#argo!au

He had done some reading up since he met Garou (he was comfortable with the human portion but the rest of it? He didn’t know squat about whales, other than that they weren’t fish). One article had talked about how cetologists used markings and features of flukes for identification, but no matter how long he stared at the photos, they always looked the same.

Now? He got it, because he realized he would recognize Garou anywhere: a chip out of one of the tail fins (”I got a little too curious near a cruise ship once -- only once”), the unique circles of squid suckers (”Seriously, those fuckers put up a hell of a fight”) and a long, thin, pale scar that ran from the base of his tail to its tip (Badd knew Garou would tell him about it when he was ready).

From this distance, most people would have thought it was any whale, and Garou would disappear again with them being none the wiser. Badd held his breath, waiting. Garou hadn’t looked entirely convinced or comfortable when Badd said he wanted his sister to meet him, and the ball was now entirely in his court. He could just swim off, if he wanted. He had an entire planet of water that he could hide in, if he chose to. That realization never failed to make Badd’s heart turn to lead.

But then, soundlessly, the water in front of them parted, and there he was, arms crossed over his chest. “Hey,” Badd said, and he nodded in greeting. “Zenko, this is Garou. Garou, Zenko.”

Zenko’s face broke into such a big smile that its joy rivaled the warmth of the sun in that moment. She cleared her throat and, in as much movement as she could given the thick flotation material, she bowed. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Garou quirked an eyebrow but drifted a little closer. “She is much more polite than you are.”

“Tell me about it. Don’t know where she gets it from - Zenko, wait!”

With no warning, Zenko swung herself over the side of the boat into the water. Garou laughed, even harder when he saw the panicked look on Badd’s face. “She does get that from you at least!”

She tossed the extra vest back into the boat with a heavy grunt, paddling towards Garou with her hands, splashing awkwardly, like a dog swimming. Badd watched as Garou leaned back in the water, tail breaking the surface under her feet. Zenko squealed with delight. “Like The Little Mermaid!” she said to Badd, who chuckled.

“Yeah, except that I’m a guy, so...”

Then came the questions.

“Why do you have little fins too?” she asked, poking at the second set of flippers near his hips.

“Speed.”

“Do you breathe through your nose and your blowhole?”

“Yeah, both work.”

“Why do you have all your teeth?”

“Because I...eat...with them?”

“What are these things?” Zenko bobbed forward and touched her fingers to the fans that projected from around Garou’s ears. That had surprised Badd too -- whales didn’t have those, to his knowledge.

“They help me see better. Underwater. I can hear with them, but it’s different. I think it’s because I don’t have all the other stuff that whales do.” He gestured at the rest of his skull and shrugged. Badd made a mental note to ask Genos.

“Do you love my brother?”

Garou opened his mouth and then immediately closed it tight, and Badd could feel his cheeks flush as gold eyes looked up at him in alarm. Badd was about to ask Zenko to get back in the boat, but Garou answered before he could speak. “Yes. I think so. I’m not sure what that means to humans but...I miss your brother when he isn’t here. I worry about him on that stupid boat. Even moreso on land, when I can’t be there. And when he’s around, I feel happy.”

“Are you sad when he leaves?”

“Yes.” Now he refused to look at Badd, even though the man couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

“Will you teach me how to swim?”

Garou’s shook his head slightly, like he was recovering from mental whiplash caused by the sudden change in questions. “If you want. It’s not hard.”

“Good! Because if you’re going to be with my brother, then I want to be able to hang out with you guys here. You definitely can’t fit in our bath tub.”

Badd grinned at Garou’s dumbfounded expression, but then even he smiled a little. “Fair enough.” 

---

Epilogue:

“Damn, she can’t stop talking about ya.”

“Makes sense, I’m kind of a big deal.”

“I ain’t gonna disagree.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“And, by the way...”

“Hmm?”

“I love ya. Too. I do. I mean it. Didn’t get to say it before, but...”

“Yeah, I figured. Like I said. Kind of a big deal.”

Saitama chased after the fading lights. He wasn’t sure what had overcome him so suddenly; he had spent so long so alone with no one to keep him company but the frozen souls he had buried ages ago. He had been used to solitude. He hadn’t minded it before.

 At least…he thought he hadn’t minded.

 But now…now there was someone he could speak with. Someone he could share stories with. Someone who could survive in this dark abyss with him. Someone who was willing to be his friend. Someone who could erase his loneliness. Someone who…who…

 Someone who could love him.

 The small light above him faded further, beginning to flicker. This hadn’t been the first time he followed Genos as far towards the surface as he could; Saitama had learned that after ascending to a certain point there was enough light for the cyborg to see without assistance.

 Yet with the flickering lights came the merman’s wavering strength.

 He knew he was ascending too high; his joints were beginning to pop and his head started pounding. But in this moment of weakness, he didn’t care.

 He didn’t care about trying to force a meaningless existence, not when he was all by himself, all alone. Saitama felt his forehead burning with the intensity of the blue and red lights his body emitted on its own accord. He was so angry, so scared, so alone and the only person on this earth that he could call a friend had to be a surface dweller of all things!

 (He wondered sometimes: if his parents had known that one day their son’s heart would be caught by the likes of a land person, would they have still loved him? Would they have still cared for him without judgment?)

 The merman froze, jarred by the intrusive thought.

 Would they still love him if they could see how low he had sunk in these murky depths?

 Saitama looked up at the ghost of Genos, desperate for the cyborg to come back, desperate to find a way to make it work between them, desperate to finally feel love in his heart after so many years, so so desperate to not be so alone anymore.

 And that was it.

 That was the waking thought that finally broke the merman. He tried to push his body forward, to swim higher, to breach the surface, to be with the one person who he could communicate with, who could understand what he was saying, who could understand him.

 He wanted to love again.

 He wanted to feel loved again.

 He wanted…

 He didn’t want this pitiful existence anymore.

 He pushed forward as hard as he could, but no matter how much he willed himself to swim higher, to make it work with Genos, he only failed. Muscles screaming, gills unable to contract, Saitama nearly lost consciousness as his body gave out, collapsing briefly until he sank to more tolerable levels. Regaining his awareness, Saitama gave up, and returned to the holy place.

 He drifted through the rooms of the ship and around the graveyard without purpose. Sometimes, if he focused hard enough, he could hear what Genos had described as laughter come from the children he buried.

 He remembered when he could see the soft yellow hues dancing around the ocean floor when the children of his species played…

 His family.

 His friends.

 All ghosts just like the poor souls resting in the holy place.

 Saitama hadn’t noticed he had been sinking until his belly grazed the rocks beneath him. On any other day, the merman would have snapped out of his trance, swam in circles to wake himself up, and push on as if he wasn’t completely miserable. But on this day, in this moment, when he was so close to finding some meaning in his life outside of the ghosts and the holy place only to have it taken away by a metal cord and land-dwelling rules, Saitama allowed himself to collapse onto the ocean floor, unmoving for as long as his body could tolerate it.

 He could have let himself choke to death if he wanted, swallowed by the stillness of his pitch black home, but of course, he was driven just enough by instinct to push forward, moving water and oxygen through his gills as he moved his body.

 As blue and lonely as his fluorescence may have been, there was still some light left in him. Whether or not he was doomed to spend his last years alone, dying with the holy place as it crumpled his heart, he did not know. He did not know if the beautiful cyborg that came to visit him with every expedition would one day see him as more than a guide, but as a friend, or even more than that too. He did not know if one day Genos would come down and tell Saitama that this submersion was for good and that he wouldn’t have to spend his last days in the company of the dead.

Badd carefully stood up and started peeling off his shirt. “Um. What are you doing?” Garou asked as he strapped a set of goggles to his face.

“I showed ya where I’m from. I wanna see your place,” Badd said, grinning. He quickly added, “I mean, not literally. I can’t go as deep as you. And I can’t hold my breath too, too long, so...no funny business, yeah?”

Garou smiled and nodded, backing away from the boat so Badd could dive in. The immediate change in temperature from warm sun to frigid water had him shuddering, and he treaded in place to get his bearings. “Shit, that’s cold.”

“You should be here in the winter.”

“Yeah, ain’t gonna happen, Slick.” Once he had become accustomed to the refreshing chill, he dove down.

All around was an expanse of endless blue, until it went deep enough to be an impenetrable dark. A school of shimmering fish parted and turned and regrouped, disturbed by the current, like a flock of glass birds in flight. The far-off sun created an emerald layer, and below him, Badd could see other shapes moving. If it had just been him, it would have been scary, but Garou was there, and the sea had never seemed safer.

And seeing Garou this way...if Badd wasn’t already holding his breath, it would have taken it away. He had always seen Garou in fragments at a time, never fully formed and real in front of him. Badd came back up for a breath and took a huge gulp of oxygen before he went under again. Garou floated under the waves, arms crossed over his chest as Badd swam down and touched his long tail. He had never realized how massive he really was. This was not simply like pictures of mermen he had seen in storybooks as a child, but Garou was a force. Trailing his fingers for a moment over the squid sucker scars, he imagined him doing battle with creatures as big - if not bigger - than he was. He wanted to feel every bump, every thin cut, every inch of him. Letting his buoyancy carry him, he rose to his abdomen, his arms, his chest. Beneath the water, the gold eyes were just as striking, just as penetrating, and his hair was…

Badd surfaced and couldn’t help laughing, Garou coming up beside him. “Your hair is fucking crazy! And long!”

Garou’s brow furrowed. “Okay?”

Badd took his hands as they both slipped back under the waves. Once more, Garou’s white hair rose in striking points, like a white fire licking up towards the air above, and Badd tentatively reached out to touch as Garou’s eyes flickered shut. It was silky and agreeable, waving frond-like, and it wasn’t just his hair but all of Garou’s sharp features that seemed to soften, like being suspended in animation made him even more human.

Badd cupped his cheeks and guided him forward, pressing their lips together. Garou recoiled momentarily, a brief passing anger alight in his face, and Badd prepared to go up and explain himself as much as he could. Stupid, of course he wouldn’t know what that was, but then…

Badd shot up, sputtering. “Ya bit me, ass!”

“Wasn’t that the point?!”

“No! It’s not...it ain’t like that! I mean, it’s usually not like that. Not the first time anyway.” Badd reached up and touched the tender spot on his bottom lip. “Nevermind. That was...I probably shoulda asked first. Sorry.”

He was about to climb back in the boat when he was suddenly encircled by sinewy arms, pulling him back against a firm but welcoming chest. “Hang on. Let me...let me try again.” Garou turned him around and, hands stroking his neck, he kissed him. This was much more like it, a tentative caress of wet mouths that started sweetly at first and then hungrier, more exploring, daring Badd to forget gravity and earth and anything but hovering in the water and kissing Garou until his mouth felt too soft, jaw aching faintly.

When Garou pulled back after a soft peck at the offended spot he had bitten, Badd nodded, clearing his throat. “That was...much better. Obviously I think you could use some practice, but you’re a beginner, hey. I’ll let it slide.”