Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Travis was walking home along the boardwalk one night, whistling a song. What is that song? he wondered absently. He trailed his hand along the railing, whistling the melody a little slower. Where the fuck did he know that song from?

The moon was just a tiny sliver in the cloudless night sky, but it was shining brighter than he had ever seen. The ocean was oddly still, he noticed, black and as flat as a mirror. The boardwalk was quiet, too, all the businesses closed for the night, chairs stacked in front of the cafe, the bars over the window of the souvenir shop. The doors of the movie theater were closed and the ticket booth was empty.

He lived above the movie theater in a little apartment. The sign and all the marquee lights were dark, but the motion sensor light above the small door to the side switched on as he approached. He took his keys out of his pocket, tossing them up in the air and catching them. The jangling sound rang out across the quiet night. 

He was about to unlock his door when he heard it. Loud splashing. He paused, tilting his head as he listened. Silence - and then he heard it again. Loud, frenzied splashing. It was probably just animals fighting over a fish - but still, he wandered over to the other side of the boardwalk and leaned over the railing, looking around until he saw something pale and relatively large splashing around in the water. He frowned, looking closer - was it some kind of white seal? And then a hand appeared above the surface for a moment before disappearing again.

It was a person, he realized with a rush of adrenaline, and they were clearly drowning. He paused for less than a second, glancing around at the empty boardwalk and all the darkened windows, then ripped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. They had barely hit the boardwalk with a thud before he was climbing over the railing and diving into the water.

He swam as fast as he could, arms cutting through the flat water. The splashing had stopped, and he could still see the pale shape sinking down towards the bottom, tangled in a swathe of seaweed. He took a deep breath, then kicked hard and dove down towards them. The person was limp in his arms as he pulled them to the surface. He managed to get them up onto the boardwalk, then hauled himself up after.

It was a woman, and she wasn’t breathing. He caught his breath, then quickly turned her onto her back, tipping her chin up gently. She was beautiful, he realized suddenly, trying not to get distracted by it as he put his ear to her mouth to double-check that she wasn’t breathing. He looked down at her chest to see if it was moving - and realized that she was naked. He had thought she was tangled in seaweed - but it was hair, dark gold and endless, and it wrapped around most of her body. She also had odd, pale, spiky jewelry at her neck, wrists and around her waist, made of what looked like bones and sea glass and pearls - so many pearls - but otherwise she wasn’t wearing anything.

He knelt above her and pulled the hair and jewelry off of her chest, then carefully placed both large hands above her heart and started compressions. He counted to thirty, then pinched her nose, leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers, blowing into her mouth. To his relief, her chest expanded, and as he gave her another breath, she started to cough.

He leaned back on his knees as her eyelashes fluttered on her cheek. She opened her eyes, and they were the most astonishing bright blue. She was gasping for breath, and he didn’t even notice that he started breathing in time with her as if it would help.

“Hey - you okay?” he asked gently. “You almost drowned.”

She stared at him, bare chest heaving, coral lips hanging open. She was beautiful, he noticed again. Possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her exquisite face looked like it was carved from alabaster, flawless and glowing in the moonlight. There was something regal about her high cheekbones, her delicate chin and the long line of her neck.

“You alright?” he asked. “Hey - here-” He grabbed his t-shirt from where he had dropped it and held it out to her, but she just stared at him, eyes wide. He carefully draped it over her instead, covering the important parts, and leaned back again.

She glanced down at the t-shirt, then back at him. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. She clutched her throat, a panic rising in her eyes.

“Hey - you’re okay,” he said soothingly. “Do you understand me?”

After a moment, she nodded slowly.

“Do you know your name?”

Her face grew stricken as she tried to speak again. Finally, she shook her head, staring at him helplessly.

“That’s okay, that’s okay,” he said. He glanced up and down the boardwalk, still empty, then back at her. “I’m not trying to be weird or anything - but do you want to come inside? I live just here.” He pointed behind him at the movie theater.

She stared at him for another long moment, then nodded slowly.

“What about your legs?” he asked. “You okay to walk?”

Her eyes widened, and then she looked down at her own legs and her mouth fell open as if she had never seen them before. She reached out a hand and ran it over her knee, then down her shin, before looking back up at him with a strange look on her face.

“Do they hurt?” he asked gently, not sure what was going on.

She hesitated, then nodded, eyebrows knitting in frustration.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I got you - okay?” 

Her arms went around his neck as he slid one arm around her back and the other under her knees. He had forgotten that she wasn’t actually wearing his shirt as he stood up holding her and it fell to her waist, caught between them. She pressed herself to him, her breasts soft and wet against his bare chest, her strange jewelry digging into his skin. He carried her over to the door of his apartment and her arms around his neck tightened as he dug in his pocket for his keys.

He climbed the stairs to his apartment with her in his arms, her hair trailing behind them. Inside, he put her down on the couch, then grabbed a sweatshirt from where it was hanging over the back of a chair, pulling it on over his damp chest. He gave her some water, and she took a sip, making a curious face as if it tasted weird.

Travis knelt down in front of her. “Where you from?” he asked.

She took another sip of water, smacking her lips, then pressed them together and hummed a soft melody.

“What song is that?” he asked. “It sounds so… familiar…”

She just stared at him with her electric blue eyes.

“I’ll call 911,” he said. “Get you some help - maybe you should go to the hospital-”

She grabbed his arm and shook her head, staring at him desperately.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said reassuringly. “The police - you know - they can help-”

She kept shaking her head. She opened her mouth, clearly trying to speak. All that came out was a low, strangled sound, and her face collapsed, stricken.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he said, trying to calm her down. He didn’t know why, but he started humming the same song he’d had stuck in his head on his walk home earlier.

She quieted, staring at him. Their eyes locked together, bright blue on gray-green. She was humming, too, and their voices blended together as the air went still around them. If he opened the door and found everything else gone, just his little apartment floating in the middle of the ocean, he wouldn’t be surprised.

“Fine,” he whispered eventually, voice slipping soft and low out of his mouth. “I won’t - I won’t call anyone. Not yet. I don’t know - what your deal is - or where you came from… but I gotta be up early tomorrow, so… you can stay here, but just for tonight, okay? That’s it.”

Her eyes lit up, and she smiled at him, bright and warm. Before he realized it, a smooth, pale arm was around his neck, and her soft lips were pressing gently to his cheek.

“Yeah - yeah, it’s really no problem,” he said gruffly, patting her back gently.

He helped her put on his t-shirt properly, then carried her to his bed, and laid her down on it. He couldn’t help but notice that the necklace hanging from her neck appeared to feature several small vertebrae. He must have been more behind in fashion trends than he realized, because he’d never seen jewelry that looked so much like fish bones before. He pulled his blankets up over her, and her eyes were closed when he looked back up at her.

He stared at her for a moment, watching her breathe, then went back into the living room. He wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down on the couch, feet hanging off the edge. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep, what with all the excitement, but before he knew it he was drifting off into a wonderful, deep sleep. 

As he slept, he dreamed of the ocean and bright blue eyes.

Chapter Text

“Trav!”

Travis rubbed his eyes, blinking. It was morning, he realized, and in an instant, the events of last night came back to him. He would have sworn it was a dream, if he wasn’t about to fall off the couch.

“Travis!” came another yell. It was his brother’s voice.

Travis sat up. His body ached from sleeping on a couch that was too small for him.

He glanced at his phone and saw he had six missed calls, and that it was past eleven a.m.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

He’d missed the big pancake breakfast for his mom. She was the mayor of their small coastal town, and she was running for reelection. Jason was his older brother, family favorite and de facto heir to the throne. And Travis was the foolish little brother, as always, who had just missed another opportunity to show his mom that he was as responsible as he claimed. Nevermind that he had approximately four and a half jobs and hadn’t asked for help with rent in years.

“Travis! I saw your truck out back! I know you’re fucking in there!”

“Jesus, okay!” Travis roared through the door. “I’m sorry I missed the breakfast - I’m not feeling well!”

“Fuck off,” Jason yelled.

Travis pulled off his sweatshirt, grabbed his blanket from the couch and wrapped it around his shoulders. He went to the sink and ran the water over his fingers for a second, then dabbed his fingers to his upper lip and forehead so it looked like beads of sweat. He went to the door and opened it a crack, pulling the blanket over his face as he faked a cough.

“Fuck, Trav,” Jason said, taking a step back. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Seriously, Jase, leave me alone,” Travis said. “I’m diseased. Save yourself while you still can.”

Jason chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said gruffly. “At least - call next time.”

“Okay, sorry,” said Travis. “Fine. Sorry, sorry.”

He watched as Jason went down his stairs and disappeared through the door at the bottom, then shut his door and threw off the blanket.

Quietly, he went to the door of his bedroom and peeked inside.

She was there. She was really there, her impossibly long, golden hair curling over his pillows. Her body looked tiny, curled into a ball beneath his duvet. One side of her delicate face peeked out from amongst all that hair, and he stared at her for a second, taking her in. Maybe she was an angel, he considered for one crazy moment.

Her nose twitched, and he watched as her eyes blinked open. She saw him in the doorway, and her fingers clutched at the edge of the blanket.

“Hey,” he said. “Morning. Feeling better?”

She just stared at him, eyes vivid blue and arresting.

“Sorry if that woke you up,” he said. “My brother. He didn’t know - I had a guest.”

She blinked at him, then started looking around the room. He glanced around, too. It was pretty minimal, but at least it was tidy, he thought.

He took a few steps into the room, and her head snapped around to look at him.

He put his hands up in the air. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “You alright? You feeling any better?”

She tilted her head as she looked at him.

“You do understand English, right?” he checked.

She nodded, and gave him a helpless look, touching her throat again.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassured her, taking another step towards her. “I’m sorry - I bet this is really frustrating. Did you at least sleep alright?”

Slowly, she nodded, and then she was sitting up, blankets sliding from her shoulders. He could see the pale jewelry around her neck peeking out from his t-shirt. In the morning light, he was even more sure it was some kind of bone. She was still staring at him with her huge blue eyes.

“How are your legs?” he asked. “You think you can stand?”

She looked at him as if he had just said something amazing, and suddenly she threw off the blankets, revealing her long, bare legs. They both watched as she wiggled her toes, and then she looked over at him with a proud look on her face.

He chuckled softly. “Good sign,” he said, trying to sound normal. The way she looked with her long, pale legs stretching out, her hair pooling around her, a wide smile on her face, his t-shirt barely covering the tops of her thighs, in his bed - he was fine. He was a grown man. It should take more than this to get him riled up.

She swung her legs off the bed, and then stared up at him as she moved her bare feet around like she was testing the feel of the ground. He watched as she put her hands on the edge of the bed and stood up - or tried to. Her legs immediately started shaking, and she caught herself on the bed, bending over awkwardly, legs wobbling as she tried to balance.

There was something about her - he stepped closer, his hand out towards her, and she caught it in her own.

“Careful,” he said. “Looks like you’re still feeling a little off, huh?”

She stared up at him, and her hand curled around his like she had just realized she was holding it. It was so small compared to his. He suddenly remembered that he wasn’t wearing a shirt as her eyes ran over his chest. Slowly, she reached out and rested her fingertips over his heart, then ran her fingers gently through his curly hair down towards his belly. He gasped, a thrill running through him at her touch, then laughed in surprise. She pulled her hand away, looking at him apologetically.

“Never seen a man’s bare chest before?” he asked jokingly, trying to sound neutral on the topic. He steadied her one more time, then let her go, leaving her swaying slightly on her own two feet. 

She shook her head, then nodded, looking uncertain.

“Huh?” He went over to his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and put it on. “Or maybe you’ve never seen one with quite so much hair, is that it?”

Her eyes widened, and then she nodded shortly.

He laughed, throwing back his head. “Gotcha. Well, some say I’m part yeti, but I’ve never had any testing done.”

She cocked her head, confused.

“Don’t know what yeti means?”

She shook her head.

“Well, that’s understandable. What about coffee? You know what that is?”

She shook her head again.

“Boy, are you in for a treat,” he told her, grinning.

She took a sip of the steaming cup, eyes going wide. She had a very expressive face, he thought to himself, and he really didn’t mind staring at it as he tried to figure out what she was thinking.

She took another sip, then pointed at something over his shoulder.

He turned around. While he was making coffee, he had noticed her fiddling with the letter magnets on his fridge that he used to help teach his niece how to spell, but he hadn’t realized what she was doing until he looked over.

WHERE

“Oh, my God… you’re a genius,” he said. “Of course!” 

He leapt up and went over to his desk. He grabbed a pen and found a thing of bright yellow Post-It notes. He brought them over to her and put them on the table in front of her, and she stared up at him, looking just as confused as ever.

“To write,” he said encouragingly. “Here, see?” He picked up the pen and wrote out his own name, then peeled the sticky note off and stuck it on the table. “That’s me. Travis. Nice to meet you, by the way.” 

Her mouth formed a small o as she watched him, and when he handed her the pen, she brought it close to her face to examine it.

“It’s a pen,” he told her patiently, feeling slightly silly.

She glanced at him, then took the pen awkwardly in her hand. He watched patiently as she spelled out: 

WHERE AM I?

“Where - where? You’re, uh, in my house - well, my apartment - in Pepper Cove. Washington. USA. Does that - any of that - mean anything to you?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. She looked more lost than ever, he thought.

“Hey - that’s okay,” he said gently. “I, uh, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you kinda seem like you’re probably traumatized or something. Are you sure you don’t wanna go to the police? They can probably help you more than I can-”

PLEASE?

“Please…?” He laughed, realizing the confusion. “No - no… Po-lice. The po-po? Here-” He wrote the word out in his blocky printing. 

She still looked confused. 

“Ummm… police… they, like, enforce the law,” he tried again.

Her eyes lit up in recognition.

“Law? Yeah, you know that word? Yeah - well - policemen - and women - officers - they catch bad guys and stuff. Well - sometimes… Sometimes they’re just a pain in the ass…”

She nodded slowly, staring at him. SOLDIERS?

“Soldiers? Uh - kinda…” he said, considering it. “Kinda - like - a local type of soldiers, I guess. But we also have an army.”

She shivered at the word.

“You know that word, too, huh?”

She nodded slowly again. WEAPONS, she wrote.

“Yeah…” he said. “Did they - did they hurt you? The army?”

She frowned, perfect eyebrows furrowing, then shook her head helplessly. DON’T KNOW.

“That’s okay,” he whispered. “Hey - I don’t suppose you remember your name?”

She stared at him for a second, then shook her head.

“Well - that’s fine,” he said. “All good. I think I’ll call you Pearl, though, if that’s alright with you. You’re wearing enough of ‘em.”

She put her hands up to feel her necklace, and smiled at him, bright and sudden. He couldn’t help but smile back.

“You like that?” he asked. “Pearl?”

She nodded, and then to his great surprise, she let out a soft, raspy giggle.

“Well… that’s a good start,” he said, grinning at her.

He went over to the kitchen and pulled a carton of eggs out of the fridge. He whipped them up into a bowl, put some toast in the toaster and started cooking the eggs. He looked over to find Pearl watching him and he pressed his lips together in a smile, then turned back to the stove, thoughts racing through his head.

There was something different about her. In fact, she was more different than she wasn’t. But he felt as if he was under her spell in some way - and the idea of telling someone she was here - of passing off this stranger that had crashlanded in his life to some official person - made him feel as if he would be betraying her. She made him feel weird - in a good way - like he already knew the answers to things, but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. And he had an overwhelming instinct to protect her.

He also had an odd feeling that whatever made her so different would be a lot more important to other people. People with worse intentions than his, perhaps.

He loaded the eggs onto two plates, pulled the toast out of the toaster, and went over to the table. He set one plate in front of her, then sat down and started eating. She watched his hands carefully as he scooped up some eggs with his fork and brought them up to his mouth. Slowly, she picked up her fork and stabbed at the eggs on her plate. She tasted it tentatively, and looked up at him.

“You like it?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

She scribbled on the pad, then turned it to show him. MORE COFFEE PLEASE.

“Yeah? You like that, huh?" he asked, pouring more coffee into her mug. "Not the eggs? Or the toast?” 

She poured several teaspoons of salt into her coffee and stirred, then picked up the pen and wrote a word on the pad. 

FISH?

“Fish?” he repeated, confused. “Uh - um… I might have a couple cans of tuna somewhere… Let me check.”

He went over to the kitchen and found a few frozen filets of salmon, which he moved to the fridge to thaw. He started to look through his cupboards when there was a knock on the door.

He froze. What now? Since when did he have this many visitors on a Thursday morning?

“Travis? You home? It’s Claire!”

“Oh, fuck,” he whispered, glancing over at Pearl. 

She stared at him, eyes wide.

“You - you just stay there, okay?” he whispered, putting his hand out. “Just - right there… don’t move. I’ll just - get rid of her.”

He went over to the door and opened it reluctantly.

There stood a woman wearing a pair of black trousers, a black blazer and a pink silk shirt. She had long dark hair, and her glossy pink lipstick looked freshly applied.

“Travis,” she said, frowning when she saw him. “You are home…”

“Oh - uh, yeah,” he said, thinking hard. “What, uh, what can I do for you, Claire?”

“I thought we were meeting at the breakfast this morning,” Claire said, pursing her lips and crossing her arms. “Your mom was so disappointed you weren't there.”

He rubbed his chin, making an apologetic face. “Oh - right - sorry,” he said. “Yeah - I forgot - I have a friend visiting. From out of town.”

“A friend?” she asked, craning her neck to try to look over his shoulder.

“That’s right,” he said firmly, putting his hand on the edge of the door to block her view. “Listen, Claire, I’ll call you later, okay?”

She looked even more disappointed, and when she held out her arms towards him, he couldn’t help but give her a hug. After a moment, he tried to pull back, but she gripped his arms, staring up at him and pursing his lips.

Reluctantly, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

Why did he feel like he could see Pearl’s bright blue eyes staring at him out of the corner of his eye?

Claire left, and Travis went back over to the kitchen. Pearl wasn’t at the table.

“Pearl?” he called.

She emerged from the door on the far wall, which led to a closet where he kept his wetsuits and heavy weather gear.

“What were you doing in there?” he asked, laughing.

She shrugged, staring at him with wide eyes, then scribbled out a word and held it up.

WIFE?

He laughed out loud. “No - no, no," he said quickly. "Definitely not. Friend.”

She stared at him, then wrote, KISS.

“Oh… you saw that, huh? Well… more than a friend, I guess,” he said slowly. “I dunno… do you know the term ‘friends with benefits’? Or… uh… y’know… casual dating?”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Hey… we’re both adults, you know?” he said, a little defensively. “I mean - we both understood what we were getting into, okay?”

She stared at him, head tilting to one side. Then she picked up one of the post-its she'd already used and held it up to show him:

FISH?

Chapter Text

“Lotta whales around for this time of year,” Travis’s coworker, Johan, remarked. “Barely even had to leave the bay.”

“Mmm,” Travis said, nudging the wheel slightly with his knee to keep them in place. 

One of his many jobs was at a whale watching company. He usually stood at the bow of the boat with the microphone, pointing out the whales and entertaining the crowd with fun facts and cheesy jokes, but today he’d let one of the others take the mic while he drove. He stared out the window at the ocean, but he wasn’t really looking. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

He’d left her after showing her how to work the television remote. She’d stared at the TV like she’d never seen one before. He chuckled to himself as he remembered the wide-eyed look on her face when he switched the channel to a documentary about ballroom dancing. When he left, she was sitting with her long legs crossed only a few feet away from the TV as if she were about to dive through the screen.

He had a sudden realization that he was verging on obsessed - he hadn't stopped thinking about her for more than a minute since walking out his door. But thinking about her felt so good. Maybe he shouldn't be so chill about the fact that there was a mute, beautiful amnesiac back in his apartment - but he couldn’t wait to go back to her. 

“Bro, can you stop?” Johan asked.

“What?” Travis asked.

“You keep humming that song,” Johan said. “It’s getting annoying.”

“Sorry,” Travis said automatically, putting a hand up to rub his mustache. 

That song again… He hadn’t even noticed. Had he heard it in a dream or something? On the radio as a child? Why did he feel like he had always known it?

He stopped at the bookstore on his way home. He went over to the stationary section and found a little dry-erase board with a pen on a string.

“Hey, Jack,” said Travis, putting the board on the counter.

“Where were you this morning?” asked Jack, the owner of the bookstore. He had lived in Pepper Cove for a while now, and he and Travis had become good friends. His wife owned the building which included Travis’s apartment, and the two of them lived right above the bookstore, down the hall from Travis above the theater. “Your mom asked me about you.”

“This morning?” Travis asked, pulling out his wallet. “Uh - right - I have a friend visiting. From out of town.”

“A friend?” Jack asked, scanning the board. “Who?”

“Yeah, you - you don’t know them,” said Travis, avoiding his eyes. 

His gaze caught on the big display facing the front of the store, featuring several kids’ fantasy books. One cover had a mermaid with a shimmering green tail and long golden hair. He stared at it for a long moment.

“Trav,” said Jack, knocking on the counter to get his attention. “What’s going on, man?”

“No - nothing,” said Travis, shaking his head and looking back at Jack. “Sorry. Thanks. Sorry - gotta go.”

He slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter, then grabbed the board and left the store before Jack could give him his change.

Travis’s next stop was at the dock, where thankfully the fishermen didn’t ask him about the pancake breakfast as he purchased several fresh fillets. He tucked the paper-wrapped fish under his arm and went home.

He opened the door of his apartment and went inside.

“Pearl?” he called, part of him expecting her to have disappeared.

But then she came out of the bathroom, and he almost dropped the fish on the floor.

“Oh, my God,” he said.

Her hair - her endless, golden hair - wasn’t as long anymore. She had chopped it off so her curls only reached halfway down her back.

She stopped at the look on his face, and reached up to touch her hair.

“Wow,” he said, staring at her. “Your hair…”

She shrugged, then started walking towards him again.

He held out the fish like an offering. “What do you think? I can throw it on the grill, or bake it with some lemon…”

She started to unwrap the paper around the fish, revealing one end of the light pink hunk of fish.

“Just cod - nothing fancy-” he started saying.

He stopped talking as she leaned in and took a large bite out of the corner, teeth flashing white as she tore into the raw fish. Travis stared in disbelief, then winced, glancing away.

“This is insane,” he said, mostly to himself, laughing. “Insane. I guess you’re more of a sushi kinda gal, huh?” 

He scratched his neck as he watched her chew. There were shiny little scales in her teeth, he noticed. Why did he find it endearing? This girl was fucking him right up. 

She took another large bite of the raw fish, letting out a pleased hum as she chewed.

He didn’t know what to do except laugh. "Here," he said, handing her the fish.

She took another bite as he pulled the dry-erase board out of his pocket. 

“Here - I also got you this,” he said, holding it towards her. “So you can write more.”

She looked at it curiously. He pulled the lid off the pen with his mouth and wrote HELLO on the board.

“Then you can just…” He used the side of his hand to wipe the word away, leaving a blue smudge on his skin.

She hummed enthusiastically, eyes lighting up. She put the fish on the counter and took the board, turning it over to examine the back.

“So… why did you cut your hair?” he asked, holding out the pen.

She used the pen to slowly write, HEAVY.

“That’s fair,” he said. “Looks great.”

She tilted her head, eyes running over his face, then bent her head back over the board. I DREAMED.

“Oh, yeah?”

MAYBE, she wrote, then paused. MEMORIES.

“No way - really? Like what?”

She underlined the MAYBE.

“That’s okay,” he said. “Why don’t you just tell me what you do remember?”

She looked at him again, then wiped the words away and started scribbling. Travis tilted his head to see what she was writing.

DARK. LONELY.

He frowned, shifting closer to her unconsciously.

CAGES. PAIN. She looked up at him, face stricken.

Before he realized, he started to hum again. She took a hitching breath, then leaned against his arm, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms, and she fell into him like she had never been held before, burrowing into his chest.

He had a brief moment where he wondered again if he should be alarmed by the draw he felt towards her - but he liked this feeling too much to be concerned. He slid his arms further around her and squeezed her a bit tighter. She was just the right height for her head to fit perfectly under his chin.

After a moment, he cleared his throat and pulled away. She lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him. He met her bright blue eyes, and felt something warm swoop through his belly.

He cleared his throat again, and nodded awkwardly. “I, uh, I gotta take a shower, okay? I won’t take long.”

She looked confused, but he suddenly felt like he needed to put some distance between them. He squeezed her shoulders briefly, then turned around and went over to the bathroom.

He tried to sort out his thoughts as he turned on the water and stripped off his clothes. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a towel. There was a soft clatter and he looked down to see a small piece of smooth blue seaglass on the floor. He frowned in confusion, leaning down to pick it up. It was almost the same color as her eyes, he thought for a moment as he put it on the edge of the sink.

What the fuck was he doing? he asked himself as he stepped into the shower. Did he have a plan here? He was the kind of guy who went with the flow in life, but he wasn’t sure what that meant in this scenario. He closed his eyes and let the water run over his face, still thinking about her blue eyes.

There was a rustling sound, and he opened his eyes to watch in astonishment as a slim hand pulled the curtain back to reveal Pearl, completely naked as she stepped into the shower next to him. He just stared at her in surprise as she looked up at the water pouring out of the showerhead with a wondrous look on her face.

“What-?” he managed to sputter, stepping back to press against the wall. 

His shower wasn’t that big, and she was right there - so close - and naked - he couldn’t help himself as he ran his eyes over her glistening body, from the tendrils of hair sticking to the swell of her breasts, down to the thatch of darker hair between her legs-

“Woah, woah, woah,” he said, finally getting ahold of himself and looking away. “What - what are you doing?”

She looked up at him, smiling, lifting her hands to feel the water, clearly completely unconcerned with the situation.

“I - I - uh-” He hadn’t felt this tongue-tied around a girl since he was about twelve. “Right - I bet you want a shower, too - you can, uh - you can go first-”

He had to concentrate not to slip as he backed out of the shower, pulling the curtain shut between them. He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist, water still dripping over his face.

She pulled the curtain open, looking confused.

“Sorry,” he said. “I - just - you don’t, uh, take turns to shower where you come from, huh?”

She cocked her head, still confused. Still naked.

“I know I’m poor, but I’m not this desperate to save on my water bill,” he said, managing a chuckle.

She got out of the shower and he backed away, biting his lip and looking up at the ceiling for a moment in an effort to not look at her. She’d left the board on the counter, and she picked it up, wrote something and turned it to show him.

WATER BILL?

“Yeah,” he said. “You know… you gotta pay for this…” He gestured at the running shower. “To get water in your house… Just like electricity and heat and internet and all the good stuff…”

She looked more confused than ever.

“Who are you?” he asked, words spilling out of his mouth. “Where the hell did you come from?”

She twisted her lips, looking apologetic, letting the board fall to her side.

“Sorry,” he said immediately. “Sorry. I just - you really got shaken up by something, huh? And - it’s - I mean - I just - I wanna help you-”

She wrote on the board again. THANK YOU.

He shook his head, chuckling, still consciously keeping his eyes above her shoulders as she concentrated on writing another longer sentence.

WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

He frowned, then it clicked. “Oh, the water…” He made a face, trying to think. “I guess - the ground? And, like, pipes… or something… I don’t really know, to be honest with you…”

She wrinkled her nose, and wiped the words off the board. Still naked.

He grabbed another towel from the cupboard and held it out to her. She took it, and looked at him questioningly.

He gestured at his own towel around his waist. “To - dry off,” he said.

She examined the towel, still not using it.

“And to wear,” he said encouragingly. “You’ve never used a towel?” He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice. “Never gone swimming?”

Her face lit up, and she scribbled a word on the board. SWIMMING?

“You know what swimming is?”

She nodded, eyes sparkling. CAN WE?

“Oh,” he said. “Well - sure. You mean - right now?”

She nodded. Still naked.

“I mean - yeah, sure… It’s kinda late though… I think the sun’s about to set-”

PLEASE.

“Okay,” he said immediately. “I - I know a good place, actually. Not too far from here.” 

Technically the ocean was about thirty feet from his front door, but he didn’t want to risk seeing anyone he knew. 

She bounced up and down a little, and her smile was so contagious, he found himself grinning back at her.

“Listen,” he said, trying to sound normal. “The thing is… around these parts… we usually wear clothes… or something… to, you know… cover up…”

She looked down at her body as if she had just noticed she was naked, then wrapped the towel clumsily around her waist. She looked up at him hopefully.

“Uh, right,” he said, chuckling. “Yeah. Or - around - the top, as well…” He gestured at his own chest, trying not to blush.

She pulled the towel up, finally covering her breasts.

“Right,” he said. “Good. Great.”

She was smiling even wider now, blue eyes running over his face, then down to his bare chest. He felt himself start to blush.

“I’ll get you some - clothes,” he said, going over to the door. “Then we can head out.”

Travis took her out to the little parking behind his apartment and led her over to his truck. The sun was low in the sky, bathing them with soft golden light. She watched as he unlocked the passenger door and opened it.

He motioned at the open truck door. “Hop in,” he said.

She hesitated, then clambered up into the truck, still slightly awkward with her legs. He closed the door behind her, then went around to get in the driver’s side.

“You know what a truck is?” he asked, glancing at her as he started the engine. It felt like such a ridiculous question, but she was redefining the word ridiculous for him by the minute.

She shook her head, and he laughed.

“Well - this is a truck,” he said kindly, patting the dashboard. “This whole thing - it’s a type of car.”

She looked around at the cab of the truck, taking it in with a fascinated expression. He was starting to get used to her strangeness - and he was starting to like the way she looked at him when he explained things.

“And cars,” he said, putting his hand on her headrest and looking over his shoulder as he reversed out of his parking spot. “Take us places. Isn’t that great?”

She grabbed his arm as they started moving and looked around, mouth hanging open. He laughed, using his free hand to shift into drive. He pulled out of the parking lot onto the empty street, watching her. She was still holding his arm, both hands around his wrist, and she was staring out the window like she was on an amusement park ride.

He drove them out of town, following the road a few miles along the coast before turning off onto a narrow, gravel track. Branches hit the sides of the truck as he drove through the salal, until they emerged onto a causeway on top of a manmade sandbank which separated a lagoon from the ocean. He drove out onto the causeway, then pulled the truck to one side and put it in park. The Pacific Ocean stretched out to their left, waves lined with gold from the lowering sun, and the sheltered lagoon lay to their right, surface flat and calm. The western sky was a deep, soft orange which faded to a deepening blue behind them.

“Here we are,” he said. “This is actually where I learned to swim.”

She looked at him, then went back to staring out at the ocean. He examined her face, wondering if he saw a little bit of apprehension.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded, and he got out of the truck. He walked around and opened her door, and put out his hand without thinking as she started to clamber down. She put her hand on his as she balanced on her shaky legs.

She was wearing another one of his shirts, this time a large, brown plaid button-up that was big enough on her to serve as a dress. She walked past him, staring at the ocean as if entranced, and as he watched, she reached down, grabbed the hem of the shirt and pulled it over her head, dropping it behind her as she kept walking.

Naked again.

“We don’t usually go naked,” he started, staring up at the sky - but she wasn’t paying attention, and what on Earth did he think he was doing, anyway? If she wanted to be naked, who was he to stop her?

She walked over to the outer side of the causeway, feet sinking into the sand of the narrow beach. She stood at the edge of the water, breeze grabbing at her hair and surf lapping at her feet as she peered down at the steep drop off into the ocean.

“We mostly swim on the other side,” he told her, not sure if she was listening. “This side's kinda deep, and the current can get pretty strong.”

She was not, he learned quickly as she stretched her arms over her head and dove into the ocean.

He laughed, letting his head fall back helplessly. Then he pulled off his own shirt, toed off his shoes, and jumped in after her. It was a warm summer evening, but not hot enough to keep the water from feeling like ice against his skin. He emerged with a yelp, toes touching the steep sandy bank as he looked around for her in the glimmering waves. He couldn’t see her, and for a moment, a strange panic clenched in his belly - he ducked under the water again, eyes open.

There she was, he realized, a bit further out, her naked body sleek and pale, her hair a muted golden cloud around her head and arms waving elegantly around her as she spun with the current of the surf. He could hear her humming - that same song - he could feel it vibrating through his body - before he realized it, he’d pushed off from the bank and was swimming towards her.

She saw him coming, and stopped spinning, popping up above the surface. She reached out her hands, and he took them in his own. He smiled sheepishly at her, not sure what to say - but then she smiled softly back, and he realized. He didn’t have to say anything.

She reached out and touched his face, and he stared at the golden sky reflected in her eyes. They started twirling in slow circles. The ocean was uncharacteristically calm around them. Her hands were soft on his shoulders, pulling herself closer, and then his hands were sliding up her arms. Her skin was so smooth, and her hair billowed around her shoulders in the water. 

He was humming, too, at a lower pitch than her, but he couldn’t really tell where his voice started and hers began. Her hands were on his shoulders, now, and his were on her back, and he didn’t even notice that they were underwater, sinking deeper and deeper, still staring at each other. Their humming intertwined, resonating outwards through the water.

He felt his vision start to sparkle at the edges, and he realized that he hadn’t taken a breath for way too long. He quickly kicked himself to the surface, still holding her, and burst up into the air. She held onto his shoulders as he gasped, clearly not affected in the same way. They both started to tread water, their spinning legs bumping together.

“Taylor,” he rasped.

Her eyes widened and her hands tightened on his shoulders. She nodded slowly, looking at him in amazement.

“Taylor…” he whispered again. “Taylor… that’s your name, isn’t it?”

She nodded, and let out a surprised, tinkling laugh.

“I dunno… how I knew that…” he murmured, but it didn’t matter, not when she was looking at him like that. “Nice to meet you, Taylor… Might still call you Pearl sometimes, though… Suits you…”

She was smiling widely. They were turning in slow circles again, keeping their heads above water this time, legs bumping together, pulling each other close again.

“Taylor…” he whispered over and over. “Taylor…”

He wasn’t sure how long they floated there together, staring at each other, the orange sunlight sparkling off the calm surface, bare skin pressing together. By the time they swam back to the beach, Travis’s fingers were wrinkled and his skin felt tight on his face.

He went over to the truck and grabbed the towels he’d brought. He handed one to Taylor - Taylor! - who just took it and held it, water dripping down her skin. He chuckled and shook his head as he dried himself off. She watched him for a moment, then started to copy his movements, wrapping the towel around her shoulders.

He picked up the brown plaid shirt she’d dropped on the ground and offered it to her. She took it and pulled it over her head, almost losing her balance. She seemed like a whole different person out of the water, he thought as he watched her steady herself. It was as though whatever had happened to her had made her forget how to walk - but clearly not how to swim.

“I’ve never… swam like that…” he told her. “Didn’t know I could… It was like… dancing…”

She grabbed her board from the passenger seat. THAT WAS DANCING.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “That was nice, but it wasn’t dancing, Pearl - I mean - Taylor…”

She gave him a confused little frown.

“Can I show you?” he asked slowly. “Dancing?”

She nodded. He held his hands out, and she put the board down and linked her fingers with his again. Her skin wasn’t pruned up like his, he noticed.

“Here - one hand here,” he said, and placed her hand on his shoulder. He held their joined hands out to one side and put his hand on her waist. “Like this… and we just…”

He started to guide her, but her legs tangled together and she tripped over herself immediately. He laughed, holding her steady.

“Here-” he murmured. “Try standing on my feet - there you go-”

Her feet were small compared to his, and she balanced her toes on top of his feet as he started dancing again, holding her tight around the waist as they waltzed away from the truck and down onto the sand. The wind was picking up again, and the surface of the ocean was dotted with little peaked waves. He danced them along the edge of the water, each surge of the ocean sweeping in around their ankles, washing their footsteps away. She started to laugh, hand digging into his shoulder, her freshly shorn hair flying out behind her. He laughed, too, whirling her around, then dipping her low, hand spread over her back, bending over her.

She gasped happily, hand sliding around his neck as she held on tight. He grinned at her, caught in her eyes again. Their faces were only a few inches apart. The surf surged in, catching the ends of her hair, then retreated in with a long, hushed noise of water on the sand.

“There you go…” he murmured. “You see? Dancing?”

She just laughed again, then shrieked happily as he straightened them both up and whirled them back the way they had come, water splashing with each step.

They got back to the truck, and she grabbed the board again. She started scribbling, and he peered over her shoulder to read each word as it appeared.

THANK YOU. FOR HELPING ME. NAMING ME. FEEDING ME.

He chuckled softly, feeling his cheeks flush. “Hey - no worries,” he murmured.

She looked up at him and shook her head. She wiped the words away, then wrote two more: SAVING ME, then looked back at him.

He smiled crookedly down at her. They were so close again and he could see the drops of water on her eyelashes. “All good, really,” he insisted. “Anyone else would do the same…”

She wiped the words she’d written away and wrote, NO. NOT EVERYONE.

He didn’t know what to say. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting little squeeze. “Well, don’t worry about it… I’m happy to help,” he told her in a low, sincere voice.

She wrote THANK YOU again, and turned to press the board against his chest, staring at him with defiance in her blue eyes.

“Fine,” he whispered. “Fine.” He chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

She gave him a somewhat triumphant smile, then she leaned into him, putting her hands on his shoulders and her toes on his feet again. He took the hint, taking her waist and spinning them in slow circles. She tucked her head under his chin and started humming.

It had been the longest, craziest day of his life. He still didn’t understand who this woman was, and why she was in his arms… but he wouldn’t change a damn thing.