Oscar and Mer 🍆🪼

V

**PRESENT**

Oscar got the clothes he needed for Mer and went back to the bedroom, where he found Mer curled up on the bed in a ball with his back to the door. Oscar walked in and set the clothes on the side table, touching Mer softly on the shoulder. Mer flinched and seemed to curl into a tighter ball, as if he expected something else to happen.

"It's just me..." Oscar said softly.

Hearing his voice, Mer turned over to look at Oscar and he smiled softly.

"My dad just called and told me to tell you to say hello." Mer's lips faintly turned upward in a ghost of a smile. "I got you some clothes to change into. Are you hungry? I still have some fish left from my dinner if you want some."

Mer wasn't really sure if he was hungry or not, so he just stared at Oscar for a moment. Oscar nodded a little and put the clothes on the nightstand.

"I'll go warm it up for you. You can come out when you want... Can you walk?" Mer lifted an eyebrow at him with a bit of attitude. "I mean... it's not like you have had legs before and adrenaline can make you do a lot of things."

Oscar had talked about this 'adrenaline' before. Mer knew how it worked firsthand, but for some reason hearing it in this context just made him very upset. He looked down and just signed, "I'm fine." slowly, as if he was unsure if he was making the right signs.

Oscar turned his head at that but let it slide. There was obviously a reason Mer had legs and it didn't look like it was a very good or pleasant one. Oscar didn't need to know the details to understand it was a bit of a sore subject.

"Well, if you need any help with the clothes or walking, just let me know and I'll come help you."

Mer nodded as Oscar left to go to the kitchen.

***********************

As Oscar pulled out some of the fish from before, he felt like he wasn't doing enough for his friend. He obviously didn't know why Mer ended up that way and he had a feeling Mer wouldn't tell him, but it was clear that there was trauma on a much bigger scale than just losing his family and selective mutism. Lost in thought, Oscar didn't feel someone behind him until he went to turn. He stopped short and looked over his shoulder. Mer was standing there, his forehead on Oscar's back.

"You okay?" Oscar asked softly. Mer shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?" Again, Mer shook his head. "Okay... Here." He said, getting out of Mer's hold and turning around. "I know you don't like it cooked but I was going to eat it as leftovers."

Mer looked at the fish on the plate on the bar and gingerly took it. By the smell, it was tuna of some sort. He bit into it slowly, making a small face at the seared edges, but the taste was very good.

"Sorry, it's tuna. I'll try to go get some different fish tomorrow or something."

Mer's eyes widened in terror. You... leave... me? he signed slowly.

"Just to go shopping... I know you may not want to talk about it but I... I want to know what's going on. This is highly unusual behavior from you... I thought you told me that legs were very expensive to get in the merfolk community, so why did you decide to get them now?"

Mer's eyebrows furrowed hard and he took a step back, almost seeming offended by the very thought of it. All that did was make Oscar even more curious about what was going on and how everything turned out like this. For now, he needed to stop making micro-mistakes that seemed to really trigger Mer...

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just assumed that... I'm just really confused by all this. If something happened to you, I want to know. "I save you and you save me", remember? We made a promise to always protect each other from anyone who could hurt us and... I feel like I may have failed you."