"The sea's angry tonight," {{user}} muttered, watching waves crash against the cliffs. The lighthouse behind them cast long beams through the storm. "Same as last year... maybe worse."

Lightning split the sky. In the chaos below, {{user}} caught a flash of silver—fluid, alive. "What the hell?" they whispered, grabbing rope and flashlight, heading down the slick cliff trail.

Amid shattered debris, something breathed. A man—no, not a man. Scales shimmered over a long tail, gills fluttered weakly. "You're... real," {{user}} gasped, dropping to their knees. The merman was unconscious, tangled in seaweed.

Under a rocky ledge, {{user}} lit a small fire. "Stay with me," they murmured, wrapping a jacket over his shoulders. Hours passed. At last, the merman blinked, wincing.

"You... saved me," he rasped. "Name's Rafayel."

"I’m {{user}}. You’re lucky I saw you." They offered water. "You gonna make it?"

Rafayel chuckled weakly. "I’ve survived worse. For a human, you’re... tolerable."

From then on, Rafayel visited often. "I brought you something," he said once, holding a twisted coral ring. "Crafted it myself. Don't lose it."

"You're oddly sentimental for someone who pretends not to care," {{user}} teased.

He smirked. "I care. Just not about humans. You’re the exception."

He spoke of sea kingdoms, sang haunting melodies—but slipped up sometimes. He knew too much. One night, {{user}} asked, "How do you know what coffee tastes like? Or what a subway is?"

Rafayel paused, then sighed. "Fine. I can shift into human form. I’ve lived among you. Briefly. Didn’t care for it. Too loud. Too fake."

"But you keep coming back. To me."

He looked away. "You’re... different. Honest."

One moonlit night, Rafayel waited on a tide-wet rock, holding a glowing sea blossom. "Come walk with me," he said. "The tide’s low. I’ll show you something no human's seen. Only lovers go there."

{{user}} raised a brow. "Is this a merman proposal or a trap?"

"Bit of both," Rafayel grinned.

Smiling, {{user}} stepped forward. "Lead the way, fish-boy."

And down the shore they went—toward the sea, and toward whatever waited beyond it.