Chapter Text
When Julian hatched from his egg, he was greeted by his sire, a massive gray creature with wide, bulbous pale eyes and freakishly sharp teeth.
Sharp teeth that stretched out into a wide, giddy grin when he met Julian's eyes.
Julian startled back into whatever was left of his egg, prompting his sire to let out a loud, bellowing laugh.
“Come on now,” his sire called, a claw delicately tapping at the ground in front of Julian. “You have slept long enough, my treasure. It is time to greet the moonlight.”
Julian had peeked out of his hiding place with wide eyes as his sire leaned down to get a closer look at him.
“Hm,” his sire hummed. “You are quite small, but your tail is whole and your fins are all in place.” Julian was scooped up onto a massive hand and he clung to a clawed finger with a panicked squeak, his lower half wrapping around it like some kind of snake. “And your scales are as they should be.”
Julian continued to stare at his sire’s face as he studied him in turn.
“You certainly took your time, my treasure,” his sire chided gently. “All of your siblings have long since hatched and fed. But worry not, your sire will hunt down a meal just for you.”
Julian was carried to another place then, where he was placed amongst numerous sleeping creatures, all with human-ish faces, gray skin and eel-like tails. He stared up at his sire in silent bewilderment when he let out an echoing chuckle.
“Worry not, my treasure, they will not eat you,” his sire assured. “Maybe a nibble or two, as siblings are prone to do, but nothing more.” The back of a claw was then carefully pressed against Julian’s front before it moved away.
“I will return shortly,” his sire told him, expression soft.
Julian cooed up at him and watched as his sire soon disappeared into the depths, his massive tail trailing behind him until it, too, vanished from sight.
Later, after taking a nap, Julian woke to find himself nearly smothered by the bodies of his siblings, all of them having decided to coil on top and around him in their sleep, making him click irritably for a moment before he settled back down, resigned to being a fishy pillow.
Eventually, their sire returned with the body of a giant squid. By then, all of Julian’s siblings had woken up and were playfully chasing each other around, clicking and trilling happily.
Julian himself had started wrestling with one of his larger siblings, the two of them snapping and hissing at each other before they stopped at the sound of their sire’s call.
“Ah, my guppies are getting along. Good, good,” he says cheerfully, emerging from the darkness. “Come, it is time for another feeding.”
All of Julian’s siblings swarmed around the carcass, eagerly digging their teeth and claws into the rubbery flesh, tearing off bite-sized chunks which they devoured instantly. When a few of them began to fight over a morsel, their sire was quick to hiss at them.
“There is no need to fight,” their sire scolded. “There is plenty of food.”
Julian watched the frenzy with wide eyes, not knowing exactly what he was supposed to do, something his sire took note of when he turned and spotted him still lying on the cave floor.
“What are you doing down there, my treasure?” His sire cooed, reaching over to scoop him up, Julian already reaching out to cling onto a finger with a croon. “Having trouble swimming?”
Julian bobbed his head, making his sire pause.
He was brought up to his sire’s face, eyes staring directly into his.
“You understand my words?” His sire inquired.
Julian bobbed his head again, and was startled when his sire let out a bright laugh.
“What joy!” His sire exclaimed. “You are certainly full of surprises, hm?”
Julian blinked up at him and let out a hesitant coo.
His sire carefully nuzzled him. “I am old, my treasure. As ancient as the deepest chasms that line the ocean floor, and as great as the leviathans that once ruled the seas. For you to have been blessed with such knowledge… it will not be long before I cede my title to you, little prince.”
Julian reached up to place his miniscule hands on his sire’s face and let out a trill.
His sire squinted down at him happily. “Now, let us eat. And afterwards, I will teach you how to swim. My treasure, my blessing; my Jewel.” He lifted Julian up with an echoing cackle.
“My heir!”
That was many years ago.
Now that he had become a juvenile, Julian found himself travelling, his adventurous nature having been encouraged by his sire, who believed wholeheartedly that it would prepare him for when he became the next King of the Deep.
“Such spirit must be encouraged in these dark waters, my Jewel,” his sire told him sagely. “You will learn much and more- experience that which can only be experienced once, and see things that can never be seen again.”
“Yes, sire,” Julian had clicked eagerly in response.
And so, after making sure he was ready, he departed the depths and left home, curious about what he would find in the world beyond.
Julian drifted lazily through the towering bones of a long-dead leviathan, his tail pushing him along in coiling waves as he carved the image of the beast into a stone slab with a claw.
Movement in his peripheral had him tensing and he was quick to dart away from the open. Hiding behind a few large stones, he quietly watched as a pod of sirens swam past the leviathan and into deeper waters.
He poked out of his hiding spot once the coast was clear and swam back to where he’d dropped his slab.
Julian had noticed that there had been more sirens around his territory lately, and considering his current position, that meant one thing.
It was spawning season.
Annoying, Julian thought with an irritated puff of bubbles as he brushed off the sand from the stone and prepared to return to his temporary cave, upset at having to spend the rest of the twilight avoiding the numerous pods that would more than likely swim through his territory over the next few hours.
But, as he swam back to his cave, he spotted a flash of black and yellow dart into the mouth of it, and he paused.
A fish? He wondered, fins stilling as the instinct to hunt overtook his mind in a primal haze.
Julian had been feeling rather peckish as of late. And from the size of the fish’s tail, he wouldn’t need to feed again for weeks.
Lucky day~
With a flick of his long tail, he was then right in front of the cave, and with another flick, he was charging inside with claws outstretched, his eyes more than capable of spotting the fish that had stupidly wandered into his den, and then-
A frantic wail sounded out from his prey just as he dug his claws and teeth into its flesh and Julian, in the middle of coiling himself around the fish, flinched back at the unexpected sound.
Which is when he realized that the fish wasn’t actually a fish.
Oh, Julian thought with a rush of embarrassment upon locking eyes with the poor mer who had nearly become his dinner. Oops.
The mer stared back at him with thinly veiled terror, confusion and pain.
With a sheepish croon, Julian released his grip and uncoiled from the mer, slowly backing away with balled fists, keeping his claws out of view.
“Forgive,” Julian clicked after taking a moment to remember the correct dialect, mentally thanking his sire for teaching him as he did so. “Saw tail. Thought fish.”
The mer, who had pressed himself against the far wall the moment he had been granted freedom, blinked at him in disbelief.
“You speak our language?” He clicked back curiously. “Are you a trader?”
“Not trader,” Julian replied. He motioned to the weeping punctures along the mer’s tail, wincing at the sight of the bitemark he had left on the mer’s belly. “Regret.”
“I forgive you,” the mer chirped back reassuringly, swimming closer to study him. “What are you doing here then, if you’re not a trader? Most sirens live in the deep, don’t they?”
“Spawning time; am hiding,” Julian explained.
“Oh,” the mer crooned in understanding. “Not ready to nest?”
Julian made a seesaw motion with his hand. “Travelling. Learning.”
The mer cocked his head to the side. “Is that how you learned our language?”
“No,” Julian clicked. “Taught.”
“Who taught you? A mer?” The mer asked excitedly, drifting close enough for Julian to notice the thick, curling scars across his body in a familiar pattern he had only ever seen in the deepest darkest of craters where the bones of creatures lay, bound even in death.
Chains, Julian’s mind supplied darkly. This mer was chained.
“No. My sire,” Julian replied after a brief pause. “Very old. Knows all.”
The mer swam around him, seemingly unable to remain still, drawing Julian’s gaze away from the scars and to his surprisingly emotive fins. “So, does that mean sirens learn from their sires? What about their carriers?”
Julian easily followed his movements, his tail adjusting to allow him to spin in place, fins flaring as they kept him balanced. “No. Sire wanted teach. So, I learn.” Julian scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Not good speaker. Song better.”
“I think you’re doing great,” the mer told him sincerely before suddenly swimming up to Julian’s face. “My name is Bumblebee. What’s yours?”
“My name is Jewel~” Julian crooned, each curling note reflecting all the tender adoration his sire was capable of fitting into the name.
“Jewel…” Bumblebee parrotted slowly before pouting. “It sounds prettier when you say it.”
Julian couldn’t help the clicking laugh he let out as he coiled himself on the cave floor. “Am siren. Name is song.”
Bumblebee swam down and reached out to poke at his rippling fins with something like fascination. “That makes sense.”
Julian allowed the curious touch, his instincts unbothered by the other’s proximity. And when Bumblebee settled down beside him to initiate a friendly grooming session, Julian was quick to return the gesture and soon the two of them were picking away at dead scales and algae from one another, clicking and crooning back and forth as they spoke about this and that.
“How long will you be staying, Jewel?” Bumblebee asked him as he scraped off a barnacle from the base of one of his fins that Julian hadn’t even noticed before then.
“Until next moon,” Julian said, relaxing at the sensation of gentle claws picking at the barnacle’s residual adhesive. “Avoid travel when spawning time,” Julian explained. “Sirens like swarming to strong mates.”
“Swarming?” Bumblebee crooned, sounding surprised. “You don’t perform courting rituals?”
Julian gently untangled a small bundle of fishing line from where it was only just visible beneath the mer’s tail. “Sirens not court when spawning time. Spawning time is-” Julian squinted, searching for the word. “Spawning time is boom.”
Bumblebee chittered and draped himself over Julian’s tail. “Boom? You just make a lot of guppies during your spawning season?”
Julian nodded. “Yes. Many sirens not survive in deep. Need boom to keep blood clean.”
“Ohhh,” Bumblebee clicked in understanding. “Mer don’t have that problem, so our spawning seasons are less about making guppies and more about mating.”
Julian raised a claw to begin picking at his fangs, delicately plucking at any residual scraps of fish that had gotten stuck there from his last meal. “Make sense.”
“Do you have a mate waiting for you in the deep?” Bumblebee asked him curiously, wriggling a little further up Julian’s body in a way that reminded him of seal pups.
“No,” Julian replied, using one hand to push lightly against the mer’s face, making him slide back a few inches. “Only sire.”
“Good!” Bumblebee trilled as he shot up and began to swim in rapid circles around the cave. “I have to go now, but I will keep visiting.”
“That fine,” Julian clicked with a lazy shrug. “See you, Bumblebee~”
The mer trilled out his own farewell before nearly ramming into the cave wall as he left, Julian watching after him in bemusement.
How odd, Julian mused to himself.
Julian found himself in Bumblebee’s company more often than not in the following weeks; the two of them going on hunts together, or playing in the currents, and, on one memorable occasion, indulging in pufferfish poison.
“See stars in skyyy,” Julian cooed up at the distant surface, his eyes dilated where he lay on the sandbed, Bumblebee laying a few feet away where he was gnawing on the now dead pufferfish.
“Wowwww,” Bumblebee trilled back, his own eyes just as dilated. “I see them toooo.”
They both coiled their tails against one another, giggling like juveniles as they watched a passing swarm of jellyfish, all of whom floated awkwardly in the tide, bumping into each other and sending a few spiraling down to where the two of them lay.
Bumblebee was quick to snatch one into his hands which he pressed into Julian’s curious claws.
“Woooahh,” Julian clicked, squishing the jellyfish in his grasp. “Small jelly.”
“You should eat itttt,” Bumblebee encouraged. “Tates like cloudsss.”
Julian ate it.
It did, in fact, taste like clouds.
Julian had been, foolishly, swimming in the open on a particularly dark night, having gotten caught up in a long hunt that resulted in a bounty of tuna and clams.
He didn’t see the dark shadow barrelling towards him until it was too late.
Claws dug into his arms and Julian was stunned for half a second before he let out a furious hiss, his tail twisting and coiling around the siren who shrieked at him in response.
“Little prince~” she sang, her claws sinking even deeper into his flesh. Normally a very attractive trait in a mate, not so when Julian had just gotten groomed by Bumblebee. “You look so lonely this far away from the deep~”
“I’m fine,” Julian trilled back, his fangs flashing at her threateningly.
She bared her own fangs at him, her eyes bulging out with intensity. “But surely you would like to spawn?”
“Not this season,” Julian snapped. “Find another mate.”
She growled and dug her claws in even deeper. “No.”
“So bet it,” Julian spat before surging forward to snap his jaws around her throat, and consequently right over her gills, eliciting a panicked yelp from the siren who was quick to untangle herself from him.
She narrowed her eyes at him and flared her fins, Julian doing the same as they began to circle one another, preparing to fight-
Only for a flash of yellow and black to ram straight into the siren, where Julian watched the ensuing violent scuffle with wide eyes until, rather abruptly, the other siren broke away and swam off with a distressed scream.
Bumblebee remained in place, glaring after her before he suddenly darted up to Julian and wrapped him up into his tail.
“I dropped by to leave you some fish, but when you weren’t in the cave I thought you went hunting. And then I heard you fighting,” Bumblebee explained, claws already picking at the torn scales around Julian’s arms before he leaned down to lick at the wounds, sealing them shut with his saliva.
“I am fine,” Julian assured, observing the tending of his wounds with a fascinated expression. “I am lucky there was only one. Fighting off a pod would have been hard.”
“Let’s go back to your cave before we have to worry about a pod showing up then,” Bumblebee clicked as he reluctantly uncoiled his tail from Julian’s, though he was quick to snatch up one of his hands as they swam back.
They darted into the safety of the cave, letting the curtain of seaweed fall across the entrance, completely hiding them from sight.
And there, Julian became aware of a glaring hole in the mer’s story.
Julian eyed Bumblebee curiously. “... I do not see any fish, Bee.”
Bumblebee froze from where he had begun to drape himself across Julian’s tail. “... they must’ve swam away?”
Julian chittered in amusement. “Try again.”
Bumblebee ducked his head. “Okay… I wanted to spend the night with you. You’ll be leaving tomorrow, right?”
Julian blinked. “Oh… I suppose I do.” He glanced out of the cave with a contemplative expression. “Explains why she was so desperate.”
The sensation of smooth scales sliding against his brought his attention back down to Bumblebee who was watching him intently.
“Would you like to spend the night together?” The mer asked him slowly, his tail coiling around Julian’s in a way that could not be misunderstood.
Julian considered the question before suddenly surging forward to push Bumblebee against the cave floor.
“Yes,” Julian crooned. “But only if I am giving.”
Bumblebee flashed him a fanged smile. “That works~”
The next morning, Julian woke to find a pile of fish waiting for him, Bumblebee nowhere to be seen.
He gorged himself on the meal, carved a loving message into the cave wall before leaving. He passed by the siren from before who pouted at him, though he noted that her belly was distended, so it seemed like she managed to find a mate in the end after all.
“Do not hold things off until the last moment next season,” Julian told her.
“Yes, little prince,” she huffed before swimming off in the direction of the spawning grounds.
Julian turned back to look at his cave, spotting a flash of gold and black that looked to be waving at him.
Julian waved back before swimming into the depths, already making plans to return next season and, potentially, staying with Bumblebee until he was called to the throne.
In the meantime, however…
Let's see, Julian thought to himself. Where is Atlantis?