Finders Keepers?
Crab sized Marcus X Gender neutral reader
You go looking for seashells on a hot day and find something way more interesting.
Once again feedback is appreciated and tell me if you see spelling errors.
Also! This is the design I am writing about if you want to keep that in mind, or don’t! make up your own Crab Marcus!
It was a hot day, the sun seemed to be doing its best to cook the entire shore line. However, for you it was perfect. It had better be hot if you were going to walk up and down the coast looking for seashells. A simple dip into deeper waters could easily cool you off if you got too hot, and sometimes you would find better shells in the deeper parts. Even if the weather had been a little unpleasant, you had no care in the world considering the haul you were getting.
A couple clam shells, a dozen turret shells, some pretty angel wings, a handful of rose petal shells, and even some elusive sand dollars. All of them in pretty good condition, hell you could maybe make some into a pretty necklace. That would require more seashells however, and you were determined to bring home at least two bucket fulls, and right now you were only halfway full with one of them. Which meant you still had a little ways to go.
You kept your eye out and your neck angled down as you searched the sand, and then your eye caught something. Something very shiny. In awe you crouched down to get a better look. The shell was a beautiful navy blue covered in specks of gold. Its texture looked like it was smooth except for some little golden spikes that freckled the shell. Ecstatic at the pretty find you reach down and rip it from the sand it was buried in.
Only to have it start screaming. It startled you so bad that you half dropped it only to catch it in your other hand. As you looked down you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. It was a little half-man, half-crab, or half-lobster. The shell that you were so entranced by connected to the top half of a man with wet black hair. Carefully you flipped the little man over in your hand turning him so you could see his front half. You didn’t know what to expect at this point but you weren't expecting the man-crab to have a little mustache, or sideburns for that matter. His eyes were brown with little flecks of purple in them, and they were staring wide back at you.
That's when you noticed that he wasn't really moving, he was shaking in place but frozen looking up at you. Panicking, you gently placed him in your empty bucket, hoping that you didn’t just kill the tiny creature. Staring down at him you wondered out loud,
“What are you?” That seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in, because suddenly he was on his little lobster legs and screeching up at you.
“Let me out of here right now!” You couldn’t help but snort at the aggressive order. “Wipe that look off your face and release me!” he barked out. You couldn't stop the laugh that came out of you. He was so adorable for some reason in his angered state. “Don’t you dare laugh! Put me back into the water or so help me-”
“You'll what?” you giggled, “Can you even get out of there to get me?” He clearly couldn’t, but you wanted to see him try. He sputtered in response, and started to try and climb up the smooth plastic. His little legs scurried, and his clawed hands scratched at the side to no avail. He even hopped a little bit, hoping he could get up closer to the edge. He let out a small little whine when he realized he couldn’t escape by himself. You smiled sadly down at him. “I don’t know what you are, but you are definitely cute.” This only furthered his frustration.
“I am NOT cute! And for the last time, let me out damn it!”
“Hmmm…” Like a curious kid who just caught a fish, you didn’t want to let him go quite yet. You had no idea if you would ever get to see someone like this ever again. “You know what,” you smirked, “I found you, I might as well keep you!”
“WHAT?” He screeched.
“Yeah, you are a pretty little guy, and I don’t want to put you back just yet.” His face went pale as you lifted the bucket up and he lost his balance as you held it in one of your arms.
“No,” He whispered “No no no no no, you- you can’t take me!”
“Don’t worry!” you cheerfully giggled, picking up your other bucket and walking towards the roads that led to home, “Since we can talk to each other, you can tell me what you like to eat and I can give it to you. Oh! You can tell me what you find entertaining and-” You stopped your rambling when you looked down at the little man and saw his pleading eyes staring back up at you.
“Please,” his voice was shaky and his eyes looked wet. His arms outstretched to you in a plea, “I'm begging you, put me back in the ocean, I-” One of his hands went to his face, wiping his eyes. He looked back up at you, tears visible in his eyes, “I h-have a daughter, I’m the only one she has, please,” As you stared down at the poor crying man, you felt every ounce of you fill with guilt. Why did you think you could just steal him away from his home? He was clearly intelligent and it would make sense that he couldn’t just be taken from his home. From his family.
“Hey,” you said softly as you put your shell bucket down so you could reach into his, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, I didn’t even think about what or who I would be taking you away from,” You lowered your hand into the bucket and gently rubbed his wet cheek with your finger, “Please forgive me, I’ll put you back right now ok?” He nodded his head as he took your finger in his little blue hands.
“Can you get me out of this bucket? It’s rather claustrophobic.” You smiled down at him.
“Of course.” You lowered your hand further into the bucket and he climbed into the palm of your hand. You lifted your hand out of the bucket and brought him into the sun. As you walked back down to the shore line you watched the little man swing his head around wildly, looking at his surroundings from his new point of view. You wondered if he had ever been out of the ocean, or ever this high up.
“I am sorry, again,” you whispered to him as you crouched down at the waves, “I guess I just got too excited at the sight of you. You are really pretty and unique.” You lowered your hand and he slowly scuttled onto the wet sand. He looked over his shoulder back up at you,
“Thank you…for putting me back… and apologizing, I guess…”
“Um… before you go,” you nervously mumbled, “What, what do you call yourself,” He turned back to the water, and then back to you.
“I’m Marcus,” without another word he darted back into the water and disappeared beneath the waves. You watched him go with an open mouth. You meant to ask what he was called, a creature like him, half-crab half-man. However, you couldn't help but smile that you knew something personal about him. His name, Marcus, and the fact he had a daughter. How adorable. Staring out to sea you pondered if it was possible that you would see him again, or if this was a once in a lifetime experience. Just as you were about to get up, you saw a piece of shell sticking up from where Marcus had run into the water. Gently you picked it up, it was a tulip shell. Not just an ordinary one either, it was a sky blue with blotches of white, and brown bands spiraling around it. A rare find. You smiled down into your hands, even if you never saw him again, you at least had something to remember him by.