Verve (Merformers)

This is more of a general summary of this AU than a bio, but basically, Xenaut is still Xenon, an actor, and all the main events of his original iteration never happen. He doesn't deal with the anger issues or intense trauma of his cybertronain and main humanformer versions, but of course he still has Issues. His success as an actor has it's perks, but status, fame, and constant limelight attention are a recipe for a personality disorder, which he most definitely has.

While he has an inflated ego and narcissistic tendencies, much of it isn't out of a genuine belief that he is above others, but born out of the expectations put on him as a celebrity. When everyone you meet puts you on a pedestal it's hard to make real connections with others and forge intimate relationships. People either hold you to unrealistic standards and want you to be a personality, not a person, or only initiate contact with their own benefit in mind.

For the better half of his life, he took the attention in stride, substituting genuine connections with shallow, almost transactional relationships... and a lot of money. At some point though, the attention went from being a lifeline, a proxy for happiness, to the bane of his existence. Gradually he went from being a social butterfly that flourished in the spotlight, to a prickly antisocial eccentric, and the change did not go unnoticed by media, which only further compromised his mental health.

Eventually he was forced to take a break from acting, unable to deal with paparazzi, invasive questioning, and the judgement from his colleagues. Paranoia led him to retreat to a remote location near a fishing town, not the sort of place one would expect a well-known actor to inhabit. During his sabbatical he fell into an even deeper depression, having next to no contact with anyone now that even professional relationships were left on hold.

Plagued with insomnia, he often would spend nights walking alone in a profoundly unstable state of mind. One frequent haunt for his brooding was a secluded beach, too rocky for the local fishing boats to safely navigate, and quiet, especially in the middle of the night.

Unbeknownst to him, this beach was residence to a mer, and a very peculiar one at that.  Verve, unlike most mer lives alone and has no social unit, but it is not of their own volition. Mer and humans do not mix. This is a rule that mer are expected to follow, and a rule that Verve, far too curious for their own good, broke frequently. Due to their repeated attempts to interact with the local humans, Verve was ousted from their unit, and now fends for themself. The local human populace is also not the sort to take kindly to mer, as they compete with the fishing business.

Understandably they are lonely, and so when they see a lone human making repeat visits to their beach, they take interest. Even by human standards he is odd, often talking to himself, almost as if he has an audience. For a time Verve only watches him from a distance.

However they are forced to act when the strange human falls off a cliff after one of his bouts of yelling at the ocean, and they come to the rescue. They are confused when their valiant efforts are met with disdain and anger, which then morphs into sudden amiability, for some reason.

Xenon of course had attempted to take his own life, or rather went through the motions of it, since he doesn't actually want to die, but must be dramatic, even without audience. After working though about half of the emotions humans are known experience, all in a few minutes, he actually starts to converse with his savior, and when he learns that they have no idea who he is, or even what a movie is, he takes interest.

Now his excursions to the beach are for the purpose of talking with Verve rather than to himself. Despite the many misunderstandings due to cultural differences and language barriers, the two forge a close friendship. Verve finally has a human who is enthusiastic in their interactions and will answer their many questions, and Xenon is glad to have someone to talk to that treats him as an equal. Maybe having your only real friend be a fish person is a little bit weird, but they don't even know what taxes are, so every conversation is simple, down to earth, and honest. Eventually he will to return to his career but for the moment a simple and slow life devoid of any and all expectations is more of his pace.