Laughter spills out of Naoki as he shoves another rice cracker into his mouth. The wood is hot against his feet, skin only cooled by the tail that is winding around them. “Wow,” he says, squinting against the light, “We’ve been out here for ages.”
The siren hums, before biting into a fish it’s caught during their little venture. He couldn’t have imagined this, not in his wildest dreams — although maybe that’s exactly what it would’ve been; some arbitrary fantasy that could only be met by one of the scoldings he used to receive from Kauba. Shaking his head, he eyes the biscuit in his hand. Another habit that he picked up from his Ohy; to turn his dreams into reality.
A satisfied chuff reaches his ears and breaks through the thick fog hovering above his mind.
Unlike the fantasies he used to spin, this is real.
Isn’t it?
A sharp pain flickers at his temple — like spikes digging into his skin. He winces, but the moment his fingers reach up, the pain dissipates. Qixa, what is wrong with him? There are vague memories of headaches that plagued him when he was younger, a crying fit that ended in his Ohy’s arms. How did they get rid of them then?
“Okay?”
The uncanniness of the words makes Naoki jump and the rice cracker fly from his hands, off the boat, and into the water. He hasn’t gotten used to it yet, being able to communicate with a fish. “Yeah, I’m uh,” he stammers, thrown again by the perfectly Kalypsian face staring back at him — When did it do that? “O-okay. I’m good. Fine.”
The siren hums, leaning its head on its now normal-looking hands. Naoki swallows hard as his eyes scan its brown locks. Wet strands fall into its face, framing the high cheekbones and striking amber eyes. His heart drums against his rib cage the way it hasn’t in a long time. “You can’t keep doing that,” he whines, voice breaking midway through the sentence, “you’re meant to be a sea monster. Sea monsters don’t look… friendly.”
Eyes narrow as they continue staring at him.
“Alright,” he concedes with raised hands, “not a sea monster. A friend? Maybe?” Pleased, the siren gulps down another fish in one go. Naoki sighs. “I’m not sure ‘friend’ is right. You’re a fish. In fact,” he says, “I don’t even know your name so how can we—”
He stops. Wait a second. “Do you even have a name?” His voice is tainted with urgency. “Do you even know my name?”
The siren doesn’t deem him with a reply, instead opting to inch closer to his abandoned rice crackers, tongue lolling out of its mouth in anticipation. Naoki grabs it by the shoulders with one hand, the other one pointing frantically at his own chest. “I’m Naoki,” he says, mouth forming around each syllable with overbearing care, “Na-o-ki Nau-wai-kau. Nauwai is where I’m from which is why it’s my name. Well, technically I’m from Gos so I’d be Goskau, but I don’t go by that. Anyway, you’d be Mututkau, which is stupid because why would anyone be from the sea? I don’t even know how you’d explain that so let’s just not,” he continues to ramble, opting to use his hands to illustrate his point, “Naoki means one in a thousand, which is pretty good when you’re from a small city but when you’re in Gos, which is huge, it’s kinda lame. Not that you’d know that.”
The siren blinks at him.
“So it doesn’t matter,” he continues, “It doesn’t matter what my name means. Forget I said anything. Do you have a name?”
“No.”
“You—,” Naoki stutters, “you don’t have a name?”
“No,” the siren repeats, “not like that.”
Before Naoki can even ask, it lets out a barrage of clicks and titters, accompanied by a subtle melody. It’s pretty, if you can call fish noises pretty. The siren continues to stare at him, and then it finally clicks, figuratively. “That’s your name?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t pronounce that.”
“No.”
“Hm,” Naoki hums, “would you… like one like mine?”
With a snap, its tail rises out of the ocean and places a fish in the siren’s open palm. It appears to think about his question for a moment while loud slurping noises accompany the movement. Naoki thinks this might have been a mistake. Then, its eyes widen. “Cais!”
“Uh,” Naoki hesitates, “hello?”
“No,” it says, picking a bone out of its teeth, “Cais.”
“What are you..,” he trails off, “as a name?”
“Cais Mututkau,” it affirms, finger pointing towards its own chest.
Throwing his arms into the air, Naoki nearly yells out in exasperation. “You can’t do that,” he groans, “that means ‘hello’. You can’t be ‘Hello from the sea’. What are people going to say: Cais Cais?”
He watches the siren deflate, a pout forming on its lips as realisation strikes. He almost feels bad. He would, if he wasn’t right. But then again, he thinks, teeth gnawing on his lower lip. “Cais,” he ponders, “Cais, Cai’s, Kai?” He feels as a familiar spark of ambition grips him, reminiscent of his long gone days in Gos. There must be some name that is at least similar enough, he thinks and decides to actually make an effort for this weird fish he’s somehow managed to befriend. His siren friend perks up, ears twitching. C’mon Naoki. “Kaia?”
Discouraged, its excitement seems to flatten.
“Kaio,” Naoki continues, desperation nibbling at his words, “Kai’u, Kai-u, Kaius.” Another twitch. Oh.
“Kaius,” he repeats and watches as amber eyes widen. “Kaius is a name.”
Lips continue to grow into a toothy smile; the joy is palpable, so strong that Naoki’s own mouth climbs upwards until his smile mirrors that of his friend. “I like that.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Kaius says, laughter tumbling out of his mouth, “I like it.”
The joy travels into his chest, laughter making his whole body shake. The feeling spreads all the way to Naoki, urging him to join in. It almost hurts, so strangely new it is; so long since he’s felt this intrigued by another living being. The cavity within his chest expands, as if filled up by freshwater, mixing in with the salt that is already part of him — an estuary forming where his reluctance used to be.
“Well,” he says, raising his hand to his cheek in a familiar gesture, “nice to finally meet you, Kaius.”
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