Love snaps, 7

 Hizashi was not only embarrassed about the snap, he was <i>guilty</i>. He'd made extra work for Elly and her team, plus it sounded like other things had happened with the visiting humans he didn't know about.

Control was one of the first lessons mers learned. Sharks like his friend Aizawa watched their teeth, octopus were careful of their ink. And, as arguably one of the most dangerous creatures in the sea kingdom, he'd been taught to snap gently from before his claw grew powerful enough to hurt. Was he so reckless as to potentially injure others because of a simple touch?

He swam around anxiously after she left, worrying about the reasons she was concerned. This was all his fault. If she got into trouble because of him he would never forgive himself. He circled the tank so quickly he grew weary and sank to the bottom after only a few minutes.

"Barnacles." He needed to apologize, to promise to be more careful and show her how he truly felt. Hizashi jerked upright from where he lay restlessly on his bed of kelp. He had the <i>perfect</i> idea.

He would find her a Gift.

It would act as an apology and not only that, she already agreed to his courtship without one. That was unheard of, a social faux pas on his side that would be scandalous in the mer community. To not Gift your prospective mate would be seen as not truly loving her.

She needed the best, most precious item he could find.

Unfortunately, after scouring the seabed for hours he was left empty-handed. Nothing was good enough, nothing was <i>right</i> - shells were too common, pretty sea glass just baubles she could pick up on the beach herself. Nothing was as special to him as she was, the combination of rare and beautiful that would show how much he loved her.

Hizashi growled in irritation and curled up to rest for a few minutes and think. He dug his claw into the sand, idly rooting around while he racked his brain for any shipwrecks or anything in the area he could loot. Most had been stripped clean by humans and mers alike by now, and there was a terrifying chance of cannibalistic bottom dwellers staking them out for hunting. They weren't safe.

The tip of his pincer struck something solid with a soft clink and he glanced down sharply, his antennae flicking. After a quick dig with his multiple legs sifting through the sand, he pulled up an empty shell.

Again.

Hizashi stared at it glumly.

It was very pretty, and a rare species that, unbeknowst to him, used to sell well in the human world. But all he saw was the empty home of a dead creature.

<i>Depressing.</i>

He sighed and tossed it away to watch it sink slowly to the bottom. He tracked its movement without thinking much but then frowned. There should have been a slight puff of sand, an indent where it fell, but the little shell remained on top with only the faintest disturbance.

When he scratched the surface this time he found an old bottle. He'd heard of humans throwing written notes into the sea, but there was no paper - only something sparkling inside. Intrigued, he used the point of his claw to pull the cork and tipped the bottle into his hand. A beautiful necklace with clear gems along the chain and a smooth, polished stone at the end slipped out.

"What the..?" Hizashi held it up, his heart soaring with hope. It appeared to be glass but, though weak, his eyes were accustomed to more light variations than most beings. He saw gorgeous rainbow colors dance across the surface and broke out into a huge smile. It was like a liquid rainbow, with the stones set in the chain part reflecting back cleanly and creating more colors as he turned it this way and that.

A voice coming out of the depths suddenly broke his contemplation of the jewelry. "Hey, what're you doing?"

Hizashi jumped, instinctively holding the Gift against his chest with multiple legs gripping it to protect and hide. Other mers would fight him for it, and he had no desire to injure or kill today. He relaxed when he saw who it was, however.

Well, a little.

Hizashi grimaced, sighing in resignation at the long, dark hair and female shark scent. "Hello, Kayama."

"Is that any way to greet me?" Her tail flashed quickly, driving her to his side. She was half mako, known for their speed. "I thought we were friends. You go off for some tail and don't tell me, but Aizawa and Yagi know?!"

His ear flaps shot back in anger. "Don't call it that! I just found her a Gift!"

Kayama's attitude changed right away. "Oooooh! Is that why you're so far out? Can I see, can I see?!" She circled him in excitement, hands out. "I want to see!"

"Calm down. Here." He opened his hand, the necklace shimmering prettily on his palm.

Her jaw dropped. "Whaaaaat. That's too good for a walker!"

This time Hizashi bared his fangs, small as they were compared to his friend's razor-edged teeth. "That's my <i>chosen mate</i> you're talking about."

"Oh." She thought about this for a moment. "Yeah... sorry. That was messed up of me."

"They're also called humans, remember."

She waved a hand about dismissively, causing some nearby fish to dart off in a panic. "Whatever. Are you going back right away?"

"Uh huh. Wait... lemme guess. You want to come."

"I <i>need</i> to see the wal - err, human that decided she wants to mess around with a shrimp mer."

"<i>Kayama</i>!"

She raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged. <i>It's the truth, isn't it</i>?

"Humans don't know about our freshing societal rumors, okay?"

"It's not a <i>rumor</i>, though, is it? Shrimp mer gotta be the best at pleasuring their partners, 'cause they can only mate with other shrimp mer!"

"Why's everything gotta be sex with you," he grumbled, his face burning with embarrassment.

"But -"

He clicked once, lightly. "Awright, shut up. You can come."

Love snaps, 6

 The military base was near the edges of town, some distance from the Marine Institute. They had access to the police radio, so when the incident occured they heard about it right away.

The second-in-command was an imposing, middle-aged man with fiery eyes and hair to match. He sat restless in his office swearing under his breath as he read the police reports of the supposed gunshot noise. A lesser officer stood nervously sweating in front of his desk.

"Is this everything?"

"Yes, sir. The officers were called and they looked around but saw nothing. They concluded it was a drill cracking cement really loudly."

"Sure," he snorted. "Idiots. They're covering up shit again. Cracks in cement don't sound like fucking gunshots. That's bullshit. Round up a few of the grunts and we'll go pay them a visit."

"Sir, it's mess and they haven't eaten in -"

The big man raised his eyes to stare grimly at him. "Did I ask if they were ready? <i>Make them ready.</i> l. It's your job, soldier."

"Yessir! Right away, sir." The man closed the door firmly behind him. When it was shut and he was several steps away he muttered "<i>Asshole</i>," under his breath.

Enji liked to think the nickname "Endy" was short for "Endeavor" because of his committment and hard work. He had a poster in his office with a quote tgat read "<i>Self-discipline is the cornerstone of any endeavor</i>", which is where he believed it originated from. In reality, his nickname was because he'd ended so many people's careers and, in some cases, social lives and networks.

He was in all respects the typical, bullheaded military man with one caveat: he believed in cryptids. The walls of his house were papered in posters of such well-known creatures as bigfoot, ogopogo, and the Loch Ness monster. He was determined to prove creatures like that existed.

After a particularily bad incident involving a civilian he was certain was a werewolf, the higher-ups had enough of his shenanigans and deposited him somewhere they thought he would be harmless. Where else than an island? Islanders are usually seen as a strange bunch, surely he'd fit in there.

But legends sprouted everywhere, and he soon heard stories of mer-people from the townsfolk. This was common near the ocean and often dismissed as manatees or other creatures basking on the rocks. Fairy tales are whimsical and bring people to your businesses, so the town played up the stories.

Unfortunately for Elly, this led to a lot of harassment since she was in charge of the Institute. She tried to be cordial at first but the man was stubborn and absolutely convinced she knew of monsters lurking in the ocean she wasn't telling anyone about. She thought he was crazy... until she met Hizashi.

She easily constructed the "cement" cover story, because things did happen that led to odd events now and then - a leak here, a wily octopus getting out of its tank before they were ready for release. This time, however, the police showed up as a gunshot noise was not the kind of thing they could ignore. Elly knew about it as soon as they arrived and she gestured to one of her staff that worked in the back.

"Go warn Zashi," she hissed urgently. "Tell him to leave until we signal it's okay to come back." The woman rushed off just as her front door opened.

"I heard there was a disturbance?" The policeman today was a mild-mannered young man they knew well and she relaxed a little.

"Hey, Iida. Yeah, it was one of those days. The concrete in the ambulatory tank cracked when we were drilling a piece out. The sound freaked our guests." Elly shrugged with a sheepish grin. "We should've waited until after hours and at least drained it first."

"I figured." He grinned back. "I am required to inspect the grounds fully - you know that -- and as long as there's no discrepencies we'll be fine."

"Yep!"

The two chatted idly as they walked the exhibits, weaving in and out of the visitors there for the day. Elly grew more nervous as they opened the door to the back, knowing it was only a matter of time before he needed to see the large hospital pool. Iida wandered off to chat with someone feeding the sharks and she gripped a railing nearby to steady herself. Thankfully the staff member she'd sent walked around the corner at that moment and nodded, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Thank god."

"Yeah, he wasn't there," she said quietly. "I left Kan at the entrance to the waterway so if he shows back up before they're gone he can tell him not to come in."

"Thank you." The relief and gratitude in her boss's voice made her smile.

"It'll be okay. Even if they saw him we could say it's fake, like for a show or something."

"Yeah..." Elly shook herself back into what she called Public Relations Mode with an effort, pushing back the remnants of her fear. Iida came back, and she opened the farthest doors with a much lighter heart.

"Wow, this really <i>does</i> look like a gunshot," Iida marveled when he was shown the hole. "It's obviously not - no soot, shape's not exactly right. But it's close. I can see why it was so loud."

"Yeah. We were going to fill it right away but thought you guys would want to see."

"Yeah." He straightened after one final look, shaking his head in disbelief. "Some people jump right to the worst possible thing they can think of. Remember that shark scare a few years ago?"

She laughed. "Yeah, the sunfish! How they thought it was dangerous is still beyond me."

"The precinct posted the copypasta on our bulletin board that week."

"Oh, nooooo! Not the '<i>I hate the sunfish</i>' one?!"

"That's it!" He grinned and she walked along beside him ostensibly to see him out, but also to be certain he actually left.

Iida was a good man, but she still breathed a sigh of relief when his car pulled out of the parking lot. If this proved anything, it was that Hizashi's safety was going to have to be addressed soon.