Once again, the man watched intently, and the moment he began to understand what the merman was trying to tell him, his expression changed. The relaxed smile from before disappeared and was replaced by an uncertain frown and a weak shake of his head, crossing his arms in slight hesitation as he stared at the water in front of him. "No, I.." he tried to describe how much he hated the water, how far away from it he wanted to stay, but he couldn't find enough words. He just stared at the waves for a second before sighing. 

"Fine. Just-just one foot," he told himself as he turned around, began to walk over to the shore and took in a deep breath, once again anxiety creeping up into his heart. It was like something repulsed him away from the water, but brought him closer at the same time, wished he approached. He didn't know which to listen to, but he hoped Shiro would be there. Guide him until he can guide himself. At least he agreed on letting him go near the water at all, and he realized he might have convinced him about the boat. 

But, Keith realized, he was talking about a boat. A boat he would use to swim through the water, not his own body. 
He sighed, cursing under his breath once he reached the water sooner than he expected and, closing his eyes a little, he boldly entered the water with one leg. The surprisingly cold and dark water engulfed him in seconds, and he almost just shot his leg back and ran away from the whole situation, but he chewed on his lower lip and persevered. Tried to, at least, and let his hand clench into a fist, his nails digging into his skin. 

But then quickly, it felt like a spark of electricity took over the leg that was in the water and he gasped, jumping back in fear. What the fuck was that? He never felt that before, and it left him with wide eyes and newfound desire to just escape the beach altogether.