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Security

A Mermay Prompt

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“Y/n?”

Startled, you spun towards the familiar voice and brandished a small shell in your hand. You weren’t expecting the voice you heard when you felt someone follow you after you left the trench.

“What do you want?” You asked, cautious but not rude.

Dream blinked at the shell and ignored it. “Easy there. I’m just here to talk. If it makes you more comfortable, I can swim a little further back. I understand your discomfort with seeing me again.”

“Can’t imagine why.” You quipped, gesturing for him to back up.

At your prompting, he moved further away from you until you were satisfied with the distance.

“Where’s your friend? Is he hiding?” You questioned, glancing around at the surrounding boulders. With the ability to change color, he could be anywhere.

“No. No, Ink is busy in one of his creating moods. I couldn’t get him to leave his work if I wanted to.” Dream smiled. “I am sorry that he scared you. That was not his nor my intention.”

You scoffed. “Speak for yourself. Ink knew what he was doing when he puffed himself up like a balloon. His intent was intimidation and it worked. Don’t speak for him when his actions contradict your words.”

Dream nodded solemnly. “You’re correct. I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

He lapsed into a silence he seemed comfortable with that you did not.

“Have you met Killer, Dream?” You asked.

The seahorse siren looked confused. “I… Yes? You saw him attack me the other day. We’ve met before.”

“No, I mean, do you know Killer?”

“…I do not believe I am understanding your meaning…” Dream admitted.

You sighed. “Have you seen Killer play? Have you seen him when he’s excited? When he wants attention? When he’s playful? Have you seen his eyelights or the way his soul morphs into a heart when he’s calm? Have you seen him nuzzle into Nightmare’s tentacles when he’s sleeping? Have you heard him cheer? Have you heard him whistle through the dens just because he’s in a good mood? Have you heard his voice break when he’s overwhelmed? Have you heard him whimper when he wants a hug? Have you felt him spin around you? Bump you? Nip at your food? Have you felt his voice purr through the water while he talks? Have you met Killer?”

At your intense glare, Dream broke eye contact and glanced around at the sea floor. “…I will admit, I haven’t ever really had the time to officially meet the Killer you just described. I’ve only ever been on the receiving end of his teeth.” He winced. “Not that I gave him a reason not to attack.”

Your eyes narrowed. “Killer recognized your attacks and held back to avoid getting shot. You’ve hit him before.”

Dream looked up at you. “He… He hesitated? I didn’t feel him hesitate.” He mumbled.

“Were you paying attention to how he felt?”

The seahorse tail curled up underneath him, making him look embarrassed. “…No. I wasn’t.”

He looked so sad…

. . .

Oh my stars, you couldn’t stay mad at these sirens.

Sigh. “Why did you want to talk to me?” You reached down to pick up the net you’d dropped. It was recycle day and being a siren wasn’t going to stop you from cleaning up.

“Oh! Yes!” Dream straightened with a loving smile. “I would like to offer you my protection should you get separated from your pod. I am not asking to replace your pod or be considered more important than anyone you already know. I’m offering this as a last resort type of thing, if you can’t go to anyone else.” He tipped his head in a half-bow. “As an apology for causing you so much trouble the other day. A shrill whistle is all you need to call me.”

Oh! An apology!

“I-uh- Thank you? I’m not sure if you’ll be able to hear me if I’m too far away, though.” You pointed out.

Dream chuckled a lighthearted laugh. “I will hear you, but only if you intend to call me. Same with Ink and Nightmare.”

“You’re telling me I could have called Nightmare the other day when I was hiding from you?” You asked with a face that said; ‘really?’ It felt weird to think of the leviathan moving outside of the trench for anything. Especially with how tired he’s been.

Dream flinched at your words. “Ah. Yes. I’m glad you didn’t. Nightmare gets very… possessive. I haven’t been able to talk to Cross since he left. I…” Dream looked so very sad as he broke eye contact again. “…I made many mistakes. And I haven’t gotten the chance to apologize for them.”

Dang, what a sad, centuries old boy.

“…He talked about you the other day.” At Dream’s glance, you clarified. “Cross. He’s not mad at you. He doesn’t think it was your fault.”

A soft smile was your reward for your words. “He doesn’t?” You shook your head. “Stars.” He breathed in awe. “How is he? Is he okay? I only ever see him when we fight.”

“He’s good. His fins have a few scrapes from Killer’s frenzies but other than that, he’s been great.”

“Oh.” Dream seemed hesitant to speak before finally asking. “And… how is Killer?”

You smiled. It was nice to see him try. “Killer’s better. Nightmare helped him steady out so now he’s just excited. Like a child with too much sugar. I’m pretty sure he’ll crash when the energy wears off.”

Dream’s eyes widened. “Nightmare… what? Did… Did he absorb my magic?”

You didn’t like how scared Dream sounded. “I don’t know. I’m not a magic expert. Why? Would that hurt you?”

“No! It would hurt him!” Dream worried his tail into the sand. “Nightmare can’t have too much positivity at once, just like I can’t have too much negativity at once! Have you seen him since that happened?”

Your own eyes widened at that and your tail twitched. You forced yourself to calm down. “He was fine when I saw him. We were just chilling under the dens and they gave me a den. He didn’t seem hurt but he also seemed more tired than usual.” You fidgeted with the net and shell in your hands. “Will it get worse? Like, is he sick?”

Dream shook his head. “It shouldn’t get worse, that I know of. I don’t know if positively works different than negativity but it would only hurt for a few days as my magic would fight the negativity off. It doesn’t really get worse unless someone nearby got really upset.” He looked nervous. “He, uh… do the other sirens get excited easily?”

No hesitation. “Killer does. And the boys have been very happy and pleasant for as long as I’ve been here.” You started drifting back towards the trench. “Is there a way you got better faster? Something that helped you heal?”

Dream didn’t hesitate either. “Blue. He’s a positivity beacon. Him just being near helped me more than any magic ever could.”

You were certain Dream could see your gears turning. “Is there someone that’s always upset? Someone I could bring to help Nightmare?”

Dream flinched again. “I don’t think you’d want to meet him… He’s very aggressive.”

You nodded, determined. “Good. Then he’s angry. How do I get him to follow me?”

“Uh… you don’t. Unless you want to meet Reaper before he wants to meet you. Listen, y/n, messing with Error is the last thing you want to do. He’s the destroyer. He will kill you.” Dream sternly lectured.

“The destroyer?” You raised a brow and a smirk played on your face. You had an idea. Dream grew suspicious. “You said you knew Blue? How would I get to him?”

Hello boys!! Who's more likely to get their heart squeezed by how cute Bean is? :3

Literally or figuratively?

Cause either way it’s Killer

(I’m sorry I took so long to answer this! I colored it for you to make up for it!)

Sturgeon dragon mayhaps? 👀

They are one of my favorite fish, and look very mythical to me

Bruh! I love these lil sniffers!

There he is! I love him!

Discover

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: far too much dialogue. Far too little action)

Masterlist

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“Cross?”

Said siren looked up from sharpening one of his attacks with a rock. “Hm? Yes, y/n?”

“I… Can we talk for a minute?”

Concern flashed across his face. “Sure.” He set down the rock, dismissed the attack, and gave you his full attention. “You want to go somewhere more private?”

You nodded. It was… important. To you at least. You wanted answers to questions that weren’t solving themselves.

Cross nodded back and led you to a secluded spot just outside of the trench. The terrain was flat and blank so no one could hide and eavesdrop on the conversation. “What do you want to talk about?” He asked.

You hesitated but went for it. “Dream said he met you when you first entered the ocean and that you had just escaped captivity. And I already knew that you’ve at least been a siren for longer than that. So… What happened?”

Cross straightened and looked away. “Oh. He told you that. Uh.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit. Okay. Y’know, Dream is… how do I say this? …He’s not bad. He just wants to help. He helped you the other day. So when he first found me, starving and trying to figure out how currents worked, he helped me. Ink helped too but was about as much help as Killer when he needs to stay still.” Cross chuckled. “He did his best though.”

“Okay. But could you explain why you were in captivity? Last I checked, there was a ban against sirens in captivity unless absolutely necessary and that ‘absolutely necessary’ part was firm about it being a physical disability.” You put your hands on your hips.

Cross shrank at your tone. “I was there all my life. And before you ask, I wasn’t converted. I was and have always been a siren. I was just raised in a lab. The Doctor… he was not nice to me or my pod. He was trying to discover a way to control sirens like how we can control our prey with song. And I think he almost figured it out before……” His eyes flashed and he turned away. “He had to move the aquarium. I don’t remember why. I just remember them sedating us and shipping us across the sea.

“There was a storm, the ship was destroyed, and I made some poor decisions.” Cross looked at his hands as if he expected to find blood and dust on them. Maybe he did. “In my poor choices, I had accidentally forced myself into isolation. Everyone I knew was dead and I couldn’t go back. Not this time. Dream and Ink found me trying to catch fish a week later. They quickly invited me into their pod, Blue welcomed me just as happily, and started teaching me to survive in the oceans.

“And then we had to move, because Dream was tailing somebody. His brother. I decided it was my job to protect Dream and fought to get between him and Nightmare. Nightmare was… careful when he fought me, which I learned later. He could have launched me into the sky if he wanted to, but he didn’t.

“It was a few months later that Nightmare convinced me to join him. Dream was devastated when I left. He kept asking me what he did wrong. He didn’t. He didn’t do anything wrong. Nightmare was just… more prepared for me. Dream, at the time, wasn’t used to dealing with… mortals. Blue was a mortal, sure, but he took care of himself and was busy most of the time visiting his brother. So, since I didn’t know that I needed help, I didn’t learn very important skills. Like song, defense, hunting, and listening for an ambush. I was completely vulnerable.

“Killer caught on to that fact quickly when we first met. He would mess with me. I knew he didn’t like me, I was by Dream’s side just like he was by Nightmare’s, but he didn’t kill me when he could have. Not because he didn’t want to but because Nightmare would stop him every time.

“I didn’t understand. This leviathan, that attacked Dream with enough furiosity to destroy the mountains of the deep, didn’t want his lackey to hurt me, his enemy.

“I also sucked at tactics. I could fight and, in a normal combat situation, I had the upper hand on Killer but Killer was faster. Crueler. He would slip past my attacks and strike me where I was unprotected. He especially loved maiming my dorsal fin. When Dream and I would catch up to Nightmare, Killer would ambush and single me out quickly. Every fight ended either with Nightmare stopping Killer from ending me or Dream dragging me away in retreat.”

Cross sighed in a way that felt like remorse. “It took me far too long to learn how to spot an ambush. And by then, I was exhausted. Dream and Ink don’t need to sleep as much as we do and I didn’t sleep well anyways. They were always doing something, especially when Blue was visiting. Blue was very energetic. So if they weren’t tracking down Nightmare, they were helping other sirens or exercising or making something. Ink insisted that his coral monstrosities were art. They sucked. I don’t know what he was thinking.

“One day, when I could barely see straight, we attacked Nightmare. I tried to fight off Killer, I really did, but he was tearing me apart. And Killer wasn’t alone. Dust attacked me from behind. They restrained me in an embarrassingly short amount of time and Nightmare scooped me up and retreated with me in tow.

“…I woke up three days later, curled up in Nightmare’s tentacles, sleeping peacefully for the first time. He didn’t stop me when I swam away from him and back to Dream. He didn’t even seem to care. He just smiled and turned away as I fled.

“Dream was worried, Ink had already forgotten me, and I was confused. Nightmare hadn’t hurt me or stopped me he just… let me sleep. For days. I couldn’t understand.

“About a week later, we fought Nightmare again. I was tired again, because of how busy Ink and Dream were all week, and Killer approached me instead of ambushing me like before. He teased me about looking like I needed some sleep and jokingly invited me back to sleep with his pod.

“I considered it. And Killer saw me consider it. He laughed it off, we fought, and went home our separate ways. He didn’t tease me after that.

“Nightmare approached me the next fight. He offered, in front of Dream and everyone, to take me in and give me the rest I desperately needed. Dream tried to argue for me but I was so tired. I dismissed my attacks and just swam into Nightmare’s waiting hands.

“Dream was quiet as Nightmare and his pod retreated with me. I haven’t gone back since. Dream just wasn’t prepared for… me. He didn’t know how to take care of a new siren and definitely one like me. I was aggressive, scared, and untrusting. He was not used to dealing with negativity head on so he avoided it. It wasn’t until Nightmare took me in that he realized his mistake. He tried to get me to come back. But I was so tired. I couldn’t go back to that.” He looked so tired and guilty when he finished speaking.

You still had questions. “The… the Doctor. What did he do to you?”

The orca siren was tense, even as he smiled. “Nothing much. Kinda just let me and my pod exist most of the time. Tests were done, sure, but he never physically hurt us. Not our batch, at least.” He mumbled.

“Your batch? Were there others?”

Cross flinched. “Yeah, uh, don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t making eye contact. “It was a long time ago and the details are fuzzy so it doesn’t matter. What does matter, is what Dream and Ink told you.” He finally looked at you, completely serious.

“Uh, it was mostly confusing stuff. Dream said something about helping you out and practically raising you which is why I asked.” Your face twisted in disgust. “And then Ink called both of us useless sirens.”

Cross growled then immediately sighed, defeated. “Yeah, Ink says stuff like that. I can’t say he doesn’t mean it, he does mean it just in the most literal sense. He has no filter and means nothing by it. It’s just how he sees the world. He’ll still hang out with someone he calls useless but, as soon as you’ve heard it once, it’s hard to treat him the same way you used to. Dream and Nightmare understand that he doesn’t mean anything by it, since they can feel the few emotions he does have, but he’s never been able to make friends with anyone other than Blue.”

“Everyone keeps mentioning Blue. Who’s Blue?” You asked.

“Blue?” Cross smiled fondly. “He’s a dolphin siren, like you. Very excitable. He’s always moving, singing, and smiling. You’d like him. Everyone likes him. Stars! Even the destroyer likes him! And he kidnapped Blue!”

“Who what?!”

Cross shushed you. “It’s fine. Error gave him back. Blue had befriended the destroyer all on his own, something no one could even dream of doing. He’s the only siren anyone will allow close without much resistance. He really is magnificent.”

“…W- Was that a pun?” You asked, confused. “I don’t get it.”

“Ah, well,” Cross shrugged. “You’d have to meet him first. He’s awesome. But as I was saying, Ink is kind of an accidental jerk. So don’t take anything he says too seriously.”

“Okay.” You nodded slowly. “All that just opened up more questions than it answered…”

“Yeah…” Cross rubbed the back of his head. “But I don’t think you’ll really understand if I just tell you. It’d be better if you could meet everyone without aggression. Then you could get everyone’s perspective.”

“Why can’t I?” You raised a brow.

Cross hesitated with a guarded look. “Y/n. You can’t swim between two fighting sharks and not get bit. Talking to Dream or Ink right after they attacked you is a terrible idea too. They’ll just want you to leave with them and the guys will attack those Starfish sirens the second they see them. Everyone’s on edge. Don’t do anything stupid.”

You huffed and crossed your arms. “I wasn’t suggesting I go alone. I’m not that dumb.”

Drifting closer, Cross pulled you into a hug. “Just… be careful. We love you. If anything bad happened to you…… just be careful.”

“You already said that.” You pointed out.

“Do I need to say it again?” Cross teased.

You struggled to get out of the hug. “No. Cross don’t.”

“Just be careful.”

“Cross! Stop!” You laughed, trying and failing to stay mad at him.

“Be careful.” He nuzzled his nose into your hair.

“Cross!!”

I am so dumb aha thank you 💙

You’re not dumb

I didn’t leave any indication that there was more there, that was my bad not yours

And you’re welcome!

Sketch is available for questions

Sketch belongs to me

RGB boys belong to me