Mermaids in Massachusetts

The Addition

Daylight prickled at the corners of the sky as the scream was heard. It seemed very out of place for whatever was going on.

"What the hell?" Tanner shouted, and swam after the noise. Austin was quick to follow. They turned the corner, and saw... something they weren't expecting. Or, something Austin wasn't expecting, at least. The man was collapsed on the ground, holding his hands above his head. It looked as if he was restrained by something that wasn't there.

"What the hell?" Austin repeated.

"It is Ian," Tanner said, heaving a sigh.

"But, I thought it was like, illegal for inner Teach violence or something."

"Not illegal, just immoral," Tanner muttered.

"Like you guys know anything about immoral," Austin said, rolling his eyes.

"Not the time, Ausy," Tanner said, rushing forward to break up the fight. Ian's skin flashed between clear and visible, and finally set itself normally. Tanner wrenched him off of the man, who stood up, looking a little offended. "I am so sorry," Tanner said. The man sighed, pulling a tight smile.

"It is... fine. It is fine," the man said.

"He cannot be trusted," Ian said. "He cannot be trusted!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Ian," Tanner muttered, and the maddened look in Ian's eyes faded out. "You are okay. It will be okay."

Tanner had explained this to Austin earlier. Cancers, Tanner and Ian included, tended to have outbursts of anger towards people outside of their Teach, especially during the day. Since it was technically sunrise then, this made a slight bit of sense to Austin.

"I'm sorry, this is a little ill timed, but I do not believe you have introduced yourself," Tanner said, and the man smiled.

"Yes, my apologies. My name is Tristan, Tristan Moreta," the man said. "And you are?"

"I am Tanner Cabella. This here is Ian Mallory, and you seem to have met Austin," Tanner said. Austin nodded. He wasn't quite sure if he'd ever heard their last names before.

"Pleasure to meet you all. Sorry if Austin and I got off on the wrong foot- hunts usually do go like that," the man, Tristan, said.

"It's fine," Austin felt himself saying, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"Great. So, I hear you are looking for Gavin Robinson's Teach," Tristan said.

"Uh, yeah. They have kidnapped one of our close friends-" Tanner started, but was cut off.

"I know, Austin told me. I really am sorry he is missing."

"He is not missing. I know where he is," Ian said, and Austin turned his head to look at him. It was still odd hearing Ian speak.

"Yes, Austin told me about your Kaitiaki Connection," Tristan said. Ian paused, jaw dropping. He turned on the spot, glaring daggers at Austin. Austin took a step back.

"You told him about it?" Ian said, irritation in his tone. "That is supposed to be private! We are not to speak of it, especially to strangers!"

Austin cocked his head. "Is this another thing you're not supposed to talk about?" he whispered to Tanner.

"It's like talking about your sex life in public. You are not supposed to mention it," Tanner whispered back.

"I'm sorry, Ian, I didn't know."

"Yeah. It is okay, Austin. It is fine." In that very moment, Austin knew exactly how Ian was feeling.

"We should probably get hunting," Tanner said, nodding towards Ian. "It is morning, afterall. Austin, you and Tristan get some rest. I expect to see you well and able tomorrow night. And Ausy?" Tanner added, suddenly changing his voice low.

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on Tristan for me. I do not trust him."

Austin fell asleep before his head hit the ground.

Being underwater, Austin assumed dreaming would've stopped. He wasn't quite sure why- maybe it was because of how different everything was above. But the dreaming didn't stop. If anything, it only became more vivid. That night, as Austin lied haphazardly on the ocean floor, Tristan not twenty feet away, he had a dream.

Tanner was there. In all six feet of glory, Tanner stood next to Austin. To Austin, the most important part was that he was standing. They were above, on land, standing. And they were holding hands. They stood in a park somewhere, trees waving in the wind, birds whistling. Ian and Mason were nearby, the two of them laughing about something or other. Mason's eyes were lit up, a smile stretching across his face.

They all stood. They all breathed air. They all walked. They were human. To Austin, that is all he wanted.

Unfortunately, that could never happen.

"Good morning, moonshine," Tanner muttered in Austin's ear, and Austin groaned, turning to face the other merman. "Or, goodnight, I suppose. Did you sleep well?"

"As well as I can on the floor of the ocean," Austin said. He elected not to tell Tanner about the dream- he thought it might sound weird, and didn't want Tanner to psychoanalyze it, like Austin was sure he would.

"Fair enough. We have got another day of travelling ahead of us, so it is probably best that you get up," Tanner said. Austin nodded, pulling himself off the ground.

"Where we headed?" Austin said.

"Oh, you know. Wherever Ian is headed," Tanner said, running a hand down his face.

"Bad hunt?" Austin said, reading Tanner's mood.

"Is it that obvious? We found nothing. No seafood, no veggies, no nothing."

"I'm sure you'll do better next time," Austin said, patting Tanner's shoulder.

"Thanks," Tanner said, walking over towards Tristan's sleeping figure. "I probably should wake him up."

"I mean, probably," Austin said, shrugging. "Why not."

Tanner lent down, nudging Tristan's side. "Wake up." With that, Tristan sat up quickly, eyes widening. "You're not dead, nor dreaming. I'll save you the questions. Now come on, we have a prince to save."

"Yeah," Tristan muttered, pulling himself off the ground. "Are we travelling at night?"

"Uh-huh. It is a little more dangerous, but we need to make up for lost time," Tanner said.

"Guys! Are you coming or not?" Ian called, and Tanner smiled.

"Let us go then?" Tanner said, and Austin and Tristan followed him to Ian.