Adrien turned towards the tide.Steeling himself, he took his first step into the water, wincing at the biting cold of the Pacific that lapped up against his ankles.The farther he waded into the gentle waves, the more difficult it was to prevent the transformation.It pressed out from the inside, surging against his skin like a primal scream—something he’d contained for far too long, begging for release.
With a hoarse noise, Adrien allowed it to take him, falling forward into the waves.Marcos called out in worry behind him—the shout catching in his throat and morphing into a noise of dumbfounded disbelief.
“Adrien?!”Marcos choked, and Adrien could hear him sprinting into the waves after him.“Whu—wha—I—what?What’s happening right now?!Is this Candid Camera?!Are you okay?!”
“Marcos, I’m fine!”Adrien reassured him, using his forearms to pull himself to shore, where Marcos was gripping his hair with both hands, looking about ready to have a conniption—if he wasn’t already in the throes of one.He settled a hand over Marcos’ bare foot, rubbing up to his ankle.“I… this is what I didn’t want anyone to find out about.”
“You…” Marcos blinked down at him in disbelief, his gaping mouth comical.“You’re amermaid?”
“Yeah,” Adrien confirmed, voice small.He cringed into himself, uncertain if Marcos’ response was positive or not—had he misread the situation?Was Marcos going to be disgusted?Or worse—would he tell someone else?
“You’re a mermaid,” Marcos concluded, tone flat.His blank expression then lit up, like Uncle John’s Tree at Christmastime.“You’re a mermaid!Hoooooly—crap!Adrien, that’s—this isepic!”
“You’re not… weirded out?”Adrien hedged as Marcos dropped into a squat beside him, reaching out towards Adrien’s tail before withdrawing his hand.
“Sorry, I should probably ask before I—what?”He frowned at Adrien, agog.“Heckno!That’s—you’re—this is so, so rad!You’reso rad!You’re so—”
He reached out towards Adrien, his stunned expression softening.“You’re so beautiful.”
Adrien blushed so brightly that Marcos’ face went awash in the purple and blue glow of his freckles.Marcos gasped, cupping Adrien’s face in both hands and squishing his cheeks together.
“And you’re socute!”he cooed.“Look at your little glowing freckles!And yourears!Why didn’t Disney make a movie aboutyou, huh?”
“I—” Adrien squeezed out from his compressed mouth.“I don’t think anyone would watch that.”
“Noteven!They totally would!”Marcos gasped, looking deeply offended on Adrien’s behalf.His gaze fell back to his tail, a look of yearning overcoming his features.
Adrien chuckled.“Go ahead.But don’t pet it backwards.It feels a little weird for me.”
“Oh hell yes!”Marcos cheered, laying the back of his hand across where Adrien’s knees would’ve been and stroking in little movements.He whispered in awe: “It feels so cool.”
“You’re… you’re taking this pretty well,” Adrien admitted with a bashful flutter of his eyes.
“Huh?”Marcos turned back to him.In the low light of his bioluminescence, Adrien could see that he was still vibrating in excitement.“Why wouldn’t I?I mean, you’re still you.You just have this bodacious new tail—well, not new toyou, but new tomeand—”
Adrien leaned over and kissed him, silencing Marcos’ excited rambling.Marcos made a small sound of surprise, but accepted the kiss all the same.He was still grinning when Adrien pulled away.
“What was that for?”he asked.
“I love you,” Adrien told him.
“I love you, too.”Marcos laughed, his expression taking on a charming quality as he dipped in for another kiss.When they parted, his look was thoughtful.“Not to break the mood, but you were saying something about your dad?”
“Yeah, I—” Adrien hesitated, reaching down to brush his fingertips over his fins, where they were undulating along with the tide.“Our fins can actually be used as medicine when they’re eaten—some people even think that they can make you immortal.”
A look of horror overcame Marcos’ face and he recoiled: “So wait, you mean… someoneateyour—?”
Adrien glanced away.“The thing about hunters is that they don’t need the whole merperson… only the fin.They cornered him on the way home from work and threw water on him.When they were done they…lefthim in an alleyway to bleed out.”
He turned his head so that he didn’t have to see Marcos’ look of revulsion, unable to bear the horror on the face of someone he loved.It was enough to have to recount the story.“When his tail turned back into legs, he was missing his feet.Losing his fins meant he lost something in his human form, too, so…” Adrien cleared his throat.“By the time someone found him and called 911, he’d already lost too much blood.”
“God.”Marcos shook his head, reaching out to steady Adrien’s shoulder with a supportive squeeze.“Jesus,dude, that’s… that’s so awful,” Marcos brought his hands to his mouth.“Like, what kind of monster could hunt anotherperson?”
“A lot, apparently.”Adrien flashed Marcos a grim smile.“Enough that my mom’s been paying off this guy to ‘protect’ me from other hunters since Dad died.I don’t know if he actuallydoesanything to protect me—I’m pretty sure he’s only been blackmailing her.But it’s been ahugefinancial burden on her nonetheless.”
“That’s why you feel so beholden to her, huh?”Marcos surmised, his brow furrowing.“You feel guilty.”
“It’s… it’s definitely part of it,” Adrien admitted.“There’s—I mean she’s my mom…”
