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Ranboo knew from a young age that he was adopted. Or kidnapped, some might say, but he tends to stay away from the word. While his parents loved long walks on the beach, Ranboo was always face first in the waves wondering how long until his lungs gave out. His father had to pull him out by the legs many times due to Ranboo testing his capabilities to hold his breath.
His mother had long blonde hair, his father short dirty blonde, while Ranboo’s hair was darker than the midnight sky. Their eyes were both brown, while his were a striking stormy blue. His father, despite being tall compared to his mother, couldn’t wish to be at Ranboo’s height of over six feet.
Many people tried to demonize his parents' love for him, saying how cruel they were to their future selves. That one day they’ll have to let him go. Better to do it now, before they get attached. Ranboo always felt heartbroken at the thought of being thrown to the side, left to dry out in the summer sun. Forgotten.
He was never left to worry though, as his parents would wrap him up in a hug and say that they’ll always be there for him. No matter what, no matter what he chooses in the end. Land or sea, it was going to be his choice and his choice alone. Because no matter how normal Ranboo looks, he’ll never truly be human.
A tale as old as time. A baby forgotten on a boat, or in a patch of seaweed, or even handed right to the humans on the shore. Left to be raised by humans, only to one day return to the sea in search of their real parents.
Mer’s were designed to spend the beginning parts of their life on land, safe from the horrors of the ocean. He’s no different, having been found between some rocks on a tourist beach crying out for anyone to notice him. His parents, ocean wildlife researchers who lived nearby, took him in as their own.
So, Ranboo knew he was adopted the second he could understand words. Doesn’t make him any less human, or any more mer. At least to him.
“Did you find anything yet?” His dad yells from the shore, feet dug into the hot sand as Ranboo bobs around in the water. The sun’s setting, bathing the sky in an orange yellow hue. His mother was ankle deep in the water, holding her sun hat as a shallow breeze started to roll in.
“A crab.” Ranboo calls, eyes staring at the creature as it swims off. It probably senses his want to collect it and take it home with him. Escaping before it becomes one of his pets his parents keep demanding he leave outside.
His skin tingles where it’s submerged underwater, clothes feeling restrictive as he wades through the waves. It’s normal, his mother had said the other day when he brought it up. Just means he’s growing up.
Ranboo sucks in a breath of air and dunks underneath the water, eyes scanning the sea for any shiny things he could take home. He doesn’t come up for a long time, able to hold his breath longer and longer as the days go by.
After a solid five minutes his chest starts to ache as he comes up for air, breathing heavily. “That was a long one, baby.” His mother claps from her way closer to the shore.
He smiles, flipping onto his back. The waves practically push him closer to his parents who wait for him on dry land. Crawling out from the water, he squeezes his shirt. It sticks to him uncomfortably, but it’s better than the alternative.
“I think I can make it to six minutes next week.” Ranboo huffs, stopping in front of his mother. Who wraps her arms around his shoulders.
She smiles, peppering a kiss to his cheek. “You don’t have to wait that long, you know.” She says, quiet. An out, an escape route. A go ahead to leave. “You can go whenever you want.”
“I’m okay.” He answers like he’s done yesterday and the day before that. He’s not ready yet. Not when there were still so many things he wanted to see on land.
“Ready to go home?” His dad calls, standing up. He dusts the sand off of his cargo shorts. Ranboo hums, walking over to meet him. His mother falls into step beside them as they walk up the beach back home.
Maybe it’s crazy, but Ranboo thinks he’s being stalked. You know what? What is he even kidding? He’s definitely being stalked. It started a week ago when Ranboo was trying to chase a fish into the rocks on the cliff side. Hands grabbing at the slippery thing as it escapes him. He had lost it between some smaller rock crevices.
A few minutes later, a dead fish was thrown at his feet. Head taken off, claw marks along its neck. Ranboo stared, then looked up to see an adult mer a few feet away. It wasn’t uncommon for adult mer to be seen nearby. It was however rare to see a male adult mer, as the females were usually around just to drop off their newborn and refuse to pay child support for the next fifteen years.
Or on some occasions, collect their child with a song and a smile.
When Ranboo crosses paths with these mer’s, it’s clear they aren’t here for him. Their song, albeit beautiful, isn’t the one carved into his brain. The one he finds himself humming during school hours or in the middle of the night. Yet they sometimes feed him fresh fish, or even join him for a swim. They can sense he’s one of them as much as he can sense that they were not his blood.
He’s never met a male mer before. “Hi.” Ranboo waved. The man doesn’t wave back, eyes narrowed as he drifts in the water. He doesn’t dare get closer and risk getting beached. He had long pink hair and deep red scales. Not meant to be out in the sun long, he thinks.
As to not be rude, Ranboo picked up the fish and took a bite. Now, he knows the rules about taking food from strangers. But mers don’t really try to poison children, so he tends to ignore that particular rule. Plus fresh fish is so hard to get for a good price. And frankly ‘free’ was the best price there was.
The mer had dipped underneath the waves after that, lost to the ocean. So he thought that was it, a random rare encounter.
Then he saw the mer a few days later when his mother took him out on the family boat. He stayed out of sight of his mother, which wasn’t unusual for mer. But Ranboo could see him in the distance. Just watching.
Then he saw the mer again when he was walking the beach near dinner time. He was hiding amongst some large rocks out in the middle of the water. Eyes narrowed on him. And then there’s now, which confirms to Ranboo that he's been being stalked.
It’s the middle of the night and Ranboo’s sitting by the water in a cove near his house. His parents don’t have a curfew, since they seem to expect him to go missing in the middle of the night anyways. Drawn to the water, to resent the land. They only ask that he tells them he’s off, so they can make sure that if he wants to come back, he’s okay.
He wants to say that he’ll be here forever, to stop trying to make it so okay that he could leave. But as time goes on…he understands all those before him who went into the ocean and never came back. The call of the water getting stronger and stronger. It’s a surprise that he’s even still here. Most mer kids leave at thirteen, he’s fifteen and still kicking. Literally, legs and all.
So when Ranboo spots the pink haired mer drifting into the cove, he doesn’t feel weirded out. More like a piece of him is coming back. “Hi.” Ranboo yawns, watching as the mer stops in the middle of the cove. Scales glistening in the moonlight. The Mer stares at him for a second, then swims a bit closer. Ranboo goes to say something, maybe ask why the other was following him all the time.
He’s stopped by the man singing, voice low, shaking his bones to their very core. A song that’s never left Ranboo’s mind from the day he was born. Ranboo jolts, eyes growing wide as the man continues the tune he knows the ending off. It’s a solid minute before the song ends, the man looking at him with intent. It’s left unfinished.
Slowly, like Ranboo could ruin the moment if he was one tune out of line, he hums the finishing notes of the song. It's quiet, then the man smiles. Sharp teeth build to chew bones in half being directed at him without malice. Just peace.
The mer in front of him…
“What’s your name?” Ranboo whispers, leaning closer towards the water.
The mer swims closer, arm reaching out to take his own. “Techno.” He answers, pulling Ranboo into the water. It’s freezing and Ranboo shivers, the end pressing him closer for warmth. Techno pulls on his pajama shirt, revealing irritated and dried skin. Lines crossing over his sides, closed shut.
Gills.
“I waited for you.” Techno says, tearing the shirt off with one claw swipe. It turns to tatters in the water. “You didn’t come.”
“I didn’t want to.” Ranboo says, checks reddening in shame. He really shouldn’t feel guilty, but the emotions bury itself in his chest and make it its home. His skin tingles and he frowns, twisting in Techno’s arms.
Techno lets him go, but not out of arm's reach. The gills along his sides fan out but he doesn’t breath through them. He doesn’t know how. Even if he did, he wouldn’t. Not when it would chain him to the ocean.
“You can breathe with them, son.” Techno whispers, taking his wrists and dragging him further into the deep end of the cove. “Then I can take you home.”
“My home is here.” Ranboo tries, but even to his own ears his words sound like a lie. Practiced, like he doesn’t even believe in them anymore. “My mother—“
“You don’t have a mother.” Techno cuts him off, frowning.
“I do.” Ranboo says, gesturing to the pathway back home. “And a dad—“
“I’m your father.” Techno, again, cuts him off. This time his tone is firm. No room for arguments. “And I’ve waited fifteen years to see you again.” He says. Techno raises his hand and presses it to Ranboo’s cheek.
Then swiftly shoves him underneath the water. Ranboo yelps, air leaving his lungs as he grabs at the arms holding him down. He kicks, his own claws sinking into the mers hands as he struggles to get back above the water.
Five minutes pass.
All the air is out of his lungs and he curses himself for getting too close. Techno sinks underneath the water, dragging him down with him. Using his weight as an anchor. His head pounds as his body aches for a breath he doesn’t allow. A whimper leaves his lips as his limbs grow weak.
Techno's face screws up into a scowl as he places his hand on Ranboo’s chest. He knows what the other is trying to say. Breathe. He doesn’t want to, not yet. He’s not ready! There’s still things on land he wants to do, to see. His mother and dad will be all alone.
“You can go whenever you want.”
Ranboo stops fighting. Techno lessons his grip on him. For the first time in seven minutes, Ranboo breathes. The change is immediate. Like a gun being triggered. All at once his pounding head stops, but the burning begins.
Scales form all along his arms, webbing growing between his fingers. He arches his body painfully as a dorsal fin rips its way out of his back, water turning red around him. The scales follow down his chest and hips. Techno tears the rest of his pajamas off. Muscle and bone fuse together. His legs become a tail. The same colour as Techno’s, if a bit darker. Ranboo lets his body go limp, Techno wrapping his arms around him.
The last part of his humanity is locked away within seconds.
Techno rubs his arm, making soft clicking sounds. “It’s alright.” It tells him. “I’m here.”
Ranboo clicks back, resting his forehead against his dads chest. “I’m tired.” He clicks. Techno smiles, sharp and kind. He holds him close as he slowly swims out of the cove.
In a beach side house, a mother and a father wait for their child to come back home. When the sun rises and there’s no sign of him, they cry. A mix of happiness and sorrow. “He's home.” The mother would say, wiping at her eyes.
“He was loved.” The father would say, hugging his wife. “And he knows that.”