#mertaro

Sighing softly, Jotaro lay on his back, the sand warm on his skin and the sun calmly shining down, slowly evaporating the water sticking to his form, allowing his skin to properly absorb the salt.

His peace and quiet was short lived however, as grabby hands started to poke and prod at his side.

“Jolyne…” Sighing softly, Jotaro opened an eye, looking at his daughter which was to his right, only to flinch as she suddenly pinched him. “Ow, don’t do that.” He huffed, lifting her little hand away, to which the pup blinked up at her father, surprised to be grabbed before she frowned.

Seeing the angry little face, Jotaro let go of her wrist, grunting as he rolled onto his side, his tail lifting up to curl around his daughter, sand sticking to the underside.

“What is it?” He hummed, resting his head on his hand as he raised an eyebrow, watching the little girl almost seem to try and telepathically tell him what it was - which didn’t help of course as he just saw an angry pout and nothing more.

Seeing her dad’s lack of reaction, Jolyne babbled in frustration, her tail angrily flopping.

She’d gotten to that stage where she just learned how to swim on her own for short distances, talking not really ingrained yet as she instead babbled and clicked nonsense.

Tightening his tail around her a bit, Jotaro almost created a sort of play pen, watching lazily as the small Mer grabbed onto his scales, little claws grazing the strong scales, harmless.

It took a little bit, but the black-tailed Mer then decided to reach out, intending to lift his daughter onto his chest so that she’d stay still and be able to absorb the salt too - much needed if she wanted her skin to thicken and harden.

Yet before he could, he watched as she rolled onto her stomach, little chubby arms reaching out and grabbing onto his tail, his head lifting from his hand in surprise as he watched Jolyne grunt, pulling herself towards his tail, where she then proceeded to bite down, starting to drool onto his tail as she used the scales as a pacifier.

Yet for Jotaro, he quickly looked around, catching his mother’s gaze.

No words were necessary for Holly to understand what just happened. Instantly, a smile beamed onto her face and Jotaro couldn’t help the flutter in his chest, the corners of his mouth lifting up as he looked back to his daughter, purposefully moving his tail out from under her, shifting it just a small distance away.

Letting out an angry little noise, Jolyne began swinging her hands, flopping her tail as she tried to get herself back towards his tail.

It was awkward and her arms lacked the strength, but Jotaro didn’t care. She was trying.

Shifting to sit up, he reached out and lifted her tail, taking the weight over from her, to which the small girl instantly started mowing her arms, trying to wheel herself forward now that it was no longer as heavy.

Obliging, Jotaro watched his daughter ‘crawl’ on her hands towards the end of his tail, a proper smile forming on his face as pride took over.

Pups weren’t usually this quick. Yet here she was, practically crawling already.

A little cheer from his right caught his attention as he saw his mother happily clapping, the both of them watching Jolyne grab hold of his scales once more, content to just nibble and teeth as if it was the most normal of moments.

Yet for Jotaro, it would forever be a memory ingrained in his brain.