Love snaps, 1

 The marine biologist had short purple hair that flowed closely about her face under the clear tropical waters. Her figure was shapely, shown off in the tight wetsuit she wore, and the striping on her split fins and suit matched her hair.

Unbeknownst to her, she had a secret admirer that came to visit every day as she observed the reef life.

"Over here, yo."

"Hurry, there's a walker!"

Far below, two shadows slipped quickly into a hidden cave on the ocean floor with the low sounds of clicks and whistles. There was a resounding <b>snap</b> that disturbed the sand and a cloud of ink erupted from the entrance, dissipating slowly into the water. And then, a few minutes later red eyes were shining out of the darkness, blinking as they tracked the scientist's movements.

The woman above continued to methodically check the species swimming around her, without any idea that two creatures straight out of the pages of a fairy tale were watching her.

There were two mer-people hidden in the cave.

The one was a leopard shark, his tail patterned with dark markings that enabled him to blend in with his surroundings. The other had a curling, yellow shrimp's tail with red patterns speckled on it. He had long, blond hair tied back with a strand of kelp and a heavy red pincher instead of a right arm. Two yellow antennae sprouted from either side of his lip like mustache points that swayed in the current.

Both appeared ravenous, tearing into their lunch as they watched the human swim around.

Eventually their food was devoured and the shrimp man spoke. "So?"

The dark-haired other blinked, his red eyes softening to gray. "What?"

"What d'ya think?"

"Of what? The walker?" He squinted up with a distrustful glare. 

"They call themselves humans," he reminded him.

"Whatever." He waved a hand at her. "Doesn't look too dangerous. Good idea to keep an eye on her, though. You never know."

"Well, yeah... but nah. I mean, see how she's helping? She's healing the reef and the creatures that live here. I've been watching her capture injured fish and bring them back later."

"Walkers are the ones that fuck up the reef in the first place!"

"They're not all bad, Aizawa," he said firmly.

"Whale shit." Aizawa bared his teeth in distrust. "Anyway if you think she's so great, why'd you bring me this time?"

"I guess for insurance. I'm not entirely certain about this." Hizashi's voice remained calm, though his pulse was racing. He'd decided to show himself to her weeks ago and now was the time. "Stay here," he called out to his friend as he curled his tail powerfully, swiftly propelling himself towards the purple-haired woman.

His friend choked. "<i>Hizashi, no</i>! Do you have a death wish?! Don't do anything stupid!"

He ignored his frantic clicks and growls, focusing instead on the beautiful human that was stroking a playful parrot fish. He stayed away at first, out of her field of vision - or so he thought.

Everything happened so fast that later it would seem like a dream.

She whirled around and saw him.

Hizashi tensed even as she did. He saw her eyes widen underneath her mask and she pushed herself back in shock, unfortunately right at the reef. The bright, lively coral had many nooks and crevasses where creatures both lived and hid from view. One of them was deceptive; a pretty shell that most people never assumed held any danger.

She knew but didn't see the marbled cone nestled in the fluttering growth. Her arm would reach it soon and Hizashi reacted immediately. He instinctively knew his pincher would be frightening so he did a very dangerous thing, using his tail to whip the cone snail away. Although he was lightning fast so was the little creature, and it stung him before it was flung onto the sand.

Hizashi swore softly. His tail was strong and armoured but the plating had been stretched out. The harpoon-like radula got him between the shell, right in the tender flesh. The woman dove back down to him, shock replaced with concern. She moved her two sticks in an oddly graceful way through the water, holding them together so they functioned almost like a tail. The snail's paralytic venom soon caused him to stiffen and in the moments before he blacked out he thought how she could almost pass for one of his kind as she reached towards him.

When he opened his eyes he was in an environment he didn't recognize; a small area filled with unusual tasting water. There were walls that weren't coral yet felt rough to the touch, and the ground was also hard and cold.

But the worst was the eerie silence.

Underwater should be noisy, filled with the sounds of the creatures that shared their home with him and the human's vehicles plowing through the upper waves. The silence was almost deafening and though it was good he was alone since he was injured, Hizashi had to push a crushing sense of fear aside. To distract himself he examined his tail and saw there was a thin coating of something over the puncture wound. He instinctively knew it was the work of the woman who had reached out to him. A good thing she'd been there, although he could have made it alone. He was still dazed and didn't feel great, but at least he was awake.

His ear flaps fluttered then as he picked up noises. They were coming from the surface, though, a gathering of people that sounded very excited.

Then he heard <i>her</i> voice.

He flexed his arms and tail, popping up like a cork with water streaming from his long hair. There were many different humans with her, some wearing long coats and others wetsuits. Hizashi swam around to her as she stood near the side of the water, spinning akwardly around when he reached her so he was facing everyone. His motor reflexes weren't quite back yet and he wobbled, but grasped the lip of the pool with his hand to steady himself.

The group took a collective step back when he rose up to swim towards her. A few were holding objects in their hands he recognized easily as weapons and his eyes narrowed. He'd better be careful. He slowed his approach, swirling around and irritated that he was more clumsily than usual. Still, he managed. The woman drew in a quick breath when he grew near but didn't jerk away like the others.

Now that he was closer he could see her much better. She was fairly short, with eyes that matched her dark purple hair. And because she was out of her wetsuit, she appeared a tiny bit thinner in a pair of worn jeans and a baggy Ron Jon t-shirt. Hizashi noticed that she wore no jewelry or other adornments, and he was instantly curious as to why she wasn't mated like others he'd seen. He saw absolutely no Gift on her person to show she was with anyone.

"Thanks for helping me out!" He chirped brightly in her own language.

Quite a few of the people dropped what they had in their hands. The ones with weapons clutched them tighter and he kept a close eye on them.

"It <i>talks</i>!" A burly, spiky-haired man spluttered in shock. "What the hell!"

Hizashi frowned. "I'm not an 'it', yo," he said angrily. "My name is Hizashi."

The woman was perhaps the only person to keep her cool, though she was clearly excited. She smiled at him and he felt his ear flaps prickle as the expression lit up her pale features. "Hello, Hizashi. I'm Elly."

"Hey," he answered back amiably. "Thanks for helping me out."

"How do we know it's not one of those weirdos that pretend to be a mermaid," a slender woman muttered in the back.

Elly shot her a dissaproving look. "First off, they're not weirdos, Linda. How many times have we had this discussion."

The woman shrugged. "Sorry, but -"

"He had PSP, for Christ's sake. No ventilator, nothing except treatment for the the wound the snail gave him... <i>and yet he's awake</i>. I think we can agree he's not human. Besides, I worked on him. That tail, the claw! He's real."

"Right," the spiky-hair man nodded. "Then it's more of a danger."

"I'm not an it!" Hizashi snapped once, very lightly, in anger. The water around his claw bubbled with disturbance.

"Stop calling him an it!" She hissed at the same time that he did. "That's insubordinance, Kan. I'm the person in charge here and you will <i>not</i> disrespect our guest!"

"Guest?!"

"He's not a prisoner or a test subject - the gate needs to remain unlocked <i>at all times</i>."

"If he leaves, we lose the opportunity ..!"

Elly ignored the protest, pointing at the merman and then the exit out to the ocean. "Look, you can come and go as you please." She walked over and demonstrated how it worked, a simple latch that he could reach up to unhook. Hizashi fumbled to unlatch it but then waved a hand at the indoor pool and his injury to indicate he knew it was better to stay put for now. She nodded and closed it again, seeing how his hand shook with effort at the manipulation.

"I'm not going anywhere yet," he told her firmly. "No way. I'm weak as a pup and still having trouble seeing straight, yeah? I'll stay."

"Good." She smiled warmly at him and he slid partially underwater to hide his blush, ear flaps lowering shyly. All that display of teeth had an effect on him; he did find her attractive, after all. Mers showed their teeth in mating and aggression, and there was no hostility in her expression. The result was what felt to him like a tremendous flirt, though he knew humans did it to show happiness. 

He raised himself to smile carefully back at her, not showing any teeth just in case.

Her smile somehow grew brighter, and he knew he was lost.