#mer!joon

“COULD YOU CALM DOWN ALREADY!?” 

“CALM DOWN!!?? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!?? WHY DO I HAVE LEGS!!?? WHAT ARE THOSE!!?? WHAT IS THIS!?? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!?? I’M UGLY!!!” 

“Over dramatic much? jeez..” 

“WHAT!??” 

You began to try and pick yourself up out of the sand, wanting to avoid near drowning for what would become the third time that day. 

“You screaming. It’s dramatic.”

“How am I supposed to react!!?? -Wait, how did you do that!!?” You turned back to flash him a quizzical expression; forgetting for a moment that he had probably never seen someone “walk” before.  

You had only walked a couple of feet up the shore away from him, but for him that was way too far for comfort. Like you ditched him on a bike with no training wheels, except the pavement was slippery sand -if sand was outer space. He flipped himself onto his stomach and did what he could to drag himself after you. He learned fast though, switching to a military-esc crawl when he realized you can only pull yourself so far in a substance with little to no leverage. 

You watched him, still in disbelief that this whole situation was actually happening. 

Soon he made it to the end of his difficult journey, grabbing at your ankles with his dried out hands and huffing out in exasperation. 

“How did you travel like that!?” You snorted at his phrasing.

“I walked.” He tilted himself in the sand to glare up at you, his sharp eyes still too shiny and vibrant to be intimidated by. Especially in his position, with his half wet and half dried clumps of hair invading his face from all sides. You chuckled, squatting down so he wouldn’t have to strain so hard with his feeble glaring. You startled him again with your speed, but he only jolted a little and kept his grip around your ankles. 

“I’ll show you how.” His eyes got real big at that.

“To.. wal-k? -I can’t do that.” 

You had to smile half heatedly at his defeated expression and that sorry look in his eyes. “I just want to swim..” He continued, a sad note in his voice.  

“Well we can figure out your missing tail situation later, for now let me just get you walking so you don’t cook and die out here.” You realized how poor your choice of words were when he started scrambling around in fear. “THAT CAN HAPPEN!!?? WHY DO YOU LIVE UP HERE!!??” 

“Uhh forget I said that, I was exaggerating.. Mostly. Flip over for me, ok?” 

He stammered, but did as he was told. He flopped back on his back, looking up at you sternly. You were able to ignore how naked he was right up until then, you shifted your gaze to the skys trying to talk yourself back into ignoring it until you could get him off the beach and clothed. That wasn’t really a conversation you were willing to have right now, it was barely morning and the day already felt too long. You only hoped he wouldn’t ask you anything specific.. That didn’t have to do with his legs. 

You walked around his form, sitting yourself back in the sand beside his knees. You grabbed his hand that laid beside him, and he gripped yours tightly. 

“I’m gonna help you sit first -give me your other hand too." He strained to look at you from on his back while reaching out to you with his other hand. You held them both now, each of your hands holding one of his reassuringly. You pulled on his arms, not too hard or too fast, just enough to raise his torso slowly off the sand. His balance wavered and tilted once he was upright, but instead of falling back he spread his legs and landed with his palms in the sand between them. He looked stunned, and you stayed at bay waiting for his next reaction. He smiled, a touch of confidence reaching his full lips. 

"Did I do it?" You tried your best not to laugh at him too much at the excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, you've got step one down -now bend your knees."

"My what?"

“Your… leg elbows." He frowned as he looked down at his new appendages, trying to pin point what it was you were talking about. He made an audible "ah!" When he figured it out.  

You held your hands out again as a balancing option but he was doing just fine staying upright on his own now. He bent one leg up, looking shocked that only one of them moved when he coaxed it. He tucked his leg in close to his chest with his foot planted in the sand before he fought to do the same with the other leg.

"Like this?" You nodded as you stood back up and stepped directly in front of him. He gently placed a foot on each of his in preparation as he watched you curiously. 

"So these-" you tapped your feet over his to make a point. "Are your feet, to stand you have to balance all your weight on them. The sand’s gonna be moving under them so this isn’t gonna be ideal, but this is what we're working with." You bent down and urged him to give you his hands again, and he did.

"You ready?" He yelped a yes in reply and you took the que. You pulled on his hands, feeling him tensing the muscles in his legs to catch his own weight. 

"Push on your feet." He nodded, tensing his legs more and helping you raise him up fully. He shot up quickly once he figured out the trick to it, startling you this time. He stood taller than you, which was concerning when he started to tip over.

"PUT YOUR ARMS OUT FOR BALANCE!" You shrieked, moving your feet off of his and throwing your hands up to catch his shoulders if it came to that. Suddenly his head was suspended a foot under yours.

He had bent his knees. He was still wavering in the wind a little bit, but he was standing; mostly, all on his own. 

"Hey!! You've got step two down...kinda. Can you straighten up?" He glanced up at you, his eyebrows knitted in concentration but you could see that he was gonna try his best at whatever you asked him to do. He started to straighten his legs out, his arms still far from his sides. He raised up slowly watching your eyes the whole way until he was stood above you again. Something behind you caught his eye and he reeled, ducking back down and hiding his face in your shoulder as he gripped onto you for balance.

"The sun.."

You gripped his arms as you looked down at him questioningly.

"Yeah..? It's sunrise now." You glanced back behind you being sure not to budge him and looked back at all the reds and pinks of the morning sky, the sun peeking up over the water. You were thankful for it, that little bit of sunlight was the only thing keeping you warm in your drenched clothing. 

"I'm not supposed to be on the surface when the sun is rising -I'm not supposed to be up here at all -but especially not when she's chasing the moon away." 

You were dumbfounded.

"Um.. well. You might have to make an acception today-"

"Are you not scared of her?"

You realized that this must have been some deep rooted merpeople thing, maybe the reason no one had ever seen one before. But he was on the sand now with the sun peaking over the horizon, and he was doing just fine. Whatever impending doom he was sacred of couldn’t have been real.. Or true -you hoped.

"Uhh.. no?" You questioned, seeing if he would say more but all he did was keep his head tucked into your shoulder. You patted his arms timidly, trying to conjure him some comfort.

“Hey.. Whats your name anyway?” He peaked up at you, his eyes swirling and glimmering in the rising light.

“Its Namjoon, and you?” He said in a rush. 

“Y/n.. Listen -its ok if you’re scared of the sun, but its only gonna get higher in the sky the longer we stand here.” That didn’t help, and you knew that as soon as the words left your mouth and you saw him start to tremble. 

“..Namjoon, really.. It’s not gonna hurt you. Just focus on the ocean, isn’t it beautiful like this?” 

That time did something. He started to peak his head up again, his earrings dangling as he moved on wobbly legs. He rose up, still jumpy, but determined. He held onto you the whole way up with his eyes so full of wonder as he calmed himself enough to look at the scenery behind you. You turned your head to see what he was seeing. The stark red glow of the sun as it broke through the horizon, still just a crescent on the surface but its light reflected off the waves and made the clouds glow in pinks and oranges. He stood like that a while; bravely, long enough for you to turn back to him and see the ocean in his eyes.

“See?” He only nodded.

“But don’t stare too long, I’m not sure what it’ll do to your big fish eyes.” “-Hey!” He looked at you again, wobbling from how quick he turned to you with an offended look on his face. “..I’m not a fish.” He pouted as he spoke and you couldn’t help giggling at his expense.

“Yeah, yeah. Lets get you walking fish boy.” Despite his pout he still nodded and looked back down at his new feet. You stepped back from him with your hands still out to catch him if he fell.

“Ok -step three. You’ll need to lift up one foot at a time and put them down in front of each other one behind the other -like this.” You stopped to demonstrate under his incredulous glare. He huffed and lifted his first foot, he tipped over but lept that foot forward in the sand to catch himself in time. He flung his hands out in the air again for balance too, just like you taught him.

“Heyy! That’s one step, now do the other one.” He glared up at you again and you grinned. You never thought you would be teaching a grown man to walk, but there was something endearing about it all. He tried stepping with the other foot and balanced it better this time as he placed it in the sand just in front of his first one. He tried it a few more times, turning a corner and just trying to get a hang of it. He stood a little straighter the longer he kept trying.

You let him walk on his own until he was walking circles around you. Somewhere along the line he figured out how to hop and land on his toes, he was very fond of that. You were happy he was having such a good time after he had just been screaming his lungs out. But unfortunately there was another thing you needed to point out to him, preferable before other onlookers started to show up. 

“Hey Namjoon!?” You shouted to him, waving your arms to coax him over from the direction his skipped off to. Somehow he figured out how to do little spinning jumps when you weren’t watching. He landed on his tip toes but it didn’t look like he was expecting the wave of dizziness that hit him once he stopped spinning. You watched him giggle and tip sideways to one knee mid wave.

“Y/n!! Everything is spinning!! The surface is fun!!” You chuckled at him as you made it over to where he was. You watched him flop himself on his back and dance his fingers up towards the sky.  Now that the sun was up you could see the delicate pastels in his hair more clearly. Strands of lilac and mint and powdered blues evenly blended amongst soft silvers and cool whites. 

“Not to burst your bubble, but there’s something you should know.” His ears perked up as he fought to focus on your figure looming above him.

“You’re naked.” He frowned up at you, flopping his hand in your direction

“And you’re not.” You sighed. This really wasn’t something you were up for explaining more in depth. 

“Uh.. we don’t really do that up here.. Be naked! That is..In public.” He tilted his head in the sand as he continued to frown.

“Why?” You thought about it for a second. Of course you knew why. It was awkward, it was distracting. It wasn’t a common occurrence to see some adult man zipping around showing full frontal. Not to mention it wasn’t exactly kid friendly. But you weren’t sure how to explain all that to him, or where to start. You banked on a shorter answer.

“I don’t know, its inappropriate?” 

“Why?” He said again, unsatisfied. You pinched your brow as you thought again. 

“It’s distracting?” 

“Are you distracted?” He didn’t miss a beat when he questioned you back. And you really didn’t want to answer that. So you didn’t.

“... Anyway. I found this abandoned towel..  You should wrap it around your waist so we can go into town without you mooning anybody.” 

“Mooning?” He sat up as he questioned you, wresting his elbows on his fresh new knees. You already felt too mentally drained from his previous questions, you didn’t even think about touching that one.

“You’ll have to figure that one out on your own.” You tossed the towel into his lap as he rose a brow at you, but he ultimately obliged once he got himself upright again. 

~~

You hadn’t given much thought to your own situation until you were walking back into the town you thought you finally got away from. It turned out jumping ship wasn’t the most productive strategy for getting away. And you still weren’t sure what happened in between you watching the lights of your home town get farther and farther away --and the burn of salt water filling your lungs. Regardless, you were thankful Namjoon saved you. Even if among all the chaos he brought with him you hadn’t found the time to thank him yet. You would make sure to. Your personality may be flippant most of the time, but you really were thankful. This guy just left his whole world to save your life without even thinking, and because of that there was a small chance he couldn’t ever get back. 

You felt for him and would do everything you could to help him find his tail, but your first form of thank you would be to show him around your small town on the surface. Surfing the web for merman lore to help send him home could come later. For now, a good distraction from his current predicament was in order. And distractions were just about everything for him. 

He was first fascinated when you made your way off the beach and he came in contact with the side walk for the first time. And fencing..and how sharp gravel is. And the way his mouth dropped when he finally looked up and saw his first building was a sight to see. You wished the milestone would be something better than a public restroom, but he was happy enough. He really wanted to go inside, but you promised him you would take him somewhere better.. Somewhere cleaner. 

When he spotted his first tree was the same time he learned how to run. He ran right up to this great big palm tree and flung his arms around it, resting his ear against its trunk. 

“This is alive!!” He exclaimed, and all you could do was giggle as you watched him look up and sway in tandem with the fluttering of its leaves. "Its old.. it must have watched the moon and the sun chase each other so many times.. What do I call you?"

"That's a palm tree" He grinned. "A palm tree, amazing. I hope you don't mind if I rest my palms on you." 

"It's just a plant, they don't have feelings." Something in the air moved when you said that, something other than Namjoon's jaw dropping to the sand.. "Are all humans this rude.” You knew it was the tree he was asking, so you merely rolled your eyes and kept walking down the sunny side walk with a grin. 

Finding him clothes didn’t take much time at all, street vendors were practically throwing themselves at him when they were barely set up for the morning. He was eye catching, so you weren’t surprised. With his long and delicate silver hair, and his eyes you couldn’t always place a color on. Not to mention how decorated he was in perfect pearls and pearlized sea shells, all wrapped in what you guessed was a seaweed equivalent to twine. Not only was be beautiful, but he looked expensive. And his big curious puppy dog eyes made him look a touch gullible. You couldn’t blame anyone for wanting to sell him their goods until his pockets ran dry. Little did they know it was your pockets, it would be a while before they were dry, and the majority of your funds were still on the ship headed in the opposite direction. 

You were looking around at the third booth in a row that Namjoon was ushered into. The sales women had barely spared you a glance, something you didn’t mind at all. You looked around at the little shark tooth necklaces and snickered at the large assortment of mood rings. You checked the price on a few of them, four dollars a piece. You didn’t have much, but you would keep them in mind. They were definitely something you though Namjoon would appreciate. 

The sales woman was a lot older; very friendly, and didn’t have much care for personal space. But Namjoon didn’t seem to mind, even when the woman was forking through his hair without asking. Though you might not be able to know if he did have a problem, he could barely get a word in.

“Ohhh! Sweetheart! You’ll love this!” You heard the older woman exclaim, and it wasn’t the first time.

“I do!-”

“Great! I can wrap it for you! It’ll be $10! oHH, wait right there sweety I know something else you’ll just die for!” 

You snickered at the whole encounter, still wondering and touching things lightly. Part of you was evilly waiting to see what would happen when the woman found out he was broke. But --she did have shorts in her shop, and that was something he genuinely needed. You made your way around until you were met eye to eye with Namjoon again. You raised your brows at him in a silent question of “Are you ok?”  He nodded and blinked, averting his eyes to see where the woman had gone looking. He leaned into you to whisper in your ear shortly after.

“What is a dollar?” You grinned at the innocent question. 

“Its money. What do you all use for money down there anyway?” You whispered back. Not that some random old woman would know you were conversing with a merman about merman currency, but you felt weird speaking any louder.

“Oh, we barter. I think some other cultures of moonchildren use money though.”

“So there’s more of you than just where you’re from?” You asked genuinely curious, and he frowned at you like you had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

“Of course?” 

“Hey, I didn’t know any existed two hours ago. And you didn’t know about humans, so don’t even.” 

He paused.

“..That’s fair.” 

Just then the old women popped back up with what she had been rummaging for. 

“This here!” She held out an elaborate necklace in her hands. Most of it was made up of several cords with tiny pearlescent blue beads, both sides coming around to the center to hold a good sized oyster shell with moon phases carved into it. It was beautiful; and she was right, he loved it. He gasped when he saw it, holding out his palms for the women to place it in. 

“Oh! This is so beautiful! The carving here is so precise, this can’t have been done with a shell pick..” He spun the necklace around in his hands, feeling all the beads and even holding it up to see the moon phases against the sunlight. 

“But I don’t have any dollars..” The woman’s demeanor changed, just as you knew it would. She reached up for his hands with her short stature, securing the necklace away from him. 

“No money, no sale.” 

“How much is it?” You spoke watching the sad swirl in Namjoon’s eyes. The women almost looked shocked at you, as if she truly didn’t see you until you spoke to her. 

“$60.”

“$60? You’re kidding. Those beads are coated plastic, I can tell from here.” 

The old women scoffed.

“$40, take it or leave it.” You were about to say something when Namjoon intervened.

“What if we trade? I’ll give you a good pearl for it.” You cringed out of your skin when he said that. You knew how much pearls could be worth, and all of the pearls on his body looked worth well more that a $40 necklace. They could go for thousands. 

‘Wait!-” You Grabbed at Namjoons wrists before he could do anything foolish.

“Its ok y/n, I won’t miss it.” He untied what looked like a tiny pouch at his forearm. It was so heavily decorated you wouldn’t have ever known it had a function. You peaked over his shoulder to look inside, and your eyes went wide as you saw at least sixty or so perfect pearls. 

‘Wait, wait!” You held your hand out again between them both. 

“If you’re going to trade, a good pearl for that necklace, and pair of shorts and shoes for him. How does that sound?” You looked between them both as they both nodded. “And a mood ring” You added. “The nicest one you’ve got.”

“Yes, sure sure. But the pearl better be real.” Namjoon pulled out a little one. It was perfectly round, and the way it shinned almost made it look like it was glowing. The women's eyes went wide as he brought it closer to her, popping it right in her hands. She looked it over with a big grin on her face, and you wanted to scream about what a waste that was. But if Namjoon was happy, that’s what mattered. “The shorts?” You questioned to snap her out of her trance. “Oh yes! Ohh, and I have the perfect ones for you! Hold on just a minute!” The old women jumped up with glee, making her way over to the other side of her little booth. “Come ‘round this way dear! You’ll need to try these on!” Namjoon looked at you unsure, and you simply nodded and gestured for him to go where the women asked. She pulled out a pair of blue and purple tie dye shorts with a large lizard embroidered by the bottom left hem. He smiled as soon as she pulled them out, and you wondered if somehow within the past 15 minutes if she had really cracked the code to understanding his exact tastes, or if he would have smiled like that at anything. 

“You’ll love these!”

“I do!-”

“Go on, into the dressing room you go!” Your heart clenched a bit as she squished him into the tiny two foot dressing room. It was all made up of black curtains, and something you yourself would be horrified to get undressed in in such an open area. But seeing as how Namjoon was already naked.. It should be fine?..

He had never even seen shorts before until today, and putting them on might be more confusing for him than you would imagine. As the seconds went by you started to worry.

What if he tore them, or what if while trying to balance he fell right through the curtain and took the whole booth with him. What if he didn’t understand where his legs should go, or if he put them on backwards? As your heart was beginning to race Namjoon made his way out of the dressing room, his new perfectly fitted shorts worn correctly. 

“Oh they’re perfect on you! See look in the mirror! How are they? Do you love them!?” 

“I do!-” 

“Good good! Oh you deserve this too!” She pulled out a little white linen vest almost out of thin air and started to help him place his arms through its holes as Namjoon watched himself in the mirror. 

“Oh! its perfect! This one is on the house! You look like a handsome little merman!” You smirked at the accuracy the old woman was unaware of.

“Oh! Thank you!-” 

“Beautiful, beautiful! You and your girlfriend have to come back and visit sometime!” 

“Uh, we’re not-” You started, but no one heard you -and the suggestion seemed to go right over Namjoon’s head.

“Thank you ma’am! I feel brand new!” 

Namjoon bowed his head a little as he held the old woman's hands in thanks.

It didn’t take the women long to wrap up his new necklace in a cute little gift bag, or to let him pick some matching flip flops and a mood ring that peaked his interest. You made sure to grab one of the cards that tell you what all the colors mean, you were sure that could be fun to bring up later. And to maybe see if his ever changing eye color matched up. 

 Tonight was the night he planned to see it all. He schemed for months, but the weight of his duties below the surface left him all too preoccupied most nights. But he wouldn’t let them tonight, his dreams of watching the moon dip below the surface were too strong. He needed to see it for himself, the stories of its beauty weren’t enough to satisfy him anymore. He would let the waves take him on their journey, and he would watch the stars drift slowly across the sky, wondering how it was that they could stick up there when everything else seemed to always fall.   But he had never seen land before. Never imagined there could truthfully be a whole world outside of his own. Outside of the moon and sea’s warm embrace, the great blues that spanned forever and beyond. He didn’t know how close to land his home really was, just mere miles far enough to not see it,  just passed where the moon kisses the ocean, and gets lost between her waves.

  It was still hours before he would even drifted close, but they were hours he spent looking up and not around. All too mesmerized by the stars chasing each other across the night sky. It took the violent flutter of sails and a shout for him to finally be swayed from contemplation. He felt the splash in his fingertips. A weight in the ocean that wasn’t there before, a presence pushing in on him like shadows at his back. He shifted. And there it was. a great black shadow on the surface, stiff and artificial just like the stories he had been taught to fear. Stories of another world forbidden, surely those weren’t real? But here they were before him; this big black scourge against the water. Making sharp cuts in her waves.

Another shout and he was called into action. He was afraid, in awe, but that voice held fear, and his heart told him to lunge forward anyway...

..

 You weren’t sure how it all happened. It happened so fast, some violent force striking your back and BOOM. 

 Of course you could swim. But that didn’t mean anything when you were too dizzy to tell which way was up. When salt and water were all you could taste when you gasped for air.

 The waves were pulling you under so quickly. Shimmering black tendrils squeezing around your throat and filling your lungs with fire. They skirted inwards on the cusps of your vision, zeroing in until all you could see was darkness. Soon they pulled at your consciousness, fighting against you in one last flailing grasp at the surface. And then your world slipped away. Or at least the world you knew did.

But the world was much bigger than you could have ever imagined. 

 Something curious was near to you. Something mystic and ever wondering. Something you would have never believed was possible. But there it was, a shadow below the surface. Pushing in on you as it neared. He; the shadow your soul called friend, grasped at your sinking body. He pulled you towards him, relying only on instinct and the stories he could never bring himself to be afraid of. He pulled you towards the shallow waters, his fins brushing against the sand. He had never touched the sea floor and the surface at the same time before, he didn’t know it was possible. Even in all the stories he had ever heard he never knew his world could stretch out so thin.

..

 He didn’t even know how to swim in such shallow water, but he knew he had to learn now or never. Pulling you with him; desperately, to the summit of where his world ended and yours began.

 When he reached it he was reduced to dragging himself against the sandy floor, the last streams of the sea on his scales trying desperately to pull him back in. He obeyed, the fear of the unknown keeping him with his tail fins safely seated underneath her waves.He held you in his arms; this frail helpless thing, he didn’t know what you were. How were you so familiar, yet so foreign? Where was your tail? Why did the waters not kiss their breath into you like they did him? If the stories he knew were true, then you were nothing like him, and the water filling your lungs was more akin to poison. And if the stories were true.. he needed to act quickly. 

 He did whatever came to him first. He stretched back the column of your neck, brushing back the wet clumps of hair from your face. Fumbling, he pressed the heels of his hands at your chest, keeping as upright as he could with the little friction against the sand his tail lent him. His efforts did little to nothing and he only grew more desperate. Pounding helplessly at your chest, but hoping with all his heart he wasn’t hurting you. Despite his wishes you didn't budge, the water was just lodged too deep.

 He had one more idea. An idea that needed to work if he was going to save you. You, this ephemeral creature slipping away between his webbed fingers.If the water didn’t cling to you like it did him, maybe it would seek him out like it always had before. In one desperate swoop of instinct and hope, he pressed his gaping lips to your own. Willing the waters to leave you and follow him like they were meant to. And they did, brushing like the tides past your lips and spilling over into his own. He sucked up every last drop until he finally felt you coughing against him. He pulled away when he felt you surge, watching as you sputtered back to life. You gasped and shuddered and coughed beneath him, scared and confused as the spots of your vision slowly returned.

..

 You held to him like a life line; hands grasping at his wrists and arms. You were searching frantically as your vision returned, watching his glowing outline reveal itself against the moonlight. And it was as if moonlight was made for him. The glow dusting starlight against his tan skin. The water reflecting against him like shining glass mirrors that rippled as her waves splashed against the shore.  He was beautiful. His features sharp and soft and untouched. Like a dream against the horizon. He looked down at you with such curious eyes. They were big and dark; and deep, yet so gentle and full of so much light. You could feel the weight of him on your lower body, something cold and ruff scraping against the bare skin of your legs. He leaned in to look at you with an innocence that was so endearing. His head tilted to the side, locks of his long silver hair brushing past his shoulders and tickling your skin with icy water. You shuddered and he flinched back, his pupils dilating when he blinked back at you. When you stilled he leaned in so close you didn’t know whether to scream, or to blush. Was he.. Sniffing you? You shuddered again when the tips of his hair grazed your skin. This time he jumped back far, something heavy pulling at your legs when he moved. You didn't catch the subtle splashes he was making in the water, him too nervous to keep his tail fins still.

..

 He knew you weren’t like him, but did you know yet? He wasn’t sure.  You had two tails like long arms where they should have been joined and scaled. Distant fingers, and no gills. You were so different already. Did you even speak the same language? Should he even try to communicate? He composed himself after seeing the fear in your eyes.What was the harm in trying? He had already broken every rule in the book, what was one more?

He cleared his throat.

“Um.. What-what.. are you?” His head tilted again, the jewelry adorning his ears and neck jingling as he moved.

“E-excuse me?” His eyes widened at your reply. He understood you, and you him. And that was more shocking than anything to him thus far. Two creatures from entirely different worlds and yet you could understand each other. It shouldn’t have been possible. How could he know nothing of such a creature's true existence, and yet you both spoke the same tongue?. What long lost history was there that could tie you two together like this? 

He was amazed, and unwavering. But you were beginning to grow increasingly more uncomfortable underneath his weight, and the weight of his curious eyes lingering far too close and too long, no matter how beautiful those big curious eyes were. 

“Thank you for saving my life But-” You struggled to get your arms free out from under him. “Could you.. Get Off?” You popped a knee out from under his lower half, but the loss of stability sent him tumbling over on his side in the sand. He hissed when his shoulder thumped painfully against the ground. 

“Ouch! Hey!.. How do you live up here, I feel so heavy...” 

“Oh! Sorry!.. Wait, what..?” You pulled yourself up on your elbows and that's when you finally noticed the splashing. A.. tail? You shrieked, and he pushed himself back farther into the water to feel more secure. He wasn't sure what from, but your loud voice sent his instincts alight, and him stammering with more questions.

“Why are you screaming!?”

“YOU HAVE A TAIL!”He glowered at you before replying with only slightly less volume.

“And You have four arms! But I didn’t scream!?" You couldn't reply, too taken aback by the ridiculousness of the whole situation.

He paid your perplexed expression no mind, pushing up on his hands and walking backwards until he could bend his tail back enough to sit in the water. He had never sat before, never having been in shallow enough water to need to. But after maneuvering himself into position he found it leagues more comfortable than flailing on the ground helplessly. This way he could use his hands again too. You watched him pick his hands out of the sand one at a time to brush them off, doing the best he could to stay balanced on his tail. All you could do was watch him in awe as he messily flung his hair out of his way-too-shiny-for-this-world.. eyes. 

“Whatever you are, you sure like to stare, huh?” He gave you a one sided smirk as he glanced back at your awkwardly placed form. You shook your head before squinting at him and pushing up off the sand to sit on your knees. “Was he for real?” You thought.

“Well at least I don't sniff people.” 

He blinked at you.

“Well yeah, of course I did. That's just polite.” 

You frowned back at him. Or you tried to, but something about frowning at a shimmery merman felt off.

“Saved from drowning by a polite merman, wow what a day.”You watched as he finished fiddling with his hair, and he switched to fighting desperately to get the sand off his chest and shoulders. You were beginning to get all too distracted by the way his muscles rippled under his tan skin every time he swatted violently at himself. It was like watching a kid with peanut butter on his hands in a desperate battle to fling it off. A big ethereal kid… with a tail.

“Excuse me?" He snapped you out of your daze. "What did you call me?” 

You stammered“A-a.. merman..?”

“Is that what you call me? How come you have a name for me but I don’t have one for you..” his voice was so innocent, all of this was seeming more and more like a weird dream. Maybe something your brain cooked up just before drowning.

“Because you’re mythical, and I’m obviously hallucinating.. Or dead.. I’d never think up something as pretty as you on my own.” You really couldn’t help staring at him. Him still desperately trying to get the sand to stop sticking to his wet hands, and failing. He would rinse them off in the water, and then lose balance and catch himself in the sand again. Rinse, and repeat, with only mild frustration. 

“I’m mythical? I didn’t even know the water could get this shallow, but I’m the mythical one?”

“You’re the one with the tail.” 

“Yes, and you have whatever those are.” He pointed to your legs, one hand falling back to the sand as he lost his balance.. again. 

“Legs?”

He squinted.“Le-h-giz?” 

“Yeah.. legs.”

 “Like.. plural? Leg..s?” You hummed and nodded in reply. He went back to pull his hand out of the sand again with a look of defeat, and you just couldn’t watch the struggle anymore. You crawled up towards him on your knees, only taking him off guard a little. But a little was a lot for a guy with a tail who could stay balanced. He reeled back, his tail shifting around and splashing water up behind him as he started to topple over. Wiggling, but so determined to stay up this time.

“Hey, hey I just wanna help, here-” You reached your hands out to him, gesturing for him to place his own in yours. He looked into your eyes searching for something, any signs he should flee, but all he could see in your eyes was a kindness akin to his own.

He placed his right hand in yours first, and then slowly lifted his left to you, but his balance would be his demise. He fell forward, his hand catching between yours but you held him up by digging your knees deeper into the sand. 

“Oh! are you ok?” He hummed at you, but you could hear the twinge of fear in his voice. You checked his hands for any way you could have hurt their webbing from how you caught him. They seemed fine. Or you hoped they were fine, you weren’t really sure what unscathed webbed hands were supposed to look like. 

“Use me for balance, ok?” He only nodded in reply.

“How do you stay up.. without the water?” 

“Considering I just drown.. I’m not really sure how to answer that.. But.. if you let your hands dry off the sand won't stick so bad.” His eyes got so wide, like shinny glass fishbowls.

“Dry!? That sounds awful!”

“Have you ever even been dry?”

“No!?”

“Well.. Shit-” You held tightly to his hands as he shivered in the wind. You hadn't noticed it before, but it was growing increasingly windy.

“Well.. how about I help you dry one hand off, and if you hate it the waters right there.” You gestured behind him, and he hummed in discomfort.

“Will it hurt?”

“It..shouldn’t?” 

“Then..Okay. Why is your sand so sticky anyway...”

“Pretty sure its you that’s sticky..” “Huh?” He looked confused. Like he wasn’t sure if you had just insulted him or not. You just sighed and shook your head in dismissal. 

“Here-” You lifted his left hand to rest on your shoulder for balance, while you lifted his right so you could blow on it. 

“OH!” He exclaimed as soon as you started,  you merely chuckled.

“Did that hurt?” 

“No its just.. it tickles.” He said, his full lips forming a line in his uncertainty as he blinked at you again. You swore you could see the pigments in his eyes shift and change color.

“This is so weird..” You shook your head still in disbelief, continuing to blow on his hand and getting the webbing between his fingers.

“You never told me what it is that you are.”

“I’m just human.”

“Human..” He weighed the unfamiliar word on his tongue. Thinking it over, trying to see if it held any significance to him. It didn’t.

“Never heard of that. Sirens, sure. Humans? It sounds like you should be a lot more colorful than you are.”

You squeaked when you caught his connection.

“Hue! HA I get it.. “ He only squinted, his eyes changing colors again.

“Oh.. you were being serious..” 

You decided to change the subject.

“So.. what do you call what you are?”

“We’re Moonchildren.”

..

 You might have noticed the wind, but what he didn’t know was what the wind and waters do when they battle from up on the surface. Waves. He felt the little ones sliding up against his fins and keeping him warm before they would be pulled back to sea. The water always swayed back and forth, she was always moving. He knew that. But what he didn’t know was just how big those waves could get. But more importantly, how much the shore line would thin out in anticipation. 

 The water drew back behind him before he could even react, leaving him high and dry in the sand without her comfort keeping him feeling secure. He squealed a helpless sound as he toppled forward. To him losing contact with the water was like venturing up to a high ledge and losing balance. And when he fell forward he was only falling farther away, and taking you with him. 

 You tried to catch him. You really did, but he was much bigger than you. He knocked you back into the sand with a bang, his elbow somehow lodging into your diaphragm. 

You coughed, and he shuddered. Panting and shaking with fear, little whines leaving his lips the longer he was out of water. You didn’t mean to push him off so coldly, but you couldn’t breath. He landed on his shoulder and the side of his head with a thud and a yelp. You were too busy gasping for air again to see the look of utter betrayal he was giving you. And he was too busy being scared and offended to have noticed he was now flopping and drying out in the sand with two appendages instead of one. 

“I’m sorry!! I’m so-so-so sorry!!” You shouted as soon as you could, turning to try and help him back up.

“YOU PUSHED ME!” 

“I know, I didn’t mean to..” He grabbed at your shoulders despite his new found distrust, at least you weren’t sticky like the sand he could now feel grinding between his teeth. You pulled him up into a sitting position with what little strength you could muster, and that’s when he finally felt something was off. His tail felt.. funny. Like it was tickled in phantom sensations..and numb. Was that just what being dry felt like? 

He glanced down and screamed.

Neither of you remembered to look for the wave.