Chapter Text
"His name is Hannibal." The shop owner told Alana. "His owner came in and dumped him off when he was a baby. He's mature now though. You lookin to breed? His species of mer is incredibly vicious. They're best kept in a large tank on their own, but they're low maintenance. You barely have to clean the tank." The man continued on. It was clear he was trying to get rid of Hannibal, the reason why was the unclear part.
"Why is there a lock on his cage?" She asked.
"He's a blue ringed octopus breed. They tend to climb out of their cages if they get bored. I lost some good fish and mers to him. I also had a hell of a time getting him back in to his cage, his bites are venomous. However, he is completely docile otherwise. If you take him now I'll throw in a bowl of feeder fish for free along with 40% off the tank."
"I already have a tank." Alana sighed, already giving in. She felt so bad for the poor thing. Hannibal looked so bored and alone in his barren tank. All the other mers were in tanks with each other, playing. Most people bought mers in groups of at least three or four. It was considered inhumane not to, the only kind that prefer to be in a singular tank are betta type mers, and apparently Hannibal's breed. She nodded her assent to the man at the front desk before paying and leaving with her new pet.
***
Hannibal was intrigued. He was almost ready to say he was excited. He was getting out of that rat trap he was forced to call a home. There were no hiding spaces for him, and everything was too well lit. He had to deal with morons pressing their faces up against the glass. His tank was woefully tiny as well, he was barely able to stretch his appendages! Chilton was incompetent when it came to his care, Hannibal hoped his new owner wasn't as bad.
When they got to Alana's home, she opened the door and was rushed by her dog, Applesauce. Alana was extremely glad she wasn't holding Hannibal in her hands, having the foresight to leave him in the car while she let her dog run off her energy. When she was sure Applesauce wouldn't demand her attention for at least ten more minutes she went back to grab Hannibal. The look of impatience on tiny his face was comical. He must have seen her trying to fight off a smile though, because the dull blue rings on his tentacles lit up an electric blue.
"Aww, don't be like that Hannibal. It's your fault for not trusting me in the first place." She reasoned. After a few more seconds of glaring at Alana, Hannibal lowered his proverbial hackles and the rings on his appendages went back to a dull blue. Hannibal seemed to sigh and looked towards the front door, expecting to be carried forward. Alana smiled at him one last time before setting off towards the living room, where a large in tank sat. It was full of live plants and lovely hiding places. As soon as he was set in the water he began to tear at the bag, desperate to get some decent exercise.
Alana watched in fascination as Hannibal tried everything he could to rip through that bag. Eventually she had pity on him and grabbed the nearest pair of scissors, cutting the top off, and dumping the bag, and Hannibal into the warm water. The second he was free he darted this way and that, testing his appendages and exploring his boundaries. After that Alana went to go get the bowl of feeder fish out of the car. The man said only two a day should be enough. She took a few fish out of the bowl and put them in a jar, dropping the jar in the tank. Hannibal paused in his exploration to see what Alana dropped into his new home. He darted over when he saw it was food. His mouth watered when he saw the bright shiny goldfish, frantically bumping against the sides of their tiny prison.
Hannibal worked hard to unscrew that damn jar, but when he did, his satisfaction was apparent when the two fish swam out of there like their lives depended on it. Hannibal gave chase, catching and killing the first one expertly. He watched the other one swim in circles over head. He would kill that one later, after it grew a little. When he finished his meal he swam into a nice cavern that was spacious on the inside, but had a few peepholes to look through in case Alana came back.
He could already tell he was going to like it here.
***
"I need you to take care of my mer." Came Jack's voice over the phone. "Bella and I are going out of town for a while so I need someone to look after him. He's a betta type mer so he shouldn't need too much care. Will you do it?"
"Sure Jack I don't see a problem with that. You have to bring his tank or something, because I can't keep him with mine. Both of them are a vicious species and I don't want to risk either being hurt."
"Yeah, sure. Just give him blood worms twice a day. Also if it's possible, I have a floating mirror that I put into his tank for about ten minutes every other day, just to give him some exercise."
"Ok, got it." She said before hanging up. She looked at Hannibal's tank to see his small face looking curiously at her. She had the strangest feeling that Hannibal had been listening in on her conversation with Jack. She laughed nervously at herself, that was impossible.
***
"Thanks again Alana!" Jack called from the car. Alana waved to them as she watched Jack and Bella drive off. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. Bella was a delight, but dealing with Jack not so much.
She went upstairs to find Hannibal peering into the tank situated on the shelf next to his much larger one. Hannibal had a look of stark curiosity on his face, while the betta, Will, looked like he was looking for a place to hide. His beautiful large fins were all fanned out, and his tiny hands were balled into fists. He was trying to act tough and it seemed to amuse Hannibal. He glanced at Alana with a curious look, silently asking what Will was.
Without thinking she responded to the unasked question. "He's a rosetail betta mer. They're an odd breed. Typically violent loners. Normally crossbreeds are docile, even the sharks enjoy each other's company, but not bettas. They get along with some breeds though, non-aggressive plain looking ones though." She said before shaking herself, she was talking to a mer. Hannibal probably had no real interest in what she was saying. She left to go feed her dog and turn in for the night.
***
Hannibal had never been more thankful that Alana didn't put a lock on his tank that night. Hannibal wanted to get to know that lovely betta in his tank, to see if he was as interesting as he looked. He climbed out of his tank and quickly slithered into Will's, waking him.
"Hello," Hannibal said. Thats about as far as he got, before will punched him in the nose. His gills were working overtime and his fins were fanned out in an effor to make himself bigger. Hannibal reeled back in shock before reaching forwards and grabbing a fist full of Will's hair.
"Listen to me when I say never to that again. I am the bigger threat here, and there is nothing you can do about it. Now, we are going to go back to my tank to discuss what to do about your rude behavior so far hmm?" Hannibal said in a light tone. It made Will shiver a little.
***
This little betta was becoming more addicting by the second. Hannibal thought to himself, as he shoved yet another tentacle inside Will's slit. The young betta apologised for his earlier outburst in his tank, he claimed he wasn't used to being aroung others. Hannibal saw this as an opportunity to seduced himself a mate, he was getting bored in his own tank, and bettas had always interested him. He loved watching the way they floated into their tanks, beautiful and deadly, some even bearing scars from previous fights.
Will was touch-starved as many of his kind unknowingly were. So it didn't take much to seduce Will into mating with him. Now that he had the little mer, he wasn't letting him go any time soon. He grinned as Will choked out another wail at being so brutally stretched, but it was in obvious pleasure. Hannibal quickly retracted his appendages from Will, only to replace them with his hectocotylus. Will continued to moan loudly, his gills working to take as much oxygen out of the water as he could. Hannibal had no plans for stopping anytime soon, he just enjoyed seeing his new mate struggle.
***
"Ah-haaa Hannibal! Will groaned for what seemed like the millionth time that night. After Hannibal had mated him, he tried darting around the tank to try to explore, but he found moving to be too difficult at the moment. So he settled for slowly drifting from plant to plant, resting of leaves when swimming got to be too much. He could feel Hannibal's eyes following him around the tank. The only thing that stopped him from exploring the large tank completely was Hannibal darting up behind him to enter him again. Will's slit was still gaping from the last time! He tried to push Hannibal of, he really did! But then Hannibal had touched something inside him that felt so good, his tongue no longer had room for protests.