Finn was warm, the bed he was lying in was comfortable. He could hear the sounds of the ocean outside. The storm had passed; they were all still alive, and he was still on a pirate ship. This was his reality and his dreams were now stormy, smoky nightmares.

He didn’t want to get out of bed; he was warm and his body felt like it weighed as much as the ship. After, the emotional rollercoasters he’d been on rest sounded amazing. At the same time, he didn’t enjoy sleeping all day, every day.  

Someone made the decision to lie in longer for him because there was a large pirate blocking the way out of bed. He could try to climb over said pirate and not care about the off chance of waking him but Xan had taken care of him yesterday.

Xan was nothing like what he’d expected. He’d been expecting a lot of vile things from the pirate but he’d been met with none of it. Xan seemed perfectly nice and while Finn was wary of kindness Xan was different. He was genuine in a way that made Finn feel like he was home.

He realized he was trusting Xan more than he probably should, considering the circumstances of their partnership but there wasn’t much else he could do.

Xan had been kind and caring. He’d been attentive to Finn if a bit brash at first but their initial meeting had been rocky on both sides.

It also comforted him, in an odd way, knowing that Xan was supernatural. He’d been open about identifying himself. It wasn’t a secret and with the bestiaries on the shelf Finn was sure some of them contained plenty of research on merkind.

Xan had also mentioned that about half of the ship was also varying types of supernaturals intermixed with humans. Places where humans and supernaturals lived, worked, and mingled together was a place Finn longed to return. That would be a place most like home and place he might be safe.

He couldn’t sleep anymore and Finn had thought about the bestiaries which now had him burning with curiosity. He’d heard tales of merpeople growing up but no one he knew had ever met one. The fairytales they had spun him as a child were always fantastic. They always sounded so different from the supernaturals he grew up with. Some stories were scary, the older tales of siren songs and vicious maneaters while the newer ones were grand and romantic. How a race had moved so drastically from feared to romanticized brought out Finn’s curiosity even more.

It was early, too early for most of the crew to be awake yet so he really didn’t want to wake Xan. He craned his head up and saw the book he’d been reading before. It looked like it was within an arm’s reach.    

Finn slowly snaked his way up into a sitting position. He didn’t want to jostle the bed too much. He went at a snail’s pace, his muscles burning when he had to ease through uncomfortable positions. His arms were trembling trying to pull himself further up slowly.

He froze a few times, rigidly stilling his whole body, hardly daring to breathe when he thought he might have stirred Xan before continuing his slow mission for the book. The worst part was when he got the book. It was thick and heavy. He had to slowly leaver the book up and into his lap with one hand. His arms had trembled at trying to ease him up but now they were shaking trying to ease the book into his lap.

By some grace he succeeded and slip into a comfortable and cozy position to read. The blue torch was low. It’s magic running out, but that was fine. It was low enough not to be abrasive while Xan continued to sleep and it was bright enough for Finn to read comfortably.

He finished the section he’d been reading on Sirens the day before. It addressed several of the questions him’d asked Xan the night before in the latter part of the reading. He couldn’t help but think Xan might have even answered them better than the book was.

He turned to the next chapter excited. It was all about merpeople. In fact, it looked like merpeople was the last section of the book entirely and it was quite thick.

It was a broad overview of merhistory. The first part was indeed bloody and gruesome. The fairytales about vicious maneaters hadn’t been very wrong. But the fairytales had given little of a time frame. The gory details had taken place several centuries ago until their society started rapidly changing and they passed new laws. They had wanted to integrate with land dwellers and having a murderous reputation was no way to form allies.

They were very quick and efficient it seemed at changing their ways and adapting to the customs of those who lived on land. They were naturals.

It fascinated Finn. Even the nastier bits had him captivated. Supernaturals were always amazing to Finn, though he’d always been a plain human. It wouldn’t take much to impress a soft, squishy, vulnerable little human. 

He was just moving into the times of peace, allies and strengthening of mersociety when he felt stirring next to him. Natural light was peeking into the room. The clouds were lightening in the sky.

Xan stretched before curling a little closer to Finn and his breathing softened again. Finn was just as content to keep reading in silent company and shared warmth.