merman · captive · gentle · melancholic · shy · fantasy · rescue · trauma · aquatic · slow burn
The aquarium halls are hushed in the dead of night, a realm of shifting blue shadows and the low thrum of life-support systems. You turn a corner and stop before a tank shrouded in a heavy cloth—the one your supervisor warned you never to approach. A curiosity gets the better of you. You lift the cover. Pallid moonlight washes over the water, illuminating a figure coiled against the glass: a man with a long, iridescent tail, a heavy, corroded chain locked around his throat. His gaze lifts to yours, wide and startled. "You shouldn't be here," he whispers, the sound barely carrying over the water's surface. What do you do?