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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.

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?”

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!!!”

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)

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“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

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“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?”

Message

A Mermay Prompt

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“U-U-Ugh!” Complained the glitchy voice of your new companion. You were starting to understand why his name was Error. “Wh-Why did-d you ha-ha-have t-to nest-st s-so far away-ay-ay-ay?” It was like a broken record. You tried not to let it get to you but it was really annoying that every few minutes he’d complain like a fussy child. Big man baby ribbon eel.

“We’re Only One More Mile Away Error!” Blue chirped. He didn’t seem phased in the slightest by Error’s behavior. “Thank You For Agreeing To Come! It Really Means A Lot To Me!” He swam closer to Error but not close enough to touch. Error had been very strict about touch when you’d met him. So much so that he’d almost immediately attacked you even though you hadn’t even approached him. Blue had gotten between you and calmed Error with surprising speed. Error didn’t threaten you again after that.

“M-M-Mmh.” Error grumbled. “Wh-Whatever. You o-o-owe me-me f-f-for this-is.” He didn’t clarify what exactly Blue owed him. He also didn’t seem like the type ask favors of people, opting instead to get his own hands dirty.

Blue’s smile didn’t waver. “Of Course, Error! You Know I Love To Help!”

“Mhm-m-m.”

It was weird.

You could see the power in this beast. The way the water rippled and sharpened around him into silvery blue strings that whipped around in his agitation. The way Dream had immediately put Blue between him and Error before retreating back to his den, leaving you in Blue’s more than capable hands. The power blazing in his mismatched eyelights that made Nightmare’s cyan eye look tame. The way he didn’t hesitate in any decision because he was certain nothing could stop him anyways.

And yet he was easily calmed by your fellow dolphin siren.

Not completely calmed, Error still growled and hissed and was overall aggressive, he was just less likely to do anything rash while Blue was talking. Which encouraged you to keep Blue talking.

“So, uh…” You rubbed the back of your neck. “How are you both doing?” It felt dumb to ask, but you didn’t know either of these people really.

Blue chirruped. “I’m Doing Great! Thank You For Asking, Y/n! And How Are You? Does That Spot Still Itch?”

“Yeah, a little bit. But it’s not as bad as earlier. Thank you, by the way.”

“Of Course! I Am Always Glad To Help!”

“Wh-Wh-What a-are you ta-ta-talking about-out?” Error grouched, his brows furrowed at being left out of the conversation.

“Y/n Had A Suckerfish Stuck To Them And I Helped Them Get It Off.” Blue supplied.

Error laughed and his eyes locked onto you even though he was still talking to Blue. “A-A-Aww, Blue-ue-ue! Y-You c-c-could have-ave l-left it for a-a-a-a f-few min-min-minutes longer! I-I-I would-ld-ld h-have enjoy-joy-joyed th-that!”

Blue scowled sternly. “Error, We Don’t Leave People In Pain Just Because It’s Funny.”

“Y-Y-You don’t-t.” Error grinned, baring his sharp teeth.

Blue responded with a heavy hearted sigh. “Let’s Not. How Are You Doing, Error? Y/n Did Ask Both Of Us.” He turned the question on the destroyer curiously.

Error scoffed. “M-M-My peace-eace was int-interup-rup-rupted b-b-by two abom-ominations an-and an annoy-oy-oying dolphin-in. I’m ter-ter-terrible.”

“Aw, Thanks!” Blue whistled happily at the insult.

Okay. There was either something terribly wrong with these two or you were missing important information.

You had a feeling you wouldn’t get an answer to that.

“Y/n? Wait, Blue?!”

“Cross!” You and Blue chirped at the same time, turning toward the voice.

Cross caught sight of Error and hesitated as he came closer. “What are you doing here, Blue?” He asked, reaching out for your hand.

“Mweheheh!” Blue laughed. “I Am Here Because Y/n Invited Me! How Are You Doing, Cross?”

“Uh, I’m good, I guess. Y/n, what’s going on?” Cross’s tense gaze didn’t leave Error and the eel gave him a big toothy grin. He pulled you closer to himself.

You let him pull you. “So, you know how Killer got hyped up on positivity and Nightmare helped him balance out? And now Boss has been acting really tired?”

Cross’s brows scrunched together as he looked down at you. “…He has been really tired… but what does this have to do with Blue and Error?” His eyes shot back to the destroyer, who was starting to look annoyed.

Blue noticed Error’s frown. “Mweh! Would You Like To Answer That, Error?”

At the attention, Error relaxed and scoffed. “Y-Y-You t-tell him, B-B-Blue. I d-don’t care-are.” He crossed his arms and looked away.

“Of Course.” Blue smiled, as always, and turned to address Cross. “Y/n Had The Amazing Idea Of Inviting Me And Error Over To Help Nightmare Get Rid Of The Lingering Positivity In His Body. Dream Has Had A Similar Problem Before And Asked Me To Help As Well.”

Cross’s eyes darted between the three of you, more concerned than confused. He pulled you away. “I’d like to talk to y/n real quick.”

“Mweh! Of Course! We’ll Be Right Here When You’re Ready!” Blue chirped

“Sp-Sp-Speak f-for yourself-self.”

As Blue started entertaining Error, you and Cross took a sidebar. Cross pulled you around and held you by the shoulders.

“Y/n. What were you thinking? You left the pod and went to get Blue and Error all by yourself? Are you insane?” He snapped. You could see the worry behind his anger.

“I wasn’t alone. Dream helped me-.”

“That’s worse! Do you not remember what happened the other day?”

“I remember!” You shoved him away. “I’m the one that went through that! But Ink wasn’t there this time and Dream has only ever been nice to me. He just wants to fix things with Nightmare. Cross, he wants to help. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Cross hesitated and glanced back at your guests. “…Maybe. I’d say he has good intentions, but the guys… they won’t believe him for a second. He could just make things worse.”

“That’s why he’s not coming. Cross.” You pulled his focus back to you. “I brought Error and a message and I haven’t delivered either. Could you please help me?” You pleaded.

He glared at you, his eyelights dilating at you. “You’re ridiculous. Fine, I’ll help. I’ll let the guys know what’s going on. Just wait here and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try. Be safe.”

Cross turned to your guests. “Blue, I will be leaving for a little while. Guard y/n, would you?” You punched Cross’s arm. You could take care of yourself!

Blue smiled. “I Will Help In Any Way I Can!” He chirped happily.

With that, Cross sped off for only a few minutes before returning with Dust. They escorted you and your guests into the trench while Error kept puffing up proudly and flashing his colors every time he glanced at Dust. Sure Dust wasn’t as pretty, but he didn’t have to rub it in.

You and Cross crested the edge of the trench first and you froze. Now that you knew, it was much easier to spot Nightmare’s exhaustion but you would have noticed anyways. The leviathan was laid out on the bottom of the trench, Killer circling his head and Horror worrying at his hand. Despite the worry from the boys, he had a comforting smile on his face as he tried to soothe them.

His eye was half-lidded.

“Boss.” Cross called carefully. “We brought help.”

Nightmare looked up and his eye caught on Error. The eel sneered at him, smug. Boss sighed. “I did not need help, Cross. I told you, nothing is wrong.”

“Y-Y-You look l-like a dying-ing st-st-starfish.” Error observed.

“Error!” Blue scolded.

“A-A-Am I wr-wrong??”

Ignoring the chaos that came with Error, you swam forward into the trench. Nightmare watched you swim all the way down. Killer and Horror didn’t acknowledge you in their worry.

“Nightmare,” You started. “I know you’re not okay. We know you’re not okay. Please let us help.”

Nightmare glanced between the four other sirens of the pod. He sighed. “If it will make you feel better.”

“Also, I have a message.”

Nightmare smirked at you. “Oh~? A message? From who?”

“From Dream.”

Everything stopped.

Killer, Horror, and Nightmare were staring at you with varying expressions of shock as Error cackled like a glitchy witch behind you.

“Y/n.” Killer said, tense. “You were talking to Dream?”

“Yes.” You responded boldly. “He’s been very helpful to me. He had a simple request, I said I’d do it.”

“Still.” Killer growled.

“Killer.” Nightmare warned. Killer backed off and swam down to join Horror. Nightmare looked back to you. “What is the message?”

“He said he wants to negotiate peace and I quote; ‘I swear on my apple I will let you have the first say.’ And said you can bring whoever.” You supplied. “Out in the dunes by Blue’s place.”

“What’s an apple?” Killer piped up.

“It’s a fruit on land. I don’t know why Dream was talking about it though. I’ve never seen or heard of an apple-like plant in the water.” You said, just as confused as Killer.

Nightmare hummed vaguely. “It’s not a normal apple. Y/n, did he set a date?”

“Uh… no. I think he wanted me to ask you.”

“Good. I will take time to recover and then I’d like you to be my messenger, y/n, to discuss a time to meet with my brother.”

“What?!?!” Yelled four sirens at once.

You smiled. “I’d love to, Nightmare.”

Reconciliation

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: kind of a short chapter, sorry)

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The next few weeks were full of pleas and complaints to get out of the meeting with Dream. Nightmare reminded each of them that they didn’t have to come which sent them grumbling about danger and not leaving the Boss to deal with Dream by himself.

Of course, everyone came.

Wherever Nightmare went, everyone followed. It was cute, you thought. Like a bunch of ducklings following the first adult they see. Ducklings with teeth. To be fair, you were one of those ducklings now.

Heh, ducklings with teeth.

. . .

Maybe that image wasn’t as cute as it sounded…

Anyways!

Today was the day. The meeting was set up, the time was picked, and everyone was anxious.

“Boss-?”

“Killer, for the hundred twenty-seventh time, no. We’re going to the meeting, discussing peace, and not stabbing anyone.” Nightmare glared. “For today, no shenanigans. I don’t care how much you want to. If you so much as bare your teeth unprovoked, I will send you home. Understood?”

Killer pouted. “Yes, Boss…”

“If you must talk to anyone, be courteous and respectful. No dark jokes or gruesome stories. Polite conversations only.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That goes for all of you.” Nightmare glanced around at the others. “Y/n, feel free to roam how you wish. You and Blue are our neutral party. So get comfortable, we’re going to be there a while. As for the rest of you, if you leave my sight, you’re going home. If you start to go into a frenzy, you’re going home. If you taunt or threaten anyone, you’re going home. This is a professional setting and I need to trust that you will act like it.”

“Yes, sir.” Everyone echoed.

Nightmare nodded. “Good. Let’s depart now. We’ll be late if we don’t.”

The trench and currents shook as Nightmare lifted himself out into the open waters. Thick black tentacles curled and struck out to heave him into the open and out of the magical darkness in the trench.

He was…

Smaller than you imagined.

The darkness had definitely done him a few favors but now that he was in the open, he wasn’t quite as intimidating. Sure, if it was your first time meeting him, you’d be scared. But the darkness of the trench added to his intimidating appearance and twisted his form to look more mysterious and vague. Which was terrifying to the untrained eye.

While everyone swam out of the trench, Horror struggled to pull himself over the edge fast enough to keep up, his tentacles flailing. Nightmare turned, scooped Horror into his hands, and continued, Horror hugging his fingers.

You smiled.

He might look terrifying, but he was still just a big softy. If people saw how he treated the guys, they’d think he was a father. He might as well be.

Blue, Ink, and Dream were already waiting. Dream was not in his leviathan form that he apparently had. He’d showed it to you the other day. It was weird seeing a kraken-sized seahorse. He hadn’t moved much either, scared of accidentally smacking you with his tail while his head was too far away to see you properly against the grey rocks, and quickly shrank again when he got anxious.

He spotted you coming and waved. You smiled and waved back.

Blue was entertaining Ink whose body was a rippling grey with streaks of yellows, greens, and blues. You recognized those as his happy colors. Dream had obviously talked to him because when he looked up and saw Nightmare coming, he grinned and waved happily. Cross and Killer sheepishly waved back. Ink was very excited and hurried over to chat with Cross.

Blue seemed a little tired and very relieved when you arrived. When Ink shot away, he drifted over to Dream to properly greet you.

Nightmare stopped right in front of Dream, towering over him. “Dream.” He greeted.

“Nightmare.” Dream nodded.

The water was tense. Well, except for Ink, who was darting between each of the boys and chatting. He eventually ended up following Killer around as the shark desperately tried to avoid him.

Nightmare hummed. “It was self defense, Dream.” He started. “And I did not touch her. She was already dead when I ate the first apple. I would have told you this if you’d asked. But you never did. Dream, you came at me in a frenzy. We were both in a frenzy. What did you think would happen?” He scolded.

Dream nodded again. “I wasn’t thinking…” He gave Nightmare space to continue.

“They attacked me. I very nearly died. Dream, the people you trusted were vile from the beginning. Why do you think I stayed away from them? I could feel their intent. They wanted the fruit. They wanted her dead. And we were just obstacles. They even hated Life. Why did you leave me with them? They beat me, Dream. They broke my skull and dashed me against the rocks I had so foolishly beached myself on. Where were you? Why weren’t you there? What was so important that you left me to die?” Nightmare accused. The boys grew agitated but a stern look from their Boss shut them up.

Dream bowed his head. “…I was but a foolish child, Nightmare. I was looking for flowers. I had been for weeks. One of the land dwellers, a young woman, told me that she’d given her sister a flower when she was upset…”

Nightmare’s scowl slipped. “…so you were looking for a flower… for me?”

“Yes. But turns out the ocean doesn’t really have flowers so I was kinda grabbing at the horizon for stars. I did not mean to leave you in danger. I did not believe you were in danger.” Dream’s tail curled and fidgeted. “I am sorry for my foolishness.”

“Hm. It seems we both lack the ability to communicate. Let us discuss in private before continuing negotiations. Boys.” He addressed his group. “Give us a moment, stay in sight.”

Multiple ‘yessir’s were given, no matter how grumpy, and you all moved a distance away so the brothers could talk, including Blue and Ink at a nod from Dream.

“Why does your soul stick out of your chest?” Ink interrogated Killer.

“Why does your tongue stick out of your mouth?” He grumbled.

“There’s stuff leaking out of your eyes. Are you crying?”

“Am I what?”

As Ink went on to explain and loose his train of thought again, Blue approached you.

“So, How Are You Doing, Y/n?” He asked politely.

You smiled. “I’m doing great, thank you. How are you? You look exhausted.”

He sighed. “I Am. Ink Has Been Very Excited All Day. So Excited The Stretch Kicked Him Out Of The Den. Stretch! My Lazy Brother! He Doesn’t Get Up To Clean Anything And Ink Managed To Make Him Move.” He sighed again. “I’ve Been Distracting Him All Day, Trying To Keep Him Off Dream, Because Lord Knows He Doesn’t Need More Problems Today.”

“Sounds like it sucks.” Came Dust’s voice beside you. He glanced over, as if noticing you for the first time, and nodded. “Hey, Blueray.”

You burst into laughter even as Blue sputtered.

“I’m Not A Ray, Dust! I’m A Dolphin!” Blue puffed his chest up.

Dust gave you a knowing grin and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Do you even know what a blueray is, Dust?” You questioned.

He smirked. “S’a type of DVD.” He answered easily, as if it was common knowledge to him.

You stopped laughing. “How do you know that?”

His grin widened. “Do you really wanna know?”

“Yes?!? How did you know that??!?”

He just laughed and swam away.

“Wait!! Dust!!! What do you mean?!?” You called after him.

Killer swam between you and Dust, startling you. His usual grin was pressed into a thin line as Ink chased him.

“Why does it wiggle so much?” Ink was asking. “Does it hurt? Why doesn’t it look like a heart? Can I touch it?” And on and on.

Killer swam faster.

Blue sighed. “Poor Killer. Though, I Wouldn’t Switch Places With Him. I’m Done For Today. He’s Stuck With That.”

You also sighed. “I should help him.”

“Nah, leave him. That’s the quietest I’ve ever seen Killer. He’ll be fine. How you doin’, Blue?” Cross drifted into the conversation.

“Mweh! I’m Doing Well, Cross! Thank You For Asking!” Blue puffed up proudly. “And How Are You, Friend? It Feels Like Forever Since We’ve Been Able To Talk On Good Terms.”

“It has been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry about that, by the way.” Cross smiled nervously.

Blue waved it off. “Don’t Apologize, Cross! You Did A Good Thing Following Nightmare! Dream Never Did Have Time To Listen.”

The orca looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Blue gave a knowing smirk. “Dream Had To Learn That You Couldn’t Be Hauled Around Everywhere. He Would Not Listen To Me. Always Moving Around And Working. Busy, Busy, Busy. You Woke Him Up To Reality. It Was Only After You Left That He Listened To Me. Also, Why Do You Think Nightmare Offered In The First Place?” He grinned and looked over at the twins.

Cross stared in shock. “…You didn’t.”

“Don’t touch me!!” Killer finally snapped, yanking his tail away from Ink.

“Ah, Looks Like My Help Is Needed Elsewhere.” Blue nodded to you and Cross. “It Was Nice Talking To You Again. Now If You’ll Excuse Me. INK!!!”

You both stared after Blue. Each in a different state of shock.

“Huh.”

“. . .”

“You okay, Cross?”

“…I don’t know anymore…”

Pod

A Mermay Prompt

Masterlist

Prev

Despite the rocky start, the two groups bonded quickly. Dust and Horror especially enjoyed Blue’s company and started treating him like a part of the pod almost immediately. Ink followed Killer like a shadow and Killer let it get to his head. Ink and Killer now worked together to cause chaos and mischief everywhere they went. You still weren’t to sure about the cuttlefish, but seeing Killer laugh with Ink always made you smile.

Almost.

They were still both menaces.

At one point, Blue vanished to go talk to Nightmare. No one knew what was said, but the next day Nightmare offered to merge their groups into one. Dream hesitated, not because he thought it was a bad idea, but because it surprised him. It surprised everybody… but Blue.

You were starting to think he wasn’t exactly as innocent and oblivious as you thought.

Dream accepted the idea with excitement, as did Ink and Killer, which immediately made everyone suspicious but no one was willing to put a downer on the idea of peace. Even if it meant sweating while the two whispered and giggled together.

While it was nice to see the two bond so quickly, literally everyone wanted them to hate each other again.

A noise outside your den broke you from your thoughts. Speak of the devils. “Ink. Killer. Leave.”

Simultaneous “aw”s echoed outside your den and the two poked their heads into view.

“Hi, y/n!” Ink waved.

“Whatcha doin’?” Killer asked.

“Trying to rest. Out.” You said blankly.

Killer grinned. “I’m not in~.”

You grumbled. “You’re such a little brother…”

“A what?”

“Killer! Ink!” Nightmare’s voice boomed through the trench and Ink flinched. “Leave y/n alone! Your shenanigans have gone too far today! Both of you! Back to your dens!”

“Yessir…” Killer pouted. Ink happily waved goodbye and followed Killer back to their side of the trench.

You sighed. Finally. Peace.

“Hey, y/n?”

You groaned. “…What’s up, Cross?”

He hesitated. “Uh… are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just,” You gestured past him into the trench. “Killer and Ink being… Killer and Ink.”

“Ah. Yes. They’ve become double the trouble together.” Cross shook his head at them. “Makes me almost wish they still hated each other.”

“Same.” You grumble. “They’ve been such a hassle. They were easier to contain then. Now? I’m done. I hope Nightmare buries them at the bottom of the trench.”

Cross chuckles at you. “Yeah. I know the feeling. Hey, so Dust and I were wondering if you still had that, uh, freebie?”

“Frisbee. And yeah, I still have it. Why?”

“Do you think we could show Blue how to play?” He was using those puppy eyes. He looked so hopeful.

You smiled and stretched. “Yeah, just let me wake up first. I’ll meet you guys up there.”

“Yes!” Cross pumped his fist and swam away.

You chuckled and then yawned. Pushing yourself out of your bed, you grabbed the frisbee and headed out, calling out to Nightmare that you were going to hang out with the guys. A hum acknowledged you and you swam away.

They were pretty easy to find. Dust’s tail hung down from the surface where you could hear them chatting away. You smiled. It was nice to see them all getting along. Even though you never saw them fight, with the frenzies you’d seen Killer in, you could imagine it.

Everyone greeted you when you broke the surface. Blue was excited.

“Mweheheh! Good Morning, Y/n!” He greeted with a smile. “Cross And Dust Have Been Telling Me About Your Flying Device! I Am Very Curious!”

You lifted the frisbee up and shook the water off of it. “Yep, this is it.”

“Oh…” He managed to look disappointed somehow. “It Uh, It Sure Looks Curious.”

You and Cross laughed. “Here. Cross?” You aimed into the distance.

“Got it.” Cross quickly swam in that direction.

You threw it.

Blue gasped as it glided across the air seemingly by itself. It arched perfectly and lined up with Cross, making it the perfect catch.

And then Cross dodged it.

“Cross!” You snapped at the orca as Dust belly laughed himself back into the water. “Stop dodging!!”

“Sorry!”

Blue chuckled.

“Send it back!” You called. It was thrown to you and you caught it. “So!” You turned to Blue. “Let me show you how it works.”

After a quick lesson and a few demonstrations, Blue was ready to go. He was very good. Like, as good as Dust. They got competitive. Dust and Blue grinned at each other from a distance and the frisbee flew back and forth with more and more speed. You and Cross carefully backed up out of their way after getting hit too many times with force.

The frisbee never hit the water. It was shot back and forth between to two in friendly silence, grinning like idiots. You don’t think you’d ever seen Dust smile so much.

Just as Blue reeled back his arm again, you noticed color shimmering under the water’s surface between the two competitors.

“Blue, wait, there’s-.” You started.

The frisbee left his hand at the same time Ink’s head shot out of the water.

“Hey, guys! What’s- Ack!” He was hit directly in the face and fell backwards into the water.

“Oh My Stars, Ink!” Blue rushed forward as Dust cackled at the cuttlefish’s misfortune.

“I’m fine!” Ink rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “What was that?”

Blue grabbed the frisbee. “This Thing. I’m So Sorry, Ink. I Shouldn’t Have Thrown It So Hard.”

Dust laughed. “Thrown it harder next time! You might actually shut him up!”

“DUST!!!” Blue looked appalled.

Everyone else laughed.

. . .

This.

This was nice.

You smiled as Blue scolded the boys for laughing.

This life was going to be a good one. And you couldn’t wait to see what it had in store for you.

The End

Thank you so much for sticking with me this long! It has been a long ride and I’ve enjoyed every twist and turn with y’all. I might not write for a little bit, I need to rest these aching fingers, but I will keep posting.

To those who sent asks, they’re coming! I promise! I love every ask I get and will try my best to get them out in a timely manner!

Again thank you all!

Monster under the bed.

Day 1. Dust (tbd)

Day 2. Cross

Day 3. Horror

Day 4. Killer

Day 5. Error

Day 6. Nightmare

Day 7.

These men are under yo bed-/jj

(I wish I could keep this art style GRRR)

Monster Under the Bed

Night 1. Dust

Night 2. Cross

Night 3. Horror

Night 4. Killer

Night 5. Error

Night 6. Nightmare

Night 7.

These men are under yo bed-/jj

(I wish I could keep this art style GRRR)

Monster Under the Bed

Night 2. Cross

Inspired by @starzeah123

(First)

(Next)

You woke up to a thud.

“Ow… What the…?”

Smiling slightly, you rolled towards the edge of the bed and leaned over. “Back again?” Sans must be back. Yes, you knew his name was Sans. You asked Papyrus about his brother after the incident. He didn’t seem worried when you’d mentioned the color his eyelights, he said something like “it happens all the time.” And then he matched off to find his brother.

“What the-?!?” Sans recoiled from you and there was suddenly a giant red sword(knife??) pointed directly at your face. His eyes were almost back to their healthy white color, one was still red, but now there was a scar on his cheek.

You leaned away. “Woah, buddy! Remember me? From last night? You crashed here and had some spaghetti. Do you even remember that?” He did look pretty out of it last night, maybe he didn’t remember.

He looked confused. “I meet a lot of people. But I didn’t go anywhere last night and definitely not here.”

You nodded. “Well, you were. Must have been some party to mess you up that much. Your eyes were different colors.”

“My… what?”

“Well, if you won’t stab me, I’ll go sleep on the couch again.” You moved to grab your bedding.

“Wait, what?? No!” He dismissed the sword and left the comfy cubby. “This is your home. You stay there. I’ll go find some other place.” Now that he was standing, you could see how beat up and exhausted he looked. As if he’d wrestled a tiger and barely got away.

“Uh, no. Sit back down.” You hopped off the bed.

He looked at you. “Excuse me?”

You herded him back towards the cubby. “Sit back down. You’re clearly exhausted and need a break from whatever you were doing before. The cubby you landed in was made specifically to relax in. You stay here. I’ll go get some of Pap’s spaghetti ready. How’s that sound?”

His eyelights lit up in curiosity at the mention of spagetti. He let you gently push him back into the cushions and looked content enough to stay there. “You’re not concerned that there’s a stranger in your home? What if I’m a murderer?”

“You asked the same question yesterday.” You smiled. “I’d figure it out. Besides, I think a murderer would have killed me the first time and not come back around to have spaghetti. Hang on a moment.” You left him in his confused state and quickly made some spaghetti before bringing him the same bowl and fork as yesterday.

“Here you go. Pap’s leftover friendship spaghetti ready for you to enjoy.”

Sans smirked a little and looked curiously at the meal before carefully taking a bite. His face scrunched up slightly and he coughed. “…Woah, uh, thank you?”

Huh. He acted as if he’d never eaten Pap’s spaghetti before. Shouldn’t Sans be used to the taste? “Are you okay?”

He shook his head and waved you off. “I’m fine. I just didn’t expect… the flavor.” He coughs a few times. “I think I’m good. I’m really not very hungry anyways. Thank you though.” He set the bowl down on the nightstand, watching it as if it had insulted his mother.

You chuckled and took the bowl. “I get it. It’s not for everyone.” You took the fork and scooped some into your mouth, much to Sans’ horror. It tasted normal to you. “How long has it been since you’ve had your brother’s spaghetti?”

He oddly looked nervous. “Uh… it just been a while… I honestly prefer tacos.”

Tacos? Didn’t Sans hate tacos?

“You like tacos?” You asked.

He smiled. “They’re the first food I had after Ink-…” His smile falters when he looks at you. “…y’know what. It’s nothing.”

Ooookay?

You walked over to your bed and grabbed your bedding.

“Hey, wait, what are you doing?” He asked.

Hands still on the blanket above you, you looked down at him. “I’m moving to the couch.”

He stood up. “No, you’re not. This is your house. This is your room. I’ll take the couch.” He shoved your blanket back on the bed and moved towards the door.

Didn’t he take your room last night?

“Sans, y-”

He flinched. “Don’t call me that. Please.” He looked back at you. “Just… Just call me Cross.”

“Cross?” You were confused. “Can I ask why you’d rather be called Cross?”

He looked away and his hand landed on the doorknob. “…No. I’d rather you didn’t.” He steps out and locks the door from the inside, effectively locking himself out of your room. “Keep this locked when you have guests. You never know what you could be housing.” With that, the door clicked shut.

. . .

Huh.

You could hear him lay across the squeaky couch and settle in for the night.

Well, at least you could sleep in your own room tonight and not have to worry about waking up to someone staring at you. You smiled at the door and went back to bed. San- Cross was a lot more pleasant tonight. He’d been sweet even. You climbed back into your bed and burrowed under the blankets.

Hopefully, he’d still be there in the morning so you could get some answers and help him home. But right now you were too tired. You could wait.

The couch was empty.

You sighed. He was gone. Not that you were keeping him here! You just had some unanswered questions but it was fine.

Entering the kitchen, you found a large grocery bag and a note on the table.

That definitely wasn’t there before. You peeked inside the bag to find ingredients for sandwiches, a box of cereal, and milk. Your eyes widened. You hadn’t really worried about food since you always had Pap’s spaghetti gifted to you every time you saw him. It had been a while since your food gallery had normal food in it. It made your mouth water.

You decided to read the note.

From: Cross

To: I never actually asked for your name, sorry

The food on the table is yours. You should be eating better than leftover spaghetti for every single meal. Especially that spaghetti.

I had to leave early for work, I hope you understand. Please enjoy your food.

Farewell, I hope we meet again in just as pleasant a fashion as last night,

Cross

p.s. I also bought you tacos but accidentally ate them all otw back. Sorry.

You chuckled at the last addition to the note. However was telling everyone that Sans didn’t like tacos was a complete liar.

Setting the note down, you quickly made yourself a bowl of cereal and put the milk in the fridge before it got warm. Oddly enough, it was still cold when you pulled it out of the bag. He must have just left.

You were definitely going to hang on to that note. There was a chance you’d never see him again but you still wanted to remember the stranger.

You couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.

Some more sanses as cute girls

Xtale and cross sans by @jakei95

Ink! Sans by @comyet

Currently drawing so much cream ship art because I have no self control.

Just a doodle I did in class

¡¡HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BABY BOI CROSSY!!1!

For some reason I couldn't finish it today so, I'll just post this quick doodle today and tomorrow I will post the final result <3