WICKED BLUE

Winter Lull ~ #MertasticWinter2016

Ray Wingate regarded the ceiling above his bedroll with intense concentration. The tent was small and cramped. Ray shifted slightly and hit one of the support poles with his elbow. He stilled with a grumble. He should've never let Elisa pack for him. Cozy fit, she'd said. Right. If cozy was a codeword for coffin, then yes, the tent was a fucking cozy fit.

A minute movement had Ray squinting at the ceiling again. It was pitch black inside the tent, but Ray had long ceased needing his sight to orient himself in the dark. The detective could feel the motion. Ripples of it, all along the tent's walls. Ray narrowed his eyes. The damn thing better not-

The wind wailed outside. The ripples turned into a wave, then smothering darkness. Ray lay still under folds of cotton for several bewildered seconds.

He hated camping.

A soft splash interrupted Ray's internal griping. Ray cocked his head. The sound repeated twice over, moving closer. Ray tore out of the collapsed tent just in time to catch a bucketful's worth of ocean water with his face.

The silence that followed carried a distinctively abashed tone.

Ray shivered. The weather in St. Augustine was downright mild when compared to the winter mess back in Chicago, but it was still damn cold at night. And Ray was wet on top of it. He glared across the expanse of moonlit beach. The ocean was a black, swaying mass. The Merman's eyes were twin blue flames atop the waves.

Ray sighed and stood up. He'd kept his boots on, so his trek across the sand to where waves lapped at the shore was quick. The Merman watched him approach, silent.

"You wanna tell me something?"

Pale flesh cleaved through the dark water. The first time Ray had seen the Merman do his rise-from-the-abyss bit, he'd been as cowed as the lugat he'd been fighting. The sight was no less impressive now, but markedly different for the absence of dark malice in the Merman's expression.

Ray raised his brows. "Well?"

The Merman crossed his arms. His upper body was much like a man's, albeit overlain with translucent scales rather than skin. His hair ran like ink down his chest to pool around his hips, where the scales grew larger and thicker. The rest remained hidden under the waves.

I thought you were asleep, the Merman signed, When the fabric house fell.

Ray waited a beat. "...And?"

The Merman's face retained its blank cast, but the water around him churned. His tail was fidgeting.

Humans need air, the Merman signed at last. He suddenly seemed to find the deserted beach very interesting. Ray cleared his throat and shifted in place.

"How's the water? Better than the lake?" he threw out.

Yes.

Ray nodded. "Good." The ocean was the whole reason they'd come down here. That, and the weather. The Merman didn't seem to be built for Chicago winters. He had grown more and more lethargic as the temperatures dropped. On especially cold days, he'd curl at the bottom of his pond in Ray's backyard and lie as still as a dead thing.

Ray shivered. The Merman looked at him, eyes blazing blue.

You are cold.

"I'm fine."

You did not have to stay.

"Yeah, I did. Partners, remember?"

The Merman's gaze slipped back to the far-off cliffs.

Ray's phone buzzed in his pocket. Elisa. He read the text, then checked the time. 12:01 am, December 25th.

"Merry Christmas, fish."

The tip of the Merman's tail flipped over the water with a quiet splash. Ray laughed. Around them, the ocean hummed its gentle song. A beating heart.

~*~

Written for talesofthedeep's #MertasticWinter2016 contest! Our favorite supernatural duo takes a short break for the holidays. Because the Merman is sick of freshwater and cold and Chicago, and Ray's secretly a sweetheart.

Gorgeous Merman art belongs to artist Jung-geun Yoon. Link to his profile and art in this chapter (click on "External link").

Wordcount was capped at 600 (this story is ~597 words :D), so it is a tiny slice of life. :)

For those curious about lore and this "lugat" thing Ray mentions fighting: Lugat are vampire-like creatures found in Albanian mythology. They hide in dark places such as wells and caves, and are known for luring people when they're alone in the dark. Especially children. Lugat look grotesque and are very violent.