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Moonlight reflects off the ocean’s surface, bouncing off in every direction, starlight twinkling around it in the night sky. Phainon finds it beautiful. He’s always been fond of the nighttime, especially when the moon and stars are visible. It’s been a pastime of his to watch them, especially when he feels contemplative about his life.
The water rises halfway up Phainon’s claves, lapping over his feet and legs gently with the tide. It’s cold, but not freezing. It’s the perfect temperature. He’s tempted to go for a swim—there are several big rocks further away from the shore that he enjoys laying on, both for sunbathing and for stargazing.
“A little dip couldn’t hurt.” Phainon murmurs, giving a small chuckle.
He stands on the current rock he’d been sitting on and begins to strip down, tossing his clothes aside in a pile. Naked, Phainon stretches out his body in several directions before he dives into the ocean. He goes under, submerged fully, and stays there for a few seconds, eyes open though they shouldn’t be. A few moments later, Phainon emerges from the surface for air.
Phainon swims towards the furthest rock of the bunch. He’s not sure how far away it is exactly—some hundreds of feet, he’s sure, or maybe even more than that—but he doesn’t quite care.
The rock is rough around the edges, but the top of it is smooth. It’s work to get a good grip to pull himself up, but once he’s there, it’s easy to settle down and sit. Somehow, the stars seem closer like this. Maybe it’s because out here, it is just him—no city behind him, no weight on his shoulders. Out here, in the middle of the ocean, there’s only Phainon, the stars, and the moon.
He’s not sure how long he’s out there watching the constellations—only that it’s long enough for his body to have dried nearly completely. He’s on his back now, arms played out at his sides. He can still feel a few water droplets drying when he hears it: the splashing sounds of something in the water.
It’s not unusual to hear that, not all the way out here, but Phainon knows there’s not many fish that enjoy coming this close to the shoreline. Curious, Phainon carefully lifts himself up from the rock as he looks around the edge of the rock.
Golden stars meet Phainon’s gaze, and the air is stolen from his lungs immediately. Phainon startles slightly, hands slipping on the rock’s edge and causing him to stumble forward a bit. Whatever the creature is, it barely flinches at the new sudden closeness they have, but it still begins moving away from him.
“Wait!” Phainon calls out, holding a hand halfway out. Reigning himself in, Phainon pulls his hand back and grips onto the rock once more. “Wait, don’t go—did I scare you? I didn’t mean to.”
Those golden stars continue to stare at him, scrutinizing and cold, and Phainon is able to take these view moments to realize what’s happening to him: he’s meeting a creature of the sea. Beauty of the ocean encased into one amazing creature, a merperson.
“Did I disturb you?” Phainon asks, trying to gauge how the merperson must be feeling right now. “Sorry if I did. I come out here so often, I didn’t think I’d end up meeting a mer… maid?” His nose scrunches up slightly in questioning. “Maid? Man? Would it be rude of me to ask which you are?”
The merperson remains silent and staring. After another moment, the water ripples around them and the upper half of its body begins to emerge from the water’s surface. Phainon attempts to keep his cool, but this creature is—beautiful. Water drips down sun-kissed skin, rolling over red markings that cover just about half of said skin. Long hair flows over its shoulders, a singular braid lying over its right one.
“Wow,” Phainon breathes out, completely taken with it. “You’re beautiful.”
Its golden eyes widen for a brief moment, and the merperson begins to sink back into the water. Phainon curses his stupid mouth and mind for never thinking, before he’s sitting himself up on his knees and pressing a hand to the middle of his chest.
“Wait, wait! I’m so sorry—sometimes I… don’t always stop myself from saying what I’m thinking,” Phainon offers it a smile, hoping that he looks as docile as he’s attempting to be. “My name is Phainon. I’m a human. You’re not one, right? Can I ask your name?”
The merperson sinks down until just its eyes are showing once more, making Phainon’s heart sink briefly. He watches as it swims around the edge of the rock, towards Phainon’s left side. It’s disappointing to think that this is likely going to be his first and only encounter with a merperson, and Phainon’s already gone and—
A loud splash draws Phainon from his thoughts. His head whips up, wide eyes watching as the merperson pulls itself up onto the other side of the rock.
It’s even more beautiful, with its red and orange scaled tail on display. Moonlight and starlight bounce off of it, enrapturing Phainon further. He feels himself reaching out for it, before he catches himself and pulls his hand back, settling it against his thigh. The merperson is watching him just as closely, finned tail gently wading at the edge of the water. Phainon sits himself down properly, facing the merperson, and giving it his best smile.
“Does this mean we’re close to getting along?” Phainon chuckles, gesturing between them with a hand. “I wouldn’t mind having a merman friend.”
“You’re not scared of me.” It finally speaks, and its voice is deeper than Phainon is expecting it to be. He has to swallow to keep himself in full check.
“Of course not,” Phainon says, laughing amicably. “You’ve given me no reason to be scared of you. We’ve just met, after all.”
It goes quiet again, eyes narrowing in Phainon’s direction, and Phainon can’t help but laugh more.
“You seem more nervous than I am!” Phainon grins and runs a hand through his hair. “I still don’t know what to call you, either. I’m not quite sure I like referring to you as just… merman.”
Its tail flicks in the water, sending a brief spray of droplets into the air. Golden eyes sparkle briefly in the moonlight, and Phainon swears he can see it smirking at him.
“I am… Mydei.”
“Mydei?” Phainon repeats, leaning in slightly.
Mydei nods, reassuring Phainon’s pronunciation.
“Alright. Mydei.” Phainon smiles as he says his name again. “Well, I’m assuming I must have accidentally stolen your spot, is that right?” He gestures down to the rock they’re sitting on. “I apologize if I did. I was unaware that anyone else liked to use these rocks to stargaze, least of all a merman.”
Mydei’s tail flicks in the water again, and this time, some of the droplets seem to be aimed at Phainon. Something starts to burn inside of Phainon’s chest. He grins and leans forward, elbows on his knees, watching Mydei as close as he had once done to Phainon.
“We’re just going to have to learn to share, aren’t we, Mydei?”
Mydei’s mouth twitches into something of a smile, his head turning to the side some as he scoffs. He looks up towards Phainon a second later, fire burning in his golden gaze, and smirks as he says, “I don’t share very easily.”
Phainon’s chest burns hotter, and he suddenly feels the need to go for another dip in the ocean.