Work Text:
He wasn't an Alpha Alec should even consider and it went without saying that he was an Alpha no one else would approve of, but he was the Alpha that Alec found himself wanting.
As cousin to the King—a favored cousin at that—Alec could have almost any Merrow Alpha he wanted. And yet, he'd somehow managed to fall for a landwalker. An utterly ridiculous one at that. His name alone was proof of just how ridiculous he was—Harry James Potter, but he preferred to go' by just "Harry". What was the point of having two names if you were just going to use one?
By all rights, Alec should have never been exposed to such a landwalker. Their first meeting had been the result of rash and impulsive actions, actions which Alec couldn’t bring himself to regret, even when some of them had resulted in suffering through both Kieran and Alcandor's disapproval and bad tempers.
But it wasn't every day that someone stepped in to save a Merrow from drowning, of all things. Or attempted to face a Harron's Sea Dragon with no weapons and no training.
Such a reckless, naive Alpha.
Alec should have been insulted, but after the initial flare of temper had worn off, hindsight made the attempt to protect him oddly endearing. They'd have to do something about Harry's general clueless mess, however. If they didn't, he'd be eaten alive in the Merrow Courts.
Same for the Alpha’s penchant to open up and talk about personal matters to anyone with a pretty face and a willing ear. A few nights after their first meeting, Alec had gone back to that section of the beach and found Harry on the dock again. Alec hadn’t spoken a single word that night, but he'd learned plenty about the Alpha. His age—eighteen. Where he was from—off-realm, a place called Britain on the Earthen realm, which had just gotten through a civil war that Harry had been forced to fight in since he was only eleven. His family—Peverell, Evanson, and a third Clan name that Alec didn’t recognize; Harry hadn't met any of them yet and he wasn't sure he wanted to, because the dragel hadn’t had the best experiences with blood relatives in the past. Who he was staying with—a small Circle of four, newly bonded. The beach house technically belonged to the Deveraines, but the other Alpha was an unofficial ward of theirs. The Submissive was a close friend of Harry's and she was pregnant and wanted Harry as godfather, so he was staying close while his presence was tolerated.
Yeah, Alec didn’t completely understand the situation. But all his instincts really cared about was that Harry was an available Alpha, one that was interested in courting Alec and wasn't afraid to go to great expense to do so. That same night, even though Alec hadn't said a word, Harry had still left something for him on the dock—a lumpy, handknit sweater with an A on it, made of yarn charmed to be adaptable to various water depths and temperatures.
Like Alec said—ridiculous. But it matched the sweater he had taken from the Alpha during their very first meeting.
Alec returned to the dock every couple of nights after that, and every single time, he found Harry waiting for him. The silly Alpha waited for him, even when Alec didn't make any appearance—he knew, he had tested it one night.
And every single time, the Alpha left a courting gift behind. After the sweater, most of it was jewelry-—pretty, shiny pieces designed to show off and attract attention. Jewelry made by part-Merrow designers that Alec knew and even a few from Merfolk colonies or Merrow from other parts of the Merrow Waters—pieces that landwalkers would pay exorbitant prices for, since they rarely made their way to the surface. When Alec started talking back and deeper conversations with minimal snark and flirtations became a regular occurrence, the Submissive started giving gifts in return—a ring, a single coral earring, a few hair pieces, an etched cuff that had been passed down in Alec's family as an heirloom.
The next step of courting—traditional land walker courting, at least—was supposed to be a knife, but the ridiculous Alpha took it one step further, presenting Alec instead with a sword. A goblin-forged sword that Harry said was imbued with basilisk venom of all things, a blade with a very revealing name Gryffindor.
Alec wondered what Alcandor would say when the king learned about the gift. After all, it wasn't every day that a lost treasure of the Fire Courts—a blade titled after one of their lesser Caspers—showed up, let alone was given to a Merrow as a courting gift, of all things. The Submissive strongly suspected Harry had no idea of the blade's history. The alternatives—that he knew and just didn't care or that he valued Alec highly enough to risk a feud with the entirety of the Fire Courts—were just too absurd to consider.
Clothes, jewelry, a blade… the other traditional courting gift for landwalkers was something with their Clan crest, but Alec didn't really expect that from Harry, with his hesitancy to claim any familial connections.
Not that it really mattered. Alec had already drawn up and designed an entire wardrobe for Harry, one that incorporated Alec's own family crest into everything. Provided that Harry accepted Alec's next gift, the Alpha would be joining Alec's Clan and taking his name, as the vast majority of landwalkers did when they joined their Merrow Bonded below the waves.
Alec would always hate surfacing a bit and he would be very relieved if Harry agreed to join him, but for now, there was really no other option.
Like always, today Harry was sitting on the dock, waiting for him, his feet dangling in the water. Alec's sharp teeth ground together at the sight because they'd already had that conversation so many times.
He ducked under the waves and used his twin fail fins to propel him rapidly and silently toward the dock. As he neared the edge of the dock, he sank further down in the water for a moment before he rushed upward and grabbed the dangling feet by the ankles, pulling downward.
The next moment, he and Harry were twined around each other in a comfortable embrace, the Alpha spluttering water as they relaxed on the surface.
“Must you every single time?"
Alec sniffed haughtily. "You're the one that doesn't learn,” he retorted.
"Are you sure about that? Maybe I have learned and just keep on doing it because I know you can't resist."
Instead of carrying through with their normal banter and threatening to hire another Merrow to prove just how reckless Harry was being with his own safety, Alec simply hummed. Because underneath the banter, they both knew the truth—it was a quick way to end up in each other's arms, to get rid of that ever-present divide between land and water. Having Harry in the water helped, but they were still on the surface and Alec couldn't resist scowling at the sun.
"It's hot out today, "Harry murmured, catching the scowl with his emerald eyes. "Hotter than the past few days."
"Your propensity to state the obvious never ceases to amaze me."
"Are you sure you don’t want to meet Draco. You two would get along fabulously, I feel."
Alec instinctively hissed at the mention of another's name, even though he knew for a fact that this Draco was already Bonded. “What I want to do is dive down and take you with me," he countered. Piercing blue eyes met bright emerald green. "You're the only landwalker I'll tolerate," he said slowly, deliberately.
A slow, pleased smile crossed Harry's face as he caught the Merrow's meaning: "How long do you want to dive this time?" the Alpha asked. It wouldn’t be the first time he had gone with Alec deeper into the Merrow waters, as far as the half-submerged cities where many a part-Merrow and mixed Circles resided. But that was usually only for a few hours.
"Forever?" Alec offered quietly, though there was still a hint of challenge in his voice. As he spoke, he looped his arms around Harry's neck and wrapped his tail around the man's legs.The Alpha didn't even twitch. Instead, his smile only grew.
"Forever sounds wonderful," he replied.
Alec used his arms to tug Harry closer for a kiss and let them begin to drop in the water. As always, the kisses turned heady, a pleasurable combination of lips and fangs. When Harry's tongue slipped into his mouth, Alec bit down with a sharp fang and used his own tongue to work a small pearl into the impromptu piercing. A Merrow's kiss could grant the ability to breathe underwater to a landwalker temporarily. A bit of blood extended that period to a few hours. The pearl would ensure that the ability and accompanying transformation lasted as long as the individual kept it in.
Once claim marks had been exchanged and they were formally bonded, and possibly with a transfusion of Merrow blood, the pearl wouldn’t be necessary, but Alec had a feeling that Harry would keep it permanently. Already he could tell that the Alpha enjoyed the addition, smirking as he pulled away and pressing that particular part of his tongue against Alec's neck, indicating where his mark would go as soon as Alec marked him.
Ridiculous.
But it was a Submissive's choice when it came to who to Bond to, and Alec had chosen this ridiculous landwalker.
And, as a large black silver, and green-scaled tail wrapped around his two blue and silver tails, he determined he had made a very good choice.