Eregyrn Falls

#7, Mergucket au?

I decided to write the big Stan-Carla reunion that I mentioned a while back.  It was…fun.  I got to mention my own personal headcanon for the MerGucket AU, that red is a rare mer scale color.

Prompt List

              With an unceremonious splash,Stan toppled out of the fishing net and into a large saltwater tank.  He blinked repeatedly, attempting to get hisbearings.  Too late, he looked up at thetop of the tank.  A large lid was placed andfirmly strapped down.  His heart sank.

              How the hell am I gonna get outta here?  A human he didn’t know patted the tank.

              “Well, Red, you’ll fetch a prettypenny at the market, eh?” the human said with a sly grin.  Stan swallowed nervously.  “Those scales of yours ‘ll look nice as ahandbag.”  A door opened.

              “Pete!” a familiar voicecalled.  Stan’s heart plummeted further,landing somewhere near the base of his tail.

              Oh, shit.  Please, please don’tlet it be her.  Another human, thisone a woman, strode over to the tank.

              “I’ve told you a million times,stop harassing the mers!” the woman scolded the man by Stan’s tank.  “It makes their scales duller, which reduceshow much they’re worth.”

              “I don’t think you’ll have toworry about that for this one,” Pete said with a toothy grin.  “We got a red one.  We can set the price as high as we wantwithout someone undercutting us.”  Thewoman surveyed Stan.  Stan quickly lookedaway.

              “You’re right.  We did manage to catch a red one.  A red male, looks like.  Much better than the yellow female we wereafter.”  Stan’s heart shot back up to hischest to do a loop-de-loop.

              Angie!

              “Yeah, she got away from us,”Pete said.  He patted Stan’s tankagain.  “But no one’s caught a red mer indecades, so I think we’re set.”

              “Hmph.  Maybe.” The woman sounded unimpressed with Pete’s analysis of thesituation.  “Go let the rest of the crewknow we’ll be turning back tonight.”

              “What?  But we left only two days ago!”

              “Yes, which means we’re stillclose to shore.  We need to get back assoon as possible, because the mers are gonna do their damnedest to rescue him.”

              “Why?  ‘Cause he’s red?”

              “No.”  The woman pointed at Stan’s bellybutton.  “He used to be human.”  Stan froze. Pete stared at him, slack-jawed.  “Theywon’t let someone important – and former humans are important to them – get away.  Like I said, go talk to the rest of the crew.”  Pete nodded and walked away.  Once the door had closed, the woman turned toStan.  “I gotta admit, Stan, I’msurprised.”  Stan looked at thewoman.  “You never seemed like a traitorto your own species.  At least, not whilewe were dating.”

              “Carla,” Stan choked out.  Carla’s eyes narrowed.

              “Asshole.”

              “Carla, I-”

              “You dumped me, what, just so youcould chase some mermaid?  Is that why youdecided to stop being a hunter?”

              “I stopped being a hunter ‘causeI realized that hunting merfolk was a shitty thing to do,” Stan snarled.  His tail picked up currents in the tank.  “They’re people.”

              “No, they’re fish.  And now, so are you.”  Carla put a hand on the tank.  “What did they offer you, to get you to jointhem?”

              “Nothin’.”

              “Oh, please.  I might not have seen you in years, but you’renot the kinda person who would betray his species without getting something inreturn.”  Carla looked intently atStan.  Her eyes caught on the ring Stanwore on a chain around his neck.  “Lookslike my first guess was right.  You wentafter a mermaid.”

              “She went after me.”

              “Is she pretty?  Was she worth it?” Carla asked snidely.  Stan sighed.

              “Don’t act like that.”

              “Was she the yellow one we sawearlier?”

              “No.”

              “I can always tell when you’relying, Stanley Pines.”  Carla tapped herchin.  “Maybe we should stay put foranother coupla days, try to grab her.  Amated male and female would be worth more than a male on his own.  Even one with such a rare color.”

              “Carla, you’re better than this,”Stan said.  “Everyone keeps telling methat you’re the bad guy.  You and therest of the mer hunters.  But I know youjust got into this game to pay for your brother’s chemo.”  Carla looked away.  “You never believed that the merfolk werepeople, but maybe now that you-”

              “I don’t care,” Carlasnapped.  “I know they’re people.  What I care about is that they killed mybrother.”  Stan blinked.  “He went into remission, and the first thinghe wanted to do was come to the dock and watch the ships.  While he was there, some merman sang at him and-”  Carla looked away.  “His body washed on shore a few days later.”  Stan stilled.

              “Oh.  That- that sucks.  Joe was a great guy.”

              “I know he was a great guy.  He was my brother!”  Carla let out a small sob.  “And now he’s dead.”

              “I’m- I’m so sorry.  I didn’t-”

              “Shut up.”  Carla turned away.  She stroked the glass of the tank, seeminglywithout meaning to.  A small sigh escapedfrom her.  Stan began to think furiously.

              The more I talk, the less angry she gets.  Maybe she doesn’t want me to say anythingelse since it reminds her that I’m not some tuna she fished out of the ocean.  Stan put one of his hands on the side of thetank.  Carla glanced at him, then did a double-takeat the red webbing spread between Stan’s fingers.

              “You were right.  The yellow mermaid you saw earlier is mymate,” Stan said softly.  “Her name’sAngie.”

              “You really think that yourex-girlfriend is gonna be happy to hear about your current girlfriend?” Carlamuttered.

              “She’s more like my wife at thispoint.”  The hand that Carla had on thetank clenched into a fist.

              “Just what I wanted to hear,”Carla said angrily.  She began to walkaway.

              “We have three kids,” Stan calledafter her.  She froze.  “All girls. Their names are Molly, Danny, and Daisy. Are you really gonna make it so that they grow up without a dad?  I know how hard it was for you, when your dad-”

              “There’s a difference,” Carlainterrupted.  “I’m human.  Your kids aren’t.  I don’t care if they grow up without adad.  I don’t care if they grow up at all.”

              “Carla!”

              “You’re never gonna get me to letyou go by talking about your monster family. Stop wasting your breath.”

              “Fine.  Fine.” Stan paused, trying to think.  “Maybeyou don’t care about my kids, who are four years old, and have a pet namedBubbles.”  Carla’s fingers twitched.  “But you care about your crew.  And I can guarantee you that my mate and herhuge family aren’t gonna be merciful when they show up to rescue me.  They won’t leave anyone alive.”  Stan pressed himself against the glass of thetank.  “And don’t try to say that you canfight them off.  You won’t be ableto.  Sirens are experts at sinking ships.”  Carla was silent.  “Do you want everyone on this ship, includingyou, to die?  ‘Cause that’s what’s gonnahappen.”  After a silence that was toolong for Stan’s comfort, Carla finally sighed.

              “Fine.  I’ll do what I can to save my crew.”  She turned around and crossed her arms.  “Talk.”