Logan had no concept of time locked in a cage constantly but he thought that it was late. Darkness had sapped what little light illuminated the brig and the birds and crew members and long fallen silent. The only sounds were the creak of the ship.

"Maybe Patton isn't coming." Logan thought. "Maybe he lucked out, got too scared. Maybe he told the Captain and she-"

Footsteps and the clatter of the brig door woke him from his thoughts. In the weak light of the shaded lantern and stars, Logan could just about see Patton's outline.

"Patton?" He whispered, just to check.

"Yeah, I'm here Logan. I'm sorry I took so long, there was this whole thing with the crew and..." Patton trailed off as he made his way down the brig steps. "I've got everything. You'll be alright out of water for a while?"

Logan nodded in the gloom. "Yes. I should be fine from here to the ocean." He flexed his tail and tapped the sides of his prison, impatient to get out.

The click of the lock was loud in the dark silence and Patton froze, counting in his head. His hearing was nowhere near as good as Logan's but he thought he heard nothing. After a minute, nothing had happened so Patton opened the lid of the tank.

Logan's markings were so much brighter without glass in between the mermaid and the pirate, distorting their light slightly. They shone like sunlight reflected in deep water. However, there was no time to contemplate over the colour and glow of soulmate markings.

Patton wrapped one of his arms around Logan's lower back and slipped his other hand under his tail, making sure he was secure before lifting him out of the water. The shiny sapphire and violet scales of the merman's tail went half way up his back, slowly fading into his skin. They were smooth and surprisingly warm to the touch. Patton tried not to blush too much as he realised how close they were.

Logan wrapped his arms around Patton's neck to better steady himself.

"You okay?" Patton's voice was barely above a whisper and not entirely even. He'd also realised what an intimate position this was. Logan didn't trust his own voice and nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

Logan winced as the cold night air hit his bare face, chest and arms. Weeks of being stuck in a small glass cage meant he didn't get much fresh, cool air. Patton managed to hurry over to the side of the ship, careful not to drop the precious person in his arms.

"I'm going to let go, okay?" He hissed. Logan nodded and loosened his grip on Patton's neck. "Three, two, one."

Logan felt Patton's arms leave his lower back and tail and suddenly he was falling down, down, down into the waves. The first smell and feel of the sea brine felt like paradise after the time spent in the stale water of his tank.

Logan flexed his tail and fingers, spreading his arms out wide and sighing contentedly. He was home.

"Pat?"

Patton jumped and looked up from watching the splash disappear into the waves.

"Pat, what are you doing out here?" Virgil asked. "And why is your shirt all wet?" Virgil's eyes widened in realisation before he even finished that sentence. "You didn't."

"I had to." Patton said, rubbing his arm.

"How? In what world did you have to let our prisoner go?!" Virgil asked, holding his lantern high over his head.

Patton didn't answer. "I love him." He said simply, instead. He didn't expect Virgil to understand and Virgil didn't.

"You love him? Pat, you can't be in love with a mermaid."

"How would you know?" Patton snapped. "You didn't know Logan like I did."

"I didn't need to!" Virgil said. He sounded like he wanted to yell but didn't want to raise his voice. "I didn't need to know anything about that mermaid to know that he's-" Arms with glowing blue markings reached up over the side of the ship and grabbed Patton, pulling him over the side.

"Pat!" Virgil yelled, dropping his lantern and running to the side. He was too late to see Patton disappear under the waves.

The first thing Patton registered was the cold water and how it stung his eyes. The second thing he registered was a pair of lips against his.

Patton's eyes flew open in surprise before screwing up against the salty water. Logan pulled back, his markings glowing like crazy and illuminating his blushing face.

"You can open your eyes, you know." Logan said and Patton could hear him perfectly. "The salt water won't sting anymore."

Patton opened his eyes tentatively and found that Logan was right. Feeling an itch at the side of his neck, he reached up and found lacy gills had grown, seemingly out of the side of his skin. There were delicate blue markings running up and down his arms too, the light coming from them like pale sea foam. Patton didn't even need to look down to realise he'd become a mermaid.

"I'm sorry, Patton." Logan said. He seemed so much more free under the sea. "I didn't give you a choice in whether you wanted to become like me but I couldn't lose you again. I left you once and I won't leave you again." He didn't dare look Patton in the eye.

"I don't mind, Logan." Patton said quietly. "It's gonna hurt to leave some ties broken but I'm glad to be with you again."

Logan looked Patton in the eye and Patton smiled, telling Logan that he really was fine without words. Logan returned his smile with a small one of his own.

"I'm glad." He reached forwards and took Patton's hand. He raised it to his mouth and kissed it gently. "I would've missed you terribly otherwise."

I-
Holy shit, I think I'm finished. Wait, lemme just process that for a second.
Holy fucking shit, I'm finished. Did I do good?
Bye,
Blaize