THE WATERS :: ZAYN

humans

???

"Do you mind telling me what happened to you?" he asked carefully, moving to sit on the stool he was previously on.

"I was swimming kinda close to the shore and this shark came out of nowhere," she explained, sitting on the examination table with crossed legs. Her posture was perfect. "of course I swam away but he was catching up to me and I wasn't thinking at all when I leaped out of the water. The boulders were right there in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it," she put a hand to her forehead and tried not to cry, "my head hit the largest, sharpest one and my back was flat on the ground. I felt my spine on impact and I knew I was paralyzed. I cried and cried all night."

"Paralyzed?" Zayn repeated in shock, "did it heal while you slept?"

"Yeah," she replied timidly, "then I heard and...that stupid dog thing."

"Rhino?"

"No, the dog."

Zayn let out an airy laugh. "I named my dog Rhino. Same color as one, ya know?"

"Let me get this straight: humans name their animals after other animals?"

"Sometimes," he shrugged, "it's fitting."

"Not at all," she shook her head at his statement and he refrained from laughing again, "anyway, I could see you, too. Before while you were in the house, that's why I made a sound that I was hoping you'd hear."

"Oh," he now felt guilty, "this island is kinda...I would stay out there at night, it's super weird out there. So...you could see me without actually seeing me?"

"Yeah," Solána gave him a look.

"Echolocation?"

"If that's what you call it," he noticed the cut on her lip was now healed.

"So...you are a mermaid?" he wanted to get it right before asking anything else.

"Yes," Solána sighed with a small smile, "but don't tell, please."

"I promise," and he most definitely wouldn't tell, "but why do mermaids hide themselves all the time?"

"Because the human race already knows so much about the ocean by poking their weird faces in the it. I always believe that some things have to stay a mystery. Keeps things exciting."

Zayn grinned, looking down at his shoes.

"What are you thinking about?" Solána asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about how much you'd hate my job."

"What is it?"

"I'm a...a marine biologist. Ocean poachers, I guess you could say. But I don't kill anything if you're wondering."

"That's why you're on this island," she stated rather than asked, "figures."

"No, I'm on this island because I like it. Plus there's supposed to be a Giant Squid over here and I wanna know why it's in the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic."

"Oh," Solána stretched her legs out, "Giant Squids are real I'm sure. But they're way too close to the bottom of the ocean for me to see one clearly."

"I mean, that's understandable," Zayn shrugged, getting up and pulling at the blankets and other linen off the examination table, "nobody has really...nobody has really survived that expedition. People have died trying to find the biggest one but I'll be damned if I die for some shit like that."

"But don't you love your job?"

"I wouldn't say it's my job anymore. I got my money from discovering all I needed and wanted to, except the squid. I discovered several species of fish that are important to an ecosystem in the Indian Ocean. Do you think they care? I got my money and they got their information. Next thing I know they're out here illegally killing an endangered species. That's why I stopped working with my profession and turned it into a hobby."

Solána bit her lip. "So what happens when you find the squid?"

Zayn shrugged, throwing the blankets in a corner to wash later and replacing them with new ones. "I get happy, find out what I need to without hurting it, then mind my own business."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's no use in exposing something of that caliber to people who just want to poke at it for personal gain."

"What a humble human being you are."

"Thanks?" he chuckled, "are you hungry? What do mermaids eat?"

"Humans," and she said it with the most serious face so of course Zayn was scared for a second, "kidding, man. Although I'm sure you don't have any kelp or seaweed lying around here."

"Just ran out," he smiled, "what else do you eat?"

"Uh, to tell you the truth I don't live in the ocean. I live in a waterfall not too far. I only go to the ocean to eat like, seafood and stuff."

"So you don't eat actual fish," he clarified.

"That's like asking if you eat humans," she explained, "I hope you don't, that's not okay."

"Gotchu. So no meat?"

She put a hand to her chin in thought. "Last time I was on land, the year was...two thousand eight. I was in California and walking along the side. Weird clothing, I tell you. But I had some sort of sandwich thing. And I'm pretty sure it was a cow, that's what some girl beside me said."

"A burger," Zayn found it cute that she didn't know a lot of land stuff. He could definitely teach her something. "I have that. Was it good?"

"Yeah, it was."

"And cow meat is called beef," he informed, "since you can't walk, do you wanna get on my back?"

"Uh, okay. Where are we going?" Zayn felt her cold arms around his neck and her legs on his waist. His hands hooked under her knees and he opened he door to find Rhino lying right in front of it, his floppy ear to the door. "Cute," he stepped over the sleeping dog and made his way into the kitchen.

Solána sat on a stool and swung her legs back and forth. "So what else goes on the burger?"

"Nowadays, anything," he responded while he looked in the fridge for his leftover burger he got when he went into the city a few days ago, "but usually, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. Mine has mustard on it, too."

"Mustard? The yellow stuff?"

"Yeah," he pulled the container out and set in beside her, "and you know what a microwave is already?"

"That heats stuff up, doesn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he put the burger on a plate along with the fries and set in in the microwave, "sometimes they suck, 'cause the plate can be hot and the food's super cold."

"Technology," she shook her head and Zayn just laughed, throwing the container away. "Do you recycle?"

"Yes."

"Good."

???

this is actually boring I sort of apologize

sort of because I sort of dc what you think highkey