#Aquaman is the mermaid in the glass tank | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brokenjardaantech · 3 years

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late at home

For @lehenne, Nolfalvrel, and Anonymous_IDFK.

summary:

Hector goes home late. Fluff and late-night quietness ensues.

notes:

Unbeta’ed so all typos and mistakes are mine and please point them out if you see any.

Special thanks to nolf, lehenne, and anon for allowing me to wing it with their mer!connor ideas even though I haven’t been around for long. Without them, this will not exist.

By the way, on Hector’s appearance: please imagine a fusion between movie!aquaman and mcu!thor. That’s all I know on the matter.

also on ao3

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The rain does nothing to wash a day’s worth of grime away. All it does is soaking Hector’s clothes, making them heavy and cold as fuck and weighing him down, but still he makes sure to shed all moisture he can from the fabric before opening the door and stepping into the house; his headache from both exhaustion and dehydration is killing him, and he doesn’t need Hank yelling at him for making a mess on the floor again. The surfacer always has a way to distinguish between the natural colour of the dark wooden floor and the stains on top of it.

He hangs his dripping coat on the brass hook on the wall by the door and goes straight to the bathroom, not to clean himself up, but to turn on the shower and drink straight from the shower head, pouring litres of much-needed water directly down his throat and somewhat relieving the pounding in his head that is threatening to turn his brain into mush. His headache now subsided, he moves to go to the kitchen to cook himself a serving of noodles or five.

That is when his eyes swivel to the neat row of toothbrushes on the counter. Shit. He forgot that he actually has his children back now, and all the ruckus he caused during his short trip from the front door to the bathroom.

Hank will be so pissed if he wakes up the brothers.

Paddling softly to the corridor, he finds the door to the children’s room half-open, and when he holds the knob and pushes it so that the gap is wide enough for him to peek into the room just to find the lights out and the beds empty. Not again, he thinks as his heart thunders in his chest as he closes the door properly this time. He goes to the other bedroom which he and Hank share and immediately calms down from the scene in front of him: sitting up with his back against the headboard is Hank, a pair of wire-framed glasses perched low on the bridge of his nose as he reads from a cardboard picture book that looks tiny in his hands, and Connor, wrapped in a fluffy towel and suckling on its helm, curls close to his father’s belly, small fingers twisting into the fabric of Hank’s shirt, his eyes half-closed from what must be drowsiness. Nines is there too with a towel knitted from seaweed around his body and a protective arm thrown around his brother’s neck, though instead of listening to what his surfacer father has to say, he seems to be focused on glaring at the surfacer and crushing Connor underneath him with his slightly higher body weight, and Hector knows it’s an instinctive reaction on Nines’ part to protect Connor from harm. Getting Nines to trust his surfacer father isn’t easy, and not long ago did he start tolerating Hank’s existence around Connor; it will be a long journey before he trusts Hank completely. All the lights in the room are switched off except for the lamp on the bedside table on Hank’s side, casting a warm glow on the man himself and placing the brothers in his shadows.

He doesn’t want to disturb the fragile peace in the bedroom, so even though Hank doesn’t seem to notice that he is home or at least doesn’t react to it, Hector goes to the kitchen to cook himself an entire family pack of noodles (which is like five portions but surfacer portions are always so small), cracking in an egg or three (he isn’t counting) and pre-washed vegetables and crab sticks into the pot as well for taste because damned if he has another tasteless bowl of noodles again in his life. If he takes the extra effort to strain the noodles after all the ingredients are done and then adds some powdered cheese and chilli oil into the mix, well… no one is stopping him from finally making something that can fill his stomach after an entire day without food because he forgot to bring his wallet again.

Surface life is so fucking primitive and he won’t have it any other way.

He sets aside a small bowl for Hank in case the surfacer wants to have a snack before going to bed and consumes the rest in record-time because he is hungry and he also wants to be at his family’s side as soon as possible. Which he does after soaking the bowl and utensil he ate with in the pot he cooked the noodles with, and he finds Connor already asleep but still suckling on the towel on his chin and his grip on Hank’s shirt still tight and twisting the fabric. Nines also looks like he is halfway to the land of the dreams but is struggling to stay awake probably to keep his brother safe, and his eyes slip shut as well the moment Hector steps into the room and makes himself known to everyone still awake. When his father moves to pick him up with a muttered ‘Off to bed’ from where he is lying half on top of Connor and half on the bed, he doesn’t protest and lets go of his brother easily, and Hank picks up the smaller mermaid as well after setting the book aside and taking off his glasses, the nose pads leaving two red indents on the bridge of his nose which Hank rubs away with his thumb and index finger. With Nines on one arm, Hector opens the door to the brothers’ bedroom, and the two of them fuss with the child they are holding respectively. Connor’s side of the room is of a surfacer child’s design with a proper bed wrapped in soft sheets and cramped with stuffed toys and blankets, the light blue walls around it dotted by doodles of surface things like trees or flowers, and Hector has a feeling that he will gain his legs soon, and maybe, just maybe, with the incentive to walk and live like a surfacer, his legs - and his tail, by extension - will finally start to heal. If not, surfacer prosthetics are much easier to fit and find anyway, and Connor will finally take his first step towards recovery after the accident that twisted and mangled his tail into an unrecognisable mess either way.

Hank looks up from rearranging the towel around Connor. Blue eyes meet Hector’s amber ones, a small point with his chin chastising Hector for zoning out and telling him to focus on Nines first, and he checks the temperature of the water in the tank that serves as Nines’ bed to make sure it is within acceptable limits before unwrapping the fabric around the mermaid’s body and places his body gently into the water while his head is pillowed on a raised spot, holding it above the water while allowing his body to submerge under the familiar flow of water. He then plucks a small piece of kelp from the shrub at the tip of Nines’ tail, rolls it up, and nudges the mermaid’s mouth open with it, shoving it inside gently so that Nines doesn’t choke on it but can still close his mouth around it and start chewing; Nines’ teeth-grinding won’t be solved in the short future, so for now, using pieces of kelp as a buffer during his sleep is their next best solution. With the blanket now covering his body, Nines sleepily grabs his rock and clutches it on top of his chest, blinking slowly as he no doubt feels the simulated current in his tank before drifting off with the sound of Hector’s croons, and despite the brothers already sleeping, Hank still turns on the projector and shrouds the entire room in the dim, blue glow of simulated underwater effect. For when they wake up, the surfacer signs when Hector lifts an inquisitive eyebrow towards him. Now go take a proper shower. You reek.

He does as Hank says and even brushes his teeth so that he has one more reason to go to bed early. When he gets out to the kitchen, the bowl of noodles he left for Hank has mysteriously disappeared and the pots and utensils have washed themselves, so he runs his fingers through his hair a few times to get them to half-dry before braiding them and plopping himself down next to his partner. ‘Sorry for being late,’ is the first thing Hector says. ‘Bad business.’

Hank nods. ‘I noticed.’

They lapse into silence but no one moves to switch off the lamp.

‘Hank?’

‘Hmm?’

‘What you just did…’

‘You mean reading to the kids?’

‘Managing the two of them at the same time.’

‘Just doing my duty.’

‘Nah,’ Hector rolls onto his side and gives Hank a kiss before the other man can react. ‘You did good.’

Hank doesn’t reply but does draw Hector close to kiss him properly. ‘Night,’ he says, still avoiding Hector’s topic. ‘Sleep. You’ve had a long day.’

Hector slips under.

#dbh connor #dbh rk900 #dbh hank anderson #detroit: become human

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hiddendreamer67 · 5 years

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Dragged From The Depths (1)

Ta-da! here’s part 1 of my newest mer AU. I couldn’t decide from the list yesterday so here is an analgamation of ...something in the middle. Part 2 will also be posted this evening when I get home. Hope you enjoy.

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Picani murmured, staring wide eyed into the large tank that took up the entire opposing wall. His colleagues stood by his side, equally in awe.

“Bless you.” Remy joked, but even the coffee intern couldn’t tear his gaze away. Inside was the expedition team’s latest find. From the waist down, it had a dull almost purple tail not unlike a nurse shark, but from the waist up… it was human.

“Doctor Picani, what is that?” Thomas asked, taking a closer look inside. The creature hissed, showing off the fact it had the sharp fangs of a predator. (Er, make that mostly human.)

“Found it just outside the reef.” Deceit explained, taking a step towards the tank. The creature slunk back, ducking into the shadows. “It was disoriented enough that we were able to nab it; the storm must have knocked it astray.”

Deceit gave an experimental tap of his knuckle on the glass. The effect was immediate- the creature came flying up towards the wall, causing most of the humans to take a surprised jump backwards. But Deceit managed to stand his ground, looking over the strange creature. It had cloudy eyes, with violet pupils that turned almost to slits in its clear irritation. Though it flared up and bared its clawed hands, Deceit noted that the creature was no larger than himself.

“Careful!” Picani warned, rushing forwards. “You’ll startle it.”

“I think it’s been startled quite enough already.” Deceit raised his palm as if to display the fish. “Look at it- such a magnificent, undiscovered creature must have been avoiding humanity all this time. By merely bringing it here we’ve turned its entire world upside down.”

“Maybe we should just release it, then.” Thomas suggested, getting an uneasy feeling as it began to release a series of wails. They were muffled by the glass, but even muted it was clear the sound could be compared to nails on a chalkboard.

“What, and waste this opportunity?” Deceit turned around to raise an eyebrow at Thomas. “Surely you don’t want to squander this position, do you Mr. Sanders?”

“Well, no, but-”

“This creature was nearly knocked unconscious when we discovered it.” Deceit continued. “For all we know, it sustained terrible injuries from the storm. Do you really want to break procedure and release an unexamined specimen back into the ecosystem?”

“...no.”

“Not to mention, this is a unique being.” Deceit turned back to the tank. “How have we never discovered such a thing? Does it possess camouflage traits? Is it perhaps actually a mutant government experiment gone rogue?”

“It is freaky looking.” Remy commented, tilting his head this way and that to get a better look.

“But by all means, if you would like to put this government and this planet at risk, the boat is yours.” Deceit took his keys from his pocket and dangled them with a smirk, knowing Thomas wouldn’t take up the offer.

“Okay, yeah, fine, when you put it like that of course I don’t, but you’re kinda being dramatic, don’t you think?” Thomas rolled his eyes.

“...wait.” Picani said quietly, putting up his hand to silence everyone. “Look.”

The crew looked where Picani was pointing, noting how the merman had stopped thrashing. Instead, its head was tilted in almost a curious manner, looking at the keys Deceit held aloft. Wanting to test a hypothesis, Picani reached out and slowly moved Deceit’s wrist. Sure enough, his eyes followed, the pupils widening like a kitten.

“Oh my god.” Remy laughed. “You guys got catfished.” Picani laughed as well.

“This is incredible!” Picani celebrated. “It’s responding to stimulus.”

“You do realize children can do that as well?” Deceit reminded him. “And can I have my wrist back?”

“Oh, yes, my apologies.” Picani grinned sheepishly, releasing Deceit’s wrist. The field specialist rubbed at his wrist with a scowl, the keys jangling back and forth.

“Why is that such a good thing?” Thomas asked.

“Well, I’m sure you all noted that this being is very...humane in appearance.” Picani explained.

“Of course, I’d forgotten how I grow fangs, fins and cloudy eyeballs.” Deceit rolled his eyes, putting his keys away.

“Been there.” Remy nodded solemnly, pushing up his shades. The mer blinked, looking confused as to where the keys could have gone.

“You know what I mean.” Picani chided. “And I have a hypothesis that if we were able to connect with this person on any sort of level, even something as simple as watching shiny objects, maybe we can get to a level of intelligent communication!”

“Oh my goodness gracious!” Thomas gasped. “Just like aquaman!”

“Yes-! Ah, no.” Picani looked confused for a moment. “More like...the Little Mermaid.”

“Are you our little mermaid?” Remy teased, crouching down to look the mer in the eye.

Without his shiny distraction, the mer was quick to react. He hissed, baring his fangs before flicking his tail in Remy’s direction and darting off behind a piece of coral.

“...that’s a yes.” Remy assured the group.

Thomas looked into the tank. Now, all that could be seen was a single fin, as the little guy was just too big to fit behind the plant.

“Do you think there’s more of him?” Thomas asked what they had all been thinking at some point or another. “I mean, do you think he had a family?”

“Well...I dunno.” Picani admitted. “By all appearances, it looks like a person crossed with a nurse shark- which are both very social creatures.”

“If this thing isn’t a freaky experiment, there has to be more.” Deceit assured him. “Because in case you’ve forgotten, that’s how biology works.”

“Are you gonna give us a fish reproduction lesson again?” Remy gagged.

“Maybe we should go looking for its family then.” Thomas suggested. “If it doesn’t like to be alone, we should bring the others here.”

“An excellent idea!” For once Deceit looked ecstatic, throwing his arm around Thomas’ shoulders. “What a wonderful thought, Thomas, and for once I didn’t have to feed it right to you.”

“...thank you?” Thomas wasn’t sure that was a compliment.

“We can go out tomorrow, bright and early on the waves.” Deceit announced. “Intern, you’re coming too.”

“I don’t roll out of bed until four.” Remy argued.

“Then I suggest you set an alarm, and caffeinate yourself.” Deceit gave him a look that meant this was not a actually a suggestion. “What about you, Doc, will you be accompanying us?”

“Why does he get a choice?” Remy groaned.

“How many doctorates do you have?” Thomas reminded him.

“I think I’ll stay here.” Picani gestured towards the tank. “Keep an eye on this lil’ guy, watch for any abnormal activity.”

“Very well then.” Deceit finally released Thomas. “I will see the two of you at the harbor, 6 o’clock.” He glared at Remy. “Don’t be late.”

#sanders sides #mer!sides #mer!virgil #g/t #remy sanders #remy #deceit sanders #deceit #picani sanders #picani #thomas sanders #thomas #virgil sanders #ts virgil #dragged from the depths #mer!au

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