Chapter Text
It's been fifteen years since he saw Feitan's face.
Phinks froze as if he had seen a ghost. A spectator of nostalgia glared right at him. The tail whipped aggressively, positioning itself to attack.
"Fei?"
The creature was about to lunge and bite his face off but flinched as he spoke his name. The expression became less hostile and more skeptical. Pushing back, analyzing the human who had just spoken.
Staring up and down his body, he spoke again, "You're Feitan, right? Fei!" The dream of reuniting with his best friend was something he accepted to be just that, a dream. Face to face with the fantasy he couldn't believe was real. "It's me, Phinks. Don't you remember, fifteen years ago we-" He was getting all choked up.
"Phi...nks," The grip on his arm loosens, along with the decline of the tail wips and aggression. His expression falters to something ambivalent, a manner that Phinks didn't recognize. Being able to read Fei was a skill he was proud of, as back then, since he was a kid with few words. Emotions indicated shock, tension, stress, regret, and denial.
So many questions raced through his mind. As much as he wanted to bombard him with all of them, he couldn't at that moment. He was lost in that moment. Trying to focus, his gaze led downwards, back to the fish parts of him. Back to the gash where his blood was still oozing out. That's when it clicked: the reason why the bloody spear was lying on the rocks.
Phinks thought about asking, what happened? However, it only led to more questions. If sirens are seen as a myth, then why was he injured by a human weapon? Would Phinks be able to carry Fei out of the cave at night with that injury gushing open? Even if he managed to get Fei back to his place, he's not a doctor. How does a person treat a siren's wound?
Phinks shook his head; he was overthinking. Logically, stopping the bleeding would be the right thing to do.
"Fei, can you hold this? Don't drop it." Phinks pointed to the lighter he was holding. Fei gave a bewildered look. Staring at the lighter, then back at Phinks. Despite that, he reached out to hold the lighter.
Phinks immediately removed his tank top, which only caused an overwhelming feeling of bewilderment within Fei. Phinks looked down at the wound, wondering how the hell he was going to tie his shirt around that. Phinks shrugged, figuring that he'd need to lift his bottom half to wrap it around him. Impulsively grabbing his waist, Fei's tail whipped around and smacked Phinks square in the face.
"Explain first before touching." Ah, there's the aggression again.
"I'm trying to stop your bleeding by wrapping this around it. Keeping an open wound like that isn't a good idea." Choosing to ignore that slap, though, the sting on his cheek lingers. "I have to lift you to wrap this thing around. You're bleeding a lot..."
"I've had worse injuries." Fei shrugged, with his tough facade, just like back then.
"With how often we both got into fights, I bet you have." He snickered before sighing. "So, can I lift you a bit just to wrap this around, Fei?"
Fei shifted himself against the rocky walls of the cave. "Make it quick."
Fei's skin seemed to shudder when Phinks lifted him up from underneath his lower back this time. The heat that emanated from his palm nearly melted the icy cold skin of the siren. After sliding the shirt under where the wound would be, he gently placed Fei down before figuring out the most effective way to tie up the shirt.
There was a long, awkward silence before Phinks murmured, "You feel colder than I remember."
"I'm supposed to feel cold." Feitan curtly responded while Phinks tightened the knot.
Phinks looked around the cave and the grotto, thinking to himself how his apartment would be a safer healing spot for Fei than this place. "I think you'd heal faster and safer if I got you out of here. My apartment complex is right near the shore; it's not that far at all."
"You have an apartment?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, a lot has changed in fifteen years, Fei." Phinks was still holding off on asking him why. Why did he vanish without a word? Why did it take fifteen years just to meet up again? If meeting in this cave was by sheer accident, then would Fei ever reach out to see him again? Those fifteen years hurt like hell.
Fei avoided eye contact. His expression appeared remorseful, but there was a hidden layer to it.
"Fei, let me carry you out of here, okay?"
His expression went judgmental; it was hard to tell why, however. The tail flickered in ways that would suggest agitation. “Not an option,” he grunted.
“Why? People who are out this late are usually too drunk to remember anything. No one will see you.” Assuming that was the issue.
“Unable to transform.” He hissed.
“Is it because you're injured? Well, you could just heal at my place, and then that won't be an issue anymore.” Phinks couldn't shake the feeling that Fei was, yet again, trying to place distance between them. Not physically, but emotionally, metaphorically.
Fei shook his head with a tongue click. “Not how things work.”
It was true. Phinks had no idea how sirens work. For the longest time, there was no evidence that they even existed until now. This revelation only adds more layers to the pile of questions he was suppressing.
“Either way, I'm not leaving you here alone.” Life was tiresome when he chose to be selfless. Every bone in his body wanted to be selfish. He waited fifteen years. Fifteen fucking years.
“You're stubborn as ever.”
“Yeah, and? You really think I'd just walk away from my injured best friend who vanished fifteen years ago?!” The cat's out of the bag, or should he say the fish. It's out. He didn't intend to shout as loudly as he did, but he couldn't suppress it any longer.
It fell silent in that cave.
Fei’s gaze strayed away, focusing on the rhythmic waves that pulled and pushed into the grotto. He murmured under his breath, “On one condition. After I heal, I go back.” He stared at the ocean. “Back to the ocean.”
Phink's expression faltered momentarily before nodding, “Deal.” How ironic now that Phinks understood what Shal meant when he joked about keeping a siren in a fish tank. However, Fei isn't a fish or an object to him.
Fei handed Phinks the lighter, and he put it back into his pockets. Scooping the siren up, the sensation of the different textures on his skin was the first thing he noticed. Even the human parts of his body felt off. It was cold like a corpse, except soft like a living human. The tip of his tail ended up wrapping itself around Phink’s arm.
“You're going to need to hold on more than that, Fei.” There was something about how he positioned himself in his arms. As if his top half was avoiding being pressed against Phink’s chest.
He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Hurry up.” Hissing his demands.
With that, Phinks carefully, while holding him with one arm, used the other to swim towards the beach. Due to the extra luggage, it did take a bit longer than he expected. Making sure the coast was clear before power walking across the sands.
“You don't have to cling as much anymore, Fei.” It was a surprise to him. He would have expected that the moment he emerged from the water, Fei would have already unwrapped his arms.
The grunt that he made was delayed. Sluggishly removing his tangled arms, his left hand traced over Phink’s shoulder before gripping it. The grip was far weaker than it was before, and his breathing was lethargic. “You're so warm.” He mumbled.
“Yeah?” Perhaps Fei didn't know that adult males tend to produce a lot of heat. If he's been avoiding humanity for fifteen years, there are probably many things he doesn't know about humans. "We're almost there."
As expected, it went smoothly. Transferring Fei from the grotto to his apartment. However, the more Phinks thought about it, the more he became concerned by Fei's lethargic state. Something was amiss.
Plopping himself onto the side of the bed, Fei's tail and hand were still gripping Phinks. Was he sick? "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm... fine..." He was not fine; the sudden shift to a sleepy state was not something he could ignore.
Phinks reached for the phone he had left on the nightstand. Scrolling through his contacts, he considered it. "Hey, Fei, I'm going to let Shal know; I think he's more equipped to help you than I am."
"Shal...?" At this point, he was practically unconscious.
To Phink's dismay, the phone rang for a minute. No answer. Tried again. No answer. "What the hell, Shal?!" Phinks muttered to himself. Frustrated, he began to text him.
[12:03 am]
Phinks: Shal, this is an emergency!
Phinks: Either pick up or show up at my place.
Phinks: I know you still have the spare key.
Phinks: I found Fei.
Phinks: He's unwell and badly injured!
It usually doesn't take Shal this long to respond. On days like this, he's usually at the pub drinking, but not enough to get drunk. Unlike Phinks, Shal has always been glued to his phone the moment he got one. Minutes dreadfully felt like hours, as Phinks stared at his messages, waiting for a reply.
[12:14 am]
Shal: Okay, I'll be there in a few.
Shal: Congrats on finding your fish boyfriend! 💜
Shal: Also, I'm bringing a surprise with me.
Phinks: What do you mean by a surprise? This is urgent!
Shal: Let's just say... Finding Fei may not have been a coincidence.