Of course Klaus went to the peer after that. There was nowhere else he wanted to be, he always ended up back here. At least his mood wasn't as dark as usual, actually having something to look forward to for a change. He always enjoyed a good fling, and he was sure they'd have some sort of fun before the night was over.
But today, the ocean was calm, the waves gently lapping at Klaus' feet as he dangled them off the edge. He closed his eyes, feeling the wind in his hair, and just let himself be in the moment of peace he'd found. He might as well enjoy it before the drugs wore off and the ghosts came back.
The sound of splashing startled him out of his thoughts. Scanning the area, he wondered if a seal or something had ventured up to dry itself on the rocks. They were always fun to watch. Movement caught his eye and he saw it. The Mer was back, the same one he thought he'd seen before, but something was wrong.
It was hard to see, this far away and under the surface of the water, but it seemed to be struggling with something. It's movements were sluggish, like it was exhausted, and Klaus realized it was caught up in a net, the weight of it preventing it from properly using its tail. It had only managed to get close to the surface by sheer force of will, but it was being dragged back down again.
It was drowning, Klaus realized. It seemed like a silly thought, especially when he didn't even know if it was real. And even if it was, Merfolk had to be able to breathe underwater, right? But then, he'd seen this one playing with dolphins, which reminded him that not all marine life had gills. Maybe Mer were the same, maybe they had lungs like humans. Or maybe this was just some guy wearing a costume and having a really bad night.
The Mer reached desperately towards the surface as it sank, suddenly too exhausted to keep fighting the weight anymore, and Klaus groaned, forcing himself into action, realizing that whoever that was, was going to die if he didn't do anything. How long after taking drugs were you supposed to wait before swimming? Oh well. At least the water was cool and refreshing, helping him focus.
It was hard to judge where exactly the Mer had been as he swam out, and he knew this was taking too much time. If it was just a regular person, he'd probably have drowned by the time he finally found him. But he kept going anyway, diving when he thought he was close. Thankfully, he wasn't far off and managed to spot the creature where it was struggling weakly on the rocky ocean floor.
He pulled a pocket knife out as he swam towards it, ready to get to work as soon as he reached it, but when he finally got a proper look, he froze in shock. For some reason, it looked exactly like Dave. This didn't make any sense. Maybe he was finally losing it. Or maybe this hallucination was just particularly strong. He tried to remember if he'd taken anything new that he hadn't tried before, but that seemed unlikely. Maybe it was just a bad batch.
The Mer spotted him then, his eyes going to the knife and he flinched away, his expression one of horror, but there was nowhere for him to go. He was so exhausted, pulling weakly at the heavy net, just trying to get as far away from him as possible. Klaus put his hands up in a gesture he hoped would show he didn't mean any harm, but it didn't really seem to put this Mer-Dave at ease. But time was limited, and Klaus was close to running out of air, too, so he swam to the weights at the end of the net and set to work.
Mer-Dave thrashed about in desperation again, but he couldn't exactly lash out at him like that, so Klaus kept going. It took him much too long to cut one of the weights free, but when it finally fell away, he backed up, raising his hands again as if demonstrating his intent. Mer-Dave wasn't thrashing around anymore, but he didn't look much more at ease, either. His eyes were beginning to flutter closed, though, his body slowly going limp as he lost consciousness. Klaus was running out of time.
He was out of air, too, so he had to go back up to the surface before he could continue. He was forced to do that several more times before the weights were finally dealt with and he was able to start dragging the Mer to shore, hoping to deal with the rest of the net there. Mer-Dave was heavy, but Klaus managed to drag him far enough that he could lay him down with his head well above the waves.
He was sure too much time had gone by, that Mer-Dave had to be dead by now, but as he started CPR, it didn't take long before he lurched to the side, coughing up water. He lay there for a moment, just gasping for air, chest heaving. He seemed to barely have enough energy to hold himself up, his arms trembling with the exertion. When his eyes finally met Klaus', he looked reigned and grim.
"So, what happens now?" he asked when he finally had the breath for it.
"Well," Klaus said casually. "I was thinking I could get the rest of that net off you, but if you'd rather keep it, that's cool too. It's not exactly an uncommon kink, no need to be embarrassed."
Dave just stared at him in utter confusion. Eventually, though, he raised his tail, as if offering it to Klaus. With a satisfied nod, Klaus set to work.