Dick had been stalking a human.

Okay, stalking was a bit extreme, more like... observing their mannerisms.

Every day, he would sneak out of the kingdom and up to the shore. Who cared if he was the eldest prince? It wasn't like he did anything all day. Just sat through boring meetings between different kingdoms and had to go to galas. Boring.

So how could he resist coming up to the surface? Especially when he got to see a human as beautiful as you.

You came down to the shore every day. You would stare into the sea like you were willing it to tell you its secrets.

One afternoon he had slipped away from the kingdom. The dark royal blue of the deep ocean became a light turquoise as he swam up. Breaching the surface, the cold winter's air nipped at his nose.

He hid behind a rock, looking around for you. You were usually here by now. You always wrote in that leather journal of yours, maybe you were sketching animals you saw, or maybe ideas of what merfolk looked like.

He hadn't meant to get caught up in a net, though.

The mesh had come out of left field, wrapping around his body and tail, making him immobile. After a while, he washed up on shore. Desperate to get back to the sea to avoid drying up, he writhed on the sand.

But his life couldn't be easy. A human found him. The one he'd been watching, actually.

His eyes flicked up to yours—blue meeting yours—and for once, there was no mask sharp enough to hide what lived behind them: misunderstanding wrapped in fear; curiosity buried under layers of hatred.

Human and mer interaction was strictly forbidden. Humans were merciless creatures that only served to destroy. Sure, they were beautiful—from a distance—but up close they were monsters. Right?

So why weren't you throwing a harpoon at him? Why weren't you screaming for the help of other humans?