10
T o Blake’s relief, Jace had given him the okay to get back to work after he ate lunch. To Blake’s distress , however, he hadn’t managed to get any more information out of Marin about the effects of his singing.
Before resuming work, Blake had wasted no time updating Celeste about the events of the day, sure to fill them in about both Noel’s bizarre indifference and the singing incident.
By the time he’d finished up his shift and picked his phone up from where he and the other lifeguards stored them in the first-aid booth, they’d managed to text back.
Celeste: I have no idea what to tell you about the security guard dude. Maybe he’s also a sensitive and he’s used to this sort of stuff?
But if Marin’s singing put you to sleep, maybe it’s like a siren thing? Because it’s not the pygmalion thing.
Blake: I thought he was a mermaid, not a siren?
Celeste: MerMAN, remember?
(Included with this message was a GIF of Derek Zoolander).
Blake: Hahah real funny. But how would a merman be able to do siren things?
Celeste: So since pygmalions are brought back as the creature they’re carved as, maybe the rules of what they’re capable of doing come from mythology? Sirens and merpeople are pretty similar after all.
It would track, given what you said happened. According to those legends, hearing a siren’s singing voice will put you into a sort of trance-like sleep. It’s supposed to give you visions of your deepest desires.
Which begs the question
What did YOU see, Blake? :3
Blake: NOTHING.
Celeste: Hm, that was a suspiciously quick response.
Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.
Blake: Look, right now I’m more concerned about Noel than the singing.
Even if he was a sensitive, there’s got to be a reason that he just… didn’t really react?
Celeste: You’re right.
I’m not sure if confronting him about it would make it worse or not, though.
Ugh, sorry Blake. That particular ball’s in your court. I’m too autistic for that level of social interaction.
Blake: Don’t worry about it
I’ll figure something out.
Celeste: Okay but I still want to know what you saw when Marin sang!!
Blake: I already told you!!! I didn’t see anything!!
Blake shoved his phone back into his trunks’ pocket before heading back into the castle, anxious to clock out. He was eager to see what information Marin had managed to gather and get back to the pressing issues at hand.
Although he’d left the merman by the snack bar fiddling with the art app on his iPad before heading back out to the park, Blake didn’t see him anywhere in the arcade during his walk to the point of sale system.
To his great suspicion and surprise, Noel was loitering nearby, propped up against the pillar beside the screen.
Upon spotting Blake, he looked up from his phone, irritation coloring the furrow of his brows. “May I have a moment of your time?”
“Uh, sure. What’s up?” Blake replied. In addition to reneging about keeping Marin a secret, there was a whole list of things that Noel could chew him out for—Noel didn’t outrank Lovepreet in terms of their company structure, but he did directly answer to the owner.
A reprimand for going back to work after passing out was the last thing Blake needed.
Noel didn’t say anything, leveling an expectant stare at Blake before turning away and mounting the stairs.
Blake shot a suspicious frown at his back before following along.
Noel stood at the top of the staircase in front of one of the empty birthday rooms, pointing at something Blake couldn’t see from his position.
“What’s—?” Blake started, turning to face the near wall and falling silent.
The entirety of the wall that had once displayed Walter the Wacky Water Wizard’s mural had been completely painted over.
The plate settings, cups, and party hats that were always set out on the table had been neatly placed aside on one of the chairs, the cheap plastic tablecloth spread out over the floor to act as a tarp, upon which Marin sat cross-legged.
Little cans of paint that, years ago, had been used for touch-ups to the mural were laid out beside him, mixed into a palette of brilliant tropical colors.
On the wall, a fierce-looking black sea serpent was swirled around a merman, their foreheads pressed together. A parade of sea animals surged around them, along with the outline of an extensive shelf of coral that Marin had blocked in. Blake stared in wonder.
“He’s been at it for four hours,” Noel told him.
“I…” Blake uttered in lieu of anything protective. “Why didn’t you say anything if you wanted him to stop?”
“Honestly…” Noel began. “I didn’t have the heart to stop him. It’s… it’s really beautiful.”
The two met one another’s eyes—Noel looked like he wanted to say something more, but before Blake could ask him what was up, he skulked back into the security office.
Sighing, Blake looked down at his phone—it was nearly nine PM. As much as he wanted to reconvene with Marin about his search of the offices, he felt bad taking him away from his art.
Blake recalled with a pang in his chest that Marin only had four days to experience being human, and Blake had already wasted one of them making him sit around the place where he’d been trapped for at least twenty years.
He easily could have bowed out after the first half of his shift, using passing out as an excuse; it would’ve left Marin ample opportunity to scour the offices in that amount of time.
Regardless, Blake resolved to leave Marin to his painting for the moment.
Determined to make the most of the time, he rode his bike down the street to pick up some food from the Filipino market. By the time he returned to Water Zone, Marin was cleaning up the party room, painting supplies all tucked back into the custodial closet.
“Hey, I grabbed us some dinner,” Blake said, holding up the plastic bag. “I know you only got an omelet and a sandwich today, so I grabbed you a full meal. Hope you don’t mind chicken adobo and rice?”
“That’s more than fine with me,” Marin told him with a smile.
They sat down on the benches around the birthday table, digging into their food.
“I’m not sure how I know this, but based on the condiments in your pantry, you seem to be a big fan of Filipino food.
Do you have friends or family from there? ”
Blake nodded.
He explained, “My last foster family before I aged out of the system was Filipino and I got addicted to the food.” He pushed a slice of fried spam across his plate, smiling down at the cardboard box.
“We used to get food from this place all the time. It was a happy coincidence that work ended up right down the street. They’re really great people, my foster family. I’m still in contact with them.”
Marin smiled, eyes crinkling as he scooped up a spoonful of adobo. “I’m glad you have somewhere nearby that has such happy memories for you.”
Blake laughed into his food. “I’m really lucky to have those memories. I owe my foster family a lot.
“CPS took me away from my dad when I was about four,” Blake explained. “I nearly drowned in the ocean while he was somewhere drunk on the beach with his friends.”
“Oh my God.” Marin flinched, covering his mouth. “I’m so sorry. That must have been… horribly traumatizing. Almost drowning when you were so small…”
Blake shrugged and admitted: “I don’t really remember it that well. Just little bits and flashes of bobbing above the water and getting sucked back down. The clearest part to me was a guy at the beach who managed to pull me out and keep me from drowning…”
Blake trailed off.
Warm arms around his torso, hands to keep him afloat. Ruby red pooling around him, staining the water dark.
Blake had never asked what had happened to the person who had saved him, but he had his quiet theories.
“He’s the reason I became a lifeguard, actually,” he explained, opening the yellow eye of his egg and smearing the yolk over his garlic rice. “I wanted to be able to save people, like he saved me. It’s a little silly, I guess.”
Marin reached out across the table, setting his gentle fingertips on the back of Blake’s wrist. He smoothed his thumb over the side of Blake’s hand, a soothing motion. “That’s really kind of you. I don’t think it’s silly at all.”
“Thanks.”
The conversation lulled from there. Blake hesitated to speak as they continued to eat, not sure what else to say.
He was immensely guilty for staying at work after passing out and wasn’t sure if a simple apology would cover it.
It seemed insincere. He was about to ask what Marin had managed to unearth from the offices when the merman spoke first.
“You’re troubled,” Marin observed without looking at Blake. He set down his fork across the empty bowl. “What’s on your mind?”
“I…” Blake began, squeezing his empty Calpico bottle in his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Marin said without prompting, hanging his head.
“I—what?” Blake shook his head, taken aback. “For what?”
“For making your friend pass out. It was incredibly petty of me,” Marin admitted, running a fingernail along the length of the table. “I saw the karaoke and thought it would be fun. Later on… I didn’t mean to make you pass out, too—I was so into the song that I didn’t even realize you were there.”
Blake’s first instinct was to immediately say “it’s fine”, but he thought better of it. Instead he asked: “Why do you think it was petty?”
Marin flushed. This time his skin was tinted pink, instead of the blue and purple blush he had in his aquatic form. It struck Blake that it was still a pretty color on him.
“He’s… very physical with you. And I admit I was a little… jealous,” Marin mumbled the last word, tapping his finger on his drink. “Of your closeness.”
Blake couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re jealous of Matt ?”
Marin shrunk into himself, chastised. “Was I wrong to be?”