Took so long because I've really been debating how to write this. I think I got it now. Here's actual plot!
Not good not good not good! Edd shoved himself underneath the water the moment Kevin's and his eyes met, pressing himself hurriedly against the rocky surface nearby. He wasn't certain that his heart could take this much excitement in one day.
Edd shivered as Eddy's words echoing in his mind. As far as his curiosity took him, he was being far too reckless for his own good. Safety had always been the first thing on his mind! Safety for their people, their culture; everything they had ever worked towards, including keeping their existence out of the average human's span of knowledge. The fact that he had returned to the same spot multiple times in one afternoon left Edd feeling ashamed of himself.
And all for one mere boy! Edd closed his eyes and allowed the warm ocean waves to lull him into a greater sense of calm. His gills worked to extract oxygen from the water. Silence soothed his nerves.
Once he was no longer on the verge of having a meltdown, he rose to the surface and peered very cautiously around the edge of the stone. He had chosen this spot specifically because there were various places to duck behind, but he hadn't expected Kevin to also show his face.
Edd peered around his hiding spot again. Tinkling laughter came from one direction of the beach and loud hollering from the other, but none of it sounded like him. It would be hard to forget his particular cadence: amusing, but filled with warmth. With a mixture of gratifying relief and puzzling disappointment, the human—Kevin—was no longer in sight.
Edd's sank back into the water, allowing its embrace to swallow him until his back touched sand. What is happening to me? As many times as he reminded himself that coming back would be a terrible idea, the thought of seeing the boy's grin made it almost worth the risk.
No! he told himself firmly, shaking his head. I will not be a slave to my emotions. I am rational and intelligent. This is the end of my temporary insanity.
Edd repeated this to himself in hopes that he would believe it.
Kevin didn't have the chance to go check out the ocean for another few days. The tail end of getting ready for college life at the end of his summer kept him cooped inside his house or different supply stores. Not to mention financial aid. Once he had a moment to think for himself, he realized that almost a week had passed. A part of him panicked.
What if the merman was gone?
Another part of himself—the larger part that appealed to his rationality, had been convinced that it was all a dream—that or a hallucination from too much seawater. Although he knew that eyesight was a surprisingly unreliable way to identify things, something was bugging him. Kevin knew it couldn't be a hallucination because that person—merman, had been so different from anything he could have imagined. A lithe body, shiny teeth with a gap, and a long scar along the side of his scalp.
He had to do something about this or it would eat him up. There was no guarantee that he would even see anything, but he had to take the chance. Besides, if he didn't find anything, he could always just take a nightly run.
After a few hours of consideration, Kevin had come up with a loose plan that involved thoroughly scanning the beach and hoping for the best. From what little he'd been able to gather, the mermaid—man, whatever—was pretty careful about his methods of visiting the surface if he'd never even talked to a human before. That, or he was scared. It could have been both, honestly.
But then why did he save Kevin? Surely many other people had drowned. Or had they convinced themselves it was a hallucination? Had they even seen the merman?
He scrubbed his fingers through his stubble and sighed. At this rate he would have a headache by midnight.
With an angry grunt, Kevin used his frustration to finish shov most of his things into his bag. He packed away a few snacks, a fresh pair of clothing (just in case), and his headlight. His phone would stay in his pocket, at the ready in case there was some kind of emergency. Sometimes the moon and streetlights were enough when he wanted to run, but if he was interested in running on the beach, he needed his headlight.
Kevin stared at it, reflecting on what had started this entire thing, whatever it was. Right there he almost reconsidered. Going to the beach on a dark night in search of a merman was borderline insane. But then he thought about the boy's smile and the long scar across his scalp and the worried butterflies in his stomach settled.
I'm not crazy. I can't be. Kevin opened the door to his room as quietly as possible and tip-toed down the stairs. His parents had years of experience with him and they were very light sleepers. When the bottom step creaked, Kevin froze, but he didn't hear any sounds coming from their open door. After a good few minutes, he continued his journey and made it to the front door.
Pale moonlight greeted him as Kevin let the door swing out in front of him. A gentle breeze caressed his cheek. Reenergized, he took off into the direction of the beach.
Nearly a week went by since Edd's little stint with the human. He'd overcome the innate sense of panic that had convinced him he was going to cause their entire culture to simultaneously collapse every time he saw a human, and continued on as normal. It was a relief when he didn't see Kevin again, because it meant that he could get his head back on his shoulders and focus on the reason he often strayed for the surface: keeping the beach clean.
Edd had been rather lax in the last few days, which meant that there was debris that made its way further into the ocean. Humans are disgusting, he reasoned as he lifted a pair of what appeared to be some article of clothing that they insisted on wearing, as little as it was. Edd's mind began to wander, leading him to wonder what kind of "clothes" that Kevin preferred.
When he realized that he was becoming distracted, Edd clenched the cloth between his two fists and made hurriedly for the shore. His method of cleaning left him unable to dispose of the rubbish that made its way into his ocean, but he was able to put it into a neat pile by where some sort of sentry always bypassed the area and took the trash away for him.
After sorting his pile by shape and size, Edd swam backwards and surveyed his pile-up in the bright moonlight. It was a full moon in particular, without a cloud in the sky. The star twinkled at him, leaving him with a contented feeling. Deciding that he could use a moment of relaxation, Edd hoisted himself onto a patch of sand that was just outside of the tide and lay back to watch the stars. Constellations in particular had always fascinated him; his knowledge was not vast by far, but a single book on the subject gave him enough information to take matters into his own hands.
Just when he was naming the few that he could spot in a short amount of time, he thought he heard movement. Immediately Edd was on alert, pushing himself back into the open water. When he looked behind him, he could see neither an animal nor any signs of human activity. Minutes passed and Edd began to relax.
He was just going back to gazing at a cluster of stars when he heard shuffling sounds coming closer. A beam of light bounced off of the terrain before settling on him.
Edd gave a wild screech and flailed backwards into the water, eyes wide. Then he noticed that the figure looked awfully familiar.
"K-Kevin?" he said without thinking. What was he doing here? Edd's voice rang unnaturally high, a product of shock and horror.
"Holy shit! It's really you."
Of all the luck! Edd was not one to normally curse the fate of the universe, but as he pushed himself back into the water, he wondered if the universe had it out for him.
"Be gone! I—I don't have time to fool around with your kind." Edd was only thinking of escaping when he saw the light jerk to the left, blinding him for a moment. He flailed as he felt hands slide gracelessly along the tips of his fins.
"Wait! Wait!" Kevin pleaded, sounding desperate. At the point Edd was safely in the water, ready to be taken by the tide. Kevin was all but submerged with him, struggling to make some sort of gesture with his hands.
Despite his better judgement, Edd paused. The full moon's glow shone brilliantly over Kevin, illuminating him to a shocking degree. In his hand he had the lighting device that had momentarily blinded him.
"Dude, chill out. I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. Look, I just—" when it was clear that Edd wasn't going to leave (yet), Kevin moved back onto the wet beach sand and planted himself down in a more comfortable position. "I didn't actually think I'd find you. I've been on the beach for an hour, searching. You really kinda freaked me out the other day." He looked at his hand; the one that had touched Edd. "It still feels the same. I'm half convinced I'm crazy about this whole mermaid thing."
Edd took a moment to process the way that the conversation had changed. "I apologize for...freaking you out," Edd slowly tested, his voice forming unfamiliar words with surprising ease. "I'm not entirely sure what you want from me. Have you not told anyone about my kind? Perhaps your authorities?" He cocked his head.
Kevin's eyes grew wide. "Hell no! You think I'd tell those dudes anything? Besides, they wouldn't believe me. I'm not even sure if I believe me." He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "I can't even process this right now. I'm fucking exhausted."
Ignoring the unfamiliar lingo, Edd pressed for further information. "What's too much?" He chanced moving closer. "Are you in pain?"
"No, I'm fine. Let's—fuck, I can't believe this is happening." For some reason, Kevin grinned. "Why don't we start over, if you're willing to talk to me." He stuck his hand out in an unfamiliar gesture. "My name's Kevin, although I'm pretty sure you knew that. I'm guessing you remembered from, uh, saving me and all that."
Edd stared at the offered hand. "Indeed," he said. With hesitation he reached out, allowing Kevin to take the lead. He covered Edd's palm with his own and shook it up and down solidly, his grip firm. Warm. When Edd withdrew his hand, he stared at it.
"Fascinating. Do all humans communicate in this manner?" Realizing that he had essentially admitted to his inhuman nature, Edd attempted to backtrack. "Er, that is to say—oh, you already know what I am. It's pointless to attempt to convince you otherwise."
"I get it," Kevin interrupted. "You're a...merman? I'm going to pretend this makes sense right now and just accept it for what it is. What's your name? You mentioned there are more of you?"
Edd balked at facing his questions. They were hardly private, but answering would leave an opening for discovery. Was it really worth the danger to allow this human to acknowledge his existence?
The terrifying part was that Edd wasn't sure that he knew how to answer that himself.
He swallowed. "My name is Eddward, although many call me Edd. Double D is also a nickname that some have used. There are…" he took a fortifying breath, "we have a colony that houses the rest of us." It was all he was willing to share.
"Fair enough. So, Edd….Double D." Kevin grinned. "Since I we probably don't have all night, I'll try to keep it short. It's obvious you guys are intelligent. Are all mermaids—er, merpeople," he waved to Edd, "like you? With the fins and the human torso and stuff?"
"Somewhat," Edd answered carefully, although less hesitant than before. "We share similar DNA, I would imagine. I have basic knowledge of your anatomy and sciences, but from our point of view it still confounds us. We have both gills and lungs, from my understanding. I speak to you now breathing your air, but if I went under, I would just as easily use my gills."
Kevin looked "freaked out" again. "That's so fucked up. How in the world—? I'm not even sure I wanna know at this point. So," he refocused, "do merpeople eat other fish?"
The night wore on, the moon's glow illuminating the intelligent shine in Kevin's eyes as he bombarded Edd with questions. It was just as a fascinating experience for him as it was for the human; they were both learning about each other, although most of Kevin's questions related to human culture that confused Edd more than he felt inclined to admit.
At one point he found himself lying on the sand next to Kevin, having exhausted his reserve for treading water in one place for a long period of time. He hoped that the darkness was able to conceal the hot flush that spread across his cheeks the longer they talked. Edd feared that his voice would go out, having never spoken this much using just his lungs. It was both awkward and easier the longer he did it. His gills ached, but his lungs clearly provided the necessary oxygen.
He barely noticed when his tail started to dry. Edd never had a need to stay on land, and his intelligence made it difficult for him to ever become "beached" for very long, if it happened. He attempted to mimic Kevin's posture at one point, earning a bought of delightful laughter.
"Hey, are you okay being up here like this? It's been—" Kevin pulled out a strange rectangle that illuminated his face. "—hours. Do you have anywhere you need to be?"
"Not particularly," Edd responded after clearing his throat. His gills felt like they were on fire, and he realized that his tail was quite dry. "I should submerge myself again. I've never stayed up this long, and I fear that my gills may be—" Edd stopped when he felt the overwhelming urge to cough. He curled forward as it took him by force, leaving him feeling dizzy.
"Hey, are you okay? Do you need me to push you into the water?" Kevin hovered uncomfortably before he pressed a hand to Edd's tail. It was nearly bone dry. "Dude," he urged, when something very strange started happening.
Edd shuddered, his body jerking unnaturally. Kevin thought it might be a seizure until he noticed that his tail was glittering. At closer inspection he realized it was because the scales were becoming loose and falling off as Edd shook.
"Holy fuck, holy fuck. Shit—what do I—Edd!" He wrapped his arms around Edd's body as the scales continued to slide off of his...skin? At the same time, the skin was parking and changing, forming what looked very much like legs and feet and...other things. Kevin pushed down his surging panic and focused on keeping Edd calm.
"Hey, look at me." Glassy, wide eyes met his gaze.
"What's—" Edd began, and shuddered once more before he could speak. "What is happening to me? Why does my tail feel so peculiar?"
Kevin cupped his cheeks and forced Edd to look at him. "Dude, before you look...just don't freak out, okay? Uh, I'm not sure what happened, but you look a lot more like me than before."
When Edd was able to look down, he went white as a sheet. "W-what?" he whispered, reaching down. When his fingers met smooth skin, he jerked back and started shaking. His hands went to his throat where his gills had previously resided. Nothing but smooth skin. Skin. Human skin. Legs.
"GOOD LORD!" Edd screeched, using his arms to propel himself backwards, as if that would save him from what had just occurred. Then, lacking any other outlet, Edd let out an unholy scream that must have been heard for miles.
"Fuck," said Kevin intelligently.