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.