ericphughes:
Scout reached her before he did, before he could make a desperate grab for the leash, racing against the torrent of wind. Eric sped up his pace, waving his arms in an effort to get her attention, or his dog’s attention, someone’s attention at least. “Don’t worry,” he warned, his voice shaky and already a little out of breath. “She’s really friendly! She won’t hurt you -”
He barely finished his sentence before Scout jumped on the poor girl like she had gourmet dog treats hidden under her towel. It was as painful to watch as Vesuvius erupting; her red hair flying down mimicking the volcano’s flames, tumbling down in a scenic crash, combined with crashing sea waves and a now gloomy sky. Her surprised shriek filled the air all around him. The sailor prepared himself to launch a death grip on Scout, pulling away the lively dog by the scruff of her neck, but then she beat him to it. Eric blinked rapidly to make sure he saw correctly. Whining uncomfortably, Scout backed away from the girl fearfully, tail tucked away between her legs, and ran back to him wilfully.
Knitting his dark eyebrows together, Eric tried to register what just happened. None of it made any sense. Bending down for a split second, he ruffled Scout’s head briefly before making his way over to the girl. Up close, everything was even more confusing. She was definitely a stranger. He couldn’t smell any alcohol or weed on her, and besides looking weak and disoriented, her pupils weren’t too dilated.
“Yeah, of course,” he nodded, pulling himself back to reality. Eric didn’t merely stick out of his hand for the girl, but snaked his way through underneath her arms when her knees buckled. He held her up until she stabilised, firmly planting her feet into the ground. It was impossible to ignore the pallid colour of her skin, or the goosebumps littering her arms. Eric took off his windbreaker swiftly, cursing a little when one of the sleeves got caught on his watch, and adjusted it over her shoulders gingerly
“Should - should I call someone for you?” he asked, wondering what was the best way to go about this. “Do you need me to take you to a hospital?”
for a moment ariel thought all the breath had been knocked out of her lungs on impact but she didn’t realize just how breathless she could be until the brunet snaked his arm around her to help her stand again. in fact, for a moment her head went all swimmy and she felt like she might fall again. she felt like maybe she could stare into his brown eyes forever and never get bored.
but then he let go. because she was a stranger standing practically naked on a beach who couldn’t speak more than five words to him or even stand on these new legs properly. and she realized maybe this was just about the worst choice she’d ever make. as he placed his outer layer of clothing over her shoulders she knew he’d have to have a girlfriend and if not already, that girl from the other day on the shore surely must’ve been something close to it by now. he was just so dreamy, there’s no way ariel could trick him into loving her.
auburn brows furrowing, wondering what exactly he meant by call and who exactly she could up here, ariel almost responded in confusion before he posed his next question. then her heart started racing and she felt like she just might be sick. she didn’t know all that much about humans but what she did know was that she wasn’t one of them. and that the hospital sounded an awful lot like the places they’d taken so many of her kind to torture and test on.
blue eyes wide and jaw clenched tightly, the girl shook her head vigorously. “no, no hospital! — i just...” she had to figure out some way to distract him and convince him that that place wasn’t an option. what if they ran some sort of tests and found out she wasn’t actually human? what if they sliced her open to look at her insides and bled her dry or if they put her on display in those sad little tanks for everyone to watch that she’d heard speak of?
“where am i? i just — i washed up here and i don’t remember anything.”










