Chapter Text
It was a lovely day, sunlight shimmering through fluffy clouds and waves calmly lapping on the shore. The breeze blew gently as the colorful flowers and tree limbs danced in its embrace. A bay, of sorts and various corals, drifted along peacefully to this calm period after a storm. Why, if he had a say in it he'd probably at least mumble; this is the best it has ever been.
From what he'd seen anyway, he really didn't leave this one rock unless a ship passed by or a animal came around. But he'd seen many, many other places due to not staying in one ocean. The last lagoon he fled from had darker grass and a dense forest to match, this one was a land of few tropical trees and many bright fish. The calm air of this place put him at ease, maybe he wouldn't be hunted here; by human or his own kind.
He winced at the thought, at the scar across his shoulder. One would think mermaids were beautiful, stunning creatures that were easily harmless... A fairytale told to bubbly children who think the best of the world, bah! Having trust issues with your own race was nowhere close to stunning, it was terrifying. He couldn't look at any other mermaid without watching them carefully, almost more carefully than he stared at ridiculous humans. But, that didn't matter here.
After many close observations and scouting, he found no other mermaids who dared to get close to the shore like he did. No humane footprints scampered across the sandy shoreline, only curious animal paws or crabs searching for a home. He chuckled at the thought, he was rather similar to a crab. Grouchy, crabby even, and a nomad in his own form. Which made it delightful to him that this flat rock was the perfect sunbathing spot and place of rest.
--
Speaking of bubbly, childish humans, one woman had a grin unlike any other on her face. Which was ironic, seeing as how miserable her life was going right now. Kicked out of her house, lost her job and had barely a pinch of penny. Deep down she was upset, not about herself but more about her brother. The same damned thing happened to him, and very spontaneously as well. It almost made her wonder if someone or something did this to them on purpose, or maybe it was just chance. Who knew? She sure as hell didn't.
And yet living on the streets was a cinch for them both. Her brother was weak but rather cute and harmless, he made a swift and perfect thief of coin. She on the other hand was brutal and quite frankly, scary. Not to mention the red hair and bright clothes, an eye sore. Not cut out for the stealthiest job, definitely not. So instead she was a master at poker and many other gambling games held on this island. She COULD make a fortune, but she could also get the snot beaten out of her over accusations of cheating... Which she in fact did sometimes.
Both were basically criminals, but they were friendly criminals. Friendly criminals with an eye for creativity and an eye for mythology. They both had their fair share of 'most likely not real creatures', her brother's favorite were monsters like the leviathan or maybe rumors like the Bermuda. But she had her eyes set on Mermaids of all things. Yes, she believed deep down without a doubt if she saw a mermaid she'd be the luckiest person in the world! Maybe her life would return to normal or maybe it'd get a little bit better, she hoped.
But hope couldn't feed a grumbling stomach, she was hungry. Hungry enough to take a chunk out of her brother's arm, but he wasn't out on a walk with her. He was out in the rich side of town, snatching money from poor suckers who wouldn't see it coming for miles. And... she spent the last of her cash on dinner last night. Bummer. She was broke, again. What the hell was she gonna do?!
Although she still hopped along the street with glee, that grin formed perfectly from jagged teeth beyond a dentist's repair. It was so very fake, and if someone asked her why she was so happy, her teeth would probably shatter from the intensity of her smile! Ah well, with great rage came some fringe of smarts. This island had trees and bushes that offered fruit, maybe if she walked down by the shore she'd find something!
--
Well, that was a waste. Nothing. Nothing for miles of foliage. What good were 'fruit producing plants' if they couldn't even do their job correctly?! Then again, obviously she couldn't do her job correctly, getting fired and all that. She felt sympathy for the shrubbery, but still furrowed her brows at the fact she'd probably be starving this night.
Swiftly she made her way out of the thicket of shrubbery, loose vines of thorns snatched at her skin and caused her to fall to her knees in the soft embrace of salt and sand. Small cuts skittered across her flesh, the sand burning into the already painful stings. Tearless, she glared up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, a once blue sky turned to a mixture of orange, pink and pale yellow, clouds smeared across the colors like a painting. Her brown eyes stared and stared, wishing that she could paint a picture like that... If she had the material, but hey! No money.
A shuddered laugh pried its way out, her losses outweighed her wins. But, all those losses seemed to fade away when she lowered her eyes down to a specific gray slab of stone. Someone was laying on it, on their stomach and resting their head on their arms. She couldn't make out a face, it was obscured by a mess of silver that person called a hairstyle. What a fashion disaster! She just might have to march over there and give them a lesson on hair etiquette! She rolled up her 'sleeves', mind you she's wearing a tank top, and kicked her feet through the sand as she walked over to them and--
Oh. My.
--
He had drifted away into a sound slumber, the ocean waves were just so captivating and the leaves rustling? It was all a lullaby to his ears-- Fins? Things on the sides of his head? Even he wasn't too informed on his own body's biology. Didn't matter, he was knocked out cold in seconds.
Now, something he was aware of about himself was that his temperature was regularly chilly, that's why he loved the warmth of sunlight. But suddenly his shoulders felt too warm, way too warm... Steadily he peeked an eye open and threaded a gentle finger in his silver locks, brushing it out of the way like seaweed in the coral reefs. His violet eyes looked around, everything was normal; minus the suspicious trail of footprints decorating the sand all the way up to his precious stone. Then he felt the warmth again and a slight shake, what in the?!
"Good morning!"
"AGH!"
And with that he completely flipped and fell off the rock into the water with a painful sounding splash, dragging the pursuer to the edge who managed to firmly hold onto the flat rock. Her wonder-filled eyes stared deeply into the cold abyss, which was in actuality very shallow and child's play to a new swimmer. Then those eyes lit up when the man emerged from the water in fury, even that deadly look didn't shake the girl.
The mermaid- or merman in this case, latched his clawed hands onto the rock's side and climbed back up onto the flat surface, making the assumed human creature back away from him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snarled, making sure to show his pointed teeth as he spoke, but that only seemed to make the thing scoot closer.
She grinned, stars practically sparkled in her eyes. "Hi."
What was wrong with this person?! Didn't they know he could easily snap their neck? Another growl arose from his throat, "Don't 'hi' me, who do you think you are?!"
"Oh!"
Suddenly hands with fingernails painted pink and blue with very alluring golden rings on some fingers reached out and grabbed his own hands, pulling them towards her. She leaned forward slightly and opened her grin quite happily to introduce herself, "I'm Jolie!" she giggled, gently she pushed his hands back to their owner, "What's your name?"
Ah, a human of abundant stupidity, joy. And she wasn't very interesting alike most humans, but he did find her jewelry quite lovely. It was golden after all, not to mention its glare in the sunlight. He hesitated, but her eyes looked on at him expectantly. Ugh, what was he getting himself into? And how would he get out of it? "...Jakob."
"What a lovely name," Jolie sighed, repeating his name in a low whisper so that she'd remember. She thought she was being quiet, but Jakob could hear her and he looked a little put off. Did this human have a few screws loose or something? Definitely a broken one and he did not want a replacement; instead, he wanted a refund.
Still, no meaningless compliment could erase his hatred for this one so far. "Is there any reason in particular why you woke me up or are you just going to stare at me like some creep," Jakob cruelly spat, his patience was running entirely too thin. And he absolutely hated being stared at.
"Well!" Oh boy, he was in for a ride. "At first I came over here cause I thought you were unconscious and I also wanted to yell at you for your poor hairstyle choices--"
"Excuse me?!"
"--But then I realized you weren't exactly human--"
"I realize you aren't either."
"So then I started inspecting you cause I've never seen a mermaid-- I mean, merman, before! Much less up close," Jolie could go on and on for hours about her excitement. Her heart was basically thrumming out of her chest, at least one of her dreams just came true! Those old, crudely drawn ink paintings of mermaids was never enough for her, and here she was holding the hands of one!...
Jakob rolled his eyes, "That's nice... Can I have my own damn hands back now?"
"Oh, right! Sorry," Jolie laughed nervously and let go of him, watching as Jakob automatically snatched his arms away and started hugging the stone beneath them. Violet eyes glared daggers at her, but Jolie still smiled enthusiastically at him, making Jakob physically flinch.
Then she started to move over and look at him more, eyes glued to his long tail halfway hidden in the water. It was shiny and silver much like his hair, and the silver colors faded into a dark purple on his fins. His ears that poked out from his long hair were the same color, silver and purple on the ends. Jolie started to move closer and it made Jakob heft himself up with his hands to shift away.
"What are you doing?!" Jakob tried to ward the girl off with venom-filled words rather than venom-filled bites. Humans were quite fragile to his knowledge. But Jolie kept stepping into his personal space and stretched out a hand. Jakob stilled as it pushed his hair aside, revealing more of his face and his neck. He flushed at her stare, he hated being watched or looked at or even making eye contact with people! "Keep your hands to yourself!" He spat again, the girl's stare stilled him to a point where he couldn't move and make her stop.
"Why do you wear your hair like this? You're very pretty," Jolie spoke softly rather than yelling to try and calm him down, she smiled upon seeing his shoulders sag slightly. Then his glare shot away and he started grumbling again.
"Maybe I don't want people to see me! Yes, that includes you!" Jakob began to move away from her so he could dive into the ocean and never come back, then she pointed at his neck, that same stupid glint in her eyes appearing once again. He felt the urge to vomit.
Jolie gaped, "So you do have gills! That's amazing how you can just stay out of water like this unlike fish, you're gonna have to tell me all about yourself!"
Jakob felt another blush coming on, at least she wasn't staring at his eyes anymore. "I'm not 'gonna' tell you anything, I'm not obligated to do so," he retorted, then in a lower tone he muttered; "It's not THAT interesting either."
"Sorry, can't hear you when you speak like that," Jolie jested, ignoring his childlike pouting and snarky remarks. She had a feeling if it were her brother who found Jakob instead, he'd be done with speaking to the merman in seconds. She chuckled fondly at the thought, her brother steaming with impatience and all. "You are very rude, Jakey"
He stared wide eyed at the girl. Jakey? Jakey? Why he oughta--! "Gee, you think so, Mrs. Obvious?! Most people bugger off with this much tongue-lashing!" Jakob could make names too! He'd challenge this lady to a battle of wits but it seemed she came unarmed, hah!
"You flatter me, but I'm not married."
Pardon? Jakob looked dumbfounded after his pointless jab at the girl, suddenly she seemed very silent. He didn't like it. He preferred her stupid shouting over this sudden silence, did he hit a nerve? "What? Then why do you wear so many rings?" Jakob was exaggerating, she only had about three. But that's more rings than he'd ever seen on a human hand, and suddenly he found himself grabbing said hands, his violet hues looking them over. "I thought when humans got married they wore rings, what do these rings mean?"
"Well, one of em's my mum's engagement ring, the other is my brother's ring and the last is just one I managed to buy when I had money," Jolie's words didn't bore or upset him this time, Jakob was genuinely curious, or concerned. He leaned closer when she started to speak again, "They're meaningless I guess, two of them is just me bound to them when we're separate and the last ring I could just throw away, or sell..."
Jakob snorted at the last part, why throw away your treasures? Especially a ring. He liked rings, they were shiny and neat... Hey! He was supposed to be mature and not childish, why was he being so captivated by pieces of gold?!
"Hey, Jakob, I have a question."
And suddenly he was dragged out of his apparently silent scolding of himself. He didn't wince or cringe at her this time, instead he spoke normally. "What is it?"
"Would you like this ring? Can we be friends? Think of this ring like we're bound even when separate, just like my mother, brother and I..."
Then Jolie gently took her hands away from him and pulled the ring off her finger, holding it out to Jakob with a grin. Finally she was smiling, and it sort of warmed his heart to see it. Jakob looked at her then the ring, then back at her then the ring again. This piece of gold meant they were friends? Friends... The first friend he'd have.
Jakob wordlessly reached out and took the ring, slipping it on his index finger. It was a perfect fit and it barely slipped off, for that he smiled for once, too. His violet eyes looked back at Jolie's brown, not shying away this time.
"Thank you, friend."