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Dean laid there in the circle of men, shaking, his face so swollen that he couldn't stop the drool. He hardly had enough energy to keep his puffy, bruised eyes open let alone come up with a plan to get out. He laid there groaning and coughing as the rest of his crew continued to kick him. It took him a few seconds to realize when they had stopped kicking and someone had pushed him onto his back. He opened his eyes and looked up at his captain right as he spat in his face.
“On your feet sailor!” The Captain barked down at him.
Dean managed a breathy “Fuck you” Before coughing up blood
“I bet you'd like to, wouldn't you?” the captain's spat, hatred practically burning in his eyes. “ Get him up” he barked at a sailor next to Dean. A quick hand grabbed Dean by his underarms and yanked him roughly to his feet. When the hand Let go, no longer providing support for Dean, he fell to his knees. Ignoring him, the Captain addressed the rest of the sailors. “As you can see, I do not tolerate this behavior on my ship! Now, get back to work, this ship will not sail itself!”
As the crew began to disperse going back to their normal duties, the captain got the lieutenant's attention. “Tie this man to the anchor and let him rot to the bottom of the ocean.”
“Sir, don't you think that's a little extreme-”
“I will not tolerate men like this on my ship! Is that understood lieutenant?”
“Yes, Sir” The captain stormed back to his Barracks leaving lieutenant and Dean alone. “I'm sorry, Dean. It wasn't supposed to end this way.”
Dean craned his neck to look up at him, and then spat blood in his face.
“Are you sure?” Dean croaked “because it sure didn't look that way when you were kicking me with the rest of the crew”
The lieutenant sighed and shook his head as he grabbed Dean and threw his arm over his shoulder. Dean cried out, and the lieutenant grimaced. His ribs were broken. Hell, his arm might have been too. But, he did as he was told, and he dragged his crew member over to the anchor and began tying him up, and Dean didn't even try to stop him.
Just before he let go of the rope to drop Dean into the ocean, he leaned in and whispered into Dean's ear “I love you”
“No,” Dean said softly, shaking his head “ if you did, you'd be tied to this anchor with me.” And with that, the Lieutenant Let go of the rope and Dean plunged into the ocean.
At first, the cold water was soothing, but it just as quickly began to burn Dean's cuts and scrapes from the rough deck. The water pressure rose so quickly that it forced all the air that Dean did manage to get out of him. The ropes were tight, and he struggled against them, but he knew there was no hope. He was going to drown, and he was going to be eaten by the fish. Dean’s just eventually became so tight it felt like it was going to concave, and the pressure coming from behind Dean's ears made his head feel like it's going to explode. He just wanted it to end. As his vision began to dim he saw something glimmer in the water. Pretty he thought, what a pretty fish.
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Dean didn't remember coming to, just all of a sudden he was on his side hacking up water. He was soaking wet and cold, but he just kept coughing up water. Once he could breathe without coughing he managed to push himself onto his back. Dean wiped the water off his face and tried to sit up.
“Gaahh” He yelled as his rib and arm were filled with shooting pain. Dean fell back with a loud thud. He laid there for a second, trying to catch his breath. Trying to get a grip. Being very careful not to move the rest of his body, Dean craned his neck around trying to figure out where he was. He decided it was a cave, or maybe a grotto? There was a ceiling of rock above him, a pool of water at his feet that likely led to the ocean. That must have been how he drifted in here. Dean pushed himself up again, more gingerly this time. He needed to think, get a better look at his surroundings. He knew that he was going to die of starvation or more likely dehydration if he couldn't find a way out of here. He scooted his way back against the cave wall. It was only a few feet back or so the cave was small. Now leaning back on the wall, Dean’s head slowly stopped spinning and his eyes began adjusting, he noticed a head poking out from the water in front of him, eyes fixed on him.
The eyes were piercing sapphire blue, the eyes seemed kind and curious. Dean didn't have enough energy to fight, he hardly had enough to sit up. All he managed to say to the eyes was a deep, soft “help”
The creature sat up in the pool of water and Dean could now see the silhouette of a man. “Come back to the water,” He prompted “I cannot reach you on the land”
“What? I-” Dean swallowed thickly and tasted like iron, “I don't understand.”
“You need aid that I cannot provide out of the water. You need to move closer” The man's voice was deep and soothing.
“Can't” Dean coughed. His legs felt like they were full of lead, and with only one good arm there was no way he was making it back to the water.
“Then I will move you,” the man said decidedly. Before Dean had time to process what the man had said a wave appeared in the pool of water, seemingly out of nowhere, and moved towards Dean. The water circled around Dean and pulled him back towards the water. Now laying on his back, Dean stared up towards the man, being so close to him, he could really see how beautiful he was. He had dark, almost black hair which made his blue eyes stand out even more. Dean felt a hand cradle the back of Dean's head and pull it up slightly. Dean looked back and saw the man's head get closer to his own. Dean closed his eyes as his lips were met with a warm, soft, wet kiss. When Dean's head was lowered, he opened his eyes to stare at the strange man.
“Wha… why?” Dean was Dazed and found it hard to complete any thought and his swollen eyes became so heavy. Slowly, his body began to warm up, and he found it hard to stay conscious at all.
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This time, Dean woke up slowly, like waking up from a nap. He was already sitting up leaning against a rock that was much closer to the water. He put his hand to his side and saw that seaweed was wrapped tightly around his chest and abdomen and there was a sling holding up his right arm made of seaweed as well.
He could tell that its face was less swollen and that the blood had been cleaned off. “What happened? He kissed me and then I passed out?” Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, it felt like he was hungover.
“How are you feeling?”
Dean shot up, startled by the voice, then groaned and laid back down. “Sore, and hungover. What happened?” Dean looked over to the man and saw that he was in fact not a man. Instead of legs, he had a shiny long blue tail. Dean's jaw hit the floor. An actual Mermaid Man. What in the absolute hell. “I must be dead,” he laughed, “I must be dead, and I'm hallucinating”
“I can assure you that you are not dead. I went to great lengths to make sure you were not.” Dean stayed silent so the man decided to continue. “My name is Castiel, I am a merman and I control the tide” he paused “who are you?”
“You can't be a merman,” Dean laughed “They aren't real, just an old sailor's tale”
“If I'm not real, then how am I here? How are you bandaged?” He challenged
“All right, you're real” Dean groaned putting a hand to his aching side “What happened? How did I get here?”
“I heard a splash by where I was working, when I looked I saw a man tied to an anchor. I've never seen a human that close before but I knew they couldn't survive in water. I saw you struggling, so I came to your aid and cut your ropes then brought you here.”
“And where is it here?”
“A small cave just above sea level, I knew that you needed air, but I could not leave the water; I compromised”
“And then I woke up and you kissed me?”
“Merpeople have glands in the back of our mouths that produce venom to coat our saliva. We use this while hunting to subdue our prey before we kill it. By kissing you I was able to administer enough of the Venom to render you unconscious”
“You poisoned me!” Dean yelled
“You were in distress, I needed to reset your arm, and bandage your ribs, that would have been painful. This way you did not feel any pain. I was helping!” Castiel yelled back in defense.
“Fine! Thank you.” Dean conceited “ Wait, how did you move me? Before? You said you would move me?”
“ I told you, I'm a merman of the tides, I have small power over the tides, small waves, slight changing in temperature” Castiel pointed to Dean's face “That's why your face is no longer swollen, I iced it while you were sleeping”
Dean reached up and touched his face, it stung a little but Castiel was right the spelling was almost gone. “Thank you” he nodded, “I owe you my life”
“You owe me an explanation” He corrected “Who are you, and why were you thrown off of your ship?”
Dean leaned his head back against the rock and closed eyes. Trying not to cry. “I'm gay,” he said quietly “Sort of anyways”
“I'm unfamiliar with that term,” Castiel said blankly.
“It means I'm attracted to men. Well, I like women too, so I don't know what that makes me”
“And they threw you off of the ship because of this? I don't understand sexuality holds no value in the undersea culture.”
“That must be nice because it sure means a hell of a lot up there” Dean sighed “The lieutenant and I were fooling around and the captain caught us. As soon as that door flew open he pushed me off of him and said that I had forced him to do it, that I had come on to him.” his voice cracked “I was dragged onto the deck where the entire crew beat me. Then the Captain ordered the Lieutenant I slept with to tie me to the anchor and drop me into the ocean to die.”
“But you did not die, I saved you” Castiel leaded closer
“I'm still going to die,” Dean said solemnly
“Why? Are you ill?” Dean could hear the worry in his voice
“Humans can't drink saltwater, and even if we could I don't have any food. I'll starve.”
Castiel's eyes turned from a deep sapphire to a bright electric blue as he pushed water towards Dean. It created a neat puddle beside him. “I told you, I can control the tides. Drink.” It sounded more like a demand than a request so Dean dipped his hand into the puddle and took a sip. The water was cold and fresh, Dean found it hard to resist liking straight from the pool.
“Thank you,” Dean's voice was smooth
“Hunting is easy, I do not mind bringing you food until you are able to hunt yourself” Castiel smiled at him warmly
“Thanks, Cas, but I couldn't ask that of you. I don't know how long it takes for mermen to heal, but it will take me six weeks probably for my arm to heal”
“Cas?” He echoed
“Yeah, sorry it's easier than saying Castiel. It's a nickname do you mind?”
“Nick-name?... a name from Nick. Is your name Nick?”
“What? No, my name is Dean.”
“Then, it is my Dean-name.”
“Whatever you say, Cas” Dean chuckled.