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For as long as Dan could remember, he had always been obsessed with the sea.
The fact that there was so much under the surface that begged to be unveiled made his skin tingle and his cheeks flush with excitement. It's common knowledge that the ocean takes up about 71% of Earth, and it's nearly impossible to tell just how many underwater species are yet to be uncovered. Considering there were only about 230,000 species uncovered and an estimated two million marine species in total, Dan wanted to be one of those people who travelled the depths in search for the terrifying, yet beautiful life within.
Granted, it could be absolutely mortifying on the occasion, especially when considering that the deepest part of the ocean is about 10,994 meters - or about 6.831 miles - at the Mariana Trench. The thought of what could even be living down there made cold chills erupt upon Dan's skin, goose flesh arising despite the warm atmosphere of the submarine he was currently residing in.
The mystery of the ocean eventually called to Dan, torturing him until he gave into the temptation, threw away the worries from his family, and decided to go for a career in Marine Biology. Sadly, he had to take a two year apprenticeship before he could actually call himself a marine biologist, but for now he was just happy to be exploring the sea with his mentor, exploring the trench that made his heart beat quicker at just the thought.
Even though there had been a few expeditions to the bottom before, Dan still wondered if they would find anything worthwhile.
"How are you holding up, Dan?" His mentor, Kyle, asked with a smile, looking out at the darkness surrounding them. His green eyes were sparkling in the dim lighting of the submarine and Dan wondered why he even wanted Dan there.
"I'm nearly pissing myself," Dan chuckled, sitting in one of the chairs. His eyes followed a small bubble as it floated to the water's surface, wondering how there was a bubble this far down. "How far down are we now?"
"About three thousand meters."
Dan whistled, his foot jiggling because he's been trapped in this tiny ass machine for about a day now and he kind of just wants to walk on real land. But that's the cost of loving the sea, isn't it? "What if our submarine breaks under the water pressures?"
Kyle cast him an annoyed look, rolling his eyes. "You're always so pessimistic, Dan. These things were made top-notch. That won't happen."
Dan huffed. "It's a hypothetical question, Kyle."
Another eyeroll. "Then I guess we'd die."
They lapsed into a relaxed silence, Dan picking at a thread on his jeans while imagining what would happen if they found something relatively terrifying this deep underwater. What if they found Nessie? He chuckled at the thought, reclining the chair a bit and closing his eyes because the loud beeping of the radar was giving him a rather intense migraine.
He must have fallen into a light sleep, because the next moment, he was being jerked awake by a rather large bang and Kyle exclaiming, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"What?" Dan mumbled, shielding his eyes from the light and turning away to continue with his nap.
"Dan." His voice sounded urgent, scared even. "Dan, you need to wake the fuck up, I don't-"
Kyle was interrupted by yet another bang, this one sounding slightly metallic, and being so strong that it knocked Dan off the chair, landing on the floor with a yelp and unidentified words. Dan's eyes shot open and he got to his feet quicker than he thought possible, his throat closing with just how much fear was pulsing through his veins.
Because they were in the world's deepest trench where there was supposedly not very much sea life, and something just hit the submarine with enough force that it knocked Dan out of his chair.
"What is that?" Dan gasped, running to the huge glass window and trying to see out of it, trying to find the source for the ship's earthquake. He came up empty handed, but another hit made the roof dent, and the lights flicker, and Dan knew he was going to die today.
"There's no fucking way," Kyle hissed, reaching for the radio communicator. It buzzed to life and he started speaking rapidly into it, so fast that Dan had trouble understanding what he was even saying. That, and the fact that Dan had thrown up relatively heavily in the trash bin. Kyle's frantic muttering was cut off once more by another hit, this one so hard that it knocked Kyle to the ground. Dan heard a dull sound where Kyle's head hit the floor, and then his mentor just laid there while the submarine started to make a terrifying creaking noise.
"Kyle," Dan gasped, crawling over to him. His vision was blurred with tears but he saw the stark red colour of blood staining the white floor, making a sob escape his mouth. Only the small raising of Kyle's chest made him relieved that he wasn't dead. Yet.
Dan's hands were shaking as he curled into a ball, feeling absolutely worthless because he was only a lowly apprentice who had no idea how to fucking steer a submarine, and could do nothing to make them stay alive. As soon as the metal crushes in, he was dead from the high pressures from being thousands of feet underwater. Not to mention how strong this creature was if it could break through a submarine designed to take a shitton of weight.
Dan was absolutely fucked and was going to die at the age of twenty-four.
He began to count back from one hundred to calm himself through the violent rocking of the ship, looking out at the vast blackness as if he was trying to see something- anything that would tell him what the fuck was going on.
Did he love his job enough to die for it? Apparently he did, considering that's what was currently happening.
A flash of blue made him jump out of his skin, a pathetic screech coming out of his mouth at the sight. He wasn't even sure if he had even seen it, he might be hallucinating, but there was definitely something, and that scared the shit out of him.
And another moment later, he knew he had seen it correctly, because that same blue thing was crashing down onto the window, and Dan watched in terror as the glass formed a tiny, hairline fracture. "Fifty-four, fifty-three, fifty-two," Dan sobbed, not even trying to stop the tears from freely flowing down his face.
Whatever had done this was smart enough to know that it wanted the machine dead. Or it wanted Dan dead. Or maybe it wanted Dan dead because he's seen too much.
And then Dan's mind went blank because he's pretty sure he just saw a fucking hand slam against the glass, the fractures intensifying slightly, and Dan knew it would only be moments before the water came crashing in, killing him instantly. But how the fuck was there a hand? From outside the submarine? Dan was sure he was hallucinating now.
But that didn't really matter anymore because one more collision, and Dan's world went completely black.
-
Dan's nose and throat were burning and there was a stench in his nostrils like a mixture of salt water and fish. He gagged, squeezing his eyes shut as he lurched to the side and started spitting up mouthfuls of water, tears running down his face.
But where the hell was he? Last he remembered, he was in a submarine travelling to the bottom of Mariana's Trench. And by the sounds of it he was now ashore, waves crashing around his limp form.
Or maybe he was dead. Yes, that must be it. Because now he was remembering the metallic crunching, the way the glass started to give in under a strong hit. There was no way Dan had survived when he was nearly four thousand meters underwater.
He began to blink open his eyes slowly, wincing at the burn of the salt in his eyes. It was quite dark, and once his vision adjusted he realized he was in a cave of some sort, surrounded by rock deposits and other cavey things (come on, Dan was a Marine Biologist, not a geologist).
He groaned, flinching a bit as he tried to sit up, rubbing the back of his head where a bump seemed to be forming. He licked his lips, tasting salt and dried blood and then he froze, feeling terror rip through him as his eyes fixed on a yellow object lying halfway in the water.
His fucking submarine, completely crushed and torn nearly in half.
And he's alive? He had an awful feeling in his gut that told him Kyle hadn't been so lucky.
There was a splash from the other side of the cave, drawing Dan's attention away from the machine to stare quizzically at a rather large stalagmite that submerged from the water. There were small waves stemming from it, as if something was hidden behind it.
"Hello?" Dan rasped, heart pounding in his chest. "Is anyone there?"
There was a moment where nothing happened, and then a voice, deep and sounding as if it had never been used before, repeated, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
Dan jumped, letting out a high pitched squeak as he scrambled away from the water, watching as a pale hand appeared from behind the calcium deposit, gripping at the stalagmite. Dan saw that there were webs between the fingers, all the way to the knuckle, and claws about an inch long. "What are you?"
Again, the voice mimicked Dan. "What are you?"
Dan was shivering, unable to tell if it was because he was cold or scared. He decided to pass it off as he was just freezing from being submerged in water for so long. "I'm a human," Dan replied shakily, eyes refusing to flit away from the pale hand.
There was a silence before the water splashed again and a head submerged from behind the rock. Dan gasped and tried to hold in his pee as he took in the features of this creature, and he was absolutely sure he was dead now.
Pale skin, sickly white as if it had never seen the light, was stark against the wet black hair that dripped down its face. The thing had eyes that resembled a cat's, the pupils and irises so large that there was barely any white, and its eyes were a colour of blue that Dan was pretty sure had never existed before now. There were no words to describe how blue they were. It had pointed ears and sharpened teeth, and there were slits on its neck that resembled gills. And yet it still had weirdly human features, which is what threw Dan off.
"Hu-man?" The thing asked in broken english, swimming closer to Dan, eyes fixed on him like he was some sort of prey. Dan backed up against the rock wall until there was no space between the creature and himself. It got right up in Dan's face, so close that Dan could smell the salt on his skin. Dan watched out of the corner of his eye as it brought up a clawed hand and stroked his face, flinching at the coldness of the touch, like ice. The thing's eyes glowed purple before fading back to the bright blue, and it backed away. "You... Speak... English?" It asked slowly, as if trying to understand the words itself.
"Yes?" Dan squeaked.
It nodded, and Dan could nearly hear the gears turning in its head. "My name in your language translates to Phil. What are you called?"
Dan must be going crazy, he thinks as he tells the thing his name, unable to fully wrap his head around what was happening. His eyes travelled down the creature's body (judging by Phil's name, he's going to just assume the thing is a male since it seemed rather masculine), gawking at the toned chest and the way his torso cut off right at the waist before flowing into - are you actually fucking kidding - a beautiful blue tail.
He just found himself a god damned mermaid.
"I am sorry about your machine and your friend," Phil said, nodding his head in the direction of the broken submarine. "I did not know what it was, and I did not know it had any creatures in it." Dan found it kind of ironic how the thing called him a creature, but he didn't mention it.
"Wait-" Dan muttered, his hand coming to cover his mouth. "What did you say about my friend?"
"He was not breathing anymore, so I did not try to save your friend like I did with you."
Dan closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the rock, trying to blink the thought away from his mind. Dan shouldn't be alive right now, just like Kyle apparently isn't. This is all his fault and his heart wrenched at the thought of how he could have done something to save his mentor. But now Kyle is dead and Dan is alive and the world must hate him for what it's putting him through lately.
First, his ship gets attacked by a mermaid, then the mermaid saves him because it felt bad, and it left Kyle to die because he apparently wasn't breathing, most likely even drowned.
What kind of apprentice is he?
Dan saw Phil's ears perk suddenly, and the mermaid's entire body went rigid, sharp teeth bared at the cave entrance. "What's wrong?" Dan whispered, being cut off by Phil hissing, resembling that of a cat.
In one smooth movement, he disappeared into the water, leaving Dan dumbfounded at the surface with a broken submarine and a dead friend.
He wondered where he even was, having no means of contacting anyone, and probably having no way to even get to land, considering how he was most likely in an ocean cave. This entire situation was rather terrible, even despite the fact that he had discovered an entirely new species. He just wished he had discovered it in a different circumstance.
Only a few minutes passed when Phil returned, signalling Dan with the slap of his tail - Dan would never get over that - on the surface of the water. He had a relatively large fish clasped between his sharp teeth, and Dan felt kinda sickened by that for some reason. Maybe it was how human he looked, but Dan could never imagine eating a raw fish like that.
Phil spat the fish down at his feet, nudging it towards him with a claw. "Eat," he ordered.
Dan shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
Phil narrowed his eyes, the pupils shrinking to small slits. "Eat. Dan," he said again, this time picking up the fish and shoving it into Dan's face.
Dan felt the fish touch his lips and he gagged, pushing the thing away from him with as much force as he could muster. "That's not the kind of thing I can eat, Phil."
Frowning, Phil looked extremely disappointed before shrugging and taking a bite of it for himself, chewing thoughtfully. "Do you eat seaweed?"
"No."
"Coral?"
"No."
"Algae?"
"No, Phil."
Phil pouted, finishing his meal with vigor. "Well then what does your species eat?"
Dan couldn't help but chuckle at how unrealistic this entire thing was. He wished he had a camera to document the interaction, but all he had was his memory. He would be sure to document how mermaids were apparently like dogs, excitable and willing to help in any way, especially after wrecking your ship and killing your friend.
If only Kyle could see this.
-
A day had passed since Dan had woken up in the cave, and Phil hadn't left his side since. He seemed worried - worried that Dan wasn't eating and he often shoved various sea items into Dan's face to see if he would like to digest it. Dan said no every time, and Phil would get very quiet for five minutes, his eyes narrowed like he was thinking hard about the meaning of life.
Today, Dan was awoken by Phil whispering his name, jostling his shoulder with a gentle hand. Dan blinked open his eyes, jumping back because Phil's face was only inches apart from his, peering at his sleeping form.
"What?" Dan groaned, glaring at the mermaid. He wondered how it was so easy for him to accept that a mystical being was shaking him awake.
"I want to show you something. Can you swim?"
Dan curse under his breath but complied anyways, standing up to peel off his shirt, jeans, and with much hesitance, his boxer shorts. He blushed under Phil's curious gaze and slid into the water with as much haste as he could muster, shivering at the temperature as goose flesh arose on his arms. "This better be worth it," he hissed, moving his arms and legs quickly as to warm his own temperature.
He saw Phil nod in the darkness of the cave, a grin forming on his face that showed his sharp teeth. The shadows caught his cheekbones, making his face look gaunt, but it was scarily beautiful. Another thing that Dan never thought he would be thinking was that a non-human creature was beautiful in the most homo way there was, but here he is. Again. "Have you ever seen the sunrise over the ocean?" Dan didn't understand how Phil had learnt the English language so quickly, despite Phil telling him yesterday that he could pick up on an entire new language just by hearing a couple of words. Apparently he is fluent in 70 different marine languages.
Whatever the hell that means.
"No," Dan answered, following him through the water. He shivered as Phil's tail brushed against his leg, but he didn't say anything because this was rather amazing.
They emerged from the cave, and it was completely dark outside, thousands of stars littering the sky. The sound of the waves hitting against rock was probably the most soothing sound Dan has ever heard.
"If you get tired of swimming, you can climb on my back," Phil offered, giving him a smile that once again reminded Dan of a happy dog. "I'd like to show you something."
Dan hesitated, feeling like it would be strange to climb on Phil's back because he was naked. But Phil didn't seem too disturbed by the fact, and Phil was technically nude anyways, so he agreed, gliding over to Phil and wrapping his arms around his neck. Phil's skin was strangely smooth, but the coolness of it made Dan shiver. He felt like a walking - well, swimming - icecube.
"Ready?" Phil whispered. Dan nodded and Phil smirked, raising up a hand before smacking it into the water, splashing Dan in the face with hundreds of rivulets.
And he gaped, staring at the water around them with such amazement that his eyes were hurting slightly from being so wide. Because the water around them had started to glow a bright blue colour.
"Dinoflagellates," Dan breathed, watching as the light slowly began to dissipate, turning the water back to its original shade. These creatures are basically microscopic, plant-like marine beings that flash blue when they feel threatened. Dan had studied them, of course, but he had never seen them so close before. He raised his own hand and splashed the water, watching in fascination as they started up again.
"Is that what you call them?" Phil chuckled, reaching behind him to force Dan's legs around his abdomen for better stability. Dan flushed a deep red at their intimate proximity but tried to push it off because Phil was clearly not disturbed. "I told these little buddies to give you a show for tonight. You seem so clueless about ocean life, if I'm being honest."
Dan pouted, feeling slightly offended. "Well, that's definitely not true! I'm a Marine Biologist in training! I know way more about sea life than any random human!"
Dan could practically feel Phil roll his eyes. "Sure you do. Next you're going to be telling me that Water Nymphs aren't real."
Glaring, Dan muttered, "That's because they aren't."
His comment made Phil let out a booming laugh, so loud and animated that it made the Dinoflagellates start to glow once again. "Sure they aren't, Dan. Just like I don't exist either." He got quiet suddenly and directed his gaze to the sky. His voice became soft. "The sun is about to rise."
Dan relaxed into him, staring up at the sky while his arms tightened subconsciously around Phil's neck. Just as he said, the sky slowly started to change, first to a dark purple and then to a combination of bright pinks and oranges that took Dan's breath away. The newfound light made Phil's features stand out more, and his eyes became such a shocking blue that Dan wondered if he had just made a discovery on a new colour as well.
"Thank you for sharing this with me, Phil," Dan breathed resting his cheek on the top of Phil's head while Phil rubbed a webbed hand on his calf.
Instead of answering on the same subject, Phil veered into a completely different one, his voice quiet, the consistency of melted chocolate. "What is it like being human?"
Dan was taken aback for a moment. He wasn't really sure how to answer it because he'd never really thought about it before. What makes him different from Phil other than the fact that he has legs? "Um," Dan started smartly. "It's okay, I guess. We can't breathe underwater, which sucks, but we have built different things to let us go under the water for long amounts of time, and also that allows us to fly. We also have a machine that can get us to a forty minute walk distance in about fifteen minutes or less." He watched as Phil turned his head to look at him in wonder, eyes widening so much that Dan could finally see the whites of his eyes. "But there are some things that aren't great as well. People are really judgemental and I think that's our greatest downfall. We judge each other on everything, from race, to sexuality, to how we wear our clothes. In most countries I can't even get married to someone of my own sex. How fucked up is that?"
"Wait-" Phil cut him off, "You can't get married to another man?"
"In some countries I can, but for most, it's illegal."
Phil's mouth fell slack. "That's ridiculous. All of my species are- er, what's the word? We don't care about gender. My parents are actually both males."
Dan frowned, feeling a twinge of jealousy that everyone was accepting of sexuality in Phil's world. "Pansexual, I think. That must be really nice."
Phil shrugged, looking wistful. "Yeah, but there are other things we judge each other based off of. For example, who has the biggest tail, what type of mermaid we fall for." He paused, glancing back at Dan to give him a smile. "Or if we even fall for another mermaid at all. Not to mention, we aren't supposed to go anywhere near the surface."
"Why?"
"Humans are apparently dangerous. I don't think you're dangerous, though. I think you're nice." Phil gave him a smile and looked back up at the sky, his features lightening with the sky. "I'm glad I saved you."
"Me too," Dan said quietly, thinking about what would happen from now on. He obviously isn't able to eat anything from the sea that wouldn't give him some sort of food poisoning. The closest land was probably Guam, unless Phil had taken him far from Mariana's Trench and he obviously couldn't swim that far. Would he die from malnutrition? He'd like to think he could get Phil to take him to land sometime, but he wasn't sure. So he decided to bring it up. "Hey, Phil?"
Phil glanced at him, eyes wide and Dan felt a pang in his heart at the thought of leaving him one day.
"Do you think you would be able to take me to the closest land soon? I should probably get back to being a human."
The look in Phil's eyes immediately made him regret asking the question. His entire face fell and he seemed so lonely that Dan wondered why he was hanging out with a human in the first place when he had an entire sea. "I- I'm sorry, Dan, but I need to go," Phil whispered, peeling Dan off of his back and pushing him away. He refused to meet Dan's eyes, and Dan was hurt. But he supposed Phil was considerably more hurt by Dan's question as he leaned forward and kissed Dan's cheek before disappearing into the black waters below.
Dan suddenly felt worlds more cold without Phil by his side. The Dinoflagellates were silent, too.
-
Phil disappeared for two days, leaving Dan alone in the cave until he was punching the wall out of frustration. His knuckles were bruised and bloody and his throat hurt from screaming and his eyes were swollen with tears. "Why me?" He moaned, backing away from the wall and clutching his hair in his hands.
He felt different, insane even. His head was fuzzy from not eating for four days and he felt as if he was going to pass out from dehydration. He never took into consideration that he could be so thirsty even when surrounded by millions of gallons of water.
"Dan?"
Dan turned around at the voice, frightened because he hadn't talked to anyone for two days and why would Phil come back now? "Phil?" He breathed, taking in the saddened expression on the mermaid's face, how his eyes were so soft and melancholy that it literally tugged at Dan's heart.
Phil tossed something at his feet and closer inspection revealed it was a bottle of water. Dan jumped on it, uncapping the bottle and chugging it as fast as he could. "I tried to get you something to eat but nobody throws food into the ocean that I could give you."
"Thank you," Dan gasped, his lips trembling when he finished the bottle and set it on the ground. His mouth felt refreshed as it possibly could right now. He pushed himself to the edge of the water, coming right in front of Phil. "I missed you," he murmured.
Phil smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "I missed you too, Dan. I'm sorry I left. I just- I don't want you to leave me."
Dan didn't know what to say so he just lunged forward, not caring that he basically just flopped in the water, and wrapped himself around Phil in a tight hug. He buried his face into Phil's neck while Phil hugged him a little closer, scratching his claws down Dan's back in a weirdly soothing manner.
"What is this called?" Phil asked quietly.
The question made Dan giggle, pulling back to look Phil in the face. Phil grinned at him, reaching up to poke at his dimple. "It's called a hug, Phil."
"Oh. I like hugs."
Dan stared at him, feeling his stomach clench painfully. He wasn't really sure if that was because he was hungry or because of something else. Phil really was beautiful, in a scary sort of way. He never thought he would be attracted to someone with a fish tail and gills, but he supposed he's always loved the ocean so this wasn't too unpleasant. "Can I do something?" He asked without thinking.
Phil nodded, looking at him curiously.
Dan took a deep breath, closing his eyes because he was definitely fucking crazy for being attracted to someone that wasn't even his own species, but if he was going to die, he didn't care. Phil was something special.
So with that in mind, he darted forward and closed the gap between them. Phil's lips were wet and cold, but the way he made a little noise in the back of his throat was what made Dan sure this was what he wanted. Granted, it sucked that they were from two completely different worlds, but Dan pulled Phil close anyways, relishing in the way Phil's hands pressed on the small of his back like he couldn't get enough.
Dan pulled away only when he absolutely needed to breathe, smiling shakily when he saw that Phil's eyes were still closed and there was a small grin on his face. Dan wished more than anything that Phil was a human.
"You make my chest warm," Phil said, opening his eyes to gaze into Dan's brown ones. "You're so warm and soft and squishy."
Dan rolled his eyes but couldn't help the laughter from bubbling in his chest, spilling into the air. Phil pressed another kiss to the tip of his nose and Dan knew he was really screwed.
But if there was one thing Dan was absolutely certain of, it was he shouldn't have gotten too comfortable. Because a couple hours after their first kiss there was a roaring from above, and Dan's heart sunk to the bottom of his toes.
It was unmistakably a helicopter.
Phil looked terrified while Dan pulled him into a kiss and told him to get the fuck out of here before they see him. Dan would never hurt Phil, but he knew other humans would jump at the chance to do research, to tear Phil apart limb-by-limb.
"I don't want to leave you!" Phil hissed and his eyes began to reflect in the dim light, like a cat when a torch was shone at them.
"Just go! I can't let you get hurt," Dan sobbed, pushing him away and trying to get him under the water so he could swim away. Phil didn't seem to understand that humans were dangerous; Dan was not like everyone else.
Only a moment later and Phil was being ripped away from him, about five men evading their safe place. Three of them wrestled Phil down, holding him against the rock flooring while trying to secure him while the other two took Dan away to tend to his wounds. They were exclaiming about how amazing it was to see an actual mermaid.
Phil let out an inhuman screech, something Dan had never heard before. It was a sound between a hiss and a shriek, and it made Dan start to sob because he could do nothing. This was all his fault.
"Let him go!" Dan screamed, ignoring the tears running down his face. He tried to jerk away from the medics, but they held him down and he felt a prick in his arm. "Phil!" He spouted off apologies, the world beginning to spin around him.
The last thing he saw before he faded out was Phil screaming his name, his eyes completely black.
-
Three Months Later
The water was cold on Dan's skin, but it was slightly warmed by the diving clothing wrapping his skin. He tried to ignore the hundreds of faces staring at him while he submerged under water, children gaping at his form as he slowly descended into the depths to what lied below.
Various fish flitted past him as he swam past, breathing through his oxygen tank that bubbled occasionally. Eventually, he came to a stop beside a hunched over figure lying on the bottom of the tank with his webbed hands behind his head, eyes closed.
Those eyes only opened when Dan came to a stop beside him, showing beautiful blue eyes that resembled that of a cats. He reached out a hand and brushed at Dan's cheek, giving him a sad smile that only Dan could see.
Dan felt pain as he looked at him, thinking about how he didn't deserve a life like this - a life trapped in an aquarium like some dumb animal, being fed fish by Dan because he refused to interact with anyone else. Phil was such a beautiful creature. He didn't deserve this at all.
With a shaking hand, Dan held out a fish which Phil gratefully took. He let out a sound that resembled a whale noise and bit into his food, squeezing Dan's hand in thanks.
The crowd around them cheered and eventually dissipated, going to see different exhibits throughout the aquarium while Dan tried to stay cheerful even though he was the cause of Phil's fate.
When night fell, Dan snuck up to Phil's tank, sitting on the platform near the top, dangling his feet in the water. "Phil?" He called, noticing how his voice lacked the enthusiasm it once had.
Moments later, Phil's head submerged and he gave him a bright grin, resting his arms on the platform next to Dan. "Hey, beautiful."
Dan leaned forward and pressed his lips to Phil's softly, sighing into it. He thought of The Little Mermaid and let out a quiet chuckle because Phil was apparently Ariel. "I'm sorry again," Dan whispered against his lips, running his fingers through Phil's black hair.
Phil ran his fingers down Dan's arm, entwining their fingers together. "It's alright. It's worth it since I get to see you every day."
"But you don't deserve to live like this."
Phil sighed, wrapping his arms around Dan's shoulders and bringing him into the water to properly hug him, enveloping himself around Dan's body. "You know I could have easily fought those guys away, right?" He mused. "I smashed your entire submarine and then pushed it up to land. But I didn't fight them away because I didn't want to leave you alone. I didn't have much of a life back in the ocean, so I'm really not missing much by being here."
"I'll get you out of here someday," Dan mumbled into his chest.
"As long as you come with me."
Dan rolled his eyes but managed to crack a smile because he was so utterly in love with this dork. "I love you, Phil."
"I love you, too."
Dan never hated Sea World more.