Under and Above

10

Cas screamed and stumbled back from the tide pool. A man was relaxing around the side of the pool, completely at ease.

"Woah dude, I didn't mean to scare you!" said the man. "I just thought you could use my help."

Cas tried to speak, but for some reason his voice wasn't working. The man in front of him was half naked, his torso bare, but where there should have been legs, a long glimmering tail was instead.

"Um, hello? Everything alright in there?" the man grinned and tapped his head. "It's rude to not answer someone who's just offered you help, ya know."

"I- I uh, yes?" Cas' voice came out as a terrified squeak.

"What was that?" asked the man, grinning even more widely, showing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth.

"I, uh, sure. Yes, please help me," whispered Cas.

"Well you're going to have to come here," said the stranger. "I don't bite... Much."

Hesitantly, Cas made his way over to the merman.

"Dude, you're going to have to get in the water. I can't exactly get up and walk around, can I?"

"I guess not," whispered Cas. Slowly he got in the water and scooched to the man's side.

It was alarming for Cas to be this close to an attractive shirtless male, even if he did have a tail instead of legs. The merman was really very attractive. His face was angular and his cheekbones could cut diamond. He had sandy blonde hair that was slightly sticking up in the front, and he had green eyes. They were the green of the ocean, deep and vast. Cas knew that this man could see right into your soul.

"Um. Hi," Cas muttered.

"Hello yourself. I'm Nereus Bahari Kaimu Delmar at your service, but most people just call me Dean," said the man, smirking at Cas.

"Wow... That's a mouthful. I think I'm going to stick with Dean," said Cas, feeling braver than he had a few moments ago. "I'm Castiel Novak, but you can just call me Cas."

"Well Cas... It's certainly a pleasure to meet you. I've waited a long time for this moment."

"I- What? What did you just say?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Dean, ducking his head slightly to avoid Cas's gaze. Cas pretended like Dean hadn't said anything, but he had to wonder what he meant by his previous statement.

"So, um, how do we do this?" questioned Cas.

"It's easy. You sit there and do nothing and let me do the work," replied Dean, gathering some seaweed from the tide pool's walls.

Dean quickly tied a tourniquet just above his wound using the seaweed, and then muttered something that Cas couldn't quite catch. Dean suddenly began to speak plainly, but Cas could not understand what it meant.

"Sana quod est saucium, verterem temporis, Sana quod est saucium, verterem temporis, reducam enim conversionem laedunt quidque prius fuit."

 Dean's hand began to glow, and so did his tail. The iridescent scales on his tail grew warm, but not hot. All Cas could do was stare, his mouth slightly agape. Dean finished and then bandaged up the gash with more seaweed. Cas could tell that the would was all healed. It did not pain him anymore.

"Dean!" gasped Cas. "That was incredible! Thank you!"

Dean laughed a little. "It was nothing, Cas."

A few moments of awkward silence ensued. Cas was pointedly looking anywhere but Dean, but Dean was openly staring at Cas.

"Um, Cas?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know where you are?" Dean whispered.

Cas shook his head. Dean sighed and looked down and began to flick water at a hermit crab crawling next to his head.

"Cas..." Dean tried again.

"Yeah?" "Cas, you can't stay here," Dean said, almost guilitly.

"What? I don't understand. I can't go anywhere, Dean. My boat sunk. I thought I was dead, until I arrived here."

Dean sighed again. "You need to leave," he said. "It's dangerous for you to be here."

"I'm confused."

Frustrated, Dean's tail gave a big swish that caused a small tidal wave in the pool. Cas began to get nervous. Slowly, Cas crawled out of the tidal pool and onto the warm sand. The sun was beginning to set, and the glorious colors of the sky painted a magnificent picture in front of them.

"I'm going to try and put this into terms you understand. You've accidentally wandered into, ah, "mermaid private property." The others.. They would not be so pleased to see you. They would, might, hurt you. You need to leave and never look back," Dean finished.

"I would if I could, but I have no way to leave. My boat is smashed, my food rations are gone... I'll be dead soon, so you don't have to worry."

Dean looked as though someone had hit him.

"That's a horrible thought. Don't even think that. I'm going to get you out of here..."

Dean looked around to see if there was anything to help them, but there was not.

"Dean, I'll be fine. You guys are mermaids, right? You can't exactly walk on land. I'll just find a tree to sleep in," Cas said confidently.

"Cas, it doesn't-"

"It's settled then. I'll see you around, Dean."

Cas turned around and walked down the beach. He didn't really want to leave the merman's side, but what else could he do? Here he was, minding his own business, when this stranger had the audacity to tell him that he was in danger from fish.

"Cas, wait," Dean called after him.

Hoisting himself up on the edge of the pool, Dean reached into a pocket that Cas had not noticed, and pulled out a small spiral shell on a string.

"Take this, and if you run into a problem, just say my name into it. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Cas stared at the shell in the strange man's hand.

"Well?" asked Dean. "Aren't you going to take it?"

Cas's hand closed over the shell, and he took it from Dean. He slipped the string around his neck and tucked the shell into the top of his wetsuit.

"Thank you, Dean," whispered Cas, but before Cas could finish saying the words, the merman left him feeling quite alone.

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Author's note:

Hey hey! I just thought I should let you guys know that most of the non-english words in this story are going to be in Latin or have some signifigance to the story. Thanks!

-M