The flower shop was quiet today. It was 10 AM on a Tuesday, so naturally not many people were buying flowers at the time. Keith and Matt, the only two in the shop at the moment, stood by the counter, visibly bored.
Matt tapped his fingers against the cashier while he tried to think of a conversation topic. Keith was in a state between falling asleep and wide awake. Still on his mind was the encounter from the night before. He glanced towards Matt, debating if he should tell him about it.
"So," Keith started, and Matt's head turned to face him while still resting on his palm. The finger-tapping stopped.
"Yeah?"
"Have you- Have you ever... seen strange... creatures in the ocean?" Keith stated his question slowly, trying to think of the best way to say it. Matt brushed a strand of brown hair out of his eyes, intrigued.
"N-no," he said.
"Oh."
"But," Matt started again after a moment, "I know someone who has. Just depends what you mean by 'strange creatures.'"
Keith's hand played with the leaf of a flower near him. "Well... I mean like people- sort of- who live in the water, like mermaids or something."
Matt's eyes opened a little. "Well then," he started, "You should talk to my sister, Pidge."
~ ♆ ~
Keith stood in front of a solid mint-green colored door, his fist held up to it but not knocking. He checked the brass number by the door again, and of course it hadn't changed. 413, Garrison Street. He finally took a breath and let his hand collide with the wooden barrier.
A few seconds passed, and Keith began to think that maybe no one was home. Just as he turned to leave, though, the door opened to a short girl, maybe 19 or twenty years old. She had short brown hair and pale skin dotted with freckles. Her eyes were brown and she wore a simple grey NASA t-shirt that was way too big and turquoise shorts. It was undeniable that she was Matt's sister; they basically looked like twins.
"Hi, Pidge, I'm Keith," Keith started, but when the girl seemed confused he added, "Matt told me you could help me?" She blinked a few times, and her phone buzzed, which she pulled out of her pocket. She looked at the screen and her face visibly lit up.
"My name's Katie, by the way. And, while I'm at it, I use they/them pronouns, just so you know. -But yeah, Matt just sent me a text. You got here quickly," they chuckled, then looked Keith up and down. "Wait you're Shiro's—" they paused, realizing their mistake. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Keith's voice came out angry, which he hadn't meant to do. The two stood in silence for a moment.
"Uh, come in," Katie finally said, motioning for Keith to come inside. They led him through the house, and Keith looked around as they walked. The first room was a simple living room that had a couch resting on a cream-colored fluffy carpet, a TV set(which had a Nintendo switch connected to it), a couple of bean bags littering the floor, and pots of plants rested in the corners and on the bar counter that separated the room from the kitchen. Keith suspected that the plants were due to Colleen, who was their mother. She was currently on a trip with her husband, so that's why she wasn't at the flower shop that day.
The kitchen looked similar to most kitchens. The walls were mint green with brownish-grey wooden floors, and the cabinets were white, overall fitting into the color scheme of the house so far. Katie led Keith to the second floor, where there were three bedrooms along with two bathrooms. The farthest one down the hall was Katie's. When they entered the Holt shut the door and motioned for Keith to sit on the floor.
While Katie searched through a drawer, Keith looked around the room. The bed was pressed against the back wall, which jutted in from the main green-painted walls of the room. There were some posters and photos hanging above the bed. On the opposite side of the room was a desk that was cluttered with various papers, pens, technology, etc. Above the desk was a cork board that seemed to have some sort of investigator board, like the ones with red strings connecting photos.
On the third wall, by two windows, was a bookshelf filled with books and a dresser that Katie was searching through at the moment. They pulled out a thick binder stocked full with papers, and also grabbed their computer from its place on the bed. They sat down in front of Keith with their legs crossed and placed the binder in between them.
"So, my brother tells me you saw a creature in the water," They stated firmly. Keith simply nodded.
Katie smirked and flipped through the papers, found one and held it up to Keith.
"Something like this?"
The photo was blue; it filled Keith's eyes and surrounded his mind. A picture of the ocean was laid out in front of him, where the waves crashed against the shore at a distance. There was a boat in this world, floating on the infinite ocean. Someone held a camera overboard, pointing it at a dark shadow in the water. They were intrigued, and the shadow soon came up to the surface. Now facing them was a human, but with many things different. For one, it had a tail. As soon as the two made eye contact the creature swam back underwater with a small splash. Little did it know that the person had taken a photo of it before it disappeared.
Keith gasped and gripped the photo from Katie's hands, looking it over. The photo wasn't quite clear— all that could be seen was the blue of a scaled tail— but that tail was enough for Keith to know.
"Tha- that's exactly what I saw," Keith whispered. Exactly- down to the intense blue of his scales. Keith had to admit they were beautiful.
"Exactly?" Katie asked, and Keith nodded.
He suddenly remembered something and visibly jumped up a bit, dropping the photo. He rummaged through the black backpack that he had brought with him, until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a piece of fabric that resembled the small squares used to clean glasses. He unfolded the fabric to reveal what was hidden inside. Katie gasped.
"The creature left this on the beach after I saw him," Keith said. Sitting in Keith's hands was the scale that he'd found left from the creature. Katie reached a hand out to touch it but paused, looking up to Keith. He nodded, and they picked up the scale gently.
"Well, first of all, stop just saying 'creature.' I think he's a merman, or siren or some sort. Of course, those are only legends so it's possible he's something entirely new," she said while she observed the scale, running her fingers across the smooth surface. All of a sudden she paused, lifting an eyebrow. "You said that you saw him on the beach?"
Keith nodded, then realized he had been nodding too many times. "Y- yeah. He had climbed on the rocks when I first saw him and then moved to the beach, but went back to the ocean when he saw me."
"Interesting," Katie whispered under her breath, a bit distracted. She pulled out a Ziplock bag and sealed the scale inside it. "Can I keep this for a bit? I want to see what it's made of or if I can find anything useful in it."
"Sure," Keith responded, knowing he had another at home.
The two continued talking about their discoveries and theories(it turned out they were both conspiracy nerds) and then began watching a TV show on Netflix. About two hours after Keith had arrived, he had to leave because he had a class. Katie led Keith downstairs until they were at the front door.
"Bye, Katie," Keith said as he began to walk out of the house. "Oh, and thanks. For your help."
"No problem," Katie responded. "I'll tell Matt to tell you when I find more information." Keith smiled, and began to walk away.
"Oh, and Keith?" Katie called. Keith paused and turned around.
"Yeah?" The brunette smiled.
"You can call me Pidge."
~ ♆ ~
Finger's tapped speedily on the keyboard. Keith had finally gotten inspiration for his creative writing assignment, and even though it was two in the morning, he felt wide awake for once.
It was cloudy tonight, the room being lit only by the lamp on the bedside table. Keith finished typing the final sentence, and shut his laptop slowly. He sighed and his eyes trailed over to the desk across the room. Laying on it was his journal; still open to the page he'd ripped out. He set his laptop on the bed and walked over to the desk. The boy picked up a pen and began writing. He stared at the scratchy letters now on the page; Dear Ocean, I still hate you. Keith chuckled quietly and continued.
A/N:
Aaaand we meet Pidge! \(•◡•)/ -♥
A bit of a shorter part this time, as all the recent ones were really long. As always, hope you all enjoyed it!
- Soni <3