have sworn Lance’s eyes glowed for the briefest moment before putting the shell back down.

“I know how humans can be with gifts from Mother Ocean, but you’ve taken great care of it.”

Keith reached out, fingers brushing over familiar ridges and lines.  “I’ve never let anyone else touch it.  It always felt like it wasn’t for them to have.”

Lance chuckled softly.  “It isn’t.  Humans would have taken it, argued over its origins and meaning.  Something like this was never meant for their eyes.  This was meant for its recipient, something to be kept as a symbol of a bond.”

“Why do you keep talking about humans that way?  You’re one too.”

“I’m not.  And neither are you.  You, Kira, are not of this surface world.  You never were.  You belong with us among the waves.”  He paused, staring into the glittering blue liquid of his drink.  “I…I’ve missed you.”

Flashes of another world, another life, overlapped one another, creating an incomplete mosaic of memories.  The images from his dreams, the feeling of being fast and free in the salt water, gentle touches from webbed fingers, the walls of carved pale stone, but this time the room full of others, all there for him.  In his mind’s eye, he turned, the feeling alien to a human body but so natural, only to find Lance beside him, fondness and love in his eyes.  He remembered another conch shell, aqua-tinged, and carved with the same words and decorations.  It sat beside the one on the table, his own in coral-stained reds.  The one sitting between them right then.  Keith wasn’t sure what to make of the memories, but the pull he’d always felt toward the ocean was even stronger than ever.

“I…I think…I think I’ve missed you too,” Keith said, knowing it was true the moment the words left his mouth.

Lance reached across the table, offering his hand.  “Come with me.  Let me help you remember who you are.”

Keith accepted, taking nothing but the conch when they left.

At the water’s edge, Lance stripped down, wading waist-deep into the water.  Keith knew he needed to do the same, joining Lance with the conch.  Lance guided Keith's hands underwater, the invisible carvings on the shell glowing a pale amethyst.  Keith couldn’t take his eyes off it, allowing Lance to lead them both deeper, following until neither could touch the shallow ocean floor.  Without warning, Keith dove under the water’s surface, never letting go of the conch.  Lance knew what was coming and shifted behind him, one arm wrapped around Keith’s waist.  He submerged as well, letting the change flow through him.  For Keith, it was far less gentle, and he thrashed, his body too used to a human shape.  Lance held on, stronger in his natural form than he could be as a human.  But he’d forgotten how strong Keith could be, and struggled to keep his grip.

Keith relaxed, the burning in his lungs gone.  Once he realized he could breathe again, he was able to allow his body to do what it wanted to.  He stared at his hands as delicate lavender webbing stretched between his fingers, sharp claws replacing his dull nails.  At first, the feeling in his lower half was one of constriction, but it felt so good he couldn’t have stopped it if he wanted to.  When he dared look, his human legs were gone, replaced by an elegant coral red and amethyst tail.  He looked at his hands again, realizing Lance was still holding the conch, aqua webbing and sharp claws on his hands as well.  Lance’s long legs were gone, aquamarine and sapphire scales covering his tail.

The words on the conch made sense finally, bonding vows speaking of lasting love and devotion until Mother Ocean called their souls home.  The pieces of memory came together, Keith remembering the ceremony binding him to Lance.  He remembered the altered migration of sea creatures unknown to humans, remembered the monster – a kraken, his human memory supplied – remembered the sorceress, a deep mer causing pain and destruction for no reason other than she could.  He remembered taking his bonding shell back from her twisted hands, and her cursing him.  He remembered trying to get away from her, having lost sight of his mate and family.  He remembered making it to shore, small and helpless, legs instead of tail and fins.  He remembered wanting nothing more than to go home, and the humans who found him, mistaking his native word for home for his name, calling him Keith.  Kira looked up from the shell, his mate’s eyes holding the same love and fondness they had on their bonding day.

“Laneris.”

“Kira.  I’ve missed you so much.  Let me take you home.”

[hiddendreamer67]

Giant Mers are Good Mers

That's right, it's MerMay baby! Introducing my new bois. Caspian is a giant siren with influences of Mediterranean monk seals and leopard seals. Beckett is a lil' human who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This piece is a completed oneshot, but I've got a couple ideas for more oneshots with this pairing, including a few ideas for alternate universes (especially after seeing all the fun @ibis-gt seems to be having with AUs of their bois).

Word count: 6,001

Initial prompt idea: human was taken by a giant siren but then let go (on a whim / siren got bored) but human doesn’t know why they were spared so they come back to thank the siren. The siren doesn’t even remember doing that because it was such an insignificant event to them, but now it’s interesting because humans never came on their own.

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

Beckett had always been a simple fellow. He grew up in WhiteBridge, on a small town farm with his three older sisters picking on him ceaselessly. While he loved WhiteBridge and its quaint charms, Beck found his true passion in books, and studied at Oxford for several years before scouring the globe for his passion. In his quest for knowledge, Beckett chose to join a month-long excursion out at sea, and found himself regretting that decision a few weeks later.

“Steady on there.” One of the sailors, Michelle, handed him a pair of earplugs. “You’ll need these where we’re going.”

Beckett eyed the little pieces of foam dubiously. “And just where might that be?”

“Siren territory.”

Beck hardly believed in such fairy tales, but to calm the sailor’s superstitions he inserted the plugs as instructed. Siren tales aside, Beckett found himself growing as twitchy as the sailors. The coastline hadn’t been visible for ages due to a large amount of fog accumulation. The stormy skies were foreboding as well, indicating that proper precautions would need to be taken. This far north, the weather reports often indicated rocky waves far beyond what should be normal.

Would Beckett sink, out here in the middle of nowhere? Was that to be his fate? The young man began to fret, hastening to make himself useful as the first rolls of thunder sounded off and the waves grew steadily higher.

And then, he heard it. Beckett paused, arms slack on the rope as he attempted to hear that haunting melody. Was the weather playing tricks on him, or was someone calling out to him.

“BECK! EARS!”

Beckett blinked, stunned to find himself standing on the slippery railing. When did he get up here? Beck hastened to climb down, noticing the rest of the crew had their hands firmly clasped over their ears, even with the ear plugs inserted.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Even with the double protection, the voice grew in volume, its booming voice penetrating into their heads. Every single person on board fell victim to its call, the ship’s captain turning the wheel to head towards the beckoning beast. Beckett climbed back up to the railing, plunging overboard into the crashing waves.

With a sputter, Beckett fought to keep his breath, legs kicking desperately against the current. Even in his desperate survival state, the voice called to him, and instinctively Beckett swam in the right direction to answer its call.

Every time the voice paused to take a breath, Beck would regain control for only a moment, his heart pounding as his fate flashed before his eyes with nothing to be done about it. Between one blink and the next, the sky grew darker, a looming shape breaching in the distance. Another blink, and Beckett’s face lost all complexion staring up at his demise.

A great sea serpent, half man half beast, towered with its human half over the pitiful human. With a single shift of its body, the beast created waves that threatened to pull Beck under. Those sharp features and piercing blue eyes were unforgettable, and subconsciously Beck realized this was the last face he would ever see.

Another blink. This time, when the serpent let out a hum, Beckett remained conscious but still out of his own control. His body was lax but his mind manic. The siren reached for him, slimy claws surrounding his form and making Beck shudder as he was raised 50 feet in the air in seconds. Beckett whimpered, coughing out sea water as his gaze was drawn down to the siren’s lips. The creature grinned and revealed its razor-sharp fangs. Taking a deep breath in, the siren revealed the cavernous depths beyond as it prepared to inhale its next meal.

Beckett pleaded nonsense pitifully, tears pouring down his cheeks as the haunting nothingness washed over his mind yet again. Would he even wake once more? Was the beast merciful enough to let Beckett go in his sleep?

When Beckett woke up, he thought he was dead.

He squinted, the sun too bright for his eyes. The sun? What happened to the storm? Stranger yet, the water that had soaked him to the bone was no more. Beck was dry, wrapped in blankets in a stranger’s bed.

“You’re awake.”

Beckett turned his head, his sore muscles protesting the movement. Beside him sat an older looking fellow, hair greying with age. “Who’re you?”

“The name’s Seymour.” Seymour introduced himself. “And who’re you?”

“Beck.” Beckett’s voice felt like he hadn’t spoken in days. “Am I dead?”

“No, but you tried awful hard.” Seymour assured him. “Found you passed out on the shore two days ago. Guessin’ you were part of some shipwreck? Though there wasn’t much wreckage to be found. Awfully impressive for you to have swam that far.”

Is that what happened? Beck frowned, trying to parse out the details. His body ached something terrible. He did remember swimming for a great distance. Had the siren all been a strange vision of his adrenaline-infused thoughts?

“...huh.” Beck settled back into the pillows, looking up at the ceiling. “I… didn’t know I could do that.”

“Well that, or an angel saved you.” Seymour chuckled. “You’re one lucky soul.”

Beck squinted in thought. If that’s what angels looked like, he could understand why all biblical depictions had humans cowering in fear.

(...was it an angel?)

Beckett spent some of the most confusing weeks of his life recovering from the shipwreck. Even as his physical form healed, Beck couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the events that transpired that night. He couldn’t get the notion out of his head that the giant sea serpent was real. It had all felt so lifelike, the claws and the fish breath and the dark melodious tones that haunted his dreams…

Seymour was kind enough to open his home to Beck, offering the traumatized lad a position maintaining his lighthouse while Beckett still fought to gather his wits. “Yer’ not the first.” Seymour assured him with a chuckle. “It’s no water off my back if you want to keep me company while you figure things out.”

You’re not the first. Beckett had cleared his throat, wanting to address that thought. “The other people who wash up on shore… did they ever… see anything?”

Seymour raised a patient eyebrow. “What do you mean, seen? Figure you lot have all seen a lot, what with the wreckage.”

“No, I mean, out at sea.” Beck felt foolish, twiddling his thumbs a bit. “Like a… like a merman.”

To his credit, Seymour did nothing more than a slow blink. “A merman.” He repeated.

“But, not a regular merman.” Beck winced at his own words. Just what was a regular merman? “A big one, like a hundred feet long, and pale white skin, and white locks of hair, and piercing blue eyes-”

“Kid.” Seymour cut him off. “I’ll tell it to ya straight. No, I ain’t ever heard nothing like that.”

Today, Beckett found himself on the cliffside, safely back from the edge as he watched the distant waves. His knees were tucked up to his chest, chin atop them as Beck sat lost in thought. Somewhere out there, Beckett’s giant captor- and later savior- was out there.

Why did the beast let him go? Even further than that, the siren had gone out of its way to give Beck a chance at life. There’s no way Beckett could have made it all the way to the shore on his own, disoriented as he had been.

Despite his better judgement, Beckett had to know the truth. With this foolish notion in mind, Beck set out a few months later, having rented a boat from one of the local fishermen. It took a lot of practice for Beckett to learn how to guide such a vessel, as every crest of a wave made the poor lad jump.

Seymour must think he was mad. Often the kind old man reminded Beckett that he didn’t have to conquer his fear of the waves directly, but Beck had just shook his head. Seymour couldn’t understand the debt Beck felt to the creature that had saved his life, and his curiosity kept him captive. Beckett wouldn’t be free until he had answers.

Of course, once he was out on the waters, Beck realized how foolish of a plan this truly was- he knew nothing about aquatic navigation. Every part of the ocean looked the same to him. Even worse, his memories of the last sea journey were extremely muddled. How on earth was he going to find the same location?

And even as Beck drifted in waters that may or may not be similar, the human realized he had no surefire way of gaining the siren’s attention. He settled for calling out often, hoping his carrying voice would be enough. Did the beast understand english? It was deceptively human-looking.

Beckett’s throat grew parched, and Beck sat down a moment to take careful sips of water from his dwindling bottle. The sky was growing darker, and a familiar fog had begun to roll in. An eerie chill began to creep up the back of Beckett’s neck. Suddenly, this plan wasn’t feeling so wise.

That’s when he heard it. The familiar song of his dreams was echoing across the water. Beck had forgotten the feeling, his limbs stiffening against his will like a marionette pulled taunt.

Blink. A gigantic fish tail, just the tip cresting the waves. Blink. Beckett found himself in the waves, gasping as he kicked frantically to keep his head above water. Blink. All too soon, Beck found himself clasped between those claws, water dripping from his locks as he stared at those terrifying chompers.

Oh god. This was a terrible idea. What should he do? What was there to do? All the blood left Beckett’s face, watching the siren lick its lips. It raised Beck higher, dangling the human by the back of his shirt above a now gaping maw. Beckett let out an unholy screech, realizing he had made a terrible mistake.

Beckett squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the words out of his lungs before he never got the chance again. “WHY DID YOU SPARE ME?!”

To Beck’s great relief, he didn’t find himself lowered onto the beast’s tongue. Instead, after the longest pause of Beckett’s life, he opened his eyes to see the siren’s mouth had gone slack.

“What?”

Beck’s eyebrows shot up into his scalp, shocked to hear the siren actually speak. Guess that meant it understood english, too. Beckett cautiously raised his gaze, meeting the siren’s eyes instead of its teeth. The creature looked confused, to say the least.

“You-” Beck cleared his throat, knowing he had to keep the siren’s attention lest he become a meal. “You spared me.” The siren’s brow furrowed further. Beckett frowned. “You… you saved my life? I mean, first you threatened it, but… 3 months ago? You- our ship, and the song, and… I woke up on the shore…”

Unfortunately, despite being the most momentous occasion of Beckett’s life, the giant sea serpent didn’t seem to have given the night a second thought. Beck couldn’t stop the sinking feel in his chest, knowing this whole journey was pointless after all.

The siren slowly shook his head. “That sounds unlike me.”

“It’s true!” Beckett insisted, especially because his life seemed to be on the line. “I was baffled too, but for some reason you spared me, and-and I don’t know why either! It’s been driving me insane. Why else would I sail all the way out here trying to find you?”

“You came looking for me?” This, at least, caused the siren to raise an interested eyebrow. “That would be a first.”

Beck nodded quickly. “Yes! I’ve been shouting for you all day. And before that I’ve been training for weeks, saving up for a downpayment to borrow Ben’s boat, which I’ll probably be losing now that I have no idea where that ended up…” Beckett grimaced, once again meeting the siren’s gaze. “Sorry, I’ve been told I have a tendency to sidetrack conversations in uncomfortable situations. Boat’s not important. Please don’t eat me.”

To both of their surprise, the siren let out an amused snort, the hot fishy air rustling Beck’s hair.

“I apologize for that.” The creature had the decency to look sheepish, even as its words curdled Beckett’s blood. “It’s nothing personal.”

“Wait, what?!” Beckett immediately began screeching, attempting to squirm out of the claws still holding him captive.

“Stop!” The siren hissed, his grip tightening painfully around Beck’s ribs. “You will fall with that behavior.”

Beck winced, continuing to struggle against the crushing appendages. “That was kind of the idea. I choose waves over teeth.”

“Waves over…?” The siren shook his head. “No, you misunderstand. I will not eat you.”

Beck found that hard to believe. He squinted, judging the gigantic face before him even as the pressure stayed tight around his chest. “So, you were going to?”

“Yes.”

“But now you’re not.”

“Yes.”

“...why?”

“Because you’re quite interesting, little human.” The siren admitted. “Your question confuses me. Do you want to be eaten?”

Beck chose wisely to avoid that question. “My name’s Beckett.” He said instead. “Beck, for short. Not little human, or anything.”

The siren blinked. It must be strange putting a name to your not-food. “My name is Caspian.”

Caspian. For some reason, Beck hadn’t actually pictured the siren having a name. Or talking. Or generally possessing much humanity at all… the self-reflection made him feel a bit guilty.

“It’s nice to meet you, Caspian.” Beck greeted. He glanced around, realizing the sun had finished setting. “Can we circle back to the boat issue? I mean, I’m glad this hasn’t ended fatally, but it is getting late.”

“Hold on.” Caspian frowned. “You spent all that effort to reach me, only to leave? Little Beck, your story has holes.”

“No, no no no.” Beck quickly shut that down, hastily trying to avoid any possibility of a vengeful siren. “No that’s not it at all. It’s just, your time must be very valuable, and I don’t want to intrude. And also, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a great swimmer. Hence the boat.”

“Hmm.” Caspian seemed to consider this for several moments. The giant seemed to reach a conclusion, but Beck was uncertain what it was as he was raised up above Caspian’s head. “Climb on.”

“Climb on?” Beck repeated, confused.

“And hold on tight.” Caspian advised, opening his palm and tilting it so that Beck slid off with a yelp. “I was under the impression you need air to survive?”

“YES! Yes, that is- yes, I need that.” Beckett confirmed, quickly grabbing onto Caspian’s hair as best he could. Not the easiest task in the world with how everything, including himself, was soaked. Nevertheless, Beck was wise enough to prepare himself for whatever a massive sea serpent might have planned.

Without further warning, Caspian lowered himself into the water, only keeping the top of his head above the waves for Beck’s benefit. Beck hastily lowered himself onto his stomach, not wanting to slide off Caspian’s head as the mer began to swim through the ocean faster than a speedboat.

“Where are you going!” Beck shouted above the wind whipping at his face. He squinted, trying to see where the siren was headed but having no luck. Were they swimming to the boat? Had Beck really gotten so far away from it?

Unfortunately, the siren himself offered no answers. The night sky and fog did not help Beck’s visibility. In these conditions, he was practically blind.

After several minutes of this less-than-ideal water travel, Caspian came to an abrupt stop. Beck frowned, finding himself staring at a rocky cliffside shore. Was Caspian trying to return him to the lighthouse again? But none of this looked familiar…

Caspian raised his head above the waves, sending Beck scrambling to keep his hold. It didn’t matter, as those familiar claws came up and plucked the human from Caspian’s hair.

“Hold your breath.” Caspian advised. This was Beck’s only warning as he was cupped between Caspian’s hands, the mer diving beneath the surface.

Thankfully, Beckett was intelligent enough to take the warning to heart. He held his breath, eyes squeezed tightly shut to avoid getting saltwater in them. The pressure became quite intense as Caspian dove several dozen meters down with ease. It made Beck feel like his head would pop at any moment. Was Caspian trying to drown him? But why go through all the effort of telling Beck to hold his breath, if only to drag it out?

Just as Beck could take it no longer and felt on the verge of passing out, Caspian breached the surface. Immediately Beck began to suck in large gulps of air, snorting to get the water that got stuck unpleasantly up his nose.

Despite being above the surface, Beck couldn’t see anything. He tried not to panic, heart racing thanks to all the uncertainties of the situation. “Where- where are we?”

“Home.”

Caspian’s answer only brought on further questions. Home? What kind of home did a gigantic merman have, anyway? Slowly his human eyes began to adjust to the darkness, noticing that bioluminescent moss seemed to give the space just enough light to see the outlines of shapes. It appeared they were in some sort of underground cavern, the water lapping against a craggy water-worn shore.

“Ah, yes. Of Course. Home.” Beck tried not to think about the several deadly reasons a wild animal might welcome him into its living space. But thankfully, Caspian wasn’t just an animal. He could talk, he seemed half human- that had to amount to something, right?

Of course, Caspian had still planned to eat him. So. There’s that.

“You’re still not gonna eat me, right?” Beck asked, not about to leave something so important to chance.

“Right.” Caspian sighed, as if the question were a mild annoyance and not tied to Beckett’s entire livelihood. “But you have disturbed my hunting time. I’m hungry.”

“Not sure that’s entirely my fault…” Beckett murmured to himself.

Caspian lowered his cupped palms to the rocky shore, setting Beck down away from the water’s edge. “Stay here.”

“Wha-? Stay here?” Beck became alarmed, taking a few nervous steps to catch his footing on the slippery slope. “Where are you going?”

“Do not worry.” Caspian assured Beck, easing himself back into the water. “I’ll bring you back something to eat as well.” With that, Caspian dove back into the water, leaving Beck alone in this dark murky cave.

Beckett blinked, shocked to find himself alone in this enclosure. “I don’t think he knows what humans eat.” Beck grimaced, not eager to see just what Caspian would be bringing back for him. Would it be wriggling? Slimy? Would it be human? The thought made Beck want to throw up.

Beckett shivered, feeling chilly now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. He found himself in an unknown underwater cave off the coastline somewhere, still soaked to the bone in his wet rags. The icy temperature in here was freezing, and the water wasn’t any warmer. Was Beck going to die of frostbite here? How long was Caspian planning on keeping him prisoner?

Beckett walked up and down the shore, looking for any driftwood or materials to make a fire. He had no luck, of course, but even if he had Beck didn’t know the first thing about starting a fire. So with nothing to warm himself, what should Beck do? Beckett knew from all the books he’d read on environmental conditions that staying in his wet clothing was one of the worst strategies for survival, but standing around naked in the freezing cave didn’t sound any more appealing. Not to mention, Beck had no way of drying his clothes even if they left his person. He would just have to put the soaking wet rags back on eventually.

Making a foolish decision, Beck kept his clothes on in the hopes that his own body temperature would help dry them eventually. Coming from the man who went out to sea to search for his would-be murderer all day, perhaps Beck shouldn’t be treating himself as a good source for advice.

“What was I thinking?” Beck murmured, pacing back and forth to try and keep the blood flowing to his extremities. His fingertips were growing numb, and Beck shoved them in his armpits to try and keep them warm.

Should he try and escape? Beckett guessed there must be some underwater entrance to this cavern, but there was no way of knowing how deep he would have to dive to reach it, how long the tunnel itself was, nor how high he’d have to swim to reach the surface on the other side. Beckett wasn’t known to be a particularly decent swimmer. Even just the idea of getting in the water right now made Beck shudder, not eager to get soaking wet once more.

Beckett let out a yawn, the excitement of the day catching up to him. He was cold, and tired. Nothing sounded better than stripping off these clothes and lying down in a warm, dry bed back at Seymour’s.

Oh gosh, Seymour. What was the old man gonna think when Beck didn’t return home like he claimed? He knew Seymour had little faith in Beck’s sailing abilities, but Beckett had foolishly promised to be careful. Would Seymour mourn him? Worse yet, would Seymour try to send out a rescue? What if Caspian found him and wasn’t so merciful?

Beckett was dead on his feet by the time the water began to shift. Beck slapped himself out of his stupor, standing to attention in his semi-dry clothes as the giant merman emerged.

Caspian pulled himself partially up onto the shore, holding out one hand to Beck. As expected, none of this looked edible in its current form. There was a live octopus, still wriggling around, a half dozen oysters, a few slimy eels, and a few other squirming entities Beckett wasn’t certain how to classify.

“Oh, thanks.” Beck tried to keep the disgust off his facial features. Even with not eating all day, Beck didn’t have much of an appetite. But would Caspian be mad if Beck didn’t eat it? It’s not like Beckett asked for it in the first place...

“I was uncertain what you would like.” Caspian admitted, a soft frown gracing his features as he nudged the human with his fingertips, encouraging Beck to eat. “Will this be good for you? Do not be shy, I ate my fill already.”

Beck cleared his throat. “Well, uh, some of this is what humans can eat, but we don’t eat it… raw. Or alive, usually.”

“Hmm.” Caspian considered this for a moment, taking one of the eels between his claws. Caspian raised the creature to his lips. In one swift motion, Caspian used his fangs to tear off the eel’s head, sending a small spurt of blood spattering down.

Beck cried out, quickly covering his head with his arms to try and avoid getting caught in the rain. “COOKED! IT NEEDS TO BE COOKED!” Beck hastily corrected, turning a bit green as Caspian tried to once again offer him the bloody corpse. “It needs to be prepared right, too, I don’t think I’m supposed to eat a lot of stuff found in live fish, they usually gut ‘em and stuff, and I’ve never been one for sushi in the first place.”

Caspian licked his lips, clearing away the blood stains as he tilted his head like a pup. “What do you mean, ‘cooked’?”

Beck slowly uncovered his head, thankful Caspian seemed to have backed off for a moment. “Right, cooked.” Beck nodded to himself. “Guess you wouldn’t know what that is, living in the ocean and all. Um, do you know what fire is?” It was Caspian’s turn to nod. “Wait, you do? How?”

“Fire chokes out life.” Caspian explained. “It creates the smoke and the ash that destroys the shores.”

“Well… yeah, I guess it does do that, sometimes.” Beckett admitted. “But we use it in smaller, healthy doses. You use it to cook your food, usually heating it up and changing it to be healthy.”

Caspian seemed more confused the further this conversation went on.

“Unfortunately, there’s no fuel here anyways.” Beck gestured to their surroundings. “And I don’t know how to make a fire anyways, so-”

“No fire.” Caspian said sternly. He sounded more like a stern parent, banning experimentation with firecrackers in the house.

“No fire.” Beck confirmed. He glanced at the ceiling. “Probably wouldn’t have been the best idea anyways, all enclosed like this. But anyways, no. I can’t accept your fish. Thank you, it was very kind of you, I’ll be forever grateful, but if I eat that I will be sick.”

“...hmm.” Caspian looked- disappointed? Frustrated? It was hard to tell the mer’s emotions, but Caspian at the very least seemed to understand Beck’s meaning, as he pulled his handful of fish back to himself. With a thoughtful expression, giving Beck one last option to protest, Caspian tilted the whole mixture into his mouth, chewing it into a paste and swallowing with ease.

Gross. Beck kept this thought to himself, grateful he was not on the other side of Caspian’s abs himself as the pleased merman gave his stomach a few pats.

“Then what will you eat?” Caspain asked, laying down to be more at eye level with the little man.

“Well, uh, I suppose I can always eat after I get home.” Beckett chose his words carefully, still uncertain what Caspian’s intentions were. “My friend would usually make meals with me. Stew, most of the time.”

Caspian’s eyebrows furrowed. “I can make stew with you.”

“No, you can’t.” Beck corrected. Gently. “No fire, remember? Fire’s needed for stew, too. And we don’t have any of the other ingredients. Vegetables, seasonings, broth, cooked meat… stuff like that. And any we got in here would be soaked with sea water, and that’s not great for humans either.”

The giant siren seemed displeased with this answer, obviously intent on keeping the human alive. This, at least, was one positive note in a storm of negativity for the evening.

With a displeased hum, Caspian reached out his hand towards Beckett. Instinctively Beck flinched away, worried the siren had gotten bored and wanted to do away with him, but all that happened was a giant digit began carefully stroking the top of Beck’s head and down the length of his back.

“Uh...what are you doing?” Beck asked, still stiff as a board.

Caspian didn’t seem inclined to answer. Instead he tilted his head, curious blue eyes intently studying Beckett. “Can you sing?”

Beckett blinked. “Can I what?”

“Can you sing?” Caspian repeated, and after Beck gave a nod: “sing for me.”

“Oh, well, I can sing, but not very well, mind you.” Beck admitted, looking a bit sheepish. The stage had always been his sister’s forte. “Certainly not to your caliber. I don’t think you want to hear me sing at all, actually.”

“Yes I do.” Caspian insisted gently. “Sing.”

Beck let out a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for such a task. What song does one even use to serenade a siren? After careful consideration, Beckett selected an old nursery rhyme from his childhood, both for its brief length and easy melody.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star-” Beckett began, his voice shaking. He cleared his throat, trying to project a bit more even as Caspian leaned in to hear. “How I wonder what you are. Like a diamond in the sky, up above the world so high…”

Beckett had shut his eyes, trying to forget about any pressures to perform. A nice benefit to this impromptu concert is that Caspian had paused his petting to allow Beck to focus. “Twinkle twinkle, little star… how… er, ...up… ah…y’know what? I’ve forgotten the last line, actually.”

Beck grimaced, opening his eyes. Caspian was as difficult to read as ever, the siren’s face passive as Beckett awaited any sort of review.

“That was it?” Caspian clarified.

“Yeah, not a very long song.” Beckett agreed. “Meant for children, y’know? Just to… well I don’t know the point of it, actually, I guess it’s just something to sing.”

“Ah.” Caspian drummed his fingers along the rocks. “It was…”

Beckett waited not so patiently. “Well?” He spoke up. “I told you I’m a lousy singer.”

Considering the siren made no effort to disagree, Caspian held the same opinion, yet he wore a pained expression. Perhaps Caspian had held out hope for Beck after all? But then again, even if he were a renowned opera singer, how could a human voice ever possibly appeal to a siren?

“I thought everyone could sing.” Caspian admitted quietly.

For some reason, this bashful admission is what finally set Beck roaring with laughter. Beck clutched at his sides, doubled over with mirth as a concerned siren watched. Caspian let out a noise of concern, reaching out his hand to prod Beck in the side.

“No- I’m good!” Beck hastily assured him, pushing away the finger as if he had any chance of telling the siren what to do. “It’s just- ah, fuck. What a day, you know?” And with that, tears began to pour down Beckett’s cheeks, the poor exhausted boy helpless to stop them as he alternated between laughing and sobbing.

Now Caspian let out a whine, the trill noise echoing across the cavern walls as Caspian scooped the human up into his hands. Beck gasped, momentarily without air as he was forced against Caspian’s chest. “Shh, shhh.” Caspian hushed him, patting his back like he was a child.

Well, what did it matter? Beck felt like a child. He was tired, and hungry, and cold, and he just wanted to go home. Unable to work on any of those things, Beckett tried instead to take the comfort that was given to him, so overwhelmed by the day that this might as well happen.

Beck hiccupped, his tears still coming but too exhausted to keep wailing. Beckett leaned into Caspian’s chest, the smooth seal texture feeling surprisingly warm and dry for a creature that spent most of its life in the ocean. If he focused, Beck could hear a rhythmic thumping. It was Caspian’s heart, just on the other side of this ribcage.

“I wanna go home.” Beck murmured, more to himself than the siren who wouldn’t listen. “I just wanna go home.”

A rumbling sensation filled Beck’s ears, which he slowly recognized as Caspian’s singing. Beck closed his eyes, allowing himself to succumb to the call.

…

“...Beck?”

---

“-OI! Wake UP!”

Beck coughed, startled awake as he found himself once again doused in sea water. He blinked, disoriented to feel the surface beneath him was rocking like a boat. Before Beck could ponder that out, a bright light shined directly in his eyes, making him squint.

“Blimey, you look half dead.” Seymour whistled, taking stock of Beck’s appearance.

“I...what?” Beck frowned, looking around. They were on a boat. What happened? Last thing he remembered, Caspian had been coddling him like a wounded babe. “Where’s Caspian?”

“Who?” Seymour didn’t have a clue.

“Caspian! I- the giant siren!” Beck looked around, trying to spot anything in the darkness of night.

“Boy, I think you swallowed too much seawater.” Seymour shook his head, easing Beck back down. “Take it easy, you’re lucky to be alive.” Seymour pulled out an emergency orange blanket, wrapping it firmly around Beck’s shoulders. It was only then that Beck came to the startling conclusion he was naked, stripped of his wet clothes entirely. At least he could see them lying on the deck as well.

“The voice.” Beck insisted, staying down only because his head felt dizzy. “You must have heard him singing? He was singing. What’d I miss this time?”

Seymour had no answers, as far as giant sirens went. Instead, he explained his side of things. “When you didn’t come back yesterday, I came out to look for ya.” Seymour explained. “You must have a guardian angel after all. Caught you in my sights only by change with the spotlight, adrift in the waves. No idea how the hell you’ve got a speck of life in you, jumping in without a liferaft or lifejacket or nothin’. Holy hell son, ya got a death wish, there’s easier ways of going out.”

“I- what?” Beck frowned. “No, that… that’s not what happened.”

“Hypothermia can cause hallucinations.” Seymour swore under his breath. “Shit, you’re in a worse state than I thought. Never should have let you come out here alone in the first place, nevermind with Ben’s boat. He’s gonna kill ya, y’know, if you do manage to survive the night.”

“Didn’t mean to lose the boat.” Beckett rubbed at his eyes. “Got left behind on the way to the caverns.”

“To the caverns, he says.” Seymour rolled his eyes, handing Beck a warm thermos. “Drink. Sit. And don’t fall asleep.” With these last instructions, Seymour moved over to the captain’s chair, starting the motor and steering the boat back towards shore.

Beck stared at the waves passing by, sipping gently at the contents of the thermos. Tasted like hot lemon tea. Beck would have preferred hot chocolate, if shipwreck survivors were allowed to have preferences.

Was it a shipwreck? Did he jump in? No… no it was Caspian, wasn’t it? Dumb seal’s fault for it all. That, Beck was certain. Too bad he couldn’t charge the siren for Ben’s boat.

Before, Beck had barely escaped with his life, lost and confused about his potential giant savior. Now, he knew so much more than he had before. Caspian was real. Caspian’s name was Caspian. Caspian had intended to eat him, didn’t, and then let him go. Caspian had forgotten him.

Would Caspian forget him again? Why did that notion make Beck feel so uneasy?

It wasn’t like Beck owed Caspian anything, truly. The guy had saved his life twice now, but only after endangering it in the first place. But why did Caspian let him go this time? It seemed as if Caspian was intent on keeping him around like some sort of amusing lil’ pet. What had changed?

Beck’s mind was too tired to process through such things. He sipped more of the tea, growing drowsy.

“No sleeping!” Seymour yelled.

“Yes sir!” Beck jolted upright, regretting it when his head pounded. The sound of the waves had changed. Beck could hear them crashing against the shore, indicating they were almost to the dock.

Seymour expertly steered the ship into the harbor, a feat which took a good deal of skill in the middle of the night. Once securely fastened, Seymour offered Beck a hand, hauling the boy to his feet and keeping Beck steady all the way up to the lighthouse.

“Alright, in you get.” Seymour instructed, easing Beck into bed. He piled more blankets onto Beckett, disappearing briefly to grab a warm compress which he placed on Beckett’s forehead.

“I really did see him.” Beckett murmured, closing his eyes as the warmth lulled him into a deep slumber.

Seymour let out a low sigh. “I’m sure you did.” Seymour murmured, patting Beck’s arm.

[violetnotez]

Hi! If this isn’t already done can I request headcanons for Kiri and Bakugo abt a class movie night and falling asleep on them in the middle of it, their reactions/the class’s reactions? Thank so much your stuff is literally amazing!

Omg, thank you for liking my stuff anon, that makes my day! 😭💕 and omg NO THIS HASNT BEEN REQUESTED THIS SO CUTE AHHHHHHH-

I used some prompts from @bnhabookclub Mermay Event from the discord, so deifnitely go check it out if you haven’t! Here’s the link

Pairings: Kirishima x reader, Bakugo x reader

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

Kirishima

Oh my god are you trying to break this boy???

Kirishima has been pining for you for what seems like weeks-he doesn’t show his affection too outwardly

but his constant blushing and stuttering around you, and the fact he follows you like a dang puppy makes it very apparent he is head over heels for you

So when Class 1-A decides to do a movie night, he is more than excited cause it means more time to spend with you!

He honestly didn’t expect for the night to go as well as it did-he got to talk to you, even make you laugh, and somehow get you to sit next to him during the movie

He was literally on Cloud 9 right now, feeling the heat practically radiating off your skin as you sat next to him, your hands hugging your knees gently

The room was completely dark, only for the brightness of the TV screen projecting the movie

You all watched round after round of movies, until it was 3 in the morning and only a handful of you were still actually alive

Kamianri was passed out in a bowl of popcorn

You were now watching Mary Poppins for some odd reason, a yawn spilling out of your lips every few minutes

Kirishima instantly noticed your tired state, his sleepy eyes resting on yours

“You feeling sleepy?” He asked gingerly, his voice sweet as he gazed at your face

You gave him a numb nod, trying to surpress yet another yawn

He gave you a small smile, his voice quiet. “You can go to sleep if you want, almost everybody else is asleep now.”

“Oh-okay,” you closed your eyes, your head resting against his shoulder as you snuggled into his warm neck

Hahahah Kirishima has died

His face immediately erupted in red, his body stiffening-he honestly had meant that you would be okay to go up to your room and sleep, not sleep on him.

But was he complaining?

HELL NO

You were so adorable, your head resting on his body as you snuggled into him, your breath fanning his skin and giving him goosebumps

He was still in shock, his body still completely rigid with the sudden change in events

You felt this, though, your head lifting to look at his face

“Are you okay with me-?”

“Oh yeah, sorry!” He chuckled nervously, his hands scratching the back of his neck.

You gave him a small smile, deciding that his shoulder wasn’t the most comfortable spot and deciding to lay your head in his lap instead

HE IS NOW REALLY DECEASED

God, now you were snuggling into his legs

You seriously couldn’t be any more cuter in this moment

Kirishima felt the need to touch your hair, trying to justify that he was doing this to simply put you to sleep

Even though he just really wanted to feel how your hair felt

His fingers gently caresses your head, loving how calm you looked once he began to pet you

He couldn’t help but just be in awe of your beauty-you honestly looked like a sleeping angel to him as you snuggled into his lap

He noticed you had fallen asleep, your breathing much deeper and slower than before

“Your hair is so soft...” he allowed himself to say, his voice wispy from being in complete awe by you

“Oi dumbass, stop being a creep will ya? We all know you like her-just ask her out already,” he heard his loud mouthed friend yell from across the room

Kirishima jumped, fear riddling in his stomach

The hell was Bakugo thinking?!? You could have heard that!!!

Kirishima quickly looked down, searching your face for any sign that you had heard

To his relief, you didn’t seem to have heard anything, and that you were still asleep...

Oh poor Kiri tho-he seemed to have missed the small smirk you were sporting in your “sleep”

Bakugo

This boy right here

He is SOFT for this moment

He has been waiting for this for dayyyssssss-

Will he admit to it? No. But he has just take my word for it

Honestly when he heard the idea of a movie night he thought it was so stupid

He could be sleeping over dealing with his idiot classmates

The way his friends got him to go was they may or may not have dropped the info thatd you be there

“Please, can you stop being a party pooper and just go with us?!” Mina whined, her arms flailed out dramatically

Bakugo scoffed, wrapping his arms around his chest

“Oh cmon Bakubro, y/n’s gonna be thereeee,” Kirishima teased, his pointy teeth flashing

Bakugo turned his head-his damn friends would not win-but...

“Fine,” he acted like he was exasperated, as if he only gave in because he was sick of hearing them, “I’ll think about.”

What a damn lie he already decided to go the minute Kiri said your name

The night of the movie night, he was being sooooo possessive

It literally was a fucking miracle you didn’t notice his crush on you at this point

He always seemed to be next to you or a few paces away, watching you with intentful eyes

He was just making sure that nobody tried to touch or get with what was his-or-well-

would be his in the future

Bakugo sat himself on the couch, making sure to keep give anyone who tried to sit next him the biggest evil eye

That seat was for you and you only- he was somehow gonna get you to sit next to him if it was the last thing he did

To his relief, he watched your stride over, his body language loose even though he was freaking out internally

“Anybody sitting here?” You asked sweetly, a bottle of soda in your hand

He roled his eyes, moving his hand behind the couch so it would rest behind your head

“Does it look like anyones sitting here? Just go for it dumbass,”

You gave him a concerned smile, his harsh words making you a little hesitant to sit-but you did it anyway

Even though Bakugo was internally kicking himself in the ass for making you uncomfortable,he was over the moon you had actually sat next to him

Someone turned off the lights, and you all started the long ass movie marathon

Bakugo was bored in .02 seconds-who the hell in there right mind wanted to watch Disney movies??? The hell???

You seemed to be enjoying it, your body radiating excitement as you sipped your soda, so engrossed by the movie you didn’t even notice Bakugo’s staring

He honestly needed to stop-he felt like a creep as he gave you long side glances, his hand itching to wrap around your shoulder

Until this baby got tired.

Like hecka tired.

He was honestly gonna pass out on you before you did it first

Your head lolled onto his shirt, a heavy sensation erupting on his skin

He turned-and god he could have died right then and there

There you were, snuggling to him like a little puppy

Lowkey was internally screaming with happiness

He gave out a low chuckle, seemingly waking you up from you half asleep daze

Your heart shot up, your sleepy expression so cute and endearing to him

“I’m sorry-I didnt relaized I feel asleep-“ you whispered sheepishly

“Your tired right?” He asked, his voice gruff from being so low

You yawned, nodding your head at the same time

“Then it’s not that complicated, dumbass,” he grinned, a note of sweetness in his voice, “Just sleep on me,”

You grinned, nuzzling your head back into his neck-

“Good-‘cause your so comfy and warm Bakugo...”

His cheeks instantly erupted in red by your words, your sigh signaling you were fast asleep

Well shit-if your being so damn comfortable with him, mine as well do it too

Bakugo allowed himself to rest his head on yours, loving how soft your hair felt against his cheeks

Boy knocked out in 10 seconds

This whole scene did not go unnoticed by his friends and you bet your ass they were all giggling as they took photos of the two of you curled up all cute against each other-this was pure blackmail and they were ready to use it

[yandere-daydreams]

since its may, you know what that means mermay, imagine being a fisher person that some how gain the attention of giant shark mermen, always following you no matter how far you go, just to get you're attention

I did make this a bit of a Pirate AU for My Hero Academia, if only because I can’t resist the temptation to shove Siren!Todoroki into every oneshot I can. Roll with it. The ends justify the means.

Title: Stranded.

TW: Implied Drowning, Blood, Physical Violence and Mentions of Canabilism. 

~

Loneliness could do strange things to a person.

A month ago, you wouldn’t have considered yourself much of a dreamer. You would’ve laughed off the idea of sea monsters and fairies and anything could only be verified by a handful of eye-witnesses. You weren’t the type to talk to the walls or gaze out into the sea with anything more than mild loathing, and yet, you’d only refused to acknowledge Shoto’s existence for a day or two, three at most. Maybe he was a figment of your imagination, maybe he wasn’t. At the moment, he was real to you, and that was all that mattered.

If he was a hallucination, he was a lovely one. In the dim light of dusk, rays of orange and pink spread across his scales, just beginning to glow in the soft darkness. He was a predator, judging from the fiery red dotting his otherwise stark-white form, and a rather efficient one at that, the sharpened teeth poking out from thin lips always varnished with the blood whatever he chose to bring you, that day. Mindlessly, you leaned over the side of your lifeboat, letting your fingers skin through the surface of the water, drawing Shoto’s attention. You watched as he began to circle the disruption, a strong tail propelling him ever-closer. He wouldn’t attack, you knew that, by now. You almost wished he would. An injury would be proof of his existence, even if it came in an unpleasant way.

Just as Shoto was about to break the surface, a voice drew you to the other side of the rig. “The minnow’s back, isn’t he?”

You frowned, slightly, scanning over Katsuki. He was leaning against the opposite side of the lifeboat, eyes shut and head tilted back, his white tunic unbuttoned to escape the heat. Back on Izuku’s ship, the two of you hadn’t been the best of friends, but relationships didn’t matter when you were fleeing a sinking haul, attempting to escape a water-logged grave by whatever means necessary. He wasn’t bad company, either, just… quiet. Skeptical. You couldn’t blame him, you were a stranger as much as he was. “You really shouldn’t call him that,” You mumbled, turning your attention back to the swirling colors. “He hunts for us. It’s the least we could do to be nice to him.”

That got you a glance from the corner of his eye, but you were preoccupied, by then. Shoto had gotten over his initial shyness, and after a thorough investigation of your raft, he was making himself comfortable in the palm of your hand, rubbing his cheek against your skin in a sloppy attempt to gather as much affection as he could. You guessed he had to be partially human, in that aspect, desperate for intimacy from any source that would be willing to give it up. You just smiled, petting through long, wet hair as Katsuki shifted behind you. “It’s an animal who found someone to scratch behind its ears. It probably thinks it can, like, lay its eggs in you or something.”

You pursed your lips, narrowing your eyes towards Shoto. He mimicked the gesture, poorly, and you ruffled his hair as a reward. “Do mermaids lay eggs?”

“Hell if I know,” He grunted, beginning to sit up. “And hopefully, we’ll be rescued before either of us have to find out. If the fucker’s even real.” The boat rocked as Katsuki stood, carefully making his way to your side. The lifeboat dipped, but the wind was dead and the waves were calm enough for him to lean over with you, watching as Shoto temporarily drew back, slitted eyes flickering momentarily towards your companion. The bioluminesce below his pale skin grew a little brighter, and clawed hands came up to take your wrist, clinging to you protectively. You laughed, and Katsuki bristled, as put off by this action as any other Shoto had taken. “Because we are going to be rescued, soon, and your little pet isn’t coming with us.”

You didn’t respond, not verbally, but he must’ve seen the concern that spread over your expression, the doubt. There was a sigh, exhausted and drained, but soon, Katsuki’s head was resting on your shoulder, a small, reassuring sign, one that went further than any words of affirmation he could summon ever could. “It’s going to happen,” He assured, that mocking drawl absent from his weighted tone. “I know this trade route like the back of my hand. Eventually, a merchant is going to pass by and we’ll be on-track for the nearest island. We can figure things out, from there.”

“That, or our supplies run out, and we have to draw straws to figure out which one of us gets eaten first,” You counter, only half-joking. “I’ll even give Shoto one of your kidneys.”

“Fuck off,” He spat, but he was grinning, an elbow soon jabbing at your ribs. “You’re eating the fish before you’re eating me.”

Something in Katsuki’s voice must’ve bothered Shoto, the creature’s tail beginning to move a little faster, churning the water around him. He let go of your arm, sinking just below the surface, but he didn’t move to swim away. If you didn’t know better, you’d say he was pouting, getting ready to throw a fit like an unattended toddler. You nudged Katsuki’s side, nodding towards Shoto’s oncoming tantrum, hoping his goodwill would last. “You should try comforting him, this time. I think you two would get along, if you made an effort.”

He grunted, shooting you a glare, but with only the slightest bit of reluctance, he was rolling up his sleeves, mimicking the way you traced your fingertips over the surface, trying to lure Shoto upward. There was a moment of stillness, Shoto looking towards the display wearily, and you opened your mouth, prepared to tease Katsuki for the cold dismissal, only for your breath to hitch in your throat before the words could ever make it off your tongue. Without warning, Shoto lunged forward, his jaw closing around Katsuki’s wrist and jerking him over the lifeboat’s wall, or attempting to, at least, Katsuki barely catching himself. Reflexively, you scrambled backward, attempting to keep the raft balanced, but there was little you could do to help Katsuki as he grappled with the creature, cursing and clawing blindly, fighting, only inspiring Shoto to be more bold with his efforts. There was a hollow thud from the bottom of the boat, a final, wordless scream from Katsuki, and he was dragged into the sea, a cloud of something cloudy and dark following the pair as they spiraled downward.

You were too stunned to act, for a moment, but reality hit quickly and it hit hard, your heart racing as you frantically searched the water for a sign of either man. There was a faint light in the distance, but it was distorted, deep, already leagues away from the surface, and the only traces of Katsuki were scraps of clothing and strips of disembodied flesh, torn loose in the struggle. Time seemed to slow, your breathing labored, halting completely as Shoto rose back to the surface, alone.

Painfully, painfully alone.

You didn’t say anything, you didn’t move, but Shoto didn’t seem to care, staring up at you expectantly. If he could smile, he might’ve, but you couldn’t seem to focus on the thought.

Not when those jagged, awful teeth of his were coated in a fresh layer of red.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

MerMay 2022 Day Three The Search

Jackie spun around, feeling something brush against his tail. He almost shouted “Who’s there?!” but the words died in his throat as soon as he saw it was just a strand of kelp. Sighing, Jackie flicked his tail to brush it away. “Of course it’s a kelp,” he muttered to himself. “You’re in a kelp forest. Everything is kelp.”

Things were always moving in the forest. Long, thin weeds swayed gently in the currents that passed through the water. A few fish wove around the tall strands. It was inevitable that something would touch him. Normally, Jackie wouldn’t have freaked out so much. But today was different. Today, he was looking for someone, as he had been for the past few weeks.

Jackie pushed aside some of the larger kelp strands, trying to get a good clear view of the area. But he could only see more kelp, stretching forever in a seemingly endless field of green. A place like this would be a great hiding spot for a merm like Anti. 

Of course, he didn’t know for sure that Anti was even in this area, but Jackie was running out of ideas. He needed to find him.

Movement in the corner of his vision. Not the swaying motion of the kelp strands, and too big to be a fish. Jackie immediately spun around and lunged forward, grabbing the moving object. “No getting away! I got—oh.” He had not, as he thought, grabbed onto a merm. Instead his arms were wrapped around a long, bony fish, now struggling in his grasp. He quickly let go and backed away. “Sorry.”

The fish stared at him for a moment, almost as if it was saying “Really, dude?” Then it turned away, continuing to swim along the bottom of the sea floor. 

Jackie rubbed his eyes. He was...tired. He didn’t need to sleep as deeply as other merms did, but recently he’d been wanting to lie down on a nice patch of sand and sleep forever. But he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t stop looking.

It was his fault that Anti was out in the world again. Sure, it hadn’t been his idea to let him out. They all kind of decided that collectively. But Jackie was a protector—it was his job to keep other merms safe. He was supposed to keep an eye on Anti while he was with them. He was supposed to make sure nothing happened. And yet...Anti had escaped. Now he was out there, probably hurting more merms. The least Jackie could do was find him.

There was another bit of movement. Jackie turned to look, only to see a few fish weaving between the kelp strands. “This was a stupid idea,” he said to himself. “Anti’s not gonna be here. He’s more of the deep dark down type. Probably hiding in a cave somewhere. Maybe he went all the way down to the pitch-black parts. I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

Jackie flicked his tail and turned around, heading back the way he’d come. He had spent most of the day looking through this stupid kelp forest and it was starting to get dark. And all for nothing. He really needed to refine his search tactics. Maybe then he could actually help.

On the surface high above the kelp forest, a boat bobbed on the waves. It, too, had spent all day looking for something and was about to turn back. The humans on the crew muttered to themselves.

“We all agree this is insane, right?” One of them said. “Like, Dr. Ester has lost it, right?”

Another one laughed. “Well someone didn’t bother to watch the video.”

“Nobody told me about no video,” said a third. “Besides, I don’t trust any footage of anything supernatural. Not when you can CG anything into existence nowadays.”

“None of you understand,” said the captain. “I was there. I saw one of them. It was alive and moving, a-and real. That couldn’t have been a costume or any effects. They exist.” He paused. “Besides, none of you get paid to doubt the science folks. You’re making money even if they’re wrong.”

So, with some grumbling, the crew raised anchor and headed home, unaware that the very thing they looked for was just under the surface.

[thiswasinevitableid]

Hii uhhh this is for mermay, but it's not one of the fills so please feel free to ignore this if it doesn't catch your interest!!

Idea;; within a mostly-canon setting, Duck is turned into a merperson (probably while they're trying to deal with one of the abominations, but that part's flexible) and has to deal with it while still trying to like,, function. He gets a magic disguise, but hijinks ensue.

Here you go! I attached this to "Summer rain" and another mermay prompt. It's SFW

The last time he went flying through the air and into the water while fighting an abomination, he almost died. So he’s none too pleased when he surfaces from being chucked in Lake Brahe.

“What the fuck Indrid?!”

“I’m so sorry” Mothman flaps above him, both sets of hands tapping together anxiously, “I promise this is for the best but I’ll admit the exact process might have been overkill.”

“You fuckin’ think??” Duck kicks towards shore, grabbing his hat as it tries to float away, “the others are still back there with that thing. And I fuckin hate bein’ chucked into things without warnin.”

“I don’t think there are people who do enjoy such things.” Indrid alights on the shore Duck is swimming towards.

“Well then don’t fuckin do them.”

“It is for your own good, Duck Newton.”

“Yeah, heard that one before.” He hits shallow water, wades to shore trying to shake his hat dry, “now c’mon, fly me back so we can-”

His legs crumple, sending him face first into the lake. Crawling is no good, his whole body contorting and shaking, his throat and lungs burning. He claws at the pebbles and sand, coming away with fistfuls, grabbing for something, anything, to pull him from the water, as if reaching shore will free him from the pain wracking his body.

The world is coming in photo negative now, flashes of color that don’t make sense, the crack of his bones filling his ears. He might he crying, the pain is too deep to tell what else he’s feeling or doing.

“Help” he rasps into the night air.

Human hands cup his face, guide his aching head down across bony legs, “It will not last much longer.”

“Am” he gasps, feels the Sylph turn their bodies for some unknown purpose, breathing easier after he does, “am I gonna die.”

“No. And before you ask, your powers would not have done much for you if you still had them.”

“Fuck” he whimpers.

“Agreed.” Indrid strokes his hair, “five more seconds. Four, three, two, one.”

Duck passes out before Indrid can say anything else. He’s roused by the footfalls of combat boots and wingtips down the beach.

“Duck, Indrid-OH HOLY SHIT!”

“He’s not-”

“No, Ned, he is very much alive. Had I not moved him when I did, he would have suffocated before you could get him to any water.”

“Thank god.” Ned must be by his head.

“Aubrey, can, can you, it hurts-”

“Ummmmm” His friend sounds like she’s trying to come up with a comforting explanation, “which part of your tail hurts?”

Duck sits bolt upright, then falls back into Indrid’s arms, staring at the deep green and silver tail where his legs should be.

“Well….fuck.”

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

“How are you doing?” Indrid, red glasses glinting and pink and yellow sweater hanging off his tall frame, perches on a rock.

“Great. I’m a regular, breakable dipshit who turned into a fuckin merman without warnin, I had to have Barclay call work and tell ‘em I got a flu so they won’t fire me for disppearin, anything my friends bring me to eat gets soggy, and I ain’t seen my cat in three days.”

“So...not good then?”

Duck raises an eyebrow. Indrid smiles, not his usual confident, casual one. He looks unsure, which is in and of itself kind of unnerving.

“No, Indrid. Not good at all.”

“Ah. Apologies, I sometimes have trouble parsing certain tones.”

Duck swims closer, “Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright. You have every reason to be angry and upset. Even with me.”

“Pretty sure you didn’t curse me.”

“No. But had I moved faster, gotten to you all sooner, you would not have been in it’s path at all.”

It’s so matter of fact. The same way Indrid talks about anything troubling.

“Certainly my most newsworthy failure”

“Had you not arrived at the cottonwood, it would have been rather bad for me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about the eye. It hurt, but I have felt far worse.”

“And I have yet more bad news; while I can make a charm that will allow you to be in your human form for up to six hours at a time, the properties of that abomination mean eventually you’ll have to return to water.”

There’s a flicker in the smile, so swift Duck wonders if it’s only because his eyes are no longer human, slit pupiled instead of round, that he sees it at all. Or if it’s because this is the first time they haven’t been surrounded by heat, noise, or danger.

“Indrid, you know I don’t blame you, right?”

“Of course, Duck. I was merely being thorough in my apology.” Now it’s his normal, wide smile, but too tight across his teeth.

“He was before my time.” Vincent grins as he sets the DVDs on a well-dusted shelf, “though if Woodbridge is anything like he is now, I doubt they got along. The other ministers say he was...determined when he left. Like he could conquer any challenge earth presented during his quest."

Indrid’s glasses slip down his nose and he pushes them up before Duck gets even a glance at his eyes, “Now, where did I put that pin…” He pats his pockets, freezes when Duck manages to set a hand on his shin.

“Indrid, I mean it. Didn’t blame you then, don’t blame you now. Hell, from the sound of it you saved my ass, big time. So, uh, what I’m tryin to say is thanks. For lookin out for me.”

He squeezes in what he hopes is a friendly fashion. Indrid chirps, once, face losing all trace of eeriness. Then he schools it back to normal.

“You’re welcome. Punching aside, I’m quite fond of you. I’m going to use this for your charm, if that’s alright.” A souvenir pin from the Monongahela's tenth anniversary sits between slender fingers.

“Holy shit, I been lookin for that for ages. I, uh, I try to-”

“Collect them, yes. I saw that in a conversation between you and Juno. I was going to give this to you anyway, goodness knows it took awhile to find it in the trailer, but now it can serve a greater purpose.” With that, he pulls a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Duck’s image unfolds before them, Indrid smoothing it out and setting it on the rock as he begins working. Duck watches with interest, notices the process is much slower than it was when Indrid disguised Billy.

“Am I harder to get right than Ryan Gosling?”

“Yes. Well, not technically, no, but with Billy I just needed him to look human. I need you to look like, well, you. Such a fine specimen requires the utmost care.”

Duck’s about to toss back his usual line he gives to guys who compliment him, then realizes flirting with the Mothman might be weird, or that Indrid may not have meant it as anything more than some clinical, Sylph observation of humans. He tries to distract himself by swimming, but his tail still won’t do what he wants much of the time.

“You’ll have greater success on your back.” Indrid says without looking up.

He’s right, and Duck manages to swim without difficulty, tail shimmering in the sunset. The one time he glances at his friend, Indrid is staring at swaying and rippling in the water.

When the Sylph finally calls that he’s done, Duck speeds to the rock, let’s Indrid pin the charm to the collar of his undershirt that he keeps wearing because he’s still a human, dammit, just one with an inconvenient tail and he’s not gonna start skinny-dipping in a national forest. Again.

Duck flails when legs replace his tail, Indrid’s hand grabbing his a moment before he needs it to and helping him onto dry land.

“Satisfactory?”

“It’s fuckin perfect!”

“Wonderful!” Indrid claps his hands together, “what would you like to do? I may need to escort you for the first day, to be certain there’s no flaw in the charm.”

Duck studies the pink light tracing the angles of Indrid’s face, “Wanna meet my cat? She looks like a bobcat that lost a bar fight, but she’s sweet as can be.”

Indrid’s grin turns genuine for the first time all day, “I would like nothing better.”

The mothman becomes a staple of his life after that. With the charm, he’s able to help the Pine Guard track and slay the abomination, go to work, look after his house, and generally convince anyone not in the know that he’s totally fine. But he has to return to the lake every day, spends his mornings and nights there, even his lunch breaks when he knows he needs to give the charm a break then. It’s far enough away that he’s in no danger of being seen by civilians, but at least once Indrid had to fly him to it before they ran out of time (and Aubrey had to teleport them there, which made him nauseous).

Indrid keeps him company, sometimes with the others and sometimes on his own. He finds waterproof cards and games, listens to Duck talk about work and tells him about his travels. At first he worries Indrid is only doing it out of guilt, but as the weeks go by he comes to see that Indrid likes him. He laughs at his jokes, gives him as close to his full attention as he can, even scratches his scales with his mothed-out claws when they start driving Duck crazy with itchiness.

His friend always goes home to sleep, which is why, as Duck is drifting on his back, half snoozing and half star-gazing, the red eyes high in a tree come as a surprise. He’s on the other end of the lake, doesn’t seem to see Duck as he spreads his wings and flaps into the air. Then he nosedives, pulling up before he hits the water and then skimming across it in broad strokes. He shoots upward, spins, and then repeats the routine.

Duck’s seen him fly during fights and to escape the Cottonwood. Never like this, never so free and graceful. It’s such a joyful sight, makes Duck wish he had wings of his own so he could join him, dance across the stars and their reflections.

He swims towards Indrid, begins mirroring him on a whim, twisting, diving, and leaping as best he can in time with the cryptids flight. Pushes his tail to carry him faster, farther, all for the sake of keeping pace with the beautiful monster in the sky.

Surfacing after a particularly giant splash, a voice lilts down from the sky.

“Race you to the other side.”

Duck loses, but only just, cackles when Indrid buzzes him so closely he can feel the tickle of his feathers. When the mothman finally lands Duck swims to him, scooting up on land so he can watch Indrid fluff and clean his feathers.

“I come to this lake to practice flying without fear of being seen. I assumed you were asleep but, ah” his antenna twitch, “I’m glad you weren’t.”

Duck stretches, moans happily when Indrid gently glides his claws up his tail, “Me too.”

“Same time tomorrow night?” Soft hope flutters between them.

“Yeah.” He grins up at the cryptid, “bring your A-game, I’m gonna carb load tomorrow mornin so I can kick your butt.”

“I look forward to it.”

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

It’s been a month and a half since he transformed, which puts them smack in summer thunderstorm season. Duck’s used to it, though he’s more than a little nervous about what will happen if lightning hits the lake. Luckily, tonight it’s just soft summer rain instead of electricity and drops the size of robin eggs.

Indrid isn’t faring as well. The rain droops his antenna, compresses his fluff until Duck can see he’s still a twig under all those feathers. He shivers, chirrs in discomfort and shakes off his wings, but stays put on his favorite rock.

“There a reason you ain’t just turnin human? Could put on a raincoat that way.”

“I” Indrid sneezes, “I want you to feel comfortable. It can be so unpleasant, feeling like the only non-human in a place.”

Duck swims to the rock, flicking his tail up and down as he float, “You’re always changin form to make me comfortable.”

“Yes. Because I want you to not be unnerved by me.”

“But what about what you want?”

A feathery shrug, “That doesn’t matter.”

“Drid-”

Red eyes glare at him, “I am well aware of how I look, Duck. What people think of me. Would you have spent even a fraction of the time you have with me if your transformation had not forced it?”

“Y-fu-uh-I mean not no?” He sinks into the water as resignation becomes visible on Indrid’s inhuman features.

“I’m glad for our friendship, Duck. And I don’t doubt that you’re fond of me now. But please don’t pretend I was your first choice for company.”

“I mean...you weren’t. But that’s because we barely knew each other, hell, you only got back to town three months ago.” Duck takes the hand nearest him, “if this happened to me now? You might be the first person I’d want lookin out for me.”

Indrid chirrs, dips his head down to rub his cheek against Duck’s hand. Suddenly he wants nothing as badly as he wants to get Indrid warm and dry so he can run his fingers through every inch of those feathers.

“May I turn human?’

“Of course. Means you can come swimmin with me.”

Indrid, now in a tank top and yoga pants, cocks his head, “Why?”

“It’ll be fun?”

“My kind are not the strongest of swimmers.”

“Good thing I got a tail and gills, then. Besides, you’ll stop feelin as sticky from the humidity if you’re in the water.”

Indrid pulls off his shirt and pants, revealing duck-patterned boxers, and cautiously wades into the lake.

“Ooohhhh, that is so much better” his sighs, too blissed-out to notice the sudden drop, and only just manages to grab his glasses before going under. Duck zips forward, hoisting him easily into an embrace as he splutters.

“Blechhh, I despise the taste of lake water.” He clings to Duck, skinny legs teasingly tense around his tail.

Duck rubs his tail up and down his inner legs soothingly, “you, uh, want somethin to get rid of the taste?”

“Please.” Indrid smirks, clearly expecting a goof. When Duck tips his glasses up his forehead, he goes stone still.

“Can I kiss you?”

“This was not in any of the timelines.”

“Just came to me now. And that ain’t an answer.”

Indrid nods, tips his face forward to bring their lips together. Duck sighs, floats lazily backwards as Indrid slips his tongue between his lips. When they part, there are more stars in his eyes than in the whole milky way.

“Do you want some good news?” Indrid nuzzles his neck with an adorable trill.

“Lay it on me.”

“The futures just shifted; Aubrey and Janelle will have a cure for your condition tomorrow.”

“Hell yeah.” Duck flips them upright, Indrid “eeping” and holding tighter, “can’t wait to stop worryin’ about whether I’m gonna start suffocatin on land. And, uh” he nips Indrid’s lower lip, forgetting about his sharpened teeth until the Sylph lets out a little moan, “if you ain’t busy tomorrow night, like to take you on a date.”

Indrid beams, “I’d like that so very much. Though I will admit, I’m going to miss how this looks on you.” He squeezes his thighs around Duck’s tail.

“You can always whip me up one if we wanna, uh, relive the fun parts of this experience.”

“True. And with that in mind, my sweet; how do you feel about wings?”

[transguyedgeworth]

selkie au?????? looks at you with my big ole eyes

yes!!! my partner and i came up with it a few weeks back but i kinda wanted to start talking and posting about it now since it’s mermay and it’s like... mermaid-adjacent. so. basically here’s the gist:

miles and gregory are both selkies! basically a selkie is a half-human half-seal creature but instead of just having a seal tail (like mermaids have fish tails), they have a human form and a seal form and switch between them by either donning or shedding their sealskin. 

miles’ mother was also a selkie but she was killed by poachers shortly after miles was born, which leads gregory to be very protective of miles. it takes years (about ten years to be exact) for him to even allow miles to visit the shore, and even then he’s sure to warn him about how dangerous humans are and dissuade him from revealing his true nature to anyone.

miles, being very inquisitive and desperate to make friends, winds up meeting phoenix on the beach. at first he remains in his seal form, but when phoenix expresses a similar desire to make friends, he decides to reveal his human form to the boy despite his father’s warnings.

since phoenix is staying here with his grandparents for the summer, he and miles spend every day hanging out on the beach together and sharing things from their respective worlds (phoenix introduces miles to ice cream and miles brings phoenix pretty shells and stones). 

miles even brings his dad up to meet phoenix one day! and of course gregory quickly realizes that phoenix isn’t a threat and is happy to see his son making such fast friends.

but one night phoenix and miles have planned to meet up on the beach to stargaze together and miles ends up arriving a bit early. he sees a shadow in the distance and thinks it’s phoenix, so he calls out to it.

unfortunately this shadow is manfred von karma, a poacher and local celebrity of sorts who is renowned for his impressive catches. he sees miles standing on the shore, sealskin in hand, and immediately makes the connection. what better catch than a real live selkie?

as manfred begins to approach, miles is entirely unaware of the weapons and nets the man is carrying, still believing him to be phoenix in the dark. at the last second, however, gregory appears and throws himself between von karma and miles, telling his son to swim home and not look back. that’s when miles sees the glint of von karma’s harpoon in the moonlight.

terrified, miles obeys without question. he waits at home for his father but he never arrives.

the next morning, miles returns to shore to look for his father. von karma is there, but miles doesn’t recognize him because he never saw his face the night before.

manfred takes notice of miles (and his sealskin) and manages to earn his trust by offering to help him find his father. by playing on the boy’s fears, von karma manages to get miles to follow him home, where he then snags the boy’s sealskin when he lets his guard down.

in selkie mythology, stealing a selkie’s sealskin forces them into captivity and obedience at the hands of the thief, so von karma has effectively bound the boy to himself so long as he is in possession of the skin. for this reason, he is always sure to keep the skin away from miles and out of the boy’s reach.

von karma proceeds to brag incessantly about his newest trophy: a selkie’s skin and the “newly tamed” owner as well. he treats miles like a prized pet, parading the boy around in front of his friends and colleagues, as well as allowing them to stroke and pass around miles’ sealskin to their hearts’ content.

once miles is of age, von karma begins allowing the boy to go into town in order to fetch things from the store or complete other menial tasks, knowing that the boy will be sure to return home while he is still in possession of his sealskin. 

this is when phoenix, up to visit his grandparents again, recognizes him. he has been looking for miles every summer since he disappeared, but never had any luck until now. 

he attempts to approach miles on several occasions but miles, having been ordered by von karma not to speak to anyone except the store clerks, cannot respond. of course phoenix is hurt by this, thinking that miles must not remember him, but after a while he begins to suspect something more sinister is going on.

that’s about all we have so far! we’re tossing around a few different endings at the moment but haven’t decided on one for sure yet, so sorry to leave it on a sort of cliffhanger ghskfbdjf

i didn’t mean for this response to be so long ghdjfndn i just have a lot of Ideas for this au so if anyone wants to indulge me by asking me questions or sending me thoughts about it that would be rad as hell!!!

[mysteira6]

FukaFlower - Different

Summary:

How did he fall for the red-haired, red-finned gentleman again?

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Happy MerMay everyone! (or pretty much the end of MerMay; I apologise for my lateness ><;;)

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“What is it like? You know, living underwater.”

The somewhat naïve question sent the boy laughing, his melodious voice like a tinkling bell. “I’m afraid you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific, surfer girl.” He commented as he swam over to the short-haired ‘surfer girl’ sitting by the low-lying pier, stopping near her legs that were dipped into the waters. If it weren’t for the small lamp she had brought with her, it would have been much harder to see his head of ruby red curls sticking out of the surface in the midst of the night.

“Besides, it’s not like I know what it’s like to be a human like you.” He noted with a wink, bringing her attention to his strange mismatched eyes. Although both of them were of a dark scarlet red, his left eye stood out like a sore thumb; a fully red sclera with no visible indication of where his iris was, a ghoul’s eye if one was imaginative enough to point it out. The human girl had pondered many times if that was the reason why he was never seen alongside any other merfolk like himself.

Though, she should be the one to talk, given that she too was often isolated amongst her peers. It wasn't rocket science or anything; Flower just didn’t like talking with people. It didn’t matter if it was another boy or girl, a child or an adult. She always had a hard time voicing her thoughts in a way that didn’t offend the other party or make them feel uncomfortable, a habit that persisted through her teenagehood as she matured into the adult she was now. 

Deep down, she held tight to her belief that people just didn’t like how… un-feminine she was, and maybe that was why she would avoid them no matter how nice they were.

Of course, that all changed when she met the merman wadding in the water before her.

“You didn’t have to laugh at me if it was such a stupid question.” She berated bluntly, though her tone suggested that it was for her own ears to hear. “I just wanted to know what life under the sea is like.”

“It wasn’t a stupid question, Petals.” He corrected her, a gentle smile on his face. “In fact, I kind of expected it. For someone who usually doesn’t care about a lot of things, you have a deep fascination with the sea, don’t you?”

Normally, she would have taken that as an insult, considering the cheesy pun and his rather straight-forward assumption that she didn’t care much. But that only would have happened if he was another human. On the contrary, Flower found it reassuring that this creature knew about her with such closeness, since it was only through her many conversations with him that made him realise how different she was from the other surfers that frequented the beach.

While they were out riding the waves for the thrills, the skills and the occasional glory that came with the annual competitions, she only surfed to get closer with the ocean. To run her hands against the current as she sped across the water’s surface, listening to the crashing curls of the sea echoing all around her. Yes, it was a strange reason, but her astute and keen awareness while she surfed was practically the catalyst for her meeting with the merman, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Thinking of such made her feel nostalgic all of the sudden, making her turn back to her companion. “So from our conversations, you figured out that I don’t care about anything except the ocean.” She noted with the slightest of smirks written on her lips, almost as if she was testing his memory. “What do you make of that, huh, Fukase?”

The boy in question beamed at her mentioning his name, since it was a rarity for the normally shut-in girl to do so. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of!” He insisted, nodding excitedly. “I like it when you talk with me, even about the little stuff. It makes me feel happy.”

She internally cringed. For someone who was insightful enough to see through her tough exterior and appreciate their incredibly simple conversations, he sure was a dense fellow to not realise the intention behind his words. Or perhaps that was a trademark for people of his kind?

“You merpeople are so much simpler than us humans.” She muttered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

As they both remained there by the docks, laying on their backs and staring at the few stars that decorated the night sky, the white-haired girl pondered. Truth be told, it was entirely possible that her growing… feelings for Fukase were nothing but a trivial matter, a mere infatuation that blossomed only because she had never forged such a close bond with anyone, let alone with someone who wasn’t even human.

When she first heard his soft, enrapturing voice singing while out at sea, Flower had been so hypnotised by the tune that she lost her footing on her board for the first time, tumbling her into the ocean to be churned and tossed about like a rag doll. The current had been especially strong that day, too, and as she fell into the grey curling waves, Flower felt a lump in her throat at the prospect of being a goner right then and there.

And though she really did feel her body plunge into the water, only seconds had passed before the sensation of someone’s arms snaked below her shoulders, bringing her out of harm’s way and heaving her on the other side of the beach that was less populated, a safe zone for her to awaken and meet her mythical rescuer for the first time.

Their first encounter was rocky, as anyone would expect it to be, since she had never dreamt about meeting an actual half-human, half-fish denizen that hailed from the deepest trenches of the sea. In fact, upon awakening to the sight of the redhead with a scarlet tail and mismatching eyes, all Flower could do was stare eerily at the strange creature.

And though her stare had pierced through dozens of people who tried to get close to her, the redhead was barely fazed. Instead, he spoke with a jovial tone followed by the sweetest of laughs.

“Wow! You sure have pretty eyes!”

Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised by his statement, perhaps too startled to dismiss it as a fake comment, and instead found herself blinking at finned young man who was still smiling innocently. Judging by the physique of his upper body, he couldn’t be any older or younger than she was, and yet…

In the days that passed after being rescued by the siren, Flower would always find herself hearing his voice when she was near the ocean, as if he was calling for her to visit him again. The first few times, she had passed the offer, reasoning with herself that it was nothing but her imagination playing with her senses.

Then came the evenings and nights when she was frustrated at the people around her and she would rush to the beach to kick the waves only to find the redhead wading the waters nearby. 

Which ultimately led to this… relationship that they had. If she would call it a relationship.

“Flower?”

The girl in question quickly sat up at the mention of her name. “Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

She nodded eagerly, seeing that Fukase was always so curious about human life as much as she asked about life under the ocean.

“Why aren’t you scared of me?”

The abrupt nature of his question had the girl frowning, a usual staple in her everyday life though never in front of him. She couldn’t help but blurt out a question with a  clear reply. “Why would I be scared of you?”

Though Fukase was still smiling, his tone was laced with melancholy. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m not a human like you. I don’t have lungs, or legs… And instead of having normal eyes, I’m… what was that word you used before?”

She racked her head for the answer. “You mean… heterochromatic?”

“Yeah! That. I’m hetarochrimasic.”

“ … You mean ‘heterochromatic’, Fukase.”

He tilted his head slightly. “A… heterochromasic?”

His struggle to speak a long human word was likely due to him not learning the English language all of his life (according to his recounts, he had only been around humans for a few years), but it was such an amusing sight that Flower couldn’t stifle her giggles. “You know what, never mind… What were you trying to say?”

Fukase seemed hesitant to dismiss the matter, though he continued. “See? This is kind of what I meant. I can’t speak like you humans can.”

“I don’t see where you’re going with this.” She replied bluntly, now crossing her arms, expectant of a proper answer.

“Point is,” He stopped for a second, choosing his words. “Why do you talk to me instead of any other human when I’m so different?”

‘Different’. It was such a simple word used to describe simple things that stood out from everything else. But maybe that was exactly what Flower was looking for.

A few minutes had passed by and the water rippled for a moment before Flower spoke. “Maybe it’s because I like different.”

“ … Huh?”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve talked to every other human I could ever meet… And I’ve realised that I just don’t understand humans too well.” The girl mused, now being her turn to have a melancholic tone in her voice. “Maybe it’s because I find it so hard to put up a face in front of another human being while I talk, and I end up saying things that they don’t like to hear so I avoid them as they avoid me.”

In the midst of her monologuing, the red-haired siren had swam closer to her, anticipating her words like a child willing to learn. “Maybe it’s because humans are… complicated creatures who like to hide their true intentions with their sugary words and fake gestures, and that I don’t, so I stand out. Maybe it’s because humans always expect something from you, and I don’t like to follow people so blindly.”

Her eyes scrunched up for a brief moment before they relaxed and focused on Fukase instead, someone whom she had come to appreciate and care for. “But you’re not like humans, Fukase. You’re honest and sweet and funny… And every time I talk with you, I’m not scared to be honest, since you always manage to turn it around into a silly joke.”

The man in question didn’t say anything, though he did scratch the back of his head with his left hand, likely out of bashfulness.

“Besides, I love the ocean.” She turned to the edge of the horizon, barely visible in the indigo expanses of the sky. “So I guess… You being from the ocean is a bit of a plus.”

“And that’s why you’re not scared of me?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” She clearly left out the part of her admitting that she had come to really like the red-haired siren, partly because she was afraid that it was unrequited.

And the other part was because she was afraid of him misunderstanding the feeling altogether and mistaking it with something else. He wasn’t a human, after all, so how would he be able to differentiate between love or lust? How would they be able to spend time together without anyone else discovering the forbidden nature of their tryst? And perhaps the most important of all, was she, a person who had never been in a romantic relationship before, even ready for one?

Flower was an asocial person, that was no secret. But that did not mean that she was going to throw common sense out of the window just for a possible infatuation with a fantastical creature.

Meanwhile, Fukase had laid back on the sea’s surface, looking at the stars again. “I am a siren who’s fated to hypnotise humans and crash ships.” He mused out of nowhere in a somewhat matter-of-fact tone.

“But I ended up just really liking you, Flower.”

She willed her heart to not take the remark in the way she was wanting to. “Oh, really?” Came her snarky reply. “You like the cold, introverted surfer with a weird name and a weird voice that makes her sound like a boy?”

“I like the skilled, beautiful surfer with a kind personality and a fascination with the ocean… and a fascination with me.” He corrected her yet again with that same warm, innocent smile of his.

Nothing else was said as they continued their star gazing into the night, and it was only when Flower’s lamp was running low on oil that she had to return home for the time being, their secret meeting adjourned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He should have jumped on the chance to tell her. The opportunity was out in the open the moment she told him why she liked him, and yet he did nothing to bring her closer to him.

No matter how many times he resisted the urge, it always came back to bite him in the tail fin. His deepest wish to tell that girl what she truly meant to him. How her continued interactions with him had been the first times he got to talk to anyone at all, merfolk or human. How she ignored his strange appearance and still spoke with him, bestowing him with the greatest kindness he had ever received.

That desire to sit next to her and lean his head against her shoulder… No doubt was it the most intimate of affections that he had ever felt for anyone.

Chase her. Catch her. Hold her.

But did she want him to? Was he even ready to dive in and lose himself to this desire?

He pocketed the thought for the night and tried his best to sleep again. Surely, tomorrow would yield better results for him.

[freckledoriya]

“h2whoa” (midoriya x reader fic)

PAIRING: izuku midoriya x reader

WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol

PROMPT: “I’ve never seen someone as stunning as you.”

WORDS: 2.3k

A/N: here’s my submission for @bnhabookclub’s mermay event! special thanks to @k-atsukidayo​ for helping with this! 

feel free to send me requests HERE

You knew that you shouldn’t have come to this party. It really wasn’t your scene: the music blasting, deep bass shaking the corners of the house, clouds of smoke looming above your head, cheap beer spilling onto the hardwood floors. But it was your high school graduation party, and you felt some kind of cosmic teen obligation to attend the rager. It’s not that you didn’t love your classmates, you absolutely did. And you wished on everything possible that you’ll keep in touch after graduation, especially with your long-time crush, Izuku Midoriya.

Midoriya has been one of those crushes that slowly devours your soul until he’s unintentionally claimed your entire heart. It started your first year when you shyly asked for some tutoring for an upcoming combat exam. You knew his incessant note-taking would prove to be useful. Plus… you really just wanted an excuse to talk to the cute, quiet kid in class. After some blushing and stammering, he agreed to help. You fell headfirst as he hesitantly showed you some of the notes he had already taken on your quirk, a quirk you had always thought was nothing to brag about: a mermaid quirk. 

Sure, it sounded wonderful-- a true fantasy come to life. But the reality was that when on land, your quirk was rendered pretty much useless. You did have some water-bending abilities that you could call upon, but the mermaid extension of your power had little potential unless the fight was in the water. And then there was the issue of when your human legs would turn into an iridescent mermaid tail. When your skin comes in contact with enough water, your body automatically transforms, whether or not you want it. You always saw it as a pretty big weakness of yours-- that a villain could pour a bucket of water on you and in ten quick seconds you’d quite literally be a fish out of water. Luckily, your water manipulation proved useful in situations like that, but only if you were able to notice the water about to hit you before it made skin contact.

But all that considered, when Midoriya talked about your quirk, he made it sound like one of the greatest possible quirks someone could have. 

“Your body goes through a whole transformation that exponentially increases your speed in water and your water manipulation ability. Almost any villain would be at an automatic disadvantage if they were in the water with you. It’s an incredible quirk!”

You smile at the memory, cherishing those moments where Midoriya could make you feel like the strongest person on Earth while simultaneously making you weak in the knees. You adore his passion for hero work, his constant devotion to bettering himself never fails to inspire you. Plus, you can’t deny that you enjoy watching him fight. The way his messy, green hair tousles as he activates his quirk consistently lights a fire in you that you’ve never been able to extinguish. Sure, he could be a muttering mess of a nerd, but dammit if he didn’t have you completely wrapped around his finger.

Of course, he didn’t know that. You two went through high school together remaining nothing more than close friends. The second something would tease crossing that line, one of you guys would chicken out. And before you knew it, high school flashed by, leaving you with a heap of unconfessed feelings of infatuation. 

As you now stare at him from across the room and this graduation party, you can’t help but feel a twinge of regret. What if he has felt the same way about you, and you just wasted four years of your life pining for no reason? Then again, the fear of rejection weighed heavily on your shoulders, never really giving you the chance to break free and shoot your shot. 

Your thoughts are cut short by the sensation of cold water being splashed on your back. 

“MINETA!” you scream, whipping around to see the Fresh-Picked Hero running around, pouring water on other unsuspecting girls’ shirts. 

Your anger gets the best of you as you stand to stomp your way towards him, completely forgetting about the fact that your legs have begun fusing to form a tail. You begin to fall face-first into the floor, but right before you do, you feel a crackle of energy around you, the air fizzing as you feel yourself be caught by, who else, but Izuku Midoriya. 

“A-are you okay?” he says, balancing you in his arms. 

You try to catch your breath as you blush from all the eyes on you. 

“Damn, Midoriya,” Kaminari drunkenly slurs his words. “You ran across the room in less than a second to catch her. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you run that fast in the four years I’ve known you.”

There’s an awkward silence as you look up at your hero, his emerald eyes trying to keep focused on your eyes, blushing as he too notices the room staring at the pair of you.

“Uh, Midoriya,” you say before clearing your throat. “Can you carry me outside? Somewhere where I can wait to dry off?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah of course.”

You tentatively wrap your arms around his neck as he begins to carry you through the house, trying to keep your heart from beating out your chest. You were so close to him. You attempt to take a few deep breaths to calm down, but every breath is immediately taken away by his presence.

“Thank you for catching me.” 

He smiles before setting you down in a reclining patio chair. “No problem. I’m sorry that Mineta did that to you.”

“Not your fault,” you shrug. “I’ve gone through all of high school with that little perv, I should know what to expect now.” 

Midoriya lets out a short laugh and takes a seat next to you, causing your heart to flutter. Was he going to sit with you while you waited to dry off and get human legs again? Could he get any more thoughtful and charming?

A few moments of silence pass. You let the gentle buzz of bugs, occasional croaks of frogs, and chlorine smell from the pool next to you fill the air. You look over and catch Midoriya staring, causing both of you to blush and look away. There’s a special kind of tension in the air, one that’s making your stomachs do flips as you ponder it. He could like me. He could like me, and now’s my chance to-

“So how long does it usually take for you to transform back?” he interrupts your thoughts. He must see the disappointment in your eyes because he immediately starts backtracking. “N-not that I’m in any rush! I’m fine sitting here with you! It’s just…” 

He sighs and his green eyes stare into yours. “-it’s just that you always look so sad when you’re in this form.”

His observation catches you off guard, but doesn’t surprise you. You’re never thrilled to have this quirk; whenever you transform you see it as a burden rather than some kind of gift. 

“I guess I kind of dislike this part of me, that’s all.”

Midoriya looks at you like a kid who was just told that Santa isn’t real: shocked, confused, and hurt. “But! But, it’s such an amazing quirk! The possibilities of all that you can do to save people and fight villains are endless. You must at least know that! And your water manipulation and combat skills mean that you’re just as effective out of water. And then you-”

“I know,” you say, cutting him off. “I know. It makes for a good hero quirk sometimes. But sometimes I just want to enjoy my class’ graduation party without turning into a half-monster with scales.”

“Monster?!” Midoriya practically yells, looking even more shocked and upset than before. “You think that your quirk makes you a monster?”

You gesture down to your tail, half hanging off the patio chair. Its iridescent scales reflect the moonlight, scattering hues of purple and yellow into the pool beside you. “What else would you call this?”

“Beautiful,” he says quickly, before blushing and beginning his usual stammering. “I-I mean beautiful in the way that I’m sure other people see you, not that I don’t think you’re beautiful, I mean, I do, but I just meant that you shouldn’t think that about yourself because I’m sure no one thinks of you other than beautiful, not that you’re not smart either, because you are, I just mean-”

As he mutters, you can’t help but feel a magnetic pull towards him. It’s too strong, too strong for you to try to resist anymore. You’ve fought it for four years. Four years of stealing glances during late-night study sessions. Four years of your hands occasionally “accidentally” touching his, causing electricity to flicker throughout your body. Four years of always hoping and dreaming that one day you’ll get to know the feeling of his arms wrapped around you. You can’t fight the pull anymore, even if you wanted to. So you give in. And you kiss him.

The kiss catches him off guard, effectively stopping his rambling. He tenses and gasps, but once he feels your hand reach up to his cheek, his eyes flutter close and he absolutely melts into your touch. Your lips move gently against his, guiding him at a slow, yet eager, pace. After a few fleeting moments, you’re forced to pull away for air.

You see your long-time crush, Izuku Midoriya, eyes big with adoration, cheeks flushed red, and your lipstick slightly staining his lips. In that moment, you can’t help but wish you had done this sooner. 

“I… I really like you, Izuku,” you whisper, unable to break eye contact as he hypnotizes you to move closer to him. “I have for a while.”

He smiles and attempts to blink back the tears in his eyes that threaten to spill over. “I really like you too.”

You don’t know this at the time, but Midoriya’s entire being is overflowing with elation. He has liked you far before you ever said your first words to him, choosing to admire you from afar. He never stopped having the mindset of the awkward, quirkless boy he once was, so he never considered that you could feel the same way. That you could reciprocate the way his heart practically bursted out his chest every time he laid eyes on you. Or the way he often found himself lost in a daydream where he magically had the nerve to go up to you and tell you how he really felt. Tell you that when he’s walking beside you, he can’t help but feel like he should be holding your hand; that when he’s talking to you, all he really should be doing is kissing you. 

So having you here beside him, quite literally sparkling under the moonlight and confessing that you like him just after kissing him… it’s almost too much to handle. He feels like his brain is short-circuiting.

“You wanna hop in the pool?” you suggest, effectively snapping him out of his daze.

“The pool?” he replies incredulously. 

“Yeah! Why not? It’ll be fun. Plus, now that I know you think I’m beautiful like this, maybe I want to stay like it,” you say with a wink. 

Midoriya feels his brain short circuit again. “I-I think you're beautiful without your quirk too!” 

You can’t help but giggle at his unwavering concern that he might say the wrong thing. You start to try and shimmy yourself off the patio chair to get to the pool, but Midoriya reacts quickly and leans over to help you lift you up. You admire his upper body strength (your mermaid tail was in no way a lightweight body part) and relish in the feeling of once again having his arms wrapped around you. He slowly lowers you into the pool water, blushing fervently once he notices the way your wet shirt clings to your body.

“Well? Aren’t you coming in too?” you ask, splashing at him. 

He chuckles and begins climbing in, not bothering to take off any of his clothes.Right as he enters the water, you take a breath and go underwater, feeling freer than ever before, completely in your element.

“Not fair!” he whines, watching you swim circles around him. “Not all of us have fins, you know.”

You giggle as you come up behind him, using your quirk to cause a small wave to crash over him. 

“Did you get me in here just to tease me?” he asks, trying to catch his breath from laughing.

You smile and swim up to him, getting as close as possible. “Maybe, but also to do this.”

Your lips crash into his, this kiss having much more confidence and purpose behind it than the one before. Midoriya lets out a soft moan as he kisses back, running his shaking hands through your wet locks. When you both stop to get air, he stares at you with wonderment.

There’s a special glint in his eyes that you can’t make out. Maybe it’s just the pool lights reflecting in his green irises. Or maybe there’s something else, shining bright within him like the stars above you, burning with passion and brilliance.

“What is it?” you ask, bewildered and hypnotized by his stare.

“It’s just,” he begins and looks up towards the sky, as if searching for the proper words, the ones that would have the right amount of letters, just the right sound to describe his current feelings. “It’s just… I’ve never seen someone as stunning as you. Both inside and out. And.. you absolutely amaze me.” 

It’s at that moment that you know with complete certainty-- you will keep in touch with Izuku Midoriya long after graduation.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Mermay - Dilliam - Operation Renovation!

While working on Mark and Celine’s house, William has the bright idea to bring Damien inside to help give him a second opinion. It’s another chance for both to learn more about each other, and for William to realise he caught feelings for the cute merman.

Word Count: 2,046

-

William and Mark mutually agreed to stay away from the Rockpool that night, bar Mark briefly hurrying down with dinner. Whatever happened between the siblings would stay between them. William had a hunch that Damien felt isolated from his family - and even his sister he adored - because it seemed difficult to find middle ground, but William kept that to himself. 

As he went to bed that night, William was drawn to the window to look out over the sea. A glimmer of light could be seen at the Rockpool, seeming to only emphasise the distance between the house and the coast, as well as between the twins. If there was a way to help them re-establish a connection, he would.

Opportunity arrived two days later. William had spent the entire of the first day painting the living room to freshen it up, and was unexpectedly left alone to handle the redecoration part on the second. Celine, who was supposed to be there, was called into work urgently. William always preferred having a second opinion on matters like this and was nearly about to abandon his plans for the morning when the breeze hit the chimes just outside the kitchen window. He turned to see the garden and… Of course!

-

"Damien!" William scrambled down the rocky steps, screeching to a halt just beside the water. "Damien, you here?" He could see small bubbles popping on the surface just beside the large rocks. Then, after a few moments, Damien's head slowly rose over the water. His eyes were half-lidded as he peered up at the source of the loud voice.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't think you would be asleep. I can come back-"

"No, it's alright… What's wrong?" Damien pulled himself out of the water to sit on the path. He began stretching to undo the effects of being curled up all night. William couldn't help but stare at how toned the merman was. Damien's body had more bulk to it to help keep warm in colder climates, but it was well defined between the lack of patterns on his body and his current stretches. William had to quickly snap himself out of it before he was caught staring in a daze of awe.

"I'm trying to rearrange the living room space and have been trying to decide where I should… what are you doing?" With his back still to William, Damien interrupted the other's train of thought by lifting his hand and turning the palm up.

"Pass me your phone."

"What?"

"Show me the photos and I'll tell you what I think."

"I never said anything about photos."

"Then I can't be of help."

"Poppycock. You're coming back up with me." William's suggestion had Damien finally turn to face the human. Even with what William could only describe as 'merman bed hair', Damien's accusatory look was sharp.

"I cannot walk, remember? I'm not of the species that can magically shapeshift -" Now it was Damien's turn to trail off as William let out a snort of laughter.

"You know, for someone who is so smart, you're awfully fond of jumping to conclusions and thinking you know what I'm going to say, huh?" William put his hands on his hips as he grinned. "No, no, dry your tail! I'm carrying you up! And no - I know that look from Celine - don't try and argue, I've made up my mind. Unlike Mark, I've spent years in the army. I'm a strong man. Have you even had a chance to see the house yet with your own eyes?"

William’s observation stunned Damien into silence. William was right - why did he keep assuming the worst of William? Was the simmering anger from yesterday influencing this, or was Damien really expecting the worst of humans?

"Only in photos…" He finally answered after a short pause. Damien was bewildered that William was even considering this after how Damien had behaved yesterday. "But you must know my tail is -"

"You won't know until you try. Come on, chop chop!"

Damien sat on the picnic bench, shaking the tip of his tail of extra moisture while William properly examined the merman's body to decide how best to carry it. At a glance, his tail was longer than his torso, and the eye-catching tip was large and potentially awkward if handled wrong. But William’s thoughts briefly strayed as he admired the colours. Damien was rather handsome. Not only that, he had such a wonderful personality (when he wasn’t jumping to conclusions) that William genuinely enjoyed the other’s company. But right now, he needed to focus. The last thing he wanted was to make the merman uncomfortable. Hoisting Damien over his shoulder was rather undignified, so it would need to be bridal style at a higher angle. 

He grunted at his decision. It caught Damien’s attention and he lifted his head in time to see a smirk peeking out under William’s moustache.

"I'm starting to think that is the 'I have an idea' look Mark had warned me about," Damien muttered as the soldier approached. Establishing how best to pick up Damien was a little awkward - "We'll get the hang of it!" William insisted - but they managed it. Damien wrapped both arms around William's neck and held on for dear life with such strength he was sure he’d leave marks on the skin. One of William's hands was at the base of the torso, while the other arm had the tail draped over it. To Damien's amazement, there was no sign of struggle from William once they settled.

"I can carry twice my own body weight," said William with a wink, like he read the merman's mind. With that, they made their way up the steps. William's eyes were on the ground to watch his footing, while Damien needed time to recover from that damned wink.

-

The initial reason for William bringing Damien into the house was ignored as Damien was taken aback by a moment of awe upon seeing the house for the first time. William decided that Damien absolutely needed the 'grand tour'. It was the right choice, as Damien was curious to learn more about the house beyond the photos he had been shown. William was able to point out the various jobs he was required to do while here until, finally, it brought them to the chaos that was the living room. Damien could see why William wanted a second opinion. All the furniture was grouped together in the middle of the room. It was quite a sorry mess of eccentric items that needed to somehow find new homes within the room.

Damien was sprawled across the couch - the end of his tail casually dangling across the far arm of it - as William set to work moving items to and fro as Damien instructed. Neither homeowner being there was a blessing, as William discovered that Damien had a very good eye for object placement and how to make a room look nice. Damien laughed and admitted that it was probably due to the natural merfolk love of beautiful things combined with a human awareness of furniture and ornaments.

The pair chatted throughout the morning as William completed the heavy work (not that Damien minded that he had to watch the human flex his muscles and show off that strength). This was how William learned that merfolk are not as materialistic as humans. A normal human home would be too 'cluttered' for them. There was little need for 'the latest and trendiest goods' in a merfolk's life in the same way as humans needed them, but those that had trinkets or ornaments knew they would never be stolen since they only have sentimental value.

"Is it true that merfolk like jewellery, since those are pretty valuable?" William asked as he showed Damien a mermaid figure before he could put it on the shelf.

"It is. It's purely aesthetic. The value of the materials mean nothing. I once met a young mermaid who had one of those bright, plastic bracelets a human child would wear. She valued it so much that when it went missing, the entire community banded together to search for it. I realised that an item imbued with sentimentality should be the most important value in my life, not how much money is used on it. Though there is a natural draw to gold because it isn't as unpredictable as silver in the water."

"At least the movies get something right. So what about the nesting-whatchamacallit - they aren't 'homes', right?"

"Right. Merfolk communities normally have a shared 'living space' that we call 'nesting grounds'. These are areas that are sheltered, mostly shallow, and open. It's a communal area, so it's ideal to have enough room for everyone to socialise without the danger of being swept away by storms. There are small nooks and crannies that are used for nests, which are a merfolk's personal spot for sleeping. Everyone knows to leave another's nest alone. Messing with the nest or the items near it without permission can land you in a lot of trouble." Damien paused, eyes drifting to one of the seascape photos on the wall. "The nesting ground I've been welcomed into has our distant relatives in it. Their home is situated amongst the coral reef. There's always colour there, along with whatever 'souvenirs' are brought to either share in the communal space or for a personal nest."

"Huh....Sounds like the dorms in the barracks I'd stay in. We'd have individual beds and lockers, but that's it in terms of 'personal space'. Everywhere else is communal." The comparison, though not perfect, was close enough to help William gain a better understanding of Damien's world, and of the setting for Celine and Mark's home. "So… Would that make the land part of the Rockpool the nesting grounds, and the small section under the water by the rocks your nest?"

"Yes, I consider it as such. I like it as it is. I don't see why it needs to be changed."

Realisation dawned on William. That explained Damien's offense at the mere thought of the space being changed. If everything was fitting for a merman, why humanise it? There was a solution to this, he was sure of it!

The pair took a break in the afternoon to bring Damien into the bathroom to get some moisture back into his body - the handheld shower head made this a lot easier - and have some lunch. Then, as William was asking Damien his opinions on which colour would better suit one of the empty rooms, Celine returned. She thought William was merely talking out loud as usual and was pleasantly surprised to see her brother lounging across three kitchen chairs, waving innocently at her.

-

And that was how the pair spent the next week. Each morning, William would set up and go on a long walk to strengthen his leg and explore the area, then fetch Damien so they could spend time together while William worked. Mark had gotten his hands on a wheelchair, which William then spent half the night refurbishing it to support a long, heavy tail instead of two feet. It gave Damien a little more independence when in the house… As well as the ability to ram into William with it when he was fetching items. The three humans agreed that it gave Damien a new lease of life once he was able to be involved in a way that was suitable for him. Some days he would ask William to bring him back to the Rockpool so he could spend the afternoon alone instead, and that was a request that was always respected.

However, as the week went on, William found he would spend his evenings at the Rockpool, regardless of whether or not the others joined him. He found Damien to be such good company… and feelings had taken root. But with how adamant Damien had been in not wanting to be humanised, he decided it would be best to keep it to himself. 

It didn't help that Mark gave him a knowing nudge one night when they were heading back into the house and seemed to be blissfully oblivious to William’s threat to keep it to himself.