The heart of the ocean (closed 18+ )

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Yukie looked at his mate before softly lighting up a little illuminating the cave he was in. He was relaxed in his safe home his eyes just watching Adrian. With a small huff he laid back down letting him explore the new nest that was quite bigger the rocksalmost blocking the small enterance. “...you went out hunting...” yukie mumbled not really understanding where his mate had gone since he wasn’t able to see him outside of the tank. And since Yukie had yet to learn any patterns or timeframe when his mate come and gone it did make him more on edge. With a small movement of his fins his spikes went back to being compleatly hidden the fish feeling more comfortable with his tank since the cave had a smaller section for him to hide his brood when he needed to move around and reorganize.

[LoneDigger]

"Not hunting... They made me stay in the hospital for awhile... But I'm really okay now!"

 

He reassured with a shy grin, being extremely careful as he moved around the cave not to touch anything or disturb Yukie's space in any way.

Adrian would be able with some training to gain some control in the tank, but the nest was off limits. It would be the merman's safe space to retreat to when things got to be too much and no one could take that away from him.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"...I couldn't hunt while you left" Yukie mumbled before grabbing the egg and moving over to where his mate was. He blushed slightly before showing him his secret treasure. With slight hesitancy he showed Adrian what he had been so protective of. "It's not very old...maybe four moon cycles" Yukie explained trying to tell the man his child was roughly four months old. With a small smile he went and laid it down in the nest keeping the egg sack quite warm and well protected.

[LoneDigger]

"Is that... is that your baby?"

 

Adrian breathed out softly in awe as the merman presented him the precious little orb with a hidden life somewhere inside.

This was great news! There was a shred of hope for being able to raise Yukie's kind in captivity and then release them back into the wild to keep reproducing until the numbers were stable again.

 

"Um... I don't mean to be intrusive, but if your kind like sea horses where the female gives you the egg and you fertilize it, then give birth...?"

 

It didn't feel weird to him asking such a question since he was a biologist and it was all part of the field, he just found animals so fascinating. Especially the marine kind.

 

"It's beautiful... You did a wonderful job."

 

Adrian smiled as he watched the other tuck the egg away in the nest of rocks.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"...I don't need a mate for child" Yukie replied with a confused look before moving the egg carefully so his mate could see it. "It's mine. I carried it here" Yukie explained mentioning to the small almost unnoticeable pouch on his body. He beamed at the praise from his mate proud of his first offspring. "In two moons it will be born." Yukie added the merman wanting to share more about their new child. With a small puff of fins he continued swimming around the cave in circles moving the cold water around to keep the egg nice and cold.

[LoneDigger]

"Oh...? Is your kind asexual?"

 

The scientist asked curiously as he watched the merman proudly doting around his baby.

It was really endearing to witness really after most of the time he had just seen Yukie in a state of pure panic or puffed up, all pissed off at him or the situation at least.

 

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

 

Adrian offered gently, not wanting to accidentally offend the sea creature again.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"You want to carry it ?" Yukie asked curiously feeling completely safe letting Adrian look over his brood. "It's okay if you want to your it's parent also" Yukie added watching Adrian for a second. Suddenly without warning Yukie moved around him without a word slipping out of the cave quickly Beu having put in some bigger live fish for Yukie. With a chuckle Beu watched the predator hunt it's pretty the bigger fish being more of a challenge giving Beu more then enough time to check over Yukie brood. Beu had been watching closely on the cameras, his theory proven more by how easily Yukie left his young with Adrian signaling to Beu that he had quickly bonded to his caretaker.

[LoneDigger]

"I would be honored..."

 

Adrian murmured as he was handed the precious little egg to hold tenderly in his grasp.

It was just lovely...

 

"Wait... What did you just say?!"

 

But already Yukie was gone, leaving only a trail of bubbles behind.

Surely he hadn't heard that right...

 

Adrian may have been a biologist, bit it didn't mean he had any real expierience when it came to raising young ones.

So he did his best by simply treating it as a regular baby, cradling the orb in his arms and swaying it gently.

 

"It's okay little one... Daddy is just out hunting. He'll be back soon..."

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Beu smirked as he watched Adrain care for the young keeping himself well out of sight while yukie hunted. After afew minutes yukie returned looking quite satisfied having caught two out of five of the large fish. He had left the others to hunt later so he didn’t hurt the balance of his home to much since there was more food then he was use to. “...they like the cold of the cave growing up...after they turn afew seasons...they leave and go off to start their own nest” yukie explained wanting to tell his mate all about their kinds ways on raising children. “When we get older...we don’t age past your youngest” yukie added meaning past the age of 18.

[LoneDigger]

Adrian was simply infatuated with this whole scenario as it was playing out.

Why had Yukie descided to suddenly accept him now when it seemed most of what he'd done had only upset the sea creature into trying to hurt himself from wanting to escape this place...

 

Maybe it was the biggest mistake yet, Boss deciding that he was responsible enough to handle the care of Yukie after all his screw ups.

 

"Oh... I see."

 

Adrian said to be polite, but really he still wasn't quite understanding any of this...

 

"How do you care for the young one properly?"

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“We keep the water cold by swimming around” yukie replied to Adrian’s question. With a sudden sharp knock on the glass yukie instantly puffed up and grabbed his brood moving away from the enterance Beu tapping his watch to call Adrian up and out of the tank.

 

“We need to get the tank plans finalized and set up” Beu mumbled to himself before turning up the lights fully so yukie would be forced to stay in his dark cave to protect his young. With a small frown the man looked over his files and continued setting up what he though was needed for the new tank only to wait for Adrians approval.

[LoneDigger]

"That's right... But I was wondering if there was more I could do to--"

 

Even Adrian had jumped slightly at the sudden tapping, letting Yukie take his egg back as he pushed through the cave and swam back up to the surface, dragging himself up on the ledge and dripping everywhere as he stood up. The fabric was skin tight and did in a way work too keep things somewhat dryer than sopping clothes.

 

"Yes, sir. What needs to be done?"

 

Already back to his enthusiastic self wanting to help everyone.

The Marine biologist looked over the plans and pointed out any flaws or tweaks that needed to be removed or added in

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“...we’ve been given another of his species. It will be coming to us in afew days I hope we can introduce it peacefully to yukie and see if we can continue a nice breeding program” Beu added after adding the changes to the tankalready having his men build and set up the very complex tank for his new attraction. “If they are successful in mating then they might produce larger groups of offspring.” Beu added after a moment of thought the man turning down the light so yukie could explore his tank again. “We think he will get along with this one because it was found in the same general area as he was”

[LoneDigger]

"That's great news...!"

 

Some of his childishness escaped as he beamed up at his boss in awe. How had they manged to find another one, and so quickly? It must have just been their lucky day.

 

"With respect, just be careful not to introduce this new mate too quickly. The last time I brought it up he got quite a bit offended with me...."

 

Adrian then nodded a bit before adding.

 

"I'm sure this will be a good match for him. If we can get them to breed successfully this could really be game changing his species, not to mention your business I'm sure~"

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“This one is severely malnourished and came to us wounded...when we found it we thought it was dead” Beu explained having the fish being transported in a medical truck. “We will see how they do in a holding tank with a divider. See if they become aggressive or see if they become interested in sharing a cave. Either way it’s a great observation experience” Beu added before smirking. “Want to see him just a little early?” Beu asked the male having been keeping secret from everyone that the fish was in a holding tank in the spare tank closet. Beu was clearly eager to introduce the two since no other facility had one specimen let alone two that might be compatible .

[LoneDigger]

"Poor thing... I hope she will be okay."

 

Adrian murmured, but he knew that with all the specialized care they could provide here would mean that the mermaid would be better in no time. Already he was expecting it to be a female since in nearly all animals that's how it worked.

 

"I can monitor their interactions... make sure everything goes smoothly for the both of them."

 

He smiled, it would be awful to see the two of them getting into a fight or something so he would make sure things went... swimmingly.

Hahah...

Well, he made himself laugh if anything.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“Well...she....has the same color pattern as Yukie” Beu admitted with a small frown dimming up the lights to reveal a slightly smaller male. Despite the males darker coloring he was obviously the same species as Yukie. The defensive spikes giving what type Ayme was away. Unknowing to the other this particular fish was Ayme, and dispite being quite sick the new merman was just as breathtaking as their healthy male who was already reproducing. With a small chuckle Beu moved closer to the tank :”His color is a little dull, I belive it’s due to his condition and the fact he might have been living in an area that was over fished”.

 

Beu was truely head over heels with having another merman to add to his collection. With a small step forward he gently tapped on the glass. With a sudden flash of bright light Ayme puffed up displaying his menacing spikes toward the sound. Ayme glaring at the man was clearly still very aggressive around humans showing he had grown up in a much more violent habitat then yukie. Beu sighed with a small huff not finding the creature the last bit intimidating while in his cage.

 

“It could be possible that all of their species are male. I read once that some herpologists did a study on a species of lizard. They found out all of the species reproduced asexually. To add more to it and all of them where female and where quite solitary.” Beu mumbled watching the creature swim around and out of his hide the poor thing hating the tank just as Yukie had first hated his.

 

“Since this one is aggressive and refuses to use the hide or eat I suggest not entering his tank like you did with Yukie.” Beu added after a moment not restricting his co worker from going in the tank as long as he was very careful. “I’m hoping that the new male can live alongside yukie, possibly as a real mate. If he can then we can watch how their species interacts with one another and how they would raise their young and share their work.” Beu exclaimed clearly excited about all of the possibilities this new research could bring to them.

 

(Ayme)

[LoneDigger]

"She's amazing..."

 

Adrian breathed out as he looked over their new specimen of merman and no doubt Yukie's future mate if all things went well.

The marine biologist still didn't see himself as really a mate for Yukie, but more of a caregiver. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind until everyone started talking about it...

Guess when you work with animals for so long it can make your a head a little... kooky.

 

"She looks just like Yukie... but different too."

 

The man noted to himself as he carefully moved around the tank trying to upset the sea creature inside.

 

"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson with Yukie so now I'm becoming the expert on caring for merfolk."

 

He informed Ayme and Beu with a smile as he stood in front of the creature, still curious to learn even more and gain this one's trust.

This one was more aggressive then Yukie, he could tell that much right away. Not eating or hiding meant that this animal was in pure fight mode.

 

"Don't let anyone in his tank yet... He's so worked up he won't even eat that means there's only one thing on his mind, and it involves getting rid of us."

 

Adrian grimaced, but he was sure that if they left the new mermaid alone in the dark and quiet place that she would settle back down and then slowly be introduced to Yukie so they could mate.

But wait... he kept calling it a she, but hadn't Boss mentioned that it was possible this species only had males? They were all that were discovered, and a female in captivity or even the wild was never seen.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“Well... if you want we can move this tank next to yukies and move it up against his glass wall.” Beu added the man looking at Adrian with a frown. “This holding tank has wheels for easy access and moment so it would just be a quick ten minute stoll. If we put the tanks against each other they can both meet in a non hostile enviorment. This way both would be safe from harm”

 

With a sudden glare and another flash of his fins Ayme continued to circle his tank glaring at the men standing before him. Of course Ayme was less trusting having been roughly caught by hunters had made him quite fearful of humans. “He might feel safer being near Yukie. And if he sees we don’t harm the other kind of his species it might help him settle down quicker” Beu added with a smile turning up the lights fully so Ayme was forced to hide back into his cave.

 

(XD Beu)

 

[LoneDigger]

"I don't want them fighting through the glass when they see each other... Yukie might panic and try to break free again or maybe the new one would be even worse!"

 

Adrian sighed, he needed to calm down and think logically, not expecting the worse possible outcome to happen every single time.

 

"I don't know about this... But I guess it's worth a try, right?"

 

The biologist looked at Ayme who if anything looked even more aggressive then before.

 

"Can I talk to Yukie first...? Ask him what he thinks before we try anything?"

 

Adrian walked over to the said merman and gently leaned his head against the glass. Trying to gaze inside and see if he could get the other to come out and converse with him. Maybe they could even show off their bond a little.

 

"Yukie... How are you doing in there? Would you like some company?"

 

He then looked to Beu, over his shoulder.

 

"Tilt his tank so he can watch us, but still don't let him get too close..."

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“Yeah talk to him” Beu replied gently prepping the tank to be moved. Yukie meanwhile was still fixing his nest for his baby when he heard his mates voice. With a small smile he happily came out of his cave swimming around and showing off his pretty fins to Adrian who was standing in front of his tank. Beu watched the two before moving the tanks within four feet of each other closely watching to see how Yukie would react to the sudden new tank in front of him. He watched as Ayme swam around more in circles watching the humans before noticing the other merman in his tank his fins frilling up.

 

With a sudden loud thunk Ayme’s tank moved slightly Beu starting to lock the wheels afraid Ayme would try to break the tank in aggression. Ayme, of course just watched the other still defensive before swimming in a bigger circle and suddenly without warning was out of his tank. The merman had discovered the top of his tank had an opening and with enough speed he was already out of it landing into Yukie’s enclosure. With a sudden puff of fins and spikes popping out the two where instantly agressuve Ayme going for Yukies neck his needle sharp teeth sinking into him and drawing blood. The two continued to fight biting and scratching at each other until their fight looked like a strange mating dance.

 

After afew more aggressive circling around the tank that had quite an amount of blood around it Ayme had fully pinned yukie to the floor against the smooth rocks. With a final puff of Ayme’s fins his spikes slowly retracted as he settled down beside his newly acquired mate and licked at Yukies wounds as if apologizing for his rough mating fight.

[LoneDigger]

"Uh... Boss, I think that's getting a bit too close..."

 

Adrian tried to warn Beu again, but it was already too late for that. Why wasn't their a sturdier lid on the new merman's tank?

Was he seriously the only one who seemed to have a problem with this?!

Okay, just calm down... they can probably sense fear...

 

"Hi, Yukie... Taking care of the little one? The nest looks very comfy..."

 

The man small talked, but really it felt more like he was speaking out loud to himself since the sea creature couldn't really hold a conversation with him.

 

"YUKIE...!!!"

 

Adrian gasped out when suddenly next thing he saw was a flash of movement and the two merman were trying to fucking kill each other!

The marine biologist wasted no time in running over to fetch the prod. It was a last resort weapon used to send an electric shock that would temporarily stun the animals. It hurt, but it was not lethal unless severely misused.

He didn't want to do this, but if he didn't meant both merman could be dead in a matter of seconds, but just before he was about to jab it into the tank things had already settled down.

 

But Adrian still wasn't convinced things were safe, the tank was now unsuitable for either due to the blood could mess with the water's PH levels and it just wasn't sanitary.

Using the prod without any shock to shoo Ayme away from the other merman so he could lift Yukie out of the tank and transfer him into another one.

Very quickly doing the same thing with the egg and putting it in another incubator type tank until he could give it back to it's Mommy/Daddy.

 

"I'm just going to look you over and then I'll put you back in your tank... I won't let that horrible creature hurt you again..."

 

He pushed the merman into the medical section so he could inspect his neck.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Yukie of course didn’t like suddenly being removed and separated with a stick, but found himself being taken away from Ayme. Yukie suddenly puffed up once out of the water, Ayme watching the other male being taken puffe up his fins and circled where Adrain was. It was clear Ayme was trying to keep Yukie all to himself. With Ayme still in the tank Yukie was confused to why the mate he had fought with was being taken the other smaller merman pacing his tank watching Yukie being taken. With a quiet but angry removal Yukie continued staying defensive towards Adrain not liking his intrusion.

 

“...Ayme. His name is Ayme.” Yukie struggled to explain clearly upset with his mate who in his mind was disproving of adding another lover to their nest. Yukie huffed at Adrain splashing him with the water clearly hating to be taken out of his tank again as he laid in the medical tank all puffed up and irritated. Beu meanwhile was watching Ayme swim around the now empty tank watching the male ignore the brighter lights in what seemed to be anger. With a sigh Beu watched the new male before securing the top of the tank and walked to the Medical room.

 

“ here me out, but I’m slightly wondering if we had wrongly interfered with the two.” Beu added looking at the other adgitated male. “They hurt each other..but didn’t kill each other, most other fights they would have fully killed each other. But for some reason they stopped.”

[LoneDigger]

"So the monster has a name?"

 

Adrian joked, he really didn't think that Ayme was that bad. It was just really hard to watch animals fight each other like that, in some species fighting was normal... But same sex fighting usually meant a battle to the death.

The man just stood there and rubbed the back of his hand against his face, he was starting to get kind of used to whole having water in his face thing.

He laugh softly, shaking his head slightly.

 

"I guess he attacked you because you were in his space? But then he took over your territory, the bastard...

Look I know you can handle yourself, but the baby was in there too and that scared the hell out of me, he could have hurt you or even worse the egg... I fought for sure the latter he was going for."

 

So many creatures the males will kill the young of their mate so he can put the other back into season and have the next offspring be of their descent since passing on your genes was the main driving factor of any living creature's biological purpose.

While that may not be the case here at all, since Yukie's species was so unique. But based on that existing knowledge Adrian was leaning towards the cautious side.

 

"Since he went and bit you now you will both have to be quarantined... He could be sick... His color was off and his behavior seemed unusually aggressive."

 

He really hoped that Ayme wasn't carrying something awful. But you can't take any chances.

 

"I know... I thought for sure they were going to kill each other... Yukie has to protect his nest and that dammed fish just attacked a soon mother to be, like who does that?! I thought only humans were that fucked up!"

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“...he wanted acceptance into my nest. But since he was a weaker mate he wanted to show he was strong. So we fought” yukie explained keeling his gills in the water to make it easier for him to speak and breathe. “He didn’t hurt me...I bit him also” yukie added with a small huff trying to calm himself down.

 

“His behavior matches Yukies mating dance” Beu added looking at Adrian. “He didn’t kill him, but they only bit each other’s necks...much like humans do when they decide to mate”