Chapter Text
Stars were shining above the small ship, their light reflecting on the the sea waves. The whole crew of Gideon’s ship had gathered on the main deck, and the men were now almost all drunk and most of them were singing loudly. Earlier that day, they had taken down another ship, a spanish one, and after a long and exhausting fight they had managed to steal almost eveything without losing any crew member and with only a few injuries. The captain, after seeing the gold and alcohol that were now his, had allowed his men to celebrat before going back into his cabin.
Dipper, though, wasn’t singing- not that he didn’t like to, but he didn’t feel like joining in the laughing men who were dancing, or trying to dance, in front of him. The day had been long, and to be completely honest he wasn’t entirely focused on his enemies during the fight. He was worried, dead worried, about the siren Gideon wanted him to take care of. He didn’t stop thinking once about what would happen if one of the men they were fighting entered his cabin and found the siren. They could kill it, or steal it, or badly injure it. Not only Gideon would have his head if that happened, but he would feel guilty. He was responsible of the creature, and without a voice it was unable to defend itself. Luckly for both of them, no one saw the siren and Dipper made it out of the fight with only a few cuts. He got yelled at for not focusing in the middle of such an important battle, but he was safe and that was the only inportant thing.
He sighed and got on his feet, the loud noises producted by his shipmates starting to get on his nerves, making his head hurt a bit. He decided he would eat something in his cabin, and maybe bring something for the siren. It looked really unhealthy, and Dipper couldn’t help but feel pity everytime he saw the cheeks and ribs of the creature- and the scar on its throat. He couldn’t imagine what it went through, having its vocal cords brutally removed, and at the same time its only defense against men. A mute siren, out of the sea, couldn’t do much.
He walked into the ship’s kitchen, grabbing bread and meat for himself, and a fish for the siren. Then he walked out, trying not to bump into any of his drunk mates. He looked at the fish in his hand and sighed once more. The siren had been very reluctant to eat at first, refusing the fish he gave and not even looking at him. Hunger finally decided it to eat, but he still felt like the creature didn’t like him. Why would it like him ? He took it from the circus it belonged to, only to keep it in his cabin just next to the sea it used to live in. That was cruel. But he couldn’t go against his captain’s orders.
He stopped in front of his door. For all this time, he had been treating the siren like an animal, feeding it fishes and giving it orders like he would do with a dog. That, he thought, probably didn’t help the siren’s affection. He considered starting to talk to it like to another human, and decided that, after all, it was worth a shot. The creature had always been treated like a circus monster, and he knew that if it happened to him he wouldn’t want his saviors to keep treating him like one. The siren was apparently male, at least that was what it looked like. Dipper decided he would treat him like another crew member, and see what would happen. If its- his –reactions didn’t change, at least Dipper would feel a little better for treating him like a human and not like some kind of pet he kept in his room.
He entered his cabin, closing the door behind him.
There wasn’t much light in the small room, the only source being the stars and a small candle next to his bed. But even with this, he could see the siren half-out of the water, facing the walls, turned in the direction of the crew’s loud singing. He seemed to be listening to the song, the fins replacing his ears twitching. He didn’t seem to notice Dipper.
As he got closer, the young pirate saw the siren’s lips move. He realized he was forming the words he was hearing coming from the other side of the wall. Unable to sing, he couldn’t do anything but pretend, and mouth the words he couldn’t let out. Dipper’s heart clenched at the sight. He knew the creature couldn’t sing, he knew he couldn’t produce a sound, but it had never hit him as hard as it did at this very moment. Sirens were made to sing, it was the very purpose of their existence. And seeing this mute siren silently forming words while his crew mates were laughing and singing loudly made him hurt.
He placed his food on his bed, and walked towards the tank. He sat next to the siren, and whispered quietly, trying not to scare him :
« Hey. »
The creature jumped, and turned to face him. He looked surprised, angry, and Dipper thought he saw a light of sadness in his eyes. He closed his mouth, and sank back into the water.
« I didn’t mean to startle you. » he continued. « I brought you fish, do you want it now ? »
Blue eyes met his before looking at his hands and at what they were holding. Hesitant hands raised out of the water, not getting close enough to take the fish. The siren looked like he wasn’t sure if he could take the fish. Dipper smiled, and handed him the food, wiping his hands on his shirt to get rid of the strong smell.
Watching the other man- or fish? -eat, Dipper got up, walked to his bed, and took a bite of bread before sitting on the floor again, back against the tank. He stared at the siren, chewing on his own food. Thinking about what he had witnessed a few minutes ago, he opened his mouth before he could stop himself from talking.
« Do you… Miss singing ? »
He heard a noise of splashing water. The siren was staring at him with wide eyes, mouth still covered in fish scales and blood. He wiped it, and stopped eating. Dipper asked once again, now curious.
« Do you ? »
The creature looked away.
~*~
Bill swallowed the fish he had still in his mouth before looking back at the man next to him. Did he miss singing ? Of course. Of course he did. He had spent his entire life singing, alone or with other sirens, that was everything he loved to do. That, until humans came, took him, and took his voice. Of course he missed singing. He was thinking about it everyday, and days like this, when he could hear humans sing without being able to even whisper, made him hate himself and his soundless voice more than ever.
He nodded.
The pirate had a strange look on his face. Bill hoped it wasn’t pity, he had had enough of it. But when the human spoke, his tone was more understanding than it was mocking.
« I’m sorry you had to go through that. »
Apologies. That was new. He was used to the human treating him like an inferior, feeding him and talking to him like he was a pet. But this ? He gave the man a surprised look. He was expecting laughs, maybe a « huh » or some fake words of comfort, but not that.
« Do you miss hearing people, too ? »
The question hit him like a punch in the stomach. Of course the human would have noticed- how he was listening to the crew singing, how he was so focused he didn’t even see him coming. Because he missed the sound of voices singing. He had heard nothing but yells, laughs, and mocks since he had been captured. Every little melody, even if it was from a drunk pirate crew, allowed him to forget about everything for a moment, and to think back about the time he spent with his colony. He missed them, so much. He missed singing, but he also missed hearing the other sirens’ voices.
He nodded once more, and as he did so, he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Was he crying ? In front of the pirate ?
He raised his hands to wipe his tears, but another hands reached his cheeks before he did.
He stared at the human, who wiped the tears away before sitting back. He wanted to hiss, to bite, to show him he didn’t need his pity.
But he didn’t.
He couldn’t handle it anymore.
Curling in his tank, he let the tears out, and everything else out with them. He was so tired of pretending nothing was getting to him, tired of playing strong when he just wanted to go home. He didn’t care about the human judging him anymore. He didn’t care about the human mocking him. He let out breathless sobs, tears falling into the water surrounding him. The questions and the songs had brought so many memories back, just as he thought he had forgotten and given up on his past life. He wanted to be free, he wanted to go back into the sea, he wanted his voice back, he wanted to sing, and scream, and cry out instead of making these pathetics little whines. He was tired.
When the pirate wrapped his arms around him, he didn’t push him away.
Just for once, he felt like accepting the comfort the other had to offer. It didn’t matter if it was pity. It didn’t matter if the human mocked him after. He had missed the feeling of someone hugging him for too long to refuse it now.
And when he heard the soft, hesitating and slightly shaky voice singing the first notes of a lullaby, he relaxed into the pirate’s arms and wrapped his own arms around his back.