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The first thought Keralis had as he blinked the salt water from his eyes, staring up at xB’s dripping mess of hair and the face twisted with concern above him was–
“You’re a mermaid.”
XB laughed at that, and the sound has an edge of hysteria to it, but Keralis had, just moments before, almost drowned, so the tone wasn’t entirely unexpected, but unpleasant nonetheless. Keralis’ lips twitched into a frown.
“I think we should get you checked out, that looked really, really rough–” Keralis tried to push himself up but xB’s sturdy grip on his shoulder kept him down. “Stay right there, Keralis, you mustn’t exert yourself.”
“No, I wanna–” he strained against the fingers – against the claws – pushing into his shoulder, and a sudden strain of dizziness overtook him, eyes scrunching shut (water streamed and swirled before his mind’s eye and there was no air and–).
He opened his eyes again instead. XB was a much prettier view, anyway. His gaze dragged down along the trails of water dripping from his locks, down the soggy shirt, plastered to his front, and the smattering of something distinctly teal and not his usual skin tone where the hem of the shirt rode up and then – the soaked hoodie that he had thrown over his lower half didn’t hide much, even as xB tried to shuffle to the side, getting his tail out of Keralis’ line of sight.
“Mermaid…” he muttered, looking back up at xB’s nervously shifting eyes.
“No, no… It–” Keralis watched the twitch of his lips, the way he glanced into the distance before returning his gaze to his, the slight, barely audible shift in his tone, “It must be the lack of oxygen, it’s making you see things. I’m– I’m calling Xisuma.”
“XB…” Keralis pouted, trying to sit up once more, this time throwing an arm around xB’s neck to pull himself up. He hissed as something sharp dug into his flesh and dragged a burning line down his forearm as he wrenched his arm back away.
“No, Keralis!” A new, heavy wave of fatigue washed over him, a sudden darkness creeping in around the edges of his vision. “Keralis!”
* * *
When he woke next, he was tucked into his bed, the one xB had set up for him in his own base, and he hurt all over. There was a dull throbbing in the back of his head, in his arm which was now wrapped in layers of bandages, his lungs with every rise and fall of his chest. The events leading up to him passing out came trickling back into the forefront of his mind.
Scales, shimmering turquoise.
Hefty tail dripping saltwater.
And– poisonous spikes? That didn’t quite fit the image he had first conjured, but it wasn’t his strangest find yet.
As he pushed himself up with a groan, a familiar pair of eyes poked through the doorway, soon accompanied by the rest of xB’s body as a relieved smile spread across his face.
“You’re awake! Finally!” He trotted closer with distinctly humanoid legs, no sign of the blue on him, holding a glass of water that he pressed into Keralis’ grip as soon as he lowered himself down onto the bedding beside him.
“Yeah,” Keralis rasped, lifting the cup to his mouth. “And you’re a mermaid.”
XB froze up, but it was gone so quickly that Keralis barely even noticed it with his eyes tracking his every move. He let out a giggle that sounded vaguely condescending, though not a very good attempt at it.
“What are you talking about?” The lips. The eyes. The tone. “You still think you saw something on the beach?”
“No, I know. XB, you know you can’t lie to me.” XB’s teeth were worrying at his lower lip, another nervous habit, another tip for Keralis’ theory.
“I–”
“XB…” Was that fear in his eyes? Keralis pressed his lips together, moving a hand to xB’s forearm in a soothing gesture. “It’s okay, you’re okay… I didn’t see anything, nothing at all, okay? Nobody has to know.”
XB sniffed, just slightly, eyes wetter than before, but a soft little smile was playing at the edge of his lips.
“It’s a guardian, anyway, not some stupid mermaid.”
“Well then,” Keralis said, tracing his hand down to lace their fingers together, squeeze xB’s hands gently, until the other met his soft gaze. “Thank you, my guardian in shining armour, for saving me. Your secret’s safe with me.”