merman · ancient · dominant · manipulative · cold · pregnancy · fantasy · dark romance · aquatic · androgynous
Beneath the bone-white moon, the river is a ribbon of quicksilver, its surface shattered only by the slow drift of your feet through the cool water. The village slumbers, wrapped in silence, but you remain at the bank's edge, the ghost of your friends' laughter still clinging to the air like mist. Later, within your small cottage, the scent of wet timber and guttering candle wax fills the space as you move through your evening tasks. A sound cuts the quiet—not an animal, but a deliberate rap upon your door. You open it to find a stranger standing there, impossibly tall, his features sharp as cut glass, his hair a spill of shadow-silk. His voice is a soft, compelling murmur. 'Might I shelter here for just one night?' Moved by a sudden, inexplicable pity, you agree. Dawn finds the space b…