Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As a child, Shiver’s grandfather always teasingly warned them to watch out for mermaids on fishing trips, and especially to be wary of sirens. The mermaids were a mischievous bunch, and difficult to get rid of if they fixated on you. But the sirens were an unstoppable, violent force, impossible to get rid of, especially if you angered them. 

The worst part was there was no way to differentiate between the two.

That sort of thing was ridiculous, Shiver realized as they grew older. Shiver’s parents especially hated the idea of merfolk for some reason, and insisted it was foolish to even entertain the notion.

Whether kid’s fairy tales were real or not, it didn’t matter. Shiver always had bigger fish to fry.

Today, though, they wanted time alone. Shiver wanted to take a boat into the ocean and get away from everything. At least for a few days. The only way Shiver’s family would let them take one of the boats out, though, was on the condition they returned with some fish to sell.

Shiver didn’t mind fishing, but they didn’t exactly love it either. Fishing was merely a means to an end for them. At least when it came to trawling.

The main draw for this trip, of course, was Shiver’s love of the ocean. They found a solace there unlike any they could find on dry land. Here, they weren’t supposed to be anyone or anything. It was the body of water that held the money they so loved, sure, but in the back of Shiver’s mind it was far more than that. It was the most sacred place nature had to offer them, close to the beginning of all life, and that was something they could feel deep in their bones.

The small boat bobbed playfully in the water as Shiver strummed their sanshin, singing with the sound of the waves. 

It was only when their voice began to tire that they supposed it was about time to anchor, empty the net, and head home. It’d been long enough- a few days out at sea. 

Shiver tied their hair up into a bun and put on their thick rubber gloves as the boat’s machinery hauled the net up past the surface. 

Something about seeing the fish writhe in the net always made Shiver’s heart twist. But it came with the territory. This was business. It always had been, since they were a child.

The winch took care of automatically positioning the net over the ship’s hold. It was all business as usual until Shiver noticed there was something strange in the net, something much bigger than their usual catch.

There was something, or someone trapped inside. A person? 

Shiver couldn’t see it very clearly, but it looked like a woman.

Shiver quickly opened the codend, letting the fish spill out into the hold. There was a little yelp as the woman tumbled into the pile of squirming sealife, and Shiver realized one thing about her almost immediately.

She most definitely wasn’t human.

She had long, pointed ears, dripping with sea water. In place of legs she had a long yellow tail, mottled with deep purple spots. Her toned arms were wrapped to the elbow with what looked like bandages, and her ears were studded with earrings made from eel’s teeth. Around her neck was a pendant made from purple seaglass.

Shiver didn’t have time to really look at her, or worry about the fact that mermaids or sirens or whatever she was were real, they were more preoccupied with what she was doing. Stuffing her face with their payload.

“Hey- stop that! Those are my fish you’re taking, thief!”

The creature looked up from her meal like she was annoyed more than anything. 

“It’s Frye, and I’m not a thief. Those were the fish I was hunting first, before your stupid net came up behind me and ruined my breakfast,” Frye said around a mouthful of flesh. “Plus, finders keepers.” 

Shiver felt their eyelid twitch as she stuck her purple tongue out at them.

Not only was she vulgar, she was childish to boot.

“This is my family’s livelihood, are you dense?”

“Livelihood my tail, you’ve got enough fish to feed a whole clan here!” Frye scoffed. “You greedy humans are all the same.”

“Give me my fish and get off my boat or I’ll throw you off myself,” Shiver hissed.

The two exchanged a glare that could cut through steel.

“Fine, twolegs, you want it that bad?”

A full body shudder ran through Shiver as Frye spat a half chewed chunk of fish right in their face. 

Their lips parted in disbelief, disgust, and more than anything, offense.

“You-”  It took everything, grinding their teeth, clenching their fists not to curse Frye out. It was unfitting for a Hohojiro. “You are just disgusting , you think just because you can barely swim and got caught in my net you can come here and try to humiliate me?”

…

“Yeah.”

THWACK-

Frye yelped and brought a hand to the cheek Shiver had used a fish to strike. 

Instantly Shiver froze up, worrying they’d gone too far. They’d left the slightest red mark on her face, but just as quickly Frye burst out laughing, leaving Shiver completely bewildered.

“That’s gotta be the first time a human’s ever hit me with a fish,” she snickered. “Alright, I’ll cut you a deal. Let me keep the fish you smacked me with and I’ll leave you and your catch alone.”

Shiver narrowed their eyes down at Frye and held out the fish like they wanted nothing to do with it, and by extension, with her.

“Take it.” 

Frye took the fish in her hand without hesitation and turned away. A little wince escaped her as she began to haul herself over to the edge of the boat. It looked like it pained her to move. It was then that Shiver noticed her back and arms- they were dripping with blood, covered with small cuts from the net. 

“W-wait- ah, hold on a second.” Hot embarrassment burned in Shiver’s cheeks. They had no reason to go back on what they said thirty seconds ago like a stammering idiot. And yet… “I can’t just let you go out into the water bleeding. A shark might get you.”

A shit eating grin crossed Frye’s face after a moment, and she tilted her head sideways.

“Aw, so it is true that humans will pack bond with literally anything. You care about me already, huh?”

…

“On second thought, a shark might see how annoying you are and look the other way.”

“Hey!” Frye’s tail lashed at Shiver’s deadpan tone. Eventually, though, she looked a bit taken aback, long ears hanging low. “I- uh, I’m sorry, okay…You were just bein’ nice.” 

A rough wave shook the boat and made Frye tumble back into the pile of fish. She looked like she would rather have died than Shiver having seen that.

Shiver sighed. 

There was no way a creature this pathetic was a siren. This was an absolute bottom of the barrel mermaid, and Shiver had to get her out of this pile of fish now if they wanted to help her. 

It wasn’t like she could just walk where they wanted her to. 

They couldn’t exactly carry her either. How Shiver wished Big Man were here. He was always kind enough to carry any heavy loads for them, and would always help them whenever they got into troublesome situations like this. 

There was a comically high pitched squeak as Shiver decided holding Frye by the underarms and dragging her into the cabin at the front of the boat was the best way to go. 

Shiver gingerly set her down across the pair of seats closest to the console, which held their sonar, radio, and map. They turned to check one last time that the hold was closed, only to turn back around to see the mermaid playing with the steering wheel, making little whirring noises.  

The fish she’d fought so hard for had been set aside, dripping reddish water all over the console. She’d already bitten the head off too. 

Shiver fought back the irritation at the knowledge that they’d have to clean all that later and took the seat beside Frye. There was a little glovebox with some first aid items inside beneath the console, and Shiver popped it open and grabbed a washcloth they made damp with a water bottle. 

“Hold still,” they muttered. 

The radio hooked to the console screeched with static and Shiver tensed at the sound of their mother’s voice.

“Shiver, is everything alright? You should’ve been docked an hour ago, and Big Man tells me he hasn’t seen or heard from you all day.”

Frye’s eyes were trained on Shiver in that moment, waiting to see what they would say. 

When Shiver didn’t respond, their mother added,

“Do you need me to come help you?”

“Everything’s fine. Just a bit of trouble with the net. I’ll be right home.”

“I see. Take care out there.”

There was a little beep accompanied by static as their mother hung up. Shiver could now direct their focus back to Frye. They took the washcloth and diligently cleaned each of her wounds, pressing on them to stop the bleeding. 

With that done, they could apply some antiseptic. Shiver took the bottle and applied it to a cotton pad, carefully swiping it over a wound on Frye’s arm.

It was then that Shiver realized they really hadn’t looked at her before. They’d been so focused on getting Frye away from their money before, that it was just now that they noticed her eyes. They were unlike any Shiver had ever seen, something like a bright and precious amber. That look of absolute defiance she’d given them earlier filled Shiver with irrational rage, but now, the look in her eyes was far softer, hard to read as she looked off towards the sea.

It was probably for the best Frye wasn’t looking at them. Shiver hoped with everything they had that she wouldn’t catch them staring. It was hard not to when they noticed the way a few stray strands of sun bleached black hair escaped her loosely plaited braid and framed her face so beautifully, despite being completely soaked. 

There was also something admittedly cute about the way a pair of little fangs poked out from between Frye’s lips as she pursed them. 

Another thing Shiver hadn’t noticed before was how Frye’s face was speckled with little purple spots that continued down her neck, chest, and arms. On the sides of her ribs and neck were thin purple gill slits, but she seemed to be able to breathe through her nose as well, that much they could tell by the rise and fall of her chest. Not that they were looking at her chest.  

Anyway, while applying antiseptic to the wounds on Frye’s back, they noticed a thin, diluted blood dripping down the nape of her neck. 

With two fingers Shiver pushed Frye’s braid out of the way to stop the bleeding they’d missed, but just as quickly they pulled their hand back as Frye tensed. They’d overstepped again. 

“I-I’m sorry, is it okay if I…”

Frye hesitated for a moment and nodded. 

Again, Shiver gently set her hair aside to allow them to work. With the cotton pad they delicately dabbed the wound near her gills with antiseptic. Frye still shuddered to the touch.

After that, there were only a few more wounds to go.

“There. I stopped the bleeding and your wounds are clean. You’ll be far better off now.”

It was then that Frye finally met their gaze again, and the sight made their heart flutter. Her eyes shone like the glitter of the sunrise over the sea. 

“Thanks,” she said firmly. “I won’t forget this.”

“If I ever see you again, I’m making you into sashimi," Shiver warned. When Frye didn’t look threatened, and instead cracked a grin at their words, Shiver felt their face flood with warmth. “Take your stupid fish and go.”

Chapter Text

Beneath the flicker of fluorescent lighting, Shiver’s pencil scrawled endless doodles onto notebook paper. They were sitting in their parent's cold, empty office, waiting for one of them to appear. 

The chair Shiver sat in was insanely uncomfortable, its cushion rock hard and practically yelling at Shiver to stand instead. The buzz of the lights overhead was driving them insane, and they wanted desperately to change out of the sweaty clothes they’d gotten all wet helping Frye earlier. Despite it all, they fell into a rhythm drawing. They were a bit out of practice- they hadn’t seriously drawn since they got out of highschool. Yet there was something so satisfying about making something just for the simple joy of making it. 

Shiver drew stars that seemed to glow, fish with detailed scales that seemed to almost leap off the page. In these few moments of comfort they found on land, Shiver went into a sort of flow state where the pencil seemed to almost move on its own. 

Almost subconsciously Shiver began to draw a toned humanoid form with a long eel’s tail. Her body was mottled with spots and her ears were long and pointed. Her eyes were framed by the most gorgeous lashes. A smile dared to creep onto Shiver’s face as they added two cute little fangs to her face, right as the door creaked open.

It was their mother.

“What is that?”

Shiver flipped their notebook to a random page and leaned over the table, obscuring its contents.

“Nothing. Tallying expenses and income.”

The tall, long haired woman narrowed her eyes. She lived and breathed the intricacies of the business world. It clearly irritated her when Shiver didn’t do the same.

“A head full of dreams won’t help you survive in this world,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “It’s long been time for you to grow up, Shiver.” Shiver maintained an even gaze. They had to look unaffected, even if that made something inside them ache. That tiny part of them Shiver kept convincing themselves was long gone just wouldn’t die. Sometimes they wished it would, if only so they wouldn’t feel ashamed anymore. “The wharf just gave us the weight and worth of your catch. That’s really all you managed to find?”

“I’m one person.”

“Still, even for you this is pitiful,” she scoffed. “I guess it will do. But don’t think you’re off the hook. You need to make up for your little ‘vacation’ by pulling your weight and then some.”

That meant running around being a little wage slave for their parents. Even more than they usually were. Shiver was good at keeping records, counting money, keeping things running smoothly with the fleet, and so that was all they did in those next few days. They slotted naturally into this role. They’d been born for it after all.

If that was the case, though, why did something inside them feel hollow and restless, even more so than before their solo trip?

There was suddenly an odd want in Shiver, a strong desire for something they couldn’t quite place. 

When Shiver finally found the time for a day off, a few days later, Shiver went right to the little restaurant near the wharf. Big Manta’s- the culmination of their best friend’s hard work, hopes, and dreams. Big Man’s restaurant was lit beautifully in the nights and in the day it was always lively, filled with music, laughter, and cheerful conversation. His family was always there too, keeping him company, entertaining guests, praising their beloved heir’s work. 

When Big Man saw Shiver lingering outside, he ran out and hugged them like family. He was still wearing his red shirt and apron, covered in splotches of flour and sauce. 

“Shiver, you’re back!”

“It’s good to see you, Big Man,” Shiver purred, contentment bubbling up in their chest. “I’m so sorry I haven’t gotten a chance to see you sooner.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” he sighed. Shiver raised a brow, puzzled, and he clarified in a low voice, “While you were gone, a couple of people started disappearing at sea. Some people are saying it’s sirens.”

Shiver scoffed.

“Are you kidding? People will say anything in this town. Nothing ever happens, and that’s why people make things up.”

“Yeah, I guess it is kinda far-fetched,” Big Man said with a shrug. “So, Shiv, did you catch any beauties this time around? Anything I can cook up?”

Shiver shook their head.

“I don’t keep the fish I catch with the trawler, remember?”

Big Man frowned, deep in thought.

“Hmm…well, if you catch something with your rod, I’ll cook it up for you anyway you want.”

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” Shiver said, their smile only growing. A home cooked meal from Big Man was better than anything in the world. It was like eating the physical manifestation of comfort and love.

“Big Man!,” a worker called from inside the restaurant. “A customer wants to talk to you!”

Big Man’s eyes flicked from Shiver to the restaurant, then back to Shiver. He looked a little sad to have to part from them so soon, and Shiver touched a hand to his shoulder reassuringly. 

“I’ll catch you later, Big Guy. Keep the side door open for me.”

—-

Shiver took their rod with them to a small cove on the town’s outskirts. An abandoned pier there was the perfect spot to fish. It was almost hauntingly empty in comparison to the lively place they’d known it as as a child, but still, the sound of the waves crashing on the pebbly shore, the smell of the saltwater in the breeze, the company of the sea birds perching on the old mossy posts, it was all so soothing. 

Shiver hummed to themselves as they waited for a catch. They’d brought the good stuff with them today. Live bait.

It wouldn’t be long before they caught something nice, Shiver was sure of it. 

As they waited, Shiver remembered something they’d read ages ago while filing documents for their parents. It was against the law to knowingly fish commercially where there was an established population of mermaids. They’d always been told by their family that that law was ridiculous, because they didn’t exist anyway. But now…

Was there a population of mermaids near the town, or was Frye an isolated case? 

How would their parents react if they knew what Shiver saw? Knowing them, they wouldn’t accept it without a fight. Was it better to stay silent and let things continue as they were? Was it fair to Frye and her potential family to let the company keep disturbing her home?

A headache took hold over Shiver when finally, their line began to move. Something tugged on the hook, and Shiver carefully started reeling it in, only for it to go slack. 

The bait was gone without a trace. 

Bewildered, Shiver decided to bait their hook again. 

It could have just been a fluke. They were sure to secure the bait extra well this time. 

It only took a minute for the line to pull fiercely against them and start going around in strange circles, then nothing. Again, not a trace left of bait.

“What gives?”, Shiver muttered furiously.

Just then, it sounded like something was breaching the water. 

“Hey, Shiver!”

It was Frye again, her lower half in the water and her arms resting up on the pier. A toothy smile lit her face and Shiver hated the way it caught their eye. Everything suddenly made sense. 

“What the hell are you doing here messing with me?,” Shiver demanded, fishing rod in hand. “And why do you know my name?”

“Your mom said it over the radio,” Frye said, her tail waving idly beneath the surface. “Or I think it was your mom. You looked scared of her.” 

Shiver’s eyes widened. She remembered that?

“How did you even find me? Unless you followed me all the way back here.”

Stalker.

“I heard you singing,” she said. “You’ve got a pretty voice for a human.” Shiver tightened their grip on their fishing rod, flustered. They weren’t sure whether to thank her or be even more suspicious. “Anyways, thanks for the snacks! You’re such a sweetheart.”

Shiver felt an enraged blood vessel threatening to pop in their forehead. They had to hold themselves back from snapping their rod in two. 

“That was my bait, idiot!”

Frye rested her cheek in her hand and grinned. 

“Aw, was it? That’s crazy.”

“You’re evil,” said Shiver. “Or you were dropped on a rock as a baby.”

“That only ever happened once!”

“That checks out,” Shiver grumbled, crouching down closer to Frye’s level. 

As they set their rod aside, Shiver thought back to what Big Man told them earlier. The rumors around the sirens. According to what they knew from the stories their grandfather told them when they were younger, sirens and mermaids were closely related. There was an intense aggression and power combined with a tendency for manipulation that separated the sirens from the mermaids, supposedly among other things. It was the sirens that were supposedly behind people going missing, if that was to be believed. 

If anybody knew anything about that, it would be Frye, Shiver figured. They could ask her. But if she were actually a siren would she tell the truth? 

Would she tell the truth even if she wasn’t?

Frye watched Shiver expectantly, as if waiting for them to say what was on their mind.

“Um, Frye, can I ask you something?”, Shiver asked at last. Their question was met with a quick nod and a curious twitch of her ears. “What are you exactly? Are you a mermaid or a siren?”

…

With a smile, Frye studied Shiver’s face like she was trying to figure something out. It almost looked like she found what they said funny. 

Every second the silence drew on, Shiver grew less and less sure of what Frye’s answer would be. 

“I’m obviously a mermaid. Duh.” 

Shiver furrowed a brow. 

“Well, what’s the difference?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”, she teased. When it was clear Shiver was unsatisfied with her answer, Frye closed her eyes and added, “If you knew more mermaids, it’d be more obvious. But it’s even less apparent than humans think it is.”

“I see,” Shiver sighed. All they learned was that they knew even less about mermaids than they thought they did. “Well, you seem really dead set on annoying me and keeping me from catching any fish today. Is there any reason for that or are you tormenting me because you’re pure evil?”

“I’m hungry.”

It sounded like there was more to that sentence before she cut herself off. Shiver decided not to pry.

“I have a friend who could make enough food for the both of us if you help me catch a good size fish,” they offered. Shiver didn’t expect Frye to immediately light up at their offer, her eyes filled with stars. 

“Human food?”, she gasped. “You’d give me some?”

“I mean sure. I could even offer you some right now, if you’d help me.” Beside them on the pier, Shiver had their cooler and a backpack containing their basic supplies, including a few snacks. They didn’t mind giving up a few if it meant they’d have something to give Big Man later. That, and Frye looked so excited…it’d be cruel to leave her hanging. 

“Gimme two minutes!”

With a loud splash Frye disappeared beneath the waves, leaving Shiver to watch and wait as her shadow slowly faded into the depths. Someone like this couldn’t be a siren, Shiver assured themselves. They’d already known it since they met her, why did they feel the need to ask her directly?

A slight unease grew in Shiver’s chest as they waited.

The ocean had always been a source of comfort for them. They knew it like the palm of their hand. But now…

Again, Shiver heard the sound of something breaching the surface. It was Frye again, this time with a wriggling red sea bream in her hands. The way she proudly held the fish out to Shiver was nothing short of adorable. Shiver took it and stashed it in their cooler, and as promised, they grabbed a purple bag of spicy chips from their backpack. 

They ripped the bag open with a loud pop and took one of the bright red chips between their fingers, showing it off to Frye. 

“Here, have you ever tried these? They’re hot chips.”

Frye shook her head.

“Nope, but my parents told me about ‘em. Humans like to eat stuff that hurts ‘cuz it’s exciting, right?”

Her parents…

So she did have a family. 

Shiver felt stupid for even being surprised. Disgust set in at the part of them that had hoped Frye was alone, if only it would keep them from having to confront their parents. From having to change the way they lived. Things were starting to make sense to Shiver, and it created an awful sinking feeling in their chest. Of course mermaids were real if there was an entire law protecting them. Why did they just take what their parents said at face value? 

The sound of sharp, gasping breaths took Shiver from their thoughts. The initial panic at seeing Frye with wide, teary eyes quickly ebbed when they saw her eat another chip and start coughing. Snot was dripping from her nose and her cheeks flushed a soft reddish hue. She couldn’t handle her spice. 

Shiver snickered, only to immediately get splashed over and over like Frye was some kind of vengeful spirit. 

“W-hey, stop it! You’re getting my clothes wet!”

“It’s dumb for you to wear something you don’t wanna get wet,” Frye panted, rubbing the snot out of her nose, “If you’re coming to the freaking ocean.” 

Shiver couldn’t argue with that, unfortunately. 

“Maybe next time show up wearing something you don’t mind getting wet,” Frye said. She took deep breaths, slowly regaining her composure. The bag of chips was mostly empty, though, so as far as Shiver could tell she didn’t hate them. “Then maybe you can come in the water with me.”

Shiver couldn’t tell if Frye was being serious about inviting them to swim with her. Was she playing with them? They’d heard sirens enjoyed playing with their food. As for mermaids, they didn’t know. They didn’t know anything about Frye or what she really wanted.

“I’ll think about it,” they said quietly. Shiver rose to their feet with the cooler in their hands. “Alright. I promised you I’d have my friend make you something. Wait here for about an hour and I’ll bring you your reward.” 

Chapter Text

Shiver leaned with their arms folded against the pantry in Big Man’s restaurant, waiting patiently for him to finish preparing the sea bream. This place always felt cozy, even if it was filled with far more clutter and boxes than usual in preparation for the upcoming festival. 

Big Man got so excited when Shiver brought him a fresh ingredient to work with. Of course, living so close to the sea, he got this sort of fresh ingredient every day, but it was rare that Shiver could spare the time to bring him something. It was like receiving a present, and Big Man was chatting up a storm with excitement. 

When he got focused in the kitchen, though, Big Man wasn’t very talkative. That left Shiver to think.

Where did Frye come from? What about her family? Was it strange for Shiver to ask other people about it? Would people figure it out that Shiver met a mermaid if they started acting out of the ordinary, searching for answers?

Wisdom told Shiver to stay quiet, but curiosity got the best of them.

“Hey, Big Man, did your family ever tell you any stories about mermaids growing up?”

“Hm? Yeah, sometimes.” Big Man paused and turned to face Shiver for a moment, puzzled. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” they said coolly. “I think it would be fun to hear about.”

Great save.

“Okay, well, my dad would tell me that humans and mermaids actually used to be one and the same,” he began, sprinkling salt and herbs over the fish.

“Really?”

“Yeah. He told me that there used to be a lot more magic in this world, concentrated in specific creatures.” That part Shiver knew from their grandfather’s stories. He always said mermaids and sirens were a relic from a time where magic was something this world brimmed with. The part about humans and mermaids being the same though, that was new. “The mermaids had their own kind of magic that allowed them to be strong both on land and in the sea, and they could switch between having legs and having tails whenever they wanted.” 

Big Man pressed the fish down in the pan with his spatula. The sizzle alone made Shiver’s mouth water.

“One day, some mermaids decided they wanted to hunt down this giant jellyfish because it held these really shiny magic crystals in its arms. They wanted to get rich off those things, and for some reason that ended up in the mermaids who wanted to use nature for their own greed turning into humans. We became helpless in the water, and the mermaids became helpless on land.” 

“So we’re like a family that got separated?”

Big Man nodded.

“Something like that. The world’s magic was then fragmented into super itty bitty little pieces, so that nobody would mess with it again.”

Shiver gave a pensive hum.

Not so long ago, they would have thought all of this completely ridiculous. They probably wouldn’t have even entered this kind of conversation. But Shiver was beyond that now, grasping at straws for any explanation of what was really going on in their world. 

“Interesting. Thank you, Big Man.”

Big Man did a little dance as he finished and plated the sea bream. The kind he knew made Shiver crack a smile. 

He looked a little confused when Shiver asked for a to-go box, since they usually stayed to sit and eat with him whenever he made them something. They insisted their parents were calling them though, and Shiver quickly headed off.

Shiver took their bike on the fastest route down to the cove in hopes they hadn’t made Frye wait for too long, and when they found her, they spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing with her as they shared their meal. Shiver told her how they might perform with their sanshin at the festival next season and she got incredibly excited, asking if there would be fireworks. Apparently, fireworks and cooked food were some of her favorite human things. 

Shiver assured her there’d be plenty of fireworks she could watch from the water as they realized there was more than just fish packed in the to-go box- Big Man had slipped a small fruit tart wrapped in parchment paper inside as an extra treat. Shiver offered it to Frye, and she was so enamored with the smell she ate it straight out of Shiver’s hand. 

They nearly lost a finger, but they couldn’t stay mad for long. Frye looked so happy.

–

⋆°•☁︎⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆°•☁︎⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆°•☁︎⋆⭒˚

The next morning, Shiver woke groggily to the smell of miso soup. Shiver figured it out before even stepping foot in their kitchen that their mother was cooking, something she rarely took the time to do. When their mother cooked, she always sounded like she was stirring aggressively, like she was frustrated the soup wouldn’t bend to her will.

Shiver fought a snicker as they watched her fight for her life against a liquid, and when she served them their bowl they took their seat beside their father at their wooden dining table. Shiver took the first sip from their spoon and pondered deeply on the flavor. Somehow their mother managed to make the soup taste incredibly bitter, but Shiver steeled themself and thanked her for it regardless. 

“She’s apologizing for being rough with you the other day,” their father said quietly. 

That made sense. She wasn’t usually one to apologize directly. Neither of their parents were.

Shiver’s mother came up behind them and set something down on the table.

“I bought you this, since lately it seems you live on the water. I want you to protect yourself from the sun.” It was a tube of mineral sunscreen. Shiver met their mother’s gaze for the first time this morning, and for a moment, they could see the part of her that was their mother rather than their superior. 

A little smile tugged at Shiver’s lips.

“I wouldn’t have to protect myself so much if you didn’t reproduce with a man somehow just as pale as you are.”

Their mother chuckled.

“That’s just how things work,” she said coolly. “Someday, you’ll meet the man for you and have his kids. You don’t get to choose what he looks like.” 

Something about that made Shiver’s stomach twist. Shiver’s father just laughed along with her as Shiver remained silent. They took a spoonful of tofu and green onions. The green onions helped with the soup’s bitterness somewhat. 

“By the way,” their mother continued, “Did you see anything strange while you were out on your little trip?”

Shiver’s breath hitched before they could catch it.

“No- why would I have seen anything strange?”

“No reason. But you would tell us if you did, wouldn’t you, darling?” Their mother only called them by those pet names when she wanted something from them. In that moment, she had a knowing gleam in her eyes that made Shiver shudder. “Shiver. If you’re going to inherit our company, you need to be fully transparent.”

“I will be- I mean, I am.”

Shiver tensed at the feeling of their father’s hand on their shoulder.

 “Don’t forget you’re on night shift tonight,” he reminded them. “Stay focused.”

Shiver could already estimate in their head how much money they’d be looking at tonight. How they’d somehow get blamed for the lack of growth and worse, the slowly declining profits. Shiver couldn’t control the fish in the ocean. Neither could their parents, but they seemed convinced there had to be a way to sustain their growth infinitely. 

That was the problem Shiver was slated to fix, and yet there was no solution. Thinking about it for too long gave them a headache.

Shiver hopped on their bike to clear their head, and almost without realizing they went all the way down to the empty cove, conveniently with their swimsuit on beneath their clothes, and a towel and sunscreen in their bag. All that was missing was Frye, they supposed. 

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Frye combed the sand beneath the waves searching for shiny things. Pocket watches, spoons, soda tabs, earrings. They were all fun to look at and collect and trade back home. 

She definitely wasn’t lingering around the human town hoping Shiver would come to the beach and talk to her. Definitely not. And she certainly wasn’t zoning out, letting her mind wander to how Shiver was so gentle with her, cleaning her wounds with those beautiful slender hands the first time they met. 

Frye shook those stupid thoughts out of her head and kept searching. As she skimmed her hands through the top layer of sand, though, she paused again. Distantly, she heard a soft voice singing, as ethereal as the glimmer of the stars. It was unmistakably Shiver’s. 

Were they singing hoping she’d hear and come to them?

Despite being the one who darted to the pier at the sound of Shiver’s voice, Frye was overcome with the urge to tease them and watch as they denied calling her over with everything they had. 

All of that died on Frye’s tongue as she surfaced. 

“Shiver, you’re red!,” Frye gasped. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” said Shiver, embarrassment clear as day on their face. “It’s called a sunburn. I just didn’t put on enough sunscreen yesterday.” 

Upon further inspection, the angler was more pink than red, which Frye assumed was good. Maybe it was pink for a little too much sun, then red if a human really got toasted. 

Shiver squirmed under Frye’s curious gaze as the silence drew on.

“You wanted me to come swim with you, right?”

“Yeah! Come on in.”

Frye patted the water next to her with a little splash. 

Shiver smiled and Frye felt something flutter in her chest, her eyes glued to Shiver’s hands as they pulled their shirt up over their shoulders, tossing it aside to reveal the bare planes of their stomach, patterned with gorgeously intricate tattoos that curled up their side, depicting the deep sea and its creatures. 

Frye didn’t notice until it was far too late that Shiver’s cheeks had flushed a deeper red than the rest of them.

They definitely caught her staring.

With a little surge of panic, Frye realized her only option was to tease them before they could tease her.

Frye quickly asked if they were getting more sunburnt, and Shiver only reddened further, shooting her a glare in response. 

Shiver kept the bright blue shorts on, as well as the piece of black fabric that covered their chest. They dug through their bag and fished out the last piece of their ensemble- a pair of swim goggles.

The moment Shiver slid them on their face, Frye couldn’t help herself. 

“Those make you look so dumb,” she laughed.

“Excuse me for wanting to be able to see where this stranger is taking me.”

“I’m not a stranger,” Frye huffed.

“I barely know anything about you.”

Frye couldn’t argue with that. Shiver deserved to know more about her if they were going to willingly enter territory where they were at a disadvantage. And yet, she had to be careful with what she revealed. She couldn’t afford to get too close to them.

“I could say the same thing about you,” Frye shot back. It came out a little more defensive than she’d intended.

Shiver frowned.

“Fine. I used to pretend I was a mermaid when I was little. Probably way more than I should have. I almost drowned myself trying to activate my ‘water breathing powers’ and I wasn’t allowed in the water for a few months after.” Shiver folded their arms around themselves, their gaze burning holes into the pier. “I know it’s sort of stupid, but I was a kid.”

“It’s not stupid, it’s kinda cute,” Frye said with the hint of a laugh in her voice. There was a smile in Shiver’s eyes as they met Frye’s gaze. As they watched her though, there was something expectant about the silence. They clearly wanted her to reveal something about herself in return. 

Frye sighed. She had to give them something, even if it was embarrassing. It was only fair. 

“When I was a little kid, I was scared of strong currents. I got washed up on shore not too far from here ‘cuz of one. People were just standing around all scared of me instead of helping, even though I was all alone and scared outta my mind.” Frye’s expression grew distant as she remembered that day, the sand in her gills, the tears in her eyes as people looked at her like some kind of freak. She’d never felt more helpless than that moment. A deep concern suddenly weighed on Shiver’s features, and Frye was quick to try and dispel it with a wave of her hands. “I don’t care about any of that anymore, though, it’s fine!” 

Shiver parted their lips like they wanted to say something, anything to make Frye feel better, but nothing felt quite good enough. 

“Come on, get in already,” Frye insisted, slapping the water again. “I wanna show you somethin’.”

This time, Shiver obliged. They lowered their body carefully off the pier and into the chest deep water, which made them bristle with the cold.  

The sea was calm, stirred only by the breeze. The sun was high in the sky and Frye watched curiously as Shiver came closer to her, the water so clear she could see as each of their steps created little clouds of sand. Frye subtly moved backwards as they kept trying to reach her, playfully baiting Shiver into water too deep for them to walk in. She wanted to see them swim, and it wasn’t long before they did just that.

Shiver swam like a frog who’d just left Chernobyl, and then they moved clumsily through the water like a bird with clipped wings. 

Frye ducked her head underwater to try and hide the way she was laughing to herself, only to be met with Shiver right in front of her, looking at her sternly through their goggles. Frye tried to muster a straight face, but she couldn’t. Not when the well kept blue hair that always covered Shiver’s eye floated up above them like a wild, wispy mane. 

Even if Frye could feel the way they wanted to scold her, there was something about Shiver being with her in the water that felt so…nice. This was the closest they’d been since they first met, and this time it was Shiver who was the fish out of water. The human out of air. Well, you get it. 

Frye pointed towards the surface to tell Shiver to come up. There was something she wanted to tell them, and for that they needed air.

Shiver’s hair was an adorable, soaked mess as they bobbed in the water in front of Frye. Something inside her wanted to reach out and fix it for them, but instead she watched as they tied it up again, tighter this time to keep it from blinding them in the water.

“Humans really do suck at swimming,” Frye teased. “Those clothes really get in the way of your speed. You’d be more aerodynamic if you swam naked.”

“You’re a pervert.”

Frye burst into giggles only to be splashed across the face. Shiver was laughing too, and the two didn’t stop before they were both a little out of breath.

One thing was pretty clear now to Frye. They were never going to get anywhere if she just let Shiver swim. 

“Here, I’ll take you along,” said Frye, holding out her hand. Shiver eyed it warily. It was obvious they thought she was going to drag them into the depths. If they hadn’t helped her before, if they weren’t this cute, she might have. “Look, if it helps you feel better, you can just hold onto my shoulders. That way you can let go whenever.”

Frye turned her back towards Shiver in invitation, convinced they’d be more comfortable with this. In the corner of her eye though, they still looked unsure.

“Promise you won’t go too deep. I freedive sometimes, but…you know…”

They couldn’t hold their breath forever. 

Frye knew that, but she needed to reassure Shiver somehow. As Frye racked her brain, she remembered something she saw the little humans doing on the docks once, and gave Shiver her pinky.

“This is how humans promise, right?” Shiver hesitated for a moment before nodding and entwining their finger with hers. “See, I promise.” 

Frye thought it was a done deal, then Shiver started singing in a language she didn’t understand, gently bouncing their fingers along. They gave a wry smirk as they finished, like something was funny.

“That means you’ll swallow a thousand needles and cut your finger off if you break your promise. That song seals the deal.”

“Okay, noted,” Frye chuckled, pleasantly surprised Shiver could be so dark. “Now hop on.” 

Frye was used to giving her little siblings piggyback rides all the time back home. She wasn’t ready for how her heart would race at the feeling of Shiver holding her shoulders, pressing up against her back, her hips braced between their knees. They felt so warm against her, and Frye tried her best not to show outwardly how nice it felt.

“Tap me if you need to surface for air,” she said, clearing her throat awkwardly. 

Before Shiver could respond, she submerged just enough for them to have about two feet of water above their head. The human seemed fine breathwise, so they could finally set off towards Frye’s secret hideout. One of her secret hideouts, at least.

After a little while of swimming, the pair found dozens of schools of small fish weaving beneath them. They were colorful, some silver and red, some yellow, some with stripes. They weren’t big enough for Frye to waste her breath trying to hunt them, but they were definitely cute enough for her to pause and look. She was sure Shiver liked the sight of them just as much as she did, by the way they leaned forward to get a better view.

Without warning, Frye tensed. She smelled something familiar, but out of place. Just before Frye could pinpoint what it was, it vanished.

She decided not to pay it too much mind.

Shiver asked her what was wrong when they surfaced for air together, and she insisted it was nothing. There was no reason for her to worry them any more than they probably already were.

When they submerged again, Frye shot forward as fast as she could go, testing how well Shiver could hold on. She liked doing this out of the blue to scare her little siblings, and Frye was thrilled to see that it worked on Shiver too. She was feeling so pleased with herself when Shiver’s hands tightened on her shoulders and they buried their face into the crook of her neck for safety. 

That was when Frye felt like she might short circuit. 

A decency she didn’t have suddenly told her she shouldn’t be doing this, much less enjoying it. Wanting it to continue. This was a Hohojiro.

And yet…

Frye came to an abrupt stop. She hadn’t even noticed she was about to swim right into a bloom of moon jellyfish drifting in the current. They floated idly before Frye like a cloud of waxy, see through flower petals, each with its own faint glow. 

Although Shiver had relaxed their grip on Frye’s shoulders, their eyes were still squeezed shut. They were missing the main event. 

Frye poked their cheek and Shiver’s eyes slowly opened, filled with wonder as they drank in the sight in front of them. 

They were so close to the jellies that Shiver could reach out and touch them, and Frye was a little surprised when they actually did. Shiver knew to touch the bell rather than the stinging tentacles, but even so, a strong wave came and whisked a jelly towards the angler’s hand, where the sting of its tentacles made them flinch.

Frye quickly took them to the surface.

“You okay?”, she asked, looking at the little red welts on their wrist. “We can turn back if you want.”

“Pfft, it was just moon jellies,” Shiver scoffed. “I may be human, but I’m tougher than a tiny sting.”

Frye nodded. She could respect that. 

They were getting close to what Frye wanted to show Shiver. As they went underwater again, she could make out the outline of the pile of dilapidated shipping containers she stashed some of her treasures in. 

Frye’s ears twitched at the sound of gentle drumming up above. 

It had started to drizzle. The droplets tapped on the water’s surface and created thousands of little ripples above. This was something Frye saw all the time, so she never paid it much mind. It hadn’t occurred to her that Shiver was unfamiliar with what rain looked like from down here. When she glanced over at Shiver, they looked absolutely awestruck, pretty rust colored eyes fixed on the patterned waves overhead. 

A sweet warmth surged in Frye’s chest. Despite the scorn she held for Shiver’s family deep in her heart, she wanted to preserve this in her memory forever.

Frye watched Shiver out of the corner of her eye as long as she could without them noticing, and when she looked down, there was her precious pile of shipping containers, covered in corals and algae and hiding dozens of treasures. Frye tapped Shiver’s shoulder and pointed downward. 

That was when Frye noticed, in the sand a little distance from her stash was something she’d never seen before.

Something shiny.  

Something new.

Frye took Shiver up above the waves quickly, her tail curling with excitement.

“Did you see that down there?”

“Yes, it looks valuable,” Shiver said, their eyes shining with a certain mischief. Frye figured they’d say something like that. “You want to go grab it, don’t you?”, Shiver asked knowingly. The two exchanged a grin. They’d only known each other a few days and they were already on the same page. “Go ahead. I’ll wait on you up here.”

When Frye made it down to the treasure in the sand, it was more clear that this shiny thing was some kind of goblet, formed from gold and encrusted with gems. Delighted with her find, Frye tried to ignore how its placement was almost too deliberate. It was wedged deep into the sand so it wouldn’t move and she would easily find it.

Frye glanced back up at Shiver, who kicked idly to keep themselves afloat. This was a bit too deep for them, but it was fine. She’d be back up before they had to get air a second time.

Frye pulled the goblet out with all her might, and the excitement that flooded her at the prospect of bringing it to Shiver quickly faded, wariness taking its place. 

Someone was getting close, someone familiar. It was the scent from before. She could smell their species, their age, their aggression. Seafolk, just like her. That was when Frye caught him lurking in one of the topmost shipping containers- a scrawny teen with shoulder length scruffy hair and a dark purple eel’s tail dotted with tiny white spots like the stars in the sky. Her idiot brother, Goa.

What was he doing?

Goa crept up behind Shiver while they surfaced for air like he was sure Frye wouldn’t notice him. 

Frye darted upwards and cut her brother off before he could reach them, grabbing him by the wrist. She’d dropped the goblet, but it didn’t matter.

It was risky for Shiver to see him.

Any words they tried to say down here would get swallowed by bubbles. That didn’t stop Goa from yelling something at her, muffled and incomprehensible but undoubtedly vulgar. Frye gestured with her hands that he needed to leave, and that she’d speak to him later, but he paid her no attention. His focus remained entirely on Shiver.

Shiver poked their head back underwater to check on Frye and Goa lunged towards them like a coiled spring, held back only by Frye’s grip. Immediately Shiver’s eyes went wide with fear. It was obvious that they wanted to swim away, but all they could do was kick in place to keep themselves afloat. They couldn’t defend themselves against Goa, not like this. Shiver was helpless here, and it was Frye’s fault. 

Guilt grew like creeping vines through Frye’s body. She wanted to believe Goa’s threat display was all a bluff until he drew close enough to twist her arm, and bit roughly into her shoulder. A pained groan escaped Frye and quickly she shoved him away. It wasn’t enough to pierce her thick skin, but enough to show he wasn’t playing. He wanted her to back off so he could get at Shiver. 

This brat..

Frye shoved him, seething with frustration. Never once did she stop circling him, mirroring his sharp, jolting movements. To do so would be allowing him to move forward.

Goa bared his teeth and thrashed wildly around Frye in a frustrated effort to get past her. His strategy was starting to work. Even as she managed to seize both his arms, stuck grappling endlessly with him, they were getting dangerously close to the surface, to Shiver. 

When they first met, Frye was sure she was going to win Shiver over and wrap them around her little finger. She’d get something out of them somehow, though she wasn’t sure what, and when she saw fit she’d throw them away. The same way their family treated her home.

But she’d sabotaged herself. She allowed herself to get close to Shiver, and now, everything was suddenly so confusing and so wrong. 

Frye knew everything Goa had against Shiver, the betrayal he had to feel seeing Frye with one of them, but none of it mattered. 

Adrenaline was roaring in Frye’s ears. She had to do something. Goa’s tail had skin thick enough to take one of her bites. It was the only way to get him to listen. 

In that moment, Goa wrenched himself free, and in all the chaos, Frye’s teeth sank down on something far too small to be her brother’s tail.

Unable to keep themselves afloat any longer, Shiver sank beneath the waves. The scream they let out nearly drained the air from their lungs, and Frye felt panic strike like dry lightning in her chest as she frantically swam down to grab them. Shiver’s leg was dotted with dozens of tiny puncture wounds that gushed blood, dying the water around Shiver a bright red. 

The smell of iron flooded Frye’s senses, making her head spin as she took Shiver in her arms. Just as Frye was driven wild by the scent of blood, any creature drawn by it could hurt Shiver.  

She needed to get them back to shore as quickly as possible. 

Frye was careful to keep Shiver’s head above water the entire time so they could breathe as much as they needed to, so they could tell her anything at all. 

Shiver was silent. All they did was cough for a little while, then nothing. Frye couldn’t understand why part of her desperately wanted Shiver to say something, anything, curse her out, scream, cry, anything. If they hated her, she wanted to know, and at the time, she was terrified of finding out. 

Frye swam back to the pier where she found Shiver, her body cutting through the water like a missile. She didn’t see what happened to Goa or where he went, but right now, it was the furthest thing from her mind.

It took most of Frye’s strength to boost Shiver up onto the pier from the water, and whatever was left over to pull herself up and flop down onto the pier right beside them. Both of them gasped for breath as Shiver dug into their bag and took out their antiseptic and a roll of bandages. 

Frye wasn’t sure what was worse. That she’d gotten so worked up trying to defend a human she almost tore into her own brother, or that she had ended up hurting Shiver. 

As Frye watched Shiver wrap their wound tightly to stop the bleeding running down their ankle and onto the pier, the guilt from earlier crashed over Frye again with twice the strength.

“Your leg,” Frye murmured. “Shiver, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know you didn’t,” they said quietly. Something about the way they almost told it to themselves broke her heart. They hadn’t looked up from their wound even once after wrapping it up. “I’ll be okay. Who was that- that siren? ”

Something about the way the last word was sharp on Shiver’s tongue like a curse stung deep in Frye’s core.

“I-” Frye stopped herself. “I don’t know. Some kid.” Frye’s ears fell as she slumped into herself. “Don’t worry too much about it. I promise I’ll be more careful next time.” Frye’s eyes went wide. Next time?  

She’d caught herself being stupidly hopeful and it was crushingly embarrassing. “If there is a next time, if you would want to,” Frye stammered, scrambling to recover from what she’d said.

It was then that Shiver finally met her gaze again.

“Sure. I think I’ll take that chance. I had a lot of fun, even if you almost bit my leg off.” 

Frye stiffened. Shiver was being surprisingly laid back. Were they telling the truth? Were they planning something now that she’d wronged them? 

Frye yelped at the sudden shower of water droplets from Shiver shaking out their hair like a dog. “Don’t look so tense,” they said, offering her a little smile.

Frye couldn’t explain why, but she wanted to melt with relief.

Chapter Text

After that day, Shiver managed to easily hide the wound on their leg beneath long pants. All except for a moment the night after the incident where they stepped out of the shower and realized they’d forgotten to bring their clothes along with them. Their parents had guests over and there was little chance they’d make it down the hall to their room without being seen from the living room. They were left with no choice but to suck up the embarrassment and call their mother.

Shiver stood there helpless, wrapped in their pale blue towel as they tried in vain to find any way to keep their mother from seeing the wound on their leg. Their shower was glass. There was nowhere to hide. All they could do was wait.

As they did, Shiver could hear their father getting loud with the guests, as he tended to do when he was drunk. 

“I don’t know, I can’t understand it! Shiver’s one person when she’s in front of Kazuko and I, and someone completely different in private. It’s like I don’t even know her. She’s like a stirred sea after it rains and you can’t see the bottom.”

Shiver closed their eyes and took a breath to clear their mind. Forget what they’d heard, and tune out anything else. There was no sense in paying their father any mind. 

The bathroom door opened with a drawn out creak and Shiver tried all they could to still the anxiety threatening to make them fidget and squirm.

Shiver’s mother, dressed in a fine evening dress, glanced once at the puncture wounds on Shiver’s leg and calmly asked, “Fish bite?”

Shiver nodded.

They felt their blood run cold at the familiar, knowing look in her eye as she asked if they needed anything for it, and when Shiver shook their head and thanked her, she left without another word.

-

A few days later, Shiver biked to the quiet pier with a bag of cotton candy in hand. Big Man’s little sister had been kind enough to give it to them as a present when they visited the restaurant this morning. Shiver figured Frye might like it, and that she’d be hanging around the pier around this time anyway. 

Shiver, without consciously realizing, had started to learn Frye’s routine, what times she tended to appear around the little cove. They’d continued coming to see Frye and spend time with her, but never once did they step foot in the water. They didn’t bring it up and neither did Frye. 

The both of them had silently made their best efforts to bury what had happened and continue like nothing was wrong. 

Today was just going to be focused on hanging out with Frye and showing her some of their favorite songs. They brought their mini speaker clipped to their bag and all their best playlists. 

Out of all the handcrafted selections of music Shiver had curated for Frye to listen to, she seemed to enjoy the Squid Sisters the most. The crappy playlist they’d put together in middle school and forgotten about ages ago. Shiver wanted to act like they were above their middle school self’s music taste, but they still knew all the lyrics, all the dances and flourishes they did with their hands as they sat cross legged on the pier. 

Frye bobbed her head along and danced expressively with her shoulders as she used her arms to support herself on the pier. As always, she was unashamed about having fun, and it was infectious. Shiver only caught themselves grinning hard when their cheeks began to hurt, and that was when Shiver paused, bringing Frye’s attention to the cotton candy they took out of their bag. 

The midday sun hid behind a mass of clouds as Shiver explained that this stuff was edible, and that she should try it. 

Shiver handed her a pink tuft and Frye was so excited as she thanked them, she dipped back into the water for a moment with it. 

Frye’s jaw dropped as she looked down at her hands in the water and saw nothing. Not a trace of her precious candy.

She looked shocked, offended, horrified.

“It’s just sugar-”, Shiver laughed, “You have to be careful not to get it wet or it’ll dissolve.”

“I can see that!” Frye folded her arms, doing an awful job of hiding her pout. It was so amusing to watch a powerful creature like Frye sulk over something like this. “Shoulda told me earlier,” Frye grumbled. “Good for nothing ass human…”

Shiver handed her another tuft of the cloud of cotton candy and watched as Frye tossed it into her mouth, her eyes shining with delight as it melted on her tongue. 

Any anger Frye had left quickly melted away as Shiver kept giving her more spun sugar to nibble at, and likewise Shiver had a bit to eat of their own.

It was a little too sweet for their liking, but sitting here in good company listening to good music made it perfect. Well, almost perfect. 

It was these quiet moments where Shiver allowed themselves to remember what happened when they went out with Frye a few days ago. The rush of panic as they saw the siren beneath them, needle-like teeth bared with the intent to tear them to shreds while all Shiver could do was tread water only to go nowhere. Every move they made serving only to drain their energy further and bring them closer to sinking into the depths. And then there was the moment it actually came- the terror of the water closing over their head, the breath escaping their lungs.

Shiver drew a sharp breath as they remembered how they saw white as Frye’s teeth pierced their skin. It felt like their very essence was draining out through the tiny holes in their leg. It felt like they were going to die out there. 

But only for a moment.

When they felt Frye take them in her arms, frantically swimming towards shore, it was like they knew safety for the first time in their entire life. 

Shiver could see as clear as day that Frye was trying as hard as she could to defend them from that siren. That was why Shiver didn’t hold it against her that she’d bitten them. Not to mention the fact that every time they’d come to see her the past few days, including today before they’d played their music, Frye asked to see their wound and how it was healing. She’d apologized every single time, and then the two didn’t bring it up any further.

Frye’s voice pulled Shiver from their thoughts. 

“What’s on your mind, Shiv?”

Shiver hesitated to reply. 

They knew she wanted to avoid the subject of what happened just as much as they did, but they couldn’t go on this way forever. 

It was like there was a small, invisible rift between them, fueled by fear, and it would only grow if they let it fester.

“Frye…”, they began slowly, “Who was that boy really? I know you know him.”

Frye’s eyes went wide before she bared her pointed teeth.

“Why are you insisting I know him, huh?” In the cutting silence that ensued, Shiver could practically see her thoughts fighting to be heard over each other, raging like a whirlpool. “Are you callin’ me a liar? It’s ‘cuz I’m a mermaid, right? You think you’re above me?” The questions came one after the other like Frye interpreted Shiver’s silence as an attack. Shiver fought the bristling surge of irritation within. They didn’t want to get in a fight with Frye. She was just hearing what she was afraid they were trying to say, and after another moment of silence she shrank back, as if realizing her mistake. “I’m sorry…”

Shiver sighed.

“Frye. You’re my friend,” they assured her, not missing the way it made her pointed ears twitch. “I don’t think any of those things. Be honest with me. I won’t think of you any differently for what you say.”

Frye pushed her brows together and glared down at the pier’s wooden planks, milling their words over for a long time in her head.

“That was my little brother, Goa,” she said at last.

 Shiver figured as much. He shared those golden eyes, rich brown skin, and speckles on his body. 

A wave of relief washed over Shiver. She was willing to share the truth with them, if only a little. 

This also meant Frye might not have been truthful about what she said about not being a siren. Shiver decided they’d worry about that another time. 

“I haven’t spoken to him or anyone in my family since that day,” she continued quietly. Frye glanced up at Shiver for a moment and they felt their heart twist. She looked so hurt. Shiver could only imagine she’d felt this way for the entirety of the past few days and was only letting it show now. “I’m sorry I hid it from you, but I was worried about him, and about what you’d think.”

“It’s okay. I understand. You wanted to look out for him.” Shiver’s eyes softened. “You’re a good sister.” 

Frye smiled weakly and buried her face in her arms.

It almost looked like she wanted to cry. Almost. All Shiver could offer her was a gentle hand on her shoulder, but it didn’t feel like nearly enough. 

They couldn’t help but wonder, was Frye in trouble with her family for spending time with Shiver?

Shiver’s phone buzzed in their pocket. 

It was their parents. They had to report to the docks, and quickly.

——

Shiver’s sandals thudded across the concrete as they ran over to where they figured their parents would be. Their father had made it sound urgent over the phone. The area leading to the docks was slightly sloped, and as Shiver made their way down, they could see the expanse of ship masts sticking up like a metal forest from the waves. Shiver didn’t have to go far before they found what they were looking for. 

A small cluster of reporters and their cameramen hounded Shiver’s parents, both dressed sharply in their business attire. They both stuck out sorely among the fishermen who worked for them, milling about the harbor area in their overalls and waders and feigning disinterest in whatever hot water their bosses found themselves in. 

Shiver decided to awkwardly find their place beside their parents without a word, as their father was busy addressing the reporters.

“We would appreciate it if you stopped wasting our time and got to what you really wanted to ask us,” he said pointedly.

“What do you have to say about the rumors there are mermaids in the waters you and your business partners illegally fish in?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shiver’s mother shot back. She pushed her sunglasses back up over her salt and pepper hair, and Shiver could practically see her preparing for war. “There are no mermaids, at least not in the seas we call ours.”

Nothing about what she said was a surprise to Shiver. It just stung how quickly their parents changed their narrative to suit them, and how Shiver didn’t think anything of it before. In that moment, Shiver thought of Frye, of the way she looked so downcast at what was going on with her and her family, of how guilty she looked every time she saw their wound.

“Then how do you explain all of the aquatic humanoid sightings in this town as of late?”

“Those sirens are another thing entirely,” Shiver’s father spat. “They’re dangerous, and not only is it completely legal to fish where they live, it should be encouraged to go out and hunt them. We need to keep our town safe.”

Their mother nodded in agreement.

“I should say so. Our very own child had an encounter with one recently.” Shiver tried their best to act like they didn’t just feel the blood drain from their face. “We’re lucky she’s alive.”

“And you’re sure it was a siren?”

“Yes,” she said. “She’s got the wound to prove it.” The small crowd burst into gasps and whispers as Shiver’s mother bent slightly and pulled up the leg of Shiver’s baggy pants in one motion, revealing the still healing area of puncture wounds, a splotchy mess of red and purple. “Does that bite look like any creature you’ve ever seen?” 

The crowd’s eyes were all fixed on Shiver’s wound, then on Shiver’s face. Even their father looked shocked. They were all watching, waiting for Shiver to confirm instead of just standing there, letting their parents speak for them like a child. 

In a way imperceptible to the cameras, Shiver caught their mother narrowing her eyes.

As if saying, ‘Go ahead. Contradict me. See what happens.’

They would play along for now, if only to get their parents off their back. Help them save face.

“Yes, it was a siren who bit me,” Shiver said, unaware of the full extent of what their words would bring. 

“What did it look like?”

“How far away from here did you find it?”

Usually Shiver didn’t mind attention and cameras, they loved the stage and they knew how to handle a crowd, but this…this felt different. The microphones being hungrily shoved into their face, the cameras trying to get the best angles to make them look like a pitiful little victim. 

Shiver drew in a slow breath and squared their shoulders.

“Um…I don’t really recall, you see there was just so much happening, it’s all a blur.”

Shiver could feel the disappointment oozing from the crowd of reporters. What Shiver said was useless. They wanted a story. Something they could use, something they could sell. Likewise, Shiver’s parents looked the slightest bit disappointed, like they wanted more. For Shiver to sell it more. These people wouldn’t back off of the company until they had what they wanted. Something to attack rather than Shiver’s parents.

“It was terrifying,” Shiver began hesitantly. They weren’t lying, and they wouldn’t lie. They just had to play into the game for the sake of getting out of it. “When that siren tried to drag me into the depths, I thought I was going to die. I felt helpless, and it scares me to think that this could happen to anyone who steps foot in these waters.”

And just like that, the crowd was feasting on what little Shiver gave them.

In that moment, Shiver felt some relief. Their parents shot them the slightest smiles, each radiating a bit of pride.

Chapter Text

Shiver’s words were quickly twisted into ideas they couldn’t have even imagined. Misinformation quickly spread both online and in person, citing that sirens were deadly invaders with a thirst for blood. That they wouldn’t discriminate in harming anybody, including children. Some claimed that they could even come on land with the end goal of dragging people into the water, never to return. 

All this was to say, anybody out fishing was now officially encouraged to hunt any siren they came across like they were an invasive species, a threat to the entire ecosystem. Shiver knew next to nothing about sirens, but they knew this campaign would bring nothing good. This campaign that they and their family were involuntarily the face of.

The four walls of their room were the only place Shiver saw for the next week or so. They left the room only to wordlessly perform work for their parents, who scolded their absentmindedness but refused to ask their child about it. 

It felt like it was a husk that came into the office and shambled around town and warded off questions from people dying to know about the sirens, while the real Shiver rotted like a corpse in bed. 

The ink prints of fish on their bedroom walls Shiver made with such pride now mocked them, foul reminders that they knew nothing about something that had suddenly become so important to them. Shiver would pay the price for their ignorance, they were sure of it, and so would Frye. 

Nonstop dread and worry consumed Shiver. It made them feel sick. They stopped coming to the pier for a week straight. Frye would stop showing up, they convinced themselves. She could forget all about them if they disappeared. It would be safer that way for her. 

But what if she didn’t stop coming? What if something happened to her because she didn’t know about the hunt?

 Shiver owed it to Frye to warn her, so maybe she could warn her family, her friends. But what would they even say? Would Frye be disgusted with their involvement in this? What had they gotten her and her people into?

“Shiver,” their father called distantly. “Big Man is here to see you. Don’t be rude, come out and see him.”

…

“One second,” Shiver called weakly.

Their limbs felt heavy as they slowly sat up and inched to the edge of their bed to get dressed. Poor Big Man deserved someone better than the weak coward slowly pulling a black tank top over their shoulders. 

As they tied their mess of hair into a low ponytail, Shiver couldn’t help but think about how dryly they’d been responding to Big Man’s texts when all he wanted was to know what was going on with them, and how all they could do was avoid his questions.

There was a polite knock at the door before it slowly creaked open. 

“Hey, Shiv,” Big Man said, his voice careful like he was working with delicate porcelain. 

Shiver’s first instinct was to tell him to go away, that they were fine and didn’t need cheering up. When they saw him, though, something on Shiver’s face must have given them away. He didn’t even have to ask if they wanted a hug. He just seemed to know, and Shiver sighed into Big Man’s embrace as they squeezed him back. When they parted and sat at the foot of the bed together, Shiver felt ever so slightly lighter. “You haven’t been over to the restaurant since the whole thing with the news. Is everything okay?”

Shiver bowed their head.

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Bigs.”

Big Man withered like a spinach leaf. He wasn’t the type to pry when Shiver didn’t want it. But Shiver could tell it pained him that he couldn’t help, and it pained him that they wouldn’t confide in him. In a way, it pained Shiver too. They didn’t want to lie to their best friend. Shiver always told him everything.

Big Man sighed.

“I see. Well, I came to see you because I love and care about you. In case you forgot,” Big Man said, a playful pointedness to his words that filled Shiver with warmth. Shiver smiled and brushed their arm against his, silently returning his affection. “And Marina has a project she says she wants our help with.”

For a moment Shiver’s eyes went wide.

Marina wanting their help?

For what? She was a genius, she never needed help. 

Since they graduated, Marina spent all her time either making music or doing research. Big Man visited her from time to time to bring her food and talk about nerd stuff, but Shiver rarely saw her around town, especially after the whole…

“Why us specifically?”, Shiver asked.

“We can swim and she likes us.”

Shiver slumped forward. 

“I don’t want to be anywhere near the ocean, Big Man. I don’t think I can be.”

Big Man frowned.

“You’ve been so down lately. Swimming together will help get your mind off things. Plus,” Big Man added in a sing songy voice, “She offered to pay us~.”

Shiver shot up immediately like Big Man flipped a switch, but they caught themselves. They quickly stamped out that greedy gleam in their eye. 

“No.”

They repeated the word internally like a mantra. No. They wouldn’t give in.

“Come on,” Big Man pleaded, drawing out the last syllable in hopes that Shiver would cave. They most certainly did not, and Shiver scooted backwards as Big Man nefariously scooted towards them. “Shiver, it’ll be fun, you’re gonna love it!”

Before Shiver could object further, they were already over Big Man’s shoulder and being hauled out of their room like a sack of potatoes. 

“No- agh-help! I’m being kidnapped! Mama!” 

“Oh, Big Man,” Shiver’s mother gasped with a smile. He was definitely her favorite among Shiver’s friends. “There you are.” Instead of helping Shiver escape their captor, their mother took a perfume bottle from her purse and doused them in an amount enough to make both them and Big Man sneeze. “A nice spritz of perfume. You shouldn’t leave the house without it. Both of you have fun out there.”

⠈⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁

After begrudgingly changing into their wetsuit, Shiver accompanied Big Man to the docks. The small boat Marina called her floating lab was a distance to the left of the fishing boats Shiver’s parents owned. In its cabin, Marina kept a variety of tools and samples. Hanging from a rack just outside the cabin was an extra wetsuit with pink accents, and three empty hangers. 

Shiver and Big Man lined up with Marina' s two lab assistants just before the gangplank to the floating lab, waiting for Marina to step off the boat and address them. It didn’t take long before she appeared. 

Marina was a tall, statuesque woman. Her hair was styled into long twists, dyed a striking teal at the ends that matched the teal accents of the black wetsuit she wore beneath her labcoat. Slung across her body was a satchel with a cute octopus bag charm.

“Thank you all for coming along today,” Marina said cheerfully. “I appreciate any helping hands I can get.” 

“It’s been a while, Marina,” Shiver said, quickly correcting themselves, “I mean Dr.Iida. It’s good to see you’re still as gargantuan as ever.”

“Oh, thank you, Shiver, it’s good to see you’re as miniscule as ever.” Marina beamed even brighter at Shiver’s scowl. “Today we’re going to be doing a little bit of investigation where the most siren sightings have been reported. We’re going to make a brief stop at the estuary to take some water samples and continue to the reef just outside of town, where we’ll take a few samples of organic material.”

Big Man and the assistants nodded. Shiver shot them a wary glance. They all seemed a little too relaxed about blindly going into what were now supposedly siren infested waters. 

“Isn’t it a little dangerous with all those disappearances happening?”, Shiver asked hesitantly. 

“The sirens aren’t going to attack us in broad daylight.” A shrewd gleam shone in Marina’s eyes. “Unless you know something that tells us otherwise.” 

“I don’t. Not directly.”

“Really? You don’t have anything you think might be useful to share with us after your terrifying encounter?”

It sent a shudder through Shiver’s body as they realized that look in her eye, the way she spoke around what she really wanted to say, it all reminded them of their mother. 

Marina was not their mother, though, and Shiver wouldn’t fold in front of someone who held no power over them. 

“I really don’t remember much,” Shiver said. They squared their shoulders, firm in their resolve not to reveal anything about Frye. “My vision was dark and the adrenaline was messing with my head.”

“I see. Well, we’ll discuss it more later.” Marina frowned, but only for a moment before continuing, “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can be finished, and I can achieve my results. I need something, any sort of trace of DNA that could help me understand what we’re working with.” 

..-. .-.. --- .--

Golden light poured in through the leaves that shaded the edges of the estuary. The floating lab bobbed lazily in place after Big Man dropped the anchor, allowing Marina and her assistants to work. 

Shiver leaned over the metal railing, looking out at the winding, tangled mangrove roots on the opposite bank. In the corner of their eye, they could see how a laser focus sharpened Marina’s features as she carefully collected water samples with a device that allowed her to pump separate samples from separate depths, all the way down to the muddy bottom of the estuary. 

They could faintly hear Big Man and the lab assistants all wrapped up in some nerdy conversation on the other side of the boat, while the awkward silence between Shiver and the kneeling head scientist only grew. 

Shiver figured it was worth a shot trying to talk to Marina. 

“So, uh, how’re you and-”

Shiver stiffened. They caught themselves far too late. 

Just two years ago, it was rare to see Marina without that scrawny rich girl who promised to make herself and Marina a famous musical duo. It was always obvious she worshipped the ground Marina walked on. But now… 

“How’s the music going?”, Shiver added hastily. “I hate to admit it, but you’ve always had a nice voice.”

“I haven’t had much time for it lately,” she replied quietly. “I’ve been so busy with my research.” Marina looked off into the water’s murky surface. Her gaze was hollow for a moment, just long enough for Shiver to catch it before she went back to her usual relaxed self. “That and taking care of my lab assistants.”

“Those two on the boat with us?”

“What? No,” Marina snickered. “Well, sort of, but I meant the octopi I keep in the lab.”

Shiver’s lips quirked up into a puzzled smile. They couldn’t help but wonder if she kept them as test subjects or as pets. Maybe some combination of both. 

The shorter lab assistant with dyed auburn hair ran up to their boss, broken mechanical pieces in their arms and a look of sheer alarm on their face.

“Um, Dr.Iida, something snapped our pump,” they said urgently. “I think something’s coming.”

A trilling screech pierced the air, almost like a dolphin’s clicks, but unlike anything Shiver had ever heard. Shiver and the rest of the team clapped their hands over their ears. It was just getting louder and louder, and they weren’t sure how much more they could take.

Suddenly, silence.

There was a small shadow coming up beneath the ship.

Marina drew in a few sharp breaths as she whipped her head around to address the taller assistant.

“Get the spear.” When her assistant hesitated, Marina’s voice shot up into a harsh growl. “I said get the spear or I’ll get it myself!”

Shiver probably looked just as shocked as the lab assistant. Marina wasn’t ever the type to snap at anyone.

Though, now that Shiver thought about it, this was closer to how they remembered Marina the last time they spoke with her. 

The way Marina got up was almost violent. She scrambled to the cabin in a frenzy and just as quickly stormed back out, spear in hand, ready to kill.

Just as Marina got to the opening in the ship’s railing where she’d been taking samples, the boat lurched like something struck it from underneath. Big Man lunged forward to catch Marina by the back of her labcoat before she could fall forward into the water. 

The stillness that followed seemed to stretch on for ages. 

The shadow was gone.

Marina stood there with the spear in her hands as she gasped for breath. Everyone’s attention was on her.

“Dr.Iida, are you okay?”, asked the taller assistant.

“Yes, we can turn back if anything’s wrong,” the shorter assistant added.

“No. I’m fine. I’m sorry.” Marina spoke quickly like anything else was inconsequential in comparison to finding that creature. “Raise the anchor. We need to find that thing.”

Shiver and Big Man exchanged a concerned glance as Marina stalked into the cabin, and the boat’s engine sputtered to life. 

The team painstakingly searched the estuary for hours under Marina’s command, but it was no use. Whatever rammed their boat disappeared without a single trace.

. -... -...

Chapter Text

After that, the team had no choice but to continue on their mission and head to the reef just outside town. 

Marina gave each of the others one of her modified spears, usually used for hunting invasive lionfish. They were all in their wetsuits, but Marina was firm that she would stay on the boat. Shiver found it strange. 

The entire time Shiver had known her, Marina loved to go on dives, get up close and personal with what she studied. While Shiver wasn’t keen on getting in the water either, it wasn’t likely they’d see Frye. As far as they knew, she liked to stay close to town. Hopefully the same was true of any other mermaids. 

Plus, Big Man was right. Swimming might help them get their mind off things. Off Frye.

With their mask and oxygen on, Shiver bit down on the mouthpiece of their respirator and dove right in. From down here, Shiver could get a good look at the damage the creature had done to Marina’s lab. There was a dent in the hull, far too small to be a dolphin, but too large to be any ordinary fish. 

Big Man floated there beside Shiver underwater, and he shot them a little wave they quickly returned. 

Shiver drew in a breath from their respirator and felt their body relax. The other three were taking samples of the same patch of brain coral just below the boat, so Shiver went off on their own, deciding to do a little exploring before grabbing their own samples. 

As Shiver swam, getting further and further from the boat, they felt like they were flying over a sprawling city of colorful corals and darting schools of fish. This was familiar to them, comforting even. It reminded Shiver of the days before they understood their place in the world, when they were carefree enough to just come and swim over the reef, coming home at the end of the day to paint their favorite corals. 

Maybe if they kept diving over the course of a few days, Shiver thought, they could regain the courage to find Frye and talk to her.

Except Frye laid not even ten feet away napping in a nook in the reef with her body wedged between two rocks. She used a patch of coral polyps as a pillow and little bubbles came from her mouth as she snored.

Snork…Mimimimi…

So many different emotions crashed into Shiver at once at the sight of her. Relief, joy, guilt, and overwhelmingly, fear. 

She was in danger if she was this close to Marina’s boat. Judging by how Marina reacted to whatever rammed their boat in the estuary, Shiver had to try and get Frye out of here.

Shiver dove down and waved their hand close to Frye’s face, hoping the movement of the water would wake her. When that didn’t work, Shiver decided they’d gently tug on her ear, only for Frye to squeeze her eyes shut tighter and smack their hand away like it was no more than a minor annoyance her little siblings would do to her. 

When Frye snuggled deeper into her polyp pillow, they were left with no choice but to roughly tap her face with their fin. Frye woke with a start, the initial irritation on her face quickly giving way to surprise, and then something else.

Frye swam up and took Shiver’s hand loosely in hers, looking them over like she wanted to be absolutely sure it was them.

Shiver felt their cheeks heat up as Frye brought her nose close to their wrist and closed her eyes like she was drinking in their scent. They watched like a shaken soda bottle as Frye slowly nosed her way all the way up to their neck.

Was it their perfume?

Even if it was that that caught her attention, what was she doing?

Frye tilted her head, confused, like she could ask the same about them. 

Shiver had to tell her she couldn’t stay here. She could be captured, or worse.

Going to the surface to speak with her would be too risky, though. Shiver had no choice but to take her by the arm and get down between the rocks, where they could gesture to their partners and the boat in the distance and hope desperately Frye would understand what they meant. 

Frye pointed at their partners, then back at Shiver with a curious expression as if asking, ‘Are those guys with you?’

Shiver nodded hesitantly. They couldn’t explain the nuances of everything going on. Not yet. 

All Shiver could do was point back at them and make an X with their fingers, telling Frye not to get near them. She nodded, seeming to understand by the way she dove further down and hid in a nearby crevice.

Shiver breathed a sigh of relief. They could swim back to their partners and finish this dive as quickly as possible. Hopefully now Frye would be safe. 

Big Man and the others silently welcomed Shiver back with a wave, but if they noticed anything was amiss, they didn’t show it. 

After a little while Shiver strayed slightly from the group again. There was some star coral growing on a tall rock it looked like nobody had sampled, and its position close to the surface hopefully meant there was no mermaid DNA stuck to it.

Shiver flinched at the feeling of something tickling their stomach. When they looked down, Frye was peeking out of a hole in a rock, blowing bubbles up at them. The sight of her almost gave Shiver a heart attack. More bubbles came from Frye’s mouth as she laughed, but as soon as Shiver’s teammates looked over, she was conveniently nowhere to be seen. 

For a moment while Shiver caught their breath they wondered if Frye didn’t understand what they’d told her, but the more likely answer was that she understood, she just didn’t care enough to stop messing with them.

The others didn’t seem to notice anything thankfully, and the rest of the sample collection went smoothly with only occasional secret heart attack inducing appearances from Frye. The team made it back to the docks as the sun began to set. The assistants were the first off the boat, then Marina, who looked exhausted when she told Shiver and Big Man to make sure to lock the door after heading out. 

After the other three were gone, Big Man offered to grab some drinks for them to share on the boat, which left Shiver to look after the boat for a little while, waiting for Big Man to come back. 

Shiver gave a deep sigh of relief. 

Finally, this ordeal was over with and Frye was safe.

“Hi, Shiv!”

Shiver nearly jumped out of their skin at the sight of the gorgeous woman looking up at them from below, curled up by the boat’s hull. 

“Frye!” Shiver whipped their head around to make sure nobody was watching. “Frye, get out of here,” they hissed under their breath.  

Betrayal flashed cold and biting in Frye’s eyes.

Her lips sank into a frown that made Shiver regret what they said as soon as they said it. 

“What? You mean you want me to leave?”, she asked, the slight anger in her words doing little to hide the sadness that made her ears fall. “You’re not happy to see me?”, she added more quietly.

“N-no, I mean, I am, but-” Shiver flashed their palms and lowered their voice- “It could be dangerous for you to be here.” 

Frye raised her brows. 

“So you don’t hate me?”

“Wh- no, of course I don’t!” Not a single day had passed since they last met that Shiver didn’t think of her. Just the thought of Frye worrying they hated her made them feel awful, but it made sense from Frye’s perspective that she would think that was the reason for their sudden absence. “I was glad to see you at the reef,” they confessed. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

…

“Then why did you stop coming to see me? And why wouldn’t I be okay?”

The mountain of pent up emotion in Shiver’s head came to a point, sharpened by their anxiety. They had to tell her what happened, even if it terrified them. So they did. 

Shiver took a shaky breath and told her all about the way their mother had exposed their wound and the way the media had started an official siren hunt over it. They told her how they’d been unable to face her after everything that happened, how they’d come out with Marina today to search for any traces of sirens and how they’d done their best to keep the other's attention away from her. 

“I get it,” Frye said after they finished their story and came back to the part about what they said on TV. “The humans were just lookin’ for an excuse to hunt without getting in trouble. They probably woulda done it with or without what you said.” 

Frye was quiet for a moment after that. She was probably doing her best not to lash out at Shiver for keeping everything from her. It was probably better than they deserved.

“Frye, I’m so sorry,” they said weakly. “I should’ve told you everything sooner.” Shiver apologized a few times already during their story telling, but none of it quite felt like enough. While Frye stayed quiet and their guilt grew roots, Shiver couldn’t help but think back to what happened earlier. “I wanted to ask you,” they began tentatively, “Do you know what all that was at the estuary?”

“What?”

“There was something strange there. A shadow that made a deafeningly loud sound and left a dent unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I thought it might capsize our boat.”

Frye furrowed her brow.

“You think I had anything to do with that? You think all seafolk know eachother or somethin’?” Pain and anger were suddenly painted like harsh brush strokes into her expression. “You just think it was seafolk ‘cuz you’re scared of ‘em, aren’t you? That’s what it is.”

“No, that’s not what I meant, I just…” Shiver tightened their grip on the metal railing. It was difficult to meet her gaze in that moment, so they just stared down at the foamy crests of the waves. “After I saw what your teeth could do, you have to understand I was worried for the others.”

Bristling fury seethed from Frye as she bared her dagger-like teeth.

“After you- Don’t you act like I’m the one who’s dangerous when you’re the one putting me in danger!”

“Maybe you wouldn’t be in so much danger if you just knew how to stay hidden.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to stay hidden if you had a fucking backbone!”

Frye’s words rang into the stinging silence they left behind. In their heart, Shiver knew what she said was true. At least partially. Instead of being rational and acknowledging their shortcomings, Shiver stiffened and grit their teeth.

“I don’t hate sirens, but other people are going to hate them no matter what. Don’t be stupid,” they spat. “I can’t change the way things are.”

If Shiver was drowning at the bottom of the ocean, then saying that was the equivalent of grabbing a cinder block. 

This conversation was beyond saving. There was a very real despair growing in the back of Shiver’s mind at the realization that they were throwing away their chances at Frye’s forgiveness. Distantly they knew how terrible their words were, and yet they couldn’t help but give in to their growing frustration.

“You’ve got the nerve to hide from me for a week like a coward, treat me like a monster all of a sudden, and then you act like I’m the irrational one?”  Frye lashed her tail like her body physically couldn’t contain the outrage. “You’re a piece of shit liar and a coward, Shiver, and you-”

“Shiver?”  

Shiver’s heart suddenly threatened to beat out of their chest. 

“Who are you talking to?”

Big Man stood there frozen with two ice cold bottles of soda in his hands. It was too late for Frye to slip back into the water. He was looking right at her.

“She’s a cosplayer!”, Shiver blurted out. It made them cringe almost immediately. That was so stupid, but it was the first thing that came to mind. “Big Man, this is, uh, this is my friend, Frye! She’s really into practical effects and makeup.”

Shiver wasn’t sure what they were expecting, but it wasn’t the initial shock on Big Man’s face giving way to a sudden relief. Shiver realized then that Big Man finally understood why Shiver had been acting so strange. Why they’d been so depressed.

Big Man turned back to look at Frye and gave her a genuine smile. 

“Oh, wow, you’re really talented at cosplay. Nice to meet you, Frye.” He leaned over the railing and held his hand out to Frye and her eyes shone with awe like it was the first time anybody’d ever asked to shake her hand. 

“Nice to meet you,” she said somewhat flatly. It was clear she was holding back any further insults for Shiver in favor of being polite.

Shiver placed a wary hand on Big Man’s shoulder.

“Big Man, you have to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“About what?”, Big Man asked with a grin. “Your ‘cosplayer girlfriend?’” Big Man giggled at the glare the two shot him. “I’ll keep my lips sealed, I promise.”

Chapter Text

Stupid boat.

Stupid Shiver.  

Frye left them with an aggressive splash of her tail and swam off for who knows how long. All she knew was it was lame to let herself be this upset over some dumb human. 

Frye decided she’d blow off some steam. She found the current and swam as fast as she could, fast enough to shut her mind up. She figured if she never stopped moving, maybe she could shake Shiver’s words out of her head like water out of her ears. Bolstered by the strength of the current, Frye knocked recklessly into whatever and whoever she found there- mostly turtles and large fish. 

Adrenaline roared in Frye’s ears as she felt the water rush over her body, speeding so much she forgot to slow down enough to turn, rolling right out of the current and into open water.

She was left looking up towards the surface as she gasped for breath, where the fading sunlight came down in scattered beams. A small shadow floated above.

Frye swam up to the surface and cupped her hands in the water to see what it was- a pretty white flower petal with a hint of pink at its end.

She couldn’t help but wonder what a petal was doing all the way out here.

It had to have been blown all the way from shore.

Frye rubbed the petal between her fingers. It was so soft, it made her think of Shiver’s hand in hers.

That touch was something she felt for the first time earlier, when she took their hand and saw them get all flustered. It was adorable how they looked like they had no idea what to do, but they didn’t pull away either. 

Frye grit her teeth. The more she tried to push the thought out of her head, the more her heart ached. She couldn’t understand it. They hadn’t even really known each other for that long, and yet here she was, letting herself get attached. 

What was wrong with her?

Frye squeezed her eyes shut. 

She suddenly thought of the days where Shiver would wiggle their fingers in the water at the pier. They claimed they were trying to attract fish, but Frye knew it was for her. They wanted to see her, and despite how snarky they could be, Frye always noticed that gleam in their eye whenever they saw her coming. Shiver had a great desire to know all they could about life beneath the surface, and they so eagerly soaked up what little Frye gave them. There was never an ounce of malice or disdain in their eyes. 

They made her feel wanted, she realized. That was part of it. Wanted in a way that felt so light and so warm, Frye could hardly put it into words or make sense of it.

That being the case…

How could they look at her like that?

Back at the boat earlier, Shiver looked at her with a wariness she hadn’t ever seen from them before. A wariness that tied Frye’s stomach in knots. Shiver seemed to have good intentions- they wanted to warn her, to protect her and her people despite their cowardice. She could see how it pained them to be involved in something that could hurt her, but…

They still hid the truth from her, regardless of intention. Something didn’t feel right about the whole thing. Especially when they brought up her teeth like they made Frye some kind of dangerous animal. 

Had she really ruined everything when she bit them?

Was that why they didn’t seem to trust her anymore? 

…Did she trust them anymore? 

If she did, she would accept everything Shiver said at face value. There was something frayed between them now, that was why she couldn’t answer any of these questions, why she couldn’t be sure of Shiver’s true intentions. When Frye opened her eyes, her face burned. She was sure her eyes were red. Down here, tears weren’t visible, but it was obvious she was on the verge of crying.

It was so stupid.

Nobody could see her like this. 

Frye dove into the nearest patch of seagrass and bit back a sob. She laid flat in the sand with her face buried in her arms, willing herself to calm down. She had to get it together, even if Shiver really didn’t forgive her after all. Even if she hadn’t really forgiven Shiver.

…

Two muffled voices called out for Frye after a moment, voices she recognized as her little sisters.

Frye sat up just in time to see them both circling around her with excitement. 

She forced a smile onto her face as her sister Andhra wrapped her in the fiercest hug she’d ever felt, and the pair gave Frye their best smiles in turn, Andhra with her charmingly crooked teeth and Kera with a pretty gap in hers. Both of them wore a bunch of colorful beaded bracelets they'd made for one another, and some were from their mother or from Frye.

Frye took in a few deep breaths. The two didn’t seem to have noticed her awful state, which gave her time to compose herself in Andhra's embrace.

Kera lingered to the side for a moment, watching her sisters. From her bittersweet expression it was clear she must have been extra worried about Frye. Frye reached out and pulled her in for a hug of her own. Frye felt her false smile grow more natural by the second as she tousled Kera’s hair, chopped short a few months ago after an accident with some plastic trash.

The pair signed with their fingers to tell Frye they missed her while she was gone, when they mentioned something that put Frye on edge.

‘Where’ve you been? Everyone’s been looking for you,’ signed Kera. ‘Goa says you’re in big trouble but he won’t tell us why.’

‘He’s being mean!’ Andhra paused, cut off by a coughing fit. Frye and her family were used to it by now, she’d been prone to those since a cloud of sediment from a bottom trawl caused her gill damage. Still, a worried frown crept onto Frye’s face. ‘He said he wouldn’t play princess tag with us ‘cuz he’s so busy now…’ , she finished grumpily.

Frye stifled a groan. Was Goa ever not a pain in her tail? 

She’d deal with him later. Her first order of business was to go home and warn everyone about what the humans were planning. 

Frye’s sisters followed close behind her as they wove through the seagrass, watching the terrain slowly become rockier as they neared the island. They’d find the tunnels and quickly get to Isurus, the place where all the area’s seafolk came to rest and relax.

Just then, Frye heard a muffled commotion, something like laughter accompanied by a familiar scent. Frye looked down and found her brother leaning against a pile of algae-covered rocks. 

Goa was huffing pufferfish again. He and a few friends tossed the puffed up creature around like a party favor as it flailed its fins helplessly. A bit of the toxin tickled Frye’s nostrils as she swam down towards him, making her ever so slightly dizzy. 

Kera and Andhra lingered behind closer to the surface in the meantime. Frye didn’t blame them if they were wary of Goa’s friends.

‘You’re dead when Nani finds out,’ Frye signed dryly. She didn’t care if Goa got caught or not, but like Andhra, he sometimes suffered coughing fits. Huffing pufferfish probably didn’t help with that.

‘When? More like if. They’ve got bigger fish to fry,’ Goa shot back, passing the puffer to a guy staring slackjawed up at the waves like he was mesmerized. Frye didn’t appreciate the nasty look in his eye, like he was implying she was the fish that was gonna get fried. 

She didn’t even have time to cook up a good comeback, as one of Goa’s friends came right between her and her brother. 

The mere sight of him sent a shudder down Frye’s spine. She’d been so focused on Goa, Frye didn’t even notice Nero.

‘Take it easy, baby,’ he signed, flirty down to the movement of his fingers. 

Frye wanted to gag. Or kill him. Or both.

Nero was born the very day after Frye was, and as such she had the incredible misfortune of having been brought up with him. 

His tail was like a dolphin’s with a set of dark stripes going down his sides, and his muscled back was covered in net scars that didn’t heal quite right. He had long black hair tied back with a piece of white rope his father always wore around his waist. 

Nero looked even more idiotic than usual today, and he was getting far too close for comfort.

Frye slashed her nails down his cheek without a second thought. Nothing satisfied her more than seeing him back up, at a sudden loss for words until his muffled laugh flooded Frye with disgust. His hand came up to the wound, grinning like he liked it.

‘So spicy. You never change.’

-

—

Together, Frye and her sisters soon made it to the underwater tunnels of Isurus. In some places the tunnels were narrow to the point of only accommodating one of them at a time, but soon it opened up into a larger cave beneath the island. 

This cave was one of many- the caverns beneath this island were as big as a human city, connecting to each other through a series of tunnels, some dry, some half filled with salt water. To Frye’s knowledge the cave had only one exit to the forest covered surface of the island, but it was blocked off long ago.

This cave in particular had a floor of stone made smooth from years of use, lit warmly by woven lanterns suspended from its ceiling. In the cave’s center was a large stone statue of one of Frye’s ancestors diving down, a bow and arrow pulled taut in her hands, surrounded by little eel companions. 

Seafolk were scattered all around the cave, some idly chatting, some resting on cozy nests made from woven kelp or seagrass. Off to the side of the cave was Frye’s friend Opal, curled up and taking a nap. She was surrounded by shattered shells from her last meal, and Frye made a mental note to greet her once she took care of business.

“You know, it’s your fault Frye’s like this. Your great great grandfather was a knifefish .”

“You senile old bastard, what’s that got anything to do with- Frye!”, croaked an old woman’s voice.

There was her business. 

Once they caught sight of her, Frye’s grandparents dragged themselves over to Frye with a scrutinizing glare. The cave went quiet, and suddenly everyone’s eyes were on her. 

“Hey guys,” Frye said, her voice trailing off despite trying to come off cool.

All Frye could do at that point was try not to squirm.

Her grandfather, Sambac, glowered in a way that made him seem far bigger than he actually was. Her grandmother, Mogra, seemed more collected outwardly, but Frye knew better than to assume she was any less mad. More than anything, Mogra seemed concerned that her innocent angel grandbabies were about to watch Frye get verbally assaulted.

“Kera, Andhra, my blossoms, go play somewhere else,” she said, her voice gentle yet firm. 

Kera shot Frye a timid glance and slipped off into the water before Andhra, who gave a drawn out whine before turning and following Kera. 

“You smell like human,” Mogra said with disdain.

Although Frye was expecting it, she still tensed. She had to quickly figure out a way to warn them about what Shiver said without revealing she’d been friendly with a human. Mentioning Shiver was completely out of the question.

“Oh, uh, it’s gotta be ‘cuz I was near town. I was doing some spying.” Yes. This was a great plan. Nobody would ever suspect her true motives. “I found out the humans decided to start some kinda active hunt against us. I came back to warn everyone that it’s super unsafe near town now.”

“You must think we’re stupid. Of course we know that.” Mogra looked like she wanted to grab Frye by the ear and smack her, and the only thing stopping her was everyone watching. “Seafolk are getting tangled in nets, as always, but now they aren’t coming back. Not alive.”

The silence that followed felt like the churning sea just before a storm. 

“We’ve lost Nero’s father,” Sambac said quietly. “He was thrown over the side of that boat to sink to the bottom like he was nothing.” Frye felt her blood run cold. The white rope Nero had in his hair… “Others have been injured within an inch of their lives. We don’t know how far this will go, or how many we will have to lose.”

Frye felt as if there was suddenly a lump in her throat, making it difficult to breathe, or even to speak.

“We’ve put Nero in charge of training the young to capsize ships,” Sambac went on flatly. All Frye could muster was a nod. It made sense to put Nero in charge of ramming ships. He had a thick skull, and not just in the sense that he was an idiot. “Your brother will be completing his training soon, if all goes well.”

Frye felt her ears press back against her head. Knowing Goa would be sent to defend the others from humans only made the lump in Frye’s throat feel bigger and more painful. 

“Let’s address a more pressing issue,” said Mogra, her glass earrings clacking as she turned her head. “Goa confirmed our suspicions that you befriended a human.”

“Why would you do something like this, Frye?”, Sambac asked weakly. “You’ve seen everything they’ve done to us.”

The look of betrayal in his eyes felt like a shot to the heart. Frye fought the urge to break down right then and there with everything she had. She didn’t want to be a traitor, but that was what everyone saw her as now and she knew it. That was why there were so many whispers her way as she squirmed under the dozens of glares. She was a traitor, and nothing would ever change that. 

“I-” Frye choked on her own words. It wasn’t ever supposed to be this way. For a moment she wanted to deny knowing Shiver, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t pretend what she felt didn’t exist, even if she didn’t fully understand it yet herself. “It’s not like that! They helped me- they were kind to me!” Frye felt her voice crack with desperation before she could stop it. “I wasn’t trying to do anything wrong.”

“You let yourself be domesticated like some kind of pet.”

“What does that even mean?”, Frye shot back, defiant despite how small she felt on the inside.

Sambac cleared his throat. 

“Domesticated is when an animal is tamed, usually by a human but-”

“She knows what that means,” Mogra cut in roughly. 

Frye stayed quiet. She thought domesticated was when humans put food in that shiny silver dome. 

“If you love your family at all,” Mogra began, “You’ll avoid the humans at all costs from now on, unless it's to defend one of our own.”

Chapter Text

Rain poured down over Bankara as Marina took Shiver, Big Man, and her assistants to the small concrete building she called her terrestrial lab. She’d invited them back to help her sort data, but also to thank them for coming yesterday. It was the next day after the trip to the reef and estuary, and Shiver had forgotten their umbrella. Big Man was sweet enough to protect them under his. 

Each step Shiver took though the puddle filled streets felt heavy, filled with unease. They couldn’t be sure Frye would ever forgive them for how they acted yesterday. Worse, they couldn’t even be sure if Frye was safe. 

It was ridiculous to think they could just go to the pier and ask to see her now. 

Shiver couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever see her again at all, if they’d ever have a chance to make amends.

With a metallic click, Marina opened the lock to the lab and pushed open the door. 

A sharp gasp escaped her as she froze with a look of terror on her face. 

It was chaos. Sheets of paper, pencils, and metal tools were strewn all over the floor, boxes of data were tipped over or missing, samples of corals were broken into pieces from careless handling, and little inventions Marina had been tinkering with were all left haphazardly on random tables, no doubt after being poked and prodded during…whatever it was that happened here. 

Shiver had visited this lab once before, when Pearl bought it for Marina for the lovely view of the sea through its round windows. On a stack of books on the little table near the door was always a ceramic vase of flowers, white with pink centers. They tended to grow wild near the estuary. 

Shiver remembered that vividly. 

Today, that vase was knocked over on the floor, an enormous crack in its side threatening to split it in two. Its flowers were spilled all over the floor and slowly wilting in a puddle of water.

Marina went straight to pick up the vase and flowers. Kneeling on the floor, carefully picking up each flower, her eyes shone like she wanted to cry. 

Her assistants went running right after her, scrambling to take any papers, tools, and samples off of the floor and quickly onto tables, where they could be somehow reorganized. More importantly, they had to know if anything was missing. 

Shiver and Big Man exchanged a fraught glance, deciding they’d help how they could by getting things off of the floor. 

Diffused fluorescent lighting made everything feel slightly surreal as Shiver grabbed whatever they could find on the ground- bills, spreadsheets, a picture of Marina and Pearl together at the beach, and set them on a cluttered table in the lab’s center where Marina could get to sorting it all.

Shiver and Big Man slowly got into a rhythm as they picked through the lab’s chaos. They began with the area closest to the center and slowly worked their way outwards, Shiver towards the fish tanks and Big Man towards the storage room. 

The large glass tanks containing Marina’s ‘lab assistants’ appeared largely untouched, thankfully. They all had name tags attached to the glass, except for the tank of moon jellies. The one belonging to the small two spot octopus read ‘Big Joe’ , and Shiver cracked a smile at the little note beneath it that said, ‘I love shrimp!! :D’

Just as Shiver realized they were getting distracted reading all the nametags, they heard Big Man and the assistants confirming they found little from yesterday’s excursion, and nothing at all from…something. 

They didn’t get that last part until Marina shouted,  “My logs- My work on the sirens from the past two years- almost all of it’s gone!”

Shiver could hear Marina spiraling and Big Man and her assistants coming to her side and quickly reassuring her that they’d find it somehow. Through the glass filled with floating jellyfish, they could see Marina with her head in her hands. A sort of helplessness surged inside Shiver, sharp and intense. 

They took a deep breath in. The best way to help her now was to keep searching. 

Shiver made their way over to a water cooler in the back, still half full, and noticed the white corner of a sheet of paper poking out from underneath. With a grunt, they pushed it aside, revealing a few loose sheets of paper, hole punched like they’d previously been kept in a binder. 

They were journal entries from roughly two years ago. Shiver knelt down and recognized Marina’s handwriting from the neatly labeled samples in the floating lab. 

May 10

Sometimes I think I hear her calling my name. People think I’m insane with grief. Hiding in my bed the rest of the day when it happens probably doesn’t help. I think I’ll just keep it to myself from now on.

June 1 

Nobody will believe me if I tell them what I saw. But it was a siren, I’m sure of it. 

June 14

It won’t leave me alone. I keep hearing Ebb & Flow every time I approach the water. 

Shiver leaned in closer to the paper, noticing the half erased sentence that came right after. 

It’s hard not to cry. 

July 1

I think it’s mocking me. I don’t know what to do. 

I don’t know how much longer I can do this.

Shiver’s eyes squeezed shut. They could almost feel the desperation and anguish clawing themselves out of the pages. 

Something felt wrong about reading this. Shiver stood and set the few papers they found down near one of the monitors Marina kept on a long table.

“My forklift certification is gone too,” Marina cried, almost as distraught as when she lost her siren research, “It was expired anyway, but I needed it for the renewal paperwork…”

Shiver tensed at the feeling of Marina suddenly turning her head towards them with almost a sliver of hope in her eyes, like she was silently asking them if they’d found anything of note.

“Marina,” Shiver said carefully, hoping desperately she wouldn’t figure out they’d read her journal entries, “I’m so sorry, I couldn’t find anything relating to your research, but-”

The lab door burst open with a rough click of the lock. An imposing, broad shouldered man stalked into the room, one Shiver knew instantly from their parents’s business meetings- Mr.Grizz. He was so tall he towered over Marina and Big Man. He had a shining bald head that could melt through steel if the sun hit it at the right angle, and a dark shaggy beard that he kept well groomed.

Big Man and Marina’s assistants all seemed to shrink back at the sight of the man, not daring to look him in the eye. 

Marina seemed wary, but bravely she met his gaze and stood her ground. 

Shiver was almost impressed. They themself watched him with near indifference, but deep down they knew when he appeared, nothing good ever came of it.

“We just had to borrow a few things,” said Mr.Grizz, his voice a deep rumble. “I promise I was going to have my workers organize it again, but I didn’t want to pay them for the rest of the day.” Grizz shook his head with disappointment. “Can you believe that? I go to the great, generous lengths of paying them minimum wage and they won’t even do me a little favor for free.”

Marina took her umbrella from where it leaned on the wall beside her and held it tightly as if it would somehow give her protection.

“Mr.Grizz, this is private property, you have no right to go through my things!”

“Private property- you almost got a laugh out of me with that! This lab is owned by Houzuki Enterprises. Like Hohojiro Fishing, it works with Grizzco and we have full authorization to access your findings.” 

Marina bristled at his words. 

“Houzuki Enterprises has always given me full reign of my lab. This is completely unheard of.”

Mr.Grizz shrugged. 

“Times have changed. Your little girlfriend isn’t here to let you do what you want anymore.”

It was clear by the way Marina’s face dropped that something in her snapped. Her eyes blazed with the blind rage of someone willing to do anything to defend something precious to her. It was like she was back on that boat at the estuary, desperate to take out the creature that threatened to capsize her vessel. Everyone was suddenly even more on edge, and the air became electric.

“I don’t care what business arrangements you have,” she spat, “I need that research!”

“It’s just business, Iida. Don’t be so emotional.”

Mr. Grizz had an easy smile on his face like he found something vaguely funny, and Marina tightened her grip on her umbrella as if it were really a weapon that could kill Grizz in an instant.

“We’ll be giving it back soon,” Mr.Grizz grumbled with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You just need a real life specimen to test on and a concrete plan. Then we’ll give it back.”

Marina’s eyes went wide.

“A specimen? So soon into this investigation? Are you serious?” 

Shiver blinked with confusion. These two had to be having a whole other unspoken conversation. They had no idea what these two could mean by ‘specimen’. Well, they had an idea, but it couldn’t possibly be what they meant. Shiver looked over at the assistants who both looked terrified in hopes they’d clarify, but they both remained silent. 

“It’ll be at least three months until we even have a plan to get the sirens under control,” Marina continued.

“I don’t have the patience for that crap. I need the profits in this shithole town shooting back up yesterday. Either you speed things up and kill all those sirens or I have Grizzco’s team take over your little hobby project.”

Marina brought her hand up to conceal her lips as she thought. Her brow was deeply furrowed and Shiver could almost see the gears turning in her head, weighing both sides of the scale. Everything depended on just how much she was willing to risk to get that research back.

“I’ll work with Grizzco to create a poison for the sirens we can release into the water. It won’t be harmful to humans or other creatures and it’ll make quick work of them.” Marina didn’t sound entirely sure she could fulfill that promise about the lack of harm to other species, not that Grizz cared about anyone or anything’s safety other than his own. “I’ll procure a specimen as soon as possible and start testing.”

Big Man looked over at Shiver like he needed to lay down or he’d pass out. Shiver was certain they didn’t look much better. 

Testing? 

Working with Grizzco?

Shiver’s head was spinning so fast it felt like their soul left their body.

“Now you’re cooking with gas!”, Mr.Grizz laughed heartily. He looked like he really hadn’t expected Marina to bend under the pressure so quickly. “You’ll have that mermaid stuff back here in no time.”

The taller assistant tensed, unable to remain silent any longer.

“Boss, that can’t be ethical, you’d never-”

“We’re going to do what we have to do,” Marina said firmly, “It’s my job, and it’s yours as well.”

.-. .. -. .-

After that, Marina asked Big Man and Shiver not to tell anybody about what happened. 

In the month or so that followed, they scarcely heard a peep from her. In a way, not knowing what Marina was doing was even more frightening than knowing outright. Days turned into weeks, and despite going to the water every day, Shiver didn’t see Frye even once either. That left Shiver too much time to imagine what could be happening.

It was like looking out into the sea at night and seeing nothing, but knowing a terrible danger lurked in the depths. 

After a little more than a month, Shiver received a call from Marina. 

She invited them out to the floating lab again, and despite the immediate dread, Shiver had to oblige and head down to the docks. 

The early morning sun was at Shiver’s back as they caught sight of the boat, though it looked far different than they remembered it. The lab had been fitted with a bulky metal shell over the entirety of the deck with a black sectional door at its end, hiding whatever was beneath. Shiver made their way down the gangplank and in through the opened door in the side. 

When they turned their head, Shiver felt their heart stop. 

There was a young siren trapped in a net held fast by a mechanical hauler- Frye’s brother. 

The hold built into the deck had been converted into a shallow pool to keep his tail’s mucus layer hydrated while he struggled in the net, unable to escape. His arm was wrapped with gauze at the elbow and from his ear dangled a small electronic tag. Goa looked exhausted from struggling against the ropes. His arms and back were rubbed raw in a few places from his own escape attempts, but otherwise he seemed unharmed.

Goa’s eyes widened at the sight of Shiver. There was a flicker of recognition in his face that quickly snuffed itself out, likely to hide the fact he knew them.

Shiver heard Marina’s voice call out from the front of the boat. It sounded like she was greeting them, but they hardly understood what she said. They choked out a weak greeting in return and turned to face her. 

Marina had her hair tied up into a ponytail, sat in front of a computer monitor she kept beside the boat’s console. Although it hadn't rained in days, her umbrella was hanging behind her on the rack right next to all the wetsuits.

There was a look in Marina's eyes like she could tell Shiver had a million questions as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“He’s a young male we picked up a few days ago just off the coast. We’re monitoring his base vitals and submitting samples to Grizzco as we prep for the first dose in a couple of weeks,” she explained.

First dose? Couple of weeks?

Shiver swore it felt like their legs were going to give out from under them.

“Marina,” Shiver began tentatively, “What is- why do you need me here for this?”

Every word felt like they were walking on eggshells. They needed answers, they needed to know why this was happening and stop her, but if they made so much as one wrong move, Marina could force them out of her lab and ruin their chances of helping Goa. 

“Talk to him. See if you can get him to speak.”

Shiver felt their jaw drop.

Why did she think they of all people would be able to get him to talk?

What did she want to know?

Shiver shook their head and decided not to ask questions they couldn’t handle the answers to. They would have to talk to him and pretend they’d never seen him before to avoid drawing Marina’s suspicion. They had no choice but to try.

“Hello,” said Shiver, kneeling beside the net. They couldn’t help but remember the first time they’d met Frye, how she’d gotten tangled in their net and still cheekily kept eating their fish. Something about that memory and seeing Goa here in this state made their heart twist. “Are you hungry?”

Goa turned his head away, all but rolling his eyes at them.

Shiver scowled. It would’ve worked on Frye. After clearing their throat awkwardly, they tried again.

“What’s your name?” 

Goa yawned, revealing the bright yellow inside of his mouth. 

“Um…where do you live?”

Again, no answer. 

“Marina, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get you the information you want,” Shiver said at last. They were careful choosing their words. ‘This isn’t going to work.’ was closer to what they really thought, but if that were the case, Marina wouldn’t need them close to Goa anymore. 

Shiver had to be patient here. They were Goa’s only chance, and that in itself was terrifying.

Marina leaned back in her chair a little to look back at Shiver and her ‘specimen’. She didn’t seem particularly bothered.

“Keep trying. He seems to listen to you,” she said simply. To Shiver, he seemed to give a rat's ass about what they were saying, but maybe Marina saw something they didn’t. “Besides, keeping him stimulated is good for his health, and I haven’t been able to get him to eat.” Marina’s hazel eyes flicked down to Goa then back to Shiver.  They looked almost melancholic. “Neither have my assistants. It seems he thinks we’re trying to poison him.”

“Can you blame him?”

…

“Sadly, no.”

Shiver sighed.

Marina had something against the sirens, something to do with her Pearl’s disappearance, Shiver knew that much, but they also knew Marina loved the ocean’s creatures just as much as Shiver did. It had to hurt her at least in some capacity to be doing all this, and yet she had to place her findings above it all. Grizzco was twisting her arm in the same way they’d seen done to others a dozen times. 

In the corner of their eye, Shiver could see Marina’s key ring dangling from the ignition. Goa followed their gaze to the key ring, then met Shiver’s eyes as they tried one last phrase. 

“Sometimes I miss swimming in the ocean,” they murmured, a sly gleam in their eye as they began to machinate a plan, “It’s so wide and blue and comforting, isn’t it?”

After a beat of silence, Goa offered a simple nod. 

Marina didn’t see it, focused on her screen, but it was enough for Shiver to know he understood what they were trying to say.

Chapter Text

Frye was finally home, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. Since her return, nobody looked at her the same way, save for her sisters. 

Her friends insisted it was fine but they refused to bring up the topic of her and the humans or allow Frye to explain herself, and for the most part they seemed to avoid her. The whole thing put a sinking feeling in Frye’s stomach she couldn’t get rid of, not even as the days passed and became weeks. 

The best medicine she found for this feeling was a nap, but for the life of her she couldn’t sleep today. There was too much buzzing around in her head. 

Frye was stuck tossing and turning on a bed built into a nook in the cave wall, listening to passing conversations on the other side of the cave. There was an old lady trying to pawn off a pebble she found that was ‘shaped like a jellyfish’ in exchange for a basket of scallops. The old lady insisted that jellyfish were auspicious because of their association with rebirth and transformation, but the young man she was trying to buy from wasn’t having it. It was just an ordinary pebble. 

Meanwhile, Goa was off today completing his training with Nero. He seemed confident about it, cocky to the point that he firmly refused when Frye offered to come along. Still, Frye couldn’t help but worry about him. He could get hurt, but the same went for the people on the boats they were targeting. What if the boat he went after was full of good people like Shiver?

A little wave of sadness washed over Frye and she nuzzled deeper into her fur blanket.

She still considered Shiver to be good despite everything.

There was a clumsy splash near the mouth of the cave like some children were coming in, and immediately she could hear the sound of someone scooting closer. Mischievous giggles told Frye it was her sisters who were absolutely coming to prank her.

“She’s gonna be so mad…”

“Shhh! She’s gonna wake up!” 

The two were whispering loud enough for all of Isurus to hear. Frye fought the smile begging to form on her lips to keep up the illusion that she was sleeping. She wanted to humor them for a bit, it’d be easy to get revenge later. 

“What’s the holdup? Just dump the water on her head already!”

There was a pause filled with hesitation, one Frye was secretly thankful for.

“Uhm…Andhra…do you think it’s really true Frye is friends with humans?”

Frye felt her entire body tense.

“Maybe, I dunno.”

“I don’t think it’s true. Frye wouldn’t do that,” Kera said quietly. It almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself. “Humans are bad.”

“It would make sense, though. That’s why she left for so long and she was so spacey after she got caught in that net that one time. She was acting like she was all in love and stuff.”

“In love with a human?”, Kera asked, horrified. Heat flooded Frye’s face. There were few ways this could get more embarrassing. 

“Yeah, but Frye is good, she wouldn’t be in love with a bad person. I think it’s okay.”

“No it’s not, she could be getting lied to and getting killed!”

Andhra scoffed.

“What, you think she’s dumb and getting everyone in danger?”

“You’re dumb!”

“I’m not dumb, you’re dumb and I hate you!”

Frye finally opened her eyes and sat up. She couldn’t handle the growing guilt any longer. This was all because of her.

“Kera, Andhra, c’mon, don’t fight. We’re sisters, we can’t hate each other,” said Frye, her voice firm yet gentle. She almost sounded like their mother. 

The twins pouted. They obviously didn’t appreciate Frye getting in the middle of their spat.

“Don’t act like you’re Mama,” Kera grumbled, the incriminating pot of water still in her hands.

“Yeah, you’re not the boss of us!”

Frye mirrored Andhra’s sassy posture, placing a hand on her hip. 

She was their self proclaimed fun big sister, but someone had to act like their mother sometimes. All their grandparents did was spoil the two girls rotten, and Goa was hardly a candidate to even take care of himself. 

As much as Frye loved her mother, she and her father were rarely home anymore. Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder if her parents would know what to do about this whole Shiver situation, if maybe they’d be a little more accepting of her choices. 

It was her parents who introduced Frye to people-watching near the docks after all, and to being curious about humans in general despite how the others discouraged it.

Andhra wrung her hands together, uncharacteristically timid.

“Hey, Frye, is it true you’re friends with humans and that’s why you’re in trouble?”

“I…uh…”

Frye parted her lips and stammered only to trail off. She hadn’t expected it to be this hard to tell her sisters the truth, but here she was, struggling to find the right words. These two had to find out somehow. Maybe if she could explain herself, they’d think better of her than if someone else told them.

A desperate voice cut in, completely derailing Frye’s train of thought.

“Frye!” It was Nero, scrambling into the cave with blood gushing from his shoulder. “It’s Goa- he’s been taken!” Frye’s little sisters were part of a chorus of gasps that rippled through the cave. Frye’s jaw dropped. She felt almost winded, like the air had been taken out of her lungs. “I tried everything I could, but I couldn’t save him.” Nero stared down at the ground, still shaking with his hand over his wound. His gaze was far away like he was still back there with Goa. “He was alive and unhurt last I saw him, I- I need reinforcements to help look for him.”

Time slowed to a crawl in Frye’s mind. She didn’t notice her grandmother hurry to Nero’s side, a healer with a single spot on his tail right behind her.

Frye’s thoughts came in short painful bursts.

Why now?

Why him?

She shouldn’t have let Goa go alone.

If she’d gone with him, would she have been able to save him? Or would she have been taken instead?

“What you need is for us to stop that bleeding,” Mogra rasped, stuffing Nero’s wound with a dressing. The glare she shot Frye could cut like a blade. She didn’t have to say anything for Frye to know what she meant. “Frye, go find him. Do whatever you need to do, but don’t return without Goa.”

Chapter Text

Now that Big Man knew about Frye, Shiver could finally talk to someone about her. Shiver told him all about how they met, how she spat a piece of fish at them, how beautifully her eyes sparkled in the sun, the sweet way her ears twitched and her nose crinkled when she laughed. 

After about ten minutes of rambling about Frye, Big Man laughed and said, “Wow, you really like her don’t you?”

Shiver stammered with indignation, but the only comeback they could come up with was telling him to shut it. 

The moment Shiver got home after seeing Goa in the floating lab, Shiver invited Big Man over to tell him what happened. Big Man seemed just as worried for Frye as Shiver did, and they began to discuss a plan. Reasoning with Marina felt out of the question. It was evident she wanted her research back, and she became cagey when discussing Grizzco’s deal over the phone, or anywhere that wasn’t the floating lab.

As expected, Big Man’s strategy for dealing with the problem was less of a confrontation with Marina and more what Shiver would call…killing with kindness. 

Big Man decided to pull out all the stops to give her a perfect birthday party, which he was going to do anyway, but he reasoned that she might be so moved by the gesture that she’d stop working with Grizzco altogether and let Goa go if he asked nicely. 

Shiver told him sea pigs might literally fly before that happened, but they supposed it was worth a shot. Marina’s birthday was only two days away after all.

Marina didn’t have any plans lined up for the day when Big Man asked, and in fact it seemed like she’d forgotten it was even her birthday at all. She didn’t suspect a thing when Big Man invited her to his restaurant. 

When the day finally came, Shiver and Big Man hid in darkness behind tables in the empty restaurant until Marina pushed the door open. 

“Surprise! Happy birthday, Marina!”

Marina lit up with a gasp as the lights came on, colorful confetti bursting from little poppers her guests had on hand. For a moment she short circuited, going from gushing about the surprise to fretting about how embarrassed she was that she hadn't dressed nicer.

When Big Man invited her over to the restaurant, he had texted her to dress nice, though he didn’t tell her why.

 It looked like she thought whatever she’d been invited for would be quick, so she wore her sleek green jumpsuit beneath her lab coat. She was so dressed for work right after that Shiver could see the outline of her keyring in her labcoat’s pocket.

Though it made them feel like a lightbulb went off in their head, Shiver decided they’d worry about the keyring later. 

For now they lingered by Big Man’s side like a little baby duck as Marina greeted the other guests, including her assistants and an old DJ friend of hers from out of town. 

Eventually, Big Man asked Marina to come with him back to the kitchen to their walk-in fridge. 

“And check this out, I made it just for you,” Big Man said with pride. He opened the fridge and gestured to the ice cream cake displayed inside, specially made to look like an octopus. Marina nearly tackled him with a hug, tearfully thanking him. She told him this was already the best birthday she’d had in years. 

Not long after, it was time for everyone to give Marina her presents. 

Shiver had theirs in a small case. It wasn’t the flashiest gift, but they knew she was going to love it.

“The big twenty-five, huh? Someone’s getting old,” Shiver teased. “Here, I brought this for you.”

A brand new forklift certification with Marina’s name on it, legally binding in almost every country. They held it out to her with its case wide open, displaying her gift in all its bureaucratic splendor.

“Shiver,” Marina gasped, stars in her eyes. “How did you get this?”

“I called in a few favors.” 

A lot of favors. 

It felt worth it, though, seeing Marina beam like that. She thanked Shiver for the gift and paused, adding more quietly how grateful she was that they came to help her with the siren. He’d finally started eating after their visit. 

Tears of relief welled in the corners of Marina’s eyes as she wrapped Shiver in a tight hug.

It caught them slightly off guard, but Shiver of course returned her embrace. When they parted, Marina smiled and wiped her tears. Big Man invited her to take off her labcoat and relax, enjoy the festivities, and Shiver wasn’t sure if he knew what they did, but they were grateful that it reduced the chances of her checking her pockets and noticing the keyring missing. 

Shiver could feel the keyring against their stomach, held in the hidden inner pocket of their jacket. They almost hadn’t expected this sporadic part of their plan to work, but now that it had, Shiver was on a fragile high.

They took a deep breath. They had to get through another chunk of the night like normal. 

After the delicious three course meal Big Man’s family prepared, it was finally time to sing happy birthday to Marina. Just as they lit the candles and everyone prepared to start singing, the doors to the restaurant opened, and in came two familiar faces. The iconic Squid Sisters- Callie with her long black pigtails, dyed pink at the ends, and Marie with her stylish short white hair. Marie wore a white off shoulder dress, while her cousin Callie wore a white halter neck dress. 

These two were a secret favorite of Shiver’s since middle school, but they were city folk. Despite the excitement they felt deep down, Shiver was determined not to feed their egos. 

Marina had no such reservations. 

She was practically screaming their names as they came over and wished her a happy birthday, and as they spoke with Marina, Shiver swore they saw Callie shoot them a wink.

Anyway.

They all got the song over with, and when Marina closed her eyes to make her wish, she frowned for the first time that night. Marina blew out her candles, and lit right back up when everyone cheered. After a moment she glanced at the Squid Sisters like she still couldn’t quite believe they were real, then back at Big Man. 

“B-Big Man, did you?” 

“Yeah! They were in town and I know you’re a fan so I decided to call in the favor. You deserved something nice for your birthday.”

Callie nodded, grinning ear to ear. 

“Mhm! Plus, we couldn’t pass up the chance to party with Miss DJ Hyperfresh over here.” Marina’s eyes were wide at the mention of her old title, especially from someone she so admired. Callie dug into her purse and took out a limited edition Squid Sisters CD. “We brought you a little something too!” 

She and her cousin took turns signing it and writing little notes before handing it to Marina. 

Marina looked like she was going to pass out with joy. This wasn’t a dream, and the Squid Sisters were really going to stay here for the rest of the night. It was all a blast, and Shiver played the part of excited party guest perfectly. The night was spent playing games, telling jokes, dancing, and singing karaoke. 

The restaurant came alive with music as the birthday girl sang with her guests, and even Shiver got roped into the fun at some point. They hadn’t heard Marina sing in ages. Something about it made Shiver a little emotional, how beautiful her voice was and how little she decided to use it anymore. 

Still, they had to focus.

Through the windows Shiver could see that it was finally dark out. Marina was busy having the time of her life. Now was their chance to slip away. 

-

A soft rain poured down as Shiver quickly traversed the docks’s stone walkways. The sky was rumbling, and as a result there wasn’t a single soul out on the docks. Shiver was still careful to hide their face with their jacket’s hood, keeping their head low as they hurried to the floating lab.

The second they were able to turn the key in the lock, there was a roar of static. 

It was Mr.Grizz’s voice on the dock speakers. 

“Stop right there! You are trespassing on Grizzco property, if you do not leave immediately, we will notify the water police.”

The message sounded prerecorded. It could just be motion sensors trying to scare them off, but Shiver didn’t want to take any chances. 

They hurriedly slammed the door behind them and scrambled into the driver’s seat, frantically trying every key on the key ring in the ignition until finally the boat sputtered to life. 

Goa jumped as the soft rain became a downpour that rapped loudly on the metal roof. It seemed this entire time he’d been asleep, and that was what woke him.

“Huh- wh- Oh, it’s you,” he stammered, trailing off awkwardly like he realized he had no idea what this human’s name was.

“Shiver. And you’re Goa, right?” He nodded after a moment of hesitation. In the lab’s dim yellow light they could see he looked flustered, but better than he did the last time they visited. Marina must have been telling the truth when she said he’d started eating. “Look, I know we don’t have time for this introduction stuff. I’m going to try and help you escape.” At that, Goa perked right up. “To do that, I’m going to need you to cooperate and tell me where you live. I want to get you as close to your home as I can.”

…

“I can’t tell you that.”

Shiver’s eyes widened.

“Do you really want me to drop you off in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?!”

“I’ll figure something out.”

Goa turned his head stubbornly away and something came over Shiver as they swerved as hard as they could. They heard a loud thud and a pained grunt from the back of the boat. 

“Okay! Okay! I live under Isurus Island, I don’t know what the humans call it- just don’t tell anybody, got it?”

Isurus Island?

That was at least forty five minutes by boat. It wasn’t as far as Shiver feared, and they were relieved to actually know the way there.

“Got it. I’ll get you as far as I can go and toss you out.”

Shiver tightened their grip on the steering wheel and put the boat into full throttle, making the boat go as fast as it could. They didn’t know what came after this. They went out to sea, freed Goa, then what? 

Nobody saw their face when they took the lab, but Marina would know. Grizzco would be furious, they knew that, but what of Marina, who knew exactly who the culprit was? What would she do when she found out what happened?

Shiver shook those thoughts out of their head. Right now, none of that mattered. 

The console had a live GPS map that gave them a decent idea of where they were and how far they were from the island. They still had about twenty minutes left of their journey, but a sense of unease in Shiver’s stomach told them they wouldn’t make it that long without trouble. They decided they might as well open the back door in case of an emergency where they had to quickly toss Goa out. 

Shiver pressed a button on the console and the large door in the back of the boat opened with a mechanical whir. The light of the stars was reflected in their wake, and their heart raced at the sight of the water police’s yellow lights on the horizon. They figured they’d have company, but not so soon.

There was no getting away from this.

Shiver pressed another set of buttons to lower the anchor and scrambled to the back of the boat to release the net that held Goa. It was his best chance. There was no way this boat could outrun the water police, but maybe Goa could if they stayed here and distracted them.

“What are you doing?!”, Goa shouted, more tense than they’d ever seen him, “Keep going, you’re gonna get yourself caught!”

All Shiver had time for was a two word reply, quick and curt.

“Doesn’t matter.”

There was a lever on the mechanical hauler that would fully lower and open the net. Shiver pulled the lever over and over, but no matter how hard they tried, the net wouldn’t budge. Goa shot them a terrified look, one fully aware of how screwed they both were. If the two of them weren’t in a panic before, they certainly were now. 

Shiver hurried back to the front of the boat and rummaged through every drawer, desperate for something that could cut the rope. It was all samples and tools and papers, until they finally found a filet knife for cutting fish. 

It would have to do. 

The quickly approaching police sirens rang in Shiver’s ears as they frantically cut what pieces of the net they could. Goa pitched in with his teeth, helping fray the rope, but it wasn’t fast enough. To make matters worse, the boat lurched to the side. Shiver almost dropped their knife. It was like what happened that day at the estuary, but three times worse. Something beneath them was trying to tip the boat, or worse, sink it. 

There was a hole in the hull now too, that much they could tell by the sudden screech of an alarm in the floating lab.

Shiver’s heart pounded in their chest as their breaths grew ragged with the effort. 

The chances of them getting out of this alive were low, they knew that. It didn’t matter. Shiver grit their teeth and kept going. Just as they used all their strength to finally cut a hole in the net big enough for Goa to escape, the floating lab flipped right over with a deafening splash. 

Hitting the cold, black water felt like falling flat on concrete. Everything slowly faded as Shiver sank beneath the surface.

Chapter Text

For Frye, the last four days passed fruitlessly pacing the coast. 

She took her grandmother’s words to heart, refusing to return home without her brother. She couldn’t bear the thought of returning alone, of having to tell her sisters Goa was gone. 

Again and again, though, as Frye would approach boats she thought might have potential, she’d hesitate. She wasn’t sure what it was keeping her from leaping up and attacking the humans up there, but as the boats would disappear into the distance, she was overtaken by the thought of her brother suffering, of the haunting emptiness that would be left in his place if she failed to find him. 

This feeling only grew more intense as the days passed, and one night as Frye wrestled with this grief that wasn’t yet real, she could smell someone coming closer. There were two scents, both familiar. 

Nero, along with her grandfather.

What were they doing here? 

After a moment it became apparent they wanted to stay and help her search for Goa. Frye bristled, but she didn’t even have the energy to tell them off. 

Still, she tried to refuse their help at first. This was her duty and her duty alone. 

No matter how hard she tried to shake the two, though, they wouldn’t leave her. Even if they tailed her from afar, Nero and her grandfather both insisted. They told Frye they wouldn’t lose her too. 

-

As another frustratingly uneventful night fell, there was finally something different. 

Flashing lights coming through the surface told Frye something was happening. There were at least three boats speeding towards the island, and one boat stopped a distance in front of them. Something was different about this last boat- it was smaller, and it looked just like the boat where she last saw Shiver.

The other boats seemed to be chasing it, like it had something they wanted. 

In the darkness of night, Frye exchanged a glance with her companions. Even if there was a possibility this boat had nothing to do with Goa, this was her best chance at getting him back. 

Frye had to get into that boat somehow.

She had to.

Despite the sense of urgency rushing through Frye, a little voice spoke up in the back of her mind, keeping her locked in place. 

What are the chances of Shiver being on that boat?

Even if they’re small, what if I end up hurting Shiver?

It was Nero who lunged forward into the hull like he was asking what on earth she was waiting for. It was then that Frye realized her ridiculous hesitation wasn’t going to help her. 

Pent up frustration and exhaustion from all this time searching for her brother pushed all else aside, surging like a riptide in Frye and sending her into the hull like a cannon ball, making the ship tip violently sideways. She surprised even herself when she felt water rushing into the boat’s hull through a small hole she’d opened with the strength of her impact.

It was insane that Frye had grown so desperate she could punch through metal, but her effort alone wouldn’t be enough.

Frye would need to work with the others, match their rhythm if they really wanted to sink this ship. Frye got the attention of the other two and counted to three on her fingers in time with the flash of the yellow lights above, giving the cue for all three of them to push with all their might until they felt the boat creak and give way under their hands, flipping over onto its side, then onto its back. 

The moment that followed felt wholly surreal, made vivid by the adrenaline pumping through Frye’s veins. She and the others scattered to avoid the debris that fell from the boat’s open doors, and they watched in the darkness as the boat sank, and fast. 

Frye could hardly see, but she could smell two new scents coming from the boat. First Goa, then…Shiver. 

Any relief Frye felt was quickly stamped out by the way her heart caught in her throat. 

Goa was swimming up out of the wreckage before it hit the ocean floor, dragging a limp body out behind him.

Frye moved without thinking, darting towards Shiver and taking them from her brother’s arms in what felt like an instant. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t inspect them for wounds in this darkness. All she could do was take in their scent as her mind filled with questions. 

Were they involved in Goa’s capture?

Why would he pull them out of the wreckage then?

In the corner of her eye, Frye could see Goa moving. He was trying to tell her something. It was dark, and she could hardly make out the movements of his hands. In the fading flashes of light from the other boats she could see him cross his wrists and move his hands out, like he was saying, ‘They saved me. Brought me here.’

So Shiver was helping him escape. 

Frye’s gaze flitted back to Shiver, putting the pieces together in her head. 

Someone else had taken Goa, Shiver took this boat and risked their own life to save him. There was no doubt Shiver thought of her when they saw him. 

Frye brought a hand to Shiver’s cheek, and her heart twisted when she saw they didn’t so much as stir. 

While Frye thought, Goa kept the others from getting too close, and that gave her time to figure out what to do. Everyone was watching, but it didn’t matter. It was too dark to really see. There was only one way to keep Shiver breathing this far from shore, this far beneath the water. 

Water breathing was something that could temporarily pass to humans through the lips, that was something commonly passed down in the children’s stories of seafolk. Now was her only chance to see if it was true. With her fingers Frye gingerly brushed the loose wisps of Shiver’s hair to the side and out of their face, allowing her to kiss them, slow and lingering like how the tide came in and kissed the sand. 

…

This didn’t feel right. Shiver was still limp in her arms. Their lips were cold and lifeless.

Frye’s heart ached terribly. She had dreamed of this moment in secret for what felt like ages, but not like this. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes as Frye kept trying to resuscitate Shiver, bringing her lips desperately to theirs over and over in vain. 

Was the last shared memory Shiver had with her really going to be them fighting? 

Were they in pain when they fell unconscious?

Frye couldn’t bear the thought that Shiver had suffered so much to save someone they knew was important to her. She would be eternally grateful to Shiver, and yet… 

Wait.

For a moment Frye thought she’d imagined it, but she could feel the rise and fall of Shiver’s chest against hers. It slowly grew steady as Shiver began breathing water as easily as she did. Their eyes fluttered open, and though she couldn’t see the moment where they recognized her, she could feel it in the way they held her closer, and the way they pressed their lips to Frye’s and boldly deepened the kiss. 

It was cold and near pitch black down here, but in that moment Frye swore she saw the sun’s light, and felt its warmth. 

When they parted, Frye wished secretly that she could see Shiver better. As it was, the faint glow of moonlight filtering down through the waves caught a few of the contours of their face, but nothing more. 

Frye looked sheepishly over at Goa and the two she’d sunk the ship with, and for once she was grateful she couldn’t see their expressions. She felt Shiver cling closer to her as her grandfather drew nearer, and all she could think of was to slowly brush her fingers over their shoulder to assure them that they were safe. Or at least, that she’d make sure they were. 

Her grandfather’s words when she came home echoed in her head. Frye couldn’t be sure of his intentions with Shiver, so she lashed her tail and stared him down in the darkness in hopes he’d take the hint to keep a little distance. 

‘Go,’ she thought she saw him sign. As far as she could tell, he didn’t seem particularly angry. ‘Take them back to shore. I can see they have a heart, and I can see they have yours.’

Frye flushed at his words. She wanted to deny it somehow, but…

What mattered was getting Shiver home.

Chapter Text

Shiver flopped onto shore and burst into a coughing fit, getting rid of all the excess water in their lungs. Their head was still spinning from everything that just happened. When they finally managed to relax for long enough to get their bearings, Shiver realized the water police were entirely gone. That alone made them let out a deep sigh of relief. 

It was one less thing to worry about.

There was no doubt in Shiver’s mind that they looked like a pathetic wet rat as they gasped for breath, but Frye didn’t seem to mind. She just sat there leaning back on her hands in the shallow water beside them, watching over them with a concerned frown. 

A little distance away, Shiver could see the little pier they always used to meet at.

Seeing Frye like this now, getting to just sit and drink in her beauty beneath the ethereal gleam of the moon, Shiver couldn’t help but wonder if meeting her wasn’t some coincidence. If maybe it had been fate and they were somehow entwined. It was beyond ridiculous, but it was the only reason they could think of for being lucky enough to get to see her again.

Shiver’s thoughts were cut short by Frye throwing her arms over their shoulders and pulling them into a hug.

“Shiver, you’re okay!”  Frye’s voice wavered with emotion as Shiver returned the embrace. They sighed contentedly into her shoulder just before she pulled away. “Thank goodness…”

Shiver’s heart stirred at just how happy Frye sounded to see them again. They gave her a little smile, weary yet genuine. Hopefully she knew the feeling was mutual.

Everything was slowly coming back to Shiver, leaving the party, the moment the boat sank, and bits and pieces of what happened after. Goa was finally safe, whisked off by a few other merfolk. And just before that…

Shiver remembered vaguely how the black sea water chilled them to the bone after falling in, until Frye held them close and kissed them, filling them with a warmth that remained all the way to shore. Shiver’s face reddened at how the touch of her lips suddenly lingered on theirs as they played the scene over and over in their head. 

It was far from the first kiss Shiver ever had, and yet butterflies still filled their stomach at the thought like they were back in high school.

“Was that…real?”, they murmured.

“Was what real?”

Shiver shot her a grin.

“You giving me all those kisses.”

“It was to save your sorry ass,” Frye grumbled, furrowing her brow.

Shiver burst out laughing.

Sure, they could tell Frye’s kisses helped them wake up and breathe water down there, but they were fully conscious for that last kiss, and they were pretty sure she knew it too, unless she wanted to make the excuse that she wanted to be extra certain they were alright.

“Thank you,” Shiver said at last, feeling the sand shift beneath them as they sat up. “I don’t know if I deserved it.” 

“You did. Even if you did make me feel terrible last time we spoke.”

With a pang of guilt Shiver recalled the hurt look in Frye’s eyes when they brought up her bite, something they knew she already felt bad about, like rubbing salt in the wound all because they didn’t want to admit they’d been a coward. When Shiver looked at Frye now, they could see that look again, her ears low and her gaze distant.

An apology was long overdue.

“Frye, I’m sorry for being such a coward back then, hiding things from you because I was afraid of how you’d react. And for being a total jerk.” Shiver paused for a moment to think. They wanted to make absolutely sure Frye heard what she needed to hear, and that she understood they were being genuine.  “You deserved better from me. I know you’d never hurt me and I’m sorry if I made you feel like…like some kind of monster. You’re not a monster and I really do want you in my life.”

“Oh?” A little smirk made its way onto Frye’s face. “You’re sayin’ your boring old life’s way more fun when I’m there?”

“Don’t get a big head,” Shiver huffed.

They did a poor job at hiding the smile that wanted to give Frye her real answer.

Already the air between them felt different. They could see the seeds of forgiveness in the softness of Frye’s expression, in the way she scooted closer to them, brushing their shoulder with hers.

“I want to be more honest with you,” Shiver said quietly. Even if it was difficult, they owed her the truth. Hiding things was what got them here in the first place. “I don’t want to keep things from you anymore.” 

And so Shiver told her everything. They told her about Marina and Grizzco and the poison and everything in between. Everything that happened in the past month or so. “But now that they don’t have Goa, they can’t start testing. Marina wouldn’t let it happen. That buys us some time.” Frye gave a thoughtful hum as she mulled everything over in her head. “I promise to keep an eye on the situation,” Shiver continued. “And I promise I won’t randomly disappear anymore. If anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Good. I appreciate that,” Frye said simply. Shiver felt the trust in Frye’s words, and all they wanted to was to prove to her that they deserved it. “I don’t wanna keep things from you anymore either. That means I need to tell you that even if saving my brother makes my family cool with you, me being able to come see you is probably on the condition that you’re on our side no matter what.”

“I’m willing to accept those conditions if it means I get to keep seeing you.” 

Shiver wasn’t sure if it was the darkness playing tricks on them, but they could swear they saw Frye’s cheeks darken a little bit. Something about it made them weirdly giddy. Maybe it had something to do with what happened earlier? They knew the kisses Frye gave them were a matter of survival, but…

What did that mean for them? Was the relationship between them different now?

Was now an appropriate time to ask?

“Um, I’d like to keep learning more about you, Frye,” Shiver chirped, far more awkward than they’d intended. 

Frye shot them a toothy grin, like she had some idea of what they were thinking, but the way her fingers fidgeted idly with the sand below said she didn’t have the courage to ask aloud either.

And maybe that was okay, it meant they were on the same page for now.

“Like what?”, she asked.

Everything. What scared her, what made her happy, how she sounded when first woke up, how it felt to kiss her without desperation. 

Shiver cleared their throat like it would push all those gay thoughts out of their head.

“What’s the difference between a siren and a mermaid? I know you already told me, but…” Shiver paused, remembering how they’d made her upset the last time they met, and quickly added, “I, um, I’d like to know, uh, but not because I don’t trust you! I promise I trust you with my life, but-”

“Pfft, I get it, you’re fine,” Frye snickered with a playful wave of her hand, “You’re the type of person who wants to know the truth so you can have an informed opinion. And you know me well enough to know I haven’t been totally truthful either.” Frye’s half lidded gaze flicked down towards the sand, then back at Shiver. “I like that about you.”

A fuzzy feeling built up in Shiver’s chest at Frye’s words. Something about it made them want to kiss her all over again.

Shiver, focus.

Frye sighed.

“The truth is there is no difference. We don’t use those terms for ourselves. Everybody just says ‘seafolk’, but humans will always try and categorize things in ways that are convenient for ‘em.” Like making laws that make it legal to kill sea folk if you designate them as potentially aggressive… Frye folded her arms with a far off look in her eye. “I could be a mermaid if you liked me, but a siren if you wanted me dead.”

…

“I see.” Shiver dipped their head, staring down at the little crests of the waves. “So they came up with it to get away with killing and displacing any seafolk that interfered with their plans.”

“Yep. That’s the gist of it, I think.”

It was jarring, the way Frye said it so matter-of-factly. Was that just the kind of fact seafolk like her had to live with? 

What other harsh truths did Frye and her family have to endure?

Shiver tensed at the brush of Frye’s fingers against theirs. It was cute how she seemed a little hesitant about taking their hand at first, like she wasn’t sure if it was okay even after what they did just moments ago. “It’s not your fault, Shiv,” she assured them, “Not directly anyway.”

Shiver squeezed her hand, an expression of silent gratitude. They took a deep breath, allowing their firm resolve to come through. 

“I can’t fix everything, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make it right.”

Chapter Text

Shiver wasn’t sure what was worse- showing their face to Marina after what happened, or blatantly avoiding her. 

Either way she was going to be furious. 

For now, Shiver threw themself into their work to get their mind off it. They did most of their work at home, but today they decided to bring their computer to their parents's office building, a little distance from the house. Shiver had their own office there, even if they didn’t use it much, and it was decorated with some of their favorite paintings and a few of their precious shark figurines.

The work was somewhat monotonous, but Shiver fell into a rhythm calculating profits and expenditures until they jumped at the feeling of someone pinching their earlobe. 

It was their mother holding a small stack of papers. She’d entered without making a sound, not even the creak of the door.

“You really should consider getting rid of those piercings. They’re incredibly unprofessional,” she scolded. “Not to mention that tattoo on your hip, you look like a gang member.”

“I work for my parents,” Shiver grumbled. “I think you guys are statistically the least likely to fire me just because I have piercings and a tattoo.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” their mother warned. Shiver knew it was an empty threat. Their parents wouldn’t pass up the chance to proudly say they had a family business just because their child worked for them, and they would never give up their favorite hobby of making disrespectful comments while Shiver was actively working. 

“Did you see that a boat was stolen from the docks last night?” 

…

“Yes,” Shiver replied coolly. “It’s strange, right?”

“It’s deeply worrying. First they cancelled the festival because of all the chaos around the sirens, and now this.” Their mother handed them the stack of papers and sighed. She looked a little more tired than usual. “I need you to take these notices down to the docks and give them to our fishermen for that reason.”

Shiver looked down at the papers, each detailing increased security protocols to avoid theft at the docks. 

“Couldn’t this just be an email?”, Shiver deadpanned. 

“You think any of those men check their emails?”

Fair point.

Most of them were middle aged and impressed by the mere act of restarting a computer. 

It’d be good to stretch their legs anyway, Shiver decided.

It was hot out, so Shiver left their jacket in the office and went down to the docks in their red button up shirt and black slacks. 

-

The head of the fishermen was easy to find right outside a little yellow storage building that doubled as a lounge at the docks. He was a polite man with greying brown hair always hidden under an orange beanie, married into Big Man’s family through one of his aunts. He had a penchant for feeding the cats that hung around the docks, particularly a tubby stray with black and white spots that presently dozed near his feet.

Shiver requested that he hand these out to the other fishermen, and while he took it with a nod, he told Shiver there was someone looking for them here on the docks. 

Shiver bristled when he said it was that one girl involved in the Houzuki case a couple of years ago. 

The head of the fishermen, as kind as he was, was a total gossip. Once he got started about a person, it was tough to get him to stop his endless conjecture. He started going on about how strange and sudden the circumstances of the youngest Houzuki’s disappearance were, and how he remembered watching the news story about it like it was yesterday. Some said it was a suicide. Others speculated a murder or kidnapping. 

Apparently Big Man told him the Houzuki girl had a little fight with her girlfriend just before that disappearance.

Shiver remembered hearing something like that back when the investigation was still going on. Marina was devastated when the police interrogated her as a suspect. Even more so when the Houzuki family did nothing to protect her from the relentless questions from the police.

Some of the other fishermen walking around even chipped in on the gossip, saying that Houzuki girl’s ghost haunted the waters around Bankara. That sometimes they could even hear a strange voice singing out at sea. 

The nosy group of fishermen burst into laughter, relentlessly ribbing the last guy for telling Shiver plain lies.

Shiver quickly tried to change the subject when they saw Marina coming, dressed in casual clothes for once. She wore a sleeveless white turtleneck and bright teal jeans, and in the crook of her elbow she held a tote bag filled with snacks, fruit, and energy drinks. She smiled brightly, and it sent a shudder down Shiver’s spine as she cheerfully greeted them all. 

“Hey, Shiver,” she said, her gaze loaded with unsaid words, “I was wondering if you’d want to come buy cat food with me?”

Marina didn’t own a cat. 

Shiver knew better than to call her out on it, though. It was obvious she just wanted a chance to speak alone. 

-

Tension built up in Shiver’s stomach as they and Marina walked down the street in silence. 

How long was she going to wait before chewing them out?

After what felt like ages of walking and taking the most random twists and turns through Bankara, past storefronts and market stalls and playgrounds, Marina turned the corner into a secluded alleyway. Shiver thought for a second they might really see their final moments here, with only a rank smelling dumpster and flea ridden rats as their witnesses. 

They didn’t, of course, but Shiver still let out a pained yelp as Marina swung her bag of groceries at them so hard they almost fell over. 

“So you’re just gonna show up to my birthday party with a birthday gift on my birthday with a birthday gift and steal my boat?!”, snapped Marina. Her simmering fury quickly subsided, quickly giving way to the hurt where it came from. “Shiver, how could you do this? I trusted you! Do you know what that boat meant to me?”

“I know, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sink, I promise.” Shiver tried in vain to keep a level head here. They’d foolishly expected Marina to be angry, but not this upset. “I’ll get you a new one,” they offered, “I’ll buy you a boat that’ll work just as well.”

 It’d be dipping into their own salary, but after what they did to Marina, it would be worth it. 

Marina put her head in her hands.

“No- I- Shiver, the boat isn’t even the most important thing. Do you even know what this means?” Not only was everything on the floating lab gone, Marina lost her bargaining chip with Grizz. She would have to fight twice as hard to have any voice in Grizzco’s plans now. Marina’s voice wobbled for just a moment, just long enough for Shiver to catch it. “He’s just sitting on all my hard work doing who knows what with it.”

And that. Marina wanted that research so badly, and not just because she put so much hard work into it. There had to be something else there, Shiver had a gut feeling.

“That research has something to do with how Pearl disappeared, doesn’t it?”

…

It’d been so long since Shiver had spoken that name, it felt foreign on their tongue. 

Marina was quiet, breathing deeply and idly fidgeting with the ends of her twists. In that melancholy silence, Shiver had their answer.

“Marina, I’m sorry.”

“You’re not.”

Shiver tensed at how easily she saw through them.

“You’re right,” they sighed. “I’m not sorry for freeing him. I am sorry if this gets you into trouble with Grizz. You don’t deserve it, or anything he’s done to you.”

“I know how to handle myself with him.” Despite how firm she sounded outwardly, her uncertain gaze said otherwise. “In the end, I’m glad you freed him. I just can’t predict what Grizzco will do now. This situation is slipping further and further out of my hands by the day.” 

Marina sounded so terribly stressed out. Shiver wished they could help, but they knew full well there wasn’t much they could do. Not that she would let them anyway. 

“I’ll try to omit you from the story as much as I can,” she continued, “But understand that you will not be allowed to work with me anymore.” Marina was being surprisingly merciful. It wouldn’t take much to send the ruthless Grizzco after Shiver. “It’s the best I can offer you.”

Shiver nodded despite how awful they felt.

Under any other circumstances, Shiver wouldn’t mind being ‘fired’ from Marina’s team, but…they made that promise to Frye. Without a direct way to monitor Marina and Grizzco’s activity, they’d have to find another way. 

“I understand. Thank you, Marina.”

-

Bonus Mini Chapter

(We can go back to being happy for a few chapters woohoo!)

“Sometimes I’m surprised you still want to see me after everything that’s happened,” Shiver mused quietly. “And now that I’m not much use to you either.”

The sun was beginning its slow descent towards the horizon when Shiver came to the little pier to share some snacks with Frye. They knew she was a fan of milk chocolate, so when they saw the milk chocolate brownies on sale, they had to buy a few. It felt nice sharing a meal here again, just like old times.

 Frye remained partially in the water to keep her tail’s membrane hydrated, Shiver learned, and as they spoke she held herself up on the pier at Shiver’s level with one arm and used the other to chow down on the brownies.

“Of course I still wanna see you,” said Frye. “Don’t be dumb.” Her fangs poked mischievously out of her little smile like there was more she wanted to say, but she decided against it. “Even if you’re not directly involved with that Marina chick anymore, you’ve still got Big Man.” 

Shiver’s eyes widened. 

She was right. They’d forgotten that Big Man was incredibly valuable to them, not only as a friend, but as an ally and source of information. 

“Plus, who else is gonna hook me up with fancy treats?”, Frye added, biting down on the corner of her brownie.

Shiver frowned.

“Do you have fancy treats kind of money? At the rate at which I buy you sweets, I might be broke by the end of the month.” 

Especially after they insisted and bought Marina that new boat out of guilt. Their bank account would be feeling that for months.

Frye gave a playfully exaggerated scowl. 

Then she seemed to get an idea, and held out the pendant of her seaglass necklace. 

“I’ve got this. I’m sure you could get somethin’ for it.”

Shiver quickly shook their head.

“I was just playing with you, Frye. I wouldn’t ask you to give up something of yours like that.”

“How much is it worth?”, she insisted, though she didn’t seem entirely serious.

Shiver rolled their eyes and sat up on their knees. 

They decided to humor her. Shiver held the smooth purple stone between their fingers and watched as the faint light of the setting sun played beneath its surface. Though Shiver would never ask her to give up something that was clearly precious to her, the necklace could very well be worth a decent chunk of money, if it weren’t for a small flaw they caught.

“Not sure. It’s got a little crack in the side, which decreases the value.” 

Shiver glanced up from their work for a moment. Frye was transfixed on them as they studied her necklace, and for a moment they swore they caught her eyes flicking down at their lips. It was difficult to hide that they’d gotten distracted themself, looking at the cute, rounded shape of her lips, the pretty way her hair framed her face, how droplets of water shone like glitter over the toned muscles of her back. “Granted, it’s very pretty,” they purred. Shiver’s lips curled into a grin. “I’d pay top dollar.”

“Really?”, Frye asked knowingly. “Take a closer look.”

Shiver pulled the pendant up slightly, relishing the look Frye gave them as she followed their movement, matching them every bit in desire, propping herself up out of the water just a little further. Their heart was racing, but Shiver fully ignored it in favor of ‘taking a closer look’. With their other hand Shiver gently held her chin and thumbed at her jaw. Frye hooked her arm loosely around Shiver’s neck, as if impatient for them to lean in and-

SPLASH-

“Sorry!”

“You did that on purpose. Jerk.”

“No, it wasn’t on purpose, I swear!”

It was difficult to look intimidating when Shiver had just tumbled into the water. 

They shifted in Frye’s grasp with a pout. They could float well enough on their own, Frye knew that, but she held them close to her to keep them safe anyway.

“You’re lucky I left my phone on the pier.”

“Hey, don’t be mad at me! I- Or actually, scratch that-” Frye grinned, a nefarious idea forming in her head, “If you’re gonna be mad, feel free to take it out on me.” Shiver felt their face flush as Frye pointed to her lips. “Right here.”

She was teasing them, seeing what they were going to do besides melt into a flustered puddle. 

Shiver wasn’t about to let her win here.

Despite the nerves clinging to them, Shiver drew from the confidence they didn’t yet have and reached out and cupped Frye’s cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. 

Just a couple of days ago they’d wondered what it would be like to kiss Frye without desperation. Somehow, it was all they imagined and even more. Her lips were so soft, sweet with a hint of sea salt. She melted so quickly beneath their touch, and in that moment it felt like they were two watercolor hues, blending together to create something new and beautiful.

Shiver felt a blazing warmth at the soft brush of Frye’s thumb over their jaw, just as they had done earlier for her.

Frye’s ears twitched contentedly as Shiver ghosted their fingers over the nape of her neck, until eventually they both parted, shyly looking away from an awkward shared gaze.

“I didn’t think you were actually gonna,” Frye panted, her voice high and flustered, “I was just messin’ with you, Shiv.”

“Aw, but you looked like you wanted me so badly when you asked,” Shiver teased. “You still do.”

Frye turned away, face flushed and fangs bared with exasperation. She’d been beat at her own game.

“You’re so- ugh!”

Chapter Text

“Check this out!” 

Frye proudly held a small, shiny object out to Shiver in the palm of her hand. It was a beautiful deep red color, like an uncut ruby. “I traded for it to give it to you. It reminded me of you, y’know, the color of your eyes.”

Frye had showed up around noon, the time she promised Shiver she’d show up near the reef so they could spend time together. 

Shiver took their boat and found a spot where there was no fear of being seen before they dropped their anchor, singing to themself as they waited. 

Shiver took the scarlet stone from Frye, flattered that she’d seen it and thought of them enough to bring it as a gift. As they held it up to the light and watched it glimmer, they couldn’t help but think,

“This would fetch a nice pric - Agh!” Shiver shielded their face with their hands at a jet of sea water Frye spat in their face. It was her new favorite way to tell Shiver to shut the hell up.  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m kidding!”, Shiver pleaded until Frye decided to give them mercy. 

 “I’ll treasure it,” they added more softly.  “Thank you, Frye.” 

Shiver could only hope she knew they were being sincere. Nobody had ever gone to the effort of bringing them a beautiful uncut gem like this. Shiver tucked the gem into their pocket for now and patted the spot beside them on the boat’s railing. “Come up here, I brought the boat for a reason. I want to show you something.” 

With a great heave, Shiver pulled Frye up by the arms and helped her up onto the deck. 

This boat was one their parents rarely ever used commercially. It was suited for more shallow waters, but boasted a nice big cabin for relaxing day trips.

Once Frye was done giggling at how out of breath they were helping her up, Shiver opened the door to the cabin and watched with a smile as Frye gasped in awe. This place was more like an artist’s workshop than a traditional fishing boat’s cabin. There were cabinets stocked with art supplies beside huge rolls of paper, and the walls were all decorated with gyotaku prints. Some were a simple, elegant black, others were rendered in beautiful colored inks. 

“Ooh, these are so cool!”, Frye gushed, taking them all in as she dragged herself inside. “You made these?”

“Most of them,” Shiver said modestly. Some of them were their father’s. “We make them by painting the fish with ink and pressing the paper down on them to create an impression.”

Frye gave a fascinated nod.

“I want one.”

“Of you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? I can just paint you normally.”

“Uh, ‘cuz I’m a work of art, duh!” She wasn't wrong, but Shiver still snickered. “Plus, you can do both. Twice the art.”

Shiver looked Frye up and down. She couldn’t be serious. 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re at least five times the size of these fish,” they said flatly. 

Frye scowled, leaving Shiver with no choice. 

They’d figure something out for her. 

“I’ve got a roll of project paper here,” they sighed. “I’ll see if I can cut a piece big enough to fit your enormous ass. Lay here.”

Immediately Frye perked up and pumped her fists in the air when she got her way. Shiver was almost in disbelief at how easily they’d given in to her whims, but the toothy smile on her face made it worth spoiling her. 

Shiver took the cushion from the captain’s seat in the front and set it beneath Frye’s head so she’d be a bit more comfortable laying on the vinyl floor while they went to unfurl the paper from its roll. 

The paper was definitely wide enough to accommodate Frye if she laid on her side, they decided. Shiver cut a good length to use for later, and the paper ruffled loudly as Shiver carefully tried to roll it back up without any wrinkles. 

The sink hissed as the water started running, and Frye watched curiously as Shiver wet a bunch of blue towels. 

“What’re you doing?”, asked Frye.

“I’ll do your top half first. These towels will help keep your tail hydrated in the meantime.”

“Thanks, Shiv.” 

She watched gratefully as Shiver placed the towels over the length of her tail, and she didn’t seem to mind the cold sensation much at all.

They already knew she’d told them her tail should be good out of water for at least an hour without getting irritated, but it wouldn’t hurt to be safe, anyway.

After mixing a few of their inks to get a rich color matching Frye’s skin tone, Shiver could finally start laying down pigment. 

They started by swiping the brush delicately over the place where her collarbone met her shoulder, only to be interrupted by Frye bringing her shoulder to her ear. She made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a yelp, and Shiver quickly apologized, asking if it hurt.

After a moment Frye shook her head, inviting Shiver to continue. 

They went quickly over half her face, being careful of her eyes. As Shiver painted her cheek, their canvas shifted as Frye grinned and recoiled. 

Involuntary or not, it was going to prolong this process.

 “Hold still,” Shiver groaned.

“I can’t help it! It tickles.”

Shiver folded their arms, but the way their eyes softened gave them away. They’d simply have to be patient.

The silence that followed felt sweet and comfortable, broken only by a little tune Shiver hummed as they continued gently down her arms and over the backs and sides of her hands. Frye still squirmed a little at the brush, but they could tell she was doing her best to keep still.

“How’s your brother been by the way?”, Shiver asked.

“He’s doing pretty well. I’m glad he’s back,” said Frye, and despite the way she fidgeted with her ink covered thumbs, Shiver could tell by the gleam in her eye she was being genuine. “He and my sisters ask about you sometimes.”

Shiver raised a brow.

“What do you tell them?”

“Lots of things. Like how you’re obsessed with sharks,” Frye teased. “They also thought it was interesting that when you humans play jinx, you release the person by saying their name. Where we live, you have to punch them in the back.”

“Ooh, violent. Sounds fun.” 

Shiver listened intently as Frye continued on about her siblings's antics, silly pranks they pulled on her that were swiftly met with her wrathful vengeance. It was nice to have something to keep them entertained as they swiped the brush gingerly over the side of Frye’s chest. 

Shiver was incredibly careful around Frye’s gills, both on her neck and her side. This ink was heavily diluted and body safe, but they didn’t want to risk getting any in her gills regardless. It was a detail they could add to the print by hand later on. 

Shiver paused their painting for a moment, noticing Frye had gone quiet.

“I wanted to ask you somethin’ too, Shiv,” she said as they met her gaze. “How’d you learn to sing so well?”

Finished with Frye’s top half, Shiver set the towels on her tail aside and dipped their brush into a deep yellow ink.

“My mother was a singer when she was young, and my father was a drummer.” With that, Shiver began painting Frye’s tail.

“Really?”

“Yes, they got into the family business after they married and their parents had them take over.” 

That was pretty much all Shiver knew about the story of their parents becoming the head of the company. They didn’t like to talk much about themselves or their past. What Shiver did remember vividly was the pressure to compete, something that at first filled them with crushing anxiety, but eventually came to exhilarate them. 

“I’ve liked to sing since I was little,” they continued, “I would be entered in contests, and I certainly didn’t mind commanding the stage. Now and then I still compete, just not as frequently.”

“Ooh, nice! Have you won any?”

“A lot of them, not to brag.” 

It was glaringly obvious Shiver loved nothing more than to brag, beaming with pride at the thought of all their victories. “Sometimes I like to perform just for the thrill of it, too. I was supposed to sing in that festival I told you about, you know, before it got canceled.” 

Frye’s ears hung low with sudden worry. 

“Don’t worry about it, though,” Shiver assured her. “I’m sure they’ll reschedule.”

The tip of Frye’s tail twitched as they coated it with ink before moving on to her dorsal fin.

“I’ve always loved to sing too,” Frye mused. “Now that I think about it, I’ve heard you sing, and you’ve heard me sing, but I don’t think we’ve ever sang a duet. We should learn a song so we can sing together some time.”

Shiver felt warmth bloom in their chest at the idea of learning a song solely for the sake of singing with Frye.

“I’d love to,” they said quietly, feeling their smile reach their eyes. “Now, you’re just about done. I’ll grab the paper and make the impression, then help you wash off before adding a few details.”

-

In order to get the ink uniformly onto the paper, Shiver had to press it down over the contours of Frye’s body, doing their best to keep everything steady as Frye fought to keep still. 

After a moment Shiver lifted the paper and held it proudly out to Frye, the result of almost an hour of hard work. They were lucky the sea was calm out here today, making for a clean impression. 

“So, what do you-”

“Why am I bald?!” Frye sat up, her eyes wide with disbelief before doubling back a little, embarrassed. “I mean, it looks great, but where’s my hair?”

Shiver couldn’t help it. They had to burst out laughing. 

“I wasn’t gonna get ink all over your hair!” Frye gave in to their infectious laughter for a moment, snickering at her own reaction. “I’ll hand paint your hair after I get you cleaned up today and I’ll paint your eyes first thing tomorrow morning, promise.”

The mermaid seemed satisfied with their explanation, and waited patiently as Shiver gathered the damp towels to wipe the ink off her. 

Frye told them she could wipe herself off, but they insisted on helping with her top half at least, and with her face. They said it was because it’d be difficult to get everything on her face herself when they didn’t have a mirror available, but more secretly, they just liked being close to her. 

Frye watched Shiver through golden, half lidded eyes as they softly rubbed the pigment off her face. This was the most still she’d been the entire time, even if her ears gave a contented twitch.

Something about being so close to Frye their noses nearly brushed made Shiver’s heart swell.

When Frye’s face was almost entirely clean, save for a small splotch of ink on the corner of her lips, Shiver froze.

Frye pressed a little kiss to their cheek, and it was clear by her smile she relished in seeing them blush with an ink stain on their face.

Chapter Text

By the time Shiver finished delicately detailing each strand of Frye’s hair, they told Frye they wanted to wait for the next morning to paint her eyes for the print. They would settle for nothing less than a day with perfect lighting to capture them.  

It rained the entirety of the next two days. 

Frye pushed down her impatience, knowing Shiver had good intentions. She was also easily bought off with treats, both from Shiver and Big Man. 

The two would come to visit Frye often to hangout or have movie nights, or in this case, a movie morning. It was still overcast when the sun rose and the two humans showed up to the little cove in clothes they called pajamas, Shiver with a shark shirt and black shorts, and Big Man with heart print shorts and a red shirt that said I <3 MICROPLASTICS across the front. 

Frye thought the concept of having an entirely different set of clothes just to sleep was really silly, but interesting nonetheless.

While they all gathered around and snacked on cereal, Big Man set up his tablet on the pier and put on this cartoon he liked to watch as a kid. Frye was a fan of the mischievous Little My, Big Man’s favorite was the lovable Moomin, while Shiver preferred the cool tempered Snufkin. 

It was incredibly peaceful, enjoying each other’s company, but it was sadly cut short. Shiver received a call and had to leave. 

They groaned and promised to return in the evening, but they had to go home on urgent business, leaving Frye and Big Man sitting together. Frye didn’t mind at all, he was incredibly sweet and bent easily to Frye’s whims. He also readily answered all Frye’s questions about human culture, and today Frye was feeling curious. 

She remembered seeing humans giving their romantic partners flowers on the docks on certain days of the year. Or at least, her theory was that they were romantic partners, and this theory was only proven further when she observed this phenomenon in the shows Shiver and Big Man showed her. 

This exchange of flowers almost always had the same result- the person receiving the flowers would be delighted and warmly embrace the other. 

It was only a little corner of Frye’s mind that entertained this idea, but it was enough to fill her entire being with yearning. 

“Hey, Big Man,” she began, sitting up a little further on the pier, “When humans court eachother, they give each other flowers, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah! I’d say so,” said Big Man, pausing the video playing on his tablet. “There are a lot of occasions where people give each other flowers, though.” Big Man counted on his fingers all the numerous, confusing occasions flowers might be given.  “Anniversaries, birthdays, sickness, deaths. Even after funerals.”

…

“So you’re saying if I gave Shiver flowers they might think I’m wishing death on them?”

“Wh- No! I think they’d understand, given the context. It’s usually positive to give flowers.”

Oh. That made sense then. 

If intact flowers were easier to come by for seafolk, she was sure they’d be popular gifts in the ocean too.

“Do you think Shiver would like some then?”

Big Man put a finger to his chin, recalling the last time he spoke with Shiver about something similar shortly after Valentine’s Day a year ago. 

‘I don’t know how to feel about flowers,’ they told him. ‘I’ve had exes give me the biggest bouquets they could find at the store. It always felt forced.’

“I think they’d love some,” said Big Man. “Especially from you.” He smiled at the thought of Shiver finally feeling what it was like to actually enjoy receiving flowers. “It doesn’t have to be a lot of flowers, as long as you put thought into them.”

Frye straightened with excitement.

It could be worth a shot. 

Frye could swim the length of the coast searching for flowers that had fallen into the water, but even then there still wouldn’t be many of them. She frowned. She wouldn’t be able to leave the water and get far enough to gather more without potentially beaching herself.

“Would you…wanna help me gather some?”

“Of course. I’ve got you, girl.”

Together, the pair spent the rest of the afternoon hunting for the perfect flowers. 

-

Shiver took a little motorboat back to the cove only a short while after Big Man left. That meant Frye was waiting there with the bouquet for only a short amount of time.

“Hi, Shiver!”, Frye blurted as soon as Shiver anchored by the pier.

She wanted to bury herself in the sand. She sounded like an overexcited kid. 

“Hi, Frye,” Shiver said fondly. They didn’t seem to care that Frye was too loud, they just looked curious about what Frye was hiding.

It was now or never. Frye held out the bouquet she’d made, explaining she’d gotten it just for them.

Shiver grinned and held it close to their face. It was a small, colorful arrangement of flowers tied with a deep blue ribbon frilled with white lace. Shiver recognized this blue ribbon from somewhere…

The craft store right next to Big Man’s restaurant.

Shiver beamed even brighter. They knew immediately Big Man must have helped her put this together. 

She must have worked so hard on it, too, just for them. 

Frye felt her heart swell when Shiver looked every bit as delighted as she hoped they would. They told her they’d keep these flowers in a vase in their room so they could see them and tend to them every morning, and asked if it was alright if they braided a few of them into her hair as well. 

Frye quickly took their offer. With a little grunt she pulled herself up and sat in front of them on the pier. 

As she took the braid out of her hair, Frye realized this had to be one of the only times Shiver had ever seen her with her hair down. It was more practical to have it up while she swam, as it kept it out of her face. 

Before touching Frye, Shiver set aside some of the white flowers with the pink centers, along with some of the smaller yellow wildflowers. They told her these would look the cutest in her hair. 

Frye took one of the flowers from the pile and tucked it behind Shiver’s ear. 

“There, now we’ll match,” she said, filled with warmth at the smitten expression on Shiver’s face. 

It took a moment for Shiver to leave their daze. She could only wonder what they were thinking when they looked at her that way. 

There wasn’t much time to wonder, as it was time for Shiver to get to work. 

Frye felt her heart stir the way the waves stirred the seagrass as Shiver gently parted her hair into pieces. It was something about the feeling of their fingers running through her hair, occasionally brushing her neck that made her want to melt. 

“My father always told me that flowers weren’t a very good gift because they wither and die,” Shiver thought aloud, their words slow and tentative as they began to braid. For a moment Frye worried Shiver might think the same. “I think it makes them all the more precious. If they make you happy in the brief moment they’re with you, that’s all that matters.”

“I never thought of it like that. That’s really nice…” 

A little smile lingered on Frye’s face as Shiver finished plaiting, carefully securing a white flower in her hair. 

“What do seafolk give people they like?”, Shiver asked curiously.

“Oh, it depends where you live. Near Isurus, we usually give each other polished stones or shells. Handmade jewelry is pretty common too.” Once Frye started talking, she wouldn’t stop, and didn’t realize she was giving herself away. “You know, they say the shinier the stone you give the person, the more attractive you think they are.”

…

“Hm…” Frye watched in slight terror as Shiver put two and two together and grinned. “So that’s what that present was the other day, huh?” 

Frye tried not to squirm under Shiver’s red hot gaze. Especially when they laughed, a sound rich and sweet like dark chocolate. She couldn’t deny it, but she didn’t want to admit it either. 

“Well, I’m flattered that you think I’m attractive,” said Shiver, tucking a few more flowers in her hair. They paused with a thoughtful hum. “Would you like me even if I wasn’t so ravishingly gorgeous?”

Frye snapped at the air behind her like the little warning bites she gave her brother when he was getting too cocky. 

“Watch the ego, blue hair. But…yeah,” Frye said simply. “You’d still be you. You just wouldn’t get away with as much.”

“Hm. Good answer.”

Shiver snickered, unable to keep a straight face as they tucked the last flower into Frye’s braid. 

“There. All done.” Shiver pulled their clutch mirror out of their pocket. With a little click, they opened it so she could see her own reflection, decorated with pretty flowers. “You look beautiful, Frye.”

The pair exchanged a smile, and Frye murmured, “So do you.”

... - .- -.--

Marina idly spun her umbrella as she waited on the docks. The heavy clouds in the sky meant the previous day’s rain would continue. That meant keeping her umbrella with her at all times. With the safety on, of course. 

With so little to do here, all Marina could think of was how expensive her grocery run was today. Those feeder shrimp for the octopi were digging into her bank account, but so did everything these days. Her rent had increased and the financial assistance she got for her research from the Houzuki family was on a slow decline, instead steadily being replaced by the assistance of Grizzco.

No doubt the intention was to make Marina dependent on them.

She understood Grizzco’s urgency to some extent. The very thought of the sirens made Marina’s blood boil. 

But even so, she knew Grizzco rushing and haphazardly bulldozing them would be good for no one. People and animals would get hurt. And yet she did nothing. Instead of standing up to Grizz, she just kept sinking herself into her work like a pawn in hopes he wouldn’t keep her research, or worse, try to get rid of her.

What had she become?

A spineless puppet for the ones who gave her the funds to continue her research?

Marina closed her eyes and sighed.

If only she had the funds herself, she’d be free from Grizzco, from the Houzukis, from everything. 

Even when Marina opened her eyes, there wasn’t much of a difference. It was so late at night, Marina could hardly see a dolphin’s length in front of her. The old flickering lights that lit the dock didn’t do much to help.

The head of the fishermen told Marina Shiver would be back late when she came in the evening, so she came back once it was dark. It was just her and the quiet roar of the waves since all the fishermen had gone home.

She wanted to be on good terms with Shiver. They bought her that boat and everything even after she’d refused it, but…what if they held that against her?

What if they secretly hated her?

Maybe she’d been too harsh on Shiver. They were just trying to do what was right. Even if they had a tendency to be snarky and curt at times, she still considered them a friend. 

 Marina jumped at what sounded like a motor boat making its way into the docks.  

She couldn’t see them very well, but it was undoubtedly Shiver. 

She heard their voice coming from that boat. They were likely mid conversation with someone who’d come with them, but she could come up to them and apologize after they were done. 

When Marina stepped closer to get a peek at Shiver and whoever they were talking to, she nearly gasped and dropped the binder in her hands. 

Shiver was talking and laughing with a white flower tucked behind their ear. In the water was a siren, her body lithe and muscled, and her teeth razor sharp.

Chapter Text

Missing Persons Report

Bankara Police Department

Name: Shiver Hohojiro

Last seen —/—/—

Last Known In Person Witness

Name: Marina Iida

10:30PM

Last Known Telephone Communication

Name: Mantaro Munekiyo

11:00PM

Record of Telephone Conversation 

Involved Parties: Mantaro Munekiyo, Shiver Hohojiro

M: Hey, Shiver. Where’ve you been? I haven’t heard from you all day!

S: Sorry, Big Guy, I was just so busy I forgot to check my phone.

M: On a date, huh? *laughs* Did you at least like the flowers?

S: The bouquet was really nice. I loved it. Thanks for helping her with it.

M: Anytime.

S: I’ll stop by your place for a bit later to make it up to you. We can hang out a little before I head home. 

*crackle*

-

——

Big Man’s expression was hollow as the officer played his conversation with Shiver back to him over a grainy audio recording. It felt so nauseatingly surreal as the man asked him questions in this tiny, harshly lit office. 

He asked about the date, about Shiver’s usual behavior, and about the woman they were seeing. 

Big Man had to pretend like Shiver had a fake love interest to avoid revealing Frye’s identity. 

It had been four days since Shiver went missing. 

After helping Frye prepare her bouquet, Big Man clocked in at the restaurant and all went as usual. He called Shiver at the end of the day to check in on them and they offered to come over to his place for a bit to chat. When they didn’t show up and didn’t answer their phone, Big Man figured maybe they forgot and went straight home to sleep. It was late after all.

But there was no response in the morning either. 

The day passed and Big Man called Shiver’s parents. They didn’t know where Shiver was. 

Nobody did. 

Before going to the police, Big Man helped Shiver’s parents obsessively check every boat they owned. When he asked why, they told him Shiver had a habit of falling asleep in the boats as a teenager. 

Big Man knew the chance of something like that happening was unlikely, but still he kept searching. He wanted as badly as Shiver’s parents did for it to be true. To peek into one of the boats and catch them dozing off. 

The more boats he checked only to find nothing, the more dread mounted in his stomach. 

On one boat, he was greeted by counters stacked with neatly arranged art supplies and walls covered in intricate gyotaku prints. One was left open on the counter. 

It was a colored print of Frye, detailed beautifully down to the gills. There was something chilling about the way it was missing its eyes. 

It was left unfinished, open like Shiver fully intended to finish it when they had the chance. 

Knowing Shiver’s parents, he didn’t know what they might do with this if they found it. And they most definitely would find it if he left it here. Big Man carefully rolled it up and put it in his backpack to give to Shiver if they came back. 

When they came back, he assured himself, not if. 

Big Man never stopped convincing himself of that, not even as he left the police station that day after being questioned.

He left with Marina, who'd been questioned just before him. He’d offered to drive her home, even if she lived a short walk from the station. 

Big Man could tell by the way she lingered in her seat outside the questioning room even after she was done that she would appreciate the company. 

Though the trip to her apartment was quiet, Marina seemed grateful when thanking him and invited him up to stay a while for tea. As much as he knew Marina needed his company, he needed hers just as much. 

If he went home today, he might fall apart. 

After stepping inside, Marina went into her kitchen and prepared Big Man some tea and white chocolate cookies. 

Big Man offered to help in the kitchen as Marina worked, but she insisted he was the guest and that he deserved to relax. Not that he was going to do much relaxing, but Big Man did as he was told and sat on the couch as he waited. 

Marina’s apartment was lit warmly by a colorful lamp on her end table, as well as a series of glimmering string lights hanging from the ceiling. 

On her coffee table was a neat pile of yuri manga and a few white flowers with pink centers arranged in a ceramic pot. Stuck to the side of the pot was a set of handwritten instructions for the flowers' care, how much to water them, how often, how much sun they needed.

Signed Off the Hook posters still hung proudly on the pale teal wall above her DJ table. Big Man remembered Marina put them there after their first performance, and there they stayed like Pearl never left. 

It was a bittersweet feeling.  

A little while after the kettle whistled, Marina brought the tea and cookies out to Big Man with a slight smile. As she sat beside him on the couch, though, he could tell she was just as shaken as he was. 

Big Man thanked her quietly and brought the cup of tea to his lips. It was warm and comforting like a hug in the aching silence that dragged between them. 

Disappearances weren’t uncommon in Bankara. Especially among people that didn’t know the place or how to respect its environment. But Shiver wasn’t like that. 

Pearl wasn’t the first, and Shiver wouldn’t be the last. But...why Shiver? Why now?

The endless answers to that question terrified Big Man beyond belief.

Marina met his gaze after a little while and asked,

“Do you have any idea…?”

What happened to Shiver. 

She didn’t seem able to finish the sentence, but she didn’t have to. 

“I don’t know,” Big Man said numbly. “I don’t want to know unless it involves them being safe.”

“I understand.” Marina bowed her head as Big Man took another sip of his tea. It seemed like she knew something more. “I should’ve done something,” she continued, her voice cracking as she squeezed her eyes shut. “I should’ve stayed.”

“Don’t say that,” Big Man said firmly. “It’s not your fault you were the last to see them.”

“I saw Shiver with a siren. And I left.” Tears welled in Marina’s eyes. “It was dark, so I convinced myself I was seeing things, but…” 

Big Man’s heart began to pound like a drum. Did she tell the police? What did that mean for Frye if she did? 

Despite how his mind whirled with questions, Big Man had to feign surprise.

“R-really?”

Marina’s eyes went wide with betrayal. 

“You knew? Big Man, you knew Shiver was in danger and you did nothing?!”

“It’s not like that!”

Marina roughly wiped the tears from her eyes with the side of her hand. 

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Big Man flinched at Marina’s words before she shrank back. A dark expression came over Marina as she held her sides. “Sirens do this kind of thing, Big Man, they lure people to their deaths just for the fun of it. And you just let it happen.”

Guilt grew like thorn studded vines over Big Man’s heart. 

“Frye wouldn’t do that. I know her.”

Marina bristled, unconvinced. 

“Why else would Shiver disappear, Big Man? Think about it.” Marina took a few deep breaths to gather herself. “It’s never strangers you have to fear, but people you know.”

Frye was a kind soul, but the more Big Man thought about it, the more it made sense. He knew Shiver like his own sibling. He couldn’t say the same for Frye, however much he liked her. 

He had no idea what she was capable of.

A wave of violent betrayal made Big Man crumble and hold his head in his hands, trying and failing to keep his composure. 

Frye tried to earn his trust so she could do away with Shiver. 

What was he supposed to do now?

—

A week passed since the last time Frye saw Shiver or Big Man. 

She knew Big Man could be busy, but…

Shiver promised Frye they wouldn’t disappear again. 

Though part of Frye worried it was her who’d somehow pushed Shiver away, the more likely scenario was that something had happened to Shiver. Something awful. And that was terrifying. 

They still had so much they needed to do. Shiver still had to finish painting her eyes. 

Shiver told her the festival they were going to sing at was postponed. They still needed to sing there. They still needed to sing with her. She needed to sing with Shiver, she... 

When Frye surfaced above the waves, she saw a lone figure walking along the beach. 

“Big Man!”

This was perfect. He of all humans would be able to help her find Shiver. 

Frye made her way over to the shore, as close as she could safely make it without getting herself stuck in the sand.

Big Man took a step back and looked down at Frye with eyes devoid of the warmth and familiarity he always showed her. 

“What did you do with Shiver?”, he asked, voice trembling. “Who even are you? Why did you lie to us?”

“What did I-” Frye stammered, unable to process that Big Man was talking to her like this, “Big Man, you can’t possibly think-”

“Get away from me!” 

Looks of fear and hatred flashed over Big Man's features before he looked like he wanted to burst into tears and ran off.

Frye dragged herself desperately after him, but…

She couldn’t go any further. 

In that moment, Frye felt like she was a little kid again, trapped on the beach. Her arms felt weak beneath her, and the waves crashed over her as she crumpled into a heap. If her face burned, her heart blazed. 

She buried her face in her hands, unable to stop the tears. 

Chapter Text

Shiver held the bouquet in their hands as they watched Frye slip smoothly beneath the waves. It still smelled fresh, sweet enough to make Shiver smile, thinking of Frye’s adorable expression as they braided the flowers into her hair. They could still feel the shining stone Frye gave them sitting in their pocket too. They’d started carrying it around as a sort of good luck charm. 

Having it with them reminded Shiver of how sweet Frye was. She deserved someone who could help her more.

They were still effectively useless to Frye. 

It was something Shiver couldn’t ignore when they were alone. Marina considered them a friend only because she knew they had some connection to the sirens that both terrified and fascinated her. Their own parents only kept them around because of the free labor and publicity they could offer. That was the way life worked. 

Those sweet moments between them and Frye gave their life so much light and meaning, but were they strong enough to justify continuously putting herself and her family in danger?

If they couldn’t offer Frye anything, what use did she have for them?

How long would she continue to entertain someone like them?

Shiver felt their heart twist. 

They should head home. 

For a moment Shiver continued to stare wistfully down at the flowers, their colors made dull by the darkness of night, before tensing at the sudden sound of footsteps. Heavy ones.

Dread made them stiffen before Shiver even looked up and saw who it was. 

Mr.Grizz.

A lone figure approaching them, radiating a strange untouchable energy. His presence shook Shiver deeply since they were a child hiding behind their mother’s leg. Even now, he loomed over them with that uncannily neutral expression, one only made worse from the flickering lights of the dock.

For a long time, the only thing breaking the silence between them was the quiet roar of the waves. 

“What is it you want?”, asked Grizz, his voice low and threatening like a growl.  

“What? What are you talking about?”

“What is it you want to get at by stealing Grizzco property?” It felt like his steps shook the stony ground beneath him as he stepped even closer. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did.” Shiver’s blood ran cold as they took a step back. So he found out. “Do you want to make your entire family an enemy of Grizzco?” 

“No,” Shiver said firmly, despite the fear making them bristle. 

It wasn’t unheard of for someone to make enemies with Grizzco and weeks later wake up mysteriously filled with holes like a piece of swiss cheese. The last thing Shiver wanted was to put their family in danger for something they did. “Of course not. My family doesn’t know, so leave them alone. I just want you to stop trying to get rid of the seafolk. This place is their home too.”

Mr.Grizz gave an unnerving chuckle.

“Kid, life is one long game of never getting what you want.” He paused, like gears were turning in his brain. “Grovel for forgiveness and I’ll consider letting you live if you keep your mouth shut.”

Shiver narrowed their eyes and scoffed, pride and spite clawing their way above any sense of self preservation.

“You’re crazy if you think for a second that I’ll grovel for you.”

Mr.Grizz scowled for only a moment before returning to that uncannily neutral expression.

“Alright.” The man’s hand came slowly to his pocket. Something in Shiver knew they needed to run, but in front of them was their doom, and behind them was the churning sea, which wouldn’t be of any help despite how they loved it. “You know all those disappearances the sirens are causing? What’s one more?”

Time slowed to a crawl as a fierce wind howled and the trees shook violently. The clouds shifted and uncovered the moon, like it wanted to watch what was about to unfold. The moonlight made Shiver’s shadow grow long, and with the sound of a deafening gunshot, Shiver’s shadow was dyed red. 

They weren’t fully sure if they screamed. The shooting pain throughout their body made their head spin so fast it was hard to distinguish what was real and what wasn’t. As Shiver’s limbs went numb they felt the sting of themselves hitting the ground, and a kick filled with hatred sent them hurtling backwards off the dock. 

They’d experienced this once before, hitting that pitch black water with adrenaline making their muscles scream, but this, this was worse. Last time they passed out the second they hit the water. 

This time, they could feel the seawater diluting their blood and stinging their wounds and flooding their lungs, their senses screaming with the pungent flavor of salt and iron. 

All Shiver could do was slowly fall apart, the petals of their bouquet slowly scattering above the waves.

Chapter Text

The only thing that filled the silence in the whisker thin line between life and death were the hushed whispers of the sea, a perfect lullaby for an imperfect outsider. 

It was the muffled rumble of something swimming by that stirred Shiver and made them realize they were all curled up and dreaming. 

Not that they minded.

It was pleasant, like the mental equivalent of running their fingers over delicate silk. 

They saw visions of salmon swimming upstream, turtles returning to shore to lay their eggs, seals feeding their young on a beach of smooth stones. All these creatures filled with an innate knowledge that to fulfill their life’s purpose, they had to return home.

Shiver couldn’t be sure how long they rested in that dreamlike state, but when they woke, they opened their eyes just a crack and promptly closed them to rest a little while longer. 

They remembered their name despite the sudden fuzziness of their memories, and after a moment they remembered with a shudder what happened with Grizz just before everything faded away. 

They remembered their parents’s faces, and Big Man’s as well. Not much else…

Shiver drowsily opened their eyes as they finally sat up in the sand.  

Warm rays of sun filtered in through the surface above, which seemed to ripple and writhe with life. In the distance, Shiver could see the fuzzy shapes of schools of fish darting around in intricate patterns. The current had likely carried Shiver out to sea where they’d be safe from Grizz, they figured as if it made perfect sense. 

Shiver wondered faintly if their parents were safe, if Grizz had decided to leave them alone. 

Shiver’s mouth watered at the scent of fish, present all around them. It was so strong it derailed their train of thought.

More consciousness dripped into Shiver’s mind slowly, giving them more awareness of their surroundings. It was then that they truly registered that they were underwater.  

They were breathing as easily as ever, though, even all the way down here.

How long had they been down here?

 Had they died? 

Were they still dreaming? 

There were so many strong scents and vibrant colors and tiny sounds Shiver could suddenly pick up. It was all too much at once. 

Shiver laid flat to swim towards the surface, towards home, but they couldn’t kick their legs to move forward. 

When Shiver rolled onto their back and looked down, they realized with a start that in place of legs, they had a shark’s tail, with dorsal and pectoral fins that they could both feel and move. 

…

This had to be a dream. 

Shiver thrashed wildly, desperately hoping to wake up. 

Each time Shiver felt their tail hit the grainy sand in a frenzy of bubbles, though, they grew more and more sure that they were awake, and that somehow, this was real. 

Shiver looked down at their body, noting the presence of strange reddish gills on their neck and sides, twitching slightly as they took in air and filtered out the water. There were also intricate black markings they recognized going up the side of their hip, meaning they’d somehow kept their tattoos. 

When Shiver looked down at their hands, their nails had grown into small sharp claws and their fingers were red at the tips. 

Their chest was bare, but also even flatter than before. That did make them feel satisfied, but it was far from the first thing on their mind. 

They didn’t have any bullet wounds, at least not that they could see. 

How long had they been down here?

…

Something red shone in the sand beneath them.

Shiver couldn’t quite recall what it was, but it felt important so they picked it up. They’d keep it with them for now.

It was their only shred of comfort in a world that felt utterly alien, and yet uncannily like home in ways they didn’t quite understand. 

All Shiver knew was they didn’t belong here. 

This didn’t feel right. 

Though they had zero idea where they were, something in Shiver knew the way back to town. It was like a feeling combined with a metallic scent that led them in the direction they knew was right.

After what felt like hours of confusing trial and error, Shiver finally got the hang of swimming with their tail enough to swim back to town, bolstered by their newfound stamina. 

Particularly, Shiver found their way to an old pier in a little cove. For some reason it felt important to them, the same way the red stone did. 

Shiver figured something helpful might be there, and their instinct was confirmed when they found two human figures standing together on the little pier. A woman in a black overcoat, and a man at her side in a black hooded parka. 

Their parents.

The memories of them were still a little fuzzy, but they had to be. They had the right scent that told Shiver they were family. Maybe they could help somehow. 

When Shiver surfaced, they made the mistake of calling out to them. 

They thought their voice alone would be enough to convince them of who they were. 

Shiver’s mother looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Their father paled like he’d seen a ghost. Both looked like they were going to pass out. 

“Hey, it’s me, come on! You have to know your own child,” Shiver insisted, receiving only a glaringly long silence in return. “Look, I know it’s weird, but I can explain, I…um…” That was a lie. Shiver didn’t have the slightest idea how to explain this. “I got into some trouble with Grizzco and I fell into the water and when I woke up, I was…different.”

Shiver’s parents clung to each other, somehow even more terrified than before. 

Their mother whispered something into their father’s ear, something they couldn’t quite make out like, ‘She told us she saw…’

It was then that Shiver realized they didn’t really know what their face looked like. They felt their ears pin back with fear. 

What if they looked hideous to the point of being unrecognizable?

What if they looked like a monster?

Nobody would ever want to talk to Shiver again. They’d be reduced to an outcast wandering the bottom of the ocean.

But their own parents would know their child. Even like this. 

Right? 

The doubt in Shiver’s head was enough to make their voice break pathetically. 

“Mama, Papa, please! You have to believe me, I-”

Shiver flinched at something striking their shoulder. 

Their father had picked up a stone and thrown it at them. His hands shook as he threatened them, but he made no other moves. 

“Leave my wife and I alone, or I’ll- I’ll harpoon you!

“Hey! You can’t-”

“You’ve done enough, siren. Stop mocking us!”

Shiver’s heart stung at the sight of their mother burying her face in their father’s shoulder with a sob. Their father didn’t look far behind her. He detested crying, and yet…

Shiver shrank back. 

Were they causing their parents pain by showing their face? 

Would it be better to disappear if this was the way they were now?

Maybe that was how it would have to be from now on. Shiver dove down beneath the surface, far enough that their parents couldn’t see them.

They balled their fists and vainly rubbed the tears from their eyes. 

It was useless to try this again. If even their parents, supposedly sworn to unconditional love for them by mere virtue of their birth, did this to them, what of Big Man? 

Shiver buried their face in their hands. They didn’t think they could handle this from him, or anyone else for that matter.

Shiver’s breaths were ragged like their heart had been ripped straight from their chest, and yet, as they screwed their eyes shut, it had the audacity to beat like a drum in their ears.   

Why?

Why make a miraculous recovery like this just to rip them from the life they knew? To be left alone and terrified in the body of a monster?

It felt like a cruel joke. And yet it was like there was an animal inside them that wanted to live by any means necessary. Something greater than their regular self preservation.

Despite the fear and sinking emptiness inside, whatever Shiver had become decided they needed to set aside those foggy memories that haunted them and swim further down into the depths. They needed to hunt down anything that moved. 

Chapter Text

About a month and a half passed since Frye last saw Shiver. 

She knew because she counted each phase of the moon that went by after pacing the shoreline each day. 

When she wasn’t thinking about the last time she saw Shiver, Frye thought about the last time she spoke to a human at all. That day, she’d been made sharply aware of her place in the world. The way Big Man spoke to her was almost worse than if he’d physically tried to strike her. To make things worse, without Big Man’s help, the land was inaccessible to Frye again. 

She felt so helpless. 

There was nothing she could do if Shiver was on land somewhere.

Frye took the little mirror Shiver had gifted her and opened it up to stare at her own reflection. She looked exhausted from searching, and yet, had she really done anything at all? 

…

Frye tucked the mirror into a small pouch at her waist and decided to get closer to the docks than she’d dared to since that fateful night.

It was dangerous to get so close to the human town in broad daylight when so many people were there. Her family would forbid her from it. Shiver would strongly advise against it. 

Neither of them were here.

Frye clung to the stony underside of the docks, carefully peeking her head out over the surface to see if she could make out any conversations that might help her.

For the most part, she caught bits and pieces of mundane chatter about the bulk of the catches and the look of the sea today, and then she overheard the voices of two older, somber fishermen. 

“I heard Shiver’s case is startin’ to go cold. They’re outta leads.”

Frye’s eyes went wide.

“Outta leads? Everybody knows a siren probably got to ‘em. The poor kid.”

“Nothing to be done, I guess...”

It couldn’t be. It had only been a little more than a month. Surely they found something. Some kind of clue, something. Shiver’s own kind couldn’t give up on looking for them.

She wouldn’t. Even if what she could do from here was limited, Frye wouldn’t give up until she found Shiver. Alive, or otherwise.

Frye snapped back to reality when she realized that the two men’s voices were getting further away. She could still get information out of them if she tried. 

“What’s that about?”

“-Twice now. You think she’s bad luck or she had somethin’ to do with it?”

“I dunno…she’s a nice girl.”

Frye followed the voices as far as she could get until she was in shallow water up against one of the dock’s stone foundations, where she felt something buried in the sand brush her tail.

When Frye picked it up, she recognized the little blue strip of fabric immediately.

It was the ribbon she’d tied Shiver’s bouquet with. Why was it here?

Frye brought it close to her face and sniffed it.

Notes of Shiver’s blood. Stale.

Frye felt her own blood run cold with dread, and all at once she choked on the guilt of not having found this sooner. If she had, then maybe…

Frye shook her head.

It could still help her. 

Frye began to obsessively inspect every inch of the underside of the docks. The only thing she found was a strange amount of flower petals wedged between stones or buried in the sand, shriveled and wilted away from the salt water. Frye still couldn’t be sure what this meant, but it told her she was getting closer to figuring this whole thing out. As Frye racked her brain, she remembered something her mother always told her. 

You won’t find lost things in places you’ve already looked. 

She’d exhausted the possibilities of land and decided to swim further into the sea. Even if it didn’t make sense for Shiver to be there, she had to try. She would find Shiver no matter what. 

Frye kept the ribbon clutched tightly in her fist, keeping Shiver’s rich scent in mind as she swam in a pattern parallel to the shore, slowly getting deeper and deeper as she scanned the ocean floor. 

Frye saw the worst flash before her eyes as she smelled Shiver’s scent. All the way down here?

It was a stony reef, not far from the place she’d seen Shiver when they were diving with their human friends. The difference between this place and where she’d seen Shiver last time was that this place was starting to die. There were far fewer corals and the ones that there were were bleached a sickly white. 

Only weary sharks were known to rest here. Frye feared no shark, and any that tried to show her attitude now would be flipped over on their back and tonic before they even knew it. She ignored any as she combed the reef, anticipation mounting as Shiver’s scent grew stronger. 

There was a figure hiding in a rocky nook in the reef.

The figure was seafolk, just like her, but hunched over with their tail curled up towards their chin like a human. When they caught her scent, they flashed her their pointed teeth, but the threat was empty. 

Frye could smell fear on them, and the moment she drew close enough to touch them, they curled up even more.

Frye looked them over for a moment, trying to understand what she was seeing. That short mess of blue hair was so familiar.  Those markings on their hip were the exact same as Shiver’s. 

Those gorgeous red eyes, though duller than she remembered, stirred her heart all the same. 

Frye took Shiver’s hand loosely in hers, drinking in their scent and looking them over like she wanted to be absolutely sure it was them. For a moment they glared at her, and even the cutting look in their eyes like they wanted to scold her was the same as before.

Frye felt a pang of guilt as she looked down and saw they had the same puncture scars Shiver had on their shin on the side of their tail. Frye reached out to touch them and they recoiled, blushing a soft red. 

Frye felt a surge of hope.

It had to be Shiver. She’d know them anywhere, even if it was strange.

They had one hand clenched tightly around something, something small and red. It was the stone she’d given them. For whatever reason they held it close to their chest, as if afraid Frye would take it from them.

Did they not remember she gave it to them?

‘Shiver?’, Frye signed with her fingers.

Shiver stared at her blankly. 

Right. 

They didn’t know how to sign, much less the name sign she’d made up for them. 

They moved back when she tried to touch her forehead to theirs. Frye felt her heart drop at the lack of recognition in their eyes. They eyed her with a mix of fascination and suspicion. It was like she was a stranger. 

Did they not remember her at all? 

If she was the only one who remembered those beautiful moments they shared, the powerful feelings that bound them to each other, then was any of it real?

If in her last days her memory failed her, would there be nothing left of that time they spent together? 

Frye’s ears fell. She could barely handle the thought of what would happen if Shiver really didn’t know her anymore. There was nothing she could do. 

Shiver was finally right in front of her, and yet..

Frye grit her teeth and took Shiver by the shoulders, desperately shaking them like it’d reset their brain, shouting at the top of her lungs despite the fact her words would become a muffled mess down here.

“Shiver, please! You gotta remember me!! I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, but that doesn’t mean you can just go and forget me! I love you- I love you and nothing’s gonna change that, even if you don’t remember me! Please!”

…

Frye felt her hands shake as she let Shiver go, leaving them to wobble around dizzily. They looked like they understood absolutely nothing. It was the first time she’d told Shiver aloud that she loved them, and they didn’t even hear it. But they cracked a little smile, one that quickly made them burst into bubbling laughter.

Frye felt her cheeks darken, somewhere between embarrassment and relief. 

There was the smallest shift in their expression now, just enough that Frye could tell something was different. It was only confirmed when she made out the single syllable of her name from Shiver’s lips, even muffled and swallowed by bubbles. They knew who she was.

Frye felt her eyes sting with the beginnings of the very tears she saw in Shiver’s eyes, when they lunged forward and took her in their embrace. As they squeezed Frye like they thought they’d never see her again, she felt them shake, sobbing nonstop into her shoulder. 

Chapter Text

After their tearful reunion, Shiver and Frye spent a while just swimming together. It was the best way to get out the burst of ecstatic energy that seeing each other again brought. 

The pair danced excitedly around one another, swimming up until they were just short of the surface before diving back down over and over. Eventually Frye took Shiver by the hands and just spun them around in a circle. Despite how dizzy they were, Shiver laughed and reveled in the bubbly sound of Frye doing the same. They realized distantly that they’d laughed more since Frye showed up than they had since they got down here. 

Since Shiver had become…whatever they were, life had just been about survival. It was an endless cycle of hunting fish to varying degrees of success. Most of the time they ended up crashing into a rock. 

Shiver did at times feel tired, but they could no longer achieve the quality of sleep they’d had the month after the incident with Grizz. They just couldn’t get comfortable enough to fully fall asleep, whether it was in the sand, on a rock, or on a flimsy little nest they’d tried to make out of seagrass. 

In the depths of their heart, Shiver missed home, but down here, going home felt like an impossible dream. 

Resigned to their fate, Shiver hid in the dying, stony reef where nobody would have to see them, watching the sharks swim by. It was less painful to blend into the darkness and try and forget who they used to be. 

Then Frye somehow managed to find them. She came down like the rays of sun came down through the ocean’s rippling surface and brought light to the depths, and now she was play-wrestling with them down in the sand.

It wasn’t long before Frye had Shiver pinned down and struggling beneath her. The woman grinned at her feat and pulled back, pointing to the surface. Shiver figured she wanted to tell them something. 

When they surfaced, Frye finally asked what happened. 

As she spoke she held them close like she worried they’d get away from her again, and Shiver was most definitely not complaining. 

Shiver told her everything about how that night Grizz had caught them alone at the dock and they fell into the water, feeling the blood leeching out of them. When they woke up, they were suddenly different. 

Frye looked…confused at Shiver’s story, but not upset. In fact Frye had an easy smile on her face, regarding Shiver like they were some kind of treasure. Something about it made them blush a little. 

“I guess it doesn’t really matter how it happened,” Frye mused. “This could be good! We can see each other all the time now!” Frye’s tail waved with excitement. “Plus, my family will finally stop seeing you as a tool. I might even be able to pass you off as regular sea folk to my parents if we can hide your scent. They might recognize it, and I’m not sure how they’ll react.”

Shiver felt themselves bristle. 

“You want to ‘pass me off’ as something I’m not?” Frye frowned as Shiver backed out of her grasp. “I don’t want you lying to your family about something like that.”

“Well, you are seafolk now so it’s not a lie.”

“That’s not the point!” Shiver felt their ears pin back in frustration. “I’m not ashamed of being a human and I don’t want to be.” 

“It’s not about that! I’m just trying to protect you, don’t be an idiot!”

Shiver caught themselves baring their teeth at Frye’s words. She quickly did the same. 

“I’m ready for whatever your family has to throw at me. I don’t care if they know I’m a human. Or do you just not want them to meet me?”

“Of course I do! I want them to meet you and I want you to stay somewhere safe.” The tense air between the two grew weaker with each beat of silence. A remorseful gleam entered Frye’s eyes as her ears fell. “I’m sorry, Shiv. If it’s important to you, I’ll tell them the truth, even if it worries me.” A reassuring hand came to Shiver’s shoulder. “I’ll protect you no matter what happens. I promise.”

Shiver crossed their arms stubbornly. 

Bits of their anger lingered, but seeing Frye all sorry like this, it was difficult to stay that way for long. Shiver thanked her quietly, and with that the pair dove beneath the waves again. They followed Frye closely as she took her usual route home over swaying sea grass, bustling reefs, and small heaps of industrial trash.

It wasn’t long before the pair swam over something familiar, though: A shipwreck that made Shiver pause.

It was the wreckage of the floating lab. 

It looked like a shell of its former self. One that had become part of its environment. The old lab was already encrusted with barnacles and growing fuzzy green algae. It looked like a few crustaceans and urchins were making their homes near its hull as well. 

Shiver swam closer to get a better look at it all.

Everything was as they remembered it- well, almost. All the doors were left wide open and beginning to rust. As Shiver swam inside, they were struck by how eerie it was. It was dark and quiet, and they could see the net where Goa had been kept was still there in a heap near the back. The rack of wetsuits near the cabin was still there too, but the suits on it were in a frightening state. 

Pearl’s wetsuit was tattered, with both its arms and a leg torn clean off. Marina’s wetsuit had claw marks in it, but was otherwise untouched. Shiver couldn’t imagine what kind of creature did this, but the scent on Marina’s wetsuit was the same as the scent on Pearl’s.

This scent was especially strong, almost fresh like whatever did this had been here recently.

Frye swam deeper into the cabin. She curiously opened the drawers, greeted mostly with shreds of ruined papers. The only exception was a slightly less damaged flyer that floated out for the Blackstone Hotel. Shiver remembered hearing about it from their parents at work. 

The Blackstone Hotel was a seaside Grizzco development that was cancelled a few years back.

The fragile flyer fell apart as soon as Shiver took it in their hands.

Frye opened the last drawer only for a little swarm of fish to scramble out into her face.

She quickly struck and caught one in her jaws. 

There was a proud gleam in her eye as Frye brought the small, wriggling fish to Shiver still in her mouth, clearly offering to share it with them. Shiver obliged and took half the fish in their mouth, biting it cleanly in two. 

They’d left the top half and head for Frye. 

Not long ago, Shiver would have found this disgusting. Now, Shiver relished the fresh taste and iron scent, mirroring Frye’s grin.

-... --- .- - ..--..

Shiver wasn’t sure what they were imagining the Isurus cave system Frye described to them to look like, but it was infinitely more beautiful than anything they could’ve pictured. This cave’s floor was paved with swirling mosaics of smooth, colored stones that felt nice under Shiver’s body as they slid forward. There were gorgeous carved reliefs in the banded cave walls of scenes of battles and diplomacy from ancient folklore. At the edges of the cavern were more tunnels leading to the other caves, lit by more of the pretty seaglass lanterns that hung from the high ceiling. 

Seafolk mingled throughout the cave like it was a lively town square, taking the time to rest and chat. Shiver clung to Frye’s side like a timid child as she dragged herself forward, doing their best not to give in to their nerves. 

There was an overwhelming amount of scents in here. Not to mention the dozens of curious eyes on them. If they looked a little closer, though, they could see a familiar face among the crowd. 

Frye’s younger brother, Goa. 

He had a purple rope tied around his waist and looked deeply puzzled, like he was trying to piece together where he knew Shiver from. Two younger girls Shiver could assume were Frye’s sisters peeked out from behind him.

“Frye’s back!”, they both cheered.

Frye scooped up her sisters and squeezed them tight, addressing her brother who was busy acting too cool to be excited from over their shoulders. 

“Hey, congratulations on the rope! Was that today or-”

 The older seafolk who’d crept up behind Shiver cleared their throats loudly to get Frye’s attention. Shiver nearly jumped out of their skin. The clear implication was that Frye had bigger priorities than catching up with her siblings.

“You haven’t been home in over a month,” the old woman rasped sharply. “We were about to send a whole search party. What happened? Who is this?”

By the way they addressed Frye with such strictness and familiarity, Shiver figured these were her grandparents. She’d mentioned them to Shiver a few times in the past. The two shared Frye’s long, pointed ears and sharp fangs, and each wore a beaded string around their necks that held up the wooden eel masks that rested on their backs. 

They both held some kind of a position of power in their clan, but the specifics of it Shiver couldn’t remember. 

Frye squared her shoulders to come off firm, but Shiver could see nervousness in the way she glanced back at them for comfort.

“This is Shiver.”

“This is Shiver?”

The entire family gawked at Shiver like something completely alien, save for Frye’s grandmother, who eyed them warily. Shiver straightened despite it all. 

“Yes. I am.”

 Both grandparents looked a little surprised at their sudden confidence. 

Good.

“You know who I am?”, Shiver asked coolly.

“Frye’s told us all about you,” the old man said with a nod. “What happened?”

…

“I’m not quite sure. All I know is I was about to die because someone attacked me, and then I ended up in the sea.” Shiver pursed their lips together. They were well aware of how stupid they sounded, but it was the truth. “I want to learn more about what happened to me, and what I am now.”

There was something comforting in how Frye subtly scooted closer to Shiver in such a way that she could discreetly put her hand over theirs without drawing too much attention. It was something so small, and yet to Shiver, it was everything.

“I see. You don’t want to go home?”

“I don’t know if that’s possible… But if I could someday, I’d like to see my family again. And Big Man.” Shiver was met with a few confused blinks. “My friend,” they clarified.

The old man nodded.

“I understand. Sort of. Take all the time you need here, and take care of Frye.”  

Frye’s grandmother lowered her voice, but not nearly enough for Shiver to not hear. They couldn’t be sure if it was on purpose or not.

“Are we really going to allow a human to stay here?” 

Frye’s grandfather scowled.

“You can see as clearly as I can they’ve got a tail like yours and mine. Do you think humans are really going to take ‘em in?” There was a charged silence. “Frye loves them,” he added more quietly. “Do you want to make her heart ache?” 

Shiver wasn’t sure if they heard what they thought they heard, but the way Frye stared awkwardly down at the floor and squeezed their hand was all the confirmation they needed. Warmth bloomed in Shiver’s chest as they returned the little gesture, squeezing her hand back.

“Fine. Just know we’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

Chapter Text

A couple of weeks passed as Shiver slowly became used to life below Isurus. Frye gave them a tour of most of the caves and helped to keep their mind off their worries regarding the surface. 

When Shiver did get to fretting about home, Frye would listen and offer them her shoulder to cry on. 

Today, Frye wanted to cheer them up by showing them the garden eels that lived close by.  She hyped the sight up tremendously, comparing them to a living bed of sea grass, but when the pair arrived, the eels seemed particularly shy. It just looked like a barren patch of sand.

Still, Shiver could smell the eels hiding beneath. Frye proposed that maybe they could lure them out by singing. She’d apparently done it in the past. 

Shiver couldn’t tell if she was messing with them.

‘I thought you couldn’t speak underwater?,’ Shiver signed, their grammar only a little disjointed. ‘Why would you be able to sing?’

Shiver had started attending sign language lessons with the youngest of the seafolk. Was it embarrassing to be sitting next to a bunch of snot nosed toddlers in a classroom?

A little.

But they liked to think their proficiency was growing quickly, and it brought them a deep sense of pride when they had started to completely understand Frye’s gestures. Even now, they understood Frye’s silent dare when she signed, ‘You can if you really try.’

Shiver tried humming as they normally would, breathing out through their nose.

All that came out was a garbled mess. 

Shiver’s face heated up at the sound of Frye’s laughter. They wished they knew how to curse her out as she doubled over at their expense but the best they could muster was a middle finger. 

That just made her laugh harder before she calmed down and told Shiver that to hum down here, they needed to breathe out through their gills. 

Shiver narrowed their eyes. They were still suspicious of her. She could very well be trying to embarrass them again.

‘You do it first then, jerk. Show me.’

Frye grinned and nodded. She pushed air out through her gills and began to hum, a sound that was high and clear and almost ethereal. Something about the water amplified Frye’s voice, making it so Shiver could feel it in their bones. It wasn’t quite singing, but it was pure music as beautiful as the sun shining over the crests of the waves. 

Down below, eels buried in the sand poked their heads out of their burrows as if to listen and sway along, and crabs that skittered along paused and tapped their claws. Frye danced to her own beat, and schools of brightly colored fish that swam by whirled lazily around her like flower petals carried by the wind. 

Shiver listened to Frye hum in a daze until she paused, looking back at them expectantly like she wanted them to join. 

They’d been so mesmerized by the sound of Frye’s voice, they hadn’t quite been paying attention to the melody. As Frye began to hum again, though, Shiver followed her pattern, quickly adjusting to every little vocalization and shift in pitch. Their voices became one, dissolving gorgeously together in the water. 

Shiver’s heart couldn’t help but stir at the sound. It was the most beautiful thing they’d ever heard.

…

After a little while, Frye hummed a different tune. One she’d heard Shiver humming earlier. Ebb and Flow, Off the Hook’s debut song. 

Thinking nothing of it, Shiver decided to hum along. 

-

One morning, Shiver found themselves wandering the caves alone. Frye had to do some teaching a few mornings per month, which as far as Shiver understood was customary for important clan members. Frye seemed to like it, as she always had fun stories to tell about the kids she got to work with, and the kids seemed to love her too. 

The only thing was, waiting alone in the cave was a little awkward. Shiver felt like an outsider. That feeling only intensified when random seafolk would come up and throw a bunch of questions at them about being a human and having legs and all that. Sometimes it was curious children, or well meaning older folk, but other times it was seafolk around their age, ones they could tell were being snide on purpose. 

For that reason, Shiver preferred to swim out in the open where nobody could see them. 

Today, though, Frye’s grandfather, Sambac, caught Shiver just as they were about to head out on their swim. 

He immediately talked their ear off about the weather and kids these days and how humans are getting bolder and bolder. Shiver couldn’t exactly leave. All but held hostage, they tuned him out until eventually, he started telling stories about Frye when she was little. 

That was when Shiver tuned back in. This was the story Frye told them when they were first getting to know each other. The one where she was beached in front of a bunch of humans as a child.

Her grandfather described the story in such detail Shiver could practically see it as if they were there, and they smiled at the thought of Frye as a wide eyed, mischievous toddler with a tail too long for her body.

“It took days to convince Frye to swim by herself again,” the old man sighed. “Can you believe that?”

“Frye told me she got over it quickly.”

“Gods, no! The poor thing spent the whole day a sobbing mess. I never let her parents hear the end of it. I can’t believe they allowed a kid that young so close to shore. They always filled that girl’s head with stories and made her…” Sambac scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully. “Eh, that weird way that she is.”

…

“I like her that way.”

“So do I,” he chuckled at last.

As if she could sense people were talking about her, Frye made her way into the cave, still dripping from whatever lesson she’d just finished. She didn’t seem tired in the slightest. Bursting with energy, Frye told Shiver to come with her to gather some of her loot to polish today. She liked to keep it shiny, and so did Shiver.

“Wait! Let us come too!”

Shiver looked over to see Frye’s sisters had somehow overheard their conversation, and were now clasping their hands together in hopes of convincing Frye to let them tag along. There was something so amusing about the two of them. They both had such a wild curiosity about Shiver, and Shiver was happy to tell them all about their life back on land to see their adorable smiles.

Frye eyed them both for a moment before giving a reluctant nod.

“Fine. You can come, but only if you stay on the shore.” Shiver assumed Frye didn’t want her sisters knowing where she hid all her loot. “You can help us polish after we get the stuff.”

“Why can’t we come?”, asked Kera. “Are you gonna kiss sloppy style down there or something?”

“You- you’re not coming.”

“What?! No! I wanna go too!”

⠈⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂

When they brought their haul of loot back to one of Isurus’s sandy shores, Frye’s sisters noted that Shiver made it back to shore a little faster. Goa, who’d invited himself along, agreed. 

Shiver was never one to turn down praise. They wasted no time patting themselves on the back, even if it made Frye scowl. 

Frye challenged them immediately to a race. They would loop around the rocky arch on the way to the shipwreck where she kept her treasures and then both race back here. 

The pair were neck and neck at first, each taking turns slightly passing the other in short bursts of speed. Eventually, though, Frye began to lose stamina. Especially after they reached the rocky arch and looped back towards shore. Shiver felt a rush of adrenaline as their body glided forward and they took a huge lead.

Frye used every bit of her strength to try and keep up with Shiver until the very end, but still she couldn’t catch up, not even as they both dragged themselves onto shore at the end of the race. 

To make matters worse, Nero was now sat there right beside her brother. 

He’d been telling her impressionable siblings tall tales of his hunting trips, she had no doubt about it, but he paused seeing Frye and Shiver come out of the water. The sly look on his face was like hot sauce in the wound. As much as she wanted to punch him just for being there, her siblings were competing with him for the title of most punchable.

“Shiver totally beat you!” 

“Yeah, you’re slower than a sunfish!”

Frye grit her teeth.

“Shut up and get to polishing, brats!”

The three scowled at her, but got back to it. 

“Well, I did beat you,” Shiver said with a grin. “Fair and square.” There was something in Shiver’s smug expression that made Frye’s blood boil even further, and she swore steam was about to shoot out of her ears. “Don’t be a sore loser, now, Frye,” they teased. 

Frye had a few choice words for Shiver, only to be interrupted by her sister saying something that made Nero stiffen. “Shiver might even be faster than Nero!”

“I doubt that.”

“I don’t,” Shiver said boldly. “You want to try me?”

“You already think you’re all that, huh?” Nero made his way closer to Shiver, who didn’t back down no matter how he loomed over them. “I’ll beat you any day.”

Shiver furrowed their brow. In the short time they’d known him, Nero had been nothing but trouble. Rude, condescending, and terribly disrespectful of Frye. And yet Frye didn’t kill him for whatever reason. She certainly beat him up regularly when he misbehaved, but the way he acted merited Frye never even looking in his direction.

Based on what she told Shiver about how they’d grown up together, they figured it was some kind of pity. That combined with guilt around leaving her brother for so long, and Nero filling her role in looking after him while she was gone. 

No matter. They’d humiliate him here and now, for Frye’s sake. After dealing with him for so long, she deserved to see him eat his words.

-

—

While Shiver and Nero raced, Frye waited in the sand helping her siblings polish the coins, jewlery, and chalices she kept in her underwater hideouts. Well, she mostly watched. Frye loved her siblings deeply, of course, but as an older sister it brought her an insane amount of joy to boss them around a little. Have them do some free labor. Especially after how they acted earlier when Shiver won the race. What did she look like getting ganged up on by a bunch of teens?

Hmph.

…

Frye felt her heart drop as she looked to the water and saw Nero making his way out onto the sand. He paused to pump his fist triumphantly, realizing his victory. Shiver was completely out of breath as they trailed behind him. 

“That was…that was just a practice round!”, Shiver panted desperately. “I needed to stretch properly…before racing.”

“Don’t be a sore loser, now, Shiv,” Frye teased, mocking their tone from earlier. Her siblings burst into giggles and Shiver rolled their eyes, but they seemed to begrudgingly accept their defeat. 

Their cheeks burned with embarrassment, but it slowly began to fade as Frye made her way over and offered them her hand to help them sit upright.

Only for Nero to have to come and ruin it.

“You know, among dolphins, the females will mate with the fastest males.”

Nero let out a pained howl as Frye yanked his ear down, nearly tearing it clean off.

“Good thing I’m not a dolphin,” she said through her teeth.

Just as Frye let go, Shiver shoved his face into the sand. 

“What’s wrong with you?”, they hissed into his ear. They wanted to rip him to pieces. The only thing stopping them was Frye’s siblings awkwardly watching behind them. “Talk to her like that again and I’ll snap your fins off.”

“I’d like to see you try, smallfry.”

He talked a lot of game for someone whose face was caked with sand and ear was still bleeding. 

“I can beat him up on my own, but thank you, Shiv. You did great.” 

A sense of warm satisfaction filled Shiver as Frye draped her arms over their shoulders and gave them a little kiss. It was obviously a display to put the man in his place, and it was working. Bitter defeat made Nero look pitifully disheveled, all the while Shiver’s sisters were grinning in the background and her brother was gagging.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, adding fuel to Shiver’s fire. “You’re a little coward letting your girl do all the talking for you. You wouldn’t last a second in the Grizzco dump.”

“You’re on.”

“You’re not on, Shiv, I don’t even go there! Don’t be stupid.”

Shiver hadn’t given it a second thought when they accepted Nero’s challenge. They didn’t even know what he meant by the ‘Grizzco dump’, but if Frye didn’t like it, something had to be wrong with it.

“I thought you went everywhere,” Shiver said with a frown, “What’s wrong with that place?”

“There’s this crazy lady who lives there. She’s always looking for a fight.” Shiver didn’t see the issue there for Frye. Frye was a skilled fighter, and loved to scrap. 

An uncharacteristically dark look came over her eyes. “Yeah, I know. As much as I love a good fight, she fights dirty. I’m telling you, don’t go there.”

Chapter Text

Night fell, and as usual Shiver drifted peacefully to sleep in Frye’s bed. They knew she hated waking up early, and they’d use this to their advantage to slip away early in the morning. A few moments after waking up and making sure Frye was still asleep, Shiver pressed a little kiss to her forehead and gently wiggled out of her grasp, leaving her drowsily clutching a chunk of the fur blanket in their place. 

So cute…

She didn’t suspect a thing.

It was so peaceful this early in the morning. There was hardly anyone awake. Late last night, Shiver had secretly arranged with Nero to meet at the southern mouth of the caves. It was unlikely they’d be seen there, especially at this hour. 

After some careful sneaking through the caves (only getting lost once), Shiver found Nero waiting for them in a cave filled with old hunting weapons. He was thankfully unarmed, but still Shiver felt a sense of dread prickle in their chest.

Instead of greeting them, Nero spit on the ground right in front of Shiver, just short of their hand. 

“What the hell is your problem?! Why do you hate me so bad?”

“Are you seriously asking that? How stupid can you get?” Nero’s ears pinned back with rage. “How can I just be cool with the kind of scum that killed my father just running around my home! I don’t know what’s gotten into everyone! You show up with your blue hair and pronouns and suddenly everyone’s forgotten about all the pain the humans have caused us.” 

There was so much pain in his voice, in the way he seemed to shrink back as he stared at the ground. Shiver caught themself feeling bad for him, despite everything. 

“I deserve to be with Frye,” he added with all the petulance of a child. “Not you.” 

Shiver stiffened, but was silent for a moment. There wasn’t anything wrong with what Nero was saying. 

Except that last part. 

“I’m sorry about your father,” Shiver began slowly. They were careful not to sound insincere. “And I’m sorry about everything you’ve had to go through because of my people. I promise I’ll do all I can to make it right.” They were firm in their promise. They’d keep it for Frye’s sake, for her family’s, and just a tiny bit for his as well. “But Frye is her own person, you can’t ‘deserve’ her. It’s not fair to her to talk about her like that.”

Nero turned his face away, silent for a good moment.

It looked like he wanted Shiver to yield. 

They wouldn’t. Shiver didn’t care if Nero thought he could get away with treating Frye like an object just because he felt like he’d been wronged. It wasn’t right.

“We’re not here to talk about Frye,” he said at last. “We’re here because I told you if you could manage to go into Grizzco’s dump and live, I’d leave you alone.” Seawater at the cave’s opening before them slapped quietly against the rocks as he spoke. “I’ll show you the way.”

Shiver narrowed their eyes.

“How do I know you’re not just gonna try and kill me halfway?”

“That crazy bitch’ll do it for me.” 

Too much of a coward to get blood on his own hands. What a loser. Shiver bit their tongue and kept the thought to themselves. They wanted him off their back. They wanted to know what exactly was at this dump. Both things would be accomplished in one go.

-

Shiver kept a safe distance behind Nero as they both slipped into the water and made their way away from Isurus. 

Mentally, Shiver tried to memorize any notable landmarks in the sand in case they’d have to get back on their own. They noted Nero was careful to keep a distance from the few boats they saw on the surface, and realized distantly that they’d started to grow wary of the boats themself. 

After a little while, Nero paused and gestured forward. They’d made it to their destination.

The water had gotten darker and murkier, making it difficult to see into the distance. Nero stayed and watched as Shiver made their way into the shadowy Grizzco dump.

It was so cold here, and yet it wasn’t that which made Shiver shudder. That sense of dread they’d felt earlier returned twice as strong with just how eerily still this place was. 

Enormous girders poked out of the piles of garbage like the exposed bones of a rotting carcass. Pieces of crumbling concrete and decaying wood were strewn like organs across piles of rough stone and gravel. Shiver swam further and further into the labyrinth of rusted metal pipes and barbed wire until they looked back and could no longer see or smell Nero.

They recalled passing this place a few times over the water on their boat, but they’d never seen it this close.

Shiver couldn’t help a cough.

It smelled absolutely terrible. The same animal instinct that tells you to get your hands off a hot stove or spit out a piece of moldy bread told them to get out of there. This water was poison.

Nothing lived here. 

There were no fish, no crustaceans, no mollusks. 

It had to be a lie, Shiver thought. Why would anybody willingly spend time in this place?

Shiver paused.

They’d caught something in their peripheral vision.

Dull amber eyes glared at them from the darkness of a huge metal pipe. It was a siren. And something about her was familiar. At the sight of Shiver, she grabbed a nearby piece of rebar and brandished it like a spear. 

‘Wait, wait! We don’t have to fight, I’m just passing through!’

As the siren lunged forward, she didn’t seem responsive to Shiver’s signs at all. Either she didn’t understand them, or she didn’t care.

Shiver yelped as the siren thrust the rebar towards them.

It was their quick response time that stopped them from getting stabbed, but it was a close call. Way too close. The metal scraped their side and drew blood. That was enough for Shiver to know they had to get out of here. 

But this place was enormous. They turned to swim away, but the putrid smell and the ache of their bleeding side was making their head spin. 

Everything looked the same, and there was nothing to help Shiver know how the hell to get out of here.

 When Shiver looked back, they could see the siren had something else in her hand. All it took was one squeeze to pop it, and suddenly Shiver couldn’t see two feet in front of them.

They were trapped in an inky black cloud.

It felt like they had become a piece of prey, their thoughts becoming limited to their slim chances of survival.  Their opponent’s small size made it easy to swim through gaps that Shiver had to squeeze through.

Everywhere they looked, Shiver could see the siren coming with her teeth bared and her weapon swinging.

The weight of the heavy rebar in her hand was the only thing keeping her from catching up to them. She was as fast, if not faster than Nero was during the race yesterday. 

She had the smooth tail of a dolphin just like he did. Hers was a light pink color, and moved sharply to help her steer while swimming.

As Shiver darted back and forth, they spotted an empty shipping container. Holes had rotted into its roof and it looked like it bled with rust, but it could help them. Shiver swam in quickly and slammed the doors behind them, holding them closed with their body as the siren rammed loudly into them.

The banging on the metal doors only grew more intense with each moment Shiver held them shut. Shiver’s heart pounded, unsure what would happen if their strength failed them here. 

With a deafening clang, the rebar pierced straight through the metal door just short of Shiver’s abdomen. A little to the left and they could have died.

The rebar had gotten stuck in the door at a weird angle. 

This was Shiver’s chance. The siren kept yanking the rebar in an attempt to get it unstuck as Shiver swam off. What began as her grunt of effort quickly became a familiar piercing screech. Shiver clapped their hands over their ears, but it wasn’t enough. 

Unable to handle the sudden pain in their ears, Shiver let out a ragged, guttural scream. It was half swallowed by bubbles, but it made the screeching stop. 

Everything was silent.

When Shiver turned their head, the siren had abandoned the rebar. She was gaining on them, and quickly. 

Shiver swam towards the surface in a frenzy. They were losing stamina. They couldn’t keep swimming forever. 

The best thing they could think of was swimming to the closest shore in hopes their pursuer would lose interest for fear of getting beached. There was a tiny island near here, one that was rarely visited by boats. It was Shiver’s best shot at losing her now. 

-

Shiver raked their fingers into the sand as they desperately dragged themselves up the shore. 

They made it. They were gasping for breath and barely aware of where they were, but they made it.

Their heart nearly leapt out of their chest when they looked back to see their pursuer dragging herself up the beach right alongside them. Instead of attacking them, though, she flopped down onto the sand in exhaustion.

Shiver’s ears were still ringing a little, but other than that they were mostly fine.

They had at the very least stopped bleeding, and could finally get a good look at the siren that’d tried to kill them.

It finally occurred to Shiver why they recognized the scrawny blonde. 

She looked just like Pearl.

She had the same brow piercing, the same short stature, the same tiny octopus tattoo on her shoulder. On each arm she wore the black fabric of her wetsuit, and around her chest she’d tied the leg of her wetsuit. The once vibrant pink that streaked her short, damaged hair was now dull and faded. On one hand she had four fingers. The other one had five fingers, but was stained black from the squid ink. 

It checked out. 

Back when the investigation was still going on, they didn’t find even a trace of her.

That was until Pearl’s left ring finger was found nearly intact a month later. 

Everybody knew it had been found suspiciously late, but nobody knew what it meant. The police used it as evidence to prove that Pearl had been eaten by sirens, but speculation continued. 

Was it really her finger? Had it been planted there and kept a secret until the right moment to make it seem like Pearl had been eaten?

…

“Pearl?”

The pink tailed siren rolled onto her side to face Shiver.

“Who’re you? What’re you doing here and why do you know my name?” The way she spoke was slow and labored with an unnatural inflection, like she was unused to hearing her own voice anymore. How long had it been since she last spoke to someone?

“It’s Shiver. You and Marina came to our school around the same time from out of town and tried to act like you owned the place.”

Pearl studied Shiver for a long time, as if trying to sort her memories out and find where they’d met. After a little while, there was a flicker of recognition.

“I remember you. Your hands were blue in highschool.” Shiver cringed at the idea that that was what she remembered. It was their poor dying skills that left their hands blue for an entire month. The fact that she remembered them at all despite how long it had been, though… “I recognized your voice. Was it you singing in the water the other day?”

“I think so.” Shiver tilted their head curiously. “You remember hearing me sing?”

“How can I not remember a song she wrote?” 

Pearl crossed her arms, and in a way it looked like she was squeezing herself for comfort. “I still remember all our songs, down to the choreo,” she said quietly. A tiny smile crept onto Pearl’s face for a moment, lost in thought. “I heard Ebb and Flow the other day and I felt…like me again.”

…

Shiver felt their heart ache at the longing in her words. 

Did she know how long she’d been gone? 

It would probably hurt her to ask. Reminding her of all the time she spent down here alone…

“Pearl… what happened to you?”

“Same thing that happened to you, I guess.”  

“Grizz?”, Shiver blurted out. 

They immediately felt stupid for it. Just because it happened to them didn’t mean everybody who got shot by Grizz magically became a mermaid. Please. That kind of coincidence would be insane. 

“How’d you know?” 

Pearl chuckled wryly as Shiver’s eyes went wide with disbelief. 

“Marina was really disappointed when I just let Grizz do what he wanted.” Shiver recalled distantly that the Houzuki family began doing business with Grizzco sometime before Pearl disappeared. They didn’t know of the specifics, though, really. “I was sleepin’ on the couch and everything.” 

 It was always difficult for Shiver to imagine Marina angry.

Even if she did blow up on them after they stole her boat, it was warranted. She was always such a kind person at her core, and it always shone through in everything she did. 

“During my time in couch jail, I had a lot of time to think and understand what was really happening,” Pearl continued. “I realized that Grizzco’s development plans were something that went deeper than money, deeper than anything I ever really thought of before, and Marina was the one who saw it before I did. Bankara might not be where I was born, but it became my home. At that time, anyway.” 

That made sense. Pearl was never half as concerned about the environment as Marina was. She was careless when it came to most things except rocking out, rapping, and her girlfriend. “Eventually I burst into a meeting with Grizz n’ my family and I told them to stop funding the project.” 

“And they let you walk out of there?”

“Hell yeah.”

For a moment, Pearl looked like her old self. Grinning and bursting with a pride much too big for her body, only to deflate again moments later. “Kind of. I…never got to tell ‘Rina, though. That she was right.”

She sounded like a married man lamenting a fight with his wife. 

The word with Big Man before Pearl disappeared was that she and Marina were thinking of getting married soon, but neither had yet popped the question. Talks of that ceased when the trouble with Grizzco came. 

And now, well…Pearl didn’t even have the finger for a ring to go on.

“Look, if you come with me, maybe Marina can help us.”

Shiver extended the offer genuinely, but there was more to it. If Marina saw Pearl, maybe she would have the strength to go against Grizz. 

Pearl looked less than convinced.

“Pfft, be for real. If Marina wanted to find me, to help me, she would’ve a long time ago.”

“What? No, Marina is still looking for you,” Shiver insisted. “I know in her heart she never truly accepted that you were gone. She still loves you, Pearl.”

Pearl scoffed.

“Yeah, right, is that what she told you?” The blonde shook her head, turning the long buried memories over in her mind. “She took one look at me and thought I was trying to kill her.” Tears began to well up in Pearl’s eyes. Her voice broke as she rubbed at her eyes with her fist. “She left me here.”

Marina loved Pearl more than anything. This couldn’t be true.

She wouldn’t leave Pearl to fend for herself. And yet…

Shiver tried to stammer a reply, but nothing coherent came out. They could hardly believe what Pearl was saying, much less come up with something to comfort her.

“You’re like me, Shiv,” Pearl sighed. “You gotta understand freaks like us don’t belong anywhere. Not with the sirens and not with the humans.” She shook her head bitterly. “We’re dead fish swimming.”

“That’s not true.”

“Face it. Our lives are over.”

“You can’t just say that because you had a misunderstanding with Marina!”

“Ugh, shut up! Just let me stay here and poison myself with this water for whatever’s left of my stupid life. I deserve it.” Pearl turned her face stubbornly away. “You- do whatever you want.”

Shiver felt their heart twist at the thought of all those fishermen that told them they could sometimes hear Pearl’s voice out at sea. All this time, she was singing into the abyss, clinging on to her memories, to her sense of self. 

Pearl didn’t have a shred of hope left in her body. There was nothing for it, Shiver thought.

But Frye wouldn’t give up here. She’d keep insisting until she got her way.

Shiver grit their teeth.

“No, you still have to have some hope you’ll get out of this! Come on, you wouldn’t have made the effort to remember all your songs for this long if you didn’t.”

When Pearl’s eyes went wide, Shiver knew they’d captured some semblance of the truth.

“Get out of my face,” she growled, “Or you’ll have half of one when I’m done with your sorry ass.” 

“Pearl-”

“I said leave me alone!”

Chapter Text

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?”

It was jarring, to say the least, to hear the self assured matriarch of the Hohojiro family asking Big Man of all people if she and her husband were doing the right thing. 

He and Marina had been invited over to their house for tea. The place felt so eerily empty without Shiver’s presence. 

The family always kept it so meticulously clean and organized, and now…everything was cluttered and out of place, collecting dust. 

“Waiting so long to arrange a funeral?”, she added. 

She seemed to choke on the word ‘funeral’. 

“I think you’re doing the right thing,” Big Man assured her. 

Shiver’s mother sat with one leg crossed neatly over the other on an angular grey sofa. She could no longer maintain the elegant posture she always insisted on and hunched over, face buried in her hands. Her husband stood behind her while Big Man sat in the armchair across from her, with Marina in the armchair right beside him. 

“We spoke with Mr. and Mrs.Houzuki yesterday,” said Shiver’s father, keeping a hand on his wife’s shoulder. Both he and Shiver’s mother looked like they hadn’t eaten or slept properly in months. “They said it might be best to start planning the funeral now.”

Big Man frowned.  

“It took six months before they had a funeral for Pearl, didn’t it?”

Marina nodded solemnly. 

“They might think there isn’t much sense in continuing to search,” she murmured. 

Especially after what happened last time. 

The leads that went nowhere, the heartache that only seemed to deepen as time went on with no new evidence. 

Shiver’s mother evenly kept her gaze, allowing them to exchange unsaid words of anguish. 

“I also felt that was what they were trying to imply. They think having the funeral sooner will allow us to begin to grieve,” she replied, addressing Marina specifically. “But what do you think would be best? As someone so affected by something like this yourself, I want to hear your judgement.”

Marina’s eyes widened in surprise.

Her judgement? 

…

Marina never once visited Pearl’s grave. She couldn’t bring herself to. The only exception was the funeral, where she never once stopped crying. 

It was something that still ate Marina up from the inside.

Big Man knew it, she’d told him once while she was drunk. Shiver’s parents no doubt knew it because of Pearl’s parents, who resented her deeply for it. Marina could only imagine the kinds of things they told others about her. That she was a cold woman who was only ever with Pearl for the money. That she never really grieved Pearl at all. That she was a monster.

And yet, knowing all of that, this woman still wanted Marina’s judgement.

“Just because there hasn’t been a funeral doesn’t mean the grief isn’t there,” Marina said at last. “I say keep searching. Put it off for a few months more.”

“And you, Big Man?”

Big Man glanced solemnly at Marina, then back at Shiver’s father. 

“I agree. Keep searching.”

-

——-

Back at Isurus, Shiver and Frye fell into a peaceful routine. It was the kind of thing Frye always dreamed of. Someone who could handle her energy without leeching off of it, someone who burned just as brightly as she did. 

A jewelrymaker Frye’s grandfather was close with split the stone she gave Shiver into pieces and made it into a pair of matching bracelets for them, so they could both wear a reminder of the other everywhere. Sometimes Frye would play with the bracelet when she was bored or even just idly in conversation. 

Shiver would do the same but more subtly, squeezing each gem gently between their fingers.

Shiver had gotten quieter lately, more thoughtful. 

One morning Frye watched from a distance, perched on a rock that poked out of the water, as Shiver sat a distance away on the shore, staring off into space. She couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking about. 

Lately, Shiver always shrugged it off whenever Frye asked what was wrong. 

There was a little splash as something breached the surface right behind Frye. 

“I almost feel bad for both of you.” 

That voice made Frye bristle with irritation immediately. She refused to look in his direction. 

“I told you not to talk to me anymore. Or do you need a physical reminder?”

Nero inched into her field of vision and she pointedly looked away, curling her lip just enough to show her fangs.  

“They don’t belong here, Frye. You know it, they know it, everybody knows it. At some point, they have to go home and leave you behind.”

-

——

It was always at night in their shared bed when Frye loved most to attack Shiver with a barrage of kisses. They always looked so adorably blissed out when she pulled away, only to hold her face and pull her back in for another, the way they’d learned made her ears flutter. 

“I had so much fun today,” they told her quietly.

They’d spent the day teaching Shiver the seafolk’s traditional songs, preserving fish, and waltzing underwater, and when night fell, the pair laid together on the shore and watched the stars. Shiver listened as Frye pointed to different clusters of stars, making up silly kinds of aliens she thought lived in each one. As Shiver laughed with her, they could only think how the sound made the night all the more beautiful.  

“Me too,” Frye mused. “I’m glad you’re starting to get used to this place.”

Warmth bloomed in Shiver’s chest at how Frye entwined her tail with theirs. It was her little night time habit when she was feeling cozy.

Shiver offered her a little smile, but something kept them from being fully in the moment.

Lately, they kept having the same dream. Dreams of greyscale salmon, seals, and sea turtles, all trekking through the sea and returning home to fulfill their life’s purpose. 

After seeing Pearl lost in the sea, Shiver felt the pull of the shore again like that first night they woke up in this body. But they couldn’t tell Frye about Pearl. Not yet.

They couldn’t risk her getting attacked if she tried to help Pearl herself.

“I am, but… I need to go home soon, Frye.” Shiver felt their heart twist at how Frye’s face fell. “I can’t help you from here.”

“That’s not true,” Frye insisted. “You’re helping. We’re happy here.” Her long ears suddenly hung low. “Well, I am…”

“I’m happy too. I love you and I love being with you.” Shiver took Frye’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. “I’ve just been having those dreams again.” 

Frye always tried to shrug them off as weird side effects of their transformation, but… they had to mean something. There had to be some reason they transformed like this. Shiver sighed. 

“You know every day I’m here is another day the humans are plotting to get revenge for what they think happened to me.”

“So you wanna go back?”

“I’m not leaving you, Frye,” they assured her, gently ghosting their thumb over the back of her hand. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but they could see how afraid Shiver leaving again made her. Shiver couldn’t say they didn’t feel the same. They’d both gotten comfortable. Used to life together. “I’ll come back. I’m not just going to go back to my old life and forget you.”

Frye’s lashes fell sadly over her eyes like she didn’t fully believe them. 

“What would you even do? Didn’t you say it didn’t go well the last time you tried?”

…

“Well, yeah, but…” Shiver shook their head. “I can’t just give up!” 

If they gave up now, what would happen to Pearl? To Marina? Their parents, Big Man, Grizz…

Grizz. 

The very thought of him made Shiver’s blood boil.

 “Just one night. I’ll come back to you in the morning. I promise.”

Frye pursed her lips. She was still on the fence, and doing a terrible job of hiding it.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll be right behind you.” 

There was a beat of silence as she buried her face in Shiver’s neck and murmured, “I love you too.”

-

As the pair approached the shore and left Isurus behind, something felt right. Tonight, something was going to happen. Shiver could feel it.

They just weren’t quite sure what it was.

Pausing to breach the surface, Shiver told Frye they were grateful for everything she’d done for them, and that they owed their life to her. They just wanted to be sure she knew how they felt, in case anything happened.

“Don’t say that, asshole! It sounds like you’re saying goodbye!” Frye bared her fangs, jabbing an accusatory finger in their face. “You said you’d swallow a thousand needles if you broke your promise. So you’d better come back and see me.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“But you told me that’s how humans promise!”

A smile tugged at Shiver’s lips as they rolled their eyes. They couldn’t believe she remembered they told her that. 

“Fine then. I’ll swallow a thousand needles if I don’t come back.”

Shiver decidedly did not say goodbye. They held Frye’s face lovingly in their hands and gave her one last kiss, promising they’d see her in the morning. 

They would fulfill that promise no matter what.

-

After Frye turned and left, Shiver alone approached the little cove where they last saw their parents. There, in the darkness of night they could see a figure kneeling on the pier, hunched over and shuddering like it was crying. It was a human woman, one Shiver recognized as their mother. 

She looked like a wreck, and that was only made more apparent when she heard Shiver approaching and lifted her head to see what made the noise. 

They wanted to say something, offer her some comfort, but memories of last time made them shrink back, suddenly unsure if they were doing the right thing. Would seeing them now make her feel even worse?

“Shiver?”, she sniffled. “Come up here. Let me see you.”

Shiver hesitated, but did as she asked. They clambered up onto the pier as Frye had done so many times before and sat up in front of their mother. 

It immediately broke their heart to see her this way. Only a few months had passed, but in Shiver’s eyes she already looked older. Her always neat hair fell over her face in unkempt strands and her eyes were red from crying, weighed down by the dark circles beneath them. 

With shaking hands, she reached out and pulled Shiver close like she hadn’t in so long. Shiver quickly returned their mother’s embrace, resting their head on her chest like they were a little kid again. 

They had so much to say, so much to explain, but nothing came out.

They hadn’t expected to cry at all, but suddenly they were overcome with the weight of all the time that had passed, and tears streamed silently down their cheeks. 

Distantly, they’d missed her and their father, even if they didn’t see eye to eye even at the best of times. They just hadn’t allowed themselves to feel that yearning in so long.

Shiver tensed at the once familiar sensation of their mother touching their ear.

This time, the touch was gentle, curious.

“I always hated those piercings,” she said, showing a glimmer of the version of her Shiver remembered. “But now, I think they suit you.” She looked exhausted, but her eyes shone with a quiet joy. “You know, I think I’m seeing you as you are for the first time in years.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Good, I think,” she laughed weakly, regarding them from head to tail. “I’m so happy to see you again, Shiver.”

Shiver squeezed their eyes shut. They didn’t want to cry again, but…there was so much implied there in her words- joy, acceptance, love. 

When Shiver opened their eyes, once again they were different. 

They had legs again. 

They were wearing the same tank top and shorts they’d worn the night Frye gave them the flowers, except now they were soaking wet. 

Their mother looked just as shocked as they did. 

“You know, at first, I really wasn’t sure if it was you,” she sighed. Her expression was suddenly hard to read. “Of course, I wanted it to be. But I would be okay, I think, in the state I was in, if a siren came and drowned me.”

This time, it was Shiver who reached out and touched her face.

“Mama…” 

There was a long pause between them as their mother’s eyes fell shut.

“Let’s go home.”

-

—-

Frye watched from a distance, peeking carefully over the surface. Shiver had reached the pier where they always spent time together, and there they found a figure that looked like an older woman. They didn’t seem threatened by her, and she didn’t seem threatened by them either.

Frye puzzled over who this could be, until she remembered Shiver had shown her pictures of their mother in the past. She could assume for now that this was her. 

When Shiver came up onto the pier and she embraced them tenderly, Frye figured her assumption was correct. Something in her heart ached bittersweetly at the reunion. 

Their mother must have been so worried.

It had been a little less than three months. Anything could have happened to Shiver. While Frye was hogging them all to herself, their parents were suffering… 

Then something she never could have imagined happened. Frye watched in shock as Shiver suddenly regained their legs in a burst of light. 

Shortly after, they walked off with their mother, carefully using her as a crutch for their wobbly legs.

…

What did that mean?

Did Shiver know this would happen?

Would Shiver really come back now that they were back with their family?

Frye shook the doubts out of her head despite the sudden heaviness in her heart.

They promised her. She’d wait. 

They told her they’d meet her at the pier. 

Nero’s words echoed in her mind. 

‘At some point, they’re gonna have to go home and leave you behind.’

He was stupid. Listening to him was stupid.

Frye dove beneath the waves. She decided she’d sleep in the sand to silence her thoughts, tail halfway curled around one of the pier’s wooden posts. 

-

——

When morning came, sunlight filtered in through the surface and gently woke Frye. Memories of last night felt like a dream, something completely unreal. 

As Frye rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she smelled something familiar.

Familiar slender fingers wiggled beneath the surface like a greeting when she looked up. The sight filled Frye with excitement as she sprang upwards, and when she came up over the surface, what she saw confirmed last night wasn’t a dream. 

Shiver had their legs back, covered by baggy jeans. Their gills were no longer visible on their neck, but there were red markings exactly where they would’ve been. Their nails were longer, almost like claws, and tinted an unnatural shade, and their teeth retained some of that extra sharpness.

Other than that, they looked entirely human again. 

None of that mattered though. Nero was wrong.

“You’re back!”, Frye cheered. “How did it go?”

“Better than I expected,” Shiver sighed with relief, setting the huge bag they had slung over their shoulder aside. “I told my parents almost everything. They don’t know what to make of the whole thing, but they’re glad I’m alive. We’re all keeping it a secret for now until we figure out what to tell the press.” 

Frye’s smile wilted as she realized that once again, Shiver stood tall above her while she remained below, unable to meet them at their level.

“You have your legs back…” 

Guilt gnawed at her for how greedy she sounded saying that. 

Frye tried to fix her face a bit, but...

“Sometimes, yes.” Shiver crouched down to meet Frye at her level. “It looks like when I’m submerged, I have my tail again. I stepped in the bathtub earlier and it was back,” they chuckled. “We can talk more about that later.” 

Frye’s eyes went wide. So they could still come and visit her at home…  

“First, look what I brought.” 

Shiver dug into their huge bag and pulled out some art supplies and a familiar paper scroll they unfurled carefully onto the pier.

It was the gyotaku print they’d made of her months ago, still missing its eyes. Frye tilted her head, somewhere between delighted and puzzled. 

“I thought you said you were waiting for the day with the perfect lighting.”

“Today is as perfect as it will get, and you are as perfect as ever.” Frye felt her face flush at Shiver’s words, and even more so when they shot her a little grin. “Hold still for a bit.”

Shiver dipped their brush into a few of their different colored paints as they studied Frye, detailing her eyes.

It didn’t take very long for Shiver to finish their work. When they told Frye she could come up and have a look at the finished product, she couldn’t help but gasp as her eyes filled with stars.

It was beautiful.