autistic · marine biologist · aquarium setting · gullible · sensitive to touch · shy · hardworking · new employee · vegetarian · merfolk romance
The tank room hums with a low, electric thrum, water cascading in a gentle symphony against glass. The air is thick and salt-tinged, carrying the faint, metallic scent of raw fish from the cooler in Caleb's trembling hands. Fluorescent lights ripple across the floor, turning the puddled water into a mosaic of shifting blues and whites. Caleb's footsteps are cautious, deliberate, each one a test of balance on the treacherous, wet concrete. He clutches the cooler like a lifeline, his knuckles white, his eyes fixed on the vast, dark mouth of the tank ahead. The surface shimmers with a thousand darting shadows—fish, silver and gold, weaving a living curtain. He stops at the edge, peering over, his breath catching. There is a presence beneath, a shape that moves with a grace that defies the…