hiii. Could I request some headcanons for Hisoka? Sfw/fluff. The reader is a child (killua and gon's age, and travels with them) and somehow got attached to him. Even though gon and killua find him super creepy and don't trust him, y/n doesn't find him off-putting at all and wants to hang out with him. Like at heavens arena, instead of being disgusted at his little show he put on, she was amazed he could do such things. Reader doesn't have a dad so he kind of takes that role in her eyes. She thinks he's really cool and follows him around when he's in the area. Reader is also training as an assassin (not quite as good as killua though) so she doesn't find his desire for killing scary. I just want some cute hc's between hisoka and his little admirer :)) it's okay if you don't feel comfortable writing this though. Thank you anyway!
“Are you a magician?”
Hisoka looked down in the direction from which the small voice came. It was a child who couldn't be more than thirteen years old. The same child who was staring at him for the last 2 hours.
Their eyes were wide and sparkled with anticipation.
“Not exactly, but I suppose I can do a bit of magic~” Hisoka smiled seeing your expression light up.
“Can you do a trick?!” You were bouncing up and down excitedly. You truly were a kid. Hisoka wondered how someone like you wound up taking the ex-
Someone bumped into Hisoka’s shoulder and kept moving. Interrupting his train of thought.
“Child you wanted to see a trick yes? As you wish~”
Within a few moments, the man who bumped into Hisoka, arms evaporated into flower petals. Immediately everyone backed away leaving just you Hisoka and the rude man on the floor.
Hisoka observed the look of fear and hatred on everyone’s face. Surely by now, even the child would stare at me the same way.
But he was wrong.
“That's so cool!” You were even more happy than before. Hisoka stared at you in disbelief but that look quickly turned to amusement. You were going to be a fun new toy for him to play with.
“I wanna do that too!” you whined tugging on his arm.
Hisoka bent down till he was able to make eye contact with you.
“You seem like a good kid. What's your name?”
“Y/n.”
“Y/n huh. You can call me Hisoka. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
__________
- For the rest of the exam you were glued to Hisoka’s side
- While others were running like crazy to catch up with the examinator you were riding his back
- Getting lost in the forest? Not a problem when Hisoka knows the way
- Need help finding your target? Hisoka already killed them.
- It wasn't until the end of the exam when you and Gon had to go help Killua that you left his side.
- The dynamic between you two would slowly grow into a father-and-daughter relationship.
Headcanons:
- Hisoka is the kind of guy who buys you ice cream after a long day of training
- Hisoka is the kind of guy to take pictures of everything you do
- Hisoka feels calmer going to sleep knowing you’re safe next to him
- Hisoka loves to make you laugh by doing tricks and tickling you
- Hisoka is the kind of guy to dress himself up in Princess outfits to make you smile
- When you are sad you have Hisoka wrapped around your finger.
- He does anything to make you feel better
- Becoming known as Hisoka’s child is both a blessing and a curse
- On one hand, everyone is afraid of you or wants to get on your good side
- On the other, those with a grudge against Hisoka would come to you
- Thankfully Hisoka is there to keep you out of harm
- Sometimes
- Despite his affection for you
- Hisoka won't hesitate to leave you stranded somewhere or beat you to a pulp to turn you into a “ripe fruit”
- When you do something wrong Hisoka would make you sit in a corner and eat your favorite dessert right in front of you
- Being Hisoka’s “child” means watching him do stupid things
- Like robbing a bank
- Killing sprees
- Singing off key
- Rizzing Illumi
- And giving weird looks to your friends. (gon and killua)
- When Hisoka has somewhere to be he likes to drop you off with Illumi or the Phantom troupe
- So they eventually become your aunts and uncles
- Your life with him is fun and chaotic
- You grow to depend on him for help, guidance, and attention
- And Hisoka learns to care for someone other than himself
Summary: A sailor named Gally stumbles across an injured mermaid. She then agrees to grant him a wish for his help.
Y/N was an absolute idiot. How she managed to get herself caught in that net she doesn’t know, okay she does, but it’s too embarrassing to even think about fully. The fact that she got distracted by an actual dolphin is such a childish mistake she never wants to think about it again. Knowing dolphins it probably led her into the net on purpose. So Y/N has been caught in nets before, she’s got out of them many times, that’s not her problem. Her problem is instead of the fishermen waiting to catch more fish in their net by leaving it in the ocean for a little while longer like most do, they started to pull the net to the surface as soon as they felt her stuck in it. That threw her off a bit, caused her to take a little longer to get free, she didn’t break surface of course but she got close enough to where they made her figure out and shot at her once they noticed she got free of the net. The harpoon sailed effortlessly through the water and caught her side. The long spear stuck but she used her claws to cut the shaft, the arrow however was jammed beneath the skin of her stomach and she’d be stupid to try to get it out here where there’s a chance she could get caught. Ignoring the pain she swims straight down, deeper into the ocean, far away from the boat trying to capture her. She ignores the pain as she examines her surroundings. She needs to figure out a plan and fast. She was bleeding so it won’t be long until she attracts predators. Although she could normally handle her own pretty well she was injured and she knew in her weakened state she wouldn’t survive a fight. She had a fleeting thought about racing home, but if something followed her there she could put the colony at risk. She knew they could win a fight but if she gave away their location they would be upset they had to move again. She couldn’t risk it. In a true act of desperation she heads straight to shore. She knew nothing big enough to take her down would be in that shallow of water. Her only worry was hiding from humans. She just needed time to think and take out the arrow so she could heal properly.
She swam as fast as she could to where she knew shore to be. She could feel herself growing tired the closer she got. Her version started to get spotty and she could feel her body getting weaker. Just a little bit more. She encouraged herself and pushes onward. She doesn’t give herself time to rest or even look around. She can’t take that chance. Finally she notices the bottom of the ocean getting closer, signifying she was near shore. She uses the last of her stretch to swim that much faster. Finally she breaks the surface and see the sky is dark, it’s night meaning she is least likely to run into humans at this time, she rushes to the sand. Until she using the top half of her body to crawl, unable to use her tail this close. Finally she stops and one hand goes to her wound and feels the arrow sticking out of her abdomen. Before she can gather the strength to pull it out she decides to take an actual rest for a moment, just a moment. The rest of her vision goes black and she doesn’t even try to fight the sleep that overcomes her.
Gally walked along the shore to clear his head. The guys were getting on his last nerves and he just needed some space. He walks for about 30 minutes one way, far from the dock and people. He sits on the beach and just looks out into the dark waters he can see the reflection of the moon in the ocean. He scans the area and freezes when he sees a lump on the beach. He can only make out a dark mass, the light of the moon not bright enough to help him see the shadow. He slowly makes his way closer thinking a manatee washed onto shore or something. Once he gets close enough to see a little better he can see it’s actually a girl, he can only see the top half of her body, the bottom half is submerged in the sea. Gally rushes closer and collapses onto the sand beside her. His hand goes to her neck and he sigh in relief when he feels a pulse. He notices her breathing is shaky like she’s having trouble but other than that she doesn’t move. He examines her and sees the problem, the tip of a harpoon is sticking out of her side.
“Jesus, who the hell throws a harpoon at a woman?” He whispers to himself. Thinking quickly he wonders if he should carry her to the town or if it would be faster to run to get help himself and rush back with a doctor. The thought pops into his head that this probably wasn’t an accident and if he leaves her here there is a real chance whoever did this to her might find her and finish what they started. That decides it and he gets to his feet and hooks his arms under her armpits to drag her out of the water fully. He doesn’t get far though because what he finds shocks the hell out of him. He falls flat onto his ass and uses his feet to push himself far away from the thing as fast as possible. The moment wakes her and she slowly starts to stir. What Gally thought was a young woman was actually anything but, her waist cuts off into a tail, an actual fishtail. The scales shimmer in the moonlight and reflect a glittery purple and the end fin was a lilac. Gally wondered for a moment if he was asleep, dead, or had gone batshit crazy. There was no way he was seeing an actual mermaid on the beach. Just then the girl opens her eyes and he can’t help but scream. Just then the creature face transforms; her cheekbones become sharper, her eyes go completely white making her pupils disappear, and she opens her mouth to reveal sharps fanglike teeth and it hisses loudly. Gally freezes and he gets the weirdest flashback to when he was a child and he was playing outside. When he was 7 he found a cat stuck under a fence, when he got close she hissed menacingly and swapped her claws at him. She scratched him pretty good and he bled out but he just waited until she calmed down enough for him to aid her. When he freed her she ran away. This creature reminded him of that cat, she was terrifying and could probably rip his head off with her teeth alone, but she was injured and scared, that’s where the hostility comes from.
Gally holds his hands palms up facing her to show he wasn’t trying to do anything funny. She has her sight trained on him.
“It’s okay, I’m just trying to help.” He doesn’t even know if she even understands him but he keeps his voice low and steady like an adult would talk to a skittish child. “It’s okay, your injured, I think I can help, I’m not gonna hurt you, it’s okay. I know you’re scared, I know you’re hurt, I know you want to get back in the water, so let me help you.” In the middle of his speech he slowly sits up and gets to his knees. By the end he slowly scoots towards her.
Her tail was still planted on the sand but her top half had twisted back towards him and her hands were planted on the sand. He knew with her injury it had to be painful but she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He understood but notices she doesn’t move as he gets closer. Her face stays the same, never going back to the calm regular face it was when she was sleeping except her eyes squint. He slides to the side of her so she can turn her body back forward and be in less pain. Once he has her facing back towards the sea and her body isn’t twisted painfully he stops again. A quick glance shows he’s right beside her tail but doesn’t move her hands from their upturned unthreatening position. He glances at the arrow again and tries to figure out how to get it out.
“I just want to help,” he reassures and she watches him, her mouth now shut but still just as intimidating. “Can you understand me?” He asks softly and waits. She continues to study him for a moment before nodding once and he fights back a gasp of surprise.
“Okay, we got to get that out of you,” he nods towards the weapon lodged in her side. “if you know any specific way I can help you I would like to know them now because my only plan is to pull it out, press down, and pray you don’t bleed out.” She stares at him for a moment and he still doesn’t move waiting for some kind of sign from the siren.
“Seaweed,” she says softly, her voice is small and smooth and it takes everything in him not to fall in his ass in shock that an actual mermaid can speak and said something to him.
“Seaweed?”
“I need a long piece of seaweed to wrap around me… it’ll help me heal.” It takes her a while to get the sentence out like it takes too much energy to talk. Gally nods and looks around the beach to try to find what she needs. A few feet into the water he notices a stack of rocks and knows there is a fair share of seaweed stuck on them. He stands and notices her tense beside him.
“Shit,” Gally says softly to himself. “Okay, this is probably going to hurt but please don’t bite my head off, okay?” She studies him in silence for a moment before nodding once. He slowly grabs the end of the arrowhead that is above her skin. She teases at the moment and he stays still for a moment. “Okay, now take a deep breath and I’ll pull on 3, okay?” She nods once. He takes a breath with her and starts to count. He only says 1 before pulling the arrow straight out as fast as he can. He hears a loud screech near his ear and he scurries out of the way from the sound.
“I’ll be right back,” he informs her before rushing towards the boulders. Before he hits the water he kicks off his shoes and slides his shirt over his head he decides to keep his pants on. He quickly gets in and it doesn’t take long for the water to hit the middle of his chest. He reaches the nearest rock and hauls himself up before scanning the area. It takes him a minute but he finds a few long pieces of seaweed wedged between rocks. He doesn’t know how much he needs but figures better safe than sorry. After he grabs threes long pieces he jumps back into the water and as fast as he can gets to shore. With his other hand he grabs his shirt and shoes and runs back towards her. He slows down as to not startle her again and drops to his knees quickly. He notices that her face went back to normal like how she looked while she was asleep. He tosses his shirt and shoes to the side not bothering to put either back on before holding his hand towards her and waits for her instructions. She takes the seaweed while managing not to touch him. She stares down at the wound and studies it for a moment. “Unless you have powers I don’t know about our only option is to pull it out.” She meets his eyes for a moment and y/e/c burns into his soul before she jerkily nods.
He nods back and slowly scoots closer to her. Once he was right beside her he can see the arrow is serrated making it harder and more painful to get out.
“You lied!” She screeches and he sees her face back to the terrifying face it was earlier.
“I know I’m sorry, I was trying to catch you off guard so you didn’t tense up.” He explains quickly and he looks down at the bloody arrow before dropping it and going to her side again. She calms down again and her face goes back while she grabs the seaweed. He holds it against her wound and she wraps it around her waist and ties the end. After she lays flat on the beach and takes a few deep breaths to calm down and Gally sits silently next to her waiting for his heartrate to go back to normal. Her eyes are closed now and he’s terrified to break the silence. After what feels like an eternity she opens her eyes again and turns to look at him.
“Can you… help me get into the water… not too deep just to feel the water… it’ll help me heal.” She speaks slowly and takes deep breaths between pauses. Gally nods before standing and trying to figure out how to move her to the water with the least amount of pain. He decides dragging her again is not a good idea.
“I’m going to pick you up,” he explains and she nods and he slowly carries her bridal style to the ocean.
“Stop here,” she orders and he slowly lowers her to the water. It’s not too deep but enough to keep her wet and his feet to be submerged. She stays seated and they fall back into silence again. He waits a few minutes just watching her staring down at her seaweed wrapped stomach.
“How- so how did this happen?” Gally finally asks and she whips her head up to glare at him, it scares him a little bit but not too much since her face doesn’t change again.
“Humans,” she spits the word like an insult. “I got caught in a net and when I freed myself they shot the harpoon at me.”
“Did they see you… like what you are?” He clarifies.
“I don’t know, I don’t think so, you humans confuse us a lot with others…” he nods remembering how not too long ago before he walked up to her he thought she was a manatee.
“So wha- what do I call you?” He wasn’t sure what exactly her species was referred as. He wasn’t sure if mermaid or siren were interchangeable. His only knowledge was horror stories exchanged among sailors on ships to scare the newbies. Even though he’s been working on the sea for 5 years he never had stories of his own. Hell he wasn’t even sure he believed in mermaids until this moment right now.
“We greet each other differently,” she says and he waits for her to explain but she never does. Instead she reaches for the seaweed and pulls it off. Gally is surprised to see her wound gone, only a light pink scratch remains but Gally can tell it will be gone in no time. She bends her tail to pull herself deeper into the oceans and Gally watches her unsure what to do. She gets to waist deep water for him but she’s laying down so only her head bops above the water.
“Y/N, that’s what you can call me,” she answers and he can feel his cheeks warm embarrassed.
“Y/N,” Gally tries the name and smiles kindly. “Well I’m Gally ma’am,” he introduces himself before holding out his hand; she looks at his hand in confusion. “Uh, you’re supposed to grab it and shake it up and down,” he explains while reaching for her hand. She watches him and once her grasps it he moves it slowly up and down. Her hand feels smooth but at first but when he moves a bit he can feel it snag like his hand is stuck. “It’s how humans greet each other,” he explains and she whispers his name softly to test it out and Gally ignores the shiver going down his spine.
“Thank you for your aid sailor Gally,” she says and he furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “I’m a siren, we can smell sailors from miles away,” she explains and her eyes flash all white for a moment before going back. “For helping me, I will grant you one wish, anything you desire is yours.” She explains and Gally sits there stunned for a moment trying to figure out what his wish would be. His mind was drawing a blank, the only thing he could think at the moment is he wanted to know more about Y/N, not just her species but her specifically.
“I don’t know…” he admits, “Can I take a day to think about it?” He asks and she studies him for a moment. She’s trying to figure out if it’s a trap or not.
“Fine, meet me here tomorrow night,” she says and he nods.
“What time?” He asks and she studies him before a moment before flashing her sharp teeth in a horrifying smile and turning her body and diving into the sea depths and disappearing. Gally sits stunned for a moment wondering what time he should come back tomorrow or if she was ever coming back, did he just lose out on a wish?
“You know you can’t return,” a fellow mermaid named Brenda warned.
____
Y/N explained to the colony what had happened to her and meeting the sailor.
“I offered him a wish in exchange for his help,” she explained.
“He could set up a trap for you when you return,” another explains.
“Don’t you think he would’ve attacked while I was injured if he wanted to do me harm? I can handle a human now that I am fully healed.”
“You give humans too much faith,” Brenda argues.
“I owe him a wish, that’s it.”
Y/N waits to the moon is high above the ocean before going to meet sailor Gally. It doesn’t take her long to swim to the same area but she takes a while to swim around the area before breaking the surface just to make sure he didn’t try to set up a trap. She spots the piles of rocks that Gally found the seaweed the night before and swims to it to use it as a shield to scope out the area before exposing herself. Her head lifts above and scans the area. She sees Gally laying on the beach staring at the stars and she takes a moment to just watch him, making sure no one else is with him.
_____
Gally decides his best bet is to go to the beach the same time he went yesterday and wait. He figures it would be empty by that time anyway like it was yesterday. He leaves the house and claims he’s going for walk. He leaves with only his jacket and a small blanket to rest on while he waits, he doesn’t know how long he’ll be there. Once he gets to the same spot he met Y/N he unfolds his blanket and sits as close as the water as he could get without hitting the tide. He slips his shoes and socks off again and scans the ocean waiting.
After she deems it safe she swims near shore and reveals herself. Gally doesn’t notice as his attention is still on the night sky.
“You’re back,” Gally greets.
“Sailor Gally,” she calls out and he quickly sits up to see her swimming.
He stands and walks closer and she gets closer as well.
“You sound surprised,” Gally chuckles and shrugs before pulling off his shoes and rolling up his pant legs before sitting down.
“You helped me, I owe you a debt, don’t you remember?”
Y/N pulls herself onto shore and lays on her stomach but remains in the water.
“I… I wasn’t sure you were going to come back,” he admits
“Of course I do…” Y/N lays her head on her folded arms and looks up at the sailor, studying him.
“Well, did you think of your wish?”
“No, I’m still trying to figure out what I want,” Gally looks down and his cheeks tint red.
“You don’t know what you want? That’s rare for a human,” she explains.
“Well what would you recommend I wish for?”
“I don’t know, humans usually wish for money, power, love, trivial things like that.”
“Love is a trivial thing?” Gally raises one eyebrow high as he questions Y/N.
“It’s freeing… the thought that I’m constantly in motion and not tied down to any one piece of land is comforting. I didn’t really start because I WANTED to be a sailor or work with water, I was 18 with no family and needed a job. Then I fell in love with it. It’s easy to get lost in the ocean, on land people can focus on you too much…” Y/N stares at him in thought for a moment.
“I wouldn’t know,” Y/N admits as her tail waves back and forth with the movement of the ocean. “Why do you work with water?” She starts with.
Gally looks out into the ocean for a bit and thinks of how to word his thoughts.
“How about your own boat and crew?” She reasons. “A lot of sailors would kill for that…” Gally shakes his head as soon as she suggests it.
“No, I have no desire to be in charge of a crew. If you asked me a couple years back maybe but now I know it’s not for me.”
“What’s it like living on land?” She questions instead of trying to dissect what he said. Gally shrugs and sighs.
“I’m not here much but I share a house with the crew and all they want to do is drink and talk about the local women. It’s… suffocating. It’s like you’re in competition with everyone around you. On the ship we all have a job and place but on land it’s like you have to outdo the person next to you.”
“When do you go out again?”
“We set sail again in another 2 months,” he answers.
“I can make someone fall in love with you,” she offers and stares ahead at the sand.
“Nah, if I get into a relationship I want it to be authentic and real, not magic.” He explains.
“You’re a difficult man Sailor Gally,” Y/N smirks showing a bit of fangs and Gally chuckles in response.
“Now you sound like my captain… How does this all work? Like your magic, where does it come from?”
“Everyone is born Sailor Gally,” Y/N smiles.
“Magic has always been there, there’s no explanation I have, it’s like your voice, it’s a part of you that you’re born with and just use. It’s just something my body is born with, same as my tail and hands.”
“Were you… born?”
“No… I mean…” Gally takes a deep breath and tries a different approach. “I’ve heard stories that some mermaids are women who fell overboard and drowned but were saved by a kiss and changed into mermaids themselves… Is that true?” Gally looks into Y/N eyes and waits for her answer.
“It is possible to be changed that way… they rarely FALL though,” she spits the word and a little bit of a hiss comes out. “Usually they are thrown overboard by other humans. Do humans really believe women aren’t allowed on ships because it’ll wreck?” Gally takes a deep breath and slowly exhales it.
“There are some sailors who believe women don’t belong on the ocean and that having one as a crew member is bad luck… yes. I don’t know if I fully believe it but my crew has never thrown ANYONE overboard since I’ve worked it.”
“Do you work with women on your crew?”
“…no…” he admits and she studies him a moment.
“So it means at least your captain believes it…”
“How did you become a mermaid?” Gally dares to ask.
“Do you need more time think of a wish?” She counters instead of answering.
“Yes…”
“Then I’ll leave you for now, tomorrow I’ll be back. Hopefully you have a better idea of what you want. Farewell Sailor Gally,” She flashes her sharp teeth again and shoves her body deeper into the water before disappearing again.
Gally stared at the still waters for a moment before standing and gathering his things again. He had been here for about 3 hours. Tomorrow he at least had a better idea of what time to come.
“You’re going to see that sailor again aren’t you?” She accuses.
____
Y/N prepares to meet Gally when she’s stopped again by Brenda.
“He still has a wish to make,” Y/N swims around her.
“He’s keeping you coming back to give himself time to set a trap.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“This can only end badly.” She warns before Y/N swims far enough away to not hear her anymore.
Just like before Y/N scans the area before revealing herself to Gally.
“Y/N,” he greets before walking barefoot to the edge of the water like the night before.
“Sailor Gally, hello,” she answer backs.
He sits down and she rolls onto her front and stares up at him.
“You don’t know what you want do you?” She asks and Gally stares at her in silence for a moment before shaking his head. “Eventually you’re going to have to give me an answer, I can’t come back forever…”
“Why not?” He challenges and his eyes shine.
“I’m not supposed to hang around humans too much,” the mermaid stares ahead and the statement hangs in the air.
“I wou- I have no reason to hurt you…”
“Humans tend to find reasons to hurt us.” Y/N made unwavering eye contact with him; Gally breaks it first and looks down.
“How old are you?” He asks.
“I can’t remember, over 200,” she answers and Gally’s eyes widen.
“Years old?!”
“Yes, we age differently than you…”
“Yeah I can tell…” he chuckles surprised.
“How old are you?”
“I’m 23,” he admits.
“You’re young,” he chuckles.
“So what do you do in the ocean?” He asks.
“You’re a curious young human aren’t you?” he gives a hearty laugh.
“What do you do on land?”
“Mostly wish I was back on the water… I read a lot. I like to be by myself, it’s hard to get some alone time on a ship with a bunch of other guys. So on land I take advantage of that.”
“Read?” Y/N’s lips move oddly around the word.
“Do you know what a book is?” Gally tries not to sound judgmental in his question, he genuinely wants to know more about the being. Y/N shakes her head no and Gally takes a moment to try and think of how to explain it. “Books are stories that you can hold, reading them is how you find out what they are saying…” Y/N nods and processes what he says.
“We gather and one of the mermaid’s tells a story and we all listen, usually it’s the oldest.” Gally nods.
“Books are like telling stories to yourself that someone else has created. The act is called reading.”
“Can you show me these books?”
“Yes… do you want me to read to you?”
“Yes, please, I want to know what human stories are like.”
“Okay, I’ll bring one tomorrow,” Neither of them pointed out that they never agreed for her to come back or that he still hadn’t decided on his wish yet.
The next night Gally grabs a copy of Alice and Wonderland and a lantern so he could see.
"Heading out again?" his crew mate Tim asks.
“Yeah… you know me, can’t stay trapped with you all too long…” Tim doesn’t say anything else so Gally gives him a nod before leaving.
It doesn’t take long for Gally to get to their spot, he doesn’t question when he started to think of it as their spot but he tries not to think too hard about it. He rolls his pants up and brings the blanket as close to the water as he could get before sitting the lantern down and lighting it with a match.
“What’s that?” Y/N startles Gally but he catches himself quickly.
“It’s a lantern, it helps me see in the dark,” he explains while getting himself situated.
“Your eyes don’t do that?” Y/N tilts her head in confusion.
“No, human’s need light to see, sometimes moonlight is enough, sometimes it’s not.” Gally chuckles and Y/N pulls herself as high up the beach as she can go to be closer to the sailor.
“Why are you so far?” only the tip of her tail is touching the tide by the time she’s close enough to him.
“The lantern and book can’t get wet,” he explains and she reaches for the lantern but he catches her wrist before she gets too close and closes the glass door to block the air from the flame. “You can’t touch fire, it hurts.”
“Fire,” she tests the word. “Why do you use it if it hurts you?”
“Your teeth can hurt you but you must use them,” he points out and she ponders his statement for a bit. “It helps us see, and cook, it also gives us warmth.”
“Cook? What is cook?”
“It’s what humans must do to our food to eat it.”
“You call it cook? We call it clean.” Gally gives a small smile at her mix up.
“We clean our food too, that’s not what it means though… It’s hard to explain. We burn the food so it’s not raw… It makes it warmer and tastes better to us,” she makes a face, “also if we eat an animal or fish after it’s just been killed we could possibly get sick and might die.”
“So you get hurt from fire and sick from food, I’m starting to question all the stories I’ve heard about the terrifying predators called humans…” Gally throws his head back and lets out a bark of a laugh at that. When he calms down he finds Y/N smiling, not enough to show teeth though.
“Are you going to show me this… book of yours now?”
Gally picks up the Alice in Wonderland and hands it to the siren. She turns it around and feels the cover before he reaches over and opens it so she can peek inside. She pulls it away a bit and stares at the letters trying to make sense of the symbols before closing it again and staring at the picture on the front and handing it back.
“Tell me the story,” she orders and Gally gets more comfortable.
“It’s long; I can’t tell it all in one night.” He explains and she nods once before he starts into it.
The next night Gally once again grabs his book and lantern, they got through a good chunk of Alice but didn’t finish. Gally had to cut the meeting short after 4 hours. Y/N protested but Gally explained he needs sleep. She let him go with a promise to return. The time to set sail was getting closer and Gally actually had to work during the day preparing for their next voyage.
“Off again?” Tim stops Gally before he leaves his room.
“Yep, just a stroll and a read before bed,” Gally explains as Tim narrows his eyes.
“Well don’t stay out too late, and stay safe.” He calls as Gally is already walking away.
Gally closed the book but kept his finger as a marker, looking up to show the mermaid she had his full attention.
___
"I have a question,"
"What's a rabbit?" Gally blinked realizing they made it a good chunk into the book without her knowing what a rabbit was.
"It's... an animal on land, it's fluffy and has big feet so it hops a lot. Anymore questions well we're talking?"
"What else do you have questions about?"
"Yes what's 'hops' mean?"
Gally laughs before getting up and hopping to show her what exactly it meant.
"What is a hat?"
"Still don't know your wish Sailor Gally?" Y/N smirks knowing the answer.
They spent hours talking about land versus water. Gally learned about more about fish than he ever learned as a sailor.
It was near sunrise when they finally parted.
"Not yet sorry..." Gally smiles back and she pushes herself back into the ocean fully before diving down and disappearing for the night.
Off to the side, out of sight of both Gally and Y/N, Tim sat having followed Gally and watched his interaction with a mermaid all night. The first hour he was convinced he was dreaming but now he knew for sure that his fellow sailor was interacting with a siren. Once he seen them start to part Tim got up and rushed to beat Gally back to the house to not raise suspicion.
Once back at the house Tim racked his brain trying to figure out his next move. Gally was literally flirting with danger. The fact that sirens were real was still shocking to him, this was life changing. People would travel days to see a real life mermaid. Tim thought back to the freak's tent at the circus. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that trapping the siren would be no easy feat, he would need the help of the whole crew for this. How would he convince him of the truth though?___
"Do you have a mate?" Gally chocked on the strawberry he was eating. Instead of reading like normal they decided to have a picnic. Y/N was curious about human food so Gally brought her different fruits.
"By mate you mean?"
"A perfect match... a partner for always... Do humans not have them? I know you can fall in love..."
"Yes we have them I just... was surprised by your question."
"Ok... well do you have one?"
"Uh no... it's hard being with someone when most your time is spent on a ship. Human women usually like guys who are around or who are of a higher class or someone they could relate to..."
"Do you usually have a hard time relating to other humans?" Y/N grabs a grape while she waits for his answer and chews it slowly making a sour face at the sweetness that Gally smiles at.
"Yeah, I just, I've always been alone so you kind of get used to it..."
"I understand... sometimes I leave to go alone for long periods of time. It's not smart for a mermaid though, we can die or get caught alone. It's best we stay in groups."
"Were you alone when you got stabbed with the spear?"
"Yes, I was just taking a swim alone, I shouldn't have been so close to the surface but I wanted a closer look at the moon." Gally looks up at the night sky and nods.
"It is beautiful," Gally agrees.
Once again out of sight of the mythical creature and sailor, Tim and another crew mate Mark sat in astonishment at the interaction.
"I don't believe it," Mark says in shock.
"You see it with your own two eyes. that's why I brought you here. As proof for everyone else.
"Do you think Gally is going to trap it?"
"No... look at them? Eating fruit on the beach? it's almost... romantic."
"He's not just going to let us take it..." Mark points out.
"He doesn't have to let us do anything! Once we convince the Captain to trap it, it's him against us. He's out-maned. I just needed you as my witness. Do you know how much money we could make? How famous we could be?"
"Come on, lets go back to the house and talk to Cap before Gally is finished with his date."____When Gally returns right before sunup he's surprised to see his captain an older man by the name of Janson sitting at the dining room table waiting for him.
"Captain?"
"Sailor Gally, I was waiting up to tell you the news..." Janson looks intently into the younger man's eyes for a moment before finishing his sentence. "We're setting sail tomorrow morning, you have a day to get yourself in order... say your goodbyes and such." "I have no one to say goodbye to Cap," Gally reminds him but the Captain just smiles.
"Of course... Most of us don't..."
"May I ask why we are leaving so soon? I thought we had at least another couple weeks?"
“Do you want to know how I became a mermaid?” Gally was shocked by Y/N’s question.
"Job came up, real money making opportunity, I'd be stupid to pass it up..." He smiles and Gally gets an uneasy feeling before nodding and walking to his room.
_____
The air is tense, both the human and mermaid were upset by the fact that this would be there last meeting for who knows how long. Gally would be shipping out tomorrow before the sun was even up.
“Yes,” he said quickly.
“A long time ago, before you were born, even before your parent’s parents were born I lived in a town far from here. The townspeople were scared because of things these little girls were doing. To keep themselves out of trouble they tried to blame others. It didn’t take long for things to get out of hand,” she pauses to take a deep breath and it comes out shaky before she continues her story. “The townspeople accused me of being,” her nose scrunches up a bit a she looks a little lost. “a witch… They ran this… trial… they threw me far into the ocean with a rope tied to my stomach.” She chuckles a bit but Gally doesn’t find anything funny about it. “I didn’t know how to swim then… They were supposed to pull me back but they weren’t quick enough. Before everything went black a mermaid swam towards me. Her name’s Brenda but I didn’t know it then. Do you know what a mermaid’s kiss is?”
“I think so…”
“When a mermaid kisses a human, they can turn into a mermaid. We don’t do it as much anymore, humans can’t be trusted as much as they used to. It’s only used on human’s that are drowning. I don’t really remember my first life… just my death, in bits and pieces, Brenda filled in the rest.”
By the end of her story Gally felt tears in his eyes. He mourned Y/N's past life and their death. He can't imagine how scared Y/N must have been in their final moments but he was glad they were at least still with him.
They spent the rest of their night in silence, a comforting one where they watched the stars and moon and listened to the ocean crash against the sand. Gally was done ignoring the romance of it all but knowing he loved Y/N doesn't change anything. The sun starts to show itself but they didn't rush to part like always, instead they watched it rise until the danger of Y/N being spotted was too much. As she starts to push herself into the ocean she asks again "Do you know what you want to wish for yet?"
"We're not really asking kid," Captain Janson explains kneeling in front of Gally.
"Yes..." Gally didn't finish the sentence however and Y/N didn't pry just smiles and fully submerges herself into the water. They had an unspoken understanding it seems. Gally walks back to the house and wonders if he'll see her while on the ship but given how little privacy he has aboard and the fact that Y/N isn't that reckless he knows that probably won't happen. He'll just have to wait until they dock again. The energy in the house is weird when he returns but not too different from the normal sail off days so he ignores it. No one blinks twice at Gally coming in when most of them were waking up. It's pretty normal for seamen to spend all night out the day before they leave again. They'll just assume he was at the pub or spent the night with his best gal, they don't need to know his best gal wasn't human. He packs what little clothes he has and walks beside his crew to the dock where their ship sat. Gally felt unease being around his crew but chalks it up to the fact that for the first time in his life he had something worth sticking around for, he wonders briefly if this is what others meant when they said they wished to go home. Gally wasn't the smartest man but he knew that him and Y/N would never fully work. They were from two different worlds, literally. However he wants her as long as he can have her, if that means secret meetings under the moonlight where they spend hours talking that was fine by him.
_____
"I'm not doing it." Gally was exhausted, he should have known something was wrong when everyone was acting so strange around him, plus the shipping out early but he had no idea they knew about Y/N.
"Sorry Captain," he stares at the floor and remains quiet again.
"Come on Gally, there's other fish in the sea," The other crew mates laugh at the joke. "Just let us catch her and you can find yourself a nice octopus to settle down with..."
"Shut up Tim."
"That creature can hurt you, they rip the flesh off of sailor's bones for a snack, they lure good men to their death for breakfast-"
"If she's so dangerous why do you think catching her is a good idea?" Gally spits blood out of his mouth directly onto the Captain's boot in a weak attempt at defiance and gets a backhanded slap for his actions.
"That thing could get us a lot of money. You may never have to work hard again. Come on, orphan like you, no family, no ties, you could set up roots, clean up, get some female attention that actually has two legs." The crew chuckles again.
"There's no amount of money in this world that will make me help you catch her." Captain Janson looks down in frustration and stands up before punching Gally straight in his jaw, once, twice, a third time before Tim stops him and pulls him back. Gally lets his head hang in defeat.
Away from the crowd Tim whispers his idea to the Captain.
"He's not gonna give it up... but maybe, their bond is a two way street..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean he won't say where the siren is and maybe the siren feels the same way... Maybe it won't let him die..."
The Captain thinks the statement over for a second before looking back at Gally. He was stubborn as a mule. They beat him bloody and he still hadn't given them any information. Clearly going to get the creature wasn't an option but maybe, just maybe they could get the creature to come to them.
“I wish Y/N was here,” he thinks as the water gets darker around him further from the light he sinks. His lungs start to burn screaming for air. They don’t understand what’s going on, they think he’s holding his breath for the fun of it. Things start to get hazy when he sees a back mass heading full speed to him.
______
“Oh great a shark,” he’d laugh if he could.
He fights to keep his eyes open, he’s getting light headed. The creature comes closer into view and he finally sees it’s not a shark but Y/N. Gally immediately believes it to be a hallucination conjured by his brain to comfort him in his final moments. She grabs his face with both hands.
“Gally,” he can hear her voice so clearly in his head, like she is really speaking to him, just like it would sound on the beach. “Please hold on, I’m here now,” she reaches behind him and suddenly his arms are free, she must of slashed them with her claws. She grabs one of his hands and shoots upward swimming as fast as she can. The water sloshing around them makes it harder for Gally to see and without air he’s already fighting not to pass out anyway. Gally has enough sense to remember the crew awaiting to trap his friend and he uses his last little bit of energy to thrash around and tug on her hold on him until they stop. When Y/N stops swimming and comes face-to-face with him again he notices the water is lighter again, like they are closer to the surface.
"I hope they don't see us." He could feel Y/N confusion but she doesn't try and pull him to the surface again.
He wishes he could tell her it’s okay, that he’s sorry, that he’ll miss her, but he can’t speak. He closes his eyes when she grabs his cheeks again and can feel himself falling into unconsciousness. Right before he slips completely under he feels a softness touch his lips
“I love you Y/N” he thinks before everything goes black.
His eyes open and he feels different… weightless. Gally is confused, “is this heaven?” he thinks, before a movement catches his eyes. Y/N is in front of him and touching his cheeks again.
“Gally,” her voice is soft. He knows now it is heaven. “This isn’t heaven…” she explains and he blinks, his eyes feel different. He looks around. He still looks like he’s in the water. That’s impossible, he’s dead, he has to be. Is heaven in the ocean? Or is his heaven with Y/N and because she’s a mermaid he’s in the ocean. “Gally!” He looks up at her.
“How are you speaking without opening your mouth?”
“I need to explain somethings. Gally you aren’t dead… I- do you remember the story of how I became a mermaid?” Gally thinks back to the conversation they had on the beach before and nods. “You’re a mermaid… I kissed you.” Her eyebrows furrow and her lips are downward. “I’m sorry…”
Before she could overthink too much he grabs her face and smashes his lips to hers. Their first kiss he didn’t get to enjoy it because he was on the cusp of death. Her body pulls closer and molds against his and she wraps her arms around his waist as she kisses back. It’s when her arms touch his hips he realizes a change. He pulls back and looks down. His tail is a yellow with a gold shimmer and the fins are black.
“I have a tail!” He hears a giggle as he swishes it through the water. “Wait how do we talk… can you read all my thoughts?” He looks back up at Y/N and she shakes her head fondly.
“Above the water we can talk like you did before. Down hear I can’t hear your thoughts… It’ll take you some time but you’ll learn the difference between communicating and thinking. Basically if you look at another mermaid and talk to them in your mind they’ll hear it. Don’t direct thoughts at another mermaid don’t look at them or picture yourself talking to them or they’ll hear it. For a while you should only look at me if you’re trying to talk to me until you get used to it.”
“I’ll probably offend other mermaids for a bit…”
“No, you won’t meet others for a while. I have to keep you from the others until you learn how to be a mermaid…”
“Are… are they upset about me?” Gally’s voice comes through worried.
“No… it’s just the rules whenever a human is changed. I’ll explain more later.”
"Wait, where are we? Are we still where you found me?" Gally becomes frantic and Y/N has to grab his cheeks to stop him from literally swimming in circles.
"Calm down, we are far away from the surface and away from the ship, what happened?"
"My crew turned on me, they found out about you somehow. I think one of them followed me to the beach one night. They wanted to trap you but I refused, that's why they threw me over. I think they were hoping you'd save me."
"I did save you," she corrects.
"I know but I think I sunk too deep if you broke the surface they would've caught you," Y/N gets this soft look on her face, almost fond.
"That's why you fought me when I tried pulling you to air," it wasn't a question but Gally nodded anyway.
"Gally you spent your last human moments protecting me?" She squeezes his cheeks which she was still cradling while he explained what happened and smashes her lips to his for a third time.
The merman melts into it and moves similar to how he would move his legs he manages to wrap his tail around hers and she giggles against his lips before pulling apart, Gally chases her lips and she allows a few a few more pecks before placing a clawed finger on them to stop him.
"I love you Sailor Gally," she smiles softly and if he still could he would be blushing.
"I wished for you, you know?" He says instead knowing she already heard his confession earlier.
