How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Chapter Twenty-one: Cool as a Sea Cucumber

~Chapter Twenty-one: Cool as a Sea Cucumber~

It is a week before before Nero gets fed up with my Diplomatic Depression, as I have taken to calling it in my head. He was not happy about it from the beginning, and he kept trying to make me talk about it, but it is only after his father leaves to visit the Indian Mer - not sure why the king himself needs to make the trip, but maybe it is a Mer thing - and Nero's workload increases because there is one less person to take care of the kingdom, that he stops letting me get away with distractions.

"You've been in our room for the past two days without break," Nero suddenly says, turning in his chair at the small work table he is sitting at to look at me from across the living room. Since I am lying on my stomach on the couch, I reluctantly prop myself up on my elbows so I can actually frown at him properly. "You need to get out and walk around."

"Or I could just stay here and pace the living room," I point out, because that is basically all I have been doing for the past few days, and I am pretty content to just keep doing that. Leaving the room means interacting with other Mer, and I am not in the mood for that.

Rather than turn back to his laptop, which has been working on for the last few hours, he closes it and crosses his arms, giving me his full attention. "Why don't you want to leave the room?" He demands.

"Why would I?" I scoff, rolling over so my face is pressed against the couch back. Maybe if I ignore him, he will leave me alone.

"Atasah," Nero snaps, and I stiffen. That's never a good tone. However, when he continues, his voice is softer, almost gentle, "This isn't a joke. At this rate, you're going to make yourself sick. So, tell me - is this about what happened last week?"

Yes.

"No," I lie, my voice muffled by the couch cushion.

There is the sound of a chair moving, and I can hear him approach since he is clearly not trying to hide it, but I refuse to look at him, even when there is a dip in the couch at my hip as he sits down. "Don't lie to me," he says firmly, but it is not said in anger, just warning. I purse my lips to keep from replying. "Can you honestly tell me that this has nothing to do with what happened last week during your mentor's visit?"

"I...no," I mumble, and though it is muffled by the cushion again, Nero pats my side, as if acknowledging it. After a moment, I blindly reach out and grab the back of his shirt, even though I was kind of aiming for his hand. However, I am not going to start groping around his body to find it lest I initiate something I am not in the mood to continue. "Can we just stay like this for a little while?"

To my surprise, his response is, "No."

Before I can do anything more than turn my head to look at him, though, he continues, "Lying on the couch is not going to help you feel better. Instead, you and I are going to walk to the kitchen, where we will smuggle out some chocolate, and then we will return here and talk about why this bothers you so much."

- - - - - - -

As great as Nero's plan is, it only lasts until the walk back to our chambers.

"Nero-shinmet," someone calls, and I nearly drop the chocolate bars I am carrying in surprise, as the adrenaline from sneaking around the kitchens - and the honestly scary head chef - is still in effect and making me jumpy. I might not really want to admit it, but this was actually a pretty good idea; I feel better already. Or, well, I did until this interruption, which cannot be a good thing. "The dolphin trappers have been located, and Felix-shinmet wishes to speak with you in the main conference room."

Inhaling sharply, Nero, in an unusual show of annoyance, curses quietly and turns to me. "Do you want to join this discussion?" He asks, and it seems like an honest question.