Dangers of the Sea || Byler Story ||

4 - Humans and Mermaids

{Two Days Later}

Third Person POV:

Mike was lying stretched out on his moss bed, rolling a pearl on the ground with his pointer finger. His head was resting in his other arm, and he was staring at the pearl.

Nancy and Karen were standing on the other side of the whale skeleton, watching him with concern.

He's been lying there for hours. Nancy says.

Karen just nods, and starts getting ready to leave. I need to pick Holly up from the overnight daycare, watch him for me. She says. Nancy nods and Karen swims away.

Nancy swims over to Mike, settling down next to him. Hey.

Hey. Mike says, sounding bored.

Nancy nervously fidgets with the end of her tail. Do you.. want to talk about it? She questions. Mike gives a small shake of his head. C'mon Mike, you've been downcast for days. Did you have a fight with your friend or something?

Mike frowns. No. He says. Before Nancy could say anything more, Mike abruptly sat up. Actually, you're right. I have been downcast. Let me just get more upbeat.

The ravenette gives his sister a glare before shooting up, darting away from the skeleton.

Mike has a glare on his face as he swims into the coral reef, not looking at anything in particular. The fish and other animals dart away from the annoyed boy.

Max and Lucas happen to be passing by, and they give Mike a worried look.

Mike makes his way back to the entrance of the river, stopping before going in. This is stupid. Mike grumbles. What am I doing?

He backs away, turning around and starts to swim back, before he stops and sighs. Maybe.. one look. He says, creeping back to the entrance of the river. He starts swimming into it, watching out for nets or anything.

Once he got to the place to go to the pond, he sighs, letting the string of bubbles go to the surface. He hesitates for a moment, then swims in.

He raises half his head up above the water and his eyebrows shoot up. The human from before was asleep, lying against a rock at the edge of the water. Mike moved forward to the human slowly, and he raises his arms up to shore to heave himself up.

Who are you? Mike thinks softly. He was hovering over the boy's face, staring at him.

But then Will's eyes fluttered open, and he let out an eep. Mike yelps and splashes back into the water, staying with only his eyes and up above as Will quickly sits up.

They stare at each other for a few seconds. Mike raises his head up so his whole face is showing.

"You're.. You're a mermaid.." Will whispers.

Mike frowns at him, confused why he was moving his mouth. He raises his hand and fidgets with his lips, trying to figure out how to do it.

"Ah." Mike says, and his eyes widened, surprised. "Ah."

Will frowns. "Can you not talk?" He questions. Mike glares at him, making Will backtrack. "You can?"

"I.." Mike rubbed his face. "I can?" he beams. "I can." Will was shocked, his jaw was gaping. "I'm a merman.. I guess?"

Will blinked multiple times. "Woah.." He whispers.

"Woah." Mike deadpans. "You're strange for a human," He's almost surprised how fluid his words are coming out, now that he's using it. "Aren't you all supposed to kill me?" He drops his hands into the water. "And stuff me and show people my face like a trophie. Mwahaha."

The brunette smiled. "What are you talking about?" he says, almost amused. "I thought you're the one supposed to kill me."

Mike scrunched his nose in confusion. "Why would I kill you?" He asks.

Will shrugs. "I'm not sure, my parents always tell me how mermaids are bloodthirsty monsters," He explains. Mike pouts.

"My mother said the same for humans," Mike says, shrugging.

"Huh.." Will says.

"Huh." Mike repeats. "Why are you out here all alone? Don't you people travel in groups?" he asks, leaning backward and swimming in circles.

Will smirked in confusion. "No, I ran away from my home to come here for the day," He says.

Mike suddenly stops moving. "What's 'ran'?" He questions.

"Uh.." Will trails off. "Well, it's basically swimming for you, but running for humans." He moves closer to the water. Mike swims closer to him, grabbing his legs.

The ravenette holds his boot in front of his face. "Huh, so you have two strange things to swim in the air," He says. "Why are they so blocky?"

Will giggles. "I'm wearing shoes," He says. "And we humans call 'swimming in the air' walking. Or running," He pulls his shoes and socks off, making Mike gape at his bare legs. "It's nothing special, not compared to your tails."

"What are you talking about?" Mike questions, sounding shocked. "You have little fingers on the end of your two-tails!"

"What?" Will questions, laughing into his hand. "I've never heard someone describe legs and feet that way."

Mike scrunches his nose again. "That's what these are called?" He questions.

Will nods. "Um.. Can I see your tail?" He asks. Mike blinks, before sinking underwater. Will waits for a few seconds, before half of Mike's tail suddenly shoots out of the water and the fluke hits Will in the face, causing his to burst out laughing.

The brunette gently touches the tail, eyes wide as he feels the wet scales. It was beautiful, the shining black was mesmerizing.

But then the tail was pulled underwater, and Mike's head popped up.

"That feels so weird," Mike says, shaking his head.

Will was smiling like an idiot. "You're tail is very beautiful," He says earnestly, earning a blush of embarrassment.

"Thanks." Mike says. Then a moment passes. "Oh, my name is Mike, Mike Wheeler."

"My name is Will Byers," Will replies. "My full name is William though."

Mike shrugs. "My full name is Micheal," He says. "This is so weird, I've never talked to a human before." He beams at Will. "You're the first human I've ever met!"

"You're the first mermaid I've ever met," Will says, smiling back at him.

The two smiled at each other for a moment, before Mike's eyes widened and his smile dropped. "Oh shit," He says, worry tainting his voice. "My mom's gonna kill me."

"Oh." Will says. "Uh, well, you can go."

Mike nods, backing up slowly. "Do you.. want to meet up again tomorrow?" He asks. "I'm free for the most part."

Will nods, smiling. "Yeah, same place, same time?" He asks.

"Yes," Mike says. The blush on both of their cheeks was evident, but both of them were oblivious. "Um.. well, see you tomorrow." Will nods again, and Mike disappears under the water.

<^> To Be Continued

(1.1k words)

They're gay, your honor.

Btw, I just realized that the bottom of a mermaid tail is call a fluke, and the small other things are the fins. lol.