sorry this is a day late, my wifi switched itself off. honestly, slow wifi will be the downfall of western civilization at some point. anyways. here's the chapter.
-Cecil
"So you are saying that Mason is scared and doesn't know how to save himself?" Tanner asked for the billionth time. Austin rolled his eyes.
"Tan, what I'm saying is that everyone could use some help, whether they'd like to admit it or not."
"Yeah, and I'm sure Mason could use some help, mate," Tanner said, "but in case you forgot, Ian's in a little more imminent danger."
Austin looked over at Mason, realization striking. He had forgotten about Ian... Maybe if Ian only talked more, this wouldn't be a problem.
"Is he mute?" Austin asked, and then flinched at how forward that sounded. Could've at least covered it up better, he thought, pulling a hand through his hair.
"Mute? Austin, I thought you knew. He is deaf."
Austin slowly looked over towards Tanner, raising his eyebrows. "Deaf."
"Mmhmm."
"And you didn't tell me this until now."
"No."
"Fat lot of good you people are," Austin sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.
"He is really good at reading lips, though."
"Of course he is," Austin said, sitting back down next to Ian. "Anyways. Task at hand. I'm assuming you guys don't exactly keep Neosporin down here, do you?"
"What the hell is Neosporin?" Tanner said.
"Figures. What do you guys usually do when someone gets hurt this bad? Like, is there underwater band-aids or something? I don't know how that would work."
"Well, when someone's hurt this bad, the Teach usually just leaves them for dead," Tanner said.
Austin fought the urge to roll his eyes again. This community was really fucked up. "I mean, sharks usually come if the person's out too long."
"Sharks? I completely forgot about sharks," Austin said. "Goddamn. Well, in that case, we should probably get moving. No point in waiting to be a giant shark buffet," Austin said, lacing his arms behind Ian's shoulders. Ian whined in protest, and Austin just shook his head.
"I'll take his tail," Tanner said, grabbing Ian by his blue green tail. As soon as Tanner's hands touched Ian's fin, his skin flashed between opaque and translucent. Austin stumbled back for a second, and Tanner chuckled.
"Sorry, that happens a lot," Ian mumbled, and Austin nodded. He wasn't quite sure how to talk to a deaf person, and was well aware of the fact that he was making a fool of himself.
"Do not treat me any different than you did yesterday, Aus," Ian said, as if reading his thoughts.
"You're coated in blood and just saved my life. I'll treat you different if I damned want to," Austin said, over enunciating every word. Ian smiled.
"Okay, we pick him up in three... two... one," Tanner said, and Austin helped to pick Ian off the ground. Ian groaned in pain, and Austin flinched.
"Sorry..." Austin said, and Ian squeezed his eyes shut.
"Where exactly are we going, again?" Austin said.
"Wherever you think Mason might be," Tanner said.
"You mean you're going to trust me?" Austin said, hope spilling over into his tone.
"Of course. A knight has to trust his partner, does he not?" Tanner said, and Austin was practically beaming.
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Mermaids in Massachusetts
Fantasy{Book Two of the "merpeople are ruining austin's life." Series} The bang. The sound. The snap. With that, mixed with the looks on his companions faces, it wasn't hard for Austin to tell that whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. Dust skittered f...
