A DNF Merman AU

Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

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Karl sighs, closing his eyes against the wind that blows across his face and ruffles his hair. He is sitting on Nick's surfboard, perched at the front of it precariously. Behind him, Nick is paddling them out to sea. Yesterday, the boy had suggested they surf together, and Karl had happily agreed, quite excited by the prospect of being taught by Nick.

So here they are, in the middle of the ocean, and Karl is in complete heaven. He is alone with the boy of his dreams, and he couldn't possibly be any happier. Although he cannot see the boy, Karl can sense just how strong Nick is from the ease with which he pushes the board forward. After a moment of intense paddling, Karl suddenly feels the board lift up as they catch their first wave. He whoops excitedly, and turns his head to take a glance at the boy behind him.

Nick is standing on the board, feet spread apart and knees bent. He is leaning forward slightly, the muscles in his shoulders and back very apparent under the bright sun. Karl silently admires him, finding beauty in his sloppy movements and gracelessness. As soon as he catches Karl's eye, Nick grins mischievously and leans abruptly to the right.

"Nick!!!!" Karl shrieks in surprise when the whole board turns sharply. Somehow, though, the boys manage to stay on the board, riding the wave all the way to shore.

"Again!!" he cheers, grinning widely at how eagerly Sap turns the surfboard back towards the sea.

After the first couple of waves, Karl sits backwards on the board, turns his whole body around so that he can watch the boy surf. He grins, enjoying the view, shamelessly relishing in the fact that he can finally adore Nick without being embarrassed.

Looking at Nick feels illegal. Karl cannot help but think about how lucky he is to be here, how lucky he is to be spending time with the most handsome boy he has ever seen. Suddenly, the small distance between them seems impossibly wide. It hurts.

"Come hereeeee," Karl whines, making grabby hands at the boy. Nick chuckles, shaking his head, but he slows his paddling.

Sitting up, he pulls Karl into a tight hug and presses a gentle kiss on his shoulder.

"Hi, cutie" Nick breathes.

"Hi." Karl pulls back to look at Sap, heart stuttering at the amount of love he sees reflected by those chocolate brown eyes. "Today was perfect."

"You're perfect," Nick says before leaning forward and capturing his lips in a soft kiss.

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POV change! Pog

Coincidentally, two other boys are catching their own waves a little ways down the beach.

George is swimming next to Clay's surfboard, his tail propelling his body forward as fast as merman-ly possible. They're racing again, Dream catching waves on his board, and George body surfing. Unfortunately for both of their competitive natures, sharing waves means that they are pretty much always moving at the same speed.

Somehow, Clay manages to get a lead. He cheers, and turns his upper body around to smirk at George, smug in his victory. However, his abrupt movement makes the board dip just a bit too much to the side, and he loses his balance, falling clumsily into the water. This, of course, cracks the merman up. After a few moments of tumbling in the waves, Clay pops up through the surface, damp hair sticking to his forehead in messy clumps. Joining in with George's snickers, Dream wheezes, his classic tea kettle laugh somehow much louder than the roar of waves around them.

Suddenly, something that sounds even more squeaky than Dream joins in, and before either boy has enough time to process the noise, a couple of dolphins leap out of the water just a few yards away.

"Holy fuck," Dream gasps, clearly unable to believe his own eyes. George just smiles. As a merman, seeing a pod of dolphins is about as normal as seeing a flock of birds. But he cannot help but grin at the way Clay's face lights up in excitement, at just how cute the boy looks. George would do anything to make the boy's smile even bigger.

Aha! He has an idea. "Come here, Clay," George says, motioning at the boy to climb onto his back. Clay seems confused, but he trusts the merman, so he obeys. "You know the drill! Tap three times when you need to breathe."

"Hold on tight!" George says before taking off after the pod, leaping between the waves alongside the dolphins. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to the feeling of this much happiness, nor the warm hands that grip his shoulders tightly, the feeling of the wind against his face, or the beautiful sound of Clay's ridiculous laughter echoing in his ears.

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A/N - Short chapter because I'm super tired! Enjoy the fluff

Love you all:)

ALSO !!! MY DOCS CAME IN. I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY SEXY NOW. y'all have no idea

STOMP STOMP