the little merboy | chapter 4

When he awoke, it was due to the weight on his chest that was making it quite hard to breathe. Isodore blinked a few times in the sunlight that spilled into the room and his vision focused on the very nude merboy who straddled his ribs and was staring down into his face, waiting for him to wake up. Calida smiled brightly at him, using both hands to push back the heavy locks of his hair that had escaped over his shoulders. Isodore gasped a big breath as Calida scooted back to straddle his hips, relieving the pressure over his lungs. He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" "Time? It's daytime." Calida put his hands on either side of Isodore's head and leaned over his face. "Daytime. How late in the daytime then?" "Oh, not very." He waved his hand dismissively. "But that's good, right? That means we have the whole day!" He slid over Isodore's body and over the edge of the bed to attempt to stand. He stumbled only a bit, but made his way to the window and managed to get the panes open. "And look how glorious it is!" he cried out, flinging his arms wide. With the sun lighting up his red tresses, he laughed out into the open air and beautiful morning, raising his arms in a stretch where he could feel the warm air on his skin. When he turned around, Isodore realized he'd never really been able to see the true coloring the merboy possessed underwater. But here in this light, he was- "So beautiful..." Calida whispered, watching some birds fly into the crevasses above the pillars of the west wing outside walls. "So bright and warm." He leaned further out. "Can we go outside? Right now?" Isodore was sitting up and rubbing the kink in his neck. "'Lida, you're going to fall if you lean any further. Yes, we can go. Let me get dressed." The merboy abandoned the window and turned around. "Dressed? Why?" The human rolled his eyes and threw back the covers without answering. Instead, he padded over to the chiffonier and began searching for some suitable walking clothes. Or perhaps they should ride. Wait, no. Bad idea. But if they could get out soon enough, they could escape Elise should she want to accompany them. Calida was hovering over his shoulder. "What is this thing you have with clothing? How are you supposed to enjoy the day?" "Like any proper human, 'Lida. Get used to wearing clothes if you want to stay here." "As long as I don't have to wear them all the time." He shot his human a winning smile. Isodore gave a smirk and decided on his wardrobe. The next step would be getting Calida back into clothing and keeping him there. After a small struggle with breeches, shirt ties and boots, he quickly herded Calida out of the main doors and onto the front lawn. Promptly, the merboy tumbled to the rich grass and spread his limbs out, clutching the greenery with his fingers. "What is it?" "Grass, 'Lida." He picked a few blades and sniffed them. "Can you eat it?" Isodore pulled him up and brushed him off. "Some animals do, but humans don't. What green stuff we eat is grown for the purpose. This is decoration. Now let's go." It wasn't so bad really, after he'd convinced Calida not to touch the things on the vendor's stands. He was so curious about everything that more often than not, he would end up either breaking it or absently walking off with it. A trinket, a piece of jewelry, some food or otherwise would be sniffed, turned over and around, and then forgotten for something else. He couldn't count how many times he had to say 'no' to something Calida wanted. Necklaces, rings, hairpins, painted stones and little statues; even the little kittens a small young girl had in a box. Zigzagging from one stand to another, Isodore allowed himself to be tugged, pushed and pulled about, like having an over-zealous child on the leash of his arm. But Calida's good mood had penetrated into him and he found himself smiling at the merboy's curiosity, so he didn't mind so much that people were staring at them both. It was strange though. By the time they reached the outskirts of the market, he didn't seem to care anymore about how tight Calida's grip on his hand was, or even the fact that they were two boys holding hands. He wasn't even thinking about that. He was thinking only how very brilliant the color of Calida's hair was by the time the sun moved west and cast a light barely tinged in orange, which also warmed the peachy tone of his skin. Or that if he moved a certain way, threw a particular glance over his shoulder as he studied something, Isodore found himself caught like a deer in the hunter's trap. By the time the sun set, he was carrying the merboy on his back. Calida, not used to using so much energy, had dozed off on his shoulder as they rested aside a tavern before heading home. So, steeling his pride, Isodore had hefted the merboy's slight frame onto his back and carried him. He set Calida down in a chair in the house's roomy study and ordered some servant to go turn down his bed. Then, shutting the doors, he started a fire in the grate and knelt down next to the chair. "'Lida? Are you hungry?" Calida slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. "Mmm, no. Those sweet things were enough for me." He lazily rubbed his belly. He watched as Isodore stood up and moved to watch the fire. His human looked tired. "You should have woken me," he added softly. "I can walk on my own you know. Sort of. I'm getting better at it. Better than you are at swimmimg anyway." His human turned around with a small smile and raised his hand to rub the back of his neck. Calida cocked his head to the side. His human didn't look tired- it was something else. Isodore's sandy hair was lit up by the light coming from the grate, but his face turned into shadows when he moved. Calida raised his hand and reached for him. The human blinked at him with strange eyes but then as if under some spell, he raised his own hand and touched the seeking fingers, then allowed himself to be pulled to kneel before the chair at Calida's drawn up knees again. The merboy hesitated, but then stroked his human's hair back from his face, smiling complacently down at him. The gesture seemed... right. "What's the matter?" he asked softly. His human averted his eyes then and cleared his throat. "Nothing," he said. Calida watched him. It was most peculiar behavior for his human not to at least meet his gaze. He touched Isodore again, this time flattening his palm gently against his human's jaw to feel the firm curve of the bone and the sensitive, tender flesh of his throat underneath. There was always something about him that made Calida just want to touch. Ever since he'd come here, that urge had grown much stronger than it had ever been while in his underwater home. Isodore had been a toy then, a companion, a pet even. But now, strange new inclinations took control of his mind more often than not. He was curious about this world, yes, but the allure of his human had grown stronger than his curiosity. Little did he know that it was the same feeling that his human had felt while in their underwater home. Why was he suddenly feeling this way? Why had he had such a strange dream last night where he'd woken up exactly where he had been dreaming he'd be- in Isodore's arms? And why, of all things, were certain parts of his body doing things that he never imagined they could do? It was like they had a mind of their own! It was happening again, even as he was there petting his human's hair. Isodore looked so handsome and virile, though his face was slightly flushed. And when he did look up, appearing lost for words, it was like a line of fire shot from Calida's chest to his groin. He was most convinced now that that was not a fin. Sitting here, curled up in the chair, he was thankful that his human wouldn't be able to see his discomfort. Though he'd never been edgy around his human on any subject before, this particular situation made him feel warm and tingly, and also feel for the first time what it was like to be embarrassed. Calida leaned down a bit, drawn again by the desire to touch. Isodore smelled faintly of the salty air of the day, and his human didn't move when Calida leaned closer to the scent. But when the merboy's cheek touched his, he suddenly, as if snapping out of some spell, got to his feet and backed away. "I-" he faltered. He took a deep breath and turned around to the fire. "I think it's time for bed, 'Lida." The merboy, somewhat confused and even a bit hurt, just nodded. Damn. Isodore paced his room that night after curtly confining the merboy to sleep in his own room, in his own bed. He couldn't deal with another night with that creature curled against him. Not after today, not after what happened in the study. He looked up from his determined gaze at the floor he was walking, stopping his pacing to take a deep cleansing breath. What in hell had just happened to him? A weak moment, that's what it must have been. He resumed his pacing. It was as if the merboy had cast a spell over his senses, heightening them only to Calida's presence, his beauty and endearing innocence. Drawing him in like bewitchery. And when Calida had reached for him by the fire, he had gone to him, knelt down beside him like a willing victim. The feel of the other's touch remained on his cheek and jaw, and he worriedly rubbed the spot. He'd been almost unwillingly snapped out of it when the merboy had leaned down to him. Had Calida done that on purpose? Cast some enchantment over him just as compelling as the time Isodore had heard him singing? No, he wouldn't have used such a trick, even if he had been capable of it. Of that, Isodore was sure. But still... He shuddered at the thought, and began to think that perhaps it would just be better that Calida should go back to his ocean home. He stopped pacing again at the thought. That's not fair, he told himself. To send him away just because you've got some odd fascination with him. Maybe it was just a sign that he was adjusting to Calida being in his world, instead of the other way around... Perhaps all Isodore needed was to get back into the routine of everyday life. Get used to being with humans again. A few more days passed, filled with adventures and misadventures of showing Calida the world outside of his ocean home. Isodore showed him the sights of ocean towns, then the culture of more inland villages who relied on the land and animals for a living. He introduced him to horses, cattle, dogs, cats, birds, and anything else that the merboy would eventually question him about. Carts, wagons, carriages, kites, books, dances, plays, statues, pet fish, cups and saucers, trees, bushes, insects, music... Anything and everything caught his eye and fascination. And the merboy eventually even adopted the ability to dress himself, grudgingly accepting the clothes he had to wear as a part of this new life. But through all of this, Isodore could not forget the subliminal pull of Calida's eyes that night by the fire. He kept his distance as politely as he could from the merboy without it catching Calida's conscious attention. And they slept in separate chambers as well from then on. He wouldn't risk it again because he doubted, if given the chance again, that he would be able to pull himself away. After several weeks, life had returned to somewhat normal. The family had accepted their strange house guest as a permanent resident, the cooks grew used to making a separate meat-less meal during dinnertime, and even Elise had made somewhat of a grudging peace with the merboy. Isodore was lying in bed reading one of his uncle's manuscripts when there was a slight knock at his door. He froze in dread that the merboy had gathered enough courage to pay a night visit. But then there was a decidedly female voice calling his name from the other side of the door. He opened it to find Elise standing there, clutching her robe at her throat, looking prettily disheveled as if she'd just gotten out of bed. "It's late, Elise," Isodore said softly, glancing behind her at the merboy's closed bedroom door across the hall. "I know," she said, bowing her head slightly. "But I saw you and that boy riding the beaches today, and it's been keeping me awake tonight for some reason." She gave a soft, nervous little laugh. "And I was just thinking about how you and I used to go riding down there." Isodore's eyes softened. She looked so small there in a thin long robe with her long hair down around her shoulders. It was nearly as long as Calida's. "We used to spend all day together, but now-" she added softly. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "I've been busy, you know," he said, the slight flush to her face causing him to speak in a gentle voice. "Calida's so curious, you see-" "I know. But I've missed you." She looked away. Isodore watched her for a moment, weighing options in his mind. His eyes flickered to the merboy's door again across the hall. Calida had retired long ago, he was bound to be fast asleep by now. Without further thinking, Isodore swung the door wider in invitation. Elise looked up at him hesitantly, as if still not sure of her decision to even be here. But then she entered, and he closed the door firmly behind her. Calida woke up early the next morning for some reason. He wrinkled his nose and yawned and stretched in a morning routine he'd fallen into, and then sat up, scratching his chest lazily. Outside his open window, those creatures- birds, were singing, and the morning breeze was ruffling the light drapery. He jumped up. This morning was as good as any morning to go visit his human. He'd sensed Isodore drawing away for some reason lately. Could it be he was getting bored here? Maybe they should go back to the ocean, where there was always something to do. Calida loved it here, but he wanted his human to be happy, too. With a mind full of good intentions and a body ready to curl up at Isodore's side again if he was still asleep, he tugged on some breeches (Isodore was going to be so proud of him), grabbed his set of precious keys, and padded out of his room across the hall. Trying the handle to his human's room, he found it to be locked, which is what he had expected. For some reason, Isodore thought something unwelcome was going to come into his bedroom, and he locked it every night. Humans were strange creatures. So it was the merboy's luck that a maidservant, after cleaning their rooms, had accidentally left her key set sitting on the table in his room. He'd seen her use them often enough to understand how they were supposed to work. It took him a few tries to painstakingly find the right key and unlock the door with as little noise as possible. He didn't want to wake his human if he was still asleep. Slowly, he turned the handle and pushed the door around on its silent hinges. The scene he was met with was one he had never even dreamed of, therefore, he was completely and utterly unprepared for it. Isodore was sitting up on bed, the sheets covering his otherwise naked body from the waist down. And there, at the same window where Calida had sat on his first night here, was that woman, wrapped up only in a sheet, which in her surprise and with a shrill scream, she let fall to her waist before she could catch it. "Oh I see, I have to wear clothes around you, but she doesn't?" Calida spat out at Isodore. "Calida!" his human cried angrily, jumping up from the bed in all his naked glory to throw further cover around the woman. The merboy set his jaw angrily. There was something about this room, about the tangled bedsheets, the two naked people. And what was that scent he was picking up? It was salty, but not ocean salty, more of a musk, and even in his anger, it made his senses reel in the same way they had when he'd been so close to his human that one night. Isodore was hurriedly wrapping the woman up and telling her to go back to her rooms. She complied easily enough, pausing to throw a venomous look at the merboy before she was gone. Behind her, Isodore closed the door, locked it and then threw the bolt. He leaned against it, breathing heavily. Calida stood expectantly waiting for him to say something, to explain what exactly was going on. "What are you doing here?" his human demanded. "How did you get in?" Calida held up his set of keys, looking mighty proud of himself. "I wanted to surprise you," he said. "What happened in here? What did you do last night?" he asked. His heightened sense of smell caught the fading scent again, which was probably too faint for his human to pick up. It made him tingle. "What humans do, 'Lida," Isodore answered angrily. He moved to pull on some clothes, since Calida had been eyeing him as if he'd never seen him so naked before. He was angry, so angry... The merboy not only could sense it, he could feel it. Somewhere inside his head he realized he may have made a little mistake in coming here. But why would his human be mad at him? Why had that woman had screamed like she did? The merboy knew he had to redeem himself. The feeling of his human's anger directed at him was not a pleasant one. "I also came to ask you if you wanted to go home," he said softly. "You seem bored here." That one caught his human by surprise so that he forgot his anger for a moment and turned a questioning look at Calida as he pulled on a shirt. "You don't seem happy, is what I mean," Calida continued. "Something's bothering you, but you won't tell me what it is." Isodore's handsome face had lost the hard look of anger, but still, he didn't speak. The merboy looked back at him. "You talk to me, but you don't seem to want to anymore," he added. "Calida-" "You seemed happier back home in the water," the merboy said quickly. "We can go back there if you want, see Dyce maybe, tease some sharks, cause some trouble-" "'Lida." "Because I miss being with you when you're happy. I miss being with you-" "'Lida, please." The merboy felt emotions surge within him that he had not expected and they got the better of him. Strange feelings had suddenly surged up within him and the words wouldn't stop at Isodore's plea. "What happened that night by the fireplace?" he demanded, his light voice suddenly rough with surprising emotion. "I want to touch you like I did that night. I want to know about you, about this feeling I get when I'm around you. I want to know everything, but you won't explain it to me!" He stood slightly huffing, hot and flushed to the core. Isodore was staring at him, taken quite aback by his outburst. Did he really not know what had been going on inside the merboy's head all this time? "Why?" Calida whispered. "What does it mean, this feeling in here..?" His hands cluched at his chest. "What can I do..?" Calida watched his human turn his face away, feeling helpless and hating it. He then realized how he'd been wrong about his human's behavior. Isodore wasn't bored or distracted. It was he himself that was making his human unhappy. Why else would Isodore just look away like that? Had this happened before, Calida would have stood his ground and demanded what he had done wrong. But these feelings had made him weak when it came to Isodore, and he did the only thing that came to him. He submitted to the human he had become. He fled. Isodore was calling his name behind him but he kept running. Down the stairs and out of the main doors, passing the uncle and his wife without explanation. He fled as fast as he could on his strong legs, down the pathway of the house grounds, down to the sloped hills that led to the ocean. To his home, away from the place and the person that had put this unwelcome ache in his heart. Staggering onto the beach, cursing the strange wetness in his eyes, he stripped off his clothing and dove headfirst into the waves. His human had chased after the merboy and caught up just in time to see Calida dive into the water and disappear. Isodore fell to his knees on the beach, breathing heavily and stared out across the vast, impenetrable sea. God, what had he done? Deep within the depths Dyce was busy charming a young carrier that he didn't notice the slight throbbing call in the back of his mind at first. He smiled and flirted easily, enjoying his favorite pastime until the throbbing became a pounding that brought around his attention. It disoriented him for a moment before he realized what it was. Calida. His goal forgotten, he spun around and propelled himself off into the open water towards the cry. Hold on, I'm coming... MyNiceSpace.com

the little merboy | chapter 5

"I'll kill him." "Stop it, Dyce." Dyce was swimming back and forth around Calida's chambers, irritably mumbling to himself. Calida reclined on his sleeping pallet, tired from his weeping. His spawn stopped his circles. "Why should I?" he demanded angrily. "I knew this would happen. Humans are fun to play with, but I never intended you to-" Calida shook his head and his hair rippled around his shoulders. "I don't understand either," he said wearily, playing with the long translucent fins of his tail. "But you were right. It's was my fault." "What?" His hatcher looked up with open self-blame in his eyes. "You told me I would get attached and I didn't believe you. I didn't think it would be so beautiful." Dyce narrowed his eyes and floated a bit closer. "Did you really find it so wonderful, 'Lida? Or was it just him?" Calida looked away from him and was silent. A few hours of crying had taken their toll on him and yet he still refused to sleep. He absently played with his waving hair, musing. "He was warm," he answered softly, turning back to look at Dyce. "Warm and dry." He hugged himself, remembering the one night he'd been able to sleep against his human's side. "Once out of the water he was so strong. But then there were parts that were so soft too. Like here." He touched the underside of Dyce's chin with his finger. He moved his finger to his spawn's cheek and then into his dark hair. "And here..." Dyce's expression had softened. "He's just a human, 'Lida," he reasoned forlornly. The blame had shifted into his own eyes. That his hatcher suffered so was his fault. He had always considered humans a little less than the fish themselves; animals, almost savages, whose way of life could be nothing compared to the peaceful paradise down here. The land above was a place for exploration and adventure, but one always returned to the tranquility of home. How was it that this human had ensnared his hatcher? He was just a toy, a plaything. Calida withdrew his fingers and hugged himself again. "I know he's human," he whispered. "I want to be human too." Isodore still sat on the beach where he'd fallen to his knees, dazedly watching the water and listening to its lulling music. Night would fall soon; the sky was already growing orange and red but he didn't care. He vaguely wondered what Elise would think of all this, and if she would come out to try to find him. Disturbed by the idea, he glanced over his shoulder at the sandy path that would lead up to the keep. He hoped she wouldn't come, not right now. He couldn't deal with having to tell her that last night, pleasurable as it was, could be the only one of its kind. The breeze picked up a bit as he ran both hands back through his hair and bowed his head in self-reproaching agony. It wasn't until the moment that Calida had bolted that he'd realized what had gone wrong, though the merboy's words hadn't struck home until he was far out of reach beneath the water's surface. So what did that mean? Isodore looked up at the sea again. Had he been denying that Calida's words had echoed his own inner thoughts for some time now? With the merboy being male, was that so very uncommon? In confused reason he realized that he'd slept with Elise because he thought she would allay those questions in his mind, and that it hadn't worked. The truth was that he was just as confused as the merboy, perhaps even more so. At least Calida knew what he wanted, or at least that he wanted something, and didn't have to worry about what others would think. But it wasn't just that he was a male. He wasn't human. He wasn't human! Isodore stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry," he said softly to the lapping waves. "But I suppose I don't know how this would have worked anyway. Now at least you are where you belong, and so am I. We'll have to be happy with that." His unheard words disappearing into the air, Isodore waited for the sun to set completely before giving the shimmering water one last look and heading towards home. Calida floated aimlessly about for days, feeling restless and bored. Dyce gave him his space and privacy and for that his hatcher was grateful, but soon Calida found himself wishing for company. But his peers and family were nothing compared to the company he'd become used to. He couldn't think of anything else but the wonders and the colors he'd seen and the warmth he'd had in his heart for such a short, precious time. To compound his sadness, his husband had been furious at his absence, and rightly had taken a few others to his nest for spawns. He'd insisted that Calida carry again and regain his place as the favorite, but Calida didn't care about position or power anymore. The thought of carrying another child was impossible. Exactly a week after his return, Calida made up his mind for good. He was tired of missing his human, tired of pining for the warmth of flesh and sunshine. "Absolutely not," said Dyce, furious. Calida bristled. "I'll go if I want to, Dyce, and don't you go swimming and telling your father either." "But how can you go back? How can you want to?" "He had a reason for it all. I want to know what it was." Dyce looked doubtful. "He hurt you, 'Lida-" His hatcher shook his head. "I hurt myself by not understanding him." "But you can't just-" Calida whirled around to face him, angry at his protests after what he'd had to go through to make this decision. "It was you who gave him to me, remember? Don't you dare try to take him away again!" His handsome spawn held his gaze for a long moment. He was certainly his father's son, and would not likely give up so easily. "What makes you even think you're even capable of going back? You know you can't hold that form forever. Already you were tiring; you couldn't have stayed much longer-" He stopped as his hatcher dropped his gaze and gave a very soft, sad smile. "I figured it out, Dyce." "What?" Calida floated about, musing. "With every day there, I got to be more and more like them. I hadn't realized it until I got back here." He paused. "Even now, I'm not the same as I was before. I feel different, everything's changed. It was a little harder to breathe at first, and coming back to form was almost painful-" Dyce cocked his head. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying that if I stay long enough, I don't think I'll be able to come home again." His spawn's eyes widened and he was speechless for once. But Dyce saw the satisfied smile on his hatcher's face and knew that Calida had already accepted the consequences of such a decision. He knew what he was giving up already; he didn't have to be reminded. "You can't mean it, 'Lida," he whispered. "Not come home? To live up there forever?" Calida raised his chin. "As long as he's there, I don't care." He was totally resolute; the hardness in his eyes was something Dyce had not seen before. Was that new too? "What about me then?" Dyce growled, a choking feeling rising in his throat. "What about me? Am I supposed to just let you go?" Emotion made his voice gruff, and his anger was rising with the fear of abandonment. Calida rushed to him and enfolded his spawn in his arms. "Hush... hush," he said into Dyce's hair. He held his child for long moments, wondering at how Dyce had grown so much, and yet here he crumbled like a spawnling still. He knew that someday, when the innocence and foolhardiness of youth wore off, Dyce would make a strong, handsome consort and find a carrier of his own to hatch his babies. But he would probably never see them. "I've made a horrible mistake," Calida said, looking into Dyce's dark eyes. "I've fallen in love with a human. You warned me that I would and now I must pay for it." Dyce gripped his hatcher's wrists and swallowed the desperation that made his voice shake. "No, you don't have to, 'Lida! You can just stay here. It will pass!" He was silent for a while, trembling there in his hatcher's arms. He knew he had lost this battle already. Softly, he said, "What will I do without you?" Calida dropped his hands from Dyce's face and gave him a sad smile. "Find a mate, have some babies, be happy," he said, his smile not quite carrying the happiness those words should have conveyed. Dyce shook his head and pulled away. "When will you go?" he asked, his back to his hatcher. "As soon as I can," Calida answered softly. "Before he forgets about me." His spawn turned finally and looked him in the eye. "Remember when I was young and I asked you to be my mate? And I told you I would never want anyone else?" Calida blinked. "Yes, I remember," he said. "Why?" But Dyce didn't answer. He just shrugged, gave a private, sad smile, and swam away. For weeks Isodore ran an obstacle course through his home to avoid prying servants and his family, not to mention Elise. Everyone wanted to know where the pretty red-haired boy had gone and why he'd left in such agitation. They wanted to know if Isodore planned on marrying Elise, if she would get pregnant, or if perhaps the young lord was more inclined towards the aforementioned red-haired boy, which could be why the lady Elise refused to see anyone and young lord Isodore was avoiding everyone. "Harpies, all of them," Isodore mumbled to himself as he leaned flattened against a wall as a pair of servants passed in front of the winding staircase. If he could make it to his room, he could claim sanctuary there at least. He needn't fear of running into Elise. From what he could overhear from the servants' conversations, it seemed she'd locked herself in her room again. He felt guilty for it, but bigger problems weighed on his mind presently. He made it to his room and locked the door behind him. As he leaned against it, breathing hard from his run, he knew that things couldn't go on this way. He couldn't keep avoiding his entire household, couldn't keep snatching meals from the servants' tables and he couldn't keep walking the beaches at night in hopes that Calida would come back. He wasn't. It'd been two weeks now. How many times had he heard that worn out line about not knowing what you had until it was gone? He cursed the person who had to put it into words, because that was the only thing he could think about now, like slap in the face. Isodore flopped down on his bed and buried his face in the pillows, biting an anguished groan out through his teeth. Tomorrow he would have to deal with it all again, but this time he would face them all and tell them the truth. He had been in love, but Calida was gone because Isodore had refused to realize that until it was too late. Life had to go on, didn't it? Vaguely, he heard something click in the darkness of his room. Isodore opened his eyes and encountered nothing but blackness, which seemed somewhat odd to his half-asleep brain. Somewhere in his consciousness he knew that there should be a familiar glow of the night lanterns from outside his laced window curtains, but it didn't register that someone had pulled down the thick draperies, and that that someone hadn't been him. Isodore rolled over with a slight groan, too exhausted to bother with the inconsistencies in his awareness. As he snuggled his face into the pillow, a new scent hit his nostrils. It was a fresh, cool smell, and one that he knew he should know. He unconsciously reached out and his hand encountered something smooth and warm. It felt almost like... skin? He drew back as if burned and fumbled to light the bedside candle. The light revealed his merboy in human form stretched languidly alongside him, gloriously nude with his head resting upon a propped up hand. On his face lingered a smile, half obscured by tendrils of curling red hair that escaped the mass of it that was pushed behind his ear. From his finger dangled the keys with which he'd let himself in. "Calida?!" he hissed. Isodore's heart had leapt into his throat in fright at first, but now it beat rapidly in disbelief and, dare he say, anticipation. The merboy's smile faded a bit as he leaned closer. His fingers touched Isodore's lips to silence him. "Don't speak. I have to tell you something." He removed his fingers and cast his eyes downward and away from Isodore's. "When I went home I could think of nothing but you," he said softly, as if admitting a great secret. "How much I missed you and everything that I'd wanted you to show me. There was so much, but I didn't know what to ask for." He smiled to himself, but still avoided Isodore's eyes. "In fact, I still don't really." "'Lida?" Isodore spoke up, seeing conflict cross the merboy's face. "You have to tell me what it is I want. I know you know. I came back here so you could tell me." The look in his eyes was so resolved, so hopeful that Isodore found his decision very close to being made for him. But there was still a part of him nagging. The merboy didn't know what he was asking for. How could he possibly understand what it was to make love, or bear the burden of the morning after? Did he understand the intimacy? The parts of himself he would be exposing, both physically and emotionally? Did he know how much of himself he would give up? Or perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he wouldn't! What if all sex did was prove how different they were? Isodore stared up into Calida's eyes and wondered that if his last thought proved to be true... could he take it? A long lock of Calida's hair fell down from over his shoulder and brushed Isodore's chest. The merboy didn't even blink; he continued to stare into his human's eyes as Isodore found his hand moving to touch the rich, dark red locks. As Isodore's fingers reached out, the merboy whispered, "But... if I stay here," his eyes met his human's again. "I don't think I can go home again." "What do you mean?" Calida sighed sadly. "That's how the magic works. I can become human, Isodore, but I can't remain what I was before at the same time. I'm changing, and I can't stop it." Isodore shook his head. "No, you shouldn't be here then. I don't want you to change-" Calida grabbed his face with both hands to make his human meet his eyes. "But I do!" Tears were welling up in his eyes as his voice began to tremble. "It's my decision to make, can't you see that? How much I want to be like you?" His thumb traced the line of Isodore's jaw. "How much I want to be with you?" Isodore's hands had come up to hold Calida's wrists but now he moved them down the merboy's arms up to his shoulders. "It's hard to believe you're the same creature that I first met," he said softly. "You have changed. It's even in the way you speak." He cupped Calida's face with one hand. Calida moved over him, propping himself on his arms, his body curling around his human's like a snake. Isodore found quickly that the sensation of the merboy being so close, like that night by the fireplace when Calida had been stroking his hair, had swallowed up all of his sense, good and bad. Calida had settled firmly on top of him but simply lay there, getting used to and enjoying the feel of his human's body underneath him. Isodore was so warm and inviting, his unique, human scent pulling at the merboy's senses, as strong as his own mating pheromone when it was his time to bear. He smoothed back Isodore's hair from his face with both hands to see well into his eyes. "You know, you always made me want to touch you," the merboy admitted. "Just to see what you felt like." "Touch me then," Isodore answered, his deep, familiar voice sending little chills through the merboy's chest. His human stretched his arms up above his head over the pillows, leaving himself open for exploration. Calida smiled and sat up, straddling his human's waist. Isodore had gone to sleep without a shirt on so the sight of his bare flesh, though nothing new to his eyes, was now simply tantalizing. He ran his hands all the way down Isodore's chest, palms flat and fingers lightly trailing. "I could get too used to this," Calida said with a small smile, his finger tracing a small circle around Isodore's navel. His human propped himself up on his elbows. "Shall I not spoil you then? Come here." He pulled Calida up to lay face to face again. "Spoil me," Calida answered, leaning back down. He placed both hands on either side of his human's head and waited for whatever it was Isodore was going to show him. "Let me kiss you, 'Lida?" The merboy nodded his head like an excited puppy. Isodore's brain clicked into action mode and he moved his hands up to Calida's face and pulled him down to his lips. The merboy's hair fell around his face and pooled on the pillows. "Open your mouth, that's the whole point of it," he breathed softly against the merboy's lips. Calida's expression had changed from confident to very uncertain. A little of his old, innocent flair rose up into his face. "Are you sure?" the merboy said, raising an eyebrow. "That's a little strange. Is that really how it goes?" Isodore rolled his eyes. "Trust me I'm sure. I just can't wait to see your reaction when you find out what comes next." Calida's eyes widened. "You mean... there's more?" His human nodded. "There's more. Open your mouth." They kissed again, more successfully now that Calida had seemed to get the gist of it. He liked kissing, liked sharing something like that with the one he loved most. He liked opening his eyes and seeing Isodore so close, his own eyes closed in the intimacy. Isodore's hands had wandered from his shoulders down his sides and over the small of his back. His touch felt wonderful, warm, pulling him closer. They wandered up his sides again and down, this time over his backside. Calida jerked up, breaking their kiss again. Below him, Isodore blinked. "What?" Calida looked confused. "I don't know... I got chills." Isodore smiled. Finally some human modesty rubbing off? Well, in his own new-found resolve, there was no room for prudence on Calida's part. "Like this?" he asked, repeating the move. He was sure that Calida was not thinking of backing out; there was still a hardness pressed against his own, one that he knew the merboy had not noticed yet. He ran both hands over Calida's backside and pulled his hips down tightly against his own, forcing the merboy to realize the sensations that could be felt there. Again, Calida's sea-green eyes were wide as dinner platters. "Uhnn," he breathed, his breath warm. "Isodore-" "Just wait," his human whispered, rolling him over to put Calida beneath him. "I'm going to show you what that is, once and for all." He slid down Calida's slim form, kissing his way to the merboy's groin. He kissed the spot where very fine hair began to grow, inches below his navel. Its texture was interesting, fine and soft, with a color as deep red as the hair atop Calida's head. "Look, 'Lida," he whispered, cupping in his hands the source of the merboy's heat. Calida had propped himself up on his elbows and let his head fall back during Isodore's ministrations. He lifted it now with a deep groan and he took a short, surprised intake of breath. "Oh... What's... what's wrong with it?" He asked, looking very worried. "Nothing. It's quite normal," Isodore answered, stroking gently and trying his damndest not to laugh. The look on Calida's face was almost as good as the one when he'd first discovered those parts of his body long ago. Calida soon forgot the strange look of his... appendage as Isodore continued his strokes. The merboy drew his knees up and grabbed handfuls of his human's hair and mewled almost like a cat. And when Isodore's lips touched him, he lost control completely. It didn't take long. And it was like nothing Calida had ever felt before, this sensation of being swallowed whole. And knowing it was his human who was doing it to him made it all the more exciting and erotic. Orgasm nearly killed him. Or at least it felt that way. He never knew death could be so sweet, so utterly... satisfying. Isodore sat up, licking his lips to gaze upon a vision of a boy laying before him, knees drawn up, hands above his head gripping the pillows, head turned to the side and breathing through an open mouth as strands of long red hair clung to his forehead and cheek with a slight sweat. The sight alone made him want to crush Calida to him, hold his delicate frame and hide him away from everything else, protect him from everything else. He moved back up Calida's body, kissing and tasting salt, being reminded of the ocean. His merboy came alive again under his kisses, letting go of his death grip on the sheets to hold Isodore's head steady. "Is it always like that?" he breathed. "Mmm," his human murmured against his neck. "It can be better." "Better? How?" Isodore propped himself up on his arms above him, aware that his arousal was becoming a sweet pain that he could hardly talk without his breath catching. But he wasn't sure; perhaps something like this should come later. Perhaps we should wait," he said uncertainly. "No." Calida smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "Anything," he said. "I am ready for anything." His hands slid down Isodore's hips and thighs and back up the inside to touch, timidly, the source of his own passion. His human took such a sharp intake of breath that Calida drew his hands back as if burnt. "Did I hurt you?" he whispered worriedly. Isodore let himself back down on top of him, spreading Calida's legs to lay between them as he did so. "No," he assured in a husky voice. "It felt good. Very good." The merboy spread his legs wider as he got more comfortable, unconsciously rubbing against him. When he saw the effect on his human, he did it again, arching his hips upward with a small, sneaky smile on his face. Isodore brushed Calida's thick hair away from his moist forehead. "You learn quickly," he breathed. Calida stretched his neck up to kiss him. "I think you told me that once before." "Have I?" His human slid a bit further down and sat up. He then hesitated, looking unsure of himself once again. Calida lay looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Something wrong?" he asked. Isodore shook his head. "No, it's nothing." The merboy reached down his body to touch Isodore's belly with his fingertips. "Then what are you waiting for?" Calida woke up sometime near dawn. Isodore lay sleeping against him, his head cradled in his arms. The merboy untangled himself as best he could without waking his human and slipped from the bed silently. He stretched exhausted muscles and sauntered to the window where he pulled back the thick drapes. The ocean was dark, but he could see well enough by the light of the moon the waves crashing endlessly against the shore in a soothing rhythm. He just barely hear the sound, that repetitive thrum of the waves he could hear even from him home underneath the surface that had lulled him to sleep. He turned and looked at his human, still sleeping, with his arm stretched out where Calida had been laying. He'd never looked more handsome than now with his hair all mussed and body heavy in sleep. He was oblivious to the world, completely relaxed in his repose, a stunning contrast to what he'd been several hours ago. Calida smiled, but then it slowly disappeared from his face. He would miss the constant companionship of his favorite spawn, and hoped someday that Dyce would come to see him, when the pain of their separation wasn't so great. Dyce had been angry with abandonment right up until Calida had bid him farewell, but he would understand, with time. Calida felt heartbroken when he thought about it too hard, so he took a deep breath, held back tears that threatened and looked again to the bed where the reason he was staying slept. Tiptoeing back, the merboy crept onto the bed. He touched his human's hair and brushed it back from his face with a lover's tenderness and leaned down to kiss his temple. Isodore stirred only a little when Calida went to cuddle up again, this time with his head against his human's chest, listening to the slow beating of his heart. A new rhythm to lull him to sleep. The End (or is it?) Isodore stood in front of the mirror in the crisp morning, tying his shirt laces, perparinmg himself for what lay ahead when they went downstairs. In the reflection he could see Calida sitting on the bed behind him, giggling to himself as he absently chewed a fingernail, lost in his own little world. He'd been like that all morning, in fact. Ok, I'll bite, he thought. "What is so funny?" Isodore finally said, turning around to see his lover. Calida looked up at him with sly eyes, his hands idly rubbing his flat belly. "Dyce never thought he'd have another brother.". MyNiceSpace.com