Chapter Text
Jade snuck out again, off to collect some human accessories. He'd heard from a school of fish that yet another ship had sunk, just yesterday. Everyone made it out, he heard, so his hopes of seeing a human in person were dashed.
Still, Jade explored the shipwreck, hoping to find things to add to his collection.
He was a long way away from home, and his family was in the midst of preparing for dinner with a client and the Ashengrottos, but Jade could care less about some clients and a stupid dinner party. His family didn't exactly need him, anyway, because they had Floyd. Besides, all he wanted was to explore.
He weaved his way though collapsed beams, dodging falling debris. He may not be as strong as Floyd, but he was still as nimble and quick.
He picked up every shiny object he found and putting it in his satchel. Jade thought about the time, opening the pocket watch he threaded into his skin before leaving the house. It seemed he still had enough time before the dinner party; not that he cared anyway.
This went on for a long, long while. Jade can get rather carried away with these things.
He came across a metal object with four prongs in what looked like a restaurant. He threaded it through his hair with a chuckle before throwing it into his satchel too. He knows it's just a fork, but he likes to pretend he's just like the Mermaid Princess sometimes.
"Ah, dearie me, it seems I'm cutting it quite close..." he muttered checking his pocket watch once more. He swam off, out of the shipwreck and into the open sea. And that was when he saw him. A boy, probably only a year older, drowning. Judging by the ripples on the surface of the sea, he must've accidentally been thrown overboard. Jade rushed over, carrying the boy to shore. It was bold; Jade hadn't been on shore before.
He checked the boy's pulse. This is what humans do, right? His pulse was fine. The boy sat up and began to cough. Once his coughing fit was over, he looked up and saw Jade looming over him.
"...Hello," he said.
"Greetings," Jade replied, "and now, farewell."
He turned to leave before the boy called out.
"Wait!"
Jade perked up, looking at the boy with curious eyes. "Please, pretend you never saw me."
Then the boy said something quite unexpected. "I'd like to know the name of the one who saved me."
Jade paused, debating if he should give away his name or swim away quickly. "Jade Leech."
The boy smiled.
"I'm Trey Clover. Thank you for saving me, Jade." Trey introduced himself. "Have you seen my glasses?"
"...Glasses?" asked Jade. He'd never heard of these 'glasses' before, so they must be another human thing that wasn't exactly introduced in the Coral Sea.
"They're half-rimmed, black. Seen them anywhere?"
Since he had no idea what glasses were, Jade shook his head no.
"I really must be going now. Goodbye, Trey Clover." he said before swimming off back into the water.
"JAAAADE!!"
A familiar voice called out, crashing into his side with a tight squeeze.
It was his twin brother, Floyd, and Azul, who tried catching up to Floyd but failed.
"Slow down and calm down, Floyd! You're going to crush Jade!" he panted.
"He deserves it for makin' me n' mama n' papa worried!" Floyd frowned. "We thought he went missin' again!"
"Did I miss the dinner party?" Jade questioned.
Floyd scoffed. "I don't care about no stupid dinner party! Mama n' papa cancelled it to find you!"
"Wasn't this to be our most important client to date?"
"Shaddup! We're takin' you back home! Come on, Azul!"
"Don't order me around, Floyd," Azul sighed.
Needless to say, Jade had been scolded and squeezed left and right by his mother and father. His whole body ached from the strength of his parents.
All Floyd said about it was 'this is what ya get!' and Azul, Azul's mother, and Azul's step-father watched from the sidelines. Eventually, the Ashengrottos had to leave, which left the Leeches to scold Jade once more.
"Hey, Jade, what didja see that made you go all the way out there?" Floyd asked as the two were getting ready for bed.
There was a bit of a silence, as if Jade didn't want to answer.
"There was a shipwreck. I went to explore," he replied.
"That's nothin' new."
"I saw a human."
Floyd went quiet and started at Jade. "A human? Did they try to capture you? Is that why you were gone so long?"
Jade shook his head. "Do you think we are still living in the time of the Sea Witch and Mermaid Princess? He was drowning and... I don't know. I was compelled to save him. I brought him to shore."
"TO SHORE!? You went to shore without me?!" exclaimed Floyd, who was in absolute disbelief.
"Calm down Floyd. But... I don't think the human saw me. Properly, anyway. He was conversing with me as if we were the same."
"Man, that's weird to think about! Why do ya think he didn't see ya?" mumbled Floyd.
"Perhaps he is like us and relies more on scent rather than sight," Jade shrugged. "Goodnight, Floyd."
"Yeah... Night, Jade."