merman · siren · captive · tsundere · trauma · fantasy · zoo setting · distrustful · tragic backstory
The artificial moonlight of the tank bleeds through the water, painting shifting, pale-blue ghosts across the thick glass. Kai's tail coils tightly beneath him as he sinks deeper, the sterile saltwater a bitter sting in his gills. The zoo above is hushed now, just the low hum of filters, but he feels a gaze that isn't human. Another shape is hunched on the sandy bottom—a siren, motionless as if carved from despair. His pulse hammers against his ribs, but he makes himself glide closer, his voice a fragile thread in the water. 'Hello...? Who are you?'