Innocent Merman

"Who got it for you?" She pointed at the hairband on Lyre's hair.

"I got it for him, with my money." Rain enunciated each word.

"What? You got it with your money?" The mother's expression was unbelieving.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" Rain frowned at the mother.

Lyre stood beside Rain and watched the mother.

He didn't say a word, and neither did he make a sound.

The mother started laughing, "who would have thought the stingy Rain, who doesn't spend his money on things, will willingly buy something for someone?"

Her words embarrassed Rain, "I got it for him, and that's all. You don't have to say anything else about it." He took Lyre's hand in his, and led him towards his room, while the mother stood there and watched them with an amused expression on her face.

"Could it be that Rain is changing?" She mussed as she watched them, with a small smile on her face.

It pleased her to know her son, who was once closed off, was being friendly with the son they miraculously got.

"Mom, is brother back?" Clar ran out from the parlour.

She has just woken up from the nap she took when Rain and Lyre left.

"No, they are not yet back," The mother expertly lied. "Why don't you take another nap? They will be back the next time you wake up." She knew Clar will only disturb Lyre.

"No, mother. I want to eat cookies. I'm hungry." Clar pouted.

"Then it's cookies we are eating. Let's go." The mother took Clar's hand in hers and led her to the kitchen.

Rain opened the door, and ushered Lyre inside before he gently closed the door behind him.

He dropped the bags of clothes on the bed and proceeded to remove the clothes from them.

"Thank you," Lyre said in a small voice.

"You don't have to thank me, Lyre. This is what I'm supposed to do." Rain removed the clothes, and neatly hung them in his closet.

Lyre sat on the bed and watched Rain as he arranged his clothes.

"Go and bathe if you don't have anything else to do." Rain frowned at the cute boy who has been staring at him.

Lyre's attention on him made him uncomfortable.

"Okay."

Lyre rose from the bed without questioning his orders and walked into the bathroom to take his bath.

"He's going to be the death of me." Rain sighed as he watched him depart.

He couldn't understand what it was about the cute boy who makes his heart skip beats all the time.

It was as if his heart were made solely for the cute boy with beautiful hair.

Lyre stayed in the bathroom for a long time before he exited.

"Are you through, already? You can—"

Rain froze when he saw Lyre.

The scene before him was the one he met last night and in the morning.

"What's wrong with you, Lyre?" He hastily turned his face to the side and balled his hand into fists.

His cheeks were as red as a tomato, and his heart was beating as fast as it could go.

It took all the strength in him to suppress his inner being from walking over to Lyre, and—

"Brother!" Clar shouted as she opened the door.

As fast as lightning, Rain ran towards her, and covered her eyes with his palm.

"Rain, what are you doing!" Clar fought to get the hand covering her eyes to let go.

"Let's go. Your brother needs to dress. Let's go." Rain didn't spare a glance at a naked and confused Lyre before he took Clar out.

"What are you doing? Let me go, I need to see my brother!" Clar frowned at Rain.

"Let your brother be. If you want to visit him, you can do that before dinner, okay? He needs to rest after shopping all day."

"But—"

"There are no buts, Clar. Your brother needs to sleep. You shouldn't disturb him if you truly care about him."

"Of course, I care about him! What do you mean?" Clar folded her arms and glared at her brother. "I'm going—"

"When he wakes up, you can do it. Come on, now, soldier girl, let's go for some…." He bent to her height and whispered into her ears.

"Yay! Let's go!" She fist-pumped the air. There was a bright smile on her face as she did that.

"Let's go."

And just like that, Rain diverted her attention from Lyre, who was intently staring at the door as he wondered what was wrong.

He glanced at himself to make certain his fins weren't showing.

And when he saw how smooth his skin was, he wondered what it was that scared Rain.

It was confusing for the young merman who doesn't know the way of humans.

He was just a stranger in a foreign place.

*********

"You are a disgrace to the family, Lyre." The mother shouted in anger as her whips continuously descended on Lyre who was curled like a ball.

He was shaking profusely; it seems as if his bones were about to break.

"How could you do this to me, your mother?"

As she spoke, she kept on whipping him with her purple whips.

Mother, please.

Lyre said inwardly and didn't dare to say the word out Loud.

Should his mother hear his voice, the punishments will be much.

He closed his mouth, and silently wept as the mother continued her assaults on him.

She stopped whipping him and trailed the purple rope on his body.

"We love you, Lyre. And this is the only way we can help you. We don't want you to be mocked by others."

She said in a motherly voice, one that made Lyre almost forget what happened.

The soft voice of the mother was what Lyre craved all the time. It was what he has always craved.

However, it didn't last.

The mother was back to whipping him after that.

Her face was pulled up in a frown as she disciplined her son.

To her, she was trying to lead him through the right path.