Chapter Text
Alva took a bite on his sandwich, blankly staring at the empty dock, barely enjoying his surroundings as his mind flew anywhere but the scenery in front of him.
It feels surreal to think that he survived all the events he went through for the past few months; the fight he had with Herman (as he completely opposed the idea of making the young Zeeman-now-Balsa’s life more miserable, especially now that he has a wife and kid), days of nonstop works he had to finish in Herman’s stead (as the man abandons almost all of their joint project, taking all the fees the patron already paid for the sake of that machine ) only for those days, ending up in the very same man’s passing…
He wasn’t there when the fire happened simply because Herman took the whole lab for his project, staying there for only-god-knows how long it has been, while he always left the workshop in the night, coming back in the morning.
It was both a miracle and a curse for Alva to survive.
He had to handle the consequences, the entire processions by himself. Answering questions about the man’s passing from their clients, also taking the remaining of the project for him to finish. Bearing the looks of disdain that the Zeeman family threw at his back as he arranged for his funeral, solely because nobody will. He didn’t even know where Herman’s young boy had left—nor did the said boy have any will to contact anyone back.
Herman is ditched, thrown away from everyone else but Alva.
But who else Alva could rely himself on, if it’s not Herman?
He finally managed to go back to his usual schedule, his endless routine of learning process, conferences and experiments. He did all of his duties, despite barely paying any attention to the events he had attended.
All the workshops he had attended felt dull without the partner’s existence. All the ideas he had proposed are immediately accepted, with tons of praises thrown on him out of the ‘brilliant’ idea without any debates, or other ideas uttered by the other member—even though he is already way too used to intense idea exchanges with the Zeeman heir.
On a second thought, Alva realized that it wasn’t a workshop anymore. It’s a one-sided show, with him being the sole performer as the remaining of the attendants are turning into mindless sheeps.
Everything feels meaningless, once Alva Lorenz had realized nobody could understand him for who he really is .
With nobody standing beside him, Alva had decided to adjust himself with his own forlornness. Avoiding people as much as he could, taking notes of studies, going to places and attending events without talking to many people, and leaving before anyone notices.
As painful as it may be, sometimes choosing a solitary life on his own volition is better than being isolated in a crowded place.
Alva lets out a long sigh, once again taking a bite out of the sandwich. He could eat at the hotel's restaurant, but the prospect of having the port all for himself—away from all the other inventors—sounds much more tempting for someone who looks for solitude, so be it.
This place is nice, Alva thought. Away from the city’s hustle and bustle, he could feel the sea’s gentle breeze going against his cheek, the water is calm enough for him to stare at the slight ripples, and clear enough for him to stare on whatever is underwater—
—and then a pair of bright yellow eyes darted right at him from the underwater.
Alva jolted, choked in his food as it almost entered his respiratory system. He took the bottle of water, gulping it down to completely wash the sandwich before taking another look at the same spot, but it barely changed. The pair of eyes are still there.
He couldn’t help but to stare back, trying to figure out what this fish(?) is doing (and what the reason for its weird behavior) when he realized what thing he had been holding in his hands.
His sandwich.
Carefully, Alva waved his sandwich to his side, watching on how the bright yellow eyes followed where his lunch went.
Oh…
“Um- want some bite?”
The inventor split the sandwich into two, slowly moving his hand—so he didn’t scare the fish away—towards the water when he saw the big silhouette underneath moves in what seemed to be a lively movement, chomping down on the lunch Alva had offered within seconds. A relieved smile (because it looks like it enjoys the food?) spreads on the white-haired man’s face as he offers the last piece of his sandwich for the underwater presence.
Alva is a fan of animals, despite his environment isn’t a suitable one to raise any animals—it would be way, way too risky to let an animal walk around in his workshop, knocking down machine prototypes and messing around with his paperworks but he didn’t want to chain them down in one place either. His work schedules, involving traveling to countries as he meets people all over the continent wouldn’t be good too since he didn’t want to leave his pet all alone in his flat.
So the only option he had (and the one he is most comfortable with) is to just feed the stray animals, and occasionally pet them.
The bright eyes still looked at him, hoping the white-haired man would throw another food, but Alva didn’t have any sandwich left.
“Sorry, but I don’t have any left.” Alva looked down with a sad smile, shaking his head to the fish (could it understand his gesture, though?) before he rose out of the dock. He had his break (despite barely eating his lunch, as he offered almost all of them for the fish) and he had to go back to the hotel, preparing himself for the evening workshop.
It feels much better, though. Having lunch with a fish—which he must admit is a weird thing to do considering he talked to the fish as if it's sentient—distracts his mind from the upcoming stuff he has to face.
Attending the workshop doesn’t sound like a bad idea anymore, Alva thought—as long as he could visit this place everyday.
—
Alva didn’t even know when was the last time he slipped his slender figure out of the crowd this fast, walking his way towards the less crowded area as he grabbed a paper bag containing today’s lunch : fish and chips.
He sat himself on the tip of the wooden dock, the exact same place as yesterday, this time prepared with more food than the amount he usually eats. Taking out the tray of fried batter-coated fish (separating them for his new marine friend) and the deep-fried chips (for himself), he snacked on the chips while staring at the water, looking for the bright yellow eye staring at him underwater.
It didn’t take that long until the said being appeared, eyes darting straight at Alva (or probably his lunch, Alva didn’t really know). His yellow eyes striking out of the sea’s calming blue, but the sudden presence gives the inventor a sense of relief and happiness.
“Hey! I got these just for you, you can eat all of them.” Alva takes the fried fish, separating the big piece into two before hovering them just above the water surface, “Come on, don’t be shy.”
He saw a curious blink, and then the fried fish disappeared at the next second.
It likes fried fish as well! Alva smiled, taking out the other piece to offer but he saw the eyes slowly distancing away from him, before disappearing with a splash from its fin and leaving the inventor’s sitting figure alone in the dock.
Alva froze, still trying to process what just happened.
Oh.
Oh… even his new friend leaves him.
What happened? Did he do something wrong? Did he accidentally agitate, or irritate the fish? Is the fish irritated because he just fed it a fried fish?
Alva crossed the last thought out of his head—that was just a fleeting random thought. But he couldn’t help but to feel an uneasy feeling in his chest, the same one just like what he usually experienced in his daily life. Loneliness.
He didn’t even managed to fully see the fish’s form when it left him—
—and before the inventor could finish his words, a splash interrupted his words as something jumped out of the water, full-on force to the wooden dock.
A big grouper fish.
Wait. A fish?
Another splash happened, much bigger than the previous one—
— and then that’s when Alva finally managed to see the full form of his marine friend.
A slender, red-haired man jumps out of the sea, almost mistaken by Alva as a swimmer if he hadn’t taken a look at the man’s overall appearance; slimy, smooth fin is seamed on the man’s lower half instead of a pair of legs. Translucent scales all over the entity’s body, shining as it reflects the sunlight. A pointed ears, almost hidden by the entity’s long, red hair. A full set of sharp teeth.
And a striking yellow pair of eyes.
A merman.
Oh, what has he done? Alva didn’t even dare to move.
The entity’s strength, as displayed on how it had jumped to the dock solely by its fin strength, is already enough for the inventor to realize.
It could just drag Alva to the deep water, holding his whole body under the water to drown him. To kill him.
A clacking sound drags him out of his thoughts, with the white-haired man slowly forming eye contact as he could barely hold his fear. The entity clacked and whined, placing its fin-laced hand as it looked at Alva with a stare that he could interpret as…
… concern?
“I—” He couldn’t even speak out without stuttering, “I’m sorry, I was just surprised—I didn’t know what you really are.”
The merman tilts its head, scanning Alva’s entire appearance before letting out another series of whines and clacks. It places its hand on the fried fish Alva had brought, pushing it away as it shakes its head a few times with furrowing eyebrows.
The merman now places its hand on the big fish, forming a grin with its sharp white teeth as it nodding its head while proudly(?) slapping on the big grouper fish. And pushing it towards the inventor.
Alva hesitated for a while.
“Is this…for me?” He pointed at the big fish. “A gift?”
The sea entity nodded. It once again pushes the big grouper fish towards Alva and shoves the fried fish away, as far as he could.
Alva didn’t even realize his mouth was wide open, couldn’t believe what he just saw (and comprehend). The merman just conveyed its food preferences while offering him a ‘better option’—
“Okay, I understand.” Alva pointed to the fried fish, forming an X with both of his hands. “No fried fish, right? I can bring you other kinds of food tomorrow, if you want to.”
The clacks and whines sounded happier this time. Alva looked at the happily-clapping merman, a grin plastered on the sea entity’s face, but it didn't scare Alva this time.
It relaxes him, knowing that his new friend didn’t mean to leave him.
The sea entity waved its hand at Alva, pointing to the sea before flailing its way to the corner of the dock—but Alva helped the entity, gently pushing until it could safely splash back to the water, returning to the sight Alva already used to; a pair of bright yellow eyes in the waters.
“Oh, heavens—” Alva takes a peek at his pocket watch, only to let him know that his lunch break is almost over. The evening workshop (and the remainder of that exhausting routine) is already waiting for him once he comes back.
He rose out of the dock, about to leave when he heard a whine.
The merman pointed at both of the grouper fish and the unfinished lunch.
“Sorry, I almost forgot. Thank you for the offering, dear merman.” He grabbed both of them, nodded at the merman (as it goes under the water surface again) before going to the crowded side of the street, leaving the dock while holding a ridiculously huge fish.
—
Despite living as a physicist and surrounded by science and rational things throughout his life, Alva Lorenz always knows that there are things that are unexplainable in the eyes of science.
Supernatural events. Magic, or wizardry. Or just like what he had encountered that day—mythical beings.
He had read some of the books back then (when he didn’t have enough physics books to read, so he walked around the public library and took anything that managed to catch his attention). There are mythical beings all over the world, just like what the fairytales had described before. Vampires in the woods, centaurs in the forests and hills, dragons in the mountains, and merpeople in the seas.
But still, it’s definitely an unexpected experience to accidentally encounter one of them, as most common humans had never seen any of those mythical beings. They hid their own existences (alongside their populations) in their own territories, not wanting to be known by the mortal and mundane humans. Afraid of the homo sapiens' greedy tendencies if their existence gets uncovered—which is why they wiped out any traces of their existences, and that includes killing anyone who had seen them.
But Alva survives.
Not only survived—the merman wanted to meet him again and again, didn’t even hurt him despite it could do anything it wanted (because he clearly remembered the immense strength the sea entity has, not to mention the sharp teeth). It’s a miracle, to say the least, that Alva could still safely come back from the dock every single day.
He had decided to refer to the merman as ‘he’—as he saw the entity having masculine features instead of those common portrayals of a mermaid. And (as he later realizes) it is quite a disrespect for him to address a mythical entity with ‘it’ pronouns.
Does this mean he had befriended a merman?
He didn’t even know the actual answer (truth be told, the said entity couldn’t communicate like a human does, much to his sadness) but his company and reactions is enough for Alva to make him come back every single day with some food to offer.
The merman didn’t look at him with a condescending look, just like what the Zeeman family did, nor did he blindly follow the inventor just like the fellow workshop participants he had attended for the past week.
Starting from some point, Alva always bought two portions of lunch—one of them being the sandwich he had eaten at his first encounter with the merman, and the other being a new food to share (and for the merman to try, since it looks like he is interested in trying out new things. and he had to buy two because he realized how big the merman actually is). And based on the merman’s reactions, varying from happy clacks and whines to shoving the food away (and Alva had to eat the remaining food, while the sea entity could have his sandwich) the white-haired man started to figure out some of the merman’s food preferences—meat and fishes, with the exception of deep-fried foods.
(He wants to make a comment about how the merman casually eats fishes— is it included as cannibalism? because, well. Fish-like…physique. But he didn’t want the merman to throw an annoyed look or get irritated by his impolite impulsive thought, so he refrained himself from saying it outloud.)
He started to visit the local library, trying to read the literature they had about mythical beings only to figure out that there isn’t a lot of informations about them—which is not that surprising, considering they tried to conceal their presence from humans—but the lack of informations makes every new thing, new discovery a both entertaining and surprising moment for Alva.
And he gradually learned the merman’s name, and his ability to understand all of Alva’s words (despite being an underwater creature). Of course he introduced himself as well.
“Luchino,” He mentioned the name softly, resulting in a ‘hm?’ resembling whine. The inventor pointed at the shawarma, “Do you like this one, the one I bought today?”
Happy claps answering Alva’s question.
It’s the same routine all over again but it never makes Alva bored, this small encounter of theirs. The small window of time amidst the inventor’s lunch break, with him distancing himself out of human interactions and choosing the sea entity’s company (which, ironically, feels much more humane) instead.
Luchino always listened to his ramblings, putting his cold hand on top of Alva’s (which he knows as a sign of affection). He will let out cackles of whines, responding to Alva’s experiences with aggressive noises when the white-haired man recounts about people he had met (which made Alva happy, because oh, dear, to have someone empathizing for him and the events he had went through for the first time is relieving).
The offerings didn’t stop either. Alva had gently told the merman that he couldn’t accept big offerings like what he had brought at the first time (and he swore, the looks the merman shot at him feels like a disappointed one) but he understood, bringing trinkets and small presents Alva could easily bring to his hotel without resulting in everyone’s weirded out stares. He would sometimes tell the merman about how he ‘decorated’ his hotel room with the trinkets Luchino had given him, resulting in happy whines and a wide grin from the red-haired merman.
The routine feels much more bearable once he starts to look forward to their encounter. A presence of an entity that understands him….
….this time, unconditionally.
—
“See you tomorrow, okay?”
Luchino nodded despite already underwater, showing only his slightly moving yellow eyes. The inventor gave him a last wave, taking the remaining of his lunch (and some beautiful seashells that the merman gave him as offerings this time) before walking back to the hotel, couldn’t help but to skip a bit as his mood brightens after spending some time with the sea entity.
The red-haired merman stared at the former’s back, waiting until his figure completely disappeared, once again joining the human population outside the beach…
…before flicking his tail, diving into the deep waters at full speed. Avoiding fishes and merpeoples by taking the most obscure route as the brightness around his surroundings starts to fade, bright colors of the fishes turn into dull, nearly-monochrome palettes as the light waves don't reach the depths of the vast sea, letting whatever this whole place had been concealing on their deepest parts as a secret for every living being.
He could hear the voices of other living beings around him start to dissipate as he started to reach the traces of humans’ civilizations. From this point, the area he just entered is barely habited, for both merpeople and any other marine organisms—because there are multiple sightings of humans visiting the remains of whatever of their creations that had slept in the beds of the sea, and no one is insane enough to reside on the same place as where the humans had been occasionally spotted.
(Well, except for Luchino, of course.)
With the light now barely reaching, Luchino knows that he has almost arrived. He started to get closer to the ground, spotting the entrance to an underwater cave before diving his way in.
Ah, finally.
Home.
The insides aren’t that dark compared to the outside, thanks to some chemicals (that the humans had thrown away. What is the name, fors…phos…porus or something?) that he managed to be bottled down, carried to the sunlight every single day before being brought on the deep seas again so it could light this cave of his.
Various materials (medicines, raw ingredients, scrolls and books) neatly organized and stored on the carved-out walls and tables, with the man using big stones he had found back then as furniture.
He takes a huge pride out of his collections, and the informations- knowledges he had single-handedly collected. After all, these things are the ones that he had experimented with countless times, before he finally could make things that could help other merpeople in some urgent crisis…
“Professor Luchino!”
A voice distracted the man’s thoughts. He looked upwards, hearing the name once again, soundwaves of a familiar animal reverberating around his cave before he saw the very source : a young brunette man with his dolphin.
“You’re coming back from the surface,” The brunette smiled widely, “How was it, this unique human of yours?”
Eli Clark.
A merman he befriended after seeing the man writhing and crying in pain around his cave, only for the red-haired merman to realize he had been screaming as some chemical waste had stuck in his eye, with the pain unable to disappear despite he had tried his best to get rid of it. Luchino managed to neutralize them, treating the brunette with salves and remedies that could lessen the pain but the damage has been done—as when the pain is finally going away, it takes away Eli’s vision as well.
The man thanked Luchino for being his life-saver (despite the said man feeling guilty for not being able to fully recover him) and starting to visit his lair, bringing materials or informations that he deemed as potentially useful for Luchino, or some other merpeople that he trusted enough to get some help at the red-haired merman’s hands.
With Eli’s help (even though the fact is that he is the one who helps Eli and the others), he’d occasionally have one or two other merpeople sliding (or swimming?) to his place to ask for suggestions or just to have some chats with the professor.
Ah, anyways.
Luchino grinned once about the topic of Alva surfaces. “Pretty great, we had lunch and I got to hear his stories about the outside world. I was curious when I saw him for the first time, but I didn’t expect that it would turn out this way.” He briefly glanced at the big cauldron in the center of his cave, an unfinished project he had been working on.
A potion that could turn him into a human.
He knows how hard it is to do, and has only heard rumors, dangerous ones about the said potion, but none of them are confirmed nor do he see any actual, living proof. He still pursues any valuable information about it regardless—afterall, what is a professor if it’s not for knowledge-pursuing and countless experimentations?
He’d do everything it takes if it’s for Alva.
He wanted to meet Alva in a more convenient form, being able to directly communicate with the inventor (and not clacks and whines he usually lets out when he is out of the water surface). There’s so many things he wanted to talk about; the new magics on the surface (he remembered Alva mentioned a new term, ‘technology’), unfamiliar things Alva had previously talked about, replying to Alva’s experiences (and how he wanted to curse those upper-classes who had been pestering and belittling the inventor)...
…experiencing things on the surface that he had never visited before with Alva, trying out new foods (just like the fantastic food Alva had introduced him to : ham!) and other things…
By this moment, he almost forgot that Eli is in his place, wondering why the red-haired professor is carried away by his own thoughts but didn’t want to bother the said merman, knowing Luchino had always been having the tendencies to let his mind wander from one point to another.
A realization is obtained by connecting a dot to another, slowly revealing from his point of unfulfilled desires to something more complex, something he just realized.
An attraction towards the inventor.
—
“Luchino, have you ever experienced any inconvenience with those long hair of yours?” The said merman stopped for a while, trying to recall any memories before nodding. He had one or two experiences of accidentally hitting a coral or a school of fish that he didn’t know because of his long hair (in his defense, he lost his focus so it wasn’t completely because of his hair). He didn’t really mind, though, keeping his hair in the current length (as it looks quite good for his standards, and he isn’t someone who meticulously cares for his hair). The merman throws a questioning look at the inventor, wondering what the white-haired’s intention is.
“I was thinking… about, you know. It is said that mermans swim really fast,” Luchino nodded, confirming the man’s statement before Alva pointed at his own hair with a smile, “I was wondering if I could braid your hair, just like mine. Wouldn’t it be more convenient?”
Oh! Alva watched how a grin immediately formed in the merman’s lips, flailing his tail in a gesture he usually interprets as excitement. He took the man’s hands, taking them to his hair. Allowing Alva to do whatever idea in his mind.
Alva chuckled, positioning himself so he got closer to the merman. “Stay still, okay? So I can braid you up.”
All the experiences Alva had gone through for the last three weeks are something he could ever see or obtain through the books. He started to recognize the way Luchino conveyed his affection with physical touch—as it is something that all living beings share, without any languages needed. Luchino would let out happy clacks whenever Alva held his fin-laced hand, letting the merman to feel a warmth he could barely get from where he came from.
Everything in the sea is cold and dark.
For years, there’s nothing he could do other than tinkering around with those experiments of his. Nobody wanted to come near the ill-rumoured merman and his ‘black magic’, much less befriending the said entity. It is actually a miracle that he managed to befriend some merpeople (as he had lent his hand to help them out, but he never forced them to take a liking to him).
He never audibly cried for help, asking for company from anyone he encountered, but he couldn't lie that it wasn't lonely either (to be seen as different by those merpeople, to be exiled).
This is the first time he had gone this far—creating a mythical potion nobody barely knew, planning to turn his body to a human’s just so he could spend more time with Alva.
He made a bit of a progress, though, after hundreds of attempts; he could feel his scales slowly peeling off, despite him doing nothing other than consuming his own potions. He could make small noises on the surface, being able to speak the same language that Alva understands even though he kept stuttering while doing so.
Oh, Luchino didn’t even know what are the possible consequences of testing things he didn’t even know. He could get poisoned (even though he had prepared some bezoar as a precaution), he could get unexpected transformations or even severe drawbacks.
But what’s life without a little bit of a risk? Because if it’s for Alva’s sake, he is sure that it will be worth it.
“How is it, Luchino? Do you like it?”
“A—” The merman blinked, and didn't even realize Alva had finished braiding him. He palpated his hair, only to realize the white-haired man had carefully braid his wavy hair into small braids, neatly swept to the back so he could clearly see everything without getting hindered by his hair…
…and now he could clearly see Alva’s beautiful smile, displayed right in front of him.
“You look beautiful in this hair style, Luchino.”
(If merpeople could blush, Luchino thinks he is already red at this point. Could he? The sea entity didn’t know.)
He has to give something back to the human. The red-haired merman tapped Alva’s shoulder, making the man pay attention to him. Luchino reached towards his tail, picking one of the almost-detached scales and handed it to the inventor.
“For…Al..va.”
Luchino knows—merpeople's scales are extremely rare on the surface, especially since it’s incredibly hard to encounter the sea entity itself, much less seeing remnants of their existence. The only possible way to obtain them is to constantly dive down, hoping to encounter any merpeople or their traces. Some people would collect them as lavish or valuable goods, or use them for witchcraft materials (even he used some of his own scales in his experiments).
But that’s not the reason why he gave Alva his scales.
The white-haired froze, mainly from surprise. His hand trembles as he holds the translucent scale, and couldn't believe what is currently happening. He didn’t expect the merman to remember his name (as he had only mentioned it a few times back then) nor did he expect the merman to give him any of his scales. It’s not his intention at all, he is scared if Luchino thinks that it is his intention—
“N-no, wait—” He stuttered, feeling a bit of panic. “I didn’t befriend you only for your scale, Luchino—”
The merman shook his head, pushing the scale Alva held to his chest. “It…gift… to.. Alva.”
Can I, really? A hint of hesitation showed on the inventor’s face, as he couldn’t help but to feel uneasy. He lets out a long sigh as he closes his eyes, moving the scale towards his lips to gently kiss the translucent artifact.
“I will keep it as my most precious belonging then,” Alva smiled, “Thank you, Luchino.”
( Oh.)
(There are two things that Luchino managed to figure out about himself at that very moment. One. mermans, in fact, could blush because he swear that he could feel his face warms up—)
“O-ou…elcome…”
(—and two, now that he saw Alva completely, without being hindered by anything, he finally knows what love is…)
( ...and how he hopes these moments last forever. )
—
It’s been a month since Alva had his first encounter with Luchino.
At the same time, this marks the end of his month-long physics workshop, meaning he had to return to Leiden to continue his temporarily halted projects.
Heavens, if he could just stay in the port forever, he would like to.
He carried paper bags for today’s lunch, walking his way to the tip of the wooden dock as always—after one month of walking along the same route, it feels like Alva could close his eyes and walk, and he could still arrive at the location without straying somewhere else or falling to the sea.
The merman already waited under the water surface by the time he arrived. Luchino rose a bit, enough for his head to pop out of the water. “Alva?”
“It’s me, Alva.” The inventor smiled, tapped the wooden dock as a small inviting gesture, “Want to join?”
Luchino jumped out of the water easily, sitting himself close to the inventor’s figure while keeping his tail underwater—he knows that his actions are a reckless one, to be close with a human and staying on their territory—so the least thing he could do is try to hide his most striking feature, hoping none of those humans notice his appearance.
They had lunch in silence, with Luchino chomping down slices of smoked ham Alva had brought him (his favorite food currently, almost better than raw fishes that he usually had underwater). He was waiting for Alva to tell him about his concerns as always, but the inventor blankly stared at the sea, not starting any conversations and letting the silence fill the room between the two of them.
What’s with Alva today? Luchino thought. It’s quite unusual for the man to behave like this—the very first thing he got reminded of when he saw Alva to stay in silence was at their first meeting, before Luchino came closer towards the human.
“Alva…okay?”
The inventor closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh…
…and when the inventor finally stared at him, Luchino could see the inventor’s eyes on the verge of tears.
Alva started slowly as his voice had a slight tremble to it, “I—I forgot to let you know since the beginning, I didn’t mean to make this sudden news…”
Luchino placed his hand on top of Alva’s, and waited for him to continue.
“...today is my last day on Katwijk, as I have to go back to Leiden tonight…”
A beat of silence.
Alva was about to ask Luchino when the said entity grabbed his hand tighter, to the point Alva could feel his hand getting sore before Luchino suddenly letting out a long whine, which sounded almost like a cry. The inventor could hear the merman’s words repeatedly mentioning his name amidst the stuttered-out whines as he kept shaking his head.
He didn’t have to understand merpeople’s language to decipher what Luchino meant.
[Please, don’t leave.]
He pulled Luchino closer to his arms, hugging the man tightly to calm him down, caressing the merman’s hand as he waited for the latter to let his feelings out, as it is the only thing he could help the sea entity with.
( He didn’t even know how long it takes for the merman to calm down, but to hell with the workshop’s closing party, he’d gladly part his ways with those people as fast as he could. )
He slowly felt how the merman’s cries withered, with him gradually gaining his composure back, but losing most of his usual curious and cheerful energy as he was exhausted.
By the time the sun sets, he briefly tightened his grip on the merman’s hand before loosening it, prompting the merman to let his hold go.
A weak whine answered Alva’s gesture.
“I won’t be gone forever—I will go back on the weekends, Luchino. There are things that I have to do on the surface, and all of them take time so I could only go when I have my day offs.”
But—! Luchino internally cursed. In the end, Alva is already bound to the surface world, with him not being able to follow the inventor as he is chained to the seas with this merman physique.
Only if he could work harder, try harder and experimented more and more—
A peck on his cheek stopped his thoughts. He looked at the inventor, shellshocked. A genuine, soft smile spreads in Alva’s lips as he gives the merman another peck.
“I will be back, okay? Take care of yourself, Luchino, and see you on the weekends.”
Alva stood up, finally facing his back towards the merman before walking out of the wooden dock—
( —Luchino didn’t even realize he had let the inventor’s hand go out of the shock— )
—and leaving the merman alone, bamboozled.
—
“You look depressed, professor.”
“Thank you for the observation result.” Eli’s words made the red-haired let out a sigh (despite knowing the brunette merman didn’t actually see it , but feel it) as he scribbled out experimented-out theories, proven to be having little to none desired effect towards his goal to turn his physique to a human’s.
Luchino knew he had to make more hypotheses—probably widen out his scope, trying out things he hadn’t expected (no one knows, there might be some actual results out of those desperate attempts). He explored every single day, finding scrolls or books all over the sea to test the theory out, and collecting possible ingredients with his friends’ help.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with my experiments—I did my best, but I haven’t reached the progress I wanted.” Luchino’s voice trembled, “I can’t just let Alva visit me every single weekend, taking a trip for hours only to meet me for a short while.”
“Oh, believe it, professor. He would be more than happy going to such lengths, if it’s to see you.”
The professor let out some noises—which all of them sounded like skeptical groans, but Eli knows better when it comes to love.
Eli had his own romantic moments, years ago. He had engaged with such the kindest, most beautiful woman he had ever known. Spending their days together, arranging things for their marriage—
—only for his fiancée to disappear without any traces, with the last sightings of her swimming, accidentally swimming to a forbidden area where humans are commonly found. He’d still occasionally explore the said place or the surroundings, hoping one day, if he is lucky enough to get lady fate’s blessings, he’ll be able to meet his long-lost fiancée once again.
He had heard comments, belittling ones, about his efforts on looking for her. How they commented how stubborn Eli is, looking for someone for years.
He turned a blind eye (both metaphorically, and literally) towards them. Staying consistent on his searching for years.
Eli stayed silent for a while, gently petting his dolphin as he looked for other alternatives in his mind.
“I mean—hear me out. Can’t you just try to sneak out with this form, probably asking the human to help you out?” Eli proposed, “After all, look at Demi—she kept on buying her alcohol supplies from the surface, even though we all know she had never taken any potions.”
“First of all, that’s unlikely. Second of all, Demi sneaks out and takes the beach drunkards’ booze when they blacked out, not buying them.” Alva facepalmed, recalling his first time knowing the alcoholic mermaid’s doings, “And if you had heard about the mermaid rumor here, it’s probably because of her.”
“But don’t you think that you might also cause some of those rumors as well?“ Eli remarked, grinning a bit.
Touché.
—
Things are starting to get better for Luchino’s experiment; he could speak in the way humans could understand, he could see faint separation on his tail for a short period, followed by more of his scale shedding out. But he couldn’t completely disclose the thing he is currently working on. Not yet.
He wanted to show Alva the finished result by surprising him in the human form—oh, how he couldn’t help but to grin as he imagined how shocked Alva would be once he figured it out.
The only noticeable thing Alva could probably realize is how the merman started to speak in a better way, with his words getting more coherent—the inventor had thought of it as an influence? Is it because he had spent some time with the merman, which means exposure to humans?
(It is actually not. Luchino didn’t tell the man the truth, or at least not yet.)
As time went by, Luchino started to know that Alva had been working almost alone this entire time (after his previous friend’s passing), and this is the first time he had encouraged himself to finally take an apprentice in.
Stories about Alva’s previous struggles, on how the upper-classes are belittling him are slowly turning into stories where Alva proudly shows Luchino his apprentice’s accomplishments, how smart the man is at such a young age. How he is happy that Luca—the apprentice—understands him, being able to actually help him in the way no one usually does.
That is, for the past few months.
The sea entity started to notice traces of exhaustion. Of the inventor’s moods getting gloomy.
“Are you really okay, Alva?”
A question asked, but the answer is nearly obvious. Alva formed a weak smile, knowing he couldn’t pretend in front of this close friend of his. The inventor sipped his coffee before letting out a long sigh.
“It’s… about Luca.”
Luchino raised his eyebrows, “Luca? Something happened to him?”
Alva grabbed his cup, caressing it with his thumb to ease his anxiety.
In the end, he has to tell someone about everything he had kept for years.
In his younger years, Alva had thought about the proposal of making a perpetual motion machine, only for him to find someone who had the same thing as his lifelong ambition in the university, making the two of them becoming friends in the same goal.
“I should have known,” Alva whispered, hands shaking. “We shouldn’t aim for the impossible.”
It was a long run with a lot of ups and downs, making things start to get exciting. How they started to attract investors, upper-classes who get interested in the prospect of free, never-ending energy to be used.
Alva and Herman—the man’s colleague—started to get serious once they graduated, aiming for becoming renowned inventors by making the perpetual motion machine. They worked all day and night alongside their other projects, saving funds to be used on their main goal….
…one year turned into two, into five.
By the time they reached the tenth year, no significant results were obtained out of their perpetual motion project. The investors are no longer providing them their funds, yet Herman rejected Alva’s idea to stop as the whole project slowly turned into a fiasco.
“Nonsense, Alva! We could finish this, I know!” Herman declared, banging his fist against the wall.
But when is it going to happen, Herman? The inventor silently thought, not wanting to pick a fight against the obstinate man.
Things aren’t as easy as their early years. There are bills to be paid, projects to be done, and life is more than just prototypes and sketches of theories. Herman’s family—the upper classes, the Zeeman family–are starting to pressuring both of them, waiting for Herman to continue the family by settle down and having an heir for the family.
As if Herman would do that on his own volition.
Everything is starting to go down. Alva wanted to stop. Herman doesn’t want to—he starts to get fully obsessed with the project, focusing everything he got onto it. Abandoning his other works.
Even when the Zeeman finally forced him to marry another noblewoman (so he could have an heir), Herman quickly ditched them away for perpetual motion machine.
Alva had sealed every prototype, every knowledge he possesses about perpetual motion machine, treating it as Pandora's box.
And the thing is, Luca is starting to show an interest towards the godforsaken machine, and he didn’t want to back down at all.
Luchino’s hand coming out of the water, gripping Alva’s to comfort him.
“I didn’t know your apprentice’s reasoning to continue something like that, though. Isn’t it pointless to do, at this point?” Luchino remarked.
Alva mindlessly replied. “Probably because he thinks of it as his lifelong passion, and not even considering the consequences…”
( Because oh, he knows. He actually knows what makes that dreaded machine becoming Luca’s lifelong passion. After all, there’s one thing he hadn’t told Luchino yet— )
Alva just wanted Luca to be safe and sound, being able to properly live his life without any sort of futile obsessions. That’s all.
“Want me to go there to hug you?” It was more like a statement rather than a response, considering Luchino is already preparing to propel himself to the dock as always. He dropped on the dock with a loud thud, with Alva already giving a hand towards the merman to help him position himself.
Luchino tidied up his hair, wanting to see more of Alva now that he is able to stand on the same level with the human. The white-haired man’s pale skin, and his beautiful calming smile— that never failed to make him swoon, a good thing he could handle his own feelings—and…
“What is this?” Luchino placed his fingers on the man’s neck, touching the silver chain.
“I-It’s….”
Ah. The merman’s eyes widened in surprise, but seeing the man in front of him slowly turning red on his whole face distracts him away—even more than the necklace that Alva showed him, with his shedded scale being used as the pendant.
“I was really in awe with this, okay?” The human commented, still red. “I wanted to keep it as close with me as much as I could.”
The merman leaned his body towards the inventor’s, a smile spread on his lips in acknowledging the human’s choice.
“That’s okay. After all, giving scales is a gesture that mermans only do for their special ones.” He whispered gently, only for Alva to hear.
Ah.
So that’s how it is.
—
The next thing the merman realized after he regained his consciousness back was a blurry vision and pain—as if something stung his eye.
“Hell….” Luchino groaned, holding his head.
What is this? What happened? He hadn’t felt any of this sensation before, even before he conducted this whole experiment until the very final steps he had been doing now—to test out the potions he had thought of as a success product.
Luchino was thinking of taking them immediately in his laboratorium, about to take the vibrant liquid to his lips when he realized— What if it actually worked? (because he is pretty sure the changes of physique from a merpeople’s to a human’s wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of the sea, he had learnt of it by seeing humans’ way of exploring around the sea) so he swam further, entering this underwater cave of his to reach the oxygen-filled side of it before taking the potion.
And yet this is what happened—and no, Luchino couldn’t comprehend what happened. Does his body need to go back to the sea?
He rubbed his eyes carefully, trying to ease his pain and to clear his vision better before trying to jumping back to underwater—
—only for the man to realize his tail is completely gone, replaced with a pair of legs.
A beat of silence, shellshocked.
He rubbed the back of his neck. His back. His hips.
His gills and fins are all gone.
It worked.
Luchino tried his best to stay calm—as he remembered this place doesn’t have a lot of oxygen left, while humans’ respiratory systems are depended on it—so wasting any oxygen wouldn’t be good.
( But he could feel his lips are twitching, wanting to form a really big smile of pride, and just running around out of sheer happiness— )
—he stopped his mental image, looking downwards.
He probably could do that after he goes to the surface and wears some clothes.
—
By the time the sun has already set down, the moon in the sky is ready to show its shine, Luchino is still on the dock, waiting patiently with a neat appearance, and some proper clothing as a human (thanks to Fiona and Demi’s help on getting him some clothes on the surface).
He waited, waited and waited. For hours, until a realization came.
Alva didn’t come.
This is weird, if not really really weird, Luchino thought.
He swore he had counted the days properly, making sure the day he took the potion with the same day Alva would usually visit him—the weekends. He wanted to give the inventor a surprise, visiting the man to finally tell him that he did all of this so he could spend more time with the inventor before turning back to merman at will (he had prepared another potion to revert his physique back—after all he had spent so much time on his laboratorium, and he didn’t want to part with it).
But he had waited the entire day, and Alva didn’t come.
He might be way too busy to visit this week, Luchino thought. After all, taking care of his projects and taking an apprentice when his name is starting to get known (which means more work) isn’t a feat that normal people could do.
It hurts, but he couldn’t blame Alva either. It’s not like the inventor could just send him a telegram to the seas.
Filled with immeasurable disappointment and sadness, the merman took another potion under the moonlight, letting his feet to merge back slowly, followed by his merman features to also return before he jumped into the water, wanting to curl up in his cave without doing anything for the day.
He tried to perfect his creations as he waited for the weekend to come once again, preparing so Alva could see the better result out of his hard worked project.
But two weekends had passed without the inventor coming to the dock. No sightings of the man, no news, nothing at all.
It’s as if Alva Lorenz had dissipated into thin air, nowhere to be found.
Disappointment turned into concern.
Something is wrong here.
Luchino couldn’t bear the life of a loner anymore, not after he knows how beautiful life is with a loved one’s company. He didn’t want to completely spend his entire life in the cold, ruthless sea when he knows how pleasant it is to be held, to be cherished…
… to be wanted.
He had thought about it several times, considering the step he had to take before finally settling in on the one he believes the most, despite being the one that bears the most risk.
The merman told Eli of what is he going to do, asking the man to stay in his laboratorium for the time being (and also just to inhibit the place so no one will take over the cave), with the brunette smiling and simply telling Luchino best of luck, hoping the red-haired merman will be able to found what he was finding.
And so Luchino finally stepped out…
…to the surface, the human’s territory, to find Alva.
—
Now that Luchino realized, there’s only a few things he knows about Alva when it comes to the human’s surface life.
He only knew stories about people and the man’s experience, yet he didn’t even know where Alva lives (he only heard the man tell him about a place called Leiden, he knows that’s it's far but he didn’t know how far it is actually nor do he know how to go to Leiden as he had no experience—It’s good that he had brought some money that Demi managed to steal out of the drunkards’ pockets).
Alva Lorenz. Luca Balsa. Herman Zeeman. Physics.
Those words repeated inside of his mind, with him trying to find the first step he had to do now that he is on the land again—luckily with a little bit of preparation compared to the previous one—to look for the inventor.
He had asked the bypassers, the people around the beach if they knew anyone with the name, only to be answered by headshakes and confusion stares shot towards the merman. None of these guys knows who Alva is, but they knew where Leiden is and told the red-haired that the most possible choice he could take is taking a train (now he knows what a train is) to Leiden rather than walking his way on (which they reacted with ‘are you insane?’).
One. Two. Three.
Three days since he wandered around in human form, sleeping on the beach every single night (as apparently Fiona and Demi had heard about the news from Eli, gladly accompanying the temporarily-human to stay safe every single night).
He could feel his head fuzzy and blurry, not knowing what to do anymore as none of the people around him knows about the inventor.
Walking around Katwijk’s cloudy and windy atmosphere Luchino tried his best to look around his surroundings, finding humans that could help him. Trying his best to walk on the side of the road, not wanting to cause any trouble by bumping with pedestrians or bicycles.
He could feel his body shivering in the cold, despite being already used to the sea’s cold with his other form. Human’s bodies are fragile, and can't withstand any pressure, severe cold or severe heat. They couldn’t hold their breaths for too long. They couldn't swim for too long—
A slap startled Luchino, him freezing in shock only for the man to realize it wasn’t a slap at all, but a paper that flew and hit his face. He took the crumpled paper, observing the letters and noticing that it’s a ripped page of a newspaper.
Newspaper.
Eureka! An idea popped on the red-haired man’s mind, one he didn’t even notice for the past three days. He ran around, trying to locate the nearest newspaper stall he could find to take a look at the pages—some news about Alva might be there!
He already ran about a block when he finally spotted a newspaper stall, his breath shaking when he reached the place. Small yet convenient, all the newest information is displayed as the headline, while the quite-recent ones are still displayed on the other stack away from the new ones.
“One newspaper, please.”
After paying with the money that Demi brought, Luchino’s eyes are skimming on the headlines and the titles, something he is already used to as he spent thousands of hours on reading. There’s no news about Alva in the newest paper.
He glanced towards the older papers.
What about the others, though?
“Do you mind if I read these ones?” He asked the newsdealer, pointing at the other stack.
“Do what you want, but pay for them if you take them.”
Luchino nodded, taking the outermost paper of the stacks to skim them out. He hoped he could find something, he had to find Al—
[—the renowned inventor, Alva Lorenz, is currently—]
He blinked. Noticing a familiar letter amongst the ones he skimmed. He looked at the title.
[Fire On Laboratorium, Inventor’s Apprentice Gets Caught.]
[A fire has been reported at one of Leiden University’s Lorenz Institute building at XX-XX-XXX, with the cause presumed to be electricity short circuit that caused fire sparks, burning down the entire laboratorium and the inventions inside of them. As of the current update, several people are referred to the hospital for minor and major burns, and the founder of the physics institute and the renowned inventor, Alva Lorenz, is currently the only casualty. Investigations are conducted, and it is currently presumed that the event is caused by Alva Lorenz’s apprentice, Luca Balsa—]
Luchino didn’t even read the rest of the newspaper anymore.
.
.
.
— Chapter 1, END.