Chapter Text
Alya often described Marinette as the most curious mermaid that ever swam in the Seven Seas. Marinette had her own opinions about it, the main one being the fact that curious wasn’t such a bad thing to be, there were certainly worse qualities. But try telling that to Alya. Or Tikki, for the matter.
But if you would have lived almost 160 years old without seeing a human ever, you would have been wondering about it just as much. And while swimming so close to the surface during daylight wasn’t the most cautious move, the curiosity simply ate her alive. She didn’t want to see a human for the first time when she will have to kill him.
Marinette looked up in wonder. She could see the dark bottom of a ship and even in the distance she could hear the noises coming from aboard. The young mermaid bit her lip. She wasn’t planning on following a ship, she was just heading for her secret island for the night. This had to be some kind of fate play. Just a peek, nothing could happen if she took just a small peek.
Marinette swam upwards, till her head was out of the water so she could get a clear view. The ship looked grand, but then again she didn’t really have something to compare it too, besides the wreckages laying on the bottom of the sea. What caught her attention instead was movement at an open window. Smiling, Marinette lowered her head, while swimming a little bit closer. She wasn’t gonna miss the chance to see a human. A figure appeared at the window, tinkering with a wooden tool Marinette couldn’t name. She had to suppress a gasp at the sight of him.
Maybe she was easily fooled cause this was the only human she saw, but she refused to believe he wasn’t the most handsome one out there. The golden locks were in stark contrast with his black clothing, but she couldn’t really see his eyes. Quite a loss, she really wished to see them, given that’s what mermaids took from humans. As if he heard her wish, the sailor looked up, glancing at the sea. Marinette felt her mouth drop open. She shouldn’t be surprised they were so beautiful, just like the rest of him. Green, she thought idly. That churning, passionate green that the ocean turns during a storm. Marinette had an impulse to approach, she wanted to see him up closer. But it seemed her luck run dry for that day. The sailor turned his head, looking in her direction, but she took cover under the waves. Marinette inhaled, hoping he didn’t see her and then swam away. The sunset was close anyway and she needed land to walk on. Enough adventure for a day.
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“I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.” Marinette whispered out loud, trying to convince herself more than anything.
Truth to be told, Marinette thought humans were rather tasteless from what Alya, Tikki, and Juleka use to bring. But the coming of age ritual wasn’t something you could swim around and she knew very well what would happen if she didn’t kill a sailor and bring his eyes to her sisters.
“Ugh!” she stopped abruptly with a whack of her tail. ”I can’t do this. They are gonna rip me to shreds.” she grabbed at her hair, annoyed and started shaking her head as if to make the thought go away. It didn’t work.
“You can do this.” Marinette said again while clenching her fists.
‘Of course, you can silly. But you don’t want to.’
The mermaid gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her mind and kept swimming. The world was full of sailors, one wouldn’t be missed. Or that’s what she kept telling herself while making her way to the surface. She looked around, reluctantly swimming behind a big rock and hiding her tail. Maybe if she was lucky enough there won’t be any ship passing by.
Of course, she fortune failed her shortly as a dark ship harboring black sails came into view. Good, they are pirates. They are a plague to the seas, she would probably make some people a favor by killing one, right?
But then again mermaids were also considered a plague to the sea and she wasn’t exactly fond of anybody trying to kill her or her sisters. Marinette sighed while glancing towards the ship again. It looked like they started lowering boats on the water. Of course, there was an island a little bit north, they probably want to go ashore. At least she won’t have to bother to climb the ropes to snatch a pirate off the ship. Marinette grabbed at the rock. ‘Come on you big jellyfish. Just finish the job already.’ She took a deep breath and started singing. Few seconds passed and then she noticed the crowd from aboard stilling.
Alright Marinette, that’s it. Just go grab the one in the boat and be done with it.
She swam near the boat, but her song stopped abruptly when she saw the pirate from up close. How unlucky could she be for her prey to be the human she saw days prior? Extremely unlucky as it seems.
Marinette bit her lip. She should be done with it by now, but those damned green eyes haunted her for days and she wasn’t about to miss the chance to see him up close. Marinette used the side of the boat as leverage as she stared up at him with big curious eyes. He was even more gorgeous up close, she felt really bad thinking she would take his eyes. She had a feeling they won’t be half as alluring when they’ll be lifeless.
In her daze, she seemed to lose the track of time, given as a few seconds later the pirate blinked and shifted his gaze to her. All the alarms rang in Marinette’s head, pushing her to start singing again put him back in the trance and drag him underwater already, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She saw the pirate gulp and give her a once over, but he didn’t seem threatened by her.
She really wanted to touch him. Was his skin the same as hers? Were those golden locks as soft as they looked? As always the curiosity got the best of her as she raised a hand out of the water. To her surprise, the pirate mirrored her move.
Warm. His skin was warm. That’s all that crossed Marinette’s mind when his hand covered hers. There was something in his eyes, the mermaid couldn’t quite place, something resembling hunger. Quite the irony, given she was supposed to be the one eating him. He leaned a little coming closer to her and she couldn’t be more pleased. Marinette reached for his face brushing her palm against his cheek, then slipping it in his hair. She tilted her head as he kept approaching. There was something bubbling inside of her, making her fins twitch with joy, knowing he was coming to her willingly.
Mine, she thought possessively while reaching with the other hand around his shoulders. His breath was hot against her lips and yes, almost there, just a little bit closer. To her surprise, the pirate blinked, something passing fastly in his eyes. And the next thing she knew was that she was the one being grabbed.
Marinette growled, tightening her grip on his shirt and trying to pull him under the water, but he seemed to have his own ideas. Why in the world was he trying to pull her in the boat? That wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She gave a hiss, knowing that without fangs she probably looked like a petulant child. But it was enough for him to loose his grip on her waist and Marinette used the chance to thwack the boat with her tail and escape from his grip.
Dinner, that’s what I am, she thought angrily while swimming away.
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Captain Chat Noir knew his defects and frankly, stupidity wasn’t one of them. And yet, he let himself be seduced by a blasted mermaid like he was some greenie sailor who just set a foot on the deck days ago. But he’d be damned if he didn’t catch her. Mermaids were having amazing prices on the black market. If you were crazy enough to get near one.
“Wake up you bunch of bumbling fools.” he yelled at his crew who still didn’t get out of the trance induced by the mermaid’s song. ”Kim! Turn this fucking ship around. Now!”
The wheeler who clenched his head like he had a terrible headache, marched to his position and executed the command as well as he could. Angry Captain Noir wasn’t something to wish, not even upon your worst enemy.
“Chat, what the hell is going on?” Nino asked while grabbing onto a rope to maintain his equilibrium while the ship made an abrupt turn.
The captain gave him a pointed look.
“We are catching ourselves a goddamned mermaid, that’s what.” he let himself smirk a little.
She’ll be in his claws soon enough.