Darling with a Tail

Chapter 1 Part 1

"August! Go look over there!"
A young man in brown Carhartt work pants and a blue rain coat looked up at the sound of his name. He had short cut black hair and gray eyes. He and four other Marine Biologists were currently counting the number of Gumboot Chiton in the tide pools.
"Fine, I'm going."
August slowly worked his way over the slimy rocks, careful not to step in any of the pools of water or the numerous creatures that were lurking in them. He jumped slightly when the seaweed in the tiny pool of water near his hand suddenly swished. Upon closer inspection, he realized it had simply been a small fish caught in the pool.
Finally, the raven-haired male got to the pool his coworker, Davis, was talking about. It was fairly large, big enough to be one of those plastic kiddie pools. A rocky overhang sheltered part of the pool across from August. August grimaced, not looking foreword to crawling around on this sharp rocks.
"Thank goodness these Chitons are typically relatively large." He thought.
August shuffled closer to the pool, looking for the reddish creature. Counting three, he sat up to record the number but came face to face with a pair if green eyes peering at him from under the overhang.
The person stared at him, eyes wide. August was shocked at first, but quickly realized that it was a young man or woman whom he had startled.
'I have to be careful.' He thought. 'They may be dangerous.'
"Hey there, you shouldn't be under there. It's dangerous." He said, extending his hand to help pull the person out.
The person continued to stare at August. To August, it almost seemed to be shaking.
'Must be cold. He doesn't seem to be wearing a shirt.'
"Come on, it's cold in the water." August told the person as gently as he could.
Slowly, the person moved out of the shadows towards August, they're legs still hidden under the overhang.
The person appeared to be a young man with shaggy chocolate-colored hair. August couldn't help but notice how pretty he was, but quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.
When the person put his hand in August's, the raven-haired man nearly pulled away because of how cold it was.
"You really need to come out of there. You're cold to the touch."
August then noticed the hands. They were webbed, like a frogs.
'This is really odd.' August thought, but shook it away. Now was not the time to be critical.
The man moved suddenly, splashing, splashing the water everywhere. August saw a flash of silverish brown. He shouted as he fell backwards, with a shout, onto his butt and shuffled back as best he could while the person, no, merman pulled themselves up onto the rocks, dripping wet.
August couldn't believe his eyes. A merman (at least, he thought it was a man) was sitting in front of him. It's tail was beautiful , glistening, with silverish brown scales, and a large translucent fluke. It sat with it's tail curled in, supporting itself with it's arms.
August stared at the creature.
'Never in a million years,' He thought. 'Did I think I would see a mermaid.'
August reached out to touch it, but it shrank back, as if fearful.
"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. Do you even understand me?" August said, still reaching out to touch the merman.
Suddenly, he heard people yelling his name.
"August! August, where are you!?"
August ripped back his hand as they came over the shoulder of the rocks. Gasps could be heard as they saw what had made him shout.
The merman's eyes widened when he spotted them and pressed himself against the ground, reminding August of an angry cat.
It jumped back into the water, hiding itself under the overhang once more.
"No, no, no, it's okay." August told it quickly, trying to coax the creature back out. "They aren't going to hurt you."
"August! What is that thing!? Are you okay!?"
"Davis! Stop with the yelling. You're upsetting him." August told the woman. She opened her mouth to say something more, but August brought a finger to his mouth and shushed her.
"Come on out. It's alright."
Slowly, the merman came out of the alcove, creeping towards August while warily watching the other four.
August heard a couple 'Ahhs' and an 'oh wow', but he was only focused on the beautiful creature pulling itself onto the rocks next to him.
It still warily watched August's coworkers.
"Guys, and Davis," He added when the woman shot him a cold glare. "Go back to what you were doing."
August glared up at the four before they could argue.
John nodded, knowing August meant business, and grabbed Felix's shoulder to turn him around. The two started to make their way down the way they came, Corin following close behind. Davis turned to leave, but as she did so, August gasped, turning her attention back to the two.
"Davis! He's bleeding!"
"What‽"
Davis slid down the rocks as quickly as she could without hurting herself. The merman flinched, but for some reason didn't shrink back as far as it had when the others had been there.
"Where? Where is he bleeding?" She asked.
"It's on his belly." August responded, reaching to grab the merman's wrist.
It yelped, pulling it's wrist away from August. August then noticed the brownish blue marks on it's wrist. Gently, August grabbed the merman's forearm and hand and looked at the marks.
"Bruises? What happened to you?"
August looked up from the bruised wrists to the creature's face. A steady stream of tears fell down his face. August didn't really think, instead, he just acted, pulling the merman into his arms.
"August," Davis started, a shocked tone in her voice. "I need you to turn him on his side so I can check his wounds."
Slowly, August turned the merman on his side, still holding him close. The merman held onto August tightly, hiding his face in the raven's arms.
"He's got cuts and scrapes all over his belly. There's also more bruises. For the most part, the cuts seem to be fairly shallow, but there are two I'm worried about."
"The rocks are sharper here then where I am from."
Both August and Davis froze and looked at each other, then down at the merman.
"You can talk?" August whispered, voice cracking when he said 'talk'.
The merman nodded, but continued to hide his face in August's chest.
There was a pregnant pause before Davis spoke.
"What happened to you?" She asked after finally gathering the courage to do so.
The merman stayed silent and unmoving as Davis inspected his wounds.
"What's your name?" August asked breaking the second pause.
"H-Huh?" The merman asked, caught off guard by the question.
"Your name. What's your name?" August repeated.
The merman mumbled something that August didn't understand.
"Could you repeat that?" He asked.
"I said, my name is Meadow." The merman told him.
"Meadow, huh? I'm August and that's Davis." He said, gesturing to the woman.
Suddenly, Meadow yelped and flinched sharply.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Davis repeated, trying to calm the poor creature.
"August," she started, but didn't look away from Meadow's stomach. "These are a lot worse than I thought. The scratches on his back are bad too."
"And?" August asked, holding Meadow just a little closer. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to protect the merman.