Lost at Sea - crytterz (2024)

A groan emitted from the bedsheets beneath Kel’s brows. He was nose-deep into a puddle of pillows and fabric, fingers lit from the window across the room. Eight a.m. rose formidably above his windowsill, narrow between his lids and bright on his skin.

He ran a palm over his face. Early morning had never been so frustrating. His brother wasn’t in the room, surprisingly— Kel was relieved. It would be quieter, at least— No one would be nagging in his ear telling him to brush his hair or that he needed to get more sleep because his eyebags appeared sickly.

He threw on a fresh pair of shorts and a navy blue tee, scurrying to the bathroom upon noticing his clock had struck nine already. He scowled in the mirror at his reflection. Tousled and slightly sweaty from the night. He probably needed a shower— but would anyone really care? He took one last night, anyway. It was just bed sweat. He didn’t smell.

A flick of the sink switch turns the cold water on. He lazily splashes the running water onto his cheeks to keep his limbs moving. His temples are aching and prodding at his head.

The landline began to ring from the receiver on the other side of the house. Kel flips off the sink and rushes to grab the incoming call as it blinks red.

“Uh, hello?” Kel circled his eyelids with two fingers, exhaustedly. Not much sleep last night.

“Kel! Hey, you mind grabbing something for me from the house? I left my sunglasses,” Kel raised a brow. It was his brother. “The sun’s killing me out here. Can’t see customers when it's screaming at my eyeballs.”

“Why’d you call the house? I’ve literally got my cell in the other room.” Kel’s nose scrunches in confusion.

“You didn’t pick up, goofball. Anyways, can you get ‘em?”

“Where are they?” Kel asked, trying to sound as least tired as possible. He guessed he had his ringer off. He rarely used the portable phone, anyway. Anyone he would’ve wanted to call was a ten-minute or less walk away.

“Top drawer in my nightstand. Also, I’m in the west booth section this time. Mamá had us move.”

Kel let the phone hang from the cord off the side of the counter as he scrambled back to their room. He checked Hero’s side, pulling out the top drawer and snatching the sunglasses before returning to the phone.

“Yeah, got ‘em.” Kel held them by the bridge, eyeing some of the carvings and scratches on the plastic.

“Okay, thanks. You know where I am.” Hero hurriedly responded. He could be heard speaking to a buyer through the muffled line.

“Yup.” Kel narrowed his eyes, hanging up the line. Hero had never been the forgetful type– Kel had wondered what sort of rush he was in to forget the pair of glasses.

Kel didn’t bother with shoes. Hero wasn’t far, anyway, plus, Kel was planning on going straight home after the exchange. The fish booth was nowhere near his favorite place. It smelled awfully pungent. Kel wondered how people were able to stand next to it for so long without feeling a bit sick.

He tried to make his way as quickly as possible.

A few kids were playing by the coast, digging large holes in the sand for whatever reason. It made Kel miss when he and Hero would venture off and build random sand structures when they were younger.

He saw Hero taking a few bills from some dark-haired girl for a pound of their recent catches– Kel decided to stand there and watch him count the money to see how long it would take for Hero to notice he was there.

A quick glance around the shop center gave Kel all the visuals he needed for the day. There were stands advertising living livestock, raw meat, fish, like his family’s, and fruit. The fruit stands were the only stands Kel could visit on his own free will— At least they didn’t involve any bitter smells.

It took a good minute or so for Hero to realize Kel had been standing there watching him put away the money. Kel held out the sunglasses for him.

“Oh, Kel! You have ‘em! Thanks, man,” Hero took the sunglasses from Kel’s fingers and put them on. “Gosh, that’s so much better. Now I’m cool-looking and not blind.” He joked with a cheeky smile, but Kel didn’t bother to laugh.

“I see you’re in a giggly mood,” He nudged Kel with his elbow, teasing the younger of his stale expression. Hero gave an awkward smile and a barely audible chuckle through his nose, “Oh, come on, you’re so dense lately. I think you need to get more rest.”

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. Mamá’s helping us with a new schedule so we can beat the others to the profitable stuff in the lagoon.” Hero said, stuffing the bills he’d received into a box underneath the fish stand.

“Which means…?” Kel asked, the news piquing his interest. He felt his chest tighten. He’d hoped a new schedule would mean he’d get to sleep in a little more.

“We’re gonna wake up at six and get done earlier in the afternoon. The Hale family has been getting more sales— I think it’s ‘cuz they’re getting up before any of us. Mom picked up on it, so… She wants us to make the most of it, too,” Hero explained, glancing over to the family directly across from their booth. Hero snickered, “Can’t let ‘em beat us to it, right?”

Kel didn’t laugh. In fact, he scowled and mustered up a gasp. “What?! Six a.m.? You’re kidding, dude. That’s two hours earlier.”

“It's not that big of a deal, man. Just sleep earlier,” Hero combed his fingers through his hair to fix a cowlick. “Besides, you need it. I’m serious. You look exhausted.”

“Auwe…” Kel muttered, Oh, man, running another palm over his eyes. It was gonna be a long next few days.

—

Kel buried his fingers in the sand, idle waves washing over and small grains digging under his nails.

The sun, now, hung low below Kel’s favorite mountain, lighting the forefront in its dying glory. The warm breeze startled the curls at the ends of Kel’s hair, humid and heavy. Any other day was like this. Mauna was a beautiful place; A small town among many others in a chain of islands in the middle of the Pacific, best known by the occasional visitor for its white sand and dark blue waters.

The shallow waves pulled back at Kel’s fingers, foaming over creases and brushing salt over papercuts and short hangnails– Somehow, Kel was used to the feeling.

A large lagoon lay in the center; the dark waters were encircled by a low ring of hills and brought to the open sea through a pinched passage between twin mountains. If Kel turned his head, his small town would arrive in his wake. His town was somewhat close to the coast, sturdy for the last one hundred years. Old murals, creaky planks, and unchanged statues were all familiar to him. Small, cozy buildings lay atop the sand, dark roofs laid open against the sun— Kel’s house being just a couple dozen yards away. His parents, brother, and baby sister were all inside eating dinner at the table, yet all he cared for was to gaze at the ocean while he stuffed his face with a cold bowl of rice.

He wiggled his toes in the water, watching how the water pulled the sand from the soles of his feet back into the bay. He’s always wanted to see what it was like down there in the deep to a place where no one’s gone; to touch the reef and the underwater cliff sides, to feel the openness of the sea cradling his limbs. To embrace the buoyancy of the waters, to let the air leave his lungs as he sinks onto the shallow floor. Catch a current, ride a wave, feel the cool air above the vastness of the surface– A dream he shared with no one but the moon.

His feet began to feel oddly wrinkly. That was one of the only things he disliked about the water, despite being near the bay all day. He picked up his bowl, moving himself to the dock his family owned a few yards away. The wood was worn and dark, creaky and careful. He leaned against a pillar when he sat, somehow stable after all these years.

The rickety feel it had recalled some old memories; a creaky church with walls of old marble. He remembered a stern pastor— Despite this, he was still Kel’s favorite old guy.

“We don’t go near those.” The pastor said, once. He remembers this scene vividly.

Kel felt the memories churning through his brain, a vivid image in his mind. The pastor’s voice was heavy and forbidding, yet gentle with his words. His frayed brows drew into a downward curve as he closed his book.

“Why not?” A younger Kel asked. He was no more than eleven, pointing at a drawing of a serpent-like creature on the stained glass windows. His curiosity brought unease to the pastor, draped in white. Kel tapped his feet eagerly on the floor with his round eyes drawn to blink up at the man.

“They’re dangerous. They try to lure you in with sweets, or dreams– And then, they–” The man paused. Maybe violence wasn’t a good topic to hand to a child.

“They take you away. Far, far away. Away from home, away from your parents, away from your brother. You’ll be sad.”

Fear was a foreign concept to this younger Kel. Normally, a boy his age would still be conquering his fear of the dark; however, Kel had never been afraid of what he couldn’t see. Not while he was so close to the shore, not while he could see the abyss long into the horizon, far against the tides and thrown clumsily against the westward forest– He always had wonders. The passage between the twin mountains of their town was so inviting, yet he wasn’t allowed on a boat.

It beckoned him, calling his name, a voice so long out it felt buried under the sand.

He wanted to find it.

“Oh.” He puckered his bottom lip and pouted. “But… what if I make one my friend? Then we could be best friends and I could show him off!” Kel put his hands together and looked up at the pastor with pleading, hopeful eyes. The pastor sighed, admiring the innocence; however, safety was more important. Especially for the limited youth of Mauna– That was a risk he, their main source of guidance, wasn’t willing to take.

“You can’t befriend one, Kelsey. They’re mean and scary. They always have been.”

The solemnity in the pastor’s voice made Kel feel like he was hiding some personal experience with these serpents. As if, maybe, the pastor tried to befriend one but was met with aggression or rejection. Perhaps that was a bigger motivator for Kel to become the first to succeed.

“Why?” He crossed his arms, reluctant.

“So many questions. Trust me, okay?” The pastor patted Kel on the head, walking down the aisle with a wrinkled smile.

The white cloth clad upon his hips ran smoothly across the floor, a cross on his chest. Kel had always wondered how all that white he wore never got dirty, seeing as the floor was stepped on all day before and after sermons. How could the pastor wear white and not track a smidge of dirt, whilst Kel wore a white tank top and came home covered in it? His feet already felt dusty just from being inside the church building for a few hours.

The pastor just smiled and patted Kel on the shoulder, and a lady dressed similarly began approaching Kel instead.

“Your parents will be worried if you don’t go home. The sermon has been over for an hour.” The tall lady hummed, a lanky hand on Kel’s back guiding him to the large double doors of the church.

“But I don’t wanna go,” Kel whined, “I wanna know about the paintings.” He frowned, but the lady chuckled.

“You’re a good kid, Kelsey. Must be a handful for your mom… but you’re not a bad kid,” The lady glanced at the multicolored stained windows aligned across the church.

“You know… I used to be just like you.” She said, scanning over his curious face with an empathetic smile.

Kel tilted his head, “Really?”

“Oh, yes. I loved the bay, and these murals always intrigued me. It’s still a mystery why they painted these sirens so pretty. You’d think portraying them as uglier would keep people away better….”

That made Kel giggle. It was true– If they wanted him to stay away so badly, why were the paintings so intricate and beautiful?

“Yeah.” He snorted, fiddling with his thumbs.

The lady took a deep breath, looking back over the walls. “But… These creatures are incredibly rare. Only few have seen them, and even fewer were able to tell their stories on it.” That piqued Kel’s interest tenfold.

“Have you seen one?” He exclaimed, a sudden bounce to his feet. The church lady realized what she may have caused, waving one of her hands to brush off the statement.

“Never in my time, no… But, for those who have, let’s just say there’s a good reason we fear them,” She lifted her gaze to the stained glass window illustrating a siren; the creature lay large and judgmental on the wall.

She cleared her throat. “We have these gatherings and sermons to keep us from wandering astray.”

“Well, um… what happens if we do?” Kel looked down, hoping his question would be answered truthfully if he were meek enough.

“You’ll get lost at sea.”

Kel bit the inside of his cheek, mustering as much thought into the words as a eleven-year-old possibly could. Although the answer was still much too vague for his satisfaction, he didn’t want to get lost… He didn’t want to get taken away. But he liked the sea, and this was the closest he could get to knowing what it was like beyond the lagoon.

“...Okay.”

The lady smiled, pushing open the tall wooden doors.

“Stay out of trouble,” She ruffled his hair, patting him on the shoulder. “And go straight home! It’s getting dark.”

The memory was over.

Little replays of his past weren’t uncommon— in fact, most of the time, that’s what was going on in Kel’s head whenever he zoned out. Kel found himself a frequent daydreamer, drawn to anywhere else but the present. Lost in his own mind, his own current life grew much too disinteresting for his own good. Memories were his lullabies, fantasies were his family; these were his getaway. Zoning out meant he didn’t have to worry about anything in front of him, as if he were living in someone else’s shoes.

Sometimes, living in ‘someone else’s’ shoes were just the pair he’d outgrown years ago.

He remembered white sand, lots of it, colorful shovels and shells of all different shapes and sizes. He remembered gentle waves, just like they are now, washing over his feet and reaching over his calves as he walked further into the shallows. He remembered the firm hands of his parents snatching his elbow, quite literally ripping him away from the coast. Still, he was too busy daydreaming. Surely his fantasies were more important than rules, or precisely measured precautions. It was far too often he was yanked from his reverie by a flick to the cheek or a harsh pat on the back.

He also remembered his brother. About ten, maybe eleven, venturing the sandy shores with him. Grabbing conches, sticking leaves into grainy castles, digging fingers into beaches for imaginary rivers. His best friend, whom he never had to beg his parents to have sleepovers with. He and Hero shared a room– And they still did, to this day. It was his favorite back then, several years ago.

Those were Kel’s favorite things to daydream about. Unfortunately, reality was just a few blinks away– and though he’d imagine he was dreaming away for hours, in reality it would’ve only been about five minutes. It all felt too real, but what else was he meant to do in a bland world, in a bland house, with bland people– Of course he’d be distracted! At least that’s what Kel always claimed.

A year-round summer was no stranger to the small town of Mauna. Dim orange rays washed steadily over the horizon, warming the skin on Kel’s shoulders. His low, distracted lashes were lit by the speckled light of a thousand stars, lids growing heavy by the sound of drawn out waves of the tide. Despite its beauty, today was like any other day. Once the sun was gone, the world fell silent.

The month of June was home, and being outside amidst the beginning of summer felt like an endless hug he never received.

After so many years of walking atop these planks, Kel’s feet grew used to the occasional splinter or scrape. As the worn wood leveled, it made his tread much more slippery. Occasionally, the tide would crash over the flat top of the dock, which Kel blamed most of the time for its increasing high-slip properties. Sometimes he couldn’t walk all the way to the end without stumbling at least twice.

He heard footsteps behind him. Despite this, he refused to turn around.

Another memory crept into his head. This time, as Kel recalled, he was ten.

“No, don’t grab that! Put it down!” Hero panicked, rushing over to Kel with the intent of smacking the urchin he had out of his palms, but he wasn’t fast enough.

“Why?” Kel asked, examining the spiky creature with curious eyes.

“You’re gonna get–”

“Ack!” Kel jolted, several points on the tips of his fingers now pricked. He dropped the prickled being back onto the sand with a quivering lip. Kel bit his tongue, his eyes beginning to sting.

That hurt.

A lot.

Kel winced loudly at the sharp feeling in his fingers, turning to his brother for some sort of support.

“–poked,” Hero ran over and kicked the urchin away, grabbing Kel and bringing him back to the shore. “No, hey… It's okay! Don’t cry, let me see.”

Kel sniffled, raising his fingers in front of Hero’s face. Hero wiped off the blood with his thumbs and blew cool air onto the tiny spots.

“I saw the urchin. That one wasn’t poisonous,” Hero frowned, still, unhappy with the multitude of pokes all over Kel’s fingers.

“Here,” Hero wiped off the second wave of little blood spots on Kel’s skin. “Sana sana, colita de rana,” He sang, and Kel’s frown disappeared. This was the funny little song their parents always sang to them whenever either brothers got hurt. Kel always laughed at the part that mentioned the butt of the frog.

“Si no sana hoy, sanará mañana,” Hero finished with a goofy smile. “Feel better?”

Kel nodded, wiping his cheeks. He giggled at the song.

“Didja get that from mom?” Kel asked with a snort. It seemed his attention was completely away from the cuts, which was Hero’s goal.

“You bet,” Hero grinned, “Let’s go inside and get some band-aids. I think mamá got the spongebob ones this time.” Kel lit up at that statement. They had boring band-aids the last time Kel got hurt; just the plain beige ones. Finally, he’d be able to wear his wounds (though very small) with unfathomable pride.

“Really? Can I have six of them?” Kel asked excitedly, holding onto Hero’s pinky as they walked back to their house.

“Sure you can, for being so brave.”

Kel quickly snapped back to reality when he heard a louder, more reality-demanding voice. His memory was over.

“Kel,” A voice called, and Kel wanted to whip his head around, but he was much too annoyed to do so.

He didn’t stay up late, and he wasn’t working that much today, yet he was still exhausted. Maybe existing was just tiring. His name was called again when he didn’t respond to the first. How much weight did his name carry, anyways?

“Mamá says she wants you up at six, remember? Don’t stay up too late. It’s already dusk. She’s kinda depending on you.”

The simplest gesture Kel could do was shrug and stuff another spoonful of rice into his mouth.

“...I’m serious. A.M. sharp. Or she’ll scold me, too.” He swallowed the grains and finally turned his face. He was met with the relaxed, yet unforgiving facial structure of his brother, Hero, whose eyebrows drew near and pressed two wrinkles onto his forehead when he spoke.

The lack of leniency in his brother’s voice didn’t intimidate him. Okay, well, maybe it did. But only a little!

“Okay, yeah– okay. I get it,” He flashed a thumbs up and turned back around, cheeks full of rice and sarcasm. He spat out an unwelcome extra-hard grain. Gross. “You know I hate waking up early,” Kel complained, sitting his bowl next to his hip.

“Go ask mom. I’m just the messenger,” Hero shrugged, walking closer to the edge of the dock where Kel sat. “Why are you always out here? Even Sally was wondering where you were.” His brother asked, sitting beside Kel with a leg up and propped against a pillar. Lately, Kel had been missing out on dinners with his family to hang out by his dock instead.

“She can’t even talk. How would you know?” Kel raised a brow, grabbing his bowl and shoveling some more rice into his mouth.

“I dunno… the look in her eye said ‘Kel needs to sit down and have quality time with his family every once and a while’,” Hero snickered, but Kel didn’t. He silenced as soon as he noticed Kel wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “Well, uh… See you tomorrow, then.” Hero’s expression relaxed, a soft smile offered, an annoyed exhale received.

“..Yeah. Sure.”

Truth be told, Kel wasn’t planning on caring about how late he’d be staying up. This new fishing business was a pain in the ass for him, and now that his parents decided that Kel was old enough to start pulling in most of the haul from the lagoon, he experienced a new feeling; Stress. He’d have to catch fish from six a.m. to four p.m. almost every other day from now on– at least that’s what he assumed just now from the timeswap. Then he’d have to go advertise the fresh fish the same evening to the town, place it in the stands, cover them up, and prepare the next day to start selling while Hero swapped places with him. It begged the question, would he be doing this for the rest of his life? A merciless mindset for a new fisherman, but Kel was young. He didn’t know what he wanted, but it wasn’t like he wanted his parents to choose that for him either. The ripe age of eighteen wasn’t exactly the best place to start making life-changing decisions. If he was tired, he’d sleep. Regardless of the business, Kel settled on making his parents deal with it.

Kel leaned idly against the pillar to his left, closing his eyes. Hero’s footsteps slowly faded away, and Kel sighed the moment he heard the front door shut. His eyes were so heavy he’d felt like he’d already fallen asleep– But everything was still so vivid. Besides, he didn’t think he was tired enough to the point where he’d fall asleep right on the dock. Surely he’d wake up with a splinter or a vulture on him.

The wind picked up.

Kel assumed rain was on its way, from the way the wind smelled and the hot sticky air it brought in its wake. Sudden shifts in temperature and overall weather mood weren’t uncommon here. He didn’t mind the rain. He didn’t even mind when it was humid and gross like that; He was lucky enough to be a natural mosquito repeller. His blood didn't taste very good, apparently. Never once did he have to smack one away, never did he have to wince and itch a red spot on his leg or shoulder; his brother had considered him lucky for that. Hero hated bugs, and while Kel lived in repellent luxury, Hero was often bit and crawled upon by spiders, mosquitos, beetles, moths– You name it.

His thoughts were obstructed by louder than usual dripping noises below his feet. He assumed it was a fish attempting to nip at his toes again, but looking over the pier brought the complete opposite. “What– What the hell?”

Impossibly dark brown eyes met the amber ones of Kel. The eyes were almost doe-like from how little light they reflected, even with the sunlight as brutal as it was. Incredibly beady; He stared, and what looked like the universe stared right back. It didn’t seem human. Kel shuddered, staring at the unmoving creature.

The almost black eyes blinked up at him, disturbingly enough, and Kel jerked back with such a force he felt the recoil of a chill crawling up and down his spine. He’d thought it was a nightmare, snatching his feet away from the water and scrambling up onto the planks. With the sudden flashbang of the sun’s crude rays, he’d truly believed he’d fallen asleep and now woken up; the quiet audibility of the eyes interrupted that fantasy.

“Hi,” It uttered, breathless and wet.

“Uh…” Kel could only scan the person– or thing that was floating idly in front of him. It was a boy at first glance, obviously, but at second glance– It was clear that he was half wrong. It was hard to tell what was under the water, as murky as it was, but Kel’s first thought was that he was some sort of... serpent. He stumbled back, shaking his head in a frenzy before hitting his head against a pillar. “Ack–”

“Woah, um– Are you okay?” The serpent-esque boy lifted his upper half atop the dock with his forearms, reaching for Kel. Dark droplets slipped off of the tips of his fingers, clawed and sharp. It only caused Kel to stumble back further, jolting his leg away from the creature in disbelief.

“What? Wait, I– Who are you? What are you?” Kel felt a drop in his heart, its pound becoming increasingly apparent as his chest rose and fell at a faster rate than before. Now? He was really going to have a panic attack now? He jolted away when the boy tried reaching for him again, hitting his head against another pillar as the drawback.

He earned an even less helpful bodily response; he fainted from the brute force he’d managed to treat to his own skull; Wooden piers doubled dizzily throughout his vision before everything went dark. He wasn’t conscious, but if he was– Surely he’d be disappointed that he could be taken out that easily. Nothing had even touched him— Kel had just managed to knock himself out all on his own. This was it, wasn’t it? Surely he’d wake up in a million pieces, or not at all, torn apart by the snake-boy.

-

Everything was spinning. If it wasn’t dark before, it definitely was now. Kel could faintly see Mauna’s powerlines daunting him over his head; A fuzzy ringing noise blocked his sinuses and squeezed his consciousness like a snake. Kel brought two fingers to push the skin of his forehead together in an attempt of relief, but to no avail.

“Ack,” He hissed, gritting his teeth at the sharp, pulsating pain in his forehead. Something cool pressed against the skin there, gentle and unmoving; He couldn’t open his eyes– but his face felt more relaxed. The hiss resided, the most he could do was whine and clench what he could of the sand between his fingers. Sand? A wet feeling was draped across his freckled skin, smooth and cold. It felt nice… At least it did in comparison to the ringing heat clawing at his temples. He opened his eyes one at a time, heavy and languid. The throbbing sensation at the back of his head was consoled by the rawness of the wind and freezing sand.

He managed a croak when the image in front of him grew less blurry.

“Wha…” The confusion hung quietly in the air. It was the same face he’d seen from earlier– Curious, doe-like, boundless. The closeness of his face wouldn’t register for another minute or so. Kel reached out to touch him, the bridge of his nose scrunched in utter confusion as his perception of reality continued absent.

Kel pressed an idle finger on what he assumed was the stranger’s lower lip, his thumb running over the skin smoothly and pulling gently at the corner of his mouth. It was now that he was fully convinced he was dreaming. Maybe he’d died. That would’ve sucked, but at least there was an angel in front of him giving him his undivided attention. The boy’s stare was piercing, almost, and a strange skip of Kel’s heart told him that he needed more.

“You... passed out.”

His voice was soft and somewhat deeper than Kel’s– He’d lifted a hand to Kel’s wrist, coaxing it down and away from his lip. Kel flinched, but his touch was soft enough to earn a relaxed exhale. However, Kel had quickly snapped out of his daze upon seeing the twitch of the stranger’s long black and white ears. His thumb had pressed upon a sharp canine, causing him to jolt and almost whack his head again.

“W-Wait, wait! Take it easy! I mean, unless you want more head trauma.” The strange boy shrugged on the sand, proposing an obviously unwanted suggestion.

Kel gave another confused look, his eyes narrowing to study the visitor.

Kel wasn’t completely wrong when he’d assumed the boy was a serpent. Instead- he looked to be of a siren, or mer of some sort. He’d heard many tales of these kinds of creatures, and although he was taught to fear and kill if he’d ever come across one, he wasn’t expecting to meet one now. Especially when this one was... as charming as he was, per se. What was he meant to do? He wasn’t expecting to have to kill one today.

He had a tail slicked with black and white slimy skin, similar to that of a killer whale. Silent waves ran over the tail as the guest laid curiously in the sand.

“Not a talker, are you?” He asked, smiling softly. Kel snapped out of it, bringing his knees to his chest and shaking his head.

“No, I uh… Sorry,” Why was he apologizing? He hissed again when the back of his head rang and tugged on his nervous system. He winced.

“What are you? Who- How did you get here?” He asked in a slight frenzy.

“Dunno. I swam through there,” The newcomer looked over his shoulder, pointing a sharp finger at the space between Mauna’s twin mountain passage. That made sense, after all. It led to the open ocean.

“Oh. Why haven't you… like, I don’t know… eaten me yet?” Kel raised a brow, and the other boy did the same, but with an added scowl.

“What? What do you mean–? You’re… joking, right?”

Kel wondered that himself. Was this a joke?

“I- nevermind. Who are you?” Kel asked, finally. He was such a social person, it was odd for him not to get this guy’s name after the first two sentences; But to be fair, this wasn’t someone Kel would see in the middle of town. He watched not-so-subtly as the boy’s tail swayed in the waves– He knew it was rude to stare, but how could he not?

“I’m Sunny,” He answered with a blank face, studying Kel just as Kel was to him. His lips pursed as he narrowed his eyes into a glare, making Kel nervous.

“Why are– Why are you looking at me like that?” He gave an awkward smile, scratching his neck.

“I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you before. I mean… what even are those,” Sunny tapped Kel’s leg twice, a genuine puzzled squish to his face.

At this point, Kel was assuming he was truly dreaming. Maybe before it was a trick, but now he’d mentally slapped himself in the face for believing this in the first place. He had to admit, he’d never had a dream this vivid before; Everything was the same as it was when he was conscious, the silent waves, the cool dark blue draped over the sky with his favorite stars twinkling in the same places he’d seen every day. It was bizarre, he’d really never dreamt as vividly as this before. He’d worry about this when he woke up. For now, maybe he’d have a little fun messing around in this presumably lucid world.

He would play along. There was nothing wrong with taking advantage of a fun dream.

He brushed off Sunny’s question, “...Lemme guess. You’re like, a siren or something? I mean, if you’re trying to lure me in or anything right now... I just wanted to let you know that it isn’t working.” He said with his full chest, confidence bubbling over the brim of his chin. It only left Sunny more confused than before.

“I really...don’t know what you’re talking about.” There was a bounce to his voice, playful and airy to assume Kel was continuing the joke with him.

“Really...?” Kel said, ironing out his expression. He was serious.

“Really.” Sunny shrugged again, his pupils expanding when his vision washed over Kel.

“So, will you answer my question?” The mer laughed. Kel wasn’t sure how he could laugh in a moment like this, a toothy grin upon his lips and an endlessly full gaze. His pupils were so dark. It reminded Kel of the late nights he’d spend staring up at the open sky; watching the stars stare right back at him. In that way, these eyes felt familiar.

“What? My shin?” Kel furrowed his brows and stretched his right leg out, pointing to the same area as Sunny had done before. “Is that what those are called?” Sunny asked, raising his hand circling over Kel’s legs.

“Oh. You mean... my legs.” Kel mentally facepalmed. Of course the mer meant his legs. He was the one without them– I mean, in place of a sea mammalish tail. Sunny’s eyes were reasonably dark at this time, seeing as it was past sunset and little to no light had the ability to bounce off his iris. Kel was never much of a fan when it came to eye contact, however, the deep pooling of the ones in front of him made it impossible not to stare. Without any more speech to fill the space between them, the air grew a bit stagnant. Awkward.

“I’m.. uh, Kel.” He cautioned, reaching a hand forward.

Sunny took it, but it seemed he didn’t understand what Kel’s intentions were. What was intended to be a handshake ended in a strange minute-long hand holding session; the strange boy’s ears twitched in confusion. His hands were cold.

“Uh.. huh. I like your name,” Sunny commented, letting go of his hand.

“Your hand’s warm, by the way. Is that normal?” He asked again, his fingers digging into the sand. Kel swallowed thickly, still unsure of how he was supposed to act.

“I mean, yeah, I think so. Assuming yours are cold because you… swim.” He tried to force a small laugh, but he had to clear his throat afterwards. Awkward again.

“Yeah.”

“So, like, where did you even come from? I know you swam through the passage, but like... I dunno. Is it okay if I ask you to tell me about yourself?” Kel scooted a bit closer, figuring they were past the point where he assumed the mer was going to eat him. He tapped his feet in the sand with an eager demeanor, his legs curling downward into criss-cross form. He leaned forward, expectantly.

Really, he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know what time it was, but it couldn’t have been much past nine pm. Faint rays from the sun sunken below the horizon were left glistening in a tired sky, wrapped in Kel’s favorite shades of blue, pink, and orange. He loved evenings like this– Perhaps it was a good thing he could now relate those rare hues to tonight, so long as he wasn’t mauled to death in the coming minutes.

“It’s fine, actually,” Sunny waved off the awkwardness, his expression softening as he rested his head onto his crossed forearms on the sand. He began with a small smile, “I actually haven’t been around this area for long.” He pointed a thumb back toward the passage between Mauna’s twin mountains, the water sparkling quietly.

“We migrated here a few days ago because of the crazy amount of food right outside of this cove– I don’t think we’re planning on leaving any time soon.”

Kel had to mentally pause. “We?” He tilted his head, looking over Sunny’s shoulder to see if they’d acquired any more visitors on cue when Sunny had mentioned ‘we’.

“My pod,” Sunny answered plainly, to which Kel scrunched his face in more confusion. “You know... Like, a pack? A group? My friends? There’s 4 of us, including me.”

Kel winced. More merpeople?

“They’re not, like… coming here are they? I mean... I dont think this town is exactly the best place for... siren thingies—like you—to visit,” He pointed a finger at Sunny, making a circular motion in front of his whole body. He gave a nervous laugh, laying his palm back onto the white sand.

“No, no... hehe, it’s just me. I’m pretty much the only one willing to explore. I swear, I’m the only guy coming around to visit.” He said with a careful grin and an airy laugh, unfolding his arms to hold his face between both of his palms.

Kel was somewhat relieved by that information.

“And… food? How— How much?” He asked, recalling the mention.

“A lot. There’s tons of fish right outside your reef. It’s pretty much an unlimited buffet for us.” He gave Kel a soft stare, the end of his orca-ish tail flicking the other direction.

Huh. Kel would have to bring that up to his brother in some vague way later on.

“..So, um… were you just... born like that? With the tail, I mean…” Kel asked, Sunny’s focused stare offering a wave of uneasiness. It was either that, or the food he had earlier was upsetting his stomach. It bubbled up his throat and sizzled back down to add an extra, unwanted beat to his heart.

“I could ask you the same question, and it’d get us the same answer. Wouldn’t it? If you’re expecting me to give you a story about being cursed or something, I dont have one.” Sunny laughed, his ear twitching and a strange squeaking noise fizzing up his throat.

Though Kel understood where Sunny was coming from, he couldn’t help but pause; the strange squeaky noise caught the better of his attention.

“Wait, wait– What was that?” Kel asked, a big smile on his cheeks. It wasn’t often Kel found himself intrigued by something as simple as a cute noise.

“What was what?” Sunny tilted his head.

“The– The noise. That ‘ee eee’,” Kel poorly imitated, making Sunny cover his mouth to prevent him from bursting out in laughter.

“Oh, the squeals? They’re involuntary,” Sunny felt his face go a bit warmer from embarrassment, eyes blown wide. He’d never experienced embarrassment from the noises before. His pod did it too, and other sea creatures like fish or crabs quite literally just didn’t have the brain capacity nor the vocal cords to make fun of him. He was grateful for that, but it was only now that he’d realized he’d have to explain the involuntary noises to a new friend.

“It just… happens. When I laugh, or cry, or… cough. I don’t actually know why. This is the first time anyone’s ever brought it to my attention… No one’s ever asked before, so I can’t explain the logistics.” Kel had a dorkish smile on his face, looking both eager and excited with this newfound information. That was… pretty endearing. He could probably annoy him with it in the near future if they stayed friends.

“That’s… kinda cool. I mean, like, in its own way,” Kel gave a hearty laugh, scratching his chin, “You do that every time you laugh? Does it like– Like, can you feel it? It doesn’t hurt, does it?” Sunny blinked twice.

“..No? I don’t think so. Think of it like… when you sneeze. It’s kind of relieving?” Sunny stretched out his index finger to tap on his throat.

“Oh,” Kel swallowed. “Neat.”

“Yeah…” Sunny looked away for a moment. The sun was completely down at this point, little to no orange visible from the horizon; Crickets from the forefront of the bushes near Kel’s house cheeped quietly as everything else fell silent. Kel yawned. Time had really flown by– A phrase that was foreign to Kel. His days were usually slow and agonizing, the highlight being to lay in his bed and mope over his looping life. This was different.

“Are you tired?”

Kel nodded.

“Where do you even sleep?” Sunny asked, one of his sleek ears twitching. Kel felt goosebumps on his arms, assumingly from the chill of the wind.

“Back there. That house, I live there,” Kel answered shortly, yawning again and laying his cheek on his forearms.

“Do you… uh, sleep around this time?” Sunny offered, and Kel nodded in response.

“Usually. But I mean, obviously, today is different,” Kel giggled, fiddling with his fingers. Despite the cold, warmth was radiating inside his stomach and chest. That was enough to keep him talking. He hadn’t had this much of a good time talking to someone else in months.

“I don’t want to keep you up,” Sunny laughed nervously, wanting to be polite. “I’ll, uh… I guess I’ll go now. Thanks for the talk.”

He turned, interrupting the silence of the water to pull back over the waves and submerge. Kel jolted, something like shock knocking him forward and forcing him up. He grabbed what he could, which happened to be the upper part of Sunny’s right arm.

“Wait!”

He was frantic, and a bit of relief washed over him when Sunny didn’t just slip free and swim away. The dark-haired boy turned, his beady eyes following. He looked down at his arm, and Kel let go– not realizing how much force he’d put onto grabbing Sunny. He hoped it wouldn't leave a bruise.

“Sorry, I… uh…” Kel swallowed thickly. “...Am I gonna see you again?”

His eyes were pleading even without the light of the sunset to emphasize his distress. It was as if everything fell silent, all cues of the outdoors gone quiet all at once. The crickets had hushed. The wind was gone. Even the swashing of the bay, the sway of the grass, the calls and squacks of the gulls– absent.

“Do you want to?”

Sunny was completely still. The dark of his eyes rippled to match the reflectance of the sky off of the water, somewhat dreamlike. Kel swallowed again.

“I… do,” His words faltered not out of hesitation, but from the interrupting warmth radiating from Sunny’s stare. “If that’s okay with you. Right?”

Sunny blinked. Then, he nodded and smiled. “Sure. I wasn’t planning on leaving the outskirts of the bay anyways,” He pulled himself over the sand again to flick the tip of Kel’s nose, Kel scrunching the bridge of it and giving an awkward grin as a result.

“What was that for?”

“You’re nice. I like you.” A toothy smile appeared before Sunny submerged back into the lagoon, disappearing completely. Kel felt entirely tingly and warm as he watched Sunny disappear under the blue, even the teeny hairs on his arms seemed to stand somewhat on end. His head felt a little lighter, his chest felt a little heavier– and somehow, that felt much better than usual.

Kel slumped back down onto the sand, eyes fixated on the bay, his knees and calves covered in the tiny white grains. Kel stared at the reflectance of the stars on the bay for at least fifteen minutes before actually getting up and scrambling over to his dock. He couldn’t believe that had happened. A mer? Right in his lagoon? He’d assumed what his town had taught him since birth were just myths or stories to keep kids away from the deep waters– Apparently, he was wrong.

“...Unreal.” He mumbled to himself in recollection of the last hour, running both his palms over his face and picking up his empty, tumbled rice bowl after it rolled off the dock and onto the ground.

He’d managed to knock it over and dump the rest of his rice into the sea when he got startled; The light blue bowl was flipped over and empty by the time he snatched it back off the sand, so close to being pulled into the bay by the tide. This might’ve been the most eventful hour of his entire life. For the first time in a long while, he’d smiled to himself.

Opening the front door and tiptoeing through the kitchen to his room wasn’t much of a struggle for Kel; He knew all the spots on the planks that wouldn’t creak. Crawling into bed left him more satisfied than usual, too. The plastic glowing stars on his ceiling looked a bit brighter, twinkling against plaster he’d usually call boring.

Maybe things will be okay, Kel thought to himself before closing his eyes.

–

Morning came much quicker than usual. Kel arose with an itchy throat and a wince at what madness would be brought for him today. It wasn’t Monday anymore. Was one more lazy day too much to ask for? Surely the town could spare one day off of work. It wasn’t like they all survived off of the Obreja family’s haul of fish alone…

“Oye! Kelsey! Time to get up,” His mother woke him by pinching the tip of his nose.

“Ah! Ah–! Okay, okay, I'm getting up!” Kel hissed, his eyes watering from the intrusion of his sinuses.

“I already gave you thirty extra minutes of sleep. Up and about!” She had a hand on her hip, flipping up the light switch and yanking Kel’s blanket to the lower half of his bed.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Kel rubbed the back of his neck and yawned, letting his feet find their way back to the floor. Wobbly.

His mother only shot a glare at him in the doorway before patting the frame, signaling him up. Kel, of course, obliges– It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He scratches his cheek, expression scorned; he thinks he’d bit down on it sometime in the night. It's raw against his tongue.

“Ready?”

“No.” Kel frowns.

His brother puts a hand on his hip. “I can’t say I am, either…” Hero also rubs the back of his neck. Kel narrows his eyes. Sometimes he forgets how similar they are in situations like this. Had Hero done random motions like that before him?

“But we can’t really do anything about it. Hey, at least you won't be on that boat alone.” Hero forced a laugh after that, however, it vanished as soon as he realized Kel wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

“Come out to the dock when you’re ready. No later than fifteen so mom doesn’t get upset with me just standing there,” Hero offered, touching the doorway in the same way their mother did. Familial habit. “It won’t be as bad as it seems. I’m sure of it.”

Kel grimaced.

He knew he was going to hate this new schedule. With a groan and two hands over his face, Kel got up and trudged to the bathroom. Maybe he could pretend the boat made him seasick, he imagined as he brushed his teeth. No… he’d gone on boats plenty of times before. He frowned again and spat out the minty paste. He found himself walking downstairs and into the kitchen quicker than expected. Would missing a finger be enough of an excuse for him not to go? That was one of the strangely intrusive thoughts that had dawned upon him while he looked at the toaster on the counter. Too much effort…and way too gorey… not to mention, he liked his fingers! He only had to make it to the end of the day, right? Right.

He threw together a makeshift breakfast made up of half-toasted bread slices, surprisingly normal strawberry jam, and butter that had been left out for a day. Within a few bites, he was already done with the first slice– and with three more, the second. The slices tasted slightly minty because the toothpaste’s flavor was still stuck on his tongue.

Throwing on a new pair of trousers and hurriedly flipping off the kitchen light, Kel ran out the door to meet his brother about 20 yards away. Hero was unhooking their boat from the dock.

“That was… actually way quicker than I was expecting,” Hero stepped into the boat and grabbed an oar. “Well?” He raised a brow.

“Yeah, you’re so funny.” Kel rolled his eyes and hopped in, his body weight swaying the canoe side to side. It was gonna be a long day.

Eight a.m.

Pick bait from the tray. Latch it onto the hook. Throw out the hook. Reel it in two hours later with a single fish on the line. Repeat.

Ten a.m.

Bait. Hook. Throw. Reel. Again.

Twelve p.m.

Bait. Throw. Reel. Again.

Three p.m.

At this rate, Kel was going to pass away from pure boredom. Kel had his temple rested against the flank of the canoe, grumbling to himself as he watched the waves wrinkle over one another over and over again. This was so dumb. Though it had been hours, he and his brother had only managed to catch a measly 6 goatfish and a single tuna.

“Anything else on there?” Kel grimaced.

“No, nothing’s tugging,” Hero shrugged, one hand on the rod and the other clasped around a novel. “Doesn’t seem like we’re gonna get much today.”

“Oh, really?” Kel huffed, sarcasm strewn all around his vocals. Though he wanted to go back home, he didn’t really know what he’d do there either. It felt odd. Lately, he had nothing to look forward to. Maybe that’s what was making him more hostile than usual– He was missing out on something.

Hero noticed his lack of enthusiasm. “Look, man. I don’t want to be here any more than you do. Let’s just… make it through today, okay? We only have a few more hours.”

“..I guess.”

Kel just wanted to go home and plunge himself into the dark comfort of his pillows. Was it really too much to ask? He frowned, sticking a languid finger into the water. A question of his suddenly surfaced. “Why don’t we ever fish outside of the lagoon?”

“What do you mean?” Hero asked, turning his head.

“I mean, it's gotten pretty hard to find enough fish from the lagoon alone. Wouldn’t it be better to like… y’know, fish outside of it?”

Hero frowned. “I mean… maybe, but the riptides are too common out there. If we got sucked into a rogue wave or whatever… You get the gist.”

“Have you ever even seen a riptide?”

“Well, not… exactly… but that’s just what everyone else says.” Hero shrugged, tugging the oar backward.

“Uh-huh... Okay.” Kel narrowed his eyes, sticking his fingers into the water as they rowed forward.

“...So... if I were to go out there, would anyone stop me?”

“Kel, you’re not going past the channel.” Hero wasn’t the very best at putting his foot down, but this was something he knew Kel wouldn’t listen to if he wasn’t. His voice was stern and demanding.

Still, Kel batted back. “We barely pull any fish in nowadays! Imagine how much is out there waiting for us! You want to beat the Hale family, don’t you?”

“Enough. We’re not going into the open ocean. Mom would kill us.”

“Ohhh, I get it now. Because you want to stay mom’s perfect eldest son, right? Never take any risks for the greater good because your reputation matters more?” Kel crossed his arms.

Kel’s snarky comments seemed to be more a ruse to get a reaction out of Hero— but, his older brother was better than that.

Hero shot a glare at Kel.

“You’re being a little sh*t right now. Stop,” Hero rolled his eyes, turning back to the front of the canoe. “I do care about what mom and the others think, but it's not for ‘my reputation’, Kel. Why do you think they have these rules in place? Don’t you think we would’ve fished outside the lagoon if there were so many more fishing grounds out there?” Hero asked rhetorically, which sounded more like an interrogation. He didn’t like how Kel was instigating between him and their mom.

Kel stayed quiet.

“Exactly. Just... don’t get ahead of yourself. I don’t want you to end up in trouble— with nature and with mom.”

“...I guess.”

-

The rest of the day had flown by rather quickly. Not because Kel was having fun, but because he’d kept zoning out for the rest of the fishing trip and all the time he’d spent inside before the clock struck nine.

He snuck out of the kitchen window, leaving the sill slightly open for easy entry when he wanted to go back inside later.

One of Kel’s favorite things about Mauna was the night sky. Whenever he visited the city, the brilliance of the sky was nowhere near as stunning as his home’s. Kel could see every star, every planet, and every shooting star that zipped past the air— it felt like magic. This was his main excuse for being caught out so late; he loved the night sky.

He sat idly at the very end of the dock, letting his legs dangle over the edge. The tide was low enough so that the water barely touched his toes.

It felt a little weird waiting for someone at this time of day. Er- night. Almost a repeat of the evening before; a crisp breeze monitored by the lagoon and lost sunrays consumed by the horizon. Everything was the same. Expecting a visitor was’t nearly as nerve-wracking as Kel thought it to be. He idly splashed the murky water below his feet with his toes, watching as the droplets flew up and hit the surface.

Kel was caught completely unexpecting when a slippery palm pulled at his ankles..

“Boo.”

He was here.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over how strange these things are.” Sunny poked at Kel’s legs idly, flicking one of the hairs.

“H-Hey!” Kel jolted at the sudden appearance. “Oh my god, you scared the sh*t out of me.” He laughed, pulling his legs back over the dock and returning to a criss-cross stance.

“This makes it the second time I’ve done that,” Sunny snickered in return, crossing his arms over the dock. “At least today you didn’t hit your head against a million things. How’s that feeling, by the way?” He gave a toothy grin, almost to tease.

“Ugh, it’s been giving me horrible headaches all day.” Kel rubbed the back of his head, wincing at the memory. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be in this much pain. Despite the subtle pulsing against his temples, the pain made him feel... real. It was almost as if the sensation made him feel more alive. It grounded him.

“Aw.. I’m sorry I startled you so much yesterday. You’re super jumpy though, y’know,” Kel gave a weak smile, rolling his eyes. Sunny’s slight sarcasm made him giggle.

“So, speaking of yesterday… We spent most of it talking about me. What about you? It’s only fair,” Sunny asked, his palms patting the dock, anticipating Kel’s little origin story.

“That’s true,” Kel cleared his throat, “Well, do you want my whole life story, or just recently?” He asked wholeheartedly, leaning forward to lay a grin into the air. It was strange, smiling at this hour. Or any hour, really. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d genuinely smiled like this.

“I’ll take anything you’re willing to give.” Sunny laid his head sideways on the dock, his cheek against the wet planks and a soft smile aloft his lips. He poked Kel’s knee to coax a story out of him. Kel chuckled, adjusting himself to lay belly-down on the dock to face Sunny.

“Well… Maybe I can tell you some stuff about my family.” Kel suggested, palms cupping his own cheeks.

“It’s me, obviously, my brother, my baby sister, and my parents,” Kel began, counting his fingers and holding up one pinky to represent his sister. “My baby sister’s name is Sally. She’s like… two months old. Then there’s Hero, My older brother, he’s twenty one. He gets on my nerves sometimes. Well– All the time, if I’m being honest,” His last addition was said with low eyes and a scowl. It was difficult for Sunny not to laugh.

“What’d he do?” Sunny asked, curious.

“Ouf. What hasn’t he done.” Kel groaned, causing Sunny to snicker. “Well, first of all, he’s always bossing me around. ‘Kel, get up at 6am, Kel, go fetch me something from town, Kel, remember to set up the stand tonight, Kel, do the laundry, Kel, why didn’t you finish your food,’ All the time!” Kel narrowed his eyes with a strained expression, gritting his teeth shallowly.

There was almost nothing more entertaining for Sunny than this. Listening to his pod members rant about their daily struggles with getting schools of fish to move out of the way was nowhere near as interesting as this, to Sunny; perhaps it was just because he liked Kel’s animated demeanor. Or maybe just the fact that moving schools of fish wasn’t very interesting to begin with.

“...But anyways,” Kel rolled his eyes. “We used to be close. When… we were younger. Like, when I was ten. Then the fishing business came about, stressing us out ‘nd stuff… and… we’ve been too stressed to keep up a healthy relationship, I guess. At least that’s what I think. His efforts lately just… kinda suck.”

“I wouldn’t know what he thinks of our situation, though. The last time I talked to him– I mean, really talked to him– As in resolving our problems… was years ago. I don’t want to bore you with my family issues, though,” Kel giggled, tapping his fingers on the dock. Maybe talking about his brother wasn’t exactly the most interesting thing in the world. Sunny listened carefully, his eyes a little intimidating from how much focus he’d had on Kel. “Okay, okay, you’re scaring me. I still can’t get over those eyes,” He laughed, flicking Sunny’s nose.

“..I like listening to stuff like this anyways. Really, if you lived a life like me, everything but that is boring. It’s so empty down there, you know? If you’re not by a reef… it’s just… nothing. Nothing but blue,” Sunny smiled sheepishly, his brows drawing close to press a wrinkle onto his forehead. He waved it off, paying more attention to Kel’s last comment.

“My eyes?”

“..Yeah,” Kel nodded, tilting his head to get a better look. “Why’re they so.. dark? You remind me of like, literally any wild animal ever. You’ve got beady eyes, man,” Kel giggled at that last part, to which Sunny rolled his eyes and huffed through his nose in place of a laugh.

“I don’t know, why are your eyes so colorful?”

“Pure luck,” Kel gave a cheeky smile, resting his head onto his forearms.

“Then that’s your answer.” Sunny mirrored Kel’s actions, pressing his nose to Kel’s and folding his arms. Kel’s eyes widened a bit at the motion. Sunny was a much more social creature than he’d originally imagined.

“So... about the, uh... fishing stuff in general. How’s that going for ya?” He asked, ears fluttering.

“That’s a super specific question,” Kel chuckled, “Actually, it’s... not going so well. We haven’t been finding much fish in the lagoon. Either we catch small goatfishes or crabs.”

“You know how I told you about the crazy amount of food right outside this bay?” Sunny offered the question with a keen smile. He thought this might be a way to create a stronger friendship if Kel agreed.

“Now that you mention it, uh... yeah,” Kel scratched the underside of his chin. “But, um... I’m not allowed outside of the passage. There’s no way I could even convince my family to go out there.”

“Mm.. well, I could always bring a school of tuna instead.”

“Bring?”

“You know, fish aren’t completely dumb. They know I’ll eat them if I manage to catch one of ‘em,” Sunny chuckled between breaths, “So... I could always just herd them through your channel and swim back the other direction once they’re in.”

Kel’s interest piqued.

“That... may actually work,” He sat up, staring at the channel a mile out behind them both. “You’re sure you’d do that? That would be... like, so helpful.”

Sunny nodded, completely capable of the feat. He really just wanted to gain the boy’s friendship. He’d never been associated with anyone of Kel’s subspecies before... it kept him invested. He’d love to learn more about both Kel and his kind. Just for the fun of it.

“More than willing.” He flicked his tail underneath the waves, shooing a couple of minnows nipping curiously at the scales.

“That’s really nice of you.” Kel felt flattered. Maybe the feat didn’t seem like much to the mer, but to Kel, it was everything. His family had been struggling with catches even though his schedule had changed to favor the opposite. If he were to reel in more food, they’d get more sales, more money, and more free time. Kel could come out and visit his new friend more often or actually develop a plan for his college life— After all, it was only a year away. His family had urged him to take a gap year for preparations despite never actually helping him research. Kel had concluded they just needed his help with money complications and sending him off right away wasn’t a very... financially responsible decision.

“Are there any more surprises I should know about you?” Kel laughed at his own sentence, fiddling with his thumbs.

“Mm..” Sunny glanced off to the left, pondering what he hadn’t told Kel yet that might interest him. “Actually, yeah. My birthday is coming up soon. It's June seventh.”

“Oh, really? Maybe I’ll have to do something for that.”

“You don’t have to... I think just having someone new to hang around with is more than enough for me,” Sunny admitted, snickering, and scratching the tip of his nose. “But I am kinda interested in what you’d want to do for me.”

“Hmm... I’m sure I can come up with something you’d probably like.” Kel offered an excited grin. Thinking about what he could give Sunny gave him something to look forward to— for a week, at least.

“Hehe, we’ll see.”

“This is, uh... a little off topic, but, um, what kind of flowers do you like?”

“Flowers?”

“Yeah! Oh, wait... You probably don’t know much about the ones on land, do you?”

Sunny snickered. “Well, not namely... but I’ve seen a few. I can describe some that I really like, though!”

“That works just fine,” Kel gave a smile, his attention fully locked onto whatever Sunny might say next. He was great at identifying flowers. “Describe away.”

“Mm... well, there’s this one that kinda looks like a star. Its leaf-thingies coil around on the inside, and, uh...”

“Oh, a plumeria? And, hehe, I think the word you’re looking for is petals.” Kel corrected, thinking about Sunny’s words. He had a lot of plumerias growing around his house and inside their border garden. He was the only one maintaining them, so, of course he knew what they looked like.

“You do know flowers.”

“I told you so!” Kel giggled, locking his fingers together to listen for more.

“There’s this other one I’ve seen a bit further out. I’ve never gotten a good look at them... but, I think they have these little antennae things coming out of the center. The, uh... ‘petals’ aren’t like the first ones though.” Sunny stuck his index fingers out and curled them over to his mouth to demonstrate to the best of his abilities.

“One antennae or two?” Kel asked, holding up both hands. One held a singular finger and the other held two.

“Two, I think.” Sunny poked at the hand that held two fingers up.

“Mm.. probably an orchid. I was thinking maybe a hibiscus, but those only have one anther.”

“Anther?”

“It’s what the antennae thing is called!”

“Alright, smarty,” Sunny gave a soft smile, giving a breathy laugh out of his nose. “Well.. those are the only ones I’ve seen around here that I like the most.”

“Works great for me!” Kel offered a cheeky, toothy smile. He was exceptionally excited to work with the options Sunny had just given him.

—

The following days were... different. Kel’s demeanor was much more upbeat than before— even his brother had noticed. He was more compliant and agreeable, less aggressive and moody, and overall... healthier. Visiting a new friend every night gave him something to look forward to; Kel had realized the day would pass much quicker if he agreed to everything. It worked in everyone’s favor.

Not to mention, his fishing troubles had decreased exponentially. It was so easy to catch large tuna with Sunny’s help; the increase in quality goods increased how much money his family was making, too. It was a huge boost in the Obreja family’s relevance in Mauna. Almost the entire town now ran to his family’s seafood stands first in hopes they’d get access to the freshest tuna sold from the lagoon.

Kel tapped his feet underneath the same seafood stand, now, as it was his turn to run the sales this week. Talking to customers and managing money was much easier than he imagined when he had a cheery attitude.

“Hey, you don't mind if we take three of these, right?” A man with two children behind him came up to the seafood stand, pointing at the hanging tuna fish; the sudden interaction snapped Kel out of his usual daydream. He scrambled to stand up and lean forward, unhooking the tails from where they were stuck on the stand.

“Uh— not at all. They’re fifteen each.”

“That’s alright. Uh... here.” The man pulled out three twenties, which Kel returned with the correct amount of change.

He packaged the large fish accordingly, handing three layered bags to the man. Kel turned around when he’d felt a few taps on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Hey,” It was Hero. He had a net full of smaller looking fish, assumingly for Kel to take and display on the stand. “Got any room for these?”

“Oh,” Kel sat up, glancing over the stand to search for an unoccupied displayer. “Yeah, right here. We need more ice, though. It’s starting to melt.”

“Ah, I’ll get some from Gino’s in a bit,” Hero sat down beside his brother and nudged his arm. “Look at you! Talk of the town, huh?”

“I... guess you could say that,” Kel shrugged, cringing a bit at the title of ‘talk of the town’. “It’s just fish. Oh, and money I suppose.”

“You suppose? We bought a whole new set of equipment because of this whole... suddenly great fisherman thing,” Hero laughed, patting the back of Kel’s shoulders. “I didn’t think you’d be up to the new schedule but, man... You definitely proved me wrong. And mom, too.”

“What changed?” Hero asked, leaning forward and laying his forearms dormantly on his knees.

There was no way Kel could be honest about why exactly they were hauling in better goods. Surely he’d get in a major deal of trouble— but maybe he could be half-truthful.

“Uh... well, you know how you said not to fish past the channel...?” Kel scratched the back of his neck, lips pooched and glancing off to the side awkwardly. “I didn’t listen to you.” He gave a breathy laugh out of his nose, a crooked smile clad upon his lips.

“What? Wait– really?” Hero asked, and Kel was wholeheartedly expecting him to yell at him or something. “You’re not... hurt or anything, are you? You’ve never gotten caught in a riptide?”

“Nope,” Kel sat back, pushing his chair against the brick wall behind their stand. “Just better fish out there. Y’know, like how I theorized the other day.”

“Okay, okay... well, I mean... as long as you’re not hurt,” Hero scratched his cheek, thinking about the practicality of Kel’s confession. He’d told Kel not to go past the channel at all costs. “That’s really... the only reason we’re getting better hauls? Man, I really set us up for failure, didn’t I?” Hero gave a hearty laugh, realizing how much less better off they’d be if Kel had chosen to actually listen to him.

“You never take any risks,” Kel narrowed his eyes, “But, hey, at least I can say I told you so.” He ran his fingers through his hair, fixing his cowlick, and crossed his arms.

“Sure, sure.” Hero waved his palm, getting up to talk to two boys interested in buying something from their stand.

Kel sighed.

—

“Uh... since when did you like making leis?”

Kel had managed to collect a hoard of flowers from around the town and their own garden later that evening to make a traditional garland. He snuck into their parents room around seven p.m. to grab his mom’s sewing kit, only looking for the needle and a thin thread. He sat himself in the middle of the living room floor, the coffee table pushed aside so that he could lay the mess onto the cleared out space. He figured the living room had the best lighting for crafting purposes.

“I don’t,” Kel grunted, trying to stick a small string through the head of a sewing needle. He had a jar of vaseline next to his feet, accompanied by a scrambled mess of orchids and plumerias. He groaned, accidentally dropping the string for the sixth time. “I’m trying to focus, okay? Shoo.”

“I see what this is,” Hero leaned against the arm of the couch, crossing his arms and readjusting the towel on his shoulders. He scanned the scene, then sat beside his brother to grab the needle and thread the string through the head with ease. “You’ve finally got a girlfriend?”

“How did you do that? And— what? No, I don’t.” Kel scrunched his nose, setting the jar of vaseline on the other side of his criss-crossed legs.

“You’re such a liar!” Hero nudged him with his elbow, handing the needle back to Kel cautiously. “You hate making leis. There’s no way this isn’t for a special someone.”

“Can you just leave me alone? If I want to make a lei, I’ll make one. It doesn’t have to be for anybody.”

“Yeah, right. You don’t make a lei for yourself. they’re gifts, dummy,” Hero rolled his eyes, snickering, and ruffled Kel’s hair before standing up. “Well, if you need any advice—”

“You don’t have a girlfriend either.”

“Hey! I’m working on it,” Hero scoffed, “That was foul...”

“How are you supposed to give me advice on something you don't even have experience in?” Kel turned around, raising a brow before threading the needle through the center of a plumeria.

“Psh! I have more experience than you!”

“You still haven’t made a single move on that fruit stand girl and it's been five months,” Kel turned around to give him a glare. It was so hypocritical of Hero to accuse Kel of not having a love life when Hero, himself, didn’t have one either. He’d banter with the same girl every day but never make a move!

“..Okay, I guess that’s fair,” Hero fiddled with his fingers just thinking about what kind of move he should make in the future. “I’m getting to it, okay?”

“Yup. In about a year.”

“Oh, shut up,” He rolled his eyes, “Anyways, uh... good luck with the lei. I’m sure she’ll love it.”

Hero had gone running up the stairs to their room before Kel had a chance to correct him. Maybe it was a good thing Hero assumed it was a random girl.

-

Kel was practically sweating by the time he was done with the lei. It wasn’t that hard to do, but he had trouble with precision tasks because of his thicker fingers. Threading a little needle coated with vaseline perfectly through the center of little flowers wasn’t his expertise by any means. He couldn’t even count how many times he’d dropped the needle onto the carpet and almost lost it because of how slippery the vaseline was.

The lei wasn’t the best, but it was Kel’s best. He hadn’t worked on a crafty project like this in months. It felt somewhat relieving to get the crafty juices out of him, even if he wasn’t the right build for it in the first place.

Once the clock had struck nine, he scrambled out to wait by the shoreline. He hid the lei behind his back, sitting criss-cross as to hide the gift better. He sat patiently for a good fifteen minutes until the first fin of his friend poked out of the water a few years away.

“Hey, birthday boy,” Kel called, holding a cheeky smile between his palms. “Whatcha been doing all day?”

Sunny peeked out of the water with a faint smile. He ran a few fingers over his hair to get stray strands away from his eyes. The one thing he disliked about the outside air was how flat it made his hair look. Underwater, it was perfect. Even though Sunny wasn’t one to flaunt himself, he took great, personal pride in the visuals of his hair. He scooted up over the bank, adjusting his tail to where the waves would hydrate him.

“Ah... not too much. Well, one of my pod members caught me a seal, actually.” Sunny beamed.

“I can tell,” Kel sat up and laughed, noticing a smidge of blood stuck on one of Sunny’s canines. “But, uh, anyways... I made you this!”

Kel turned behind himself, grabbing a freshly made lei. It was a bit sloppy... but to be fair, it was Kel’s second time making one. He never really participated much in that tradition, but he thought it’d fit this specific occasion. He really had nothing else to offer a merman— a gift from the land seemed more than appropriate. The garland was strung together with plumerias and orchids— Kel placed the gift around Sunny’s neck, fluffing the petals out nicely.

“It’s not, uh... the best, but I’d say it’s not terrible for my second try ever.” Kel rambled, twiddling with his thumbs.

“Kel, this is...” Sunny felt more than flattered. He’d never seen something so beautiful before. The flowers he’d see underwater were nothing like this; aquatic blooms often wilted or died within a few days by nature. Sunny ran his thumb over a few of the petals, admiring the craftsmanship of the loose wreath. “This is wonderful. I... don’t know what to say. You really made this?”

The adoring look on Sunny’s face lit something in him. “U-Uh... Yeah. I did,” Kel continued to twiddle with his thumbs, giving a dopey-like smile. He sat criss-cross, “I picked a bunch of flowers from around my garden, and, um... yeah. It took a while, but I think you’re worth way more than a few hours.”

Sunny snickered at that statement.

“You’ve only known me for a week,” He leaned an elbow onto the sand, offering a smile, “Am I really?”

“You are to me. I haven’t had a good friendship like this in a while. Even if it’s only been a week, I think it's been pretty special.” Kel scratched the side of his cheek, shifting atop the sand restlessly.

Something seemed to bubble in Sunny’s stomach at the words. “I think it’s been pretty special, too.” He offered Kel a fond smile full of warmth and possibility. He stroked the lei again, continuing to scan and admire all of the soft petals.

Kel felt his chest flutter.

“O-Oh! Wait, I have something else, too. I almost forgot.”

“You do? What is it?” Sunny’s ears stuck up, full alert and interest-piqued.

“You’ll see.” Kel tapped Sunny’s nose with a cheeky grin.

Kel ran back over to his house and returned a few minutes later with a little tupperware container filled with something steaming. Sunny watched in awe– He’d never seen ‘smoke’ come out of something like that before. Phenomena like that only occurred close to the ocean floor— somewhere Sunny hadn’t possessed the right water pressure evolution to venture to.

“What is that?” He asked, ears turning and twitching at the sudden influx of curiosity.

“It's food. My mom makes it real good, it’s called spaghetti. I thought you might like it, so I saved you some from earlier.”

Sunny watched with keen eyes, ears perking higher once the scent entered his nose. It smelled delightful. His nose twitched as he inched closer to the container, taking a whiff of it.

“For... me?” He asked, looking up at Kel with significantly larger pupils.

“Yup,” Kel set the container down, holding out a fork for Sunny to grab. He seemed to look even more confused. “Oh, right. You probably have no idea what this is.”

“So, you stick it in the noodles, then you twi—”

Sunny stuck his fingers into the plastic container and scooped a handful of the sauce-covered noodles into his mouth. Kel sat down in subtle shock as he watched Sunny scarf down the serving messily. The sauce got all over his face and the surface of the dock... He was appalled to watch as Sunny just licked it off of the planks.

“Mh my gof, thif is divine,” Sunny whined with delight between bites and swallows, eyes fluttered shut.

“You are... so gross,” Kel covered his face with both palms, dumbfounded at Sunny’s lack of manners. He couldn’t help but snicker a little. “What happened to having some decorum?”

“Some whaf?” Sunny looked up, sauce all over his mouth and a bit on his nose.

“You’re ridiculous,” Kel snorted, wiping the bit of sauce off of Sunny’s nose and flicking it into the sea. At least now he knew Sunny liked the dish...

“Man, I knew it was good, but not that good...”

Within thirty more seconds, the entire container was gone.

“It has so much flavor! Oh my god, if you knew how much less flavor my kind of meals have compared to this...” Sunny gave a satisfied wince, licking the remaining sauce off of his fingers and cleanly off of the inside of the tupperware. “...Do you, um... have any more?”

Sunny gave him an eager grin, ears fluttering. Kel found it quite endearing to see him so excited for something as simple as a bowl of spaghetti.

“Aw, I don’t... but I could save you some more the next time we make some.” Kel scratched the back of his neck, not expecting Sunny to have liked the meal so much. He could hardly call it a meal if Sunny was still wanting more— Kel wondered how much food he intook per day if the big container he’d saved wasn’t nearly enough to keep him full.

“Aww man, that’s fine. Still, this has gotta be... the best birthday ever,” Sunny snickered, looking down to see that he’d gotten a bunch of sauce on the lei Kel had made for him. He frowned, “Oh, clams... I messed up your gift.”

“That’s okay,” Kel giggled, reassuringly, helping him wipe away some of the sauce. “I can always make another. Besides, it’s not like you could’ve worn it underwater anyways.”

Sunny offered a sincere smile. “You’re too sweet.”

–

June and July rolled over the clock steadily, filled with warm nights and dark, memorable skies. Meeting with Sunny every night at nine p.m. sharp was now part of his routine; he’d been able to keep it a great secret, too. No one in his house knew he’d been sneaking out of the kitchen window for the past two months. Not even his brother.

Kel, to say the least, was extremely grateful that the majority of the house wasn’t creaky. Surely he’d be caught if he stepped on a loose plank— Lucky for him, he’d known all the weak points on his floorboards for years. That was one of the perks about living in the same house his entire life.

August was one of Kel’s favorite months.

The temperature around the islands began to slowly drop from high nineties and low hundreds to the mid eighties, which Kel took an incredible liking to. The close of Mauna’s purgatory-like summer was so relieving. Kel was sick of smearing sunscreen all over his shoulders and cheeks— Now, he could go outside and enjoy the natural rays without worrying about getting some type of skin poisoning.

His family’s business was flourishing, too, even more than before. With Sunny’s plan working phenomenally better than he expected, Kel was reeling in the best of Mauna’s seafood. If people thought his family’s goods were sufficient before, they were even better now. So much better that his family began to question some of his tactics... The other day, he’d even caught a full-grown sailfish! Though he’d almost lost it, Sunny had luckily been close enough to his boat to notice and dig his claws into the thrashing fish. Though it had a few claw marks, no one took significant notice. Kel passed it off as the fish being nipped by a blacktip: it had sold for seventy dollars flat that day.

August had also brought a sudden closeness that Kel hadn’t anticipated before.

Spending every night with the same siren, at the same time, all alone made him feel... special. He had acquired the most unexpected friendship he could’ve ever thought of. Every night he was granted everything he’d ever wanted from another person; undivided attention and genuine feedback. Sunny was such an attentive individual, and when he did speak, he never shouted. He was a bit snarky, Kel had discovered, but never vocally loud. He’d lend Kel an ear whenever he wanted to joke, complain, or make small talk. It was wonderful. In fact, Kel took a liking to the boy’s more sarcastic, jokey side.

Kel finally felt appreciated for once in his life.

“I actually forgot to ask you something I was thinking about a couple weeks ago,” Kel began, rubbing his eyes. His legs dangled loosely over the edge of the same dock, creasing his calves and pruning his toes. He blinked a few times before finishing his sentence.

“Oh?” Sunny raised a brow, folding his arms over the dock’s slippery ledge and onto Kel’s knees. Kel always had fun questions for him.

“I was gonna ask if you had any pets. Like, uh… companions of another species? That… you take care of? I don’t really know how to–”

“I know what a pet is. And, actually, I do,” Sunny snickered, “Well, kinda. He’s not entirely mine, but… I do feed him and stuff when he comes around. He’s a small, brown-ish seahorse.”

“You’re kidding,” Kel gave him a wide, almost expectant grin, “That’s adorable.”

Sunny scoffed. “What’s adorable about it?”

“I dunno. It feels pretty typical of you.” Kel gave a smirk. Generally, his snarky comments were only to get a funny reaction out of Sunny.

“Typical?” Sunny scoffed again. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He crossed his arms and sat back just as Kel expected he would. Kel enjoyed how predictable Sunny’s reactions were.

“It’s not a bad thing! I think it's cute!” Kel tried to save himself, but to no avail. Sunny flicked Kel’s nose out of annoyance.

“Oh yeah? I bet I could guess what kind of pet you have,” Sunny shot him a grin, “Then we can really see who’s the predictable one.”

“Be my guest.” Kel giggled.

“Hmm… A turtle?” Sunny guessed, but by looking at Kel’s unchanged expression, he knew he was wrong.

“Nope.”

“Some guppies?” He tried again.

“Not even close. Wow, I thought you would’ve proved me wrong by now.” Kel joked, which Sunny met with an eye roll.

“Okay, smart guy. A bird?”

“No way!”

“Alright, I’ve got it. You’ve got a tuna.”

“What?! Oh, you’re funny.” Kel grinned, enjoying the banter more than the bet itself.

Sunny snickered, a toothy grin snaking its way onto his cheeks. He gave up. “Okay, you got me. I have no idea.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kel tilted his head, folding his arms and resting his head between them, “I have a dog. His name’s Hector.”

“Well, at least I can bug you on how predictable the name you chose is,” Sunny tried to recover himself, but to little avail. “I would’ve never guessed. I don’t even know what a dog is.”

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. With you being a fish and all.” Kel snorted, watching intently to see what kind of reaction Sunny would have this time.

“I’m not a fish. I’m a mammal.” Sunny uncrossed his arms and leaned forward with a narrow, spiteful grin.

“I know exactly what you are. A nerd.”

“Ha-ha! You’re so funny. You’re mad because I’m smarter than you.” Sunny gave a pesky laugh, finding their bickering completely unserious.

“Aww, you wish,” Kel pouted and stuck his tongue out. “Anyways… about my dog. I could bring him out, if you want. He’s friendly!”

Sunny raised his brows.

“..Are you sure? I don’t want you to get caught.”

“I’m sure. It’s no biggie,” Kel waved his palm, standing on his two feet. “Stay here.”

“You act like I want to leave.” Sunny laughs, and Kel’s heartbeat slows. He likes knowing Sunny enjoys being around him. He doesn’t think he’s met anyone who felt that way about him in a long time. Kel flashes a smile and jogs up to the front of his house a few dozen yards away.

The windows are covered by their shutters. Luckily, Kel likes to keep a window cracked open in the kitchen to let in fresh air while Hero cooks. He runs around the back, gently raising the sill with his flat palms— Just enough to where he fits through.

Kel winces when the cold tile hits his toes. He slips in, puckering his lips to make quiet tick-like noises. He smiles when his curly-tailed dog waddles over, beady eyes blinking from below.

“Hey, buddy,” Kel leans down to stroke his ears and scratch his chin, “Wanna meet a new friend?” Hector doesn’t respond, obviously. Kel takes it as a yes after seeing the way his tail wags side to side.

“You’re gonna be a rebel today,” Kel snickers to himself as he sneaks the small dog out of the window with him. “No barking, got it? You’ll get us both in trouble if you do.” Kel points a finger at Hector, who digs his paws in the sand. He doesn’t understand. Kel has always had a funky habit of talking to animals whom he knows don’t know nor care about what he has to say.

Picking the dog back up, he scurries back to the dock. Sunny is still there, of course, a look of peak interest on his face.

“I’ve never seen one of those in my entire life,” Sunny comments, and Hector’s ears shoot up the moment he sees the mer as he tries to squirm out of Kel’s arms. “He doesn’t bite, does he?”

The dog ran over to him, burying his nose in every crevice available— Sunny yelped and moved backward, earning a bark from Hector.

“Shhhh! No, Hector! What did I just tell you?” Kel put a hand on his hip and shot a glare down at his, unfortunately, loud pet.

Hector was much too focused on the strange being in front of him to pay attention to whatever Kel was saying.

“Aw.. he’s kinda cute,” Sunny inched closer to the edge of the dock, running his fingers behind the dog’s ears and scratching. It feels especially nice because of Sunny’s blunt claws. Hector sits, then rolls over. Sunny tilts his head. “What’s he doing?”

Kel giggles. “He wants you to rub his belly.”

“I feel like I’m about to be attacked.”

Kel sits back down, crossing his legs to pet Hector, too. He laughs at Sunny’s wary comment.

“The most he’ll do is lick your face or take a dump somewhere really inconvenient…” Kel scratched the back of his neck while Sunny giggled at his response.

“What’s his name again?”

“Hector.”

“That’s… a people name.”

“Oh, like you’d know what a ‘people’ name is. Sunny,” Kel joked, earning a flick on the nose from Sunny. “Ouch!”

“At least my name isn’t Kelsey,” Sunny raised his brows and gave Hector a few scritches under the chin. A few moments later, the dog curled up beside one of the dock’s pillars. It was way past Hector’s bedtime. Kel took his place and scooted forward, laying belly-down on the planks to face Sunny with a pout.

“That’s foul.”

“You asked for it.” Sunny ran his fingers over Kel’s cheek and behind his ear, tucking a few stray strands between. His thumb continued to run languidly over the skin; however, he realized the intimacy of the movement and subtly jolted his hand back. Kel’s eyes were slightly blown at the action, but he didn’t push him away.

Sunny narrowed his eyes, perusing Kel’s facial features.

“...What is it?” Kel asked, a scrunched smile on his face and jittery fingers. Kel felt a little uneasy. He wasn’t used to being directly acknowledged for so long.

Sunny tilted his head slowly, scanning away from Kel’s face and over to his shoulders. He positioned himself a little more upright before giving a smile.

“Can I tell you something?” The expression was tapered and focused, almost piercing.

“Uh.. sure. Yeah.” Kel blinked, his attention unwavered.

“You’re– Okay, I don’t want to make this weird. But like, you’re… how do I say this... Charming? …Handsome? Which word is better?” Sunny tapped his chin, his eyes still narrowed.

Kel didn’t know it was possible to feel this warm so rapidly. It felt as if his entire face was turning red, and from the sudden ‘about to laugh’ look on Sunny’s face, Kel was.

“What?” He said, eyes blown wide, mouth dry. “Really? I mean, you think so?” His eyes flew everywhere except onto Sunny’s. What, he thought, head spinning, the hell? Warmth snaked over his chest and squeezed his lungs, tugging on his throat and pulling down. He felt like he was going to choke on air. He tried to act as casual as possible, petting Hector as they spoke with one another.

“Are you expecting me to say ‘no’ or something?” Sunny let out an airy laugh, his fingers intertwining with his other hand on the sand, the grains sticking to his skin.

“I just wanted to let you know you have cute features. That’s all.” A pointy smile arose upon his lips– and Kel couldn’t help but stare at the pearly reflectanct texture of his teeth. Kel had always wondered how he kept them so clean, despite bringing dead, bloody sea mammals and fish to Kel’s dock so often. Who knows how much Sunny hunted outside of how often he brought food to Kel?

“...Th– thank you.” Kel felt a stronger warmth crawl onto his cheeks, bright ears and all. He scratched the back of his neck, nervous and giddy regarding the compliment. His attention was drawn back to Sunny’s teeth again as he spoke, the words muffling through Kel’s ears as he admired the sharpness.

He knows it’s kinda weird to stare at someone’s teeth, but this was different! He didn’t have regular human teeth. I mean, sure, they were in the same places and about the same size as his own, but they were sharp. Really sharp. Not only that, but Kel thought it was cute the way one of Sunny’s canines would stick out of his lips after speaking. To Sunny, though, it just seemed like Kel was staring at his mouth.

Sunny began to talk about something else, presumably to change the topic— However, all Kel could really do was eye the sharpness of every tooth while Sunny spoke. It was somewhat intriguing. The sharpest teeth Kel had were his canines, and even then, they were nowhere near as serrated or acute as Sunny’s.

Kel’s fingers got a little too close to Sunny’s mouth while he was speaking.

“You weren’t even listening to what I was saying, were you…” Sunny laughed a little. None of Kel’s staring or touchy acts bothered him; He knew Kel was just curious. Curiosity managed to get the best of him sometimes, but Sunny didn’t mind.

“Sorry, I…” Kel choked for a second; He wasn’t calculating his breathing-to-talking ratio correctly and managed to literally choke on his own words. Sunny patted his back as he coughed for a few more moments.

“Were you checking out my mouth?” Sunny asked between the pats on Kel’s back.

Kel turned red. Sunny took it as he wasn’t able to breathe, though, instead of embarrassment.

“Are you seriously choking?! Here, it’s okay, I’ve got y-” Kel stopped him, putting a hand up to Sunny’s face as his coughing resided.

“Ugh! That was awful. Anyways,” Kel tried brushing off the awkwardness. He really wanted to change the topic.

“You’re really trying to ignore the fact that you almost just died.”

“I didn’t almost die! You’re so dramatic.” Kel started laughing again, thanking the gods that his cheeks began returning to normal.

“I’m revoking your laughing privileges. You’re gonna choke again!”

“I’m not!” Kel was giggling, now. It was hard to get these types of giggles out of him nowadays, since he never had anything to be excited about. Now, he does– ever since he met Sunny; a sly little mer that slipped into his life so quickly he’d forgotten the exact day they’d met. He’d forgotten the last time he’d been unhappy, too.

Kel wasn’t a forgetful guy. He wasn’t a clumsy one, either, but Sunny changed both of those things. He was always scrambling to his feet or stumbling over whatever his toes could catch on whenever Sunny was around; But it wasn’t like Sunny brought out the worst in him. It was quite the opposite, actually— Kel was more upbeat, smiley, and lost his snappy attitude at home. In fact, he’d started acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. Nobody cared enough to question it, but it didn’t matter to him. He had something to look forward to now. He had that something every evening. The business was thriving, his brother left him alone, and he had Sunny all to himself every night. That was more than enough to keep Kel perfectly content.

The giggling grew just a bit quieter as Kel eventually had to catch his breath. “You’re always so giggly,” Sunny chirped, flicking Kel’s nose. “You were saying something a second ago, no? Before you died right in front of me?”

“I was,” He confessed, laughing at the forefront comment, eyeing Sunny’s teeth again. He still wondered how he never bit his tongue or cheek by accident. Sunny never told him he didn’t, but Kel was sure that if he did, he’d be able to tell; Biting your tongue with teeth as sharp as razor blades wasn’t something he expected anyone to manage to keep quiet about.

Kel inhaled, “Tell me if this question is weird, but like, I’m really curious,”

“Go on…?” Sunny raised a brow, still smiling.

“Can I see your teeth?” He’d managed to blurt it out. Today wasn’t exactly the first day he’d thought about asking that question.

“Oh, these bad boys?” Sunny met his eyes with a sharp grin. “You know, I’m not supposed to be showing them off since it’s considered rude… but you know I don’t really care about fancy manners.”

“Mhm...” Kel snickered at Sunny’s last comment.

Kel ran a thumb over one of Sunny’s pointy canines, pressing down a little to see how much pressure it would take to start hurting. The answer was, not long.

“Owch,” His index finger wandered to support Sunny’s chin as he admired the sharp teeth. “Did you chip this one?” He pointed to Sunny’s right canine with his other hand.

“Yeah, I did a few months back. Sucks because they never regrow,” Sunny cleared his throat, “That’s the only thing I’m ever jealous about when it comes to sharks. It’s not fair that they get replacements when they mess up!” Kel snickered at the complaint. Sunny was… frankly, quite cute in Kel’s eyes. He was so chirpy, and though he complained about little things often, Kel found the whiny attitude entertaining. Maybe a little bit endearing that he trusted Kel enough to tell him about his personal complaints in life.

Sunny closed his mouth once Kel had removed his thumb. He still had his index finger on his chin, though, and Sunny thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to bring up the question he had earlier; “So, you were checking out my mouth?”

Kel hated that crooked smug smile Sunny would give him in situations like these.

“I was sure you’d stop looking so surprised by now,” He scoffed, rolling his eyes, resting his head on his forearm as he laid belly-down on the dock. “But… Maybe.” Kel shot him a goofy smile, tilting his head.

“Hmm,” Sunny placed his head on his forearms too, mirroring Kel while his other half lay still in the bay. “Are you checking it out right now?” He asked again, his grin turning to more of a sneer.

“That’s confidential.” was Kel’s only response as he inched closer, lips slightly ajar, half-lidded.

He was so close to getting what he wanted. Kel’s lips just barely grazed Sunny’s before the boy put the tips of his fingers up to his mouth. Kel pouted.

“It’s getting late.” Sunny said, hushed. His voice would’ve been inaudible if Kel was more than a foot away, if the birds had been a little more noisy. Sunny’s smile was loud, though. His ears twitched, moonlight draped carefully over the wet skin.

“You’re such a tease.” Kel commented as Sunny sunk a little further into the water. He frowned playfully, leaning over the dock as the water now covered Sunny’s shoulders.

“You’ll see me tomorrow.” Sunny cooed, his smile interrupted when Kel cupped his face and planted a gentle kiss on the bridge of his nose.

“I know.”

Sunny’s cheeks flushed pink, relaxing into the warmth of Kel’s hands before disappearing back into the depths of the lagoon. This was new.

Kel had a lovesick smile splattered all on his cheeks. This was something else he could look forward to.

–

“You’re early today!”

Kel hummed from atop his well-worn fishing dock, looking down at his favorite merperson in the whole world as he drew closer. I mean, it’s not like he knew any others, but you get the point. He was smiling as warmly as humanly possible, sitting criss-cross with his hands in his lap.

But Sunny didn’t reply, strangely enough. His fins sliced smoothly through the water, leaving small ripples in their wake as he rose to rest his palms on the planks. It seemed like he had something clutched in his mouth and something else cradled in his hands. He didn’t even look up at Kel when he spoke— or really acknowledge him at all until he laid the miscellaneous items down on the weathered wood.

Yesterday’s events brought some sort of realization into Sunny’s veins. He liked Kel– He really did. He hadn’t enjoyed someone’s presence in this way ever before; so maybe this was serious. If he and Kel were serious, there was no harm in trying to express that, right?

“Uh,” Kel raised a brow, looking at the items. Sunny brought him things often, but these in particular were… higher quality? Way higher quality than normal. There were three shiny, multicolored seashells and one large, glistening conch. The inside of the conch was bright pink and coiled cautiously around to the front of the shell, leaving its glory to bounce off of the barely visible sunset. Sunny had placed the three smaller shells around it precisely, increasing the beauty of this display.

It was extremely eye-catching, to say the least– and it showed all over Kel’s face; his mouth was slightly agape whilst staring at the pretty items laying in front of him.

“What are these fo-” Sunny put a finger up to his own lips with a light scowl, dropping the fish he had in his mouth in front of him. Kel took the hint– He stayed quiet. It didn’t clear up any of his confusion, but if Sunny was happy, he was happy.

The pink snapper had almost no teeth marks in it from Sunny’s hold, somehow. It seemed like Sunny had been purposely cautious not to leave indents in it– Unlike the other fish Sunny would usually bring, it looked like Kel would actually be able to cook and eat this one.

Now Kel was really confused.

Sunny’s face looked a little flushed, now that Kel took the time to notice it. He’d been so distracted looking at the things Sunny had brought for him that he hadn’t seen how nervous Sunny looked all while placing it in front of him. Sunny took a deep breath, his hands focused on gripping the dock’s edge to hold him up; a low rumbling sound started rolling off his throat. Kel didn’t think he’d ever been more confused in his life.

He still hadn’t spoken.

“Are… you okay?” Kel asked, the confused smile he had before curling downward now, concerned. He was never this silent when they met up. Sunny nodded before putting another finger up to Kel’s mouth to hush him. Maybe he was sick..? They did talk a lot yesterday; it was possible he lost his voice, but Kel doubted that. He still didn’t understand what this was all about, but he obliged.

Sunny tugged Kel down by his shirt and bumped his forehead against his. Clicking noises came from his throat and rolled off his chest, carefully pressing his teeth against Kel’s jaw and rubbing forward in a rake-like action. He made sure not to scratch Kel, however. The clicks were somewhat therapeutic. It almost sounded like a low purr.

It took a few more seconds of complete confusion before Kel was finally aware of what Sunny was trying to do; He turned completely red.

“Are you– Are you trying to court me?” He jerked backward a little, his cheeks burning bright and prodigiously. He didn’t mean to jolt that quickly. Now, it was Sunny’s turn to look confused— and a little upset.

“You don’t… accept it?” His ears sank a little. It looked like his whole demeanor had wilted. His grip loosened on the dock, his shoulders slouching over.

“No, I- I mean, no, it's not that! I– well, you–” Kel didn’t even know it was humanly possible to turn redder than before. “Ahhhh!” Kel groaned playfully, covering his face with his palms and sinking down onto the wooden planks.

How was he even meant to react to this?

“Did I do something wrong? I’ve… uh, never done this before.” Sunny asked, a little quieter this time. “Is it the shells? I couldn’t find very many that were scratchless...”

If he didn’t look sad before, he definitely did now. His chin rested on the edge of the last plank of the dock, his fingers holding onto the sides. His ears flopped over and his brows furrowed. Kel quickly lifted his head when he heard the tone shift in Sunny’s voice.

He took Sunny’s hands within his own and tried his best to look him in the eyes as he spoke.

“No! No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I, um, I didn’t know that was…” Kel cleared his throat, cheeks flared, “I just… wasn’t expecting it! I’ve never been… um, courted the way you do it. We, uh… ‘land people’ just ask differently, that’s all!”

Kel felt huge waves of nervousness washing up and down his spine as he spoke, realizing what he said may have been confusing. He had a goofy, awkward smile smeared on his face as he continued to speak.

“Not– Not that I don’t accept it this way, though!” Kel tried to save himself from the obscurity of his last comment. In his defense, how was he supposed to respond? His cheeks were incredibly warm to the touch. This was one of the most outward courts he’d ever seen in his life— other than just asking with words, of course.

“Then… how do I ask in your way? What’s the land-person way?” Sunny’s concern turned into a little smile. He could tell Kel was just as nervous as he was– that seemed to calm his nerves more than before. He felt his heart speed up and pound against his ribs. He allowed his forearms to slither forward as he awaited Kel’s response.

Kel swallowed thickly. He didn’t exactly know either if he was being honest.

“Well, um… you give them flowers, I think… and, um… eat… food together? And… tell them how much you mean to them.” He was scratching the back of his neck as he spoke. He was unsure how to describe this to someone who wasn’t human, and it clearly showed. Hell, he knew nothing about traditional romance himself.

“Well… do shells count? For flowers?” Sunny glanced at the amalgamation of shells in between them both. Sunny nuzzled his way into his own folded forearms, looking Kel carefully in the eyes as he did so. It was like it was only the two of them in the entire world at that moment. He couldn’t look away. “And that time you gave me that lei for my birthday. That counts, right?”

“...Oh. Yeah,” Kel nodded, snuggling his way between his forearms, mirroring Sunny. “That does.”

“And... you brought food out for me on my birthday, too, right? What about that?” Sunny chirped, “Does that count?” Sunny asked again, only his smile was visibly wider. His mouth was covered by his arms, but the squish of his cheeks against his under eyes showed everything Kel ever needed to know. Kel took notice of the twitch in Sunny’s ears as he continued to ask these questions.

“I-I think so,” Kel mirrored. His eyes began to squint due to the press of his smile. “That also counts.” His chest felt heavy. It seemed like he would be hiding in his arms like this forever.

“And… Well.. um… does my courting count? I mean, I can tell you how much you mean to me in words if that’s how I’m supposed to do it.” He lifted his head, his uneasiness looking to completely sizzle away. Kel seemed just as nervous as he was, meaning there was no real reason for Sunny to feel anxious.

“You– You, uh, don’t have to do that.” The embarrassment splattered on Kel’s cheeks had spread to the rest of his face. He was actually turning completely red. He was covering his face against his palms again to hide the color, but to no avail.

“How about this,” Sunny was smiling coyly as he peeled back Kel’s fingers off his eyes. The painfully obvious blush on his face was a huge motive and an even bigger confidence boost. Sunny got a little closer, grinning with a calm inhale.

“I think… you’re handsome.”

It looked like Kel was actually melting on the outside. His head sank lower and his cheeks grew warmer as he buried his head between the dock and Sunny’s chest as he leaned over the wooden boards. He’d squeaked a little in total embarrassment. Sunny only pulled his head closer with his arms as he continued his little rant.

“I like your voice,” He cooed. “Anddd… I love the way you talk. I like all of your stories.” He kept going, and Kel had his eyes squeezed shut.

“Sunnyyyy…” He murmured between his arms, still as red as a tomato. Sunny began running his fingers through Kel’s hair as Kel nestled himself further against Sunny’s upper chest, forehead pressed against his collarbone. Sunny ran the tips of his fingers through Kel’s hair carefully, not wanting to pull by accident.

“You have such pretty hair,” It didn’t seem like Sunny would be stopping any time soon. “I like how determined you are… and I like how easily embarrassed you get.” Sunny made himself snicker at the last part.

Even the tips of Kel’s ears were burning bright red with every sentence Sunny chirped into his head, the words bouncing around in his skull, sinking into every fiber of his brain and materializing into an even redder face. He felt dizzy at this point.

“You make me feel like I have somewhere to belong,” He chirred, his ears fluttering, “You’ve made me realize that somewhere can be a person.”

“Sunny...” Kel squeezed himself further against Sunny’s arms, his chest beginning to ache from the desperate pounding of his heart. He seriously felt like he was going to explode– And if this were some sort of cartoon, he was sure there would be steam rolling off his head from how hot his face felt.

“Too much? I’ll stop, hehe.” Sunny hushed himself by placing a languid kiss on the back of Kel’s head, his fingers still strung between the tangled sections of his hair. He’d shifted himself a little in favor of comfortability before nosing his way against Kel’s neck.

Kel whined, muffled by the dock as Sunny laughed at him.

“Oh my god…” Kel murmured under his breath.

“Was that good? Is that the human way to ask you to be mine?” Sunny hummed against the nape of Kel’s neck, voluntarily pressing another kiss there. Everything felt so warm– the good kind and the overwhelming kind; Kel’s whole facial region was extremely hot to the touch.

Kel nodded slowly, his eyes still squeezed shut sheepishly.

“...Yes.” his voice was smothered by Sunny’s arms.

“So…will you? Be mine?” His breath was a little warm against Kel’s neck. It didn’t help the fact that he was already sweating from how embarrassed he was. Kel’s entire body felt as if it were palpitating with warm and cool flashes.

“I’ve been yours this whole time.” Kel lifted his head and rolled his eyes playfully, pecking Sunny’s cheek and letting it linger for a few moments longer. He had a crooked, cheeky smile on his face.

Sunny returned that dorkish energy with a toothy grin of his own.

“Really?” He whispered, his smile as loud as he wanted his words to be. Kel nodded quickly, leaning closer to bump his forehead against his for a stronger confirmation than words could ever grant him.

Kel continued, “Can I ask something?” Sunny’s eyes lit up, nodding at the sincerity. He felt his heart pounding on his ribcage, rippling the skin that graced the air and tingling up to the tips of his ears. His fingers trembled against the timid ones of Kel’s whilst he bit his tongue.

“Yes,” Sunny said, hushed.

“Can I kiss you? I mean– for real?” He laughed, and this time, there wasn’t any room for a pause. Sunny nodded instantaneously, his eyes looking about as giddy as the wiggling of his ears. A satisfied squeal rolled off his vocal cords as Sunny tilted his head to the left and inched impossibly closer; He wrapped his arms around the nape of Kel’s neck and tugged him down.

“And you won’t scam me this time?” Kel furrowed his eyebrows in a teasing manner. Sunny snickered, nodding so subtly that if Kel were to have been any further from his face, he wouldn’t have noticed the movement at all.

He cradled their first kiss to Kel’s lips.

Kel’s jaw inclined in an attempt of replicating Sunny’s unbothered confidence, his mouth weak to the reality that he felt himself melt against his warm skin. He felt another thing; A blossom. Kel felt his heart bloom and flourish beneath Sunny’s lips. To be honest, he didn’t even taste good. Not even remotely okay. He smelled of seawater and sand, maybe a little metallic from his diet; but it was Sunny, and so in every way, Kel was infatuated under the impression that this was the best flavor in the entire world. He wanted nothing more.

Red struck their cheeks like a thick layer of smog on a bed of the sky, completely smitten in each other’s arms. Kel began to snicker, feeling so self aware all of the sudden.

“You literally have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.” Kel smiled cheekily, pulling Sunny back to kiss him again. He could get used to this.

“It’s been three months.” Sunny said, snickering, too, in return; he decided that shallow kisses with Kel were his new favorite thing. He pulled Kel into another.

“Best three months of my life,” Kel said between the kisses, all his bottled sappiness starting to flow right out of his chest.

“You just… feel so unreal. I can’t believe I have you here.” Kel added, squishing Sunny’s cheeks together with his palms.

“I can’t either. How lucky was it for me to land right in your bay?”

“Incredibly.” He dove in for more.

–

Helping Hero prep the canoe for fishing was nowhere near Kel’s favorite activity. Tightening the halyards, spreading out nets, securing fishing rods, etc. was all so... boring. Kel found it to be the least entertaining part of his day other than sitting asea staring at the west channel. At least, then, he could daydream away to occupy his mind. Boat prep required him to actually listen to instructions, to Kel’s dismay.

When they’d finally passed the period of rowing out to the center of the lagoon, Kel let out a sigh of relief. At least now he could occupy himself with fake realities. Maybe Sunny would appear if he imagined it hard enough. Like any other normal individual, however, hours of doing the same thing sowed incredible boredom. Kel had been picking at his nails for thirty minutes before actually speaking up.

“Are we ever gonna get anything on the line? It’s been hours.”

The canoe was small. Kel’s patience was smaller. He and his brother had been waiting in the bay like this for hours, hoping, praying something would grab onto the line. Anything.

“I know, Kel. It’s not like I can just magically summon a grouper or something. Do I look like the fish mangling master to you?” Hero snickered at his own sarcastic joke.

Kel hated sarcasm. Well, he hated it when he wasn’t the one enacting it.

“Whatever.” He sighed. A shortage of fish in the bay wasn’t what got in the way of them catching anything— it was just their bait. His family wasn’t the richest. They couldn’t really afford to get better bait than this, and to their dismay, it left them sitting in the middle of the ocean for hours at a time with a weak-strung fishing rod.

If only Sunny were here to help him out. Kel’s pesky brother was told to go out with him to keep him out of trouble while he fished; He’d been pulling in a suspicious amount of good, fresh fish into their house for the last few weeks, and his mother wanted to make sure he wasn’t stealing from others’ nets. Hero, his brother, was the most reliable option for that. Kel found it offensive his parents would even think that of him, but what was he to do about it?

Kel gasped a little under his breath. Something was moving under the water, a shadow of some sort, but he couldn’t really make it out until its head drew closer to the surface. The creature, err… person, poked his head out of the water near the bottom of the boat.

“Hi.” The voice purred, blunt nails running over his own damp forehead to move wet bangs out of his line of sight.

Sunny.

Kel scrambled to cover him, freaking out quietly. What was Sunny doing here now?! With a frantic whisper, Kel spoke quietly, “Sunny! You can’t be here, man, not now–! My brother is literally right there. He’ll kill you.”

Sunny took a quick glance at Hero on the other side of the boat. He was facing the other way, seemingly lost in his own mind, too.

“Well... he will if he hears you screaming at me,” Sunny smiled annoyingly at Kel who was still frantically trying to shoo him away. He lifted his forearms over the ledge of the rowboat, dampening the planks, turning them dark and saturated with saltwater. “You gotta go, seriously. You don’t know what I’d do if he hurt you.”

Despite Kel’s warnings, he still leaned in closer.

“You’re no fun.” Sunny murmured, sliding his thumb over Kel’s chin. It was almost like he was gonna-

Oh.

Kel felt a quick, warm kiss from the culprit press his lips before being splashed in the face with water. Just like that, Sunny was gone. And just like that, he was completely red. Did he really just do that?

“What are you doing back there? If you sink our canoe, I swear–” Hero’s words quickly faded out. Kel’s head was way too clouded with what had just happened to give a care in the world about what his brother was babbling about.

Sunny would never let him live this down.

–

“Next time, when you’re on the boat without a visitor, maybe I can give you a better one,”

The words echoed and bounced around in Kel’s skull. He starts to subtly freak out. He’s here, out on his little fishing canoe again, waiting for a special someone to pay him a visit. Luckily, he isn’t with Hero this time to interrupt his plans. But… He’s a little nerve-wracked. It’s been an hour.

He still can’t believe what Sunny did the last time he was on this fishing boat with his brother. He actually swam over, knowing he could’ve been killed, knowing Kel’s brother would’ve been the one to do it, and still had the smug nerve to kiss him and leave. Just like that.

Kel wasn’t going to let him get away with it. Or, at least he wanted to not let him get away with it– He isn’t exactly the best at ‘putting the foot down’ – especially not when it comes to Sunny.

“Stupid, stupid…” He mumbles to himself.

Another thing he’s doing is sweating. And turning a bit red. It had only been a few weeks of them dating, and Sunny was teasing him to no end.

He felt the boat shake once and paused his little underbreath rant, whipping his head over to the source.

“Um… Sunny?” He hooked a finger over the hem of his white tank top, fanning it a bit. It was humid. Being in almost direct sunlight didn’t make him feel any better.

There were only a few pale fingers coiled onto the edge of his boat that gave Sunny away. “I literally see you.” He scoffed, flicking Sunny’s fingers.

“Yeowch! So rude.” Sunny peeked over the wooden edge of the boat. Kel sat there, above him, arms crossed and brows unamused.

“You wanna tell me exactly why you pulled that stunt yesterday?” Kel tapped his fingers on his elbows, attempting to put up some kind of stern act.

It was Sunny’s turn to look unamused. “You’re not serious.” He flicked Kel’s nose, pulling himself up onto the ledge of the wood with his forearms. “He didn’t see me.”

“But he could’ve! You would’ve been-”

“I know, but no one in this whole entire bay has ever seen me. And if they had, there’d be some sort of bounty, er… whatever you land-people call it– on my head! On. My. Head. Look at me, look at where I’m pointing–” He was smiling now.

Sunny’s finger was pointing at his own head to prove his point, which completely cracked Kel out of his stern act and left him doubling over his side in laughter.

“I’m looking at you. I’m looking, I see you.” He managed to choke out an excuse for a sentence while laughing. If any other fishermen had been out here, they’d call Kel crazy for looking like he was laughing at still water.

“Then look into my eyes! You aren’t looking into my eyes!” Sunny couldn’t help himself but grin along with him. A few squeal-esque sounds seemed to come from his vocal cords as he laughed along.

Kel knew it meant Sunny was enjoying himself. He drew a little closer to do exactly what Sunny was asking of him.

“You’re happy?” He said, calming himself down as he leaned into his own forearms in the same manner Sunny had.

“You should know that already.” was Sunny’s quick-witted response, as per usual.

Kel couldn’t keep himself mad.

“But, hey, didn’t I promise you something?” Sunny’s expression turned into more of a devious kind of look. There he was. Regular, stupidly smug Sunny.

“You didn’t promise,” Kel laughed, “You said, and I quote, ‘maybe’.”

“Well, maybe I changed my mind,” Sunny snapped back, although it was much more of a gentler snap than usual. Kel felt a half-slippery, half-regular human touch pull at his neck, dragging his face down. “It doesn’t matter if I promised or not, now that I think about it.”

Kel didn’t get the chance to reply since his lips were now suddenly occupied by Sunny’s. His lips were warm, and undoubtedly salty from the ocean… but Kel enjoyed it nonetheless. Sunny’s arms wrapped a little tighter around Kel’s neck, not wanting to let go; It was a strange feeling, though, since half of his arms were covered in orca skin. It was interestingly slimy.

Kel was much too occupied to notice the canoe tipping over until it was too late.

“Uh, Sunn-'' The weight of them both on one specific side of the small boat left it flipping right over their heads. Oops.

–

Kel spun his fork in circles along the center of his bowl, feet restless under the dining kitchen island. He had a firm, zoned out stare at his saimin, which he’d barely touched. The bowl itself had turned to room temperature after fifteen minutes of Kel’s lack of attention.

Hero sat right beside him.

They normally shared lunch together in the early afternoon of the beginning of the week— It seemed to be a normal Sunday for them both. Eleven had drawn Hero out to the church around two blocks away with noon demanding his return home. He’d make the both of them something to eat for lunch while their parents were out managing seafood sales. Lately, they’d been catching a lot of lobster rather than fish. Kel had to tone down the help Sunny had been granting him— it was getting too close for comfort.

Lobsters and crayfish would have to do for now.

“Hey, uh... I’ve been wanting to ask you something for like, the last couple weeks.”

Kel had no audible response, simply looking over to his brother and hoping that it would be enough acknowledgement for him to continue speaking.

“So... how come you haven’t been attending any services lately?” Hero placed his fork beside his bowl onto a fresh napkin. “Mama has been bugging me about it, and... I thought it would be better for me to ask you rather than her. You know how she is.”

“Uh... I dunno,” Kel twirled his fork and slid the silverware into his mouth, noodle-bound. “It’s boring.”

Hero raised a brow. “I mean, it is a little boresome, but it’s good to have a connection with some sort of faith, no?”

“Eh,” Kel shrugged. “I don’t feel very... connected to all that stuff. I use that hour for better things.”

“...Like what?”

“Staring at the floor.” Kel snickered at his own comment. Hero didn’t seem to appreciate the lack of sincerity.

“I’m serious, though, Kel... You should be coming to the sermons with mom and I.”

“What about dad, eh? I never see him at church with you both.”

“He’s in the city. You know that,” Hero sighed, fiddling with the handle of his fork. “He has things to do. But I know he stays in touch. You don’t. I just want to know what’s up with it.”

“I already told you. I’m not interested in any of that stuff.” Kel glanced the other way. He grabbed his bowl, holding it up to his mouth to swallow the rest of the broth.

“At... At all?” Hero asked, seemingly more concerned than upset. “Did something happen, or... do you really just, not... feel the connection anymore?”

“I just... don’t feel it. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Not to mention, I feel like they’re scaring kids with those stories about sea monsters.” Kel mentioned the last part a bit quickly. It happened to be one of his main concerns with their beliefs.

Hero snapped back. “Fear is the only way kids learn to stay away from them.”

“Have you ever even seen one? How do we even know they’re evil?” Kel turned to his left abruptly, snapping right back. “I mean, look at the murals. They’re beautiful. Why would a kid be afraid of something so... pretty?”

“Kel... that’s the idea. We tell them that the sirens act beautiful to lead you astray. That’s the whole point.” Hero scrunched his nose, firmer with his words. He was confused why Kel was being so stubborn about this subject in particular. Hero had thought maybe Kel was growing distant because of boredom, not the belief itself. He was wrong.

“You act like you know one.” Kel accused, realizing what kind of hypocrisy he’d just inflicted upon himself. He stayed firm in hopes Hero wouldn’t ask the same question.

“I wouldn’t know one. I’d get away as fast as I could if I ever saw one.”

“You don’t know that.”

Hero sighed in response. He ran a palm over his face, fingers pinching the creases on his forehead from frustration. He took a deep breath before really thinking about what to say back.

“Kel... I just... wish you’d be more involved. It’s not just about faith. If you came with us, maybe we’d all be a bit closer together, y’know? Mom has been worried.”

“I... can’t. Just leave me be, man.”

A long pause struck the air between them. Kel pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to stare down at the little tattoo on his wrist. He’d gotten the lōkahi symbol pricked into his skin a while back— the day of his eighteenth birthday. He was nineteen now; the ink still held incredible significance to both his personal life and his traditions, but somehow further from faith. He still believed in spirits. But why would they ever be so cruel? Surely Sunny wasn’t what the murals made his kind out to be. It had been far too long for that.

“...Are you, uh... too tired for it? Is that the issue?” Hero suggested, glancing over meekly.

“Can you let it go already?”

“I want to get to the bottom of this, Kel. It’s important to mom and I,” Hero continued to tug at Kel’s patience. “If it's about the time, I’m sure we can move around the schedule. The Pastor has multiple sermons for those who can’t make it at noon—”

“Quit it! I already told you I’m not going.” Kel snapped, whipping around with a scowl.

Hero flinched at Kel’s abrupt movement. He’d never flinched at his brother before. He didn’t appreciate the type of body language Kel was giving him. He stood up, took his bowl, threw away the contents, and left it in the sink with a large frown splattered across his face. “Fine.”

Kel felt much less tense the moment Hero went back upstairs to their room. He huffed, putting away his bowl, too, and headed outside to the shore. He had a good nine hours until Sunny would show, to Kel’s dismay. Nine hours was much too long.

Maybe he’d settle for a nap on the dock and have Sunny be the one to wake him up. If he ruined his sleep schedule, he’d have more time to spend with him, wouldn’t he?

-

“W-What the hell?!” Kel covered his mouth, feeling his stomach churn sickeningly at the sight of a dead infant monk seal on the flat end of his dock. The salty smell had drawn him out of his slumber, stinging his nose. He shakily sat up, legs suddenly feeling weak at the vision in front of him.

“Kel!” Sunny popped up from the other end of the dock, fingers lingering on the edge of the planks. “I brought you dinner.”

He stared up at Kel as if his hurling reaction was abnormal.

“Is... something wrong?” He asked, curiously, tilting his head.

“Sunny...” Kel felt a bit lightheaded. He leaned onto one of the pillars, sitting down and covering his face. “Please get it off my dock...”

“Oh... okay,” Sunny snatched the animal with his mouth, teeth sinking into feeble flesh with ease. He sank under the water with a faint splash, returning to the surface without the blubbery creature. He did, however, have blood splattered all over his chin and mouth. “Do you not like sea lions..? I can get a squid or... a bird, maybe, if you’d like th—”

“Sunny. I adore you so much, but that’s... actually disgusting,” Kel filled two cupped palms with seawater to rinse the red residue off of his dock. He brought Sunny’s face up close to wipe the blood off his chin and teeth. “You need to brush your teeth.”

“To what now?” Sunny’s ears pinned back cautiously.

“I’ll get you a toothbrush.” Kel got up, kissing the bridge of Sunny’s nose and leaving him pink-cheeked while he scurried to sneak back into his house and grab a spare toothbrush. Sunny touched a finger to the spot Kel kissed, a dopey smile smeared on his face.

Things had only slightly changed after they’d started dating. Of course, Sunny kept his snarky mannerisms; however, Kel found it more common for Sunny to be threatening him with kisses rather than playful bites. He found it quite flattering, if any. Kel was yet to point out and tease Sunny with the recent observation. After all, it had only been a month.

Kel came back fairly quickly with a purple toothbrush and a blue tube.

“What’s that?” Sunny asked, trying to grab the glittery stick with his slippery palms.

“Ah-ah-ah,” Kel flicked Sunny’s fingers away. “It’s a toothbrush. And I’m going to do this for you.”

Sunny frowned when Kel smacked his fingers away. Kel giggled at the way he pouted— He found it endearing. He held up Sunny’s chin with an index finger and a thumb, tugging at his bottom lip.. “Smile wide, sunshine!” He gave a toothy grin, urging Sunny to mirror. Begrudgingly, he did.

“Aww, now you just look like you’re baring your teeth at me,” Kel leaned forward to peck his cheek. He recoiled at the sudden metallic taste on his tongue. “Eugh. I forgot about the seal.”

“Good.” Sunny narrowed his eyes, jolting a bit at the minty sensation suddenly running over his tongue.

“Thif if nafty.” Sunny squeezed his eyes shut, speech muffled by the foamy paste. It was such a foreign taste, but he trusted Kel, so he let him continue.

“Shh... No talking while I clean your teeth,” Kel continued to run the bristles over Sunny’s sharp, unkempt teeth, ridding of any stuck food or other strange residues. Sunny’s teeth looked ten times better within twenty seconds of the toothbrush’s contact. “Look! They’re so shiny already.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention not to swallow this.” Kel commented amidst Sunny’s swallow, met with a fit of coughing. His mouth felt tingly and overwhelmingly minty.

“Ugh, that’s so gross,” Sunny murmured, running his tongue over his teeth. They felt much smoother than normal. “Huh. They’re... really smooth. What did you do?”

“I cleaned them. Pretty nice, eh? Now your breath won’t smell like blood either,” Kel was met with a flick to the nose after he made the teasing comment. “Admit it! It feels better, doesn’t it?”

Sunny ran a finger over his teeth, too, as if to confirm the strange change in texture. He licked his lips to get the last of the foam off.

“Okay... I guess it feels... slightly better. Now there isn’t anything stuck on my molar. It just tastes... awful.”

“I told you so,” Kel ran a thumb over Sunny’s cheek, cupping one side of his face with admiration. He felt his heart skip a beat upon hearing a low purr roll off of Sunny’s throat. “Here’s the best part. Now I can kiss you without wanting to throw up.” Kel’s snarky comment was met with a playful shove the other direction.

“You’re mean.”

“Awww, come on! You know I was only joking,” Kel gave a hearty laugh, taking hold of Sunny’s palm and lacing his fingers between. He squeezed, nuzzling his nose forth against Sunny’s jaw. “You’re so sensitive.”

“...You could’ve just kissed me. Would’ve conveyed the same message.” Sunny narrowed his eyes to a glare, his palms running along the nape of Kel’s neck to subtly encourage his tender movements.

“I was going to! All you have to do is ask, sweetheart.” Kel pressed a few lax kisses up Sunny’s jaw and to the corner of his lips. The kisses were more of a ruse than genuine; Kel just wanted to strike a reaction out of his partner. He got one.

Sunny felt his heart skip a beat at the little nickname, never having been referred to so adoringly before.

“I’m asking now.” He ended up yanking a fistful of Kel’s hair backward before pulling him back down for an amorous, maybe slightly annoyed kiss on the mouth. Kel returned his gesture wholeheartedly, fingers strung weakly through Sunny’s hair.

Kel gave him a cheeky grin when Sunny pushed him back by the shoulders.

Sunny scoffed at the silly expression. “You’re so...” Sunny wanted to call him annoying. Or frustrating. Or stupid. But he knew that wasn’t true, so he held the urge. He gave a sigh and leaned forward to cup Kel’s cheeks and squish them together. “I... I can’t even be angry with you.” He groaned, Kel’s squished face making him want to break the pouty facade.

He ran his palms idly over Kel’s cheeks, feeling the warmth of his tanned skin against the cold of his own. He slid his thumbs beneath Kel’s eyes and traced the faint dark circles beneath them. As much as Sunny loved to call him a dork or a dummy, it was never genuine. Kel had easily claimed the spot of the love of Sunny’s life. They were constantly all over each other every chance they got ever since the end of August, whether it was intentional or not. Little physical affection sessions where they’d just admire each other without a word was one of Sunny’s favorite things to participate in.

Kel melted into the touches, the cold of Sunny’s pale fingers cooling him off. The temperature change was wonderful.

“Mm,” He gave a hum and a solemn smile, placing his own palms over Sunny’s to hold him carefully in place. He was home.

Sunny captured another short kiss with him, holding the moment for a few seconds longer than he thought he would. He pulled back to hold a keen eye on his lips, then frowned, abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” Kel asked, his palms smoothing over the nape of Sunny’s neck and holding his jaw. He tilted his head.

“I was just... thinking about something.” Sunny tried to play it off, running Kel’s hair behind his ear. He fixed the little cowlick that stuck out beside his widow's peak.

“Mhm?” Kel’s tone was expecting. “Thinking... about what?” He continued, taking Sunny’s palms into his own and lacing their fingers together.

“...Do you really think we’ll be able to keep this a secret forever?” Sunny spat out the thought, anxiously glancing over at the shore.

The question hung low and uneasy in the air. Kel wasn’t expecting that kind of question right now. Neither of them wanted to think about the practicality of their relationship, or how it would have to work in the future. Kel knew complications were bound to arise on his end, specifically, because he knew Sunny had already told his pod about Kel’s existence. It seemed so easy for Sunny: wake up, eat, explore, visit Kel, repeat. No consequences, no one breathing down his neck so long as he was a mer; Kel wanted nothing but that for himself. Maybe if he were a mer, too, they could live happily under the sea with no worries at all. What a wonderful fantasy.

“I know I don’t have to keep it a secret, so that’s all done for me… but for you… It… It makes me kind of nervous,” Sunny confessed, twiddling with his thumbs. His ears slumped over while he spoke, looking off to the side. “I– I have no intention of leaving you. I never have. It’s just… when you leave this place, and go to.. er… college… What happens to me? You said it was close to, uh... California, wasn’t it?”

Kel nodded, solemnly. Sunny inhaled, briefly shutting his eyes.

“I’m not saying I can’t migrate there at all,” He turned away again, hesitant with his words. “All I’m saying is… I just don’t know what will happen. It’s not as easy as I want it to be.”

Kel tilted his head, following Sunny’s to keep the soft eye contact. He frowned, too.

“I’ll be close to the coast. It wouldn’t be… ideal… but maybe I’d get to see you. I dunno.” He furrowed his brows. The more he thought about it, the possibility of having to split with Sunny fogged his mind. He didn’t want to have to do that; even though he knew he would have to, eventually. Things like this didn’t work in the real world– it was just a guarantee. Kel hated it.

“That.. really depends on if there’s food in that area,” Sunny scratched his chin, thinking about his migrational patterns. “It would be hard to convince my pod to go somewhere with me if there wasn’t any food. And, it’s uh... not a very good idea for me, I think, to be on my own for a long time just yet. My species is... incredibly social, to say the least.” Sunny gave an airy laugh, laying stagnant in the breeze. It was a bit forced, but what else was he supposed to do?

“Mm… yeah, that... that makes sense.” Kel scratched his neck, exhaling. His fingers coiled around his thumbs and fiddled with his palms restlessly. “I.. I don’t think I’d be able to let you go.”

Sunny frowned. He didn’t want to let Kel go, either, and the more time he spent thinking about the future, the worse of a headache he got.

“We– We don’t have to talk about it right now, I suppose,” Sunny gave a meek smile, taking Kel’s hand and running his fingertips over his knuckles, tugging at the valleys between his fingers and lacing them through. He squeezed his palm. “We could just focus on the present, right?” He looked up at him with the same glossy eyes that held the moon. Kel couldn’t not smile at that– Those were his favorite pair of eyes in the world.

He nodded, “Yeah, okay.”

“What made you think about that now, anyways?” Kel crossed his forearms atop the wooden boards, his eyes intent and studying on Sunny’s weary demeanor.

“I… I don’t know. I like you a lot. I really, really do, I– I can’t even imagine having to let you go,” Sunny bit his tongue. “I guess it’s… closure? I just want to know what’s gonna happen.”

“Well, I think that’s a problem for future Sunny and Kel,” A toothy grin appeared on Kel’s cheeks as he squeezed his fingers around Sunny’s knuckles.

“Oh, you’re funny.” Sunny gave a narrow smile, teasing. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you were a mer, too? Or.. Like, I was a land-person?” He let that question sit still in the air, too.

The pause felt unbearable.

“Yeah,” Kel swallowed thickly. “I wish I’d lived somewhere else… somewhere that didn’t think merpeople were sirens that wanted to steal our souls,” He giggled, now. It was genuine this time, and so was the narrow smile. Sunny couldn’t help but giggle, too. A chirp came along with it.

“Well, then you wouldn’t have met me.” Sunny snuggled his head further into his own crossed forearms, a gentle gaze still and fixated on the other. Kel, normally, didn’t like eye contact, but this kind was comfortable, so he dared to stare back.

His pupils expanded. “That’s true,” He smiled a little wider, “I guess living here is a good thing, then.” His eyelids grew heavier, reaching a freckled palm to cover his lips as he yawned.

“Tired?” Sunny raised a brow and moved his fingers to run along the side of Kel’s jaw and raise a thumb over his cheek. Kel closed his eyes, or as he so called it, ‘just resting’.

“Mm… yeah.” He hummed, a smile still pressed on his lips. It wasn’t forced, like before, something of such a pure genuine manner that it left Sunny to halt in his breath.

“Am I that boring?” Sunny teased. He wished Kel would stay awake a little longer, but he knew the night didn't last forever.

“Mm-mm.” Kel shook his head, furrowing his brows. That was definitely a ‘no’. “You’re comfy. Makes me sleepy.” His love-sickly smile returned.

Kel started giggling.

“I thought you were tired. You’re laughing,” He still giggled. “You’re gonna make me laugh… we’ll be caught if I start squeal-laughing again,” He bit the air with a whisper and smiled. Kel shook his head side to side as he snickered. “Tell me! What’s so funny?”

“Hehe, no, no... nothing.”

“Oh come on. You’re about to fall asleep and start giggling like a maniac, you can’t tell me there’s nothing funny going on up there. I think I know you too well for that.” Sunny flicked Kel’s forehead.

“Okay, okay…” Kel left his breathy giggling for another sickeningly passionate smile, drowsy and genuine. “You’re gonna laugh at me. I know you will.”

“I won’t! Swear on my life. Come on, dummy…” Sunny shook his shoulders earnestly, anticipation boiling over his head.

“Okay, alright… It’s just… I’ve never felt so in love before.”

The air was stagnant again. The breeze was deafeningly empty and the clouds fluttered by without a sound. He was asleep. The whole world was quiet, resting in a dark and familiar shade of blue; the difference was Sunny’s bright and furious cheeks. The color crept rapidly onto his cheeks in response to the words like a virus.

“Oh my god…” He cursed, smiling with such intensity he thought his heart would shatter from being too full. He knew Kel was in love. He knew that he, himself, was in love too– It just felt so much different when said aloud. His heart was pounding against his chest. Sunny wondered how Kel could fall asleep to such rapid and unsoothing beats.

His fingers ran through those familiar brown locks on Kel’s head like it was the last thing he’d ever get to touch. Sunny leaned forward to press a fond kiss onto the impossibly warm forehead of Kel’s, entwining with the heat. He strung his fingers through the sleeping ones of the other, squeezing his palm and nuzzling forth into a tangle of forearms.

A long twenty minutes passed with them laying there on the dock before Sunny told himself it was time to go home; however, the further he swam, the farther he felt from it.

–

Kel sat up in his sheets again, dreamless. Lately, it had become apparent to him that he’d stopped having the nightmares he normally would before he met Sunny. It was quite cheesy to him when he thought about it, but it wasn’t like he was admitting it out loud. Those thoughts were met with a yawn and knuckles cracking, not posing much embarrassment in the real world.

He faintly recalled what happened the night before, but thought nothing of it. He smiled to himself and checked the time: five thirty-seven. He woke up early.

Most of the following day was a blur.

Luckily, Kel had always possessed the ability to daydream away when reality wasn’t satisfying him. He didn’t need a good novel or a sketchpad– his brain was better than both. Hopes and dreams foraged and itched every possible scratch Kel had inside his head until he was ready to pay genuine attention to the real world– which, in his life, meant after nine p.m.

Since June, his only enjoyment was quiet, banter-y chats with Sunny.

Before their nightly visit, Kel had filled the water with clusters of baby pink plumerias and white orchids he’d found on a nearby tree. He thought maybe Sunny would appreciate the small gesture. Luckily, his dock was far out enough to where the evening waves didn’t disturb his display. In a way, he felt the demonstration made him closer to the mer. Sunny often did visual displays just like this to convey the exact same emotion: adoration.

When Sunny had appeared from the depths, momentarily, a few orchids found themselves caught in his hair from the surface break.

“Wha..?” Sunny glanced around, taking in the small arrangement. “Aw, Kel... You’re so corny.”

The evening was quiet and quite crisper than what Kel was used to. He blamed it on the water’s moderation and the change of season, knowing a chilly front was ahead of him and his family during this time of year— He just wasn’t expecting it to arrive so early. However, the following week promised more warmth. Really, the lowest it got during the late winter months was the mid sixties; and that was when the sun wasn’t out. Winter never promised cooler noons.

“I’m not! You just can’t come up with any other excuse not to like it.” Kel rolled onto his side and laughed, his fingers resting gently overtop the flat of the dock. The waves washed eagerly over the shore a dozen yards away as they spoke, the water further out running under the white scales of Sunny’s tail. Sunny softly snickered at Kel’s motion, viewing him from upside down.

The laughing grew quieter, steadying to a low rumble on Sunny’s vocal cords.

“Admit it. You think it’s pretty.” Kel teased, stirring the flowers around with his finger.

“I do,” Sunny inched closer to touch his nose to Kel’s, giving him a more genuine greeting. He took one of the orchids and stuck it right on Kel’s forehead. He ran his fingers behind Kel’s ear— the sensation felt comforting. “But I still think you’re a dork.”

Sunny’s fingers lingered near his cheek, to which Kel placed his own overtop and squeezed. “That’s fine by me.” He offered, eyes focused and content.

“You know… I’ve actually been meaning to tell you something,” Sunny’s ears twitched to accompany his change into a softer tone.

“Hm?” Kel fully rolled over now, looking up at Sunny and stifling a laugh as he looked at the boy from upside down. He was smiling as per usual.

“So…” Sunny stopped midway to laugh at how Kel looked at him. It wasn’t unusual to catch Kel with a fond gaze on him, but this particular upside-down perspective had him laughing as if it were the most amusing thing he’d ever seen.

“Why are you looking at me like that? This is important, you know.” He flicked Kel’s forehead, a few clicks running off his throat. The orchid rolled off of his skin and onto the flat of the dock beside Kel’s hair.

“I’m listening, I’m listening! Yeowch.” Kel squeezed his eyes shut and smiled when Sunny flicked him right between his brows. Sunny leaned forward to press a brief kiss to his upside-down lips, earning a surprised hum and a cheeky smile when he pulled away.

“You’d better be,” Sunny rolled his eyes with a smile on his cheeks. He poked both sides of Kel’s dimples. “So, every season around this time– When it starts getting a bit warmer– I go and visit my family over in the east for a week or so. Sometimes more, depending on how the currents like to act on my way back.”

It was like a switch had activated inside Kel’s head. He gave Sunny a puzzled look.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” His eyebrows furrowed, and he sat up, his legs facing the land with his top half turned to face Sunny.

“Not for that long,” Sunny couldn’t help but snicker as he watched Kel’s entire demeanor switch instantly. “It’s just two to three-ish weeks.”

“But… that is a long time,” Kel pouted.

“I have a life too, y’know. Whaddaya think I do all day before we meet up?” Sunny laughed, an earnest grin on his face.

“I dunno, swim in circles?” Kel wanted to tease, however, he was met with a splash of water to the face. “Haha, okay, okay! I'm joking! Eugh, you got saltwater up my nose.”

Sunny snickered.

“That’s what you get,” He flicked Kel’s nose with his index finger. “But… anyways, I’ll be traveling with my pod ‘n hanging out with my family. Sometime in around three weeks I’ll come and say goodbye before I leave.”

“Aw… that’s alright. Who are you visiting? Like, your mom?” Kel asked, his palms holding up his cheeks.

“My birth pod. My mom, my sister, nieces, a few aunts and cousins… But yeah, mainly my mom and my sister,” Sunny counted the individuals with his hands, wiggling each finger to represent whomever he was talking about. “I haven’t seen them since last season.”

“Oh, wow… I can’t imagine not seeing my family every day. What about, like… your dad? Or uncles?” Kel asked, genuinely curious as to why Sunny only brought up female relatives.

“Well… uh… I’ve only seen my dad I think… thrice, when I was a toddler. My species' largest pods are female and young offspring only. Matriarchal stuff. Once we’re around fifteen, we just kinda leave,” Sunny tried his best to explain the system in which his close family and friends functioned. “I’ve never seen my dad come back to visit when I do. I still haven’t asked my sister if he ever does.”

“Luckily, when I left, I had a group of childhood friends I could travel with. We all return together in late January or early February because it's the least crowded season to travel during. That’s… the gist of it.” Sunny gave a quiet laugh, hoping Kel understood at least some of what he was explaining.

“Oh,” Kel scratched his chin, thinking about the system. “Wait, so… are you just on your own at some point? Since… The pods are mainly women.”

“Yeah, actually. That’s usually how it works. I think when I get around to twenty, my pod will, uh… disband,” Sunny hadn’t really taken the time to think about it. In about two years, he’d really be on his own. “Males stay alone for like, mating purposes, but I’ve never been interested in any of that, so I’m… not sure what I’ll be doing out there by myself. Maybe my pod will stay together if we all agree on it, but... I’m not exactly sure.”

“Will you be okay?” Kel worried, thinking about the nuance of it all. How would that kind of loneliness make someone feel?

“..I think so.” Sunny scratched the back of his neck. The deeper thought bummed him out. Kel noticed.

“Hey, but, uh… I’m sure you’ll find friends! There’s gotta be like, towns or… other stuff down there, right?” Kel offered to lighten the mood, but was met with a soft laugh from the other.

“Sometimes stray villages will pop up underwater, but, uh… They’re not practical since we can’t sleep inside them nor stay in them for prolonged periods of time. Still gotta breathe air every five-ish minutes.” Sunny offered the information with an earnest smile. He knew Kel didn’t know much about his subspecies.

“That sounds… really inconvenient. How do you even sleep?” Kel laughed, but it was a genuine question.

“So, we’ve got this awesome thing called unihemispheric sleeping. I can sleep with one side of my brain still conscious— for surfacing while asleep ‘n stuff.” Sunny tapped one side of Kel’s head, attempting to demonstrate the unique function in a silly manner.

“What?” Kel looked to be blown away. “You’re… kidding. That’s insane. Does that make you extra tired? Y’know… since you’re not getting a full night’s rest?”

“Nah. I feel perfectly rested. It’s just how our anatomy works.” Sunny laughed at Kel’s shocked expression. He loved how expressive Kel was whenever they had long conversations. Not only was Kel so animated, but incredibly empathetic. If Sunny was telling a sad story, Kel would be tearing up with him. If Sunny was explaining the best day of his life, Kel would be at the edge of the dock with a wide grin and biting his lip as if he were holding back an explosion of glee. Sunny took it upon himself to squeeze Kel’s nose between his fingers, playfully.

“Y’know, I’ve actually been meaning to ask you a few questions, too. Just out of curiosity.”

“I’m all ears!” Kel smiled, eager for something new to talk about.

“So, like… what's the deal with this?” Sunny tugged at the strap of Kel’s white tank-top. “I mean, why do you put it on? Isn’t it itchy?”

“My… shirt?” Kel scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah.”

“Uh… It’s public decency, I think? If everyone was walking around shirtless I think that’d be a little… strange.”

Sunny raised a brow, seeing as he, himself, never wore a ‘shirt’. Kel quickly realized what he said may not have made sense to a merperson.

“I mean! Like, for land-people, its decency. I really don’t know how else to explain it,” Kel gave a nervous, toothy smile. “Honestly, hell if I know. I wasn’t the one who built our society.”

“I… guess that’s fair. Wouldn’t it feel better to not have all that on though? If I had to wear one of those all day I think I’d die.”

Kel laughed at that last comment.

“You’re so dramatic. And, well… maybe? I think I’d feel pretty uncomfortable walking around like that– unless I’m working and sweating all day or somethin’.”

“Hm,” Sunny narrowed his eyes. “Can I try it?”

“The shirt?”

“Yeah. I wanna see what it’s like.” Sunny rested his chin on his palm.

“You’ll get it all wet.” Kel furrowed his brows.

“Boo-hoo, you have more, don’t you?”

“Okay, fine,” Kel sat up, reaching his arms to both opposite sides of his shoulders. Sunny was looking up at him expectantly, arms crossed, but still intrigued. “You’re sure you want to try it? I guarantee you won’t like it and I’ll be left with a wet shirt.”

Sunny simply shot him a glare.

“Fine, fine! Here,” Kel yanked off the tank-top and handed it to Sunny, who snatched it and attempted to figure out how to put it on. Kel snickered as he watched Sunny fumble with the piece of clothing. “...need any help?”

“No, I got this…” Sunny continued trying to put the shirt on right, but only ended up getting his head stuck in one of the arm holes. Kel burst out laughing, immediately covering his mouth in realization he might be heard from his house.

“Are you sure?” Kel snorted, almost turning red from resisting the urge to laugh.

“This isn’t funny! Okay, fine, you can help me.” Sunny huffed, giving up on trying to wear the shirt without Kel’s assistance.

Kel waved his fingers, “Nah, I think you got it, man.”

“Kel.”

Sunny looked ridiculous with the shirt all twisted around him like that. Kel gave in simply because he didn’t want Sunny to be upset with him. He knew Sunny wasn’t above biting people if he was annoyed. Of course, they were never genuine bites— At least the ones Kel received were never genuine bites.

“Okay, okay! Lift your arms,” Kel was giggling the entire time. “You look like a turtle caught in soda wrap.”

Sunny groaned. “You know what, I’m gonna make sure this whole shirt is soaked by the time I’m done wearing it. And I’ll bite you.”

Kel just started laughing again. “No, no wait! I’m done making fun of you, I promise,” He lifted the straps off of Sunny’s arms and repositioned the shirt. Kel pointed to each part of the tank-top. “You act like a teething baby. Look. You put it on like this,”

“Your head goes here, your arms go through these, and the bottom part is for the rest of your body to pop out,” Kel explained it pretty simply. “Raise your arms again?”

Sunny did so, but with a pout. The ease Kel had whilst slipping the shirt onto Sunny’s chest made him feel a bit dumb for mixing it up earlier– though he wouldn’t admit it out loud.

“I’m not a baby.” He frowned again and crossed his arms after Kel was done.

“Your biting says otherwise.” Kel snickered. Sunny had forgotten why he’d been angry the moment Kel leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek.

“It’s… alright. I still think it's a little itchy,” Sunny murmured, running a palm over the fabric on his stomach. His cheeks felt a little warm. “Okay, now I want it off me. This sucks.”

“Hehe,” Kel giggled, helping him get rid of the shirt. “At least you didn’t get it sopping wet like you said you would.”

“I will if you keep this up.”

“You’re so cute.” It was impossible for Kel to resist the urge to comment. It was true! Though Sunny was a bit snarky at times, Kel found it entirely endearing to banter back and forth with him like this.

“And you’re a dork.” Sunny’s ears pinned back at the comment, thanking the heavens that his scales covered most of the warmth on his cheeks. However, the tint was inescapable from Kel’s keen eye.

“And you’re blushing.”

“No, It’s actually me being so mad at you that I’m turning red.”

“Sounds about right,” Kel brought Sunny forward, cupping his face and kissing him right on the lips. Sunny turned even redder. “Oh, you’re so mad.” Kel laughed as Sunny covered his face with one palm, groaning under his breath.

“I’m infuriated.”

“Hey, actually... I have something for you,” Kel sat up, “I’ll be right back.”

Sunny watched with a slowly formulating smile. His jokingly annoyed expression turned into one of utmost admiration for his partner. Kel seemed to grab something from the border garden of his house and scurry right back to the dock.

“Hold still,” Kel murmured, holding a small white plumeria flower between his fingers. He tucked it behind Sunny’s left ear, thumb holding the stem in place before letting go. The star-shaped petals fit perfectly between his hair and scales. Kel leaned forward to nuzzle his nose with Sunny’s, adoringly. “There.”

“Kel...” Sunny felt his cheeks redden again. The gesture felt so important to him.

“Do you know what it means?” Kel asked, seemingly rhetoric— He knew Sunny understood what it meant. The plumeria strung through Sunny’s hair swayed lazily in the nighttime breeze. It was a promise.

Sunny snickered under his breath in response, nodding his head yes, covering his face with his palms. “I do.”

“I wish it’d stay underwater,” Kel tilted his head, stroking a few fingers alongside Sunny’s jaw. He admired how well the vibrant petals complimented Sunny’s skin, both human and sea mammalish. The brilliance was reflected almost perfectly off of the surface of his dark grey scales, then to his eyes— The colors seemed to compliment everything that Sunny was. “Then everyone would know you’re mine.”

“..Come here, dummy.” Sunny scoffed, palms cradling Kel’s jaw with such close care, feeling his rapid pulse beneath thin fingers. Sunny’s face was only a whisper away. Kel answered the siren’s call— and it was the most wondrous thing he could’ve ever imagined. Sunny’s grasp felt both raw and real.

The sensation was home.

—

“Hey! Don’t spit that out. Mama said you need your greens,” Kel frowned, taking a small pink spoon and scooping up more baby food from the bowl. His parents and Hero were out today, meaning he was in charge of Sally. “Come on… don’t make me do the airplane.”

Sally tapped her palms on the plastic flat of her high-chair, sticking her tongue out at the spoon Kel held up close to her mouth.

“You asked for it…” Kel gave a giggle before making little airplane noises, maneuvering the spoon up and around as if it were an animated object. Sally, as impressionable as she was, loved the airplane. She gladly took the food and finished her bowl with Kel’s playful assistance not long after.

“I told you I’d use it!” Kel took the bowl and placed it into the sink. He couldn’t take his eye off his sister for very long.

“Okay, silly, whaddaya want to do now?” Kel smiled, lifting her from the high chair and placing her walker. It was only four p.m., meaning he had thirty-ish minutes to entertain Sally before having to put her down for a nap.

The landline rang.

“Shoot, did I forget my ringer again?” Kel huffed, grabbing his phone to check the notification list. Nothing. “Huh.” He picked up the landline, turning towards Sally to keep an eye on her while he took the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, is Sally doing alright?” Hero. Again.

“I don’t get why you keep calling the house. You have my cell. Anyways, uh, yeah. She’s fine, I just finished feeding her. She’s in her walker right now.”

“You know you shouldn’t let her move around like that after she’s eaten. She’ll throw up.” Hero warned, but Kel waved his palm.

“Mom always puts her in there when she’s done eating. She’s never thrown up. Besides, if I tried to put her down for a nap now she’d be jumping all over the bed. Then she’d puke everywhere.” Kel twirled the cord of the phone with his other index finger, watching as Sally played with the colorful rings and buttons attached to her baby walker.

“...If she gets sick, I’m telling your ass I told you so.” Hero rolled his eyes from the other end.

“You’ll never have to. Anyways, what are you guys up to?”

“Mom’s picking something up from Marcy’s house. Dad and I are window shopping right now. We found this really expensive fishing boat— I’m talking, like, motor, big nets, and it comes with four months worth of this place’s premium bait. The city is nothing like Mauna, dude. I’m sure if we had a boat like this back home, all the sales would be ours.” Kel could hear their dad speaking muffledly in the background.

“As if we could afford something like that,” Kel scoffed, but liked the idea of having a good boat. Maybe then they wouldn’t have to spend so many hours out in the lagoon for the same haul. “I can’t believe there are people out there who actually own stuff like that.”

“Crazy, right? But, uh, anyways, I just wanted to check up on you guys. Mom told me to tell you to make sure Sally doesn’t eat anything after 7pm. And for you to change her before she sleeps for the night.”

“You guys already told me. Mamá thinks I can’t take care of my own sister for a day,” Kel leaned down to fix Sally’s bib, seeing as she’d managed to bump her walker against Kel’s ankles. “I remember. She’s fine with me.” Kel sounded annoyed.

“Don’t be upset with me! I’m just the messenger,” Hero chuckled from the other end. “Okay, I’ll see you later. Tell Sally I said hi.”

“Sure, man,” Kel yawned, “See ya.”

“Oh, wait! We might actually be c—” Hero was cut off. Kel accidentally hung up. He shrugged. Whatever Hero had to say he could say tomorrow morning when they returned. Kel fixed the cord of the phone and went off to entertain Sally.

-

A few hours had passed since then. Sally was asleep by seven, allowing Kel some free time for eight and nine. It wasn’t very often Kel got to talk with Sunny while the sun was still setting. The atmosphere made him feel warm inside. Kel made sure to keep the baby monitor by his side once he’d left the house, checking it every other minute to make sure Sally was sleeping alright as he chatted away on the other end.

“They’re… not home today?” Sunny asked, tilting his head. His ear twitched.

“Nope. Every once and a while they’ll all go to the city to visit some older relatives and shop for ‘city stuff’. We don’t really have anywhere for Sally to go… nor the travel means, since she hates trains. I don’t really know our relatives that well, so I stay to babysit her,” Kel lifted the baby monitor camera, showing Sunny his sleeping baby sister under a green-ish hue. “Besides, I get to stay at home. It’s a win-win for me.”

Sunny was intrigued by the monitor camera. “That’s your sister?” He asked, pupils expanding. “Aw…”

“I never took you for the baby-fever type.” Kel chuckled, tilting his head. “She’s a little monster. Never eating her greens. Super active, too… like, a really fast crawler. I can’t even imagine how much of a hassle it’ll be when she starts walking.”

Sunny laughed. “I think I’m good with kids. There’s always a few newborns or toddlers back at my birth pod whenever I visit,” He tapped his fingers on the dock’s edge. “Are you sure you should be out here with me instead of inside with her?”

“Oh, don’t worry. If she cries or anything, I can hear her from this. Then I can go inside and check up on her.”

“Wait, really? I thought that was a photo,” Sunny takes another look at the baby monitor’s camera. Now that he really looks at it, he can see some small movement. It’s incredibly intriguing for someone who’s never heard of a video or a camera before. “This is… so cool.”

Kel watches with an endearing smile at Sunny’s interest in the device. Sunny views the device for a minute or so before putting it down. He’s about to say something before he backs up with suddenly wide eyes.

“Uh- Kel? Um, I gotta– I gotta go,”

“What, why?” Kel raised a brow, completely confused. They’d only been chatting for thirty-ish minutes; It was somewhere around eight p.m.. Why all of a sudden was Sunny in such a rush to leave? The question ran cold as soon as Kel heard heavy stomping from behind him, accompanied by the drag of something metallic on the hardwood dock.

“What the f*ck is that?” A familiar voice called clamorously with a furious finger pointing directly at Sunny. Kel felt a cold shiver claw up his spine at the sheer fury leaking from the voice, his mouth falling agape and his throat striking itself dry. He whipped his head around, an absolutely deranged-looking brother of his meeting his eye.

“...Hero?” He called, gently. There was a small hope Hero would mirror the tone, maybe calm down just a little as Kel took the time to register what was happening. There was no way this was happening. “Wha– What are you doing out here? I-I thought you guys weren’t coming back until tomor–”

“I told you we’d be back tonight.”

“When did—”

The phone call.

“Answer my question, Kel! It’s swimming away!” Hero didn’t mirror the calm demeanor Kel was hoping for. He threw something, and Kel’s heart practically stopped right in his chest. This wasn’t happening.

Kel’s vision was too blurry to quite make out what it was until he heard a horrifyingly familiar shriek a few meters away, a soft squeal following before the distress went silent. Kel broke out of his frozen state after taking notice of the close ripples, scattering all his limbs to reach into the water and grab Sunny’s arm. He felt a shove.

“Hero! What are you doing?! Did you just-” He tumbled backward, his head slamming on the dock and causing pain to pulse and ring all throughout his ears. Kel hoped he would never have to experience such head trauma again, but here he was. It stung. He had to get up.

“Get out of the way! I’m getting rid of this thing, go inside,” Hero bit the air with that sentence with such violence that it forced Kel to ignore the ugly chime bouncing in the walls of his skull; He shot up, coiling fingers around Hero’s arm, digging nails into the skin, pulling back.

“What are you doing?!” Kel yelled, wrapping his legs around Hero’s and squeezing backward until he fell, too.

“What are you doing?!” Hero shouted, hitting Kel in the chest with his elbow and kicking him back down onto the dock. Kel gasped for air, feeling his lungs chase his breath in a hurry as his back hit the wood again.

“Why are you even out here with this thing?!” Hero barked, and Kel tried to answer– but he was interrupted again.

“Is this a f*cking siren?! You’re gonna get yourself killed! Move!” He shouted— and it wasn’t until then Kel realized what exactly had happened to Sunny.

He hadn’t swam away at all, as he’d hoped. He had his brother’s spear stuck in his side, piercing straight through Sunny’s right pelvic fin and a chunk through his hip– the cause of the shrieks. It looked like he’d passed out. Kel whipped up again, this time, with much more adrenaline and with an implausible amount of anger.

Kel’s pupils shrunk, his fists curled, and he slammed that fist right against Hero’s cheek with a force he didn’t know he was capable of. Hero yowled, losing his balance and hitting his head against one of the dock pillars; It only caused him to rip more of Sunny’s fin with the tight grip he continued to hold onto the spear. His eyelids looked heavier than before. Kel couldn’t tell if it was a sign of mercy or because he’d just been punched in the face.

“YOU’RE HURTING HIM!” Kel’s voice was horrifically loud and anguished as he shoved Hero against the pillar; he didn’t know what he was doing anymore. All he knew was that he had to get Sunny safe and away from this mess. Kel had no doubt their mom might notice all of the clamor. Where even was their mother? How long had they both been home?

“How do I get this thing out of him?! Tell me!”

“You don’t! That’s the whole point of a f*cking spear, Kel!” Hero shoved him, now, and dug his nails into his forearm. He snatched the front of Kel’s shirt to pull him closer to his voice. “And who is ‘him’? Tell me how long this has been going on for!” He stuck a stern finger at Sunny’s– hopefully– temporarily limp body. He was half-lidded, and it seemed like the spear was yet to have an emotional effect on him besides the dizzy craze in his eyes.

“None of your business! Get that thing out of him!” Kel tried slipping his arm out of Hero’s grasp but to no avail.

“Pehea. Lōʻihi.” Hero demanded, how long, his other hand’s grip so tight on Kel’s forearm that Kel’s circulation might be strained.

Hero let go of Kel’s arm only to grab the spear’s handle and push it further, the head of it covered in an ugly deep red that gushed all around Sunny’s flesh.

“Stop– Stop, please! You’re hurting him!” Kel sobbed, an impossibly tight hold on Hero’s shirt in an attempt to pull him back. The only change in Hero’s stance was that his shirt was starting to rip from the hem.

“Let him go! Please, please let him go!” Kel wept, squeezing the hem of Hero’s shirt so tightly it began to rip. “Please, please… please… Auwe…”

Kel’s breath was wrangled and tied into a knot as his sentences became less and less legible. His words were sticky, and so was his throat as he called out to an unmoving figure.

The insistent begging eventually got to Hero, who didn’t have much more willpower to keep up the protective act. He couldn’t tell if what he was doing was right or wrong. His brother, out here for who knows how long with a siren. He couldn’t lose Kel. Not like this.

“Tell me how long, and I will!” He snapped, whipping his head around to meet Kel’s miserable expression. He didn’t want to trap Kel like this, but he concluded it was much better than losing his brother entirely to some siren.

“...Eight months. Now let him go.” Kel dared to bite back, finally seizing his arm out from Hero’s palms, shoving him to the side with a growl to pick Sunny up off of the rocks and examine the injuries caused.

Hero felt limp. His heart dropped to his stomach— He wanted to puke. Eight months? Kel could’ve been hurt, or killed, or stolen within eight months and Hero would never have known. He rushed over to the side of the dock, hurled over, and threw up into the bay.

Kel felt his sinuses burn up to his forehead. There was no other way to get the spear out other than ripping it out, to Kel’s dismay. He tried pulling it out slowly, earning soft cries from Sunny due to the agonizing pain. He’d never felt so much of it in his entire life– Kel stopped.

“Sunny, Sunshine, you gotta wake up.” He sniveled, squinting and letting the salty droplets roll down his cheeks, biting his lip to stop himself from choking on his previous sob.

The blood from Sunny’s ripped fin and from the stolen chunk of flesh on his hip ran steadily down Kel’s thigh. He’d never felt more guilt-ridden than at this very moment. He could’ve stopped this. If only he’d told Sunny to go home a few minutes sooner.

Hero was still draped over a pillar, gasping and rinsing the water from the bay over his face. Once he got up, shakily, he kept a keen eye on Sunny to make sure nothing would happen to Kel. Sunny’s eyes were wide open with shock. He gasped, biting his tongue from the adrenaline wearing off and the sharp tear of the long-gone flesh settling in. Kel pulled him closer, trying to deviate Sunny’s mind away from the gashes.

“It’s okay, it’s— i-it’s okay. I have you.” Kel winced, more of the droplets running down his face accompanied by the continued steady flow of Sunny’s open gashes.

Hero stepped over, abruptly ripping the spear out of Sunny’s fin. He looked sickly as he did so, covering his mouth as he turned away in shame. Sunny wept, a quieter yowl escaping his dry lips as the blood moved faster. Kel’s lip was quivering at such a miserable sight; the only person he truly cared for was bleeding out in his arms.

Kel ignored the weight of Sunny’s tail, picking him up and setting him on the grass by the start of the dock and staring Hero down with the most vile scowl he could possibly muster up. Sunny laid his head against the first pillar of the dock, squeezing his eyes shut and wincing from the unbearable sensation of his own flesh having been torn off his body.

It burned. It stung horribly. Despite the adrenaline running rampantly through his veins, Sunny couldn’t help but continue crying at the sensation of stolen flesh.

Hero’s eyes stopped narrowing, turning softer when the scene had set into his skull. He didn’t mean to lash out that badly. He put a hand on Kel’s shoulder and squeezed firmly, feeling sick to his core.

“Kel, I–”

“I’m gonna patch him up. If you touch even a hair on his head, you’ll wish I wasn’t your brother.” He tore at the cold air between them.

His tears had dried on his face, leaving even darker circles under his eyes than normal accompanied by stains on his cheeks. He rushed inside the house, returning as quickly as possible with supplies to stop Sunny’s bleeding.

He shoved Hero back in the direction of the front door, “Go inside,” Kel mocked his request from earlier. “Some kind of f*cking role model you are.” He finished, turning away to apply pressure on the abrasion.

“Sunny? Hey… hey. It’s fine, it's okay.” Kel tried to reassure him, his right palm firm on the wound while the other drew cautious circles on Sunny’s cheek. His palm couldn’t even cover the severity of the wound, dark red sticking to his fingers and knuckles. It only made an even bigger mess. There was so much blood.

Sunny winced as Kel held the cloth there, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks. He hissed, his teeth bared and his eyes raw. Everything was blurry. There was an irritating ringing noise in Sunny’s ear and dark spots all throughout his vision, yet all he could do was sit there and wince.

“No, no.. oh, god… I’m so sorry.” Kel pressed his palm against the flat of Sunny’s forehead, lifting some of his hair. Kel’s palm was warm, much different from the cold slap of the wind which had only made him feel worse. Kel’s left knuckles were stained with splattered red, most likely from the frigid punch he’d delivered earlier. Adrenaline coursed through Kel’s veins, still. He was gentle, so very gentle; but if Hero had decided to show up again at any given time, half a second of preparation would be just enough for Kel to beat the sh*t out of him.

“..Sorry,” Sunny mumbled, timid and shaky as he tried to sit up against the pillar. His fingers were trembling, palms red and heavy against the wood. Kel’s eyes widened.

“Don’t– None of this is your fault. None of it, I– Sunny. Don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong.”

Sunny nodded, a strained exhale leaving his lungs, his chest rapid and uneven.

He forced a breathy laugh, “Wow, I-I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much pain in… well, ever.” Sunny gave a strained smile, his head propped against the vertical plank. Kel frowned, opening a bottle of peroxide.

“You’re something else, man… I don’t know how you could be smiling at a time like this.”

Sunny hissed when he felt cold liquid pouring all onto the wounds, writhing. His tail squirmed in Kel’s grasp as foam and bubbled washed over the wound from the peroxide.

“I know, I know. I have to clean it out.” Kel brought his pale knuckles in for a kiss, to which Sunny exhaled irregularly. He choked on a sob, gentle wails taken by the wind; officially, this the most miserable sound Kel had ever heard.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” Kel felt his sinuses burn again, his throat closing and his vision blurry. “I’m never going to let him touch you ever again. You’ll never see his face again, ever. Mau loa.” Kel’s words were firm, but apologetic, Ever, as he combed his fingers through Sunny’s slick black hair.

He pressed a lingering kiss to Sunny’s forehead and cupped his cheeks, scooting over to support his shaky arms and abdomen. Sunny grabbed at Kel’s shirt, biting down on the white fabric to distract himself from the gash.

“You can do that.” Kel stroked over the side of Sunny’s face, running a thumb over his temple. He noticed the wound wasn’t just central to his tail. Hero had run the spear haphazardly over his stomach, and luckily, barely over Sunny’s cheek. Kel didn’t know what he would’ve done if Sunny had been stuck through the gut.

Kel wiped some of the blood off of Sunny’s cheek scratch, then kissed it. He knew a cut like this would form a scar— and frankly, Kel felt horrible for seeing such ailing marks all over Sunny’s smooth skin.

A few minutes passed until the bleeding had slowed. Not stopped, but slowed enough to where putting him in the water wouldn’t immediately attract lesser predators.

“You need to go with your pod,” Kel ran a few fingers over Sunny’s cheek, remorse splattered on his face. “I can’t keep you here. With all of them screaming inside, I doubt it's very long until the entire town knows you exist. They’ll kill you.”

Sunny squeezed Kel’s palm.

“I can’t let anything else happen to you. I don’t... I don’t know what I’d do with myself,” Kel let a single tear roll down his face and off of his chin. He felt pathetic. “Please. You need to get to safety.”

Kel slightly lifted the towel he was using to cover Sunny’s wound. Red. All red. He was sure the image would burn itself into every crease of his brain.

“Okay,” Sunny nodded, emitting a grunt upon trying to sit up. He took a glance at his aching hip, head spinning at the sight of his flipper half ripped off. “I think... I think I can get over to them in time.”

Kel sniveled. He just wanted everything to be okay.

–

Kel stirred against his pillow with an agonizing migraine the following morning. The sun tore are his eyelids and left his throat uncomfortably dry. Kel rolled over to look up at the ceiling. He held his left palm up, glancing at the bruises on his knuckles and scratch marks all over his forearms.

His knuckles and finger joints were still incredibly tender from the experience.

He groaned, flipping over to stare across the room. Hero wasn’t in his designated bed, luckily. Kel let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t bear looking at his brother’s face after the aforementioned events. Everything was fine, before— Incredible, in fact. Kel thought he would have a weekend to spend with Sunny without having to worry about his family’s concern.

But, here he was. Sunny had been awfully injured. Kel had to let him swim back to his pod for safety before the blood attracted any other predators Sunny wouldn’t be able to fight off in the miserable stature. He wondered how terribly Sunny’s pod members would think of Kel for allowing such a thing to happen to the boy.

An idle tear rolled down the side of his face just thinking about it all, sinking into the cool fabric of his pillow cover. His ears began to ring, annoyingly enough.

He felt incredibly restless.

All he wanted to do was relax, but instead, he found himself climbing down the bunk and out the kitchen window to return to the coast that had started everything. This was one of the times where he was most appreciative of the distance between his house and the rest of the town. He could only faintly hear the bustle of the town, deafened by the wind. It made him feel calmer.

Kel paced feverishly along the shore of the lagoon. It had been only three days since the start of the incident, but every day felt agonizingly slow. The aftermath left him in a heap of heated arguments with both his parents and his brother. Kel spent all of those evenings ripping bounty posters down off of windows and pillars, tearing them into shreds and letting them blow away in the wind. He was furious. The day before, he’d managed to threaten multiple people with personal violence who he saw nailing the awful posters into trees.

He had one poster clenched within his fist, now. He wanted to rip this one up too.

Kel was never that much of a curser, but lately, the sailor-esque lingo was his primary language. He’d storm up to anyone with his fist at the ready if they showed any interest whatsoever in searching, catching, or killing Sunny.

Sunny’s kind, gentle features had been rendered into an awful caricature with a large five hundred dollar reward text stamped across his brow. Sunny looked nothing like the illustration nor was he worth so little. In all seriousness, it made Kel beyond angry.

Most Mauna residents stayed far away from Kel after the first two threats he’d posed.

Kel’s stomach churned at the thought of Sunny being captured. He promised himself he’d never let it happen, but the idea itself still haunted him. He tore the poster in his grasp to shreds, burying it in the sand and kicking it into the water. His fists sat balled up by his hips, before releasing to cover his own face with the same juxtaposing fingers.

His heart was throbbing horribly in his chest.

Kel sat down, letting the shore run cold over his fingers. He took the water and pressed the frigidness to his cheeks. It seemed to calm him down even if he were still completely lost in thought.

A few hours had passed before he started to feel normal again.

A familiar splash arose from the cove a few meters away. Kel whipped his head around to faintly see Sunny’s smooth hair breaking the surface of the lapping waves. He scrambled over, almost knee-deep into the bay just to grab Sunny’s arms.

“Sunny?” He called, earnestly, his nose beginning to sting. He stared down at the boy in disbelief.

“Ke–”

“You can’t be here. Not now,” Kel felt himself start to panic. “Everyone— There’s posters. There’s hunters everywhere.”

“...Are you sure?” Sunny asked, glancing around. No one was here but them. His chin laid lousily against the gentle surface of the water. “I wanted to check in on you. I, just... are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that.” Kel kneeled down, letting the water of the bay engulf the lower half of his abdomen just so he could be face-to-face with Sunny. He squeezed Sunny’s palm firmly under the cold of the lagoon.

“I’m fi—”

“We can’t talk. You... You need to leave,” Kel interrupted, sternly. “My brother told everyone. Anyone could be watching right now— We don’t have time.”

“But... I just got here,” Sunny frowned. “I don’t see or hear anyone. You know how keen I am on that.” Sunny lowered his voice to a whisper.

“And you know how hard it is for me to put my foot down with you. Please, just... please go,” Kel whined, holding both of Sunny’s hands within his own. “You know I don’t want to let go either. Please.” Kel’s voice was slightly cracked.

“I can’t,” Sunny murmured, squeezing Kel’s palms. “I felt like... I felt like that night was the last time I was going to see you. I’ve been so restless— I had to come to you. I don’t want this to be the last time either.”

Kel felt stunned at those words. He knew Sunny cared just as deeply of him as vice versa, but to hear it right to his face felt so much more real. He was about to speak when a few booming voices became audible a couple of dozen yards behind them.

“You have to go,” Kel let go of Sunny’s hands, unwinding their fingers, pushing him away by the shoulders. “I won’t let anything happen to you again. I’ve sworn that to myself.”

“Kel, I can— last time was unexpected! It wasn’t fair, I... I can fight them off, now.”

“N-No! You– You don’t understand. If you hurt anyone, that’ll just give them more of a reason to find and kill you. Go!” Kel whipped his head around, seeing multiple lanterns nearing their location.

“Kel, I—”

“Stop!” Kel raised his voice. It frightened the both of them, but Kel had no time to differentiate his fear between Sunny being found and damaging their relationship. “Get— Get out of here! This was all a waste of time. I– I can’t do this anymore.” Kel spat, both fear and venom laced in his words. He was scared.

“This whole time, you— You’ve been nothing but a siren. Don’t ever come back.”

Sunny froze.

His ears sunk down against his shoulders. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing dared slip out. He took one last haunted gaze at Kel before turning and fleeing, his figure vanishing under the uncaring cloak of the lagoon.

Kel froze, too, holding a shaky palm up to cover his mouth. Why did he say that?

He panicked. His heart began to race. The corners of his eyes blurred and closed in on him, rendering him almost blind and clinging for dear life to a pillar attached to his dock. The waves washed callously at his waist, chilling him from his lower back to the nape of his neck.

Kel wept against the plank, face uncomfortably hot and filled with a different, unsolicited type of affliction.

—

Kel spent most of the following day lying in bed. He couldn’t hear his mom nor Hero anywhere in the house; something he was admittedly thankful for. After the sun had set, he snuck back out of the kitchen window. Kel walked and walked and walked until his feet were sore. He’d practically reached the other side of the small Maunan island by the time he decided to take a rest.

The next few days rolled by in a similar manner. Slipping through the window, running off until his feet were raw, and staring off at the passage in hopes Sunny might randomly show up.

The following Tuesday, he’d almost made it all the way to mount Kolohe on foot before cowering at its judgment and returning home. He hadn’t done much to solve his agonies in almost two weeks at this point.

He never dared to climb the alps. He’d simply sit by the base, close to the inner passage, staring over the edge of the cliff about fifty feet from the surface of the water. Wednesday offered the same pattern of events, only this time, he didn’t cower back home. He ran his fingers across the softness of the grass, feeling the blades between his toes. He groaned. Even though it was night, the air was hot and sticky. He was sweating.

However, being so far from home felt somewhat freeing. From this distance, he could see tiny, ant-like lights shining through the windows of houses mid wake. The view made him feel bigger both emotionally and physically. He could see his house from here— and that, too, looked incredibly tiny.

His town was so… miniscule. So unimportant in comparison to the ocean stretching thousands of miles away behind his back. It held much more importance than his slumbering town, busy off of fish and fruit and lies. Was this the way everyone saw him? Was this vision just now becoming clear? Did the mountains care about his story at all? Did the ocean?

The wind was cool and comforting against his cheeks. Being completely alone had never felt so crowded. The trees swayed, the bay growled. It was so quiet, yet so overwhelming.

Kel felt homesick.

He was never the type to actually run away from home, anyways.

He knew Sunny was still out there– somewhere beyond the passage. It had been two weeks since Kel had seen or heard from him; He wanted to make sure he was okay, and at the very minimum still alive. Kel felt as if he were rotting from the inside out with anticipation from not seeing him since that wretched day.

He vividly remembered how cold Sunny’s cheek was when he kissed it, how palpable his agony was simply from the sound of his ragged breathing. Kel was ashamed to admit that he’d had nightmares almost every night about everything that had happened.

Not to mention, the following days aftermath, when his love tried to return, he shooed him off in the most awful way imaginable. Sunny wouldn’t leave even though he’d seen the approaching hunters— Kel felt like he had no other choice but to say what he’d said. Still, Kel wished he would’ve said anything but that. The hurtful words continued to bounce around in his skull; the guilt was eating him alive. It felt utterly appalling.

He found himself back home within the next thirty minutes, feet covered in both dirt and sand as he scanned the two canoes tied to his dock. His personal canoe lay dormant, tied to three of the pillars on the right side of the raised planks. Kel had never sailed past the passage before, nor had he seen what the waters were like past Mauna’s lagoon. He didn’t think it mattered at this point in time; he was much more worried about Sunny’s whereabouts than his personal, unrelated fears. Kel decided he would leave scared if it meant he’d find what was wrongfully taken from him.

Swiftly, he got up and untied each knot attached to the dock and threw the ropes onto the deck of the large canoe. He hopped in with a bellowy sigh and gripped the middle halyard, tightening the knots around it instead. He wanted to get there as quickly as possible without being seen. Only now had Kel realized how inconvenient it was that his house had a clear, undisturbed view of the entire lagoon. He just hoped everyone was too deep in slumber to notice he’d gone.

It was a smooth sail to the channel, luckily, not many waves interfering with the somewhat short journey. Kel was close enough to the right edge of the passage to touch the cliffs, mouth slightly ajar as the mountains stood tall and confident far above him. This angle felt much more judging than when he was on land.

Leaving the Maunan island was a strange feeling.

The only visible land available after the twin mountains was an incredibly small island, baring only crab burrows. Kel was just grateful for the lack of intrusive waves.

“Sunny? Suuuunnnyyyyyy…” Kel called, not shouting, but outdoor voide-level. It was silent out here; If Sunny was going to hear him, he would without the need of blood-curdling cries.

“Sunnyyy…” He called again.

“Are you out here?” Kel asked, wholeheartedly expecting a response, but not receiving one. Usually, a night like this wouldn’t be so strangely empty. The sky was clear, the moon was high, the waves were calm. Only one other person could turn the night into perfection, but, no matter how long Kel called his name, there was no answer.

Four a.m. tugged desperately at Kel’s weakened consciousness. He felt homesick, but not because of his venture away from his home lagoon.

By four thirty, Kel was leaned against the base of the mast on the canoe fast asleep. Kel hadn’t gotten a rest like this in over a week– He felt he was mourning someone he wasn’t even sure was gone or not.

Five a.m. came in the blink of an eye and a tug on the ear.

A tug on the ear?

Kel inhaled hastily through his nose, scrunching the bridge as he felt his ear being pinched. He opened his eyes the moment he felt something soft touch his cheek.

Sunny. He jolted awake, a flood of indescribable emotion hitting him all at once.

“O-Oh my god. Sunny?” Kel gave a gasp, shooting up from his slumber. Immediate consciousness.

“Are you okay? How’s your fin? Have you been swimming any better?” Kel struggled to come up with anything other than worry whilst Sunny cupped his face with an earnest smile.

“I’m okay,” Sunny mumbled, his ear twitching, “I-I mean, I’ve been better, but I’m not doing as bad as you probably thought I was. I’m swimming fine. How long have you been out here? If the water weren’t as calm as it is now, you’d’ve been— You could’ve drowned.”

Sunny looked tired. Almost as tired as Kel was.

“Oh, I… I don’t know. I don’t even know what time it is,” Kel frowned. The corners of his eyes stung just at the sight of Sunny finally in front of him again. Kel bit his tongue. His lower lip began to quiver without his approval— He felt embarrassed being so emotional, but how could he help it?

“You have no idea how happy I am to know you’re okay.”

“I’m so happy to see you too. I was... I was so worried something had happened after I left. I’m sorry for being so stubborn.”

Kel frowned. “No, no... I... It’s not your fault,” He sighed and buried his nose against the crook of Sunny’s neck. It felt kind of weird to admit in his head, but he missed the particular seawater-y scent Sunny always had. “It was never your fault.”

“I should’ve come out here sooner.” Kel murmured, resisting the urge to cradle any kisses onto Sunny’s jaw.

“It's almost sunrise,” Sunny’s palms cup Kel’s cheeks, fingers dipping behind Kel’s ears to clear away his bangs, “They’ll notice you’re gone if you stay any longer.”

“I don’t care anymore. I just– I need to see you for a little longer.” Kel winces. His fingers are shaky. He feels a little hypocritical saying such a thing to Sunny’s face; now, he gets what he meant. He feels like if he lets go, he’ll never hold him again.

Sunny’s ears slump back to his shoulders. He hates how despaired Kel looks. It hurts him knowing he’s the cause of it.

“...Please believe me. I want to see you just as badly,” Sunny grimaces, “But you came out here the day I’m supposed to be heading east with my pod.” He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Kel’s.

“Oh. I forgot about that.” Kel began to get lost in thought. It’s been two weeks and Sunny’s about to leave for another three in the east. Would Sunny tell his family about what happened? Would Kel be the one they associated with the ugly wounds on Sunny’s once perfect skin?

“I know what you’re thinking. Stop thinking it,” Sunny’s brows upturned.

“How–”

“I know you, that’s how,” Sunny stroked Kel’s cheek, reeling him in for a mellow kiss. Kel returned the gesture, wholeheartedly. He missed these lips. “I don’t want you to worry about my family and I. It’s not your fault. I hope that’s not what you’ve been thinking this whole time.”

“No, I… well…” Kel couldn’t lie to him even if he tried. “I’ve been so worried,” Kel broke. His nose scrunched up and his lips quivered, sinking sullenly against Sunny’s cool palms. “I missed you so much.”

Sunny swallowed the lump in his throat, wincing at the sight of Kel’s tears rolling morosely over his chin.

“Oh, Kel… don’t cry,” Sunny wiped his thumbs over Kel’s cheeks, smearing away the tears. He kissed the tip of Kel’s nose. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve swam away sooner.”

“Stop blaming yourself. It’s not— It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” Kel wept harder when Sunny pulled him close.

Kel promptly grabbed Sunny by the underarms and lifted him over the ledge of the canoe. Luckily, this boat was much more stable than his smaller fishing canoe. Sunny yelped, but gave in as Kel squeezed him tightly. Kel didn't even mind how drenched Sunny's slippery body was getting him.

Kel made sure the still-healing wound on Sunny’s tail didn’t touch the surface of the canoe. However, he wrapped his legs around him, holding him both tightly and comfortably still. Sunny sighed and returned the urgent embrace, burying his head between Kel’s chest and jaw. Kel cupped Sunny’s face, lifting his chin and moving aside his hair to press a fond kiss to the center of his forehead.

“You’re so clingy,” Sunny teased, using his thumb to wipe a tear away from Kel’s eyelid. “I love that about you.”

Kel began to pepper kisses all over his face. Sunny turned completely red at the sudden direct affection he was receiving— He’d never seen Kel so needy. Sunny’s heart began to pound where it was pressed against Kel’s abdomen. He felt speechless; just taking in every smother Kel pressed to his face.

“Sunny,” Kel murmured, shakily, but more composed than before. “Please look at me.”

Sunny did. With all his heart and his might, he did. His pupils expanded across the deep brown of his eyes. Kel had always thought Sunny’s eyes were pitch black because of how little light they reflected; this was the most perfect way imaginable to be proven wrong.

“I love you so much. So much.” The words were soft and breathy. It was so personal.

Sunny began to cry. Those words had never meant so much to him.

Sunny buried his face against the already damp fabric on Kel’s chest. His ears pinned back, feeling so suddenly vulnerable.

“I’m not ‘a waste of time’ to you?” He looked up, eyes slightly red and watery from anguish.

“No, no... god, no. You’re so much more,” Kel pulled him closer, combing his fingers through Sunny’s soddened hair. “I should’ve never said that to you. I’m so sorry, I... I didn’t mean it. I just wanted you to leave to keep you safe.”

“You’re everything, sunshine.” Kel murmured, pressing leisurely kisses against the cold surface of his temple.

“I love you so much, too.” Sunny’s eyelids fluttered to a close, a few excess tears slipping down the curve of his cheek. Kel traced his lower lids, smearing away the wetness with a simple swipe of his thumb.

He squeezed Sunny tighter.

–

Kel sat idly on the edge of his worn wooden dock, a forkful of spaghetti in his right palm and a wish for a certain merperson to be there with him. He was alone. Sunny was out East, visiting his family like he told Kel he would during the early spring. It was strange not having him come to visit every day– Though, even if Sunny were close to Kel’s lagoon, he couldn’t visit just yet. Kel’s family knew about Sunny, now, and it was probably the worst possible outcome Kel could’ve ever imagined.

The wind felt a little colder. The last week’s events had been a lot for him, Sunny, Kel’s family, and practically the entire town of Mauna. There were posters advertising prizes for Sunny’s head all over the entire area, to Kel’s utter dismay.

This isn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t what he envisioned for them. He thought he’d have time to slowly introduce Sunny to his family, his people, to Mauna, but he guessed not everything went his way.

Kel shivered.

He didn’t even turn his head when he heard the dock creak from the footsteps of another person. Unless it was Sunny, which clearly wasn't– he didn’t care. He slowly swallowed his forkful of spaghetti, languidly spinning the fork inside the tupperware to busy himself away from his thoughts. The figure that was walking across the dock sat criss-cross next to him.

“Hey,” A voice said solemnly, carried by the wind. “You, uh... doing okay...?” It was Hero. Kel didn’t respond. He turned his head away and narrowed his eyes. He scooted away from him, moving to learn against a pillar instead. Hero fiddled with his thumbs and took a shaky deep breath in. He spoke quietly, a hint of something like shame in his voice.

“I, uh... I’m sorry about what happened that week. I know we...haven’t talked at all since.”

Kel frowned. It was an ugly frown. Hero was trying to apologize after what he’d done to Kel. What he’d done to Sunny. How stupid did he have to be to come here with a ‘sorry’ and expect all to be forgiven?

Frankly, Hero had felt terrible for doing that to Kel. It wasn’t what he wanted either when they began to grow distant a few years ago; all he wanted to do now was keep his little brother safe— And it seemed he couldn’t do that, either. However, Hero was still under the impression that Kel was in the wrong. He was terrified of losing him to something so deeply-rooted within their community. They’d been told since birth to never go near a siren. It would be stupid to die from something so easily avoidable.

Kel is just being difficult, was what Hero had always thought because of how closely he, himself followed in his parents’ footsteps. If he was praised by his parents, admired by his church, and complimented throughout the town, how could he possibly be in the wrong now? If he’d gotten Kel to follow closer by his side, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

Hero knew that if he’d truly killed Sunny, he and his brother would never have any sort of relationship ever again. If Kel wasn’t speaking to him now, whilst Sunny was alive, god knows how much worse it would’ve been if Hero had ended Sunny right there and then.

“I just... Thought I was keeping you safe. I didn’t– I didn’t mean to cause... this.” There was undoubtedly a much bigger rift between the brothers, now, after the incident. Kel was silent while Hero spoke, offering no words in return. Hero was unsure if he was even listening. He brought two fingers to rub his own cheek, the side Kel had punched in a fury around a week ago. It was healing, but it hurt like hell nonetheless.

He didn’t know Kel could punch that hard. It seemed he didn’t know a lot of things about Kel.

“...You’re not getting it. Mamá thinks he was trying to kill me. Everyone thinks he was trying to kill me.”

Kel still didn’t turn to look at his brother. A curdling anger was bubbling up in his chest as he stopped spinning his fork in the plastic container on his lap. He took a deep breath, setting the container aside.

“He’s not a siren. Don’t you think he would’ve ‘taken’ me by now? It’s been months. Have you even seen those awful posters they’ve been putting up for him? You’ve seen him face-to face. You know he doesn’t look like that,” Kel gritted the words through stern teeth, “Not to mention the price. I’ll be damned if anyone thinks he’s really worth five hundred bucks. He’s priceless.”

Hero couldn’t respond.

“And, he looks nothing like the murals! People made up those stories to keep us from interacting.” Kel’s voice was strained and fanatic. Hero swallowed thickly, looking off into the distance with his gaze locked on Mount Kolohe and his ears locked on Kel’s voice.

Hero looked down. “...Kel. You just... Never know. People evolve, maybe there’s a reason they wanted to keep us from–”

“You’re doing it again. You’re not listening,” Kel bit back, his fists coiling around the fabric of his shorts.

“I’m–”

“You’ve never even talked to him. You don’t know what Sunny is like. You don’t know him,” Kel interrupted, although it came out as more of a hiss. “You don’t deserve to know him. Not like I do.”

Kel took a moment to study Hero’s expression. His teeth were gritted against one another, brows drawn downward into several wrinkles. He hadn’t gotten a good look at Hero in over a week, refusing to acknowledge him in any manner; Now, he noticed a huge purplish-red splotch on his cheek. Oh, that's right. Kel did that.

“...Get out of my face, man.” He snarled, turning the other way. He didn’t want to look the damage in the eye.

“You almost killed my boyfriend, changed the entire trajectory of his life, but you have the nerve to come up to me and say sorry? Say sorry to him!” Kel pointed angrily at the ocean passage between the twin mountains, his pupils shrunken, his fists still coiled. “Oh, wait! I’m not going to let you.” He said sarcastically, nipping the air with sharp teeth.

Kel’s scowl was… heavy. Probably one of the nastiest expressions Hero had ever received; And this was his own brother.

“You– You were dating?” Hero had finally registered Kel’s words, both his brows raising at the sudden mention of the title.

“Of course that’s what you’re worried about. Not the fact that you almost killed an innocent person. Get a f*cking grip.” Kel wanted to get up and walk away.

“N-No, I– That’s not what I meant to–” Hero whipped his head around, leaning forward to attempt eye contact with Kel.

“Save it, dude!”

“Stop!”

“I meant… I didn’t know,” Hero snapped, his voice softening towards the end.

“I don't care about your relationships. I didn’t mean it like that— I just… We’ve been taught this– this way our entire lives, you can’t just deliberately go against it and start meeting with a siren without telling someone! You’re right, I… I don’t know him. But I know you.”

“Clearly you don’t know me if you hadn’t known what was going on for the last eight months.”

“You never told me.”

“Yeah, because look what happened when you found out!” Kel raised his voice, then ran a palm up his face and clutched his forehead with his fingers. Talking to Hero was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

“I’m not going to forgive you,” Kel held his bowl tightly. The noodles felt cold when he shoveled another forkful of it into his mouth. The sauce was bitter on his tongue the moment he swallowed. “And he’s not a siren. You can’t just come over here, say your little sorries, blame me for it all and expect everything to be a-okay when you walk away. You have no idea how important he was to me. Not telling you what was or wasn’t happening isn’t going to change that.”

“I’m sorry.” Hero fiddled with his thumbs, his poise much more meek than before. They both had a similar mindset when it came to apologies. Perhaps if he looked meeker, he’d get a more honest response.

Hero felt like he was holding his breath.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me. I didn’t come here to ask for forgiveness,” It was half the truth. He was hoping it would happen quickly, but he knew his brother all too well for that. Kel would win every grudge-holding contest if given the chance.

“I just… wanted to let you know I regret what I did. I don’t want to lose you over my own mistakes. I should’ve been more involved. If I’d just taken the initiative to do that for you instead of cowering away… This wouldn’t have happened,” Hero ran a palm over his face, hesitantly. His stomach was churning. “I wish I would’ve spoken to you before putting you through that. I’ve messed everything up. I’m supposed to protect you– I’m supposed to be here for you. I got everything mixed up, and– and I’m so sorry.”

Kel was silent, his gaze still fixated on the sunset. Every evening was glorious with clouds like that, but over time, the beauty passed as an everyday visual. The clouds made him want to run away in another daydream– it was so inviting. It was coaxing him in. The sky felt hypnotizing like that, his eyelids heavier from the long stare. Hero took it as being ignored. It’s not like he expected a response from him in the first place.

Hero was about to give up and leave when Kel hesitantly leaned onto his shoulder with a frown.

“You’re just saying that.” It came out as a mumble, some reluctance leaking from his throat.

It felt like a big step.

“Of- Of course not. I mean, I want you to have hope– For us to have hope. You’re my little brother. You’re important, man... I guess the way I’ve expressed that hasn’t been the best.” He tried to find quick, genuine words to fill the silence. He couldn’t remember the last time Kel had willingly made contact with him without frustration– It was usually a shoulder shove as he walked by, or nothing entirely.

“I’ve tried for… for so long to try and get on better terms with you,” Hero felt his sinuses start to sting. “But I always feel like I’m being pushed away. I don’t want you to hate me, Kel. I’ve never hated you. I’m… upset, sure, but I’d like to keep my brother from getting stolen out at sea.”

“You just…never listen to me anymore. Everyone treats you like you’re above me. Mom, dad, customers, even Sally likes you more than me! And I’m just… left in the dark,” Kel moved away again. His chest felt tense. He wanted to let it all out. “Then when I find a perfect getaway— an outlet for genuine affection— You’re the one to take it away.”

This was the second time Hero had seen Kel cry this week. Kel slid his hand over his eyes and forehead to cover the tears, his breathing irregular as he quietly sobbed. Hero’s attempt at consoling him with open arms was met with a jolt backwards. He wasn’t ready for that.

“This was my one chance,” Kel looked up with raw under eyes, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. “You shouldn’t have done that to him. Sunny didn’t deserve that. He’s sweet and full of character– I… I feel so horrible. I loved him. And I almost got him killed.” Kel’s voice was sheer and shaky, pitched up and vulnerable.

“Why did you do that to him?” Kel’s face twisted and froze, lip quivering as it continued to hit him. He loved Sunny. He also loved his brother. Kel grappled with both categories of his care, watching defenseless as his world unraveled before his eyes. “He’s on this way home to his family today. His mother and sister are gonna see those horrible wounds on his body– And guess who’s gonna be associated with them? Me.”

He couldn’t look Hero in the eye.

“I...” Hero tried, but felt much too guilty after watching Kel crumble beside him.

“I just want to be left alone.” Kel uttered, a little shaky and breathless as he hurled over his knees. It was too overwhelming. As much as he wanted to forgive his brother, it wasn’t that easy. That night was welded into his memory– He could still taste the blood on his fingers; his knuckles still felt raw from punching his brother. Their parent’s still hadn’t known that Kel was the one who gave Hero that ugly bruise and half of a black eye. “I hope knowing everything that’s been going on in my head for the past week and a half is enough for you to finally listen.”

He’d try to take it step at a time. Hero obliged, wanting to give his brother as much time as he needed to return to some kind of normalcy. He had no idea how deeply Kel had felt about it.

“Okay.”

Kel sighed, shakily, the air in his lungs dry and sickening. More footsteps rose in the wake of his brother walking away, and today, he was glad Hero finally listened. Something as simple as a ‘go away’ wasn’t so easily achieved if his brother was around— Somehow, their talk today was different. Kel was somewhat satisfied, but he still cried.

He was alone on the dock again, as he wished. Oh, if only Sunny were here.

–

The next week was agonizing.

Each day passed slowly, and it seemed every time Kel looked at the clock his head would begin to spin. Low lit mountains, staggeringly bright noons, and humid, sticky afternoons. Kel had a few mosquito bites splattered all over his arms and legs from sitting outside for so long. He hadn’t gone fishing in the canoe or managed anything in the shop for the last six days. It wasn’t that he was refusing to— His brother just hadn’t worked up the courage to ask him for any help.

Hero had felt awful. He didn’t want to burden Kel with anything else so long as he was safe. He’d begun checking the dock every night for any sign of the mer’s return. He knew Kel was waiting for the exact same thing, though for a different reason.

Kel looked worse than he did the week before. He almost looked sickly. He wouldn’t talk to Hero or his parents, nor would he eat much. As much as Hero was concerned, he didn’t want to be lashed out at or make things any worse; so he stayed relatively quiet.

Hero took over both fishing and selling while Kel just… sat around. Always right by the coast, curled up and propped against a pillar as he let the shore run cold water over his toes. Kel was there almost all hours of the day until his skin appeared raw on his shoulders and cheeks from the relentlessness of the sun.

Sometimes Hero would see him cry there on the sand. That was when he’d felt the worst about himself. Had he ruined what hope of repair they’d had before the incident?

“..I brought you some water,” Hero cleared his throat and held out a fresh bottle of water over to his brother, who lay in a fetal position against the lower pillar of the dock. “And some sunscreen. You look sunburned.”

Kel didn’t reply.

“I know you’re upset with me, but I can’t sit around and watch you stop taking care of yourself. Just.. drink something. I promise it’ll make you feel less miserable,” Hero offered, kneeling next to him and placing the bottle onto the sand. He unscrewed the cap, then tightened it again to give Kel less of a hassle if he decided to open it. “Can I at least put some sunscreen on your shoulders? It looks painful.”

Kel shrugged. It was better than nothing, so Hero smiled.

Kel hissed through his teeth when he felt the cold of the sunscreen on the sensitive skin of his shoulders. It stung horribly. Kel hadn’t even noticed how bad his sunburn had gotten until now. He wondered how much worse Sunny had felt when, instead of peeling skin, a chunk of sensitive flesh had been skewered. Kel was hoping, praying that Sunny began to feel better out there. He couldn’t imagine what it was like having open wounds invaded by saltwater 24/7.

“I’m sorry,” Hero murmured, trying as carefully as he could to smear the sunblock over the burns. “You need to come inside, Kel. These are bad. You need to heal. I won’t go into the room and bother you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Hero ran some of the sunscreen over Kel’s cheeks and nose since they appeared to be just as seared. Kel’s eyes teared up from the awful sensation. The top layer of his skin was peeling similarly in multiple other places.

“I can’t go in,” Kel mumbled, pushing Hero’s hand away. “I need to be here.”

“Kel… You can’t just sit around for weeks waiting for him to come back.”

“Watch me.” Kel glared at him.

Hero sat silent for a moment. He screwed the lid of the sunscreen back on and set it down beside the two of them.

“...At least put on sunblock. You’ll be boiled alive out here if you keep doing what you’re doing,” He sighed. Hero picked up the bottle of water and held it out for Kel to take. “Drink some. I’m not asking.”

Kel took the bottle, hesitantly. He had a frustrated scowl on his face. However, he practically gulped the whole bottle of water down within thirty seconds flat, squeezing the plastic between his fist until it crumpled under his fingers.

“...Can I have another one?”

“Yeah.”

–

February eleventh.

It had been eight months since the beginning of Kel’s little adventure; starry nights, foreign romance, tense infrastructure. Sunny had finally returned from his journey to the East, meeting Kel a day after his initial re-arrival. Sunny had spent the entire evening explaining every individual meetup and reunion with his birth pod.

“But... yeah. It was wonderful. My sister and I did a lot of hunting for the rest of the pod,” Sunny narrowed his eyes, nuzzling against Kel’s arm. He’d been talking for over an hour at this point— Kel assumed it was somewhere around one in the morning. They agreed to push back their meeting time from nine to twelve in order to eliminate any suspicion from Kel’s family. “I think I forgot how much I loved the food over there.”

“Oh, really? What’d you eat?”

“You might be grossed out.”

“I’m used to it,” Kel snickered, “It can’t be as bad as actually bringing it to my dock. Y’know, like when you brought that seal.”

“Aww, you know I was just trying to be nice to you! How was I supposed to know you didn’t like seals?” Sunny laughed, flicking Kel’s nose. “Well, they do have a lot of white tipped sharks over there. This area has black tips, which.. In my opinion, aren’t as tasty as my homeland sharks.”

“Ours are more meaty, I think.” Sunny gave a toothy smile.

“Ewww, you’re right, I am grossed out.”

Sunny scoffed. “I told you so! You never listen to me.” He gave a few laughs, leaning his cheek back against Kel’s forearm. It was warm. He’d been thinking about what his return would be like with Kel for almost the entire trip over east.

Kel had a look of deep thought splattered across his cheeks.

“Hey, um... I did want to talk to you about something when you came back,” Kel fiddled with his thumbs, moving one of his palms over to trace Sunny’s cheek. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the right time to bring it up, since... you’ve just come back, but... I don’t really know when else I’ll have the chance.”

Sunny’s ears twitched, offering Kel his full attention.

“What is it?”

Kel took a deep, shaky breath in. “I don’t... I don’t think we should keep doing this.”

Sunny tilted his head in slight confusion.

“I mean, I just... don’t think we should keep meeting up like this if I’m putting you at risk every time we do,” Kel’s eyes were glued to the floor, grabbing Sunny’s palms and squeezing them into his own. He laced their fingers together. “I don’t want you to be worried about me getting caught every time we meet up. It’s gotten too dangerous for you, too. The bounty posters, the boaters actively looking for you in the lagoon... it’s too much.”

“I-I think we should split up.” Kel spat out, squeezing Sunny’s fingers between his own. He felt himself start to tear up. He’d never imagined having to say that to Sunny.

“Oh,” Sunny’s ears pinned at the final sentence, “S-So… this is it?” He asked, quieter than before. He bit his lip, awaiting Kel’s response. The taller boy looked just as shaken up as Sunny was.

The waves felt slightly colder as they washed over Sunny’s body. The high tide engulfed his lower abdomen, cradling his stature against the dock. A little bit of Kel shattered when Sunny had asked that.

“I.. guess so. I’m.. I'm so sorry,” Kel’s voice was heavy. Heavy with guilt, anger, sorrow.. everything that would leave a person bursting if they were to bottle them up. Sunny was silent. The past eight months had gone by in seemingly a snap of a finger; The flowering of their relationship wilting away within moments. Early spring was wrought to bring life, he thought, yet it was about to leave a bitter, rotting flavor on Kel’s tongue for the rest of his life.

Sunny wasn’t angry, nor was he upset. He only felt disbelief pulling at his stomach, twisting his insides and shoving them up his throat to swallow back down, reluctantly. He knew it was okay to grieve their relationship being over… but he wanted to be grateful this had happened in the first place. The lump in his throat argued otherwise, burning and tingling up the bridge of his nose. Guilt.

“..it’s okay,” His fingers trembled. “I understand. Honestly.”

“S-Sunny, I just...” Kel’s voice was shriveled. Even if Sunny was okay with splitting, it’d still leave Kel in a pit of his own. “I want to keep you so badly, but... I can’t. Everything gets in the way.”

“I know,” Sunny tucked Kel’s little bangs behind his ear. “Believe me. I want you just as much. I know there’s a lot on your shoulders.”

Despite everything, Sunny was smiling.

“I’m glad we met, I’m— I'm glad this happened.” He drew his hands to cup Kel’s face, cradling his cheeks with a kind of gentleness one would give an infant. Kel needed that. He felt as if he were melting into the gesture, his own palms embracing the small warmth of Sunny’s. Tanned fingers met trimmed claws, tugging the valleys between his knuckles. His hands weren’t cold, this time. He felt Sunny’s thumbs stroke his upper cheek, so he cried. Sunny caught the tears in the stride of his fingers and frowned.

“I knew it’d get complicated one way or another. I’m sure we’ll meet in another lifetime, don’t you think?” His frown had morphed more into a remorseful smile.

Kel, against his own will, laughed a little. The sentence encouraged another tear.

“You think so? Are we really that tied together?” Kel asked, feathery and tired. Another solemn tear rolled down his cheek.

“I do think so.”

“I managed to find you halfway across the Pacific,” Sunny let a tear run down his cheek as his thumb ran across the freckled one of Kel’s. “Don’t you think I could find you halfway across the galaxy, too?”

Sunny’s expression softened one more time, soaking in the past, before scrunching and pouring a stinging sensation all throughout his sinuses. He was crying. No— sobbing. His forehead rested against the dock as tears hit the wood steadily. Kel began to sob, too.

He unfurled Sunny’s crossed arms, wrapping them around his own, and pulled Sunny into the tightest humanly- or mer-ly— possible hug. Kel knew once he let go, he’d never see Sunny again. His face trembled and his eyebrows drew close as he wailed against Sunny’s shoulder, holding onto him differently than ever before. Normally, he would’ve lost his grip because of Sunny’s slippery orca skin— but he was much too occupied to give a sh*t about how slippery Sunny was. He did not let go.

Kel had one last chance.

“I don’t think I can let go.”

His choke was staggered, trembling fingers upon slippery skin for a slippery person. One mistake, one move, and he would slip away. He exhaled, holding onto Sunny as if his life depended on it. A shaky squeal rolled off the latter’s throat, sorrowful and strained.

“..We have to. You know that.” He wiped another tear away from Kel’s lower eyelids. He frowned, more tears replacing the one Sunny had rid of. He’d never seen Kel in such a shaken, pitiful form. It tore his heart right out of his chest, struck him square in the face, right to his core. He couldn’t stand to see Kel mourn him– And he hasn't even left yet.

“Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?” Kel asked through blurry eyes, his fingers tight and persistent.

“Do you want to?”

That question didn’t feel right.

“What?” Kel asked, his brows furrowing.

His heart slowed, sudden dread dawning upon him as he stared into Sunny’s eyes. All dark, as per usual, but something was different. His heart began racing, chills crawling down his cheeks and down his calves– He wanted to throw up. He felt himself start to drool, as if he were about to puke, but when he looked down, it was black. He touched it, almost slimelike.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner.”

“Wha– What? Told me what?” Everything began crumbling. The ocean receded, the sand unmoving and the wind picking up. Kel held a palm over his forehead to keep his bangs from hitting his face as the world began to spin.

“What’s– What’s going on?” Sunny didn’t reply. He pressed his forehead to Kel’s, squeezing his fingers as if it were the last time he’d see him again.

“Promise me you’ll be okay.” He murmured, squeezing harder. He had a frown on his face filled with both urgency and desperation.

The ocean was coming back, but not like before. A huge wave crashed halfway over Mauna’s twin mountains, the middle seeping through and continuing to race through their bay. Some sort of tsunami.

“Promise me.” Sunny added, much more pressing than before. Kel began to hyperventilate, sitting up and watching wide-eyed as the water ripped through the air at a horrifying pace. The wave hurling towards them seemed to have meant nothing to Sunny, as all he did was hold firm, almost imperious eye contact with Kel. He tried to nod, but it was too late.

He woke up.

Air rapidly filled Kel’s lungs the moment it was all over. He was sent into a fit of coughing, grabbing what he could of the wooden pillars next to him. He was on the dock again. The air was quiet and docile, nothing like the phantasm he’d barely escaped. Did he fall asleep here?

Kel groaned, scrunching his nose whilst wiggling his fingers in front of his eyes to convince himself he was actually awake. He was, and it was still the middle of the night. When did this happen?

“Ugh…” Kel grumbled, doing his best to balance over the dock’s edge and wash the lagoon over his cheeks. He couldn’t recall when he’d fallen asleep. Is Sunny here?

“...Sunny?” He called, but there was no answer. It wasn’t like Kel didn’t expect a lack of response; Sunny usually went home after Kel fell asleep on the dock. A high, full moon bared about halfway between midnight and dawn– It must’ve been somewhere around three a.m. Even if Sunny had been here, he would’ve left for home by now.

“...This is so stupid.” Kel cursed under his breath.

He thought the nightmares were over. Ever since eight months ago, at least. He brushed it off.

Get over yourself, Kel. Sunny’s only been gone for eight days.

Kel thought to himself for a while, leaning against his usual pillar on the dock. Sunny was still visiting his family, just as he said he’d be. Kel was still worried about him; Half of his right pelvic fin had been ripped apart and a section of his hip was still violently torn. He saw how difficult it suddenly became for Sunny to swim straight without rolling sideways. No matter how much Sunny insisted he would be alright, Kel felt entirely at fault.

Not to mention, Sunny’s mother and sister would definitely question how he’d received such miserable wounds. He knows Sunny will probably fib it off and claim it was a shark or something, but the thought of Sunny’s closest family thinking of Kel as the one who got him torn apart made him want to hurl. He hoped Hero had felt just as guilty as Kel did when he told him what was bound to happen with Sunny.

The guilt was eating him alive.

It would be better for him to go inside and sleep it off in his actual bed instead of on these scratchy wooden planks.

He stood, wobblish, holding onto a pillar for dear life as his calves shook violently. What the hell? Was he really that terrified of a stupid nightmare?

He scoffed and forced his legs to move forward. He walked around the back of the house, sneaking in through the cracked kitchen window and sighing as he leaned against the counter. He let the wind run over his forehead one last time before shutting the sill.

Hector sat at his feet, curiously. The dog tilted his head as if he didn’t understand why Kel was in such disarray. Kel leaned down to pat his head and scratch behind his ears.

“Sorry, buddy. Just a rough night.” Kel murmured as if Hector would understand anyways.

He took Hector’s collar off and set it onto the counter, thinking about how uncomfortable it might’ve felt having the fabric around his neck all day. He crept up the stairs, tiptoeing back into him and Hero’s shared room. Fortunately, his brother was fast asleep.

Kel slipped into bed, staring up at the ceiling once again. He’d wondered how he’d gotten to this point. Maybe if he hadn’t been out on the dock that night, eight months ago, none of this would’ve happened. Kel wouldn’t be heartbroken, Sunny wouldn’t be horrendously injured, and maybe, just maybe… He would’ve had the time to mend his relationship with his brother without any distractions.

But Kel didn’t want that.

Sunny, in all honesty, was the best thing to ever happen to him. Kel would rather pass away right this moment than live through the last eight months again without him. It felt selfish, Kel knew, to deny Sunny the opportunity to leave uninjured so long as they met; as if Kel had the option to go back in the first place. He felt a wave of guilt wash over him because of that internal decision. It felt evil.

Kel raised a palm to smear away the palpitating sweat on his forehead. He felt horrible.

“f*ck…” Kel cursed under his breath, covering his face with his palms. His eyes began to water, annoyingly enough. Tears just gave him migraines— and that was what he wanted the least right now.

He buried his nose between purple sheets and squeezed his eyes shut.

–

Early morning seemed to rise as quickly as Kel felt he’d fallen asleep.

His throat felt horribly sore. It was painful. The feeling was so disrupting that he’d shot out of bed, quickly running to the kitchen to fill a glass of water and clear away the barrenness of his esophagus. It didn’t work. It felt like needles when he swallowed— He groaned, eyes watering up. Of all times? Now?

He sniffled. His nose ran adamantly with mucus, to which he scurried to the bathroom to blow his nose. Why would he be sick now out of all days? Maybe falling asleep outside the previous night wasn’t such a good idea. But, really, Kel hadn’t remembered dozing off there at all. The last he recalled, he was inside grabbing several water bottles and having Hero help him with his sunburns. Kel distinctly remembered the smell of cold aloe vera gel against the raw warmth of his skin.

He bent himself over to open the sink’s cabinet, attempting to find the same gel to apply to his burns. After rummaging through the amalgamation of medicines, dog shampoos, extra soap bottles, and band-aids, Kel concluded the gel wasn’t there.

But that didn’t make any sense. He swore that’s where Hero left it. Kel watched him put it down there next to the box of spongebob band-aids— He remembered vividly.

Kel looked over his shoulders to check for any more peeling skin.

The burns. They were gone.

Kel furrowed his brows, looking around the room. He stared himself in the mirror, taking off his shirt and turning around to stare at his back. Still, no burns.

“Wha…?” Kel ran a palm over his skin. It was smooth, unlike what he was expecting. The area was peeling a day ago, had the gel really worked that well?

“Huh.” Kel murmured, staring down at his fingers. He wiggled them in front of his face to make sure he wasn’t still dreaming.

…Definitely not.

He washed his face with cold water, hoping it would wake him up completely. It wasn’t uncommon for his drowsiness to get the better of his common knowledge. Unfortunately, that was the most likely of his assumptions to be true. That, or, the aloe vera gel Hero promised him would work ended up doing wonders. His skin no longer felt raw— but his throat certainly did.

He whined, the awful sensation in his throat threatening more tears to the corners of his eyes. He ran to the kitchen to rummage a cabinet for any cough drops. One tablet would be all he needed to feel the slightest better than this. Thankfully, he found a bag of cherry cough drops to rip open and scarf down; it numbed the majority of his mouth by the time he chewed open four of them.

He ran another palm over his forehead, rubbing off the bed sweat. His forehead felt extremely warm to the touch.

Kel sighed. This wasn’t a start to the day he was hoping for.

He pressed his forehead against the cold surface of the kitchen countertop, letting the temperature change seep into his skin and calm the unwanted sickness. He opened a drawer, grabbed a hand towel, ran it under water from the sink, and stuck it firm over his brow. That felt much better.

The land line rang from the other end of the counter, again, leaving Kel without any more time to dwell over his condition. He scrambled over to pick it up.

“Hello?” He asked, yawning. The cold of the open window near the phone hit his shoulders with a hiss. He should’ve put his shirt back on while he was in the bathroom. Goosebumps ran rampant all over Kel’s upper body. He shivered.

“Mijo? Where are you?” It was his mother.

“Um… inside..?” He squinted, closing the window in front of him. He peeked out of the blinds and narrowed his eyes. The sun was unforgivingly bright. He combed a few fingers through his hair in a failed attempt to fix his bed head and scowled. He hadn’t spoken to his mother in weeks after the whole incident. He couldn’t bear associating with her ever since he saw her helping others in town hang up posters advertising the reward for Sunny’s head.

Kel felt like talking with her was worse than talking with his brother. At least Hero somewhat cared about the effects of his actions— Hero at least tried to mend his faults. Kel would frequently overhear him arguing with their parents on the topic of the incident. Hero would try to explain the misunderstanding, or how he may have been wrong about Sunny’s classification— But their parents would never listen. It always ended in yelling matches and Hero storming out of the room.

“You were supposed to be out at bay with your brother at six! Te dije que no durmieras hasta tarde!” His mother scolded him from the other line, I told you not to sleep in. Kel felt utterly and completely confused. He was frustrated, but now she had him thinking something was wrong. His mom hadn’t told him to wake up that early in months.

“Mamá, nunca me pediste que me levantara a las seis,” Kel tilted his head, You never told me to get up at six, “I haven’t even— I haven’t even talked with you since January…”

Kel shut the blinds atop the window, holding the towel a bit more firmly against the heat of his forehead. Water slipped down from the towel along the curve of his temple.

“Are you okay, Kel?” Kel’s mom sounded more concerned rather than upset like before.

Kel felt like he was going crazy. Maybe he was dreaming again. He pinched himself on the arm to attempt awakening himself. Nothing happened.

“...Mijo?”

“Yeah? I was checking something. I, uh… I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you sure…?”

“Perrito. It’s June.”

The way his mother said it seemed so confident. Kel felt much more confused than annoyed, seeing as just a couple of days ago, at the start of February, she was babbling about how quickly time was passing. Not that Kel had cared much about her rants anyway.

“Mami, I can’t deal with this right now,” Kel murmured, feeling the flesh behind his eyes pounding on his skull. The headache he had was awfully nauseating. “I’m sick. I don’t know if this is real or not.”

“Mij–” Kel hung up.

Kel’s head was spinning. His feet felt wobbly and his stomach churned queasily. He heard the clicking of his dog’s nails against the wooden floor grow louder as the animal came closer.

“Hi, buddy,” Kel leaned down, hesitantly, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m not feeling so good today.” Hector elicited some sort of cough, almost as if he were mocking Kel’s current shape.

“Very funny.” He commented as if Hector would understand.

Kel climbed ploddingly up the stairs after wrapping himself in a soft blanket stripped from the couch. He found himself covered in goosebumps from his neck to his knees.

The comfort of the blankets led him all the way up to his bed. The content feeling allowed him to think. Why was his mom telling him to get up at six? He already knew. It was the weekend, wasn’t it? He didn’t have to get up at six anymore. They had enough fish in stock from all of his hauls to keep them satisfied for weeks.

A vibration from Hero’s desk yanked him out of his thoughts. He glanced over the edge of his bed, sniffling. Someone was texting his brother. The lock screen lit up with a picture of Hero and that girl from the fruit stand Kel had always seen him talking to. Maybe he’d check what the texts were all about. Hero wasn’t home, anyway, so he could be a little nosey; plus, if he didn’t want Kel snooping around, why leave his phone at home all day?

Kel climbed down their bunk, scooting over and onto Hero’s bed to grab the device. His eyes scanned over the two notifications that sat idly on his brother’s lock screen.

‘the flowers were so pretty’

‘youre always so sweet to me :-)’

“Huh.” Kel scratched his cheek. It seemed like Hero had finally made a move on her after months of nothing. It wasn’t as interesting as Kel hoped, though. His eyes trailed up to look at the time, just for the hell of it. It was early. Nine forty-seven.

The date caught his eye– it read June second. He raised a brow, confused as to why the month was so... far off. It was February! Right?

He took another glance at Hero’s desk, squinting at his clock. It also read nine forty-seven, June the second.

“Wha...?”

He pinched himself on the arm, assuming maybe he’d fallen into another time-distorting dream. Nothing happened. He was most definitely awake. Kel was backed against a corner. He looked down at his hands, watching his fingers tremble in front of him. His heartbeat felt a little faster than before.

No. This was real. It had to be.

Kel’s breathing had only gotten worse. No one was in the house with him. He scrambled off of Hero’s bed over to the other side of the desk, and accidentally slammed his hip against the foot of his bed in the process. He ignored the pain and looked over at Hero’s calendar to take a look at the month it was flipped to.

June, 2009.

“No. No, no… no, no, no! What?”

Kel scrambled back up the bunk ladder, digging through his bedsheets, ripping his blankets off the mattress to snatch his phone. He pressed the home button.

June the second.

“No, no!! f*ck—! Wake up, god damn it!” Kel fell to the floor, tears welling over his lids and blurring his vision. “It has to be real. No, God, please... it has to be real..”

Kel began to hyperventilate.

His chest heaved and his whole body convulsed uncontrollably as reality set in. He pinched himself harder; nothing happened. There was no use.

Everything he had— or everything he thought he had— was nothing but a dream over the span of a singular night. Was it not? How did this happen?

Kel’s head was spinning uncontrollably. His stomach churned, and suddenly, he felt even sicker. He hung onto the side of the wall for dear life, mouth watering. Was it all for nothing?

He ran to the bathroom sink, turning the water on and rinsing it over his face. No avail. He was awake, and here. He felt his stomach growl and seethe again, so he rushed to kneel over the toilet that sat a foot away.

He doubled over and threw up.

His throat felt raw. His temples were pounding, squeezing and tugging at the strings of his sanity until he forced himself to sit back down against the wall of the downstairs bathroom.

Was everything really for nothing? Sunny? His brother? His town? His parents?

Kel felt himself crumble from the inside out. Tears began to stream all down his cheeks the more he realized what wasn’t real. His arguments weren’t real. His romance wasn’t real. All that he’d worked for and sacrificed was all for nothing. If he called Sunny’s name, there would be no answer for as long as he tried.

Kel curled over himself, forearms flat on the floor as he sobbed uncontrollably. He had nothing. He felt pathetic.

He lifted his head upon hearing the bathroom door creak open.

Hero.

“Kel..?” He called, gently. Kel’s face was covered in tears, nose red, eyes sore. He looked miserable.

“Oh my god, are you okay? Did mamá call you earlier? I came home to check on you, she sounded really concerned.” Hero stepped forward, nose scrunching at the sight of vomit clumped inside the toilet. He closed the lid and flushed it away. Kel looked utterly distraught.

“Are you sick? You’re shaking,” Hero kneeled down and offered his arms. Kel raced between them and cried. Hero ran his hand over the back of Kel’s head, encouraging him to let it all out. He could feel Kel convulsing violently and gasping for air. It felt awful. “It’s okay, it’s okay…”

Kel sniveled, his heart still racing.

“What happened? I know this isn’t from mom’s call.”

Kel didn’t know what to say. He tried to speak, but nothing legible came out.

“I… I had this… and… and none of it…” Kel wept while he spoke, broken and cracked. Several tears slid down his cheeks as he spoke, lower lids red and swollen.

“Take a deep breath,” Hero held Kel by the shoulders, somewhat grounding him. “Do it with me.”

“Deep breath in,” Hero inhaled, raising his finger as the air filled his lungs. Kel did the same. Shaky, but nonetheless, he tried.

“Now hold it and count to ten.” Hero added, lifting each one of his fingers as every second passed.

He counted all the way to ten, slowly and deliberately.

One.

Humid afternoons. Mosquito bites and tame sunburns. Low-lit lashes and a worn wooden dock. Impending six a.m.

Two.

Water. Lots of it. Waves bounding manyfold and reaching past the bay, guiding the wind and freshening the air. Soft hands and an aching head.

Three.

Wet sand. Small talk. Long lost energy and unfair exchanges. A blossom, a boundless field of opportunity.

Four.

Routine. Nine p.m. shines brighter than noon on most days. Rolling weeks and warm, gentle rays.

Five.

The church. His brother. His memories. Speeding time and half-witted remarks. Ignored concerns and bright, blistering mornings.

Six.

Romance. Tender kisses and languid, loving fingers. Pink and passionate and perfect, all for himself. The ocean beckoned him, but he had everything he needed right in front of him. All night, every night. The waves were his.

Seven.

Nuance. Sneaking away, home’s foreign replacement. Seashells and starlight and spaghetti. Ten p.m. had never held him so adoringly. Anxiety.

Eight.

Untold secrets. Close discoveries, slashed flesh. Midnight cries, stagnant airs, and deep, dark red. Love had never been so angry.

Nine.

Escape. Sore feet and tall mountains, greying sunsets and crimson daybreaks. Slow beats, unforgiving rain. Seething anger and yellowed pages, vile drawings and sore fists.

Ten.

Fear and reality. Raw throats and itchy eyes, sunscreen and bug spray. And quiet, all quiet. Absence was crawling under his skin.

Kel felt lightheaded.

“And out.”

Kel released the constrained air within his chest, feeling much more steady with his breathing. He was calmer. A few more tears ran down the curves of his face, but they no longer controlled him.

“Last night, I…” Kel stopped for a moment, running a palm over his face. He sniffled, relishing in the moment. “I had this… really long, I-I mean really long dream.”

Hero had his undivided attention on Kel’s shriveled voice.

Kel told him everything.

-

“So, you... had a dream that lasted over eight months? Over... last night?” Hero squeezed his shoulder, trying to somewhat understand everything Kel had just spilled out to him. He tried to put all the pieces together while they were still fresh in his mind.

Kel nodded, his headache still pounding the sides of his head.

“And you met... a siren,” Hero continued, lifting his palm away from Kel’s shoulder. “That’s... so strange. I’m sure it’s... a lot for you. I... I’m so sorry, Kel. I don’t know what to say. How did this happen?”

Kel curled his knees up to his chest and leaned up against the sink cabinets. He sniffled between soft words, “I don’t... I don’t know,” He uttered, heart pounding. “I want to go back.”

Hero frowned. Everything Kel had told him was— to say the least— absolutely appalling. He couldn’t imagine going through almost a years’ worth of memories only to discover they were fake. And so detailed, too— Hero would’ve expected him to forget the events a few moments after waking. This was one of the strangest phenomena he’d ever seen. Hero knew Kel was a daydreamer at heart, always zoning out and lost within his own mind when reality mattered the most, but this was way over the line. His little brother was heartbroken.

For once in his life, Hero had no idea what to do to help.

“I think I’m completely losing it,” Kel felt his heart squeeze within his chest. “I’m— I’m going insane, aren’t I? There’s something wrong with me.”

“Kel...” Hero grimaced. He didn’t like hearing Kel speak so terribly about himself. He squeezed Kel’s shoulder, a look of genuine remorse on his face.

“I can’t... help you with this by myself. You need— This just... requires a kind of help I’m not capable of providing on my own.”

Kel jolted back.

“No— no. I’m fine,” A lump formed in his throat. “I can get over it. I-It won’t take long. I don’t need—”

“You do,” Hero’s voice anchored him down. “It’s not the first time you’ve mixed what’s up there with what’s out here,” Hero gently tapped the side of Kel’s head then raised his other palm up to demonstrate the world around them. “Granted, it’s never gotten this bad, but... it’s not your fault.”

Kel felt his bottom lip start to quiver again. He knew no one else in Mauna struggled with reality as much as he did. No one else had such frequent episodes of panic— It was only him. And that made Kel feel even worse. What was wrong with him? What made everyone else so much more eligible for normalcy than him?

“And you know what?” Hero asked, rhetorically, taking Kel’s hand and squeezing it earnestly. He continued, regardless of Kel’s lack of acknowledgement, “It’s completely okay.”

“You’re miserable. I’m not going to let any brother of mine suffer in the only place that should make him feel safe.”

Kel felt awful. He was mourning over someone who was never even real. It was embarrassing how delusional he felt at this very moment. He felt so dizzy. Did Hero really believe him? Or did he believe Kel was going insane, too, and wanted to ship him away?

Kel was terrified.

“I can’t… I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be alone. If you want me to come along, I will.” Hero offered.

“I don’t want to leave,” Kel looked up with shiny eyes, clenching the sides of his hair in two loose fists. “Everyone will think I’m—”

“They won’t. It’s not like we’re going to announce it to the whole town... And who said you had to leave?” Hero asked, uneasily, moving his legs so that he was sitting criss-cross. “You’re not leaving Mauna, Kel. I, nor mom or dad would want to send you away. If you need help, I’ll fight tooth and nail to bring it to you— Not the other way around.”

Kel still looked incredibly shaken up and sunken over, despite the wave of relief washing over him.

“Look,” Hero tilted his head, trying to keep eye contact. “We don’t need to talk about this right now. I can tell you’re in a lot of distress. I just want to let you know the option is there.”

“I care about you a lot, Kel,” Hero added, helping Kel stand back up. “...Do you want me to make you something to eat? You need water, too. I saw that you’d thrown up.”

Kel nodded, a bitter taste still on the flat of his tongue.

“I think I’m sick.”

“From...throwing up? Or something else?”

“Something else. Feels like needles when I swallow. It… was like that before I puked.” Kel ran a palm over his neck, teary-eyed. It still aches like hell.

“Let me see.”

-

Kel sat idly at the table in the middle of the kitchen, poking the scrambled eggs on his plate with his fork with a frown. He shoveled some into his mouth upon hearing the front door open.

“Man, that took forever,” Hero had a singular brown paper bag clasped in between his fist. He placed it in front of Kel’s plate, taking out the contents. “This one guy at the pharmacy wouldn’t stop arguing with the receptionist. I literally stood there for twenty minutes before telling the guy that he’s holding up the line!”

He pulled out a mini white bottle. “These are antibiotics. For the general throat stuff. I told the lady what symptoms you had and she said it was most likely strep,” He unscrewed the cap and shook two capsules into the palm of his hand. “Here. Finish your food and then take both of ‘em. You need to have a full stomach before you take these.”

Kel hummed and took the pills into his own fingers, placing them beside his plate.

“I also got you some numbing spray stuff. If you use it on the back of your throat it’ll completely numb the needle feeling when you swallow,” Hero ripped off the plastic on the cap of the cherry bottle. “I can help you with it if you want. It’s kinda hard to see where you aim this thing.”

Kel shook his head side to side, shoveling the last of his eggs into his mouth and then swallowing the antibiotic tablets.

“...Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Thanks... for the stuff,” Kel grabbed the glass of water in front of him and chugged the rest down to wash out the subtle taste the pills left on his tongue. It still felt like needles. He’d definitely need that numbing spray. “Actually, um... I changed... my mind. Can you help me with this stuff?”

Hero nodded with an earnest smile. It was good to see Kel somewhat back on his feet. At least he wasn’t violently shaking any longer.

“Okay, hold your breath. If you breathe in when I do this I guarantee you’re gonna choke and die or something.”

“W–What?!” Kel raised his brows.

“I’m kidding! Hold still.”

Kel was over his side in a coughing fit the moment Hero had actually gone through with the numbing spray. The medicinal spray hit the back of his throat right as he was breathing in– some of the potent cherry scent got stuck in his windpipe.

“I just told you not to breathe in when I did it,” Hero rolled his eyes and patted Kel’s back, quickly grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and opening up the cap. “Dummy.” He snickered as Kel yanked the bottle and downed half of it.

“You said you were kidding.” Kel wiped his mouth, somewhat satisfied with the effects of the spray, although he’d choked. The back of his throat seemed to numb quite quickly. Now swallowing food would be bearable.

“I meant I was kidding about the dying part. Thought that was pretty obvious.”

Kel screwed the cap of the bottle back on, setting it down onto the table.

“Ugh. I feel awful.” Kel scowled.

“I can tell. Why don’t you lie down?”

“I– I can’t!” Kel stumbled a bit, grabbing onto the edge of the table to restabilize himself. He calmed himself for a moment, clearing his throat and swallowing. The numbing spray definitely helped. The needle feeling was relatively gone for now. “What if— What if it happens again? I can’t... I can’t go through it again.”

“Woah, woah!” Hero stepped over to help Kel sit back down at the table. “You know you’re gonna have to fall asleep again at some point, right?”

Kel groaned, leaning over the table and covering his face with his clammy palms. Hero patted his shoulder, then sat beside him.

“Maybe it was a one time thing. Y’know? Maybe you, uh... won’t go back to the same dream. Have you ever actually done that before?”

“...No. I haven’t ever dreamt the same dream two nights in a row,” Kel felt somewhat relieved until he continued to think about the logistics. “But... still. Neither have I had a dream that lasted for eight fake months.”

“I guess that makes sense. At least get some leisure rest. Put a movie on, or... read something,” Hero suggested, taking the antibiotic bottle and tucking it into one of the upper kitchen cabinets. “Don’t go out on the canoe. I’ll handle all the shop stuff today. Mama will be back with Sally later tonight, I think. She’s out by the church.”

“...Thanks,” Kel folded his arms over the table and laid his head down. “I mean... really. Thanks for.. All the stuff and everything else.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m here for you all the time,” Hero turned back over, ruffling Kel’s hair. “...I hope everything that happened in the dream doesn’t affect how you see me now.”

If any, Hero was... somewhat glad Kel had that dream. Not that he was glad Kel was suffering— not at all. But it gave him an excuse to take care of him. He was used to Kel pushing away his help, and for the first time in years, Kel had accepted, asked, and applied Hero’s assistance. He hoped their relationship was only downhill from here. He missed his little brother so dearly.

Kel shook his head from side to side. “No... I... I’ve mostly accepted that part of it. I know you wouldn’t actually do any of that.”

“Okay. I’ll be down by the market if you need me,” Hero was satisfied with that response. “And...I don’t know if mom or anyone has told you lately, but... I’m proud of you, Kel. I really am. This is only a minor setback in the road. You’re much more than a pile of crazy dreams.”

The moment Hero shut the front door, Kel burst into tears.

It would be absolute hell to come to terms with everything. He tried his best to wipe the tears away from his cheeks. Kel had discovered that the few times he did cry, it was an ugly burst of emotion. It gave him piercing migraines. He stumbled over to the couch, huddling himself up into the brown knitted blanket draped over the furniture; he lazily grabbed the remote of the television and activated a random weather channel. He turned the volume down to four.

Subtle background noise was just fine.

-

He woke up by the shore.

The wind was calm. He was here, again. A shore that felt both familiar and foreign. A wave of fear washed over his shoulders. The sky indicated more or less of the time: It was minutes before sunrise.

It was cold.

He looked around, receiving only silence in return. It felt as if he were the only life form present on this island of solitude.

A familiar splash interrupted that solemness.

Him.

“Sunny?” He asked, wholeheartedly not expecting a response until blunt claws gripped the side of the dock. Kel gasped when his head lifted cautiously out of the water.

“Hi.” Sunny gave a quiet greeting. It sounded… sad. Kel noticed that the scar on his face from that night was gone. So was the gash on his tail and the slashes on his stomach. Healed just like new.

“Why did you... why did you do this to me?” Kel asked, wind combing its way through his hair.

“Kel,” Sunny sighed, elbows on sand, cheeks soft and rosy. Just like Kel recalled. “I haven’t done anything. I’m only a figment of your creation.”

Kel wanted to curl up again. Sunny knew, of course.

“Well, if it helps at all...” Sunny scooted closer. “I think you saw what intrigued you, away from this place, I mean, and... that manifested into me.” He added, drawing a pique to Kel’s attention. He ran his fingers idly through Kel’s soft brown hair, relieving any knot his nails could capture.

Kel knew this scene wasn’t real. No matter how tender and perfect or convincing Sunny’s touch was, how real and raw and tenuous— it would never be real. He could come to terms with that later. For now, he wanted to keep him in the shaky palms of his hands.

“Do you know why you chose me?” Sunny asked, tilting his head with a subtle grin. The wind ran cool and comfortingly over his skin.

“It wasn’t a choice. You’re everything.”

“Maybe you can still find that feeling.”

“You won’t keep me here for another eight months, will you?” Kel tried to joke, but his eyes were blurry.

“No, silly. Just five more minutes,” Sunny squeezed Kel’s hands. “I think you’ve been through enough trouble for one night.”

He hears the waves affront of them both tumble and crash as the sun begins to rise between the mountains. It felt something like impending doom and lighthearted relief. There were no birds, no people, no fish. Just them.

“Is this the last time I’ll see you?” He asks, suddenly.

“…Yes.”

“Oh,” He pauses, for a moment, staring at their interlinked fingers.“There’s not a lot of time, is there?”

Sunny shook his head no.

“Then… can I kiss you?”

Sunny offered a meek smile, his cheeks reddening slowly. He leaned forward, cupping Kel’s face and stroking a thumb over his cheek.

“You can have everything your heart desires and more, if you want it enough.”

Kel ran his palms over Sunny’s warming cheeks, feeling over the corners of his eyes.

“I just realized I’ve never told you how pretty you are.” Kel murmured, biting his tongue.

He pressed his lips to the bridge of Sunny’s nose, holding his cheeks and tucking his middle bang to the side. He kissed his forehead, then his lips. Sunny returned the gesture gladly, fingers finding their way behind Kel’s scalp and through his pretty brown hair. Kel could hear a squeak roll off of Sunny’s throat amidst the actions.

Kel pulled away only to speak.

“Please let me hold you for a little longer,” The sun peeked dismayingly above the channel. Kel lifted his chin, relishing in his chance to stare directly into the eye of the universe. “I love you so much more than you’ll ever understand.”

He kissed him again, warm and perfect and passionate. If this was the last time he’d ever see Sunny, he never wanted to forget his taste. He wondered how in the world he was able to create something— someone so perfect. Sunny wrapped his arms around the nape of Kel’s neck, tugging him closer. Kel squeezed his eyes shut, a tear rolling over the arc of his cheek between gentle gasps.

When he opened his eyes, the tear was still there, but Sunny was not. Kel was staring up at his living room ceiling.

Kel let out a shaky breath, letting the tear continue to roll down the side of his face and over his temple. It was over.

He checked the time— he had only been asleep for ten minutes. So much for a refreshing nap. He sat up, running another palm over his face. He wiped the tear off of his temple, sniffling.

He wanted to go back to bed.

—

Bright yellow rays swept over Kel’s skin the moment he entered the main market. Lots of chatter, overlapping scents, and a dozen window-shoppers alike. Kel ran his fingers below his eyes, attempting to relieve the dark circles beneath them. It had felt like so long since he’d stood out in the open sun. His skin sizzled. Maybe he should’ve put on some sunscreen before coming out midday.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t think you’d come out,” Hero spoke cautiously, offering his brother a seat next to him behind their seafood booth. “Are you doing okay?” He asked, putting a palm on Kel’s shoulder after he sat down on the striped folding chair.

“Yeah, I… I guess.”

“You can go back inside and rest, if you want. You don’t have to be out here,” Hero offered, glancing over to their house a few dozen yards away. “I, uh… I don’t want to make the whole transition back to normal stuff too abrupt.”

“No, it's fine. I’m sick of being indoors.” Kel leaned back in his seat, sighing as sun rays washed steadily over his forehead. The warmth felt nice, and for once, it felt real. His temples ran moist from formulating sweat.

“Just take it easy, yeah? We can talk later if you’re down.” Hero took his hand off Kel’s shoulder, standing to converse with an interested shopper. Kel wiped some of the sweat off of his forehead.

Kel just hummed at Hero’s offer.

It was incredibly bright outside. Brighter than Kel was ready for, unfortunately. He had to squint halfway through the walk to the market, a flat palm hung over his forehead to shield his gaze from boiling away.

A few minutes passed until he was accommodated to the brilliance of the world around him. It felt much more colorful than usual, to his surprise. He decided to take a firm look around the area to recuperate his memories. Lots of booths. Lots of people. Lots of noise.

Kel felt a little overwhelmed.

He hoped he wouldn’t have another panic attack just because of the overstimulation… he’d feel too embarrassed to stay outside. Kel wanted to force himself back to normal life either way— Maybe this was the cold-turkey way into it. The more he looked around, the hotter his body felt. People everywhere.

Kel began to mumble things under his breath, leaning forward in his seat and covering his face with his clammy palms. Everything will be okay. You’re fine. Breathe.

He looked up again, and began to scan people’s faces. Maybe if he saw how much they weren’t paying attention to him, he’d calm down. He’s scanned over so many people’s faces in the span of two minutes that he hadn’t even noticed his heart rate had settled. His eyes met a few others, which he accompanied with a small wave. Most of the people in Mauna were people he knew, and otherwise, were very friendly with him. That made him feel much better about his current emotional state.

Kel scanned over someone else’s face, now. His eyes were narrowed, not only because of the sun’s splendor, but because this next face looked oddly familiar.

It was a boy he felt he’d both never seen before and known his whole life. Dark hair. Almond eyes. Pale skin. Two moles in exactly the same place of someone who’d been his everything.

Kel stumbled back, flipping the chair and now laying flat on the brick floor. His eyes widened as the impact spun his head around.

“Woah– Kel? How did you fall? Are you okay?” Hero scrambled away from the customer to grab Kel’s hand, attempting to lift him from the ground, but Kel jolted away. He began to breathe heavily.

No, no… not now. Please.

Kel curled his knees up to his chest and covered his ears, gripping a portion of his hair. His heart began to race. He was seeing things. Was he really this delusional? Oh, he hated his imagination. Why would his own mind torture him like this?

That’s not him. It can’t be him.

“Kel? Kel. Breathe,” Hero apologized to the person standing at their booth and stepped over to help his brother. He took Kel’s hands off of grabbing his hair and squeezed. “Breathe.” Hero said, sternly, but his eyes were soft.

Kel’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and his eyes began to water up. His ears rang, his nose squeezed at his sinuses– everything was so, so loud.

“No, no… no, please. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have left you.” Kel muttered, tears streaming down his cheeks as he began to hyperventilate. Hero squeezed his palms harder.

“Kel, look at me. Look at my fingers,” Hero held up a palm in front of Kel’s face, to which Kel hesitantly looked up. He could barely hear his brother. It was so loud. It was too loud. “Take a deep breath. Blow out the candles.”

Hero wiggled his thumb. “Breathe in.”

Kel did so. It felt like more of a gasp. It was shaky and uncoordinated, wet and pathetic. His eyes were darting from floor to sky, sky to floor.

“Out,” Hero guided, “Blow this one out.”

Kel released the pent-up air in his lungs, slowly, but surely, against Hero’s thumb. Hero folded the finger– there were four remaining.

“Everything is okay. Breathe in again.”

Kel obliged, shakily. He let the warm air around him fill his nostrils, invade his lungs, and carry his chest until he felt lightheaded. Then he let it return back to the earth the moment his brother told him so. Now, his index finger was down.

Three more to go.

Middle down.

Ring down.

Pinky down.

Kel was settled. He propped his head against the pillar behind their seafood stand and frowned.

“See? You’re okay,” Hero offered a hand, fixing Kel’s toppled chair and sitting him back down. “Nothing bad is gonna happen.”

“...I’m sorry. That was– That was embarrassing.” Kel covered his face, to which Hero frowned.

“It’s okay. Nobody is upset with you,” Hero squeezed Kel’s shoulder. “Do you wanna tell me what happened?”

Kel sighed, quivering. He couldn’t believe he panicked over something he didn’t actually see. The tension in the air felt palpable.

“I just… I thought I saw him,” Kel uttered, soft and brittle. He felt weak. He didn’t want to be weak. “I keep seeing him. And I know it— it isn’t him, but… I keep believing it.”

Hero glanced off to the side. He knew this whole situation had worsened Kel’s mental state entirely overnight. It seemed unattainable to do such a thing, but… here they were. He was just glad Kel didn’t hate his guts for something that happened in a long, way overrun dream. He’d already gotten a taste of what it was like to have a brother who generally disliked him— God only knows how much worse it would’ve been if Kel hated him. Hero still wondered exactly how Kel was able to conjure up eight months in the span of one night.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you, Kel. I really am,” Hero let the air he was holding in leave his lungs. “I wish I could fix this for you. Do you want me to take you back home?”

Kel shook his head no.

“No… no, I… I need to stop hiding away. I’m just— I’m gonna go for a walk.”

“Keep your cell on you. Call me if something goes wrong,” Hero handed Kel his phone with furrowed brows. “And I mean it.”

“Okay.”

Frankly, Kel was a little embarrassed at the way he was having to be treated. It made him feel like a child. He felt small.

Kel got up, palms sturdy against the flat of the booth. He walked off in the other direction, leaving the main market. He glanced over his shoulder to see that, in fact, the person he thought was Sunny looked nothing like him at all. Was he going insane?

He walked and walked until his feet felt numb against the sand. The sensation reminded him of late January; the month that hadn’t even happened yet. Kel groaned.

It seemed he was walking in a giant circle. He met with his brother twenty minutes later, leaning against the brick wall behind their fish stand.

“Do you feel better?” Hero asked, writing something on a piece of paper as he spoke.

Kel didn’t respond. Instead, his eyes fixated in the same direction that had previously caused his panic attack. Kel pressed himself firmly against the flat of the wall.

“Kel?” Hero looked up from the sheet of paper only to find Kel completely lost in a gaze across the market.

“No, it's...” Kel felt his chest start to pound again. This time, he didn’t feel as panicked as before. “It’s him.”

Hero tried to follow the direction of Kel’s eyes, landing on a dark-haired boy in a light blue t-shirt. He had soft, narrow eyes and his legs criss-crossed on his seat.

“Do you... want to go over there?” Hero asked, turning back to his brother. Kel looked completely entranced just staring at the boy from across the market.

“...is that a good idea?” Kel asked, still somewhat mesmerized.

“You tell me,” Hero patted Kel’s shoulder. “I’d recommend you don't start the conversation with saying you had a whole fantastical dream with him as the star of the show, though.”

“You really think I’d do that? I’m not as dumb as you.” Kel scoffed, glancing at Hero for a moment before dedicating his gaze back to the familiar face on the other side.

“Hah! You know I’m joking,” Hero nudged Kel’s shoulder. “Well... if you want to go over, you can. Maybe ask to buy something from the stand to get the ball rolling.” Hero handed him ten bucks from the cash register on their booth.

“Really? Okay, maybe uh... Maybe I will go over.” He stuffed the money Hero had given him into his wallet. One five bill and five one bills.

Kel had tried to scamper over to the fruit stand as quickly as he could without looking awkward. No one was in line anyways, but this was– At least appeared to be– Sunny, in the flesh. There was no way he was physically capable of casually walking over.

“U-Uh… hi.” He began, admiring all of the features he’d remembered so well.

“Oh, sorry!” The boy put down the book he’d previously had in his palms, awkwardly sliding it to the side of the booth and scooting his forearms up. “Ah, um.. What can I get for you?” He seemed unphased, looking up at Kel with dark and clueless eyes. This was real, Kel had to remind himself; He snapped out of staring.

“Um… two… pineapples?” He gave a cheeky smile, not really knowing how to go about this whole situation. Sunny was real? He was real, and right here– It seemed Kel knew everything about him, but Sunny didn’t even know his name. Did Kel really know him, though? His brain had only conjured up what he’d assumed Sunny to be like. The more he stared, the more his heart fluttered against his ribcage.

Sunny got up, picking two pineapples off of the stand and putting them into a paper bag.

“Oh, you’re Kelsey, right? I think I saw you last week.”

Oh. He did know his name.

Sunny had seen him before. It made a little bit of sense– But Kel’s perception of time was so warped he could barely recall. Kel followed along for the sake of it, nodding his head with a restrained, somewhat goofy smile. “Yeah! I uh… yeah, that’s me. You can just call me Kel.”

“Kel it is, then,” Sunny gave a warm smile, looking over at a small notebook for a moment. He ran his fingers over the lines and stopped close to the bottom of the page. “That’s, mm… six dollars. Wait, um, did you want the bag or no?” Sunny looked a bit out of place, seeming to fumble with his routine.

“The bag is fine!” Kel gave a nervous smile, shoving one of his hands into his pocket to pull out his wallet. When he opened it, a bunch of sand fell out along with a few coins. Seriously? Right in front of him.

Sunny put a hand over his mouth and snorted, before quickly hushing himself and waving one of his hands in Kel’s direction.

“Oh my god, I didn’t mean to laugh. I-I’m so sorry,” He said, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

Kel watched the turn of coloration with a silent throat and an aching heart. He felt his chest start to pound wildly. Kel’s mouth was slightly agape, both in shock of his own actions and the memories Sunny’s flush stirred up in his head. His own cheeks began to turn red, too.

“No, it’s– It’s fine!” He started to giggle, taking out six dollars from his sand-less wallet and handing it shakily to Sunny. “I accidentally fell asleep by the bay a few days ago.”

“Really? That’s... hilarious.” Sunny gave a hearty laugh, holding out his fingers to take the cash from Kel’s palm. Kel’s fingers seemed to linger on Sunny’s palm when he took the two bills, awkwardly enough. Kel had to snap himself out of it.

This isn’t your Sunny, Kel thought to himself. He’s not yours. You can’t do that.

“..Hehe. Okay, well, uh… Have a great rest of your day, Kel.” Sunny folded the bills and leaned under the stand to put them in a jar, picking up the bag of pineapples and handing it to Kel. Sunny wrote the number six on the right side of his notebook, adding the numbers up together. He didn’t have a cash register like Kel and his brother did.

Something stopped Kel from taking the bag of pineapples and cowering away back to his brother– He didn’t want to lose this chance.

“Will I ever see you again?” Kel asked through blurry eyes, his fingers tight and persistent.

“Do you want to?”

He did. He wanted to.

As Kel took the bag, he cleared his throat again.

“Uh, wait… Sorry if this is weird o-or sudden, but would you, like– want to go for lunch with me sometime?” He swallowed a lump in his throat. Sunny stopped. He looked up and blinked, and for a moment, Kel swore he was in a dream again. Dark, dark eyes. The universe was staring back.

Sunny had forgotten to close his mouth when he looked up, resembling something like soft shock. He blinked a few more times before speaking up.

“Lunch?” He repeated, processing the question. “Wait, uh– Really? I’d… yeah, that would be… cool. When?” Sunny looked excited and somewhat relieved, bringing a wide smile to Kel’s face. Sunny had never been asked anywhere before. Kel bounced a little excitedly against the stand, unprepared for him to accept.

“Ah— uh, tomorrow? If you’re not busy?” Kel felt a surge of excitement wash over his skin.

“Maybe you can still find that feeling.”

Sunny nodded with a soft smile, sending a wave of warmth down Kel’s chest and stomach. His heart skipped a beat, pounding in his chest like a bird in a cage. Sunny leaned his arms languidly against the surface of his stand.

“I’m not busy, don’t worry.” He cooed, tilting his head. The mannerism was frighteningly familiar. It made Kel wonder just how accurately he was able to portray Sunny in his head. He hoped he’d figure that out soon enough.

“O-Okay…! Does Neptune’s sound good to you?” Kel fiddled with his fingers, pointing in the direction of the lunch cafe on the westward side of town.

Sunny nodded again, “Yeah, that sounds great,” He had a noticeable bounce to his voice, much more upbeat than a few minutes ago. Sunny also had a narrower stare and an interested grin. He seemed to be tapping his feet under the stand.

“See you then?” Sunny asked, his arms folded over the planks. Kel swore he felt a wave of deja vu wash over his head. Pale forearms. Dark wooden planks. Cold, smooth skin.

Kel shook his head yes.

He took the purchase with a giddy smile and walked off with a bag of fruit that had just possibly changed the entire trajectory of his life.

He was real.

Well, mostly.