Stranded: A Lovestruck Merman's Tale (BL)

The chill of the icy sea water drenching his skin, sound quickly draining away from his ears as his body sank into the abyss, the sensation of his lungs gasping for breath for the air that would never come, and his airways burning as it flooded with seawater - that was what Marnthe remembered as he slowly returned to his senses.

His only reprieve was the hazy image of a beautiful, long-haired merman swimming away from him in the distance. It could have been a dream if something similar hadn't happened to him every year since he started living on the island.

Marnthe winced, feeling a familiar sting in his throat and nose.

He did his best to prepare for the festival that year, hoping he wouldn't drown at sea again. He observed the bar guests well during his performance and took a break when he thought someone was eyeing him differently.

He returned to the stage once Pterie, the bartender, and Amrin, his partner and server at the bar, assured him that the coast was clear.

Everything had gone well. They reached the last hours of the festival without any incident. It was the first time he felt safe.

Marnthe should have known that it was too good to be true. Less than an hour before the end of the festival, he came: the young man with reddish brown wavy locks and striking bluish green, doe eyes.

Marnthe knew he was trouble from the moment he saw him seated at the bar. He could have remained hidden in the office near the kitchen, but he didn't.

He should have left the background music to his online playlist. But no, he chose to go to the stage and sing one last song.

One song he thought would deter the young man if he turned out to be a threat. Why did he sing that song? Why did he take that risk?

The young merman was sober, or as he heard recent attendees of the festival gossiped - in limbo. Not many merfolk were like him.

Was Marnthe curious of why he was in such a state? Was that why he took the stage and sang that song? Did he want to look at him properly?

Why? Why was he so interested in him?

Marnthe heaved a long, exasperated sigh as he stared at the familiar whitewashed ceiling across from him. It was probably the same reason he was roped into drowning in the sea every year.

And as things turned out, the younger merman was bad news.

At least he was on the couch this time instead of the shore. Marnthe recognized the room he was in as the small living room on the first floor of the beach house.

One of the neighborhood fisherfolk probably found him unconscious on the beach again. Instead of waking him up under the glare of the hot sun like in previous years, the fisherfolk kindly took him back to the beach house instead.

Marnthe frowned at the thought.

He didn't think anyone in the neighborhood would do something like that though. Then again, people changed. He would just visit the neighbors to ask who of them saved him. He would give them food too as his heartfelt thanks.

Marnthe slowly sat up, wincing as the knots in his muscles ached with every movement he made. He raised his arms, stretched his limbs, and yawned.

He winced, noting his parched throat. He should head to the kitchen and grab himself a glass of water.

"You're awake."

Marnthe gasped, his eyes growing wide in surprise. The voice was familiar, but it wasn't from anyone he knew in the neighborhood.

He quickly turned around and found a tall younger man with curious doe eyes staring at him from the doorway. Marnthe recognized his rowdy mop of reddish brown hair.

He was the young merman at the bar that evening! He was also the one who ran after him on the shore, dragged him into the water, and supposedly swam away from him immediately after.

"Y-you!" Marnthe choked, stumbling away from the couch. "What are you-Why are you-?!"

His eyes strayed to the bright light shining down from a nearby window. The sight of it filled him with panic. It was already morning.

The young merman couldn't-shouldn't be there!

Marnthe turned to face the young man clad in a floral unbuttoned shirt and a pair of black boxers again, confirming that he wasn't hallucinating. The younger man's long hair had become frizzy, oily and terribly unruly.

"You shouldn't be here!"

"Neither should you," the younger man childishly replied, his brows scrunched and his chestnut lips in a bitter pout.

Marnthe groaned, irritated. The younger man seemed to be just as stubborn as he was the night before.

"Surely you've noticed it already. I'm not like you."

He then stood up and sprinted past the younger man. There was a chance that he could be wrong. The younger man seemed calm, as if he wasn't bothered that he was still on the island.

Perhaps his assumption was wrong.

Marnthe ran to the backdoor in the kitchen and sprinted to the beach. The familiar scent of the sea filled his nose.

The sound of the waves echoed in his ears. He scanned the shoreline, the brightness of the sun overhead, the vibrant blue hue of the sky, the long stretch of land far across the water, and the soft waves rolling steadily onto the sand.

Marnthe's heart sank.

"No," he gasped before turning around to face the young man who had followed him out to the beach.

His assumptions weren't wrong. The island had changed.

"Do you know what you just did?!"

"I saved your life?"

"You won't be able to return home until the next Crescent Moon Festival! That's an entire year from now!"

The younger man simply stared at him. "Yeah, that's what I heard."

"Didn't you swim away?!" Marnthe was sure the young merman swam away from him.

They always did, so how was he standing barefoot in front of him?!

"You looked like you were drowning so I swam back and took you out of the water," he calmly answered, unfazed by Marnthe's outburst.

"You should have just left me there! Now you won't be able to return home for a very long time."

"You wanted me to leave you to die?! I understand that you hate me, but don't assume that I'm a heartless criminal."

Marnthe shook his head. "I don't hate you. Look…I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm grateful that you saved me, but you won't be able to go home because of it. This place isn't exactly safe for you."

"You're here."

"Haven't we already agreed that I'm not like you?"

"No, you've just been insisting that you're different from me."

"Because I am different from you!"

"You're not human. I'm not human. How are you different from me?"

Marnthe resignedly sighed and shook his head. "Well, you'll be here for a while so if you don't have anywhere else you would like to go, I suggest you stay here until the next festival comes. Is that alright with you?"

"Are you asking me to live with you?"

"If you don't have anywhere else you would like to live in."

"I only know this place."

"Then you can stay here with me. I will need you to follow some rules in return for your stay, and I promise it will only be to keep you safe while you're here. Do we have a deal?"

"Do I even have a choice? I only know you."

"You don't even know my name."

"I'm Geale. You are..?"

"Marnthe," he said, approaching Geale. He scrunched his nose as the familiar scent of sweaty, sandy, salt-encrusted skin filled his nose. "You need a shower."

"A what..?"

"Follow me," Marnthe announced, leading him back into the house.