badliifechoiice2 | I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

Mermaid AU Meme

Rules:
- Put down your character name and series in the subject header. Put down any preferences (romantic or if you're a mermaid/human) in the comment.
- Reply to other people! RNG a choice from the prompts below, or just come up with whatever on your own.
- This is not a strictly romance meme. Feel free to have whatever shenanigans you like.

Merfolk and Merfolk

1.
Little Mermaid it
♢ One of you is a merperson with something you want. (Power? Help figuring out what this weird human doodad is? Becoming human?) The other is a powerful sea mage of some sort... And for the first of you, you better hope they're the good sort as you venture forth to their lair...

2.
Exploration
♢ C'mon. What's the worst that could happen when checking out this enormous sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean? You're merpeople! What's the worst that could happen? (Besides sharks. Or giant squid. Or maybe worse.)

3.
New tides
♢ Hey... That person isn't from around these parts, are they...? Maybe one of you is from deep seas, or a swamp-mer way out of your territory, or just from simply a different ocean. Hopefully neither of you are particularly territorial...

4.
Hey there, Ariel
♢ So. Looks like one of you actually took up on some sea witch's deal and is living in some human settlement. The other? Is trying to help you deal with that. Whether it means puzzling out human culture and items with you, pleading with you to come back home, or even offering you a dagger just in case you need to stab your crush (what? it's a legitimate strategy), you two need to cope.

5.
Wildcard.

Merfolk and Humans

1.
For Science!
♢ You're a scientist, here to study a fascinating new creature. Although the 'creature' in question might take offense to you saying that... So are you searching them out for the first time in the open ocean? Keeping them in some sort of containment? It's up to you.

2.
Stranded
♢ There was a shipwreck, and you're the sole survivor... Although you very nearly weren't. Whether you've just woken up or have been trying to puzzle things out on this deserted island, well... It seems you're not alone, although they're not exactly on the island with you.

3.
Siren Song
♢ Merpeople aren't always good signs... Sometimes they lure sailors out onto rocks, or extinguish their stamina and drown them in the ocean's tumultuous waters. Is this another encounter that will end in tragedy?

4.
Chance Encounter
♢ You're nothing extraordinary, just a regular person in a beach town, and one way or another... You find something that's very much not regular. Maybe you just walked into the cove at the right time, or found something- someone- trapped or injured that needed your help. So now what?

5.
Wildcard

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah right. So that wasn't you racing your heart out just now? I sure didn't see any mackerel around either.

You must have been imagining things.

[He kicks through the water, a bit past Rin. Ugh, he can't believe this shark is getting him all worked up.]

I could show you want I live like... but first, what is life like with the shiver?

[If they're going to be curious about each other and all.]

[Rin smirks to himself but moves to keep pace with Haruka.]

What do you want to know? He hunt in packs and we look out for each other. All the pups are raised the same way. Of course, we also have our contests to figure out who's the best in the shiver. They get to lead the big hunts. [Like when they're after an extra big school.]

[It really sounds wild and far different from Haruka has known. Really, he should be getting back to his place, since others will surely be starting to worry even if they know about Haruka's solo adventures.

But he finds this one all fascinating.]

Do you have a leader like a king or queen?

[Rin scratches at the back of his head, thinking of the best way to explain it.]

Not really... We're more like a bunch of groups, I guess. We decide who we're going to hunt with based on strength and if they like us, they let us stay with them. But outside of the hunts, we mostly decide things for ourselves. The closest thing to a leader we have is the shark in charge of the hunt. But that's mostly a respect thing.

How about you guys? You do the king and queen thing?

We do.

[And it affects Haruka's life more than he'd care for. The way Rin lives... it feels less restrained, but they still depend on each other.]

We live all together, mostly. But some travel outside our city.

[Like he may or may not have.]

I don't know if that would work out well for sharks. They don't really like being told what to do. We can deal with being led a bit for the sake of the hunt. But other than that, we really like doing our own thing.

[He wonders just how many have traveled out as far as Haruka.]

Do they look for you guys if you're gone for a long time?

[Haruka nods. As much as a free spirit as he may be, swimming out to the boundaries of the kingdom and beyond, he doesn't want anyone encountering any danger on his account. Even if he doesn't care too much if he encounters it on his own.]

I need to get going.

[He starts off in one direction, before he stops. Looking like he's considering something.]

"Ah, wait!" [Rin calls out of him, not having expected Haruka to just dart off like that.

He instinctively swims after him (it seems too soon to say goodbye again, their meetings are far more sporadic than he would like) but stops when Haruka does so.]

"Oi, you can't just take off without even saying goodbye.

[Haruka looks over his shoulder for a moment, back at Rin. He thinks over how wise a move it would be to do what he's thinking. It's a strange impulse and most certainly would be against everything that's known where he lives.

But... well, why not? If there's someone who cares about that, it's not Haruka.]

You can come too.

Rin nearly forgets to keep pumping his tail to ensure he's still swimming. Come with Haruka? To the non-shark-mers? Would they even allow him inside? They sound like they have a pretty regulated society compared to the sharks. Naturally, they would respond to an outsider entering their territory.

But the prospect also calls to the wanderlust deep inside him, the feeling of never being satisfied to just led the hunts and return day after day, the chance for something new and different, the impulse that he's paid ever more attention to since meeting Haruka. What worlds lay beyond the shark's prowling grounds?

He feels a grin pass over his lips, as he whips his tail into catching up with Haruka. "Well, if you really want, I guess I could check it out."

There's many tall and smooth towers of some kind of stone, surrounded by coral and bright bioluminescence. Though merpeople had a decent ability to see in the dark, it only worked up to a certain extent, and the light helped guide them all home.

"Hide behind me," Haruka says, stopping in the water and just about backing into Rin. "Just until we get to my place."

Judging from the dimness of the light, roughly matching the light for the surface about the ocean, Haruka knew that most people would be sleeping by now. Once Rin is in his room, he'll check in quickly with the others before returning.

Rin's mouth hangs open at the brilliance surrounding him. The mersharks prefer the darker depths where they won't be seen, places of murky drifts and jagged chasms. In their world, everything was sharp and harsh, foreboding. Nothing like the splendor and artistry here. He stretches to reach the closest tower to run his rough palm over its unblemished surface, unaccustomed to such gentle structures. It reminds him of Haruka's skin, absent of any of the spiny detricles that adorn Rin's flesh.

"It's incredible, Haru..."

He trembles with excitement, as he whips his head around, yearning to dash off and explore everything. He would too (he's not afraid of any stupid fish). But he is afraid of getting Haruka in trouble with his people. He can only imagine how his shiver would react were the situation reversed. Though, some of them tended to be a lot more aggressive with trespassers.

"Why would you ever want to leave?"

"It's okay..."

After years of seeing this place, ever since his birth, even the most grand of spectacles would start to look dull and repetitive. But Rin seems to like it... if only there was a way to better disguise him as one of the mers here.

They start to approach one of the towers, and Haruka slips through an opening to arrive at a room. The walls are barely adorned, smooth with dim bioluminescence glowing. There's some trinkets strewn about, made by his friends. In the corner, there's a small bed of sea moss where Haruka goes to lay down on top of.

"This is my room."

Rin rushes the trinkets, somewhat surprised that someone like Haruka would have something so flashy and lively. Especially given how relatively drab the rest of the room is. He's never thought much of Haruka's creative side. (The dull bed seemed more like the Haruka he knew.) There wasn't any chance to observe it during their regular races since those are always straight-forward. But he enjoys this chance to get some additional insight into his strange friend.

"Where did all these come from?"

He examines each trinket and takes more time to run his palm along the warm walls.

"Me and my friends made those," Haruka says sleepily, curled up on the soft sea moss.

This day has been exciting but now he's feeling ready to drift off for a nap. It seems weird to have someone else in his room now, as it's always been the same people here for so long. The fact that he has a new friend that he's comfortable enough to bring here...

"You never talk about your friends." Honestly, Rin didn't know Haruka actually had any, which sounds really mean, but then again it's Haruka.

He darts toward Haruka's bed and throws himself into it, giving Haruka an eagerly expectant look. "What are they like?"

If he's noticed that Haruka is trying to nap, he's sure not acting like he cares.

Laying on his stomach, Haruka lays his head on his arms. He does want to sleep after the long day, but he can mumble a few words before trailing off to a bit of rest.

"They're friendly."

That's what Rin's getting out of Haruka before he closes his eyes. He'll be determined to sleep even if Rin is noisy. But after so much excitement, he has to wonder also...

"Aren't you tired? You can sleep here if you like," he says, eyes still closed.

Rin makes a clearly disappointed face. "That's not a description! That's an adjective."

But his eyes widen after that next statement. "Eh? Here? Won't your people be upset?" He can't imagine they would take well to finding a shark in bed with a sleeping fish.

"Mmm... only Makoto will come in here in the morning, and he won't tell anyone," Haruka assures, eyes closed and ready to doze off. Of course, it won't be good if someone else happens to get here first, but he'll deal with that when they come to it. What are they going to do? Kick out their prince?

He wiggles a bit as he settles more into the bed, getting comfortable on his side facing Rin.

"How can you be so sure of that? I don't exactly look harmless, you know." And he's pretty proud of that fact.

Haruka cracks an eyelid open to look back up at Rin. Though he doesn't know how the others will react to him, he doubts that Rin is nearly as dangerous as he looks. And even that isn't that much, as far as Haruka thinks.

"You haven't eaten me yet. I'm sure he'd figure it out."

He closes his eyes again.

Yet. "Thanks for that vote of confidence. You'd be too gamy anyway. You need to get in the habit of actually practicing when I'm not around."

"Would not. I'd taste good."

Haruka doesn't open his eyes, just mumbles his retort. Insisting that he's tasty to a shark? He'd probably do the same kind of thing even when fully awake.

"Are you seriously trying to convince me to eat you?" Who even does that? Or is this guy just arguing for the sake of arguing now? (Not that it isn't something Rin would probably do.)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject