Chapter Text
November 8, 2018
Finally, school was over. Alfred already knew where he was going to go. He pedaled faster to feel the wind fly past his face. He liked that feeling. It made him feel like he was flying. Like he had no worries in the world. The breeze moved the tall grass and the long branches on the trees. The sun beat down onto his skin. The pebbled, dirt road made his bicycle shake slightly. I should reflate the tires…I’ll do that when I get home, he told himself for the third time this week.
After about thirty minutes, he finally got there. He stopped his bike and hopped off. He grabbed the handle bars and walked over to a tree, letting it lean against it. He looked around and took a breath of the familiar pine scent. It was a fairly secluded area. A big lake, surrounded by tall trees and overgrown grass. Although the did see people here every now and then, it was usually empty. Mainly because the road leading to it was too narrow for a car and people didn’t want to walk all that way.
A few feet away was a dock. It wasn’t too big but big enough for a few people to sit on. Made of old wood, algae clung to the part of the pilings that met the water. He walked over to the dock and sat down, letting his legs dangle off the edge of it.
He sat for a few moments, letting the sound of the wind and crickets fill his thoughts, before he let out a sigh. His shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes. The weight of his backpack slightly pulled him backwards so he shrugged it off his shoulders and put it beside him.
Getting annoyed with the silence, he started talking. “Oh man I’m soo tired. At least I can always come here and chill though!” he said to himself. He didn’t know who he was talking to. He just wanted to fill the quiet. He waited for a few seconds, hoping someone would respond. Nothing.
He shifted his position, starting to get uncomfortable. Not noticing how his hand was under his backpack, he lifted it. His backpack quickly fell off the dock and plunged into the water. It took him a few seconds to realize what happened. “Oh crud!” he yelped and leaned over the edge of the dock, hoping to see his backpack. His hands clenched the side of the dock as he leaned further. Realizing that his backpack was really gone, he let go of the edge and slouched, hanging his head. “Dude my bag…that had my homework in it! This sucks…” he groaned.
Too busy with mourning the loss of his backpack, he didn’t notice the bubbles that rose to the surface of the water. A few seconds later his backpacked got flung out of the water and landed on the dock beside him. He jumped and let out a totally manly yell. “Well that was unexpected,” he mumbled. He stared at the backpack for a few seconds until he realized, how did it fly out of the water? “How the…” he started but got cut off when he looked at the lake.
It was a person. Only the top half of his head was above the water. That’s odd. There weren’t any bikes here so how the heck did he get here? And the closest building was a half-mile away so he didn’t think anyone would walk here. “Hey! Thanks dude but I don’t know if that water is clean to swim in!” he shouted. Obviously, that was a lie but he was too lazy to correct himself. The person stared at him for a bit longer before going back underwater. Who the heck was that? he wondered. He got snapped out of his thoughts, as he saw a tail come out of the water. It looked like a fish..? No way a fish that big exists! Unless…
“I- wh- WAS THAT A MERMAI- MAN?!” he exclaimed. The tail went back underwater as quick as it came up. He froze, unsure of what to do. Holy- those things are real?! No way… I need to get a closer look! he told himself. He laid down on the dock horizontally and reached one arm out towards the water. He tried to touch the water but he couldn’t reach it. Curse my short arms…
“Dude! Hey! Come back! I didn’t mean to scare you! I’m sorry!” He kept his hand hovering above the water. He started to lose hope until bubbles surfaced. Wet. He felt something wet. He squinted his eyes to see more clearly. It was the person. His hair flattened under his hand. A bit awkward but ok… “Heyy…uhm…” Alfred mumbled. He wasn’t sure what to do or say. The person continued to stare at him, unblinking. Alfred stared back but with softer eyes. Now that he was staring directly at the person, he was able to see better.
He had a somewhat round face with pale skin. His hair was slightly overgrown and tangled; it was an ashen blond color. His eyes were a light shade of violet. They stood out against his white eyelashes. A soft shade of pink lightly dusted his cheeks.
Alfred never seen anyone like him before. Probably because it’s not everyday you meet a merman. His fingers mindlessly twirled his hair. He shifted his position so he was resting his head against one of his hands while the other continued to twirl the other persons hair.
“Honestly I’m not sure what you are but you’re cool..? I’m Alfred by the way,” he said as his smile slightly widened. After a few seconds, he retracted his hand and sat upright with crisscrossed legs. They stared at each other some more until the person brought a hand above water to point at himself. His hand was scarred and seemed almost claw like. “Ivan,” he said in a quiet - almost hush - voice.
“Woah. You talk?” Alfred replied in slight surprise. At first he hoped that Ivan could understand him but now he could speak English too? Perfect! “Da,” Ivan said. “Awesome!” Alfred was starting to think this Ivan guy wasn’t that bad! He grabbed his backpack and moved it to the other side of him. He quickly patted the spot on the dock next to him and said, “You wanna come sit with me?” Alfred wasn’t even sure if he was able to go out of water - he hoped so.
Ivan narrowed his eyes at him. He seemed to be deep in thought. After a few seconds he nodded and grabbed the edge of the dock to pull himself up. It took him a while to balance himself but he eventually got it. He looked over at Alfred just to see his jaw dropped. He tilted his head, not understanding Alfred’s reaction.
Alfred couldn’t move. Was this a dream? It had to be! He snapped out of his thoughts to ask something. “Holy crap dude! I figured you were a merman thing but now that you’re actually here, I don’t know what to think!- And why are your eyes purple? What’s with the accent? Are you gonna die if you stay on land too long? And what about…” Alfred continued to ramble. His voice was loud. He spoke as if he didn’t think of what to say, he just said whatever was on his mind.
Ivan stared at Alfred in confusion as he rambled. He wasn’t to sure what he was saying. Halfway through Alfred’s rambling, he decided to speak up. “Err…you talk…fast. Don’t understand,” Ivan said timidly.
Alfred froze. That’s probably the first time he heard Ivan say a full sentence(kind of). He blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh- yeah sorry ‘bout that! I tend to talk a lot. My dad says I’m a chatter box,” he laughed to himself. Ivan nodded and silence fell upon them. “So…” Alfred started after a few moments, “what exactly are you..?” Ivan darted his eyes away and shrugged. “Uhm…not sure,” he said nervously.
He didn’t know? Alfred thought that was a bit weird but shrugged it off. “Well…I’ll help you figure it out’ ‘Cus I’m the hero!” Alfred said with a grin, pointing to himself.
Ivan giggled at how cheery Alfred acts. He never met someone that acted this…happy? He couldn’t quite place the word. He’ll probably figure it out later. “Da, you are,” he said unable to hold back a smile.
Alfred felt a warm feeling spread through him as he saw Ivan smile. He looked nicer when he smiled. Noticing that Ivan got distracted with staring at the fish in the lake, he took the opportunity to look at him more closely. Like his hand, his entire body was scarred. He wanted to ask him about it but they just met and he figured it’s probably a touchy subject. The most noticeable one was the scar that wrapped around his neck. His gut churned at the sight. Ivan looked to be about his age too. He directed his gaze away from the scar(s) to look at his tail. There were two small pectoral fins (on the side of his hips) that were a dark violet color. His tail was a light purple that faded into a soft lilac color. The small scales on it glistened in the bright sunlight. The caudal fin was also a soft lilac color and had thin spines that kept its shape. Alfred looked back at his torso and noticed three pink, curved lines on his sides. He assumed they were gills and brought his gaze back up to Ivan’s face. Slightly poking out of his messy hair were his ears. Like his tail, they were purple and had three small spines
Alfred shook his head in disbelief and averted his gaze to the fish that Ivan got distracted looking at. Maddie is never going to believe me. He thought about what his sister would think of this. Alfred, sitting on a dock, with an actual mermaid. She probably wouldn’t believe him but play along. She always did. His dads didn’t even know he came here. No one does except his few friends; Gilbert, Lovino, and Sadik. He had more friends but there were the ones that came to the lake with him. This was their not-so-secret hideout. They usually came here in the summer to swim and explore the woods but they also came during the school year to relax. I should show them Ivan, next time they come here! That’ll totally like blow their brains out!
“Alfred?” Ivan said and Alfred blinked to look back at his face. “Huh? Yeah dude?” Alfred asked. “I was saying name a lot. Didn’t respond,” Ivan huffed. He was saying Alfred’s name? He didn’t even notice! “Oh sorry dude! I was like totally zoned out y’know?” Ivan stared at him and nodded slowly. He was most definitely clueless about what Alfred just said. Ok maybe some English lessons are required…
So they talked. For hours. The sun started to set and the stars slowly climbed into the sky. The wind now longer howled, for it went into hiding. Crickets sang louder, as they hid in the tall grass. Alfred led most of the conversations they had while Ivan nodded half the time and pretended to know what he was saying.
“And then-“ Alfred got cut off with a yawn “-oh man…I’m tired. What ‘bout you?” He turned to look at Ivan. “Da,” he replied with a curt nod. Alfred tore his eyes away from Ivan, after what felt like hours, to look at the sky. The sun was resting atop the trees. Towards the East the stars started to get higher and higher. “Dang, the sun is setting…I should head home,” he said with a twinge of sadness. He turned to his side to grab his backpack before Ivan spoke up.
“Be here tomorrow?” he asked. He didn’t want Alfred to leave, but he knew he had to go. Alfred couldn’t stay here forever, he had a family and friends to go back to. “Hm?” Alfred looked over his shoulder to see Ivan. “Oh! Yeah dude! I’ll stop by here everyday, if you want me to! You want me to visit, right?” Ivans eyes slightly widened in a panic, “I- da!” Alfred nodded and stood up, tossing his backpack over his shoulder. “Good because I was gonna come anyway!” he paused and looked away, “well uh…I should go now.” Ivan looked up at him and let out a small sigh, “mm…da..”
They both went silent, as Alfred looked back at him. Like most times whenever they both went quiet, they stared at each other. Neither of them bothered to look away. It didn’t even seem like Alfred noticed it. Ivan stared back but with slight confusion. “Hello?” Ivan said to break the silence. Alfred blinked then frantically looked away. “I- uh yeah sorry! Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” Alfred turned and started to walk away. He looked behind him and waved at Ivan. “Bye!” he said with a wide smile. “Bye.” Ivan replied back and awkwardly waved to him.
Alfred walked over to his bicycle and grabbed the handle bars, moving it away from the tree. He hopped into it and started to pedal away from the lake. He looked behind him to see Ivan still looking at him. He shrugged and turned to look back at the pebbled road, surrounded by tall grass. He pedaled faster so he could make it home before it got dark. His dad’s usually worked late so he was able to go out to place before they came home. Fireflies started to dance in the sky, around him.
Well today was…unexpected, to say the least. I wonder what excuse I’ll tell the teacher about my homework. “Sorry Mr.Edelstein I dropped my bag in a lake and a merman saved it!” Yeah right!
So as Alfred went home and Ivan sat upon the dock, they both wondered what surprises tomorrow would bring - for the both of them.