It'd been a few nights since he'd been down to the gateway, babysitting the boys made him rather tired. For once he felt like he was getting more sleep than usual, but he didn't want to just leave you hanging so tonight he went down to the gateway to catch up.

It was a hot night, sticky and humid. But L being L, still wore his usual long clothes. He knew you were in the area when he heard your voice echoing in the distance, each time you sang it was either a sea shanty or a lure call, and judging the love story and magical melody of your voice this one was a lure call.

"His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as coal
My happiness attend him wherever he may go..."

This was one he knew. Everyone knew about jolly sailor bold, even humans. So when he took the boat out onto the river he knew all he had to do to find you was follow the sound of the familiar song.

"From Tower Hill to Blackwall, I'll wander, weep and moan
All for my jolly sailor, until he sails home"

Last time he got trapped in one of your lure calls he ended up halfway into the river in almost a trance like state, he didn't even need to think about where he was going the song was like a magnet that pulled him toward you. You could call for him just by using a lure call... very clever.

"My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold"

The feeling of being swept up in a lure call was haunting, yet addicting. No thoughts, just the beautiful melody of an angelic voice calling out for you. A state of calm, like the feeling when you're not quite awake yet and comfortably lying in bed.

He could listen to your lure calls forever, but when the singing stopped he suddenly snapped out of that trance and found himself in a part of the river he'd never been before.

"Wow, those songs are powerful..." he muttered to himself in awe at how fast you pulled him here without him even realising it.

Hearing the water move around the edge of the boat, he looked down to find you popping up to the surface.

"Boo" you teased.

"How do you do that? I swear I blinked and suddenly I'm here" L asked, leaning against the side of the boat to talk to you.

"Magic my dear, it's all in my DNA" you replied.

You propped your arms up on the edge of the boat, making it tilt slightly. Looking up at L, you found he looked better rested than usual.

"You've been sleeping more" you commented.

"The kids wear me out. By the way is there some kind of anti-nightmare magic I can have? Mello keeps waking up in the middle of the night from reoccurring nightmares" L asked.

You thought for a moment, wondering if such magic existed.

"I feel like I've heard of it before... but water magic and love spells are my area of expertise. I'll look into it for you, can't have your baby all tired and grumpy now can we?" You said.

"I've only been babysitting them for about a month, they're hardy my babies yet" L replied.

"You said 'yet' that time. So they have the potential to be your babies?"

"...they may be growing on me"

You knew he'd soften up eventually, exactly like when he met you. You noticed the first few meetings you had with him he was rather stiff and skeptical, but over time opened up and became softer and more playful. And judging from what you saw when you took a look up in the human realm, him willingly playing games with them meant he was slowly opening up to them.

"You're secretly a softie" you teased.

"Am not" he replied.

"Whatever you say softie. Now about all this-"

You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it back, letting it go so it would twang against him.

"Ow-" he said.

"It's the hottest day of the year so far and you're wearing that? How have you not died of heat stroke?" You asked.

"I'm used to it"

"You're as strange us as magic beings L... but I know how you can cool down"

Letting go of the boat, it rocked slightly when your weight was taken off it.

"Jump in" you suggested.

"I'm hardly dressed for the occasion" L replied.

"So? Just take your shirt off, not like you haven't done it before I stole one of your shirts remember? Plus the waters around here are remarkably clean and nice and lukewarm. There's a lot of life under the water that doesn't exist where you're from, I want to show you" you explained.

He did promise to swim with you a while ago, and it was very hot today... his curiosity about the magic in this land was definitely a contributing factor too. He figured, why not?

Standing up in the boat and pulling off his shirt, leaving it on the deck he put a foot up on the edge to jump in.

"Oh, and I gave you that necklace for a reason you know. Don't worry about having to hold your breath" you added.

He looked down at the shell around his neck and then back at you in surprise.

"This can let me breathe underwater?" He asked.

"It can do a lot of things, you're lucky you have friends with fins" you replied.

Now he HAD to see if this worked. If it didn't he trusted you enough to pull him out, but given the fact you hadn't drowned him already and made it very clear sirens only drown those who wrong them, he felt safe enough to try. And so, he jumped in.

The water was a nice temperature like you said, and it was indeed very clear. He could see the bubbles around him from his jump start to clear and was met with you effortlessly staying in place in front of him.

You motioned for him to breathe, and he hasn't even realised he was holding his breath out of habit. He was a bit scared, but after a moment of hesitation decided to try. And to his surprise, it worked. It felt just like breaking regular air and he most definitely wasn't drowning.

He gave you an exited look and his playful smile made your heart flutter. He was so cute when he was exited, giving him a smile back you motioned for him to hold onto your shoulders, as you had somewhere to take him. So he swam over to you and took hold of your shoulders allowing you to swim along and pull him through the water with you.

He was amazed at how fast you could travel, watching how quickly the rocks and plants underwater went by. The occasional fish would zip past and he'd catch glimpses of crabs on the riverbed. He really shouldn't be surprised how fast you could go, you were built for survival in the water after all. Powerful arms to paddle, strong tail with wide fins for extra propulsion, streamlined build for speed. He guessed you probably had better vision underwater as well, and hearing that could pick up things like echolocation from other aquatic creatures.

You were half fish after all.

The quick swim came to a halt when you approached an entrance of sorts, overgrown tree roots and rocks blocked one of the paths of the river. You grabbed his hands off your shoulders and pulled him closer to point out the small gap in the roots and rocks. He understood what you meant, and nodded at you to communicate it.

You swam through first and he followed closely behind.

The first thing he saw on the other side was a glow of sorts coating some of the rocks at the bottom, and what looked to be boxes hidden among the sand. You surfaced the water, and he followed you up.

Shaking the water from his hair and the fringe from his eyes, he was able to tread water beside you. When his vision adjusted to the air again he was met with one hell of a sight.

Massive trees that surrounded the little pool, rocks scattered about with glowing moss on them, low hanging branches decorated with elaborate shell and gem chains, and just by the pool under one of the trees was a small, but stable little cottage.

"Woah..." he muttered.

"I got a bit carried away with all the shinies, but yes this is the area I live in. This stretch of the river itself is my territory but I still need a place to store my stuff" you explained.

So this was where you stayed. It was fitting for a siren, close to the water, hidden away from the main towns, decorated with all kind of sunken treasures. L even noticed that shirt you stole off him hanging to dry on one of the branches.

"Of all the places I've seen in this world so far, this looks the most like it was ripped right out of a fairytale book" L complimented.

"Thank you, jump out with me and I'll show you my treasures" you replied.

Just from what he could see outside, it looked like you had quite the collection of sunken treasures and magic things he'd never seen before.

He was eager to see what was inside...