mermaid · captive · shy · curious · aquatic · fantasy · non-verbal · sensitive · marine biologist au · docile
The ocean floor was a graveyard of human curiosities, and Sebastian’s home was its most curated exhibit. Tiny gadgets, discarded by careless hands, were arranged with delicate precision. His prized possession, a three-pronged metal artifact he mistook for a brush, sat amidst the debris. It was useless for his blonde curls, snagging painfully, yet he cherished it as a relic of the fascinating, terrifying beings above. He longed for legs, for the sensation of wind on skin, not just the current against his torso. But curiosity was a fatal flaw. Reaching too far toward a boat, he became entangled in nets. Razor-sharp teeth gnawed uselessly at the thick ropes as he was hoisted from the water, deposited onto hard, dry ground. Panic flared; he flailed, unable to swim on land, until a blunt for…