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"Kiss of Breath"
It was a calm day in the ocean, something Lance was grateful for. He was a strong swimmer for a human, but this was going to be a true test of his skills. He was going to swim like a mer...with a mer. He had tested his skills with his fabricated tail in his private pool and the bay area near his house. The open ocean, however, was a different venue altogether as well as swimming with someone. The mer he was going to be swimming with knew Lance was a human that was able to make himself a tail, and the two of them had spent time with each other near the surface of the water, because Lance couldn't breathe underwater. However, Keith had a temporary solution for that. Apparently, a mer's kiss could give someone the ability to breathe underwater temporarily and could be reapplied under the water if need be.
Keith was a strange mer, though he was the only true mer Lance had met. Lance had met fabricated mers, like himself, at the local Y, and they all had vibrant, solidly colored tails. Keith did have a vibrant red tail, but it wasn't a solid red. There were strange violet stripes spiralling around the tail down to the transparent fins, which were also violet. Keith had the same violet stripes on his face but just one on each cheek. He also had pointed ears that were tinged purple at the tips. He had black hair that continually flowed in the currents, so Lance couldn't tell how long it truly was. The most surprising thing for Lance was that Keith had claws instead of regular fingertips and a pair of sharp fangs.
Lance would be the first to admit that his perception of mers was colored by movies like The Little Mermaid, Aquamarine, and Splash, where the mermaids were gorgeous and completely human looking from the waist up. That wasn't to say that Keith didn't look human from the waist up, but he definitely had some non-human features.
Splashing drew Lance's attention to a little distance away from the rock he was sitting on. His blue eyes immediately found the red and purple tailed mer that he had on his mind. He smiled as Keith swam closer. He held his arms out in invitation for Lance to slide off the rock and into his arms, and Lance did just that. Keith caught him with no problem and let him get acclimated to the ocean.
Once Lance felt comfortable enough, Keith was inching closer and capturing his lips in the Kiss of Breath. Right as they separated, both Keith and Lance ducked down under the water. Lance had seen the ocean life before but he had never truly felt a part of it, not like now.
Keith grasped his hand. "Amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Follow me, and you can see more."
Lance grinned and did his best to keep up with Keith. He did pretty well but did fall behind a few times. All it took for him to catch up was a powerful tug on his arm from Keith. Lance could tell Keith was leading him somewhere, but he had no clue as to where.
Keith was nervous as he had never shown anyone his home, since he was a solitary mer. Since his parents had perished in a shark attack, he had been alone. He had been with his parents on that fateful day but had been protected by a friendly dolphin. The dolphin was saddened that the rest of her pod hadn't come in time to save the young mer's parents, but Keith told her that he had other family that he could live with, which wasn't meant as a lie. Keith's father had a sister that Keith was certain wouldn't mind him living with her for awhile, but he was wrong. His aunt was disgusted that her brother had not only married but produced a child with a subspecies of mer called the Galra. The Galra were known for their violent tendencies, and their defining characteristics were fangs, claws, and the violet stripes, which were unique to each Galra. Keith couldn't truly blame his aunt as she had small children of her own and didn't want to take a chance that Keith might be violent, though Keith wouldn't hurt anyone, especially small mers.
Lance was studying the beauty of the world under the water and didn't realize that they reached a cave that had its entrance blocked by a large boulder. He nearly crashed into Keith and took the chance to note his location. "What is this place?"
"This is where I live." Keith moved the boulder, holding it open for Lance. "Go ahead and swim in. I'll follow."
Lance nodded and swam into the cave, which was actually lit with some bioluminescent life forms Lance couldn't identify. He noticed that there weren't many things that he couldn't at least guess their purpose as they looked reminiscent of things he had in his own apartment. The boulder sliding back into place drew his attention to the now obviously nervous mer, if the way his fins were twitching was any indication. Lance smiled and drew Keith into his arms. "This is amazing. Thank you for showing this to me."
Keith smiled, part in relief and part in happiness. His first time showing someone his place didn't blow up in his face and made him less reluctant to show others, but not at that moment. At that moment, Lance needed another Kiss of Breath. Keith lifted his head from where it was resting on Lance's shoulder and kissed him again. If the kiss lasted a little longer than necessary, neither Lance nor Keith were going to complain.
Fin