(Note: Bolded words are siren song words. The siren has put hypnotizing powers behind it.)
Pidge smirked at Keith. "I dare you to go into the dead zone." The two of them were at the beach. Matt and Shiro were off getting their spot prepared while they stood in front of the pier.
"Why?" Keith raised an eyebrow at them.
"Because there is no way it's dangerous and you are one of the best swimmer. Plus I dared you!"
"Fine." Keith took off his shirt and threw it at Pidge. He ran onto the pier and dove off. It took him a bit to resurface since he started doing dolphin kick. It didn't take him long to reach the dead zone.
Lance has grown acutely aware of his area in this godforsaken spit of a lake. He could hear people but none of them ever came close enough for him to play anymore.
So when he senses someone right there Lance lights up. "Finally." He stays low enough to hide from the...human boy...nice... Hoping he is actually just a human to toy with. After swimming a circle beneath him, lance grins. he's a pretty one too.
Surfacing carefully, Lance grins. "You actually came to visit me?" His voice is melodic even when speaking and his blue eyes glow against the darkness.
Keith turns around as quickly as possible, eyes wide. He wasn't expecting anyone else to be in the dead zone. He then glares, noticing the odd details of this person's face. "I didn't come to visit you. Who are you?"
Lance frowns, almost sadistically. why else would you come here is what Lance wants to say.
"I'm the owner of this lake." Lance grins and swims up to Keith. He doesn't spy any weapons so he isn't too worried. "The name's Lance." Once closer, it's easy to see that he has a trail of scales down his arms and when his hand comes out of the water, there is a slight webbing between his fingers. "And you are trespassing if you didn't come to visit." He says, pointing at him with an eyebrow raised as he swims in a circle around Keith.
Keith sees all the abnormalities and his heart starts to race. He knows that with the speed this creature has, he won't be able to escape easily. "I'm not trespassing. Water areas cannot belong to anyone."
"No?" Lance says plainly then looks around. "I'm fairly certain this is mine." He purrs the words. "And you are in my home." Lance runs his finger up Keith's chest before chuckling. "Not that I mind company." He tilts his head before swimming behind Keith and leaning in close. "Especially company as pleasing to look at as you."
Keith starts to slightly shiver at the closeness. He tries his best not to use violence. He breaks when the creature gets behind him. "Fuck off!" Keith swings his fist at the creature. Not caring for the damage he actually does, he starts swimming as fast as he can back.
Lance easily dodges and swims beneath Keith before surfacing in front of him with a sad pout. "But I've been alone for so long. I...would love the company." lance says sadly before sighing. "But I suppose I understand. After all, I'm not human like you."
Keith is forced to stop, growling a bit. The creatures next words oddly rang through his head. His eyes started to fog up, as if in a daze. "Alone?" Keith asks softly. He knows how horrible it is to be alone.
Just a little push and he's already stopped~ trying not to show his pleasure, Lance runs his fingers along the surface of the water before swimming up to Keith again. "I'm the last to remain here." He sighs. "Humans are so cruel," he whines. "Calling my home a dead zone and leaving me alone. I can't help my kind isn't know well any longer." He swims around him happily. "But you don't seem to mind. So perhaps times are changing."
Keith treads water in order to stay in place. "They are cruel," he agrees, still in a dazed state. Humans are cruel, he remembers all the times he was bullied or pushed off to the side.
"You get it don't you?" Lance sings, hearing the hurt in the human's voice. He wraps his fin under Keith"letting the human rest on his legs. "I know I may look unusual but I would be kind to you." Lance runs his finger over Keith's neck with a smile, revealing white, almost shark like teeth. "You should stay with me."
Keith melts when the creatures touches his neck. If he stays here, he won't have to deal with anymore bullies or judgmental adults. Keith was about to talk but he hears his name being called.
"Keith!" Pidge calls from the edge of the pier.
"Keith!" Shiro calls, standing next to Pidge. Matt is running on the pier to get to the two.
Lance jumps then growls. "More?!" He looks at his human seeing him respond to the name being called. With a snarl, he lets go of Keith, almost pushing him away. "Too many humans. I can't. Visit again?" He jumps under the water, not wanting to be spied, he takes off under the surface and angrily growls.
Keith shakes his head, coming out of his daze. He looks around for the creature before turning to his friends. "Pidge! Shiro! Matt!" Keith calls before starting to swim back. He swims to the beach and once he can stand, he runs out of the water. His three friends run up to him.
"Are you okay?!" Shiro asked, he grabs Keith's shoulder and checks for any injuries.
"I'm okay," he reassured Shiro.
"Why did you go out there?! You know no one is allowed near the dead zone!" Shiro yelled. He was both angry and worried for Keith.
"Pidge dared me," Keith answers. He doesn't want to make Shiro worry more so he stays quiet about the creature he ran into.
Lance watches from the distance, arms angrily crossed and teeth grinding. stupid other humans. I finally had one. he growls before swimming into his cave.
"You owe me ten pidgeon," Matt says while holding his hand out with a smile. He then walks beside Keith and hands him the shirt he'd thrown. "Pizza?"
Pidge grumbled and dig through their wallet before slapping a ten dollar bill into Matt's awaiting hand. Keith catches his shirt but doesn't put it on yet. "Yeah. That would sound great," he says. Shiro hands Keith a small towel.
"Killer." Matt laughs. "We're getting a Hawaiian." He points at them all and squints. "Fight me." Pidge rolls their eyes.
"We will get one Hawaiian and one cheese," Shiro compromises.
"Yeah!" Pidge cheered. Keith just smiles slightly. The creatures words rang through his head. 'I would be kind to you' Despite all the horrible people he has met before, he has three amazing friends right here.
Matt nudges Keith and raises an eyebrow. "Aaaand I'm going to destroy you all at Mario kart." He laughs then can't help but look back to the water after seeing the distant look on Keith's face.
Lance sits in the cave, hearing them all still on the beach then swims up to a more distant surface and quietly starts to sing. He knew his voice would sound like just distant music to the others but Keith would be able to tell who it is and hopefully it will remind him to come back soon.
Pidge and Shiro hears the singing but thinks it's from someone else at the beach but to Keith, it was loud and clear. He freezes for a second. 'visit again?' He hopes that no one notices his slight hesitation.
Matt, having been already a bit thrown by Keith's -somehow- unusual quietness. However, he chooses not to comment on it nuat yet. Instead, he tries to hurry everyone along, hungry especially since they'd been stalled by Pidge and Keith's ...game of fate?
"Wait." Matt stops. "I dare you to buy me a milkshake!" He points to Keith, trying to get him back to himself.
Keith glares at Matt. "That isn't a proper dare. Are you going to give me money to go get it for you?" Matt has done this type of a few times before and it would be a perfect way to get him and Pidge alone.
"Damn." He laughs then pulls the ten from Pidge out of his pocket. "Well buy two cuz I bet I can finish mine first. And NO CHEATING AND DRINKING SOME ON THE WAY BACK!"
Keith smirks at Matt, making no promises, as he takes the cash. "Pidge, let's go." Keith leads the way to the store with milkshakes. Once they are far enough away from the older two, he glares at Pidge. "Did you know that there was a creature living in the dead zone?"
"Like...a fish?" Pidge says flatly. "Who would have thought?"
"No! He... He was like a mermaid! Scales and webbed fingers," Keith explained. "I almost died!"
Pidge just stares at Keith. "Look, I get today hasn't been that exciting but...really?" They push their glasses up then groan. "How exactly did you almost die...From this merperson...?" Pidge is pretty positive they aren't convinced. Keith is just trying to get them back. Would be cool though.
"He kept swimming around me! I think he wanted to drag me under!" Keith is frustrated that Pidge wasn't believing him. He almost died because of their dare!
Pidge raises an eyebrow. "I mean, I want to believe you. I really do." They sigh. "But even if there was a merperson there...how? Its a lake in the middle of nothing. How does it survive?"
"I... I don't know." Keith hands Pidge the money. "Let's hurry and get the milkshake though." They enter the shop and Keith orders the two milkshakes with his own money.
"Why not use Matt's money?" Pidge snickers. "So..." They shrug. "Saying it did happen, what did he look like?"
"I already told you! He looked human at first then he had scales on his arms and had webbed fingers." He grumpily takes a sip of his milkshake as they start to walk back.
Pidge laughs. "Matt's gonna be mad you cheated." Then they listen and their lips purse. "You should have gotten a picture. Like...we cant have another nessie myth floating around you know? I need proof!" They snatch Matt's shake and take a drink. "But did he really seem dangerous. Merfolk are usually depicted as so pretty and nice."
"Well I didn't have my phone!" If Keith didn't have a milkshake in his hand, he would raise him up in surrender. "He was pretty but... His voice was weird." He combed a hand through his hair. "It was... hypnotic? I can't remember." He shakes his head. He can remember the words spoken to him but remembering it made his head feel light.
"Ooo," pidge says teasingly. "Do.. You have a crush on a fish?" They laugh a little then steal another drink of Matt's shake. "Well if you go back, take a picture. Talk about discovery of the century."
Keith rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I'll go risk my life again." If anyone else has said it like he did, it would be sarcasm but Pidge knows he will actually do it despite the tone. He takes another sip of his milkshake.
"For a -and I quote- pretty merboy with a hypnotic voice?" Pidge raises an eyebrow. " sure you won't " they raise a hand. "Not to mention the fact that you would get to prove nonhuman life on earth." Pidge like him. "Don't lie to me."
Keith blushed and glared at them. He didn't say anything before taking another sip of his milkshake. He made sure that once they were close to where Shiro and Matt was getting the pizza, it looked like he didn't drink any. He held the cup a certain way to hide it.
Pidge just laughs but stays quiet about the drink. As they eat their food, pidge can't help but imagine how cool it would be if there was a merperson there. Their face must get lost a few times because Matt teases them. But eventually they all head to play games at the holt house
By the end of the night, Keith had taken first place in every game. Keith chose to sleep on the couch. While everyone else went to sleep, he laid awake, thinking about Lance. His mind would fog up every now and then. The sun started to rise and Keith has still yet to get even a wink of sleep. Growling in frustration, he sits up aggressively at grabs his phone. He then digs through his bag to get out the phone water pouch Shiro made him bring. He quietly exits the house and goes back to the pier.
Lance hears footsteps on pier and perks up. Slightly illogically, he swims up to it. Seeing its Keith, lance grabs Keith's foot and pulls him in. He's so excited his songs still work! The human came back~ "Keith! You came back!" He says in a fit of laughter as Keith struggles to steady himself.
He wasn't expecting Lance to be so close to the pier. Luckily the phone pouch was already around his neck he didn't need to worry about dropping his phone. "Yeah..." Keith trails off, staying couscous.
Lance tilts his head. "You seem tired." He says questioningly as he swims around him, finally wrapping his tail around Keith so he doesn't have to tread water.
Keith is a but surprised on how nice it feels to be sitting on Lance's tail. "I'm okay." He fights the tiredness that wants to be shown on his face. He holds onto his phone through the pouch and just fiddles with it, trying to find the right time to take a picture.
Lance leans in and runs a finger under Keith's eyes, touching the dark circles starting to form. "Is that so?" He raises his eyebrow and laughs. "You can rest if you wish. I don't have anything else to do." Lance is pleased by the feeling of Keith on his tail. Humans are always so warm.
Keith does his best not to push the merman away when he touches his face. Trying to be sneaky about it. He gets the phone to camera mode. He made sure the flash was off last night. While pretending to still be fiddling with it, he takes a picture of Lance.
Lance sees the tiny device and snarls at it a bit when he sees it angled toward him. He shoves it away from him, nearly knocking it from Keith's hand. "What are you doing with that thing?!" He hisses angrily, never having seen something like that before. His ears go back, showing he's actually a bit afraid of whatever it is but his mouth is in a snarl ready to attack it.
Keith is a bit shocked. "I'm just fiddling with it." He turns the phone off then shows Lance. "It's not even on. I brought it just in case someone messages me."
Lance glares a but but starts to relax. "Why would you need a message sent through a little box?" He doesn't quite understand that but ok? It's on his hand? So what does on mean? Lance isn't aware how curiously annoyed he looks. "Your other humans already tired of my beach?"
He doesn't know how to explain the first question so he ignores it. "No, my friends are still sleeping. It's early for most of us... Humans." Saying humans felt weird. "They might ask where I went when they wake up." He hopes the one photo is good enough cause he doesn't think he'll get a second chance.
"Oh." Lance says almost grumpily. He lays back in the water, stretching a bit before admitting. "I haven't been up long wither really. Planned to eat soon. But I don't get much...talkative company." He says while lazily floating in the water, still letting Keith sit on his tail.
Keith felt a bit bad for keeping Lance from eating, even if he seems like a dangerous creature. "Would you like me to... wait while you go eat?" Keith asked while pointing at the pier. He could sit on the pier and it would give him a chance to get more pictures.
"Would you wait?" The words almost sound bitter.
Keith feels a bit unease. "Yeah, I'll wait." He doesn't want to admit but he feels like something bad would happen if he was gone when Lance comes back.
Lance looks back to Keith then smiles before using his tail to help Keith onto the pier. He watches him for a minute, glowing eyes squinted and lips pursed. "I'll be sad if you leave again without saying goodbye." he sings a bit before taking off under the water to catch his breakfast. In a couple of minutes, he resurfaced, a bit further from the pier with a fish in each hand. Glancing over, Lance looks relieved to see Keith still there as he flashes him a smile before turning to start to eat his fish.
Keith climbs onto the pier and question just how strong Lance's tail is. He gets comfortable and is about to fiddle with his phone again when Lance speaks. He is left in a light daze. He couldn't move his legs or arms until Lance resurfaces. Keith forces himself to smile back as he slightly fiddles with his phone again. He still might be able to get a second photo. Not wanting to be too risky, he decides only try one more time. He activates the camera and tries to take rapid fire photos as he slowly moves the phone, not wanting Lance to freak out like last time.
Busy eating, Lance doesn't realize the message thing is back out. He finishes eating then disappears under the water again. When he comes back, Lance is directly in front of Keith. "You didn't leave." He says in a sweet voice while smiling. He splashes Keith then rests his arms on the pier. "So, what do you like to do besides look at your little box?"
Keith furrows his eyebrows when Lance suddenly goes back underwater. He turns off his phone lets it just hang. Keith relaxes his eyebrows when Lance reappears. "Of course I didn't," Keith says as he tried to block the splash with his arm. He shakes the water off before resting his arm again. "I like running and swimming." What else can he say that a merman would understand? Does Lance even understand running?
"Of course I didn't." Lance replies mockingly. "Yeah you're right so normal." Lance swims back under the water and looks Keith over before tracing his fingers over his feet. "Running is with these right?"
Lance's touch tickles slightly but not enough for him to pull his feet away. "Yeah."
"Sounds annoying." He says curtly then touches Keith's legs, as if studying them but doesn't say much.
/uh...dude? Where'd you go? I asked Pidge and they just laughed?/
Matt had been pumped to have a pancake eat o Of with Keith and was more than a bit baffled when he woke to Keith being Mia.
He really want to move his foot away but he would rather not get the merman possibly angry. He feels his phone vibrate against his chest so he checks it. He turns it on and checks his messages. He starts to type then checks on Lance to see if he is freaking out again.
Lance had felt the strange vibrating sensation while admiring Keith's legs and enjoying the warmth radiating off of them but when the weird message box lights up, he darts away, glaring at both Keith and the phone from behind the leg of the pier.
"Why is is doing that?" He hisses again.
"My friends have woken up and they asked me where I am." He looks back down at his phone to quickly send the message.
/I'm at the pier./
"Would it help you if you look at it?" he asks, not wanting this to happen every time he pulls out his phone.
"But you aren't talking." Lance says leerily but cautiously comes up to the pier again. "You just poked it with your thumbs. Do you talk through morse code?" He looks at the thing that is now bright and glowing. While he has no idea what any of the rings on the phone actually are, Lance finds it brilliant and rather enjoyable to look at. When Matt texts back, he jumps, just a little this time. "It moved." He says.
/already? Damn. Want company? I can bring food!/
Keith is a bit amused, you never get to see someone react to modern day technology like this, "It's called texting. Faster way to write to each other." He checks the message. "Looks like I have to go."
/No. I'll come back in a sec./
Lance had swam behind Keith to watch the device light up and his fingers move along all the little squiggles to make more squiggles but his face is far less enthused when he hears the last line.
"You do?" He pouts sadly. "Can't you stay just a little longer?" Lance's ears droop sadly as he looks up to Keith.
/oh alright. Just making sure. Pidge is still laughing btw?/
/Don't worry about it./
"It's a bit of a walk back to the house so I should leave now." Keith tried to sound apologetic. This merman is really pretty though and he only looked cuter when sad.
"Fine." Lance barks then just dives back under the water. He wants to just sing to him so he stays but he's a pretty human. Maybe he can win him over without it. But it's still annoying that he only stayed for a few minutes. However, being a bit worried, he quickly resurfaces to see Keith already walking away. "C-come back later? please," just a little song might work...hopefully.
/but I feel like I'm missing something! And I don't like it #youtwoarerude/
\so...I thought you weren't going back? Can you hear me snickering from there?\
Suddenly in a daze, Keith turns back around to face Lance. "Yeah, I'll back later." Keith smiles at Lance before starting to walk away again. Once he is out of sight from the beach, he shakes his head. The merman must be doing something to him, he keeps zoning out.
/You don't need to be a part of everything!/
\Shut up.\
Lance is still grumpy when he leaves but...at least he's coming back! Hopefully .
\come talk to me when you get home. I need to know how your morning date with the fish went\
\OMG it wasn't a date. I got some stupid photos for you.\
He rolls his eyes and starts sprinting back to the house.
The instant Keith is in the door, Pidge is dragging him away. They slam the door and jump around excitedly. "No fucking with me. You got pictures?!" They look at him with big hopeful eyes.
"Yeah. He almost smacked my phone into the water." Keith takes his phone out of the water pouch and shows Pidge the photos. The first one he took was almost perfect and out of the rapid fire, only two weren't blurry at all.
Pidge goes through them all slowly, zooming in and out before finally just going, " holy shit Keith." They look at them more. "Hooollyyy shit." They plop down on their bed dragging Keith next to them. "First of all, I am sorry for not believing you. Second. These are amazing." Then they raise an eyebrow playfully. "Third...he is pretty you're right."
"I told you." Keith sighs. "I keep zoning out around him. Do you think that's some sort of merman power?" He scratches his head.
"Zoning out?" Pidge thinks for a minute. "Is he singing when you zone out. He could be a siren. If that's the case, you might want to not go back."
"I..." He remembers saying he will go back later today. "I might not have a choice," he says softly. He looks at Pidge with worry.
"Uh.. What?" Pidge says shortly. "Of course you have a choice. Just.. Don't go back?"
"We don't know how far a siren's song can reach. He made me say I'll go back, there is a possibility I won't be able to fight it."
"Wait...really? Goddamnit Keith." Pidge slumps down. "Plus side...I know what he looks like and where he is. Downside YOU CAN'T BREATHE UNDERWATER. AND DID YOU SEE HIS TEETH?!"
"Yeah! They are like shark teeth!" He quickly sends Pidge all the good ones so they have a copy.
"Damnit. Should I do...something? Can I do something? Maybe try headphones? I don't actually know how this works." Pidge looks the pictures over. "I'm going to start looking up information. Gimme a bit and I'll tell you what I got."
"Alright." Keith isn't easy to scare but at this moment, his hands were slightly tingly and his heart was beating fast.
Pidge comes into the living room and snatches Keith's phone and starts to fidget with it. "Ok, if anything happens, hold all three buttons down and I'll know." They hand the phone back. "There is frustratingly little amounts of information but I'm doing what I can. How are you feeling?"
Lance had started to watch the sky, it was getting dark. He wasn't coming back. Lance could just try to pull on his mind. He's heard him so it might work. But it's been a long time and he doesn't want to tire himself out. So he just sends out a flicker, hoping his pouty loneliness would get across to his human.
"Thanks Pidge." He checks his phone, despite knowing he won't be able to see Pidge's modifications. He feels a tug at his brain. "Honestly, I think he is starting to call for me."
"Fuuuck." Pidge starts panicking. "What do I do Keith? Do I help? Is he dangerous? How bad is it? Try to ignore it?!"
Lance gets grumpier when Keith doesn't show. Maybe he's sleeping. He brings his teeth and snatches up a fish to angrily eat and distract himself. Maybe he will wait till morning. Give his human a chance to rest.
"I have no idea! Maybe I should sleep? Or can sirens make people sleep walk?" Keith isn't showing it but he is panicking inside. The small urge to go to Lance is still there but it's not tugging at his brain anymore.
"Well at least if you try to sleep i can keep watch and keep researching." Pidge nods then goes into the kitchen to make coffee. "I am almost in the dark as you so just...try to sleep."
Lance is impatient but hopes to get the human on it's - well mainly - its own accord. He decides it best to sleep in preparation for tomorrow...in case the human doesnt come to visit.
Keith sighs and lays down on the couch. He wonders if they should tell Shiro and Matt just in case something happens. Tired from worrying, Keith falls asleep pretty quick.
Pidge does just as promise and keeps watch all night. Eventually, Matt gets the answer out of them so by morning, all three of the friends know what's going on and are worried for Keith. So, as he wakes up, three sets of eyes are watching him.
"You met a siren?!" Matt nearly shouts before Keith could possibly be all the way awake.
"What?" Keith asks sleepily. "Lance? I met Lance." Unlike Matt, Shiro waited until Keith was awake enough to give a proper answer.
"Keith, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Shiro asked.
"Thought I would save you the worry," Keith answered honestly.
"Oh yeah. Totally not worried. No way. Only have like seven coffees and searched through like twenty nine thousand websites trying to figure out something for you." Pidge lies with an eye roll.
"Seven?" Matt shakes his head. "You should have just had the espresso. I'm telling you-"
"Matt. I swear to fuck."
"Ok but, so the siren's name is Lance. And Pidge is freaking out. But, do you feel like...the creepy siren powers or are we all may be over exaggerating or what?" He puts a hand on his hip. "I am occasionally know for being overdramatic."
Keith felt like he had a small headache while everyone talked. He thought it might be from worrying too much but then it suddenly got worse. Keith clenches his head as it starts to throb. Lance must be awake. "He's awake. He's calling," he says through clenched teeth. It feels different from when he is sudden't put into a daze. It might be because he knows about it this time.
Lance was lonely. His human hadn't returned and he was getting more and more upset by it. It's not like he did anything cruel, right? So why hadn't he come back. Just a small spark of yearning out to him. With a sigh, Lance swims up to the surface and watches for him. some time passes and still nothing. He doesn't want to have to sing yet. He'll give him a little longer. Angrily, he grabs a handful of stones and tosses them into the water.
"Uh..." Matt turns on the radio to some obnoxious music and gives a thumbs up, laughing a little as he does.
The music helps a little. He scratches his head a bit before lowering them back down to his side. "If he starts singing, I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself."
"Then I'm going back to research. You remember what I told you about your phone right? I swear to god if you put it down at all I will...I will...do something!" Pidge storms off after that.
About an hour goes by before Keith still hasn't shown up so Lance grumbles before sitting back on the beach and starting to quietly sing. It was a bit annoying to have to do this, but...Keith came to him. That boy is his human now.
Keith keeps his phone in his hand, ready to give Pidge the signal at any moment. Shiro was overly worried so Matt started up a game for the two of them to play. Keith watched them, finally able to relax for a bit. On the third game, he hears Lance's song. He quickly presses all three buttons on his phone before falling into a daze. Phone still in hand, he starts walking out the door.
Pidge gets the alert and a loud "FUCK" exits the room before they do. They hadn't found anyone to help yet! At that, Pidge just storms out of the house. The locals called that the dead zone. THere had to be a reason. And there had to be someone to help. Matt decided it best to stay back, just in case Keith came back. And Shiro took off after Pidge, determined to help somehow.
On the beach, Lance isn't even positive his song is working. He hadn't sang for anyone in a long time. But it was high time he had a human again. When he finally hears feet shuffling behind him, Lance spins around and stops singing. He's laying with only his tail in the water on the beach. "You said you would come back yesterday." Lance says with a pout.
Still in a daze, Keith sits down next to Lance. "Friends were protecting me," he says softly.
"Tch. I'm not going to hurt you." Lance growls he draws in the sand with a finger, lessening his grip on Keith's mind to see how he will react. "You just said you'd come back and you didn't. It's not nice to lie."
Once out of his daze, he glares at Lance. "You're a siren, you made me say I'll come back." He tried to get up but his body wouldn't move.
"I only magicked one word." Lance growls. "You had to have at least sorta wanted to come back. Trust me, my song could be a lot stronger." Lance digs his fingers in the sand a bit more angrily. "I wasn't even going to sing. I wanted you to come here on your own. Since you said you would." He kicks his tail a bit, irritation causing it to twitch. "But, no, you had to be a liar too."
Keith growls. He may or may not have wanted to see Lance again. "Maybe you shouldn't have been so weird our first meeting. No one likes being called a toy."(edited)
"Well sorry for not being perfectly socially acceptable. There aren't exactly many people to take fucking queues from out here." Lance slams his tail down and grinds his teeth a bit then takes a deep breath. "But whatever you're here now. Are you going to try to leave if I let you go?" He is trying not to look mad, but damnit he wants this human to be his.
Keith isn't going to lie, he is far to angry too. "Of course I am! My friends know I'm here and I'm going to fight to stay out of the water."
Lance grits his teeth and huffs. "Fine." Lance doesn't let Keith leave as he darts under the water. When he comes back he's holding a necklace. "You can't fight against a siren, stupid." Lance says when he resurfaces then places the necklace over Keith's head. "I just wanted a friend. But, fine, be a asshole. I promise I'm better at it than you." Lance sits next to him and looks him over and takes a deep breath. "So. If I promise not to hurt you will you come with me?"
"What are you putting on me?!" He asks as the necklace is out on him. Keith is still glaring at Lance but it lessens a little. "You really won't hurt me?" He feels his resolve start to weaken and he doesn't understand why. One pretty merman can't be more important than his three friends!
"Do you want to drown?!" Lance barks before holding the necklace up. "It's magic. What did you think I was stupid enough to want to be friends with a human and not have something like this ready?! And no, I obviously won't hurt you. I want you to be my human. What good is a dead human besides more food? I have that." Lance's tail flips back and forth. He's clearly irritated but trying like hell to be agreeable. "If you would have oh I don't know, not lied to me and actually came back yesterday then most of this wouldn't be a surprise . But now I have to throw it all at you at once. So blame yourself for that."
Keith is starting to believe it is his fault. He wants to claw at his own head but he can't. Lance still hasn't fully released him. His mind is racing to fast to find a logical counterpoint. He's worried what will really happen to him and how Shiro will take his disappearance.
Lance sees Keith struggling and slams his tail down before finally sighing and just releasing him. "Fine. Do whatever it is you're going to do." He curls up on himself. "Whatever. I don't need anyone anyway." Lance is angry enough that his jaw is tense, but somehow his eyes look sad. When he looks over and Keith hasn't move, he shoves his hand toward the town. "Well, go on! You're fucking free. Congrats. Maybe next time don't come into someone's home and then be afraid if they want to be your friend."
Keith feels incredibly guilty. In front of him is a creature who is just as lonely as he used to be. He mentally apologizes to his three friends as his chest tighten. "I'll..." His voice was so quiet and weak. He clears his throat and tries again. "I'll go with you."
"Why? I'm dangerous and going to kill you or something. You're human friends are looking for you, just go back to them." Lance turns, teeth clenched again and grabs the necklace back. "Seriously. Whatever."
Keith scrambles to grab Lance's wrist. His phone drops into the sand. Pain and sadness in his eyes. "I..." Is he seriously going to tell this merman his backstory? Yeah, yeah he is. "I was alone for so long. I was an orphan who didn't fit in. You just... Need someone to talk to you. You promised not to kill me so... I'll be that person for you."
Lance doesn't look at him for a while, he's tense and can't hide his twitching tail. Finally he turns around and huffs. "That's all I asked for wasn't it? I just wanted you to visit. Fuck. It's not like I was trying to...I don't know?" He shoves the necklace back towards Keith. You can swim fine. I saw that." He crosses his arms back and swallows, trying to loosen his throat up.
Keith takes the necklace and puts it back on. He gets up and walks into the water until it's up to his shoulders then he waits for Lance.
Lance just watches him then slips under the water before almost nervously coming up to him and swallowing, looking a bit more calm. "You're really going to come with me?" His voice is quiet now as his fingers dance along the surface of the water. "What about your friends?"
Keith slowly reaches to touch fingertips with the siren. "They don't need me as much as you do." He should have probably texted them goodbye but it's too late now. He doesn't want it to look like he got cold feet.
Lance jumps when Keith touches his fingers and pulls them back for a second before turning his face away and holding his hand looks at the weird message box. "You can tell them." He turns away. "And I...I'm not going to like, put you in a damn cage or anything so stop looking like this is some sort of forever deal. Fuck. You're going to make me feel bad for inviting you in to my own house." He then dives under the water and turns back to watch what Keith does next.
Keith is a bit torn. Should he tell his friends or not make Lance wait? He takes a step towards the beach but then decides against it. He turns back towards Lance and follows.