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Jason was sick.
Jazz checked him over and over again, but it was undeniable as he grew lethargic, stopped eating, and constantly bumped against the sides of his tank in an effort to scratch at his skin, doing nothing but smearing mucus everywhere.
As she rubbed his back again for the fifth time, pulling her slimy hand away with a distraught expression, she murmured, "He's sick."
Her crew muttered and looked at each other.
Jazz continued saying, "I just can't figure out how he got so sick."
Everyone turned to look at Dan with faintly accusing eyes, who stood conspicuously in the middle of the crowd. He bristled, eyes flashing as he reared back to yell at them, but Jazz noticed their gazes and spoke first.
"Don't blame Dan, he would never do such a thing," Jazz said sternly. She eyed all of them before she sighed. "Alright, I think I know how to help Jason. Please listen up! First, we need—"
As Jazz delegated tasks to her crew, she rested one hand on Jason's head. The fins on his head drooped in exhaustion and he rested atop Jazz's lap as she sat on the edge of the tank. From behind him, his tail swayed in the water, his fins spreading and closing with each of his strained breaths.
Tucker had welded the tank together magnificently, allowing Jason ample space to move and it even had a small deck for Jazz to sit. On a ship, it was stupidly extravagant, but ever since Jazz picked up the hostile and skittish Mer from the Royal Scientific Research Center, she spoiled him relentlessly.
By the time everyone scattered to get Jazz what she needed, only Dan was left, his arms crossed as he glared at the merman lying over Jazz's lap. He was still dripping with saltwater and the mucus covering his skin only made everything even more sticky. As the ship rocked, the water inside the tank also sloshed, soaking Jazz's pants and leaving them clinging to her legs.
Basically, she was a mess.
And it was all of the Mer’s fault!
"Instead of wasting time and energy, we could just throw him overboard and let the ocean take him back," Dan said, only half serious. He eyed the merman in distaste.
Jazz rolled her eyes. "Please don't overthrow Jason overboard."
"...."
"Don't try to find other ways to drop him into the sea either!"
"Tsk."
There was silence.
Jazz didn’t speak, just petting Jason’s hair. His fins, even subconsciously, flared in dazzling displays of red, white, and orange underneath her hands, but now the colors were dulled.
Dan only frowned at the sight and then said, "I think he may have gotten sick from his meal a day before. I had thought that perhaps his food had been left out of the ice box a little too long, but I wasn't entirely sure." He went quiet and then said, "I should've spoken up about it."
He didn't apologize but that was enough.
Jazz beamed at him. "It's alright. I know Jason is strong, he'll get through this."
Dan clicked his tongue again.
At this moment, Jason stirred and a ragged gasp fell from his lips. He had been having a hard time breathing due to the mucus covering his gills, but now that he was awake and starting to panic, his breathing became frantic wheezes as his tail, still submerged in the water, began to splash and smack around. He writhed, clawing at his throat as the desperate gasps continued, failing to suck in air.
"Jason! Jason, calm down!" Jazz cried out.
A strangled musical note fell from Jason's lips as Jazz reached for him, holding him close. He began to calm, rubbing his face over her coat and shirt.
Dan grimaced at the slime on her clothes. Thankfully, at that moment, the door opened and several crew members walked in with a large tub of water, the same one that Jason had arrived in, now filled in with different water.
Jazz turned to look at Dan hopefully.
Dan stared at her in disbelief before he put his face in his hands and groaned loudly.
Moments later, Jazz was carrying the upper half of Jason's body while Dan was carrying the lower half, both of them pulling him out of the water to put him in the smaller tub.
Dan cringed away from the venomous spines on Jason's tail, all of which were swaying in front of his face. "Couldn't you have let me carry the front?" He complained.
Jazz gave him an exasperated look. "I'm keeping him calm. And besides, if you were up here, then you would've likely said something to antagonize him and then gotten your throat ripped out with his teeth."
Even with his difficulty breathing, Jason still laughed and his spines flared again, just ever so threateningly, but he didn't touch Dan.
Dan grumbled something viciously under his breath. It took them a bit of stumbling as they moved Jason from his tank to the tub that was brought in. People continuously arrived to put water into the tub and when Jason was placed inside, he whined in complaint, reaching for Jazz. She didn’t hesitate to bend down and stroked his hair and face, rubbing away the mucus on his neck gills.
“Jazz…” Jason bemoaned, sounding aggrieved. “It’s freshwater!”
“I know, I know, but it’s supposed to help you. Can you dunk yourself under? Just for a little?”
Jason glowered and dipped part of his face underneath the water. Angry bubbles came from the water.
Jazz laughed. “Your entire self.”
He huffed, his tail splashing the water everywhere before he completely submerged himself under the water.
Jazz cooed and dipped a hand into the water, stirring it lazily. Jason held her hand with his own webbed ones, splashing tiredly. His body was still slimy looking and his breathing was slightly labored, but he did seem to relax within the water.
Dan stared at the sight of them both.
A young woman, dressed in a captain’s coat and smart looking clothes, leaning over a tub filled with a beautiful merman, the both of them looking positively radiant with the amount of red on them.
If he still painted, Dan might’ve pulled out his easel just to capture this moment.
Dan sighed.
Why in the world were his siblings so soft-hearted?
Over the next few days, it was Jazz who took care of him.
No matter how tame Jason seemed, it was an undeniable fact that he was a Mer, one of the few sentient creatures of the sea that had a particular fondness for human flesh.
Even when his gills were covered in mucus, his voice would not and could not weaken. The pain and confusion only made him even more quick to attack with song or claws and fangs.
He had almost impaled someone on his venomous spines before Jazz had pulled him away.
Even though he wailed and screamed and tried to bite the fingers off of anyone who approached him, Jazz persisted to take care of Jason. He never hurt her, recognizing her on instinct, but his panicked and aggrieved singing would make everyone’s ears ring and when Jazz got too close while he was singing in misery, she’d become hypnotized and almost fall into the water.
Mermen were the most annoying creatures in the entire world.
Dan swore to himself that if he was to ever meet another Mer, he’d throw them back to the ocean to spare himself the suffering.
He grimaced as he watched Jason struggle within Jazz’s arms, thrashing wildly. She held him down, wrapping her legs around his torso to hold him in place as she wiped his face and upper half with a towel stained with green and blue medicine.
Jason wailed as Jazz dipped the towel back in the medicine mixture and continued to wipe off the mucus as gently as she could while he was wriggling like a flopping fish.
… wait a minute.
Dan shook his head to get rid of his thoughts.
He turned back to Jazz and watched her with downturned eyebrows as she fought to keep Jason still as he was spreading his mucus and blood from his frenzied scratching all over her. His tail inside of the water smacked against the sides of the tank, making thumping sounds as water sloshed everywhere.
When Jazz gave Dan a desperate look, he quickly strode over and slapped the towel full of anesthesia against Jason’s nose and mouth, holding it until Jason finally slipped back into unconsciousness.
Jazz sighed and stroked his sticky hair as he slumped onto her lap.
“You look like a mess,” Dan sneered.
Jazz hummed. “I’ll clean up after I’m done.” She wiped away more mucus with a tired slump to her shoulders.
She had taken on the duty of caring for Jason all by herself. While her crew were desperate to help her, she still couldn’t get into the rhythm of ordering them around too much.
Dan frowned. Eventually, he grabbed a towel from the medicinal bucket and helped her, reaching into the water to wipe off the mucus on Jason’s lower gills.
He ignored Jazz’s happy smile at him as he said gruffly, “When will he recover?”
“Hmm… in a few days, perhaps?”
She rubbed a thumb over Jason’s cheek fondly.
Dan watched her with narrowed eyes but didn’t say anything before looking away.
True enough, it took Jason a few days of constant freshwater baths, supplements, and wiping him with medicinal towels before he recovered.
Even though he looked like he was a step away from death just a few days ago, he recovered in only a week, as energetic as an ox.
Even his tank was cleaned, having been scrubbed of the mucus and blood that had come from Jason furiously bashing himself on the walls and the decorations inside.
Everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
All of them, excluding Dan who practically hated everyone, had some fondness for the Mer, who although could be hostile and rude, was also always willing to reach out a helping hand. After all, he was once helped lead their ship past a hurricane, personally saved crew mates from sea monsters, and was the same Mer that their Captain cherished.
(And no one wanted to deal with mucus, blood, and ailing singing again.)
Jason was back in the large tank, swimming amongst the coral and seaweed before he swam up to the top, where Jazz sat on the edge of the tank. She had a hand dipped into the water, wiggling her fingers.
Jason swam up to her and brushed his head against her hand before he pulled himself out of the water. With a grin, he shook himself like a dog and Jazz burst into laughter, covering her face from the raining droplets.
Jason looked at her with a meaningful gaze, focused and intense.
“When is the food coming?” He asked eagerly.
Jazz laughed. “Soon. I’m glad you’re feeling better, Jason. I was so worried!”
“A Mer can’t be killed that easily,” Jason said. His tail wagged in the water a little, splashing.
Jazz laughed.
After a moment, she stared at him and then without warning, she whistled. It was a soft, piercing sound, slightly melodic. Jason tilted his head, eyes going wide.
“Are you….?”
Jazz gave him a mischievous smile and whistled a few more notes, almost in the tune of a song.
Jason looked excited as he perked up and then cooed a song back. Jazz beamed and then continued whistling. Without hesitation, Jason sang a long musical note and then she was leaning closer to him, a little dazed from his singing.
Pleased, Jason reached over and wrapped his wet arms around her, pressing their lips together. Jazz gasped, snapping out of the tiny hypnosis and returned the kiss. The ship continued to rock, splashing water everywhere.
From the door, Dan pulled his hat off of his head to cover his eyes.
He should’ve just tossed that damn shameless Mer off of the boat on the first day Jazz found him.