Stranded: A Lovestruck Merman's Tale (BL)

Marnthe wasn't kidding when he warned Geale about the crowd. There were so many people in the market place - the location where Marnthe explained humans traded goods with metal pieces and paper strips called "money."

The place was also hot and humid. Geale had only known sweat during his time in the Crescent Moon Festival, and the amount of liquid sliding down his back was nothing like what he had previously experienced.

He was suddenly thankful that Marnthe tied his hair up for their little trip.

Geale's doe eyes scanned the shops and signs that flanked the road they walked on. He took in every hint of color and symbol, quickly determining the languages used by the humans around them.

He picked up the soft and loud mutterings in the crowd, catching the grammar and vocabulary he would need to converse with people if necessary.

It was a skill merfolk learned from elves and sirens growing up. It was used by merfolk who ventured out into the universe to gather knowledge, support the management of oceans, or simply find their eternal home.

"...they went to this pub and..."

"...can't believe he did that to..."

"...not my color, I think...

"...happy to see you!"

"...Marnthe?"

Geale snapped his head toward the direction of the sound of Marnthe's name. He spotted two women turning away from them at a distance.

"...friend of his..."

"...walking arm in arm?!"

The women giggled.

Geale narrowed his eyes, his arm instinctively tugging at Marnthe's.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Marnthe asked, pausing in his tracks and eyeing the younger man.

Geale stiffly turned to look at him. "Nothing. Something interesting just caught my eye."

Marnthe curiously looked at the direction he was facing and found pairs of colorful, translucent G-strings for men dangling in front of a shop. His sun-kissed cheeks turned scarlet. "Those are uh...underwear."

"Underwear?" Geale followed Marnthe's gaze and found the G-strings. "Oh! Like my briefs but smaller...tighter..." He smiled at Marnthe. "Will I wear those too?"

Marnthe's eyes went wide as his mind conjured a very detailed image of Geale standing in front of him with nothing but a tight, grey, translucent G-string.

"No," he choked. "Absolutely not. This way," he said, tightly twining his fingers with Geale's and leading the younger man far away from the shop.

***

Geale noticed more curious glances thrown their way as they walked into stores together, their hands still intertwined as Marnthe casually led him to racks of garments on display.

At first he thought it was because they looked different with their towering height. His deep brown hair also turned a shade of fiery red in the glint of the sunlight.

Then there were their androgenous features that appeared both delicate and crude, not quite adhering to common definitions of human masculinity.

But Geale realized that people weren't simply intrigued by their looks. Their gazes were more directed at Geale and Marnthe's intertwined hands than their faces.

Most of them even eyed their hands first before scanning them from head to toe.

Geale glanced at Marnthe who was busy rummaging through the rack of clothes. He didn't seem to notice the stares directed at them.

Or was he used to it?

"Do people look at you when you buy clothes?" Geale finally asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do they look at you?"

"People look at each other all the time. Even merfolk look at each other when they pass by one another."

"But they don't look at other merfolk's hands."

Marnthe glanced at him. "Do you feel uncomfortable right now?"

"No. I don't think so. I'm more curious than uncomfortable."

"But you feel like you're being stared at by people."

"You don't?"

Marnthe looked away in thought. "I guess I just got used to it. Humans are curious creatures too. They tend to stare at things that are different from the ordinary.

People stared at me a lot when I first arrived on the island too. It eventually subsided over time.

So if you do feel people looking at you, it's probably just out of curiosity. They'll stop once they get used to your presence."

Geale resignedly nodded. "I guess they're not used to seeing people holding hands while they walked."

Marnthe froze. Of course! How could he be that dense?! He enjoyed having Geale's company so much that he forgot how holding hands between men could be unsightly to some humans on the island!

He quickly let Geale's hand go and used it to flip through the clothes on a rack. "Right, um...let's look at some shirts you can wear. Do you have any favorite color? Anything you prefer to wear?"

Geale smiled. "I'll wear anything you pick for me."

Even a G-string? Marnthe quickly shook his head to get rid of the nasty thought. They would need to buy underwear though. Geale couldn't just share his stash.

"Try these on," he said, handing Geale four shirts that he thought might look good at the younger man.

"Try them?"

"Put them on," Marnthe clarified. "There's a changing room right there," he said, pointing at a changing room area several steps away from them. "You can wear the clothes in there and see how it looks on you. If they look good, we'll buy them."

Geale looked at the shirts in his hand. "All of them?"

"Yes, all of them." Marnthe then led Geale to a cubicle in the changing area. "Go inside and try them on."

Geale walked inside and Marnthe shut the door behind him. "Wait! You're not helping me?"

"You need to know how to dress up on your own," Marnthe said, leaning against the door and scanning the store for more clothes that Geale should try on.

He spotted pants in a corner and figured they should look at a few pairs of jeans.

"Are you done?" Marnthe asked after the sound of shuffling cloth from behind the door stopped.

"Yes."

Marnthe opened the door and found Geale standing awkwardly in front of the mirror. His eyes went wide as he realized what the younger man had done.

"Isn't this too many?" Geale asked, looking innocently at Marnthe. He was wearing all four shirts layered on top of each other.

"Sir?" a frowning shop attendant said, approaching them.

"We're not shoplifting! We'll pay for them!" Marnthe quickly told them. "My friend just uh...Give me a sec."

He stepped into the cubicle, shut the door behind him, and released a frustrated sigh. "Take it off!"

"What?"

"Take the clothes off!"

Geale pushed his pants down.

"No! Not that, the shirts! Take the shirts off!"

Geale took all the shirts off, exposing his torso.

Marnthe winced.

Clothes shopping would take a while.