Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Luke laid back on the beach, not caring if the sun was scorching hot and no doubt burning him. He was on a small beach, surrounded by driftwood that he had been trying to collect for that night’s campfire. Behind him was a thin line of palm trees and vegetation that didn’t last more than a few dozen feet before turning into more beach. 

At Luke’s feet, he could feel the gentle lapping of the ocean as it stretched up to envelop him. All around the island, the water was crystal clear and allowed the life teaming inside to be shown on display. Above him, the sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight.

Any other time, Luke would have loved all the scenery around him. Hell, he would never want to leave such a nice scene. But, that night would mark the second full week of Luke being stranded on the island. 

Two weeks ago, he had been left on the island by his now ex-crew as they sailed off with his ship, The D.S.S. Samantha. He had been made captain of her only a month before the mutiny and was tasked to sail her across the ocean. However, it seemed like that wasn’t what the crew had wanted. 

Usually, Luke was responsible for picking out who would be in the crew, but with him being promoted to captain, he just didn’t have enough time and had let his second in command do so.

Now, he was laying on a beach in the middle of the ocean, cursing his luck and wishing he hadn’t trusted anyone on that ship.

Spreading his arms out on the ground, Luke simply laid there, not caring about the heat, the sand sticking to every part of him, or even the tide that would undoubtedly be coming in in a few hours.

A large crack of thunder woke him from his impromptu nap and caused him to bolt up from the sand. Spread out in front of him, the sky had turned into a swirling mass of dark grey clouds, the beginnings of a storm. A particularly nasty one if the lightning coming down was any indication. The sky was turning darker every second, almost matching the color of the churning sea as the horizon mixed making it so Luke couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

Jumping to his feet, Luke had to pray that the slight incline at the heart of the island would be enough to keep him above the waves. As soon as he reached the tallest tree that stood on the island, rain started to come down, pelting Luke with fat droplets. Even huddling under the large palm leaves of the tree, Luke was soaked to the bone in a matter of seconds. Once again cursing his horrible fate, Luke stayed under the tree, trying to ignore the cold rain and the rolling waves that were getting higher and higher as they crashed against the slowly disappearing beach.

The storm raged for hours upon hours, the rain never once letting up as it came down on Luke in buckets. Eventually the small island had nearly disappeared under the water, only the trees standing tall above it. When Luke had seen almost all the sand be enveloped, he had taken the risk of climbing the tree he had taken refuge under. It was either risk being struck by lightning or being swept under the waves and being drowned.

Head tucked near the tree’s trunk, Luke clenched his eyes closed, as he listened to the near constant thunder and could still see the flashes of lightning through his eyelids. He had no idea how long he stayed hugging the tree, nor when the rain finally let up and the water receded enough to reveal the island once more. All Luke could remember is seeing the ground and letting himself drop, finally letting his sore muscles to relax, and his overly stressed mind to slip into darkness.

When he awoke next, the warm rays of sun were beating down on him, almost as the previous day’s storm hadn’t happened. Sitting up, Luke could feel his arms and legs protest, still sore from having clung to the tree for hours on end. Slowly stretching, he ignored his body’s complaints. By where the sun was in the sky, it was already noon, meaning Luke would need to find something to eat before the sun started its slow descent.

Standing, Luke slowly looked around the island, seeing that it looked almost the same as yesterday, the only thing that changed was the amount of driftwood on the beach; the storm must have pushed more onto the small beach. Eyeing one large pile in particular, Luke slowly made his way towards it. But as he got closer, he saw something laying under some bigger pieces of wood.

“Shit! Is that…?”

He broke into a full sprint, panic fueling him as he went towards the human figure he could make out in the pile of driftwood.

Dropping to his knees, Luke quickly started throwing wood off the stranger. As more and more of the person was revealed, Luke could see it was a man. He was shirtless, his chest on full display. He was nearly hairless all over, only the small amount of stubble on his face evident. Gently touching his neck, Luke checked his pulse- he was still alive. His breathing seemed normal, and even though wood still covered his lower half, Luke couldn’t see any obvious injuries. 

Letting out a breath of air he didn’t realize he had been holding, Luke examined the man further. He was handsome, the slight stubble emphasized his strong jaw, and lower, he had a long, unblemished neck. However, there were scars littered across his chest, all faint white lines, while a few were a deeper red, with one that looked to be an old gunshot wound. Leaning closer to inspect the old scar, Luke jerked back in surprise when he saw the driftwood still surrounding the man move. 

Realizing the man was still stuck under bits of wood, Luke quickly started brushing the last remnants off of him. Suddenly, a flash of blue caught his eye, making Luke pause. 

“What in the hell?” He whispered to himself, moving closer and picked up the largest piece of wood off of the man. “Fuck!”

Luke yelled in surprise and dropped the wood back onto the man, to cover the blue scales that covered his lower half. The wood landed back over the large fish tail, where a pair of legs should have been. As it landed on him, the man let out a quiet grunt of pain, causing Luke to scramble away from him, and just stared at him.

The merman. 

Chapter Text

Deckard let out a grunt of pain as he felt something heavy land on his torso. He fought against the thick blackness of unconsciousness to figure out what had fallen on him. Blinking his eyes open, he immediately regretted it as bright, unfiltered sunlight blinded him and made him flinch back in surprise. His whole body tried to shy away from the light that he now noticed was covering him in a stifling blanket of heat and made his whole body feel dried out. But, as he tried to move, Deckard didn’t feel the normal currents of water that would weave their way around his body. Instead, he could feel coarse sand under him. 

Sand, sun… land.

“Shit!”

Immediately, he was trying to get his arms underneath him to see where he was. And let out an annoyed hiss when he had to shield his eyes from the harsh light as his eyes slowly adjusted. He could feel several pieces of driftwood falling off him as he sat up, propped up on one arm. Sand seemed to fall off every inch of him and pool around his hand as if it was trying to swallow him whole.

What in Poseiden’s name am I doing on land?! He nearly growled to himself. Taking a breath to calm himself, Deckard nearly choked as he felt how dry his throat was. It was almost like he was trying to breath in the sand that he was laying in. Neptune, I hate land.

As he thought that, he couldn’t help but flick his tail in irritation, but gasped in pain. 

A sharp, blinding pain skyrocketed through his body, starting from the edges of his fin to the very tips of his fingers. His whole body seized up as the pain shot through him and he tried to breathe through it. Staying as still as he could, Deckard could feel the pain slowly turn into a dull throbbing in his tail. 

It felt as if the pain was coming from the base of his fin, making it difficult to move it, and no doubt impossible to swim. Unfortunately, Deckard would have to twist his whole body around to see the wound, and that was absolutely not going to happen if every time he moved his lower half he froze in pain.

His face twisted into a frown as he tried to figure out how to check his wound. It would be so much easier if he was in the water, but as he eyed the shore, it looked like he was a couple of meters away from it and would have to crawl to get back into the ocean. Which would be painful.

“Are you all right?”

Deckard practically jumped out of his scales when he heard another being’s voice. Jerking his head around, he saw a human sitting not too far away from him. Deckard could only stare at the human with wide eyes, who simply stared back at Deckard with its head tilted to the side in curiosity. 

Without thinking, Deckard was scrambling away from the human, baring his teeth and hissing. The pieces of driftwood moved around him as he moved, some poking him in places as he tried to face the human. How could he not have noticed the human was there? It was barely a few feet away from him for Neptune’s sake!

“Whoa! I’m not going to hurt you!” The human yelped, hands in the air near its head. 

“Stay back, landbreeder!” Deckard growled back. He kept his eyes trained on those hands. He knew what human hands could do to his kind, especially when there was more than one human around. That idea sent a shiver of fear down Deckard’s spine as he rapidly looked around, looking for any human that could possibly sneak up on him while he was this vulnerable. The piece of land he seemed to be stuck on was small and he was able to scan it in a few seconds, revealing no other humans, only relieving his fear by a fraction.

He looked back at the human, who hadn’t moved at all and was looking at him with a piercing gaze. Deckard made sure to keep a large distance between himself and any kind of human, but he knew what they typically looked like, and the one before him looked different. Its fabric dressings were in tatters but looked similar to the ones Deckard had seen on the humans on ships. And the human himself seemed to be huge, much larger and muscular than the ones Deckard was used to seeing at the few docks he passed by. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the human said, hands still up in the air. “Are you all right? It looked like you were in pain?”

“May Poseidan’s serpents eat you whole!” Deckard hissed back and viciously smirked with glee when he saw the human flinch. 

“Look, I’m not trying to start something, I just want to help-”

“I don’t care! Leave me alone, you filthy human!” Deckard shouted and made sure the human got a good look at his sharp teeth. 

“Fine, fine,” the human quickly replied and scooted back another foot away from Deckard. But instead of moving any further, the human adjusted itself and sat more comfortably, and simply stared out at the sea. 

Snarling, Deckard was ready to snap at the human again, to tell it to walk into the ocean, but he didn’t want to anger it. Deckard knew he was practically at the human’s mercy and he hated it. He hated being weak in general, but now when a human was near him, he could feel the anger and fear flowing through his veins. 

Dozens of stories about humans hunting down mers, tracking them for miles, wearing them down so they could catch them with unescapable nets. And once those mers were in the humans’ grasp, unspeakable things would happen to them. From their scales and tails being cut off to their innards being spilled on the ships’ decks. And worse of all, there were rumors of some humans capturing mers, torturing them and forcing them to lead the humans to other mers’ nests. 

Deckard could feel his whole body tensing as these stories flashed in his mind, but as he stared at the human, he decided to ignore him for the moment. All the human was doing was sitting and staring at the sea. But, even if he didn’t appear to be a threat at the moment, he could easily turn into one very quickly. 

Making sure to keep an eye on the human, Deckard slowly started to move the driftwood away from him, shoving it towards the human, hoping to make a small barrier between them. Because Deckard knew he was going to be there for quite some time. He refused to crawl in front of the human, to show weakness and allow the human to use that against him. 

So, instead of trying- and no doubt failing- to get back into the ocean, Deckard decided to wait the human out. Once the human wasn’t paying attention or asleep, Deckard would slip back into the sea and away from the human. Even if that meant waiting in the searing sun and the cumbersome sand. Laying down, Deckard kept his head turned towards the human, surprised to see that he hadn’t moved an inch while Deckard had settled. 

Odd. He could have attacked at any moment. Why didn’t he? Deckard asked himself before the thick heat around him made his eyelids heavy and pulled them down and Deckard into darkness once again.

Chapter Text

Luke glanced over to the merman when he heard the soft scrapping of driftwood through sand stop. All of the driftwood that had been laying on top of the merman now laid in a pile, acting like a barrier. Even though the driftwood obscure some of it, Luke could see the mystical being laying still, laying on its side and head pillowed under one of its arms. Its eyes were closed and chest moving steadily up and down, if a bit shallowly. 

As quietly as he could, Luke slowly got his feet under him, keeping a watchful eye on the merman, just in case he opened his eyes. Luckily for Luke, he stayed asleep, not reacting to Luke meticulously making his way over. When he was only about a foot or two away from the merman, Luke crouched down taking the creature in. 

“Amazing…” Luke breathed out, his arms stretched out towards the merman, nearly touching. 

Like any sailor, Luke had of course heard stories about mermaids, even been warned never to trust them if he ever met one. He had been spun tales of whole crews being pulled under the waves by the enchanting songs of mermaids. How their beauty was unmatched and they could ensnare the stubbornest sailor to ever sail. Once a mermaid got their song stuck into your head and heart, your fate was sealed and you would meet your end at the bottom of the sea’s floor, the mermaid’s talons the last thing you see as they pluck your eyes out. 

Now, as Luke stared down at the merman, he had to wonder if those stories were true. The talon part most likely was, as Luke stared at the merman’s hands. They were slightly webbed between the fingers and had sharp claws at the end of those fingers. And the creature looked strong enough with his muscular arms to be able to pull an enthralled sailor to his doom. 

But, Luke highly doubted the merman would be able to do anything to him, not while he was completely beached. 

“Why didn’t you go back into the water? Are you hurt?” Luke gently whispered, but received no response from the slumbering merman. Sending a small prayer to anyone that would listen, Luke moved closer to look over the merman, hoping that he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of those wicked looking claws. 

The first thing Luke noticed was that the creature’s pale skin was very quickly turning pink. Its skin was extremely dry, no sweat forming to cool him down, and making the webbing between its fingers and the delicate fin on its back look tried out. Glancing down at the merman’s scales, that began at its waist and bled into his tail, Luke could tell that too was dry. Overall, it reminded him of the fish parts that would be left on deck by the cooks, shriveled up and eventually thrown back into the sea. 

Focusing on the tail, Luke couldn’t help the sense of awe raising up in his chest again. Even with the scales looking dried out and a bit frail, the merman’s tail looked magnificent. The scales were every color of blue Luke could even fathom. The scales glinted beautifully in the sunlight, nearly changing shade right before Luke’s eyes. 

If Luke had to guess, he would say, from head to the very tip of his tail, that the creature’s tail took up two thirds of the body, no doubt making the whole creature seven or eight feet in length. 

And honestly, if Luke had seen this utterly beautiful creature singing to him, he had a feeling that he would jump from his ship into its awaiting arms and claws. 

But he wasn’t on a ship being serenaded, instead, he was on a small island, watching as the merman’s breathing sounded like wheezing and once again reminding him of the fish the ship’s cooks would catch for dinner. How they would flop around at the cooks’ feet, gasping on air when water should have been flowing through their gills. 

And the comparison didn’t stop there as Luke’s eyes wondered even further down the merman’s tail. Luke could feel his stomach roll as he took in the large, jagged piece of wood that speared through the merman’s tailfin, blood slowly gushing from the wound and seeping into the sand. 

“Oh god,” Luke hissed. His hands immediately started to move closer to the wound, instinctively wanting to stem the bleeding. With all the horrific battles he has been in, it was a natural thing for his body to reach out and help his fellow man. Well, in this case, merman. 

But. Something stopped him.

“Stay away, landbreeder!”

Those words had been hissed at him, layered with hatred and a deep seated fear. It was obvious the merman didn’t trust humans, and would no doubt want to gut Luke as soon as the human set a hand on him. 

If I want him to trust me, I’ll have to show him that he can, Luke thought to himself and nodded to himself in determination. 

Standing up, Luke quickly made his way to the center of the small island, luckily finding his little camp barely affected by the previous day’s storm. There were several coconuts cut in half, their pieces wrapped up in Luke’s naval jacket, while the two spears Luke had carved stood tall from where they were partially buried in the sand next to a small pit that used to contain fire. Several large palm leaves were scattered on the ground, having been pulled off the trees by the strong winds. 

Looking over what he had, Luke quickly scooped up his jacket, one of the spears, and some of the palm leaves. These should work for a small shelter .

Heading back to the merman, Luke looked him over again, noticing his skin was turning more red than pink now, slowly burning in the harsh sun. A new wave of determination washed over Luke as he quickly and efficiently started to cut strips off of his jacket, eyes glancing over to the merman after every tear, expecting the creature to jump up and attack him. 

The only thing the merman did in response was let out shallow breaths, completely lost to the world and anything Luke did. 

Once Luke had a good amount of strips of cloth laid out, he broke the spear in half, using it as a structure to tie the palm leaves around. While rope would have worked much better to tie the leaves to the spear halves, the cloth worked well enough. Trying to make it as sturdy as he could, soon enough, Luke had a small and very crude lean to. Picking the small structure up, Luke carefully planted it right above the merman, nearly covering the human parts of the creature and finally allowing him reprieve from the sun’s rays.

Luke watched the merman for a moment, hoping the shade would wake him up, but to no luck. But at least Luke’s efforts made the merman’s face to smooth out, the grimace that had been on his sleeping face disappearing. 

A small smile of victory crossed on Luke’s face, before it dimmed. There must be something else he could do. 

He’s part fish. What do fish need?

Water.

Once again, Luke went back to his small camp and this time collected all the empty coconut shells, and brought them to the shore. One by one, Luke filled each shell with sea water and brought them to where the merman laid. When every single one was filled to the brim, Luke fell to his knees next to the merman, a hand hovering over one of the shells. 

“Please don’t kill me,” he mumbled. 

Carefully picking up the shell, Luke poured the seawater over the merman’s torso, nearly jumping when he heard the startled gasp below him, and the merman’s entire body squirm. Quickly glancing at the creature’s face, Luke saw a look of pure relief etched on the somehow still sleeping figure. Encouraged, Luke picked up another shell and poured.

With each shell, the merman seemed to breathe easier, body losing the tension that had wracked him. Luke could feel his own worry lessening as he listened to much steadier breathing. 

Picking up a few of the now empty shells, Luke made to stand, but was stopped when a webbed hand shot out and harshly grabbed at his wrist, talons almost digging into skin and drawing blood.

Luke stayed frozen in a half crouch over the merman, who was staring up at him with bright hazel eyes. 

Chapter Text

Deckard gasped when he felt the cool and reviving feeling of water being poured over him. With each pass of water over him, Deckard felt as if his life force was being brought back from the brink of death. He never thought he would miss the feeling of water on his skin and scales, but now that he had been forced to go without, he would count each moment in the water as a blessing. 

He laid there, simply enjoying the refreshing feeling. But suddenly, it stopped, making Deckard panic. What if that was the last time he ever felt water on his skin again?

Snapping his eyes open, he could see something moving in front of him and without thinking, he clamped his hand around the thing that had been giving him such sweet relief. 

Only to end up staring right up into the human’s face, who looked as shocked as Deckard felt. Clearing his extremely dry throat, Deckard only had one thing to ask. 

“Why?”

Both he and the human winced at the way his question sounded more like a croak than a real word. 

“I told you, I wanted to help,” the human said carefully, looking at Deckard with narrowed eyes. He had yet to try and break Deckard’s grip, and Deckard had to admit, he was impressed by the human’s confidence. “I’m about to get more water, do you want some to drink?”

Deckard could only nod in response, still not comprehending what was going on. 

He released the human’s wrist and watched as he moved away and towards the water, carefully filling coconuts shells. Laying back down, Deckard blinked at how much cooler he felt. Turning slightly, he was greeted with the sight of palm leaves above his head and providing him with much needed shade.

When did he-?

Deckard’s thoughts were interrupted by the human returning and sitting down in the sand next to Deckard’s little shelter. He held out a shell, and Deckard had to force himself to calmly take it, so not to spill it in his excitement. However, once he took his first sip, Deckard was lost. 

Each swallow felt like pure bliss as the cool water slid down his throat. As soon as he drained the first shell, another was immediately offered, and without thinking, Deckard took it and downed that one as well, along with the third. Taking the fourth, he couldn’t help himself and dumped the whole thing over his head and neck, allowing his gills to open for a second. 

Deckard almost let out a moan at how good it felt. 

Coming back to himself, he blinked as he saw the human staring at him in awe, loosely holding an empty shell in his hand. 

“What are you staring at, urchin for brains?” Deckard hissed, not appreciating the scrutiny. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stare,” the human said smoothly. “I’m just glad the water’s helping.”

“Of course the water’s bloody helping, you dull creature,” Deckard hissed, claws curling in the sand. “I’m a bloody mer after all.”

“I kinda figured. No need to get snippy, princess,” the human snapped back, his eyes narrowed in anger this time. 

Deckard could feel his back fin raise in indignation. 

“If you think for a second, that I need your help, you’re sorely mistaken!”

“Oh, in that case, feel free getting that giant piece of wood out of your tail yourself!” The human nearly shouted back at the merman. With that he stood up and stormed away, completely out of Deckard’s field of vision. 

The merman let out a sigh of frustration and reached for the last shell full of water, trying to ignore the anger mixed with hurt that he had seen on the human’s face. Slowly sipping at the water this time, Deckard tried not to dwell on the guilt swelling in his chest.

Humans shouldn’t be trusted. It was a known thing for those who lived in the sea and had to fight with humans almost daily to keep their homes safe and unharmed. 

“Not all humans are bad, Deck!”

Deckard sighed. He had heard Owen say those words far too many times. But he had never once thought that Owen was right. Until now. 

Now, Deckard wasn’t sure what the human’s intentions were, but he begrudgingly had to admit that the human had yet to do anything harmful to Deckard. He could have easily let Deckard dry out and die of heat and lack of water. He could have even driven a weapon into Deckard’s heart. Instead, he had willingly made a shelter for the merman and graciously brought him water. 

And from the sounds of it, he had even considered helping with my wound , Deckard groused to himself. He chewed on his lower lip, reconsidered. Maybe I was too harsh with him. Maybe Oh is right. Maybe not all humans are bad. 

Letting out another sigh, Deckard finished off the last bit of water and absentmindedly started to scratch at the coconut’s surface, his claws carving into the thick skin easily, as Deckard considered his options. 

“Not much of a choice,” Deckard mumbled to himself. It was either life or death at this point. Even if Deckard did get himself back into the water, he wouldn’t be able to reach his wound, at least not without hurting himself even further. So, the only sensible choice was to ask the human to help, even though the idea still didn’t sit right with Deckard’s instincts.

The sound of feet shuffling through sand brought Deckard out of his thoughts and he raised his head to see the human sit down a few feet away from him, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. 

“Look,” the human began, rubbing at the back of his neck, but made sure to keep eye contact with the merman. “I’m sorry for what I said. You’re probably in a lot of pain, and it’s pretty obvious that you don’t trust humans. I really am just trying to help.”

Deckard pursed his lips, mulling over the human’s words. Better make my choice. 

“I’m sorry as well,” Deckard admitted, looking away from the human’s surprised face. “I am not used to humans.”

“I kinda got that,” the human chuckled and sent Deckard a cheeky grin. “‘Landbreeder’? What even is that?”

Deckard knew that the pink on his cheeks was not from the sun. That particular insult had a very… obscene history to it and he didn’t feel like explaining it to the human. 

“Just something my kind says,” Deckard muttered instead, hoping the human accepted the lame excuse. Luckily, the human just smiled wider, finding the response funny. 

“Either way, how about you actually call me by my name?” The man smirked. “Luke Hobbs.”

“Deckard.”

“Nice to meet you, Deckard,” Luke smiled. “Now, how can I help you? I didn’t want to move you, in case that made things worse.”

“You were right, water would help the best. The wound needs to be fully submerged, and then it can start to heal.”

“Easy enough. We’ll get that piece of wood out of you once you’re in the water,” Luke nodded. “But, how do you want to get back into the water? Would you be alright with me touching you?”
Deckard very much didn’t want a human to touch him. But, there wasn’t much of a choice in the matter.

“I would appreciate it if you could help me to water,” Deckard says instead, trying to keep any emotion out of his voice.

Luke nods at him, a look of understanding on his face. He slowly stands up and comes close to Deckard, keeping his pace slow, almost as if he was giving Deckard time to change his mind. But, the merman kept quiet as he tracked the human’s movements as he crouched down to lift the small shelter away from Deckard. He clenched his eyes shut when the sun hit him directly, so he didn’t notice Luke’s hands coming near him.

In a blink of an eye, Luke got his arms under Deckard’s back and the midway of his tail. 

“Ah!” Deckard yelped and wrapped his arms around Luke’s neck. 

He hadn’t been expecting the human to pick him up!

He heard the human grunt as he tried to balance Deckard’s weight in his arms, which jostled Deckard’s wound, making him hiss in pain. 

“Sorry,” Luke said through clenched teeth, no doubt able to feel Deckard’s claws digging into his shoulders as he started to walk across the small island. 

The walk seemed to take forever in Deckard’s opinion. But it wasn’t as unpleasant as he predicted. Luke tried to keep Deckard’s body still in his arms, trying his hardest to not move Deckard’s wound and cause him pain. And Deckard had to admit, the human’s strength was simply amazing. He could feel the stain in the human’s neck and arms muscles, but they were able to carry Deckard with ease. 

He was getting used to the feeling of being so close to the human, of feeling the strong arms wrapped around him, but suddenly, Deckard felt himself being lowered. And a sharp pain going up his body as his wound was finally submerged in water. Deckard clung to Luke’s shoulders, trying to stay still and allow the pain to recede, breathing heavily through barred teeth. The human simply held him, waiting for him to adjust. 

“You alright?” Luke whispered after a minute, looking down at Deckard in concern. 

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine,” Deckard responded in a strained voice. 

“Do you want to sit for a bit longer, then look over your tail?”

Deckard could only nod in agreement, the pain making him seize up and words nearly impossible to produce. They sat there for several long minutes, Deckard’s upper half curled into Luke’s chest, while Luke gently rubbed the merman’s back. Only the sound of the waves gently licking at the shore disturbed the two, as they simply sat there together, a human comforting a merman. 

Chapter Text

Luke held Deckard to his chest, trying to soothe him. The merman was letting out a constant stream of small whimpers of pain and clung desperately to Luke’s shirt. Luke could feel the tension in Deckard’s back, almost to the point where the muscles almost felt like iron by how stiff they were. He felt the merman shove his face further into his chest, his talons piercing Luke’s shirt and pricking skin. Holding him closer, Luke started to hum a sea shanty, hoping it would soothe Deckard further. 

Looking into the water where Deckard’s tail was submerged, Luke couldn’t help but flinch in sympathy as he saw blood filling the water. We need to pull that shard out of him. 

Even though Luke knew he would have to be the one to do the task, he could feel his stomach tying itself into knots about causing the merman pain. He’s going to be in even more pain if we don’t get it out .

They sat there for a few more minutes, Deckard’s pain filled whimpers gradually quieting and the tension in his shoulders decreasing. Taking a breath, Luke quietly asked:

“We need to take that piece of wood out of your tail,” Luke murmured into Deckard’s ear. “Would it be alright if I did it now?”

“Yes.”

The single word held so much pain, Luke couldn’t help but wrap his arms tighter around the merman. 

“I need to get up for a second. I want to get something to wrap the wound.”

Deckard only nodded in response. Luke was fairly sure the merman didn’t actually hear him and was only blindly agreeing so the pain would stop. He had no idea if bandaging the wound would even accomplish anything, hell, he didn’t even know if mermaids could even get infections, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to do all he could for the merman in his arms. 

As gently as he could, Luke pried Deckard’s claws off of him, quietly whispering to him as he did so. The broken whine the merman let out stabbed Luke right in the heart as he finally untangled himself from Deckard and laid him down on the ground. Deckard laid on his side and immediately curled into himself, hands digging into the sand. 

“I’ll be right back,” Luke tried to assure, but got no response. 

Luke rushed back to the other side of the island, where Deckard had previously been and where the lean to and Luke’s jacket laid in the sand. He would come back for the lean to later, but for right now, he grabbed up his jacket, fully ready to cut it further into strips. He couldn’t help a brief smirk to pass his thoughts.

If only my last commander could see how I’m treating my uniform.

He practically sprinted back to the merman and saw that Deckard hadn’t moved an inch since he left. However, the pain seemed to have only increased as Deckard panted heavily, trying to stop the sobs that seemed to escape his throat. 

“Shit! We need to get it out now,” Luke hissed to himself and dropped his jacket close to Deckard. He would cut it into strips after he got the piece of jagged wood out of Deckard and hopefully relieve some of his pain. Wading into the water, Luke got to the end of Deckard’s tail as it twitched sporadically. 

Luke had chosen this specific area of the island’s small beach because there was an outcropping of rocks that would fill be covered during high tide, but stay a semi-shallow pool when the tide receded. Luke was sure that it would be a great spot for the merman. If he wanted to stay and rest, the pool would be calm and not disturb his wound. While high tide might allow him to fully submerge if he wanted to, or he could simply lay on some of the much taller rocks that formed the pool, but were not covered by the tide. 

The tide had left the pool full, allowing plenty of room for Luke to move in it without touching Deckard’s tail. The wound had bleed abundantly, the surface of the pool a deep red. Luke ignored the coloring, having seen blood in the water far too many times to count in his life. The water came up to his waist as he made it to the middle of the pool and where the end of Deckard’s tail was. 

“Deckard,” Luke called out and kept called again until the merman lifted his head. “I’m going to touch your tail, alright?”

Again, he didn’t get a response, only a hand making a motion in his general direction and the merman letting his head fall back onto the beach. Sighing, Luke steeled himself for what was about to come. 

Wading closer, Luke took hold of Deckard’s tail at the base, right above where the wood piece pierced. And immediately was almost thrown off his feet at the force Deckard jerked his tail out of his grasp. Stumbling back, Luke stared in awe. How did he still have the strength to throw a grown man! Straightening his back, Luke didn’t let it deter him and was back in position again, ready this time. 

He grabbed the tail again, and could feel the muscles under the smooth scales shifting as Deckard tried to throw Luke off. However, the human stayed strong and kept hold of the merman’s tail, almost losing his grip several times. 

“Deckard! I need you to calm down! I won’t be able to help if you keep wiggling!”

But Luke’s words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the only response he received was a high pitch whine. Sighing, Luke knew the merman was out of his mind in pain. It was up to him to help him, and he wasn’t planning on backing down anytime soon.

Struggling to keep the thrashing tail still, Luke was able to raise it above the water and was finally able to get a good look at the wound. He swallowed thickly as he took in the grisly sight. 

The wood piece was about the size of Luke’s fist and ran straight through the more delicate flesh of Deckard’s fin. The skin was puckered around the wood, while fine, small bones were completely broken and poking out of the flesh. Blood continued to flow out of the wood, although at a more sluggish pace that it had been when Luke had first seen it. 

There was no way around it. To get the wood out, Luke would no doubt be hurting Deckard further, tearing his flesh further and breaking the tiny, thin bones. But there wasn’t much other choice. He couldn’t leave the piece in the merman. It was better to pull it out and pray that his tail would heal properly. 

Tightening his grip, Luke could feel the tail almost slip out of his grip as he switched to holding it with one hand. He just hoped he was quick enough and didn’t cause any irreversible damage.

Taking a deep breath, Luke grabbed the wood and carefully pulled on it, testing just how stuck it was. As he did so, he flinched harshly when he heard a scream rip through the air. 

“Sorry, Deckard,” Luke said under his breath, his jaw tightening as he listened to the trilling noise that escaped the merman’s throat. 

The wood had felt like it wouldn’t budge, but as Luke gently twisted his wrist, he felt it move slightly. Feeling a bubbling hope spread through his chest, Luke continued to rotate his hand to wiggle the wood out of the fin. 

The whole time he did so, the pained trilling sound Deckard was making was becoming louder and louder, and his tail was trying to lash around violently. The only way Luke was able to keep ahold of it was because of the wood that nearly acted like an anchor. 

By the time Luke could feel the wood slowly sliding out of Deckard’s flesh, ripping his delicate skin further and nearly bringing bone with it, both Luke and Deckard were panting heavily. Deckard’s cries of pain had finally turned into hoarse whimpers, his whole body shaking from exhaustion. 

“C’mon, c’mon, just a little bit more,” Luke hissed out, feeling sweat pooling down his forehead. It took an enormous amount of effort to keep his hand from yanking the piece of wood out, while at the same time keeping a firm hold on the squirming tail, that had never once stopped trying to escape from his grasp. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Luke could feel the wood slide out completely, a loud squelching and tiny crackling noises followed it as flesh and bone finally release it. 

“Finally,” Luke sighs out, throwing the bloody piece of wood towards the shore, an irrational fear of it finding its way back into Deckard settling into Luke’s mind. He knows that all the noises the merman made would be following him to his grave, and no doubt his dreams when he laid down that night. 

Luke let go of the tail, allowing it to submerge into the water at long last, once again painting the water red. Slowly, he waded out of the pool, his legs feeling like they had been filled with lead. 

Flopping down next to Deckard in the sand, Luke grimaced at the deep claw marks in the sand and the way the merman’s eyes were glazed over, barely registering Luke’s movements next to him. 

“Deckard? How do you feel?” Luke asked and immediately berated himself for that question. The man just had a large object pulled from his body, pain was the only thing he’d be feeling. 

“Better,” Deckard whispered, voice barely louder than the small waves crashing against the beach. “Thank you.”

“Good,” Luke nodded firmly. Slowly getting to his feet, Luke looked down at the still merman, who looked about to drift off. “Just stay still; I’ll catch us something to eat.”

As he finished talking, he saw Deckard’s eyes close once again. Turning on his heel, Luke headed back to his camp, knowing he still had a lot more to do before he could join the merman in sweet slumber.

Chapter Text

Blinking his eyes open, Deckard once again found himself lying on a beach, a small ceiling of palm leaves above him, protecting him from the still strong sunlight. I really need to stop passing out , he groused to himself. 

Stretching, Deckard could feel the water softly moving around his tail as he gingerly moved it around. A dull throb of pain made its way up his spine, but compared to when Luke had been messing with his wound, it felt like nothing. He could still feel the piercing pain that had gone through him when the wood had been removed. It felt as if his whole body was being ripped in two. 

Clearing his throat, he could feel how sore it felt from screaming. Normally, Deckard wasn’t so vocal when dealing with pain, but his fin was extremely sensitive and it’s not surprising the pain felt far more intense than if a different part of him had been pierced. 

Thank Posedian the human actually stuck to his promise, Deckard sighed and then wondered where the human was. Turning on his side, Deckard scrunched his nose up as he felt sand fall off his back. He truly hated being on land. He just wasn’t made for it. Once he was on his side, Deckard blinked in surprise. 

Several coconut halves were sitting in reach of him, filled to the brim with water.  

“Maybe I’ll keep him around,” Deckard mused, a smirk playing on his lips as he took one of the halves and sipped at the water and sighed in relief as he felt the cool water trickle down his throat. 

He stayed there for some time, enjoying the shade. It was odd being above water for so long, but it wasn’t uncomfortable as his body was adapted to breath below and above water. 

Once he had his fill, Deckard decided to finally push himself into the water, giddiness bubbling in his chest at the idea of feeling water on his skin once again. He wiggled his body, dislodging it from the sand and used his arms to push himself into the awaiting pool. 

“Ah!” Deckard hissed in pleasure as he felt more and more water engulfed his body as he finally slipped into the pool, his whole body being submerged. 

Immediately, he could feel his gills open. It felt like a piece of his soul was reawoken and allowed to be free. He was sure that if anyone could see him at that moment, they would have seen him smiling like an idiot, all of his teeth on display. 

The pool was too small for him to really move other than to roll around, but luckily it was deep enough to let him sit underneath the water and not have to worry about being beached again. 

Simply laying at the bottom of the pool, Deckard pulled his tail fin closer, twisting his body just so. And he found himself surprised again. Over his wound were pieces of human cloth, securely wrapped around his tail. Shifting, Deckard was able to twist further in on himself, minor shocks of pain traveling up his tail as he inspected the cloth. 

Why did he do that?

Ultimately, he decided to leave the cloth alone, curious if the human’s actions would be beneficial. But he could feel a sense of frustration towards himself; he wished he knew more about the human and why he decided cloth should go over his wound. Sometimes mers would mash up plants from the sea depths and slather it on seaweed to be put on wounds, but Deckard knew that wasn’t exactly what the human intended. 

Maybe he really should have listened to his brother. The other mer was always going on and on about humans, always trying to tell Deckard and their sister about land dwellers. Hattie would always swim away, having no interest at all to hear about what she considered nonsense. Deckard had been tempted to do the same, but had indulged his little brother and had swam with him as he talked, occasionally nodding along, but not listening to a word. 

But now, Deckard wished he had listened to Owen. He was curious behind Luke’s motivations and wished he knew more about humans to know if Luke was an exception or if more humans like him existed. 

Deckard stayed underwater for a while longer and reluctantly surfaced, having decided that he would talk to Luke himself and try to discover more about the curious human. 

Dragging himself out of the water, Deckard felt his gills closing and lungs opening again as he took a breath and blinked at the setting sun on the horizon. He didn’t realize he had been under that long. 

“Hey.”

Turning around smoothly, Deckard spotted Luke sitting on the beach, smiling at him. Flashing a smile back, Deckard moved back towards the beach and pulled himself onto it, but grimaced as he felt sand stick to his skin. 

“Not much of a fan of sand I’m guessing,” Luke chuckled. 

“It’s coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere,” Deckard huffed in frustration. It was difficult to haul his body out of the water, his tail basically becoming dead weight once his upper half was finally on land. Turning over, Deckard was sitting next to the human, little room between them. Facing the human, the merman titled his head to the side and squinted his eyes.

“What did you do to those fish?”

Luke was holding two sticks, both spearing a fish that looked burnt to Deckard. He could smell an odd scent from them and was not entirely sure what it was. The human looked down at the fish and started to laugh, which caused Deckard’s back fin to raise in indignation. He didn’t need to be made fun of for not knowing something. 

“I cooked them over a fire. I didn’t know if you wanted to try one cooked or not,” Luke smiled and offered one of the sticks to Deckard. “If you don’t like it, I have a few raw ones.”

Gingerly wrapping his fingers around the stick, Deckard looked closely at the fish and briefly wondered if it would taste of ash. He vaguely remembered Owen saying something about humans using fire as a way to eat their meals. 

Before he took a bite, Deckard quickly glanced up at Luke and watched as the human started eating the fish’s side. Following his lead, Deckard gently let his teeth sink into his own meal. And almost made a noise of surprise as he felt wonderful juices fill his mouth and felt the meat easily fall off the bones. 

It tasted completely different from the meals he had underwater. There wasn’t any warm blood flowing into his mouth, but something fatty. And he barely had to use his teeth to pull bites off. He couldn’t help but quickly devor the fish, happily humming as the fish’s bones were easily crushed with his teeth. He saved the head for last, enjoying the way the eyes popped, gushing even more wonderful tasting juices. 

Once he had the stick licked clean, he looked back up at Luke, who had only eaten half of his own meal, and seemed to have forgotten it in favor of watching Deckard. 

“Something interesting?” Deckard testily asked, eyes narrowed at the slack-jawed expression the human was sporting. 

“Ah, sorry,” Luke immediately apologized, but still looked at Deckard with curiosity. “I didn’t know you could eat bones. Humans can’t.”

“Really?” Deckard was shocked. He thought mers and humans could eat the same things. “What do you do with the bones then?”

“On ships, we usually just throw them overboard, or on land sometimes people will throw bones to pigs or throw them away,” Luke answered, taking a bite of his own fish, and Deckard could see that the human was indeed eating around the bones as best he could, sometimes pulling a few out of his mouth. 

“What’s a pig?” Deckard asked instead, not caring to know why humans wasted perfectly good food. 

“Oh, uh…” Luke started. “It’s a big animal. It has four legs, usually pink, and will eat just about anything you give it. We usually eat them.”

“Do you cook them like you did with the fish?” Deckard didn’t care that he was asking too many questions, there was a whole world he didn’t know about and he wanted- no needed- to know more. 

Luckily, it seemed like Luke didn’t mind his questions, instead smiling and chuckling as he finished his meal and then started to answer all of Deckard’s questions. Their conversation went from all the animals on land to all the types of mers roaming the seas and everything in between. The sun had set long ago, bathing both mer and human in moonlight. Luckily, the lack of sun didn’t take any warmth, allowing Luke to go without a fire and allowed them to keep talking uninterrupted. 

“Wait. What is ‘silverware’?” Deckard asked, their conversation wrapping back around to food and eating habits. 

“They’re tools we normally eat with. Spoons, forks, and knives,” Luke explained, using the stick that held his dinner as a drawing tool. There were other drawings in the sand as he sketched out the items he just listed. 

Looking down at the images, Deckard put his hand out and grabbed Luke’s wrist as he finished one drawing in particular. 

“Which one is that?”

“That one? It’s a fork.”

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure it’s a fork? Yes, I’m pretty sure,” Luke chuckled, but sent Deckard a mixed look of amusement and confusion. 

“I swore…” Deckard muttered, staring at the drawing. 

“What?” Luke asked, curiosity evident in his voice. 

Shaking his head, Deckard tried to bite down on the smile that was rapidly forming on his face. Looks like Owen doesn’t know everything about humans. 

“My brother once came home with one of those. He was so proud of it. He wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks. But, I don’t think he knows what its real purpose is,” Deckard smirked. 

“What did he think it was?” 

“I’m not sure what you would call it, but he would brush his hair with it.”

“I… he-what?” Luke threw his head back and laughed. The deep belly deep guffaws from the human were infectious and had Deckard laughing with him. Deckard couldn't wait until he saw Owen next and told him this little piece of information. 

“He’s going to be so upset when I tell him he’s been cleaning his hair with an eating utensil!” 

“The poor guy!” Luke wheezed out. It took him a few more moments to calm down. “Tell you what, when or if, I get off this island, I’ll try to get him a comb- the thing you’re supposed to use for your hair.”

“If you get off the island?” Deckard asked, confusion stopping his own laughter. “You’re not here of your own volition?”

Luke shook his head and stared out into the waves. The sea was a dark abyss that spread out on all sides of them, the weak light from the moon unable to penetrate the surface and instead allowed the sea to mix with the horizon, making it impossible to tell where one started and the other ended. Deckard could only stare at the human, wondering what was going through his mind; he didn’t like the suddenly sad look in the man’s eyes. 

“No. Not really,” the human sighed. He leaned back on his hands and didn’t take his eyes off the water. “I used to be the captain of a ship. The person in charge of it and the men as well. We had only been on that ship for two weeks before the crew said they didn’t need me anymore. So, they dumped me on this tiny island. Probably hoping it will kill me. Which it most likely will.”

Deckard stared at the human. His tone had gone from stoic and emotionless to nearly spitting out bitterness. He couldn’t imagine being betrayed like that. The human sounded like he had been a leader and then been betrayed by his people. From what Deckard has seen, he doubted Luke hadn’t given all he had to those men. He might not have seen the man as a leader, but nobody who was willing to help a total stranger would have put their people in danger or harm. A man like him should be treated with respect, not left to die. 

Deckard could feel his own rage burning in his belly at the thought of this human being betrayed. How dare someone do that to his human! 

His-? Deckard asked himself, but shook his head. Not important right now. 

Gently, Deckard placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder, bringing him out of his dark musings. 

“You won’t die here.” Deckard firmly stated, looking Luke straight in the eyes. “Even if I have to drag you across the sea, you’re not going to die here, alone and forgotten.”

“I…” Luke started, mouth agape. Deckard kept his gaze, trying to show the human that he was serious. “Thank you.”

“You helped me. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be getting off this island either.”

Deckard tightened his grip, making sure the human took him at his word. Luke slowly nodded and raised his hand up and laid it atop of Deckard’s. 

“Anyone else would have helped. You were in a lot of pain.”

Deckard shook his head. 

“Not everyone. There’s a lot of humans out there who wouldn’t have hesitated in slitting my throat or any other mers’,” Deckard nearly growled. Taking a breath, he looked away from Luke and out towards the sea. “That’s why I was out in the storm that left me injured.”

“Someone was chasing you?” Deckard could feel Luke go stiff under his hand. 

“No, but I think something happened to my little brother,” Deckard admitted. He took his hand away, and was surprised when Luke grabbed it again, holding it firmly in his. Cocking his head to the side, Deckard looked at Luke, but didn’t remove his hand. 

“You were saying?” Luke prompted. 

Deckard sighed. 

“It’s not unusual for my brother to be gone for weeks on end, but this time, it was different,” Deckard couldn’t help the frown that marred his face. “When he left this time, he was talking about a ship. And a human that was on it. I fear he got too close and something happened.”

“Do you think the people on the ship would hurt him?”

“I’m not sure. Owen didn’t talk about any of the other humans, only the one who interested him. Said the human could sing and that he wanted to hear more of the human’s voice.”

“Did he tell you what kind of ship it was? One from an empire? A merchant ship? Pirate?”

Deckard shook his head. 

“I don’t know what any of those are, and I’m not sure if Owen knew, and if he did, I don’t think it would have been an important detail to him,” Deckard said, feeling unhelpful as he watched Luke’s face screw up in thought. “Does it matter what kind of ship it was?”

“Probably not,” Luke sighed. “It’s a common thing among all sailors not to trust mermaids, so I wouldn’t be able to say if one of those ships would be worse than the others when it comes to your brother.”

Deckard could feel his heart sink at that, but immediately shook himself of any thoughts of Owen being hurt. No, Owen’s strong and far too clever to let any human catch him. He’s fine.

Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts by a squeeze on his hand. Looking over at Luke, Deckard saw raw determination in the human’s eyes. 

“If he’s like anything like you, then your brother will be fine. And if he is in a sticky situation, we’ll get him out. Together.”

Deckard could only stare into Luke’s eyes, feeling a new sense of hope rising in his chest as he saw the promise in those eyes. Deckard squeezed Luke’s hand and they smiled at each other. 

“Together,” Deckard whispered and felt another feeling mix with the new found hope, and could feel it racing through his body. Wiggling, Deckard moved until he was pressed up against Luke, touching from shoulder to hip. Laying his head on the human’s shoulder, Deckard let out a sigh of content. They sat there for a long time, both quietly staring up at the stars and enjoying the feeling of the other. 

Chapter Text

A gentle breeze swept over the island and played with the palm leaves on the trees Luke was sitting under. The calm weather tamed the seas and allowed constant and soothing waves to crash against the beach. The shade from the trees provided Luke with a cool place to relax as he slowly carved a piece of driftwood into a spear. Everything on the small island was calm, but occasionally-

Splash!

Luke grinned widely. 

Looking up, Luke could see a beautiful tail disappearing back underneath the water, the sun shining off the tail in a mesmerizing light show. 

Leaning back against the tree, Luke chuckled at the merman as he continued his lap around the island, occasionally jumping out of the water to elegantly dive back in, his whole body being shown off. He made sure to always make his jump right in front of Luke, sending a smirk his way each and every time. And each and every time, Luke couldn’t help but feel awe growing in his chest at the sight of such a bewitching creature. 

It had only been a week since Deckard had washed up on the island, injured and exhausted. But, within that week, his wound had healed wonderfully, much quicker than any human, and was now on his way to normal. Only a few days ago, he was barely able to move, and now he was able to do easy laps around the island. He had told Luke that in only a few more days, he would be able to leave and look for a ship that would come rescue Luke. 

“And how are you going to convince them to come get me?” Luke had asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Deckard had smirked, and Luke hadn’t really trusted the mischievous glint in his eyes. Ultimately, Luke hadn’t gotten anything else out of him, and decided just to tell the merman which ships to trust and try to get help from. 

“And whatever you do, don’t approach a ship that’s all black,” Luke cautioned. 

“Why?” Deckard asked, head tilted to the side like a curious puppy. 

“That’s one of the most infamous pirate ships that sails these seas. The Black Charger ,” Luke informed him. “A few weeks ago, we were ordered to attack every pirate ship we came across and my ship stumbled upon Captain Toretto and his pirate crew. When we attacked, it got bloody real quick. Their cannons ripped through our hull like paper, and a lantern must have gotten knocked over, because the next thing we knew, the whole ship was on fire.”

“How did you all escape?”

“Lifeboats, smaller boats we keep on board just in case,” Luke explained. “But, some of the men were hesitant to get in them. They said they had seen a shark in the water; apparently it had been trying to rip holes into the bottom of our ship. But when we did get in the water, I didn’t see anything, just the burning wreckage of our ship.”

“What happened to the black ship?”

“Escaped. No doubt to capture more merchant ships and attack other ships from the empire,” Luke sighed. “The only good thing that came out of the whole ordeal was me being promoted to being the captain of my own ship. Well, not much of a good thing, since I got stuck on this island.”

Luke had spat that last part bitterly, but blinked when he felt a clawed hand gently wrap around his. He looked up into Deckard’s eyes and saw him smiling back at him. 

“If they hadn’t left you here, you wouldn’t have been here to help me.”

“That’s very true.” Luke smiled back. 

Even though Luke curses all the men who left him stranded on the island, and vows to hunt down all of them to the ends of the earth, he was glad to have met Deckard. The merman was honestly one of the most interesting people Luke’s talked to in at least a decade. And that’s not including that he was an entirely different species and could talk for days about his home and still have so much more to say. 

“Wait. There’s other types of mers?” Luke had asked incredulously. 

“Of course there are,” Deckard rolled his eyes. “Mersharks, mersquirds, mercrabs, the list goes on.”

“So, not all mers are the generic fish like you,” Luke pondered. 

“Who the hell are you calling generic, you arse?” Deckard had hissed and bared his teeth at Luke.

“I didn’t mean that, you little pufferfish!” Luke had laughed as Deckard’s cheeks puffed up as he glared at him. 

Another splash brought Luke out of his daydreaming, and he saw Deckard’s nicely healing fin slip under the water again. 

“If he doesn’t stop soon, he’s going to scare all the fish away,” Luke mumbled to himself. Apparently feeding a healing merman meant catching a large amount of fish, because it seemed as if they had to go through a whole school of fish for Deckard to actually feel full.

Listening for the occasional splash from the water, Luke went back to carving his spear. He wouldn’t have to be making a new one if he knew where his other one went. One night, he had left it close to the beach, the tip buried in the sand so the tide wouldn’t take it, but the next morning it had disappeared. Luke had asked Deckard if he knew what happened to it, but the merman had just given him an innocent look that he hadn’t believed for a second. 

“The only thing the myths had gotten right was mermaids being tricksters,” Luke muttered to himself, looking up again just in time to see Deckard breach the water. His pale skin glistened in the sunlight, water cascading off his impressive chest and muscles. And even though the sun wasn’t on Luke, he could feel his face warm up. 

And then Deckard was effortlessly slipping back under the waves, his tail flicking water high up in the air. Luke mirrored the proud smile that he saw on Deckard’s face, happy that the merman was able to swim again. Luke’s eyes stayed on the water for a moment, knowing that in less than a minute, Deckard would be back. 

But something caught his eye. 

Straightening up, Luke squinted and scanned the water. His eyes widened. 

There was a shark fin coming straight for the island. 

Luke jumped to his feet, throwing down the half finished spear, knowing it would be useless against a shark. He had no idea where Deckard was, unable to see him swimming in the water. But he knew that he would be breaching in a few seconds, right where the fin was heading. 

“Deckard!” 

Luke ran towards the water, shouting Deckard’s name and desperately hoping he heard his shouting. While Luke didn’t know if Deckard could normally take a shark on, he knew the merman was nowhere near his regular strength and energy, especially after racing circles around their island for the last hour. 

“Deckard!”

The fin was only a few meters out from the island’s shore and it was still quickly approaching. Luke could only stare in horror as Deckard finally emerged from the water to stare at Luke, right in the fin’s path. 

“Luke?”

“Deckard! Behind you!”

“What- AH!”

“NO!”

The fin came up right behind Deckard and pulled him under. Luke felt his heart jump into his throat and beat like crazy as he watched the water churned as Deckard wrestled with the shark. 

Throwing caution to the wind, Luke rushed into the water, trying to wade through it as quickly as he could to get to Deckard and help. The water was above his hips when he saw Deckard’s head break the water, only to be pulled right back in and a shark tail coming out of the water instead. 

“You piece of-!” Luke growled. 

He lunged for the tail, just barely getting a grip on the base of the fin, the rough skin scraping across his hands. He was not, however, expecting the shark’s strength, as the tail easily pulled him under the water. Luke barely had time to grab his breath before crashing into the water. 

He barely noticed his eyes closing until he forced them open, only to see clawed hands coming straight for his face. Without thinking, Luke opened his mouth to yell, losing his air and sucking down seawater. He jerked his hands up, trying to fend off undoubtful and imminent death. 

Everything was going too fast as a blue tail came out of nowhere, knocking Luke’s assailant away from him and giving Luke the opportunity to escape. As Luke got his feet under him and was about to break the water’s surface, he was able to get a look at his attacker.

It was another merman. 

Feeling his lungs burning, begging for air, Luke pushed himself up and coughed violently as he tried to take air in. 

What the hell is a mershark doing here?! Luke wanted to shout, but didn’t have the air to do so. 

He flinched harshly when he felt the mershark’s tail brush past him at an incredible speed. It felt like the rough skin had nearly torn Luke’s flesh from his leg. Knowing he would be a hindrance at this point, Luke backed away from the fighting mermen, watching as they made their way closer to the beach, both of them halfway out of the water. 

Even though Luke could feel panic coursing through his veins for Deckard, he couldn’t help but admire the two mermen. 

The mershark’s skin was just as pale as Deckard’s, but he had some nasty looking burn scars running up his left side, from his shoulder up to right under his eye. His shoulders were a bit more broad compared to Deckard,’s while his tail was shorter, but thicker. Wet, inky black hair was plastered to his head, while incredibly sharp teeth flashed in the sunlight, and made Luke’s heart stop as he registered a second row of sharp teeth behind the first. Both mermen were making trilling noises, the ones Deckard had told Luke that mers used when they were feeling intense emotion. 

Luke made his way towards the shore, keeping his eyes on the mermen the whole time. They were grappling each other and flipping each other so quickly, Luke wasn’t sure if either had gotten a solid blow on the other. He didn’t see any blood staining the water or sand, but that didn’t guarantee that neither of them were injured. 

Finally back on land, Luke rushed for his half finished spear, hoping to at least beat the other merman off of Deckard. Swiping it off the ground, Luke swiftly turned on his heel, and took a step towards the fighting, but froze at what he saw. 

Deckard grabbed the other merman and slammed him onto the beach, pinning the other’s hands above his head. Luke could see that Deckard’s tail was tightly wrapped around the mershark’s tail, straining to keep the wiggling appendage still. Deckard panted above the mershark, obviously struggling to keep the other down, no doubt tired from their fight. He let out a much louder trill, making the mershark still in his grasp. Deckard looked down at the mershark, and-

Laughed?

Luke stared with wide eyes as both mermen started to laugh, with the occasional trill coming out. Deckard had lowered his head and rested his forehead against the mershark’s, neither moving to start fighting again. 

Eventually, the laughter and trilling trailed off, and while Luke couldn’t hear them, the two mermen started to talk quietly to each other, a small smile on Deckard’s face the whole time. 

Stepping forward, Luke could feel his panic from earlier, but it wasn’t as strong as before. Clearing his throat, he called out. 

“Deckard?”

His merman snapped his head up to look at him, appearing to be shocked that Luke was even there, almost as if he forgot the human existed. Meanwhile, the mershark under him was trying to twist his head around far enough to look at Luke, his face matching Deckard’s, and Luke couldn’t help but think the two looked eerily similar. 

Suddenly, a large grin spread across Deckard’s face, revealing almost all of his teeth in the process. Effortlessly, Deckard unwrapped himself from the other merman and instead dragged the other up off the sand, so that they were both sitting up with their tails in the water. 

“Luke! Come here!” Deckard waved his hand, encouraging Luke to come closer to the very dangerous mershark, who was eyeing him like he didn’t know if he was an ally or prey.

Slowly approaching, Luke made sure to keep his spear pointed at the ground, hoping not to give the mershark any reason to show off his teeth again. But, as he got closer, he could see the obvious joy and excitement in Deckard’s eyes. 

“Luke, I want you to meet my little brother, Owen. Oh, this is Luke. He’s been helping me.”

Luke’s eyes widened. 

Owen smiled just as wide, giving Luke a front row seat to his extremely threatening teeth. 

“I...uh, didn’t realize your brother was a… uh…”

“A little brat who seems to have gotten himself into a spot of trouble?” Deckard scolded. He gently brought his hand up to brush his knuckles against Owen’s face, a look of worry making its way onto Deckard’s. “What happened, Oh?”

“Got in between two ships that were fighting,” Owen shrugged, not seeming bothered by the gentle caress as Deckard took in his wounds. 

“And why the bloody hell did you do that?” Deckard hissed and his face twisted in displeasure. “Haven’t I warned you enough times about going near ships?”

“Yes, Deck.” Owen rolled his eyes, but immediately perked right back up from his brother’s scolding. “But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met my human! Deck, you really need to meet him! He and his crew are on their way now.”

“What do you mean? Who’s on their way?” Luke interrupted, having lost track of the conversation.

Owen looked up at him, his eyes narrowed as he looked Luke up and down. And Luke had a feeling he wasn’t measuring up to the mershark’s expectations by the cool look he received afterwards. 

“The crew I joined, of course!” Owen stated, almost as if it had been the most obvious thing in the world. He lifted a clawed hand and pointed behind Luke, towards the other side of the island. 

Whirling around, Luke hissed in pain when he felt the skin on his leg pull taut where Owen brushed against him, but he ignored it. Instead, he focused his gaze on the horizon and felt his stomach drop. 

On the horizon, and coming in fast, was a ship.

A completely black ship. 

The Black Charger.

“You joined a pirate crew?!” Luke shouted. He whipped his head around to glare at the mershark, who was baring his teeth at Luke. 

“It’s not any of your business what I do, you giant airbreather!” 

“Owen!” Deckard hissed. 

“I think it’s my business when you bring pirates here, you little cretin!”

“Luke!” Deckard snapped. 

“Maybe you wouldn’t feel so threatened if you hadn’t kidnapped my brother!”
“I didn’t do shit! I helped him because he got hurt looking for your dumb ass!”

“OI!” 

The loud shout from the water made them all stop yelling, causing the three men to turn towards the figure in the water. 

Bobbing in the water was a woman. Or if Luke had to guess, a mermaid. 

She had short, blonde hair that barely reached her shoulders, her skin the same shade as the two mermen still sitting on the beach’s surf. Luke noticed a seaweed wrap on her chest, nearly hidden by her folded arms. He could see the claws on her hands, but beyond that, he couldn’t see anything else that would indicate what kind of mer she was. From the angle she was facing the island, Luke couldn’t see her back fin, and she was too far away from him to see her tail. 

“Hattie!”

Luke blinked at Deckard’s shout, that’s a mixture of surprise and glee. 

He watched as the brothers both wiggle themselves off the beach and back into the water. The mermaid, Hattie it seems, smiled widely at them before swimming closer and Luke’s able to catch a glimpse of her back fin. It looks similar to Owen’s, but her teeth didn’t look as sharp as his or Deckard’s.

What has the same shaped fin, but isn’t a shark? Luke wondered to himself, isn’t surprised by the conclusion he comes to. She’s a merdolphin.

It seems like he’s once again forgotten as he watches the brothers swim to their sister, all three trilling loudly as they wrap each other into a group hug. He can see the pure happiness on Deckard’s face as he rests his forehead against his sister’s and wraps his arms around her and his brother. 

“At least they got a family reunion,” Luke sighed. Gingerly, he lowered himself to the ground, not caring if sand got onto the shredded skin on his leg. He rested his arms on top of his knees, simply watching the three mers, knowing that they’ll be the last thing he sees because: “Toretto will be here soon.”

Luke had heard all sorts of rumors about the man and his crew, and all of them told about his loyalty to his crew and his hatred of the empire. Something about the man’s father and a debt. Luke didn’t know the specifics, only that the man was a legendary swordsman, having apparently taken on ten men at once with only a rusty sword in his grasp. And came out on top, while recruiting some of those very men to his side. His sword skills were extraordinary. 

And Luke should know. He’s fought the man before.

The night his old ship had attacked the Black Charger , Toretto had found his way aboard Luke’s ship and Luke’s sword right in his face. It had been a battle to the death, in Luke’s opinion. He had barely been able to keep up with the pirate, only barely escaping Toretto’s cold steel several times. He doesn’t doubt the man would have eventually killed him that night, if the main mast of Luke’s ship hadn’t crashed down in between them, and ended their fight. 

But now, it looks like Toretto finally has his chance to finish me off , Luke thought bitterly. And just when I got a shred of true happiness in my life . 

“He can’t take this from me,” Luke said firmly, watching as the mers started to circle each other in the water, almost as if they were testing each other’s motions. Both Owen and Hattie watched Deckard closely as he swam circles around them, showing off his powerful tail. 

Luke could feel a smile crossing his face as he saw each mer take turns swimming circles. He never once took his eyes off them, even when he heard men yelling, or when he heard the scraping noise of wood against sand as they pulled their dinghy ashore. He twitched slightly when he heard the soft footsteps in the sand coming closer and closer. But he refused to react when he heard Toretto’s voice. 

“Luke Hobbs.” The man grunted in greeting. 

“Dominic Toretto.” Luke responded just as tersely. 

“Here I thought I’d find you captaining a new, shiny ship,” Toretto casually said and lowered himself to sit a few feet from Luke. “Didn’t think I’d find you on an island with Owen’s brother of all people.”

“Yeah, well, the men had a different idea in mind,” Luke growled and refused to look over at Toretto, refusing to give the man any satisfaction from seeing his fury. 

“That’s too bad for them.”

Luke finally whipped his head around to stare at the other man and narrowed his eyes at the man’s smirk. He looked just about the same as the night Luke and he had fought: like a proper pirate captain. He was leaning back on his hands, his hat brought low over his eyes, protecting them from the harsh sun. Which made Luke raise an eyebrow, because the man had another hat sitting on the ground next to him. 

“What do you mean by that, Toretto?” Luke snapped at the man. 

“I mean, Hobbs, you’re a valuable crewman. You would have been a great captain. It’s a damn shame that they dropped you off on this island to die.”

“You going anywhere with this?”

The pirate let out a snort of amusement. 

“You’re not an idiot, Hobbs.”

“Are you seriously offering me a place in your crew?” Luke asked, not a small amount of suspicion in his voice. 

“It’s either that or staying here,” The other man shrugged. “But, it looks like you’ve found some company that’s willing to help you.”

He nodded towards the mers, who were now all lounging in the shallow pool Deckard had been using as a bed for the last week. Luke couldn’t help a small chuckle as he watched all three cram themselves into the space, not seeming bothered that they had to lay on each other to fit. 

“And how did you find your’s?” Luke asked, genuinely curious. It had taken a while for Deckard to trust him, and he was trapped on an island. How did a whole crew of pirates win over two mers?

“Well,” Toretto started. “It seems like Owen had been following our gunner, Roman, for a while. And he didn’t like you and your crew attacking him.”

Luke’s eyes widened. 

“There was a shark in the water that night.”

Toretto nodded. 

“He’s pretty strong. He was able to rip a few holes into your ship. But, when he tried to get away, a piece of burning mast fell into the water, hitting him.”

Luke couldn’t help but flinch in sympathy. That’s what Owen had meant when he got between two ships. 

“Luckily, our carpenter, Ramsey, saw him in the water and we scooped him up and left,” Toretto continued. “Shoved him in a bathtub and waited for him to wake up.”

Luke could only stare at Toretto, who smirked back. 

“You shoved a mershark into a bathtub?”

“Well, he wouldn’t fit into a barrel, now would he.”

“Fair,” Luke admitted. “And once he woke up?”

“He freaked out,” Toretto said. “But, like I said, he took a shine to our gunner. He was the only one allowed close to Owen for a while, but he came around to all of us eventually.”

Luke nodded. 

“It’s not too surprising.”

“What do you mean?” Toretto was now looking at him with curiosity. 

“Deckard said that his brother was fascinated by everything human,” Luke informed him. “So, it’s not too surprising that he’d warm up to you guys, especially if you saved his life.”

“I feel like ‘fascinated’ isn’t a strong enough word for him.”

Luke had to chuckle at that. 

“And you let him join your crew?”
“Yes. Seemed like a good idea. Having one of the sea’s children on your side is never a bad thing.”

“And what about Hattie? How’d she come into all this?”

“Well, we couldn’t keep Owen in a bathtub forever,” Torettoe sighed. “We let him back into the sea, and he disappeared for a while. When he came back, he asked us to help find his brother, who had gone missing in a recent storm.”

Luke nodded along to the story. 

“He had no idea where to start, so he found his sister’s pod. And let me tell you, Hobbs,” Toretto side eyed him. “I’ve never seen a pod of dolphins try and protect a shark before.”

“Wait. I’ve been meaning to ask, how are all three of them…?” Luke trailed off.

“Different?”

"Yeah.”

“Apparently they all have the same mom, but different dads. Didn’t stop them from growing up together. But Hattie likes to stay with her father’s pod when she’s not with her brothers,” Toretto explained. 

“Huh.” It was quite interesting to learn more about the mers from a human’s perspective because it didn’t seem to occur to Deckard to tell Luke that his siblings were different kinds of mers. “So, she helped fine Deckard?”
“Yep,” Toretto nodded. “She’s pretty speedy and led us here. But it figures that Owen sped in front of her to be the first one to their big brother.”

Both men looked over at the mers, watching as Owen and Hattie seemed to be talking over each other, while Deckard looked wide eyed between them. Luke could see the family resemblance between them, from the way their trills of joy harmonized, to the head tilt when they were confused about something. 

“So, what do you say, Hobbs?”

Luke glanced over to Toretto, who was looking at him intensely and waiting for his reply. 

“You have a deal, captain,” Luke accepted and stuck his hand out. Toretto shook his hand firmly, a toothy smile spreading across his face. 

“Oh god, there’s three of them now,” a woman’s voice came from behind them. “One was plenty.”

Standing above them was Toretto’s quartermaster, Letty Oritz, who was staring out at the mers.

“Don’t worry too much about them,” Toretto smiled up at her. “I’m sure if we keep them well fed, they won’t drag us all down and drown us.”

Both Luke and Dom laughed at Letty’s eye roll.

Chapter Text

“You two are both idiots,” Hattie glowered at her brothers. “I hope you both know that.”

Deckard could only roll his eyes at his sister’s antics. He could feel her tail flicking both his and Owen’s. And in all honesty, it would be impossible not to feel every little motion from any of their tails. All three mers were nearly stacked on top of each other, their lower halves wrapped around each other, while their upper halves luckily had enough room to relax and not quite shoved together like sardines. 

“Excuse me?” Owen hissed indignantly. 

“No!” Hattie hissed back, real anger creeping into her voice. “Both of you got hurt and had to be helped by humans! And worst of all, Oh, is that you joined their bloody pod!”

“How many times do I have to tell you it’s not a pod? It’s a crew!” 

“Same difference! You should have known not to get so close to them that they could capture you.”

“They didn’t ‘capture’ me.” Owen glared at her. “They saw that I needed help and the only way they knew how was to bring me onto their ship.”

“Which shouldn’t have happened in the first place! They might seem kind now, but what about later, Oh? When they want to cut you up and eat you?”

“I keep telling you, I’m part of their crew, they’re not going to do anything to me! Or you!”

By this point, Deckard had leaned back against the rocks of the shallow pool, letting his siblings’ squabbling wash over him. They had been arguing over the humans since they had been reunited, and after Hattie had demanded Deckard show her he could swim properly after she saw the wound on his fin. It had been odd to have his younger siblings fussing over him, but it hadn’t really bothered him. He was just overjoyed to see them after so long. He might be forever grateful for Luke’s help and meeting the human, but if Deckard never had to touch land again, he would be perfectly fine with that. 

Tuning his siblings out, Deckard instead directed his attention towards the beach, watching the humans milling around the small island. Specifically, Deckard was watching his human, who was sitting on the beach, talking to another human. He had no idea what they could possibly be talking about, but Deckard didn’t like the tension he could see throughout Luke’s body. 

But, as he kept watching, he could see the tension leaving Luke’s shoulders and he was talking to the other human with ease. Deckard could see Luke looking his way and then turning back to the other human. Wait- what are they doing?

“Owen.”

Immediately, his siblings stopped their bickering, turning to him, but Deckard didn’t take his eyes off the two humans on the beach. 

“What are they doing?” Deckard asked, well, almost growled. He could feel his back fin raising in anger as he watched the other human touch Luke, their hands clasped together. 

“Deck, you don’t have to be jealous,” Owen laughed. Deckard whipped his head around, baring his teeth at his little brother, who simply smirked back at him. “That’s just a gesture humans use either as a greeting or coming to an agreement on something. It’s a normal thing for humans, you don’t have to worry about Toretto stealing your human.”
“I wasn’t-!” Deckard spluttered in indignation and shut up when both Owen and Hattie laughed at him. “And who the hell is Toretto anyway?”
“He’s the captain of the crew,” Owen explained. 

“Is he your human?” Deckard asked and couldn’t help his own burst of laughter at the look of pure disgust on Owen’s face by the question. 

“No!” Owen huffed. “My human is still on the ship. Said he didn’t trust me not to pull him into the water.”

“Which is a smart thing,” Hattie pointed out.

“I haven’t pulled him overboard that many times!”

By the disbelieving look Hattie was sending Owen, Deckard was pretty sure his brother had pulled the human into the water dozens of times. 

“Are you trying to drown him?” Deckard asked. 

“Deck! You know I wouldn’t!”

“No, you just want to show off how fast you can swim while holding a human,”  Hattie smirked. 

“No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do!”

“Seems like you two will never change,” a voice called out to them. 

All three siblings turned their attention to the beach and standing not too far away was Toretto and Luke, both chuckling at the siblings’ antics. Deckard tilted his head, looking over the new human. Toretto was not quite as tall as Luke, but looked like he could easily take any opponent that came at him. Looking him over, it was obvious he had better clothing than Luke, and was holding an item that looked like the thing that was on top of his head. 

“You must be the famous big brother I’ve heard so much about,” Toretto continued and met Deckard’s eyes. “Captain Dom Toretto. It’s a pleasure.”

“Likewise,” Deckard nodded back at the man. “Sorry if these two brats caused you any trouble.”

He shared a smirk with Toretto as both Owen and Hattie made noises of indignation next to him. 

“Not too much trouble,” Toretto shrugged. He held up the thing in his hand, shaking it towards Owen. “But, it would be nice if Owen would actually remember his hat. It’s pretty annoying listening to his whining when he doesn’t have it.”

“I don’t whine, you arse,” Owen hissed, but nonetheless, he wiggled around the pool, untangling himself from his siblings so he could get closer to Toretto, stretching his arms up so he could take the hat. As his tail moved in the water, Deckard let out a hiss as Owen’s rougher skin slid against his still healing tail. 

Owen snatched the hat from Toretto’s hands, and Deckard watched curiously as Owen placed the thing on his head, beaming once it was securely on top of his head. 

“Before we know it, you’ll be sprouting human legs, too,” Hattie said, wrinkling her nose at Owen’s new accessory. 

“You’re just jealous that they gave me something and not you,” Owen sneered back. 

“I’m not being courted like you bloody are.” Hattie rolled her eyes. 

“Maybe if you weren’t such a prude,” Owen said in a sing-song voice. 

“Prude?!” Hattie hissed. Lightning fast, she snatched the hat off Owen’s head. Suddenly, the water of the pool exploded with emotion as Hattie tried to get out as quick as she could, Owen following right after her. 

“Oi!” Deckard shouted in surprise as he felt both of his siblings’ tails thrashing against his. He tried to pull his tail away from both of them, but wasn’t very successful as they forced themselves out of the small pool. The whole time, they never stopped their bickering as Owen demanded his hat back. 

Once they were both free, Deckard saw Hattie wearing the hat herself as she started to swim laps around the island, identical to what Deckard was doing not too long ago. And only a short distance behind her, was Owen, who kept snapping his teeth at her and throwing empty threats after her. 

“They’re definitely how you described them and more,” Luke chuckled as he watched the younger mers, hands on his hips. 

“They’re not always fighting, but when the mood strikes them…” Deckard sighed, but couldn’t help the small, fond smile that found its way onto his face. He shook his head. “They’ll get bored after a while.”

Turning back to the humans, Deckard could see Toretto staring at him. Keeping eye contact, Deckard raised an eyebrow in response. 

“Hobbs tells me that you’ve been hurt, but recovering. When do you think you’ll be back to full strength?”

“Probably by tomorrow or the day after. Why?” Deckard asked and felt a sense of suspicion crawl up his spine. Owen might trust this human, but he had yet to gain Deckard’s trust. 

“Toretto here asked me to join his crew, and I accepted. We were wondering if you wanted to join your brother and sister and follow the ship,” Luke spoke up. 

Deckard glanced over to him and could see the hope in his human’s eyes. It seemed like Luke trusted Toretto, enough to join the man’s crew. Looking back at Toretto, the man was patiently waiting for his answer, but not looking like he was bothered by whatever Deckard’s decision was. After another moment, Deckard nodded. 

“I’ll come with you all,” Deckard accepted. “Even if I’m just making sure my siblings don’t cause any problems.”

Toretto smirked at him, no doubt seeing past Deckard’s excuse and having already seen the obvious looks between him and Luke. 

“Whatever the reason, welcome aboard,” Toretto smiled at him. “We’ll drop anchor for the night and set sail in the morning. In the meantime, we’ll be going back to the ship. You’re welcome to join us, Hobbs.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” Luke responded, sending the Black Charger a hopeful glance. “It’ll be nice to eat something other than coconuts and fish.”

“I’ll make sure we have a feast ready for our two newest crew members,” Toretto promised. With that, he nodded at both Luke and Deckard and left them to talk to the humans on the other side of the island. They were standing around a small boat that was sitting partially on the beach. 

“Do you trust him?” Deckard had to ask as Luke sat down on the edge of the pool, his legs dangling in the water. Deckard moved towards him, and settled his arms on the edge of the pool, so he could lean his head against Luke’s thigh. 

“For the most part,” Luke said thoughtfully, his head turned so he could watch as Toretto yelled orders to his crew. “He’s a pirate and a thief, but he’s a good man. He helped your brother and now he’s offering me a place in his crew. I think we can trust him.”

“Hmmm,” Deckard simply hummed in response. He felt Luke’s hand on his shoulder and leaned further into the human, enjoying his touch. “Well, if he, or anyone else, tries something, I’ll rip their throats out.”

“I don’t doubt you will, princess,” Luke chuckled and started to rub small circles into Deckard’s skin, making his back fin perk up in pleasure. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other’s presence and the closeness between them. 

“Hobbs! Ready to set sail?” Toretto called out, interrupting the two. 

“Looks like that’s my cue,” Luke sighed and started to pull his feet from the water. 

“Wait,” Deckard blurted out. He clutched at Luke’s thigh, not wanting his human to leave just yet. 

“What?” Luke furrowed his brow, but stilled at Deckard’s touch. 

Slowly, Deckard pulled himself up until he was about even with Luke’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything as he gently brought a hand up and gripped the back of Luke’s neck and pulled him down. Deckard looked his human in the eye as he brushed their lips together, trying to gage Luke’s response. And Deckard couldn’t help the loud trill of excitement that left him when Luke clamped his hand on the back of Deckard’s head, bringing him into a real kiss. 

At that moment, Deckard had never known what it felt like to drown, but now, as he felt the passion from Luke, he finally understood the feeling. He felt like he was drowning in the feeling of Luke’s lips on his, the sounds they were both making as pleasure rippled through their nerves. Deckard never wanted the feeling to stop, but when he felt his lungs begging for either air or water, he forced himself to pull back. 

And he felt himself go breathless once again. 

Because Luke looked beautiful in that moment. 

His pupils were blown wide as he stared panting at Deckard. The look in his eyes had Deckard’s heartbeat quicken. At that moment, Luke was looking at him like he was prey. As a shiver went up Deckard’s back and fin, he never knew he would actually want to be hunted by something so magnificent. Because being caught by Luke would be anything but unpleasant. 

“When you do that, I’m not entirely sure I want to get off this island,” Luke whispered and leaned his forehead against Deckard’s. 

The mer chuckled at that, nuzzling back against Luke and stared deep into his eyes. 

“As long as we’re together, we can do that again. No matter where we are.”

“Makes me glad that I just joined a pirate crew. Let’s me get back at the men who betrayed me and allows me to travel the seas with you.”

“I couldn’t think of a better destiny,” Deckard purred. 

“Hobbs!”

Deckard nearly hissed at the sound of the other humans calling for Luke’s attention, but was immediately soothed by a quick kiss from Luke. 

“Don’t worry, princess. I’m not leaving you.”

With that, Luke stood up and waited for Deckard to leave the pool. Deckard followed in the water as Luke made his way around the island to where the other humans were. 

“Looks like your brother is having a nice time with his human,” Luke laughed. 

Following where Luke was looking, Deckard felt his eyebrows raise impossibly high. 

Owen saw nearly halfway into the small boat, that was now sitting in the water, his tail just barely in the water. He had his arms wrapped around the neck of a human, as they seemed to nuzzle noses together.

Deckard felt his heart soar at the look of pure adoration and happiness on his little brother’s face and the human he was hugging. He had a feeling deep down that Owen would get mixed up into some kind of trouble with humans. But he never could have predicted his brother would find love in one. While wearing the hat Hattie had apparently been nice enough to return. 

“He had better not do anything to him,” Deckard said lowly. 

“I wouldn’t worry. Toretto said the guy- Roman, I think his name is- is completely wrapped around Owen’s finger.”

“Hmph,” was the only thing Deckard said in response. 

They continued their way up to the boat. Deckard could feel Hattie brushing up against his side as he watched the humans pile into the small boat. The woman barked something at Owen before pushing him back into the water, making him let out a loud yelp. 

Deckard smiled as he heard Hattie giggling next to him, and in tandem, they swam closer to where Owen was sulking up at the humans in the boat. 

“All set?” Toretto asked, looking the three mers over. 

“Ready when you are,” Deckard said, sharing a smile with his siblings. 

“You heard him! Let’s set off!”

With that, the boat started to move and headed towards the much larger ship that was awaiting them. Deckard and his siblings swam close to the boat, with Owen occasionally knocking against it, much to the annoyance of the woman, who continued to yell at him. While on the other side, Hattie kept jumping out of the water and no doubt trying to make the occupants soaking wet. 

If someone had told him a few weeks ago that he would be swimming alongside humans and be the happiest he’s ever been, he would have clawed their scales off. But now, he knew this is where he was meant to be. 

Letting out a loud trill, Deckard swam ahead of the boat. His brother and sister responded with their own trills, and Deckard could feel it in his bones as their voices harmonized with his. He dived deep into the water, letting the water flow around him, pulling him even deeper, before he used all of his strength to push up. The water split around him with ease, and as he broke the surface, Deckard felt lighter than a feather as his whole body left the water. He could hear excited shouting behind him as he spun in the air and dived right back into the water. 

If everyday could be like this, then I think I was meant to wash up on that beach , Deckard thought to himself as he and his siblings continued to jump in and out of the water. Each and every time Deckard flew out of the water, he caught a glimpse of Luke’s smile and couldn’t help the wave of happiness that flowed over him.