Work Text:
Tim was told never to go to the sea, never to go to the shore without an adult. Of course, he would have obeyed that rule if there had been adults around past the age of nine.
Some would call Prince Timothy independent, a strong young boy. What they neglected to realise was that he was lonely, alone at every turn.
Even with boundless money and servants, King Jack and Queen Janet didn’t bother to hire anyone to take care of their child. In fact, it wasn’t common knowledge that they had a son.
So ever since he was nine, Tim was on his own. Eventually he got sick of being cooped up all the time, so at the age of eleven, he went out to the sea.
He had boundless books detailing the monsters and creatures that lurked, killed and destroyed. That didn’t deter the small boy though, no, he had never encountered such creatures, therefore they simply didn’t exist to him.
That was, until he was twelve.
Singing filled the air, low and almost mournful. It was beautiful and made Tim want to fall asleep.
And so that’s what he did, he fell asleep tucked in a cove on the east coast to the castle. It wasn’t like anyone would miss him.
But then he blinked his eyes open to a peculiar sight, a tan boy, maybe sixteen. He had inky black hair and stunning blue eyes, freckles framing his Sharm jaw.
“What are you doing sleeping here little one?” He said in a melodious way, head tilting curiously. He was half in the water in the cove, hands cupping his face.
As his head moved to the side, he saw a sliver of blue and froze. This wasn’t a well meaning teenager helping him, no this was a creature. The ones of the stories, the ones that ate little children for breakfast.
So Tim ran away, feet slipping on sand. He ignored the confused yells of the boy, deciding it best to not turn around.
After a few hours alone in his room, replaying the scene, Tim began to feel a little silly. Surely the teenager would have hurt him while he was asleep rather than wait for him to wake up?
Tim tried to cast it out of his mind, vowing to never go back.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Tim wasn’t very good with promises. After all, every time his parents said they would do something with him they broke their word, so what was a vow to a prince with no concept of finality?
He found himself creeping down to the beach just a week later, eyes scanning the familiar blue waters.
Tim squeezed past the jagged rocks, slipping into the little covered cove again, pressing himself in between a few sturdy boulders. It was relaxing, the sound of waves lapping at the sand.
He let his mind drift, and not a few minutes later came the sound of a lullaby of sorts. This time Tim was able to stay awake, peeking past the rocks.
On the shore laid a teenager, the same one a week ago. He was preoccupied humming and threading some sort of object onto a string. Tim watched in rapt attention as he pulled the object to the small light coming from a skylight. How he smiled broadly.
But it wasn’t a moment later that he turned his head around, seemingly spotting Tim from where he was crouching. He didn’t even bother to duck around the rocks as the teen watched him with wide eyes.
“Oh, you’re back!” He exclaimed with delight, smiling broadly. “I’m sorry if I scared you before little one.”
Tim now felt a little guilty for running away from the nice boy, creature or not. “Oh, it’s quite alright.” He whispered, looking down at his knees in the sand.
The black haired teen nodded, scooting a bit closer. “What’s your name, little one?”
“Timothy, but please call me Tim.” He answered automatically, before remembering that might not be the best idea ever.
“That’s a great name!” The boy grinned, glinting of sharp teeth in the dim light, although they seemed to lack any sinister touches. “My name’s Dick.”
Tim giggles before putting a hand over his mouth. Dick tilted his head with a small smile. “What’s so funny Timmy?”
“I thought mermaids had names like Ocean, or or, Wave!” He tilted his head with a lopsided smile.
Dick furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m no mermaid silly, I’m a siren!”
That made Tim pause, a wave of confusion washing over him. Apparently seeing his expression, Dick continued.
“Sirens are more powerful than mermaids!” He grinned sharply again. “We lure bad men, like pirates, into the sea with just our singing!”
Tim tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed. “Then why did I feel sleepy at your voice?”
“Because you’re not a pirate!” Dick shuffled a bit closer, blue and black scales glinting. “Only bad men follow me! You’re just a baby though.”
Tim frowned, crossing his arms. “I’m not a baby! I’m gonna be the king one day!” He immediately regretted his words at the Siren’s widened eyes.
“Woah, are you royalty?” He asked, scooting closer until he was face to face with Tim. At Tim’s reluctant nod, he laughed. “Me too!”
Tim’s jaw dropped. “You’re royalty?”
“Yep! The Siren King is my Dad, and I have an itty bitty baby brother named Jason!” He waved his hands excitedly. “I think you and Jay would get along really well!”
“That’s so cool! I don’t have any prince friends.” Tim said shyly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Seeing his nervous look, Dick’s grin softened. “How about I bring him to meet you? We can come back here next week!”
Tim wouldn’t say he didn’t have a sense of stranger danger, but he was just so nice, and Tim kind of wanted more friends. So like an idiot, he nodded in agreement.
To be fair, time would only tell the stories of friendship and eventual brotherhood between the three boys and more experienced, but at this moment, all Tim could see was Dick, grinning at him with such genuine kindness.
Tim was willing to take that chance.