Of Different Waters (boyxboy)

Chapter Eleven

        Tiburon finally found the source of the strange scent again. He knew it was a mer. One that was a stranger to these parts of the waters. As captain of the guards it was his job to keep the waters in his kingdoms safe and that meant he needed to get this mer and find out why he was in these parts of the water and gently force them to make their presence known to the king. Then the strange mer could be on their way, with careful surveillance to make sure they didn't cause any trouble.

        It wasn't that they didn't trust the outsiders, but more they were careful. An outsider was the reason for the horrible attack on the kingdom seventeen years ago, so they were cautious.

        Tiburon was slowly approaching the unknown mer. His target froze and quickly looked in the direction that Tiburon was coming from. Tiburon attempted to duck under the waves but it was too late. He cursed as the mer began swiftly swimming toward the shore. Weird tactic (what was he going to do beach himself) but Tiburon sped after them.

        The other mer was fast, but Tiburon was certain he could catch up. He was gaining on the panicking outsider. Right when the other was about to enter the shallow water that was difficult to swim in Tiburon made a lunge for the other.

        The other let out a cry for help as the they tumbled into the shallows, Tiburon landing on top of the other mer.

        There was a whimper of pain and Tiburon glared down to tell the other mer to grow a pair and shut up, after all it was the guy's own fault ('cause the mer was definitely a guy) he was being treated so roughly since he didn't follow proper protocol. And then he realized just who he was sitting on.

        "Ronan?" Tiburon couldn't believe it. The man beneath him stared up at him with those incredibly large blue eyes. Eyes that were swimming in confusion.

        "Tiburon?" Ronan looked around frantically. "We have to get out of the water! There's a shark!" Ronan pulled himself from under Tiburon and started to drag the other man toward the shore.

        "Ronan. Ronan stop!" The man commanded. He saw a definite problem with going to shore in his current state. There was no way around it. He'd have to tell Ronan the truth. "There is no shark."

        "But I saw…"

        "You saw me," Tiburon interrupted. And the confused look was back on Ronan's face. Tiburon sighed. He pulled the man back into deeper water so there was more room to swim comfortably. This wasn't how he had planned this to go. He wanted to get to know Ronan a little more before telling the man what he was. But there really was no avoiding it.

        "Alright, Ronan, now don't freak out." Ronan felt unease pool in his gut at Tiburon's words. In his experience whenever someone started a conversation like that it was always because they knew the person they were talking to was going to "freak out."

        "I just want to let you know before I tell you this that this is not how I planned for you to find out about this. But I feel like I can trust you," the man said earnestly. "And, as I'm sure you noticed from last time we met, I think you're an amazingly beautiful person," he added straightforward and unashamed.

        Ronan's cheeks colored. If he was honest with himself, he found Tiburon incredibly attractive too. And it wasn't just the outside that Ronan found so appealing. He liked the man's carefree personality. All his thoughts were blown away by Tiburon's next sentence.

        "I'm a mer."

        "What?"

        "I'm a mer," the man confessed again.