Chapter Text
Jay was a surprisingly frequent visitor. Whenever Cole was alone at sea, he'd pop up from the water and chat Cole's ear off about whatever he did that day, or what Cole was doing, or something about the underwater city. Jay lived in what was basically a junkyard for shipwrecks, he'd explained, and the city was built from coral, and stone, and packed sand, and occasionally wood, and they used glowing crystals for lights, and they ate all kinds of fish and kelp and seaweed—
Jay talked a lot. But Cole was more than willing to listen and answer his questions. It wasn't so lonely at sea anymore with him around.
The guy also wasn't kidding about how strong his shocks were. Sometimes, he'd help Cole out by chasing fish that got away and zapping them to death, occasionally frying them to a charred crisp on accident if he was too excited. This also caused Jay to learn what fire was by accidentally setting Cole's boat ablaze. But that was... all in the past. He helped fix it up later.
They were close friends. At least, Cole thought so. And he was pretty sure Jay did, too.
——
"Are you Jay's friend?" A woman's voice inquired.
Cole turned around in his boat to see the two bobbing heads of an older man and an older woman in the middle of the water, both with twinkles in their eyes. Utter befuddlement buried any shock or concern he might have otherwise felt.
"...Who are you...? How do you know Jay?"
"Oh! It is him!" The woman cheered.
"It's so nice to meet'cha!" The man had the strange odd accent as the woman.
They both swam up and offered their hands for a handshake, and Cole noticed the distinct webbing between their fingers— they were merfolk. The man's was a dusty gunmetal color, and the woman's was a muted orange.
"We're so excited to meet you!" The woman said.
"We're Jay's parents!" The man explained.
"This is my husband, Ed," the woman continued.
"And this is my wife, Edna!" The man finished.
"Oh...! Yeah, uh, nice to meet you!" He shook each of their hands. "I'm, uh—"
"We know, you're Cole!" Edna smiled warmly. "Jay talks about you all the time!"
Ed nodded. "He's awful fond of you! It's so nice to see he has such a nice friend!"
"SUCH a nice friend!" Edna parroted. "We were just a teensy bit worried when we found out he was coming up to the surface, but you've obviously been looking after him well. Thank you so much!"
"Oh...! Uh, yeah, that's no problem. I like having him around. If anything, he's been taking care of me." Cole thought it would be best not to mention the boat fire, so he didn't.
"Aw, such a nice young man!" Edna cooed.
"Oh, I hope we aren't bothering you too much while you're fishing, but could we chat with you for a bit?" Ed asked.
"Actually, I'm not out here to fish. I was... waiting to see if Jay would show up. You can, uh, come up on the boat if you want."
"Oh, thank you!" Edna said.
"Such a nice young man!" Ed echoed.
They climbed up the side of the boat, and Cole helped pull them inside. Instantly, he noticed that they both looked quite a bit different from Jay; their tails had striped patterns comprised of large dots and fins more like that of a shark's. They both had shark-like fins between their shoulder blades as well, which Jay did not. Their colors matched the webbing on their hands.
"Oh, my! You're awful strong, Cole!" Ed told him.
"Wow, look at those legs!" Edna paused. "Oop, I'm sorry. It's been a long time since I last saw a human!"
"So, you're... not electric rays...?" Cole wondered aloud.
"We're both tiger sharks!" Edna said.
"Almost everybody in our city is some kinda shark. Actually, that's..." He rubbed the back of his head. "That's part of why we wanted to talk to you."
"Our sweet boy... he always had trouble fitting in with the other kids. There's no other electric rays in the whole city, so sometimes, they treated him... differently." Edna sighed.
"And even now that he's all grown up... well, he's seemed a bit... lonely. We've been worried about 'im."
"It's not like he doesn't have any friends!" Edna clarified.
"Oh, no! He's made some nice friends! But it seems like he keeps them at a bit of a distance. And he's never said anything, but we know he knows he's adopted. How could he not? And... well, that doesn't matter too much. What I'm trying to say is that you're the first thing Jay's been so excited about in a long time."
Cole blinked. "Oh."
"So we wanted to ask you," Edna continued. "What's he like...? How does he act with you?"
"Well, he talks a lot." Cole stared at the repaired portion of the boat. "And he messes up sometimes, but he's also... really helpful. He's... easily excitable, and always asking me stuff about living on land. So, he's really curious, I guess. Like I said, I like having him around."
He glanced back up and noticed both of them crying.
"Woah! Uh, I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no." Ed leaned against Edna and held her hand. "You didn't do anything wrong!"
"Oh, that sounds just like Jay when he was a little boy...!" Edna returned the lean.
"It's so wonderful to hear!"
"He's seemed so down until he started visiting you, Cole!"
"Please, would you keep being his friend? I know that's a weird request, but you've been making 'im so happy!"
It was nice, but a bit overwhelming. "Yeah, of course..."
"Thank you so much," replied a teary Edna. "Gosh, I forgot how odd crying feels above water!"
A splash. "Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?!" Jay shrieked.
"Oop! Hi, sweetie!" Edna wiped her eyes quickly and waved.
"Cole really is as handsome as you said!"
"Aaaaah!" Jay wailed. "Get outta here! Go home! Stop bothering Cole!" His face was quickly growing red.
"Okay, okay! We'll get out of your hair," Ed said.
"Oh, um..." Cole looked between them. "Uh..."
"It's alright, Cole! It's no fun hangin' out with your friend AND your friend's parents."
"It was so nice to meet'cha, son!"
"Super nice!"
"Th— uh, thank you... you too."
They both slid out of the boat, and Jay rushed over as they swam down and away. Cole rubbed a hand over his eyes, still processing that whole interaction.
"They didn't say anything weird to you, did they?!" Jay gripped the side of the boat.
"...You think I'm handsome?"
He screamed. "Shut up!"
Cole chuckled. "Alright, alright. You wanna come up here?" He patted the wood under him.
Jay pulled himself up in a practiced motion and sprawled out inside the boat.
"Your parents seem, uh—"
"They're a lot. I know."
"Well, yeah, but they also seem pretty nice. And they clearly love you a lot."
"I do wish they didn't freak out so much about you... I mean, I don't have a lot of friends, but still..." Jay curled his tail around Cole's legs, something he began doing once he discovered just how warm Cole's body was compared to his.
"What are your other friends like? Merfolk, I assume?"
"Yeah. Their names are Zane and Lloyd. We kinda grew up together. They're both really nice, but... I dunno, sometimes I can't help feeling like they just pity me or something. Does that make sense? Am I crazy?"
"Nah, that makes sense. But if they've stuck around you for so long, there's no way it's just pity. If that were it, they would've ditched you by now."
"Hm... maybe you're right. I'll try to think of it that way. They really are both super nice. It's not like I have any good reason to feel like that. Zane's a weird guy if you're not used to him, but he's always thinking about others, and he always sees the good in everybody. And Lloyd always defended me whenever kids picked on me, even when it was his other friends doing it. And he's a good listener."
"They do sound really nice."
"Yeah..." Jay stretched out. "You're nice, too."
"I am?"
"Yeah, duh. You sit there and put up with me rambling for hours. And you've never been scared of me or weirded out or anything just because I'm not like you."
"Well, thanks. You're nice, too. Even if you set things on fire sometimes."
"One time! ONE time!"
——
Handsome... handsome...
Jay thought he was handsome? Handsome enough that he mentioned it to his own parents?
Cole stared at his own ceiling, unable to sleep, pondering that word.