Sunrise. It was one of the most beautiful sights on the great big island and the one thing that Ivan always greeted before setting sail. The rise of the sun was the mark to the start of his work and the very same to end it. He was up before light and most nights home by dark.
Ivan had nowhere else to be but in the market some hours after first light but as a fisherman in a fishing town, it was hard to make an income if your catch wasn't top pick. He had his fair share of good days but most days he wasn't so lucky. Though there was only so much that one man could do on his own, no matter how big he was. Most of the fishing was done in groups, some as large as thirty men. When fishing wasn't enough, he did whatever odd labor jobs he could find around.
Ivan had been by himself for most of his time and had difficulties with others. The Russian man was a great six foot eleven with a wide frame and about two hundred and sixty pounds. It was not much of a surprise that one would avoid a giant such as he. Though he found his great mass and height to be an advantage, he could lift great amounts of bulk like no other man he had seen, he could set his nets out farther than anyone with his great long legs. Ivan felt like he was born to do this and he enjoyed it.
However, this day in particular had not started out so well. The rough waves from the previous night had pulled one of his nets loose and had taken off with it. Even with little chance of finding it, Ivan had no choice in the matter; he couldn't afford the loss of a net. So with half-sails, he moved about the bay for the morning, even sparing a few moments to exchange a word with a group of other fishermen.
Ivan did not wish to stray far from the bay for his small fishing boat could not handle a rough sea should things change for the worst.
)*(
The floats attached to Ivan's net were bobbing out in open water, just a quarter-mile or so away from the edge of Avacha Bay. The floats, though they should be drifting farther away with the current, seemed to be staying mainly in place, like it had gotten caught on something that was large enough to prevent it from drifting further away.
While the floats were peacefully bobbing in the water and doing their job of keeping the net afloat, under the surface of the water, the net itself was quickly becoming a tangled mess as a dolphin struggled to free itself from the net. The more it struggled however, the more entangled in the net it got; gaining cuts, bruises, and even a torn fin from the netting material as it frantically tried to escape the net.
The dolphin was making high-pitched, frightened sounds as it struggled to get free; this was shaping up to be the worst week ever. First, it had been separated from the rest of its pod and had been searching for days and likely getting more lost with each passing day; and now it was ensnared in a fishing net that it hadn't even seen and was likely to suffocate and die here alone in unfamiliar waters.
Above the smooth waves Ivan had spotted his floating marker and steered the boat towards it. He was quite grateful he had been able to find it but on his approach, he took notice that it wasn't being pulled further out. Is it stuck? He wondered, but all the better.
Ivan was quick to tie the sails down when he was only a few meters away from the net, scurrying around with ease. With a great heave, the man lifted the anchor and dropped it over the edge, pulling the boat to a halt and allowing it to drift gently. As he stood at the port side, Ivan pulled his sleeves up to his elbows, readying himself to grab the net.
It was but a moment later when the boat drifted next to the floaters. Ivan didn't waste a breath and began to gather the net, pulling it into one great cluster, and then giving a strong tug, but it did not come up. It's stuck all right...
Moving his right foot to place it firmly on the banister, he put his full back into it and heaved. Ivan hoped that it would either come loose or tear because that was far better than abandoning the net altogether.
The dolphin continued to thrash about, getting more caught and more cut up by the net the more it tried to break free. Though by this point, it was tangled to a point where it wasn't able to move much as the netting had gotten wrapped around it enough to restrict movement. It was starting to fear that it would run out of air before it could reach the surface. It could only last underwater for so long after all.
The dolphin was losing the energy needed to struggle for much longer and when the net was jerked upward, it gave a pained squeak as the netting dug into its flesh. Its eyes flickered up towards the surface of the water though, giving a little hopeful trill as it noticed the shadowy outline of the bottom of a boat.
Ivan continued to pull; so much so that the boat was beginning to turn on the spot. "Come on you blasted thing!" He growled, his anger making him pull harder and threaten to bring injury to himself. Then the net gave a small jerk and was able to be pulled into the boat at a decent speed, though the damn thing was a fair bit heavy. A catch perhaps? Hopefully somewhat still alive, if it hadn't died from the early morning it may still be good to sell or at least eat.
A few more pained squeaks left it as the netting dug into the dolphin's flesh as it was pulled up. It looked upwards anxiously, hoping it would be pulled up before it ran out of air. It was finally pulled above water just in the nick of time and the dolphin immediately took in a gulp of air, thankful that it had been rescued before it had suffocated. It tried not to wiggle too much even though the net digging into its flesh was quite painful, fearful of being dropped back in before it was able to move freely.
Nothing could have prepared Ivan for what had happened. The sight of a head of blond hair coming above the waters surface and the clear face of boy, pale as can be from no doubt the cold of the salt waters.
"Dear sweet Mother of Russia!" Ivan cried out in shock as he lunged forward to grab hold of the boy, not wanting him to sink, as he did his best to haul him aboard swiftly. Hurting him further was the last thing he wanted to do, the cuts and bruises clearly seen on his form were already done by the net. "Speak you foolish boy! What do you think you were doing swimming this far out from shore! You could have drowned!" He scolded the other in great anger, though he feared that the boy might die before being able to recover.
In response to the shouting, the boy replied in a series of clicking noises. He wasn't quite sure why his rescuer was using an aggressive tone of voice on him but he was thankful that he had been rescued nonetheless.
"Frozen sti-" Ivan stopped moving as he pulled the rest of the boy aboard, only... it wasn't a boy, or at least, not human anyway. The Russian man dropped him and stood at full height, his eyes carefully scanning over the body he had brought onto his ship. The shades of black to grey to white all over, he did not associate with any fish or any thing truthfully. It was the first time he had seen such a creature.
It... looks to be breathing above water and the gasp from before makes me think that he-it can't breath under. Then- a dolphin? Or at least a dolphin-like creature?
The boy looked up at him as the man stared. After a moment or two, he wiggled a little, tugging at what little bit of the net he could reach with his hands slightly before looking back and forth between the man and the net, giving a couple of clicks and a hopeful look.
The Russian just stood there, his hand resting over his mouth. This was a great catch all right, by far the greatest yet. It's a... mermaid right? How many had ever been brought in?
If Ivan sold it at the market, he just might be able to build his own home and get new furnishings. Live better than he ever had.
After a few moments, the boy gave a distressed squeak and turned his attention on resuming his attempts to get out of the net; wiggling and tugging at what part of the net that he could.
It didn't do much good as he was already too tangled to do much more than wiggle around and tug uselessly at the net. If anything, he was just gaining more bruises from the net digging into his flesh as he struggled to get free.
"Stop that." Ivan swatted at the mermaid's hands as he crouched down next to him. The boy gave a squawk in protest but stilled, looking up at him expectantly. "You're only making it worse."
Looking over the net and the tangles, Ivan sighed. "The net is useless anyway... Don't move." Ivan pulled a knife out of his pocket and started with the looser ends of the net around the boy's arms. The boy gave the knife a somewhat wary look but didn't move and just watched as the man cut the net.
Cut after cut, the net was finally free, but now it was completely useless.
The boy gave a pleased little trill when he was finally free from the net, shifting into a bit more of an upright position. Though Ivan grew curious after looking at the odd body for a while and ran his hand over the leathery skin, on what would have most likely been a hip if the boy were human. The creature started to inspect his hands and arms to see how much he was injured and mostly ignored the other's stares until the hand made contact with his flesh. He paused his inspection, looking down at the hand and just staring at it.
"Smooth..." Ivan mumbled in awe as he continued to touch uninjured areas. Ivan had never felt anything like it; it was soft but strong and didn't give way that much under his hand.
After a moment or two of watching the man and his expression, the boy resumed inspecting his injuries. Frowning a little at the small tears to his flippers and the various cuts and bruises, he twisted his body to get a look at the dorsal fin on his backside, giving a soft annoyed noise when he saw the tear in it.
Ivan wanted to see more, to study, and understand each part of this strange creature. Where did the human end and the dolphin begin? How did the body move? Were areas softer like human skin around the top? The mermaid didn't seem to mind so he moved his hands and slipped them under the mermaid's body, one hand near his flipper, the other just behind his shoulder.
The boy gave a squawk of protest, lashing out with his tail and then shoving the man back with his hand when only the tip of the tail actually made contact. The actions were accompanied by a glare and several more annoyed sounding squawks.
He gave a cry of surprise from the mermaid's actions towards him. He didn't like being hit with his tail, nor did he like the shove. "What was that for!? I was only trying to move you! I'm not going to hurt you."
The boy briefly gestured to the areas that had been touched before shaking his head firmly, still glaring at him.
"Well- then how would you like me to pick you up?" He glared back.
The boy glared at him for a few moments longer and then dropped the glare in favor of looking past the man at the edge of the boat.
Ivan followed his gaze. "Don't even think about it. You're injured and what if you wind up in another net?" He then stands over him and wraps his arms around what he could guess was the belly of the merman. The merman tensed at the initial touch, though didn't lash out like he had before.
"Relax." Ivan said calmly but in a commanding way, like speaking to a dog. He then slowly lifted the mermaid, having to twist them around halfway through picking them up because his dorsal fin was prodding him in the belly. Now he was holding the boy in more of an awkward hug. The merman wasn't quite sure how to respond to being handled like this though he kept still, not really wanting to be dropped on the deck.
Wiggling them about, Ivan managed to get him over his shoulder, his hands resting behind the boy's dorsal fin. The boy looked over at the edge of the boat hopefully.
Ivan then moved about the boat towards the steer.
Beneath the steer was his long coat that he wore in the chilly mornings. Letting the mermaid be held with only one hand, he picked up the coat by the collar and tossed the rest of it into the ocean, soaking it before pulling it back out and throwing it over the merman.
The merman blinked in surprise and twisted his head to look at the material that had been put on him curiously, wondering why the man did that. Ivan then found a good place to lay him down, fixing the coat over him to keep him moist. "I'll bring you to my home and treat your wounds there."
The merman gave a slight frown and looked up at him, tilting his head a bit before propping himself up on his hands and looking back an forth between the edge of the boat and the man. He was rather confused and unsure why he wasn't being put back into the water.
The man went about pulling the anchor back into the boat and then releasing the sails. Once the boat was moving again, he returned to the steer.
The merman frowned more as the boat began to move, looking towards the edge of the boat and trying to use whatever happened to be nearby to help him pull himself closer to the edge.
"Stay still." Ivan called. "You're fine."
The merman ignored him completely and continued to pull himself to the edge of the boat. When he got to the edge of the boat, he peered at the railing and inspected it, trying to figure out how to get past it on his own.
Ivan kept an eye on him but didn't call out this time. It was highly unlikely that he could pull himself over; he wasn't a seal or anything. Though that didn't seem keep him from trying to pull himself over though. He tried several times actually, though soon seemed rather frustrated and distressed that he wasn't able to pull himself over to get back into the water where he belonged.
"Easy..." Ivan spoke softly. "Don't hurt yourself more."
The boy didn't even look back at the man, he just gave a soft sad squeak and reached out over the edge, trying and failing to touch the water with his hand. The merman stayed at the edge of the boat, pulling his hand back in after a few minutes and just staring out at the water during the ride, sad little squeaks leaving him from time to time.
The boat ride was about thirty minutes long to return to shore but he made sure to go where no one else would see. About twenty feet from the shoreline, Ivan hopped out to pull the boat in and then tied it down.
Ivan got back into the boat and walked over to the merman, kneeling to pick him up. "Come along now. I'm going to get you cleaned up."
The merman shied away from him a little, giving the man a wary look. The man just smiled and pulled the wet coat around him more. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." Then he carefully wiggled one arm under the mermaid.
The merman gave a distressed noise that almost sounded like a whine as he tried to wiggle away from the man. Ivan hushed the creature and got his other arm under before carefully hosting him up.
Said creature just gave another distressed squeak at being picked up. Ivan held the boy close and began walking; stepping carefully over the edge and into the shallow water that only came up to his knees.
The merman looked down at the water and squirmed in the man's grasp. It would probably hurt to fall into water that shallow but if it got him back into the ocean where he belonged, it would definitely be worth a few more bruises.
Ivan nearly lost his balance. "Stop that, I'm only trying to help. You aren't a fish so as long as you stay wet you're fine. Do you understand that? Or are you just a mindless animal?"
The merman slapped the side of the man's face with his tail and squirmed. It was like getting wacked with a rowing paddle, Ivan's vision blurred, his face stung, and his ears were ringing. Ivan fell back into the side of the boat. He really should have known better, all his years of fishing and he still did learn that even though a fish may be smaller than him, they still have quite the kick.
However, his grip held and was far better with the coat wrapped around the male mermaid. Who gave a dismayed squeak when the grip on him, if there was any change to it, tightened instead of loosened. He squirmed more, rather determined to get back to the ocean despite his lack of progress thus far.
Securing his footing, Ivan then flipped the mermaid towards him so that their belly was against his chest and then he continued walking towards shore. "Stubborn thing aren't you?"
The merman squirmed as much as he could, making high-pitched, screeching noises a few times, just kind of hoping it would stun the man like it usually stunned fish. Ivan winced at the noises but kept walking and was soon on the shore and walking further inland towards his home.
The second the man was on sand and walking away from the water, the merman immediately became more distressed. He gave many frantic whistles and squeaks, struggling and squirming as much as he possibly could from his current position.
It was taking all Ivan had to hang onto the creature and stay upright but he continued to walk inland. The merman continued to struggle like this for another five to ten minutes or until he had pretty much exhausted himself.
"You done now?" Ivan breathed out a sigh of relief. The merman gave a little half-hearted wiggle and a soft unhappy squeak in response to whatever the man had said.
The rest of the walk to his home was calm. Once at the front door, he had a little trouble getting it open; both from holding the merman and from the age of the building.
When he did get inside, he brought the boy over to a bench layered in old furs and cloths. Ivan carefully laid him down on his belly across the bench, believing it to be the most comfortable for the merman.
"Stay put." He said as he turned and walked back out the door, leaving it open. The merman rested his head on the odd materials and watched the man leave the room quietly, too exhausted to attempt escape this far away from the water.
Ivan hurried back with a bucket and then poured the contents all over him. It was fresh water but it would have to do for now.
The merman blinked in surprise at that, wiggling around lethargically to make sure that water got underneath him as well before laying his head back down and just staring up at the man tiredly.
He smiled and patted the boy on the head before turning to the cupboards on the wall. Ivan's house was more of a hut and only had two rooms, the main room, which had a sitting area and a kitchen with a small fireplace, and then one small bedroom just big enough to have a single bed and enough space to get out of it.
As he dug through the cupboard, Ivan would glance every now and then to see if anything had changed with the merman. The merman was just watching him, though he closed one eye after a few minutes.
A few moments later, Ivan found what he was looking for and sat down next to the mermaid, carefully unwrapping the coat. The eye opened as soon as the man got close, both eyes watching warily as the odd material was unwrapped.
"I'm going to have a look at your wounds and make sure there isn't anything caught in them." He said as he carefully touched and looked over all the cuts, mainly the deeper ones.
The merman flinched a bit when the wounds were touched and gave a little squawk of protest, pushing the man's hand away tiredly with one of his own hands.
After being pushed away, Ivan then grabbed a small jar that he had sitting in his lap and pulled the top off. The contents were of an ivory color and he dabbed his fingers into it, then softly spread the cream over the cuts, starting with the deeper ones. Scarring would be a shame on such a smooth tail.
The merman frowned a little at the feeling of the foreign stuff, attempting to wiggle away before giving up when he realized he couldn't go farther than the back of the thing he was on. A small unhappy grunt left him however, just to voice his displeasure at the stuff being put in his cuts.
After all the cuts were tended to, Ivan wrapped his coat over the dolphin creature and gave them another pat on the head. "See? That wasn't so bad now was it?"
The merman just stared at him.
)*(
For the rest of the day, Ivan tried not to leave him alone for too long as he made his trips out, making sure to pour a bucket of water on him at least once an hour. Come nightfall Ivan brought a pail of fish, leaving them to sit within arms reach for the mermaid. The merman had rested, switching which eye was open from time to time. He seemed a bit surprised, but pleasantly so, at the bucket of fish and ate them quite contently.
"Tomorrow morning I will take you back to the sea." Ivan spoke once more before retiring for the night. He had thought about it all day and almost gave in to selling him in the market, but he couldn't bear the look in his eyes, so lonely and defeated. Ivan didn't want that; he never saw that in a fish's eyes. The merman had to be more than just an animal, at least a little higher than a dog.
At the words from the man, the merman's head lifted and tilted a little, not understanding. When the man left through a different opening than before and didn't re-enter for a bit, the merman continued his resting with one eye open.
)*(
The next morning when Ivan awoke, he had completely forgotten that there was a mermaid in the other room. Honestly, he had thought it was all a dream. "Ah... good morning." He said even if they were not awake that the moment and placed a hand on the coat to feel the dampness. One eye was open and the other opened just before the hand touched him, blinking up at the man and giving a whistle in greeting, followed by a questioning squeak.
He smiled slightly. "You're faintly damp, do you think you could go another hour without water? I just need to get myself something to eat and get dressed."
The merman lifted his head up and tilted it a bit, giving another questioning squeak. Ivan moved towards the pail that he had been using yesterday to keep the boy wet. With one hand, he picked it up and gestured towards the merman with it. "Water?"
The mermaid looked at the pail for a moment before shaking his head no. Ivan smiled at this; it was their first understanding. "I will do what I need to quickly."
Setting the pail down, he went into his small kitchen and started a fire in the oven to warm the home and to prepare for his morning meal. The merman watched him move about quietly, propping himself up on his arms in interest when Ivan went over to an odd device and made a colorful wave appear.
Afterwards Ivan returned to his room for fresh clothes. Today he felt it was going to be cold and gloomy. When the man closed the side of the device and left the room, the merman continued to stare at said device curiously, his head cocked slightly to the side.
Ivan opened his door a few moments later, returning to the kitchen to make himself some porridge for breakfast and two slices of toast. The merman propped himself up on his arms when the man came back in, watching him make things curiously and sniffing at the new smells.
Looking over at the merman laying upon the bench, he wondered if that was comfortable to sleep on for so many hours. The creature probably had never been on land his whole life. He gave a small chuckle. "When it's done, you may try some if you like."
He perked up a little at the chuckle, tilting his head a bit before responding with a sound similar to a giggle.
"Hm. It might be a bit out of place seeing as I am letting you go but I want to be able to call you something." Ivan said aloud, but not really at the boy as he stirred his porridge. He then reached for his toast that was carefully laid atop his wood stove, adding a little butter to them both before taking a bite out of one and bringing the other over to the blond boy. The boy tilted his head curiously as the new scented things were brought over.
"Take it." He held the toast out with a smile and took another bite of his own. "It tastes much better warm."
The boy stared at him for a moment or two before reaching out and taking it from him, holding it up to his nose and sniffing at it curiously before tugging a little piece off of it and placing it in his mouth to taste.
"Do you like it? A bit dry compared to fish but different can be good."
The boy tilted his head a bit before taking a bite out of it like the man had done, a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. He wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not, it was weird compared to what he normally ate but not disgusting either.
"Ah, I'll get you some water to drink it down." Ivan stood to fetch him a cup. While the man got up, the boy dipped a few fingertips into the somewhat slippery substance on top of the weird food.
He gave the porridge another stir before filling the cup with water, setting it down within arms reach for the merman. He then returned to the stovetop as the porridge was almost done anyways.
The boy looked at the cup curiously, not quite sure what to do with it at first as it wasn't big enough to dump on himself. After a few moments of looking back and forth between the odd food in his hand and the container of water however, the boy tore off a piece of the food and stuck it in the water for a couple moments before experimentally putting it in his mouth. Upon realizing that this made it easier to eat, the boy promptly stuffed the rest of the food into the water.
When Ivan turned back to the merman with his bowl of porridge, he was stunned with what he saw but began to chuckle a little.
"You are like a small child, had I known you were going to do that I would have made you a soup." The Russian said as he grabbed himself a cup to drink and he sat down near him once more. "Though, if that's how you like it then I guess that's alright."
The boy responded to the chuckle with the giggle-like sound again as he pulled a piece of the food out of the cup to put it in his mouth and eat it. He repeated this tactic until there wasn't any more of it to pull out of the cup.
Ivan took a spoonful of his food and blew on it to cool it before offering it to the merman. "Would you like to try some porridge? It's not dry but it can be hot."
The merman sniffed at the different smell for a moment before reaching out and sticking his finger in the substance before promptly pulling his hand back at the feeling of it and shaking said hand a little, frowning at the substance.
Ivan tried not to laugh. "It's alright. See?" Ivan ate the first bite and then got another for the boy, again cooling it slightly for him to eat. "Try it."
The boy watched him, staring at the offering for about a minute before reaching out and cautiously putting a finger into the substance again. He frowned a little at the unfamiliar temperature before grabbing at the substance with his hand, making a bit of a mess as some of it dripped out of his hand. Ignoring the parts that had slipped out, he held the stuff up to his nose to sniff at it again before scooping up a little with fingers on his other hand and sticking it into his mouth for a taste.
"You're supposed to eat off the spoon." Ivan sighed and helped himself to another bite.
The boy repeated the scooping motions until it was mostly gone, though it left his hands a sticky mess. He didn't seem quite sure what to do with the sticky aftermath though and actually started to kind of play with when he realized it made his fingers and hands stick together a little.
Ivan groaned and left his things to go get a cloth to wash the boy's hands. The boy mimicked the sound, tilting his head curiously at the man before directing his attention to the object the man had used to put food into his mouth. He reached out and picked the thing up, looking at it and sniffing it curiously before placing it in his own mouth to taste it.
"I see you figured out how to use it." He said as he sat back down with a wet cloth in hand. Taking one hand of the boy's hands, he began to wipe it down before moving to the next hand.
The boy looked at him curiously as his hand was wiped off, switching which hand was holding the object when the man wanted to rub the other one. Since the handle was sticky, this just made the hand that had been wiped off sticky again.
The boy also appeared to be chewing on the object a little, like he was trying to figure out if it was food or not.
"Stop that." Ivan took the spoon from him and wiped his hands again. The boy frowned a little at the tone used but didn't protest; the object hadn't tasted like food anyway so he probably couldn't have eaten it.
He then cleaned the spoon before tossing the cloth aside. "Like this." He showed the boy as he scooped up the cooling porridge and brought it to his mouth. He then did it again, but this time brought it to the others lips. "Now you try."
The boy pulled his head back a little and gave him a slightly puzzled look, not quite sure why the object had been taken from him if the man was just going to shove it in his face moments later. After a moment or two, he reached out with his hand with the intention of grabbing the food off of the object again.
"No." Ivan gently pushed his hand away. "Open, ah." He demonstrated with his mouth open.
The boy tilted his head a little and stared at him for a moment before copying him and opening his mouth.
"Good, just like that." He grinned and placed the spoon in his mouth. The merman closed his mouth a moment or two later though still looked a bit puzzled, really not sure why the object had been taken away only for him to be given it again.
Once the boy's mouth was closed, he slipped the spoon out and fed himself a bite. "See? Hands stay clean and no mess." He wiggled his fingers to empathize this.
The boy ate the bite before giving a curious squeak in response and mimicking the finger wiggle.
"Yes, clean. Another?" He lifted the spoon to his lips again.
The boy seemed to ponder this for a moment before shaking his head and looking over to the bucket that the fish had been brought in. The man's food didn't taste bad but the merman would rather have fish instead.
"That's alright, more for me." Ivan smiled. "I'll get you another fish or two in a moment. Since you'll be swimming again in a half hour."
The boy looked back at the man and tilted his head a little. Ivan merely held up one finger as he scarfed down the bowl of porridge. Once it was gone, Ivan got up, picked up the bucket, and went to get a fish to tide the merman over until he carried him back to the water.
"I'm sure you can catch more later." He said as he placed the bucket next to the boy.
The boy looked down and frowned a little when he only saw one fish but didn't protest and just reached down, picked it up, and ate it. While he ate, Ivan unwrapped the coat and looked over the wounds, quite happy to see how they were doing. Not likely to scar now.
When he was done with the fish, he turned his head to look at his wounds as well, giving a surprised and somewhat puzzled squeak at how they were doing.
"The medicine worked well and now that it's sunk in through the night, the rest coming off while you swim would be fine." Ivan patted the boys back. "Scarring would be unpleasant, no?
The boy frowned a bit at the patting and reached out, doing the same to the man. He was a bit annoyed that he kept getting told to 'knock it off' when he wasn't doing anything in the first place.
Ivan smiled at the pat and ruffled the boy's hair though the boy pushed the hand away from his head. "You're an odd one. Ready to move?" He asked as he wrapped the boy up snugly.
Ivan then picked him up, cradling him in his arms comfortably. "Now don't go hitting me with your tail again or you'll be on your side again. Hear me?"
The boy tilted his head in confusion as he was picked up again, giving a questioning squeak.
"Good boy." Ivan then walked out the door, kicking it closed as he went. It was still dark out as the sun's rays had yet to peek out over the waters. Ivan knew the way regardless; he'd done it a thousand times. The boy gave another questioning squeak.
When Ivan was ten steps away from the water the suns rays had just kissed the surface, light bursting at the new dawn. Ivan gave a small sad smile. "Good morning..." He whispered, trailing off into soft sounds as he stood there watching it grow.
The boy squinted a bit at the sudden light, blinking and looking at where they were before giving a hopeful and rather excited squeak and wiggling in the man's arms a little. He was eager to get back into the water where he belonged.
Ivan looked down at him. "Yes, you're going home." He then continued walking to the waters edge, more so after his feet touched the water and he even passed his boat until he was almost up to his waist.
He wanted to make sure that when he let him go that the merman could swim off without rubbing his cuts on the rocks. Ivan then carefully lowered him into the cold water. "In you go."
The boy wiggled a bit and squeaked at him, looking down at the cloth still wrapped around him before looking back up at the man expectantly. Ivan chuckled, unwrapping the coat. "I'm getting to it."
The boy responded with a happy little trill, waiting for it to be unwrapped before wiggling out of his hold and slipping into the water. He dove underwater and swam away, though popped up out of the water a good ways away to do a little flip in the air, partly out of excitement and partly just to show off. He then disappeared into the water, headed in the direction of the edge of the bay.
He was gone so quickly Ivan's smile hadn't the time to fall before the merman was long gone. It hadn't even been a day that he was in Ivan's company but it was far more than he had had in many, many long years. He thought he had grown used to being alone, used to the idea that he would never need another.
All he needed was the sea, his boat, and his nets. That was all a fisherman needed. When his love was the ocean herself, a fisherman needed no other. However, in that small time, while Ivan had not enjoyed it first, in the end it had been pleasant. Even if the merman had acted like a small child, Ivan had a small feeling return, a feeling of comfort and peace. Perhaps it could have been real happiness but now with the boy gone Ivan felt all alone again.
The nauseating feeling and the pains that came with it returned too. He hated it; he hated feeling so much of what one felt was pain but what was he expecting? A thank you? For the merman to change their mind and chose to live with him in his hut, rather than to swim free in the world he belonged to?
Ivan didn't know. He just didn't know anymore. "I didn't even ask him his name..." He mumbled as he gathers his coat from the water mindlessly.
Ivan felt like he needed to make a choice and stick with it to the end. To live alone, day-by-day, living on only himself or... to find someone to have as company, someone to talk to, as a friend maybe.