The ocean is full of mysterious creatures and things. Mermaids and mermen are among these wonders, but they are nothing but myths, or so one would think. The world is certainly full of wonderful surprises. One fateful day, Y/N's father finds himself...
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Y/N listened to a soft, repetitive coo first thing when she woke the next morning, a sound that led her to peek open and eye and smile when she found the source of it. A certain merman had wormed his way into her arms and cuddled up as close as he could while still keeping a good portion of his tail submerged in water. Though awake, his dark eyes were shut, and his lips wore a content smile as he continued to make the joyful noises. How cute it was.
Y/N couldn't help herself from moving her hand up his back, which elicited a higher-pitched trill of delight, to reach the black strands draped in front of his face. She moves them to view his scaly features and notes how dry his hair was. Neil had been out of the water for a long time, another detail that warmed her. Even during her past stays, he had often taken breaks from laying with her to quietly play in the water, but it seemed he had stayed the whole night in her arms this time. However, she did not recall holding onto him before she fell asleep.
Perhaps he had moved her arms for her? Adorable, simply adorable. Giving a heavy sigh, she forced a smile as he opened his eyes and greeted her with the roll of his tongue. Her grin shifted to a more genuine one as she made the same sound back as a "good morning". Neil relishes in the feeling of her hand as it touched his head and cheeks.
He certainly didn't mind the fingers traveling close to his thin lips, though he was tempted to nip at them out of instinct. He made a promise, though. No biting, no eating, not even one nibble, he had told himself. His precious mate would be with him forever. All he had to do was get her to say yes.
"Good morning, Neil. Are you hungry?" she asks, voice groggy from sleep. Nodding vigorously, the merman shot up before diving into the water to splash around excitedly, waking her fully by spraying a few droplets onto her. Laughing, Y/N sits up and shields her face from the water with a hand. "All right, all right. Breakfast's coming."
Neil chirps and waits for the woman to pick herself up and stretch, watching as she walks over to the feeding pool with a net to catch him something to eat. She manages to swipe a few fish and tosses them into his pen for him to chase. While he busies himself with that, Y/N peers into the smaller pool with a hum. Though she had brought some from the ocean yesterday, there still wasn't the usual amount. There was really nothing she could do about them eating each other whilst in the pool, and Neil often required a good amount each day for his diet, so numbers tended to dwindle fast.
He prefers live feed, otherwise she would've opted for the fish sold at the market, though that didn't mean he wasn't fed those meats either, just less often or if supply for fresh fish was low. Y/N makes a note to get more later today as she puts away the net. The merman was finished in no time and called her over with a trill by the edge of the pool, looking like an excited puppy wagging its tail. Awing at him, the woman walks over, sitting on the ledge and dipping her feet into the cold water, which sent a chill through her. Neil wasted no time in hugging her legs and nestling against her lap lovingly before tugging at her shorts to call her in. Unfortunately, she shook her head.
