Archive of Our Own ^beta

It made absolutely no sense to maroon Jesse McCree on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian ocean. None whatsoever. He had just introduced a friendly game of poker to his bunkmates. Wasn’t really his fault when the game got popular. Really wasn’t his fault when they started betting real money on it. And maybe it was sort-of-a-little-teensy-bit his fault when they started bartering duels and favours but listen, it was as much of a surprise to Jesse as it had been to everyone else to find the chef trying to slice the head off of the first mate.

And okay, maybe it was an inappropriate time to laugh, but seeing the big burly guy clinging to the plank off the side of the ship and waving around his rapier like a whip was kind of hilarious.

The point was, he was stuck on this goddamn island for ‘encouraging mutiny’ and they weren’t even kind enough to leave him with a gun.

Wasn’t like there were any trees to build a raft with either. There wasn’t any soil for them to grow in--just fine white sand that glittered in the fading sunlight. The water lapped gently at the shoreline and Jesse felt his heart sink when he realized he could see the entirety of the island from where he stood. It wasn’t even an island. It was barely even a fucking sandbank.

There were tiny minnow looking things that swam curiously to where he stood, soaked, wading through the shallows. He looked over his shoulder and saw the figure of his ship--his old ship--approaching the horizon line. The sails of the Deadlock looked shabby even from where he stood, yet still he found his heart sinking as rapidly as the shape of it sailed out of view.

Jesse kicked at the water and let out a frustrated yell. The water splashed up and soaked into his already soggy clothes. He pulled his hat off of his head and scowled at the limp brim wilting around his grip. He tossed it onto the dry sand and pulled his shirt off. The fabric clung to his back and it took a couple tugs to get himself out of the long billowy sleeves he’d thought were so dashing. Looking down at the multiple belts looped through his leather pants he could already feel the regret from that purchase.

He wrung out the pieces of clothing as best he could and laid them out on the ground. He would have to shake the sand off of them eventually, he realized, but at the moment it was getting harder and harder to convince himself that he’d live long enough for it to matter. The glow of the sun left with the ship, and with it, the warm span of light across Jesse’s back.

He shivered. The waters sucked the last glimmers of light down under the surface and darkness turned the crystal clear depths opaque.

It would be nice to say he dreamed of freedom, but even his mind conspired against him. He was still on the island, with the stars stretching out above him more brightly than he’d ever seen. If not for their reflection on the glassy water, he might not have noticed the spot of green at all. It looked a bit like seaweed from where he lay on his side, a murky cloud obscuring the otherwise pristine tide. He pushed himself up on his elbow, staring. The green twisted too fast to be seaweed, moving along against the current. He stood up, wading into the warm water, arms crossed over his bare chest to preserve heat and cautiously aware of the waterline coming close to the hem of his boxers quicker than he would’ve liked.

But the murky green mass had moved further away, pushing back and forth, almost pacing. Jesse stayed at the same depth, painfully aware of how long it had taken his boxers to dry to begin with, but he shuffled along to the side, following. The green froze, completely still against the water’s movement.

Jesse took a hesitant step to the right. After a moment, the green mirrored him.

He took a step to the left. Again, it followed.

He took a step to the right, then again to the left in quick succession. The green swirled closer to the surface in its hurry to follow him and Jesse spotted iridescent scales lining a long tail. The fin that flicked up out of the water was enormous, easily the size of a palm branch and Jesse jerked backwards on instinct. The sand under his feet didn’t cooperate, however, and he tumbled ass-backwards into the water. The shallows held him up easily and his shoulders were still above the water line when the green stilled again.

The green moved towards him and all he could see was the form of that undulating tail stretching out for two meters. Jesse scrambled backwards, arms pushing against the weight of the water. The sand slipped beneath him and he couldn’t quite get enough traction to stand. Something pale surged up through the shallows, tail flicking behind it faster and it took Jesse a moment to realize it was connected. Another moment to realize it was way too close for comfort.

And a solid four or five moments to reconcile that the human torso that lifted out of the water, staring at him curiously, was the same thing he’d seen approaching. He tilted to the side a little, checking for the tail, and sure enough the man coiled it beneath him.

His hair was the same green that shone, likely bioluminescent. It was cropped short, flinging out in messy spikes when the man--creature?--shook the water from his head. He watched Jesse with rapt attention, lips almost pulled into something like a pout.

“Who…?” Jesse started, voice hoarse from disuse. He cleared his throat and watched the man’s attention slide slowly down Jesse’s body, locking on his legs. “Er, what are…?”

Those dark eyes flicked back up to meet his and Jesse paused. Probably wasn’t polite to ask a stranger for species confirmation. Jesse looked at the tail again. He was dreaming. He had to be. He scrunched his eyes closed and tried to clear his mind, tried to shake himself from the dream sequence. But when he opened them, the young man had crawled further up onto the sand, arms holding him upright between Jesse’s sprawled out legs.

Silvery blue gills lined the sides of his neck, and green replaced the hue where human skin would be tinted warm with red. Long dark lashes fluttered as the creature sized him up and Jesse held his breath without quite knowing why. He lifted one hand, slightly webbed between the fingers and slowly spread his fingers out wide. He watched Jesse carefully.

Jesse looked frantically around at the sandbank. With the tide high, it stretched as thin as a sidewalk and tapered off into white spots showing through the water. There was nowhere to run. Nothing to defend himself with. He looked back at the creature, whose hand was still raised and head now tilted slightly to the side as if confused.

This is it, Jesse thought. He looked at the outstretched hand hovering closer to his bare chest. He pressed his eyes shut again, not wanting to see the ribs being ripped from his chest, or his heart torn out and crushed like rotten fruit. He didn’t want to know.

Slender fingers traced the line of his collarbone and hesitated above the left side of his chest. Jesse let out a slow breath. This is it. This is it.

The hand flattened against his chest gently. And stayed there.

When Jesse dared to open his eyes again he saw the creature staring wide eyed at the skin he touched. Water droplets ran along the length of his nose and dripped cold down onto Jesse’s chest, the same temperature as the hand. Jesse stared unabashedly, following the limb to the man’s face. Pouted lips were parted slightly, but he couldn’t feel the warmth of breath. His irises were wider than any humans and black enough that Jesse couldn’t tell where his pupils began. When he looked up from Jesse’s chest, the stars reflected off his eyes same as they did across the ripples in the waves and Jesse was mesmerized.

One of those fingers rapped against his chest, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap . His heart-beat. Jesse watched as the smile spread slowly across the man’s face. His teeth were a little too sharp, but the curve of his lips was sly enough to distract from them. And he tapped once more, harsher, prodding Jesse’s skin meaningfully. He looked up expectantly.

Jesse stared back, mouth opening and closing uselessly. “What..?”

The man poked him again, smile falling a little bit.

“You want to know what that is?” Jesse tried, squinting. “Do you even understand me?”

The man shook his head, slender finger tapped again, the rhythm of Jesse’s heart.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me in there,” Jesse laughed nervously. The man nodded his head frantically and Jesse blinked in confusion. “Me? You want to know who I am?”

The man nodded again and his smile widened.

“Jesse,” he said. The man looked delighted. He grinned back. “Jesse. I’m Jesse McCree.”

The hand pressed flat against his chest again and his fingers strummed across his skin to the beat of his heart. The man’s mouth moved silently around Jesse’s name, hissing out the s’s with the faintest push of breath.

“What about you?” Jesse asked, trying to catch the creature’s eye again. “Who are you?”

Those wide eyes snapped up to meet his again and Jesse briefly wondered if he’d offended the creature, so he shook his head, holding up his hands to show he meant no offense. “No, no, I mean…”

He reached out slow, mimicking the way the man had approached him and pressed his palm flat against the cold pale chest in front of him. But as soon as he made contact, the creature ripped away from his touch and dove back into the ocean. The long coiled tail slashed through the water violently, drenching Jesse under a wave of it. He pushed himself up onto his feet but the man, the scales, and the long green tail were all gone.

The weirdest thing about the dream, Jesse supposed, was that he still felt the dampness in his hair when he woke. His hair must not have completely dried overnight, though. Because there was no such thing as mermaids. Mermen. Whatever .

He ran fingers through his hair, feeling the remnants of the salty water. His hand slid down over his chest, pressing where the creature had in his dream.

Tap-tap , he mimicked. Tap-tap .

Dehydration started to sink in towards mid-afternoon on the next day. His tongue felt dry and heavy in his mouth and the heat that beat down from above was merciless. It was tempting to get into the water, tempting to drink it but he knew better. The salt would sap the moisture out of him faster than the sun would.

Maybe that was all the better reason to get in the water, a nasty voice in the back of his head suggested. Get it done with quicker.

He scowled out at the water. Jesse McCree wasn’t going to just lay down and die. He wasn’t going to accept this shit without struggle. No fucking way. He snatched his now dried leather pants, and flicked a drop of water on the surface of them and watched it roll off to the side like a small bead of glass. He smiled, rubbing at the waxy outer coating.

The pants draped across his lap, and he shook the sand off of his billowy shirt, pinching his fingers along the seam of the sleeve. He ripped and the fabric tore apart jaggedly. Tugging on the loose threads, he carefully unwove the seam along the arm, ripping the last of it when he got to the double hem at the end of the cuff. The cuff itself was pulled away too, leaving him with a rectangular (if a little conical) flat of fabric. The thread count was low enough that he had no issue ripping it into thin strips.

He laid those out next to him. With a bit more difficulty, he deconstructed the leather pants next until he had flat pieces of leather, setting aside the industrial strength thread that had held them together for later. He picked up the first long piece and got to work biting holes along the side. Then he dipped the thin cloth strips into the sea, scrambling them around until they soaked through. They dripped onto the sand, leaving dots of darkened colour in their wake as Jesse laid them out individually, rolling them in the sand like he was breading chicken.

Fuck, he was hungry.

He swallowed thickly, ignoring the pangs in his stomach in favour of pushing the sandy cloth through the holes in the leather, cinching tightly as he went until he had a dumpling shaped in his hands. Using another long bit of leather, he wrapped the dumpling entirely and got to work on stitching that closed too. This time he went over it again with the industrial thread, struggling to keep track of the end of it as well as hold the creases tightly shut, trapping the air inside as effectively as he could. He had a couple corners held together with his ring and pinky finger, and tried to stretch out his thumb to properly push the thread through, but the thread fell limply over the side of the pouch.

He tried again. The sun was beating down on his back and he could feel the dehydration headache starting to form. He grit his teeth and tried to shove the thread through.

Again it fell limply, this time over the opposite side of the pouch and away from where he could grab it. The growl of frustration left his throat before he could stop it. He pulled the pouch up close, trying to bite at the end of the thread. If he could just get a hold of it--

Slender fingers slipped over his own, gently taking over where Jesse held the cinched leather tight. Jesse dropped the pouch like it was searing and shoved himself backwards fast enough to land halfway in the water. The hand was joined by another, scrambling to pick up the pouch where Jesse had dropped it, lips pulled into a pout as the man tried to hold it the way Jesse had been.

It was the man with the green hair. With the--Jesse tried to look subtly--yep, with the fucking tail. He glanced up at the sun, and felt the sweat on his brow. Was he already hallucinating?

“There is no need to be dramatic,” the man’s voice was soft, fingers slowly pinching the leather back together. “Surely you cannot have been expecting anyone else.”

Jesse gaped at him. “I… Uh. I wasn’t really expectin’ anyone at all.”

Those huge eyes blinked up at him curiously. “Even after our game last night?”

“Game?”

The man’s torso twisted, mimicking swimming left, then swimming right. “I assume that was a game. Or it was a very poor attempt at communication.”

“I thought you were seaweed,” Jesse croaked, still not believing his eyes.

That seemed to offend the man. He sat up straighter, indignance written all over his face. “Is it the hair?”

“No, no, the hair’s fine,” Jesse shook his heads trying to placate the merman. It was easier than trying to explain the merman. “The tail. And the water. Stuff gets a bit obscured from the surface, y’know? Makes the view all muddy.”

The man’s head tilted to the side thoughtfully. “And you assumed this seaweed was following you?”

“Never said I didn’t think it was strange,” Jesse grinned.

A slow grin spread across the other man’s face. “Surely you must have figured it out when I approached you.”

Jesse hesitated. “I thought I dreamed the whole thing up, to tell you the truth.”

“I get that a lot,” the man let his torso slide down to sprawl out across the sand. The tips of his green hair touched the water and flowed gently with the current. He held the pouch up in front of him, squinting at it. His tail flicked twice out of the shallows, letting a soft spray of the ocean water cool his skin. He tilted his chin up to look at Jesse upside-down, grinning. “That I’m dreamy, I mean.”

Jesse coughed, startled. He felt his face flush and wasn’t entirely sure if it was from the heat or from the look the man gave him. His eyes still traced along lithe muscled arms to lock on the pouch again. His best attempt at a floatation device. His best chance of surviving his way across the ocean. He could catch fish if he was patient enough. Could get water from actual seaweed. But there was just no substitute for sleep. And he was miles away from the nearest populated land.

The grin on the man’s face was wickedly curled up at the corners, flattering to the way the light caught in his eyes. But those teeth were also sharp. Hallucination or not, Jesse felt the same wave of apprehension he had on his first day aboard the Deadlock.

And look how great that had turned out.

So he returned his own winning smile and leaned back on his hands. He flicked the hair out of his eyes and made an attempt at pushing it back. But as always, it was unruly and uncooperative--falling immediately back into place messier even than before.

“That so, darlin’?” Jesse tilted his head to mirror the merman. “Name’s Jesse McCree. Do dreams have names too? Or should I stick with ‘darlin’?”

“Oh, both!” He excitedly flipped around onto his chest, the interest that was alight in his eyes sparked in earnest now. “Genji. But please, don’t let me stop you from calling me ‘darling’. It is cute.”

“Yeah?” Jesse laughed. The pouch was between them now, still securely in Genji’s grasp. “I get that a lot. That I’m cute, I mean.”

The giggle that burst out of the merman’s chest seemed genuine and his shoulders shook as he laughed. The wet tips of his hair fell forward into his face and he reached up to slick his hair back quickly, one hand still on the leather pouch.

Jesse leaned forward and rolled his shoulders. He tilted his head back and forth, trying to crack his neck, then locked his fingers together and stretched his arms up over his head in an exaggerated yawn. When he blinked his eyes back open lazily, he caught Genji’s gaze straying down to the his chest, and to his abdomen. Jesse’s grin took a wicked edge before he scooted closer.

If the merman was at all alarmed by the proximity, he didn’t show it. Could’ve been bait, Jesse knew that. But it was bait that he had to take regardless. His best odds were to just make sure the creature assumed he had succumbed to his wiles.

Lightly, Jesse’s fingers closed over Genji’s and he showed him how to purse the fabric together, drawing the sandy fabric cord taught.

“S’like this,” he drawled, voice low. He kept his focus on the pouch but saw Genji staring up at him in his peripheral. “Wanna keep it nice n’ tight.”

Genji snickered and Jesse spared him a playful look.

He tugged the cord through the last bit of it and tied it off hastily with the industrial thread to strengthen it. Genji’s eyes roamed everywhere as he did, his hands still holding the fabric that Jesse could not manage by himself. And really, he was the perfect assistant. If he wasn’t a hallucination.

“What brings you here, Jesse McCree?” Genji asked, eyes on Jesse’s face again. “Surely you have seen everything this island has to offer.”

“And yet,” Jesse’s smile grew wry, “it keeps surprisin’ me. Wouldn’t you know I met some talkin’ seaweed the other day?”

Genji laughed and splashed water at him. Jesse resigned himself to again having to wait for his boxers to dry out, and focused on the detail work of the pouch instead of retaliating. He kept his smile in place though, to show there was no harm done.

“There a lot of you?” Jesse asked casually. “I heard the legends an’ all. Ain’t never seen anything up close.”

“Trust me, I’m the prettiest,” Genji batted his lashes and easily dodged the question.

“No friends? Family?” Jesse prodded a little more. Trust Jesse McCree to get marooned on an island surrounded by predatory mermen.

Genji’s smile vanished. “I think I liked it better when you said I was dreamy.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow, chuckling. “Did I say that?”

“No,” the corners of Genji’s lips curled up. “But there’s still time.”

Genji had stayed beached on the sandbank for hours, until the sun had started to set. He’d started tossing worried looks over his shoulder that Jesse carefully tried to trace without being obvious. There was someone or something waiting for the merman, that much was clear. But whether it was a meal, a friend, or a whole school of sharp toothed mer-folks? Jesse still didn’t know.  

The man had been irritatingly good at dodging questions. As the hours passed, Jesse’s head was less cooperative. He felt the lack of food in his system and at one point contemplated eating one of the smaller scraps of leather he’d taken from his belt loops. But in the end he’d decided that Genji didn’t need to know that he was stuck.

Or rather didn’t need any help making that inference all on his own.

The sand at his back had cooled after the sun set, but the water was still warm against his heels. He felt it brush up his calves. It was slow and steady, and gradually Jesse felt it beginning to recede. The water surrounding the sandbank was so calm it was nearly glassy, but the shallows ended too abruptly and sloped off too deeply for Jesse to be able to tell if there was a danger of riptide.

Not that the danger was ever going to subside. He bounced the finished pouch against his chest. He hadn’t tested it. Not yet. His jaw clenched, well aware that if this didn’t work, he didn’t have a shot in hell of surviving this mess. If it did? Well.

Jesse raised a hand up to the sky, aligning the tip of his thumb with the northern star. He closed his left eye, squinting his right a little until he could get his bearings. Indonesia proper was west. Somewhere between ten and two-hundred miles. Depending on what part of the Indian ocean he’d been dropped in. He was pretty sure that he was near all the hundreds of archipelagos, but… He’d been wrong before.

And if he was wrong again, it would be fatal.

He sat up, ignoring the ache in his gut. He span the round pouch in his hands, eyeing the water. There was no sign of Genji. No murkiness beneath the surface.

In a spurt of courage, he tossed the pouch lightly into the shallows and watched with baited breath as it bobbed, spinning to adjust its weight. But it floated. Jesse’s heart raced. He could do this.

He could survive this.

The riptide turned out to be a very valid fear, but it didn’t hit until he was about five miles from shore. He’d balanced his arms across his chest, holding the pouch beneath him as he kicked at a slow and steady rate when he saw the shadow in the water.

Ain’t nothin’ you can do about it now, he told himself. Just keep movin’.

The current drifted around him sharply, twisting and curling against his left side. Jesse kicked a little harder. But his direction veered to the right, pouch tugging away hard. He focused on the star he was following and wrenched himself back around to the right course.

You can pass it, Jesse repeated the encouragement like a mantra. Never spans that much space. Ain’t nothin’ you haven’t swam through before.

Then the water sank deep into itself and Jesse only had a second to see the sizable wave before it crashed over him. He coughed and spat, tasting salt on his lips. He shook his head and spared one hand to take off his hat. He tried to flick the water off of it when the water tugged him down.

After that, all he remembered was the sting of saltwater in his lungs.

He woke up on the sand bank again, head throbbing. The pouch was deflated in his grip, a puncture ripping through the leather layers like it had burst. Jesse’s heart beat heavy in his chest and he didn’t waste the energy of trying to sit up to examine it.

His throat burned, and his whole body ached. His muscles whined at him to sleep and Jesse closed his eyes again, wondering if he would wake up again.

Wondering what answer he was hoping for.

Fingers tugged gently through his hair, nails scratching lightly against his scalp. Jesse leaned into the touch. Another hand was pressed against his chest. It was cold.

He jolted upright, startling Genji bad enough that the merman slid most of the way back into the water. Beside Jesse, on the sand, was a polished conch shell, full of water. He looked at the shell, at Genji, and at the shell again.

“Water,” Genji confirmed, wary. “Sweet water. Not salty.”

Jesse’s eyes narrowed on the merman. “Why?”

Genji snorted quietly and shrugged his shoulder. “Why not?”

He ran his tongue dry over his lower lip, chewing on the flesh like it might summon some kind of nutrients. He swallowed thickly, wincing. The burn had gotten worse. And when he turned to reach for the shell, his head howled in protest. He brought his hand back up to his temple, trying to move slow enough. One inch too quickly and the shell doubled in front of him.

He didn’t even hear the slither of Genji’s tail as the merman pushed himself back up onto the sand and watched, heartstrings pulling pathetically as slender hands gently picked up the shell and brought the edge of it to the merman’s lips.

“See?” Genji took a small sip. “Not poison.”

“That doesn’t tell me much, darlin’,” Jesse’s voice was hoarse. He tried to clear his throat. It made no difference. “Different… Different physiology. What’s one man’s poison is another man’s sweet water.”

Genji smiled a little, one eyebrow arched. “You seem to be running out of options, Jesse McCree. Is poison truly so terrible a risk that you would rather stare at the sweet water in front of you as you wither away?”

“M’fine,” Jesse growled, but it sounded weak.

Genji moved closer and Jesse knew he should move away. Knew he should keep his distance from a creature that could kill him quick as anything. A creature he didn’t know. Hell, one he still wasn’t sure was real.

Jesse’s struggle to sort out the real from the fake went ignored by the merman, who edged closer still. He cupped the shell in one hand and supported Jesse’s head with the other. And maybe, Jesse might’ve leaned into it a bit. For a hallucination, it felt nice.

“I was not sure you would wake,” Genji’s voice was soft. “You were marooned were you not?”

Jesse felt his eyes widen and winced at the brightness he soaked in. Genji’s thumb stroked across his cheek and he made soothing sounds. The merman brought the shell to Jesse’s lips and Jesse drank deeply. It was smooth, crisp and sweet, like nectar in comparison to the rough salt he’d been drenched in. Genji’s fingers stroked the back of his neck sweetly.

When Jesse drained the shell, Genji carefully leaned him back in the sand, watching over him with the same curious look he’d had the first night they’d met. And he was pretty. Despite maybe having just fed him poison. Possibly.

“Sleep, Jesse McCree,” Genji smiled. “We can speak when you wake.”

If I wake , Jesse thought.

Instead of his prior playfulness, Genji got straight to business when Jesse sat up. He handed Jesse a fish on a stick, gesturing to two others roasting over a small fire pit he’d made in the sand. Jesse stared down at the fish warily.

“I see you survived my poison,” Genji said dryly. “I figured the best way to rid myself of an already dying man was to bring him sustenance. Brilliant, no?”

Jesse laughed at that. He gave in, biting into the fish. It was bland and a bit chewy, surprisingly unsalted for something that had lived in salt water. To Jesse it was the finest meal he’d ever had. He practically inhaled the other two fish. When he settled back into the sand Jesse felt more like a functioning person again. His mind cleared and the headache ebbed away, sinking back down his spine and seeped out with the tension in his muscles

“M’gunna out on a limb here n’say that you ain’t doing this outta the kindness of your heart,” Jesse didn’t meet Genji’s eyes as he spoke. “So, what is it? What d’ya want?”

The merman tilted his head to the side, frowning. He looked more serious and much older, as if the thought played a somber note in his mind. He chewed on his lip a little, looking at the empty shell and the man in the sand.

“Marooning is when your family leaves you on an island to die, correct?” His words were careful. He watched Jesse like he was worried about an attack. Jesse stared back evenly. “Humans need sweet water, food, and other humans. Perhaps I just want you gone before your herd inevitably shows up to collect your body.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think they’d do that?”

Genji shrugged. “It seems to be a very human thing to do.”

“And that would be it?” Jesse pressed. “You wouldn’t want anythin’ but for me to get gone?”

Genji frowned at that. “Well--”

“Ah. There it is.”

“I want to come with you.”

Jesse blinked. He did sit up then, pushing himself up on his elbows to stare at Genji properly. “Come again?”

“I want to come with you,” the merman said again, irritation touching his voice. “I want to follow you to your next destination.”

“What? Why?” Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “Is this some life-debt thing? Or a save-your-food-for-later thing? You gunna surge up outta the waters singin’ some deadly tune when you’re finally ready to eat me?”

Genji laughed and it sounded distantly melodic. A sharp reminder that the man he spoke to was hardly a man at all.

“Not unless you want me to,” Genji winked.

Jesse’s scowl deepened. “That doesn’t answer my question, darlin’.”

Genji puffed out an annoyed breath. “You attempted to leave this island on your own, did you not? You made a float, you headed towards the mainland, and you could have made it if not for your already weakened state and the riptide I pulled you from. But such dangers on adventures are common.”

Jesse nodded, wary.

“So why then do you not conduct all your adventures by yourself? What is it that makes you so desperate to return to civilization?” The merman shifted his weight and pointed his frustrated look down at the sand. “With a better float and an easier start surely you would need no boats at all.”

There was a long pause then as Jesse considered his answer.

“It’s not that simple.”

Genji laughed sharply. “It isn’t, is it? That is why I wish to go with you.”

When he looked back at Jesse to see if he was following, Jesse fixed him with a still dubious look. The merman tsked and ran his fingers through the sand between them, lifting it up and letting it drizzle out of his grip into small peaks.

“You are not the only one that has been marooned,” Genji said quietly.

Jesse stared at him long and hard. “You’re part fish. The hell do you mean marooned ?”

“My family will likely take a more proactive approach to assuring my demise,” the merman replied coldly.The tip of his tail flicked out of the water and sprayed a line of water across Jesse’s face. He spluttered and blinked, rubbing the sting out of his eyes and spat the salt into the sand. “Unlike you, I will not wait for the inevitable. I just need--”

“Somewhere to escape to,” Jesse finished.

“Yes,” Genji agreed quickly. “I do not wish to wander alone for the same reasons you do not wish to swim across the ocean.”

Jesse’s lips flattened into a thin line and he chewed on the inside of his cheek. His eyes flickered over to the shell, and to the sticks that had held the roasted fish.

“Has the poison set in yet?” Genji asked, and Jesse’s attention snapped back to him. “Or am I trustworthy?”

“There’s a pretty hefty hike between likely-to-poison-me and trustworthy, darlin’,” Jesse’s grin was humourless.

Genji hefted himself up to his side, and moved his tail in a way that pushed him along the sand and back to the water. His back was to Jesse and it was hard not to notice the lines of muscle stretching down his torso. He ran a hand through his green hair, looking to the side enough that Jesse could see the gears grinding in his head.

“I will return tonight,” he said. “If you will trust me, I can bring you to the mainland. You will be back in civilization. And…”

“And…?” Jesse prompted.

“And when you find a ship and return to the sea, I will accompany you.”

“What makes you so sure I’m gunna do that?” Jesse asked.

At that, the merman grinned. “Please. I can smell the heart of a sailor from one thousand leagues away. You reek of wanderlust.”

Jesse grinned back, a wicked glint in his eye. “No lie?”

“No lie.”

It took about four hours and about seventeen near-death experiences, but Jesse McCree was unceremoniously shoved onto a sandy beach in Singapore. He felt like he would be coughing salt water out of his lungs for the next century, but Genji had delivered. He saw the lights of civilization, saw the blessed commotion of people and his heart soared in his chest. He’d done it. He’d survived.

He looked back at Genji. The merman’s arms were crossed uncomfortably across his chest, and he stayed stubbornly partially submerged so that his tail remained hidden below the surface.

Hunters, McCree realized with sudden clarity. He’s worried about hunters. Of course he didn’t want to travel alone. The money one could make off of proof of Genji’s existence alone was staggering. The image of a gutted mermaid corpse filled his mind, unbidden, and Jesse shivered.

Genji may have been able to swim, hunt, and drink as he pleased but like Jesse he could not sleep. Could not for a moment let his guard down.

“You will return here to this beach in two days time,” Genji said firmly, though the nervousness in his voice made it sound like more of a question than a command.

Jesse nodded nonetheless and took off for the port proper.

Though he did not look behind him to see it, Genji watched him retreat into the dense growth of tropical underbrush, palm trees, and the promise of other humans.

One day passed and Genji’s beach was vacant. The footprints left by Jesse were still visible in the drier parts of the sand, but the high tide had washed away the indent that had been made when Genji had dropped him off.

As the traces dwindled, so did Genji’s hope of the human’s return.

The second day came and passed. All traces of Jesse McCree were gone.

Genji told himself he would wait only one more day, darting about nervously at the edges of the shallows.

When the light grew dimmer and the sun lit the palm trees in a fiery orange, he had thought he’d seen the shape of Jesse’s hat in the long cast shadows.

He must have been mistaken.

On the seventh day, Genji gave up.

Green hair splayed out beneath the merman’s head, tucking and curving into messy spikes that framed his face in feather light touches when the breeze passed over him. His arm was bent, tucked under his head and his chin rested in the divot of his elbow. His tail stretched out across the sandbank, glittering with dark greens, turquoises, and silver. The end of it still floated lazily in the sea, fanning out and curling with the tide.

With the sun high in the sky, Genji’s skin was warm and soft and dry to the touch. And McCree wondered at how a creature that could wrestle his way through riptides and laugh in the face of storms could somehow still be so soft. As soon as the pirate’s fingers grazed the merman’s shoulders, Genji rocketed upright. He clutched a shard of broken shell in one hand tightly, pointing it at Jesse’s throat.

Jesse put his hands up, and raised his eyebrows to match. “This a bad time, darlin’?”

“You! You came back!” Genji’s eyes widened. Then narrowed. “You’re late.”

A slow grin spread across Jesse’s face. “When you see why, you’re gunna forgive me.”

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and Genji leaned to follow what he was pointing at. It was a ship. Not just a ship. An enormous ship, with huge billowing sails and dark polished wooden sides. It looked spotless. It looked new.

“How..?” Genji’s jaw dropped.

“Was thinkin’ bout what you said,” Jesse replied casually. “‘Bout being able to spot a sailor from one thousand leagues away. Could make a real pretty penny off that kinda intel. So I decided to invest. Took it out of the hands of some very capable hunters. Don’t think they’ll miss it. But we get to keep their guns all the same.”

Genji’s eyes slid back to Jesse’s. “You stole it.”

Jesse’s grin turned sheepish. “Seemed like a fittin’ start for a pirate crew.”

“You have a crew?”

“Just a first mate,” Jesse’s eyes were hopeful. “If he’ll forgive me for bein’ a bit late.”

Genji looked at the ship again, then back to Jesse. He grinned and reached up to brush a bit of sand that stuck to Jesse’s cheek. The big brown eyes that watched him softened for just a second, but the merman caught it. He tugged Jesse closer and pressed their lips together. Jesse’s breathing hitched and he held on to Genji’s side lightly. When they pulled apart, the softness had returned to his features.

“So,” Jesse grinned, pressing another kiss to Genji’s lips. “Ready for an adventure, darlin’?”

Genji’s heart skipped in his chest and he grinned back.