Thread by @biyoopoint

#orv #spod au where od is a kid who have met a mermaid. it kind of confused him because on the tales that he has read, mermaids are supposed to be all fun and cute or what, but the one he met; he's always scowling and doesn't even talk. od starts to think if it's real or not.

od's family leaves near the sea. whenever his father gets a little /mad/, his mother would tell him to /go out and play/ for a while. it's a normal occurrence for him and his mother to have his father in a tilted mood. even though he wants to help his mother, he can't.

when he goes out. he runs to that sea. it makes him calm. whenever he's near the waters and he feels it touching his little feet, he feels like it's going to wash away his sadness.

today, od decides to go out a little bit farther from the shore.

yesterday, he saw a big rock formation when he grabbed his binoculars. he didn't bring it today because his father threw it when he came home yesterday. it's okay, he thinks. he can just walk straight and follow the line where the sand meets the sea, and he'll reach it.

it took him almost an hour of walking to reach the big rock formation. to his surprise, it's not just a formation. it's a big cave. he thinks, if this cave crumbles right now, he would surely die. od is accepting with the idea of death. he doesn't mind, if it means escaping.

he goes further inside. he's not that scared of the dark. he believes it's better there, so that people won't see him.

od's eyes sparkle, reflecting the beautiful stones in front of him. he's maybe a bit further inside than intended but he doesn't mind. it's beautiful in here.

od smells something. it's fishy in here! od pinches his nose, and wonders where is that coming from? he gets distracted and follows the trail of smell.

there's a small body of water inside the cave. when he's near it, he hears a splash.

od abruptly turns his head on the side.

he sees a pair of eyes looking at him. of shivers at it. is this a wild animal? od wants to run away. od hears a high pitched sound... this animal.. is shrilling at him? od backs away a bit.

"i'm sorry for disturbing you.. please don't be mad, i'll go. don't hurt me." od says.

he's trying to calm himself, maybe if he behaves in an odd way, the animal will attack him. it's going to be painful if he gets bitten, he concludes. though he's okay with death, he doesn't like pain. he's had enough of it.

od is walking away bit by bit but still facing the waters when he hears the rippling of water. he sees the water moving like something is swimming forward to him.

so it's? something that lives in the water? crocodile? do crocodiles live in a place like this? od wonders.

he falters on his feet when the "crocodile" emerges from the water. it's, he's, looking at him. od is in awe. is it alright to call a man (?) beautiful.

he looks out of this world. the man (?) has long hairs and his ears has fins. he has a scar across on the one of his eye.

but that doesn't make him less beautiful. od thinks to himself. he notices something moving on the man's lower body. od gasps at bit at what he saw!

HE HAS A TAIL? od is oddly excited. he's still scared but the feeling of discovering something is taking over him.

"... are you a mermaid?" od can't believe his eyes that he hears himself blurt out the question.

the man must've realized he let a human see his form because he submerges into the water only leaving half of his face looking at od.

— tbc. hungry. く⁠コ⁠:⁠彡

"...okay, i won't disturb you. i promise i will not tell anyone else! don't kill me!" od says and he runs away. maybe that's enough exploring right now.

when od came home, his father is already calm. and his mother is okay. so od is alright for now.

od tries to sleep but he can't take the merman out of his head. od still has a limited vocabulary for he is only in middle school but if he will describe the merman in a word, he would say the merman is "incandescent."

the merman is glowing beautifully that's perfectly being complimented by the darkness in the cave. his tail has scales that seems to be sparkling. he really is incandescent.

he once read that word in a mermaid book his mother gave him.

od remembers that the book said that mermaids are beautiful creatures. they are kind and bubbly. they are full of life and sings music, and is friends to all life forms underwater. od feels excited at the thought of befriending the merman.

he thinks that the merman seems to be a bit aloof a whole ago but he remembers the book said that mermaid often hides their selves from humans because some of the humans are bad. and all they do is to do things that are hurting the merfolks.

od thinks that he could never hurt such a beautiful creature. he falls into slumber after deciding that he will try to befriend the merman tomorrow.

~

when od wakes up, his father is unbelievably out. so he tells his mother that he'll go out to the sea in the afternoon.

full of excitement, after eating lunch, he hurriedly runs with a little bag on his back. it has the book about the mermaids! while walking on the seaside, he picks up small shells he seas. he wants to bring it to the merman. he hopes that he's still there.

"hello?" od is still a kid. full of ideas, he's really not that scared as of the moment. he call out inside the cave, near the pond where he saw the merman yesterday. but there's nobody there. it's so dim, the glow from the man can't be seen by od.

od pouts and waits.

he waits until the sun is near setting but the merman never came. was he daydreaming yesterday?

you see, od hasthis behavior called maladaptive daydreaming. he always get called out at school for always having his own world but he doesn't mind. he likes the world that he makes.

od is a bit sad with what he thought. really maybe it's a product of his imagination.

od leaves but then he remembers the seashells. he holds it tightly and decides to leave it on the side near the pond.

'i hope he sees this.'

od even left a note, telling the merman that he's not bad. can the merman read? od continues to hope.

when the next day came, od came back but the seashells are still there. he doesn't mind, and still hopes. everyday he comes back and leaves seashells.

he also leaves little notes telling the merman things such as something about his day, telling the merman to be careful since there's a storm coming, and so on and so forth.

it's now half a month since od saw the merman. he thinks that maybe he really made it all up.

od laughs sadly. his daydreaming capabilities are really strong. od decides that today will be his last day of going.

od skips will walking inside the cave. he's waiting to see the seashells and notes piled up but which is not new, but to his surprise, a big clam is there.

'i never got a clam!' od giddily thinks. excited about what this could possibly mean. he opens the clam and there's a pearl inside. od is beyond happy.

od is humming while thinking that this merman must've left it here when od hears a splash again. he beams up and looks.

od is surprised that it's the merman!

"it's you!" od says. so, he's real?!

"are you real?" the merman is just looking at him from a distance. he has this frown at his face. od doesn't know why but he feels comfortable with the merman.

"thank you for this! it's beautiful! have you read my notes? i hope you did." od giggles. he's really excited right now. but the merman is just looking at him. his eyes are somewhat glowing. but od is not scared now.

if the merman wants to attack him, he should've ve done it already. od is a bit sad because the merman is not replying at him, only glares so strongly when he tries to move closer and maybe come into the water, but at least the merman is still there.

od, without feeling the least bit of embarrassment, tells all of the stories he can tell. he's happy to have someone listen to him. he doesn't have much friends because they think he's creepy for always being alone and sometimes going to school full of bruises.

and so their day goes by like this. it's like a tacit understanding between them. od doesn't mind the merman mostly just glaring at him is just mute all throughout because he's happy nonetheless. hey, who gets to be a friend with a merman? this is awesome you know!

sometimes when od gets home, he's afraid to sleep and wake up, and realize that it's all not real. but a sense of relief soon fills him whenever he goes to the cave and sees the merman.

"merman ahjussi, you sometimes really stink." od tells, laughing a bit.

he calls the merman, merman ahjussi, because the merman doesn't speak but od doesn't want to be disrespectful.

the merman scoffs at his statement and kicks his mermaid tail, splashing a bit of water in od's clothes. od laughs. he seems to be laughing a lot more these days.

od happily comes home. but happiness soon is replaced with horror.

od didn't know what happened but he just saw his father laying down full of blood and his mother holding a knife.

od cries at the scene.

what happens in the next moments; he didn't have the ability to rapidly process. he just remembers a lot of people with uniforms coming in and out of their house. cleaning, taking pictures, people asking him some questions, and other things.

he saw his mother being taken away.

someone explains to him that his mother will "serve time" and he will be taken by a relative he doesn't know. od tells them that he can't leave because he doesn't want to go, and he has a friend here. but the people are telling him that he needs to. it's for his own sake.

od, full of sorrow and confusion still, nods. he's just a kid, he thinks. why is this happening to him. he tells the people that he needs to visit his friend first before going. he's going to a place far away from here and he doesn't want his friend to be sad.

and so od goes.

the merman maybe notices his haggard and down appearance because instead of a scowl, a soft pair of eyes greeted him. od smiles weakly.

he walks near the pond. nearer than the distance he usually gives to the merman. he wants to be as close as possible to this merman before he

goes away. he says sorry first to the merman for not meeting him for days and tells the merman using his limited knowledge about what happened.

"merman ahjussi, will you wait for me? i will surely come back." od tells to the merman.

od thinks that the merman doesn't really care because even after minutes of silence he doesn't respond. od smiles in defeat, and stands up. he will now go.

od taps his shorts, tapping away some dust on it when he hears a voice.

"if i continue to wait here, will i get to ever see you again?" a big manly voice surrounds od. he looks at the merman and smiles.

he finally hears the merman's voice. "yes, merman ahjussi, it's a promise." od says, and he cries.

he's really reluctant to go but he has to.

the merman just nods at him, so od says his goodbyes and walks away.

the merman just looks at the kid's back until he cannot see him.

~

years passed, and od is now a working adult. a lot happened to him for the past years. he made the memories from the past tucked in a small box inside his head.

sometimes he wakes up, seeling glistening fins or splashes of water but he doesn't understand what it means.

he doesn't daydream anymore now. he realized that it doesn't really help him. it makes him be confused with what's real and what's not.

one day while working, the relative that took him from when he was young called him. she told him that he still has things there.

he asks what are those. the woman tells him that they're just children's books, and little trinkets. before he responds, the woman tells him that there's also a small box that contains a clam with a pearl inside.

— tbc. should this be a SE or HE? i want this to be a SE but i feel bad.

— i have decided. SPOD is my comfort and i will [redacted] them. 🏃‍♀️💨

he asks the woman, "does it have a label?" he hears some rustling and the woman answers, "nothing, really. so what you do want to do?"

"hm, please deliver it to me, maybe i'll do something about them in the future. thank you auntie." he says and ends the call.

he feels like he betrayed someone but he can't seem to remember who or which. a lot of his memories from the past has been forgotten by him. he's already made his current "perfect world" that caters to his own ideals. this helps him go on in this life.

he doesn't know but at the other side of this country, there is a merman.

a lot of seashells, clams, and some trinkets has accumulated throughout the years inside the cave.

the merman sits on the side of the pond as he hums a bit. he's imitating the way the kid hums from

years back. all of his memories from the past are still in him, and he's carefully remembering them while waiting for the kid.

back then, he didn't really want to interact with the child but he grew fond as each day the kid visits.

on that half a month where he didn't show himself to the kid after their first encounter. he was always watching from afar. the kid is always looking sincere, writing his little notes and leaving seashells for him.

his heart started to soften especially when the child realizes he's not there. he hides until he cannot.

he left a clam with a pearl to test the waters. and he was glad he did, because it was a friendship he will forever treasure.

the merman hopes that the kid liked his company. even though he wasn't speaking much. he hopes that he gave enough comfort for the kid when the kid is staying with him.

so he hopes, and waits. he will continue to hope and wait because the kid promised him that he will surely come back. and he will wait in that cave until the very end of his time.

— fin.

(i like spod being subjected to hurtful situations, bear with me.)