Golden scales cresting from the surface caught rays of the sun and threw them back shining twice as brilliant.
If you knew where to look over the vast expanse of the sea, nearer calmer, clearer shores, the (arguably) happiest merman that ever was could be spotted too easily. One needed only to follow the sound of incessant singing.
Excited wriggles of Mer-Totsuka's tail created a trail of turbulence bubbling through the water in corkscrew loops and everywhere he went. More so than the fanned out wave of his partner's fins. The one who prowled in hungry silence beneath the surface; he wasn't so keen on exerting all that extra energy.
They were miles from the cove they had made their home, out in unfamiliar waters. So the golden tailed merman minded his pace and fell back to swim beneath the poisonous veil of Mer-koto's spines.
"Where are we going?"
"Hunt," Mer-koto bared teeth at the millionth question that day. "The old spot's getting scarce've prey. I don't plan on stayin' in my bounds just to starve."
"Oh!"
A school of silver herring snatched Mer-Totsuka's attention just as the light from above flashed across their scales. He darted off into the mass of fish only to watch them dissipate into nothing. All except for one, slower than the rest, that he began to chase in wild circles. More playing than hunting.
How did this creature survive on its own?
Mer-koto thrashed the water with his tail to call him back.
"You're not going to catch anything moving so slow," the little golden merman rubbed against his mate's side, arching like an affectionate aquatic cat under his chest, and up to make their cheeks brush.
More playing than hunting.
The suggestion only got him shushed. A chatty merman is a hungry one; no one had been there to give him this lecture when he was young.
Mer-koto guided them deeper down, down into the reef and rock bursting with color, with all sorts of corals of all sorts of beautiful patterns, tendrils and textures. With traces of life peeking in and out of their homes.
It had the potential to be hiding a feast. Or at least a chance for something.
The tasty patch of seaweed Mer-Totsuka found went ignored.. so he wore it around his neck, chewing off the leaves as they kept along.
He noticed the way every creature sunk deep into its hiding place when the king merman's fins cast down spiny shadows on all that lay beneath him. Only Mer-Totsuka found them attractive – besides being irresistible to the touch, they meant the kind protection he could never have on his own.
To those outside his species they meant agonizing death.
Mer-Totsuka stayed close enough to feel them stiffen out the moment a young sea lion appeared nosing around the reef for a meal.
"Keep still," Mer-koto ordered, holding his mate tight by the shoulders underneath him. Fins and spines tremored in anticipation all the way to their tips. Waking up to kill.
"It's so big," the little goldentailed merman whispered, "you're going to catch that?"
He couldn't imagine what that kind of meat would taste like...
Mer-koto bulleted out from their hiding place without a moment's warning, intent on pinning his prey against the mass of coral. One sting was all he needed to land-
Miss.
There was space enough for the sea lion to bolt up and over the other side with certain death in the form of a large, aggressive king merman barreling after it.
Mer-totsuka couldn't obey orders once the chase broke out. He was fast! He could help!
Showing off, his agile body let him skirt around the mass of coral with flawless precision and timing. The jolt came before he could see around.
"Got it!" he cried out with eyes shut tight, latched on to the neck of whatever had slammed into him. Teeth and arms latched around the neck of a large, aggressive king merman.
They say the most skilled predators can make a kill with their eyes closed after all.
The sea lion's cries grew distant as Mer-Totsuka was still trying to tear into his "prey's" neck with a fierce death roll he'd watched his mate do tons of times. It wasn't exactly working.
How was he supposed to roll when the victim wouldn't cooperate?
Mer-koto wouldn't even try to shake him off. He could only simmer quietly in hunger and take the abusive nipping he deserved.
Kusanagi Izumo sat back on his wide rock with both legs dangling into the water. Occasionally the sea would spray up to reach for him and his short tripod. The rest of his equipment was already packed up in the case; the storm threatening in the distance looked more like a promise.
One last glance over the water and this day turned out luckier than expected. He had a guest peeking not far out from under the surface.
"Hey there now," Izumo kept his voice low and easy. He reached down to trace gentle circles in the water by hand, hoping to win a bit of trust.
Each time Mer-Totsuka dipped under the water he'd appear again moments later, drawing closer.
A superior stalking technique to guarantee he wouldn't lose his prey this time.
"Aren't you something... look at those scales..."
Izumo tried to be discreet about reaching for his camera. The little golden merman edged up to the surface and propped up his chin on the rock sniffing for something particular.
Ah.
The still-warm pastrami, egg and swiss on a baguette, barely touched, wrapped up nice and tight in brown paper.
"Must have a killer sense of smell too if this brought you all the way out here."
Begging eyes and a swishing tail answered.
"I'm really not supposed to do this," Izumo feigned a sigh at such a tough moral dilemma, unwrapping the sandwich slow enough to lure the little golden tailed merman closer onto the rock. It worked.
Mer-Totsuka had little shame enough to lay on his back and let this human feed him slices of meat, caudal fin furling in and out of the water.
Furling turned to loud slaps against the surface at having his head petted.
Now if Izumo remembered correctly, this could just be a contented display... or it could be a beckoning signal.
After a moment or so a much larger figure looming under the water confirmed the second possibility. Izumo threw out another slice, further this time. The little golden merman leapt out into the water after it.
The splash triggered another, greater splash.
"Hey!" the human's warning yell came too late. He was already drenched and spitting out sea water.
Mer-Koto breached the surface to grab the entire rest of the sandwich for himself between his teeth. After deciding that bread didn't appeal to him, all the meat inside was gone in a savage instant. A grunt in the human's direction announced his displeasure with the tiny serving before he flopped down halfway out of the water.
All of those fierce spines relaxed close to his body. From the side they made him look plump and unthreatening.
Izumo wrung the water out from his shirt, trying to remember if this was ever part of the job description when he felt the smaller merman's head push up under his arm.
"Your mate has shit table manners, you know that?" he grinned, scratching Mer-Totsuka under the chin until he earned a soft chirp of thanks.
Consequently, in inviting the wildlife to dine he'd unleashed an insatiable curiosity on his filming equipment.
Once it caught his fancy Mer-Totsuka's wide eyes sparkled wild in the reflection of the lens.
"Ah, that's not.. completely waterproof,"
Izumo was hesitant to reach out once his most expensive camera was in the little golden merman's grasp. On the off chance he'd get startled and to leap into the sea with it.
Instead, Mer-Totsuka inspected this strange human object carefully. All the buttons and dials that must do all kinds of things. It would make a nice addition to his collection.
"C'mere and I'll show you," Izumo motioned him closer. Mer-Totsuka was very gentle with this new thing; held it close to his chest when he moved so it wouldn't fall.
He handed it over and watched the human fuss with the settings until they were just right.
Izumo almost relaxed before rustling came from the bag of equipment behind him. Mer-koto's head was buried inside and dragging it around on the hunt for more food. Naturally, he'd end up dumping everything out.
With a tired exhale the human pointed the camera at the larger merman – the one leaning on his shoulder nearly fell over him to see what would happen, excited beyond reason – until the sound of the lens adjusting woke Mer-koto's attention.
He let the little golden merman press the button.
The shutter clicked.
Next time Izumo glanced up he was face to face with a very suspicious Mer-koto narrowing sharp amber eyes straight into him. Close enough to get sense just how much power and defined muscle this lazy creature was actually endowed with.
This time he might actually have been pressing his luck...
Mer-Totsuka still wrapped around his back, the human found himself pinned between the two and kept very still in case this was some kind of ambush.
Mer-Totsuka slapped the rock a few times with his tail in an attempt to explain things to his mate. Their back and forth exchange of squeaks and grunts and subtle body language mirrored a human conversation (albeit much cuter). The little one clearly had far more to say.
He turned the camera in Izumo's hands to show the screen side. None of this made much sense to Mer-koto, but it was amusing to watch him tilt his head like an overgrown puppy once he recognized himself.
"Not bad for a first time model," Izumo's laugh grew unsteady once he'd won enough trust to be body searched for food. His eyes widened the closer long, flattened spines came to touching him –
"Woah.. careful with those...I'll remember t' bring more on the next shoot. Deal? Something more diet appropriate for... fish... mammal?... whatever the hell you guys are."
There was research to be done if he meant to study them more in depth. If they were having trouble finding food he supposed he'd have to do something about it. If he kept playing his cards right he could even dive with them.
Bellows of thunder warned down from the clouds; out where curtains of rain draped over the distant reaches of the sea. Mer-koto's spines reacted defensively at the sound, and instinct let him know before the lightning came to bully the little golden merman back into the water.
As Izumo was tucking the last of his equipment away he felt a rough nudge, almost enough to tip him over. The king merman butted his head into his back several times.
"Alright alright I get it I'm goin'."
Mer-Koto glared him down until the human was safely out of the rocks lining the shore. There was too much to worry over causing him too much trouble.
The pair would cross empty miles of sea again, this time with the storm roaring down against the water's surface. Waves of dark green-blue curled overhead in violent surges that churned the currents below. As much as the ocean's moods always fascinated the little golden merman he would be more relieved to reach their cove safe and together.
Here where the buffer of rock took on most of the ocean's fury to make the inside calmer; where he'd made their nest in a quiet, sandy inlet.
"That was the best human," Mer-totsuka carried on happily, "I've never seen one that tall. Or tame. I heard sometimes you can't get near them 'cause they can be aggressive. But that one was lucky, I could tell – we'll have even better luck hunting tomorrow when the weather's not so bad !"
"Nobody promised tomorrow, brat."
An unsuccessful hunt always put the king merman in a difficult mood. He could hardly be spoken to or reasoned with. Every crash of thunder seemed to inflame his agitation. Spines stood on end. But he couldn't hurt Mer-totsuka. Even if he tried.
Nor could Mer-koto resist his alluring calls, asking to come take refuge in their nest where the seafoam and constant rhythm of the shoreline could heal their exhaustion. Smooth stones of many colors lined the sand all around. All part of the little golden merman's collection.
"It's okay to be afraid," Mer-Totsuka hummed, seeing through the source of his anger to be the calm pressure against his mate's chest. "But you're the king of the whole wide sea. You could go anywhere you want, have whatever you want... but even then you're here protecting me."
Gentle nuzzling encouraged him to settle down in the sand. Little I-love-you's in the language of pectoral fins fluttering against where his scales became tanned, sensitive skin.
"Tch. I can't even do that right," though gruff in his tone Mer-koto still allowed himself to be nosed and nudged onto his back
"Can't even catch anything for you."
"Seaweed's not hard to catch," his mate laughed, "I like that just fine. Or mussels. The kind with stripes and the dark kind… or, oh!... human food. We gotta' go back. If we go back I bet he'll bring more. Just think of piles of human food..."
He could go for ages, relentless.
Until Mer-koto replied, at last, with a possessive embrace to end the steady stream of babbling. It had become second nature to cradle the little golden tailed merman within the inner curve of his body. To drift this way and let the waves rock them to sleep.
Because the more secure he felt the sweeter he would whisper back :
"It will turn out fine. I found you ~ in the whole ocean I found you. It's so big and full of life and everything will be fine."
A song, a mantra meant only for the king of the sea. He loved it so and would keep it for his own or else sleep would never find him.
As nature intended, their tails entwined – brushed gold wrapped up in vibrant striped red on white – a sort of double knot to ensure that they would not drift apart.