He is a mermaid.
His eyes seaweed green;
bright watery globes,
flecks of aquamarine.
~
Michael didn't know why he's here.
The only thing he knows is that he's sitting on one of the big rocks in the long seaside of the central town, looking at his dazed reflection in the water. He sees the dim light hiding beneath his eyes, ashamed of losing its usual brightness, and he couldn't help but feel helpless while the world continues to move around him, time passing by, people coming and leaving without traces. He's a small speck of dust in the whole wide world and he wonders if he will ever figure out the reason why his fate brought him here on land. What's his purpose here? Underwater, he's supposed to rule the Atlantic, his home. But there's no such thing as home for him now. His mom is the one who makes a home out of the mess that is the kingdom. But now that she's gone, and all that there's left is his dad, things will never be the same again.
Calum's arms can be the closest thing to home right now. Being in his arms as they cuddle always feels like nothing and no one can ever hurt him. He didn't have anyone here besides Calum, and maybe his friends Ashton and Luke, but will they be enough for him to get by every single day? Will they always be there for him, to help him with his needs, to continue helping him without asking questions on what his future holds for him? He doesn't know the answer to that and he doubts that he'll ever find out, so he shakes his head to escape his thoughts. His vision is starting to get hazy and it feels like he's not actually in his body at all, the floating feeling overwhelming him a bit. He holds onto the rock to keep him in place and to assure himself that he will not fall into the water. He looks up to the sky, salty tears forming in his eyes.
He shakily sighs and looks back at his reflection only to find out that it wasn't his anymore.
"Nat," he murmured, trying to focus on her. He blinks several times to improve his hazy vision but nothing changed.
Natalia was there in the calm wave of the water, the very image of her blankly staring back at him. She still looked the same as the day he left her in the kingdom, tan skin bringing out the brown in her eyes. Her hair was slowly swaying with the water current down under. She looked helpless then, almost lifeless even, with the way she's not moving a single inch. That fact scared Michael so much, so he reached out to touch the water.
The moment his hand made contact with it, he was suddenly pulled under. He didn't expect it to happen at all. The water was too black and he started to drown, bubbles everywhere as the salty water filled his mouth and nostrils. He continuously sank deeper and deeper, looking at the light of the sky above. He missed this feeling. Being deaf in eternal silence under the middle of the sea, hearing nothing but his heart gradually slowing down its beat. He felt alive and dead at the same time.
He's so, so tired.
"Michael."
I'm sorry, Natalia. He slowly closed his eyes and let the darkness take over him.
"Michael! Open your eyes!"
Until he heard Calum.
-
Calum was sitting in Michael's side, trying to be gentle as he tries to wake the merman up from his nightmare. He didn't know what to do, Michael was tossing and turning in their bed with his eyebrows creased and breath held. "Michael, please wake up." He pleaded, holding both of his arms now.
"Nat," Michael mumbled.
"What?" Calum stopped shaking him, leaning towards his face to be able to hear clearer. "What did you say, Mike?"
Then he just went rigid. The brunette froze, sitting up straight to observe the merman's features. He stopped moving altogether and it sent chills down Calum's bones.
"Michael. You can't be kidding me, it's not funny anymore!" He said in a playful, yet nervous tone. He moved impossibly closer and turned to cradle him in his chest.
"Michael!" By now he was shouting, not caring whether he'll wake Luke and Ashton from the room across his. "Michael, open your eyes!"
Michael did.
He was coughing and breathing hard, the feeling of drowning still suffocating him. He was frantically taking in his surroundings and the sight of Calum looking worried, and being cradled in his arms assures him that he's safe. That he's not drowning anymore. He's not dying. He's okay. He's okay as long as he's with Calum. He's alright now. Calum is beside him.
"Mike, you're fine now. I'm here." The brunette continued whispering assuring things to his ear, rocking him gently in his arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't wake you up from your nightmare sooner. You weren't responding even if I was shaking you. There's nothing that I could do except-"
"Cal." He croaked out, bringing a hand up to hold Calum's shoulder. "I'm f-fine."
"No you're not!" He said, pulling back to look at him in the eyes. "You had a nightmare and that's dangerous. Especially if you're unwell. I was worried that you died when you became still, and that's not okay."
It was obvious that the medicine he took last night didn't affect or improve Michael's condition at all. Calum's lost because his temperature is normal, with 36 degrees Celsius like a normal human's body temperature should be, but his merman is paler than usual and his eyes tell a different story. He knows something is wrong with him and he's getting sicker as the time passes by. Calum thought he's only a bit tipsy with the beer he finished, but he's really sick now and he doesn't know how to deal with it.
"Stop worrying. I'll be fine." Michael says with a small smile. His breathing was starting to even out as they look at each other wordlessly. "Will you cuddle me instead?"
Calum smiles at him and nods distractedly. If that's what will make him feel better after a nightmare then who is he to disagree? It's not like they're going to swap spit anyway so he didn't have to worry about getting sick as well.
He slowly lays down in their bed and opens his arms for Michael, who gladly moved closer and situated himself, his back against Calum's broad chest.
It was obvious that Michael's condition worsened over the night. Calum needs to think of a solution quickly before they're left with the last resort; going to a hospital. He couldn't risk revealing Michael's identity to anyone besides his friends or family so he starts enumerating the ways to make the situation better. He could ask Ashton to cook for some porridge which is usually the food given to a sick person, and it wouldn't hurt trying it to a merman. Really, there's not much of a difference between humans and mermaids in his head.
He could also clean him with a cloth submerged into warm water, or turn the air condition off to let Michael sweat, or call a home doctor so he could watch from the side and prevent any form of water getting in contact with Michael's skin. The last thing they'll need is a doctor finding out that his patient is a mythological creature, a merman. He honestly didn't know if any of his ideas will work.
They laid there for a moment, Michael just brushing the skin of Calum's arm that was placed around his waist. He wondered why he kept having these odd dreams about his best friend. He's going crazy every fortnight. Every single dream tells a different story and he always feels like he's floating in them. Maybe he should start searching for her now. Maybe Natalia is calling out to him, or maybe it's the pearl that he gave her that keeps their connection to each other in the form of dreams.
Before he gets the chance to form a theory, he hears Calum gasp behind him. He slowly turned around with a confused expression. "What's wrong, cal?"
He only looked at him.
"Calum?" He said, caressing his cheek. "What are you thinking of?"
"Maybe you need to go to ocean, Mike." He said. His surprised face turning to a happy, satisfied one. For the first time, he's making sense of the difficult situation. "Maybe you need to spend the day swimming there instead of my chlorine-filled pool. Maybe the chemicals are hurting you or weakening you because your body isn't used to dealing with it!"
Michael pondered for a moment. That's true. He was only hurting inside, and his temperature as a human is normal, but what about his inner self? He's been on land for a month now and it makes sense that he's weakening because he's supposed to be on water, not on land.
"You're right. Maybe I need to." He answered, giving him a sweet smile. "It's so nice of you to help figure out what's wrong with me. I appreciate it, Calum."
Calum didn't expect him to say such a heartfelt thank you because it's really not a big deal and of course he'll help Michael feel better, he swore to himself the moment he took him in, but you could see that the sincere thank you made him happier with the way his eyes lighted up.
Michael stopped caressing his cheek when he remembered how he wanted to kiss him so bad last night. The urge is there again, his gaze going down to Calum's slightly parted lips in a split second. With how concentrated on Michael Calum is, he saw it, a smirk almost forming in his lips because Michael is so obvious with his actions. But throwing a comment about it would only ruin the magic of the moment so he chose to stare at his emerald green eyes instead, before slowly leaning towards Michael's pretty face.
The merman's eyes slightly widened when he realized what the brunette is about to do. They're going to kiss again and this time Calum is making the first move. The heat surges through him like wildfire and he wonders if this is how getting a fever feels like. He does his very best to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.
His eyes slowly flutters shut and he could almost feel the brunette's lips on his, when suddenly there were footsteps outside and the doorknob was turning around.
The seaman immediately pulled back with rosy cheeks. He cleared his throat and reluctantly walked towards the door to open it, revealing Luke and Ashton giving them worried glances.
"Ya okay in there, mate?" Luke asked, peeking over Calum's shoulder to check on Michael. "You were shouting Michael's name over and over again, and it's not even in the you-know-what way, what happened?"
Ashton was rubbing his sleepy eyes as he leaned on the doorframe. "Lukey woke me up so we could check on you two, and when I did, you guys became silent. He literally dragged me over here to find out what's happening. What's up?" He yawned.
Calum sighed and ruffled his own curls. "Michael is sick at the moment and he was having a nightmare a while ago. He's okay now though, there's nothing to worry about. Sorry 'bout that."
Both boys glanced at Michael on the bed. "Are you sure, Mike? Is there anything we can do?" The hazel eyed boy asked and Luke smiled, proud at his boyfriend for being a nice friend.
"Maybe Ashton can cook some food for you, if you want?" He offered.
Michael gave them a shy smile and shook his head. "I'm good, thank you for worrying."
Luke gave him a playful disbelieving look, "You might want to take that answer back, little mermaid, my boyfriend is a superb chef! You might feel better once you get a taste of his specials." He grinned and skipped past calum, sitting down on Michael's side to check his forehead.
"You're not hot, though?" He asked, head tilting to the side in confusion.
Calum crossed his arms over his chest. "He said that he's feeling hot inside, and cold outside if that makes sense. I don't know if the AC is to blame here, but I'll see what I can do to make him feel better."
Ashton snorted.
He turned to him with raised eyebrows, but Ashton only wiggled his. "You're such a boyfriend material." He teased, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
The brunette punched him lightly in the arm and casually rolled his eyes. "Fuck off, Ash." He said, walking towards the cabinet to get a shirt to wear. "Will you two be leaving this afternoon?"
Luke hummed in approval and stood up to face Calum who was now wearing a black v-neck. "I have an afternoon shift today, plus Ashton's going to meet his siblings in the mall."
"Alright then," Calum nodded and met Michael's eyes across the room. "We have a long day ahead of us."
-
When they all went their seperate ways after Ashton cooking a delicious meal for everyone, Luke said good luck to Michael for his performance in the aquarium and hoped that he'll be better before he performs. Michael only thanked him and clung back to Calum, who was flat out ignoring Ashton's smirk. They announced that they're going to the clinic to set a check up, but in reality they're going to the sea.
They arrived in the central town and walked towards the dock, but it was a little crowded so they decided to drive a bit further away from town where the sea is still present. Michael was in the rocks, staring at his reflection in the waters just like what he did on his dream earlier this morning. The only difference is that Natalia isn't under the water.
Before Calum calls Michael out so they can leave though, he saw a girl as breathtaking as Michael. He was reminded of the day he first met the merman because they almost have the same aura, strange and mysterious if that makes sense, making him hesitate for a moment and choose to just silently observe the girl with dull brown eyes and pale lips, looking weak and lost.
He turned to Michael's direction and saw the merman already tearing up, a few steps behind him. "Natalia!"
The girl snapped out of her daze at the mention of her name. She looked towards the source of the voice and nearly whimpered at the sight of Michael, the merman, her missing childhood best friend. After a month, they're finally reunited. She forced herself to stand up and her knees were wobbling in the process. It looked like she wasn't used to having legs yet, and the fear is evident on her face as she tries to walk towards him. So Michael ran to her instead, meeting her halfway.
Calum just stood there with a pained smile, hoping that from today onwards everyone's misery will be put to an end, especially Michael's.
They can only hope for the better.
-
Hi, hey I'm sorry this is a tad late. It's my finals week and usually no one's in the mood to write especially when they're stressed. Give me a good luck haha.
Can I just give a big shoutout to 5sosstarz, pyczak, pleaselashton, lifeofsenpai, and ItsKris because I appreciate the constant support that I already memorized your usernames. Y'all are great people I'd like to be friends with xx