Market

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.

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.

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??”

I DO obsessively read peoples tags when they rb my art

And, yes, I DO kick my little feets and giggle when I get compliments

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!”