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2185 - Ducero Lake, Epyrus, Nuskan, Milky Way
“Mace?”
No answer and he gripped him a little bit tighter, eyeing the water . This… yeah, there was no way this was going to end nicely for him, was there. “Macen, I swear, if you drop me in this I’ll-”
Macen, sweet, funny, empathetic Macen who’d the gentles disposition possible at any other point, pretended to stumble and he yelped, managing to find leverage with a foot on one hip-spur so he could scale higher up - as if there was some way to escape, even as he was carried out into deeper and deeper water. “You’ll what, Avi?” His boyfriend asked, at last, as he seemed to decide he’d waded far enough out that he could properly threaten him. “Flail at me whilst you drown?” Oh those were fighting words.
Avitus dug his talons into his shoulder, wondering if he’d unbalance the pair of them if he tried to sit on his shoulders properly, and then decided that that was probably Macen’s intention. “If I drown, you can’t fuck me anymore - how’d you like that?”
This was contemplated with a soft hum, the yellow eyes he so adored fluttering closed as he presumably weighed up the value of drowning Avitus for his own amusement versus the threat he knew he’d never stick to. “I’d give it a week, you’d find a way back to me.” He shifted his grip and, looking down, Avitus came to an awful, awful realisation.
He’d been sufficiently distracted with whining about them going into the water at all that he hadn’t realised that Macen had waded out along a submerged rock-wall which had taken them out into water so deep he couldn’t even see the bottom. Oh spirits no, he genuinely was out to drown the both of them, wasn’t he?
Clinging all the tighter, Avitus tried to stop staring down into the depths but their pull was magnetic- hypnotising and- shit they were going to die, weren’t they? All because Macen was too hard-headed to see that normal turians definitely weren’t made to swim.
“Mace…” He whinged again, earning himself a frustrated little grunt as he tightened his toe-talons grip on his sides - no doubt he’d have scratches but quite frankly he deserved them for even thinking this was a good idea. “How many times- I. Can’t. Swim.”
“I know, I know, my sweetheart.” The bastard soothed, so perfectly at ease that he was tempted to follow through with his previous idea of climbing higher still but then- “That’s why we’re here, Avi.” And then he flopped sideways off the rocks.
The water wasn’t cold. He could have that much, but Avitus didn’t even care that it could have been an awful lot worse than it was- the shock of it forced him to let go all the same and then, for all he clawed at it, his hands and feet met no resistance. His head slipped under the surface, water rushing into his mouth even as he tried to yell for help, - shit, shit, shit, he was genuinely going to die here, and all for Macen’s refusal to just listen-
Strong hands grabbed his head and as he tried to take a gasping breath, ready to accept that this, of all things, would be what did him in after a life of surviving impossible odds and unwinnable firefights, cool air hit his face once more.
The asshole was laughing even and he was so tempted to bite him - only the knowledge that it’d be enough to make him let go and most likely leave him to actually drown stopped him. “I’m gonna fucking kill you.” He spat all the same, blinking water out of his eyes and trying to focus them. “When you get us back too shore, so I don’t go down with you. What the fuck, Mace, what the-”
“Avi, you’re fine.” He cooed, and- it was then that through the burning shame-embarrassment-anger, that he dimly realised that his hands were cupping his jaw and yet he wasn’t actually holding him up. “Told you you would be.”
“But-” It seemed impossible- how was he not? “I don’t know how to swim, Mace.”
“No, but treading water is instinct, my love.” He removed his hands and- maybe he was telling the truth, given that he didn’t sink back under again, for all that he was still flailing. “It’s easier to learn to swim when you’re a fledgeling but anyone can learn at any point.” And with that, he dove under the surface.
Shit did he make it look easy, long legs tucked tucked together to act like a flipper as he propelled himself downwards, towards the edge of the rocks - it was all too easy to see he’d done this before - and then he somersaulted underwater and kicked his way back up to the surface, several pebbles clutched in one hand.
But of course, he’d grown up coming here, hadn’t he? An hour’s overland flight from the chaotic, sprawling farmhouse he’d dragged Avitus to in order to meet his entire (overwhelmingly noisy, intimidatingly outgoing, terrifyingly friendly) extended family, the rolling crop fields and tangled woodlands gave way to an expanse of water which he’d called ‘the lake’, but which was more of a sea from the damned scale of it - freshwater, though. And apparently they owned everything up to halfway across it.
Bit of difference from a three-room apartment five paces wide and six paces long set on the fifteenth floor of a twenty two storey building. But… the fresh air and open space suited everything about Macen - slotted into his being like a missing puzzle piece which explained some of why he was who he was.
“Try this.” One of the pebbles was shoved into his hand, salty-smelling and rougher than he’d expected for something which’d been underwater. Then Macen lodged one between his teeth and- oh. The shell cracked as he bit down. So that was… not a pebble then.
Avitus hesitantly copied him, unsure this wasn’t another trick but… if he was willing to do it to himself, it couldn’t be that awful, right?
It splintered between his teeth and, it was sweet? It had an aftertaste of brine and a rubbery texture as he chewed it- quite prepared to spit it out, but… actually, not bad at all.
“Limpet.” Macen informed him, pride flaring his mandibles outwards at the look of shocked enjoyment that he was sure was plastered across his face, before he offered across another and he broke into his second. “Best part of coming here, if you ask me, is eating them straight out off the water.”
Yeah… he could see that. “How’d people figure out they were down there? And that they were food?” It had to be some crazy fucker who’d tried it first. Or maybe desperation. Yeah- starve to death or risk drowning to find the last possible shreds of protein available. And yet.
“We put them there.” Macen shrugged nonchalantly. “Grandma Rana did, at least, back when she first moved out here with Grandpa. They’re native to Taetrus originally and need volcanic rocks to latch onto so they don’t spread further than the beds we seed them on and… maybe we don’t farm them exactly but they’re part of why we come here now.”
“I’ve never seen them for sale.” He admitted, reaching out for another one and not missing the proud expression that flitted across Macen’s face at him doing so. “Can’t you buy them?”
“Sure.” Hands empty, he dove back down and returned moments later with another handful. “They can them- take them out of the shells and pickle them. Effy has a theory that pickled limpets is the fish flavour of ration variation seven. I much prefer them fresh and with their shells though. Spirits, limpets are the one thing I miss most when away from here, I think.”
And here he’d told him that they were all packing up and flying to the beach in order to get away from the heat-front which’d settled in and all but overwhelmed their enviro-controls. Well- less told and more been woken up by whichever sister it was, spirits only knew he couldn’t keep track of the names, had bounded in and gleefully crowed that it was beach time and that Mama said if they didn’t hurry up, they’d all leave without them.
Apparently that was all just normal though, because for all he’d all but climbed out of the window at being woken up that way, Mace hadn’t done more than hurl a couple of choice insults and threaten to throw a shoe at her if she didn’t leave them alone. Maybe the reason he hadn’t been more upset was because he’d known this waited for them at the other end though.
It’d all been a little bit more than he knew how to handle and… so Mace had dragged him off once they’d gotten to the beach- three hours packing for a one hour journey felt- well, felt about right for the disorganised chaos he’d been subjected to. Not to mention being wedged between Macen and the side of the truck whilst being subjected to the too-curious and borderline invasive questions of the youngest sibling, barely more than a kid and clearly fascinated at having a new captive to interrogate.
They’d left the rest of them to splash and screech in the shallows further back though- wandered off in search of some peace until Macen had decided that him professing to not know how to swim was to be taken as a challenge and not just a fact of life.
“D’you think I’d be able to learn to dive like you do?” Avitus asked as his lover pulled the bag he’d brought with him off his shoulder. “I mean- I should pull my weight around here, right? Maybe we can see if they’ll survive in a tank and take some back to the Citadel with us?”
A snort answered him, and then the bag was pushed into his hands instead. “…how about you hold the bag- let's try diving somewhere your feet can touch the ground first, yeah?”
Holding the bag- hah, that was just about a task he couldn’t kill himself doing. Hopefully.
And… maybe he forgot to consider trying to keep any limpets back for their little science experiment after they returned to the main group. Ah well.
2830 - Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas System, Heleus, Andromeda
It was amazing how, even after all that time, the sound of a kid screech-laughing in delight as he was baited into dipping his feet into the still, quiet water could send him right back- all the way across damned dark space, apparently.
“He’s not going to do it.” Vetra muttered, fidgeting- he could just tell she was torn between waiting for Sara to realise that their child wasn’t going to do more than go ankle-deep into the water of his own volition and stepping in to protect him, just in case he did find a way to drown in water shallower than his own head.
“He might.” Avitus had long realised that the best way to make the impossible happen was to deny it, especially when it came to Des. Sara’s kid through and through, he loved to catch them off guard, just when they thought he’d set his mind against trying something outside his comfort zone.
She’d crouched down in the shallows, arms outstretched - not in deep water by any stretch of the imagination but further out than common sense would allow a kid to go. “Baby- c’mon. You can do it.” Sara pleaded, sparing the two of them a glance on the shoreline, no doubt determined now to make it happen. “Come to me, it’s perfectly safe.”
“Babe, turians don’t swim.” Vetra shifted, feet dug deep in the sand and he distinctly got the impression that she’d feel the need to rescue the kid regardless of his feelings if he did venture deeper into the lake.
“Not strictly true.” How had it been so damned long since he’d pulled that same card; since he’d been certain he’d drown in shallow water. “I mean- some of us are better at it than others but I have it on good authority that we can all learn to swim.”
Her subvocals made it damned clear she didn’t believe him and… Avitus had to admit that if his life had taken any different path, he probably wouldn’t have ever discovered otherwise. But if he’d wound up another way, he wouldn’t be there now, would he?
And… he also remembered full well what it’d taken for him to realise that he’d been wrong- that he’d spent far, far too much of his life thinking that water was the last place he should be. Only to realise far, far too late how damned fun it was, even if he’d been no better at the actual swimming part than the two five year olds who’d been unceremoniously tossed in the water just as-
Before he knew quite what he was doing, his feet were under him and he’d started towards the edge of the water. It was colder than the lake on Epyrus, a sharp chill on his bare feet and then up his legs but momentum and a half-formed impulse had him already committed. And maybe it was just as well he wasn’t truly thinking about it, lest Des cotton on to what he had planned.
Sara guessed just fine, he suspected, from the way she cackled with laughter as he scooped the unlucky kid up and kept on marching- she approved then, he suspected.
“Wha-” The poor brat barely even struggled, too caught by surprise and too busy trying to cling onto him. “Pumme down!”
“You sure about that?” He asked, stopping at mid-thigh height for him; more than deep enough for the kid without actually putting either of them in danger. Des whined and nodded and- he dropped him.
The little bundle screeched as he hit the water surface - flailing for just a moment and- then he’d bounded back up his side, his terror replaced with genuine glee. “Again!”
Avitus grinned, proud nevertheless that his hunch had ben right - even if he was as drenched as the damned child - and looked back towards the shore. Vetra had made it as far in as Sara, terror evident even as her partner doubled up. At least she saw the humour in it.
Stubby talons threatened to tear right through his sodden shirt but he didn’t care one bit, gathering the kid back up and took a step further out yet before letting him tumble once again. Just for the brat to pop up and beg him to do it again.
And again. And again, and again, and again.
As he reached a point where the water was keel-deep to him, something crunched underfoot, sharp and- he tossed Des a little farther out in order to give himself time to reach down into the muddied silt. There was something stuck to a rock, or maybe that was many somethings, he realised as he surfaced again.
SAM? He questioned, scanning them.
“Limpets.” The AI supplied quietly, for all that he should have probably guessed that. Hey, wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t a biologist, was it? “These would appear to be freshwater limpets originally from Taetrus to be precise, records show that the first colonisation efforts included attempting to seed the basin and several other water sources with multiple species of radiation resistant shellfish and spiny fish which could be farmed for reliable dextro protein. All were presumed to be unsuccessful.”
“But the limpets made it.” It almost seemed- who’d thought far enough ahead to plan to bring spirits-damned shellfish to another galaxy? Who’d have thought they could flourish two million light years from where they’d evolved?
Well- he had a good idea who, actually.
“Wassthat?” Des’d paddled back to him, just about to stand on tip-toes to keep his head above the water, he thought, and was eyeing the large, flat rock Avitus’d pulled free suspiciously. “Looks like pebbles.”
Pebbles. Exactly what he’d first thought they were, after all.
“Crunchy pebbles.” He agreed, slipping his thumb under a decent sized specimen to detach it from its rock. “Try this.”
“Issit food?” The kid eyed it like it might bite him but curiosity won out and he took it from him. Avitus detached another and threw it back, shell and all - just like Macen had gleefully taught him to do far too long ago - and the gesture was mirrored before he huffed. “It’s salty an- nice?”
“They were my- someone I loved's favourite.” He told him, offering over the stone so he could pry them free for himself, and hauled him up. Too much cold water wouldn’t be good for either of them, after all. “Thought you’d like em.”
Des twisted around in his arms, holding the stone up for his parents to see. “Mom! Mama! Crunchy pebbles! An’ they taste good!”
Good enough to be worth a damned long trip and risking drowning, that was for sure.