from the surface to the sea ~ a stydia mermaid au

stowaway

Stiles blinked once. Twice. Then he picked his shocked jaw up from the sand and quickly shrugged off his jacket. He rushed to the girl's side and threw the piece of outerwear over her body.

"Are you okay?"

The girl whimpered in response, and even with his large jacket covering her, Stiles could still tell that she was shivering. He slowly placed his hands on where he guessed was her lower back, over his coat, and wrapped it around her body, giving her time to pull away. She didn't. He shifted to her side and gripped her waist, gently pulling her up into a sitting position.

Halfway through the girl seemed to catch on to what he was doing and tried to push herself up, but she fumbled and ended up falling backwards into Stiles, the thick material of his jacket trapped between their bodies.

Stiles gulped and pushed the material over the girl's bare shoulders. He held the sleeves out for her.

"You want to put this on yourself or...?"

The girl looked at him over her shoulder, and something told Stiles she would take him up on the 'or' part of his question. He swallowed again and proceeded to help her into his coat, forcing himself to keep looking at her damp reddish-brown hair.

------

They huddled together under the relative shelter of the pier until the wind and rain became less menacing.

He was drenched, wrinkly and freezing by the time they got to his house. Even though the rain had subsided, it was not surprising that they did not run into any townsfolk along the way. The first reason was that Stiles' house was quite close to the beach thus they didn't have to go through the populated town center, and the second was that this was the worst storm the small town had experienced in a few years, and it was an unexpected one at that. Everyone had drawn their blinds and retreated into their homes. Those who weren't at home would be waiting it out at their workplaces.

Like his dad. Hopefully he was holed up in the station and had not been on patrol when the storm hit.

The lack of human traffic meant Stiles had been able to lead the mysterious girl to his house without raising suspicions or getting questioned. Beacon Villa was a small town. Word spread quickly and easily.

He tugged at the girl's elbow, telling her to "c'mon" while she eyed his neighbour's small pool. Was she seriously thinking of going swimming in this weather?

"C'mon," he tried again. "We need to get inside. The rain could get worse."

He finally managed to pull her inside and once the door was shut he turned up the heat. For a few moments, they crouched before the heater, Stiles trying to warm himself up, the girl watching intently.

Stiles looked up to see a pair of bright green eyes fixed on him. The girl dropped her head, having been caught staring, and turned away. That lead to her eyes darting all over the living room, taking in every piece of furniture, every bit of ornament.

And then it was Stiles' turn to study her.

Maybe it was just her thing, to take in every detail each time she entered someone's living space. Perhaps she was interested in interior design, and liked to see how people furnished their homes. But there was something else glinting in her eyes. Something like...wonder. Fascination.

Like she was seeing everything for the first time.

It was probably ten minutes later when one of them moved. His clothes were still damp, but Stiles felt sufficiently thawed, so he tapped the girl on the shoulder, and stood up, gesturing towards the kitchen.