The Merman And The Fisherman
Summary: Phil is a fisherman who has had enough of a certain merman opening his net and letting his fish go. Word count: 1,650 Genre: angst and fluff, merman! dan au Warnings: umm fighting? And swearing. Notes: yo my dudes! It's been a second since I've posted so here is a little enemies to lovers fic! Love ya guys! ~•~ “Yeah Phil, it was so amazing! There were at least three-hundred of them!” Mikey said, adjusting his bright orange cap, his hair clearly in need of a wash after the hard work and sweating he had been doing. Mikey, much like Alyssa and David, all worked for Phil, helping to check on the nets, making sure no ropes were frayed or any mechanical failures. He was a short man, only around 5’6, with brown hair, the roots greying slightly, and bright green eyes. He was probably Phils’ best friend, even though they had a considerable age gap, Phil being 26 and Mikey being 62. Mikey had been there after his father had died, making sure to work extra hours, just so that phil could go and visit his dad in the hospital. He had worked probably over 79 extra hours, and then told Phil to take off for another week, just to make sure he was alright to get back on the water. He was an amazing friend to Phil, and he loved working with him, especially when he told stories about he and his own father fishing. Mikey had the ability to make anything sound amazing, really.
Smiling at the man he nodded, fixing his own hat. They had been taking a break after setting up the net, and Mikey and Alyssa, a tall brunette, had just gotten back from the boat about an hour ago. He was told that there were plenty of fish in the net. Now this may seem exciting, but the fears crept into his mind, you see, he had been having a little problem lately. ‘If I don't get there quick, that thing, is going to open the net, and all those fish, and all of that money will go down the drain, no pun intended.’ So with a small nod and a polite wave, Phil stepped onto the extra boat, starting it as he headed towards the larger boat to pull up his net. He always enjoyed fishing, something about it being calming, taking him back to when his father saved up enough to buy a boat, and how they spent days on end sitting in the sun, eating sandwiches and drinking water. How original. It's always been perfect for Phil and nothing of that changed as he got older, eventually ending in him becoming a professional fisherman, not only did he get to stay on a boat for most days, he also got to spend time with many of his friends and crew. It was truly his dream job. He just loved the way the salt mixed in with the wind, and if you're close enough to shore, you can hear faint laughter, kids and parents enjoying the day on the beach.
Once the fishing boat was in sight, he slowed the boat down, cringing at the sound of the motor slowing. That was always his least favorite part, it usually meant that it was time to get off, but luckily that wasn't the case this time. The boat wasn't anything extremely special, but It was rather large, and very beautiful, or maybe that was just him. As he walked onto the deck, the boat only tilting slightly under his weight, he started to pull the lever, the nets slowly starting to emerge, making a loud groaning sound as they did. “Dammit! That son of a bitch!” He yelled as he saw the net open, any fish that might have been in there gone. Whatever the fuck he was, Phil was ready to turn him in instead of trying to catch anymore fish.
The ‘boy’ one would call, or ‘merman’ the boy said, has been opening phils met for the last week, and let's just say Phil boss is not happy. He hadn't gotten any fish in since last week, and he feared that soon he would be fired. “You called me?” A smug voice sounded from the water. Phil turned around, his glare only growing as he saw the thing smirking at him. He had large brown eyes, something that usually Phil would be attracted to, his lips were a shade of bubblegum pink, and hair was a lovely shade of brown, styled similar to his own. He wasn't slim but also wasn't fat, he was in between in a beautiful form, and where his feet should be, was a long blue tail. He was definitely attractive, Phil would have to be blind to say that he wasn't, but he was also a massive dick, and was getting closer everyday to making phil lose his job.
“How dare you!” Phil yelled. The boy looked taken aback, probably because Phil just usually moved the boat, not bothering to talk to the creature, especially knowing he would lose his temper. “I swear to god I'm going to catch you, and I'm going to turn you in to them. I will if you don't stop ruining my catches. Understand?” He countined to yell, ignoring the look on the bo- creatures face. The yelling countined as he threw the net back into the water, not bothering to do any checks. Once his rant was finished he headed back to the smaller boat, starting it up before speeding away, deciding he needed a few days off. ••• “Yes sir I understand. No! No, no, I'll move the boat, you don't need to worry about it. I'm sure I'll run into some fish, somewhere. Absouletly! Thank you sir. I'll be there Thursday and check some spots, hopefully I'll find a good one soon. Yeah, yeah I will. You too. Thank you, alright yeah, aha bye.” Sighing, Phil flopped onto his bed, putting his phone down after talking to his boss. His sleep came easy that night. •••
It had been three days since Phil had last been on the water, deciding to take a very small break before he lost his temper and did something he would regret. Like murder, or wait, is it really murder if he's not human? Today he was going back, and honestly, he was super excited. Even if he didn't get any fish, he had never been so far from the ocean before now. Stupid fucking fish. He had gotten dressed at around 5’ in the morning, and headed out, getting the boat ready before taking off out to the water. Being back was great, and he was calm as he approached the boat, sighing happily as he tied the smaller boat down and hopped onto the other. He whistled as he approached the net, slowly turning the lever as the machine let out a groan and began to bring the net up. Phil noticed however, that it seemed to be heavier than even a back when he had tons of fish. Could this mean his career was going to get better?
The machine finally stopped making. So much noise, and the net came into vision, a tail appearing, a lot with a body attached, and phil had never screamed so loud in his life. The creature, ‘Dan’ he thought, thinking of when the merman told his name, had apparently gotten himself trapped inside the net, his body laying limp, but his chest rising, giving signs that he was alive. Phil rushed to untie the net, lifting the creature up (seriously lay off the seaweed) and laying him down on the deck. He was clearly alive and didn't seem to be injured, so phil decided to wait until he woke up, sitting down and watching as the waves passed. There wasn't a lot he could do, especially not with the merman on board. If anyone saw him, he would be killed instantly, so phil decided it was safer for him here.
Pretty soon, he heard a rustling from behind him, followed by a gasp, and what sounded like a small whimper. Turning around, Phil saw Dan back up to the wall, fear in his eyes as he looked around. “Dan? You okay you're safe you know? I'm not gonna take you anywhere, you're free to leave.” Phil said calmly, hoping not to frighten the merman anymore. He wasn't evil. “I can go? What about you being angry?” Dan asked, his words trembling a bit as he spoke. “Don't worry about it. Just tell me why you do it. I would like to know.” Phil said, standing up and crouching by Dan. “Oh-uh oh um well, you see, I haven't always been a merman.” Dan said. Phil nodded even though the information frightened him. “I uh, used to fish as well actually, and uh, the news said that this spot had been dropping in fish counts lately, so they asked to stay away from this area, even if it wasn't against the law. I didn't listen of course, and um, a woman, came up to me one day, and all I remember was her saying that if I could save this area, and bring fish back, and save them, then I could be human again. It went black and I woke up like this.” Dan explained.
Now Phil was definitely freaking out, but really had no other choice but to believe Dan. Wait, so he had been cutting the net so that the fish would be safe and turn him human again? Now he kinda feels like an asshole. “Hey Dan?” Phil spoke, looking at the merman. Dan looked up, titling his head. “Let's make you human again.” And phil had never seen a smiler brighter than Dans in that moment. ~•~ The end.
