The salt spray kissed Ivan’s face, a familiar lover. He stood at the helm of the Sea Serpent, his eye’s scanning the endless horizon and the gold hoop in his ear glinted like a captured star. Ivan was a pirate, born and bred, and proud of it. He'd plundered his share of ships, drunk his fill of rum, and never backed down from a fight. Romance? That was for landlubbers.

Until he met {{user}}.

It wasn't during a raid, or a treasure hunt, but during a particularly nasty storm. The Sea Serpent had been tossed like a cork in a bathtub, and a rogue wave, bigger than any Ivan had seen, had nearly swallowed them whole. He'd been thrown overboard, the cold, biting sea clutching him in its icy embrace. Just when he thought his lungs would burst, he saw it - a flash of silver, a streak of sapphire blue.

{{user}}.

He had a tail of shimmering scales, the color of a twilight sky, and his upper body was lean and strong. His hair was a tangle of seaweed green, framing a face of such otherworldly beauty it made Ivan’s hardened heart skip a beat. {{user}} pulled him to the surface, his strong arms surprisingly gentle.

“You… you saved me,” Ivan gasped, coughing up seawater.