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sapin7 · 1 day ago

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Merman x Siren au

Hualian - (part XV)

First part: PART I

Previous part: PART XIV

Hello, everyone! I think it's the longest chapter so far, so buckle up! We're not slowing down since now ^.^ No more domestic Hualian for a while ;-;

***

The next day Xie Lian finds out that San Lang can be a liar too.

He said he's going to bring the regular breakfast, but when Xie Lian wakes up, there's at least twice as many fish as usual lying on the rock shelf where the siren always leaves food for the merman. And it's probably been even more, since he notices a few small remains of meat here and there, probably from Ruoye already feeding on the fish given to them.

He shakes his head with a smile, but decides to not bring this up when the siren comes back. Xie Lian is well aware that the other creature meant no harm, but rather the opposite.

And honestly? Xie Lian likes this feeling of being taken care of.

However, today it's his turn to take care of the siren's territory, so right after eating he takes some of the fish and the tools he finds the most important, wraps them in the cloth he brought with himself from his home and puts it on as a backpack. Then he heads off from the siren's resting place, to go for his first unaided patrol.

The first part of the day passes quite fast for him. He patrols the closest area to the siren's resting place, gets rid of some trash, mediates two clownfish fighting over a collar and untangles a jellyfish from another one. He might have gotten stung on the way, but apart from some itching, the poison doesn't have much effect on him - and it's definitely not the first time for him. His body probably got used to it at this point.

After making sure everything around the collar reef is in check, he heads out to patrol the rest of the territory in circles, just like San Lang usually does.

He takes his time, swimming slowly and trying to be one with the water as much as he's learnt. He wouldn't forgive himself if he oversaw something important on his first day alone in the siren's territory. He's also curious to see more details of the areas he first took for only rocks and sand. There's plenty of creatures living not only around the collar reef, but in the whole of San Lang's territory. Xie Lian can finally see them once his swimming doesn't disturb the water flow and doesn't scare them.

Ruoye and a few other animals accompany him during the patrol, but the presence of the octopus is keeping the rest at a safe distance - one glance from one of the most venomous animals in the ocean, and the rest is fleeing.

Xie Lian doesn't mind their company, in fact, it's making him quite happy. He's content that those animals took a liking to him - it only proves that he doesn't do any harm to the siren's territory during his stay. It's also quite funny to see Ruoye's jealous side.

As the merman passes by the small archipelago of islands, he decides to pay some more attention to them today as well. It's not like he wasn't aware of their existence earlier - he saw them a few times when he joined San Lang on the patrols, but they never stayed around for too long, prioritizing Xie Lian's learning sessions over anything else. Today he finally has a chance to take a closer look at those, so he wastes no time.

Xie Lian swims up to the most steep side of the island, so that he doesn't get stuck in the sand on the beach. The rocks here seem steady and the closer he gets to the surface, the more he's confident he will be able to sit on them and look around for a bit. He's careful not to bump into the sharp stone as the waves start to affect him.

He successfully peeks out of the water seconds later. As soon as his eyes get used to how bright it is above the surface, a sly smile forms on his lips - the rocks are indeed very low on this side and he not only will be able to rest on them but also see the rest of the island.

Happy with this turn of events, he doesn't think twice before grabbing the edge of the rocks and climbing onto them. Xie Lian has never been in a place safer than the siren's territory and, knowing the siren's approach to any intruders, he was certain there was no one nearby who would even want to put a finger on him, not to mention any harm.

It takes Xie Lian a while to switch into the other type of breathing he can perform on land. When he was younger, he always felt like there was just too much to breathe with above the surface, especially that he rarely stuck out his head above the water. However, he cannot deny he was always curious about how the land looked, especially the huge one - the parts that weren't visible from the water level. He knew better than to explore though. His survival was usually hanging by a thread and the trouble always found him naturally, so willingly swimming up to humans or land would be a clear death wish.

Those few times he had a chance to see a little more than just a glimpse of the land, were when he visited adjusted territories to collect trash. He would examine the small islands or rock formations thoroughly before even peeking out, but eventually he got an occasion to see how they looked above the water.

Xie Lian decides to cherish this another chance he got by consuming the fish San Lang hunted for him in the morning. He takes off his backpack and, absorbing the beautiful view of the trees and sand bathing in the sun, pulls out his meal.

He bites into each fish slowly, filling his stomach to the brim, to have enough strength and energy to patrol the whole area that San Lang entrusted to him for this day once again. The merman wants to make sure everything is in perfect order before the siren comes back.

The thought of being able to see the siren again soon makes him smile. He might feel good being the responsible guardian of this territory, but it cannot be compared to how wonderful it is to be doing all those things with San Lang by his side.

It's either the noise of the waves or his mind drifting to the siren, but Xie Lian hears a weird rustle behind him only when it's too close for comfort. What's even worse, it's accompanied by one of the most fearful sounds for him - a human voice.

“Ming-xiong?! Is that you?!”

Xie Lian doesn't understand the words, but that doesn't stop him from turning around abruptly. And then both him and the human that is only a few steps away from Xie Lian freeze.

They look at each other for a while, both in utter shock. The human is first to come back to his senses and straightens his posture while Xie Lian is still staring at him in disbelief, taking in his figure and movements.

His clothes look like most of the trash Xie Lian finds on the ocean floor, although those of the human before him seem a little more damaged. His face is very beautiful but also decorated with a small wound on one of his cheeks. His green eyes reflect the sun just as much as his silky, brown hair.

“You, you're not Ming Yi… Nevermind, how are you here?” The human continues to talk. “Has your boat crashed here too? Why is your skin so pale, are you alright? And your eyes, oh, good heavens, are you blind? I'm so sorry, wait, I will try to help you get up!”

The human spits out a few more sentences in the speed of a hunting moray, waving his hands on the way. Xie Lian has no idea what he's saying, the only certain thing to him being that probably that it's a male specimen. The merman does know some human language, but he's never heard anyone actually speak it fluently, so he doesn't understand a single word.

What is more, the green-eyed human suddenly starts approaching him again. This is the moment Xie Lian finally gains back the control of his body and, deciding to leave his precious backpack and save his life, he supports his weight on his hands and clumsily drags himself closer to the water to flee.

“W-wait! What are you doing?!” The human yells again, but this time Xie Lian does understand one word - wait.

Xie Lian halts, looking back at the human who stopped moving. A part of his tail is already back in the water, so he should be able to escape if the situation gets dangerous for him. At the same time the human says some more words, but somewhere on the way he abruptly stops talking, eyeing Xie Lian's lower body.

'Oh,’ Xie Lian thinks to himself. 'He must have only now realized I'm not a human washed up on the shore, but a merman.’

Xie Lian's theory is soon proven by the few steps back that the human takes. He covers his mouth with his hand, but it still doesn't stop the gasp from escaping his lips.

“Heavens, you're, you, you have a tail! Oh, lord! You! You, I—... Woah..”

It seems that the human stumbles on his words, trying to comprehend what he's actually seeing. Xie Lian is aware most humans don't know about the existence of merfolk or any other more advanced creatures beyond dolphins or killer whales. He still cannot predict the human's reaction to Xie Lian being a merman, so he stays on high alert, ready to slide back into the water any second.

“...so my brother isn't crazy.” It's all that human mumbles under his breath, but he slowly looks less and less shocked with every passing moment.

Xie Lian and the human stare at each other for another long period of time after that. The merman doesn't know why he hasn't left yet - maybe because the human doesn't appear hostile or because it's still San Lang's territory and it /should/ be safe. Or maybe because the human seemed desperate while asking him to wait, but still hasn't elaborated on his reason and Xie Lian… is a curious creature after all.

Finally, the human speaks up again, but this time way more gently and slowly.

“So… you're a merman. Right?”

Xie Lian nods, remembering it's humans' way of agreeing as much as for merfolk. The green-eyed human nods back, so it seems they’ve finally reached an agreement.

“You understand me?”

Xie Lian nods again. And the human nods back again too. He hums and then, assuming the merman is fluent in human language, starts talking again at his previous speed.

“Can you help me? I am stuck here and I'm losing my mind! I don't know what to do or how to get home. On top of that, my friend is nowhere to be seen and I'm worried something bad happened to him. You're the first living soul I've seen in a few days!”

Xie Lian blinks, catching only a few words like “help”, “home”, “friend” and “worry”. He thinks he gets the message behind those words, but still raises his hand to try and show the human to speak slower. He also gathers all his might and spits out his thoughts in broken human words that barely make it through his throat.

“Slow, not… under… Understand?... everything,” the merman is sure he failed his attempt at communicating, but it seems the human did get it, cuz he nods furiously out of happiness that he is indeed being heard.

“Okay, okay! I will speak slowly! Oh, great heavens, I will not die here all alone!” The human spits more words, despite agreeing to Xie Lian’s request. Soon enough he clears his throat, as if he reminded himself he should try his best too to communicate with the merman if he needs help. “I, need, help. My friend, is, missing. I, am, stuck, here. Boat, crashed. There.”

With the last words, the green-eyed human points into the distance. Only now Xie Lian notices the remains of a boat flickering though the sunrays. He squints his eyes to take a better look at it and a cold shiver runs down his spine when he recognises the underside of it.

It’s the same boat Xie Lian and San Lang saw a few days ago.

He looks back at the human, finally fully understanding the situation. The human got stuck on the island because of the crash and the second human was missing - this is where San Lang’s sensing two humans back then is aligning with what Xie Lian has just heard.

However, what the merman still doesn’t quite comprehend is /how/ they managed to crash on such peaceful waters. There were no killer whales nearby and any other animal species wouldn’t be able to flip and destroy a mid-size boat, especially this close to the island. San Lang couldn’t do it either - Xie Lian believed that if he decided the humans weren’t a threat, he wouldn’t touch them. Not to mention they’ve spent most of their time together everyday.

The merman frowns, trying to picture what happened. There was no storm during the past few days and if it wasn’t an animal nor San Lang, Xie Lian couldn’t come up with /what/ would be able to cause trouble in the siren’s territory, unless–

The merman gasps, when it finally dawns on him.

He’s on the only nearby islands in San Lang’s territory.

The islands that another siren has access to.

“W-what’s wrong? Why are you-, wait, I was supposed to speak slowly. Why, are, you, making, a, scared, face? What, happened?”

The human picks up on Xie Lian’s emotions pretty fast and even if the merman would like to assure him that he will try to help as much as he can… he really doesn’t know how to word his worries without scaring the already pitiful human to his death.

“I help.” Xie Lian speaks up. “But, danger. Stay from… stay far water. Danger in water.”

The human’s eyes get bigger and bigger with each of Xie Lian’s words, but he nods anyway.

“What’s… What, is, in, water? Shark? Orca? I won’t swim in the ocean.”

“Danger creature. I… no… don’t? know how called. I help,” Xie Lian assures again, quickly gathering thoughts about what he should do next. “Your friend… go water?”

“No… I don’t think so. I did not see him after the boat crashed. I mean… I, no, see, friend, since, crash.” The human tries to explain.

“What… crash cause?” Xie Lian asks after, expecting a confirmation of the siren’s appearance, but the human lowers his gaze and shakes his head.

“I didn’t see much. Only… only something that… It looked like it was made of bones. Tail of only bones. I don’t know. It was very fast. I hit my head. Woke up here.”

Xie Lian nods. He doesn’t recall anything about sirens with visible bones beside spikes or something like this, but it might only mean that the human did hit his head pretty badly. The biggest concern for Xie Lian was the whereabouts of the second human. Because if he wasn’t on the island and San Lang hasn’t come across him… the other siren must have been first to do so.

The moment Xie Lian wants to tell the human that he’s going to come back tomorrow with the aid of San Lang and that they will look for the other human together, he senses a disturbance in the water. As a confirmation, he feels Ruoye grab his fin and pull on it with all its might to get him back into the water.

“I will back!” He squeaks out to the human and, wasting no time, he slips back into the ocean.

With what San Lang has already taught him, he’s able to tell that something big is approaching the island at high speed. Xie Lian knows very well it’s not San Lang or any other creature he’s familiar with - the first one he still wouldn't be able to feel and for the rest, he would recognize at least the species at this point.

Xie Lian looks around in panic, but a relief washes over him when he sees a small cave in the rock formation under the island. He quickly swims inside, grabbing Ruoye with him. He hides in the shadow, only peeking out to observe and tries to be as much one with water as he can to not alert the approaching creature.

It doesn’t take long for the disturbance to get strong enough for Xie Lian to be terrified of how close the unknown creature got to the island in such a short period of time. He hugs Ruoye tightly to his chest, and keeps observing, until something passes right in front of the cave entrance.

Xie Lian feels as if the water suddenly got a lot colder. The creature, as if aware that the merman wanted to take a good look at it, slows down as it swims past the cave.

And Xie Lian watches, with growing fear. Strong hands decorated with deadly sharp claws. Huge back fin and spikes, ready to stab anyone coming from the back. Ridiculously long tail. Just like San Lang’s, but completely black, without a hint of any other colour.

It is indeed another siren.

And it looks even more terrifying than the one Xie Lian has already got to know.

***

Finalllyyyyyy I got to this point of the AU! I think we all know who the human and his friend are ^.^ See you soon in the next chapter!!

#sqx my poor baby #he xuan explain your stupid ass or i'll beat you up #xl making friends<3 #tgcf

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sapin7 · 12 days ago

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Merman x Siren au

Hualian - (part XIV)

First part: PART I

Previous part: PART XIII

~ previously on the underwater telenovela ~

*Xie Lian and San Lang encountered a boat that the siren decided isn't a threat, so they got back to the coral reef and had a talk about how Xie Lian really isn't and never going to be a bother to San Lang.* (I can't believe I summarised the whole chapter in ONE sentence...)

***

The next few days go in a similar manner for them - San Lang goes to patrol his territory in the early morning when Xie Lian is still sound asleep. On his way back, he hunts them breakfast and delivers it to the merman. After eating together, Xie Lian practices what San Lang has taught him for a few hours under the siren's guidance. Then they hunt dinner together and patrol the area closest to the collar reef, making sure everything is in check. Every night they sleep cuddled on the soft corals and every day they spend almost all of their time together.

Xie Lian has never learnt so much from one creature. What is more, no one has ever given so much of their time to him. It's a lot to take in, but also it's just extremely easy to live alongside the siren.

The most feared enemy of his pod turned out to be the kindest soul in the ocean the merman has ever encountered. Even after those few days Xie Lian is sure nothing could change his mind at this point.

He also gets to know the animals that live around the coral reef and in San Lang's territory, his absolute favourite being the one-eyed tiger shark named E-ming by the siren. What perked up Xie Lian's curiosity the first time he saw the animal, was the same type of scars the siren has all over this body. What's more, the shark was similarly to the siren very keen on Xie Lian even if the merman could become his meal easily. The only difference between the shark and the siren is the eye they are lacking - for San Lang it being the right one, and for E-ming, the left one.

“You two are quite similar,” Xie Lian remarked once, petting the shark that also took a liking to him. “Even look alike, I would say.”

“Yes. It's ugly.” San Lang replied, shrugging, as if he hasn't just offended himself with those words as well.

“No! What are you saying? That's not what I've meant!” Xie Lian was quick to panic. “I wanted to say you're both tough but cute!”

“Is that so?” The siren raised one eyebrow, looking at Xie Lian. “What else?”

“You're both very gentle around weaker creatures like me! And you're both beautiful! And you—,” Xie Lian stopped talking once he noticed the growing smirk on San Lang's face. “Oh, you're just hunting (couldn’t use 'fishing' in this context, could I?/a.n.) for compliments, is that what it is? I can go on!”

The siren snorted, coming closer to pet Xie Lian's red cheek and shoo away the shark. The animal didn't seem content, but it also knew its place well, so it swam away.

“I believe you've complimented these monstrous creatures enough already. Let's go, it's time for dinner.”

And that's exactly how their days go by.

Xie Lian almost forgets about how they met and what excuse he used to slip out of his pod's territory. His heart feels so light whenever the siren is near him, that he could just spend the rest of his life here, but never voices it out.

They also converse a lot. San Lang has an excellent ability to tell Xie Lian interesting trivia about everything they encounter. His knowledge is impressive in every subject, so the merman never hesitates to ask after, especially when San Lang himself said that he would be glad to share anything he knows with the merman.

The only thing Xie Lian avoids is what he's the most curious about - it's the siren's identity and past. This topic resurfaces, ironically, when E-ming comes around again after a few days.

Xie Lian at first doesn't comprehend what's happening. The merman has been practicing again, a few meters away from the siren who’s there to tell him how it's going. Suddenly, the shark, appearing out of nowhere, swims up to Xie Lian frantically, as if it was planning a very clumsy ambush, but then it circles a few times around the merman and charges towards San Lang. The siren raises an eyebrow and, as Xie Lian is about to ask ’what’s wrong', San Lang catches something that was attached to E-ming the whole time, but the shark was moving so fast that the merman didn't get a chance to notice.

“So we meet again, uncanny creature,” San Lang clicks unbothered, eyeing the octopus he pulled off of E-ming as he keeps a firm but harmless hold of it. “Little merman, it seems your friend paid us a visit.”

“Ruoye!” Xie Lian exclaims, swimming up to the siren. “I can't believe you found me here. And why did you wrap around the poor E-ming? Did you bite him? He seemed distressed.”

“I doubt,” San Lang chimes in, to Xie Lian's surprise. “It's scared of anything with tentacles. It's just been panicking for no reason. Pathetic.”

“Oh?” Xie Lian looks around to find the shark somewhere behind him, sheepishly swimming closer and closer with every circle to finally get behind the merman and nudge his back with his nose, demanding pets. The merman smiles and reaches out with his hand to grant the animal some comforting touch, at the same time checking for any wounds, but San Lang was right yet again - E-ming's skin lacks any new injuries. “Why are you so scared, sweetheart? Have you got hurt by an octopus before?”

Ruoye doesn't seem content with this turn of events, so it forcefully slips out of the siren's hold, swimming up to Xie Lian and wrapping itself around his arms and chest, as if it wanted to give the merman a hug. This scares away the shark, who flees in the opposite direction.

“That's how it lost it's eye,” San Lang explains, making the merman look up at him in shock.

“Oh, that's awful…,” the merman admits, suddenly realizing that the shark, similar to San Lang, has mysterious scars all around his body… and most of them begin in the place where the eye should be. Just like in the siren's case. “Um.. uh, w-what species was it?”

“If I try to compare it to any species, I could as well call myself an ocean eel,” the siren answers, snorting shortly. “It was a monster of the kind that took after cephalopods and humans equally. It contains the most dangerous trails of both - the poison and strength of an octopus, combined with the cunning and cruel nature of those ruling the land. What's more, it has the ability to deceive everyone around it with it's looks, just like this little friend of yours can change it's colour.”

“I… I didn't even know such creatures exist. How do they look? They have tentacles? Are they as big as us?” Xie Lian shoots a few questions before he can stop himself. Only after the words leave his mouth, he reminds himself that if E-ming encountered that monster, San Lang must have had the same experience, or maybe even worse. “I-I mean! If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay!”

“I have no other feelings for that kind rather than disgust. I can tell you all I've learnt from my experience with them, if that's what you want.”

“Yes, please!” Xie Lian exclaims, swimming up to the siren who offers him a gentle smile. “Where have you encountered it? Did you fight it? Is… is this also, how, uh, you…”

“How I lost my eye and got the vainly scars all over my body?” San Lang finishes the sentence that didn't want to make it pass the merman's lips.

At the same time, the siren starts swimming towards the coral reef, silently deciding it's enough practice for today for the merman. Xie Lian follows him instantly, as the other creature continues to talk.

“Shortly after I got born into this world, my mother got brutally murdered by a pair of those monsters as she was innocently passing with me through nobody's waters near their territory. They weren't hungry. They did it for fun. From what I remember, my mother was quite small, even for a siren. She could hunt well enough to feed me, but as soon as I could, I started feeding on my own. She wouldn't be able to fight off two of them at the same time and they knew it. She told me to flee and wait for her somewhere safe, but she never came back to find me. She put up a fight only to give me enough time to get away as far as possible, so that they wouldn't be able to catch up with me and kill me as well. I understood it way too late to try to help her.” San Lang stops clicking for a second. The foggy memories of his mother must have flooded his mind, or so Xie Lian thinks.

The siren looks visibly sad for the first time since Xie Lian got to live alongside him. The merman wants to comfort him somehow, but he's not sure if he's able to offer anything other than a hug, so he restrains himself.

He doesn't even remember his own parents. All he knows is that Feng Xin and Mu Qing found him one day near the pod's territory in a very bad condition as they were play-fighting, still not bigger than coleys. Xie Lian was weak and small, a lot smaller than any merman his age and it remained like this until these days.

However, with San Lang's teaching, Xie Lian felt like he finally had a chance to change at least his weaknesses.

“I miss her, sometimes.” San Lang chimes in after a moment. “I wanted to become strong to be able to protect her, even if sirens are loners. But with that turn of events, I got another reason to become strong - to avenge my mother. And I did. When I was old enough, I came to these waters and fought that pack of monsters. Only a few of them escaped, but I never found them. That stupid shark got involved too, probably because it suffered the same fate as me. We both got bitten by the leader of those monsters. He also fled when he realized that even after having my eye put out, I was still defeating them, one by one. And it came in handy, because his poison did kick in after a longer while, when there was no one around here anymore. I was lying on the ocean bed, unable to move a finger and I thought I was going to die, but the symptoms let go after all. The scars are the only thing that remains.”

“I… I'm so sorry. You had to endure so much,” Xie Lian speaks up, swimming up a little closer to the siren. He gently takes his hand into his own and squeezes, without stopping their swim.

“I'm fine, little merman,” the siren assures, but doesn't let go of Xie Lian's hand either. “I only regret that I was never able to save my mother. I've gained this territory thanks to that fight and from this perspective, the scars and an eye were not a huge price to pay. The neighborhood is probably delighted as well, at least that's what I've observed. Excluding your pod, of course.”

“Oh? The coral reef does seem lively, but I don't know much about the neighborhood. There are other territorial species living nearby? Another pod?” Xie Lian is quick to shoot more questions.

“There are a few creatures with territories around here, not specifically mermen, but from any encounters I've had with them, they seemed less scared of me than the previous residents. If they're not hostile and aren't purposely invading my territory, I'm not quick to turn to violence. It's usually easy to tell if they mean no harm. Except for humans. Those creatures cannot be trusted easily.” San Lang admits, grimacing for a second.

As Xie Lian thinks about it, having a close border with the siren was never a bother. The pod members would tell one another to be aware of the ‘’vicious monster', but Xie Lian actually never heard of someone he knew getting killed by San Lang, except for those who went to his territory with an intention to ‘get rid of the danger’. He never invaded their territory either, so it's been a rather peaceful couple of years for the pod.

Xie Lian wonders, why has anyone never mentioned the pack of octopus-like monsters from before. They must have been way more dangerous for the pod than a single siren, even if he had the ability to fight off that whole pack. Maybe it's been a long while since then - after all, the merman was aware San Lang must be quite older than him, since sirens grow up in a totally different way than mermen and can live longer while still looking extremely appealing, ‘’to deceive their prey'.

“Unfortunately, I have a lot of information about only one of my neighbours,” San Lang continues, bringing the merman back to here and now. “It's a siren as well, but he's away right now. In exchange for access to his feeding waters, I take care of his territory and grant him permission to use an island in my territory. He gave up a huge part of his area anyway, because he wanted to convince me to help him.”

“Help him? With what?”

The siren snorts, looking at Xie Lian and pretending to smile guiltily. The merman must admit that San Lang's skill for dramatic acting is always making him giggle.

“I haven't asked about details, you have to excuse this fool of a monster I am,” the siren says, but soon enough stops acting to give out the valid information. “All I know is that after the pack of those maggots fled these waters, he got a piece of information that was very important to him, so he went to investigate. He told me he would need an island, but there's none in his territory. So I agreed to lend him a hand.”

“I see… are you guys friends?”

The siren laughs again, clearly amused with the idea of calling another siren a “friend”.

“I would say we're just not hostile towards each other and it's enough for both of us. There are creatures in these waters way more annoying than him. Especially since he's not the type to bother anyone with his presence - he spends most of his time in the darkness of the trenches.”

The merman nodes, not wanting to push more. It's kind enough of San Lang to share so much with Xie Lian anyway and it must have been hard to share the details of how his mother died, even if the siren says it doesn't bother him. In peaceful silence they swim back to the coral reef with Ruoye wrapped around the merman like a peculiar poncho.

It's already late, so they prepare to rest, talking about the plans for tomorrow.

“I have to go for a throughout patrol of the border tomorrow,” the siren says, lying down on the soft corals, making just enough space in the middle of the bed for the merman to fit perfectly. “I will be gone for most of the daytime. Can I entrust the coral reef and surrounding areas to you for a day?”

The merman perks up, surprised, but he quickly nods eagerly with a wide smile on his face.

“Of course! I will make sure everything is in check when you're not here! You can leave the coral reef to me.”

The siren smiles back, happy that Xie Lian doesn't seem nervous to stay by himself. What is more, it's his chance to finally be “useful”, which the merman has been longing for a lot, even if the siren didn't care in the slightest. San Lang actually wouldn't mind the merman not doing anything more than just being himself, however, that's the opposite of what the merman wants for now, so the siren wanted to give him tasks here and there to put him at ease. The upcoming day was a great opportunity to assure Xie Lian that he can have a purpose in the siren's territory in his own eyes.

San Lang observes the merman, as the other one slowly convinces the octopus to let go of him and rest on one of the rock shelfs in the cave. Xie Lian looks extremely beautiful when he cares for animals - San Lang has long realised this, after so many encounters with not only E-ming, but also other creatures that live around the coral reef. They all seem to adore Xie Lian and always surround him whenever the siren is a little more far away than usual.

San Lang can't blame them. After all, he's trying to be by the merman's side as much as he possibly can too.

“Thank you, little merman. I owe you,” he clicks after a while, getting the exact reaction he wanted to force out of Xie Lian: the adorable, pink blush all over his gorgeous face.

“Stop, if anyone owes anyone anything it's me! I will gladly help,” Xie Lian says as he swims up to the siren and lies down beside him. He instinctively moves a little closer to San Lang's chest, resting his head on the siren's arm. They've been sleeping like this since the second night they've spent together and both of them have never rested better than in each other's embrace.

“I will hunt a huge breakfast for you, so that you won't be hungry when I'm gone. I should be back before dawn, so I will bring a huge late dinner then,” the siren clicks, carefully placing one of his hands on Xie Lian's head and running his fingers through the merman's hair.

“Don't worry about that. There's a lot of oysters in the area. I learnt to open them with one of the human tools I've shown you. I will manage, you can focus on your own tasks, really,” the merman assures, looking up at San Lang and petting his cheek. He cautiously moves his palm to not touch the area of the missing eye too much - he's already noticed the siren is a little wary of that side of his face.

“If you say so. I will just bring the regular size breakfast and dinner then.”

They both snort at that remark, cuddling for a little longer before they both fall asleep to get enough energy for the upcoming day.

***

That's it for today! Lemme know your thoughts and theories about the tentacle monsters ^•^ + in the next chapter we probably are getting some more action, so stay tuned 🥺

#my roomate’s so talented #cries #tgcf #hualian

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