#fbafish

like would it make it better or worse that kevin's not human here? does the church think you can be sapient if youre not human? does he have a soul? is it only gay if hes in his humanoid form?

I could also go really cursed and say he has fish cloaca which is legally a vagina and therefore not gay. this has the funny implications of if he gets with a girl its now legally gay in that way.

old idea i already had: the mistress's ship encounters pirates, kevin slips through the water to the side they're not looking, sets pirate ship on fire saving the day, someone thanks him or asks why he did it if he still clearly resents the whole bound to slavery thing, and he gives a really exhausted sigh like 'and what would she do to me if you all died mysteriously at sea, huh?'.

and ive also thought about what if there was some captive in the brig, trapped as the ship is going down, and kevin saves them little mermaid style?

and then today i saw a prompt about a nonhuman whumpee warming up to the one nonhuman on the caretaker/rescue team. and I thought. I could, make that captive a mer, no? could be a fun side adventure. I have a fun side adventure of him helping to save simon in the washouts, this could be mer au version of that.

Simon would be restrained with the same drugs used on kevin all those years ago when he was first captured. it stops the mer from transforming, so they can't just make a break for the side of the ship and swim away. Kevin sees a human, bound at least in ropes, sinking to the ocean floor and he thinks. well if they're bound they probably arent a pirate, and if they are theyll make interesting conversation, and saves him. Maybe doing a little mouth to mouth air transfer underwater for a few extera seconds of air trope. He gets a set of spears and maybe a utility knife while working so he uses that to cut any ropes and drags him up to the surface.

With simon's head out of the water and trying to catch his breath clinging to the side of the boat before kevin can haul him up to the deck, and kevin realizes, oh shit he has a compass brand too. Cant let anyone see that. so he hugs him to his chest and orders for a blanket when he brings him aboard, and sequesters him away to one of his nooks and crannies on the ship. probably would have to be somewhere plausible. The galley maybe? somewhere out of the way but not dissapeared. and from kevin's experiance simon wouldnt have been fed regularly anyway so time to right that.

Simon comes to his senses eventually, everythings a bit hazy about what happened. he thinks kevin is human for a bit and is scared of him, but kevin eventually puts him at ease. maybe he flashes him a too pointy for a human grin or the second eyelids or even his own brand.

and kevin tells him that while the crew knows about kevin, simon has to keep his mer status a secret if he wants to be free ever again. They talk about how much time is left on the restrint drug (a month at least), where simon's compass is (if not on the captain than in the captains quarters at the bottom of the ocean and behind them), and where his family is (dunno yet but hard to get to)

kevin decides priority is getting the kid (i want him younger than kevin was for maximum drama and heartstrings) to a physically safe location before going back for the compass. Its too late to explain needing to go back, and the last thing kevin wants to do is retrieve the compass only to be forced to hand it over.

He decides he needs to get simon to the people who rescued him all those years ago. Julian and the crew of the bronze lily. they could slip away shortly before coming into port outracing the mistresses ship, and if the lily isnt in port, then bargaining at an inn for them to take him, his 'father' an officer of the bronze lily will pay whatever they require. maybe hes acrrued some pocket money maybe he steals some to give something upfront. That said as much as hes planning for the lily to not be around, i think i want her to be so kevin and julian can see each other again if only briefly.

He assures simon again that hes in good hands, makes sure he has a map to where he was rescued from and where the compass likely is, and is off again back to quinn, hoping that with the note explaining he wasnt running that asking for forgiveness really is better than asking for permission.

and yknow maybe it is maybe it isnt. quinn certainly considers it awol with or without the note. quinn at this point gathers that simon is a mer, and as such understands kevins actions. but he still can't have him go off like that. Quinns punishment for him is fair and lighter than what most guards would give him (im thinking muzzle and cuffs 24/7 until the next voyage, even in his cell alone which he usually gets them taken off for, and now only gets them off for food and bathroom breaks.)

Quinn also tries to assure him that he wont be volunteering the reason for the punishment, but does set the honest expectation that if pressed hes not going to directly lie to the mistress. kevin figures this is as much as he can hope for.

~

"What did you mean, breaking for her?"

"Exactly what I said. She wants me to be a docile pet. I am not one of those. I am not meant to be some bauble she can show off to her other high society friends. But she wants me to be. She wants to break me down until I let myself be reshaped into that. I don't know if I can. I don't want to. But if I have to, I will."

"For that crew?"

Mainly, yes. But even if his friends weren't a factor, he had to start sucking it up soon. A taut line is easier to cut. He needed to start giving in soon, making them lower their guard while he still had the will and means to fight back and escape.

And, if he played his cards right, this would improve conditions overall before he made a breakout proper. But to answer the question-

From kevin and co pov, it looks like she just turned it on? For a reason surely? They mostly just see him waking up screaming, which isnt all that uncommon, the nightmares yknow. But then quinn realizes he is actually awake. At that level of pain hed be basically incoherent but I think they'd figure it out. (Maybe it glows when activated?)

Quinn takes charge in caretaker mode, getting cold seawater on it with a towel (I'm still deciding on the extent of his healing factor, but this isnt the healing power of seawater its the ocean is the closest thing to ice water they have in 1630s or whenever exactly this is)

And he gets the captain to turn around because she's clearly summoning them back, and if not, then hes useless like this anyway. And he gets the ship doctor to bring the good stuff. Would i be evil for making earthly pain relievers not work on magic pain? Idk if opium knocks you out or if getting rid of the pain is what helps you sleep on opioids, but he would get relief in sleep at least.

Imagining him choking out pleas and apologies, and quinn reassuring him that hes ok, hes not in trouble, its okay, we're heading back to the mistress,,

and then at some point it stops. Maybe the distance slider was set to a point they pass, maybe the mistress notices it finally, left open on some table. The crew comes back to port anyway, quinn and kevin need to see the mistress.

Kevin is muzzled and chained the way he always is in the mistress's house, and made to kneel before her as quinn talks to her and figures out what happened. The mistress isnt the kind of whumper who hurts for the sole purpose of causing pain. Its always correction, obedience training, the only way to get the dumb beast to do anything. But also she doesnt really, yknow, Care that he was in all that unnecessary pain. Its stopped now, why are you making a big deal over it?

Quinn tries to explain that causing that kind of pain when he isnt doing anything wrong messes with the training (while hes still right there, muzzled like a dog) and shes all dismissive like, Well it was a mistake amd I still pay you to handle its training and keep it in line, so. Anything else you need to say?

And quinn tries to say something to ask her to be more careful, but its clear she still doesnt really care all that much.

So they go back out and finish the voyage. Kevin would be cagy about having just shown such weakness and having the power keeping him leashed actually Demonstrated to the crew. He might even fear for a bit going in the water or too far from the boat while in the water, because if it happens again like that they would loose him, and he wouldn't be able to move or especially hunt and eat, so if it goes for long enough he would just die. And he doesnt want that.

fuck it, poll time