𝘐 𝘋𝘰 𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦

        Somewhere, under the Coral Sea, a young, barracuda mergirl swam quickly after schools of herring. Her silvery tail flapped wildly before suddenly stopping to inspect some sardines in her grasp. In the distance, she heard some wailing and a few merboy snickers. Well, I have nothing else to do. Swimming over, she discovered a few merboys and a sort-of-cute, weirdly-adorable, chubby, crying octopus. "Hey! I haven't had breakfast yet, and you're scaring away all the fish. Unless you're offering to be my morning meal, then shut it and scram!" The bullies quickly dispersed, frightened by her proposition. The octopus merboy was still crying, and she felt helpless, not really knowing how to pacify a crying cephalopod. "Uh... do you want a sardine?" She held out a limp silver fish. He mumbled a really quiet thanks, and eventually, his waterworks started calming down. "So, what's your name? I'm Cressida, but you can just call me Chrysi." The merboy sniffled out and Azul. "Do you want ta play hide-and-seek with me?" Azul nodded mutely. " 'Kay! Then I'll count to ten while you go hide!" Chrysi clapped her hands over her eyes as he swam away. "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...... Ready or not, here I come!" The second she opened her eyes, she noticed a quivering, black mass of tentacles behind a bush of seagrass. Cute. "Hmm... Where could Azul be?" She wondered out loud, inspecting a nearby pot, making her way towards his hiding place. She heard a boyish giggle as she parted the seaweed to see Azul's smiling face. "You found me!" Chrysi laughed with him. "That was fun, wasn't it? Now, it's your turn to find me!"

        The same merboys teased Azul, telling him he was fat, that it was weird to spew ink. Their sniggers faded when he didn't start crying. He only stared bitterly at them, mutely expressing his silent hatred. They started whispering amongst themselves. With a "Let's get out of here.", they turned and swam away. Huh? They usually do a lot more. Chrysi appeared beside him, as if manifesting out of thin air (or water). She mouthed "Are you okay?", and he felt obligated to reply. "I'm alright. Just their usual taunts. Telling me I'm fat. Or that I'm strange." She looked questioningly at him. "Why do you care what they think?" He didn't reply, so she continued, "I think you're adorable." I'm... adorable? And the tears started flowing. Chrysi panicked. "Uh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!"  Instead, Azul hugged her tightly and mumbled, "No one's ever called me cute before." She smiled just a bit sadly, ruffling his hair, and he whispered, "Can we stay like this just a little longer?"

       There were only two merboys this time. The others had quit on trying to make him cry, but these two were persistent. He was still hurt by their harassing, but no longer expressed his emotions in tears. "Haha, look at you! Still fat and chubby even after all our advice." "And very much still a pushover." the flounder added. "I don't even know why that barracuda still stays with you, even though you're so weird. You're not normal, like the rest of us. You don't belong here." Just feeding his insecurities. "Move, crustacean." Chrysi's voice was laced with anger, glaring daggers at the red-haired crab and flounder. They smirked, full of malice, first at her, then at Azul. "Looks like your friend is here to save you, fatty. We'll see you again, but don't forget about what we said.", and swam away, casting contemptuous glances over the shoulders. As Chrysi swam over, cold metal pressed against his back, hot with nervous sweat. Still too insecure to do it. "Hey, I brought my stuff like I promised." She handed him a small chest that jingled as it moved. He seemed drawn to the silver and gold coins inside, and Chrysi grinned. "Told ya my stuff was cool. You can have my collection of human change, y'know. I don't really need it.", and it seemed to cheer him up, inadvertently starting Azul's coin collecting hobby.