【R76】Tide wave

Reyes said he was going to pay the bill and told Morrison to wait for him at the door.

So, the mermaid, stuffed with macaroni and desserts, sat on the wooden rocking chair outside the restaurant, rocking back and forth curiously.

On land, everything is brand new.

The moon and stars that have shone for thousands of years hang above Morrison's head. There is no longer a deep blue sea between them, and the bright light seems to be within reach.The lush forest flows on the hillside like dark green waves.The night wind blows through the dense branches, making a long-lasting rustling sound, which can be heard clearly even amidst the noise of the crowd.

Reyes let out a chuckle when he stepped out the gate and saw his merman friend staring fascinatedly into the distance.The sound woke Morrison up, and he shivered, a look of embarrassment creeping up his cheeks.Reyes turned a blind eye to this, and stretched out his hand to pull Morrison up from the rickety seat, but the mermaid's clumsy feet were obviously beyond human expectations—the shaking wooden sleeper hit Morrison's ankle almost at the same time, There was a muffled sound of the body being hit by a heavy object.Reyes raised his eyebrows, and his ankle ached sympathetically.

The white-haired man's face was twisted into a ball, and the attack instinct of deep-sea creatures in his body made him open his mouth wide, showing his white canine teeth because of the pain.Like all threatened critters.

Reyes squeezed the opponent's hand and guided him safely out of the gap in the rocking chair.He knelt down and checked the mermaid's injuries. After finding that the skin was only reddened and not bruised, the man raised his head and said, "Be careful, my friend. The human body is very fragile."

"I know." Even after Morrison escaped, he subconsciously glanced at the rocking chair that was still shaking.

Reyes didn't miss his little touch: "Need a kick?"

Morrison stared at him, his round eyes filled with disbelief: "How can you be more immature than a little fish fry?"

"I thought this would make you happier." The human stood up and put his arms around the white-haired mermaid's shoulders, leading him down the steps step by step.

"But I won't be affected by such trivial things." Morrison muttered in his mouth.

Although it was night, the small town shrouded in the warm atmosphere of the carnival had not yet fallen asleep.Orange lanterns are placed all over the road, looking from a distance like winding pathways to the sky.Morrison had thought that Reyes would take him there, but unexpectedly, the other party led him into the woods in the opposite direction.

There are already many people camping in the woodland, with countless animal skin tents and clumps of bonfires.People held large wine glasses and fragrant cotton candy in their hands, all kinds of cut meat screamed inaudibly in the charcoal fire, skirts fluttered under the light of the fire, and the blonde hair of many beautiful girls was dyed It was reddish-orange, and there were lovely shadows cast by two eyelashes under their eyes.

Reyes chose a place away from the crowd.

Before he came to pick up the mermaid, he had already set up tents and campfires here.The drops of water on the hide are the evidence. "This used to be a sawmill." He explained while dusting off the water with his hands, "but no one has come here these years." Indeed, one after another, the bare tree stumps made the land look lonely and desolate, There still seemed to be floating debris from the wood in the air, making the mermaid's nose itchy.Morrison squatted down, he pressed the wet ground, and when he lifted it up, a star-shaped pit was left on the ground, and his hands were covered with slippery cold moss, which looked black at night, The tactile sensation is very familiar to mermaids, it feels like stroking a cold baby manta ray, the hard shell of an old sea turtle, or... the arms and legs of an octopus.

"Oh, don't squat on the ground, come here." Reyes' voice floated into Morrison's ears through the hide.Morrison clapped his hands, wiped the moss on his trouser legs, and walked towards the tent.He crossed his legs like a human, and sat side by side on the blanket with Reyes, knee to knee, thigh to thigh. "Tent," Morrison said, "it's like a soft version of an underwater cave, but it doesn't look very safe."

"As long as you don't sing those storm-calling songs, it's still pretty strong."

It's singing again.

The mermaid felt helpless. Humans seemed to believe that creatures with fish tails must have a heavenly voice. To be honest, he didn't know the reason.Morrison had discussed this matter with Reyes, and of course he wouldn't mind giving humans another course on distinguishing between mermaids and sirens.But as soon as the words came to his lips, an invisible sense of disobedience blocked his mouth like a sticky mass of seaweed.

The mermaid doesn't recall explaining to Reyes the connection between storms and singing.

He twisted his fingers together unconsciously, not realizing that Reyes was pulling out what appeared to be a musical instrument from behind him.Morrison only noticed when the first string cut through the air.Dark human fingers twirled the light-colored thin wire, making a melodious sound like drizzle falling into the sea, and the soft tune slowly spread around, making the surroundings of the sawmill even more serene.

The soothing tone deftly disassembled Morrison's uneasiness just now, divided it into almost invisible small fragments, and pushed them out of his mind.The mermaid narrowed his eyes, looking directly at the bonfire made his eye sockets burn, and he had the urge to cry.

"I was moved and cried? I didn't expect you to be so sensitive."

The way Reyes teased him with his throat squeezed on purpose was really disgusting. "No." Morrison wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, round physiological tears warmed a small piece of skin, "it's you, what are you trying to do?" He pointed at the man.

"Camping. Humans like being close to nature. You don't have experience living in a woodland, do you?" Reyes asked knowingly, "Or do you want to dance around a campfire like everyone else? This activity may be a bit dangerous for you. "

Morrison thought of the ball he had attended when he was in the sea, and imagined dancing with human legs.Just the clumsy assumption amused him: "Forget it, that's fine."

"Not as rowdy as young people?"

Morrison made a nasal sound of approval.

Reyes shook his head while laughing, he didn't stop playing, and hummed a few passages from time to time.It was Morrison who hadn't heard the songs of the land, but this did not prevent the mermaid from learning to appreciate them.

The depths of the woodland were dark and exuded a mysterious atmosphere.The melodies played by the instruments covered him like a fog.Morrison quickly noticed that there were dots of yellow-green light flashing in the darkness. He faced this group of strange things, and they flashed and flickered in his sight like shooting stars with tails: "What is that?"

"Glowworms. Pirates used to put them in lanterns for light."

These twinkling little guys opened up the conversation, and Reyes said that the green gleam always reminded him of the eyes of wolves - he talked about the winter wolves he met in the mountains, how they broke through the defense of the sheepdogs Then he introduced pheasants with speckled tail feathers, black bears and white-tailed deer. Freshly steaming from the open encyclopedia.

"You were a hunter before you joined the army?"

"No. Hunting is just a hobby."

Morrison pointed to the musical instrument in the man's hand and asked, "Is this also a hobby?"

Reyes plucked the strings and ended the performance with an accent: "I told you, I come from a place full of music. So, this is not a hobby." The man's manicured beard Lifting up slightly, showing a charming smile, "I prefer to call it talent."

Morrison blurted out: "Megalomaniac." But another black shadow wandered silently in his heart.

Reyes didn't retort, he blinked, and another melodious piece of music streamed from his fingertips.

Compared with the usual night patrol, today's night is not slow at all.On the contrary, the woods, the music, and Reyes' soft voice seem to drag time forward.Morrison thought, the land and sea nights are really different.

※※※

When Morrison woke up, he had missed the best time to watch the sunrise.

The sun splashed its tropical fish-like golden sunlight on the surface of the tent, and the entire inner space was filled with a unique hot smell after baking.Morrison curled up in the sleeping bag, his eyelids were fighting, and the wrinkled light blue quilt turned into a safe bay in the blurred vision of the mermaid; his unfamiliar feet shrank unconsciously, and the hot soles of his feet stuck to his calf.When Morrison was still living in the deep ocean, he was not sensitive to temperature changes. It was not until the warmth that he had never experienced before began to permeate his entire legs that the mermaid was slightly awake.He rubbed his face on the pillow, dazedly thinking about how last night ended, a lock of damp silver hair sticking to his temple was loosened, but even if he racked his brains, he could only remember a paragraph of melodious piano sound.

Reyes was cooking something outside, and the smell made Morrison's stomach churn, and he got out of the tent with his hands and feet in an unattractive posture.

"You're more sleepy than I thought." Reyes handed him a cup of steaming dark brown liquid, with slices of bread and boiled shrimp and sea urchin stacked on a plate next to it. "Hot chocolate, be careful not to burn it." After the man instructed, he began to dismantle the camp and the bonfire. It seemed that he had already eaten.

The whistling sea breeze that often accompanies small seaside towns subsides near the woodland. Under the sun and the shadow of trees, the only thing that can be heard is the chirping of birds.Morrison dug out the soft meat in the middle of the sea urchin with a spoon. It was fresh as if it had just been fished out of the sea. Even if it is cooked food, it still retains the soul of the sea.

There is only one day, and to be precise, there is only half a day left before sunset. It is obviously impossible for the residents in the sea to visit the entire small human city.Fortunately, Reyes has already arranged the entire itinerary.

The shopkeepers turned over the closed signs, the bells rang as the gates opened and closed again and again, and the whole market gradually woke up amidst the lively shouting.

The two walked forward along the glass window, and Morrison's desire to bring some gifts to the little ones was strengthened by the dazzling array of goods, but he lacked the taste in choosing gifts—it wasn't that mermaids had bad aesthetics, but that he couldn't do it at all. Understand the true purpose of the strangely shaped human objects in front of you.

When Morrison was troubled, Reyes pointed to the window of a jewelry store and suggested, "How about this?"

So, in a pile of necklaces with complicated patterns, Morrison saw it.

Hanging from an extremely simple thin silver chain is an animal carved from white stone called "Rabbit": long ears, a snowball tail, and a pair of eyes inlaid with dark pink ore - the pair The eyes really complement Hana's pink fishtail.

Before Morrison nodded, Reyes opened the store door for the mermaid on his own initiative.

The main tone of the entire space is composed of unprocessed logs. The warm candlelight shines on the counter, which is full of scented wax, which makes people's noses itchy.Morrison rubbed his nose subconsciously.Behind the counter, the brown-skinned female shopkeeper with long black hair raised her head indifferently, then buried her head in the books spread out on the counter, and the turquoise tassel earrings fell softly onto the pages of the book.

Reyes quickly found the target he wanted: "And this." He proudly showed the mermaid what was in his hand: two shiny purple gemstones were formed by two dark silver metal hoops. Flat earrings. "How is it? I have a good eye."

Jack, you did mention Hana and Sombra to Reyes, but did you mention the color of their hair and scales?Memory shook his head in bewilderment.

"Why did you choose this color?" Morrison asked casually, but his hands were twisted together like old fishing nets.

Reyes was puzzled, he glanced at the female shopkeeper, and found that she didn't mean to look here at all, so he lowered his voice: "I took it with me. Of course, if it doesn't fit, you can change it to something else. Because the color is not the key You see," he changed the angle of the earrings, and the inside of the purple gemstone shone like a hundred stars, "there was a sailor who used to fish with his father in his hometown before joining the army. He said that octopuses I like shiny things, I think this one should be suitable for your octopus girl." The human gestured to put the thing back in his hand to change the color, but Morrison stopped him: "No. This one is very good."

He really didn't know that octopuses like shiny things.

Morrison thought, no wonder Reaper always wanted the armband that Reyes gave him. After all, that huge black diamond shone brightly in the deep sea.

"Do you need to bring something for your octopus friend?"

"What did you say?"

"It's the octopus you mentioned before, a good relationship." Reyes said, "but it's not suitable to find it from a jewelry store." After finishing speaking, the man stared at Morrison's face, as if confirming that the mermaid was right Whether he was satisfied with his proposal, when he found Morrison's expression was weird, he put on a nonchalant expression.

"No. He doesn't like human artifacts."

TBC