Based on the prompt above.

T.W. Unintentional Misgendering.

Logan looked at his map, before looking back up at the waters they were approaching. His shipmates (and boyfriends) ha warned him of the sirens that lived in those seas. He didn't believe it one bit, but he couldn't help feeling slightly unnerved at the stories in the back of his mind.

Virgil sat on the edge of the boat, watching the waves as the vessel cut through the ocean. He watched how the light seemed to stop falling down after a few meters, plunging the rest of the ocean into pure blackness. His boyfriends moving over to stand with him turned his attention to them, as opposed to the fear he felt.

"Are you sure it's safe, Logan?" Roman peered over the edge of the boat, striking more fear into Virgil's heart, ready to catch his clumsy boyfriend. "There's a lot of stories about this area..."

"They're just tales, Roman. Sirens do not exist, much less this close to land."

Virgil leaned back against Logan, using his boyfriend as one would use the back of a chair, and smiled softy as Logan wrapped his arms around him.

Roman watched the waters, breath catching in his throat as something cut through the water. It was a fish or whale, surely. Logan was right, Sirens didn't swim this close to shore. He glanced at Logan, catching his eye and motioning to the waters below.

Logan leaned forward to watch, careful not to push Virgil too far forward. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Roman, trying to figure out what it was he was supposed to see.

"We need to get out of here," Roman murmured.

"Why?"

"I saw something, Logan. I swear."

"Roman, there is nothing to fear."

"I swear to you, there was something!"

A wave crashed over the opposite side of the boat, landing a small, seemingly human creature on the wood. Upon closer inspection, the creature had a blue tint to their skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. It smiled at them, revealing pointed teeth. Their toes were webbed together, and had small fins up and down their legs. Two sets of gills were visible on their neck.

"Believe me now, Logan?" Roman glared at Logan, fearing for their safety.

"Food?" The creature spoke, their voice too silky to belong to anything other than a siren.

"What are you?" Logan muttered to himself, intrigued by the mysterious creature.

"I, Patton. You?"

"I'm Logan. I'm a sailor. What are you?"

"Siren. Food now?"

Virgil smiled and retrieved an apple, handing it to the siren he knew as Patton. He watched with fascination as they ate it, using their sharp teeth to crush it before it had even entered their mouth. They ate the entire thing, core and all.

"Who you?" Patton looked at Virgil, touching his clothes.

"I'm Virgil, that's Roman." Virgil handed them another apple.

"He's just a hungry siren. Maybe he's vegetarian?" Roman looked at Virgil.

"No!" Patton's eyes darkened. "No he! Siren's no he. They."

"My apologies," Roman looked down.

Virgil laughed and handed Patton another apple. "What are we going to do with you? We can't feed you all of our food or we'll starve..."

"Travel?" Patton tilted his head. "I come too."

Logan pulled Virgil and Roman aside, the three of them talking about what to do with them. They couldn't just abandon Patton, but they also couldn't let him take all of their food. Eventually, they agreed to travel back towards their dock, and then set Patton back into the ocean.

So, they did. The four of them spent the next few days travelling back towards land, getting to know more about Patton and their species. It became known that Patton hated the rep they got, and wanted to make friends with the people, not eat them. Only if they did bad things, but their family did that, not Patton themself.

From then on, the three males kept a look out for their siren friend, happy to slip him an apple or five when needed.

674 words

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