Chapter Text
Adam awoke with a throbbing pain in his entire body. His head especially felt like it had been smashed in with a hammer. He could tell he was lying on a beach but he couldn’t remember what all had happened exactly. He remembered the storm and the boat flipping over but everything afterwards was just a big fuzzy blur. He had vague memories of it, but he must’ve been passed out and dreaming.
Adam rolled over and opened his eyes and it was clear he was still dreaming. He was knocked unconsciousness and dreaming or delirious. Or he was dead. That was the only explanation for what he was seeing.
It was a mermaid- merman, the same one he'd seen save him. He was lounging on the rocks just off shore, humming to himself, looking for all the world like he'd just rolled off a Disney set. Adam blinked in shock and his mouth fell open.
God, he looked so much more human than he thought they'd look. And yet…still not. His features were exotic. Enormous blue eyes, high forehead ending in a strip of blonde hair covering what Adam knew was a slight ridge, petite nose and full lips. His skin was a mottled peachy color with speckles of darker blue and white along his back. His lean body flowed down into the tail. Not scaled or fishlike as in myth, but smooth skin splaying out into broad flukes. Hardly human really.
But if he saw a picture of just his face? Adam would easily believe he were a normal man. A beautiful man, but a man nonetheless.
And that was impossible, so he must be dreaming.
But as Adam took stock of all his body and his mental facilities, he was starting to doubt that. Was it really so crazy? After all, wasn't this what he was searching for? The bodies he'd seen had all been partial remains. Broken, battered creatures that had washed ashore amid debris. It made sense that a strong, alive specimen would look so strange to him. So perfect.
The merman must've heard Adam's movement as he turned his gaze away from the distant sun and towards him. He smiled broadly as he took in Adam's newly awake state and dove into the water in front of his rocks. Adam saw his tail flick once before it disappeared beneath the surface, followed by a splash. Almost as quickly, he reappeared close to the beach.
Close enough, in fact, that he was able then to drag his body partway onto shore. Adam instinctively shrunk away when the merman reached out for him with his webbed fingers. His smile fell as he noticed Adam's reluctance. He tapped a hand over his heart and nodded in what Adam guessed was meant to be a reassuring way.
Was this really happening to him? Did he really come all this way searching for these exact beings just to be too frightened to even make contact when one pulled him out of the sea? That wasn't the Adam he knew.
He took a deep breath and scooted closer, ignoring his aching body, so that the merman wouldn't have to crawl any further up the beach. He summed up all his boldness and reached out his own hand to meet the merman's. He was rewarded with a return of his bright smile.
Apparently facial expressions worked the same way for their two species. Or maybe the merman was really threatening to kill him. Adam would have to go with instinct on this one. It seemed unlikely that someone who had gone to so much trouble to save him would be violent now. Besides the way he was pressing their hands together seemed...friendly.
He met Adam's tired eyes with his bright ones. After a long moment, he pulled away and put his hand on his chest. He deliberately patted himself and let out a vocal sound. Adam gasped as he realized what the merman was doing. He was telling him his name.
This creature that existed in myth was telling him his name. Adam couldn't quite make out what he was saying, there were too many high warbling vowels for him to understand. He furrowed his brow and bit his lip. The merman noticed his confusion and patted his chest again and repeated himself, only slower and more deliberate.
"Saauu-lii," It was still hard to understand, but Adam could just barely make it out.
"Sauli?” he tried to sound it out.
The merman, Sauli's, face lit up with a smile and his tail flicked up and down.
"Sauli!" He nodded, apparently content with Adam’s version.
"Sauli," Adam repeated, softer. He then put a hand over his own chest.
"Adam,"
"Aa-dam," he tried to imitate Adam's human tone. He was much better at it than Adam was with his.
"Adam," he confirmed.
Sauli's smile was infectious and Adam couldn't help himself from returning it.
"Sauli," he patted himself, "Adam!" he pointed to Adam. "Sauli. Adam.
Sauli. Adam," back and forth, back and forth.
Adam giggled at Sauli's enthusiasm. "Adam. Sauli," he said, laughing, "Wow, I must be delirious. How is this even happening?" Sauli just blinked. "Of course you can't understand me..." He laughed again, admittedly a little hysterical, then fell and he groaned, clutching at his stomach and head. Not even the distraction of an actual mermaid could pull him away from the pain for long.
Sauli seemed to notice Adam’s discomfort and he quickly dived away into the water. He was gone for a few moments and when he returned, he was holding a still wriggling fish which he then placed onto one of the rocks and neatly snapped its spine. He looked up at Adam and set it at his feet close to him.
The instant Adam’s brain recognized the offering as food was also the instant he felt the sharp hollowness in stomach. He had no idea how long he’d been passed out but he knew his body needed sustenance.
Adam looked down at the fish. Now, he may be a marine biologist but Adam was still a city boy. He appreciated the food intensely but the thought of sinking his teeth into a raw, bloody fish was turning his stomach. He glanced over to Sauli who was looking at him expectantly. Of course, he would see no problem with eating a raw fish.
Adam bit his lip and looked further up the beach, there were plenty of trees and Adam supposed he could try to build a fire…
However, as he scanned the beach, he spotted something odd close to the water’s edge near his feet. It was his emergency pack! His waterproof emergency pack. It had a small supply of energy bars, water bottles, first-aid, all his sound recordings, and, thank god, a lighter. The water would last him a few days if he rationed, but he’d need to find a source of freshwater on this island somehow if he was going to be here for any amount of time.
He got up and began to drag himself over to the emergency pack when Sauli called out. Adam turned and saw him holding out the fish, looking confused.
Adam pointed to his pack and Sauli brightened.
“Adam!” He gestured towards it and nodded.
“Did you save that for me?” Adam asked with a smile, knowing Sauli wouldn’t understand. Maybe he’d grabbed it himself before he’d washed ashore and he just didn’t remember. Either way, he had it now and there was no way in hell he was wasting it. By scooting close enough to grab it, he also brought himself much closer to Sauli.
He still felt a little wary but so far, he had saved him, introduced himself, and given him food. Even if Adam had no idea of the customs of mermaid culture, it was clear Sauli was not threatening.
He clutched his pack close to his chest and shifted so that he was lying directly beside
Sauli. His hunger faded away as he let his eyes wander down the merman’s body. Again, Adam was struck by how human he looked. His well-defined chest and torso narrowed in and then out again at the tail. He looked up to meet Sauli’s eyes and saw him looking bemused as he placed the fish back down on the ground.
Adam kept eye contact with him as he laid a hand on his hip. Sauli tilted his head to the side as Adam trailed his touch down the side of his tail. The skin was so soft, not rubbery like a dolphin or whale, but just perfectly hairless and soft skin. Sauli hummed softly while Adam stroked his body and one glance up at his face showed his eyes closed and his mouth curved up into a small smile.
He opened his eyes when Adam stopped and placed his own webbed hand on Adam’s leg, moving it up and down in the same way Adam had. He had been wearing shorts even before the crash, but now they were definitely worse for wear. He trailed his fingers through Adam’s leg hair and examined Adam’s feet, muttering to himself. Both of them were like curious children, examining the other being and comparing differences.
Sauli then stopped suddenly and looked up to meet Adam’s face. He smiled brightly before leaning forward, cupping his hand around Adam’s head and planting a kiss directly on his shocked mouth.