Gentle (castle swimmer)

Chapter 3

(TRIGGER WARNING)
(Suicidal actions/talk)

Both Siren and Kappa bonded over a few weeks, they were great friends, and they were happy together.

After school Kappa ran into the forest and called out for Siren in his home. "Siren! I'm back! I got you something!" Siren poked his head out from his tree and hopped down. "What.. bring?" He whispered while Kappa walked over to him. "Here, bend down." He crouched down to Kappa and he pulled a silver necklace from his pocket. "This is one of the only things that survived the fire that killed my parents, it was said to run for generations and it's given by a family member to their uh.." Kappa paused. Technically, it was given to their lovers. But hey, who says you can't have a platonic relationship with a dragon-human? "Well anyways. I want you to wear it. Your the only person who's ever really talked to me.. genuinely. I have a feeling that we're gonna be friends for awhile." Siren looked down at it curiously, then looked back up at Kappa. He pointed to it, and then to him. "Pretty.. like you." He said. "Oh!! Why thank you!" Kappa wasn't exactly used to being complimented. It felt.. nice, to be told that. "Are.. okay?" Siren asked. Kappa snapped out of his thoughts and smiled nervously looking down at his hands, that he had been shaking gently. "Sorry! I do that when I'm really happy. It's called stimming, I usually get made fun of for it." Siren reached up and pet Kappas hair. "Fluffy." He mumbled. "..anyways." Kappa reached around Sirens neck and pulled him a bit closer so he could clip the necklace on correctly. "Aaaaaandd... done!" He let go and looked back up at him, only to realize how close he'd pulled him. "S-Sorry!" He walked back stammering and apology. Siren touched the necklace around his neck. "Home." He said. "Pardon?" Kappa asked. "This is.. home." He said again. "Does that remind you of your home?" Siren nodded. Kappa paused, and then walked over and sat down next to him. "What was home like?" He asked. "Very beautiful.. you remind me.. of it." It seemed he was having a hard time talking. "Ahhh, is that so?" Siren nodded. "My.. my people.. they.. didn't like me." He mumbled. "Why is that? Your such a sweetheart." Kappa laughed. "I am weak. I.. could not do what I was.. meant to do." Siren looked rather sad. "And.. what were you meant to do?" Kappa asked. "End an enemy's bloodline from their child. My tribe wanted me to.. kill.. a newborn." He covered his eyes and grit his teeth. Kappa stayed silent for awhile. "Well.. I don't think your weak for not wanting to kill a child." He whispered. "Actually, I think that makes you stronger than them, than anyone really. Wether things worked out in the end or not, you did what you felt was right, and not even the strongest person on this planet could manage that." Siren looked over at him, then he reached over and pulled Kappa closer to him, wrapping his arms around him. His arms holding tightly.. but quite gently onto him. He was warm, it felt like he was being covered in a blanket. Is this what a.. hug.. is? It's quite nice. I don't think he would mind staying there.. just a bit longer.

Kappa blinked his eyes open tiredly. It was.. warm. Very warm. For awhile he stared at the small fire that had been carefully made. "Your awake." Siren whispered. "I think I've been asleep for much too long." Kappa looked out the cave at the sunset nervously. "I couldn't bring.. myself.. to wake you. You looked.. very tired." Siren mumbled. "Well, I thank you for your kindness." Kappa stood up and stretched his arms. "Are you.. leaving?" Siren asked quietly. "I don't exactly want to, but I think I have to." He mumbled. He looked over at Siren. "Oh don't give me that look.. I can't resist it when people are sad." Siren looked over at him. "Oh okay. I'll stay a little longer." He walked over to him and sat down next to him. "Are you.. still tired?" Siren asked. "Kinda. It's normal for me to feel tired though." He mumbled. "Go back to sleep. I will.. wake you once night falls." Kappa looked up at him. "Thank you.. this means a lot to me, really." Siren smiled and reached his arm around him, pulling him closer.

Kappa and Siren sat next to eachother in silence. Kappa was making sure not to accidentally touch his tail, that he had behind him, and Siren was trying to think of something to say. "Kappa.. how.. why did you find me?" He asked. Kappa shrugged. "My bullies brought me here to come out into the woods and left me there, probably hoping I die." Siren looked confused at him. "If you thought.. you'd die.. why did you come?" Kappa stayed silent, looking at the fire. "I didn't really care I guess." He said. "I don't care about my life." Siren stared off for awhile. "You.. don't want to live?" He asked quietly. Kappa stayed silent. "Well.. put it this way. I want to live, kinda, but if a car was coming 90 mph in my direction, I wouldn't move out of the way." He explained. "But.. why not?" Siren asked, sounding a little concerned. "Let's just say.. I don't have the best life. I don't have any friends at school, I get hurt every day, I don't have parents and I live at an orphanage because nobody would adopt me, and I get made fun of because I like boys.. I kinda hate my life. And I think of death as an escape from everything that's ever hurt me, so I'm looking forwards to the day I die. But I don't want to control my death. Not yet." Both of them shared a silence. "I..used to feel like that.. too once." Siren said into the silence. "You did?" He nodded. "Back home... I didn't.. have friends either. My mother would train me, but.. I wasn't the strongest person there and.. got hurt a lot. I wasn't let outside and.. I hated my life. I was so..angry at everything, I tried.. ending it. My mother found out and wasn't very happy." He gripped onto his shoulders tightly. "She.. hurt me... because I hated myself." Kappa glanced on his back, where he could see a long scar lining his back. He hadn't seen it because of his long hair. "I'm.. so sorry you had to go through that." Kappa whispered. "But.. I found..peace being alone here. I felt happy.. sorta." Sirens expression softened. "The only problem was, and is..I don't have a husband." He looked over at Kappa. "Ohhhhh I see.. wait.. husband?" Siren nodded. "Well.. yeah. My species, long ago, both males and females we're separated on halves of the world and hadn't discovered eachother yet, so they could only.. reproduce, with their own gender. That's how it works there." Kappa paused. "You mean, it's normal to have two guys or two girls dating there?" Siren nodded, looking a bit confused. "That's actually amazing. Here, only male and female can.. reproduce, and it's seen as normal. If two guys, or girls, are dating it's seen as weird." Siren looked even more confused. "If anything, it's a male and female relationship that stands out there." Both stared at eachother for awhile, then they burst out laughing. "Who knew our worlds were so different huh?" Kappa chuckled. "So that's mean if we were dating it would stand out here?" Siren asked. Both paused for a moment. "I mean, it's not like we are dating but just hypothetically if we were it would stand out yes?" Siren stammered. "That's right!" Kappa answered quickly. Both shared another, awkward silence. "So uhh.. what's should we do?" Kappa asked nervously. "I'm not sure." Siren answered, sounding just as nervous. "You are.. getting good at communicating. This is the longest conversation we've had." Kappa smiled at him. Siren smiled back. "Woaaaahhh!!" Kappa looked excitedly at him. "You have sharp teeth!" Siren nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry... it's improper of me to flash my teeth like that." Kappa laughed. "Well that's a shame, I think they're sexy man!" Siren reached up and covered his flustered face. "Awwww, you look as red as a tomato." Kappa teased him. He crawled over to Siren and tried tracking his hands off his face. Siren leaned further back in an attempt to escape him, but Kappa didn't let him. Kappa sat down on top of him and reached over to his wrists and pulled his hands away. "Aw, your actually kinda adorable." He chuckled. Kappa sighed and layed down on top of him. "Your comfy." He said. "Thank you?.." Siren said awkwardly. Both stayed quiet for awhile, enjoying the peaceful silence. Kappa sighed, breaking the silence. "I think I have to leave." He said quietly. "Yeah.. you probably should." Siren mumbled. "I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry." Kappa sat up and got off of Siren carefully. "Remind me why you wanna go back?" He asked. Kappa completely ignored the question and walked over to his backpack. "Will you be okay during the night?" Kappa asked. "Yup. I've been alone for 6,935 nights, I can manage." Kappa began walking off into the depths of the forest, then he paused. He dropped his backpack down and ran back over to Siren, who also began running. Kappa wrapped his arms around Siren, as he did too. "I'll see you tomorrow." Kappa whispered. He broke from their hug and gently pulled on Sirens hair to let him bend down more. He gave him a small kiss of his cheek. "Bye Siren." He said, slowly letting go of him.

——

A few hours after school, Kappa ran into the woods and over to Sirens cave. He was quite confused to see Siren nervously sitting down, usually he was doing something. Nonetheless, he walked over and sat down next to him. "Hey bud. What's up?" Siren didn't answer, he just began looking more nervous. "Kappa.. I um.. I wanna tell you something." Siren mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. Millions of thoughts rushed through his mind. What was he gonna say? Oh he probably doesn't wanna be friends anymore.. okay okay, just don't cry. Don't cry. "Yeah sure what's up?" Kappas voice slightly trembled as he spoke. "So.. Kappa I uh..." Siren paused for a moment, then he finished.