Tom's POV
Edd and I are normal people.
Actually, let me rephrase that.
Edd and I are normal merpeople.
To us it's normal, it's the way we are, but to humans were nothing more than money.
That's all we mean to them.
Money.
I don't know much about money, it's a human thing - the only thing I know is that they have to pay for stuff, like food and etc. and they need money to do that.
Turns out merpeople are sold for a very big amount of the green paper.
*
I was swimming around the field of beautiful coral, patiently waiting for Edd.
This is where Edd and I normally meet up.
I soon got bored, so when the dolphins caught my eye I was easily entranced.
We weren't allowed up, because their was a high chance that we could get caught by humans - but I wanted to swim with all the dolphins.
I swam up, reaching my hand out to touch them, when suddenly something - or someone - fell into the water, crashing harshly as they let themselves sink.
Their eyes were partially closed, only a tiny gap for them to see around them as they slowly sunk, letting the air their lungs were trying to grasp ahold of suffer as he suffocated in the depths of the crystal water.
The dolphins swarmed him in a panic to save him, but all he did was kindly smile as he reached out to stroke their skin, the dolphins sadly whining and squeaking in desperation to help him.
I was confused, and I didn't know what to do.
Rules were rules, any human that's in need of being saved in their conscious mindset is not allowed to be seen by merpeople.
It's a stupid rule, but for good intentions.
I slowly scooted in a space to spectate the human, holding onto the dolphins for reassurance.
The boy slowly turned his head, staring at me for a while before realization seemed to hit him hard, and her smiled widely, reaching out to touch me - but I could only flinch away.
He seemed disappointed, almost saddened, but he pulled back his arm and just closed his eyes, letting himself sink deeper.
I spectated him a bit more, taking in his features.
Red eyes, hard-to-see-freckles, a sort-of feminine-like body, gray-painted nails with a tiny, white heart on each of his thumbs, plump and soft-looking lips, caramel-colored hair.
He looked so familiar, but I just couldn't grasp who he was. Tho, he seemed to recognize me.
I tried hard, searching my memory for any sort of memory with him in it, maybe even a glance I must've once taken.
That's when it clicked.
I realized who he was.
He was that kid, from many years ago.
When I first got caught.
Past time/5 years ago
"I didn't think the legends were true! But they are! Son - We just caught a real merperson!" The scary human man exclaimed.
"Put me down before I yell for help! My people will sink your ship and eat your insides!" I shouted angrily, grasping the net with my tiny hands.
"Wow, he's feisty isn't he?" The human man laughed as he walked away.
I groaned, looking to my side - my eyes widening slightly at the sight of a human boy.
He looked so fascinated.
"What?" I snapped. "I meant what I said, if either of you even try and kidnap me, my tribe and I will eat you! We will!"
"You're so pretty." He awed, coming closer toward me.
I couldn't say anything, my mouth hanging open like a hinged door.
"Can I touch you?" He smiled softly, reaching his hand out slowly.
I closed my mouth again, scowling at him as I tried to intimidate him, but all he did was smile at me like an idiot.
"Put. Me. Down." I hissed.
His smile dropped and he looked back, a wooden door slightly open.
He walked away from me, leaving me pissed and trying to get myself out as I thrashed around in the net.
He peered in, spectating whatever he was and walking back to me.
"My dad is sleeping. He hasn't rested for two days - trying to find merpeople even if his life depended on it." He looked down at his feet. "You're unlucky, aren't you? He was just about to give up hope when he caught you."
"Just shut up and let me out before I kill you." I threatened.
The boy looked up again, smiling slightly as his cheeks perked a red-ish-color. "If I let you out, can I touch you?"
I rolled my eyes and huffed. "I guess."
His smile became wider and his cheeks became a happy shade of red.
He pulled out a knife from his pocket, spinning it in his fingers and throwing it up, snatching back into his hand again as it came back down.
It was impressive - really impressive.
I kinda liked his calm spunk.
I waited patiently as he cut the nets, eventually making a big enough hole that I was able to flop myself freely onto the deck of the boat.
I sighed, sitting up and looking at him with piercing eyes.
"So?" He beckoned.
I groaned and nodded, allowing him to touch me.
He dropped onto his knees as he trailed his index finger along the scales of my fin, making me kind of relax a bit.
"Why are you so intrigued?" I asked, making his gaze turn back to me.
"Don't you think you're very special? I wish I could be this unique and pretty." He sadly smiled, his eyelids dropping as his gaze turned down to my scales again.
"But you are-"
I'm a fucking idiot.
His head shot up again and he smiled widely, his eyes becoming glossy with tears - an aura of happiness seeming to swallow him.
"Where's your hometown? I'm assuming you don't live on sea." Why was I so dam curious? Why did I care?
"My hometown is quite far away. My dad dragged me a long with him so he could teach me what sea-hunting was, and so that my mother could teach my sister normal house chores." He sighed, the aura of happiness that was radiating from him tuning down.
"Is it boring?" I asked another dam question.
"Of course." He singularly chuckled.
I thought deeply.
Life was boring, I understood that feeling - and he didn't seem like a bad kid. He must've been around my age too, he at least looked like it.
"How old are you?"
"Eleven." He perked his head.
"Really? I'm twelve." My interest peeked. "Any friends?"
"Just, Matt."
"Really? No one else?"
"No. You can't really count your sister as your friend, can you?"
"I guess not."
. . .
"Want a new friend?" I suddenly asked, sort of regretting opening my mouth at all.
He immediately leaned closer, balancing himself on his hands and knees. "Yes!" His eyes even had a twinkle to them now, something I didn't see before.
I tried leaning a bit closer away, a concerned look on my face. "Uh - okay, how 'bout it then? Is two as friends?"
He smiled so wide I thought he might rip his mouth, so I clapped his cheeks with my hands and squished his mouth back together again.
"Okay, okay, calm down before you ruin your face."
He slowly nodded again, my hands still on his face.
As I slowly removed my hands, letting him sit back again, I asked him more questions - such as:
Where's your hometown?
How far away is it from here?
Is it at a swimmable distance for me?
When should we meet?
How often?
And I got all the answers I goddam well needed for this new friend of mine.
"You promise you'll visit often? I have a feeling it'll be really boring without you." He gently smiled, holding out his pinky to me.
"A pinky-swear? So childish." I mocked, smirking as I snickered.
"I'm only a year younger than you." He pouted, edging his pinky forward again.
My cheeks grew kind of red. "Alright, just stop making the dam-" -but admittedly cute- "-face."
We grasped pinky's and said our farewells.
I put my two fingers together as I smirked, his smile and wave making me a bit too cocky as I let myself fall off of the edge of the boat and back into the water.
I calmly let myself fall back into the water, sighing at this satisfying feeling of finally being surrounded by water again.
Now/Present Time
I quickly grabbed him by the shirt, dragging him towards the surface again.
When I reached the top of the water, the boat was already sailing away, and with the added weight of him I couldn't go fast enough to catch up with them. There was also no way of getting him back to the boat without getting myself caught.
The dolphins popped up onto the surface of the water too, nudging my body and my arm as to tell me to do something - I hadn't realized the boy wasn't breathing.
"I'm gonna scar myself by doing this." I sighed, looking back down at his face. Then I suddenly regretted what I said. He was really pretty, everything about him. I thought I realized it in the water, but now we was in the surfaces grasp and the sun glowed onto his features, I could see everything much more clearly now. "Never mind."
The dolphins started squeaking at me in a laugh, and I only rolled my eyes at them.
Tho they couldn't see it.
I huffed, before connected my lips to his and forcibly pushing the air into his lungs. It only took that single blow before he was coughing and gasping for air. Luckily he hadn't been in the water long enough to need anything more than that.
He groaned, hitting his chest as he forced his eyes open, smiling as he saw me again.
"Idiot. Why'd you just let yourself drown?" I scolded, whacking him over the back of the head.
"Ow," he muttered. "I just didn't see any point in trying to help myself. Either way, I was going to die drowning or die from starvation, dehydration or hyperthermia. They weren't gonna save me. I'm just lucky you did." He smiled, his cheeks coating a small red blush of joy.
My cheeks turned red from embarrassment. "Stop that."
"Thank you."
"I said stop."
He giggled. "Look at your face, it's so red. You really can't take compliments can you?"
"Shut up." He groaned, ducking my head down a bit.
"Anyway, can I go home now?" He tilted his head, his smile still stuck to his face.
"Uh - sure. You still live in the same town right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about? How'd you know where I live, anyway?"
My eyes widened and my brows furrowed. "You don't remember me?"
He seemed to search his mind before popping back up again. "Oh yeah!" He pouted angrily, smacking me over the back of the head, unexpectedly.
"Ow - what the hell was that for!?" I snapped.
"You don't keep your promises."
I suddenly froze in place.
I totally forgot.
After leaving that day, I was scolded when I got home, being confined the the house for 3 months before I was let out again. After that I must've forgotten about everything.
"Not my fault. Shit came up and I must've forgotten." I huffed.
"Don't be a smart-ass with me."
"I'll eat you, you little twerp."
"I'm a year younger, a year."
*
I sat on the sand next to him, watching as he flopped his body against the hard surface of the tony beads of stones.
"So..." I thought out loud. "How'd you deal with your dad after you let me go?" I asked.
"Oh. When he woke up from his nap I told him it must've just been in his dream. We seemed to believe it pretty well - it must've been a regular occurrence in his dreams. Tho, he did say that it felt more real that time."
He turned to his side, resting his head under his hands and bending his knees so he was in a comfier position.
"What?" I asked cautiously.
"Should you be out in the open like this?"
"Well it's night. Barely anyone is going to be outside, especially on a beach that's hidden behind a big ass mountain."
"I guess so."
. . .
"So, will you come and visit me now? Especially since you know it's not too far away. Tho, I can't really hold you to your promises, can I?" He grinned.
"Shut up, you so can. I'll prove it." I held out my pinky to him. "I'll come back this time. Promise."
He excitedly smiled and sat up, quickly knotting our fingers together.
"And for your last broken promise, you have to be punished."
I gulped. "No way, are you a sadist or something?" I cringed.
"What's that?" He raised a brow, getting comfy on his knees and putting his free hands between his thighs for balance.
"It's - never mind."
"Anyways - for your punishment, you must hug me." He smiled, trying to make it out to be more evil than it was.
"Doesn't seem too hard." I smirked.
"Jokes on your, my mother says I'm addictive." He gloated.
"Whatever," I extended my arms. "Let's just get this over with."
"Rude."
As he fell into the embrace of my arms, he wrapped his arms around my neck and rested his chin on my shoulder for more comfort.
I couldn't help but have the urge to move my hands down a bit - so I could hold him from the waist.
But I didn't!-
Instead I quickly pulled away so I wouldn't give in.
He smiled and thought for a second, then looking up and clicking his fingers together.
He got up and walked towards the grass, picking some flowers and coming back over to me, plopping himself back down.
"You wanna keep it?" He offered, holding out his hand with a rose in it.
I hesitated, before taking it into my hands and holding onto it tightly.
"Thanks...?"
"Tord."
"Tom."
Time skip/1 year later
Tord and I have been friends for about a year now. Meeting up every Wednesday and Saturday.
I remember the last conversation we had.
"I wish you could live as a human with me. It's boring without you, you know? Matt moved away a few months ago and now I'm completely alone." Tord pouted.
"Go and make some friends then."
"I can't."
"Why?" I easier a curious eyebrow.
"I have an issue."
"And what is that?"
"I don't like people."
And then he just wouldn't speak about it anymore.
But I can agree.
Edd has a girlfriend now, they're constantly busy with each other and he only hangs out with me about once or twice a month at best.
And admittedly (never admittedly to his face) Tord is a very interesting person.
Also, being a human and having legs looks like too much fun.
Tord is always running around when I'm with him - not to show off or make me jealous, but because even though he doesn't look like it, he's a very energetic person.
That's why I decided that I wanted to try something.
As well as merpeople, we also have sea witches (and many more weird creatures under the ocean) and I decided to give her a try.
*
"Go away."
"I swear to god, you old hag, if you don't help me I will ransack your house." I bung harshly on the door.
"I will not turn you into a human! It's my only potion so far! I don't have any replicas!" She shouted from the other side of the door.
"Well what the hell do you want for it then?" I snapped.
"Like you could even get it!" She argued back.
"I'm gonna kill you, I swear! Just tell me what it is you want so I can get this shit over with!"
"A human flower! It's the only ingredient I can't get to make another humanization potion."
Tord was probably gonna kill me for this.
But.
"Fine, take it then." I huffed.
. . .
She opened the door, revealing her youthfully-old face.
"What did you say?"
I rolled my eyes, holding out he rose Tord had first gifted me with. "Just take it before I change my mind."
"It's old, and looks dead, but the sea seems to have kept it's surfaced aura cleansed." She awed. "Fine, I'll take it."
"Give me the potion then." I glared.
She rolled her eyes and shot back inside, instantly coming back out with a bottled potion.
"Take it and give me the flower." She snapped.
"Fine, here, you dam annoyance." I threw the flower at her.
"Same to you." She threw the potion back at me. "Pleasure doing business with you."
And then she was gone again.
*
"Why?"
"Just sit." I demanded, making him sit on the sand beside me. "You're always running around."
"So what is it?" Tord beckoned, leaning closer.
I sighed, holding out the bottled potion. "If I drink this, it's supposed to turn me."
"Into a seal?-"
I walked him round the back of the head. "No you idiot! Don't insult me like that!"
He giggled quietly to himself, wafting his hand at me as he apologized.
"So, should I drink it?" I raised a brow.
"But, your tail..." he pouted, using his index finger to touch it.
"I know you love it, but if I do this then we can live together on land."
. . .
"Okay." He agreed firmly. "Do it."
I smirked, roughly pulling the cap off of the bottle and chugging it quickly.
We waited a few minutes, nothing happening. I was about to open my mouth to whine again, when sparkles started evaporating into the air and my tail turned a pure white, slowly forming into the shape of legs - and something else, I had no idea what it was though.
Tord sat and watched in awe, until the white and sparkles were finally gone, and my tail had officially morphed into legs.
I smiled in excitement, staring at my new legs.
I looked up at Tord, but he had his eyes covered.
"What the hell are you doing? Look at me! This is so cool!"
"Yeah, but - please just put some pants on." He mumbled, burying his face into his knees.
"I don't have any."
"Well it's lucky that I always bring a spare change of clothes for when I go swimming with you." He looked up, eyes still closed and he felt around for his bag and reached into it, pulling out some pants and some shorts. "Take them, please."
"It's not that big of a deal, calm down."
"Shut up, yes it is. Now put the clothes on." He buried his face back into his knees.
I huffed as I took them, first pulling on the pants - 'boxers'? As humans say? And pulled on the shorts after, tho they were both very tight-fitting.
"You can look now." I rolled my eyes.
Tord looked up and sighed in relief. "Good. Sorry, my clothes are a bit tiny on you. I'll buy you some that are fitting for you."
"Sure." I smiled.
He quickly shot up onto his feet, grabbing my hand as he looked around at my new body.
"This is so cool!"
I couldn't concentrate well when he was holding my hand in his, so I ended up staying quiet as he ran circles around me.
Finally, he stopped.
"This is awesome! I can't wait for the future! Life's gonna be so much more fun!" He fanboyed.
"Yeah - you can let go of my hand now."
He looked down at our connected hands, looking back up again with a smile. "Why? Embarrassed?" He mocked.
"No - it's a different feeling. I don't know what it's called, but it feels funny in my chest and my stomach. Whenever you're around it starts happening." I explained.
Tord seemed to perk up a bit, his cheeks growing redder than usual.
"Am I allergic to you?" I panicked.
He giggled a lot, trying to keep his composure. "No-"
"Then what's wrong with me?"
"Only one way to find out."
"What does that mean, you sadist - masochist!?"
He walked my over the head. "Don't insult me! I'm not either of those!"
I smirked, amused with how riled up I was able to make him.
That's when he suddenly stood on his tiptoes, wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling out faces closer.
"Do you have that funny feeling again?" He asked.
My fave grew red and hot again. "Yeah."
He stared into my eyes for a bit, until his eyelids dropped halfway over his eyes, his lips slightly parting.
I was kinda scared of what he was going to do to me, until he put his lips on mine, making my heart run as a thousand miles an hour.
That's when that same urge cane back again, and I couldn't help it this time - so I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him as close as I could to deepen the kiss, both of us closing our eyes.
You know what?
I like this feeling.
I like being with Tord.
I'm glad this was able to happen.
A\N
Word count: 3575
Edited: May 19th 2020
This was hard to do lol.
I changed a lot about this story so I hope it's better now.