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

[They could go over the exact logistics of everything, but honestly it was a bit of an embarrassing memory to share. It had alerted many people to the fact that he might not have been born on land. Among other things, but he wasn't keen on talking about them.

The guess made him grin, mostly because his guess hadn't been any better.]

I thought it was a torture device, but no, it's used to help people eat because their teeth are so flat.

[That is not true in the least but it's a working hypothesis.]

People make all sorts of tools to try to combat their general incompatibility with most of their environments.

[Said like a true nerd. Gokudera might be gushing, but only a little.]

[For eating? That's not an answer even she would have guessed. Shittopi-chan seems to consider something before she suddenly vanishes beneath the waves again.]

[This isn't unusual. Gokudera probably remembers plenty of times when, spurred by a sudden thought, she'd gone to get or do something because of something in their conversation. The only difference now is that he can't follow her.]

[Fortunately, she doesn't plan on abandoning him (or stealing the food tool). She comes back in just a few minutes, surfacing with her teeth dug deep into a still twitching fish. It gets spat out onto the rocks and she pokes it with the handle of the fork.]

Do you use both ends?

[It's not the best for scooping... But it's still possible, right? For getting out eyes, maybe.]

[It definitely wasn't anything new, so Gokudera didn't even protest as she vanished underneath the water, a small tug of longing rising. Despite having left the ocean without really looking back, he still did miss it. On land it was so crowded, people hiding their intentions behind false smiles or words that were easy to misunderstand. The ocean was simpler.

He couldn't help but grin when Shitt P reappeared with a fish, instead twirling a finger to get her to turn it over.]

They use the pointy side to stab at things and bring it to their mouths. Teeth are much more useful.

And hands, as well.

[Still, now she's fascinated, and, after carefully turning the fork over in her hand, she brutally spears the fish straight through and brings the whole thing up to her mouth. Around mouthfuls of fish, she keeps talking.]

What else do humans do?

They have their uses.

[Gokudera flexed his, still not used to the lack of webbing, how delicate they feel, and how they wrinkle when he stayed too long in the bath. It was all odd, but he couldn't deny that these delicate appendages were pretty dexterous and useful.

He sat back, expression thoughtful at Shitopi-chan's prompting.]

Some of them are afraid of water. They'll go months without ever submerging themselves. It's disgusting.

[Those sort found Gokudera strange for being in the tub more often than not, but what did they know?

He reached over into his backpack, suddenly eager.]

They don't usually have oral histories they pass down through the generations, so they write everything down. From how to do something, to what they ate, to great rulers in the past.

[He was going to pull out a handful of books, pamphlets, and magazines for Shitt. P's entertainment.]

They also seem to like looking at all these pictures, too.

[Some of them might be illicit in nature, but it was no different than seeing a shark or whale swim around nude and free right? Besides, humans were funny looking.]

That's their own fault for not having proper teeth.

[Because that's the issue here, right?]

[Gokudera's excitement has her perk up as well, fins twitching, and some pamphlets are already being snatched out from his hands.]

Maybe I should draw down what I've ate. [She starts to go through the pages, only to pause as she pries one webbed and clawed finger away from the paper.] They've chosen something sticky to write on.

[Oops, wet meet paper.]

Wait-

[The papers are already out of his hands, and he gave a small sigh, even though his expression was kind of fond.]

It's supposed to only stay on dry land. It's pretty fragile. If it gets wet it dissolves and fire-

[Oh, that was a thought. He grinned, even more excited.]

Fire burns it. Whole libraries have been burned down, look at this!

[He was going to take a lighter out from his pocket, picking up one of the books and lighting one of the edges of it. Yeah, it really didn't take long for him to become a pyro.]

[!!!!!]

[Disregarding any danger, she presses her palms against the rocks and pushes upwards to get a better look. If they were underwater, every fin along her body would be flared out in an interested display. Fire isn't a common thing to see when you're a water dwelling creature, after all. There are underwater vents, volcanic islands where lava flows into the sea, but those are different.]

Do they write things down just to see them burn?

No, but sometimes when they fight or have wars they'll burn each other's books.

[Gokudera said it in a way the clearly says it's a waste, holding out the lighter and a book to her, scooting over so she can try.]

Be careful, it can hurt if it touches you.

[He'd learned that the hard way, but it had done little to deter his interest.]

They burn the books during wars?

[Enraptured and actually being careful, she takes the light and watches as the flames eat up the paper at an alarming rate.]

To get rid of the information then?

[She's sharp, when she cares to be.]

[That was one of the main things that Gokudera liked about Shitt P, was that despite her eccentricities, she was smart. Maybe because of her odd ways, she had a different view point than others, which was helpful on more than one occasion.

Gokudera sat back on the rock, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned.]

Yeah. Humans are so wasteful.

[He paused, realizing that he'd been jabbering about what he'd been up to this whole time, and the Tenth had been trying to instill some manners in him.]

How have you been? You haven't been getting into any trouble, have you?

[Oh ho, this is new, and her fins flick ever so slightly. Gokudera inquiring about her, instead of rattling on excitedly about all the new human things he had learned.]

The trouble gets involved with me, Gokudera-kun, you should know that. It was only a few sharks that got a little too pushy near our reef.

Besides that, it's been a little boring now that you've gone chasing after some strange human.

[Her little clan, Enma and Adel and all the others, they're good of course and Shitt P is happy to stay with them... But having someone else outside of it had been fun as well.]

Yeah, you're right. [It was rare for Gokudera to admit he was wrong, but more often than not, he was incorrect when it came to Shitt P. Being stubborn with her was an exercise in futility, anyway.] Sharks though? Enma and the others okay?

[Because for better or worse, the Tenth had become close to Enma too. He wouldn't be pleased to hear if anything bad had happened to him.

The thought that Shitt P. would find the lack of his presence 'a little boring' made him laugh slightly, raising on eyebrow in amusement.]

It almost sounds like you miss me. What happened to loving only yourself and being entertained only by yourself?

[Omg was this little shit trying to flirt please put him out of his misery.]

Adel-chan took care of it.

[That's how things usually are- Adelheid, Kaoru, or Koya taking care of any threats almost immediately, so long as they're around or near enough. Shitt P does when it she's there, of course, which is more reliable than counting on Julie to not be lazy.]

[Gokudera's ~~sad flirting~~ sass just makes her grin. Hopefully he wasn't expecting her to act like blushing shy human girls.]

I still love and entertain myself. But that doesn't make Gokudera-kun any less cute and interesting and hard to understand.

[He wasn't expecting that lighter back, right? Because she immediately dips beneath the water before surfacing again, effectively having put out both book and flame at the same time. Not-sorry, had to test something there.]

Still as scary as ever, I take it.

[Which... was almost a compliment considering he viewed any capable, strong woman as 'scary'. It was a lot better than 'useless' or 'annoying' at any rate.

Also don't worry, most human girls annoyed the crap out of him so he didn't bother flirting. Besides, human mating rituals and dances were literally alien to him, and trying to figure out why someone kept bringing him gifts and laughing and giggling before scuttling away was too much work.

He flushed at being called 'cute', scowling.]

There's nothing cute about me- hey!

[Well he wasn't expecting it back now, and really he should know better than to give anything to Shitt P. to boast about and not expect her to test it out.]

There's plenty cute about Gokudera-kun.

[And good luck convincing her otherwise.]

[A few more tries to idly see if the lighter would start up again, and then she sets it to the side before making a grab for his bag.]

Did you bring anything else in that?

[There was no point in arguing, and honestly, Gokudera had a sneaking suspicion that disagreeing with her on that would just be one of the things she found 'cute' so he was just going to leave it at that.

He pushed the bag so it was within easier reach, shrugging.]

Some girly stuff. I figured you'd get a kick out of it.

[There was some waterproof make up, sunglasses, and a hodgepodge of jewelry.]

"Girly" stuff?

[Like, things to make a partner more easily carry the small baby seahorse mers better? Intrigued by what this means for humans, she quickly roots around in the bag. A bracelet gets wrapped around her tongue, just for the sensation, but at least the rings go in their proper places.]

[It's the sunglasses which bring about a pause, and she holds them up to her eyes curiously.]

What's this?

Stuff that human girls like. I figured you'd like them.

[He didn't even bother to correct her about the bracelet, watching in amusement as she started piling everything else on. The question about the sunglasses had Gokudera miming how to put them on.]

They go over your eyes to block the sun. It's useful up here, but underwater not so much.

[Appropriately, for once, she puts the glasses on her face and a low pleased hum echoes about in her chest.]

I like them. [But then again, there's been yet that hasn't ensnared her interest in some way.] Only girls wear these up on land?

[How sad for Gokudera]

Anyone can wear them. That style is pretty popular among girls right now, though.

[It was said half scornfully and half pompously. Look, he could be stylish like any other human who had set foot into Hot Topic.]

I'll get more for you, if you want. They suit you.

I'll find a way to tie them all together.

[Because wearing literally every single pair of sunglasses at once is what he meant, right. Too late, she's decided. Pleased with the gifts she's gotten, Shitt P shifts to stretch herself out along the rocks.]

The land seems like it could be fun. It's shameful that I'd need feet like you have now to experience it.

You don't have to have them all at once.

[But he sounded pretty amused at the imagery, and he wouldn't put it past Shitopi-chan to do just as she said. She was pretty creative and ingenious in the most unlikely ways, and Gokudera admired that.

He waved aside the idea that 'land was fun'.]

It sucks. The beds are all hard and stiff. People smell. They're so wasteful. Sometimes I really miss the ocean.

[But he didn't regret his decision, not really.]

Why wouldn't you?

[The question she asks to so much- why not?]

[It's not something she's come to regret so far.]

[His complaints are listened to patiently, curious ears and fins picking up on it all.]

Then make them smell like a thing you like. Salt, or fish blood.

You can coordinate them with outfits so they'd be more effective and stand out more.

[Spoken like a true child of Hot Topic.

The suggestion was met with a small sigh, Gokudera frowning a bit.]

I tried with fish blood once. The Tenth said I wasn't allowed to do that anymore.

[And the Tenth's word was law to him, for better or for worse.]

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

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fin???