Eli ran outside, shoving the door open with so much force it ricocheted off the wall of the lighthouse and bounced back towards him, almost knocking him to the ground in the process.
The sunlight was blinding and he staggered forward as his eyes adjusted.
The new bottle was at his feet, a gorgeous blue medicine bottle this time, and behind it was a trail of dried out blood that led back towards the sea.
Technically there were two trails, but that didn't matter.
Eli rushed over to the water and almost fell into the sea then and there at what he saw.
The merman was lying there, passed out, curled up in a rockpool that the sun was quickly evaporating.
His blue hair covered his face entirely.
With only a brief thought of if it was okay to touch this person without their explicit consent (which he deemed okay within the circumstances) he picked them up.
This guy was heavy!!!
Eli then hit himself mentally at the thought. You can't just say things about people's weight!
He stumbled the last remaining steps to the sea and pretty much dropped the merman in.
Except he was still holding onto him, he realized as the waves swallowed him and everything went dark.
"Are you okay? You had quite the experience." The warmth in the voice was enough to make ice melt.
When Eli opened his eyes, he found he was on the rocks, and to his surprise, completely dry.
"Well? Are you okay?"
He turned his head and froze as the merman entered his field of view.
There was no point in speaking, his tongue had tied itself into a knot and his vocal chords had run away. Time to settle for a clumsy nod in response.
The merman let out a chuckle. "I'm Morgan."