Carnivorous

Carnivorous

A Mermay Prompt

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You came back to the water alone. You hadn’t told anyone about the suspicious skeleton in the water that apparently saved you from sharks. Honestly, who would believe you? He swam unbelievably faster than anyone you’d ever seen, you never actually saw him, and there was no evidence of him ever being there. Not even a bruise from him grabbing you, he’d been so gentle.

It was hard for you to believe it even happened.

So here you were, oxygen tanks at the ready, attempting to find the monster in the water from yesterday. He seemed pretty cordial and knew his way around in the water so you figured your chances of seeing him again would increase in the water. Well, seeing him for the first time. Not again.

You waddled your way out into the water, your flippers doing you no favors on land, and went diving. Since it was the first place you technically met him, you swam for the same coral reef from yesterday. Nothing new. Just another school of fish, a few garden eels that shrank into their holes when you approached, and a stingray gliding across the sand between boulders.

Nothing.

He wasn’t here.

You blew out a couple bubbles in frustration. Not that you expected to find him immediately, just… it’d be easier if you did. Whatever. You could check on the reef in the meantime.

You carefully swayed with the currents as you floated from one patch of coral to the next. Checking on the health of the environment, avoiding any obvious dens, and picking up the occasional bit of trash that immediately got zipped into your fanny pack with a glittery zipper to dispose of later. Seriously, people didn’t understand cleanliness.

Something moved.

Shocked from your business and anticipating your mystery skeleton, you spun to look. Somewhat disappointingly, it wasn’t your skeleton. However, you still froze.

A barracuda stared you down.

Shhhhhit.

You gently tread water and leaned back, trying to slowly get away. It followed you, eyeing your fanny pack. You weren’t getting away easily. What could you possibly do? It was already after you. You covered the fanny pack with your hand.

It lunged.

You barely had time to register the attack when something huge darted at the barracuda and snatched it. The speed at which this creature moved shoved you backwards making your arms flail to stay steady. A large black tail filled your vision as you regained focus. It swished and twitched in place as the front seemed busy. As your mind actually cleared, the colors of the beast registered.

An orca.

You carefully and slowly kicked to back up. Orca’s were remarkably friendly in the area but you weren’t about to risk it. Your flipper paddled just a bit too hard and the orca noticed. It’s front twisted around to look at you, barracuda still in its mouth.

You both froze at the sight of each other.

That wasn’t an orca. It was an orca siren. With skeletal features and blood still drifting off its jaws from the barracuda it gently took from its open mouth. You could help but think you were next on its menu. However, it looked just as shocked to see you as you did.

“Uhhh… hi?” Came a familiar muffled voice from its toothy maw. It waved sheepishly at you.

Startled from your shock, you squeaked and spun on a dime, swimming away as fast as you could. An orca siren?? This close to land?? You thought there weren’t any sirens in these waters! Didn’t sirens tend to live near more crowded areas?

“Hey! Wait!”

Shhhhhiiiiittttt!

A hand around your ankle earned a scream of bubbles from you as you turned to defend yourself, kicking and flailing. It made sense now why he was so fast. Being part fish(well, mammal, but aquatic) would help with that.

“Hey! Hey! It’s okay! I’m not gonna hurt you.” He assured as his hands grabbed your arms. You kicked at him but the combination of water, flippers, and thick hide made your attacks useless.

More bubbles escaped you as you screamed. “Mmh!”

“Oh, stars, you can’t hear me can you? Uh….” He gave you a weak smile and looked up. “Don’t worry, we’ll be at the surface in no time. Hang on.” He pulled you close, prompting you to thrash again, but when his tail moved into action you clung desperately to his arms. He was too fast. How had you thought you could out swim this beast of speed? It was insane.

It was only a few seconds before you broke the surface for the second time in 24 hours. This time about a mile from the beach.

“Let go!” You snapped in the air, trying to shake his hold off your arms.

“I will! Just listen to me. Okay?” He pleaded. When you didn’t snap back he continued. “I’m not gonna hurt you. You just can’t tell anyone that we’re here.”

“We?!?” That did make sense, orca’s swam in pods, but still! The thought of more killers in the water had you shivering. “How many are you??”

He grimaced. (Should have kept my mouth shut) “That’s not important right now. What’s important is that you listen. There are very dangerous people that will hurt you if you tell anyone you saw me.”

You growled. “Hard to hurt me if I never come back to the water.”

His grip tightened on your arms. “First of all, don’t ever say that until you’re in the clear. I could kill you right now if I wanted and not have to deal with this problem ever again. You already said there isn’t anyone that would care to pay ransom for you. So who would notice if you went missing?” He glared down at you.

You froze. You and your stupid mouth. He was right. Even if you did have someone that would fight tooth and nail for you, he could still kill you and you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that he was there.

“Second,” He interrupted your thoughts. “I wasn’t talking about in the water. There are land dwellers, scientists, that will torture every last detail of information from you just to find me. They have before for less.” His expression turned sad and he broke eye contact with you. “…This is more for your own safety.”

“…You said ‘we’ before, but now you’re only saying ‘me,’ like, just you.”

“Yeah, they don’t know about my pod and I plan to keep it that way. Please.” He pleaded.

Your resolve shook at his explanation. You… You couldn’t not tell people that there were sirens in the area, could you? He seemed so desperate. Maybe…

“If you promise something as well, sure.”

His eyes lit up. “What is it?”

You swallowed. He better hold up his end of this deal. “You can’t attack or eat people.”

He smiled gently and placed a hand on his chest. “I promise I won’t hunt, stalk, attack, injure, or eat any monster or human person for as long as you keep my secret. No loopholes. No strings attached. Your turn.” He looked at you expectantly.

Oh right. “I promise not to tell anyone about you or your pod as long as you don’t do any of that you just promised. Happy?”

“Mmmm.” He tipped his head, smirking. “…You missed a part.”

“What? What did I possibly miss?”

“No loopholes~?”

“Fine! No loopholes. No strings attached. Now are you happy?” You glared.

He whistle-laughed at you. “More than. Do you want me to take you to the shore again?” He offered.

Right. You still had no idea how you’d get back to the beach with those swirling currents between you and your destination. “Mm, fine. But only because I don’t want to swim all the way back.”

“Of course.” He hugged you to his chest. “Deep breath.”

You stuck the nozzle in your mouth.

“Oh. Okay. Here we go.”

Headcanon Time!!

Since monsters are made of magic and not physical matter like humans, they are shocked by each and every tiny discovery the closer they get to a human.

And you don’t know why your monster friend (or lover, whatever you prefer) is getting so close to your face until they gasp: “Your eyes are like mirrors!”

Turns out, magic doesn’t reflect light, thus leading each monster to peer into their human friend’s eyes in wonder at the revelation.

“I can see what you see!” “I didn’t know you could do that…” and my personal favorite “The stars look really nice in your eyes.”

(You’re welcome)

I’ll try to do these

I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try

FINISHED MY LIST OF PROMPTS, GUYS

If anyone uses these, please feel free to @ me, I’d love to see how people interpret them. I guess you could also just use a tag. #piddermermay I guess? Idk. I’ve never done anything like this before.

confidants.

Dwelling/House

A Mermay Prompt

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You lived alone. No roommates. No family members. No one to notice if you went back to the beach. Again.

Your gear was already packed in the car ready to go. You kinda left it there after meeting that siren, the shock numbing your mind enough to just head to bed and pass out.

But oddly enough, despite your lingering fear, you longed to go back and see him again.

So you grabbed your keys.

The drive there was short, you only lived a few miles away. You carried your gear to your normal entry point, a hidden cave-like beach. It was tucked away in the side of the cliff and behind a few perfectly placed trees that hid the entrance from view but allowed you to walk in no problem.

The pebbles shifted under your feet as you started putting your gear on.

“I’d ask if this was your place but I’m pretty sure your species needs warmth.”

A yelp escaped you as you spun to look at the water. The orca siren’s eyes crinkled at you, his smile hidden behind his arms as he laid across a boulder a few meters from the shore.

He noticed your gear. “Aw~! Did you come back to see me?” He sat straight and gave you a toothy grin.

You huffed. “Didn’t you promise not to stalk people?” You changed the subject.

“I did. But stalking implies staying hidden. And I wanted to say hi.”

“You also said no loopholes.”

His grin fell. “I did, didn’t I?” At your nod he shrugged and pushed himself off the boulder. “Well, I guess that’s that. Bye.” He turned.

“Wait!” You sputtered out. You didn’t want to scare him off! You were just poking fun!

The smug grin he shot over his shoulder at you made you wish you hadn’t stopped him. “Yes~?”

Dang it, he had you in a box. “Fine! I did want to come see you, you overgrown guppy! You happy?” You crossed your arms.

He laughed at your pout. “You’re cute! I like you. Hey!” He snapped his fingers. “We never properly introduced ourselves. I’m Cross.” He swam forward and held his hand out to shake your hand.

You hesitated. When he got closer, his lower body beached itself on the rocks, displaying his large orca features. The deep black was intimidating against the gray pebbles between the two of you. Scars from different aquatic battles riddled his body like words that would tell you how he got each one.

But what caught you off guard was his dorsal fin. The very obviously male dorsal fin was flopped over on his back. A trait specific to domestic orcas.

He was domesticated. Most likely he was rescued and then released when he proved he could survive on his own. But you’d never heard of any sirens being rescued let alone an aquarium that housed sirens.

You were getting off topic. The point was, he was familiar with people. So he shouldn’t be a threat to you.

You shook his outstretched hand. “I’m y/n. Nice to officially meet you, Cross.”

His grip was firm. “Nice to meet you too, y/n.” The beaming smile he gave you had you smiling back as the handshake ended. “Soooo? You’re comin’ into the water today. Care if I show you around?”

You laughed. “I’ll have you know, I practically grew up in these waters.”

He shrugged and somehow smiled more as his hands held his chin, his elbows digging into the rocky beach. “Things change. I could show you my place?”

You hesitated, not because of the idea of being in a small space with a large predator though that was a solid reason, but because it was the first time someone had asked you over.

The basic movie type response was all you managed to get out. “Most people buy me dinner first.”

“I mean,” He glanced back at the water. “I could grab you something. Though, I have a feeling you don’t appreciate… what do you people call that fancy fish? Sasha?”

Oh stars. “No! Please don’t ever call it that again! Oh my stars! Sushi! It’s called sushi!” You laughed. “And no. I actually don’t like most uncooked foods. It… I don’t know. I just don’t like it.” Shrug.

Cross nodded. “That’s fair.”

You finished shuffling your gear on.

“So… is that a no?”

“Is what a no?” You questioned. What had he asked?

He gave a halfhearted smile and glanced away. “To coming over to my home? You don’t want to see it?”

Ugh. He looked so sad like that. “Oh. Uh, sure. I’m gonna be in the water anyway.” You tried to shrug away your fear but it lingered.

His face lighting up relieved some of that fear. He whistled a happy little tune that had you smiling as you approached the water. Cross backed up off the beach. “You ready?” He beamed.

You took a moment to take a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

The nozzle went in your mouth and his arms went around you again before darting away from the shore. Coral that would have taken you several minutes to reach, was there and gone in less than a minute as Cross expertly sped through the water.

He was talking.

“It’s bigger than most dens. I don’t like small spaces so boss helped me find a bigger enough space to feel cozy. I added a few things too. Just a couple plants and shells, stuff to make it look nice, y’know? Oh! And my pod is out hunting. So we shouldn’t have to see them until after I take you back. You don’t want to meet them. They’re… well, let’s just hope you don’t meet them. They’re more wild than me. And the coral here is insane! Have you seen all those colors? I mean, of course you have. You live here. But they’re so pretty! I didn’t know the water could have so many colors!”

And on and on he rambled, you were content to listen. He seemed like he needed someone to talk to and it was calming. So you settled in for the ride as he talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Coral, fish, water currents, snails. He continued until they reached his home.

“There was this one fish that- Oh! We’re here!” He whistled happily, let you go, and darted forward into a cave mouth. He beckoned for you to follow. “Come on! I’ll show you around!”

Your cheeks hurt from smiling as you swam into the den. He wasn’t kidding about the space. You could fit three school buses comfortably in the decorative cave with plenty of headspace. The edges and corners of the den were covered in all sorts of colorful coral, shells, and pearls of multiple sizes.

“Ta-da~!” Cross spread his arms wide. “Welcome to my home! It’s not the prettiest thing but I try.” He shrugged nervously. “You’ve probably seen better.”

You shook your head at him. No, this was better than any home you’d seen on land. He actually managed to stick every type of color he could find in a space and make it look good. You couldn’t get these same colors out of flowers. A shiny pearl caught your attention and you reached down to touch it.

A hand grabbed your wrist. You looked up to see Cross looking very stern and worried.

“I… Please don’t touch my pearls.” He said before slapping himself in the face. “Oh my stars! You can’t understand me! I’ve been talking forever and you haven’t heard a thing!”

“Mm.” You shook your head no at him and gestured to your ears and back at him. You could hear him.

He hesitated at your flailing. “Uh… are you okay?”

You nodded yes.

“Wait… can you hear me?”

Nod.

“Everything?”

Yep.

“But… don’t your ears stop working when they get full of water?”

Nope.

“Huh.” He eyed you. “You legged people are confusing.”

You playfully punched his shoulder.

“Hey! What’d I say??” He complained, not even bothering to rub the shoulder as you nursed your wounded hand.

You rolled your eyes and turned to explore the rest of the cave. He hadn’t just plucked the coral, he’d moved entire boulders and dug up plants to keep the coral’s lively color. It was beautiful.

You turned to him after exploring the whole den and gave him an approving thumbs up. He laughed at you and you spent the rest of your time listening to him ramble and checking your oxygen before he took you back to the shore.

Breakfast

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: this is me talking to my old self. I’m projecting myself into these characters and I’m addressing no one specifically. Take it how you will, I hope you enjoy)

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Growl.

“Y/n.”

Embarrassed at the loud noise your stomach just made, you curled into yourself.

Cross glared at you disapprovingly. “Have you eaten anything this morning?”

You could lie. You could lie with such ease. But he would never believe you. Not after that very obvious sound. Your stomach growled again.

Your companion sighed. “You can’t be skipping meals like that. Especially when you’re using up so much energy. What if you got attacked again? Would you even have enough strength to fight back? Defend yourself? Or even call for help?” His voice raised in volume as he got more and more carried away in his rant.

“It won’t happen again.” You grumbled, arms crossed over your knees.

All the righteous anger was suddenly gone and Cross scooted closer to you. “Y/n. I’m not angry at you for not eating. I-…” He glanced back into the water, checking to make sure no one else was listening, before turning pleading eyes back to you. “I’m scared. It’s terrifying. I… I don’t want to lose you, and I know it seems dumb to you. ‘It’s just a few meals, it’s not a big deal. You’re overreacting.’ And yeah, I kinda feel stupid feeling this strongly about it, but,” His hand rested on your knee. “I care about you. I always will. And if something is hurting you, whether now or in the long run, I feel this painfully crushing need to fix it. To heal you, and make you feel better. And if I can’t, I feel like my soul will tear itself in two trying to find a way.” His eyes held pain and truth.

“Oh.”

He smiled at you. “Yeah. Sorry. That was a lot.”

You were lost. And slightly upset but that was fading. It wasn’t that big a deal but he seemed so upset by it. Why would he even care?

“Y’know what, I have an idea.” Cross started again. “There are a few food places near the docks, right?” Nod. “I’ve been wanting to try some of y’all’s food and since your stomach is already rebelling, do you think you could grab something for us to share? I won’t be far, and you won’t have to eat it all if you don’t want to. Do you think that’d be fair?” He gave you a hopeful look.

Dang it, he was using those puppy dog eyes again. There were a few good places by the docks that would be open this early.

“Uh. I can do that.” You shrugged. He needed to eat too. Probably a whole lot more than you. “But, what do you want? There are a few options.”

He shrugged back at you. “Whatever you come across first, I guess. I haven’t actually had legger food.”

“People food.” You corrected.

“Am I not a people?” He teased.

“Nah.” You shot back easily. “You’s a fish.”

“Excuse me!?!” His tail splash violently in the water as you laughed. “I am not a fish! Oh my stars! Go! Go get me food, you little urchin!” He shooed you back up the path to your car.

You… did get food from the first open place you saw. It just wasn’t breakfast food. You didn’t know why they were open this early and the cafẽ wasn’t.

“Ooooh! What is it? It smells good!” Cross looks like an excited puppy whose owner just got home. Waves crashed around him with the force of his tail tossing back and forth.

“It’s called pizza. I’m not sure if you should even eat this.” You admitted.

He tilted his head at you. “Do you eat it?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Then I’m sure it’s fine! I mean, my stomach’s pretty strong and I don’t see you living on a diet of fish.”

“Ugh. Fine. But if you eat too much and get a stomach ache, it’s your own fault.”

“Good.”

You opened the box and handed him a slice before taking your own. It had been a while since you’d eaten out. And he was right. It smelled amazing. You bit into your pizza savoring the taste. Correction: it was amazing.

Out of curiosity, you spared a glance at Cross and nearly choked. His duel-colored eyes were blown wide and his mouth hung slightly open in shock, the pizza sitting on his… tongue.(Skeletons had tongues?) His stunned, love-struck expression was topped off with tears in his eyes.

Once you swallowed your food without choking again, you spoke. “Are you crying?”

His wide eyes focused on you. Remembering himself, Cross chewed and swallowed his pizza before answering. “Am I what?”

“Crying.”

He looked confused. “What’s that?”

If you had food in your mouth, you would have choked again. “I- You- What??”

“What’s crying?”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time! What do you mean ‘What’s crying?!?’ You’re crying right now!!”

“I am?”

“YES?!?!”

“Uh…” He looked down at his hands and pat himself down as if searching for something. “…What exactly does that mean?”

“Ugh!” You pushed yourself to your feet and strode up to him. Reaching up, you gently wiped a tear off his cheek to show him. “This is a tear. Tears come out of your eyes when you cry. Crying can happen when you’re sad, hurt, or even happy. I assume these are happy tears?”

His looked at the tear and reached up, feeling the other tears on his face. “Oh. Yeah, I think it’s happy. I didn’t know I could do that. I guess those would normally get swept away by the ocean.”

“Oh. That makes sense actually.”

His gaze didn’t leave your hand as he slowly reached down and cupped your hand in his own. “Is that why my eyes would hurt when I…” He locked eyes with you and suddenly pulled away. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”

You shrugged. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“You’re so small.” He grinned down at you, proving just how much height he had on you and effectively changing the subject.

You huffed. “I am not small! Oh my stars, Cross! You’re just huge! It’s not a fair comparison!”

He chuckled. “What would be a good comparison?”

Killer. “Someone normal sized. Your butt takes up the entire beach.”

“And yet there’s still room for your tiny butt.” He teased.

“That’s it!!! No more pizza!!! I’m eating the rest and you can’t have any!!!”

“Wait! No! I’m sorry! Y/n! No!”