1: The MerMan

"I'm just sayin' Lee; the more you do it the better it is for you!"

"Yea…well…I don't see it honey!"

"Just think of the benefits babe, for you and Jazzer's!"

"Seriously…that…is…irritating!"

I could hang up on her, I could, I want too but I won't! Why you ask? Because she is my baby sister Trina; my gorgeously talented eighteen year old sister, who has all the charisma and all the beauty that my family genetics allow, seriously she just sucked it up and left me with nothing. She is making me run, over a phone call, because she wants to see her big sister fit and active. Yes sister, not brother, Levi is actually a girl's name too you know; Lee isn't but she and everyone I know don't seem to grasp that concept yet!

"What is irritating?" She chimes down the crackly phone line.

"My Alsatian is called Jazz…not Jazzers…and certainly not…snoop dawg Jay Jay!" I wheeze and pull a face, whilst I pause with my hands on my knees and start inhaling deep breaths like a mad woman. She giggles predictably and I can just see her do that stupid 'I could not care less,' shrug. "That's it I'm done…I can't…go on…I am just gonna lie down here…and die!"

"Well you are the one that wanted to drop a few pounds before visiting sunny Cali!" Trina practically sings down the line to me, then pauses for a moment and sighs; "Are you actually lying on the ground Lee?"

"And what if I am?" I snort back a chuckle as Jazz, my trusty buddy, comes to give me the kiss of life. Which evidently I might need, this must be what an asthmatic attack feels like! Technically I'm not on the ground, I'm on a beach, and it is perfectly okay to lie splayed out on the beach and gasp like a suffocating fish.

"You. Are. So. Strange!"

I ignore the jibe, because it is really more of a statement of truth than an actual insult. I let her yack on for several minutes about the health benefits of running every day, whilst I work on bringing the colour of my face back to a healthy milk bottle white! I pull out my iphone and glance at my reflection, which is understatedly delightful; my thick mass of dark blonde hair has come undone from its wonky high ponytail, and my grey blue eyes are all watery from running against the wind. Well it's a quiet Pacific Northwest coastal town, not Malibu on a summers day, there is always a chance of rain and a fresh breeze! Which I like, I never understood Trina's wish to fly off to LA to pursue acting, well I understand the acting bit, but the heat? I would evaporate and I will evaporate when I visit, in six months, which is apparently the length of time it will take me to drop fifteen pounds according to Trina.

"Oh crap!" Trina yelp's and I yank the earbud out of my ear with the shock of the high decibel; "Baby cakes I gotta run Sebastian's here, I totes forgot we are going shopping! Did I tell you I am his plus one for an actual red carpet event?"

"Yes my loveliness you did," I sigh into the microphone, "Several times actually, big premier, A listers, paparazzi and his royal highness Ryan Seacrest himself will make an appearance."

"Don't diss Seacrest, he is a legend!" She swoons and I cringe, "Oh hey Sebastian, yea it's my sister…Baz says hey sexy face!"

"Hi Sebastian," I drawl and roll my eyes, Sebastian is the stereotypical Hollywood glam guy stylist, but just really really camp. I love him to bits and he is my sister's bestie but he actually frightens me with his flamboyant extrovert nature. I have had several face time sessions with him already and he vows he could turn me into a Hollywood legend with one of his makeovers, which sounded fun until he started talking Brazilians and lazar whitening, he used the word face peel once and I swear I couldn't sleep for a week.

"Well I'm going now! Give my love to Pop!" Trina says breezily before the phone goes dead. I roll my eyes and prop myself up on my elbow to regard Jazz, who is sitting beside me with a rather goofy look;

"Jazz promise me you'll never change!" I cry and throw my arms around him for a cuddle. I love Trina but she is definitely become more of a drama queen, and I still think she is too young to be in that industry but Mom is okay with it so I can't argue.

I should clarify at this point Mom and 'Pop,' are divorced this good fifteen years; Mom lives in LA, Dad lives about thirty minutes' drive from my front door. Mom and Trina are big city folk they love the glitz and the glam, Mom's a high flying lawyer and pretty much lives her life through emails and skype. Dad is the quiet country life kind of guy, he's a history teacher at the local high school and we try and see each other every fortnight, but we are not big socializers and a quick phone call catch up is often all that is required to sustain our bond.

Besides I am twenty-seven, I am big girl in the big bad world, doing her own independent thing. Which basically translates too I own my own small business, a bakery actually, I bake nice things for nice people to brighten their day. Well technically it's a combined effort between myself and Ryan, not the Seacrest, my human best friend. He loves books and old things, so it is collectively a bakery come antique shop. We call it, 'The Nook,' not very original but it is a homely place, a timeless bubble to pass away the hours with a good pie and a book. It actually does quite well, which was a big surprise to my parents, but we have plenty of hipster student types and over fifties that enjoy our peaceful way of life.

Jazz nudges me and whines in boredom, so I scramble to my feet and decide to go for a pleasant amble instead of a sprint, which I think is much more enjoyable. I hate whizzing about, people need to stop and smell the roses once in a while, enjoy nature, breathe it all in and chillax. I am very placid in nature, irritatingly so but Ryan lives on his nerves and panics enough for the both of us! I am not what you would call girly; I'm freakishly tall for a female, quirky and above all else I am socially awkward, but once you get passed all that I am actually quite sweet, or at least my dog thinks so! Ryan is my polar opposite, attractive, kinda short for a guy, bubbly and charming; basically we have customers because of him, if left to me I'd probably scare them away with my weirdness.

My phone trills and fish it back out of my pocket, ah speak of the devil;

"Yello!" I answer breezily.

"LEE! WHERE ARE YOU?" Comes Ryan's overly distressed voice.

"On the beach?" I answer timidly, "What is wrong?"

"What's wrong?" He howls and I frown at his dramatic tone; "Whoa wait why are you on the beach, it is like really cold out there?"

"Because that is where I live and Jazz was taking me for a run, I failed, now calm down and tell me what is wrong?" I soothe and stand with my arms crossed, watching Jazz snuffle about the beach he is a good distance away from me so I start walking briskly after him.

"The apple pie, I burnt the apple pie!" He cries, "And it was the special and you know how much everyone loves your apple pie! Levi what am I going to do?"

"Well firstly you are going to apologise to my apple pie which you so callously mutilated!" I scold, "And then you are going to go into the fridge and on the third shelf you'll find its twin brother. You will then stick him in the oven to warm up, because I baked it this morning."

"You are a life saver," he mews adoringly and I smirk; "Always so organised and ahead of schedule!"

"Nope Ryan, it's because you can't cook to save your life!" I tease and he sighs loudly over the phone; "We talked about this, you go talk to people and stay front of house, and I'll be the creative genius."

"You mean creative shut-in, Lee honey you need to go on a date or something!" He jests back and I feel myself scowl at the phone.

"I do date!" I defend a little too quickly, but I am preoccupied by Jazz, he seems to have picked up the scent of something and is bombing towards a rather large object that seems to have been washed up on the shore.

"No you don't! Levi the last guy you dated was like six months ago, come out with me and Jess this weekend and mingle." Ryan states quite firmly, but I am overly concerned with the thing my dog is now sniffing.

"Jazz don't!" I shout and start jogging towards him, ick it's probably some animal carcass, though pretty big animal?

"Are you dodging the question?" Ryan accuses and I roll my eyes.

"No Ryan my dog is sniffing and barking over some dead thing, which I don't want him getting germs off!" I snap, "besides Jess is not exactly fond of me, and I don't mingle, I stand awkwardly at the back of a room and count ceiling tiles!"

"You could try not doing that, and actually talking to real human beings for a change," he says with an irritated voice, but I am not listening anymore, I'm standing frozen to the spot as I try and come to terms with what is before me.

"Ryan call an ambulance!" I whisper.

"Why? Lee what's wrong?" His voice is suddenly thick with concern; "Levi are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine, but there is a body here and I think it's still alive?" I barely hear my voice as I answer.

"Shit! I'm calling one from the bakery cell, where are you?" Ryan has hit panic mode, he swore, he only curses when he is either frightened or really angry.

"Near the south pier, by the jetty, I think it's a man?" I choke out and place the phone on speaker; "I've put you on loud speaker, don't hang up!"

"Levi don't leave me!" I hear him shriek but I am on auto pilot now.

I sprint up to the naked body of what I think is a man, Jazz is barking like crazy and running around him with fearful eyes. I rip my heavy hoodie off and throw it over him, he is ice cold to touch but I think I see his chest flicker with movement. I crouch down beside him, and lean into to his face, he is breathing he is actually breathing! He has a mass of thick black hair, stuck to his face, matted and twisted across his shoulders; it is so long he could be mistaken for a girl, if it weren't for the fact that he has the body of an Olympic god. I smooth away his soaked hair from his still face, and I am stunned, he is so beautiful. I have never seen a face so angelic, it is captivating, it actually breaks my heart to look at him.

"Get a grip Levi!" I mutter and shake myself out my strange dream like state, why am I crying? I try and remember my basic first aid training and check for a pulse, I press two fingers to his neck and try to place a rhythm. I nearly shout for joy when I find one;

"Hello?" I shout and firmly shake his broad shoulders, "Can you hear me?" No movement and I bite my lip, what do I do? Dammit why is this beach so deserted, you think someone would be out for a winter stroll on a windy day! "Ryan is it coming?" I shriek towards the phone;

"Yes there on their way, stay put, do you want me to drive over?" He shouts back.

"No it's okay, just stay on the line!" I demand and again wonder over my strange frantic tears. "He is breathing but unconscious what do I do?"

"Did you try shaking him?"

"Yes!"

"Slap him?"

"I'm not slapping him!"

"I don't know Levi!"

Oh this is awful, I violently shake his shoulders again and he twitches. I gasp out loud and then slap him;

"Can you hear me?" I bellow at him and press my face against his chest making sure there is a heartbeat and I did not imagine that twitch. "Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive!" I chant and flutter my hands uselessly over his almost blue body. I squeeze my eyes shut and slap him again, not hard but firmly on the face.

There is a brief moment of still silence and then he breathes in sharply, and in the next heartbeat his eyes flutter open. His eyes I have never seen eyes like that, they look like the night sky, deep navy and glittering. They are wide with shock and fear, as they frantically roll about his head; he starts to hyperventilate and shake aggressively. I timidly take his ice cold hand and pat his cheek to try and get him to focus on me;

"It's okay, you're okay!" I soothe as gently as I am able to; "Um, do you have a name?" I outwardly cringe, maybe not the best time to start asking questions. The beautiful man gains some sort of control over his breathing as his eyes focus on me, but he still looks absolutely terrified, and I don't blame him.

"W-wh-wh-ere?" he stammers through the cold and the shock, and I only notice now that Jazz has lay down by his side in an attempt to keep him warm.

"Florence, Oregon." I mutter because it is the only thing I can think of saying, his brow furrows in confusion but he starts to cough violently effectively ending anymore conversation. I worriedly try and help him spit up the excess water that gushes from his mouth, as he tries to find his breath again. When he collapses back on the sand, I hear the sirens and breathe a sigh of relief and squeeze his hand; "It's okay help is coming!"

xXx

"Miss we can't keep him if he refuses treatment!"

"Seriously, he is naked and washed up on a beach does that not constitute as something that gets you detained?" I shriek in irritation at the paramedic.

"He has the mental capacity to refuse treatment there is nothing I can do!" The stout middle aged man reminds me of the freedoms of human rights, "But from what tests we were able to carry out he seems physically fine, very shook up but medically fit nonetheless."

I face palm myself and glance over in the direction of the mystery merman. He has been dressed in spare scrubs that are just the tiniest bit too small for him, and has two heavy blankets wrapped around his broad shoulders. He appears for the most part expressionless, but those strange eyes are absorbing everything in sight, it's like he is seeing these things for the first time and is unable to speak because of the intense overwhelming experience of it all. I suddenly feel like I need to take matters into my own hands, and so I stalk over to this stranger;

"Listen I think maybe you should go with these guys," I say as calmly as I can, "They can help you, get you some medical care."

The man's eyes snap up to mine and he visibly jerks away from me;

"I have no need of a healer," he answers me in a strange almost British accent, but not quite, it is accented and strange definitely foreign.

"Well do you have any family I can contact for you? A home address we could take you too? A Name?" I try again, deciding to let the term, 'healer,' go, he is very strange. Surely he could be detained under some sort of mental health law?

He watches me warily for a moment and then there is a sudden rush of emotion in his eyes, his face contorts with anguish and drops his head into his hands. "I do not know? My brother I was travelling with my brother?"

"Okay good, where is your brother?" I am getting very concerned now; he does genuinely appear very upset.

"With me, he is always with me!" He lifts his gaze and it is haunted, frantic even.

"Oh my god! Is he in the water too?" I cry and spin to look for someone to inform the coastguard.

"No he was safe, he was on the boat, he never left the boat!" The dark haired man pulls the blankets tighter around him, almost like he is trying to disappear into them and then looks at me with pleading eyes; "I am not dangerous, I mean you no harm, please will you give me shelter until I am strong enough to search for my little brother."

"Dude…I…um…I don't even know you," I say in a deflated voice, because for some insane and unknown reason to me I want to help him.

"My name is Elladan, I am of noble birth I can reward you handsomely for your trouble," his voice is serious and his eyes full of sincerity, I completely believe him.

"Okay you can stay the night, and then tomorrow we'll get you some clothes and see if we can locate your brother." What am I saying? I can't bring some random guy into my home; he could be a murderer or a rapist, or both!

"Thank you, may the Valar bless you and your kindness," Elladan cries and outstretches both his hands to take one of mine. His hands are large and strong, yet soft and warm. His touch brings with it the most peculiar of sensations; I can only describe it as peace and tranquillity. I meet his glittering gaze for a moment and I know without a shadow of a doubt I can trust him completely.

I pull away from him and nod robotically, then stagger over to the paramedics and inform them that I'll look after him. This is met with some concerned questions about my welfare, and understandably so, but I tell them I have a guy roommate and we'll be fine. This might be a slight stretch of the truth, I don't have a roommate, but I do have a guy, and a dog. So I instantly pick up the phone and hit Ryan's number;

"Lee!" He shouts when he answers on the first ring.

"Geez Ryan do you live on your phone?"

"Shut up! Is everything okay, I'm at your house but you're not in! I brought beer for the trauma, I didn't know what else to do!" he rambles and I am touched by his awesomeness, he is the bestest best friend anyone could ask for.

"Ryan don't freak out," I mutter and bite my lip.

"Levi what did you do?" his voice suddenly accusing.

"Well the guy on the beach he is alright, but he needs somewhere to crash for the night, he was travelling with his brother and obviously he has no way of contacting him and-"

"No Lee! No this is a bad idea!" Ryan cuts me off, "You don't just bring home stray people, Jazz was one thing, but not people Lee."

"Elladan is very plausible and he needs our help, we can't just leave him here, he has no money or clothes." I try my best to reason the completely illogical suggestion.

"Elladan?" Ryan stops me again, "What? Was his parent's Tolkien enthusiasts? Let me guess his brother is Elrohir?"

"Well not that I asked and your nerdy reference baffles me!" I snipe; this is not the time for his geeky sarcasm to come out.

"And this is why you should read books Lee, not just watch the movies!" He grumbles and I sigh loudly in annoyance.

"Can we have at least one serious conversation that does not revolve around the Lord of the Rings; Ryan there is a guy who needs our help!" I do my best quiet shouting voice.

"Correction there is a nut job who wants to take advantage of us," he corrects and I can almost see him face palming himself.

"Look I know you think I am mad, but he genuinely needs help and we are genuinely good people, I mean come on, what would Captain America do?" I attempt my best pleading voice.

"That is not fair!" He yelps down the line; "Don't use Marvel morals against me!" I stay silent for a while longer and then hear his heavy sigh; "Okay I'll stay the night, but I am sleeping with my eyes open, with a shotgun and Jazz has to patrol!"

"I owe you big!" I cheer with relief.

"If we die I want you to know that I hate your apple pie!"

"You're a liar!"

"I know! I hate you!"

A/N I just had to write this chapter, if you like it please review and leave some feedback. It is just for fun and I just felt inspired.

Thanks

Wunderkind