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"Cough, cough- ghh-! Sil-Silver!" Azul cried out as he swam out in the ocean, coughing on the sea water that got into his mouth, desperately kicking with his arms and legs. The other silver haired boy was drifting into outer water, and if that happened, it would be dangerous, especially since at that point, Azul would be too exhausted to swim after him.
Why…
Why of all times did this happen?! Silver would be fine, because he's a merfolk, not just any, but a jellyfish at that! Azul was human! He could also swim fine, yes, but not this far or for this long!
How did this happen again?!
"You want to see my homeland?" Azul blinked, looking at his boyfriend while they shared lunch at the cafeteria. The two sat side by side, Azul's other two usual friends having dispersed to get their own food and not "deal with becoming third wheels".
Which, really, he took offense to. He never had that luxury if the twins decided to go flirt with someone, thye just blatantly did it infront of him, hmph. But he digressed.
Silver nodded, gathering up more parts of his mushroom risotto to take a bite, "Mm. You've told me some stories about your home of the Sunshine Lands, and we had a lesson today about it, about the diplomacy between land and sea, and it happened at the Sunshine Lands. I would like it if you would go with me to show me around."
Silver wasn't too knowledgeable on different mer-culture; of course while his adopted father did his best to keep him aware and studied on his peoples history, Silver told Azul and others freely that his father was a faerie, and while they had plenty of water faeries, it was drastically different compared to merfolk.
"Ah, so you want to see the Sunshine Lands as a way to see your roots," Azul adjusted his glasses, "Are you hoping to connect with others? I know my area in particular has a land camp for merfolk to learn how to transition to land living…"
But to his surprise, his boyfriend shook his head, his unique auroral eyes clear and bright, "I want to see your home. So that one day, you too will see mine, and meeting your parents would be nice too. I want to meet the ones who raised you, so I can also share in that love."
Clearly, the Octavinelle housewarden wasn't used to his boyfriends honesty, as he choked violently, unprepared by abruptness. The Diasomnia student quickly patted his back, worrying about his sudden action.
It turned out, Silver just wanted to see Azul's home land, and potentially meet his parents. So suddenly?
"B-But- Why? Why now?" Azul spluttered.
Silver kept his hand on his back, and looked at him calmly, yet with eyes full of adoration and light, "Because I love you. And I want to see where you grew up. I want you to see my home… Unless you're not comfortable."
The bespectacled teen winced. Right. The trust thing...
Azul and Silver had had some discussions, struggled discussions that ended in two ways; Azul would try to trust in Silver's words and not read into them, and Silver would be patient with Azul's wariness and not pity him in any regard.
Not that Silver ever did pry or become impatient, but what Azul wants the least is Silver's pity when it comes to his past.
So, he took a breath and smiled, "No, I'm not uncomfortable, Silver. I would… love to show you my home. After all, you didn't travel often with your father so I suppose this is our first trip as lovers," he leaned closer, looking at Silver flirtatiously.
Auroral eyes beamed, though his face remained unchanged, he could tell that Silver was happy, "Truly? Oh how wonderful, I'm excited to go on this trip with you, my love."
Azul's face flushed and he quickly turns away from the other. How does he always manage to lose?!
"So this is your home," Silver marveled, having just stepped out of the mirror with Azul, into the shining town within the Sunshine Lands. A name that Silver felt was very apt.
The sea salt smell was strong, ocean waves crashing into the rocks, gulls calling out, and people going about their business. Azul adjusted his bag, "Yes, it is. I didn't quite expect to come here again so soon, but Mom said that we can always come by the house and drop off our stuff off there, she left a key for us to do so."
Silver reached over, grabbing Azul's pack and shrugging it over his other shoulder, "Lead the way for us, Azul, I can carry these things for us," Azul blushed at the swift and sudden action. He protested, "Silver, I can very well hold my own bag you don't need to take it for me!"
His boyfriend shook his head in response, "It's okay. I can hold it. We won't be holding these for very long anyway, so you can just show me around until we get to your house. Will your parents be there, or are they at work?"
"Mom is at La Grotta, of course, and dad is probably at the office already. Both are definitely looking forward to meeting you," Azul said, smiling and then laughing a little as Silver straightened up, "Don't straighten your posture now! We're not going to see them until we eat, which is after we drop off our things and I take you to the beach. We can get souvenirs on the way as well, I think we have some time to do that…"
They had discussed an itinerary before leaving the school; they would wear appropriate attire for the Sunshine Lands, Silver had worn a darker top and shorts with a pair of walking shoes, whereas Azul had worn a lighter blue tropical shirt with a slight floral pattern, tan shorts and open toed shoes.
Not only would they wear outfits appropriate for the weather, but Silver and Azul would both have their overnight bags for the weekend, planning to stay two days before returning the day before school started for class the following week.
His boyfriend had promised his dorm mates souvenirs, which was Azul's planned stop after they drop off the bags in Azul's room. Nonna had told him that they set up a futon in his room for Silver to sleep, which had flustered Azul over the phone that caused her to laugh, "You told me that boy of yours wouldn't dare be anything but polite, so why not share a room? Besides, Cecelia would rather die than host her sons boyfriend on that couch."
Azul snapped out of his reverie to hold Silver's hand as they walked through the city. It was a perfect, golden afternoon, and his boyfriend was looking everywhere, his auroral eyes curious and light, "This town is beautiful. I can only imagine how much fun you, Floyd and Jade had in this area. Did you really get into mischief often?"
"Well, I wouldn't say mischief exactly, but we were a little well known for adventuring over every nook and cranny, looking for treasure," he reminisced, thinking back to his days of being a child, wandering with the twins through town and in the waters, to the hills of their home land.
He also remembered hiding in some of these areas, away from the kids who mocked and teased him, who called him the cruelest of things because he wasn't like them. He could remember his younger self thinking that when he made it, he would never return here.
And he was back, to show the newfound love of his life his home. Because, Silver, good and honest to a fault Silver, wanted to see where he was from, how he grew up.
The brief flits of reluctance were drowned out by the warmth in his hand, and the sight of Silver carrying two heavy packs, looking around and drinking everything in. When Azul turned to go up a row of houses, Silver perked up, "Which one is yours?" At his questioning, Azul couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. How had he ever thought that Silver was hard to decipher when he was like this?
"We need to walk down just a couple of houses, but do you see the one with the gate at the end? That one is my house," he gestured to the finely gated house. It was a simple gate with a lock, but Azul knew that there were cameras on the house. Living with his lawyer stepdad taught him that safety was necessary, but over active safety was a cause for paranoia. And Azul knew the key was close by.
Silver was looking around his house with intrigue, and though he followed Azul up to his room dutifully, he paused to stare at one of the photos. "I can take the bags from you if you want to stay and look at the photos, Silver," Azul offered out his hand, but Silver declined with a shake of his head, "No, it's okay. I'm sorry, I was just distracted by how happy and cute you looked little. It's just the same as it is now, but I hope to see more of it, and bring you that happiness."
Azul's eyes widened, and he could immediately feel how red his face has gotten.
Why was Silver always like this with him, talking about- about a future in this way?!
The rolling of the sea waves never failed to make both of them relax it seemed, Silver because of his natural status as a merman, and Azul because of his background of growing up at this seaside city of his.
They had only recently finished sightseeing, surveying some promising shops for souvenirs that were to be gifted to Silver's group of close friends, and some ice cream for the heat. Now they walked along the beach, admiring the waves and the faint noises of activity; children playing, teenagers chatting, some fishermen out at sea.
"Would you mind it if I took a swim?" Silver suddenly asked, hand in hand with Azul, holding his shoes with one hand. Azul was startled, just slightly, before shaking his head, "Not at all. I'm surprised you hadn't asked, actually. Normally, you come to Octavinelle frequently when you want to swim."
It was how they even started talking often. Since Silver was a merman raised in a mountain climate, it made things difficult for when Silver desired swimming, feeling water through his tendrils as he glided through the waves. Having Octavinelle be a dorm of magicked water and tanks with plenty of fish and at a precise temperature, it was no surprise for Silver to come and request that he swim in the tanks in exchange for labor.
Azul's first time seeing Silver's true form was… the moment he felt his heart flutter. Silver as a human was already dashing, he had the strength of a trained soldier, and was genuine to all. But his true form, in Azul's opinion, was his truest beauty.
His lower half was a shimmery blue-white, the frills and tendrils shimmering like strings of moonlight, and it was even more impressive in the dark. His auroral eyes shone so brightly as he drifted through Octavinelle's waters.
Silver nodded, "You're right, it's true that I wanted to swim the moment we got here, but I also had so many other things that I wanted to do," he confessed, squeezing their joined hands, "I got to see your home, and see more of you. Now that we're here, on your home beach, it makes it even more special to me. I just know that by feeling this water, I'd be even comfortable in it as myself."
Imagining Silver drifting through the clear waters of his home, gliding with ease and at his most comfortable simply because Azul was here… His heart couldn't take any more of it.
"Well! What are you waiting for? Be my guest," Azul gestured, reluctantly letting Silver's hand slip his grasp and reach to take hold of the others shoes. Silver was equally reluctant, by the slow caress of his fingers on Azul's as he pulled back and walked to the sea.
The silver haired teen walked through the water until he was waist high, tugging off his shirt and Azul had a perfect view of a flawless, muscular back, before Silver took a deep breath and slipped under the waves.
There was a glow of gold under the waves, shimmering brightly, and then- SPLASH!
Silver broke through the surface, exhaling softly as water moved through his body. As a jellyfish, Silver had no gills to speak of, breathing through his lower half with ease. His frills and tendrils weaved through the water, and he turned to Azul, smiling as water dripped from his hair and face, extending his hand, "Come and swim with me," he said. And who was Azul to refuse?
He had dropped their shoes and shrugged off his shirt, entering the water…
That was, until, of course, the moment broke when Silver fell asleep. Which happened to be when the current moved.
Which had led to now: Azul fighting the waves, Silver blissfully floating away with the current, and Azul not being used to swim this far out into open water.
'Damn it- if this continues, Silver and I will be dragged into open ocean, and then we are really not getting back until he wakes up-'
That's it! He needs to wake up Silver!
But Silver is so hard to make wake up, and he's been calling his name, so how…
Azul grimaced, knowing that it was some risky business to cast magic without a pen, especially like this, but he needed to wake up Silver.
He gathered magical energy in his hand, mentally crafting it to be akin to a pinch, or perhaps even a slap if need be, and sent it through the waves.
The jellyfish mer jerked, eyes opening wide and his light silvery blue tendrils lashing in the open water on instinct. "What-?"
Then he took stock of his surroundings.
"Azul! I'm coming, hold on!" Silvers speed through the water when awake was something to be marveled, especially when he had no fins to speak of, but he glided through the waves until his arms wrapped around Azul.
The human coughed, spitting out sea water as he wiggled his exhausted legs above the balloon of Silver's waist, crossing his legs around him and clinging to him.
He was exhausted!
"You… will have to be a dear and repay me by swimming us back," Azul said, panting, "I… swam all the way out here and I casted a spell to wake you up."
Silver balked and he pressed his lips to Azul's forehead, face, cheeks, and then lips, peppering him in apology kisses, "I will, just hold on, I'll get us back to shore."
By the time they got back to shore, Silver transformed himself back into a human and he kept his arms wrapped around Azul's waist.
"… I can't believe I fell asleep like that. Especially when we're supposed to be meeting your parents. And I almost dragged us both into open ocean like that. I'll have to get better at not falling asleep in the waves," Silver grimaced more, feeling his shame curdle as he took in just how tired his boyfriend was.
He would have to train himself even more now. If only Azul hadn't seen him like that-
Lips touched the underside of his jaw, Azul pressing his lips against the skin for a moment and then pulled away, "It's my job to get lost in my own head, not yours."
Azul's tone was light, and he was smiling, azure eyes gleaming in soft amusement and also love, "Honestly, I'd rather you have your sleeping spell now instead of at the dinner table. Mama would worry she was boring you."
"She could never." Silver looked offended at the very idea of being bored by Azul's mother, who he hadn't met yet.
"… Do we have time to freshen up before we go to La Grotta for dinner?" He then asked, aware of how the sun was starting its descent. Azul nodded but did not move from his place against Silver, "We do. Let's just stay here for a moment, my legs hurt."
They were both aware that Silver could carry him. Silver could carry him from the beach all the way to their destination, making it a perfect early timed arrival.
"Alright," the merman nodded, kissing Azul's still damp hair, "Let's stay for a while."
This really would be the most perfect weekend, they both thought, quietly observing the sun and the waves together.