Work Text:
Many centuries ago all creatures of the land and the sea lived in perfect harmony. A harmony protected by the strongest of creatures among them: dragons. Back then they used to roam the world and protect all creatures who inhabited it. But that was before the first war broke out. Before the humans had attacked those who weren't them. Before every other species followed suit. Before no one could trust those that weren't like them.
Then when the dragons finally arrived to stop the massacre and bloodshed, to return the world to harmony, everyone attacked them instead and accused the dragons of fighting for their enemies. In the end, the greatest loss of all was that of the dragons as most either lost their life trying to stop the battle or were hunted down by every other faction.
The last few dragons that remained then swore off their sacred duty to protect anyone but themselves and hid away in the darkest of places. Nowadays, everyone knows that you can’t trust anyone who isn’t of your own kind and that if you're ever unfortunate enough to stumble across a dragon or their territory you won't make it out alive… no one ever has.
—————————
Scott had never swum out this far from the capital before, he doubted that any sirens still living there had. Yet again he supposed he no longer was one of them, living there, if he ever was. That was the whole point of this: swimming so far away that no one would follow or find him. As he had left he was almost surprised by how easy it all had been. He had always imagined sneaking by the place guards to be impossible, turns out that once you get your hands on their patrol schedule it was actually quite simple. And now that Scott was free, he could do whatever he wanted. Without anyone around to judge him or call him names or push him around or constantly remind him of the disgrace he was.
Sadly as Scott had barely ever even left the palace let alone the capital he didn’t truly know what kinds of dangers awaited him and he didn’t know to stay clear of the shiny object that was floating in the water. Instead, Scott swam closer with nothing but curiosity. The shiny floating object was like nothing he had seen before. It was made out of some wird slightly reflective material that was so different from everything he knew he had nothing he could even compare it to. But the shape it was in, that he did recognise, seemed to be net. Like the once siren’s at the capital used to move large quantities of stuff from one place to another, only those were usually made out of kelp and seagrass.
In his fascination with the net Scott had swum closer enough that he could touch it, he wanted to know what the wired material felt like. That quickly turned out to have been a horrible idea as the current pushed it against Scott and as he tried to move away it seemed he was stuck. That's when he panicked and started to helplessly struggle against his restraints, which only made them feel tighter around his body until he could barely move at all with the restraints starting to hurt anytime he tried. He was stuck and there was nothing he could do. So Scott ended up floating through the ocean, wherever the currents were taking him.
—————————
Scott wasn’t sure how long he'd been just floating unable to do anything, but it was long enough for him to no longer feel the pain the tightness of the net caused unless he moved and it was long enough for hunger to have settled in and become a numb background noise in his mind. Scott was certain he had never felt quite as helpless before, which said a lot considering he had felt nothing but helpless for all of his life.
That's when he felt the water move in a way that wasn’t just the currents, but definitely another creature in the vesanity. And if he went by how much the water shook, this creature must be massive, which probably made it dangerous… this was bad. Like really really bad. He was definitely about to be some creature’s dinner.
The motion of the water started coming from all sides. It was surrounding him! Scott wanted to try struggling once again but the pain of the net on his body was too much. He wanted to close his eyes but fear kept them wide open. He needed to see, to know what was going to finally end him.
That’s when the creature finally moved to be within Scott’s vision, he was definitely dead. Though Scott had never seen one before he was 100% certain that in front of him was a dragon. He couldn’t see much beyond the dragon's head which was definitely big enough to swallow him whole. The dragons skails where a vibrant green colour, his eyes a beautiful shade of light blue and it seemed like his spine accents were yellow. Even though Scott was afraid he had to admit that the dragon was breathtaking. Easily the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Maybe being eaten by a dragon wasn’t half as bad as he thought.
Instead of just eating Scott the dragon seemed stuck in some sort of weird trance where it was just intently looking at the siren. And after a moment the dragon's gaze felt like too much for the siren so he decided to hesitantly speak up, “soooo, you going to eat me or?….”
The dragon's eyes widened before it suddenly moved to curl around itself in front of Scott. Then it’s scails started glowing brightly enough that Scott had to shoot his eyes to protect them from the strain. Then with his eyes still closed in fear he heard a voice coming from right in front of him. “I don’t quite know yet.”
The siren's eyes immediately shot open as he hadn’t expected any kind of answer to his question. Instead of the dragon he had previously seen, there now stood a more humanoid creature. He looked like a human just with an added dragon tail, horns, claws, and from what Scott could see, scales around his arms, neck, and legs. The eyes now looking at him through blonde locks were still the same brilliant blue as the dragons eyes were. This definitely was the dragon infront of him wasn’t it? And why was he hot? And what was wrong with Scott for even thinking like that in this situation? And for it being his first thought on top of that?
“You good? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.” The dragon laughed, was Scott shock funny to him? Probably. Then the dragon continued as he leaned forward with a shit-eating grin, to mock the siren. “What you’ve never seen a dragons normal form before?”
“I’ve never even seen a dragon before,” Scott stuttered for a moment then he replied. Before silently mumbling with the hope that the dragon wouldn’t hear, “Plus you’re hot.”
That hope quickly vanished and was replaced by a blush starting to crawl up the siren's face as the dragon responded, “You’re really pretty yourself, you know? A really pretty siren.”
The dragon did nothing but chuckle at the siren's reaction before adding, “My name’s Martyn, what about you pretty siren?”
“Scott” he mumbled through embarrassment.
“Scott” Martyn seemed to almost test the name on his tongue to find out if he liked it and judging by the grin that spread across his face it seemed he did. “So tell me Scott, what’s a pretty siren like you doing all the way out here wrapped up like the cutest little gift, hm?”
“I got stuck and drifted,” Scott admitted in shame. Martyn would probably think him pathetic, wouldn't he?
“I can see that,” Martyn said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow before adding, “What I'm wondering is what a siren prince like you was doing outside your barricade little city, presumably on your own since no one helped you?”
“I'm not a prince,” Scott said with a sigh, so that’s why the dragon hadn’t eaten him. He had heard legends about dragons favouring princesses, everyone had. The story’s widely known as a warning, that if one messes with a dragon they would lose the future ruler of their hometown.
“You sure, because last time I checked blue hair was a staple of the royal family and you're definitely too young to be king,” Martyn said with all the certainty in the world and a smirk that Scott was starting to believe was just naturally part of his face.
“Okay, so yes my mom is the queen, but I'm not a prince; I'm just an abomination, a mistake,” Scott said as he averted his eyes from Martyn’s in shame.
“How could you be a mistake?” He asked with this genuine confusion, which made Scott’s chest hurt. Could he really not see it?
“I'm half human. The only reason they kept me around there was as a constant reminder of an unforgivable mistake that no one should ever repeat” This was it the moment when Martyn would be disgusted and swim away or just eat him to end his suffering. Hopefully it was the second.
“Now I've eaten a many of creatures, even some children, but that’s just cruel. I mean they were practically punishing you for something that was completely out of your control and happened before you were even born.” Martyn said with a weird undertone to his voice that Scott couldn’t quite name.
“They’re right though something like me shouldn’t exist,” Scott quietly said a phrase that he’s heard at least a thousand times throughout his life.
“I disagree,” Martyn simply stated, “you’re beautiful and shiny, and that alone makes the world better”
Scott moved his gaze again to face the dragon who had swum even closer; it was just so strange. Martyn's definitely the first creature who ever looked at him like he was something worth looking at. And Scott found that he quite liked this kind of attention.
“So just to make sure I got this right, sooo you're not considered a prince so no one’s gonna come looking for you?” Martyn asked as he scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.
“Yes?” Scott answered, though it sounded more like a question.
“Perfect, that just makes this whole thing so much easier,” Martyn said with a big, toothy smile that perfectly showcased his razor-sharp teeth.
“Makes what easier?” Scott cautiously asked.
“Keeping you.” Martyn responded like it wasn’t an absurd thing to say, maybe for dragons it wasn’t, “Now, how about I get you out of that painful-looking net and then we can go home, yeah. How does that sound?”
Scott was to stunned to answer, so Martyn just reached out and started cearfully cutting through the net with his claws. As Scott looked at the concentration that the dragon was using, it was clear that he was trying very hard not to hurt him in any way. Which was somehow really sweet and comforting.
“And all done.” Martyn proudly dicleard, as he moved back a bit again.
Now when Scott tried to shift his limbs he quickly found that he could move again, he could swim freely. Unlike what Martyn had expected though it seemed like Scott’s first instinct wasn’t to try and flee as Insead he had swum closer to the dragon before throwing his arms around Martyn's neck with the last bit of energy he could muster, while mumbling, “Thank you, Martyn.“
“Thank you,” Martyn responded before mentally hitting himself in the head, why did he thank him? Stupid brain not cooperating, just because the pretty siren threw himself at Martyn, Really? Was that truly all it took to throw him off his game? After a bit, it became clear to Martyn that it seemed Scott had no intention of moving away from him, which forced the dragon to pull Scott off of himself and…
This had to be some kind of joke!
Scott’s eyes were closed, yet Martyn could clearly see the siren's chest moving… did he just fall asleep!? He's definitely sleeping. The dragon supposed it made sense the siren looked exhausted; who knows when Scott had last slept or eaten anything, probably before he was in that net. God Martyn just wants to curl up around him and have a nap. Not like it’s his fault that Scott looks so peaceful and cuddly. Snap out of it Martyn you can't just let your guard down in the middle of the ocean. That's dangerous and stupid. Especially when you’ve got someone to protect.
Martyn curled up again before shifting form then he carefully took Scott in his talons, while making sure that he didn’t accidentally hurt him and that the siren would be protected from the current once they started moving.
It didn’t take Martyn long after that before he arrived in his home: a cave filled with nothing but beautiful coral and his treasure. Treasure that he just got a new addition to and maybe with this new addition he won’t feel so alone anymore. He definitely wouldn’t. Afterall he now had Scott.
Martyn set the siren down on his comfiest pile of gold and gems before shifting form again. He was planning to quickly clean up the mess that was his home before Scott woke up, that plan though was quickly derailed as the siren in his sleep reached out to Martyn, did Scott want him closer? Did he want to cuddle? Well, who was he to deny his precious treasure anything he wanted?