The merman stopped suddenly, swimming up toward the top of the water. He wasn't supposed to be doing this…but there was no way he was going to leave this person to drown knowing he could prevent it. Aegir darted up, grabbing the side of the boat once again and worked up the courage to speak.
"I can help-" He spoke, his voice coming out as a whisper due to the loud booming of thunder and the crashing of waves, "Hello?"
Luke jumped at the sound of the voice. He whirled around, eyes finding Aegir. "What the-?" he broke off, staring wide-eyed at the…the…who? "How are you…what are you?" he spluttered, staring at Aegir. "How are you…?" he spluttered, water running down into his face.
"Calm down! I'll explain later, but for now.." He held out a hand, a small smile on his face, " I think I can help!" He waited patiently a soft look on his face as he waited for the man to make his decision.
Luke hesitantly took this strange person's hand. "Okay." He replied simply. At this point, I don't know what's going on. The boat dipped lower in the water, the salty water pooling around his feet, up to his midcalves as the boat began to sink.
Aegir brought Luke to his chest, flashing him a shy smile.
"I got you love, just…" He took the strangers arms and wrapped them around his neck. "Hold on..and hold your breath." Aegir slowly sunk into the water once again, his own arms wrapped around Luke and quickly shooting himself through the water.
Luke took a deep breath, closing his eyes as Aegir sunk underwater. At least if I'm going to drown, I'm going to drown in the arms of a handsome stranger. He blushed a little, keeping his arms around Aegir's neck.
Once Aegir could see land in the distance he remembered that he had a human in his arms…a HUMAN WHO NEEDED TO BREATHE AIR. The merman cursed to himself, quickly returning to the surface.
"Just a little bit more…then we can get you to the shore.." He promised, a worried look on his face as he watched the stranger in his arms.
Luke gasped in air as Aegir surfaced, coughing and gasping. He looked at the…merman. "Okay." He said breathlessly. "Thank you." He added, looking at the strange merman. Mermen weren't real…but…he exhaled, taking a deep breath again.
Aegir gave him a small nod, before continuing to swim just a little bit further, making sure their heads stayed up above the water.
"I know of a nice little area you can rest at and I can explain…uh..everything…" He spoke, unsure of how to approach the subject.
Luke nodded. "Okay." He replied slowly, looking at him with wide eyes. "You're…" He took a deep breath.
He ignored the man, only speaking for the remainder of the swim when he told the human he could let go and crawl onto the land.
"Alright…nobody can see us here..so go ahead…ask away.." He stated, leaning his back up against a large rock attempting to catch his breath after dragging himself up the beach. His hands brushed the sand off of his tail, locking his fingers together as he watched the rather handsome human. "My name is Aegir by the way…"
Luke cleared his throat softly. "Okay. Thank you for…for saving me, Aegis." He replied slowly. "So I…what are you?" He asked. "I mean…" He sat down in the sand, ignoring the rain still pouring down on their heads.
Aegir giggled a bit, before responding, "Yeah, I'm a merman.." He tilted his head to the side looking into the mans face.
"I'm a merman, and you're a HUMAN!" He gasped out squishing his own cheeks together as his mouth dropped open, "I never thought i'd get to meet one before!"
He let out a few quite squeaks of excitement, his tail flapping gently down on the dry sand.
"What is it like having legs?" He asked, eyes lighting up with excitement as he once again gasped, "Have you ever been surfing?!"
Luke blinked, peering at him. "Wow. Okay. I uhm…don't know how to describe having legs. Surfing is…yeah. Surfing is fun. What's…what's having a tail like?" He asked curiously, looking at him.
"Well, I mean..It's great! I can swim very fast..and not to brag or anything..but my tail is one of the prettier tails a mermaid/man can have…." he smiled, staring into the humans eyes. "So, what's your name?"
Luke smiled. "Mm. That's really cool." He agreed. "Oh! I'm Luke Avan." He replied with a smile. "Nice to meet you. And…thank you for saving me." He added.
"Luke..that's an unusual name..I like it!" He exclaimed, waving his hands in dismissal, "It was no problem at all..I couldn't just leave you to drown.." He explained, shrugging his pale shoulders.
Luke chuckled softly, then shrugged. "Nothing for you, but my life for me." He replied. He gave a small smile.
"I suppose that's true.." He agreed, jumping a bit as a large bolt of lightning flew across the sky. "I hate storms.."
Aegir watched Luke, before realizing something.
"Shouldn't you get out of this…cold?" He asked, suddenly worried for his new human friend.
Luke nodded. "Me too." he was shivering a little, and he nodded. "Yeah, I should…"he looked around. "I think I know how to get home from here." he stood up, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth. "But I uhm…would love to talk to you again. So…I'll meet you here on the next nice day?" he suggested with a small smile.
Aegir's worried expression quickly brightened, a large smile on his face.
"Yes! I'd love that!" He exclaimed, doing a small dance as he sat there, "I'll meet you here then…get home safe!"
Luke smiled, and started walking. He waved over his shoulder. "See you. I will! You be safe too." he replied, walking along the beach.
Once Luke was no longer in Aegir's sight he turned, dragging himself back to the water. He couldn't wait to tell his best friend about this!
Luke walked home, trying to figure out how to break the news about the boat to his father. And obviously he would have to lie and say he swam. Merpeople…weren't supposed to be real.
( Shall we do a time skip ooorrr…)