Three Little Fish and a Bird is a Fictionpress story written by Shintoshi.
Morgan, an author who lives alone in her house by the lake, comes across the biggest surprise of her life while sailing: an injured merman named Dace, whom she takes home to nurse back to health. And he isn't alone: he is quickly joined by his two brothers Kiyi and Varden who also take up residence at Morgan's house, while Morgan tries to keep the trio of mermen a secret from her ex-boyfriend and friends...
The story can be read here.
This work contains examples of:
- Amicable Exes: Morgan and Ryan are on fairly good terms, even if the two are no longer together. She even entrusts Kiyi over to him at the end.
- All Men Are Perverts: Played very straight with Varden, who seems to have had some 'experience' with human girls and acts very lewd around Morgan. Averted with Kiyi and Dace, with Kiyi being the childish one of the trio and Dace being the Nice Guy.
- Bathtub Mermaid: As they breathe air, it's more for comfort's sake than a necessity for them to live. And besides, they're mobile enough out of water to not be "confined" to the tub, anyway.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Surprisingly averted. As naive as the mermen are about land life, when they watch a fantasy movie about mermaids having superpowers and able to get legs, they are fully aware that they can't actually do such things in real life.
- Crawling Shirtless Scene: All three mermen wear no clothes whatsoever, which is further accentuated by their human-like buttocks.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: A downplayed example, but Morgan tends to discipline Varden a lot with physical violence whenever he misbehaves. Though admittedly, he does get overly salacious at times.
- In a loose way, the fact that Morgan essentially kidnapped the mermen from their home in the lake and taking them to her house...though they do end up liking it there, but still.
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: The mermen are described as being dolphin-like from the waist down and certainly play the part...though in Varden's case, it's a different kind of playful...
- Graceful in Their Element: Averted: the only time the mermen are shown in the water is when Morgan first meets them and takes them home. They spend the rest of their time on land, and while they have to crawl on land, they're far from helpless.
- Handicapped Badass: The mermen have no legs and can only crawl on dry land. This does not slow them down one bit, especially Varden.
- Interspecies Romance: Morgan and Dace, eventually.
- Jessica and Varden, after having a one night stand.
- Manchild: Kiyi, the middle brother, is playful, mischievous, and likes making a mess of the house, basically acting much like a toddler, despide being described as being like a grown man.
- Masquerade: Dace has to pass for a normal human at one time when he and Morgan go shopping. He pulls it off with a wheelchair, human clothing and a blanket to cover his tail.
- Mermaid Problem: Averted. The mermen have male organs that can be retracted into their bodies, just like in real marine mammals.
- Mr. Fanservice: The three mermen are completely naked, though at the very least their dolphin-like tails have retractable genitalia. They have human-like buttocks, however, which tend to be in prominent display.
- Nice Guy: Dace, the eldest brother, is the most friendly, innocent and naive of the three.
- Obfuscating Disability: With her friend Jessica coming to stay at her house for a visit, Morgan concocts an elaborate plan to keep the mermen in wheelchairs with their tails bandaged up, fabricating a lie that they were involved in an "accident". And it might have worked, had Varden not been a horny little bastard...
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Based off cetaceans, they are entirely mammalian and are obligate air breathers.
- Real Men Cook: Varden, the youngest of the mermen brothers, is suprisingly great at culinary arts. Morgan decides to put his talents to good use...
- Shout-Out: Morgan and the mermen watch a movie about a killer android from the future.
- Dace also learns to read a book about "short people and a ring".
- Tailfin Walking: Averted. The mermen spend most of their time on land, and get around via crawling. They're quite surprisingly good at it.
- Terrestrial Sea Life: The mermen spend most of their time on land, only occasionally soaking in the bathtub. They don't seem to have any ill effects being out of water most of the time, and are quite adept at crawling wherever they want to go.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Well, not exactly tiny per se, but being unable to stand up and having to crawl around on the floor makes Morgan significantly far taller than all of the mermen.
- The Unintelligible: Dace and Kiyi at first, with their native language being dolphin-like chirps and whistles, though they gradually learn how to speak English. Varden knows English due to his..encounters with human women, though he seems to be mostly parroting words.
- They Would Cut You Up: Averted: even after Morgan's scientist ex-boyfriend Ryan discovers the mermen, he agrees to keep them a secret and respects the mermen even as he studies them. Eventually Kiyi comes to live at his place.
- The Fellowship Has Ended: The three mermen are split up by the end of the story, with only Dace staying to live with Morgan. Kiyi comes to live with her scientist ex Ryan, and Varden pursues a relationship with her friend Jessica.
- Working with the Ex: Given that Morgan's ex-boyfriend Ryan is a scientist, he's the first choice to learn more about the mermen. Though fortunately, aside from a few good-natured jabs about her sharing the house with three naked men, they otherwise have no hard feelings to each other.
