A Friendly Merman

Cautiously, you go to investigate, but whatever it is beats you to it. You realize that it's another merman, obviously not from around here. His tail is much larger than yours, maybe twice the length or even longer, which is what you typically see from mermen who live in the ocean. And his tail is so much smoother than yours. You would guess that it would either be a shark or dolphin tail, going by the look and the fin.

You swim a bit closer and hear him speaking. You recognize an Australian accent, but his human half looks of Spanish descent. You're curious and you want to know more about him. While there are other merfolk who live around here, he's the first one you've seen from somewhere else in the world in a while.

"Hello!" you cry out, startling him. He whips around to face you, surprised. He quickly overcomes it though and waves.

"Hey!" he says, swimming over to you, "I didn't notice you there! Didn't think anyone lived around these parts!"

"Everyone tends to stick close to the coast." you say, finding yourself heating up in his presence, "Larger colonies and such. And they like to be on land a lot. Many of them have human families they like to stay close to."

He nods. "We've got a similar situation back home." he says, "Unless it's to visit the reefs, everyone pretty much stays on land. Except for me." He pauses for a moment, eyes going wide, "Blimey! The first merman I meet and I forget me manners! I'm Thomas, but everyone calls me Tom."

"I'm Vincent; it's a pleasure to meet you." you say, reaching out to shake his hand. After that, you and Tom go about exploring the shipwreck, talking as you go. By the time the sun starts to go down, you feel like you've known him forever.