Chapter Text
The first time he saw you, it was on the beach in the early morning. The rising sun’s pinkish glow was right behind you, the gentle ocean waves before you. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone but fishermen out so early, but there you were at the tide pools.
There was something so intriguing about you from the moment he laid eyes on you. It may have been the soft smile that you wore as you admired the creatures in the tide pool you crouched near. It could have been the way the ocean breeze tugged at your hair and tank top. Or maybe it was when he saw you rush to help a hermit crab that was caught in a bit of trash near the water’s edge.
Mahito had seen plenty of humans on this beach before. Families, groups of friends, fishermen. People that play in the water or sunbathe, take pictures of everything or talk among themselves. None of them just take in the view and appreciate the ocean like you. He’s sure Dagon would like you if you met.
He ventured closer when it was clear that you couldn’t see him, wanting to get a better look at you. The gentle way you handled the hermit crab was so cute and it was even cuter when you actually spoke to it, asking if it was okay and reassuring it that you’d have it freed soon enough. As much as the curse wanted to spend more time observing you that morning, he had to move on after a little while.
After all, you weren’t what he was looking for that morning. No, Mahito was searching for a particular kind of human to experiment with. He needed a certain frame for what he wanted to try and you just didn’t fit. Besides, it’d be a waste to ruin your shape so quickly. You were interesting and he wanted to watch you more.
Every morning, he would return to the beach. Every morning, he found you there. You were either picking up trash that’d been left behind by tourists or you were simply admiring the ocean and creatures in the tide pools. Almost like a ghost, in the way you were always there in the sun’s first rays of light.
Mahito knows you’re no ghost, though. On the third day, he finally set aside his search for new prey and decided to see where you go when you leave the water’s edge. Staying close, keeping his eyes on you as you strolled along the path up to the buildings on the road. Unable to stop himself from smiling when he heard you humming a song to yourself.
You led him to a little café with a hand-painted sign on the front. Decorated with red hibiscus flowers and birds, along with what looked like some sort of drink with dark circles at the bottom of the glass. Mahito saw you disappear inside and when several minutes passed, he followed you in. That was when he learned even more about you.
The café belongs to your aunt and you’re working there over the summer with her and your cousins. The specialty here is boba drinks and Mahito quickly becomes fascinated with watching you make drinks. It’s such a strange thing. The squishy little orbs you put at the bottom of the cup, the thick straw that you slide into the cup before handing it over to the customer.
He’s never had boba before, but he likes to watch people drink these beverages. Staring as the balls get sucked up the straw, disappearing one by one from the bottom of the cup to be chewed up. Humans really like this? Humans like drinks with chewy stuff in them? He’s seen a lot of customers go through the café and sometimes they even visit multiple times in one day.
What do they taste like? You seem to like them; he’s seen you drinking boba milk tea in the afternoon when you’re on a break or if you’re walking along the beach. Mahito could just grab someone’s drink when they’re not paying attention, but no. With a grin, he follows you on one of your evening walks and waits.
You’re walking with your cousins, chatting about the customers you saw today. So many different kinds of people come to the café. Tourists from abroad, families on vacation from the city, friends taking a trip during their break from school. That’s what brought you here.
On break from your college classes, you agreed to help out at your aunt’s boba shop near the beach. It’s nice to get away from the city for a while and you’ve taken every opportunity to just enjoy the beauty of the ocean. The gentle creeping of the waves up the sand, the interesting creatures you’ve encountered along the water’s edge and in the tide pools, the way the sun casts a glow over the water in the early morning.
“Hey! Let’s collect some seashells! You’re not going to be here for much longer, right?” Your younger cousin turns to you with a broad smile and eagerly takes your hand. “Come on! Don’t you want something to remember the summer?”
“Huh? Uh, well, I guess. But I can just get a mug from one of the shops-”
“That’s not the same!” Your older cousin rolls her eyes and grabs your drink to set it aside on a bench with hers. Taking your other hand, she starts leading you closer to the water. “Mugs are what tourists get. Besides, don’t you want something that says “summer”? A mug won’t remind you of the ocean.”
You’re reluctant to collect seashells. As pretty as they are, you just want to leave them in nature. You’ll feel guilty, taking them away from the ocean. Though it’s obvious that your cousins won’t let you leave without a few shells. They don’t see it quite the same way that you do, but you’re not going to argue and risk hurting their feelings.
Stumbling toward the water with each hand being held by your cousins, you don’t notice the figure lingering near the bench. Mahito knows you wouldn’t be able to see him even if you look over your shoulder, but he still smiles and lifts a hand like he’s assuring you that it’s okay. Only when you’re kneeling in the sand beside your younger cousin does he let his attention shift to the drink you left.
It’s sitting there on the bench, tempting him with the drops of condensation on the plastic surface of the cup. You’ve only had a few sips so the drink still looks pretty full. A nice, cold milk tea with those intriguing dark spheres resting at the bottom. How can you expect him to resist the siren call of the boba?
Mahito lifts it in his hand and settles himself on the bench, bringing the thick straw to his lips without further hesitation. There’s a rush of exhilaration that runs through him, feeling the plastic still warm from your own lips being wrapped around it. An indirect kiss. He can still taste your flavored lip balm on it and his eyes half-close as he takes a sip of the drink.
As cold as the condensation promised, with a creamy smoothness to it. He can see why you like it so much. It isn’t overly sweet, but it’s pleasing. When he feels the first boba slip into his mouth, his excitement spikes. Finally, he can experience it for himself and see why humans seem to like these so much.
It’s squishy beneath his teeth. It doesn’t burst open, doesn’t even tear without a bit of effort. The boba itself doesn’t have too strong of a flavor, but it’s somehow…satisfying…when his teeth do rip through it.
A devious sort of thought enters his head as he swallows it and takes another sip. This time when he feels the boba give way, he slips it back into the straw and blows gently. Letting it slide back into the milk tea and ice before stirring it just a bit. Satisfied, he sets it down on the bench again and looks to your cousin’s half-empty drink. Without giving it a second thought, Mahito reaches over and pushes it off the bench and onto the ground.
No one’s noticed yet. The curse rests his chin in his hand as he leans forward, watching your younger cousin splash you and listening to you laugh. It’s not fair. You’re having so much fun with them. He wishes he could have fun with you, too!
At the very least…you’ll be sharing the indirect kiss with him later, when you take another sip of your drink. When you swallow down that piece of boba that was inside of his mouth. It actually stirs something like arousal in him, thinking about you swallowing something from him. How you look with your lips wrapped around the thick straw and how they might look around his fingers or maybe something else.
“Did you hear about what happened to that fisherman?” The question comes from your older cousin, who’s watching you and her younger brother dig in the sand now.
“What?” You lift your head to see her expression, trying to determine if she’s about to spill some gossip or a ghost story. Since you’ve come to stay with them, you’ve heard your fair share of creepy stories from both of them.
“Did something happen?” Apparently your younger cousin isn’t in the loop. He pauses in his efforts to dig up a particularly pretty shell and tilts his head.
There’s a sinister grin spreading across her face as she nods toward the water. “I heard that a group of five fishermen went out on a boat yesterday and only four of them came back. One of the guys came in today and told me all about it. They took their boat away from the beach, over by the rocks where the water gets super deep.”
At this, your younger cousin rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Everyone knows you’re not supposed to go over there!”
“Shut up! You know how dumb some of the tourists are that come here? I saw a whole family turn down sunscreen just earlier today. Anyway, back to what I was saying. The guy said that everything was going fine, at first. They set up their lines and they were waiting to see if they’d catch anything. The thing is, there were no fish. Which is super weird, right?”
“Yeah. That is kind of weird,” you agree.
“Right?! So after around an hour of them waiting for something to happen, one of the guys said he saw something moving in the water under the boat. The guy leaned over the edge and tried to get a better look. He kept leaning over more and more, saying that whatever it was, it was getting closer.”
She draws nearer to you both, her expression serious. “Right before they could tell him to knock it off, a hand came up out of the water and grabbed him by the face! The hand was as pale as a ghost’s and they swear there was webbing between the fingers! The fingers spread out and grew so the hand completely covered his head before he was yanked off the boat and dragged down into the water!”
“No way!” Beside you, your younger cousin is vehemently shaking his head. It’s unclear if he truly doesn’t believe it or if he’s trying to convince himself that it isn’t real.
“The guy I talked to said that they waited for him to resurface, but he never appeared again. There weren’t even any bubbles! They all stayed away from the edges of the boat and after waiting for a long time, they had to leave. Imagine trying to explain that to the police!”
You look to the ocean with flickers of some macabre blend of excitement and fear. Imagine being dragged down into the cold depths of the ocean, never to be seen again. But from the way that hand was described, it sounds like a mermaid, doesn’t it?
“It sounds like a mermaid,” you comment, hoping that they might agree. The idea of a mermaid being near this beach is undoubtedly exciting. You’ve always been fascinated by folklore and urban legends. Wouldn’t it be cool to see one?
What’s a mermaid? Mahito tilts his head, amused by your reaction to the story about him snatching that fisherman out of his boat. Your cousins both look horrified, but you look so excited. It’s…endearing. It brings a grin to his face when he sees you like this.
A mermaid, though? He’s been frequenting the little bookstore in town, doing some research on marine life. The variety of fish in the ocean is really diverse and there are so many of them that pique his interest. Though he’s never come across a mermaid in his reading.
While he’s pondering what a mermaid might be, Mahito can see a trio of guys approaching you and your cousins on the sand. He watches from a distance while they try to flirt with you and your older cousin. Laughs when she shoots them down and you just ignore them. Oh, but don’t worry! They won’t get away with bothering you; he’s going to make sure of that!
When they walk away, calling you and your older cousin awful names, he follows. Feeling a little disappointed that he won’t get to see you drink your tea, but determined to not lose track of the asshole that he just saw kick sand at you. Not about to let the jerk that called you a “whore” make it through the night.
Mahito isn’t sure when it happened, but somewhere during his observation of you, he grew irreversibly attached to you. It’s become a habit for him to see you every day and now he can’t imagine going a day without your presence. Oh, he knows that you’re only here for a little while longer, but he’s already begun to form a plan for how to stop that.