Chapter Text
Nathaniel wasn't a huge fan of the ocean. In perspective, the vast water just reminded him how small he really was.
His parents on the other hand were ecstatic. The new vacation home, the private beach, and overall, the silence.
Nathaniel appreciates the effort his mom and dad are doing to make up to him for these past years. He knows they regret the lost time and emotional abuse inflicted on their son. Despite the damage already done, he felt like he owed his parents, for trying to rekindle their flawed relationship. Not many parents would.
The redhead was just hoping the weeks would slip by him, so he can go back to the city.
In the meantime, Nathaniel found a little hobby: collecting seashells. An infinite number of different shapes and colours were scattered across the white beach. The wide variety fascinated him greatly, it was almost hard to just pick a few.
But after all, favouritism is built into humans — one singular seashell caught his eye the most. It was navy blue, dotted with a white pattern around the perimeter. The thin coating of glitter on the surface allowed it to shimmer softly each time he rotated it in his hands. Nathaniel isn’t fully knowledgeable of seashell shapes, but he can confidently confirm it was a shape of a conch.
As he was admiring the artifact, quick panicky slaps beating against the ocean were heard several feet away from him.
Was it a fish? A shark?
A sprinkling of jagged rocks poked out of the further fraction of the ocean, unfortunately making it hard to observe where the sound was coming from Nath’s safe distance.
With utmost caution, Nathaniel paced himself towards the rocks, until he found a fin tangled in a net. The aquatic extension thrashed desperately, trying to break free. Instinctively, the redhead aided the creature by untangling the ropes. Before Nath could fully undo the net, the individual snarled defensively and turned around to the illustrator. Nathaniel gasped as he had a full view of the thing he was helping.
It sported a long tail, tinted in a royal blue, sparkling dangerously with resentment. Darker mid-length hair was sat on top of its head. Nathaniel has never seen anything like this. What was weirder was its very human form on the top half of its body.
But there was nothing human about it.
Everything happened so quickly — the aquatic creature bit down on the artist with sharp teeth in an immediate motion, causing him to fall backwards on the mini rocks behind him.
“Ow!” He yelped.
What the hell?
The ordeal ended as soon as it happened. The half-fish dove back into the water, only leaving the loose net behind as evidence of its presence. Nathaniel groaned at the pain coming from his arm.
"That thing had sharp teeth..." He thought to himself.
The illustrator brushed himself off and got back to the safer part of the shore. He silently swore to himself he'd never go near the ocean again.
He knew it was a bad idea to come here.
Shirel must've heard Nathaniel’s cries from earlier since she was sprinting towards him, panic highlighting her every move.
"Nathaniel! I heard your screams from the beach house! Are you alright?" The redhead tried to hide the bleeding bite mark on his arm, he really didn't want to be berated by his mother. Unfortunately, Shirel has the eyes of a hawk and held his injury to observe it. "What did I tell you about going near the ocean?"
'What was the point of going to the beach if I can't go near the ocean?' Nath's internal dialogue being braver than him.
Deep down inside, the ginger woman knew scolding her 'rebellious' teenage son wasn't going to have any effect. She sighed deeply, lowering her voice. She sounded less like a military sergeant and more like a mother. "Come on, let's get you bandaged up."
The endless sound of the ocean bounced around his room, even after he closed his window. Nathaniel decided to sleep early that night, to pretend what he went through was just a dream.
There was this distant chill down his spine every time the incident flashed in his mind. He looks down at his injury his mother expertly wrapped around his arm.
There's a physical reminder to not walk into danger out of impulse.
When Nathaniel turned off the lights in his room, he noticed something outside his bedroom window.
A light.
It glowed on the surface, a fragment of the sea transformed into a light cerulean blue, creating some sort of whirlpool. Nath knew better than to go back to the place that caused him so much trouble.
Or so he thought.
He pushed his window open slightly, making sure not to wake up his parents. With full attentiveness, the illustrator crawled out the window and landed safely on the wooden porch. Afraid he'd miss this unexplainable mystery, he jogged over towards the sea and the light.
What he saw next was just inexplicable.
The aquatic creature who bit him earlier was sitting on a nearby rock...playing the violin? Nathaniel would be lying if he said it didn't sound good. It's clear it wanted his attention, and he sure got it. The redhead made his way towards it very slowly, still wary of its capabilities. His heart pounded with a mix of emotions. Excitement? Fear? Either way, Nath was deeply intrigued.
"H-hello?" Nathaniel spoke.
Abruptly, the siren stopped, peering over at the freckled human. It looked at him for an uncomfortable amount of time, to the point Nathaniel was seriously considering running back home.
Finally, the creature ended its gawking and put the bow and violin aside. It was like the violin was completely made of water, but solid. Not correspondent to ice either, but a constant mini ocean was contained from the inside. You could completely see-through the teal instrument.
The siren kept a completely neutral face as it swam to the artist at a tremendous speed. Nathaniel had no time to react as it grabbed his waist and sat him down on the rock, where the instrument resided. The ginger was sure he was about to be eaten.
The illustrator's terrified expression was written all over him. To his surprise, the siren didn’t reciprocate the look with any malice.
The siren sunk in guilt, leaving his pale eyes peaking above the water in a pitiful glare.
Aw.
"Hey, it's alright — you can come talk to me!" Nath made another attempt in communication. It seemed to help this time: the creature swam its way into laying its head on Nath's lap.
Nathaniel’s never seen anything like this. Wasn't this the same being who almost had his limb for dinner?
Apologetic whimpers left the aquatic creature's mouth as he noticed the bandages around the redhead's arm. Returning the favour, the freckled human made an effort to apologise back for scaring him earlier. The siren may not talk, but at least they had a mutual understanding. It was clear to Nathaniel the siren bit him earlier over defence and fright.
Seems like they were both just scared of each other. But not anymore now.
Unexpectedly, the merman clenched his sapphire claws around Nath's arm, where the injury took place.
"Hey, what are you—"
A familiar cerulean glow surrounded his claws, its light creating circular beams around his forearm. Nathaniel could only look at the siren, who's eyes are now completely whitened out. Dotted sections of his tail, skin, and fins glowed in unison. Nath wonders if he's still in his bed dreaming.
When the ordeal was over, he felt...different. Lighter.
With a huge grin on his face, the siren unwrapped the bandages on Nath's arm, revealing the scars to be completely gone.
"Oh, wow!" Nathaniel expressed pure astonishment. "You can do that? Are you a God or somethin'?" The siren wasn't sure on which question to answer so he nodded with a humble smile. This only made Nathaniel more intrigued.
"Well...thank you, really. I needed this hand to draw with, so I appreciate this. Sorry we got off on the wrong foot — or fin."
The siren only grinned kindly at him before he grabbed his instrument, attached it to his back (somehow), and plunged himself into the sea.
"Wait! I didn't get your name!" Nathaniel bellowed.
Hearing the human's request, the siren resurfaced and swam back to him. Out of all the uncommon occurrences that's happened to Nathaniel in one day, what the siren did next was definitely the rarest.
The siren propped himself on the rock once again and gave the artist a peck on the cheek — a complete 180 from the assault earlier. His sparkling deep-blue lipstick stained Nath’s cheek, a physical reminder of the affectionate action. Nathaniel was perplexed, to say the least.
Before he could say anything, the merman plummeted in the ocean again, fully disappearing from sight.
Something told Nathaniel this wasn't going to be the last time he would see his unique friend.