Chapter Text
“And that is how our little mermaid saved the brave sailor from the raging waves.”
“And then what?! What happens next?!” Seven-year-old Josh’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Instead of lulling him to sleep, the bedtime story only made him more awake, stirring the boy’s vivid imagination.
His grandmother smiled warmly and gently stroked his hair. “They fell in love and lived happily ever after.”
Josh’s brows furrowed in suspicion.
“How is that possible? How did they understand each other? Do mermaids speak English?”
The old rocking chair creaked as his grandmother leaned back, letting out a soft chuckle. “Oh, Joshie. Love always finds a way, my dear.”
The boy slumped onto his pillows, pouting, clearly unhappy with the answer. “That doesn’t make any sense…”
“It’s a secret. You’ll have to meet a mermaid yourself and try talking to them.” His grandmother slowly rose from her chair and kissed him on the forehead. “Good night, Josh. Sweet dreams. I love you.”
“Good night, grandma. I love you too.” Left with that enigmatic answer, Josh closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He knew that mermaids weren’t real. Just like Santa Claus. Or the yeti.
And yet he could never resist his grandmother’s stories, which always seemed to revolve around those mystical creatures. The way she spoke about them, so vividly, almost made it feel as if she had met one herself. He could listen to her tales over and over again and never grow tired of them.
He recalled those days with an anching, heart-wrenching nostalgia years later, when, a dozen or so years later, at the age of 22, he found himself standing on the sandy shore of the ocean, breathing in the sea salt floating in the air, as a gentle breeze ruffled his hair. He hadn’t visited that place in ages; his grandparents lived practically at the end of the world, in a remote village, far from any civilization.
Josh was supposed to spend the whole summer here, just like when he was a child, only this time, he would be the one taking care of his grandparents, not the other way around. The kind old couple had grown quite elderly and needed more help. On the one hand, Josh was surprised they didn’t want to move closer to the city so the trip to them wouldn’t take several long hours, but seeing the breathtaking views, he fully understood them. Having lived by the sea their entire lives, the gray buildings of the city would feel like a cage for a wild birds.
Josh had to admit he felt a sense of relief himself. Until he returned, he hadn’t realized how much he had missed this place. A tough year in college had taken its toll on him, and he wanted to use this time to truly rest, away from his cramped dorm room and textbooks, to catch up with his grandparents and get back in shape.
And the beautiful, sunlit coastline definitely helped, especially with that last goal. Running along the ocean was pure pleasure, as his lungs filled with fresh air, so different from the suffocating city air, while gentle waves washed over his feet. The wet sand shifted beneath each step, and the lively cries of seagulls only encouraged him to pick up his pace.
It was early morning—the sun was just rising above the horizon, lazily brushing the calm surface of the water with orange-silver rays. Josh had already finished his morning workout and, after a few kilometers of running, sat down on a large rock, tired but satisfied, trying to steady his rapid breathing. He wiped his sweat-drenched face with his T-shirt, taking it off because it had started to stick uncomfortably to his body, and then lay down, basking in the sun.
It was perfect.
The only thing he was missing was company. Sure, his grandparents were wonderful conversation partners; Josh really enjoyed spending hours talking with them and appreciated it deeply, but it wasn’t the same as being with people his own age… Every day he talked to either Debbie or Mark to stay in touch with the outside world and not feel quite so lonely, but he still longed for a face-to-face conversation. He’d have to head into the nearest town someday..
His train of thought was interrupted when a new, unfamiliar, yet incredibly melodious sound suddenly reached his ears. At first, he thought it was the echo of ocean waves crashing against the nearby cliffs or water rushing into a network of underwater caves, but the crystal-clear sound grew louder, transforming into a full-fledged melody.
Someone was singing. Josh realized. Someone else had come to this remote place early in the morning, just like he had, and their voice echoed off the cliffs, intensifying the shiver that ran down his spine. Josh couldn’t make out the individual words; it must have been in another language, or perhaps the song had no words at all—only beautiful, lingering tones that resonated in his ears.
It had to be the most beautiful melody he had ever heard in his life.
It was a strange realization, especially since Josh had spent his entire life surrounded by music: sneaking off to record stores in secret from his parents, spending countless hours absorbed in his favorite tracks through headphones, going to concerts, and eventually playing an instrument and composing music of his own.
And yet, he had never heard anything like this.
Josh listened, utterly hypnotized, unable to tear himself away even if he had wanted to. He felt an overwhelming desire to drown in the sounds that enveloped him, to follow the mysterious song to the ends of the earth if that was where it led.
He rose from the rock and looked around for the source of that alluring, otherworldly voice. He saw no one nearby; all that surrounded him was an endless expanse of sand, rocks, and jagged cliffs. As if in a trance, he made his way between the large, jutting boulders toward the direction from which the magical melody seemed to be coming.
He wanted to hear more. More clearly. He wanted the person from whom these beautiful sounds were coming to sing directly into his ear, to inject the song straight into his veins.
Half-conscious, he climbed the steep rocks. The sandy shore ended here, and the stones were slick with the waves that washed over them, thickly coated in seaweed and mussels. It was not safe. Not in the slightest. He was fully aware that one careless move could send him slipping awkwardly and tumbling straight into the ocean waves. Even so close to shore, places like this were notoriously treacherous, and the water could be deceptively deep.
At that moment, none of it mattered to him. The only thing he wanted was to hear the music louder, more clearly, to feel it deep in his bones. With every step, with every rock he crossed, the melody grew stronger. He was close now. One more leap, one more turn, and he would see the source of that hypnotic sound.
At one point, he lost his balance, slipping on a patch of seaweed he hadn’t noticed beneath his feet. At the last second, he caught himself, nearly pitching several meters down into the water. A quiet curse escaped his lips.
The melody stopped instantly, as if cut off by a knife.
Josh’s heart sank; the entire magical moment burst like a soap bubble because of his carelessness. He could have sworn that, amid the crash of the waves only a few meters away, he heard someone let out a startled gasp.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” Josh asked, knowing he had already given away his presence. He made a leap up onto a high cliff that seemed to be the last obstacle separating him from the mysterious person. He gasped with effort as he pulled himself to the top.
But there was no one there.
Out of the corner of his eye, he only caught a flash of something glinting in the sunlight. He immediately turned his head to see a large, pinkish fin disappearing into the sea’s depths, followed by a loud splash.
Josh blinked, unsure whether his senses had just played a cruel trick on him. Yet he was almost certain he had seen exactly what he thought he had: a broad, shimmering fin—too large to belong to any fish, too vividly colored to be a shark or a dolphin, which in any case rarely ventured into these parts of the coast.
His heart quickened, thudding hard against his ribs.
If it wasn’t a fish, a shark, or any other ocean-dwelling mammal… then what could it be?
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
Clancy was always told to stay away from the surface. In Dema, from an early age, he was taught that humans are dangerous. Humans were cruel, they brought only destruction and death. Clancy, however, believed something completely different. To him, humans were extraordinarily fascinating.
Prince of Dema had a secret. He would regularly sneak out of the underwater city to observe those intriguing creatures. He liked to lurk near the shore of a nearby village, at the entrance to the harbor, and watch the fishermen for hours. It was extraordinarily intriguing how they moved on two limbs, how each of them, for some reason, wore materials of different colors on their bodies, like decorations, how unfamiliar sounds flowed from their mouths, completely different from his own language based on melodic chirps, squeaks, and high-pitched sounds.After some time, he had even managed to grasp the meaning of some words that appeared frequently in human conversations.
It was an escape from his princely duties and the underwater world. Although his father often learned about his illegal excursions through the grapevine and looked upon them disapprovingly, he was never punished for them. But Clancy was also never caught in the act; he always made sure to do it in secret, and to never be seen by any human.
It had worked. At least, until now.
Recently, he had been caught off guard and almost discovered by a two-legged creature. He had been sitting on his favorite rocks by the beach, basking in the sunlight and singing to himself, when at the very last moment he heard approaching footsteps.
He had not expected a human in that place, especially not at such an early hour.
At the very last moment, he dived into the waves. Carefully, he peeked his head out from beneath the water once he was sure it was safe and that the human could not see him.
Oh. It was definitely a younger human than most he had seen before. He had to be around the same age as him, if human years worked the same way as merfolk years. Thick curls fell across his forehead, sticking to skin damp with sweat, and his muscles tensed with each step as he walked back from the rocks toward the beach, visibly disappointed.
Clancy couldn’t suppress his curiosity and swam after him, still keeping a safe distance. He couldn’t take his eyes off him. The human man was beautiful.
He hadn’t seen him around before; he must have been new here. Clancy would have definitely noticed someone like that if he had been coming around earlier. He followed the human until he left the beach, likely heading toward wherever he lived nearby. He felt disappointed that he couldn’t watch him any longer.
Clancy now swam to the same place every day, delighted to discover that the human also appeared there regularly, at the same time, acting as if he were searching for something or someone.
Clancy just wondered why the man moved so quickly along the beach without purpose, running (he had learned that word from sailors at the port) back and forth, stopping in certain places only to stare longingly at the horizon. It made no sense to him. Perhaps it was something similar to swimming among colorful reefs and admiring them for the pure pleasure of it? Human behavior truly was fascinating.
Clancy swam first at a distance, then parallel to the human, gradually getting closer, yet never close enough to be seen. Over time, he caught himself wishing that the human would notice him. He had dreamed of contact with a human for years.
He wondered how the man would react. Would he be surprised? Delighted? Or maybe terrified? He had probably never seen a merfolk before.
Still, he suppressed that troubling desire. He knew perfectly well it would never happen. Revealing oneself to humans was strictly forbidden in Dema and punished severely. But there was no harm in letting his imagination run free.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
Clancy made a mistake. A fatal mistake. He didn’t understand how he could have allowed it to happen; he had always been careful, especially so close to human boats. This time, however, he miscalculated, let his guard down and not only swam too close, but also failed to notice the humans casting their nets. When he finally saw them, it was too late. Nets had already wrapped around his tail, painfully cutting into his flesh.
Clancy writhed in panic, suddenly unable to tell which way was up or down, the world spinning before his eyes. He hissed in pain as sharp, rigid lines tipped with hooks pierced painfully between his scales, and the water around him immediately turned red. The net pulled him upward, tightening more and more, making Clancy nearly howl in agony. One thought flashed through his mind: his father had been right. He shouldn’t have come near the surface. He had to get out, now- humans couldn’t see him, they…. they would kill him. The sudden realization made him panic.
He strained every muscle, trying to break free. It was no use; the nets only tightened further around his tail, preventing his escape. A rushing noise filled his head, fear clenching his throat, and panic stripping him of any ability to think clearly.
He swung his claws blindly, trying desperately to break free. He didn’t expect his talons to be sharp enough to tear through the lines, but luck was on his side—a section of the net ripped into shreds. In a surge of hope, he began to thrash, tearing through more layers of the net before the fishermen could haul him onto the boat. The crimson water left a metallic taste on his tongue; in his panic, Clancy lost far more blood than he would have if he had assessed the situation calmly.
He groaned as he cut through the final net binding his tail fin, freeing himself at the last moment—the fishermen had just hauled the deadly snares onto the deck.
Clancy’s heart was pounding wildly. Still partially entangled in the net he hadn’t managed to fully shake off, he fled forward completely blindly. Every flick of his tail sent a jolt of pain through him, leaving a trail of blood behind as his vision darkened at the edges. He knew only that he had to get as far away as possible. As far away as possible from the dangerous two-legged creatures who had tried to trap him in a deadly snare and doom him to a terrible fate.
He barely managed to swim to the nearest beach, collapsing with relief onto a nearby rock. His head was ringing, his gills fluttering frantically, and his tail throbbed painfully.
He didn’t even want to look at the state he was in; nets must have torn into him badly. He had never felt such pain before. He closed his eyes, feeling the adrenaline draining out of him, leaving only a crushing helplessness behind. Darkness had almost completely engulfed his vision when suddenly a voice reached his ears.
“What the hell?”
Clancy snapped his eyes open in a surge of panic. Standing right above him, leaning dangerously close, was the beautiful two-legged boy he already knew well.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
Okay, calm down, just stay calm. Josh repeated the mantra in his head, hoping it would somehow steady his racing heartbeat.
It’s just a mermaid in your bathtub.
Not a mermaid but a merman, he corrected himself.
There was no other way to describe it. Somehow, this mythical creature had ended up in Josh’s bathtub, lying unconscious in the water up to its neck, while its majestic tail—far too large to fit completely inside—spilled over the edge of the tub.
The past hour (or more, or less, hard to tell; Josh was in such shock that time had completely stopped making sense) seemed unreal.
Josh tried to process everything one step at a time, but the circumstances didn’t give him the time to do so. It was hard to insist that sirens weren’t real when one of them was lying right in front of his eyes.
The problem, however, was the steady drip of blood from his tail, splattering onto the tiles of his grandparents' bathroom floor.
It was a good thing the merman had lost consciousness almost immediately after Josh found him, because his razor-sharp claws didn’t exactly look friendly, far from the image of gentle fairy-tale creatures from his grandmother’s stories.
Josh had no idea what was supposed to be done in a situation like this. No one had ever prepared him for the possibility of finding a mythical being on the brink of exhaustion, practically bleeding out right before his eyes.
Not gonna lie, he kinda panicked.
So he did the first thing that came to his mind—he took him somewhere where he could help him. To his grandparents’ house.
It wasn’t easy: the merman wasn’t light at all, and on top of that he was slippery, constantly slipping out of Josh’s grip. But after a lot of struggle, all sweaty and soaked with seawater, Josh managed to carry him to the bathtub.
With trembling hands, he poured antiseptic onto a piece of gauze and glanced nervously at the merman’s unconscious face, twisted in a silent grimace of pain. He exhaled and leaned closer, studying the scales. They were beautiful, with a pinkish-purple hue and hints of a blue gradient.
Josh’s chest tightened at the sight of thebloody spots where the wounds cut deep into the merman’s flesh. He didn’t know what had happened to this mythical creature, but no one deserved that kind of fate.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he pressed the alcohol-soaked gauze onto the wound to disinfect it.
That was when the air was torn by a long, sharp hiss, and the water in the bathtub surged violently, like a sea churned up by a storm. Josh’s senses didn’t even have time to register what had happened when he found himself with the merman’s razor-sharp claws pressed against his throat.
Josh jerked back as if scalded and fell onto his back,hitting the nearby cabinet in the process, knocking down a dozen toiletries, creating a loud, chaotic racket.Several long seconds passed before the noise finally died down, and Josh cautiously opened his eyes.
Wild, dangerous, dark brown—like the depths of the ocean—eyes stared back at him with open distrust and fear. The merman’s claws were still aimed at Josh, and sharp fangs protruded from his mouth, sending chills down his spine along with the high, hissing sound resonating in the air.
He is terrified, Josh realized, swallowing hard. But also deadly dangerous. One careless move, and who knew how it could end?
“D-don’t worry. I won’t hurt you,” he said, trying to steady the tremor in his voice so he would sound as convincing as possible and calm the panicked creature. It was hard to blame him, he was in a completely unfamiliar environment, injured, and dependent on a human for help.
Josh raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, but the small, simple movement caused another menacing sound—something between a hiss and a growl—to leave the mysterious being’s mouth.
“You… you were bleeding. I just wanted to dress your wounds,” Josh continued. He wasn’t sure if the merman even understood what was being said to him, but it was worth a try. “Will you let me?”
Silence stretched between them, broken only by their quickened breathing. The siren’s eyes wandered over Josh’s face, then his body, carefully tracking every movement, as well as the gauze Josh still held in his hand.
After a moment, a flicker of understanding appeared in his eyes, as if he realized Josh meant him no harm. Very slowly, though still with a heavy dose of distrust, he lowered his claws, and his body stopped being tense as a drawn bow.
“Exactly. It's okay. You’re safe,” Josh said in a gentle voice, reaching for the gauze again. “It’s going to sting, I know it’s unpleasant. But we don’t want the wound to get infected. Is it okay?”
The merman let out a high chirp, which (Josh hoped) meant permission.
Silently praying he wouldn’t end up as a meal for a mythical creature, he pressed the heavily soaked gauze against the wound. This time, a cracked mewl escaped the merman’s mouth. His fingers, connected by thin webs of membrane, tightened around the edge of the bathtub, claws scraping against the ceramic and leaving marks behind.
“Shh, just a little longer,” Josh said, focusing intently as he dressed the wound, making sure he didn’t miss a single spot. God, what had happened to him…? The injuries looked nasty.
His chest tightened at the broken, pain-filled sounds spilling from the merman’s mouth, but after a moment he finally finished and pressed several waterproof plasters over the wounds—luckily something he had in his first aid kit.
“All done.” Josh let out a breath of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was probably just as stressed as the merman had been. At least the creature no longer looked as though he wanted to kill him on the spot. “You alright?”
The merman responded with a soft, broken whistle, flicking his fin ears.
Josh felt his breath catch in his chest. Only now, with the stress subsiding, did he have the chance to take a a good look at the merman.
And god. He was beautiful.
His damp, pastel-pink hair complemented his tail, which ended in an impressive caudal fin that shimmered under the fluorescent light, as did the scales scattered across his shoulders and torso. On either side of his tail, near the upper part where the fish half merged with the human one, two additional fins extended, fan-shaped and as delicate as a veil. His gills fluttered along his neck with every quickened breath.
The merman looked at him with curiosity, the distrust tinged with fear still there, but far less pronounced now.
Josh cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing slightly as he realized he had been staring at him like a lovestruck fool.
“Um, so… what’s your name?” he asked, not quite sure what to say next.
The merman tilted his head to the side, clearly clueless.
“Uh… I’m Josh.” Josh pointed to himself. “And what is your name?” This time, he pointed his finger toward the merman.
The creature blinked several times, his long pink eyelashes fluttering softly.
Josh let out a quiet sigh. Right. It was unlikely that an underwater being understood a word he was saying.
Did sirens even have names?
— C̵̪̮̲͐̇̊̿̃̿͜l̶̳͚̬̭͍̹̗̻͔͇̓̿͗͑̽͑̃̇͒͋͆̉̿a̸̢̧͇̹̗͚̫̣͙̹͇̲̜͖͍̜̓͑͝ń̴̨̙͈̱͑͊̑̀̎͘͝c̴̺̙̠̮̻̞̭̠̫͕̮̅̓́̈̀͌y̵̥̣̹̘̪̠̮̺̤̠̪̾̓͗̀͑͋̽̆̋͜ — merman suddenly spoke, his voice melodious, making Josh’s knees buckle if he hadn’t been sitting down.
“You… what? Huh?” Josh replied a little less than intelligently, feeling his mouth go dry. He hadn’t misheard that, right? The creature had definitely answered him. “Clan…cy?”
He couldn’t even properly pronounce the name; he had never in his life been able to replicate such melodic chirps and tongue clicks. And maybe he sounded strange, because at that, the merman covered his mouth with his fist, muffling an amused chirp.
Oh God. Was he laughing at him?!
Josh’s face turned scarlet all the way up to the tips of his ears. “Okay, so… Clancy. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Clancy’s fin ears fluttered again, and the merman let out a high-pitched chirp.
Did that mean yes or no?
“So… you-you are a merman or something? What happened to you…? Why were you on the shore…” His gaze drifted to the beautiful tail, now covered in plasters. “What… what made you end up like this?”
Clancy lowered his eyes.
“⏁⊬⌰⟒⍀ ⟊⍜⌇⟒⌿⊑ ⟟⌇ ⍜⋔⟒☌⏃”
Josh felt his cheeks heat up. He didn’t understand a single word that came out of the beautiful creature’s mouth, but it sounded like a spell meant to turn him into a lifelong devotee. How could someone have such a gorgeous voice?
“O-okay, this is going to be difficult,” he sighed. Merman definitely understood at least some of what was being said to him, but not enough to have a proper conversation. Maybe he should just talk about something obvious, so that both of them would understand each other. “Umm…Do you maybe want to eat anything?
Clancy let out a low whistle and tilted his head again. God, he was adorable.
“You’re probably hungry. I’ll get you something.”
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
It only occurred to Josh as he stood by the fridge that he had no idea what mermaids ate. What if human food would harm him? He wondered what Clancy’s diet consisted of. He had sharp teeth, maybe he was carnivorous. Maybe, despite being half fish, he ate fish? Josh hoped he wasn’t committing some kind of merfolk faux pas.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly while rummaging through the fridge. Milk, lettuce, Josh’s protein shake… none of it seemed like something a merman would be satisfied with. Then his eyes landed on a container with leftovers from the takeout he’d brought back from town. Sushi. Seaweed and salmon… maybe Clancy would like that.
Excited by his brilliant idea, he grabbed the container when suddenly a high-pitched squeal reached his ears, followed by a loud clatter coming from the bathroom.
Josh rushed back in panic, nearly tearing the door off its hinges.
He was greeted by a scene of utter chaos and despair.
Clancy, frozen with fear, had squeezed himself into the corner of the bathtub, curling his tail. Shampoo bottles and shower gels were scattered everywhere, and half the water had spilled across the floor tiles.
In the middle of it all, the cause of the chaos writhed. The shower head was spinning in circles, splashing jets of water all over the bathroom.
“Clancy, fuck. Waitwaitwait!” Josh groaned, lunging to help him and also to save the bathroom from being completely flooded. It was a good thing his grandparents lived on a different floor, so they wouldn’t see this mess. Or at least, that’s what he hoped.
Josh rushed to the bathtub, trying to turn off the tap so the writhing shower-head monster would stop wreaking havoc.
What happened next unfolded as if in slow motion.
In the heat of the struggle, Josh stepped into a puddle and slipped on the slick tiles, spectacularly losing his balance. The world spun before his eyes and he splashed into the water, flailing blindly, landing on Clancy in the process and accidentally pressing the control that switched the flow from the handheld shower to the overhead rain shower.
Silence enveloped the room. It took Josh a moment to open his eyes, his whole body aching from the impact. He was met with the wide, shock- and fear-filled pupils of the mermaid, mere millimeters from his face. For a moment neither of them made a sound, so all that could be heard was their pounding hearts and the steady patter of droplets falling on them from the rain shower.
Josh couldn’t help himself. He burst into loud, uncontrollable laughter. He had left Clancy for literally a few minutes and somehow managed to cause such chaos that he would be cleaning it up for the next hour. The absurdity of the whole situation only made him even more wound up.
Initially terrified of the monster in the showerhead pouring boiling water onto his delicate scales, Clancy, looked at Josh and gave him a confused stare, only to relax a moment later; a soft, amused chirp escaped his lips.
“God, Clancy,” Josh wheezed, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. He turned the handle, shutting off the water. He was soaked to the bone. “I left you alone for just a minute. How did this even happen?”
Clancy slid down, half-submerging his face in the water. His cheeks flushed a soft, adorable pink, matching the color of his scales. Instead of a sound, only bubbles rose to the surface.
He was clearly embarrassed.
Josh let out a soft chuckle, but suddenly his breath caught in his throat. Only now, seeing his own reflection in Clancy’s dark irises, did Josh realize just how close they were. He was bracing himself on the edges of the bathtub, Clancy’s tail was between his legs, and their faces were only centimeters apart: close enough that Josh could smell the sea salt clinging to him.
Oh.
He didn’t know it was possible, but Clancy looked even more beautiful from this distance.
He swallowed hard, his adam’s apple bobbing. “Sorry. You okay?”he looked away and pushed himself up on his hands, his clothes dripping water.
Clancy let out a low whistle.
Josh climbed out of the bathtub, creating an even bigger puddle, and cleared his throat. “G-good. I’ll show you everything later, otherwise you’re gonna wreck my whole bathroom. Anyway. I’ve got something for you.”
Josh took out the sushi he had set aside and placed it on a stool next to them. Clancy watched him a little dazed, following every movement. “Here. I hope it’s to your liking.” he said, sliding the plate right under merman's nose.
Clancy’s eyes widened, his fin-like ears twitching. He looked at the sushi, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent, but his expression showed genuine confusion. He let out a questioning chirp and raised his gaze to Josh, pointing a finger at himself.
“Um, yes, it’s for you,” Josh said, a little surprised by the reaction. Maybe mermaids don’t actually eat salmon and seaweed after all?
Clancy’s cheeks suddenly flushed a soft, sweet red, contrasting with his tanned skin. He hesitated over the plate for a moment, as if debating whether to eat it or not, but the drool at the corner of his mouth completely betrayed him. Finally, he reached out and took a piece of sushi, popping it straight into his mouth.
Stars of delight immediately appeared in his eyes.
Without a second of hesitation, he started stuffing the remaining sushi into his mouth at an alarming speed.
“Be careful, or you’ll choke,” Josh couldn’t help but giggle. “Actually, when you add the soy sauce, it’s even better. Here, try it.” He experimentally poured a little into a small bowl and handed it to the merman.
Clancy, of course, had no idea he was supposed to dip the sushi in it, but instead immediately drank the entire bowl in one gulp. His tail fin shuddered, and a delighted, melodic moan of pleasure escaped his throat, sending a deep, unexpected jolt through Josh. He snatched the bottle from Josh's hand and suddenly started drinking like a madman, as if he were dying of thirst and this was the only water source in a desert.
“Clancy, oh god, stop, you can’t-” Josh stammered, pale as a sheet, watching in absolute horror as the merman downed the entire bottle of salty soy sauce.
If Josh knew anything about mermaid physiology, he might have realized that as a saltwater creature Clancy had a very high tolerance for salinity, and soy sauce was like heaven in his mouth, but at that moment, all he could see was the vision of driving with the mermaid to the nearest hospital.
Clancy drained the last drop, clearly satisfied, and licked his sharp fangs with a long tongue.
“Woah, are you okay…?” Josh asked uncertainly. Hearing a content whistle in response, he relaxed a little. “I guess you really liked it…”
The next several minutes Josh spent cleaning up the entire mess. The merman’s eyes followed him the whole time, his fascinated gaze sticking to him like a magnet. Clancy was so curious and enchanted by everyday objects that Josh could barely stop himself from laughing out loud.
“What am I supposed to do with you, Clancy?” Josh sighed, watching the merman inspect a bottle of body wash with fascination, only to let out a surprised squeak when pressing the pump released a stream of liquid.“Your place is in the sea, but with that injury… it’s probably hard to swim. It’s going to take at least a few, if not several, days to heal.”
Clancy stopped messing with the bottle and looked at Josh, fluttering his incredibly long eyelashes, as if he understood what he was being told.
Josh let out a heavy sigh. “God, I wish you could talk and tell me what happened. Who are you? Are there other mermaids? Are there entire underwater cities? I have so many questions.”
Clancy gave a soft squeak, his fin-like ears fluttering, and suddenly gestured with his hand, as if asking Josh to come closer.
“What is it?” Josh frowned, trying to read his body language and figure out why the merman had suddenly become so animated. “You want me to come closer…?”
Another melodic sound. Clancy lowered his head slightly, so that a stray strand of pink hair fell onto his forehead, and his cheeks, partly covered in pink-and-blue, iridescent scales, darkened into a deep shade of scarlet.
“What’s wrong?” clueless Josh knelt by the bathtub, suddenly very worried. “Are you in pain? What is-”
He didn’t get to finish, because the moment he leaned in, Clancy, with astonishing speed, grabbed him by the back of the neck, scratching his delicate skin with his sharp claws in the process, and pulled him closer.
Before Josh could even register what was happening, Clancy’s soft, velvet-like lips met his in a gentle kiss.
His eyes widened in shock, the scent of sea salt filling his senses, while Clancy’s wet hand tangled in his curls made his stomach flip. When realization finally hit him, he pulled away abruptly, stumbling back and hitting the sink.
“Wha- what- What are you doing?” he stammered, feeling a scarlet blush spread from head to toe.
“Do you understand me now?”
In his ears, no… inside his head, Josh heard a melodic voice so beautiful it made his knees feel weak just from the sound of it.
Who was it?
Was Josh hallucinating? Had he inhaled too much cleaning product in the bathroom and finally lost his mind?
Confused, Josh lifted his gaze, searching for the source of the sound, but apart from him and Clancy there was no one else. He met the merman’s stare. Expectant, piercing straight through him, as if it were drilling into his very soul.
“You alright?”
“Josh…?”
And then realization hit him, tearing the last remnants of air from his lungs. Josh wasn’t losing his mind. The beautiful voice resonating inside his head wasn’t a hallucination born from his confused thoughts.
It was Clancy’s voice.