Taekook || Siren!AU / Mermaid!AU / Deaf!AU
The Pacific Ocean holds secrets beneath its waters. Secrets like sirens, hunters that lure their prey into the deep with their Voices. But when a diving accident renders Jeon Jungkook deaf, Kim Taehyung fin...
Sirens are creatures of secrecy much like the other beasts lurking in the uncharted depths of the ocean. Communities akin to those of their land-dwelling cousins are avoided in favor of nomadic pods of twos and threes, often just between mates and their offspring until the latter grow enough to sustain their own life. Once, Taehyung came across parents guiding two offspring, and it had been so strange to find that one hadn't destroyed the other that he followed them for a few kilometers just to see how the four-piece unit interacted. Anticlimactically, it turned out it was much the same as his own pod, just with an added body. It was common knowledge that as harmless as daranizingane could be, they were ruthless animals when threatened, and Vodanizingane valued their survival as much as any species would. Parents took care of children, but the bond between them faded with little remorse as soon as the offspring found their own group. Taehyung knew one day his friends would adopt an abandoned child and he'd have to move on and perhaps find his own mate. When that time came, the bond between the trio would fade until they could swim past each other without so much as a glance. The only relationship that lasted among sirens was created through ikanan, and all others could be discarded with ease to ensure survival and secrecy.
Humans, needless to say, are a little more complicated than that.
"Ah, it's more like I left. We had a fight," Taehyung explained, shrugging his shoulders with apparent ease.
Jungkook remained silent, big doe eyes trained on Taehyung's face. What more did he want? Wasn't that enough information? "We -" a pause, fingers twitching, and then a moment of genius "- they never really got over it when I came out."
He dropped his head as if terrified of what his young friend would have to say. Homophobia was a human notion, and one that would never make sense to Taehyung. What kind of species hated those who loved differently than the so-called status quo? It didn't add up, but in this moment, it certainly saved his ass.
Jungkook's eyes clouded with poorly-kept irritation, and Taehyung congratulated himself on his cunning. "That's such bullshit," the human snapped, and the words were so malicious that Taehyung almost forgot he was supposed to be mute. "I'm so sorry. I'm glad you're okay without them, you don't need their approval. You don't need anyone's approval."
