A/n: a self indulgent AU with art ^^ bet. Bruh I STILL haven't grown out of my mermaid/ocean mythology phase.

Au: merman L.

The life of a sailor, quiet most of the time. Apart from the occasional splash of a fish jumping from the water. You never really went out in rough seas, as you were more of a leisure sailor. Growing up by the sea to parents who fish for a living, the ocean was like a second home, or at least the boat was. Tonight, you sat out off the coast of a nearby small island, sometimes you just liked to hang out at sea, watch the waves, listen to the silence and white noise of water.

That's what you were doing tonight, laying out in your boat anchored just off shore to the small uninhabited island about an hour away from the mainland. You were always called a free soul by your friends and family for doing things like this. But it was so refreshing after a long work day on land.

But something was off about tonight, it was so silent. Too silent, until something began to ring in the distance. Something like... singing.

A males voice harmonising, echoing in the distance. You sat up, looking around but seeing nothing but water.

"There's... no one for miles..." you mumbled to yourself.

The moonlight wasn't enough, so you grabbed your heavy duty torch and shone it around, still seeing nothing. The singing was beautiful, but where on earth was it coming from? Maybe the island?

Slowly steering the boat closer to shore, you scanned the rocks, the shoreline, the reef. Nothing.

Maybe someone was camping on the island? Or maybe there's another boater around the other side of the island?

"That's so weird... some pirate ship tale shit..." you laughed.

Grabbing the torch again, you shone it along the shoreline one more time. The singing sounded like it came from the shore, but you couldn't place were. When the light passed the rocks, it stopped leaving you in silence again, only the waves gently crashing on the shore. You shrugged, thinking it was just hippie campers on the island or something.

You went to go lay back down in the boat when from the corner of your eye you saw a shimmer by the boat. Looking over the side, you saw nothing.

"Probably a fish, there's a reef under me anyway..."

You sat back down, looking out at the island shoreline when there was a bump under the boat, making it rock a little. You jumped, not expecting it. Looking over the side again, you saw nothing.

"Is there a reef shark under me or something..?"

This time, it was a splash, something quickly flicking out of the water. Whatever it was, it was circling you. You didn't panic though, it was a strong boat you had. The only thing that could break it was a massive storm or big knock against the rocks. Thinking maybe a reef shark was checking you out, you grabbed the torch again, shining it in the water in hopes of seeing it. You didn't catch a shark, but something shimmery did swim past.

"Big fish? Didn't think there'd be something that big in waters this shallow"

You turned to put the light down, and when you did you got the fright of your life. On the other side of the boat, was a person hanging onto the edge. You jumped, almost stumbling off the boat. What on earth was a fucking human doing out in the water this late?

Or... was it a human?

"Uh... hi" you said.

He didn't speak, just watched. You starred at each other. He looked human, but he had... webbed ears. And an angler fish like light on his head. His eyes were big and tired looking. He had soaking black hair that clung to his skin. You took a step toward him.

"What are you doing in the ocean this late man? Shark hours" you said.

He looked up at you as you got closer, and when you looked over the side of the boat with the torch it all fell into place. Behind him in the water was a long shiny blue tail. He was the one singing and knocking the boat. He was probably alerted by you shining the light at the shoreline.

"Siren? No... you'd be drowning me if you were a siren. But you're just... sitting there. Merman, can merfolk talk..." you rambled.

You sat on the seat of the boat, as the merman starred you down.

"I'm talking to a merman... holy shit. The sailors tales were right, they do exist..." you sighed in disbelief.

His gaze went from your eyes to your legs, starring at  them. He's probably never seen a human up close before. If he worked the same way fish do, that light on his head meant he was a deep sea dweller and probably didn't come to the surface often.

"So you're just going to stare at me?" You asked.

He looked up at your face, then your legs. Then the boat rocked as he pulled himself out of the water and onto the edge of the boat. He reached for your legs, grabbing your ankle with his cold, wet hands.

"Uhh..."

"Legs..." he said.

"Y-yeah thats legs" you replied.

"Human"

"Yep, that's me... you've never seen a human up close have you?"

He shook his head, looking down at your legs. You decided to let him examine your legs, for education. He didn't seem to be dangerous so you weren't worried he'd pull you in. You shifted your gaze to his tail, side fins on his hips, big flaring fluke at the end, shimmery scales all in a striking blue. Extra fins ran along his arms and back, he must be very fast underwater. Reaching out to touch his tail, the contact made him jump.

"You're touching my legs, were even" you said.

His tail was smooth, kind of slimy like all fish were, a bit ridged because of the scales. Just like a fish.

"If you're going to stare at my legs can I at least have your name?" You asked.

"L... how do legs work?"

"Just the letter?"

"Yes, what are these things?" He asked, tapping your knees.

"Knees, they bend so we can walk. So do ankles. I'm (y/n) by the way"

"(Y/n)... sounds very... human"

"Well I'm guessing merfolk and humans have different ideas for good names" you said.

"Your feet are small, why aren't they long and thin like the people with masks?"

You gave him a confused look for a moment, then you realised he meant divers. Flippers and gogggles.

"Those long things are flippers. All feet are like this. Flippers are just things we put on our feet to swim faster"

It was like a lightbulb went off in his head when you said that, a connection being made.

"Water shoes?" He asked.

"Yeah... you could say it like that"

Honestly, you were astounded you weren't scared shitless. I mean, you're talking to a live merman, he's sitting on the edge of your boat, touching your legs, asking you questions. All the sailors tales end in death by sirens and mermaids. But this merman was just very curious. Maybe they aren't even that bad, they just attack when humans attack first as self defence. There are stories from olden times about humans trying to catch merfolk after all.

"Was that you singing?" You asked.

"Yeah. Humans have those talking boxes to call other humans. We sing"

"Talking boxes? Oh, phones. There's more of you?"

"Somewhere... I haven't found any. But I know there's more, I hear them sing but when I go to look there's no one there..."

Hold on. Was this merman abandoned by his pod? Are the others avoiding him? You could hear the singing from miles away there's no way other merfolk could miss it.

"They're... gone when you look for them?" You asked.

"Yeah, the last time I saw another merperson was as a guppy"

Guppy? Is that mermaid for child? Must be. So he was abandoned by his pod. Why?

"So you learnt to talk how?" You asked.

"Watching humans in their boats. Humans are cool, expect for when they dump stuff in the ocean and the fish eat it. But the humans with the flippers and the humans on the speedy boats are fun"

Divers and and jet skiers probably. They didn't really harm the ocean that much so it made sense why he'd be curious about them.

"I don't know why they're all gone. I just want someone to talk to. Fish can only say so much" he added.

So that's why he approached you... he was lonely. And a single girl in a medium sized boat can't really cause much harm to a merman so you were probably a safer option to approach then say, a fishing boat. You'd always heard in storied that merfolk stick to their pods, so a lone merman would be pretty lonely out here in the massive ocean all by himself.

"Well you're talking to me now, what do you want to know?" You asked.

His eye lit up, as did the little light on his head.

"Can you take me to see land?" He asked.

"That might be a bit of a problem. You can't exactly get around with a tail" you said.

"Oh I can use my moonstone to get legs in the sun. I never have because I don't know how to use them, but you can help!"

He took the chain around his neck off, holding it out for you to look at. It had a translucent white stone on the end, that glistened in the moonlight. Honestly you weren't that surprised that this necklace was apparently magic because... well, you were talking to a merman.

"Well... it would be interesting to see how a merman reacts to land things..."