Something under the surface shot forward smoothly, a dark spot under the sea.

Water rippled.

A head peered up from underneath the water and slender hands were placed on a jagged outcropping of rocks, avoided by sailors and swimmers alike.

Edd had long taken this outcropping as his own to peer and observe surface dwellers. He was never to be found in his cave, which often annoyed the other mers who went to visit him on occasion—though most of them visited merely for the purpose of finding books. Humans were fascinating creatures to most mers, if they were not entirely disgusted by them, and their culture was always an enjoyable subject of study.

English in both language and writing was taught to mer people (what else would they do with their time? And looking out for human signs of danger was a needed skill), but most of them did not retain the skill if they did not practice. Edd had an extensive collection that he had found on a ship, long-crashed, that had a library and managed to survive the water damage.

Each painstaking book was now cataloged and for use. The mers could come into his cave and read in the shallows. Edd was never lonely, even if few talked to him, their interest little more than the educational. He liked, as a human might say, his job.

Edd brought himself up on a flat surface, squinting as he watched the faraway humans putter about and throw their balls and toys around on the beach front. Summer, as they called it, was Edd's favorite time of year.

However, he had a different reason for coming out now, when usually he would not venture far with so many loafers about. He dove back under the water, streaking towards another large pile of rocks. It was still secluded, but this particular spot sometimes gathered its own adventurous two-leggers. Edd made sure only his head was above the water, and circled until he could peek around the edge of the rock. Planting his fingers firmly on the the surface to make certain waves would not carry him away, he heaved himself upwards.

After a careful search he spotted the red-head almost immediately, releasing a dreamy sigh.

Remarkable.

He watched the toned male jump around with one of his friends, his face friendly and open as he teased the female of their species about one thing or another. Ever since that fateful night, when he had spoken to a human for the first time, he couldn'd stay away. He deep voice and mannerisms were so interesting to Edd, and he was so handsome!

…Save for those legs. Edd scowled at them. They were so gangly and strange!

For a moment, Kevin's gaze swept his way, peering at nothing in particular, and Edd back ducked under the water, his cheeks burning hot. What if he had seen him? It was unlikely that he remembered Edd, but the possibility was nothing to be trifled with. It could mean the end of all things good if their kind was found out. Which was why the mers would never know Edd frequented these waters.

Kevin and his friends began jogging in a pattern that Edd recognized in those that exercised regularly, but they seemed to be running for the sake of it, smiles on their faces. Edd wondered what it felt like to run. It certainly couldn't be more enjoyable than swimming in the deep sea, bodies streaking smoothly through water, weightless. Humans might correlate the feeling to flying.

Edd followed their path, diving deeply so as to attract no attention. With as much time as he had, there was little else to do during the warm months other than stalk those who shared a common ancestor with him (in theory). He faced the surface and reveled in the warmth of the sun on his pale skin. The darker mers were revered for their easy camouflage, but Edd liked the thought of looking like Kevin did. It was a connection between the two of them.

He surfaced and glanced around; save for Kevin and his group, there was no one around. They were already passing by where Edd rested under the surface.

He brought his arms to his front and then aimed for deeper, cooler waters, shooting forward like a rocket. When the chill of the ocean was beginning to bite slightly, he turned his body and shot towards the surface, using speed and momentum to help. He burst from the surface with a clean splash, body sailing up into the air. For a brief moment he felt truly weightless, the sun warm and soft on his chest, and then he was falling again.

Heading towards an uncomfortable belly flop, Edd jerked his body at a better angle and managed a large but safe splash.

—-

They were avoiding a couple of rocks and slowing down when it happened. Kevin stopped when he was out of breath, not exactly keen on going for a hard run when he was meant to be relaxing.

After glancing behind himself, he noted that something was in the water. Just a speck in the big blue. Then it disappeared under. Kevin continued to stare, wondering if it was a big fish or something; maybe they could try sea fishing sometime. Deep ocean fishing was supposed to be totally rad.

"Kevin! What's up? Too slow to keep up?"

Grinning, Kevin made to turn, but then noted that the thing broke the water again. Except it kept going, and then it was mid-air. Because he was pretty far off, it could have been mistaken for a dolphin possibly—but no. There was no way—

"Hold on, I gotta see something!"

Kevin started running in the opposite direction of his friends, ignoring their shouts as he headed for the water.

It was him! The weird fanatic. Except there was no way some guy in a suit could do that. No fucking way.

Could he?

The water chilled Kevin's skin; he felt goosebumps rise as the water quickly rose to waist level. He had his eyes locked on the figure, which disappeared far too quickly for his liking. Now that there was no longer proof which he could clearly see, he felt like he was going insane. He felt water lap at his chin and started swimming, diving under to try and see if he could spot the mer-whatever.

Something caught his eye. It was moving further away from him, getting smaller with each passing second.

There!

Kevin struggled to move, realizing he'd been under too long. Cursing the inevitability, he swam to the surface and then broke free, taking that first liberating breath. Unluckily, a wave crashed over him just as he did, shoving a mouthful of seawater down his throat. He went under, his heart still pounding. His throat constricting.

Kevin kicked a few times, trying desperately to get back to the surface; however the waves were really working at him. He rolled around, disoriented, throat stinging.

Maybe this was a shitty idea.

It was too late for maybe's, though. Too late now that he was being yanked and thrown around, his head pounding, heart racing, thinking oh god what if I die. He'd been so stupid, focusing on something he thought he saw, something that he may have hallucinated one night and couldn't stop thinking about. It was like chasing that impossible dream that you knew would never come true, falling deeper when the despair of impossibility threatened to swallow you.

Fuck, thought Kevin, closing his eyes. He couldn't tell what was up and what was down, and trying to reach for anything in the emptiness, knowing it was futile as he came up short. Bubbles burst from his mouth as he took a useless gasp, desperate for air but only finding the ocean choking him.

This was it then. The end.

Then, with a starting suddenness, he felt arms heft him by his armpits, pulling him up; up, until he broke the surface of the water. Kevin gasped wildly, but instead of sweet air he found himself retching, vomiting every ounce of salty ocean water he had swallowed. It was only when he was finally finished that he could find air around his unstoppable coughing.

Kevin was grateful for arms that wrapped around his waist, because his limbs felt like the spaghetti his mom made.

Who the hell had saved him? Water lapped at his shoulders and only when he noticed the shoreline getting closer did he realize whoever it was, was pulling him towards it. How far had he gone? Fuck, they must be pissed.

He felt whoever it was stop moving and then he was held against something incredibly smooth; almost slimey. Kevin's eyes opened sluggishly and he tried to say something, but he ended up coughing and panting.

Soft hands smoothed over his forehead, brushing wet strands out of the way. He struggled to open his eyes, but it felt easier to go with the flow, so to speak. He moaned, trying to lean against his savior.

Instead he was place shallow waters. Kevin, feeling weak as a kitten, couldn't find it in him to protest as he sank into the warm sand. They must've been on some small island.

"Who are you?" He asked when he turned over to face them. A green-eyed gaze tooth-gapped smile met him.

"I'm not hallucinating am I?"

The merman—jeez, there was his tail, shining brilliantly under the sun—smoothed his hands over his hair, which stood on all ends. A long scar covered the left half of his skull, which he covered self-consciously.

"Unless sea water is a hallucinogen, then no," the merman answered. He sounded just like Kevin remembered. Closing his eyes to make sure this was real, Kevin counted to ten and opened them slowly.

"That's good. So I'm pretty sure you can't swim that well in that—" he pointed to the tail that twitched effortlessly on the sand. "—if it's fake. Call me crazy, but you're... are mermaids real?" His throat felt raw. "And you saved my life." He wanted to close his eyes and maybe rest a little, but thought that maybe the boy would disappear if he did.

Edd looked disconcerted, like he'd hoped Kevin wouldn't figure that out. "Oh! Why were you in the water in the first place?! Certainly you could see the how high the waves were and yet you still ventured into the sea!"

Had they been that bad? He hadn't noticed. He'd been so intent on seeing this guy. "I saw you," he croaked. "I remembered you and I saw you. I wanted to see if you were real."

The merman's face contorted briefly and then settled on a strange expression, turning very red. "W-why I should—"

He stopped and his sharp gaze landed over Kevin's shoulder.. "Your friends," he said softly. "They're on their way in a boat."

"Yeah?" It was funny how nonchalant Kevin sounded. "I knew those guys cared." He chuckled.

By contrast, the kid looked sad. He was worrying his lower lip and smoothed his hands down the shimmering scales that covered his tail.

Human fingers. Mermaid tail. What the flying fuck.

It seemed that the epiphany hit him just as the mer thrust him towards the water.

"I must go. It was intriguing to finally talk to a human again." He seemed to come to some conclusion. "Oh! And please don't tell anyone we exist. Thank you."

"Wait, wha? Where are you going—"

But the mer slipped into the water, his tail brush Kevin as he did. Kevin reached out and felt it slide against his hand, and then he was gone. He stared at his hand, willing himself to wake up if this was a dream. It sure felt like it.

Voices were calling his name, particularly shrill in Nazz's mouth. He felt dizzy.

"Kevin!"

You know the drill.