#Marine Rifles | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

softquietsteadylove · 1 year

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Helloo, could you please do one with mermaid Thena and fisherman Gil, btw i love everything you write, you are amazing 😃🖤

Gil struggled as he toppled over the rail of the boat and got dragged down by the net he'd been trying to untangle. It was bad form to fall overboard on your own fishing vessel; he would get made fun of when he got back to land, for sure.

Gil tried to free himself from the gnarled mess of a net around his ankle. But it was already sodden, it was tangled and full of seaweed and ocean litter. It wasn't as light as he would like it to be, as he tried to stay in good distance to the surface, hold his breath, and search for his pen knife at the same time.

He hadn't gotten the chance to take in a deep breath when he'd fallen. He didn't have nearly enough air in his lungs. The water was dark, and even as he sawed at the ropes, he could feel that he was nicking himself, the salt water immediately stinging him.

His vision was failing him. He blinked, sure that he was seeing things when a cloud of white started coming toward him. Maybe something from the deeps had come up, sensing an easy meal in his struggling. He blinked.

She was beautiful.

Now he knew he was dying, or already dead. No way an angel like this was appearing here, and now. She was so pale, like a ghost (which he would soon be, Gil was sure). Her hair floated around her in thick locks of blonde--almost white. White like the shimmering scales along her neck, her clavicle, over her chest and then melding into a sparkling tail, complete with billowing white fins.

She watched him from just out of reach for a moment. She had no need to keep herself afloat, her body already accustomed to and designed for the water around them. Her tail moved idly as she examined him.

Gil let out his last puff of air, closing his eyes as bubbles filled his vision.

She was a merciful Angelfish, because she pulled him up to the surface. They hit the open air with a burst, the strength of her swimming outdoing his tenfold. Outdoing any human's, really. But Gil didn't take in a gasp of air as soon as they were up.

She patted his cheek before taking them back to his boat, first launching him back up to the deck of it before clawing and slithering and flopping her way onto it as well.

Gil grunted as she whacked his chest. It wasn't so much CPR as it was her punching him in the diaphragm. But it worked, and he spat up the water in his lungs and gasped for air. He panted, looking around the deck but finding that he was not actually in the afterlife yet.

She looked at him, still curious seeming, her tail slapping against the deck of his boat akin to how a foot might tap impatiently.

"You," Gil blinked at her--at the vision of beauty still before him. "You saved me?"

She eyed him, judging any number of things about him.

"I did."

Gil's brows rose until they couldn't go any higher. Whether it was the soft, velvety voice, or the English, or her slightly annoyed look at him. "W-Why?"

She almost looked like she wasn't sure of it herself. She crossed her arms, although her tail had to move around her to re-balance herself. She didn't exactly have a butt to sit on. Her eyes drifted to the rope net still attached to him. "I have been in that predicament before."

"O-Oh," Gil paled. Of course she had, and of course she had every right to be wary of him. He was a fisherman. Even if she wasn't friends with fish like in a certain animated movie, he was still a contributor to the detritus that was polluting her home. He didn't doubt that she'd been tangled in a rotting, abandoned net before. "Uh...sorry."

She blinked at him. Clearly she didn't expect an apology from him, not that global pollution was his fault anyway. But she uncrossed her arms, at least. "You seem different from the humans I've seen before."

She had interacted with humans before? Well, if she was bold enough to swim right up to him, relatively close to the surface and quite close to regular fishing grounds, maybe it was just in her nature. But surely someone would have said something!

Gil thought about the guys who would come back to port raving about seeing things in the water. Everything from beautiful women - sirens, they said - to massive koi with shimmering scales of wild colours. They always got denounced as having gone sea-mad, but maybe there was something to all this...

"Gil."

She tilted her head at him, this way then that. "You...have gills?--I've never read anything about that."

"No, no," he shook his head, holding out his hand to her. Her tail curled a little but he turned his palm up for her. "My name, it's Gilgamesh. But you can call me Gil."

"Gil," she said to herself. She tilted her head the other way, her - remarkably dry - hair slipping over her shoulder. "Thena."

He smiled at her, and earned quite a lovely smile in return. "That's a pretty name."

She blinked at him owlishly before returning her attention to the net around his ankle. "How did the fishermen get stuck in his own net?"

"Right," Gil sighed, dragging his foot around so he could finish sawing the thing off of him. He pulled up his sodden pant leg, examining the cut marks of where he had clumsily attempted to free himself of it underwater. "Well, I didn't realise they were tangled together, so when I cast out one, I didn't realise this one was going to drag me out with them."

Thena tilted her head this way and that as she watched him continue to try and saw at the thick bound ropes with a tiny pocket knife. She leaned forward slightly. "I can..."

Gil looked at her, curious as to what she could do and what it would entail. But he nodded, scooting forward as the more mobile of the two of them. He chuckled as Thena pulled his ankle right up to her face in her curiosity. "Don't get to see 'em often, I guess?"

She ran her fingers along the bones in his ankle with a certain fascination. "I've heard some can split their tails into legs to go on land. But I've never had a pair to examine for myself."

Gil blushed faintly as she tried to slide her hand further up his pant leg. It was fine, if a little ticklish. "Uh, Thena?"

"Sorry," she murmured, although he got the impression she didn't know what she was apologising for. She pressed her palm to his cuts. Her skin was amazingly soft and smooth, and his cuts closed themselves up before his very eyes.

Gil blinked, but the cuts were grown over and without even a scar left afterwards. He looked up at her, "can anyone do this?"

Thena released his leg back to his control and nodded, her fins moving idly almost how a human might fidget with their hands or wiggle their toes. "Most."

Gil just nodded, not pressing her about the mysteries of her ways of life. He settled on the deck again, still soaked to the bone, and freezing cold. But he couldn't pass up the once in a lifetime opportunity to hallucinate such a beautiful creature. "You've read a lot about humans?"

Thena's eyes drifted back to the waters, although she remained seated on the deck a short distance from him. "My friend and I. She comes up to the surface quite often to spy on them, although we tell her it will get her caught one day. Have you ever thought you'd seen a red snapper of inordinate size?"

Gil's eyes flashed and Thena nodded at his recognition. "It's basically a legend around here. People say there's a red snapper the size of a human child in the waters here. That's why so many fishermen have come over the last few years."

Thena sighed. "Makkari is the fastest swimmer in the seven seas, but she's a little brazen, swimming up to any ship she thinks has a funny name."

Gil couldn't help but note the irony of that, coming from the woman currently on a human ship. He looked down at that shimmering tail again, "is it safe for you to be above water like this?"

Thena flipped the end of her tail a few times. "Short amounts of time are fine. Those who can sprout legs can go entire days before needing to swim again. I have always wanted to try it."

Gil grinned. She was fearless, this Angelfish. "Well, I can't help you grow legs I guess, but, uh, if you want to know anything else about humans-"

Thena's eyes lit up and she leaned forward, pressing her palms to the deck and letting her tail stretch out behind her. "Truly?"

"Y-Yeah," Gil nodded. She was even more beautiful up close, all sparkling green eyes and glowing skin and pearly teeth...with little fangs. They were still kind of cute, though. "Anything you wanna know."

Thena leaned back as best she could, although she just wasn't made for manoeuvring herself on flat surfaces. "Could I...come see you again?"

Gil blushed. It was the first time he'd ever heard that from such a pretty girl, and it was so far from its usual meaning. He nodded, though. "Think you can find my ship again?"

Thena smiled, "yes, she's quite a lovely thing. You take much better care of her than the other fishermen out here."

Gil couldn't help the pride in him. Damn right he did! He polished and scraped her after every run!

"Would you," Thena paused, looking towards the water again. She waved her tail at him.

"O-Oh, uh, y-yeah," he stuttered, moving to his knees and holding his arms out. His hands hovered, unsure of where was safe to grab. "How should I-"

"Hey!" Thena squirmed as his hand landed on the scales at the top of her tail. He snapped the hand back, apologising. He supposed it was about where a human hip might be, maybe a little lower. Thena pulled him down by the shirt.

Gil held still, letting her clamber up to him until her arms were looped around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, careful of any possible fins on her back. It seemed to be quite human, though--just an expanse of soft skin.

Thena nudged her forehead against his jaw, "ahem?"

Gil cleared his throat, thoroughly flustered and red to his ears. He moved them to the railing of the deck, which had just failed him, but whatever. He lifted Thena from the small of her back, helping her perch on the rail with her tail stretched out and her hands on his shoulders. He reached up, placing his hands over hers. "Will you be okay?"

Thena smiled down at him, holding onto his shoulders as the ship bobbed lightly. "I'm just going home, Gil. I'll come and find you tomorrow."

Gil nodded, a vague panic welling up inside of him. She was saying herself that she could come and find him again, and he didn't doubt her ability to find him among any of the other boats in these parts. But he blurted out, "the island!"

Thena tilted her head at him, her tail twitching.

"I, uh, live on the island just off the mainland," he continued more sheepishly. "I have a little dock where I park the boat and stuff. If you're ever...swimming around over there."

Thena, amused by his humanness, laughed. It brought out a faint pink in her skin and he could see a little more of the fangs she had. They were indeed pretty cute. "I suppose I'll keep that in mind."

"Okay," Gil nodded as Thena leaned back. She held his eyes as her hands slipped from his. He watched as she threw herself back, twisting in the air so her hands could cut the water for her and her tail could follow last.

She turned on a dime, poking her head out of the water again to look at him with a cute smile. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow!" Gil waved, watching her wave back before disappearing into the completely endless waters around him. He stood for a few more minutes against the railing, thinking about his day.

He still had plenty to do. It wasn't as if he'd caught anything to take to market, and he had to examine the net and see if it was salvageable after the cuts he'd made. And he was soaking wet, and really needed a good, real shower, and to get into some clean clothes.

But all he could think about were the things he could show Thena tomorrow.

#Thenamesh AU #Thenamesh Mermaid AU #I was so utterly delighted when I got this ask #it never would have occurred to me #but I was instantly obsessed with the idea #Thena and Makkari are like humans are so fascinating with their legs and their lungs #let's go watch them walk and stuff #Makkari is like lol humans are so stupid #Thena *staring up through the water at Gil* I don't know I think they're kind of sweet #Gil is down below deck #rifling through his books #looking for little trinkets she can take underwater with her #he also brushes up on his marine biology #maybe if he fills a wagon with salt water he can show Thena around the island?#I love it!

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