Chapter Text
When Josh toppled into his aunt’s swimming pool, his heart immediately began to race and he tried to scream, but the water rushing to full his mouth and nose prevented any call for help. At four years old, he rarely was let out his mother’s protective sight, so slipping away while his mother was distracted led him straight into his first life-or-death situation. Summertime swim lessons had not prepared him for this venture into the deep end.
He forgot everything he knew; too young to understand that you should not panic. Josh flapped his arms uselessly, and head began dipping beneath the surface. Life became one singular purpose—oxygen, but Josh quickly found himself tiring, and his splashing ceased as he slipped under the surface.
Josh was dying and no one would find out until it was too late—limp body bobbing to the surface. Dead before he even began to live, but thankfully that’s not how this story goes.
Hands—small hands—latched underneath Josh’s arms and pulled him back to the surface, back to life. Josh spewed water and choked while another person dragged him, paddling expertly and quickly to the edge—heaving him over to safe, solid ground. Josh kept coughing while his savior nimbly lifted themselves out of the pool to crouch next to him.
“Who-who are you?” Josh gasped, not recognizing this brown-eyed boy who seemed to be around his age, but was he even a boy? It took inhuman strength for such a small person to be able to rescue him. Fingers, with a thin membrane between each digit, came up to brush wet hair off Josh’s forehead. The boy hummed and smiled, proud of the job well done. “Who are you?” Josh repeated.
“Yours,” the boy said softly, “I’m yours. I saved you. You are mine.”
“Thank you,” Josh said politely, “What’s your name?”
“Name?” he tilted his head, “I dunno, maybe—”
A scream startled the two, and Josh’s mother came bursting out of the house, followed by other family members, “Josh! Get away from the pool! Oh God—did you go in?” She lifted him up, soaking her own clothes in the process, “Don’t ever do that again! You could’ve died!”
“He saved me!” Josh’s voice was muffled as she embraced him.
“Who?”
“That boy.”
“What boy? There isn’t any boy.”
“He’s right there—oh! I guess you all scared him off. I fell in and he pushed me out!”
They tsked and ignored his explanation, launching into an interminable series of lectures about never swimming alone. Josh’s mom had to be given a cup of tea to calm down, and Josh was given dry clothes. He wondered about the boy that had saved him, hoping to see him again to get some questions answered, though if it meant nearly drowning, maybe Josh would be content to wonder for longer.
He didn’t have to wait long, as the boy reappeared the very next day when Josh washing his hands.
“Hi!” he said happily, materializing suddenly in Josh’s bathroom. He was dressed as bright as his voice—neon colors clashing. “Just wanted to see if you’re okay today! Are you okay?”
“Yeah! Thanks!” If there was anything Josh’s mom taught him, it was to be polite. “So who are you? What’s your name?”
“Oh, um. I’m supposed to watch you, but I guess I don’t have a name yet,” the boy looked as if he’d forgotten something very important, worry creasing his face until it brightened again, and he said cheerfully, “you can name me if you want.”
“Cool!” Josh thought for a moment, finally deciding on a name of some character in a cartoon he liked, “You’re Tyler now!”
“I like that,” Tyler smiled, “We’re gonna be best friends.”
“I haven’t had a best friend before,” Josh confessed, “Where do you live? How do you get here?”
“Magic,” Tyler waggled his webbed fingers and Josh’s imaginings were confirmed, “I live with my mom and dad under the ocean. My mom said I was picked special for you and it’s important I keep an eye on you when you’re by water.”
“Why?” Josh asked suspiciously.
“Well you almost drowned, silly. I can’t let that happen. You’re my best friend,” Tyler bonked Josh on the head.
“We weren’t best friends then,” Josh pointed out.
“That doesn’t mean I’d let you die,” Tyler gasped, “We are supposed to be together forever.”
“Even when we’re old and wrinkly?” Josh crinkled his nose.
“Especially then! Whenever you’re touching water, I can be with you,” Tyler bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Okay! Lemme show you my room. If we’re gonna be friends forever, I have to show you my toys and…stuff…” Josh trailed off. Tyler had disappeared.
Remembering what Tyler had said, he ran his hands under the faucet again. Tyler popped back into the bathroom.
“Oops! I have to go back when you’re all dry ‘n all. C’mon, show me your room!” The two boys ran out of the bathroom, only able to play for ten more minutes before Tyler vanished again, and this time was permanent for the rest of the day.
Josh didn’t see Tyler again for the rest of the week, this new connection still tenuous and unpredictable. All Josh could talk about was Tyler—even though they barely knew each other, and Josh didn’t fully understand what was happening, he was enchanted by him. Josh’s parents would nod and smile, knowing he was at the right age for imaginary friends. They assumed this was just a phase, triggered by the pool incident, though they were only partially wrong.
Tyler appeared again while Josh was having bath time, dutifully covering his eyes the whole time until Josh was in pajamas, still soaking wet. Tyler hung around for even longer, stars in his eyes as the boy he was chosen to protect showed him how to have fun. They were equally taken with each other, and Tyler continued to pop in—frequently, other times with gaps in between. They missed each other a lot during those times.
The two still couldn’t figure out what exactly Tyler was; he wrinkled his nose at being called a mermaid since he didn’t have a tail. Josh checked a book out of the library with the help of a librarian who enjoyed the little boy’s imagination. The book had many pictures and descriptions about all sorts about magical and mythical creatures. The closest they were able to define Tyler—sitting on the floor of the bathroom while the water ran—was some kind of fairy, maybe a water sprite. Privately, alone, Josh called him his guardian angel.
…
The years slipped by, and Josh’s parents grew worried that time and time again he wouldn’t shed this invisible friend. They caught him talking to someone that wasn’t there. Initially, he was annoyed, almost furious they could not see this ‘Tyler’ even though Josh insisted he was right there . It got to the point that Josh had seemingly convinced his siblings to join in. They tried talking to Ashley, who stubbornly swore that Tyler was real and he was there . Grounding them didn’t work, so they just let the kids play.
Josh learned to not mention Tyler around adults too much—they weren’t really able to see him. Other children didn’t mention how strange this boy was, Josh’s best friend who would show up during pool parties or trips to the beach. He didn’t go to school like normal kids, and his strange hands marked him as something else. But no one dared insult him or else they would find themselves slipping onto their butt, or water uncomfortably shooting up their nose.
Their time together wasn’t limited to summertime swimming or when Josh was bathing—no, Tyler would walk to school with Josh when the skies poured, or as soft flakes fell. Josh loved snow days even more than the average kid, since that meant a full day outside sledding with Tyler, tossing messy snowballs, until both were soaked and shivering. When the snow melted, they’d spend hours in the woods along the banks of a creek, imaging games and monsters that lurked between the trees.
Tyler never seemed to need anything, but that didn’t stop Josh wanting to bring him little gifts, which Tyler wasn’t able to bring back to the Other place. So Josh spent a lot of time sneaking candy and sweet treats to the bathroom.
“Josh! What are you doing?” His mother stopped him from sneaking up the stairs.
“Just taking a bath,” Josh said innocently.
“Not with the cookie jar, you aren’t!” She gestured for him to hand it back, and Josh put on a show of being reluctant to give it up. Little did she know that his pockets were filled with food, and he’d run to the bathroom, locking the door swiftly behind him.
They had a routine—Josh would set the water running and dip his hand in, then Tyler would appear. They’d discuss their days and all things boys normally talk about, while stuffing their faces. Then Josh would let Tyler out of the bathroom so he could actually bathe. Tyler would wait patiently in Josh’s room until the other returned, clean but still dripping wet. He didn’t mind air drying, for it only extended the time spent with his best friend.
Tyler loved video games even more than Josh did, which was funny since water and electricity shouldn’t mix. Josh would educate him on how to be a ‘normal’ kid, so Tyler could easily pass when they were in public, because the two boys planned on venturing out into the world together. They’d been to the beach, the lake, the waterpark, sledding, etc, but they dreamed of the day Tyler would be able to stay regardless of magical rules. They were stumped on how that’d work, but convinced they’d find some way.
Tyler would linger for over an hour before he was drawn back to his home, just in time for Josh to go to bed too. They always wanted more, but the rules wouldn’t allow for them to be together for much more than a few hours every week. The only respite when Josh would wake from a nightmare. They came somewhat regularly; a manifestation of the anxiety that was always bubbling beneath the surface. Josh would wake from dreams he could only remember the feel of, gasping for oxygen that felt like it was being pulled from thick, boggy air.
Josh would scramble for the little bowl that waited on his nightstand. As soon as his fingers found the water, a weight would fall on his bed. Tyler didn’t ask anymore; he wasn’t saving Josh from water, water was letting him come to save him from scary things in the night. Tyler would just crawl to lie next to Josh and let slippery fingers cool his charge’s brow. Josh would fall asleep easily, and Tyler would fade away after a few minutes.
...
There was always so much for Tyler to learn, and ‘human stuff’ sometimes confused him, resulting in hilarity. He was often confused by seemingly every day objects, but the more he was exposed to, the quicker he picked up on it, such as not washing his hands in the men’s urinals. The first time they went into a city together and Josh doused himself with water to make Tyler appear, half the time was spent explaining what traffic was and preventing him from walking out into the middle of the street.
The first time Tyler was summoned to a dentist appointment almost got the Duns banned entirely from that office. Tyler was horrified that there was a man with sharp metal objects approaching his friend he was supposed to be protecting.
“No! Stop!” Tyler shouted, though the adult dentist couldn’t hear or see him.
All he could see was the jet of water squirting from the sink directly into his face.
“Aghhh!” the dentist shouted and stumbled backwards, knocking the tray of tools down to the ground. Everything clattered and Josh tried to control his giggles.
“Tyler, it’s okay!” He called out, “He’s just doing a cleaning!”
“What?!” The dentist was soaked and Josh’s mom came running into the room from the clatter— she had stepped out for a minute to take Jordan to the bathroom and returned to mayhem. Several other staff members came to help and Tyler sulked in the corner, Josh quietly talking him down.
“Sink malfunctioned, we’ll be right back to work in a jiffy.” The dentist was flustered, but he worked with kids so he had a cheery enough attitude. “Who’s Tyler?”
Josh hesitated to answer, the dentist’s hands went back into his mouth.
“Oh that’s just Josh’s friend ,” his mom said airily. “You know how kids are… I guess he was the reason why the sink malfunctioned?”
The two adults laughed and Josh was just beginning to realize that when grown-ups did that, it was because they found him silly or ‘precious’, laughing at his— and Tyler’s— expense.
“I’ll get you next time.” Tyler muttered darkly, and sure enough, whenever Josh went to the dentist, if they weren’t careful with the sharp implements, they would get a quick squirt on the face. He grew up to have perfect teeth, regardless.
…
The humidity in the summer air seemed to increase the likelihood that Tyler would appear. As if each invisibly hanging droplet had the potential to bring him springing into reality, ready for whatever scheme they could devise together.
Josh looked forward to summer time; time spent away from school, which wasn't a happy place for him. He spent his days with Tyler, usually at the town pool. His mom or whoever was babysitting his siblings and him for the day would take them as soon as it would open, and they'd stay all the way until dinner time.
"Stop running!" The lifeguards always shouted at him as he sprinted from the gate to cannonball into the pool.
His towel and flip flops would be left on the cement as Josh shed them in his mad dash to the water. Josh wouldn't leave them for too long, just trying to get wet enough so Tyler would appear for the day. And he would— from the moment Josh’s toes touched the water till the last drops evaporated as they chased for fireflies in the summer dusk.
“C’mon Ty,” Josh called. “Just jump in, you’ll be fine!”
Tyler’s knees shook, and he stared down at Josh from twelve feet above the surface of the water. To be so far up in the air, he was well out of his element. His skin chilled in the breeze and Tyler only wanted to be surrounded by what he felt safest in. Too dry— too high—
“You’re going to be okay! The water is going to catch you!”
Tyler plunged, not thinking about the altitude, just following Josh’s voice down. The crashing filled his ears and he was home . He could have stayed below the surface forever— but he opened his eyes to see Josh floating inches from him. They couldn’t talk underwater; they had tried before, so Tyler rose back to the surface, and Josh was already gushing about how Tyler had conquered the high five.
“See?! Wasn’t that fun? Maybe we can learn to do backflips.”
Tyler shuddered briefly, “I’ll watch for now. You can do it.”
…
“I like these… hot dogs.” Tyler had very little grasp of not speaking with his mouth full.
Josh nodded, having inhaled his lunch as well. Running around in the sun all day gave each of the growing boys an appetite. The snack bar at the pool was the designated meeting spot for seeing other kids from school.
Josh compared the next year’s schedule with them. Tyler waited quietly— every year less and less people noticed him. He was fine with that, as long as Josh stuck with him. It made it easier on Josh to pretend he wasn’t there, especially when bullies lurked.
“Oooh Joshie, where’s your invisible fairy friend?” mockingly called out for all to hear as the bully kid strutted by.
Josh turned bright red and stammered; he’d been in mid conversation with some potential new friends and the embarrassment could cost him social cred in the fragile elementary school dynamics. The other two boys he’d been talking to laughed and looked at each other, and Tyler slipped away from behind Josh. Following behind the jerk, running since no lifeguard could see him, Tyler stuck his foot out and thump .
The bully tripped over the invisible limb and went down comically. The power switched, laughter, and Josh’s reputation was okay. He left his hand out behind his back and felt Tyler give him a subtle high five.
…
Sometimes summertime meant camping, thankfully not far from a river.
“What’s this?” Tyler asked, carefully handling the oozing graham cracker-chocolate-white stuff dessert.
“The best thing ever,” Josh proclaimed, having placed one foot in the river to summon him, just old even to be allowed to venture a little into the woods under the pretense of using the bathroom. “A S’mores!”
“S’more what?”
Josh groaned. A scary story about hook handed highway murderers had him seeking comfort and a distraction. Watching Tyler make a mess of his face with the s’mores was enough to help him forget.
“Good! But I got most of it all over myself— wait what’s that?”
Josh wheeled around, convinced he’d see an axe murderer standing behind him.
“What?!”
“That—That tree rat!” Tyler pointed a chocolate-y finger at…
“A squirrel?” Josh squinted. “How’s this your first time seeing a squirrel?”
“They don’t swim so I don’t know.” He shrugged.
It was no sense keeping track since there was always something land-related for Tyler to learn. Summers were probably the best times— so much water around and Josh had more spare time when he wasn’t in school, that’s not to say that winters didn’t have their fair share of fun.
“I have been thinking a lot about this, and I need you to get me some paper right now.” Tyler already was going a mile a minute from the moment Josh touched water the first snow day— and did so every year.
Tyler designed epic snow forts, and if the accumulation was high enough, a complex tunnel system ran between igloos. The cold didn’t touch him, and he kept digging even when Josh ran inside to thaw his fingers and nose. Tyler was invigorated by the thrill of snowball fights, envisioning sieges that lasted from sunup till dusk. The neighborhood kids joined in, the Dun house became the epicenter of a storm of snowballs flying back and forth.
Screams and cheers— no one questioning the strange boy in a bright jacket too light for the weather who directed the games. Even children who stopped seeing him on normal days somehow found they could, when caught up in the frenzy.
…
“I’m turning ten tomorrow,” Tyler remarked one November day and Josh was flabbergasted.
He had never asked his friend if he indeed had an age, or a specific day that was His Birthday. They’d celebrated many of Josh’s birthdays over the years—he’d been ten for a number of months now. Josh had assumed that Tyler didn’t know, since he was usually so touchy about his family’s strange traditions. There were too many rules and Tyler would say dully that his existence was dependent on Josh anyway, which was clearly a statement hammered into him by whoever were his teachers.
Josh was up half the night worrying what he’d do to make up for all the missed years, all the birthdays Tyler had let silently pass by. He awoke the next day with a plan; he played sick so his mother kept him home from school and when she left for errands, Josh baked a cake (his mother had shown him many times, and he felt confident in his abilities). It turned out pretty well for a ten year old boy—only slightly lopsided and his icing abilities needed more practice. But it was a cake!
Josh ran to the upstairs bathroom when he heard his mother’s car in the garage, shoving the cake in before dashing to his room to grab his backpack. He managed to lock the door just as his mother entered the house. He turned on the tap in the tub, and waited.
“Honey, are you okay?” His mother asked.
“Uh, no,” Josh’s mind worked quickly, “Just…taking a bath. You always say the steam is good when you’re sick. That’s what I’m, um, doing.”
“Do you need anything? You want me to come in?”
“No!” Josh said a little too quickly, “No, I don’t want to get you sick. Um. I’m okay.”
“Well, holler if you need me,” she wandered off, and Josh waited until he couldn’t hear her moving around before he began to decorate and blow up balloons. He was very nearly finished when he realized there were no candles for the cake, but it would have to do. Josh dipped his hands in the half-full bathtub.
“Hey Josh, what—”
“Happy birthday!” Josh cheered and Tyler’s jaw dropped.
“Is-is this for me?”
“Duh!” Josh nudged him, “Sorry I forgot the candles, but you can, like, pretend to blow them out. Make a wish!”
Tyler scrunched up his face, thinking hard, and then blowing over nothing.
“I wished—”
“Shh!” Josh waved his arms, “Don’t tell me or it won’t come true!”
“Oh!” Tyler looked worried, “Can we eat the cake now?”
So they sat criss-cross applesauce and ate the cake with their bare hands since Josh forgot to bring forks (Tyler insisted they both wash their hands thoroughly). Tyler looked so overwhelmed, mouth opening every few bites as if he wanted to say something, but emotions welling in his throat stopped the overflowing happiness.
“My best friend,” was all Tyler could choke out with chocolate icing on his lips and sparkles in his eyes. And at only ten years of age, he was too young to understand the warmth in his heart, thoughts swirling in his head, were far beyond friendship or even guardianship. He’d look back later and understand, but just now he was floating.
…
“How do you spend your days, when you’re not, like, here with me?” Josh asked, many years into their friendship, realizing that he never asked Tyler this before. He felt almost selfish that he didn’t know too much about what Tyler did when they weren’t together.
“Wait around for you to call me.” Tyler shrugged. They were sitting in Josh’s room, listening to some music Josh had gotten from a friend. His foot dangled off the bed into a bowl of water, while Tyler laid on his stomach on the floor.
“That’s it?” Josh said incredulously, sitting up but keeping his foot submerged.
“Well the days aren’t the same as they are here. It doesn’t feel as long, and before I know it, you’re calling me back. But anyway, I spend time with my parents and they teach me things.”
Josh had heard about Tyler’s parents before, but he took for granted that Tyler’s live was different. They knew each other so well and were so comfortable with each other, they didn’t need to really talk about the normal and mundane routine. There were too many adventures to be had on the surface, both boys focused more on doing as much as they could in the time they had together. If anything, Tyler was more interested in what it was like to be human.
Except Josh’s curiousity was piqued, and the questions came quickly. “What are they teaching you? Do they have someone they guard too? Do you have a school?”
Tyler smiled. “Nah, there’s not really a school because there’s not so many kids in my… community. They just teach me what it’s like to be a guardian and all about the ocean and seas— like fishes and currents and stuff. I follow them around and watch them be guardians but, no— they don’t have a single person that’s just theirs. They used to when they were kids, too, but, uh, not anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Well…” Tyler was clearly uncomfortable, about to tell Josh something even he didn’t want to think about. “All guardian children get assigned a human to protect as part of their training. That’s why I’m with you. When we grow up, we don’t… we have to do this ceremony and then are assigned to a part of the sea to protect it and people who travel through.”
“And… and does that mean you’ll— um, you don’t see your uh, human again?” Josh was wide eyed, shocked and distressed.
Tyler couldn’t meet his gaze, trying to hide his feelings. He always had too many emotions, his parents and the other guardians always told him. To be a good protector, one had to cast their personal desires aside and only do what was best for their charge, even if it made all of them sad.
“Yeah,” he said in a quiet voice.
“No,” Josh protested. “I don’t like that— that’s not right. It’s not fair— we’re super close though, can’t we be a— um— a special circumstance?”
“I don’t know… maybe.” Tyler played with the frayed edge of the rug. “That won’t be for a long time. We’ll both be adults and you may, like, have a life and stuff and we’ll just—”
“No way!”
“That’s how it was for my parents.”
“Yeah, well we’re special. Did they hang out as much as we do? We’ll figure it out. You’re my best friend.”
“You’re mine too.” Tyler replied, and Josh was right. Everyone had told Tyler that his relationship with Josh was very different. And he had been warned— rejecting the path that was laid out in front of him meant losing everything he knew. Though he was so close to Josh, the idea of casting aside his family and his destiny felt utterly terrifying and something he would wait to figure out years down the road.
…
Fireworks in the neighborhood where an all-year occurrence and not just saved for the Fourth of July. The whole sky was lit from the moment the new year turned. In the dead of winter, Josh and his whole family would stand on their front lawn to watch the flashing colors and sparkling rockets. He knew Tyler was entranced, as he was by most human things, and Josh would never let him miss it.
“Oops,” Josh accidentally dumped his sparkling apple cider on himself.
“Joshua!” His mom sighed, “Be careful with that glass.”
“Of course, ma,” he replied innocently before turning to smile at Tyler.
Already the water guardian was staring at the sky. His fingers sought out Josh’s and they existed in silence. They were teenagers at this point and talking to one another when Josh’s mom already looked suspicious was taking to much of a chance.
Tyler felt a draw, something pulling him to turn his attention from the sky to the boy next to him. His cheeks were pink, and lips maybe a little purple-blue from the cold. The fondness was always there, but something new was settling into Tyler’s gut, an emotion his parents had never told him to expect and nothing that Josh and him had ever discussed. It gnawed— like how Josh described hunger. It was human, too human, and it scared Tyler a little.
It was a yearning to make Josh smile, to make him happy enough to turn to him and— and—
Tyler didn’t know what he wanted, but he had to do something .
He raised his webbed hand, palm up and did something he had never done before. With all the good intentions in his heart, Tyler directed them skyward and little snowflakes cascades gently down around them. It wasn’t enough for Josh’s family to be suspicious, just the slightest of flurries, but Josh knew immediately.
“Are you making it snow?” He whispered, snowflakes settling on his eyelashes and the flash of a firework illuminating his face green.
Tyler squeezed his fingers with his free hand. They stared at each other and it was a heavy moment— the moment that two people in love would kiss. At this point they were too young for that, though they were fast approaching that age of reckoning. All they could do was acknowledge the deep feelings and save the realization for later.