Archive of Our Own

"I've heard there are mermaids guarding the treasure!" Nano shouted while rocking back and forth on his heels excitedly.

"Everyone knows there's no such thing as mermaids," Pepper shouted from the other side of the ship.
It wasn't a big ship that needed a lot of manpower, more medium-sized and easy to function, meaning they didn't need more than the original five crewmates, which made life on a boat seem more cosy. Sure, it was annoying at times seeing the same four faces over and over again every day for months at a time, but it felt comfortable and like home.

"Don't be silly. How could everyone know that mermaids don't exist? Has anyone found this treasure? No, and how long have people been looking for it? Centuries! So it obviously must be guarded by some sort of creature." Thame announced loudly as if he were reading out a fact file on why people couldn't find treasure.

Po just patted his boyfriend's shoulder before going back to cutting up fish that will be used for their dinner.

"Do you think it'll be as pretty as people say they are?" Nano asked while leaning over the table towards Thame, successfully blocking out the more reasonable (but in Nano's mind, a negative Nancy) Pepper from the rest of the conversation.

"I'm putting money on more beautiful," Thame replied while peeling a potato and handing it to Po, who put it in a large pot on the stove.

"Hey, who knows, maybe you'll finally get a boyfriend, or Pepper will finally move on from Gam." He continued.

"I'm not dating a fish, and as soon as we are back on land, I'm finding Gam again." Pepper's face slowly started to turn into the face of a lovestruck puppy as his thoughts started to drift to the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Don't be stupid, mermaids have legs when they are not in the water," Nano scoffed at Pepper's apparent ignorance.

"Or maybe Jun can finally find the love of his life in fish form, and we can all have a chill life." Po cut in before there could be an argument about whether mermaids have legs or not.

"That'll never happen. The only time Jun is happy is when he's asleep and dreaming of more treasure." Thame sighed as he thought about their crewmate who was currently manning the boat so everyone else could relax and have dinner.

"He has to find love someday, and there's nothing to do but hope it's a sparkly beautiful mermaid," Nano said, lightening the mood a little as everyone got back to preparing dinner.

A few hours later, Thame walked onto the ship's deck with a bowl of steaming fish stew carefully held in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Brought you some food," he said as he walked up the stairs to meet Jun, who was sitting staring out at the sea as if it would change the moment he looked away.

"Thanks," Jun mumbled as Thame handed him the food.
"You know I'm the captain of the boat. You don't have to stand out here on watch. That's technically my job," Thame said softly as he leaned over the side of the ship to stare into the dark sea that blended in with the night sky, making it look like it went on forever.

"We'll probably be there by tomorrow. Go get some rest, I'll look after it from here." Thame felt Jun's reluctance as he spoke.

"Fine, but wake me up if you need a break," Jun sighed as he slowly started to make his way back to the cabin with his stew still untouched in his hands.

Po passed him on his way in, giving him a small smile before heading over to see his boyfriend.

"What do you think he thinks about while he's out here?" Po asked while sitting down next to Thame, who had made himself comfortable on a makeshift bench that they put there, so being the lookout would be so tiring.

Thame answered the open-ended question with a hum before getting comfortable beside his boyfriend.

~~

"At least carry your weight!" Jun shouted as Nano and Pepper started to make their way off the ship onto the island they'd found, only carrying their backpacks.

"Let us explore a little, Jun! This is exciting." Nano shouted back at him before taking off towards the trees.

The island was small. They could probably get from one side to the other with just a day's walking, but they'd never been here before, so everyone was excited to explore the new area.

"For goodness' sake," Jun mumbled before grabbing what he could and stepping off the ship and dropping the stuff towards the tree line before running to catch up to his friends who had already started through the trees.

Just before he caught up, he saw a small trail leading off in a slightly different direction from where Pepper and Nano were headed. Something about that trail made him consider splitting off from his crew to see what was down it, but the rational side of his brain knew that was a bad idea, so he just ran a little to catch up with his friends.

~~

Dylan had seen the boat as it approached and knew it was another group of greedy pirates ready to come take what wasn't theirs. It disgusted him how many had come in search of the treasure that was said to set someone up for life. They all had failed, obviously, but sometimes Dylan let them get off the island if he was feeling generous.

The treasure wasn't theirs to take. It never has been and never will be if he has anything to say about it.

Dylan observed the group of people aboard the ship as they started to load their things onto the beach.
The two left behind at the boat were laughing and smiling as they started to set up camp for the night, slightly in the tree line to avoid the tide when it decided to come in.

They looked too happy to be plotting to steal. It made him annoyed at the arrogance of the stupid pirates.

He continued to watch as the other three rejoined the group from their trip exploring, and as the sun fell, he saw four of them ready themselves to sleep.

One of them didn't move from his seat under the tree. He continued to stare out towards the sea like it owed him something.
Dylan was off to the side of the beach behind some rocks, so he didn't have to worry about the man seeing him, but he was curious about what he was looking at.

As the night grew darker and all the man's friends fell asleep soundly nestled under a large number of blankets and beside a cosy fire, the man stood up. He slowly walked towards the water, not stopping when the water reached his feet, only stopping when the water reached his knees.
The man ran his hands through the water like he was playing a piano carefully.
Dylan felt the vibrations through the water as the ripples in the water slowly fell away from the man's hands.

The man never said anything, just stood knee deep in the water as waves rolled in around him, the water only stopping to curve around the man before heading for shore.
His eyes focused solely on where the moonlight met the water, hitting the water and making it sparkle.

Dylan stared at the man in confusion. In his many years of watching pirates, he'd never seen one so entranced by the water. It would be easy to kill the pirate right now, but he was curious about him.

What did he see in the water that everyone else missed?

~~

As the crew went exploring around the island, Jun saw the path that he had wanted to go down earlier and convinced Thame that the group should start with that way.

The path itself wasn't exciting. It was more the feeling of where the trail would take them, which Jun hoped was somewhere near the treasure or somewhere beautiful.

Half an hour later, they got to the end of the trail. There was a small cave, the entrance covered in thick vines, showing that no one had been there in a while.

"Oh my God, this is totally where the treasure is!" Nano shouted excitedly as he went to run inside but was quickly stopped by Pos's hand on his arm.

"We don't know how safe it is in there. You can't just go running in." Thame said from his boyfriend's side.

"Okay, okay, we'll go in slowly," Nano said, rolling his eyes but following as Pepper took the first few steps inside the cave.

There was daylight streaming in from the side of the cave and only grass in the area the sun could reach.

The cave went on for five minutes before abruptly stopping.

"Ugh, that was a waste of time," Pepper said before stomping back towards the entrance.

"You probably shouldn't stomp. The floor doesn't seem stable -" Just as Po had finished his warning, there was a cracking sound, and then a large chunk of floor collapsed.

Everyone jumped out of the way, but one wasn't so lucky.

"JUN!" Thame shouted as he scrambled towards the edge. As he looked down, he saw that underneath the floor they were standing on was another small cave, presumably one that the water had carved out like its own home.

Jun fell quite a bit but landed in water, which mostly broke his fall.

"I'm fine!" Jun shouted from roughly 10 meters downwards, still sitting in a small puddle of water.

"Holy cow, okay, um- We'll go get rope from the ship stay right there!, No one walks on this floor till we get back" Thame panickly said as he and Po rushed out of the cave as quickly as they could.

"I'm so sorry, Jun!" Pepper shouted as he backed away from the edge so as not to cause any of the floor to fall on Jun who concerningly hadn't moved much since the fall.

"It's okay! I'm fine. I just hit my head a little. " Jun shouted back more, trying to reassure his friend rather than trying to tell the truth.

Nano and Pepper retreated from the edge so they couldn't see Jun anymore and wouldn't risk causing an avalanche of rocks on the hurt man.

"Go look for another way out of this cave, I'm not going anywhere," Jun shouted, still not having moved.

"Okay - If something happens, scream really loudly, " Nano said, sounding reluctant to leave the hurt boy but slowly backing out of the cave as it was more risky to stay.

Jun slowly looked around at where he'd fallen in. It looked like one of those underwater caves that hadn't filled fully with water yet, which sent a chill down the back of his spine.

He'd have to get out of here before the tide came in, God knows where it'd push him if he didn't.
There was a small stream of light coming from the hole he'd fallen through, pointing towards the large body of water that surely reached the sea.

As he sat in the small slowly rising water that covered the floor, he started to tend to his wounds.

He tried to stand but only managed to fall back over as one of his ankles largely protested the movement.

"Your head's bleeding," a voice said from behind him.

He quickly whipped his head around to look where the voice came from, but he didn't see anyone.

He must've hit his head so hard he was hallucinating, but that didn't stop a tiny part of his brain from believing that there was actually someone in the cave with him.

"Hello," he mumbled, shakily, still scanning the area for where the voice came from.

"Why do you stare at the sea?" The voice said again, causing Jun the panic a little and slowly trying to move away from where he thought the voice came from.

"I don't feel lonely looking at it," he mumbled as his back hit a wall. He doesn't know why he was answering his delusions, but it felt better than sitting in the dark alone.

"Makes you feel seen?" The voice asked.

Jun slowly mumbled out a small yes while continuing to scan the room. As he looked around the room again, his eyes focused on where the light hit the water, and he saw something silver glistening underneath the water's surface.

Curiosity got the better of him as he moved a little closer to the shimmer of silver.

As he got closer, he saw something that resembled scales running from one side of the silver thing deep into the water.

"What the -" As he turned a bit more, he came face to face with a person.

A man. He had long grey hair that looked damp but not soaked, he had white gems littering his face and the most striking blue eyes he'd ever seen, he had pupils like a cat, making it impossible to look away from them.

"You'd think a pirate would've seen a lot of mermaids before," the man said confidently, not shying away from Jun in the slightest.

"Fuck, I must've hit my head hard" Jun mumbled to himself as he slowly started to back away from the man that was now staring at him with interest.

"Does being underwater make you feel safe?" Jun blurted out before he could back down out of fright.

The 'mermaid's' eye twitched a little as if he didn't expect any questions about himself.

"Very," the mermaid replied.

Jun's knees came up to meet his chest as he sat up against the wall, the water already up to just below his knees, meaning he'd have to stand soon.

Anyone in their right mind would say that this mermaid was beautiful, not like all those other mermaid depictions. Where they look evil and out to kill you, this one looks like the human embodiment of beauty. Jun couldn't look away.

"The tide comes in fast. Do you think they'll make it?" The man asked with a small smile on his face.

This has to be a hallucination from when he hit his head. There was no other explanation for what was currently happening. Mermaids aren't real.

Jun couldn't stop staring at the half-man, half-fish. He seemed angel-like, like he wasn't supposed to be on this universal plane, he was too pretty for it.

"Do you ever feel lonely when you're surrounded by the sea?" Jun doesn't know what was making him ask a bunch of questions to an obvious hallucination, but with the very small chance that this was real, he wanted to know if the being in the sea felt like it did when he was on land.

The mermaid stared at him in what he could only assume was wonder as the water continued to rise around them, Jun was forced to stand on uneasy legs just to avoid his head going under.

"Don't you want to ask about the treasure?" The angelic man asked, still looking at Jun like he was trying to understand him.

"No, I don't care about that, I want to know if living on land feels the same as living in water does," Jun asked sincerely. He had no interest in treasure. It was all an excuse to explore the place that doesn't make him feel alone with the people who don't make him feel alone. He didn't care for the material aspect of the adventure, but it got his friends to stay, and that's all he wanted.

"Being a mermaid is a very isolating thing. Living in water is the only thing that doesn't isolate me, " the man replied honestly, still not taking his eyes away from Jun.

Jun hummed in agreement as his head started to feel heavy. He had been standing up too long on his probably sprained and bloody ankle. He felt a fuzziness start at the back of his head and slowly make its way to the front. He couldn't tell if his vision was darkening as there was only one bright thing in this cave, the mermaid whom Jun had tried not to show weakness in front of.

He couldn't focus on anything anymore as he started to hear his voice in his head ten times louder than normal.
He felt his eyes start to close as a hand wrapped around his waist, startling him, allowing him momentarily to open his eyes and look at who was holding him.

The mermaid was even more beautiful up close, with sharp blue eyes and soft silver hair. The man looked like heaven on earth, and the crystals littering his face shone like stars as Jun was slowly pulled underwater.

~~

He doesn't know why he did it. He was supposed to keep them away from his island, away from the treasure, away from him. But something about the man, Jun, as his friends had shouted, intrigued him. Jun seemed to have no care for the material wealth that he was searching for.
He seemed to only want to know about the sea.

It confused Dylan. He'd never met a pirate with so little care for treasure.

He dragged Jun's lifeless body through the twists and turns of the underwater cave until they broke the surface and could see the sun setting behind the island.

Dylan took him to the island and laid him on the beach, where he then assessed his wounds.
Sprained ankle he could fix, but blood was slowly falling from the gash in his forehead and knee. He could only try to help.

As soon as he was sure Jun was safe on the beach, he swam down and grabbed some wet seaweed and slowly started to wrap it around the man's knee and forehead, making sure not to obscure his vision.

Once he managed to stop the bleeding, Dylan looked at the strange pirate. Should he be doing this? It was too late to change his mind, but it didn't stop him from regretting it.
He laid a soft kiss to Jun's forehead, which would hopefully speed up the healing process by a lot, but Dylan had never tested this mermaid trick out.
He'd never found a human that interested him as much as the one in front of him.

"Thame!" He heard someone shout from the treeline, which was a cue for him to leave. He took one last look at the man, laid out almost peacefully on the beach before backing off and heading back underwater, not drifting far so he could check up on the man but not staying close enough to be seen.

A man with orange hair rushed out onto the beach and ran towards their campsite, not even taking a second to look around.

"Thame! The caves full of water" the man sounded distressed it almost made Dylan feel bad for him, but knowing that if he didn't save the man he would be under ten meters of water by now made him feel a little happy.

The orange-haired man had tears running down his face as he found the man he was looking for who looked equally distraught.

It was only when a man with short brown hair and round glasses stepped out of the treeline was the unconscious body lying on the beach was noticed.

"Jun!" The brown haired man shouted as he ran as fast as he could towards the body, which wasn't that fast considering he was running on sand in boots.

Once he reached Jun, he slid down next to him and started to look for a pulse, which Dylan knew he'd find, once his face turned from dread to relief he shouted for the other crew members.

"Nano! Thame! Po! He's here, and he's alive!" Dylan didn't see the other people approaching, but he heard the hurried footsteps in the sand.

"Holy fuck," Thame sighed as he knelt in the wet sand and grabbed Jun's hand subconsciously checking for a pulse.

"Jun!" Nano shouted as he skipped past the checking if he was alive part and went straight to trying to wake Jun up, which made Dylan wince in annoyance.

Dylan watched as Jun's eyes shot open, and he leaned over to the side before coughing up a small amount of water and taking a lot of heavy breaths.

"Here, drink this," Po said, handing him a flask of non-salty water, which Jun accepted gladly and drank the full thing.

"Don't scare us like that," Nano said, hitting him on the chest in protest.
Jun let out a dry laugh as Nano hugged him tightly.

"Sorry, I'll try to refrain from dying in the future," Jun's voice sounded hoarse, making Dylan wish he could go over there and help some more, knowing that he'd do a better job than the three crewmates put together.

Just as Dylan was about to leave Jun's eyes fixed on the water, he looked like he was staring right through Dylan, as if seeing him for the first time.

Dylan caught his eye, and before his brain could start overthinking, he decided it was time to go.

~~

Jun now lay down beside the campsite as his friends fussed over him by handing him food, blankets, and all the other things that he could get for himself.

"Guys, seriously, I'm fine." he knew his protests to this treatment would probably get him nowhere, but it wouldn't stop him from letting them know how unhappy he was with it.

"No, you aren't, you almost drowned!" Nano shouted as he brought over Jun's dinner, which Jun had to draw the line at spoon feeding him.

"I feel fine, probably feel healthier than you," Jun mumbled as he ate his dinner.

"Yeah yeah sure" Thame rolled his eyes at him.

"By the way, did you do that bandage yourself?" Po asked while pouring Thames and his food into bowls.

Jun's hand shot up to feel his forehead only to feel the horrible texture of seaweed covering a large portion of the top of his forehead.

"Huh, I thought you did this," he said as he tried to remember when he could've done it.

"You didn't do it?" Pepper asked with a surprising amount of shock on his face.

"Don't think so, why?" Jun asked, not caring about the shocked looks he was getting as he continued to scarf down his dinner.

"Mermaids," he heard Nano whisper to himself, making the memories of the mermaid in the cave pop back to the front of his mind.

"You met a mermaid?! You mean, you, Jun, the most stubborn, moody and overbearing man I've ever met, got saved and patched up by a mermaid?" Nano screamed in shock, almost dropping his food in the process.

"I feel like those insults weren't necessary" Jun muttered out while shoving his face full of food which earned him a small smacking from Po.

"No, of course not, Nano, mermaids aren't real," Pepper said, not quite believing himself, while looking at Jun with a curious glint in his eye.

"Then how do you explain that bandage or how he got out of a water cave with only two scratches to show for it? There was no water in his lungs or any cramp from swimming! It has to be a mermaid, " Nano concluded, looking more and more excited as he talked.

Pepper looked as though he wanted to say something, but no words could explain what happened to Jun without a little bit of science fiction.

"Did you talk to it?" Thame asked, sounding like he meant it as a joke, but it came out as an honest question.

"I was unconscious! When would I have time to introduce myself to a mermaid?" Jun half shouted, making it slightly obvious he wasn't telling the truth.

"I'll let it go this time because you've had a hard day, but best believe tomorrow, I'll get that information out of you even if it kills me!" Nano declared as he finished off his dinner and headed to bed, presumably to make the day go past fast so he could ask his questions quicker.

The other three still looked at him as if expecting him to break and tell them what happened, which he probably would, but not now, he was too tired.

"You heard the man, I've had a hard day," Jun said, finishing off his food and shooing away their uncomfortable stares so he could get ready to sleep.

As soon as he'd lain down, the exhaustion hit, and the adrenaline of the day drained out of his body, causing his eyes to flutter shut and his breathing to even out with thoughts of silver hair and sharp blue eyes.

~~

Jun woke to someone lightly kicking his arm, presumably trying to wake him up in a semi-nice way.

"Thame, go away," Jun mumbled and tried to turn away from the foot, kicking him. Only when it didn't stop did he open his eyes.

"Holy -" he started but a hand shot out to cover his mouth.

Jun was met with the sight of the silver-haired boy standing over him, but only this time, he had legs instead of a fish tail, he was dressed in a light grey almost white mesh top that was very see-through and a pair of grey boot-length trousers.

The boy motioned for Jun to follow, and he wasn't about to refuse the magical creature that saved his life.

He followed the man down to the edge of the beach, stopping just before the water could reach them.

"You saved me?" Jun asked curiously.

The man huffed out a small laugh before turning out to look at the sea.

"I'm still not sure you're real," Jun tried to say confidently, but it came out more as a mumble.

"I'm real," the man replied to his open-ended question while giving the ocean a small smile.

Jun nodded and turned to face the sea. He thought he'd be more cautious of the water considering what happened earlier today, but the thought of being scared of something that brought him so much comfort was never going to happen.

"Thank you, I can make them leave if you want, so they don't find the treasure." Jun felt that driving his friends off the island was the only way to repay the mermaid's kindness.

"You can stay." Now it was the mermaids' turn to mumble softly, the words almost getting lost in the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore.

"Let me see your wound," the man said, turning towards Jun and reaching his hand out before Jun could even say yes.

"You did this as well?" He wondered curiously as he stared at the mermaid who was now really close and facing him.

He hummed in response before slowly removing the seaweed, trying to make it hurt less. Once the makeshift bandage was off his forehead, the mermaid angled his head down by grabbing his chin.

"Dylan," the mermaid said, confusing Jun for a moment until "my name"
Jun hummed in acknowledgement, "Jun"
The mermaid, Dylan, nodded in reply.

"Looks almost healed." Jun could feel Dylan's breath on his skin as he talked, hand ghosting over the gash on his forehead before grabbing some seaweed from behind him and rewrapping the wound.

As Dylan moved away, Jun's eyes didn't stray from his electric blue eyes. The more he looked, the more he noticed about them, like the hint of grey that simmered through the blue and small hints of black that fled in from the pupil into the iris almost acting as a gradient.

"Have you ever met a mermaid that's half fish at the top?" Jun blurted out, surprising the mermaid who gave him a bewildered look before letting out a short snort, collecting himself and giving Jun an annoyed look.

"Of course not," he said, trying to make his tone sound even, but Jun heard the small smile even if it wasn't showing.

"Just wondering," he mumbled a cheeky smile adorning his face, proud of himself for making Dylan smile.

"Why did you save me?"

Dylan huffed out in response, turning away to face the sea again.

"You're weird." It was now Jun's turn to let out a bewildered laugh.

"You don't care for the treasure," Dylan stated, never once taking his eyes off the crashing waves that were just touching the tips of their toes, Jun thought mermaids grew a tail and some fins as soon as they touched the water but it seems not as Dylan slowly pushed the water around with his feet.

"Oh," Jun mumbled, his eyes finally straying away from Dylan and following his line of sight.

The waves rose before tumbling down, turning white before fading back to their original position.
They sat there in silence, a mermaid and a pirate on the same page, the same moment in life and the same feelings about the ocean.

As the sun slowly started to rise and reflect off the water, Jun found himself starting to smile, a peaceful smile as if he'd never felt calmer, which he doesn't think he ever had.

As the sun almost fully rose, he heard his friends start to wake up behind him. They were slightly hidden by a rock, but it wouldn't take much to see them both.

"You wanna meet the family?" Jun asked, not quite breaking the peaceful silence more helping it come to an end.

Dylan let out a breathy laugh, not even trying to hide the small smile on his face this time.

He turned towards Jun, grabbing his chin gently before closing the gap between them, leaving a soft kiss on his lips. The shock on Jun's face made it all worth it for Dylan, who hadn't stopped smiling.

"All healed," he said while taking the makeshift bandage off Jun's head and throwing it away.

"You could've done that earlier," Jun said, mouth still open in shock.

Dylan gave him a pointed look, letting go of his face and stepping back towards the water, not taking his eyes off the pirate who looked slightly terrified, slightly happy.

Dylan gave him a small giddy smile before running and diving into the water, his tail splashing a few times before he disappeared beneath the water.

"Jun..., that wasn't what I thought it was, was it?" Nano asked from behind him, breaking Jun out of his trance.

"Huh?" He said whilst turning towards Nano, who looked like he couldn't decide between having a concerned facial expression or a really happy one.

"Don't, huh? Me, was that a mermaid?" He demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jun said, sending a glance out to the sea before wrapping an arm around Nanos' shoulder and walking him back to the others.

"I saw it, Jun, you can't lie to me," Nano said, trying to get answers from Jun, who wasn't looking like he was going to give in any time soon.

"Then you need to get your eyes tested," he said as they walked up to the rest of the group who were sitting around a small fire preparing breakfast.

"Jun's talking to mermaids and isn't telling me about it, Pepper tell him off," Nano complained, running to Pepper, trying to get him on his side.

"Talking to mermaids? Was this the 'mermaid' that saved him? " Pepper asked, an unbelieving tone in his voice.

"Thame, you believe me, right?" Nano asked hurriedly, trying to get support from at least one person in the group.

"Mermaids aren't real, Nano. You probably just saw a reflection in the water." Jun said, grabbing some food before sitting down in the sand to eat.

"I saw it! And you are all healed now! Mermaid magic!" Nano shouted, making a sleepy Po cover his ears.

Jun rolled his eyes. "I barely had any wounds to begin with, not surprising they're healed and don't you think if I saw a mermaid you'd be the first one I'd wake up"

"Not if you're trying to hide the secret mermaid so you can keep it to yourself," Nano accused as Jun let out a disbelieving laugh.

"You know Jun would never try to keep something to himself, anytime we find treasure Jun's always trying to give all his away." Thame cut in while grabbing his food, kissing Po on the cheek as thanks.

"You want a kiss of thanks from me as well, Po?" Jun asked with a grin on his face, which only got wider as Po sent him a look of disgust.

"I'd rather get locked in that water cave without a mermaid to save me than kiss you," Po deadpanned.

"You wound me," Jun said, clutching his heart in fake hurt.

"Wait, Po! Do you believe there's a mermaid?" Nano asked his a frown, turning into a small smile.

"I can't think of any other explanation, and he seems happier and healthier," Po said, dishing out his food before sitting next to Thame in the sand.

"Exactly! Just tell me what you talked to the mermaid about, please. I won't ask another question today, " Nano begged.

Jun hummed, thinking if it was a good idea to tell Nano about Dylan.

"I asked him if he'd ever met a mermaid that's half fish at the top with human legs." Jun landed on. It sounded like a joke but also wasn't a lie.
Thame let out a small surprised laugh at the stupid question, probably imagining the weird creation.

"Stop that, tell the truth," Nano said, smacking his arm in annoyance, making him laugh a little.

"That is the truth!" Jun said defensively.

"He said he hadn't seen one, but I think he just wasn't looking out for one," Jun said thinking back to the small smile that came over Dylan's face when he'd first asked.

"So the mermaids a man?" Thame asked, looking at Jun and the dopey smile on his face in confusion.

Jun hummed in response.

"Wait, you're not lying," Nano asked, voice slowly losing its volume as he sat down next to Jun with a small curious smile forming on his face.

"I can never lie to you," he said with a small sincere smile on his face.

"Do I get another question tomorrow?" The excited smile came back as Jun gave him a small shrug of his shoulders, choosing not to notice the shock on the rest of the crowd's faces.

The rest of the day went by quickly as they weren't doing anything except for searching the island a little more, for food and maybe some treasure, well everyone except Jun who was demanding to be allowed to sleep with the premise that he almost drowned, not because he stayed up half the night talking to a mermaid.

As night fell again, Jun found himself walking towards the shore after he was sure everyone else had fallen asleep.

The first thing he noticed was the silhouette of a person in the water. He felt the excitement rush through him as he got closer.

He started off walking but slowly started to run towards the figure in the water. As soon as he reached knee deep, he stopped and waved at Dylan, who was now looking at him.

Dylan slowly swam over, his tail reflecting against the moonlight when it peeked out of the water.

"Do you want to see it? The water," Dylan asked when he was close enough.

"I could take you down if you wanted,"

Jun had never wanted to do anything more. His survival instincts went out the window as soon as there was a chance to explore the water in a way he had never before.

"I must warn you, if you try to drown me, there's this very beautiful but grouchy mermaid that might be angry about my death," Jun said and smiled even harder as a smile appeared on Dylan's face.

Dylan reached out his hand for Jun to take, and when he did, he pulled him further out into the water before pulling him down.

Jun felt the strain in his lungs once Dylan pulled him down, not even thinking about how he'll breathe, he let him drag him down further.

Jun got a good look at Dylan's tail for the first time, and it was silver with black shading. It had silk-like fins that made him look ethereal. The scales ran up past the tail, adorning his stomach and upper arms like armour. He looked stunningly beautiful. Jun doesn't think he's seen anything more heavenly.

Just as they were a few meters under the water, they stopped, Dylan reaching around his neck and taking off his necklace before reaching towards Jun and placing it over his head, fixing it in place before pulling him further down.

Jun felt air return to his lungs after the necklace was placed on his neck.

~~~

Dylan watched Jun reach a hand out towards his tail in silent question. He moved his tail closer to the hand and felt as if he ran his hand softly up the tail as if it would break as soon as he touched it.

He'd never let anyone touch his tail before or explore the ocean with him, so this was a very new experience for Dylan.
He didn't know why, but he felt nervous about letting Jun feel his tail or taking him to see the areas Dylan loved to explore.
The thought of Jun not liking either made his mood sour for a second before he saw the massive grin on his face, making his sour mood turn into a giddy smile.

Dylan grabbed Jun again and pulled him towards the first place he wanted to show him.

A shipwreck, filled with beautiful artefacts, that weren't worth much after the wear and tear of time and water erosion, but were beautiful nonetheless.

As they approached the ship, Dylan kept his eyes on Jun, whose eyes were full of wonder and excitement.

He ran his hands over the wood of the ship's deck and moved towards the entrance to the captain's deck.

Once inside, Jun started to explore the area with his eyes, not daring to let go of Dylan's hand yet.

Dylan watched the man, his white shirt, and brown trousers floated in the same direction as the small number of waves entering the cabin.
His hair looked darker as it drifted to follow his every movement. He looked suspended in silence, almost weightless. He looked like a dream.

Dylan couldn't stop looking at him as his eyes followed every inch of the ship, full of wonder as if this was a dream he was lucid in.

As Jun turns to observe more, his eyes catch Dylan, full of astonishment and happiness, making Dylan feel full of an unexplainable emotion. Unexplainable, but he was certain it was a nice feeling, like when you first hear a melody, that is destined to become your favourite song.

Jun broke eye contact with a shy smile before pointing over to another area of the ship he wanted to venture to.

Dylan followed with no complaints, anything to see the wonder on his face again.

They went room to room, exploring the past lives of different pirates, gaining an insight into their lives with every room, and Dylan loved it, the facial expressions Jun would make as he explored the cabins where the crew would've stayed made Dylan feel lighter with each look.

As they left the ship, still hand in hand, as if afraid to lose each other, Dylan thought of all the other places he could take the boy he eventually decided on the coral reef.

The coral reef could be spotted from miles away as he slowly pulled Jun towards it, helping him swim a little faster.

Once they got there, Jun immediately started to ghost his hands over all the different coloured coral. Fish swam around him as if wondering the same things as Dylan. They were curious as they sawm towards the human. Jun reached his spare hand out to brush the side of a fish, redirecting its path away from crashing into him.

Dylan, for the first time during their trip in the sea, broke his hand away from Jun and swam down to the ocean floor to grab a small shell before returning to a now panicked-looking Jun.

He wanted that facial expression to never take over Jun's face again, so he quickly grabbed his hand again, hoping that the panicked look would disappear.
It faded quickly as Dylan presented him with a pearl white shell that he thought was beautiful.

Jun took the offered shell with a large smile on his face before looking around a bit more before pointing and swimming towards the ocean floor, not letting go of Dylan's hand.

As they got to where Jun was pointing, he watched as he picked up a grey shell with a blue twinge. Jun inspected the shell for a bit, wiping the sand away from it and turning it over in his hands a few times before showing it to Dylan. He pointed to the shell and then at Dylan, confusing him.

He frowned a little at Dylan's confused expression before letting go of Dylan's hand with a determined look on his face.

He held the shell up to his face as his other hand came up to cradle Dylan's face, thumb slowly and softly brushing over his eyelid.

Once his hand pulled back and fitted itself back in Dylan's, Dylan opened his eyes in shock.

There was a soft smile on Jun's face as he offered the shell to him, which he took, his face mirroring the soft smile. That unexplainable feeling comes back and rushes through his entire body, making him feel as light as a feather.

They spent the rest of their time underwater, looking for shells, exploring the coral, or watching the fish. Dylan wished he didn't have to take Jun back. He wanted to keep him with him forever.

He knew he was just being selfish and that the world underwater was never made for humans. He could already see the exhausted look in Jun's eyes from swimming all night.

Jun wrapped his arms around Dylan's waist as they started to swim to the surface. There was a sad look on Jun's face, making Dylan feel a little sad himself.

As they broke the surface of the water, maybe about a mile away from the beach, the early morning sun shining down on them both, Jun kept a hold of Dylan to stay afloat.

"Same time tomorrow?" Jun asked with a small nervous but hopeful smile on his face.

"Only if you get some rest," Dylan confirmed.

"I will, don't worry, but thank you for showing me your world. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen." He shocked Dylan with the amount of sincerity in his voice.

"Not the most amazing thing?" Dylan wondered.

"Close second to you." The shock must've shown on Dylan's face as Jun let out a small laugh.

"Come on, let's get you to shore," he mumbled, hoping the shyness couldn't be heard through his voice as he tightened his grip on Jun's hand and swam him to the shore.

Just as Jun was about to leave, Dylan pulled him back and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek.
The action surprised both of them, Dylan's face felt warm.

"Just making sure you're healthy," Dylan muttered out as an excuse, but they both knew it was an obvious lie.

Jun's grin only got wider. "Same time tomorrow," he said as if it were a fact.

"Same time tomorrow," Dylan confirmed as he watched Jun slowly trudge his way out of the water.
His heart was beating a little faster than it should.

~~~

Jun went straight to the ship to change out of his wet clothes before heading back to where his friends were still asleep.

"So there is a mermaid," Pepper said as Jun stepped towards the group.

Pepper was the only one awake. He was sitting beside a tree carving something into a piece of wood he found.
Jun sent him a weary smile as an answer.

"Be careful, Jun, I'm serious," Pepper said, his eyes full of tiredness and concern.

"I will be, I promise." Jun nodded as he took his position, trying to get in a quick nap before everyone else woke up.

"I'll make sure they don't wake you up until lunch, but then you and Nano have to go fishing for dinner." Jun sent Pepper a grateful smile as he lay down.

"Thank you," his body relaxed as soon as his head hit his pillow, slowly falling asleep to thoughts of Dylan and the wonders he showed him playing in his head like a movie.

He woke up to Nano shaking him.

"Time to fish! Wake up, Jun." Nano shouted excitedly.

"Calm down, I'm up," Jun mumbled, sitting up trying to block the sun from his eyes but giving up as the sand just reflected it from different angles.

"Give me five, and then I'll get the boat," Jun mumbled as he got up to stretch. Nano skipped away happily, hopefully getting the rest of the stuff set up.

"It doesn't look like good weather for fishing," Jun mumbled to himself as he got up.

"We're almost out of food, so sadly you gotta," Thame said from behind frightening him.

"Don't do that," Jun said, clutching his chest, making Thame laugh a little. At least he was awake now.

"Come help me get the boat," he said, grabbing Thame off the floor and pulling him up off the sand and towards the ship.

Once the boat was set up, Nano happily hopped in with all the things they would need to catch a few fish.

"Off to sea we go!" He shouted as Jun huffed and pushed the boat out a bit before hopping in after him.

Once they were far enough out, he started rowing until they were at the best level to get fish.

"So, did the mermaid give you that?" Nano asked while he set up the fishing stuff.
Jun shot him a puzzled look.

Nanos' eyes shot down to his chest, where the necklace that Dylan gave him sat.

"Is that your one question about mermaids today?" Jun asked while grabbing the necklace and slipping it inside his shirt.

"No, no, I can think of a better one," Nano said quickly as he sat down after finishing the preparation.

Jun sat quietly and watched as Nanos' brain started to go through a bunch of questions, trying to find a suitable one.

"Why does he only talk to you?" Nano finally asked with a small but serious pout on his face.

"I don't know," Jun answered honestly. His eyes drifted out to sea. The dark clouds reflecting on the sea, making it look dark and ominous, it didn't scare Jun. He had seen what was down there.

"That's a boring answer. Can I get another question?" Nano whined.

"Depends on the question," Jun said. If he was going to be on a boat with Nano for an hour, he'd have to answer at least a few questions so they both don't go crazy.

"What does he look like? Does he look scary?"

"He's beautiful, I'd say ethereal, the prettiest thing I've ever seen."

"He looks like a dream, something the sea chose to hide from the rest of the world because his beauty is so otherworldly," Jun mumbled, thinking back to Dylan floating in and out of the coral, almost angelic looking.

"Damn, you're in love with a mermaid," Nano said, shaking his head.

"Mermaids are dangerous. They lure you in with their beauty and the promise of love, then they kill you. I know you've heard the tales, " Nano sent Jun a sad look, but Jun ignored it. If this was the way he died, he could live with that.

"Why would he save me, just to kill me?" Jun wondered.
He always had the thought that Dylan was just playing with him, but then he remembered how he'd smiled at him and all the bad thoughts went away.

"I don't know, but please stay safe," Nano pleaded.

"I will be, don't worry -" Jun was cut off by the boat, hitting a large wave, then a loud banging noise coming from the bottom of the boat.

"What was -" Nano started as the boat stabilised itself. As it stabilised itself, a large gash in the bottom of the boat started to fill with water.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jun shouted as water started to fill the boat.

Jun reaches up to his neck to grab the necklace off his neck before grabbing Nano a bit harshly to pull him towards him, where he wraps the necklace around his neck tightly.

"Don't you dare lose that," Jun said as a panicked look crossed Nanos' face.
The boat slowly started to fill with water, sinking into the dark water.

~~~

Dylan heard them before he saw what was happening.

He slowly swam towards where the shouting was coming from and saw Jun and his ginger friend in the water, far away from shore. Their boat was sinking as another wave hit them.

A jolt of panic flashed through Dylan as he tried to swim there as fast as he could.

As soon as he got there, he tried to grab onto Jun, whose head kept bobbing in and out of the water, but he pushed him off every time.

"Help him first," he said, pointing towards the ginger guy who was in the same predicament as Jun.

Dylan tried to help Jun again, but he kicked him off. "Please," he said, sounding broken as another wave hit the two.

That unexplainable feeling Dylan felt when he was with Jun started to break looking at his sad pleading face, so he swam up a little and grabbed the ginger boy, dragging him towards the shore.

The boy looked down at him in shock before his eyes set on Jun, who was desperately trying to keep his head above the water.

"Jun!" The boy shouted as Dylan dragged him towards the shore.

The boy kicks and screams the whole way.

Dylan understood his panic, he didn't think he'd ever swum faster. He had to hurry back for that stubborn selfless man who made him feel emotions that he'd never felt before.

Dylan felt like he was swimming slower than he ever had. He didn't care for the man he was holding he only wanted to help Jun, but the look on Jun's face when he tried to save him broke his heart, he couldn't go against the man if it meant seeing Jun's heart break for his friend.

As he got closer to the shore, he was ready to dump the boy when he saw a shimmer around the boy's neck. He is pretty sure his heart stopped for a beat as he realised what it was.

He swam the boy to the shore before ripping the necklace off his neck with a glare before turning and swimming back out to shore, leaving the terrified and confused boy in water he could stand in.

That stupid stupid man. Why would he give his necklace to the boy? It's like he didn't care about his life.

His thoughts raced as he swam as fast as he could to the already sank boat, his tail moving as fast as it could.

He had no time to panic when he saw the man floating under the water. He tied the necklace around Jun's neck as he dragged him up to the surface. Feeling nothing but anger and panic, he swam Jun to the shore.

"Idoit, idiot, idiot," he mumbled to himself as he stepped into knee-deep water, his tail turning into legs as he dragged Jun through the water.

Dylan was met by two men who helped pull Jun out of the water and onto the sand, once they were far enough up the beach Dylan fell to his knees beside him and put his ear to his chest.

His heart froze as he listened, not hearing anything at first, but as he heard Jun's heart slowly beat, he felt his start again.

One of the men rolled Jun onto his side as he coughed up a lot of water.

"Idiot," Dylan kept mumbling to himself as he leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to where Jun's heart was before moving up and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

If Jun didn't get better, he wasn't sure he could take it. Whenever he was with the man, all he felt was love, strange and painful love. He had to get better.
For everything that Dylan has done right in his life, Jun's safety is all he asked for in return.

Jun coughed up the rest of the water as Dylan lifted his head and placed it on his lap so he could monitor his temperature.

Once, he was sure Jun wasn't going to die as soon as he looked away. He lifted his head to look at the other men.

He immediately grimaced as he saw that the four other boys were staring at him as if they'd never seen a mermaid before, which, in their case, might not have.

"Told you mermaids were real," the ginger man whispered as he elbowed the man wearing glasses beside him.

"Is he going to be okay?" The black haired boy beside him asked, Dylan gave him a soft nod but still glared at them as they stared at him in shock and at Jun in concern.

They all sighed relief and fell back into the sand from their tensed positions.

"I didn't believe you were real," the black haired boy said, causing Dylan to roll his eyes.

"I always believed you were real, I'm Nano, thanks for saving me, that's Thame and his boyfriend Po, and that's Pepper, he didn't believe you were real," Nano said, trying to lighten the mood. Now he knew his friend wasn't dying.

Dylan looked down at Jun, whose face had morphed into a peaceful expression as if he were just sleeping. He gently pushed the hair out of his face and watched him, his angry frown slowly turning into a calm one, his hand never leaving Jun's wrist, making sure he could always feel his pulse.

He saw a hand reach out to touch Jun, causing the angry frown that had disappeared to return. Even he was surprised at the hiss he let out towards Po, whose hand shot back in fear.

Dylan looked at him, the anger evident on his face. His normal teeth turned sharp, his pupils turned almost cat-like, and his nails turned sharp, scaring Po into backing off a little.
Which is what Dylan wanted. He wanted to take care of Jun. These people were the ones who sent him out on the boat anyway, and they caused this. They don't deserve to care for him.

Dylan felt his features softening as he looked towards Jun, hand returning to the man's hair, slowly brushing through it with his fingers soothingly massaging his scalp.

He ignored the surprise on the other pirates' faces, only focusing on the boy who had his head in his lap.

"Are you really a mermaid?" His peaceful silence was broken by a curious Pepper who was looking at him in disbelieving wonder. He loved that expression when it was on Jun's face, but when he looked at Pepper, he just felt annoyed.

"Don't ask stupid questions. You saw him drag Jun out of the water, " Nano said, smacking the back of Pepper's head, who barely flinched like this was a normal daily occurrence.

"Do you normally save pirates in distress?" Thame asked.

Dylan's eyes travelled the soft features on Jun's face, thumb drifting over Jun's eyelids as he'd done to him earlier.
All the humans Dylan had met were now at the bottom of the sea. Their greed killed them more than Dylan ever could, but Jun lacked greed, only full of a selfless loneliness that was only filled by the beauty of the sea and the people he surrounded himself with.

Dylan felt like his heart was on fire as he stared at the man he'd grown fond of before shaking his head in answer, not deciding if he wanted to talk to the group yet.

"You know he can't live in the water like you can." Thame followed his shooting of the mermaid with a sad look.

Dylan knew this and knew he'd have to let Jun go eventually. But until that day came, he'd stay close to keep him safe and out of the dangerous situations that he kept getting himself into.

Dylan noticed as Jun's peaceful expression slowly started to settle into his normal one, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown at the harsh light.

"This has gotta be heaven," Jun mumbled as his eyes slowly opened. The sun framed around Dylan's head, making him shine.

"Shut up," Dylan mumbled, a soft, happy smile finding its way onto his face.

"Jun!" Nano shouted, throwing himself at the boy on the floor happily.

Dylan felt his eyes turning cat-like again and had to force back a hiss as Nano looked up and saw the expression on Dylan's face before slowly letting go.

"You met the family without me, I see," Jun grumbled as he slowly started to sit up.

~~~

Jun felt sore everywhere. He wasn't sure how he managed to sit up without help, but he hoped the pain didn't look too obvious.

"You do that again, I'll kill you myself," Jun heard Dylan say, probably aiming for an angry tone, but it came out alongside a breath of relief.

Jun let out a small chuckle, sending a grateful smile towards Dylan.

"Only did that so you'd kiss me again," Jun said, watching a contemptuous look take over Dylan's face, but he could still make out the small smile that was peaking through.

"You were unconscious. You don't know if I kissed you or not," Dylan huffed out.

"Nano!" Jun said, his head snapping towards the ginger-haired boy who was looking at them both with varying levels of excitement.

"Twice!" Nano shouted happily while slightly hiding behind Thame as Dylan shot him a harsh glare.

"Twice? You must've been really concerned, I'm still quite sore, could use another one. " Jun felt a grin settle on his face as he teased the mermaid.

"I will leave," Dylan stated while rolling his eyes so hard, Jun was scared they'd fall out of their sockets.

"You like me too much," Jun laughed, causing a slight pain in his head to form.

"You aren't going to kill him?" Nano wondered out loud.

"I'm still deciding," Dylan mumbled, his eyes shimmering with a cheeky glint as a small happy grin took over his face.

His arms folded on the sand beside Jun’s resting form. He narrowed his eyes at the pirate, who looked entirely too smug for someone recently unconscious.

"You should be thanking me," Dylan muttered. "You nearly drowned, trying to get yourself dinner. You’re lucky I found you before the current did."

Jun leaned back on his elbows, squinting at the sky like he was deep in thought. "Lucky... or fate?"

Dylan made a disgusted noise. "If fate means dragging a half-dead idiot from the sea, then sure. Fate."

Jun grinned again, ignoring the throb in his head. "So, about that kiss—"

"Don't push it," Dylan warned, though the pink creeping up his cheeks betrayed him.

"You started it!" Jun pointed out with mock indignation. "You're the one who kissed me twice while I was dying—"

"Unconscious!" Dylan corrected, mortified.

"—and now refuses to finish what you started."

"Nano, take him back out and drown him some more," Dylan muttered.

Nano, still perched behind Thame, looked between the two and shrugged. "Honestly, I think if he fell in, you’d dive after him again. Third kiss?"

Thame sighed loudly. "Do any of you not have brain damage?"

Jun chuckled, then winced. "Ugh. Okay, pain's back. Laughing hurts. Noted."

Dylan’s brow furrowed, the playful energy faltering for just a moment. "You should be resting."

Jun looked at him, quieter now. “I’m fine, thanks to you.”

The two stared at each other, just for a beat too long, until Jun, being Jun, smirked again. “But if you wanted to help me feel better a kiss does have medical properties, or so I’ve heard, but I think that might've been a mermaid lying to me so he can kiss me"

Dylan rolled his eyes again, but this time didn’t look away. “If I kissed you again, you’d probably faint.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Jun said, leaning forward, eyes twinkling.

Dylan hesitated. Then, leaned in, just barely. Close enough for Jun to smell salt and seafoam to see the flecks of silver in Dylan’s eyes. The wind shifted. The sea grew quiet. Even Nano stopped fidgeting.

But before lips met, Dylan flicked his tail, sending a splash of water directly into Jun’s face.

Jun gasped, sputtered, then broke into a laugh.

Dylan grinned, victorious. "Still deciding if you’re worth it, pirate."

"Still pretending you're not madly in love with me, mermaid?"

Nano clapped, letting out a squeal of excitment. Thame walked away, muttering about "romantic disasters." And as the sun dipped lower over the horizon, painting the waves gold, Dylan stayed right beside Jun, teasing, bickering, smiling.

Maybe love stories weren’t about fairy tale endings.

Maybe they were about choosing each other, again and again, beneath the ever-changing sea.