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It was a gorgeous, hot and sunny California Day.
A nice, cool, ocean breeze blew off the water and onto the mainland, ruffling Kyle's hair. He sat back propped up. His hands were buried partially in the warm sand which shifted with every movement.
Kyle hadn't seen Darem in twenty minutes. He kept telling himself to not worry, but he didn't know how long Khionians could spend underwater without coming up for air. Darem hadn't talked to them much about his aquatic form. He often got bashful about it.
"I do not understand why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly warm day with a swim." Jay-Den's voice cut through his thoughts like phasers through shields.
Kyle shrugged. "It's fun. And a nice way to cool off."
Jay-Den scoffed a little. "Fun…more like delayed drowning."
Kyle found his hand beside his own and patted it. "Some day we'll teach you to swim. You'll need it for away missions anyway."
Jay-Den gave him a look that was half glare, half disbelief. He huffed in a scoffing sort of way and turned back towards the ocean. Kyle chuckled and shook his head knowing full well it didn't do to argue with a Klingon. Not without backup, anyway.
Something caught his attention out of the corner of his vision and he too turned back towards the ocean. The waves seemed to part under the simmering sun, the light shimmering off them. It might've been blinding, but he'd gotten worried enough about Darem to look.
Oh, thank fuck there he is.
Relief flooded Kyle as Darem surfaced, water sheeting off his shoulders and head. The sunlight caught off every dark blue scale he had, sending Kyle's heart racing. He still couldn't understand why Darem hated this form. His breath caught as those fluttering gills opened and closed along Darem's si—
Wait. What the fuck does Darem have in his mouth?
Was that a whole fucking fish?
With a quick glance in Jay-Den's direction he saw that he'd already gone back to his PADD. Kyle reached out to poke his shoulder and Jay-Den looked back, annoyed. "What?" He growled. Kyle swore it was like poking a bear sometimes but less…angry.
Kyle pointed out towards Darem across the waves.
Jay-Den's eyes went wide and the PADD lowered, forgotten, down to his lap. His lips parted slightly.
"Is that a fish in Darem's mouth? Is he carrying an actual fish?"
Kyle broke out into silent laughter at Jay-Den's reaction. He'd been trying to hold it together to see his reaction, but that dam burst wide open now. It rose and swelled until Jay-Den's glare hit him like a wave breaking against a rocky shoreline.
"Sorry, sorry." He said, still chuckling.
They both turned back to their boyfriend who was currently walking through the shallows, dripping wet. It streamed off his body in sheets. It dripped down over his chest, shimmering in the sunlight. Every step shifted something in the faint iridescence just beneath Darem's scales. The blue deepened to black where the water still clung to him. His eyes traced the water's path and he swallowed at the sight.
Kyle traced the water's path further south. Across the flat of his stomach, down to where the waterline dragged at his hips and grew ever shallower with each step.
“Lrrk whrr yuu sss?”
Kyle's head jerked back northward to find his boyfriend's black eyes locked on him with what might've been a cocky grin. He watched Darem's third eyelid slide over those striking black eyes.
There was a whole ass striped bass in Darem's mouth. Kyle remembered it from one of the local biology classes he'd taken at the war college as an elective. It was massive too. How Darem had the jaw strength to carry it like that, Kyle had no idea. He found it impressive, mildly disturbing and slightly turning him on.
"What?"
Darem dropped the fish and caught it in one hand. That whopper must've been well over four feet. Even Jay-Den was full on open-mouthed now.
"I said, like what you see?"
Kyle watched as Darem's aquatic form retreated and his terrestrial form took over. The dark blue scales on his face changed to skin tone and his hair showed up again. It creeped down that perfectly sculpted chest.
"W-well, yeah." Kyle stammered, blushing.
"That is a striped bass, is it not?" Jay-Den's voice startled Kyle out of his reverie.
Darem nodded, holding it out. "I only catch invasive species. I…I caught it for us. I thought you might like a snack."
"Snack? That's a whole meal." Kyle chuckled, impressed.
Darem rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, the fish just rested over the palm of his hand. The fact that he could hold it like that without dropping it…Kyle figured that had to be at least a thirty pound fish. It was like he held nothing more than a bag of chips. His eyes caught how Darem's biceps tensed.
That shouldn't be as sexy as it is.
Darem walked up onto the dry sand as the last of his scales changed.
Kyle got up and walked over to Darem who still held the fish so casually. Shamelessly, he reached up and planted a kiss as he walked up. He could still taste the salty tang of the ocean, but something else too. He refused to let himself shudder at the thought that it was the taste of the fish.
"I can catch more if you'd like. There's plenty out there."
Kyle laughed. "I think one's plenty for us especially at that size."
Darem looked disappointed for a second before nodding.
"You did good, babe."
Something flickered behind those dark brown eyes. Darem stood a little straighter, chin lifting. Kyle kissed him again. Slower this time and he felt Darem lean into it like he was starving for it.
"Really?" He asked quieter now.
Kyle nodded.
"Really. Go get dressed, fish boy. I'll get a fire started."