Keith was slowly retracing his steps away from the water in fear, but as soon as he heard the other move about, frantically searching for whatever supposedly hurt him in the water, his heart swelled. It felt weird. Very weird, to watch someone race to his aid. Foreign, yet familiar. It brought happy memories to him, memories when he wasn't alone. When he was still being cared for, and he could almost swear the fear was forgotten completely. Instead, he just felt warm in his chest, a small blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

Maybe it felt alright to watch someone protect you. Maybe it didn't make you any weaker to be protected by someone. Maybe he needed to learn that lesson sooner, before he always berated his father for wanting to keep him safe. Maybe his mother too. He couldn't remember. But while he felt good, he also feel guilty. He always screamed at them to stop treating him like a child, but perhaps he should have known better.

But, soon words crept into Keith's mind. Words that upset him.
Shiro was blaming himself.
That was the last thing he wanted. Ever. So far, the merman was nothing less than kind and patient with him. Incredibly patient that he wondered if he'd ever run out of patience. He didn't want him to feel upset and--
Did he just say his name? Accurately this time? That's why the sentence struck him deep. The name sounded like a wave, an omen for things to come, and it sounded amazing. Like it was out of a dream, a memory. Which is exactly what drove him to do what he did, without a thought.

He approached the merman, gently placing his hands on his neck and jawline to slowly raise his face up to him, look him in those beautiful, beautiful eyes. "Not your fault.." he tried to say, shaking his head as he felt the rough skin under his fingertips, but he didn't care. As long as he was touching Shiro, it didn't matter. "Watch me," he gestured with his eyes, pointing at them before releasing his hold slowly, looking back at the merman from over his shoulder before he entered further in. Breath hitched, heart beating quickly.

Don't be afraid, Keith..
Came a whisper in his mind, from another time. And before he even realized it, he was knees deep in the water. He couldn't move any farther, and his legs felt like they burned. Was water supposed to even feel that way?

Shiro felt tingles run through his spine when Keith put his hands on him, he almost couldn’t breathe. He looked deep into those purple eyes and the reassurance it gave him that Keith wasn’t upset, that he wasn’t going to leave was such a relief. He smiled gently and leaned his head gently into Keith’s hand, enjoying the warmth he had radiating from them.

He watched Keith with a sense of excitement as his face changed from fear to a sense of determination. Shiro followed him, using the ebbing waves to help push his long heavy tail back into the water and he pushed himself along after Keith in the water. He could hear Keith’s heart pounding in his chest but he grinned with pride. This was clearly extremely difficult for Keith, but he was facing his fears bravely. Shiro followed him until he stopped, watching the waters to make sure the thing that had scared him before didn’t come back.

When Keith stopped, frozen, Shiro reached out a hand and slid it into Keith’s then squeezed it reassuringly, hoping that it told Keith he was here, he was going to protect Keith and make sure that nothing harmed him.

Once he stopped, he felt a hand slide onto his own shaking one. He squeezed it right back, a silent thanks. Just a day ago, he thought Shiro would harm him. Eat him, even, if he could. But soon he found that he was a protector of sorts to him. Even if some of the dormant alarms in his mind still blared in warning, he was still in the water, not planning on leaving it.

So, he ventured deeper in, his breath catching in his throat as the water began to creep up farther and almost close to his chest. It was either so cold or Keith was frightened for his life at this point, but soon he was chest deep. His heart thumped and dropped down to his stomach in fear, only to rise up again as he moved around, careful not to drift away too far. Away from Shiro.

"Heh.. fuck, I'm actually-" he almost said before he stopped. His legs felt strange, wobbly, like they were numb of feeling but still moving in unison underneath him. Keith couldn't see anything underneath him, or maybe he was too anxious to look. It was like his legs were being brought together by some force, melding into each other, and while it felt ticklish at the beginning now it just hurt. He retracted quickly, swimming back to the beach, breathing all over the place as he returned to the yellow shade of the shore, collapsing on the ground away from the water.

"What the fuck was that?!" He yelled out in fear at his legs, pulling them up to him and looking. They were normal. Wet, understandably, and normal still. His mind was playing tricks on him, and he was shaking, staring in confusion at the merman.

Shiro drifted alongside Keith, smiling and enjoying his presence in the water beside him. It felt strangely intimate, like inviting someone into his dwelling for the first time and he felt almost nervous about it. He could also sense Keith's nerves coursing through him and leaking out into the water around him, so Shiro stayed close, hoping that this would help to reassure Keith.

"Heh.. fuck, I'm actually-" Shiro stopped and looked at Keith, confused. Was he dreaming? Or had he just understood what Keith said? He looked around for any other presence around them and saw nothing, before Keith began to bolt. Shiro bristled again and dove beneath the surface, searching out whatever could have gone after Keith, terrified that it was something or someone belonging to Zarkon. It couldn't have been - Shiro hadn't broken any rules - but he couldn't risk letting Zarkon anywhere near his Keith. He swam out a ways, looking for anything that could be hunting or taunting Keith, before turning back and meeting Keith back at the beach. He slid into the tiny waves where the beach met the ocean and pushed himself onto the sand, dragging himself out of the water completely.

Keith was terrified. Shiro could smell it and he wanted to reassure him that he was safe. Keith was staring between his legs and Shiro, so something must have grabbed at them or brushed past them. It could have just been weed or old trash floating by. Keith was incredibly nervous if not brave throughout the entire experience, so small things like that had every right to spook him. Shiro settled beside Keith and curled his tail around Keith like a barrier between him and the sea. He then placed a hand gently on Keith's leg and stroked it softly, checking for any marks or wounds but when he found none, he looked to Keith's eyes and squeezed just below his knee reassuringly. He wanted the man words to say that Keith was okay so badly, but instead he relied on only his presence and expression to tell Keith that it was okay, he was okay, he didn't need to be scared anymore.

Keith wished Shiro could understand. What made him so terrified. He wouldn't get it just by gestures and mere expressions. So, he sighed in disappointment, frowning as he watched the creature's tail act as a protective barrier between him and the water. It was a sweet gesture, but still, out of miscommunication. Water wasn't supposed to feel that way. When he just dangled his feet in them the night before, when he washes his hands. He never feels what he just felt, and it scared him.

It was like someone was sewing his legs together, not surrounded by a gleam of light like fantasy stories. It was like someone literally grabbed a sewing kit, sunk down right beneath Keith's legs and began to pierce his skin. He looked down at his feet again, testing if he still had feeling in his toes. Shiro's touch came after, and the boy couldn't resist looking up at the merman once more.

So careful, gentle, like he was treating flawless glass. Keith wasn't. He had all the flaws in the world, but he was still being handled carefully. It felt so good coming out of Shiro. If it were someone else, Keith absolutely would have fought back, but now he was just speechless. Frozen. Letting his skin touch his own soft one. It felt like an animal caring for their little ones, and the concept left Keith docile.

"I'm sorry.." he murmured, moving his legs a bit and hugging them closer to his chest, like he was afraid to lose them, then looked back at the merman. Immediately he was taken aback by how close he was in comparison to the night before. He could see the wounds more clearly, the cuts and his heart tugged. He wanted to return the kindness.

"Can I?" He asked, a gentle expression on his face as he gave a brief touch at some of his wounds, then gently stroked his own hand like he was saying 'can I try healing your cuts?' but he doubted Shiro would understand with words. Maybe his gestures would be clear enough?

Keith looked lost. Shiro felt lost. He wanted to know what was happening inside the man's face and to understand what had scared him so much. He let go of Keith's leg and leaned back on his elbow, his abundance of fins making it difficult to position himself but he stayed close to Keith. Once again the man murmured. He did so with such sadness and remorse that Shiro reached out and touched Keith's chin, lifting it slightly as Keith had done to him. He shook his head, 'It's not your fault,' he wanted to say knowing now what Keith had told him earlier. The gesture was gentle and reassuring, or at least it had been when Keith had done it. He made a note to store the gesture. Perhaps between them they could invent their own way of communicating, one step at a time.

Keith reached out to him again and brushed some of Shiro's wounds. The saltwater had healed most of the light cuts quickly and kept them clean. The deeper wounds, especially the one on his shoulder was not healing nicely, however. It was awkwardly positioned and he used his arm too much to let it sit and heal. Parts of it were jagged and one small section was being pestered by fish when he was in the water, so the skin was rough and bruised. Shiro winced at the touch, then looked to Keith. Was he asking what had happened? No, Shiro narrowed his eyes, watching Keith's gestures. Heal him? Shiro wasn't sure, but slowly he nodded. He needed it to close up and heal soon, or he wouldn't stand a chance against Zarkon's men in the next new moon arena fight.

Yes. Keith didn't expect his words to even be understood, but that in itself was major improvement. Not only that, but he was overjoyed to find that intimate touching wasn't such a big deal anymore. He smiled widely, nodding his head to showcase how glad he was that he was understood, before gesturing at the merman to stay where he was. In a flash, the man got to his feet, ran straight back to his shack to gather his first aid tools. Once he was inside, he was glad to see the same rainbow reflecting off the abalone shell, even if the sun was setting.

For a moment he stopped, watching the view, before he went back to searching in cupboards and his bathroom. When he'd gathered everything he needed, he quickly descended the stairs the way he came, and was back on the beach where he spotted the merman still sitting. He huffed, walking through the sand and eventually plopping down next to him again, a small grin on his face. "Hi," he hummed, as a short greeting, before the real work began.

With the small bowl of water between his legs, Keith began to clean the cut on Shiro's shoulder, that particularly blaring red one. He applied some soap, get rid of the salt. The skin was rough and while the area that was wet wasn't as rough as the rest of the merman's body, it still felt foreign. I could get used to it, Keith thought to himself. On a small piece of cloth, he dropped some antibiotic ointment, watching until it formed a drop in the center of the piece. "Okay, this is where it hurts, Shiro," he murmured, before he slowly took the merman's hand.

"You're gonna be okay," he said, looking at him with a nod and giving him a small reassuring squeeze in case he didn't understand his words, and ever so slowly, he placed the cloth on the wound, dabbing at it slowly for a few seconds before he quickly placed a bandage on the cut. Letting it air out was not a good idea, and honestly? Neither was placing a bandage. The water could wear it off, but at least it was better than leaving it exposed. "There. All done," he smiled, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder where the bandage was and setting his stuff away for now to put them back later.

Shiro watched Keith go all the way to his dwelling, then turned and looked out to sea. He hadn't expected Keith to be so happy to heal him and wondered whether it was an honour or a kind of custom, but he doubted it. Instead he began to think that it was just Keith's way. He had a gentle nature about him. He was so nervous in the world, like he expected the world to throw him out if he wasn't useful enough. Shiro couldn't imagine feeling that way, but he hoped that in some way Shiro could give Keith a reason to smile the way he did just now. For once, the smile wasn't shrouded in darkness - it was a genuine kind of happiness that made Shiro's heart beat just a little faster in his chest.

He sighed, looking out at the waves crashing on the shore. He was feeling particularly dry and warm sitting in the setting sun and a sense of peace washed over him. He could sit here with Keith all night and forget about the things that waited in the depths and the dark for them both. The moon was beginning to rise over the ocean and he couldn't help but loathe it. He dreaded the new moon. It meant pain, it meant fear and it meant torment. Most of all, it now meant that Shiro risked losing this new sense of peace. It meant leaving Keith to live in his dark little world all alone and he was almost certain that he didn't want Keith to be completely lost in it again. He had never had something to fight for besides his own life and a chance of escaping before.

Keith returned with things that smelled sterile and like plastic. Shiro wrinkled up his nose but sat patiently as Keith gently cared for his shoulder. He felt Keith's reassurance and squeezed hard on Keith's hand as the liquids and ointments he applied stung the wounds but he made no noises. Keith couldn't hurt him, only try to help him. He closed his eyes and allowed Keith to finish before opening them again when Keith moved away to tidy up. He brushed a hand over his new bandaged arm and smiled gently. It was so neat and careful, Keith had done this just for him. His chest swelled with grateful emotion and he reached out to put a hand on Keith's shoulder. He gave him a warm, grateful smile, one that started from deep inside him and travelled up to his eyes. He hoped Keith understood how much it meant that Keith would help him so.

He squeezed Keith's shoulder gently, before lying on the sand on his chest. He flicked the sand from his tail and settled just to watch his man. He tilted his head and his eyes settled on the necklace he wore. The one he had taken the shell from. He stopped Keith, placing a hand on his chest and then pointed to it, curiously. It had the signs of merfolk craftsmanship. The woven string around it resembled the strings that held the bag at his waist together. He wondered where Keith had found it. Perhaps it was the ocean, or a reason why he feared the ocean so much.

Upon feeling the hand on his shoulder, Keith smiled a touch wider, squeezing his arm as a nod, a silent 'you don't need to thank me'. Once tension calmed down once more like things initially were after he finished fixing the boat for the day, Keith laid back on the sand. His raven hair was like a halo surrounding his head, and he took a deep breath. Usually, he spent nights like this alone. On the sand, scared off by his own thoughts, but now he felt the familiar heat of another person. Radiating off him, a presence wanting to make itself known. He missed that. Company. Especially from someone as gentle and curious as Shiro, who was anything less than a human yet still humane more than most humans he knew.

Shiro knew what humanity was more than men he'd watch taunt animals and steal shark teeth. He knew kindness more than violent women thrashing their children around like objects, shaping them like mold. Shiro knew curiosity that was harmless, not like a scientist so devoid of humanity that he's willing to destroy people just to test a theory. Shiro was more human than humans, and if Keith wasn't careful, he could lose himself. Latch onto him and never let go. Maybe he could go as far as to say he had a new reason to live, to stick around. And it was all because of a deadly sea creature that wasn't as deadly as he looked.

He was beautiful. Strong. Careful, curious, intelligent, and Keith knew he needed to know more still. He wasn't going anywhere.

The man turned his head a little to look at the merman beside him, for a moment confused at what he gestured to, before it sunk in. Oh. He was asking about his necklace. Keith knew he couldn't hide that for long. While he usually never entertained the thought of letting anyone touch his precious possession, when it came to the merman, he found himself trusting him with it completely. It was like a wave washing over him, a decision made. So, with a small smile, he unwrapped it off his neck and carefully handed it to Shiro, a metaphor of sorts.

"Gift from mother," he simply said. He wondered if he understood those words, but it didn't matter. He looked curious enough about it to inspect for himself.

Shiro took the necklace with care and held it up to look at it. His eyesight, it would seem, was not as poor as it had been in the water and the work was indeed some kind of mer-craft. The dried seaweed that had been used to make the string was tied in typical mer-fashion. It was an intricate knot that worked tightly underwater. Water had its way of untangling knots, so these were tight and strong. Shiro turned the necklace over and ran his hand over the beads and shells that hung from it. He narrowed his eyes, recognising the colours and the meanings of the shells woven into it. He lifted his head and looked to Keith curiously. These shells were gifts often given from mothers to their children. He turned the shells over in his hand and looked down to the bag he had.

He reached down and untied the looping knot that held it against him, then pulled it up to show Keith. He frowned slightly and placed the bag and the necklace next to each other. Shiro's bag was made from the shell of a horn-shark egg. It was a spiralling shape roughly as big as his hand and it was strung to a tightly woven strap made of seaweed and old ship ropes. Stitched onto the bag with a thinly woven string made of seaweed, like the string in Keith's necklace, was a collection of tiny shells and trinkets. Some of which matched Keith's.

Shiro made sure Keith was looking and he pointed to his bag and the shells stitched onto it, then he pointed to the shells that matched on Keith's necklace. The shells he was pointing to had been given to Shiro by his mother and father many years ago and his collection had grown with additions from friends and extended family too. He looked into Keith's eyes and he cradled his arms, as though he was holding a baby, then pointed to the shells again. Finally he pointed to himself, then the invisible baby he was holding and pretended to pick up one of the shells and gave it to the invisible baby. He wasn't sure what this meant. Perhaps Keith had merely found the shells and had made the necklace himself. He didn't think it was possible for the reason to be something as sinister as Keith had stolen the necklace. But then that left the only other possibility to be that Keith's mother had given them to him. Or his mother figure at least.

With an eyebrow raise, Keith sat up a bit as he watched the merman pointing at the shells in his necklace and the bag he wore with him. It was true, there was great similarity in the thread, the materials used, and the man leaned forward to touch at the ropes. It felt the same, as if his mother was mer herself. But that couldn't be true, he thought in amusement. She must have found the same materials, that was easy enough on the beach. After all, this shack wasn't Keith's. It was his parents'.

His eyes snapped up when he saw the creature's continued gestures and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him when he watched the other cradle the invisible baby in his arms. But the part of him that wasn't amused by the sight was trying to understand what he said. He didn't exactly get the idea immediately, but he supposed this had something to do with parenthood? Something to do with certain shells being offered from parent to child? Oh.

"Aw, your parents gave those shells to you?" He asked, a soft smile on his face and in a slightly endearing tone of voice. For a split second he started imagining the merman so much smaller, younger, and he was certainly dazzled by how much -- and how well -- he matured. His mom seemed to have the same taste as Shiro's parents, probably passing on the tradition. But she was human, all of them were. "Sadly I'm not like you, Shiro." He gave a deep frown and gestured to the pale legs that laid on the sand.

Shiro didn’t make out any of the words that Keith had said but Keith pointed to his legs and was clearly telling him that they were the legs of a man. Shiro scrunched up his nose again, a little unconvinced because that lead the only other option to be that Keith or Keith’s parents had taken the necklace to pass it along to him. An uneasy feeling started to settle in his mind, wondering whether they had been hunters of sorts, but they couldn’t have been.. could they?

He shook his head and carefully handed the necklace back to Keith. No. It wasn’t possible. Keith would never have given him a shell from the necklace if he had known what it meant. He awkwardly shifted, sitting up on his side and tied the bag around himself carefully and deftly tied a tight knot to stop it from falling off, then he looked again at Keith and bit at his lip, wondering what to try to talk about. He looked down at the sand and played with it softly before getting an idea.

He drew a very crude portrait of himself with a fin and a lopsided smile, then drew a stick-like Keith beside it. He frowned as he concentrated and started to draw a long-armed squid with a line going to Shiro’s mouth. Again it was extremely simple, but a way to get to know Keith more. He liked squid a lot, so he made his likeness’ smile wider. He gestured for Keith to have his own turn. He was fascinated to know what this beautiful man ate, what he didn’t eat, what he liked and disliked.

Upon seeing the frown on the merman's face as he gave him back the necklace, he wondered for a second what could have gone through his mind. He knew they still lacked a way to communicate, so he sighed and wrapped the necklace around his neck again, looking down at the shells as they decorated his chest. Though when he thought about it, it was certainly a weird coincidence. Same kinds of shells, some material to keep them together as necklace. Surely his mother didn't steal it from merfolk, did she? Definitely not. It was probably abandoned on the beach or something.

He hoped.

Silently, he turned around, crossing his legs as he watched the other attempt to strike up a conversation between them again. He awaited his ideas, and it was right under his nose. Shiro drew on the sand, and Keith wasted no time to lean forward and lay on his stomach, raising his legs up in the air. He rested his chin in his palm, grinning as he saw the tiny merman smile at what looked like a squid. Soon the human's lips parted and he chuckled. Cute. And smart. Almost human smart, if not even smarter.

Mirroring him, Keith drew a stick figure of himself, complete with a shirt and shorts. His hair was the hardest to draw, but eventually he got there, and drew the closest he could to it. Then, with stars as eyes and a happy grin as his mouth, he drew a triangle covered in circles. Unsure whether the merman understood the written word, he wrote it anyway. 'Pizza'. Then he drew shells, fish, showing his favorite things in the world. Before he continued over to his dislikes, he looked up at the merman. See what he understood or didn't understand.

Shiro had hoped that this new mode of communication could add more answers, than questions, but he lay staring at the strange triangle that he had drawn. The other things he understood, the fish and the shells, Shiro had added to his own drawings, showing little pebbles, human sailing vessels and dolphins so he understood that Keith was trying to show not just what he liked to eat, but what he liked in the world too.

He just couldn't get his head around the strange triangle. He chuckled, seeing Keith's drawing of himself though, watching him make the eyes starry and work really hard on making the hair perfect. He had to admit, it looked a lot like Keith. He grinned at Keith and drew an arrow from the drawing of Keith and made the arrow point to his likes. He felt extremely forward expressing his fondness of Keith, but he couldn't help how he felt. He then pointed at the strange triangle, exaggerating his confused face. He pointed to his dorsal fin. It was the same shape, maybe Keith liked eating shark fins. His own was spotted, like that of a tiger shark, so perhaps it was something like that. He hoped not.

Keith could see the confusion in Shiro's expression and it made him grin at his innocence, and how much he'd love it if he actually were to taste it. Which reminded him. He had some leftover pizza in his fridge the other night. Whenever he felt hungry he'd bring some of it over for the merman while he ate for himself. But now he wasn't hungry, instead he was curious to know what this creature liked and disliked. He gave a small grin at how he was obviously liked by the merman, and with a raised brow, Keith decided to do the same to his own character. He drew a line from his likes over to the merman, finding the opportunity too good to pass up.

But when the comparison to dorsal fins began, Keith couldn't help the breathy chuckle that came out afterwards and shook his head, comforting the other that he wouldn't eat him. Instead he pointed towards the squid that he drew for his own little merman and brought his two index fingers together, trying to say that they're almost the same in terms of deliciousness but he was sure it wasn't understood. So, once more, he gestured at him to stay where he is before he skipped back to the shack with an unmatched excitement.

Again he took little time in returning, the pizza box in his arms as he sat down beside him again, whatever warmth left in the sand warming him up as the cold of the night began to settle in. He crossed his legs and opened it, grabbing a slice and handing it to the merman before he rested it next to him before he remembered something else he liked. Leaning forward, he drew another line and drew a circle with a few smaller circles on it, then pointed up to the moon.

Shiro felt a warmth growing in his stomach and smiled at Keith whilst he drew a matching line to his likeness in the sand. Somehow he felt like a child again, scrawling on rocks and on the walls of caves with his friends. This was a little different though, it was intimate and intense. He could feel himself willing Keith to like something that he did so that they had things in common. He watched Keith attempt to reassure him that he wouldn't eat his dorsal fin and he relaxed a little more than he initially thought he would. He smiled again and contemplated Keith's gestures, but he realised that he was getting distracted just watching the way Keith's hands and face moved as he concentrated and thought about what he would do next. He sighed happily and nodded, watching Keith retreat again. He had a skip in his step and a grin in his eyes. Shiro liked to think that it was his fault the man's mood was so high at the moment. It certainly hadn't been the night before.

He smiled softly and traced the word 'pizza' with his fingers. They were strange letters that he had seen before, floating by and on the sailing vessels that lay in the harbour. He had no idea what they meant but he knew that it was a form of communication. Perhaps it was a name for this strange triangle drawing. Hearing Keith's footsteps, he looked up and he recognised the same letters on the side of the box. He pushed himself up, beginning to smell something foreign. His nose twitched and he followed the smell to the box as Keith placed it on the ground beside them. Shiro's eyes widened and he grinned, pointing to the drawing when Keith opened the box. He lost the grin when Keith handed some to him and he sniffed it, unsure. It was unlike anything he had smelled before. Sometimes there were ships passing by with cargo that held something smelling vaguely like it, but he couldn't identify it as anything more than that.

He bit into it slowly and chewed on it, then looked down at it. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, smelled or tasted. He couldn't decide if he liked it or not. It had the saltiness of seaweed, but other tastes and textures that were sweet, sharp and tangy at the same time. He swallowed and took another bite, this time from the other side and he reeled back. This part crunched like bones and had a bland taste to it. He wasn't sure about it, but he wanted more of it. He looked to Keith, unsure how to take this new experience of flavour before he saw the new drawing that Keith had made. He found that this was something they didn't have in common.

Shiro had grown to almost fear the moon. He dreaded the phases, particularly the waning phases. They symbolised his pain and fear. Shiro shook his head solemnly at the moon and drew his own, then rubbed it out quickly. He drew a sun in it's place, the rays long and large. He much preferred the sun to the moon, the day to the night. Even if the night had brought him Keith, the night could just as easily take him away.

As the raven-haired man snapped his eyes up after drawing his tiny replica of the moon, he grinned up at the merman. The way he ate his pizza resembled a shark trying to eat with a fork and knife, careful not to drop the slice and still ever so curious about it. Once he reeled back at the bland part of the pizza, Keith shook his head and readjusted the slice in his hand, turning it back to the juicy parts. The rough part felt more like crushing bones and certainly Shiro wouldn't like that feeling. Not a single creature on this planet would, Keith was willing to bet on it.

He pushed the box of pizza in his direction more and exposed the slices to him, glad that he already realized the similarity of the triangle on the box and the triangle on the sand. The man felt as giddy as a parent would at their child understanding a new word or shape, but the grin that was almost permanently plastered on his face was gone and replaced by a small frown as he looked down at the replaced sun. He was the exact opposite. Yes, he loved the sun for warming him up, for keeping his plants healthy, but he found that the night suited him more. Reminded him a lot of himself.

He shrugged, but raised a brow in confusion at why he specifically chose the sun and didn't like the moon so much. He wanted to understand as he moved a bit to another spacious area on the sand to draw a new sun with rays and the sea as waves. Then he drew the wooden structure they were close to and then drew himself on top of it, his stick figure dangling his legs in the water. He had a line as a mouth, but when he drew the moon again he drew himself not fully smiling but comfortable as he sat underneath it, holding a shell. He was describing his relaxation at night, and wanted to know why Shiro hated it by another silly drawing.

The way he wiped the moon off surely looked like he feared it.

Shiro finished off the parts of the pizza that he enjoyed most. He found that the red circles were too sour for him, but he enjoyed the salty yellow parts. He left the parts that he didn't like on the box that Keith had brought for them both. He then looked down at the man as he drew. He was telling a story and there was a kind of childish beauty in this form of storytelling that made him smile. Keith's drawings made a lot of sense and he was much better at it than Shiro. He flicked his eyes up to watch Keith as he concentrated and his breath caught in his throat, viewing his side profile. Keith had a long jaw and a neat nose that was highlighted by the rising moonlight. His line of sight was so low that his eyes were almost closed, but his eyebrows were less peaceful. They were furrowed in his concentration and twitched every now and again.

Shiro switched back to the drawing and he watched Keith change the mood from light to dark. Keith was happier in the dark. Shiro supposed that he had his reasons. Shiro took a breath and he began to draw, himself. He drew the light first. He copied Keith's idea of Keith in the boat and drew a sun above him. Then he drew Shiro in the water beside the boat, smiling widely. In the water around them he drew small fish with big smiles and cute tails. Then he erased the sun and Keith's boat. He drew the moon, then erased half of it, then three quarters, then no moon at all to symbolise the phases of the moon. When the moon was completely erased, his expression darkened and he drew his best picture of Zarkon. A huge merman with a shark's tail and sharp teeth. He changed all of the fish, giving them spines and sharp teeth. He then drew himself again, fists up and teeth out, fighting with another merman.

The fighting arenas were a trap he was caught in. He was yet to find a way to escape Zarkon. Wherever he went, something or someone always found him and dragged him back to face bigger and better enemies that tore into him more each time. Whether Keith would understand any of this or consider it as just a childish phobia of the dark, he couldn't say. He looked at Keith, his eyes stony and serious. He hoped Keith wouldn't laugh at the very least.

Keith endearingly watched as the merman ate the pizza, obviously enjoying it. It was irresistible by all earthly creatures, and the man expected that, but he wasn't hungry enough to join him with the eating. He looked at the slices left on the box, though, before he pushed the box away and leaned forwards, patiently waiting for the art the merman was going to draw for him. His chin still rested on his palm and he looked up at him as he leaned closer, this time for his own turn.

At first, he mirrored his drawing of the sun but so much happier than his own turned out to be. There were smiles, Keith in a boat, Shiro following him - which particularly had his heart swelling at the pureness of the feeling. But soon that happiness, the widely smiling fish with the adorable looking tails that reminded him of something he drew as a child in his old sketchbook, was wiped off and in came the moon. He recognized immediately the phases once he saw them. It felt like a slow passage of time, until the merman attempted to draw a huge creature that looked like he was merfolk, but with a bigger shark tail and much deadlier teeth.

Soon even more devilish creatures replaced the happy fish, and the mood felt sour. At first, Keith thought it was some nightly terror, but when he looked up again and caught sight of the cut on his shoulder, Keith knew he wasn't laughing around right now. He frowned, wanting to know more about this merman, how horrible he had been to Shiro. So, as best he could, he drew how he expected an arena to look and then drew the scary creatures then the merman defensive and ready to fight then he drew the bigger merman towering over them, before his eyes snapped back up. He was very sure he understood this correctly.

But his next question was: why couldn't Shiro run away? What made him stay around in the arena, or was he always forced to fight? So he crossed off the deadly opponents and Zarkon and then drew Shiro smiling again, hoping that would get him an explanation as to why he hadn't achieved that peace yet.

Shiro looked into Keith's eyes and he saw instantly that he understood. His expression was grim and serious. Shiro was encouraged by the fact that Keith began crossing out the bad fish that he had drawn and he almost chuckled when he crossed out Zarkon. His movements were deliberate and purposeful. Keith was asking him a question. He watched Keith make the little drawn Shiro smile and Shiro sighed.

He had an answer of course - why couldn't he get away and be happy? He simply wasn't strong enough. He couldn't defeat Zarkon and he wasn't smart enough to find a way out other than killing him. So he was trapped in this endless loop of fighting and surviving. Shiro leaned his head on one hand, heavy-hearted and he re-drew his arms in a pose that showed off his muscles. He then edited Zarkon to have particularly huge muscles and sharper, longer teeth. He also pointed to his prosthetic tail fin and flapped it gently. He wasn't able to swim as fast anymore either. He couldn't outswim any of Zarkon's creations, so he had had to improve his defensive techniques more recently. It always felt like it wasn't enough.

He looked at Keith, then looked up at the moon. It was just a small sliver in the sky, soon to disappear. His next fight wouldn't be far away now.