@cerbykerby: today's short thought for #mer...

today's short thought for #mermay is fisherman lwj fighting for his life and career because merman wwx keeps catching rides on his boat and stEALING HIS CATCHES.

for the longest time, lwj thought that reported sightings of mermaids were just hallucinations or embellished stories—until he briefly leaves his boat to have dinner on shore and returns to find a large, spiny merman on his boat, helping himself to lwj's catch of the day.

at first, lwj thinks he's an intruder. then he thinks he's a mutilated human. there's no other way to explain the sharp fins and scales and claws on their person.

until that person turns around to look at lwj with dark, inhuman eyes and a mouth full of fish.

lwj never carries any weapon aside from a knife. he doesn't have a use for a gun out on the water.

at that moment, he sorely regrets it.

luckily, the light from lwj's flashlight blinds the creature and it wriggles its way across the deck before slipping back into the water.

lwj is terrified. he tells himself that he is hallucinating. he goes for doctor check-ups. he visits a psychologist.

nothing is out of the ordinary with him. his brother even offers to go with him out on the water. neither of them see anything.

then, a week after lxc goes home and lwj convinces himself that he was just too tired, it happens again.

this time, he is pulling in a net. when it spills open on deck, out spills the merman from before, who looks utterly ecstatic to be surrounded by so much caught fish.

I can't find it but there's a video of two fisherman on a boat trying to toss a shark back into the ocean as the shark enthusiastically eats mouthfuls of fish and all I gotta say is that that is exactly how it goes down between fisherman lwj and merman wwx.

merman wwx is so utterly riveted and distracted trying to shove as much fish into his mouth as possible that he pays zero mind to lwj struggling to get him back in the ocean. even as wwx is sliding back into the water, he's trying to grab as many fish as he can.

and, well, that's just the start of lwj's troubles.

whoever said that mermaids are elusive is a liar. every time something goes missing, or the boat starts acting funny, or lwj hears some strange noises, he KNOWS that it's that goddang merman.

countless times, lwj finds him hauled out a ledge or deck, hitching a ride on the boat as lwj heads out to fishing grounds. countless times, lwj finds him tangled in the nets, because he knows the fish is trapped in there, and he knows lwj will set him free every time.

lwj does not want to give in and feed him out of hopes that he would leave the fish alone. the beast seems like he wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of any attempts at bribery or negotiation.

so. lwj has no choice. he has to live with this pest.

he gets so used to it that, the next time lxc goes fishing with him, he completely forgets to warn his brother beforehand.

needless to say, lxc freaks out an appropriate amount when he sees his brother defeatedly dragging a several-hundred-pound sea monster back into the water.

lwj: xiong-zhang, take this broom

lxc: oh! do we need something cleaned?

lwj: no. when he appears, smack him with it

lxc: .................... who? 🥹

wwx, pulling himself up onto the deck: 😈

despite the disturbance of the merman's presence, lwj—oddly—continues to make a profit off of his job.

as it turns out, the merman figured out that if he drives schools of fish directly into lwj's net, he has *more* fish to shove into his mouth as lwj drags him off the boat.

wwx has even learned that lwj has a item that is better and sharper than any tooth or claw; he has watched lwj use it to prepare fish meals for himself.

lwj will typically throw fish remains overboard, where wwx eagerly waits for free food.

at some point, wwx learns that if he herds bigger and better fish into lwj's nets, then naturally he will get bigger and better fish scraps that evening.

it goes well... sometimes. occasionally, he herds an endangered species into lwj's nets and lwj has to let the creature go.

wwx was Very upset the first time lwj released a shark and made his thoughts known by screeching very loudly. lwj quickly put an end to that by lighting a torch and waiting it near the water, scaring wwx off.

wwx deliberately nets himself twice the next day, as revenge.

it also doesn't take lwj long to realize that the merman is rather intelligent (even if said merman continuously chooses to act like a spoiled, feral beast). he's not going to complain about the better catches, even if he has to deal with wwx helping himself more often.

and besides, lwj isn't blind to the numerous scars on the merman's body. this isn't the merman's first close encounter with humans. when feral beasts wander too close to humans, then their caution goes down and they could wind up hurt.

lwj only uses fire as a visual threat when he *really* doesn't want the merman near a catch or for the merman to leave. he would never actually hurt the creature—especially since he's hunting in its home.

he's not sure if the same could be said for anyone else.

so, he tolerates the merman. at least the merman is smart enough to know that, when he sees lwj reach for the torch, he sulkily rolls across the deck and falls back into the water.

it's not ideal, but it's not too bad. lwj puts up with him, and gets better catches.

then, gradually, he notices changes in the merman.

for some reason, the merman is now pickier. he doesn't eat all of the fish scraps like he used to. he now heavily prefers fatty livers, roe, belly, and skin.

at first, lwj thinks he might be sick. then he thinks that maybe the merman is bulking up for migration, so he doesn't pay too much mind to it. after all, to his knowledge, only he and lxc definitively know of merfolk existence. he shouldn't be making assumptions.

then, one day, he dons snorkeling gear to go do a routine cleaning of the hull of his boat. usually he takes this time to clean the boat of debris and barnacles.

this time, however, he finds this... odd gelatinous cluster attached to his boat's hull underwater.

despite how fragile they look, they are attached surprisingly securely to the hull. lwj inspects them a bit more closely. he has no idea what they could be. they sort of resemble octopus eggs—except no octopus could lay such large eggs.

nonetheless, it has to go.

using the scraper he typically reserves for barnacles, lwj begins trying to scrape the odd gelatinous sacs off.

it is a lot more difficult than it looks; the clusters are stuck fast to the boat.

he manages to get one off when he hears a low, angry hissing behind him.

lwj has only enough time to turn around and see the merman charging at him at an alarming speed before the merman slams into him.

the force of the impact is hard enough to send lwj spinning through the water, knocking his goggles and snorkel off.

it takes him a moment to open his eyes underwater—and when he does, it's to immediately scan the water for the merman.

luckily, the merman is no longer paying attention to him. instead, he looks like he's trying—and failing—to attach the sac back to the boat hull.

there's only one reason lwj can think of that would prompt such a territorial response:

those odd, oblong gelatinous sacs are eggs. specifically, they are mermaid eggs.

and lwj had accidentally sentenced one to death.

the first thing he does is get out of the water. he's not going to wait for the merman to realize that he's still there and prompt another attack.

he hauls himself out onto the dock. his entire body still aches from the force of the impact.

it takes him a bit longer to realize that his wetsuit is torn in various places; the merman's spines must have slashed through the material upon contact. lwj is even bleeding.

immediately, lwj takes himself to the hospital. the merman's spines could have venom, like lionfish.

it's a good thing he does; he starts to lose sensation in his limbs. he nearly collapses in the urgency room.

he's held in the hospital overnight because the doctors are baffled at the venom in his blood. by the time lwj returns to his boat, the merman is nowhere to be seen.

lwj feels a twinge of guilt. he hadn't meant to dislodge the egg, but the damage is done. he has no way of apologizing—the merman might not even know what an apology is. and it may be safer for both of them if they part ways.

he sets out in his boat for another day of fishing.

the merman doesn't reappear. sometimes he takes a few hours to arrive, but when lwj hauls in his net for a third time and there's no gluttonous merman for him to toss back into the water, he starts searching around his boat.

he's glancing at every ledge that the merman typically hangs out on when he, oddly, notices an egg lying in a corner.

it's not out in the open. the merman likely didn't want it to be found. but it's not in the water. it's likely the one lwj dislodged.

the guilt from before comes back. if lwj had known that they were the merman's eggs, then he would have… well, not tried to get rid of them, for one.

and now here's the dead egg, out of water but not abandoned.

lwj wonders if mermaids can grieve.

he thinks of how orcas are known to carry their dead young for many miles, unwilling to let go. perhaps this merman is the same. unanchored against the ocean's tides and currents, the egg has no chance of survival—and yet the merman isn't ready to say goodbye yet.

very gently, he picks up the egg. it has a firm, leathery casing on the outfit, but it's still squishy to the touch. when lwj shines a light through it, he can see what may be an embryo inside, but there is no movement.

he takes the egg indoors. he has a few tanks set up for live sea life. even though the egg is dead, this is still a good opportunity to study it—maybe even dissect it later.

he places the egg in a tank, checks the oxygen level and temperature, and leaves it be.

over the next few days, lwj continues his routine as usual—the only difference is that the merman makes himself scarce. he no longer deliberately gets himself captured, nor does he beach himself on lwj's boat to go after fresh catch.

sometimes lwj sees his shadow underwater—presumably because the merman is tending to his remaining eggs. lwj hopes that mermaids are not like octopi in that they stop eating and slowly waste away as their eggs hatch.

anyhow, lwj spends his free time inspecting the egg he has.

it's a curious little thing, about as long as his hand. he has no idea how the eggs got attached to his boat. to his knowledge, the merman has no mate. perhaps mermaids are hermaphrodites?

he brushes his fingers across the top of the sac. he should dissect it before it rots.

he finds a small scalpel he has used before to inspect fish for parasite or disease. after sterilizing it, he checks the egg one last time with a flashlight for any sign of life.

nothing.

that is a little disappointing, but it's nothing lwj didn't expect.

he pats the egg dry and sets it down on a tray. on second thought, he sets up a camera to record the process. should the existence of mermaids be a confirmed discovery in the future, this footage could be useful.

very carefully, he cuts the egg case open.

after the cut is made, he peels back the flaps and pins them in place.

he looks.

at first, he thinks he's looking at a human embryo. it is so small, and yet so deformed. it has no legs, its torso ending in an odd, pale fleshy stump.

lwj blinks, baffled.

then he notices: without the egg case in the way, he can clearly see the small red blood vessels running through the embryo and the yolk sac it is still attached to.

*red* blood vessels.

hurriedly, lwj takes a magnifying glass to look closer.

sure enough, just ever-so-barely perceptible, he can see the faint pulse of blood being pumped through the tiny body. although it is not moving, it is still clearly alive.

and he has just cut its egg sac open.

for a second, he does nothing—he just stares at the egg he had somehow almost killed twice.

then he's out of his chair and searching for a needle and thread. perhaps if he sews the egg casing back together, it will protect the little merbaby long enough for it to hatch.

he is by no means a doctor or a nurse, but life as a fisherman can be dangerous and lonely. he has stitched his own wounds multiple times because waiting simply wasn't an option.

sure enough, he finds the needle and thread. he sterilizes the needle and gets to work.

it takes hours. he's extremely careful, making sure to keep the egg sufficiently damp to prevent it from drying out. luckily, he'd made clean cuts, so the flaps were not hard to sew back together.

once whole again, the egg case hides the little merbaby away.

once more, lwj has no idea if the baby is alive or not.

nonetheless, he now knows better than to assume the worst. he goes to change the tank water and add an air pump.

he can't return the egg to the ocean. it has been dislodged. the merman has already assumed it was dead.

he has no choice. if he wants this baby to survive, he will have to care for it—which feels nearly impossible, considering he knows nothing about mermaid physiology.

still, he has to try.

so he gets to work cleaning the tank, filtering seawater, and monitoring the temperature.

he doesn't know anything about mermaid eggs, but he knows a bit about shark eggs. he knows they need water flowing through the sac, so that the shark gets enough oxygen.

what he's most worried about are parasites; he doesn't know how to deal with them.

so he very, very carefully monitors the baby. he even puts on his (new) snorkel gear and wetsuit to go into the water and observe how the merman cares for his eggs, so that he could try and replicate it for his own little egg.

he wishes there were a way for him to communicate to the merman that the egg is not dead, but he has no evidence so far that the merman understands him, and handing him a seemingly-dead egg to inspect just feels cruel.

so, lwj continues to care for the egg by himself.

days, then weeks pass. lwj continues vigilantly caring for the egg. to his shock and delight, after a few weeks, he can see the little growing merbaby begin wriggling within the egg casing.

without really meaning to, lwj names him a-yuan.

the merman also seems to have gotten better; he goes back to driving larger and more desirable catches into lwj's nets, but he no longer gets himself caught to try and eat as much fish as possible.

instead, he glares and waits for lwj to drop him some fish.

now that lwj knows that he is taking care of eggs, he tries to provide good cuts when possible. he now knows why the merman demanded skin, roe, and belly meat of fish, so he goes back to providing those parts.

at least the merman is eating well.

then, one day, lwj looks overboard and sees—what he initially thinks is a doll's head, peeking out from under the waves.

it's no uncommon to see trash out in the ocean, unfortunately, so lwj thinks little of it other than how creepy it looks.

then the doll blinks.

to lwj's fascination (and a bit of horror), more little heads peek out of the water, watching him.

before he can freak out, the small creatures get yanked, one by one, back underwater. the dark red of the merman's tail briefly shines near the water surface before disappearing.

lwj retreats into his cabin. the creatures just now looked human enough—but clearly aren't human. they are so small. their heads were no larger than lwj's own fist. they are far too small to be human babies.

so, they must be the merman's children. they've hatched.

((credit for Smol mermaid bbehs goes to @/edgy_on_purpose, whose art of merwangxian with teeny tiny bby captured my heart and made me cry for half an hour pls go to their art post and like and retweet))

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lwj goes to the tank where a-yuan's egg is. he can see him moving around inside, but there are no signs of hatching.

perhaps lwj had sewn the egg casing back together too tightly? but, no—he hadn't cut at natural break points.

"Take your time," he murmurs. "There is no rush."

as the days go by, lwj notices that the merman is more cagey—which is understandable, considering that he has babies to care for now.

he continues to feed the merman and watch as the merman tears the fish into smaller pieces for the babies.

at first, lwj has no idea how many there are, until the colors on their tails start to come in. there are varying shades of black, and grey, and red tails. he counts seven total babies.

if a-yuan hatches—*when* a-yuan hatches—he will be lucky number eight.

the mer-babies, despite the merman's best efforts, are inherently curious. the merman stashes them away on the boat's ledges whenever he goes hunting, and it's not unusual for lwj to suddenly spot seven innocent pairs of wide, grey eyes peeking at him from the deck's edge.

they are, admittedly, very cute.

lwj doesn't touch them. the merman might reject them if he smells human on them, but as the days go by, they grow bolder.

it isn't long until they are exploring the boat, pulling themselves along, wriggling like little caterpillars on the deck.

at that point, lwj has no choice. he has to pick them up and either guide them back into the water or splash water on them. they're far too young to understand the dangers of heatstroke or sunburn. but it's so hard to keep an eye on seven babies.

at one point, lwj experimentally feeds small strips of fish to the babies, and—oh, no—suddenly they are deliberately climbing onto the deck and begging for food from lwj with wide, pleading eyes and soft squeaks.

it's all very cute, unfortunately.

as the days go by, a-yuan still shows no signs of hatching. he is still active within his egg, so lwj knows he's alive, but he makes no attempt to break through.

lwj remains patient. there is no need to rush these things. he trusts a-yuan to hatch when he is ready.

then, one morning, lwj checks on the tank as he usually does and is stunned to see a-yuan wriggling far more than usual.

he sets aside his cup of tea fast enough to make the tea slosh out. he didn't care. he is entirely focused on a-yuan.

a-yuan is clearly struggling. his tiny hands—chubby little fingers barely even nubs—claw at the egg's seam in vain.

lwj can't help him—not yet. hatching is so important. a-yuan must do it himself.

so he can only watch with a pounding heart as a-yuan fights to hatch.

it's clear that a-yuan is tiring, but lwj can't take his eyes off of him. "Rest if you need to," he hears himself say, "we can wait. There is no hurry…"

miraculously, a-yuan doesn't rest. he continues to headbutt and claw at the egg seam until—incredibly—a small rip appears.

lwj watches, heart in his throat, as a-yuan wriggles his way through the opening, tearing it further open. a-yuan is exhausted, and the egg keeps catching on the tiny fins near his waist.

now lwj can help. carefully, he reaches into the water and cradles a-yuan in his hand.

a-yuan is so, so, so much smaller than his siblings. he's barely the size of lwj's palm. and yet, he curls up in lwj's hand, pressing into the warmth.

lwj gently pulls the rest of the egg sac off. "There we go," he murmurs. "Well done, A-Yuan."

with a-yuan fully free, lwj can finally look at him. to his great surprise, a-yuan's tail is not grey, black, or red like his siblings'—it's white, with the faintest hint of blue.

lwj doesn't know what to make of that. maybe a-yuan's other parent was a white-tailed mermaid.

nonetheless, he cannot deny the joy in his soul. he cradles the baby—his baby—in his hands, rocking him slowly as a-yuan falls into a light, exhausted slumber.

"Welcome to the world, A-Yuan," lwj says softly. "You've had quite the journey to make it here."

caring for a-yuan becomes an additional full-time job. he is so small, and his mouth is so tiny, that he requires constant, careful feeding with a pipette. to ensure the freshness of the food, lwj doesn't cut up the fish until feeding time.

naturally, he spends less time with the rest of a-yuan's siblings.

the first few days go. then, one early morning, lwj hears the faintest of scratching and patting on the cabin door.

he opens it. there's no one.

he looks down. seven pairs of grey eyes look back up at him.

they are still small—barely longer than lwj's hand—but they look massive compared to a-yuan, who can still curl up comfortably in lwj's palm.

lwj picks them all up in his arms and takes them inside. "Look." he brings them over to the tank. "It's your new brother."

at first, the babies' attentions are on lwj, making soft, attention-demanding squeaking noises and pushing tiny hands at his clothes. but the moment they spot a-yuan through the glass, it's as if they completely forget about lwj.

they crowd as close to the glass as they can, nearly falling out of lwj's arms. seven little pairs of hands press against the glass; lwj can see seven little pairs of eyes filled with wonder in the glass reflection.

a few of them making clicking noises, like echolocation.

a-yuan, who has been practicing swimming (or, more accurately, being gently pushed around by the water pump; but he's trying!) stops. he wriggles as hard as he can, eventually drifting close to the glass.

he's less coordinated and ends up smooshing his face against the glass.

the merbabies in lwj's arms explode in an excited flurry of clicks, squeals, and squeaks as they crowd the tank, leaving wet smudges on the glass as they try to get as close to a-yuan as possible.

a-yuan startles a little, but remains close and curious.

it occurs to lwj that a-yuan can't hear them. he places the babies in a tray, fills it with seawater, and places it on the table. then he gets a bowl to carry a-yuan in.

a-yuan is still too small to support himself above water, so lwj holds him.

the babies are so excited that they nearly tip the tray over. one even falls out, landing on the table with a small 'oof!'. lwj hurries to put them back in the tray.

a-yuan can't vocalize yet, but he listens to his siblings with wide, wide eyes.

the babies are so riveted by a-yuan—and a-yuan seems so open to interacting with them—that lwj completely forgets that the merman is out hunting and expects his babies to be exactly where he left them before.

the babies' squeaks and chatter are so loud that lwj doesn't hear the merman's frantic baying outside as he calls for babies who are not responding.

lwj is so preoccupied ensuring the babies are adequately hydrated that he only turns his head when he hears his door open.

now the merman might not understand much about the human world, but he understands this:

one—his babies are here.

two—lwj is also here.

three—this is the room lwj uses to kill his catches.

four—his babies are here, in this room that lwj reserves for killing fish, with lwj.

the merman lets out a horrifyingly shrill shriek, the spiny fins at the sides of his face and body flaring out.

lwj claps his hands over his ears, trying to shut the bone-raking sound out.

the merman crawls alarmingly fast across the floor, reaching lwj in seconds.

lwj knows that those fins contain venom; he cannot afford to be injured.

immediately, he climbs onto a table, only for the merman's tail to swipe out and easily crunch through the table's legs.

lwj automatically rolls to break his fall, getting back on his feet.