#merman!erik

[phantastichomos]

Inktober 2016: Day 5 - MINE

(I know, I know, these are suppose to be quickly inked things.. not four hour pieces of copic madness. I need to be stopped.

It feels neat revisiting that merman!au again after- what? two years now?? lol but I at least made it a bit more dark for halloween. Drawing those claws was far too delightful to be healthy~)

[typical-trope]

I am not an exile

Summary: Erik is thrown overboard into frigid waters. His natural mer form and a stranger bring him to a safe place.

Rating: G

Warnings: emetophobia

All he felt was the cold sting of the water as he was shoved overboard into the sea. His legs melded immediately and his feet became one large fin, but that didn’t mean he was equipped for these temperatures. He was Atlantian. Not meant for such harsh degrees. He had tried explaining that no merman could handle such cold climates. He had been ignored. The scientist had at least attempted to convince the government to do tests, but it had been in vain, and now Erik was struggling to breathe with a shocked nervous system. His gills felt frozen, and he could barely move his flipper from where it had wrapped protectively against his torso. There was no chance his arms would budge either.

If he had been fully aware of his surroundings, rather than trying to convince his brain to tell his body to uncurl, he may not have been so shocked at the warm blanket of seaweed suddenly encasing him, impeding any hope of movement he may have convinced himself to make. It was a small price to pay for the provided warmth, though. A series of accented chirrups sounded next to his ear. They were difficult to translate, especially after being so accustomed to human languages. “You’re going to be ok,” the mer assured, even as he propelled them both deeper, into colder depths, until the chill suddenly broke, and they were encased in warmth from a deep sea vent in a connection of caves. Erik’s body gasped at the sudden change, and he threw off the suddenly oppressive jacket. “Breathe, my friend. You’re safe now.”

“Where am I?” the man asked, looking around the bioluminescent lit room. And it was definitely a room. Not some unfinished, primitive cave dwelling.

“Near the Antarctic coast. I hope you knew that much before you were shoved so unceremoniously off your ship.” The mer didn’t appear pleased with those actions. Not that Erik could blame him. Humans weren’t well liked by the mer, for good reason. Erik hadn’t chosen to be a part of their system.

“How did you find me so quickly?” he asked, avoiding his thoughts of his captors. He finally turned to look at his rescuer, and tried to keep his lips from pressing together in disappointment. The stranger was a man with brown hair long enough to ripple in the heat. His tail and torso were short, but he didn’t possess the svelte frame of an Atlantian. His torso was trunk-like with fat. The presence of which likely made him more comfortably situated in the freezing climate.

Erik’s displeasure was taken in stride, as the man blushed and wrapped himself in the abandoned jacket. “I wouldn’t have, normally, but it was my turn to hunt, and I’m more curious than my fellow mer. I heard your vessel and was trailing you. Good thing, too. You didn’t even release a distress call.” The man picked up a tray and brought it over. “You should eat something. The shock will be working through your system now, and you don’t have much to lose.”

“This is fish,” Erik stated, glaring at the offered platter.

“Of course it is. You need the protein to survive at these temperatures. Besides, even before I was exiled Atlantians were starting to consume Omega-3s. You can’t tell me they’ve regressed.”

Erik had frozen at the term exile. His fingers had been toying with a small slug, but he let it go in his mental shock. “Why were you exiled?” he asked, as collected as he could.

“Oh, don’t go elitist on me now. It wasn’t treason or murder. I just consorted too closely with a human. Hardly a danger to you, or very different. Those were definitely humans I saw pushing you over the side. Most of us are here for that reason, actually.” The man snatched the floating slug and offered it back to Erik. “You really should eat something, and these are fairly palatable.”

Erik felt the sneer of disgust touch his lips, but took the slug anyway. He wouldn’t die by his own hand if he could help it.

The slug was disgusting, and Erik had the sudden fear that he would starve to death. The man gave him an empathetic smile and poked at a plate of white fillets. “No more, please,” Erik gasped, fighting his stomach’s natural urges.

“Don’t worry, my friend. No more,” the mer promised, voice pulsing and flowing with the current. His already unfashionably long locks seemed to grow into reaching tendrils as black began to encase Erik’s vision. It was too late when he realized he should have let his body reject the poison.

[phantastichomos]

Hey look, I finally got off my fat ass and drew more for the Merman Au! :D That took, whut, three months? :D Hehe, I've drawn more, don't worry. This is just the first one of the batch to be coloured (and of course I started with the cute one) I think this one's a keeper, eh, Raoul?

[phantastichomos]

A sketch I did today for one of the merman au requests. I....really don't know what's going on here, but I like how it turned out XD tell me what you guys think and feel free to write out what the heck you think is going on in this scene, I'd love to hear your interpretations~<3

[phantastichomos]

I had to post this, it's awesome. Thank you to the wonderful anon who blessed my inbox with it~<3 But, seriously, holy crap you guys love the merman AU. I have received sixteen, SIX-FREAKING-TEEN, requests for it out of the thirty three art requests I got in total. (Which is also, wow, i'll get cracking on those drawings! I'm so happy there's that big of a demand for Erik/Raoul period.)