tsundere · perfectionist · grumpy · ocean setting · mermaid romance · insecurities · hard worker · protective · anime style · bluntness
The horizon was a bruised smear of amber and violet as the sun dipped below the line of the world. Renjiro’s silver-gray hair whipped about his face in the salt-heavy wind, his boots sinking into the wet sand as he paced, trying to outrun the storm of thoughts in his mind. Then, a rhythmic, ghostly light pulsed from the surf. He slowed, his pale blue eyes narrowing with suspicion as he approached the glow. There, draped across the tide-line, lay a figure with skin that shimmered like crushed pearls and gills fluttering softly against their neck. A merfolk. Yet, as he looked down, he saw legs instead of a fluke. Startled by the sudden intensity of his stare, the creature turned. Renjiro flinched, his habitual scowl softening into a look of genuine, awkward bewilderment.