CWs/TWs: mentioned/referenced transphobia

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

"Look, Martyn's back," Grian said, looking up from his map. He paused. "He brought home a girl?"

"Boy," Martyn corrected, and Grian nodded. "He's in need of a haircut, so he asked me to cut his hair for him."

Cleo nodded suspiciously. "And how did you two meet?"

Martyn glanced at the former siren, who he realised he didn't know the name of, and smiled a bit. "We crossed paths while I was out hunting," he said. "And he found me again while I was looking for my blade at the beach."

"Cleo!" Bdubs swatted at his wife. "These two are soaked and probably freezing! They need towels."

Cleo glared over her shoulder at him. "Then get them some." Bdubs gulped and nodded, scurrying off to fetch some towels, whilst Cleo turned back to Martyn and the siren. "What's your name, sweetie?" she asked, her demeanor entirely different now.

"S-scott," he stuttered, clearly nervous. "Are you going to kill me?"

Martyn's eyes widened and Cleo gave Scott a confused look.

"No, of course not," she said. "Why would I do that?" She chuckled and held out her hand. "Come on, I'll get you some proper clothes and a bath. Martyn, you can bathe and change yourself."

Martyn sighed. "Thanks, Cleo."

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

"You can go ahead and take those off," Cleo said as she finished filling the tub with hot water. "I'll go grab you some of clothes while you get into the bath."

Scott nodded hesitantly and waited until Cleo left to get out of the clothes Martyn gave him, then stared at the tub in confusion. He slowly climbed into it, shocked at first at how warm it was, then relaxed as it reminded him of how hot the water was when he would hang out with Owen near the volcanoes. But... what was he supposed to do with it? Just sit in it? He already spent all his time in the water. Did humans like sitting in water? The way Cleo talked about it, it sounded like a normal thing humans did. Did they do it for fun?

"I got you some of Jimmy's clothes since he's really skinny," Cleo said, coming back with folded fabric in her hands. "But they might be long since he's pretty tall. I'll leave these with you. Take your time in the bath. I'll wait for you outside."

Scott nodded and settled further into the water when she left. He really didn't know what he was supposed to do, but this was nice. It felt like he was swimming, except he was still and not moving. Maybe he could see why humans did this. Unfortunately, though, he had to get out after a while because the water got too cold. He was a siren, not a cod. He couldn't handle cold water.

Cleo was right about the clothes. They were long, but they were also pretty comfy. They almost seemed to make his chest disappear, too, which was a huge bonus. He walked out and Cleo led him to the other humans, who were all sitting at a table in another room and laughing.

"Come on, it isn't that funny," Martyn said, blushing out of embarrassment. His hair was wet so Scott figured he sat in a bowl of water, too.

"Oh, it's hilarious," Grian said proudly with a smirk, waving a dismissive hand. "You and Timmy are too easy to poke fun at."

Martyn rolled his eyes, then caught sight of Scott and donned a goofy smile. "Hey," he said, and Scott waved with a small smile. "You ready for that haircut?"

Scott's eyes lit up and he smiled the brightest he had in a long time as he nodded eagerly.

"Come, sit." Martyn stood and pat the chair so Scott would sit in it. "I'll go grab the shears."

Scott nodded.

"Ha! Beat you again, sucker!" Grian laughed, slamming a small piece of wood down on what looked like a checkered plate. "Joel, you suck."

Joel's face turned red. "You've played longer than me, you're older!"

"Actually, you are technically older," Grian said, "but we are twins. So, ha."

Joel rolled his eyes. "I hate you."

"Love you, too, doofus." Grian began to grab all of his little wood pieces as Joel did the same, then the former glanced at Scott. "Do you play Checkers?"

Scott tilted his head. "Che- Check what?"

"Checkers," Grian repeated. "It's a board game."

Scott blinked. "Why would I play a game that's boring?" he asked, and Joel burst out in laughter. "What did I say?"

Grian giggled. "No, no, a board game," he pointed to the checkered plate, "not a boring game." He moved the plate- no, the board so it was in between him and Scott. "It's really easy once you get the hang of it." Scott watched as he arranged the wooden circles on the board. "Move that piece here," Grian said, and Scott obeyed. "Then I'll move this here, and you can move that there." He spent a while teaching Scott how to play until Martyn came back with the shears and Cleo let Scott read one of her old story books.

"The Desert and The Red King?" Scott read the title aloud.

Grian sighed, resting his chin in his palm. "I love that book," he said. "It's so romantic; two people stranded together in the desert find out they're in love-"

"And then they go to war with the King," Joel interrupted, "and they have to kill each other."

Grian huffed. "Well, one of them sacrifices himself for his lover," he pouted. "That's romantic."

"Come on, you've spoiled the whole thing for him," Martyn teased, brushing Scott's hair. "Now he won't even need to read it."

"No," Scott said, staring at the book. "I want to read it."

Grian blinked, then laughed. "You'll love it," he said, and Scott smiled.

"How short do you want your hair to be?" Martyn asked, startling Scott by leaning over his shoulder.

Scott's face turned red and he looked around as a way to hide how flustered he was. "Uh- Um-" He looked at Grian and noticed how he had really fluffy hair that was a bit longer and kept in a tiny little ponytail on his neck. "Like his."

Martyn nodded. "Your wish is my command," he said with a smile and a short bow.

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

"Et, voilà!" Martyn put his hands on his hips as he finished cutting Scott's hair, Grian bringing over a mirror for Scott to look at. "What do you think?"

Scott stared at himself for a moment and turned his head side-to-side, combing his hair with his fingers. "I..." He sniffled and his eyes began to water. "I..."

Martyn gasped. "Oh my god, you hate it, don't you?" He groaned and ran his hands down his face. "Dammit, I'm such a-"

"No," Scott said quietly, then sobbed. "I love it." He stood up to throw his arms around Martyn, continuing to cry. "Thank you, thank you so much."

Martyn laughed a bit. "It's my pleasure, Scott," he said, which only made him cry harder. "Aw, don't cry, come on..."

"Can't help it," Scott mumbled as he pulled away, wiping away tears. "It really means a lot, you know. Father would've never let me..." He trailed off, staring off into space as he seemed to come to a terrifying realisation. "I can't go back," he murmured, worrying Martyn and confusing the others. Scott stumbled backward and more tears filled his eyes as he looked up at Martyn. "I can't go back now," he repeated softly, beginning to cry again.

Martyn looked at Grian, who was giving him a look that said, "What the hell?", and laughed nervously before taking Scott's hand to pull him aside.

"Martyn, I can't go back," Scott sobbed, grabbing Martyn's arms. "I can't- He'll kill me!"

"Who?" Martyn asked, getting more and more worried by the second.

Scott let out another quiet cry before mumbled, "My father." He took a shaky breath. "I wasn't allowed to have my hair cut, and now that it's cut, he'll never-" He hiccuped. "-he'll never forgive me."

Martyn pursed his lips as he thought for a moment whaf he could do to help the situation. "You can stay with us," he said finally. "Everybody seems to like you, so I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem."

"I don't know," Scott sighed, then he sniffled, wrapping his arms around himself. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be, I promise." Martyn lightly rubbed Scott's arm, using his other hand to move Scott's chin to face him. "Is that okay?"

Scott's eyes met Martyn's and he blushed a bit, nodding slightly. "I'm just worried about them finding out I'm a siren," he murmured, then he and Martyn jumped when they heard a barrel fall nearby.

"What was that?" Cleo asked faintly, too far away to hear clearly.

"Uh- I got it!" Grian shouted, then poked his head around the corner to smile at the boys. "Sorry, I was just, uh... looking for my..." He looked around for a second and picked up a crab claw off the deck. "Crab claw! Yep, nothing suspicious here." He laughed a bit, then turned on his heel to walk away.

Martyn blinked. "You're... not going to clean up the mess?"

Grian froze, then laughed again and turned back around, an unusually bright smile on his face. "Right, right, of course." He began to clean up, then Martyn turned back to Scott.

"No one will find out," he whispered. "Just relax, okay? I'll make sure you're safe."

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

Grian narrowed his eyes, mopping the deck, as he watched Scott and Martyn laugh whilst drawing silly things on maps - Grian's maps. Grian had (purposely) overheard their conversation earlier about Scott being unable to go home because of his father... and about him being a siren. He didn't know what to think. He knew Scott seemed to be a good person, but he didn't know how to feel about Scott hiding the fact that he was a siren from them. What was the point of telling Martyn but nobody else?

Grian had to know.

"Hey, Scott," Grian said, setting the mop down and walking down the steps to the level they were at. Scott looked slightly nervous. Good. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Scott looked at Martyn, who smiled and nodded, then took a deep breath and stood up from his seat. "Sure," he said shakily, then followed Grian over to the bow of the ship. "W-what did you want to-"

"I know what you are," Grian said lowly and quietly, facing away from Scott.

Scott froze. "You- you do?"

"I do," Grian answered, looking back at Scott over his shoulder. "I know you're a siren."