Into the Deep

Chapter 9

"SUNSHINE!" Moon heard Sun cheer loudly, jolting him rudely from his sleep. Frustrated at his brother's antics he perked his head up from his tail and glared in Sun's direction, only to have his gaze soften as he found you in Sun's grasp as he twirled you around, laughing. He huffed shortly and was about to lay back down again to sleep some more when he saw you coming towards him with an excited, yet apologetic smile on your face.

"Hey Moon! Sorry if we woke you up, how are you?" You asked as you squatted beside him to which he booped your nose, watching your nose wrinkle with a lazy smile.

"Outside of being woken up so rudely by Sunny, I'm doing just fine." Moon said to which Sun let out a loud, regretful whimper.

"Oh Moonie I'm so, so sorry! I completely forgot that you were still asleep! I just got so excited to see our friend that I forgot myself a little..." Sun apologized with a bowed head before perking up and placing one of his hands on your back before gently pushing you, causing you to nearly fall on top of Moon. "But I think our Sunshine here has something that will put you in a good mood lickedy split!"
    You flushed bashfully at this and Moon felt himself smile at the rare sight. You were the most precious during moments like these in his opinion. He didn't know why, but the way your eyes would look at him in such a shy manner as you nervously played with your fingers made you look so sweet and defenseless, especially when compared to your usually bright and curious manner that gave no room for vulnerability of any kind.

"Do you now?" He asked with a grin as he rested his head on his tail with a yawn which made you nod with an unsure smile.

"Yeah! It's not much, but I hope you like it." You said nervously before turning toward a small bag you had brought with you. He didn't recognize the scent on it which made him frown, but he ignored it when you pulled a small band of silver out of your bag and held it out to him. Confused and wary he carefully took it from you before examining it.
    It was a very pretty and delicate little thing, the silvery metal bent and shaped clumsily to look like little stars before they circled around a beautiful, milky white stone in the middle of it that seemed to glow blue and red as the light reflected off of it in angles. He turned it around, looking at it from every angle and trying to see if there was something hidden in it, but he quickly realized there was nothing strange about it. It was just a piece of jewelry he recognized from a few of the humans who worked here as well as ancient paintings of other Mer tribes in the past. He looked up at Sun and noticed a similar-looking band on Sun's upper right arm, except his was gold and the metal was shaped like uneven rays that came from a beautiful orange stone in the center that glittered brightly in the last rays of sunlight.

"Surprise! I made you both armlets as thanks out of some scrap metal I found a while back. Granted, they're not actual silver or gold, Henry had to give me some special paint that doesn't fade in seawater and they're not very tidy, so the moonstone and sunstone are the only thing genuine about them, but I wanted to show my appreciation for you both. Not just to thank Sun for the pearl he gifted me on my first day as your caretaker, but also to thank you for accepting me as your friend as well. I truly feel honored to be able to call myself your friend Moon and I want this to be a symbol of that gratitude and our friendship." You said with a wide smile, waiting for Moon to answer, but he had nothing to say.
    You made this...For him? To thank him? An instinctive part of it saw it as a courting gift, that you were trying to court him but he quickly pushed that instinct down despite how warm and happy the idea made him feel. You had explicitly said it was for friendship reasons, so there was no need to overthink it. He gently turned the band over one more time before putting it on his upper left arm, smiling before turning to meet your excited, starry-eyed gaze.

"Do you like it?" You asked and he nodded, causing you to squeal happily. "Oh, I'm so glad to hear it! I was really worried for a second that you wouldn't like it due to how cheap it looks, so I'm really, really happy you like it!"