Jamie Kirk never thought she'd meet a merman. And he certainly was not at all like she would have thought a merman would be, even if she had dreamed of seeing one.
She was strolling along the water one evening, angry and despondent. Life, it seemed, had decided to chew her up and spit her out. Her mother couldn't stand her, her former best friend had betrayed her, and she had been kicked out of yet another bar. She was contemplating the water, wondering if life below was any better. "I wonder if the fish have as many troubles as we do," she said to herself. "It certainly seems like it's be more peaceful down there."
"It ain't all it's cracked up to be. Believe me. I know."
A grumpy male voice spoke out of nowhere, startling Jamie. She whirled round, looking for the intruder.
"Who are you? Where are you?", she yelled in a panic, not seeing anyone behind her. "
"Over here. In the water," came the voice. She looked and sure enough, reclining on the beach under the pier was a man. Strangely, he was lying halfway in the water, so she could only see his head and bare torso. Odd. He must be crazy. This wasn't swimming weather.
"Dude, you're going to get hypothermia if you lounge around in freezing water all day."
She strolled over to get a closer look. The man backed away.
"Hey, easy there, I'm just a concerned citizen. It's not every day you see a man just hanging out in cold water like this."
"Your concern is appreciated, ma'am, but since I live in the ocean, I'm built for these temps."
The man pulled farther out of the water, and Jamie gasped when instead of legs, a shimmery green-gold tail emerged. Her eyes followed the fine feathery fins up the scaled body, then the tan muscular chest and strong shoulders, topped off by a head of brown hair and hazel eyes that were looking at her with amusement. He was certainly gifted with dimples as the smirk he gave her revealed. Wow.
"I take it you haven't seen a merman before?"
He drawled. Oh that voice did things to her. She shivered slightly.
"No. I've heard of sightings, but never saw one myself. We mainly hear of the females of your species."
He rolled his eyes and sighed. "That's because the human men can't keep their mouths shut and have to go blathering on whenever they see one. Mermen don't hang around people much. Don't get along well. Too busy fighting off enemies. Or each other. And it's my job to patch them up when they come back with a busted tail or spear wound."
"So you're a Mer doctor?", Jamie asked curiously. She hadn't heard of one, but it was only logical that they would have medics like humans did. There she went, thinking like Spock, again. She blocked the bitter memory before it could resurface.
"Yep." He answered proudly, but wearily. "You'd be surprised what goes on under the surface. It sounds enticing, but really it's a treacherous place. The ocean is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. But what's a pretty thing like you doing all alone out here?"
"I don't fit in anywhere, I guess," Jamie sighed. "When your dad was a famous hero, and you're just a disappointment, it's hard to make many real friends. Everybody I meet just wants to get me in bed, or get my autograph."
"Then they're all idiots," declared the merman. He held out his hand. "Leonard McCoy."
Jamie smiled and shook it, noting the slick feel of webbing between his fingers.
"Jamie Kirk. Pleased to meet you."
He caught her staring at his tail again and she turned pink.
"Exotic, ain't It?", sighed Leonard, looking at it in annoyance as he flopped the end back into the water.
"A nice plain ole brown color would be much more me. I'm not the flashy type at all."
"But it matches your eyes," blurted Jamie before she could stop herself. He did the eye roll again.
"That's what my ex used to say, before she found someone even more flashy and left me with nothing but a pile of fish bones."
"Then she's an idiot," returned Jamie, echoing his earlier statement. They smiled at each other and Jamie liked the merman's grin. There went those dimples again.
"If more people knew about mermen, you'd be getting hit on right and left. I know I'm sorely tempted," Jamie said flirtatiously, shamelessly admiring him.
"Coming from you, I might actually put up with it."
The Merman folded his arms over his chest, which made his biceps look huge.
She gulped. Boy it was hard to keep her hands to herself.
At this interesting moment,
Leonard suddenly tensed. "I've gotta go. Getting a distress call. Will you come back sometime? I'd like to chat again. You're a very interesting human."
His quirked his eyebrow at her. "I'd like that." Jamie said, smiling.
"See you again sometime, then," said Leonard. And with a wave, he flipped into the water and was gone. Jamie stood there for a while, not so lonely anymore.
"Bye, Bones", she whispered to the waves.
