Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grian loved his job, he swore he did, but as he stood on the dock, watching his breath mist in the light of his flashlight, he couldn’t help but wish that he’d maybe chosen a career path that didn’t involve waking up before the sun. He’d never been an early bird, and this was unreasonable. He understood the reasons, but… still.

“Pouting again?” A voice carried from behind him, and Grian turned to see Martyn, one of his oldest friends, walking down the dock; finally making an appearance to help them set up for the day.

“What else?” He huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes. “It’s too early! ”

“You say that every morning!” Another helping hand said, and Grian whined.

“Because it’s true!”

“Go find a different job, then,” said the voice of the captain of their tiny boat, emerging from below. His tone held no heat- he wasn’t serious. It was funny really, how often this exact exchange had taken place. Such was the nature of a good, routine life, he supposed.

His life was… very routine at this point. Wake up, go out fishing on the boat, come back and take a shower, before either staying home with some good food and a movie- or going out with Martyn and Netty to whatever they had planned that evening. It was fine- it really was! It was a good life, and consistency was a good thing to have, but….

But something. He didn’t even know exactly what it was he wanted. Just- something else. It was annoying, to want something new, and also to not want anything to change. Humans were stupid, contradictory creatures.

“Alright, c’mon lads, the sea isn’t kind enough to wait for us,” The captain said, to the murmured agreement of their small crew, and they all filed onboard. Martyn wordlessly handed Grian a granola bar as he passed him, and Grian nodded in thanks. He never woke up in time to have a proper breakfast.

It was beautiful, he could admit, watching the run rise over the ocean every morning, no matter how tired he was. The reds, oranges, yellows and pinks falling in wide, shining bands onto the surface of the churning water never really got old. He breathed in the salty, fishy air as he blinked against the new sunlight. His name meant ‘sun’ in some language or another- he couldn’t remember which, but he could say he was proud of his namesake.

The day passed in that same, habitual blur that he was used to, spliced with joking with his coworkers and Martyn, oohing and aahing over interesting fish, and his salty lunch break. He didn’t intend for it to be salty, but everything was salty out here. It was a good thing he liked salty things.

Not long after his little lunch though… Something interesting happened; by far the most interesting thing to happen to him in months.

One of the nets stuttered as it began to be hauled up, and Grian was pulled away from where he was putting away the catch of a different net to help with this one- straining against the ropes and pulleys in order to reel it in.

Something big must have been caught up in it- hopefully it wouldn’t destroy the net before they could bring it in- and, depending on what it was, let it go. Maybe it was a sea turtle- it had been a while since they’d accidentally reeled one of those in. They’d changed the types of nets they’d used since then- but accidents always happened.

It was… not a sea turtle. Amidst the fish they were actually trying to catch, Grian glimpsed a flash of bright golden scales, not like any sort of fish that should be in the area, and as the net shifted, he saw a face through the mesh, and it dawned on him exactly what they’d caught.

A mer.

“Is that a mer? ” The coworker of his who had done most of the heavy lifting in getting the net up abandoned the locked pulley- stumbling back.

“ What? ” The captain hissed, hurrying over, face paling as he saw what they already had. “Oh no. ”

“You’re kidding!” Martyn whistled, joining the group. “That’s not good.”

It was, in fact, very much not good. There were a lot of laws in place around mers, and pulling one up in a net was very illegal, even if it was an accident. It was so, so much worse than pulling in a turtle, since mers were whole, sapient beings- beings who didn’t often like to interact with humans in the first place.

They, as a species, had taken the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” approach to their lifestyle- and still lived mainly in migratory hunter gatherer pods across the ocean- and sometimes in rivers and lakes as well. They were just as intelligent as their land dwelling counterparts, but they acted differently enough that a lot of the time it didn’t seem that way to human sensibilities.

Case in point: the mer in their net hissing at them.

None of the other men on the boat seemed to want to get close- understandably so- mers were hunters, and were equipped for it, with sharp teeth, claws, and powerful tails. They were typically not afraid to use these weapons on humans whenever the two species happened to come into conflict- which this definitely was. Grian though, he found he couldn’t stay still. The mer may have been hissing at them, but from the glimpses of his face Grian had gotten, he’d looked more scared than anything.

Before he could think too deeply about it, he flicked his pocket knife out of his jacket, and lunged for the net. Setting the mer free was far more important than one net- and so he started hacking away at it best he could. If they just dropped it, the likelihood of the mer becoming entangled was extremely high; the best thing would be for him to simply be cut free.

“Grian, what are you- oh JEEZ-” Martyn yelled, and Grian had only a split second to react before the water under them exploded, and a second mer leapt for the net, growling in a low, inhuman way that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. Right. Mers weren’t often alone.

He was in real danger now- the harsh blue eyes of the second mer raking over him, her axolotl-like gills flaring from behind her ears. He couldn’t stop halfway through his task though, so he just sawed faster, bracing for the pain of claws in his side any moment… but it didn’t come. Instead, the growling trailed off, and when he chanced a glance, those same eyes were scanning him in a calculating manner.

A moment later, claws of the second mer joined his mission, and they worked together to tear the net to shreds. Their intended catch, and the bright yellow mer, splashed back into the sea below, and Grian’s coworkers finally jumped into action to draw the remains of the net back into the boat.

Grian stared down at the two mers in the water in open awe. He’d honestly never really seen a mer before- especially not this close, with how particular about human interaction they tended to be. These two were beautiful; the one they’d caught had sunny blond hair, yellow scales so bright they were painful to look at in the light, and almost feather-like fins extending from behind his ears. The one who had helped Grian cut him free was bigger, a lot bigger, with flowing pink hair, and glittering blue scales that blushed pale pink at her extremities- not to mention her odd gills, that were again, much more like an axolotl than a fish.

They looked right back at him, and making eye contact with them, he really could tell that they were intelligent. Their eyes looked no different than any other human Grian knew- minus the woman’s vibrancy. She whistled and clicked at him, and he broke out of his stupor.

“Oh, uh, sorry about that!” He called. He didn’t know if they could understand him- probably not, if they’d lived their lives in the ocean without much human contact; but maybe he could apologize in a way they could understand. He bolted behind him, nearly knocking Martyn over in his haste- snatching a couple of the fish that he’d been preparing for storage earlier. He ran back to the edge, relieved to see them still there, and he tossed them the catch.

They both stared at it for a second, before snatching it with their claws faster than his eyes could track. They looked back up at him, clicked again, and ducked back down into the water, disappearing into the impenetrable blue.

Grian took a step back, then another, and then he collapsed onto his knees, laughing a little breathlessly before Martyn helped him back to his feet. Well, that was an adventure. A real story to tell… to the right people. If they told the wrong people they’d get arrested.

“Dude, that was insane!” Martyn was saying, grinning as he ruffled Grian’s hair. “Look at you, being a hero!”

“It’s not- I wasn’t-” He protested, but Martyn and the rest of the crew just laughed over him.

“Shame about the net,” the captain grumbled, looking vaguely annoyed. “That’ll be quite the cost to replace.”

“Better than jail,” Someone muttered, and there was a round of agreement. Yeah. Catching a mer was no joke, and it was a miracle that they’d been able to get away with what they had.

“Right! Well, that was fun, but we still have a quota, boys,” the captain clapped, reminding them of what they were getting paid to do.

Grian shook himself off. A weird day, a day to remember, but now it was back to the routine. He felt better though, with the crack in the normalcy. Maybe it was just what he’d needed.

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“How could you let that happen?” Queen fussed over him, brushing his hair out of his eyes and back behind his fins as he munched on the gift from the human on the boat. “Getting caught! In a net! Seriously? Of all the things,” She clicked, nailing him with a deep frown.

“Uh, whoops?” He tried, offering her a share. She growled, but accepted. “Genuinely, I am sorry… I wasn’t paying attention,” He flicked his fins to float beneath her, an act of submission. She sighed, and pulled him back up by his shoulders. It didn’t matter much, she was a lot bigger than he was. Unusually so, he thought wryly. It wasn’t fair.

“Of course you weren’t,” She hummed, pinching the bridge of her nose before digging in to her own fish. “We did get a meal out of it, though.”

“Yeah, that one human pretty much immediately tried to set me free, no hesitation. That was nice- and then he apologized!” Canary grinned, holding up their prize. “At least- I’m pretty sure that’s what this is.”

“Probably,” She mused. “That was nice of him, I suppose. I guess we’ll have to accept it, since we’re already eating the gifts.”

“Yeah!” He laughed, polishing off his own gift in question. “Shame we can’t let them know that- no hard feelings and all,” He shrugged.

“Well- I don’t know about no hard feelings,” Queen rolled her eyes, pumping her tail to circle her brother, before pulling him into a tight embrace. “I was really scared there for a second- you never know what a human will do. That could have gone very badly.”

“I know,” He murmured, shoving his face into her shoulder. “I’ll try not to get caught again, if that helps.”

“It does,” She sighed.

“Though…” He started, and she groaned, pulling away. He flashed her a smile. He’d had a very bad idea, and he knew she knew that. “You never know what a human will do… but we do know what that human did, right?”

“Canary, no.”

“Oh c’mon, Queen! Aren’t you even a little curious about what humans get up to? And besides… Maybe he’ll give us more free food!” he needled, pushing himself up and behind her to rest his crossed arms on his head. “I want to follow them. Just, y’know, for a little bit.”

“That is a phenomenally bad idea,” She groaned, tilting her head back and making him slip down, easily allowing her to grab his arm again, maneuvering him back around so they could speak properly. “Do you understand how bad it is? Tell me I haven’t failed you like this.”

“You haven’t failed me,” He waved away her concern. “I know how bad it is… but you’ll always get me out of trouble, right?” He flashed her another winning grin. “And if you don’t… maybe that guy will!” She growled, rolling her eyes, but then she sighed, her shoulders slumping.

“You have…  a small point. Fine, we can follow them-” He cheered, flaring his fins and pumping his fists.

“But just for a bit, until you’ve satisfied your curiosity, or until it gets dangerous.”

“You’re the best!” He flicked his tail, tackling her in another hug. She trilled, pulling him in closer.

“I know.”

Chapter Text

Grian’s eyes had to be playing tricks on him. The encounter with the two mers the previous day was still messing with him or something, because he could swear he kept seeing flashes of yellow and pink out of the corners of his vision.

He readied another net, catching another flash of pink just off the edge of the boat, and he looked up as fast as he could- to find nothing. Again. He groaned, quickly finishing his task, before going to lean against the cabin, rubbing at his eyes. He never got enough sleep at night- is that what this was? Lack of sleep? Maybe he’d have to ask for a day off soon…

“Alright, what’s eating ya?” Martyn asked, coming to lean next to him, bumping his shoulder with his own. “You’re looking… far away, man. Is yesterday still bothering you?”

“I guess…” Grian sighed. “I just keep thinking I’m seeing- oh my gosh,” He jumped up, sure he’d seen something that time, a brief glimpse of something shining from the back of the boat.

“What?” Martyn blinked at him in surprise as he hastily made his way over to where he’d seen the odd color, only to stop and stare as he saw what Grian had.

They were back. Both mers from yesterday were down there in the water, their distinctive colors only barely visible beneath the rippling surface, swimming along with the boat. He wasn’t seeing things- but apparently he wasn’t the only one still thinking about the encounter. What were they doing here?

“Holy moly,” Grian muttered, pulling away from the edge before another deck hand could ask what he was doing.

“They came back?” Martyn stage whispered to him, incredulous. “ Why? ”

“No idea,” He blinked. “What should we do?”

“Uh, ignore them?” Martyn started back towards what the two of them were meant to be working on. “It’s not our business- and I don’t want to be the one to start trouble, y’know?”

“Technically we already started the trouble first by catching one of them yesterday,” Grian pointed out, his eyes drifting back to where he knew they were being stalked.

“Ugh, don’t tell me this is going to become a thing, ” Martyn whined. “It was wrapped up all neat and nice yesterday, bow on top and everything.”

“Clearly not,” Grian murmured, giving in to curiosity once more and making his way to the edge- just in time to make eye contact with the yellow one. His bright brown gaze widened, before he dipped back below the surf. Right, well, maybe Martyn was right and he should just back off. He didn’t want to scare them any more than he already had.

“Are they still there?” Martyn raised an eyebrow as he came back.

“Yep,” he squeaked.

“Just… work, get your mind off them. It’s none of our business,” Martyn insisted, and Grian sighed. Sure. It was what he was getting paid for, after all.

“What the-” a couple hours later, it became their business when another deck hand happened to spot their aquatic stalkers once they’d come to a stop. “It’s one of the mers! From yesterday!” He called, and the captain came out to get involved.

“Oh no,” he groaned, pressing a hand to his head. “ Please don’t tell me they’re here for revenge, I cannot deal with that right now.”

“They’ve been following us for hours now,” Grian piped up, wincing at the sudden attention. “I don’t think they’re going to do anything.”

“Wha- and you didn’t mention this?” the captain glared at him, and he backed up a step. Whoops.

“It- they weren’t doing anything!” He defended. “Just like they’re not doing anything now!”

“He’s right, boss,” Someone said. “They’re just… swimming around.”

“Weird,” Someone else said, and there were nods all around.

Grian found himself wandering over to the edge they’d been most recently spotted off of, and once again found himself face to face with the yellow one. This time, neither of them ducked away. It was almost surreal.

“Um, hi,” Grian said, raising a hand to wave at him. To his surprise, the mer mimicked the action, clicking something at him in return. Huh. Huh. He knew most mers avoided contact or communication with humans when possible, but this seemed like a deliberate attempt at both, which was… really cool, actually.

“Did he just wave back?” Martyn asked, leaning over the edge as well.

“Um, I think so,” Grian gulped, and the mer cocked his head at him, as if asking a question. What question he might be asking, Grian had no idea. Well, they could always try being polite? “My name is Grian,” he pointed obviously at himself. “And this is Martyn. Grian and Martyn,” he repeated, pointing between them.

The mer seemed to consider this, his eyes darting between their faces. Then, he pointed at himself, and made an inhuman melodic sound that Grian knew he wouldn’t be able to replicate. Was he harmonizing with himself?

“Are you trying to talk to it?” A passing coworker asked, eyebrow raised, and Grian shot him a dark glare.

“Him, not ‘it’.”

“Right, whatever,” He got an eyeroll, and then the guy walked off.

By the time Grian looked back to the water, the mer was gone.

-----------

The next day, they were back, again. The yellow one (Grian had tried to pronounce his name. He couldn’t.) stayed closer to the surface, and his friend the pink and blue woman stayed deeper, almost… supervising, if he had to put his finger on the vibe.

Every time they stopped the boat, that blond head would pop up out of the water, and Grian would attempt small talk, though he knew the cracks in the language barrier were tiny. He reiterated his and Martyn’s names again, and once again got the melodic reply. Once, close to the end of the day, he did try to replicate it- for which both Martyn and the mer laughed at him… but it felt like warm laughter. It felt like… connection.

They were back again, and again, and again. Grian had taken to just talking over the edge of the boat, telling stories and narrating what he was doing at almost any given moment, but especially when they were stopped. The other workers snickered at him, but he ignored them. It was worth it to see those bright brown eyes stare curiously at him while he talked.

Occasionally, the pink head of the other mer would join him while they were stopped, her own blue eyes much more cautious. When he had given her his and Martyn’s names, and the yellow one had responded once again with his melodic call, she pointed to herself and let out a short string of clicks. Grian tried to imitate that one too- but from the smirk on her face he had definitely failed.

Occasionally, Grian found himself in the position of being talked at- or rather, sang at. The yellow one would spend hours singing and clicking over the waves in that strange voice of his. It was oddly soothing, and he gained a sympathy for his ancestors that had fallen prey to such tunes. He was really glad that sirens had stopped actively hunting humans centuries ago.

All in all… he felt like this odd burgeoning… something they had with the two mers was exactly what he’d needed. He hadn’t known it until he had it, but it was something new to wake up and look forward to every day. After he got home from work he’d be researching mers, trying to find resources on their language (of which there were none) and generally trying to find ways to boost his chances of keeping this strange relationship. It was… fun. He really liked those two.

“I really need something to call you guys,” Grian lamented one day, leaning over the edge of the boat while they were stopped- bringing up some nets. The captain let him have his chats with the mers- all the better to keep them distracted from the catch, he said. “I can’t pronounce your names, you know I can’t,” the yellow one trilled at him from the water. Sometimes it felt like they were having a real conversation. “So I need something else. ”

“What, are you planning on naming them yourself?” Martyn raised an eyebrow at him, passing him a sandwich, which he took gratefully. “Feels a little strange.”

“I would be nicknaming them,” Grian took a chunk out of his lunch. “That’s not strange.”

“Sure, whatever,” he chuckled, and Grian rolled his eyes. Martyn still seemed to think his attempts at befriending the mers was some kind of joke. The pink one let out a lower click, narrowing her eyes at Martyn. Grian felt she could absolutely tell she was being ignored- or brushed off, more like.

“Would you guys mind that? Me giving you nicknames?” He turned back to the sea, tilting his head at his two odd friends in question. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to understand him, but… he still asked. They both clicked back at him, glancing at each other.

“They can’t understand you mate,” Martyn shook his head, and Grian glared at him.

“How about… Lizzie?” He asked, pointing at the pink one. She blinked. “Lizzie?” He said again, and hesitantly, she pointed at herself too. He tilted his head the other way, something he knew all three of them considered a question. “Lizzie?” He said, asked, for the third time.

“Why Lizzie? ” Martyn scoffed. Grian ignored him. Honestly it just sounded nice.

“Lizzie?” He said, a fourth time, and she pointed at herself again, blinking wide eyed at him. The yellow one was looking between them in fascination. Slowly, the pink one… Lizzie … nodded.

“Wow, that worked, ” Martyn hummed, appreciatively. Grian continued to ignore him.

“And…” He turned his attention on the yellow one, who perked up, and was already pointing at himself. “Jimmy?” Grian posed, and he clicked excitedly. “Jimmy?” He said again, and got the same enthusiastic click. “That settles that then!” he laughed, resting his chin on his wrists on the rail.

“Lizzie and Jimmy?” Martyn said, and both of them looked at him. “Oh shoot, they really do understand this!” He laughed.

“Do they have names now?” the captain asked as he passed.

“Well they always had names-” Grian started, before he got cut off.

“They’re Lizzie and Jimmy,” Martyn said, and the captain nodded.

“Well I’ll be darned. Maybe if you can name them, you can put them to work, too! Make ‘em useful!” He joked, walking off with a laugh. Grian shook his head, before returning his attention back to the two mers- Lizzie and Jimmy.

Honestly, the captain had been joking, but it wasn’t long after that that Lizzie and Jimmy started helping out with the fishing. It was hard to notice at first, but once someone did, it was unmistakable. They were herding the catch into the nets, genuinely increasing their yield. The first time this was realized, the captain nearly bent double laughing, before tossing a couple of their fresh fish overboard.

“If they’re gonna work, then they’re gonna get paid!” He had boomed, and no one dared to argue.

The two mers seemed to understand this concept too- because they really did work for those fish. Grian wondered if it was easier than hunting for themselves. A part of him almost felt bad- should they really introduce mers to capitalism? Most of him was delighted- since it meant they were around a bit more, and appreciated a lot more.

He continued to speak to them, and they continued to sing, whistle, and click back- with Lizzie joining in with his and Jimmy’s two-way-one-sided conversations a lot more often as time went on. He was of the opinion that he had the best working experience that a fisherman could possibly have- making friends with and working alongside a pair of wild mers.

Martyn too had started to come around, about when Lizzie started joining in, he found himself suckered into the conversation, and Grian had teased him endlessly the first time he caught him talking to Jimmy without him. He was sure that Martyn respected them as fellow coworkers by now, if not in the friendly way Grian saw them, but… he had a feeling he was more fond of them than he was letting on.

Grian had started to get worried though, recently… Jimmy had been making some weird noises. It almost sounded like coughing or choking, or something oddly strangled, nothing like his usual melodic tones, but every time Grian went to ask if he was okay, he just grinned like he was fine. He asked so often, he was pretty sure that ‘okay’ was one of the words they understood perfectly at this point. They seemed to know a couple words here and there by now- which was very cool. What wasn’t cool was Jimmy’s problem, which he kept hiding.

Frustrated after a day of not much catch, and the worry about Jimmy’s health, he stomped down the ramp and onto the dock- when he was interrupted by a familiar pair of trills. He looked up, shocked to see the bright yellow and blue tails of his friends flicking through the water up to the dock.

“Huh, I didn’t think they ever came this far in,” One of his coworkers commented, before just walking off. Grian was a bit more gobsmacked, and he ran right up to the edge of the dock as everyone else clocked out like normal and headed home. Well, everyone except for Martyn, who was right behind him.

“What are you two doing here?” He asked, looking them up and down for problems- surely they wouldn’t come this close to human habitation otherwise, right? They trusted the fishermen on the boat, but any time they’d had contact with other boats they’d been hidden and quiet. However, his inspection came up clean- in fact, both of them were grinning at him, proudly.

“And what are you so proud of?” Martyn raised an eyebrow, seeing what Grian had. “What did you do?” He asked, semi-accusingly. Grian rolled his eyes.

“No but seriously,” he said, lying down on the dock to be as close to the water as he could, and… had he been this close to them since the day they’d accidentally caught Jimmy? He… didn’t think so. It was sort of nice, being close enough to count the individual scales on their cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“Grian!” Jimmy said, in lieu of an answer. Wait- Jimmy said.

Jimmy said. In ENGLISH.

“Holy crap,” Martyn breathed, and Grian wasn’t breathing at all, just staring wide eyed at a very smug looking Jimmy.

“You-” Grian stuttered, getting his wind back. “I- Jimmy, what? ” and he realized that Jimmy hadn’t been sick at all, he’d been trying to speak english.

“Grian!” He said again, laughing and flicking the fins behind his ears. Oh, oh gosh, was Grian crying? His eyes were burning, and his breath had hitched in his chest.

“ Jimmy! ”

“Grian,” said a new, feminine voice, and Grian looked up, somehow shocked again to see Lizzie smiling sweetly at him, also slightly smug.

“Lizzie,” He gulped, really trying not to cry. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. He knew mers were capable of replicating human language, just- wild mers didn’t bother to learn how, and he’d never heard them say his name before-

“Grian, okay?” Lizzie blinked at him as the first tears fell from his eyes, and he laughed, wiping them away with the arm of his jumper. A second word- she’d said a second word! They could talk to each other! Properly!

“Yeah- yeah I’m okay,” His voice hitched, and he laughed through a sob. “I’m happy! This is good!”

“This is great! ” Martyn said, and Grian jumped, having almost forgotten he was there. “I mean- if they can speak english then they can communicate with the crew, and we can coordinate, and actually talk , and-” He cut himself off, blushing slightly. “It’s uh, it’s really cool.”

“Martyn okay?” Jimmy asked, snickering as he did so- knowing exactly what he was doing. Martyn looked like he’d lost the ability to breathe, and from the way he started shaking, Grian felt like maybe he was having a similar case of happy tears.

Just two grown men and their mer friends, crying on a dock in the evening over a couple of words. And Grian wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chapter Text

“Fish! There!” Canary- no, Jimmy called, using his recently developed skills in the human language. He didn’t have many words, yet, but if it meant being able to actually talk to his friend Grian, then he’d do his best to collect as many as he could.

“Got it!” Martyn called back, before ducking out of view to relay Jimmy’s information to the other humans on the boat. He only knew a couple of their names- Grian and Martyn were the most important.

It had been the best decision of his life to follow that boat. It had been pure curiosity at first, but then… Well, Grian had tried to reach out. He had given his name, and Canary had given his- or, tried to. Grian’s replication had been awful, but back then, he couldn’t pronounce Grian’s name either. There had been… something there, something that kept him coming back, that kept him begging Queen to let him visit one more day.

He was pretty sure the day she finally, really relented for good was the day Grian had given them human names. It had been such an annoying barrier for so long- being unable to say Grian’s name, and have him be unable to address them back… so when he pointed at Queen and said “Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie,” over and over until they realized what he was doing… Well, it felt like little else had. It felt like connection- way more than just the sharing of names in the first place had.

When he had turned his finger on Canary, it had taken only a few repetitions for him to accept the name Grian chose for him without complaint. Jimmy. Lizzie and Jimmy, those were their names, the names that the humans called them.

He and Queen had been alone for a long time, ever since they’d been separated from their pod when Jimmy had been small. They had rarely seen mers in the years since- just those passing through the area. The two siblings didn’t often leave after all- there was no real reason to, and they didn’t want to chance losing each other to the vast blue. Still, it meant they were alone.

She was the only one who used his name, who called him Canary- named for a bright bird that sang along coastlines sometimes, and he was the only one who called her Queen- named for her regal looks. Lots of people called them Jimmy and Lizzie though, Grian, Martyn, the leader of their boat, all the others… he’d grown very attached to the name- and he knew Lizzie had as well.

They’d grown fond enough, attached enough to both the names and the people who had gifted them, that, just once, they decided to help out with their fishing, as thanks. Then, they had been gifted more food. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the correlation there.

So they started working for the boat, helping with the fishing and getting fish in return. They didn’t have to hunt on their own, so they spent most of their time around the boat, around Grian and Martyn. They heard so many incomprehensible stories, participated in laughter and physical jokes, and all around had the best fun of Jimmy’s life. Maybe this was what it was like to have a pod, he thought… if you couldn’t talk to your pod.

That was when he resolved to figure out how to speak the human language. He knew it was possible- he’d heard a mer who had visited once show off the couple words she knew, but he didn’t know how. It wasn’t a skill that came naturally- the sounds were completely different… but it could be done, unlike humans, whose throats couldn’t hope to replicate merspeak.

Lizzie had been very supportive of the idea, and so they began to practice together, after the boat had returned to the land for the day. It was… hard, difficult to figure out, and he couldn’t help himself from trying during the day sometimes, drawing concerned looks from Grian. Eventually though… Eventually he could speak, and hear his friend’s name come from his own lips, in his own voice. Though, it was a bit unfamiliar, being used to make these sounds.

It had been worth it, because with those first few names and words, a torrent of opportunity opened up. They actively tried to teach them new words, and they understood quite a lot now, and could say a bit less- but they were getting there. Communicating with the boat made fishing much easier, and their growing vocabulary meant they could actually participate in the conversations happening above.

It was everything Jimmy had ever wanted.

“All good?” Martyn yelled, holding a thumbs up over the rail of the boat. Jimmy nodded.

“All good!” He called, ducking under the water and making his way under and over to the other side of the boat. Lizzie was waiting further out, ready to herd the catch right where they wanted them. They’d done this dozens of times, so it was no surprise it went perfectly.

“You guys are amazing at this,” Grian commented, leaning over the railing, his sandy blond hair stuttering in the wind. Jimmy preened, having nigh effortlessly understood his whole sentence.

“Thanks!” He grinned. Speaking was so much harder than understanding.

“~~~~~~~~, It’s ~~~~ so much easier ~~~~~ you guys started helping,” Grian smiled, and Jimmy had a bit harder of a time with that one. Still, it wasn’t hard to glean the general meaning.

“Helping me, too,” He tried, and Grian’s eyes sparkled, so he figured he got it right.

“You know, my life has ~~~~ a ~~~~~ ~~~ better ~~~~~ you guys got here,” Grian hummed, and Jimmy wanted nothing more than to pull him into the water and wrap him in a big hug. He hadn’t gotten to do that very often- just a couple times at the beach they visited sometimes, but it wasn’t common.

“Me too,” He said again, grinning up at his friend. His friend. “Lizzie and I were… two,” He licked his lips, looking for the words he needed. “Not more.”

“I don’t know how you two ~~~~~~~ that, to be ~~~~~~,” Grian shook his head. “Sounds… bad,” he said, glancing down and carefully choosing words Jimmy would know. He nodded. It was bad. He hadn’t thought so at the time, but now that he had something better…

“Good now,” He sighed, dipping lower in the water. Once again, he wished Grian would join him down here, instead of being up there on the boat. He understood why that was a bad idea… but still.

“Yeah,” Grian grinned. “Good now.”

“Jimmy!” Lizzie’s voice carried over the water, and he looked over, seeing her waving as she approached them at the boat. “Good?” she asked, and he nodded.

They’d taken to using human language with each other too, sometimes, especially around the fishermen. It was good practice, and made sure they’d be understood. They were getting a lot better because of it, he thought.

“Time to go home?” She asked, and Grian up above hummed an affirmative. The sun was dipping lower in the sky- the boat would be returning back to their city soon.

“Hey,” He turned to Lizzie. “Do you think we could ask if Grian would want to swim with us later? It’s getting a bit frustrating, looking up at him all day,” He huffed, dipping into merspeak for the more complicated question. Grian blinked at them, having heard his name mixed into his whistles and clicking.

“I don’t see a problem with it. It has been a while,” Lizzie hummed. “If he wants to, obviously. He does have things he does on land when he’s not on the boat.”

“Right,” He grimaced. It was… a bit frustrating, knowing that their friends had a whole part of their lives that the mer siblings would never be able to touch.

“Hey Grian!” Lizzie called up to the boat, and Grian perked up at being addressed again. “Beach?”

“Oh!” His eyes widened, knowing what they were asking. “Uh, sure- yes,” Grian corrected himself, though Jimmy had heard that same correction enough times to guess the synonym.

“Yes!” Jimmy echoed him, splashing a little, and resisting the urge to try and get Grian with the spray. He could, but the humans weren’t a fan of that skill of his.

It was a relaxing swim back to the human city- their strange lights dancing on the horizon as they got close. He wondered what it would be like- to be able to have legs to walk up there, through their buildings and crowds. He wondered if Grian and Martyn ever thought about the sea like that.

They waved goodbye to the crew at the docks, and then began their swim over to a local beach- more specifically, a semi-hidden, private spot that Martyn had introduced them to, after realizing the water around the docks was… not the best, to say the least. More than just the unknown humans, the water around the city tasted awful, which was just as much of a deterrent. The beach was much better in that regard.

A while later, they heard the muffled sound of human voices from beyond the water, and surfaced to see three humans running down the beach towards them. Jimmy grinned, swimming as close to the shore as he dared to without getting beached. Grian had come, as promised, and it seemed like he’d invited Martyn and his wife as well.

Jimmy didn’t see Netty often, but besides Grian and Martyn, she was probably his third favorite human- more than the other fishermen, even. She was kind to them, and had introduced them to cooked fish, with spices. Even now, he saw her carrying a plastic container, and his mouth watered as to what could be inside.

“Hi guys! I heard you said beach?” Martyn called, not stopping as he reached the water’s edge, instead walking right into the surf. He had forgone most of the odd clothes that humans wore, instead wearing the one garment he always did at the beach. The reasons for this behavior were unknown, and Jimmy hadn’t asked… yet.

“Yes! We said beach!” Lizzie laughed, lazily drifting up behind him.

“It has ~~~~ ~~~~~~,” Grian smiled, approaching the water at a much more sedate pace than Martyn had. That wouldn’t do. Jimmy grinned mischievously, before darting forward and grabbing Grian by the ankle, dragging him into the water. “WauGH, Jimmy!” He spluttered, surfacing a moment later as Jimmy laughed. “Is that why you wanted us here? Jeez…”

“Yes!” He kept laughing, but Grian was still smiling, and he hadn’t left the water, so he knew they were all good.

“It’s good to see you two again,” Netty hummed, keeping a safe distance from the water. “I don’t get to see you often, ~~~~~~~~,” She sighed with a smile, setting the probably-food container to the side.

“Hi Netty!” Jimmy waved, before Grian dumped a bunch of water over his head, and it was his turn to splutter. He may breathe the stuff, but it was a bit shocking in this context.

“Hi Jimmy!” She replied, stifling her laughter at the display.

“Good to see you too!” Lizzie echoed, swimming closer to the beach where Netty was sitting, while the boys began a splash war- that Jimmy was obviously winning, even two against one.

Their meetings like this were by far one of Jimmy’s favorite things. Working for the boat was fun, and weirdly fulfilling, but this? Being able to just… hang out like this? Play and roughhouse with his friends? It made him feel like he had found something he’d been missing his whole life. He was sure any traditional mer would turn their nose up and hiss at the notion, but if it came down to it, he’d say Grian, Martyn, and even Netty were part of Jimmy’s pod. He knew Lizzie would agree.

“I did bring food, if anyone is ~~~~~~~~~~!” Netty called, and Jimmy immediately abandoned the play fight, letting Grian and Martyn crash into each other. He rarely got to eat food from Netty, afterall.

She had brought salmon this time- flavored with something called honey lemon, and Jimmy loved it. Other mers were missing out, and he’d stand by that. Nothing he and Lizzie had ever hunted had tasted anything like this.

“Having fun?” Netty leaned over to him, smiling as he trilled softly over her cooking.

“Yes,” He said, rolling over in the sand to look at her better. “Thank you.”

“Oh, don’t thank me,” She waved a hand. “Good~~~~ knows that Grian and Martyn need more friends.”

“Yeah!” Jimmy snickered. They didn’t even seem to be that great of friends with the rest of the crew. He’d tease them about it more if they weren’t his only friends. They at least had a wide pool of people to choose from.

“They’re ~~~~~ to have you both,” She hummed, and he flicked the fins by his ears. He hadn’t heard that word before, he didn’t think.

“What is... ‘lucky’?”

“It’s…” She considered for a moment, pursing her lips in thought. “It’s a surprising, good thing. One you didn’t think you would get.”

“Oh,” he took another bite of the wonderful honey lemon salmon. “Then we’re lucky too.”

“Yeah, I guess you are!” She laughed, and he thought idly that she was musical enough that she might be able to pronounce a couple mer words.

“We have to go home,” Grian sighed, not long after that, and Jimmy felt his fins droop. He was offered three apologetic smiles. The sun had started dipping below the horizon in earnest however, and the water was getting colder. He knew humans couldn’t handle that well.

“Come here?” Jimmy asked, and Grian sighed, following the request. Jimmy pulled him into a tight hug as soon as he got close enough, and he returned it a moment later, chuckling quietly as he did. “Thank you,” He mumbled, into Grian’s ear, and he meant it.

“You too, Jim,” Grian said, before pulling away, a familiar smile on his face. “See you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow!” Jimmy echoed, with everyone else following suit.

See you tomorrow.