Omg @gemini-sensei I'm thinking about Poly! Mer!Daniel and Mer!Amanda who falls for a lone fishermen woman.
Reader believes in mermaids and mermen even though all the other fishing boats don't. She believes that are out in the California waters. She doesn't care if they don't believe her, be just has a feeling they are out there.
One day she has to go farther out, pushing the boundaries of the fishing border. The tides are pushing out huge schools of fish. And she definitely needs the money. So she drives out to a more secluded area she has heard talk about. Known for being more quiet and packed with fish.
She's out for hours trying to bag some fish. Throwing multiple nets. She's lucky enough to get just over her normal catch.
She grins as she starts to haul up her last fill net of the day before she heads back to the docks. Hoping to sell off her load by mid-day.
But then suddenly her net feels heavy, way heavier than it should for just some fish. She fusses with the net trying to get it back into her tiny boat. Her back aches as she pulls.
Then as she pulls it up something slaps out of the water inside the net. Hitting her hand and flailing about.
It's a giant purple and amber tail fin!
She instantly drops the net and falls back into the boat. Her but meeting the hardwood of the boat floor. She's so taken aback but she gets up and looks down at where the net fell. She has no idea what going on but she knows something is wrong. She'd quick to pull out her pocket knife and hack away at her net. She sadly sacrifices one of her nets to free whatever creature is stuck in her net. As she cuts she feels terrible, accidentally snagging the poor thing.
Once the net is cut wide open the creature makes a break and goes straight down into the dark waters below. Not even attempting to surface. Reader is stuck standing there for a few minutes. In complete shock about what just unfolded. She didn't get a good look but she knows that she just witnessed SOMETHING unknown.
After a few minutes she finally gets herself back together.
She grabs a few of her fish, ones that are definitely gone by this point. She places them on some near by rocks in a pile. On clear display. She shouts out to no one in particular.
“I'm so sorry for getting you hooked up and stuck in my net! I hope I didn't hurt you by accident, I didn't know you were down there. I'll try not to do it again. But be aware because of the tides going out more people are coming out here to fish. There will be more nets out here with en the week! Please take my offering as an apology gift! I'm sorry once again!”
Once she retrieves her ruined net she heads back in to the docks.
She doesn't even notice Sam who picks at the pike of fish. Ripping into one before taking the rest back home to her parents. Who she later explains what happened.
Daniel and Amanda are upset at first, at the fact their daughter was out in the open water but also the fact she ended up caught in a net. But when Sam explains the woman apologized and even warned her of the threat of more fishing boats, even the fish she shows them that the woman offered as a gift. The couple is questioning at this point. After a long talk between them they decide to venture out the next few days to see if they could get a look at this woman.
The next day they go out and happen upon Reader’s boat. In the exact spot Sam told them about. They watch as she goes about throwing the nets out, pulling them back up, and repeating this process over and over again. Both of them are captivated by her. She's beautiful for a human in their eyes.
She's soft and round unlike most merfolk. So different, so exhilarating. Just from afar they wish to touch her and caress her, to feel her up close. They stay for hours just watching her work.
They take note that before she leaves she places a pile of fish on a rock. Then she is off I'm the boat driving away.
The fish an obvious gift to their daughter.
They rip into the fish, all while hoping that she will return and they may have the opportunity to greet her.