Dark Waters Rising

Diamonds

Valentine, though breathing through a set of gills, felt as though his breath had been stolen from him every time he looked upon his mate. The man's hair, darkened by the water, flowed around his head like a smooth, dynamic halo. It was normally a medium shade of brown, except when the sun caught it just right and it lit up like a brilliant crown of embers, but now it was a deep, rich, chocolatey brown. Valentine loved how the color contrasted so well with Wesley's light skin, which had taken on that slight bluish green tint because of the water between them. Even more breathtaking, however, was the tail.

It was a beautiful shade of what Valentine could only describe as a somber sky blue. The mid to light range of color blended well between shadow and light, giving off a stormy, yet regal peculiarity that matched extremely well with the merchant's expressive eyes. Best of all, when his scales caught the light, they reflected glittering glimpses of white and silver that shone like diamonds to anyone blessed enough to see them.

And despite how elegant he appeared, Valentine was amused to see how choppy his movements were as he tried to swim without the use of independent legs. He was like a child learning to swim for the first time.

With a small smile, Valentine swam closer and slid his hands over Wesley's biceps, making the merchant look at him with curiosity in his eyes and a puzzled frown marring his lips.

"You look beautiful," Valentine said, making Wesley's confusion grow when he realized Valentine had yet again spoke beneath the water as easily as he did above it.

Parting his lips, Wesley tried to do the same. Instead of words, large bubbles of air toppled from his mouth and raced for the surface.

"That's not quite how it works down here," Valentine mused, rubbing his fingers gently up and down Wesley's arms. "When the gods made the first sirens, they gave us the ability to communicate underwater telepathically. We were humans first, you know. Before the gods changed the first of us. We needed a way to talk to each other. We already had languages, but no way to speak them underwater. The ability to project our thoughts was the solution, and out of common courtesy, most sirens move their lips while projecting so those around them get a visual cue of who is speaking."

Wesley's frown deepened before he looked up at the surface and sloppily started swimming toward it. Valentine helped, and before long, Wesley calmly pushed his face above the water, keeping his gills submerged and breathing air through his nose.

"So can I speak like that?" Wesley asked after swiping his hair out of his face.

"You might be able to," Valentine shrugged from beside him. "It's not exactly difficult, but I can say that it is hard enough that it rarely happens on accident. You just have to think about what you want to say and imagine pushing it out into the world."

"Can you send a message to more than one person at a time?" Wesley's curiosity was growing by the second.

"Yes. In fact, it's easiest to do that. It's actually extremely hard to target messages to one person without another hearing. Only those who have dedicated years to training can accomplish such a thing. Just think of it as normal talking. Anyone within hearing range can hear you, but you can still have private conversations."

Wesley nodded. It made sense. At least, it did if he didn't think too hard about it.

Slipping back beneath the surface, Wesley closed his eyes and formed a word in his mind. He imagined the letters and the sounds they made. Then, like a cannon, he imagined the word was fired from his head, spraying out like a sweeping arc in all directions.

"Hello," is what Valentine heard.

"Hello," he responded with a proud smile as Wesley opened his eyes. "That was really good. Try again, but move your lips with it."

Wesley nodded and repeated the process. This time, it was the siren's name that his lips formed around.

"Valentine," he said, his eyes closed again.

Valentine responded by wrapping his arms around Wesley's torso and pulling their chests together.

"I love you," the siren said.

Wesley smiled softly and opened his eyes, pressing a small kiss to Valentine's jaw.

"Teach me how to swim," Wesley said looking up at Valentine the whole time, though he forgot to move his lips along with the message.

"Okay," Valentine agreed.

He pulled back slightly and placed a palm flat on Wesley's toned stomach.

"Swimming with a tail takes your whole body and a lot of core strength. You're trying to swim like you still have knees and that's limiting your potential. When you swim, you should move your whole body in a continuous wave-like motion. Remember that you're not limited to one plane of motion, so you can move up just as easily as you move down. Here, try it like this. Start with your head and continue that motion until it reaches the tip of your tailfin."

Valentine demonstrated a few times before helping Wesley by guiding him with strategically placed helping hands.

After a while, the pair started plucking interesting seashells from the sea floor. Wesley practiced speaking by asking occasional questions, which Valentine was happy to answer.

Wesley wasn't sure how long they spent beneath the waves, but by the time they finally surfaced, the sun was setting and he was absolutely exhausted.

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A/N

Hey, I know you guys are enjoying my story, but I wanted to give you a chance to enjoy each other's as well! Use this comment section to shoutout your own works! Feel free to include a brief synopsis too!

See you Tuesday,
-Mora Montgomery