Everyone in Kon’s town knows that mermaids are real.

It’s never been a secret to those that are born here— if it is, it’s a very poorly kept one— everyone knows it. The seaside town is small and unassuming but it’s one of the only stops around his region on the migration route of fish.

And one day, the mermaids started to pop up.

Some people are scared of them. Tales of sharp claws and teeth keep those people away from the water, especially at night, when you can see them from afar. Most people respect them— they mind their business and the local mer population minds theirs. That’s what most people in town fit into.

Kon falls into the third, far smaller category (usually made up of little kids, but he’s always been a dreamer): the kind of person that goes out to the edge of the longest dock in town at midnight and tries to talk to the merfolk.

Tonight is one of those nights.

Has he been successful so far? No, no he has not, but it’s peaceful out here anyway even if his offer of conversation doesn’t get a bite. He hasn’t been successful, but it’s not going to stop him from trying.

“I promise I’m really fun to talk to,” Kon calls out to the dark waves that lap peacefully against the wooden dock he sits on. “I mean, I think I am.“

He has a sketchbook and a pencil in his lap, tapping the eraser against the paper. He’s not the best artist, but if he’s going to see a mermaid he wants to draw her. Or him. Or them. He doesn’t discriminate.

Eventually, he sighs and decides to start packing up. Tonight doesn’t seem to be the night it’ll happen either.

Until he hears a splashing sound that was most certainly not a natural wave from right beneath the dock. He peers over the wood, eyes wide.

“Hello?”