A/N: (bro just a note, this is literally like, so old xDD I made this mOOONTHS AND MONTHS AGO but never posted it. So uh, here ya go? This is bAD bUt eYyYyyy-) Human Ritchie and Mermaid Austin! This came to me at 1am and I had to write it down.

Paring(s):
Implied Austin/Bri
Platonic Ritchie/Austin

Warning(s):
 Plastic in the ocean

Summary:
Ritchie loves the beach, it's practically his home! He's a young boy and lives alone, all by himself. He decided to live near a cove in a cozy little cabin where it's just him and the open ocean. But on one of his daily night walks, he sees the glimmer of something sparkly in the water... was that a tail?!

Character(s): Ritchie (mainly him) and Austin. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Ritchie was on one of his nightly walks. He breathed in the salty sea water along with the soft and cold sand. He loved the ocean, it was his home. He smiled just thinking about it.

When he was a kid and first went to the beach, he was ecstatic. So ecstatic that he didn't want to leave! Ritchie chuckled at the memory. He loved the way the waves crashed onto the beach, being suddenly retracted back into ocean once again, only for the process to repeat itself. He loved how the sun and moon looked as the light rippled off the water, he loved how mysterious and dangerous it's always been known to be. Adventure was always right around the corner.

He simply just loved the ocean, but he mainly loved the creatures lurking around the deep depths of the water. He wanted to become a marine biologist actually, that's something that he was studying for online. You see, Ritchie didn't go to a normal school like everyone else anymore.

His parents weren't ever around and they sure aren't coming back... for reasons. He just didn't feel like he fit in. Like something was missing. He had no friends, always sat alone, had good grades, bullied.

The ginger soon shook his head. These were the last things he wanted to think about, the main reason he took these nightly walks was to get a clear mind. Ritchie was starting to think he was an insomniac for not getting enough sleep, but he just assumed he wasn't tired. Besides, who would want to sleep with a beautiful ocean right outside your cozy home? Not him, that's for sure.

Ritchie walked across the sand, nearing the edges of the water, when he saw something up ahead. It was white, with holes. He squinted his eyes to get a better look yet he couldn't find out what it was. He picked up his pace and crouched down to it. He discovered that it was... litter! It was a piece of plastic! 

He huffed and picked it up, if there was one piece then there were more. It always goes into a clutter. Ritchie liked to keep his cove clean so creatures could come in and out by the tide pools, he always found something interesting lurking around there.

Ritchie looked around in the ocean and on land for anymore more plastic. When he couldn't find any he lifted himself back up to go to his little cabin... when he saw something ripple in the water.

He looked out over beyond the reef, glancing left to right. Huh, odd, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. 'It was probably just a fish', he thought. He could have been imagining things but he could have sworn he saw a slight glimmer of something in the water.

Probably more litter, he'd come back in the morning to clean it up.

Ritchie picked up his pace and turned around. Beginning the journey back to his home, unaware of the pair of eyes staring into the back of his forehead...

Ritchie woke up bright and early at the time of 6 o'clock, he wouldn't normally be up this early. And if he was then he would be studying, but after last night he suddenly felt like treating himself.

He got up as he pulled the cover off of him and swung his legs to dangle off the bed.

He stretched his hands up and pulled them back down with a sigh. He felt like today was going to be a good day for some reason.

Ritchie was back down by the tide pools of his cove to see what had been left. He brought with himself an old strongly hand-stitched bag, with his backpack on his shoulders that held some useful items.

When he reached the cove, he softly sighed. Now beginning to look around. He saw a plastic can and water bottle sitting in the small pool of water. He walked over to it and bent down to pick it up. He put it in his bag and kept walking.

After about 10 minutes of collecting, he had some old-timey coins, wet crayons, a ripped page of a children's book, a sand dollar, and a lot of litter. He scoffed at the thought of people still harming the ocean. Jeez, humans are so careless.

He set down his bag and went to stretch his back when all of a sudden he heard a splash of water. He hummed in confusion.

Was there a creature nearby? He shrugged mentally and put down his arms. He set down his backpack on the rocky, sandy floor and he carefully walked around to the tide pools.

He looked up ahead to see a big rock where the splashing got louder, and more fierce. Whatever this sea creature was, it seemed to really want to get back in the ocean.

No matter, Ritchie would just help the... whatever it is. He could hear the splashes stop and something huff a breath of air. That's a bit odd... He walked in his sandals with a soft click in each step and walked around the rock.

What he saw shocked him, his mouth falling slightly ajar in pure awe. There's was a... what are they called again?

Mermaid! Or well, it looked to be a merman to be specific. The creature had a dark blue tail at his hips and the longer it went the lighter shade it was, there were slight scars on it from moving some much in the small pool of water. It barely went up to his stomach. His tail was a beautiful shade of dark blue and aqua with dots. He had peach skin as he moved to look now up to his torso. One of his hands were caught in one of those mini plastic can containers with multiple holes in it, like the one he found last night.

He looked up to see his eyes... that were staring right back at him. 

He jumped slightly with a small gasp but the merman jumped back farther, or well, as much as he could with the small amount of water he had. His eyes were with filled with fear as he struggled, even more, to pull back his arm that was stuck with the plastic and the rocks holding it in place.

On his black raven hair sat a... what is that? It looked like a panda hat. It was dripping water, yet somehow it didn't even look wet!

Ritchie tilted his head a little just looking at it but was pulled from his thoughts went he heard the merman's voice draw a quick and sharp breath. His movements becoming more frantic. His wrist was starting to become more red and purple as he struggled, cutting off blood circulation.

He was losing blood circulation, Ritchie had to act fast. 

"Hey!" He called out as he began to walk closer up. The merman flinched violently away in response, recoiling back as far as possible. Ritchie stopped short, seeing the fear and helplessness as clear as day. Okay. Ritchie quietly cleared his throat. He had to be gentle. Got it.

"Hey," he called out in a much softer tone. The merman abruptly stopped moving, causing Ritchie to hold back a surprised blink, and looked at him. Deep in his eyes. They still showed fear but, they were almost soothing as the ocean itself reflected in those dark blue orbs. They had a slight twinkle to them now that Ritchie saw it closer up.

"I... didn't mean to scare you." Ritchie quietly started out. 

The merman eyed him suspiciously up and down, soaking in his appearance. Ritchie did his best not to frown at this, and just asked: "Are you hurt?"

The merman looked back at the human's eyes with an annoyed look, of course he was hurt! He had this stupid piece of plastic stuck to him. 

Ritchie noticed the look and mentally facepalmed. "Right, of course, you are hurt. Ah, sorry." The merman's eyes had amusement in them now other than fear, it was definitely a better look for him.

Ritchie peered down at the rocky path, and back to the tide pool the merman was resting in. "May I come closer?" The merman looked at him for a little bit, and then the plastic on his wrist, it was starting to feel numb.

The merman observed the human very cautiously, he looked down to the small body of water he was half resting in. It's not like he could go anywhere. And the human seemed nice, so...

He ended up slightly nodded his head. Ritchie gave a small smile and walked slowly over to the tide pool. The merman tensed as he saw his sandals but soon, they dilated with curiosity, similar to a cat. Those were legs! And feet! He's never had any of those before. All he had was a simple tail. He wondered how they worked...

Ritchie walked over to the rock that had the merman's wrist and arm stuck, he slowly extended his arm out and put his hand on it. Gently feeling around. The merman tensed up a little more as he felt his fingers on his arm, but it didn't feel as... cold as he thought. A good cold, but he also felt the warmth of his palm. The merman found himself relaxing a little bit and moved his hand slightly closer. Whether it was because he liked the warmth, or to help, was unknown.

Ritchie paid no mind to it as he untangled the plastic safely from the merman's wrist. "There we go." He smiled as he stood back, with the plastic in his hands. Proudly admiring his work.

The merman pulled his arm away from the human and hugged it tightly to his chest, he slowly could start feeling it again but there was still a faded red rash.

He turned it around to himself. Looking at it over and over again- it almost made Ritchie nervous, until he heard a happy hum. The merman looking back at the human appreciatively. Ritchie just kindly smiled at him. "I'm glad your wrist is feeling better. Sorry about the rash," he apologized, his eyebrows furrowing.

The merman waved his free hand up at him, as if saying, 'it's cool bro'. 

Ritchie seemed to let his smile widen at this sight, he was communicating with him! A real merman! Well, maybe now was a good chance to- "My names Ritchie," - the ginger suddenly introduced - "what's your name?"

The merman looked up at the human, or Ritchie as he called himself, and for a second. He waded in the water, as still as could be. Until he opened his mouth to speak. "Austin." 

His voice was smooth but had a slight scruff to it, it sounded nice. "That's a nice name." Now that Ritchie didn't have so much worry in him, the realization of the situation set in. He was talking to a merman. A merman! Was he hallucinating? Well, this seemed real enough.

"Can you help me? Again." Austin quietly asked. Ritchie looked at him and tilted his head. "What do you need help with?" Austin raised an eyebrow as he gestured to the small pool of water he was wading in, his tail fin poking out of the waves. Ritchie mentally facepalmed again and flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, right."

Austin chuckled in amusement and rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe he had met and no less was bonding with a human! 

Ritchie came close to the merman, who was less tense thankfully, and put his hands out- but soon he pulled back, looking hesitant and unsure. "Uhh, how do we? Can I...? You know-"

Now. Austin wasn't used to strangers touching his tail, Bri was an exception of course- but still! He really needed to go back in the ocean! So he just sighed and slowly put his arms out, similar to how a child would ask to be picked up, with a head nod. 

Ritchie put on a determined look, right, and slowly put an arm on his back while he went to pick up his tail. But he was still hesitant.

He just let out a strained sigh and touched where his bottom would be...

Ritchie allowed his eyes to widen a fraction. He was... surprised? He thought it would be slimy but no, he could honestly feel how the scales were pressed into his smooth yet ruff tail. If you went along with the way they were facing, it was like a smooth bumpy rock. But if you went the opposite way it was like sandpaper. 

He soon shook his head with a small huff, he was getting distracted. Austin was watching with, to Ritchie's surprise, delight. "You alright there?"

Ritchie blushed a little bit, bashfully tilting his head away. "Yeah, just want to make sure I'm not violating you." The merman scoffed lightly, lifting a hand up to wave him off again. "Hardly." If anything, Austin was surprised how gentle and careful Ritchie was being.

When Ritchie lifted him out of the water with ease, Austin let out a small gasp. Squirming around a bit in his grasp. He quickly looked at the ground and looked back up at Ritchie. Something told the ginger that he didn't go out of the water much, but then again why would he? He's a merman-

Ritchie carefully walked along the rocks and made his way to the ocean, he ended up on a secret part of the sand that was hidden by some tall rocks. He gripped Austin a little tighter to make sure he didn't fall, he didn't notice how Austin leaned into his touch, not to mention body.

When Ritchie got to the water he looked out into the horizon, seeing the vast ocean before him. If he were to set Austin down he could swim back out. He sadly sighed at the thought of his new merfriend leaving. He tilted his head back down to see him, and saw Austin was staring right back at him.

"Will I... ever see you again?" Ritchie hesitantly asked. Austin just gave him a look that almost instantly reassured him. But to make sure Austin conversed, "Knowing me? Definitely." Ritchie laughed at that, and Austin liked the way his chest vibrated through the fabric of the shirt. 

Ritchie then walked out into the water. The salty liquid rising up to his ankles, he carefully set Austin down and watched as splashes of water rippled through the ocean as he wiggled around. He watched as Austin slithered his way back out into the water on his belly, and... he was underneath it now. Completely submerged in the watery depths.

He quickly backs up and watched as Austin poked his torso out of the water. With a small smile, he waved the ginger as a farewell. Ritchie returned the smile and gave a small goodbye wave back. Watching as Austin quickly dove back into the water with his tail gleaming through the sunrise.

Ritchie looked forward to seeing his new friend again.