Chapter Text
Freminet hands and arms were tied. To make things worse, he was underwater. Connected to the rope that tied his arms and legs was a heavy rock, making him only able to squirm in place. He tried fiddling with the rope that held his hands behind his back, but it was no use.
His head was spinning, his thoughts unable to focus. This had been the last thing he had expected from a leisurely dive. He wasn’t even working today, he had come out to dive for fun . And somehow the opposite of fun made its way directly to him. On top of that, since he wasn’t working, no one would be looking for him.
He glanced back at his oxygen tank, trying to gauge how much he may have left. He hadn’t been out here long, so he shouldn’t need to be too worried right now.
He looks up, finally trying to look for the perpetrator. They had placed him in a cave, tied him up, then left all very quickly. Freminet hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at them. Freminet focused his eyes, searching intently before realizing that a small bit of brown hair was peeking over the edge of the cave entrance.
He strained to look, but no longer had to. For a pair of round golden eyes was now staring at him from an alarmingly close distance. A person? Freminet thought. The person in front of him then began swimming in circles around Freminet, revealing beautiful shades of bright red and white.
The person’s tail swung as he swam through the water. Freminet grunted in surprise, his eyes widening… A Lionfish?
Freminet inspected the man’s tail, fixated. His lower half looked alarmingly characteristic of a lionfish. Across the length of his tail were lines of red and white, spindly white wisps appearing at his tail fin. The spindles of white surrounding him accentuated his movement. At his hips, two large fins with the same stringy white tendrils flowed through the water. The shape of the fins at his sides made it look like wings, his body appearing as though it’s flying through the water.
The merman was still continuously circling Freminet, his eyes filled with just as much curiosity as Freminet’s own. Suddenly, the man spoke, “Hello? Can you understand me?”
Freminet nodded, his mouth still occupied with his oxygen mask. “Really?!” The merman swam around him once more in excitement. He lightly poked at Freminet, first at his face then his shoulders, finally landing on what he seemed to find most interesting: his legs. He poked at his knees and calves.
“What’s your name?” He turned back up to look at Freminet. He waited a few seconds before seeming to realize something, “Oh! Sorry!” He quickly lifted his hand and pulled the oxygen mask from Freminet’s mouth.
Having been unexpectedly ripped from his source of life, he panicked. He tried to yell “No” but a wave of air bubbles escaped his mouth. He quickly closed his mouth, realizing his mistake. He was a professional, he should know better than this. But rarely is he ever worried about a merman coming along, tying him up, and taking his oxygen mask off. So he guessed he could cut himself some slack.
He regained his composure and quickly tried to mouth several things to the merman.
‘I need that,’ he squirmed in place, still tied, ‘I can’t breathe without it.’ The man in front of him tilted his head in confusion, inspecting Freminet trying to determine what was wrong. His eyes widened as he remembered something.
Freminet thought that he had finally understood and almost let out a sigh of relief, expecting his oxygen mask to be returned to him. But instead something else met Freminet’s lips. Freminet’s eyes shot open, staring at the closed eyes of the merman that was in front of him. The same merman that was now kissing him.
Freminet’s confusion overwhelmed him. He let out a gasp, the air bubbles escaping from a small gap between their mouths. To his surprise, the merman deepened the kiss. Freminet could feel the heat rising up his neck and to his cheeks, he just knew he was blushing like a madman. Suddenly, what felt like a small bubble was transferred to Freminet’s mouth.
Freminet was overheating from his blush and confusion, not having time to think before the man kissing him extended his tongue and popped the bubble. The merman finally pulled away, a faint blush tracing his cheeks.
“Sorry about that, you should be able to breathe now though.” He says abashedly, scratching the back of his head. “I'm still curious about your name, would you mind telling me?”
Freminet gazed at the fish-tailed man, and took in a breath. He could indeed breathe. He took in the sight of the man in front of him, now focusing more on the human portion of his body. He was quite beautiful. His long brown hair cascaded around his body, transforming into a striking red towards the bottom. His eyes were a lovely gold, shining scales glittered across his body. Freminet felt that he might gladly drown within this man's beauty.
His heart beat louder in his chest. His stare reached the merman’s face, lowering to his lips. Freminet now recalled what had just happened, flustering Freminet even further.
Fuck. That was my first kiss.