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Complacent (1)

Summary: You meet the new attraction at your aquarium job. Orca!Merman!Connor Kenway x Reader A mini series. CW: Connor in too small a tank/being held against his will. Might become 18+ in future. Dedication: Credit to the lovely @ramshackledtrickster who gave me permission to make a fanfic based on their art (You should absolutely check them out, they're amazing) Word count: 2.3K

You had been working at the aquarium for a little while now. You didn’t necessarily enjoy the job, it was just a job. And yes maybe you felt a little guilty when you saw some of the animals in their enclosures, but especially the poor merman. When the merfolk were discovered it was like some mad dash to get the last toilet rolls at the supermarket. You knew nearly everyone in the aquarium was disgusted with the Director who said he had brought one, the building didn’t have room for such a creature. The biggest marine life you housed were black tip reef sharks and jellyfish.

And unfortunately, so many of them were captured. But you had also heard many of them escaped. So here you were cutting up the bits of fish for some of the animals, your nose scrunching in disgust at the smell and you swore the gloves weren’t working to stop the blood from coating your hands as you practically threw it in the bucket.

Normally you weren’t the one duty for the ‘bigger’ animals, you tended to the fish in the tunnel and the rock pools. But one of the aquarists had to go home because they’d cut themselves on some rocks, and no one really knew how the merman would react to blood. You carefully picked up the bucket and made your way to the door that closed off the merman’s feeding area. Nerves pricked at your skin, even though you’d been told plenty by everyone else that all he’d do was watch you place the bucket and he wouldn’t eat until you leave.

Your hands shook as you pressed your id to the door and pushed it open. The bright lights of the inside area cause you to flinch and squint your eyes. As your eyes adjusted you looked around while stepping into the inside enclosure, taking a deep breath to settle your nerves and almost immediately regretting it as you smelt the fish in the bucket you were holding. And you swore you heard someone laugh as you gagged and held the bucket away from you before there was a splash and your attention was back on the big pool of water in front of you.

You took very careful steps towards the edge of the water, you hadn’t seen the creature yet. Only a few had. He hadn’t even been shown to the public, the Director wanted the public to settle down first. There were still plenty of protests and government talks happening about whether this was okay. You didn’t tell them that you’d been keeping an eye on it all, you didn’t want to lose your job. Not in this economy.

The water didn’t move, entirely serene and you thought for a moment you had imagined the splash. You were so focused you didn’t notice the head slipping out the water and the eyes watching you until a deep rumble filled the room and you nearly slipped into the water “You’re not the normal one they send” It sounds almost like an accusation.

Your eyes widen as you turn towards where the voice came from. They hadn’t told you he could talk. They hadn’t told you he could talk. Your mouth hung open as you tried to process what you’d just heard. And the creature…the man? Raised an eyebrow at your reaction, eyes glancing down at the bucket in your hand and you didn’t miss the look of disgust in his own eyes.

“Do you not like fish?” The words slipped out before you could stop them, and the merman narrowed his eyes at you before he turned from you so he could dive back into the water. Your eyes watching the black tail slide out the water before disappearing, the white patch underneath visible for all of a few seconds. The bucket in your hand felt almost useless now, he obviously did not like the fish…maybe because it was raw you thought. But you left it there for him, right at the edge of the pool just in case you were wrong.

And that night when your shift finished, you found yourself searching about orcas and their eating habits. From the pattern on his tail you thought he might be a ‘transient orca’ (you didn’t even know there were different kinds), and no. They didn’t eat fish.

Which meant the aquarium had been feeding this more man things his body probably wasn’t meant to have. And from what you saw, he was quite large. The pool was probably too small for him. The guilt of him being there felt like it was eating at you. It wasn’t like you had put him there, but by feeding him the wrong things, by not advocating for him, were you not just as bad? The thoughts didn’t leave your mind as you continued your research.

That was your first encounter with the Orca. You didn’t have much interaction with him beyond that, after all he had his own keepers. And you had your own animals? No, that word didn’t quite fit him.

But sometimes you found yourself outside his tank when you’d get in for an early shift, or after the aquarium was closed to the public and you were on night duty. You couldn’t help yourself. You’d just stand there and watch the water. The water that was too bright you’d discovered on one of your researching nights, too bright and too warm. Apparently Orca’s preferred slightly colder water.

Tonight was one of those nights. The aquarium wasn’t too scary once everyone but the keepers and janitors were around. The lights above his tank were dimmed, trying to give some illusion of darkness but it didn’t really work. Your eyes could only make out so far, the water murky in the dark.

The sound of something smacking against the glass caused you to jump, and then you saw the black and white tail moving against the glass leading you to look up. And there he was. Grinning down at you, clearly pleased at himself for scaring you like that.

Your brow quirked up as you shook your head at him. Something you had discovered was that he really enjoyed scaring people when he could. You’d heard a story a few days ago about him grabbing the ankle of one of the keepers, completely freaking him out so that he had to go home.

“You come here a lot, but you’re not one of them” The rumble of his voice pulled you out of your thoughts, and you shrugged at his words. You did come here a lot. Maybe it was a fascination for something new, or maybe it was that tug of your heart with how pitiful? No. Guilty. You felt no end of guilt at how he was trapped in a too small tank when he should be elsewhere.

He seemed more calm that day, you realised as you settled yourself on the edge of the tank. Your shoes next to you and your uniform pants rolled up so you could deep your feet into the water. “No I’m not, I work in the rock pools”. Your leg jerked slightly at the feeling of his hands wrapping around your ankles, the glare he gave you as he bobbed out the water made you give him a small smile and apologise.

He lifted your leg causing you to balance yourself backwards against the platform beneath you, his hands slightly squeezing your leg as he touched the skin. His brow furrowed for a moment before he shrugged and dropped your leg back into the water with a small splash, no longer interested in your limbs at the discovery that it felt like his human parts. “The rock pools?” he asked, confusion showing on his face “Like those tiny bits of water that crabs live in?”

The way he spoke about your job had you pursing your lips while nodding, you hadn't expected to be judged by the marine creature. Instead of listening to someone being harsh on your job, you changed the subject “Do you have a name?” You asked quickly, the Orca raising his brow at your sudden change of subject but he didn’t call you out on it.

He moved to pull himself out of the pool, something you had seen him do a few times and each time it reminded you of how much larger he actually was. And you wondered if he’d let you measure him.Even with part of him out of the water, his large tail still swishes under the water sometimes brushing up against your leg. The skin on his tail felt slightly weird, a little rubbery if you were honest.

Once he had finished pulling himself onto the platform, he turned over onto his back and lay down, his nose scrunching as his eyes closed. His way of basking in this artificial light he had told you once, it was nothing like actual basking but it was all he had. You had almost forgotten about the question you asked until the deep rumble of his voice answered “Ratonhnhaké:ton” the name was a mix of human languages and clicks, one of his eyes opening to look at you as you looked at him, brow furrowed “You can call me Connor if it’s easier”.

Maybe that was the day you decided to do something about him. The day he told you both the name his mother had given him, and the one a mentor had.

You had signed petitions, gone to protests and donated money to try and help ban the use of merfolk in aquariums but none of it seemed to do anything, and the Director was starting to get ready to advertise his new ‘attraction’. You had seen the posters. So now you were trying to think of some way that would let him escape, Connor had told you about the times he’d gotten out of fishing nets and gotten some of the villages’ calves out of trouble.

The sea churned in front of you as you stared out at it, biting at your nails as your eyes narrowed. Hundreds of ideas floating into your mind. Each one seemed crazier than the next. You were only pulled from your thoughts when a large hand wrapped around your wrist and tugged you backwards causing you to turn and grunt and in surprise.

The man grinning at you as he pulled you towards the water, half of his body pulled onto the platform but it slipped slowly back into the lukewarm pool as he pulled you with him. He had you in the water pretty quickly, your arms moving to wrap around his shoulders as one of his wrapped around your waist “Stop thinking” he whispered against your ear. Part of you swears you feel him purr against you.

You tried to untangle yourself from him but he swam away from the edge of the platform until you were in the middle of the pool, your eyes wide as you pressed yourself closer to him “There are other ways to distract me! That does not involve forcing me into the water” you snap at him, and Connor only gently pinches you in response.

“It’s not like you’ll drown” his arm tightens around you “I wouldn’t allow a cow to drown, I’m not that mean” His words have you scrunching your nose, an annoyed noise leaving you as your legs gently kick at the water. Although your annoyance halted in its tracks at the new word.

“Cow? Like a cow?” This time it was Connor who was confused, his head turning to the side. His brow twitching slightly as he looked at you. The hand on your waist dimpled the bit of fat on your hips as he looked at you like you were insane, his eyes only widening further as you repeated “Like ‘moooo’ cow?”

His arm loosened around you as you made the noise of a cow, his face scrunching into a disgruntled look as his tail flicked in annoyance. “What is a ‘moo’ cow?” Even his tone shows his annoyance at your question, the playful grin gone from his face as he tries to learn what you mean. And it takes you a little while to explain about bovines to the orca, who in turn does tell you that Orca’s call themselves similar things.

But now he can’t escape your teasing of calling him ‘Bull’, which results in you getting splashed more often. Both of you ignore how when he has you swimming with him, he purrs when you call him that. His chest vibrates against you as his nose huffs at your hair. Connor has become more and more relaxed around you, his hands often pulling and situating you how he wants. Whether that is pulling you into the water to swim with him, or pulling you on top of him white he basks.

His favourite thing it appears is when you straddle him so that you can clean his tail and fins, his body practically shaking with how loud he purrs while your hands are picking off whatever is on his dorsal fin. “I’ve decided to commit a possible crime” One of Connor’s eyes open to look up at you with a lazy hum, his tail gently splashing the water keeps himself wet “And what crime would that be?” he asks, the way he speaks shows you the comfort he feels and how his entire body has relaxed under your gentle grooming. Lately he’s been less agitated at being stuck in the tank, more relaxed. Less resistant. It worries you, makes you concerned that he’s getting complacent.

“I’m going to aid in an Aquarium break” That has his attention, both of his eyes opening and he pushes himself to sit up until you slide down to where his tail and abdomen meet. The large merman grins down at you with nearly all his teeth showing, that feral excitement gleaming in his eye. Maybe you didn’t need to be so worried about him being complacent.

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