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Prosciutto wasn't sure how he ended up in this situation, but he was definitely blaming it on Pesci.
The boy had cried days on end for Prosciutto to take him on a trip, anywhere that they could see marine life. With Summer break coming up, the blonde man refused to listen to his (admittingly adopted) brother complain for another week. (Un)Lucky for him, Prosciutto didn't have any clients booked this week for anything more than a fitting. He still remembers wincing at how loud Pesci squealed when he set two scuba diving tickets down on their dining table.
Now, here Prosciutto was, spending his free time dozens of meters below the surface and lost.
Pesci had wandered from their diving group at some point while he had been distracted, watching colorful fish of all types swarm by. Prosciutto would be lieing if he said he wasn't worried that he couldn't call out for the green haired boy. His legs were getting tired and stiff, surely the professionals were prepared for any missing persons right?
Breathing slowly to conserve his oxygen, the man closed his eyes and attempted to calm his growing anxiety of where the boy could be. Maybe he was already found by the group and it was really Prosciutto that was lost? Finally, he opened his eyes and reached out to the coral ridden rocks to give himself some momentum, small fish and crabs rushing away from where he grabbed at. A bright red squid zoomed past his face.
Looking around, it was beautiful and somewhere Prosciutto would probably want to visit again, just without his green company.
He pushed off from the glowing rocks and found himself at a clearing. He swallowed down his disappointment and was ready to just call it, to head back to where he assumed the group was, maybe they would notice two missing idiots, when something gray and blurry caught his attention. Pesci? He remembers the boys gray watersuit.
Now fueled by blind and thoughtless anger, he swam out into the clearing, a heavy rant already forming in his head. He was going to give this boy an earful when they surfaced. But as he got a closer look all anger vanished and his stomach dropped, heart rate monitor beeping faster.
My god, how could he have mistaken a fucking shark for his young brother?!
The creature seemed to have noticed him, already changing course and coming directly at him, jaws unhinging in it's wake. Prosciutto struggled to breathe as he blew out to much oxygen to fast, salt water rushing in and leaving his mouth bitter and throat burning. He turned on instinct, face slamming into what he assumed was rock and groaned in pain as his goggles pressed to close to his eyes, tearing up and stinging. He reached around blind, trying to find anything that he could possibly defend himself with in a panic. He felt something grab his hand and yanked him forward, grip strong and bruising as he accidentally let out a shaky yelp, water cutting his throat. Prosciutto tried to keep his eyes open as he was effortlessly thrown about in the reef, but everything was a blur as his mouthpiece came out and his lips were left to battle with the biting cold.
Something large and black stole what little vision he had and Prosciutto began to worry that there was another shark when what appeared to be a human arm pass by his face, close enough for him to see that it was pale and sickly blue, like a bad case of frostbite in winter.
His vision cleared up as he saw muscular arms come up and hook onto the sharks under nose and lower jaw and snapped them shut, a loud cracking noise echoed through the rigid water and made the blonde man want to cover his ears, eyes shutting on instinct.
When the water around him suddenly shifted and his mouthguard was suddenly pressing against his lips, Prosciutto's blue orbs shot open, only to wish they hadn't.
He feared what what he assumed saved him, body frozen at such an absurd sight. A mutulated man stood- swam before him, massive and protruding, ink black tail just as muscular as the humanoid part of him. The creature stared straight through him with nonblinking red eyes, making his small body in comparison tremble. The merman(?) parted his lips with a black clawed hand and pressed Prosciutto's mouthpiece in gently, his burning lungs already feeling relief. He didnt.
His eyes narrowed and the corner of his own tinted lips pulled up slightly, revealing sharp teeth in what would have been a smile if it wasn't so threatening. Prosciutto heard of merfolk before, but he had only thought of it as legends and children's stories, to see it on person wasn't as delirious as he thought it would be, but that could just be from the adrenaline leaving his body weak. He felt like fainting. The massive merman seemed to have seen something behind Prosciutto because his expression changed subtly and before the blonde man could even blink, his savior was leaving, white hair and black tail flowing with him, movement swift.
Prosciutto choked up despite breathing properly, a raspy quiet noise escaped him, echoing through his mouthpiece. The creature stopped and turned back to look at him before deciding another sinister smile was sufficient and turned once more, leaving a tail of mystery behind.
Prosciutto doesn't remember just floating in place, staring at what once was, doesn't remember a hand on his shoulder or the green patch of hair that pulls him into a hug, nor does he remember being led back to the bright surface and boat.
It's only when Pesci takes his gear off of him that the blonde brings a chilled hand up to touch his trembling lips that he sighs, fresh air now suffocating.
He'll be coming back.