elegant little sqx, speckled with greens and yellows all over her shining white scales, losing her way in the deep after an argument with her brother. controlling and angry, he had tried to tighten the leash, tried to force sqx into staying inside in solitude like an obedient little heir. instead she had swum away, dived deep into the chasms she'd been told never to approach.

now she swims frantically in the pitch black - confused, fearful, unable to see the light of the sun. there’s a glow in the distance - milky-white, a spot in the dark. sqx does not know which way is up, but surely light is a sign - surely if not the sun, at least it could be civilisation.

the closer she gets, the brighter the light is. the source is huge - three times her body length. it’s a figure that glows, the largest creature she’s seen. hair pitch black, milky eyes with long lashes, wide-set ribs point and prominent. they’re hungry.

“are you lost?” they call, alluring. their mouth opens wider than it should, displaying rows of teeth. sqx is enthralled. she wants to reach her hand out and touch them, no matter how sharp they seem.

“i can help with that,” hx sings.

their voice isn’t sweet or kind or trustworthy. it’s rough, reverberating, a deep sonar call cutting through the chatter of the ocean. it hits sqx down to her very bones, rattling the cage of her chest, drawing her forward like a hook through her mouth. it’s alluring all the same.

sqx has never been shy. sqx has never had a sense of self-preservation. she approaches, and hx’s jaw does not unhinge. she gets close enough to touch. the monster waits.

up close, sqx sees the little flaws. the scars scattering their skin, slicing through their temple where their brows should be. the sunken cheeks and dark circles. this creature is hungry, and has been hungry for a long time. they've survived off of krill and plankton and scraps and survived long enough for sqx to save them. she holds a palm to their cheek, and they stay still, tracking her every move. their skin is warm, speckled with bioluminescence.

“you seem hungry,” sqx croons. unlike her counterpart, her voice is alluring - tones as light as the wind, the voice of a siren calling sailors to dash themselves upon the rocks. she knows she's a spectacle in the dark, shining with pearls in her hair and stars in her eyes. a vision. “i can help with that.”

sqx reaches her hand out boldly, and hx shakes it. their hand dwarfs hers, gigantic, alabaster white to the brightly-speckled scales trailing sqx’s arm.

and so sqx - small as she is - curls herself into hx’s hair, the crook of their neck - a bright, multicoloured warning sign. a flashing little kaleidoscope, lovingly braiding bones and shell fragments into the hair of her lover.

she’s bright, and coloured, and deadly poisonous. she was never going to be eaten. she cheats death time and time again, and if she dies, she would take hx down with her.

if you see a beautiful, alluring mermaid, with shining bright colours on her alabaster tail and pearls braided into her hair, swim away. there are needle-sharp teeth lurking just behind her.