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James swims through the long underwater tunnel that leads into the basin inside the cave. The water here is pleasant, kept warm by an undersea volcano.
Steven’s already sitting on the ledge, smiling as James breaks through the surface.
“James.”
He can’t help thinking Steven says his name like it’s his favorite word, and it makes something inside him ache. James crosses the basin and pushes himself up next to him, suddenly self-conscious — Steven has never seen him completely out of the water. Steven swallows visibly, eyes sweeping over his tail.
James lets him look, the feeling of being watched both enjoyable and excruciating.
“Could I… get into the water with you?” Steven asks after a long while. His long fingers twitch, as if wanting to reach out and touch.
James purses his mouth. “It might not be warm enough for you. You’re still in recovery.”
Steven looks at him through his lashes, chewing on his bottom lip. “Please,” he says, his voice suddenly small. “I’d love to.”
James smiles in spite of himself, his heart running wild. “Not for too long, alright?” He slides back into the basin, barely disturbing the water.
Steven lowers himself in after James, a cautious smile on his face. James moves his arms in a circle around himself, watching him closely for any signs of discomfort.
“Steven?”
“It’s actually Steve,” he says, treading the water slowly. “Everyone I know calls me Steve.”
“Steve.” James doesn’t know what to make of how the name fits in his mouth.
He lets his tail brush against Steve’s shin.
Steve inhales sharply and shifts closer, his eyes darker than before. James doesn't move while Steve takes his right hand into his, caressing the webbing between the fingers. James wonders if Steve finds it weird; maybe even disgusting.
“Is this okay?” The words come out soft and uncertain.
James hums in agreement, his eyes fixed on their joined hands.
“I’ve never seen anyone like you, James,” Steve continues. “Don’t think I ever will, either.”
James tries to fight how his heart swells at the praise. “I’m not what you think I am.”
“I don’t care. I know I almost died, but I have never felt this alive.”
“But you do care,” James says, looking up and into Steve’s ocean blue eyes. “I know you do. You’re a good man, Steve. You should be out in the world, not down here with a creature like me.”
“How can you say that?”
The hurt look on Steve’s face twists at his insides. James shakes his head slowly. “There are things you don’t know about me.”
“I want to learn." Steve’s hold on his hand tightens. “And I already know enough to trust you not to hurt me.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.” James feels his voice breaking.
“You saved my life.”
James turns his face down. “I have also lured men to their deaths,” he says, barely audibly. “It was time I gave something in return.”
~~~
The following night Steve’s fever is back, and James is furious with himself for letting him into the water too soon. He dabs at Steve’s forehead with a wet rag fashioned from his ice-torn undershirt.
A shudder runs through Steve’s entire body and he whimpers softly.
“Steve?” James cups Steve’s face in his palm, brushing his thumb over the brow bone.
Steve blinks and looks at James, his eyes bleary. “...Bucky?”
James goes very still. “What— what did you call me?” His own voice sounds strange in his ears.
They just look at each other for a long time, the moment stretching into eternity.
It’s a name James knows, suddenly feels like he’s always known, though how could he have?
It’s like a memory from another life, far from here, tugging at something deep in his core.
He forces down the harrowing tangle of emotions, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. “Shh, you need to rest.”
“I’m cold.”
He grabs a conch of potion he prepared earlier, lifting it to Steve’s lips. “I know. Please drink this.”
Steve drinks, and then he sleeps, James watching over him. Steve twitches in his sleep from time to time, calling out that ghost of a name once more, but by morning his fever is finally down.
James slinks into the water and swims towards the ocean.
~~~
Steve watches with an unreadable expression as James glides closer and stops at an arm’s length from him, his tail waving in the water between them.
“Can I touch it?”
James nods, his pulse a nervous thrum in his veins.
Steve’s hand dips deeper underwater and he brushes the fin, clearly holding his breath. “It’s so beautiful,” he says, his voice full of awe.
“People used to think we were sea serpents.”
Steve looks up, pupils blown wide. His hands now reach out for James, who curls his tail around Steve’s legs.
Steve bites his lower lip. “Can I—”
“Yes,” James cuts him off, very gently. “Please.”
The kiss lasts a long time, much longer than Steve should be able to go without breathing. He swipes a tongue over James’s lips before pulling back, a curious look on his face.
“Steve?” James brushes the backs of his metal fingers over his cheek.
“You taste salty,” Steve whispers around a smile, his breath warm on James’s face.
“Is—” James looks down, suddenly shy “—is that bad?”
Steve hums and brings his mouth back to James’s, licking slowly into it. “God no,” he says, the words curling against James’s tongue. “It’s just you.”
James relaxes into the kiss, tail tightening around Steve, his hand deep in Steve’s hair. Steve brushes his fingers up the side of James’s neck, the tips trembling over the gills.
It feels like worship — no one has ever touched him there before, and James closes his eyes at the sensation.
~~~
Steve runs a hand over the fresh scar tissue on his side, the skin knitted tight over his ribs. “People must think I’m dead.”
It’s a conversation they’ve avoided as long as they possibly can.
James looks at his own hands, trying his best to swallow down the disappointment and heartache that bubble up inside his chest. It’s a long while until he risks looking at up.
Steve is, against all odds, smiling.
“Let them,” he says, simple as that, and then James smiles, too.