Chapter Text
Makkachin was missing.
Viktor had looked away from his dog for five minutes to take a phone call from Yakov, and she had disappeared. He panicked, throwing his phone into the sand with his umbrella and towel and rushing across the beach, following her footsteps as long as he could, until they were washed away by the tide. The water was rising, the waves were strong, Makkachin could be anywhere, she could be –
He tried not to let his pounding heartbeat command him, but he couldn’t help but think of all of the places that Makkachin could have gone – because there weren’t many. He turned around and around, searching for his dog on the beach as tears pricked in his eyes. No. No, this was not okay, she knew better, she wouldn’t run away, she wouldn’t –
He heard laughter among the waves and rushed forward, hoping that whoever it was might have seen wherever she ran off to.
Viktor stopped when he got close, because… Makkachin. His breath left him, sagging into the waves with a relieved laugh. She looked up at the noise and barked loudly, rushing over and knocking him into the water. He laughed, wrapping his arms around her neck and holding her close to his body. “Don’t run off like that, Makkachin. I thought you’d gone into the water,” he said, tears filling his eyes as he hugged her tight. He didn’t want to imagine what could have happened if she hadn’t heard him.
Viktor finally pulled away from his dog and looked up to see another man sitting among the waves, a small smile on his face as he watched the two of them. His eyes widened when Viktor met his eyes, and he started to turn, but Viktor reached out. “Wait!” He ran through the waves, splashing with Makkachin following at his feet. “Thank you, for playing with her. She might have gone deeper if you hadn’t, and then she could have been hurt.”
“She didn’t come to me,” he said, and Viktor stared in shock at him. When he’d opened his mouth, rows of sharp teeth shined under the light of the sun, reflecting in the waves. “I’ve not met a dog in a long time!” he exclaimed, his cheeks turning red. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s… you called her to you?” Makkachin didn’t listen to anyone other than Viktor, so that this man was able to summon her out into the waves…
He nodded, pulling his body forward, and Viktor did his best not to stumble backward when he saw him. Rather than legs, the man had a shining grey tail, attached to his back with a pointed fin he’d only seen on sharks.
“I used to play with a dog a lot, but he stopped coming to the beach. I saw her and asked her to come out. She knocked me over, so excited to play.” He laughed, reaching out to thread his fingers in Makkachin’s fur and pet her softly. She barked excitedly, her tongue lolling out of his mouth, and the shark man held her out of the water.
“What’s your name?” Viktor asked, walking toward him cautiously and sitting in the water, letting it lap around his waist as he pet Makkachin as well.
“Yuuri,” he answered, blushing again, looking down at Makkachin. “I really should have asked, I’m sorry. I promise she was never in any trouble. I didn’t know she was here with anyone.”
“It’s okay. She clearly likes you, and as long as weren’t going to hurt her,” Viktor answered, scratching at Makkachin’s ears. She barked again, licking at his hands and he smiled at her, glad that she was safe. “I’m Viktor.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Yuuri said, extending a hand to him. Viktor took it, marveling in the leathery slide of his skin, matching his sharky lower half. “You’re not… The only people who have seen me have seemed scared.”
“You’re clearly not going to hurt me.” Viktor shrugged, though he couldn’t claim not to be startled by the sharp teeth and shark body. “Do you want me to bring Makkachin out to the beach again? I’m sure she’d love to play with you!”
“Really?” Yuuri’s eyes lit up excitedly, and he nodded his head. “Please! That would be so great,” he exclaimed. “I don’t meet people often, the tides are usually too high when people are on the beach. Or they see my dorsal fin and… panic.”
Viktor couldn’t imagine how lonely that would be, not ever meeting the people who came so close to where he lived so often. He smiled brightly, nodding his head. “Makkachin likes to make new friends, and she loves the beach!”
They started to come back every day, and Viktor learned more and more about Yuuri. He was a mermaid, part of a species that was half tiger shark. His family lived deeper in the water, but he liked to come to the shore and watch the humans swim. When he’d been younger, he’d made a couple friends with people, as they were able to fade between species in their youth. Once he was older, though, he was confined to the water, and could only talk to other mermaids – until Viktor.
Viktor thought he was beautiful, really. He was prone to a bright red blush, and when he got nervous, he’d fiddle with his fins, or he’d go deeper in the water, until all Viktor could see was his bright, excited brown eyes.
One day, Yuuri was in the middle of telling some grand story about chasing down a school of fish and Viktor had gotten distracted staring at his bright shining teeth and leaned in to kiss him. Yuuri had made a startled noise, sitting there in shock for a moment before diving at Viktor, nearly submerging him with his excitement to kiss him back.
Somehow, it was fitting that Viktor had managed to fall in love with the mermaid who lured Makkachin to the waves. It gave him an excuse to the beach much more often, and he was far from afraid to let her wander. She’d go rushing to Yuuri, and he could take his time jumping into the waves and splashing his boyfriend.