In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.
(Giyuu is a Demanson's Cichlid mer purely because I think the colors match him perfectly.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudotropheus_demasoni&ved=2ahUKEwiM2e_el_6FAxWn38kDHYiBB1AQr4kDegUI-gEQAA&usg=AOvVaw0luDlwjtwljbMoY-QbkukX )
The waters were extremely calm today.
The river lazily rolling past carrying leaves and sticks by in it's surface. Your legs slowly feeling the current push by as they kicked back and forth in the water, creating ripples swirling where the water made contact with your skin. It was cool compared to the warm sun above you as you sat there weaving your new basket to be used for carrying fish back home later. It was certainly a good day.
However you didn't see the massive shadow under the cool moving water. It's black and blue massive body blending in perfectly with the shadows under the currents and cloaking it from view. As it got closer and closer and closer to your unsuspecting form.
You didn't see two strong hands reaching out from the depths and pull up a large body from below the dark waters. Pulling it's soaked body from the river as water dripped off its body in thick droplets as blue eyes focused on the girl still oblivious to the creature's presence behind her as it silently dragged itself forward. A maw of fangs opened up wide and clenched around a large chunk of prey in its mouth as it crawled ever closer to you. You continued to weave your basket until you slowly stopped. Scrunching up your brows before turning around to face the large thing right behind you.
FLOP!!
A large catfish was dropped two feet away from your body before the merman immediately crawled backwards towards the water. You watched with a smile as the large blue and black tail slid across the grass wetly until he pulled himself back into the water with a large splash noise. A few seconds later the top of his head and eyes poked up from the river watching patiently for your reaction to his gift.
"Hi, Giyuu. Good to see you again." Your eyes looked at the fish again before pointing at it. "Is this for me?" He nodded and without hesitation you reached out to pull the flopping fish towards you. "Thank you. I'll be able to make good fish fillets tonight."
He still didn't approach you awaiting for the female to give him permission to get closer. You've been doing this song and dance for years since you both met at children. It seemed like only yesterday that you were a little girl wondering around to play in the river and found him as a guppy stranded on land. In your innocent mind you didn't really comprehend the gravity of the situation that a literal MERMAN was before you, you only helped him get back into the water after he had begged you to help him get back to his older sister.
Since then you've seen him on multiple occasions at the same river and you'd become fast friends. Playing games and going swimming together your parents just thought you had an imaginary friend which just worked out quite well for both of you. However it wasn't until you both were teenagers that he started to change his behaviors from innocent child to lovestruck puppy. Bringing you trinkets like little seashells to shiny rocks and maybe a homemade necklace or bracelet. Teenage you thought nothing of it and kept them in your room assuming it was just a thing mermaids did. It wasn't until you were speaking to his sister on one of the rare occasions she'd visit that she gave you a confused look after you showed her the conk shell he gave you.
"You do know he's trying to court you right?"
You blinked at the red herring mermaid as she rose a brow at you. "What?"
"My brother's giving you gifts. That's how our kind court each other. If you've been accepting them all, he's under the impression that you definitely are romantically interested back. I thought you already knew that."
"WHAT?!" You nearly dropped the conk shell into the water.
"You'd better talk to him and straighten things out before he starts bringing you prey. That's the next level of our courting."
It was ironic because right after she said that, Giyuu showed up with an armful of lobsters for you. His sister laughed and you felt mortified at the sudden innocent smile he gave you hopeful and excited. You didn't have the heart to say no and only accepted them with an awkward smile. That's how it's been for years now, although the shy behavior didn't come about into you both were about twenty. He'd wait for you to give him permission to approach you sometimes giving you a gift of fish or a shiny piece of jewelry he got from who knows where. Which you thought was sweet with how shy he had suddenly become.
"Well come here then." You beckoned him forward.
He didn't hesitate now. Swimming up again to heaven himself out of the water and crawl across the bank towards you. You only smiled when he pressed a kiss to your forehead before flopping over to wrap his arms around your waist and lay his head on your lap with a content sigh. It made your dress wet but you didn't mind. Just reaching out a hand to comfortably run through his hair. Despite his constant swimming it never seemed to be tangled.
Eh. You didn't mind being courted by a merman in the end.
