The heart of the ocean (closed 18+ )

[LoneDigger]

"I'm still learning your kind's behavior... I was just really scared for you and your young one. I didn't realize his intentions then..."

 

Adrian explained, scratching his arm slightly as he leaned closer to Yukie to carefully run his fingers over the bite wounds. They seemed kind of deep, but there was nothing he could do for that other than keeping the water clean.

It was amazing how fast fish healed thanks to living in water sped up cell recovery.

 

"Mating dance?! But they just fucking met each other!"

 

Animals didn't waste much time getting right to business... at least some.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"We don't ever hurt our young..." Yukie added softly listening to Adrians worry. He could understand that the man worried about him since it was common for mates to worry for one another. Yukie suddenly puffed up and shivered at the man's fingertips touching his new mating marks. With another puffed up look Yukie held very still expecting to be marked by his other mate.

 

"Well he's fucking livid you took his mate he's circling the tank even with the lights fully up. Yes refusing to hide and being aggressive to me" Beu added finding the creatures quite strange.

 

"Ayme...has marks...from the things the men on boats use" Yukie mumbled softly the merman having seen and felt the others fighting scars from avoiding the hunters.

[LoneDigger]

Yukie was more close to being right then he'd ever realize, Adrian was going to mark the merman. But perhaps not in the way he expected...

Instead a special collar was attached to his neck, it was light weight but highly durable. Impossible to break off unless it was unlocked.

It was very expensive, but would be worth everything for the training aid it would provide.

And if by some freak of nature Yukie escaped back to the ocean or was stolen he would always be traced back to Adrian with that collar. Inscribed was not only the Marine biologist's information, but Yuki's too.

 

Now he would have to get one on Ayme too somehow, but first he needed to earn the other merman's trust the same way he had with Yukie. Slow and patience, plus some yummy fish snacks.

 

"Harpoons maybe? Those things are banned but poachers use them on all kinds of sea life... It's disgusting how we treat our world."

 

The man growled to himself, standing up and even more determined now to show Ayme that not all humans were cruel and that he could trust him for anything.

 

"Ayme..."

 

Adrian started as he approached the tank, asking Be to dim the lights a little as he bravely suited up and dove into the tank, armed only with fish.

The product he left behind since having it would never build real bonds other than fear or agression.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Yukie touched the collar finding it strange as he tugged at it and scratched at the device. Since the merman was not human he did not understanding the collars purpose. With a puff of his body he tried to scare the collar off clearly thinking his plan would work making Beu snort a little. With a glare to the old man Yukie continued puffing and depuffing in an attempt to scare away the horrid jewelry. With a small laugh Beu left Yukie to his scaring methoods and turned off the lights for Beu.

 

Ayme was still angry and swimming around the tank his body quite defensive looking to any outsider. Hearing Adrian outside the tank made him show his fangs in anger. Ayme watched Adrian as got into his tank his fins puffing out fully like Yukie was doing in an attempt to scare his new collar.

[LoneDigger]

Yukie trying to 'scare off' his new collar was both the most adorable and funny thing he had ever witnessed.

Laughing sympathetically at the merman as he tried to show the creature it was okay.

 

"Don't fight it, Yukie... It's not alive and won't hurt you... You'll get used to it and soon you'll even forget it's there."

 

Adrian smiled reassuringly, but that's all he could do since he was already on a mission to make Ayme trust him.

 

"Woah, scary~"

 

The biologist chuckled nervously at the display of dagger like teeth and barbed frills.

 

"I know humans have been bad to you, but I'm here to help you now..."

 

He offered a piece of fish, hoping not to get attacked or worse... Rejected.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Ayme puffed again and swam around Adrain his body moving quite gracefully through the water. While Ayme had no right to trust humans he did know that some could be helpful and well, despite being scared he was quite hungry. When Adrian offered the fish he hesitated but took it moving back away from Adrian to scarf the moresel down. He watched quietly not wishing to speak to the strange man who was invading his living quarters and his mates nest. After what seemed like endless circling around Adrian ayme was slightly more relaxed not finding him much of a threat anymore.

 

Slowly he went back to the cave and laid down in Yukies nest admiring how well his new mate had decorated the small cave for them to sleep in. Ayme was rather tiered and despite having Adrian watching him in the tank laid down and fully de frilled his body relaxing for the first time since he had been taken from the ocean. With a small smile Beu watched seeing the Ayme suddenly become more submissive. He got up and went to the medical tank and gently picked up yukie before carrying him out of the room and up to the top setting him gently in the water. Beu was curious to see what would happen to the three and despite how dangerous it was he watched as Yukie swam over to Ayme and frilled up a little before snuggling his mate down in the rocks.

 

With Ayme and Yukie suddenly reunited Yukie kept his mate still by holding him down much like Ayme had did when they fought. With a sudden wrap of his arms around Aymes body he began to gently lick the bite marks he had left on Ayme his spit making the wound a little cleaner. Ayme who was blushing at the embarrassing treatment hid his neon red face in his arms not liking being cared for since, both had lived alone for so long such care was used for young and those who lived in their mating group.

[LoneDigger]

Adrian held perfectly still, and despite his excitement and perhaps even a hint of fear he managed to keep his heart beat steady.

Whenever he was inside water and around animals he just felt so at peace... Even when they gave him a hard time he knew that unlike people it was never something to take personally. They acted upon pure instinct, animals didn't lie to themselves or others.

That's why you could never keep any real secrets from them. He knew that soon it would be even easier for Yukie and Ayme to be able to read his body language and pick up on his emotions before even he knew what he was feeling.

They would be training him just as much as he was going to train them.

 

"Hm... Was that good? Have another..."

 

Adrian grinned, offering another fish since he was rewarding the merman in a sense for accepting him. But then he remembered something from before with Yukie that had really seemed to work.

 

"Don't mind me... just looking around for a little something..."

 

The scientist pulled himself carefully through the water, his eyes scanning over the different colored rocks to search for the perfect one to present to Ayme.

The one he found that was smoothest and colorful was a coral colored stone. He caressed it in his hand before opening his fingers to show it off to the merman, whom he had followed into the nest area.

 

"For you~"

 

Adrian set the pebble gentle next to the creature who finally seemed to be less stressed out. He was actually just laying there and the fins were flat against his skin.

Firmly, yet carefully reaching out his hand he touched Ayme's back. Trying to show the creature that contact from a human did not always bring pain, but could bring something even stronger in affection.

 

When he heard a splash at the top of the tank the man backed off a little to make room for Yukie to greet his mate. Watching the two creatures with awe, but in childish moment he felt... jealous.

He loved animals so much, truly they were his life. Yet... he would never be able to fully understand or bond with one the same since he was human, and they were just so different.

 

Adrian knew it was wrong to feel that way, this was the whole point. Was for the two creature to bond together so they could save their species and bring awareness to the importance of ocean life conservation.

But he had barely time to bond with either of them and already they were connected to each other. He wanted to be a part of that relationship, even if it was only in the way a human such as himself could ever be in the eyes of a merman.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Ayme watched Adrian closely when Ayme laid beside him curiosity on his face as he looked at the coral colored stone. With a cautious hand Ayme gently picked it up and held his new treasure close. With a small blush Ayme looked away as if hiding his embarrassment at being given such a beautiful mating present. Yukie meanwhile tried to not laugh at how adorable his mates where being to each other. With a small smile Yukie swam over to his other mate snuggling up to in quite the playful way.

 

"...Can I show him the baby?" Yukie asked gently wanting to show his new mate what his human mate had been so protective of. With a small frill of his fins Ayme watched the two the younger male huffing before going over to his new mate and snuggling into him more not wanting Yukie to get all of the love from their shared mate.

[LoneDigger]

Adrian wrapped his arms around Yukie gently and hugged the merman, wondering if their culture if embracing in this way was acceptable form of affection.

 

"Does he promise not to hurt it? Okay..."

 

The marine biologist waved over to Beu from still inside the tank with the two, trying to gesture to the older man that he wanted to try bringing the egg back in here, as it was still in the incubator tank at the moment.

When Ayme also came over he tried to hug both of the merman at once, each arm around the other. In some ways he felt so clumsy under the water, and very... outnumbered.

If these two wanted they could both gang up on him and take him down in a heartbeat, but he somehow knew that at least Yukie wouldn't do such a thing

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Beu nodded and gently put the egg in a small Ziploc bag before setting it in the water watching it slowly sink to the bottom of the tank. Yukie and Ayme watched confused why their egg was in a weird container. With a small puff Yukie went over and picked up the egg opening the bag with his teeth. With a gentle hand he removed the egg and held it close to his chest the small infant moving slightly upon hearing it's mum's heartbeat.

[LoneDigger]

Even Adrian was a bit clueless as to why the egg had placed in a ziplock bag, and he actually dared to aim a glare in the boss's direction while mouthing the words: Are you fucking seriously? but lucky there was no way for Beu to read his lips with the mask on and being meters away from his spot while under water in the tank.

 

Plastic bags and marine life did not mix well. It was a death trap for them, or they mistaken it as food and get suffocated.

Adrian fetched the bag and stuffed it away in the pouch around his waist with his other random arsenal of things, a few sardines, a clicker, the collapsible baton...

 

He then went over to watch Yukie interacting with his baby, and he could sense the love between them. Even if the little one was still inside the egg the bond seemed strong.

 

"How's the little one?"

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"It should be born soon" Yukie replied adoring the small child. Ayme quite curious came over to look at the egg. With a cute puff of his fins he looked at his mate clearly proud of what a great mother he was. Yukie blushed some and let Ayme look at his treasure the merman gently taking the egg and looking it over as if inspecting to make sure it was all right.

 

"We need seaweed and more plants for the baby" Ayme mumbled to Yukie and Adrian the man instinctively knowing they would need to make their home safe for the baby.

 

"...We do?" Yukie asked not sure why Ayme would request such materials for the child both clearly knowing different aspects of caring for young.

 

"The child will need to be carried, my mother did it for my younger siblings. He showed me how before I had to leave." Ayme added his home having beenvironment destroyed by these poachers and as a result he had like many others lost his family while young. But, unlike Yukie he had been taught how to help his parent care for the younger ones.

[LoneDigger]

"Sounds like Ayme know's what he's doing... Maybe I should just let them handle this? What would I know about raising a young one of their kind anyway..."

Adrian thought to himself, a bit discouraged by the realization that this was one of the few sea creatures out there he knew so little about.

He wanted to learn more, but at the same time he didn't want to invade their space when raising their egg.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

Ayme swam over to Adrian the male looking at his mate. "We need a better home and nicer plants" he replied the male being quite forceful.

 

"Child is bigger then we expected and will be born soon...We need less water" Yukie added wanting to make sure the infant would be able to breathe it's first breath of air without any difficulty. Ayme nodded agreeing with Yukie before nudging Adrian wanting to push the mate into moving so he could help care for the young like he was suppose to.

[LoneDigger]

Already these two were bossing him around and telling him nothing was good enough? A couple of demanding merman to please, this was his life now... But he couldn't even complain and just smiled.

 

"More plants, less water, better everything. Got it."

 

Adrian patted Yukie gently as he was pushed and then began to swim up and out of the tank to relay the message to his boss.

 

"We need some big improvements... The baby is due to hatch very soon and Yukie isn't happy with what they got so far."

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"From my experience no new mother ever is" Beu added with a smirk the male already heading off to go check on the progress of the new tank the male adding in more tunnels and a shallow reef where visitors could pet the merman once Adrian had them properly trained. After a few hours he came back looking at Adrian with a small smile. "They can move in tonight if they don't mind the lights being a touch brighter" Beu explained having gotten the okay from the construction crew to move them in since they had finished the grand enclosure.

[LoneDigger]

"I wouldn't know..."

 

Adrian admitted as he stripped out of his suit and left it out to dry, he wanted to go see how the new enclosure was coming along, it really was quite elaborate. But Yukie and Ayme deserved the very best so he nodded in approval.

He seriously had the best job ever, getting to see animals like this every day and take care of them for a living was literally a dream come true.

 

"I don't know about that... It might agitate them since they're already stressing over the baby enough as is."

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"Might make them happy also. The cave is much deeper with a walk in area for visitors to look inside their home. I also added tubes so they can swim from one part of the exhibit to the next. And since they requested a land area for the child I included the tubes to let them out in a ride pool so visitors can touch them" Beu explained showing Adrian the new enclosure that he had clearly spent way to much money on. "I also included an easy access area for you to get into their tank. Not to mention natural currents like they where trying to make in their cave" Beu added the male quite excited as he continued showing Adrian the cool set up under the rocks that spiked out the male going inside to show his friend the new nesting home that was full of the smooth rocks the merman used to clean themselves with.

 

"We also have more strong current tubes and a dark room for their hunting exhibit" a youngish male added with a smile the new tour guide waving hello.

 

"Ah, Adrian this is my son Lucas" Beu explained waving the male over to introduce himself.

 

"I do the tours for this section and also make sure no one tries to bother Ayme and Yukie to much" Lucas added the male quite excited to be working with Adrian and such a rare species.

[LoneDigger]

Adrian was truly impressed. How Beu had managed to get all of this set up so quickly was just insane... Yukie and Ayme would have to be pleased. The new tank had everything they could want or need.

And hopefully soon he would be able to get them trained to be comfortable around the visitors and even maybe do some tricks.

 

Things couldn't have gotten better until suddenly he was faced with Lucas. He wasn't aware that Beu had any sons, but wow...

He quickly stopped staring and forced himself to return to his normal laid back self, casually shaking the other's hand while he introduced himself.

 

"Adrian... Marine Biologist and Trainer. Nice to meet you, Lucas~"

[Yukonwolfspirit]

"I'm glad to be working with you" Lucas added with a smile the blond haired blue eyes beauty quite eye-catching. With a small smile Lucas removed his hand and tapped the tank. "We should move them in before they have the baby that way they are less stressed with all the pathways in their enclosure" Lucas added with a smile.

 

(Lucas)

[LoneDigger]

His eyes... They were like the exact same color of ocean waves... Sea foam green. To Adrian they were the most stunning shade. He struggled to pull his own golden gaze away.

 

"Want to give me a hand with Ayme? He's still not really used to me and maybe he'll like you a little better."

 

The male chuckled as he headed back to the old enclosure that the two merman were still stuck in with the egg.

Ayme did not deceive the Marine Trainer's words, already getting a bit too excited and swimming circles around the glass following the man's every move. While he wasn't puffed up fully or anything his fins were not relaxed either.

He was already preparing another transport tank to move the pair to their new home. That was if the two would cooperate...

 

 

The truth was that Ayme wasn't threatened by Adrian in the way would think that he was just protecting the nest, but actually it stemmed more from jealousy. Yukie was his mate and this human may be another, but he wasn't fully accepting of it since it was highly unnatural. A human had never raised an egg before and all he knew of mankind was how disgusting and cruel they were to nature, treating his home like a toxic dump site and stealing all the food, soon even his own kind were hunted to nearly extinction. Yukie was the first he had seen of his own kind in a very long time, and it was thanks to the humans that this was the case, so his feelings towards them were very conflicted.

 

Adrian was already preparing another transport tank to move the pair to their new home.

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“I’m not actually suppose to take care of them, but I can help you move them around” Lucas added not wanting to hurt Adrian’s feeling but also wanting to not hurt the creatures since he was hired for tours only. “So, how long have you worked here?” Lucas asked on the way to the tanks stopping suddenly in awe at the creatures. “I’ve only ever seen them in books” Lucas whispered mesmerized by the beautiful fish.

 

“We don’t need any more cold water” Yukie replied watching his older mate swim around in confusion. Yukie watched the two men enter staying in the nest with their egg.

[LoneDigger]

"Oh, maybe you can just sort of stand there and distract him while I move Yukie first?"

 

Adrian offered as he walked up to the tank and pulled out a bit of fish, trying to coax honestly either of the merman out so he could move them.

 

"I've been here a couple months now. And I know! Aren't they just amazing, such innocent creatures..."

 

The male sighed with a smile as he waited for his little sweet Yukie-- SHIT!!!

 

Ayme was a mixture of both furious and hungry, so he settled for both at once, pumping his tail full speed through the water and to the top he did his signature move of jumping several feet out of the water and into the air, snatching the fish right from Adrian while getting a bit of a bite to the hand in there.

What comes up must come down and the merman hit the surface with a loud splash, the fish already half eaten and the other half being carried down to the nest to proudly present his mate with the catch he had got~

[Yukonwolfspirit]

“Seems the angry black colored one is Ayme” Lucas replied chucking a little at the sudden display of power shown by Ayme while hunting. Lucas was surprised by the speed of which Ayme had moved and with a small smile tapped on the tank to say hello. “He’s quite strong and deadly... might be best to let the other doctile o e around the kids” Lucas added after a moment watching the male take his food back to his mate.

 

“You got a bigger fish” Yukie stated to Ayme the male settled down in the nest somewhat saving his energy the poor thing quite tiered. With a yawn yukie nuzzled the egg keeping it unnaturally close to his body the male listening to the strong heartbeat of his child.

[LoneDigger]

"Yep, that's him..."

 

Adrian grinned, tears brimming the corner of his hazel eyes at he clutched onto his bleeding hand and went back in one of the rooms to rinse it off and bandage it, his teeth were like fucking little knives!

He soon returned even more determined to get the pair moved to their new home.

 

"Yeah, don't let Ayme around the kids. He'd have this place shut down for good."

 

The male laughed, shaking his head slightly. Meanwhile, back in the tank with the two merman...

 

"That weird guy was just dangling it out trying to taunt me or something so I showed him a lesson."

 

Ayme huffed, still a bit indigent over the fact he had to accept favors from humans now. He swam closer to Yukie and gently brushed against his side, touching the egg delicately to make sure it was okay. Of course it was since it was with his mommy.