Waves of Grey - The Harem and the Guard

Chapter 11

Keith

Keith thought he was going to die. That he had failed himself and he really wasn't as smart as he'd thought he was. He was going to be drowned by a Siren. He was going to die without ever seeing his family. Alfor was going to think he ran away. He'd never know what happened, He'd think that Keith had abandoned him and the responsibilities he wanted him to fulfill. He didn't want that, he didn't want the throne but he didn't want his father to think that he was angry, that he hated him for what he wanted of Keith. That wasn't how he wanted the king to remember him as for the remainder of his lifetime before he was forced to find someone else to take the throne. Allura was going to the Galra empire after all.

He was holding his breath struggling to pull himself away form the Siren who continued to drag him down towards the bottom of the pool. Keith's lungs were beginning to burn and he was beginning to see fog at the edges of his vision as he reached up towards the tree canopy. At the very least he'd die in a place he loved. His tears were swept away by the clear water around him as he was tugged around to face the blurry image of the Siren holding him under.

Why?

Keith cried out in one last desperate attempt to try and convince Lance to let him free. He was only met with a harsh yank and his mouth being pried open. He panicked, his last thoughts was the horrified realization that he was going to suffer the pain of drowning and then his corpse would be devoured by the creature swimming right-

Keith coughed and then he sucked in a painful breath. He could feel the water rushing into his mouth, as it rushed out through his nose. He was breathing. He choked and gasped. He could feel thumbs running over the sides of his neck.

"Stop breathing with your mouth and nose Keith. You need to get used to using your gills or when you go to the surface you'll have water in your lungs. It won't kill you bit it'll hurt and you could get an infection," Lance said calmly. His hands moved up Keith's face and closed his eyes, rubbed at their corners before he let Keith open them again. "You're okay. We're going to swim remember?"

Did Lance say gills? Keith blinked a few times and he saw the world come into focus. He saw Lance's stern expression as the Siren glanced between Keith's eyes and his throat.

"Lance?" Keith tried to ask only to find that nothing came out, not even a few bubbles.

"It's okay. I promise. You won't be able to speak down here. You can only understand me because I want you to." The siren smiled, bopping his head as he spoke only he wasn't using words. His mouth was only opening wide enough to let small sounds escape, the rest coming deep from his throat. Keith almost wished he could hear what Lance really sounded like in this instance. He calmed though, trying to figure out the changes that had just happened but that didn't happen. "Come. Swim." The siren smiled and pulled Keith away. "Don't think, Keith. This is place is special. Let this be special,"

And then Keith was pulled forward and twirled through the water by his hands. Keith tried to move but found that it was easier to just let Lance pull them around in his dance. It was calm and slow-moving as the siren twirled them around. It was strange to watch Lance smile so genuinely for once. He was happy pulling them through some of the water grasses, rubbing against the soft mosses and allege that grew along the pool walls. Keith wasn't a huge fan of getting slimed but Lance wasn't deterred.

And then he heard it. Keith had relaxed and reached out to touch some of the things that he'd He never though to explore deep beneath the water he was let go to explore while Lance continued to move. It started as nothing more than a whisper, but soon enough beautiful sounds echoed through the pool. They were sweet and soft like a warm breeze carrying the smell of sugary scent of blooming season. Keith hadn't been sure what it was at first. He'd been turned away from Lance trying to catch one of his petal fish when he stopped to look back.

It was beautiful what he saw. Something had changed in Lance. Maybe it was because he was calm or perhaps it was the water hidden in a secluded, secret patch in the forest. But he'd transformed. Long tendrils of translucent fins brushed against Keith's skin as Lance sung his wordless song. Where his long legs should have been had been replaced by a gorgeous blue tail colored like the blues of the ocean. Scales ran up Lance's body along his back and hips. His ears had lengthened in point and shifted to match the color of his tail that was as long as Lance was when he was standing all on his own in addition to his torso. He was slowly dancing in place with his eyes closed and smiling. Lance shared the fins of the petal fish surrounding them. They were big and flowy, far wider than his shoulders. And added to the six feet of scales that made up his tail giving Lance the grand length of fifteen feet.

Keith stared in awe as Lance glided through the water like it was cradling him. He couldn't help himself as he reached out for the creature. He was irresistible, their song drew Keith in and his beauty seemed to glow around him like and aura. It was like looking into Lance's eyes all over again except this time Lance in his entirety was what sucked him in.

Keith could claim it was the magic. He would believe that it was just the power of the siren that gave him the urge to act as he did. And it was true that Lance just as any Siren was capable of doing such a thing and that he did it unknowingly. But it took effort to draw more than someone's full attention. Keith was acting on his own accord as he reached out to brush his hands along the powerful tail curling around the Siren as he twirled in the small pool.

Lance opened his eyes slowly when he felt the gentle and curious touch. His eyes were otherworldly. They were glowing with an eerie but beautiful power, his pupils but slits in comparison to the round circles of the Land dwellers. The Siren smiled at Keith and reached out for his hands, pulling his tail from around him so that it trailed under and behind as he intertwined their fingers with a heavenly warm and welcoming sound. It wasn't tempting, it was safe. It was comfortable. Keith smiled.

Lance was even bigger than Keith had originally thought he observed when Lance pulled him in. His shoulders were wider his entire being had grown and yet he was only but a fraction of his true size. He enveloped Keith easily which the prince found rather strange. He'd always sort of thought of Lance as a woman. He had the figure from below the waist, and he was the one who would bear the child. He'd neither ever shown him any reason to think he was truly a man. But here that all went away. When he was a Siren Lance didn't require those features. His pups could be born safely from his womb without having the thickness and fattened hips child bearing land dwellers possessed. He was strong and dwarfed Keith, swallowing him in his arms as he smiled and hugged the prince close.

It woke Keith to the lie he'd been reading. He knew what Lance was but he'd never truly comprehended it. Right in front of him he know saw. All Sirens were equals. They were not divided stereotyped by one another by their sex for they all were the same. The could all bare and produce and fight just as equally as the other. Their appearances were because of those that lived above the sea. There was a time when they looked like their own race just as the Alteans all possessed their markings, pointed ears, and varying shades of skin. Just like how all the galra shared their feline appearances, the fur and yellow eyes and varying creature like ears. There was a time when the Sirens looked like dwellers of the sea and not partial combinations of their enemies that lived above land.

Keith felt guilty for ever thinking less of Lance. For ever doubting him in any way. He knew he was strong. But he judged his emotions, he judged his actions and his body.

But it didn't matter. Because for once he was being given a break. All responsibilities were being taken from him as he was lulled forward into strong arms. Lance would give him a moment to stop thinking, to learn how to just enjoy and not think. To play. To love and enjoy what was around him, to further the lessons Keith's cove had been teaching him.

Lance could protect him as he introduced Keith to a new sense of living, of mind.

It would all be okay.