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

All sorts! Lots more shiny things than in those wrecks. They're different, though. Almost like they come from a whole different world.

[Or different time period, rather. Nagisa finishes tearing the shirt apart before he belly-crawls his way back up onto the rocks, leaning over toward the water as he gestures for Rin to swim to the edge.]

If you be good for Dr. Hazuki, I'll show you some of the stuff I've found.

I bet they're not that shiny!

[Though they would be less rusted for sure. Not that he's going to let Nagisa know that. But he can't help pressing for more, as he swim-drags himself closer to Nagisa, his fins twitching in anticipation.]

Tell me about them. And who's Dr. Hazuki?

Me, duh! Get closer.

[Nagisa bends over the rock even further, snatching up one of the strips of cloth as he goes. He doesn't have anything to secure these with, so he hopes that wrapping them around the wound and tying them up will do, at least until it's healed up some.

He continues talking as he starts wrapping him up with the first strip.]

Lesse...humans carry lots of silver rectangle things...I dunno, they're like rocks but smoother. Harder, but they break a lot easier if they're bashed on something or whatever. There's the little yellow and silver chains way too small for actually using on anything, but I think those are for decoration. Yaknow, wearing and stuff.

[Nagisa continues chattering away animatedly about the things he's found. Old plastic utensils, beach blankets and balls and toys left in the sand. Lots of garbage, some of which Nagisa touches on as being deeper tales of how he almost drowned getting caught in something that washed too far out to sea.]

Is that like a nickname or something?

[Rin watches curiously at Nagisa works with the strip. Tending to each other isn't common to sharks. They usually wait out their injuries or find some sort of mud to act as a sealant until they can heal. Revealing wounds is usually seen as a weakness. But Nagisa doesn't seem to be using Rin's injury to press for any type of advantage, although he'd be well in his rights to do so. In fact, he seems to be taking the process very gently. Must be a seal thing.]

Oh, I've seen plenty of chains. Sometimes they try to hide those on the ships. [He stops to consider.] But I don't think I've ever seen any shiny rectangles. I guess they keep those close to them so they don't get left behind in wrecks.

[None of this explorations have ever involved fatalities. So he assumes the two-legs must have escapes somehow before their ship sank.

His gaze rolls up when Nagisa gets to the part of getting caught.]

How can a mer drown?

Ehh...sorta.

[Nagisa doesn't bother elaborating as he works to bind Rin's tail, mostly satisfied with the way the cloth seems to staunch the bleeding. It will probably need to be changed soon enough, though, and Rin won't be able to actually swim for some time if he wants it to heal properly.]

Whatever they are, humans like them a lot. I see them carrying those things all the time.

[The selkie tears one of the strips into a thinner piece as Rin asks him that next question, a brow quirking as he leans over to apply the makeshift bandage.]

Easy. At least, mers like me can. I can't breathe under water. I can hold my breath for a long time, but I always gotta come back up for air.

[Rin discovered that for himself already. If he really wanted to make a meal of Nagisa, all he would have had to do was trap him somewhere...and wait.]

I wonder what they do. Humans have a lot of things that they keep on them just to mess with. Maybe they like looking at their reflection through them.

[That would make the most sense to Rin. He enjoyed looking at his own reflection after all. He'd even climb onto some of the higher rocks near the beach to do so.

Rin grins playfully at Nagisa's admission.]

I forgot that you're a weird mer. How'd you get out?

[Huffing, Nagisa gives the bandages a slightly sharper tug at the comment.]

I'm not weird. I'm just different from you, and you don't know how to deal with that, that's all.

[Nagisa is pretty proud of what he is. Sure, he might not be the most graceful, but he's fast in the water and can traverse the land. Not very many mers can do that.]

I almost didn't. I was stuck floating on the top of the water until I finally washed up in some rocks...once I got there and rested for a while, I was able to untangle myself. It was a ton of ropes and stuff, I think...they dug into me pretty bad.

[Rin might not be able to see from where he is unless he looks for it, but there are very faint, white lines along certain areas near Nagisa's flippers and tail that serve as reminders of the incident.]

Ow. Careful with that! And what do you mean I don't know how to deal with it? I stopped trying to eat you, didn't I?

[And getting a shark to not try to eat something is a big deal where he comes from.

He grows more somber at Nagisa's explanation though, especially with those scars. Rin reaches out to touch one of the marks on Nagisa's flippers.]

Sounds like you've been through a lot. I've never actually been caught in one of their nets before. I've only seen them. To get out of one of them...

Maybe...but you almost didn't.

[Nagisa hasn't been up close and personal with very many predators caught in the jaws of bloodlust. It's...frightening.

He glances down when he feels Rin suddenly touch his flipper, the appendage twitching reflexively at the contact.]

The hard parts were the heavy things. It had like...rocks or something tied to parts of it, so I couldn't really swim. It had a buncha fish trapped inside. I just didn't notice the rope until I was already stuck.

[Rin jerks his head to the side, embarrassed at having his loss of control brought up again.]

That wasn't my fault. You were bleeding!

[He draws back his clawed hand when Nagisa's flipper twitches. It looks so delicate like that, like it could crack with just the right amount of pressure.]

Yeah, you have to watch out for those big swarms. Humans like to track them just like us. It's better to stick with the frenzies that you create by yourself. Better yet, hunt in groups. That way, the other guy can bite you loose if anything goes wrong.

[Sharks always hunt in their shiver. He thought that seals hunted in groups too. Maybe selkies are different.]

[For as much as Rin sounds concerned about Nagisa's past predicament, Nagisa himself doesn't seem bothered. In fact, his expression doesn't change much as he finishes tying the last strip of cloth to Rin's tail, knotting it securely in place.]

I don't really think about stuff like that. I mean, I've never had trouble with it before. 'Sides, I don't really see a lot of others like me. Not recently, anyways.

[They're not extinct or anything severe like that, but a lot of them know better than to hang out so close to human civilization. Nagisa's too curious for his own good sometimes, even for a seal, which makes him too much of a liability to be around much.]

[Rin checks the knot for himself, more out of curiosity than actual critique. It's quite good and the blood seems to have stopped seeping as well.]

What do you mean not recently? Did something happen to the rest? Or did you just wander off too far? Like I said before, I haven't seen anything like you around here before. Unless they're all very good at playing seal.

Nah, nothing like that. They just don't come out this far, usually. If they do, it's not like this.

[He says that with a glance down toward his mer body, his tail slapping faintly against the rocks.]

But it's too boring, being out in the open sea all the time. I like it better here.

...your tail's done, by the way.

I think you guys look cuter in this form, less appetizing too.

[Rin pokes at the lower part of Nagisa's tail with one claw.]

And I see that. You actually did a good job with it. You used to patching things up like that?

[Cute? Now that certainly catches the selkie by surprise, causing him to lift up on his elbows a little as Rin pokes his tail, causing it to twitch in response.]

Yeah! Well...not really cut up tails or anything, but other stuff. Usually I don't try to fix broken stuff I get from the beach, but I'll mess with it if it looks like something that needs to be taken apart.

Something that needs to be taken apart? Why would you do that?

[Rin treats most of his findings like rare works of art, things that must be keep in their original condition. The only exception are the ones that look like they can be repaired. But even those require a lot of soul-searching to risk damaging them further.]

Sometimes I find stuff that's already pretty broken. I like pulling the pieces apart if it's really bad so I can see them, but otherwise I just leave it how it is if it looks cool.

[He's got several broken cameras in different states of decay, one of which he did finally pull apart so he could examine the lense and inner mechanisms of the strange device.]

Just depends on what it is! Or if I have, like, a couple of that thing already and don't mind breaking it more.

Ah, so like you want to know how it's put together?

[He's never tried that, but now that he thinks about it, it does sound interesting. If he can bring himself to tinker with any of his collection.]

What do you have the most anyway?

[For Rin, it would probably be various things the two-legs use to decorate themselves since those are Rin's favorite, aside from the navigational trinkets. He has coral shelves full of them, either hidden or hanging on the hard pieces.]

The most...?

[The selkie hums thoughtfully as he slowly slips back into the water, shivering a little at the feeling of the cool water against his skin after having basked in the sun while he was applying the makeshift bandages.]

I dunno exactly what everything is, but most of the things I have are shiny. You said you wanted to see, right?

Yeah. And I was a good patient too so you have to keep your promise!

[Rin sounds rather insistent about it, although he holds himself back from slapping his tail this time.]

I bet I could even identify some things for you.

C'mon, then!

[Nagisa gestures for Rin to follow him with a jerk of his head, starting off into the cove. He doesn't move toward the deeper water, but instead sticks to the inner walls of the cave, his eyes scanning the rocks and little natural outcroppings hidden there.

As Rin will see almost immediately once he gets close, there are lots of trinkets and strange items lining the rocks, placed up high enough that they won't get taken away by high tide. Broken cameras, cell phones, random articles of clothing, shoes missing their matches, beach toys...Nagisa seems to have everything but the kitchen sink tucked away back here.]

[Rin moves carefully, using his arms to drag himself through the water more than his tail. The water's shallow enough that he can just about press his hands against the sandy bottom to accomplish it but still deep enough that he doesn't have to worry about actually dragging his tail along the bottom and bumping it more than he would like. Though the sight of a mershark getting around in this fashion would probably be hilarious to most observers, especially since Rin's dorsal fin still remains just barely peaking above the surface, signaling a false menace.

Rin's eyes widen at the collection, mouth dropping open as well. It's just as expansive as his own, maybe even more. And he's pretty sure he doesn't have anything like the cameras, phones or toys, not that he has precise names for any of them. He's never observed them from his ship stalking ventures.

He points toward one of the cameras.]

What's that supposed to be? I want to see up close.

Oh! One sec.

[Nagisa swims over to where Rin points, hefting himself up onto the edge of the rocks again so he can reach the little natural shelves that he's covered with trinkets and items of all shapes and sizes. He grabs one of the cameras that seems to be the least broken beyond being damaged by the saltwater. As expected, it doesn't turn on anymore.

He turns back to show it to Rin. It's a digital camera with a glass face that's been cracked, as well as a lens on the other side.]

This used to light up, when I first found it. It had, like, pictures and colors and stuff on it! But now it doesn't work anymore.

[Rin pulls himself closer and reaches out for it. It's so shiny!]

What's it supposed to do? Just light up? Two-legs have much smaller things for that.

[He taps curiosuly at the face and then buttons with his claws.]

How are pictures supposed to fit in this?

[He's seen them in the ships. They're at least several feet, nowhere near small enough to fit into a camera that's barely five inches tall.]

I dunno! But I know what I saw, this thing had pictures on it when it could still light up.

[He says that with conviction in his voice as he leans against the rocks, watching Rin fiddle with the camera.]

I've watched them using these things, though. They'll point them at each other and stand real still, until...CLICK!!

[The selkie shouts, tossing his hands into the air for emphasis.]

It lights up and flashes super bright!

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