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“alright, buccellati. your time is up. any last words?” the commander scowled.
bruno sighed, annoyed.
“not for you.” he said, words dripping with venom. “scum of the earth.”
“do it.” the commander spat.
the plank was pulled from beneath bruno’s feet.
a loud splash was heard from the deck, and the ship’s crew erupted in cheers.
~
bruno felt the water filling his lungs. he coughed, and more water entered his throat. the surrounding water felt like it was strangling the life out of him, encasing him in its depths. his eyes began to close as his mind gave way to static. the last thing he saw was a flash of silver.
~
leone abbachio was not one to care about humans. in fact, he stayed as far away from them as possible in literally every other case. but… this human captivated him. tall, slightly muscular, with perfectly neat raven-black hair. from the second he fell into the water, leone was entranced. why he was swimming right underneath a pirate ship was questionable at best, but… for some reason he felt drawn to this area. like there was some greater reason for him to be there. and now he realized.
he had to save this human.
leone quickly swam over to where the human was sinking through the water. he grabbed him and with barely any thought swam towards the surface. there was no land around for miles, but he knew he had to get the human to the surface so he could breathe. he was already unconscious, and leone could tell he was fading fast. he cursed under his breath and swam faster.
he finally broke through the surface of the water. the human was still unconscious. leone swore loudly. was there anything he could do at this point? they weren’t on solid land so he couldn’t lay him down. the only thing to do at this point was keep his head above water and wait.
leone couldn’t help but admire the human’s face. his olive-toned skin, tanned from years of being on the open sea; the way the water clung to his long eyelashes…
a muscle in the human’s face twitched. he suddenly started coughing violently. water and bile spewed out of his mouth. leone held him upright.
“shit. are you okay??” leone asked when the coughing finally slowed.
“wh… where… who… what…?” the human asked in a daze. leone finally saw his eyes. they were sapphire blue, and as hazy as they were from being unconscious, leone was entranced. he caught himself staring and shook his head to clear his mind.
“you fell from a pirate ship.”
the human’s eyes went wide as he remembered.
he walked the plank.
“who… are you…?” the human asked, finally turning to leone, floating in the water next to him.
“you don’t need to know that.”
leone wanted so badly to tell him his name, to be able to talk with him normally. but… this man was a human. and leone was not. merpeople and humans were forbidden from ever interacting. humans barely knew merpeople existed. they were things of legends.
“but…” the human rubbed his eyes. he finally got a good look at leone. he went a little red. “did you… save me?”
leone didn’t know what to say.
“y-yes…” he stammered, going a little flush in the cheeks himself.
the human looked astonished.
“u-um… thank you.” he smiled awkwardly. “you won’t tell me your name, but i’ll tell you mine. i’m bruno buccellati.”
bruno.
of course this gorgeous man had to have an equally attractive name.
leone cleared his throat.
“i need to get you to safety. to land.” leone said, tearing his gaze away from bruno’s eyes. “don’t be alarmed by this. i’m going to put you under a spell so you can breathe underwater.”
bruno didn’t have time to be shocked or confused before leone placed a gentle hand over his face and quietly muttered a few words in an ancient language.
“follow me.” leone quickly dove under the water. stunned, bruno floated there for a second. but, what other choice did he have other than to follow this strange… being?
he ducked his head under the water and… somehow… took a breath. underneath the water. he looked around a little, floating just beneath the water’s surface, looking for his mysterious savior. a little ways away, he spotted… a merman. so he was a merman. that would explain the mystery. his full form was gorgeous, though… he was muscular and slightly tanned, with long silver hair that flowed behind him so very ethereally. where legs would normally be, there was a long dark purple tail, covered in shimmering scales that caught the light and reflected all sorts of shades of purple.
the merman turned his head to signal at bruno to swim faster.
“hurry up. we don’t have much time until the spell i put on you wears off.”
bruno said nothing and nodded.
they wordlessly swam for quite a while. bruno’s arms and legs ached, but he kept quiet. he didn’t want to cause problems or say something potentially wrong. the merman was the first to speak.
“we’re getting close to land.”
“that’s… good.” bruno said, hesitating a bit. he didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he felt like he wanted to spend more time with his mysterious merman savior. he bit his bottom lip. “i know you i didn’t need to know your name earlier, but…. i’m curious.“
“leone.” the merman stopped swimming and turned to face bruno. “my name is leone.”
he looked almost embarrassed. his face was flushed, and he couldn’t quite meet bruno’s eyes. bruno smiled.
“thank you, leone. for saving me.”
at this, leone looked straight into bruno’s eyes, a little taken aback.
“y-you… don’t have to thank me…”
bruno smiled.
“but you saved my life. i owe you everything.”
leone grumbled and rubbed the back of his neck. his face had gone more red and he looked away.
“it’s- it’s not a big deal…” leone stammered.
“but it is. i would have drowned.”
“listen, we can have this conversation when we get to land. we’re almost there. c’mon.” leone quickly turned away and started swimming, quicker than before. bruno followed.
they continued to swim, still wordless. the seascape around them began to change, from sandy seafloor to coral reef, then finally to more sand as the water became quickly shallower. above them, waves began to form, pushing them closer to shore. bruno popped his head up above the surface, taking a big breath of fresh air. he swam a little further, and was able to stand on the sand. he turned to face leone, who had come above the surface as well.
“thank you.”
“you don’t have to thank me, i told you…” leone’s face turned pink.
“but i do. i almost died, and you saved me.” bruno smiled.
leone’s mind raced. bruno’s smile made him dizzy. he was so beautiful, leone couldn’t take it. he’d been trying to ignore the feeling blossoming in his chest, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore as his heart pounded. but… surely, it wasn’t love. love at first sight didn’t exist. …right?
leone sighed. now or never.
he muttered a few words quietly. a tingling feeling shot down his tail. he winced. bruno looked confused.
“are… you okay?”
leone said nothing as his tail morphed into a pair of legs. he swam a little closer and stood in front of bruno.
bruno’s eyes were wide. he’d seen a lot in his lifetime on the sea. but today… his entire worldview was turned upside down. not only did bruno learn of magic and legendary beings, but… he also felt a strangely fuzzy feeling growing in his chest. he couldn’t quite put words to it, yet he felt drawn to leone, and it was gnawing at him. as he looked at leone, his heart seemed to flutter…
“i know of a small village on this island.” leone started walking towards the shore. “the villagers can help you get back to the mainland.”
bruno bit his lip again. he barely heard anything leone had said. the feeling in his chest… kept growing.
was it love?
his feet hit hot sand, sending him back into reality. he jumped a little at the shock of the heat. leone laughed a little, sending bruno back into a tizzy. he almost wanted to kiss him right then and there. but… that would be ridiculous. they only just met mere hours ago. yes, it was out of the question…
“are you alright?” leone asked, bringing bruno out of the haze. “you seem a little out of it.”
“i-i’m fine… i guess i’m still getting myself together after what happened…”
it was the truth, but not the whole truth.
“alright. if you feel dizzy or anything, stop me and we can rest. it’s a long walk to the village.”
leone started walking across the hot sand, towards a path that bruno hadn’t noticed before. he followed.
the path wound its way through bushes, giving way to an enormous meadow, absolutely covered in wildflowers of all colors. bruno was stunned. he let out a long sigh and paused for a second, running his hands through his hair.
leone paused too. he turned around, expecting to see bruno out of breath or falling over or something horrible, but… he saw bruno standing there, taking in the view, his eyes shining so bright with wonder and amazement. leone turned a little pink. he was… beautiful. his eyes… oh, his eyes… to say leone was entranced would be a huge understatement. as bruno ran his hands through his shiny jet-black hair, leone could almost picture his own hands doing the same.
bruno looked over at leone, the shine in his eyes growing when he saw leone staring at him. leone cleared his throat and turned away, embarrassed.
“it’s so beautiful…” bruno said softly. leone looked back at him. they met eyes, and finally…
bruno ran towards leone, laughing, wrapping him in an embrace.
leone was stunned, to say the least. he was even more stunned when bruno kissed him.
he… kissed him?
oh, but it felt so lovely…
bruno’s lips were soft, and gentle, and they were salty from the seawater, and they just… felt so right.
leone smiled and leaned into the kiss. he tenderly ran his hands through bruno’s hair, and it felt exactly like he had imagined it moments earlier.
bruno smiled. he gently pulled his lips away from leone’s.
“i had to thank you somehow… for saving my life…”
“i think this works.” leone smiled.
bruno’s heart soared and he kissed leone again. this time there was no hesitation before leone fully kissed back.