#mer!doomguy

Finally, as the moon was climbing higher and higher into the sky, John paused to rest. He rose to the surface to check on Vega. 

It had been an hour or so since he had talked to him. 

John carefully lifted himself up to see onto the deck and he spotted Vega, curled up in a tarp, shivering. His chest felt tight. He knew there was nothing he could do to warm Vega up. It was night, and his skin was soaked and colder than a human’s. He softly clicked his tongue, and Vega looked up from where he was tucked amongst the supplies. 

“Oh, hey there big guy.” He shivered again as the wind picked up. John shifted around to block the wind from reaching Vega. “Are we stopping for the night?” 

Looking at his sorry state, John nodded. He could go as long as it would take to make sure that Vega was going to be safe, but he was worried about his little friend. 

“You should rest, it must be tiring to keep swimming all day.” Vega got out from under the tarp and walked over. “Let me see your hands again. I hope that they’ve not gotten worse from you swimming.” 

John brought his hands up and laid them, palm up, on the deck. 

The waterproof bandages around his hands where they had been wounded in their escape were still tied tightly. Vega checked them carefully once more, and then he ended up leaning gently against them. He sunk to his knees, his very small hands tightly holding onto one of John’s fingers. 

Concern twisted heavily in John’s chest and he softly moved his other hand to be resting on Vega’s waterproof jacket. 

“I know. I know.” Vega looked up and John saw tears in his eyes. 

The concern exploded into a small panic, and John carefully pulled his hands back. ‘Hurt? Sick?’ 

“No, no, not hurt.” Vega rubbed at his face. “I’ve just been thinking since we’ve been out here. You’ve had everything taken from you, and you got hurt trying to keep me safe. I know I can’t do much to protect you, but I promise that I won’t ever let them find you again.” 

‘I can protect me. You have done enough.’ 

The young man had been wearing a wetsuit and flippers and dive gear because a lot of times John would insist that Vega come cuddle or otherwise hold him underwater for a bit. Never with intent to drown, but he was very clingy and preferred to be resting at the deepest parts of his tank, Vega curled up against his chest. 

Vega had been swimming along the top of the water, a brightly colored scarf lightly tied around his waist, playing some kind of game about passing the scarf back and forth, when John put him entirely in his mouth. There had been some lunging motion from John underneath him and an enormous hand swept Vega behind a row of large, razor sharp teeth.  

A burbling scream left Vega, partially out of surprise at the swift movement, partially because he was being swept into the mouth of an apex predator. Survival instincts overrode the part of him that knew John would never hurt him, screaming that this was the end. 

A loud gulp sounded. The water rushed down John’s throat, taking Vega along with it. The slick flesh pulled Vega deeper and deeper into the core of the enormous merman. After a few heart stopping seconds, Vega landed in what had to be John’s stomach. 

The first thing Vega noticed was how strangely warm it was inside of his stomach. The outer skin wasn’t cold, and John was able to regulate his internal body temperature to a degree, but it was a very strange warmth. His mind oh-so-helpfully suggested that it was digestive fluid that was giving off the odd warmth, but Vega tried to ignore it. The second thing that Vega noticed was the strange assortment of objects inside of John’s stomach, highlighted by the dive light that automatically turned on in the absence of light. Pieces of rubber tires, assorted bones too large to have been from the feed in the lab, a few handfuls of sand, a rock, and what looked to be a license plate. 

Suddenly, the walls of the stomach contracted and Vega was squished against the debris that was in his stomach. After a moment, the walls of the stomach relaxed and there was significantly less water in the stomach. 

With a panicked movement, Vega yanked the rebreather out of his mouth. “John!” 

---

There had been a hazy fog over John’s mind when he softly swallowed, sending Vega to his first stomach. Since there was still fish from his earlier feeding in his lower stomach, Vega would be safely tucked away in his first stomach while he got a little rest. He just felt so tired after eating today.

He flushed the water out of his first stomach and settled down, head on his arms, on the edge of his tank. Vega’s slight weight reminded him fondly of the times Daisy had to be carefully hidden in his mouth. He let one of his hands fall into the water and rest against his belly. 

After some squirming from Vega, he heard his muffled shout. He blinked softly and glanced down. There was more frantic squirming. He prodded a finger into his stomach, wondering if he had nicked Vega with a tooth. There was more muffled shouting, and then it hit him. Vega must be scared. 

With a little uncomfortable squirming, John managed to bring Vega up and carefully spat him into his palms. After a single glance, John knew Vega wasn’t scared. 

He was terrified. And it was his fault. 

John carefully set Vega onto the concrete and backed away. He felt horrible. He hadn’t meant to terrify Vega like that. 

A soft whine started up in John’s throat as Vega trembled. He reached out softly, just trying to comfort Vega, but the small man flinched and yelped like he had been struck. John felt his heart break and quickly sunk back under the surface of the water. Maybe Vega just needed some space and then everything would be okay again. 

---

Doctor Samuel Hayden hummed softly to himself as he looked over the camera monitors. DG-93 was sulking in the bottom of his tank, drifting off with the sedatives finally kicking in. Vega had fled after a moment of trembling on the concrete. 

Warren was pacing around his little home, going back and forth yet again as to what he should do next. He felt like he should be going back to the shore and helping that merman, retrieve his boat and oars, pray that the driftwood was still around and not gone because that was his commission pretty much down the drain if he didn’t have that wood drying by tonight.

If he didn’t go, on one hand, he might not get murdered by some giant merman, but he would also lose his boat, oars, driftwood, and commission.  But if he did go, he would have to deal with a bleeding merman who may or may not use him as a chew toy, but he would get his boat, oars, and wood back. 

Warren rapped his knuckles on the counter. “Uncle Greg would come out of the grave and kill me if I let his boat get eaten by a sea monster. He left the boat in my care and I just left it…… I should get it before night. Just in case his ghost comes for it.” 

He opened the fridge, trying to see if there anything to bait a sea monster with, and found nothing of use. “And the commission money means dinner is more than canned beans and ketchup.” He slammed the fridge shut and started rooting through the cabinets. “Maybe it’ll like jelly?” 

 ---

Evening was approaching as Warren found himself sitting in his car, tapping the wheel with his fingertips. He just had to go down onto the beach, grab his stuff, see if the sea monster was still sticking around, help it if it wouldn’t get him killed, and then run. 

“Simple.” Warren pulled his hair back with a scrunchie. “Get your crap and run. Easy.”

It was not simple nor easy. He pretty quickly spotted the boat, but the problem was that the enormous merman was using it as a pillow. Its torso was on the sand, its tail stretched out into the eerily still water. One arm, thick and scarred and grey, was draped over the boat and its enormous head rested on top. The engine and propeller were missing. He couldn’t see either oar, but the bundle of driftwood was right beside one of the creature’s huge hands. Warren paused, crouching low, trying to catch a glimpse of its eyes. 

They were closed. Its gills had blended into the rest of its neck. 

Warren chewed his lip. Was it dead? He didn’t see it moving really anywhere. He stood and then glanced down towards its sides, where that spike had been. Nothing. Just more scars and more grey skin. 

After a second more of looking, Warren very slowly picked up the net full of driftwood. That hand was just so big. Warren could easily use it as a chair. The pieces of driftwood clacked together and Warren’s eyes darted over to the merman. It hadn’t moved an inch. 

He practically sprinted to the base of the cliffs surrounding the beach and gently set the driftwood down. Okay. That was at least his livelihood secure. But he really didn’t want to just leave his boat and oars here. God knows what happened to the engine, but Warren was willing to leave it if it meant his Uncle Greg’s ghost wouldn’t come to haunt him. 

Warren stepped closer, never taking his eyes off the mer, and flinched when something creaked under his sneakers. He very slowly lifted his foot and glanced down. There was the handle of the oar and a shredded looking string of metal hanging off it.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Warren whisper-shouted. This thing had eaten his oar. 

A glare was cast threateningly at the merman. It was still completely still. He moved closer and tried to get a look at its gills. Maybe it had suffocated, or was laying on that spike which had killed it? 

With a deep breath and a prayer, Warren nudged at its hand, the toe of his sneaker making contact with a pitch black claw. No movement. He planted his sneaker on its wrist and tested the weight. 

The world exploded around Warren. 

His breath was snatched out of his lungs in a yelp. One moment he had been upright, the next he was hanging upside down in front of a row of sharp teeth. He could see his reflection in the solid black twin mirrors that were its eyes. He screamed and threw his arms over his face.

It growled, low and rumbling.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Warren gasped. 

When his head continued to stay attached to the rest of him, Warren lowered his arms. Well, raised them over his head, technically. He squirmed around to glance up and see his left leg under the knee was completely sealed in a fist. 

Warren went limp, head already swimming. The merman still had his lips drawn back in a snarl, but wasn’t growling. Warren drew in a shuddering breath and gagged as it brought him close. Its breath smelled awful. 

After a few seconds of the merman making a huffing noise, Warren realized he was being sniffed. Warren cleared his throat.

“H-hey there, big guy.” He coughed into his fist before letting his arms dangle again. “You aren’t gonna kill me, right?” 

The sea monster ran its tongue over its teeth. Its very sharp, very plentiful teeth.

“O-Okay. Uhm. Be-before you do that,” Warren was trembling again, “I brought something for you.” He rifled around in the flaps of his jacket, currently hanging around his face and about to fall off, and came up with the unopened plum jam. He held in just a way that it caught the rays of the setting sun, setting the dark red jam sparkling. “I thought maybe you’d like a break from fish.” 

The mer’s eyes changed, the solid black pupils shrinking down to slits, revealing beautiful green irises. 

“Yeah.” Warren swallowed softly. Not nearly as scary looking now. “It looks pretty tasty, right? You can have it if you don’t hurt me.”

The mer tilted its head, and then plucked the jelly jar from Warren’s hands. Only now did it dawn on him that the mer could just go ahead and take the jam but also kill him. The merman dropped him onto the sand. 

Holy shit. It worked. 

Warren stared dumbly up at the merman as he tore the lid off with a claw like a can opener. The merman was busying itself scraping the jam out of the jar, and Warren realized he could run. He stood and tried to take off, but was swept off his feet by the merman. 

“No!” Warren squirmed, hands pushing against its fist, but was helpless to do anything more than wind himself before he was let go again. He landed on top of his boat, and then was pressed to it as the merman pinned him down with a forearm. 

No amount of pushing and squirming could get Warren free. His heart was still trying to pound its way out of his chest when an empty jam jar dropped to the sand in front of him. 

“Hey.” Warren’s voice trembled with nerves, his palms sweating, his legs begging him to run. “Let me go.” 

The merman shifted around and settled down. Warren had to go limp to avoid being crushed as the merman laid his head on his newly crossed arms. Now Warren really was stuck, and damp from the water that clung to the merman. 

At least he could breathe. 

---

“John!” 

Warren glanced up, God knows how long later. A short man, only about five feet, was standing next to the driftwood net, hands on his hips. He was wearing a rain jacket and rubber boots. He had brown skin, black fluffy hair, and brown eyes narrowed in a glare. 

“R-Run!” Warren tried warning him, but his dry throat didn’t carry sound well. “Monster!” 

The man rolled his eyes and approached, glancing up at the merman. “How long have you been squishing him?” 

Warren saw the merman raise a hand, and after a moment, recognized what had to be sign language. The merman knew sign. Now he felt like a dumbass. 

“Let him up, right now.” 

The weight of the merman’s forearms lifted off Warren and those claws gripped the back of his jacket. After a second of squirming, he was dropped on the sand. 

“Hey, are you okay?” The shorter man helped Warren to his feet. “John didn’t hurt you, did he?” 

Warren blinked owlishly. “It has a name?” 

“Yeah. His name is John.” The man sighed softly. 

Warren glanced up. John was grinning, showing off those teeth with a red stain on them. 

“What did you feed him?” He had picked up the jam jar, turning it over in his hands. 

“Er… plum jam?” Warren rubbed at his face. This felt like a fever dream, save for his skin being clammy. “I didn’t want to risk him having a peanut allergy, so I brought my only jar of jam instead of peanut butter. I thought maybe I could bait him with it so I wouldn’t end up fish food.” 

“Hm. No wonder he cuddled you. He’s got a really bad sweet tooth and a thing for jelly.” The man stuck his free hand out. “I’m Vega. Vega Nanuq. Is that your boat he was laying on?”

“Yeah.” Warren glanced back. There was a notable dent in the middle of the boat where the merman was laying on it. “And he ate my oars. And probably the engine.”

“Oh, no, he didn’t eat your engine. It’s in my trunk. I thought you weren’t gonna come back for it.” 

“So are my oars in there too?”

“No, he ate those.” 

Warren swore and glanced up. John just shrugged and flopped onto his side like the world’s largest puppy. 

“Big as a whale, mouth full o’ teeth, and he likes to chew on propellers.” An old man in a raincoat warned her Papa. She knew they had a propeller. She kinda hoped that he wouldn’t chew on it though. They needed it working to head back to the docks. 

Momma had called the tales of sea monsters a load of hooey. She had scolded them for trying to scare Lizzy, but she wasn’t scared. She wanted to know more about the one they called the Slayer. He never ate anyone, so she wanted to know why he was called the Slayer. 

She saw an enormous dark shape twist through the water underneath the boat. She gasped and pointed down into the water. “Sea monster!” In her excitement, she forgot her Papa telling her not to climb on the railing and she stepped up onto the bottom bit of the railing and leaned over to get a better look at the water. 

The big shape wasn’t visible anymore. She pouted and squinted at the water. She hadn’t been able to see any of it before it left. 

Suddenly the entire boat rocked, and Lizzy slipped off the railing. She tumbled head over heels into the cold water with an almighty splash. 

Now she was very happy her Momma had helped her put on the life jacket, since once she got right side up she could cough out the sea water she hadn’t meant to gasp in. 

The water was so cold. She was just about to call out for her Momma and Papa to come get her when she saw the big shape in the water again. She went quiet. She didn’t want to scare the sea monster away again. She saw it turn towards her and pulled her legs in close. Just because one sea monster didn’t eat people didn’t mean that other ones didn’t want to have a bite of her. 

A fin rose out of the water, and a second later, an enormous head rose out of the water. His face was littered with scars, and his eyes widened when they locked onto her. 

---

John didn’t mean to toss a kid in the water. He’d just bumped the boat as a warning. Now there was this tiny little girl tucked up in her life vest, staring up at him with wide eyes. She wasn’t screaming, which was good. 

He glanced up at the boat and then back down at her. He should probably give her a hand back up. Her parents weren’t screaming for their daughter or at him, so they probably didn’t see him yet or knew she had fallen off the boat. 

Carefully he took a hand out of the water, intent on picking her up, but paused when she gasped. 

“Are you the Slayer?” 

Oh. She must have heard the fisherman near the docks. He let his hand fall back into the water and nodded. 

“Do you really chew on propellers?” 

He nodded softly. 

She smiled widely. “I’m Lizzy! Why do they call you the Slayer? Why do you chew on propellers? Did you really used to destroy boats? Have you ever eaten anyone? You have a lot of scars, did you fight a shark? Oh! How about a giant squid! Or a sperm whale. They’re big and carnivorous. How about- achoo!” She shivered and crossed her arms over her bulky life jacket. “The water’s so cold. How do you stand it?” 

John softly sighed. She was gonna get sick if he didn’t get her back on the boat and dried off. He carefully raised a hand out of the water and gently curled his fingers around her. 

“You have Claws. Mr. Mittens has claws too. His are white though.” 

Lizzy here was quite the chatterbox. He grabbed the side of the boat with his free hand and pulled his torso up out of the water. The boat creaked and pulled a little, but not enough to have it capsize. A scream went up as her parents noticed him. 

John was very careful setting little Lizzy down on the deck of the boat. She fell on her rear with a little grunt. He gently patted her on the head with his palm and then dropped back into the water. 

The new human had both refused to have the guards follow them around and had packed the bucket they used to carry food in much fuller than the last human. They always greeted him when they came in to feed him, and wouldn’t run away while he ate. It was very strange. 

It had only been the third time the human had come in with food when it was time to be poked at and samples taken. 

Feeding time went as normal, a greeting, the bucket being set closer than it had been before, and the human backing up just before he snatched the bucket up and ate. What was strange was that the smell of fish lingered in the air even after he had licked the bucket clean.

The human didn’t leave immediately afterwards either. They just set the bucket aside and then stepped close. There was a closed bucket at their side and a case in their hands. He pulled back a little bit, knowing what the case was for but weary of the closed bucket. “Okay big guy, I was told you know what to do on sample days. Just work with me and I can finish up in a jiffy.” 

He pulled his upper lip back, a warning growl starting up in the back of his throat as the human got too close for comfort. 

They paused and looked up. “Right. Uh. Up?” They pointed to the shallow pool on one end of the tank. “Up!” 

He rolled his eyes and slid into the water. He hated just doing whatever they said, but the old human, Doctorhayden, would starve him more or worse if he didn’t cooperate. He hauled himself up onto the shallow pool and settled down with his head on his folded arms. The human would now poke and prod at him for what seemed like ages until he was able to be left alone. 

The humans in this lab would do this once every seven feeding times. He didn’t mind it, it was never painful, but it felt so degrading. Being forced to obey them. Treated like a mindless animal. What he would do to be back in the ocean. He would wrestle a dozen giant squids and fight off two pods of killer whales if it meant he would get back to the ocean.

“Good boy.” The human appeared and set the closed bucket down. They struggled with the lid for a moment, but the second it was off, the smell of fish came wafting out. 

He tilted his head in curiosity. More food? After a second he wrinkled his nose. The last time there was strange food it made him all woozy and sleep for a long time. When he woke up his gills were sore and there had been strange looking marks on his arms. But it had been mixed with his normal food instead of in a separate bucket.

“Here we go. A treat to settle you down before we start.” The human had approached, much closer than they had ever dared, and held the dead fish up by the tail. “Treat.” They waved it back and forth a little.

He growled softly. 

“Okay, okay. I was being too optimistic in thinking you’d take treats like that.” They shrugged and set it on the ground. “Okay, I’m gonna take some water samples and then I’m gonna swab your tail. Stay.” 

He kept one eye on the human while they moved over to take a sample of the water from his tank. While they did that, he picked up the fish and sniffed it. It didn’t smell strange like the fish that made him sleep did. He laid it on his palm and then cut its belly open with a claw. After further smelling he concluded the fish was safe to eat and tossed it into his gullet. 

The human was staring at him like he had grown a second head when he decided to look at the human again. After a second, the human shook their head and then approached, the case open and balanced in one hand. He huffed and laid his head back down on his arms, shifting his tail to a more comfortable resting position. If the human was going to be weird, then the human was going to be weird. 

After long enough that he was starting to drift off (thankfully not in the woozy way, just in the way that he always felt like doing) the human started talking loud enough he could hear again. 

“There we go. Finished up here.” They came into view, snapping the case shut and locking it. They picked the bucket up and brought it over, nearly right in front of his arms. “You were very good for me today. Have the rest of your treats.” 

The bucket was filled with fish. With no hesitation he emptied the bucket into his mouth. When he had licked the bucket clean, the human was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged to himself before diving into the deeper tank with the bucket still clutched in his hands. It was his now. When they wanted it back they would have to give him a ‘treat’ for it. 

---

Vega was letting some of the samples run. He had taken water samples, swabbed the mer’s tail, taken a tiny blood sample, swabbed the skin, taken a clipping of his claws, and even managed to find a stray hair that had fallen out as he was doing his inspection. 

He seemed pretty healthy, if far too suspicious of the treats Vega had tried to give them. Upon looking into the files, Vega found the way that Hayden had managed to capture him involved putting chum laced with sedatives in the water and then capturing him with nets and two well placed harpoons. (It seemed there was a very advanced healing factor with his species).

“Poor guy.” Vega said out loud to himself. He was alone in the lab, just the whirring of the machinery and the tank nearby the only noises. “That must have been awful. Even if it healed quickly, being stuck like that had to be terrible.” 

There was a thunk against the glass. He glanced over his shoulder and gasped. The mer was playing with the white bucket he had put the treat fish in. 

“I forgot to bring the bucket back.” He stood and ran over to the glass. The mer was happily batting the bucket around, then catching it and then batting it again. He watched as the Mer smacked it across the tank with a solid thwack of the tail, and then swam over and caught it in his mouth. 

With a quick check, Vega realized that nobody ever tried giving the merman any kind of toys or stimulation. He sat heavily down in a chair. No wonder he was acting so aggressively. There was nothing for him to do. 

---

The human was acting so weirdly when they walked into the room, food bucket in one hand and a cart behind him. He eyed the human suspiciously as they set the food down and let him eat. 

“So,” The human put their hands on their hips, “I noticed that there hasn’t been any kind of stimulus introduced in your environment since you’ve been there. I brought some stuff in to see how you react as a little experiment.” 

He squinted at the human, but ultimately decided to cooperate. This human’s been less annoying and more friendly than Doctorhayden or any of the other humans that have been around. He could be a part of this experiment. It was something to do at least.

The first thing the human pulled out of the cart was a rubber tire. His eyes widened and he snatched it out of the human’s hands before the human could get close enough to toss it into the tank. He had a few teeth that had been getting annoyingly dull and loose since he’s been here and a tire like that was the perfect thing to help him yank them out. He hated trying to pull the loose teeth out with his hands or having to bite himself to get them out. 

It felt so good to chew on the rubber, the squish and the way it fought against his jaw strength was just fantastic. After a moment or two a tooth came loose enough he could push it out with his tongue. 

“You need to shed your teeth!” The human exclaimed, and he remembered the human was there. He spat the tooth out near the human, who didn’t seem to mind and instantly started writing something down. “Well, I will certainly make sure there’s things for you to chew on. There must be some room in the budget to allow you a proper chew ring. You poor thing, I can’t believe that I hadn’t thought about you needing to shed teeth as opposed to just being able to shed teeth like a fully aquatic shark.”

He perked up and moved a little closer, resting his chest on the side of his tank. Was the human going to really bring him chewy things? To test his theory, he dropped the destroyed tire and another tooth at the human’s feet. 

“You clearly needed this. I will see to getting you a larger and sturdier chew ring.” The human quickly gathered up the remains of the tire and put them back in the cart, but hesitated before picking up the shed tooth. “I will be taking this too, any objections?” 

He shrugged softly before resting his chin on his arms. The human excitedly put everything away and then came up with a brightly colored beach ball. He tilted his head at it. 

“I hope you don’t try and chew on this. The noise might startle you.” The human stepped fearlessly around his side and tossed the ball into the water. He turned to glance at it floating on the top of the water before deciding to slide back into the tank. 

It was kind of like a very fragile and more boring buoy. He could bring it underwater and it would shoot back up, but not go very far into the air, if at all. He really didn’t understand why humans would play with these then. 

After a moment, he remembered those humans that had played with a similar beach ball would smack it at each other on the beach. The human had their back turned. A streak of mischievousness bloomed in his chest and he flicked the ball at the human. It hit them square in the back and they fell over with a squeak. His tail flicked behind him as a smile grew on his face. This human might be fun to tease. Doctorhayden would just scowl and bark at the guards whenever he tried to tease Doctorhayden. 

“Did- did you… are you attempting to play?” The human stood and picked up the ball. 

He just grinned wider and dove to the bottom of his tank. After a moment, the ball appeared on the surface of the water. He twisted in the water, happy that the human wasn’t terrified, and smacked it with his tail. The ball and a considerable amount of water splashed out of the tank. 

By the time that the human had decided they were done bouncing the ball around and leaving some things for him to play with, he was feeling a little better. As the human walked out of the room, he did something he hadn’t tried in a while. 

He signed. ‘Thank you.’ 

---

Vega was still a little tired from his little play session with DG-93. Running around and tossing a beach ball to a giant merman, as well as getting knocked over more than once, was quite exhausting. It was late in the labs, but such a high level of clearance meant that he was allowed to have pretty much whatever hours he wanted, so long as he kept producing results and making sure that Doctor Hayden’s assignments to him were finished. 

While the two teeth were properly drying all the way through over on a table on a towel, Vega was reviewing the play session earlier on the security cameras that were above water and under the water. 

Seeing the mer twist in the water in (what he assumed and hoped) excitement and splashing at Vega made him chuckle softly. 

Suddenly, almost like a bolt of lightning, Vega noticed something he had somehow missed earlier today. The mer had signed ‘thank you’ as he had left. He knew ASL. He knew sign language.

Vega started reviewing the footage more closely. 

The mer had shrugged when he asked if he could take the teeth. He shrugged. At the question. The baring of teeth (which from the distance of the camera looked like a smile) widening when Vega asked if he was playing. 

Eyes wide, Vega started rewinding footage. He was looking at any time there were humans around the tank, interacting with the mer. Just yesterday, the mer shrugged when he had finished the treat before putting the bucket in the tank. Rolling his eyes when Vega had told him to get up on the examination pool. The snort when Vega had asked if he was hungry. 

Feeling sick now, Vega continued to rewind. More eye rolling and bearing of teeth that looked eerily similar to grimaces and sneers. Shrugs. In the first week Vega finally saw some of the behavioral training Hayden had vaguely mentioned in the notes. The mer trying to claw his way out of the tank. Shaking his head no in response to commands. Going back to the first two days, Vega found more sign language. 

‘Stop.’ ‘Let me go.’ ‘Go away.’ ‘Help me.’ ‘Please.’ Each time he had signed something legible there had been a shock administered. 

He was sentient. 

“I think you’ll enjoy this.” Doctor Samuel Hayden took the goggles from Vega’s hands and handed them to the assistant behind him. “You’re being promoted.” 

Vega raised an eyebrow. “To what position, Doctor Hayden? I didn’t put in any promotion requests and I am already your personal assistant for all research endeavors.” 

“Well, Vega, it’s not really a promotion more than it is promoting you to a more interesting project.”

Vega blinked. “But these venom samples-”

“Nevermind the venom samples. Follow me.” Hayden briskly started walking out of the lab. Vega gaped for a second and then took off after the older man. Vega glanced back once as he exited the lab and saw the assistant slide into his recently vacated seat and instantly take up on documenting notes. 

So he really was being reassigned without prior consent or warning. This must be a really big project then for Doctor Hayden to breach lab protocol. 

As Hayden led Vega into higher and higher security sectors of the lab, Vega felt a twinge of unease settle in his stomach. This really was a big project. 

“May I ask as to what exactly I’m being assigned to?” 

“My top secret research project. DG-93.” Hayden said as cryptically as ever as he handed Vega a new pass. It was a higher level security clearance than the one he already had (which wasn’t anything to sneeze at either, being Hayden’s personal assistant). “I’ve not made any progress with gathering information from the live specimen. I know that you used to volunteer at an aquarium when you were younger, and you have a special interest in cryptozoology as well as regular life sciences.” 

“Live specimen?” Vega furrowed his brow. “What exactly do you mean?” 

“I mean the merman.” 

Vega stopped, shook his head, and then raced after the older man. “Merman? Do you mean you have a live merman in the lab?”

“Yes, and he’s a really stubborn brute. Any resources or assistance you need, you can have it. You’ll get a full information packet that includes full access to as much funding as you need by the end of the day.” Hayden stopped in front of a very large, armored door. He turned to look Vega in the eye. “I’ve been struggling with him for a month and a half now with almost nothing to show for it. I know you have a different method of approach. Perhaps it can make a difference in research. Are you ready to see him?” 

“Yes, Doctor Hayden.” 

He opened the doors and brought Vega into a room with an enormous glass wall looking into an enormous tank. There was equipment strewn about, and a lab tech falling asleep at their desk. Hayden walked up to the glass and gestured for Vega to approach. “Don’t be afraid, Vega. This glass is thick enough to withstand his little fits.” 

Vega approached the tank. For a second all he saw was the glass and the water and the wall on the other side. The next, some giant dark blur slammed into the glass. 

“Ah. There he is.” Hayden smirked when Vega flinched back from the loud ‘thud.’ “Vega, this is the specimen. DG-93.” 

Vega was filled with awe as he gazed into the tank. The merman had drifted into the middle of the tank and was staring at them with solid black eyes. He had the upper body, arms, neck, and head that resembled a human, and the lower body that resembled a beautiful amalgamation of sharks. The two-tone coloration and basic body shape was strikingly similar to the great white, the caudal fins were nearly identical to that of a thresher, and the spots of a tiger shark. The dorsal fin started between the middle of his shoulder blades and extended to his lower back, all other fins were located firmly on his tail. The light grey of the underbelly extended to the human-like abdominal region, neck, and head. Even his forearms were light grey, but the entirety of his clawed hands were that dark grey, near black of his spots. There was short, dark brown-near black hair on his head. His ears were quite similar to fins. There was heavy scarring all across his body, the most eye-catching being the bite mark on the top most caudal fin and the scars that looked like they were caused by a propeller. 

“He’s beautiful.” Vega breathed. 

“He’s a stubborn bastard who likes to hold a grudge.” Hayden scoffed. “You’ll be in charge of collecting and analyzing data from his behavioral patterns as well as whatever samples you can wrench out of him. We’ve already house-broken him, so as long as you don’t get in the water with a bucket of chum he won’t try and eat you.” 

“House broken?” Vega blinked up at Hayden. “Are you telling me he isn’t sentient? There was evidence to show at one point mers had a civilized society. Surely any living mer would still have some kind of advanced mental capability.” 

“He’s an animal, Vega.” Hayden didn’t look away from the merman’s eyes. “Whatever mental ability the ancient mers had that allowed them to have a society has degraded into base animal instincts in their living descendants.” 

“Oh.” Vega looked down at his feet. He had looked forward to discussing things with a real, live merman. Oh well. He guessed if the merman was sentient, then Hayden wouldn’t have kept him in a tank like this. Doctor Hayden might have built this company and research facility on a mentality of ‘no cost is too great in the pursuit of advancing mankind,’ but keeping a thinking, feeling person in a cage like this was a line that even Hayden wouldn’t cross. 

“Don’t be discouraged. There’s still much to learn and document before his unveiling to the greater public.” Hayden waved his hand. “Come. You should get acquainted with all the equipment.” 

---

Vega was holding a large bucket of fish and wearing a wet suit as he approached the tank. He was trying to not be nervous, but it was hard when he had been told every detail of how destructive this mer was in his outbursts. 

The catwalks that had been over the tanks originally had been torn off and chewed up within three days of the merman being in the tank. He’d taken more than one air tank and bit it. Threw a bucket at a light fixture. Snarled and roared at anyone who got close to the tank. Would grab at anyone who was in the water and pull at diving equipment. He had nearly drowned Doctor Hayden on more than one occasion during the first two weeks in the tank. 

Luckily his behavior had simmered down after a month or so and all he would do is snap his teeth when they would take samples and hide in the corners of his tank and scratch at the concrete. 

Vega swallowed when he saw the large dorsal fin making circles in the middle of the tank. He knew he was breaking the schedule by being ten minutes late for his feeding, but it had been hard to convince the guards that he didn’t need them standing by him while feeding. (And maybe it was the first time in years he had to squeeze into a wetsuit and maybe he had gained a few pounds. Can you blame him? This job is stressful, okay? Get off his back.)

The merman’s enormous head rose out of the water and spotted Vega. Within a second the gargantuan merman was gripping the side of the tank and had hauled his torso out of the water. He certainly looked a lot bigger when there wasn’t a solid barrier between the two of them. Vega had stayed behind the line that showed the merman’s reach. 

“Hey, big guy.” Vega gulped and took a small step or two forward until he was just before the line. He lifted up the bucket a bit, feeling the dead fish slosh around a bit. “Hungry?” 

The merman snorted, and Vega saw his gills close as he switched to breathing air. Was it because he had been out of water for more than he wanted to hold his breath or because maybe he preferred to eat out of the water? He wished he could just ask. 

Those enormous claws tightened their grip on the concrete. 

“Right, right. Feeding time.” Vega took a few steps over the line and set the bucket of fish down. “The lady said that I just need to put this- GAH!” 

Vega had fallen onto his rear when suddenly the bucket of fish vanished with a quick snatch of those enormous hands. He stared up, almost in a trance, as the merman just dumped the entire bucket of fish into his mouth and swallowed it down with only one or two chews. Vega was just fascinated to see the merman lick the inside of the bucket with an ashy pink tongue. 

“Huh.” Vega tilted his head slightly. He guessed it would have more use with a merman than it would with full sharks. Even without the ability to speak, it would make more sense for something with a different throat structure to have a fully functional tongue. 

Suddenly the merman glanced down, and Vega made a very interesting discovery. His eyes weren’t actually solid black. There was green iris surrounding a narrow pupil. There were even whites to his eyes. As he watched, the pupils widened to take up the entirety of his eye. 

The merman dropped the bucket in front of Vega and then dropped back down into the water with a splash that soaked Vega’s front.