Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 08:21:28 +0000 (UTC)
From: Andrew Bailey <feare909@yahoo.com>
Subject: Aquata Cove - Chapter 69

Aquata Cove
Chapter 69: Kid's Day Out


"Mmm..." Adam takes a deep breath as his senses slowly come into
awareness. His body begins to stretch as he gives a straining moan, his
foot stiffens and reaches outward until it came into contact with another
foot. He looks to his side, and smiles as he sees the peeping eyes of his
ever-loving boyfriend, "Mmm... Hey you..." He mumbles.

"Hey, Cutie..." Merrick mumbles before closing his eyes again, and rolling
over to cuddle up to Adam in bed, before peering those sapphires again to
look into those chocolate brown eyes.

"How come it always feels like the first time for the first week you come
back?" Adam asked.

"I've only gone back to the sea one other time since we met Samudra," He
answers, "Syrinx said that's what they do too when she comes home: All they
do is fuck for a whole week before life gets back to normal."

"Hahaha, oh God," Adam puts his hand on his eyes, "And what about that
other merman in the pod? Denny? Deidara? Dexter?"

"His name is Deilan, smartass," Merrick plaps Adam's chest, "And he lives
in Italy, so you can guess how it is with him and HIS girlfriend."

"Yeah, so what, all they do is fuck for a month?"

"Pfff, hahaha," Merrick laughs as he casually kisses Adam's bicep, "I can't
imagine what that must be like, if she's Catholic, he doesn't say."

"Ya know, I'M part Italtian~" Adam says with a waggle of his brows and a
playful look of pressing his teeth on a third of his tongue.

"Aren't you part EVERYTHING?" Merrick jabbed him lightly.

"Eh, part Italian, part Irish, part Russian, some German in there
somewhere..." He mumbled, "I'm tellin' ya, I'm a freakin cocktail mutt, ya
know?"

The two of them stay in the bed, looking into each other's eyes as they
rest and giggle softly, "You look good, Merrick..." Adam comments, "You
look better than you have in ages..."

"I feel good..." Merrick replies.

"I don't know what it is..." Adam traces his fingers along Merrick's cheek,
"Looking at you... Just seem like... I dunno, it's almost like you're
glowing."

Merrick smiles gently as he feels his lover, "Before I came home yesterday,
I ran into my Mother." Adam's eyes widen from that.

"Your Mom??" He feels a wave of surprise.

"Yes..." Merrick nodded, "The pod was just leaving these waters, and she
must've sensed my soul nearby... So she used this shell Yuri made for me to
track me down... Just to see me."

"Oh my God," Adam adjusts so he's on his elbow, "What happened?"

"She just..." Merrick smiles as he shrugs, "She missed me, a lot,
and... She looked into my eyes, and looked into my soul." Hearing these
sorts of things, what Noitas are able to see, they still give Adam a chill
in his spine, "Mother saw all of the things that happened to
me... Everything that made me miserable, all the stuff that hurt me..."

Merrick took a deep breath as he shakes his head, "Adam, I can't tell you
how ashamed I was of myself to even look at her after everything that's
happened... I felt like I wasn't worthy to even see her... My own
Mother..."

"Oh babe..." Adam gently cupped his cheek.

"It's ok... It's all ok now..." He looks up with a smile, "She did what any
mother should be able to do: She kissed me and made everything better."
Adam gives a happy smile to him, "I've hurt so much, held onto so much pain
and anguish... And then she showed me the light."

"Showed you the light?" Adam asked, "How do you mean?"

"She... She saw, all of the things that made me suffer," Merrick said, "Saw
how torn-up and dark my soul had become."

"Babe, no," Adam sat up and gently put his hands onto his boyfriend,
"You're not dark, sweetie, you're not dark-"

"Adam," Merrick softly pushes Adam's hand off of him, "Dark doesn't mean
evil or cursed... Or, yes, it does mean cursed, but yeah. It just meant
that my emotions weren't as functional or effective as they used to
be. That's all." He sighed as he also sat up, "My point is that... My mind
and my heart has always been plagued by all the stuff that's happened to
me..." He gestured, "When we broke up... When I nearly died when the blood
of the earth poisoned me... When I was banished... My fear of the
Capricorn... My very health declining from dehydration... When we were
kidnapped by the Agency... As well, as all this time, I feel like I
deceived and lied to everyone I loved..."

"Oh baby..." Adam put his hand on Merrick's arm.

"I just... I ignored looking at the bright side of things, so my heart just
felt so heavy and clouded. Like you humans say, I didn't look for the
`Silver-Lining' because I was too busy trying to keep myself together after
all that's happened."

"So... What did your Mom do exactly?"

Merrick smiled as he rubbed his own arm, "She reminded me all of the good
things I have going for me..." He chuckled, "Or rather, she infused her
aura into mine, and gave new life to my memories like a sunrise. Like..."
He gestured again, "When we broke up, and I was lost in the oil spill, you
came for me..." A tear rolled from Merrick's eye, without him showing any
indication of crying or sobbing -- just a sparkling drop coming down, "I
broke your heart as well as mine, and you saved me, and you never left my
side, even though I said every word to hurt you..."

"I love you Merrick..." Adam wiped the tear off of Merrick's cheek, "Even
before I knew about the Red Moon stuff, I'm always going to come for
you..."

"I know... And I didn't bother to remember that until my Mother showed
me..." He smiled, "Another large pain was when I was exiled... Adam, I lost
everything in one night... My Father thought I would straighten up and
reform if he brought my trail to question, but I ended up leaving... When
all was said and done, I still had one place where I was welcome, I... You,
Jamal, Yuri... You all were my net when I fell..."

"That's..." Adam chuckled weakly, "That's what we do, babe... We stick
together..." He's really not sure what to say while Merrick processes this.

"And then, heh..." Merrick continued, "You know about my health, and the
Capricorn scare... It just seems silly now... Me being terrified of the
ocean because I was afraid the Capricorn was going to kill me."

"There's no way you could've known that." Adam shook his head.

"Yeah, but... Eheheh, the Coshiton Triton himself had to come to me to tell
me to stop being a wuss-"

"Merrick," Adam lightly punched Merrick's arm, "You're doing it again, and
you know it. You had the option of staying on land longer, while the other
Coshitons have always been in the ocean. You had nothing else to go on."

"Heheheh... Alright, you got me there." Merrick said, "And then the
Agency."  
"Ok now," Adam put his hand on Merrick's chest,
"You're not going to tell me that there's a good thing coming out of that."

"No." Merrick shook his head, "That... That was what humans may call a
living hell... It's what came after it." Merrick said, "When Jamal, Yuri,
your Grandma... Even Belinda, someone I can barely tolerate, I was so happy
to see her... And despite everything, we were free in the end, and I put an
end to the man responsible for everything... And that's all I'm gonna say
about it."

"Ok..." He went in, and kissed him.

"It's just so... Overwhelming, you know?" Merrick said. His arms held onto
his own arms as he shook and bowed his head, "Adam, I missed her so much,
you can't even imagine..."

"C'mere," Adam scooted in, and hugged him. Merrick unfurled his arms, and
hugged him back.

"I'm ok..." Merrick mumbled, "I'm a lot better now..." They stayed together
for a few moments, before they parted.

"Lets go shower. I still feel grungy from yesterday."

"Ok~" Merrick smiled as he gets up with him.


~~~


"Mmmmhhhhh~" If Arnaav was a cat, he would be purring endlessly, surrounded
in the very large, thick, soft sail that female human gave him to sleep in
on the couch. Every inch of his small body feels so warm snuggly in this
cocoon of fluffy goodness.

"Hm?" He hears something. He looks up, and see the tan, slightly hairy
human male creeping in the hallway, giggling as he holds Merrick's hand as
they grin, both of them naked and looking giddy as they disappear into a
doorway into an unknown room.

"Huh?" The boy tilts his head curiously as more questions pop into his
little head when he hears a strange, rain-like noise start to run inside
the closed door.


~~~


Adam steps into the glass shower shortly before Merrick, smiling ear to ear
as he presses his body against the other under the cascade of warm water
after closing the shower door. Merrick giggles as he frot their limb
penises together as they hugged, feeling a keen tug from within the middle
of his dick as they rubbed each other under the hot shower.

Merrick kissed Adam's lips playfully, prompting Adam to open his mouth and
pull on his moist mouth with a smooth suckle. Adam's tongue licked onto
Merrick's teeth just before touching the other wet sliver, and then
proceeding to lick the broadside of Merrick's tongue.

The merman licked in under Adam's tongue as their lips pressed firmly
against one another. They parted the kiss with a luscious pop before Adam
licks up Merrick's neck, and then gnawed on his cheek. Merrick smiles and
laughs as Adam licks and tastes along his cheek, before gently holding onto
the sides of his head and gluing his lips to the other.

Merrick moans as Adam's tongue rubbed the roof of his mouth and the side of
the other tongue, while Merrick reaches down, and grins as he feels Adam's
rock-hard shaft, and breaking the kiss to look down.

"Damn, you're fuckin throbbing already?" Merrick growls as he squeezes
Adam's mighty erection.

"I haven't cum in a week before last night," Adam huffs, "And God, you're
just so fuckin fine." He turns Merrick around, and forces him against the
tile wall.

He grabs the bottle of body wash, and applies a large, green glob of Green
Apple Splash onto Merrick's backside. When the liquid soap reached to his
dick, Adam rubbed his rod into those mounds, scrubbing into Merrick's crack
with his manhood, while also rubbing the wash onto Merrick's back, and then
onto groping and squeezing those heavenly buttcheeks, not even bothering to
grab the scrub pad.

His hands massage that bubble butt to bring out the fruity-smelling foam,
and proceeded to squish those healthy, jiggly mounds in on his raging cock,
puckering hi slips and hissing as he humped in the swamp of green-tinted
bubbles.

The suds drips from those peachy globes, as well as Adam's soaked balls as
Adam rubs his sack up Merrick's carwash caboose, while his dick trails up
Merrick's back. Adam grabs his rock-hard member, and tucks it down under.

"Mmnn~" Merrick bites his lower lip as his thighs rub around that hard
dong.

"Back that up on me, babe~" Adam says as his hands go to those
hips. Merrick smooshes his soapy butt against Adam's pelvic region, and
grinds his ass into him, "Mmm, yeah, that's what I'm talking about~" Adam
smoothly undulates himself to rub and dangle Merrick's soft testicles
around with his log, while the foam soaks into Adam's pubs.

Adam turns Merrick back around, and strokes his sud-covered dick before
moving in, and tucking it under Merrick's ballsack again, bringing them
closer together, and kissing his cheek lusciously.

"Oooh, yeah~" Merrick grins as he locks his mouth with the other as his own
boner meets with Adam's wet Happy Trail while that fat log pushes back and
forth along his loose orbs. Adam's hips rolled and humped gracefully in
front of Merrick as his most naughty part makes them both feel dirty and
clean at the same time.

They break the kiss for Adam to turn around, and start soaping his own
ass. Merrick watches with hunger as those hands circle and wash that
perfectly fuzzy rump, stroking himself as he gives that ass an occasional
pat. Adam dips down as if he dropped the soap, and smoothly curves upward
before him, still scrubbing his manly booty by systematically working his
fingers to dig into his anus, and palming his own cheeks. Adam grins as his
cock twitches between his legs, over his free-hanging nuts as he bends over
slightly, and spreads his legs.

"How about we clean every inch of me~?" Adam asks with a grin, wiggling his
butt back and forth, dripping with light green foam.

"Mmmm, fuck yeah~" Merrick walks behind him and holds him upright as he
grins himself against Adam as the soap runs down their legs. Merrick grabs
both firm buttocks, and gives them a squeeze. Adam smiles wide as he feels
Merrick thoroughly fondle and rub his buttcheeks in firm, circular motions,
before a hot fluff pulses in his chest as Merrick's hands dig deeper
between his intimate areas.

"H-Hoh God..." Adam gasps as he feels Merrick rub and juggle his nuts with
the apple lather. "FFfff, ooooh~" Adam arches his back as those fingers
massage and glide around his balls.

After some of the soap was rinsed off, Adam snickers, and starts to laugh
as he feels Merrick's face in his undercarriage. Adam reaches down to
masturbate while Merrick nuzzles his testicles with his nose. Adam spreads
his legs wider to allow Merrick to turn and lick his free-hanging
danglers. Adam chuckles as he looks down to see Merrick nip and bounce his
balls around with his mouth.

"Ahh~ Oooh~" Adam shudders as that tongue glides on the backside of his
ballsac before taking one orb into his mouth for a brief suckle, and then
the other one, before laying a hot kiss onto that tender batter pouch.

Merrick stands back up behind Adam, and went in to give a hot love bite on
the back of his neck. His arms feel around Adam's torso as Adam leans his
head back, closing his eyes and gaping his mouth open as he lets his lover
hug and feel him, his dick feeling extremely hard as he waits for Merrick
to penetrate him as that hard rod grinds deep along Adam's hot crack.


"WHOA! Water??" Comes a young voice.

"AHH!" Adam jumbled as he and Merrick immediately parted, and his back
pressed against the cold tile wall.

"Is that actually hot rain as well as a warm mist?!" Arnaav asked with
wonder.

"Oh fuck!" Adam's hands dive down to his erect crotch to cover himself as
he sees the kid in the bathroom. He whips his head around, and grabs Yuri's
large, fancy bottle of Precious Pink Lily body wash, and holds it over his
groin.

"A-Arnaav!" Merrick fumbles around for a moment, trying to find a way to
cover his hard-on, before findally finding a washcloth, and hiding himself
as he stepped out, "Get out! Quickly!"

"Wait! Merrick!" Arnaav yelps as he is forced outside of the bathroom, "I
don't understand!" The door flies shut before they can say
anything. Merrick huffs with a deep sigh as he walks back into the shower,
dripping wet as the two of them now share a very awkward silence.

"Umm... S-Soap is a uh... Bad lubricant anyway..." Adam says, his penis
slowly drooping as he put the round, jewel-capped pink lather back up.

"Oh my God, I can't even right now." Merrick says as he presses his palms
to his own face, his chest pounding with bewilderment.


~~~


"Huh? Wha's goin on?" Jamal says as he looks out his bedroom door, wearing
a white undershirt and jersey shorts. He sees the nude kid standing at the
bathroom door, looking sad and scared, "Lil man? What happened? Uh-" He
holds his hand up to obstruct his vision of Arnaav's body. It is REALLY
weird to have a naked child running around.

"I think M-Merrick is mad at me." Arnaav whimpered, "I heard rain, and I
went to see it. He and his mate were holding each other, and then Merrick
pushed me out." His eyes watered, "I don't understand."

"It's-... Ah, ya know... Jus... Gah, hang on." Jamal goes back into his
room, and comes back out with a T-shirt with an orange and yellow sunset
design on it, "Could you put this on real quick?"

"Ok..." Jamal walks over, and slips the garment over the young lad, seeing
the shirt reach to the top of his knees.

"There we go." He nodded.

"I-I'm scared, Merrick's really angry at me." Arnaav panicked, "I don't
know what I did..."

"Hey, hey, it's aight, lil man." Jamal squats down, and puts his hands onto
Arnaav, "Don't worry bout it, you ok, man. He ain't mad, it's ok."

"B-But he yelled at me." Arnaav trembled, "He was just to loud and fast, I
didn't-"

"Aight, aight, calm down now. C'mon, les go." Jamal walks the boy into the
living room, before he gasped at seeing the golden dog on the couch, where
he was sleeping, "Down, Sals, go on." Jamal snapped his fingers and
pointed. Sally obediently hops off the couch, and pushed through the doggie
door. Jamal has Arnaav sit down, before taking a seat himself, "Aight, now
I git that you new here. And there's a lotta weird stuff that you're not
used to, ok?"

"Mhm... W-Who are you again?"

"Jamal. Yo name's Arnie, right?"

"Arnaav."

"Aight, got it." Jamal nods, "First thing. You know that place you just
walked into? Where Merrick and Adam where?" He nods, "That place is called
the bathroom. That's where people go to clean themselves, and do they
bidness. You don't ever go into a bathroom when the door is closed, without
knocking first. Got it?"

"But why? If it's only cleaning, I don't see why it is such a problem."

"Same reason why we don't walk around nekkid alla time. People don't like
gettin weird with their bodies with other people watchin. Which comes to
the next rule: No matta what, ya always gotta be wearin somethin -- like
dat shirt," Jamal plucked at the sleeve, "Or, psshh!" He chuckles as he
picks up Arnaav's discarded shorts, "Or some shorts, aight? Ya gotta
remember to cover-up."

"This is so annoying!" Arnaav pouted, "In the sea, merfolk don't need to
hide themselves so much like that!"

"Aheheh, I know,
but we ain't merfolk, lil man. And if you gonna be stayin here, ya gotta
follow some rules. Ya dig?"

"I... What?" The slang totally flies over his head.

"Aheheh," Jamal chuckles, "Do you understand, what I meant to say."

"Yes..." Arnaav nods, not knowing why he just couldn't ask that in the
first place.

"Heh, aight, aight," Jamal gets up, and signals for the kid to follow him,
"C'mon, make ya some French Toast b'fore I leave fo work." Arnaav hops from
the couch, and trots over with him.


~~~


"So what do you wanna do about Arnaav?" Adam asks as Merrick puts on his
Lovers uniform, "I don't think he should be home all alone, and I don't
think he should come with YOU to work, considering all the wall-to-wall sex
stuff."

"I think he'd be ok," Merrick says while Adam gets ready to go too, "He's
with Roxas and Sally. Merman can talk to animals, remember?"

"Roxas is a cat that doesn't even know him, and Sally is still barely older
than a puppy," Adam said, "And in case you didn't know, humans have a big
issue with leaving kids under the age of 13 to be alone in the house."

"Alright, how bout Yuri? They seem to get along."

"Yuri's either at the college for classes, or at the hospital for hands-on
experience. She'll be too busy to really know he's there, and he might get
into trouble if he has no idea how to function in the human world."

"Ok, what's Jamal doing today then?"

"By what I hear, its freight day at the Waltz, he's going to be busy all
the time. Besides, you know as well as I do that they don't like kids there
at all, Steve is still peeved you had him let Arnaav in."

"Fine, then why don't YOU take him?" Merrick says.

"Me?" Adam blinks, "Are you sure, after that fiasco in the shower?"

"He didn't see anything, Adam," Merrick says, "If anything, he's probably
wondering why we were so mad about him seeing us at all in a miniature
rain."

"I guess I could take him with me..." Adam pondered, "If Captain doesn't
mind."

"He won't. I brought him there looking for you, and he just laughed off
when Arnaav got into the shrimp at one of the stands at the Fish House
market."

"Ok, sounds good." Adam nods as they both head out of the room, and into
the living room, to see Jamal and Arnaav eating their breakfast.

"Ok, Arnaav," Merrick began, "I have to leave now." Arnaav jerked up with a
look of shock on his young face.

"Wait, what?!" He drops his fork on the nearly empty plate, and toppled off
the chair, "Where are you going?!" He asked hastily.

"I'm going to work, and I can't take you with me," Merrick said, "The
nature of my job is very inappropriate for someone as young as you."

"W-What??" Arnaav looks, his chest pounding with sudden fear, "I don't
understand! What are you talking about?!" Merrick kneels down to the boy.

"Humans have to work and earn money in order to live where they are -- some
work all day, and others work for half a day. I am no exception since I
live here."

"But... B-But, why?" Arnaav sniffled.

"Hey, it's ok, Arnaav, it's alright," Merrick pats him softly, "You'll see
me again later today, but for now, I need to leave. And also, I'm afraid
you're too young to be in this house on your own, you can't stay here
either."

"Th-Th-Then, what am I supposed to do??" He asked, trembling all over.

"You'll be coming with me," Adam answered. Arnaav looks at him with
uncertainty, murring sadly as he looks at him like an elephant might look
at a giant.

"Remember that place we went to, Arnaav?" Merrick asked, "With all those
fish?" Arnaav turns his head back to him, and nodded. "That's where you'll
be going for today." His eyes brightened from the report.

"I'll need you to stick close to me, and not get lost," Adam said, "Don't
worry, kid, I'll look after you." He says with a smile.

"O-Ok..."

"Alright," Merrick pats Arnaav's shoulder, "So get dressed, you and Adam
are off in a few minutes." Arnaav nods, before Merrick stands back up, and
turns to Adam, "Ok, gotta go, sweetie. Have a nice day at work." He kisses
Adam affectionately, and walked around him to leave.

"You too, babe!" He called out. Adam looks to the boy, and raises a brow as
he sees him only wearing a shirt that covers down to his thighs, "Do you
need help getting dressed?"

"I... Think so?" Arnaav quirked his head.

"Ahahahah," Adam chuckles as he walks around, "Come on, I'll help you."


~~~


With his leather jacket zipped up, Adam walks to his motorcycle, with
Arnaav following behind, wearing the clothes he wore yesterday. He looks
ahead, and cooed in awe as he sees Adam's ride, noting that it looks bigger
and more complex than Merrick's vehicle.

"Wooow" Arnaav looks onto the motorbike as he walks right beside it.

"You might want to be careful with this baby, kid." Adam says as he pats
the seat, "It has a much harder kick than Merrick's ride."

"What's it called?" Arnaav asked.

"Motorcycle." He answered as he picks up the guest helmet, as well as his
own, "May not be as safe as a car, but a lot more flexible." He carefully
equips the helmet unto the boy, chuckling as Arnaav swerves a little,
before retaining his balance while holding the large shell on his head,
"And what you are wearing is called a `Helmet'. It protects your head in
case anything happens."

"If you say so..." Arnaav says. He meeps as Adam grabs him on his sides,
and picked him up to place him on the seat of the motorcycle.

"Also, this thing is very, VERY loud, so try not to get to scared when it
starts to roar." Adam warned him.

"I-It's gonna roar?"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, as long as you hold onto me tightly." Adam
says as he mounts his bike, "Just hold onto me as tight as you can."

"Like this?" Arnaav puts his little arms around Adam's torso.

"Little tighter." He says, feeling the kid grasp him a little more, "Ok,
now brace yourself." Adam puts on his own helmet, put the keys into the
ignition, and rumbled the vehicle to life!

VRRRMMMM!

"EEE!" Arnaav squeals as his arms clamped down on Adam's sides. Adam
chuckled a little as he kicks the kickstand side, and drove off the
property.


~~~


"You actually look a lot better than Merrick did the first time he rode on
my motorcycle." Adam comments as he removes his helmet from the shaken kid,
chuckling as he groomed Arnaav's hair a little, swiftly catching him before
he toppled over from his legs getting too weak. "Woop, easy there." He
helps the poor kid back to his feet, and locked up his motorcycle.

"Y-Y-You ride th-that all the time?" Arnaav trembles terribly as everything
seems to blur around him.

"Yeah. Gets me from A-to-B." He nods in response. He holds Arnaav's hand as
the dizzy kid groans in his steps, "Ok, nice and slow, Arnaav. Take your
time." He said as he slowly walks to Arnaav's pace, allowing the kid to try
and remember how to walk properly.


~~~


"You sure you're ok now?" Adam asked as he and Arnaav walk into the men's
locker-room of the Fish House.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." He takes deep breaths, while Adam takes out a long
piece of cloth, "What's that?"

"Blindfold. I'm gonna need you to wear this over your eyes while we're in
here."

"Ugh, whhyyy?" Arnaav rolls his eyes. Another human idiosyncrasy that he
has to abide by?

"This is where men change and shower here. You're too young to be seeing
that kind of stuff."

"What, as in seeing humans in with the bodies exposed?" Arnaav crosses his
arms, "It's not like I know nothing of what humans are supposed to look
like -- when the Kenovani go on our walking lessons, we're all in human
form. I don't get why you humans are so desperate to keep yourselves a
secret, if you already know what you look like anyway."

"Doesn't matter," Adam says as he ties the cloth over Arnaav's eyes.

"Hey! Stop- Ah! Get off me!" He growls.

"It's just how some things are," Adam says as he secures the knot of the
fold, "If you're gonna live with us for a while, there are few things you
need to remember to do."

"That dark human told me so." Arnaav pouts with his arms still crossed.

"Ah, quit pouting, buddy," Adam smiles as he ruffles that patch of brown
hair, "It's not that bad. Just don't take that thing off until I say, ok?"

"Fine." Arnaav growled.

"Thank you." Adam takes off his jacket, just as a naked, dripping coworker
walks by, "Case in point..." He mutters to himself.

"Hey, who's the kid?" The man asks as he puts his towel around his waist.

"He's my boyfriend's brother." Adam answers, "His name's Arnaav."

"Oook?" He looks at the boy, nothing that his skin is tanner than usual,
and his hair is chocolate brown, "Wait, ain't your boyfriend white and
blonde?"  
"He's adopted," Adam answered, "And we couldn't find
a babysitter, so he's with me today." The guy shrugs before walking off,
while Adam steps out of his pants.

"I don't like this..." Arnaav says as he stares at the fabric of his
blindfold.

"Don't like what, buddy?" Adam asked as he buttons up his uniform shirt.

"Saying that Merrick is my brother." He said, "I only have one Sister. I
don't understand why he keeps lying about that. We are not brothers, why do
you and he keep saying it?"

"It's a simple enough answer for people to hear when they ask about you."
Adam pulls up on his rubber overalls, "Humans have ties to everything and
everyone. And seeing as how Merrick is the only one here on land that
actually knows you personally, just saying that you two are brothers is
just easier to say."

"But why `Brothers'?" Arnaav asked, "I don't know how it is with you
humans, but family is not something merfolk are prepared to lie about..."

"Hm..." Adam clicks the buttons of his overalls, "Well... I guess another
reason for why Merrick says that is because, well... He thinks of YOU as
his brother."

Arnaav's head lifts up, "What?"

"Not that he actually BELIEVES that you two are related as siblings, no,"
Adam explained, as he puts on his Fish House cap, "But the way Merrick
talks about you when he comes home, the stories he has to tell, how close
you two are to each other."

"Hnnhh..."

"As to actually referring you to as his `brother'? It's a sentiment he's
picked up during his time as a human." Adam sits down on the bench next to
the boy.

"Sentiment?" Arnaav turns in his seat, hearing Adam's voice next to him.

"Yeah. Kind of like... A state of mind that sort of stuck in his mind that
he associates certain feelings that humans tend to share."

"I... Always felt like me and Merrick are close... He's really protective
of me, and he provides for me, both in the ocean, and yesterday when we
came here..."

"From what Merrick says, that's how he is," Adam sits down next to the kid,
"He says you're just a few years younger than his sister, so I guess you
could say that you fill a void that was left there when he was exiled."

Arnaav tugs the blindfold up to look at Adam, before the human gets up,
"Come on, time to get to work."


~~~


"Oook, that's gonna be $18.76" Adam says as he rings the register up on the
desk, after a customer purchased an order of various fish, "Out of $20..."
He calculates the change, and hands it back, "Thank you, and have a nice
day." He says with a smile.  
"Thank you!" Says the customer
before leaving. Adam looks down and chuckles as he sees Arnaav gnawing on
the octopus-flavored ice chunk as he watches the handful of humans walking
and wandering about this small market place full of fresh sea prey,
purchasing and trading.

Arnaav wonders how humans are able to accumulate so much fish, crabs, and
all that, and sell them off as if it was nothing! He doesn't know whether
to call it gluttony or thrift. Still, he does see a lot of humans around,
so he supposes that it's necessary for when they need to eat.

"Hey, Adam," Comes another human, female, "My turn to work the stand."

"Alright, gotcha." Adam takes off the uniform apron and hangs it up on the
wall, "C'mon, Arnaav, lets go." Arnaav gets up, and Adam takes his hand as
they leave.



"Oooh," Arnaav watches as the tank upon the cart fills with
seawater from the shore itself. He turns and beams as Adam comes around,
and starts loading the half-full tank with live lobsters. He tilts his head
as he sees a bright line on each of the lobsters' bulky claws as they float
down to the tank, "Adam, what are those things on their claws?" Arnaav asks
as he presses a finger onto the glass, "They look like rings."

"Those are rubber bands," Adam answers as he puts the
crustatians into the tank, two-by-two, "They keep the claws closed so they
don't snap pinch and hurt anyone."

"Oh I see!" Arnaav looks with astonishment, "WE should try using... Rubber
bands?"

"I don't really think that'll really work," Adam said, "See, rubber
eventually falls apart in water -- I'm no expert, and I don't know how long
rubber would last in the sea, but I'd say it would take about two weeks
before the band kind of... Breaks down? It gets weaker until it just stops
working."

Adam turns off the machine that fills the tank, and seals off the tank to
detach the hose. Arnaav giggles as a small splash of water hits his nose,
transforming it before Adam quickly dries it off.

The boy looks around in awe as he rides in the front seat besides Adam in
the delivery cart, seeing the various shops all around as he stops at one
of the shops, and start to fish out the lobsters, with special
tongs. Arnaav pouts when the tank is empty, before the both of them return
to the Fish House.

"Hey FISHBOY!" Comes a salty, graggly call. Adam turns to see the Captain
coming up over to him.

"Yes, Captain?" Adam says as he gets up from his cart, while the boy
watches.

"Where's that damn catch of yours??" He growled, "I only got 2 days to git
a huge-ass fish before I lose a bet -- I'm talkin $200 here!"

"He's at his own job, sir." Adam reported, "He's got a lot of catching up
to do."

"Gah, fuck it." Captain snarled. He's always got great results when he goes
fishing when Merrick's around, that he's considered him good luck. This
time, Captain got too cocky, and time's almost up, "Fine, you," He snapped
his fingers at Adam, "Fishing. Now. Lets go."

"O-Ok," Adam followed him, and signaled Arnaav to follow.


~~~


"... Ghhhh..." Captain stews in his seat as he glares at his rod, the long,
long line hidden into the wavering sea over the tall docks. Not a single
twitch within a whole hour. And it doesn't help that Adam has caught and
released 4 fish within that time frame.

"Maybe it's just bad luck?" Adam said frettingly.

"I'm supposeta be better at this than you, ya little fuck-ass." Captain
snarled.

"Awwwwllll..." Arnaav groans as he sits on the wood planks, "Adam?" He said
lowly as he tugs on Adam's sleeve, "How long are we gonna be here?"

"Dunno," Adam turns to his boss, "How long we gonna be here, Cap'n?"

"Shut yer damn trap." Captain stubbornly grumbled.

"But there's nothing out heeerrree." Arnaav whines as he slumped back down,
"There isn't anything to hunt..." He mumbled, "Might as well just go
swimming around and actually look..."

"Hmmmm..." Adam pondered, before leaning down, "Hey, Arnaav, I'm sorry, but
bare with me."

"Wha?"

"You know, Captain," Adam started, "Arnaav here happens to be related to
Merrick."

That caught his attention, "Ah yeah?"

"Yeah. They're brothers. I dunno, maybe the kid here has the same kinda
mojo Merrick has. Ah, maybe not, he's just a kid."

"No no no, now wait a minute," Captain turns in his seat, and looks to the
bored boy, "Yeah, you're the guy's lil brother, ain't ya?"

"Mmmnnnn" Arnaav frowns, feeling as bitter about the lie as his least
favorite food, "I don't feel anything here, if that is what you mean."
Arnaav answered, "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, kiddo!" Captain's mood seems elevated as he gets up and
reels in his rod, "Lets git goin here." He grabs his bucket, and starts to
go, just as Adam prepares his rod.  
"Just help him get a big
fish, and we can get back to work." Adam mutters as he helps Arnaav to his
feet.

"And how am I supposed to do that? I'm not a Noita, you know." Arnaav
retorts stubbornly.

"Intuition," Adam walks, "Merrick's a Triton, like you, right? Just, lead
Captain to where you think a big fish is gonna be."

"Can't he just pick up a spear and swim in the ocean himself?" Arnaav
stumbled a bit on the dock, "This is boring and pointless."

"I know, this is just how most humans hunt for fish." Adam said, "Please,
just do what comes naturally... Just, up on air, ya know?"

"Rrrggghhh..." Arnaav growls irritably.

"Heheh," Adam chuckles, "If you do this for him, I can buy you the biggest
crab in the market."

Arnaav's head lifts up and beams at Adam, "Really?!"

"I'll let you pick out whichever one you want." Adam nods.

"O-kay!"

"What the fuck's keepin ya?!" Captain yelled, "Come on already!! Move your
asses! I weigh 400 pounds, and I'm ahead'ya!"

"Coming!" Adam takes Araav's hand, and they run over.


~~~


"Hangh hnngg hrrnngg," Arnaav crunches away into the large crab, slurping
and sucking into the meat ravenously while sitting on the bench on the
beach. Adam smirks as he watches the kid eat.

"Don't you even want to cook it before eating?" He asked after swallowing
the second to last bite of his sandwich.

"Harrmmff, mmmfff, hm?" Arnaav looks up with his mouth full of food,
chewing and swallowing the delicious crustatian flesh.

"Nevermind." He said before tossing the last corner of bread and turkey and
bacon into his mouth, and crumbling up the wrapper, and throwing it into a
nearby bin, "Alright, I gotta take care of a couple of things, when we'll
be ready to head home, alright?"

"Ok." Arnaav nods while finishing up his own meal. Adam looks, and chuckles
as he sees Arnaav's messy face.

"Jeez, kid, you're a mess," Adam pulls out his handkerchief, squats down,
and wipes around Arnaav's mouth.

"Amph- Ah, hey!"

"Juuust a second..." Adam grooms him a little more, and he backs off,
"There, nice and clean." He stands back up and stretches, "Ok, just wait
here, I'll be right back."

"Alright." Arnaav nods before Adam walks away. The boy licks the spiny legs
of the crab, before looking, and sniffing the air. A faint smell of shrimp
wafts in the breeze. Being a curious lad, Arnaav scoots off the bench, and
walks along the scent.

His nose eventually leads him under the very tall stalks beneath the
docks. He explores a little further until the smell gets slightly
stronger. His walking leads him to what appears to be a narrow, dark
cavern. Arnaav puts his little hands onto the rocks, and sniffs a little
more.

Arnaav's nose picks up a combination of scents -- a lot of human-touched
smells, a stain of shrimp and anchovy smell. He gulps before he puts a foot
on the rock.

"Careful, young boy."

"AHH!" He screams as he scrambles away, toppling on the sand, to see Adam
standing there.

"Bewarey all ye enter here, for you tread upon the lair of the Latolcus."
Adam said in a foreboding voice.

"HHH!" Arnaav gasps as he quickly moves away, "A L-L-Latolcus??!" He
whimpers out, "There's a Latolcus here?!"

"Well, not anymore." Adam said, "You can relax now." Arnaav breathes easier
before he stands himself up, "She hasn't been here in months."

"W-When will this... Latolcus come back?" Arnaav asked timidly.

"Maybe in another month or so." Adam said, "She and her husband moved out
of Hawaii about a year ago. They only come here during the Fall and Winter
seasons now."

"Huh?" Arnaav looks confused.

"Her name is Belinda. She's a Holsien mermaid of the Coral Snake merfolk."
He said, "And she happens to be a good friend of mine."

"What?!" He gives Adam an estranged look, "Do you even know what a Latolcus
is?!"

"A merfolk who killed a Noita and drank her blood, thus gaining powers and
abilities that aren't hers to have. Otherwise known as a Blood Thief."

"So..." Arnaav blinked at him, "Why would you ever be her friend? After
what she did?"

"I didn't used to know when I first met her, I found out a few years ago
when Merrick nearly ripped her apart."

"Good." Arnaav frowned, "I-I mean... I don't understand why anyone would
want to kill a Noita..." He looks down.

"I know what she did was terrible, even as far as Coshitons go." Adam said,
"But this Latolcus has been my friend for years. Without her, Merrick would
be dead." The boy looks up at him, "When Merrick was in the oil- er, Blood
of the Earth -- Belinda showed me where to find the Forbidden Ancient to
cure him. And when me and Merrick were kidnapped, she helped free us."

"If she's so good, why kill a Noita at all." Arnaav stubbornly growled.

"From what she tells," Adam answered, "The Noita of her pod raised her like
a daughter, but wouldn't make her her Adra, a sort of relation that she
wouldn't or couldn't allow. Merrick tells me that her species in particular
are borderline savage, so in a fit of rage, Belinda struck a lethal blow in
a sudden urge of a tantrum, and Belinda happened to inhale the blood that
ensued. So in a way, she didn't know what she was doing."

"That still doesn't excuse what she did... Even if her mind was too stupid
to realize what she was doing."

"Arnaav," Adam said, and then sighed before kneeling down to Arnaav's
level, eye-to-eye, "We all make mistakes, some little, some huge. Some
mistakes get us in a little bit of trouble, while others change our lives
forever. Regardless though, we always get another chance to make things
right in one light or another." Arnaav's face started to tense, and he
started to breathe deeper.

"People change, Arnaav." Adam said softly, "Sometimes we do terrible
things, but it doesn't always mean that we're bad or evil. As a Coshiton,
you of all people should know this." Arnaav looked a little
more... Disgruntled at all of this, "Just because we make a mistake, it
doesn't mean we always have to keep paying for it the rest of our lives."

Arnaav sniffled before he struggled with his shirt. Adam looked curiously
before the boy stripped off his upper garment, before Adam saw the
intricate symbol on the left side of Arnaav's chest.

"But we do pay for it for the rest of our lives." Arnaav whimpers with a
hint of anger, "I played with a human girl, even though I was warned... I
didn't know how bad I was being, it was only a game... And now I can't ever
fulfill my life with my pod." He huffs with emotion as he looks at Adam.

"I do not know how it is with you humans, but we are constantly reminded
that we can never go back." He shakes a little as a sparkling tear rolls
down his little cheek, "I can still see my Mother and I can be with my
Father, and play with my Sister," Arnaav said, "But I cannot be with them
for more than one sun in a whole moon, and I have to see them cry as I have
to leave." He sniffles more and huffs harshly, "I have done nothing wrong
or evil like a Latolcus, and yet I am still punished for something so
small. And you say I need to accept her just like that when I still hurt so
much because of a mistake..."

"I know, buddy." Adam puts a hand on his bare shoulder, "I know it's a hard
thing to accept." He mumbled softly as the boy cries angry tears, "C'mere,
come here..." He indicates with his arms, and the boy walks to him, before
giving him a hug.

Arnaav cries into Adam's shoulder as his little hands clutch onto him
tightly, "I know, buddy, its ok..." Adam says softly, "It's ok..." His hand
rubs the back of his head while he holds him across his back.


~~~


"Mmnnnhh..." Arnaav moans on the beanbag chair as he swoons a little while
Merrick hits the buttons on the PS4 controller, working on fighting that
Ferelden Frostback in Dragon Age Inquisition. Jamal turns and sees the
small boy looking very drowsy and dizzy right next to him on the bigger
chair in the living room. Arnaav swerves to the side, just in time for
Jamal to catch him.

"Whoa, hang on there, lil man." Jamal said with a smile before picking up
the kid. Arnaav groans as he's carried over, and to the couch. "Someone's a
little tucked out, man." Jamal said as he lowers to the couch. Merrick
yawned as he stands right up. Sally the dog looks right up as her tails
begins to wag.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda tired too." He said.

"I'm hooome," Yuri chimes in as she entered through the door, carrying a
large plastic bag.

"Hey, gurl!" Jamal called up with a smile. Yuri comes in and coos as she
sees the kid holding onto Jamal's muscular frame.

"Awww, is he already asleep?"

"Naw, but gettin there." He said as he turns, and puts the sleepy kid onto
the couch. Arnaav looks drearily at Yuri as she comes in.

"Hi sweetie," Yuri says sweetly as she strokes the boy's hair, "Before you
sleep, I got something for you..." She then digs into her pack.

"Hmm?" Arnaav watches with heavy eyes as Yuri pulls out a large, pink and
white plush with a cute cat face that is mostly round, with a pointed
summit and a sakura flower stitched on the top.

"Merrick says you guys sleep together in the pod, so here's a little friend
for you to cuddle with at night." She gives the pillow-like bao doll to the
boy, "His name is Mochi." Arnaav squeezes the plush a few times, before
hugging it tight as he turns in the couch, "Aww-hawwl," Yuri coos.

"Thank you, Yuri." Merrick says, "That's really nice of you." He says with
a smile as she pulls the blanket over Arnaav.

"No problem." She squats down, and picks up her cat before walking away,
"Hate to just duck out, guys, but I'm wiped out, I need to head off right
now."

"Yeah, same with us." Adam says as he gets off his phone.

"..." Jamal looks around, before getting his phone out, "Me too, but I'mma
have Nick come over and bring a friend." He starts dialing.

"Hey- Don't you dare!" Yuri slaps his arm with mother-like sterness. "That
lump of comforter-wrapped pre-adolescence on the couch? That's not an
earless throw pillow, ya freakin-" She stumbles as she looks for the most
appropriate term to use with a child in the room.

"Go on, Yuri..." Jamal taunted in a hushed tone, "Say it. Say it with the
lil man in the room." He grins slyly at her, "Well~? I'm waiting~"

"Freakin... Jack... Rabbit... Grrr!" She grits her teeth, "You know what I
mean! Take it outside!"

"Aight, aight, calm down before ya give yourself an aneurism." Jamal says
as he went to get his shoes on.

"Oh wow, aneurism," Yuri said flatly, "That's a big word for ya."

"Ai, shuddup!" Jamal takes a playful swing at her before getting his
jacket. Just when he was about to turn the knob, he hears a small clinking,
prompting him to turn his head and look down. Sally looks up at him
pleadingly before propping her paws up on his leg while her golden tail
wags softly. "Heh, aight, aight," He picks up the leash from beside the
door frame, prompting a sudden whine of hope from the dog, and he clicked
the leash onto her collar, "I'mma hang with Sally first though. Night!"
With that, Jamal escorts the retriever from out of the house.

"Is he..." Arnaav said weakly, "Is he being forced out because of me?"

Yuri chuckles as she bends down to stroke his hair, "Oh, of course not,
sweetie." She said, "He's not sleepy right now, so he's just gonna go out
and spend some time with his friends." Roxas moves out of her arms, and
walks upon the blanket, which covers Arnaav, giving his owner a curious
look. "Hehe, goodnight Arnaav." She gives his soft cheek a gentle rub
before walking away, and so the cat hops off of the couch, and follows her.

"Goodnight, Arnaav." Merrick says to the boy.

"Sleep tight, buddy." Adam follows up, before the kid snuggles in his
wrappings.


~~~


"So how was he really?" Merrick asked as he slips into bed.

"Was really curious, which made him a little fussy from time to time." Adam
slides down his briefs, and stepped into the bed beside his lover.

"Hah," Merrick smirked, "I hope he didn't get into trouble. He was kind of
a handful when he was with me."

"Naw, for the most part, he was a good kid." Merrick snuggles up to his
fuzzy man, and puts a hand on his chest while Adam wraps an arm around him,
"He kinda takes issue with us calling him your brother though. He says
relations aren't taken lightly by merfolk."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Merrick nodded, "I figured as much. I was kinda
hoping he'd like it though. Because he kinda is my brother at this point."
He smiles.

"Well, what'ya gonna do." Adam shrugged.

"Well," Merrick shifts in bed, and climbs onto Adam, "I can be a total ass
to him like you and Jamal."

"Hah, really?" Adam gives a firm handle on Merrick's arm, so they switched,
so Adam is straddled on top of Merrick, "You sure you wanna do that? Cause
me and Jamal really get into it sometimes."

"Hehehe," Merrick blushes a little as he feels the strength of his
boyfriend above him, "I think I'd rather you get into me, right?"

"That's right~..." Adam grins as he bows his head down, and kisses
Merrick's lips. Merrick kissed back, and smooched him again. Their lips
squelched and lapped after a few sweet kisses before a tongue was pressed
upon a pair of soft edges.

Adam slowed the kissing down to innocent kisses as his eyes opened lidded
slightly. His hands press down onto Merrick's wrists as his hardening
member brushes along that smooth pelvis.

Merrick lets in a small moan as he feels himself less and less able to move
his arms as those fingers close around his wrists. He feels his own penis
stir quickly as Adam plants his knees on either side of him while his
squeezes his wrists firmly.

"Think you can keep quiet?" Adam asked in a low husky huff. He can already
feel Merrick's heart pounding inside him, as well as movement down in the
lower area.

"I might need to bite a pillow..." Merrick answered shifting his leg as he
feels himself at full capacity in his meat.

"Or I can suck on your tongue until you cum..." Adam said back. Merrick
huffs in lust as he nods. Adam takes a quick breath before gluing his lips
onto the other, while sill gripping Merrick's wrists.

"Mmmff~!" Merrick moans as he feels Adam's beastly mouth storm his own,
grinding himself firmly into him as he kisses him passionately.