Work Text:
You had been raised on the stories since you were a kid. Never go out to the ocean at night. You’ll get lured in by a siren’s bewitching song and then dragged under the water and disappear beneath the waves, never to be seen again. Naughty children get stalked by sirens and swept out to sea. But now, as an adult, you knew these stories were just that, stories. You doubted sirens were even real.
Once when you were little you dreamt that you played with one under water for a bit before your parents called you back to shore. When you told them what you’d seen, a skeleton boy with purple tentacles where his legs would be, trilling playfully up at you in the water, they’d packed up and gone back to the castle immediately.
When you asked them about it the next morning they’d told you none of that had happened. So you believed it was a dream, not bothering to realize that it was indeed the next day or realizing that they restricted your access to the ocean a lot after that.
Now though, as an adult, you only thought of that dream from time to time with fondness. You were allowed to do what you liked, as your parents deemed you sensible enough not to go out hunting for sirens.
Today you had been in your study, going over paperwork. But it had just been so stuffy in there and you had a headache from working so long. Your wrist hurt too from writing so much. Plus you felt the ocean calling to you today. Drawing you in.
It was a good thing your castle was right on the beach. Originally it had been built a good few feet away, but a long ago storm had torn away a huge chunk of the cliffside and even took some of the castle with it.
You took a deep breath in through your nose, then blew out through your mouth. The ocean was singing your name. The sand felt lovely beneath your bare feet. A gentle sea breeze played with your hair, making it stream behind you like h/c ribbons. The guards that were obligated to follow you everywhere stood a respectful distance away, giving you your space.
You lifted the skirt of your dress slightly as ocean water rushed up past your ankles, tickling your skin. You let out another calm sigh. Best decision ever…
Your little stroll was interrupted by a pained howl. Not loud enough for anyone else to hear, but just enough for it to reach your ears. Your head perked up and tilted to the side, listening. There it was again! A low, sad, scared moan. Whatever it was, it was definitely in pain. Your heart already ached for it. Maybe another dolphin got beached again.
That had happened before, when you were a little older from the time you had that magical dream. You’d felt someone’s gaze on you the whole time as you carried the baby dolphin back to the water, though you could never figure out who it was. After that you made sure the sea animals were well taken care of so this didn’t happen again.
The groaning was growing weaker. You snapped out of your reminiscing. I need to go find it now before it dies. You looked to the left and the right. Your guards weren’t even looking at you. It's now or never!
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, but you didn’t want to waste another second trying to convince the guards to let you go to a more secluded area of the beach. So off you went!
A rocky cliff face hid this part of the beach from the castle, and the guards who still hadn’t noticed you slip behind it. Honestly! Why were you even paying them if they didn’t do a good job?
The secluded area was a small sliver of beach surrounded by cliffs. It was a nice little secret cove you’ve been to before, not many people knew about it. Everyone was too scared of the ocean to ever go somewhere people wouldn’t be able to see them get dragged in by evil creatures.
It was here that you found the source of the noise. A large black lump lying washed up on the shore. You thought for a second that a giant octopus had gotten caught up in a current and left on the sand to die. But as you got closer you realized with a gasp of alarm that the upper half of this creature was very different from the eight black tentacles attached to it.
It was a black skeleton, a human skeleton at that, twice your size. That could only mean one thing: This was a siren! Your heart seized in your chest. All the stories your parents told you suddenly resurfaced from the recesses of your memory.
But… this one looked weirdly familiar. How odd. He, or at least it looked to be a he, was lying in a crumpled heap, his ribs rattling with every labored breath. His chest rose and fell, but it was sporadic, unhealthy.
Cyan blood oozed out of several wounds, and you realized with another horrified gasp that a giant, cruel looking net had tangled itself up in his appendages. It cut deep into his tentacles, that’s where all the blood was coming from. But you also saw with a grimace that the netting had also sawed through some of his bone.
Despite the warning bells going off in your head, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He’d obviously gotten caught on the net while swimming (and minding his own business), panicked, and ended up even more entangled than before.
He looked like he’d been out here for hours, bleeding out and probably starving too. He was going to dry up within the hour, that much you could tell. He was going to die unless you did something about it.
For some reason you didn’t give it a second thought. You just rolled up your sleeves, marched right over to him, and carefully, hesitantly, poked one of his tentacles. Just to see if he was still conscious. You’d expected him to be slimy, but really he was just rubbery and weirdly soft? Maybe that was a bad sign and he was supposed to have slime.
You let out a squawk of alarm and stumbled back when the siren suddenly surged up with an equally startled noise. His eye opened to reveal a large, beautiful cyan eye staring back at you. That is when you realized that this siren only had one eye. The other was completely covered in a strange tar like substance that coated his skeletal half.
Regardless of that, he was beautiful. A magical creature that only the very lucky (or in some cases very unfortunate) got the privilege of seeing. When you’d gotten a closer look several seconds ago, there seemed to be cyan speckles covering his entire body like glittery freckles. Or a night sky full of stars. Absolutely breathtaking.
The moment the siren saw you his eye light slitted and he hissed threateningly at you. I mean who wouldn’t? You couldn’t really blame him for that. You had fallen on your butt in the sand after that first scare, and scooted back a little further at his angry display.
His snarling didn’t stop. In fact it grew even louder when you stood up and slowly approached him again. You paused when he did that, but shook your head and hardened your resolve. You were getting this guy back to the ocean no matter what! And you had to hurry, scary siren be damned.
You spoke in a soft gentle tone, though you doubted it would be much help. “Hey… I don't know if you can understand me but I’m going to try and help you.”
The growling continued. You sighed and got closer to him, puzzling over the mess of netting keeping him secure. For now. You chuckled under your breath. “Look at this mess you’ve gotten yourself into. You must be so scared. Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out.”
You don’t know what it was. Maybe the soft tone of voice or the way you gently scolded him, but his angry noises trailed off for a second. He seemed to be studying your face closely, and if you didn’t know any better you’d think there was a spark of recognition in his eye.
However the growling started back up again moments later and you shook your head, thinking you were being silly. But the growls weren’t as loud this time, and didn’t hold that much energy behind them. He looked subdued, like he was too exhausted to fight back even if he wanted to. You took that as your cue to get to work.
You knew it would be hard, seeing as he had several limbs that could easily snatch you up and kill you the moment they were set free, but you’d take your chances.
First you started on the arms. You grabbed hold of the metal netting around his forearm and took out a small knife you kept in your dress at all times. The siren watched you closely, still growling, but once you made it obvious you were just trying to cut away at the netting he didn’t snap at you. When you got his arm free he did half heartedly swipe at you but you jerked away easily. He didn’t even bother with the second arm.
Now for the rest of him. It was easy to cut away at the netting around his abdomen. There was one piece of netting literally cutting into his neck, suffocating him and probably damaging his gills too. You quickly cut that off and saw him visibly relax out of the corner of your eye. That one must've hurt a lot. Poor guy. He let out a pitiful whine for emphasis, as if he’d been reading your thoughts.
Finally, the tentacles. You were a little nervous about setting those free, since you knew how formidable he must be with them. You could see the rippling muscles underneath, twitching and curling with every move he made. With some difficulty you managed to completely cut away at the rest of the net, then you leapt away. Just in case.
The siren felt the release almost as quickly as you did. He immediately dragged himself towards the water, letting out a happy trill when he was completely submerged.
You half expected for him to shoot out into the ocean without looking back, but to your surprise his head poked out of the water seconds later. His cyan eye was trained directly on you. Once again you wondered if you were seeing things, because you swore you saw immeasurable gratitude on his face.
But just as soon as you saw it, it was gone, replaced with a scowl right before he dove back into the water and his hulking form completely disappeared under the depths.
You waited for another minute or so before you heard people calling your name on the other side of the cove. You jumped and snapped out of your little trance, glancing behind you at the exit.
Your time was up, you’d have to leave now or you’d really be in trouble. You sighed in disappointment and glanced back at the water one last time before turning away. “Bye…”
As you left you completely missed the single eye watching you closely, or the gurgled response whispered into the breeze. “Goodbye…”
-
A week had passed since that eventful day. You had gotten a stern talking to by one of the guards, but nothing more. You didn’t want to get chastised by your parents and the guards didn’t want anyone to know they’d been slacking on the job, so nobody said anything. Everybody wins.
Honestly you were an adult, you could take care of yourself! But you were also next in line to be ruler, so you understood it was only protocol. Didn’t stop it from being annoying though.
You hadn’t seen any signs of that siren ever since you’d saved him. But you still went out to the beach everyday anyways, still feeling drawn to it somehow. You didn’t know what you were expecting. He was a wild creature that got beached because of a human contraption and he didn't owe you anything. Still, there was something so sentient about those expressions he made and the careful way he studied you.
When you did take those beach walks you found an alarming amount of shiny rocks and pretty shells left in a heap on the sand. Sometimes even gold or jewels too! You guessed it all must have gotten swept up in a current and taken here. You indulged yourself and took all of it for your collection you’ve had since you were little.
You remember finding similar piles every few years and considered it normal by now. It had been a very very long time since it last happened, not since you were ten. Now you were finding this stuff everyday.
You walked along the beach again today, the siren plaguing your every thought. You kept wondering how he was doing, how his injuries were healing, if he was catching food alright.
You’d even had a few dreams again. Ones of you waking up in the middle of the night to a irresistible singing voice. You would always walk down to the beach, sneak past the guards, and step out into the shallows. You never go too deep, there was always that soothing voice gently guiding you to safe areas. And then you’d see him, his glowing cyan eye being the first thing you see of him before he rises up out of the water.
He always swam around you, taking in your appearance and dazed expression before stopping in front of you to stare into your eyes. The song you heard was always so tender and sweet, like a prince singing his devotion to his princess. It always made your heart feel full and you’d sway back and forth from where you stood in the water.
His eye would carefully trace over your figure, and maybe sometimes a hand or tentacle would reach out and experimentally brush over your ankle before snatching back. The dream always ended way too soon, with the voice carefully leading you back to bed and getting you to tuck yourself in.
You snapped back to reality when you saw something dark out of the corner of your eye. You hadn’t realized you had stopped walking to mull over the dreams. You quickly squinted out to the ocean and blanched when you saw the subject of your thoughts peering at you from a distance.
Just his head was visible as he studied you. When he realized that you saw him, he made a face like he’d been caught doing something bad and quickly sunk back under the water with a wide eye.
You slowly blinked, bewildered. Then a bout of laughter bubbled to your lips. What in the world?
You couldn’t help it, your curiosity got the better of you. So you looked to see if your guards were watching. (They were slacking off AGAIN). You grinned to yourself and made a break for the cove.
It was empty when you got there, to your disappointment. Maybe he just got curious. He’s probably long gone by now.
But then you heard his arrival behind you. The loud splash and slithering of tentacles over sand made you whirl around in excitement. He was still in the shallows, staring at you with his large eye. It was very different from the slit he’d been glaring at you with last week. Now it was soft, borderline affectionate, and curious.
You tilted your head to the side and he did the same. That got a giggle out of you, and he perked up, obviously pleased to have coaxed a happy sound out of you.
You raised your hand in a half wave and spoke softly, still a bit nervous to be talking to a mythical being. Were you being disrespectful by interacting with such an amazing creature like this or was your hypothesis correct and he was indeed just as sentient as you were? Only one way to find out. “H-hi…”
He ducked his head under the water. Shyly. He was being shy! It was the most adorable thing you’d ever seen. He came back immediately after with a small smile on his face. He cooed adoringly up at you, slowly pulling himself out of the water to sit on a large rock nearby and stare at you.
He studied you closely and you couldn’t help but study back. His injuries looked completely gone now except for that deep one around his neck. It was doing a lot better though. You smiled at him. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.”
The siren blinked, surprised. Then the most shocking and wonderful thing happened. He spoke. It was only a few words, and the english was still quite broken. He probably didn’t know much english at all. But you were still able to understand. “.... Thanks to you…”
You were absolutely flabbergasted to say the least. He was sentient. I knew it! He let out a deep chuckle, enjoying your shocked expression. His voice was a little gurgly, but somehow managed to pull off silky smooth at the same time? In any case, you realized it would be rude not to reply. “You can talk? I mean- of course you can since you just did but… You can speak english?”
He seemed to think about that for a second or two before replying. His voice was full of mirth and you pouted, which only made his eye light shine more. Did you even realize how adorable you were being right now? “...Yes. Learned it. Listened to humans. Secret."
You were gushing over the massive, handsome siren openly speaking to you. He seemed both thrilled and embarrassed by your admiration. Perhaps he wasn’t used to such positive attention, especially from a human. You eventually managed to reply to him. “That’s incredible! And you’re welcome by the way. I just did what I thought was right.”
He shook his head. “Saved me. Forever grateful.” He seemed to think for a moment, as if searching for the right word. “Friend.”
You wanted to squeal when he called you that. He thought of you as a friend! “May I ask your name?”
He brightened immediately when you asked that. “Nightmare.”
A bright smile formed on your lips and you gave him your name in turn. “It's lovely to meet you Nightmare. My name is Y/n.”
“Y/n…” Nightmare tested your name on his tongue, looking thoughtful. Then he let out a happy trill. You blushed and wondered why that made your heart skip a beat.
Nightmare seemed tired out from trying to remember what little english he knew. So he opted not to speak anymore and instead pulled himself closer to you, becoming curious once again.
You hesitated for a moment. Maybe you shouldn’t get too close to a giant siren you just met. But there was just something about him. Plus you were just as curious as he was!
Why did you feel like you’ve known him your whole life? The only siren you'd ever seen before him was in your dream, and that skeleton had white bones and purple eye lights.
He kept at least one tentacle in the water, but it seemed he was fine with being out on land for a little while. You cautiously approached him and decided to plop down in the wet sand. It was just you and him, no royal officials here to yell at you for acting improper.
Nightmare reached out to you with his hand and you resisted the urge to flinch. First he touched your arm, caressing your skin with a fascinated expression. Then he moved on to your hair, feeling its soft texture under his phalanges. Immediately his eye went huge, much like a cat’s. You squealed when you were suddenly lifted up into his lap/tentacles(????).
You froze for a second, thinking he was going to drag you down and drown you. Maybe this had all been a fake display and he was using a different tactic. But once your primal instincts wore off you realized he was just holding you. Very, very gently. You could get out of his hold if you wanted. But you didn’t.
He seemed very interested in your hair, softly combing his clawed fingers through it. You felt yourself relaxing, enjoying the head massage. You leaned back into his massive chest with a sigh. A deep purr rumbled in his chest when you did that. He’s totally like a cat! That is so cute! You decided to keep that opinion to yourself.
You just now realized that his tentacles were curled around you protectively. One was wrapped around your waist, holding you close to his body. A few others were curled around your legs and ankles, exploring your body like a kid would after they got a new toy. Nothing sexual about it. (For now :3 /hj)
You giggled when a sucker connected to the ball of your foot, as ticklish as ever. Thankfully it passed by without Nightmare noticing. He was now purring nonstop as he fondled you, completely infatuated.
You didn’t even mind getting all wet. You thought you would have, but the amazement of receiving siren snuggles bypassed any care you had. You were also fascinated by your new friend, so you reached out and cautiously touched the tentacle around your middle.
Nightmare didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, he seemed happy to be receiving the attention. Your confidence grew, so you slid your hand over the tentacle, realizing that it was just as soft as the day you’d found him. It was wet and rubbery, but not unpleasant like you assumed. Nightmare's purring became louder, electrified by your touch.
The bottom of each tentacle had several rows of cyan suckers. They would occasionally leave red marks on your skin, but it was nothing that didn’t go away within a few minutes.
Your curiosity over his sea creature half was satisfied for now. But his bones were what really got your attention. You never imagined a siren to have a “human” skeleton half. And one covered in that strange liquid.
One of his massive arms had found its way around your stomach while the other continued messing with your hair. You gently traced your fingertips over his ulna, radius, and then lightly touched the carpals and metacarpals. Then you reached the phalanges and an idea came to mind.
Nightmare had stopped obsessing over your hair when he felt your soothing touches. He saw your interest in his hand and moved it towards you so that you could have better access.
You pressed your palm onto his and spread both your fingers out to see how big his hand was compared to yours. And damn was there a huge difference. It was twice the size of your own hand, so it completely engulfed yours. Nightmare softly cooed, just as invested in this revelation as you were. His eye flicked to you, then back down at your hand pressed up against his palm.
You hummed and intertwined your fingers with his. It felt nice to be held so gently. Nightmare, this giant beast, was being mindful of his own strength. A gentle giant. And he was so sweet too. The picture your parents painted of sirens was nothing like this. You felt a weird sense of betrayal for being lied to, but you also weren’t sure if they even knew it was a lie themselves.
“You’re not a bloodthirsty mindless creature at all. You’re a person, just as sentient as any human or monster.” You hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but you were kind of glad that you did. Nightmare’s expression said it all. Relief that you understood and joy that someone finally, finally saw past the legends and saw him for who he actually was. He was still slow at english, so he just nodded silently.
Nightmare squeezed your hand gently, keeping it close to his chest. You looked up at him and into his beautiful blue eye. God you thought he was the most magnificent person you’ve ever seen, human, monster or siren. His alluring eye stared back into yours, filled to the brim with a warmth neither of you understood. At least not yet, but you would someday. For now, you were both content to just relax in each other's arms and take in every feature.
Nightmare leaned in, looking like he wanted to say something but just didn’t know how to get it across with the language barrier. You blushed at the closeness, but didn’t comment, giving him time to organize his thoughts.
But then the moment was ruined by your guards calling your name from outside the cove. “YOUR HIGHNESS! PRINCESS Y/N! WHERE ARE YOU!?”
Nightmare immediately growled and pulled you against his chest. Your face flushed even more as his arms and tentacles tightened around you possessively. Oh dear…
You lightly pushed against his chest, making him whine and glance down at you with those puppy dog eyes. Noooo don’t do this to me! I have to be strong! You pushed again, and this time the strong grip he had on you slackened. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. If they come looking for me here I’m afraid they’d hurt you. And our secret spot would be discovered too."
Nightmare didn’t look happy at all. In fact he even pouted, which got a chuckle out of you. “I promise I’ll come back when I can.”
That seemed to convince him to fully (albeit reluctantly) release you. He let out another whine as you stepped away from him, brushing the sand off of your dress with a sigh. “I’ll be back to visit later, I promise.”
You grinned when he grumpily slid back into the water. When he turned to watch you leave, you waved goodbye to him. He couldn’t stop the lovesick smile that broke through the grouchy expression and he waved back with a joyful warble.
You took that as your cue to leave, especially since the voices were growing louder and more panicked. You made your way towards the castle, wondering how you were going to explain why your dress was all wet and why your hair had a billion little braids in it now.
This time you recognized the gaze that watched you retreat back into your castle.