a sea tale

new legs?

Scar’s Pov:

I was sitting on the railing of my balcony. I needed to get my mind off things. My gaze shifted to Bdubs behind me, passed out in bed. “Dubs?” I called. With no response I was reassured he wouldn’t wake up. I carefully hopped off the balcony and made my way to the beach. I walked along the coast, lost in thought, for over 20 minutes. That was before I was pulled from my thoughts with a big splash from the ocean and panicked yelling. My attention shifted to the source of the comotion. Two figures out in the ocean. One limp and the other shaking them to wake up.

“Get him over here!” the figure turned to me and seemed hesitant. They looked back to the other person and quickly swam over to me. As they got closer I realized who the limp one was. Grian! He lifted him up and I was shocked to see human legs. I tossed the thought aside and picked him up, setting him down on the sand. I took a deep breath and crouched on my knees, my hands in a tight fist over each other resting on his bare chest. I pressed down using all my strength. 30 pumps, a second apart. I tilted his head and pinched his nose. I swiftly brought my mouth to his. I moved the oxygen and my lungs to his and pulled away, taking a deep breath and giving it to him again. I could feel the other man's mortified stare plastered on me. (for context, Mumbo had no idea what CPR was.)

I started pressing on his chest again. 30 pumps, a second apart. Grian’s body jolted as water shot out his mouth. I quickly helped him up to a sitting position to help him get the water out his lungs. I turned to the man in the water. “I’m assuming you're also a merperson, what happened to his tail? How does he have legs?!” He looked down sheepishly. “A failed experiment…” Anger pulsed through me. “YOU EXPERIMENTED ON HIM?!” I snapped. The man flinched and I almost continued before feeling a hand on my shoulder. Grian looked up at me weakly. “It wasn't Mumbo’s fault… I asked” I sighed before shooting a glare at Mumbo. I looked back and the realization that he was bare in his new form hit me. I quickly looked away, a bright red flush rising to my cheeks. I quickly unbuttoned my shirt and slid it off. “Damn.” I heard a soft voice say. I knew it was grian and blushed even more.

I handed him my shirt. He wasted no time slipping it on, the oversized shirt fell to above his knees, covering everything that should be covered. I breathed a sigh of relief as the heat from my face cooled off. “I’ll have to take him back to the castle to get him proper clothes. You figure out how to reverse this.” Mumbo nodded and disappeared back into the water. I stood up before turning to help Grian up. He took my hand and hoisted himself up, stumbling slightly before falling over. My arms shot out to catch him. “I guess i’ll have to teach you how to walk as well.” Grian scoffed and used my shoulder to stand up and stumbled with me. After a difficult half hour we made it back to my room. The balcony door opened easily. The problem was the fact Bdubs was asleep in the bed. I cursed under my breath and Tip Toed Grian to the closet, quietly closing the door. “Alright.” I whispered.

I picked out a simple outfit and handed it to him before exiting. I watched Bdubs closely, praying he wouldn’t wake up. God must not be real because less than a second later I heard Grian fall and other objects crash against the floor. Bdubs shot up, startled. He looked at me confused and suspicious. “What was that?...” I cleared my throat. I was about to tell him it was nothing before i was interrupted with Grian swearing something in the closet. “F**K!” I glanced at the door and back to Bdubs. “Don’t repeat that.” I said. I sighed and knocked on the door. “You okay in there” I was met with muttering. I took a deep breath and opened the door. Grian was on the floor clutching his shin as tears fought in the corners of his eyes.

I relaxed a little, glad he was able to get the boxers on, it was the pants that betrayed him. I crouched down next to him, ignoring the peaking Bdubs. “Need help” he shot me a glare before looking away and nodding. I hesitantly helped him get his pants on, avoiding eye contact. Bdubs’ eyes lit up. “Is this the person you wanted me to meet?!” I looked at Grian and he nodded. “Yeah.” Once grian had pants on he slipped on a shirt. I giggled at how big the clothes were, almost swallowing him whole. He’d have to borrow some of Bdubs clothes tomorrow.

Xisuma’s pov:

I paced back and forth at the entrance of the castle. Joel must’ve seen me because not a minute later was he at my side asking what was wrong. “My son’s missing! I’ve looked everywhere and I can't find him!” I could hear the distress in my voice and so could joel. He placed a calming hand on my shoulder. “I’ll send out guards to look for him, we’ll find him.” I looked down at him, worried prevalent in my expression and determination on his own. I wanted to go out and search with him, search for my son. But I couldn't leave Jimmy and Pearl on their own. Oh void please let him return safely

Grian’s pov:

I was staring at my legs in fascination on scar’s bed. They were so weird. I wiggled my ‘toes’ as scar called them and giggled at the sight. Bdubs looked at me confused. “What's up with you?” he asked. “Nothing, it’s just weird having human legs.” he seemed even more confused. “Did he not tell you? I’m a merling (a term used to refer to merpeople under the age of 18)” his eyes widened. “Really! That's so cool!!! How dare scar not tell me” he huffed. I chuckled and ruffled his hair, earning a giggle from him. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I'm sure you're his favorite little brother.” I said, squishing his cheeks. “I’m not little, I’m 16!” I laughed. “Alright big little brother.” he smirked. “That's better.”

Scar walked in with something wrapped in a towel. “Stop harassing him, Bdubs” he said, rolling his eyes. He plopped down beside me and gently placed the towel on my leg. “ACK” my leg jolted up as the cold stung. “Sorry! It’ll be cold but I promise it’ll help” he carefully and slowly set the towel back on my leg. I flinched but not a second later I got used to the feeling. It provided a cooling sensation and numbed the throbbing pain in my leg. “What's it called again?” I asked. He chuckled and was about to answer before Bdubs interrupted him. “It’s called a shin.” Scar glared at him before rolling his eyes. “Shin.” I repeated. Bdubs looked up at me and then at Scar. “What are we gonna do about mom and dad?” Scar is quiet for a long time, the suspense is deadly at this point. “We’ll have to sneak him out. Mom is gone for the week so all we have to worry about is father” that was weird. He referred to his mom as, you know, mom. But he referred to his dad as father. “What's with the formality?” I asked.

He looked at me, almost surprised to hear the question. Bdubs spoke up. “He doesn’t have the best relationship with our dad” I nodded. I guess I never took it into consideration that he might have parent issues. Scar cleared his throat. “Bdubs, will you be able to distract him while I get Gri out?” I smiled, the nickname was something no one had used before. I had been called various nicknames. G, G-man, Grain, and even Pesky bird, but Gri felt special. I hadn’t noticed a small blush crept on my face till Scar looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “You good?” I quickly snapped out of my thoughts. “Yeah sorry, just lost in thought for a second.” Bdubs eyed me suspiciously but seemed to brush it off. I laid down flat on my back on the comfy bed. Bdubs and Scar followed not long after. It wasn’t long before all of us fell asleep.

3rd person pov:

Scar’s arms were wrapped around Grian’s waist and his face was buried in the messy dirty blonde hair. Bdubs was sprawled out on the other side. One arm resting on his forehead, the other hanging off the side of the bed. His leg was draped across Scar and Grian’s. The only sound that filled the room besides the soft chirps of nearby crickets was their soft snoring.