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Cloud woke in the dark and it felt so nice. He knew it must have been morning because of his own biological clock telling him to get up for the day but the thick curtains were drawn closed. His bedroom was kept cool, fighting off the heat of the island and he happily burrowed himself into his sea of blankets and pillows.
It was his favorite part of the day. Still muddled with sleep and in a cave like setting. He wasn’t late or in a rush, it was just peaceful. The only thing that could have made it better was-
He heard humming. A soft, gentle song he knew so well.
“Mm…”
He felt the weight on the bed crawl towards him, the humming getting a little louder. Cloud curled up into a ball and smiled when someone wrapped themselves around him. The humming never really stopped as light kisses were pressed to his jaw and ear.
“Mmm…”
It wasn’t really a wake up call so much as it was an ‘i’m here’. Cloud felt fingers in his hair and an arm wrap around his waist. It was...the perfect moment.
Cloud didn’t break the moment, he waited until the humming stopped before doing anything and the tune probably lasted close to an hour.
“Did you get up to watch the sun rise again?”
Squall mumbled his affirmative. “Beautiful every day. Different. Like looking at your eyes.”
Cloud snorted but felt his face heat up. “You've compared my eyes to a dozen different things. First it was the ocean. Then the moon. Then the wind.”
“The color twists and shifts and changes.” Squall smiled and brushed Cloud's hair back out of his eyes. “They’re beautiful, like you.”
Cloud laughed and was torn between snuggling into his fresh, clean, warm sheets and snuggling back against Squall. “You are the only one who thinks i’m beautiful.”
“No.” Squall chuckled. “I’m the only one with enough nerve to tell you to your face, pretty brownie.”
“Only a quarter.” It was Cloud’s standard response.
His grandmother had been a brownie, short and sweet as she went about her business doing what she did best. Keeping home. Cloud remembered being small and watching her turn invisible when some human got to close. She was full of surprises, secrets, and recipes but it only took being crept up on once to give her a fear of being caught again. One terrifying night that left her fleeing that city and resulted in Cloud’s mother. A half breed was met with much more criticism and things had been hard on her too.
Still, Cloud remembered her fondly. She raised him with love she didn’t receive from society but ultimately lost her life in an accident. By ten Cloud had been orphaned, but at least he was human enough to pass.
He was shorter than average for a man, but his grandmother had been four foot- six inches and his mother was just over five foot. With his hair, Cloud cleared five foot-seven inches. He couldn’t turn invisible like his mother and grandmother but he still had the same urges to keep house. His eyes however, were fae eyes through and through, betraying his heritage.
“My quarter brownie, so pretty.” Squall chuckled, not truly giving a damn what Cloud was or wasn’t.
He nuzzled closer, checking Cloud for scrapes and bruises that hadn’t been there for years. It was a habit he’d likely never break.
“You’re ridiculous.” Cloud smiled and he finally stretched. “I suppose we need to get up. Do you want to go to the harbor today after chores?”
“After chores.” Squall teased, finding the way Cloud was compelled to clean adorable. “Yes. Sounds good to me.”
If waking up in the warm, cozy bed was the best part of the day, getting out of it was the worst part. Squall pulled the curtains open to let in the sunshine while Cloud meticulously made the bed, just the way his nana had taught him when he was small.
His home was little, but perfect. It wasn’t really big enough for two but he and Squall enjoyed the close quarters. It was less for Cloud to clean too. Squall would help him dust but most of the chores were left to Cloud because things had to be done just so… or it would nag him until he fixed it.
Squall did however cook and loved making sandwiches or french toast whenever Cloud made loaves of bread for them. They even made a little money on the side by selling cookies or other baked goods. Cloud knew a woman that owned a cafe which kept them from the poor house by buying their pastries and treats.
They didn’t have much, but they were happy.
Squall made breakfast while Cloud went to work, sweeping and wiping up any smudge or spiderweb he might have come across. Tuesdays he would shine their silverware like his mama did but they didn’t even own a whole set so it didn’t take long.
They lived modestly and Cloud had very few precious possessions. A cookbook that had belonged to his nana and then his mother. A necklace his mother wore every day of her life and pearl earrings sculpted to look like a little wolf that had been a gift from Squall. That was enough for him.
The pair ate together in relative silence, both listening to the neighbors argue. It was its own form of entertainment most days but the threat of a pending baby had them both wincing. They’d spoken about moving, but it was a serious topic. Moving was hard for Cloud when he was wired to love his house so much but he could if need be. It was an option at least.
“Are you done your chores?” Squall asked. “Anything i can help with?”
Cloud shook his head. “I’m satisfied for now, thanks.” He couldn’t help his smile. Squall always offered, even when Cloud couldn’t take him up on the offer. The fact alone that Cloud trusted Squall to cook for him was it’s own amazing achievement, and proved just how much Cloud loved him.
Squall knew it too, but he always offered, and never took Cloud’s cleaning for granted. It was lucky Cloud was only a quarter brownie and didn’t feel the need to touch and move everything. He could be content with things as they were.
“Shall we then? It’s a pretty day.” Squall never got tired of it. Pretty days, cloudy days, dreary days. They all held their appeal to him. The great big sky.
“Yes.” Cloud smiled faintly. They cleaned up from breakfast quickly and headed out hand in hand.
There wasn’t much of a beach in their city. It was a port town filled with boats and docks. Getting to the water was almost a challenge. The harbor was a rough area filled with fishermen and sailors and likely criminals of all sorts. It wasn’t the sort of place most people would take a stroll.
They gained looks, they always did as they wandered past. It was something Cloud learned to ignore. It was so much better to focus on whatever song Squall was humming.
There were those around town that tried to buy or bribe his attention. A brownie in the home was suddenly fashionable again but Cloud would never forget the way his mama had been treated. There had only been one offering he’d ever accepted.
These days, anyone else trying was just plain offensive to his modest quarter brownie sensibilities. He didn’t need riches to be happy.
Of course there were the rumors flying that anyone that displeased Cloud or god forbid, actually hurt him, disappeared.
They walked down a worn path, past the boats and the mess of dock workers. Way off in the corner was was a little dock, too small for the bigger boats. It was broken, missing boards and was just plain unsafe. No one used it, and that means it was safe for Cloud and Squall to sit on and watch the water without being in the way.
“Go on.” Cloud smiled, taking a seat at the edge of the pier. He’d even taken his shoes off to kick his feet in the water.
“You’ll be alright?”
“I always am.” Cloud smiled up at him, watching as Squall stripped off his clothes one item at a time. His smile just grew when Squall stood naked. Squall was beautiful, ethereal. He looked human enough now, but there were stripes of dark scales running up and down his legs.
“I won’t be long.” Squall promised.
“I love you.” Cloud beamed, watching Squall fall back into the water with a splash. He sank to the bottom and Cloud could just barely see him through the murky water. It was several minutes before he broke the surface again and reached up to hold onto Cloud’s ankles with webbed fingers.
“I love you too.” he purred, kissing Cloud’s calf. “I won’t be long.” he repeated.
“And i’ll be here.” Cloud promised.
Squall hummed and rolled his body back under the water to swim away. Cloud could just barely see that dark shimmering tail where his legs had been. Several times a week, Squall would swim out to sea and find his shoal. He would check in with his father and make sure he knew everything was still alright with Squall on land. Sometimes he would stay in the water for a day or two but he always came back.
They’d been so small when they met. Cloud had only been seven and so terribly small for his age. He’d tried to play somewhere else and be out of his mother's way while she was beating the rugs out one afternoon.
He’d found himself on the docks, running from a man who had beaten him quite badly with his belt. He called Cloud a thief for trying to tidy up the docks. He hadn’t known he’d be met with such animosity, but perhaps he should have. Cloud had run away in tears and found himself cornered and trapped on a broken down little pier with no witnesses other than the sailor that chased him.
He remembered so clearly looking down into the water, wishing he knew how to swim. It might not have been very deep so close to shore but he was very small. Blood dripped from a cut on his face into the water and he could hear the sailor stomping down the pier behind him.
Cloud had whimpered in fear, wondering if he’d just get beaten worse or if the sailor intended to kill him. A splash got his attention and he peered back into the water, stormy gray eyes staring back up at him.
He’d been mesmerized by the stare and could only look back. By the time he got up the nerve to reach out and try to touch he was yanked up by the back of his shirt with a yelp.
“You fucking little mongrel! By the time i’m through with you you’ll never be wandering around the harbor causing trouble again!” He shook Cloud and he could hardly help the startled sounds escaping.
“I wasn’t!”
The sailor spit in disgust, “Filthy half-breed! No one believes your lies.”
There was a sound that made both a sailor and Cloud pause. A sound that rose from the water, a song that was as bone chilling as it was pretty. Cloud could feel it prickling over his skin like a shiver. Such things shouldn’t have had much of an effect on him, and he had almost no time to wonder what the sailor felt before Cloud was dropped on the pier with a hard thud.
“Ow.” he mumbled, glancing up at the sailor who looked dazed. He peered over into the water himself and stared like he was in a trance.
Without warning he tipped forward, falling into the water without so much as a cry for help. Cloud gasped and quickly crawled to the edge to look, half fearing he’d landed on the boy with gray eyes. Instead there was nothing. No boy, no sailor. The song had stopped and it seemed almost too quiet because of it.
Cloud knelt there, wondering if he should run. Would he be blamed for this? The water tinted red in a muddy cloud and Cloud felt his pupils contract. Blood. How did you clean blood out of the water? He’d have to ask nana…
He fidgeted and sat back on the pier. His face hurt. His arm hurt. He needed to clean up before he got home or his mama would worry.
There was another splash and he looked down, seeing gray eyes again. A siren. A siren that was his size. Oh, that means he must have eaten the sailor, or at least part of him. That was...unpleasant, but it was hard to feel badly after how the man had just beaten him. The siren boy reached up, wet fingers touching the blood on Cloud's face before bringing it back to his mouth to lick. Did brownie's taste good to sirens? That didn't seem to be the case. If anything he seemed annoyed that Cloud was bleeding.
They didn’t know how long they stared at the other without a word but it felt like hours. Eventually both had to go before their respective parents came looking for them.
It had been so very memorable for both of them. Fifteen years later Cloud laid out on that same pier, using Squall’s clothes as a pillow. They’d been together for so long now and wouldn’t trade a single day of it.
Cloud heard something breaking the surface of the water and didn’t have to look to know Squall was back.
“Hey you.” Squall smiled, hauling himself out of the water and onto the pier, long tail and all. It almost looked like just plain black scales but when the light hit it just right it showed all kinds of beautiful stripes in white, blue and green.
He crawled right over top of Cloud and dropped a kiss on his mouth. “You should have brought a book. What have you been thinking about all morning?”
Cloud smiled, pushing Squall’s wet hair out of his face. “The day we met.”
Squall let that answer sink in and broke out into a toothy smile. “I’d never seen anything as pretty as you. Was so mad you were bleeding but i didn’t know what to do about it.”
He caught Cloud’s mouth a second time.
“You saved me though.” Cloud muttered, arms around his neck. It wasn’t the last time either. Squall had eaten a number of cruel people, that or he’d gotten his family to do it.
“Yes.” Squall mused, “But i hated to leave without learning your name.”
Cloud had been so charmed as a child. Even the memories still made him smile softly. Squall had actually come onto land to find him and he’d gotten in so much trouble when his father found out.
The most adorable part though, was when Squall finally did approach him. He came holding a small pitcher of cream and a jar of honey because he’d heard it was the best way to attract a brownie.
It had worked too.
Cloud was smitten, not just by the kind gesture but by the fact that Squall had come on land just to find him. His mama had marched him right back to the ocean when she’d found them. Squall’s father had been panicking and searching the shore for him. Having him back in the water left him relieved just to have his son back, but the damage had been done.
Squall would break the surface just to see Cloud and Cloud would be waiting for him by the docks. The first year had been little more than glimpses and smiles but it had been enough. Now they were older and could do as they liked.
“Dad and Ellone said to tell you hello.” Squall mused, delighted by the way his family supported his odd living arrangement.
Cloud smiled. “I hope you gave them my love in return.”
“Of course.”
Cloud kissed his forehead and sighed. If they did move it would be so Squall could be a little closer to the ocean. He’d been thinking about it more and more lately. The discomfort he’d feel at leaving his current house behind for a new one would be nothing compared to Squall leaving the ocean behind. He was sure they could find a compromise somehow.
Squall wiggled on top of him, skin and scales still wet as they laid in the sun. For Squall, he could pack up and find a new shelter. Squall was his home after all.
“Do you want to hear something funny?” Squall leaned up on his elbows with a grin. “Apparently another local shoal is all up in arms about one of their younger tritons having an obsession with a human on one of the little islands around here.”
Cloud laughed. “Bet your dad thinks that’s amusing.”
“He thinks it’s hilarious.” Squall laughed. “So very, ‘been there, dealt with that’. Apparently this boy claims he’s found a land siren.”
Cloud snorted. “What is a land siren?” he paused. “Well i suppose you could be a land siren.”
Squall hummed, tail moving lazily. “Debatable but i guess. It’s fun watching the elders heads turn every time someone dares to do something new.”
“You’d know all about that.” Cloud mused. They needed to wait for Squall to dry out before he could shift back into his human legs. One thing Cloud had always hated was taking him out of the water but next to Cloud was where Squall wanted to be.
“I didn’t surprise anyone by the time i made my choice.” Squall shrugged. He loved the ocean, he just loved Cloud more.
Cloud hummed and sighed. Just because Squall was happy with his decision didn’t mean Cloud felt any less guilty.
“Stop.” Squall said softly, pushing Cloud’s spikes away from his eyes. “I did what i wanted.”
“Yeah.” Cloud lips thinned. “We should go house hunting. Find something closer to the water.”
Squall stared down at him, unamused. “It will hurt you to leave home.”
“It hurt you to leave the ocean.” Cloud countered. “I can make a home anywhere. Nana did. For the right reasons. I want to find a house close to the ocean. You’ll be able to see your family more than once or twice a week.”
Squall smiled weakly. “No one wants to see their family that much.”
“Squall,” Cloud puffed out a laugh. “Let's start looking for a new place.”
“Well.” He sighed. “Okay, whatever makes you happy, brownie.”
“Quarter brownie.”
“And the prettiest quarter brownie of them all.” Squall laughed, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky.