A click. His head shoots down as the stern stutters and is pulled down slightly. One forearm learning on his boat, the creature grins up at him. Its face has returned to its original shape, all salmon and fish-like. “You Noca,” it says.
Burying his face in his hands, Naoki barely resists yelling out. Instead, he plops down onto the stern, kicking his legs into the water. “Tell me I did not just imagine that whole thing.”
Head cocked, it stares. “C’mon,” Naoki groans, “Stop playing with me.”
“Playing,” it parrots. Slowly, it raises its other arm out of the water. The brown patterns whirl across the skin, blotchy and muddy. Naoki watches with bated breath as it reaches out, closer and closer, until its arm brushes his own. Never has he seen anything like it, not in the many years he’s spent swimming with all sorts of fish and creatures. As if by magic, the colours change, transform, and adapt to his own. In seconds, the creature’s skin mirrors his. Naoki can barely believe his eyes.
“Camouflage,” he mutters, looking up to expectant eyes, “you’re camouflaging. That’s amazing.”
A chuff and the siren flashes its teeth at him. As it does, there’s another ripple at its skin. It drags the lost colour back, scales surfacing like waves of water. So effortless it seems, pulling and pushing until it is back to its usual hues.
Naoki swallows.
“What,” he mumbles, hands coming up to rub at his eyes. The creature didn’t bother camouflaging any of the other times they were out at sea together. Why now? “Wait,” he shoots up and sees the siren's eyes widen. “What are you even doing all the way out here?”
The words seem to spur something in the creature; it straightens, suddenly alert, and dives down in a flash. Naoki is left sitting at the helm. Alone. “Huh?”
A few seconds pass. Some more tick by. Naoki’s eyes are fixed upon the place where it disappeared, not at all bothered by the wet drops traveling down his shirt. Where the baxe did it—
Hands shoot out of the water. They grip onto his boat, nearly pull it down in tandem to the wild clicking that emerges out of the depths. Naoki just barely manages to keep himself in place, heart racing. “Stop, stop,” he yells out against blaring clicks. “Qixa, what do you want?”
Another exasperated chuff, before it reaches out towards him once more. The world seems to slow down; Naoki watches as claws wrap around his wrist. It is only in the very last moment, the pull on his arm already strong, that he remembers that he has to—
breathe in.
Water floods his senses, surrounds him on all sides. No moment to adjust; no time to assess. His body is pulled through the deep, the grip on his arm solid. The hair on his skin stands at attention. His heart beats with the pulse of the ocean. Within moments, the pull lessens; just turning into no more than a gentle grip as they slow to a stop.
Against all senses, he drags his eyes open.
The song of the sea is muted, no more than a metronomic murmur. But the light still travels, glittering against the rocks and moving across Naoki’s outstretched fingers. There’s a serenity to it, the pressure of the ocean constricting in a way that makes even the most anxious person forget about any and all worldly matters. Except, one of those worldly matters is still wrapped around his wrist.
When he finally looks down, he understands just why the siren has dragged him here. Crustaceans roam the ground, just the ones who managed to escape Kanai’s traps. Their forms are barely recognizable, tinted blue in the filtered light. With a tug on his hand, the siren begins to emit clicks and thrills. Its eyes are expectant as it waits for Naoki to move.
He shrugs. Is he meant to catch them with his hands?
The siren puffs up — With a click, it raises up Naoki’s arm, eyes flitting between his hand and the animals below. Naoki isn’t sure if he’s measuring up. A thrill and it lets him go, shooting up and away. Naoki is left floating above the ground, lungs beginning to strain. What the baxe is going on with that fish?
As the seconds pass by, Naoki’s eyes are pulled towards the crustaceans that were meant to be in the traps by now. Unbothered, it seems, they crawl across the ground. Not even remotely interested, Naoki thinks, attempting to move a little bit closer. Is it just his luck? Usually, Kanai brings in full crates, even sparing a few for his own family.
Naoki is pulled out of his musings by a tail brushing against his back. With a loud thrill, the siren returns and shoves one of the empty crates into his arms.
Oh. Okay?
He tries to nod in thanks at the creature’s efforts. Then, kicks down to propel himself back onto the surface, not noticing the tail winding around his leg at the same time. His heart nearly jumps out of his chest as he’s pulled back down; wide eyes looking up at the siren’s angry clicking. Is this it? Is it going to—
The siren’s tail shoots down with incredible speed — almost too fast to observe, wraps around one of the crustaceans below and stuffs it into the crate.
Oh. That’s what it meant all along.
There’s an inkling of embarrassment blooming at the back of Naoki’s mind.
He watches as the siren continues in its quest to provide him with food that he apparently cannot catch himself with the highest focus imaginable. It’s almost endearing, the way its tongue curls around its maw in concentration. The strangest of feelings floods his chest, filling him with a warmth that he hasn’t felt in a long, long time. Perhaps it is just the serenity of a dive, or the lack of air finally getting to his head. Or maybe, it is more. The threat of newly found companionship that Naoki is so desperately trying to escape.
Hands wrap around his arms and it shakes him out of his thoughts, heart thundering within his chest.
The creature is looking at him, head cocked to the side. Its claws dig into his skin.
He shakes his head.
With a click, it propels them both upwards again. Naoki almost forgets about the crate he’s meant to be carrying, feeling it slip just the tiniest bit before the siren presses against him and cradles it between their bodies. The moment they reach the surface, Naoki gasps in air, filling his lungs after minutes spent below water.
The laughter bubbles out of him within seconds.
“That was,” he gasps, following the siren’s quick strokes back to the boat, “the best.” He feels like he’s vibrating, floating, flying as he drags himself back up the helm and starts to drag the full crate to the others. He’s still laughing when he plops back down next to the creature leaning on the edge of his boat. “That was so much more fun than pulling half empty ones up the whole day. I can’t believe you just stuffed them into the crates like that — Kawib!”
“It is more fun.”
“Yeah!” Naoki yells, leaning back and looking up at the sky, “You should just come up and help me with this all the time. Then I wouldn’t need to work as much as I do—” He stops as his mind catches up to him. Slowly, he drags his body back up, until the siren comes into view once again. It’s smiling at him.
“Did you just..,” he says, voice breaking halfway through the sentence, “make a full sentence?”
The siren shrugs.
“Mu tut,” he mumbles, still staring, “has this fish been using me to help it learn fucking Coukasi by itself?”
“Learning.”
“What?”
With a slow, careful movement, the creature pats its own chest. “I’m learning.”
“You’re learning,” Naoki repeats, eyes wide. He’s talking to a fish. He’s having a conversation with a fish; that turned into a Kalypsian just minutes ago. What is happening.
Said fish smiles at him, sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight. Once again, its hand wraps around his wrist. “Again?”
It’s dangerous and probably a stupid idea, Naoki knows that. And yet, he feels the loneliness within his bloodstream dissipate little by little, dissolve in the concoction of exultation with which this creature has begun to fill him. Naoki’s heart thaws a little more as he allows his siren to pull him back into the water.
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