Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stone had hoped it was a bad dream when he woke up to the sun blazing outside his window. And he still did when he sat up in his bed, hair mused and eyes still closed shut. It took him a while finally get the sleep out of his eyes.

Usually, whenever the lone fisher happened to encounter a weird dream, he would try to assess his surroundings to see whether everything was left how he would usually leave them before he was unconscious.

Was his bedroom door locked? Yes.

Were all his drawers at his desk pushed all the way in? Yes.

Was his window latched close? Surprisingly, no.

So, he was not, in fact, dreaming up that encounter with the mermaid. At least Stone knew he hadn’t flayed him alive yet. He couldn’t image living with himself if he had done that. Sure, it had ripped up his nets and everything, even going as far as to put a dent into the hull of the boat, but flaying something so human-liked had him sick to his stomach.

It was quite embarrassing to admit to himself when he finally decided to get out of bed that he couldn’t recall the mermaid’s name.

Was it I…van?  No, no, that sounded wrong. It definitely started with an “I” but Stone’s knowledge on names starting with that specific letter was so limited that he couldn’t figure it out for the life of him. Actually, on second thought, he barely knew any.

Groaning to himself, Stone stepped out from under his warm covers and headed straight towards the downstairs bathroom. The trail of dry sand from his porch leading towards the bathroom door was enough evidence for him.

Flicking on the lights, Stone slowly turned and pushed the door open, peeking in to make sure the mermaid was conscious. The sight that greeted him was no less shocking than yesterday’s night. Stone was sure he was so out of his mind that he forgot the mermaid didn’t have anything covering his upper torso.

The mermaid was unconscious, his tail moving back and forth in slow motions. The scales didn’t look very dry so Stone could only hope that the mermaid had woke up at some times during the night to rehydrate it. One of his arms were draped over his eyes while the other dangled on the edge of the tub, his slender fingers nearly touching the floor tiles. His hair was no less of a mess but his mustache looked like it dried off enough.

At least the water in the tub hadn’t completely dried out yet.

Stone sighed and leaned against the door frame, eyes lazily traveling up the length of that tail and admiring every inch of it. It seemed like his caudal fin healed up well, but Stone could still see where the fin was damaged. His tail was absolutely gorgeous, though the colors looked more dulled out than the ones they would usually describe in storybooks.

‘Long, strong and beautiful, each scale reflected the sun’s rays and the lights bounced off each one like sequins’ His mother had described, holding up a picture of the typical mermaid for him to look at. ‘They’re said to be myths, but your dear mother believes they’re real. Your dad thinks it’s silly, but it’s okay if you think so, too.’ She chuckled at the end before tucking him into bed.

I mean, it was expected really. There weren’t a lot of fishes in the sea with bright colored scales, and if there were, they’re probably venomous.

Cautiously stepping into the room, Stone turned on the sink and gone through his morning routine like there wasn’t a mythical creature in his bathtub. As he picked up his razor to trim down his beard, Stone heard the water sloshing back and forth and turned towards the bathtub.

The mermaid was slowly waking up, hands positioned in a way to push himself up while also lowering his tail further into the water. The nictitating membranes were covering his amber eyes as he adjusted to the lights in the bathroom. The gills on his neck flared a bit, giving Stone the slightest glimpse of the meat underneath them. Stone watched the way he flexed his fingers, each turns of his neck and the way his eyes fluttered once more when he angled his head up to look at the light.

It didn’t take him very long to noticed that Stone was there as his expression immediately soured. It seemed like he was making another attempt to slip his head back under the water but ultimately decided against it.

“Morning.” Stone greeted him, an awkward smile plastered on his face as he stared back at the mermaid. “Remember me? ‘Cause I don’t really remember you.” Stone admitted after too long of a pause, lowering his razor back into its place and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

The several clicks the mermaid let out still confused Stone greatly, but there didn’t seem to be any bite behind it. After the series of clicks, he moved on to the trills, coupled with what sounded like soft grunts and a few whistles. Stone was sure he was trying to communicate with Stone, but the fisher couldn’t understand any of the noises he made.

This seemed to completely passed by the mermaid as he continued talking, or making noises, slowly getting more animated with every passing second. Stone, although he didn’t understand, was latched onto every sound that escaped the man’s – or merman’s – throat. He had heard dolphins made them, but to hear a semi-human do it was different. Although the clicks, whistles and trills were normally high pitched, his was a bit lower, closer to a regular human’s voice but still animal like.

When the mermaid realized that Stone didn’t understand a word he had said but was still staring at him intensely, his jaw quickly clicked shut and he stared back at Stone.

“Right, of course, I’m speaking to a human.” The mermaid muttered into the air between them. Stone perked up again at the chance of hearing the mermaid talk.

Now that he noticed, his voice was a bit scratchy and it didn’t sound very clear. The gills on the sides of his throat would flare every once in a while when he speaks in human tongue, but rarely did when he trilled.

“Yeah, nice to see you again.” Stone chuckled, picking up his razor again.

“It’s ‘Ivo’. I’m surprised your human brains can’t remember that.” Ivo said, splashing his tail around in the shallow water before leaning forward to open the faucet. Ah, at least he knew how to do that now.

The silence enveloped them once more, but any lingering tension from last night was no longer there. Stone glanced over to Ivo’s tail ever so often to check on his wound and the thought of changing the bandages crossed his mind. But, upon closer inspection, the white gauzes were no longer there.

“Hey, what happened to your bandages?” Stone asked as he placed his razor down, coming closer to the bathtub to inspect his tail. Ivo grimaced slightly but allowed the human to smooth his hand over his scales.

The wound there was still visible, the scales hadn’t quite grown back yet. Well, Stone really wasn’t expecting it to grow back now, but it was still concerning to be able to see the pink skin under all that glorious scales. Ivo crossed his arms and did his best to re-submerge himself back into the water, subsequently raising his tail higher for Stone’s inspection.

The human’s touch repulsed Ivo to an extent. It felt weird and incredibly uncomfortable. Their hands are always so dry, despite being wet.

“Okay, it looks like the wound closed up but your scales might take a while to come back.” Stone said as he moved away, clearly sensing Ivo’s discomfort. The merman just grunted back in response. At least he didn’t have to go through the trouble of bandaging it again.

Stone sighed and left the room, preparing for a day of work and to find some food for Ivo. He’s a merman so he probably just eats anything that’s seafood. Crabs, any kinds of fish Stone could get his hands on, squids and etcetera.

It would be difficult to get him back out there, as Stone would have to leave his house at late hours, but it would be worth it.

For now, Stone jogged towards the beach in search of the sandals he had lost out there while also picking up fish from the market. A bucket full should sustain Ivo for the hours he’ll be away.

Chapter Text

Ivo didn’t know what to do while in this porcelain tub. There was nothing for him to do. Humans are unreliable as he had watched them fish up several different sea creatures and took them all back despite some carrying eggs.

He had spent enough time stalling around the caves closest to shore, listening between petty gossip and business discussion. Ivo was by no means unintelligent, but a lot of those humans would assume merfolks are dumb as rocks because they don’t approach shallow waters often.

Ivo does since there wasn’t really anyone around to stop him. He just swims and float by himself, occasionally coming by another merfolk but they would ultimately ignore him.

He didn’t expect himself to build a reputation besides being an invasive species. They stayed away from him because of his snappy personality and his mild obsession with the surface world. Down there, underwater, there really isn’t much to do other than scavenge around coral reefs for something interesting or watch the fishes do stuff that he couldn’t understand.

Ivo have taken a particular liking to watching damsel fish chase other fishes around. If there was a sea creature that Ivo would rather be born as, it would be an octopus.

He was already starting to yearn for the salt water again. It wasn’t like being in fresh water was a lot of problem, but it lacks taste and he had grown to like the salt that was always present in the waters he swims in.

Just as Ivo decided that he would climb out of the tub and drag himself around the human’s living space, the sound of something shutting pulled him out of his thoughts. On instinct, the spikes on his back and some on his tail tensed up, his teeth grinded into each other as he waited with bated breath.

Luckily, as soon as the entrance of the room he was in opened, Ivo relaxed a bit upon seeing the face of the human who claimed to have ‘rescued’ him. Stone was his name, if he recalled correctly.

The human’s hair was combed back neatly though a strand was tucked behind his ear. The clothes he was wearing were filled with colors and patterns Ivo hadn’t seen before. Strips and lighten tones, images stitched on his chest, just above where his heart should be. His beard was neat, to say the best. And although Ivo had wanted to grow one out himself, he had foreseen the disadvantages that would be mutually exclusive with it. No worries, he was still content with his own mustache.

“Hey, got you some breakfast.” Stone said with a smile, bringing in a bucket and placing it down mere inches away from the tub. He pulled out a stool and sat down, as if waiting for Ivo to take his pick.

Bending over to one side and heaving the bucket up towards him, Ivo settled it down on his lower abdomen and shuffled through the different options he was so graciously offered. None really caught his eye, but these catch were common enough that Ivo didn’t have a problem eating all of them. The smell of the salt still clinging to them made his mouth water, and soon enough he had gotten a fish between his razor sharp teeth, munching away at its flesh and gnawing on the bones.

Stone, ever the curious human he was, stared with fascination, eyes completely fixated on the way Ivo’s teeth and tongue worked around the meat and bones. And, for only a little while, Ivo liked the attention.

“You’re incredible.” Stone muttered, eyes blinking rapidly to tear his gaze away with a flushed smile. Clearly he has been staring a bit too intimately. Ivo hummed in acknowledgement, licking into the fish’s eye and pulling it out.

“Not a lot of people tell me that, but thank you.” The merman responded with a hint of amusement in his voice, crushing the tail bone in his mouth and swallowing the bones whole.

Ivo assumed the human was curious still, but felt like prying information out of him wouldn’t be very fitting for their current situation. Instead, both of them settled in comfortable silence. At some point, Stone pulled out a device that Ivo had come to known as a phone. The glass surface of the device is always pointed towards the user and the humans would use their fingers to do…something. Ivo still haven’t got an idea about that part.

Stone must’ve took notice to the way Ivo was staring intensely at his phone as he smiled and moved closer. Ivo himself tried to move closer but was stopped as he hit the tub. He grunted in the back of his throat and hauled himself forward, propping his elbows up and letting his tail be submerged once more. He still couldn’t get his caudal fin all the way in.

“I figured you’ve never seen a phone in your life before.” Stone chuckled as he handed the curious merman the device. “Don’t drop it in water, it’ll stop working if you do.” The warning was odd, as Ivo had witness many getting into the salty water with their phones, but he decided not to question. Not right now at least.

The glass screen was faced to him and the number of different images and shapes made his head spin in confusion. Ivo carefully tapped his finger against the screen, clicking into the different images to see what they contained.

Each of those icons or apps (as Stone called them) had names tagged under them. The colors were captivating, making Ivo want to see more and the different varieties there were.

Youtube

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Tinder

He didn’t fully understand each and every single one since their names seem to have an abstract meaning of sorts. Luckily, every time Ivo clicked into one, Stone was there to explain its purpose. He also taught Ivo how to exit the different apps, usually just by clicking the small circle at the bottom center.

“You use this to...?” Ivo trailed off as he pointed at an app in green with some weird shape on it. Stone hummed and took a closer look at the screen.

“That’s my phone app, I use it to call people.” Stone explained. From what Ivo could gather so far, the phone could be used to watch moments that had already been captured, things that are happening right then and there and pictures of others.

The human world was indeed fascinating and just so weird to the point Ivo couldn’t help but feel dreadful. The world underwater didn’t compare to this no matter how many ‘wonders’ were down there. Ivo wouldn’t know that himself, he only stuck around the sunlight zone after all. Some of the only moments where he had swim down to the twilight zone were near death experiences, but those moments were honestly fun.

Handing the phone back to Stone, Ivo sulked with his own thoughts while Stone rambled. He wasn’t the first human to try and capture Ivo and then display him, but he was the first to attempt to give him more exposure to the human world.

Ivo knew what a museum was because he had heard sailors and his previous capturers talk about it. A place to display the past’s wonders and achievement. If he wasn’t fast and witty, he would’ve been killed and dried, displayed in a glass case for all the other humans to see.

It was ridiculous. It was immoral.

Ivo must’ve zoned out too hard because he hadn’t realized that Stone had already left the room, closing the – Ivo just remembered – door and leaving him in the concealed room. Sure, this room had got plenty of water, but not a lot of moving space.

His tail still hurt when he moved it too much, so maybe this was Stone’s way of telling him ‘Stay here until you’re completely healed’.

He didn’t like how that sounded.

Turning the faucet back on, Ivo waited until the water overflowed the tub and sunk himself the rest of the way. The nictitating membranes didn’t conceal his eyes this time, but he could see just fine.

Ivo sighed into the water around him, letting out a low whistle before drifting off to an unwanted sleep before jerking back awake. Alright, looks like his body didn’t want to sleep right now.

Now to wait for Stone to come back. Ivo blinked rapidly under the water and one of his arms pulled itself out of water to retrieve another fish from the bucket, bringing it down to munch on.

His thoughts were deafening again, with no means of distraction like watching two mantis shrimp fight one another or spy on other merfolk activities. It was so quiet and yet so loud.

Ivo wanted to be back with the waves again.

Chapter Text

Now that Stone had officially encountered a merfolk and had seen the way they move in water, to say his life was changing a little was an understatement. He never knew that the merfolks swam freely as human walked the streets.

There were loads of them when his crew managed to travel further out. Maybe there always had been. He always assumed those were really big fishes that they won’t ever be able to catch considering their nets weren’t always sturdy and big. Even his crew thought so.  

But the pattern, the way they swim and avoid boats just like when Ivo comes over just to bite his nets loose made a lot of sense. They were mermaids after all, half fish and half man, of course they’ll still be driven by their own instincts but also have those of a human.

Stone didn’t realize he would be learning a lot right now.

At some point during his shift, some took a break and sat down with each other on one end, smoking and discussing about business. Stone took that time to really sort through what they’ve brought up, but he was met with disappointment. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for, but he was sure he was trying to search for evidence that these creatures were real.

Stone promised himself he would never tell anyone about the merfolks.

As everyone else continue to either do their job half-heartedly or continue gossiping about someone’s wife who was being accused of adultery, Stone picked up one of the fish that had fallen out and leaned over the edge of the boat, trying to catch for any glimpse of Ivo’s people.

It didn’t take him very long to finally spot a figure similar to Ivo. Long tail moved gaily with the waves and small, barely noticeable current. He couldn’t really make out their figure but he was sure he could see two arms there. There was no hair, though.

 Stone didn’t toss the fish back down but rather let it slip slowly from his hand. He had learnt that being quick with fishes aren’t always the way to go. Just as Stone reached the tail of the fish, the figure that he had been eyeing stopped, and then started to move towards him, positioning itself right under the fish.

Stone did freak out a bit which loosen his grip on the fish, unpromptly making him drop it. Then, a very scaly and very webbed hand reached up to grab it, quickly pulling the barely alive fish down and swimming away. All Stone could do was watch.

Their skin didn’t look like Ivo’s. Those hands were covered in scales and their fingernails were sharp like talons or claws. Ivo’s fingers didn’t look like that. And the scales had color, like something that corresponds with their species. Ivo’s whole upper body was relatively human with exceptions of the gills on his neck and the side of his abdomen.

So, was Ivo a different kind of mermaid or was he just like them but vastly different in appearance? Maybe he was interbred and one of his parents was a mermaid born while the other was human. That was the only logical conclusion he could really make right now.

Before Stone removed himself completely from the edge and get back to work in order not to seem so out of place, a similar figure circled its way back to him. Stone was sure it wasn’t the same mermaid as before. Their hand was raised just enough that it didn’t broke surface but could still be seen, fingers gesturing towards his hand and asking for it. Stone quirked a brow and lowered his hand despite every myth in existence telling him not to.

When his hand finally and awkwardly hovered above the water, two webbed hands darted up and broke surface. One of the hands clutched something in its palm as the other moved to flip his hand over so that his palm faced up. The other moved to place something cold and metallic in before curling his fingers and darting off back into the water.

Stone couldn’t understand or comprehend the feeling when those hands touched him, but he didn’t like it. He almost felt repulsed by it. Those hands weren’t the same as Ivo’s, that’s for sure. It was like touching an alive fish if it had fingers instead of fins, and if it could understand him. Mermaids was different from humans, but that didn’t mean they didn’t share some attributes of each other. First on Stone’s list being able to give and receive.

He didn’t have a lot of time to really check what the merfolk had given him since he still had a job to get back to. Stone quickly shoved it in his pocket and rejoined the rest of his crew, pulling up heavy nets and making a rough approximation of their catch before the sky grew dark and the wind picked up.

Despite everything growing darker, Stone still kept his eyes out for more merfolks. He still didn’t have a lot on them, but the appearance of their hands and the way they could understand that he wasn’t so much of a threat provided something.

Unfortunately, the whole trip back to shore was uneventful. No merfolks swam by, no fish gathered in small schools looking for food. Every single one of them had retreated back to their homes to prepare for night fall.

“See ya ‘morrow, Stone.” One of his mates greeted him, slapping him on the shoulder with their wet, salty hand. Stone chuckled and returned the gesture, except he tried to elbow the person in the stomach.

Stone jogged back to his house after buying more fish, trying to stay away from the stalls he would usually buy from in case if they get suspicious of him. He had enough ingredients at home to make a proper dinner even if it was small. But, for the past day, his concern was mostly directed towards how Ivo entertain himself when Stone wasn’t home.

Maybe he could call in sick tomorrow to stay with him.

Upon stepping to his doorsteps, Stone questioned himself why he was waiting for a merman with far better survival instinct than most of the world to heal. He could’ve just drag the merman back to the sea and let the waves take him back to wherever he lived. But he didn’t. He wasted an hour taking a shortcut back to his house just because, what, he cared?

It didn’t make sense to him, but Stone was a far cry from normal.

Before Stone could actually enter the house, a child-like voice called out to him, loud and clear although it cracked at the end. Stone immediately turned his head towards the person who had screamed out his name to find Tails.

His actual name was Miles, and Stone often called the kid ‘Mil’. Sonic called him ‘Tails’ for reasons he still hadn’t figured out.

“Hey Mil, you need something?” Stone answered back, stepping off his porch and slowly jogged towards the direction of the blond-headed kid.

Miles eyes were bright with curiosity and excitement when Stone approached him. The fisher could spot Sonic and Knuckles standing in the distance, just a few feet away from Miles.

“We wanna go out to the beach tomorrow to teach Sonic how to swim.” Miles answered proudly, his hand clutching a small present box. “But our parents are busy tomorrow so we wanna ask you.” And then the blond kid handed him the box. On top was a paper tag, handwriting clearly from Tom thanking him for watching the kids.

Stone smiled warmly at the gift and slowly took it from Miles, reading the tag on both sides before patting the little kid’s shoulder. Miles beamed back at him and patiently waited for a response. Although Stone would really want to help Miles complete the objective he had given himself, the fisher still wanted to assure that Ivo doesn’t try to kill himself out of boredom tomorrow.

“Why don’t you ask Shadow and Rogue? I’m really busy tomorrow.” Stone said, his tone and eyes apologetic towards the young kid. Miles’s smile dropped and he propped a hand to his chin, clearly pretending to be deep in thought.

Luckily, Miles understood reason and quickly accepted that, yes, Stone would be busy tomorrow and that he should ask someone else. Shadow and Rogue seemed fine, though Rogue had a tendency to tease Knuckles and Shadow considered Sonic annoying. Miles got along with both just fine, and if he just tactically paired the two who are neutral about each other then everything would go fine.

Stone liked that Miles could be so strategic when he needed to. The kid was brilliant, in Stone’s opinion, but he didn’t receive a lot of credit for it because he was young. Miles accepted back the gift he had given Stone and trotted back to Sonic and Knuckles, explaining the situation to them. None of the older kids seem to really object against it.

Stone sighed fondly and made his way back to his front door, unlocking it and quickly slipping inside. He really hoped the kids didn’t view his denial as suspicious otherwise he would have even more problems on his hands.

Upon entering his house, Stone immediately dropped all the stuff he was holding and gasped in terror. To know that Ivo had just dragging himself around his house wasn’t something he had expected. The water trails were still visible where he had dragged himself and there were a few morsels of fish laying around as well.

For now, Ivo had his arms crossed on the couch cushion, his tail curled beneath him and his eyes closed. Either he was suffering from not getting enough water again or he just fallen asleep. By the way his tail was still moving back and forth, it was safe to assume he was still alive.

Stone didn’t bother picking up his stuff from the door as he dashed to the kitchen to fill a cup of water. He doubted he had enough energy to carry the man back to the bathroom right now. With how wet his floors were already, Stone didn’t try to be careful with it.

“Goddammit, Ivo, you’re either really stupid or just really bored.” Stone muttered angrily as he just dumped the full cup of water onto the merman. He needed to dry-clean his couch now.

Ivo immediately stuttered awake, pushing himself up as he frantically looked around. Unfortunately for Stone, he just happened to be standing right beside the merman’s tail. Shocking him awake didn’t like a very good idea now. Ivo’s tail, on instinct, swept across the floor and knocked into Stone’s legs, bringing the fisher down as he slipped. Luckily, Stone had his arms under him already so his head didn’t quite hit the floorboards.

Stone groaned and pushed himself into a proper sitting position. Now that he was actually paying attention, Ivo’s back was littered with scales, small patches formed from his shoulder’s down towards his tail where it evened out a bit.

Also, were those dorsal spine fin? Was he mostly lionfish and not entirely human?

Before the fisher could question, Ivo whipped his head back and let out a deafening whistle and tackled Stone back to the ground, his heavy tail pining the human down. Stone let out a short lived gasp as he fell backwards, the air practically being punched out of him.

The next few clicks Ivo let out sounded threatening paired along with low growls. He bared his teeth at him as the merman’s eyes stared daggers into Stone. Despite his lanky frame, Ivo was incredibly strong, just enough to overpower Stone.

“I’m sorry, okay? Let me go!” Stone begged as he felt Ivo’s fingers dug themselves into his shoulders again, the wound there reopening and dripping with blood. Stone winced at the pain and grunted, eyes screwed shut as he tried to buck the merman off.

After a minute or two of Stone trying to fight off the pain and Ivo staying immobile above him, the merman huffed out a breath and moved back, his finger retreating and tail being moved off Stone’s body. The fisher sighed in relief and sat up, one hand clutching at his bleeding shoulder.

“Thought you were dying, is all.” Stone muttered quietly, crossing his legs and glaring at the merman. “Can’t even help you without you trying to kill me.” Stone grunted and pushed himself up, heading straight towards the bathroom to retrieve the med kit.

Ivo didn’t respond, didn’t even turn his head to watch as Stone came back, one hand carrying a bucket full of water and the other the med kit. Even though Stone was on the edge of his patience with Ivo, he knew the merman still couldn’t go back to sea with his tail’s current condition.

When Stone used two fingers to push down on Ivo’s wound, the merman jerked away and attempted to swing his tail at the fisher again but failed due to pain. Stone sighed and removed his shirt, staring at the offending small puncture holes on it.

“Come here, I’ll help you too.” Stone offered, a hand laid flat out on the side of Ivo’s tail. The merman didn’t respond but shifted to get into a better position for Stone to help him. 

Chapter Text

Ivo shouldn’t really, he barely knew this human, but the sight of his bare chest was making his stomach do backflips. His heart beat loudly in his ears as he felt himself heat up. Luckily, the blush wasn’t visible enough for Stone to realize.

There they sat, on Stone’s living room floor with Ivo all vulnerable and Stone dripping with his own blood. The iron mixed with tangy sweetness made Ivo’s mouth water. His hands twitched by his side, his tail jerked at each movement the human made.

Oh how he wanted to pull him closer and lick up all that blood. The first time he ate human was maybe two years ago, but the taste never left his mouth. The sweetness of their blood, the thickness of it and how it flows and pollutes the water around it. The smell was like none other and Ivo craved it.

Stone reapplied some sort of cream onto Ivo’s wounds, making him hiss back at the stinging sensation. Stone muttered something about Ivo reopening his own wound, but the merman’s mind and eyes were latched onto Stone’s still bleeding shoulders. His mind was racing with thoughts that shouldn’t be had, but the more Ivo tried to push them down, the harder they become to resist.

Stone must’ve noticed how Ivo was staring at him when he begun to disinfect his own wounds. The merman’s pupils were blown wide, not completely overtaking the amber of his eyes but visible enough to be seen. His hands formed fists by his sides, nails digging painfully into the meat of his palm. The dorsal spines on his back seemed to be raised ever so slightly.

“You okay, Ivo?” Stone asked, concern about the merman’s new state. His skin didn’t seem all that flushed but his face seemed to be. If Stone wasn’t paying close attention, he wouldn’t have noticed the way Ivo’s body jerked.

‘For goodness’s sake, snap out of it!’ Ivo thought to himself, hands coming up to slap his own cheeks several times while groaning low in the back of his throat.

Stone stared back at him confused, the bandages haven’t even made their way onto his shoulders yet. Although the blood had started to dry, Ivo couldn’t deny the fact that his craving was sitting right in front of him, all on ravishing display.

“If you need something, just tell me.” Stone plead, his eyes somehow bigger and softer than they had appeared before. Ivo moved back, repulsed by the sight but Stone’s continuous talking seemed to have helped calm his mind down.

Ivo sighed and dropped his head into his hand, the other waving dismissively at Stone in order to get him to hurry up and bandage up his bloody shoulders. Stone’s brows furrowed but he didn’t question, quickly going through the disinfection routine before applying gauze and bandages.

The pair sat there in relative silence, except for every time Stone pulled out a gauze or use scissors to cut the bandage. Ivo placed his chin into his hand and glared at the human’s shoulders, frowning greatly under his mustache.

He had foreseen that this might happen at some point, when the human gets injured and then his tendencies acted up. But this was way too soon, it only had been three days and already he wanted to tear him into pieces.

Now that he thought about it, Ivo had never actually eaten a human that didn’t die from drowning before. He wondered if the meat would taste different and if the blood would flow thicker or easier above water. He really wanted to taste it raw and not blend in with the salt water.

Maybe Ivo could start with the eyes first this time instead of diving straight for anywhere that’s leaking blood

After Stone was all fixed up, the human rolled his shoulders a few times and sighed, but his expression immediately hardened when he looked towards Ivo. Normally, the merman wouldn’t care, but something about that stare seemed close to the night they first met, when he had planned on flaying Ivo.

“Since you would still stay here for another, let’s say, three days or so.” Stone said as he pushed himself up, walking to the other room and reappearing minutes later with a cup filled with some kind of dark liquid. Ivo curiously peered at the cup, hand ideally dipping into the bucket of water beside him to wet his gills. “Let’s set some house rules down, okay?” Ivo simply nodded and kept his ears open for Stone’s rant.

At first, everything seemed fine. Since human living spaces weren’t made to get wet often, Stone suggested that Ivo stay in the tub for the night and maybe he could move him to somewhere else in the morning just so he wouldn’t pull a stunt like this again. But then it quickly dissolved into Stone complaining about all the work he had to do to keep Ivo alive.

The merman frowned throughout all the complains, fingers absently smoothing out his mustache and racking through his hair. If Stone had hated taking care of him so much, then why wasn’t he back in the ocean tending to his own wounds right now?

Ivo had a hard time understanding humans and an even harder time figuring out human speech already but this just takes the cake. Their emotions were just so complicated; they never really have a reason for outbursts sometimes. Whenever they establish something, as soon as you attempt it, it somehow came out wrong.

Like, it’s difficult taking care of him? Then get him back into the ocean.

Why not? Oh, right, because he’s injured. But he can heal by himself!

Without warning, Ivo blurted out “If it’s so difficult taking care of me, then let me go already.” Though his speech wasn’t as fluent as Stone's. He stuttered a bit to form the word ‘difficult’ while also trying to make sure his string of words made sense to the human.

Stone, for once, shut up and stared, mouth slightly agape and hands still hovered in front of him mid waving around in frustration. Ivo didn’t regret what he had said, he only wanted to speak the truth. You don’t just care for someone who constantly tries to kill you whenever they get too scared, but Stone over here is doing the exact opposite. How could Ivo not get irritated?

On one hand, he was surviving alright, still breathing and moving. But on the other hand, Stone constantly complains about Ivo’s natural instinct against danger. It was unreasonable!

Stone’s shoulders slumped and his face seem to take on something more apologetic. Ivo remembered the term that humans would usually use for eyes that looked way too pathetic and pleading to be normal.

‘Puppy dog eyes’

Ivo had never seen a ‘puppy’ before but he felt like the term fit Stone’s current expression.

“Sorry, I just – “Stone sighed in defeat. He knew Ivo was right, he knew that he wanted to take care of him but also found difficulty in handling his animalistic instincts.

Ivo raised his hand, waved it and let a slow, low whistle, diverting his own eyes away from Stone. The human hoped it was Ivo telling him that it was fine and that he understood the situation he was in.

“What did that mean?” Stone asked curiously, his expression still saddened but at least his mouth was starting to tick up into a small smile.

Ivo didn’t really felt like explaining the complicated board of whistles, clicks, trills and screams to Stone right now, not to mention the different accents and vowels that comes with it. But the human had just accepted that he was wrong, so maybe Ivo could humor him a bit.

“I said ‘It’s fine’.” He responded, his hands raising up in front of him and performing a series of movements. His eyes stayed fixed on Stone to watch for his reactions, to which he was delighted to see that Stone understood.

Ivo knew what he did. It was easier to learn that than actual human speech but Ivo was anyone but a quitter. He learnt both in his free time, used coral shapes as guides and watched closely from a distant. At this point, Ivo was sure he had master both human speech, sign language (not merfolk sign language) and light Morse code. That one was most fascinating.

Ivo knew how he looked when he started to practice underwater, attempting to talk only to start choking. He was sure human speech made his esophagus open wider. Maybe that’s why they drown so easily. He had to urgently swim up to the surface to expel some of that water out by coughing profusely.

Other merfolk called him crazy when they saw him with a piece of glass in broad daylight. They called him inane and unreasonable. Being an invasive species wasn’t enough gossip for them.

The thought of teaching Stone merfolk sign language made him feel a bit more determine to stay around this area of land even though he knew it would be dangerous for him. To be honest, Ivo had grown attached to Stone, with how the human was so stubborn yet so persistent. The image of Stone trying to comprehend the different hand gestures for merfolk sign language made Ivo chuckle internally.

“Thank you, Ivo.” Stone smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling from how hard he was smiling. Or maybe it was a genuine smile.

Ivo snorted and returned his smile, but it was more or a smirk than anything.

‘Huh, his teeth are nice’

Chapter Text

“What are we doing here again?” Miles asked, trying to peer past his taller friends.

“I saw something suspicious so I want to check it out.” Reasoned Sonic, a brave smile on his face as he continued to sneak through the backyard. Knuckles was close behind him but decided to stop midway for Miles to push himself through.

Team Sonic had deduced a plan to sneak into Mr. Stone’s backyard in search of suspicious activities earlier today after Sonic’s swimming lesson. It was Knuckles who noticed it first as he had spied on the man ever since he left a bad impression on the youngster. Being the ever reliable brute strength of the team with a keen eye, Knuckles had reported back to his two small friends about Mr. Stone’s suspicious activity such as spying out on the beach too often and buying more fish than usual, or necessary.

At first, Miles – known to Sonic and Knuckles as ‘Tails’ – had turned down those accusations as Mr. Stone could be unpredictable at times. His mother and father didn’t know Stone personally, but regarded him with respect because he used to be a part of the military. Knuckles said his father liked how straightforward the man was but he himself despised him. Sonic’s parents liked talking to him but the youngster didn’t know why. Just adult things, he guessed.

Despite all of this, they still agreed to sneak into Mr. Stone’s backyard when night fall. Sonic was the one armed with a flashlight while Tails kept their cellphones in his backpack along with emergency snacks and water. The only thing Knuckles had brought with him was the army Swiss knife his father gave him.

The night was cold as the ocean breeze moved in, rattling the youngsters greatly but they continued forward. Miles’s great foresight assured that all of them had at least two layers covering their bodies. The lights upstairs were still on but the curtains were drawn close. Muffled music could be heard.

With Miles’s expertise in different fields of lock, he managed to get the window open and hauled himself inside with a boost from Sonic. The blue dressed youngster was then hoisted up by Knuckles before he climbed in himself.

The kids had never personally seen the inside of Mr. Stone’s house so what they saw was quite ordinary but with a twist. His floorboards felt wet as if he had just mopped the place, but Sonic really doubted that as his shoes would leave imprints on the wood. It just proved that the floor was still relatively wet despite being wiped down.

Knuckles signaled for Sonic to point his flashlight in a certain direction, quickly pointing out the visible puddle by the couch. The cushions were completely soaked through with a lingering smell of sea salt. Sonic nodded and turned to Tails with a firm expression.

The kids had established long ago when they first became friends that, in situations where they won’t be able to communicate freely, it’s up to body language and face expression. Right now, Sonic was asking his friends to check around the house, wherever that wasn’t locked and avoid the stairs at all cost.

They spent around five minutes checking each and every drawer and cabinet, doing so as quietly as possible. The kitchen was cleared except for a bunch of fish in the fridge. The living room was cleared beside lingering traces of water. The last place they haven’t checked was the kitchen storage room and the bathroom. Knuckles suggested that they should immediately head to the bathroom as he doubted that there was anything in the storage room.

They checked either way. There were just boxes that they didn’t bother checking.

“Alright, is the bathroom locked, Tails?” Sonic asked, his voice hushed and flashlight dimmed down. Miles tried the handle a few times and gave one definite jerk of his head. Sealed tight.

Knuckles groaned into his hands and gently shoved Tails aside, making sure to position him right next to Sonic. “It can’t be locked. You’re just not trying hard enough.” The oldest of the three reasoned, one hand clutched into a fist as the other one tugged impatiently on the handle again.

To the three’s relief, it did open and Knuckles flashed Miles his winning smile. Sonic rolled his eyes fondly at the tallest and squeezed his way into the bathroom. He handed Miles his flashlight and instructed him to point the flashlight down the floor. He suspected that there was someone in here, so shining the light directly into the room won’t be a good idea.

To Sonic’s credit, there was. He quickly pointed towards a figure laying in the bathtub. The illuminating light on the floor provided them with the knowledge that the tub was filled to the brim with water and was practically overflowing, the small water droplets falling deafly into the small puddle on the tiled floor.

Miles slowly approached the figure, slowly bringing the light up to the tub but not high enough to hit the stranger in the face. Sonic gasped quietly when he spotted the huge tail sticking out on one end, swaying back and forth gently. The figure’s long hair was partly submerged in water and his mustache seemed to be the driest part of him.

Knuckles peered closer at the tail, curiously hovering his finger near the scales. They seemed to glimmer like sea glass under what little light the flashlight provided. Sonic let his friends stare and prod while he stayed at the doorframe, nervously glancing back out and up the stairs. He wouldn’t like being caught right now.

The lights upstairs flickered off and the sound of a door lock being turned could be heard. Good, Mr. Stone was heading to bed which meant they could stall around for a while longer to try and understand... whatever this is.

Miles turned to Knuckles and poked his arm gently. When the hothead looked over, Miles placed two fingers on his neck and tapped his own pulse twice.

‘He’s still breathing’

Luckily, Sonic could see that and shot a thumbs up in Miles’s way, no smile on his face.

This was…really new for the kids. Sure, it’s not like they haven’t snuck into other people’s houses before, but usually they wouldn’t need to go through the classic B&E in order to get in.

Mr. Stone, however? He never invites anyone in his house and always talks to everyone a safe distance from it. Team Sonic had their own reasons to think he was up to something.

This something being a whole mermaid in his bathtub, apparently.

Sonic gently pushed his way into the middle, letting his two friends be positioned on either side of him. Bracing himself on the tub’s edge, he peered in and took a gander at the gills on the merman’s torso and how his scales dissolved into skin. He could visibly see small, darkened marks that eerily resembled scars on the side of his stomach.

While Sonic did so, Miles took a closer look at the gills on his neck instead, fascinated by the way they flare ever so often to accompany air in. Knuckles cautiously smoothed the pad of his index over the scales and shivered internally. It was like touching a live fish.

Sonic, ever the impulsive, dipped his finger into the water below and brought it to his nose, taking a tentative sniff before putting it in his mouth. Knuckles grimaced at the sight while Miles looked like he wanted to face palm himself.  To Sonic’s shock, the water did not taste at all salty, not even by a little. It was fresh water, but there wasn’t any area that would host large bodies of fresh water around here.

The blue dressed youngster immediately tried to tell his friends about the lack of salt in the water, but rubbing two of his fingers together and pointing at the tub didn’t really make sense to them. Knuckles squinted at Sonic’s actions before pointing into the tub, watching the way Sonic nod before dipping his own finger in. Miles followed shortly afterwards.

Good, now all three knew.

Unfortunately, Miles pulled out his cellphone and showed his friends the current time. They had overstayed their welcome as it was approaching the early hours of the morning. Their parents will come up into their room to check on them at some point.

Miles escaped the bathroom first, still armed with the flashlight as he climbed back out the window. Sonic was hot on his tail while Knuckles stalled for a while longer to make sure they wouldn’t be caught.

When all three made out safely, they all dashed out to the street and stopped to take a breather under the streetlamps. Miles groaned to himself and covered his face in what seemed to be shame.

“What’s wrong?” Knuckles asked, peering over to their youngest member. Sonic placed both hands on his hips and waited for a response, heart beating inside his chest. Both were worried that Miles might’ve left something in the house.

“I forgot to take some pictures.” Muttered Miles, his face still in his hands as he gently shook his head back and forth.

Sonic breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, closing his eyes and placing a hand over his beating heart. Knuckles also shook his head, gently patting Miles’s shoulder in reassurance. They weren’t sure if they will ever get the chance to see that merman again, but it didn’t really matter. They really didn’t know whether he was dangerous or not.

“It’s okay, Tails.” Sonic reassured him, arms folded behind his head as he started walking towards his own house. “We all saw that, so it’s fine. Now let’s get back for the night.”

Chapter Text

“Morning, Ivo.” Stone greeted the merman sleepily, a yawn escaping his mouth as he entered the bathroom.

The lights were still off and Ivo was still sleeping, his chest rising slowly with each breath. Considering the time that Stone used up to take care of him, he never once really stopped to admire all of his form and not just his tail.

Well, maybe there was a good reason why he didn’t.

Shaking his head mentally, Stone approached the sleeping merman and gently shook his arm, letting him stir for a bit. Stone took that time to go through his usual morning route, quickly stripping and changing before the merman opened his eyes.

“Oh good, you didn’t turn on the lights this time.” Ivo mumbled in his half-awake state, trying to roll over only to remember he was still contained in a rather limited space. The frown that appeared on his face was rather cute, not that Stone would ever say that out loud.

“Yup, now you better be awake now ‘cause I need to do something.” Stone stated, cracking his knuckles and stretching his hands out in front of him.

Before Ivo could ask or even get a noise of question out, Stone stuck his arm under his back and the other under his tail where, figuratively, the knees would be. An undignified squeak escaped Ivo as he wrapped his arms tightly around Stone’s neck, face buried into his shoulders as Stone hauled him out of the tub.

Stone grunted with effort and adjusted the heavy merman in his arms. Thank goodness for his military days and habits to keep him in shape. Ivo’s grip could have nearly strangled him had he not silently urged him to loosen up.

Ivo was quite surprised at being carried, his tail swaying as if it was still in water. Stone figured merfolk don’t usually carry their spouse or each other considering the water was already keeping them afloat.

“Christ, you’re heavy.” Stone commented jokingly, hauling the still shocked merman into his living room and lowering him into an inflatable pool. “Here, this’ll have to do for now. I don’t have a lot of things in my house to really accommodate a merman, you know,”

Despite already have been placed down into the pool that could accommodate his whole body, Ivo didn’t let go of Stone’s neck, intertwining his fingers together to keep them there loosely. Stone glanced at Ivo with confusion, but quickly lowered himself so that he didn’t have to bend over awkwardly for the merman to keep hold.

Stone was thrilled to see Ivo more relaxed than he had been in days. His tail was soaked just like his upper body, unlike in the tub. Ivo didn’t have to adjust his position too many times to make sure his body was equally wet. His brows relaxed and a content sigh escaped him as he sunk further into the inflatable pool. Stone hoped Ivo wouldn’t get too spooked otherwise his spine might pop the pool.

“Alright, I’ll go grab something for myself before I leave.” Said Stone calmly, slowly removing himself away from Ivo. Luckily, he didn’t protest as his arms slipped away easily.

Ever since Ivo had come to live with him, Stone hadn’t been able to make a latte with how much work he had to do. All he could brew up these days was just plain espresso. Taking his jet-black thermos out from one of the cabinets, he set it down on the counter before wandering back over to his espresso machine, going through all the necessary steps to brew it.

When he had hit the start button, Stone brought fish back for Ivo before he forgot to feed him. Ivo hummed in acknowledgement, quickly taking the fish by his teeth before hauling the rest into his arms. Stone couldn’t deny he hadn’t been staring at those teeth for a while now.

“What’re you doing, Stone?” Ivo asked from his place in the living room, snapping Stone’s usual focus. Now that he actually paid attention, Ivo had never once called him by his name. It felt nice.

“Just brewing coffee, Ivo.” Stone responded, pouring his steamed milk into the thermos before topping it with coffee. He screwed the cap back on and set it down, going to his fridge to find something to make breakfast with.

The way Stone had said his name sounded completely different from all the other times. It sounded more domestic, like he was answering his spouse who was sitting in the living room. Stone scoffed and smiled to himself. It was wishful thinking at best, Stone wasn’t sure if he would ever be mentally stable enough to go back into a relationship.

Even with how quiet Ivo was sometimes, Stone could hear him hum with curiosity. Of course he wouldn’t know what coffee is, but Stone wondered if he could drink it considering being half human and all. He wondered if he drank anything at all.

After whipping up a breakfast of pancakes with a side of bacon and scrambled eggs, Stone brought the plate out to the living room and set it down on the coffee table. His other hand carried his thermos so he was forced to hold the utensils in his mouth.

Ivo peered curiously at the food on his plate and sent a questioning look to Stone. The merman only ate raw and fresh things, so Stone wasn’t sure if he should be consuming cooked stuff. Well, maybe he might like it and Stone could finally use his groceries to make food for somebody instead of having to go out to the market ever so often to pick up more fish. This guy ate a lot so it should be good.

Using his fork to stab into a piece of bacon, Stone brought it over to Ivo for him to take a bite. Instead, Ivo opened his mouth and took the whole thing in, already start chewing it while it was still on the fork. There goes a piece of his breakfast. Stone quickly pulled his fork out and grimaced at it, quickly going back into his kitchen to grab a cleaner one. Ivo chewed the piece of bacon with consideration and intense focus, stalling enough time for Stone to pop a few pancakes, a small scoop of scrambled eggs and two pieces of bacon into his mouth before he asked for more.

“What is this?” Ivo asked quietly, smacking his lips a few times. Stone watched the way his tongue grazed over his sharp teeth, gathering what remained of the bacon and its flavor.

God, why was his face hot? No way he was thinking of that, was he?

…

Nope, he was.

“It’s bacon.” Stone said, voice sounding distant and unlike himself. “We got the meat from pigs.” He doubted Ivo knew what a pig is, since some of the only sea creatures that carried that name with it in the ocean were sea pigs. And they don’t even remotely look like pigs.

Before Stone could stop him, Ivo reached out and snatched the last piece of bacon off of the fisher’s plate, taking his time in consuming it. His eyes fluttered ever so often as he took in its taste, his mouth working slowly in order to savor the taste. Stone chuckled softly and scooped up a bit of eggs and handed over to him, waiting for Ivo to notice it.

When he did, he eagerly nibbled on it and hummed, a smile ticking up on his lips. Stone never thought he would enjoy feeding a merman before, but he would admit that it was bringing him joy just watching the way Ivo ate each piece.

“Alright, I’m heading to work now.” Stone announced as he passed his plate over to the merman, knowing he would probably want to lick the remains off. He did just that.

As Stone took the plate away from Ivo, his brain suddenly hit him with the moment from two days ago. The cold metal and the feeling of scales on his skin. The cold feeling of it, so unlike Ivo.

Jogging up his stairs and practically tripping to get back down, Stone clutched the item in his hand and sped walk over to Ivo who was still content with his new space. When Stone approached, Ivo stared at his closed fist and back up at his face, an eyebrow raised with amusement in his eyes. Before Stone could tell Ivo what had happened, the merman had already extended his hand out towards him, palm up and waiting.

Stone swallowed and handed the object over, fist slowly opening and then lying flat against Ivo’s hand, trying to remember how crawly his skin had felt. He had despised it at first, but now it felt more comforting than ever. Better than that mermaid’s hands, anyway.

“I assume someone gave you this.” Ivo said matter-of-factly, pulling his hand back and leaving Stone’s to hover in the air. The fisher pulled his hand back awkwardly, wiggling his fingers and rubbing a thumb over where their skin had come in contact with each other.

“Yeah, a mermaid, I think. Similar to you but not.” Stone responded after a while, crouching down to Ivo’s level to inspect the item as well. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about the object and never even glanced at it when he placed it on his work desk.

In Ivo’s hand was a small golden chain with a clear, plastic purple heart in the front. Or, at least Stone assumed it was plastic. The clasp attaching it together was bigger than the average necklace clasp but it wasn’t very significant. The more interesting thing was that the chain didn’t look rusty or damaged. Must be gold-filled, Stone guessed. But why display an assumingly plastic heart in front of a chain like this?

However, Stone didn’t question it out loud as Ivo unclasped the chain and placed it around his neck. The chain was long enough to sag down pass his gills, settling nicely on his sternum. The purple heart, despite being “plastic”, caught the light perfectly and made the whole chain more beautiful.

“That’s your jewelry, I assume?” Stone asked with a smile, hand twitching by his side to avoid reaching up to turn the heart in his fingers.

“Yup. One of the mer-children stole it from me a few days before I was beached.” Ivo explained touching the heart lightly with the pad of his finger. “I think the parents recognized you from that night.”

Stone tilted his head and tried to recall ever seeing any mermaids that night. No rushing of water, no sound of anyone jumping in or rising up, just ocean breeze and Ivo gripping onto that wooden plank for dear life. The fisher shook his head, denying that he had ever remembered seeing any other merfolk than Ivo.

“Of course you didn’t, you idiot.” Ivo said, flicking his finger against Stone forehead. “It was as dark as a moray eel cave. Your human eyes aren’t made for that.” Stone chuckled in response and apologized under his breath. Maybe Ivo was right, but it was surprising that they knew which boat he was on.

He couldn’t deny how beautiful the gold looked on him, it made him look exactly how they would describe mermaids in storybooks and romance books.

Standing back up and stretching himself out till he heard his spine and shoulders popped, Stone picked up his thermos and bid Ivo goodbye, watching the way the merman waved dismissively at him with no bite behind his words.

Stone closed and locked the door with his keys, making sure all windows were latched and the curtains were pulled shut. He made his way down towards the beach and greeted Shadow and Rogue on the way.

Chapter Text

“He has been acting real secretive lately.” Rogue commented as Mr. Stone past them. The fisher greeted his boat mates and hopped into their truck, accepting a cigarette when it was offered.

The clouds above them drifted fast, the movements slow and steady. Shadow looked up and squinted against the light in his eyes. Rogue licked the tip of her finger, raising it into the air. The wind licked at her wet fingertip, drying it in a record amount of time. The blonde grimaced at the stickiness it left beside, albeit drier.

Shadow rolled his eyes and tugged on his own sleeves, watching the crew drive out to the beach before he turned to Rogue with a dead stare. “You barely know anything about him.” The girl shrugged in return and casually strolled up to Mr. Stone’s front door, gently testing the knob before coming back. It was locked shut.

“And you do?” Rogue asked with a smirk, watching the way Shadow took in a quiet breath and turned away. Hah, he folded too easily.

Racking his fingers gently through his black hair, Shadow grunted and turned to walk away. “Let’s just go to Miles’s house. He asked me to help him with something.” Rogue hummed in acknowledgement and followed after him, falling a few steps behind to give Hot Topic some space.

The two walked their way down towards Miles’s house, chatting quietly on the way there. It was mostly about random topics before they circled back to getting Shadow’s hair dyed and Rogue’s makeup kit refilled.

Fortunately, they spotted Sonic and Knuckles walking there as well. From what they could see and not hear, the two were head deep into a topic, chattering nonstop about it. Rogue raised a brow and turned to Shadow, nudging his arm so he could look. The blue dressed youngster looked a bit annoyed at his redheaded friend while said friend kept shaking his head back and forth.

The black haired teen also shrugged in response, seeming more content to gaze out to where the sea is than bother looking for gossip. Rogue sighed and pulled out her cigarette and lighter, setting the butt alight and jogging up towards Sonic.

“Hello you two!” Rogue greeted them with a cheerful wave, making sure her cigarette was far enough away from Sonic so he didn’t have to take in the smoke. “You both going to Miles?” Unfortunately, Rogue and Shadow didn’t have the privilege to call the blond youngster by the nickname his friends would call them.

“Yup, we need to discuss something with him.” Sonic answered with a smile, pulling Knuckles by the elbow to steer him away from Rogue. She quickly caught on to his action, casually circling around until she ended up on Knuckles’s side.

Shadow walked quietly next to Sonic, occasionally glancing over the small notepad in Sonic’s hand. His eyes quickly latched onto a badly scribbled word that spelled out ‘mermaid?’. He assumed it was Knuckles who wrote it.

“Does Mrs. Wachowski know you’re out here?” Shadow asked quietly, avoiding all eye contact with Sonic.

“Of course my mom knows I’m out here. What kind of question is that?” Sonic replied, a confused smile on his face as he jogged by the brooding teen’s side.

“Does Mr. Wachowski also know?”

“He let me out here, actually.”

Soon, the four were standing in Miles’s driveway. His parents were still inside the house but Miles was sitting by himself on the porch, his cellphone in hand and a pencil sticking out from behind his ear. His head lifted up with surprise and recognition as his friends approached. The sun had died down.

“Hi Shadow, hi Rouge!” He greeted both of them. Rogue chuckled fondly and squeezed the youngster’s face between her hands while cooing. Shadow just gave him a subtle nod and sat down on the opposite end of his porch, far away enough so that Rogue could still smoke.

Miles, Sonic and Knuckles all crowded each other into one corner. Sonic handed his notebook over while frantically waving his hands in the air, face full of renewed shock and surprise. Knuckles scoffed and waved dismissingly as his friend, pulling out his own notebook from his bag and presenting it like a suitcase filled with gold. It seemed to have that effect on his younger friends however, even if it wasn’t a suitcase with gold.

Rogue and Shadow sat quietly together. The black haired teen occasionally reached up to rub the golden bracelets he had around his wrists, gazing at the way the light caught on the metal. Rogue puffed out smoke and stared curiously at what the youngsters on the opposite side of the porch were doing. She usually wouldn’t like to interfere, but she felt like this had something to do with Mr. Stone.

“Oh, right, I asked Shadow to help us!” Miles stood up and walked his way over to the brooding teen, tugging lightly on his jacket. Shadow sighed and stood up, swiftly taking Rogue’s cigarette from between her fingers and stubbing it on the wooden railings.

Sonic and Knuckles, however, didn’t seem very thrilled about having the teen help them. As quickly as possible, both gathered all their notes and notebooks close to them, placing whatever they could over it. Hands, legs, water bottles or even straight up laying on it to prevent Shadow from seeing what was on them. Miles pouted and let go of Shadow’s jacket, taking long strides to reach his two stubborn friends.

“Come on, I know he can help us!” Miles urged, gently but insistently pulling on their arms. Sonic refused to let go even if he treated Miles like a brother and Knuckles appreciated him as the smarter one in the group.

“But we can’t trust him.” Reasoned Knuckles. He had a point, though, and Miles couldn’t deny it. Even if Shadow did know a bit more about Mr. Stone, it wasn’t safe to fully trust him. There was a 50/50 percent chance that he might rat them out and this whole operation would be for nothing.

After a moment of tense silence, Miles shook his head and stood firm by his decision. Shadow didn’t know Mr. Stone well enough to understand how he would feel about the merman in his bathroom. Maybe he had a plan to flay him, like any other person when they witness a mermaid. They would want to keep them as a prize or turn them over to science for money.

“Fine, I supposed he could help.” Sonic quickly relented, moving out the so that Miles could resume his spot.

“What exactly is it that you want me to help with?” Shadow asked as he sat down, trying to avoid making contact with Sonic as much as possible. Sonic opted to sit next to Miles.

Rogue wasn’t the jealous type, but she also didn’t like being left out from activities that was sure to help her find more gossip. She scooted next to Knuckles and pinched his cheek, a playful smile on her lips while Knuckles just groaned in annoyance. At least he wasn’t trying to yell at her again.

What Shadow expected was maybe homework or something. Today was the weekend – or the few last days of school – and school hadn’t been them. Shadow often visited Rogue just to get some notes and advice for assignments. Shadow thought Miles wanted the same. Even if it was small.

But what he gave him was not homework or anything related to school. Miles cautiously handed Knuckles’s notebook with a specific page flipped towards him. It was a fairly bad sketch, but the artistic inspiration was still fresh. The sketch depicted a bathtub, with its curtain pulled aside and slightly torn. The thick drag of lead down the edge of the tub signaled overflowing and inside was a man. Long hair, mustache and an exposed upper torso. Knuckles couldn’t work well with colors, but he made an effort to show the ginger roots underneath all that dark hair.

But no, that was not the center focus of the drawing. Both Shadow and Rouge were drawn to the slightly detailed depiction of a fishtail, scales all drawn on individually though clumsily. There was orange, red and black glitter sprinkled on certain areas of the tail to show where the colors were most vibrant. The merman in Knuckles’s notebook looked oddly specific, like it supposed to be this specific one and no other.

“Knuckles drew this?” Rogue asked curiously, glancing over the hothead with a smile. Miles beamed back at her and vigorously nodding his head. Sonic bumped his fist in the air and offered Knuckles a high-five. The hothead smirked and happily took all the compliments offered to him, even if most of it was from Rogue.

Shadow, however, did not care to praise Knuckles for his admittedly great artistic talent. He just silently observed each and every detail. He looked awfully like someone he knew; someone he may have met but never properly interacted. The tail was a different color but it had some resemblance. Was he related to her? There was a slim chance but Shadow was willing to take it.

“So this is what you want help with?” Shadow questioned as he handed the notebook back to Knuckles. Sonic nodded and took a loud sip from his juice, side-eyeing Shadow. Miles nodded but he seemed to be deeper in his own notes than anything else.

“Didn’t know you kids broke into his house.” Rogue commented, flexing her nails out in front of her with a mocking tone. To be honest, they didn’t really care if Team Sonic – ridiculous team name, by the way – broke into Mr. Stone’s house. It was more important that they didn’t steal anything.

“Well, it was for a good cause. Who knows what he’s going to do with this mermaid?” Miles reasoned, his hand directed towards Sonic. The blue dressed youngster handed him a bag of chips. Shadow and Rogue both hummed in agreement.

It’s true. You don’t often – or never, actually – witness a myth come to life. Mermaids, vampires, werewolves and such defied biology but there just happened to be one resting in Mr. Stone’s bathtub. Shadow wondered if he was just pulling a prank on the kids or not, considering he was never the kind of adult to trick kids into thinking things like that exist. Maybe it was a prank

“Merman.” Knuckles corrected Miles, pencil in hand while he scribbled some other details down. Rogue nodded but didn’t offer a respond.

“Right, merman.” Sonic repeated. “Why call him a merman, though?”

“Because he’s a man.” Knuckles replied quickly.

“Because he’s a man, okay.” Miles echoed back.

Chapter Text

The clouds drifted across the expanse of sky, lazily dissolving into each other or disappearing from sight. Stone grunted and sighed as he hauled up another net, taking his time to inspect all the fish inside before dumping them out.

His crew talked and bickered to each other, some nursing small shots in their hands while others nodded back and forth from lack of sleep. Stone took a deep drag of his second cigarette of the day and blew out smoke rings, listening to the quiet compliments from the newbies who just started smoking. The waves lapped at their boat gently, rocking it like a mother rocking a cradle. And, to Stone’s opinion, it seemed to be rocking some of his crew member to sleep.

“Anything been happening to you?” One of his closer mates asked, holding out his cigarette to him. Stone pulled out his lighter and light it with a shrug, twirling the lighter between his fingers a few times.

“Nothing much. Someone broke into my house though.” Stone replied, eyes focused on some figure in the distant. He wasn’t sure if he could rule them out as the merfolk he had been seeing or not, but he would like to take his chances.

Whoever broke into his house yesterday must be either stupid or oblivious. He was half-tempted to go down stairs with his gun, but it didn’t sound like they were stealing anything. He should probably check later when he gets back. There were at least three people in his house that night, but judging by how their shoes sounded against the floors, they were kids.

They were probably Team Sonic. Goddammit. He hoped Maddie and Tom would find out about this or else he’ll place matters into his own hands

Stone sighed and dropped his head into his hands, cigarette slowly slipping from his grip. His mate huffed out a small cloud of smoke and wandered back to the rest. Stone should probably follow along, he had a job to do after all.

Before he could even take his head out his hands, his cigarette slipped out his fingers and into the salty depths below. Stone could only stare after the last stick he had on himself, watching the way the last of the smoke evaporate into nothing, not even leaving a lingering smell.

Great, now he either ask anyone else for another or pay them for another. He didn’t even feel like paying a cent for one right now.

The fisher gingerly removed himself from the edge and gone back to the others, watching them trying to either haul up another net or haul each other into drinking. Stone let them place a small shot into his hand.

Today wasn’t going to be easy on him. he had Ivo to take care of, but then he also had those troublesome kids to deal with. Was Shadow and Rogue also involved in all of this? That would explain why they were staring at him weird when he left this morning. Rogue always had that girly poker face on, but Shadow’s poker face could be called a ‘resting bitch’ face. Stone wouldn’t tell the teen that.

Soon, the sky grew dark, the wind picked up slightly and the waves became more urgent. A storm was probably being blown in, and it was strange for this time of the day. Stone wasn’t sure what time it is right now, but it has to be getting late if the gray clouds were rolling in now.

Stone shook head and try to get those thoughts out of his head. He didn’t need to worry too much; the sooner he gets back the safer Ivo would be. Handing his mate back the empty shot, Stone lumbered over to assist the others. The leader of the crew suspected that they would have to move back in soon. With how dark the sky was already getting, he doubted they could stay out here for very long. Though, before they did that, they had to meet the quota first.

Everyone agreed in unison, all except Stone could feel dread curling inside his stomach. A storm out here is never good. He didn’t want to end up in those situation where the boat gets damaged and then they all drown. He understood that the quota needs to be met but their life is more valuable than a few dollar bills. Either his crew leader was oblivious or greedy, he wasn’t sure.

As soon as they were ready to pull back in, the rain poured down heavily. The drops were quite weighted and big, drumming harshly at the floor of their boat. Stone sighed and rubbed at his temples, watching his crew try to stir the boat back in. Rains like these don’t usually affect the waves or wind, but since Stone had predicted that there was a storming rolling in, the waves and wind were sure to pick up.

Stone clutched at the small railings his boat had, swaying just in time with the boat. His crew was a mess, to say the least. Some were freaking out; others were trying their best to not lose all the catch they had hours before. Stone shook rainwater out from his eyes and squinted hard into the distant.

Fish leaping out the water during rainy days weren’t rare, but these fish looked a lot bigger. Can’t be dolphins, they would’ve retreated back to a safer place. Were the waves pushing them out further into sea or was it his imagination? Stone wasn’t sure, but his mind was preoccupied with more important things like Ivo being alone in his house.

The boat continued to rock but it had lost all of its comfort. It tilted this way and that, making some who were more unbalanced slid across the boat. Stone could no longer make out the distant figures as his eyes became blurry with rainwater coating and dripping down his lashes. His crew leader screamed and rushed the boatmen to hold on and to steer back into the shore. But the more they tried, the more the waves pushed and pull. It’s like they’re fighting a losing battle.

Before Stone could remove himself from the railings, a loud thunderous noise rung out in his ear, temporarily deafening him. No way this storm was big enough for thunder, but it seemed like nature had something else in mind.

He wouldn’t die out here, would he? The waves were definitely big enough to topple their boat over with some more force and coupled with that the thunder. Stone’s heart thundered in his chest, blood rushing in his ears and his vision swim with the waves and fishes.

The thought of Ivo being alone terrified him, but the storm would definitely be keeping him back now. Stone continued to worry about the merman at his house, regarding his own survival and safety less and less by each passing minute. Ivo wouldn’t be able to always crawl around his house forever, let alone one day. He would be found one way or another and who knows what they’re going to do to him?

None of that suddenly mattered when his boat did indeed flip over, throwing everyone overboard and plunging them in the cold, salty depths. The net was still loose enough that any fish that was still somewhat alive swam away. Stone watched as some fish skipped across the surface of the water and dived down with one swift movement as if mocking him for having a heavy body. If he was above water right now, the fisher would scoff at such mockery.

But, unfortunately, he was not above water and was rapidly sinking due to his clothes absorbing the water. His crew members were as shocked and panicked as he was, waving their arms in a futile attempt to float above.

Stone wasn’t sure if he was trying to the same or he was just letting himself sink down. His mind was disorganized and yet way too calm. His thoughts screamed at him to keep himself afloat or to grab onto the boat, try dragging himself in or do something to stay alive.

His legs felt weak, his mind was still hung on Ivo and the distant leaping figures. Those were merfolk for sure now. There were myths that says mermaid could influence the weather to their liking. Sirens would do a more severe damage.

Fuck, he wasn’t getting out of this, was he?

Chapter Text

“Whelp, let’s get back now.” Sonic said, looking up to the rain falling down over the roof of the porch. Knuckles nodded and stood up, packing all his things back into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.

“How are we going to get back, exactly?” Rogue asked, placing her hand out and catching a few rain drops. Shadow rolled his eyes and immediately stepped out, not caring how the rain flattened his hair and wet his jacket. Rogue visibly winced at the sight.

Sonic shrugged and pulled out his cellphone, dialing his parent to tell them that he would be home a bit late due to the rain. And maybe something else. Rouge was standing near him enough to hear some part of the conversation.

“Be home safe, Sonic, and don’t catch a cold either.” Mrs. Wachowski said with a stern voice, but it didn’t sound like a warning at all. Rogue decided to stop eavesdropping.

Miles got up and rushed into his house, his footsteps loud and quite hollow. Knuckles watched as the blond ran in, following his steps and standing in the door way, waiting and listening. Sonic peeked by his side and try to listen as well, but quickly got bored and decided to whistle a song his nanny had taught him. The blond came back with two umbrellas in his hand, placing them into Knuckles’s and Rogue’s hand. Sonic pushed his way towards Miles and pulled him into a hug. If you stood from afar, you would think that they were siblings. In a sense, they were.

“Get back safe, okay?” Miles smiled up at his friends, receiving thumbs up and reassuring smiles in return.

Rogue popped open the umbrella and measure its width with her arm, estimating whether or not it would be wide enough for both her and Shadow. Jogging off the porch with the umbrella open above her, Rogue tried to catch up with Shadow who looked thoroughly soaked. He didn’t look like he really cared about his own health right now.

When the rain was no longer falling on the sulky teen, he finally decided to acknowledge his friend’s presence beside him. She sent a bitter look his way but refused to elaborate why he was either stupid or careless.

They walked their way back to Shadow’s house, quietly chatting about the mermaid situation they had gotten themselves in. Rogue couldn’t care less if she had to help a mermaid get back into the sea or get him captured by humans. Why should she care? She didn’t know him, and he didn’t know her, so it was useless worrying about some random mythical creature that happened to be living with Mr. Stone.

But Shadow seemed upset about it. After learning about the merman, he wasn’t like himself anymore. Rogue didn’t know how to describe it, but he wasn’t like usual. Sure, he looked like he was annoyed by everything and constantly sulking, but Rogue could see behind that façade. Right now, however? He really did seem upset about the knowledge of the merman.

“You alright, handsome?” Rogue asked, her brows furrowed with concern as she crowded his space, placing the umbrella in her other hand so that she could hold his.

Shadow scoffed and pulled away, crossing his arms and gripping at his soaked jacket. He diverted his eyes away from Rogue and gazed back to the direction of the sea. This didn’t help Rogue understand more than she had already seen. Shadow was largely secretive about things he deemed ‘unnecessary’ to brood over or was just uncomfortable sharing them.

Rogue decided not to bother him further, but she did place a hand on his shoulder. Shadow flinched at the sudden contact but didn’t make an attempt to pull away like he did when she held his hand.

The rain continued to pour, sprinkling water on their shoes and over their umbrella. The ground was wet, slippery and covered in puddles gathering a good amount of water to splash around in. Leaves shuddered constantly at the downfall, shaking branches and watering the weeds on the side of the road.

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Sonic and Knuckles jogged their way towards Mr. Stone’s house with a lock picking kit in their hands and big grins on their faces. The water sprayed around them as they fell into rhythm with each other, each step coordinated almost perfectly on the wet ground. Knuckles was breathing shallowly, his mouth slightly agape to exhale while he inhaled with his nose. Sonic was barely breaking a sweat, his grin turning into a cheeky smile as he took a sharp turn to Mr. Stone’s house, darting out from under the umbrella and up the porch. Not a raindrop fell on his blue jacket.

Knuckles slowed down and took his time walking to his blue speedster friend, twirling the Swiss army knife in his hand as Sonic got to work on the lock. Sonic stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth and stuck two pins inside the lock, glancing down at the instruction that Miles had written up for him.

Knuckles folded the umbrella and placed it standing up against the railing of the porch. He flipped his knife back and forth, glancing out towards the road to make sure that no one was around. It would be much worse if Mr. Stone just happened to come back right at the moment when Sonic got the lock open.

The curtains were still pulled close; the back door had a padlock on it. Knuckles had never seen anyone lock their house this securely before, but he guessed he couldn’t really blame the guy. He had a merman in his house, of course he would try his damnedest to make sure no one gets in or even catch a glimpse of the inside.

“Door’s open.” Sonic announced with a smile on his face. He stood up straight from where he was bent over and stretched his back out. “Got the camera ready?”

“Yup, let’s go in.” Knuckles raised the GoPro up and clicked record before putting on his head. Sonic chuckled at how his friend looked with the camera on his head but quickly entered the house.

It was fairly dark, with only their flashlight illuminating the place. The sky outside had gone particularly gloomy with how the rain was falling, but they didn’t think it would get this dark. The duo continued their way pass the doorway, shutting it quickly to avoid suspicion.

Before either of them could advance further into the house, Sonic immediately spotted the out of place inflatable pool by the couch. Knuckles leaned over his blue friend’s shoulder and raised a brow at the pool. It was strange to have something like this in your living room, but they were smarter than that.

Clicking his flashlight to get a dimmer light, Sonic approached the pool with Knuckles close on his tail. The pair were excited to see the merman again, but also completely terrified by the fact that they get to see him up close again, body all stretched out and not cramped in a bathtub.

“Is he more terrifying than the last time we saw him?” Sonic asked, peering into the pool with the flashlight pointed at his tail. The scales once again shimmered under the light. Sonic wondered if he could see the muscle moving under all that scale.

“Where did he get that?” Knuckles asked, finger pointing at the golden necklace sitting on his sterum. Sonic shrugged and took a closer look at the pedant in the middle. Looks like a plastic heart, in his opinion.

Well, he might not even need it. Maybe Mr. Stone gave it to him.

Sonic handed the flashlight over to Knuckles and reach his hand into the pool, fingers brushing over the surface of the heart. Knuckles, being the one to not touch things that he deemed dangerous, shot his hand out to grab Sonic’s wrist harshly, pulling it back and tucking it to his side. The youngster let out a quiet hiss of pain and rubbed his wrist, looking up at his friend who only returned a cold, stern look.

The blue dressed speedster rolled his eyes and reached down again, reassuring his hothead of a friend that the merman wouldn’t wake up. Knuckles doubted it but if Sonic was going to attempt again, then it was his funeral. Miles wouldn’t be happy about this.

“Dude – “Knuckles started, his hand darting out again to grab Sonic’s when he got too close to touch the merman’s skin.

“I’ll be fine.” He reassured him with another roll of his eyes. He reached down further and got a hold of the heart in his hand. He turned it around slowly in his hand and smoothed his finger over it. Yup, still plastic.

Just as he attempted to retract his arm back and snap a few close-up photos for Miles, a hand darted up and gripped his wrist. Again, Sonic hissed at the pain as clear sharp fingernails were digging into the soft of his flesh. Knuckles gasped form behind him and got ready to hit the merman over the head.

But the merman didn’t try to harm the speedster any further. His eyes – they were amber -  just stared back at them unimpressed. He looked almost tired and annoyed at their shenanigans than he was threatened.

Knuckles had the flashlight raised over his head when it happened, ready to strike down over the now awake merman’s head. Sonic stared back, wide green eyes looking at bored amber ones.

“You’re not gonna hurt us, right?” He asked him with a nervous smile, his arm instinctively trying to pull back. The merman’s grip on him only tightened which stopped him from attempting to pull away again.

When one would expect a response in human tongue, whatever language it might be, the duo wasn’t expecting several weird noise to resonate from the merman’s throat. He didn’t even seem to acknowledge that they couldn’t understand him as he continued on and on, his grip becoming tighter with each second and, at some point, Sonic was pulled closer to him.

“Let him go or I will be forced to hurt you.” Knuckles threatened, inserting himself into the space between Sonic and the merman. He only acknowledged the hothead with a slow blink and a quiet sigh with an eye roll following quickly after.

He freed Sonic’s slightly bleeding wrist from his grip and licked up the blood, not even trying to be clean with it. Sonic wanted to hurl at the sight while Knuckles was more disturbed than ever.

They rushed out the house after that, they did not want to stay any longer. The fact that the merman licked the blood of his fingers just proves that – if there were other mermaids out there – they would eat humans if it ever comes down to that.

“We need to tell Tails.” Sonic muttered, wiping away some blood from his wrist with his shirt. Knuckles only nodded, opening the umbrella again under the light rain.

Chapter Text

Annoying kids, they’re no difference from the merkids.

Ivo rolled his eyes and sunk back into his pool, blowing bubbles under the surface and splashing around before sitting up straight again. The house was still empty and dark. Nothing was even remotely moved and the door stayed unlock since those kids didn’t try to lock it again.

Stone wasn’t home yet. The smell of salt clinging to his clothes didn’t fill the room, his insistence that Ivo didn’t harm him anymore out of pure surprise or shock didn’t come. Everything was way too quiet again. He was sure it was passed the hour when Stone would usually come back.

Ivo was forbid by Stone to climb out of wherever he was contained and drag himself around the house. But the human wasn’t here, who said he couldn’t?

Grunting as he hauled himself out from the side, Ivo didn’t expect the pool to completely flip over and unceremoniously drop him to the floor with a dull thud. His chest hit the wooden floor first before his face did, all his locks falling to the side. One of his arm was propped up by the elbow awkwardly while the other kind of supported his fall. The charm on his necklace pressed harshly into his collarbone, but he suppressed the grunt he was going to let out.

All the water spilled out of the pool and caused a minor flood in the room. Ivo swore under his breath and started dragging himself again, using his tail to get himself around a bit further.

He had observed Stone for long enough to understand how to do some things around here, such as how to make the room bright again. Ivo pushed himself up against the wall near the switch, breath slightly labored from dragging himself. He still couldn’t quite reach the switch. It wasn’t all the high and away from his reach, but considering his current biological anatomy, he doubted he could reach very far without support.

Sighing with frustration, he attempted anyway. The first few reach had his waist hurting and his gills stretching out, which only made him feel worse than he already did. He tried one last time, fingers straining and brushing against the frame until he got the pad of his finger hooked under the switch. With all the force left from straining himself, Ivo got the switch the flip the opposite way and the room was immediately filled with light. The merman hissed at the sudden brightness temporarily but regained his composure in record time.

Now that Stone wasn’t around, all Ivo could do was either sleep, crawl his way to another room to grab food from wherever Stone stored them or do some critical thinking to himself. He could plan an escape now or plan how he was going to depart with Stone once he was fully healed. What he would say to him, what he would give him, things like that.

Well, for once, Ivo did feel a sense of longing and dread. Thinking about separating from Stone made his chest tighten. All his brain could provide in those imaginary moments were ‘I actually tolerant you’ and ‘please visit me’.

It was weird. He couldn’t develop a normal relationship with literally anyone of his own people but he just decided to get attached to a human of all species. It had only been, like, four days? His brain didn’t need to be thinking about how to return to Stone after he fall back into the sea.

Ivo didn’t often think of how other people would think of him, but just imagine if this kind of gossip got out and traveled its way around the clans like fish stuck in high currents. He could just imagine them sucking it up like how whales suck up krill, all fast and greedy. They wouldn’t stop until all the details were filled out. He was sure the merkids would swim around him, ridiculing him all the way through his hunts. Or, if there were even nicer, politer ones, they would just ask him what it was like to interact with humans.

He wished that was the case, but if it was then it shouldn’t be so hard to come by. Yet, it was. The merkids were just disrespectful.

Ivo shook his head to clear the thoughts of visiting Stone by the caves he would hang out at, just basking in the sun’s glow or teaching him mer sign language. It wasn’t a bad mental image, per se, but if he kept thinking about it then he might purposefully harm himself again just to stay in his living space.

He wanted to go back to the sea, to feel the saltwater in his gills and over his skin, to feel each push and pull of waves and currents. He wanted to eat proper fish again, live ones that would swim away when he gets near and actually put up a fight to survive, not ones that are already dead and cold in his hands.

He wished he had never gone near that reef; he didn’t know that sharks were hunting there. The waves just had to not be in his favor during his most desperate times.

Sighing, Ivo dragged himself back to the pool of water and laid in it, tail curled and an arm tucked under his head. His other arm draped over his mid-riff, idly poking and picking at the old scar there. He temporarily forgot how he had gotten it but the thought came hurling back to him.

‘Of course’ He simply thought with distain, his lips curling into a slight snarl under his mustache.

His hair laid messily around him, stuck under his arm and neck, the rest flowing out freely and getting wet in the puddle. He reached up and pulled at a few strains, trying to get himself to feel something again with all this boredom weighing down on him. the sting was welcome, but it did nothing to make him feel less numb than he did before.

Usually, he wouldn’t indulge in it, but if pain would make him think clearer thoughts without Stone in them then he would do it. The first time he had did it was an accident, he had just tugged a bit too hard, the smell of his own blood made him uncomfortable. If he was still in the ocean right now, he would be biting random shells and cones laying around on the sandy sea floor.

Unfortunately, he was not. This was his last resort if he didn’t want to chew on his necklace.

Reaching down further than necessary, Ivo fingered random scales until he found one that he wouldn’t regret pulling. He glanced down and calculate whether Stone would be able to see the scar left behind or not. When he was sure the human wouldn’t, he positioned his grip on the scale and pulled. Hard. The pain radiated throughout his body, making him arch his back and screw his eyes shut. The warm flow of his blood dripped across the other scales, filling the own room with his own scent.

Ivo groaned and tried to wave away the smell after tossing the scale aside. He knew it was futile, but he tried anyway. The scar wasn’t very visible, which was good, but the execution was a bit sloppy. He might’ve tugged on the others surrounding it a little bit.  

Why the hell was he doing this to himself.

Chapter Text

“What the– “Stone couldn’t get a full sentence out when his lungs decided to close on him and make him cough violently. His throat was sore, his limps felt weak and paper-fragile. He rolled to his side and coughed up the intruding liquid in his lungs. Stone felt like he might puke up his own stomach.

After he was done, the fisher clutched his stomach and groaned, his eyes blurry and distant. His clothes were soaked, his skin felt prickly and he was sure that there were a few scars here and there. A shiver ran down his spine when a breeze blew by. When Stone recovered enough of his consciousness, he rolled back and laid on the sand with his arms on either side of himself.

The sky was ridden with orange and red with hints of purple and blue at the end. The clouds were clear in the sky, floating by and dissipating into nothing. The waves lapped at the shore gently, dragging sand and other things down with it. Stone just stared up at the sky, no memories of ever drowning coming back to him.

His clothes were wet, yes, and he smelled of saltwater and seafood. But Stone couldn’t recall drowning a lot. He knew his boat had flipped over during the storm, but he couldn’t remember anything else.

‘I was thinking of Ivo’ His brain helpfully provided him.

With a sudden surge of panic, Stone sat up straight with his eyes wide and mouthing ‘Ivo’. The sand clung to the back of his wet shirt uncomfortably. His sandals were completely missing now (he couldn’t feel them on his feet) and his pants were filled with wet clumps of sand (he could also feel that). Stone struggled to sit straight due to how sore he felt but, even with effort, he still couldn’t seem to get up fully to stand on his feet. He knew his legs felt numb, but not to the point of not being able to get up.

Looking down and over to his side, Stone shrieked at the sight of an actual merfolk on top of him. They looked nothing like Ivo and they were draped over his legs, just lying there, forearms on his thighs and hands clasped together. Their skin was covered in brown-black scales from head to toe. Or head to fin, he supposed. And, Christ- he felt like they were staring into his soul with those big gray eyes. As Stone had suspected, they had no hair, but the fisher wasn’t sure if the sight still repulsed him.

He kind of recognize them. He had seen those hands before, but he shouldn’t make assumptions now.

Stone scooted away quickly in a panic after shimmering his way out from under them and placed his arms in front of himself in defense. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and all his eyes could focus on was that thing. It was like looking at a car crash if the car crash had glitter flying out of it.

The mermaid made no attempts to stop him from distancing them, but their eyes followed his every move. Stone felt another shiver run down his spine, but not from the breeze around him this time.

“Can I help you?” He asked quietly, hoping the waves weren’t drowning out his voice that was already incredibly weak from drowning and fear.

The mermaid only tilted their head, their eyes blinking rapidly in confusion. Stone took it that they didn’t understand human speech as well as Ivo did, but he still made an attempt to communicate. This might be his first and last chance to actually interact with a mermaid that didn’t look straight out of a storybook like Ivo did. The mermaid – Stone figured out it was a she after a while – also tried her best to understand him. When they were on mutual ground, the mermaid flashed her sharp teeth at him in a smile.

Stone nodded, swallowing thickly and returning a smile of his own.

“Oookay, I need to go home now.” Stone said as he scooted even further away from her, watching the way her eyes followed him again. She seemed interested in his legs.

The mermaid nodded and slowly slid back to the waves, letting them wash over the expanse of her body first before diving in the shallow water and swimming away with an agility that he had only seen in athletes. Stone refused to let his eyes follow her back, quickly pushing himself off the sand and running all the way back home.

He wasn’t sure if his crew survived, but he damn hoped they did. If that mermaid had rescued him, then they must’ve saved the rest of the crew too.

When he was near enough to his house for him to slow down, it finally struck him that he was probably away for at least a day and a half and Ivo probably haven’t eaten anything yet. Sighing heavily, Stone resumed his jogging pace as he sped off to the market buy something for himself and Ivo. His feet ached and became sore after a while of just walking and running on concrete ground, but he couldn’t care right now. Luckily, he still had his wallet although most of the bills were wet. The sellers eyed him suspiciously but didn’t comment on it.

When he finally got back to his house, Stone reached for the door to test whether it was still lock or not. It wasn’t.

His life was just falling apart right now, wasn’t it? He couldn’t keep his house safe, he couldn’t keep himself safe, how the hell was he expected to keep Ivo safe at this rate?

Fortunately, the house retained no damage and it didn’t seem like anything was stolen. Or, at least, nothing important. Stone quickly rushed inside and once again left his things at the front when he found Ivo lying unconscious on the floor. His arms were folded beneath his head, his tails curled and his face twisted in an expression of great discomfort.

“Ivo…Not again.” Stone muttered as he wrapped his arms around the unconscious merman, dragging him off to the bathroom and making sure he was unharmed. Hauling him into the bathtub was more difficult than he remembered, but he blamed it for almost drowning.

The noise of running water filled the room as Stone rested on the floor, head laid on the edge of the tub and his limps sprawled out. Ivo’s breathing was shallow and quiet, but it quickly evened out when the tub was filled enough. Considering how Stone still felt like his clothes were still wet, the fisher let the water overflow and spill out. His water bill must be over the roof at this point. He screwed the faucet shut after a moment.

When Stone was done letting his head roll from this side to that, the fisher finally stood up with his back soaked in water again to get his things at the front door. His body ached as he stood up, his knees protested at the weight being placed on them and his feet felt tender. Stone grudged on and managed to stumble his way back to the front door, picking up all his groceries and leaving them on the kitchen floor.

His worries and anxiety had yet to dissolve, not when he felt so injured and Ivo looked like he was on the verge of dying. Picking one of the fresher fish out, Stone resumed his place beside the tub and sighed as he sat down, plopping the fish into the tub without another care.

The silence stretched on, with only Stone’s breathing to keep him company. Ivo’s tail was no longer submerged like when he was in the pool, so he couldn’t even rely on the sound of water sloshing around to keep him comforted. As the day faded into the night, the bathroom grew dark and cold, with only the bright light in the living room providing illumination.  

“Ngh… Stone?” Ivo mumbled as he sat up, gazing over the edge of the tub to look at the top of Stone’s head.

The fisher turned to look at the now semi-conscious but very much alive merman and felt a sense of relief washing over him. Before his own brain could register his action, Stone was already rising up on his knees to wrap his arms around whatever expanse of skin he could reach, pulling the merman into an awkward hug, but the sentiment was there.

Ivo froze in Stone’s arms, but relaxed with each passing second, eyes fluttering shut as both just relished in each other’s presence. The merman decided to return the hug as well, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and the other resting just below his ribcage.

Stone was the one to pull away first, hands cradling Ivo’s face, feeling the way his skin tingled against his palm. Not human skin, not fish scales. He was truly a wonder.

“I’m so glad you’re not dead.” Stone chuckled under his breath. He was slowly becoming aware that the wetness on his face wasn’t just the water from the tub.

Ivo clicked twice and bumped their foreheads together gently, a fond smile on his face.

Chapter Text

This? Right here? This was impossible to achieve years ago.

Ivo couldn’t believe he was in the arms of another living being, acting all cute and fond of each other. If he could return to the past and tell his younger self that he would end up getting attached to a human after only four to five days living in his space, that young merman wouldn’t believe a word of it.

Stone continued to chuckle and giggle, his eyes screwed shut with a few tears rolling down the side of his face. Ivo gently brushed the pad of his finger over one corner of his eye, licking up the tear and locking eyes with Stone afterwards.

The human looked far more relaxed than he had in days. Weeks maybe, Ivo didn’t know how long he had looked like that. Which, in all sense of the word, was very nice. He looked nicer when he wasn’t stressed. Ivo pulled his face out from between Stone’s hands and sunk back into the tub, sighing at the feeling of water entering his gills. His eyes fluttered shut for a moment before he forced them open again just to gaze at the human.

Stone placed his elbows down on the edge of the tub and simply watched Ivo enjoy himself. At some point, the human made Ivo aware of the dead fish floating in the tub, nudging it gently with his fingers to get the merman’s attention. Quickly snatching it up, Ivo tore into the meat with ferocity, not caring if blood was dripping or fish guts were dropping. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday since Stone didn’t come back for whatever bizarre reason, but he was just glad he was fed again. God, this was really better than nothing.

After he had devoured the fish (including the bones), his nose finally started working again and an unfamiliar scent filled the space around him. Ivo slowly looked over to Stone where the smell was strongest and felt his gut drop. It felt like a few rocks were dropped straight into his stomach, weighing his whole body down and making his food taste different.

Stone was still smiling, seemingly unaware of the situation he was in. The corners of his eyes wrinkled from how hard he was smiling, his chin was placed in his hand and he gazed at Ivo with what looked like the gleam of adoration in those brown eyes.

But it wasn’t. It didn’t feel like it.

He smelled different ever since yesterday. Ivo knew something bad would happen but he didn’t think it would be this kind of bad. He never expected that it would be this quick.

“So…” Ivo started, trying to act as natural as he could. He could feel his spines raising on his back from the sheer thought of it. “Where the hell were you yesterday?” He asked, his eyes narrowing and watching for a reaction of either shame or surprise on the human’s features.

But none came. Stone just looked guilty and slightly scared. His hand came up to rub the back of his neck as he sucked in a breath. “There was a storm last night, Ivo. My crew and I got thrown overboard and I just happen to survive.” Stone explained, his eyes full of hurt. Those ‘puppy dog’ eyes were really tugging on Ivo’s heart strings right now.

Ivo rolled his eyes and growled quietly in the back of his throat. He was calling bullshit on that. He can trust that Stone didn’t mean to leave him, he can trust that Stone had gotten thrown overboard last night, but he would be stupid if he believed that Stone somehow miraculously survived without help.

“Bullshit.” Ivo spat, crossing his arms and turning away from the human completely with the intentions of ending the conversation there.

But Stone had other plans, he knew that. Humans always find ways to get what they want or die trying. Pushing himself up from the floor, Ivo listened to the way he shuffled around in front of the tub until he felt the water rising and pooling out. When Ivo whipped his head around, he came face to face with a very annoyed and concerned Stone in his space. His face was so close to the merman’s that they were practically sharing the same breath. Stone had one leg dipped in the tub, wedged between his tail and the wall of the bathtub while the other held him steady from outside. His arms were positioned in a way that Ivo felt caged in.

What kind of form of interrogation was this? Was this guy crazy?

“You’re hiding something.” Stone said matter-of-factly, poker face hard and unmoving. All Ivo could possibly do was snarl back his way, feeling defensive of the assumption he currently held.

“I don’t need to tell you it if it’s none of your concern.” Ivo spat, baring his teeth at Stone and narrowing his eyes. He attempted to move over a little to get space between his tail and Stone's leg. This fucking human had more guts than the merfolks he had seen so far.

Stone let out a sigh and shut his eyes for a moment, retracting his face from Ivo’s vicinity and half kneeled over him, arm moved up and away to give the merman more space. Ivo raised a brow at Stone, urging him to continue with this ridiculous interrogation.

“Everything is my concern right now.” Stone said calmly, eyes softening with each word. “If it’s something that I did, then you’re allow to speak up about it.” A pause. “Comfort helps with the healing process.”

Oh right, Ivo forgot he was hurt. Or hurt more than he already was.

Although Ivo rolled his eyes at the statement, he still took a moment to consider. His hands idly pulled and tugged at the chain around his neck, fondling with the heart in front and turning it between his fingers. Stone must spend time around fish and other animals long enough to understand that they don’t go through the same process that humans do. They don’t ‘date’. They don’t get ‘engaged’ and ‘married’. When times comes, you either get your genes passed on or die doing it which is a more honorable death than escaping alive.

Exhaling deeply, Ivo stared back up at Stone who had completely removed himself from the merman, now he was just inspecting the scar on his tail. His hand smoothed over the tender flesh there, sending a shiver up Ivo’s spine. But it didn’t give him any discomfort.

“I’ll tell you next morning. You look like death right now.” Ivo replied, hands dropping to rest across his mid-section.

Stone hummed in response and removed his hand, staring at it for a bit too long before wiping the water off.

“I’ll see you next morning then.” Stone restated, a different smile on his face this time.

The fisher claimed he would wash off in the upstairs bathroom, which Ivo didn’t really understand what he was talking about but he decided to ignore that. Slipping back into the confided space, Ivo long for the pool he was in yesterday, drifting off to sleep with uneasiness settling in his bones. Images flashed in his mind as sleep slowly claimed him. Images of someone with Stone, laying across his lap or beside him, gazing at him with both hunger and desire and Stone was none the wiser.

To be honest, Stone might not even know right now. He didn’t know mermaids chose their mates. They still fight like how other fish would, but this was a female attempting the choosing. That meant the decision was final. She would look slightly different in the next few days, showing everyone around her and in her clan that she had chosen a mate.

Ivo gripped strands of his hair at the thought. Sleep evaded him completely now, leaving him to thrash about in the tub and attempt to pull his own hair out from his head. All the hair on his body felt wrong now. His hair was too long, too tangled. His mustache was unruly, also too long and it tickled his upper lip uncomfortably. The chain around his neck felt more like restrains than before, reminding him of dreams that felt like reality from long ago.

He wanted out.

He wanted him back.

He wanted it now.

And like he had said before: He will die trying.

Chapter Text

The next few days past uneventfully. Ivo never elaborate why he was so pissed with Stone that night and the fisher never bothered prying for information. For all he knew, it was some sensitive information that Ivo didn’t like discussing about and telling Stone would be risking his cover.

So Stone never brought it up again. Never mentioned it, never subtly hint at it. He kept his mouth shut and kept his thoughts to himself.

During a rather sunny afternoon, Stone was making lunch for himself as the rest of his crew were taking breaks from the drowning incident. Stone was glad to be off the job for a while to spend more time with Ivo. Said merman was in the living room, tail swaying back and forth in his inflatable pool while watching TV. He was most interested in the news channel and nothing else. The water was filled up to his chest so that he could feel more comforted and it allowed him to slip deeper into the pool for his gills.

“Can you eat rice, Ivo?” Stone called from the kitchen, pulling out some leftover rice and frowning slightly at it.

“Maybe.” The merman called back, his voice slightly raspy from raising his voice. The fisher forgot that the merman didn’t know what rice was.

Stone had learnt to guess Ivo’s whistles and clicks after he had kindly asked the merman to demonstrate them. Some sounded like callings while others were a bit harder to decipher. Eventually, Ivo gave up letting Stone guess back and forth and decided to teach him instead. Stone now knows how to greet with a whistle.

Frying the rice and placing it in two bowls, Stone top it off with some of his preferred spices and kept Ivo’s plain. He wasn’t sure what the merman could eat yet. When Stone entered the living room, Ivo was chewing on the heart charm on his necklace, looking completely content to have the material in his mouth. Stone wondered if he could buy a teething toy for Ivo before he leaves.

“I didn’t know you humans had so much going on in your life.” Ivo said as he gratefully accepted the bowl and the spoon, turning it around in his hand for the third time today. Stone chuckled and shrugged, plopping himself down on the couch with content.

These days had been becoming less and less lonely whenever he could hang out with Ivo. The merman was entertaining and very easy to anger, but it was cute to see him get all riled up like that. Ivo didn’t like being called cute – which Stone had worked up the courage to say it – but he never once told Stone that he was crossing the line. Stone swore he could see him blush.

They had shared a lot of things over the course of just a few days, and Stone had never been happier. It’s like having a roommate, but considering his experiences with roommates in the past, this was much better than that.

“You should lock your house better.” The merman commented out of the blue, scooping up a little rice at the tip of his spoon and chewing it with consideration.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve never got this many break-ins before.” Stone was concerned about his house more and more the longer Ivo stayed. But now that he actually thought about it, Ivo always stayed in the house because he can’t really go anywhere and he certainly had better vision in the dark then he did.

Maybe he had saw the trespassers? Well, he only had to ask to make sure.

“Saw the intruders?” Stone asked simply, shoveling another spoonful of rice into his mouth, humming at the taste. Ivo nodded and slowly but quickly ate his own.

“A bunch of children was what they were.” Ivo tilted the bowl up and devoured the rest of the rice. He darted his tongue out to lick up any grains left in the bowl, being somewhat careful to catch any that fell into his pool.

Stone was absolutely captivated by the action, his heart thundered in his chest and his mouth had gone dry. Stone had hoped that Ivo wouldn’t pull a stunt like this again, but he jinxed it too soon. Ivo had no idea the things he was doing to the fisher right now. He could feel heat or something similar slowly coiling in his guts, his cheeks heated up and the room suddenly felt too small for his liking.

Before he knew it, the merman leaned over the arm of the couch and snatched Stone’s bowl from his lap, giving him an uninterested glance before getting to work on eating the whole thing. Or what was left of it.

‘Whelp, that’s okay, I guess. My appetite kind of disappeared already.’ Stone thought to himself, propping his forearm on the arm of the couch and placing his chin in his hand, simply waiting for Ivo to finish his second bowl of the day.

“Right, what did the children look like?” Stone swerved the conversation – and his own feelings – back to the interesting topic on hand, taking Ivo’s bowl and his own from the merman’s hands and placing them down on the table.

Ivo hummed thoughtfully and tapped an index against his chin, his eyes diverted down towards his tail as he tried to remember that night. Stone suspected that it was Team Sonic so many times already but he needed further confirmation. He planned on telling their parents about this. What kind of parents were they if they let their son out with his friends to break into people’s houses?

The fisher knew that Maddie and Tom meant no harm and their parenting skills were average at best if not higher, but the behaviors that Sonic had been exhibiting raised many concerns in Stone. If he had done any more damage, Sonic would’ve severely hurt Ivo or even put himself in harm’s way. Even if Stone thought the kid talked too much for his liking, he would never try to endanger the kid or his team.

“One of them was wearing blue and the other one red.” Ivo responded after a few short minutes of thinking, leaning closer to Stone in his pool. Or, as close as he could get without flipping the pool again.

Stone hummed in response. Clothing color wasn’t enough to rule out that it was Team Sonic that had broken into his house, but to ask Ivo about their age might be difficult. He didn’t know how fast mermaids mature and how they grow up, so for all he knew the kids might look younger or older depending on how regular mermaids grow up.

“Were they holding anything?” Stone moved on to the next question, picking up the remote and handing it to Ivo for him to pick a channel to his liking. He hoped it wasn’t the news channel again.

The merman accepted the remote without another question, though the puzzled look on his face as he stared at the multiple buttons on the remote pulled a chuckle out of Stone.

Even if it hadn’t been long since Ivo started living in his house, Stone felt like they were more acquainted than expected. Ivo knew just what to say when hearing Stone’s jokes and was always eager to learn new things from him. In return, Ivo put up with Stone’s questions about mermaids and sea life for a humanoid in general. Stone wasn’t sure how he would feel when Ivo was fit enough to leave, but whatever it might be, the fisher hoped that he could still come out there during the evenings to talk to him. Even if it meant more sand on his clothes and salt water in his hair.

“– Are you even listening to me?” Fingers appeared in front of Stone’s face, snapping frantically followed by a very infuriated merman who was trying to get his attention.

Stone suddenly sat up straighter than he wanted to, heart caught in his throat and face becoming increasingly hot. Ivo tsk’ed and rolled his eyes, slowly slipping off the arm of the couch and back into his pool

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Stone asked with embarrassment, desperately trying to get Ivo to retell him what he had said. But the merman was too stubborn to even let one noise out, much to Stone’s dismay.

Dropping his head into his hands, Stone groaned quietly and slumped in his seat. Of course he knew better than to ask Ivo to repeat something twice, but how could he not at that moment? Maybe he should stop daydreaming about their future lives like a lovesick teenager.

When Stone tried to get Ivo to repeat what he had said again minutes later, the merman only responded in his mother tongue while shooting the fisher glares. At some point, Stone gave up and told the merman that he no longer had to repeat himself as his clicks were starting to disorient Stone’s mind. He was sure Ivo smiled in victory after that.

Chapter Text

“Ivo.”

“Nghmmmm…”

“Psst.” What the fuck was he doing?

“Hm?”

“You ready?” Stone asked as he nudged Ivo’s arm again, waking up the sleeping merman. Ivo blinked repeatedly, trying to get a grasp of his surroundings with what energy he could possibly muster up at this ungodly hour.

The bathroom was dark, immensely so. Not a single light was turned on, not even outside in the kitchen or the living room. The moonlight shone through an uncovered window, bathing what he could see of the living room from behind Stone in a weak, pale light, but it didn’t make the room look depressing. It looked beautiful and peaceful.

“Ready for what?” Ivo asked as he reached up and wrapped his arms around Stone’s neck when he saw the human made a move to pick him up.

His hands brushed and remained on the front of his tail for a moment too long before he actually hooked his arm under. The other made its way down Ivo’s back and held him securely, narrowly avoiding the spines there. Stone breathed out his nose and hauled the merman into his arms, letting Ivo laid his head against his chest.

“I promise it’ll be worth your time.” Stone reassured him with a strained voice. He had never felt more offended to be heavy.

When they both exited the bathroom, Ivo noticed that the front door was left open and some kind of vehicle sat outside, its hull and whatever else flashed under the light. Stone tried his best to rush Ivo out the door, but with how he sucked in a breath with each step, Ivo doubted that he would be able to get out the door without Stone abruptly dropping him.

Tapping his hand against Stone’s shoulder, Ivo signaled for him to drop the merman into the empty pool in the living room. Stone, being the stubborn human he was, shook his head and grudged forward. He could practically feel the fisher’s heart beating out of his ribcage.

Finally, they made it through the doorway, and that was when Stone decided his arm simply could not hold the merman any longer. Lowering him slowly onto the porch, Stone bent over himself to catch his breath, small droplets of sweat sliding down the side of his temple.

Ivo sat on the wood with a little discomfort, but it wasn’t something that he hadn’t done before. He waved his tail, flicked his fin and raised his spines with newfound space, stretching himself out and up while groaning. His spine was clearly thanking the fisher for finally removing him from that cramped space, but he still didn’t know why they were out here.

Though, due to his current state, Ivo didn’t feel like asking. He was tired, his eyes were still heavy from sleep and his limps felt incredibly weak. For whatever reason, he was out here instead of sleeping in the bathtub.

After a minute or two of Stone just standing there, he bent down and scooped Ivo back into his arms. The merman made a small surprised noise but quickly settled back into the human’s arm, although he wrapped his arms around him a little tighter this time.

“Don’t worry, I prepared a different pool in the car for you.” Stone smiled down at him. That smile that Ivo had grown used to seeing, brighter than the sun itself and warmer than any hydrothermal vents in the sea. Ivo swallowed and nodded.

Opening this ‘car’ with his foot, Stone plopped Ivo into a different pool of water. The merman jerked violently at the change in the water but he couldn’t deny the sound of pleasure that left his throat. Unlike the water that he had been kept in while living with Stone, this one had salt in it. Actual sea salt. He felt like angels were gracing his gills.

Stone chuckled and shut the door close, making his way to the seat in front of Ivo and sat down with a sigh. The merman still didn’t know where they were going, but he was also graced with actual saltwater so he figured that he might die soon. Eh, it’s whatever, it was inevitable from the start.

The vehicle rumbled to life and soon they started moving. Ivo scooted closer to the window and gazed outside, watching the scenery past and how the moon bathed everything in such a depressing yet beautiful glow. Trees rustled in the light wind, some other human were either standing by each other or walking, small smiles on their faces and smoke billowing out their mouths. The merman wondered how they did that, but his attention was pulled when Stone made a turn.

His stomach was sinking suddenly and his skin tingled with a sense of incoming danger. Ivo had relied on Stone all this time, and even though he was fine with dying, he didn’t know what Stone was going to do with his body afterwards.

Was he going to donate his body to a museum or flay and sell him like he originally intended to? Was he going to be left to dry out on the sand, just waiting for the waves to rise enough to sweep him away or to let some other unfortunate human to take him?

The spines on his back started to raise, his blood ran cold in his body. Sure, his breathing remained the same, but Ivo started to feel like there was too much air and too little water around him.

He trusted Stone, and of course that was a stupid idea.

So what if he died by Stone’s hands? It was bound to happen! But what he does with his body afterwards was not anticipated.

He was no place to defend himself anymore. He was still relatively weak and not being in a large body or water placed him at a disadvantage.

The ringing in his ears that he didn’t notice started to become deafening. There wasn’t a lot of silence, but his thoughts were louder than ever. Maybe his fight or flight instinct finally start kicking in for good. Ivo didn’t want to hurt Stone, knowing that this human was the closest thing he had to a companion at this point. But he had no choice.

‘Either I die or he dies.’ Ivo thought to himself as his limps started to move on their own.

His arms raised and fingers ready to wrap around that fragile neck. He could feel the blood pumping through them, he could feel the betrayal in his veins and flooding any reasonable part of his brain.

It’s a ‘kill or be killed’ world, isn’t it? And humans just happened to be on top of the food chain.

Not this time.

“You alright, Ivo?” Stone’s voice somehow managed to cut through the thick fog in his brain, harshly bringing Ivo back into reality.

The merman sat back down in his pool and looked at his hands, then back at Stone who had his face turned towards him but not enough to see him.

Was this guilt? Remorse? Was he feeling bad for almost killing Stone?

Shaking his head, Ivo gave Stone a definite click, signaling that he was fine. Stone hummed back in response and exited the vehicle. Ivo made no move to question him. He wasn’t even sure if he could use his voice right now.

Soon, the door opened to reveal an unharmed human. His beard was a little overgrown since the last time Ivo saw it, and his hair definitely looked longer than before. His eyes were just two dark pits against a white background, but Ivo had never felt more comforted to look at them.

“You ready now?” Stone asked as he beamed at him, his arms reaching out to pick up the still stunned merman. Ivo thought for a moment and nodded, brows slightly furrowed in his own confusion and murderous haze.

When he was fully pulled out the vehicle, Ivo was immediately hit with the feeling of the night breeze brushing against his skin with a hint of salt. He snapped his gaze up and saw the glimmering waves under the moonlight. His heart lurched in his chest, his mind was finally clear and all he could think of was ‘home’. Or something close to that word, anyway.

The human clearly saw his excitement as he hiked Ivo higher up and started to jog down towards the beach, his footwear falling off in the rush. The merman rarely laughed in his life, but with him in the arms of a human, running towards the water at full speed while he clung to him like a child, Ivo laughed to his heart’s content.

His laughter echoed in the empty space around them, being carried out to sea by the waves and brought back by the breeze. The moon seemed to shine brighter for them, the light making the ocean look like crystals and diamonds. Stone laughed along with him, his feet hitting the ground in a rush as they approached the sea with each hurried step, sand flying up and a trail of light footsteps was left behind.

Eventually, Stone tripped over himself and crashed down into the water, bringing Ivo down with him. The sudden crash made the merman yelp, but the saltwater that immediately and forcefully entered his gills made him writhe and twist in pain once again. Stone seemed to be choking on saltwater.

After the two finally regained their posture, Ivo rose up from the water and brushed his hair out the way, disappointed that his mustache was wet again. Stone was on all four, coughing up what was left of the water from his throat and sneezing it up from his sinuses.

“I’m never doing that again.” Stone said hoarsely, wiping the water from his eyes and looking up to Ivo.

The merman was a little too close for comfort but it wasn’t something Stone hadn’t dealt with before. Ivo could see how his eyes sparkled with amazement when he gazed upon him. He was way out of his siren pretending days, but maybe it would help him get better catch.

The merman caught Stone’s eyes wandering down his body and landing on his tail with a visible swallow. Ivo chuckled at the amazement practically glowing in his eyes, but there was no time for that right now. He finally got back to the sea, so now he had a little situation to deal with.

To stop Stone from uttering another word about his existence, Ivo cautiously raised his hand and moved it closer to the human’s parted lips. Shoving his fingers in fast and hooking them behind his teeth, Ivo pulled Stone’s face even closer to his own, eyes lidded with murderous intent as he could feel Stone body heat up despite the cold water clinging to him.

“If you ever utter a word of my existence to another soul,” The merman started, putting on his best glare. He used the moonlight to his advantage, angling his head just right so the light hit his eyes, making it seem like they were glowing. “I will personally hunt you down and skin you alive, you understand?” Ivo practically spat out, lips pulled to sneer out the words.

Without waiting for Stone to give a muffled response, he manipulated Stone’s head to nod down, just one definite move before removing his fingers from his mouth. The merman admittedly removed them slower than he was supposed to. His fingers were slicked with saliva, a single string hanging loosely to Stone’s lips as a reminder.

Grimacing to himself, Ivo dipped his hand into the salty water and cleaned the spit away while the human watched. His eyes seemed even darker than before now, breath slightly hitched and lips still parted. The merman spotted a glimpse of his tongue darting out to lick his lips.

“Don’t wait up now.” The fisher found his voice again and told the merman, a different smile on his face this time. It’s not like Ivo didn’t like seeing Stone smile, but he’d rather not try and decipher what that smile meant.

Threading his finger through his hair and mustache once more, Ivo gave the human one last smile before diving off from the shallow waters and back into the ocean’s depths. The waves welcomed him greatly, the currents pulled back his hair and tangled the locks back into a mess that Ivo had grown familiar with.

He felt free. He felt alive.

But he also felt hollow, like the waves had accidently swept away something that was his.

He came to a halt, whipping his whole body back to look at the way he had come from. The shore was further than before now, but he could still feel Stone’s presence there. Soaked clothes, scarred shoulders, that stupid smile on his face with his hair falling over his face.

Ivo frowned and turned back around, swimming as fast as he could.

He needed to get far away from the shore. Far away from him.

Chapter Text

The sun slowly rose up from the sea, bathing the world in its rays. The waves were calm, splashing against the shore gently and helping fishing boats out to sea. Underneath it all, sea life thrived. Schools of fish gathered to feast, predators getting ready for their hunt.

His mouth was filled with blood from his previous catches, his tail moved quick and rather eccentric. He weaved past corals and a small school of fish, almost colliding violently with a passing shark but narrowly avoided it.

He was done hunting for his meal for the day, and he was bored enough to force himself into a search. Luckily, he had a great memory so the smell was still fresh in his mind. He didn’t know how Stone managed to even get it but now that it already happened, all Ivo could do was try and prevent it.

“Why in such a rush?” A mermaid called out to him as he passed her. Ivo stopped dead in his tracks and swerved around to face her, a clear expression of annoyance on his face.

He vaguely remembered her, the sociable clownfish she was. Her mate – or mates, for that matter – wasn’t around today and she seemed content to lay in the anemone she had long ago claimed hers. She looked rather blissed out today and Ivo didn’t feel like asking.

“Searching for someone.” He answered plainly, watching a small fish pass by only to be caught by her.

“And I might know who it is.” She answered with ease. Ivo frowned.

"Female?"

"Yes."

"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?" She was mocking him.

She was always the graceful eater, taking her time with her food and making sure she didn’t waste one bit. Although the lionfish-born didn’t communicate with a lot of merfolk around this area, he had past here a lot of times and the locals were already trying to commit him to their memory. Not to greet him or anything, just to make sure that when he passes by again, they would try to avoid him as much as possible. Even if it meant giving whatever food they were planning to gather to him.

The clownfish hummed and pushed herself up from her living cushion, fins coming back to life as she leisurely made her way over to him. Ivo crossed his arms and stood still, the spines on his back already working on directing poison to the tips. She rounded him a few times, her eyes lidded in interest and whatever blissful feeling she was feeling before stopping in front of him.

“You smell of humans.” She sneered, the blissfulness evaporating and, instead, was replaced with something akin to deep hatred. “Care to share?” Ivo scoffed and smirked at her, moving closer than necessary just to rile her up.

Most of the merfolk down here and in this area despised human to a degree. Some just spite them because the hatred was passed down for generations, others had justified reasons to. Isha – he just remembered her name – was involved in one of those situation where they fish up certain species to be used as pets. If it wasn’t for the net snapping on some sharp corals, she would definitely have been caught and dragged up. Ivo couldn’t imagine what they would do with her.

“You don’t dare do anything.” He flashed a toothy grin at her, watching the way her body acted on instinct and backed away from him. She huffed out a breath and swam back to her anemone, settling in deeper than necessary. She had a status to keep up, no way she was going to engage in a fight with a weird looking lionfish-born. “Now, where is she?”

“That rouge damsel fish everyone’s talking about? That way.” Though she no longer looked relax, Ivo could tell that she was stating the truth and not some poor excuse to get him to go away. The locals learned that the hard way.

With a simple nod and a middle finger raised in her direction, Ivo swam away with murderous intent deep in his chest. He was glad he could move freely again, but now it was almost too late for him. If that random damsel fish happened to declare that she had made a claim, then Ivo was almost in no position to stop her unless he decided to kill her. And he had yet to kill another merfolk.

Now that he thought about it, Ivo wasn't sure if Isha understood what directing one's middle finger towards someone else meant.

The salty water made his locks stick together, tangling them and bringing them to his face whenever he stopped too abruptly. His mustache continuously tickled his upper lip, and although he was familiar with the feeling, it kept reminding him of a time when his hair wasn’t like this.

While Ivo would like to finish the job as quickly as possible, he still wanted to relish in the way he could swim freely again. He took his time, sweeping down closer to the sea floor just to drag his fingers through the sand, picking up whatever shell that get caught between them. The corals were looking tempting as well, but Ivo decided to leave that for another day. Nothing compared to his necklace now, not after what happened.

Eventually, Ivo found who he was looking for. It was barely mating season, but he guessed that they were all choosing in advance so they could try to improve their courting skills before the time comes. A group of them, swimming around each other and being defensive for nothing. The males stayed alert, the females hung around their side of the reef with more or less contentment.

If you were looking for someone in specific, then it would be quite hard to spot out who it was exactly among a group like that. Ivo estimated that there were about nineteen of them there, and the one he was particularly looking forward to meet was in the very center, examining her own fins.

“Move out the way, Gaia.” Ivo swam forward and carelessly pushed the female out of the way, determined to get to the person he had been looking forward to seeing.

But it didn’t seem like Gaia was putting up with his shit today. With more force than Ivo would expected from her, the damsel-born raised her tail and slammed it against his side, knocking him squarely out from in front of her. The air was punched out of Ivo as he almost collapsed against the sandy sea floor, looking sideway at her with anger. Gaia grimaced at his weakened state and turned away, ready to tend to her duties again.

But, oh, how unfortunate for her. She was one of the many locals that didn’t acknowledge Ivo like the rest. If she was a big gossip queen like the rest of her peers, she would know what’s coming her way. So what if Ivo was kept in many cramp spaces for a long time? That didn’t mean that his strength would be dampened immediately.

Effectively dusting himself off, he approached her again with a stern, cold expression. Gaia didn’t bother looking over to him before she felt fingers wrapped around her neck, tightening with every second she did not acknowledge him. The other damsels raised to attention but none were fearless enough to approach the clearly agitated lionfish.

Ivo gave her one of his signature smile, the one that showed his teeth the most unlike the one he had given Isha. And, as he expected, Gaia didn’t look very pleased to be threatened like this in front of the others. Isaac, the other one (the author hopes you understand which one, if not, endnotes will be there to provide further information), pushed past the horrified crowd and stood directly in front of Ivo and behind Gaia.

“The man of the hour.” The lion-born smiled more easily at him, watching the way his shoulders tensed up with each passing second.

“Let her go. Try fighting someone your size.” Isaac threatened him, a strong hand laying itself firmly on Gaia’s shoulder.

The threat was old, boring and highly unoriginal. The lionfish-born had heard it more than enough for a lifetime, and he was ready to give Isaac a snarky remark. But he held back. Isaac was not worth wasting his breath on. Reluctantly, Ivo removed his hand around Gaia’s neck and backed up, crossing his arms over his chest and waited expectantly.

“And what a lionfish like you would want from us?” Now that the tension was slowly decreasing, Ivo could finally have a levelheaded talk with someone that cares about not dying unlike the little queen over there.

“Her.” Ivo stated simply, arms outstretched, and pointer finger directed towards the face of his newest victim. He didn’t bother turning his head, knowing he was already pointing directly at her.

All of the members turned and whispered among themselves, fear and amusement passing between them. When the female who realized she was being asked for recognized Ivo, a sense of cold dread settled deep in her stomach. He saw the fear in her eyes, could sense her trying to be more determine than she actually was. Isaac frowned when he realized who Ivo was talking about, pitching his nose bridge and sighing deeply.

The group, or just this one, knew the things she’s usually up to during times where anyone could go anywhere with a condition: To be back before nightfall or before a storm. And they all knew she did not come back early to hide from the storm. Ivo knew that too.

She was causing more and more trouble these days, wandering off by herself and fraternizing with other species, sharing gossips and information that would sure do lots on her reputation. She just loves running her mouth.

“Fine, you want to talk to her? You can, but stay here.” Isaac pointed towards one of the round shaped coral that looked lumped in the center, kind of like the couch that Stone owned. Ivo rolled his eyes and swam over, settling uneasily into the spot with his tail folded underneath him.

As Isaac consulted with her, Ivo glanced around the area to find something to entertain himself with while he waited. By now, he would find some other carnivorous fish swimming around here, but there were none. It was enough to raise some concerns in him, but considering they had done nothing but ridicule him, Ivo could care less.

His thoughts, with nowhere else to go, spiraled back to Stone. After that fateful night, full of laughter and some unnamed feelings, Ivo wondered how his relationship with the human would bloom now. Knowing that he had peers that he liked talking to, Ivo could only guess that, in a month or more, Stone would completely forget about his existence.

The fisher would no longer think mermaids exist or believe that he had consulted with one for so long. The scars left on his shoulders would definitely become a mystery to him, and Ivo imagined the human dragging his fingers over the scars, wondering how he had gotten them. The thought of it made him laugh, but he restrained himself after hearing an unwarranted argument broke out on the other side.

“You can’t let something like that happen again.” Isaac warned her, getting up all close and personal while making sure she had nowhere to swim away to. The mermaid nodded with a stuttering ‘yes’, tears making her eyes glassier than they already were.

Ivo smirked to himself and pushed himself off the coral, swimming tauntingly around the very pitiful damsel-born. Isaac and Gaia eyed him suspiciously, making sure he didn’t try to harm her. Even if she had done something wrong, that didn’t mean that the pair was going to let some lionfish hurt her.

“Your name?” Ivo asked calmly, circling her with most of his spines standing at attention.

The mermaid backed away from him, closer to the direction where Gaia and Isaac stood idle, hands on her chest and head slightly bowed in both shame and fear. “Brielle.” She answered, eyes darting up to look at him every so often.

The rest of the damsels around the pair had gone quiet, with only the younger ones whispering and hauling each other away from the situation at hand. None dared to say another word about the lionfish.

Ivo hated when people don’t look at him straight in the face when he’s confronting them, but seeing her so shameful of her own never-really-thought-through actions was pleasing enough.

“Do they know about your little fraternization?” Ivo threw a thumb back at Isaac and Gaia, a brow crooked with a mocking smile on his face.

The fear was relit in her eyes and it was satisfying to watch. First, her body stilled in recognition, her hands stopped from fumbling with each other. Next, she looked up at him with wide eyes, pupils contracted in fear and something else, frantically darting from his face down to his sternum, quickly spotting the necklace there.

“He told you.” She stuttered, one hand tentatively reaching out towards his necklace before retracting back. Ivo’s smile widened, his expression going dark and menacing.

“Nope, he didn’t. He couldn’t have, but he didn't. He doesn’t know shit about us.” Ivo stated firmly, waving his hand around to emphasize a point. He could feel Isaac and Gaia’s interest raising to a higher level. So, that meant they didn’t know.

Everything seem to have gone quiet with how Ivo was dealing with this confrontation. Fishes swam by without a care, but the group of damsel fish around created a little space where time stopped if not completely. Brielle didn’t look all that happy with Ivo dismissing her courting with Stone. Her hands were balled into fists by her side, her head had sunk lower than before, and Ivo swore he saw her shoulders tensing up and slightly shaking.

At first, the lionfish-born thought she was going to do grab his throat like he had done to her leader before, but she just wouldn’t budge no matter how many times he snapped his fingers in front of her. He turned around to face Isaac and shrugged, watching the way Gaia was ready to body slam him again.

In his defense, he hadn’t done anything yet. He only had his hands around her neck and nothing else, and for the past few minutes, all he did was taunt her. Ivo didn’t dare lay his hands on her again if Isaac and Gaia were going to have him personally punished or executed.

Sighing and shaking his head, Ivo turned around completely and swam the short distance back to Isaac. When he had left Brielle’s vicinity, some other damsels came over to sooth her. A hand on her shoulder rubbing away the tension, another rubbing circles into her back. Hand on her cheek, under her chin. Soft lips whispering words of comforts and reassurance that would never be true.

“I won’t let you have him.” Ivo stuttered to a halt as Brielle shouted in his direction. He turned his head slightly and glanced in her direction, face set neutral and body language calm. It was betraying every thought he had running through his mind.

Brielle looked hot with anger as she shrugged her peers away from her and approached Ivo. Gaia placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder when the male attempted to deescalate the situation. Once again, the others backed out her and Ivo’s way, the fear coming back at full force. Or was it concern or the feeling of not wanting to be involved in such a pitiful and petty fight? He wasn’t sure.  

“I’ve seen him before you did, and just because you spend a few days with him doesn’t make you his mate.” Brielle sneered, finally looking more fearless than before.

Ivo was long done with this conversation when she wasn’t responding to his threats, so he just brushed it off and scoffed at her attempt at looking intimidating. It was pathetic to think that just because she gave Stone the thing one of the children in her group had stolen from him meant she got to rightfully have him as a mate.

“I’m done with this conversation already, Brielle.” Ivo stated firmly. “If you really want to see who actually has his affection then wait till mating season or whenever, you incompetent fish.” And with that, Ivo turned and left, pushing past Gaia one last time for the thrill of it and let a current sweep him away.

He needed to get back to his own reef and clear up his head.

Chapter Text

‘Whelp, morning is here, might as well get to it.’ Stone thought solemnly to himself as he climbed out of bed with all his limps achy and slightly fatigue.

Last night hadn’t gone exactly as planned but he guessed that was alright too. He had planned for it to be a touching moment, where he carried Ivo out with excitement and have him swim back with the waves elegantly. But no, he just had to run because of overloaded excitement and trip and drop him.

Stone looked down at his scabbed knees and sighed. He had worse injuries, sure, but this one managed to hurt more than it should. Maybe because this one had actual feelings going into it.

After checking the time and getting dressed for the day, Stone gone through his morning routine as usual until he stopped himself from going to the downstairs bathroom on autopilot. He had gotten used to always checking up on Ivo during the mornings, but now he was no longer there.

A sense of dread settled deep in his chest as the fisher wandered his way to the kitchen. He barely had the energy to get up today, much less to make breakfast or go to work. He wouldn’t say that he was already missing Ivo’s presence, but somehow, his life seemed duller than before Ivo entered it.

His breakfast was eaten rather too quickly to actually enjoy it or feel full afterwards. When Stone realized he left the coffee brewing for too long, he was already ready to leave. Sighing heavily, the fisher abandoned the caffeine he would definitely need later on and left his house with dread.

Every step he took felt heavy, every faces he looked at were either blurry or completely unrecognizable. His buddies were definitely concerned for him, Stone could see that, but he brushed it off and carried on with his day. Luckily, as soon as they were out to sea, his nerves relaxed and his mind cleared. The breeze was doing wonders for his dreadful state, and the waves eased his troubled mind.

Maybe he did miss Ivo, but there was no chance the merman would come back now after he had achieved freedom.

Again, Stone carried on with his job, occasionally taking a few minutes to spy for mermaids or the mermaid that had – Stone assumed – saved him. But it seemed his luck had run dry after Ivo left. No more mermaids, no more random sightings, not even a glimpse of their elegant figures under the surface of the water.

From the distant, however, Stone spotted someone’s head poking out the water. They were silhouetted at best, but by the way their shoulders were aligned with each other, the fisher assumed they were facing his ship. In a desperate attempt to get their attention, Stone threw up a few sign language gestures, repeating the words ‘come here’ multiple times. After a while, the figure disappeared back into the water.

Well, there goes his third chance of trying to understand merfolk better. Maybe he should’ve asked Ivo before he left. But, then again, the merman was so desperate to leave that Stone doubted that he would want to stay for any minute longer.

‘If you ever utter a word of my existence to another soul.’ The merman’s voice echoed in his head, his venomous tone sending a phantom shiver up his spine. ‘I will personally hunt you down and skin you alive, you understand?’

Stone wondered if he had meant it, that as soon as Ivo had departed, he would no longer see him again.

“Hey, job’s done, stop staring.” One of his mates knocked elbows with him, snapping Stone out of the haze he was in.

Did he…just completed his job without even realizing it? Well, it was definitely not a first for him, but it was surprising nonetheless. It was a rare occurrence, and it would only happen when he didn’t feel particularly excited for work.

Accepting a lit cigarette from his boat mate, Stone hopped off and walked home. He knew his friends would offer him a ride nonetheless, but he felt the need to stretch his legs out today. The wind blew through his hair and caressed his skin, raising goosebumps along his forearms. When Stone finally reached his house, the cigarette was at the end of its lifeline. Although the night was certainly approaching, the sky was still bright. Orange streaked the sky, the clouds looked like cotton candy to Stone’s tired brain.

But Stone knew had some business to deal with before he could actually try to get a good night sleep. Diverting from his usual path, Stone jogged the rest of the way towards Tom and Maddie’s place, already planning a greeting and how to break the news to them.

When he arrived, Stone saw that Sonic and his friends were walking in, talking animatedly with Knuckles hauling a sleeping bag with him and Miles with a bigger bag than his usual one. Deciding to let the kids go in first, Stone stalled outside for a while, trying not to look too suspicious or weird. But, unfortunately, Miles spotted him and shouted for him, a small smile on the kid’s face as he did so.

“Heya kids.” Stone greeted them as he walked over. As soon as he was close enough to the trio, he patted Miles on the shoulder, quick to retract his hand and shoved it in his pocket. Knuckles shot him a skeptical gaze but Sonic waved at him casually.

“Do you need something, Mr. Stone?” Sonic asked as he walked up to the door, knocking and yelling for his parents. His voice echoed through the empty street but luckily didn’t bounce back at them. A muffled voice called back as Sonic pushed the door open.

“I just need to have a little conversation with your parents.” Stone forced a smile as Sonic offered entrance to him.

It had been a while since he had been inside Tom and Maddie’s house, but it seemed like most things stayed the same. Stone looked around and peered into every open door, but tried to not to linger there for too long. Tom and Maddie were in the kitchen, cleaning up the counter and washing dishes. Seemed like they just had dinner.

Team Sonic greeted the pair before rushing up the stairs with Miles already starting to talk about something. Knuckles quickly shushed him up with a hand clapped over his mouth, a furious expression on his face as he rushed up the stairs.

The kids were hiding something, but Stone didn’t feel like prying that out of them right now. For now, he would have to tell Sonic’s parents about his delinquency. He wondered how they still haven’t figured out that their son was doing all of this again.

“Hey, Stone, how’ve been doing?” Tom greeted him with a friendly smile on his face. He was still elbow deep in dish soap, so Stone just leaned against the kitchen’s doorway. The fisher still reeked off salt.

“I’ve been doing fine. Just got a few things I want to tell you.” Maddie hummed back in response to that, her tone suggesting that she was either very focused on something or that she was just drained. Stone decided to have this conversation with Tom instead.

After waiting around for at least five minutes, Tom rinsed off his hands and led Stone back into the living room, asking whether he wanted to eat anything or not. Stone politely decline although he knew he might some food later. It didn’t feel natural for him to eat in someone’s house when he came unannounced.

Even if Stone had walked several minutes to get here and spent another five just to let Tom finish his chores, he still had to start a normal conversation first before diving into business. Tom wasn’t a bad man, but his cheerful personality had fooled a lot of people, Stone included. He’s not a guy that gets angry easily, to say, but sometimes he could never bye levelheaded about some situations, it’s always up to Maddie to help him.

Though it’s almost like downgrading Maddie when Stone says she’s the complete opposite of Tom, in any case she wasn’t. though her outbursts were more like frantic explanations than doubts. She has a good heart, but Stone gets tired talking to her sometimes. The couple tired Stone.

“– besides that, did you come for something?” Tom asked as he placed his hand on the fisher’s shoulder. Stone suppressed a startled noise from the sudden intrusion. God, was he spacing out again?

Chuckling awkwardly and making it clear that he didn’t want to be touched in any way possible, Tom removed his hand and placed it on either side of himself. Stone rubbed the back of his neck and trailed his hand over his shoulder, gently massaging the scars left there.

“It’s about Sonic, Tom.” Stone tried his best to look apologetic, trying to soften the blow for him.

None of them had an easy job, and it would be even harder if they knew their son was out there, with his friends, breaking into people’s houses. Or, at least, just his house. He wondered if Miles and Knuckles’s parents would be able to take the news any better than them.

Tom’s smile disappeared and was, instead, replaced by a frown of concern. He suddenly looked plagued with problems and Stone wondered if it was his fault for bringing Sonic up. Maddie appeared from the doorway of the living room and sighed to herself. The fisher soon found himself in a mist of tension, from a too-caring father and a caution-taking mother. It made him feel like when his parents sat him down to talk when he punched a kid in the face for insulting him.

“We know what you’re going to say.” Tom said solemnly, hands clasped and elbows braced on his knees. Stone suddenly felt the need to straighten his back and school down his expression.

“We were going to tell you, but we wanted Sonic to know first.” Maddie reasoned, arms crossed over her chest and head angled to one side to glance up at the stairs where the kids were probably having fun and talking about whatever.

Stone didn’t come here to feel bad about the pair, but now he couldn’t deny the remorse settling in his chest. He never had kids, let alone ever married, but he could somewhat feel what they felt. Finding that your son breaks into a specific guy’s house just because he thinks he was up to something no good doesn’t break it. It was still trespassing, and if he kept up this behavior then his future will be gone.

Sniffling up a sarcastic remark, Stone sighed and placed a hand on Tom’s shoulder, just leaving there as sign of comfort. Tom gave Stone a tired smile and offered him a beer before he left. Even though it was already quite late, Stone accepted the cold can either way and spent a few short minutes in front of the house with Tom. Inside, the fisher could hear Maddie screaming for the children to come downstairs.

Stone only stayed longer just to see how the talk would go down. Clearly Tom didn’t want to be the one disciplining Sonic right now.

“Thanks for talking to me again.” Tom said, his head angled up towards the sky. The dim light made his eyes looked glassy and empty, but Stone could see the care and fondness of a parent deep in those pupils.

Stone nodded and crushed the can, giving it back to Tom as he offered to throw it away. Maddie appeared from the front door and ushered Tom inside. Stone walked off down the road, trying to reach his own house before it hits midnight. He could hear distant argument from Sonic and Tom, but it didn’t sound as heated as he expected to be.