Under The Sea

Chapter Five - Mysterious

"Are you gonna stare at me all day?" Axel asks as Samuel's gaze falters for a second, embarrassment crossing in his eyes.

"Sorry..."

"It's okay," Axel assured.

"I just... I've never met... well, uh... you know."

"A merman?"

"Yeah," Samuel confirms shyly, taking another bite of the fresh seaweed Axel had provided.

"I get it," Axel assures, catching Samuel off guard, "I've never met a human before either."

Samuel could see the curiosity floating in his eyes as they stared at each other. He had been in complete amazement once again as he watched Axel transform before his eyes when he arrived.

"How about a game?" Axel finally asks, breaking their silent stare-off.

"What game?"

"I'll ask you a question, then you me," Axel explained, "that way we both can find out what we want."

He smiled as he explained and Samuel felt his chest tightened at his expression. A feeling he couldn't quite place and was unsure if it was nerves or something more.

"Okay, sure."

"Great! You go first!"

Samuel hesitated, eager to seize this opportunity, but unsure how to begin. There were so many questions popping into his head. Finally, he landed on what he wondered most.

"Why am I alive?"

Axel hummed, giving him a confused expression as he tilted his head. "I'm not sure I can answer that question for you."

"No, sorry," Samuel sighed, realizing the phrasing was a bit philosophical, "I meant how did I survive the storm?"

"Oh, that one's easy," Axel's eyes lit up, "I was trying to see the rain when there was a loud crash and then I saw you floating there. We're not supposed to talk to humans... or anyone else really, but when I saw you stopped moving, I... I couldn't leave you there to die."

"Thank you," Samuel offered to Axel's surprise, earning a smile from the man.

"My turn," Axel chirped and adjusted himself on the sand, "is this a fork?"

His question caught Samuel off guard, not expecting such a simple query from the merman, who had never interacted with a human before. Yet, the man just looked at him in wonder and held out a knife.

"Uh, no," Samuel swallowed, taking in the jagged edge and suddenly nervous of the other man's intentions, "that's... that's a knife. You use it together with a fork to eat."

"Oh," Axel's face dropped at his response, as he placed the knife back in his satchel, "okay, your turn."

"Where am I?"

"This is my secret cave," Axel returns proudly. "I couldn't take you to the Kingdom because I would have gotten in so much trouble for even going near the surface."

Axel explained, but noticed the concerned expression on Samuel's face. "Don't worry, though, you're safe here. I'm the only one that knows this place exists."

"I'm not so sure it's much of a secret. There was someone else here the last time."

"Oh, that's just Finn. She's my best friend, but she's never been here before. Just knows it exists and where it's generally located."

"Is this a fork?" Axel repeated his question, once again shocking Samuel that his greatest concern was determining what a fork is.

"No," Samuel sighed, stifling a chuckle, as he took in the new object Axel had drawn from his bag. "That's a crank for a gramophone."