[ IP ] Merman

He knows it's a bad idea, yet his tail seems to be moving of its own accord, pushing him closer to the surface. He breaks it with barely a splash, years of practice guiding his sleek form. 
 
 Well, years of practice might be a slight exaggeration. He's only been a fully-grown merman for about a year, and no one really counts the years before you turn 20. 
 
 He looks around carefully, trying to hide his fair hair in the foam of the choppy waves. No matter how much he tells himself he's not looking for her, his tail twitches when he finally spots her ship, a few hundred yards from him. It does n't seem to be moving, so there's probably a research diver in the water. He makes a mental note to be careful. 
 
 He thinks he's being sneaky, approaching the ship under the surface, trying not to disturb the water any more than the wind already is. He knows his tail sometimes glints and glimmers, the sun reflecting off his silver scales, but people generally dismiss that as fish. No one really believes in merfolk anymore, and they're happy to keep it that way. Their lives are much quieter now. Much less violent. 
 
 He surfaces near the small observation deck at the back of the research vessel, thinking he's succeeded in staying out of sight until a voice cuts through the familiar sound of the rolling waves. 
 
 `` You know I can see you, right?'' 
 
 His every instinct is telling him to run, to drop under the surface and swim away, but he stays put. She's sitting on the deck, bare legs hanging over the edge. The water is cold, but she does n't seem to mind. 
 
 `` Wait, you can talk, ca n't you?'' She's got one hand in a jacket pocket, the other fiddling with her braid. `` I do n't know why, I just assumed you could talk. I've been trying to get closer to you for a while now, but it never occurred to me that maybe you could n't talk. That's dumb.'' 
 
 `` Uh,'' he says, and immediately wants to duck under the surface again. *Yeah, good job*, he thinks. *So articulate*. 
 
 He tries again. `` I can talk.'' *Smooth*. 
 
 `` Hey, cool!'' she says with a smile. `` Learning a mermaid language would be a pain in the ass, probably. I'd likely end up not even being able to pronounce half the sounds.'' 
 
 `` How would you even learn one?'' he asks. `` I do n't know much about the human world, but I'm pretty sure you do n't have a whole lot of information on mermaids, let alone mermaid languages. That stuff went out of style centuries ago.'' 
 
 `` I did n't really think it through, seeing as it only occurred to me after I found out you could, in fact, talk. We could have had an inspirational teaching-each-other movie montage, I do n't know.'' 
 
 `` What's a movie montage?'' he asks. 
 
 She frowns a little. Clearly, he's asked something stupid, and he's about to take the question back when she pulls a small box out of her pocket. It's in a plastic bag, and one side lights up when she presses a button. 
 
 `` It's easier to just show you,'' she says by way of explanation, completely glossing over what the box is as if he should already know. This whole encounter is already a lot to take in, so he decides it's probably magic and trying to understand it might make his head explode. 
 
 The girl is tapping at the lit side of the box, and finally turns it towards him. There are images of people on the box. Then she taps it one more time, and the people start moving, and he starts. It's definitely magic. 
 
 `` Shit, I did n't even realise how weird that would be for you,'' the girl says, putting the box away. `` Let's just leave it at that.'' 
 
 `` Is it magic?'' he feels compelled to ask, because it never hurts to confirm things. 
 
 `` Um, something like that.'' 
 
 He's bobbing along to the waves, trying to think of something else to say, when she speaks up again. 
 
 `` You know, I have n't told anyone about you.'' 
 
 He must look confused, because she clarifies. `` Anyone on the ship. They're looking for undiscovered life underwater, but I've seen you a few times and you're always trying to hide, so I figured you did n't want anyone to know about you.'' 
 
 `` Besides,'' he adds, `` it's not like we're undiscovered life underwater, more like once discovered and re-lost.'' He does n't say it, but he's grateful, and he hopes she can hear it in his tone. 
 
 `` How long ago was that? Do you remember much of it?'' she asks. Her genuine curiosity is apparent, but he sputters, almost choking on seawater. Which is embarrassing, because he's known how to surface since he was five years old. 
 
 `` How old do you think I am?'' he asks, slight indignation in his voice, and she blushes. 
 
 `` Look, I do n't know, in all the stories the merman always has a crisis because the girl is like sixteen and he's entire centuries old and he thinks it's immoral.'' 
 
 `` There are stories? Still?'' 
 
 `` That's the part you decided to focus on?'' she asks, laughing. `` Yes, there are stories. Always with the age crisis, I guess they used to think it was romantic or something.'' 
 
 `` How do the stories end?'' 
 
 `` Usually, the girl seduces the merman into disregarding their age difference, and something magical happens and the girl goes to live with the merfolk and everyone lives happily ever after.'' 
 
 This time, he actually does choke on seawater. `` That's... that's not how that works. Humans ca n't live underwater. That kind of magic does n't exist.'' 
 
 They've been joking around until now, tones light, but his comment kills the mood. 
 
 `` Yeah, well, your realism makes for crappy stories.'' She shrugs. `` So how old are you, then?'' 
 
 `` I'm 21. So there's no need to have a crisis. About the age thing, at least.'' 
 
 She looks to be a little younger than him, but she does n't offer her age, and he does n't ask. They both know it wo n't matter in the end, because it's like he said: humans ca n't live underwater. 
 
 `` What if I seduced you anyway?'' she asks. `` Completely independently of any age agenda.'' He's a little bit impressed that she can say that and still keep a straight face. She's not even blushing any more. 
 
 `` It would n't be very difficult,'' he says truthfully, and she grins. `` But...'' her face falls, but she looks resigned, like she knows what he's about to say. And she does. 
 
 `` But humans ca n't live underwater,'' she supplies. 
 
 `` It's already going to be hard enough to swim away from you,'' he says. `` Let's not make it any harder than it has to be.'' 
 
 `` Fine,'' she says with a sigh, `` you're right. You should probably go.'' 
 
 He surges up to kiss her, lips barely touching hers before he's gone, disappeared under the waves. 
 
 It's only as he's swimming back towards the bottom that he realises he never even asked her name. 
 
 
 
 
 ** [ OT ]: ** I updated the prompt a little, I hope that's allowed! this is my first post here so I was n't sure. also, side note, learning a mermaid language would be cool. 
 

