Your name is Dave Strider and you would never know why the heck you're out on the beach on a day like this. It's hot out, the sun was near scorching, but you could not just say no to John and Casey especially when the little salamander was blowing bubbles at you all pleading like. Also you haven't been there for quite a while, so why not.

Bad decision.

So here you are, sitting on a straw mat John found from god-knows-where and your feet in the sand felt like they were being fried. John's in the water with Casey; he even put a goddamned bathing suit on the consort and they're splashing around pretty happily. You'd gladly join them if you felt like getting wet for the day. But no. You'd rather stay dry, thank you. But sitting alone on the beach is getting terribly boring, so you decide you'd take a walk along the rocks. You stand up, slip on your flip flops, and yell to John about where you were going. He gives you a wave of acknowledgement before turning back to Casey and dips her in the water, laughing at her alarmed noises.

The rocks aren't that remarkable, but at least it was something you could pretend to be interested in. That is until you found a circle of black rocks that held a tide pool of some sorts. It leaks out into a bigger expanse of water that was still half-sheltered by the boulders, but the pool itself was big enough to fit about four people or so. The shallow water was filled with all sorts of corals and shells and you believe you could spot a crab or two. Sweet. So you slowly hoist yourself up the rocks into the pool, careful not to step on any stray hermit crabs.

You were in the midst of observing how light catches on the seashell in your hand, violets and blues and slight pinks flashing when you hear someone clear their throat. You look up and there's someone by the rocks in front of you, and thank god you had your shades on and your poker face was intact because holy fuck that was sudden.

It's a boy, probably your age, just lounging with one arm on the rocks and his head on his arm, watching you in an amused manner. He has a douchey purple streak in his hair, and an expression that you're sure was only reserved for stuck up jerks. But hey, never judge a book by its cover, right. You raise an eyebrow at him, realizing he must have been in for a swim when he found you and the tide pool itself. He must be still in the water then, and showed no sign of coming up to join you.

"So are you goin' to put that poor thin' back dow-wn or are you just goin' to play w-with it some more?"

He talks funny, you'll give him that. He seems to waver his w's and that was downright hilarious, to be honest. You have more manners than that of course, you weren't just going to laugh at a stranger because of his weird-ass accent, would you? Maybe later.

"Just checking it out, man. Calm your tits." you say casually, before putting the shell down, patting it slightly, "See? There, no harm done."

He grins at you then, and wow okay, is it normal for anyone to have that sort of teeth because uh. It might be just your imagination from this goddamn heat, but still. Those are pretty sharp things he's packing in his mouth.

"I like you," he says, like it was such a big deal, "Come here a bit w-will you? I w-want ta show-w you somethin'."

"Nice try. I don't talk to strangers, that's like a rule everyone abides by, what are you even asking me for here?"

He rolls his eyes, which you could see are tinged somewhat purple, and sighs as if you were the most difficult person he has evver dealt with. "Eridan. Now-w ya know-w me. Come here."

You smirk, deciding that it would be fun to fuck around with this random kid, his expressions and his accent are pretty entertaining. "Not with that attitude."

Eridan does this pout-glare thing you never knew could be achieved by any human being, and he scrunches his nose up a bit, before saying, "Please?"

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" you say, and you stand up, making your way deftly to him by stepping on the rocks. You made sure to not stand too close to him though; you don't even know this guy. He could probably be packing a knife or something somewhere, you wouldn't know. But he was pretty damn pale for a normal kid though. First time swimming? Doesn't seem so.

Eridan glances down, dipping his hands in the water as if he was looking for something. You could see a blur of purple under the water so you guess he was wearing purple pants or trunks or whatever. He had this small smile on his face, you didn't even know why. Probably he had found some really cool-looking seashell? God knows.

"You nev-ver told me your name, you know-w. It's like manners to reciprocate since I'v-ve told you mine."

"Lucas," you say, easily enough. You didn't need strangers knowing who you are, you're pretty much too popular already, "So can I see whatever the heck it was you wanted to show me or not?"

A slight chuckle leaves him and he brings his hands up, his palms cupped together. You lean closer to see what it was in his hands, but all you could see is water. You raise an eyebrow, looking up to ask him what the hell was going on before he spreads his fingers, water falling down from between his digits. The next thing you knew was that he was gripping your shoulders, and the shark-like grin was back and there was something flaring from behind his ears, like an appendage of some sort and it's freaky as hell and you don't know what's happening.

"Pulling you under, landdweller," Eridan says, most casually and you're jerked forward into the water and you couldn't even freak out properly because a pair or arms were around you and he was pulling you deeper and deeper into the ocean and you couldn't-

The first reaction you have is to get the fuck away from this lunatic because what the hell was he doing? Was he trying to drown you?! Your hands are still free despite his vise-like grip around you so you dig your fingers into his torso, pushing at him hard so he would let you go.

You almost didn't feel it when something slippery slides against your legs, nor did you feel the gentle caress on the back of your shins. It was when he gripped at you harder that you feel something wrap around your legs so you wouldn't trash them under the water. You look down in alarm and there was a fucking fish tail underneath you that you could see connected to his torso.

Couldn't be right. So you reach out again and try to scratch at his hips, try to pull off whatever the hell he was wearing because pranks like this aren't cool, man. Not when he's pulling you in deeper and your ears are ringing from the pressure of the water surrounding you. And all you feel is scales beneath your fingers, muscles flexing and rippling under your touch as his tail slide up your legs and you lost it.

You look up in shock and horror and indescribable emotions to see Eridan; the mermaid; grin at you and those were fins behind his ears and you were done for. Your jaw dropped slack, bubbles emerging from your mouth and your lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen.

It's the last thing you'd think he'd do, but Eridan leans in closer to you and presses his lips to yours. It wasn't a kiss, no, because all of a sudden you could breathe again and you grip at him, torn between wanting air or trying to get away. His eyes flutter close nevertheless, and despite the sudden relief of oxygen, darkness was edging in your field of vision.

You could just hear him say, "Nice meetin' you, Lucas," and the feeling of lips against your own disappeared as you pass out.

Something is sticking into your back, and the sounds of waves crashing are loud in your ears. Your head is throbbing dully and you could guess it might be because you were that deep in the ocean. The thought of being in water triggered a flurry of images in your head. Your eyes open with their own accord and you sit up, looking at your surrounding.

You're back at the tide pool again, set on one of the rocks, and you hear a shuffling noise to your right. And to your surprise, you could see Eridan retreating back into the water and that was really a goddamned violet tail he's using to push himself off the rocks.

"Wait!" you yell out for God knows why, scrambling off the rocks to catch him. His head whips around in shock, and his eyes were wide to see you already conscious. He made a move to just dive down but you grab his arm, digging your nails in his flesh hard enough so he wouldn't run.

"W-what the fuck do you w-want?!" his voice is tinged with fear now, and he's struggling against your hold, "Let me go! I got ya outta the w-water, didn't I?"

"You're a mermaid?" You hate how breathless you sound, but fuck it. It's not always you get to see a creature of myth. Eridan glares at you, before lifting his tail slightly so you could see it, the scaly appendage hovering mid-air for a moment before he dips it back into the water. "Excuse you, but merman. What even. And I fuckin' sw-wear if you're goin' to bring me somew-where like to your stupid human scientists I w-will rip your head off."

You swallow once, and moved to sit on the rock the both of you were on, still staring at him incredulously. You are not leaving till he give you some answers, that's for sure. "Why the heck did you do that? Were you going to eat me or something?"

He snorts, the fear in his eyes gone temporarily before he smirks at you, but with wariness. "Don't eat humans. You guys probably taste aw-wful anyw-way. Just w-wanted to fuck around w-with ya. 'S a thing I do. Usually I let 'em drow-wn though. You're lucky."

A shudder went through you at how fucking close you were to death. "And why am I a sudden exception?"

Eridan shifts a bit, growling slightly at his arm in your grip. He looks at you, sighing, "Liked your eyes. They're pretty."

And you realize how your shades were gone from your face, so you whip around to look for it. "'S on the rocks, Lucas. W-where you w-were lying. Don't w-worry, it ain't damaged." he mumbles to himself after that, probably some insult and you could see your aviators from where you were, and you were relieved. You turn back to him, definitely not done, "So is this your turf? You hang out here often?"

He bares his teeth at you, and it seems that they really are shark teeth, all sharp, serrated fangs and you're surprised you didn't feel it when the both of you kissed. You mean when he graciously gave you the literal breath of life. "Like hell I'm tellin' you. I go w-wherevver I w-want human. Now-w let me go, for fuck's sake. Come on. I'm sorry, w-whatevver."

He's not sorry at all, definitely. But you're not sure if you've lost your mind completely or you were just really psyched out you met a mermaid ;man ;whatever. "I'm going to see you again. That's all I want."

His eyes widen, but he hisses nevertheless, "Are you fuckin' crazy? Humans and merfolk aren't supposed to be associated. I w-was just fuckin' bored, okay? Now-w let me go and let's forget this evver happened." You shake your head, "No can do, Erifish. You just robbed me of my first kiss. Have to take responsibility of that, you know?"

It was almost comical how purple he became, so you'd take a guess his blood was purple too. Because he didn't seem like he was choking, just flustered, "Oh, shut the fuck up." he spat in annoyance, " It's not like I've ever shared air with a human myself. Just forget this and let me go!" He jerks his hand away harder, and you let him go just for the hell of it. A small yelp escapes him as he fell over into the water, losing his balance because of the overenthusiastic tug he did, never expecting you would have let go.

For a second you thought he was going to swim away, now he had the chance to, but seems like you got him figured out. Eridan resurfaced, looking positively furious, his hair damp against his forehead. "W-wow-w. Fuck you Lucas."

"I'm expecting you here the next time I come. Just saying." you say, raising an eyebrow at him. He huffs, glaring at you before turning to leave, "Yeah, in your fuckin' dreams."

"The name's Dave, by the way." you call out to his retreating form, standing up, "Just so you know-w."

He turns to you, definitely noticing how you purposely wavered your w's, his face a mask of restrained anger. He lifts his hand, pausing a while to stare at it as if thinking. Then he extended his middle finger at you, smiling smugly since he's figured it out before diving in for good. It was almost amazing how much you laughed at that.

You wait a moment to make sure he's really gone, and you step back onto the rocks to pick up your shades. And already you were thinking of ways to come to the beach again tomorrow. Just because.