#hermaids

[minecraft-skele]

HEAR ME OUT!!! HERMAID AU!!!!!

[cloud-craft]

Joe’s Horribly Kept Secret

Word Count: 776 Words

Hermaid Au

Iskall grunted around the screwdriver in his mouth, hands preoccupied with the wires in front of him. He had to work fast to get the electricity back up, or everything will get messed up quickly. A sigh of relief escaped him as the lights turned back on and the hum of electronics surrounded him. He quickly cleaned up the small mess he made and shut the panel. Spitting out the screwdriver, he stood up and stretched.

The distant sounds of rain and thunder accompanied him on his walk around the aquarium. The Swede checked everything to make sure everything was working smoothly. It’s a good thing they finally got enough funds for a backup generator. Big storms like this one used to really screw up their whole business.

Iskall rounded the corner to the back, pausing when he heard the sounds of someone struggling. Continuing, he saw Joe struggling to pull a cooler behind him. While Iskall couldn’t see what was inside, the fact Joe had it made him suspicious.

“What do you have there?” Iskall asked, walking up.

Joe paused, blinking up at Iskall. “Oh Iskall my good friend. It’s nothing to worry about. “

Iskall looked at his friend, squinting slightly before shrugging. “Okay. Do you want any help?”

Joe seemed to consider the offer for a moment before shaking his head. “I got it all under control Iskall. “

Iskall just nodded again before stepping back. He watched Joe struggle a bit longer before he figured it out and managed to pull it along further. He gave a salute to Iskall before continuing on his way.

Iskall stayed still for a moment, trying to process what just happened. While it wasn’t the weirdest thing Joe has done, it was up there. Man just doesn’t show up with a cooler during a big thunderstorm. But he couldn’t dwell on it too long. Gotta continue his checks. So he moves on, heading into the employee only areas.

It wasn’t until he neared the med wing he saw something even more suspicious. One of the bigger operating rooms, ones used for seals and the like, was closed. Iskall paused outside it, listening for anything amiss between the sounds of the storm above. There was the slight sounds of metal tools, but nothing else. It was probably nothing, someone might just be organizing the tools for Joe. But the interaction earlier made that seem unlikely.

So Iskall knocked. It was a short and simple knock. And immediately following it he heard a muffled swear and the sound of metal. There was a pause afterwards before Joe’s voice came through the closed door. “What is it?”

“Just checking on you dude. Is everything okay?” Iskall had to raise his voice slightly over the sounds of the storm.

There was no answer for a few beats, making Iskall even more suspicious. Finally Joe responded. “Yeah everything’s fine. Just cleaning up. I’ll be out and about in a little bit.”

He was definitely hiding something. That much Iskall knew. But he also knew he wouldn’t be getting any answers, so he just said his goodbyes and moved on. Maybe he should get Stress to ask him. She usually can get an answer out of anyone.

He was pulled out his his thoughts by the operating room door opening behind him. Iskall quickly ducked behind a pillar, peaking out enough to see just what was going on. He watched as Joe walked out of the room, towing the cooler behind him. The lid was partially open, with what looked to be octopus tentacles spilling out. Joe quickly went back into the room, leaving the cooler.

That is what he was hiding? An octopus? Iskall’s curiosity grew until he felt propelled to walk forwards. Joe didn’t seam to hear him come, preoccupied with cleaning the operating room. Iskall slowly and carefully lifted the lid and held back a scream as he saw what was inside.

Laying in a small amount of water was a women. And from what Iskall could tell, she had no legs but the lower half of an octopus. She was unconscious, with bandages wrapped around her stomach.

“Please tell me I’m dreaming” Iskall couldn’t seem to look away from the finding in the cooler. His eye must be playing tricks on him. There’s no way this was real. He heard a gasp next to him and was finally able to peel his gaze away.

He looked up to see Joe standing in the doorway, panicked. “This isn’t what it looks like I swear.”

Iskall took a shaky breath, staring Joe dead in the eye. “Then tell me what it is”

[andesite-slabs]

It’s Hard to Rescue Someone When You’re a Spoon

fic I wrote at 1 AM for @cloud-craft’s Hermaid au, which is very very good and if you don’t look into it die by my sword jk lol

Wels stifled a yawn as he lazily walked the aquarium grounds. The day was slowly winding down, and golden rays filtered their way through the roof-top windows. They would begin locking up within an hour or so, which Wels was looking forward to. Ever since Cleo had been brought by Joe to the aquarium, he hadn’t been getting his best night’s sleep. The security guard anxiously shifted on his feet at the thought. It had been a week since Joe brought an actual mermaid to the aquarium, and six days since he’d been told by Joe and Doc of her existence, but he was still shell-shocked. Apparently mermaids were real, and there were more of them just existing, secret and hidden, just below the waves. It felt like too big of a secret for a small group like them to handle, especially as he was responsible for keeping people out of the staff areas here. He once again pulled out his phone and opened the private app which connected to the security camera footage, swiping to the staff wing camera which showed the medbay door. Still locked. Wels let out a sigh and slipped the phone back into his pocket, returning to scanning the room. Nothing had changed, a few families walking abou- his eyes did a double take.

Standing by the adjacent wall was an almost unnervingly tall man with a dark mustache. He wore a white dress shirt and loafers without socks. Most unusual, though, was the large, heavy gray fur he wore (it’s summer!!???) enveloping his form like a cloud. His hair was wet, probably from sweat, and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets. Wels blinked, before bringing out his phone again and opening the staff group chat.

    WelsKnight: Hey, has anyone else see the guy in the huge fur coat?

    WelsKnight: I think he’s gonna use it to smuggle stolen gift-shop merchandise in it @Zedaph

    Welsknight: As there isn’t any other reason to wear a coat in this weather

    @joehills: I can say my eyes did spy this guy you’re talkin about

    @joehills: I asked if he was worried about heat stroke and he said he was fine

    Falsesymmetry: wait who? Ive got admission duty this afternoon and I didnt see anyone with a fur coat walk in

    Zedaph: i didnt see him either, does he look like there’s snow globes in his coat?

    Falsesymmetry: what does he look like

    Welsknight: The man with the fur coat and the mustache, you didn’t notice him?

Wels looked up from their screen to look back at where the man was standing, but he was gone. He paced over to the next room over, hoping to catch him walking away, but he had completely vanished. Worriedly, he opened up his camera app and flipped through the screens, looking for where the stranger was. It was probably just his nerves getting to him, that’s all. Nothing, nothing nothing.. wait.

The medbay door was ajar. He quickly reached for his key ring, only to find the cold metal was no longer at his hip.

    Falsesymmetry: nope didn’t see him

    Welsknight: Hey @everyone did anyone leave the medbay door open y/n?

    Falsesymmetry: no?

    @joehills: that isn’t right

    Docm77: n

    @joehills: no one should be in there right now

    Stressmonster: No, nobody is I believe?

    Iskall85: yeah were all preparing to close soon

    @joehills: Wels?

    WelsKnight: Can somebody meet me outside the medbay door stat?

    WelsKnight: My keys are missing.

---------------------------------------------------------

Mumbo took a deep breath, and then another, and then another. He decided that maybe he could keep on taking deep breaths forever and then one day he would die without having to go inside the aquarium ever and everything would be fine. But he felt guilty, he knew that being the only one with a shift-form he was the only one who could safely check the aquarium and make sure Cleo wasn’t in there. She probably wasn’t, though everyone feared the worst. So he decided he should probably check it out. Nobody asked him too, but they were probably all thinking it, and it would be really bad if no one found her after a week of her being missing. So he found himself swimming towards the coast, and eventually behind the aquarium, breathing in and out. Stalling, probably wasting valuable time, judging by the setting sun. With one final breath, Mumbo shifted into his full otter form and crawled through the vent-space he’d found, ignoring his fast-beating heart.

The next few minutes went by very fast, and he felt like he was running on autopilot. He managed to get into the building through an indoor-outdoor pool which housed some sleeping turtles, and thankfully emerged into an empty room. He began sneaking around the building, hiding under ledges and between chair legs. He managed to snag a set of keys from a tired looking employee, how he managed he didn’t know. The adrenaline kept him moving, pushing the possibility of getting caught to the pack oh his mind. He hid behind a wall and, after looking for any cameras or people, shifted back into human form, pocketing the keys within his coat so they wouldn’t jingle. Walking back out, he saw the guard look up, and quickly diverted his eyes. He needed to get done here, fast. Mumbo turned a corner and began to speed-walk away from the room, following a sign which read “staff only.”

He listened and looked under each door, cautiously looking behind him to make sure the coast was clear. Most rooms were unlocked and empty, though a few with the lights shining through he made sure to avoid until he had no choice. Halfway down the hall, he turned to open the medbay door only to find it locked, which certainly seemed odd. Wouldn’t you need immediate access to this room in case of an emergency? Sighing, he reached for the keys in his pocket and quietly fit one into the lock, hearing it click to his surprise. Pausing a moment, he braced himself and turned the handle, cracking open one eye to peer into the room.

The room was large yet cramped, with a white-square floor and countertops with organised tools upon them. A few cabinets lined the walls, and several water-fill glass tanks resting on the floor, including one central large one which contained…

“...Cleo?”

Cleo stares back at him shocked, only her tentacles moving in the water. He noticed a long strip of gauze wrapped around her waist.

“Mumbo? What, how are you here? Why are you here, for goodness sake?” She whispered.

“Well you were gone for so long, and no one heard anything from you! We were all worried, and we’d already checked everywhere else you could be in the ocean, so I decided that I should maybe check here, just to be safe.”

“Ok, but Mumbo I-“

“So I managed to sneak in and I don’t know how but there was a guard and I stole his keys and I’m not sure if he noticed so I just ran in a direction.”

“Mumbo.” Cleo tried to interrupt.

 “And eventually I got to the staff area and I looked through the cracks underneath the doors and I wasn’t sure which ones were safe to go in or not. And at this point what I was doing was definitely against the rules so I began to panic more and I wasn’t sure if anyone would be coming but-

“Mumbo! Shut up, I-“

The cephalopod mer’s yell-whisper was cut off by the sound of the door to the medbay creak open.

Standing outside the doorway were Wels, Stress, and Joe, all looking in worriedly. Joe was the first to walk in, lightly pushing past the others towards a frazzled Cleo.

“Cleo, Wels saw that the door to the medbay was open, and we came as fast as we all could. Is everything alright?” He gave a glance around the room, scanning for any other person but saw the room to be empty of intruders.

Cleo pauses a moment, considering her choices. On one hand, she knew she had already broken a big rule, accidentally telling the aquarium staff about the existence of mermaids. Telling them the names of specific mermaids probably wasn’t great too, and she knew Mumbo at least had a chance of hiding this out if she lied.

On the other hand she’d had a really shit week, and this would probably be funny. Sorry Mumbo.

Cleo crosses her arms, leaning against the rim of her tank. “No, actually, everything is not alright. This room has been broken into.”

(Mumbo could feel the gears turning in his head, but not correctly, like an engine running on overdrive about to break.)

Wels stepped it. “Was it a man in a fur coat? What happened, did they see you?”

“Oh no,”’she sighed, pretending to faint. “It’s so much worse!” The mer pointed dramatically towards the floor, everyone following her finger to underneath Joe’s cluttered desk.

“Behold, the dastardly culprit!”

Stress walked over, kneeling to get a better view. The others craned their necks in anticipation.

“Oh?” Stress reached into the space, shuffling for a few moments before standing up and turning around. A cheerful smile spread across her face as she revealed a very still otter in her arms. “False alarm guys, one of the otters just managed to sneak in here somehow!” Cleo has to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

Wels sighed in relief, letting the tension leave his clenched fists. “Oh, well that is certainly better than what I was expecting. I wonder how it got out, though. And that doesn’t explain what happened to my keys. Did someone unlock the door?”

Joe looked at Cleo, who was struggling to hide her grin beneath her hand. It wasn’t hard to piece two and two together. “Is something else going on, Cleo?”

The octopus mer held off a moment, before letting her giggles come through and wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh my god, this is so evil. Mumbo I’m so, so sorry but the past week has been kind of garbage and this was too good to pass up.” She sighed the rest of her chuckles away, resting her arms on the tank rim. All eyes turned towards the otter in Stress’ arms, who after a moment quickly set it down on the nearby desk.

“I’m.. guessing this isn’t a normal otter, then?”

“No, he isn’t. Mumbo you didn’t let me tell you, this is important.” She looked at Mumbo, who seemed to think if he stood still enough everyone would forget about him. A serious look filled her face. “They..know about us.”

“...What?”

Joe took a step back. “There’s magical talking otters too. They exist and we’re officially in a Disney movie now. Honestly I’m not sure why I am surprised, this seems like the next logical step.”

“Does Doc know about this too?” Asked Wels.

Cleo shrugged. “Hope not, cause that’s not what this is. Kind of. This is silly, can you just show them Mumbo?” she pleaded.

The otter paused a moment, before reaching its paws towards its neck in a very human-like way. Suddenly a faint swirl of mist enveloped him, before whooshing away, revealing a tall man with a mustache, hands nervously holding the collar of a large fur coat. Wels pointed a finger. “It’s him, that’s the man I saw earlier!”

Mumbo slid off the table, plunging his hands deep into his pockets. “I.. I hate this.” He turned towards Cleo. “You told them about this, about all of us?” He grasped at his hair, eyes in worried panic. “How could you, Cleo? This is dangerous! This is horrible!”

“I was on tons of drugs! I didn’t know what I was saying or where I was!”

“You drugged her?!”

“She has a giant hole in her stomach, that's what you’re supposed to do!” Joe gestured towards the bandaging at Cleo’s hip.

“Besides,” said Cleo, “even if I did tell them about the existence of mermaids, just now I said that they know about us, not all of us. If I hadn’t, you would have been the one to tell them just now!”

“Aaaaahhhguuhh!” Mumbo let out a frustrated yell towards the ceiling before hitting his head with the palm of his hand. “Stupid, oh my word I’m such a spoon.” He fell back into the side of the desk and rested his head in this hands, the room going quiet around him.

After a few moments, Stress piped up. “So, Mumbo, right? I’m guessing you're a friend of Cleo?” She gave a friendly laugh. “It’s nice to meet you!”

Cleo sighed and gave her friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

“I guess there’s going to have to be a lot more introductions soon.”

[cloud-craft]

Hi I can’t draw shrimp but here’s hermaid Evil X

[minecraft-skele]

Momboo

[cloud-craft]

Joe’s Horribly Kept Secret Pt.2

Word Count: 564

Joe bit his lip, looking between his friend and the girl in the cooler. After a painstakingly long minute he sighed. “I’ll explain everything. Just let me move her to a better tank first.”

Iskall just nodded, mind trying process what was in front of him. It was struggling to put together the pieces that were right there. But no amount of flimsily put together explanations he could come up with could really tell him what was going on. So he waited, watching Joe gently place the woman into a tank.

Joe seemed to stall for a moment, just staring at her. He took a deep breath and turned back to Iskall. “I guess you can tell by now, mermaids are real.”

That’s what broke Iskall. That one phrase forcibly put together the pieces for him and yet also seemed to pull them apart. That was nonsense, mermaids weren’t real. Weren’t they?

Joe seemed to see this internal struggle, placing a steadying hand on his friend’s shoulder. He didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t entirely shatter him.

The sound of a door opening drew both of their attention. Standing in the doorway to his office, Doc held a full coffee mug and seemed to be looking in their direction. It was hard to tell with the sunglasses n all.

Doc slowly took a sip from his mug, stepping closer to the two. When he was done, he looked between his coworkers and the tank. After a moment, he spoke. “Ah. You found another one.”

Both Iskall and Joe paused at that, confusion written on their faces. Iskall was the one who voiced it though. “What do you mean another one?!”

Doc didn’t respond, instead took another long sip from his mug. This prompted both Iskall and Joe to continue to ask questions, getting louder with each one. Doc matched the volume of the questions with an even louder and longer sip. After a few moments they calmed down, realizing they wouldn’t get an answer if kept yelling.

Doc stopped sipping, and put the mug down on a counter. “I mean, you found another one. Did you think there was only one?”

Iskall nodded while Joe shook his head. Iskall looked at the southerner in confusion. Joe have a sheepish smile. “She kinda told me about the others after the operation. Probably because of the painkillers she was on.”

The Swede took a long and deep breath, bridging his fingers together. “Okay so, there are mermaids. Does anyone else know?”

“Not that I know of. And that’s not going to last long. We need to tell the others or else they could freak out. It’s hard to hide something as big as a human. “ Joe said, glancing back at the mermaid.

Doc nodded “,but not everyone needs to know. Anyone who doesn’t work here will have to be in the dark about this. Including Cub.”

“Okay. But I’m not going to be the one to tell everyone. One of you can do it. I have to head home soon.” Iskall said, totally not giving an excuse to leave the conversation. Totally not.

“I can do it. I am the one who brought her here after all.” Joe looked at Doc who just shrugged before picking up his mug and taking another sip.

“Might want to do it soon, Wels is making his rounds.”

[cloud-craft]

y’all have any uhhhhhhhhhhhhh Architech Headcannons for how the trio act in this Au? (This TOTALLY isn’t Meme btw shhhhh)

Well, since two thirds of the Architechs are hermaids their dynamic is a bit different. They’re more pranksters than capitalists. But otherwise they’re pretty much the same.

[cloud-craft]

Full two page spread of the mermaid au!