🐬
The boy glowered at the glass, his piercing blue eyes made all the more fierce by his feral cat-like pupils. He refused to come out of the shadows, but he was down in the tank for far longer than any free-diver should have been able to be. There were no signs of an oxygen mask, and it was unlikely that the boy had brought one with him, as he was unclothed as far as could be seen.
He opened his mouth, as if to growl, and barred several rows of sharp, shark-like teeth before sulking back into the shadows even father than before.
After a moment, the boy came out of the inky darkness only to slam into the glass with tremendous force, causing it to shake. It was only in this moment that the feathery tail could be seen, trailing after him like a banner. From the waist down the boy blended seamlessly from human to fish, splotched red and black and orange on white much like a carp. Deep gash-like gills on his sides opened and closed rhythmically, straining air from the water. Partially hidden in his wild hair were long fin-like ears which also tapered off into his skin in a scatter of black scales.
As he glided through the water, looping back and away from the glass, he was beautiful and breathtaking. But the signs of a hard life were present if one looked close. His lacy fins were tattered slightly, and something red bloomed in small patches along the length of his fin. His arms and back were crossed with old scars, some long and ragged and others rounded and clearly from a large predator.
After looping back into the shadows, the merman glided by the glass again, still glaring daggers at the one behind the glass.
