Pulling into the docks, you looped the rope around the hook on the jetty and tightened it, keeping the boat in place. As well as throwing the anchor over the edge. The merman you'd made friends with sat in the boat with his new human form, entranced by the fact he could move his new legs.

It was a bit of an experience seeing a merman transform into a human as the sun just started to come up. Using the necklaces power he'd given himself a human form as long as the sun was up, when it went down he'd end up with a tail again. But, you should have known from simple logic but mermen don't really wear any clothes since they don't have anything to hide with a tail. So when he transformed he wasn't exactly wearing anything.

Wrapping him up in your raincoat to censor everything he was too focused on his legs to even notice his lack of clothes. Hopefully you had something that'd fit him at home, but the long rain coat will have to do for now.

"Alright, lets try walking" you said, turning to him and grabbing his hands.

You pulled him to his feet, slightly wobbly on them. You stepped onto the jetty, slightly lifting him up to get him onto it too. His feet firmly on the wood of the jetty you watched his feet.

"Put one in front of the other, use your knees and ankles" you explained.

He seemed focused, slightly stumbling at first. But as long as he was leaning on you he seemed to get the hang of it.

"Ok, I'll let go. Keep going you're doing good"

Slowly removing your hands from him, he wobbled a bit but stayed on his feet.

"It feels weird" he said.

"Well you've lived in the ocean all your life, feet on wood would feel a bit unnatural" you replied.

You watched him break a smile as the shakiness faded and he got the hang of walking.

"There you go, that wasn't that hard was it?" You said.

"Walking is easier than I thought"

"We'll to back to my house and get you some proper clothes, we'll figure out what to do from there... we should probably find a way to hide those webbed ears too..."

For some reason, the merman ears stayed in his human form despite his fins behind hidden away. They were a bit suspicious to a human unaware of merfolk. Better hide them. Walking up the dock and onto the street, turning a few corners you headed to your house. The sun was only just fully up and people were starting to get into their cars and head to work. L watched the cats go by in amazement, he'd probably never been close enough to land to see one before.

"What are those?" He asked.

"Cars, like boats for land"

"Do you have one?"

"Yeah, most people do"

Turning the corner into your driveway, you got to the front door, unlocking it and heading inside. L looked around at all the human things, having zero clue what half of them were.

"Alright, lets get you some clothes..."

You headed up stairs, L taking a second to figure them out and using the railing so he didn't fall. Heading into your room and opening your closet, L followed you in and started looking around at everything you had. He knew what some things were from finding them in ship wrecks before. Jewellery, photos, clothes, shoes, boxes and ornaments. But everything else was new to him.

As you looked through your clothes for something that would fit him, he walked up to the bed, poking it to see what it was. The sensation he felt was the softness of the blankets, so he pressed down on it to see what it'd feel like. To his surprise, the surface sank, it was soft and squishy. So of course, he flopped back into it.

"What's this thing?" He asked.

You turned to find him playing with the blankets.

"A bed, that's where I sleep. You put your head on the pillows and wrap up in the blankets to stay warm" you explained.

"It's so soft"

You handed him an oversized white shirt, and some jeans that were a bit too big for you.

"Put these on" you said.

"Do all humans have to wear clothes?" He asked.

"Yes, but these are comfortable I promise, I'm getting a hair brush"

Heading into your bathroom to grab a hairbrush, you left him to figure out the clothes. You dig around for some hair treatment and a brush. His hair was knotted and very salt damaged from living underwater his whole life. He wouldn't have even noticed it since he was underwater all the time.

When you got back, you found him looking in the mirror newly clothed, giggling to himself as he flapped the long sleeves around. Wow he was like a curious child that didn't understand the world yet. Figures though, he'd been alone and never on land who's whole life.

"I know that's a hair brush but what's that?" He asked.

"Treatment, your hair is very salt damaged since you've lived in the ocean your whole life, but this will repair it"

Rubbing it into his hair, he didn't seem to like it.

"It's slimy" he said.

"It's not that bad, it'll soak in eventually"

You then began to work on the knots, trying not to pull too hard with the brush. Had he ever brushed his hair? He probably never saw a need to. Actually... how to merfolk cut their hair? His hair was about neck length, a bit longer when wet, but surely he'd have to have cut it at some point? Otherwise he'd have really long hair having never cut it. Maybe they find scissors in shipwrecks or something.

His hair was very fluffy when it was dry, and despite being salt damaged it was soft.

"There, no more knots" you said.

He ran a hand through his hair, surprised it was so fluffy when it was dry.

"I can't remember the last time my hair was dry" he said.

"Well it'll be like that as long as you're up on land, what do you want to do?" You asked.

"What's the most human thing?"

"I have zero idea... we could... go to a cafe and eat human food?" You suggested.

His eyes lit up, nodding in agreement.

"I wanna try human food!"

"Let's go then"

On the way back out, you grabbed a hat and used it to cover his ears. You headed back down to the boardwalk to find a seaside cafe to eat at, humans starting to fill up the streets for breakfast.

"There's so many humans..." L said.

"There's about 7 billion of us in the whole world so yeah, a lot"

"7 BILLION?! How do you all fit? The ocean is way bigger than land and none of you can live in it? Doesn't the population overflow?"

"Yeah it kind of is... that's why there's so many tall buildings"

You picked out a cafe, looked over the menu and explained what all the options tasted like to L, and eventually he decided to try tea and muffins. You decided to get French toast and a smoothie in typical breakfast fashion. You sat at one of the tables outside, L insisting to curl up because he was used to having to do so to balance on rocks with his long tail.

"Human food looks so appetising" he said, looking down at his neatly decorated food.

"Try it"

He picked up the muffin, taking a bite. You watched the gears turn in his head for a moment as the flavour hit. He lit up, taking another bite.

"This is good! Humans have good food!" He exclaimed.

"Told you, what about tea? Try that. Those little bags have sugar in them that makes it sweeter"

He took a sip of the tea by itself, deciding it was to bitter. You watched him add sugar, taste it, then add more, taste it, add more. Using up 8 packs, he decided it was finally sweet enough.

"It's better this way. I like it sweeter" he said.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a sweet tooth there" you replied.

"Uh Huh! Sweet stuff is really good. I could eat all the sweet foods humans have and never be sick of it"

You smiled, watching him happily eat away the sugary treats. He was so curious and exiteable. He seemed a lot sadder out in the ocean. He obviously liked being a merman since he talked so fondly of the sea, but he was so lonely out there. His joy at anything human related or friendly was so cute.

Wait...

Oh god...

You're not falling for a merman you just met are you?

"You're the best (y/n), thanks for bringing me onto land!"

Fuck. You are.