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@vkusno-viktor
Yuri on the Web Pride Event
Short program: "In regards to love"
"Dreams"
They are each other's dream come true and they help each other realize dreams they never knew they wanted.
Life, Love.
(I imagine sometimes they have to go separate events and every time one returns the other always joyfully greets them.)
@yuriontheweb
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
Oh. Viktor melted.
He immediately scooped Haku up, pressing kisses to his chubby cheeks. “Ah, now who is this adorable little morsel? I could just eat~ him~ up~!” Viktor playfully mimed biting at the toddler’s arms and tummy, tickling him at the end.
Yuri watched Viktor with an odd expression. “….What have you guys done to his brain? It’s more melted than before. Somehow.”
——
Haku giggles bounced through the cove as he wiggled in Viktor’s hold. “No no uncle Vikchan! You can’t eat me!”
“What did I tell you, selkie toddlers are the cutest.” Yuuri chuckled.
“It’s the baby fever, happens to everyone. See a cute baby and next thing you know you’re already naming your first five kids.” Kara shrugged. “Plus look at how chubby and cute he is?!”
Yuri glowered towards Viktor. “…I can’t believe you actually bred that idiot. You really want to let him be in charge of raising a child?” He grouched.
Viktor again nibbled his little arms, and even paused to blow a raspberry in the toddler’s stomach.
Papochka
Georgi thought he would be a tad more nervous.
It could be that he's thought of it a thousand times over the past year while healing from his complex breakup, or perhaps he's read the billing ledger too many times at the doctor's office for the various donors he could use. It could be anything, but for once, the prospect of asking his friend for assistance wasn't making his heart race, or his cheeks light up in red.
Instead, there's a glow about him as he stares out the coffee shop window, his warm spiced drink in his hands as he waits for Viktor to show. He has an important question for him, after all.
@vkusno-viktor
Viktor hummed thoughtfully. “I mean. I’m gonna be so jealous of the pregnancy hair. You already have gorgeous curls.” Viktor ran his fingers through Georgi’s hair gently, twirling a lock around his finger. “Maybe i’ll get you one for a congrats gift after we get a positive test. A cute purple one with bats or something.”
It's not lost on him that while Georgi says a lot of 'if', Viktor seems to say 'when'.
There's a bit of delight that the man is so eagerly optimistic about it, an inevitability that they'll for sure succeed with this odd friend arrangement. He smirks and reaches up to tug at one of his hairs that has come loose from the gel somewhere between their makeout session and the competition for who can finger the other one better.
"Mmm... little bats, that's a motif I should consider for a nursery, hm? I'd finally be turning my office into a useful room."
“What’s that Alice in Wonderland quote? Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat?”
Viktor pressed another soft kiss to Georgi’s forehead. “….You okay? I wasn’t too much? I know you can handle it, but I don’t wanna go too hard if it’s a whole heat, you know?”
He turns his head, looking a bit puzzled at first before answering. "Hm...? I'm-... Yes, I promise, I'm alright. I was just enjoying the company, frankly. It's been a long time since I let someone into my nest, I forgot how nice it is to enjoy the afterglow alongside someone I trust." Georgi doesn't hold back a warm smile from his face, he just leaned into him. "I should have invited you in eons ago, even before you agreed to rail me."
Viktor couldn’t help it. He snickered.
“I mean, I probably would have railed you ages ago, too, if you asked. Guess we were never really single at the same time, though. But cuddling is nice. The world needs more platonic cuddling.”
"Viktor Nikiforov!" He gasps, clutching his pearls briefly as he looks to him, cartoonishly. "Are you saying I'd been on your list? Did I hand myself willingly as prey to you? Ohhh, what would the neighbors think?"
“Says the Omega who said I was his first choice to breed him,” Viktor retorted, playfully tickling one of Georgi’s sides.
Georgi went a bit red at that, but he's luckily saved by the tickling to distract, and he lets out a squawk before he swats at the hand. "Wh-..... bully. You bully me. I showed my vulnerable underbelly and you bully me, for shame, Nikiforov!" He smirks and sits up to reach for the cooler and grab some beverages. He pulls two water bottles out and passes one to his partner.
Viktor laughed and took a long draught of water, before licking his lips, capping it, and setting it aside. “Bullying you? I’m just calling a spade a spade… I’m not complaining about being your breeding stud, to be clear. It’s a mutual pleasure, I hope.”
"I mean... so far I'm having a good time." Georgi says, trying not to look Viktor's way for too long. His cheeks do feel a bit hot at the words on his lips, so he just distracts with sipping. "I did worry this would be a bit awkward, especially since I was just going to ask you to spooge in a cup so they could do this with the science lab and turkey baster."
“Which I would have, and will still do, if you prefer it,” Viktor replied. “But I definitely think this if the more fun way of knocking you up. And so sue me, I’m a slut.”
"Wh-No!" Perhaps he was a bit fast with that answer. "I mean... we've already come this far, no pun intended. Might as well enjoy ourselves... especially since I"m going to be helping you get used to bottoming too. We're.... mutually getting something out of it."
Even if one is sex experience, and the other is.... a whole human.
“Tell me about it. Can you believe I only ever got two guys to top me?” Viktor groaned, pouting. “Totally not fair. Like. At all. I’m totally fuckable,” he complained, rolling onto his stomach and kicking his feet—like the two of them were teenagers gossiping about their classmates again, rather than grown men looking into making a whole new life.
"I believe that you're fuckable. After all, you immediately melted when I played with you." Georgi says as he relaxes again, knees arched up over the side of the nest as they talked.
The familiarity made this far more comfortable. They've had tons of conversations about their sex lives, enough so that the initial making out was just a thin barrier they barely worried of crossing. AT least, that's how he felt.
Now that they were naked and mutually relieved, it felt so natural.
"So then tell me your type. I should know exactly what you're looking for in a top for when I do actually fuck you. Do you want a dom? Do you want me to simp for you? Tell me what you crave when you want someone to top you."
Viktor giggled at that. “Georgi… I don’t know if it’s possible for you to fuck or be fucked by someone without simping at least a little bit. But that’s okay. It’s cute.”
The other man stretched his arms out in front of himself, humming thoughtfully. “….I dunno. I guess… dominant is nice? Like, it’s hot to be held down and be taken to pound town. But I like being a power bottom sometimes too. I guess… I’m really just craving validation. If that makes sense.”
Like when Georgi called him an omega.
He'll remember that.
"Well then we have a few flavors we've got to try out, and that way by the time you have another sex partner in mind, you'll know what your favorite is." Georgi reaches over to move a strand of hair from being tangled into a mess. "If you get a heat, feel free to ask for my help too. I doubt we're going to cycle anytime soon, so I'll be coherent enough-OOH! And I can bring you my heat bars! Oh, they're a lifesaver."
“What the hell is a heat bar?”
Viktor kicked one leg up, the other back; and swapped between the two absently, more moving to just get out excess energy. But after a few moments, he turned onto his side to face Georgi, reaching out and tucking his hair behind an ear casually.
"It's a very calorie dense bar. I'm sure you felt it during your first heat, but I'm sure you came out of it with a massive headache and super exhausted, right? It's basically a brick of protein. I found a recipe years ago, hated the way it tasted, and then decided to figure out how to make my own. I freeze them so when pre-heat hits me, I can put them in my little cooler and eat them. I can't say they taste incredible, but they keep me from feeling the heat hangover." Georgi smirks and glances over. "I make it with almond butter and some protein powder. You burn like 2000 calories per day just being in heat, not accounting for any activities you do, so it's best to nourish yourself somehow."
“That’d explain why I lost like ten pounds.” Viktor hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe text me the recipe? Just in case. Can’t be too safe, and then I can make them for you, too, sometime. Honestly all this heat stuff is…. Kinda weird? Like… no one writes down stuff. You’re supposed to learn from your mom, I guess.”
"Eh... Yakov did his best with me. I think he went to support groups when I was a teen, at least I think he did. Or classes." Georgi shrugs. "I've got a few recipes, and they're going to look shit at first. They're just... like I said, bricks of protein." He jokes and glances over. "I'm so glad you're doing this. You looked so happy when I told you I was gonna fuck you as an omega."
Viktor’s ears turned red, and he turned over onto his back, staring up at the wire shelving system that marked the space as a repurposed closet.
“Yeah, well… it was the first time anyone ever called me an Omega.”
Georgi sits up and hugs his knees to his chest.
"Mmm....I'm gonna have to make you feel like a very beautiful omega then~ Just leave it to me. You'll hear it a thousand times over the next few months, surely."
His hand strokes along Viktor's jawline, and he turns it to him, purposefully teasing.
"You're essentially my omega for a short time~"
Oh. That makes Viktor’s pupils dilate, blue eyes turning dark as the sky outside. Viktor’s scent spiked with something floral and sweet, and he looked at Georgi with an expression that existed in some liminal space between surprise, arousal and affection, soft and appreciative.
“….Yeah. Yours.”
So he likes possession.
Georgi locks that tidbit away for the time being, and he removes his hand, stroking down to his chest to trace little designs against his pecs. "Now... how are you feeling? Do you need anything? We can stop here if you need~"
“You say that like we weren’t working up to me fucking you.” Viktor tutted, and instead rolled the two of them over, straddling Georgi’s thighs, his hands on either side of Georgi’s head, and leaned down, pressing a few slow kisses to his lips.
“Mmm… I’ll take good care of you.”
Georgi gasps softly when he realizes Viktor was turning tables on him, though it's not an unpleasant surprise. Instead, he smirks and settles both hands on his hips.
"Nnn, then I'll have to reward you for all the good things you've already done for me~ what do you think~?" He muffles in between those feather light kisses.
“If you can get hard after I’m through with you, I clearly wasn’t thorough enough.”
Viktor slid his hands up Georgi’s thighs. “….This is okay? We can stop if you like. No questions asked.”
“N-No, don’t you stop now that you’ve gotten me excited again!” He smirks, gently grinding hips upwards. “If you’re planning on testing how much I can go back to back, I warn that I’m very needy and do it myself often enough ~”
“If you jerk off while i am in your bed, it is a personal failing. At least sit on my face.” Viktor tutted, and hefted Georgi up a few inches, his hands gripping the other Omega’s hips more firmly. “Spread your legs, then, Gosha, because I intend to make you cum at least twice before I do.”
He obeys, reaching down to use his first and middle finger to spread himself.
“You’re spoiling me. You mean to tell me after fingering me, I get to have you really fuck ne until I’m a mess…? What did I do to deserve such a lovely thing?”
“Besides offer me the same exact thing?”
Viktor tutted, and kissed at Georgi’s jaw, before rearranging their tangle of limbs, and placing himself between Georgi’s legs. “…How do you like it? Gentle and slow?”
He almost got lost as he watched his friend.
Lord, he had no business looking so gorgeous. Georgi clears his throat, and adjusts a smidgen. “Gentle to start, then… let’s see where it takes us~” he hums and strokes his cheek softly.
“Just tell me if you need more or less. I assure you, I’m having the time of my life either way.” Viktor smirked, playfully stole a kiss, and then set about ensuring he guided himself into Georgi’s previously stretched hole, moving slowly to begin as to not rush through and hurt him. “Fuck, you’re tight….”
Georgi’s eyes cross before they melt into a flutter the second he felt Viktor push into him. He shivers softly, heart pounding in his ears when the warmth returned to his core. “Nnn…..! Nnn…. F-Fuck….” He whispers, trying to remember to relax a bit while he’s pushed into.
An arm settles over Viktor’s shoulders, just something to ground himself.
“…. I-I’m not clenching too hard, am I?”
Viktor pressed a few kisses over Georgi’s neck, and gave an experimental roll of his hips. “Mmmmngh… no… so long as you feel all right….? Is it too much?”
It felt embarrassing to say how well Viktor fit into him.
Some people are too big, some too small, but in this moment, Viktor's gentle roll of hips press exactly where his fingers had pulled an orgasm out of him earlier. It made him wince in pleasure, accompanied by a whimper of delight.
"N-No! Nononono, it-ff....feels s'good..." He whispers, nipping at his collarbone delicately. "F-Feels good....hnnn..."
“Cock drunk this early?” Viktor teased, playfully grabbing at the fullest part of Georgi’s ass. “I knew I was good~ all that time pretending to be an Alpha paid off.”
He rocked into Georgi again with a content sigh. “Fuck…. That feels so good… you feel so good…”
He's so goddamn cocky.
Georgi leans his head back when he's squeezed, unintentionally clenching down on Viktor. "Y-You don't realize h-how long it's been since I've had good sex, Vitya.... Y-You've already made me cum and that's more than my last two have ever given me.."
Viktor huffed. “A good orgasm or ten are the least of what you deserve, Georgi Popovich.”
He thrust again, with a bit more weight behind the motion — though it was still gentle, easing into a slow rhythm, filling the other with steady movements of his hips while ensuring he didn’t thrust too deeply. Focus on that little bundle of nerves, but don’t ram too hard against it…
"F-Fuck, Vitya..." He moans out, perhaps a little too croaky when he felt more heft in the thrust. Georgi held his legs apart for him to get as much access as he can. "P-Please..d.d.eeper.... please... please..." He whispers in a soft little lightheaded begging.
There's a slight hope in the back of his mind that this will be the one, who knows? What if he's more fertile than he initially thought? What if he's a rare omega who can get pregnant outside of heat?
“You’re this cute like this… how am I to survive you in heat?” Viktor groaned, but obeyed. He lived to serve, and fucking Georgi the exact way he wanted was the very least he could do.
“Shhhh, you’ll get it… Deeper? More? How is this?” He crooned, the sound of his hips hitting Georgi’s thighs with every other thrust a wonderful distraction.
That pulled a sound out of Georgi, one he couldn't decipher on being attractive or just a yelp. Though he isn't quite paying attention to how he looks or sounds, not when that one angle just made the stars in his eyes burst.
"A-Ahn! V-V...Vity-..there..there.there..." He pants out, his cock dribbling against his abdomen. "Th-...ohgod..." Viktor? Talking about surviving his heat? Georgi wasn't sure he would survive it. He's got a cock that fits like a dream and a friend willing to flood him with cum, that's luck upon luck.
Viktor knew a secret most tops apparently struggled to grasp: when you found the right angle, you didn’t change a thing. Keep the same speed, the same depth, the same angle, because that was what was working, and you’d likely fuck it up by going harder or faster and accidentally changing the angle as a result.
“There, mmm….? You twitched around me, Gosha~”
"C-Canyoublameme~?" He mumbles out, arms wrapping around him and gripping at the plush of his cheeks. "Y-You're wrecking me, and I-I barely had to tell you how-ohohhhogod..." He bows his head forward, forehead pressed to his neck as he nips and kisses there.
Though now that his hands have found an ass to squeeze, he's eager to not let go.
“Wrecking you, am I~?”
Viktor decided to up the ante a tad. The thrust continued at same metronome pace — but he wrapped a hand around Georgi’s cock, stroking in time with each thrust in. “Good… good boys deserve to be absolutely ruined.”
That's when the words started to run together for Georgi.
A few words did escape, intelligible amongst the sounds that came with them. "Ah! hhhehhahhvit...vy....hahah!!" His legs lock around Viktor now, unable to stop himself now that his brain was going to mush.
It only took a few short pumps for rope after rope of his finish to spatter against his own chest while Viktor keeps thrusting into him. His eyes water, his face goes red, his hands twitch as the wave sends the heat under his skin ablaze.
Viktor continued the steady thrusts for a time, until Georgi was on the edge of overstimulation, before slowing, letting him dip down to a less intense pleasure plateau. “There we are… You did so well, Gosha… You can do that again, can’t you….? Cumming for me so prettily…”
It's quiet between them a moment, save for his breaths that can't seem to catch up while his brain de-fuzzes. He gulps a dry lump in his throat, hands still holding onto Viktor around his waist.
"Hhaha...o...onemore...?" He asks. "H-Howareyou....ohgodyou'resogood..."
“I told you, didn’t I? You’re cumming at least twice before I do.” Viktor grinned, impishly, and shifted closer, rolling his hips with intent. “….Maybe three or four.”
Three or four?
Georgi surely is going to pass out before that.
He squeaks at the buzz of overstimulation that tingles through his fingertips. "Ahn! Y-You're going to get this tenfold wh-when I top y-nnng...!" He squeezes down again, fingers finding Viktor's nipples to play, testing his own sensitivity.
Viktor moaned at that, his hips stuttering.
“Mnn… the fuck me about it,” Viktor challenged, equal parts playful and challenging.
And if Georgi wanted to try and play with his chest… well. Two could play at this game.
Viktor pulled out briefly, and manhandled Georgi onto his hands and knees. “Am I going to have to remind you why we’re here, Gosha….? This is the first time I’m breeding you, and you’re acting up… so I guess I’ll have to put you in a proper mounting position and fuck some sense back into you.”
The words alone were enough to make his poor tired cock twitch back to life. He didn’t know if he had a breeding kink or if Viktor just pressed the right buttons on his cum messy chest.
A shuddered sigh leaves him, remembering that he was here for more than just pleasure.
“Th-Then show me you can breed me.” He challenged, his eyes locking in on Viktor’s.
Viktor tutted, and pushed Georgi’s legs open wiser, before pushing his face down into the push softness of his nest. “I intend to. Deep breaths, Gosha. Tell me if it’s too much,” he reminded again, giving him a gentle pet over his shoulders — a reminder that he was safe and in control here.
He pushed in, a bit more roughly than he had before. “You’re so wet… I think you liked it when I said I was going to breed you.”
So Viktor had noticed.
Georgi shudders again, and his cock visibly pulses once more at the words. “…I-I guess I got excited…” he goes red in the face, and tries to hide the heat again by looking away and scrunching his eyes. “Haaah…. I-I didn’t think…”
“….That you had a breeding kink?” Viktor asked. “Gosha…. If you could see the way you looked at me when I mentioned breeding. And the way your whole body shook….”
Viktor groaned and thrust into the Omega again.
“It makes me want to see how hard you come when I finally fill you up.”
He was about to argue that it’s not a common thing he’s brought up with partners, probably defensively, but the angle Viktor pushes in is enough to replace those words quickly with mumbles and moans.
“Haaahhnn! Y-You….nnn… I thought I was… just…” did he really react so strongly? His body was betraying him, maybe it is something he thought of once in a while, but pre-heat brain was always an excuse. “Nnn… w…you want to fill me up that badly?”
“Do I want to see you cock drunk, fucked stupid and screaming in pleasure?” Viktor retorted, as if the answer were obvious. “I might not be a natural top but I definitely enjoy watching you melt when I fuck you just right.”
Viktor started another steady rhythm, a bit harder and faster than the last. “And I can’t wait to see my cum leaking out of this tight hole.”
Georgi felt his brain short circuiting as is, considering he’s already cum twice tonight, and it seems Viktor is vying for more. His shivering breath is laced with grunts as Viktor pushes into him, and his hungry eyes look down to watch how his lower abdomen has a shimmer of slick from their fuck fest left on him.
“Nnn… d-don’t waste a d.. drop…” he whispers out, his body felt like it was on fire, and his eyes gently roll back in ecstasy.
“Nnngh… I won’t… cum deep inside…. Fuck. We’re going to have to get you a knotting you for your heat… something to hold it all deep inside… make sure you’re properly fucked.”
Viktor moaned, his cock throbbing inside Georgi. “Fuck, you feel so good….”
He doesn’t let the man do all the work, the more his body burns, the more he tries to push against him without conscience. Of course, he was gonna let him dominate if he wanted to dominate, but there’s I need to give back, to make sure his partner was feeling good as well. Even if Victor was telling him sweet things like that, he was still going to make sure it wasn’t just dirty talk.
“Nnn…. D-Don’t you worry… I c… can get it… fuck…. I’m gonna plug it all up~ are you close…?” He asks, less as a rush, more so excited at the way Viktor throbs in him.
“Why, you wanna feel my fill you up?” Viktor thrust a tad harder, unable to help himself. “So pretty, taking cock like this…. Has anyone told you how gorgeous you look when you feel good? Mmm?”
"I-Isn't that why you're here...? To make me feel good and knock me up?" He pants out, getting more and more comfortable saying it out loud as Viktor toys with him.
The power in the thrusts sends clapping sounds into the room, at least louder than they were, and it only makes Georgi gasp.
“You really can’t wait for your heat to get bred?” Viktor growled and nipped at the Alpha. “You’re so cute when you’re like this. Fuck…. I’m close. But you’re—coming first,” he growled, his hand moving down and beginning to stroke Georgi off in time with his thrusts.
Four in one night?
He’s spoiled rotten. Georgi looks down at those lovely nimble fingers, and his red face flushes again in color at the thought of sucking his own release off them. Though the rhythmic thrusting in time with their squeezing is enough to distract plenty, as his feeble orgasm was at his heels. He didn’t know if he would be able to cum like he has before, he didn’t know if there was much left in him.
His eyes roll again, head dipping and going fuzzy.
He tenses, but only droplets come from his tip, and a struggled sound drips off his lips.
Viktor groaned, his hips stuttering. He can feel the orgasm hit Georgi — weaker than the last, but the way he shudders is no less intoxicating.
“Good boy,” he praised, kissing Georgi’s ear. He thrusts a few more times before groaning, grinding against him — and coming himself with an audible gasp of a moan that trails into a whimper.
The unmistakable warmth that fills him is welcomed with a little grind of his own against Viktor, his teary overwhelmed eyes finally fluttered open again to focus on the man above. A hand settles around his waist as he smirks up at him wearily.
“Th-That’s it… that’s it… you did great~” he pants out.
Viktor let out a soft huff. “Please answer the satisfaction survey and enter the drawing for a spa day on your way out the door,” he teased, nuzzling into the Omega’s neck. “Sorry I can’t knot for you. I hope toys will be able to make up for it.”
“Knots are overrated…” he huffs a little laugh out and reaches up to pet his head. “I-If omegas could knot, I’m sure society would say it too. A toy does all the work after all~” he sighs and hugs gently onto him. “…. Thank you… thank you so much…”
Viktor kissed his forehead. “Of course… Do you want to stay like this for a bit? Or is there another way you’d like to cuddle?” he offered. “I know I pushed you a bit, so I want to spoil you a bit now.”
“Whatever is comfortable for you. I am just fine.” He reaches up to pet his head. “Maybe…. Let me play with your hair?” He smiles. “I’d offer to braid it, but my hands are shaking.”
“Mmmm. Feel free to do what you like.” Viktor looked up at the other, frowning in concern. “You’re okay? I wasn’t too rough on you?”
Viktor is so worried, he thought of teasing him for it briefly, but no comment comes to mind. He just smiles. “No, I’m more than okay. I like rough, I promise I’m all in one piece and shaking for great reasons.” That’s when he begins running those trembling fingers through the silvery locks. They linger more to the ends than the roots as he focuses on untangling their disheveled state. “You didn’t break me. Hell, I might beg for more during heat. According to past partners, I will go until I pass out.”
“Noted. If I really have to, I guess I can look into some boner pills or something, but I really, really doubt it’s gonna be a problem…”
The Omega shifted his position, kissing Georgi’s forehead. He settled down beside him, eyes drifting closed. “Mm. What a sweet boy…. You really did do well. If you need me to move, just say the word…”
Surprise, surprise…!
[CLOSED RP WITH @vkusno-viktor ]
“You can’t just hide him forever, you know…” Yuuri heard his mother say, and he knew those words to be true. If only it weren’t that hard, though…
“How do you determine student’s initial aptitude in language? Shinobu and I have worked on a little Russian here and there, but I’m more a language student than a teacher,” Viktor explained. “He knows enough to get through most of a basic children’s book, but his writing isn’t as strong. He only knows a couple letters.”
“So, we’d be starting from zero with his writing.” She confirmed. “While we can adjust to a student’s level, that would be a different story. Right now, we have three more kids at around the same level looking to apply. We’re considering opening a class for them to start in, but we need at least a few more students so it can be feasible. We could add you to that waiting list and get back to you in a few weeks while we confirm whether we’re able to make that happen.”
That was not what Yuuri would have liked to hear.
“So, you’ve offered that basic course before. Do you have a copy of the curriculum we can review?”
The headmaster rolled back on her chair, opening one of the drawers on her desk, filing through it for a few moments. She pulled out a thin binder labeled, in English, ‘Kindergarden— Russian as Second Language’. Made for the parents of such children, who were probably not fully fluent in the language, either.
Thanking the woman, Yuuri opened the binder, leaning slightly over Shinobu on the smaller chair in order to review it with Viktor for a few moments.
To Yuuri, it seemed adequate. But they still had a few more schools to visit, so they he kept his mind open.
“I did have one other question about the culture of your school. Can you tell me what the climate is like for non-Caucasian and mixed race students?” Viktir asked bluntly.
He wanted to make sure any place they sent Shinobu would be safe. And he didn’t want the bigotry of self righteous idiots ruining that.
He also knew the question would likely be taken more seriously coming from him, unfortunately.
“Please keep in mind that I can and will be doing thorough checks on our top choices. I would appreciate honesty more than lip service.”
Yuuri looked at Viktor for a moment, trying to keep his expression neutral. They’d talked about this and agrees it’d be best for the alpha to bring up the subject. Still, seeing him step up to the plate and be so protective of Shinobu…
Madame Antonova seemed to be caught off-guard by Viktor’s question.
“The second language classes are the most diverse in the school. We have a no tolerance policy for bullying, and students are sent home and reprimanded as soon as anything gets reported. We don’t believe in treating our students differently. The core values we promote as an institution are important, regardless of your background.”
It was a dodging kind of no-answer.
“And what measures does the school take to promote that students get involved amongst themselves and in the community?”
“We have a calendar of extracurricular activities all year that are put together by the teachers to ensure the integration of all classes and programs. Some of those activities involve field trips to various locations in the city and visits by members of the community, as well. Would you like a tour of the school?”
Yuuri looked at Shinobu and Viktor, and nodded.
“Please, follow me.” She said, standing from her chair and opening her office door. Exiting the building, she led the way through a courtyard into another structure. “This is the kindergarden area. As I’m sure you know already, kindergarden is our youngest level and, depending on the student, can continue until ages six or seven.” She led them through a hallway where they could hear children talking and singing from different rooms. “And this is the Russian as a second language classroom.”
The headmaster knocked on the door and, after a few moments, a teacher emerged from the room.
“Hello, Madame Beaumont. Do you have a moment? These are Shinobu and his parents, Mr. Nikiforov and Mr. Katsuki. Shinobu might be joining the new kindergarden class we’d like to open. Madame Beaumont would be teaching the class.”
Viktor gave the teacher a look, humming thoughtfully. “What would excite you most about teaching a class of Russian as a second language students?” he asked curiously.
It would be interesting to see how she answered. It was clear to both the teacher and headmaster that Viktor was carefully weighing their responses.
The woman smiled at them, warm and welcoming. “Hello, Shinobu. Nice to meet you!” She said in Russian.
“…Nice to meet you,” the boy replied in kind.
“Seeing the children’s faces when something finally clicks.” She looked at Viktor and Yuuri. “I’m from France and learned Russian as an adult, so I understand how challenging it can be.” She seemed genuine.
Yuuri watched Shinobu’s face light up at that. “How do you deal with the differences in fluency level between students?”
“I attune to the students’ style of learning to help them catch up. And offer extra tutoring to kids if they need that extra support. I also tutor adults.”
That piqued Yuuri’s interest. He’d have to remember her name.
“You do? Good to know.” Viktor hummed thoughtfully. “Thank you for your time today. This was exceptionally helpful.” He nodded his head slightly, and reached down to take Shinobu’s hand. “Yuuri, dorogoy, did you have any other questions?”
Yuuri thought about it for a few moments. “What kind of immersion level do you aim for in your class? And how much homework do you foresee them getting on a typical week?”
“I find that the 50/50 model works best in my classes, since I have kids with different native languages in the class. We work on reinforcing what needs work in the classroom every day, so I try not to give them more than two hours per week. With room for adjusting as needed depending on what works best with each student.”
The omega smiled at the staff, taking Shinobu’s other hand. “Thank you both for your time. We’re still weighing our options.”
“We’ll be in touch if the class opens up.” The director said. “Thank you, Madame.”
The teacher returned to her class. The older woman walked them back to the office and they made their way out of the school.
Once he deemed they were far enough away, Yuuri looked at Shinobu. “Did you like that school?”
Looking up at Yuuri, Shinobu shrugged. “Yeah,”
“…I liked some things. Others, not so much.” Yuuri said to Viktor in a lower voice. “I liked the teacher, but the director was vague when answering the question about working with mixed race students. What do you think?”
“My thoughts exactly. And speaking bluntly, I don’t have the patience for cardboard cutout responses when it comes to that and ensuring Shinya’s safety. I’ve been to private schools in Russia. They can be cutthroat. I don’t want that for Shinobu.”
He looked towards the boy, smiling. “You did very well. Were you still a bit nervous to talk to the teachers?”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
“I would suggest watching your language in front of the pod, the pups are about to shed their skin and they’ll be talking in no time … we don’t need actual toddlers repeating that.” Yuuri warned. “Mari might actually bite a chunk out of you.”
“She may not look scary as a human but trust me selkie bites aren’t something to swim off.” Kara warned. “Mari is just protective over those she considers part of her pod.”
“No fighting, that won’t help anything. For now, let Kara and I go explain things to the pod. I’m sure once Mari calms down, she and the rest of the pod will welcome Yuri … though is there a reason for your arrival? Everything okay back home?” Yuuri asked, more than a little worried.
Yuri huffed. “Okay? Vitya was supposed to be back by now.”
“Yura. I told you when I left there was a chance I would be joining my mate’s pod—“
“And instead you got mixed up with selkies, living by a bunch of humans. You’re going to get yourself killed. You know we can’t trust them,” Yuri argued. “You said the pod was your family!”
“It is!”
“But you still left us!” Yuri accused brashly, fins flaring. “You chose them!” He gestured towards Yuuri and Kara, and for a moment, the selkies could have sworn the saw something close to tears in the younger mer’s eyes.
“Yura, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! You were supposed to come back…..! You promised….!”
“We’ll give you two a moment to talk in private.” Yuuri said, grabbing kara and pulling him back to the water. As they slipped into their skin they headed back to the open cove.
Mari was pacing as she waited for another sign of them. She wasn’t thrilled to see just Yuuri and Kara. “Where’s Viktor and the other mer?”
“The younger mer is from Viktor’s birth pod … we may have more joining us, mers that is.” Yuuri explained as they got into the cove. “He came looking for Viktor, being as he’s just a teen they’ll likely come follow.”
Mari groaned. “Perfect, as long as they can keep a low profile … fuck … I’ll need to see if Itsuki can get a message to mom. We may have to consult the council, our numbers have stayed small enough here to not cause any issues but depending on how big Viktor’s birth pod is …”
“If they intend on staying we’ll move. It’s not fair for us and our mate to cause problems for everyone else.” Kara pointed out. “Viktor and Yuri needed to speak privately, in our private cove they’ll be safe.”
Viktor and Yuri’s conversation ended up lasting well over an hour.
Mari saw the pink and gold of Viktor’s fins in the water ages before he arrived at the colony’s home, leading a sullen looking teenaged mer.
Viktor came out of the water first, seating himself on the edge of the rocks. “Mari? Yuri has come to apologize. Haven’t you, Yura?” He looked pointedly towards the smaller mer, who mumbled softly. “…Louder, Yura.”
“…..I’m sorry for intruding onto your territory.”
Mari eyed the young mer. “Since you’re part of Viktor’s family I’m letting it slide for now … We would have welcomed you into the territory had we known you were coming.” She sighed. “We’ve got fish stocked up in one of the pools further in, I’m sure after your long travel you must be hungry.” She approached the two mers before flicking Viktor in the forehead. “And that’s for putting yourself in danger, dumb ass.”
A few of the other Selkies began to shed their skins to welcome the newest mer to their pod.
Viktor gave Mari an apologetic little grin. “Awe, you were worried about me~” he replied, keeping his voice soft and affectionate. “Thanks Mari~”
Yuri mumbled something, and approached one of the stock pools, pausing to select a fish. One of the pups sniffed at his tail curiously, eyes large and dark and wide.
Yuri let out a startled little sound at the cold, wet feeling of seal nose against his tail, and reflexively pulled his tail away. “Holy sh—“ he cut himself off, and stared down at the slowly blinking seal pup. “….What?” he finally asked, unnerved.
“He wants to cuddle,” Viktor replied.
“Cuddle?”
“I’m the only mer most of the pups have seen.”
“That explains it,” Yuri mumbled, grabbing his fish and tucking in hungrily.
“Of course I was! You’re practically my little brother, and you’re carrying my niece or nephew.” She pointed out. “Stupid boys.” She added.
“Sorry about that Haku just really likes Viktor, he probably thinks you’re a pretty mer.” Yuuri explained, lifting up the seal pup.
“That’s because Haku is my sweetie baby.” Viktor crooned softly, murmuring softly to the seal pup and nuzzling him while Yuuri struggled to hold him up. “Yuuri, you look so handsome holding a baby~ you’ll be such a good papa~”
“….Wait. His name is Yuri?”
“Mm~”
Yuri frowned, huffing. “…We can’t both be Yuri.”
“Mmm, well he’s older than you, so he had the name longer….”
“I’m not changing my name!”
“We could just use Yuratchka—“
“I’m not five!”
“Hm I suppose that be a bit of a problem.” Yuuri chuckled. “It should be fine, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“We should call him Yurio.” Mari chuckled as she moved to lift up Haku. “Baby, want to show your uncles your new trick?” She asked, easing the pup down.
Haku barked a few times, wiggling as he began to remove his seal skin. In place of a seal pup stood a chubby cheek toddler with a missing tooth. “Hi uncle Vikchan!”
Oh. Viktor melted.
He immediately scooped Haku up, pressing kisses to his chubby cheeks. “Ah, now who is this adorable little morsel? I could just eat~ him~ up~!” Viktor playfully mimed biting at the toddler’s arms and tummy, tickling him at the end.
Yuri watched Viktor with an odd expression. “….What have you guys done to his brain? It’s more melted than before. Somehow.”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
“I would suggest watching your language in front of the pod, the pups are about to shed their skin and they’ll be talking in no time … we don’t need actual toddlers repeating that.” Yuuri warned. “Mari might actually bite a chunk out of you.”
“She may not look scary as a human but trust me selkie bites aren’t something to swim off.” Kara warned. “Mari is just protective over those she considers part of her pod.”
“No fighting, that won’t help anything. For now, let Kara and I go explain things to the pod. I’m sure once Mari calms down, she and the rest of the pod will welcome Yuri … though is there a reason for your arrival? Everything okay back home?” Yuuri asked, more than a little worried.
Yuri huffed. “Okay? Vitya was supposed to be back by now.”
“Yura. I told you when I left there was a chance I would be joining my mate’s pod—“
“And instead you got mixed up with selkies, living by a bunch of humans. You’re going to get yourself killed. You know we can’t trust them,” Yuri argued. “You said the pod was your family!”
“It is!”
“But you still left us!” Yuri accused brashly, fins flaring. “You chose them!” He gestured towards Yuuri and Kara, and for a moment, the selkies could have sworn the saw something close to tears in the younger mer’s eyes.
“Yura, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! You were supposed to come back…..! You promised….!”
“We’ll give you two a moment to talk in private.” Yuuri said, grabbing kara and pulling him back to the water. As they slipped into their skin they headed back to the open cove.
Mari was pacing as she waited for another sign of them. She wasn’t thrilled to see just Yuuri and Kara. “Where’s Viktor and the other mer?”
“The younger mer is from Viktor’s birth pod … we may have more joining us, mers that is.” Yuuri explained as they got into the cove. “He came looking for Viktor, being as he’s just a teen they’ll likely come follow.”
Mari groaned. “Perfect, as long as they can keep a low profile … fuck … I’ll need to see if Itsuki can get a message to mom. We may have to consult the council, our numbers have stayed small enough here to not cause any issues but depending on how big Viktor’s birth pod is …”
“If they intend on staying we’ll move. It’s not fair for us and our mate to cause problems for everyone else.” Kara pointed out. “Viktor and Yuri needed to speak privately, in our private cove they’ll be safe.”
Viktor and Yuri’s conversation ended up lasting well over an hour.
Mari saw the pink and gold of Viktor’s fins in the water ages before he arrived at the colony’s home, leading a sullen looking teenaged mer.
Viktor came out of the water first, seating himself on the edge of the rocks. “Mari? Yuri has come to apologize. Haven’t you, Yura?” He looked pointedly towards the smaller mer, who mumbled softly. “…Louder, Yura.”
“…..I’m sorry for intruding onto your territory.”
Mari eyed the young mer. “Since you’re part of Viktor’s family I’m letting it slide for now … We would have welcomed you into the territory had we known you were coming.” She sighed. “We’ve got fish stocked up in one of the pools further in, I’m sure after your long travel you must be hungry.” She approached the two mers before flicking Viktor in the forehead. “And that’s for putting yourself in danger, dumb ass.”
A few of the other Selkies began to shed their skins to welcome the newest mer to their pod.
Viktor gave Mari an apologetic little grin. “Awe, you were worried about me~” he replied, keeping his voice soft and affectionate. “Thanks Mari~”
Yuri mumbled something, and approached one of the stock pools, pausing to select a fish. One of the pups sniffed at his tail curiously, eyes large and dark and wide.
Yuri let out a startled little sound at the cold, wet feeling of seal nose against his tail, and reflexively pulled his tail away. “Holy sh—“ he cut himself off, and stared down at the slowly blinking seal pup. “….What?” he finally asked, unnerved.
“He wants to cuddle,” Viktor replied.
“Cuddle?”
“I’m the only mer most of the pups have seen.”
“That explains it,” Yuri mumbled, grabbing his fish and tucking in hungrily.
“Of course I was! You’re practically my little brother, and you’re carrying my niece or nephew.” She pointed out. “Stupid boys.” She added.
“Sorry about that Haku just really likes Viktor, he probably thinks you’re a pretty mer.” Yuuri explained, lifting up the seal pup.
“That’s because Haku is my sweetie baby.” Viktor crooned softly, murmuring softly to the seal pup and nuzzling him while Yuuri struggled to hold him up. “Yuuri, you look so handsome holding a baby~ you’ll be such a good papa~”
“….Wait. His name is Yuri?”
“Mm~”
Yuri frowned, huffing. “…We can’t both be Yuri.”
“Mmm, well he’s older than you, so he had the name longer….”
“I’m not changing my name!”
“We could just use Yuratchka—“
“I’m not five!”
Surprise, surprise…!
[CLOSED RP WITH @vkusno-viktor ]
“You can’t just hide him forever, you know…” Yuuri heard his mother say, and he knew those words to be true. If only it weren’t that hard, though…
“How do you determine student’s initial aptitude in language? Shinobu and I have worked on a little Russian here and there, but I’m more a language student than a teacher,” Viktor explained. “He knows enough to get through most of a basic children’s book, but his writing isn’t as strong. He only knows a couple letters.”
“So, we’d be starting from zero with his writing.” She confirmed. “While we can adjust to a student’s level, that would be a different story. Right now, we have three more kids at around the same level looking to apply. We’re considering opening a class for them to start in, but we need at least a few more students so it can be feasible. We could add you to that waiting list and get back to you in a few weeks while we confirm whether we’re able to make that happen.”
That was not what Yuuri would have liked to hear.
“So, you’ve offered that basic course before. Do you have a copy of the curriculum we can review?”
The headmaster rolled back on her chair, opening one of the drawers on her desk, filing through it for a few moments. She pulled out a thin binder labeled, in English, ‘Kindergarden— Russian as Second Language’. Made for the parents of such children, who were probably not fully fluent in the language, either.
Thanking the woman, Yuuri opened the binder, leaning slightly over Shinobu on the smaller chair in order to review it with Viktor for a few moments.
To Yuuri, it seemed adequate. But they still had a few more schools to visit, so they he kept his mind open.
“I did have one other question about the culture of your school. Can you tell me what the climate is like for non-Caucasian and mixed race students?” Viktir asked bluntly.
He wanted to make sure any place they sent Shinobu would be safe. And he didn’t want the bigotry of self righteous idiots ruining that.
He also knew the question would likely be taken more seriously coming from him, unfortunately.
“Please keep in mind that I can and will be doing thorough checks on our top choices. I would appreciate honesty more than lip service.”
Yuuri looked at Viktor for a moment, trying to keep his expression neutral. They’d talked about this and agrees it’d be best for the alpha to bring up the subject. Still, seeing him step up to the plate and be so protective of Shinobu…
Madame Antonova seemed to be caught off-guard by Viktor’s question.
“The second language classes are the most diverse in the school. We have a no tolerance policy for bullying, and students are sent home and reprimanded as soon as anything gets reported. We don’t believe in treating our students differently. The core values we promote as an institution are important, regardless of your background.”
It was a dodging kind of no-answer.
“And what measures does the school take to promote that students get involved amongst themselves and in the community?”
“We have a calendar of extracurricular activities all year that are put together by the teachers to ensure the integration of all classes and programs. Some of those activities involve field trips to various locations in the city and visits by members of the community, as well. Would you like a tour of the school?”
Yuuri looked at Shinobu and Viktor, and nodded.
“Please, follow me.” She said, standing from her chair and opening her office door. Exiting the building, she led the way through a courtyard into another structure. “This is the kindergarden area. As I’m sure you know already, kindergarden is our youngest level and, depending on the student, can continue until ages six or seven.” She led them through a hallway where they could hear children talking and singing from different rooms. “And this is the Russian as a second language classroom.”
The headmaster knocked on the door and, after a few moments, a teacher emerged from the room.
“Hello, Madame Beaumont. Do you have a moment? These are Shinobu and his parents, Mr. Nikiforov and Mr. Katsuki. Shinobu might be joining the new kindergarden class we’d like to open. Madame Beaumont would be teaching the class.”
Viktor gave the teacher a look, humming thoughtfully. “What would excite you most about teaching a class of Russian as a second language students?” he asked curiously.
It would be interesting to see how she answered. It was clear to both the teacher and headmaster that Viktor was carefully weighing their responses.
The woman smiled at them, warm and welcoming. “Hello, Shinobu. Nice to meet you!” She said in Russian.
“…Nice to meet you,” the boy replied in kind.
“Seeing the children’s faces when something finally clicks.” She looked at Viktor and Yuuri. “I’m from France and learned Russian as an adult, so I understand how challenging it can be.” She seemed genuine.
Yuuri watched Shinobu’s face light up at that. “How do you deal with the differences in fluency level between students?”
“I attune to the students’ style of learning to help them catch up. And offer extra tutoring to kids if they need that extra support. I also tutor adults.”
That piqued Yuuri’s interest. He’d have to remember her name.
“You do? Good to know.” Viktor hummed thoughtfully. “Thank you for your time today. This was exceptionally helpful.” He nodded his head slightly, and reached down to take Shinobu’s hand. “Yuuri, dorogoy, did you have any other questions?”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
“I would suggest watching your language in front of the pod, the pups are about to shed their skin and they’ll be talking in no time … we don’t need actual toddlers repeating that.” Yuuri warned. “Mari might actually bite a chunk out of you.”
“She may not look scary as a human but trust me selkie bites aren’t something to swim off.” Kara warned. “Mari is just protective over those she considers part of her pod.”
“No fighting, that won’t help anything. For now, let Kara and I go explain things to the pod. I’m sure once Mari calms down, she and the rest of the pod will welcome Yuri … though is there a reason for your arrival? Everything okay back home?” Yuuri asked, more than a little worried.
Yuri huffed. “Okay? Vitya was supposed to be back by now.”
“Yura. I told you when I left there was a chance I would be joining my mate’s pod—“
“And instead you got mixed up with selkies, living by a bunch of humans. You’re going to get yourself killed. You know we can’t trust them,” Yuri argued. “You said the pod was your family!”
“It is!”
“But you still left us!” Yuri accused brashly, fins flaring. “You chose them!” He gestured towards Yuuri and Kara, and for a moment, the selkies could have sworn the saw something close to tears in the younger mer’s eyes.
“Yura, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! You were supposed to come back…..! You promised….!”
“We’ll give you two a moment to talk in private.” Yuuri said, grabbing kara and pulling him back to the water. As they slipped into their skin they headed back to the open cove.
Mari was pacing as she waited for another sign of them. She wasn’t thrilled to see just Yuuri and Kara. “Where’s Viktor and the other mer?”
“The younger mer is from Viktor’s birth pod … we may have more joining us, mers that is.” Yuuri explained as they got into the cove. “He came looking for Viktor, being as he’s just a teen they’ll likely come follow.”
Mari groaned. “Perfect, as long as they can keep a low profile … fuck … I’ll need to see if Itsuki can get a message to mom. We may have to consult the council, our numbers have stayed small enough here to not cause any issues but depending on how big Viktor’s birth pod is …”
“If they intend on staying we’ll move. It’s not fair for us and our mate to cause problems for everyone else.” Kara pointed out. “Viktor and Yuri needed to speak privately, in our private cove they’ll be safe.”
Viktor and Yuri’s conversation ended up lasting well over an hour.
Mari saw the pink and gold of Viktor’s fins in the water ages before he arrived at the colony’s home, leading a sullen looking teenaged mer.
Viktor came out of the water first, seating himself on the edge of the rocks. “Mari? Yuri has come to apologize. Haven’t you, Yura?” He looked pointedly towards the smaller mer, who mumbled softly. “…Louder, Yura.”
“…..I’m sorry for intruding onto your territory.”
Mari eyed the young mer. “Since you’re part of Viktor’s family I’m letting it slide for now … We would have welcomed you into the territory had we known you were coming.” She sighed. “We’ve got fish stocked up in one of the pools further in, I’m sure after your long travel you must be hungry.” She approached the two mers before flicking Viktor in the forehead. “And that’s for putting yourself in danger, dumb ass.”
A few of the other Selkies began to shed their skins to welcome the newest mer to their pod.
Viktor gave Mari an apologetic little grin. “Awe, you were worried about me~” he replied, keeping his voice soft and affectionate. “Thanks Mari~”
Yuri mumbled something, and approached one of the stock pools, pausing to select a fish. One of the pups sniffed at his tail curiously, eyes large and dark and wide.
Yuri let out a startled little sound at the cold, wet feeling of seal nose against his tail, and reflexively pulled his tail away. “Holy sh—“ he cut himself off, and stared down at the slowly blinking seal pup. “….What?” he finally asked, unnerved.
“He wants to cuddle,” Viktor replied.
“Cuddle?”
“I’m the only mer most of the pups have seen.”
“That explains it,” Yuri mumbled, grabbing his fish and tucking in hungrily.
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
“I would suggest watching your language in front of the pod, the pups are about to shed their skin and they’ll be talking in no time … we don’t need actual toddlers repeating that.” Yuuri warned. “Mari might actually bite a chunk out of you.”
“She may not look scary as a human but trust me selkie bites aren’t something to swim off.” Kara warned. “Mari is just protective over those she considers part of her pod.”
“No fighting, that won’t help anything. For now, let Kara and I go explain things to the pod. I’m sure once Mari calms down, she and the rest of the pod will welcome Yuri … though is there a reason for your arrival? Everything okay back home?” Yuuri asked, more than a little worried.
Yuri huffed. “Okay? Vitya was supposed to be back by now.”
“Yura. I told you when I left there was a chance I would be joining my mate’s pod—“
“And instead you got mixed up with selkies, living by a bunch of humans. You’re going to get yourself killed. You know we can’t trust them,” Yuri argued. “You said the pod was your family!”
“It is!”
“But you still left us!” Yuri accused brashly, fins flaring. “You chose them!” He gestured towards Yuuri and Kara, and for a moment, the selkies could have sworn the saw something close to tears in the younger mer’s eyes.
“Yura, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! You were supposed to come back…..! You promised….!”
“We’ll give you two a moment to talk in private.” Yuuri said, grabbing kara and pulling him back to the water. As they slipped into their skin they headed back to the open cove.
Mari was pacing as she waited for another sign of them. She wasn’t thrilled to see just Yuuri and Kara. “Where’s Viktor and the other mer?”
“The younger mer is from Viktor’s birth pod … we may have more joining us, mers that is.” Yuuri explained as they got into the cove. “He came looking for Viktor, being as he’s just a teen they’ll likely come follow.”
Mari groaned. “Perfect, as long as they can keep a low profile … fuck … I’ll need to see if Itsuki can get a message to mom. We may have to consult the council, our numbers have stayed small enough here to not cause any issues but depending on how big Viktor’s birth pod is …”
“If they intend on staying we’ll move. It’s not fair for us and our mate to cause problems for everyone else.” Kara pointed out. “Viktor and Yuri needed to speak privately, in our private cove they’ll be safe.”
Viktor and Yuri’s conversation ended up lasting well over an hour.
Mari saw the pink and gold of Viktor’s fins in the water ages before he arrived at the colony’s home, leading a sullen looking teenaged mer.
Viktor came out of the water first, seating himself on the edge of the rocks. “Mari? Yuri has come to apologize. Haven’t you, Yura?” He looked pointedly towards the smaller mer, who mumbled softly. “…Louder, Yura.”
“…..I’m sorry for intruding onto your territory.”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
“I would suggest watching your language in front of the pod, the pups are about to shed their skin and they’ll be talking in no time … we don’t need actual toddlers repeating that.” Yuuri warned. “Mari might actually bite a chunk out of you.”
“She may not look scary as a human but trust me selkie bites aren’t something to swim off.” Kara warned. “Mari is just protective over those she considers part of her pod.”
“No fighting, that won’t help anything. For now, let Kara and I go explain things to the pod. I’m sure once Mari calms down, she and the rest of the pod will welcome Yuri … though is there a reason for your arrival? Everything okay back home?” Yuuri asked, more than a little worried.
Yuri huffed. “Okay? Vitya was supposed to be back by now.”
“Yura. I told you when I left there was a chance I would be joining my mate’s pod—“
“And instead you got mixed up with selkies, living by a bunch of humans. You’re going to get yourself killed. You know we can’t trust them,” Yuri argued. “You said the pod was your family!”
“It is!”
“But you still left us!” Yuri accused brashly, fins flaring. “You chose them!” He gestured towards Yuuri and Kara, and for a moment, the selkies could have sworn the saw something close to tears in the younger mer’s eyes.
“Yura, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! You were supposed to come back…..! You promised….!”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
“I mean your season was only a week, kind of hard not to hide it.” Yuuri snorted. “Though it is our first together, not entirely sure how long they normally last.”
“Not a mate, two mates … I would imagine it’s easier to get pregnant the more people you’re fucking.” Kara pointed out. “Wait, how old is this mer-Yuri? Should we even be talking about this in front of him? He’s not like a mer baby or toddler right?”
Yuuri snorted, trying to cover his laughter. “I would imagine he’s a teen.” He said trying not to laugh. “You didn’t answer our question, should we be expecting the rest of Viktor’s birth pod to show up?”
Yuri pulled a face. “I’m not a fucking toddler!”
“He’s a few seasons from being an adult. Teenager is good term.” Viktor pinched Yuri’s cheek, grinning. “But he is baby of pod.”
“Go suck on a sea vent, Vitya.”
Viktor tutted. “Such language. You’ll never catch Beka’s eye talking like that.”
Yuri turned crimson, and swatted at Viktor’s tail. “Shut up! I’m not trying to catch anyone’s fucking eye!”
“Right.” Viktor tutted, settling onto a ledge in the grotto, his tail dangling in the water still. “So. About the rest of the pod.”
“They wouldn’t follow me.”
“Yes, they would, Yura. At the very least, they’ll send Gosha and Mila after you, and then you’ll have ruined mating season for Georgi and—“
“Anya dumped his ass. Frigid bitch.”
“….Oh, poor thing.” Viktor actually looked a little put-out for his former pod member. “Regardless — I doubt you covered your trail all that well.”
“Hmph. Says you. I made it here, didn’t I?”
“And it was stupid to do.”
“You came here alone!”
“I’m an adult!”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
“Oooh.” Kara said eyeing the other mer. “He looks too young to be out in the open ocean alone … are we to expect more mer?” He asked. “Yuri … how funny his name is like ours.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay, mom is really the best one to deal with injuries and until she’s back we have to rely on Itsuki … which I don’t think either of you would want to do.” Yuuri warned. “I am sorry Yuri, had we known you’d be coming the pod would have welcomed you a bit warmer. Mari is-“
“She’s our older sister and pretty much pod leader. I’d stay clear of her for now, she’s pretty fond of Viktor and of course the fact he’s carrying doesn’t help. Selkie pods are very protective over our pregnant members.” Kara explained.
“Like how you bit dad for kissing mom while she was pregnant with Itsuki?” Yuuri teased.
“I was two!”
“….Pregnant?”
“I’m honestly surprised she could tell already,” Viktor replied cheerfully, smiling that infuriatingly adorable heart-shaped smile.
“….Fucking hell, Vitya, you have one fucking season with a mate and you get knocked up in the first week?” Yuri pulled a face. “Fucking gross.”
“Mmm, no, is beautiful~ my Yuuri and Kawayuri ware amazing, they took such good care of me~” Viktor again nudged Yuuri’s neck.
Yuri gagged. “For—fuck’s sake…! Disgusting…!”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Kara followed after the two mers, keeping a close eye on the smaller one. He could see Mari had returned to the rest of the pod and Yuuri was heading towards them. Once back in their hidden cove, he slipped out of his skin.
“I’ve never seen Mari so mad before …” Kara said softly. “It’s going to take a lot of bribing to get on her good side again.”
Yuuri surfaced, stripping out of his skin as he got to the beach. “I take it you know this mer? I wasn’t sure how long I could have kept the pod from attacking … Mari is not happy.” He said approaching Viktor. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” He asked, hands reaching out to touch.
“I’m okay.” Viktor leaned into Yuuri briefly, crooning again. “You two worry too much. I’ll speak with Mari,” he assured them. “This wasn’t a fight. It was discipline.”
“Fuck you, Vitya!”
Viktor glowered at Yuri, who winced and looked away.
“….This impolite vagabond is Yuri, or Yura. He’s a member of the pod I lived in up North. He was supposed to stay up there with them.”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Kara snorted at the young mer, baring his teeth for a moment. It was clear this was someone Viktor knew but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. He kept close to Viktor as Mari practically torpedoed towards them. 
She launched herself on to the rock roaring before her skin began to peel back. “There better be a DAMN good reason you’d put yourself at risk Viktor. We are a pod for a reason, we protect each other. Especially when one of us is in a delicate state- like you currently are.” She growled looking between her brother’s mate and the younger mer. “And you.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “I’ve eaten bigger fish than you for a snack.” She hissed snapping her teeth. “You best be on your very best behavior before I decide to see what kind of fish a mer taste like.”
Kara whined, peaking up at her. She could be down right scary.
“I suggest you either take this to your private cove or our public cove. You are causing too much noise, the humans will start coming … With mom and dad out of town there’s no one here to keep them back.” Mari huffed, slipping back into her skin and back into the water making her way back to their rocky cove.
Kara whined, nuzzling Viktor hoping he wasn’t too angry. It was bad enough that Mari was mad.
Viktor turned and crooned softly, nuzzling at the selkie before murmuring softly to him, the sound soothing and gentle, almost hypnotic. “Shhh. No worries, dorogoy. I am safe, and Yuri truly would not have hurt me. I will take him to our cove, where he can explain himself.”
Yuri’s fins flared, his eyes bugging comically wide. “Wait wait wait. Our—You—Is that why your scent is like — with a fucking seal?!”
“Selkie.”
“HE’S A SEAL.”
“Mm, maybe right now. A very cute seal.”
“Oh my GOD Vitya!”
Viktor huffed — and unceremoniously shoved Yuri into the water. The younger mer landed in the water with an undignified squawk, and Viktor slid in after him, nudging the younger mer towards the private little cove they had shared.
Though when they arrived, Yuri looked like he had bit into a lemon as soon as they entered it. “You built a fucking bower here? What the fuck, Vitya.”
“Mmm, I wanted to woo my mates, so sue me.”
“Mates? Plural???”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Kara slowly approached as he watched the two mers seemingly settle down. It seemed the smaller mer had given up. At least for now. Once he got close enough to the rock, slipped partially out of his skin enough to speak.
“Viktor? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked reaching out with a partial hand, flipper to feel for any wounds.
Mari jumped into the water and began swimming towards them.
“Oh no … here comes Mari … you best be ready for a butt chewing. And not the good kind.” Kara warned, slipping back fully into his skin
Viktor huffed, and finally released the smaller mer. “I’m all right, solnyshko,” He assured Kara. “Yuri wasn’t actually trying to hurt me.”
“You’re fucking crushing me,” the smaller mer huffed from beneath Viktor, glowering up at him. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Yura. Language,” Viktor warned. “Be on your best behavior. You’re a guest here, and on thin ice at that.”
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
Kara watched closely, he could hear the younger mer yelling but didn’t understand it and he wasn’t sure if Viktor did either. He kept himself close enough to help if need be but out of way. He was worried about Viktor, the last thing he wanted was their mate to be injured.
Yuuri turned from their cove, watching as Viktor fought with the mer. The rest of the pod began to gather at the edge, barking out at the unknown mer. It was clear the pod was ready to jump in and scare it off. Mari was pulling her skin on, getting herself ready to launch into the water to help Viktor fight if need be.
Viktor finally managed to drag the other mer beneath him, pinning him down in place and glowering down at him in clear anger. “Ты должен был вернуться к Яков!”
Apparently, Viktor did understand whatever language the angry little merman was spouting at him. Viktor growled, and pressed him more firmly against the rock. “Ты смерти ищешь? Ты хоть представляешь, как близко мы к человеческому поселению?”
The smaller mer squirmed, and smacked Viktor in the side with his thrashing tail. “Это ты нас бросил, чтобы пойти трахаться!”
“Yuri!” Viktor growled, clearly irritated. He finally managed to subdue the younger mer, who — after a few more half-hearted struggles, finally went limp, and turned his head to the side submissively — a universal signal for “I give up, you win”.
Curiosity killed the catfish.
Viktor might have thought better of exploring unfamiliar waters, if he hadn’t always been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong since the day he was old enough to swim out from behind his mother’s fins. And here he was, suffering the consequences of his own actions. He’d gotten too close to one of the human fishing vessels when a wave hit it — sending boxes of cargo overboard, but also his current predicament: a large fishing net.
As entangled as he was, swimming was out of the question. He had struggled for so long that he had all but exhausted himself. So he settled at the bottom of the water, tucked into a reef for safety, hoping nothing would notice him until he again regained the ability to focus on getting out of the net tangled around him.
Netting tangled with the merman’s elegant opal fins, wrapped tightly around his powerful tail, kept his arms near his side with only a few inches of give. It was disorienting, and it was all he could do to tuck himself back and out of plain view.
He just needed a bit more rest was all. Just…. just five more minutes…
“More a chance to stretch out. I don’t usually spend this much time in one place, so I’m just looking to make sure nothing is encroaching on my territory… I’m going to be a terror with that, as a warning.” Viktor watched Kara with the food, not particularly feeling interested or hungry. “You fed me plenty, zvezda moya. Any more and I’ll start to get fat. Besides, Makkachin is probably waiting, too, my poor baby.”
——
“Oh poor Makka! I told mom to keep an eye out for them but with her and dad gone they must be so lonely.” Yuuri whined.
“I’m sure the seal pups are spoiling them.” Kara said putting away the rest of the food. “Alright then, let’s head back out.” He slipped on his skin and made his way to the water with Yuuri close behind.
They each nuzzled Viktor carefully before making their way out of their cove into open water.
When they hit open water, Viktor felt more relaxed. He’d been cooped up for so long… and now that he was fully recovered, swimming was so much easier for him. No more pulling in his shoulder, and he still felt extra pretty for his mates with his season colors, which would stay with him for a few weeks yet.
Makkachin, it turned out, was indeed being spoiled by the other selkies — but was all too happy to join the trip in their impromptu swim.
As they rounded the head of the cove, Viktor’s body language changed. He frowned, stiffening, and surfaced. “Yuuri? Kara?”
Kara and Yuuri were both relieved to see Maka was fine and spoiled by their pod. It was one less thing to worry about. They kept close to Viktor when he surfaced. They followed after him to the surface of the water, huffing softly as they began to sniff the air trying to find what it was Viktor was sensing.
“…I’m sensing another mer. So hang back a bit, mm? I still don’t know how mer song affects selkies, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” He pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose, while running a hand over Yuuri’s neck. “No complaining, I won’t get too close. Just enough for them to know this place is taken and they should move on. Chances are they caught wind of me while I was still in season and got curious.”
Kara abd Yuuri shared a look before texting out to nuzzle Viktor. They didn’t really want to be too far from him in case the other mer attacked.
Yuuri moved to gather their pod that was still in the water and away from Viktor just in case.
Kara backed up, but kept a close eye on Viktor. His nose trying to sniff out the other mer just in case.
For a while the ocean was silent, beyond just the waves and the crashing of water against rocks.
Until there was a break of water — loud, wild splashing, followed by frenzied mersong — a strange vocalization somewhere between singing and yelling, somehow, all in rapid-fire Russian.
“Пошёл на хуй, Витя! Слезай с меня, блядь! Ты, тупица, где тебя, на хуй, носило?! АЙ! Не кусай меня, сука!”
Out of nowhere, a smaller mer launched himself out of the water and onto a nearby rock, practically scrabbling up it while Viktor followed in hot pursuit, grabbing his tail and dragging him back towards the water. This new mer was younger, but had similar coloring to Viktor, though the back of his tail was darker than Viktor’s pale silver, closer to a gunmetal in color. His bobbed blonde hair was askew and loose, and flashing, angry green eyes glowered back at Viktor while the two mers struggled with each other.
