Chapter Text
“You… you know?”
You had whispered hastily, the words tumbling out of your lips, breathless.
“Yes, I do!” Sun chirped, though his smile was slightly strained now.
You were just standing there.
Frozen.
Eyes locked on the roses in his hands.
Had you not liked them? Had he done something wrong?
Every second of silence felt like agony, and he could slowly feel his hopes dropping by the minute. A pool of dread began filling up his chest, replacing what was once excitement.
His hands were trembling slightly now, still outstretched toward you and despite wanting nothing more than to take the flowers and throw them into the depths of the ocean, he found himself frozen as well.
Slowly, way too slowly for his liking, your arms finally outstretched toward him and took the flowers by their stems, as gently as possible.
He finally lowered his arms in relief, his muscles groaning slightly in protest from being still for so long.
His eyes searched your face, but it was blank, the only sign that you were still even analyzing what he had given you was your eyes, which had begun darting this way and that.
And then, to his surprise, your face suddenly erupted into a blush.
The sight was adorable, and that pretty pink on your cheeks was surely a good sign, right? Right?!
But you were so silent!
Ohhh how he wished that you said something, anything in response!
Maybe he got the wrong type of flowers?
Or maybe Freddy was wrong and human mates don’t do these sort of things.
Your hands were running over the petals, eyes bright and slightly dazed, until finally (finally!) he could see an adorable wobbly smile slowly make its way across your face.
His heart nearly melted at the sight, a warmth overtaking his chest.
He caused that look!
Him!
This was good, right?
It had to be!
“They’re beautiful…”
Your voice murmured, soft as ever, and he wanted to commit that lovely tone to memory as best as he could. Your voice alone could rival any siren’s song by a mile. Along with it, was the pretty red covering your face and that smile that nearly caused him to hold back from tackling you into a hug with glee.
But he refrained, knowing you could get hurt on the tough hardwood floors of your home, much different from the sand that helped cushion your fall whenever he would do the same in greeting.
He fidgeted with his hands, claws scratching idly at the scales on it, feeling slightly restless now.
Surely, this meant you were interested, right?
Ohhh but what if you still didn’t know?
He opened his mouth to clarify. To ask if you accepted his courtship present, but before he could your small human box started making noise.
He recognized it from when he had handed it to you when it had fallen into the ocean, back when he had seen you a second time and you barely knew each other.
You jumped at the sound, walking over to the table it rested on and picked the small object up, making it finally cease the strange musical noises coming from it.
He couldn’t really see your expression with your back turned to him, but he did notice the way you tensed up suddenly.
You cursed under your breath, quickly grabbing your bag from the floor, still focused on the box as you distractedly walked up to the door and-
Slammed it in his face.
He blinked in surprise, staring at the door in his stupor.
He could faintly hear your muffled voice, murmuring about being late, before the sound of another door opening and slamming shut was heard.
Then silence.
You were gone.
He doesn’t think you noticed that you were still holding his flowers.
~~~~
You don’t know how it happened.
One minute, Sun admits to knowing that the gift he was presenting you has romantic undertones to it, promptly causing your brain to explode.
And the next you’re at work.
It’s as if your brain was currently an old computer, the literal equivalent of an error message popping up as it slowly starts rebooting itself, until finally realizing what you had done mid-shift.
Sun gave you flowers.
And in response you slammed the door in his face.
You’re currently in the break room, taking your break earlier than usual as you practically have a mental breakdown over your actions.
Why did you do that?!
You can’t even explain your own actions to yourself because frankly, they don’t make any sense.
You’re smart, you know this.
But around Sun and Moon it’s as if all your braincells collectively stop working.
You groan, practically slumping in the cheap rickety seat reserved for employees and plopping your head down on the small table.
The flowers lay glumly in front of you, the small overhead lightbulb causing the plastic wrapping around its stems to flicker in an almost mocking shine.
What if Sun thinks you’re not interested?
Or worse-
What if he thinks you hate him?
You simultaneously want to cry and scream in frustration.
Too caught up in your own misery, you fail to notice the other’s presence enter the room. A tap on your shoulder making you jump, blearily opening your admittedly tearful eyes as you look in their direction.
Vanessa looks more concerned than usual, which is saying a lot.
You guess that you’re not very good at hiding your current glum mood.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
You take a deep breath.
“Sun gave me roses.”
Vanessa blinks, tilting her head.
“….I can see that.”
You shrink into yourself.
“And I slammed the door in his face.”
She stays silent for a moment, slightly baffled, eyes studying your expression closely.
“Were they that bad-“
“NO! They were beautiful!”
She jumps at your sudden interruption, watching you groan and place your hands on your face.
“What if he thinks I hate him??”
Your muffled voice speaks from behind your hands, eyes shut tightly as if that would make your actions go away instantly.
It’s silent in the break room now.
The only sound reaching your ears being the small rumbling of the air conditioning vents that go throughout the whole building. You shrink into yourself further, unable to help yourself from picturing Sun’s heartbroken expression, staring at the door after you had promptly slammed it in his face.
You hate it.
Your brain, unhelpfully, compares it to the small incident from a few weeks prior, where Moon had a similar expression. Promptly avoiding you for weeks afterwards.
And your heart immediately breaks in two all over again.
“Okay, fuck this.”
You come back from your spiraling thoughts at Vanessa’s stern voice cutting through the air. Lifting your hands just in time, you see her pocket her phone (had she been using it this whole time?) before reaching over for you and promptly pulling you up from your seat.
Sniffling, you blink away a couple of tears as she practically shoves the flowers into your hands and leads you out of the break room.
“Vanessa, wha-“
She shushes you, shaking her head as she simply pulls you forward through your work place. It’s only when your eyes land on the front doors that you stumble back in shock.
It doesn’t seem to deter her, though, as she simply opens the front door and ushers you too, despite your shocked and frankly confused protests.
It’s only when she guides you to her car that you finally stop in your tracks and turn around, stopping her from ushering you any further.
“Vanessa, what’s happening? Where are we going?”
“You’re going to that dumb beach to talk to those dumb mermaids of yours.” She says, crossing her arms, and you sputter in shock and slight embarrassment.
“Vanessa- I have work-“
“I’ll cover for you.”
You go silent, watching her as she levels you with a stern glare, like a mother scolding her child.
When you make no further protests, she opens the passenger door to her car and then enters through the driver’s door.
The car rumbles to life and you can’t help the embarrassment overtaking you as she drives you back to your home.
You don’t even know what to say, hands unable to stop fidgeting with the flowers as your brain scrambles to catch up on what’s happening.
Part of you is grateful, of course, she had quite literally offered to cover for you during your shift (you’re guessing that it had something to do with what she was doing on her phone) but the other…
The other is absolutely embarrassed that your little pity party was so bad, that she had felt the need to bring you back home to sort this out with them in the first place.
The car came to a stop in front of your house, Vanessa exiting immediately while you scramble to follow suit in your flabbergasted state.
“Go change into your swimwear, okay? I’m getting something.”
“Vanessa-“
“I’m serious, go.”
At her urging, yet strangely fed up tone, you finally listened and left her rummaging around in her trunk as you went upstairs to change.
The flowers were promptly placed in a vase, hoping that the water in it would help preserve the droopy petals a little while longer.
When you went back out, she was no longer at her car, though you spotted some footprints in the sand nearby. You followed the small path from the front of your house leading towards the back porch and shore, spotting her in the distance.
The beach was calm today, waves slightly rowdy but still manageable. The warm late noon sun landed gently on your skin in greeting as you approached her.
As you got closer, however, your eyes widened at the sight. Catching her saying something to none other than Freddy.
Both of their gazes turned to you as you approached, their previous conversation cutting off.
“I was originally looking for your friends before I found him lurking around here. Surprising, considering Freddy’s never near shore unless it’s to meet Gregory. Says he was looking for you.”
Your eyes land on Freddy, who regards you with a warm and slightly apologetic smile.
“Hello! I apologize for coming by unannounced, I have a matter I need to discuss with you.” He says politely.
You blink in response.
He needs to discuss something with you?
Is this about you slamming the door in Sun’s face?
Did he feel so badly about it that another member of his pod came to be angry at you?
But Freddy doesn’t seem angry.
His expression is just a friendly and welcoming as always.
“What… exactly did you want to discuss?” You finally say, forcing your voice to be level and not give away how strangely anxious you felt at the moment.
Freddy and Vanessa share a glance for a moment, leaving you to watch on in confusion as Vanessa suddenly hands you something.
“Put this on.”
A scuba mask.
“Vanessa-“
Had she known you were looking for scuba diving equipment all this time?
Still, this is so sudden.
You’re not sure what to think when she moves the air tank from behind her (how hadn’t you noticed that before?) and places it right in front of you.
“I understand this is quite sudden, but what I need to discuss with you requires us to venture into my pod’s home. I hope you do not mind, but I understand if you feel uncomfortable going with me. Please do not feel pressured to.” Freddy’s voice reassures you.
You trust that he’s not planning on luring you out to drown you, you feel he is too nice for that and that Vanessa wouldn’t be so comfortable letting you go with him if he had bad intentions.
Though, you were quite baffled about the whole thing.
He wanted to take you to where he lives?
Why?
Would the others even be alright with such a thing? Letting a random human see their home?
Isn’t that where Sun and Moon live as well?
It is a hasty decision and although a small part of you is slightly nervous and scared, the other part of you, the one that is intrigued by this whole thing (and also maybe secretly hoping to find a moment to speak with Sun after the incident earlier) is far stronger with the urge to agree.
So you do.
You slip on the mask, Vanessa helping you fasten the oxygen tank to your back as you slip on the flippers.
“Don’t worry about returning it, I haven’t used this in years and thought it’d be more useful for you since you’re probably be going into the water more often now to go see your two boyfriends.” She whispers to you, making your cheeks redden immediately.
You try to protest weakly, taking out the breather out of your mouth to say that the two mers were not your boyfriends, and that you weren’t even sure you could still be such a thing with Sun after what had happened, or that Moon even felt similarly for that matter.
But Vanessa just deadpanned at you, much to your embarrassment.
It was even worse when you saw Freddy watching the whole exchange with an amused gleam in his eyes, as if he knew something that you didn’t.
Red faced, you practically waddle into the water, flinching slightly at the sudden change in temperature. The coolness of the waves embracing your warm skin in a gentle, yet abrupt, greeting.
You glance back over your shoulder to catch Vanessa practically sprinting back towards her car, probably having wasted enough time as she now needed to cover for both of you.
You made a mental note to thank her when this was all over, she was much too kind to you, before pulling the breather and mask back on properly.
Freddy’s gentle hands guided you deeper into the waves below.
~~~~
Moon sighed in annoyance from his spot in his nest.
He had been very rudely woken up earlier than usual to the rest of his pod arguing with his brother.
Saddened chirps as well as slightly panicking ones reached his ears, yet he had half a mind to just go back to sleep all together.
A large, very loud, slam and his brother yelping in surprise is what woke him up again moments later.
Hissing in alarm, he instinctively got into a defensive pose, claws out and teeth bared in a threat display.
Instead, he was met with a giant boulder blocking the only entrance to his den, his brother’s clicks and chirps of protests filling the room as he clawed at it.
“What the hell happened?” His gruff voice called out, still sleep-ridden, though definitely much more awake now.
He was most definitely not getting back to sleep anytime soon.
His brother, in turn, looked practically panicked over to him.
“They- They won’t let us out! Said I was complaining too much and that they’re going to take matters into their own hands.”
“What did you do now?”
Sun gasped, as if offended.
“Me? Nothing, nothing! I was only telling them what had happened when I gave starlight the flowers!”
He turns back, clawing at the rock again, Moon watching on with narrowed eyes.
“And they just locked us in here?”
“Exactly! Bad, bad, bad… they won’t let us out and it’s getting late! Star could be getting back from work soon! No, no, no… not good, not good.” Sun muttered anxiously, his tail twitched in the water, clawed hands going up to pull at his fins on top of his head.
Moon blinked, suddenly realizing their situation.
If they were trapped in here by them, then he couldn’t visit his star today.
Sun already got them flowers, spending at least a little time with them today. But if he didn’t show, they might think he was avoiding them again.
He growled at the thought, tail flicking behind him as he propelled himself across the water to slam into the boulder.
The rock shook a bit, falling slightly out of place at the strong impact, it was worth the ache on his side now. An alarmed yelp from Chica could be heard from the other side, as well as Monty’s growl in frustration, much closer.
“Let us out, gator.” He rasps, retracting his sharper claws and slipping his hands into the slightly uneven exposed crevice, that could now be seen due to the earlier impact.
He succeeds in leaving marks along the rock’s surface, but not in moving it.
“Can you two calm down? We’re only lettin’ ya’ll out when you sort this whole mess.”
What mess?
Moon growled in frustration, his brother joining him in trying to pry the boulder further open, it almost worked, before resistance from the other side kept it in place.
A flash of a green gator tail could be seen and Moon only got further frustrated when he realized it was Monty keeping them captive.
They didn’t even have any other means of exiting, the tunnels in their den only leading to further cave with no exits leading into the open ocean.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, given that no predators could surprise them by sneaking in through a small crevice unbeknownst to them. But it was proving to backfire on them now, as their only exit was blocked by the very mers they trusted.
“Let us out! This is bad! Rude, so rude! You’re breaking the rules!”
He could hear his brother’s voice rise in frustration as well as he spoke, the gator on the other side paying him no mind, much to the other’s growing frustration.
Moon got his brother’s attention, signaling to try and slam into the boulder at the same time.
Sun grinned in response, swimming deeper into the den just as Moon did, all while muttering about ‘rude gators’ before they both propelled themselves at the same time and slammed into the boulder.
Once more it twisted out of place, the crevice big enough that they could actually somewhat see from the other side, but not big enough to slip through, as Monty’s strength kept most of it in place.
“This is too much… maybe you should just let them out.” Chica spoke, slightly anxious, she was sitting in the sand a little bit away from the entrance. Moon could just about see up until her worried eyes.
“No. Freddy’ll be here soon.” Monty’s muffled voice spoke nearby, presumably from where he was holding the rock.
“I don’t get why we’re doing all of this in the first place. Just let the pups sort it out themselves.” He could hear Roxanne comment from nearby, but couldn’t see her, out of view from the small glimpse he’s able to get now.
“We did! And look what happened? They will sort it ‘emselves. Just with a lil help from us.”
The hell is that supposed to mean?
Hissing in response, Moon was just swimming back again, going to slam into the boulder once more. His brother following suit, when Freddy’s muffled voice spoke in greeting.
“Took ya long enough!” Monty’s muffled voice spoke, at which Moon ignored, preparing to propel forward once more.
Just as he was about to, however, the boulder was suddenly moved.
It all happened so quickly, he could hardly think.
One minute Moon was practically swimming towards the entrance once more, before all of the sudden you were all but slammed into him and Sun’s arms, just as the boulder closed the entrance once more.
He looked down into your equally wide and disoriented eyes, suddenly realizing what the other members of their pod meant by ‘fixing this mess’.
“Star!” His brother was the first to speak, eyes wide in alarm and fussing over you as he checked you over, babbling on and on as he apologized for the other’s ’brute behavior’.
How in the world were you this deep underwater right now?
He had half a mind to shred that gator with his claws when this was all over.
And the rest of them, really.
What were they thinking, bringing you down here? You could get hurt!
His own hands travelled to your face. You didn’t seem to be struggling for air, wearing some kind of weird gear along your face.
Still, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Meeting his brother’s gaze, they both seemed to think of the same thing, each grabbing one of your hands and gently leading you further into their den.
The implications of it all had his face burning, but he had to remind himself that you were not mates yet, and that it truly didn’t mean anything.
He didn’t miss the way your eyes darted around the space, watching curiously.
He hoped it was to your liking, they hadn’t exactly been expecting company but Sun always kept it clean. A strange nervousness overtook him that only seemed to happen around you, as they led you into the tunnels of their home and toward the spot they had so eagerly been preparing in the off chance you ever accepted their courtship. Your very own part of their home, just for you.
~~~
Your eyes could not stop darting about the space, a sense of anticipation overtaking you as you held each of their hands respectively.
When the tunnel began to shrink in size, Moon fell behind you, as Sun continued leading you from his spot in front of you.
You were kind of getting claustrophobic, but the two presences nearby helped even the feeling out.
You were safe.
You were completely certain of that.
The tunnel finally ended, expanding into another bigger cave, the two of them leading you upwards until you each emerged from the water. An air pocket of sorts, as they led you towards the nearby stone ledge, seaweed and seagrass placed all along it.
Two warm hands encircled your waist, you could not stop the fluttering in your chest as Sun gently placed you atop the ledge.
And you couldn’t help but get a strange sense of deja vu to when he had done something similar before while handing you those beautiful queen conch shells with the pearls.
Surprisingly enough, the seaweed made the ledge quite comfortable, and your eyes flicked around the space as you found bioluminescent plants arranged all around the space, making the cave seem like it was littered with beautiful stars.
For a random cave below the ocean, it was also strangely organized and clean. You wondered if the mers were in here often, given how behind you, there was a large sort of nest, similar to the ones you saw when you had first entered their home, though this one about three times the size. As well as an assortment of human items in the corner, which had you wondering how in the world they had gotten their hands on something like that.
Your attention was brought back to the two mers in front of you, pulling themselves up onto the ledge with you.
You could finally take off the breather now that you were no longer underwater in order to speak with them properly.
It’s quiet.
The gentle lapping of the waves echoing against the darkened cave’s walls. You sit with Sun to your right and Moon to your left, fidgeting with your hands as you force yourself to break the silence.
“I’m sorry-“
“I’m so sorry-“
You and Sun pause, blinking, you turn to look at him in surprise.
“Why are you apologizing, Star? My pod is the one that dragged you here… so rude, so, so rude!” He mutters, hand going up to pull at his head fins again.
You stop him with a gentle hand, intertwining your fingers with his own.
“It did catch me by surprise, but I was going to look for you anyway to apologize for slamming the door on you earlier.”
Sun paused at that, eyes going wide for a moment while he regarded you with a small smile, though, you could tell by the look in his eyes that it made him nervous.
“It- It’s alright! You were in a rush, yes, yes!”
You cringed internally at that.
“It was still wrong. I didn’t even mean to it’s just…”
You paused to take a breath.
“When I’m around you guys… I just get all stupid… I don’t know why…” You grumbled, forcing the words out as embarrassment overtook you suddenly.
You felt silly admitting it out loud, even if it was the truth.
You just get so… distracted around them. Your brain goes all fuzzy and it makes it really hard to think logically.
Is that such a crime?
As Sun tilted his head curiously, you only felt yourself grow more embarrassed, feeling your face flush as you looked away to avoid his stare.
After a brief silence, he finally spoke up again.
“Does that mean that you… like the flowers, then?”
His small hesitant voice makes your heart ache slightly, a yearning feeling overtaking your chest, the overwhelming urge to just grab him close and reassure him that everything is okay so tempting.
To bring back that bright smile that’s always on his face when he’s around you.
But you refrain from reaching out like you want to, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.
Instead, you hastily look up and nod quickly.
“I love them! Really! They were so pretty!”
The series of happy chirps that escape from him make it all the more worth it, your body relaxing in slight relief as you watch him wiggle in place, long tail fin causing ripples along the water’s surface from where it’s slightly submerged.
He leans closer to you now, and you can’t help the way your face burns more at the close proximity. Especially when he starts to nuzzle your cheek in response, rambling all the while.
“I’m so glad you like them! I worked so, so hard to get them, had to be sneaky so I wasn’t caught and-“
He’s suddenly pushed to the side, an indignant yelp escaping him as he flops on the ground.
You barely have time to reach out for him and check if he’s alright, before Moon’s face comes into view. His arms wrap around your waist and he leans his face close to yours all over again, breath ghosting along your skin.
His red eyes meet yours, slightly irritated, tail rippling the water behind him.
“I can give flowers. More than Sun. Better too.” He rasps, insistently, ignoring Sun’s offended gasp.
You blink up at him in surprise, your stomach stirring with butterflies at the implication of his words.
Though, you try your best to rationalize with yourself. He probably doesn’t know what it means, the intention behind such a gift.
Plus, some friends give other friends flowers sometimes, it doesn’t have to mean anything.
But your brain takes you back to Sun’s words, his confident expression as he tells you that he knows it’s usually gifted to someone romantically.
And Vanessa had said that the pile of shells at your door had similar implications as well.
And that included Moon’s pile.
So, wouldn’t that mean-
He couldn’t possibly-
You were brought back to reality when Sun practically tackles Moon, catching the other by surprise as he lets out a growl.
Your eyes widen as you watch them both fall into the water, causing massive waves to ripple along the surface. The once calm currents now a bubbling and rumbling mess of waves, crashing against the surface of the stone ledge and splashing your legs and face slightly.
They’re fighting each other.
You watch them surface once more, multiple hisses and gurgles coming from Moon, while Sun hisses and growls in response at whatever he has been saying, dodging a swipe of claws as he goes in for a bite.
“Stop!”
They both pause, your voice echoing along the cavern walls and reaching your ears once more. They swiftly turn to you with wide eyes.
Taking a deep breath to calm down, you force your voice to lower.
“You know I hate it when you guys fight.”
They both shrink into themselves at your words, watching you with equally guilty expressions.
Meeting each other’s gazes, they finally let go of each other before swimming back to your side, once again sitting next to you as they each grabbed one hand in each of their own.
Sun grabbing your left hand and bringing your knuckles up to his forehead while Moon did the same with your right, both of them muttering an apology.
You softened, squeezing each of their hands slightly and telling them that it’s okay.
They visibly relaxed at that, much to your relief.
You had forgotten just how… competitive both of them could be.
But while at the time, you had chalked it up to it just being a sibling rivalry, you’re starting to suspect that there’s a different cause entirely.
Heart speeding up, you try and regain the courage to speak the questions that have been plaguing you this entire time. Hoping entirely that you aren’t somehow ruining this.
Taking a deep breath and unable to meet their eyes, you look down at your lap, watching the waves brush against your legs as you finally mutter the question.
“Did you really mean it? That you knew it was… romantic to give someone flowers?”
The silence in response is loud and resonating. You wait with bated breath, heart pounding so loudly against your ears that you are afraid the two mers around you can hear it.
The response finally comes from the yellow-scaled mer next to you, his voice uncharacteristically soft and slightly breathless as he speaks right next to your ear.
“Yes.”
Your heart leaps to your throat, your breath hitching slightly in anticipation.
You forced your dry mouth to swallow, voice cracking slightly as you nervously asked your next question.
“Does this have anything to do with the shells and pearls you both gave me? Were those…. also romantic?”
Sun and Moon look at each other, hands still in your own. Their bigger size easily dwarfs yours, claws sharp enough to puncture through your fragile skin easily, yet you feel safer than ever in their grasp.
Then, at the same time, they both speak.
“Yes.”
Their hushed whispers hit you like a ton of bricks, your face warming up fully now as your brain once again shuts down at the revelation.
Yet, the two mers next to you continue speaking. A hand cups your cheek softly, and you meet Moon’s soft gaze.
“We really like you, starlight.”
His slightly rougher and deeper voice causes you to shiver. Using that soft voice he only reserves for you, though now, the enamored look on his face is clear as day.
No one has ever looked at you like that.
Like you’re the greatest treasure Moon had ever laid his eyes upon.
Like the only thing that matters in the world is you, and you alone.
The sight causes your already sped up heart to practically run laps at this point. Your whole chest filled with such a warm feeling that you’re afraid you’ll start to melt right here in his hold.
A hand runs gently through your hair and you force yourself to look away from Moon’s gaze in order to meet Sun’s equally adoring one.
“We would really love to be yours. Your mates, if you’ll have us.”
He speaks gently, clawed hand moving from your hair to grasp as your hand again.
Your wide gaze can only watch as he slowly brings your hand up to his lips and gently kisses along your knuckles.
You can barely take it.
And yet can’t get enough of it, all at the same time.
The feelings inside of you are so overwhelming, watching as the two give you all their attention, basking in both the soft light of the sun’s rays upon your knuckles and the night’s stars caressing your cheek, twinkling along your face along with moonlit beams.
You’re surrounded by it completely.
And you don’t hesitate for a moment, rushing out your response in fear that such beautiful beings that have found their way into your grasp will slip away at any moment.
“Yes, yes- Of course I will. Both of you!”
And oh
The way their eyes simultaneously light up could rival the heavens themselves.
Too soon are you tackled by each of them, back hitting the soft seaweed-moss filled ground as the two of them surround you, tails coiling around your legs and intertwining with one another. Sun pressing soft kisses along your cheek from your left, feather-light pecks covering the left side of your face, while Moon nuzzles into the crook of your neck from your right.
You’re a giggling mess at this point, face probably beet red from the sudden affection, though the two mers next to you aren’t doing any better, the happiest chirps, giggles and purrs echoing across the cavern intermixed with your own joyous laughter.
It almost feels like a dream.
That’s all your hazy mind can offer as an explanation.
Though, as Sun finally ceases his kisses along your skin in order to bury his own face on the other side of your neck, and Moon hums against you, you know it’s real.
~~~~
You don’t know how long the three of you lie there, practically wrapped in between both of them.
Simply basking in the bliss of being with your new partners….
The thought has you giddy all over again, and you have to force yourself to bury your face on the top of Moon’s head to stop yourself from giggling all over again.
The three of you are much calmer now that time has passed, and you hear Sun murmur happily from his spot still buried into your side.
“So, so happy… ours, all ours…”
You smile, stomach erupting with butterflies at his blissful tone, and caress his back in response, eliciting a purr from him.
“Been trying to court you for so long, thought you knew, got sad when we realized you didn’t. Thought you weren’t interested…. ran away… sorry, starlight.”
At Moon’s explanation, things finally started to make sense.
“So… that shell you gave me with the pretty pearl was to ask me to be yours?”
“To accept our courtship, yes.”
“And since I got confused, you thought I wasn’t interested?”
Moon nodded silently, burying his face into your neck again.
“Sorry for avoiding… sorry, sorry…”
You sigh, smiling softly.
“It’s okay, I’m just glad I finally got an explanation. It wasn’t the best to be left in the dark like that.”
At your soft murmur, Moon buries deeper into you, cooing gently in apology. The arms around you tighten slightly guiltily.
Your hand petting along his head appendage causes him to relax upon you.
You already forgave him, and you remind him of just that.
“Thought you knew cause you accepted our gifts! And- And gave us the pretty rocks!”
Wait-
“So, all your gifts were you guys trying to court me?!”
You can’t help the slight disbelief in your voice, eyes widening as both mers practically sit up and look at you with exasperated expressions.
“Yes!”
Your brain explodes.
For a moment, you’re left sitting there, stunned as you stare at their incredulous expressions.
For some reason, you had somehow convinced yourself that the queen conch shell with the pearl was the only romantic gift.
But it was actually all of them??
Blinking again, your mind suddenly flashes back to the multitude of gifts along your door. The reason there were so many, as well as the reason the brothers had been so competitive and vying for your attention in the first place.
They had been interested in you from the start.
Groaning in embarrassment, you press your hands along your face.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so dumb!”
The resounding chuckle and coo in response has your face burning more in embarrassment.
A gentle hand nudges at your fingers and you peek from behind them to see Moon’s soft smile.
“Not dumb, didn’t know mer culture.”
Sun chirps from beside him, nodding his head rapidly in response.
“Our fault! Bad to assume!”
Their reassurance made you feel a little better, but you still couldn’t help still feeling slightly embarrassed at the whole thing.
A part of you wished there was some sort of step by step guide on all of this.
Just so you could’ve known all of the meanings to these things and would’ve found out way sooner.
You stifle a sigh.
“I just can’t believe you’ve been trying to court me for so long…”
They both chuckle at that, Moon leaning down to cuddle into your side again, voice soft as he speaks.
“Worth it, for our starlight.”
Your face heats up at the sappiness of his words, smiling softly as you chuckle. Though, Sun’s thoughtful yet slightly teasing smile catches your attention.
“Technically, Star courted first! By sharing food with me, strawberries! Seen as romantic to mers.”
His words make you freeze.
Images of Sun’s sudden bashfulness around you plague your mind, the orange coating his face (It was a blush! He was blushing! How could you be so blind?!) and his eagerness at not only trying your food, but sharing the fish he had caught for you in turn, have you reeling.
“And when Star complimented my scales, said they were a pretty color. Also courting. Romantic.”
Moon added, causing your face to burn to the point that your cheeks started stinging.
“What?!”
Both of them chuckle again in response, teasing, but lighthearted in nature, almost as if they found you endearing, not malicious in the slightest. All the while, your poor frazzled brain started to wonder what else you had accidentally done that counted as courting, or the gestures your own mers had done while vying for your affections.
It’s safe to say that the three of you had a lot to talk about that night.