What a catch
When the sea was calm Tony was also. On the rare occasions that he was out with his small yacht when that was not the case he felt thrilled, excited and most reckless.
Today was a calm day and he enjoyed a nice cool beer and the sound of the waves. He had thrown his anchor not far from his home in Malibu.
The genius leaned back in his chair one arm behind his back staring at the starry sky his mind enjoyably blank. This was why he came out here, to stop thinking, to just enjoy.
Tony blinked as a motion went through the boat. Of course his yacht was not an ordinary vehicle but it had a few technological extras and a net.
Yes, Tony Stark, billionaire, philanthropist, playboy and genius was fishing with his yacht. Pepper had rolled her eyes so hard at that, that Tony thought they would never be able to sit right in place ever again.
Of course he never thought he would catch something with it, he was no fisherman but once in a while he caught a little shark or a turtle. He then pulled the creature up, admired it, maybe shot a selfie and released it back into the ocean.
So to not let the creature wait or hurt itself he quickly got up, carefully put away his beer, he only drinks something like that on his yacht because people who fish drink beer, and pushed the button to pull up the net.
The genius nearly stumbled and fell as another motion went through the ship; apparently he had caught a big shark this time.
Humming lowly he kept pushing the button and the net was slowly pulled out of the water and Tony was glad that he put away his beer because he would have dropped it.
“Holy cra- what in the world?”
Two beautiful brown eyes stared at him while he stared at the shaking form of an equally beautiful boy. Well it was half of a boy; the other half was of a fish. A mermaid?
The boy’s tail was bright red but when the dim light of the yacht hit the scales just right the shimmered blue, how was that even possible?
The mermaid, well merman didn’t seem to like Tony staring at him so he began to move his powerful tail and the construct that held up the net as well as the entire boat began to shake.
“Woah there calm down!”
The boy flinched and stopped moving staring at him with big frightened eyes, “please don’t eat me.” Tony blinked almost missing the whispered words.
“What? Why would I eat you?”
The boy swallowed and looked away, Tony noticed how one hand was tightly gripping the net while the other seemed to fumble behind his back.
“Humans eat fish, don’t they?”
Tony nodded, “yeah we do but you don’t really count as a fish, at least not for me.” The boy exhaled and the gills at his neck flared a little.
The genius was fascinated, he was an engineer and not a biologist but the scientist inside of him couldn’t deny how great this was. He slowly walked closer but the boy stiffed eyeing him like he was cornered prey.
“I never thought merpeople really existed, do they all look like you or are you special? Where do you live? What do you eat?”
The boy seemed to shrink as Tony kept asking questions and his eyes darted right and left looking for a way out. As Tony stood right in front of him, reaching out to touch his tail, the boy let out a shriek and the moved backwards.
The genius jumped backwards as well finally knowing what the boy had been doing behind his back. Apparently he had been armed with a stone dagger and had been cutting the net during their conversation.
The merman dropped to the floor through the hole he had made and pulled himself to the railing but his fin was still caught in the net. Tony watched with big eyes as he tried to pull himself free but only managed to get even more tangled up.
“Woah hey there calm down you are going to hurt yourself,” Tony said as the boy lost hold on the railing and slipped back on the floor, his dagger slid away and Tony lost sight of it.
“F-free me human, or I will curse you!”
The genius raised an eyebrow at the boy, “curse me?” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “go ahead I tend to welcome changes in my life.”
The merman blushed, like his face turned completely red and it looked so adorable Tony almost felt bad for him. The boy licked his lips obviously nervous, “ah d-don’t force me human I will turn you into a starfish.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “gods boy, if you intent to threaten me try to be a little more convincing, but this,” he made a vague gesture at the trapped merman, “is not threatening at all.”
Tears pooled suddenly in the boy’s eyes, “please let me go.” Tony swallowed, he honestly didn’t want to. The boy was fascinating and beautiful and the scientist inside of him told him to keep him, to study him, but the decent human being inside of him told him to let the boy go.
“I…,” Tony began and his eyes trailed to the tangled fin, he now noticed the blood that had pooled on the deck. An idea sparked in his mind.
“How about that boy, since I caused you to get hurt I will take care of you until your good again and when you are all healed up I will let you go.”
The merman looked at his fin and then at the human still scared and unsure. It was true that swimming with an injured tail was a bad idea; he would attract predators and would most likely be unable to fight them off.
He looked back at the human, could he trust the man? After all his kind was known for their destructive ways and nature, “w-will you hurt me?”
The human rolled his eyes again, a motion he never seen on a merman or mermaid, “I said I will take care of you, does that include hurting you for you?”
With a sigh he resigned to his fate, “alright, I am Peter by the way.” The human raised an eyebrow, walking up to a weird device, pushing a few round…things.
“Peter huh? I am Tony, and this is Jarvis,” he said turning around to him with a big smile. Peter was about to ask who Jarvis was as a voice sounded out of nowhere.
“Welcome on board Sir, we will arrive at the mansion in approximately eight minutes.”
Peter gaped at Tony who wore a smug grin now, “excellent Jarvis, please empty my pool and refill it with saltwater.” The merman blinked slightly confused but he thought he understood now, he had watched humans talk to each other talking through weird little devices and this must be one of those.
“May I touch you?”
Peter tensed as he was pulled out of his thoughts by that question. The human, Tony, had walked up to him and pointed at his trapped fin, “I want to untangle you before your tail is seriously damaged.”
Peter swallowed but nodded sitting up with his back against the railing. For a moment he wondered if he would be able to jump into the water once he was free but the ship was moving really fast and his tail did hurt a lot.
Tony carefully pulled the strings from the net away moving slow so the boy would not be frightened by him. At some point he did touch the tail and it felt exactly like he would expect from a normal fish.
Cool, smooth and a little slick but he also noticed how dry it already was and that alarmed him. So once they arrived in the cave he had especially made for his yacht, he towed it and called for the elevator.
“Now kid I will have to carry you so please help me and don’t move around too much.”
The boy bit his lip but nodded and so Tony picked him up bridal style huffing a little. The merman was surprisingly heavy which was kind of logical since his tail was probably pure muscle mass.
Peter put his arms around Tony’s neck to hold on and did his best to not move as he was carried away from the water. He didn’t like it the least but at the moment he felt like he didn’t have a choice.
His nervousness however grew as he was carried into a metallic box and he couldn’t cover the yelp that escaped him once it began to move.
The human simply chuckled but gladly he didn’t comment. Peter exhaled once the doors slid open and blinked at the interior of the human’s home. It looked so odd.
Suddenly he was aware of Tony’s scent, he smelled part naturally and part unnaturally, some chemical scent was put over his body odour. The boy noticed that he didn’t mind the natural scent of the human.
“So here you go, all for you.”
Peter looked down on the thing that the human had called pool. It was an artificial lake but it looked so unnatural it almost hurt. He didn’t have time to protest however since he was simply dropped into the water.
Peter yelped as he hit the surface but he immediately calmed as the cool water surrounded him. His wound stung a little but it would heal and in this…pool he was at least save from maritime predators.
He looked up to the human who stood at the rim of the pool and instinctively swam into the farthest corner away from him. It was not quite the distance he would have liked but it would suffice.
Tony smiled at the merman. In the water his scales looked even more beautiful and he watched the light dance over them. The change of colours was incredible to watch and he knew he could spend hours simply staring at it.
The genius noticed of course how scared the boy looked once again but there was nothing he could do about it. He forced himself to step back from the pool and walking back inside his home.
The pool was on his balcony so he could see the ocean while swimming in it. Pepper had rolled her eyes at that too.
Tony strolled inside and walked up to the kitchen opening the fridge, he let the doors open so he could talk with Peter if he would emerge from under the water again.
As soon as he left the merman indeed relaxed and peeked out of the water his eyes barely over the surface. Once Tony was inside he swam to the rim and placed his arms on top of it.
Tony of course noticed but he didn’t look so he wouldn’t startle the boy. He pulled out a half-eaten sandwich from the fridge wondering what the merman normally ate.
“Hey Pete,” he called taking a bite from his sandwich. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the boy flinch but he didn’t hide underwater again.
“My name is Peter,” he yelled but his voice lacked assertiveness. Tony turned to look at him taking another bite while slowly walking towards him.
Peter watched him warily but Tony didn’t get close to him, instead he stopped at the doorway, “you hungry?” The merman frowned and seemed to fight internally against himself.
Finally he nodded, “yes.” Tony swallowed, not because of the food but because of the sound of the word. Gods if the boy were a human and old enough he would absolutely hit on him.
“Well great tell me what you eat and I will feed you.”
Peter thought for a moment, “I eat seaweed and crabs and sometimes fish and sea urchins.” Tony nodded and walked back into the kitchen, “Jarvis did you get that?”
“Of course I did,” the AI replied and Peter flinched a little surprised. Tony smiled and put his plate down, “good, please order us some Sushi and make sure I get a nice fish delivery for the boy tomorrow.”
“At once, Sir,” the voice replied and Tony grinned at Peter. The merman frowned, “what is Sushi?” The genius almost laughed, “you will see.”
After that Peter was left alone though Tony told him to call Jarvis if he needed something but Peter couldn’t fathom what he could possibly need.
He swam a few circles in the pool but the thing was almost suffocating small so he stopped again quickly. Instead he looked over the sea watching as the sun slowly began to rise.
Peter could see why Tony had chosen this location to build his home. The boy rested his chin on his folded arm which he placed on the rim of the pool.
His tail almost didn’t hurt anymore and he lazily moved his fin through the water. A weird sound sounded through the home and he jumped turning around with an alarmed look.
“J-Jarvis?”
“Don’t worry Master Peter,” the voice calmly replied, “this was just the doorbell, your food has arrived.” Peter frowned, doorbell? Was that the way human announced their presence to each other?
He heard Tony walk into the room but he only passed through his field of vision before he disappeared again. A moment later he came back into view holding a few weird containers.
“Dinner or looking at the time, breakfast is served little one, come on try it.”
Tony sat down on the rim putting the containers down and opening the first one. Peter couldn’t fight his curiosity and swam to him looking at what the human had to offer.
Tiny pieces of fish on top of white…sand? He frowned in confusion and looked up to the man, “what is that?”
Tony smirked, picking up a piece popping it into his mouth, Peter stared wide eyed.
“This, my fishy friend, is Sushi. Fresh fish on top of a ball of seasoned rice.”
He put the container next to him opening another one, “this is fish with rice, rolled up into a sheet of seaweed, try it.” Peter was unsure of the food, he was really hungry and since he was not offered anything else he had not much of a choice. The merman sighed and picked up a piece with white fish sniffing it carefully. It smelled rather weird, there was something sour and sweet coming from the rice and there was also something spicy underneath the fish.
His stomach growled and a little defeated he popped the odd food into his mouth. It tasted…good? The fish was indeed rather fresh and the rice and the spices did add some nice flavour to it.
Tony must have seen his surprise and laughed, “I take it you like it. Good, now try some of the rolls.” Peter swallowed and picked one of the offered rolls to carefully eat it.
He didn’t taste much of the seaweed but it was also delicious and soon he found himself trying everything the man had bought. It was surprising how many combinations there were and Tony explained that a few rolls were with vegetables that the humans grew on their fields.
Peter had always been rather fascinated with the humans but always too scared to interact with them, besides it was forbidden by law to do so.
He also had watched Tony for quite some time now only in the cover of the dark and from a reasonable distance of course. This night however he had been too deep in thought to see the net and as he noticed it he had already been caught.
He could punch himself for his own stupidity but it would serve no purpose, now he could only be thankful that Tony was nice enough to take care of him.
Tony suddenly yawned rubbing his eyes, “I don’t know about you fishermen’s friend but I need some sleep, so…do you need something to get comfortable or are you good?”
Peter swallowed another piece of Sushi before he answered, “I think I am good, sleep well Tony.” The man smiled warmly at him and rose to his feet, “you to boy wonder, night.”
Peter watched him go finishing the last of his Sushi before sinking to the bottom of the pool. The surface was smooth and cold and he was sure even though it wouldn’t be as comfortable as his own nest at home he would sleep well.
With a yawn he curled up eyeing the cut on his tail, he would take care of that tomorrow or whenever he woke up. With his face resting on one of his arms he fell into a deep slumber.