Glass Jars and Rolling Thunder
Warnings: Brief mention of beaching (no actual beaching), non-descriptive mention of blood, brief mention of non-specific medical tools, non-human character referred to ask an ‘it’ (though it is not malicious), fear.
Pairing: Platonic Analogical
Characters: Logan, Virgil
Word Count: 2628 words
A/n: So, I’ve been wanting to write something for MerMay and I finally got around to doing it! :D
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The rocks were slippery as the veterinary student mindfully made his way down to the beach. The thunderstorm that rolled through earlier had dominated practically the entire day. Taking care in making sure he didn’t slip down the rock face leading down to the beach, Logan tugged his raincoat a bit closer to himself.
The reason he was heading down to the beach in the first place was of his own accord, but a habit he had made for himself.
As a veterinary student specializing in aquatic life, he felt as though it was important to make sure no marine life had ended up beached on the dry land thanks to the storm. Of course, “dry land” at this moment may be untrue but the weather could turn warm by morning. If the creature couldn’t get back into the water in time, there wouldn’t be a high chance of survival.
The least he could do was prevent such unfortunate events from taking place preemptively.
The overcast sky dulled the land in front of him, turning the colours grey and dark. Not to mention it was just past dinner, the rain hadn’t tapered off much later than that. It wasn’t an ideal time to be out on the rocks, but it was better than waiting overnight. Especially if he could prevent an animal from suffocating.
A few stray droplets fell from the rolling thunder clouds above him every once in a while, but it was nothing Logan was concerned with. Working with marine life had made getting wet a day-to-day thing. He’d been splashed countless times while out for his practicum. Plenty animals were not happy with human intervention and would react negatively if they got too close too fast.
It seemed to him as though the storm had paused for now. Though, the dark clouds rising over the horizon told him that this may have to be quicker than he anticipated and wanted it to be.
Still, Logan had enough time to do a sweep of the beach and be back home before those clouds truly set in. And even if it did start raining—which was not a problem in the least—he had a raincoat. If worse came to worse and he was still out here by the time the second wave of rain hit, he wouldn’t be as soaked.
The sound of the waves lapping against the rocks and sand was comforting. A sound he had become accustomed to. Living about a ten minute walk from the beach was nice. However, he hadn’t picked this place for the scenery (not that it wasn’t a bonus), but that it was optimal for his profession.
After getting a degree in marine biology, Logan had pursed it to veterinary school. He’d already had a leg up in specializing in aquatic life.
The stroll down the beach was mostly uneventful. Which was relatively good news in his opinion.
And besides, those rain clouds were starting to roll in faster and the beach was growing darker by the second. Heading back home in the dark wasn’t a problem once he got back up to where lights dotted the walkway above this beach.
Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, Logan flicked the flashlight on just to be cautious—as it was better to be safe than sorry. Twisting an ankle was not an ideal option.
Logan stood in silence for a moment, wanting to make sure he couldn’t hear anything making sounds of distress. If there was anything nearby, he’d be able to pinpoint it. When he heard nothing but the continuous sound of the waves lapping against the sand, he deemed it safe enough to leave the rest of the beach till the morning,
Just as he began his walk back, he paused.
His hearing pricked as the soft sound of something hitting what sounded to be glass rose from somewhere behind him. Logan turned back to face the direction that led down the rest of the beach. It seemed to keep going up until he could distantly make out the shape of a cliff-face that led straight up.
However, the tapping against glass was not nearly that far away. It had to be just near his feet. Logan directed the flashlight down toward the sand just in front of him, before moving it up slightly and letting the light rest on a cluster of rocks that were wedged into the sand and facing the ocean.
The closer he got to it, the louder the sounds got. He also noticed that this cluster of rocks wasn’t entirely open, it was almost like a small cavern, hollowed out slightly enough to appear as though a child had done it to mimic a cave small enough to play in with their dolls. He pushed a little further forward, a small twig softened by the rain crunching slightly under his boots, and all of a sudden the sounds stopped again.
Whatever small animal this was, it now knew of his presence. It was possible it felt threatened. There were plenty of animals that felt threatened by human beings. A lot of them smaller and feeling as though they couldn’t defend themselves, but frightened nonetheless.
Logan stopped moving, he’d partially stopped breathing as well, just hoping that the silence he created would be enough to convince the small animal to restart its noises. The sound of glass was odd, he noted. Perhaps whatever it was had managed to get itself stuck in some trash left by tourists and families. The thought made him feel the slightest bit embittered.
Though the feeling was quickly washed away. The sounds had returned and if he didn’t know better, he would have said that they they almost sounded more desperate. Logan found himself creeping forward quieter, more aware of the area in front of him.
He let the flashlight sweep the cavern first. Of course, this time he wasn’t surprised the soft tapping stopped. It meant he’d found what he was looking for. The closer he got, the sooner caught the scent of something metallic and strong.
Blood?
That pushed Logan a little faster into action. If the animal was injured, he’d need to do something about that. He had some medical supplies back home that could help stabilize it if it were truly that hurt.
Logan knelt down into the sand before peering into the cavern of rocks and sand. It took only a second to pinpoint the sound of tapping and clicking against glass from earlier, as a glass jar filled halfway sat tucked snugly into the sand around it. The jar had a jagged edge, a piece of it broken off around the top. There seemed to be a smudge of crimson at the very top of it. The jar itself looked as if it had been packed in there fairly well.
However, what was inside of it was what astonished him.
There, right there in front of him, was a tiny creature that almost completely resembled a normal human being. There was only one thing that kept the creature from being entirely human, and that was the deep violet tail that splashed the water in the jar in a nervous fashion Logan had seen other distressed aquatic creatures do.
His eyes flickered from the mermaid (merman?) in the jar for just a second, seeing the blue pail sitting innocent beside it. A part of him wondered if the creature had been unfortunately washed into the jar during the storm.
Or, a separate part of him wondered, had the creature been caught and put into the jar maliciously, then just left there after the storm rolled in?
Either way, the thoughts were bitter. Whatever had happened to the mer—Logan could hardly believe he was actually categorizing something like that as a real thing—it had ended up in the jar. Tried to escape, by the looks of it, cut itself on the jagged pieces of the jar and was now bleeding from somewhere.
And who knew how long it had been like that.
As a veterinary student, Logan’s first reaction would be to take the creature home and find a way to help it, but the other part of him wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it after that.
It was clearly in distress, by the desperate movement of it splashing more and more of its water out of the jar. He assumed that distress was being caused further by himself. But Logan also couldn’t just leave it there to die in good conscious. Doing something would have to be the option he went with.
The mer had been trying to get out of the jar, as it was the most obvious reaction to getting caught somewhere. The ocean’s edge was right there and Logan assumed that if it had managed to get out, it would have been long gone by now.
Debating it after a second, Logan managed to prop his phone up in a place where it wouldn’t end up falling into the water, but gave him enough light to work with. The jar would have to go, so Logan settled on using the pail to the side of it.
He watched as the creature cowered away from him as he reached over it. Logan pushed the uncomfortable feeling of guilt that raised in him down. He retrieved the pail and pulled it out of the sand. He pushed himself up into a stand before refilling it with fresh seawater. He could only guess that the mer thrived in saltwater. Besides, he didn’t want to risk putting it in freshwater if it only ended up hurting the creature more.
The panicked sounds picked up again the second Logan had his back turned to the mer. It was painfully terrified of his presence. Whatever human had done this to the creature, they had certainly scarred it. For good reason, it seemed however.
Not that Logan could necessarily blame it either.
The second he turned back to it, the mer had ducked back down into the bottom of the jar, watching Logan with sharp dark eyes, almost glowing in the light the flashlight presented.
It was unprecedented and undocumented. It was fascinating.
However, those inquiries could be saved for a later time. Specifically when they were out of the dark beach and into a more controlled environment and Logan was positive that the creature’s health was stable.
He set the bucket down to his side, finding a flat enough place on the ground to keep it from tipping over. He knelt back down in the same spot from before, and leaned a bit further down. Trying to get a better look at the creature only proved fruitless as the light from his phone wasn’t enough—at least not in the position it currently was sat in. It was also proved fruitless by the fact that the little mer only ducked down further before flipping its tail and managing to splash water into his face.
Logan reared back in surprise, watching water drops slide down the frames of his glasses. So the specimen was aggressive. That just meant Logan would have to be more careful with it, perhaps actually explaining his actions would soothe it. Possibly see him as less of a threat.
He pulled his glasses off, the world blurring for only a moment. He silently cursed himself for not bringing one of his microfiber cloths with him, before relenting and using his shirt under his raincoat. When he put them back on, the world was certainly clearer. He could see some smudges in the corner of his eyes, but it wouldn’t be too distracting for the short walk home. After he got his…guest, he supposed, settled, he would be able to clean his glasses properly.
“I understand you’re frightened,” Logan said to it, drawing the mer’s attention up to his own. “And telling you not to be frightened would be illogical, but rest assured that I do not wish to harm you.”
The mer gave no indication that it could understand him. It just stared at him, those wide eyes soon narrowed into distrusting slits.
“I’m going to transfer you into the bucket.” Logan’s eyes flickered to it, showing the mer what exactly he was talking about in case it didn’t understand him. Maybe it could take visual cues? Either way, they needed to get this out of the way. Not to mention, Logan would like to get home before it began to storm again, it would only make getting up the rocks more difficult then that task already was already going to be. “I’m going to take you to my home just to make sure you’re alright.”
In all honesty, the mer could be let go as early as lunchtime tomorrow. However, Logan didn’t want to let it go just like that. He would like to have some of his questions answered if they found a way to communicate.
With his explanations out of the way, Logan leaned forward again, this time consciously staying a bit further away from the mouth of the jar—which had been the right choice, as the tiny creature attempted to splash him again—and dug his hands into the caked sand around the base of it. After digging the jar out, he carefully lifted it.
He tried to keep his motions as steady as possible, not wanting to knock the mer around too much if it was dangerously injured. However, by the way it was angrily thrashing in the water, Logan wasn’t too sure just how hurt it was. It wasn’t giving him any displays of pain. Instead only happily showing its agitation.
Though, with the jar more in the light now, Logan could faintly make out the slight discoloration of the water. It was pinker, a dull red.
It was definitely bleeding then.
As tempted as he was to just stay knelt there in the sand and examine the fantastical creature in the jar, the rumbling thunder that rolled through the sky was a quick reminder to what was coming.
Without waiting then, Logan tipped the jar slow enough to make sure the mer didn’t freak out too much and took precaution to make sure that the jagged edge was facing upward, toward himself. That way, if the mer did flail, there would be less risk of it cutting itself again or making its wounds worse.
A small shout of surprise was the only thing in the air, other than the waves and the thunder, as the little creature splashed down into the bucket.
With that out of the way, Logan tucked the jar into one of his larger pockets, not wanting to leave it there as it was garbage and broken glass was a hazard. He also didn’t want another creature getting stuck in the same predicament.
He stood up, grabbed his phone and then stooped to grab the handle of the bucket. The water inside of it was unsteady as it sloshed against the sides, but there was nothing he could really do to stop that. Making his way back over the unsteady ground of the beach, Logan had come to the conclusion that mermaids were apparently real.
A part of him wondered if all of them were the size of this one, or different species came in different sizes.
Perhaps that was a question for another time. Though, his gaze did drift down to the bucket in question for a moment. Inside, the little mer was huddled down into the side of the bucket at the very bottom of it. Possibly for stability, and possibly from that residue fear of Logan himself.
Either way, he needed to do something.
Logan was sure the mer would realize soon enough that he honestly meant no harm. If it truly was sentient—which Logan suspected it was—then they would most likely eventually be able to reach some sort of mutual understanding.