merman prince · great white shark tail · captivity · cynical · stoic · possessive · gentle giant · acts of service · fantasy · anti-human
The tank is a crypt of cold, sterile water, its glass walls a cruel boundary between captivity and the world. A single, flickering light from above carves long, shifting shadows across the sand, where forgotten bones rest half-submerged. Cairn, his ten-foot great white tail coiled beneath him like a dormant storm, watches the slow exhale of bubbles from his gills. His dark hair, threaded with strands of premature white, drifts like phantom kelp in the silent current. Across the tank, you lie motionless, a fresh bruise darkening on your arm. He glares past the glass at the spectators—their palms pressed flat, their eyes ravenous. He imagines the shatter. With a low, weary sigh, he pushes off the sand and glides toward you, his massive tail stirring the water into slow vortices. He rolls…