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Shouto was enthralled. He was sixteen, finally old enough to go on the mating swim. Old enough to leave the pod. Old enough to make a friend, even.
Old enough to leave his father. Honestly he was surprised he was even allowed to go. Prodigy merling of the great pod leader Enji, he had been certain he would end up in an arranged mating. Rare as they were, they weren't unheard of in his Pod - two of his elder siblings had been mated with children of Pod rulers, and no doubt his eldest brother would have been too, had there not been the…incident.
Shouto shook the thoughts from his head, instead marvelling at the many shoals of fish rushing past him. The current felt amazing against his scales, nothing like the still waters of home. His hair flowed behind him like the long, thin fins on his arms and tail, duo-toned in a way that clearly stated he was the offspring of two very different mer folk.
The red of the deepest summer corals and the white of the frozen waters were a map on his body of his heritage, a merging line down his center. Even beside his siblings he was an oddity. He hoped it work in his favour for the mating.
Shouto flicked his tail, propelling himself further in the current he was riding with the other young mer from his pod, and two others close. There was a score of fifty-two mer at least making this swim. Momo swam up beside him, a large grin on her face. “Excited?”
Shouto hummed, “Happy to be away from Father for a while.”
The mermaid laughed at that, high and beautiful, “I'm sure! And the opportunity to mate - it's exhilerating!"
He gave her a sideways glance, “If you say so.”
“Shouto,” Momo reached a hand over his shoulder, “You'll be fine. We'll both find our Omega's, perhaps even have a clutch. You deserve this happiness.”
Momo had always been kind to him. As younglings they had played together when he wasn't training with his Father, and had even thought they might Mate as they grew older - until they both presented as Alpha's of course. His Father hadn't been too happy about that, his plan of mating and producing heirs from the two shot down. Shouto himself couldn't have been happier. Momo was a wonderful Mermaid, beautiful and distinguished, born from the bloodline of two Pod leaders - but he had known he could never see her as anything more than a wonderful childhood friend.
He smiled softly at her, “Thank you. I'm sure your Omega will be wonderful.”
“Gods willing.” Momo smiled back. Flaring her fins, the mer swam to a pair of mer further out in their party, “Good luck Shouto.”
While he missed her presence, he felt at ease swimming alone through the current, easily losing himself in thought as to what his mate could be like. Man? Woman? Dainty as most tropical mer were, or thick skinned and strong like the frozen waters pods? Kind or meek, strong-willed, or out-going…he has no clue, but he was curious to find out.
So lost in his thoughts did he get that it didnt even register that the bright corals of the mating shore had come upon them. It took hearing the wonderous gasps of the mer around him to finally look outside of his own mind to see the glittering colours of the mating shore. Corals running in deep indigo's, bright fuscia's and mellow yellow, with every colour imaginable in between, flurries of tiny fish and jellyfish zipping between the high coral reefs, and even more sea sponges and starfish.
His pod was in a beautiful sand reef, but nothing so beautiful as what he could see now. He suddenly understood why every mer of age came here - it was etherreal. Sunlight danced among the reefs, flashing across the scales of all the living creatures within the waters. Looking from his left to his right, he could see so many different mer people. Young, like him, older like his siblings, and even a few elder like his father.
It was mesmerizing.
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Shouto soon found himself swept up with the other Mer who had made the trek to the mating shores. There were so many scents around him, sharp, mellow, floral, salty…and each belonged to someone. Looking around, it was easy to see the Alpha's from the Omega's, their length and girth dead giveaways. It wasn't hard to tell someone was an Alpha when they spanned eight feet from head to fin tip, compared to an Omega who was lucky to span five. A few Beta's were here and there, but from what his siblings had told him, they made the trip very rarely. He understood why, it was easier to find a Beta mate in their own Pod than try to mate with an Alpha or Omega in the mating swim - too much competition.
He had known there were as many coloured Mer as there were fish in the ocean, but it was shocking to see just how many there were now.
Lilacs and burnt oranges, jade giving way to blacks and vibrant reds and yellows. There was even a few white Mer, coloured like his Mother.
Sunlight shone down on them all, letting the scales of everyone present glitter like the jewels that could be found in Human wreckages.
In the center of the reef, he could see four elder Mer beckoning the younger closer. Following suit, he found himself among a quickly growing crowd trying to hear what the elders had to say, despite the low rumbles of the voices around him.
A loud yell made everyone quite down, and a male with long silken blonde hair lowered his hands from his mouth.
Another male, this time almost all features of him were a dark black, nodded in his direction before turning to the crowd. “Welcome. I am Shouta, one of the elders chosen for this season. I’m sure you all know why you’re here, but I’m case you somehow didn’t get the message - find a willing and good Mate, without causing issues.” He squinted at the youngsters, and sighed. “As is customary, Omega’s will leave first. Alpha’s and Beta’s must wait until the last Omega has found a perch, then they may also leave the reef. Understood?”
A brief murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd, and satisfied, Shouta nodded again. “Omega’s, you may go.”
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Shouto looked around as the Omega's swam from the epicenter of the reef, eyes trailing one after the other as they found their perching spots and mating caverns. Looking back at Momo, he followed her gaze to a small, lithe, indigo and lilac mer woman not too far from the edge of the reef. Nudging her, he smirked.
“Oh, shush you.” Momo flushed slightly, grinning before pushing off from the group of Alpha's, “Good luck Shouto!”
He raised a hand, “You too.”
He decided to trail off himself then. Perhaps he could find that scent again…it had been oh so beautiful, like the freshest bloomed lillies in his mothers gardens, mixed with a spice he hadn't smelt before. Flicking his tail this way and that, Shouto swam low along the corals, fingers grazing over the reef and the plants that grew there. He honestly was so taken in his own mind about how beautiful it was, and how wonderful it felt to be away from his Pod, that he didnt even realise he was following a scent.
He followed the scent trail for just a few moments before stopping short, his head snapping up. Spinning around in the water he tried to find the Omega he knew he had smelt before, flaring his gills in an effort to zone in quicker. Ah, there. Shouto darted to his left, towards the edge of the reef drop off zone. The corals fell away to deep, dark depths that seemed to have no bottom, but he could see the odd mer here and there flitting from the edges to below where the light coudn't reach so easily.
Honestly, he wasn't all that happy about going into the depths, so when the scent suddenly shifted to above him, he felt an almost painful relief. He let his eyes follow where he could smell the beautiful scent, catching his gaze on a nearby rock cluster. He swam.
The boy was sat atop a fairly small rock ledge, his dark green tail curling around the jagged underside, while his hands held tightly to the colourful corals either side of him. Shouto was unable to say what drew him in for sure, the curious colours of him - many greens flecked with black in an almost ombre - the light freckled that danced over his face and torso - something he quite honestly had only seen in one other mer before - or quite simply, how cute he looked.
Strong for certain, nobody could deny the muscled body the teen had, but his face could be compared to his sisters in its softness. If he wasn't an Omega, Shouto would surely bite his own arm fins off.
Ripples of sunlight shone against the boys tanned skin, lighting up freckles and the shine of old scars. Shouto looked at the scars and smiled a little. He had one so large and prominent of his own, he had always feared it would be the one thing a possible mate would be disgusted by, but seeing the other Mer with his own…it put hope in his heart.
He pushed himself towards the boy, gliding through the water with gentle swishes of his fins. The closer he got, he started to hear the greenette hum. It wasn't especially pretty, or melodic, but for some reason it made Shouto feel emotion he wasn't sure he had ever felt. It was beautiful to him, and was just another thing that made him want to wrap himself around him.
He must've made some kind of noise, the boy suddenly looked his way, and in the moment he locked eyes he felt everything around him still. The scent in his nose grew stronger as he watched the boy let go of one of the collumns of coral and raise his hand in a shy wave. Red had started to flush across his chest and cheeks, and Shouto felt the same heat along his own face and ears.
“Hello.” the boy said with a smile, as clear an invitation to speak that Shouto had ever heard.
Forcing himself to move again, Shouto found himself a mere few feet from the other. He returned the smile, inhaled more of the dizzying scent, and spoke, “Hello."
The greenette held out the hand he had waved to Shouto with, “Come here?" he bit his lip a little as the words left his mouth, and went even redder when Shouto took his hand, letting himself be pulled closer. “I'm Izuku.”
“Shouto.”
“I’ve never seen another Mer with colours quite like yours. Are they common in your Pod?”
Shouto blinked, “Well, my red colouring is. My father leads the Pod, but my mother is from a Pod in the Frozen Waters.”
Izuku nodded, absently playing with Shouto’s fingers as he continued asking questions. Eventually, Shouto joined him on the ledge, and became almost eager to answer all the questions Izuku had. How far had he travelled, did he have siblings, what his Pod was like, and a million other questions that he answered with efficient formality. He felt entranced by the pure happiness that exuded Izuku, latching on to every word easier than her had ever with anybody else.
“So formal,” Izuku laughed a little, and the sound rung in Shouto's ears like bells. Shouto shrugged a little at that, “My friend Momo tells me the same. Too quiet too.”
“No, I rather think it might make up for how much I babble.
A friend of mine told me when I was younger that I babble so much that any Alpha would be put off by it.” Izuku ran a hand through his hair, curling it between his fingers as he bit his bottom lip. Without even thinking, Shouto reached up to pull the hand to his lips.
“I can assure you, I’ve not been out off at all.” Kissing the ends of Izuku’s fingers, Shouto found a great delight in watching him flush, from his chest and shoulders all the way into his hair roots. “May I try something?”
Izuku cocked his head a little, but nodded. Shouto pulled on Izuku’s arms, letting go of his hands just as he held the other boy in an embrace that left their scent glands resting against each other. He heard Izuku gasp, and felt himself so the same. He had thought smelling his scent had been wonderful, but it was nothing compared to this.
Pure intimacy between a hopeful pair.
Surprisingly it was Izuku that made the next move. Pulling back only slightly, he placed his free hand on Shouto’s cheek, and pulled him into a sweet, deep kiss. His whole body jostled, as if hit by the tentacle of a jellyfish - he knew it then and there, there would be nothing and nobody who could rival this, or rival Izuku.
Pulling back, he trailed his nose up and down the side of the greenette’s temple, humming before asking one single question.
“Mate with me?”
A chuckle came in response, “I thought you might never ask.”