Work Text:
“What the hell?” Sam muttered, tugging at his net. It seemed to have caught on something, which was rather annoying. If he ripped the net he’d have to spend all of the next day repairing it, and that meant he wouldn’t be able to go out on the water.
“Hey, can you stop that?” a voice called.
Sam froze. There was no way he could have heard another voice right now. He was alone on the water, not another boat in sight. Slowly, carefully, he crept to the edge of the boat, then jerked back in shock. There was something- someone- in the water.
“Aw, don’t freak out over little old me,” the voice said, sounding far more amused than Sam thought the situation warranted. “But, uh, if you could untangle me that would be great.”
Sam grabbed the closest knife he could find and returned to the edge of the boat. The thing caught up in his net seemed at first to be a man, a very attractive man at that, all long blond hair and golden skin, but from the waist down was a fish tail. He almost reeled back again when he realized he’d caught a mermaid.
“Dude, don’t just leave me hanging here!”
“Uh, yeah,” Sam said, blinking rapidly as he realized he’d been staring. “Sure.”
It didn’t take as long as he would have thought to untangle the mermaid from the net. He expected the mermaid to leave as soon as he was free, but he didn’t. Instead, the mermaid propped himself on the edge of the boat, watching closely as Sam collected what actual fish he’d managed to catch and put away the net.
“So… are you just going to watch me?” Sam asked after awhile. “Or do mermaids actually eat humans and you’re just waiting to catch me unaware?”
“Pft, human flesh tastes awful,” the mermaid said, and Sam couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Really, though, I just wanted to watch you awhile. Not every day a hot guy catches you in a net!”
Sam blushed, feeling unaccountably flustered by the mermaid’s words. “Right,” he replied, a little uncertainly. “I’m Sam. Do mermaids have names?”
“Sure do!” the mermaid replied cheerfully. Sam waited a moment, but he didn’t continue, which made him frown. “Oh, you wanted my name! I’m Gabriel. And you and me, Sam, I think are gonna be really good friends.”
“Friends, huh?” Sam said with a smile. He had a feeling that friends wasn’t all the mermaid wanted to be. “I think I can do that.”