From Beneath the Waves

Korin managed a small smile, grateful to Olivia for being so kind to him since the moment they'd met. He didn't think he would eat before morning, but it was very nice of her to ask.

On the way to the house, he kept hesitating, slowing down every time there was a new texture under his feet and making a little face when the dirt was less cushioning than the sand. Grass, when he encountered that as well, was a softer, cooler texture and just as distracting as the tougher ground. He'd only traveled a very short distance and already encountering new things. It was almost enough to let him forget that anything at all was wrong.

"Um. . ." Korin put a hand on the railing for the stairs, putting his foot on one with a more muted curiosity than usual and being careful not to tip himself over. "I think I can do it. This wood feels very different from driftwood. . ." It was just as smooth, but sturdier, he thought, until the moment he nearly toppled himself and ended up taking her hand after all. "Sorry! I'm okay. I- I thought I was getting better." Stairs were apparently more difficult than he'd imagined. Or maybe it was just him feeling off balance.
 
The stairs were wide enough for her to walk beside him, which was good seeing as how she was there to steady him when he stumbled forward.

She squeezed his hand gently and smiled a little, "you are, you just need some more practice, that's all." She helped him up the last few steps, then held open the back door for him to step inside.

The cottage was small but not cramped, it was open plan with a combined living and dining room, a separate kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms.

The space was cluttered but meticulously neat, there were shelves filled with books, paintings, little statues and other decorations. Over all it felt very cosy, comfortable and down to earth.

She pulled a chair out from the small dining table for him, "here sit down for a second, I'll go get the shower started for you and see if I can find some clothes that'll fit you."
 
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Korin managed a little bit of a laugh at himself for stumbling, soothed a bit by Olivia's reassurance, and felt a bit better with her holding his hand on his way to the door. Inside the house, there were so many things to look at he almost didn't notice the way the feeling of the floors changed beneath his feet, eyes wandering over the furniture, the walls, the little things everywhere.

"All right. Thank you." He winced a little again, but by a small margin managed not to apologize for saying thank you, since it seemed like it would only make it worse.

As she left to go and do whatever it was she was doing with the shower, he sat where she had wanted him to and tried to let it help him feel less like he was shaking. There were a lot of distractions, coming further onto land and further into Olivia's world, but there was still so much to think about, he kept bouncing between curiosity and numbness.

Minamet had always taken good care of him, and if he thought hard about it he could see some hints of her trying to make him more familiar with the human world, and to make him independent, knowing his future would be a solitary one. He didn't know how he felt about her, still. He cared for her, but to know that she had lied to him for so long, and that she was the one that had changed him, hurt more than he had imagined it could. He wasn't sure yet if she had known he would be able to return to the human world, some day, and he'd run off too quickly to be able to ask. He didn't know how he would face her again, even if he also knew that avoiding the truth would never help him. Everything was complicated.

When Olivia returned he managed a little smile, unsure whether she had been successful in finding him clothes. "Anything is okay. . ." He reassured. He wouldn't have minded wrapping himself in a towel or blanket and just lying down somewhere. He was already causing her so much trouble.
 
She disappeared into one of the bedrooms, emerging a few moments later only to disappear again into the bathroom as she hurried around.

When she came back to him, she smiled and gestured for him to follow her to the bathroom. There was a large deep bathtub and a separate shower that was already running.

She slid open the glass shower door, pointing out the taps to him. "OK I've already made sure it's a warm temperature, but when you're done just turn them both all the way to the left."

After pointing out and giving him a brief explanation of the different soaps and hair products, she showed him a white fluffy towel and the clothes she'd found.

It was an oversized men's t-shirt and track pants, "these should fit and be comfy." "I'm going to go and get the spare bed ready ok?" "Yell out if you need help."
 
Korin was careful getting back to his feet, not wanting to fall over and worry her again, but followed her readily enough to where the bathroom was. Having so many rooms in a house was so strange, though he saw the purpose in each of them. He was so used to having just one chamber to live in, with ocean currents all around.

"Okay," he said softly when she explained the shower to him, thinking he would be able to managing turning knobs though he couldn't remember using them before, "I think I can manage that." He offered her a small smile to show that he would be okay for a little while on his own, and only turned to look around again when she'd closed the door behind her.

Showers were strange. Having the water rain down on him was so different than he was used to, like indoor rain, and remembering which soaps to use where was a trial all on its own, but the warmth was nice, and getting rid of all the sand and dirt that had accumulated on their short walk felt nice. He managed turning the water off and drying himself with the towel, though figuring out how to dress himself took longer than it probably should have. Eventually he was certain enough he'd gotten everything on right, and finally gathered up the towel and the sweater he'd used to cover up before.

"Olivia?" He called softly when he'd opened the door, looking left and right to see where she'd gone and walking almost hesitantly out with the slightly damp bundle of fabric. "Where should I put this?"
 
Whilst he showered she busied herself with getting the spare room ready for him, putting on fresh bedding and making sure there was clear path.

It was already neat and tidy but with how unsure he was, she didn't want him tripping over anything, especially in the middle of the night.

She came back out, smiling a little as she reached out at took the bundle from him. "I'll take care of it." She ducked back into the bathroom, tossing it in the hamper.

She looked him over with a smile, "I'm glad the clothes fit okay, I've got the bed made up for you if you're tired." She assumed he was, but if he wanted to stay up she'd keep him company.
 
"I think so. . ." Korin said with a small, shy sort of smile, tugging a bit at the shirt as if trying to tell what she meant by 'fit'. They weren't falling off and weren't squeezing him, so he supposed that much was it. "Wearing clothes is . . . new."

At least, it was new to the parts of his life that he could remember. He wasn't sure what to think of life before that, or if he was even capable of thinking of it yet.

Quiet and bashful, he followed her to where she'd made him up a bed - something else new - and hesitated without going to sit on it. "I don't know if I'll sleep," he admitted softly, running a hand lightly over the top of the blanket just to know how it felt. After a moment he looked at her with something hesitant and guilty in his eyes, not wanting to keep her awake but with a yawning lonlieness settled in his chest. "Would you . . . sit with me? Just for a little while?"
 
She nodded a little, "yeah I guess it would be, I hope they're comfortable, they were the only guys clothes I had." "I'll have to get you some more if you'll be staying for a while."

She could understand his hesitation, this was all new to him after all, but she was confused by his guilt. Until he asked her to stay, and she understood.

She smiled warmly and nodded, "of course Korin, do you want to lay down and I'll sit with you until you fall asleep?" The bed was a queen, so there was plenty of room for them both.

"Or we can sit on the couch and watch TV of something if you want?" Eiether way she'd stay with him as long as he needed.
 
"They're okay," Korin reassured, despite not having a proper metric for what comfortable clothes were like. He wasn't uncomfortable, so that was probably good enough. "Thank you."

He wasn't so sure about lying down, but he was only vaguely aware of what TV was and didn't think he could stomach so much new at once, so rather than go to a different room he nodded a little and finally got onto the bed to lie on his side with his head on the pillow. The bed was very soft, at least, even though it was a strange way to sleep for him. He thought he might like it, if he hadn't come to see it in distress.

"I don't know if I'll sleep," he admitted quietly, as if ashamed of the fact. He didn't want to keep her awake all night. "I'm sorry, I just . . . I don't feel right. Nothing feels right." He shook his head a little and ran a hand over his face, huffing a small, frustrated breath and unable to put into words how he felt. "I don't know how to describe it. . ." It felt like he couldn't think, but at the same time was thinking too much. How was he supposed to fix it all?
 
She sat down beside him, tucking her feet under her, she'd worn shoes to the beach and taken them off earlier so her feet were clean.

"It's alright Korin." She said gently, "just try and relax okay?" "You've had a big shock, and you need time to process it." "It's going to take some time for you to figure it all out." "All this new stuff at once is probably a bit overwhelming too.

"You don't have to sleep, we can just talk, if you want." She smiled softly, looking at him with sympathetic concern.
 
Korin took a long, slow breath as Olivia tried to reassure him that it was all right, despite the fact that he felt like he was troubling her. He did his best to tell himself it was okay to feel lost, given the large, jarring truths he'd only just discovered, and his newfound ability to change his entire physical makeup. It was okay to take time to figure out what was happening in his head. 'Relaxing' was just going to be hard for a while.

". . . Will you play music for me?" He asked softly, a bit more shyly than he might have other days. The ocean was never truly silent, always full of the background noise of moving water, and it felt strange to hear nothing inside the house but a bit of wind outside. "Will you be all right, not sleeping?" He felt bad or keeping her up. He just didn't want to be alone, either.
 
She could tell it was going to be hard for him, but she thought he'd be okay. He just had to take his time, and not try and rush through everything.

"Sure, one second." She disappeared for a moment, then returned with her phone and speaker. She set it up on the bedside table, then started playing a play list she'd made of soothing, relaxing music.

She smiled and nodded, "don't worry, I'll be fine but.." She nodded to the empty side of the bed, "do you mind if I get comfortable and lie down next to you?"
 
Being alone in the room felt strange, but Korin knew it wouldn't be long and just counted his breaths while she was gone, focusing on being calm and not trying too hard to fight the confusing feelings inside him. Like the ebb and flow of ocean waves, or the magic still lingering inside him, he just had to wait and let it wash over him. It would be hard, but he had to.

When Olivia returned and soft music filled the empty air around them he gave a soft sigh, doing his best to relax, and only looked a little surprised at her request. "Of course." He said quietly, unable to so much as think of telling her not to lie down in her own home, and scooted a little bit towards the end of the bed as if to give her more room, already lying on his side so he could see her. As she settled in he tried to get more comfortable, resting his hands up near his head and trying to get used to resting above water.

". . . Have you found anything interesting here?" He asked after a little pause, just trying to prompt her to talk to him. She had told him some about how the things around them had been her mother's, and that her family was far away now, but surely there was something new to find every day with so many things around.
 
She laid down on her side facing him, laying her head on the extra pillow, and tucking her hands underneath it. She shrugged a little at his question, blushing a little from embarrassment.

"Well yeah I've found a few things, I actually found a bunch of old journals but... I'm not quite ready to read them yet." She felt pretty cowardly, but she just wasn't ready for what she might find yet.

She smiled a little, and changed the subject somewhat. "I did find some old research notes, she was a marine biologist." It made her happy they had shared a love of nature, it made her even more curious about her.
 
Not wanting to read journals seemed a bit strange, but Korin supposed given recent developments finding out new things always carried some danger with it. What specifically she was worried about finding out, he wasn't sure.

"Marine . . . biologist?" He repeated, as if practicing the words. "That has something to do with the ocean? Studying the ocean?

Their language was similar enough that he could guess as much given the words marine, and research, but he didn't know enough of her words to be any more specific. He wasn't sure if it was part of the magic that had been infused into him or if some time in the ancient past their two species had lived together, or else hers had migrated from land to the ocean and become something completely separate as he had.
 
She smiled and nodded a little, "that's it exactly." "It's a type of scientist that studies the oceans, the creatures and plants that live there."

"She seemed really passionate about it, I guess that's why she lived here." It was certainly a good place to study the sea from, I bet she would've had a field day meeting Korin. She thought to herself, amused by the image of that.

"Lucky for me huh?" She said with a warm smile, grateful she'd gotten a chance to meet him.
 
Korin smiled just a little to himself as she talked, unable to keep from feeling a bit warm inside hearing her talk about her mother. There was something there, he thought, something that was happy despite the fact that they hadn't known each other.

"I wonder what things she looked at," he said softly, curious but more muted than he might have been some other day. "I'm glad you get to learn about her. That is lucky." He wasn't really sure 'lucky' was the right word, or if that was what she'd meant, but he was still happy for her.
 
"Well I haven't read them all, there's a lot, but it looks like a bit of everything." She blushed faintly, "remember that reef I was looking for when we first met?" "That was in one of her research notes."

She smiled a little at his misunderstanding, though he wasn't entirely wrong, she was lucky to be able to learn about her birth mother.

"That is lucky, but i meant lucky she lived here and left it to me, otherwise I never would have gotten to meet you."
 
"Ooh, the reef." Korin said thoughtfully, wondering if there was any way he could take her to it. He supposed now that he could look human, he could always crawl into her boat and change back if there was anyone nearby. Still. Without knowing how to swim with legs it made him nervous.

He was distracted by the thought until she spoke again and struck him silent, eyes gone a little wide. It was probably something sad, he was sure, that the idea of someone being so pleased with spending time with him was so surprising.

". . . Meet me?" He asked very softly, eyes big and surprised and happy in a way that was almost sad. He reached to hold her hand gently in his since she'd let him before, and gave it a careful squeeze. "Thank you. . . I'm happy we met too. It's been . . . nice, having someone to talk to." To finally have a friend again, like he'd had for a short time as a child. It made him happy, even though he still felt somewhat awful inside.
 
It did make her sad, to see him so surprised that she was glad to meet him. It made her wonder just how alone he truly was, was Minamet his only friend?

She supposed it made sense, perhaps the others shunned him because he wasn't a true mermaid? She thought that was very cruel, and it was no wonder he was so upset by Minamets revelations.

She was surprised by him taking her hand, but she smiled and squeezed back softly. "You're welcome." She said with a hint of amusement, giving up on correcting him. "And thank you too."
 
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