The two stared at each other awkwardly- neither of them knowing quite how to react. Alfred stared closely at the merman's tail. It was a medium green- just a few shades lighter than the merman's forest green eyes. There was a long fin running along the top starting at the base of his spine- or at least where the base of the spine would beon a human- and there were two littler fins at about the hip... 'Do mermen have hips?' Alfred thought.

"A-are you a m-merman?" Alfred asked, obviously still dazed

"Are you an idiot?" the merman replied cautiously. He had an English accent, which caught Alfred off guard.

"Are you British?"

"Are you going to stop asking stupid questions?"

"N- Hang on, how is that a stupid question?" Alfred asked.

"I-I'm a merman, how could I possibly be British? You twit!" The blond merman replied. Alfred couldn't help but snicker a little at his obviously British accent. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Alfred said, snickering even louder now

"I don't have to take this from you, you brat!"

"You can leave at any time," Alfred said. He wished that he wouldn't; he wished that he would stay for a bit longer- maybe just to prove that Alfred wasn't going insane after all

"N-no, I can't..."

"Huh? Why can't you?"

"It's none of your business why!"

"Well you are on my boat," Alfred said as he stood up, "And in a little bit I'll be heading back to the shore-"

"No wait!" the merman grabbed Alfred's legs as he stood up. "D-don't do that..."

Alfred's cheeks felt warm as the merman desperately clung to his legs. 'He's so cute...'Alfred thought Alfred's mind snapped back to what was going on. He bent down to pull the young merman off of his legs.

"Here, let go." He tried pushing him off but he wouldn't budge. He reached over and pushed lightly on his tail. He jerked his hand back immediately as the merman cried out in pain.

"You hurt yourself?" Alfred said suddenly realizing what that loud thump and crack had been when the ship hit the huge wave.

"S-shut up..."

"What were you doing on the surface in the middle of that storm anyway?"

"Bloody hell... It's none of your bloody business! Now stop asking me stupid questions, you git!" the merman shouted angrily. Alfred snickered a little before reaching down and gently prying the merman's fingers from his leg.

"May I at least know your name?" Alfred asked.

"A-Arthur..." he said as he let go of Alfred's legs. Alfred smiled and walked over to the mast of the ship. "W-where are you going?"

"I'm putting the sails up. We're going back to my house."

"W-whaaa?" Arthur's face went a bit red at the possible implications of that, "W-what for?"

"I don't have any medical supplies on board- nothing more than a bandage or two. I'm guessing that you'll need to be treated. I have some stuff at the house that should work." Alfred raised the sails again and soon they were off. Alfred steered the boat in the direction of his vacation home while occasionally stealing glances at Arthur who lay pouting on the deck of the boat.

After a long ride, the two of them could finally see land and Alfred's house. Arthur seemed a bit uncomfortable, probably concerned about being this close to the land. Alfred pulled the boat close to the old dock and quickly looped the boat to it. He jumped off the boat and looked back at Arthur.

"Stay here."

"Like I have a bloody choice," Arthur murmured. Alfred kept looking at Arthur for a moment- almost expecting him to disappear the moment he turned his back- and then ran quickly into the house to fetch some supplies.

'Let's see here... ice pack, gauze, bandages, painkillers, splints, blanket, water,' Alfred named off random things he might need as he rushed to gather them from the house. He didn't know what exactly he'd need, so he just grabbed everything. He ran back outside, finding Arthur still lying on his stomach on the deck of the boat. He dropped his assortment of supplies onto the boat.

Alfred knelt down next to Arthur to examine him, although he really didn't know what he was looking for. He really didn't know anything about mermaid/merman physiology.

"Um, is this all spine or..." Alfred gestured to Arthur's tail. Arthur just nodded. "Do you think you broke it or just, like, sprained it or something?"

"How should I know?"

"You know, I really don't know what I'm doing."

"You dragged me all the way out here and you don't even know what to do?!" Arthur snapped.

"Well how am I supposed to know? I took a basic medicine class but it didn't cover how to treat an injured merman that was clinging to your boat while you were sailing in a storm!"

Arthur flicked his tail unhappily.

"Let me just take a look-" Alfred's face went red as he reached to lay his hands on the blond merman's tail. 'Yeesh, what am I getting so flustered for? It's not like this is some perverted fanfiction on the internet...' Alfred rested his hands on Arthur's tail. The latter didn't seem to express any sort of discomfort or pain, so he continued to press his hands lightly into the strange rubbery flesh- searching for the injury. Alfred's face continued to grow in redness as he slid his hands down Arthur's tail. 'Damn it, why am I getting so flustered over this? I don't even think mermen have... things like that...' Alfred's hands stopped when Arthur sucked in a sharp breath.

"Is this where it hurts?" Alfred asked. Arthur nodded- obviously in pain. Alfred reached for one of the bottles of painkillers he had grabbed and handed it to Arthur. "Swallow two of them." Alfred really hoped that they would work on mermen and that he hadn't just poisoned Arthur. Despite Alfred's silent worries, Arthur swallowed the pills obediently.

Alfred wrapped the end of Arthur's tail in a splint and some gauze and gently applied the ice pack to it. He didn't really know if he was doing any good or not, but he hoped he had at least made it a little better.

"Are the painkillers working?" Alfred said pointing to the bottle.

"I think so... Erm, th-than- hyaaah!?" Arthur cried out as Alfred suddenly picked him up and carried him bridal style off the boat. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"You should rest at the house while you're recovering." Alfred said cheerfully.

"LIKE BLOODY HELL I WILL! RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!" Arthur pounded on Alfred's chest, trying to get him to put him back. Alfred chuckled as he carried the helpless blond through the door to the house.

"You won't grow legs if I keep you out of the water too long, right?" Alfred asked

"Why the hell would I do that?" Arthur asked pouting, having given up on his struggle.

"Just a thought." Alfred set Arthur down on the couch in the main room of the house. Arthur looked up at his 'captor,' tears swelling in his eyes. Alfred knelt down and wiped the salty tears from the blonde's eyes. 'Damn, he's adorable. I really might fall for him...'