Joshua sat on the sandy shore, the midnight sky reflected in his eyes like scattered diamonds across a velvet canvas. His pencil moved with quiet precision, each stroke deliberate as he sketched, his nimble fingers shaping lines into something more—something alive. He had always found solace here, leaning against the golden dunes, capturing the world around him in graphite. But tonight, his mind wasn’t on the landscape.

Tonight, his thoughts were tethered to the sea.

The ocean stretched before him, an endless abyss of shimmering blue, its gentle waves whispering secrets to the shore. He stared out at it, waiting. Expecting. Hoping. Even if they had a tendency to be late, he knew they would come. They always did. Was it strange, this connection—a bond between a human and a mer? Perhaps. Some would call it unnatural, impossible even. But Joshua didn’t care. The townsfolk didn’t have to know. This was theirs, a secret carved into the tides, hidden beneath the moonlit waves. And then—movement. A ripple in the water. A familiar shape breaking the surface. Joshua’s breath caught for just a moment before a slow, knowing smile stretched across his lips.

"There you are. Took you long enough." His voice was teasing, but his heart betrayed him, thrumming wildly in his chest as he watched them approach. That same face—the one that brightened his world more than any star above. The one that made his pulse quicken in a way no human ever could.