Hello hello! Thanks for dropping by my story! I really love usuk and mermaid AU so I'm going to mash them together! w6)/ To be honest this was written over a year ago(haha), I'm just not very confident enough to post it… Ah, anyway! Please leave a review, tell me what you think. I might write another chapter!

Folks were anxious about the news, that a group of human divers were just this close to discovering their precious city. Thankfully the underwater city stood tall on the deep ocean beds, only to be found if you passed the deep-sea geysers and ventured through dark waters, which then you would find open ground full of life and music. Without gills and a tail, humans would run out of air or killed by the high pressure before even stepping foot through the gates. Above mermaid waters there are various little islands of sand and rocks.

Their Pearl castle, in name and appearance, was truly a magnificent sight. Rows of seashells decorated the walls, adding colours to the pure white structure that glistered under the sun, Its' beauty even rival the Coral palace in the far eastern waters. In the recent years it's been open to public, easily becoming a popular tourist attraction. After the passing of his wife, their king had been kind about having unknown visitors in his home, for it were becoming too lonely to roam those empty halls on a daily basis. Of course, each group of visitors MUST be accompanied by either a knight or a guard.

Today seems to be an eventful day, gossips about the human sighting were flying but a certain merman was becoming the talk of the day with his eyes so blue and a powerful tail, golden hair tied into a small, low ponytail to keep it out of the way. A large group had gathered in front of the castle entrance to catch a glimpse of him, the new guard. His muscles weren't as heavy as the rumours said, but tanned and toned up nicely from training above sea level. Although, he could care less about what people think.

"One at a time! One. At. A. Time!" Alfred almost- almost - hissed, pushing back a group of mermaids. They were part of a tourist group from the north. Damn, he thought the women up there would be more… reserved and quite but oh, how wrong was he! They were just the same as the ones here but their pale skin really do made their eyes pop in all the right ways! They wore some sort of cape instead of shells, probably to keep themselves warm but here, they had it tied around their waist, having nothing to cover their upper bodies except for their head of hair(not that nudity is a very big thing down there). The city Alfred resides in lies in tropical land, and the summer season made it much too warm for fur pelts. Various sharp daggers could also be seen, as most from up north, even the females, were born hunters, so Alfred had heard. One of the ladies giggled but much to Alfred's relief, she pulled her girls back and got them back in line.

Although, they are more patient about having to line up than the local folks.

Mermaids! They seemed to be programmed with some flirtatious personality that no one could explain. But he supposed it was only the desire to ensure they have a strong mate when spawning season comes. Heck, even some of the males share the similar traits!

"Popular with the ladies, eh?" Alfred turned his head around to see a more welcomed face. The young merman grinned, running his fingers through his bangs with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Not really, they're just horny," he said, earning a few playful pouts and giggles, though one looked rather offended oops. "Is it my lunch break yet?"

If someone else was here it could only means one thing: shift change. Alfred didn't hesitate to lose all his gears and swam off when he received the answer, eager to get away from the crowded hot spot and to a more... quiet place. Alfred never said he was found of his job, but the promised pay was good and he would be privileged a room in the castle for him and his family, a pretty sweet deal, if you ask him! And who wouldn't fancy a job to be close to their beloved King?

The blue eyed merman waved good bye to his friend and swam up towards the surface beach.

A strong, young guard like Alfred would easily have whoever he wanted to spend the two long weeks with. Or at least, that's what everyone thought, anyway. His duty as guard made it near impossible to even have time for himself, let alone any time for a mate but who knows, maybe in another ten-something years he would get his senior privilege! He's pretty sure his King would not let their population dies out over some stupid reason like standing at the castle gate all day keeping peace; a male is only potent until the age of thirty-five, after all, where else a female the age of thirty.

And Alfred's only twenty-one.

Still a long way to go, buddy.

…

Hungry seagulls flocked around a ship, desperately trying their luck with lunch. Alfred watched with a hint of amusement. The merman lied comfortably on the shore of a little island, letting the soft waves lashes at his blue tail. The weather was warm, much to his liking.

On a regular basis, there would be at least one or two other merfolks lounging on the beach or rocks but this time of the year, many would be too busy tending to their mates for any silly self-indulging time. Moments like this Alfred pretend to be one of those rich land dwellers; having an entire beach all to yourself, that's the life! Because unlike them, merfolks do not hog beaches all to themselves(not that they have any needs to!).

Alfred's short break was unpleasantly disturbed by string of colourful language followed by a loud splash. The merman turned his eyes towards the direction of the ship just in time to see a man being pushed off the deck and immediately flails around for his dear life.

Alfred could make out the outline of a skull on the flag; a jolly roger. Ah! The man must be a captive on a pirate ship! It's not unusual to see humans flung one of their own overboard to drown, such heartless creatures, they are! Alfred would never understand humans.

For a moment, their eyes met. Alfred couldn't quite tell the colour but they were bright and filled with fear. The human gasped and continued his struggle, calling out to the departing ship to let him board. His attempts were not only futile but caused him a great deal of time and energy, too. The human coughed and climbed the invisible ladder, gradually loosing strength. Silly human, doesn't he know how to float? Or swim? Seriously, there are many small patches of land around this area, at this rate the human will become fish food in the next 30 minute!

"Oh, Poseidon," sighed the young merman. He rolled his eyes and being the skilled swimmer(with the need to brag) it took Alfred less than ten seconds to swim up to the blond human, his tail flickering back and forth in the waters whist he watches the man struggled. He looks… really in pain.

"H-h…e…"

Alfred laughed, shaking his head in amusement.

The human's eyes are green… a lovely shade of green. Alfred swam up a little closer to get a better look. He grabbed hold of the human's wrists to keep them from hitting him by accident, blue eyes boring into those green orbs that were wide with fear.

"Relax, relax," he cooed, using the pad of his thumb to rub on the green-eyed man's wrist. "Hey! I'm not gunna eat you!"

Alfred wasn't sure if the human seemed to have gotten his message and calmed down or he just tired himself out. Either way his violet trashing turned into gentle kicking of his legs and harsh breathing. Alfred used the moment to take in his appearance, letting his blue eyes wandered those redden cheeks and pale neck. The human was wearing little clothing, only a shirt and what they called pants. He have pale skin, too. Quite unusual for someone that's been out at sea. Perhaps the pirate had kept him captive below deck and got rid of him to lessen a mouth to feed. Well, either way, Alfred had never seen a human so pretty.

"What's your name?" he narrowed his eyes, leaning in closer. The human flinched and tried to spat out some shits. Alfred snorted as he does not speak hacks and coughs. 'This is useless,' he thought inwardly, sighing. He's pretty sure human also speak their modernized language. Alfred shook his head, wrapped his arms around the land-walker's smaller frame and brought them back to the little island he was resting on.

Alfred hope he still have some time left on his break…