“Eeeh,” Celeste shrugged again.“It’s kind of difficult to explain.My mom would say some sentimental shit like: ‘sometimes our hearts aren’t ready to receive certain messages from the universe’.My mémé would say that sometimes your head’s too far up your ass to hear.”
Blake chuckled as they rounded the slides and arrived at the kiddie pool.He stared at the merman, hesitating to approach.
“How do we know if I’m going to be able to hear him this time?”he asked.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.I have my ways,” Celeste said with a cryptic smirk.They glowered down at the splash pool below the pirate ship.It wasn’t full by any means, but water still puddled in the center.“I’m wearing bootlegs.”
“Great.I have no idea what that means,” Blake told them, kicking off his slides and trudging into the water.
“It means that my shoes will dissolve if I look at the water wrong,” Celeste huffed, peeling off their sock-like sneakers and setting them aside with particular care.They hesitated at the edge of the water, frowning down at it with a suspicious glare.
“Don’t worry, there’s enough chlorine in here to kill a small animal,” Blake told them, approaching the large slide below the aft.“Unless someone runs out and actively takes a crap on your foot, you’ll be fine.”
“Doubt it,” Celeste grouched before following him with measured steps.They looked up at the fiberglass merman.“Good morning.”
Like magic (and maybe itwasmagic, what did Blake know), the merman’s features came to life.Under the cold hum of the work lights, Blake could see a purple and blue blush diffuse over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.Marin uncrossed his arms and gave a languid stretch, peeling his torso away from the aft of the pirate ship.
“Good morning,” he responded, blinking sleep out of his deep black eyes.“It’s pretty early, isn’t it—oh, it’s you.”
He stared down at Blake, surprised.“You usually don’t come around this time of night—and you’ve brought a friend.Have we met?”
“A long time ago you harassed me for a churro,” Celeste told him, still sounding a little pissed about this twenty-year-old incident.“I’m Celeste, I’m an associate of Blake’s.”
“‘Associate’?”Marin raised an eyebrow; Blake noted that there was a sizable scar that ran through the middle.Whoever had sculpted the cast had put a great amount of care and detail into it.
“They know about this sort of stuff,” Blake told him.“Like spirits and magic.So I looked them up to give me a hand.”
“You could have just asked me what I was,” Marin responded, pulling a bit of hair off of the boat and beginning to braid it.
“I…” Blake hesitated.“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.I uh.I wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating or not.”
Marin smirked.“Am I really that pretty?”he asked in a teasing tone.
Yes, Blake thought, fighting back a blush.Great.Now the haunted merman was flirting with him.He’d always appreciated the figurehead for the craftsmanship, but now that Marin wasreal, there was no denying how handsome he was.
Blake had never been good at processing flirtations to begin with—he found that he tended to crumble into a flustered, mumbling mess at the slightest provocation.He had no idea how to handle it.
Blake cleared his throat, trying his best to overcome his embarrassment.“Celeste says there’s a way for us to make sure you’re not a demon or a ghost or something.”
“Again, you simply could have asked.”
“How would I know if you’re lying?”It was Blake’s turn to arch an eyebrow.
“I guess that’s true,” Marin shrugged, completing his braid.He dragged the tip over his upper lip like a paintbrush.“I don’t actually know what I am, to be honest.”
Blake turned to face Celeste, “Okay, go ahead.”
“Hm?”Celeste turned to him, looking surprised.“Oh no, I’m not getting myself entrenched like that without being paid extra.You have to do it.”
“Why me?!”Blake balked.
“You’re the one that wants to make sure it’s not a demon,” Celeste said in a matter-of-fact tone.“Why would I care if it’s out here eating the souls of gen alpha?I don’t even like kids.”
“You are miserly and absolutely heartless,” Blake deadpanned.
Celeste shrugged.“I never claimed to be anything else.”
“So how much would it cost?”Blake asked.
