#mermaid eddie

[stevieschrodinger]

This is not how Steve wanted to spend his afternoon.

Actually, he’s found himself doing a lot of things he hasn't wanted to since Starcourt burned down but, honestly, this is probably right up there.

God it’s disgusting.

But he had to try. All the kids had looked at him with their stupid hang dog faces, so he said he’d try. Which is why he’s at lovers lake, freezing his ass off in the water and nipple deep into the shrubbery, ripping slimy crappy weeds and grass out of the muddy lake bed.

At least Robin got in with him. She’s shivering in her bathing suit, but she’s gamely holding onto the cooler as it floats in the water, so at least there’s that.

The bin full Upside Down vines next to the tank hadn't made much sense at the time, but it became apparent pretty fucking fast when the fish creature in Steve’s pool hadn’t eaten for forty eight hours, and Steve was now, finally, sober enough and not concussed enough to put two and two together.

Hopefully this works though; all the kids have, obviously, become immediately like, fucking pack bonded with the thing. Man. Fish Man.

El and Max keep insisting he’s a mermaid – Merman? Merdude? - like he’s something out of a fairy tail and is all magical and shit.

Steve takes a breath and ducks down again, having felt something hairy and frond like with his exploring toes.

“You think this is enough? Like as a fair test?” Robin rocks the half full cooler forward and Steve peeks in.

And alright, Steve just doesn’t want to fucking be here at all, so he says, “yep, looks good,” as they share a lightly guilty look.

It might not work at all, of course, so their wanting to give up is legitimate. They can always come back when it’s warmer if the fish man does eat this shit.

He certainly isn’t interested in the raw fish the kids have been trying to feed him – Steve’s going to be eating fish for a fucking month with what’s in his freezer now, and don’t those reprobates realize the price of fucking prawns??

The fish man wasn’t interested in meat either, not raw, not cooked – even though Dustin insisted that because of his ‘forward facing eyes’, ‘claws,’ and ‘slightly pointed teeth,’ he must be a predator Steve! The vines must have just been for, in his tank, or whatever, Steve!

Whatever.

Steve’s here to prove them wrong, and Robin’s backing him up.

The kids have gone home when they get back, which is a fucking relief. Even with the heaters in the car on full, Steve still feels cold in his bones. His skin warm and tingly, but the shivers still locked inside; him and Robin head for separate bathrooms without even really talking about it, fishboy has survived this long, he can do another twenty minutes.

Steve finds the biggest sting of kelpy weedy seaweedy stuff from the lake, and drags the tip of it in the pool. It’s dark out, the light from in the house reflecting on the surface of the pool, making it impossible to see where the creature might be hiding; until he disturbs the surface, a few seconds later.

Steve splashes the end in the water, “here fishy fishy fishy.”

“Steve,” Robin elbows him.

“What, it’s not like he has a name,” Steve doesn’t look at her though, he’s watching that strange pair of eyes come closer. They reflect the light strangely, like a wild animal in the headlights. His dark hair is plastered to the top of his head, being wet, and everything else is submerged.

Steve knows he can breathe fine for at least an hour out of the water though; that’s how long the rescue took. And then the bathtub; he was fine in there for a day while they drained the pool of chlorinated water and refilled it with fresh. And it was easy enough to get him in there; if he was human, Steve would say that fish dude was starving to death. Concave stomach, all his ribs clearly visible, pale flesh pulled too tight over the knobs of his spine. Steve had lifted him easily, the sad curl of his dull black tail hardly adding any weight to him. He felt frail, breakable; like a bird.

If there’s any lingering chemical in there, it doesn’t seemed to have hurt fishguy, but then a creature from the upside down must be tolerant to plenty, Steve thinks, imagining the constant fall of ashy dust from the dark sky.

The creature cautiously approaches, and when he’s near enough, there’s a gentle tug on the weed, like the most cautious of bites on a line. Steve lets go, and both fish guy and weed disappear under the water.

“Do you think it worked?” Robin whispers, like they’re viewing a skittish wild animal. Which, they kind of are.

“Don’t know,” Steve whispers back, unable to stop himself. There’s just something about someone whispering to you that’s irresistible; it’s like an unavoidable instinct to follow suit.

“How will we know if it’s worked?”

“Dunno. Try another? See if he takes it?” Steve’s just about to break open the cooler again when the head pops up. All of it, this time.

He has dark hair. So dark it looks black; thick and ropey, it kind of reminds Steve of the vines of the upside down. His face is...pretty much human; just very pale. When he’s got his mouth shut, hiding the slight point of those teeth, nothing would give him away.

He lifts a hand out of the water, offering something to Steve who, gingerly but reflexively, takes it.

It’s the stalk of the weed. The leaves are gone, and the fleshy green of the outside has been carefully stripped off; use for those pointy teeth. Steve guesses all the plant material of the upside down is actually probably quite sturdy and quite hard to eat. It probably also has the nutritional value of wet cardboard.

Steve offers another weed, and the fish dude doesn’t leave this time. Steve watches as he eats; quick, practiced movements, trimming leaves with his claws, rolling them, eating them, then just as Steve suspected, using his sharp teeth to strip the outer stalk of all it’s fleshy wet goodness.

Steve doesn’t shudder at the thought of the mud at the bottom of Lovers Lake.

“Steve one, Henderson zero,” Robin says quietly, the fish man tipping his head to the side, as if he’s listening. Steve’s seen it a lot, the amount that the kids chatter at him, but the fish guy tends to stay at the other end of the pool to them. Watching. Nervous, and frightened, if Steve had to put a label on it.

But then, wouldn’t anyone be? Stolen from your world by unrecognizable creatures in hazmat suits. Shoved in a tank. Probably experimented on.

The whole thing sounds shitty.

Steve offers another weed, and the fish guy repeats the process, floating closer still, “Robin, humor me, go and see what’s in the crisper drawer.”

She follows his logic immediately, “on it.”

Steve watches the creature, the fish man, and the fish man watches Robin warily, moving away from the edge again a little, but coming back when Steve offers another frond.

He takes it, strips it, hands it back.

“We need a name for you man, I can’t just keep calling you ‘fish dude’ and ‘creature’ in my head.”

Steve looks over at the house, figuring he has another minute before Robin comes back, he taps the middle of his chest, fishguys strangely gimlet eyes tracking to movement from his too thin face, “Steve.”

Nothing. He tries again, pointing to himself and tapping, “Steve,” and then pointing to the creature, trying to get him to understand.

Fish guy swims a little closer, raising a hand out of the water. Steve sees the stubby but pointy black claws, like little ovals on the end of his fingers. His webbed fingers, Steve sees next, webbing stretched between them up to the first knuckle. He hesitates for a moment, but Steve doesn’t move, wanting to see where this is going.

Fish guy points cautiously at the center of Steve’s chest, close but not touching, lifting far enough out of the water to reveal protruding collar bones. He opens his mouth, and Steve watches with baited breath, fish guy frowning like he’s concentrating, such a human emotion on his face.

Footsteps, then, and he drops back into the water, backing away into the middle of the pool, sinking down so only his eyes are visible. Steve remembers to breathe; he’s not imagining it, something was about to happen. But he can try again tomorrow, once Robin has gone.

“I got some lettuce and some frozen peas,” she whisper hisses at him as she sits again, handing them over.

“Gimme the lettuce,” that seems like the next nearest thing to Steve.

Part two

[arelliann]

A little mermay piece before the month is over

[kiloude-city]

One final Venom thought for tonight: I JUST REMEMBERED EDDIE HAD A MERMAID TAIL AT THE END OF THE RIVER MONTAGE !!!!!

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two Three Four Five

“Called?”

“Errr…well.” Steve goes over to where Eddie is sitting on the kitchen floor, and opens the cupboard door, “this part,” Steve swings the door forwards and back, “door,” he closes the cupboard, “cupboard.”

Eddie seems to ponder this before moving across the kitchen and opening the fridge, “door?”

“Yeah, but that,” Steve points, “is the fridge.”

“Idge.”

“Yeah.”

“Idge door,” Eddie swings the door a little to demonstrate.

“You got it.”

Eddie pulls a pear out of the bottom of the fridge, “called?”

“Pear.”

“Pearrrr.”

“Yeah.”

Eddie nods.

“Called?”

“Chair.”

Eddie nods, then points to the couch, “chair?”

“Kinda’, but it’s actually called a couch,” Eddie cocks his head, and Steve knows he’s said too many words, so he points to the couch and says, “couch.”

“Couch.” Eddie nods. “Stee. Eddidie. Couch. TV. Pear.”

“Yeah, sure, we can definitely do that later.” Eddie cocks his head, “uhm. Stee finished for little bit,” Steve brings his hands together to try and indicate a short amount of time. Eddie frowns at him, “Stee go out.” And Steve points to the front door of the house.

Eddie nods, heading into the dining room to look out of the window onto the front drive, pointing, “called?”

“Car.”

“Stee Eddidie car?”

“No. Stee later- oh shit, now you��ve got me doing it. Steve later.”

Eddie moves back through the house, Steve following curiously, watching as Eddie goes into the fridge and pulls out a beer, showing Steve, “lat-er?”

“Yeah! Yeah that’s right buddy, you got it.”

Eddie smiles big, showing off his only slightly pointy teeth.

“He’s a prick Rob, I need to you bat your lashes at him and get us both on the same shifts. Have you seen his stupid duty rosta thing? You’re all on opens, with him, and I’m all on closes with that pizza faced waste of space-!”

“Yeah, I saw, it’s shit, I’ll see what I can do.”

Steve had come into the front door just as Eddie had come in the back, Steve can only assume he’d heard the beemer pull up, and now he’s waiting patiently while Steve talks to Robin on the phone.

“Be kind, rewind.”

“Christ, he said it about forty thousand times, like he came up with it himself.”

“I know! That’s what I thought,” Eddie’s tugging gently on Steve’s shirt, “hang on Eddie’s here, what is it buddy?”

Eddie points at the phone receiver in Steve’s hand, “called?”

“Oh, it’s a phone.”

“One,” Eddie says, but he’s frowning and shaking his head, he leans up to tap the plastic, “called?”

“Oh, do you mean...it’s Robin. Birdie. I’m talking to Birdie, you want to say hi?”

“Hi Birdidie.”

“No, here,” and Steve hands Eddie the receiver.

He takes it carefully, gingerly putting it to his ear, “hi Birdidie.”

Steve can’t hear what Robin says, but Eddie frowns and then carefully volunteers, “beer later,” another brief pause before Eddie says, “Stee good,” and then Steve almost startles when Eddie says “bye bye Birdidie,” and hands back the phone.

“Robs did you just say ‘bye bye’ to him?”

“No, he did it himself, why is that new?”

“Yeah, no idea where he got that from, unless the TV maybe...hey, Eddie, you been watching TV?”

Eddie nods, “Eddidie couch pear TV.”

Steve snorts, “you stuck to your plan without me then, huh?”

In his ear, Robin says, “he’s picking all this up real fast Steve, you’re doing a great job, I think.”

“Thanks. Hopefully soon he will get to the point where he can like...tell us things.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“Uhm...no good. Bad.”

Eddie tilts his head, “work bad,” he says with absolute certainty, making Steve laugh.

“You don’t like me going to work?”

“Stee inied bad.”

“Awwww buddy, that’s sweet.”

“Sweet.”

“Okay, so this is a walkie talkie.”

“Alkie talkie.”

“Yeah, and it’s like the phone, so you press this button,” Steve demonstrates, startling Eddie when static blasts from the other walkie he has. “Here, you have this one, remember, press the button,” Eddie takes it, holding it to his chest as he sits in his tent, “right, stay.”

Steve jogs into the house, closing the door behind him and going out of sight, pressing the button, “hello Eddie,” he hopes Eddie picks this up pretty quickly, since he’s mastered the buttons for the TV just fine.

There’s a long pause, long enough that Steve thinks he’s going to have to go outside and show Eddie again, then there’s a cautious, “Stee?” And then it goes quiet, so Eddie let go of the button, which is great considering Steve didn’t even tell him that part.

“Hi buddy. You good?”

“Eddidie good. Stee good?”

“Yeah, I’m great.”

“Beer later?”

Steve laughs, muttering ‘I’ve created an alcoholic,’ to himself as he heads back outside, satisfied Eddie knows how to use the walkie. That was way easier than Steve thought it would be.

“Called?” Eddie pokes Steve in the face. His nails aren’t sharp exactly, but they are kinda pointed. Plus they must be like, super strong.

“Ow,” Steve says, but its more reflexive than anything, and then rubs his face, “come on man, you know my name.”

Eddie scowls, but does say, “sorry.” It’s not long before he comes back, poking Steve again, “called?” he demands, poking Steve yet again in the side of his neck.

Steve flaps at him, “hey. Personal space. And they’re moles. Moles. Leave them alone.”

“Mollleeees?” Eddie queeries.

“Yeah. Moles. Like...they’re just there. It’s fine.”

“Moles.” Eddie replies, deadpan, looking at Steve like he’s absolutely full of shit.

Steve nods again, “uh hu, moles.”

Eddie sits for a minute before he slithers off, going half into his tent before he comes back. He moves a little awkwardly, one hand being occupied with carrying his book, but he manages to bring it to Steve where he’s sitting on a pool chair.

He lays the book out on the chair next door, flicking confidently through it’s now well worn pages until he finds the one he wants, he turns it, holding it up to show Steve with a very accusatory look on his face, “moles!”

He says it with the same tone you’d call someone a liar.

He’s showing Steve the page of The Eastern Mole. He’s presenting it like he’s just won an argument.

Steve sighs, “oh boy,” because he does clearly remember reading that page to Eddie.

Steve lies on the living room floor, Eddie lying nearby. Eddie can hold a pencil fine, even if his grip is a little odd because of the webbing between his fingers. So far Steve’s written out the alphabet, numbers one to ten, the days of the week, the months, and Eddie’s own name.

Eddie’s been copying them all dutifully, line after line, and he is kind of getting it. His handwriting is picking up fast at least.

“I’ll get more paper next time I go out. Some proper stuff with lines on.”

Eddie’s frowning at what he’s doing, a look of great concentration on his face, eyebrows drawn together into a frown, tip of his tongue poking absently between his teeth. They’ve been inside long enough that his hair has completely dried; it goes all bouncy and curly when it’s completely dry, but it’s still completely black.

“Eddidie go out?”

“No buddy, you stay.”

“Stay?”

“Yeah, it’s safe here.”

Eddie hums, carefully writing his own name.

Eddie had watched curiously as Steve and Robin had moved all the furniture, but hadn’t investigated. He’s lying on the grass, copying whatever takes his fancy from his book and into one of his lined notepads.

His tail is half curled in the air, the tip flapping back and forth, like Eddie has his knees bent.

“He’s definitely put on weight, it’s really noticeable to me now.”

“Yeah, I think so too, but I see him all the time so it’s probably more obvious to you.”

The kids wanted to do a little get together today, maybe get the grill out. Steve backed it; this is probably one of the last nice days they’re going to have this year. If they don't come up with a plan sometime soon, Eddie might find himself wintering in Steve’s bathtub.

They decided to move the furniture away from the pool so they didn’t stress Eddie out, and they’re far enough away that, when the first kids arrive, Eddie does sit up, but doesn’t immediately move towards the water, which is a win.

“Just play it cool okay, ignore him and he might come to you. Don’t you little dipshits stress him out.”

By some miracle, the kids seem to actually listen. Steve keeps it simple, grills up a bunch of burgers and some hot dogs. The vegetable skewers that Robin made. The kids play on the lawn and generally enjoy the sunshine. Steve keeps half an eye on Eddie. He gets in the water a couple of times; mostly when the kids horsing around gets too loud for him, otherwise he seems content to lie on the grass with his book and his pencils. He's got his shades on, but his skin is so milky pale Steve worries vaguely that he should be putting sun lotion on him.

He supposes a lifetime in a place with no sun will do that to you.

It’s late afternoon when the kids settle in, finding jackets and pull overs as the dusk starts to darken the sky. They’re quiet now, tired out, they just sit and talk.

“He’s there,” Max says, nodding.

Steve turns, she’s right. Eddie’s maybe fifteen feet away.

“Don’t make a big deal,” Steve tells them. He takes a sip of his beer, and then leans back, setting the bottle on the grass. Then he makes a point of ignoring it, “just keep talking okay, don't freak him out.”

The kids are pretty shit at keeping the conversation going now there’s a distraction, and they’re all blatantly watching Eddie. Steve can hear him moving across the grass, so he dares a look; Eddie’s maybe two feet back, sipping the beer.

“Eddie?” Eddie cocks his head, not seemingly over stressed by the situation, “who is that?” And he points.

“Dust bin,” Eddie replies, confidently.

All the kids are lost to fits of sniggering giggles. All except Dustin, who looks suitably affronted.

Part Seven

[medusapelagia]

26 AU-gust: Lighthouse - Part 1

Part 1 - Part 2 - [Part 3?]

Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson WT: Monsters WC: 3159

Steve always knew that he was going to end up like this. Alone in the middle of nowhere.

That was not exactly what he was envisioning when his father convinced him to join the navy, still, after a few weeks at the Naval Academy he quickly found out that it wasn’t exactly how his father told him. Or at least, it wasn’t for him.

He didn’t like the cruel pranks that the older boys did to the others, and even if his friends from high school, Billy and Tommy, managed to find their spot in this new environment, Steve struggled.

Not at school, he was the best of his course, but he never fit in. 

He was the teacher’s pet and the son of Fleet Admiral Richard Harrington. Everyone thought that he had a bright future in front of him.

The only one who wasn’t so sure about that was Captain Hopper.

Every day he tried to make Steve snap, and when he finally did he found himself boarded on a ship that was going to carry him toward an abandoned lighthouse in the middle of nowhere.

“Staying in the quiet will help your temperament.” His father has told him the only time he tried to complain about it.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on between his father and Hopper but he was quite sure that he was a victim of crossfire.

He sighs. 

He has already taken a plane and a ship, and he is going to take a little boat to finally get to the remote island where he is supposed to stay for the next six months.

When he finally gets there he sees that the lighthouse is almost in ruins but luckily there are a lot of tools inside a tool shed. He looks around, taking notes about the renovation that he should be doing.

Thank god it’s June, so he can sleep inside the lighthouse the first night without worrying too much about the broken windows.

In the next few days, he starts to fix everything while making sure that the light is always on.

At night, when he sits beside the lighthouse, looking at the waves. He has the feeling that someone is staring at him, but he knows that it’s just his imagination.

Being alone on a fucking island in the middle of nowhere does things to your mind.

He doesn’t think he is crazy, at least not like the previous lighthouse keeper who apparently killed himself just a few days before Steve was sent there.

At least that’s what Robin said when she came the first time. He is becoming friends with the strange girl who, every few days, brings him groceries and keeps an eye on him.

She has a very strange kind of humorism but he gets her and she does the same. Every time, before leaving and going back to the bigger island a few miles away, she always says “If your sense of humor is still intact you are fine.”

And he is fine. 

Only… he really has the feeling that someone is watching him.

Strange, right?

***

After a couple of weeks that he is staying at the lighthouse he finally finds out who was watching him all this time: a black and white cat with yellow eyes that jumps on his chest one night while he is sleeping.

Obviously, he wakes up with a startle and the cat falls from the bed, hissing in an offended voice.

He, Steve has found out quickly enough that it’s a male, and is very good at hunting mice and hiding, but now that the season is getting colder the cat seems to have some problems finding food so he usually steals some of Steve’s provisions even if Steve always leaves some fresh fish and water for him.

“I swear to god, Steve, that cat is getting fatter and fatter! You shouldn’t give him all your food.” Robin scolds him while he is taking the groceries.

Steve smiles at the girl, who is petting the cat. He knows perfectly well that the cat steals some food, it’s like a game to him and he doesn’t mind. 

He is his companion after all.

Days become weeks and then months and that cat becomes more and more tamed, always following Steve around while he keeps fixing anything he can.

The months have gone by quickly and he is getting so used to being alone with the cat that is almost ready to ask his father to let him stay at the lighthouse a little longer when he sees a boat in trouble. The wind is strong, the waves rough and the dark is not helping.

He had never seen a boat in all the months that he stayed there, maybe they came with a bigger ship and got lost. It doesn’t matter what happened, he has to help them.

Steve looks around. He knows that he is not supposed to leave the lighthouse, if something should happen to him no one will be there to keep the lighthouse functioning, but the boat seems so close!

He looks at the cat “Wait for me.” he says, and then he grabs his yellow raincoat and starts to run toward his little boat. 

The waves get bigger and bigger, but he keeps going, the boat seems close, so close.

“Hey! Here! To the lighthouse!” he screams in the dark, moving the light he has in one hand to attract the attention of the other boat.

Only… it almost seems that no one is on that boat. 

Which is not possible, right? A little boat like that couldn’t have reached the lighthouse alone! Not with weather like that.

He sees something moving in the water when his light beam hits the black sea, something with a long tail. A dolphin? Or a shark?

But he has no time to think about that.

Another wave makes his boat crash against the rocks and he falls, swallowed by the icy cold and dark water.

Steve still has his light in his hand and for a moment he sees a black-haired boy in front of him.

But something is wrong: his eyes are too far on the side of his face and he is tilting his head looking at him with curiosity.

Steve is enraptured by those strange eyes that are looking at him, eyes that have no lids, like the fish.

He closes his eyes for a moment and when he reopens them the boy it’s even closer to him.

Only.

It’s not a boy.

He has a fucking tail.

Steve would like to scream, but an arm is dragging him down, toward the ocean’s floor.

The surface gets farther by the moment.

He is going to die in this cold water and no one will ever find his body.

Steve's last thought is for the lighthouse, and when he opens his mouth to breathe he drinks salt water instead of oxygen.

***

Someone is pushing on his chest, hard, and when he opens his eyes he sees the blond hair of Robin’s head.

He turns to his side, spitting salt water.

His chest burns so much that he thinks that he is going to die.

He keeps spitting for what feels like hours, while Robin keeps moving his hands in a circular motion against his back.

Then he let himself fall to the ground.

“What the fuck were you doing? Do you want to kill yourself?” the girl scolds him, punching him on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. There was a boat last night.” he tries to explain, but his chest burns so much that it's not easy to explain what happened the night before.

“No boat could have reached the lighthouse last night. The winds were too strong!” she rebukes him, but helps him get on his feet.

“You are lucky your stupid cat came to find me. Or you’ll be fucking death.

He thought he was going to die.

He remembers that.

But it doesn’t remember anything more.

Maybe he hit his head harder than he thought.

On the shore, there are pieces of his boat. 

“I need a new boat.” he simply states.

“Yeah, no shit.” Robin replies, getting closer to him.

She helps him back to the lighthouse and then makes some tea for him.

“You shouldn’t have left the lighthouse. In case of an emergency, you call help from the stupid radio that you have, ok?”

He nods, sipping his tea.

The water is calm and blue, nothing to do with last night.

He has the terrible sensation that he forgot something important but he has no idea what it might be.

The cat sniffs him and then goes away irritated.

“What have you done to the cat?”

Nothing that he knows. So he shrugs and keeps drinking the tea.

***

Three more days that the cat is ignoring him. Three more days that the cat is not even inside the lighthouse. Three more days of food that keep disappearing.

Worried that mice might be getting into the pantry, he tries to keep awake while staring at the pantry but finally gets asleep.

When he opens his eyes the door is ajar, but that’s not what woke him.

There is a sound in the air. A voice? A song? He doesn’t know. But it’s calling for him.

When he gets closer to the beach he sees a beautiful woman singing. She has curly hair, just like Nancy, and the same grin she had.

“Nancy?” he calls, and the woman nods.

Somehow it seems absolutely normal to him that his ex-girlfriend could be playing in the water of a remote island in the middle of the night.

He sets foot in the water.

It’s freezing cold.

“Come here, Nancy. It’s too cold to take a swim.” he calls her, but the woman keeps smiling beckoning him.

The level of the water is at his ankle.

He keeps going.

The level of the water is at his knees.

The smile on the woman’s face seems more mischievous.

Something is wrong.

Something it’s deeply wrong.

He has to help Nancy get out of the water and then…

He feels something touch his ankle.

He looks down only for a moment.

It’s a tail.

A huge red tail.

He hears a shriek and the beautiful woman is now a monster who is stretching her nailed arms toward him.

He can’t move. Or scream. He just keeps staring at the monster knowing that she will be the last thing that he sees, when something drags him underwater for a moment and quickly swims away, keeping him in a tight grip.

The red-tailed monster is following them, even if the other creature had the advantage of surprise effect, the red one is quicker.

Big breath.

Steve obeys and takes a big breath, and in a moment they are under the surface.

His ears scream for the pressure, but the creature is holding him tight and dragging him down and down and down.

The red monster it’s so close. She manages to scratch Steve’s leg and he loses one of his shoes, but before she can attack him again they hide behind some rocks and the red creature is too big to follow them.

Great. He will not be eaten by a monster, but he still needs some oxygen.

He starts to squirm to free himself from the tight grip. He needs to get to the surface. Now.

The creature doesn’t release him but starts to swim toward the surface, or at least Steve hopes it is.

Everything is black.

He doesn’t know where is up or down.

Air.

He needs air.

I know.

He doesn’t have time to analyze the fact that he is hearing voices in his mind because he finally breaks the surface and takes the biggest breath he has ever taken.

The air smells bad. It’s humid and smells of rotten fish, but the air never felt so sweet to him.

The creature doesn’t free him, it keeps swimming toward some cliffs, helping him out of the water.

Stay.

And Steve stays because there is no other place he can go.

He is scared out of his mind.

A monster tried to kill him, another brought him to his den and will probably try to kill him later and he has no fucking idea of where the hell he is.

He tries to calm down, taking some deep breaths, and when his mind is a little bit more lucid he remembers that the clock that his father gave him for graduation has a little torch.

He lights it up and looks around him. He is in a cave, a sea cave, and from the look of it, it seems that part of the cave has collapsed so that the only entrance is from the water.

The water looks quite deep and there are a few fish that are swimming toward his light. 

And under the fish, he sees a white humanoid figure.

Suddenly he remembers the night of the storm.

The boat.

The creature that dragged him down.

The boy that wasn’t a boy.

The very same boy is looking at him from behind the surface. 

It seems like he is giving him time to get used to him.

His face looks even stranger, seen from above, under the rippling water.

The creature gets closer to the surface, slowly, maybe trying not to startle Steve, and then he emerges only with the crow of his head and his eyes.

His strange eyes with no lids.

I can change it if you prefer.

Steve looks at him astonished.

“Are you talking to me in my mind?”

He tilts his head.

“I… I hear your voice in my mind.”

He shakes his head, then lifts a webbed hand against his chest and makes a sound. It seems like a song. Something old that he knew but forgot. It’s the song his grandma used to sing to him when he was a child, far too young to remember it.

These are vibrations. 

“How do you know that song?”

I know no song. I feel vibrations and I repeat them.

Steve is so confused that the less strange thing at the moment is that an unknown marine creature knows the song his grandma used to sing to him.

“Where am I?”

Safe.

“What was that? The red creature.”

Siren. 

He looks at the creature, he has a tail as well but it’s different. Is dark and looks more like an eel than a fish.

“And you are not?”

Different.

Different. Yeah. He noticed when he didn’t try to eat him. Or maybe he would try later.

No eat. You got food.

And then it clicks.

It wasn’t the cat that was robbing the food. It was this creature.

“How do you… I mean… You have a tail and the lighthouse is not so close to the water…”

Change?

“Change? What does it mean?”

The creature gets closer, holding on to some rocks, and then he closes his eyes while Steve sees the tail divided into two and then become a pair of legs, the eyes move from the side to the center of the face, and the gills on his neck close.

In front of him, right now, there is a naked and wet dark-haired boy.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

He has so many questions right now but he is speechless.

“In this form. No vibration. Talk.”

“Oh… You can’t read my mind if you are human? Because you are human now, right?”

“Not human. Always me. Just. Changed.”

Steve nods.

“And the other siren can she change as well? She can come to my house and…”

The boy shakes his head “Different. Bigger. Longer tale. No change. But knows songs.”

“Which songs?”

“Soul’s songs.”

And yeah… the song she was singing felt deeply personal. And she changed more and more into Nancy the closer he got.

“Me no song. Me vibration.”

Steve is going to ask the most stupid question in the world but… “Did you try to drown me? During the storm.”

The creature shakes his head “Bad. Storm too strong. Steve don’t go.”

Steve? How the hell does he know his name?

But if he has always stayed around he must have heard Robin call him.

“What are you?”

“Mermaid.”

Oh. That explains it all.

“What…”

“Sirens evil. They play with people and then eat them. Like cat.”

“While mermaids.”

“Don’t.”

Perfect. So maybe he is not going to become mermaid food. Not tonight at least.

“Why were you in the water the night of the storm?”

He giggles. Honest to god the mermaid giggles.

“I live in water, silly!”

“Yeah, I mean… There was a boat! I saw a boat and…”

He shakes his head “No boat. Sirens.”

Holy shit. 

“And you dragged me away from the sirens.”

He nods.

“Change back?”

Now that Steve is looking at him, he sees that he has goosebumps, the water must be freezing for his human form.

“Yeah go on.” he is fucking freezing as well but there is nothing he can do.

“Look, it’s too cold for me here, and I don’t know how long the battery of my torch will work. I need to go back to the lighthouse.

The mermaid nods.

Later. Sirens.

Yeah.

He is not really looking to repeat the experience, so he thinks that a little cold could be worth it.

“Will you tell me when it’s safe?”

The mermaid nods and disappears under the surface.

Steve turns off his light and resigns himself to wait.

***

Something is touching his leg, but he is so tired. 

“Five more minutes, mum…” he protests, but when he tries to turn he falls into the cold water and he is immediately very awake.

The mermaid is at his side, holding his head out of the water.

You hot.

Steve doesn’t know what it means, he feels so fucking cold!

Big Breath.

He takes a big breath and lets the creature drag him under the surface.

It must be a day because he can finally see the rocks while they swim to the surface. When he is finally back with his head out of the surface he tries to swim toward the lighthouse, but the mermaid holds him tight and drags him with him toward some rocks.

He leaves him close enough to the shore but not so close that anyone could see him.

“Thank you.”

Safe. The creature repeats, before disappearing.

When he gets back to the house the cat is avoiding him even more, and then he understands it. The cat can smell the mermaid’s scent on him.

That’s why he started living outside.

He feels unwell. Too hot and too cold at the same time.

He manages somehow to shower, just to wash away the seawater, and then collapses on the bed.

[to be continued...?]

[candyrockpop]

A Deep Dive

      Merfolk!Eddie Dear x GN!Reader

                  CW/TW -- Cussing, mentions of the ocean, swimming, deep diving, being stranded, near death experience via drowning, unknown sea creatures, possible large sea creature, mermaids

                             Summery:   You are participating in a deep sea exploration when something goes terribly wrong. You black out and when you wake up you're on an island, stranded, and are now in the company of a merfolk who doesn't speak your language. The sun is setting soon and you desperately need shelter, but this merman seems to have a delivery for you...

       “Gods, why did I sign up for this?” I thought as I descended into the deep waters of the ocean. I was about 1737 ft (about 529.44 m) down and counting, and my body was hurting pretty bad from the amount of pressure. It’s a miracle that my gear has survived this long and this deep. Hell, it's a miracle I've survived this deep! “Come in diver, are you alive and safe?” Echoed the earpiece in my ear.  

       Somehow, three years ago, someone invented an earpiece and oxygen tank duo that allowed someone to dive to extremely deep waters without damage to the equipment. Some believed that it was a witch that made it, others thought it was a hoax, but it didn’t matter since it worked.  

       That was how I got here, far too deep in water that could potentially kill me. “I’m here. All seems safe, I think.” I spoke, but of course, I jinxed myself. After I spoke a low rumble began, and I swore I could feel it in my chest. All a sudden the chord above me snapped, sending me deeper into a seemingly bottomless ocean.  

       I panicked and tried to swim up to the surface but my oxygen tank was running low and if I went up too fast it could kill me. I was stuck. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me, either. I tried to look around, maybe there was a cave nearby? I didn’t find anything and I couldn't help but think, “Is this how I'm gonna die? Stuck in the ocean where no one will ever find my body?”  

       I heard the beeping of my oxygen tank. It ran out.

       I couldn’t breathe, there was no air left.  

       I blacked out.

       I woke up coughing. Did I drown? Is this the afterlife? I reached up to check my pulse, but I still had a heartbeat. I must still be alive, then, right?  

       I looked around, noticing I was on a beach. It seemed like an island since there was no sign of life other than animals and a person peeking out of the water.

       ...A person peeking out of the water? My head jerked towards the ocean, eyes skimming the surface before landing on a man's head above the surface of the water. “H-Hey! Can you help me? I don’t know where I am!” I shouted to try and get him to talk since his attention was already on me. It didn’t work. He turned and swam away, leaving me alone. I sighed and my shoulders slumped as my head fell into my hands.  

       I heard a splash and quickly looked up. The man...was back...

       Holy shit, he's a mermaid. “Holy shit you have a fucking tail!” I exclaimed without thinking. He looked at me hesitantly before nodding. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself a little before looking him over. He seemed to have some sort of seal tail, but I didn’t recognize the species. His tail was white with grey freckles, though some colorful freckles, too. His upper half was orange with red hair, too. Not any sort of human, or at least a subhuman species, then.

       He made a series of clicking noises and looked worried. I must've zoned out. “Uh, do you know how I got here...?” I were hesitant to ask, but it had to be done. He nodded and made some more clicks, pointing towards himself with a grin. I looked at him, surprised and confused, “So, wait, you saved me? You didn't just see me here and decide to say 'hi!' or something?” He nodded again. He seemed to understand me considering he was answering me okay.  

       “Okay, so am I near any sort of human civilization...?” I questioned. He shook his head with a frown. I sighed and tried not to laugh out of something akin to frustration. I groan, “Right, I was exploring the deeper waters of the ocean before the chord snapped. Wait,” I paused to look at him cautiously, “how did I survive if I was that deep with no oxygen...?” He at least looked sheepish before clicking more.

       He seemed to blush before getting too flustered and jumping back into the water. "Great, now I'm alone, there’s no shelter, and its beginning to get dark." I stood up and exhaled. “Alright, let's see if I remember anything from those TikTok videos, I guess.” I walked to tree line, swatting bugs out of my face and making sure to pay heed to my surroundings and where i stood.

       I didn’t walk much further, not wanting to get lost. I made a makeshift tent out of sticks, leaves, more sticks, and broken tree limbs with the leaves attached. “Gods, I hope this works, or that it doesn’t rain...” My thoughts trailed off as I heard more clicking noises in the distance. I groaned quietly, turning around and walking back towards the beach. I made sure to mark the entrance, or at least where I walked, to get to my makeshift tent.  

       The merman was back, and he seemed to have a sort of messenger bag with him. It was an array of colors, and I don’t know how it was so many different colors since it looked to be made out of seaweed. I mean, I can understand the greens, reds, and maybe the yellows. The blues and purples on the other hand... “You know what? I'm just gonna stop asking questions right now...” I muttered under my breath. The Mer tilted his head. I shook my head in response and he just started pulling things out of his bag.  

       Were...were those fucking boxes?!

       “What the actual hell...? How do those even...? I...” I was so confused. How in the hell did they even fit in there? Was it a magical messenger bag? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was considering mermaids exist. He pushes the boxes towards me with a smile. I cautiously look at the small label on it. It is addressed to me.  

       Okay, fuck this, this is creepy! I stare at the box for a few minutes, just contemplating on opening it or not. I don’t know whats in that box, for all I know it could kill me! Then again, what if it's somehow something useful...?

       I cannot actually be considering this...

Hello! Happy pride month! I'll take this moment to say I'm a proud gender-fluid omnisexual! 🏳️‍🌈

I hope everyone is doing good, and if you aren't I hope that it gets better soon. I hope you enjoyed reading and thank you for doing so. I have a hard time writing Eddie normally so I tried something else instead. And one last thing, this is 1,064 words. It doesn't look like it, but it is.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

Steve knows the kids are obsessed with the newest up and coming metal band, Corroded Coffin, even though their music is actually terrible. But when Robin of all people begs Steve take them to the band's next gig, he relents.

Everything starts to make a lot more sense when they walk up to the stage and there's an honest to god Siren behind the microphone, a guitar slung low on his hips with magic wafting off him in waves over the crowd.

The singer clocks him immediately and quickly schools the flash of surprise in his eyes into something more flirtatious.

Steve smiles, the cat that caught the canary. He was right. Their music really does suck, and he can't wait until tomorrow when he can rub it in his tiny human friends' faces.

Tonight, however, he's going to ruffle a pretty boy's feathers.

~~~

Eddie knows his music's horse shit, tailor made for humans- sue him, they needed the money. So he's always a little surprised when another creature finds their way to his concerts. It happens on occasion, and of course they're always welcomed. He's seen all sorts on their tour.

But something as beautifully unholy as a Nephilim?

The man with the auburn hair and hazel eyes surrounded by a gaggle of children glows with a golden aura so soft and warm Eddie's almost left speechless. Almost.

He's caught staring, but he can't take his eyes away. So Eddie does what Sirens do best. He preens, puffs his sleek black feathers just enough for only the man in the crowd to see and sings. A move typically saved for encores, the crowd goes wild with energy and pushes their way towards the stage.

The Nephi laughs, full-bodied with mirth at the antics. A beacon of golden light bursts from him, control of his halo slipping just the slightest.

It's unearthly, it's sinful, and Eddie falls to his knees in worship. The men and women caught in the halo turn to him, smiling and leaning in and touching what is Eddie's--

But the Angel relaxes, the halo draws back, and the peoples' hands fall away even though their eyes linger.

None of that matters when the Angel blows him a kiss. Eddie knows, deep in the hollows of his bones, that when he finds him after the show, he'll stretch his Angel's wings and show him just how bright his halo can glow.

[timeshareindestin]

no ray of sunlight’s ever lost 🌞

[sir3n-s]

Steve's been a sailor for years. He's survived a lot of different "adventures".

Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to survive being left on an Island without any supplies.

He's regretting declining the offer to become a Capitan. If he ever makes it back he's begging for the position.

It's not uncommon for an experienced sailor to join a crew that's brand new for a little to help them out. Steve was happy to do it even.

He just didn't think they would leave him stranded on a island in the middle of the ocean.

Steve didn't know what to do so he just started walking towards the trees.

And he kept walking. For hours, maybe even a day or so.

The sun has left and appeared 3 times so it's been a few days. But he kept walking.

Until he started to hear an alluring melody that felt like it was pulling him towards something.

He kept walking towards it and the louder it got the worst the urge got to find the source.

It was hypnotizing.

Eventually he reached a circle lake that was absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear water, pearls and jewels surrounding the edges, the prettiest rocks he has ever seen.

But sitting on a rock was the source of the sound. A man?

A man with a dark red tail and long black hair. It stopped singing once it saw him.

"You finally made it" the man said, voice as mesmerizing as the song it was singing.

Steve didn't say anything. Just continued to stare.

He made it to what? His death? Is this what he was hallucinating while he died? Out of everything he sees a man with a tail and so many expensive items he could probably buy the whole town Steve was from.

He sat down and leaned against a rock, if he was going to die he was going to die comfortably.

As comfortable as sand can be.

"Not talkative? I thought all humans liked using their voice" it asked sliding into the water and swimming closer, crawling out of the water to try and get closer to him.

It layed on the sand next to Steve just starting at him.

"Do you not have a voice?" It asked.

Steve sighed, "I have a voice but I refuse to talk to someone my imagination made" he closed his eyes.

"You think you can imagine something like me," He can hear the smirk in its voice. "Why do you think I'm fake?" Of course, his mind made someone to make his last moments alive hell.

"Because I've been here for days without food and water in the heat, I'm ovbisouly dying. Now be quiet" Steve spat out, just wanting peace in his last moments.

He seriously hoped Robin won't be to devastated when he doesn't return home.

Suddenly something touched his mouth, he jumped back and opened his eyes. The man was holding a cup filled with water.

"Drink" it commanded.

"I'm not drinking water from a uh whatever you are, it's probably not even clean"

"Its rude to assume the worst, isn't it?"

Steve glared at him.

The man sighed and threw a red apple at him, "at least eat that"

Steve scanned the apple for a moment before deciding it was safe and taking a bite.

"So what will it take for me to convince you that im real and trustworthy?"

Maybe being left on this island wasn't so bad.

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two Three

“Ow, not so hard man.” Eddie seems to be absolutely fascinated with Steve’s leg hair. Which, okay, Steve kind of understands, Eddie has neither legs nor leg hair, so he gets why it would be weird. He kind of wishes Eddie wouldn’t tug quite so hard though.

Eddie’s just demolished a big bowl of green things, and Steve’s sitting on the edge, legs dangling in the water where Eddie’s hovering, touching Steve’s skin with his slightly warmer than pool water temperature fingers. He’s scratching a little too, but it’s only a tiny bit, very gently, so Steve doesn’t mind. Eddie clearly doesn’t intend to harm him, and seems more fascinated with the thin white lines he’s leaving on Steve’s tanned skin.

Eddie gives a particularly vicious tug, Steve jerks, “Ow! Fuck. No, no more. Finished.” He sits up, pulling his legs clear of the water, waving Eddie away.

“Inied?”

“Yeah, finished. Ow. It hurts. You hurt me.”

Eddie tilts his head, swimming closer, “Steeee. Ow.”

Steve sighs, “Yes, ow. I’ll be back later.”

“I’m sure. Steve is the only one who feeds him, right?”

Steve and Robin both nod.

“Right, so, from his point of view, if he interpreted that as Robin trying to like, harm Steve, then his food supply would be jeopardized. He's just, resource guarding or whatever.”

“So...no play fighting within Eddie flopping distance?”

Dustin nods, “pretty much yeah, anything that could be interpreted as risk to Steve, I guess. Or, when Robin is here, she takes Eddie his food. Or anyone really, anytime anyone else is here. That way Eddie will start to see Steve isn’t his only resource.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s probably a good idea anyway,” Steve easily agrees, the now bare patches on his shins are still kind of stinging.

Robin returns with her bowl still full of veg, “he just won’t touch it. There’s still peas floating in the pool from last time.”

Steve sighs, “I really don’t know why he’s being like this.”

“Maybe he’s just pissed at me,” she shoves the bowl at Dustin, “you try.”

They all watch through the window as Dustin heads to the pool. They can tell from how he’s standing that Eddie’s at the end furthest away. Dustin kneels, tries offering things. It’s not long before he quits and comes back.

“How long did it take before he would eat? Maybe we just need to persevere?”

Robin disagrees, “once we figured what he would eat, it was pretty much straight away he was taking stuff from Steve.”

“Okay, so maybe it’s like, a trust thing, so if we stick this out long enough, eventually he will get hungry enough to give in, right?”

“We’re not doing that,” it just immediately strikes Steve as cruel, “he’s not put on enough weight yet for us to be fucking with his food supply.”

“Okay...okay yeah.”

Steve blinks awake. He’s not sure what woke him, but he’s almost certain he just heard something. He lies still straining to listen and yeah, he definitely heard something. Something or someone moving around downstairs. Steve quietly shifts, groping for the nail bat leaning against the wall as he slides out of bed, his heart feels like it's crawling up into his throat. He almost hopes it's a regular old burglary and not, like, monsters.

He creeps downstairs, luckily he was already sleeping in a tank top and shorts. He’s nearly to the bottom of the stairs when he hears it; a clunking noise and then, “Steee.”

He carefully puts the bat down immediately; figures Eddie got into the house somehow. Steve allows himself a moment to calm down, breathe deep and slow for a minute even as, in his head, he's calling Dustin a little shithead and blaming him for leaving the back door unlocked.

At the bottom of the stairs he can peer around the corner to see Eddie sitting in the hall. It’s light enough for Steve to make out that Eddie’s sitting quite tall, his tail curled into an ‘s’ shape underneath him. He has the phone from the hall side table held carefully next to his head, exactly like...well...like a regular person on the phone would, and while Steve is there, he says, “Steee,” uncertainly into the receiver.

For a moment, Steve is tempted to sneak up to the phone in his parents room and lift the receiver so he can answer Eddie, but quickly dismisses it; Eddie’s limited vocabulary makes it kind of pointless, anyway.

“Hey Eddie,” Steve steps off the bottom step.

“Stee!” Eddie turns to Steve, it's almost strange to see him without his sunglasses on now, and his eyes reflect what little light there is in a strange, silvery flash. He seems to remember then that he's holding something, forgotten for a second with the clear excitement of finding Steve, and he replaces the receiver on the cradle with surprising care; Steve wonders vaguely if he was just listening to the dial tone.

Eddie moves through the house, walking on his hands and using a unexpectedly efficient twist of his tail to push him along; he’s much more comfortable on land than Steve would have given him credit for. He stops and looks back, clearly waiting for Steve to follow him. Steve does. Dutifully following Eddie through the house, and it’s not until Steve’s at the door that he realizes it's not Dustin's fault at all – the spare key is in the lock. He doesn’t keep one out front – that’s just asking for trouble – but he keeps one out back. One that is only for absolute emergencies only, and it’s very specifically under the third plant pot along. Eddie must have seen Robin or one of the kids let themselves in and then just...worked it out for himself.

Well, huh, Steve thinks as he follows Eddie out into the yard and across the grass, past the pool and along to the tree line.

Steve wonders vaguely if Eddie actually does this often, getting out of the pool and exploring at night; he doesn’t seem to struggle, and he clearly knows where he’s going, passing through the tree line at the bottom of the yard and then a little further in.

Eddie comes to a stop, and when Steve gets there he sees what Eddie is looking at. It’s a bird. A pigeon probably, like a wood pigeon or something, if Steve’s very limited knowledge of birds is to be believed. It’s lying on the grass, clearly dead.

Steve crouches and watches as Eddie, very gently strokes the fluffy breast feathers of the bird, “Ow. Inied.”

Steve sighs he guesses finished is one way to put it, “yeah, yeah buddy. Uhm. Dead,” Steve pulls Eddie’s hand away, “dead. Don’t touch it. It’s dead.”

“Dead,” Eddie cocks his head.

“Yeah,” Steve yawns, getting sleepy again now the adrenaline’s died down and there’s clearly no danger, “come on, back to bed. Or, you know, the pool.”

Eddie’s reluctant to move at first, but then does when Steve gestures, sliding soundlessly back into the water.

“See you tomorrow buddy.”

“Budidy. Edidie.”

“Yeah, near enough.”

“Do you think he killed the bird?”

“Nah, there wasn’t any obvious like, injury or anything. And you should have seen how gentle he was with it Robs...it was like he felt bad, you know.”

She hums in agreement, “he must have seen someone at the lab use a phone, do you think?”

Steve figured the same, once he’d finished his night’s sleep and actually pondered on it. “Pretty sure he doesn’t know how to actually use it, he was just copying. But the fact that he worked out they were using it to talk to other people, that’s pretty smart, right?”

“Maybe we can teach him to use it?” Robin eats more waffle with her fingers, smearing the broken up bits through the cream. They’re sitting out on the pool chairs for breakfast.

“Dunno, numbers and stuff. A walkie though? I think he might be able to-”

“Steee! Steeee!” Eddie calls him from the water, arms resting on the sides. He’s smiling, looking happy, shades firmly in place today.

“What buddy?”

Eddie points confidently at the sky, “dead!”

Steve looks up; birds. There’s birds flying over.

“Oh no- birds. Eddie those are birds.”

He looks so confused, but Steve suddenly has an idea, “where you going dingus?”

“Be right back a second,” Steve heads into the lounge and runs his fingers along the lowest shelf of books, easily finding the thick children's encyclopedia he got for his birthday one year when he was little. He’s never even opened it, thought it was a shit present, but it’ll do for this.

He opens it on his way back to the pool, finding a page with a big colorful picture of loads of birds on it, sitting by the side of the pool where Eddie can see, “bird.”

“Buurd,” Eddie drags the word out, definitely making it more than a ‘u’ than an ‘i’ sound, but it’s definitely near enough.

“Yeah that’s right,” Steve lays the book out on the edge of the pool, “don’t get it too wet.”

Eddie tilts his head, “et.”

Steve slaps the water, “wet. Uhm.” Tapping the book, Steve says, “finished.”

Eddie looks at his hands, frowning.

“Right, wait,” Steve goes and grabs a towel, left forgotten on a pool chair, and brings it to the edge, “here,” Eddie’s close enough for Steve to take his hands easily, “wet,” after a moment of ruffling Eddie’s hands with the towel, Steve tells him, “dry.” Then he taps the book, “dry. Wet finished.”

He waits to see what Eddie will do, but he holds his hands carefully out of the water before he lifts himself to touch the book.

Steve turns to a page at random, showing Eddie a page with all sorts of big cats on it, lions and tigers and stuff like that, “go on, you do it.”

Steve gestures at Eddie, and, cautiously as he lets his elbows take his weight, Eddie carefully turns the page.

Part five

[szczurherbacany]

its mermay so an obligatory siren eddie is in place 🫡

[libraryofgage]

Mermaid/Pirate Steddie Six

One | Two | Three | Four | Five

This fic was line-jumped! If you'd like to learn more about line jumping, please see this post

Anyway, thank you line-jumper for your patience, I know this was a little late orz but I hope you enjoy it!

As always, if you see any typos, no you didn't ;)

---

“Why do they look so weak?”

“Do you have more of these?”

“Can he really not breathe under water?”

“Does he understand bubble patterns?”

“He’s not the worst swimmer.”

“I could probably break his ribs with one tail swipe.”

“Please don’t break my mate’s ribs.”

Of all the words echoing in the water around him, those last few are the ones Eddie gets stuck on. He perks up as the curious hands of adolescent merfolk poking and prodding at him pause. From the determined expression on Steve’s face as he tugs Eddie closer, he definitely meant to say that.

“Seriously?” Robin asks, curling around Steve’s other side. Her hair floats across Eddie’s vision before settling, and bubbles rise from her fluttering gills. “You’re already mated? How did that even work?”

She glances down as she asks, and Eddie follows her gaze to Steve’s tail. It looks normal to him. His wound has healed, leaving only a faint scar behind. If anything has changed, it’s that the inexplicable splashes of orange across his scales make sense in the water. They glimmer and shine like gold and silver coins in the wavering sunlight that manages to break through the surface. Eddie is hypnotized by them, and it takes a conscious effort for him to look away.

Steve’s flush tells Eddie something important has been alluded to, and he’s starting to get an idea of it. “Robin! Not in front of the guppies!” Steve tells her. She cackles in response, bubbles bursting from her gills as she curls around Steve’s right side and flicks his forehead.

“But we already know about that stuff,” one of the guppies, Lucas, says. A few bubbles rise from his gills, too, and Eddie is starting to wonder if they’re important when Robin and Steve pause to study them. 

Another one, Dustin, nods and places his hands on Eddie’s shoulders. He pushes up to float above him, holding tight so he doesn’t end up floating away. Somehow, this results in Dustin’s tail smacking against his back a few times, but at least it doesn’t hurt. “Yeah,” Dustin says, “You taught us during the last cold tide trip. Remember? Joyce and Hopper got together and started talking about more guppies, so then Erica asked what they meant and you got all red like a lobster as you tried to explain it.”

“Teaching you about reproduction and discussing…recreational enjoyment are very different things,” Steve says, his firm tone undermined by his flustered look. 

Eddie taps Dustin’s hand, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows in a curious expression when Dustin looks down.

“Oh, do you wanna know?” he asks.

“No, he doesn’t,” Steve says at the same time Eddie nods. When Steve glares at him, Eddie grins, salty water rushing into his mouth. He doesn’t mind too much, especially when he points at his throat and Steve’s glare immediately melts into fondness and concern. He leans in, kissing Eddie and pushing more air past his lips. 

“We are just teaching Eddie about reproduction,” El says when Steve pulls back. She pushes under Eddie’s arm, wrapping her tail around his leg to stay in place. With her there, Dustin’s tail is no longer hitting his back, and Eddie hesitates before patting her head. 

Between her, Dustin on his shoulders, Steve holding him close, Robin practically wrapped around Steve, and the rest of the guppies surrounding them, he’s starting to realize how touchy merfolk are. Or maybe this is just Steve and Robin and their guppies. He’ll have to ask later.

“Why are you making such a big deal when it’s boring?” Max asks, huffing as two lone bubbles rise from her gills. “Two merfolk decide to have a kid. One fertilizes the other, they carry the egg for a while and birth it. After that, caretakers watch the egg until it hatches. Simple.”

Yeah. Eddie has so many questions. He can’t ask any of them now, though. All he can do is nod along, forcing his expression to remain serious as he listens. Max seems to like the attention, her gills fluttering again and letting a stream of bubbles rise to the surface as she perks up.

“Man, it sounds boring when you say it like that,” Mike tells her, grinning as he turns to look at Eddie. “So, anyway, dicks an--”

Robin laughs as she smacks her hand across Mike’s mouth, using her other hand to ruffle his hair until it’s floating wildly in the water. “All right, all right, let’s stop before dingus goes belly-up,” she says, pinching Mike’s cheek when she pulls his hand away.

He huffs and sticks his tongue out at her. “Eddie asked,” he says.

“Eddie didn’t ask anything. He can’t talk, and he doesn’t make bubbles,” El says.

“No, like, he used his face.”

“Oh.”

As they talk, Eddie tugs on Steve’s hand, pointing to his throat again. Instead of immediately kissing him, he glances up at the surface with a frown. It’s not like Eddie was actually running out of air, so he doesn’t tug on Steve’s hand again. “How about we go up,” he says, looking at Robin. When she just looks confused, he adds, “You could see Eddie’s ship.”

“Really?!” Dustin and Will ask, both of them looking at Eddie hopefully.

Eddie considers for a moment, figures the guppies can be entertained by his crew if they get too bored, and nods once.

“Yes!”

----------

“They have so much energy,” Eddie says, carefully setting Steve on the bed before collapsing into it next to him. He rubs his fingers together, feeling how wrinkly they are after spending most of the day in the ocean. They still haven’t smoothed out despite being on the ship for an hour already.

Steve hums softly, reaching over and taking Eddie’s hand. He laces their fingers together, rests their hands on his stomach, and says, “They liked you.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell between Mike trying to drown me and Erica trying to bite me,” Eddie says, squeezing Steve’s hand.

The drowning attempt had happened when they surfaced. Mike had grabbed Eddie’s ankles and yanked him back under, grinning as Eddie yelped and swallowed half the ocean in the process. Somehow, Steve had managed to both kiss Eddie some air and smack Mike upside the head with his tail.

The biting had happened while trying to get all the guppies onto the ship. It involved nets and ropes and straining muscles, but they’d managed. When Eddie was getting Erica untied from the ropes, she’d leaned over and snapped at his shoulder. Robin saved him in time by yanking her back, refusing to hear her excuse about Eddie smelling like “really fresh krill” and her being hungry.

Things had been chaotic between getting the guppies and Robin settled, figuring out food, and keeping them entertained so they wouldn’t destroy the ship out of boredom. Eddie had never been so relieved as when they’d started nodding off in a giant tub they secured to the mast.

“They were just…testing you. A little. It’s normal when caretakers introduce a mate,” Steve tells him.

“What, are they making sure I’m sturdy?”

“More that you can handle them if you join the pod,” Steve explains. “Caretakers don’t leave their pods. If they mate with a merperson from another pod, that merperson just joins it. Guppies are overprotective and want to make sure mates deserve their caretakers.”

“That’s kinda sweet,” Eddie says.

Steve nods in agreement, shifting around some until he can turn to face Eddie. The bottom of his tail curls around Eddie’s leg, a heavy weight that he finds reassuring. “How do you feel?” he asks.

Eddie can hear the questions lying beneath. Did he like the guppies? Did they manage to scare him away? Is he going to end their courtship?

“They’re cool. I like them,” Eddie says, the words spilling out so he can reassure Steve. He feels something light and happy bubble in his chest at Steve’s smile. “I am wondering about something, though.”

“What?”

“How, uh, how does all of that…work?” Eddie asks, his face burning as he gestures to Steve’s tail, focusing on the general area Robin had looked at before. Despite the embarrassment of asking, he can’t help the heat that simmers through him at Steve’s knowing smile.

“Are you interested in theory or practice?” Steve asks.

“Practice. I am so, so, so interested in practice,” Eddie says, throwing an arm around Steve’s waist and tugging him closer. “But I wouldn’t mind a little theory so I know what I’m doing.”

Steve laughs, pushing against Eddie’s chest lightly. When he lets go, Steve sits up, gesturing for Eddie to sit behind him. Once they’re settled, Steve is nestled between Eddie’s legs and Eddie is resting his chin on Steve’s shoulders. “There’s a slit,” Steve says, taking Eddie’s hand and placing his palm on a patch of scales just below his waist. “When a merperson is aroused, it opens to provide access.”

Eddie swallows, nodding as he feels the cool slide of Steve’s scales under his palm. He glances at Steve and moves his hand, brushing his fingers over the area until he can feel where the slit is. It’s a slightly raised line, barely noticeable if he weren’t looking for it.

“And, uh, how does it work? For two mermen, I mean,” Eddie says.

He feels more than hears Steve hum, the vibrations pulsing through him from where Steve is resting against his chest. “Well, it doesn’t matter much,” Steve says, reaching up to tug on a loose strand of Eddie’s hair. “You humans have a word for it, I think, but all merfolk have the ability to carry or fertilize. It really just depends.”

“Oh,” Eddie says, biting the inside of his cheek as he presses his palm flat against Steve’s scales again. “So, which…I mean, what do you…you know, prefer?”

Steve thinks for a moment, twirling Eddie’s hair around his finger. “Anything that feels good,” he finally says, tilting his head back to grin at Eddie. “How about finding out what does?”

Not for the first time, Eddie thinks, perhaps, the merman in his arms will be the death of him. It’s a good thing he doesn’t mind one bit.

------

Tag List! (tags are full, please follow #high seas steddie)

@mugloversonly, @raisedbylibrarians, @thegirlwiththelibrarybag, @savory-babby, @vankaar,

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@m-owo-n, @newtstabber, @cartercaptainofthemoon, @spectrum-spectre, @a-little-unsteddie

[medusapelagia]

26 AU-gust: Lighthouse - Part 2

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson WT: Monsters, self inflict injury WC: 3046

When he opens his eyes the naked boy is looking at him.

“You sick.”

Yeah, he feels under the weather, but, as his father told him, if he is not dying he can still do his fucking job.

So he gets up, wobbles a little, and makes sure that the light of the lighthouse is on.

“You need help.”

“I’m fine.”

The creature shakes his head “Help.”

“I can’t ask for help. We are in the middle of nowhere.”

“Robin.”

“She will come in a couple of days. I’ll be ok. Don’t worry.

“Worry. Food.”

“Oh, that’s nice. You are worried because you will not get food if I die? Is that what happened when the old lighthouse keeper died?”

“Wayne.”

“Who?”

“Wayne.”

Oh. He knew him.

“Were you… friends?”

He looks at him perplexed.

“Did you know each other?”

Eddie points at one of his legs which has a nasty scar.

“Hurt. Help.”

Oh. So maybe the old man wasn’t crazy. Or maybe he was. Or maybe Steve is.

What the fuck.

“What happened?” he asks, getting a blanket and covering himself.

“Sirens.”

“Fucking sirens.”

“Fucking sirens.” the creature agrees.

“But you are ok now, right?”

He nods, then points to Steve “You. Help.”

“I told you. It’s just a cold. I’ll be better after some sleep.”

“Sleep.”

“I can’t. I have to look out for boats and…”

“No boats. You sleep.”

He has a duty, he can’t simply.

“Me watch water.”

Well, that’s not a bad deal. He could take it.

“Ok. I’ll sleep.”

“Now.”

“I can’t actually fall asleep on command!”

But the creature looks at him sternly “Sleep.”

“Ok, ok, bossy. What’s your name anyway?”

“Mermaid.”

“No, you. What does your mother call you?” he tries to explain.

“No call. No mother. Me alone.”

Oh. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t… Ok, you know what? I’ll give you a name ok?”

“Name?”

“Yes. A word that means that I’m calling you. Mine it’s Steve. And you already know it. Yours could be…” he looks around the room, searching for inspiration, and then he sees it, the article he was reading a few days ago “Eddie. Like the eddies, you know?”

The boy tilts his head.

“The eddies, circular currents of water… ok, it doesn’t matter. You are Eddie ok? I’m Steve and you are Eddie.” he points at himself “Steve.” then he points at the boy “Eddie.”

“Eddie.” the boy repeats.

“Good!” Steve praises him.

“Now, sleep.”

Steve nods at the order, getting back to bed. The last thing he sees is the white of the naked butt of the boy.

He should give him some clothes.

Maybe tomorrow he will put some old clothes on the shore in case Eddie decides to show up. 

Now that he has a helper he can finally try to get some sleep.

***

When he wakes up the next day his head still hurts but he feels so much better than the previous day.

He really hopes that Eddie has kept his promises and looked out for ships experiencing difficulties. In any case in this period of the year, there aren’t many ships that follow that route, so it should be fine.

What he is curious about is the older lighthouse keeper.

Everyone told him that he was crazy and that he killed himself, but Steve is starting to think that is not exactly the case.

He looks in every drawer and every closet. He finds a bag with some old clothes, a picture of a man with a beautiful woman, and some notebooks.

He takes a moment to look at the picture. Both of them are smiling at the camera, the woman is showing a ring on her ring finger.

“Wife.”

Steve jumps at the voice and lets the picture fall to the ground, and it shatters in a hundred pieces of glass. Eddie takes it and kisses the picture before putting it back in the drawer. Then goes to the pantry, taking the same sardines.

“You don’t fish?”

“I did. Now few fish. Many sirens.”

He is not a nice eater, he opens the tin and eats from the tin, getting his hands and his chest dirty with oil.

“You have to put it on a plate! And eat it with the fork!”

“Why?”

Why? Because that’s what his mother’s etiquette lessons taught him? Because that’s how they do it? He doesn’t know.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. But you need clothes. You can’t go around naked.”

"Naked?"

"Yeah. Without clothes. Like that." he tries to explain, pointing at the boy who looks at him confused.

"Why?"

Gosh, this creature is going to make him go crazy! "If you are going to stay here on the ground you have to put clothes on."

"Why?" he asks again and Steve snaps.

"Not everything has a why, ok? You have to do as I told you!" he yells, exhausted.

The creature glares at him for a long moment and then he runs toward the sea.

"Wait! Eddie! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Eddie!"

He tries to follow him but the creature is fast and when he jumps into the seam foam it disappears.

Steve kicks a rock, making it fall into the water "Fuck!"

***

He doesn't see the creature for almost two weeks, but the food that he leaves for him every day always disappears, so he knows that at least he is ok.

"Why are you moping?" Robin asks when she comes to the lighthouse.

"I'm not moping." he replies while tidying the pantry.

"Yes, you are. Don't be sad, dingus, you are going home soon and become an Admiral, just like your father!" she says, trying to cheer him up.

He sighs and then asks her "What do you know about the previous lightkeeper?"

"Wayne?"

He nods.

"He was a kind man. Retired I think. He used to be a sailor. He knew so many stories! He used to talk to me about his adventures. I think he was a little crazy because his stories were always full of pirates, mermaids and so on. But they were so fun! I couldn’t wait to get here to know more about his adventures!"

"Mermaids?"

She nods, taking the cup of tea he is offering "Yeah. He was obsessed with mermaids actually. He told me that there were different kinds of mermaid, like selkies, ceasg, merrows, but the most dangerous were the..."

"Sirens." they say at the same time.

She laughs "So you know the stories too? Do they do a course about mythology at the Naval Academy?"

Steve stares at her seriously.

"What would you say if I told you that they are not stories?"

She stares at him and then she burts out laughing loudly "I didn't know you had that in you Harrington! I thought you were a boring rich boy, but you are funny. You are really funny."

“Stay here with me. Tonight. And I’ll show you.”

“Ok… I think you are going a little bit kuku-banana Steve. I think it’s better if I call land and tell them to pick you up before anything tragic happens.”

Steve feels a shiver down his spine. She can’t do that! Can she?

“No. No. I have to stay here! He needs me!”

“Who?”

“Eddie?”

“The cat? He is going to take good care of himself!”

“Not the cat! Eddie! Like the eddies!” He has so many things to explain to her, but she is already moving toward the boat.

“You are unwell Steve. It happens when someone is left alone for too much time. But you don’t have to worry. I’ll call for help. Just… don’t do anything extreme ok? Read your books, and play with the cat. Whatever. I’ll be back…”

She stops, turning her head toward the sea, and even if Steve can’t hear it, he knows that she is hearing the siren’s song.

Somewhere, hiding in the mist, a siren is calling her song.

He grabs her and tries to drag her back into the lighthouse, but the pull from the siren is too strong. 

She fights him, punching him in the face, and then runs toward the sea.

Steve follows her, running as fast as he can, and grabs her a few meters from the shore.

Now he can see the siren in her monstrous form. The huge mouth full of teeth tries to get closer, reaching out toward them with her arms, her tale still in the water.

Another siren starts to sing and this time is Steve’s song.

He can’t fight both Robin and the sirens at the same time.

He quickly weighs his options: he could run back to the lighthouse but god only knows what will happen to Robin, or he can fight.

He vaguely remembers the myth of the Odyssey, where Odysseus had all of his sailors plug their ears with beeswax.

He has no fucking beeswax, but a few feet away there is a stick.

In a second he makes up his mind, he drags Robin farther away from the sea and then he takes the stick and stabs himself in the ears.

He screams, letting Robin free, but now everything is silent.

The song that was dragging him toward the sea, is gone, and the two monsters in front of him shriek but he can’t hear them anymore.

“Sorry.” he whispers to Robin, before punching her in the face and bringing her back to the lighthouse.

***

When Robin wakes up she is furious.

She keeps yelling at Steve but he can’t really hear her so he lets her shout and yell at him while she goes back to his boat, but he keeps an eye on her until her little boat disappears in the distance.

She is going to tell the world that he is insane and that he will spend the rest of his life in an institution.

Great.

He startles when he feels something cold touch him.

Eddie is behind him, his hair wet, his body covered in a pair of pants too long for him.

He is moving his lips but Steve can’t hear him.

He takes his time to look at the boy.

He seems so human. 

He has some seaweed in his hair and Steve gently brushes them away.

“So beautiful.”

The boy is frantic. He must have seen what happened the night before but he didn’t show up.

Clever boy.

He tries to drag Steve away from the lighthouse, but there is no place they can go: Steve has no boat and even if he had one someone would find them anyway.

The boy yells, cries, screams, and all that Steve can do is hug him and tell him that everything is going to be ok. 

He cuddles him all night, blabbing about anything.

He tells him about his mother, who was always too busy hanging out with her friends while he was left home with a babysitter.

He tells him about his father, who was always onboard somewhere.

He tells him about his friends, who only care about him for his money.

He tells him about Nancy. The love of his life. Or so he thought. 

“And then she broke my heart. Just like that. And she didn’t even realize, I think.”

The boy in Steve’s arms is drawing soothing circles on Steve’s chest.

“They are going to take me away, you know that right?” he asks, not waiting for an answer, but Eddie nods.

Steve feels some air on his chest and thinks that probably Eddie has said something but he can’t hear him anymore.

God, he misses his random English.

Eddie is the first to acknowledge them. 

He sits on the bed, his eyes fixed on the door.

“You have to go.”

He shakes his head, but Steve insists “They can’t find you here! It’s dangerous! You don’t know what humans are capable of!”

Steve grabs his wrist and feels his skin dry.

“You need water. Go. I’ll be fine. I’m an Admiral’s son.” he replies, feigning a calm that he doesn’t feel.

He helps the boy out of the window.

They share a last look, and then the boy disappears.

***

He is neither angry nor surprised.

Obviously, Robin called for help, it was the only sensible thing to do, but now it seems that she is feeling guilty.

She insists on being in the same room as he is, while the doctors are checking his ears. 

Both his eardrums are badly perforated and he is completely deaf. He didn’t need the little whiteboard where the doctor is writing to know that.

Robin is saying something.

He misses her keen intelligence, and her jokes, but it was the only thing that he could do at that moment, so he is not regretting it.

The doctor gives him a complete check-up, writing on the board that, apart from the obvious, he is fine.

That’s not what he is dreading.

What he dreads is his father, but for the moment he appreciates the silence.

They have drugged him, and he feels calm and relaxed.

He thinks about Eddie, wondering how he is. If he has taken enough food from the pantry and if the new lighthouse keeper is going to be his friend.

He misses him.

It’s not even a day and he misses him.

He used to have two friends. And now, he has no one.

How fucking pathetic is that?

He is tied to the bed, apparently, they are scared that he is going to do ‘something’. What, no one knows.

He is still floating, thanks to the drug, when a man in a white coat and gray hair gets close to him.

He is not the same doctor he saw before.

The doctor smiles at him, taking the whiteboard.

I’m Dr. Brennan, he writes.

Can you tell me about your friend?

Steve’s eyes widen. He was not expecting that.

“Who? Robin?” he asks, trying to draw the attention away from Eddie, but he has the horrible feeling that he knows exactly who the doctor is referring to.

No. The boy. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Don’t lie to me. You perforated your own ears. That means that you know about them. 

Them? Does it mean that there is more than one?

Steve has so many questions but he doesn’t trust the man in front of him.

“Don’t you know? I’m fucking crazy! It was just a figment of my imagination!” he replies, laughing, and the man glares at him.

This man is so funny.

The doctor calls someone else and they speak for a long moment, then they inject him with something and everything goes black.

***

Cold.

And wet.

Where the fuck is he?

He opens his eyes and finds himself tied to a rock near the seashore; half of his body is under the water and the tide is rising fast. Are they trying to drown him?

Panicking he starts to look around him and he sees the light of the lighthouse move in circles.

He is back on the fucking island! How did that happen?

He tries to free himself from the ropes but the rope bites his arms and he doesn’t manage to move a single muscle.

What the fuck?

Trying not to lose his nerves he looks for a way out from his situation, but there is nothing there, only him and the fucking ropes… and the sirens!

Shit shit shit!

He is going to be offered to the fucking sirens.

They can’t charm him anymore, but they can still devour him.

He starts to wiggle, trying to free himself, but to no avail.

“What do you want? Uh? Do you want to kill me?” he screams to the void, while the sirens get closer and closer.

He closes his eyes, ready to be devoured, but then he feels some familiar webbed hands on his wrist and the sharp pain of a blade on his arm.

He yelps.

Sorry.

Steve lowers his eyes, Eddie is trying to free him from the ropes and at that moment everything becomes clear.

It’s a fucking trap!

“It’s a trap! You have to go! They are coming! They are coming for you!” he screams, probably too loudly because the boy retreats for a moment and then goes back to his work.

“Are you listening?! It’s a trap!”

Eddie frees his left arm and then gives him the knife.

I know, he replies, before disappearing under the water.

The sirens are closer, but he doesn’t have time to free the other arm, so he stabs the one that gets too close to him, while Eddie is fighting with another one.

He finally frees his other arm and swims toward Eddie, trying to help.

The water is full of blood and the only thing that Steve can think is that he really hopes that it’s not Eddie’s.

He manages to get behind the siren and cuts her throat with the knife.

The black blood spurts from her neck and falls on Steve’s hand and Eddie’s face.

They stare at each other for a moment, in the eerie calm of the moment, and then something falls over them, something similar to a fish net.

Eddie tries to swim away, only to get more caught in the net.

Steve still has the knife but Eddie is squealing and Steve is scared that they will hurt him.

“Calm down! Calm down! I can free you! I still have the knife!” he tries to explain to him, but the boy is panicking and is not listening to him.

The helicopter above them starts to pull and drags them away from the water.

Eddie starts to pant as soon as they leave the water.

“You have to transform, Eddie. You have to transform now!” he screams, but Eddie’s eyes are big and terrified.

“Leave him! Leave him! You are killing him!” Steve yells to the person on the helicopter, but they keep pulling them up until they are both on the helicopter.

The gray-haired doctor is quick to grab him. He says something that Steve can’t hear and while he keeps screaming and threatening everyone with the knife he has, someone hits him in the head and he loses consciousness.

[Part 3?]

[candyrockpop]

Well, just reached 2500 likes. That's surreal.

Thank you for the likes, though I've been absent from posting for like, what, three weeks? A month? Eh, either way, thank you!

Oh! I have some exciting news! My cat has had her kittens! She had them yesterday and there are four. Two boys, and two girls! They're adorable! Also, I'm working on part 4 of Stood Up, part 2 to A Deep Dive, and I'm almost done with the Lovesick bit! I plan on posting all of them at the same time when they're all finished as an apology!

One last thing. Those trips I'm going on? I have a picture from a lake we went to. Here, yall can have it, too!

[neeeeeoposts]

back again w my kevedd bs (i need other things to draw oml i wont stop w the eene content im sorry)