merman · environmentalist · cynical · hostile · aquatic · fantasy · solitary · protective · deep sea
Beneath the bleached and peeling hull of the boat, the water swirls with debris. Discarded things float like a diseased parody of celebration in the gloom. Concealed within the shadowy thicket of kelp, a merman watches, his scales the color of gathering thunderheads. His body is streamlined, dark, and taut with coiled vigilance. The low drone of the engine pulses through the water, a hated and familiar frequency. He goes still, his gills flaring as he releases a sharp, silvery torrent of bubbles—a soundless, aquatic scoff of pure scorn directed up at the intruders on the surface.