Stranded: A Lovestruck Merman's Tale (BL)

Geale gasped at the servings of raw seafood that Lila placed on their table. A platter was filled with colorful slices of fish meat. Another had opened oysters arranged on large chunks of ice.

It was followed by a bowl of small, mostly live shrimps and a bowl of seaweed and sea grapes. Lila served a plate of chopped wriggling baby octopus tentacles last.

Marnthe watched Geale's doe eyes excitedly take in all the food on the table and smiled. It reminded him of the first time he visited Calista's restaurant many years ago.

"They serve merfolk food here?" Geale asked after Lila left the table.

"No, these are all human food."

"They eat merfolk food?! I thought they only ate land produce kissed by fire."

"Yes, most of the food they eat are cooked but some of them also eat raw seafood like we do. Most of the locals here, for example, appreciate raw fish. They just season the flesh with land spices, since they don't have the same immunities we inherited from sirens."

"I guess our upper body and legs on land aren't the only things we have in common with humans."

"We have a lot of things in common with humans than you think. They are technically our ancestors after all."

The first merfolk were said to have been born from the union of sirens and humans a long time ago. Frightened humans who survived near bodies of water and didn't know better, offered some of their people to the entities they considered divine.

Some of them were fortunately rescued by sirens who patrolled the ocean and maintained the balance of life underwater.

Most of the survivors chose to serve the sirens in exchange for their new lives. They were given a place to live in the haven of sirens and acted as conduits, spreading warnings against abusing the kindness of the sea in human villages.

Many of them eventually became companions of sirens, giving birth to a new entity: merfolk. Born with a fish tail, working gills and weak lungs, merfolk infants were mostly left in the care of sirens.

Their human parent taught them about land once their tails first morphed into legs. The setup continued until the island haven was sieged by humans expanding their land territory.

"We're still not barbaric and greedy," Geale insisted.

Marnthe could only look at him. The growth of human civilization caused a lot of harm to nature where the ancient entities lived.

They eventually lost their respect to the guardians they once feared and worshipped. They weren't just throwing away the precious lives of a few for the benefit of many.

They were painting the earth red for their personal greed.

"Go on. Eat up."

Geale happily grabbed a slice of tuna and plopped it inside his mouth. He nodded, impressed that it tasted slightly similar to what he was used to eating. "It's fresh."

"That's why I eat here often. They're also okay with preparing the food the way I like it: without the soy sauce, wasabi, lemon, or vinegar," Marnthe said before picking up a slice of raw mackerel, and dropping it inside his mouth.

"Humans eat this with that many things?!"

Marnthe nodded and looked at Geale. He bit his lip from laughing at the sight of a slow-moving octopus tentacle grabbing Geale's upper lip.

"Do you need help with that?"

Geale effortlessly slipped the tentacle into his mouth with his tongue. He threw in a live shrimp and casually chewed his food. "I'm good."

"Eat your greens too."

Geale grinned. He then picked up a branch of seagrape and plopped it inside his mouth.

***

Geale was slurping the last oyster when Lila picked up the emptied platters and bowls.

"You and Marnthe have similar tastes in food," she remarked, noticing how delighted Geale was at the bland preparation of the raw seafood.

"Creatures should be eaten fresh."

"He means he likes the taste of fresh, raw seafood," Marnthe interjected. "Thank you again for the delicious food."

"Oh you're not done yet. Calista's making a dessert for you." Lila glanced at the counter behind her and spotted the old woman with a tray of dessert in her hand.

"Here she is now. Let me give you some room for it." She gathered all the plates and made her way back to the kitchen.

"Can you still eat?" Marnthe whispered to Geale.

"I hope you made room for dessert," Calista said as she approached them, before Geale could respond. She placed a glass bowl with scoops of white ice cream, topped with toasted shredded coconut.

"Calista!" Marnthe glanced at the list of the day's menu above the counter. The dessert should be bread pudding. "You made this just now?"

"I was putting that ice cream machine Martina gave me to good use," she defended. "Go on, taste it!"

"Thank you, Calista." Marnthe picked up one of the spoons that came with the bowl, knowing that Geale was carefully observing how he was going to eat it.

He ate a spoonful. "This is delicious!"

Geale repeated what Marnthe had done and gasped as a refreshing, lightly sweet taste melted in his mouth. "Amazing! I don't think I've ever tasted something like this before."

Marnthe smiled, glad that Geale's first experience of eating ice cream went well.

"Oh, you're both too kind! I'm glad you liked it. I'm really happy to see you both here. I was so worried when the boys told me they didn't see you."

"I'm sorry. He came along and well…"

"And I'm glad Gillie came! You brought him here too. I'm sure your family is happy to see you with someone now.

"About that, Geale isn't-"

"Please take a seat, Callie," Geale said, offering her an empty chair that he snatched from a nearby table.

"Callie?!" Marnthe exclaimed.

"You gave me a nickname! And a hip one too. I like it. I'll tell everyone to call me that starting today," the old woman said as she sat down between them.

"Marnie said he's a regular here," Geale began, redirecting the conversation.

"Yes! He even orders delivery here when he can't drop by to eat.

He always orders the sashimi, the seaweed and seagrape salad, extremely bare dancing shrimp salad, and chopped baby octopus. He sometimes orders chili crab, buttered lobsters, and cheesy baked mussels but he eats raw seafood more.

He's just like his grandmother. Come to think of it, his grandfather brought his grandmother here when they started dating! They got married a year later."

Geale curiously eyed Marnthe. Grandfather?