the siren |peter parker x siren!oc|

Serenity: Part 5

She was a wonder.

Peter had never been as speechless as when he saw her fully awake staring directly at him. He didn't want to break eye contact, for fear that they would never regain it. Her captivity now was much different than it was before. This felt more grounded and less dreamlike. He felt like he was actually in control of how he interacted with her. It had to be her voice that kept him under the surreal trance.

Mr. Stark looked uneasy and frustrated. He had been observing her for a much longer period of time and had no success in effectively communicating with her. Peter kept quiet, allowing his mentor to deliberate more possibilities.

"I have no idea. I tried talking slower, louder, with more diction. I spoke in Japanese, French, and Russian, but none of them seemed to register. I have no idea," Mr. Stark rubbed his eyes and continued to repeat "I have no idea" until it led him out the door. If Peter had anything to contribute he would have, but he was just as stumped. If Tony Stark couldn't figure it out, who would?

He watched Tony as he left, then returned to the mermaid's eyes. Not really thinking much of it, he reached out his hand and placed it on her glass encasement. She mirrored him. He didn't know how to explain it, but he somehow felt connected to her; there was an energy that laid between their hands, unlike anything he had felt before. Even when her hypnotic voice was stolen from her, he had a persistent fascination with everything that she was. Maybe it was the scientist in him; he was always curious and always asking questions. Though this energy, the tingling in the palm of his hand, couldn't be narrowed down to just curiosity.

boreíte na me akoúsete epeidí eíste diaforetikoí

The voice was in his head, but it didn't sound like his own. Startled, he jumped back a few feet, his entire person shaking with anxiety. It was a female voice speaking in a harsh whisper, and it had been inside his head. He looked at her, noticing that her eyes were filled with concern. She was looking at his hand, which was an obvious hint as to how he was feeling. He stared too, it was quivering uncontrollably.

It was her. She spoke to him through his brain. But how?

The language was recognizable. It existed. He repeated the words he remembered silently, honing in the skills he had gained from spelling bees. He had never been a champion, but he still knew how to recognize the origin of a word. If he could identify the origin, then maybe they could use that to help identify if the language was unique or if it was human.

Greek!

Not only was the origin Greek, if he was correct, but the language itself was also Greek too.

"Greek! It's Greek! I think you were speaking Greek!" he laughed, pulling his phone from his pocket. Pulling up Google Translate, he typed and retyped a few words. He wanted his first words to her to be clear and understandable. He settled on the phrase "You are Greek." A declarative sentence that he purposefully eliminated the contraction from. Google Translate was always a shot in the dark with its accuracy, so using a contraction would not be smart. While he didn't know much about her, either, he did know that she lived in the ocean for all of her life. Her use of language had to be vastly different than his. When the website presented the Greek translation, he hit the audio, knowing he would botch the pronunciation.

"Eísai Éllinas," it said. When he looked to her for a response, he saw her face light up with obvious excitement. He had finally reached her.

"Mr. Stark!" he yelled, laughing some more, "Mr. Stark I got through! I got through to her!"

Mr. Stark had been standing right outside of his lab, pacing back and forth. The sound of Peter's eager yells, he turned, looking skeptical. Peter waved him in with gleeful animation.