Work Text:
Jason sighed, a soft sound, not enough to alert anyone of his presence but a sure sign that his patience was running out. He'd been waiting for hours now, sitting quietly in the dark and waiting for the creature to arrive.
He knew that the other was out there, he hadn't seen him directly but he was a great hunter and so he had seen the signs that his prey was there: the crushed plants at the edges of the water where it had threaded its big body through to search for food, the shimmery residue on the big stones where it had pulled itself up to bask in the sun, a scale or two that had drifted up and was dancing on the surface of the water..
Small things, really, but if you knew what to look for it was like big neon signs telling you that there was a creature ready to be caught. Mer were said to be shy and smart creatures and yet they couldn't hide from him. Especially not when Jason loved the thrill of hunting them down.
He had made sure that nothing spoke of his former visits to the pond, as to not spook the creature and when he was sure that it was still there, alive in the water, he had bought the net.
It was a very expensive buy because it had to be perfect; fine like spiderwebs but reinforced so it was as sturdy as steel at the same time. The creature couldn't be able to sense it in the water or they wouldn't swim into it and they shouldn't be able to tear through it after getting caught in it either or it would all have been in vain.
Besides, Mer might look delicate at first glance with their translucent fins and shimmery scales but their tails were long and powerful and they weighted a lot more than one would expect. More than one hunter had been pulled into the water by a struggling mer and even though they were usually peaceful and said to be gentle creatures they could absolutely kill if they felt like they had too; with their clawed hands and sharp teeth - or they could simply wrap their muscular tail around you and pull you under to let you drown.
Jason never had to fight a Mer up close but he had seen someone try; on a fishing boat, as a teenager when he hadn't known what to do yet or how to help. The man didn't stand a chance, he was pulled into the water and his body was never recovered.
Jason relaxed his shoulders, making sure he wasn't getting stiff from staying in his current hiding place for so long. He needed to be quick and alert because although a pond wasn't the sea he could still very much drown in it.
Before he could get lost in more memories there was a pull at the fine, invisible string that he had wrapped around his wrist. Catching a mer was a little like becoming a spider; casting a net first and then connecting it to a fine thread that would alert you as soon as the prey came in contact with it.
Of course there were animals in the pond as well but the most they could do was to make the connected thread sway a little. This right now, this had been a proper tug. Like a massive tail brushing against the net or sudden movement in the water caused by something big.
Jason could feel his adrenaline spiking as he carefully shifted into position. He needed to be quick now, the second he felt the mer's full weight tugging at the net he needed to pull it up and knot it together or the creature might just be able to untangle itself.
Jason barely got a chance to catch his breath before he already felt it; the sudden pull, the motion that told him "Yes,this was it!" as the mer had swam fully into his net. It was now or never!
Jason sprinted forward and started pulling at the edges of the net, a movement that he'd practised a hundred times before until it became second nature because one single mistake now would mean losing his prey at best and getting attacked at worst. He was close to the edge of the pond, way too close to the water and a single well aimed hit with a mer's tail could knock him unconscious.
Sometimes the creature froze in shock and it was surprisingly easy to pull them out until they realized what was going on and finally started struggling, but this one fought from the very start. A sudden sharp pull almost knocked Jason forward and if he hadn't expected it - or had been anything less than solid muscle - the fight would have ended there before it had properly started.
Of course there was always the option of drugging the creatures, but only after he'd pulled them out, because shooting tranquillizer darts into moving water wasn't that easy and he could only vaguely guess a mer's size before he had seen them, so randomly guessing the amount of sedation might get them killed or hurt in a way they shouldn't be.
Besides, he would have had to let go of the net with at least one hand to take out his equipment and he was pretty sure that if he'd slack for even a second then his current catch would be gone immediately, net and all.
It was like a game of tug of war, with both of them doing their best to hold on and pull away, respectively. He still hadn't gotten a proper look at what exactly he had caught, he only saw the splashing water that turned more and more into a foamy whirl from how the mer was twisting and turning to get out of a net it couldn't simply break. It was probably trying to hold on to any seaweed or rocks it could find as well before realizing that sooner or later it would simply have to give in.
A side effect that worked nicely in Jason's favour was that the worse the water was getting, the worse the mer could breathe. Murky water felt awful in their gills or so Jason had heard which meant that he didn't have to hold on forever; only until the mer would catch its breath or try to get to clearer water. If it stopped fighting for even a second then he would be Jason's catch at last.
Honestly he hadn't even considered losing to a mer that he had already caught in his net - it had never happened before after all - but this one really gave him trouble. To his horror Jason could feel his muscle start to tremble and he quickly wrapped the net more tightly around his hands, making sure that letting go wasn't even an option. He would not lose to a pretty little sea creature!
The net cut painfully into his fingers by now and he worried about how the delicate fins of the mer would hold up against the pull - right before the water tinted red. For a second the mer lost traction, probably from the pain, which was enough time for Jason to finally pull him out.
He didn't stop pulling even when the first sight of a beautiful, massive tail fin had him stunned, he just kept reeling in his prey and then dragging it further and further along the grass until they were far enough from the water that he could catch his breath.
Only then did he fully turn and look at his catch, with his breath stuttering out in a surprised gasp. The mer was stunning!
All mer were beautiful in a way, as even those with scars and missing fins still had that air of magic and beauty around them, where you just wanted to look at them for ages and examine every glittering scale and curve of their tail. But Jason had learnt to expect and deal with that, to simply push his awe aside and go to work - or so he had thought.
Because the mer in front of him was the most stunning creature he had ever laid eyes on. It was a fully grown male, with inky dark hair and eyes that were as blue as the sea. He had delicate features and his cheekbones were freckled with tiny sparkling scales, which would have made him look cute if he hadn't been full on snarling.
Jason was painfully pulled from his trance when the mer bucked his tail and almost knocked Jason off his feet and so he quickly jumped into action. He ran back to his hiding spot where he had left the heavy weight he used to weigh down the kind of prey that was still fighting even outside of the water.
It was a ring made of two halves that could be connected with a steel lock and that was so heavy that even Jason had to strain to carry it back to where he had left the mer. In the short time that he'd been left alone the creature had managed to turn himself onto his belly and untangle himself enough that he could move a little, crawling slowly but surely back towards the water.
For a moment Jason felt admiration at the mer's unbroken spirit and his unwillingness to accept defeat but then he kicked himself back into action. He quickly snatched the mer's tail fin and pulled it flat, stepping on it until he had managed to secure the heavy ring around the smallest part of the creatures tail and lock it in place. Then he stepped off and watched as the realisation of the mer's defeat fully sank in.
The creature turned, suddenly unable to crawl further even though Jason was standing a few feet away and his pretty blue eyes widened in shock when he saw the weight on his tail. He tried to flip his tail fin and got nothing but a sad flap, then tried it again and again until he screamed in frustration.
It was a horrible sound, something between a roar and a screech and Jason had to clench his jaw not to show how affected he was or to cover his ears. When the mer realized that he was truly stuck he started twisting and curling in on himself, turning towards the weight and trying to get it off with his hands, gnawing on the lock with his teeth and doing anything else he could think of that might give him back his freedom.
Jason kept standing a few feet aside, safely out of reach and watched the mer tire himself out. The creature got more and more desperate until the fight finally bled out of him and, after one last final tug at the weight, he fell backwards, fully exhausted, giving Jason the possibility to admire him safely in all his glory.
The mer's primary colour was a deep blue, darker than his eyes, with spots and patterns along his tail that dipped into indigo and violet blue as well. His fins had the usual translucent quality but when the light hit them just right they looked iridescently blue like delicate coloured glass.
Jason wondered what it would feel like to touch that strong tail, to follow the curves and caress the fins…
Something must have shown in his gaze because the mer hissed again, a clear sign of his disdain, as he curled in on himself to shield his vulnerable belly from him.
There was no way to protect himself from Jason's eyes completely though and he was only baring his side to his captor instead.
From where he was standing Jason could catch sight of the massive fin along the mer's spine, which reminded him of a sailfish's dorsal fin and looked surprisingly sturdy despite having the same translucent quality of the delicate fins along the mer's tail. However, there was a a very obvious tear in the broadest part of his fin where the net had dug deeply into it as thin trails of blood where colouring the formerly invisibly net in dark red colours.
He could also see the gills along the mer's ribs in all their glorious detail, flushed and fluttering as the creature caught his breath. It only added to how capable his current catch seemed to be. Some of Jason's prey had been completely still the moment he had pulled them out of water, too busy trying to go from breathing under water through their gills to getting oxygen into the part of their lungs they used on land.
He still didn't know how exactly it all worked; if Mer on land solely breathed through their mouth and nose and the fluttering gills where just a reflex or if the gills could filter oxygen from the air as well but either way, he had always been fascinated with those rosy structures. They looked so delicate and vulnerable, were really easy to hurt or crush and yet the mer relied on them completely for survival under water.
Under his heavy gaze the mer finally stopped turning and looked up at him. Instead of the expected fear and desperation Jason only saw defiance and determination.
" What now?"
Jason flinched. The mer had just spoken!
He knew that they were smart creatures and that most of them understood the human language, with some even speaking it as well - but in all his years of a hunter he'd never been spoken to first.
"What's your name?" He asked instead, trying to quickly school his face into something less shocked and more controlled, while biding his time. He didn't even know why he hadn't just answered the question, after all, the next steps were very clear:
He would sedate his catch, put him into the back of his truck to bring him home to his place, patch him up, put him in a tank and then sell him to the highest bidder.
Simple as that. Just like he had done so many times before.
"Dick." Came the answer, so sharp and full of malice that Jason wasn't quite sure if he'd gotten his answer or just been insulted.
"Your name is Dick?", he asked, just to be sure and when the mer nodded he allowed himself a smile. Somehow it fit.
"Nice to meet you Dick. I'm Jason. I'm going to take you back home with me. I hope you don't mind that I'm going to drug you first, but I like my truck and also being alive so I can't have you freaking out while I'm driving. I'll wrap you securely in some tarpaulin and then I have a nice little tank waiting for you at home and some fish that…"
"What do you want from me?" Dick interrupted him, his voice so harsh and demanding as if he was the one in charge.
Jason hesitated and let his gaze wander over Dick's beautiful body again, the iridescent fins, his pretty face. Really, what did he want from Dick? If he was honest he wasn't so keen on selling him immediately anymore, despite him being such a pain in the ass.
He didn't have to sell him right away though - he would have to care for the injured spine fin first anyway, right? To get the best price for him the mer needed to be in peak condition. So maybe he could just keep him for a while, ask him questions, learn some more about his species. It would surely help Jason with his hunting. Not that he needed any help but…it couldn't hurt, right?
Jason knelt down, making sure to stay clear of Dick's sharp claws. He would make sure to file those down first while Dick was safely knocked out.
"I think I just want your company. For a little while. Then we'll see where it goes."
Dick scoffed, the contempt still visible in his gaze but deep, deep down there was also something else, something like intrigue.
Who knew, maybe Jason would make Dick open up to him after all..
༊༄.°°࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ