Sea Slimes Ch. 01

"Well..." The mermaid giggled nervously. "Surely we can come to an arrangement."

"I'm sure we can," the merman said, fixing Snatch with a piercing glare.

The ever-ill-tempered thief glared right back. "We'd better. 'Cause I'm not leaving this beach empty-handed."

Mylio sniffed. "As if we'd bother to cheat the likes of you."

"As if you'd bother to ... to shut up and pay us, you cheating fishfolk."

Mylio's eyes blazed. His hand flew to his trident, as Snatch's fingers tightened around the scythe at his back—

"Oh, would you all stop it?" Larya stepped between the two, waving her staff at her 'partner'. "Snatch, we don't get paid when you kill the boss. We learned that after the elf brothel incident, remember?"

"You—" Snatch's eyes bulged. "I thought we agreed never to bring that dragonshit up again!"

"Snatch, come on," Larya said, voice coming out almost as a whine. "I just want to get in the water and out of the rain!"

"Ugh. Fine. But only 'cause it's raining." Snatch stepped around Larya, rolling his eyes. "Salvage rights to the White Onyx galleon, off the Bonecove."

"That galleon has more priceless treasures than you have grease in your hair, you horrid little man." Mylio raised an eyebrow. "You may pick a single item from the galleon."

"Five items of our choosing. Each."

"Each? I should skewer you and serve you to the dolphins for such impudence. That..."

Larya tuned the discussion out. This was the only area of conversation in which Alrek excelled—he could be a clueless ass, but a haggler didn't have to be insightful or articulate, just stubborn and gutsy. She had no interest in the particulars of the payment.

In fact, the more she journeyed with Alrek, the more she wondered if her interests matched his at all. Adventuring was hard, and dangerous, but she didn't mind any of that. She just wanted to help people. Alrek, by contrast, only seemed to really care about getting paid. He'd gotten better at it, but apparently, the basic kindness he'd learned to bestow upon humanoids did not extend to fey.

She sighed, lower lip sticking out.

"Hey," breathed a voice in her ear. She gave a start, turning to see Nerka giving a very dirty look. "While they're talking, why don't we just ... relocate."

"What?"

Nerka pulled on her arm, leading her around the rock. Larya feebly protested, but not quite loud enough for Snatch and Mylio to notice, and she followed Nerka willingly.

Nerka slithered on her scarlet tail with surprising grace, tugging Larya rapidly to the far side. Larya, caught off balance by the sudden speed, fell on her stomach in the wet sand behind the boulder.

She started to get up. A tanned, slender pressed against her chest and pushed her back down. She gave a little whimper of confusion. That confusion vanished as she rolled over and saw Nerka looming over her. The expression the mermaid wore now was not just dirty—it was downright filthy. And she looked very, very pleased with herself.

"I couldn't resist," she hissed, her hands crawling over Larya's shoulders and down under her robes. "Seeing you, so tasty and ... mmm!"

Larya's half-hearted protests died into little squeaks as she felt the slender hands working over her breasts, tickling, squeezing, rubbing. She looked up at Nerka's cute face. The mermaid look positively rapturous, her eyes half-closed, giving a low purr. "I've gotta have you ... oh ... before you go ..."

Larya gave an especially loud squeak as the fingers picked up their efforts. She heard the haggling stop for a moment, and gulped. She was trying to stay quiet, but Nerka's attentions were making it very, very difficult. But maybe 'quiet' didn't need to be a priority.

"So hot," Nerka rasped in her ear, "taking you ... right under their noses ... I'm gonna—"

Sucking in a deep breath, Larya leaned up and gave Nerka's perky nipple a long, sensuous lick.

Instantly, the mermaid was lying on the ground beside her, mewling. Larya gave a low growl of lust as the hands slipped from her breasts. She sat up and descended on Nerka. She licked the mermaid's breasts, her neck, her cheeks, smothering the mermaid in wet kisses.

Merfolk did not actually possess sexual organs, but they were far from celibate. Merfolk achieved their orgasms through hypersensitivity—their entire bodies, save their hands and tails, were far more sensitive to attention than any ordinary wet pussy or hard cock.

Larya put her hands on Nerka's naked breasts and started kneading them roughly, massaging them with trained expertise. She took the mermaid in a passionate kiss, stifling the mermaid's cries with her piercing, questing tongue.

In mere moments, the mermaid was shaking uncontrollably, inches from orgasm. Larya savored the mermaid's desperate moans as she sped up her efforts further, flicking and twisting Nerka's nipples with one hand and caressing her cheek with the other. Even this simple touch elicited a loud whimper from the mermaid.

The mermaid seemed to have been soundly unprepared for such a brutal assault, and her climax was thunderous. Within moments, she was thrashing and jerking violently in Larya's unyielding grip, screaming her bliss into the kiss.

Larya broke off the kiss, clasped her hand over the mermaid's mouth to block the orgasmic cries—mostly just to stimulate those sensitive lips of hers—and started licking Nerka's neck, cooing nonsense words to soothe the pleasure-stricken fey.

At last, the thrashing ceased. Larya's hand crept away from Nerka's mouth, but she didn't stop kissing.

Panting, Nerka put her hand on Larya's shoulder. "That ..." she gasped, "that ... ooh ... um, you can—aah—stop now." Larya continued kissing and nibbling at the mermaid's sensitized neck, ignoring her. "You can—can ... can, um ...oh, goddess ..."

Larya smiled slyly as the mermaid started moaning again. Her hands returned to their tasks, stroking around Nerka's breasts and brushing over her lips, keeping her submerged in liquid pleasure.

"I'm not letting you go that easy," she teased, tongue flicking in Nerka's ear. "Where's that famous mermaid stamina?"

Merfolk stamina was infamously pathetic. Larya estimated that Nerka was in for a long half-hour.

~~~~

Two hours later, the rain had finally ceased.

Snatch glared at Mylio. "It's daylight robbery."

"It's all we can afford to pay," the merman snapped, wrenching out his sodden red hair. Which seemed a bit pointless to Snatch, come to think of it. "You might as well be ripping the treasure from our ancestors' cold, dead fingers."

"Two trinkets for a kill job on an unknown foe?"

"Two priceless artifacts from the White Onyx. For something that won't even attack you." Mylio waved a hand dismissively. "Just your pet whore."

Snatch rapped his scythe's handle against the rock. "She's my ... ally," he said, through gritted teeth. He refused to say the word 'partner'. "For now. And if she gets caught by some rape-happy monster, I will tie your goddamn stupid tail to a ship's mast."

Mylio sighed, rolling his eyes. "We will pay you an extra chest of gold if she dies."

Snatch's eyes bulged. Internally, very old aspects of his personality clicked and clacked, running the math. No, she was definitely worth at least four chests. Just speaking practically. He quickly silenced the errant calculator. That was not him anymore. "Four chests. And ..." His head tilted. "Your trident."

"My what?"

Snatch's eyes narrowed. "You heard me."

Mylio looked at his trident, stunned. "Wh-why would you want this?" He looked like a little child being told to give up his favorite toy.

"I don't." Snatch grimaced. "But I think it'll make sure you tag along and help make sure she stays out of harm's way. And it guarantees you won't try to brainwash her yourself."

For a moment, Mylio looked livid. His hands clenched around the trident. His dark turquoise eyes shone with malice.

Then, oddly enough, it passed. He suddenly seemed calm. His hands relaxed. His eyes returned to normal. He even gave a little smirk. "So be it. I will personally guarantee the land wh—the ... Larya's safety. If she is lost to the creatures, the trident is yours."

Snatch frowned. He wasn't good at reading people.

After a moment's hesitation, he offered his hand to shake. After another moment, Mylio accepted it. With two fingers, as if he wanted to touch as little of Snatch as possible.

Snatch immediately yanked his hand away. It was done. "Larya!" he called. "Damn it, are you still off—oh, there you are."

Larya had just emerged from behind the boulder. Her dark hair was somewhat unkempt, and her bright eyes had a familiar sparkle to them. "Sorry!" she chirped. "Just showing Nerka a seashell I found!"

"Hmph." Snatch didn't much care who Larya fucked, but he did care about how loud it had been. At least it didn't seem like any of it had been unwilling. Not that he cared.

A very frazzled-looking Nerka slithered around the corner. The mermaid's perfect white braids were tangled in knots, her entire body was glistening with sweat, and she was currently rubbing a part of her neck Snatch was pretty sure had a hickey. "Yes!" she gasped, then straightened—leaning conspicuously on Larya's shoulder. "Yes. It was a nice seashell."

Mylio shrugged, already turning away. "I care not for your childish hobbies, woman. Come. We have settled on a price."

"Oh, g-good!" Still looking and sounding a bit dazed, Nerka slithered over. "You did get 'im down to one artifar ... artififif ... treasure thing, right?"

Mylio let out a low growl.

Snatch suppressed a laugh, exchanging a look with Larya. Larya beamed and leaned over. "Mermen tend to have pampered martial positions in their society," she whispered in his ear. "Not too good at math, or diplomacy. I figured haggling would be easier if Nerka was, um, busy."

Sometimes the druidess wasn't all useless.

~~~~ ~~~~

Note: Newly edited! As a note, this story is set prior to the events of Evergreen Forest, but after the events of Wicked Amusement. For a full timeline, check my profile!