Work Text:
Saparata knew he was falling before he even felt it; it was different, from actually falling down, from being thrown off a horse or from jumping off a high place — there was no rush of wind, no air, and none of it held the sensation of dropping from a great height. It only felt severely cold, and it overtook him as flashes of memories surfaced inside his mind, fragmented yet vivid enough to make him remember where all of this had begun.
He had come to the beach for no reason at all, it was merely his feet that brought him here, drawn by the salt air and the cool touch of seawater brushing against his skin whenever the waves rolled down. He never swam; he only stood barefoot upon the sand and stared at the horizon. At the endless blue sky, at the clouds drifting overhead, at the high afternoon sun. Then, his eyes would eventually settle on the figure seated atop a rock in the middle of the ocean.
There was water between them, not that it wasn't impossible to cross — the rock wasn't that far from the shore, and he was a capable swimmer; he thinks he could have swum through it if he wanted to. But he didn't, at first. He only stood in the same place, doing nothing but simply looking, seemingly bewitched by the sight of fair skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and a smile that lingered inside his mind, which followed him home and stayed with him until the next day, when he would inevitably find himself standing on the same shore all over again.
The figure was always there, every afternoon, without fail, seated upon that rock, and Saparata often wondered if he ever left. Does he ever climb down and return to the shore, and when does he do so? Saparata wanted to know. He wanted to know if he had somewhere else to be other than the sea, if there was somewhere he returns to after the sun has set. He also wanted to see him up close, wanted to confirm whether or not he was really smiling at Saps, wanted to ask why he was always there and if he ever grew tired of staring out at the sea, just for him to get an answer and find out what his voice sounded like. He knew nothing of the figure; not his name, not where he came from, not why he spent every day sitting alone in the middle of the ocean — but still, he was enthralled. So much so that it only took a week before he finally decided to cross the distance between them.
Well, that was what he remembered. He swam across and finally let the sea embrace him after days of only watching it from the shore. He remembers the coldness of the water against his skin, and he saw that the distance between them was slowly disappearing until he was close enough to see him. Close enough to see his face clearly, close enough to finally hear his voice, and he was sure they talked because he remembers hearing him speak, remembers hearing his voice that was much too pleasant to the ears, until suddenly it was all water on his face and on his skin. Water in his ears, his mouth, his lungs, and he realized that he was sinking, falling, sinking. Deeper and deeper and deeper into the depths below as the ocean swallowed him whole.
He found himself inside a cave.
He must be underwater, Saparata thinks, but it's weird, because he can still breathe perfectly fine. The air fills his lungs with no difficulty at all, and it feels no different from breathing on land. What, was this the way for him to discover that he's actually some sort of fish?
He almost laughs at the thought — but unfortunately, his current situation doesn't leave much room for amusement, because his hands were tied behind his back, and the bindings only dig into his wrists whenever he tried to move. He lifted his head and began scanning his surroundings instead, trying to understand where exactly he ended up.
The cave wasn't entirely dark; parts of it were illuminated by an unfamiliar stone, glowing with a faint, bluish light. It was weak, but it was enough for him to see the remains scattered across the cave floor. There were bodies — or what was left of them, anyway. He winced at the sight.
Then, Saparata heard the unmistakeable sound of something moving through water nearby. He immediately turned toward it, and he doesn't really know if he wished he hadn't or if he was glad that he did. For a brief moment, he genuinely wondered if he was dreaming, or perhaps he had drowned after all and his brain had simply decided to make up the strangest possible scenario to show him before he succumbed to the afterlife. Isn't he supposed to be shown the best moment of his life before he died, or something of the sort? What was this, then? None of this made any sense in his head; being able to breathe underwater was already unbelievable enough on its own, but now, there was a mermaid swimming toward him too?
He tries to tell himself that this had to be fake but the creature continued swimming with all the ease and grace one would expect from someone born beneath the sea. He really couldn't help but stare. He thinks that if someone had told him yesterday that he would finally give in to the urge to swim to the mysterious figure on the rock, but then he would be tied up inside an underwater cave and he'd be greeted by a mermaid, he would've laughed directly in their face.
The mermaid stopped a short distance away from him before saying, "You're awake."
Saparata doesn't exactly know how else to describe it, but hearing those words leave the mermaid's mouth felt strangely grounding — it was said in a way that made him believe it completely, even though he was pretty sure he was awake, but it was as though it was confirming a fact that needed confirmation. He didn't make any sense, actually.
Saps only looked, at first, before deciding that there was probably no correct way to react to any of this, so he answered, "Hi," after an awkward pause. His eyes remained fixed on the mermaid and he still sounded thoroughly bewildered. "Is this real?"
He saw the mermaid squint at him as though he was somehow the more unbelievable one between the two of them. Was he wrong for trying to confirm the legitimacy of all of this? For all he knew, things like this only happened in the stories that parents read to their children before bed. Maybe he got isekai'd into one of such storybooks? Honestly, at this point, it felt more believable considering everything that has been happening. He didn't really know what else to think, nor what else to add to his question, so he settled for an awkward and equally nervous chuckle instead.
"Yes," the mermaid finally answered. Or should he be calling him a merman? Saparata wasn't entirely sure about the correct terminology, but assumed it was a man given his body and build, and also because of its short and dark purple hair. He looked nice, if Saps was to be completely honest. Although the fact that he doesn't resemble the current modern descriptions of mermaids that people told children does remain; he looked more mermaid, those that are actually half-fish and half-human, rather than a human with a fish tail attached to where their leg should be. But he still looked good, nonetheless. The scales on his skin were particularly a pretty sight to look at — it had that iridiscent sheen, changing between all colors of pink and green and purple and blue, making parts of his face appear as if it were glowing. The ethereal appearance looked endearing on him. His tail was equally beautiful, covered in scales of a rich, dark purple.
The more he looked, though, the more he seemed familiar.
"Wait. Are you the guy on the rock?"
"Is it not obvious?"
Oh. So he really was transported into a fantasy world, or into some story with the cliché wherein a human finds a mermaid on a rock and decides to save the mermaid and then they live happily ever after. Though the more that he thought about it, the more he questions… why was he tied up?
"Uh," he starts again, "are you really a mermaid?"
For some reason, the question earned him another look of bewilderment. It was really starting to feel like he was the weirder one here even though everything in this situation was weird.
"No?" the not-mermaid replied, sounding nothing else but offended. "I'm better than those stupid mermaids. I'm a siren."
"Oh. Like, those that sing?"
"Yes."
"But you didn't sing for me," Saps said, and it still sounded like he was saying why didn't you sing for me, you should sing for me, even though it took everything in him not to ask for a song. He thinks this is probably a terrible time to be curious about someone's singing voice, considering he was tied up inside an underwater cave, but it's not like he wasn't contented; the siren's speaking voice was already pleasant on its own. There was a natural sing-song tone to the way he talked. Maybe it was a habit of his kind.
The siren squinted at him again. This guy really had a talent for making Saparata feel judged.
"I didn't even need to sing to lure you in," he replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Not that he was wrong, of course, because Saps was indeed in this cave, right now, all tied up and completely at the mercy of whatever this creature wanted to do with him with nothing else to blame but himself and his curiosity. Looking back on it, swimming towards a mysterious man sitting on a rock in the middle of the ocean was probably not one of his smartest decisions he had ever made in his life, but in his defense, he still thinks most people would've been curious, too. Maybe not curious enough to swim into the sea after a stranger, but curious nonetheless.
Saparata squirmed from where he was standing and could once again feel the binds on his wrist tightening. He felt more hyperaware of everything as of the moment, and it still feels unusual to be able to breathe when he knows that he's underwater. He doesn't know how he's able to do it, probably an enchantment or something, doesn't know anything about this situation other than he's most likely about to die, and he doesn't know anything about this creature that's swimming around the cave in front of him, except for the fact that he's apparently a siren and not a mermaid, which he was strangely passionate about clarifying. With how he was swimming around, Saps thinks he might be doing a ritual before he kills him like how sirens do in the movies.
He tries to break the awkward silence, tries to ask, "Hey.. What's your name?" before he could stop himself due to the realization that maybe names worked differently around here? Do they even have names? What if they communicated through songs and instead of names they had a melody for each other? He remembers that the princess from The Little Mermaid had a name, but she was a mermaid and not a siren—
"Flux," he said.
Oh. Well. That was significantly simpler than he expected.
"Okay, Flux," Saparata nodded, testing the name on his tongue. It sounds nice. "What am I doing here?"
"You're my captive?" he replies back, in a matter-of-fact tone but also in the same judgmental way that makes Saps think that he's stupid for asking all of these questions and making small talk with someone who captured him, tied him up, and is probably going to kill him anytime now. But the thing is, his demise that would lie in this creature's hands was taking a bit too long for his liking. Flux here was doing a rather poor job of convincing him that he was in danger. Saparata definitely expected more threatening behavior, something more looming and ominous when he said that he was a siren. Instead, Flux had mostly just looked annoyed at him.
"Okay," he nodded again, "but aren't you supposed to be drowning me?"
Instead of a squint, it was a blink from Flux. One, and then another. Saps could see the deep color of his eyes, same shade as his tail that was swishing around the water.
"Do you want me to?"
Saparata tilted his head. "Well… aren't sirens supposed to lure humans into the ocean and like, kill them?"
"So?"
"So…" Saparata frowned. "Why aren't you killing me?"
He swears he heard a laugh. Maybe a giggle. Whatever it was, he definitely did see the ends of Flux's lips curve up, and he really didn't mean to look for too long, it's just that, his lips had an enticing shade of mixed purple, green, and blue, and it had bits of scales around it. He wonders how it would feel if he touched it. Smooth, probably? Cold too, considering they were underwater.
"For a human with only one life," Flux said, interrupting his train of thought. "you sure are in a hurry to die, huh?"
Saparata shrugged at him. "It's just that, it seems like you don't have any plans on killing me, that's all."
He felt the rush of silence engulf them both, and some part of him made him think that maybe, he should've kept that observation to himself, but before he could think further on it, he heard the sound of something moving through water, and watched as Flux swam back toward him. The siren had been roaming around the cave earlier, but now he was directly in front of him, and Saps doesn't really know if he could describe it as standing or floating? Because Flux wasn't exactly touching the base of the cave, but he was upright, with his tail slowly swaying a bit more than it should be, and Saps thinks it must mean something. Irritation, probably. It matched the annoyed look on his face as well as the venom laced in his voice when he asked, "What did you say?"
Saparata thinks to himself that be should really feel a tad bit of fear right now, because whatever ominous vibe he was expecting from Flux earlier, it was definitely manifesting as he kept on pressing. His gaze falls down to the siren's webbed fingers and takes note of its nails that may or may not be growing longer with each second that he chooses to provoke the creature.
But he got himself in this situation, and he did make sense, at least in his head. So he kept going, saying, "If you were planning to kill me, you would have done so already, y'know?"
It earned him another laugh from the siren, one that he was sure of now. He tried to laugh with him and act like this was amusing for the both of them, but Flux's dark gaze caught him off guard. He still wasn't convinced, though, because again, he looked more annoyed rather than looking all scary and threatening. And it doesn't really help that something about Flux wasn't making Saps feel any fear at all; somehow, somewhat, it made him feel more drawn rather than repulsed by this creature that's believed to have a tendency to stab him in the heart right now.
"Isn't it supposed to be you begging for your life?" Saps notices the flex of his muscles as he raises his arms toward his chest. The faint glimmer of his scales catches his eye once again, along with the subtle movement of the fins of his forearms, which flutter slightly against the water as he moved. "Why are you begging me to kill you?"
"I don't think you can kill me," he said, too fast, too abrupt, before he paused, stopping to correct himself, "I mean — I don't think you want to."
"What do you know about what I want?"
"If you wanted to, you won't be talking to me right know. You know, I think you want to keep me aliv —"
The words died inside Saparata's throat, same one being held by the two webbed hands he was looking at earlier. Flux's hands felt rough on his skin, and he could now feel his nails, or claws, actually growing. His blood was probably already drawn with how sharp it was, just like his teeth that was bared, threatening to bite Saps' nose if he only went another inch further.
With the siren's hands on his throat, Saparata had a difficult time catching his breath as he choked, and he wonders if this was the new type of drowning that sirens are trying out. It's not technically drowning, because there's no water entering his lungs, but he's still struggling to breathe, and he supposes the result is ultimately the same.
Flux's grip was equally tight as he was close, close enough that Saps could now properly make out how much scales were actually on his skin, around his eyes and on his forehead. While it all looked the same when he was far away, it actually variated in colors and shades, with the ones near his hairline showing on a darker hue before slowly fading into a lighter purple. It looked pleasing to the eye. He noticed the faint glimmer of gold in his eyes, noticed the sheen on his lips, noticed the unnatural color of his eyelashes (it wasn't even something unnatural to the point that it'll put him off, it's a unique thing to see), noticed that he had fangs, wondered how sharp they are, if it'll make him bleed like how his nails had done, then noticed that the webs between his fingers weren't as rough as the rest of his palm, and noticed the sharp angle of his nose and how he had broad shoulders. He noticed everything that caught his senses, even the way Flux was slowly, but deliberately pressing on his neck.
The siren stares at him with a glare in his eyes and an annoyed smirk tugging on his lips. "You aren't scared of me, are you?"
"How — how can I be?" he says, voice coming out strained as Flux holds even tighter. "You're beautiful," he adds.
The faint flash of surprise passes over Flux's eyes before getting replaced by an amused look. The smirk on his face remains, and Saps feels deranged because he thinks it looks nice, even with his hands wrapped around his neck.
"You," he says, hands slowly moving from his neck up to Saps' jaw. His touch was cold and rough, enough to make him shudder under it while also feeling warm as his fingers creep further. Flux inches closer, all teeth showing with his smile as he continues, "are one interesting human."
Saparata opens his mouth to say something until Flux touches his lips, nails grazing over the dry skin, before he speaks again, "You think that's going to save you from me?"
"I'm not —" he breathes, and he can breathe in the scent of the siren in front of him, the smell of seaweed and salt and blood and the sea mixing as he inhales. "I'm not trying to save myself."
Flux's finger found itself back on Saparata's lips. It felt rough, like how it was on his neck, and it was a cold touch that made him feel warm. "Shh," the siren says, and Saps only caught himself staring at his deep, purple-shot and gold sparkled eyes, even as he whispers, "Be quiet," because was something in them. Maybe it was the killing intent that he'd been trying to find since they'd started talking — but nonetheless, not an ounce of fear crept into his bones.
Because Flux was smiling, showing him the same smile that enticed him during the time he first saw him at the shore.
Flux was smiling before he captured Saps' lips, and the siren's mouth tastes and feels just like how he had imagined, all soft and smooth and cold on his mouth. Intoxicating was an understatement; it felt like he was underwater for far too long (even though he really was) only to be pulled back to the surface and was allowed to taste his first breath of fresh air. He felt dizzy from the sensation.
Flux kissed him and suddenly he was falling again, just like before he found himself here in this cave, and it was breathtaking, may have been everything he ever wanted before he felt the chill creep and his throat closed up. Only then did Saps realize that maybe this was how sirens drowned their captives. Strangely enough, he thinks that he would rather drown like this, drown in Flux, breathe him in and his kiss rather than breathe any other air that could fill his lungs.
Saparata knew falling and he knew what it felt like, he felt it more than ever, and he doesn't make any attempt to stop it. He simply falls, deeper and deeper, and sinks to the depth of the lips that had touched his.