Aquata Cove Ch. 13

"I'm sorry... Adam..." Merrick sobbed as sparkling tears dropped from his eyes, "We're trapped in here... We're going to die in here... And it's all my fault..."

"What? No, Merrick, it's not your fault... YOU saved ME, remember? If anything, it's my fault for letting that siren get to me..." He chuckled, "A mermaid hooking a gay human, there's something new..." He then scooted to the wall, and held onto the merman, "C'mere..." He said as he had Merrick snuggle up next to him, hugging him and rubbing his arm up and down the wet, scaly arm.

"... I had heard humans will die if they stay underwater for too long... I... I didn't know just how long..." Adam smiled as he hugged him.

"It's ok, Merrick, it's ok... And, you're right about that, humans can't live underwater," He sighed as he sat back, holding the pseudo fish close, "You didn't know..."

A long silence passed as the two males huddled up with each other. Merrick gradually dried off, and turned into his human form, and this time, Adam was awake to see him slowly transform.

"... Adam... I have a question..." Merrick said, now at least enjoying that fact that his face is resting onto the human's chest, "A while ago... You described yourself as a... Gay human... What does 'gay' mean?"

"Ah, it's just another expression. It's a word used to describe a homosexual person; a person who is sexually attracted to the same gender as they are. Namely, like, I'm a male, and I am attracted to other males, instead of females like a normal person."

Merrick felt himself blush, and also a twinge of delight... So he wasn't a freak... There are other beings who are more allured to that of the same gender... This human, right here... Knows just how Merrick might feel.

"Mind if I ask YOU a question?" Adam said. Merrick simply nodded, rubbing his cheek against his fuzzy chest, "I saw you with a spear... And the first time I saw you, were wearing some kelp around you. What happened to your spear, and where did all that kelp go?"

"... My trident was destroyed when I killed that Siren... and I think the kelp was torn off when we swam in that tunnel..."

"Oh..." Adam looked down at him, "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright... It's gone now... There's nothing that can be done now..." Merrick mumbled.

"Ok... So... Are there other types of merfolk? Besides just fish-like ones?"

"Wait... How about... I ask you a question, and you ask me a question in turn?" He proposed. Adam thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Sure. Sounds fair."

"Alright..." Merrick continued, "So um... Is it true that humans can manipulate colossal rocks? I think... I think they're called 'Mountains'... Can humans move and create them at will?" Adam chuckled at that.

"Whaaat? Where'd you hear that?"

"We merfolk... We hear a lot of atrocities and calamities that humans can do... But... I'm not so sure anymore..." Adam smiled as he shook his head.

"Well, to answer THAT question, no, we can't do that kind of stuff. Mountains are HUGE, and we can't move them around, or create new mountains. Even if we could, not on our own, we'd need some pretty heavy and large machinery to cut it all down, and no one is willing to do that."

"Ooook?" Merrick said, not understanding the word 'machinery'.

"Ok, my turn... Are there other types of merfolk out there? Besides ones that look like fish?"

"Yes, there are... There are as many merfolk as there is species of the sea," Merrick said, "Namely, there are three different types of merfolk: Pisciens, Amniens, and Holsiens." He explained, "I am a Piscien merman, as Pisciens embody fish species."

"What about Amn... Amny... What about the other two?" Adam asked.

"Amnien merfolk are pledged to the sea mammals, and Holsien merfolk are pledged to the reptiles and mollusks."

"Oh ok... That's kinda cool... Ok, you go."

"Ok, um... Can humans transform plants into any object?"

"Errr... In a SENSE, yes. But it's not like we can magically do it by touching them. Specialized humans harvest trees and such from various locations, and take them to specific places where they go through complex processes to make them into objects like that."

"Oh ok... Your turn, Adam..."

Another hour passes by the two males, both of them exchanging questions about the two species of humans and merfolk. Adam's questions seem a little mundane, while Merrick's questions are on an exasperated scale, asking about how merfolk defend themselves, to whether or not humans are able tame giant flying animals and ride them into war.

After a while, Adam is laying on his back, staring at the ceiling of the cavern, looking at the twinkling orange crystals up above. He sighed as he rolled onto his stomach, and looked at the water, "I'm sorry, Merrick..."

"For... For what, Adam?" Merrick asked, sitting right next to a crystal.

"I can't help but feel like I didn't try hard enough in getting us out... If I could breathe underwater like you can, or hold my breath longer than 2 minutes, we could've busted out of here a long time ago." He chuckled as he put his head on his arms, "Some way to die, huh?"

"... Well..." Merrick said, "There is... ONE thing that we can try..." Adam opened his eyes, and turned about, "But... I'm not certain if it's true..." Adam sat up, and faced the blonde teen.

"Well, I'm open to ideas. What's on your mind?"

"..." Merrick hesitated, gulping and looking up, "There are... Rumors that... A few times in the past, a merperson was able to give a human the ability to survive underwater. They are never able to drown and die in the water.

"You said that humans can't breathe underwater, nor can they stay under for more than a few moments... But there's one thing that they say can allow a human stay underwater for as long as they need..." Adam raised his brows as he came closer.

"Really?"

"I'm... I'm not sure, actually... As I said... It's only a rumor... A minor myth..."

"Well, it's not like we have any other options here," Adam's heart is pounding with new hope; if merfolk are real, then just about anything can happen at this point, "Lets hear it." Merrick then looked Adam right in the eyes, feeling a pink tingle on his tender face.

"A kiss..."

Adam blinked as he stared at the blonde. "A kiss? Like... Mouth to mouth?" Merrick blushed more, and nodded.

"It's just a rumor... But... It might be possible... The idea is that if we kiss, then you will never die in the water... The myth originated when a mermaid fell in love with a human sailor, and kissed him when he was about to die at sea. When she did, he woke up, and swam back to land..."

Adam could feel himself... Extremely tempted by this. "So... If we kiss, then I can breathe underwater?"

"No. You... You just won't drown..." Merrick said.

Adam looked at Merrick up and down. He seems a little young for him, but... "Say Merrick... How old are you anyway?"

"I don't understand."

"Like, how many years has gone by since you were born?"

"I... I don't know..." Merrick said blinking, "Why? Does it matter?"

"Sort of... Humans put a lot of weight on age difference..." Adam's good with math and estimation. Merrick doesn't look TOO young; about as young as he was when he first went on a date. Adam's 17 right now, and if he were to venture a guess, he'd say Merrick would about a couple of years younger than him. If that's the case, then the age difference is only 2-3 years.

"Alright." He said. Merrick looked up, his face going hot, "Lets do it."

"R-Really?"

Adam smiled as he got up, walked over to Merrick, and sat down next to him, "Yeah..." Merrick moved around so that he's facing the human, "And even if it doesn't work..." He said with a charming smile, "At least I'll be in good company with you..." Merrick smiled cutely at that, "C'mere..." He whispered softly as his face moved forward. Merrick moved his own face towards Adam's. Their eyes closed as they approached each other.

Then, their lips touched. Merrick breathed deeply, his insides feeling tight and quivering. Adam gently kissed those very soft lips, pressing his lips around the lower part of Merrick's mouth. He somehow was able to move his legs so that he crawled himself onto Adam. The human broke off for a moment to help Merrick sit on his lap. What he was doing just occurred to Adam, and the thought of it -- placing a naked guy he's just met onto his lap -- it made him blush. His brown eyes stared into those vivid, blue eyes.

There was a pause as they looked at each other. Merrick made the next move; he moved himself forward, and pushed his lips against Adam's. The human closed his eyes as their lips lapped and meshed against each other. Merrick put his hands onto Adam's bare, tan shoulders as he took in Adam's upper lip, and joined in at his middle. Adam moaned a little as put his hands along Merrick's sides, feeling the merman's perfect flesh under his palms.

The human glided his hand to behind Merrick's short blonde hair, and pushed his head in. Adam opened his mouth, and forced his tongue into the other. The merman moaned pleasantly as he felt the human kiss him oh so passionately. Merrick rubbed his own tongue against the other, blushing madly as he felt the other push into against his.

Merrick broke the kiss and looked down, "Whaaa?" The blonde's penis is standing up, fully erect right now. "Wha... I don't understand... It's never done THIS before..." He looked up at Adam, "... Can you... Um... Explain it to me? I've... I've only been like this three other times, and it's always just... Been there, and..."

Adam blushed harshly, "Uh... Yeah... See... This, err... These." Adam said as he put his hand on the hard organ. "This is called um... A penis, and these..." He cupped Merrick's soft balls, "Are called the testis."

"And... What are they for?" Merrick asked innocently.

"Ahhh..." Adam's face felt like it was dancing with fire, "It's um... It's how humans er... Reproduce..."

"Ok, but... Why is it standing like that? It's bigger than it usually is and... It feels weird..."

"Well... When men get excited... Their penises grow and become stiff... It's... Kind of embarrassing to talk about..." He said.

"But... I don't understand..."

"I know..." Adam said. He feels so much right now... But the every idea of it... It just seems too much, especially when they just met... It's just not proper right now.

He rose up, and affectionately kissed Merrick's lips, "Alright..." He got off of him, "Lets get out of here."

"Wait, what?" Merrick sat up, and looked at Adam, "But... I still don't understand why my... Penis is hard."

"I know, Merrick, but the explanation is... It's too soon, Merrick, trust me on this."

"But... What if it never goes down? What if it stays like this forever? I just don't get it." Adam chuckled as he put his hand on that soft, light cheek.

"I know, Merrick. You're full of questions right now, but they'll have to wait until you're a little older before I feel comfortable telling you," He then kissed Merrick again, and nuzzled him affectionately, "I promise, give me about... Maybe 2 years... Then I'll tell you..." Merrick smiled and giggled as his human nuzzled him.

"Alright, Adam~" He answered.

"Ok..." Adam stood up, and bent over to pick Merrick up. The merman put his own arms around the human as he was held up, and carried to the edge of the water. He then stepped into the water, and took a deep breath as he dipped in, holding Merrick in as they submerged together.

Adam can feel Merrick's body change almost instantly, feeling the smooth skin firm into scales. Merrick swam off of him, and Adam moved next to him. He doesn't feel any changes yet, but he'll see if what Merrick said about the kiss is true.

They came to the collapsed tunnel once more, squeezed in together, and pushed at the rocks, just like before. Adam grunted as he pushed as hard as he could, with Merrick pushing his tail up and down, kicking hard as he and the human tried to push.

5 minutes pass by, and the rocks refused to move! Adam noticed that his lungs don't feel sore at all. He's holding his breath, but the pressure isn't building inside of him like it used to; he's not breathing, but it's like his last breath is frozen on the spot, and unable notify his lungs and brain of how long he's been underwater.

Another 5 minutes passed, and they got nowhere. Adam felt along the wall of stone. He soon realized that it wasn't bulky anymore! The rocks seemed to have smoothed down into a flat surface.

He felt a webbed hand pull at his shoulder, and he and Merrick had to back up, and leave the tunnel. They both broke the surface, and Merrick looked at Adam.

"Adam, are you ok?"

"Huh... Yeah..." He chuckled and grinned widely, "It worked! Hahaha! The kiss worked!" He said excitedly, "B-But the wall-"

"I know, it's... It's reformed! It closed us off!"

"Ok, um... Lets look around for another way out."

"There IS no other way out! I checked, Adam!" Merrick said.

"Well, think about it, that wall was a bunch of rocks a couple of hours ago, wasn't it? What if the cave made another entrance?" Merrick thought for a moment.

"I... Maybe... C'mon..." Merrick and Adam submerged again, and sank down. They turned about and floated a little, looking around.

Adam felt his wrist tucked, and a weird, alien murmur. He looked to see Merrick's blurry image pointing at another dark spot. Merrick swam forth over to the opening. Adam heard a strange, crackling noise, like a cross between a dolphin's click and a cracking knuckle. 'I guess merfolk talk differently underwater...' He thought to himself. Merrick's blue form turned around, and ascended to the surface. Adam rose up as well, and moved over to Merrick.

"I think it's another tunnel, but it's so dark and so narrow," Merrick told him, "There isn't any animals nearby, so lets try it. I'll go first."

"Alright," Adam said, "Lead the way."

They both sank down again, and headed to the darkness. Adam waited for the white tailfin to fold into the blackness before following in after him. He squinted his eyes, as all he can see is almost pitch black, if not for the faint gleam from the cavern filtering and reflecting off of Merrick's tail and scales.

As he went, Adam just took a moment to admire the fact that he never has to worry about drowning again. Whatever scientific anomaly is going on from just a simple, passionate kiss, it's saving his life... Just like that fishy creature did earlier today.

After a while of swimming, still seeing a lot of darkness, Adam felt the temperature of the water drop, from hot, to warm, and now entering cool. He also notices the tunnel widening around him as he went. He continued to drift through the water, and saw a slight light ahead, along with the sound of thundering surging. Merrick turned, and waited for him to catch up, next to a large, light-blue mass. He swam a little more, and felt his hand into the perpetual fizz. He smiled as he felt the bubbles tickle and nip at his hand, before stroking in through the cloud bubbles. He giggled as he felt the surging suds tickle his whole body.

He swam though the loud mass of white, and looking onto a familiar-looking grotto. He looked around, and then ascended up, looking up at the dusk-lit sky. Merrick rose up next to him while Adam looked around, chuckling as he floated back.

"Heh heh... I know this place. It's Aquata Cove!" Adam said.

Minutes later, Adam and Merrick are sitting on a rock, with the merman still wet and looking blue and silver. He had found another tunnel on the rocks that might lead to the ocean. Adam held Merrick's webbed hands as they spent their last few moments together.

"Let's meet up tomorrow! I can bring some more tuna, and-"

"Adam..." Merrick said, "We can't... My pod... We're supposed to be leaving tomorrow..."

"Your pod? Is that your family?"

"You could say that..." Merrick replied sadly, "And... We're not coming back for a very long time..." He said, a small part of himself hoping to deter the human away from him.

"Oh..." Adam looked up, put his hand onto Merrick's cold cheek, and pushing it to face him "... Will I ever see you again?" Adam asked, "I... I really want to see you again..."

-No, we cannot meet again. We will never meet again. You must find another man to mate with, while I find a mermaid to be my mate. I hope you live a long, favorable life.-

That's what Merrick's reasoning told him he should say. However, he's abandoning his reasoning for this one moment, and spoke from his heart, "I will be gone for six white moons. My pod will return on the seventh moon, and I'll be waiting for you, here, in this grotto."

Adam smiled happily as he brought him in to hug the merman, "Thanks, Merrick..." He muttered. Merrick's smiled in turn, feeling his eyes tear up with happiness. He can't explain why, but every ounce of affection this human gives just feels so overwhelming. Is this what love is? Is this what mated mermen and mermaids feel all the time?

Six moons. Adam assumed that meant six months. That's half a year. Can't say he's going to like the wait, but how many times do you get to kiss a merman? And he's so cute when he's dried up and in human form. He wants to see more of him.

They parted the hug, and kissed softly one last time -- it feels weirder for Adam, as Merrick's lips are still slick and fish-like. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute, stalling for as long as both as they could.

"Until next time, Adam..." Merrick said. He then moved to the side, and dove into the water. He swam into the grotto, and went into the dark tunnel that he and Adam found when they got out of the cove. He moved through the tight space, slowly tasting the water's purity changing into the familiar sea flavor.

He already half knew the kiss was going to work... Sort of. When he kissed Adam's cheek, he woke up, and expelled the water inside of him, but at the same time, he couldn't hold his breath the first few times before they kissed for real.

The merman giggled as he thought of that moment in the cove when they made out. It felt so good and so right, kissing that human. He wants to do that again, he wants to do it a lot more.

Regardless on how great it felt to be with that human, he doesn't know what he's going to tell his pod... He has no idea how he was going to explain his extended absence...

Soon, Merrick emerged from an entrance of the reef. He sent out a signal to make sure there isn't anything dangerous nearby, and then swam out.

Merrick sent several calls out, signaling his position as he moved, wanting to find his pod as soon as possible. It's dangerous to be out in the middle of the ocean alone.

The Adra Triton sent out multiple signals, before hearing a deep, dark call. He looked, and spotted in the distance a large merman, holding a long, three-pronged spear. Merrick kicked his tail hard as he rushed over to the merman. He huffed and moaned as he swam as fast as he could to his father.

"Father!!" He called shimming until he caught up to him throwing his arms around him, "I'm sorry, Father, I'm sorry!" Merrick said, meaning about the human, ready to confess.

"It's alright Son, it's alright."

"I could not help it, I'm sorry! It just happened so fast!"

"I know, my Son, I know." Merrick looked up at his father, surprised.

"You... You knew?"

"Yes, my Son..." Kaiken said, "I sensed those sirens when we arrived here, and I thought we would be safe from them if we kept our distance. The fault is mine to bear, Son." Kaiken said as he looked at his offspring, "I should have warned the pod of the sirens -- I should have warned you, in particular. And my arrogance nearly cost me my own Son..." Said the mighty merman, "We heard your call when they attacked, and we managed to kill off the whole pod before any of us were harmed."