#mereddie

Eddie’s head tilts back as he laughs, the sun catching on the length of his neck. Buck can’t help but stare. Eddie is so beautiful.

“Sorry, babe, but this isn’t The Little Mermaid.” He flips his tail, splashing a few drops of water towards Buck.

“I’ll have you know,” Buck wipes the drop off of his bare torso, smirking as Eddie stares this time. Buck stretches out a little more in the chair he’s sitting under, umbrella protecting him from the sun while Eddie lounges in the pool they’d bought, filled with water from the hose. “I had a massive crush on Ariel when I was little.”

“Want me to dye my hair red?”

Buck wrinkles his nose, replacing his sunglasses back over his eyes, “I spent a couple years with a redhead. I’m good.”

He yelps when a larger splash hits him. Eddie smiles innocently, blue, green, and teal scales glinting in the sunlight.

“Still bitter about Taylor?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Eddie quips, swirling his fingers around the shallow pool.

“Mhm.” Buck lifts one foot and places it in the cool water. “I wonder if you do have any cool water powers though.”

“Never thought about it before.” Eddie admits, smiling when Buck runs his toes along Eddie’s scales absently. “I was so focused on not losing control.”

“Maybe we try now.” Buck suggests, “If you feel more comfortable.”

“Buck, baby,” Eddie curls his fingers around his boyfriend’s ankle, squeezing affectionately, “I’m not going to be able to talk to fish.”

Slouching further in his seat, Buck pouts. “That’s so boring.”

Eddie laughs again, flipping his tail up, the sunlight catching brilliantly on the scales, “You have a merman for a boyfriend. How is that boring?”

“Ariel has a best friend who was a fish.”

“I give up.” Eddie lowers his tail, cupping water and trailing it over his body. “I’ll never win.”

"It's beautiful you guys," he says reverently.

Secret octoEddie watching the stream and looking down at his own iridescent blue tentacles wondering if Steve would find them just as beautiful.

He then pays triple to see Steve take it all.

What he doesn't know is that Steve lives in the apartment below him, Eddie just rarely leaves.

It isn't until Eddie sees the new pool boy dive in to save a kid from drowning and recognises the constellation of moles that are an exact match for his favourite streamer that Eddie realises fuck… they'd just walked back to the same apartment.

His favourite pool's new lifeguard is SlipperySteve.

MerEddie from SalmonBlurb's comic 🖤 I love her comic! 🥺

Take a look if you haven't read it yet! 🐚✨✨🌊🌊🌊

he's pretending to be mindful and demure to catch the eye of the big, hot firefighter on the beach

details and process (?) under the cut

🛥️🌊🏊🏻🦈

Prompt 5 please 🤪

(this has nothing to do with jaws. I was building suspense.)

chomp chomp, bitch.

Buck closes his eyes, inhaling the crisp morning air, letting the gentle bobbing of the ocean lull him. It's peaceful, sitting out here on his surfboard, no one else around, the sun just starting to break over the horizon.

It's been a while, since he came out here to surf. For a long while, he'd avoided the ocean. The fear from being trapped in the middle of a tsunami leaving him wary. He still doesn't get how he survived. Thinks of flashes of teal and green. Of strong hands and caring eyes. They're nothing but flashes though. And he can't match them up with any of the horrific sights he saw that day.

Shaking off the hazy memories, Buck opens his eyes and scans the horizon for a wave. There's reports of some, although he may be too early, but he doesn't mind. Even just sitting here, the rise and fall of his board as the ocean presses in and out, it's nice. There's no pressure to do anything, be anywhere, be someone.

Buck trails his fingers through the briny water, relishing in the slight chill that trickles up his arm.

Yes, this had been the right move.

The tranquil moment is disturbed though by the sudden splash of water from a short distance away. Buck squints, the sun starting to glint off of the surface of the water, making it difficult to see. The water settles and the quiet returns. Buck starts to think that he imagined it, that there was nothing there. And why would there be? He's alone out here. The beach behind him is empty too.

But then there's another splash, and it sounds almost...desperate. Which Buck knows is crazy because fish and sea life will breach the surface for any sort of reason. It's a normal thing. But something about this splash triggers the first responder instincts inside of Buck. So, he paddles a little closer.

The splashing grows, and there's a small cry, one that is almost human. Buck pushes himself forward quicker. He doesn't slide off of the surfboard and detach himself yet, knowing that he's too far away to help the person and bring them back to the floating device.

"Hey!" Buck calls out, "I'm coming! Hold on!"

The splashing grows more frantic and Buck's chest seizes. His arms burn from how fast he's paddling, but he ignores it, needing to get closer.

When he figures he's close enough, Buck slides into the chilly water and finishes the small distance between him and whoever is in distress.

And it is a person. A man, actually. Dark hair is plastered to his head, and his face is tilted back to the sky, mouth open as another cry comes from him. It's almost melodic and Buck can feel it seep deep into his chest but the man needs help.

"Hey!" Buck gets close enough to grab one of the man's arms, tugging them closer together, "Woah, hey! I'm here to help!"

Wild eyes, brown but flecked with gold, meet his. Buck sees fear and panic there. "I'm s-stuck." The man pants.

"I've got you." Buck drags the surfboard closer, “I’m going to take care of you, okay?” He gets the man to grab onto the board and then Buck dives under the surface to see what is trapping the man.

It takes Buck's eyes a few seconds to adjust to the salty sting but when they do, he can't help but pause, treading water as he takes in what he sees.

He'd been expecting legs. Two of them. Instead, there's a tail. Teal and green scales blending together, weaving a stunning pattern that Buck thinks would be even more beautiful if the sun caught along the scales. It's long, extending down into a fin that looks gossamer and almost fragile. Buck wants to touch and feel it.

But he has to shove all his surprise and confusion away though because there's a fishing net wrapped around the tail and fin, the man above wiggling and trying to keep himself afloat but there's a weight on the bottom, no doubt trying to drag him down further into the dark water below.

Buck pushes himself back up to the surface, gasping in some air as his lungs protest. The man, eyes still big and wild, stare at him with uncertainty. Like he's expecting Buck to refuse to help because he has a tail.

"I've got you." Buck assures him, taking in a large breath before he dives back down, getting to work on untangling the net from the man.

It takes him a few tries, having to resurface a couple of times, each time assuring the man, who's face softens as he realizes that Buck isn't going to hurt him or leave him.

And then finally, the net is free, and the tail slithers through the water, almost like the man is stretching out his limbs.

Buck surfaces once more, hooking an arm over the surfboard, feeling the tail brush against his legs as the two tread water, staring at one another.

Something nags at Buck's mind as he looks at the man. The merman. He's familiar, somehow. And Buck's been thinking that the entire time he worked to untangle the net. The colours flashing at him in the water tried to draw forward a memory that he can't quite grasp.

And then the man is reaching forward, fingers brushing against the smudge of pink above Buck's one eye. "It's you..."

Buck gasps, thankful for the surfboard keeping him afloat. "You."

This is how Buck had survived the tsunami. Because a fucking merman had helped him.

The man smiles and then he falls backwards, dipping below the surface. Panic seizes once more in Buck's chest.

"Wait!"

A few feet away, the man's head appears, brown eyes watching him curiously.

"Wh-what's your name? Please."

"Eddie."

"Eddie..." Buck repeats in a whisper. "Thank you. For what you did that day."

"Thank you for today." He cocks his head to the side, "Your name?"

"Buck."

"Buck." Eddie smiles, "I'll see you again, Buck." And then he's disappearing, the tail appearing above the water for a moment, spraying water at Buck that glitters like diamonds in the sky as the rising sun catches them.

"I'll see you again, Eddie." Buck says to the ocean, the ripples fading away, leaving no sign of the merman he'd just saved.

Eddie, who was content sitting in their bed and reading, knows that this is going to lead to another conversation, so he marks his page and closes his book. “But you have another myth you want to ask about.”

Phone in hand, open to whatever article he’s stumbled upon, Buck climbs onto the bed, crossing his long legs under him. “You’re the only merperson I know. So you’re stuck answering questions.”

“To which I don’t have all the answers to.” Eddie reminds him, placing the book on the nightstand. “I was turned by a mermaid who I’ve seen twice, one of which was when he turned me.”

“Details.” Buck waves a hand and Eddie laughs softly. “The old lore about mermaids, or mermen or merpeople…” Buck pauses, frowning lightly, “We really need to figure out the right term.”

“Eddie works fine, personally.”

“Ha. Ha.” Buck rolls his eyes, “Anyways, old lore.”

“Hit me with it, love.” Eddie settles back against the pillow, waiting.

“They’re sirens of the sea, essentially. Sailors feared them because the mermaids would sing to them and cast a sort of spell onto them. Promise them what they dreamed of to lure them into the water, and thus their death.”

Eddie isn’t so relaxed anymore. “Yes. I’ve heard of that.”

“And you…” Buck has that frown again, his contemplative one, “The night you were sick. When you revealed yourself to me.”

Honestly, Eddie had hoped Buck wouldn’t remember this detail because of everything that had happened.

“You told me not to listen to you.”

“I did.” Eddie admits softly.

“So…it’s true?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie replies, “But I do know my song is dangerous.”

Buck’s eyes are wide with fascination and curiosity, “Your song?”

“It draws people in. Make them…” Eddie chews on his lip, thinking of the right word to use. “They aren’t themselves. They lose inhibition. They want me.”

“Even though you don’t want them.”

Eddie offers a shallow, sharp nod.

“It’s happened, hasn’t it?” Buck asks carefully and Eddie closes his eyes.

The memory of a swarm of people, calling out for him, hands all over him, the fear that had bubbled in his chest.

He opens his eyes as a hand rests on his thigh, and Eddie looks into comforting blue eyes.

“You’re safe.”

Eddie nods, looking down at his arm to see a few scales have appeared. He brushes them away, the teal and green flakes falling to their bed. Buck picks them up, collecting them in his hands before he stretches over to place them on his nightstand.

He has a small box, where he collects Eddie’s fallen scales. The ones he can grab. He loves the colours. Loves having pieces of Eddie.

“You were different.” Eddie says quietly, reaching for Buck’s hand once it’s free of scales. “You heard it but you didn’t…you resisted.”

Buck nods, “I remember hearing it. The most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. It was soothing and calming, despite me being so worried for you. But I never felt any pull towards you, Eddie. Not beyond what I normally feel.”

Eddie doesn’t know what to say to that; he’s been forced to learn all of this on his own. Hadn’t thought much about a lot of it until Buck.

“Can I hear it now?” Buck asks carefully. “Chris isn’t home. The walls will protect it from reaching the neighbours. It’s only me, sweetheart.”

“I…” Eddie searches Buck’s gaze. This beautiful, wonderful man. He’s done nothing but be so accepting of this part of Eddie. Asking things to learn so he can help. And Eddie has never been able to resist Buck anything he ask. “Okay.”

Buck smiles, giving Eddie’s hand a squeeze. “It’ll be alright. I promise. I trust you.”

Eddie takes a breath, releases it slowly, and then he lets go of the hold he has on the song trapped inside of him.

It’s not singing, exactly. He doesn’t open his mouth and say any words. The song is something beyond words. It comes from his throat, weaving into the air, creating its wicked song camouflaged as something beautiful.

Eddie can see the effect it has on Buck. Watches as his boyfriend’s eyes turn glassy and unfocused. His mouth parting as his breathing steadies into something comparable to a trance.

Despite knowing that it’s Buck, Eddie still braces himself. Prepares for Buck to lunge at him. Try and devour Eddie. Make himself available for Eddie to devour in return.

Except, it doesn’t happen.

Buck’s eyes flutter, eyelids sinking halfway, and his shoulders lose any potential tension that may linger there. He’s in a trance, no doubt about that, and would probably be more than content to let Eddie do whatever he pleases with him. But there’s no retaliation.

Eddie finishes the song and sits, waiting for Buck to come back to himself. Clarity returns to those blue eyes he loves so dearly, and Buck shakes himself a little, getting rid of the last of the fog in his mind.

“Wow.” He whispers, “And here I didn’t think you could become even more amazing.”

Eddie can’t stop the small laugh that escapes him, using the hold he still has on Buck’s hand to tug him forward and into his arms. Buck’s long legs wiggle and kick until they tangle together with Eddie’s own. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Loving me.”