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Midnight

A Mermay Prompt

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Stargazing.

It was one of the few times the sky was clear enough at night. You just had to. When you arrived at the beach(up on the cliff several meters from the water where you always went stargazing) the silver grin of the moon was just peeking up from the eastern horizon.

An otherwise perfect night.

You settled down with a blanket as the sound of waves filled your ears and the stars filled your eyes.

“Hey! Hey! Human! Pspspsps!”

The gravely, whispered voice broke you out of your reverie. What time was it? Wait. Who was that?

You looked down the cliff at the water. Bright glowing red met your eyes. Killer grinned up at you.

“Hi.” He waved. (Pun intended)

You scoffed and leaned back to stare at the stars.

“Awwww, c’mon! Don’t ignore me! I just wanted to check up on ya!”

“After you tried to take my arm?” You snapped.

You could almost feel him raise a finger in a well-actually gesture. “If I wanted your arm, you wouldn’t still have it. You’ll notice the only thing you’ll have of my attack are scars. No permanent damage or disfiguring. Just scars.”

Your wounded arm stayed hidden under the blanket. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” You looked down at him again.

“Kinda. I’m just tellin’ you that I’m precise.” He tilted his head and smiled at you.

Insufferable.

“Leave me alone, Killer.” You sighed, flopping onto your back.

“Oooh~! Crossy told you my name? I’m flattered. Although, it seems a little unfair that I don’t know yours, doesn’t it?” He ‘hmm’ed up at you.

You didn’t respond, trying to ignore him and lose yourself in the stars.

“…Human~! Pspspsps. C’mon! Don’t leave me driftin’! You know my name and you didn’t even ask!”

. . .

Killer started whistling. It sounded like some ancient tune, haunting and beautiful. It spun and swayed and pulled, twisting into a symphony and pulling you along with it.

Then it suddenly stopped.

Your eyes widened as your mind cleared. You were standing on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the siren that grinned up at you.

“Do you know how easy it would be to sing those last few notes?”

Right. Sirens. They had the power of song. Manipulating the minds of whoever could hear them. And you had thought you were safe on the cliff.

“D-Don’t. Please.” You stuttered, terrified. You couldn’t move, not because something was holding you there, but because you knew that if you tried to run now he’d kill you.

He tilted his head. “Oh~? Why not? I mean, you’ve been so rude to me.” Killer pushed himself up on a rock, the bright red glow bursting out of the water and floating just outside of his chest. “Of course~, I’d feel less inclined to kill you if I knew your name. Don’t you think?”

“Y/n. My name is y/n.”

“There you go! Was that so hard?” His tail swished back and forth in the water behind him. “And I’m Killer. Though, you already knew that.”

Sensing the coast was clear, you wobbled away from the cliff and sat down again. Leaving entirely was probably still a bad idea.

“So whatcha doin’ out here in the middle of the night, y/n?” He teased as if he hadn’t just almost killed you.

“Stargazing.”

“Oh?” He paused.

Suddenly, it was as if you were alone again. Waves crashing, stars taking up your vision and blissful silence from Killer. Out of curiosity, you shot a glance at the siren and smirked.

He sat perched halfway on a rock, head craned to look upwards, and mouth agape as he stared at the galaxies above him. The red on his chest twisted and settled into an upside down heart shape. If you forgot the attempted murder and the ominous red glow, he looked kinda cute. Like a love struck little boy.

“Woah…” Was his breathless response. “I… I’ve never actually looked…”

“…Really?”

Two little white eyelights shot to you, as if he forgot you were there, and twinkled like stars. “Yeah…It’s beautiful.”

You sighed, happy you’d made the little beast less aggressive. “Yeah. See those three there?” He looked up when you pointed. “That’s Orion’s Belt.”

“Orion’s Belt?”

“Yeah. And right there, see? That’s his torso, and his arms and-.”

“Where are you seeing all this? Did you poke a puffer on your way here?” Killer interrupted, amusement in his voice.

“Shush, I’m teaching you astrology~.” He chuckled at you and listened to you deep into the night.

You must have passed out at some point, because the first rays of dawn woke you all by yourself. Killer no where in sight.

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!”

Market

A Mermay Prompt

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Orcas liked toys right?

Would it be offensive to get a siren a toy?

You walked through the marketplace. It sat right by the docks but high enough above sea level to keep away from the tide. There was a reason for that, as half of the town had been swept away by a violent storm decades ago. That’s what you could piece together at least. Everyone told you a different story. The prince of the sea was angry at a sailor for doing him wrong. Two giant leviathans had gotten into a fight and caused the storm. Someone was selling the wrong fish on the wrong day. A few poachers had come through and “caused the storm??”

It was all nonsense to you.

You learned quickly just how fast gossip spread in the little town. With all the superstitious sailors and fishermen, something casual like seeing a crow eat a berry could turn into a blown out of proportion omen of death, plague, or murder. Anything and everything had to have a reason. You stubbed your toe on the way to work? Bad omen. Two fish swam around your feet when you went swimming? You’ll find your soulmate soon. Waves crashed against the rocks twice in a row? Big storm coming.

Absolutely ridiculous.

You entered the shop you were looking for, the bell announcing your arrival.

“Oh! Hey, y/n! Long time no see!” Greeted the clerk with a wave.

“Hello, Mister Ron.” You answered and turned to look at the displays.

There were a lot of toys to choose from. The beach balls, volleyballs, footballs, and frisbees were built to float on the water. Then there were the things that didn’t float. Buckets and shovels for sand castles, custom shoes with fun patterns on the soles to leave in the sand, and those fun torpedos and rings that sank to the sea floor for you to find again. Last but not least, there was a rack of plushies, all different sea creatures. Absently, you grabbed an orca plush and, after a moment’s hesitation, grabbed a shark plush as well.

“Anything I can help you with?” Ron asked from the counter.

You gave him a smile. “No, thanks.”

“You got family coming over?” Ugh. He was looking for gossip. Just like everyone else.

“No.”

“Friends?”

“No one is coming over.”

“C’mon, y/n! Don’t leave me hanging!” He teased.

Flashes of Killer saying something very similar made you pause. The teasing voice. The way he grinned at you as if nothing was wrong. Begging for information… and willing to kill you over it.

C’mon! Don’t leave me driftin’!

Do you know how easy it would be to sing those last notes?

You grabbed the closest thing and went to checkout. You had to get out of here. Ron gave you an odd look but didn’t pry as you bolted out of the shop. Your car was cranked and you sped home.

On second thought…

You turned to head to the beach instead.

Waves greeted you as you entered your alcove. Cross was nowhere to be seen. You groaned and sat on the rocky beach, the bag from the store still in your hand. Thankfully, you’d left the plushies in the car, but somehow still grabbed the bag. You reached in and pulled out a red ringed frisbee. Like the glowing thing Killer had on his chest.

You sighed and flopped onto your back. You really didn’t want to think about the shark siren but everything was reminding you of those encounters. The clerk, the shark plushie, the frisbee, even staring up at the sky reminded you of how he’d stargazed with you, his eyelights twinkling at the sight. He’d looked so harmless for a moment. Just a boy that got to see the stars for the first time.

“Ugh!” You stood up grabbed the frisbee and launched it at the horizon. The wind carried it further than you expected before in finally landed in the water.

Dang it, you could still see it!

You snatched up the plastic bag and stuffed it in your pocket. You weren’t going to litter, even if you were upset. Casting one last look, you hoped Cross was okay, you turned you back on the water to head home.

With a scratching sound, the frisbee landed next to you.

“That was fun! Do it again!” Came the familiar voice you didn’t want to hear.

Speak of the devil and he shall come.

You turned around slowly to see Killer propped up on a rock, his tail wagging behind him. The red thing you’d noticed before was floating boldly in front of his rib cage in the shape of a target. Wasn’t it a heart before?

His brow rose as you continued to stare. “Like what you see, y/n?” He grinned.

You looked at your feet where the frisbee still sat. “You want me to throw the frisbee again?”

“Frisbee.” He tested the word. “Can you throw it farther?”

“I didn’t even think it would go as far as it did.” You admitted.

The red rings above his chest twisted. That looked painful. “Then I’ll be able to catch it before it hits the water.” He challenged.

Something in you clicked at the challenge and you looked back up at him with a grin on your face. “Bet. You’ll never get there in time.” You picked up the frisbee.

His face lit up. “Oh! It’s on! Throw it, frisbee master! And watch me teach you a lesson!”

You threw it and a giant splash announced Killer’s scramble to catch it first. He got under it in record time and shot you a smug grin across the water. You smiled back and crossed your arms as the frisbee glided closer and closer to the siren until…

It arched sideways and hit the water several meters away from him.

You laughed at his look of confusion. After a few seconds of flabbergasted staring, Killer angrily snatched the frisbee out of the water and swam back to where you were laughing on the beach.

“What was that!? What did you do?!” He demanded, tossing the frisbee at you.

“I didn’t do anything!” You giggled. “The frisbee does that by itself!”

His grin widened. “Again.” He growled.

You nodded and sent the frisbee flying again.

And again, it arched to the side out of his reach.

“Why does it keep doing that?!?!”

“Because-.”

“Again!”

Several failed attempts later and you had to dodge the frisbee he launched at you.

“This is stupid!!” Killer snapped, his tail thrashing in the water. “Why does it do that?!”

“Will you let me explain?”

He glared at you. “…Fine. Explain.”

You held up the frisbee. “This bottom side is made to hold air under it while it flies. As long as it’s spinning, it won’t have a problem holding itself up. But,” You tipped the frisbee. “If it stops spinning, it becomes unbalanced and the frisbee will fall off the pocket of air it made and swing to the side. That’s why it keeps doing that.”

“Why does it stop spinning?”

“Because it was thrown too far with nothing to make it spin. When I throw it, I try my hardest to make it spin for as long as possible but over the water it has nothing to do but glide until it can’t spin anymore.”

“Well, how do I catch it?”

You smiled. “You have to over prepare for it to change course. Watch the way it wobbles before it falls.” You threw it without warning and he was gone.

His dorsal fin sped out to where the frisbee hovered and his head poked out of the water. He watched as it wobbled, arched, and hit the water without making an effort to catch it. He brought it back and repeated the process three more times.

On the fourth try he brought it back with a grin on his face.

“This time.” Was all he said.

The frisbee went flying.

His fin circled the area below it when it started wobbling. He shot to one side and came out of the water as it arched towards him. He stretched for it, it went over his head and…

He caught it.

“WOOOOOOOO!!!” He screamed in triumph, holding the frisbee above his head.

You watched him pump his fists into the air as you laughed and realized;

You’d just spent the entire day with Killer.

He hadn’t even threatened you.

And you’d laughed.

Huh.

Maybe you’d just gotten off on the wrong foot.

Or fin.

Semi Aquatic

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: …Horror)

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“Hello? Cross? Killer?” You called across the water.

No answer.

You could have sworn you heard something. You shrugged it off and set your bag down. The bag had more people food in it. You figured that whichever siren you saw first could have it so you sat down with a sigh and waited.

The wind wasn’t blowing very fast today, which was nice. It made things easier to hear. You sat back on your hands and closed your eyes, just listening.

There was sound everywhere.

The waves crashing on the rocks, the birds and seagulls singing, and the low, steady whistle of wind blasting through your alcove. The whistle called your attention, low and deep, it sounded like when the sailors would blow across those beer bottles.

Wait.

But the wind wasn’t blowing that fast.

You opened your eyes and searched for the sound. It was kind of echoing around everywhere but you finally managed to pinpoint a direction. Looking into the water, a broken skull stared back at you. He only had one eyelight under the fissure in his skull as he rose out of the water revealing his lower half.

He was a siren.

His bottom half was clearly octopus and his tentacles heaved him onto the beach and towards you. He kept that deep whistle going as he got closer. The tune was nothing special, just a deep note that would change pitch every now and then, but it still sounded pretty. You smiled at him but he didn’t smile back. He just crept closer and reached for you.

Oh! Was he hungry?

You turned away from him to rummage in your bag and pulled out the sandwiches you made. Turning back to him, wow he was close, you offered the food to his extended arm.

The whistle abruptly stopped.

And your fear came back full force.

You froze, hand still extended but noticeably more tense. Your eyes locked with his and he suddenly looked uneasy, staring at you as if he expected you to slap him. After a few moments of prolonged eye contact, his gaze shot down to the food in your hands.

Maybe he really was just hungry.

Ignoring the fact that he just crawled across the beach to get to you, probably to eat you, you offered the sandwiches again, pushing them into his hand.

He didn’t hesitate.

The food was snatched from your grasp and consumed before you could even flinch. He licked his fingers and looked at you hopefully. His whistle started up again.

“No, no. It’s okay.” You interrupted his whistle and pulled your bag around. “I’ve got more. You don’t have to convince me.” You pulled out a few more sandwiches and offered them to him. With how much pizza Cross ate the other day, you brought enough food to feed a party of twenty people.

The siren eagerly took your offering and ate silently as you slowly fed him more when he finished his.

You talked to pass the time. “I brought these for a friend. He’s a bit bigger than you, you might know him. Cross?” The siren glanced at you and made grabby hands for more food. You snickered. “Though, I don’t think there will be any left for him, huh?” He didn’t answer.

You rambled on about this and that, the weather, the superstitious townsfolk, the coral you’ve seen, the birds in your area. Everything and anything that crossed your mind. You had nothing else to do.

You ran out of sandwiches.

That made you pause. You looked down in the bag to see that it was, in fact, empty, and the octopus still wanted more. You showed him the empty bag. “Sorry, sir. I don’t have any left. You ate them all.” You explained, desperately trying not to lose yourself to your fear.

He looked at you, then the bag, then back at you. His expression was unreadable and you were slowly shrinking as he continued to stare.

A clawed hand reached for you, just as slowly as before, but this time without the whistle. Your eyes darted between his hand and his eye, trying to discern his intentions. Was he not whistling because he wasn’t going to hurt you or because he knew you wouldn’t run?

His hand landed on your head, lifted up, and patted you a few times. You blinked.

Was…

Was he petting you??

“Mmh.” He hummed. “Thanks.”

With that, he pulled away and sank back into the water without another word.

You stared after him.

You…

You hadn’t even got his name.

Recycle

A Mermay Prompt

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Recycle day!

You tossed your custom, tightly woven nets over your shoulder and lifted your gear out of the car, a smile on your face. While you hated that there was junk in the water, you had to admit it was fun to collect trash like Easter eggs. The water would push and hide everything in different places and you just had to search. That’s what the nets were for.

Most of your gear was already on when Cross showed up. You heard him beach himself behind you.

“Hey, y/n. What are you-?” His voice cut off with a splash.

You turned around to see him much further away than normal, staring at you with his head being the only thing out of the water. He was almost glaring at you.

“Y/n.” He almost growled, his voice low and tense. “Why do you have a net?”

You glanced at the nets you’d set on the ground. “Oh! It’s recycling day. I like take a few nets and try to clean up as much trash as I can from the water. I don’t… I don’t hunt or anything. I use nets because trash bags are hard to carry around in the water while nets are much easier.”

“Mmm.” He kept his distance and didn’t speak as you finished putting on your gear.

Once that was done, you slowly grabbed the nets, careful not to scare Cross, and just as slowly waded into the water. You glanced at him and he stared back with a guarded expression. “…Would you like to help? You don’t have to.” You offered one of the nets to him and turned slightly away, leaving yourself open and unthreatening.

His eyes narrowed and glanced between you and the net before backing up.

You shrugged. “Your choice.” Nozzle went in your mouth and you got to work.

The first part was always the easiest. Large clumps of trash could easily be scooped up into your net leaving you to grasp for the smaller pieces that tried to drift away. Plastics, styrofoam, metals, and glass all made their way into your net. You were careful to keep the fish out of the trash in your hand. The other nets were tied to your belt(no fanny pack this time) and gave you a little resistance as you swam. Nothing you couldn’t handle.

You felt Cross follow close behind you, watching you work, and figured looking at him while he was skittish would probably scare him off so you didn’t.

Until he swam at you.

You didn’t have time to turn around before an arm hugged you from behind to hold you still, something on your belt clicked, and he darted away again.

He didn’t speak and when you turned around you couldn’t find him. You checked your nets. One was missing.

Maybe he decided he would help.

When your net was full, you tied it off and headed back to the beach. Hauling yourself and the heavy, water-laden net was difficult but you managed. Once done with that, you went in for another round, this time without a companion.

Your net was halfway full when Cross came back, hauling a full net of trash. Your smile beamed at him as he sheepishly approached.

“I… I saw that you closed yours.” He looked down at his bag in embarrassment. “I don’t know how to close it.”

At least he was trying.

You gestured for him to hand you the net and you slowly showed him how to tie it off. Then you offered him another net.

He snatched it and shot off towards the beach.

The rest of the day was spent collecting trash and teaching Cross a few things when he had questions.

Until you found an intact glass bottle.

You gestured excitedly at Cross and swam up to the surface of the water. He was going to love this! He followed you.

Water ran down your face as you surfaced and pulled the nozzle out of your mouth to talk to Cross. You poured some of the water out of the bottle. “These bottles make cool sounds when you blow on them! Watch!” You took in a breath, put the bottle to your lips, and blew.

The same eerie tone from the other day filled the air but this time you could feel the small spike of fear you had at the sound. Your breath wavered and broke out the sound, overwhelmed by the memory of the strange siren. He’d almost killed you, hadn’t he? His hand had reached for you and there was nothing you could’ve done. You weren’t afraid of him when he approached because of the song. Was that how he normally hunted? Sing you into a state of peace and attack you while you didn’t understand what was happening? You could still hear that haunting tone.

The bottle was yanked from your hands.

“What do you think you’re doing, y/n!?” Cross snapped, worry lacing his voice. “Do you have a death wish?!?”

You just stared down at your now empty hand. He’d almost taken your life and you might have just called him. What were you thinking?

Cross seemed to finally notice your expression and his hands grabbed your shoulders. “Y/n? Have you heard that sound before?” His eyes searched your face.

You didn’t look him in the eye. You just nodded.

“Was it from a siren?”

Nod.

“….Holy shit, y/n.” He sighed and hugged you. “How are you alive?”

You found your voice but it cracked. “I… I brought you food… heheh, he ate it all. Sorry.” You leaned into the hug.

“You have got to be the luckiest little urchin I know.” He gave a breathy chuckle. “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”

“I’m fine. He…” You blushed in embarrassment. “…He pet me…”

“Pfft!” Cross laughed and pulled away to look at you. “He pet you??”

“Yes! I don’t know why! He… He just… He said ‘thanks’ and then left.”

“Woah! He talked to you? What did you feed him?” Cross grinned at you, his genuine smile calming your nerves.

“Just some homemade sandwiches. Nothing special.” You shrugged it off.

“Yeah, pizza is better than whatever you could make.” He teased.

You punched him. “Rude! My food is awesome!”

He chuckled at you and grabbed your fists as you swung at him. “Sure. Live in your denial. I’m not changing my mind until I taste it.”

“Fine!” You were now trying to get your comically small hands out of his with little success. He kept grinning at you as you struggled. “I’ll try to get some to you, if the others don’t eat it first.”

“Others?” Cross became serious again. “Did you meet a different siren?” His voice strained with worry.

You shrugged. “Just Killer. He’s been surprisingly nice to hang out with for the past few days.”

“Killer came back?!?” You yelped when Cross yanked you forward to check every possible surface he could find, which finally freed your arms. “Did he hurt you?? Are you okay?? Oh my stars, y/n!!” He fussed.

“Cross! It’s fine! He didn’t hurt me.” You weren’t going to tell him about that night on the cliff. “We played with a frisbee the other day. He’s chilled out since then.”

Cross deflated into the water with a sigh, his head still peeking out. “You’re gonna give me a soul attack. I’m gonna die.”

“Oh you big baby.” You teased, slashing water on his face. You glanced down at the half-full net on your belt. “C’mon. I still have work to do. You can yell at me while I clean.”

He did.

Cross lectured and fussed over you for the rest of the day, constantly touching you on your arms and shoulders as if he expected you to disappear.

At least he wasn’t avoiding you and your nets anymore.

You smiled.

Repaired

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: I changed the nickname at the end to fit Killer better)

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"Hey! Heeyyyyy! Y/n! Pspspsps!"

You sighed. "What do you want, Killer?" The emergency bag of food was set down next to the cliff. Just in case.

You heard him giggle from the water. "I have something for you~!”

Suspicious.

“What is it?” You turned to face him, taking in the sight of his strange red glowy target thing. You’d tried looking up if sirens could get some sort of magic parasite but the only thing that came up was suckerfish.

Killer gave you an innocent grin and held out a closed hand. “Why don’t you come find out?”

You hesitated, obviously. He hadn’t exactly proven himself trustworthy. The scars on your arm testified to that. Your hand subconsciously reached for your shoulder where the scars still marred your skin.

Killer grimaced.

“Look. Y/n. I… I wanted to give you this.” He couldn’t maintain eye contact and was remarkably still. “I just… would you just take it? Please?” He shook his hand a little at you.

Confused by his behavior and a little intrigued, you slowly closed the distance. Yes, he had attacked you, and almost killed you. But, for some odd reason, you wanted to trust him. Maybe because of the way Cross talked about him like an annoying younger sibling. Maybe because you had played frisbee with him the other day. Or maybe because you didn’t want to hate him. Hatred had only ever hurt you in the past and you’d promised yourself never to do that again.

With more confidence than you expected from yourself, you reached out to take whatever Killer had to offer.

What fell into your hand was a small pearl with red twisting through the iridescent white. The colors almost seemed to glow as you twisted it and it glittered up at you. It tingled.

Killer’s empty hand rubbed the back of his skull. “It’s uh, it’s a monster candy.” He mumbled. “With enough intent, it can heal wounds, bruises, cuts… and scars sometimes…”

You raised a brow at him. “Sometimes?”

His face flushed red and he crossed his arms defensively. “Well, it depends on how old the scars are and how much intent was put into it. So don’t expect it to work or anything. My intent hasn’t been used like that before. Probably won’t even work.” He grumbled.

“You made this?”

“…Yeah.”

Oh.

He was apologizing.

You rolled the candy around in your hand. Now that you knew it was there, you could feel the intent inside. Care, concern, appreciation, and guilt. He really did regret attacking you, didn’t he? Deep behind all that, you could feel a very specific want. Probably a wish he had made while making the candy. Wanting to make you to feel better or something, you couldn’t tell, but it was very convincing.

You really couldn’t stay mad at these sirens, could you?

You sighed and closed your hand around the candy. “Thank you, Killer. I really appreciate that.”

His face lit up at the thanks. “Don’t think too much about it.” He dismissed. “I’m not making you another one.”

You could tell he was trying to stay cool about this but really just wanted to scream in victory.

You turned around and walked back to your bags. Pulling out a ziplock bag, you dropped the candy in and set it down so it wouldn’t get dirty. Then, slowly and carefully, you took off your swim shirt. You wore a tank top underneath, so you weren’t going indecent in front of Killer, you just wanted to see the scars before you tried the candy.

Killer’s mouth was hanging open when you turned around. When he caught your eye, he grinned at you and bounced his brows.

You shook your head at him. No shame at all.

The candy was back in your hand by the time you brought yourself to look at your scars. Pink flesh greeted you all across your arm in wicked scratches and cuts, the bite mark being the most obvious problem as it had almost taken part of the bone with it.

You took a shaky breath and, without letting yourself overthink it, you tossed the candy it your mouth.

It evaporated immediately with overpowering the taste of salt. Your face twisted in discomfort at the taste and you stuck your tongue out.

“Heheh.” Killer chuckled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have made it in the water.” He didn’t sound sorry.

Magic flooded your body and you felt it rush to your arm, ready to get to work. It felt so hot. Not scalding hot, but really really warm. As if you’d hugged the outside of a volcano. You weren’t in the fire but you could feel the potential.

You looked down at your arm and gasped. It was healing before your very eyes.

The scars sealed right up without a blemish.

Until the healing reached your bite mark.

The magic slowed considerably when it reached the biggest scar. Slower, slower, and slower until it stopped, leaving the massive bite mark mostly untouched.

You blinked at the scar, wishing it away with each blink.

“Oh.” Killer didn’t sound surprised. “I should have known that would happen.”

You looked up at him. “That what would happen?”

He absently gestured at his teeth. “That bite came with the intent to scar. The uh, the angry intent fought against the healing intent and won.” He gestured shamefully.

“Then why did the others heal?”

“I wasn’t thinking about them.” He shrugged. “My intent at the time was to bite you and leave a scar. The other scars were from me fending off your weak attacks.”

“Hey! I’m not weak!” You scoffed at his teasing.

Big ol’ grin answered you. “Your arms could barely move.”

“That’s because I was in the water!” You snapped. “You come up here and wrestle me and we’ll see who wins!”

He propped up his chin in his hands. “You’re cute, little suckerfish. Thinking you can take on a shark.”

“Suckerfish??”

Glass

A Mermay Prompt

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You were shaking. A lot.

The excess magic from that candy was flooding your system and you couldn’t sleep. And there was a lot of excess.

You couldn’t bring yourself to drink coffee and you didn’t have any calming tea. The house had already been swept. Twice. The walls were clean, the windows were washed, the toilet was scrubbed, and you were sitting in your living room, bouncing your knee. Your mind was running at a thousand miles per hour and yet you still couldn’t think. You checked your phone.

It was 2am.

Had you really cleaned everything? Surely you missed something.

Your hands were twitching.

Everything looked polished. You’d even vacuumed the couch.

Your legs hurt.

Everything was dusted and mopped.

Your chest ached.

Maybe you forgot the dishes? Yeah, that was it!

You stood and paced into the kitchen where you opened a cabinet. Yeah, you hadn’t washed these. Reaching in with shaky hands you grabbed a stack of plates.

And dropped them as soon as they left the cabinet.

Shattered glass went everywhere. You immediately reached down to pick up the pieces and lifted everything you could find into the trash. You had more plates, it was fine.

Suddenly you didn’t feel like doing the dishes.

You couldn’t handle it. You had to do something. Or calm yourself down.

Maybe stargazing again?

The car keys found their way into your hands and you were off. It took forever to get there and no time at all. You hurried down the hill to your alcove, which was mostly flooded with the tide, and paced at the waters edge.

In your hurry, you’d forgotten your scuba gear. Not that it was smart to swim after dark but you weren’t smart right now.

The wind howled around you, threatening a storm, and the waves beckoned you forward. Your shoe sank into the cold water.

A familiar deep whistle split the air, making you suddenly aware of how close you were to the water. When you stepped back the whistle stopped.

A bright red orb floated over the water.

You stumbled back, tripped over your own feet, and landed on your butt. “H-H-Hey, b-big guy!” You stuttered and scrambled for your bag. When you couldn’t find it, you realized that in your scramble to get moving you hadn’t brought any food. “I-I d-don’t have f-f-food right n-now, b-buddy! B-But I c-can go g-get some!” You gestured a thumb over your shoulder.

He came out of the water towards you.

Oh stars, you were gonna die. He was gonna kill you.

You turned to run but didn’t even get to your feet before a tentacle wrapped around your leg.

“N-No! P-Please! Sir! I c-c-can get y-you m-more f-f-food! Please!” You gripped the loose rocks and tried to pull yourself away from the mass of muscle.

The whistle started again.

Fear and urgency left you, but you were still very aware of the danger you were in. “S-S-Sir. P-Please. I d-don’t w-w-want to d-die. P-Please.” Your voice was tired and jittery at the same time.

The siren pulled you closer until you were almost against his chest. He made a shushing gesture at you and reached towards you.

You closed your eyes, anticipating the giant’s hand to break your neck or something. You didn’t want to die, but there was nothing you could do.

Your eyes shot back open when he started petting your hair. What was he doing? You looked up at him.

He smiled kindly at you and let his low whistle fade to a stop. “You’re… okay.” He drawled slowly, as if the words were hard for him. “I won’t… hurt.. you.” With that said he turned his attention to your hand.

Still shocked, you followed his gaze. The eerie red light of his eye lit up multiple cuts and bits of glass in your hands.

“O-Oh.” Was all you could say.

He carefully held your hand steady and… started picking the glass out of your hand.

You stared openly, completely uncaring of if it was rude. “Y-Y-You-?”

“Shh.” A huge finger shushed you. “…Working.” He seemed very focused.

He was really picking the glass out of your hand. Just because. Surely that one day wasn’t enough to form a bond with the siren.

Carefully and patiently, he picked each and every piece of glass out of your hands. Your excess magic surged into your hands to heal the cuts once he was finished.

“Done.” He hummed. “Now, I can… give… answers.”

You didn’t hesitate. “W-Why a-are you helping-g m-m-me?”

He gave you a gentle smile. “You… helped… first.”

“I h-h-helped you?”

He nodded.

“H-How?”

“Food. Hungry. Hard to… catch…… normal.. prey.” He grumbled.

You blinked. “Were y-you st-st-starving?”

After a few moments, he nodded.

“Aren’t y-you p-p-part of a p-pod? Don’t your… f-friends h-help y-y-you?”

He shook his head. “Only… Nightmare. But… Boss’s… sleeping. Sleeps long… Very long…”

“C-Cross a-and K-K-Killer d-don’t help y-you?” You were starting to hate this energized stutter.

He looked you in the eyes with a desperation you’d never seen before. He shook his head.

“I-I’m th-the only p-person to h-help you? B-Besides N-Nightm-mare?”

Nod.

“W-Well.” You held out a hand. “I-I’m y/n. I-It’s n-nice to of-f-fficially m-meet you. S-Sorry f-f-for yelling-g a-at you earlier.”

He grabbed and inspected your hand before letting you go. “…Name’s Horror.” He leaned in towards your face as you tried not to lean away. “You have… too much magic…”

You laughed nervously and dry. “Y-Yeah. K-Killer gave m-me a c-c-candy to h-heal this.” You pulled up your sleeve to show him the bite mark.

“Hmm. You… smell like him.”

“I d-don’t know w-w-what to say t-to th-that.”

“Heheheh.” He chuckled at you. “‘S not… bad. Who… bit you?”

Suddenly, the magic decided it wanted to be in your face. “Uhh… K-Killer b-bit me…”

The humor left Horror’s face. “…Oh…….. Then he… healed you?”

“Y-Yeah? E-Earlier? Yest-t-terday? W-When it was b-b-bright. B-But th-the bite d-didn’t heal… S-Something ‘bout i-intent.”

“Hmm.” Horror looked you over again. “…Did he ask you… about being… a siren?”

“B-Being a s-siren?”

He gave you an odd look. “Would you… like to… be a siren? He intended… conversion.”

“He w-what?”

The siren sighed. “The candy. Killer put… intent… to turn you into a… siren. It won’t-.”

“W-What?!?” You looked down at your legs, terrified. You couldn’t just turn into a siren! What if you turned into a siren while at your house?? You’d never make it to the water in time!

“Shh.” Horror put a finger on your mouth. “Let me… finish. It won’t turn you… into a siren. This type… of conversion… is long and… tedious. You have to… accept the change… and have… many doses of magic. The other way…” He frowned. “…is less pleasant.

“You have nothing… to be scared of. Your will can… stop the change… if you want. It takes weeks… if you choose to… convert.”

“O-Oh. So… I-I-I w-won’t turn i-into a s-siren out of n-nowhere?”

He shook his head. “Not enough… magic or consent.”

“W-Why would K-Killer d-d-do th-that?”

Horror shrugged. “Might not have… meant to. His intent’s… unstable. Maybe just meant… to keep you safe… and… unintentionally… wanted you… close.”

“Oh.” He… He wanted to keep you safe?

“……You….. wanna hug?” Horror awkwardly offered.

“I… y-yeah.” You hugged the siren.

Horror curled over your small form. He chuckled. “…Tiny.”

“N-Not you t-too!!”

Kelp

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: aggression(it has begun))

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“Y/n.”

“No! Nope! Nu uh!” You shook your head and pulled away. “I’m not eating what is basically sea grass! Do I look like a cow to you?”

Cross held out the kelp to you. “A what?” His head tipped to the side like a big puppy.

“A cow.” Realizing that wasn’t an explanation, you gestured how big a cow was. “It’s a big land animal with four legs that eats grass. The bulls have these long curving horns so they can fight off predators.”

His eyes widened. “It has four legs and weapons??”

You snickered at his reaction. “Yeah, there’s a whole sport around bull fighting. It’s really dangerous even though cows aren’t predators.”

“They’re not predators… and they’re dangerous? Have… Have they killed anything?” His eyelights were tiny in his sockets.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know the details, but I know that many people and animals have died to a rampaging bull. It’s not fun.”

Cross didn’t respond.

Looking back at him, you finally noticed why. The guy looked absolutely terrified. Of cows? Well, you hadn’t done the best job explaining their softer side. You cleared your throat. “But they can be really gentle. When I was little, I went to a ranch and got to feed one. That was fun.”

“Mm…” He mumbled, still staring into space.

“Cross?”

His eyes snapped to you, he shook his head and sat straight. “Anyways! You still have to eat this.”

“Noooo!” You stepped out of his reach. “You can’t make me if you can’t catch me! Ha!”

Cross grinned smugly at you. “You remember how you learned about this type of conversion?”

Your eyes narrowed suspiciously. “…Yeeaahhhh? Horror told me. Why?”

“Heheheh.” Came a familiar chuckle behind you causing a chill to go up your spine.

You spun around to face Horror, who had sat himself right in your pathway.

He waved his fingers at you. “Hi.”

A glare was shot at Cross. “Two against one is unfair.” You pouted, earning another chuckle from Horror.

Cross shrugged. “I planned ahead. And Horror was the only one of us that can get on land without getting stuck.”

You crossed your arms, careful to keep an eye on Horror’s curling tentacles, and grumbled. “I still don’t want to…”

A sigh came from Cross. “Y/n. If you want to be a siren, you have to ease into the diet. If you convert without preparing, you’ll throw up everything we feed you. It’s an annoying process but a necessary one.”

Horror hummed in agreement.

“Uuuggggghhhhhhh! Fine! But it’s gross!” You stormed over and carefully took the soggy greens. “…..Gross.” Your nose wrinkled at it.

Both sirens laughed at you and waited patiently, looking away for your comfort.

It looked and felt so gross. Your gag reflex had you sticking your tongue out and looking away. It was necessary. It wouldn’t hurt you… right?

An idea came to mind.

You spun on your heel, much to Cross’s confusion, and marched back to

Horror. His tentacles moved out of your way as he gave you an amused look. Splitting the clump of kelp vaguely in half, you offered him half and his eye dilated at the offer.

“Y/n, he doesn’t-.” Cross started.

“Shut up, Cross. If I’m going to eat this, I’m going to share.”

You could have sworn Horror’s eye flickered into a heart for a second. He gently took the clump and held it close. He grabbed a droopy leaf and held it up, waiting expectantly for you to do the same.

With a small groan, you lifted up a piece, maintaining eye contact, and copied him as he ate his.

Oh, that was salty!

Your face pursed at the taste, gaining another chuckle from the tall siren. Once you got past the sea water… it didn’t taste… bad. Just like a sea salad.

Horror smiled and encouraged you to continue. You both ate your section of sea weed without much other than a few tense expressions as you bit into the next leaf.

Before you knew it, your hands were empty and Horror was licking his fingers.

“Was that so hard?” Cross teased his eyes darting between you and Horror.

“Yes.” You snapped back. “But… it wasn’t… terrible.”

Horror chuckled again and leaned over you. “Lil… baby.”

You gasped, offended. “Excuse me?!?”

Horror was leaning over you and… purring? Was that purring or a different type of whistle? And how did he do that? You could feel the sound in your ribs. When you looked at him, his eyes were closed as he leaned towards you.

A growl from Cross startled you.

“Horror.” Cross threatened. His claws were digging into the beach as if he would come after you.

Horror’s eye opened slowly and you shivered. His eye blazed with a protectiveness you hadn’t seen before as he glared at Cross.

The purr melted into a growl.

That… wasn’t good.

You were between two aggressive sirens. And neither of them seemed to notice you, fully focused on each other.

Deciding to back out of this situation, you slowly stepped away from Horror. Surely they wouldn’t start a scuffle randomly, right? You didn’t want to risk it.

You bumped into a writhing tentacle.

It immediately gripped your leg, Horror’s attention shot to you with a glare that could kill, and you froze. Would he hurt you while he was like this?

With a small gasp, Horror’s expression snapped from angry to scared. Him and his tentacles reeled away from you.

“…Horror?” You asked. Was he okay?

With a whine and a pained look, Horror turned and retreated into the water with less than a splash, leaving you staring after him.

What…

What just happened?

“Are you okay?”

You looked over at Cross. There were marks in the beach where his hands had dug into the rocks.

“What happened?” You asked, still tense.

Cross’s face gained a purple hue. “Uhhh, Horror forgot himself for a second… It’s okay. He, uh,” He gave the water a quizzical look. “He didn’t want to hurt you.”

Comforting.

“You sound surprised.” You raised an eyebrow at Cross.

“Well, he,” Cross grumbled. “He doesn’t like people. Except for Nightmare, I guess, but Nightmare spoils him.”

“Spoils him?”

Cross waved his hand dismissively. “He helps Horror hunt. Which is du- unnecessary, Horror can hunt for himself, and Boss doesn’t help anyone else.” He grumbled and crossed his arms. “It feels like he only helps Horror because Horror’s an octopus too.”

Oh.

Big boy was jealous.

When Cross finally looked back at you, he startled at your glare.

“Cross.” You growled slowly. “Do you know why I met Horror? How I learned that whistle?”

He shook his head.

“Because he was starving. I sat on this beach and waited for one of you to show up when he found me. He was hungry and he saw an easy target. Do you remember why I survived?”

“You fed him?” He answered, uncertainly.

“Yes. And when I offered the first sandwich, he stopped whistling. I was terrified. But I offered again. I can only imagine what it was like for him. Starving for days maybe weeks, when, what you thought was going to be your next meal, offers you food instead of running away when they had the chance. How would you feel if you were starving, attacked someone, and they gave you pizza?”

His mouth opened and closed a few times before he answered. “…Horror was starving?” You nodded. “But… he can lure, right?”

“If you mean lure like ‘sing and people will walk off a cliff for you’, no.” You shivered. “Horror can’t lure. His whistle only removes fear. I could have walked or run away at any moment, even while he sang, and he could do nothing to stop me. Cross, he can’t hunt like you and Killer. Didn’t you know?”

Cross shook his head. “Sirens can’t affect other sirens, so we never knew. He had a whistle, we assumed it worked. He never told any of us otherwise.”

You looked back across the water. “From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t like talking around you. He talked to me, a lot, the other day. Maybe he talks to Nightmare too?”

“That… would make sense.” Cross said. “Oh my stars, this entire time…? And we never noticed? No wonder I’ve never seen him eat when Boss is asleep.”

The birds and waves filled the silence for a moment.

“…Are you okay?”

You looked back at the siren and shrugged. “Better than I should be, worse than I could. Why?”

“He grabbed you.” Cross’s face was tense with concern.

“Yep. And let go immediately after. His tentacle didn’t hurt me, Cross.” You scolded.

He didn’t look sorry as he changed the subject. “Come here. I need to give you some magic for the conversion.”

Your face wrinkled humorously as you walked toward him. “You make it sound weird.”

“The anti-drowning siren maker then.”

“Nope! The last one was good!”

Siren

A Mermay Prompt

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Seeing your soul had been weird. Cross apparently had to directly pull your soul out of your chest to give you more direct magic than a monster candy could. It was weird seeing your glowing soul. Cross had explained human souls to you and what their colors meant. It was cool, knowing that your soul reflected yourself.

He hadn’t shown his own soul. He just hovered his hands around your soul and purple magic moved like mist into the little glowing heart.

You had tingled all over, similar to Killer’s candy but not as aggressive. This time you felt alert instead of jittery. Cross explained that it was because of whose magic it was. Killer was an excitable predator, abounding in energy the others didn’t share. Cross was more alert and calm.

You were curious of Horror’s magic.

Over the next week, you had sold all of your stuff and donated the money to various nonprofits you trusted, your diet had slowly changed as you were far more willing to eat what the boys offered you, and your legs had gone from sore to in pain constantly. Horror said that was normal so you didn’t mind.

The day finally came.

You walked down the path to the beach for the last time, wearing only a t-shirt and a skirt.(Yes, a skirt. It wasn’t your idea, Cross warned you not to wear pants for the transition as anything in the way of the legs will cause great discomfort and pain. So you wore a skirt.)

“Oh, look at you! All dolled up, suckerfish? What’s the occasion?” Killer teased and winked between the other two sirens.

“That I brought something.” You smirked, hands behind your back.

Killer got excited. “A surprise?? Let me see!” He started pulling himself up the beach.

Both Cross and Horror stopped him.

“Killer, no. You’ll beach yourself and drown.” Cross lectured.

“You’re just a coward!” Killer grinned.

You spoke up. “Killer, you’ll want to be in the water for this.”

To both Cross and Horror’s amazement, Killer backed up into the water again. “What is it?” His tail kept thrashing in excitement.

You pulled out the frisbee.

“YES!!!!!” He cheered. “Throw it!!!”

You did. Cross and Horror flinched as the water exploded between them and something flew past their heads. They watched Killer expertly swim out, catch the flying disk, and bring it back.

“What is that?” Cross questioned as Killer tossed you the frisbee.

Much to Killer’s dismay, you didn’t throw it again. “It’s a frisbee. I’ll explain later.” You looked around. “So now what.”

Cross turned his attention away from the frisbee. “One of us will take you into open water where you will be given a more powerful dose of magic. The magic not only starts the conversion, but also numbs you to any pain you might feel. One of us just needs to hold you upright until you are officially a siren. Since Killer started the process but I took over feeding you magic, we can’t predict what form your lower half will take. If it had been just me or just Killer, you would turn into the same species as whoever.”

“That makes sense.”

“We’ve decided to let you choose who you want to help you through this last step. But, y/n.” Cross grew serious. “This is it. After this there’s no going back. People on the land will shun and attack you on sight. If you have anything else to do, or if you don’t want to go through with this, this is your last chance.”

You waded into the water. “Perfect. Let’s do this.”

“Hell yeah!” Killer encouraged.

Cross nodded. “Who do you want to take you?”

You looked around. Cross was pushing himself off the beach and into the water, probably for the last time. Horror sat where he was, half on the beach, staring at the ground. And Killer was excitedly trying to grab at the frisbee in your hands. He was the only one that seemed relaxed and cheerful while the others looked stressed. You suspected the aggression from the other day might have something to do with you as neither Cross or Horror could look you or each other in the eyes.

Reaching forward, you placed the frisbee in Cross’s hands. “Can you hold on to this for me?” When he nodded, you turned to Killer. “Killer.” He perked up at his name. “Since you started this, would you like to help me finish it?”

They all froze.

Killer’s eyes went wide and he stammered. “I… you… You want me to…?” He pointed at his chest, his red soul twitching in confusion.

“Yes.” He’d apologized. It was about time you let him know you forgave him.

“Y/n.” Cross said with concern. “Are you sure?”

Killer frowned for half a second before slapping a big grin on his face. “Yeah, suckerfish! Do you really want a shark siren to be the first face you see after converting? Why not Cross? You like Cross.” He gestured dramatically at the larger siren.

You shook your head. “I didn’t ask Cross. Killer, I asked you.”

The same twin stars from that night stargazing lit up his sockets. They shimmered at you before darting towards Cross and going out again. “Whatever you want, suckerfish.” He winked and grabbed your hands to pull you out to sea.

“I’m not losing that nickname, am I?” You sighed.

“Nope~!”

Cross and Horror shared a look of concern but didn’t stop Killer as he dragged you into the water. He took you a quarter of a mile from the shore before stopping and glancing back at the others.

“I, uh… I’m not sure I remember how to do this…” Killer confessed. “Uh, what does Cross do?”

You smiled. “He sends magic directly into my soul. Here.” You focused and summoned your soul. With enough magic and practice, Cross had managed to teach you how to summon your own soul. It was weird but you got used to it easily.

Killer openly stared, his own soul spinning and twisting before it finally settled into an upside down heart. The eyelights were back. “O-Oh. Okay. I remember now. Hold on to me.” He guided your hands to his shoulders.

You held on and tread water as his hands circled your soul. He hesitated.

“You’re sure you want me to do this? No one would question if you wanted Cross or Horror instead.” He almost begged. “I could hurt you if I’m not careful. And we both know I’m not very careful!” He grinned.

You nodded. “I trust you.”

His soul stuttered and his face turned a reddish color. That was all he needed though. Killer immediately sent his own magic into your soul. A lot of it.

The effects were instant, you were filled with so much of the energy that Killer’s magic gave off that you started shaking. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything as his intent spread into you.

Care, want, need.

Your soul responded.

Acceptance, forgiveness, trust.

Killer didn’t falter but spared you a glance. “This’ll be really weird.”

The only thing you knew was you felt an intense need to move, fight, do something! Killer’s hands left your soul to grab your hand and guide you. He started swimming you around in circles, pulling you until you started moving. It was slow at first, getting used to moving when both of your legs had fused together, but it wasn’t too hard after you figured out the proper movements.

Just up and down and up and down.

You started picking up speed. Killer grinned at you as you matched his pace on the water.

“You’re doing great, suckerfish!” He encouraged, before speeding up a little and letting you go. “But it’ll be a while before you’re as fast as me.” He teased.

Taking him up on the challenge, you took a deep breath and dove into the water, speeding past him.

“Hey!”

You startled yourself with a chirp-like whistle that was supposed to be a laugh. But when Killer whistled back at you, you squealed the ticklish noise, no longer bothered by it.

Killer reached to grab and push you around as you raced. You bumped into him back and twirled towards the surface of the water again, following pure instinct.

You burst out of the water completely, a sense of weightlessness hitting you at the peek of your jump, before you fell back in the water.

Overjoyed, you twisted to see that you were, in fact, a dolphin siren. Your whistles and squeals filled the air as the others approached, Cross still holding that frisbee.

“And here I was thinking you’d be an urchin.” Cross teased.

You went to give him a retort but only chirps and squeaks made it out of your mouth. Your hand instinctively went to your throat. Had you lost your voice?

“Oh. Oh stars, I forgot about that.” Cross grinned sheepishly at your confused face. “So, uh, your whole body changed, maybe not so much outwardly but, your lungs had to change to breathe underwater and your vocals had to change to use a siren song. You might not be able to talk for a while…”

You crossed your arms and Killer spoke up for you. “And you didn’t think to mention that before the conversion?”

“I just forgot, okay? I haven’t converted someone before and I forgot.”

Killer grinned when you raised an eyebrow. “Unprofessional.” He said for you with a smug look. You swatted at him.

Cross sighed. “Sorry about that, y/n. You shouldn’t have to deal with this for more than a week but we’ll see. In the meantime.” He offered a hand and a smile to you. “Would you like to meet the others?”

Communication/Language

A Mermay Prompt

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“Hey, y/n!” Killer greeted.

You gave him a halfhearted nod and returned back to your food. It was weird only eating fish and sea weed. Not that it was bothering you.

Killer leaned over your shoulder to nip at the fish in your hands. You swatted him away without a sound and Killer backed up. “…You okay, suckerfish.”

You nodded and smiled at him. No. No you weren’t okay. But it was fine. It had only been a week since you’d moved in. And you still couldn’t speak properly. But it was fine. You’d figure it out.

“Killer.” Nightmare called from the crevasse.

Killer shot away with a singsongy, “Yes, Boss~?” and disappeared into the trench.

You sighed through your nose. You were jealous. Yes, jealous. Killer was always talking and singing all the time, and the others did too, but you couldn’t even sing a siren song yet. All you could do was chirp and whistle.

A few minutes later, Killer swung by to tease you again on his way out. That was another thing. The boys could leave the trench for one reason or another, sometimes the Boss would send them on missions you weren’t allowed to know about, but you couldn’t leave unless absolutely necessary. No one let you go anywhere, especially by yourself. Even now, Dust was watching you from his cave, ready to stop you if you tried to leave.

“Y/n.” Called Nightmare.

You shivered and looked over at Dust, who shooed you with a hand. You gently set the half-eaten fish down and cautiously swam into the trench. You hadn’t been to see Nightmare by yourself before and you were terrified.

“I’m not going to bite you. Calm yourself.”

Right. Negativity. You took a few deep breaths as you descended to the floor of the trench, stopping when you were level with his eyes.

He smiled kindly at you. “It has come to my attention that you have not been using your voice, refraining from speaking even in casual conversation.”

You sank a few feet in embarrassment. He wasn’t wrong.

“If you do not practice, you will not develop a voice or a call. Do you know what that means, y/n?”

You shook your head.

“It means you will never become independent. If you cannot use your voice, you will die if you get separated from your pod. Either from starvation or because a larger predator attacked you. Your voice is very important. So I’ve decided to teach you.”

What.

You looked up at the kraken in confusion. He was going to help you? He wasn’t upset that you’d failed to even try?

“As I understand it, you have made quite the impression on my pod. Usually after I’ve rested, Horror would be all over me. He has only come to me twice without being called. The others are sharing food with him too. Cross and especially Killer haven’t shared their meals in decades. And Dust, though you hadn’t met him before, has been visible almost constantly since you arrived, sitting in the edge of his den instead of the very back.” Nightmare encouraged softly. “You have fixed multiple problems, that I have spent years trying to fix, within a few weeks. I wish to thank you. So I am offering my help in your speech therapy. Do you accept?”

You nodded furiously. You’d given up trying to speak to the others. If he could fix your voice, you wouldn’t say no to that. Do you know how hard it is to communicate with someone when you can’t use your voice and don’t know sign language? It’s stupid difficult.

Nightmare grinned. “Good. Now, let’s start shall we?”

Nod nod nod.

Killer swam over you and poked your head. “Hey, suckerfish~!”

“Hhhhey.” You managed back around your food. ‘H’s were hard.

Killer flipped out and spun back around to face you. “What? Y/n, what? What did you say?” He was excited.

You took a moment to swallow. “Hhhey.” You grinned.

A sharp whistle pierced the water and Dust flinched away as Killer cheered you on. “You did it! I knew you could, suckerfish!” He hugged you, shoving you to the side.

You chirped angrily at being manhandled until he stopped. “Mmm- Mmmmnnn- Nnnniiigh…d…mmmmaaaare…hhhhep mmmme.” Scratch that. ‘N’s were harder.

“Wait. Boss helped you?” You nodded and Killer looked even more confused. “Huh. He doesn’t normally do that. Whatever. What have you learned?”

“Sssssssssounnnnndsssss.” You struggled. “Nnnnnnothhhhhhh- thhhhh- iinnnnnng b-big.” ‘Th’s sucked too. You actually gave up on that sound. “Jussssst worrrrdssssss.”

“Liiiiike? C’mon, suckerfish! Give me details!”

You frowned at him. “Toooooo mmmmmuch.”

“Too much what?”

“Too much overstimulation, Killer. Leave them alone.” Dust growled, speaking for you where you could not. You didn’t know how he knew what you meant but you appreciated it.

“When did you become the y/n expert?” Killer snapped. “You’ve barely met them!”

Dust, not caring for Killer’s fit turned to address you. “Was I correct?” You nodded. “I rest my case, Killer. Talk their ear off for all I care but don’t force them to talk when it’s already hard enough.”

Killer struck his tongue out at Dust who ignored him in favor of lying down in the entrance of his den. Without someone to mess with, Killer turned on you and started getting in your space. He tried to grab your food and you slapped his hands away.

“Get yyyyyourrr ownnnnn.” You snarked, pushing him away from your fish.

“Aw, c’mon!” He twisted away from your hand and tried to come back for your food again.

Being trained to deal with sharks, you decided to try something on him. Killer darted forward and you dropped your food to grab him with both hands. You flipped him with his tail upright and he stopped moving, stunned. You happily dug back into your food. Get rotated.

“What did you do??” Dust exclaimed, staring wide eyed at a frozen Killer who couldn’t even speak like that. “He’s quiet! What did you do to him?”

You smiled at Dust and continued eating without answering.

Dust looked excited and worried at the same time. “…Can you do that to all of us?”

You almost choked on your food as you laughed. Dust looked more and more concerned as you didn’t answer.

Migration

A Mermay Prompt

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“Hey. Hey, y/n. Wake up.”

Someone was shaking your shoulder. You groaned and scooted away from them.

“…I could go without you, y’know. Do you want to see the migration or not?”

You blinked awake. “Tthhhhhe wwwhat?”

Surprisingly enough, the face that woke you was Dust, his long body reaching out of Cross’s den and possibly back into his own den. “The stingray migration. They’re coming through nearby and I figured you’d want to see.”

You perked up and nodded. You’d never seen the migration in person but it looked beautiful.

“Well, keep up then. I won’t slow down for you.” Dust warned and turned to leave.

He didn’t have to slow down. You were swimming in circles around him as he went half your speed. You happily followed without a word, Dust didn’t seem to like unnecessary noises. He had a frown stuck to his face most of the time but you doubted he was upset. Especially since he invited you to see the migration.

You left the trench.

Hesitating, you glanced bad at the trench where the others were sleeping. Were you allowed to-?

“You’re allowed to leave if you stay with me.” Dust interrupted as if reading your thoughts. “Either keep up or go back.” He steadily got further away from you. Well, his front half did. His tail was still gliding after him next to you.

You followed.

After several minutes of travel, Dust settled beside a cliff, stuffing his tail end into a cave you hadn’t seen. Dust left a space open next to him for you to settle in to wait.

You looked around at the empty ocean. “Wwwwwhere-?”

“Be patient. They’re coming.” Dust confirmed. Then he just… stared. Out into open water.

You laid down on the stone next to him and didn’t speak, not willing to break the awkward silence. You’d left so early. No one else was awake yet. Except maybe Nightmare. You weren’t entirely sure how his sleep schedule worked but he seemed to be awake every time you checked, just staring up at you when you peered into the trench. Did he just stay awake for months and then take a month long power nap?

“Have you seen a migration before?” Dust interrupted your thoughts.

Somewhat started, it took you a moment to answer. “Oh, uh, nnnnnot a ssssstinnnngrrrayy mmmmm-mmmigri…mmmiga- mmh.” You frowned.

“Migration.”

“Yyyyeah. I ssssaw birrrdsss. B-But nnnnot ssstinngrrrayyyssss. Nnnot innn persssonnnn.”

“Birds? Those things that swim in the air?”

You laughed. “Yyyeah. Thhhhey fffflyy, nnnot ssssswim.”

Dust nodded. “We’ve got a few fish that do that.”

“Fffflyinnng fffishhh.” You filled in for him. “Thhat’sss wwwhat wwwe call thhemmm.”

“I guess. They definitely have more meat on their bones than your birds do. You know they’re all fluff, right?” He accused.

You nodded. “Birrrdsss cannn’t be tooo hhhheavyyy. Ssso lesssss mmmeat.”

“That makes sense. And their fins help them fly right?”

“Wwwinnnngsss. Nnnot fffinnnnsss.”

“Wings.” He corrected himself with a nod. “They’re light weight and have wings that help them fly. What’s the sharp part of their head for?”

Wow. He was actually talking to you. “Uh, thhheyy peck. Like b-bitinnng byyy rrunnnning yyyourr ffffacccce innnto thhhinnngsss.” You giggled at your own analogy. “Thhheyyy donnn’t hhhhave teethhhh. Sssso thhheyy hhhave too defffennnd thhhemmmsssselves withhh sssommmethhhinnng elssse.”

“They’re predators?”

“Nnnot alwwwayysss. Ssssomme jussst eat berrriesss.”

“Berries?”

“……Plannnt cannnndyy.”

“Oh. So your birds can defend themselves even though they don’t eat other creatures?”

“Yyyess.”

“…Do you have other prey that do that?”

“Mmmmossst of thhhemm. I told Crrossss about cowwssss. Hhhhehehee ffflipped out.” You giggled.

Dust’s expression softened. “So that’s what he was stuttering about back then. He kept rambling about an herbivore that kills things. When Killer asked him about he only ever said ‘Cows’ with this terrified look on his face.” Dust smiled as you giggled. His eyes were half lidded as he watched the horizon, which on him looked like pure bliss. He nodded ever so slightly. “They’re here.”

You looked over at him. “Whhho’ssss-?”

A shadow fell across you.

Startled and wide eyed, you stared as a stingray flapped slowly away from you. Seconds later hundreds of stingrays started pouring over you and Dust’s cubby in a huge mass of blankets.

You thought when he’d asked if you wanted to see the migration, you were going to see it from the side at a distance. Not directly under it.

There were so many of them.

It was beautiful.

Genuine tinkling laughter broke you from your reverie. Dust was laughing at you, his sockets wrinkling in mirth, those two gems in his sockets glittering at you.

“Wwwhat?” You asked.

“You look so dumb. Like a guppy seeing coral for the first time.”

You gasped, offended. “I’mmmm nnnnnot a guppyyy!”

“Are too. You explore and poke at everything, you have this dumb fascinated look when you see something new, and you can’t even speak properly yet. Guppy.” Dust concluded.

“Mmnnotaguppy…” You grumbled.

Dust leaned against you. “You’re pouting. It doesn’t help your case.” His weight pushed you against the stone. “Now shush. Watch the migration.”

You didn’t mind his touch. Eels were naturally sociable with friends and touch is a common way to show affection.

Sitting there, watching the stingray migration with Dust, you realized something.

You enjoyed this.

Living in a whole new environment had been a scary thought before. But, relaxing like this?

You could get used to this.

Literature

A Mermay Prompt

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“Uuggghhhhhh!” You groaned, lying dramatically across a boulder. It had been so long since you’d read something and it’s not like you could just find a book. You lived in water now. You know, the one thing paper can’t touch. And reading online was out of the question too. Water and electricity mixed just as well as water and paper. Beaching yourself to ask someone on land wouldn’t end well unless you were insanely lucky and you were starting to like those odds.

“…What is it, y/n?” Nightmare interrupted your thoughts.

“Nothing…”

If Nightmare had glasses, he would have looked over them at you. “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be acting dramatic about it. Either tell me or go groan at Killer.”

“…”

“. . .”

“Mmmm-Do you know what books are?” You propped yourself up on the rock you had draped yourself over.

Nightmare looked down at you, amused. “You miss your old hobbies.”

Stars that was fast. “Yeah. You know what books are?”

He smiled. “Little one, I was alive when they invented the printing press. Yes, I know what books are. I’m disappointed they haven’t made one that can exist in the sea.”

“Right? It’s stupid and frustrating!” You huffed, flopping across the rock again.

Chuckling echoed through the water. “Grow to be as old as me, and you won’t need new stories. I know more tales than you could have possibly heard in your lifetime.”

You perked up and looked at him. At your sudden positivity, Nightmare gave you a side eye. “…Can you tell me one? Please?

He laughed. “I guess I could since you were so polite. Hm… Did you know that the oceans weren’t quite so big originally?”

Intrigued with a dumb smile on your face, you shook your head.

“Well, as I said, the oceans used to be much smaller. For every drop of water there was an inch of land and all the land was connected. A land dweller could traverse the entire world on foot if they so pleased. Among those on the land were the gods and goddesses, only four of which I will speak of in this story for time’s sake.

“The goddess of life and the god of creation brought flora and fauna to the land and sea, bringing beauty and grace to an otherwise barren canvas. Their work echoed down for thousands of generations into the life you see today.

“However, the god of death brought rot and violence for all things must come to an end with time. He left much space for Life and Creation to work with before a person died of old age as he became complacent in his job and would rather rest than work.

“The last goddess, the goddess of emotions, took the emotions of creatures and beings and gave them empathy, letting them understand each other better. A man would grieve and another’s empathy would encourage them to comfort him.

“Because of the gods’ efforts, the world entered a state of peace and balance. Many lived on the land and in the water and trade existed between the two. Some of the gods also decided to change form to live in the water.

“But human and monster kind misunderstood the goddess of emotions’ responsibility. They believed she was the reason they felt pain and anger so they attacked her.

“Nym, the goddess of emotions, was gravely injured and, with help from Life, was turned into a tree by the water that you may know now as the Tree of Life. Before she perished, Nym split her power in twain, placing them in the form of two brothers of the sea. The guardian of positivity and the guardian of negativity.”

You gasped. “This is about you??”

Nightmare gave you a patient smile. “It is but a story, little one. As I was saying;

“The goddess of emotions managed to live in the form of the tree. Life looked after the Tree and it bore fruit of two kinds, dark and light, respective to Nym’s children, that had powerful capabilities when consumed. Life set the children in charge of each type of fruit, claiming that they were in charge of protecting the fruit and the Tree together.

“But the men and monsters discovered the Tree that Life guarded and argued amongst themselves. ‘Surely, if Life herself guarded the Tree, it must have the key to immortality!’ They said. ‘But let us not make Life angry, lest she forget us and leave us in the hands of Death.’ So they approached as friends. Life was fooled by their friendly faces and introduced them to the children of the Tree. Upon meeting, the men and monsters tried to befriend the guardian of positivity, all the while the guardian of negativity avoided them. He did not feel safe near them.

“One day, the guardian of negativity was beached under the Tree and Life and the other guardian weren’t nearby. The men and monsters of the land, seeing only one guard by the Tree, attacked the child and cut down the Tree, taking its fruit. Half dead, the guardian of negativity ate one of the fruit and it gave him power. But the power came at a cost.

“The guardian went into a frenzy and grew into a leviathan that dripped with hate. He tore apart the land dwellers and ate as much fruit as he could find before attacking the Tree that gave him life and vanishing into the deep. When his brother arrived he found his mother destroyed and Life weeping over the stump. He somehow found one last apple and, in an effort of revenge, ate the apple and pursued the guardian of negativity.

“The goddess of life cried over the loss of her friend for so long that the skies opened and it rained across the entire world. A great flood of tears drowned the world in water and salt, making the oceans toxic when consumed. The sudden growth in tide tore apart and destroyed the land, devastating entire kingdoms.

“The guardian of positivity was still chasing his rampaging brother, getting closer as time went on. The fruit had made him a leviathan as well, granting him powers he had not yet used. When he finally caught his brother, he was met with a monster the likes of which none had seen before. A snarling beast that destroyed everything in its path.

“When he called to his brother in challenge, the beast turned on him, ready to destroy. The fiercer of the two guardians easily overpowered his brother, forcing the guardian of positivity back against the shore where, when he was struck, he was turned into a statue of stone for five hundred years.

“Enraged and slightly wounded from the fight, the corrupted guardian retreated into the depths of a great crevasse where he finally came to his senses and realized what he’d done. Grieving the loss of his family, the guardian didn’t leave the crevasse for six hundred years when a stupid shark siren ignored the territory markings and entered the leviathan’s domain. However, despite his stupidity, the siren was rewarded for his bravery with a guardian by his side. The leviathan ventured out into the world for the first time since his frenzy to gaze upon a vastly different ocean.

“He quickly discovered that his brother was alive and had escaped his stone prison as that very brother attacked him on sight. Another battle was raised by the twins that flattened and sank part of the land.

“But the corrupt guardian lacked his rage from his last fight and had another problem to look after. The stupid shark siren was attacking his leviathan brother!”

You giggled.

“Cease your laughter. The idiot could very well have died.” Nightmare gently scolded. “The guardian learned that day that someone else’s life is more important than an old grudge. The guardian, for the first time in his life, turned tail and fled, the shark siren in tow.

“The grudge between to two brothers still hasn’t ended, but they each found their own new family to care for.”

“…”

Nightmare turned back to whatever he had in his hands.

You shot upright. “That’s it??”

He raised a brow at your outburst. “Were you expecting some sappy ending full of forgiveness and reconciliation?”

“Have you talked to your brother?? Maybe he misunderstood what happened! You couldn’t have just stopped talking to him because of a fight!”

“Do land dwellers not cut ties over complications such as these?”

You paused. “…They do. You’re right. But you should still talk to him!”

“What is there to speak of? He attacked me after the Tree fell.”

“Sounds like you attacked each other.” You pointed out.

Nightmare looked down at you. “If you wish to pick apart my tale, I will not share another with you. Now go. The boys are waiting on you.” He shooed you away.

You huffed but obeyed, swimming away in the direction you could hear Killer chattering someone’s ear off.

Nightmare had a brother. And a mom and adoptive mom by the sounds of it. Though you didn’t know what happened to Life besides that she cried the oceans into existence. You hoped she was okay. If Nightmare was still alive, maybe she was too.

And Killer met Nightmare first, apparently. Crazy shark tried to get himself killed twice. Once by Nightmare and once by… if his name was Dream, you were gonna punch the god of puns or something. Positive and negative. Oh my stars. If his name was anything but Dream you’d be shocked. Everyone had a weird name down here.

Behind your tail, Nightmare smirked as he sewed the last few words of his tale into a sheet of kelp, careful to get the spelling correct.

“New family to care for.”

Begrudging

A Mermay Prompt

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“Please!”

“No.”

“Pleeeeaase!!”

“Y/n, I said no.”

“Pretty please!”

“…”

“…Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“What is a cherry?”

“It’s a candy that grows on trees.”

“Oh.”

“……pleeaaaas-!”

“Fine!” Cross snapped, throwing his arms over his head. “But you have to do anything and everything I tell you without question or hesitation or I will haul you back here myself and you’ll never leave again! Are we clear?”

You nodded furiously. “Yes! We’re clear! I will do whatever you say for as long as we’re out there!” You spun around him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Don’t thank me.” Cross grumbled. “I don’t want to. You’re just difficult.”

You gave him an innocent smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about~.”

“Ugh. Let’s just go. Stay close to me.”

Cross led you out of the trench slowly. Like, really slowly. He went half his normal speed, obviously upset that you’d talked him into it. Instead of pushing him to go faster, which would most likely end in him moving slower, you just swam dizzying circles around him.

It was exciting! And you were sure Cross was excited too. He just had a thing about security and paranoia.

But it would be fine.

You’d met the townsfolk before. Surely they’d recognize you.

You had a plan. You’d just wait by the docks where no one could see your tails through the rippling water, ask if anyone could share their food, and get out of there before anyone questioned why two young adults were in the water for so long.

It was flawless.

You think.

“You’re sure about this?” Cross asked.

“Yep!” You whistled. “They should recognize me enough for us to grab something. It’ll be fine!”

“Don’t jinx it.” He grumbled.

“Well, I can’t jinx it if we don’t ever get there, slow poke!” You teased. “Are we close?”

He sighed. “Yeah. Just a little further.”

You trilled happily. “Can we go a little faster? I wanna see if anyone has some leftover pizza!”

Despite his grumbling, Cross moved faster after that, motivated by his favorite food.

You arrived at the dock in… not record time, but something. It took some convincing, but you finally got Cross to follow you under the docks to surface. Local chatter and footsteps filled the air as people hurried about their day. You could smell the bakery from here.

“I told you nothing bad would happen.” You splashed him.

He didn’t flinch, just glanced around suspiciously. “You say that now. Just don’t get too comfortable.”

“Relax!” You waved his suspicion away. “You just gotta be calm! Watch!”

“Wait! Y/n-!” Cross reached to stop you.

You drifted out into the open and spun a few times in the water. A few people glanced at you, smiled, and went back to their own business. You smiled back before turning to Cross who was barely glaring out of the water. “See? No one cares. Now come out here!” You shot water at him again.

He moved further under the docks, practically seething with caution.

You shrugged. “Suit yourself.” You spun a few more times, giggling and splashing in the water.

“Y/n? Is that you?”

You looked up at the man on the docks. He held a bag in one hand. “Oh! Hi, Ron! Water you doing?”

“Oh my stars.” Cross groaned at the pun, a smirk tugging at his face.

Ron looked worried and glanced down at the dock. “Are you okay? I haven’t seen you in town for weeks! Where did you go?? Is everything okay??”

Cross glared up at the wood that separated him from this new person.

“I’m fine, Ron. Better than ever actually. I’ve just been… taking a break from everything. Some things came up at home.” You paused.

Cross came closer to you. When you looked at him, he offered you a smile. You smiled back.

“Is someone down there?” Ron asked, kneeling on the dock. Cross growled and backed up again.

“Yeah. He’s a friend of mine. He’s just shy without his shirt.” You winked.

“I’m not shy!”

Ron chuckled. “I can tell.” He sat and kicked his legs off the dock, inches from the water. “So how long have you known y/n, pal?”

Cross grumbled. “I’m not your pal.”

You winced. Maybe bringing the least social siren to see people wasn’t a good idea.

Ron didn’t seem bothered. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know your name.” He set his bag next to where he sat.

“You don’t need to.”

Ron’s face twitched. “I’m not going to hurt you, buddy.”

Cross growled again. “I doubt you could.”

“Cross.” You sighed.

He looked at you sheepishly and stopped growling. “Cross. I’m Cross.” He crossed his arms under the water.

Ron nodded. “And how long have you known y/n?”

“A couple months I guess? How long have you known her?”

“Since we were little. Her and her Pops would come down to the shop every now and then. Speaking of the ol’ cow, how is your Pops?” Cross flinched at Ron’s choice of words.

Oh… right.

“I… Dad is gone, Ron. About a month ago…” You sank a little in the water.

Ron’s eyes widened. “Oh! I’m so sorry, y/n! If I had known, I never would have brought it up!”

“It’s fine. You didn’t know.”

“Dang… I didn’t think he’d go so soon. That man was a fighter. What happened?”

“…I don’t know. I was disowned and mom won’t tell me anything. Wouldn’t even let me go to the funeral…”

Silence.

“Woah. I always knew your mom was a bitch, but like, disowning? Damn. What did you do?”

You scowled at how he’d phrased that. Like it was your fault. “I don’t know. She never said. Why don’t you go ask her if you’re so curious.”

Cross’s low growl accented your glare perfectly and made Ron scoot back onto the docks.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.” Ron said somewhat awkwardly. “When’d you and your friend decide to go swimming?” He changed the subject.

“Just like, an hour or two ago.” You lied easily as Cross stared at you, concerned and nervous.

Ron chuckled. “You always did love the water. I wouldn’t by surprised if you grew fins and swam away one day,” Cross’s eyes went wide and you hoped neither of them could see you sweating. “Have you had lunch yet?”

Bingo.

“No, I don’t think so.” You answered innocently enough. “I guess I got distracted.”

Ron sighed, a fond smile on his face. “You’re gonna starve yourself one of these days, you know that? Someone needs to keep an eye on you. You hear that, Cross?” Cross startled when Ron leaned forward to peek under the dock and locked eyes with the terrified skeleton. “If I can’t, I need you to make sure they’re eating. They get their head stuck in the clouds sometimes and need someone to reel them back into reality.”

“…What?” Cross looked dumbfounded.

Ron smirked and explained his analogy. “They get so busy they forget to eat. But! Lucky you! I just happen to have some tacos on hand. The taco guy managed to hustle me into buying more than I could logically eat. Here!” He pulled a taco out of his bag and offered it to you.

You happily accepted the food. “Thank you! Cross?” You offered him the taco.

Cross stretched himself as far as he could to take it and you pulled back.

His eyes locked with yours in cautious confusion. “Y/n?”

You smiled. “Come out here first. No one’s gonna hurt you.” Ron chuckled at your mischief.

Cross grumbled and slowly drifted over to you, keeping an eye on Ron the entire time. When he wasn’t under the dock anymore, you handed him his taco and took the offered second for yourself.

Oh my stars! Normal food was so good! You hummed happily at a smiling Ron.

Crunch!

Both you and Ron looked over in time to see Cross’s taco crumble and fall into the water. He stared at it, his hands still near his mouth where the taco had been seconds ago. You couldn’t help but laugh at his lost look of confusion.

“Yeah, tacos do that, Cross. Here, watch me.” You showed him how to bite the taco without it shattering in your hands. It was a delicate art but you did your best to teach him.

Ron offered Cross another taco which he took, too focused on you to be suspicious of Ron at the moment. He carefully copied your movements and took a large bite out of his taco.

His eyelights twinkled into stars and spun. The rest of the taco disappeared in his maw and Cross licked his fingers as you laughed at him.

Ron looked stunned for a second. “Woah. I mean, I knew monsters ate food differently but damn. You inhaled that sucker. Want more, big guy?” He offered another.

It was snatched and consumed as well. Over and over, as Ron would offer more, Cross would devour each taco without mercy or shame.

“You like it, Cross?” You giggled, careful to keep your taco out of his reach.

He spared you a glance and grinned between bites. “Better than your sandwiches.”

“Hey!” You splashed water on his skull. “I don’t see you making actual food!”

“Actual food? Is that what you call that stuff you fed me?” He teased back.

“Excuse me!! I’m sorry for feeding you!! Next time I won’t show you the wonders of fast food! See how much your uneducated tastebuds cry over something you can never reach!”

A small wave had you sputtering.

“Why, you-!”

“While I hate to interrupt…” Ron glanced between the two of you. “..whatever this is. I actually have to be somewhere. It was nice checking up on you, y/n. Keep them safe, Cross. Bye, you two!” He waved and yanked his bag away from Cross, whose hands were sneaking into the bag, before leaving the docks.

“Bye, Ron!” You called after him and sighed. That was really nice of him to share so much of his food with Cross. And nothing bad had happened, just like you’d predicted.

“…Your food’s still not as good.”

“CROSS!!!”

Plankton

A Mermay Prompt

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“Hunting lessons!” Killer added the dramatic flare of jazz hands.

You stared at him. “Hunting lessons?”

“Obviously.” He grinned and gestured at you. “You’re so skinny, you look like a pipefish.” “Hey-!” “So! I’m gonna teach you! We’ll start with the easy stuff since you’re inexperienced. Plankton are easy enough. Here.”

Killer spent the next hour teaching you how to catch plankton and other easy larger fish. After you started to get the hang of it, Killer proposed an idea.

“How about this, y/n? I’m gonna go that way, you go the other way, we’ll catch as much as we can and meet back up here. Just each of us hunting alone. Whoever catches the most fish wins!”

You eyed him suspiciously. “And what does the winner get?”

Killer’s grin widened. “A favor~. Whoever wins gets to ask a favor of the other. No questions asked.”

It was a trap. You knew it was a trap. But you really didn’t want to back down from a challenge. Besides, you were faster than Killer. Maybe that could give you just enough of an advantage to make it fair.

You shrugged. “Why not? Go on three?”

“Go!” Killer shot away from you.

“Hey!” You quickly turned the other way and sped to catch as many fish as you could. Cheater. You should have known he’d pull something like that. He was always trying your patience with stuff like that. Scratch that, he was trying everyone’s patience.

He was right about plankton being easier to catch, though you didn’t think the tiny organisms would count so you just ate them.

You’d barely caught your first fish when you felt something shift in the water behind you. Was Killer back already or did he just want to mess with you? Make you lose focus.

“If you want to win, you should go back to hunting.” You commented over your shoulder.

There was a pause.

“I’m sorry. I don’t believe that was meant for me.” Sung a new voice.

You spun sharply around. Your eyes landed on the most beautiful siren you’d ever seen.(don’t tell the boys) A golden crown on his head shimmered with a light that was rivaled by his friendly smile. His lower half hovered gently with two translucent fins as his tail curled gently under him, not quite touching the floor.

A seahorse siren.

“I don’t believe we have met.” He politely crossed his hands in front of him and tipped his head. He was surprisingly almost twice your length. “I am Dream. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh! Uh, I’m y/n. It’s nice to meet you too, Dream.” You tipped your head as well. “What, uh, what are you doing here?”

“I am on a mission to find my brother. He… He is in a bit of trouble and I wish to get him out. But first I must find him.” Dream glanced around, concern written on his face.

Another seahorse siren? You hadn’t seen anyone that looked like Dream. You gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen anyone.”

Dream nodded and gave you a sad smile back. “I should hope not.”

…

That wasn’t freaky at all.

“Ooookay?” You drifted carefully away, looking around for Killer. Where was that obnoxious skeleton when you needed him?

“Oh, I’m sorry, y/n!” Dream gasped, his eyes wide. “I did not mean to startle you! He is just very dangerous and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Are you a new siren?”

You hesitated but answered honestly. “…Yes. Why?”

“When you get as old as me, it’s easy to see when someone is unsteady on their fins. Are you in good company?” His tone grew concerned as he became serious. Like he was hinting at something dark.

“I’d say so. I was welcomed into the pod after they helped me convert so I’m not alone.”

Dream sighed with relief. “So it was conversion by consent. Good. That’s good. How are you adapting?”

That was a lot of questions that felt very close to personal information. You grew defensive. “Why do you need to know?” You accused.

“I just want to make sure you are doing well. It is very difficult for others to adapt to the water. If you are uncomfortable, I’d like to fix that.” He gave you a patient smile. Dream was offering you a different home.

“Well, thank you, sir. But my pod has been very nice to me. I will be staying with them.” You turned back towards your food. Right. There was a race going on and you were getting distracted.

“Wonderful.” Dream’s smile was in his voice. “Would you like any help hunting?”

Oh.

Oh, that was a great idea.

You gave the beautiful siren a smile. “Sure! I’m already behind and could use the help.”

The two of you collected enough fish for two Horrors, chatting all the while. You spoke of your life before the sea. He spoke of his interactions with people on the land. Jokes were traded as were laughs.

Dream followed you back to the place Killer said to meet.

“It was wonderful getting to know you, y/n.” Dream smiled happily, placing the fish in a pile with yours.

“You too. Thank you for helping me hunt. I’m don’t think I could have caught this many without you.” You admitted.

He laughed. “It was no problem. I’ve helped a siren before. He also was new to the sea but he wasn’t converted like you. He accidentally escaped captivity and was lost when me and Ink found him. We had to raise him like a guppy. I think you would have liked to meet him. His name was Cross.”

“Oh! You know Cro-?”

“DREAM!!!”

Dream’s expression went from fond to furious in a second as he spun towards the voice, magic pooling into his hands. Killer tackled him before the magic could form.

“You crazy! Suicidal! Shark!” Dream snapped, fighting Killer’s teeth away from his face. Dream was shockingly stronger than Killer but Killer was fast.

“Killer! Stop!” You yelled at the chaos. “It’s fine! He’s a friend!”

Killer growled and shoved Dream away. “That is no friend, y/n! Don’t trust him!”

With the added space, Dream’s magic formed into a bow with a glowing harpoon aimed at Killer. Dream growled back at the shark. “Don’t. Move. Killer.” Killer glared at the bow, his soul twitching in front of his chest. If you hadn’t spent so much time with him, you wouldn’t have realized that Killer was scared. Dream’s eyes shot to you. “Y/n. Get out of here and find your pod. I will take care of this feral siren.” Killer snarled.

You snapped. “You leave him alone, Dream! What is wrong with you two??”

Dream looked shocked so Killer answered. “Y/n. Dream attacked Boss first. We’ve fought before. He only ever hunts Nightmare through the oceans.”

“I did not attack first!” Dream said, snapping out of his confusion. “Your ‘Boss’ murdered thousands of people!”

“And you haven’t?” Killer parried.

“Of course I haven’t!!!!!” The seahorse looked and sounded insulted.

“Dream? What are you doing all the way out…? Oh.”

Everyone looked to see a third skeleton siren. This siren was colorful with a purple question mark for one eyelight and a blue octagon in the other. He glanced between the two aggressive sirens when his eyes caught on you. He blinked and suddenly his eyelights switched to a blue star and a yellow exclamation mark.

“Oh! Hello! You’re new!” The new siren chirped. He came closer to you and you saw that his lower half was a dull grey squid. A very big, striped squid.

“Ink! Get them out of here!” Dream commanded.

All hell broke loose.

Killer attacked Dream, Dream’s harpoon hit Killer’s shoulder, and a grey tentacle wrapped around your waist. You yelped as Ink sped away with you in tow.

“Killer!!!” You called out.

Killer looked up from his frenzy, white eyelights visible in terrified concern. “Y/n!!!”

Hideout

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

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“Let go of me!!!” Water rushed through your hair and ears as he dragged you downhill, deeper into the ocean and further away from your pod.

“Hold on, hold on!” The squid tried to calm you. “I just have to get you somewhere safe first! Also! You’re not being very… appreciative! I’m saving you, y’know!”

“You’re not saving me!!! I was perfectly fine!!!” You thrashed. “Get your suckers off me!!!”

“Wow! You’re really new! You don’t even know that Killer would kill you! I mean, it’s in his name, but good for you for not judging, I guess!” He shot you a smile over his shoulder even as he swam.

“I know he can kill me!!”

“Oh…” He frowned. “You’re just dumb then.”

“Hey!!!”

He shrugged. “Dream really knows how to pick ‘em. Did you know he found another useless siren before you?”

You’d had enough. Growling, you bared your teeth and bit into the tentacle that held you. The taste that hit your tongue had your face coiling in disgust. It tasted like pastels and paint. Gross.

The tentacle twitched and Ink glanced back at you again.

“What are you doing? Oh, you’re biting me. Stop that. It won’t help you.” He sounded so calm and unaffected by the bite that you faltered. Could you even get away if he wasn’t hurt by you?

Your answer came when you pulled away from the bite and a chunk of tentacle came off. You could bite through the limb.

You attacked again.

“I mean in, pal. Leave my arms alone.”

You ignored him.

“Hey.”

Bite.

“Dude.”

Bite.

“I said stop!”

You were whipped around through the water and spun. The tentacle left your waist and you steadied yourself, ready to run. Or well… swim.

Ink floated over you, his tentacles curling around and over you, caging you in as he spoke. “Do you know how long it takes to grow those back? Besides, they don’t taste good.”

Your eyes darted around, looking for an opening. He was much bigger than you and had the advantage of ten extra arms, one of which was wounded but still working. He did seem pretty oblivious though. So maybe you could outsmart him.

“Why are you doing this?” You asked.

Ink smiled and the question mark was back. “What do you mean? What am I doing?”

You stared blankly at him. Was he serious? “…You’re taking me away from my home.”

“Oh! Was that where you lived? I’m sorry! We’ll get you a new home as soon as we can! Nightmare is a bit of an urchin when it comes to territory. You won’t be able to go back until he leaves.” Ink informed you.

“I… I was living with Nightmare.”

“…”

“…”

“…Oh.” Ink backed up and displayed his tentacles. “You worked for Nightmare?”

“Well, not exactly? But we do call him Boss.”

His left eyelight changed into a target. “But you would do what he said if he asked?” The water was turbulent with how much his tentacles were moving. It made it hard to focus.

“Well, yes. He’s been very nice to me.” You gently paddled backwards with your tail. He was starting to scare you.

The question mark was back but the target stayed. “Why do all of you say that? How is Nightmare nice? Tell me. He has torn apart entire islands, sunken ships, he’s massacred pods upon pods of sirens, he attacks Dream on sight, and he has taken each of you from your homes. How is he ‘nice?’” He threw his hands in the ai- water as he spoke.

He was so absorbed in his rant that he didn’t notice you’d moved just out of reach.

“Nightmare didn’t take me from my home. Cross did.” You turned tail.

“What- Wait! Come back!” Ink startled.

You swam. You swam as fast as you could. You didn’t know where you were going but anywhere was better than with this strange squid siren that thought you were evil. He was fast too. You could feel him gaining behind you. You twisted between and around the boulders on the sea floor but, as long as you were moving, he was right behind you.

Getting a risky idea and taking a chance, you darted into the first small cave you found and froze, not letting yourself move a muscle.

The rush of water stopped outside.

“Hello? Where did you go? Human siren? I’m not gonna hurt you and I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ink called. “What do you mean ‘Cross did?’ Hello? Are you even over here?” He sighed. “You’re not here are you? Did you go this way?”

He continued to mumble and chatter further and further away until you couldn’t hear him anymore.

You didn’t move for several minutes afterwards, careful to make sure he was actually gone. When you were certain, you slowly dragged yourself further into the cramped cave and laid down.

Nightmare could find you. He would feel your fear and come find you.

One thing was for sure, you didn’t like Ink. He was big and mean and scary. Not that the boys weren’t big or scary. They just never belittled you like Ink had. You weren’t dumb. Living with the boys was the smartest and best decision you’d ever made.

Who was Ink to judge your decision after he kidnapped you?

You growled softly, aware that he could still be nearby. Now you didn’t know where you were, Killer was injured and panicking somewhere if Dream hadn’t killed him, and Dream knew Cross somehow. He said something about Cross being new to the ocean and not knowing what to do. Like you.

That made sense with Cross’s floppy dorsal fin indicating that he came from captivity. But if Dream knew him first, why was Cross with Nightmare now?

Wait.

Oh my stars.

Dream was Nightmare’s brother, wasn’t he?

“Ugh!” You blew bubbles that dispersed like clouds, covering the small cave in fog. You had a god of puns to punch if you ever found one.

Colors

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

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“Y/n?”

You tensed at Dream’s voice. You didn’t want to see him. You didn’t want to talk to him.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.” You felt him shift closer to your hideout. “I can tell you’re in there. I won’t force you to come out, but I’d like to talk.”

“…”

“…You said you work for Nightmare?”

“I never said that.”

“…No. I guess you didn’t. But you live with him willingly?”

“……Yes. What’s it to you? Are you gonna attack me like Ink did?” You growled, bristling in your little cave. You glared at the entrance but, due to the bit of twisting the opening did, you couldn’t see out of the cave.

“Oh my stars- No. I will not attack you. No one should be attacking you this early into your new life. And I will have a discussion with Ink when I see him.” Dream sounded disappointed and angry. “He may be naive, but that is no excuse for his continued behavior. He will not go unreprimanded. I will make sure of it.”

Yep. They were brothers.

“You sound like Nightmare.”

Dream didn’t immediately respond. “…I’m not certain if that is a good thing or not.”

“Do you hate him?”

“My brother? No. No, I don’t. Our relationship is… complicated.”

“Complicated like attacking him after your mom died?” You accused, immediately regretting your choice of words. You could have been nicer about that. He had been very nice to you so far.

“……He… He told you about mom?” Dream sounded sad and surprised. When you didn’t immediately respond, he sighed. “I did not mean to attack him. He was scared. I was scared. There was blood and dust on mom’s stump. I just wanted answers. I hindsight, I should not have approached him in his violent state. Frenzies are easier to wait out than to calm. But I was not calm either. I got myself sucked into a fight with him and I haven’t been able to talk to him since. I promise you, I mean my brother no harm. I only wish to talk.”

That… sounded legit. “And Ink? What does Ink want?”

“Ink wants to feel.” Dream replied without hesitation. “He has no soul and believes saving people might help him develop feelings like most beings have. However, he follows me without question. If I tell him not to attack Nightmare, he will immediately stop. I’m sure of it.”

“You’re talking about me~!” Ink’s voice startled you and you backed further away from the opening of the cave. “Who you talkin’ to, Dream?”

“Ink.” Dream’s voice was threatening. “Do you remember that human siren I had you take to safety?”

“Oh! The pretty dolphin one?” The squid sang.

“…Yes. Did you attack them?”

There was a pause.

“Maybe? I don’t remember. I do remember them running though. Oh! They said that Nightmare was their Boss so I did attack them, yeah.”

Dream sighed. “Ink, you can’t just attack someone that works for or with Nightmare. Y/n wasn’t going to attack you.”

“Tell that to my arm.”

“What?”

There was a pause in sound as the water shifted slightly, most likely Ink showing Dream the multiple bite marks.

“…Y/n, why did you bite him?” He said seriously.

You growled. “He wasn’t letting me go! I don’t appreciate being kidnapped!”

“Woah! They’re here?” Ink wondered. Undoubtedly looking around trying to find you.

Dream groaned. “Ink, leave y/n alone. Don’t attack them. Don’t touch them. Y/n, would you please come out. We can take you back to Nightmare if you really want to go back.”

Oh, you really wanted to go back. The boys were probably worried sick. But it could be a trap for all you knew. Dream had immediately attacked Killer on sight. Speaking of which.

“What happened to Killer? Is he okay?” Your glare made it into your voice.

“Ah. Killer is… hurt. He is very difficult to dissuade from violence. He has attacked me before in my leviathan state which most would consider that equal to pleading for death. He was very lucky that Nightmare retreated that day. I almost killed him. On accident! I do not wish death upon anyone!” Dream quickly corrected himself. “If… If I could get close to Killer, I could heal his wounds. But I doubt he would let me close of his own accord.”

“I wouldn’t either if you shot me with a harpoon.” You growled.

Dream sighed again. “It was in self defense. I do wish he would not attack me on sight every time he saw me.”

“So are we going back to see the bad sirens?” Ink interrupted.

“Excuse me?!” You roared. Bad sirens?? What were they to Ink??? Dogs???

“I told you to stop calling them that.” Dream sighed a third time. His words calmed the water and you felt your anger leave you.

You inched forward. “I… I do want to go back. You won’t hurt me or my pod? Again?”

A gentle smile was in Dream’s voice. “We will not hurt anyone for as long as the water is calm.”

That was probably the best you would get.

It wasn’t a trick.

They really took you back to where you last saw Killer. There were a few stray sharks in the area, munching away at the fish you’d caught earlier but they didn’t give you any trouble as you swam past.

There were particles of dust and magic in the water that set you on your toes. Or fins, or whatever.

“Where’s Killer?” You asked.

Dream shook his head. “I don’t know. I had to break away and retreat when Horror, Cross, and Dust all pounced at me. Killer should be fine, I only shot him twice, but he was losing consciousness when I last saw him.”

“And you’re only telling me this now??” You snapped.

Ink’s eyes shot to you at your outburst, a target in one eye. You shivered and backed up.

“Y/N!”

A blur of black and white shoved its way between you and the other two sirens. The rush of water shoved you apart.

Arms wrapped around you from behind and pulled you away from Dream and Ink. A voice spoke above you.

“Y/n, are you okay?” Cross practically growled as he glared across the water at Ink.

“I’m okay.” You responded, hugging his arms to your chest when a flash of color caught your eye. You looked back at Ink to see him flared up, tentacles spread in intimidation.

His stripes were rippling, one moment grey and the next a vibrant rainbow. The colors were mesmerizing. Like staring at oil. Reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, indigos, and violets. Every color shifted and twisted, getting bigger and brighter with every passing second. It was absolutely beautiful.

You couldn’t see.

The water moved, someone was calling your name, and someone else was yelling. You turned your head to realize that someone’s hand was over your eyes.

“Y/n? Y/n, can you hear me?” Came Cross’s terrified voice.

“I… I can hear you.” You mumbled, clearing your head.

“Oh, thank the stars!” Cross sighed with relief, hugging you close.

The hand left your eyes but you were facing Cross now. You could hear Dream chewing out Ink behind you. Something about testing boundaries and power happy sirens.

“What happened?” You asked.

Cross frowned. “Ink doesn’t always use his voice to catch food. His body can change color quickly and it hypnotizes everything that looks. Even sirens. We’re lucky Dream stopped him before he could get caught in it too.”

“…He’s not a squid, is he?”

Cross scoffed. “No. He’s a cuttlefish.”

“Oh…” That was concerning. You curled into Cross’s chest.

Cross looked down at you. “You want to go home while they’re busy?”

You nodded.

He switched from hugging you to holding your hand, giving you the freedom of movement, before heading home.

One last thing occurred to you and you chuckled.

Cross raised a brow at you. “What are you laughing about?”

“I always knew cuttlefish were soulless.”

Cross burst into laughter.

Game

A Mermay Prompt

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“Hey. Heeeyyyyyy. Y/n. Pspspsps.” You were poked awake from your nap on a rock.

“Where did you even learn that?” You turned to face Killer. The siren had apparently taken a harpoon to the soul as well as his shoulder and back. How he took an attack to the soul and lived, you couldn’t understand. Wasn’t the soul extremely fragile? Especially when touched? However, none of Dream’s other attacks seemed very physical. They hit him, sure, but there was no cut when the harpoon was removed.

You wondered if the lack of physical damage had anything to do with how Killer was acting now.

“Don’t remember. Don’t care. Hey! Do you remember that thing you brought with you from the land?” He chittered, constantly swimming around you in circles.

“The frisbee?” You asked. You gave that to Cross, right? Where did he put it?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Killer whistled excitedly. “Where is it? Do you want to play again? Can we show the guys? I want to see them try to catch it!”

You gave him a blank look. “You want to do an activity that requires you to push yourself immediately after getting wounded? You’re crazy.” You laid back down.

“I’m not wounded!” Killer defended, a smile stuck to his face. “I’m just hyped up on energy from Dream’s attacks and I need to MOVE!!! Y’know! Like when I gave you that candy! I have too much energy! I need to do something!”

Oh. “Dream’s attacks give you energy?”

Killer shook his head in a so-so manner. “Not exactly. Dream’s attacks are filled with positivity. When hit, that positivity forces you to be excited in small doses which can turn into a frenzy if hit too many times. However! Ya boi was hit directly in the soul! So all that positivity hit me at once, sent me into a frenzy, and I was in and out of consciousness for a while. Sorry if I scared ya!” He winked. “But since Nightmare helped me steady out, I shouldn’t enter a frenzy or pass out! So I get to hang out with you!” He had spun around you so many times, you were starting to get dizzy.

You sighed. “I have to ask Cross where he put it, but sure. We can play with the frisbee.” Maybe it would help him expend some energy and calm down. It was like dealing with a child.

“YES!!!!!”

You found Cross and the frisbee relatively quickly and convinced him to come with you to play. Killer swam off to get Horror and you and Cross went to ask Dust if he wanted to try.

Dust stared at the frisbee with an unimpressed look. “…Killer put you up to this?”

“No, actually.” You smiled. “I thought you might want to join, since it is a challenging game.”

He raised a brow. “Your little disk is challenging? How so?”

“Well, when you throw it, it flies-.”

“I’m in.”

You hesitated, glancing at Cross who looked just as confused as you. “Wh- Really?”

Dust stretched and started leaving his den. “Yep.”

“But I didn’t even-.” You started.

“I might not play. But I want to see this.” He interrupted again.

“Ooookay?”

The three of you met back up with Killer and Horror, who was confused but excited to be involved.

“Alright!” You say, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Killer already knows how to play so I’ll explain it to the rest of you. This is a game where you throw this frisbee to each other in the air. No one really wins or loses, but there are ways to succeed and fail. If I throw the frisbee to you, you have to catch it. If you have the frisbee, pick someone to throw it to and they have to catch it.” You explained how to properly throw the frisbee, how not to throw the frisbee,(don’t chuck it at peoples heads, Killer) and vaguely explained what to expect when the frisbee was in the air.

Killer giggled and fidgeted the entire time, unable to keep still, until you announced you were ready to play. He was the first to the surface with only his tail visible for a second before he splashed back into the water. The shark siren acted like an excited puppy.

The first throw of the frisbee went about as expected. Cross and Horror were too close and the frisbee went flying over their shocked expressions. Killer caught the disk with ease after it arched to one side.

Dust floated next the you and watched, his glowing eyes the only indication he was paying attention under the dark of his hood.

“What was that?!” Cross complained.

Killer grinned and chittered. “That was you failing, Cross! Go long!” He threw the frisbee past you and you sped after it.

As the sun steadily crept towards noon, the four of you played, throwing the frisbee at each other and learning to catch it.

“Comin’ at ya, y/n!” Killer grinned.

“I got it!” Your tail started moving faster to lift you out of the water and…

You missed.

It sailed over your head and hit something behind you with a thump. You turned to find Dust looking over the frisbee with interest, twisting it in his hands and waving his hand under the bottom.

He glanced at you and smiled. “Duck.”

You submerged yourself just in time for the disk to be launched across the water at Cross.

“Hell yeah, Dust!!!” Killer cheered.

The game continued with Dust stealing the disk for you when you swore you had it until you moved further away from him. You made sure to mix up who you threw the frisbee to, much to Killer’s frustration.

Horror wasn’t the best at catching with his hands so every now and then a tentacle would shoot out of the water to catch the frisbee. He was precise when he threw it though. He would sit there for a few seconds before the frisbee would shoot out at someone with precision and speed. He absolutely melted at your encouragement, sinking into the water every time.

Killer acted like a professional. His prior experience sure made him look like a professional to the others. But you could see that he was far too excited for his own good. His patience was short an he kept trying to jump out of the water to catch it, leading him to fumble with the frisbee or get hit directly in the face. By the end of the day, his nose was red from how many times he got hit. His throwing was bad though. He either didn’t throw it hard enough and it wobbled out of the air or he threw it at an angle and it immediately shot into the water. That didn’t dampen his mood though as he greeted every failure with a bright grin. Especially when you yelled encouragement across the water.

Cross caught on quick. He figured out how to get the frisbee to balance in the air rather quickly and kept chucking it at Killer. Hence the red mark on the shark’s nose. Catching was more complicated with Cross. He either caught it perfectly or he dodged it. It took a lot of explaining and encouragement for him to start reaching to catch the disk.

Dust was a natural. Coiled just below the water’s surface, Dust would spring out of the water if he needed to. The frisbee could not escape him. It was taken out of the air and shot with accuracy at his next target. It always floated perfectly wherever he wanted it.

Dust also started smacking Killer with the frisbee. When you asked them to stop, Killer just laughed and said it was fine, that they were just messing with him, and then got hit square in the face cause he wasn’t paying attention.

It was a wonderful day.

You were glad you got to spend it with your boys.

Cave

A Mermay Prompt

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“Killer.” Nightmare’s voice rumbled through the water. You stirred from your rock at the noise. Had you dozed off? You rubbed your eyes and looked up to see Nightmare had stretched his tentacles out to surround you and the boys. For the others, they either sat on top of or under a tentacle. But the tentacle Nightmare had stretched to you only wrapped around the boulder you sat on, not quite touching you.

Wait.

Where did Horror go? You could have sworn he was there before you’d closed your eyes.

“Yes, boss~?” Killer chirruped.

Killer’s tentacle pinned him to the sea floor. Nightmare smirked as he struggled. “Be still. You’re being disruptive.” The cyan eye glanced at you. He almost sounded as tired as you.

Oh. Oh, it was because you were passing out wasn’t it?

“I’m sorry.” You yawned. “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I can go back to Cross’s den if I’m bothering you.” You stretched and lifted off your rock.

Cross shook his head at you. “Don’t go in my den, y/n. It’s not your den anymore.”

…

What?

You froze and stared at Cross’s blank expression. Was… Was Cross kicking you out? Did you do something wrong? Was it because you’d talked to Dream and Ink? Did he think you’d betray them to their enemies? You hadn’t even talked about the boys! Dream didn’t even know you were part of the group until after Killer attacked him. There wasn’t anything you could have done!

You’d only just met Dream and Ink outside of the pod and you didn’t really want to see them again. Where would you go? Where could you go?

Cross’s tentacle slapped his head. “You’re scaring them, idiot.” Nightmare scolded. “Either explain or choose your words wisely.”

Cross blushed under the appendage but didn’t push it off his face. “Sorry. Y/n, we have a surprise for you.”

Your nerves were only slightly calmed at Boss’s actions but you were still anxious. Did he just change the subject? “You do?”

“Yep. If you wait here until Horror gets back, we’ll get straight to it.” Cross yawned and the tentacle left his face, resting under his arms. “Just, wait a little bit. I promise it’s a good surprise.”

“…Okay…” You drifted back to your rock, no longer tired. He hadn’t corrected himself, so there was a chance he was actually planning on kicking you out. You didn’t have anywhere to go, even if you could go back to the land. There was nothing left for you.

You hugged yourself.

Nightmare started humming. A lullaby you weren’t familiar with. It caught your attention and you glanced up to see Nightmare’s tentacle in front of you. You glanced at the Boss but he wasn’t looking at you. The tentacle gestured at the rock you sat on, as if asking to sit next to you. Maybe his tentacles felt more comfortable off the sandy floor.

You scooted over to give it space. Without hesitation, the tentacle filled the space you just emptied, flipping suckers-up next to you like an open invitation. You looked over at where Dust and Cross laid across or hugged their offered tentacles. It seemed to be a comfort thing.

Cautious, you reached out and grabbed the tentacle similarly to how you would hold someone’s hand. It didn’t sting you or shock you or drag you away. It just wrapped around your hand in a gentle squeeze and didn’t move again.

Huh.

You shifted into a more comfortable position and yawned. This wasn’t so bad. You were safe. You were surrounded by sirens that cared. And Nightmare, despite what Dream and Ink might have said, was one of the nicest people you knew.

You hummed softly as Nightmare’s lullaby lulled you to sleep.

“Y/n?” Someone whispered. “Hey… Wake up.”

“Mmh?” You mumbled, looking up from where you were curled up. Horror’s blurry face appeared as your vision cleared. Stars, you must have slept really well if it was taking this long to wake up. “Whazzit?”

Horror grinned. “I don’t think… you should sleep… here.”

You snuggled back into the pillows. “Nooooo. And Cross kicked me out. I don’t have a den.”

“Not if… you keep hugging… Boss.”

What? Hugging-?

…

Your eyes shot open and you heard Nightmare chuckling behind Horror. You had snuggled your face into the tentacle that you had apparently started hugging some time after falling asleep.

The tentacle was immediately released. It curled playfully and drifted back to you, opening up for you to hold again.

“I’m sorry, sir.” You blushed, keeping your hands away from the appendage in favor of covering your face.

“It is quite alright. You needed it more than I did.” He chuckled, still behind a smiling Horror. “Also, you do not need to call me sir or boss. Those are nicknames, not titles. Call me what you want.”

“Yes, sir.” Where was everyone?

He chuckled as Horror reached forward to touch the rock you were on. “You… ready?”

Ready? “For what?”

His grin split his face. “Surprise~.”

Oh, yeah. Cross said something about a surprise.

“Oh! Uh… do I need to… get ready?” You asked, uncertain. Did they want to kick you out? Were they throwing a party? What was going on?

Horror shook his head. “We can… go see it now.”

‘See it.’ Okay. So it was a gift or something.

“Okay. Um. Let’s go then, I guess.” You weren’t the most enthusiastic, but Horror seemed happy, so you would follow him.

He happily led you into the trench, past everyone else’s dens and in the darkness. The darkness of the trench was weird. You should logically be able to see in the depths(you’d gained night vision when you converted) but you could never make anything out unless Nightmare told you to look at something. It never felt malicious though. You just avoided swimming into the darkness without a guide.

Speaking of guides, Horror offered you a hand to hold as he guided you into the deep. You obviously accepted. You weren’t about to follow him on sight alone.

“Horror, where are we going?” You asked, testing the waters.

“Almost… there.” Was all Horror offered in response. He continued to pull you in a firm but gentle grip. So gentle, that you knew you could break away if you wanted to. He wasn’t forcing you to follow him and was giving you every opportunity to back out.

You followed, encouraged by that fact.

“Watch… your head.” He gently guided you into what felt vaguely like a cave. You weren’t sure. “We’re here.”

“Ok.” Came Cross’s voice from in front of you, making you flinch. “Boss?”

The darkness suddenly vanished and you blinked. You were in a cave, not quite as big as Cross’s den but definitely spacious. Cross had stuffed himself in the space that was small for him and Killer vibrated next to him. When you turned to Horror, you saw Dust halfway in the cave and Nightmare’s glowing eye and grin outside.

The cave was decorated. Little bits of coral, shells, and nets were strewn about in the corners and cubbies of the cave, giving it all the homey feeling of a seaside house. What stood out to you though was the red ringing frisbee tucked against a bed of sea weed.

“Surprise!” Killer cheered.

You blinked again slowly. “Oh. Uh. I… I don’t understand…” You admitted, embarrassed.

Dust and Nightmare chuckled softly as Cross spoke up. “This is all yours. We figured you might want your own den so we tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Feel free to move things around, get rid of whatever, and add stuff. It’s all up to you.” The orca siren smiled at you.

Did you hear that right? “I- You- This is for me?”

Killer’s expression turned sarcastic. “Nah, it’s for the frisbee.”

“Yes, it’s for you.” Cross shot Killer a dirty look. “If you don’t like it, we can-.”

“I love it.” You grinned. “Oh my stars! I love it! Thank you!” You shot forward and hugged Cross. Cross, shocked for a moment, laughed and returned the hug.

“Hey! …whataboutme?” Killer whimpered.

You laughed and broke away from Cross to hug Killer. Killer grinned and immediately squeezed you, laughing when you squeezed back.

“…So are we all getting hugs or…?” Dust asked. Horror looked like a kicked puppy as he watched you hug the shark siren.

And so everyone got hugs. Because you knew Dust was fine with waiting, you hugged Horror next. He was very careful, keeping his grip loose and his tentacles suckered firmly to the cave floor so he wouldn’t grab at you.

Dust gave you a normal looking hug, as if you were passing friends that saw each other all the time. But you could feel how his strength twitched to squeeze you. From what you could tell, he was probably stronger physically than any of the other boys.

It was a good thing he acted the most mature and self controlled. Oh my stars, he could crush you with his hands.

Before anyone could figure out what you were doing, you shot out of the cave and collided with a leviathan’s shoulder, hugging Nightmare too.

“Thank you! All of you!” You whistled excitedly. “I thought you were kicking me out of the pod!”

Killer burst into laughter.

“No! Y/n, we would never!” Cross gasped, clearly not realizing how he’d phrased his words earlier.

Strong yet gentle pressure pressed against your back as Nightmare hugged you with his hand. “You’re very welcome, little one. Though, it was Horror’s idea.” Nightmare’s chest vibrated deeply as he spoke.

“Thank you, Horror!” You called, still hugging Nightmare. He was too big! You had to give him a hug to do his size justice!

“Mm… you’re welcome, y/n.” Horror said proudly.

The rest of the next hour was spent constantly thanking everyone and fawning over every little detail in the den. Your den.

You swam full force into the bed at one point and stopped moving.

Cross, worried, peeked back into the cave. “Y/n?”

You didn’t answer and Nightmare chuckled.

“They have spent their energy. Let them sleep.”

“Oh.” Cross whispered as you melted into the seaweed, already unconscious. “Okay.” He slowly turned and swam away so he wouldn’t move the water enough to disturb you.

Dust and Horror followed Cross out of the den and back to their own dens.

Nightmare turned back to your new den.

“…Killer.”

“Coming!” Killer shot away from the nets in the corner and down the trench.

Discover

A Mermay Prompt

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

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“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!!”

Security

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“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?”